Slavia Prague deny late winner to leave Arsenal frustrated

Slavia Prague have scored at the death to level the two-legged tie with Arsenal at the interval.

From early on the Gunners were on top. We were the most comfortable in possession and was working our way up the pitch well.

Unfortunately that final ball was lacking a lot of the time, and Alexandre Lacazette starting to take on shots that weren’t particularly necessary.

After a spell of dominance, the game became rather flat, but just as the half was drawing to a close our best chance came. Bukayo Saka beat the offside trap to sprint into the box at the goalkeeper, but after taking all the time in the world to pick his spot he puts it wide.

The youngster wasn’t at his best in the second-half either. We broke into the final third in numbers, for Saka to pass or cross (I’m not entirely sure) way over the heads of his team-mates, with Willian eventually stopping it from leaving for a throw-in.

The team didn’t appear to be making the runs or taking those risks that a team playing with confidence does, but a triple change of Martinelli, Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe brought newfound energy.

The Brazilian took on a half-chance from outside the box but it drifted over the bar, but the breakthrough finally came in the final 5 minutes.

We hit them on the counter at pace, with Granit Xhaka’s long ball finding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who cuts back to see Nicolas Pepe sprinting towards goal and plays him in. The Ivory Coast international places his effort into the net and we looked destined to take the advantage to the Czech Republic.

Injury time ticked down and Slavia pulled it back. They had a corner with just one minute of injury time left on the clock, and somehow managed to sneak it in.

I can’t say that Arsenal really deserved to win the match, but I can’t help feeling robbed either. We were definitely the best team on the night but our finishing has become somewhat of a joke…

Patrick

178 Comments

  1. We should’ve scored at least two goals, if our attackers’ finishings weren’t so bad. Partey also lost the ball needlessly too many times, either by misplacing the passes or getting robbed

    Now we have a herculean task in Prague, but I still believe we’ll get through this phase

    1. herculean task ?
      we are beating Slavia Prague in an empty stadium away from a semi final
      if that is too difficult then we don’t deserve to be in a semi final

  2. The whole attacking setup of Lacazette, Willian, Smith-Rowe and Saka were all poor with Smith-Rowe looking completely lost out of the lot yet he was still on the pitch. He should’ve been out first. Partey too has been trying too hard and was bad today. I will say it once again that the mid-block Arsenal is employing is not good enough. We need to press and try to win the ball high up rather like we did last season under Arteta than always trying to stay in shape and block passing lanes. We are letting teams we are dominating come at us too easily. We were not properly able to break them down if you ask me. Yeah we had chances but how many of the clear cut ones were from properly worked out play?? They frustrated our attack for most part and got what they deserved. We now have all to do when we go away.

    1. Our attackers actually pressed high up the pitch, but Slavia Prague defenders passed the ball well

      1. Not really. The press is disjointed and we hardly press as a unit. Just observe us when we press and you’ll see what I’m saying. Even in the EPL what I’m saying is clear. You can see that there are a lot of spaces behind the attackers.

        1. The midfielders had to stay behind to protect the defenders and the attackers were the ones who should press the opposition’s GK/ defenders

          1. That is my point. We are using a mid-block so we are not really pressing. When one player does it most do not follow suit and when they do there are spaces behind so it is easily played through. If you watch our Carabao Cup game vs Man City you can see that even though we lost 4-1 we won the ball off City so many times by pressing and you can actually see in that match we had a general intent to press and win the ball as compared to what we usually see in the league.

      2. We simply overrate our club – Arsenal.

        I doubt if we are currently bigger than
        Everton, Liecester city, etc. I don’t want to stir horn nest with mentioning of Sp*rs.

        1. We are now at the same level with those clubs….we not a “big club” again and our coach is just a man that experiments…..all our players will do fine at lower clubs with no much pressure. We hailing odegard as a fine player… well gud. But we should look at a madrid team with toni and modric theres no place for him…zidane sent him out to become a better player for them not for AFC.

          We have been struggling all long. Top 4 or Euroupa… a miracle

      1. Exactly, our only success since he joined us was last season when he was injured. Anyways we have a new history of GK legends from Almunia to Leno, Emi being a misfit asked for a transfer rightfully. With him we will never make it anywhere, we just make any average team feel like Madrid. Never vocal, never commands his area, never organizes his defense, never gives his defense the confidence.
        Good luck for the away game, the players cannot save us at the moment.

    2. @Kev
      I can’t say I am in any way an expert, but I also think our press is lacking. We are not as organized when pressing as others, like Liverpool, when we press, and it seems to me our players are just running towards the player with the ball, whereas good pressing teams sprint towards the player. I think it makes a huge difference, if you allow a player with the ball an extra second to possibly turn and pass, before he is closed down.

  3. I think all players should stop training whatever and just start practicing actually hitting the damn target. At least for a month.

