Norwich City 2-2 Arsenal – Another disappointing result from Arsenal as they fail to beat Norwich City.
Same old Arsenal frailties, blunt in attack with the exception of Aubamyenag. Defence not fit for purpose and a midfield that is no use going forward or backwards.
Ljungberg substitutions left a lot to be desired but then again, maybe he does not trust Pepe because I have no idea why he was not introduced.
This was another shambolic performance, yes, there were moments that were bright but remember, Arsenal was playing the team second bottom.
Overall, Arsenal was the better team but only marginally. Well, until the last ten minutes or so.
There was, however, some positives. There was certainly more passion and more fight and the team was more attack-minded. But that was to be expected under a new man in charge.
I really am going to have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find much more to be positive about though.
These were the games that Arsenal was supposed to get points on the board but instead, this is the worst start to a season since the ’70s.
I am not sure where Arsenal go from here, they clearly need a top manager and fast. Freddie is not going to cut it at this moment in time.
Numerous players have to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves are they really doing enough?
My last word, Leno was the difference between a draw and defeat today. Think about that. Tht is where Arsenal are at.
They used diamond formation again, but not too narrow, with high pressure upfont and shorter distances between the players. Almost worked and we won the ball possession because of the shorter passes, but the players got caught in defending again:
– Aubameyang: On fire today and showed good movements on right wing as usual
– Lacazette: His work rate has decreased a lot and mostly anonymous. He got a brace in the last match, but he has been inconsistent in this season
– Ozil: Lack of fight as usual
– Willock: Didn’t offer anything special and Norwich’s first goal started from his unwillingness to retrieve the ball. He needs to change his attitude if he wants to succeed in this level
– Guendouzi: Worked his socks off, but almost got caught with his mistake
– Xhaka: Worked hard, but nothing special as always
– Mustafi and Luiz: Tried their best, but were unprotected enough by the midfielders. Mustafi was unlucky with the deflection
– Kolasinac and Chambers: Defended well, but not good enough offesively
– Leno: Thanks to him, we managed to get a draw
Norwich ain’t bad at home though when they actually defend in their numbers. I now see why they beat City with their slick passing and quick counter attacking.
We peppered them in the first half for most part and I believe but for poor decision making we should have been up ahead by two goals before their first goal. I was impressed with our attacking play on that half.
I think Ljungberg should be given a chance because this team isn’t as good as people think and Norwich at home defending in numbers aren’t bad
Some senior players have shown their maximum abilities under two managers at Arsenal and I don’t expect them to improve under Ljungberg
We will see what will not change after three games
Bored watching the same rubbish time and time again. Mustafi and Xhaka are just not good enough. Willock is not really ready as a regular. Ozil too weak. Luiz like an old man. Lacazette not in the right mental place. He looks so unhappy. Chambers OK…but not a special player. We are just rubbish.
DON’T KNOW WHAT GAME YOU WERE WATCHING. Your thoughts on all our defenders, all of whom you say at least something positive are nonsense. All were complete rubbish. Mustafi was not unlucky; he was badly positioned, LUIZ WAS HIS USUAL POSING SELF, WITH NO COURAGE OR DYNAMISM, DESPITE HIS SIZE. Mustafi was his usual and constant mistake on legs and neither “tried their best”. Thet gave up basically. Try being truthful for once and stop fooling yourself! KOLAS AND CHAMBERS, ESP cHAMBERS, WERE AWFUL AND CHAMBERS IS ALMOST AS SLOW AS MERTESACKER WAS.
You have Leno right though. MOTM and against lowly Norwich too! THAT SAYS IT ALL!
Ljungberg made things quite difficult for himself today with the team selection. We played some very good football in the first half and probably should’ve taken the lead before Norwich scored their goal. Our defending was poor as usual and we were lucky not to concede a 3rd goal. Auba did well to score two goals but was understandably poor apart from that because he played at the wings which exposes his flaws on the ball and I edge Leno for the MOTM. Pepe should be started more often.This is a match which proves this team’s main problem is personnel. Norwich play some good football though. I will give Ljungberg a pass here. I could see a plan in his tactics. He undid himself with his selections though. Hopefully he starts the right team next time.
