Hello gooners, what a time to be an Arsenal fan- I am certain some are not happy right now, some are simply resigned, and many want the manager out altogether, but whatever the camp you belong, you can’t deny you love Arsenal and you want success for us.
Arteta caved in to fans’ demands that Aubameyang be played down the middle and it is a shame most have still not admitted that they were wrong. I don’t want to go too much into Aubameyang’s weakness or strengths, but those who pay attention to details would know that he is not suited to playing as a lone CF, especially in this league – he simply does not possess the strength, skills, and the technical know-how to play in that position. He will work there if we play counter-attacking football, but a lot of teams defend against us and he will easily be nullified.
In our set up, strikers like Firmino, Raul Jimenez, Giroud (my favourite Arsenal player in recent years, massive fan of his and Santi of course) and an in-form Lacazette will thrive better, except if we want to switch to a counter-attacking team, and that would mean parking the bus which I am sure we all dislike.
What makes our situation even worse right now is the fact that we are not creating ENOUGH chances to win games, and because of fans pressure, we are somewhat sabotaging ourselves by leaving Lacazette on the bench. The truth is, for now, we have no better player to play the role except Lacazette, and having Lacazette on the pitch alongside Aubameyang gives us more chances of winning the game.
Think of it this way, right now we are lacking chances and goals, are we not supposed to play our two strikers to boost our chances of winning? Why should we continue to leave one on the bench especially when we don’t have an elite winger?
Auba-Laca is supposed to be our Son-Kane, but now we are benching our Kane leaving only Son. As long as we don’t have a CAPABLE number 10, Lacazette must play and Aubameyang must play on the left, believe it or not, that is our best option FOR NOW, and we must play them.
I do not normally do this, but before our game with Wolves, when the line-ups for both teams were announced and I saw the midfields for both teams, I couldn’t help but compare – and in my opinion, we were worse off – and I found myself comparing our team with the other top 6 teams. It is a pity we wasted a lot of money on very average players and players that do not suit our philosophy, which has resulted in a bloated squad of low quality players that cannot be sold, and now Arteta gets all the blame.
He has made his own mistakes but to blame him for everything is unfair. How can a midfield of Xhaka and Ceballos control a midfield of Moutinho and Neves, when they can’t control Barkley and Douglas Luiz. Everton has Allan, Doucoure and Gomes. Spurs have Hojberg, Ndombele, Sissoko, Lo Celso. Liverpool have Ndidi, Tielemans, Maddison not to mention Henderson and co. How can Xhaka and Ceballos dominate these teams, how?
What do they have in common? Speed, tenacity, aggression, industry, and these are qualities a PL midfield MUST have. Our players lack these and can’t even create, on top of that. We used to complain of being light in midfield but with creativity now we have none! We can’t create from midfield, we can’t combine in attack to create chances let alone score a goal, how are we supposed to win?
As bad as it is, we can’t bench Xhaka right now, we just have to play him until we get a better player, he has more forward passes than Ceballos who is supposed to be the main creative player beside him, and that says a lot. People are calling for Niles and ESR, how far have we fallen? Or do we think this is the Fabregas era? I mean Chelsea has Kante, Jorginho, Havertz, Kovacic and still tried to sign Partey. I was seeing their game against Spurs and they subbed Werner and brought in Pulisic that’s insane depth, but we have who apart from Partey? We would celebrate and hype Drinkwater at Arsenal. Liverpool added Thiago to an already crazy midfield and Jota to a formidable attack, same with City, Spurs, Everton (James) etc.
Need I say anything about our disjointed and imbalanced attack? What I am saying is; the earlier we realise that our team is not good enough the better, and the less we will get frustrated.
Who is to blame? Blame it on the board and not any manager. We know the player Emery wanted and what he was given, Arteta still needs serious backing but he needs to get rid of some players first, he needs time.
Lacazette had a great game last night and may not be fresh for Sunday, but we need him back in the PL team no matter what. Aubameyang can do nothing without a creator or a creative strike partner.
