The game I watched last night was exactly the sort of Arsenal I hate to see and Liverpool, another top team, has once again showed our weaknesses!
How do I sum up the game? Well from what I saw last night there was a lack of connection! lack of creativity, we had no leaders, no voice and nowhere to go! Apart from the time I saw Xhaka have a go at the back line for letting Liverpool through for the umpteenth time in the first half, that was the first time I saw any Arsenal player speaking up!
How we got one goal surprised me, but of course conceding not long after we go 1-0 up and losing the game is something we were used to before Arteta came in.
I will admit Ceballos coming on added a sense of creativity as we saw from the ball to Lacazette, which he failed to convert and again our finishing let us down when we could have been right back in the game, twice!
Maitland-Niles disappointed me, as did Leno and there was just nothing creative in midfield that filled me with positivity! Tierney couldn’t handle Keita which made me think although it was nice to have him back, was he rushed back not being match fit? Bellerin on the other wing couldn’t handle Mane and if Arteta will not use Mesut Ozil again this season then he really needs to go out and buy either Partey, Aouar or both. If we keep going with the team we have then we can kiss top four (or even top six) goodbye and forget about defending our FA Cup triumph!
It is no surprise that Liverpool exposed us for what we know are our weaknesses. But I did at least think that our boys would do better than what they did!
Utter disappointment but not a big surprise! Gooners?
Shenel
This was needed.
Now the board know that we need better attacking players / midfielders if we want to have even a sniff of Top 4.
I like the likes of Elneny, Xhaka etc but as squad players. When you need fresh legs to fight, graft and hold onto a lead. They would come in handy to lock up against tiring opposition Legs in the second half. But not as starters.
I hope the dominance and next level performance they showed against us is enough to show our owners that we need upgrades in midfield. Stop beating around the bush and sign the personnel we need.
Thank you very much.
😊
Kroenke cannot even name 5 players on the team. I doubt this game did anything to advance our transfer needs. Getting both Partey and Aouar will come down to how many players we can sell before deadline day.
😀😀😀😀
Abu, Özil and Nketia at top:
Saka, X1, Y1 and Z1 in the middle:
X2, Gabriel and Y2 back:
Martinelli at goal
These would have made siffernce. Unlikey though, Arteta has very little influencial on the board. It does not seem either that Arteta knows what he is doing. Why were not Gabriel and Saka in? Still The excuse “those who show attitude at training will play..” Nonsens
The club need to sort out that midfield within the next week or they face a long hard season in mid-table battles again!
There’s no if’s, why’s or but’s about it. Whatever needs to be done in regards of players out to get players in, just do it and take a financial hit. Even if we need to terminate contracts and pay them off. We have wealthy owners so there’s no excuse!!
I am so angry right now! Not with Arsenal, the players, or even Arteta. It’s some of our fans!
So we’ve won our opening 3 games, we then lose in the toughest fixture in world football right now, and suddenly it’s all doom and gloom. Unbelievable! Even Bayern would struggle to get anything away to Liverpool, yet we feel we should?
Reality check! Remember that this still isn’t Arteta’s team. It’s what he inherited. Not only that, he hasn’t even been in the job for 12 months, yet has produced wonders anyway! It’s going to take at least a couple of years for the team to be how Arteta wants it.
Yes, we were not great on the day, but it’s just one game…the toughest game we will play all season. In a funny way, the defeat comes at the perfect time. The transfer window will shut soon, so it might just spark us into life, and given it’s so early in the season, coupled with maximum points prior to the defeat, it’s barely dented our league campaign.
We should remember that Liverpool fans were really questioning Klopp, 2 years or more after his appointment, and now look at them. We are still very early into the process, we are clearly progressing, and there will be bumps along the way. Although losing away to Liverpool is barely a bump!
So you think playing the likes of Leeds, Everton or Leicester, will be easier, ThirdManJW?
