Arsenal and West Ham have just played out one of the craziest matches in recent history, but I can’t figure out if we should be happy or not.
The Gunners started about half an hour later than our rivals, and found ourselves trailing by an awful length.
Jesse Lingard fired in an amazing effort from just outside the box to start things off, and before we could get over the blow, they had already doubled their lead.
Jarrod Bowen doubled their lead after they cleverly took a free-kick early from the edge of the box, but I can’t help but feel like Leno should have done better on this one.
Arsenal were yet to notch a single shot up until this point, and our woes didn’t improve much soon after.
Tomas Soucek found their side a third, although it was Michael Antonio’s effort which took a slight touch off the defender before rippling the net.
Luckily five minutes later we found ourselves a goal. Alexandre Lacazette broke into the box and got his shot away, but later footage proved that Soucek had directed it in.
We went into the break with a glimmer of hope thanks to the late consolation, and the manager opted not to change any personnel.
The game didn’t take a drastic turn after the interval, but it was a much better start than in the first…
West Ham wasted a couple chances, but it was Arsenal who were enjoying much more force on the game.
Calum Chambers managed to whip in a cross on the hourmark at pace, and Craig Dawson was powerless to to stop it from coming off him and into the net.
You couldn’t help but feel strong hopes of getting the result with so much time left, but it was the Hammers who once again had more clear-cut chances to score… and failed!
Arsenal opted to bring on Emile Smith Rowe and Nicolas Pepe shortly after, and the latter’s cross saw us level the score. The Ivory Coast international put his cross in from deep alongside the touch line, just over the goalkeeper, and Alexandre Lacazette was there to head home.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to turn the result completely around to secure all three points, but after being 3-0 down it almost felt like a win.
What a game, but should we be happy with a point against West Ham?
Patrick
Good result to cement our spot in the 10th position.
I look at our squad and compare them W Ham, Everton, Aston Villa and can’t help but to think we should be higher. I wonder whats the difference?
Disgusting game again from Auba, so no doubt he will start the next game again. Good cameos by Pepe and Martinelli, no doubt theyll be on the bench in the future. Laca brilliant, Ödegaard as well. Leno, shameful but he won’t be dropped as apparently he doesnt have competition.
We actually played with 10 players today because Auba to me was minus one. Kudos to Chambers for proving everybody wrong. Partey to me seems not to be the player we thought we bought. We need a vocal captain and leader on the field
“I look at our squad and compare them W Ham, Everton, Aston Villa and can’t help but to think we should be higher. I wonder whats the difference?”
The manager of course with the best tactics ever seen.
In this case, Lacazette stated in his interview that the players, gid not implement Arteta’s game plan.
Far enough to criticize the manager, but in this instance HH it is not justified. Being 3 down was on the players.
I get your point Ozzie.
Still same inconsistency issue we’ve been pointing out. At this point, it’s a mental issue. When we attack and play on the gas we play very well and we’re deadly. The problem is doing it on a daily basis. Can’t be doing this bullshit one game and worldie the next.
Chambers the only defender who should hold his head up today.
Luiz Mari very poor. I’ll keep saying it apart from tapping in goals, Auba brings nothing. We can’t continue with him next season.
Odegaard clearly class, I really wish Madrid would let him go. The boy picks passes you don’t expect.
Leno was very poor today too.
Partey during the last four games been solidly be poor.
We really need to solve our inconsistency issue.
It’s the biggest obstacle now
So negative, just like 90% of the fans here!
Lol… Who this? Me negative? Lmao.. Have you seen me whine this season about our games even when we lose?
Btw I’m only pointing out the truth like I’ve always done. Consistency is our biggest issue. I don’t know how that is me being negative 😌😌
I’m still behind my team and my manager
if you play rubbish formation at the off do you expect the fans to say how amazing arteta game plan was that it gave us a draw. poor first half…awful formation.
how was is formation awfull. the game plan was to exploit that right hand side with Auba as creswell would bump forward but Auba was a total failure. our 3 goals actually came from that right hand side. and laca said it at the end of the game we did not respect the managers plan
👍
3 goals came after auba switch flanks giving chambers more cover.
I dont want to sound like a debbiedowner, but consistency is one of the problems we’ve had for years. So I wouldn’t hold my breath for it to change, as it won’t happen this season.
Partey was good actually. Him and Odeegard moved our attacks. But he cannot shoot for sure.
EDDIE, this is all your fault you know !!. you are way too negative on here and everybody is picking that vibe up hahahahahaha. i have never heard such a dumb comment from anybody in my life. obviously that person who called you negative is a newcomer on here.either that or he never reads your comments. ive always thought your comments are very good and meaningful.you, amongst a number of us on here are right behind the team and management.obviously, some people do not see that, or choose not to see it , maybe.keep on being negative eddie,lol.
Thanks for the kind words Gerry. I also think he’s new too or doesn’t read my comments before typing that. Lol, how can I not be negative? I have to keep being negative as it makes life easy for me. Negativity is all I’ve got, I gotta focus on it.
Onqay with my manager and my football club!! Others can believe what they want
hahahahaahah, good one eddie, i love it .
Spot on Eddie. Been backing MA as you know but have to lay a big part of the negatives at his door. Starting Saka and Auba on the wrong wings, not taking Auba off soon enough, total lack of pace, spark, passing accuracy, fight, determination, forward passing or attacking intent first half. It was dire and I have to lay a good proportion of that at Arteta’s door.
On the upside – we are at least becoming a “never say die” team!
Auba, Leno, Xhaka were abysmal. Partey, Tierney awful first half.
Rescued by two players’ class and determination – Odegaard and Laca. Well done guys!
Get Auba out PLEASE. 0/10
The hand writing is on the wall..WE ARE GOING NOWHERE WITH ARTETA…
let’s just see how long it takes the board and the “real ” arsenal fans to realize this..
You should write his sack letter you know… So others willing to give the manager time are not “Real” Arsenal fans?
