Arsenal beat Huddersfield at the John Smith’s Stadium 2-1 today, but the scoreline does not tell the entire story.
The hosts are very much the underdogs on paper, but refused to play as such as they piled ample pressure on our side. Terrier’s fans who watched the match will be proud of the display put on show by their side despite the result, and more performances like this will give their side a chance of making it out the relegation zone.
According to the stats, the home side had more possession, the majority of the corners as well as having the ball in our final third more than any other place on the pitch, but Bernd Leno and his back five did their jobs today, and may possibly even have had some luck on their side also.
Regardless of this, the better side, at least the more clinical side, has come away with all the points.
Alexandre Lacazette no doubt comes away smelling of roses after two comfortable goals, with Alex Iwobi and Ashley Maitland-Niles claiming the assists, while Sead Kolasinac gets his mention but not for all the right reasons. He put in a sturdy performance in what turned out to be a shaky match, but he gets the credit for an own goal in the dying minutes of the match.
Luckily enough there was no time for the home side to try and level the game after the goal, but they will be disappointed by their finishing, with our defence failing to show any real organisation. Had our opponents been clinical in front of goal they would have actually won this game, and Emery may rue the failings in the transfer window for not bringing in a player who could give us that protection.
I’ll take the three points, but in too many displays of late, our defence hasn’t been good enough. Our lack of clean sheets in the entire campaign should ring enough alarm bells, and these problems need addressing. A back five may not necessarily be the answer to that.
Is it the squad or the team selection which is giving us such problems at the back? I’m not sure a fully fit squad is too much better…
Pat J
I thought 3-4-2-1 would be too defensive to be used against a bottom team, but it was proven to be effective to nullify Huddersfield’s runners. Emery and his staffs know better than me
Kolasinac’s excellent cross and Iwobi’s good first time strike stole the first goal, that was important to force Huddersfield to be more opened. Then a great teamwork between Mkhitaryan, Iwobi and Maitland-Niles sealed the win with Lacazette’s goal
The next challenge is an Europa League away match and I am confident as long as Emery keeps using gritty players as what he fielded today. His methods remind me of how Simeone manages Atletico Madrid, hardwork over style
I can see Emery’s plans as well, and it’s a shame he doesn’t have talented enough players to execute it. Not the best game for us, but I do think we were missing Aubameyang here. We had a lot of great counter attacking opportunities and only Lacazette in the middle. Iwobi decision making continues to be poor. He’ll never hit the level he needs to if he doesn’t improve on that. Defensively, still shaky as usual, but still a lot of good moments from our defenders too, who did seem tougher this game. Midfield worked hard as well. A lot of fans are uncomfortable not having all the possession, but I thought it worked well today, and better decisions in the final third could’ve made for a more comfortable scoreline. Once we sell a lot of these players and get in better talent I think we’ll start seeing a massive improvement. I think a lot of fans need to come to terms with the fact Emery doesn’t like using a CAM if he doesn’t have to. We’re not the only team ditching this position either.
Many fans are disappointed because they haven’t seen Ozil’s fancy passes for a long time, but I hope Emery and Arsenal would not be bothered about the moans
he has the players when he was at pSg
someone and Emery are not in the same league.
As far as you been able to “see” his plans makes me wonder why the hell am I on this board reading this crap.
Emery is clueless!!!!!!!
same goes for RSH who thinks counter-attacking against the bottom team in the league is good tactical plan. I don’t think City/Pool/United or anyone else on the top 10 thinking that way.
But after all this is Emery!!!
If he hasn’t got the players that can play his tactics RSH, then why on earth is he still trying to play those tactics?
Your wise words sum up exactly why we are struggling to find any kind of dominance in our matches.
The answer must be to play to the strengths of the players he has got and then make sure he gets another six players of his choice in the summer.
Nonsense.
Emery bested Simeone’s Atletico in 3 consecutive seasons with Valencia. Of course, later Simeone repeated the feat, but with a better squad, including Griezman, Costa etc.
They’re in the same league quality-wise, although Simeone is probably a little better. BTW, Atleti lost 1-3 against a mediocre Real yesterday at home. If it was Emery’s Arsenal, you hysterical lot would all be weeping in disbelief…
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Iwobi plays good with Kola, but his awefull finishing ability have cost and Will cost us points…I’m sure he closed His eyes allways before shooting to the goal..His finishing can’t beat worse and that’s unacceptable for a winger
Otherwise, i think iwobi has a great match..much much better than miki
Enjoy the victory and stfu about iwobis finishing. Are you ever satisfied? Today his finishing has given us 3 points and you still choose to slate him. Nawa for you o!
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I admire you’re loyalty
He missed 2 sitters. Is that Good?
He also scored a wonderful volley. You chose to see his flaws I choose otherwise
A volley that was goer hit the corner flag yes
Took a deflection and keeper should have saved.
But he didn’t and was counted a goal
?Th14 purges the comment section looking for anti-iwobi sentiments
Iwobi said he is actually a CAM
3 points, one point off the top 4, well done gunners! We’ll hopefully get some of our starters back next week and build on from there. COYG!
This team getting out possessed by Huddersfield speaks a lot. Still no balance to this midfield, and this defense keeps making silly mistakes, mistakes we normally pay dearly for against top teams, but they got the three points and that’s all that matters. The struggle continues, the only player who didn’t out a foot wrong for once is Koscienly.
