Arsenal have run away as comfortable victors at Elland Road, beating Leeds 4-1 this evening.
The home side were enjoying spells in possession initially, while the Gunners patiently picked their moments to come out and attack, and we didn’t have to wait long before breaking the deadlock.
Gabriel Martinelli was the man to smash home the opener around 15 minutes into the encounter, after Bukayo Saka’s inspiring run got his opponents on the back foot, while Alexandre Lacazette also worked hard to fight for the ball before it fell to the Brazilian.
We continued to pile forward from this point, and was nearly punished by a great solo-run by Raphinha, who ran past a number of defenders only to send his effort just wide of the near post.
That miss was punished almost straight away, as we piled straight up the other end once again, and just as the home side thought they were to try and hit us on the counter, Granit Xhaka won it back in the centre-circle to turn it around, and played in Martinelli perfectly to run in on goal.
It was no easy finish however after the defender sped back, but the Brazilian managed to show his strength and get the effort away.
Bukayo Saka made it three before the break, with his diagonal run across the box eventually opening up space to shoot, although he can thank a slight deflection to beat the goalkeeper.
We went out on the second half a little too comfortable, controlling the pace of the game nicely until Ben White’s reckless challenge in the box gifted the Whites a penalty, and Raphinha made no mistake from the spot.
Emile Smith Rowe came off the bench to make sure there was no need for any worry however, scoring yet another goal to close out the game at 4-1.
Patrick
Massive gap of quality and organization. I think Pepe will be sold in the summer
Arsenal played exactly the same as we did against Everton Man U Liverpool City and Chelsea but Leeds is much weaker. So Arsenal continues to win the games we should which is exactly how I believed we would. We remain on target for 5th/or 6th place which half way through the rebuild would be as expected. Trust the process trust Arteta as I have from day one of the rebuild.
Give it a rest fairfan. Its becoming boring..
Really boring
Really really boring
So shouldn’t we have won against Everton and manure then?
I’m starting to think this Fair Fan is a spud. Always trying to water down our victories and somehow finding a way to see faults!
Incase you didn’t notice, we just destroyed and team that Chelsea struggled to beat.
*a team
if you’ve made a conscious decision to be a one trick pony, at least have the common decency to wait until someone provides you with the requisite provocation before offering up your childlike groundhog day gibberish…btw Leeds was just thrashed 7-0 and have some serious constraints when it comes to player selection
Fairfan
ZZZzzzzzzz
Really really really boring
I wonder what would have been said had we lost or drawn against the depleted team according to Arsenal trolls
If you only see our weaknesses, you are just a naccist who likes to draw attention to him
FAIRFAN, A bizarre and completely crazy way of thinking. If you seriously think, as your comments have many times indicated, that we always play to the same standard in every game and that all that matters is the opposition, then you are plainly not the thinking fan I have mistakenly thought you to be.
Your comment is, by ANY RATIONAL ANALYSIS, complete nonsense and discredits your intelligence.
We need to strive for perfection, especially in these games
Cons in the game IMO:
-Xhaka with a completely unnecessary dirty challenge, could’ve been red easily
-Xhaka time wasting when we 4 1 up with 5 mins to go🤯 mind blown
-Ben White defending, really hasn’t stood up well when tested 1v1 this season
-Inability to maintain pressure for 90 mins
-Late use of the bench, common pattern where we rarely see subs before 70 mins. Yes we have less games but let’s keep our starting 11 as fresh as possible
We even started 2nd half well. It all changed after Xhakas idiotic stomp! Leeds seemed to get riled up for that.
Xhaka has the impulse control of a 5-year old (Im not even saying this out of spite).
How didn’t even get booked, I don’t know. But he’s the biggest liability I’ve ever seen at Arsenal. Squillaci was worse but at least he got put on the bench!
Xhaka is reckless, short-tempered and dumb sometimes, but he is essential to organize and to motivate his teammates. He can also defend his buddies by talking to the referee
Fans like us can never know Xhaka’s leadership abilities in the field, because we don’t hear what the players say. If he wasn’t influential in the field, the players and the managers wouldn’t have selected him as their captain
Ok GAI 👍
GAI, that’s probably THE most sensible post I’ve ever read from you.
I thought Xhaka was immense today and one moment, seen by the ref and VAR, as a clumsy challenge, shouldn’t take away from his overall contribution.
Partey looks so much more comfortable with him alongside…. but that has also gone unnoticed it seems.
👍
Hilarious nonsense KEN! Most Gooners know without a shadow of doubt that dismal, oafish, slowcoach Xhaka is a huge liability.
But you dont! THAT SAYS IT ALL !
What it says Jon, is you are an oafish prig who knows nothing about football.
GAI has said EXACTLY what Xhaka is there for and WHY our last three managers have consistently selected him.
Of course, you believe you know better than them AND THAT SAYS IT ALL!!!
Try and actually WATCH what Xhaka did for the full 90 minutes in this game, not your perceived idea of what he did.
I don’t believe you could have even watched it, such is the nonsense you have written.
Why didn’t the manager you supposedly support, not substitute him… or even select him in the first place?
