Arsenal have somehow managed to come away with a win today, despite struggling to perform against West Ham.
Our side started the game very much out of sorts, losing possession all-too often, and giving our opponents more space and possession than you would have expected.
Everything building up to the match pointed to a resounding Arsenal win, and everything from the start of the match told us we were not deserving of such a thing.
We failed to show our team ethic in the opening exchanges, but after 25 minutes, we found ourselves ahead. Pierre-Emerick put it on a tee for Lacazette to head home on the edge of the six-yard box, and even after watching the replay, I was sure it would be ruled out.
VAR allowed it however, and after the decision was made clear, we found ourselves favourably in the lead, and the team should have built on it.
That was not the case however, as we continued to be loose and wasteful in possession and were duly punished as such.
The Hammers forward Michail Antonio got his fourth goal in four consecutive away fixtures to set a record for the away side, and pegged us back just before the break, giving manager Mikel Arteta limited time to alter his team-talk.
I personally thought that little change would be needed from the manager’s thoughts, as the goal only highlighted where we had been lacking, but the players certainly didn’t get the same memo as we continued into the second-half very much the same.
While our performance continued to sputter and disappoint, the manager continued to try and work his magic, bringing on both Nicolas Pepe and Eddie Nketiah for Willian and Lacazette (like for like), we actually had a breakthrough.
Young Eddie found himself getting on the end of Dani Ceballos ball into the box for him to strike home, and while Arsenal fans will feel ecstatic and elated with the result, the Hammers will know fully well that they had a great opportunity to get at least a point from today’s encounter.
Does today’s win show that Arteta’s Arsenal can win ugly or does it highlight that there is very much more work to be done?
Patrick
Good 3 points, but we need to get in our new midfielders.
Xhaka probably the best midfielder in this second half…MOTM for me, got all of his forward passes right and created chances that were wasted mostly.
Kolasinac against Liverpool?? No no no please, I’m on my knees begging.
Leno gave me a scare with that jump and fall he made.
Needs to be more careful, that fall was very dangerous and scary, landing with his neck that way.
Overall, the whole players were poor and they all struggled.
Arteta got his sub right, the players probably underestimated West Ham.
2 games, 6 points… I can’t complain. We still have lots of work to do.
You seriously can’t tell me we don’t need Aouar, we need him as much as we need Partey
True. I guess Leno is working on his catching. Today he did well, with that half pitch sweep his best action.
It’s not a coincident that we struggled so much with Leno commanding the back.
I hope nobody ever says Leno is better than martinez after this. Never again. My heart was literally in my mouth everytime there was a set piece. We should have sold Leno instead. Massive 3 points, proud we could grind it out despite a shaky performance, kolasinac was a weak link today. I hope we all see that we can’t win the league with xhaka as our starting midfielder, he’s a good player and crosser of the ball but an average squad player if we’re being honest. He’s slow. I think Niles should have played instead of kolasinac. So much for saying he wants to fight for the shirt,when he’s actually fighting for the wage. Today, lady luck shined on us and I’m glad we got our 3 points.
I never know why people say Leno is better than Martinez
I watched Leno so many times and he will never fill you with confidence. Still spilling shots, error prone, weak in the air
Arsenal will regret for selling Martinez
I agree,, maybe its just because Leno was a big money signing and the expectations are so high…. for me l would have gone for Martinez, he would be in control of every ball in the years,, we would all fill comfortable when he is on goal
What’s done is done though. Let’s hope Emi money is useful in securing our targets. If push comes to shove, lets buy out Kola’s contract. The guy is atrocious!
Quit your whining and negativity. Its done its done: accept it and move on. Quit the devisive talk, it helps noone. Leno is our #1. Martinez is Villa’s #1…enough said
Well said
100%
Are you kidding? Is this considered negativity? Maybe you should the dictionary meaning of what negativity is, you lot just throw words around that you don’t know the meaning of.
We should have sold Leno?
This fanbase is too reactionary I swear.
We should’ve sold Leno because our backup Goalkeeper had 3 months of great Goalkeeping?
3 months and over 11 games??