Even while leading two goals up, we still play under pressure and we look so poor, Elneny couldn’t even mark. So much pressure, all defensive, hardly a midfielder to drive the ball and transit into quick attack. Iwobi though got a goal and gets into position is as usual wasteful. This team plays like an inexperience team and keep putting itself under pressure. Still thumbs up to Mhki, Laca and Iwobi who did little even though he was poor, you gotta credit him for his goal.
The rest of the game wasn’t really exciting, and playing against a top team, we would’ve cracked. Like I said we can’t attack effectively and we can’t defend, we can’t even keep a clean sheet against a bottom table team. There is no sign of improvement or growth a bit. I’m sorry I’m not saying anything to impress anybody or sing to your ears, it’s just a bitter pill to swallow
The players seem to be more willing to do duels and press harder. That is an improvement for me
I agree that the team still do not gel sometimes, there are many bad decisions and they also produced many bad first touches, but overall Arsenal are still in a good position to get the top four position
However, things could go ugly if they lose against Tottenham and Man United
Although I would be ecstatic, I dont think we are making it to the top 4 this year.
Top three looks pretty settled and Manchester United will grab 4th place, they have a much better squad than us and they have great momentum.
I think in we have the 5th or 6th best squad in the league along with Chelsea and that’s where we will end up.
Duels they don’t win even on 3 against 1. You all just choose to ignore this deficiency as long as Ozil does not play because it soothes your agenda. I was happy when Emery got the job and I’m for giving him time but I don’t understand anything he does now with my team. I’m glad with the 3points but that performance is the sort that made me want Wenger out last season.
Ozil called in sick, so was unavailable to play!
Eddie Hoyte
With your attitude everything is going to be a bitter pill to swallow for you. Were you expecting Huddersfield to roll over at home, and allow us to have all the 3 points? We got the win on a tough day yet here you are, as regular as clockwork, moaning about something as always. You will never see improvement in this team because you are not looking to see it!
I am not trying to be negative when I say, This was one of the worst performances i’ve ever seen from Arsenal. If Huddersfield had a decent target man they could have beaten us. They out played us almost the whole game. For the first 20 minutes of the second half we couldnt get out of our own half. It was shambolic.
Koscielny at defense, Kolasinac going forward and a little bit Mhkitarian and that’s it.
We played like this against the worst team in the league. I know we are missing players but this is inexcusable.
You didn’t see the trashing when they played against Liverpool last season? For me, that was one of the worst performances
Jim Beam, Huddersfield Town are figbting for their life to avoid relegation.
Just compare Arsenal’s away record compared to last year and the Arsenal’s available squad, including the bench compared to the other five so called top clubs? Just not enough quality, but still three points.
wow .. please point me to your optometrist need what he is selling … it was a shambolic performance with all the familiar failings on show against a team at the foot of the table guaranteed relegation and devoid of scoring capacity … yet we still lacked shape vision and drive … what exactly were the improvements on show … lacazette torreira guindozi kos and leno are the only players i could see getting close to the starting line up of any of our rivals .. and not clear any would actually start …. the rest could be ploughing their trade anywhere in lower half of epl and championship … emery has no footballing philosophy that i can see and we will only be in europa next year coz gap to 7th is now probably too big to close
What are you saying? Is it down to the lack of quality players or lack of philosophy on Emery side? Are we lacking a coach or players?
And three of the five players you pointed as being quality are Emery signings. Oh dear.
Emery signings or Sven’s? Remember Sven found Guendouzi not Emery, and Emery wanted Nonzi, yet Sven wanted Torreira. Thank goodness we got Torreria.
But hey, don’t let facts get in the way, aye? Let’s
Suarez was an Emery signing, a player he wanted.
Did you really say Leno would get close to the starting line up of our opponents, you have got to be kidding, he is very, very average. A reasonable showstopper but that’s it, command of the box poor and crosses very very poor.
No QD, I’m sorry I don’t look to hide away from the truth, I’ve said it in my post that the three points was all that matters and they got it but please try something else other than were you expecting Huddersfield to roll over? Nobody was expecting that, neither was u expecting we get out possessed by a team like Huddersfield. The difference between you and I is sentimental attachments won’t let you accept the truth or state the fact.
I repeat, and for the third time, the three points was all that matters most but will you honestly tell yourself this winning and the way we played today was convincing? Will you tell yourself the truth ? Or what game did you see? Getting outplayed by Huddersfield, making silly mistakes, dodgy defending and and imbalance midfield and to you it’s not a thing to worry about?
No bro, I’m sorry I don’t share your view, and I don’t expect you to share mine, I see the truth, I say it, if you can’t bear it you might as well stop reading my post because all it’ll do is cause you headache
Eddie, it’s an away games. We have so many injuries and clearly Huddersfield have better quality players than us. Emery is well respected by his football peers. Without Mr Emery’s tactics, we would have lost the game. All the criticism shall go to the owner because we have cheapest squad in the league.
Don’t forget that’s the ‘TRUTH’. 😉
Tristan, I doubt we have the cheapest squad in the league. But as to Emery is has not started yet with premier league.I know Emery has achieved a lot in his career and I am one of those who celebrated his appointment, but I really can not say he has improved the team even with signings. Only Jack left. We are an average team, with all the talents we have. Emery is poor tactical at defence, and that has affected the midfield and there on to the attack. We PLAY AS WE GO. Not good. He hasn’t really really improved any player except Iwobi. He is not doing a good job.
Pat, how can you develop tactics for defense, when the personal available to play are constantly changing due to the revolving door between the pitch and the treatment room?
Give Emery credit for at least maintaining the status quo in his first season despite starting the season with two long term injuries (Mavropanos and Koscielny) and losing three players to season ending injuries (Welbeck, Holding and Bellerin).