Mate you’ll keep writing this comment till ending of next season. If you want him out, do the job yourself, buy the club and sack him. If not, he’ll be living rent free in your head till God knows when
Eddie ..you disappoint me…
You seem to be having a great time swimming in this ocean of mediocrity..
Enjoy mate..
BTW comments like “buy the club and scan him yourself” are just plain dumb..
I agree with you on Consistency issue Eddie…
Team is really inconsistent throughout the season…
But I am not sure why Arteta taking too much time solve that consistency issues??
He is been here for more than year but still we are not sure which game we will win and which we won’t…. Frankly Speaking I was surprised when we had draw against Burnley…
Again I was surprised when we pull out superb win in Athens against Olympiakos and again surprised by Win against Spurs not because Mourinho is good coach but our team always had mental block against his teams since Wenger Era
And today I was hoping same lever of performance against Westham and I was confident and positive that we will see off Westham Ina tight game but those opening 35 mins where dreadful… I think this inconsistency need to be fixed by Arteta and that too immediately… We can’t play like that Europa… Just imagine we are getting this result in Europa at home game then we are certainly out of the tournament…
he started auba at the right, saka at left, chambers took a while to get going,but kudos to him for waking up.
Embarrassing.
Draw papers over the huge cracks
Not consistency with team selection, how does MA expect players to get into form with so many weekly changes.
Nope we can see the cracks and they are being filled in, ready to decorate with a top coat, it’s called preparation before we see the finished job, be patient exciting times is around the corner…
Great comment GoalDan
Seconded
Great reply from the boys, but Moyes just showed Slavia Prague how to beat us. If Slavia Prague’s forwards can press us high up the pitch and if they have two towering midfielders to connect with some long crosses, I don’t think Arteta would have the answer for that brute tactic
Soucek/ Rice/ Diop/ Antonio won almost all aerial duels and this was the old problem before Giroud joined us. Lacazette, Odegaard and Chambers were massive today, but we’ll need more than good tactics and great skills to go to EL final
Our showing against Olympiakos and today at West Ham have proved my points I raised after our Spurs win. At least I didn’t gloss over the obvious problems. Our pressing is poor as usual and our midblock doesn’t work well. I actually consider this to be a very positive result because West Ham have been way better than us for most part of the season. Today’s defending was chaotic and West Ham had so many spaces to operate in our midfield. I won’t even pinpoint anyone. They really could’ve scored a lot if they wanted to. Just like in many matches of our season I’m happy with the result and not the performance. Well done to them for coming back. Odegaard was silky and his decision making was great. We need to improve if we want to win the Europa because currently its not looking good at all.
One thing’s for sure – we really should come with a health warning!
I’m glad for the comeback and all, but how on earth did we find ourselves 3-0 down??!!!! Questions need to be asked about our poor starts…
I need the international break to get over this 😂😂 and breathe…..
Excellent comeback Sue 😄 I’m never happy with a draw but being 3-0 down so early and salvaging a point is a good result! Odegaard looks a real player I hope we can sign him permanently and Lacazette must start against Prague.. Aubameyang just isn’t with it.
I almost passed out, Kev 😂 Laca’s goal was a beaut!! He had a great half.
Yeah, Ødegaard does look the real deal…probably cost us a fortune, but will be worth it!
Yes I agree about Prague…
Yeah me too Sue I was about to swear like a drunk sailor when Antonio almost scored but thankfully Laca pulled us out of the fire 😄 I would pay the money enough of these experiments from france, send Ceballos back and sign Odegaard he’ll be a brilliant signing. Well a little break now and then Liverpool should be easy enough 😆 Man u losing come on Leicester 👊
Oh yeah the scousers will be no sweat, Kev 😜 Leicester’s lead didn’t last long….
So, Kev, last chance saloon – the Europa. Can we do it? Have we got it in us?
Bloody typical they should be winning at half time 😣 a banker 3 points Sue 😜 sunderland let me down for a huge bet yesterday I was sickened 😶 we can but it’s going to be tough, prague will be a test, Olympiacos was almost a test lol we need 2 very good games to reach the semi final Sue
But will Leicester hang on?!
Sunderland letting you down, no surprise there, Kev 😂
Iheanacho on fire!!!
3-1 Sue 😂 and they were laughing at us being 3-0 down earlier maybe they should wait until the games are finished before laughing and bantering other fans 😂 oh I won’t be betting on Sunderland ever again awful team 😆
Well Kev, our cup record is safe 😅
Yeah loadsa banter online, gone quiet now!!
City v Chelsea will be good.. the quadruple is on..
Haha yep it’s stays 14-12 Sue and we go again for number 15 next season 😜 the fa cup will be a mickey mouse cup again now united are out, the supporters are a bunch of gloryhunters! What happened to the world class Donny van de beek ? Let’s be honest hes a flop not on Odegaards level 🤫 it sure is Sue but I don’t think they will do it, they just bottle the champions league time and again, Bayern are my favourites
Chambers and Mari slept off in the first 30 minutes they were our weakest point during that time. Chambers turned a new leaf towwards the end of first half
Saka should be given an extended rest. He desires it.
Aterta took a great risk with his team selection especially defence. Pairing Mari with Luiz was a huge risk and then Chambers.
MA tactics today almost cost us the game. Is a rookie
Cafu, I meant Chambers sorry, had a fantastic game with Ødegaard close behind.. Am I glad of a point against West Ham? After that piss poor start, yes!
It was more down to oedegards persistence and probing forward play that was instrumental in that result as opposed to Chambers. Chambers was getting torn apart on his side with Antonio, Benrahma and Cresswell. Mind you he had very little help with Aubamayang in front of him
Chambers had two assists and three other crosses could have produced or did you miss them?
Don’t be an arse. So he had some fortunate moments in this game. He was hardly rock solid or provedn to be the mainstay of our team. For the best part of his arsenal career, he’s been less than average.
Changes team way too much, lucky to draw!
Going nowhere with tinkerman!
U said lucky draw?
Thats what MA actually do with his games “lucky draw”
A gamble.
