Result: Brighton 2 – 1 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 20 June 2020
Venue: The Amex Stadium
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac, Ceballos, Guendouzi, Saka, Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang
Subs: Martinez, Medley, Tierney, Maitland-Niles, Willock, Ozil, Nelson, Martinelli, Nketiah
Arsenal lost 2-1 at the Amex in what was an largely uninspiring match that was punctuated by an awful injury for Bernd Leno.
Maupay’s cynical push on Leno caused the goalkeeper to land awkwardly in what seemed to be painul, long-term injury. It was the Gunners who responded first with an audacious goal that was the only bright moment of ability in a tepid game.
They conceded just minutes later to a corner and a bad day was rounded off with a last minute goal by Maupay to steal all 3 points for Brighton.
Pre-Game
After the high profile absentees of the game against Manchester City, we saw some familiar names on the team sheet as Pepe and Lacazette returned to the starting line-up while Ozil, who didn’t even make the team previously due to “tactical reasons”, started on the bench.
The two forwards joined Aubameyang and Saka in a very attacking line-up that hoped to blow the opposition away as they struggled to put bodies in central defence – Holding, still feeling his way back from his ACL injury, filling in for his injured and suspended teammates.
First Half
The offensive front four went at it straight from the whistle. Aubameyang almost scored within the first minute. A well-placed through ball from Guendouzi put Pepe through the right wing. The Ivorian whipped in a teasing cross but Aubameyang couldn’t connect with it cleanly when he made an acrobatic overhead kick that went wide.
A very fascinating sight on field was the versatile Bukayo Saka who was constantly on the move as a floating no. 8, no. 10 and left-sided midfielder. It was this blur of movement which made him hard to pick up. The confusion in the Brighton midfield allowed him to saunter up with the ball and strike with his weaker right foot which unfortunately crashed off the crossbar on the 7th minute.
The match continued to be scrappy as both teams struggled to find a rhythm due to constant fouling on Pepe and Saka without much recourse from the officials.
It took until the 30th minute for the next big opportunity. Saka found space down the left to cross the ball. It bounced on route to Lacazette which meant the Frenchman had to improvise and pull off a diving header which was well saved by Mathew Ryan.
Just a few minutes later, Brighton’s niggly challenges finally produced a major injury. The victim was Leno who landed awkwardly after a mid-air collision with Maupay. The push by Maupay was totally unnecessary as the striker was not close to the ball when it was caught by Leno and we can only wish the German a speed recovery in what looked like a major knee injury judging from his haunting screams.
Second Half
The injury must have rallied the troops as Arsenal started at a quick tempo and it was Aubameyang who hit the target within minutes of the whistle after a quick break away. The captain inched closer towards producing a goal though he was caught (just) offside a few minutes later when Saka put him through on goal against a high Brighton line.
Niggly Brighton tackles and a lack of fluency continued to plague Arsenal through the half but it was a moment of real quality that allowed the Gunners to draw first blood on 67 minutes. Pepe received the ball in the inside right channel, cut in on his preferred left foot and curled an unstoppable shot into the top corner. World class stuff by Pepe, 1-0.
It didn’t take long for Arsenal to squander their lead as Brighton hit back via a corner. Brighton whipped in a low ball that Arsenal struggled to clear. Holding’s clearance bounced off an onrushing Dunk for it to ricochet into the net for a Brighton equaliser. 1-1.
It became a game of attrition with Brighton stifling Arsenal through multiple fouls as both teams saw out the clock. However, the men in blue stole all three points with a last gasp goal courtesy of a cheeky chipped goal by Maupay. 2-1.
The Arsenal players didn’t take the result too well at the final whistle with many confronting Maupay for the injury he caused to Leno.
The result sees Arsenal’s European ambition hit another snag as the Gunners were unable to put in a decent performance against relegation strugglers.
Two games in and I already wish football hadn’t come back. Atrocious performance, start to finish. Literally cannot think of a single positive thing to say about either of these matches.
The only positive is that these games will give those above and arteta a final chance to see how bad we can be before next season starts, in the hope something is done about it.
A side note – I don’t recall any other team taking a permanent wage cut, are the players feel abit cheated and therefore less motivated?
They are paid like a top 4 team and they are playing like a middle table team.
No complaints about result, We are dreadful in attack and woeful in defense, which means we are never safe with 1 goal lead.
8 months after emery.We still play the same way. No pressing, easy to cut through middle, No dominance in midfield. What’s arteta’s identity in all this ?
Bellerin would you plant trees for loses please!
I literally called the equalizer. For some time now we play in this very cowardly way where after scoring a goal.we.start setting up deep blocks and invite pressure on our goal. It’s the reason Olympiacos managed to grab a second goal against us.
Waste of 2 hrs!
The replies below having a go at Arteta and claiming crisis are the type of Arsenal fans that disgust me – literally about 10-15 games into his reign and there are already losers in the comments calling for his head – plastic plastic fans – go support city they always win.
