Definite signs of improvement in Mikel Arteta’s first game in charge of Arsenal.
All things considered, I thought this was quite a decent performance from Arsenal. Yes, there are still glaring issues that need resolving, no one expected there to be huge changes after just one game. But in comparison to recent performances this one today was good overall.
Arsenal did not deserve to be 1-0 down in the first half, they were the more dominant and looked far more comfortable but as usual, switching off cost us a goal and just like that, Bournemouth is 1-0 up after the first 45 minutes.
The second half was a little more of the same, to be honest, and the equaliser from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was fully deserved. Both teams had more than enough chances to win the game with the conditions not making life easy either.
There were still individual issues to contend with from certain players in terms of attitude and I am not referring to Ozil who I thought tried hard today.
In fact, no one player had a nightmare game and that alone is an improvement, some could have had better games for sure but there was no single massive boo boo and it has to be said, they did look more like a team out there.
There was also better discipline and organisation and of course, there was still the irritating play out from the back tactics.
Can the lads be criticised? sure they can but there is no need for anyone to be too harsh in my opinion, this is all about baby steps and today one small step was taken towards better days.
It was by no means an invigorating display that will go down in history but it was a solid one at a very critical time and the lads can hold their heads high this boxing day.
A clean slate and a fresh tactic have made all players start the game positively. Arsenal created more chances and win the ball possession by a large margin, thanks to the players’ eagerness to impress their new managers and Maitland-Niles’ involvement in midfield:
– Lacazette: Had many chances, but failed to convert any of those chances into a goal and he couldn’t release himself from Bournemouth’s man-marking as well. I think he is too slow for EPL and his height doesn’t help him in this league either
– Ozil: Started the first half brightly with some through balls, but declined a lot in the second half. I predict he would keep getting subbed in the future and he has to accept that
– Nelson: Worked his socks off on the right wing, but he was simply not fast enough to get past Bournemouth’s LB. He just started twice after a long time, so he needs more games to grow as an RW
– Aubameyang: The right man at the right time to score, but he wasn’t impressive on the left wing
– Torreira: Instrumentally made plenty of interceptions, blocks and tackles. He was the best midfielder today
– Xhaka: I believe he would improve a lot under Arteta’s guidance. Swapped his position between left DM and left CB swiftly, thanks to Arteta’s smart tactic
– Maitland-Niles: Helped Xhaka and Torreira a lot in midfield, by playing narrow as an extra midfielder sometimes. Asking the fullback(s) to play narrow is often employed by Enrique and Guardiola, which Arteta has implemented nicely
– Saka: Needs to learn how to cross better. But he did his job well, although LB is not his natural position
– The CBs: Conceded as usual, but overall tried their best to defend
– Leno: Didn’t do much, because we dominated the ball possession and pinned Bournemouth down
– Arteta: He showed that he has learned many things from Guardiola. Asking his players to dynamically change the formation between 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-2-1 when required was a smart strategy that Wenger and Emery would never use
Nelson needs a loan. He was bad today especially in the first half. He showed flashes of quality at Hoffenheim last season but generally he wasn’t ready. I still think he’s special but for some youngsters they need consistent run of games at top level to start producing. I hope he goes on loan this January.
Arteta has made some improvements but Bournemouth have been poor this season. We need to improve in attack to beat Chelsea because their game is tailor made for top teams
Another loan for Nelson should be his last one. If he can’t improve, he must be sold
He has good skills, but he lacks the confidence and he needs to improve his pace
Spot on Kev, he didn’t really improve a lot from his time in bundesliga, he never really looked confident with the ball today. I hope I’m not being too harsh but joe Willock can be so selfish sometimes, when there were people Better positioned, reminds me of watford 2-2, him n Aubameyang against one defender, he could have made an easy pass, each time Lacazette got a shooting chance, I kinda prayed it was Auba either.. overall good performance tho.
One of Ozil’s better games this season but still same blooody negativity about him and the same lame excuse for Nelson.
How many games did Pepe played without our managers disrupting his growing into the games? Hevplays today, tomorrow he’s on the bench.
Before this season, I watched and followed Nelson on loan and pointed out how he wasn’t ready to step up.
Still the same thing, the boy has something in him but he needs to be shipped off to another English club on loan.
He’s been pissful poor for Arsenal.
I don’t have excuses to create for him or anyone else..
