Arsenal come away from the Etihad with a 1-0 loss on their hands, but neither us or Manchester City were at their best.
We were rocked by the late loss of Rob Holding, who was injured in the warm-up, which led to David Luiz coming into the side.
Mikel Arteta’s more controversial decisions were to change the formation for the fixture, reverting to a 4-3-3 and more-so to start without Alexandre Lacazette (who had scored three in three this season).
We started the game brightly however, moving the ball quickly and getting forward at speed, but our exciting start was short-lived however.
Raheem Sterling put paid to a neat team goal just after 20 minutes in, although the it was Bernd Leno’s parry which fell into the path of the England star.
Bukayo Saka had the best chance to level things when forcing Ederson to spread his body to pull off a crucial save, but the this was just the way the game was to play out.
We had plenty of opportunities to punish Manchester City, but were not clinical enough to get that crucial equaliser, and you could point at any of our three forwards in Aubameyang, Pepe or Willian for not being at their best during the match.
Each of them wasn’t clinical enough in possession, composed enough on the ball, or creative enough to get us the breakthrough we needed, and neither substitute Lacazette or Nketiah did enough in their limited time on the pitch either.
Man City will be thankful that the match played out the way it did given how wasteful we were in the final third, but Mikel Arteta will not be happy going back into the changing room with the loss today.
Will Arteta look at his selection as any form of mistake? Will the back four be here to stay after today’s performance?
Patrick
This one’s on Arteta.
Probably asked the players to play safe. He’s gotta take the blame for this one.
I’ve always supported him but today his decisions were pretty poor.
Benching Partey, not starting Lacazette who at least makes the hold up play effective.
What was the decision to play Willian as 9 and Auba as LW from?
This is all on the coach. City weren’t great, and it was obvious Arteta came to this game looking to be on the safe side, which is why they probably played that way.
There’s been big expectations, and yes he’ll need time but I’m yet to see him impose himself in games. Before you say I’m whining you should know I’m always behind Arteta, but he needs to start showing the transition into his own game.
Even against smaller teams, we play safe too much. We’re yet to play a game and take it to them and dominate the game. At least he’s brought in a couple of his players. He needs to show now he can hold his own.
Till next Sunday again, because I don’t watch that shîtshow competition called Europa league
Couldnt agree more mate, that was pretty painful stuff, as you said city were poor and points were there for the taking, arteta needs to shake things up, not a fan of this three at the back stuff, hindering players like tierny who’s struggling with it.
Y very right!! Our defensive approach is irritating. Even our flop Emery wasn’t defensive. Defense football ain’t our DNA
Emery was defensive !
How soon we forget…Emery was defensive and poor at it.
For me the starting of Willian and Pepe in the same lineup is laughable. They are both at best when played at RW. No need to tinker with them and one should play over the other not both. I also dont like Saka playing centrally because he’s most effective out wide(LW).
Please there is nothing on MA in this result. You would not win every game. Jeez can you fans just chill. This was Man city for crying out loud. Yes they were mauled by Leiceister who then got beaten by Westham who Arsenal beat….
You cannot win every game. I get that as fans we always want to win, but wake up – it cannot always be that way. Especially now that we are rebuilding.
This was superior opposition, you have to respect the opposition. MA put out a team which did what they could. They fought to the end. Of course there is room for improvement, and you certainly cannot say you do not see improvement. Or don’t you?
Our time would come gunners, it will. Let’s just chill, support and enjoy the the process.
If you really don’t see what fans are trying to say regarding this game then you’re being sentimental here my friend.
Nobody says we needed to win all.
The disappointment comes from knowing we could’ve played better than we did today. City are one of the best teams, but even you can’t deny they were pissful poor today and we should’ve done better.
City three years ago would’ve won this game by 5.
Arteta should learn from his mistakes!!! Stop playing too safe!! That’s the point, will you make this same excuse if we play safe against Man Utd too?
Even if we win against United, I don’t want to see us doing that by playing too safe and popping one moment attacking goal
Eddie I agree with you 100%. MA is too conservative about his team selection, his formation, his play, even his substitution. This are the kind of games that could really tell how much we’ve improved, today’s city is the weekest I’ve seen in five years and we couldn’t still had a draw against them, he really needs to start treating everyone in the team the same, and stop this favoritism stuff.
Look, Arteta made mistakes today. You can see with the whole willian experiment that he was trying to outsmart Pep but in hindsight he seems he was overthinking it. In addition it was disappointing not to see Arsenal going for it and taking the game to city. And yes, we can blame the manager for that. But I hope we can also do that without implying that he isn’t good enough. Arteta has done great so far, and we must remember he’s learning on the job. He gets it wrong sometimes, let’s hope he starts to learn from these mistakes and move forward to fulfill the incredible potential we fans can see in him as a manager. COYG
So William your happy with how we played today? I dont care that we lost, I care about the fashion in which we lost, not enough fight and desire, players playing not playing in their best positions, subs were too late, no urgency with passing, pepe was a striker at one point ffs and were predictable at the moment
so yes there IS something on arteta with this result. I’m not losing faith in him but he needs to be accountable when he gets things really wrong.
Exactly
we are rebuilding the team…
creating a new core/spine of the team….
mistakes will definitely be made…
losing 1 nil away to a Fifi21 team is a good result for an inexpeirence team that is currently rebuilding
Arsenal played like a team that has not trained together. No creativity, too slow, no sharpness and very predictable. It will be difficult for Arsenal to make top 4.
majority of the players have not trained together for more than 2/3 years in the first team….
Majority of the City team has been playing together for more than 3 yers
This is why Arsenal need a towering target man on the bench as plan B, because we can’t always control the game from open play. Unfortunately Arsenal opted to buy a youngster like Nikolaj Moller in the tarnsfer window, instead of buying an established target man like Weghorst
The front three also sucked in duels and they were dispossessed too often. The defeat is expected, but Arsenal should’ve gotten a better winger who’s excellent in one-on-one situations next time
Finally someone see a plan B target man….
then again if that player is not world class or big tag….they will not like him
we need a targetman (Striker) who can hold and score more header goals our strikers are short and aerially very week that david luiz cross was perfect if that was giroud inspite of auba it was a certain goal
What’s a shameful performance. Am Arteta’s first hand support guy but with his defensive system, its a no for me!! Our midfield is just useless.
Think man
What a shameful post! You ought to be ashamed of yourself for thinking you even qualify as a true Gooner. You do not!
I did not know voicing opinions would disqualify one from being a true gooner though…
Shameful reply. Having an opinion does not disqualify one from being a true supporter, pull yourself together sir.
Very disappointed. Not because of the scoreline but because of the performance.