Peace
Goonerboy
Laca should play on Sunday, I agree. But I disagree that AMN is an average player and cannot replace Xhaka/Ceballos, in fact he is better than both of them, has athletic ability and speed and can tackle better than them. Along with Laca AMN should also start on Sunday.
Lacazette would most likely succumb to Spurs CBs’ harassment, unless a striker play in front of him to take the beating. Nketiah protection made Lacazette able to express his creativity as a CAM, so Lacazette has to train harder if he wants to be a lone striker again
We could solve this issue if we get a taller and stronger attacker. Perhaps Odsonne Edouard rumor is true
I agree that Maitland-Niles should start in the NLD. But only if Arsenal play with the same tactic, where the likes of Maitland-Niles or Willock could pop up frequently and make crosses from the right side
I agree GOT,
His presence will open up space for Aubameyang on the left, if we play Auba up top against Spurs for example, we have no other threats apart from Auba and we all know he will be marked out easily and that’s why Lacazette is important at least for now.
Goonerboy Take it from me Lacazette is and always will be a hard working player and always puts in a shift more than I can say about a lot of our other players
I’d start Lacazette in the role he had last night, and do the same with AMN and Nelson.
On the latter, it’s amazing how depressed I get watching Willian in an Arsenal strip. I thought he was great at Chelsea and that he could be an astute but but honestly, he sucks the life out of me virtually everytime he touches the ball now.
Unreal how lava slammed week ago is now praised afler a top goal.
As if he was then was no …
He played very well last night but there were two differences.
1] It was against a Norwegian reserve team
2] He was receiving the ball when facing goal – NOT with his back to goal … where he has been a big weakness.
Maybe, we will find out, shortly, whether he can play No. 10 in the EPL with less time and space. Let’s hope so.
That team is Austrian and it wasn’t their reserve team…
Sorry Austrian ……. I was thinking of Molde (!) They did not however start with all the ir best players.
Dude, seriously.
You think Vienna is in Norway?
😂🤣
But as NO. 10
We keep saying this teenagers ain’t good enough, have played them 3 games straight?
Lampard played tomori continuously, even Everton was ready to pay good money for him,
Klopp play Arnold continuously, they will make mistakes but the truth is they will improve in confidence and skills,
To me Arteta needs Maitland-Niles and partey in that midfield
Bellerin-Mari/Luiz/holding-Gabriel/Saliba-Tierney
Maitland-Niles/Willock – Partey/Elneny
Nelson/Pepe – Lacazette- saka/willian
Aubameyang
That’s what I had mentioned a midfield of Partey & Niles then Elneny stepped up. As Thomas is injured I would start the 2 of Elneny & AMN to protect the back 4 on Sunday.
Spurs might sit back and make us break them down, which we will struggle to do, then hit us on the counter with Son & Kane.
If Mari is fit and ready to go Partner him with Gabriel on Sunday and see how it goes, His height & Strengh would be crucial v Kane along with Gabby.
Hector and Teirney full backs.
Is Laca going to play behind Auba in a no10 role like last night? I’d like to see how that works out with Pepe & Saka on each wing.
Leno
Bellerin Mari Gabriel Teirney
Elneny AMN
Laca
Pepe Auba Saka
Sean, like the team you suggest, but Pepe and Saka changing sides – it seems Saka can adapt and play much better than Pepe when out of position, plus that team will know exactly what’s at stake (apart from the two centre backs)… the bragging rights of North London!!!
Pepe’s banned though…
S##t Sue, forgot that 😱.
I blame the excitement of seeing Arsenal playing attacking football once again😂.
Maybe Saka on the left, Balogun in the middle and Auba on the right then, with ESR waiting to take over if Lacs doesn’t perform? 🤔
S##t Sue?
Is that a type of canine species?
Lmao pat well played, took me a sec 🤣
🤣
You are very correct with laca, willian should be dropped in favour of another player say nelson. finally arteta should add pace and urgency to the team like last night they moved the ball fast and forward. Totham is not an impossible mission.