I call out any player who plays badly and credit them when they play good, be it Xhaka, Ozil, Luiz, or anyone, but Nelson’s been bang average and there’s no way he’s ready to be our first team winger.
You’re fond of creating excuses for the boy.
Saka and Martinelli didn’t need to play 5 games in a row to show the whole world what they could do.
Even Willock who is poor, puts in better effort compared to Nelson.
I dont know a single thing, one single thing that Willock does better than Guendouzi.
Everyone else played well..even the defenders, our attackers are to blame for the points dropped
Some players just need one or two games to show their worth, but there are other players who need more than two games
Nelson just started two games in a row, so let’s see how he reacts in his third game
That is if Nelson is given the chance again. I predict Arteta would play Aubameyang on the right wing and Martinelli on the left against Chelsea
Can anyone tell me why are we like a CRAB going sideways and then we go backwards Xhaka wants selling he goes sideways or backwards he is too slow for EPL
How many chances do you want to give to Neslon, wilock and AMN. They give nothing to the team and so far have not shown anything which can be nurtured or given some sort of boost. You keep providing excuses for them first it’s the position then when they are played in there preferred position then it’s experience n settling down time. You can not grow or advance a something which does not exist…the thing called talent does not exist in these Academy youngsters. The other youngsters we bought and are not from our Academy are miles ahead.
Nelson and Willock haven’t started as many as the older players yet
Willock seems a bit lazy now, but Nelson worked hard to help the midfielder. Although Nelson still can’t get past his marker with ease yet
Regarding Maitland-Niles, I thought he was one of the best performers today. He played narrow to help Xhaka and Torreira, otherwise they would have gotten outnumbered
When we get something in a game, it’s because our opponents are poor. Strange logic. I think we should stop this ‘Arsenal is not good enough, and can never be good enough’ mindset. Credit where it’s due please.
Every team gets found out at some point or the other. So let’s cut Arsenal some slack. Chelsea just got done AT HOME. Imagine. And their game is supposed to be made for big teams.
Many of our fans have been used to throwimg eggs in the faces of our players too long. They never see anything good they do. Sometimes you have a feeling our boys are not Premiership material with the comments made about them.
If he can’t get past his marker, then he can’t be a winger. It is a requirement for success in the modern game. The excusses some people make for these bang average academy graduates are just amusing. Our youth setup is just poor, period!!
Look at how many spuds players from their youth set up have seamlessly made claims to first team spots. Look at Chelsea also..
Unfortunately our academy players are not good enough.
Chelsea bought so many young prospects over the years and put them out on loan, that some had to ultimately come good.
AMN hasn’t played in his position so come off it. Even in the midfield yes he played badly but he’d spent a year playing as a RB and was very low on confidence. Young players need coaching, emery never gave that to anyone in the team. Sterling couldn’t finish until he got to City and even then it took him a year or more to improve his finishing. Young players need time and a lack of expectation for them to thrive. Take them in, take them out, sakha hasn’t done anything remarkable. Martinelli is the only one who’s been that good. Nelson will be judged after this year with us as will willock and Sakha
@gotanidea
Perfect analysis in my opinion👌.
I hope Arteta can help N.Pep to improve his game else, he would be a waste of money.
One of the better game for this season.
Lacazette was such a huge letdown.
Very very poor performance from him.
Already Arteta has them closing players down on time, we gave away little space.
So many positives, Ozil,Torreira, Xhaka.
Still disturbing, Nelson, Lacazette and Willock.
Who I keep saying is no better than Guedouzi I swear.
Guendouzi is miles afar better than that boy.
At least Guendouzi picks accurate forward passes.
Look at the last chance he wasted.
The only thing I love the most is the fact that suddenly they close down the opponents on time.
That’s what I’ve always complained about under Freddie.
We hardly gave them the space today
There is a huge difference in class between Ozil and some of our other players. Today he did his job but our strikers let us down.
@ArsenalWhy
If our strikers came with their scoring boots, we’d have been 3goals up in the first half, all from chances created by Ozil.
He did his part, especially in the first half, but the strikers let us down.
The team looked more positive to me. I hope we can beat Chelsea in our next game. That’ll be a morale booster for the team.
