Arsenal kicked off captain Martin Odegaard’s 100th game for the Gunners against a team that had taken 5 points off us last season. We knew it was not going to be an easy game at Fulham, but we started very confidently, putting pressure on from the start and were all over the home side, but were shocked by Raul Jimenez in the 10th minute as he slipped the ball past Raya and suddenly we were behind.
But Arsenal’s heads didn’t drop and in the next 30 minutes with shots from Declan Rice missed and Saka’s 3 or 4 chances not getting through either.
But after the break we came back with renewed vigour and Kai Havertz nearly converted a corner but he sent it wide, but straight after yet another corner came in and Havertz managed to head it towards Saliba waiting in the box. VAR ruled that he was only just onside and thankfully we were back in the game, but despite the massive pressure the gunners still couldn’ find a way through.
As we nervously approached the end of the 90 minutes, Martinelli put in a great cross from Martinelli set up Bukayo Saka to finally put us in front, but after yet another VAR check it looked quite obvious that Martinelli had just strayed offside in the build-up, and that was the last chance of us getting all three points.
Yet again the Gunners have totally dminated the game with 67 percent possession but couldn’ get the ball in the net.
Fulham only had two shots against our 12 but came away with a point, and there will be lots of unhappy Arsenal fans taking the short journey back to North London.
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Our away form is dreadful.
Top 4 beckoning.
Not surprising, when you put your best DM at RB and expect better results…………….. that’s insane. Any day Tierney is the better defender than Zinchenco, but alas Tierney was not brought to the Emirates by Mikel. Mikel would rather play Neto in LB then give Tierney a start. What a sad state of affairs!
Well, it’s happened. Got to focus on Monaco’s visit next. COYG!!!
We have 8 wins and 7 other results. That is a terrible turn.
Fulham will play against Liverpool next. I hope the game will end in a draw
Liverpool will win because they don’t play for possession and control. And they have players who actually scores
Being a realist, the title race for us is over. You’ll only find missed opportunities looking at the top of the table
@Gai
I thing Arsenal players played today with handbreak. And IMO, we need Pathey more in midfield because of his ball distribution abilities and skill in tight space.
I also feels Merino should have come in a bit earlier he is good at winning back possession. A draw isn’t a bad result away games are more difficult this season.
Spent close to a billion and can’t create a chance from open play against poor united and fulham. Arteta needs to go If slot wins the league this season. 5+ years and and a billion spent and nothing to show for. He has peaked and he is just our Brendan Rodger
😂😂
Arteta needs to bring home the league or the champions league or it’s should be the end of his tenure for me. Not adding a forward threat, either a creator or goal scorer in the summer will be his downfall.
Can not disagree with that. Its poor.
I laugh when people say Slot has a great team in order to take away his intelligence and achievement of being in 1st place so far. The Liverpool team while great is generally far from world class. It was always going to take a great coach to improve some players to get them competing since they have Salah.
That’s what it’s starting to look like. Liverpool weren’t afraid to ditch BR even tho he got close for them. Then they landed gold with Klopp. Fans need to seriously ask themselves if Mikel is going to win a title either this year or next. If not. What is he even doing here?
For me the clock is ticking for many things. Martinelli has months to salvage his Arsenal career, Trossard, why should we sign him up on a new contract? Jorginho has looked better than Partey lately. And the manager has one trophy to his name that even ETH could win. At least Edu is leaving because the squad him and Mikel put together isn’t as solid as they thought. Going years without signing one top forward is criminal.
Rodgers took them close once, where they gave up a 5 point lead with only a few games to go. In one of those games they were 3-0 up with about 10 minutes to go and ended up drawing 😳
As for Klopp, 14 years in charge of teams in Germany (Mainz and Dortmund) before coming to England. Took him 5 years to win the PL iirc. He was a lot more experienced than Mikel.
I totally agree with you. Arteta needs to go. We need a spirit of replacing coaches at Arsenal if they can’t bring results and trophies, PERIOD!
Sigh. Good thing we didn’t do anything stupid like buy a world class striker. This team isn’t winning anything this year.
Or next.
Our big chance to pressure Liverpool and we failed, again and again and again. We failed to push home advantage the last two seasons and we are still failing. An easy game made hard by the way the manager approached the game. Great weekend for Liverpool so far. We just fail time after time to put pressure on teams when we have too. I am sorry but the system we play is susceptible.
Reggie, we are one dimensional team. We can’t win when combination of Saka and Odegaard doesn’t work. Now we have became even more one dimensional with our heavy reliance on the corners. This is not sustainable. Arteta prefers control over open play that create chances
Its laughable that some think its great we are so good at corners. They and the team forget, there is more to football than playing like Stoke or Bolton.
Arsenal are not winning the league even if we had won this match. If any team is going to win the league you will see that the team will be having the kind of season that converges into winning the league. In other words, the team will be playing like the champion.
Isn’t it funny that all the funny people come crawling out the wood work when we don’t win
We were below par
A lot of players didn’t show up and far to many to mention. The off side goal was correct but a disgrace from Martinelli who not in a million years should be caught off side. Really lazy.
Poor defending for the goal but really really the moments coming are poor
i can’t understand why Martinelli was standing in an offside position, there was no pressure or advantage, could have been 2 metres onside in acres of space – unforgivable
Urgh, No brains.
Dominating completely and making sufficient meaningful forays into the Fulham penalty box are two different things.
The first half was disappointing. Plenty of possession but nothing to show. Fulham on the other hand worked hard to contain us and got a good opportunity to score and nailed it. If Smith Rowe had done better with his chance to run through on Raya, then I doubt the team could have managed a draw, let alone a win.
Second half was much better. Trossard needed to be subbed as he wasn’t at his best and Martinelli was an improvement, but later on sinned and was offside which nullified Saka’s goal and my elation that we had scored from open play.
There were opportunities but the final product was weak. Havertz should have at least made Leno make a good save from a good ball to him, and Jesus just let the ball go into Leno’s hands from a good chip to him. Rice had the chance to put in a decent ball into the box in the dying minutes and it went out of play.
As Odegaard said in his post match interview, Arsenal were not at their best and an opportunity to close the gap on Liverpool was lost
I disagree massively that Martinelli was an improvement. Not in a million years. Trossard is clever Martinelli is the straw man who can kick a ball. It was a case that NOBODY including our darling Odergaard could not influence the game. A bit like the utd game and a few others. The way we play and the set up is the main problem. When a good ball ( which is very rare) goes into the box, we are not set up for it. We look surprised and react late. Thats down to set up and tactics.
Will disagree on Martinelli, or perhaps it was getting the very nearly offside goal that improved the general feeling and mine, that we were back in it.
I don’t know why you had to refer to Odegaard in that way Reggie
Sue, apart from the offside no goal, what did Martinelli do? He achieves very little, plays with no intelligence and can not strike a ball. For me Trossard should not be rotating with him, he should be playing over him. Rotating is doing neither any good. It should be competition, not your turn now. Our left side will neve be as effective as it should because we favour the right, the way we play.
Got to agree with reggie on Trossard and on Martinelli
Both were poor today
Party playing right back in a game like this is poor
Didn’t over lap once…hasn’t got the.legs
Offered side ways and backward passes only.
Both our strikers went missing
The one that started and the one that came on
I thought a draw was a a disappointing result but a fair result
A lot of huff and puff but little quality
We move on to the next and see what that brings us
Chelski suffering at the hands of spuds at the moment
Onwards and upwards
When I saw Jesus coming on, I felt cold and knew that he was just taking someones place in the team. He just seems lifeless and clueless. He has won the league, what is up with him?
I thought we had a lot of players who played under par
The one consultation for today is we didn’t lose
This time. last season we walked away from craven cottage with zero points
Like. Most here am disappointed with the result And frustrated but we have not lost the league today and still in it
Pool to are the winners today without playing but they still got to win the postponed game at the end of the season so anything can happen
Alan, while maybe we were a little under par, its the way we play which is the problem. Very naive today. We had Fulham where we wanted them and was very naive in our play.
We were in charge of Fulham and did nothing because of the way we play.
I didn’t think that Trossard was great, but he didn’t get much service either. Martinelli wasn’t any better. The left wing is a problem, but not only today.