Klopp guided pool to 8th in an entire first season in charge – good things come to those who wait you muppets.
I’m not happy that we didn’t win but so grateful I’m not as plastic as Pamela Anderson like a lot of muppets that comment here 😀
Arteta hasn’t changed anything. Nketiah, Nelson, willock in and Martinelli our 2nd highest scorer sitting on the bench
Spot on sums it all, I cannot for the life of me like many of us see how arteta can rate nketiah above martinelli as an attacking option on the left or through the middle (even on the right if need be!). Martinelli is obviously the real deal. The 3 you named as nice lads as I am sure they are, are at best championship level if that. The only thing I can think is these 3 were the fag end of wenger”s youth teams and hence around the club when arteta was with us. If anybody tells me it… Read more »
Yep. I cannot see any appreciable difference in the end product from what Emery served up.
Spot on. You are absolutely right.
The strange thing about that is, the very first game against Chelsea the impact was huge. The movement off the ball accompanied by quick progressive passing. We burnt out in that game due to fitness but left everyone feeling so much better because it was a clear return to the type of football we identify with. The result on the day didn’t matter. It was a coach/manager who knew what he wanted and how to get his messages through to the players instantly. Those messages seem to have changed drastically in terms of style. Slow ponderous and obvious. Really disheartened… Read more »
Bellerin overrated RB should be sold. Martinez should be sold. He didn’t need to rush out for the 2nd goal. Time to go. Willock, not ready for premier league football. Nelson should be sold. Aubameyang Lacazetter can leave too, Xhaka as well take Ozil Luiz mustafi also ENOUGH is ENOUGH
These players are all cowards with a weak mentality. Wenger had them they choked, emery they choked, Arteta same story its obvious now its not the coaches it’s the players overpaid.
Recruiting has been sht fire the board
Any other coach who played one of the best strikers in the world as a winger would be vilified. I don’t get it.
Exactly he moves Auba to the left to accommodate an academy player who couldn’t break into a championship team. He INSISTS on playing willock who before this only has U21 experience hasn’t ever been loaned out to gain experience and that’s the guys he relies on to get arsenal ticking. These are academy players under norl circumstances they shouldn’t even be near the first team they should be out on loan if we had a good squad but we don’t and our manager is super naive to think these players are ready. Nelson, Nketiah, willock are not ready, bellerin is… Read more »
And he seems to think Willock is better than Özil.
Couldn’t agree more. Surely if we can see it he and his team of coaches to see it? If I hear any more people defending arteta and coaches using the point that they see the players everyday, then that again is bollocks. You don’t have to see a player in training to be able to judge what level they are. This isn”t just about effort, desire or acceptance of instructions on the pitch it is also about ability and possessing the talent to play at the highest level. They unfortuantely do not have the ability to do so as do… Read more »
The biggest irony is that I don’t think he’s nearly as good as saka or martinelli in that wide position. He’s great running in behind but those opportunities are rare and the rest of the time his actual contribution to progressing the ball or creating dangerous moments is minimal. I don’t blame him for that. He works hard but just isn’t that good a player technically or have an understanding of how to be clever in that role. We’ve sacrificed our overall dominance control and craft for someone who can potentially score more IF the opportunities arise. For sure he’ll… Read more »
Cristiano Ronaldo moved to the wing at Real Madrid. Barcelona has moved both Lionel Messi and Antoine Greizmann to the wing. Kylian Mbappe played on the wing in the World Cup. Neymar was moved to the wing. Mohamed Salah (while not world class at the time) was a striker who was moved to the wing.
I would love to have Auba up top, but elite strikers are played as wingers all the time in modern football.
I actually thought Martinez was very solid when he came on – he was particularly assuring when grabbing every ball out of the sky against Brighton’s crosses, and I’m not sure what your point about him coming out is. Do you want your goalkeeper to stay on their goalline when the opposition striker has been put through inside the penalty area?
Same old problem though, how do you get rid off the deadwood, except to pay them up & clear them out of the club. Does anyone have any confidence in ‘Raul’ & co do bring in decent players?
You don’t get rid of the dead wood. We have to wait till their contracts are up. Crucially the thing we can do is NOT buy any more in the mean time
And we are the team with worst disciplinary record inspite of us being the softest in epl. Even on air commentators couldn’t believe this fact.
When i came to know brighton is yet to win i knew our jingle bell arsenal will come to their rescue.
No offense to martinez, but leno saves that 2nd goal, He never dives down, saved two from sterlimg and maharez which were chiral of today’s goal attempts.