Sometimes i just think the owner uses the club as a revenue playing BET
Check the scores and games results
No pattern
Kronke…Cashing out big time…..no time to check time😂
I so agree Shone. no pattern. instead of keeping it simple,arteta have to mix it up because he is such a genius. he alone knows football and the other managers are just headless chickens that he will wipe the floor with. Arteta need to get real. I’ll say it again, arteta is learning on the job and he is not learning fast enough. kudos to the boys for getting a point today.
Looking at the table now it is more than likely we are going to finish 10th so our only hope of European football is winning the EL.
Top 4 is out of the question bar a miracle. Top 6 is achievable if my manager pulls a rabbit out of the hat but seeing our consistency one will be forgiven to be sure that is not going to happen.
Credit to my manager for securing a draw today after being 3 nil down.
Phil assessment that we will get a good picture of our season after the Liverpool game was spot on.
My manager has my full support to win the Europa League but if he fails he has to go learn his trade elsewhere. The great Arsenal is too big for someone to learn coaching unless as an assistant or as a youth coach.
Look at how Gerrard did it. Went to a relatively big team but not too big but with lots of pressure still, proved himself with Rangers and is now looking ready in the next year or two to step up to EPL.
Correct PJ. The path Gerald have taken he is making his own luck and only good things will come in the end.
He seems to be a good and capable manager too as we have seen many former great players like our own the great Thierry failing miserably in managerial career.
The most inconsistent Arsenal team and the most defeats in a season in recent history.
I do hope that TMJW and Jon Fox read your post kenny… the answer will be it’s all down to AW😂😂😂
Add Grandad to make trio.😆
I had 3-3 at 50/1 so a good day for me!
Nice one, Roachie 🍻
Damn, I wouldve been happy with that too! Much did you win?
Right now I feel nothing. I feel like some peoples reaction is this:
You go to the casino. You make some bets. You lose a lot. You finally start focusing and win back the money you lost. You break even. Do you feel happy? Why? This is a psychological thing, the damage control. If you think of it logically, you see that you should’ve focused right from the start because thats what you came to do but you failed and had to focus everything on damage control.
I’m not happy about the draw, nor disappointed at the result itself. Im disappointed that Arsenal failed at what they came to do and had to focus everything on just breaking even. It just feels like a useless weekend in a way.
Well put Mac – ditto! Wasnt dull at least!
Ian Wright is talking about the players poor mentally right now as I have said it ealier on
This, I said it up there.. at this point it’s a mental issue
Apart from the mentality, the Gunners couldn’t keep up with West Ham players’ physicality in the first twenty minutes
I have a lot to say but I will keep it simple.
Martin O drove the team to a draw. He has huge potential…. He is my MOTM
Lacazette played well too. He is a better team player than Aubamenyang. Aubamenyang brings goal to the team and when he isn’t scoring, he is average. I think he had a very poor game today.
Today’s assessment for me
Tierney Average
Saka slightly above average
Xhaka Average
Partey Poor
Aubameyang Very Bad
Luiz and Mari Average
Leno Poor
Chambers….Welldone. Great game lad
Subs
Pepe good assist. Could have scored too
Martinelli not enough time to show his tricks, same with ESR but kept the ball ticking.
Martins O, Chambers and Lacazette were better than the rest.
We tend to drop points after games in Europe. That’s not good…
I wanted to keep it simple but I still said a lot…
But you said it well Uzi – spot on
Well point out
If Arsenal is consistent enough. MA already stated earlier that this team is far from his ideal team.
As always beginning concentration n pressure are not strong points here again. Defence is leaking.
So do we need to add another defender. Yes we do. At least 1 and another 2 in the future.
Def. Avg
Tie. Avg maybe tiredness off day.
Cham good
Gk.
Sometimes good sometimes not so good.
Mid.
Definitely need another mid. Partey is ok but I can see. He is not fully to his best as he was in the beginning.
Xhaka. Avg most times. But good team player.
Martin avg in 1st half but bang in 2nd half. Basically leads the team fight back. Potential Captain qualities in future.
Saka avg maybe tiredness n injury recovery.
Attk
Overall we need killer instinct strikers. New!
Aub. Poor. Nothing to say. Captain replacement yes and soon. Vice Captain if there is.
Laca. Only decent n good team player.
But brilliant fightback and coming back to get a draw considering the West Ham form.
Not many teams can come back after 3-0 down. Guys.
MA already stated this team is far from his ideal team. Dun expect this team to win most times but this team sometimes do give us some heart attacks and some brilliant moments.
Decent result Great Fightback could have been better if not for the early leakage.
What is more worrying is that this weak mentality is not done to a specific coach or player. It is deeply rooted in our core, it started during Wenger last years continued despite 3 new coaches and numerous squad overhauls.
👍
It must be Kroenke jinx then.
Left with David Dein!
Sure we got a draw, but the first half was us watching them from on the back foot. Just not good enough. I wonder what Tony Adams would say about the wimpish first half. Just not good enough, the team looked so scared in the first half.
Not making excuses as it was a dreadful first half, but yet again at a crucial time, VAR goes missing on a blatant mistake.
So frustrating that we didnt start the game like we did in the second half, but I’m getting sick and tired of VAR screwing us on blatant errors!
I thought Odegaard and Chambers were excellent today, and was Auba even playing?
Its not VAR fault we conceded 3 goals in 15 minutes.
VAR just checked your comment and overturned it as it was 3 goals in 35 minutes 😜
Nope VAR has checked again and it was 3 goals in 15 minutes. Wes Ham first goal was in the 15th minute and their 3rd on 31st minute.
😝
Splitting hairs😊
SueP 😂
Actually I’m with my buddy Thirdman
The ball was 6-7 yards away from the foul ,if he had made him place the ball normally he wouldn’t have sprayed it where he took it from .
Not sure how VaR misses that because I said it straight away and countless replays concur it .
Even the stream I was watching had Alan curbishley commenting and he’s west ham trough and through and he said the exact same .
Jon moss is not a premier league standard official,and once again we are seeing this bias against our team from the idiots in their VAR caravan .
Apart form that though we were fcking dreadful in that first half
Tierney needs a rest
Xhaka is Xhaka
And even Leno did his best Martinez impression with his spaghetti fingers .