Martinelli is really starting to annoy me now. So easy to stay onside and he cannot even manage that! Otherwise he was dreadful.
Not just him though. Jesus offered zero after coming on. Havertz was poor, and Odegaard had an off day as well. Poor form coupled with yet more injuries, and we were always dropping points.
Whilst I still feel we are better than Liverpool man for man, we cannot possible win the league with the amount of injuries we keep sustaining. I’ve never seen anything this bad. I actually feel sorry for Arteta at this stage.
Liverpool need a major injury crisis, including a long absence of Salah for us to stand any chance of catching them.
I don’t for bad for Mikel since this is 100% his squad. He approved all these players, knowing a few of them were injury prone. Also let’s not forget him and Edu decide every summer to keep signing defenders and get no forwards, so every game all the pressure is put on the defense to keep a clean sheet, because Arsenal have to play inch perfect football to score a goal from open play since there is only one natural finisher in this entire squad. All these problems are of Mikel’s own making and he was given a pretty lienient budget since he’s walked through the doors.
I disagree. No manager gets rid of a player at the first sign of an injury. They always get another chance or so.
That said, Arteta has actually moved on from all of his injury-prone players fairly quickly. Most may still be at the club, but all are just squad players now, bar Partey. Even he was covered to some extent with Rice coming in last season, and Merino this summer.
Our injury crisis is so bad that even our over stacked defence is struggling for numbers. I never thought could possibly happen given the numbers we had.
I still think Arteta should go if we don’t win silverware this season, but it’s going to be almost impossible unless the injuries massively improve.
Sorry but Liverpool have a better attack
We have a better defense and midfield.
I don’t think they have but they score mire goals. Probably down to the way they play.
More.
They do but when all are players are back fit we will have a better defence
A proven fact
Goals win you games
Defences wins you leagues
Apart from Salah and I would keep Saka over him, I wouldn’t have any of their attackers. Good but not great. Its the way they play that creates chances for them, not necessarily the quality of the attacker.
I think I must agree with you on this one Reggie. The way we play is one reason why we struggle to create chances against teams. Our players, most especially the midfielders are just too slow. The passes were just backwards and sideways most times.
Liverpool play a high tempo, high press kind of football and they constantly lob the ball forward for their attackers to attack when they can’t find their way through compact teams. Not really due to the quality of their attackers but mainly way they play not the sluggish style of play we put on show.
Sincerely, we may need to do away with Arteta if we want to win a title ever again. It’s obvious he lacks what it takes at the moment.
I’m really tired of our backward and side to side passes,
We really need to be more combative in the opponents box and in their half,
Yes Fulham sat deep, that shouldn’t stop us from getting from their defenders,
Arteta needs to stop micro managing, Martineli and Saka,they can’t keep hugging the corners, Havertz needs to be more decisive, Trossard lacks stamina and should be an impact from the bench, Merino, Nwaneri have more to offer,
I believe we need more athletic players.
(Lols)
Funniest comment I’ve had the pleasure of reading over the years on JA ,and thats saying a lot ,thanks for that Lucy ,BTW that wasn’t a compliment……
Laughable 😂
Wow, what an intelligent comment!
Thank you for exposing the type of character you are. It’s great, because everyone gets to see it.
Thanks 👍
Lucy Liverpool have got as many and had as many first teamers out as us. Probably more so.
Reggie
Who in particular are the regular first team players?
Becker, Jota, Tsimkas, konate, Bradley and Chiesa.
I rather think Lucy78 has answered for me – and very well too. Add Chiesa who was an inexpensive punt in the summer due to regular injuries
I don’t understand why you would make out that our injury problems this season haven’t had an enormous impact. It’s not just the length of time out but also the in and out nature of some of those injured. White was in and out and now long term out and joins Tomi. Gabriel has had niggly injuries and Calafiori hasn’t featured regularly either Merino missed a few weeks and Timber has only recently been fit enough to show his worth. Zinchenko out again. Jesus has had time out.
I don’t get your insinuation Sue, Liverpool have had as many or more. They are managing it better. Thats a fact.
I am not insinuating anything Reggie. I am just putting it forward as Lucy78 did, that I and clearly she, didn’t think the injuries faced by Liverpool haven’t had the same impact
It is your opinion that they have managed their injury issues more successfully. I began to wonder about whether I was short changing Liverpool and how they have managed it all. I did a check on both them and Arsenal looking at both clubs’ stats. It is worth looking at how few games some of our players have had in comparison to Liverpool. VVD, TAA, Robertson and Konate have all had more games than Saliba, Gabriel, White and Timber. It is a similar pattern between the midfield and forwards
So I stand by my opinion that the injuries this season have had a material impact
Of course we have been hit by more injury problems than Liverpool although they are now catching up.
Go back a couple of months and we were amongst the most injury hit teams in the PL.
As is often the case Mr Reggie keeps repeating things that he knows nothing about and then insists his view is correct.
The first teamers amongst your list is only Becker and konate. And konate haven’t miss much
Are you kidding?
Did they have Salah missing for 2 months? Have they consistently had to change their back line?
Did they often start with many outfield players not even fit (Chelsea away we had 5 starting not match fit)?
And the list you’ve given us proves it.
Konate only just absent. They’ve only got two long term absentees in Becker and Jota, and although Jota is quality, he’s always in and out of the team because of his fitness issues anyway.
Take really key players out like Salah for 2 months and see how Liverpool fare.
They have had as many or more than us and they are managing it better. Fact!! Im not kidding, maybe thats you.
We didn’t creat any chance from open play in the second….to be fair to Liverpool they have a better Attack…even Cheleashit score more goals than us……
What domination you saw in this game??
Do you think only possession stats means domination???
That’s laughable
Arteta has spent close to billion and still we are relying on set plays
We now have to concentrate on Carabou Cup and FA Cup….
League is already gone and CL is out of our scope
So we have to concentrate on Carabou Cup and FA Cup
He needs to go even if he wins either of the cups. Nothing short of Pl or Cl trophy after being on the job for 5+ years and spending a billion on his squad. We can not make excuses for him especially with the way Liverpool is performing with a new manager.
I agree with you on 5 years point but I wont say Slot is facing the same situation as Arteta when he joined Arsenal
Arteta had terrible squad at his disposal when he joined Arsenal unlike Slot who inherited very good squad from Klopp
But yes after getting 5 years and almost billion to spend, there shouldn’t be any excuses
The squad that Slot inherited, finished behind us two seasons running – what MA inherited has nothing to do with it, as he’s replaced every single player he wanted out and spent over £700,000,000 replacing them.
I think he still has a few to go Ken. KT for example. And isn’t the likes of Tavarez stilll around? A few others on loan? I lost track of the loanees tbh.
Neutral, Arteta signed Tavarez and resigned Tierney on a long term contract, so they are both his players.
I believe all our other loan players are also his players.
Arteta said himself, he wanted to win the league within 5 years. Not a chance, with what we have seen so far.
Not on today’s performance Reggie, but one cannot judge him solely on that – our fully fit squad is a match for anyone in Europe in my opinion.
Not on today’s performance Reggie, but I believe with a fully fit squad, we can match anyone in Europe over two legs… as long as square pegs….!!
Yet to be proved Ken.
As is your opinion regarding him winning it within five years Reggie!!
We lost this game because MA’s selection to start the game was nonsense in my opinion.
He took probably two of our three best players out of their natural positions so far this season in Partey and Timber and weakened both the defence and midfield.
Why have two natural LB’s sitting on the bench, if he doesn’t trust them enough to start the game, why have them there?
It’s bad enough coping with the loss of Gabriel and Califiori at the back anyway.
I see Martinelli is coming in for the usual stick, this time for being offside – have we had a go at anyone else who has strayed offside during a game?
He showed why he should always be selected ahead of Trossard, who should be used as a “super sub”.
How many times have I read that possession means nothing over the last few years, when analising other performances and individuals? The negativity at that point then, must surely apply to today’s performance?
I read above that “the funny people come out of the woodwork”, after today’s result, selections and performance, I suggest that anyone who tries to defend what happened, should crawl back INTO the woodwork!!