We should’ve sold Leno? Wow, your opinion though.
Fans being reactionary is normal.
Tell me you didn’t panic today with the set pieces and be honest about it. And football is a reactionary game so I don’t get your point on being reactionary when it’s a norm
Emi was at the club TEN YEARS. I’m 99.9999999999% sure you weren’t saying he should be starting the past 10 years. He had a few good games. He’s not bad. Get out of the comments with your nonsense acting like Emi is the second coming of Lehman. Kick rocks. Find something else to talk about on subject.
Well Argentina seems to think otherwise. And I don’t get the lame excuses you lot give coming up with saying he’s been here a long time and we won’t have bat an eyelid if we sold him before now, are you kidding? Players are not allowed to improve? He’s played better than Leno in the 3 months he played to cover and you geniuses think the 3 months playing arguably as the best goalkeeper in the league was a fluke? I would never understand some so called football fans who just watch football for the euphoria but have not the slightest clue how and what football really is. Saying he had a few good games, he’s not bad… Must be the dumbest understatement of the century. P.S this is the first time he’s had a run of games in the league in his 10 years here and he took the opportunity so well. Shame the club couldn’t guarantee him the top shirt based on performance and should have told him he would be replaced if he dropped form. Now we’re stuck with Leno, who no doubt a good goalkeeper but very shaky and error prone. He didn’t catch a single set piece. Couldn’t organize the defence better like Martinez. If you don’t see all the things that Martinez brings to the table that Leno doesn’t, I’m done with this argument, you lot can’t be helped. Sorry
Continue to moan over spilled milk. He is gone and he is gone. Make do with what you have. However i strongly feel that Emi is lilly livered. If he is so sure of himself and love Arsenal FC that much, he would have face the competition and win squarely over Leno. We all saw it and know it but he never believed in himself to fight for it. It is not wise to keep someone who threatens you. Another keeper will evolve for Arsenal very soon.
Thanks for that response josh. its baffling to think that because leno was injured and so he should be benched because Martinez showed flashes of good goal keeping over a period of three months.
we all forgot too soon that leno showed far better form and saved us on so many occasions during when the team was very poor defensively and thereafter.
Martinez is a good goalie and should have stayed to prove again and again why he should be considered as first choice, but i don’t believe leno has done so poorly to be displaced all of a sudden without any proper fault of his after he was injured playing for the badge.
Yeah this reasoning is absurd. Also, being weak in the air? He always tries to get the ball le punch ir away, rarely misses. Error prone? I have seen nearly every match he has played and i can’t recall more than 3 mistakes from him in 3 years. Maybe cite some statistics to support these claims because i just don’t see why people moan so much about selling Martínez.
Hes had 7 errors leading to goals since joining arsenal, ranked no.1 in the league in 2018/19 season for errors leading to goals lol
Lol Rory, I don’t know what games some fans have been seeing to be honest
I know man! Dont know why people are so triggered by an opinion lol
And that is just one side of the story. Which stats are You citing? Even then 7 mistakes in 3 whole seasons, are You kidding me, thats quite low considering the amount of times he has saved us, and the Quality of defenders he has had in these years. Martinez has been around for 3 months and you think he is the mesiah, there IS probably a reason why at 27 this ls the first time he gets a chance.
Looking into raw statistics, leno had 6 mistakes(leading to goals/chances) in 18/19 , Alisson also had 6. Again in 19/20, 2 mistakes for both of them, EMI had 1 but he played 1/4 of the time leno did. Does not seen like a todos way to judge the Quality of the keeper, overall rating still put leno ahead of Martínez and similar to Alisson.
Funniest comment ever. You must be watching Arsenal tula FC of Russia not Arsenal FC of England.
His position for first goal is wrong. His positioning always make me worry. A few times, he cannot catch the ball properly yesterday. When Martinez is the goalkeeper, the defense are calm and steady.
very true, but I hope Leno improves as Emi is gone for good and rare to get a GK of his calibre. We got 3 points, that is all that matters, we need to improve and we can win ugly.Seasons ago we would have lost this match.