But this game is a perfect example of how we’ve ended up with that record. Maupay pushed Leno off balance when he was in the air and had already caught the ball, but walked away scot free because he plays for Brighton. Lacazette arrived slightly late with a fair, controlled challenge for a very winnable ball and was booked immediately. It’s maddening
It’s seems to be so misunderstood the pushing of playes in the air. Just so easy to lose control of how you land. It’s clearly dangerous play. Same with backing in to players who have out jumped an opponent and they end up going over the top and landing on their necks or shoulders. It’s sly and dangerous
Our bench is weak.. From the keeper to the rest of the players on our bench. Also granted we have a lot of players out. But still that 2nd goal doesn’t go in if he stayed on his line
A lot to do with a dysfunctioning midfield, defense can’t do much with lack of cover. With average age of 21 and experience of less than a year, the midfield played as ecpected. Xhaka may not be world beater but he’s our best midfielder in terms of controlling and advancing the game. Other than that, Laca is still toothless and Martinelli must’ve rubbed Arteta the wrong way to not even come on as a sub..
I thought we weren’t bad defensively outside of the two goals, those two moments where they switched off. Otherwise I thought Guendouzi was a bit more disciplined than usual, probably at Arteta’s behest, to provide more defensive stability. The problem is, you’re playing a team battling to stay up but because of injuries and the overall quality of the squad, you’re playing a style more suited for a bottom-half club. But we simply don’t have the midfield to boss even a team like Brighton, and with a pair of central defenders Arteta was likely worried about, our ability to… Read more »
Another lead blown, another (possibly) season ending injury to a key player. I thought we were going to be full of determination to prove the city game was a mistake, but this is a complete disaster without any sign of willingness to stop this mediocrity that’s been going on for half a decade. It just seems to me that nothing changed, Arteta is a very charismatic, quotable person with good intentions , but basically it is all just words so far and zero improvement was visible on the pitch. I have completely lost the last piece of optimism that I… Read more »
Maybe if the club could look outside of Spanish/south American players/managers or Raul’s contact book, we could have got someone proven. Ralph Hasenhuttl just signed a contract extension with Southampton – why would it have been so hard to get him?
I don’t think the South American approach has been that bad tbh. Martinelli has been brilliant (somebody should tell Arteta) and Mari was a fairly sensible, cost-effective signing in a January transfer window that is notoriously hard to find quality
And then there was Luiz…
Our starting line up had:
French – 4
German – 2
English – 2
Spanish – 2
Bosnian – 1
Then we brought in 3 English players, an Argentine (only due to injury), and a Scotsman.
Observe the body language. Many players simy don’t care. I don’t want to see anyone talking about extending Ceballos’s stay, he clearly has his heart else where and he was bloody nonchalant today. I am deeply hurt.
Add this to the fact that we have charlatans running this club, and it hurts even more because nothing will change.
Yeh I think Willock will do just fine replacing Ceballos.
Absolutely spot on. Glad there are supporters on here saying things like this rather than the normal rolled out excuses which lets face it are as limp as our performances. I like your point about arteta saying the right things “we have to change the culture…” and so on, but as you point out that only holds weight if the performances on the pitch replicate these positive plans/words with action. He has not implemented change on the pitch – do this first and then follow with the words and platitudes! This is all Arsenal FC has become from the top… Read more »
We’re in full blown rebuilding mode & decisions on the squad should reflect that this summer.
Full blown rebuilding mode?
Do you hear yourself talk?
Arsenal are a mid table team – just like all of Kroenke’s sports franchises. Mid table mediocrity.
Full blown rebuilding mode?
That is so funny – that you actually believe that crap…
The Rams were in the Super Bowl recently. The Nuggets are one of the best teams in the NBA.
Good for them. That makes me much happier. I apologise your knowledge of recent USA sports far outsrips mine.
So your point is – that he is a great owner Arsenal? Our current steady decline is not down to him? What is it then, if his other franchises are so successful, a combination of other factors at Arsenal over which he has no control?
He never once said that KSE was doing great for Arsenal. Just pointed out that the initial argument was flawed.
Good point. Spot on. Rebuild? Yeah right, what a load of bollocks. Too many gooners not facing the truth (as you say). We are a mid-table club with mid-table ambitions which has been and is determined by a trump donating owner who doesn’t give a flying fuck about Arsenal FC other than whether it can help with his bank balance. I understand why many gooners do not want to face the truth (I do it myself) – this is not going to get any better we have years of more mediocrity ahead. All those american fans of kronke owned franchises… Read more »
We’ve been in full blown rebuilding mode since July 2004. Send me your arguments…
It’s clear that we can’t compete with the top
6 anymore. This idea of signing expensive players on massive wages simply bc “we are 1-2 players away from competing or making the top 4” should be over. Sell laca/ Auba and look for young players with high potential. Move on from Luiz immediately and we should seriously think about just paying Ozil off to be done with that circus.
Lost to a team that hadn’t won a game in 2020.
Let the guy who hurt our keeper score the winner against us in injury time.
Never looked like scoring except for one moment of brilliance.
