Forest stun abysmal Arsenal out of the FA Cup

Arsenal have been dumped put if the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest in a match that we had no right to win.

The Gunners didn’t put on the show they would have liked, whilst donning their ‘No More Red’ version of their home strip.

There was so little to feel positive about in opening half that the manager moved to make a change after just 35 minutes.

Nuno Tavares was having a performance to forget, and he certainly wasn’t happy being replaced by Tierney before the break, slamming his gloves down on the sidelines.

The majority of the positive play had come from the home side before the break, with youngster Djed Spence causing plenty of problems to both Martinelli and the left-backs.

The same continued in the second-half also. There weren’t a large amount of chances. Eddie Nketiah did waste a header in space to put it wide, but before we had even mustered up a shot on target, we found ourselves behind.

Substitute Lewis Grabban came off the bench and broke the deadlock with less than 10 minutes remaining on the clock when he met the low cross to stretch out to poke it past Bernd Leno.

I’m not entirely sure why the boss’s last change was to bring on Kolasinac when we desperately needed a goal, but I also have no idea why none of our players were able to perform today.

Credit to Forest for putting in a sturdy performance, but that wasn’t the Arsenal we have grown to love watching in recent weeks.

Can any of those players hold their head up high after that?

Patrick

152 Comments

  1. Told you many times Lokonga is slow. I think Patino is just another CAM like Odegaard, instead of a deep-lying playmaker

    We have shot ourselves in the foot by sending Maitland-Niles away, although he wanted to play more games at Roma. We need an experienced DM as soon as possible, as Lokonga and Patino won’t cut it

    The easiest solution is by fielding Chambers or White there and move Holding back to the right CB position, because Holding plays awkwardly on the left side. Arthur Melo will be too lightweight for the DM role, so we need a more physical DM with quick thinking ability

      1. It was supposed to be a walk in the park for our B team, as our opposition is the 8th in Championship. I believed we underestimated them too much and our young DMs aren’t good enough to replace Xhaka/ Partey/ Elneny

        1. yea i think even elneny being available would’ve made this match better for us. the lack of experience in the midfield is really what killed us.

          1. Aside from his temper and brain farts, Xhaka’s physicality, forward passes, positioning and leadership are underrated. Lokonga and Patino were all over the place without a midfield leader

    1. I was disappointed that Chambers didn’t start at DM today. Our options are limited in the middle (more so after a couple of performances today) and he could have been part of the answer.

      1. Either White or him has to start ahead of Lokonga and Patino, if Xhaka and Partey is unavailable. Those two kids can’t do dirty work at all and can be overrun by senior midfielders

          1. I think those players have some weaknesses Arteta doesn’t like. But I feel we’d better field experienced midfielder than the noob ones

            1. What is funny is that we are left with patino lokonga or even eleneny in midfield. Or xhaka which is good but is 29 and cost us goals here and there. While you have a warrior in guendouzi, putting in very strong perfs, that would be better than them. Plus, in an other non sense, he will be sold automatically for just above 10 while he is probably 3 times more worth. Now arteta and edu trying to sell players to raise cash while they will loose at least 15/20 in this case. LOOoL

              1. Guendouzi is another young slow-thinker, similar to Lokonga

                We need a quick-thinking experienced midfielder. Unfortunately Bissouma might sign with Prison FC

                1. If you think xhaka is a quick thinking leader with vision .. See above … then I can only assume that you are an algorithm and not a person who actually watches matches

    2. Yes. Sending AMN on loan is a terrible decision. Don’t think he is good enough in the long run. But we are so short in midfield.

      1. He should be a solid role player and get decent minutes. Not worse than cedric, mari or elneny….

      2. I liked Maitland-Niles in the DM position. Now we need to move fast, maybe recall Saliba if necessary

      3. That’s the maturity level of AMN. We all know how massive opportunity he had this month to get few games in the center of the pitch. And the confdence he has in himself that he could grab opportunity to hold the place for long. He could have waited and taken chances this month and is things not working out the could have gone on loan towrds the end of transfer window.

        1. Ai, it appears that AMN has lost confidence in Arteta due to perceived undertakings regarding opportunities and the actual playing time he has received.