Me too 👍
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Willian has lost some pace in Him. Is it just me observing this
Aubameyang, was he playing as a striker or a winger? I always saw him drifting to the left. Probably he is not used to the flanks that he forgets he started as a number 9 in todays game. Below average performance by his standard.
Saka was the man today. He played better than every other player…
Willian is never a fast winger. His main skills are his close control and his tactical awareness
Aubameyang played as a wide forward or inverted LW as usual
Unfortunately Saka cannot be allowed to play in his best position because of trying to accommodate others.
It’s not rocket science, play your best youngsters in their proper wings so they’ll grow more and enjoy themselves more.
Mbappe, Sancho, Fati, Dominik Szbol whatever his name his, every youngsters are being used in the proper positions.
If the solution means selling Lacazette, sell him, play Auba as 9 and let Saka play his best position. Put everyone in their proper zones.
Auba will never be an effective winger. Hesy an effective goalscorer but a winger? No
Lacazette will be like Giroud, not appreciated when at Arsenal and then missed when he is gone. He has been in goal scoring form this season; if Lacazette was not going to start, he should have been brought on earlier.
I am waiting for the comment that now Aubameyang has a new contract, he has lost his goal scoring ability.
What’s a shameful performance. Am Arteta’s first hand support guy but with his defensive system, its a no for me!! Our midfield is just useless.
Think man
Looks like Chelsea fans were right and our over excited fan base were wrong about Willian. 3 year deal for him was a mistake
No need to gloss over the truth. I’ve never liked the playing of Auba out wide as I believe he doesn’t create much though he scores a lot and that papers over his performances out wide. Saka is Arsenal’s most creative winger and better as a winger than Auba or anyone in the 1st team. Given the same game time there he would get a lot of assists and create a lot of chances even for Auba. Pepe is Pepe and I remember I warned you guys last season that he was never that good. Leno has world class teflexes but his handling is poor and he’s error prone too. Well he was never world class anyway. Arteta needs to improve the positioning of the players in his lineups.
What does Leno has to do with today’s performance though? Just an honest question.
Cause what I saw clearly was Bellerin running like a mountain goat giving Foden the space.
Luiz was already on Aguero, all Belleeiy had to do was make sure Foden doesn’t get into space, and instead Bellerin ran from him and put Foden in space.
Nothing Leno could’ve done with that ball. That was a inside his own box 18.
The whose team were poor though and it showed it’s from instructions by the manager
Leno could have done better with the goal, it was the same way he pushed the Liverpool first goal.
spot on…. Leno had a good game. Only thing we can argue that for the goal, save he made, he should have pushed the ball wide and not centrally. Otherwise he was strong.
Bellerin was not unto the occasion today both in defence and offence.
Everything I said was obvious to my eye. I cant lie to myself on that front. You dont need to explain anything. Next week hopefully he’ll do better just like in the Carabao vs Liverpool where it was also obvious to my eye that he did great which I stated here. You worry ypurself with him but his ability is intrinsic and noone can change that
Saka also played well as an RW in the Community Shield. I hope Arsenal don’t ruin his development by forcing him to be an LWB
Don’t like to criticise the coach but tonight looked like a favour, change formation against City of all teams, endless playing at the back way too little go forward, Willian for part of the game as a what false nine, Partey on the bench I can go on and on bad tactics by the coach tonight City was there for the taking
Isn’t that always the way – teams there for the talking? And the end result is always the same…. smh….
You are spot on. Some people here are like, atleast we only lost 1-0 instead of 3 or 4 like last time.
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It doesn’t matter which of the big salary players are playing, they all pull out of 70-30 challeneges in their favour, like not even 50-50 but 70-30.
We’re taking this blunt attack with us to January. By then We will not be near top four.
The only thing Partey will do is help against pure counter attacking teams like Leicester, Wolves maybe even Spurs and Chelsea. Teams that we have trouble containing from counters.
Have you watched Thomas Partey play for Atletico Madrid and Ghana? He is a multi dimensional box to box midfielder, who drives forward with the ball and can score from outside the box or play in a team mate.
I’m so disappointed and bloody frustrated… waited 2 weeks for that and I thought we were really, really poor. Saka, Tierney and Ceballos did alright, that’s about it!
Hardly troubled Ederson… the wait for an away win against the top 6 goes on… am I surprised? Not really… I’m just Po’d I had us down to win! 🤦♀️ tw@t!!
Lol. Sue it’s very frustrating. I’m an Arteta fan through and through but come on man, something has gotta give at some point. We can’t be playing like this week in week out. It’s so poor that I’m actually starting to wonder what they do in training.
Trouble is when you expect so much and they fail to deliver, Kstix!! I thought we would’ve taken the game to them but we didn’t even look like scoring –
all that attacking prowess and nothing…certain individuals really frustrated me tonight… argh!!!!
Lol. Sue it’s very frustrating. I’m an Arteta fan through and through but come on man, something has gotta give at some point. We can’t be playing like this week in week out. It’s so poor that I’m actually starting to wonder what they do in training.
Sue City were weaker than when we beat them at Wembley, yet we still found a way to lose the match. It’s awful. I hope this type of football we play doesn’t ruin Saka and tierney’s careers.
Makes it even worse, Kstix 😫
Let’s hope we ay better in Europe! Looking forward to watching the CL…and hope one day we’ll be back in it 😉
Dont worry Sue. They will be in for a rollicking from Arteta and hopefully convert those chances. I mean I could see what MA was trying to do, but he couldn’t execute it with Willian as a false 9 now can he? The guy was really shocking today, didn’t press Citeh… Auba was a little lethargic, but he did try all around so not all his fault.
A few poor performances tonight, Sid… wasn’t expecting it… the hairdryer treatment?! 😀
Sue, unfortunately some players appear to lack heart, are dispossessed too easily and are unprepared to compete for the ball.
They need Arteta to toughen them up.
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C’mon Sue. I do get the frustration, but there is a lot to be positive about. If you search your heart you would see there is improvement. Let’s not assume for one beat that we were not against superior opposition. They are a better team, and it was away from home. The lads did not get rolled over. they kept going. We wont get back to the top suddenly, we just have to go through the process so that when we do get back to the top we are able to stay there for another generation. So please donot be upset.
I’m not expecting us to get back to the top suddenly, William, I was just hoping for a better performance than the one we were dished up… wasn’t too much to ask for was it?
I get how you feel, but is this not our reality? Our current group would not give us what they do not have.
I am curious to know how pep or klopp would fair with our squad.
The way I see it, heart is one thing, ability is another. while people tend to treat both as mutually exclusive variables, I have come to see that both compliment one another. So while our players now have more heart, there is still a lot of progress which can be made if abilities are improved. Against top opposition away from home, I assure any golf in class can be greatly exposed.
City are a much better team with overall better players – compare the cost of both squads and you would see. These things count in every game.
Anyways please cheer up. This team is still going to give you tonnes of joy!!!