Ljungberg would need to bench some senior players in the future and I hope the players would respect his decisions
Yeah that’s true. On a side note one thing I realised is that Sokratis has been so bad to the
extent that many of us didntcrealise that David Luiz with Mustafi is a disaster pairing.
This match shows once again that Mustafi is just as bad as Sokratis or even worse
When both are worth a zero, out of ten, they are equally appalling. Both are disastrously awful and neither should ever be within a million miles of AFC. Same for Luiz! WEEP!
Freddie’s selections were puzzling. Our crap defense and doesn’t start Torreria as DM but goes with Willock?
They killed us in that channel between Willock and Chambers; Willock was absolute trash today.
Brings on Saka? Thought Pepe offered pace and dribbling to get by defenders and free up Auba and Laca.
Only two days for Freddie, he has his job cut out. Mustafi better than Sokratis, Chambers not a RB.
Fielded an Emery type selection and got a similar deserved result.
Yeah his selections were bad but I believe he will improve on that drastically in the next match. I was impressed with his attacking tactics but it looks like our defense is going to be the problem for us the entire season. We could’ve easily won the match in the first half but for poor finishing. I’ll like to see what he does in the next match but I was impressed with the team’s play in the first
Fully agree with you. Willock in particular, he gave the ball away at least 6 times, completely overrated. Why are they still trying to play out from the back?
Our next head coach/manager has got a job on his hands. Top 4? Get real, top 6 would be a result!!
In reply to Durand.
Unable to understand why is saka in the squad.
All respect to the kid but he is not fit for playing in the senior squad. Pepe should have come on instead of him.
It’s not about FL taking over. This squad needs so much more fight and determination rather than just a manager change. These players just don’t deserve to wear an Arsenal shirt.
In all honesty the draw was a fair result.
OT- we need someone like Amadou in midfield. He was immense for norwich today.
We lacked penetration on the left wing, because Lacazette didn’t even try to play wide and he was unwilling to get past Norwich’s RB
Saka was required, because he is a conventional LW
Spot on Kev.Underline the word personnel.
Our team lacks balance.All departments lack cohesion & that’s why as a team we are practically dysfunctional.
Look at the defense,we have tried everyone we have in the team but no one has brought us stability.
For us to get out of this situation we need a manager who will tell this board the truth that we need players of premier league quality. But as long as we still depend on Mustaphi,Guendouzi,Willock and Saka,truth be told we will be in the bottom half of the table and Ljumberg won’t change this.
Lacazette hasn’t seemed up for it all season. If I were the club I’d be stalling contract talks at the very least. Doesn’t seem like he wants to be here and he’s hitting an age where his value could nosedive very soon.
Random thoughts after the game:
-Leno saved us.
-Fullbacks were too far forward.
-No specialist DM to cover during counters.
-Substitutions were too late.
-What’s happened to pepe?
-Mustafi, Chambers and Willock were so bad.
-Improvements in the attacking play.
-We’ve now drawn 2-2 with all of the bottom three. Lol
-This squad has clearly been badly assembled.
I think this was a tough first game for Ljungberg because our team has been very poor and when Norwich actually defend in their numbers at home it’s quite difficult to beat them.
Based on the 1sr half had Ljungberg selected the right team we likely would have won this match
Ljungberg substitution is faulty, bringing saka in at dat critical stage is an error from him, our midfielders don’t protect our defenders that is why we are having same problem at d back, we conceded useless goals that d runs started from the midfield and nothing could be done to stop the runners. We were lucky to draw the game,
“…when Norwich actually defend in their numbers at home it’s quite difficult to beat them”.
Loser’s mentality.
Can’t beat top 4 team at their homes.
We lacked Cojones at Watford.
Wolves are too physical.
Sheffield Utd are too tough at Bramall lane.
Southampton are hard nuts at Saint Mary.
It’s difficult to win a lunch time kick off games.
Referee Mike Dean is Anti-Arsenal.
M. Oliver is supporting City.
.
.
.
.
….and so on, and so forth.