I think both Xhaka and Tierney have started in too many games, because they weren’t as energetic as before
Problem is Arsenal do not have enough funds and depth of players are limited.
So MA is trying out certain rotation positions for some players to test and work out some strategies.
But we need to know is still the same players we can have right now. The key players can’t be performing in and out all the time.
But brilliant fight back. I wonder why must Arsenal always make themselves so bad the beginning then come back again.
Dan kit, can someone NOW explain why that wasn’t the officials cheating?
Apparently Ken we aren’t allowed to say refs cheat else we could be sued for saying it on here .
Proper Realists (can’t stand that word after all the years I’ve been on here 😂)know the score ,we have constantly been mistreated where officials decisions have gone against us ,and it continues to happen .
I don’t give a fck for saying it ,but English refs are CHEATS .
Martinez is better than Leno and yes I do agree that he had ”spaghetti fingers” but that was in the past. He has seriously worked on it and that is why his handling is so reliable. Most don’t notice that Martinez likes holding on to the ball for that reason
@kev
Are you talking about Martinez from about 6weeks ago
Where he let slip 4goals from similar positions we saw Leno do today ?
While
Martinez might be ahead of Leno in playing footsey but he as nothing on him when it actually comes to doing what goalkeepers are actually paid to do,which is to stop shots ,that’s the worst I’ve seen Leno in ages ,dont mix up what a goalkeepers job is buddy and what he’s done for this team the last 3 years ,without him and Auba we would be a lot worse off .
Oh and Kev ,I hope your watching the villa match now and will comment on Mr 6 months Martinez and his contribution for the spuds second goal .
It doesn’t take away my point and this signifies the problem with our fanbase. We are angry when our favorites gets displaced than looking for the good of the team. We can have opinions but the truth can’t be denied. Martinez has been the best GK in the league this season. He dont deserve to be a t Villa.
@Dan Kit I will reply you properly in another thread. Your way of looking at things is sickening because you have chosen the cheap route like many Ozil fanboys. Your argument isn’t even good. If it were to be for shot stopping only then even Almunia was a great keeper. Even Cech should still be here. We will have a discussion for this in another thread. I can’t stand it when people deny what is obvious from the ye test. Its the same way many like to debate about Messi vs Ronaldo when from the eye test Messi is levels above. Opinion doesn’t matter when the truth is at hand
On the pitch but not playing JW. I could swear he didnt get one pass on target first half. Second they just decided its best not to give him the ball at all…
Wtf Kev
My view is sickening ?to who you ?
Because I don’t agreee with you ,stick to false transfer stories buddy because you obviously don’t know your football
I have only one request for the Arsenal Board: SIGN ODEGAARD!
it’s a no-brainer!
I don’t think we can afford him, unless he can be loaned again. Besides, I’m sure we have similar midfielder in the reserves, such as Hutchinson and Cottrell
You have to be joking; Arsenal have similar midfielders to Martin Odegaard in the reserves?
He is a full international and now is captain of Norway, currently ranked 44. If Arsenal has such players, why aren’t they selected?
Talk about “a misguided idea”.
What an entertaining game!
That’s why we love the Premier League.
Ødegaard has his best game today what a player.
There is a of reasons to be mad but remember it is only a game, I still back Arteta btw.
There is a lot of reasons***
👍
Me too GB – but its frustrating when he feels the need to change things that aren’t broken, like he’s either overthinking or trying to show how smart he is. It took him until 3-0 down to swap Saka and Auba back to their best positions. ok for Auba its irrelevant today, but you know what I mean. And he has to take a motivational share of the blame for 11 players all starting slow, negative as its him giving the pre-match talk.
We need to be more consistent and stop slow start. Odegaard,Lacazette and Chambers were the only great performers 2day.
Glass half full or half empty? I’d rather be sitting in Arsenal dressing room right now but that first 35 minutes was abject.
Need a big response against LFC is a couple of weeks.
Awful again lets be honest. To be 3 down in 35 minutes and being that bad is just inexcusable. I can’t take this team or this manager seriously. I cannot believe he preps his teams to go out like that into a match! And it’s been someting we’ve seen consistently all season! I don’t see us getting anywhere under Arteta. I said I’d stick by if I at least saw what he was trying to achieve or some geniune improvement even without the results….. But the truth is the football is bad and we are 10th. This is not good. Unless he delivers a European trophy this season it’s a huge failure and I dont see him lasting much more of next season. Things are not going well for this team. And also, Aubameyang needs to seriously be considered to be dropped now. I don’t know what that performance was from him today, but his poor season is not really turning around. We have Pepe and Martinelli on the bench who I would much rather see.
I dont even know if we are making progress as a club. Now we cant even make top 6. We cant even play champions league football. My beloved team has seen better days.
What is the way forward? What done need to do as a club?
I pointed out after the Olympiakos game that our level of inconsistency is unrivalled, and I fervently prayed Auba not to start this match.
These set of buffoons continue to let the fans down.
Shame.
Definitely the game of the week! Wow our midfield was like a leaky cauldron that first half with all the WestHam mids pouring in and getting chances. Good reply in the second half. Partey is not yet the world class player that I thought he would be, galvanizing our midfield. Should practice passing and shooting, which have been below par. Xhaka was poor too and easily let in players without marking them. Chambers was great with a goal line clearance and 2 assists, while KT disappointed hugely with that mishap in the third goal and the second goal. Leno might have done better, atleast with the 2nd goal. The CBs too were poor. Saka and Pepe should bring their training ground form to the match, while Aubameyang was anonymous except for a great tackle on Lingaard. Ode and Lacazette were good, ESR, Marti were making good runs. Good comeback. But we need to be a lot more focused in future inorder to avoid what happened today.