We played that well because Nelson and Pepe are similar in that they drive at players, they also had Laca to bounce off, Nketiah to occupy and AMN to make the extra man. It left Elneny alone but the opposition isn’t that tough.
The midfield needs athleticism in this day and age, something we sorely lack in that department. It’s why Partey was bought but he isn’t enough. Laca does well as a 10 because he is strong, agile and mobile. He will never be an Ozil but he can work well if he’s surrounded by options in front of him
Lacca should not be anywhere near the game.on Sunday. I just want to know what game people actually watched. Lacca played as A no.10 or a 2nd striker behind Eddie.
The goal he scored was very good but also due to poor defending. The two CBs were caught backing off and fair play to lacca he did what he should and set his self up for a blinder.
Right now back to that no.10 roll. Lacca did not take part in creating anything. That is the primary roll of a no.10. Unless u have a big target man who is gonna drop everything down for a fast 2nd striker behind him I don’t understand why lacca was there.
ESR. As soon as this young lad stepped on the pitch you could see the way he moved and found pockets and proved that he is a true no.10 by being there for a cross to get onto and finish. This is how a real no.10 operates. I watched the game with my nephew who is a utd fan and has no biast and immediately turned and said to me why do you guys play lacca as no.10 and not this guy.
Lacca should be on the transfer list. The current running joke from my nephew is that cavani currently has more has more away goals at utd than laccazete in the last 3 years. Let that sink in of how poor this guy actually is .
I think ESR and willock should be battling for that CAM roll. We have seen what willock can do in Europe and the boy just needs a few more games to start converting. ESR does not deserve to start in the league yet but I’m sure he will come good.
As for AMN – what a guy. I think if you watched him yesterday he was good. Not amazing not excellent but good. Now the question is. What do we want him to do? Personally I think his defence abilities are great. He has seen in the FA Cup and last season in several games where he bossed the wings and was able to set up auba often. There was also a game he played in the centre and it was a solid defensive performance. Now add that with yesterday where he showcased 2 chances that he made but didn’t take. I think he has a claim for that muddle of the pitch. Now imagine him and TP. Both can defend and both can pass and get forward well. Bye by xaka by by cebellos.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to agree or disagree
Shortboygooner, until last night I would have agreed about Laca not contributing anything, but last night he was suddenly our most creative player. Whether this was just the weak opposition I don’t know, but I’d like to see that combo again against PL opposition.
AMN, Elneny, Partey, Xhaka and Willock to rotate in the midfield gives different options for different types of opponent.
gworm, You dont know? Of COURSE it was against “weak opposition”, just as you wrote! THAT IS OBVIOUS AND MAKES A HUGE AND VITAL DIFFERENCE. Spuds are table toppers, not rank bad RAPID VIENNA.
LACA HAS BEEN PANTS ALL SEASON AND LAST NIGHTS PERF AGAINST MINNOWS CHANGES NOTHING IN OUR HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PREM.
Scuse me for admitting in advance that I might be wrong! I don’t recall Laca playing that role before, but I don’t have Sky so may have missed it. So I would like more evidence before forming my definitive opinion.
I also don’t appreciate being shouted at.
gworm, Oh DEAR! My personal choice to use capitals when I wish to EMPHASISE a word, phrase or sentence is NOT because I am trying to shout.
Let me explain more fully for cohesions sake. I am a theatre perfomer and director and in my theatre work am well used to using the voice in many ways There is inflection, pitch, pace, power , punctuation(also known as pace) and many other ways of making speech interesting and memorable.
But when writing we are FAR more limited and CAPITALS (together with how we choose to construct sentences) is one of the few devices we have to enrich our written words and make them stand out. I would not be so rude as to shout and even if I COULD, WHAT WOULD BE THE POINT? I really hope this helps you and possible others to understand and to see that CAPITALS are not shouting.
Addressing your substantive point about last nights game, I saw LACA , for the FIRST and ONLY time this season play with polish and verve .