    3. Odegaard showed that without better players around him he is pretty average.
      Patino looked like a little boy ,nowhere near ready for the first team
      Tavares decision pathetic IMO ,and Tierney played even worse ,stood there watching waiting for the ball and jogged back for their goal .
      Could do worse getting Davis from villa ,put in a MOTM performance and made holding and white look like championship players .
      Spence as-well what a player he is .
      Another unwanted record for Arteta.
      No shot on target and the better team won ,no excuses .

      1. @Dan kit,

        I dont think you even watched Tavares performance and body language. He literally just jogged back after losing ball so many times.

        Tierney wasnt great but actually looked like he knew there’s a,game going on.

        100% correct decision from MA, and thats not an opinion this time, its a fact.

        1. My only concern with pulling Tavares (which was absolutely the right call) is that it had no effect of the flaccid performances that all his teammates (bar Leno) were putting in.

          I’m not sure if anything would have lit a fire under the boys today. These things happen. The critical thing is how they respond. Big week ahead.

          1. honestly, he couldve taken Cedric off early as well. both our fullbacks were abysmal. Tierney not good today either, but at least he wasn’t fully of sloppy backpasses and let everyone drift pass him. Dan, you may need to rewatch the first 30 minutes, Tavares was easily the worst player on the pitch that period.

      2. Odegaard and Patino are too weak physically, similar to Ozil. Tavares was too irresponsible with his passes and movements, whereas Holding simply can’t pass like Magalhaes and Mari on the left side

    4. “We have shoot”… Not me not you. Arteta ! Properly by playing elneny ahead of AMN after AMN perf against watford. That was just awful from the coach. What is s the message ? Trying to humble AMN for hi summer message ? He should have even play him avead of lokonga for a couple of games. Stubborn. The superlucky win of FA cup in 2019 appears as it was now. A superlucky win. Not a coaching masterclass.

      1. I think Arteta should’ve promoted Maitland-Niles as Partey’s backup, instead of buying Lokonga. But I believe Arteta doesn’t like some of Maitland-Niles’ weaknesses, maybe his passing accuracy

    5. Lolssss..
      We NEVER seem to learn anything at this! 😕
      We have Tottenham hotspurs next week + other crucial games, yet you ship out AMN to AS Roma.
      Because you feel Xhaka, Lokonga and Xhaka are good enough!

      1. I wished we had two Xhakas, so his doppelganger could replace his evil twin when being suspended

        1. Lol. Two Xhaka. I hope the other would be the good Xhaka. This is our worst game apart from the first 3 epl games. won’t berate arteta this time. He tried with the kids in the middle and it didn’t work. The boys weren’t interested in playing ball and we loss. Congrats to Forest for been hungry for the win. We have been hyping Patino, but he needs lots of grooming to play big men football. Lokonga keeps giving the ball away in very dangerous positions in most matches. He need proper coaching when and where to pass. Hoping for a 10 times better showing against spurs.

    6. @GAI, Arteta deserves the blame. We should have delayed the AMN loan move till after this game.
      Arteta under estimated the opponent

      1. We should’ve given Maitland-Niles a place behind Partey and Xhaka, instead of buying a young DM

    7. Now we see how important Xhaka and Pathey is. I have said this before that we need a DM who could stand in when Pathey is gone to AFCON and also a striker. Lokonga with his talent is still work in progress not really ready for big games.

  2. This is a reality check and with our opponents embarrassing us the last time we played them we should’ve been more motivated to win but they wanted it more. Last time it was an 18 year old striker who caused us problems and today it was a young RB who’s name I won’t forget. He pocketed and bossed the left side. We took the match to be so easy and deserved what we got today. We were matched boot for boot and checkmated in the end. A win in our next match will be so key for us mentally.

    1. Spence was so powerful. He got past Martinelli, Tavares and Tierney as if they weren’t there

      On loan from Middlesbrough and his contract will expire in 2023. He’ll be a good option in the summer to replace Soares

  3. We’ve put up a couple of bad performances this season, but that one has to go down as one of the worst from everyone.
    No hunger, no passion, it’s like they were playing to lose. Even in the 88th minute while looking for a goal, Arsenal had the ball in our half passing it about.
    Such a terrible performance from everyone, the manager, to the attack to the defense bar Leno who could’ve done nothing regarding the goal.
    Sambi might’ve deserved a free kick before that goal but still it was a terrible performance.
    I ain’t questioning the ref today, nope no way.
    My worry is hoping Xhaka and ESR returns, because we can’t play this squad against Liverpool.
    Don’t know why they played sluggishly.
    That’s up with there with the Everton, Palace performance.