I’m glad we made comeback. We had a few positives BUT
I think a top 10 finish isn’t certain. Especially with Liverpool and Chelsea within our remaining matches. Also don’t see us winning EL
We were lucky with 2 of our goals and had a sloppy start. We need to change that
and i dont see any reason why our start wont be as sloppy against Prague. We’ve had so many sloppy starts this season. There’s just no predicting how we are going to turn up. Winning Europa League just seems far off right now. We are the 9th in the table and that is an accurate assessment of where we deserve to be.
my opinion whether we finish top 10 or not the season is dead anyway. only monetary gains in it for the team,nothing for the fans to celebrate unless we win EL. it have been a poor season and although arteta have played utter nonsense most of the season I believe he will still be in the dug out seasons end and start of next season but his honeymoon period will be over. he will have to start deliver at the go come next season. especially if fans are back in the Emirates by then. Team need some changes, a right back a defensive midfield to partner Partey and a solid centre forward and get madrid to sell us odegaard. apart from those in my opinion the team have enough solid players all round.
I can’t say anything about game but Martin Oodegaard was absolute amazing and silky…
He was running a show fir Arsenal as number 10
The reverse ball to Chambers for 2nd goal was absolutely out of its world…
We haven’t seen this from much much time..
All aboard the show boat 👌
Spot on! ODEGAARD was very impressive. Kept possession well and made use of the ball too. It won’t be a bad idea if his deal is made permanent.
Odegaard and Lingard are poster boys for why teams sometimes game and take a player on loan.
Hopefully Arsenal can sign Odegaard permanently. I’m all aboard the O Show.
I don’t think we need to sign him permanently just yet from one match… We Saïd same thing about Ceballos when we was outstanding against Burnley last year but he is just an average player..
Let Odegaard play more like that…
Let’s sign him again for another year on loan from RM and then we can monitor his progress and influence for a year and then need to decide whether to pay RM to make it permanent or not..
Kedar, Martin Odegaard has now made more first team appearances for Arsenal, than he has for Real Madrid. His performances have been fairly consistent.
Anyone miss ozil?🤐
Couple of points – I don’t think PEA is over his late arrival disciplining yet, didn’t look that way to me. I remember van Persie getting a red or maybe it was second yellow after putting the ball in the net after the whistle had blown, Linguard got nothing. Everyone saying their second goal was brilliant, didn’t think u could take a free kick until after the whistle had blown …
you can take a free kick without the whistle blown. all at the refs discretion. just ask Henry about it. he did it for us sometime back and scored.
West Ham so prolific as well as magnanimous, wow! Happy we salvaged a point in the end.
Odegaard is everything Ceballous is not – who only pretends to impress.
Partey is too slow in decision and strength, to our detriment.
Aubameyang? I’ve been saying from the beginning that Aubameyang (yes he scores a lot of goals) is the weak link in this Arsenal squad. How he manages to deceive some people with his proportional to scoring chances 2% goals is what I don’t know, and exactly what is still keeping him in this Club.
I hope not talk about Auba again, because I’ve already over flogged this issue.
Congrats to the team for coming back from a losing position to save a point, though a match they should have won comfortably.
What a prayer odeegard is!
Plain and simple, if we don’t win EL then Arteta should be sacked. If we get kicked out in any next stage of competition and if club is ambitious for success then we should hear his sacking the very next day. Arteta has failed in 3 fronts already FA cup, Cadoba cup and league as well. How many chances can a club like Arsenal give to a consistently failing manager when he has been well supported in transfer window. No matter what some Arteta sympathiser say fact Infront of us are the results. No one can say that teams like west ham who are above us have a better squad then us and there are various other examples.
Isn’t football sometimes completely bonkers! Not strictly a game of two halves; more a game of half an hour and another of a full hour. I thought we did well to equal their goals tally ,considering we wer not on the pitch in any meaningful sense for a good half hour.
Plusses: Chambers and Odegaard, by far our best two players. Minuses: Aubas disappearing act Ozil impression and just about everything else for that absent half hour. Oh and Willian not being in the squad, nor Bellerin. What joy about THAT!
Jon- there’s another minus you have forgotten to mention. Mikel Arteta. The biggest minus of the match. Just how has this novice allowed “ THAT” first 35 minute performance from an Arsenal side, especially after the debacle we witnessed only days ago against Olympiakos?
And before anyone starts spouting about the character shown by the side to come back from 3-0 down, I would simply state that the following 55 minutes proved just how superior Arsenal are compared to WHU and we should never have been down by that score in the first place.
Another point to consider. A number of staunch Arteta disciples continually spout off about how much this manager has improved us defensively. Really ? A ten man Spuds side dominated us last week. A third rate Olympiakos had no trouble beating us a few days ago. And now WEST Ham, a team that has a manager that ensures his players over achieve their actual abilities, have no trouble scoring THREE ridiculously simple goals against us.
Where’s the defensive improvement? Ive yet to witness it.
Phil most of our disagreements have been aired many times so we both know each others views So I make no comment on your usual views as there is little point always repeating.
BUT your extraordinary statement that a ten man Spuds “dominated us” is beyond belief and so I CHALLENGE YOU TO POINT OUT A SINGLE GOONER or tv pundit who agrees. I say you will not find EVEN one. I had to read this twice and then check it was YOU who had written this abject nonsense about Spuds, who WE dominated!
He said 10 men spuds Jon
Which is what they did when they lost a man ,they dominated us for the last 15 mins being a man down .
For someone who likes to read and digest what others type I would have thought that was bread and butter for you .
I read it and understood straight away and you have told me I’m not on your lvl when it comes to debating and understanding the English language .
Damn maybe I don’t need to go back to pre school along now .
Eh Jon- Spuds went down to TEN MEN and had more attempts against us in the final 15 minutes than the previous 75 when they had ELEVEN. That is a fact that a blind man would confirm, but not an Arteta Blinkered “Realist” such as yourself it seems.
I think you need a lie down after this Jon, as today’s game ha# obviously scrambled your brains.
youve been so strict on emery and wenger. and give arteta such a free pass. its more dropped points and we are set to finish 10th in the table at this rate. And you seem perfectly fine with it because you are blinded by your love for Arteta, who is getting NOWHERE with this team. Wake up, we are getting worse jon. thought you were a realist??
RSH, what a good post, especially the first sentence.
