Arsenal get the points despite another terrible performance

Good 3 points, but performances continue to be poor by Konstantin Mitov

Hello lovely Arsenal people! We are 1 point away from Man City. How about that hey? Well again, it’s easy to make false conclusions by looking at things only from a certain perspective. I thought we actually started the game well. The first 20 minutes, I thought it might be a good old boring game where we just win and it’s all good.

I like boring wins, but we made it difficult again. We had 2 shots on target against Bournemouth at home and one was from the corner which Luiz brilliantly scored. But do not mistake boring wins with boring performances. Bournemouth were really poor. In the first half they barely pressed us. I was amazed how easy it was for us to control the game, yet we didn’t really make much of it.

I just think how Liverpool would destroy a team that sets up so negatively at Anfield. I remember times when we were destroying teams like Bournemouth scoring 4-5 goals. Now we’re barely winning games. Take into account, we do not yet have a victory by more than 1 goal in the league.

We didn’t create much and yet Ozil is not in the squad. It’s getting personal here between the coach and the player in my opinion, but when I look how Aubameyang had zero service, it’s hard not to ask questions. I was much more excited watching the Europa League on Thursday.

I see a lot of people not happy with Emery, despite all the hates I get in the comments for wanting Arsenal to play good football, because sooner or later we’ll be caught out for not being good enough. We lack style, but I don’t think we lack quality.

Emery wants to play with full backs, then why aren’t we playing Tierny? Kolasinac was depressing again! That guy is not interested in defending and he is now poor going forward too. Why aren’t we playing Bellerin? Why are we resting Holding? Our best defenders are on the bench.

I thought our best player was Chambers, somebody who was shunted out, but he’s started the only 2 clean sheets we have in the league and he’s not a natural RB. He made some pretty important clearances and the other player who stood out for me was Guendouzi again!

Why do the youngsters play with more desire and passion than the senior guys? Lacca and Auba are the only senior players who actually carry the team. Why are we playing Xhaka? Apart from silly mistakes and sideway passes I don’t see the benefit of our captain.

I am happy with the points and the international break is something we need, because I hope that after it we will be playing our best players. Speaking of that, Pepe looks like a player who could use the break too. I think the price tag hurts him. He sometimes tries to impress too hard, and I think he should be patient and try his best, and it will work for him.

At the end of the day football is about results and we simply MUST finish in the top 4. I just don’t think Emery is taking the best out of a squad which is more than capable of making the top 4. We have 3 top class forward players and we barely beat teams by one goal. True Lacca is out, but I don’t want excuses.

Either the performances get better, or Emery leaves. This is what I’d do if it depended on me at least.

Konstantin

47 Comments

  1. Emery wouldn’t leave unless he fails to reach top four

    Enough said about CAMs like Ozil, Ceballos and Mkhitaryan. They are not the ones that want to risk their legs to break the opposition’s defense and they also like to save their breaths

    What we need is daring wingers that are not afraid of the opponent’s hard tackles and have skills to do it. Since Pepe can’t meet our expectation yet, no need to wait for him and let’s start the younger wingers that are eager to work hard for the team

    1. we are guaranteed top 4 unless we self destructed…

      utd and spud are going downwards…2 of
      the big 6 are unlikely to challenge for the top 4 position if their performance continues

  2. Those who point to our league position as proof of Emery’s revolution and team improvement, this early in the season, are closing their eyes to the fact that we are totally unconvincing and have made no meaningful measurable improvement.

    Leicester and Chelsea look more convincing and it is only a matter of time before United bring in another big name manager (that likely should have come to us 😉 so the top 4 is a long shot on current form.

    Look at Emery’s league history and you will find an unremarkable record.

    He did great in the EL but tbh I see that as a consolation cup for big teams, not as anything to beat your chest about if you truly see yourself as amongst the big-name clubs in football.