In my opinion, this was down to the manager, just as the win against United was down to him – so don’t start the old “can’t wait to knock Arteta” plsybook!!
Watching the spud / chelsea game and the first twenty odd minutes have been more entertaining than The Arsenal produced in 95 minutes.
Agree with most ken but not Martinelli. The kid is lacking real quality. He doesn’t DESERVE to start. Both you and I know, the left is never going to function like the right but the set up dictates, it won’t.
I will ask you this question ken. Odergaard is our number 10, how many times does he join in the build up on the left?
Very rarely Reggie, but doesn’t that mean one of two things?
1. Either Odegaard is playing to instructions.
2. He isn’t the complete player we believe he is.
If Saka and Martinelli / Trossard were switched, what did you think would be the outcome?
Sorry to interrupt, but is there any possibility that the left isn’t as good as the right? Probably a silly question on my part
My question would be Sue, would it be better with Odergaard over there. Would Saka be worse, without Odergaard on hus side?
I don’t know is my honest answer
I presume that the current set up – usually Timber orWhite/Odegaard and Saka has been so successful that why change a successful partnership
Are you suggesting that Odegaard goes more to the left, bolsters them and Saka can manage with another partner?
No Sue, I am saying maybe the right is better because it always has our no 10 on that side. There is no variation and our left has to rely on basically one less player. It has nobody to start attacks from the no 10 position.
I believe he is plato instruction Ken. Which leaves the left without a creative spark. Set up Ken!!!
Playing to
Exactly my point Reggie!!
Saka has Odegaard, White, Timber – what if he moved to the left, who would he have?
Martinelli / Trossard would have Odegaard, White, Timber then, instead of Califiori, Zinchenko, Tomiyasu… there is no way he could form the kind of partnership he has with Odegaard, but I think Martinelli would flourish with a regular player supporting him.
You got there before me Ken1945 and I agree that if Calafiori was fit more often that the left would be better
But the left would not be fed by a no 10 whoever is left back. We are lop sided.
True
So what is your solution?
Ha ha, player Odergaard more central, get the Full backs to run on more and make us less predictable. Oh and get a striker.
Ken
I stand by what i wrote
Ever time the result doesn’t go our way the first port of call is off with the mangers head
Today playing party at rb which imo offered nothing for us going forward was his one bad mistake. TIMBER to date is far suited at RB but has to play LB
I have seen our manager fool foul to over thinking and bad tactics but Today the players have to be held accountable for the slip up
Kiwior after all his praise with his mid week performance was partly at fault for the goal and imo if Gabriel had been in then that never happens today.
Trossard agreed is an impact player but has to start ahead of Martinelli as he looks lost. He has lost his mojo.
Party never once over lapped sake and created no space for him
Our captain looked tired and couldn’t conjure up is normal magic
Havertz looked lost, slow and lazy for being caught off side so many times
I ask9 have said many times that whilst I fully support MA, if we don’t win it this year then we take stock and assess if he should continue to lead us or we move on with a new manager but until that time it is very boring reading comments saying should go now, be sacked.
My stomach feels knotted and i am so frustrated for dropping points today so perhaps I need to crawl back in to my hole and come out again when the dust has settled
Ps
We will be there at the death slogging it out with who ever is still there with us weather it be pool, chelski and city.
Onwards and upwards
Alan, I think Saliba was just as much or more at fault for doing nothing and misreading what he thought Himinez was going to do. Saliba stopped thinking he was going to cut in, Himinez is right footed, he was never doing that.
I used you kind of wording AB and I’m sure, just like you, it wasn’t anything personal.
None taken
I have ever respect for people on here to air there opinions with foundation
I have every respect for fans to come on here when we win lose and draw and accept we played great, average or poor
I accept when our manager is culpable of major blunders and needs to be held accountable
He will live and die by his own sword
I cannot accept fans crawling out and making comments with out substance
After watching the spuds falling apart and chelski taking advantage of there spud like displays. I feel even more sick
Pick ourselves up and Dust
ourselves off and go again mid week
Big 3 points beckoning for us in CL
In the context of this game many of the criticisms are reactionary and based on certain long held biases. Tierney has just returned from injury and historically was never particularly comfortable in Arteta’s system so this clamour that he should have started does not make sense.
Given the players available there was nothing particularly egregious about that starting line up.
What on earth does that mean? What has Bias got to do with us not performing?
We need to sign a top quality Striker in January. It is not rocket science to figure that out.
Can we ask Arteta why he signed Raheem Sterling on loan if he has no intention of starting him in matches?
Top quality players are rarely available in the January transfer window, as their clubs are normally in the fight for the League or a CL spot.
You don’t sign top quality in January.
Comments from many “fans” here are laughable.
The Newcastle fans have a motto they put on their banners:
“We don’t demand a club that wins things, we demand a club that tries”.
Looking at the sense of entitlement from many Arsenal fans, they could do with learning from those Newcastle fans what a real supporter thinks and says.
If you haven’t realised yet how different the football world is these days (and all major sports now, tbh, are just businesses)… then please wake up and smell the coffee. Spending a lot of money gives you a chance to win things, it guarantees nothing.
Do you people really think that Arsenal will sack Arteta if he fails to win the PL or CL? Seriously???
So let’s say Arsenal finish in the top 4 and reach the last 16 or last 8 of the CL. Does a club – especially one that has not won a major European trophy over a very long period of time – sack its manager now? When did that ever happen? Get real.
Top post Neutral 👍
Last year Newcastle fans bombarded talksport, saying they wanted Eddie Howe out because the players weren’t playing for him anymore. They put on their banners then. Newcastle fans are no different to any other fans. They like you to think they are but they are not. Did they not round on Kevin Keegan in a car park to tell him, he didn’t know what he was doing. Get real.
There’s a massive difference between what you describe and the Arsenal “fans” here who EXPECT trophies.
Wanting a manager out because they think they’ve lost the dressing room etc, that’s one thing. Wanting him out because he hasn’t won any shinies for you is another thing altogether.
The reality is that there are no guarantees of anything in the modern game. The pre-season talk of “can Arsenal get City this time” was deluded. Did nobody see Liverpool and Chelsea solving their problems and being a force again? I did – and said so at the time. But nobody listened.
I’ll post a link below which shows why – every club in the PL (and elsewhere) is owned by some rich bugger with aspirations to rule the world with their fantasy football club.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67497377
Shows the ownership of every club in the PL. They all have a money behind them now.
No difference, just the same.
If you can’t see the obvious difference there’s no point in further discussion with you. Pretty much as expected though.
Have the last word if you want – it won’t make you right.
Neutral ALL fans of ALL clubs are the same. The ONLY difference is when they are not expected to challenge for titles. Newcastle supporters have shown their true colours, when they have failed to win a title, on the rare occasions they have been up there. When Howe was struggling last season after money had been invested and he wasn’t doing asxwell as he should, they were rounding on him. He improved towards the end but believe me, they are the same as all supporters.
Neutral, I’m commenting on today’s game, the decisions made and the performance.
So, if MA DOESN’T finish in the top four and last 16 / 8 of the CL do you think that the owners would sack him then?
A “real supporter” doesn’t just shrug his / her shoulders after what we saw today – they converse and comment, as they do at every club.
I suggest you go back and think how the Newcastle fans reacted to Joe Kinnear, Steve Bruce and other managers over the years.
As for a sense of entitlement, that might be the case for some, but there are those of us who have followed the club through thick and thin over many years and I, for one, feel entitled to see our club use the unbelievable talent we have today in a way that makes sense!!
Playing Partey at RB does not do that in my opinion!!
I see you – and people like you – as a different case Ken. In fact, I wasn’t really talking about peope such as yourself, long-term fans through thick and thin, as you say.
You also don’t call for the manager’s head when you think he’s made a mistake. The people who do that, over quite a long period of time, are the ones I’m talking about – they don’t see 2nd place in the PL two years running and a decent CL showing as being “good”, they whinge and moan and demand shiny little trophies, or the manager has to go.
I suspect a lot of them were the kind that get attracted to anything successful, probably became fans around the good years of Wenger and the invincibles etc.