  4. The players and manager are lucky there were no fans there because if there were they would have rightly been booed off after that embarrassing show and arteta would have been sacked. I can see where we can get a clean sheet at the moment so we will have to score at least 2 over there but then again after sitting through that load of crap I really dont give a toss

    1. It wasn’t Arteta’s fault that Lacazette, Aubameyang and Partey missed some sitters. We made plenty of golden chances from open play, but our finishing was horrible again

      1. It was Arteta’s fault to have started Willian ahead of Martinelli. I will not blame any of the players. Arteta deserves a sack asap. We cannot sack all the players. But the coach has to go. He is making team selections based on preferences. I said it here countless times that Saka has played too many games and would soon worn out. Yet our clueless coach kept playing him when he could have played Martinelli. Arteta is a negative coach. He is always scared of losing games.
        Chelsea won the champions league with Di Matteo and sacked the guy the next season. Leicester won the premier league and sacked Ranieri the season after. Winning the FA cup should not be a criteria for keeping Arteta. The guy should be managing teams like fulham, westbrom and Newcastle. We are arsenal for goodness sake. This is very bad. I am pissed. This guy should be sacked this night. It is enough. He deserves the blame. His ego is taking us backwards. We are moving into mediocrity the speed of light.

        1. Martinelli is more of a striker than a creator, so Willian was a better option since he can hold the ball better. I remember Martinelli started in an EPL game this season and he didn’t make any goal threat either

          At least Willian almost scored through a free-kick. I think you’re getting personal with Arteta and it’s not logical to fire him when we’re still in EL

          1. GAI, this is our chance of getting into champions league next season. On paper, the remaining teams in this competition is beatable except Man united. Sparta Prague was a team we would beat by 5 goals in the wenger era.
            Arteta should have started Martinelli as a striker and play Aubamenyang on the left. Pepe on the right. We need a convincing win more than necessary.
            Arteta selects players with bias. Look, Truth be told, nicholas Pepe is a better finisher than Lacazette. He has the tricks to draw a foul in the opposition box. Something is fundamentally wrong this team. I so much love Arteta. I want him to succeed. But it is looking difficult. Next week Thursday, they better get a comfortable win.

        2. I’m tired of people expecting us to be a great team just because “we are Arsenal”! Football doesnt work that way. I wonder whether Huddersfield Town, Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers fans are still claiming a divine right too?
          As for Martinelli – I am starting to see why he DOESN’T start games. He is keen but no more. Since his injury he is rash, wasteful and not worthy of starting.
          I agree overall in your views of Arteta though, despite having supported him until recently.

      2. It is bro. Thats why hes the coach.

        We did not play….i felt sleepy at one point.

        They lack cojones according to deeney🤔

      3. What are you talking about always full of excuses. Do you watch other teams play.
        City misses chances after chances yet still wins. We are not creating enough chances that is why we can’t forgive missing 2 or 3 chances over 90 minutes. Did you watch real Madrid play liverpool or Bayern play psg.. Madrid missed many clear cut chances as did psg yet score enough.
        We don’t play football like a top club that’s why we put a lot of pressure to score few scraps we might get…
        Did we play good enough hell no.
        The chances we got was not because we were good but because slavia was simply that bad… some times I wondered if they were even taking us seriously with the sh*t we play……
        GAI always full of excuses
        And the manager I prefer not to comment on him… he sold ozil so he can take his place as the most divisive figure around the club

      1. So who is to blame? Hes the head coach….he was hired to find a working formular…..what ever hes using its not working….the only thing that work for him was defend and counter. Feel free to check and balance😎

      2. I blame postman pat he’s such a malignant influence on the arsenal team it’s frightening … wake up and smell the coffee …your endless and baseless defence of arteta has entered the twilight zone

    2. Slavia away ain’t gonna be a walk in the park. They are 1st in their league and currently unbeaten. They played the same way Spurs played against us. Apparently I was wrong for pointing out the cracks from that game because people thought we were fantastic when a negative Spurs side with 10 men had us on strings and could’ve easily equalised

      1. If arsenal don’t sack arteta,we are going no where in the near future,,I don’t see anything special in him,,as a coach ,,he lacks idea ,,Leeds should have won this match with the mindset and the game plan of the coach,,,I don’t like Emery but am missing him right now…

  5. Typical Arsenal performance! Couldn’t hit a barn door and amateur in defence and amateur in management too! I can’t see how anyone still thinks Arteta is the second coming of Guardiola he’s as useless as the players on the pitch! Ah this team would put years on your life!

    1. Oh well could you enlighten us how Arteta had any fault about his strikers missing 100% scoring chances?

    2. As far as I’m concerned, Kev, we got what we deserved. Played crap for 80 minutes… waited too long for substitutions… what exactly was the gameplan??
      Bar the goal (our goal 😄) I didn’t enjoy that one bit!! Dire…..

