Result: Arsenal 0-2 Sp*rs
Competition: Carabao Cup
Date: December 19th 2008
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Arsenal: Cech, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Xhaka, Monreal, Torreira, Guendouzi, Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Iwobi, Aubameyang
Subs: Martinez, Koscielny, Lichtsteiner, Elneny, Willock, Lacazette, Nketiah
—
Arsenal went out of the Carabao Cup this season, going down 2-0 against Sp*rs at the Emirates this evening.
Unai Emery picked a strong team to contend with the opposition, but there was no place in the squad for Mesut Ozil who was left out for tactical reasons.
There was early Arsenal danger from a Xhaka corner, and good work between Ramsey and Iwobi saw the Welshman fizz a shot not far wide in the 8th minute. At the other end good pressure from Maitland-Niles saw Eriksen shoot well wide, before Alli headed over.
The Gunners should have been ahead in the 13th minute when Ramsey sent Mkhitaryan through. He only had the keeper to beat but his effort was tame and the keeper made a routine save.
The visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening 20 minutes, and it paid off with the opening goal. The keeper took a long kick out, Sokratis slipped, it was played through to Son who beat the offside trap and curled it beyond the onrushing Cech. 0-1.
Guendouzi set up Aubameyang inside the Sp*rs box but he could only shoot wide, but the best opportunity came to the visitors when they broke from a corner but with Sissoko in a great position to double the lead he blasted over the bar.
There wasn’t a lot of attacking invention from Arsenal, Mkhitaryan and Iwobi struggled to link the play in the final third, and danger came from a mistake by the Sp*rs defence. Auba blocked a keeper’s clearance, then the defender miskicked, Ramsey tried to backheel it to Torreira but it was cut out.
Then we did create. Iwobi went down the left and crossed it into the middle, Ramsey guided it with his left foot, it was going into the net but the keeper pushed it onto the post and away to safety. And as the half drew to a close Sokratis won a header from a corner but couldn’t get it on target – he should have done better.
Ramsey saw another effort blocked before Guendouzi picked up the first yellow card of the game for a foul on Moura as the first half came to a close.
Unai Emery made a half-time change, taking off Mkhitaryan and putting on Koscielny to move to a back three. The change gave the Gunners more control, and there was more intensity and tempo to their football. Iwobi’s low crosses caused danger in their box more than once, and Cech was forced into action to stop an Eriksen free kick.
Xhaka fired a free kick over in the 57th minute, and both sides made changes with Kane and Lacazette coming on for Moura and Iwobi respectively. It was the Sp*rs sub who made an immediate impact though, Kane played Alli through who beat the offside trap and then Cech with an impudent finish to make it 0-2.
There was almost an immediate response from Arsenal when Aubameyang squared for Lacazette but his shot clipped the outside of the post and went wide. Emery played his final card, bringing on Eddie Nketiah for Guendouzi in the 65th minute, someone in the crowd threw something at Alli and there wasn’t much happening from an attacking point of view for Emery’s team.
An Aubameyang cross from the left bounced back off the top of the bar but we couldn’t do anything with the rebound. Xhaka talked himself into a yellow card, Sp*rs brought on Lamela for Son, and Cech saved from Eriksen as the game moved into the final 10 minutes.
Alli got booked for being a dickhead, the game went into 4 minutes of added time, Torreira shot wide but in the end there was no way through and we went out of the least important competition of our season.
Absolutely disgraceful. I don’t care if it’s the League Cup, losing to half a Sp*ds team by two goals to nil at home is just embarrassing. First time they’ve won at ours in 8 years and no doubt the smug pricks will now be smearing it in our faces.
Who gives a shit? The Cup is as relevant as they are. Let them have their moment; pathetic as it is.
Problem is that we put out probably our strongest attack (minus Ozil) and looked completely devoid of any ideas. If we can’t even break down a makeshift Sp*rs defence with the players we’ve got it is fast going to become an issue, especially given the number of injuries we’ve currently got at the back.