Didn’t stop lyon beating man city so why should money stop us from beating them.
Were money wasters on wages and transfer fees. I can see Partey being the best money we spent in recent seasons.
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This has been a bonkers season so far, with so many unexpected results..
I actually thought we’d go there with more fire in our bellies, as we have shown recently we can match and better them….
Oh well, up next.. Vienna….
City is not a top team that is not beatable especially in this game. Too much respect for the opposition just like the Liverpool game. Iong story short, whatever the score line pls give us a good performance. We want a perfomance that exudes confidence. Arsenal squad compared to Wolves and Leeds. I think Arteta is doing very badly so far. 3 wins with good performance coming in the Fulham game alone. Arsenal is awful, I bet Leeds or Wolves would have come out on top tonight if Mancity played like this against them. A top team comes to you very weak and you didn’t take your chance. What is the essence of team news. Just as a red card can change the tempo of any game, players unavailable can affect results too but Arsenal managed to not let it count. What happens to this fixture when city comes with full strength. With today’s performance Arsenal could struggle with
Everton
Aston Villa
Leeds
Wolves
Well Sue I know you like your boy Ceballos and I am ok with that. The reason Auba, Willian, Peppe and later on Lacazette and Eddy played like Cr**** because Ceballos did not do his job. He is the one responsible for making the offense work and he failed. I never saw a player run, huff and puff as much as he does without producing anything. BTW my MOTM is by far Saka. What a brilliant prospect for Arsenal and the country. I know you don’t agree so I better stop.
Tbh Icw, with some of the players you’ve mentioned, I wonder if it would’ve been different even if Dani had ‘done his job’ as you say!! Sigh….
I’m with you – Saka was my motm also… he just gets better and better! Love watching him…hey, fancy saying I don’t agree!!! 😳
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ICW why do I feel like you are bashing Ceballos because ozil didn’t play, I don’t understand what you mean by ‘He is the one responsible for making the offense work and he failed’, Ceballos wasn’t even allowed to move forward until Partey was brought in so maybe you should watch the match again.
First of all Ceballos and Ozil do not even play the same position. Second it is not cool to assume what I am thinking just because you don’t agree with me. Third your assumption that Ceballos wasn’t even allowed to move forward until Partey was brought in does not make any sense but assuming is true true how did you know that ? I can be convinced.
Ceballos is playing as an offensive midfielder and he is the link between the offense and defense. The offense did not receive many passes and did not produce. Those are facts you and I cannot change.
And this is from a columnist on ceballos: Took a really bad pursuit angle / ill-advised step-up towards Sergio Aguero on the City goal.
I went back and verified this on replay and he was correct. You can see it in midfield when the ball was passed to Aguero.
Aubameyang is back to his irritating old-self
If we keep playing this non sense football, Aubameyang won’t score many times this year. He depends on his quickness, freedom and instinct to score. Now he does not have any. We took some teams by surprise at first. Now defenses are shifting players to his side to prevent counter attacks and that put an end to his scoring. MA needs to realize sooner or later that converting a team to a new system requires the right players. He needs to shelve a lot more players beside Ozil for his system to work.
Pép really had great tactics today….
He already knew MA’s team will sit back and hit City on Counter…
So instead of allowing Arsenal hit on counter, City didn’t impose themselves on game…
They also sat sat and kept the ball moving…
Generally when MA’s team score against big sides because big sides tend to commit players forward and they remain short at back… But today City were fully composed and defended in numbers… Allowing Arsenal to have possession in 2nd half because they knew Arsenal doesn’t have that flair to unlock defence and playing 3-4-3 negative formation was icing on cake for city to defend
Great tactics by Pep… Understood his opponents, their game plan and came up with his own tactics…
Great observation. The apprentice can’t beat his master today
Defence is sorted (wish Leno was quicker on foot though).
Mid will be sorted (trust me Partey is going to start games)
Attack: This is where we are losing games. Auba can’t do it alone. Pepe needs to be benched for big games. He loses possession far too often. Nketiah, Saka, Willian just play anyone but him.
Use him as a sub or against weaker teams.
The progress is there. There is no need to get disheartened. 4-1 away to Liverpool and City. Still on course for top 4. There is whole season ahead and we will only get better.
There are some seven teams that will beat us.
1) Liverpool, 2) City, 3) Everton, 4) Chelsea, 5) Spurs, 6) Leicester and 7) Villa.
We cannot create goals as Ozil is not even in the team! How foolish, and Wenger is looking at this, and even he could not be quiet. Arteta has to disobey the owners and play Ozil.
The more the fans ask for Ozil greater the pressure on the owners.
You are right. Board need to sort out the issue with Ozil and play him till the time we have creative midfielder.
Ozil is not going anywhere for this season. Fans need to pressure the owners and get behind Ozil and Arteta.
When Ozil leaves on a free, he will paid again. Wenger predicted this… would happen with top players, as they can make money on a free transfer.
United could use him. Spurs with a great front three, and Maurinho loves Ozil. Bascially, Maurinho will play defense, then counter attack with four, and Ozil will be the creative passer. He is building a Champions League team and needs a great creator on the cheap–paying Ozil 200/wk and having a great back line again would bring them to the top.
Arsenal owners do not want to win trophies, just stay up in the top tier, if possible, and that is all.
When did Ozil last score a goal or get an assist versus Manchester City, yet he is the game breaker?
I absolutely agree with you.
Isn’t it unfortunate that we don’t have players that can carve out teams like Ozil? But we still don’t play him.
When Arteta got the contract to manage the team, he played Ozil consistently and seemed to have found a way to play him. Even if he did not play exceptionally well, he played him in those matches. Before the lockdown, the last game was against West Ham where we won 1 nil, and Ozil started the game.
The point is that the decision not to play Ozil is not based only on footballing reasons; there has to be a political undertone. Remember that when the league restarted, we heard Ozil’s news having a rift with management, and I believe that this is why he will hardly be featured. Arteta and Edu both pass the blame to each other whenever they are interviewed about the Ozil situation.
Howsoever you frame the situation; he is class over most of our players; you must not make him the focal point of the team t get the best out of him. Let’s get the right balance between attacks and defence, and he and Arsenal will deliver.
PS: When was the last time Arsenal had 65% possession against any team?
We played City away so it’s not a bad result at all. What is worrying is the all too familiar poor stat in relation to shots on target! Our lack of attacking football is something that MA needs to change. It’s all very well reducing the opponents chances to score but I do feel we are reducing our own chances with a cagey style of play.
Agreed! Whatever system he is using, he can at least tell the players to be more courageous and ambitious. We just look too timid and we play like we’re only concerned about damage limitation.
Not fair picking on any player. The system makes nearly every single player look so terrible…William, Auba, Laca, etc.