It’s ok if you are a fan of the “champagne” football, that’s what changed my mind about Arsenal, but the kind of person who lives miles from North London and just signed up for the good times and celebrations… they really annoy me with their endless whining, talking absolute drivel – as if they know more than the manager who’s taken the club from where it was 5 years ago to challenging for major trophies.
They go quiet when Arsenal win well, they leap out with the crap in this thread when Arsenal doesn’t do so well – never giving opponents any credit either – Fulham are a good side this season. It’s tiresome tbh – sometimes, they get too annoying and I have to say something.
Bullcrap!
We have never won the CL, we haven’t won the league in 21 years, we were there when we went 9 years without any kind of trophy and we are still here today.
If trophies do not matter why Wenger had to go and Emery fired? If fans are to be content with any kind of results why do managers get fired left, right and center on a regular basis?
And who has asked for Arteta to get fired today or tomorrow or next week? Who? Who? Point me to the exact comment.
I don’t believe that’s the exact premise of their comment. And in regards to your last paragraph, look up.
He is accusing anyone who is not happy with Arteta failures of glory hunting.
And he shows discrimination against international supporters.
Don’t talk to me about premise when his post is plain and obvious. If I have to live in London to be Arsenal supporter then the Premier League should have kept it in England and not go international.
HH, where did he show discrimination against international fans/supporters ? I’ve re-read his post a few times, and have failed to see it. Perhaps you could kindly point me to your allegation.
👍
Exactly. Thank you Ralph.
I won’t waste time responding to people who don’t read and properly understand what’s been written.
Wenger was sacked because he didn’t want to have a DoF, nothing to do with a lack of trophies.
Neutral you now are talking BS and you are making things up about supporters, that you have no idea about. Discussion, for and against is all part of football on these sites across every team. And there is nothing I HATE more than anything is this fairweather supporter crap. Everyone has opinions and that has nothing to do with anyone being a model supporter or not. Stop talking rubbish. We ALL have opinions and we are ALL supporters. OF ARSENAL!!!!!
And Ken holds the manager to account, just like most normal people do. Because like a few of us, we HAVE been through thick and thin. But what we all know is Arsenal should be winning leagues and possibly CLs because we are a big club. We have also had managers in the past that have guided us to th holy grail. The set up at the moment means the manager of Arsenal football club has the chance to do the same because he is/has been supported to do so. He should be accountable.
Utter nonsense, as ever. Of course I have an idea about so-called “supporters” based on what they write here.
Surely that must be completely bleedin’ obvious, even to you?
Your posts are usually so illogical it’s not worth responding – except when you descend to direct personal insults, as you’ve done above.
the Partey experiment as RB is really a problem but as stubborn as Arteta is we have to put up with it since fans know nothing and the manager knows it all. We need Partey on midfield as he is the best player we have in that position along with Rice.
Merino is not making much of a difference and as far as Martinelli goes or Jesus it is time to sell them and fund a striker purchase Martinelli has been going backwards for a while and whether it is him or the manager not helping him improve is irrelevant. We barely get a contribution from him or Jesus. We should have bought Neto but instead we got more Chelsea rejects. Amazing but the insanity of doing same things at this club and expecting different results is mind boggling.
Arteta has copied MC and Pep and as you can see this type of football is starting to get stagnate.
Maresca is far more adapt to attacking entertaining football with results. I think Chelsea if not this year are back at winning titles.
Frustrating we let the last 2 years slip without a trophy!!!
This is why I believe we won’t win the title. Yes we’ll have a good run of results through the season, but unfortunately having to rely on results in other games going our way enough times during the season is highly unlikely.
Coupled with that, we need to keep winning for it to even matter anyway. And lets face it, that’s not going to happen realistically is it.
A few words on the selection and formation of the team today. While I didn’t have a problem with the team selection apart from one player and that player was Tierney, he should have started.
That would have allowed Timber to stay at right back where he’s been superb I think you’ll all agree. And it would have meant that Partey could have been his usual combative self in his best and preferred position in midfield.
Why move Timber when you’ve got a quality left back in Tierney on the bench. Yes he might struggle with the inverted left back tag.
Well then just play him as an actual left back. I know its a radical call on my part, but if it went wrong, you could all blame me.
Come on Arteta, play the players that are in form in their positions. And don’t change unless you absolutely have to, which in todays case you didn’t need to.
Mistake after mistake with team selection is costing us dear.
Blame you……. Like who are you?
Chronicle,
I’m no one of importance concerning the club. What I said was just a little joke, but I guess some people have had a sense of humour bypass. What did I need to leave a smiley emoji for you to work it out. (Sorry my bad).😂🤣. Is that okay.👍
So Derek, you would change the way the team plays just to fit in one player ?
HD, are you saying that the way we played today, is the way we’ve played all season then?
Ken, playing with an inverted Fullback, yes.
I didn’t ask about a specific position though. I asked about our performance as a whole.
In your opinion, is Partey an inverted fullback?
Did moving him to the RB position weaken the midfield?
Why have Tierney on the bench, if he can’t play the inverted LB role?
Sorry Ken, I misunderstood your post. I would say we’ve played like today against a couple of teams this season who have played with a low block, Man Utd and Bournemouth spring to mind.
Partey has been used as a inverted FB on previous occasions, as you know. I wouldn’t say moving him today weakened us, as we weren’t really troubled in midfield.
KT may well have been on the bench in case Kiwior needed to be replaced, as he does play there for Scotland.
But we have played well with partey at fullback earlier this season – arteta had injuries at left back and right back. Realistically, he had to choose from timber or partey at RB, and timber, Tierney or Lewis-Skelly at LB. We don’t know what condition the latter two are in – both have had injuries recently – so to be so firm in suggesting that arteta made a mistake in leaving them out is a bit OTT, imo.
If Tierney is fully fit and ready to play the full game, it’s a toss up for me between him and partey – partey played well for us earlier in the season, but it’s not his best position, and Fulham may have offered different threats to those he encountered before, whereas Tierney has never really fit in when arteta’s played him, for whatever reason.
In short, maybe arteta got it wrong with the selection of fullbacks, but maybe that was the best selection he could make – we don’t know.
And I do think it’s fair to say arteta got something wrong because we didn’t win and I refuse to believe we couldn’t have played better, just not sure it’s this.
Herr Drier,
Well the way we played today really worked didn’t it.
To play an actual left back in Tierney, wouldn’t have affected the team much in the way that they played.
But what it would have done is allowed Timber and Partey to have played in the positions where they’ve been performing consistently well in recent games.
I would disagree, seeing as we haven’t played with an actual LB for quite a few seasons.
HD, Injuries seemed to have something to do with it as well.
That was the point in buying versatile players – to deal with injuries in this way, moving the pieces around the chessboard to deal with such issues.
And the evidence shows that Fulham are a good side, as results and league standings clearly show. People should give more credit to opponents, Arsenal has no God-given right to win anything – and you can only play as well as your opponents allow you to play.
Neutral, I concur with everything in your post.
The same team dispatched by both City and Liverpool without any noise?
Imagine, Liverpool fans saying the exact thing you just wrote above. Imagine them saying they don’t have any God given right to defeat Fulham?
Now, that is mediocre mentality. Not believing you have the right based on your capabilities, to defeat any team will never lead to any success.
I now understand why you’ll be fine with Arsenal just competing and not actually winning anything.
Tell me Twinlights, when did Liverpool play Fulham in the PL this season ? What was the score ?
As for Man City, they beat Fulham by the odd goal in five iirc.
No team has a divine to win any game. If that was the case, then Liverpool wouldn’t have lost at home to Nottingham Forest.
HD
It wasn’t a scintillating game but there were clear chances made and the offside was the opposite of the icing on the cake – more like a flat pancake.
I’m just surprised at the sheer level of the complaints being posted after a draw. The recent high scoring wins count for nothing it seems. Fulham are not mugs. I thought we’d have a close win but it shows how much closer the league is these days (in terms of competitiveness)
Twinlights, you would be absolutely correct that I’d be fine with Arsenal competing but not winning anything.
You say that as if there’s something wrong with it – I don’t think there is. Hoping for good things (such as winning trophies) seems to me a better way to live than expecting them.