      1. thats my official explanation of this performance. team partied too hard last night, or their water was spiked. How we suddenly forgot every good thing we’ve done over the last few months in this one game is a puzzle.

    1. Bit of an over reaction Eddie. Its just one game and an away game with players missing and illness against a decent Forest side who were up for it. Nothing to worry about. Remember you said a month ago you are just going to take a relaxed attitude to our season. Don’t wanna break your New Years resolution already. Just chill out like me. Keep the chin up.

    2. Don’t you guys think when Leno plays with his docile nature the team is affected right from the back? Ramsdale would have been shouting sense into the defenders all day long.

    3. Eddie, it was far, far worse than both the Palace and Everton games, bad as both were.

      MASSIVELY WORSE, AS YOU SURELY REALISE.

      At least I hope you do, as I HAVE ALWAYS CONSIDERED YOU ONE OF THE MINORITY OF REAL THINKERS ON JA

  4. Said over a week ago we are few Covid cases short of disaster. Happened sooner than I thought. Arsenal have had weeks to scout their midfielder target and so far they’ve only managed to SEND OUT one! Matter of fact, that midfielder should’ve been brought last summer, not just a kid from Belgian league.

    Theres absolutely nothing to defend on that performance. Pathetic.

    Hammering looming at Anfield, even if they field their U21s.

  5. nobody besides odegaard looked like they really wanted to play today. Eddie and Maritnelli very selfish with the ball today. Saka had a full on stinker. Cedric and Holding were the definition of abysmal. I really hope Simeone was busy doing his laundry or something and missed this game 😆. The midfield was just quite simply non-existent today in every capacity and from there every other part of our game also collapsed. Will just have to hope Arteta can come up with a better solution for Thursdays match. Obviously he cannot have Patino and Lokonga start together again. We may see Chambers in midfield honestly. Not the end of the world but really really hoping this is not the beginning of a bad run of form.

    1. This is our form RSH. We put a few results together and then throw in performances like tonight.

      I’m not surprised by the result as I already knew that we are guaranteed a performance like tonight.

      Crikey it has become a bad state of affairs where we hope Xhaka will our saviour for the NLD.

      I just don’t know how Arteta can literally turn this teams performances on and off like a light switch.

    2. I feel sorry for AMN. He probably loves arsenal but maybe he is laughing now. He should have been 1st option in midfield for the whole month. He should have played way more minutes last months. Hope jose will show how to use him and that he will prove good.

      1. yea some of arteta’s man-management has been off in terms of giving minutes. There were times I was waiting for AMN or Lokonga to come on for matches and it never happened. This was Sambi’s first game in quite a while. I dont know what Arteta has against AMN, who never even played poorly under Arteta. Was crucial for our fa cup win, and then Arteta essentially didnt play him after that. AMN was right to leave because he simply wasn’t getting the minutes.

        1. RSH I see your point but not sure anyone can actually question Arteta though.
          Dan’s previous article last week covered it.
          He’s a perfect cover for RB, and RWB but he prefers to play the Midfield and he didn’t exactly put in convincing performances in that position when he went on loan.
          All the manager’s he’s been under prefers him playing RB, so they can’t all be crazy.
          Even Mourinho played him as RB today, so that says a lot about what managers see in him?
          Maybe he needs to just trust a manager and just play along with it and see where it leads instead of insisting he needs to play CM.
          I understand why be demanded to go on loan though, it’s actually a good thing for him. Personally I’m also happy he’ll be playing under Mourinho, definitely will learn a thing or two there.
          Terta said AMN had sat with him and had the conversation that he needed to go out and grow as a player
          So I really can’t question why we let him go, the madness would be letting him go an not bringing in another midfielder.

          1. He moght be better at RB or maybe he evolved ? This year he put a MOTM perf in modfield dont forget that before being totally and without justification frozen out. If he was good in RB we could also have goven him minutes there but arteta’s own signing cedric was ahead of him too 👍👍👍

        2. I agree. Thats irony that we lost. AMN deserved more minutes. Arteta might bring some positives but his management of players playing time iss awful at times.

  6. Oh and concerning White, the most overrated defender ever brought for such a fee, just after Maguire.

      1. If I’m honest, even when we were winning 5 games in a row, I never saw White as irreplaceable.

        When you buy a defender for +50 million, you expect a world beater. White is not one, he’s not even on the national team!