Emery need to understand that without Xhaka in the midfield, we lack direction and composure. He should at the same time bench Iwobi and Mikhi at this point they offer little to the team. Play Ramsey in the right and Auba on the left with Laca upfront.
This is the best comment have seen tactics-wise..just drop iwobi and mhki they’ve been so poor damn it !… Wish welbeck was fit he would be have done a better job on the wing and the duo of iwobi and mhki wouldn’t have been dis comfortable…we need a sharp pacy winger and a high quality CD Asap
look, err, honestly we looked a little bit jaded and lacked sharpness
Same with the match against Southampton. Heavy and immobile leg, tired minds and uncooperative brain in key times. Most of the players seemed sapped of energy so quickly. Even though we lost today, I think they showed more commitment than the last match. Their hearts were willing, but their legs and minds failed them. They should get up quickly, dust their shorts and soldier on towards the main goal.. Getting into the champions league berth in the league.
We beat them 4-2 a few weeks ago. They haven’t beaten us at home in 8 years. Sure, we were shit. But if there was one game I wouldn’t mind losing to that lot it’s in a game like this one.
Bingo, always nice to beat them but if we HAVE TO LOSE, its this game we can throw away.
That’s nice and relevant when we played our 1st team… Almost
Another fucking dvd.
It was a shitty performance. The chance squandered by Mikhi set the tone of the match, at some point at 1st half they had 70% of possession.
I’d like to point out the strange decisions took by Unai today, such as left Ozil out, sub Nketiah in, Lichs on the bench while he could be starting at RB and AMN as LB, put Elneny and rest Torreira/Xhaka…
Losing to them always sucks, but looking at the bright side, we avoid a useless 2 legged semi final in January. With our defence already being stretched thin and our injuries piling up, we cannot afford to play many more insignificant matches when much is at stake in the league and in our European quest. In hindsight, this loss, however annoying, might actually improve our chances of finishing in the top 4.
Could work well for Arsenal regards chase for top 4, both SpuDs and Chelski have the 2 legged ties to contend with in a fairly crowded time of the season.
If only we had a world-class number 10 able to link midfield and attack.
We have. He wasn’t in the squad tonight
Losing to them always sucks, but looking at the bright side, we avoid a two legged semifinal in January. With our defence already being stretched thin and our injuries piling up, we cannot afford to play many more insignificant matches when much is at stake in the league and in our European quest. In hindsight, this loss, however annoying, might actually improve our chances to finish in the top 4 and winning the Europa League.
*in the cocunut cup. we beat them 4-2 when it mattered more. brush it off and perform in the PL and El. than nobody will remeber this display.
after diego costa i didn’t even dare to imagine there will be a more cuntish fucktard like diddl adlib.
Goodluck to chelsea and spurs for the two legged war full of knocks and cards. These two are our direct rivals for the CL spot so i hope they eat each other or something..
Bringing on Nketiah totally killed any momentum we had.
I agree, though Guendouzi had to get hooked because by rights he should have been sent off.
Perfect time to bring on ozil.
What was the tactical advantage of bringing Eddie on? Would the kid finish the chances Auba and Laca were getting, or would it better suit us to fashion better chances with mesut?
Thrown in the deep end but he was really poor, I have to say.
To be fair, he plays better through the middle
Agreed. I’m not convinced Nketiah is as good as his reputation.
Chris Willock would have been better to overload midfield
Still vomiting
That was shit. Another reality check. You just aan’t play like that in a Derby
Honestly I did not want to loose these scums but I don’t care about this cup.
I was amazed to see all the main players in starting X1. We have lost 2 consecutive games after 22.
Few players are injured and this Ozil saga is also not helping. We have to bounce back from here.
We can’t afford to loose more points as top four finish should be target.
We have a half baked team at best.. give the ball to the goalie and kick it long down the middle and you’ll score everytime against us ..
Yeah, was hoping this wasn’t still a viable tactic against us once Unai came in.