I thought you were supporting MA in everything he did, but here you are, condemning his selection of Xhaka…. so are you now questioning the managers decision, just as some of us were just a few articles ago, when you condemned us all?
I know Xhaka’s limitations, just as every other fan does, but I appreciate what he did today and how Partey is an improved player alongside him… You on the other hand are so engrossed in belittling the player, you can see no further than your nose and THAT SAYS IT ALL.
Ken don’t bother about these lot.. Jon PJ something and the rest of them.. even after a performance like today I personally don’t expect more from them.. mobile phone professionals with zero football knowledge and zero experience.. only trick in the bag is to lay into Granit Xhaka on every game.. I know they wish we lost just so they can say we told you Xhaka is the problem.. nonsense.
Ken, Such uncalled for personal vitriol from a mature in years fan who can be just as oafish and priggish when you choose(as your above post shows only too well) as you falsely consider me to be.
Perhaps we should not discuss one to one for a period of some weeks while we both cool down.
On the other hand my post against XHAKA WAS MADE FOR SINCERE FOOTBALL REASONS ONLY, as I think him harmful to our team and thus our club. My post was not personal but against him as a player only.
It is factual that his onfield behavour is oafish and at times thuggish and out of control – all good reasons for a proper life long fan who loves our club to wish him gone asap – and there are many factual occasions when this happens over his whole time here.
His play is also dismally and freakishly slow, at the standard we need to seriously compete with those above us. A firmer ref could well have given him a red card yesterday(Two yellows actually, with one being at least a deep shade of orange) .
If you are honest you will admit that and it is common with him, which I why I WANT HIM GONE.
Absolute nonsense. Xhaka was the conductor of virtually every good play yesterday. So many are blind. Don’t know which game you watch.
Whatever he did is not out of place. Tell me which defensive midfielder does not play dirty.
The stats do not lie about Xhaka. Yes he gets a red card a season but we win a lot more games with him in the team. I hope Xhaka + Partey both have a run of games together & form a solid partnership. The 2 of them could become the best CM pairing in the league IMO.
is that you little weeble?? the ridiculous hot takes suggests it simply must be the case…how quickly some forget what Xhaka looks like against real competition…the fact that consecutive managers have selected our Swiss miss has far more to do with our abject failure when it comes to properly addressing the DM position, for well over a decade, than what he actually brings to the table
for an oft-times tactically naïve manager with a propensity to opt for negative football, would you select the underwhelming Elneny, the inconsistent and loose-lipped AMN, the inexperienced Lokonga(albeit he might be out due to covid presently) or the comfortable old sideways passing shoe Xhaka…furthermore, please keep in mind whom he’s faced since he’s been reintroduced to the squad
personally I believe that Sambi would have had an absolute heyday out there in the last couple of fixtures…like I said all along, you can’t face top competition with both Ode and Xhaka in the starting 11 without paying a serious price, as they’re both defensive lightweights, especially against teams who attack with pace, and they’re largely ineffectual going forward against those squads who will closedown quickly on the ball
how is it possible that approval is all of sudden required in order for me to post a comment???
TRVL. We are discussing the game against Leeds.
You watched it (I presume?) so tell me what Xhaka did wrong, apart from the tackle that var and the ref deemed punishable by a free kick?
Partey looks like a different player next to him and it’s no surprise that he hasn’t come in for some criticism, as Xhaka is doing the covering.
I look forward to seeing your list of his misdemeanours in yesterday’s game.
Ken, if you weren’t so consumed by your misplaced attempts to paint a totally unrealistic picture of our bang average former captain, you might have noticed that I actually never specifically attacked Xhaka’s performance yesterday, as I was speaking to the larger/big picture issues regarding our underwhelming recruitment policies when it comes to the DM position
of course, Xhaka did some decent things yesterday, but that had more to do with the opposition than anything else…his passing was average, minus his assist, and anything else he did was cancelled out by his ridiculous antics in the second half…please try to remember that he came here under the misguided assumption that he could bring those specific aspects that we’ve witnessed when he’s playing with the Swiss national squad, like stretching the field with long, direct and cross-field multi-zonal passes, the potential to score from distance and the ability to marshal play in largely deeper-lying positions in the offensive zone…in all those aspects, he’s failed on most accounts, as his passes are telegraphed, more often than not, he’s hardly ever scored since arriving and he’s consumed much deeper positional spaces while wearing our kit, which usually exposes us from a defensive capacity
not to mention Ken, please look around and see whom you’ve saddled up with on this little Xhaka misadventure and you will notice, minus maybe one individual, it’s a who’s who of simpletons and those who would blindly defend Arteta…of course, I don’t put you in those aforementioned categories, but frankly I’m a little shocked that you can’t seem to grasp my overriding point
Dear oh dear, your turning into another Jon Fox who thinks he knows everything and tries to belittle those who disagree with him.
The article was about yesterday’s game was it not?
That means the observations were about that specific game and the performances of individuals.
As you were unable to come up with any specific negative examples of his performance, I take it that you were impressed with him then?