Good to have some rotation. As I said before, Kolas is learning from the jersey merchant to be utter useless or a liability and just enjoy the perks and wages of being an AFC player.Trust me he too will run down his contract.
We need Aouar way more then any other player that is why MA and Arsenal are really going after him. Today’s game and last game as well shows how avg our midfield is. We have no creative spark, for me Ceballos does not cut it and never will. We have been blessed with some of the most wonderful and amazing Midfielders in past, that has been our mark but now look at what we have. We play more passes side ways n back wards. Our midfielders can not hold onto ball and dictate the play. They can not control the pace of game, they don’t have twinkle feet to elude opposition players…and the worst of all poor at creating chances not to mention least number of goals from midfield.
Xhaka takes too much time to engage his brain to what’s going on around him, his lack of any mental agility is retarding the progress of the team and the club. Three managers, four if you include Lumberg, have adjusted Arsenal’s tactically to adapt to the style of a player who lacks the basic skills necessary for success in this league.
We have been watching the downgrading of the performance of the team and the club who were regular champions league contenders every season when he joined the club to team regularly struggling to contain the Brighton’s Bournemouth’s and West Ham’s of the world, yet no one seems capable of making the connection let alone addressing the problem
Leave Xhaka alone and concentrate on others. He is miles ahead of other midfielders in the team. He has his unique attributes that only few players have in the midfield.
Some even dare rate AMN who though strong is not an intelligent passer of decision maker like Xhaka.
Leave Xhaka out of the team and see how arsenal perform.
The only problem I saw with the team yesterday was absence of Elneny. Then Saka, though he made 2 assists is too lightweight on the ball. He should bulk up. He is not ready yet.
You mean the 6 forward passes he completed .. during one 10 minute spell I counted 8 out of 10 passes lateral or back … he was purposeless and indicisive all afternoon his attempt at tracking back and defending for their goal sums up this clueless idiots footballing quality … arteta needs to get his midfield in shape ASAP or it will be an endless struggle against any top half team
We won, but this is why we need someone like Giroud to be a plan B if we can’t score through open play in second half. Getting another central midfielder will not solve our penetration issue
I miss Martinez already. Because he usually handles the crosses comfortably, whereas Leno tends to punch the ball away
The new GK should’ve had similar stature and ball handling skill like Martinez’s/ Seaman’s. I think Runarsson is too similar to Leno
Goalkeeper has nothing to do with it. We had over 63% possession of the ball yet had 7 shots on goal while West Ham registered 14 shots with their 37% possession and we were the home team.
When you dominate possession and the opposition are running through your side taking twice as many shots on goal as the home team, it tells you one thing and one thing only. It says loud and clear for everyone who cares to listen “YOUR MIDFIELD IS SHITE” Artetta better smell the smoke before the house burns down with him in it, that has already happened to the three previous managers.
Athletico Madrid are not going to swap Partey for Lucas Torreria never in a month of Sunday’s
We just need to activate the release clause and get the guy or one of the others on the list,, or play Maitland Niles in that role. If you do not change the midfield it will be another season of disappointment.
Phew, see how much we missed Tierney. We have no chance against Liverpool without him. Hopefully the injury is not a long layoff.
Poor game but 6 points out of 6 .
poor game, yeah, Ozil would have been so creative, we would have won 11-1, yeah but we have only Auba and Laca and Eddie in front.Pity Ozil, no quality in front of him.
Fans will rightly moan when we loss playing and dominating a game, here is the other version – win when we play below par.
Truth be told, WH played deep 4 4 1 1 and soaked and counter attacked arsenal with strength and pace. So we got sucked in and exposed.
Their game was a great example of that. They broke on us and scored.
We need to be better at playing against these tactics and being better at dominating with intensity. Today we didnt, full backs were poor and wingers were not enough of a threat then we are use to.
We still need signings and Auoar or alike (ozil 20mins?) Could of helped create more. William didnt, Saka did ok. But not enough creativity and maybe why MA is gearing for Auaor then Partey!
Tactics for away days and tactics for home days. We still have a lot to do….but I will take a win when we didnt play well
Firstly, special shout out to West ham. I thought they played well and closed Arsenal players down real quick.