Even before the injuries we weren’t doing well defensively. How many clean sheets do we have. I hate to agree with Paul Merson but this was his problem with Emery from the beginning of the season. And it eventually caught up with us. Kos was out before the season started so you can not tell me he planned on a player who hasn’t recovered fully from a long term injury. Our defensive set up is a problem. Premier league does not respect anyone. France and Spain yes but English premier league no.
And Arsene Wenger won how many away games last srason? Maybe the players are at fault?
If it was the same with Wenger as it is with Emery then we got our selection of manger wrong. See I have been watching premier league for a very long time, and I have seen what managers can do to players. We have not improved until Emery, he has players that Arsene didn’t have, and we are not better.
Like clockwork you say??
Eddie I think you watched the wrong game if you say Iwobi did little and was poor today. There was rarely a dangerous attacking move that did not involve at least one of Mkhitaryan or Iwobi the entire game. He would have scored a wonderful volley bar the deflection and also it was Iwobi’s pass before Mkhitaryan’s reverse ball that freed ANM to supply Lacazette. With all that contribution today how can you classify his performance as poor?
The freedom of his movement allowed him and kolasinac to take advantage of the left half spaces, with their combined speed and intelligence causing great difficulties on the counter-attack. Ok yes he was a little wasteful after the break, which was disappointing, but his attacking work had already been completed. Give him credit when due and stop with this constant criticism even after he’s had a great game.
The lad has already surpassed his best tally under AW in terms of goals and assists this season, clearly a sign of improvement so encourage him
man stop being such a fvckboy, you’re obsessed with Iwobi, I ain’t obsessed with any player and this was me crediting him and Mhki.
“Still thumbs up to Mhki, Laca and Iwobi who did little even though he was poor, you gotta credit him for his goal.”
He had a poor game and was wasteful, admit it but still I’ve acknowledged his contributions today…
Really now, your obsession with Iwobi and ásslicking is becoming nauseating
I have never read where you acknowledged Ozick contributions in this manner before. You really suck at it if so man.
Really?? Ozil is your wildcard again in this discussion? other than the goal, man did you watch the game to see how many chances he squandered and played out wide?? If you can’t put your sentimental attachments aside please feel free to type all you want, it’s your views anyways, I have mine
3 points the important thing, but poor decisions & final touch mainly from iwobi in the 2nd half and the usual comedy at the back as we never look capable of a clean sheet. A lot of misplaced passes – we just never look the level of a top 4 team, and other teams know it
Most of these players can’t be saved. They are poor. Wenger and Emery have all tried to get the best out of them but it seems this is their level.
I keep asking myself, what the hell was wenger building for 5 seasons with most of these players?
Right on queue ….here comes the wenger excuses ?
Get over it mate wengers long gone ,if you haven’t noticed we’ve had a new manager in the dugout this season .
@Dan kit
What more can be then? No on can save this deadwood wenger built for more than 5 year and left us with it.
I know you are besides yourself because Emery has exposed and refused to buy into your prince Ozil excuses we have been fed by the likes of you for a long time. And it is a very varied argument to keep mentioning wenger because 90% of these dead players are his own. The same players that have been embarrassing us for seasons with scores like 6-3, 6-0, 5-1, 6-1, 10-2 on aggregate (Bayern). If wenger the man that put them together himself for more than 5 seasons could not get the best out of them then I don’t expect many to be able. They finished 5th and 6th even if wenger pampered the hell out of them
As long as we still have most of these players in our team then I will alway point to wenger, it is the honest truth like it or not.
But until Emery gets his own players i am not going criticise him. Next season is the time I will start to expect more from Emery.
I know you are hurting because it looks like your saviour Ozil is finished at Arsenal. He can’t complain to be honest, he has been looked after extremely well for the little contribution he has given to my Arsenal in the time he has been here.
The guy was finished the moment Madrid got rid of him. But I applaud your sentiment.
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I second that
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The truth hurts.
You lot need to let go of the Ozil sentiment. He is finished and I am glad those times are behind us.
You guys need to find another hobby because what the hell are you going to do with yourselves once Ozil is gone? You seem to care more about what is best for Ozil than the whole team and club.
I think Ozil needs to leave so that we can get some sanity back into our fanbase. I have never seen an okay player at Arsenal have so much psychological power over a certain section of our fanbase.
Again, if you thought Ozil was not done 5 years back when Madrid rejected him then surely now you have to accept that he is finished. We need to move on, the man had his chance here and did not take it.
First and foremost I’m an Arsenal supporter!! If I like certain players, then so be it… it’s not a crime ffs
Well if he was that crap why did we shell out 42m for him?? Oh I bet you weren’t moaning when we got him!
An ok player? We’re not talking about Iwobi, God you don’t half spout some sh*t
Sue, Ozil called in sick, so was unavailable to play!
So did Auba, but I don’t hear everyone going on about that
@Sue
That is your opinion. You think he is some amazing world class player, but I don’t. Your opinion is subjective as well as mine. So who decides?
And I was not over the moon when we signed him, I have always not rated him that high, I have always been a Bergkamp, Scholes, Xavi, Iniesta, Silva, Cesc, Modric, Rosicky, Hazard, KDB, etc type of fan. I have always said that good players around Ozil are tye biggest reason he did well, but put him in a normal team where he has to have a big share of responsibility and he will struggle.
Again, I wanted Higuain or Suarez that window and then tye club had a brain fart and instead went for Ozil who we did not need whatsoever. I told many people that Ozil would struggle at Arsenal and EPL but the euphoria was clouded their thinking. A player that is solely dependent on others to make him look good is something I struggle to accept.