What loser’s mentality. Lowe’s mentality is being ok with a loss or being happy with mediocrity. You’re clearly mistaken if you think such of me. Just because I think Norwich are good at home when they actually defend in their numbers doesn’t mean I’m happy with the result. We should have outscored them in the first half and beaten them. I hope you realise this team isn’t good enough?? Under the current circumstances and considering this as Ljungberg first match this isn’t a bad result but we could’ve done far better.
Don’t try to pretend like you dont read my comments here too
The fullbacks had to move forward frequently, because we used diamond formation and we had no wingers
We won the ball possession as the result, but Guendouzi and Willock were simply too slow to cover the fullbacks
Exactly. Same old story. Poor selection. The good thing is that this one is a caretaker.
Never thought that things were as simple as just getting rid of Emery and it isnt. Lack of fight and passion to go with lack of ability to go that bit extra. We are in trouble no matter who our manager is. The attitude around this club by the players stinks. I think we will sink lower before we can even think of some form of recovery. Emery had a tough job sorting the crap left behind and the next person in will have the same. We are not a big club anymore, just mid table. I am really sad to see how the players we have brought in are not upto the fight or ability. Of course it is going to be same old same old, it cant be any other.
Spot on, Reggie; the problems at the Arsenal go much deeper than can be resolved by changing the head coach.
Too many players are not good enough in ability and, particularly mental attitude.
what a joke! 72m man on the bench and bring on saka?
Andy, the price tag or what one did 5 seasons ago should never be the criteria for team selections. The fact that we have an aging team, no leaders on the pitch for the youngsters to look upto and take orders, over paid feeble mentalities and a reckless defence is what has brought us here.Get Kopp or Pep or Rodgers, this team is not designed to achieve anything. Period.Let us stop leaving in wonderland.
Freddie lost us the match cos I see draw as lose now. His mistakes was his sub. It took too long to sub when it was obvious willock, Gwen and Ozil fades away as the game goes on.
Good game over all. Atleast we have some Identity now
That boy cantwell is mustard! Never heard of him before
We controlled the game for 60 minutes. Then the lack of fitness showed, Norwich were on top there after. The team need to improve fitness. Other teams work harder than Arsenal.
Two easy goals to avoid if only someone closed the player down.
Lack of fitness! ARE YOU REAL.
I am not gonna be too critical it’s Freddie’s first game in charge but I do feel he made a number of mistakes with his selections we need a enforcer in the middle of the pitch to protect the defence we currently have a number of midfield passers but no one that can actually break down play I still feel Xhaka is not suited for the premier league takes too much time on the ball and way too slow for the position he plays in Willock also need time on the sidelines he is not ready for 1st team football and why did he only give Martinelli 5 minutes the kid’s energy is amazing
Finally someone see that xhaka is an anwful player… No motivación, no desire and no passion.
I out the next team (we need balls in this team)
Leno
Bellerin chambers holding tierney
Torreira
Guend ozil
Pepe Auba martinelli
The big problem is the Defense, David, mustafi and sokratis are painful to watch…
Freddie has a lot to fix and improve on.
I’m not impressed with his selections and sub’s but he’s under no pressure from me.
He needs time but the earlier he realizes this isn’t the u23 league, the better for him.
Trusting Willock over Torreira away is reckless, trusting Saka over Pepe away is reckless, and it’ll only pile up pressure on these kids.
His substitutions were too poor, but once again.
I’ll give home time.
Leno still proving he’s one of the best and underrated goalkeeper in the league.
Leno should be taking home Ozil + Mustafi + Luiz’s salary.
It was a poor game.
We give opponents too much freedom to use the ball.
Hoping Freddie learns from this game and and the next game is better
I was happy with Ljungberg attacking tactics though. Ultimately the team just isn’t good enough and that showed especially in the 2nd half. I think tactically he was good in this match but his team selection undid him.
We could have won the match in the first half if he started a better team. Norwich too aren’t bad at home when they actually defend in numbers
Is it just me or does Arsenal make even the poorest defence look like it’s made of Maldinis?
I’d like to see a percentage of blocked shots from the Norwich defence. I think it’s somewhere around 80%. Haven’t watched Arsenal in a while and this to me seems like the same old same old. Every time there’s a 1 on 1 situation, Arsenal player falls short. We are a weak, clueless team this season and it’s painful to watch. Somehow I don’t think Arsenal will even claw back to EL places this season. I hope that we get to see a change next week. Honestly, it’s a bit too early to see an obvious positive change with Emery getting the sack two days ago.
