Well I don’t think any Arsenal fans will be complaining about Unai Emery’s first ever game in charge of our club as the Gunners ran out 8-0 winners in the friendly at Boreham Wood.
Our superfit players went on the pitch with intent and Aubameyang fired us into a 3-0 lead after just 16 minutes and 7 seconds, and we were 5-0 up through added goals by Reiss Nelson and Lacazette.
Emery put on a completely different XI for the second half with Perez and Nketiah leading the attack, and within 8 minutes the promising starlet made it six and with 20 minutes to go it was Jeff that hit the seventh.
Five minutes later Reine-Adelaide made way for a cameo performance from our newest arrival Matteo Guendouzi and there was just enough time to see a great backheel assist from Nketiah which found Mkhitaryan who slotted it home and made a big fat eight!
It was a good omen that it was Aubameyang signalled his intent to impress with his early hat-trick, and especially his brilliant opener, but after the game he was preferred to praise the manager and the team-work. Hesaid: ‘I’m really happy. It was important to work with the team. We had some great work in the first half. I’m really happy everybody played well so that’s good.
‘That’s the plan – everybody tries to do good pressing. The coach has done really well during this first two weeks, we are working really hard and trying to improve every day.”
Arsenal can still only improve and we can only look forward to similar fast starts when we hit the pre-season games in Sigapore next week….
Onwards and Upwards!
COYG!!!
Sokratis out
no give him time!!!!!!!!!
Was he that bad ? I didn’t watch the game.
SOKRATIS ruined my weekend
SOKRATIS will ruin our season
SOKRATIS is a …….
Get out— Seriously after ONE pre-season game? I’ve been watching Dortmund for years–Sokratis is a solid defender. I’m baffled that you think every player is going to have a perfect, mistake free game every time.
Sokratis is a walking redcard and walking penalty…so rash and uncalculated…cant stay on his feet to save his life…slower than mertesacker…and even short
Hahaha no way. Man, I hope it was a one off.
Epl golden boot winner for the coming season #Aubameyang
if it were a year or two years ago, we would’ve only won by 2 goals or even concede??… I know we play an inferior team but Auba’s positioning is what I missed so much in our attack, he’s gon be lit this season..
Please tell Emery in league matches if we score three goals they shouldn’t defend and relax like we used to do for the past 20 seasons???..
Let’s get goals n goals please, let his players keep scoring like they did today
Viva Emery Viva!
I didn’t watch the match.
what kind of formation did he use??
emery used a 4-3-3 today.
we might use 4-3-3 this season
Leno
bellerin … Sokratis…Mustafi …Monreal
ramsey(c)… torreira…..mkhitaryan
ozil….lacazette….aubameyang
also interesting that chambers played in midfield today.
I want auba as striker
It was 4-3-3 on first half and 3-5-2 in second half.
Auba was brilliant coming from wide left, just like TH14.
………………Lacazette
Aubameyung………..M.Ozil
……Ramsey……….Xhaka
…………….. Torreira
Monreal………………Lichtsteiner
…..Mavropanos.Chambers
……………..Nketiah
Mkhitaryan..Lucas….Nelson
…….Elneny……Guendouzi
Kolansinac………….Bellerin
…………Holding.Mustafi
Sell
SOKRATIS – TODAY
Auba was one of the 3 strikers…
Or do you mean you want him as a CF?
Auba has fantastic timing on his runs, he can pass the ball but he has such a talent for knowing where to be and using his athleticism to get in the right place for the right time that it would be a shame to use him as a holdup CF to bring inside forwards into play.
Instead I do believe that Laca is more fit for the CF role, he can bring others into play and he is a big enough threat that he will get marked and that marking can create space for players to exploit if they have the intelligence to do so… Which Auba knows how to do so.
Laca and Auba almost feel like they was made to complement each other upfront.
I do not like the CB partnership you put, both CBs would be diving into tackles and we could end up with both CBs being carded early in the game. Mustafi is right footed and he plays on the right side of the CBs, even against BW he was playing on the right side of CB with Holding on as the left CB.