I was never a fan but when we signed him I accepted the situation and gave him a free pass in his first season and started demanding more in his second season, the same way I do for all our new signing, the same way I am giving Emery a chance of at least 2 seasons before I can start on him. And to be honest I have not been impressed with Ozil whatsoever. Maybe it’s because I keep comparing him to the likes of Cesc, Rosicky, Rvp, Nasri, Hleb etc..
And us paying £40 million for him was a case of desperation from the board because they had messed up the striker situation with Higuain and Suarez, so they had to do something to curb the unrest and anger we had that summer. And I kept saying that Ozil is not worth £40 million that was being reported that summer, i kept saying he is worth in the region of £28-£30 million.
Man city paid something like £50 million for Sterling, they paid about £45 million for Walker, paid about £50 million for Mangala etc.
Arsenal gave Ozil a more than £300,000 a week contract last year, but even some of his biggest loyal fan are now acknowledging how ridiculous that contract is. He is the highest paid EPL player. But if you are to go by how much money someone was bought or how much he is being paid then that means Ozil is the best player in the EPL, i heard that even Madrid never Ronaldo anywhere near £350,000 a week.
I hope this gave you an insight into my thinking.
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I have always said he shouldn’t be on 350k… I don’t believe anyone should be, what a ridiculous amount of money!!
I thought Sanchez was the highest paid PL player??
I’m sorry but when you look at what he’s achieved in his career – I think it’s safe to say he’s more than an ‘ok player’
Yes it gave me an insight, thank you.. and I was amazed that you didn’t come out with any of that ‘fan girl’ or Smh stuff.. like you normally do! ?
Cheers Goonster ?
Sanchez earns a lot lot more at United
And did I even mention ozil ?
I always ask myself how didn’t we sign a young, strong, dynamic, cheap, premier league winner Kante from Leicester available for 20m. I ask myself if some of the people working the team are qualified enough to work for Arsenal.
the three points all that matters. but we are far from a top team. even leno is shaky as well as maitland niles, iwobi, elneny, kolasinac. i seem to be negative but that is the true picture
It’s time to start criticising Emery.
A win that was far from convincing.It was just woeful.we would have lost that game without Kos today. kolasinac Maitland Niles monreal and mustafi were diabolical.
Dare I just point out that lichtsteiner looks better than niles
We can criticize him if Arsenal lose
Kolasinac created some excellent crosses despite his weird mistake
Lichtsteiner looks better than Niles???
Lmao, they’ll say anything to make Emery’s selection look bad. This entire site was crying for Jenkinson to start over Lichtsteiner, and now AMN is worse than Licht. It’s ridiculous.
No, no, no. If Arsenal lose, we still can not criticise Mr Emery. The TRUTH is Players he inherited are not good enough at all. Owner didn’t buy the players Emery wants.
And defensive injuries; yet he still starts 7 defenders. Odd, no? Midfield not injured, yet still as unbalanced as ever. 7 defenders and we still concede to Huddersfield.
I forgot what a clean sheet looks like. Sorry, forgot we can’t question Emery. We can bang on Wenger who hasn’t managed Arsenal a single game this year, but Emery gets free pass.
Next year it will either be Wenger’s fault, Ivan’s, Kronke’s or Ozil’s. I’m not anti- Emery at all, but I don’t give free passes to anyone; players, managers, or owners. They get paid shitload of money from us to get it right most of the time, or to show some improvement at least when we don’t.
Is that so hard to understand without being treated like a villian?
Durand, who is blaming Wenger fr beating Huddersfield 2-1?
At the moment Emery is retaining the status quo in his first season with all the problems and in fact is closer to the top four.
Can’t we all get behind the coach and the team to see what the season brings? Tottenham have had three dodgy wins in a row, yet they are not being torn to shreads.
@Durand, on point my brother, most of us fans have refused to see the true picture, Emry as far as am concerned can not take arsenal any where, just look at man u, when Morinho was there they find it difficult to score goals and even conceded a lot, Morinho was asking for more money to get defenders but when solsjkiar took over they are now nine or ten games with out a loss. The point am trying to make is that Emry is not the man to get us back to where we used to be, whether we believe it or not that is the plain truth.
Durand if fans don’t give free passes to anyone then Klopp would have been sacked after his first season at Liverpool….
And Ferguson sacked after his 1st season at M.U. and look how that turned out….
And Fergie’s second and third seasons.
Never said sack Emery. Did people read my post at all? Merely said he should be questioned on some decisions and tactics.
Why play 7 defenders against a bottom club?
Why play Kola as LM to avoid playing Ozil?
Why some players continue to repeat mistakes that cost team goals? ( Xhaka, Mustafi)
Are we not supposed to question Emery at all? If not, then when?
Doesn’t mean I want him gone.
Durand, your arguments are too subtle for some on here to understand.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think your on the same wavelength as me and it goes as follows:
1. I don’t want UE to fail, I want him to succeed and become the most successful manager in Arsenal’s history.
2. I don’t understand his team selection, so I ask questions and give my views.
3. I don’t understand why he plays seven defensive players against the bottom team in the league, so I ask questions and give my views.
4. I don’t understand why we have two top forwards who are being starved of the kind of service they need to score goals, so I ask questions and give my views.
5. I don’t understand that by doing any of the above, I am being disloyal to UE and the club, so I ask questions and give my views.
6. I don’t understand why one is labelled with a tag because he / she supports one player over another and is villified for it, so I ask questions and give my views.
