Arsenal need one more win to equal their amount of away league victories from last season. by Dan Smith
Too many times this group of players have had the wrong attitude on their travels, showing up underestimatimg the opposition, not winning the battle first. We were guilty of that in the first half at Newcastle. That though will make the three points more rewarding to Uani Emery. Week by week he is trying to improve the mentality of the squad he’s inherited.
The only way confidence on the road will improve is by learning how to win again. The line between success and failure is so fine. We could have easily dropped points in our last two matches, yet both times found a way to return to London with maximum points. Performances havn’t been convincing, but that could prove more crucial to our development then if we had won by a huge margin.
In his last couple of years, if Arsene Wenger’s football ideology wasn’t working we never had a plan B. In Cardiff and at St James Park, we rolled up our sleeves, dug deep and found a way to get over the line. This time 12 months ago, that wouldn’t have happened.
Dan Smith
Mustafi is a disaster waiting around the corner to happen…. He needs to be dropped ASAP and i think Emery should pair one of the young boys with Sokratis and bench Mustafi.. I am still trying to figure out what makes him FALL every single time, with or without the ball or players around him
I think you’re right – it seems to me that his greatest weakness is misjudging the flight of balls in the air and going completely off balance for no obvious reason. Great at throwing his body in the way of shots and I don’t doubt his attitude but that weakness is not something we can afford.
I think you’re talking bollox, he’s gradually got a partnership going with Sokratis. Yes he fell over yesterday, once. Have you not fallen over? His last ditch tackles have saved us numerous times.
GB always respect your views, but Mustafi was being caught out on crosses and back passes yesterday.
I think the goal was his responsibility as he was dragged over way to far.
As you say, falling over can happen to anyone at any time, but it just seemed as if he lost all idea of where he was and what he was planning to do when it happened yesterday.
I thought Soks. was excellent and when Kos. comes back, think that partnership will be very very good.
The trouble is, when we play against forwards the like of which Pool and City have, Mustafi is the weak link.
No matter who he is partnered with in my opininon.
Ken, Mustafi was just a really bad buy; not worth a fraction of the large fee we paid. I am not at all surprised by his regularly hopeless perfs. He has the balance of a drunken elephant. Bad players play badly. That is WHY they are called BAD players. Mavropanos should immediately partner Sokratis from now on. All clubs should just cut their losses on bad players and not carry them for years in the side, letting all us fans down. Realism!
I don’t comment much but this time… I love Arsenal and Football…. but oh my days some Arsenal fans online seem to watch something totally different to reality?!!
Mustafi is ridiculously error prone.. holy hell we cant deny that!! But to say he is, as crap a defender as a lot of you suggest is pretty mental.
Did you guys miss the past 20 years (I’ve been around for 30) or are you new casual footie supporters… stepanovs….luzhny…… senderos….squillaci…. Cygan…. Djourou… bloody hell Silvestre (wtf was that about?) man I could go on… now those were damn crap defenders.
Damn, even Koscielny was a bloody disaster the first few years?!
So yes this guy is doing crap right now but its obvious.. he has got all the tools to be great if everything falls into place just like le boss…. and that I’m afraid will be down to the Manager and defensive coaching staff which is where if you really think about it… the issue actually stems from?
I mean how do you explain how orcs like Alerrrdyce (however you spell that Twirps name?) and Pullis et all seem to able to just jump straight into a crap team and turn mediocre chumps at the back into defensive geniuses in a few games?
So damn please get some perspective chumps… who knows… maybe the final ingredient the guy needs to come good actually comes from… the fans? You never know because footie like a lot of things is an inexact science!
Hey, new boy, I go back to 1958 attending Arsenal matches so have seen many top, top CB’s in our shirt, Ones that don’t constantly stumble over either, in typical Mustafoi style and ones who are also tall and tough enough to be dominant in the air, quick and decisive in the tackle and who have great balance. Mustafi has none of those attributes and is total rubbish. He can’t lick the boots of many of our top CB’s , even of a younger Koscielny, who is even now (that he is older and only back in early training again) still better than Mustafi. Get real or get some Arsenal watching proper experience. Perhaps then, and only then, you might have a clue what a proper Arsenal CB SHOULD BE. BTW, IT IS SPELLED “ALLARDYCE”; WE OLDIES HAD A PROPER EDUCATION, both in writing correct English and in recognising great CB’s, which Mustafi will never be. When you call out our fans as “chumps ” you cannot be surprised when some of us make YOU look the true chump, as I have just done. And enjoyed doing so!
