Are we finally getting our Arsenal back? I sure hope so! by Shenel
Fans were calling for “our Arsenal” to reappear and it seems slowly but surely this is occurring!
Finally, it seems as though the team is clicking once more and the consistency seems more apparent.
Goals are flowing, the team is together and the defence is strong, and Mikel Arteta’s message seems to be getting across to the players! So far so good!
Although we are consistently winning games, the opponents we have faced in the last few games, no disrespect to them, hardly gave us a tough time yet we got the job done.
But it is nice to see that we are conceding fewer goals yet we are going up the other end and scoring more than two a game.
It’s weird that it’s taken Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang to be taken out of the fold for the goals to appear.
Call it a coincidence or call it a sense of relief for some players (read into that what you will), well we just don’t know, but finally Arsenal are becoming more and more clinical in the final third and all over the pitch things are clicking..
The defending and goals are being shared all over the pitch, defenders, midfielders and forwards are all chipping in, all that’s left is for Aaron Ramsdale to score and every department will have a goal to their name.
Miracles don’t happen but you never know in this game!.
Really all that matters is finally we are seeing the attacking, flowing, stylish football that at times can be compared to the football from the Arsene Wenger era.
Although we know there are going to be a lot more tests and ups and downs to come, if this is just a positive snippet of what is to come from this team, then I for one am very excited for the future!!
Gooners?
Shenel Osman
@sh3n3l_
THE JUST ARSENAL SHOW – Dan Smith has a rant over Arteta and ‘Players Welfare”
I’m very happy with what we are seeing on the field, will make a final call after the City, Liverpool and Spurs games.
My big concern now is asset management. We are losing a ton of money like usual by letting contracts run down or doing these loan2buy deals with ridiculously low prices after the loan is complete.
MA has been here 2 years now, I don’t care if he didn’t sign the players…contracts is his/Edu’s responsibility and they are costing us cash big time. I wouldn’t blame Kroenke for not handing out cash as we’ve lost so much unnecessarily.
I’d love for someone to do an article on all of our player that by the end of this season will have 1-3 years left on their contracts. There should be serious focus on this but I guarantee you there isn’t.
I think we are overreacting about our performance against top sides, beating, city, Chelsea and Liverpool has same points as beating, Norwich, Burnley Newcastle.
I know it’s about bragging rights, am more concerned about our results against others than the top 3, look at westharm, despite good results against the big boys they are below us.
It’s just 18points if we lose both legs to d 3 top teams but losing to the rest of the club is much more hurting that’s why loss against Everton is still hurting till now.
Everton , spur westharm, Utd, Leicester are our main rivals and results against them are most important.
Hopefully we know our priorities
Against Liverpool in the cup, am confident, our B team is stronger than Liverpool B team, and if both team wants to go strong, Liverpool isn’t same without their best attackers in Mane,Salah and Keita, the trio should be off to AFCON
Thanks Adajim for expressing clearly a view I share with you.
It’s hard to understand the “let’s see how we do against city to see if there is progress” rhetoric.
City are top 3 in the world right now, why would that be our benchmark after finishing 8th twice in a row in the EPL?
What is the target this season?
I’ll be over the moon if we finish 4th and qualify for the champions league for the first time in 5 years.
There’s 60 points from to take from bottom 10 teams and these games are the ones we need to get as many points as possible from. When we beat them I hear “that was expected”. When AFC win matches they were expected to win that’s called meeting expectations.
We also need to take points from direct competitors and I fully agree with your assessment of who these teams are and that doesn’t include Man City.
I’ll take it on the chin and if City beat us. I’ll be watching the game hoping for a result but it’s not a critical game in the top 4 race.
Couldn’t agree more, the next month will defy whether the novice is becoming a professional manager, it could determine our season
We’re improving, yet we’re still far from the Invincibles’ standard. As I said, Arteta would likely need a new CF who fits into his system
Lacazette and Odegaard did a great pressing job against shaky defenses, but I believe they’re too slow to scare off Man City’s defenders and GK. Luckily, we’ll have our supporters as the 12th player and more resting time, so we can expect at least one point from the game
Gai,Yes one point from the game should be a decent result, especially considering Man City current form. I hope Arteta gets his tactics right. Xhaka should also be careful of his occasional “madness”. I think if Pathey and Xhaka step up and Gabriel and White in defense we should grab at least a point or even win.