7. I don’t understand the double standards being applied to UE versus AW, so I ask questions and give my views.
8. I don’t understand that by doing this, I’m accused of being disloyal and wanting to turn the clock back, so I ask questions and give my views.
9. I don’t understand why players are being selected, while others, and one in particular, is being ignored, soI ask questions and give my views.
10. I don’t understand why fans ( only a few by the way) are calling for UE’s head while we are still in the running for 4th place and with a possibility of europa success. The awful injury list he has to contend with has blighted any reasonable chance of a settled defence, along with kronkies usual and consistent underwhelming transfer budget.
11. We have to assess his performance at the end of the season of course, but let’s be honest about what’s happening at the moment.
12. He is making mistakes that are glariingly obvious and also individually hurtfull to certain players, so I ask questions and give my views.
13. After the terrible abuse fans on here gave our ex-manager, it makes me laugh when the shock, horror, not supporting the manager and/or club, texts are posted.
14. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander is a perfect way to describe this outburst of self- righteous indignation where UE is concerned.
3 points ✔ that is all I wanted
Emery just don’t get it…boring boring football! The level of arrogance he displays in lineup selection and substitutions is just amazing.. You just don’t enjoy even a minute of our game because there is no flow at all..Arsenal is a mid-table table club, gone are the glory days, those who took this club down the drain should be ashamed of themselves.. I pity those who renew season tickets yearly to go and hold there breath for the entire 90 + minutes!!!
Those two goals and the fighting spirit the players showed are boring football?
Huddersfield out fought us for every single ball. This is a team that scored only 5 goals at home all year.
Don’t get carried away with the result, I’ve just watched the game online, we were absolutely terrible, if we’d have played a half decent side we’d have been beaten, Gotanidea tells you about his beloved Iwobi but he doesn’t tell you about the chances he missed. he wasn’t the only dreadful player, AMN, Mikki and the rest giving the ball away cheaply. We’re going backwards, Wolves will overtake us eventually, mark my words.
Iwobi’s movements, passes and teamwork were excellent, but he is known for his lack of end products
Nonetheless, he is the only one that can unlock the opponent’s defense with his runs currently
Kenny at leave Gotanidea still type and always try to leave sentiments out of it, and he still tries to be balanced with his critics.
But as for the rest who will choose to hide behind their keyboard and say stuffs just to make themselves feel good, as for them, let them live in their fantasy land.
I don’t know what game we all saw that someone is telling me I’m not seeing the improvement or was I expecting Huddersfield to roll over.
You can’t try to say the harsh truth on here without being labelled as either plastic or something Else
Eddie, I really don’t understand what you are trying to say, how you can have the nerve to write articles for JustArsenal when your knowledge of the English language is so poor.
sorry, for the error, I’m typing with my phone and I hardly stop to take second look at what I’m typing.. I said at least Gotanidea while expressing himself does so without sentiments and tries to be honest with his views
Being honest and talking sense are two different things.
Which defenders are we talking about here, Mustafi, AMN is a midfielder converted to full right back, Lichestner well he was a free agent. These guys are not on a good day reliable defenders. since the beginning of the season, we haven’t been able to get all our defenders together as whole without having to deal with injuries. The only time we had a 85% fit defense was against Chelsea and the result was obvious. This team hasn’t at any point be injury free, players keep moving back and forth from medical room with stuffs ranging from injury, illness that we have to utilize makeshift players in different positions. Emery hss not really have time to get his pattern right becos of this injury. when he had 85% fit players, he managed some good unbeaten runs and from here we can deduced if he has all his players maybe, i say maybe the result will be different.
but all my accusing fingers pointed to the management. The last transfer window says it all, and i don’t believe the next one is going to be any different. Pep gets any player he wants, klopp same at any price cos they make funds available to them. The result is good but not too good for the status of Arsenal.
Phemol, spot on. Thank you!
To me there was shock,
We cud not control this gsme even wen 2 nil up
We are going to drop points
And this game is just an early remjnder dat all teams should be taken seriously whether bottom of table or not
Emery should now pick aleaf
Excellent result! We got the 3 points and we get to keep up the pressure on the top 4! As I had expected and as I always expect of away games, it was tough but the manager came through and earned us the result. Well done team well done Emery!
I have been one of Emery’s supporters, but I’m beginning to question his tactics, team selection & knowledge of the PL. We played like a Mourinho team against a team that hasn’t scored at home & we still couldn’t get a clean shit. I have no idea what his playing style is & the team lacks stability completely. Iwobi scored but he has the worst decision making of any footballer in the final third. The lesser I say about mustafi the better, this guy can’t even defend his own pride. I’ll take the win but we’ve got a loong way to go.
I have been one of Emery’s supporters, but I’m beginning to question his tactics, team selection & knowledge of the PL. We played like a Mourinho team against a team that hasn’t scored at home & we still couldn’t get a clean sheet. I have no idea what his playing style is & the team lacks stability completely. Iwobi scored but he has the worst decision making of any footballer in the final third. The lesser I say about mustafi the better, this guy can’t even defend his own pride. I’ll take the win but we’ve got a loong way to go.
Elneny=clown. What did he do on the pitch other than robbed Lacazette goal scoring opportunity?
Laca, Guendouzi and Koscielny were excellent. Leno as well.
Mkhitaryan and Iwobi were quite terrible at times. Latter one scored very, very luckily, squandered another but he did fight.
Worst Arsenal game i’ve seen in a long time. We were out hustled, out run. out played the whole game by the worst team in the PL in recent memory.