Ozil isn’t a true winger and we could force him to compete with Mkhi in the CM, this would mean we could do with a right inside forward… Emery has said that we could get one more player if the opportunity comes around for quality, I’m thinking a right inside forward.
The formation though, I can’t argue 😛
The formation also lends itself to play like a 4231 at times as well, Mkhi could push forward while we have the ball and almost act like the ACM while we have possession. Without the ball then all the CMs drop and create the 3 man CM.
Lastly, I thought Rambo looked a bit more disciplined when I watched him against BW, wasn’t bombing forward every chance he got and I thought that was worthy of praise ^.^ Def a step in the right direction for me.
Who was i telling…that i pray Adelaide picks up…he looked very sharp in training…am happy he scored.
The Sokratis I watched is a walking time bomb…he cant anticipate and quel danger…doesnt stay on his feet…alway lounging into tackles to compesate lack of pace…that in the epl is suicide.
Hes better got something better up his sleeves…i watched him in training..i noticed he was slow…lets hope he can shed some weight tho
When Leicester won the league, remember their defenders Morgan and Huth? Did you think they needed to lose weight? Remember how they tackled? So maybe the EPL should improve the quality of Ref’s before we start asking defenders to lose weight and stop tackling. Give Sokratis a chance.
i only watched the first half, but there seems to be motivation in the players, which augurs well for tougher matches. well done boys and emery. gooner = forever
Yes motivation and slick,fast ,forward football
Positives for me -auba is just class and must be one of the most unselfish forwards I have ever seen ,plays with a smile .
The young lad smith Rowe ,great turn of foot and skills
AMN ,again he impressed me ,seems to have it all
Negatives -ballerina ,just doesn’t seem like he’s kicked on over these last couple of years
Ramsey ,looked uninterested in the second half ,always seems to slow the game down
The new Greek guy ,looks like another mustafi
I know it’s only one game but that 1st half really impreesed me ,I would still like to see us sign a world class player to make a statement .
Yeah.. About Auba being unselfish – he was walking away from the penalty if you noticed, but Laca called out to him and signaled he should take it.
I’m enjoying the bromance and understanding between those two.
Laca and Auba…
What a dream partnership huh?
I do think we could do with a right inside forward to make it harder for the opposition.
Also to offer a goal threat from the right hand side, we have Auba who can cut in from the left and bang in the goals, he is already doing that for us 😀
I know we wont get Dybala but hey… I said the same thing about Laca and Auba, thinking we wouldn’t get such quality. I know it is as likely as me winning the lottery but I do hope for a goal threat from the right like Dybala.
Guys please where is Gideon Zelalem…?
Great match today…more like a training though…the only postive thing in the match is high scoring…nd conceding no goals…WENGER team would surely have won buh notwith that high margin nd of course..he will surely conceded a goal or two…still room for improvment…socratis shows glimpse of a no nonsense defender and also a trait of a leader…matteo am just so sure the guy is a raw talent…Nnketia great guy goal poacher….Mavripanos solid…great team work….more of the same please
Ooh i luv it luv it am a man in luv
Aubameyang has three goals every five minutes under Unai Emery. If he continues to score like this, he’ll have 684 goals this season just in the league.
You must be smoking something serious that unai himself
???
The good: Auba, AMN, Jeff, Nelson, Rowe, Mavropanos, Kolasinac, Lacazettte,Nketiah
The bad: Sokratis, Ramsey, Bellerin,
Sokratis really scared me to be honest, he looked like Mustafi on a bad day. Extremely slow and error prone. I do hope it was a one off.
From some of the comments we don’t seem to have an answer to our CB problems.
Maybe Sokratis needs time to adapt.
We can’t judge by one match but I don’t see CBs who compare to Alderwierld, Vertonghen, Stones, Lovren, Azpilicueta, Stones, Klaven, Otamendi.
Defense was a big problem last season. Wish we had sold Mustafi and Chambers and bought a solid PL experienced centre back
Maybe Koscielny and Mustafi will be more effective with Torreira ahead of them and maybe any lack in defense will be offset by Aubameyang and Lacazette goals.
