After three home defeats in a row, Arsenal needed a confidence booster ahead of Sunday’s North London Derby against Tottenham and that was duly provided by our 4-1 victory over Rapid Wien last night.
Arsenal were on top from the start and despite a few glaring misses we could have doubled our goals four, although Arteta wasn’t complaining too much after the game. Yes, we have been really consistent in this competition.”the boss told Arsenal.com.
“I think the boys showed a great energy, character and aggression today. Right from the beginning you could feel they were touched from the last defeat and everyone individually played a really good game.
“In the final third we were really aggressive with the ball, we created many chances, scored four goals and probably should have scored more – and now let’s take that into Sunday, a very special game, we are all looking forward to it, and let’s do it all again.”
In terms of the importance of the match, it was not a must-win game for our chances to qualify for the knockout stages, but Arteta was pleased with the energy and the hunger to score goals without the incentive. He continued. “I’ve said before, I’ve seen the passion and I’ve seen the energy in the last few games. There were moments that the moment you take your foot a little bit off the pedal, or the moment you lose a little bit of focus in the Premier League, you get punished. The margin that we are losing games is very small and in Europe at the moment you have a little bit bigger margin, and you need to know that. But I’m really pleased with the work that they’ve done today and I think the 11 of the team had a real purpose on the game, even though we have qualified.
“This is the spirit that I want to see every single day.”
One has to agree that we have not seen that passion in the first team lately, and perhaps we need some of these hungry youngsters brought into our Premier League games and see if their energy can rub off on their seniors?
Arteta should continue with the 442 system on Sunday. The team last night showed real purpose and passion and that is what is required in the PL games. Without drive and passion we look directionless. Also Arteta should release the shackles off the players and allow them to express themselves naturally. My team for Sunday:
Lenno
Belerin Gabriel Holding/Mari Tierney
AMN Elneny/Partey(if he is fit)
Nelson Saka
Laca Auba
If you want the aggression, play the players that show you it. It’s quite simple…
Leave Auba on the bench if you have too, no-one is entitled to start whether captain or not!
Lol we only have two world class players in the team, auba and Partey and you want the coach to leave auba out, bravo.
Auba hasn’t been behaving like world class for a while.
Hello Joe,
To be honest, none has been behaving like world class.
But that is not my argument, it feels like people do not think deeply before they say things.
Even if we must bench Aubameyang, it is definitely not the best time to do so.
Ozil has been exiled and believe it or not, some players won’t be happy with the way he is being treated – if you now start benching Aubameyang, what do you think will be the situation in the dressing room?
If Arteta does that and lost control, you will be here blaming him again, you guys are not just fair at all.
The manager can never win, I am not even an Auba fan but you can’t just do things anyhow.
Goonerboy am sure even the coach can’t bench aubamayang just like that, who do we have that’s better than him, Lacazette 🤣🤣🤣, last season Ronaldo played 9 or 10 matches without scoring a goal, his first 3 goals after then were penalties, but some fans are just so funny and some have some secret agenda against the coach, they just want the coach to fail just so they can say I told you so.
Lenohappy
Couldn’t agree more, I hope Arteta keeps doing well.
Joe Allysons I always love your post because your comments are always based on fact, I like the way you said ‘for a while’ so let me ask you,that a player has only scored two goals in 9 premier league matches does that mean he’s no longer a good player, ans 2, considering the way we have been playing this season,do you think any striker would have scored goals with this arteta tactics.
@LenoHappy, I think I inadvertently answered your question in a comment below . I’ll however put the shorter version here. Auba’s plight is mostly of his own making. He’s struggling to find a goal, but he’s not working hard at it. We a crying about a lack of creativity , but oddly , in the EL, we are able to create. The answer is simple. You can’t score a goal if you can’t loose your marker. In the comment below, I mention two instances where players who are usually slated for bringing the team down tried to create specifically for Auba but he let them down. In this comment , I’ll mention another scenario from the wolves game that involved a popular player. Tierney whipped a dangerous low ball into the wolves box deep in the second half. If you watched the game, do you remember where Auba was? He chose the one part of the box where even the best passer in the world would not be able to pick him out. Not only did he go far post, he went far post behind a defender with more than 5 yards of room available at the near post. When I say he hasn’t behaved world class for a while, I actually am calling him out. I genuinely wish he could see this . I know he can do better . He should do better.
Spot on PJ-SA..My sentiments entirely.Neither Auba nor Xhaka and Ceballos should start against Spurs but at least two of them will.
Grandad thank God you are not the coach, no sane coach will drop his best player just because he’s going through a tough period. The great Ronaldo didn’t score for 9 matches last season but the coach didn’t drop him because of that.
Grandad
You too? Argh!🤦♂️
I am surprised we stopped playing with aggression because that was how we started when Arteta came in. I recall some fans were even complaining that we always looked tired at the end of games thereby making us vulnerable.