I think it’s personnel related still. Even Pep and Klopp didn’t have world bearing first seasons. It takes time to turn a team around
I am most certainly not on Emery train. I don’t think he has achieved or shown signs that he can achieve something big in coming days. We have either been lucky in our schedule or displayed mediocrity to steal a dozen draws. I don’t believe for a minute that he is capable of replacing Wenger. Özil does not need validation from a spendthrift who did nothing of value at PSG despite spending mountains of cash.
Weird, don’t remember reading your comments last week?
What a sorry arse comment
I really like Emery but today showed that he needs to reflect on what is best on the pitch. Today was crying out loud for a player like Özil, we lacked creativity through the middle. We were exposed easily on the flanks because I feel Maitland-Niles is not good enough for this level yet. He’s young and I know it’s not his position but his execution today was extremely poor but he did work hard and try a lot. Also I’d rather not start with Iwobi again this season.
Ramsey and Mhki were far worse than Iwobi. (today at least)
I agree with you except on the Ozil part. On current form, he’s a liability for the team against high pressing teams or physically/high intensive matches.
Two defensive lapses undid some solid play today. We’re just not clinical enough, Lacazette has shown he deserves to start. Especially considering his form at the start.
Over time, bad and good luck will even out. Tonight, Arsenal were a little unlucky. They had two-three chances that would normally always be goals. The effort was ok, but sharpness was a little lacking.
Totally disjointed play from our midfield… I don’t know why emery keeps playing xhaka(whose defensive awareness is very questionable) in defense when he is seriously being missed in the midfield.
Yep, this is also an odd one. Xhaka does not have the psychological profile to be a CB. It is weird that he keeps playing him there. He was responsible for the Palce loss and today played Son onside. His passing from the back is also fairly risky. It is confusing that Emery with his entire “tactically aware” depiction of himself cannot see this. I am not sure of why Xhaka is back there. I will take almost any other player that can play in Midfield and back over him. It is clearly a disaster waiting to happen. Also, why… Read more »
Elneny would be equally good at CB as xhaka
Probably better imo, but so will Julio Pleguezuelo, Osei-Tutu and Zach Medley.
I agree. One of the good under 23/18 central defender should have been tried and Xaka moved to his rightful position in midfield to help keep better control there. Though age is still on his side, but right now Gendouzi’s defensive abilities is more suspect than Xaka’s.
True that. I would rather see Lich move into the centre with Jenks at RB. If you’re going to play someone out of position in defence, at least use a defender?
Wonder at what point we bring back the defenders we sent out on loan as we didn’t need them… just like the previous 5 seasons!
It was Özil’s fault .. oh wait ..
Honestly though… I can’t bring myself to care about the Carabao Cup. Yeah it’s spuds, but other than that… there’s only one cup thats’ worth anything to me in England. Fu*k Carabao and its stupid logo. Bring on Burnley and let’s not lose our plot here. We’re on thin ice in the PL. PS, again, I know it’s spuds and all, but I would have definitely given Torreira and Granit a break tonight. We need to restore that partnership in the middle of the park. Now they have another 90 min in their legs…
Spot on. I was surprised at the number of first main players selected bearing in mind that some of them are tethering on the red line already, coupled with the mounting injury concerns. Perhaps because it’s gaddam spurds, but I’ll preferred that they won against a B team than against almost a full first teamers in Emirates.
Good to see the tactical decision to leave out Ozil paid off
That ‘tactical reasons’ quote is gonna do my head in all week!
If the team keeps playing this nonsense… He definitely can’t justify keeping ozil out
Let’s not start this Ozil vs Unai. When we were winning, no one cared and now suddenly we lost two matches, and everyone is like, if Ozil was there we would have won. We defeated these scums 4-2 without Ozil.
I don’t know what is happening btw Ozil and Unai but I hope they will sort out their diff.
Our main prob is injured players and thin squad. Whether you like it or not, we have over achieved. No was expecting us to be in competition for top 4.
We have to spend and buy defender/s and Winger.
It’s late. Thought you wrote Wenger.
