There is no that Arsenal started the season at a blistering pace, and with just one game a week we were blowing teams away, scoring 13 goals in our first five games.
Then the fixture congestion started along with the Europa League, but we still had another fantastic week in which we beat Tottenham 3-1, Bodo/Glimt 3-0 and Liverpool 3-2 and all three were extremely draining for our first teamers, but the glut of games is not going to let up any time soon.
After the euphoria of beating Liverpool, the games started to get harder to win as fatigue started to set in. We had a tough trip to the cold, wet and windy northern part of Norway and came away with a lucky 1-0 thaanks to rebound off the chest of Bukayo Saka.
Then came Leeds and although we took the lead, we were thoroughly struggling to hang on in the face of an onslaught from the hosts in the second half. Again, against PSV Arteta didn’t make so many changes and again we scraped through 1-0.
But our luck finally run out at Southampton, and after going into a 1-0 lead again, we just couldn’t keep the Saints out and we dropped our first points in 9 games.
Gabriel Jesus was not happy after the game and says we need to return to our previous levels quickly. “It feels like we lost the game – because of the way we played, the way we created a lot, in the first half more than in the second,” Jesus told Arsenal.com. “In the second, we dropped a level again.
“It was a little bit similar to what happened against Leeds. We have to realise that, be smart and see what we are doing wrong, and then improve.
“We have to improve and try to come back at the same level at which we started the season, as a team and individuals. [We’ll] work hard and then come back stronger.
“There’s no excuses. We have some days to prepare, to work on what we have to do on the pitch. Obviously there are some players who need more time to recover, but like I said, it’s all about focusing on the pitch.
“We are creating chances, like in the last game. But the balls aren’t going in the net, and today that happened again. Now is the time to realise, breathe and try to come back.”
So, just like the last few seasons, our problems are again coming because of our strikers failing to hit the target, and this must be rectified quickly if we are going to sustain our title challenge. We should get a few more chances against Forest this coming weekend, but only if we rest our first team players on Thursday…..
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Am guessing he is referring to himself. Since he is d guilty party in dis case
We need to bring in a forward come January, Jesus is a good striker, just good, we need a better one…..sadly clubs hardly sell January
I don’t think Arsenal will sign a new CF in January, unless Jesus or Nketiah gets a long-term injury
If it happens, Marcus Thuram will be an affordable and decent option
We have also to consider the fact that we have a very young team.
Men reach full strength and maturity at around 25 and 27 years old, which is when they achieve their prime time in football. Only White, Zin and Tierney are 25 with Saliba at 21 and Tomi at 23.
In midfield and attach, aside from Partey and Xhaka (30s) and Jesus (25) all the rest are very young. Both our best wingers are just 21. Therefore, fatigue (both physical and mental) is expected to hit us much faster and heavily than to other teams.
I am looking forward to the WC break, when we can get back a restored energy.
Yes agree
Never forget our young age only Southampton are younger (slightly).In the Big games and against good teams WE will suffer……..For me the most important thing is to keep this team together and in few years we’r good to go
I said in the summer I thought he *might* be a great signing (I’m more sure that he will be now) but possibly not the great goalscorer some might have been hoping. I was thinking he might get 15 or so league goals himself, but the team might get 30 more than last season due to his impact on other ways.
I wonder if he’s putting too much pressure on himself to score the goals, when his natural game improves us so much, he doesn’t need to feel like that imo.
Anyway, he’s right in what he says here. I hope the others share his hunger to improve.
My word, the bar has quietly been raise without most gooners even realizing it, a draw at St Mary’s actually felt like an embarrassing lost.
So if that’s the fact it goes without saying we will bounce back in spectacular fashion come Sunday at the office.
This is a must win game for a million reasons,if we need to lose , draw or win at PSV on Thursday so be it, we just cant afford to lose at the office against Forest.
Have seen top coaches set up their team to lose against a certain team so has to avoid or face their team of choice in a competition.
(Its call street craft) this is ofcourse a different scenario, but street craft must apply just the same.
These four remaining games call for good management not just coaching.
We have a bit of wiggle room in the Europa competition, so I hope Arteta rests our key players.
The PL games we have coming up we need to get maximum points against the competition. Dropped points against Southampton, can’t afford to drop more against Forest.
We should be beating these teams if top 4 is the goal, or title enters the discussion. These matches are the ones you look back on as missed opportunities at the end of the season.
NOTHING in Pats article can sensibly be denied as being true.
I would choose to rest ALL of next Sundays likelyeleven STARTERS( not Sundays subs but the starters) from playing at all in PSV, as rest is plainly, even though somewhat surprisingly, needed so relatively early in the season.
At this exciting stage ot the Prem I THINK IT A MISTAKE TO GAMBLE LOSING PREM POINTS TO ENSURE WE WIN OUR GROUP. I reason that we still have a home tie against a weak Zurich team, IF needed to get that final point.
But though disappointing , it is PLAIN that our regular players are almost all tired, even Martinelli, aka the Duracell bunny! Positive action to rest players needs to be taken now, not when its too late!
I also share the view of many Gooners that MA makes subs far too late in games.
I like your comments, and cannot find anything disagreeable.
We have a favorable run of PL games compared to the other top clubs we will compete against for the top 4, so we need to take advantage of the opportunity.
The Europa opponents, although can’t be underestimated or overlooked, don’t rise to the level of PL competition.
Decisions must be made, and I hope a priority is made regarding the PL. If the named squad continues to feature starters in both competitions I fear we will end up losing on both ends.
We have done extremely well in the PL to date, a run unlike anything we have seen in many years. The Europa, by comparison, is not as important as the PL in my opinion.
Maintaining our place as a top team in the table carries a mental aspect of confidence that will pay dividends for the team as the season progresses. Keeping a Liverpool team buried, and Chelsea, spuds, and utd. constantly chasing us looking up fosters a healthy and positive mentality compared to last year.
Arteta should order a thoroughly supervised and thoroughly long ice baths for all our first 11s!!! 3 days in a row until their electric energy returns back to Tesla-peak levels.
Cedric Soares should be brought back in from the cold for PSV to play further forward on the right alongside Tomiyasu. I don’t want to see nobody running around and wasting precious energy on Thursday. Just wait in the box for Cedric to spam crosses in bucketloads till someone get on the end of one. I dont mind not winning on Thursday, provided we don’t lose. That said, an Eddie hattrick will brighten the gloom crowding around the periphery of the team. My money on an Eddie double tho. He is usually very mad somewhere around this period when he is been regularly viewed as inadequate.
Maybe he should replace Ødegard in the number ten position while Nketia leads the line. That combinations gave us good amount of goals during the preseason.