        But enough about that matter.

  7. Attrocious. Shows how paper thin our depth is. Cedric and Tavares were awful, Patino was out of his depth and Sambi was very poor. Throw in Nketiah being Nketiah against a surprisingly good Forest side and we got what we deserved. No urgency or movement, no pressing, no idea.
    One good thing – a wake up call to urgently fill those gaps in midfield, up front at at RB.

  8. For some reason lokonga is not progressing as he should. We hype up our players too much. Patino is not ready, our midfield was nonexistent today. Patino always out of position but he’s just a kid learning. How is Cedric still here? It’s comical when I read about people wanting Eddy to stay. Have you seen his first touch? Man is so average, does nothing. That has to be Saka worse game in a long time. None of our player played well except for odegaard and Leno. They were holding the balls too much and having too many touches. We need a cdm and a striker asap.

    I’m not even upset because the less game I see of Cedric and holding. Tavares should be ashamed of that performance. Play like that and he would never be head of tierny.that performance is worse than everyone game. No shot on target abysmal.

    1. patino been getting tons of flack, but lets look at the scenario. first start for the senior side and his midfield partner is another young player who is pretty inexperienced with this level of the game as well. I think even having a more steady hand like Elneny playing alongside one of them would’ve been a massive help. Neither Lokonga or Patino were really ready for how physical and atheltic an FA Cup tie can get. Unfortunately, Saka and Maritnelli just had giant stinkers. They both benefit massively from our midfield having control of the game tho so I wasnt too surprised the rest of our attack collapsed with Lokonga and Patino.

      1. You seem to be forgetting they were playing Nottingham forest. 8th in the championship. If Patino was class, there’s no better platform to showcase what he’s about than against Nottingham forest. Regardless of who’s around him.

  9. Embarrassing
    Embarrassing
    Embarrassing
    I cant say anything else
    No one can defend that they have cheated their fans tonight and I mean CHEATED
    They didn’t want to win and deliberately for some reason lost . There can be no other reason that I can think for a performance like that

  10. My biggest worry is how we were a goal down with a few minutes to be knocked out of a competition, and almost everyone seemed to think we were cruising – no urgency to pick the ball and make a throw-in, all backward passing, ultra sluggish passing, sub a player in injury time as if it were the opposition,…
    This shit has been our thing in recent years and it’s so embarrassing to watch.
    I always say it, it’s not the results (for me) but what we put in. We lack fight, hunger, grit and of course discipline, and that’s all needed to harness the more-than-enough talent in this squad. I still struggle to find an iota of those in Arteta’s management.
    Only when I was beginning to have faith… Undoubtedly the worst minutes Arsenal have played this season. Really sad.

    1. yea i noticed that too. At no point was there urgency even after they scored the pace was the same. Even in ET, no change of pace, all so casual. Arteta gonna need to explain Kolasinac sub tho with only 2 mins left in the match??

      1. It’s crazy to me RSH.
        Even Norwich would throw everything at you in those final minutes. I was really mad, not even at the result but watching the movement and passing of the players, and it was so so hard to take. This again I feel is an attitude only instilled in a team by the manager and more responsible, senior players – I’m not sure which/what we have.

      2. It should’ve been made earlier.
        It was to change to a back 3 and give Tierney full license to stay forward.

        An extra attacker basically, so that Martinelli to come further infield.

        Oh and it was also to help Lokonga with the midfield, he was struggling alone.

    2. And to add to that we made a last-minute substitution to waste even more time as if we were winning.

  11. Good wakeup call for players today. As flat as it gets. Players coming in didnt do themselves any favour. Lokonga, Tavares (the less we talk the better), Neki, Holding. For the goal, Lokonga was so casual while passing. Even regulars like White, Oge, Saka…. all were flat. Martinelli the only player showing some energy but seems like he has been acting bit shelfish since last 2 matches. Every time White had ball he would take 3-4 touches carrying ball forward slowly showed lackof urgency in play but also that he had not mcuh options to pass. Players were not moving fast in positions to reveive ball…..
    Serously poor attitude today …. may be they thought lets do Forest a favour by just turning up at their ground.
    Also showed how seriously inferior the squad is and why we have used such a small pool of players in PL this year.

    1. *Sips Beer*

      Oh there’s a long list of shit you would’ve heard if he had played and he was in that situation Sambi found himself.