Of course I know what the opposition was, as does everyone else, so take your head out of your backside and treat others with the respect you obviously crave for yourself and please remember that using fifty words when ten will suffice, does not make the content any better….in fact it becomes a turn off.
pot calling the kettle black when it comes to having one’s head firmly up one’s ass, as I provided a fairly succinct synopsis of both my thoughts on Xhaka’s performance yesterday and those since his unfortunate arrival…it’s clear that you have a bad case of tunnel vision, which comes as no surprise considering your club-related historical leanings…furthermore, it’s quite rich to get a mini lecture from you regarding my chosen verbiage considering your propensity to unleash longwinded dressing-downs on those who don’t agree with your narrative of the day
Yawn Yawn Yawn – give it a rest and put the dictionary away, your impressing no one.
Looking forward to seeing THAT article though 😂😂
how apropos, first you offer up your usual “yawn” refrain, which is so ironic considering your follow-up comment regarding the “article”, then you lean into your supposed “every man” narrative by attacking someone for possibly using a dictionary, which of course is both pathetic and untrue…the only saving grace is that whenever you resort to such amateurish tactics it’s clear that you’re on the losing end of whatever debate is in the offing…yawn! it’s getting boring winning every encounter
Dream on, I wouldn’t even break sweat discussing The Arsenal with you.
Wasting time “debating” couldn’t be further from my mind…. bye bye.
yet you just can’t stop from responding time and time again(lol)…remember that rent is due on the first of the month
So is “that” article 😂😂😂😂
Replying and debating are two different things – thought you would have known that… dictionary out again I suggest. 💤💤💤
last word
Lokonga is a non starter compared to xhaka. He is good but too lightweight and not positionally aware like xhaka. Also, xhaka is one of the best passers in the game. He is good at switching play as well as putting through slide rule passes.
He also intercepts plays better than many and a tough tackler. Lokonga requires a few years to get to that level.
Also xhaka never tires.
To be fair Xhaka had a good game today. He only had one bad moment of clumsy tackle. His breakup play and pass to Martinelli is world class. Xhakka deserves some respect. For those calling Xhaka names for an error in a game, I’ll say look at yourselves in the mirror. If the ref and the VAR deamed the tackle not worthy of a card so be it. They’re the officials and closer to the field of play that any one of us. It’s beats me for people to call a player who captains his club and country and has played for top clubs in top leagues and top coaches around the world , dumb, idiots, useless ….. Come on!!
Strikers miss glaring, chances, midfielders give away balls, Ben white game away a needles penalty …
Pls let Xhakka be, he’s a good player and coaches see better and know better. Stop the scapegoating agenda on Xhakka, it’s becoming boring.
Yes. Every manager he has played for wanted him on the field.
Partly with you on those points PJSA.
Despite the scoreline, and with the exception of our hustling first half and two superb GM finishes, I thought we were really poor, but luckily we were playing a bunch of schoolkids.
Ironically Xhaka generally had a good game, but he can’t resist trying to get sent off. What’s with this guy?
Yes a bad challenge by White, but I’m not noticing it’s a regular thing.
I don’t think the pressing fell off until the last 15-20 mins, but it looked far worse because our passing second half was really really poor throughout the team. Decent opposition would have scored a hatful – we got out of gaol quite honestly because we were at times embarrassingly poor.
Yup subs shood have been at 60 mins not 75. Saka was off key all game – right substitution but way too late.
yea. the stakes were lower with some of our sloppier play because of the weaker opposition. The cheap giveaways were happening for both sides. Still need to get our playing level to get closer to our home form when on the road. Glad to see 4 goals fly in today though, because we’ve been pretty goal Shy this season no matter who the opponent.
and also would’ve like a sub earlier as well. before the penalty, had ESR livening up the game in my mind.
@guy Watch Ben White when Raphinha was attacking and had a shot in the first half. Absolutely appalling defending, seriously go watch the highlights quick.
Stands way off of him, oblivious of the Leeds attacker running in behind him then turns his back before he shoots
Against better opposition would’ve been a disaster.
we were outnumbered on that counter though. I’m not sure waht you wanted white to do. If he commits to the runner coming in behind, he’s giving Raphinha tons of space to shoot. He actually did a decent job narrowing Raphina’s shooting angle. He had to go towards the nearpost to score, which Ramsdale had coverage of . Still couldve been a goal because of the close range, but it was not disastrous defending.
The runner wasn’t his man, I never said he was. What I said was that he was oblivious to him.
He should’ve stepped up with Tierney was covering him goind down the line and White steps up and covers if he cuts inside. He didn’t, he just stayed well off and did nothing. At that stage it was the 2 of them vs 1 and Raph still comfortably got his shot off.
Feel free to watch it again, or maybe tell me what White did right in that moment?
Just went to go watch it again in case I made a mistake. It’s actually worse than I thought….can’t believe you think that’s what good defending looks like 😐
so true PJ…White seems totally unaware of anyone’s preferred shooting foot, as he always seems to concede everyone’s favoured side…absolutely atrocious and far too commonplace…maybe his seeming lack of general player knowledge stems from the fact that he doesn’t watch the sport, unless forced to do so as a part of his professional training of course
Will do PJ – with us being the only game, our highlights on MOTD may be a tad longer than usual tonight!
