Arsenal sit third despite not performing at their best
Successful teams win ugly, they win when they should not, they get lucky and scrape wins. Exactly what Arsenal have done over the first eight games.
Liverpool gets dubious last-minute penalties and they are branded formidable. Arsenal comes from behind to win with just ten men and are called lucky.
When Arsenal beat Burnley 2-1 or even Newcastle 1-0 they should have done better. When Man City lose to Wolves and Norwich it is called a blip.
I could go on but you get the picture. When Arsenal do not perform to the highest level they are lambasted. When Man City or Liverpool do the same it is a blip or just one of those days.
It is so easy to criticise Arsenal and yet, they are doing better than Spurs, Man Utd and Chelsea.
If any other team had started the season with just one loss, away at Liverpool and be sitting third they would be hailed. When it is Arsenal it is luck and the wheels will come off soon.
Arsenal new signings are not yet firing on all cylinders. Their injured players have yet to even start a Premier League fixture and they still sit third.
Unai Emery has integrated the youngsters beautifully, where is the credit for that? Even Xhaka and Mustafi are improving their games, where is the credit for that? This Arsenal team has shown huge character this season, where is the credit for that?
There are so many positives about Arsenal but it is the negatives that get the most focus, Why is that?
Is it that Arenal fans cannot be happy unless they are having a go at their own team?
Just asking.
Your spot on with your comment. Arsenal will show how good they are once all the injured players are back, Sheffield waTch out.
What about the gifted goals, the boring football we’re playing, struggling against bottom of the table, making them look like Barca and certain individuals look like Messi, all those shots we’ve faced!
At the end of the day we’re the Arsenal! And we all know we can play a hell of a lot better! On our day we can beat anyone, and I think that’s why it’s so frustrating and that is why the negatives receive the most focus! Yes, we have a lot to look forward to – after this break – I just hope things improve – no more gifting goals, dominating games, playing beautiful football, scoring lots of goals & playing convincingly, which we all know we’re more than capable of!
Spot on darling.
Sue, perspective is what is required when situation can look a lot better than what it is. For example👇
Last season Arsenal set a new record by allowing 13.1 shots per game.
This season it is 17 per game so far.
The worst under Wenger was 11.9 in 2013-14.
The Invincibles allowed 9.9 per match
And we have scored 13 goals in 8 matches while conceding 11, with one player, Auba, scoring 7 of those. If this trend continues we will be left with boring football and sad results.
I just saw that, Viju… and what with the conceded penalties too.. all these records we hold, I’d say we’re flying 😩 someone on here said the other day that we’re in a worse position than this time last season.. no wonder it’s all doom & gloom, hey?!!
It sure seems to be so, with one fifth of the season gone by.
Just noticed that Rashford was given the goal of the month in Manchester
meanwhile the only goal Manchester United scored in September was a penalty
oh happy days
Didn’t we play them on 30th Sept? So add McTominay’s to that huge tally 😂
Stop expecting beautiful football as long as Emery is in charge
SUE You are right but let’s thank EMERY for bringing the youngsters through. Not like Wenger giving them away at our expense these young guns have an abundance of talent and other teams better watch out When EMERY gets his own players then you will see the real ARSENAL
Yes, towny, I agree about the youngsters – they’ve been superb –
I would say he’s bought a fair few players in already, wouldn’t you? And I’m still waiting……
Nice to see a positive outlook for a change. There is much to be positive about, however I also understand where some of the negativity comes from (some still go to far imo though).
Like Sue says above, we all know that Arsenal can play better, and we all know there is so much more to come from this squad in particular (it’s got enough quality to be challenging City and Lpool imo) but for various reasons it hasn’t been able to flourish yet.
Hopefully after the international break we will finally start to see more of the Arsenal we know and love in the PL again, full of exciting attacking football and maybe then people will realise that’s its not all doom and gloom.
I bet some Spurs and Man United childish fans are demanding for Pochettino’s and Solksjaer’s dismissals now
I still believe in Emery, but he shouldn’t use defensive tactics again when facing another big team
Are you calling some of us childish because we want Emery gone ?
If he’s not, then I am.
Wanting a manager gone when we are 3Rd place and 1 point off the defending champions is ridiculous
So I’m not aloud an opinion without being called childish?
In Wenger’s last season Arsenal finished 12 points off 4th.
In Emery’s first season Arsenal finished 1 point off 4th.
That’s an enormous improvement despite the mess Wenger left the club
both on and off the field.