Emery’s tactics are all over the place and he needs to go back to the drawing board immediately. No way should Iwobi and Mkhitaryan be starting ahead of Lacazette and Ozil. Nketiah picked on the bench ahead of Ozil for tactical reasons? That is shocking.
It’s Emery’s trade mark to make changes in every match. This could of course be seen as “being all over the place”, but I see it as attempts to develop and improve. The training field will never offer a realistic environment – you must do your experiments in matches.
Jon: I wish more people would see this. Emery is doing I think a fantastic job of it overall. I wrote off the year once I heard Le Prof was leaving to be perfectly honest. Emery is tinkering and these meaningless league cup games are the place to do it. Please my fellow Gooners let’s give this guy patience and support!
At some point I think we have to expect more from the guys on the pitch. You simply can’t be missing one golden opp after another. It’s getting tiresome.
Gross performance. Worst thing was seeing the players’ heads go down at 2-0, completely unacceptable. Another rubbish first half performance, another 2 goals conceded. Cech is terrible with his feet and needs to be sold, Koscielny is finished at this level, Xhaka is not a centre back, and Mkhitaryan is a busted flush. Need to sort the Ozil situation out pronto too, just another distraction. Worrying times…
Ozil missed. He should play every home game.
This great new Xhaka at centre back experiment has to stop. Now.
Chances not taken, miki and sokratis, poor.
Do you fancy them to beat Citeh or Chelsea? I don’t.
spuds.. you’ve won fuck all.
Emery has to figure out where players should be playing quickly. Its obvious Xhaka isn’t a centre half, even as a 3. Maitland-Niles isn’t a full back, Aubameyang is not a winger and there has been other examples. This was a demoralising defeat for me, we we second best all over the pitch, no fight whatsoever and even when Xhaka got angry it was petulant and he pretty much got laughed at. We need to buy in January, desperately, as it looks like he wants to ship out Ozil and with Ramsey, Welbeck and Cech also to go we will… Read more »
We need to keep Cech as is he is our best keeper. Unless Leno learns how to deal with crosses he isn’t good enough to be a No 1 keeper
Cech was awful i hope i gets out of club next year.
I never understand the subbing of Iwobi. He and Lacazette are the only players in this team with any ability to invent something out of nothing. Iwobi starts getting into the game and making dangerous moves and he’s subbed with Ramsey still playing.
Why wasn’t Koscielny starting if he was available?
Why is Xhaka such a fuck up? Please don’t say he was out of position, that doesn’t hinder a player from closing players down. Players like Harry Kane.
Emery really needs to offload the lot of these. It’s terrible. Beyond terrible.
I wonder what that twatt deli alli was given the 2 nil sign for the 2 times we won the title at your ground son or was it for only the second time you won at our new ground.
AMN is going to watch his career go down the drain.. When is going to make the step up? Didn’t cross the ball beyond the first man once? He is got good attributes and I know you all like him as an utility player.. but his half heartedness is exactly his problem..
Both the goals Cech came out half heartedly to defend and in the first goal he actually covered his face with his hands instead of making himself big.. I hope he sees the clip..
He’s not a fullback and that showed badly today, going forwards and backwards. Hopefully he can get a run in his preferred position, I don’t think Guendouzi is a million miles away from him and Elneny looks to be permanently out of favour.
Guendouzi lacks needed defensive attributes. AMN lacks passion and intense during play (and being calm on the ball is not this). He seriously needs to wake up and improve or he might find himself left behind.
AMN is an attacking midfielder but he’s hardly played in his true position. To blame Cech for the goals is pure nonsense.
Hopefully it’ll be a Spurs vs Chelsea Semi final….
We’re desperately lacking creativity, Iwobi was unlucky to come off again, thought he was our best attacking outlet.
Hopefully this Ozil scenario doesn’t keep dragging on, he’s clearly not the managers cup of tea, let’s get him out, get a replacement in, and move on ASAP
Get in!
There’s no way either team will rest players for this, advantage Arsenal
Every cloud…
AMN isn’t a fullback. Xhaka isn’t a defender. Unai and Mesut need to sort their shit out. We need to take our chances. Spurs are still pathetic wankers and the Carabao Cup is their Champions League final.