From my observation I believe Aubameyang and Lacazette should not start together again because it makes our attack looks dull and blunt. There is no width we look too predictable in attack. Our midfield can’t support the attack or help the defense. Ozil has past his prime we need to go for a creative midfielder come January Martin ordegard comes to mind along with a proper dm. Our defense is just not good enough. Leno saved us slot today
Poor game…. Why xhaka is still playing in this team?… The worst player, by far, the worst… And the problem is, that xhaka disrupt the rest of the team… David luis, mustafi, Lacazete, willock to the bench… And xhaka never more in this team… Freddie, I think that toy Will put some fight Spirit, but you have faild. If in the bext match you put xhaka in the field again, I know that you are not dt material…
Xhaka was not the worst player today
The worst players were Lacazette, Ozil and Willock
Xhaka did his usual, give the ball away just outside our area passing sideways, that only poor finishing stopped a typical xhaka assist for the opposition, the guy is awful.
Looks like everybody was expecting an instant turn around. Curses, fanbase gets disappointed again. Expectations are one thing, reality another… IJS
Either Norwich has worst of luck to be in relegation zone, or Arsenal had good luck not to be relegation zone. Norwich completely outplayed Arsenal today except for possession. when we were being outplayed in the middle of the park, Lujenberg substituted the midfield with 2 rookie wide players leaving completely vacant on the midfield. This shows the level of his managerial quality. Now no more tinkering, search for next manager soon. Ljunberg out!
Considering Freddie just got 2 days to instill his ideas, seeing this level of attacking intent was good. Just to say we had more touches in the Norwich penalty box in the first half than in the whole game against Southampton tells a lot.
Players were very rusty in their first touches, that just tells how drab of a football we have been playing till now. But it will come eventually.
Problem is the defense which will not get better unless our defenders turn to man marking rather than zonal defense. Have to learn to close in and be physical. It was so poor today in the last line of defense. No body commit themselves and throw their bodies it’s so poor.
Mustafi was absolute shambles today really. He always is way ahead into the midfield, and always slow to get back, always missing his mark, just ridiculous it was.
Willock was very poor today. Also Laca didn’t look much sharp. Auba was active and happening. Ozil couldn’t do much. He will start performing better when our overall one touch game become good.
Leno, Motm.
Lack of confidence was very visible, but we had that attacking intent that we have been lacking for so long.
I say, that’s a good sign, considering just 2 days under Freddie.
The improvements I saw:
1. Didn’t lose to Norwich at hostile ground.
2. We made more passes in opponents half instead of our half.
3. We didn’t concede 20+ shots.
4. We are starting to create chances.
It’s a difficult start for Freddie but im confident things will get better from here. U need to remember that freddie only haD like 3 days to prepare. Let’s not pressure the guy.
Yeah, I seen a newspaper website pick out some twitter comments while in the game, some fools were saying hashtag Freddie out, others were saying worse. What does a person get out of doing that, it’s illogical, dumb. It doesn’t even sound like Freddie wants the job full-time, he was asked and he said we’re just trying to do well for this next game and then maybe a number of weeks, but he didn’t sound like he’s taking this as a great chance to cement himself as a first team coach/manager. I think he’s happy just coaching and being apart of the team. Per too, I don’t think he wanted all this responsibility, remember when he began suffering physically he admitted he didn’t want the responsibility of playing on his last season. He was having palpitations and all I think. It’s a lot of responsibility for guys who didn’t ask for it, fans should keep that in mind, they need your support and they haven’t prepared themselves for taking all the blame. Freddie is used to our fans greeting him fondly everywhere he goes and it’s likely the same for the guy who has an FA cup final named after him (Didn’t know that Admin, good to know)
I agree with this analysis completely. We attacked more than in our previous games, had more corners than the opposite team and had more fight too. We should remember that Norwich is no push over by the way. They beat Man City and they play well too. I however think Martineli and Toreri should have been introduced earlier and Pepe too should have been played instead of Saka. Wilock was out of sorts so too was Lacazette. l don’t even want to mention our defense which has been in shambles since the Wenger era and it seems no one is interested in fixing it
👍 Concerned fan, add a DM to your last sentence.