Worst disciplinary record in the league, about to get worse with Guendouzi likely to get a 3 match ban for being dumber than a box of fucking rocks.
Virtually zero chance of Champion’s League football next season (not that we would do anything but embarrass ourselves, at this rate).
Hang your heads in shame, Arsenal.
That’s it, exactly. This club in the CL would be an embarrassment. Honestly, I’d also be fine without being involved the Europa League, a competition we’d feel obligated to take seriously but really means almost nothing in terms of prestige and cash.
I like the Europa League in theory as a chance to get our younger players more opportunities, and of course with the club’s model any cash infusion is better than none, but of all the years to miss out, this might be the best one with so much uncertainty with fans being in the stands over the next year and other COVID concerns.
On the plus side I rekon Guen will get away with that tiny pat that made Maupay go down like he’d been shot!
God ! are we still talking about champions league ? We are not even europa league contenders now.
Can’t beat brighton in 2 matches, they don’t deserve to even be in europa next season
Arsenal don’t deserve to finish in the the top half and most likely won’t judging current form. Whatever’s up with Auba, Laca, Luiz, Xhaka and Saka has killed this team.
Arteta out
I remember you were one of the first to shout ‘Wenger Out’.
Was he wrong?
Most of the people who down voted this comment are the same people who wanted Emery out. When Arteta fails to deliver these people will show their faces calling for his head. There is zero loyalty in this place or amongsy football fans..
Agree about loyalty but Emery did nothing at any point to inspire loyalty.
Everyone knows where they stand with Arteta. Most likely if he can’t do better, or push the mandarins to sign better, he’ll walk.
What is your point? Emery proved that he can’t do this job. Arteta has yet to prove that, he has a bad team. If he proves that he can’t do this job, then yes, we will want him out. That how this works.
Not the best performance from Arsenal, didn’t deserve to win, but definitely didn’t deserve to lose I want to spend a few seconds asking questions to Martin Atkinson (because he must love reading this blog) about his decisions and refereeing consistency…. -How do you give a yellow for Lacazette’s challenge on Matt Ryan (which was the right decision), but not give anything against Maupays foul against Leno where there was clearly no chance of winning the ball and Leno was in the air making it dangerous? -Seconds before that, why is a Brighton player allowed to hold… Read more »
He was awful, one of the worst refereeing performances I’ve seen this season. How Maupay didn’t even get a yellow will be a mystery for the ages.
How about their midfielder that had about 20 fouls not even get a yellow.
How did we not get that penalty as well? What was the foul before they took Kola down.
Bissouma? They gave him MotM XD
Media and referees have an agenda against Arsenal, everything they do is to print out an Arsenal Meltdown
It was 3 minutes mate not 4!
I am pretty sure I heard the commentator announce 4 minutes. Apart from the time wasted with the Maupay’s goal, that dickhead, Bissouma, also wasted time during time added on.
If I remember correctly they showed 3 at first on TV and corrected it to 4 later. Commentators spoke about 4 mins from the start, so probably they saw the board held up by the outside ref.
All of this! So infuriating today. Not that we played well but it did feel like we were playing agains 12 at times.
Not that we played well.
Nothing else matters. Don’t be distracted by Leno’s injury or a tough-nut referee.
The Lacazette one was what really pissed me off. All game long the Brighton players had been making snide challenges, catching players late to leave a mark without any kind of yellow card that would have forced them to be more careful, yet when Lacazette slides in for a very winnable ball, making little contact, the yellow was out straight away
Maybe it’s just me but I’d love to see my team make the snide challenges once in a while. Specially when we are so prone to counters.
We make lunges. Bad ones. We pull out of 50-50s. We point fingers at each other after conceding.
We always have a moan @ Atkinson.. My question is if we had outscored Brighton would your points have mattered?
We were terrible and the ref had nothing to do with it. For some reason we’ve lost 4 players after 2 games. Something other than the ref is wrong.
If Atkinson had given Kolasinac a deserved penalty at 1-1 we would have outscored Brighton and therefore had less to complain about
This. If you have to blame the referee for losing against Brighton you are clutching at straws boss.
There was 3 minutes of added time.
You must be new here.
Martin Atkinson is the worst referee in the league. A situation made even more ludicrous by the fact that he has the highest profile.
Mike Dean is biased, but this guy… an absolute weapon. Neither fanbase is often happy at the final whistle.
He was letting Brighton get away with so much in the first half, I wasn’t at all surprised by Maupay’s foul on Leno. That kind of lax refereeing leads a team to behave increasingly irresponsibly, which leads to an increased risk of injury. It was interesting listening to Efan Ekoku talk about some of the decisions on the world feed with a sort of tempered dismay (it seems most world feed commentators try to not be too hard on officiating), and then shock when informed that Arsenal, of all teams, have the worst disciplinary record in the league. That… Read more »
Shouldnt matter how shit the ref is we should still be good enough to beat a team that hadn’t won a game this year. We aren’t. Fact.