COYG.
It’s pretty obvious that Emery does not rate Elneny, but it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t have been as good as Xhaka as a centre half. Then Xhaka could have been in the midfield or, at Emery’s choice, given a rest.
We knew last season we had our weakest squad in 20 years. Emery has over achieved to date & made us forget that but with a few injuries & a few struggling with tiredness he gaps in quality are clear. We need to seriously show some mental strength now – anything less than a win very Burnley and we will be set for a tough Christmas.
Need to get a signing in January.
Ok- I think I have come to the end of this glorification of coaches and coaching systems. It is a bunch of inflated egotistical nonsense. Yes, tactics do matter and you expect players to be professional but I do think that the sudden obsession with tactics is silly. Football is about the players who play the game– the individual talent is importantly more critical to the success of a team than some guy’s obsession with tactics. Overwhelmingly, the teams with the better players win football matches, not the team with some more idealized setup. To say it bluntly these coaches… Read more »
Would really prefer counter proposals from those who down-vote. Will actually help me refine my thinking if I am wrong.
We seem to have gone from one extreme to another, from Arsene on the bench with his head in his hands to Unai running up and down barking out orders like a ringmaster. It would be nice to have some balance, and we absolutely need the flair players that make the beautiful game beautiful. That’s why I love Arsenal, and if creative players like Mesut are going to be forced out then the joy will be gone for me.
“You’ve got your Arsenal back”.
“1 nil to the Arsenal”.
“There’s only one Arsene Wenger”.
Explain Leicester then…
A coach has a massive impact. Take Poch from the spuds and they will slowly collapse.
Watch what happened to United with a toxic manager, they actually have a decent squad, if Poch goes there then they will get a lot better pretty quickly. Don’t underestimate the coach. We improved as a club because of Wenger, it wouldn’t have just happened under anyone
Good point, but we all know Leicester was an aberration. That’s why we were all so surprised. Besides looking back Lei had 3-4 class players in Kante, Vardy and Mahrez. Kante for one is the best midfielder in the league over the last 2-3 years. Also, if it is about coaching, how well has that system worked for Claudio since? And yes, you are right that coaching matters, question is, is it overdone? Based on this system, some of the great players in football will not make our team. That has got to be an issue- right? I am trying… Read more »
Perhaps coaching is as much about finding a solution than refusing to deal with the problem and then substantially weakening your team. Wenger for all his flaws actually learned this. In the midst of losing our best players to rivals, he tried to find solutions with players available. From Petit to Vieira to Fabregas to Cazorla in midfield for example. From Overmars to Pires to Hleb at LM. These were not the exact same player. In many cases, they were widely different but a good coach sees quality and works creatively at making it all work. Pires went from right… Read more »
I agree with some of what you’re saying… I think – the reasoning is beyond befuddled though! Your last sentence of your last comment for eg: are you sticking with your original point that the teams with the best players, being allowed the freedom to play at that ‘best’ level win? Or have you shifted to ‘how to make your team formidable with what you have’? ] I note also that you neatly ignore the very cogent eg of current Manure squad under Maureen – arguably some of the best players in the PL atm but negated by a broken… Read more »
Yes, I perhaps was not as cogent as I would have liked. This is a series of bursts of reasoning post-match rather than an essay. In any case, my point overall was examining whether “modern coaching” is overrated. I do appreciate your comment on current Manure situation. I will argue that that system does not meet the criteria for minimum coaching required. i.e. give them passion, let them be free etc. Also, Mou is like a psychological poison when he gets like this. There is a lot more to what is going on on the pitch in a single match.… Read more »
Of course, coaching matters, though often it is man-managing rather than tactics. Both tactically and in man-managing, it is a matter of getting the most out of the players you have. (In Ferguson’s last title, he got the absolute most from a squad that collapsed the next year.) So, it’s fine for a manager to choose players who have the attributes to play his style (an attacking fullback rather than a better defender), but it is simply ridiculous not to adapt that style to fit great players. If your system doesn’t let Salah do his thing, change your system! That… Read more »
I enjoyed your comment George
Thinking of Real Madrid and their galacticos at a point when they were the laughing stock of the football fraternity. Coaching matters a lot, bro.