Freddie has his work cut out. We just aren’t very good tight now. Every other team seems to understand their individual roles bringing the ball out. Right now we haven’t get a clue and do it differently every time. That’s down to coaching so hopefully Freddie and Per can sort it quickly.
We moved the ball forward alot quicker today and created more. The same problems at the back are still there unfortunately
1st Half
Terrible team selection from Ljungberg in his first game, but what was great to see was the different tactics, and it worked. Despite being 2-1 down at halftime, we played our best football of the season so far. We were committing a lot more players in our attacks, and into the oppositions box. There was a tempo, and fluidity to our play, with a lot of one-touch football. Unlike Emery, Ljungberg had clearly insructed his players to play through the middle, which was refreshing to see. The press was back as well, which was very effective. Overall I felt we were the better team in that first half, but poor defending cost us on both goals.
They were exactly the same mistakes. Luiz, and Mustafi, both allowing the opposition to shoot, because they didn’t close them down. A mixed bag on VAR. It saved Aubameyang from his awful penalty, but decided to ignore the blatent red card for Mclean for his terrible over the ball challenge on Guendouzi. Overall, we were the better team, despite trailing.
2nd Half
Energy levels understandably dropped a little, although it was still better than what we had been seeing under Emery. Xhaka made his customary key mistake, but luckily, Leno bailed us out with a world class save. All three substitutions didn’t really have an impact, although Martinelli looked bright during the ridiclous amount of time he was given. Pepe didn’t come on,
so I wonder if they is something going on behind the scenes on that one? Despite winning the second half, I felt Norwich were the better team, and would have won it, if it wasn’t for Leno.
Overall
We were far better tactically, but the same old story with the individual mistakes, lack of quality, and poor team selection. Much more enjoyable to watch though. I said 2-2 before the game, so I should have put a bet on really. Cannot see getting another clean sheet this season.
Leno – 9 MOTM Saved us from defeat
Chambers – 6 Really good first half, not too bad after the break
Mustafi – 4 Wasn’t too bad overall, but poor defending directly cost us a goal
Luiz – 4 Pretty much the same as Mustafi
Kolasinac – 5 Decent job today, but final ball was awful as always
Xhaka – 6 Nearly cost us a goal, but decent today. Worked hard off the ball
Guendouzi – 7 Excellent first half, but not so prominent after the break
Willock – Lots energy, but no quality
Ozil – 6 Decent first half knitting the play together, but faded, and never really created anything
Aubameyang – 7 Two goals, but was lucky to get a second chance on the pen, after an awful first attempt. General play wasn’t too bad
Lacazette – 5 Very poor today. Missed an easy chance early on, and was barely in the game
Subs:
Torreira – 6 Didn’t really have an impact
Saka – 5 Not a lot of time, but barely did anything
Martinelli – 5 Feel bad for given him a rating, given how little time he was given, but he looked bright
Ljungberg – 5 I also feel bad rating him, given how little time he’s had to prepare, but I felt it was a very poor team selection, which did cost us. Will Luiz EVER get dropped? He took our best midfielder off (Guendouzi), when Ozil, or Laca should have come off, and no Pepe? The tactics were great to see however. Lots more energy, tempo, pressing, men in the opposition’s box. Will be interesting to see what he can do with more time.
Willock – 5
Guendouzi and a8ba shpuld be 6 each with Willock being a 5. Guendouzi has so much energy but the thing is he falls short as a CM as he did in this match. He was all over he place but was nothing special.
Auba was average apart from the two goals but he’s not that good with ball at feet so it’s understandable. Willock was very poor today but I don’t think he wa helped by how further forward he was playing. He’s better coming in from deep as a box to box player
Willock I did give a 5, but I felt Guendouzi was excellent in the first half. Most of his passes were forwards, and drove into the box many times. Physically strong, and energetic as well. Auba did attempt quite a few crosses, and some nice dribbles, just about got him a 7 for me. More involved than usual.
I am confident Ljungberg will start selecting the right players and put them in their correct positions too.