Maxis: We don’t have the right players for what Artera wants to do, This system is good for players like Socratis, Frimpong, Cocquelin and Alex Song. Brute force and stamina.
Play a system that suits the players you have then. Play to your teams strength when you have the ball.
Two boring teams
Actually have to agree to a point. Pep is also changing his teams formation to reduce the chance of conceding. It all gets a bit negative when for years City have usually played the best football around..
Disappointed we lost but had we taken those 2 opportunities the game turns on its head, plus we should have had a penalty! Difficult away game straight after international break.. we certainly look better defensively and I like the look of Gabriel Mag.. we will eventually click but still work in progress.. onto the next game now COYG 🔴⚪
It’s Europa time, Kev!!
Indeed it is Sue, Rapid Vienna then Leicester I think ? Win those 2 and we go to Old Trafford after the Dundalk game so no time for the players to feel sorry for themselves.. disappointed today but I really didn’t expect us to win the game, I don’t think we have the midfield to beat the likes of Liverpool and city away but we’ll do ok this season especially at home 👊
Leicester ppv! Going to OT to face a resurgent fridge, who has scored tonight, Kev 😂
Tbh I thought we might’ve put up more of a fight, but oh well, it’s done now… looking forward to a week of European football 👍
Iptv all day long then 😂 slabs will be exposed that day Sue 🤪 yeah but we had two very good opportunities lets not forget and we should have been given a pen Gabriel almost had diaby Terry moment 😩 Aguero should have been sent off too for grabbing lines woman 😶 we move forward Sue it’s another very difficult away game out of the way 😊 yes it will be refreshing I’m hoping to see a full 90 mins for TP 👊🔴⚪
Hahaha I bloody hope so, Kev… the fridge will malfunction 😜
I was quite surprised at that from Aguero!!
I can’t wait for 90 minutes of TP… was hoping for a little longer earlier, Kev..
So excited about this guy…
Big time slab head always has a malfunction in him 🤪 yeah imagine that was one of our players ? He’d have been hung out to dry! Me either Sue he will be quality I suppose he needs to get up to speed with the group first 😊 so the sound of music on Thursday are you confident?
Very confident, Kev, you? 😁
Yes I’m with you Sue although we did lose to bate away not so long ago in a game we were expected to cruise so let’s hope history don’t repeat itself 😂 let’s hope west ham can bring the Totts back down to earth tomorrow 🙏
Ha, don’t remind me of that, Kev!!
Benrahma to be unleashed??!!
Oh I hope so it would be great if he can score one or two on his debut 😉 I bet it still gives you nightmares? 🤪. We need cheering up after today’s result Sue 😀
We do indeed, Kev, only one thing that can do that – come on you Irons 😂😂
Thanks. This is the attitude fans need to have.
Cheers!!!
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This one 100% on Arteta. So so negative. Both sides just seemed not to be bothered with this game. Clock ticking down and no more urgency at all. I dont know what the heck happened this time around but it was awful and embarrassing to watch. Gabriel MOTM again because no way in hell anyone else deserves it. How do you have Pepe, Laca, Auba, Willian in your side and there’s just no energy and no intent to score? Dont get it. Arsenal knew about this problem with creativity in midfield in the summer too and didn’t buy a player to fix the problem. So now we are stuck with a dull midfield until January. We need a quick turnaround because that was just pathetic.
Agreed about Gabriel, but Saka also deserves a shoutout for his performance. Also that Luiz cross was delicious! If only we had Giroud….
Agree, Saka did play well too. And this was definitely a game a large target man comes in handy. Disappointing to come back from an international break and see the boys play like this. We move on though.
Positives…… Gabi and Saka. Both are gems.
For the first time in many months I felt concerned about Arsenal season.
a) Not bold enough to play specially ring forward. What you have got to lose with 1-0 down and 15-20 min remaining.
b) William is not the answer for is in front three.
c) Auba giving clear sign that he is going off the boil after signing his last deal for the club. Hope it does not turn out to be another Ozil story.
Front 3 has looked bigger concern in recent weeks, specially against teams stronger on paper.
Hope its just part of evolution.
And please no more reliance of players into their 30’s for the sake of growing youngster, young and hungry lads (19-29 years) is way to go….. players who played to team and also for their future.
Aubameyang gets once chance a game at most. He’s not a player who creates his own chances. If he isnt getting service he isnt going to score goals.
At least he should learn how to make chance for others to score by passing better. And he so lazy without ball. He should play better for the team
Careful Mobella, your describing a player on reported £300,000 a week, not creating anything, being lazy and not playing for the team, you could start a witch hunt!!!
Once again,, the plans for the game went out the window, due to a warm up injury, yet no-one is mentioning this and how MA would have set the team up with Holding playing, rather than Luiz…perhaps a minor point, but one nevertheless.
What I found the most disappointing, was the lack of any creativity whatsoever, players not performing as we know they can and dropping players who had actually performed in the previous game.
That’s why I don’t blame MA for this performance, once he selects the team from what he sees in training, surely he expects them to perform to that level – perhaps he could have used his subs earlier, as this was quite apparent to all.
The players need to have a good hard look at their own performances and MA should also question his decisions as well. Let’s not forget that city were well under strength, before we start saying it was an improvement on the same result last season.
All in all, a very disappointing day from everyone involved.
Ozil.
When will the owners let Arteta play Ozil?
And to think there were those on here predicting we challenge for title and win CL in three years lol
These are the same peeps who are now going in on Arteta
Like anything , the truth is in the middle
👍 Dan
You just knew the team wasn’t going to win the match when the main source of creativity was a center back
We have become boring boring Arsenal without creative mid
Bad game. Profligacy in front of goal cost us. Saka was the only one wanting it. Auba had a below-average game. Willian was shocking! A better combo would be to try Saka Auba Pepe or PAL -as the forward line. Willian is looking like Ceballos after Burnley. Xhaka had some good through balls in the first half but the whole team became less adventurous and more wasteful in the second half. We had better possession in the second half but we looked more dangerous in the first. I think it is an opportunity missed against Citeh.
Anyway, onwards and upwards.
COYG!!
P.S.- Auba please end your drought against Leicester!!
was thinking same thing Sid. Push Saka forward because he’s clearly the only one willing to go at players in this side (Pepe is too but he’s awful at it). The set up for this game was poor and I feared this when I saw the lineup that it would be a drab game and we would not be proactive. I get why Arteta is cautious, but that was way too negative. even the lower sides will try to go for it more than we did.
Willian and Xhaka played poorly today.. Is Ceballos a cdm?? Always back passes or wide.. No creativity… Auba was poor but not bad. If only he put away his chance.