There is actually research on this. It shows that the coach has very little influence. The one thing that makes a significant impact is the player spending. Those who buy the most expensive players and pay the highest salaries outperform the others.
From time to time, some coaches seem to overperform. But it might be random outliers from the trend: Claudio Ranieri benefited from Leicester’s fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime acquisitions. The club quickly reverted back to mid table minus. Diego Simeone made very good with his relatively inexpensive Atletico squad, but now they too spend like drunken sailors.
This is utter nonsense.
Do you not think that the very wealthy clubs with high paid analysts would have access to this data, and perhaps decide to save themselves the millions they have to offer to the very best in the game like Jose – who even when fired gets a reported £24m? Why not give the janitor a chequebook?
Yes, that’s a good the question. People can do less logical things. It is not up to us to say why they do so. We have recently had two novices at RM. One of them won 2 champs league. Is Zidane a coaching mastermind?– I doubt it. Barca once had Pep [I actually like him as a coach though] and Enrique (also novices) win a lot. I think the big clubs have some data to see the light.
Jon can you cite some references re research?
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21649480.2013.768829?src=recsys
This is very poor analysis. If it was just down to buying good players and letting them “play the game” United would be well above Arsenal and Spurs. On the topic of United… Ferguson took his last group of players to the premier league Title, ahead of Big Spending Man City and fierce competition from Chelsea. Both teams that outspent and had on paper “better players”. The next year Moyes with the same squad couldn’t get close and in fact their spending has GONE UP… and their league position gone DOWN. This is just a thinly veiled attempt at Wenger… Read more »
Haha- I do love to vindicate Wenger. 🙂 However, you should argue with my points. 😛 Chelsea and Man city did not have better players than United that year and United also spent a lot during the end of Fergie’s era. In fact, that season they bought the best available player in the window in RVP. Please check the teams. Yes, things like continuity etc. affects players and teams. I am not arguing that psychology does not matter. I am arguing that over-tinking is perhaps overrated. In today’s united case, Mou has poisoned his team. They are not motivated and… Read more »
The Wenger vindication works the other way: despite being consistently outspent, despite effectively becoming a selling club, Wenger always kept us in the Champions League, for which he was mocked. Turns out not to be so easy; might have been coaching.
I think these are really valuable points. As you say, the fact that the question is even possible that Emery could leave Bergkamp on the bench because he did not fit the system forces you to consider wider questions. Didier Deschamps, widely criticised for his lack of tactical sense, played a weird formation (with Giroud as a non-scoring and relatively immobile number 9), and chose very defensive fullbacks (Pavard and Hernandez), played Matuidi in the midfield next to Kante– in order to get the most out of Griezmann, Mbappe, and Pogba. Ozil is our most talented player, who creates more… Read more »
I don’t think the team played that bad given how Emery set them up. He has exceeded my expectations so far but he doesn’t know how to set the team up from the start. Stop playing players out of position for starters – Never move Xhaka out of the centre. He’s crucial to how we play and without our only ball playing CB we couldn’t get anything going. Screw the cup anyway we should set our sights a little higher than that and don’t need the potential extra 4 games. Fuck Sp*rs, Alli and please, Mr. Unai Emery – Good… Read more »
“Dropping Ozil for such a big game was not only insulting but stupid’~Tywin Lannister
Disappointed to get beat by that dross but in the grand scheme of things it could work out not too well for them – ideal scenario would be spuds v chavski in the next round!!!
Pass to Iwobi break down,how many breakaway goals result from his up a blind alley situations, Maitland-Niles everything breaks down and he remains just as calm as the opponent’s schemer who is tearing us apart, will he amount to anything, probably not. Will Ramsey ever gambler a and follow into the six yard box. The early season run has flattered us, now is the reckoning, is the top four possible, probably not!