The match should have been won in the first half. I was asking myself how we were down after it ended. I believe Ljungberg was undone by his own selection and the defense. I hope Mustafi doesn’t start the match. He is worse than Sokratis. I was impressed with Ljunberg’s tactics
Im no Xhaka apologist but he was
nowhere near the worst player on
the pitch today. Its obvious
your prevailing dislike for the
Swiss man has clouded your
assessment on this occasion.
IMHO Laca, Mustafi, Luiz, and
Willock were all shanbolic
today and should be subsequently
dropped against Brighton.
Auba
Martinelli..Pepe
Guendouzi
Xhaka..Torreria
Tierney..Chambers..Holding..HB
Leno
I felt it would be tricky, with everything going on, players that fans have turned on, constant changes to the side all season, and now a manager change but you don’t get that boost from a new man coming in to try and impress. I felt the game was going to be as difficult as if Emery were still here. I was hopeful that Freddie and Per could use some of what they picked up from Arsene, but confidence is low and wins is what brings it back. What’s the story with Bellerin and Tierney, are we going too lightly on them, mollycoddling them instead of testing them, we needed them back ages ago. Chambers should’ve been put in the centre weeks ago, Mavro nowhere to be seen still just like Bielik was, we can’t keep going with the stuff that we know isn’t working. A win today would have brought us up to fifth, not to mention the boost the players and fans need.
Not a terrible performance – we were more attacking than we have been in a while, and struggled to deal with how open that left us just as I’ve been saying it would, and unfortunately we just couldn’t outscored them this time. Stubborn defence in numbers and their keeper was very good today.
We lost the pace towards the end there and have Leno to thank for keeping us in it but overall I didn’t think it was too bad a start to Freddie’s reign…. and we took more shots than someone for a change – 16 to their 15 (and the end must have made up a large chunk of theirs) 👏😂
Personally wasn’t expecting any miracles from Freddie so soon but happier to see he is going the more attacking approach. Selection was a bit strange as expected to see Bellerin and KT in fullback roles but once again its a free pass from me as Freddie will need some time to get going.
Onwards and upwards. COYG.
As some of us have said repeatedly, this is not a great squad. The midfield and defence remain dire and this is mainly due to the quality of players.
Many are already quite experienced and it is unlikely that they can improve dramatically.
Does anyone really expect Mustafi to now become a world class defender because the manager has changed?
But for Leno’s outstanding saves Arsenal would have lost; just think about that.
Both Arsenal’s goals came from corners despite both strikers and the most “creative” player, Ozil starting and playing most of the game.
The squad needs some major changes to be consistently competitive.
👍
We’re at least back to square one in terms of our problems. Attack seems to be working again and the chances are being created once more. Again, as it has always been with us for years, we cannot defend, and starting the walking disaster that is Mustafi is no help. Wasnt i a few months ago many on here were saying that he should be restored to the lineup? Well this is why he was not. Hes the worst defender in the league. Arsenal have a huge personnel problem in defense and structural problem. Other notes, Leno easily MOTM. Lacazette doesnt seem as committed as previous seasons. I think he wants out and club should sell him. Ozil moved the ball well, and did okay today. What has happened to his deadly passes though? Seems he primarily only shifts the ball around in final third, which is helpful, but we’ve seen him do more. Fullbacks high up the pitch with nobody committed to stopping possible counters. This has been a longterm issue and it persists. Xhaka, again, dont get what he adds to the squad. Loses ball in dangerous spots as usual. I dont think anything here is NEW. At the very least Arsenal are watchable again. Now we need a proper coach to clean up all the mess. And if Arsenal hierarchy dont spending big money on defenders, in the next few windows they all need to be shifted. Please solve this problem!
Mustafi has always been worse than Sokratis. If he had Sokratis’ consistent run of games he’d be making worse mistakes. Ljungberg should be given a chance to prove himself as to whether he’s good enough or not. If it works long term there’ll be no need to get in a new coach. That money can be better spent elsewhere.
With only 1 training session not even a miracle would have fixed arsenal woes. I saw an improvement in our attacking intent while our defence remains AWOL. I would give ljungberg some weeks to see what system he develops before judging him.