      .“Yes the ref should’ve blown, but he’s too slow and sluggish, he will always let the team down he made the wrong pass and he started it. He’s the reason we are out of the competition, it was so stupid to make that sort of pass in our half”

      1. I didn’t watch the game but based on what many are saying experience was sorely missed today. Some are even saying Elneny of all players would’ve made a difference.

        It was only a championship side but a massive game nonetheless. Perhaps some of us should learn to appreciate experienced players and their roles however infrequent it may be. Sometimes experience is a difference between progressing to the next round or knocked out by a championship side.

  12. Why is it that when Xhaka pulls the shirt of a player already going down in the box, it’s a penalty, but when Ben White gets pulled down by his shirt in the box, it’s nothing? Anyway, still a rubbish performance. Shows how much better in general the first choices are compared to the team with Cedric/Holding/Nketiah/etc

    Arsenal badly need a good DM and a quality new striker. Maybe even 2 strikers.

  13. This is awful. Just lost good money on this dreadful Arsenal. This game shows one thing though, we have only a first team, the B team should be gifted away.

  14. I said we lost to City because Gabriel was the player sent off. Holding is weak then pairing him with another weak player in Ben white is a disaster waiting to happen. I’m still lost as to while we would send Guendozi away for Lokonga. They are similar but Guendozi plays with hunger and more aggression than Lokonga. If we do not find a solution we would be 8th or 9th by the time Partey returns

  15. Get ready for the same old sh!t in Arteta’s post match review.

    I don’t need to even watch it as I have heard it many, many times.

    1. lol even when we win its the same thing tho. i never watch his interviews because he never has anything significant to say.

      1. No manager or player ever has anything to say after any game. Arsene Wenger gave 3000 interviews at Arsenal and never said anything. Its just professional footballer/manager speak.
        Mind you the mindless ranting by Arsenal “fans” coming out now after our loss to a decent Forest side is just as predictably idiotic. It’s just a football game but is a good way to let off steam 🙂

    2. “That what we’ve done today is nowhere near the level and the standards that are required”

      Told ya… or am I getting monthly de ja Vue for the last 2 years?

      1. And when we win our next game it will be “The team showed a great reaction and character” 🙂

  16. Hopefully this shows that Nketiah, Cedric, and Holding can leave and Arsenal be a better team for it.

    Everyone should be too embarrassed to collect their wages this week, disgraceful. Losing is one thing, but that crap on the field is not professional; didn’t seem to care, all over the place.

    AMN on loan, we better have a midfielder about to sign. Nketiah showing why he should leave. Invisible, not influential, and misses chances more than anybody. Headless chicken leeching wages.

  17. Everyone looked confused from the start of the game till the end. When we couldn’t score in the first half, I knew it will end in tears.

    Arsenal hardly put up a better performance in the second half since Arteta took over.
    I wonder what the apprentice was telling his boys in the dressing room.
    When are we gonna start winning away games regularly? Hun?!

    I will not even care to waste my precious time watching the Liverpool game, we all know how it gonna end.

    1. Stop over thinking it . Far from a team.

      Few thoughts yes bad performance .

      Tavares , awful attitude deserved to be taken off.

      Elneny deserves far better than to be slaughtered contently by his own fans .

      Is a good squad player , always gives his best .

      Need a balance of youth and experience ..

      Most important signing this summer a cf with presence , good in my air , hold up play.

      Niles pushed to leave , this would have been the opportunity for him .
      Didn’t want to be a RB, his loss.
      Didn’t want to stay and stake claim in mf .

      Lokonga , everyone raving bout him before was pulled out team . Hasn’t played for ages ..

      Nketiah , plus others who won’t sign .
      So be it , address in summer , possibly need 2 new forwards.

      Could do far worse than give Chambers a go at DM.

      1. Today was the day to play Chambers at DM. Having said that, the last time Lokonga had a shocker he came back strong. Let’s hope lightening strikes twice.

  18. A deserved loss,we ain’t winning anything with this kids.The team is crying out for some experience in midfield & offensively.
    Btw a very stupid call to sub Tavares in the first half.I would rather he played in midfield instead of Patino.

  19. Abysmal display today, looked like total strangers playing, and hey they were!

    Do I get my life back??

    Dangerous next few games, 2X pool and spuds.

    Did not Arteta know we were going to be missing players at AFCON? Seriously…

    With Xhaka out due to Covid, the midfied just left town!