But he was playing against mere minnows who would struggle to hold a place in our Championship division, so as such, I do not give it much credence. Against all the PREM opponents he has struggled mightily and IMO, does not deserve his place right now.
Erm Gworm did u actually watch the game? Nit being funny but lacca was only involved in that 1 goal that he scored. He didnt assist. And he didnt make any chances. In fact in the europa his pass rate leading to assist is o.12. And a grand total of 3 shots on target.
In prem 0 assists and 0.33 passes leading to an expected assist. This is awful for a CAM. Appalling.
Anyway of you truly watched the game on BT SPORTS. I think you would see for your self. This guy is a passenger I would rather let a youngster play and get experience then let lacca Coast. Guys talk about ozil coasting but man lacca is trash
Agree or disgree? Who could possible disagree with the mountain of common semse you wrote! No successful team can ever carry those who will not fight, commit, have pace , mobility and courage across the team. LACA HAS BEEN PANTS ALL SEASON IN THE PREM, WHERE IT MATTERS.
Ponderous XHAKA must surely have Mertesackers freakishly slow genes and I have craved BOTH those players exits less than half a dozen games since they first wore our shirt.
You are spot on about midfield too which MUST have pace, movement and energy and no Xhaka types . AMN would be a regular in central midfield for me with Willock and Nelson both given a proper run. I also like ESR and would give him chances but not as first choice right now. No Willian either, who has stunk the place out and seems not committed at all. A pacy, energetic central pairing in midfield of PARTEY, when fit, and AMN would transform our team, IMO.
Shortboy Gooner, what you didn’t mention was the fact that Cavani has scored more goals than Aubameyang as well – why does he get away with no criticism?
Mind you, at the moment, who can blame any of our forwards with no link up play?
YES Ken and your “link up play” or a woeful lack of it, is a large part of the reason for our forwards not firing . NOT the only reason of course, BUT an important one. I really think that , with PARTEY OUT , our present midfield is by a considerable distance the worst since the days of Hillier, Morrow and Jensen and arguably even worse.
This paucity in midfield badly affects the whole, as it would for any team in this plight. A series of bad decisions, including poor financial ones with contracts and way overpaying for very moderate players, has been going on for many years past and still pertains.
Now we differ as why MA chose to keep Xhaka but I do not wish to score points but to find common agreement that Xhaka is a dreadful and key reason for our lack of pace and mobility in midfield. I hope we can agree on that and leave the REASONS WHY he is there aside, for a while at least.
You will know that I have many times posted about pace and mobility being key, together with attitude and heart, ie workrate, but our midfield is to my mind, at least without PARTEY, also AMN not picked there, woeful and that is around 80% of our team problems IMO.
I have consistently called for XHAKAS exclusion from the team, better still from the club altogether, almost from his very first month here. Just as I did all those years with Walcott too.
SORT THAT MIDFIELD OUT AND MOST OF THE OTHER PROBLEMS FALL INTO PLACE, IMO. Of one thing I am certain; without pace, power, mobility and desire in midfield(ideally all over the team too) we will always struggle to keep pace with our rivals.
Well Mr Jon Fox.
It looks like we agree upon this. Most definitely the midfield is what needs looking at atm. As you said once we sort out that I think things will fall into place. We have some lethal strikers in the form of auba and pepe. I think that these boys will start converting either the right players in the middle.
Saka is creative and would link well with a proper no.10. I think even lacca would get a few goals with a decent CAM and CM next to partey.
What surprises me is that srteta was a creative player who played in the middle of the park but can’t see this
Ken1945
Thats simple. Has auba struggled under 3 different managers ?
Has auba struggled to get more that 10 goals for arsenal 3 seasons in a row ?
I think that brining up auba is a weak argument. When u compare the two lacca has done poorly consistently. This is a patch for auba
shortboygooner, I’m not concerned with what Auba has done last season etc etc as I’ve been told many times on here, that the past is the past and players shouldn’t be judged on that.