1 big worry for me is that once again there was a big drop in player fitness in the last 20 min, we looked dead on our feet.
The formation was wrong. Niles should have been there if bellerin injured, play him RB, Chambers – Holding Kolas so Tierny can rest, avoid injury. Have Luiz in front of CBs as great start of last game, Emery finally had it; 4-1 which is a must with such a shaky Central Defense. We do not have that top CB, need to add that “1” infront of CBs in order to free rest of team to play forward. We did at start of last game before Luiz leaves injured..
By the way Torreria defended the last ball its clear his only position is protection of back 4. We cannot play him high up in pitch. If he is to play there should be system to fit him in otherwise sell him in right time before his stock falls.Xhaka was actually better player today. Today worst players were willock, chambers and mustai. All the Norwich attack n goal came through these players. Ozil is too naive, any player in world can muscle him down. If he is to play he need to avoid contact game. You don’t buy 75mil player just to warm up the bench. Punish him, push him, praise him do whatever it takes but play him and get the best out of him. N finally its delusional to think that Saka will come n change the game.
Cut Freddie some slack.. what was he supposed to do? Wave a magic wand and turn us in to Barca?
He did alright and will get better.
Thank you, Freddie… today I quite enjoyed the match, didn’t feel like turning over or flaking out, like I have done for the last god knows how long!!!
No. But not playing our worst players ie Ozil, Mustafi, Xhaka would have been the logical thing to do
LOL, our worst players yesterday were Willock and Laca. Guendouzi then comes third. Guendouzi was terrible in second half.
Xhaka had a decent game. Ozil was fine in the first half, later became invisible because we weren’t able to retain possession at all in the second half as we did in the first half.
Mustafi was poor I give you that, with his shoddy positioning and runs.
Freddie got it all wrong mustaffi and luiz together is awful, xhaka playing in the prem is awful, Ozil produced his usually flattering display, actually doing ziltch and the substitution did nothing to inject something into the team. Torreira should have started, Tierney should have started. Not impressed at all, i hope we get someone experienced at least and fast. We were rudderless before and now we have a leak.
Absolutely horrible, yet predictable starting lineup…Freddie is more worried about clubhouse politics than winning, as I feared…only possible explanation why Xhaka, Luiz and Kols were starting…somehow Bellerin “wasn’t” match fit yet he didn’t play Thursday and didn’t get injured last weekend…played 3 guys who took serious knocks on Thursday, two of whom were subbed off in Europa due to injuries…this is exactly what is wrong with caretaker managers, especially those who have unrealistic expectations about their own immediate futures…if he truly cared about our turnaround he wouldn’t care about hurting feelings or rubbing veterans the wrong way and played those 11 players who gave us the best chance to energize this lackluster squad and get 3 points, as anything short of that should be considered a failure…Norwich, like Southampton,should have beaten us…this clearly didn’t look like a team that was happy to get the Emery shackles off of them, but instead looked like two ridiculous Wenger disciples in way over their heads…no excuse that Lucas, Pepe and Martinelli weren’t in the starting 11…likewise no reason why Xhaka, Luiz, Mustafi or Kol were playing…this is and will continue to be a tire-fire until someone in this organization grows a pair…find a real manager ASAP!!!
Team worked harder and moved the ball faster but the defense is sub championship standard and bringing back xhaka was just stupid … our strength right now is attack so we have to have pepe with laka and auba working together and martinelli on pitch with Ozil as link up torreira back to his dm role and whoever we can in defense sell kolasinac xhaka Luiz mustafi and Socrates whenever we can and invest in serious defenders
Laca was one of the worst players on
the pitch today and sans his 2 goals
last week has been pedestrian at best
most of the season. Unless FL or the
next manager employ a conventional
4-4-2 formation than the Frenchman
should be moved on and his transfer
fee used to buy a Top Quality CB the
likes of Upamecano, Diaz, Dunk, Ake
etc.
I think Willock needs to sharpen up a bit, I know he’s only young but he seems casual to me. For their 2nd goal he was casual in giving the ball away and then just ambled trying to get the ball back. I also would have liked to see Pepe start or come on. Lets not be too critical though, it will obviously take FL a bit of time to get his ideas across.