Why MA seems to be judged so differently to our two previous managers, is a mystery.
We all want MA to succeed, but the first 30 minutes today were awful and… in the words of TMJW… another humiliation.
I’m still not giving up on MA, but the season has been one of false promises… surely it’s not asking too much to expect the team to be ready from the first minute to the last?
I don’t know what MA said at half time, but the way they came out for the second half, is how we should start every game as a minimum.
Rightly said RSH, when it came to Emery and Wenger same set of fans who are calling for patience were pointing to results, now I see same ppl ignoring the results and saying it’s building phase so we need to look at future. They forget future is built on what you do in present. I don’t hate Arteta actually I like the intensity and hard work he has brought in but at the end of day we are in result driven business.
👍 👍 👍 The point I have constantly tried to make. What are the performance criteria and season targets for Arsenal managers?
Arsene Wenger (Manager) fails to make a Champions League place two seasons in a row and is gone.
Unai Emery (Head Coach) improves League position one place and improves Europa League from semi final to final in his first season, then loses 3 matches and eighth in the League, has an away win against Olympiakos in the bank in Europa League and is gone.
What are the performance criteria and targets, Mikel Arteta (Manager) has been set to achieve? 10th in the League, more losses than Terry Neil, who was sacked?
For the sake of fans, it would be good to know, because the lack of consistency is apparent to most, if not all.
Completely agree ozziegunner, we moan about consistency from players when we don’t have any consistency in club at any level. The criteria for success or failure needs to be consistent as well so the fans, players and the manager know what targets are we supposed to meet. Did Arteta negotiated with club and it was agreed that we will be starting a new project so expected results will be what they are at the moment or is he underperforming but the board does not have the balls to make decisions and they are sitting on the fence to watch which way we end up. If it’s progress they can take credit if it’s not then they can say we tried.
He sees things before they happen, even our loses 😁 There’s something unnatural about him. Arteta has a special aura… Give him 5 seasons with good backing and we have the champions league within that time frame, first ever! That’s it mate.
Everyone’s looking for excuses or positives. Well at the very least Arsenal avoided 0-3 drubbing. But I don’t accept the players were tired, I just think certain players can’t deliver. Firstly, the centre halves issue should be settled on Holding and Gabriel. The more opportunities they have to play together the better the combination will develop. Chambers would be an excellent defensive midfielder playing alongside Partey. Nothing bad happened when Xhaka was taken off so be brave Mikel. Aubamayang is a serious concern. He doesn’t have the legs or work rate to be a winger, but could be used as a super sub late in a game when opposition defenders are tiring. The focus now must be to give the younger players as much EPL game time as possible. Finally Arteta must get his players to think positively, cut down on the sideways stuff and take the game by the scruff of its neck, so to speak. Now it’s time for bed. Rant over.
Why do you consider your opinion, to which you are fully entitled, to be a “rant”? It was not a rant nor even approaching one!
4.00 am in the morning, John. In a highly agitated state and could barely see the screen. Long winded at least.
Gooner here, saw the match without commentary. Question is – happy or not.. a bit of both. First 25 minutes summed us up completely this season; during which time Chambers first thought was backwards; otherwise squareish. To be fair, he was much better 2nd half when drove the crosses in rather than chip them. Tierney looks tired and unfit. Probably the most motivated I’ve seen Lacca for 90 minutes. Auba should have been off at half time, looks like Ozil the second coming.. Xhaka, pls stop trying pass the ball over more than 10 yards, you can’t do it, personnally I’d go with Elneny instead. But 0-3 to 3-3, fair play but likely that Top 4 is still very much a pipe dream. Next match, Martinelli in, Auba out; GX out, Elneny in.
Lacazette scored 3 goals in 3 games early in the season and was then dropped to the bench. It will be interesting to see how the Manager treats him after he has played so well. Arsenal’s top scorer by the way, unlucky not to get a hat trick today.
I’m not happy with the result and the first 30 min were shocking. Arsenal players definitely need a psychiatrist.
Positives: Ødegård, we should try and keep young Øzil! Btw I have the feeling Auba is going to “honour his contract” !!
lol No2 good comments
Odegaard is nothing like Ozil. Odegaard believes in hard work and earning his wages.
👍
I see great things I. The future with MA despite our poor showing. MA has had some decisions wrong but I support him.
I pray the board will back him in the summer. Evidence is the players he’s signed for us. Mari had an off day but he’s a good defender. Cedric, Odegaard and Partey will come good if they stay with us.
Please Arsenal fan, let’s buy him time cos I will choose MA ahead of Mourinho any day.
Phenom, To those of us who always look further than the end of our nose – and there are many who never do look further and don’t even want to- what you say is sound common sense and plain to see.
I am a masive supporter of this fine and dnamic young manager who is transforming attitudes in our club as each week goes by. I LOVE THAT HE HAS GOT RID OF IDLE SPONGERS LIKE Ozil, trouble makers and ordinary, at best, “children” like Guendouzi and several awful other players he was forced to inherit.
All his personal imports, with the sole exception of Wilian, are doing well and some superbly well.
To those of us who WANT to see, this is as clear as can be.
You will no doubt have noticed , as I have THAT ALMOST ALL THE OTHER SHORTSIGHTED FANS are very young and have no patience. MANY OF THEM DO NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT PATIENCE ENTAILS.
Yeah Jon- and just to remind you
We are TENTH in the EPL
OUT of both domestic cups
QF of Europa League
We are hit and miss attacking
We STILL CANT DEFEND
We have ZERO cohesion as a settled team playing a system comfortable to the squad that has had SEVEN players added to it by Arteta himself since he took charge.
Yet YOU seem to feel anyone who harbours doubts are clearly clueless
Seriously, after THAT abject first 35 minutes this afternoon I would have serious job retention concerns if I was Arteta
SAME OLD, SAME OLD, heard it all before Phil and doubtless will again. Sorry old chum but its pointless. Since AW left seems we can’t agree on anything.