    1. Havent Liverpool been unconvincing too lately
      0-1 win against Sheffield United
      2-1 home win against Leicester City
      4-3 win against Red Bull

      1. Liverpool hasn’t been convincing, but they surely did demolish us. And they are undefeated, we are not.

        Before anyone gets carried away by our league position, just remember our 22 match unbeaten run last season and how high it took us. 22 match unbeaten run and when we lost, we were still 5th.

        We need to improve. Bournemouth was quite static and we should’ve punished them.

        We need to imrove on our PERFORMANCE. Defensively, we were little bit better yesterday. Xhaka, I can’t think of any reason why he is starting. All he does is foul.

        1. Bournemouth scored more goals than we did before yesterday’s game..

          We are unconvincing on both sides of the pitch. And we will be found out if that continues.

      2. Innit – There is a difference to me, to being unconvincing most of the time and to go through the inevitable unconvincing patch but still reaching objectives.

        We have been unconvincing under Emery for more than half the time he has been in charge. With for me, no noticeable improvement.

        City went through a patch last season but won the PL. Liverpool won the CL. We failed to finish 4th which, if we are honest, was ours to lose and a few dubious team selections contributed a lot to that failure to finish 4th. And we more than failed to win the EL, we were not even close to Chelsea who themselves had been unconvincing most of the season under Sari who everyone knew was going to leave.

        So to me, a rough patch is one thing a trend another.

        PS: Don’t use our current league position as evidence of team play improvement until we are in this position in April.

  3. We’re 3rd, I’m not entirely sure how, although I think a lot of it has to do with Aubameyang 👏 I have to admit, yesterday wasn’t pretty, especially in the 2nd half! You can put that down to us being poor, but you have to give Bournemouth credit also, I was expecting a goal fest, but we limped over the line with a 1-0.. what a contrast to Thursday night!
    The only thing I’m looking forward to is, after the break, with Tierney, Bellerin, Holding & Laca returning, surely we’ll see an improvement then? Oh.. and a certain person coming back in to the squad??? 🤔

    1. I think we’re 3rd Sue because Manure and the Spuds are doing so badly. As are Everton for some reason. I think the true reflection should be based on the points we have and not position to be honest. At this stage last year I think we were on about 21 points? Right now we’re on 15 so I guess if that is anything to go by we’re a bit lucky to be in 3rd!?

      Why the hell Unai is sticking with players who just don’t perform is beyond me! We need to give Tierney, Bellerin, Holding, Willock and Co a good run at it because they have more to offer than the likes of Xhaka and Kolasinac in regards to creativity!!

      1. I agree, GunneRay.. we are lucky.. and some of our performances have been really underwhelming… I hope this will change after the break.. but that all depends on Unai & whether he decides to bring in the cavalry and drop the under performers (they must work really hard in training 🤣)

        1. Hehehe.. By “training” you mean Scrabble and Cludo Sue!?

          Ozil must be a whizz at “board” games by now!! 🤣 😆 😉

    2. Whichever way we spin it, to me, our 3rd place is, at the moment, not a true reflection of the way we play. The same game on the other side of Christmas and we draw or lose.

      To me, it seems that perhaps all the tactical planning and film watching is keeping the players from playing without the handbrake (as Wenger loved to say) and making them undecisive.

      It’s one thing to work on details (which is important) it is quite another to watch film over and over for hours and get overloaded by information.

      I wonder if that is part of the problem. Too much information leading to players being too tentative and uncertain about their role and where to be on the pitch when and who tackles and who doesn’t under which circumstances.

  4. Yes Sue have also missed that “certain” person too, am sure that “certain ” person you are talking about is Konstantinos Mavropanos😃😃😃

  5. What a load of tosh,we have played so few games and the knives are out,i was dissappointed one or two of the injured players did not start,but the premier league is a marathon, you saw the difference in the team thursday with the injured lads playing and how good they looked.without any setbacks? Hopefully all the players will be available to play Sheffield united.apart from liverpool not many big teams are settled yet. Patience!! We have lost just ONCE.