One of our better performances of the season even if we were above average. Today’s match was like the Everton match.We just faced a team that has been in some bad form with a fluke win over Chelsea. Nelson was bad today but I still believe in him like I was with Soyuncu who spent most of last season with the U23’s and deemed not good enough. Ozil did well for most part today but he’s in and out too many times. Lacazette shouldn’t start the next match. He’s been wasteful recently and I believe we need a winger on that side instead of Auba. Torreira was the MOTM today. An above average performance against a struggling side but well done to Arteta because there were some improvements.
We need to be better in attack against Chelsea else we’ll lose.
I agree that Aubameyang should start upfront against Chelsea and Lacazette must be benched
Martinelli should start on the left wing if he is fit. Otherwise we can try Pepe there, as long as Pepe still can’t play well as an RW
Lacazette can’t seem to sort himself out at the moment. For a player who works so hard off the ball it’s quite sad. I don’t rate Auba’s contribution from the wing. He didn’t offer much up until that all important equaliser he scored. Chelsea’s style of play is best for teams which come to play. We need to improve in attack and decision making.
Kev Nelson is just so average, what do you call a winger who can’t beat a player even once in 90minutes.The truth is the boy is average at best. Tte defense seems to be clicking now, Sokratus and Luis had a good game, Xhaka played well, I love that overhead pass he gave to Ozil but Ozil couldn’t control it , Lacazette should not start the next match he’s been poor for a while now, auba did what auba knows how to do best and he also defended when needed, Torrera definitely man of the match and saka played well considering he was playing out of position.
If you think Nelson is average at best that’s your view. That’s not the truth. The fact that I’m a fan of his doesn’t mean I’m a lover of mediocrity. I watched him at Hoffenheim last season and even upon his flashes of quality I knew he want ready for this season but should’ve gone on loan again.I remember saying that we would regret not signing Caglar Soyuncu. He spent last season with their U23’s and was deemed not good enough by Leicester. Today many would agree he’s better than Maguire thus proving my point. I believe Nelson and Nketiah will be great players but I also know that they need games to develop well. If a player I believed was good turns out to be average I can admit it. In the end I care about Arsenal more than them. He was average today but I still believe he’ll be a great player
if we go by your reasoning, Lacazette shouldn’t start but Nelson should? just goes to show how biased you are! Nelson shouldn’t even be anywhere near a premier league side, talk less of being an Arsenal player….Utter Rubbish
I never said Nelson should start. Read my comments well. I’ve even stats in my other comments that Nelson shpuld go on loan. Please take me by my word instead of try to infer from my comment. Your comment about Nelson not even being good enough to play for an EPL side is really utter rubbish
Please just ship willock out..that guy is damn lazy and has eaten Emery’s lazy cake.. Everyone stepped up except willock.
He missed the winner my oppinion
Let’s wait and see how Willock plays under Arteta’s guidance first
He seems to have no speciality, but maybe Arteta could change him to be a DM
We need to give in that AMN, Nelson, Willock and Saka are mediocre players. I would sell them asap as they wont make it into any top 8 team!
We have used the wrong strategy on youth for years and sometimes you have to put your hands up and admit its gone wrong!
You must watch another game, Willock came in for 10 minutes, almost scored, was agressive. Can’t rate him today…
Who stepped up? Torreira, Xhaka, Ozil, Auba for scoring?
It is not about the team but as previous article brilantly pointed it.
We have players but wrong formation and in utilising players!
Formation starts from back which is our main issue, that Central defense area is Swiss cheese, to try to play Xhaka to fill holes is wrong idea as to play Torreira to both fill that CB hole.
Unless we play a 4-1 formation with Luiz sitting infront of these 2CBs, we will conceid right there and not able to play forward.
It showed again today, Xhaka and Torreira were so low on the pitch, focused to desperatly defend.
Luiz found himself higher and making those passes instead.
This confirms that he must be in that 4-1 formation to lock, strengthen that center defense, and play forward as he does so well.
All over sudden, midfield players are also play and can focus forward, assist and score!
Useless to have 3 attacking players if no one passes ball to them nor even to Ozil, torreira and Xhaka playing in our half and defend!
It’s a pitty, Emery finally had it right for last game, 4-1 formation with Luiz infront of back 4, CBs mainly.
Until he got injured, it was the best game we played. Focused attacking, Luiz pressing high and blocking, passing ball, playing forward. They couldn’t brieve, waves of attack, total control, possession and dictating game!
Because we were more secured in the back in 4-1, allowing midfield to play forward!
