It is worth mentioning that Southampton could have briefly gone to the top of the Premier League last night if they had beaten Arsenal, so we were expecting another tough game at the Emirates.
So when the ex-Gunner Theo Walcott put the visitors in front, we expected heads to drop, and pondered the fact that we hadn’t scored an open-play goal in over 12 hours, but the lads didn’t give up and in fact seemed to raise their game in search of the equaliser.
Just 7 minutes after the break, Aubameyang finally got his name on the scoresheet and it looked like we were back in the game, until, as usual, disaster struck when Gabriel was given his marching orders after two quick yellow cards.
But despite our usual setback, Arteta was pleased that we held on to a point, only our second in 6 League games. The boss told Arsenal.com: “Considering the fact that we played 35 minutes with 10 men, we have to take the point because we showed some resilience and character to hang in there for so long against a really dangerous team.
“But at the same time we’re disappointed because we came back after conceding the goal, we showed how much we wanted it, created some situations and at half-time we corrected a few things. We came back really strong in the game, scored a goal and then when we had the best moments, we shot ourselves in the foot. It obviously made it really hard.
“It’s very difficult to compete in this league when you play for such a long period with 10 men. When you’re struggling for the results, it makes it even more complicated but I think that the boys stood up for it and again showed a lot of character and resilience. They never gave up. After 1-0 I was worried because after this moment, you can start to see players hiding but they did the complete opposite.”
So Arteta is still seeing the pòsitives in our play depite the lack of points to show for it. Let us hope that some confidence has returned to the side and we can start pulling away from the relegation zone very quickly…
Joke of a manager.. i am looking forward to the day where we can hire a proper manager who doesn’t need 6 new players but can have good results in the league with the players at the club
Wake up already, from that dream. Which manager in mordern football can compete for silverware without changes in the team?Thats precisely the reason why Arsenal never hires world class managers – because they come with the demand of a huge transfer kitty
i dont remember talking about immediate silverware 🤔 any proper manager would be able to be in the top 8 without any single addition to our squad 😉 so if you dont understand dont bark
He’s smiling as if he has won the champions league. Oh! Poor Arteta, that big smile for 1 point?
What we need is for MA to go back to basics, play the in form players and in their natural positions, before the game I wanted to see Soares start and AMN in midfield not only that but it impacts on substitutions later on I’m starting to think MA must have been one the managers who benefited the most from the 5 subs then again I haven’t checked it having said that can’t blame the players attitude last night!
I’m sorry to tell you that what you are looking forward to is an Herculean task!
I agree with Mike completely, the boys were seemingly hungrier than they’ve been for a while now. Can someone please tell AUBA to please STAND UP AND Lead, and not leave to the baby of the squad who does everything for them, we need to see & the boys need to feel his leadership, I know he’s not Vincent Kompany but if there’s a time the boys need their leader, it is now, I hope he can now kick off his season.
Arsenal will lose at Goodison Park if they keep doing long clearance like that and if they still use 4-4-2. The Gunners’ confidence was very low and played very cautiously in the first half, which is a reflection of Arteta’s and the coaches’ self confidence
It’d better if Arsenal revert to their lone striker formation, so we’d have more midfielders or more defenders at Goodison Park. If Ceballos has to start, he should’ve played as a CAM
The long balls were from KT which I attributed to lack of confidence and comfortability on his part. But after the goal he got settled.
I agree MA is been too cautious, he seems to forget the best form of defense is attack.
Why do we need more midfielder? We only have 2/3 available mf (Pls dont mention AMN, he hasnt played 10games in midfield all his career), our mf are not of high quality, on the contrary we have luxury of attacks (maybe not in-form) but can get the job done on their day, why not throw them in, and bombard the opposition half, give them no breathing space, cage their fullback, reduced their mf and striker efficiency and force them back. I never like tactics of sitting back to absorb pressure, arsenal is never good at it, our players are used to attack tactics for ages, that’s why we are struggling with MA tactics
We’d need more midfielders to keep up with Everton’s. Playing two strikers will only make us outnumbered in midfield, unless we have a towering target man who can receive the ball and hold off the opponents
we do not need target man to play hold up or score from the air, Liverpool, city and most EPL teams do not have target men to play hold up or score from air, how tall is Aguero really? Laccazet can play from midfield behind auba. We only need to put someone on the wing, Saka on the Left, AUBA upfront , lacazet behind AUBA and Pepe on the right
We wouldn’t need a towering target man if our system is established like Liverpool’s and Man City’s. The problem is our attackers can’t receive our defenders’/ GK’s long clearances and sometimes they also have difficulties in receiving the ground passes from our midfielders
Aubameyang can’t handle the harassment from the opposition’s CBs upfront and has been almost invisible in this season. It’d be better to shift him back to the left wing, because at least he can help our midfielders/ defenders and cut inside
Why does he keep saying he is pleased with this shambles. It is job that is on the line and it appears he doesn’t know it. Leno said what his mates do is running around, always out of
positions, the attitude is bad, the discipline is lacking and somehow Arteta said it is ok.
He is right and I think his demands from his players are getting them agitated causing red cards, he needs to find solution to the Indiscipline in The team, there are games we should have taken 3points but red card denied us.
3 things he needs to do fast.