  6. Not that the coach needs to explain himself to the fans, more so after every decesion he makes, but he already explained that the club doctor recommended Tierney and Bellerin not be rushed back to avoid an injury reoccurring. For Tierney it was even agreed that he sits out the International games to ensure a full recovery. All this is public information but you still decide to go after the coach and blame him for decisions made by the club doctor.

    All I see are entitled fans who just don’t know when and how to be grateful. Teams like Man U, Tottenham and Mancity are wishing right now they picked up that dirty, unconvincing win which we did yesterday. We lose you complain, we draw you complain, we win you complain. At the end of the season the only thing that will matter is making it back into the champions league. If we scrap all our wins along the way to do so I will gladly take it.

    Man U criticized Mourinho’s pragmatic approach that got them a 2nd placed finish, Carabao or FA can’t remember and a Europa league and still fired him. Look at them now! Every weekend is one more painful step towards midtable mediocrity for them. Let’s just support Emery till end of season, if he fails to get top 4 then fire him immediately.

    1. Quantic couldn’t agree with you more ,arsenal fans are hard to please and I wish we had mourning to tell hi the truth at least we don’t get beat silly can’t remmemberdwhen any of mourinhos team got beaten silly

  7. If Emery played Bellerin, Holding and Tierney returning from serious injuries, four days after they played in the Europa League and they suffered injury he would be slated. The man cannot win with justarsenal at the moment.
    As Sue states above, following the international break, or soon after this month, Arsenal will have Holding, Tierney, Lacazette, Bellerin and Mavropanos fully fit and available for selection.

    1. It’s not only Justarsenal though is it Ozzie ,every Arsenal platform and news outlets pretty much say the same thing regarding Emery .
      We will see at the end of season where we are ,but I wouldn’t get to excited about him being here next season .

  8. To be fair Emery was left with a very weak squad with 20 of Wengers deadwood
    and 200 million in debt after bungled Wenger financial mismanagement.
    So far Emery has shoveled out many of Wenger’s dead wood
    Adélaïde Akpom Asano Bielik Campbell
    Cazorla Cech Iwobi Jenkinson Koscielny
    Mertesacker Monreal Nwakali Ospina Perez Koscielney
    Ramsey Welbeck Wilshere Zelalem.
    20 so far.
    Unfortunately Mustafi Ozil Mkhitarian Elneny won’t leave as they
    prefer to sit on their fat wedge. Kolasinac needs to go too.
    The Central defense is still weak with Socritis Mustafi Luiz Mavro not up to standard.
    Xhaka(Wengers) and Torreira are weak as well.
    Bellein and Tierney have no back up and they are both injury prone.
    Lacazette has an injury requiring a lot of rest.
    Pepe will take a while to adapt.
    In reality Arsenal has the 9th best squad in the league.
    So it is really only the genius of Emery keeping us relevant right now.
    But the team needs 3 top CB’s, two top DM’s, two top no 10’s Lacazette to come back
    and Pepe to fire if we are going to get any where near top 4 in May.

    1. Where’s the 200 million pound debt proof you talk of .
      You say wenger left the club in debt ,which surprises me that he would be in charge of some else’s money .
      This is Emery’s squad now 12 players signed for over 200 million ,this has nothing to do with wenger anymore .
      If Wenger had this squad we would be 6points better off and probably about 12 more goals scored .

          1. I believe it has been said on this platform so many times that Emery is not involved in the signing of players that his job is to coach, so what do you mean by 25% of Emery signings.