Not sure there Derek
We don’t know if Tierney is on form because Arteta doesn’t use him. My major concern is that we have, in Calafiori, another defender with injury issues. Whilst Zinchenko isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, it’s a position he knows well – and he was injured too!
Exactly. There are injuries, versatile players got moved around. Fulham are no mugs.
I struggle with the pseudo-logic some fans come up with that somehow this all adds up to a great failure of Arteta’s – and he has to go.
I get the feeling Tireney is only there because the loans didn’t work out and they couldn’t park him anywhere else. He’s not really part of the plans atm, just another sunk cost waiting to be moved on.
Overall, there’s still work to do in the phases of rebuilding the club where the old guard are moved on. Still some loanees on long contracts to divest.
Neutral, my feeling is that the club wants to loan KT in January, so they don’t want to risk him getting another injury this month. I might be wrong, we’ll see.
That could well be the case of course, but why put him on the bench?. Haven’t we got any other players who would benefit from being part of the first team squad?
Just sitting on the bench will not increase his value, in fact the opposite in my opinion.
I do recognise the point Neutral has made about Fulham and their performance, along with the injuries we have – but both of these does not excuse the way we were set up and how that affected our performance.
ken1945
Can I ask what Arteta should do with Tierney if he’s not going to use him? I beg to differ that having him on the bench is disadvantageous. It at least shows he’s available and not in the medical room – or forgotten
Sue, he hasn’t been forgotten, he has been shunned.
Conversely David, some fans will not accept that MA has done anything wrong!!
Football logic says that there has never been a manager who hasn’t made a mistake, likewise players.
MA had two versatile LB’s on the bench, presumably both fit and ready to go… a reasonable assumption I suggest.
MA decided to move two of our best performers this season, square pegs is the description I would use, from their positions of strength into round holes, while ignoring those two LB’s.
Now, as manager, that’s his decision to make and when it proves successful he deserves all the accolades he receives and MA has, rightly, had many such moments these last two seasons.
But when it goes wrong, aren’t we allowed to vent our frustrations at him?
After all, it’s not the first time he’s used Partey at RB, along with Gabriel and, only the most biased fan would say it was successful.
Yet he did it again today, when he didn’t have too, remember those two LB’s on the bench?
It resulted in us being ineffectual, despite having so much possession, hence we dropped two points.
That’s my opinion and you have yours.
What I do not understand is why you think ANY Arsenal fan wants Mikel Arteta to fail?
What would be the point?
We have seen the likes of United and the spuds changing managers and getting precisely nowhere, so I would like you to give me any reason why any Arsenal supporter would want MA to fail?
“After all, it’s not the first time he’s used Partey at RB, along with Gabriel and, only the most biased fan would say it was successful.”
I would say it has been successful at times earlier this season. When arteta first put him at RB a year or so ago, it was dreadful – not sure why, it almost looked like partey didn’t want to do it – but it has worked and been successful in games this season. It’s not that he can’t do it.
SueP, having a player on the bench, with, it’s been suggested, no intention of actually playing him doesn’t inspire confidence for any suitors, especially if they can’t see him playing.
Are we to believe that there are no other players at the club who MA and Per see as worthy of first team squad experience?
If that’s the case, we, as a club, are in serious trouble.
What to do with Tierney?
I suggest we play him, after all, he’s being paid to do just that, he’s an experienced international player and we have a CL match coming up this week and a PL game against Everton.. If our injuries don’t improve for these games, then surely it makes sense to play Timber at RB, Partey in midfield and Tierney at LB…. especially as we know the result of doing the opposite against Fulham.
Here’s a question SueP and no peeping!!!
Can you name our complete bench for today’s game and the manure game, apart from Tierney?
I most definitely can’t and that would suggest, for me at least, being a bench warmer doesn’t mean it shows availability.
Ken1945
Is that really an answer to my question? He doesn’t play (shunned) but is in the shop window by virtue of being on the bench. If not there, then where?
I’ve said play him – that’s the way to showcase a player, not having him on the bench twiddling his thumbs.
He’s fit and ready – we have a problem at LB – he’s a LB – end of the problem.
As I said, being on the bench, doesn’t highlight any player in a positive light, especially when said players position is being filled by changing around other players to fill that position.
My point about naming our bench surely strengthens that opinion?
With two games coming up in the next six days and, if our injuries do not improve, the opportunity to play him is obvious and I don’t know how to answer you any clearer than that I’m afraid.
👍Ken.
You have more than made your point being sure he would be a sound starter. Hopefully for you Ken 1945 you will get your chance to see him get his chance and succeed. For my 2 Bob’s worth putting Tierney into the fray, considering the fact that he hasn’t played for so long might actually have been the least good option. Just an opinion
That’s what this site is all about SueP. opinions.. and I have learnt that we all have them.
Your probably right about Tierney, but who really knows?
One thing’s for sure, I wouldn’t use his injuries as a reason to leave him out – with Califiori, Tomiyasu and Zinchenko also becoming crocks to much for comfort, our LB position seems to have a curse around it!!
HD posted above that he thinks the idea of keeping him in cotton wool is to keep him in one piece so as to loan him in January.
It’s certainly possible. As I said in a reply, I’m not so sure there’s a market for a player who’s been sitting on the bench and injured for so long, might be better to play him a bit and see if he can interest a few clubs with a decent performance or two.
Eitehr way, it seems he’s surplus to requirements and is only in the Arsenal squad because they couldn’t sell hom or park him on loan in the off-season.
Ken, I did reply to you on another that maybe KT was on the bench in case Kiwior needed to be replaced.
I’m catching up HD – did you reply to my question in another article about what you thought was more beneficial to the club?
Regular CL qualification or beating manure four times in a row?
Also, we’re we known as the bank of England due to way the club was run?
Sorry if you have replied, but I would like to know your views and I do see your point regarding Kiwior.
Not sure if I did reply to you Ken. Qualifying for the CL of course is more important, but the article was about Mikel’s great record against Man Utd, and my initial post was about that. Then a certain poster on here, HH, chimed in about the previous manager.
Regarding being known as the Bank of England club, iirc, that was way back in the 1930’s.
HD, you may be right. The contra view would perhaps say that to be loaned he’d need to be seen playing (and not getting injured), in view of his track record.
I suspect MA took the Fulham game more seriously than many fans did – and perhaps KT was not to be trusted in such a fixture. In many ways, he seems to be regarded as part of a phase of the rebuild project that is now past.
The pseudo-logic is due to certain fixations and a desire to ensure that “blame” is directed towards Arteta. It is also related to the sense of entitlement that has been highlighted.
Naturally, Arteta would not prefer to use Partey at RB but people still can’t get into their heads that we have a lot of injury problems at FB. This is where the versatility of certain players comes in as you have so clearly pointed out.
Most of the highly critical have generally been anti-Arteta so it is unlikely that there would be any kind of balanced assessment after we have dropped points.
David, he chose to be manager, EVERY manager of every team gets the blame. Thats what they get paid millions of pounds for!!!!!
I understand that this is how some fans justify irrationality. This argument that Tierney should have been a preferred option despite his injuries and limited appearances is a classic.
No it isn’t, it is an opinion!!!!!!!
It’s an opinion, but strange to see how strongly people hold it when we have no idea what KT’s current condition is.
But we do Davi, as MA has included him in the first team squad for the last two or three games…. unless you believe MA would include an unfit player in said games?
He is on tge bench, thats his condition. Really!!!!!
And when was the last time you saw him play?
Years ago. Why is he on the bench?
I don’t know – if he wasn’t fully fit, who else would you have put on the bench? Being on the bench doesn’t mean a player is fully fit – we put odegaard on the bench when not fully fit. Maybe just needed another body and he’d rather have a half fit Tierney to cover for an emergency than another youth player. I’m not the one speaking with certainty on something I don’t know about.
But you are!
The only thing I’m sure about it that neither of us knows how fit and ready Tierney was to play after many months out
It’s an opinion that doesn’t make much sense given Tierney’s history and injury record. We know Timber can play solidly as a LB whilst Tierney hasn’t played for us for a long time. Why would you gamble on Tierney? It seems that there is a fixed belief that some have about Tierney. As others have also pointed out we don’t know Tierney’s fitness level at this point. The fact that he can make the bench does not mean that he is ready to play a whole match.
