Despite the howls of protest from Arsenal fans after the game, the fact remains that the Gunners actually played well away from home against a team that is on a perfect run of form at the moment. According to whoscored.com, we had 50% of the possession and closely matched Leicester on tackles, pass completion rates, dribbles and corners.
The minus points for us were, as usual, chances conceded and chances created, and failure to take our few chances. As Alexandre Lacazette said after the game: ‘We are very disappointed, we had chances in the first half. We couldn’t score and you need to take your chances in this type of game.
‘We have to work again and keep working everyday. But I think we didn’t play so bad, we just missed our chances in the first half.’
This opinion was echoed by Calum Chambers, who was Dan’s Man-of-the-Match in the JustArsenal Player Ratings, when he spoke to Arsenal.com after the match. He said: “I think we had a bit more control and defensively we were a bit more solid. We knew Leicester are a good team and they would create chances but I think we all put in 100 per-cent effort today and the difference was that they took their chances and they scored a good first goal. We’ve just got to keep believing and stay positive.”
So it was not such a bad result, we played well away against a team in second place in the Premier League, and we should actually gain a bit of confidence from the way we performed on the day.
I think the reason there was such a furore from the fans after the game was because it has come as the culmination of a run that has seen us fail to beat Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, Liverpool reserves, Wolves and Vitoria, and our last League win was before the last international break, when were on a great run. Perhaps this international break will have the opposite effect and we come back with all guns blazing!
We can but hope…
Admin
If this was playing well I am in trepidation atwhat a bad performance looks like … need to stop making excuses and acknowledge that we have become a mid table team and we cant tinker our way out …
@Rkw- not only that, but the article suggests we should be satisfied with getting beaten because the performance wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Is this how far we have fallen? Do we now accept that we are an inferior side than the likes of Leicester and it ok to lose to teams like these!
No matter what performance we gave, we lost. In reality the performance was nowhere near good enough to beat a decent side with some good players coached by a very very good manager.
We actually have a very very good squad of players “ coached “ by a manager who is obviously out of his depth and is quickly taking us down with him.
Is the fixtures coming up should Dave him I keep hearing. And what happens after that with Citeh,Chelsea and Manure all within a few weeks of each other? Plus away games at West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton? Can you really believe this clown will improve the performances for any of these games?
He should have been out of the door on the coach back from Leicester.
The majority of the fan base demanded Wenger be removed because we were not prepared to be only alsorans for the top sides. Whst makes this board feel we will put up with much more of the total dross being served up by Emery?
Good comment Phil. I’ve seen my share of ugly wins, but never ever had a good loss. That type of weak mindedness is what got us here.
Accepting draws rather than going for wins, and making excuses for a failed coach.
absolutely agreed, the game that I watched was not a good performance.
One thing is certain…we did not play well against Leicester.
We were very lucky Leicester didn’t score at least two more, what with Ndidi hitting the crossbar, when it was easier to score, and Vardy missing the ball completely for a tap in. Not to mention all the other half chances.
We did look a lot better on transitional plays, until the final ball, but overall, it was yet another pathetic, lifeless performance. Terrible defending, and zero attack! We were awful at both ends of the pitch, so I’m not sure how anyone could claim we played well.
Am done admin. Are you for real?? A clib of arsenal stature after playing such awfull,abysymall football should not have a mentality that we played well. If we say that then we are seeking mediocrity and at this rate we will be a mid table team at best. Am so gutted. So many issues,manager,team isnt that good. We really have a huge task. This team needs serious rebuilding and our board members are awfull and honestly dont think about the teams progress at all. If this was a team fighting for relegation the manager would have been sacked. Unfortunatly they still want us to see more horrors and comedy
THis article smacks of Sam P
It’s usually his articles that are born from fantasy
This article had me shaking my head because we were rank dire especially in the second half. The final score could have easily been 5-0. They had a clear cut penalty denied by VAR, they hit the bar and Ndidi and Vardy should both have scored. By the way, VAR is a disgrace, both Man City and Sheffield United were denied by atrocious VAR decisions and it’s spoiling the game. Our next three games are Southampton, Norwich and Brighton but does anyone honestly feel confident of getting even 6 points from the 9 available? I certainly don’t and would bet we get 3 or 4, if we are lucky. Arsenal RIP.