Glad we won.. you get three points sometimes when you don’t play well yea.
Delighted Laca scored and of course Nketiah. Good to see other players scoring when Aubamenyang isn’t on the score sheet…..
Yeh were poor tonight but got the victory but if play like against the scousers then we will get destroyed need to raise our game big time to get a result there!!
Yes Danny….. rightly so. Arteta even said we need to improve. West ham sat deep, close us down and hit on the counter. I thought they would even grab the winner.
Against liverpool, we have no option than to improve. We need to defend well and take our chances. We have defeated them twice recently so they will be all out against arsenal
relax folks, we do have AMN and Tierney two solid players who proved they can damage any opposition, so i’m calm. Our stupidity was against the lesser opposition where we drop points, yesterday we proved that again with an ugly win.Never the less midfield needs upgrades on Xhaha and a B2B MF
Yes they played really well and if they were playing any of the rest 18 teams they surely would’ve come out with a win. This just goes on to show us that Arsenal are champions material. Played awful yesterday and still came out with 3 points.
They say stress affects bowel movements and Arsenal is giving a lot of stress to some people right now. I predict a breakout of severe constipation cases from our dear pundits especially the two Liverpool clowns.
Tough game…West Ham played really good… It’s a good sign that we have learnt to grind out 3 points even though things weren’t really easy. Not our best game but what the heck !! 3 points are 3 points and I am not complaining…. Shout out to Ceballos !! Great game….
Thank you, Eddie 📞
Boy, that was tense…. gotta feel for West Ham… phew… can’t believe we just nicked that!!
We should thank Saka as well, he created 2 chances that resulted in our 2 goals
Yeah he did well, Kstix!
Saka was most instrumental to our two goals. Played two splitting passes that got the goal. Very mature game put out by so young a player
We won this one ugly but the next one gonna be sweet. Mark my words
Very ugly, Kenya. But a win’s a win.. 3 points in the bag… I’ll keep you to that 😁
I believe the next one is Leicester and then Liverpool. Tough week ahead, I hope we improve our intensity
Tough game…West Ham played really good… It’s a good sign that we have learnt to grind out 3 points even though things weren’t really easy, games which we would have lost under Emery… Not our best game but what the heck !! 3 points are 3 points and I am not complaining…. Shout out to Ceballos !! Great game…. And props to Nketiah as well, great movement on and off the ball…as always…COYG
I think Leno is a disaster waiting to happen whenever the ball is in the air. He is a good goalkeeper no doubt but Martinez was way better at handling crosses.
Also it is games like these where we need to dig deep and somehow win. Glad we did that.
Same thoughts on Leno. I missed Martinez so badly today
Maybe emi is having second thoughts as well 😂 😂 can I just rip this contract and go back? Martinez is gone now there’s nothing we can do about it bro
yes and I miss Henry and bergkamp but they are gone to get over it
Martinez brings us good fortune and he never panics. He is also physically imposing and intimidates opposition attackers.
For Villa now…JHC let it go.
6 points from 2 games and second in the league, we didn’t win ugly, we scraped it by the skin of our teeth. But well done all the same, a win is a win.
This was tough. Truth be told, Leno needs to brush up on how he plays under pressure. Fumbling, badly hit passes, that stuff won’t inspire his defenders.
Really aggressive tactics in the first half with Bellerin almost playing as a forward, but wise of Arteta to revert to a flat back four when things went south. I’m stressed, but I’ll take the points.
Well if the measure of a champion is to win games when you play like crap then etch Arsenal’s name on the PL Trophy now. That was England versus Iceland bad.
How is antonio always winning the ball???
Not very happy with performance.
We need luiz at the back for the long balls if we are to keep 343.
Xhaka has a lovely left foot.found some great forward passes.
Willians link play was very good.
But the MOTM for me is Saka.