Conversely David, some fans will not accept that MA has done anything wrong!!
Football logic says that there has never been a manager who hasn’t made a mistake, likewise players.
MA had two versatile LB’s on the bench, presumably both fit and ready to go… a reasonable assumption I suggest.
MA decided to move two of our best performers this season, square pegs is the description I would use, from their positions of strength into round holes, while ignoring those two LB’s.
Now, as manager, that’s his decision to make and when it proves successful he deserves all the accolades he receives and MA has, rightly, had many such moments these last two seasons.
But when it goes wrong, aren’t we allowed to vent our frustrations at him?
After all, it’s not the first time he’s used Partey at RB, along with Gabriel and, only the most biased fan would say it was successful.
Yet he did it again today, when he didn’t have too, remember those two LB’s on the bench?
It resulted in us being ineffectual, despite having so much possession, hence we dropped two points.
That’s my opinion and you have yours.
What I do not understand is why you think ANY Arsenal fan wants Mikel Arteta to fail?
What would be the point?
We have seen the likes of United and the spuds changing managers and getting precisely nowhere, so I would like you to give me any reason why any Arsenal supporter would want MA to fail?
Correct Ken👍
Ken, I’m not sure people are saying MA has “never” done “anything” wrong.
Mistakes are made, of course – the issues around MA are about much more than “he’s done something wrong”, they always come with a corollary, implicit or explict “…so he should be sacked”.
I’d just add that I don;t think anyone posting on a fan site is in a position to say if something is a mistake or just a valid choice that didn’t work out as hoped for, or even something that was forced due to injuries etc.
No, we are not in a position to know all the ins and outs regarding players Neutral, that’s why I try to stress it’s a personal opinion – every single post on JA is one.
I’ll defend MA when I think he’s getting stick that’s not warranted, such as our own fans moaning because we scored two goals from corners – what a load of BS!!
But, in my opinion, his team selection against a very well organised Fulham side was wrong and I felt I needed to say that…. no need to go into details, as we know what they are.
But what happened next is completely bonkers!!
Accusations that I want MA to fail and I’m always looking for a reason to have a go at him!!
Just plain stupidity that makes my blood boil with indignation.
Some know it all, telling me that I want my club to fail because I don’t like the manager!!
Not once, since Mikel Arteta has been back at the club, have I asked for his resignation.
I’ve criticised him sometimes, just as I have criticised all our managers going right back to George Swindon.
I’m accused of defending AW and defending him, but I wrote an article for JA, giving, if I remember correctly, ten examples of his mistakes – how I would love to see the same kind of balanced view from those such as David, Loose Cannon, Vamos etc…. rant over, making myself a nice cup of tea now and getting ready for the inevitable replies of being anti Arteta 😡😡😡 Mind you, certain people never back up their views when asked to anyway, so why am I bothering with JA in the first place I really don’t know ❓❓❓
Ken, it has to be said, people who call people anti Arteta are not in the real world. Me ( and many others on here ) are Arsenal fans, not Arteta fans. Arteta is paid to do a job (handsomely) for Arsenal. If he is a success, then he deserves, from all of us the plaudits because he (or Fred Bloggs) has done their JOB! BUT it also goes the other way. If Arteta (or Fred Bloggs) is not getting the best out of the situation. He should be made accountable. That is no different to any club or any manager in any walk of life. If Arteta wins the League or CL this season, he will be showered with praise because he will have deserved it. I don’t care what his name is. I am an Arsenal supporter.
Can you name the last manager to won the champions League for us? To me Arsene Wenger is the most successful manager we’ve had and he won zero champions League and 4 league titles in two decades . But I still celebrate him as the best not just for Arsenal.
Ken, I don’t read all that’s written here, but from what I’ve seen I don’t see you personally as being accused of being anti-Arteta.
As I said above, there’s a world of difference between what you say and the people who are in that anti-Arteta camp, who criticise – and then go on to say the manager should go.
Everything written is opinion, yes, but not everything that is written is expressed as opinion. There are posters here who express their views as if they are facts. They also shout down and insult other posters who happen to disagree with them – which I find bizarre, since that particular cohort are usually illogical.
I have lots of periods of time where I don’t read anything here – it’s only worthwhile if the posters are reasonable and interesting. Some of HD’s knowledge of the club’s history is interesting and your accounts of match day for example.
When it becomes a shouting match of amateurs demanding that a professional is sacked, based on their tiny level of knowledge, comparatively speaking… it’s not what people come here for. And the sense of entitlement that often goes with their drivel is hard to stomach as well.
You’ve probably reminded me that it’s a good time for me to take a break from here (having just got back from one!🤣)
Neutral, you have just described football in a nutshell. Small minded thickos ARE the ones that get professional managers sacked. What any of that has to do with anti Arteta BS or drawing against Fulham, i don’t know.
Neutral, why take a break?
Your views and opinions are creating lots of replies and discussions.
Perhaps my friend David will dispute your opinion that I’m not one of those anti Arteta people he’s convinced want him out of the club?
Neutral, then why have him on the bench.
Sue,
Your right, we don’t know if Tierney’s on form. But we’ll never find out from the bench will we.
As I’ve said before, if your on the bench your fit to play. If your not, then what are you doing on the bench in the first place.
And he’ll only get in form with game time.
Derek
My overriding view of the game was that it was in large parts, plenty of possession, slow build up and therefore, not much of a spectacle with the final third being a damp squib. We looked comfortably confident prior to Fulham scoring a well taken goal. As the commentator said, we were smothering them but had no bite. Can we blame the absence of a proper left back for the team being unable to capitalise on so much possession?
The set piece goal really had a positive influence on the team. Opportunities did exist but the finishing was dire – only made worse that a “perfectly” good goal was wiped off because of a mistake by Martinelli. Both Partey and Jesus were in a good place to finish. That summed up the match. Not great but nothing like as bad as the multitude of posts make out. Well not to me anyway
Sue,
While I hear what your saying, in my mind there was no need to move Timber and Partey from there preferred position’s where they’ve been playing well.
I’m just saying that with Tierney on the bench, there was no need for Arteta to tinkle as he did.
Derek
I hope you meant tinker 😁
Watching the way we played SueP, I think we ALL needed a tinkle or two 😂😂
Ken1945,
Stop it, I almost had an accident myself there.😂🤣👍
Sorry Sue,
My bad, and yes your right I did mean tinker.
I have no interest in Arteta’s toilet habits.😂🤣👍
Very rarely Reggie, but doesn’t that mean one of two things?
1. Either Odegaard is playing to instructions.
2. He isn’t the complete player we believe he is.
If Saka and Martinelli / Trossard were switched, what did you think would be the outcome?
What’s Gabriel Jesus still doing in our club ? And Martinelli. They both offer us nothing to be honest. We need Someone in the mould of Palmer or even Neto, proper wingers .
Chelsea is playing much better football than us
And they are in this tittle race
Not we
Yup made fun of them last season now they’re better than us
Wow Kedar, righting us off this early in the season 😳
With these kinds of performances, we are not gonna make it for sure
Look at Liverpool and Chelsea
They buzzing right now for this tittle
Liverpool will have to squeeze in their postponed game into what may well turn into a fixture congested season.
As for Chelsea, they could well drop off later in the season. They’re are due a drop in form.
They won’t win the league they have a ex Pep Guadiola assistant as a manager as their manager.🤣
Assistant manager
He is obviously the real deal my friend.
They are above us now so their prospects are
significantly better as they have ability to score
and cover in every position.
You don’t do irony then🤣
The only consolation after todays game is to know that good old Tottenham will keep up our spirits, having lost a 2 goal lead.🤣😂👍
I will say though, I said in a piece the other day on here, that Chelsea are dangerous floaters and that they could cause problems to the title chasing teams, but that I thought it maybe a bit early for them to challenge.
As the games and weeks tick by, I’m starting to question my theory on that one. Chelsea are beginning to look a real threat.
Anyone else agree.
I also said it last week. They haven’t used a player in the prem over 25. They can get much better. But their manager is inexperienced.