Now at least those Özil haters cant blame him for the defeat….or they are? Blame him…for not playing??
Just look how this summup nearly ignoring his qualities ? there was no place in this squad tonight. Nice, really…Emery’s tactics worked out
As soon as anyone uses the word ‘haters’ I can no longer take them seriously.
I wish we could sign few players this january, esp CB and Winger, top 4 is still relevant and we need to strenghen our squad if we want to challenge.
It’s a pity Emery doesn’t know how to use Ozil.I mean ,even Morinho could.
I’m trying to work out why we ain’t getting the ball to our strikers in the box consistently. They’re lethal, and should be getting more and better service. This is an old response from a game we won (Bournemouth). Still applies.
I do think we need to sign two players in the transfer window one centre back and a right winger – splash the cash, not stupidly, but get the quality required even if it costs a bit more than it would in the summer!!!
And the moral of the tale is: if you don’t take your chances then you’ll get beaten. I just knew it wasn’t going to be our night when Mkhitaryan missed that sitter early on. And Sokratis should have made it 1-1 before half time. But Spuds took advantage of our habitual dodgy defending to get the victory. We looked very average today. We could have done with our £350k a week superstar midfielder, but he was nowhere to be seen. No “back spasm” tonight: just a “tactical decision” not to include him in the squad. I wonder when he’ll be… Read more »
It’s like Pogba 2.0
I think it’s fair to say that Emery has taken the current squad as far as it can probably go. Xhaka at CB. AMN at right back. Guendouzi, Mhkytarian and Iwobi starting when they’re at best squad players for the other top 5 sides. Ozil and Elneny potentially finished at Arsenal. With so many injured, out of position or just out of form we were never getting anything out of this game, against a motivated Sp*rs side. Time to back the manager in January to keep the top 4 push alive.
Great post. We so badly need to bring in some quality, especially at the back. Two decent defensive signings are absolutely essential right now. And we’ve needed a quality winger for years. The crossing from both flanks tonight was atrocious.
If we intend to continue playing with offensive full backs, there is hardly room for specialized wingers. Unless we play 442 or 451.
True – look what Saints did to us with just a couple of decent crosses…
That was horrible. We’re so bloody predictable, get the ball to Granit, send it over to Maitland-Niles, rinse and repeat, or get it to Nacho and leave him isolated, rinse and repeat. Poor crosses, poor decision making, forwards runs being ignored, players in positions for cut-backs that don’t happen. We’ve been winning games by determination and hard work , but our players look knackered and the manager has had two poor games in a row. This nonsense with leaving out Laca and Mesut for tactical reasons is becoming stupid, either have the guts to play the best team or the… Read more »
Eh, a bunch of those players have not really featured, AMN, Monreal, Ramsey, or we’re out of position, Xhaka. I’m not really that bothered considering the shape of the squad, but I am worried that we are losing whatever form carried us this far. On the other hand, Kos and Monreal could help secure our defense
I think we should settle for fifth spot this season, don’t by anyone in January, and save all our money so emery can go out in the summer and buy four or five players that HE wants, then we should have a much better team than what we have now
I really shouldn’t say anything ..But that was dumb. I ain’t settling for shit 4th is the target and they should go for it it is achievable. Spörs are one arrykane and erikson injury away from freefall.
We are Arsenal .. The club should just give Emery /Sven/Sanelli the funds needed to strengthen us. Doesnt have to be Mourinho money a lot can be done for less.
He’s a troll. Don’t engage.
The difference today was composures in front of goal.
Still, we won in the league which is far more important
Don’t like this Ozil situation one bit. We need him, resolve the differences for the good of the club. Leave that shite happen in Manchester, not the Arsenal.
Our attackers were so bad Iwobi was the best of the bunch. I really dont know what Ramsey and Mhki were doing tbh it might have been football but im not sure. Auba and Laca were also poor and ineffective.
Get Xhaka back in the midfield, asap, to spread the play, speed up the passing,
Torreria and Xhaka.