It is no excuses for Arteta, he should see and know that.
Obviously, Luiz showed where he must be played.
I don’t get that sokratis obsession when we have Mustafu and Mav available! Insane!
We need to start winning games really soon, I think that’s 9 draws already this season! Really annoyed we didn’t win that today.. that’s 2 games (Everton and Today) we really should have won but 2 points in 3 games and 1 goal scored is not good enough! I would happily sell Lacazette this January he’s becoming a terribly frustrating player! Onto Chelsea next.. probably another draw.
We need to be honest with ourselves. Our league position is looking bad. To make top four, we need to start winning games. To have a 10 game unbeaten run winning games week in week out.
For that to happen, we have to buy 3 players in January. Thomas Partey, Rakitic and Lewis Dunk.
This team has been over reliant on Aubameyang goals. our midfielders are not scoring goals.It was a big blunder letting go of Ramsey.
Let us not kid ourselves to think the teenagers we have can get us that top four
Loan out Guendouzi, Willock, Smith Rowe, Nelson.
Torrera gets muscled out by strong and tall players. His height is an issue.
We need Thomas Partey. Pay athletico Madrid the right amount. He is a beast. Play a 433.
A pool of 6 midfielders: Rakitic, Ozil, Ceballos, Partey,Xhaka and Torrera. Push for a loan or outright purchase for Rakitic. Bid 35m pounds for Lewis Dunk. We will get back to top 4 of we invest in January
LENO
BELLERIN LUIZ DUNK TIERNEY
PARTEY TORRERA. RAKITIC
PEPE AUBAMEYANG MARTINELLI
the kids won’t get us Champions League this season.
we need a marque signing this January.
So you think Tierney has not been muscled out in games? Torreira was our motm. His height isn’t a disadvantage, after all Kante isn’t taller
Remember this is a Pornmouth side that beat Chavs and ManU.
Much better imo and not forgetting that we have injuries that has had us to have players playing out of position.
Constant rain and wet pitch made it for a posible error game.
If Laca had had his shooting boots on we would have walked it.
Bad points ?…………….countless crosses from eiher flank with nearly nil precision!……………….but the good point is that we got into them positions o0n numerous occasions.
Nelson is not a winger, more an attacking mifielder, he lacks pace on the wing!
1st Half
Massive difference, right from the first minute. Tempo, and quick passing throughout, allowed plenty of space for our players. We dominated position, but it wasn’t our usual passing for passing sake. A lot of early forward passes when the option was there. Lots of movement off the ball, and we closed down the opposition immediately after losing possession. Ozil was outstanding! Constantly finding pockets of space, brilliant little flicks, and some penetrative passes for once. He was even running! I couldn’t believe it! Ramsdale, in the Bournemouth goal, didn’t have a lot do, despite us getting into a lot good attacking situations. Their defence were solid, and made some excellent blocks…along with some woeful crossing from us, and an awful half for Lacazette. He got into some dangerous positions, but his confidence, and touch seem to be gone. Despite the excellent half, and Arsenal did what they ALWAYS do, which is to gift the opposition a goal. Typical goal we’ve seen time, and time again over the last decade or more. Trying to play out from the back in a really dangerous position, and it cost us. A lot of positives though.
2nd Half
Not quite as intense as the first half, but unlike so many games where we can only turn up for one half, it was a fairly dominant second half as well. Most shots were again either blocked, or off target, until Aubameyang scored from a blocked Nelson effort. Wilson had one rightly ruled out for offside, off a great Leno save. Subs didn’t really have much of an impact, apart from an early little flourish from Pepe. Willock had a tame shot on goal, and Mustafi was as rash as ever. Fantastic defence splitting pass from Luiz for Lacazette, who’s shot was blocked.
Overall
An excellent performance overall, in a game we could have easily won if it were not for a very off form Lacazette, and some brilliant defending from Bournemouth. Arsenal players were doing the basics for once. Hard work, determination, commitment, it was great to see! Despite more dropped points, there were tons of positives for Arteta to take from the performance. That was our best league performance this season so far.
Player ratings:
Leno 6 – Should have just cleared it for their goal, instead of playing it short. Solid otherwise.
AMN 6 – A bit shaky defensively at times, but another decent performance.
Luiz 8 – MOTM His best performance so far us. Solid in defence, and some brilliant forward passes.