Of course Chelsea are a threat. I’ve said that for a long time, since pre-season when people were talking about Arsenal or City – ignoring the possibility that either/both of Liverpool and Chelsea would sort themselves out.
Man Utd will be back at some point as well. Newcastle, Villa and others will improve one way or another, in fact all of them…
The list I posted in a link above shows the ownership of all PL clubs. They all have rich owners who will be looking to learn from any mistakes and improve their club’s standing. There’s no guarantees of anything nowadays – not even with money, since every club has a fair bit of money behind them.
As Wenger said quite a long time ago now, the days of a club’s standing being determined by their history of on-field success over time… are gone. Given a few years and the right approach, any club could win anything.
With all that money flying about, it will be down to the best manager.
It often comes down to the decisions the officials make.
Chalk off the Gordon goal at Newcastle last season and 2 more points and an improved GD would (theoretically) make Arsenal champions.
Things might well have panned out differently of course from that point forwards, but it just goes to show that when things are tight, in football it’s the officials who are the deciding factor…
They shouldn’t be of course – other sports don’t have this problem.
No, it ultimately comes down to the manager.
Neutral,
Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
If the referee hadn’t fallen for Pire’s dive v Portsmouth in out invincible season, we wouldn’t be the invincible’s.
As I said, Shoulda woulda, coulda.
I see you missed the point, Derek.
Your example was merely another situation that supports my point.
No offence, but you really should learn to use apostrophes.
Neutral,
What doe’s apostrophe mean.🤣😂😁👍
Now I get your obsession with compromised officiating.
Can’t blame Martinelli. He is a striker or right winger who is forced to play left wing to accommodate Saka who is a left winger. Even if we are to buy a striker not much will change as inverted wingers we use play to score than create opportunities for strikers the way Salah and CR7 plays. The system is not good for strikers. Arteta needs to consider swapping Saka and Martinelli. Arteta needs to go as he commits the same mistake losing us crucial points. Last season we lost points when he shifted Partey to right back and having the left back drift into midfield. The goal could have been prevented if Timber had not ventured into midfield.
The last transfer window has been a disaster for us. All we needed was striker like Isak and then keep the rest of the team ad it was. No need for Calafiori and Merino. IMO we need a playmaker who can stretch the opposition like Palmer and prime KDB did.
Martinelli gave an interview when he first signed for us in which he said that he’s a Left Winger who sometimes has played as a CF.
Saka needs to stay on the Right Wing, as that’s where he’s the most dangerous. The days of a winger playing on their natural side of the pitch are long, long gone.
No, he is not.
Martin is an inverted winger like Saka.
Saka is left footed playing on the right, and Martin is right footed playing on the left, He is just not very good at it right now.
@ Aaron I beg to differ Saka only started playing right wing with Arteta and Martinelli right wing with Arteta. Teams still use wingers the traditional way to good effect. Inverted wingers never support strikers. That’s why Liverpool will never have a striker outscoring Salah as he rarely crosses the ball but shoots himself. Why should the coach be so rigid with systems even during a game when he sees that it’s not working. Walcott played right wing with his right foot to very good effect. If Jimenez was left footed Saliba would have managed to close him down. Inverted wingers slow down games that’s why teams no longer really score on the break. Football is not as exciting as it used to be because of too many changes by the coaches.
Simba:
There is no need for baby feeding in football as it does not yield the best results, generally.
I would expect a team manager to pick two inverted wingers who could each get 20 goals with 6 assists over two wingers who each score about 5 goals and getting 12 assists.
Two inverted wingers plus a centre forward yields better scoring output than two wingers with a striker.
I would also like my attacking midfielder scoring 15 from open play and assisting 9 over one who scores 7 and gets 13 assists.
Playing with inverted wingers doesn’t stop Haaland scoring often neither has it stopped Lewandowski being magical.
Players goof sometimes but quality is quality.
Thierry Henry be referred to as a striker but he was banging goal after goal from seemingly the inverted winger role stuff and had lots of assists too. Who was he assisting?
Salah is quality. Compare Salah with Firminho for any reason and I will opine that the later was massively overrated.
Aubameyang was shifted to the wings to allow Martinelli play the strikers role. What happened?
Hype could be an evil thing.
The earlier people admit Martinelli and many others are blatantly overrated in some ways the better for them.
By the way:
It could pass for a sin comparing Walcott to Martinelli just for being Arsenal players.
Aaron, you are wrong. Martinelli played on the Left Wing for Ituano in Brazil.
Aaron, you obviously never read his interview. He played on the LW for his club in Brazil, and also on the odd occasion as a CF. Even under Emery he played on the LW.
of course you can blame Martinelli. Whether it is the instruction he gets or not he seems unable to go by opponents see: Ahmad from MU blowing by people on sheer speed or Neto . Or even he comes inside it is either a bad pass or loosing possession Contrast that with Sanchos goal for Chelsea today.
Beside that the offside call today it is not the first time he looks across an entire line and gets offside.
the kid has lost any confidence he had and or gets no real coaching..
The reshuffle of the back four did not help today. However, I think we were poor up front. If neither Saka or Odegaard set the world a light, there is nothing coming from Trossard, Martinelli and Havertz. Yes, all three players can have their moments, but generally they are not pulling their weight when it comes to making things happen. We need a left winger and a striker. Nwaneri will progress to cover for Odegaard, but Trossard, Jesus and Martinelli are simply not good enough. We stick with average performing players far too long. Nketiah, Holding, Chambers, Niles, and probably Nelson too, for example. We still need to raise the level of quality in the squad in the attacking realm of the team options.
I wish to state that Liverpool will not win the league. They are early pace setters who will fall off. The title is going to be fought for by four teams: Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man city. Arsenal has been very unfortunate with injuries butvas long as it keeps within touching distance of the title, there is still chance. One only has to see the players we are missing to realise the cause of our inconsistency. Remember last year we lost this fixture but today we got a draw without two of our best defenders.
My only complaint about Arteta is appeasement of some players who have failed to deliver and not knowing who to substitute at what stage. This game needed to start with Martinelli because of his speed. Also Havertz should not have been substituted. By now Arteta should have realised that Gabriel is past his best and can’t change a game for us. If we had Gabriel and Calafiori, this would have been a different game. Equally, if Merino had played left back and Timber remained on the right results would have been different. Our midfield was weakened by Partey’s removal from there. These are lessons which Arteta should learn and stop tinkering with his players.
It is not too late to go on a roll and soon we shall. In fact today was marred by the absence of Gabriel and Calafiori. Even one of them would have made a difference.
But Liverpool have been just as unfortunate with injuries. They have 6 first team players out!!!!!!!
What !
Liverpool will not win the league then you go on and say they will contest the league .
Make your mind up .
DK, a team can contest for the League but not win it, as we have proved in the previous 2 seasons.
Another blown opportunity.
Another draw.
Another vaR decision that went against us.
Another new lineup.
We don’t buy many new players, but retreads, been going on forever.
New means new, not chav, spud, $h*tY or manure cast offs who are past the used date.
Need some breaks simple as that.
Season is probably gone.
Unreal to think chavs are within a shout.
Not expecting anything further this year unless Mikel goes all in in CL with our best squad, while rotating heavily in other Cups games and regular season games, but that is a fantasy as Mikel won’t do that.
It will be a miracle if AFC win anything big this year!
Prem league is over we can’t win it every time Arsenal get a opportunity to put the the pressure on they bottle it also playing Partly right back is a joke Tierney must be fit to be in the squad so he should start at left back and Timber at right back Partly is wasted there and should be in his natural position to late now tittle over and no chance of champions league so just fa cup and efl cup to play for!
Why did VAR go against us? He was offside. It followed the rule of offside. It wasn’t a goal.
vaR is a travesty to the game of futbol.
Run by complete, ignorant, oblivious and corrupt dunces.
3 red cards for kicking the ball, we will never see it again-ever.
vaR not needed, some clown calls it in from 100 miles away to have a vaR check.
What phase of the game is offsides anyway?
1-4??
Last year called back goal as Ode fouled someone on the halfway line, was not even a foul.
Tired, so tired of the crap the fA allows, and the most idiotic association of all time runs free and clear with ZERO accountability.
WHAT!!!!
Aaron:
Don’t be too disappointed.