Defense worries me.
Im happy with attack
Otamendi , Lovren, Klavan and stones are quite average.
Sokratis the guy off the street is way way way way way below average
sokratis is an avatar templete of mustafi.
mustafi 2.0. i cant jst imagine how epl attackers will flood our defence if emery pair d two 2geda. it will b like tsunami disaster.
lucas T is d only perfect signing emery as acquired. the rest are just bunch of craps
Typical arsenal fans….
HAHAHAHAHA you are either a troll or a very cynical person.
And i’m very sure u never knew Lucas T or ever seen him play 12months before Arsenal signed him
overall, a good result. but lets not get carried away here folks, unlike some english fans, on here, i could mention. feet firmly on the ground chaps please. remember who we were playing today .lets not do to the arsenal what most fans of england did to their team .
I have already made my comments on Sokratis long before he came, but it is just his first match and if Emery is like what I think there will be a lot of defensive drills next week in training.
I hope Emery continues to work them hard to get the best out of them.
OT. The Ramsay situation needs to be sorted before this month ends or it will become a sore point for us especially with the British Media who is of more harm than good to The arsenal. Give him an ultimatum and if not sell or loan out, but we cannot allow these positive feelings to be damage by the negativity which will come from the media on Ramsay contract situation
Auba guarantees us a goal per match
Yes but how many goals per match will our defense guarantee our opposition
Aubameyang is awesome. No doubt. Arguably the best striker in the premier league. Lacazette is good too. Wengers parting gift to us lol. But the other end of the field is important too.
A leaky defense is not going to help
I missed this game as I could not get the club stream to work, so am interested in comments our fans who saw it have made. A bit worying to hear that Sokratis did not impress some and seems slow. I could not stand another snail like MERTS. All successful Prem teams need pace , ALL OVER the pitch. It is dangerous to get carried away with a big win against rank poor opposition BUT you can only beat those you are playing against on the day.
Sokratis was bad. He jumped into tackles and lost like Mustafi, He was easily passed by in one on ones due to his lack of speed. He did not have a good game at all. He really reminded me of Mustafi on a bad day. Not very convincing at all. I do hope it’s a one off and he brings some steel in to our defense. Mavros looked better than him to be honest and Chambers played in midfield so couldn’t really tell.
In midfield AMN and Smith-Rowe were the best players by far. Ramsey also had a very quiet game.
Nelson was good, Laca was good, Jeff was good, Auba was exceptional.
At this moment so early on, the only issue we have seems to be the defense still, but we do have time to fix it in training and in the transfer market. We could also use another winger tbh.
So if Emery’s one or two opportunities in the transfer market are a solid Defender and a fast winger I think we are done.
Thanks for the detailed update. It is helpful.
Soyuncu shuld have been prioritized over Sokratis
I will not get exited untill we down a big team or two that convincingly untill then it was just a friendly game against a poor side who was hopeless and week in every department but the pitch was exceptional
Am worried that our defensive problems are not over from what I have heard of Socratis…If he struggled against Boreham imagine what will happen when he faces the likes of Aguero and Salah…I hope Unai realizes this and acts on the transfer market as it is still early
There is still time and we have several players to sell to get funds (ie Jenkinson, Campbell, Akpom, Chambers, Asano) Also it may not be a bad idea to sell one of our 1st team like Mustafi or Ramsey (if he doesn’t sign contract) to fund a strong, reliable centre back.
We just signed Chambers to a 4 year contract he is going nowhere. But i think you can add Welbeck to your list. And if we are going to go for a new centre back then selling Mustafi is also a possibility.
A Mustafi +15M for Rugani of Juve would be a good deal. And we need another pacey winger.
Rugani, koulibali or Yerry mina..