Saka n Gabriel were our best players on the night. Tierney wasnt bad either. Pepe needs to know when to pass.. Holds onto the ball for far too long, good workrate though
Luiz, I thought did really well. Showed his experience in this game
The buck stops with the manager,I will never make excuses for the manager.I questioned the signing of willian and others a useless Chelsea reject you don’t beat city with that.Suffice to say an experienced manager like Ancelloti would win the EPL with this team, we’ve shot ourselves on the foot many times with poor team selections
Should have signed a younger and more creative player like James Rodriquez. Not Willian, who looks gassed and unfit.
Ozil today would have been far more active in the spaces with better passing.
JJ pawn youve mentioned ozil more than 7 times now, congratulations.
If we created chances he wouldn’t mention him would he ?
Man the Ozil cultists are so delusional.
You cult leader has had more than 7 seasons to prove that he is not a joke and he failed.
Time to move on like arteta is trying to move on from his circus.
Your cult hero has struggled to get 5 assisfs per season in the last 4 or so seasons. He has struggled to get double figures in assists for the majority of his time here. Only had one fluke season where he made more than 10 assists.
🤦♂️
👍 The problem in this game was that the forward line failed to convert the chances they had. How many goal scoring opportunities do yo think Manchester City will give you? You have to be clinical against top sides.
It’s alright guys we played one of the best teams in the world. I don’t know why it’s always us but we seem to play all the best teams in the world week in week out….unlucky us. May be we should switch leagues and play in Scottish League to get away from all the giants we face every week. We only lost 4-1 to last season top two teams, EPL should really consider giving bonus points to teams who lose to top 4 teams with less then two goal difference because it is an achievement nevertheless.
😂😂
It really seems to be this way for some people. We’re SUPPOSED to lose to City everyone, so calm down and be happy it was just 1-0. So unfair we have to ever face them…
But still doesn’t change the fact that we played one of the best teams in the world tho, even if they were poor. Does it?
I am appalled at the torrent of complete nonsens ofmany of these posts above!
I was thrilled at how we played today – shape, passion,organisation and but for two misssed chances w could well havewon. Leno scarcely has a save to make and THAT is a huge improvement on last season here.
Other fans on
here are reacting foolishly and I stand not with them at all but on my own. I was extremely pleased and I allow as others do not, for the mighty opponent, who we almost beat.
We certainly were good value for a draw at least.
WELL DONE AFC AND WELL DONE MA. Poor show for most of our fans on here though!
jon, you’re cheering on a loss. You can’t keep being satisfied with losses to top 6 sides. Why do people seem perfectly okay with losses to top 6 sides nowadays? If Leicester and Leeds can get something we can to. If Aston Villa can get something we can to. Where is the progress in not getting destroyed by City for once, and just tamely defeated ? I am an Arteta fan too but that was not good enough and he has to take responsibility for the lost points this time around.
He has no choice… to criticize means he has to acknowledge the need to use Ozil somehow.
RSH, You are talking utter nonsense. Consider last season at City when we were murdered and now consider today when we were not under a goal seige like last year up there. We were well in thegame – against a mighty side please do not forget, which you choose to ignore and had three gloroius chances and a good penalty shout. With a little more luck we could well have won.Your post and many like yours are immature and unthinking. I cannot see your dismal outlook at alland I think you are being totally unrealistic and not seeing how very far we have come under MA.
After many years of being bullied by sides like City we are no longer timid but are now warriors and they made me PROUD to be a Gooner today!
Jon-not just last season but the last FIVE. I look at this season as Arteta’s stepping stone for the future. We need to be close to the Top Four in terms of points AND performance, and today was the second time we this season we have had to face two teams who were miles in front of us last season.
Today we had shape, tactics and players who understood what was required of them. Arteta has made us more difficult to beat, but we will still lose to ant side that is better than us. If we can compete against the other sides that have top four ambitions as we did today, we will be on the mix at the end of the season. We will also have the midfield creativity as our main focus for buying, ( along with a new RB ) and with the right attacking Midfielders, along with Partey, we should then be in a position to progress further.
FFS- give Arteta a chance people, we lost to a team that is far better than us, and we will need a few more seasons of gradual improvement before we can get closer to where we need to be.
Hear hear Jon and Phil, small steps and we are making progress. Losing to city 1-0 and still being in the game until the final whistle. We have become harder to break down and you don’t become “World beaters” overnight.
Yes it would have been great to get a point ( which I think we deserved) but progress is being made!
jon, every week the goal should be to win. Sure it may not happen, thats football. But I cannot look at that game and say we had the desire to win. You cant tell me in those final 10 minutes the team was trying to win. I am not proud of a game where our objective was simply not to get battered. That is the kind of low expectations that allowed Wenger to stay long past his due date. Mikel got it wrong today, we move on, but I’m not going to just accept losing to every top 6 side because Arsenal can do better than that if mid-table sides can also get results off of these teams.
Just to clarify its our record away at the top 6 sides
I wholeheartedly agree!
You not on your own you just want to be different, Mikael played to Pep”s strengths today, why go to 433 but field the same players, why only bring Partey on in the 82nd min
Jon I don’t think fans are overreacting though. I’m a big fan of Arteta before we sacked Emery, even you know that.
But then accountability needs to be taken in every area of life. He did a great job with the team towards the end of last season, but then he needs to be accountable for these poor performances.
The only game we played and dominated right from the start like we wanted to win was the Fulham game. No?
Some of us know Arteta can do better with this team, it’s why we’re disappointed he’s always playing it safe.
I mean hey, every single fans knows he’ll need time to get us to be an elite team, but then feel free to take the risks, have a go at these teams. Respecting teams is okay, but then we’ve done it too much. Even against the smaller teams, we’re playing too safe.
He needs to learn from his mistakes quick.
He still has our support, I just want to see him stamp his foot
Well said we not anti Arteta but today was a tactical shocker
At Eddie, I really understand your point but you people should not forget that when Arteta came to Arsenal, he was using 4231 formation and we always conceed goals more often to the extent that winning games turned to draw, then he realised that this 343 formation help you to conceed less and you can score your opponent (s) with a goal or two marging and grab your 3 points…. Surely I wasn’t happy with yesterday performance but trying to play safe in order not to be humiliated is not bad at all, don’t forget that man city have not won in their two consecutive games before us and you know being a good and big club and at their home ground again, they won’t take it lightly with any opponent ( even with Liverpool or Everton)…. If you look at our other opponents or rivals like Chelsea( lost at home and drew against Liverpool and Southampton) and drew away to westbrom, manu have not won any match in old Trafford and lost their two games their against spurs and palace. I have the believe that Arsenal will qualify to champions league this season…
Must have been watching another game … that or pleasure has a different meaning from the OED .. That was 90 minutes of timid and feckless football … Bemoaning chances gone begging is what relegation threatened teams do … There is no shape no drive and no game plan to connect playing out from the back … Which is a s*** show with the likes of Luiz bellerin and xhaka … To getting the ball in the opponents penalty box … Congratulating arteta for that performance is like congratulating Trump for wall construction
You always have insightful words Mr. Fox, but can’t agree with your assessment today. Citeh were there for the taking, but we couldn’t capitalise. They played equally defensive and that meant more time on the ball for our mids in the second half. If only we could convert a few of those 11 chances we could have gotten a result. Two freekicks were wasted too, we could have tried something different other than just shooting off target from them. But we cant moan for a loss endlessly. Bad day at the office but we can get back up and win our next game. Just hope we play possession with progression next time…
COYG!