Yeah, Wenger went unbeaten a whole season and managed Top4 for 20 seasons.
Yes that season was fantastic but it was 15-16 years ago. He was given some great players
And for well over a dozen years we weren’t even close to winning PL or CL. And he made us worse and worse that by his last season we were 6th place
I’m grateful for the trophies but
Wenger did create the problem we have now.
Then you do not know the history of our club and what went on that led to us not having good seasons towards the end. Don’t just cherry pick stats to state your point. Wenger never had 200million over two years, forget one 72million player that is being shown up by the coach with his tactics.
LDDWWWDWW..
It is not all doom and gloom but we are operating on a very slow pace when we have the engine to speed up our play, tactics and activities.
I believe with time we will improve with the addition of Lacazette, Tierney, Holding and Bellerin.
Arsenal 2005-2018 went 14 title less years under Wenger in a 3 team league.
In Klopp’s first season Liverpool finished 8th.
Klopp actually took until his 4th season + a 500m spend to make an impact.
So why do people think Emery should be top of the table 8 games into his second season
with a pitifully weak central defense?
It is patently ridiculous.
Utd are into season seven since Ferguson, their 4th manager and a 900m spend and are
still in a mess so Arsenal is doing amazingly well 2 months into Emery’s second season.
Emery has cleaned out 19 of Wenger’s deadwood but Mustafi Mkhitarian Ozil Kolasinac Xhaka
are still dragging the team down. Socritis Torreira Mavro Ceballos Luiz won’t get
us any where near top 2 let alone win the PL.
Lacazette is injury prone Pepe has yet to fire. Aubameyang is our one quality player.
Arsenal need ten new top quality players just to make top 4.
Klopp has won one trophy in four years. Poch has won none in 5 years yet they
are both regarded as great managers.
Emery has done amazingly well with a sh#te squad.
Some perspective is useful.
Yes he did Viju…. 16/17 we got Xhaka, Mustafi, Asano, Holding then in 17/18 we got Auba, Laca and Mavro… That’s over 200mill there 🙄
Here’s yet more improvement for you – against ‘Big 6’:
16/17 – 9 points, 13 goals, 18 conceded, 2 W, 3 D, 5 L
17/18 – 6 points, 10 goals, 21 conceded, 1 W, 3 D, 6 L
18/19 – 12 points, 16 goals, 19 conceded, 3 W, 3 D, 4 L
Wenger had Laca for one year & Auba for 6 months and between these two it’s more than 100million.
His brain-fade year of buying was 16-17 when he bought Xhaka & Mustafi for 70million, and I refused to believe when rumours said Gazidis was instrumental. Wenger had control on which players were brought in & sold.
He had his faults but he gave us good football, not the tripe we see now
Emery has had Pepe and tierney for less than that and Saliba not at all and that’s about 135 mill out of his 200 so who’s cherry picking now?
Wenger did play nice football and so will Emery, the difference is wenger did it even when it wasn’t a good idea and we lost big when he did, Emery has tried to conserve points by trying not to lose instead of risking it all whilst he waits for the right players to be fit 🤷♂️
I trust my instincts and I know Emery will continue playing drab football. One of these days all the shots taken at our goal will start going in, and Auba might not score in a few games, and then the pot will go off the boil.
Well the UEL/Cup play would suggest that your instincts may well be wrong… I guess time will tell 🤷♂️
Your absolutely right about what could go wrong though but the same things could, and are probably more likely (in the case of conceding) to go wrong if we are stretched out attacking,its all part of the joys of football. Alternatively Bellerin, Holding and Tierney could give us the stability we need, Laca returning could set Pepe and Auba going, the team starts to play in the league like it does in the UEL and we put serious pressure on those above us – you just choose to be negative 🤷♂️
I had written about the Forest game to be our template going forward, and it wasn’t accepted well. My opinion was proved right in the two EL games too, but then that doesn’t seem to be Emery’s way forward. The reasons given to me were, those were weak opponents, as if Watford, Burnley, Newcastle & Bournemouth are top class, despite them being in EPL
Positivity is never received well it seems 😂
I believe you were right first time – Forrest and the UEL is our blueprint going forward, and whilst yes it was weaker opposition that’s not the point. Its how the team itself was performing that I was watching and with the safer backline the whole game play was better across the squad,and it was exciting football.
One look at Emery’s face when we are playing that way compared to his face when we play in the league is enough to tell you he doesn’t like it any more than we or the players themselves do. He is just too pragmatic to do what Wenger did and risk getting no points playing a way that will expose our weakness.