I totally agree. We should be good enough to beat Brighton. We should be able to beat a lot of teams but don’t. But all my points are still valid about Atkinson’s performance today, and what makes it worse is that somehow he officiates A LOT more Arsenal games than he should do if all things were equal. One or two calls more in Arsenals favor changes not only that game, but creates a buzz that could give the team confidence for the next game. This team has been lacking confidence for over a year now, and I think having… Read more »
Yes your points about Atkinson are definitely still valid. The guy was an absolute disgrace today.
Just looked like yet again we had no ideas. There’s no cohesive play. On top of that there’s no effort for huge passages of play. A token 5 minutes of effort at the end of the game wasn’t even offered today. Three subs at 85 mins to keep sideways passing?
I don’t know if the team deserves excuses being made on their behalf, but the fact that they had to play their second game–after so much time off–before eight other teams even played their first is just absurd.
This! Meanwhile, City of course don’t play until Monday… So much for fair play!
We are so so slow. The only time anything positive happened was the few occasions we were doing one touch football or moving the ball quickly. But 95 percent of the time players like Guen and Dani running with the ball for way too long
There’s no incision to our passing. It’s so god damned laborious and slow. We get from the keeper to a fullback and regardless of what space or options are in front, 99/100 they pass it back to a centre back and fall into that bloody deadshit horse shoe. Our midfield is too timid and conservative. They never play anything but the “easy” pass. It’s too easy to defend.
And our defending .. jeeeeeeez. I don’t have the energy to express how disgusted I am at that aspect hah
Dani has been a massive disappointment. I’m sure he’s amazing in a rondo but he has no end product, no invention and slows our game down. I watched the Burnley game that made everybody rave about him, and honestly the whole game was just him doing fancy turns and flicks, none of which actually brought us any closer to scoring a goal.
Yeah, what struck me most today was how predictable his passes were.
Good riddance.
Every time he plays as if he’s trying to add to his youtube showreel. What a waste of space.
If we sign Dani I will start a riot.
He’s exactly not what we need. He’s the worst stereotype of a flaky, all dribbles, lightweight midfielder I’ve ever seen.
Arteta can play whatever lineup he wants but until they get some good players the club will continue to be mid table. Either these players are overrated or they are great and we have a bad manager. I tend to think the players are just rubbish. The defense is atrocious and going forward we average about 3 shots on target. That is just gross. Losing to city who spend billions and have stars all over the pitch is one thing. Struggling to do anything against Brighton is an embarrassment. Even in our worst Wenger years, minus his last one, we… Read more »
I think first and foremost the players we have are just average at best. That’s 3 managers now – none of them mugs – who can’t make a defence out of Mustafi Holding and Kolasinac. Get some fucking decent players with a bit of heart, then coach them properly.
We have many fine players, but the team is unbalanced. Brighton’s defenders got behind the ball and made numerous blocks, a couple probably saving goals. It’s inexcusable to allow a shot like Maupay’s in the last frickin’ minute.
You could make the “we need better players” after the city game, but we’ve just been beaten by Brighton.. If one player was underperforming while the rest did well, you could point the finger at the player. When everybody bar Aubameyang (who also has been poor since the restart) are performing poorly, you have to look at the man whose job it is to get the best out of them.
What can Arteta do to cheer up Auba? Is it his fault that Auba wants to go? Or that some genius signed Luiz, Soares, Ceballos, Torreira?
There’s a lot of bad vibes but I don’t know how you can blame Arteta for it – he’s hardly spent time with this bunch.
We have good players. But when you weigh them against the shit players we have the ratio is very unbalanced. And there lies the problem.
Every team has a few good players now, and our good players aren’t significantly better than their good players.
defence
Arteta should have reinforced the midfield immediately after the goal. Lacazette was on a yellow and had run himself into the ground. This one’s partially on him. But all those corners we give away…
He also should have made changes well before the goal as we weren’t exactly hammering the door down at that point. We were going to get to the 70th minute at 0-0 without an unenforced change until Pepe produced a bit of magic
Face it – this season is a write off. It’s been skewed by Covid. And we can’t keep blaming Emery. Use it to bring on some of the younger players. We can’t get relegated but we haven’t a hope of Europe either.
Use it to bring players on and prepare for next season, when Arteta is going to have to rise to the challenge better than this.
What ever happened to Martinelli !? Surely he deserves 15 mins at the end at least. Especially with 5 subs.
I agree but considering he was in my FPL team I’m glad he didn’t get a few minutes at the end. 🙂
Nketiah and Nelson have earned their place in the team ahead of Martinelli on the back of all the scintillating displays they’ve put in this season.
Especially if you’re going to bring on Tierney as the final attacking change when you’re chasing the game, it makes sense to bring on the guy who is the best header at the club.
Because he is not Freddie’s boys and it seems Mikel listen to him too much!!