    Edu and Arteta here is a clue, get some back up in MF or up top.

    Danger Danger Will Robinson……

  20. Only player that came away with any credit was Leno. Tavares, Cedrik, Holding ,Lokongo, and Patino should not be anywhere near the first team. Nketiah needs to be taught to pass the ball. The rest were all very average !! Arteta obviously has a problem motivating the team. Time tor him to move on ???

  21. Central midfield was lighter then air. We had no choice with TP, Eleny away and Xhaka with covid. If there was ever a sign to sign players, today was it!! Especially if we want to get top four and kick on…

    Eddie isn’t good enough for Arsenal, even with auba not wanted. I would rather sell him this window and get 8m then loss him for 0. Reinvest that money…

    Overall we didn’t have enough experienced players out there to demand more from our young team. Disappointing but we must learn from it.

    The lost is damning but I felt it coming after watching the first half. Total focus on the league, which might be the best thing with our super thin squad

    Huge applauds to the no more red campaign, too many boys and girls losing life’s to knife crime. In today’s day and age, really? Time to move on from this by supporting the community fight crime.

    If anything from today, let’s take this away.

  22. I hate to say it, but we were “Whitewashed”. The sooner we get back into red kit the better!!

    Does anybody know why our top scorer was not even on the bench? We could have done with him!!

    I didn’t get to see the game, but listened on the radio.

    One of the stats the commentators kept stressing was that we did not have a single shot on Target.

    Why is Arteta so desperate to resign Eddie N. This surely cannot be because of his recent form, so I wonder if it is just a ploy to stop him leaving for Free. So Arteta can then sell him for say $5m in the summer

  23. Go for Spence in this window. What a strong performance. Players like him are needed in Arsenal.

  24. Ok out of FA CUP, not the best performance by the manager or the team, proves we are still falable and brings a few back down to earth. No excuses the team out there should have been good enough but for whatever reason it wasnt. Shit happens and it has, lets hope it doesn’t happen too much more. Team was fresh rested and good enough but we looked short of ideas again. It seems we are only alway one game away from an abject performance.

    1. I’m more inclined to say “we are only a couple of first teamers away” Reggie. I still think our first eleven is excellent, but they are almost the only squad members good enough to play this system. Cedric decimated our right side all on his own. We had no midfield at all and Laca as a false 9 in front of Ode was sorely missed. Nketiah will never be good enough. Patino showed how far he is from stardom and Tavares finally lived up to his Portuguese reputation for being difficult. We can’t afford all of the squad players that we need but at least today may force funds to be released for a decent CM and striker in January.

      1. They the only ones that ever play that system because MA has a zero rotation policy. You can’t expect bench ridden players that never get game time to just perform and be match fit.

  25. MA’s record in the fa cup, after a full season in charge?
    KO 4th round
    KO 3rd round

    With the “dross” he inherited?
    FA Cup Winners

    Why does he act like a demented man on the sideline?
    Why let AMN go, when he hasn’t got a replacement and has lost three other midfield players for differing reasons?

    Jon Fox said leave the team selection to the manager and I agreed – what a shambles it was.

    I’m waiting for Jon, Loose Cannon, Goonster and the like to come on and defend the performance today, as I can’t find one single positive.

    What is even more frustrating is the fact that fans are saying Elneny, AMN and Xhaka would have made a difference…. yet these are the players being called out week after week after week for not being good enough – “dross” is the term I believe – by the above mentioned people.

    FF has said not to worry, because it’s less games to play – is that REALLY how any fan should respond to a game that saw no shots on target?

    If we lose our next three games, we won’t have to worry about anything at all, except how far behind the top four we are.

    1. KEN OF COURSE I will not defend that cheating, cowardly non effort, unacceptable show by our entire team, save only LENO.

      But who else other than the manager would you expect to choose the team? Kroenke perhaps!

      It was a silly point you try to connect to me , simply because I said , correctly(with which you agreed) that the manager shoud always pick the team.

      You seem to want to blame me and the other Gooners you list for that shambles. Why KEN??

      1. Jon, I agreed with you, I wanted your opinion, along with the others mentioned.
        Don’t be so cranky, we’re all disappointed and frustrated.

        1. KEN lets talk truth, shall we! You TOLD me and two other fans “to come on and defend the performance today.”

          I have no idea why you ask us to defend the indefensible, as I correctly slated it as rubbish.

