Sokratis may have bagged a goal last night but his overall performance, like that of all his teammates, was well below-par as Arsenal fell to a damaging 3-1 defeat at Wolves.
Back from a two-game suspension, the Greek international struggled all game to cope with the pace and movement of the home side’s attackers and looked particularly culpable when he pulled out of a challenge on Diogo Jota as the Portuguese netted the third goal in first-half stoppage time.
It was a bad night. And the centre-back knows it. After the game, he made clear he wouldn’t make excuses before laying down the gauntlet to Unai Emery’s squad to secure three wins from the three remaining Premier League challenges.
“It’s not time to find excuses,” he told Arsenal.com. “We have to look at the next three games where we need to win all three to get nine points. We’ll see if we can be in the top four. I trust my team 100 per cent, all of the players. I think we can do it.
“There’s not a bad mentality – we won two away games in the last 10 days. [But] we all take responsibility. We’re not stupid and we know that we didn’t play well. We now have three chances and we have to win all the games.
“Of course [we get angry]. The players want to play in the Champions League, we like winning and we want to be there. It’s not easy. Today was a bad moment for us. We cannot change it now because the game is finished, so now we look towards the next game.
“It’s a difficult game. We know that now the chance could go, so we have to take the three points in all three games. I hope that we win on Sunday.”
While our fate is currently out of our own hands, we could regain control of our destiny by the end of Sunday.
If we can avoid defeat at Leicester (LOL) and Manchester United beat Chelsea later in the afternoon, we’ll climb to fourth place again either level on points with Blues and with a better goal difference or two points clear of both.
It’s amazing how many chances we keep getting to cock things up.
Well fucking sort it out them, bang some heads together ffs
Papa, don’t preach
You win the internet for today.
Not stupid off the pitch, plenty of stupidity on it in the last two PL matches (and more in the previous PL match, but fortunately that was from Deeney).
We won our previous two away games, true. But a bit of context please Papa. The first we struggled for 80 mins against 10 men Watford. The second Napoli pretty much gave up after a slightly flukey goal from Lacca. The problem still exists. Let’s not pretend this was just one of those nights.
No, no, Papa, the fans are much clever than you, they know better, they would fight more, they love more the club than you, they care more… They have never had the training you had to become a professional football player but, problem, they behave as if they had. In matter of football, strategy, skills… I’ll always trust you, guys, and not Arsenal fan TV and consorts.
I wouldn’t like you to come to my office to tell me how i have to work and that i don’t deserve my wages.
Alex, when it comes to matters concerning Ozil, you criticize Emery, his tactics even other players to prove they are lower quality players. Can you apply these principles to yourself first ?
I think maybe its best if Sokratis threatens to eat the rest of the playing staff if they dont buck their ideas up, im sure we will see results then
Same script, different season.
Different characters
If we had more players with the mentality of Papa. We would be a much better team.
We have too many players pulling out of challenges.
Pained me to see Özil, Mikhi and Iwobi all pulling out of several challenges yesterday.
Fucking abmysal. At least have a good go at 4th place.
Can’t believe this team is outfought by teams like wolves.
Let Emery bring his own players in, at least we’ll be fucking up for the physical battles.
We need more than mentality alone.
There are many issues to be fixed.
If Denis Suarez is an indicator of the types of player Emery likes then I wouldn’t count on it.
Many things I could say but can’t still, after that shit show, think of anything more eloquent than ‘cunts’.
Everyone wants to find reasons as to why we continue to be average. Pretty simple. Too many average players.
Maybe 2 or 3 would play for Liverpool or Man City. The others are mid table at best.
Therefore, we are an average team owned by an owner who refuses to buy 11 world class players.
Absolutely nailed it. We will continue to churn out shit like this whilst that toupee-wearing mustachioed cunt continues to sit on his cheque book.
Disagree. Checkbook has been used on Auba, Laca, Ozil. Even Mustafi was an expensive defender at the time. Remember when we spent £50m+ on him and Lucas Perez. Money just isn’t the problem.
Seems to be a lot down to the defense. City and Liverpools are brilliant, ours are aging or not defensively minded, I’ve enjoyed watching Sead bomb down the left flank but when we play 3 at the back we have been terrible. Our centre backs aren’t even close to the level of citypool. At this point I would be happy if we spend £100m on a top class defence and went back to churning out 1nils.
Very right many of these players except for Ramsey are mere jokers whose interest is just to play but not to win
Name me the 3 players that get into a top side please?