Pre assisting both goals and the pass for that 2nd goal was 💯
Spot on
Never thought it was gonna be like that, MOTM for me goes to Saka for his two pre-assists
I do not understand Leno at all, he keeps doing what he did against Olympiacos, waiting for opposition players to close him down before he makes his decision and his aerial clumsiness, I’m not surprised
And Pepe is fast becoming a flop!
Yes. I noticed this too. Leno takes time to pass the ball. Maybe he feels he is lounging in his living room. Then when he passes the ball to a defender, the defender is closed down or under pressure. If you don’t want to pass the ball on time then just hit it long…Its gonna be bad to concede a cheap goal just because of his poor pass or clumsy character. Yes, a very good keeper which I like but he needs to work on his weaknesses real quick
Pepe actually is a flop. Can`t believe Arsenal paid $78 millizo for this guy.
Pre-assists….lol
More like goal scoring chances created
Good to see lacazette starting the season well, can’t go another with only aubameyang carrying the load. Now we need to get pepe up and running and get our Brazilian wonder kid healthy again.
Oh yeah. Martinelli. I really like him. Wish he get fits soon and come back stronger. He is one to watch
Glad we got the win. Winning ugly is also part of the game. We do need improvements and Arteta may have to personally pull out the nervousness from Gabriel. I think Leno did well, as well as Bellerin. Happy in a way that Laca and Nketiah scored, need them to take the load off Auba. Nketiah should have another one at the end, cutting in and shooting would have been better than squaring for Auba, but nvm. Glad to see Pennywise fit, hope Tesco is healthy as well.
Onwards and upwards.
COYG!
I will take the points and run away.
Missed Emi so much – he organises the back line better and never fumbles his catch.
Missed Tierney too.
Poor, but we won. Creatively challenged you could call us. Go out and buy Aouar. Please.
We were too relaxed today. We let WH control the game, thats scary. 2 best friends are the 2 worst player we going to have this season. Kolasinac & Ozil. Kolasinac expose Left area to opponent. He should never play left back, rather have him as left wing. Auba should be more serious when scoring goals, with his skills 40 goals a season possible. Im sure we all miss Martinez n Tierney today! Thank you for 3 points COYG.
Got to say brilliant 3 points and credit to Arteta on the substitutions to win it. It was a game where West Ham were the better side and we were really treading water. Auba Ceballos and Lacca were the big leaders in this game. Xhaka got run off his legs, Bellerin was absolutely dire, the back three looked shaky and Leno was an unsettling presence. The rest of the team tolied and couldn’t dominate. The best ball winners in this team today were Ceballos and Lacca, they worked hard all game and showed brilliant game reading. We need Partey but i dont see him coming and i hope Leno pick up his game also. Very slack today but 3 points and move on. At least it showed we are still learning, that we have faults still and to temper expectations.
Leno today showed why Martinez was so cool.
Ceballos was atrocious today ,Xhaka also played a sh1tty 1st half but he was head and shoulders above Ceballos in the second half .
Wow, what game did you watch, Ceballos was easy Mom for me. Xhaka was run around all game. If Xhaka isn’t replaced and quick expect more games like this. Sky had Ceballos as Mom so at least someone else can see what he does.
Obviously a different game than you did
Yes we agree on that at least.
Reggie, Am just seeing the Skysport rating, they gave a Ceballos an 8ratings, poor Sky how can they give Ceballos an 8, a very very poor Ceballos that didn’t do anything special today.
Spot on mate very well said.
Dan kit, I thought I was the only one who noticed Ceballos failure today, he was just a passenger today, a passenger who blocked a real goal attempt that would have probably made the game a 2:2 draw late in the game, a passenger who assisted Nketiah goal, a passenger that completed 88% of his passes, a passenger who always put in tackles. We should drop such player and play the one that always give us pre_assist in every game, the one who always cover the most ground, the one with the best defense splitting passes, the one who will never put in tackles.
Dan Kit: I agree 100%
Another person who watched the wrong game. The guy was all over the place, tackling, making key passes and in the last ten minutes stopped a certain goal by reading a situation everyone else missed and set up the winning goal. Most ratings have him mom that i have read. Some of you need to visit spec savers. Do you understand football? Lol
You obviously watched a different game to the one most if us watched. Ceballos is easily the MOTM for me. Was the only one trying hard to create chances, dictate the tempo of the game, break up play and locate Auba, Laca n William. I counted how many long balls he gave to Auba. His desire to win the game made him move into the box to assist the winner.