Funny how the Sheff Utd decision wasn’t given, but Salah’s was! Yes I agree about our decision, Leicester should have had a pen.. not that it would have changed the outcome of the game though! There is way too much inconsistency.. that’ll happen again (the TAA handball) and it’ll be given (just not at Anfield)
I have no confidence whatsoever about those 3 games, Declan. Saints will play like Barca and Ings will probably score 2.
Puki will find the back of the net and have Delia swigging from her bottle… and Brighton..we’ll more than likely give them another penalty! 😠
The problem with emery is that his English is so bad I doubt the players understand him and since he released the translator who was with him last season we are playing worse. I can’t understand half the things he says in the press conference so I doubt the players understand specific detailed instructions.
Yeah, lets look for another reason to blame him….”bad English”. Even with his broken English, he is comprehensible and his thoughts are well articulated. English is just a language and there are translators on the team.
Played well…..are you on Ketamine? You’ve been watching Alice in Wonderland mate.
Whilst I won’t go as far as to say we played well, it was definitely an improvement imo. If we could just inject a bit of speed into the proceedings we could have actually been quite dangerous. Obviously we are still making too many errors individually and as a team but, for me at least, definite signs of improvement over earlier in the season.
I am so cheesed off right now! The results the article highlights have been embarrassing.. the league table makes me cringe, even a newly promoted Sheff Utd are above us!!
There’s no point glossing over it, we’re crap and are getting worse…
Can’t defend to save our lives, can’t even attack these days.. 1 shot on target the whole game! I mean come on, are we supposed to be happy with this? Are we supposed to be glad we conceded 1 less at the King Power than last season? Is that a positive, Unai??
I’ve had enough and I’m so glad the break is upon us, as I cannot stomach another loss… lacklustre performance, bloody hearing good ebening… being beaten by teams we should be beating! Thank god the darts is on!!
There is nothing good coming out of the Emirates these days.. from the Ozil mess to the Xhaka mess.. it really is relentless! Things have to change… sooner rather than later! Jeez give us a break ☹
Wow Sue
Never seen you so clear and asserting yourself. That shows how poor we have been and that it gets to the whole support base… and as can be seen on AFTV the whole world. I know your natural tendency is to be kind so well said
Need to vent every now and then, Sean! Been a very disappointing, frustrating season for us gooners ☹
Sue, I misread your post and thought what has Sean Bean got to do with it 🤣
He’s been very good in World on Fire though, if you’ve seen it (or if you’ve Sean it😜).
😂😂😂 You’re so funny, Declan!! Nice one 👍👍👍
We played well and lost 2-0 to Leicester..
Uhm..
How could Arsenal players say we played well? They let the opponents run rampant in Arsenal’s territory
I thought that luring tactic in Liverpool was just a one-off, but Emery instructed his players to do the same thing in Leicester
The only good thing about that match is the defense was more solid with three CBs. If they can’t defend with two CBs, might as well follow the Wolves’ tactic by using 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation
WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING, ADMIN? Did we watch the same game? Arsenal were pathetic. Possession does not define how well a team played, particularly if they just gave away that possession and/or just used it to pass the ball back to their own defenders time and again. We were robbed of the ball countless times and I do not believe I can count on 1 hand the number of times one of our players took the ball away from an opposing player.
No of shots om target?
PLEASE!
SA…. We did lose the ball a fair few times but Leicester were worse – we had players dispossessed 9 times to their 10 and suffered 16 turnovers to their 19 🤷♂️
What gave them the edge was a tighter defence, which made 19 clearances from in front of their goal and 11 interceptions, and they were much quicker and progressive with their passing as shown by their 15 key passes to our 6.
There were some good things:
1. Formation wasn’t that bad. And it’s not much about a formation, but more about how the shape adapts in various conditions that has more impact on the game. Actually had more possibilities with that formation if Emery was anything but way too cautious in his tactics.
2. We actually saw some really decent offense that had some free flowing quality of Arsenal, in a long time. It looked rusty, but it was there. It seemed like our players don’t practice that free flowing offense anymore in the training ground, thanks to Emery.
3. Defense wise, utilizing Luiz to carry the ball forward was a nice thought. I have said, as many here do, Luiz is better as a DM, much more than any player we have currently. Great distribution, good in air, physical, better defense, good ball playing abilities, better pace than Xhaka or torreira, etc.