      1. Stop deceiving yourself Dan, if wenger have this squad we will definitely lose against man utd, Bournemouth will find a way to equalize yesterday, and I can’t remember the last time wenger beat watford in there own ground before you start your watford comeback talk, Agu might not make a lot of sense but he’s right about some of the things he said, Laca been injury prone, Kolasinac who needs to go and tieney and bellerin we can’t rush them and I also believe Torrera is too weak he spend most of his time on the floor, he’s too lightweight. Since you and me don’t have any say in sacking and employing coach, I think the best thing we should do as a fan is to support the coach and stop pouring out negativity everytime.

      2. The same wenger who could have signed Kante for 25million but instead opted for Xhaka for 35million, he signed only cezc when all the world knows we needed a striker to help Giroud upfront, he went and buy a goalkeeper when we had sczeney ospina and even Martinez, the same wenger who never had a plan B even when united always humiliate us every season, the same wenger who lost against Bayern 5:1 and 5:1 in the same season, I can go on and on, please stop making it feels like wenger is flawless, Emery is not a saint either but if this kind of football will get us back to the champions league then I will gladly take it.

        1. Kante wanted to go to Chelsea so that argument is not valid ,your nit picking and it’s not working .

    2. “In reality Arsenal has the 9th best squad in the league.
      So it is really only the genius of Emery keeping us relevant right now.”

      Wow

      It is because of emery that we are 9 points behind liverpool. GD +2.

  9. I don’t understand why the knives are out so early in the season when we are 3rd place and 1 point behind the reigning champions Man City

    1. Innit
      You do watch our play, europa and cups…okay
      L3ague, wat a pathetic team selection….so so negative….
      No wonder we drew with spuds and munure.

  10. Captain Granit Xhaka
    52 – Passes completed, led all players

    4 – Final third entry passes, 2nd on Arsenal (Dani Ceballos led Arsenal with 6)

    5 – Final third completions, 8th on Arsenal

    0 – Chances created

    0 – Shots

    8 – Ball recoveries, 2nd on Arsenal (Dani Ceballos led all players with 11)

    2 – Tackles, tied for 5th on Arsenal (Calum Chambers and Gabriel Martinelli tied for the most with 4)

    0 – Interceptions

    5 – Clearances, led Arsenal

    3 – Fouls committed, led all players

    This wasn’t a bad match from Granit Xhaka but it does seem to fit into the theme that the role that he is being asked to play doesn’t get the most out of him.

    Matteo Guendouzi 🆚 Bournemouth

    * 5/5 Ground duels won
    * 3 Clearences
    * 3/3 Successful long balls
    * 2 Tackles
    * 100 % Dribbles won
    * 1 Shot blocked
    * 1 Key pass

    These stats should give you the reason why Xhaka played. He sat deep and gave a platform for Guendouzi and Ceballos to enjoy the game.

    Sead Kolasinac was “depressing” and “uninterested in defending?” Did you actually watch the game? I think it’s been his best this season. I actually think he was more solid defensively today than usual. Harry Wilson didn’t get a sniff. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to collect all the stats, but they would prove how flawed your article is

    1. Kolasinac was caught out of position so many times, us in the North Bank lost count. Xhaka was worse with his digs and non tackling abilities.
      As for the stats, have you never heard the expression ”Lies, damned lies and statistics”? All the talk in the stadium yesterday was how we have fallen regarding style and quality. No one can understand what Xhaka brings to the team and why Tierney was left sitting on the bench let alone Ozil not being in the squad. Third place or not, if Thursday’s team had played yesterday we would have been entertained and would have won handsomely against one of the poorest teams I’ve ever seen.

      1. See mate, the thing about stats, is they collect what a player did. I agree xhaka didn’t look to good yesterday, but how he played in that particular formation that was asking him to be a proper DM without interchanging with anyone was nice.

      2. Kolasinac was quite good yesterday. By his standards, I mean. Yes his crosses are not the same level as Tierney’s, but at least defensively he was quite good, one time even covering for whomever was missing on the right.

        Sad fact is: our 2 best fullbacks ATM are both leftbacks – Tierney and Kola. And yes, I know Bellerin is in principle better than Kola, but EL showed Bellerin may need a couple of months before he regains his normal form after the long absence.