AMN had a horrid game,
Mustafi has no place in this team,
Monreal was ok,
Koscielny was the only defender that kept us in the game,
Kolasinac great going forward but really terrible defending.
Guendouzi can only play when he is not pressured, this has been going on the whole season,
Mhki was good enough for his first game in 2 months,
Torreira has gone backwards,
Elneny has no place in this team,
Iwobi has some good qualities but his lack of end product is a huge issue,
Lacazette played well enough for a team that had trouble getting him the ball.
Top mangers improve his players. Is Mr Emery one of them?
I think the decision to take off torriera and bring on Eleny was to weaken arsenal from unai.
That is not a critisim but just a note of his desire for arsenal to improve defensively and so get arsenal defending. So we practiced and did ok, 7 out of 10. It’s just about players getting use to their roles.
I think arsenal fans get a little shock horror if arsenal have to defend. It’s like ‘No we dominate opponents and we do not need to attack’ So when we do it’s gasps we have to.
And right now, unai doesn’t need to get arsenal playing perfectly or close to, in order to do that he needs to learn about the players. So right now I’m okay if he is testing things.
I think that’s where we are. Mhikt was showing his credentials as a squad player today. Saurez seems interested in finding pockets which is a new dimension outside of Ramsay offering this. Gendouzi develops again today. Torriera was tidy again. Laca lead the line with his personality.
Unai watches our opponents as much as trying to use that as a springboard for attack but we have a long way to go to get it right.
Maybe fans should start to understand unai is testing ideas within the frame of still keeping top 4 a real target.
*No we dominate opponents and we do not need to defend’
I don’t get some fans. Some of our fans rip into these players on a regular basis, they basically call the majority of them crap. They write off all hopes of finishing in top four and say we are 5th or 6th and not even close to top four. Then when we are missing allot of our first team players, by the way they say as crap anyhow, they then turn on the manager as if they expect more. I don’t even believe they are aware of how daft they come across, they believe otherwise actually, by choosing a weakened side as opportune moment to attack the manager even though they’ve been tearing this teams players apart for more than a few years. How can you reason with people of this nature.
Do you honestly think we are top 4 material? Don’t be deluded.
I believe the same thing as I believed in the beginning of the season. That it will be extremely tough for us to finish in the top four.
Break on through, that’s what some of the fans have been doing on here for years!!
The fact that it’s a different manager doesn’t change the facts.
Is that how you saw the situation with the previous regime?
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander as they say.
Let’s just remind ourselves that thisHuddersfield team prop up the premier league, will surely be relegated and yet they had more possesion, more corners, more tactics and more guile than us.
The only thing we beat them at was goals and the three points.
!-) last season 2-1 this season…where’s the improvement?
I was one of Wengers biggest advocates, I found myself constantly defending him for years, which felt like eons. The constant turmoil as well as himself having ample time to build a challenging team, is why I felt it was right for him to step aside. If we make it back into the top four and have better players, I want to see what Emery can do. I want to see if he can make progress.
?If Unai Emery doesn’t get the support of Kroenke and the board he will walk. His reutation among his peers is such that, at his age, he will have no problem getting another job.
That will give an opportunity to the coaching tactical geniuses on this site to apply for the job!
Gendouzi is poor, he cant tackle , slow and is caught on the ballto often and then goes down looking for a free. When Torriera was taken off ouf mid field was non existent. There was no one to create any openings and the easy chance we had to finish the game were not taken, in fact it was a rather dismal performance. Lucky 3 points.
It was terrible display…. Huddersfield totally controlled the game in second half and we had no answers to it…
Why Emery elect such a defensive line up??
It was evident from today’s game that defensive line up was causing us so much problems…
It could have different if it would have been 4 at back with Kolasinac and AMN as Full back and Suarez, Guendozi and Lucas Torreira as Midfield….
This season is done, i dont fancy us making it to the Europa.If we do not get rid of this deadwood and if Wolves/Everton/Watford/ WHU strengthen in the summer, we will be fighting for top 10. Struggling/ scrapping past relegation teams exposes our character and ability.
Win or not am not still convinced of this team and the tactics we keep employing. How can huddlesfield put us under so much pressure. This is a team we should be dominating, under wenger we would not play so poorly against such a team. I fell in love with this club because of the brand of football we played win or lose. Please Emery fix this mess or get ready to be sacked sooner than later.
And which mercenary will take his place to do better with this squad, the available transfer budget, Arsenal’s self sustaining financial model and Scrooge Kroenke as owner?
I just can’t keep watching this crappy football we keep playing. We should be playing better even with this set of players….
Don’t watch, if its so depressing.
Lol Tristan, Huddersfield have better and quality players than we do? I give up bro??
Eddie-Just filled the car up on the M1and two Huddersfield fans wanted to discuss the match.They felt before the game they would beat us and are disappointed they did not win.When I asked why they thought they would win before th3 game they replied “Because you are Arsenal and everyone knows they are not a threat to anyone these days”.THAT alone tells you where we are at the moment.When fans of a soon to be relegated Club EXPECT to beat us and are disappointed when they don’t it brings home just how far behind we are.
Those fans actually meant what they were saying.They were not being offensive.They were genuinely shocked at not winning.
How the mighty have fallen don’t you Think?
That would be awesome if true. Emery would be regarded as the greatest manager of all time to have us in the top six and two transfer windows would see us as invincible again.
