We are around an hour away until tonight’s huge semi-final clash between Arsenal and Villarreal at the Emirates, with a place in the Europa League final at stake.
The Gunners might be a little confident after the way they finished off the first-leg last week, earning an away goal as well as looking extremely dangerous in attack.
Our win at the weekend can’t have hurt the morale of our side either, leading from the sixth minute of play until the final whistle against Newcastle.
The manager kept lips tightly sealed ahead of tonight’s selection, refusing to rule out or talk up whether key players like Kieran Tierney, David Luiz or Alexandre Lacazette were in line to feature, which led us to predict this line-up earlier on today:
Leno
Chambers Holding Gabriel Tierney
Partey Xhaka
Saka Odegaard Smith Rowe
Aubameyang
As you can see, Mikel Arteta had slightly different ideas.
📋 Here's our team to face Villarreal!
🇬🇦 @Auba starts up front
🇪🇸 @HectorBellerin gets the nod
🏴 @KieranTierney1 makes the bench#️⃣ #UEL
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 6, 2021
Edit. Xhaka pulled up in the warm-up and has been replaced by Tierney
This line-up hasn’t clouded the confidence I have had throughout the day that Arsenal WILL get the job done, although it would obviously have been a huge boost if Tierney had been ready to start.
It looks to me as if Saka has returned to left back, with Xhaka taking up his usual role in midfield, but time will tell.
What are your predictions after seeing the team?
Patrick
If we were Villarreal our fans would be screwing about how little we created and how the opposition hit the post twice threatened more than that etc. This is my point
Arteta out ffs! This is not Arsenal! This is sh*t! No European football and mid table mediocrity is all he brings!
Shandy instead of beer. Worse than Hackney Marshes. Arteta out!!!!!
I played better football over hackney marshes for Senrab!;)
Poor team/system, bad decisions, chase ball with no real way of playing..
An average Villarreal deserve to be in the final.
The decline continues..
This is awful
We cant even score at home… again
Lower your expectations,you will live longer
Playing Tierney was a horrific decision honestlt. You could see from minute 1 he’s not fit enough. Cedric???
No coincidence the moment Martinelli came on we look better
Clueless manager
Beaten by the guy you replaced Emery was trying not to smile to much at the end.
No European football fpr 1st time in 25 years what now??
This side and club has been not rifht mentally for years.
Ps big mistake leaving Partey who’s struggled all season with injuries on his own virtually in mf.
Even at athletico he didn’t play all the time he was best when his game time was managed.
My wish for the off season is an Ekk takeover a new manager and some heavy investment starting with a ready made ozil replacement.
Masterclass of team management from Emery he’s watched us recently snd realised we aren’t scoring so just sat back and rode the punches.
If we couldn’t score 1 goal at home tonight then we don’t deserve to go through.
Bye bye arsenal please go mikel and half of this team we or so crap at this rate we be in the championship in 2 years time
God almighty, how did Eddie N.sneak onto the field.. Desperate moments indeed.
Sham of a manager. Why even keep him past this game. What I would give to have ownership that actually cares about the club! Chelsea very lucky .
FFS
I just don’t understand why they leave it so late to give it a proper go. Ridiculous! and then it’s too late.
I’m gutted and disappointed to the core. Not a great night for Arteta
A big, big rethink is required by the club
I have an air of resignation about Arsenal and Arteta. So sad
I hate to say it but i told you so!
I’d like to think I would be more gracious to you, Siamois
worst season in a lon lon time … lets see if owner cares about the club and brings in a proper manager or if hes happy with mid table blah
So Emery beats Arteta with a weaker team? What’s the excuse now?
Ask Jon Fox
Peps water boy as Arsenal manager. Ridiculous.
Rubbish from both players & arteta
The question is just how low we can go now with the Kroenke’s.
When Arteta goes they will hire another manager that is not at the right level. How many REAL talents have we passed over so far? I dont think anyone is really available now….. And we dont even have Europe to attract them.
This is what happens when you play for 1-0, Looked like Arteta was on the same wavelength as some of the fans here who were calling for us to just nick one goal and not go all out for a win.
It is over. we can sack him now. there is no debate about that. Arteta is not serious. why take off Aubameyang? ARTETA OUT. ARTETA OUT
Exactly, take the best striker off when he just hit the post from a difficult position… Bellerin was putting in the crosses then nketiah….am done with that clown of a coach
One attempt on goal. One.
Sad isn’t it?
7 to the opposition really
It’s easy to draw against arsenal. No surprise. MA selection were questionable, but all in all, maybe it’s time for proper rebuilding without any European cup to get involved with
This is as bad as the club cam can get. An all new low! Don’t deserve to win based on 180 minutes of lacklustre amateur football! ArtetaOut!