I thought Saka was almost invisible in the first half an only slightly better after half time, til he was subbed. Apart from Xhaka ( as ever) I MADE HIM OUR LEAST EFFECTIVE PLAYER.
Good win but disappointed with the drop in intensity in the second half. The goal conceeded was stupid.
Congrats anyway. 3 points
Hallelujah, we won a game on the road!!! Glad I kept ESR as captain in my FPL team 🙂
Gabi MOTM, really pleased for him.
3 more points – happy days
Fingers crossed for Tomi
Yeah if Tomi is out for a couple weeks I think we’ll see how important he actually is, a lot more than I think any of us realise.
The thought of being without him and Cedric deputising makes me shudder a little
I hope he’s alright too Sue, it showed soon as he went off. Cedric is nowhere near him
It did indeed, Kstyx 👍
I also have Smith-Rowe in my FPL team ⚽
Do you have Martinelli in your team? I think he’s gonna score again in Norwich
Not right now, gai – ESR, Gabriel and White. Going to mix it up and get GM in there, he’s on fire!!
Done, gai! He’s in 😉
👌🏼
I got ramsdalle, white and esr in my team.. Still got two free transfer.. White out martinelli in for norwich game..
👍
i dont play FPL, but i had an itching feeling martinelli was going to grab a couple goals today. 😄
Maybe you should then, RSH 😄
The opponent is ok. If it were to be Arsenal that is on depleted form, nobody will care, so l care less about what is happening to Leeds United presently, 7-0 followed by 4-1. Good performance for the gunners. Next game please.
We were at the very start of the season, got beat by Brenford ffs then a hammering by Chelsea & City.
Covid did strike and games are now being postponed because of it, but of course, I am just making excuses
If you put all Martinelli goals since he joined into a video and send it to the giants of European football, at the age of 20, I reckon you could get £60+ million for him, that’s the beauty of developing youth players, it saves you millions and millions.
However I would love to buy Jude Bellingham to add to this team.🤔
Job done. Good finishing from the youngsters. ESR used to miss easy chances, now he cant stop scoring. Leeds were so depleted though so hard to say if this game means anything if we’re being fair. 1st half we played the game, 2nd half took it too easy. I think Mikel wants this side to be unrelenting and we aren’t doing that quite yet. Anyways, thats just nitpicking. was a good win.
They nearley drew Chelsea last week ….So it’s not a “weakned” team……
I mean Leeds
yes it is. They are missing plenty of their starters. Their bench was almost nothing but players with zero EPL experience. I’m not complaining, we did a good job and played the team in front of us. Just dont think this definitively says we are back on track in terms of away form. Onto the next one.
We were decimated against Brendford Chelsea and City and no one cared so let’s move on….This Leeds team gave Chelsea plenty if problèmes juste a week ago at thé Bridge…..
we were not “decimated”. not nearly in the same way Leeds were today. I’m looking at that lineup right now against Brentford, and there was only 1 player on the bench with no EPL experience. Pepe, ESR, Martinelli, Xhaka, Lokonga, white, Tierney, Leno were all playing. That’s not far away from our starting lineup. Balogun was the only person in that lineup with little experience.
So it’s 8 senior players then!!!Dear RSH Lokonga and BW were novices at thé Brendford game si it’s 6!!
Ben White is not a novice lmaooo! He started every EPL match last season. In what world is he a novice? And Lokonga started almost every game after that and was a mainstay in our unbeaten run this season. You’ve got no point, please just give it up. Saka came off the bench that game, and Rob Holding was on the bench too!! AND amn was!! Thats so much of our main squad available! There’s a difference between selecting the wrong players and not even having alternatives available.
Leeds had 8 senior team players.. 8!
Bench was completely made of U21 players.. they were depleted.
I don’t dispute that Leeds were depleted. But frustrated that many Arsenal fans are quick to excuse their performance yet wouldn’t give the same concessions to Arsenal v Brentford – arguably a game we still should have won but nonetheless…
Why do ppl keep bringing up Brentford ?? Please search up that lineup. If you want to see a depleted Arsenal side search up our lineup in the 8-2 loss to United. Djourou, Jenkinson, Traore (who?), Coquelin (when he was a newbie), all starters, and bench full of nobodies. That is way more similar to Leeds today. We were essentially just missing a No 9. against Brentford, lol.
Has Martinelli time come?
Good game esp in the first half. We should have scored 6 in the first half….
Heading to the right direction but we can still improve…
Laca finishing, Ode should be shooting in good areas instead of pass, Saka should improve on his finishing. It has been hitting the defenders recently….
I know Lacazette might leave but I like his professionalism and what he brings to the team.
Played exactly the same way? Stop with the wind up, absolutely nothing like Everton game. Hard to take your comments seriously when founded on such farcical nonsense.
Love Martinelli’s runs; we have been missing that all season. Simply clinical with that finishing and separation speed. So cool and calm when shooting.
Un-droppable at this point. Gives me flashbacks of Alexis Sanchez with the intensity. Can score at any moment.
Think PJ-SA commented on Ben White’s defending; needs to improve on that. White looking like a solid DM when Saliba returns to replace him at CB.