At the moment, with Aubameyang featuring in every PL game and scoring one goal, a penalty, compared to Lacs, he is not performing.
I want nothing more than for him to return to the form of other seasons under different managers, but he isn’t performing under this manager is he?
So why give him a pass, as I asked you before? Why don’t we judge him in the same way as other players – does he work as hard as Lacs? Does he cover the pitch as much as Lacs? Is he earning as much as Lacs ( had to put that one in!!). Does he act like a captain? Has he scored more goals than Lacs, his primary role?…All the questions are pertinent to this season under MA and it is obvious to me, at least, the answer is no to alll the questions, except of course the reported £300,000 a week!!!
Yet it is Lacs who is getting the grief from fans.
Ken1945
I mean auba has not missed 3 open/pretty much open goals now has he.
The whole team is trundling with creativity that much is apparent. However, Lacca has blatantly missed opportunities unlike auba. Lacca is also the main strike and has had more than 2 games as the main striker and just simply not performed. Show Horning him into a no.10 simple won’t work.
The reason why I am giving him stick and he deserves it is still because as a ARSENAL STTIKER. You should be scoring more than 10 goals a season. The likes of adeybayor,, van persie a d king Thierry are the standard I want. Lacca has never done that in the prem. I don’t believe hi is capable.
If your happy with lacca as your ST I’m sorry but you have low standards. He is not the man we thought we were getting from Lyon. Nice dude but not arsenal standard striker. Auba simply is and you and I both know it.
If you put auba in liverpool squad we know he would likely start and score goals. Can you say the same about lacca ?
Willock isn’t a 10. ESR needs time as he’s very light weight and will be bullied by the leagues MFs.
Laca has been pants but he didn’t need to be on the end of anything last night as we had two wingers who were, along with Nketiah and AMN. Laca could stay deeper and let them do what they like to do – run onto balls and run at defences.
We don’t have any other Option other than Lacazette as no play maker can beat an organised press and low blocks require SEVERAL orchestrators to break down, not just any play maker either – talented ones. ESR is good but is he Wilshire, Santi, Ozil fabregas at his age? No, he’s not, so what warrant is there to thrust him into an ailing team?
We need to stop pining for our youth because realistically none of them barring Sakha, have done anything of note consistently or shown glimpses of world class talent, whether that be on loan or in the squad.
I agree that Lacazette-Aubameyang should be our Kane-Son duo, but Lacazette doesn’t seem to have Kane’s abilities as false nine. Lacazette was free to unleash his incisive through balls last night, because Nketiah handled Rapid Wien CBs’ harassment upfront and the opposition’s level is way below Arsenal’s
Had Lacazette had Kane’s height and strength, he wouldn’t have to be a CAM in 4-2-3-1 and he could be the false nine in 4-3-3 instead. Maitland-Niles, Ceballos, Partey or Willock could pop up frequently and make some crosses as half-winger in that formation, as what Maitland-Niles did last night:
……………………… Leno
Bellerin . Mustafi . Magalhaes . Tierney
…………………….. Xhaka
………… Niles …………. Ceballos
Saka ………………………………….. Aubameyang
……………………… Lacazette
Respectfully i differ in thought. Holding is a better choice than Mustafi. Xhaka is not PL material and if Partey cannot play then give the gig to Elneny. Ceballos is best returned to RM. Reiss is the attacker we need on the right, Saka on the left (no Pepster this game) and Auba and Laca doing their thing.
Sub ESR for Laca late if he gets hacked to pieces. ESR is our future.
Considering what we have available Weeble, yours is a much better proposition. Some of the other suggestions above seem panic stricken like one step forward and two steps back.
My frustration towards MA is his reluctance to change things when it’s not working, I’m not asking to tinker every week or make changes for the sake of it like playing Auba to try to appease the fans but when it hasn’t work for weeks even months he has nothing to lose has he? AMN should play on Sunday so should Laca in a deeper role like on Thursday fatigue shouldn’t even be an excuse to omit both but the NLD comes too soon for Mari despite a good performance, Wilian should be subbed for everyone’s sake and that includes his own so should Xhaka and Ceballos that would be a good start.