Hahaha, apparently that’s only reason we got outplayed by the bottom team in the team. but we still managed a win. Crucial 3 pts on our way to secure the 6th place. ☹️☹️☹️
Phil it’s sad honestly, and do you know the annoying thing for me? To see my friends telling me they’re confident we are not a threat to the top four, and one went on to tell me even if Chelsea and United lose their next two games that we still won’t make it into the top four. Teams don’t fear us, we are as predictable as we were under Wenger. You gotta be bold enough to admit the truth that it’s embarrassing, Phil did you see the game? We were outplayed and, if this was against a top team with better attackers, we would’ve lost the game.
I’m not even surprised they said that to you, we can as well say Kroenke is the cause of it all but the truth still is are we that bad that we can’t beat our chest and face these low table teams? If you try to point out how things are wrong on here, you’ll have people calling you plastic and fake just because you’re facing the ugly truth. Imagine a Chelsea fan confidently telling you we won’t beat Southampton in our next game because we are Arsenal, we can’t handle small teams not to mention the big boys, and that was before kick off today, really Phil if you look at it deeply, it’s depressing
can’t agree more!
Eddie-I was at the game.I saw with my own eyes that we were fairly decent in the first half without ever being that convincing to poor in the second half against a hard working team that will be playing Championship Football next season.I look past the injuries.This is the time of the season when all teams have injuries and need to rotate.I seriously question Emery at the moment.We play with little style and the players seen lost in the system they are being coached to play in.The Away support were frustrated as the second half went on because we seemed to be very listless and nervous.There was nobody who was able to get hold of the game to control the tempo.Defensively we looked fragile AGAIN. We looked like a side that were surprised to be winning away.There was no confidence and very little imagination.They say good teams win when playing poorly.But let’s remember this was Huddersfield we were playing.We were abysmal at Citeh last week and not that much better this week.Yeah the 3points were welcome but let’s not pretend Emery has turned the corner with this win.
I was one of Wenger’s harsher critics because he was stubborn enough to use
his favorite players whether they performed or not.
I was happy to see Emery in the beginning of the season not to be afraid to shake it up.
What i did not realize early on is that Emery was more or less was exercising his
“who is the boss” power play more than actually understanding what worked with
players and what did not.
The team did well to go on an unbeaten run because players reacted well to the change .
That happens with any managerial change. Hence the reason teams fighting fo r relegation sometimes a change in manager can salvage it for them.
Now the honeymoon is over and you can see the real effects of Emery’s management style. His personality is not suited to star players and he is was well beyond his depth at PSG and apparently here. Arsenal can’t turn into Valencia. A top four every 2-3 years team with an occasional trophy whether it is Europa league or FA Cup.
If we want to challenge time will tell you that managers like Mourinho or Emery that do not deal well with players and their personalities are not aware of the modern game and
the power players have.
I cringe when i read some of the comments of the lads on this board settling for
‘hidden gems” “affordable quality” players we can buy. Those are far and few between.
It seems to me we had world class players like Sanchez/Ozil/Auba/Laca and our managers (WENGER/LACAZETTE) (EMERY/OZIL) find a way to screw the mix up
somehow with no apparent benefit to the team.
Arsenal is not better without Sanchez and will not be better without Ozil.
We need a manger that can recognize real quality and use it effectivelly.
I know some of you fellows have personal favorites also as the board is littered with pro/against Iwobi arguments but I rely on general opinion by ex great players or managers as to what players we should be after or put on the field.
What was on the field today vs Hudersfield and hoe they played is a direct effect of Emery’s influence on the team. We can try to out hustle other teams but if our future
depends on out hustling relegation teams to squeak by then maybe time to be happy
in mid table and watch videos of the past glory teams we had.
Ozil called in sick again, so was unavailable to play.
What coach can rely on unreliable players?
People on here need to look at the quality of Arsenal’s squad, available players and bench and compare them to the other so called top five clubs and get a reality check.
Yet another unconvincing performance but we scraped home.I cannot believe Emery continues to play Mustafi when the talented Mavroponas is available, particularly against a side which is likely to be relegated.On a brighter note, It’s great to see Kocielney again playing well .Others who impressed me today were Leno and the much maligned Iwobi.
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Phil I believe this is why most folks on here keep questioning Emery’s abilities to take us to the top, I know we’ve had injuries and transfer saga, but seriously what justification do we have to play like that against lower table teams…
Phil remember the West Ham game, similar to this one and we lost it.
How this team has no balance, despite the number of midfielders we have in the club, rather we go for defensive players to control the game.. All this and yet we can’t keep a clean sheet.
Ive been saying this, we struggle to attack effectively and we fail to defend.
Hell the defense is much more worse than it was a year ago, with all this so many problems, and people really see no reason to question the way forward?
9 or 10 players missing, including 3 first choice defenders, might have had something to do with that.
ThirdManJW, you’re wasting your time, trying to put facts that counter the agendas of some people on here.
Great win for us. As long as we win I have no problem. Iwobi was the MOTM yet some deluded fans still castigate him. We all know his finishing is poor but give him some credit when he is due
Yeah I though he had a good game as well, and deserving of MOTM. He caused a lot of problems for Huddersfield.
Well I must be deluded.Iwobi again showed his total credentials today.All huff and puff with little to show for all the effort.He scored and credit him for that.The fact the ball would have probably gone out for a throw in sums him up perfectly.He is CALAMITOUS with the ball at his feet.
So for all you Iwobi lovebirds answer these points
*With no other CAM available again today,why do you believe Emery still refuses to even give him the opportunity of playing there?Apparantly the player believes this is his best position.
*Do you not feel Emery would have seen enough of the player to know his credentials by now?If so why is he continually put out wide?