Grealish 👊
Where is Wenger when he is needed? Time for him to return until another manager comes in with power over selection and a budget.
This is bad from Arsenal. Poor result with no radical changes from Emery ball. Some verve when attacking, but over pressing in the first half tired them in the second half.
There is still no protection for central defense. They still play Emery ball maintaining too high a line, so allowing counter attacking opposition to score. None of the Arsenal central defense are good running back. (The shots conceded will be telling its Emery story.)
What is needed: a solid central defense that stays at home to keep the counter attack in front, old school, while the attacks gets to do its damage. What is needed is two hard core, old style CDs who clear the ball along when needed to remove the opposition from the Arsenal goal area. They should feared by opposition strikers for the touch tackles.
Then there is still no protection for the central defenders with a proper DMF. Torreira came late to the game, he should have started in the defensive role. Play Luiz in place of Xhaka in a Viera role, tackling hard, passing well.
Ozil needs Auba, Laca and Pepe making runs when Arsenal have the ball. Almost in a counter attacking style.
Moan, moan, moan; that is all some of you can do.
Did you seriously think everything old bad habit would change overnight? Seriously.
Yes, Arsenal have too many sub standard players, but that is down to those you brought them to the club.
You you only choose from what you have.
As far as I could see, the team at least tried to play a faster attacking style, even if this will take time to bed in.
Well said drew. We all know things haven’t been right for some time now, but as an arsenal fan I will cheer them on no matter what. I think some other so called fans should do the same instead of this toxic atmosphere I see everyday
Admin, not sure why he takes so long for my messages to get posted…what’s up with that?…Cheers
They are under moderation, no idea why, will ask, I suspect because you either swore, post unauthorised links, or have broken the rules.
Oh great now Leicester are losing 😭
The Gods, and VAR have decided Sue…it’s Liverpool’s this year.
I’m so gutted, TMJW… now just watch Iwobi go and score 😩
And yet some people still think Ozil is world class
😯 wow now we’re wishing cancer upon each other???
Where?
Found it and deleted it
disgraceful comment from you alexlaca, where on earth did you see that .shame on you.
ALEXLACA9, sincere apologies for my previous comment. i misread your comment totally wrong, sorry.
Apart from Leno our players are simply not good enough.I assume Bellerin and Holding are not fit and FL feels it is necessary to limit Tierney to one game per week until he is fully up to speed.A huge clear out is needed before we can rebuild, that’s for sure.
Actually saw a lot of positives from the game, was excited to watch for a change. The inclusion of Mustafi and Xhaka was worrying and of course the first goal Mustafi should have done something, at least. The second Norwich goal Xhaka didn’t pick up his man..
The Saka sub wasn’t a good idea either, bringing on a 18 year old at 2-2 :O
Overall they played like they wanted to win, with an actual tactical plan and dangerous sett pieces. So in the end I would say there was progression!
Some people have no idea. How anyone can sit there and say “Xhaka was terrible today “ is laughable . I acknowledge that he did give the ball away once or twice but I though he tried to win the ball back a lot. Plus he’s the only one in that midfield that actually tries to get the ball forward. Guendouzi and Willock were hopeless. Drives me up the wall watching Guendouzi needs to be loaned out imo
Welcome to scapegoating culture.
And I agree, Guendouzi and Willock were completely out of depth in the attacking style that Freddie employed. Also Laca was very poor with his touches. Chambers also lost the ball so many times trying to over complicate things.
And people are after Xhaka, Ozil, or Mustafi. These are the people who either actually have no tactical understanding of how defensive and offensive organisation works. And the importance of strong midfield during transition games. They just pick the players that they fancy or don’t and play the bias game.
Early promise in the game disappeared as soon as Norwich broke and scored. Same old problems in defence . We sit back and rarely press . The back four today were too slow to react and were too static and easy to get through . I thought Xhaka had a decent game . Ozil still too passive and lacks effort and bite which makes it harder for the front two. Leno saved us in the end . As soon as the ball gets into our half I feel as if we could concede .Chambers gave the ball away so many times and was caught out of position in defence -he surely can’t play again in that position – perhaps more suited to centre back. Martinelli a bright prospect – somehow we need to sort out the defence – but how ?