The trouble with Willian he has got to play the way Arteta wants him to play which is different to the Lampard plays him
My team against Tottenham would be –
Aubameyang,
Saka, Lacazette, Nelson,
Elneny, M-Niles,
Tierney, Gabriel, Holding, Bellerin,
Leno.
Damn, great minds think alike. Had not scrolled down far enough
1Upvote
I can sense your frustrations Gunnerboy but I think your suggestion that our midfielders are hugely inferior is misplaced.Partey, Elneny, AMN and Willock form a pretty useful quartet in my opinion and we all are aware of the Manager’s wish to bring in at least one attacking midfielder to add creativity.My concern for Sunday is that the pairing of Xhaka and Ceballos will not make a meaningful impression against what is a very physically strong midfield trio who are not particularly creative but have energy to burn.If we are to have any chance against Spurs we have to compete in the engine room .I suspect Arteta will not risk Partey on Sunday but I do hope Elneny, AMN and Willock are given the chance to match the Spurs trio.Who ever plays at RB should be left in no doubt that their prime objective should be to stick close to the dangerous South Korean.Nullify Son and we will win the battle.
The trouble with Willian he has got to play the way Arteta wants him to play which is different to the Lampard plays him
We seems to forget the general problem facing this arsenal squad anytime we win a match. So many people have criticize Lacazette ,that he is not good enough! The bitter truth still remains Arsenal has an Average quality squad and a rookie manager.
Your Grandad they should put someone to stick on Son like shite to a blanket and yes we would have a chance of beating the spuds
Vieira sacked.
Anyone wanting him to replace Arteta should put his achievements or lack thereof in perspective. Doesn’t matter if it’s your first or nth job, you’re judged by your failures as much as your successes.
yeah and thats why i want neither of them.. just someone who is good and shows development.. arteta is regressing and the talk about let him build his own team is stupid one cannot buy 11 players and till then finish outside of top 6..
So Goonerboy would bring back the highly ineffective LACA based simply on his first proper perf of the season against a very moderate, frankly second rate, opposition last night, who are, byw, not called Spurs!
It would be daft to play LACA, THE WAY HE HAS PLAYED THIS SEASON AND I WOULD NOT PLAY HIM. What we do need is far more pace and movement in midfield so I would always pick thr pacy fast improving AMN as a regular midfiles infront of thr immobile and ponberous , every time.
Until we get some pace and movement in our midfield and that means ditching Xhaka, permanently(as in sell that immobile tortoise!)we will never match all the teams above us. Certainly not at least 8 of them, probably more, anyway.
I would play Willock and give him a proper run, likewise with Nelson and ditch, for the time being, the totally uninterested Willian, who seems very obviously to be just doing the minimum he thinks he can get away with. A good OZIL IMPERSONATOR THEN! I also think thr same about Auba but we cannot ditch all out big names and with a more creative, pacy midfield I think his game would be transformed.
Having to play infront of ” I’ll eventually pass to you and let you know when, by sending you a second class letter” XHAKA, must be demoralising for any forward!
……ponderous Xhaka, every time.
Just for clarification Jon. Shortboy actually wrote this before the game.
I couldn’t fit it in yesterday and adapted it this morning…
Pat, Do you mean Shortboy OR Goonerboy? Or are you telling me they are the same male peson? I was replying to both in posts agreeing with Short boy and not with Gooner boy.
Lord Jon,
The article was sent it before the game- I saw the comment initially but I didn’t want to overide the Admin
And Shortboy is different from Goonerboy
Speaking of which, how does on get a handle so that i can comment without entering name, rank and serial number each time.
Doh!
Yes Laca played well last night but it was against a 3rd rate team and he he didn’t play up front, he played more in the number 10 position. I’m not saying he shouldn’t play but just having my two penneth.