Yeah, I bet Lacazette will work his socks off to get a new contract and to showcase his abilities to Man City
gai Will you please tell me why EDU is possessed with Brazilian footballers when their cup comes around half the team will be gone he needs to rethink
I’m reminded of the refrain “sing when your winning you only sing when your winning
Fair weather fans deserted the club in droves in August but they are returning in hoardes now claiming they never lost faith.
The club never went away so what’s with the we’re getting our Arsenal back nonsense?
Some fans believe winning is Arsenal.
Others believe top 4 is Arsenal.
For others top 6.
Some want a style of play.
Some want characters.
Some like the controversy
For some it’s the year in year out interest,
camaradeire, loyalty the history.
Loyal fans always support the club not just when we are winning.
Is anyone else having trouble booking their ticket for the semi final?
Which arsenal team are we expecting to have back?
The invincible arsenal?
The Wenger’ s 1st 10yrs arsenal or Wenger’s last 10yrs arsenal?
This is the most complete and balanced team we have had since 2007 imo,
In the last 15years we have been struggling with back 6(Including DM), we buy striker when we need DM and when we have DM we lack good CB etc but this team, though we still think perhaps we need a better cm than Chaka and Striker, we still have better personnel compared to how the team were so weak in some departments and so strong in another in times past
It is unrealistic to expect the invincibles’ standard because nobody in the premier league has reached that since then. I disagree with those who want to judge our team’s progress basing on how we perform against the so-called big teams. That argument would have been logic if winning against the big teams had more points. As it is a win carries the same points regardless of the opponent. I recall a season (was it 2011-12?) when Man U won EPL trophy without beating any of the big boys! Was the trophy not awarded? The obsession with big boys is simply illogical.
My view is that progress should be judged based on the games we win regardless of the opponent.
David, What a sensible post. Far too much is made in general about beating certain opponents but realists like you, myself and others know that as all games carry three points for a win , beating Norwich is just as valuable as beating City. FACT, NOT OPINION.
After half a season we have 35 points, having played each opponent once. That seems to my logical thinking mind a fair return and I deem it more likely than not that our second half, bearing in mind we are a rapidly improving side, will provide more than 35 points.
The bookies are currently giving Man Utd a 10/11 chance of reaching fourth. I disagree with them, primarily as I see a relative lack of fight in their side compared to ourselves and Conte’s new look Spurs.
Jon, I can’t agree more. The problem you and I have is that we try to use logic where many of our mates don’t value it. This reminds me of Shakespeare’s wise words that it is in vain to talk to him that means not to understand!
What I have observed this season is that we are beating the teams we are supposed to beat. Long may that continue.
I’m not sure our defense will be able to resist the strong attack of Man. City.
I’m afraid we might lose that game.
Does loosing to top 3 means top 4 inaccessible?
Full Prem league program today, tomorrow and Thursday. All games live on Amazon Prime. Is Dan doing a prediction on these or taking a well deserved break? Many thanks for what you do Dan.
Declan It is not full now. Covid has seen to that! I agree that DAN provides a service of interest to many , even though I choose not to take part, for various reasons.
If we can actually finish the season in the top 4, then we are making significant progress! If we dont then we have wasted 2 years and an awful lot of money and talent. We get a good run of fixtures, do ok and suddenly we are world beaters until we get brought back down to earth. The truth is, with the players we have now 4th this season should be a given, we have spent more money on players and have better youth players than all the team currently below us. I accept that the three team on consistency above us are better but our individual performances against them this season have been disastrous and embarrassing. Lets not dish out any accolades just yet but hope that the penny has finally droppped and we can get out of this team what is being put in. People are not mentioning it but Kronk has invested big style this last two years, there should be an improvement and we should be top 4 come MAY.
I think our results against the top three are vital in the development of a tough mentality in our players , especially our talented youngsters..Our fragile mentality has cost us dear, particularly at the hands of Man City, but as Leicester proved the other night, they are not without their flaws and can be vulnerable in defence.In essence, we should not sit back and concede possession to City, but match up with them as far as possible and ,for the want of a better phrase, “get stuck in”.Some of the football we have played of late has been attractive, with Odegaard playing a conducting role as others have improved their running off the ball to create space.The success of City and Liverpool is based on creating space and that is best achieved by giving the player in possession options .Reduce or better still, eliminate options, and you are well on the way to breaking the current monopoly of the top two.It is of course easier said than done, and no amount of effort will prove effective unless we give them real problems going forward.This young Arsenal team is showing signs of making time and space through their efforts and ability and with a bit more athleticism in central midfield we could begin to upset the top three..Having seen Man Utd last night the suggestion that experience is essential to bring success is not a requirement I buy into .With one of two exceptions, we have a group of talented young players who are all now singing from the same hymn sheet and have created a team spirit which has been lacking for some time.