Martinelli, Saka and ESR have plenty of time to get even better
Thanks Boys for an awesome win
COYG
ESR you Beauty.
👍👍👍👍👍
This is exactly why Arteta is showing his lack of experience and ability to get the team playing for 90 minutes. We played a decimated team, yet at times were made to look very very ordinary. Why is Arteta unable to get a second half performance out of this team. Is it just because he is too inclined to sit on a lead? Or too frightened to take the game to the opponents? It’s becoming far too frequent for it to be a lapse. Better teams will wipe the floor with us due to Arteta and his continued indecisiveness.
We had the ideal opportunity today to really dominate a team from start to finish yet Arteta seems to feel this continued half-hearted performance is acceptable. We were sat back inviting Leeds onto us when we could have been really hurting them. He should have given Pepe a run out at half time to test up Saka but didn’t. He should have pulled Partey off ready for the 3 games in 7 days he will be needed. Both obvious substitutions that needed to happen at half time, but this novice continues to prove just how clueless he really is.
And I’m back in the car being driven back to london from the match not sat watching on tv. And I can tell you now the fans are bemused as to what Arteta is thinking sometimes. We are where we are in the table inspite of Arteta not because of him
What absolute garbage.
👍
What part Grandad?
All of it or part of it?
Really Grandad- why do you say that. Tell me one single game this team had dominated this season. Name me one game that shows Arteta was able to send out a side and dominated the game. We sat back against a decimated side that will likely be struggling against relegation for the rest of the season. And your happy with that are you? I set my bar a lot higher. Being in fourth place nearly halfway through a season wins what exactly?
This novice is simply not up to leading this club back to where most supporters both demand and expect us to be, You settle for mediocrity. I don’t.
Yes Grandad, total bollox.
21 shots 12 on target 4 goals ffs get a grip man….@Phil
Against who exactly? I agree you can only play against who you face. But where was the drive in the second half?
We played a makeshift team ffs- let’s see what our stats are against Citeh in a couple of weeks. That’s where we will see if there has been improvement
We needed to avoid injuries, hence the decrease of intensity in the second half. Man City also play like that, everytime they lead by three goals
Phil Leeds gave headache to Chelsea AWAY last saturday so it’s was never going to be a walk in the Park….We’r not flawless and are needing to kill teams off but let’s not be arrogant and think that we have a divine right to trash any “weak” team wich Comes our way…
Pires, RSH has just explained the difference between the Leeds team against chelsea to the squad they had out today.
Go check it out….. Still a great three points for us of course.
Pires- if that was the case why did Chelsea make us look like a Sunday league third division pub team? Arteta is clueless that’s why.
Are you delusional….we see the same pattern whether we are winning, drawing or losing! So has nothing to do with avoid injuries cz we winning.
Really GAI- so they went 3-0 up against Leeds the other evening and sat back did they? How come they went on to score FOUR MORE? Idiot
Don’t be stupid, Phil. They can score without much effort because of the massive gap of quality between Leeds’ and theirs
Man City must have been wanted to entertain their home supporters as well, whereas we played in Leeds
What exactly is your problem? we just won away 4-1 and remain in the top four at Christmas
One would think we lost or drew this match with these irritating whinning!
Must you guys complain every single time?
Yes PAL- don’t get too excited or starry eyed because we are in fourth place. We are showing no sign of improvement under Arteta despite a win against a decimated side that anyone would have rolled over today.
Let’s see where we are after the Citeh game and analyse the performance we have against them.
There is nothing you will do in life that will satisfy people
Goals for Arsenal:Alexis Sanchez 2, Rayan Giggs 1 ,Paul Gascoigne 1,…More seriousley Arteta/Edu have done wonders in the transfert market:Gabriel,Martenelli ,Odegaard,Ramsdale,BW,Tomiyasu, Tavares,Tierney,have been phenomenal….There is no way Arteta would be sacked in the forseable future…..
We are in 4th. Plus goal difference. Youngsters scoring.
But, please don’t deceive yourselves.
West Ham were missing 3 starting defenders and Leeds were playing with a squad of under 19’s whom have never played a minute in the EPL.
We should have put them to the sword in the second half, and barely had a shot on goal until deep into time.
Arteta got his substitutions way wrong, and the team resorted to turtling up.
Against firmer opposition we will not win so easily, and it will be back fine margins. Just a reminder spuds have 4 games in hand.
With Phil on this one!
Arteta should have benched Auba months ago, brought on ESR and the youngsters earlier in the year. Actually, he had to pivot on the buying of youngsters from buying Willian etc..
So, we shall truly see if AFC are up to it, if COVID does not shut down the league.
And are Spursy going to win all their 4 matches?
I love Ødegaard’ first-time passes. The Mesut would approve.
He is getting into the groove
…into the bloody groove!
I would have preferred a barnstorming second half, but it wasn’t. It was though a triumph for the younger players who are making such an important contribution to the improvement that the team are showing.
To complain about a 4 – 1 win away from home is hyper critical. Bah humbug!