@jon ….simplzz mate you need spec saver. Even the most optimistic fans, pundits and commentary were struggling to find any thing positive in our performance. Now you do not have to be Einstein of football to figure out what was clear as a day an awful performance.
Honestly the negative fans deserve relegation. No ifs no buts especially after wengers treament. They wopnt get it ubder arteta, very likely top 4 this year and upward trajectpory. They will all celebrate and pretend they didnt say this when it happens.
Nobody is against Arteta. We’re just not blind to the fact this was an awful game and we aren’t celebrating losing 1-0 instead of 3-0.
Mohsan, How old are you? I am 70 and have seen more Arsenal teams who are clearly on the up from a low start when the new manager came , than you have had hot dinners , sonny! You do realise we were playing MAN CITY, NOT WIGAN I PRESUME!
The more I see it, Arteta’s game plan looks more like Emery instead of Guardiola. So nope I am not convinced. This team with boring football and no class will be exposed before January coming
We played with 1 man down again with Auba today. What does really do for this team without scoring. It high time that left wing is given to Saka. No complain from me about the score line as it is respectable lose at least. It isn’t the usual 3-0 lose
I think fans should sit back and reflect for 24 hours before spouting forth with unjustifiable criticism after a one goal defeat at the home of one of the best teams in Europe.
Not one of the best this season so far. City are weak. We should have buried them today, but there was not creativity. More chance of an own goal than an actual strike.
City are weak? Jog on with yopur inane analsys. 1st, 1st, 2nd = weak???
10th, Man City. Has 7 points and the goal difference is 0.
They are weak now, and we did nothing to them. Won’t get another chance, and we blew it.
You are looking the the past. We play football based on current situations.
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Only issue is we too are weak lol
The issue is lots of fans think we are better then we are
We are weak not because of injury, but because of politics and stingy owners.
We should have deployed Ozil to roam and create, then had the new man behind to stop City from attacking the back four.
At least try you best offensive ploy rather then try to use the forwards to chase the ball, and then also try to play from the back in this silly risk way.
the game could’ve gone on for 200 more minutes and we would not have gotten a goal. Expect more from the team than what they showed. There was no desire to win. The desire was to not get battered and that’s a poor mentality and got us no points. Villa, Leeds, Leicester have all taken points off the supposed unstoppable forces and they didn’t do it by believing they were inferior and just accept that City have expensive players.
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RSH: I think some Arsenal fans are making a big mistake by expecting MA to perform miracles. If coaching were easy Harry Redknap will still be coaching the spurs. MA is a rookie still learning on the job and if we are lucky he will learn fast. However it is unreasonable to see him succeed without 2 to 3 years of on the job training while recruiting his own players and putting his stamp on the team.
I am definitely more than happy to give Arteta time. I completely believe in him. I am just disappointed with his approach to this game. It was very negative.
Grandad, Finally a fellow realist! Please read my post above. I am proud of our team today but ashamed of most of thefans onhere with their utterjuvenile entitled nonsense and immature thinking, IF you can call it thinking. I don’t call it REAL thinking at all actually.
My question is how long are fans going to blame managers/head coaches before people start looking at whether Arsenal’s highly paid players are providing “value for money.”
Compare Manchester City’s wage bill to Arsenal.
No Ozil, no creativity. It so obvious! Only a blind person will deny this. Play Ozil today, supported by a 4-2-3-1 and we win. Keep Partey and Ceballos behind Ozil and push the wingbacks up… allowing Ozil to choose the line of attack. Ozil also needs a Giroud type of player able to play in the air and with his back to the goal, not a Laca type.
The team have no idea where to attack from. The passes even in the final ten minutes was more like they wanted to go home, as they had run out of ideas. We cannot win without a world class player making that key final pass, or creating a move.
A weak City team played us like we were novices. Arteta knows this team cannot play until next year with a new #10, as the current players are not good enough. This plan will not work, as now there are Liverpool, Everton, City, Spurs, Leicester, Chelsea, and even Villa making a play for the top six, along with United.
We must beat top teams now.
Ozil knows eventually, Arteta has to give up on a top four finish. It is obvious that Wenger has basically told the Arsenal management to let Arteta use Ozil, but the owners do not want to listen.
Somehow you managed to drag Ozil into this
Ozil is being paid 350K/wk. We should be asking why he is not allowed on the team. He is a current player, a brilliant play maker. who would thrive backed by a 4-2-3-1 system.
If a player was creating chances we couldn’t ask for ozil
But if this is another game where again you feel we lacked creativity it’s a fair question
Ozil has struggled to get 5 assists per season in the last 3 or so seasons.
Played 10 games before lockdown and how many goals or assists did he get in that time too?
FROM A PUBLICATION:
Chances created
He may have only one assist to his name in the Premier League, but Ozil has created a squad-high 37 chances for team-mates so far this season, three more than next-best Nicolas Pepe despite playing fewer minutes.
Indeed, he has set up 2.3 per 90 minutes compared to Pepe’s 1.9. Lacazette, Dani Ceballos and Joe Willock are next on the list with 1.4.
Ozil was credited with setting up a chance against City in December, but he was jeered by fans as he trudged off after being substituted, with stand-in boss Freddie Ljungberg giving a hint as to why the 31-year-old did not feature in Wednesday night’s game at the Etihad: “We want possession, but sometimes we want to run, tackle and win the ball back.”
“Ozil knows eventually, Arteta has to give up on a top four finish. It is obvious that Wenger has basically told the Arsenal management to let Arteta use Ozil, but the owners do not want to listen.”
So Wenger is still involved at Arsenal then? He has influence with the owners? Pity it didn’t work when they sacked him.
You make the most ridiculously outrageous posts on this blog.
Saka, Gabriel,Tierney, Ceballos and Luiz all pretty solid today. Bellerin was a shambles, at fault for one and nearly gifted another. I thought the formation up front was terrible, william, pepe and auba playing like they did were terrible. Yes we look more solid and yes we were in the game but we wouldn’t score playing like that until next Saturday at the earliest. Poor team set up by Arteta and the substitutions 30 mins too late.
It was a game city were there for taking.