That’s because Arteta is a moron
Can’t believe I was stoked to see football come back. Fucking shambles.
Dreadful from ceballos. Our attack lacks any chemistry. There’s no intensity at all. One Brighton player bossed our midfield.
I’ve never seen arsenal play as bad as we have this season.
It looks as if there are land mines in the centre of the pitch. All our play is around the circle with no one playing through the centre. Arsenal used to be about the midfield magicians. And now we can’t even stitch up 3 passes in the midfield. No creativity, no tenacity, no quick passing, no dribbling. Our attackers are under fed. Hence we are shit at controlling the game and scoring goals.
I think we were slightly better coming out from the back, still a bit lethargic. I think Guendouzi, Saka & Pepe with the goal did well, and let’s be clear about Maupay: I think he didn’t mean to harm Leno in this way, he happened to be very near Leno and jumped for the ball, touched shoulders and no one would’ve known Leno will fall this way. I wish him the speediest recovery back, he is the best keeper in the PL and will be missed sorely. But Maupay is an enormous cunt, says he’s apologetic, says Arsenal players were… Read more »
I’m not sure where Arsenal as a club go from now on. We are a team of losers, chicken shitted losers. The whole team needs showing the door and take Arteta with them, other than words, he’s made no changes. Messing around with the line up, disciplined players for not buying into his non-negotiable’s whatever they are. Rotten from the top down. I’d sell all of the players above 25 and start again because they are just simply terrible to watch.
This is exactly why I disagree with anybody wanting to keep Auba, and I’m not convinced by signing Partey. We’re not making the CL next year, so our signing should reflect our need to rebuild. We should be signing players aged 25 and under, and building the team around Saka, Pepe, Tierney etc rather than a 31 year old who won’t be here in 12 months time
Agreed. I absolutely love Aubameyang and always will for his incredible times, but the time is now it cash in, especially if he can punch in a few more goals before the season ends. Use that money for youngsters (I’m a fan of Jonathan David personally) and see what happens.
I totally agree except about Arteta. Give the guy a chance. How can he make changes when he has no options?
At this rate of injuries, we’re not going to be able to field 11 first team players long before the final game of the season. Leno’s season is probably over – but best wishes to him for a full and speedy recovery.
Worst team since 94/95 season.
Ps. Martin Atkinson is probably the worst ref in the league. He didn’t cost us the match.
Credit to Leno, who along with Auba is our only good player (saka will be amazing), for telling off the player who injured him.
We have more fuc**ng referees than players nowadays and they are still crap. Most of our players are already on vacation and could not care less about playing or winning.
Not to defend Atkinson but I think Mike Dean is the undisputed king of the bad refs.
Wenger in
I bet his pet Ozil would be playing every game despite his corrosive attitude.
I don’t mind so much Brighton winning. We were shit and they capitalised on that. That’s our problem, not theirs.
But the mouth on that Maupay in the post match interview. Someone needs to slap it shit. If a cruciate should be added to the slap then at least I won’t object. What a wanker!
I’m getting really worried about Arteta now. Yes the ref was atrocious, and yes it’s hard for him with the injuries, but the’s making it harder for himself. We’ve won 4/12 PL games and been knocked out the Champions League by Olimpiakos since he took over, while he’s frozen our breakout star under Emery (Martinelli), our record signing (Pepe) and refused to use Ozil or Maitland Niles in any way. He’s starting to look out of his depth in my eyes.
I mean…he is. He’s never managed any team before, let alone one the size of Arsenal. Given time and support I think he will do well, but asking a manager with no experience to work miracles with these players is just fucking attrocious.
Think of it like this. Pretend I used to work for Google for a few years, and then I went away for a couple of years to shadow a manager at Microsoft. While I’m away Google loses half of it’s market value and starts to crash (I’m talking freefall). Just because I have a few ideas of what may make Google a better company, am I now the right person to run the whole of Google, arrest the slide and turn them around?
Exactly Jeremy
Should we accept that we drop down to midtable mediocrity so that Arteta can gain experience, on the off chance that he grows into a generational manager to take us back to where we were? It’s like selling Aubameyang and replacing him with Balogun or one of the other talented boys in the academy. They might well turn out as fantastic players in 3 years time, but we can’t afford for them to learn on the job. My other question is: what has Arteta done to show he deserves some time? Klopp finished 8th in his first half-season at… Read more »
Good point
Fair enough, but I can’t think of a single manager alive who could get this dross playing well and winning. Blame Arteta all you like but these players are not good enough, and everything about the club seems wrong atm
I’m sorry what has Niles done this season?? Whatever wrongs might have been done to him by Wenger and Emery by playing him at RB, he looks like a lot of academy graduates and young Arsenal players who look promising but plateau fast and then lead of life of pretence. Martinelli’s case is very puzzling I agree. But Pepe will need a few more months to expect starting every game. Ozil is a tragedy. I love him to bits – after the Invincible era no one has taken my breath away as much as him, even though… Read more »
This is a joke right? Tell me I’m dreaming. Is this Arsenal? Are we officially a midtable team now? Will things change? This is the mother of crisis we r in, I don’t think we have experienced a fall this big. At this rate play the youngsters I don’t care, nothing will be worser than this shit show. You need a team not Leno and Aubameyang to save u everytime. Rebuild rebuild. Get those overlayed premadonas out of this club (we cannot pay for bang average) and follow the Ajax system of promoting young players.