Yes Saka made two pre assists but he lacked confidence most parts of the game and gave the ball away to many times through which West ham countered us.
Totally agree Splendid, regardless, the guy is class and i think he will have a big season. Arteta had a reason why he brought him back.
Sometimes you need to win by just keepinggoing and not losing belief. Not more than a very average performance overall and our lack of creativity in the forward midfield showed how much we miss a decent and hard working player there.
Xhaka agin showe how lacking he is inreal quality and is ponsderous and slow Yes he can pick a devbt pass but never a quality AND speedy one, NOT THE QUALITY ANY TOP SIDE NEEDS THOUGH SOME GOONERS STILL KID THEMSELVES THAT HE IS.
For me, a hard fought but slightly lucky win and MOTM for his goal and workrate was LACA. AUBA was almost a passenger tonight and as for Kolas, well God help us if HE is still here next month!
Agree jon, big a win, a lucky win and an eye opener.
Leno made me worry abit but again he is just back from a serious injury so dont all jump on the hate wagon as soon as. Martinez was missed I do agree but hes gone now and thats that! Maybe we have a buy back clause lol
Scrappy win. 3points. Liverpool next monday.
A very bad day at the office in every department.I hope Tierney recovers quickly because the prospect of Kolasinac facing Salah fills me with dread.
Grandad, a very bad day at the office, but a good 3 points. Arsenal kept loosing the ball and weren’t eager enough to win it back. That’s why Partey is so important. I hope Arteta was holding AMN back for Liverpool, as the reason for his absense from the starting 11. His and Elneny’s (never thought I’d say this, but credit where it is due) energies we’re missed.
Badly missed Elneny and AMN of the last two matches. Midfield was much better controlled then.
We won ugly because we played ugly. Happy with the 3 points, but WH created more chances .
MOTM for me was Gabriel. He is poised, he moves well, anticipates well and to my surprise is a very good passer . One issue he needs to correct is defending high balls and I am sure once he acclimates he will learn. I think he is a steal and if Saliba is as good we finally have our CB for a long time.
I counted Xhaka giving the ball away 4 times in our territory in the first half. Thank God he got it out of his system early and so did Ceballos. Willian played like he always does but he will never be a #10 or a game changer sorry. However substituting him for Peppe was a joke. Something drastic has to change going forward otherwise this is going to be a long season. Bottom line we need more talent. Regardless we won and that’s what counts.
That game won’t live long in the memory, that’s for sure!!
We need a creative maestro already considering our style of play else d team will be average, a bad game today but we still keep our cool, a major upgrade to before. Martinez was dearly missed but we need to move on. Thanks to saka 4d goals yet he had a bad day like the team. Enlenly should play n have xaka sit down. Overall again we need a no 10 If ozil wont be used. Up gunners!
Terrible performance, but we took the 3 points which matters the most! Funny that Eddie and Ceballos combined for the winner 😄 We are blessed!
I am not going to berate any players on here. Yes, we were lacking in a few areas but most put in a shift. We will not be on top of game any every match played this season, but under Arteta I believe that at least a work ethic and shape is guaranteed. A couple of additions of quality and drive through the midfield would see us really in the mix. COYG.
👍 And West Ham were much improved from last week and they should start getting results.
My biggest query today was why Kolasinac was installed and not AMN when Tierney was injured in the warm up?
How anyone can say Ceballos created the chance for Nketiah is beyond me…it was Saka who slipped a wonderful through ball and all Ceballos had to do was cross it – apart from that and his interception, I couldn’t see any creativity whatsoever…
I aso think that Gabriel’s display was down to the fact that he had to worry about Kolasinac, who seemed out of his depth and, to me, had put on a lot of weight!!!
I’m not going to knock Leno, even though I wanted Martinez to be our No.1 – he had no chance with the goal and was on a hiding to nothing by some fans, no matter what happened.