You need to chill Phil, arteta didn’t appoint himself as manager
No your right- but since he is the manager I expect to see improvement. Don’t let the fact we are in fourth place blinker you. We are in a run of games that we ought to win. We are not improving at all performance wise from last season.
@Phil. “We ought to win. Do you remember Aston Villa hammering Liverpool this same year? There is no ought to game in the Premier League.
I meant to say there is no ought to win game in the Premier league. If you can praise our boys, don’t scold them. They did a fantastic job against Leeds.
They did a fantastic job? First half maybe but not the second half AGAIN. And we played a decimated team who had a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD kid on the bench.
Let’s see how secret on against Citeh shall we? I’m not expecting to win this game but for me it’s all about the performance. If we compete and give them a proper game then that’s an improvement to the embarrasing displays we have had against the so called bigger sides this season. Mi set my bar a lot higher than an away win against a patched up team who look likely to be fighting relegation
Phil pls stop whining! We know you don’t like arteta no matter what. But pls keep your negative and unbalanced opinions to yourself. Good win, 4th position, others still need to earn their points from their games in hand. For now Up Gunners!!
It’s funny how no one talks about Odegaard performance today, I’m sure if he had a bad game, people would be one here saying how he doesn’t add anything to the team.
Exactly Lenohappy, two super passes for assists to Saka and ESR and Odegaard is totally ignored by many.
I, for one, have questioned his ability, but he had an excellent game today.
Could it be that with Xhaka and Partey behind him, he can concentrate on the attacking side of his game?
It certainly seemed like it today…. but let’s remember the opposition once again.
Ken, you may have questioned his ability, but Odegaard is now providing assists and previously scored 3 goals in 3 games. People seem to forget that he is still a relatively young player and still developing in a tough league, notwithstanding he is captain of Norway. I believe he will succeed at Arsenal, provided he is given opportunities and a run of games.
Thanks to the Win, but listen, Arteta has little or no effect on this. Arteta is Clueless, a lot of U only see this when we lose games. Thanks @Phil for being a Careful game analyst, I am with U on many points .
Subs were late, Arteta can’t read games properly, he’s not that smart.
Xhaka, was wonderful, but was lucky to not have been sent off, then A smart manager after the ref missed that situation would bring him off, cos if this game was that ref that hates Arsenal (Mike Dean) Xhaka would’ve been sent later on a lesser Offence. The Manager should read ahead intelligently and act immediately.
Odeegard : it makes me laugh that I ist fans get carried away with wins, rather thanmlook critically at the Team as against those we ought to be competing against, ie Chelsea, City, Utd,, Liverpool. Any of these teams will destroy Odeegard, ESR and Saka in a game. That’s bcos U do not have a Manager that have STEEL and Charges the Players to show up.
Are we Winning? YES
Are we making Progress? NO.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO LOSE TO BIG TEAMS WITH ARTETA IN CHARGE, and many will keep making excuses rather than see reality. Arteta is a school boy Manager.
CONGRATS on the Win & The Temporal Position on the Table👍
Summed up quite beautifully
We were way better than Leeds…….but in the second half we became complacent. In the long term we must get out of the habit of relaxing our grip or we will suffer against better teams, just like against Everton. Wow it is so good seeing Gabriel Martinelli doing his thing, he’s on course to being one of the best. ESR what a star. Xhaka though is an idiot, a thug who can cost us in every game he plays. He is soooo slow too. He needs psychiatric evaluation. Some years ago he cost us 4th place under Emery, against Brighton. The sooner we replace him the better.
You are dead right Sean.Xhaka was fortunate to get away with the tackle on Rafinha who is a class act .Ben White also needs to get to grips with the art of defending and should get some guidance from Tomi who is one of the best in the League.Not only did White give away the penalty but he impeded Tierney and was side stepped by Rafinha who pulled his shot wide when we were one up.
Yup, Xhaka is unpredictable and a danger every game he plays. Rafinha is a quality player. Tomiyasu is one tough young man. White has no urgency. That can be good, but it can be bad too. Maybe if Saliba comes back White can have a go at DM…..maybe.
May be you need psychological examination because I don’t know which game you watched. Xhaka was exceptional. You probably watched another player. Whatever xhaka did was excellent including the tackles. He is a defensive midfielder not a cheerleader.
How many red cards did biers get for his crazy and rash challenges under AW?
Leeds obviously we’re told at halftime they were an embarrassing team and should be ashamed of their performance, and came out in the second half to try and prove they were not. Unfortunately decimated with injuries, they gave it a good go, but in the end our quality prevailed.
A good way of looking at it, rather than always looking for negativity Declan
👍 👍 They are Leeds United after all; never a pushover.
OG, with eight first team players out, they were pushovers today.
Fair point Ken; however although the ability/experience was lacking (a 15 yo on the bench) you could not question their commitment, particularly in the second half.
With good movement of attacking trio our midfield were able to create load of chances. Rigidity is what has frozen our fluidity so far . I can confirm we have creativity in this team, just our attack needs to be aware of where to run to
Xhaka is a polorize leader he will always split opinions, but his contribution is paramount, am seeing a massive need for a highly technical defensive midfielder, maybe that Rodriguez guy from real betis, someone who craves the defensive side of the games notice how disruptive Ben white is to the opposition when attempting carrying out the ball, spaces begin to create each time near the final third ,
All in all a good game to keep the momentum
Don’t understand what MA and the team have to do to impress you guys.