  11. I am sure all of us want us not only to be competitive, but also play beautiful football most of the time.
    Unfortunately, this has not been the situation for so many years. The most glaring problem has been, we simply let in too many goals to be anywhere near the top.
    After falling to 6’th in the league, we have started our climb back. It may not be beautiful football yet in the PL, but looking at how we currently play in the EL and the Carabao, it certainly looks like that could also be improving in the future.
    Although many fans, seem to believe, we could just do it right now in the PL, I am inclined to believe, that our coach is a bit more qualified to know, who to play at the time and how to play at the time.

  12. Man City has been convincing, haven’t they? But they are only one solitary point in front of us at this point in time. That is hardly a Christmas gift by any means.

    Why are people so used to slating this team no matter the result? Heads you lose, tails you lose. Why are we so difficult as fans of this club? What is wrong with us?

    1. I can only speak for myself but I don’t see the style, philosophy, or structure of Emery’s way. Emery doesn’t play to win, he plays not to lose; there is a massive difference between the approaches. He constantly tinkers, cuts and chops the lineups, and his teams lack a sharpness and directness.

      Emery also has absolutely no understanding of “Arsenal DNA” and I see him trying to reinvent the wheel so to speak. That DNA has appealed to millions of fans around the world and has played huge part in the clubs growing brand, it’s what we have been known for, “beautiful football.” Emeryball so far is players running about for the sake of looking energetic, playing from the back regardless, and being “chameleons” over direct attacking football.

      I’m happy we’re 3rd, but I don’t see any progression in the 18 months Emery has been in charge. Defense is actually worse than it’s ever been in 22 years, and the only individual improvements are in the youth, which is because of Freddie.

  13. So then why is it that the EL is soooo much intertaining to watch! Work rate,desire, pressing just everything clicks.we show lots of urgency and energy.Half of our spuad in epl just don’t look interested are out of form

  14. Emery is not a terrible coach, but he is not suitable for Arsenal. He is anti-arsenal DNA. He plays with too much caution and doesn’t like flair. He hasn’t got a winner’s mentality, concentrates more on not losing a game rather than playing to win.
    My verdict is that he should leave at the end of the season irrespective of where he finishes. We can longer watch a game relaxed and assured, we can’t continue to endure the unnecessary stress at every game, games we should win by a wide margin we struggle to win by 1 odd setpiece,even when the opponent is playing to lose.
    Emery is not it pleas

  15. To be fair to Emery,due to long term injuries he has been unable to field what most of us would consider his strongest back four namely .Bellerin, Chambers, Holding and Tierney.However if he fails to select these players after the international break,he will leave himself open to criticism particularly if we start dropping points.To be third in the league at this juncture is however commendable and we as fans should recognise this.Like Truth,the fact that, with the exception of the match against Standard Liege, our performances have been unconvincing at best, is the aspect that concerns most fans.Against Liege, who are not a bad side, he left out all the players who are regularly critcised, and rightly so and the positive display and result vindicated the fans feelings as to who should play, and who should not.Hopefully after the international break most of the “Liege” team will become starters and our performances will improve .Emery has the personelle to make Arsenal an attractive team to watch,he just needs to use them on the pitch rather than warming the bench.

  16. I am not a fan of Emery but I am also a bit of a hypocrite! I used to beg (to the TV) for Wenger to be more pragmatic with set up away from home over the last couple of years. I may have gotten my wish on steroids. The football is not eye-pleasing and I really do question some of the set up decisions, but Gunners are third (and I know, it is a shaky third).

    I am waiting to see how the team is set up and plays after this international break. I am very much hoping that having the A team in place will show Emery’s plan in a better light. That assumes he has one…

  17. Win, lose……You “fans” will still come up here to criticize.
    On a positive note….congratulations to Captain Xhaka on the arrival of his baby girl.

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