I do agree with some of what you said though. It was a reality check. I have read some fans believing we will be fighting amongst the top four this year. Whilst it is great to have that level of belief amongst the fans, it’s also important to keep perspective. Yes MA has a team that he has inherited and it will take some time for him to get the team he wants. But, it’s that “spark” you talk about. We all acknowledge what is needed and yet, here we are with a massive problem still unsolved. The worst thing is, as fans we have all been here so many times. Right in the final moments of the transfer window with hours to go and still no sign of fixing the problems we have. The problems we’ve had for nearly a decade!
To even dream about competing for top four, a lot of us know we’ll need Partey and Aouar before we can dream of that
Playing the likes of Leeds, Everton, and Leicester (who we’ve already beaten this season) of course will be far easier! Unless you’re suggesting they’re on Liverpool’s level?
In response to Nifty, prior to the Liverpool defeat it was 5 wins in 9 against top teams under Arteta, and some really good performances. I get where you’re coming from under Wenger and Emery in the big games, but we’re clearly performing really well against the top sides now, and majority of players aren’t even Arteta’s.
We played Leicester in the EFLC not the EPL. Different teams altogether. The fact you think they are easier is a little disrespectful tbh.
I have no intention of getting into arguments and for now will draw a line on the debate. I suggest we just wait until the transfer window is closed. If we have managed to strengthen by then, then I guess we will have a better chance of top four. However, if we fail to bring in what’s needed then I guess we will have to wait until the end of the season to really know who was easier or harder to play against? The final league table standings will tell the truth.
It’s not disrespectful, its fact! How on earth do think Everton, Leeds, and Leicester are on the same level as Liverpool? You have to admit, that is a crazy thing to say. Next you’ll be telling me Wolves is just as tough as facing Bayern!
I was happy for the wins, but not with the way we played. I could understand then Arteta had to work with what he had, but if at this stage of the transfer window we are yet to strengthen our midfield then there is no excuse to be made. We can’t survive a season playing how we are playing, or have we permanently accepted that we are an average? I didn’t blame Emery when he failed, with the way things are going I won’t blame Arteta either
Some of us are tired of Arsenal’s mediocre performances against top opponents. We look more like a team that is just trying to survive, instead of a team that want to be among the best in the game. Are we to just accept the lack of ambition at the club, and that our beloved Arsenal will continue to be an average team.
It was our third league game of the season for fcuks sake!
Anyone would think we are in the relegation zone after 10 games.
six years, no wins away at top 6 opposition. Can’t keep coming up with the excuse that a team is just that good, when lesser sides can go to these places and still get results. Sorry but done with the excuses that we aren’t just good enough. We should still be able to pull of some decent results in these fixtures. If we lose at OT and Etihad in the coming weeks we can’t just shrug our shoulders and keep saying we’ll get there at some point….
I still feel Arteta isn’t the right guy for this job. He’s too defensive even against lower opposition. His FA cup win is just papering over the cracks. Arsenal have dropped the most points from winning position in the league since we appointed Arteta.
Wigan beat mancity to win the FA cup but were still relegated so a good cup run doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Top 4 more important.
His league record against the big 5 isn’t dissimilar from Emery’s record. In 7 league games against the big 5 Arteta has won 2, lost 4 and draw once, how is that different from Arsenal under Emery?
With all the players at his disposal he should be doing more than parking the bus every game. Arsenal had one touch in the Liverpool 18yard box in the first half & that’s down to Arteta tactics.
Well said TMJW.As for the comments concerning Tierney, he rarely had any contact with Keita who was out playing his opposite number Xhaka who was completely ineffective and rightly subbed.
Definitely need strengthening as we’re miles apart from Liverpool.
That being said, I’ve credited Arteta a lot in the the past, but after seeing the game again, I think he deserves the critics for yesterday’s game.
We respected Liverpool too much and Klopp already knew we were coming to defend rather than play, so they came at us completely.
Yes I get it’s Anfield, but we could’ve attempted going at them from the start too. Liverpool played the high line a lot yesterday because we sat in too deep.
Can’t help but wonder how many more of those chances would Lacazette or PEA have gotten if we had the intent to attack?
Liverpool are known to always play open football, They’re game is basically you score and I score.