Sokratis 7 – Solid as well today. Subbed for Mustafi.
Saka 6 – Got into some great positions, and then crossed like Kolasinac.
Torreira 7 – Good partnership with Xhaka. Broke up the play well.
Xhaka 6 – A few dodgy moments, e.g. his standard blind pass early on which led to some danger. Decent otherwise.
Nelson 6 – Great to see him actually taking the opposition on for once. Crossing needs a big improvement though.
Ozil 8 – Brilliant 1st half, before fading later on. This was the Ozil his fan boys think they’re seeing every week. Best peformance of the season from him.
Aubameyang 7 – Great finish as always, and more involved than usual, given his LW position.
Lacazette 4 – Nothing went right for him today. Needs to get his confidence back.
Subs:
Mustafi 5 – His usual rash self.
Willock 5 – Didn’t offer a lot.
Pepe 5 – Some little flashes of brilliance, and that was it.
Arteta 9 – Brilliant from him! I was not expecting that. He’s taken over a team at rock bottom confidence wise, and made us look so efficient, calm, organised, in just one game. Very enjoyable to watch. He only misses out on a perfect score because I felt he should have taken lacazette off. Let’s not get carried away, it’s only one game, but I am optimistic.
Ozil and Luiz were good for most part but both don’t serve an 8 imo. Ozil drifted in and out of the game both in the first and second half. E was good not great.
David Luiz was easily beaten by their striker who took a weak shot at Leno. On another day we might have payed dearly.
If anyone deserves an 8 today it should be Torreira
Torreira will be my man of the match. His numerous interceptions coupled with quick play suits Arteta’s style well. He will be a dynamo in Arteta’s final 11 if he is to continue with his current form.
I relish a Torreira-Partey/Torreira-Indidi in our midfield
We definitely watched the same game!
I had wondered if I would ever see Arsenal inspire me again after the last few years. There are definite signs of better things to come
Nelson 6 and wilock 5 …hahaha…you must be having a laugh. One who could not go past single player, could not provide a good cross, poor link up play and didn’t know where the goal is ..at one point I thought he is playing as a LB for them. Other wilock who hardly touched the ball only one time he tried to run with the ball n was on the floor. Fans like you over hype these bang avg youngsters n them complain why we are struggling to compete on higher stage.
Much improved performance overall, especially by Torreira, Ozil and Xhaka. Our youngsters are not good enough for this level and it is pretty alarming that we haven’t being able to produce one quality player from the academy. If we had more quality in the team, we would have won that game.
Lacazette, Nelson and Saka cost us the win with their terrible decisions and final balls, i have seen enough signs that Arteta will be good for us BUT ONLY if better players are purchased. Imagine if Martinelli played Instead of Lacazette or Tierney instead of Saka. Pepe doesn’t fill me with confidence and there has to be a reason these managers are dropping him.
The intensity, movement and closing down of the opposition was much better and win or no win, i appreciate what Arteta is trying to do by changing the attitude of the players, it will yield results eventually when the quality of the squad improves.
That wasn’t Saka’s natural position. He’s not a defender but circumstance (injuries to our LB).
Martinelli must play against Chelsea if we want to win the game
After watching how Arteta organized his players today, I’m confident we would beat Chelsea
I am with you on this. It’s a worry that our academy hasn’t been able to produce one quality player in a long while.
When is the last time we could be frustrated we didn’t win? I feel we should have won this game. Thought Xhaka was good and Laca poor.
What can we say about Xhaka? About the best on the pitch for us.
Not happy that Pepe did not start.
Am I sure that Martinelli wouldn’t have done better than Lacca?
Saka did well in such a strange position he played, but God, not for a match against big teams.
Xhaka surely was brilliant but there are a lot of Xhaka haters who won’t accept it.. Saka didn’t play bad but did you see the superb long pass from Xhaka which Saka couldn’t control? that happened too often
Really, did you not see him lose the ball to give them their first shot at goal and he lost or have the ball away at least 5 times in our own half. I got frustrated the amount of times he passed it back or side. While he is in our midfield we will always struggle. He must be sold for us to improve our mistakes and strength in the middle.
Xhaka showed a great tactical understanding by changing his position between left DM and left CB when required
Maitland-Niles did it to, between right DM and RB
Arteta has successfully stolen one of Guardiola’s tactics
Brilliant performance, definitely a sign of improvement, still a little bit rusty, buh it’s a gradual process, could have been better, the biggest of improvement is everyone fighting for the badge, with M.A in the Dougout there is sign of fast polishing of our Armoury.