Off the back of an utterly dominant display agains West Ham, we go and create a premier League record amount of shots for a first half, score 3 excellent goals and STILL there’s mostly criticism. Second half was an exercise in game control, which I thought we did well until BW’s moment of madness/losing Tomi.
I’m seeing huge progress with this group and I for one am very excited about their potential in the short and long term. COYG
My only long standing and fundamental objection to MA is his regular picking of the disastrous, immobile, slow as a snail, oafish and hotheaded Xhaka.
He is nothing except a huge liability in our team and has been so all his long,tedious and dismal time at our club. Just get him gone, right out of the club MA, for goodness sake!
Absolutely. Xhaka is unpredictable and one rash moment and we are down to 10. He is so slow that my cellar slugs are faster than him. He cost us a Champions League spot, under Emery, in the Brighton game and I would not be surprised if he lost us a game or points this campaign.
Sean, I remember Henry costing us the CL TITLE when he should have put us 2-0 up… I remember Bergkamp missing a penalty that cost us a FA cup final appearance against manure… I remember Aubameyang missing a penalty against the spuds that cost us a CL place… I remember every single player I have watched make a mistake and I have also seen said players have excellent games…. that is exactly what Xhaka did today.
👍 Me too!
Yes Ken, but they were not THUGS like Xhaka. With Xhaka they are intentional.
Sean, sorry my friend, but in this game (the subject of the article) Xhaka’s tackle wasn’t even deemed a yellow card offence…. despite the ref and VAR reviewing it.
Let me ask you to look at the reaction of the nearest Leeds player, who was facing the tackle – he made no effort to bring it to the ref’s notice did he?
I am judging Xhaka on yesterday’s performance and, for me, he put in a full 90 minutes of effort, both in defence and with passes to release our attacks.
If you want to judge him by another criteria, then another article should be forthcoming and, maybe, we might agree on some points.
But I definitely didn’t see any “thuggery” yesterday, just a player giving 100% for the shirt.
A thug like you who thinks with his feet. Xhaka is a far more intelligent player than these arm chair critics with no longer of football give him credit for. Just watch the beautiful game and STFU.
I wonder Which game were you watching mate.
Was the pass to Martinelli “disastrous” and “immobile”.., ? Who was pulling the strings in midfield in the 1st half?
Being critical of someone is okay but always baying for another man’s blood without due diligence is a fool’s paradise.
Paul by now I think regular fans on here already know the drip with these Xhaka trolls who call themselves fans.. Xhaka is slower than a snail your brains are slower than a slug.
I feel exactly the same way as you Sean and can’t understand how some fans can complain about the second half’s lack of intensity.
Arsenal we’re on the front foot from the first second and had put the game to bed by half time.
This is the 5th game the team is playing this month with pretty much the same starting 11, how can some fans complain about the second half?
Were we ever at risk of not getting the 3 points tonight?
Where were we this time last year?
We’ve not played champions league football for 5 years and now we’re back in the 4th spot race with the youngest team in the league.
Come on guys, look at the positive side of things!
Don’t you see what’s been happening in the past 12 month and how the team’s improved?
Aren’t you excited to see all these talented youngsters giving it all for the Arsenal badge?
Of course we are probably going to lose at the Ethiad in January, this is the most difficult game of the season. City have had Guardiola for 5 years and pretty much unlimited budget for over a decade. It’s gonna take another couple of years at best for Arsenal to be title challengers.
None the less we are back in the top 4 race this season and the team need their fans’ support to achieve this objective.
COYG!!!
We play City at home, LeGunner
My mistake. Gives us a bit more hope for that game.
My point was that I find it unfair and unrealistic for some to demand Arsenal to be competing with City this season.
Yep Legunner I was writing the same thing but couldn’t be bothered to try and justify the obvious improvements, and the unrealistic view “let’s see how we do against Mancity to see any improvements”. We are not at their level, nor Liverpool and Chelsea. We are fourth on merit not by luck, we have been told by some “it’s only half way through the season, don’t get carried away” yet the mob absolutely destroyed Arsenal,Arteta after the first 3 flipping games !!!!….. just for the record I just want Arsenal to do well, we are fourth and the almighty city have only won 3 games more than us Liverpool 2 and Chelsea 1🤔…
Thanks GoalDan,
I also agree with your comment that the Everton game hurt more than the MamCity one.
Actually the worst one was ManU as they are direct competitor for the 4th spot.
We are not expecting The Arsenal to compete with city for the league, but we are expecting a better performance than the 5-0 drubbing from earlier.
That will show progress unlike today’s excellent result against a Leeds team without eight first team players.
Of course, if City are without eight first team players then we should also beat rhem wouldn’t you say?