Cheaper dan these above…. Soyuncu
I can only praise Emery and the boys today, yes Sokratis was shocking at times, but this happens to be his first match in England even though it was against a lower side. Emery is a very demanding manager, he is not Arsene Wenger, almost everyone one will improve under Emery, and they’ll be serious as well. From what I saw today, with the inclusion of Torreira, Ozil , Monreal and Xhaka will only add more positives to the side. Ramsey will sure come good, we know what he can do in his day, Mikhy is one hell of a handful player, he will be like a new signing this season, trust me on that. Our defense may not be perfect, but the greatest clubs in the world don’t have the best defense. Emery Emery Emery. Believe in the man.
how many players improved under emery @ psg?
Maybe the Greek connection will turn out to be our solid impenetrable defensive barrier .
Sokratis and Mavrapanos
Sokretis will ruin mavropanos career if he tearches him how not to defend!
Jonny evens looks like god to me now
Honestly if Emery doesn’t call an emergency meeting to complain about the weird guy mislintat dragged in from Dortmund’s bench and ask questions we are in trouble!
Worst debut iv seen
30 yr olds usually no how to play football already
Sokratis could end up being the single worst signing in Arsenal history
I’m praying ? right now and every day till we sort out this huge mistake
Comments;
New gaffer understands the importance of CDM. Chambers trying it is interesting, other then Torriera who else can step in? His versatile could be interesting this season.
Auba being able to play wide is so important. How many wide players in the league faster then him and can score or provide for Laca to score. And this is Plan B.
How Ozil, Mkhit and Ramsay sow it all together will be key. Expect that to take a month and for AFC to start bitty but that’s a good thing. Allows focus on our basics to get right.
The defense was poor again with Sokratis at the forefront,we would have conceded in the first half if not for Cech,the defense looked better in the second half though…
Auba was superb from the left,swift on the counter and his link up play was top notch…
Laca always looking to link up with Auba instead of shooting himself which is worrying and he also drop deep to collect passes instead of playing off the shoulders of the defenders..
Niles,Nelson(with a stunning goal) and Rowe were great too!!!
Let’s wait and see what happens during the ICC when we play big teams…
PS: WHERE IS LENO?
idi*t
I agree it was a solid performance from the boys. I did notice that the first half attack was explosive with a slightly shaky defence and a second half of a very solid defence and a slightly subdued defense. However, positionally and organisation wise, its the best i have seen in a long time. Despite being average, even Bellerin kept slotting back in position. However, when he did drift, he left Sokratis badly exposed. While the fitness levels are definitely higher than usual, a few players still need a bit of work in pre season. In my opinion, Sokratis was exposed trying to deal with Bellerin’s space, something i expect would not be the case too much with a more natural DM to help cover. Dod you notice how Guendouzi properly covered his shift. This kid is ready to either partner Torreira(in big games) or act as cover. This usually improves defences.
Despite being poor at times, Sokratis did put in some good performances.
Im happy with where we are(Actually am ecstatic but trying to sound sane since it was only a small team). And i just understood today WHY Boreham. Its a proper confidence boast before taking on the bigger teams.
Geundozi, Maitland Niles and Smith-Rowe are such a revelation under Emery.
*second half slightly subdued attack
First time commenting on the site….
Watched the highlights on YouTube and I was really impressed with what I saw… And we kept a clean sheet too which is a plus considering how huge the shoreline was…
i dnt think ustafi should be sold
I said when we was linked to Sokratis that I hoped we didn’t get him.
He done nothing to convince me otherwise, if anything he has reinforced the opinion that he isn’t good enough.
For me, I would prefer to see Chambers in CB alongside Holding or Mavrop, if we are going to have dodgy CBs then at least allow the youth to gain experience so they do not develop into mature errors waiting to happen.
It makes me wonder how much Emery wanted this guy? The board was looking at Sokratis before Emery came to us, the board went ahead and bought a CB that is basically an aged Mustafi and how many have said that since?
Time to get behind Sokratis and I will support the guy… I am keeping every finger and toe crossed in hope that he turns out to be fantastic in the EPL.
Arsenal supporters showing how simple minded they are by judging and condemning Sokratis on the strength of one game.
Sokratis will come back to haunt ur comment and ur dreams forever!