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Reggie: You are normally good at analyzing games but I have to differ with you on one thing. Granted william, pepe and auba played terrible but they were not getting any meaningful distribution from the midfield either so I don’t know what you saw in Ceballos game that impressed you. He appears to be doing a lot but it is a lot of nothing. He should have been substituted by Elnany or Parly earlier or moved to play higher up the pitch. When your team has 40% possession the midfield is the most to blame. Good post anyhow.
Icw, agree the front three were not getting the service but when they did, they were not together to work it forward and gave possession away far to much, including lacca three times on the trot. I thought personal Ceballos worked hus little socks of and covered for his mate in midfield.
And i dont understand Willian at center forwards at all, doesn’t/didn’t make any sense and he was dire.
Reggie: I said it here first the day we signed Willian. It is a waste of money. He might be effective as a change up for 15 or 20 minutes, but asking a 32 year old winger to press and defend is a fantasy in lala land.
@ICW, I said the same and was really disappointed by William signing. He is clearly over the hill and if his parent club was not prepared to hand him 3 year contract why did we? Fans thought we got a bargain but as season goes on they will realise we have another dead wood on our pay roll who we have to keep paying for 3 years. Some of the signing we have made make nonsense to me…Mari, cedric, Willian. The first two were injured on loan and never showed they deserved to be signed and later well his best season yeilded 9 goals and 8 assist that too in his prime. We sign these injury prone and retirement age players then cry n moan about wage bill and how to get rid of them.
Saka my Motm, losing away to Liverpool and city in 5games, winning 3, isn’t bad overall, hopefully we will perform well against the likes of spur, Utd, Chelsea and Leicester. Apparently, we are not in city and l’pool level yet.
Happy days ahead
My motm too… what a star he is 👌
He was top. Outclassed everyone of the high earners.
Like did Auba, Pepe, Willian even play good for even 10 minutes? They go by most games like this. It got papered over the cracks v Sheffield.
We got 6 tough games coming up in the league, and I can see us losing most of them. Heck, maybe even Manu can keep a cleansheet against us.
The best lineup from now on should have this midield;
Saka———-Cebballos———?
———-Xhaka——Partey——–
I’d trust Maitland Niles more than Willian and Pepe to play that right winger position than Pepe and Willian. High wages for less than average players. Even Auba was lazy. You can even here Arteta shouting for Lacazette to press when he came on, but he was also lazy.
No way we are getting top four with this team. Everton have a much better chance. Creativity everywhere in their team. They just need to find a way to dominate games more. For us its about just creating.
Let Ceballos roam in AMF. Him and Saka were the best offensive players today.
I miss Gabi Martinelli. why on earth Arteta doesn’t play Auba as a no 9 and Saka as a LW?
Leno, Saka had a good game, aubameyang and willian start becoming lazy like ozil, pepe is too playful on the ball, arteta again playing as if we are playing real madrid, why turn a barcelona like team into defensive team, even if arsenal wants to play defensive, that would be after we are 4-0 up in a game, does this mean arteta is afraid of guardiola
Since the lockdown for this season certainly, everyone is playing with more freedom and offense, barring some of the poorer teams like Fulham and Sheffield. Look at Southampton coming back three 3 today, Everton 2 times.
We’re garbage when it come to creating chances. We’re the only reason for us being last on MOTD tonight, thats for sure.
David Luiz more creative than Auba, Pepe and Willian combined today, should speak volumes.
Played too timid today I thought. Every match we set up to counter attack it seems instead of showing teeth.
We are still too slow transitioning through the midfield, and constantly back passing allowing City to get back defensively.
Really can’t stand this toothless 343 jive; Conte played it with teeth, yet we look toothless, plodding, and cumbersome.
Looked scared playing Liverpool and played scared today vs city. Boring boring Arsenal lost 1-0; was anyone inspired? Players, supporters, anyone?
Can’t win them all, but you can string attacks together rather than looking like an aged punch drunk boxer only waiting to counter punch.
Very boring outing. I would rather loose happily knowing that l gave my all. Arteta must find a right balance. You don’t just sit back and win games. Leed united could have beat that city team today. He got it wrong today and tactics need to be improve
@John fox and jj pawn
you are exactly right. the use of a line up like this would have won this game and if not at least it would have been entertaining.
Midfield of Partey/Ceballos/Ozil
line of Saka/Auba/Pepe
Not enough creativity and players are been played more to cover others than go ahead and express themeslves.
We agree sometimes will have to give attacking football to get a result but today with a City tea and half speed it was cowardly to play this model.
Arteta is a classic example of of a creative thinker in a bad situation where he is been restricted who to use.
Eve if he was to sit back a bit and hit them on the counter with City playing a high line why would you play a false nine? you could use your CF to drop a bit like Mourinho did with Kane and use wingers like Saka and Pepe with speed to get behind quickly. Dropping Ozil behind Auba today would have a great option to have a player who can play balls behind. But of course this is a dead subject anyway. Sorry lads I like MA but he needs to grow a pair and tell the club he needs all players.
CF Arsenal, You say I am right but say different in your post to mine. Completely different too I would NEVER ever play OZIL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Read my post again, as you clearly do NOT agree with what I SAID!
I was proud of our team and manager today and ashamed of fans like you who post nonsense!
@John fox
It was a sarcastic comment to you been right because your hatred for players clouds your judgement.
And as far as fans like the rest of us first look at yourself and stop been a cool aid driving cheerleader.
Criticism and well placed one is very constructive.
Saka,leno and gabriel were superb today.And i also love that left foot of xhakas,he sure can pick a pass.
Not happy with the performance,they didnt have kdb or gundogan to pull the strings and control but they still managed somehow.Both the teams missed some good chances.
Saka is easily the motm and i dont know just felt that he was trying harder than anyone else👏👏😑
Well said Jon.I cannot believe the reaction of so called fans towards Arteta who was praised by Sol Campbell after the match , for what he has achieved in his short time in charge..The inferiority complex which was evident against City under Wenger and Emery has gone.We are no longer a soft touch and while we have still a lot of ground to make up on the likes of City and Liverpool, we are on the way back.It is very easy to be critical of individuals who have failed to deliver on the day, but any fan who doubts the work rate of the players is confusing perception with reality.Partey will make a major contribution in the EPL, of that I have no doubt, and he has the stature and quality to bring on the likes of Saka and Tierney who are already developing a good understanding on the left .Despite the narrow defeat today I am confident we are on the right track to regain our top four status.
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Sue P, so you agree with Grandad and me, I’m pleased ro see by (your emoji). We are all older fans and seem to be almost thonly ones on this thread in touch swith reality I can scarcely beliEve much of the arrant, dimal andpitiful nonsense written by, mostly, youngsters on this thread.