It looks like a match that was played for over 5hrs, there was so much that was done in every minute played.up next Chealshit,COYG
Arsenal went from having Monreal, Ramsey and Walcott to Saka, Willock and Nelson, abysmal passing in the final third with no quality service for Aubameyang and lacazette, the standards have fallen so low, that we actually think that Saka Nelson and Willock are good enough to play for arsenal, they wouldnt even be making the bench in Wengers past teams and Probably only playing in the carabao cup
Agree. Its pretty poor really for a so called once top club.
I really do hope people in here don’t slate the team after just one match under Arteta. All the negativity needs to stop atleast now, with fresh, clean slate and all that.
torreira is the MOTM of the most because of his defensive game but he wasted A LOT OF chances in the offense.. was I the only one who was getting annoyed by it? some heavy touches missplaced passes shots and he kept the ball for too long when he came late.. those were the moments Ramsey for example was brilliant.. the moments he came late, torreire has to be better in that aspect or keep it simple an pass the ball to someone better positioned
The no 10 and the wingers should try that next time
Let Torreira be the interceptor and the tackler in the middle, because he is the best for that
If we are lowering our standards, then it was a good draw. If we are truthful we are way below the standards that are to be accepted at arsenal. I never got excited today at all, it was all pretty low fare on offer, if we are truthful. I think this season is drifting into nowhere pretty fast.
Sums it up pretty well I’d say! Expectations are now so lowered as to be near reality now for most fans, which we should be grateful for; reality itself, I mean , not the poor standard. But it was a notable improvement in workrate from most. Even from Ozil. But the condfidence is still not there, overall. Laca and Willock both poor. Nelson seems to have not kicked on from 18 months ago when he showed much promise but has levelled off into nothing special. Right now we do not have even one proven top quality either midfield or defender. In fact, of our fit defenders, we have only clowns and out of position players there. Scandalous for a club of our size. About all I can say with any enthusiasm is that I am almost sure we will not be relegated now that Arteta is in charge. Two weeks ago, I could not have honestly said the same.
The worry for me jon, i was looking forward to blood and thunder and a real purpose. I really got disappointed by the standards we are supplying, it is really worrying. Its Arsenal we wont get relegated but we are playing relegation football.
I can’t wait to see what he does with ceballos and martinelli. Arteta was class today
Ronche,
I can’t wait to see what MA does when he has a two fully fit. proper full backs in Bellerin and Tierney – a CD with the class of Salibas partnered alongside Holding or Chambers, a forward line that can actually score from the chances created for it, but only managed one goal…and more than a week to put his ideas into practice.
Your so right – Arteta was class and didn’t our players respond, at last, to a coach/manager who knew what he was doing with the players he could select?
Showing the players his appreciation and backing his own judgement above that of, it was alleged, the power of certain areas of the fan base. A great start!!!
Yet again, a mention to our away fans – brilliant support lads…the twelfth man indeed.
Always well said, Ken1945
Bellerin a proper full back Ken? I’ve heard the lot now! Don’t make me laugh; that man cannot defend for his life. Other than that, which jarred a lot, your post was a good one.
I’m not convinced by torreira, he plays a high risk style in a position where he needs to be solid.we created more today which is good. Defence needs a serious overhaul.
I thought Torreira was the best player on the pitch today by quite a long way.
yeah and the problem is his high risk style is useless because his offensive game isn’t good enough yet but I think he will get better in the offensive game too
Get used to see Torreira a lot
I think Arteta would keep him as a starter if he keeps fighting like that
Nelson and Saka did well unfortunately their final delivery/crosses into the box let them down also it was evident that they struggled in the latter stages with the pace and intensity demanded from Mikel. Torreira I believe will grow stronger but in general a good start under Arteta lots of positives
Nelson was poor and Pepe did more in the 9 mins than Nelson all game.
Thank you !!
We would have won by large margin if Pepe started
Reggie you need to look at the game in context we have a new coach with new ideas the players are still trying to adapt to his system do you want us to play vintage soccer under the circumstances away from home please get a reality check
Mike,Please please stop making excuses for these players. This is the worst Arsenal team for 30 years. It was poor today and we really look awful, compared to what is needed.