Hi Ken
I think the capitulation against city was until the lost to Everton the most damaging defeat, I think we will give them a better game at our ground, I also don’t think city are 5 goals better than us (skill wise) but their mentality and Liverpools are on another level, which we need to achieve to stand toe to toe. I think 8 players out of city squad would not make a huge difference to their football competence 😬 unless we can pick the players who would be out of their team, then I would stick a quid on us winning 😁
GoalDan, Your obviously a very rich man then!!! 😂😂😂
Let’s hope we can do what you think my friend.
For all the comments undermining our performance because it was a ‘weakened’ Leeds side, remember Chelsea played a ‘weakened’ Everton side at Stamford Bridge and it didn’t exactly translate to an easy win. A dominant 4-1 away victory is a good result esp for a pretty young side.
Please help me.
It seems that Martinelli and ESR both play the same position, best coming off the left into the box.
To me they both stars in the making.
How can we play them at the same time?
Classic Xhaka performance. He absolutely bossed the first half, breaking up play and creating some lovely build-up play. Along with Martinelli I thought he was out best player.
And then he pulls that stunt early in the second half. I disagree that it was just clumsy. He lost his head with the free kick just before and was lucky not to be sent off.
Really frustrating for folks like me who see a player in there. Tough to defend his brain farts.
👍 Unfortunately despite all the good things, including the pass to assist Martinelli, Xhaka has too many mistakes, including misplaced aggression (thuggery) in his game.
Voyageur, agree with you regarding the player, along with MA, UE and AW of course.
I believe that his performance today was why those managers mentioned above have faith in him.
As for the tackle, it was needless, but the referee and VAR were of the same mind and, considering the fact that said refs and VAR have not been kind to us, I’ll take their decision on it today.
Mari also has covid
Read through half the comments on here and you’d think we’d lost this game!
3 points away from home, consolidating 4th (I’d rather have points on the board than games in hand) and our youngsters throughout the team contributing on a regular basis. I for one am quite excited.
Job done, keep the points rolling in while the others sit at home. Lacca again showing how vital he is to the way we play. Could have been more clinical but a good win and hopefully we can play some more while others sit out and get some wins on the board, Norwich and Wolves before City.
Excellent contribution from Lacazette again; deserves an extension and retention as captain.
Reggie, we have been promoting Lacazette for some time and it is so rewarding to see him grab the opportunity to show all his knockers just how good a leader he is.
The “younger” players are feeding off him and his positivity and I hope he gets to sign dat thing!!!
Yes Ozzie and Ken, Lacca playing like he does for us suits the younger flyers around him. He creates so much space and works his socks off unselfishly. When he plays well we play well.
I keep wondering how some gunners fans are never satisfied with the team’s progress so far…they always wanna undermine the team’s performance!too bad and not encouraging at all…no Epl match is easy to win.I think the boys put in a shift today,nice one from the boys and arteta!
In a game Xhaka had a good assist, guess what many here are focused on. Someone blamed Xhaka for the tackle on Tomi. You may even think every other Arsenal player is flawless.
First half was great from minute 1 where Laca missed a open sitter with only Meslier to beat in the second min but Gabi made ammends 15 mins on the clock. Two quick fire counter attacking goals then followed thanks to the youngsters (Gabi and Saka). Sitting comfortably at 3-0 half time. We came back relaxed and Leeds looked rejuvenated. They piled pressure on us and almost looked like they wanted a comeback. They seemed to have read our game in the second half but eventually the Esr goal settled the dust. We would have won by more goals thanks to a leaking Leeds defense but we ran out with a comfortable win nevertheless. A clean sheet would have been a good reward for Mr Rams
which was not possible. Otherwise Job well done👍
Leeds United had a high injury toll and still had 49% possession, but Arsenal can only beat what is in front of him. Martinelli has shown great running off the ball and clinical finishing for a double, Lacazette creating space running on and off the ball tying up the centre halves, Odegaard great passing for two assists to Saka and ESR, Xhaka an assist in playing Martinelli in space combined with the usual brain explosions. We’ll take the win, credit where it is due and hopefully learn from the mistakes to eliminate in the future fixtures.
Hi Ozziegunner, Arsenal usually had high possession stats for a decade or so but didn’t win the league, and I think Leicester had on average lower possession stats and won the league, it’s what you do with the ball that counts. But do agree with most of what you have written 👍
Yes Ozzie Leeds were decimated but we still have to beat them, whatever and we did. Not a game to analyse too much but happy with the win.
” A five goal thriller”?????” What five goal thriller?
That false headline implies a 3-2 score with a switchback in teams scoring!
NOT A TOTALLY ONE SIDED THRASHING BY A FAR BETTER TEAM OF A SECOND STRING, WILLING BUT OUTCLASSED TEAM.
Sean, sorry my friend, but in this game (the subject of the article) Xhaka’s tackle wasn’t even deemed a yellow card offence…. despite the ref and VAR reviewing it.
Let me ask you to look at the reaction of the nearest Leeds player, who was facing the tackle – he made no effort to bring it to the ref’s notice did he?
I am judging Xhaka on yesterday’s performance and, for me, he put in a full 90 minutes of effort, both in defence and with passes to release our attacks.
If you want to judge him by another criteria, then another article should be forthcoming and, maybe, we might agree on some points.
But I definitely didn’t see any “thuggery” yesterday, just a player giving 100% for the shirt.