I think quite a few of our players could get in the squads, not sure about the first teams. Ozil, Laca, Auba, Kos, Torreira, Ramsey for example are all there or thereabouts.
It depends on form (and probably fatigue). Earlier in the season when he was running rampant Auba looked a top player, so did Laca. Both scored some great goals. Not so much at the moment.
If we had a better squad I think that would help. More / better defenders obviously would help.
No, any proposal will stir negative and fruitless debate when we need to get behind the team.
Unfortunately having been around these parts for a while I have to say: good luck with that.
Who would play for City?Zero!
Bit of an odd argument there. Their squad cost about a half a billion quid, so why wouldn’t their players be better than ours?
You are not stupid? Says only you. Everyone else knows you are! You’ve had one horrible game after another, and yet you and your clueless coaches did nothing to fix it. If that’s not stupidity then what is?
So you have never expected to do well at something, done the prep, but come up short? And you’ve never had this happen several times? If you have, shut up! I’m as annoyed as anyone else but going off name-calling isn’t helpful.
In fairness he lingered longest after applauding the away fans and looked gutted.
In Fairness too, have you ever seen him smile?
kroenke out. Nothing will ever change until we get someone at the top who CARES !
The go to blame when Mustafi is not around to pin a defeat on.
Come on santori surely after the wolves game you would have change your mind a little bit. The guy is not good enough to play for arsenal. I dont even hate him but I do not want to see him play again next season.
Nailed it
Notice that Emery didn’t want to give anything away at the press conference but Wolves still had as sussed out from every single angle?
Can we blame Mustafi?
Actions speak louder than words Papa.
Yes, David Hillier loves to criticise Mustafi. Not sure he can find the words to describe the defending last match.:D
Because mustafi is a liability.
Can’t we get Mendez to do some sort of dodgy deal with our club so we can get all these wicked players for a quarter of the price like Wolves have done?
Don’t you just love the way everyone acts like Wolves are like some kind of fairytale story about a well-run plucky underdog, rather than the next club on the conveyor-belt of sugar-daddy clubs buying their way to success? (And in their case, they’re doing it on the back of Jorge Mendes’ dodgy deals.)
Seems like we have a few ways we can lose a game.
Making defensive mistakes is one.
Coming across a very talented, quick, motivated side playing at home is another.
Fuck knows what’s going to happen over the next three Premier League games.
imagine the score if Mustafi was playing *faints*
The score won’t be any worse.
Mustafi hasn’t been culpable for any large defeats.
In fact he has been in the team several times when on rare occassion we have kept clean sheets.
He certainly was not in the squad (or peripheral at best) against BHA, Soton(away), West Ham, and Liverpool in which we slumped to poor defeats.
In those games, Torreira conspired to lose the ball, or was robbed of the ball or made a poor clearance 6 or 7 times 4 of which led directly to goals against us.
No need to faint.
Man you copy paste same thing again and again about Torreira. I think most of us are tired now.
Mustafi is very bad. End of story.
Santori, you can repeat your baseless argument all you want but a handful of clean sheets and Torreira losing the ball a few times doesn’t negate the fact that Mustafi is a poor defender with lousy awareness and awful concentration.
Hurts me to say but I feel Brenda and Leicester will definitely turn us over unfortunately
Unless we can tweak some weaknesses have come to the fore tactically.
Back 3 still best option both offensive-wise (Releasing Kolasinac either with Iwobi or Auba) plus blatantly Koscielny-Sokratis pairing not the vaunted combination some people who prefer to blame Mustafi would deem to imagine.
Bah!
“I know that I know nothing.” (plato account’s of socrates) no comment.
Elephant in the room some people prefer to conveniently ignore. We are still shite at defending without Mustafi. Had Mustafi been so flat for the third Wolve’s goal, there would be no end to people baying for him to be sold. Nor has our defending of set pieces gotten better. The second goal was very reminiscent of the same issues we had with the third Palace goal. I mentioned it was not simply a case of Mustafi making a mistake but a systemic issue Sokratis was late coming off the line (as was Jenkinson for the first Palace goal) as… Read more »
You have to stop this obsession Santori it’ll eat you alive
And we should’ve bought Mahrez, right?
Mustafi is not a liability…
Torreira is not good and cost us all these points, but mustafi hasn’t cost us points…
We should have bought Mahrez even though we didn’t have the money…
Mislintat is the root of all our problems…
Santori’s spot on analysis day after day after day with no end in sight.
I still don’t understand why we didn’t buy Javier Pastore and play him in central midfield.