VAR is needed.
While it may not be used to good effect ( as expected ) it shows in simpler form that the game is criminally organized.
One should act accordingly.
Without VAR, one might wishfully think frequent terrible officiating anomalies are merely down to unintended human flaws, but . . .
You can just while watching a game on tv, observe the flow, pattern of positioning and whistling by the ref, watch how replays are presented or not, listen to the commentators ( most times they are talking rubbish, sometimes stats or just calling player names from one particular team ) . . .
Bet accordingly, if you indulge in that.
Dudes are out to make money – you should, too.
VAR is helping narrow the cheating margin anyways.
At least one can ask:
why wasn’t this or that given a VAR review; what was the other not?
And you should have the answers, already, anyways.
* * * please note * * *
It is same cartel running VAR, referees, linesmen, fourth and many other officials with none officials.
Dudes are out to make money.
You should, too.
And about the FA having zero accountability, whatsoever . . .
I don’t think so.
I think they are accountable to the government.
😉
Gabriel Jesus is the one I meant has passed his best.
Arsenal still has a lot of advantages in the EPL. Other than Man U and Liverpool, it has played all rivals away from home. This means it has a lot of chance to get the better of its rivals. Also, its injured players will soon be back. Lastly there are still 23 games to play which translate to 98 points. What has so far been played amounts to 45 points, less than half what is left! So, why should anyone be despondent?
23 games would be 69 possible points? Is 98 the maximum we could get from now?
My view from what I saw was that we started very confidently, as you’d expect given our recent, but Fulham were steeled and completely ready for our setup – credit to their manager for that.
The big criticism for me is that we had no answer to their tactical display – they largely had our number defensively and were better at finding ways to counter attack than most others we’ve faced. Arteta does take the blame – sometimes he seems unable to adapt and find the answer in games like these.
Draw was a fair result, though we nearly nicked it at the end.
That Davi, is a fair and reasonable comment.
It is easy to blame Arteta, but I have yet to see a compelling argument for an alternative approach. Instead we have the clamour for LB who has not played this season or another who is inexperienced as if these would have guaranteed a better performance or outcome.
Fulham were efficient with scoring the one real chance they had but that was all from their perspective.
As for Arsenal we have limited creative options and still need more firepower up front.
I think the lb thing is silly, but arteta couldn’t find a way to change things in our favour – I don’t know the answer, but if arteta is consistently unable to react to stubborn opponents, something is wrong. Players put in the effort today, so you can’t really blame them too much – arteta is the man in charge, and if we’re missing firepower and creativity, who else’s fault is that after 5 years?
So David, with Fulham playing with one striker, Why didn’t Arteta do something like play 3 at the back, we had three CBs. Partey could still play in midfield. It was obvious early on Fulham could not get out. We could easily have pushed another player into midfield. We could have changed shape at any time. But we don’t. We move people about, unbalance the team and bog ourselves down. Partey at RB has not really worked in the past. Why should it work now. He isn’t a RB. He is our best midfielder.
You are asking for another level of complexity to be added to an already difficult situation.
This was yet another reshuffling of the back four due to injuries. This was probably the 8th different combination of defenders Arteta has had to use this season. Asking the team to now play in a different system would be another gamble.
It is also not true to state that Partey hasn’t worked at RB. He has played there reasonably well even though it is not his best position.
No i am not.
Playing a midfielder RB, a RB left back, a struggling CB, a LB on the bench, inverted RB, inverted LB , inverted wingers and no n09 is creating complexity.
Ohhhh yes you are.
Is it panto season again?
Your turn 🙂
😏
Is that the best you can do?
Is there some rule that we need to come up with an alternative or a solution, in order to identify something is wrong or someone is at fault?
👍
No one is claiming that playing a natural LB in that position would win the game.
What is being suggested, is that IF that scenario had occurred, then our RB position wouldn’t have been changed and neither would our midfield…. leading some of us to give an opinion that this would have seen a better outcome.
Of course, we’ll never know, it’s only an opinion after all, but what is a fact, is that we dropped two points, using the line up MA chose to go with.
Ken, what some of us level headed people are saying is. Sort the problem that has been created ie replace the LB with another player. NOT change the team around and play numerous players completely out of their best positions. Because that makes the team worse. Why can some people NOT see that. Or maybe they don’t want to because that would be treason.🤣
It may not have been different David,
But with Timber and Partey in their preferred positions and the way they’ve both been playing. it may well have been a different outcome.
If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
Arsenal missed 4 easy chances. 2 by Partey from the corners, one by Rice from open play and another by Jeus.
Hi all. I’m a Fulham fan. Just read through most of your comments and the ones that struck me as most significant were about Odegaard. I think he’s a magnificent player (usually). Some of you called him a number 10, surely that’s his job and where he should be. I’m glad he wasn’t today. Very odd.
We can’t continue to hope for other teams to take points away from the likes of liverpool for us to gain points.
We get the opportunities and don’t take advantage. The whole team looked so flat
It seems like Arteta has this ceiling where he can’t cross the line. Very competitive but can’t seem to see it through to the end.
And where are all these old posters that we have not heard from since about 2021/22 crawling out from. I thought they abandoned the club.
😊
(Lols)
DK – How strange that not one single name is given when accusing others of something – just a nonsensical sweep of a brush that is, supposedly, meant to tar and feather others.
By the way, what does (Lois) mean?
I’m trying to keep up with this modern jingo!! 😂😂
Ken, Lol means Laugh out loud. Lois is a Spanish clothing company, very popular in the UK in the early 80’s.
Yes, I mnke what lol meant but why has DK put Lois?
It’s not it’s LOLS Ken
Oh yes!! 😂😂😎😎
So what does the s mean at the end?
Come on, give an old boy a helping hand here!!
Laugh out loud s……?!
Ken1945,
Stupid? possibly.🤣🤷♂️
I’m glad we are all realizing what a poor buy Havertz was, arguably the worst of the Arteta era. While some think he helped us last season, the reality is he actually cost us the title by taking too long to find his form. If we had an immediate-impact player like Cole Palmer, who was much cheaper and on significantly lower wages, we could have bridged the two-point gap and won the title by a good margin. We needed just one more win!
I didn’t know we’re all starting to realize what a bad buy Havertz was – have I missed a JA poll on the subject?
Perhaps one should consider the situation when Havertz left a club completely demoralised and that of Palmer leaving city115?
With De Bruyne nearing the end of his career, one wonders why city115 let his natural successor leave, especially to a rival like the chavs?
I thought Palmer was wanted but would have had to show some patience to get regular starts
I should think Guardiola must be gutted that he let a super talent leave
arteta should have not played Timber as LB, it is not his natural position and he was not comfortable there. He is best when played as RB. Arteta could have played Tierney or MLS as LB and played Timber as RB. This would have allowed Partey to play in the midfield. To fix one position, Arteta played 2 players out of position. Also, clearly, we need an out and out striker which would give us a different form of attack.
Just one of those days, this game has to be treated as two points drop, no doubt fans will be showing their horns
To say something else, is it a possibility that Arsenal’s players are becoming so focussed on scoring from set-pieces and corners in particular, that they are becoming less proficient at scoring from open play.
With all of their training, I am surprised at how many times they shoot over or wide. After all, they are all technically gifted.
Arsenal’s attacking players are not good enough. I mean Sterling, Jesus and Havertz. The team is solid but sometimes need more speed and creativity for scoring goals. Arteta didn’t see it and it cost Arsenal for the last 2 seasons. Buying other teams rejects means they will progress faster than we do.
Wasn’t Salah, De Bruyne, and Cole Palmer “other BIG teams rejects”
You have a point, Pat. But while we can argue about Havertz, Sterling and Jesus were bought on their Best Before date. They already had their peak and should have moved to Saudi Arabia, not Arsenal. I prefer to gamble on little known young(ish) players than ones like Sterling, I didn’t expect a lot from him.
Well, it’s just my opinion, an Arsenal supporter from Eastern Europe who wants to thank you and everyone for this site that brings us togheter. COYG
Well said Cornell regarding JA!!
Admin Pat,
Now there three rejects I wouldn’t mind at our club. Those kind of rejects are very welcome indeed.😉👍