“Bring Lacazette back…”
He’s not been anywhere having featured in the first team in eight out of ten Premier League Games, and I can’t see him losing his place in the squad any time soon, and although he’s not the best in that deep role by a long way will remain a starter or on the bench until such time as a worthy replacement is found and then he’ll be gone and quickly forgotten.
That’s just the way that it is at Arsenal right now.
I doubt very much that Arteta caved in to fans demands to play Auba through the middle. If he makes decisions based upon what fans want, he won’t be a manager anywhere for very long. Fortunately I’m sure Arteta ignores any fan suggestions on selections, formations and tactics.
JJ, absolutely correct – some of our fans think they are the 12th man for MA, just as they did with AW and UE.
Under Wenger, Laca and Auba played 13 games together, scoring 15 goals (Auba 10, Laca 5), so the combo can clearly work, but we need to play without Arteta keeping everyone on a leash. Hope he learned his lesson yesterday.
I will play Laca any day against spurs cos he always scores against them.
What combo? They can’t even link up well after two seasons together. Even simple passes go astray.
I like Laca, but he’s only been performing in friendlies of late. Auba’s barely had a chance upfront.
We sold Giroud for £18m and replaced him with Lacazette for over £52m, good business eh? Granted he is hardworking but has always been a poor finisher and is now probably past his peak as is Auba. The irony is Giroud would have suited MA’s style of play more.
Another sore point for me, we are currently paying 3 players (Auba, Laca & Willian) past their peak a combined, reported, £700k per week at a time when we are crying poverty. Don’t we ever learn from previous mistakes? Even when Ozil finally leaves most of the, so called, saving will have already been offset by increasing Auba’s salary and the £200k paid to Willian for the next 3 years. The word albatross comes to mind!!!
Great observation Andrew – whatever happened to the stance that over 30’s would get a one year contract?
Another sensible idea that gazidis wrecked and the current regime seem to be carrying on to an absurd level.
Fact Ken. Wenger knew the facts of declining with age, but also (in my spectacularly astute opinion), I also think that Wenger thought that “this is my last chance to sell him and make money” and cash in at 30, no matter how good they were!
Admin Pat, but as Andrew said, he did it with our greatest ever player – surely you don’t believe he was trying/ hoping to sell him as well?
Thanks Ken, I can remember getting annoyed when AW told Bergkamp that he would need to take a cut in salary and would only offer him a running one year contract when he turned 30. I honestly thought that he would go back to Ajax but the rest is history, thankfully.
These poor quality players are the same that won the FA cup, white washing three top four teams.
I think the issue at Arsenal now is that the team has not yet gelled. The main reason they are lacking confidence
It was really noticeable last night that these lads who’ve grown up playing together have much more understanding than all the superstar imports.
It was great to see!!
Gworm, it certainly WAS!
Yeah against RW, we have played n let’s play the same youngsters against a little bit of quality team from league n you will see as before all the understanding n telepathic passing will disappear, they will go missing n won’t be even able to keep the ball. Everyone will calm them useless, some unrealistic optimistic fans will give an excuse or them being young n not given enough chances (all though they have been given so many chances under not one but three managers). We move on then we will meet another championship team in Cardoba cup this time n we will thrash them then back to league back to reality….this circle has been going on over n over but looks like neither the board nor the some of the fans understand.
I I remember having suggested many times to Emery and even to Arteta that Lacazette would make a perfect 10 since he he can space to shoot freely
This was when they have they handed the 10 shirt to Ozil. Nobody listened to
me. Honestly give Lacazette 10 and he will give Aubameyang assists. He will have free space to shoot with both legs outside the Box. He is the only one who can shoot outside the box witb precision now. Lacazette is strong and always goal thirsty. Smith Rowe can pair with lacs. Try them on Sunday and you will be surprised with the break through.
He can shoot and he has pace. If Auba plays at the let flang, Nketiah /Balogun 9 andPepe/Nelson 7, There will be an Earth quake in the field. Let the coach try it.
Very well said Andrew E.As a retired Banker, these figures make me cringe.