Id like to know for curiosity though, who WAS the last manager you actually supported at our club? Oh and do you seriously think ANY world class name would even dream of wanting the job while Kroenke owns us!
whats kroenke got to do with todays result tho? YOu know how many managers would love to have Partey, saka, Auba, lacazette, maritnelli, odegaard, pepe as squad options? lets stop acting like 10th place is normal. Why are you accepting such awful football jon????
Well Jon, certainly I wanted Wenger out from around 2012 ish when it was obvious he had become too stale and fixed in his own outdated methods to allow us to seriously become a challenge to the clubs who were overtaking us.
When we, the supporters, eventually were instrumental in Wenger being sacked, I backed Emery up until it was quite obvious he would not be up to the job, which was likely on my flight home from the humiliation in Baku, and certainly a long time before you.
Arteta? Yeah I was quietly impressed with his work last season, but he has, in my opinion, been very very poor this season. In case you are not aware, we currently lie in TENTH position in the EPL. That is an embarrassment with a squad of players that should very comfortably achieve Europa League qualification. And before you come back with the usual “ he needs time” and “ look at the players he inherited’ and “ he needs time to clear the deadwood” and “ blah blah blah… let me remind you he transformed a lesser quality squad of players last season to finish with an FA Cup victory. This season ? With a superior squad of players, including SEVEN brought to the club in his time as manager he has taken us backwards. That Jon is a Fact. And being the Realist you always portray yourself as I would challenge you to even contemplate challenging this quite obvious fact
Phenom, Phil, RSH and jon, I didn’t give up on Emery, I gave up on the player’s and realized a wholesale clean out was required. This clean out has commenced.
What I didn’t want to see was Arsenal go on the “manager roundabout”, because it costs less financially to sack managers, than to upgrade the squad. However managers have to be judged on the same criteria and their ability to get the best from the players available to them. Unfortunately Arsenal are not judging managers on the same criteria and set targets and I even doubt that the Board knows what they are?
And a huge thanks to the hammers for their help today 🤩
In a season where this was a one-off and we had consistently put in a performance week in and week out, the fact that we had managed to overturn a 3-0 lead would have been viewed in a quite positive light…of course, a draw is a fundamentally better result than having another L on the books, but the manner by which we arrived at this result raises some serious questions about what our future might look like under an Arteta/Edu partnership
the positives from today are too few to provide any concrete answers, as they came from those individuals who are either spare parts, on loan and/or those who could be, rightly or wrongly, on their way out come the summer
Chambers showed some much-needed effectiveness in the final third, but some obvious frailties in his own end, which is the almost assuredly the exact opposite expectations Arteta had when selecting him
Ode offered a bit of guile, in and around the box, that we hadn’t witnessed since ESR was plying his trade in that same position post-Xmas, but there’s no assurances that he has a future in North London…I still think this situation is problematic considering what Real’s asking price might be, as another loan isn’t the way forward for this team
Laca had an above average game when it came to his positioning and finishing inside the box, but he simply can’t stay beyond this season…we can’t afford to sign him to a longer term, especially on his expectant wages, and we likewise can’t allow another player who has cost us a pretty penny to leave on a free or for a cut-rate deal during the winter window…our asset management was abysmal under Wenger, since arriving at the Emirates, minus possibly Iwobi, and any continuance of that failed course of action is untenable moving forward
As for the negatives…you can’t play a team with the offensive qualities that West Ham has displayed this season with Luiz and Mari at the back and Xhaka in the pivot…they’re too slow to defend effectively or to provide the necessary service for the purposes of quickly countering
the ridiculous over-tinkering that witnessed Auba out wide right and Saka on the left, until we were down by 3, makes absolutely no sense…what would be the purpose of having them play in positions which basically restrict them from even cutting inside as they would be on their respective weaker feet if and when an opening should arise…as we can see, Arteta’s public admonishment has given fans the further impetus to attack Auba regardless of the facts, which I still consider to be an intentional ploy to undermine
finally, what we witnessed from West Ham today should be quite informative, as they played the same formation as us…in the first-half they showed us what one can do in this formation if you counter aggressively, by adopting a much more direct approach…whereas, they likewise displayed the frailties of these tactics if you sit too deep and play too negative…the concerning part is that look how many offensive-minded players we had to bring onto the pitch before we were able to break them down, yet they were able to do so, in the first-half, with us having 7 players dedicated to our defensive zone…this speaks to the very average nature of too many of our “defensive” starters, including our keeper, who continues to show his ineptitude with the ball at his feet
Well said RVL, agree with all your points – in particular why it hasn’t clicked yet with MA that we have to play, fast, aggressave attacking football with this formation and style. When we do we look a pretty good team. If we don’t we look dire and get ripped to shreds.
As you know Im not calling for a sacking, but why Arteta hasn’t caught onto this when its been so obvious even to me for a couple of months, baffles me. As did Auba and Saka’s switch today. Too clever for his own good.
But wasn’t Auba atrocious today?
Guy, I certainly didn’t think he was atrocious today…he back-tracked early on and did get some service, but only really when he was on the right, which was never going to give him an opportunity to do anything but pass the ball backwards or send in a cross
if you haven’t noticed, Ode plays primarily on the right side of the pitch, for some weird reason, so the only time Auba gets involved is when Tierney makes overlapping runs, which usually result in a cross, or when Xhaka moves into a much more advanced position, which means more lateral passing than anything overly direct
just think about the areas where Auba used to score most of his goals in past seasons, then ask yourself how many times you’ve seen him get serviceable passes in those areas this season…I can only remember a handful of times this whole season that he’s had an opportunity to shoot in and around the top right hand corner of the box, which usually requires movement by other players to draw the defensive coverage (double-team) away…this is where tactics and coaching usually come into play
Well said Joe.S. You are spot on regarding the centre backs, and whenever ESR took over from Xhaka we really started to put the squeeze on the Hammers.Hopefully Arteta will realise that our lack of pace at CB and midfield must be addressed and be reflected in his next selection.Certainly, Luis, Xhaka and Auba have no divine right to be picked and the same applies to our goalkeeper who is struggling at present.On a brighter note I am so pleased for Chambers and Laca who were both very good and showed great attitude.Finally, today was the day when I finally made up my mind on Odegaard who was simply superb in the second half.Real Madrid are not immune to the current financial climate and whatever plans Edu and Arteta have for the next transfer window the acquisition of Odegaard should be their top priority.Offer them Auba plus 20m and they would probably accept the deal.