And get both Alexander l. And Pierre both on the pitch for 90 minutes
We had a few missing tonight but that’s arguably our best midfield, all 3 of them are the same player and don’t get me wrong there all good at what they do but there’s no flair, I won’t buy into this thought that Ozil don’t work hard enough!! I want him just behind the forward pulling the strings I’m not interested in anything else. Surely we can try a 3 of PEA Lacazette and Ozil!
He don’t rate Ozil and there’s no deal for Ramsey then what’s the plan ?
Very very good point on Ramsey. If no deal than what’s the point playing him instead of Özil who can, you all know that controls the game, make classy finishes etc. Like you mate, j just want him to pull the strings behind Laca and Auba. Just give them time and it will be much better than our formation today.
Did you watch the last goal we conceded against Southampton? Ozil lost control of the ball to an opponent who quickly initiated a counter without our priced asset making any effort to dislodge his effort towards our goal area (well aware that we have a makeshift defence) and the ball ended up inside our net. Most other players would have at least harried him or commit a soft foul to break his momentum and allow his teammates to regroup. Let’s call a spade by it’s name and stop overprotecting these overpriced and overpaid players. To whom much is given, much… Read more »
yes – Ozil lost the ball on the attack. And yes, he made no effort to chase back a la Alexis. But that’s why we have a midfield and a defence. The fact that Iwobi was actually a few yards from Redmond as he cut in and shaped to cross, yet simply stood and watched, the fact that Kos allowed his man to get goalside on him on that cross, is the real issue. Ozil is to blame for losing the ball on attack, but that happens to attackers all the time, it’s the nature of the game. He’s also… Read more »
In fact, usually when a central attacker loses the ball deep in the opposition’s half (which, of course, happens all the time) he ought to make an immediate effort to get it back and then, if he doesn’t succeed, he should NOT track back. (I said “usually” and “central attacker”–of course, there are exceptions, especially for wingers to help their fullbacks.) That doesn’t make him a passenger or lazy–it puts him in position to attack again.
We were shit ! No cb’s again looked poor!. I dont want start soon and gloom but I’m sure we have been here!
Injuries and lack of conditioning are hurting the team, and a new manager trying to make the best of tinkering with another coach’s guys…maybe it’s all catching up to us a bit. Iwobi was playing well, should have stayed on, AMN was not up to it, Laca could have subbed him. I actually think we created a lot of good chances. What is our problem with finishing lately? I hope the Bobbsey Twins are making the case to Scrooge McDuck that we need some fucking personnel. This might be the new norm, intense competition for very few CL spots via… Read more »
Mhki is a myth. I know we all want him to be a success so we can further mug off man u but the guy just does not cut it. He has decent moments but when was his last good 90. Infact when was his last good half.
Was at the game. Time wasting by spurs from first half onwards drove me crazy. We hit the woodwork twice and miki missed a one on one which would have given us the lead. Cech’s kicking was ropey. Iwobi did well to hold up the loopy kicks at his face on the majority of occasions. Guendouzi passed sideways and backwards a lot. Ramsey largely anonymous.
Every Gooner hurts after this and you wouldn’t be an Arsenal fan if this didn’t effect you but, we don’t have a defense or not the defense that we had against them in the last meeting. We showed our thinness of our squad on Saturday and so it was today. Once again, only one recognized CB in our team. There was makeshift everywhere and Ozil would not have improved anything. After scoring two on Saturday and making me eat a little humble pie. Mhika once again proved to me that he should be shifted in Jan. His inconsistency doesn’t allow… Read more »
Dissapointing but important to put things in perspective : 1)Its just the Carabao cup. Maybe it will mean something significant to Spurts who haven’t won anything but really, most teams will not see this as a major trophy (The press of course will have a wank) As for the game… 2)… surprise to see Granit in the backline again. He didn’t do badly at all but it may point to some issues in terms of fitness with our backline. Likely Lichsteiner not 100% and Mustafi protected (hopefully) for the weekend. 3) Also we lined up with a rather strong squad.… Read more »