We’ve been a midtable team for years now. Emery overachieved by getting 5th.
I feel so sorry for Arteta in all of this. He’s come in at the most difficult point for us since the mid 90’s. Just as he’s starting to gain some momentum football stops in a way not seen since the 40’s. He losing players left and right to injury. On top of all of that, he’s got some of the worst execs in the game making an absolute mess out of our players contract situations.
We are a bang average team that’s getting worse,no know people love Arteta because of his hair and he talks a great game but his team selections and substitutions are hopeless and he’s made no difference since he’s arrived.
We have no midfield. Heck, we haven’t had one since Cazorla went down. It’s been multiple years, and multiple full-time managers, and we still don’t have a functioning midfield unit. Who’s taking responsibility or trying to remedy this? Regarding Arteta, [this is not necessarily what I want but] I can now see the possibility that he ends 2020 unemployed. There’s been a lot of praise for this and that, but the results and sometimes apparent lack of a strategy make it all look a bit emperor’s new clothes. Ah well, maybe we can finish in the top half… Read more »
I don’t think we should necessarily fire Arteta just for the sake of change, but Chelsea, United, Liverpool and City all are settled with their managers and Poch said in his last interview that his family was settled in London and he wouldn’t want to leave England unless it was for a massive opportunity. If there’s a chance we can nab him, we should.
Like I said, not necessarily what I want. As I also said, who’s taking responsibility? Raul is likelier to put someone else in the firing line (pun intended) than hold his hands up and own it. See where I’m coming from now?
I can’t see it (Poch) happening. I think he’d be good, but our stock has really fallen, compared to the profile of other clubs he could get. You may cite London and his family, but he’s hardly going to take, say, the Fulham job for the sake of staying in London.
Looked good in very sporadic spurts and should have done enough to win the game. Transitioning from a 4-3-3 in defence to a 4-4-2 in attack as we did could get the best out of Saka and Aubameyang but we were very passive in midfield for long stretches of the game. Didn’t see a lot of pressing or urgency at all really.
Basically, what happened to those non-negotiables??
Auba and Saka are two of the best things about this team but if they want to go – let them go. Because clearly Arsenal have no money, no balls, no charisma to convince them of otherwise.
Can’t we all just go back into lockdown?
This club is in real trouble.
Bar a miracle summer, they will be in the relegation zone next season. And if you can’t see the trend, you need to slap yourself awake.
Call it dirty but the fact that no one on our team was willing to send off Maupay on a stretcher shows to me that none of our players care enough. We will always get pushed around because we let them get away with it.
Guendouzi looked like he wanted to, but I’m sure he’s been warned about that sort of thing by the manager. Maybe Keown from the commentary box should have taken him out.
I’ll bet Keown got at least half way down the terraces before being stopped. Miss the resolve at Arsenal.
Did you count the number of times he fell on his face because the wind changed direction? Matteo might have a temper but he tries too hard to be clever all the time.
Well, you shouldn’t get a red, but 2 or 3 players should do yellow worthy fouls on him, hoping one of them might take him out of the game.
Too right! No point moaning to him after the event – clatter him, make the point. Even if we get another red card – show that we’re not to be messed with. We’re too soft.
What an awful sentiment. Let’s not lower ourselves to that disgraceful level.
That’s the level teams have been playing against us at for years. Remember United’s rotational fouling of Reyes? One of the Neville brothers admitted to that recently. That’s how teams play against us. We get kicked off the pitch, but if we look like kicking back, yellows and reds. Worst disciplinary record in the league? Wow.
All winning teams have the ability to mix it, especially when the opposition are challenging you and are acting like shithouses. God did it back in the day. Sneaky foot left in the tackle. Bobby p, Lauren, Paddy v, martin Keown. These guys were all winners and they would often be able to mix pure class with raw steel.
Maybe we can play nicey nice, beautiful non-contact football in the Championship in a few years then.
Someone needed to put their studs on Maupay’s foot or shin and make it count. And adding insult to injury being a gobshite in the post match interview should earn him all the hatred that the Emirates can muster next time he visits.
No doubt. Maupay should’ve been on the treatment table getting his teeth fixed instead he’s talking shit to the press. Must be hard for him to change shorts, what with all of our player’s balls in his pocket.
It’s shameful!