They ignored the standard of our mighty opponent and how very far we have come in 9 months under this wonderful mamager. Some of them have ridiculous expectations and just do not seem to inhabit the same planet as realists do.
@jon
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you’re not a realist today jon. You are just accepting the low standards that Arsenal have instilled in the club over the years. Realists would see that Everton, Villa, Leeds, Leicester have taken points off of Liverpool and City already this season, and City were without their best player today and Arsenal were very negative and only had one attacking player who was up for the game.
Agreed. It was a game which we were allowed space against a city side on the down. Standards are set in the past, not the present and Arsenal should have tried to be more efficient infront of goal mouth.
Perhaps they inhabit the planet that watched our mighty opponents against Leeds and Leicester !!!!
Too much chopping and changing of the team for every game. Do we even have a best 11? No. Who is our central striker? We didnt have Laca, Nketia on, and Willian is turning out to be a fraud
Same thing Emery was criticised and he had a large injury toll impacting on players’ selection availability.
Arteta similarly has to shuffle the deck to try and find the best selection for any given game.
It is time the players were in the spotlight.
Time for fans to grow up.
Arteta needs our help in fighting the owners. I am confident that he has been told not to play Ozil, and if he does, no transfer money. Basically, tying transfer money to Ozil’s departure.
So, now we need to tell the owners off. Ozil would be brilliant if he was allowed to do what he does best, and that is create.
Partey and a speedy player with lots of stamina, can play behind Ozil and join the attack with deadly long range strikes too, as needed. Ceballos needs someone to guide the play and get the best out of him, and that is Ozil.
Younger players like Pepe and Saka should be used on the wings, as they also have quality and the gumption to try to win. Auba can play top, with the counter attack.
——–Auba—————- [Auba fed y Ozil, Saka and Pepe]
–Saka—–Ozil—-Pepe– [let Pepe dribble, AMN overlap]
—–Partey—-Ceballos– [Party defends mainly]
Teirney-Gabriel-Luiz-AMN
That’s a ridiculous assumption that Arteta has been given instructions by the owners on team selection. How could you possibly have any solid or even flimsy info on this.?
There is no other reasonable explanation for Arteta suddenly dropping Ozil and not having creative players able to link up with the front three.
These things happen. The owners were hoping to get Ozil out and it has not worked. But, they did provide the money to buy this summer, money released at the 11th hour for Partey. Likely, as the promise made to Arteta for not playing Ozil.
Lots of ridiculous assumptions and assertions around about Ozil. So, why not consider what is most likely happening behind the scenes.
So thar’s another ridiculous assumption & assertion then!
What an idiotic statement to make about Arteta. You calling him a puppet is disgusting.
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Puppet? Now that is odd. Which manager dares to go against the owners? The owners decide what they want to do. Those working for the owners have to play along or not get the funds. That is why big names we not brought in to manage Arsenal, as it is likely those managers with reputations might resign…
Dont try to justify your rediculous statement. Are you telling me if Arteta thought Ozil was good enough to make a difference a board member would tell him not to play him. No manager would work under those conditions. If a manager isn’t allowed to pick his own team, he is doomed to fail and wouldn’t take the job. Its Arteta call and he aint no puppet.
I can just see him write his team down and before every game run it by Stan And Josh and every game, thay take Ozil out, or anyone else for that matter. Maybe Stan and Josh put Willian in as striker yesterday.
Sky is clearly falling… championship next year… clearly… :roll_eyes:
Willian?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Arsenal needs to wake up..Arsenal still lacks that winning mentality and character that can carry a team through and through.. I don’t think we have players that are truly proud of putting on the Arsenal shirt..
I really want Arteta to succeed coz he seems to have brought some real positive change at the club, but damn…he ain’t doing himself much of a favor tbh. Can’t complain much about today’s result but Arteta does know how to shoot himself on the foot. We have a non-existent midfield especially when we play Xhaka, he has his good days but he’s so slow & one dimensional, we need consistency in that midfield. I couldn’t even understand what our attack was for the first 10 minutes until I realised Willian was playing as a false 9, wth!!! I’m almost getting the feeling that Arteta is a one-trick pony & his tactics of relying on Aubameyang as a counter attacking outlet has been found out, that’s why Auba is currently struggling so much(I hope I’m wrong). We need to find a way to dominate matches more & find a way to break down defenses through midfield, otherwise we’re really going to struggle going forward. Anyway Shoutout to that young gentleman Saka, he outshone all his seniors on that pitch, boy are we lucky to have him as our young gunner. Take a bow son. I continue to hope that Arteta & this team can be better & that all of us gooners can have the chance to relive our glory days.
Ederson is not receiving enough credit for the two terrific saves against Saka which could have changed things dramatically had either gone in. He was perhaps City’s best player.
Arteta, we need to start playing attacking football. Enough of negative football.
Hope Auba hasn’t become the new Ozil now that he has his contract. Thought he was very indifferent ,hardly getting any touches and often nowhere to be seen. It’s also obvious that William,is not going to give us much,even his corners were poor and just added to the frustrations of watching such an impotent attack.
Hehe. I skipped the game and watched a series instead. Glad I did so 😂
I am amazed by the maturity Saka has been showing….amazing. His understanding of the game, making the right passes and knowing when to hold onto the ball n when to release it, is beyond his age. Let’s hope we see a midfield of Partey in middle with Cebollos and Saka on each side of him.
But he can be a potential world class forward player though? A left or right wide forward. I hope playing him in the mid doesnt hamper his development.
Arteta set up to allow City to press us early. We were suckered and Artera took the bait. 1/2 hour of being scared, that’s not tactics, thats being weak. Willian at centre of the attack? What mind came up with that. Sadly we are dependent on Arteta’s odd tactics rather than our football teams capability. On the right day we will win on the wrong day our game is totally unnatural and perfumed in odd fearful tactics. Toothless display.
what is more worrying id the number of fans thinking that this is a good display and if we did not get beat 3-0 then it is ok because we used to be played of the pitch. Is it the team’s mentality affecting the fans or the other way around?
Is the manager ok to play negative football and how log does he think this will last without taking a toll on players? attacking minded players want to play and not chase the ball down for 90 minutes. If i am Auba and Pepe i want the ball. If I am Ozil or Ceballos I want the ball and not wanting to chase it without having a chance to express myself. There is a counterproductive structure to the make up of the team and the way we approach games. We were pegged back by Sheffield played a City side that we should easily beat if we are allowed to play and it looks like things may look better organized but in reality the progress is only evident on keeping the team cohesive as not to concede. That will get you nowhere near top 4 . Spurs are up 3-0 on WH in 17 min and with the addition of Bale I am afraid will be in their rear view mirror. Even Mourinho the master of parking the bus is producing better football. Fans must look at this a lot more critically and get a reality check. Nice to be behind Arteta and the club but not cool to be blind.