These CB errors would always happen, as long as the players in front of them do not help much
I believe Emery is sorting out the players that cannot keep up with his high pressing system
Yeah, agree Otunba, another £35 million down the drain, I’d have brought the young Greek lad in weeks ago to play along side Sokratis, who, Iv’e got to say has impressed me after all the negative comments about his pace.
Yes Kenny, Sokratis also surprised the commentator on the channel I was watching who remarked that a Newcastle player who was known as being quick was caught up by Sokratis who got his tackle in without fouling and played the ball out for a corner (I think).
The negative comments you mention probably came from the usual crowd of bandwagon jumpers so no concerns there.
Alot of people on this site said Sokratis is as slow as BFG when we first bought him but that’s a BIG LIE and most people said he wasn’t good enough for dortmund and why should we buy him, but he hasn’t put a foot wrong in my highest opinion since he arrived, he’s solid and he keeps improving game after game.. I will like to see him play with KOS when he returns and i think that will calm Cech down a little bit more as mustafi mistakes rubs all over Cech most of the time
“As slow as BFG”? EVEN a statue is faster than BFG!
Sokratis shifted his gear up after the pre-season 😀
I swear to God and my momma’s breasts, I don’t know what Mustafi does for a living, football or comedy…d guy seems so easy to dribble past and even fell in a heap dat Grandpa Sokratis had to scrub his bald buttocks with an iron sponge… Arsenal has a lot of comedians but Mustafi is d king, dat guy is an accident.. please gooners I need a stat on how many times he’s been dribbled past by both young, average and matured players… even kids seem to dribble him like dat Newcastle rat dat played on d wing.. Lolzzzzzxxxx…even d new grandpa seemed more composed, Mtcheew, Sowi peeps I just had to spill the beans
Are you for real?
I am an old fashioned gooner but I see the sense of allowing Emery time to plant his footie tactics and let them grow through application. Too early to judge if he is working or not. Juicy that even at this short period things are going forward as in XHacka and Ozil scoring and no card -yellow or otherwise shown to one of them.
I wish we still have a tall player that can be a big threat from set-piece, in case the open play schemes do not work
Even Barcelona have that type of player in Pique. I hope Mavropanos can be the main CB after a few years
First half we were poor and didn’t create many chance butniether did they. 2nd half we were good for the 3 points. Transformation in progress.
Off topic, just watching the Everton – West Ham game and have got to admit rooting for the Hammers. the reason is simple, Scumbag Carragher although an ex Liverpool player is I believe an Everton fan and typical of Sky, called up to do the bias commentary. How this piece of sh*t is still employed by Sky is baffling. I’m now wondering what he’s going to say if a player spits in the face of another. Is he going to say “oh that’s unexceptable” or “you can’t do that on the field of play” because it’s obviously alright when you’re in your car especially if it’s a fourteen year girl you’re spitting at.
I watched that clip of him spitting at that girl… every time I look at him that is all I see!! So disgusting
Kenny, it’s all about Standards and the Sun never had any, just like Sky Sports.
i laugh at all these pundits who criticize today’s players, while forgetting their own history.
G. and P. Neville trying to end the career of Reyes.
Shearer trying to take the head of a Charlton player and then threatening to not play in the world cup if they took the incident further.
Keane ending the career of another player in retaliation to a previous challenge.
Carragher with this spitting incident.
Wrighty for nearly decapitating Schmichall at Highbury.
That’s just ones that I can recall Kenny and we are supposed to respect them?
Ken, the game versus Manchester United programme I told you about recently when I had an article printed funny enough was that game. That night I never got a programme but someone told me about the article. So the following day I went to the Finsbury Park shop to get the programme. As I came out the shop I was confronted by ITV news at six who asked me what I thought of the Wright and Schmeichel incident and my exact words were “Oh he goes over the top sometimes but last night Schmeichel made a meal of it”, yes Ken I defended the indefensible, I let my heart rule my head and defended Wrighty. But I make you right it was a dreadful tackle.He had a habit of doing that, do you remember the stupid tackle that cost him a Cup Winners Cup medal.
Sorry Ken, regarding your article, you’re absolutely right about the standards. What about the lost memory you were talking about recently? You’ve just come out with four or five excellent examples of ex players behaviour, Shearers kick in the head, was it against Charlton Ken, Who was the player? I forget
Its good to say that the winning mentality is there, BUT the manager needs to have some balls and play his best 11 for better passing, decision making and to win games comfortably.
Replace Bellerin with Lichtsteiner, Xhaka with Torreira, Ramsey with Mkitaryan, Mustafi with Mavropanos and we will win games comfortably not waiting for second half.
If you watched the first half you should have seen the timid, boring, uncoordinated play from the ARSENAL.