Wtf! There was about 30 seconds left, the ball went out of play so I went in the shower. Now only after getting to the end of the article, I realised that we actually lost wtf!
I don’t mind losing games. It happens.
But we are not even competing anymore.
This all feels comfortingly familiar, in a fucked up way.
Arteta out!
and… the milkman in?
Ask yourself, in the history of watching sport, any sport, how often have you seen such a pathetic, cowardly, comedic team of overpaid tossers as the one we have now? There just aren’t words to describe this lot to be honest. Maupay was quite right to say what he did at the end, although how a team who pays players 350k per week and will likely finish on or within a few points of the 40 point relegation threshold can be arrogant in any way is completely beyond me.
What did he say?
“Some of their [Arsenal] players need to learn what is humilty – especially one of them. He was talking all game, he was saying bad things. I don’t want to say because I could be in trouble. I just said that this is what happens when you talk too much on the pitch.” It’s likely he meant Guendouzi who I say chirping at him for the whole match. It’s astonishing how arrogant this kid is considering how shit he is. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the first team.
I mean, there’s Man United.
They’re far better than us. Just because beat them at home by having a good start and defending for about 70 minutes (I seriously couldn’t understand why everyone got so excited by a mostly bang-average performance) doesn’t mean we’re on similar level or trajectory.
They’re far richer than us. Apart from that, the trajectory is about the same.
I’ll hold my hands up and say “I was wrong. Completely out of order and dumb as fuck”. I thought there were much more get to come this this team and that a new manager would be able to get it out of them. I thought Emery was the wrong one and thats probably a correct assumption but you I’m beginning to question that to… I thought well Mikel “there’s a True gooner. Peps heir and the next messiah” . And maybe he is but not for this team. This is a team that is a 2-1 loss away to… Read more »
We should have let Freddie finish this season and brought in a quality manager with experience. But no, they went for the CHEAP option like they did with Emery and now we have another clown in charge. Arsenal are garbage – mediocrity throughout the club. Just cannot be bothered. I am glad that Brighton won – I did not want this team to win. Horrible team with players who are just content to turn up and take the money. Arteta has proven, even in this short period of time that HE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Arsenal are not in a… Read more »
Just emotions after the final whistle speaking. Still, it is great to have something to watch and complain about:-)
I’m not emotional.
Arsenal were garbage, are garbage and will continue to be garbage as long as Arteta and the Kroenke’s remain in charge.
Arteta was the cheap option – it is as simple as that. Not the best option but the cheapest and like Emery he will prove to be a bad appointment.
I want to see a real manager in place – not some lap dog to pep guardiola…
Right, Emery wasn’t good enough, Arteta isn’t good enough – ever consider it’s the team that’s the problem?
We are just so rigid in almost everything we do. No real energy. No idea what the answer is other than maybe we have to accept that we are a very poor team thats run even worse by its owners and we are a mid table team going nowhere. Until fans stop attending games then this inaction will continue. We have no passion from either the players or the owners , its been like this for years now, im absolutely sick of overpaid players and a hierarchy that make redicluas decisions and just suck up to the owners because they… Read more »
Football is fixed. How can there be any other way when referees make so many inconsistent and downright wrong decisions, and are then backed up by TV commentators, customising their comments to dig the referees out of holes.
I’ve had enough of football now. Time to walk away.
Blame the referee !
The same old excuse from Arsenal fans.
Never the players always someone else.
Here it is.
Arsenal are just not very good – when will you see that?
It’s like watching a stereo typical Hollywood movie, you know the script each and every time. It’s seriously boring. I hope there are big changes this summer, however we know there don’t be, and hope that Arteta just hasn’t had long enough to implement his design. Can we just end this season already!
Emery out!
Oh, wait…
are we dead yet
You have to wonder if Arteta can really raise the game of these players.
Brighton may have got lucky with players avoiding cautions and the 1st goal, but it should have been possible to beat this side.
On this outing, it could have been Emery in charge again.
We are a mid table team. Sale Auba and Lacazette for their own good. Get rid of Ozil and trust in youth and purchases we’ve made. This season seems over at least start the players that will play next season. Europe looks bleak and we won’t be relegated so wtf
Someone, somewhere, is going to have to teach Arsenal to stand up for themselves………..We need lads to go straight into the likes of Maupey for that kind of Cowardly challenge…. (Rashford on holding, arnautavitch on Debuchy, the shove on Sanchez into a tv pit)and accept that we will get reds. The British refs don’t do player protection until it’s too late.
There was no protection for the wonderful Leno. We have to learn to do it ourselves.
Are there stats for the most back passes by team.. Surely must be table toppers there by quite some margin
we are simply a collection of players made available by agents looking to fleece the club, and ownership that doesn’t care. absolute shite.
this was probably the last match i’ll take time out of my day to watch and will relegate myself to casual support, as until the club makes an effort, i don’t see why i, or anyone else, should care.
Is it too late to void the season?