Pepe, party, bellerin, aubameyang, leno, Willian, and properly most of the others but if you support arteta you obviously dont support arsenal so please dont talk crap
Arteta out, but not Maurizio Sarri. Kroenke out. Half the team out. Sewer football.
Sad to be a fan, but happy for Emery he deserves this.
Arteta will be sacked before Sunday
I fully expect Arsenal to announce Artetas departure tomorrow morning!
really? i dont. there’s a chance he even stays past this season.
No GunneRay. It has to be this night.Tomorrow morning is too far for that announcement. the experiment is over. This manager is so clueless. Rubbish selection in the first leg. keeping his strikers on the bench. playing Xhaka at left back. Playing Xhaka in mid week when he could have been rested. i am very angry right now
I think Arteta has to go now. That was pathetic. Again wrong team selection. We needed our strongest team starting. He is clueless. Why wasn’t Cedric playing?
Sweet revenge by Emery on Arsenal
But Man Utd will tear Villarreal apart in final
All i want to heard is the sack news of our rookie manager ,
If y’all know the pain I’m feeling right now,non of y’all will ever support arsenal ever again.
In the viewing centre,I was asking my self the wrong I ever did supporting arsenal,what did I ever do to arsenal to deserve all this cries and heartache every minute of every passing day,can someone please tell me what the heck I did wrong supporting arsenal football club please??
Hmmmm
Bro.a club that gets a person bcoz is an assitant of a great manager is never serious,they wud have gone for the a person who at the same level with that manager but not this motivational speaker
Arteta OUT! Watching this team play is a waste of time
Arteta is a great guy but not ready for a club like Arsenal. Needed to cut his teeth at Bristol City or something for 3 or 4 years before taking over at Arsenal. Kroenke ust took him because he was cheap and available.
Ok so this is the progress pro Arteta fans were talking about, what a progress! 9th in league and no Europe next year. Nothing to play for. Now you guys can make a trophy of defence and keep it. I hope with Arteta wil go and take his fan base with him. Where the greatness Arteta was suppose to achieve that a person named Jon Fox was beating his chest out for. I hope that puts the discussion to bed that 50-60 years of watching football does not make you a person who understands the game better and everything about football.
Tactically inept manager. Hopefully as we’ll have nothing this year and no Europe next year the Kroenke’s might sell up!
Gutted!!!!
Nothing wrong with the Manager. I say he should stay on. He inherited that useless team. That team was not good enough. We have to rebuild on this no use sacking the manager. Was it not the same Emery that could do nothing with this team? And Everyone blamed him. It just goes to show we need a total revamp. Stop blaming the manager for players inadequacy. That’s it the season is done. The Manager knows how to fix this. A new manager would mean another season with nothing and than try and rebuild again. This is what some fans are not getting.
Hope Arteta goes and takes fans like you with him, who have no ambition and desire to achieve anything. No football fan of any top club would even dare to take side of a failed manager like Arteta but you my friend have come up with tumphs. Being a loyal supporter is one thing but being blind and stupid is next level.
Dboy pls respect our emotions…. the anger and pain we gunners are facing worldwide is massive..
I will take ur comment as ur own way of dealing with the pain..
Arteta is plain useless…..He has to leave this night…He should Resign and keep some respect for himself….. Such a disgraceful full season performance…… .period!!!!!
Arsenal can now sell Partey, Saka, ESR and Gabi in the pretex of lack of European football.
Even if Arteta is not sacked which will most likely be the case he has lost any form of moral authority! He is just a shell: poor tactics, poor team selection, slow to react etc. It was all shambolic! The better thing would be to save the young man from his misery and relieve him of his duties. He has no clue any more.
Wow, and it has happened. The good thing is that tonight’s game devalues the club even the more. They have to sell to Ek now. The club will never rise with the krooks. Mikel should leave tonightas well. Common let’s mount the ppressure now for the to sell. THEY MUST GO.
Look on the BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE (whistling), Arsenal kept a 2nd consecutive clean sheet. The are getting somewhere slowly but surely. The look on Emery’s face at full time said a million words. Was not a good EBENING for Arsenal. You win some, you lose some. Oh well, it’s back to the drawing board. Alot of work to be done for the 2021/22 season
They hired an inexperienced manager to intentionally make us mid-table team so that we will crave to be in the champions league but on the other hand they don’t want investments. Their plan is to introduce the super league so we will be happy to get back to elite level through the back door. Sorry.
#Everybodyout
It’s all very well blaming Arteta and I admit he doesn’t seem up to the job at the moment but where was the intensity from the players, where was the leadership on the pitch. I remember being at Highbury for the Fairs Cup Final 2nd leg and we were 3-1 down and players like McLintock, Storey, Radford would have run through brick walls for the team, could you say that about any player tonight.Auba as captain is a complete joke. We should have been all over them in the first half but almost treated it like a training session.