Saw Zaha’s performance tonight on MOTD, someone will get a bargain if he leaves Palace.
Don’t worry about pool, we have to get a real performance under our belts against Leicester first and if we lose to them, going to Anfield on a downer could be a disaster.
I hope to see Salibas play alongside Luiz in that game, along with AMN, Elneny, Ozil and, hopefully, Tierney .
Lucky three points, but we won and if we win all our games playing like that, come the end of the season, we won’t mind one little bit – a win’s a win!!
Agree Ken, Ceballos provides no creativity in our midfield and is bang avg. I don’t know why we resigned him on loan. Gabi looked very shaky with high balls. He miss judged the flight of and went under the 4 balls. Hopefully it was just nerves of first home game. I want to see Saliba, played with Gabi in there instead of Holding. Sell Holding please , he is so slow and has never been a good ball passer from back. Tierney does so much for us on left that his absence creates big issues for us defensively and offensively.
ken, Arteta may have omitted AMN for squad rotation, because of Leicester and Liverpool games in quick succession. He and Tierney (hope it was precautionary) were missed.
Looking forward to seeing Emi Martinez playing for Aston Villa.
Nice one, Ken!
My heart sank when they announced Tierney was injured in the warm up – Kolasinac has been terrible of late!! I hope KT is fit for Anfield..otherwise I hate to think what’ll happen…
Zaha was superb… if only hey, if only, well for me anyway!
I’d also like to see Saliba at some point.. he played for the U23s on Friday.. apparently the quality is there, but he looked rusty…
You’re right, a win’s a win. WH will be kicking themselves. As far as quality goes, we have it in abundance, however, everyone had an off night imo, rather get it out of the way now, hey?!! 😅
KEN I agree with all your comments(save Ozil, natch!!). Do you know how seriously Tierney injured is by any chance? I was horrified to switch on TV to find the appalling Kolas playing in his place and saw only the precise game itself, with no prelim nor afters, as I was watching at a noisy pub and could HEAR nothing of the game throughout.
Ken: Spot on on both Kolasinac and Ceballos.
I always expect a mishap every time Kolasinac touches the ball. As for Ceballos. he looks busy but never accomplishes anything. He should be credited with being at the right place to provide the pass for the second goal but that does not take a genius.
Saka for me is the most talented player in the squad, the boy is so mature for his age. He knows when to keep the ball and when to pass rather then 70m flop Pepe who keeps dribbling with no end result, he reminds me of gervinio only cost us way more then that. I hope he learns when to dribble, when to pass and when to shoot. I would built my team around Saka and Martenelli. Play Saka in middle and bring in Auora plz.
It was easy to see Xhaka’s mind was somewhere else. He is not up to the highest levels. Urgent:- Aouar and Partey.
Sean
Couldn’t agree with you more on Xhaka and about bringing in Partey with Aouar we also have Joe Willock who really can play
It’s a joke to mention Willock alongside Aouar and Partey. They should send him on loan to a championship team. That’s his level.
Moyes will be out to prove himself after this Arsenal fortunate win. With a hdl,Arsenal were ripe for the smash and grab. Against top sides ,the gunners could have been ripped to pieces.I cant wait for the Scot to come back and shore up the defence
Mikel Arteta commented on how well Arsenal had trained during the week. This may have led to complacency, because Arsenal were lethargic, lost the ball too often and lacked urgency in winning it back. The last minute change with Tierney being injured in the warm up didn’t help.
West Ham United were greatly improved from their last match, as one would expect in a London derby. Two London derbies out the way for 6 points gained, job done. Bigger tests lie ahead.
So this is how the red-hot Gunners run riot over poor West Ham? We should not forget that without a major upgrade to our midfield, we will remain just an average counter-attacking team. If we fail to accept this fact, the season could be very long and painful. Vinai’s vision of beautiful football could be a just a dream – for this year, at least.
when will this morning ever end. even when we win!!!! Guys there r matches that we shall win ugly and also lose those we have played well. lets stop whining
Didn’t play well-Yes
Need to improve our midfield areas especially the creativity part-Yes(Aouer)fits the bill.