We played dominated Chelsea and United playing this way, that is what we need to do tbh, if we can’t maintain that level all the time, we can at least do it more often than not.
I also agree that Arteta should give the players more freedom of expression which is the most important thing.
Goonerboy best comment so far, we played all attacking football in the Europa cup but when it comes to the premier league we played defensive football, bring Ronaldo to this team with the way we play he won’t score 10 goals as season.
We dominated* not played please
Maybe MA might surprise Mickey Mouse with a 343 system, because such high profile matches are also fought in the minds and Mickey Mouse is a master at that, so MA might want to get one better of him by playing 5 at the back to counter the threat of the high scoring Spuds and hit them on the counter with pace. In that case the team would be:
Lenno
Holding Gabriel Tierney
Belarin AMN
Elneny Xhaka/Willian/Nelson/ESR/Ceballos
Auba Laca Saka
I remember I once said we could play Laca behind Auba. City did the same thing with Aguero and Dzeko in a 4411 formation.
I will be pissed if willian and Xhaka start on Sunday.
Ooh brother I can assure you that Willian will definitely start on Sunday, as much as I like arteta some of his decisions I will never understand, but come to think of it, who else can we use since Pepe is suspended and please don’t say Nelson.
@Lenohappy, why don’t we give them chance?
If AMN is given the same opportunities as Xhaka, Xhaka will be sold. The same should be given to Nelson if we want him to blossom.
Give Nelson a chance.
Gentlemen,having watched Auba in every match this season,notwithstanding our highly publicised lack of creativity,his contributions have been negligible.If you fail to recognise this , you are deluding yourself.Sometimes ,leaving someone out is the best way of galvanizing them into action.We all need a kick up the backside from time to time.No offence intended.
Agreed with you on that Grandad. Let everyone be on their toes and let no one take their place for granted. Performance should be the defining parameter. Let the youngsters get their chances, like Nelson, AMN, Balogun and ESR. Let them play without fear and see how well we perform. Everyone needs to wake up from their slumber.
This is my personal observation of our PL games vs our EL games.
In the PL, we have an obvious star man who also happens to be (or is meant to be at least) the pointed end of the spear. What we’ve been facing however of recent is that our starman is either tired, or just can’t be arsed to run anymore.
As a result, when you watch us play, you notice that other parts of the pitch are fairly efficient until the ball has to enter the final third.
Let me give you a scenario that I’ve kept in mind since the weekend that properly illustrates what’s going on.Someone won the ball off a wolves player . This was maybe around the 48th minute or so. The ball is passed to Xhaka. He comes out of defensive midfield , ball at feet . He’s clearly ignoring all passing options closer to him looking to send a ball deep into the oppositions final third. Everyone else is moving the right way to make the desired pass possible. Willian is drawing players out of the way, Saka, Willock, just one remaining piece of the puzzle. Auba needs to move into the space (“want the ball” is the phrase used where I come from) . After a second or so with Wolves now recoverinig , Xhaka is forced to turn around a pass back to Gabriel. Right after that, he throws his hands in the air and admonishes Auba as if to ask him , “why the hell won’t you move?” Sure as hell, the very next pass from Gabriel goes to Bellerin, we see Auba sprint deeper, but it’s too late. The move is dead.
A little while later, Willian has the ball at feet, Bellerin goes into the wolves box almost like a twin striker to Auba. He makes a well timed dummy run to draw wolves left centre back away from the box . On the opposite side of the said run, I see willock begin to make a run to draw a second defender. Again, just one thing is missing. Auba needs to move into the space vacated by bellerin because it is what I’d refer to as through pass corridor. As a result, wolves close the corridor because Auba is static.
Solution, interestingly, I can use the same game to show you the solution. In the last 20 minutes or so, Auba begins to actually move , and he creates two dangerous scenarios. One is a steal off the goalkeeper, the other is a header from a Bellerin cross. The solution is movement. Gone are the days when Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Filippo Inzaghi lurked in the final third waiting for scraps and knock downs. Today, a striker has to be a nuiscance . Run , be offside, get fouled , cause commotion. That’s where the chances are.
If Auba can run around like Nketiiah, Like Laca, like he did in the final 20 minutes against wolves, the players are there to create chances for him. If he stays static like he did in the first 70 minutes last weekend, just be ready for more sideways and backwards passing because everytime a midfielder can’t find an option upfront, he’ll send the ball to a safer teammate who is usually behind him.
I love this write up Joe!
I clearly see you have reasons for saying what you said about Aubameyang. Brilliant!
Thanks. Been meaning to write an article on the topic , but I get really busy towards the end of the year. I feel like we the fans can help the coach if we direct pressure at the right points. I don’t think Auba would look a that disinterested if he noticed that fans were beginning to get cross with him.
Great analysis Joe!To the point.
Excellent stuff Joe.Running off the ball to create space for others is vital for success.This is why Leeds are doing well and are good to watch.They never stop running .