Nothing will change because the club will keep making money as long as we’re mediocre at best. Stadium will sell out due to season ticket holders and tourists buying the remaining seats. Jerseys and merchandise etc will continue to make money. Silent Stan will not invest as the business model is ideal to him, low investment with a satisfactory gain for him.
We will continue being a mediocre team.
Exactly! AFC is now an investment vehicle. Kronke will only start to care when we get so bad that we get relegated, the stadium is no longer full for home games and nobody wants to buy the replica kits!
Then will he subsidise the transfer budget? Doubt it! He will probably sell the club to some other millionaire and we will spend the next 15 to 20 seasons trying to get back to where we once were.
When I was a season ticket holder the other top club was Leeds United. I now know how their fans feel!
Since Sp*rs have “St Totteringham’s Day”, then Arsenal have….?
This SHIT is getting ridiculous!!!
the moment Ramsey went down was the moment I came to my senses, spurs will again be above us, chelsea will nick 4th we will probably finish 6th, out we go v Valencia we are a shambles. We have no drive going forward from midfield which brings me back to Ramsey the only player to be able to hold his head high this season, our midfield? Xhaka ?overated average, Torriera ? didn’t take long for other managers to nullify his influence, Gendousi hairy side passing show pony, Elneny ? ditto, Miki ? doesn’t want it, Ozil ? how can we… Read more »
We are not far away from competing but a million miles away. Unai is punching slightly above the weight of this squad. Several issues plague us. There is no one fault that is all encompassing. 1) The squad has its limits. This is beyond Mustafi. We still carry legacy deadweights that are arguably even less productive than the German. The likes of Jenkinson and Elneny inexplicably lauded by some for whatever sentiment for a start. This added to usual injury plague has meant quality falls off a cliff where depth is concern. BUT we have also yet to address short… Read more »
You will excuse my long post hopefully.
Not saying I’m right but clearly Mustafi is a convenient distraction away from what truly is the problem.
2 things :
1. You are very much saying you’re right. It’s what you do.
2. You are of course right about Mustafi. He is far from our sole problem defensively…but he is a very big problem. Of all the defenders who have played regularly for us this season he has been – unquestionably – the worst.
I envy you Kwame, 1) for having the patience to read all that 2) for having the composure to write a well mannered response that makes far more sense than the aforementioned ‘all that’. I wish you could filter more of his inevitable ego-feeding monologues, but alas I fear the burden of that neverending chore on a single soul could be devastating. Don’t think anyone has ever said Mustafi accounts for 100% of our problems, merely that he is the by far the most costly, and that’s obvious. But as ever santori twists reality to make his point and then… Read more »
Was wondering where you got too after the Palace debacle. Now realise you were busy scripting this Mustafi smokescreen of a thesis.
Santori I salute if nothing else your extraordinary commitment to continuous arsenal based commentary.
Bore off cunt fucker
Give up, will you?
At least the season is almost over and we can get back to the important stuff. Bitching about Kroenke, arguing over stupid rumors, and finding new acrobatic ways to blame Wenger.
And equally finding new acrobatic ways to absolve Arsène of any blame??
After watching that free kick last night again…I really hope the day was spent smashing balls at the lads until they realised that turning your back on the ball from a free is a fucking cowardly thing to do. We probably would of lost anyway but that was so unacceptable.(I hope we spent the day doing actual training on reflection)
It’s the hope that kills! ?
Possibly. We’re all missing the point here Bad selections by Emery. Maybe But 5 games in such a short time. The Team was completely knackered! And players pulling out of challenges? You all know that when you’re fatigued succumbing to a silly injury is much easier. It would be season needing and we don’t have a huge squad. That definitely plays on the players minds. I’ll m hugely gutted. As we are every time we loose. I can only rationalise it by the dlfact I think it was purely one game to far and we looked fucked to be honest.… Read more »
When the team needs to pick it up a first class captain can motivate. Who is that captain?
Well against Wolves and Palace. You were all both stupid and bad.
Get more movement from the entire team then! From the forwards to the fullbacks. Our entire team is so static that it feels like the oppositions are defending against cones.
Easy to say I know, but perhaps the coaching team needs to drill the players on movements hard.
I guess they already discuss this, but I think one has to look at all our away match routines: Do we train to hard / to little the days before? Do we get enough sleep? Should we travel the day before, or go by plane? Should we further try to facilitate travel for Arsenal supporters to help us out away? The boys play as if they have a heavy hangover.
It’s bizarre init? I think the major issue is with our mentality; a bit of noise from the home crowd or conceding a goal just seems to suck the confidence out of us.