Maybe we should’ve taken the risk and fed PEA and Laca more chances?
Maybe we could’ve gotten humiliated like the last time we tried to attack Liverpool at Anfield (we scored 1, and took 5 in return *cups face*).
Arteta should learn better.
All in all truth is we need up to three players if we’re serious about going forward. Two midfielders and a proper Left Winger.
I really wish we could get Said Benrahma, for just 25M since getting Zaha would be tough
“and again our finishing let us down when we could have been right back in the game, twice!”
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First off, it was one real chance. The first would’ve been flagged offside anyway. Secondly, had Liverpool converted their clear cut chances on goal, what do you think would’ve been the final score? And here you are keep talking about two tepid chances created all through 90 mins.
So true, Maxis. I think Liverpool hit the woodwork twice and Leno was in the right place for a rocket of shot which he knew nothing about until it hit him. We could have been three nill down at one point. Liverpool eased up a little after the second goal. The stats in the first half were Arsenal with one shot on target and Liverpool with fifteen. An all too familiar stat that proves we need to fix our attacking and defending issues from midfield!
Let us stop moaning about yesterday match and focus on Thursday Pls.
The score line was not a fair reflection of what happened in the second half.
I believe Abu and William are saving themselves for Thursday. And Arteta don’t want to hamper the confidence of Gabriel, because we can still be bantered that is why he benched him on Monday. But come Thursday I will be expecting more fight and something close to this line up
Leno
Bellerin Holding Luiz Gabriel Triney
Eleney Xhaka
Willian Lacazet Abumeyang
You really think that will be the team on Thursday ? No chance my friend, it will be our kids v their kids, 10 changes each team guaranteed.
I doubt it bro.
We need the win more. Confidence booster, shutting up critics, ironing out some lapes and also forcing some of our squad player out. Moreover after Sunday match their is International break.
So basically the same team that played yesterday will play Thursday. I very much doubt it but let’s see eh 🤔
Let me get this straight, people are praising Arteta for his managerial guile in a game where he parked the bus with a team ill-equipped to park the bus, then had the audacity to have no one on the pitch who could provide any real link-up play, yet we were supposed to get a result on the counter…where was Dani or Saka, why was Gabriel not starting, why has Saliba not played yet(even though we would not let him play one more game with his former club for fear of injury), why did we get rid of Martinez as he’s clearly a better all-round goalkeeper than Leno, why did we waste a substantial amount of wages on Willian when we had much greater needs(especially if he’s going to play outside wide instead of our most expensive transfer ever), why are we pretending to be competing for top 4 when everybody and their brother knows that this squad is deeply flawed and will likely finish outside the top 6, why haven’t we been far more aggressive, both going in and going out, in the transfer market and why does it seem like Luiz, a guy who shouldn’t even be on this team anymore, seemingly recruiting fellow countrymen, we don’t need, like he’s going to be around for the long haul…this team did look more confident and organized at the end of last season, but that was in large part because of the outstanding play by Martinez, Auba and the somewhat emergence of Dani…otherwise we were quite pedestrian for large stretches, with little to no secondary scoring, and had no real dominant performances to speak of…of course we weren’t as leaky on the backend and we found a way to win a couple games that we would have likely lost in the previous couple of seasons,( a fact that has seriously distorted our perspective on the matter) but this should in no way be misconstrued with a team on the rise…with Kroenke at then helm this will be all about baby steps…if Pep’s was a 3 year plan and Klopp’s a 4, based on what I’ve seen so far, Arteta’s is going to take a minimum of 5 years…to be honest, I’m not sure I have the patience, considering the rouse that has been perpetrated by this owner and his minions for the better part of 10 years, to wait for this possibility to come to fruition…let’s face it they have done nothing to earn my trust!!!
Those who watched Leeds vs Liverpool will understand how better Leeds were. Leeds dont have any superstars. But the game plan and their attitude were perfect. Arsenal have highly paid super stars. But the team selection and game plan were worse. Deciding to park the bus against a team like Liverpool is suicidal. Result is losing possession always near our goal post and facing goal threat….