          Had you simply and honestly asked for my opinion, INSTEAD of stating “you were waiting for me and others to come on and defend it”, I would have been glad to give my full opinion.
          But if you are honest with yourself, you will admit that your comment was an accusatory one towards me. THAT is why I reacted as I did, as I will never be bullied
          Now you ask me not to be cranky! To say we are on different wavelengths is a massive understatement.

          Did you HONESTLY think I or any Gooner could possibly defend THAT RUBBISH? If so, why do you think so? I’d like to know your answer KEN!
          I suspect the actual to my question is that you were as frustrated as we all are, after watching THAT, so YOU thought you would try to somehow blame ME for that rubbish!

          1. Jon, hard as it may be to understand, you are NOT my focus of inspiration.

            As we had BOTH agreed that MA would pick his team and take the consequences, it was obvious that I would be as gutted as you were, that he got it wrong.
            The fact that you and the others I mentioned are 100% behind MA, while I still haven’t convinced myself he is the man to take us forward, I wanted to see what you thought about the performance /result.
            Unlike LC, you have not dismissed it by bringing up AW’s similar result three and a half years ago, but addressed the issues…. as I thought you would.

            Never mind Jon, I won’t bother asking your opinion in the future.

  26. No point moaning we are out of the cup we have won 14 times.
    Massive week ahead.
    Big test for us.

    1. Agree, the FA cup does not decide anything but our league form does. Just a really disappointing performance.

  27. Before the match, which I did not see, I suggested our lightweight midfield would struggle ,and this apparently was the case.Lokonga is not a DM and never will be and Patino lacks the physical presence to make an impression at this stage in his career.In any case, if nothing else the result will have highlighted the need to strengthen our midfield at an early date.Congratulations to Forrest who I know are a hard working side.

    1. I dont think the midfield was a worry or a surprise but the front four, that weren’t light or lacking, WAS. It was forest we were playing and the performance was desperate but dont try to single out the midfield. Our DM is at the Afcon, so no excuse there because we couldn’t call on him. The biggest worry was what we didn’t have but what we did that was ineffective.

  28. What Arteta did to Nuno Tavares was shocking and embarrassing for the lad. Did it improve the team performance? NO…..not happy with that…Arteta should be looking at himself and why he failed to motivate our players. I’m stunned

      1. Be careful what you say about that situation 😂
        A few pundits I’ve listened to tonight have agreed with what you said and pretty much what I said earlier .

    1. The whole team were garbage, were still 0 0 why didn’t Arteta wait till half time instead of embarrassing the lad. His man management skills suck

      Funny how Arsenal played some of the best football we’ve seen in years against City …..AND ARTETA WASN’T THERE (forgive the raised voice lol) then look at what he dished up today….top 4 Arteta or be gone

  29. Sorry ,Patrick, speak for yourself. I haven’t grown to love watching this Arsenal team play. The fluid performances are rare and this type of display is too common.

    1. That’s MA’s man management techniques.
      Some applaud him for it and some criticise him for it.
      The way the player acted when substituted, he’s likely to be on his way out.

      1. Isn’t a player supposed to be furious when subbed in the first half? That is the correct reaction. Now am waiting for those who accused Emery of “tinkering” because of his early subs, to do the needful with Arteta.

        1. Ah…. but when a certain Ozil reacted it the same way, that was seen as something entirely different, was it not?

  30. People saying he rested too many players? Well he rested 3

    Ramdale, Tierney (who he brought on in the 34th minute) and Lacazette, who also came on.

    The rest were enforced changes.

    The facts are Leno does not help the back 4 Cedric, Holding and Tavares were awful. Patio and Sambi showed they are not yet ready, Nketiah showed he is not at the level required, while Odegaard, Saka and Martinelli also had a bad day. Without a ball winner and playing completely different to how we did against Man City, we looked like the same old shitty Arsenal like we did in the last days of Wenger and Emery and Arteta last season.

    Sell some more crap and buy 2 forwards, 2 midfielders.

  31. At least it will concentrate the minds of Arteta and Edu to redouble their efforts to strengthen up front. Also, all those pundits who criticised Arsenal for allowing Eddie Nketiah to run his contract down, thereby losing another top player for nothing, and who were amazed to find that most Gooners don’t think he’s the real deal, have been given their answer. I would have started with Balogun, loan deal agreed or not.