Stop living in the past we need to look forward and recognize where we currently find ourselves as a club. This is a building phase with a new coach with new ideas give it time
Im definitely living in the present and people are letting their expected standards drop.
I only saw the second half, and i liked what i saw…hungry, Desiré, aggression…we need to start to win soon, yo keep that mentality, and to the players trust arteta
I have always said that Arteta is a cloned Captain Black and my wife who does not know of this remarked ………………….” who is that guy on the sidelines who looks like Captain Black ?”……………I suppose wearing all black made it more obvious! hahahahaha………………………come on! admit he looks like him!
😆
I`ll take it that a lot on here do not know who Captain Black of the Mysterons is !
Google it!
😆
I did and you are right lol
Matty Longstaff is at it again 👍😜
Good to notice that nobody spoke about us being candidates for relegation today.
Well I was tempted 😂 (just kidding!)
We are nearer the bottom three than the top four.
Yikes 😳
Yikes indeed Sue, chelsea and utd next, so no worries.
If we loaned all the players out that posters on here are suggesting, we wouldn’t have a team!
We are 11th on table, 6 points from relegation.
Chelsea & Man U home, at Palace on january 11th.
Without formation change to 4-1 with Luiz infront of defense, CBs mainly; we will lose or miracle draw.
Therefore; we can find ourselves in 18th spot with two draw and lost.
The way teams middle table and bottom fight, organised, as opposed to us; we will indeed be fighting to stay in EPL.
We do already, 6 points, 2 games away!
What a fall off from Wenger! Can see it fully now, got lucky last year!
Wenger started the Rot for crying out loud, he is responsible for this mediocrity we find ourselves in.
Sigh, I think am done for the season guys. This team is just hopeless. Peace. ✌
Oh QD 🙁
True Sue, I’ve found these last couple of games painfully boring and I feel this season is already a write off now.
Tbh I’d written it off ages ago.
Nelson needs to be moved on honestly. I know people will says its too early and he may need a loan, but he’s way below the level of even our other academy players. He produces nothing, shows nothing, has zero confidence. I dont know what you’re supposed to do with that. I figure he gets starts because he must impress in training, but when it comes to actual performances, they are terrible. Anyways, onto positives, I thought our midfield actually did quite well. Ozil had a good first half, Torreira with lots of recovery and decent distribution, Xhaka did well a bit deeper, spread some good passes, and was in good positions to stop the usual gap we have between midfield and defense. If it werent for poor decision making in the final third i think we could’ve gotten a win out of this. Not bad for Arteta’s first outing.
Arsenal fans can be a fickle lot sometimes.in my opinion martinelli,saka,guendouzi and Smith Rowe are our youngsters. Nelson is over hyped, willock I say every day doesn’t even know his best position. At least with AMN you know there is a little talent. What I dont get is we have been replacing our former players with worse players, cut I don’t think this lot are better than song, coquelin ,gabriel, miki,monreal, Carzola ,iwobi,giroud and Walcott .
Please what do our scouts get paid for. apart for martinelli there has been no good signing in the last 2 years except you include torreira. We could have gotten sidibe on loan, signed an agile defender less than 30 million, ndidi cost less than 7 million from genk,we could have gotten Thomas partey cheaper when rodri was still at athletico Madrid. Look at kubo, odeergaard these are players we could have signed.i feel more confident after today’s match that arteta may be good for our team.
Ozïl man of the match, there, I’ve said it.
You are easily pleased. He was ok first half and treading water second half.
when are we going to win?
2021? 😀
Pretty simple assessment of today’s, without stating the obvious that the Greek pylon isn’t good enough to be starting…Nelson was horrible again, I’m not sure what Pepe has done off the pitch, but it must have been nearly unforgivable if it resulted in this useless player starting for our team…Laca is a mess right now, he looks vastly out of shape and his finishing/service in the final third is absolutely atrocious…this is likely the reason he has become an afterthought in the French national squad…Willock is wasteful and selfish out there each and every game…he’s still living off the props he received for his glorious, and obviously lucky, goal against Liverpool in the Carling…as for Saka, he just needs to play with a bit more confidence in both ends of the pitch…good luck to you Arteta, I wish nothing but the best
The team overall performance was good, mf and defence performed well, I just imagined what would have happened had it been KT or even Kola were d one dat played with all those golden opportunity wasted.