*The Manager is obviously has an abundance of Midfielders but no natural width.Iwobi is the only player we have in the squad who can play there.If Emery was convinced by Iwobi why do you think our main priority is to buy a winger?If Iwobi impressed the manager of his abilities surely he would look to strengthen other positions would he not?
*With Reiss Nelson likely to be introduced into the First team squad next season and Saka coming through the system,where do you feel Iwobi will be in the pecking order?
With so many places in the team to improve with better qualities why did the Manager target a Midfielder who plays wide or central (like Iwobi-except he is never trusted centrally) especially when we have such desperate needs for defensive players?
And finally-TH14.
Where would you be in life if there was no Alex Iwobi?
Will you be supporting Brentford when he ends up there?
Don’t forget to pump up the blow up doll every now and then.Especially the Arse area.
That is a long rant, haha! I agree though, Iwobi isn’t the answer long-term. He’s a decent squad player at best, but I’d happily sell him in the summer to generate some funds. To answer the majority of your questions, Iwobi is only getting so much game time because of two key reasons. We’ve had so many injuries, that Iwobi has been needed more than I would have preferred, but needs must. The other reason is that we have ZERO wingers, and he’s the nearest we have to one.
Although I am not a fan of his, I don’t mind saying that he had a good game today.
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Couldn’t agree more PHil
I said that his shot was going to hit the corner flag before the deflection.
Again he showed little that I saw ,2 easy chances which most average wingers could slot away .
I’m ashamed to admit I lost Intrest by the 60th minute
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I see some fans are still moaning about Emery! I think he had 10 outfield players not available today, and yet some think we should still be going away from home and smashing teams. He pretty much had an entire starting lineup missing! Perspective folks!
That’s fine why didn’t he sign players in January ,he only had 4 weeks to do it .
I’ll tell you why ,the club is run by idiots ,this crap as been going on for 12 years now ,same sh1t different season ,dosent matter who the manager is .
I’m sure Emery would have loved to have signed more in January, but it’s not up to the manager anymore. He was told only loans. The operational side of things have been run terrible for years by Wenger and Gazidis, but they’re gone now, so we have to give the new regime above Emery time. Whether it be Emery, or the new regime above him, I find it absolutely staggering, and delusional, that some fans think they can turn things around in such a short space of time.
And there are positives already. Youngsters like Bellerin and Holding who were wasting away under Wenger, have made huge improvements. Torriera and Guendouzi are fantastic signings. Deadwood are being identified and moved on. No new contracts for the likes of Jenkinson, Welbeck, Ramsey, etc. We FINALLY have a manager who does in game management, and in doing so, no other manager has been more effective than Emery with substitutions. Players are getting dropped for under performing. No special treatment for Ozil anymore. I am loving what Emery is doing. We’re only a point off 4th, and 7pts off 3rd, and that’s with an insane injury list, and a bang average squad. Just imagine what he could do with not so many injuries, and some more players that are suited to his philosophy?
Obviously Kroenke will not change, but am sure the new regime won’t be missing out on hundreds of millions like Wenger and Gazidis were doing. Around £140 million lost in just a year and half on Ozil, Sanchez, and Ramsey alone!
Well something is not working because the way the fan base is split on here again proves it .
On one hand we have the wenger bashers aNd emery is doing a fantastic job ,and on the other is the emery bashers ,and he’s not doing as good as wenger .there might be some in between also ..
The amount of arguments on here recently shows that all is not well within the team .for me wengers time was up and we needed a fresh start ,but after seeing what emerys bought to this team I’m not sure he’s right for us ,now I’m not being premature with my views because we don’t know what type of restrictions he’s working under ,but are we going to be happy with a manager who’s happy just to take whatever the board wants him to do .hes young if he has any kind of ambition then we will find out in the summer what those ambitions are because if he’s given to spend what as been reported then we don’t really stand any chance getting back where we once were ,and he should be off telling our board to stick it .
I have a feeling he was bought in just to keep us where we are ,no fancy money spent and try for 4th place ,why fix something that seems not to be broken by the board
One word Dan
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Dan kit, Emery was up front and stated that there were only funds available for loan deals in the last transfer window. Can you please advise us of the CB’s, LB’s and RB’s or wide players (wingers) available for transfer let alone loan in this window?
Can you please enlighten us on how many loans were successfully made by other clubs in Europe for players in these positions?
I see the time difference only lets you come on when most have gone to bed .
Mate if a team wants to sign someone they will ,that’s no excuse ,there were plenty of wingers available for loan ,and if the board let go of the purse strings he could even. Sign a few players if there are no funds why is he managing here ,he’s young why hang around the club who look happy to be fighting 4th place year in year out .
TH14- you missed a lot of words out
I. INCONSISTENT
W. WASTEFULL
O. OFF TARGET (with most of his shots and passes)
B. BOTTOM (very big arse)
I. INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE (where he will be playing next
Season if Brentford don’t sign him).
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Hahaha! ?
Good one Dan ??
He as got a massive arse though for a bloke .
Isn’t iwobi Turkish anyway ?
Emery is used to small budgets, and I actually think he thrives in that situation, and loves a challenge. Look at the fantastic job he did at Valencia for example. He took over with just over half a billion worth of debt, and had to constantly sell his best players.
Of course if we’re talking about Kroenke, then possibly we could be screwed for many years to come, but I’ll hold judgement on that for now, given the new manager, and team above him. As I keep saying, Kroenke will not change, but everything else has, so let’s at least give these new changes time to see what happens.
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