Very well said A. Andrew. As a retired footballer, this line up makes sense.
You can bring Laca back and even play all the youngsters fans have been hyping up AMN Nelson Nkeitiah blah blah blah …not gonna make any difference. Because one thing will be constant in all these equations that Arteta and Playing against a team with a bit of quality. This happens everytime we run over a poor third league level country team. We thrash them, fans get all optimistic, hype up everything, all of sudden players n manager are amazing, strategies are made, bring this in, bench that etc what happens then we face any team with a bit of quality in league n we fall back to earth. How many times have we played AMN, Willock, Nelson, Laca blah blah blah in these matches n they have failed. Arsenal fans will never learn. Even lord Bend use to look like Ibra in training and useless friendly matches. We have an issue that needs to be addressed n that’s not only with the way first team is being managed but also our Acdemy but as fans have a memory of goldfish they will quickly forget what mess we are in just bec we keep beating third tier teams so we are amazing.
Yes totally agree he looked boosted by his new deep lying role and the fact he was captain. Can see him playing those balls through for auba.
Also so so hope Arteta starts to use AMN more I dont know why he doesnt, I think he has been known to switch off now and be responsible for mistakes.
Off topic just watched Herta play Union Berlin.
guendouzi looked so easy and slick on the ball, total control of the midfield with a number of forward defence splitting passes that were class.
Such a shame his a little petulant prat!
I can just imagine him next to Partey with maybe cebalos playing as a deep roaming 10.
Everywhere I read its pundits laughing at Arsenal.and saying how the gap has never been bigger, they may be right but keep it tight at the back hope Psrtey is.playing, the forwards turn up and Leno has a worldy you never know.
Never wanted to beat them as much as this game with the likes of Cluve allen, Harry Rednapp etc all talking the talk also be great to spoil the party
for the fans that visit 1st game back!
Coyg!!
Good to hear about Guendouzi! 👍
Yes it’d be great to silence all of those spuds!! Well, we’re the underdogs, but as we all know underdogs can have their day – please be tomorrow 🙏
Sue, in this topsy turvy season anything can happen. The pressure is on the Spuds and I think we can come away with a draw, at least. Here’s hoping🤞
I like that, Andrew! 👍 Partey has trained, so that’s good news.
I’d be happy with a draw, only if we equalise though haha!
I’m going to have to mute it though.. 2000 spuds singing ‘Oh when the spurs’ – it’s enough to make you ill 😂
I strongly do not agree to laca being played as a 10; at best as a supporting striker, no. 8. A 10′ s duty isn’t just to shoot goalwards; he opens up the opposition, creates chances, makes decisive passes, pick the striker, draw out the defenders. I don’t see laca having the energy & stamina to combine all that into one personality. Yes he shoots, and with power, which is noteworthy, but doesn’t all of a sudden make him the best no. 10 option for the team. The derby has to be approached with more tactics and techniques; did we watch Chelsea vs Spurs last week at all? With the depth of Chelsea as a squad, they couldn’t take down Spurs, and equally of mention, is the fact that they didn’t concede either. That match was one of the most recent tactically sound exhibitions from Lampard especially. We need to get the selection right and not just base it on the strength of Thursday’s Europa League showing; don’t forget both oppositions are on a totally different level of footballing competitiveness, no disrespect to Rapid Vienna, and need I remind us Spurs is currently being coached by Jose Mourinho – the Special One
I agree with those proposing that Arteta has never caved in to the fans .Any decisions he makes are based on his own awareness that things are not working. He does not have a De Bruine to energise the mid field so he is stuck with the sideways passing brigade. Arteta has had the conviction to get rid of Ozil, Gandouzi and Torriera ,three players who are certainly much better than some left behind. Regarding Lacazett, this guy has done nothing to merit so much faith. There have been games this season in which he had played where you might as well have had 10 men on the field such was his impact. I dream of an Arsenal midfield consisting of Partey, Rice and the kid from Leipzig but why should Arteta listen to my demands?