  32. Have to feel for Maitland-Niles, tells Bould, Wenger, McCarthy, Emery, Arteta, Southgate and now Mourinho he wants to be a first choice centre midfielder.

    Where does he debut for Roma? Right back, lad it’s not what you want, it’s what your manager thinks you are capable of.

    If he only would accept his level and listen to those that know, he could have been Arsenal’s right back

    1. Nope, Arteta clearly never favored him, said he’d get minutes this year and froze him out. Chambers got minutes at RB, but AMN overlooked.

      Tavares probably frozen out now, joining Marseille with Guendouzi and Saliba. Fart in Church and Arteta likely to run you out of the club.

    2. Please quote where he said he wants to be FIRST CHOICE CM, I’ll wait?

      He said that’s the position he wants to play, WTF is wrong with saying you prefer a certain position?

      MA doesn’t like him so he’d never get a regular starting position regardless, think a bit man!

  33. Im devastated

    I LOVE the FA Cup. To me its a big cup. we should have performed better against a lower league opponent. Congrats NF

  34. This is the result of MA not keeping the squad match fit. Always subs way too late, even in games we are smashing it.

    Players looked confused, lost, unfit and disjointed. I’m not surprised, most of them haven’t seem a game dau potch for ages. Imagine sitting on the bench and your teams winning by3/4 goals and the gaffer can’t even be bothered to give you 15 mins.

    Reality is that MA has done well with the “starting” 12 players but terribly with the squad as a whole.

    No European games and out of the FA Cup as early as possible. MA can now have no excuse for making top 4. He has way less games than the other teams going for that spot! Embarrassing

  35. Why we lost?
    1. Weak midfield
    2. Trusting Nketiah as a footballer
    3. Wrong sub- laca should be in for Nketiah
    4. Did not delete Nketiahs contract 2 yrs ago

  36. Surprised so many people criticize sending away average players. ANM isn’t could enough to play top 4 football so he should be moved. Granted he is better than lokongo and patino at this point but he still isn’t could enough. They are simply not an elite wealthy club so they have to get wages off the book. ANM does have value to us which is why someone else’s values him.

  37. The Lokonga-Patino midfield was thoroughly underwhelming! I was hoping they would step up for the 3 or 4 weeks Partey and El Neny will be gone but now am genuinely worried! The club might have to spend some money on a DM.

    1. We should’ve bought a DM years ago. We are unlikely to get one as no DM wants to move to a club where they’ll be benched. No MA won’t bench Xhaka if we get a proper DM.

      Can’t blame 2 youngers with almost no experience between them.

  38. Arsenal should do away with the following players Sambi lokonga for always misplacing passes, not strong on the Ball, not visionary with his passes, Nketiah has consistently proved that he is not a lethal striker, missed two glorious chances and not combative, Cedric Soares should also go because he is not strong in marking always an easy opponent to deal with and cannot contest Ariel balls without good crosses, same with Nuno Tavares very fragile and low in confidence.
    Also Rob Holding is very erratic with his passes, lacks positional marking, poor header as required of central defender.
    With these players in Arsenal, they cannot win any trophy because the players are simply not good enough.

  39. Having now had an opportunity to watch the match,I fully appreciate the frustrations of our fans after such an inept performance.To play Laconga as DM when he is a ball playing midfielder was a tactical error imo particularly when either Chambers of White could have brought some steel to that position.From the outset, Tavares did not look switched on for one reason or another ,but for Arteta to sub him when he did was wrong when he could have had a word, or two at half time.With regard to the criticism directed at Nketiah, imo he was one of the few Arsenal players who matched the workrate of the Forest team for whom the RB was outstanding.This is the third occasion I have seen Forest this season, and in each match, Spence has been first class. Clearly Saka is in need of a rest and why Arteta did not see fit to switch the wingers ivo their lack of success, is beyond me.In any event, this transfer window is now an important one during which we have to bring in two quality midfielders to add depth which is sadly lacking .

  40. Holding and Nketiah have not got a clue. Tavarez is the scapegoat. Seems Tavarez has taken Saliba’s mantle. Arteta and personal human relations……ha ha ha! His substitution deflated the whole team. Clearly poor management. We should have had a ‘NEW’ midfield player already……negligence and arrogance. We NEED a midfield player and striker….YESTERDAY not tomorrow. Lackadaisical, entitled bullshite. 4 th place without a new midfield player or striker…..delusional.

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