Get the players playing with urgency from first half, since it’s looking we are always going to get a red card in second half
Give them freedom to express themselves, albeit with discipline no loss of possession in dangerous area
Change the zone marking defensive systems, it’s not effective, just one good pass and 3/4 players are taking out. And defend from opposition half, not running off the ball back to Leno everytime
I just dont understand Arteta’s philosophy at times. What was Pepe doing in the match, Nelson would have been much better, both in defence and attack. Secondly the way we were playing in the first half was a team totally bereft of confidence and clear cut ideas Auba is so down that he does not seem to have confidence in his play. It is the duty of the Coach to instill belief and self confidence in the players and the extremely cautious approach is hurting us big. Also I agree that Ceballos must be doing the CAM job and not defend deeply as he did yesterday. I feel had it not been for the vocal presence and leadership of Louis we would have surely lost the match. And finally Arteta must do something asap about the continuous string of red cards we are receiving the players seem to be not focussed at all and Arteta must have a hard look at the red card issues.
Some good points, gunnerforlife. I do think MA needs to stick to a starting eleven as much as possible though. Swapping and changing the squad affects the stability. Saying that, I’m not sure why MA is sticking with certain individuals who have obviously been having a negative impact, If an impact at all? Luiz was showing great leadership again. Something that Auba doesn’t. That confuses me. Why have a captain that is quiet? As for the red cards, this will become a bigger problem as long as we’re in a bad situation. The players are not relaxed or focused. There is a pressure on them which causes silly mistake.
The Athletic are now saying some of the players are angered by MA’s double standards when it comes to certain players – Willian’s unauthorised trip to Dubai, yet still started the next game. Luiz was also mentioned – fuming at being left out against the Mancs. And tbh, I’m just waiting to see what happens with Xhaka!!
Is the Athletic credible or just another media outlet snatching at straws, Sue?
If Willian’s trip was unauthorised he should be the deep stuff! If indeed MA is disproportionate in his actions or biased towards individuals in any way, he should not be a manager at all. He will any respect he has very quickly. Which could be the reason the squad are performing the way they are? It does seem that there are political goings-on the the club for sure! The truth will set us free (eventually)!!
*”He will LOSE any respect he has”, sorry!
I’d say so, yes, GunneRay.
Something’s clearly going on… we’ll just have to wait for the leak to leak again!!!
I Think some of you have unexpectedly high expectations for Pepe, he did OK all through, despite not getting any attacking support from AMN (which I believe Hector Would have done better ), AUBA put in lots of effort yesterday, running around a lot, the team putting in a beffiting performance recently, redcard has been our issues, and I hope we can avoid them, if they continue with this level and avoid red card, we will start getting results soon.
Though a lot still needs to be done, the interpretation of the coach instruction is not fully delivered, players are still struggling to understand him Or rather struggling to implement what he want
Are you asking for Luiz to be back in starting lineup at the cost of Gabriel? Are you suggesting we strip AUBA of captaincy and give Luiz? For the record MA didn’t give AUBA the band, he has been our captain since UE /Freddie
MA has stuck with same starting eleven for a long time and everyone says he is using his favorite. What else wouldnt you guys complain about?
We’re at a point where we’re happy to draw Saints at the Emirates…
This guy is a joke. How can he pleased with 1point when the team is languishing in bottom of the log? I miss those days when we used to win games with 10 men. Patrick Vieira used to get plenty of red cards. Arsenal was so resilient. Now we can be happy for 1 point against Southampton
Times are a changing and standards are being lowered. The tactics aren’t working and we are languishing in the bottom half of the table scrapping for single pounts. I am really sad at the situation and i dont see anything that is going on that is going to improve that. A hole is being dug and we are slipping into it. Dont please try to put rose tinted glasses on this situation, its dire.
Plus as i have stated, the professionalism at the club has been diminished.
Honestly i’ve had it , wtf is wrong with them fans in here? I mean no posatives to draw from a team deep in a slump that have once again showed agility with 10 fuckn men! I mean wtf?
I guess we aint looking too far towards west london, which had spent buckets of money on players and yet outside top 4 at the moment compared to ours!
I mean why act like bitches, when your negativities wont solve a thing but ruin your mood and that of others in here!
Should you criticize, do it creatively, lets see posatives
should you despise our manager, then recommend a better gaffer and follow that up by buying a stake in the club and enforce your need for change!
Should you hate the players, buy the club and buy players that will restore our glory days!
If your ass cant meet these then get matured and stop being a semi nuisance leaving prints of negativities with each posts and responses!
I dare not claim loving woolwich better than any one, i only know the difference between a fan and a spectator!
Gunner 4ever
For us to be positive is to say that the team is doing and things will ultimately change for the better. No, I can’t say that because I call a spade a spade. We are 5 points from relegation zone, and we want us to give credit to substandard performances
glad many now point manager issue, Gallas said it : Arteta has no experience at all, no way to manage a top club!
Viera is our captain, not Arteta!
He gain experience in US and now in nice, a small budget team he took in EL in a tuff league including team as PSG, Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Rennes, St Etienne who were ahead of nice in devellopmt term past 5 seasons.
He is doing fine in settling team and club in top7 target. Lost his key defender and not doing as well since but in top 5 before that injury.
Not sure if he is ready yet, clearly Arteya simply can be with zero experience. Common sense