GRANDAD, Astute as ever. How I wish there were many more posters with your football experience and wisdom.
I have personally taken advantage of what I see as unrealistically low odds on United making fourth place to lay(bet against) them for a sizeable sum.
As you will know from my many posts calling out lazy players like Walcott, Ozil and Auba, I see the enormous harm that idle players do in a team
More than ALMOST any other Gooner, I know how harmful even one player in a team can be who refuses to give his all.
To my mind, our vast improvement and fluidity since leaving out Auba has demonstrated that in spades.
United have a team who collectively lack the total commitment of us and Spurs.
Well written Grandad, I wrote something similar about the mentality of the team. Basically we have to shift the “inferiority complex” for us to reach the next stage of the progression( to challenge for the title)👍👍
Let’s not forget that at the start of the season, Arsenal could not field in their best team because of injuries and covid cases. Lacazette, Aubameyang, Gabriel, Martinelli and Tomiyasu were all of the squad. I , therefore expect a much better performance against Manchester city, this time around. Since the dropping of Aubameyang from the squad, they have been playing better as a unit, since they now have a full squad of eleven players on the field, rather than ten, when he plays. The unity and joy of playing together is their strength. But, with the recent string of good performances, they must now believe and take the fight to Manchester city without the fear of the past. Manchester city is beatable of course, as teams below Arsenal have shown this season. Their last defeat was against struggling Crystal palace (2)-city (0).Arsenal have the week to better prepare for the match, as well as one game less and some needed rest. With arsenal current home form and support, l am optimistic that Arsenal can compete and have a positive result. But, Arsenal must keep it tight as unit for the first 15 minutes and take the fight to Manchester city without being overly defensive and keep attacking them. From the extra mid week game that Manchester city has to play, l am sure, their players will be a bit more fatigue than Arsenal’s. At least, Arsenal should earn a point from this fixture. To be the best, you must beat the best.
Despite that some Arsenal fans have voiced their voices out to say that it doesn’t matter to them if Arsenal lose to Man City in the EPL on Saturday. But continue to beat the lower and mid-table teams to keep garnering points that could see them finish in any of the 4th, 5th and 6th places in the table at the end of this season’s campaign to play in the UCL or Europa League Cup competition next season. Great!
But I don’t think nor believe that with the Gunners playing at home on Saturday this week against Man City in an EPL big game match encounter will lose the match to the Citizens. But will win it to boost their standing in the race for the top-four place finish this season. More so, as their position in the table is currently 4th.
Have us Gooners lost our Arsenal before? Sorry Admini Pat for my asking Shenel Osman this question. I mean no any disrespect to her. But if us have lost our Arsenal before, to where did us lost it to? To mediocrity?
According to the account of Arsenal history that I’ve read on the Arsenal History Society courtesy of The Untold Arsenal media organization. Arsenal were elected into the Football League First Division some 100 years ago. And have not been relegated from there ever since then.
Neither were they relegated before from the English Premier League since it was formed and being one of the original 20 founding club sides.
I think Arsenal have remained a consistent big club side in both the old first division and the new EPL. How many of Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hs have remained this consistent in the top flight of English football without suffering some sort of setbacks in their history?
Shenel, I know what you are driving at. But nevertheless, I don’t think us have really lost our identify before. And us are now getting it back. Is it our regular attainment of the top-four place finish to play in the UCL for 20 or so consecutive seasons of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal era identify that made say, we are getting our Arsenal back? If yes, I will not ague much with you over that Shenel. But I think Arteta is trying his best to return us to the glory days we’ve had before. And better it to get us past those high level heights us once attained by managing the Gunners to win the UCL for Arsenal in no far season..
I think the perceived reasoning why some fans think we lost our Arsenal has come down to the cash injection into Chelsea,Man City and soon to be realised Newcastle. Their success came in say 5 years which may have taken 50 years by normal standards to achieve. Personally I think it was was unfair, we may not like Manutd and Liverpool but they have gained their success the hard way, the fair way. And so have we. And remarkably Leicester( took advantage of a perfect storm). Taking into account how strong the prem is now, we are looking really good to get into the mix, with in a couple of years. 🤞
think about it when the average age of this team is 25
ask me again at the end of the season. nothing accomplished yet