What about TIerney Grandad ?
He played amazing again ,or did you have your blinkers on again tonight ,seeing 2 goals were directly his fault .
Also chambers was absolutely ripped apart in the first half and was only saved form Saka swapping postions .
Some of you on here really do need to proof read what you write before you press send .
Dan, I believe Chambers deserves a bit of consideration for taking time to get into the game, given it was his first start after recovering from an ACL. Tierney had a rare poor game. As for the others, what’s their excuse?
Nothing good is coming from Arsenal until Xhaka is out of the picture.0-3 down and Xhaka continues to pass sideways and backward,dragging his feet at a snail pace.The second the snail Xhaka was replaced,the game moved only forward in a great speed,attacking wave after wave.Get rid of this catastrophic player,he is the main break on the team’s offensive play.Xhaka is the “ director of sideway-backward-no longer than 10 feet passing festival”.Let him go.Bissouma is same kind of Vieira compared with this awful player.
Brake,not break,sorry….
Bro xhaka played more than 10 games in a row.Atleast give him some respect.
antonioro, totally agree on Xhaka and it seems in you, I have a rival for the Gooner who MOST wants this misfit arthritic snail out of our club.
Your ” catastrophic” rather flatters him IMO though! HE IS WORSE THAN CATASTROPHIC! FAR WORSE!
I have wanted him out ever since he first arrived and could see immmediately he is useless, desperately slow both of thought and action and is holding us back bigtime.
Jon we agree on xhaka but Arteta likes him and has given him his stage to continually play xhakaball football.
REGGIE IT IS MERELY YOUR OPINION THAT MA LIKES HIM. SOME OF US THINK HE WILL GET HIM OUT AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE AND REPLACE HIM WITH BETTER.
Its strange that he gives him so much time in the team Jon, if he doesn’t rate him. Im afraid that Arteta playing Zhaka is helping fuel our problems.
Of course MA rates him highly Jon, he talked him out of leaving the club and promised him first team football – which of course he has done.
Just as AW and UE did, so why you don’t address this situation as a realist is, quite frankly, unrealistic!!!!
Its obvious to me ken.
It’s really frustrating. When we are 3 down I still saw a comeback and a win. And had our players got their chances scored we would be 5-3 up. Saka missed two chances in the first half and Pepe should have scored at least one instead of falling to ground looking for a Pen. In all good game but I am still pained w didn’t win. For those who didn’t see it, West Ham was there for the taking and we didn’t get the job done.
👍 Plus the non turn up for the first 15 minutes, until 3 nil down and West Ham hit the post from 2 metres.
Tut tut tut tut! Just a typical Arsenal performance under Arteta, you dont know what you are going to get (well we do really) so inconsistent and lapsidaisical. Are we really this bad? we shouldn’t be!
Arteta is a great coach, except he has a problem with senior players like Auba.
I am a big Auba fan and I think some bench time would do him real good
Question? And i dont mean to be disrespectful. Isn’t Great coach a bit of a exaggerated statement to put it mildy and a bit disrespectful to great coaches. Great coaches don’t keep making school boy errors and they dont languish in mid table either.
@Reggie- A great coach would have implemented a pattern of play after 15 months. Arteta continues to go from week to week, game to game, with no cohesive improvement to be seen. We are certainly not going forward under this novice, and giving him too much more time could end up being a disaster
Reggie
Noticed you are always digging out MA but I do t believe you have offered up an alternative.
MA is far.from being the finished article
He is a coach learning to be a manger so of course he he bound to have mistakes in him
You.need to ask the question who appointed him and question there selection process
We are where we are and you either stick with him or turn.off the TV and stop watch afc until a new manager is appointed at some pointed in time
Me.. think he is doing.g ok considering the circumstances
Allanballo, i notice you dont notice, i have given alternatives or at least my favourite but then again if you had been really interested you would have seen the many times i have given my choice. Then again that is my opinion not the answer and i watch Arsenal and have supported Arsenal for years, the manager is not the reason i watch but he is the reason i judge.
Oh and Mr Ballo i am entitled to my opinion and dont need you to tell me to stop watching. I dont like what i see and i dont like the direction we are going in, if you do, then we are on a different page.
we are on the same page. where is the type of football we are playing. this week pass it out from the back…get found out…next week we boot it long(have no problem playing it long when it is called for)…this week we build up slow…oh not working next week we play fast…this week auba on the right…oh not working so next week auba on the left…ohh this week soares was good…oh let’s not play him and play bellerin since the opposition will be completely blindsided. this week let’s play luiz and gabriel as centre back…oh but waitI I’ll tinker this week and play mari with luiz they are bigger and stronger…this week let’s tell Tierney to cross in the box to giroud…oh wait no giroud…let’s tell him to play it on the floor the other week. Arteta is a great novice if you ask me. I am a novice just watching,just imagine the other managers nit picking and finding all the weakness in artetas plan
spot on my fellow gooner
We certainly play confusing football Phil, thats plain to see.
Remember 2 of Arsenals goals are own goals. arsenal is so bad, i have stopped watching them for the last 10/15 games. I have stopped watching football altogether
Dan Kit, please forgive me from omitting Tierney from my earlier lines.You are quite right, he did not play well which is not surprising as he must be very close to being in the “red zone” as he has covered more ground than any other outfield player this season by some distance.The lack of a suitable ,natural left footed back up is frustrating, particularly when the likes of Chelsea, have 3 experienced alternatives.Of course they are in a different financial league to us, something that certain Arsenal fans seem reluctant to accept.As to your cynical comments regarding my lack of grey matter, for someone who has had a very successful career in Management , and has been involved in multi million projects for hundreds of UK businesses, I would respectfully ask you to reconsider your views .Like it or not DK, we have at least one thing in common, in that we are both Arsenal supporters.