Now the bad points:
1. No coordination in the pitch, like no frigging game plan except for passing sideways and backwards. Also mediocre vision when passing usually, no purpose in passing. No utilization of Ozil in the buildup, he should receive more ball any chance we get possession, but that wasn’t there to see.
2. No athleticism in players, too much inertia in their movements. Can’t react in time.
3. Guendouzi and Torreira severely lack positional awareness, they always chase the ball frequently and get beaten, setting up a counter play against us. They need to calm their horses down and be intelligent in positioning as they lack pace to recover when they are beaten. And it happened so many times.
4. No bigger picture seen of how the goals are going to come. Emery clearly doesn’t have that, as there was no coherent movement in players most of the time, just individual efforts ending either in loss of possession, or turning back and pass back. That is literally what we are doing with almost 80% of the possession we have.
5. Creativity? Nil. Even with Ozil, and I don’t blame Ozil for that. Creating chances isn’t just a one man job. It requires supplementing actions from many different players who sync in a same purpose of movement. But that was no where to be seen.
6. Too predictable play style, almost like a regular level AI in PES or FIFA. Mediocre. The only way we are get to score when playing like this is through individual brilliance, and freak chances converted.
Daulat, that does make sense to me.
It wasn’t as if we were overun completely and I felt the players certainly gave 100% – just goes to prove that giving 100% doesn’t win you games though.
This doesn’t mean I’m happy with things, but there was fight from the team, we had our chances and we lost to a better team on the day, simply because UE use of players and tactics were complete rubbish yet again.
Yes, lack of individual efforts was not why we lost the game yesterday. It was a lack of game plan, inefficient training of players that has killed their offensive acumen and confidence, no clear purpose of what needs to be done with and without the ball, no utilization of player’s strength, bad positioning in the midfield, poor athleticism, etc.
Daulat
Our midfield is second to 75% of the teams we meet. Remember only recently…. Ramsey, Wilshire, Rosicky, Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, and even a little while back Ismael Bennacer. Look at our midfield now… Guendouzi, Torreira, Ozil (occasionally) and Xhaka plus on loan Dani Ceballos. We are in big shite.
Yeah, and we don’t have a defense crisis, more so a midfield crisis. And it’s not much about technique, but pace and physicality that’s severely lacking in the midfield. Our midfield is just rolled over. Guendouzi, Willock, Ceballos, and even Torreira can’t match pace. At least Ozil can handle pressure with his trickery. And combine that with sloppy passing and positioning, it’s really our biggest problem, apart from shitty tactics our coach employs.
Those names you mentioned, damn we had a good midfield.
Chambers was ball-watching when Vardy scored Arsenal did play well till the Chambers incident and after but then we were chasing the game
I was hoping that using Pepe, Bellerin, and Tierney would keep their fullbacks pinned back a bit and give us space in building up and width.
But that would be attacking football and Emery is allergic to risk and finess players.
Having 7 defenders was his genius, and still gave up 2 goals.
Love how Tierney gets Europa games against guppies and Kola starts in must win games. Awesome.
Well said. We just need stop being customarily over harsh in every bad or not-too-good situation we could find our dearly beloved Arsenal FC. I’m not concluding unai emry is the best for us, at least for now, but unity, full support, strong winning mentality, psychological know-how, consistence etc will grace us more improvement than persistent criticism. By virture of these, better days ahead. What if u’re an average nigerian man like myself. . . . . considering the sorry state of excellent suffering engulfing the citizenry you would have tried confronting the mr president fully armed. Lol. I remain a MINDFUL gooner whatsoever howsoever wheresoever!
Hear something new!
Played well?
That was what I thought during the game until I watched a replay. I was so ashamed.
We played really well for 70 minutes, had the best chances, controlled the game like the commentary said, playing the perfect away game. The problem was the minute Leicester scored we crumbled. Thats a mentality thing and thats a worry. This group of players have some really talented individuals but together and between the ears a lot of them are weak. We lack the leaders we have had in the past, the warriors and fighters.
So true Reggie, so true.
i mean, there was a 5 minute period where we actually didn’t look terrible, but that’s it. The game is 90 minutes and Leicester were in full control for the mass majority of it. One shot on target for us. How did we play well. That’s insane.
Our goal difference tells it all. Arsenal, a team built on attacking philosophy and two of the best top strikers in the EPL has a -1 goal difference! All my year of following Arsenal I’ve never seen us on a minus goal.