But the mourning goes overboard reading some comments in here.Even with invincible we did not easily cruise u all games,I remember in some games we managed to salvage points in dying moments of the games and in some we we were Out played so to me its a part of the game so let’s roll on to another challenge ahead.
Aside the 2 pre assist that you lot call it, I think saka for yesterday’s display deserves nothing less than 5. Man was atrocious. At fault for the first goal when he didn’t track back, gave the ball away numerous times. I thought Gabriel aside the miss timed headers he was solid. He had to cover for holding and kolasinac. Bar the problems we had with our cb, holding would have been sold by now, man is so slow,makes mertesacker look like bolt. Oh tierny had better not be injured otherwise Arteta should play back 4 with Niles playing lb. I can’t watch any more games with kolasinac whom I thought is too heavy for a footballer. Our midfield wasn’t at its best today but ceballos was easily man of the match because he never stops running. And that last minute tackle says it all. Pepe did himself no favor today and he is at risk of loosing out his place even on the bench because for 2 subs now he has done nothing. Nelson will be saying to himself,this guy isn’t playing better and Nelson has a better workrate. But the most important thing is the 3 point. I will take that all day. Coyg
The struggle yesterday against West Harm shows that we do not only need to be working on the players that we have but that we need an assist Master for Arsenal. That player is not there yet. Kroenke should do something to get us assist Machines before we start dropping points. At home we should have scored goals and had another clean sheet . Kolastinac Cannot replace Tierney who is a very strong Defensive and pressure POINT from the left wing.. Kolastinac cannot bring pressure on our opponents at all. Please, Manager Arteta do not ever make the error of yesterday in Changing a winning team until it starts losing. It was an error no matter the excuse.
This is not time for trials and experiments of players.
We must not start losing matches because of experiments.
Tierney had hip problems. What was Arteta supposed to do then? Even Pennywise (Luiz) was a doubt.
Xhaka started the whole mess last night. He couln’t eve pass in front of his own player. He had a first half that threatened US. All the others picked up on Xhaka’s mediocrity.
If we want to challenge we need two TOP midfielders. Krankie always leaves us two players short of the game. Partey and Aouar would leave us ahead of the game. Krankie get your checkbook out and fill in the jigsaw. Otherwise we’ll be lucky for 5th place.
Ceballos and Willian also had problems of miscommunication. Saka was rusty as well. I think this was more of a mentality problem. How I wish we would ship out Kola, Sok and Lucas to make room for those 2 targets of ours!
Absolute trash. Go and watch the match again and stop denigrating Xhaka. We like to talk about players to be bought. Aouar or Partey are no where near Xhaka. What have those players contributed to their respective teams?
Xhaka is one of the best midfielders in the world of football.
Coaches know it and that’s why they stick with him.
People talk about him losing the ball. Football is a game of turnovers, even the best players in the world lose balls or misplace passes. So let’s get behind our players and team.
Emmanuel o
Delusional.
Like it or not arsenal will regret selling Emi, since I have been watching arsenal I have not seen any goal keeper in arsenal colors better than Emi. How on earth did we even contemplate selling such a keeper, IMO I don’t even see any keeper better than him in the league. But because arsenal leadership is clueless they let our prized asset leave for just 20mil.
“…I have been watching arsenal I have not seen any goal keeper in arsenal colors better than Emi.” You can’t be serious with this comment…What an opinion 😹 😹
It is clear that you only started watching Arsenal at the turn of 2020
I started watching arsenal since 1998, not even seaman, that commands his area like Emi. In your own opinion I might be wrong, but i want anybody here to mention the keeper let’s debate. This guy is everything we needed, so confident, so firm. Do you know that most of my other teams fans are so jealous of him, they even nicknames him “arsenal savior”. Just look at our defense when he was there, compare it to what we witnessed yesterday. Am so depressed by the departure of Emi. It will take years for us have another like him.
Big statement but i have to say Martinez was mighty impressive and showed in yesterday’s game how calm he was compared to leno. Leno really has to step up a notch or two and quick.