Lacca is low on confidence am must start against Chelsea, because he is a big match player and to help his confidence.
My MOTM was Xhaka
M A made two tactical errors should have brought Pepe on earlier for Nelson and Ozil should have stayed on longer Willock was very poor and I thought they would have ground out a win
Gunner SA, thank God , you’re not a coach. So you can’t see that Ozil was tired before being substituted.
So to you, MA made a tactical error, hmm, you are somehow naive
The truth is that if by late January we are starting with naitland miles luiz xhaka Nelson willock and both auba and laca we will languish in mid table at best … there were some positives in the first half even going a goal down but in second half the pace slowed down and xhaka and Luiz were back to their worst ponderous and lateral selves and while we were lucky to get the scrappy goal Pepe’s 10 minute cameo at end brought in some new life … but arteta is going to have to make him aware of other players … draw was fair Ozil and torreira were excellent in first half along with leno … it’s going to be a hard slog
It is simple. We should just take a trip to Spain to buy both Thomas Partey and Rakitic. Then take another trip to Brighton. And get Lewis Dunk. Send Guendouzi, Willock,Nelson, Smith Rowe out on loan. All these should be done in January. Our league position is worrying. Man United and Spurs won today. Man City, Liverpool and most likely Leicester will make top four. The final spot is between Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United. These are desperate times. Invest like 100m pounds this January and get those 3 players. And we can get a chance of making you 4.
LENO
BELLERIN LUIZ DUNK. TIERNEY
PARTEY TORRERA RAKITIC
PEPE AUBAMEYANG MARTINELLI.
as for pepe, he is low on Confidence at the moment. The best for now is to play him in a Centre Forward role where his trickey and composure on the ball will be useful. Dribble once and pass quickly Pepe. Stop trying to be a hero. We need to take more shots from midfield. Our fullbacks should improve on the quality of their crosses. Shoot at sight. If we make top four, we have a chance of keeping Aubameyang and lacazette. More revenue from playing Champions League football. It makes sense to invest 100m pounds on those 3 players in January. That will lift the mood at the emirates. Top managers need top players to achieve success. We are in a very bad shape. A good investment is needed in January to sort out this mess.
Why would you want luiz anywhere near our defence hes dreadful Chelsea laughing at us for signing him Lampard knew straight away how bad he was hence why he sold him!!
I bit of realism is required. Bournemouth scored a lucky goal, we were much improved, the defence and midfield played so much better. We were let down by our wingers crosses and strikers lack of accuracy. There were major signs of improvement in our energy, passing and work off the ball.
Torriera and Xhaka played well together, Luiz had a very good game and Ozil was unrecognisable, man of the match. Peace, out.
The only bit of realism is, you are kidding yourself and lowering your standards. Im sorry but this last 4+ years are not what i expect and today was just another average underwhelming performance and if you are satisfied or thinking that today was ok, im not with you. We are drifting towards anonymity and its not what i want. I didn’t get excited at all today and i used to. Thats not realism you are writing its lowering your standards.
I didn’t either, Reggie.. but then I didn’t smash the remote or have a complete meltdown either, so surely that has to be a good thing?!
Sue, im at the point where im finding myaelf watching us and just thinking this is not exciting. I hope Arteta can change that but im not sure what we should expect. I honestly think our days at the top table are over for a good few years at least. We look so average and not exciting. I blame so many of the players for that.
Yes, I do too, Reggie. Be crazy to think otherwise!
I get where you’re coming from – but just think, the transfer window is upon us, we have a new manager with fresh ideas… keep the faith, my friend, things will improve!
please can anybody tell me what crime did Torriera commit against Unai Emery that made him to be playing Guenduozi and put this brilliant player on the bench. what a massive change Arteta has brought to this team even our worst player Xhaka played well today. However am still concerned about too many back and side way passes instead of going forward
Emery also could not play Martinelli in the league even when he was scoring goals. Emery messed us up big time
Baby steps but good ones. Lack of a final product is to be expected given the run of form we are in. Work off the ball was noticeably better. Suspect the same formation on Sunday for Arteta’s homecoming but Aubamayang up front, Pepe and Martinelli on the wings and Chambers in for Socrates.
I echo your sentiments Trudeau.Lacazette is in need of games to regain sharpness and confidence but difficult to justify starting him on Sunday especially if Martinelli is available.