      1. I’m just waiting for Arteta interview I’m in need of a good laugh 😂 yeah we’re sh#t Sue of course we were going to concede 🙆‍♂️ people say what manager would want to come to Arsenal, if I was a manager I’d be thinking Arsenal is a great job you can take the team to 10th get embarrassed weekly and stay in a job 😂 Edu should be in court too for signing Willian lol

        1. Kev, I couldn’t believe the excuses after Saturday – at least Tuchel has one foot in the semi… of the CL!!!
          Can you imagine us in the CL? Sheesh, after how we’ve played lately, we’d be absolutely annihilated!
          If (big if) we manage to win next week, Unai up next… 🙈

          1. Well Sue if we go out then Unai is into another Europa League final because Villarreal will take care of SP as they are bang average! CL 😂😂 we can’t even beat Slavia Prague and conceded goals to Dundalk 😂 if any arsenal fan is still saying Arteta in, it’s obviously a wind up.. he’s bang out of his depth! everyone can see it.. Guardiola hardly fought tooth and nail to keep him lol

          2. Sue and Kev, Emery has won three away legs on the trot, without conceding a goal, with ex Arsenal “reject” Coughlan as DM and an aging defense.

          3. Indeed he has Ozziegunner he’s a good coach I don’t care what anyone says.. he could potentially reach his 5th Europa League final this season it may not be the champions League but it’s still impressive.

          4. Kev, I still believe with the same support from the Board that Arteta got with discipline and transfers and the same time, he could have turned it around at Arsenal from losing 3 from 8 and 8th place.

          5. Yeah he possibly could have Ozziegunner, let’s not forget our squad was much weaker when he was in charge and had a 36 year old deputy right back along with the calamitous Sokratis and he wanted Zaha not Pepe and also couldn’t strengthen in the January window, was left with Denis Suarez on loan and still managed to guide us to 5th place, one point off top 4.. alright his second season was poor but always was going to be with no backing from the board. Arteta was a bizarre choice, I was actually relieved when we didn’t get him the first time, I couldn’t understand why an assistant with no managerial experience was even considered.. it’s quite obvious the job is too big for him and the board should act as soon as the season finishes.. I wanted Tuchel but I will happily take Allegri now.

  6. We cant even kill the game.Its some on arteta.We should the same mentality against spurs when we were 2-1 up,spurs were also a man down.

  7. Well that’s the Europa dream gone if this is not enough for the Arsenal board to realise our manager is completely out of his depth and is completely clueless and should sack him with immediate effect!!

  8. Lol this team is filled with a bunch of clowns.. from the striker Down to the goalkeeper.
    Leno has let a whole lot of people down. How we are inconsistent in every other stuff but consistent when it comes to missing goals we should score baffles me.
    Auba and Laca, I don’t know who’s worse now that Auba ain’t himself anymore.
    This one is definitely on the players.
    I was telling my buddy after we scored, I said to him, scratch that, a clean sheet is more important than us scoring and winning 1-0 and the clean sheet is what we need.
    Arsenal pulled an Arsenal.
    Good luck in the second leg though.
    Unlike these spoilt b*stards, us fans can’t just walk away from our football club

    1. Aubameyang isn’t as bad as people are making him out to be. He is more or less still the same player. He is a poacher so when the team struggles he does too big time. He is not a technician or someone who is s o great with the ball and arguably never has been. His strength lies in positioning. Go back to the seasons where he was scoring lots of goals, even in those seasons he could score a brace in a match and still look poor. That is why mostly when Auba doesn’t score he doesn’t have goals to cover up for his poor performances. I mean people still complained about him even when he was in the run for the golden boot.

        1. to be honest, I think Aubameyang is going down the same path as Özil. He hardly shows any interest in being on the field these days.

    2. ‘This one is definitely on the players’ Are you for real? So the coach didn’t do anything wrong today?

    3. Hi Eddie, I agree the players were awful, and your comments on each, but these days I no longer treat Arteta as being a totally innocent party.
      For example who do we blame for 1) a negative first 70 minutes 2) starting Willian 3) too late (as always) substiitions 4) a whole team who are unable to hit a barn door 5) no obvious system and almost no joined up football 6) not pressing properly in their half 7) inviting them on after scoring. Yes the individuals were almost to a man (I exclude only Holding and Gabriel) poor, but we MUST also look at Arteta. Or does the manager have no responsibilties at all?

      1. I echo your sentiments on this. Granted, the players are letting the coach down, but team selection, and substitutions are still up to him….. what’s the use in starting players that play without any form of pride or enthusiasm. And why does he keep them on for so long, when it’s obvious they’re unlikely to get him results.

  9. This has to be the night I feel most angered by Arsenal this season. How bad are we at composing ourselves and maintaining a lead like that. So pathetic!!!

  10. I’ve got to a point where I cant get upset anymore theres just a wry and disapoint smile of disbelief.

    We talk of getting back to the CL were are shocking and disjointed in the EL!
    So so so far off it in terms of quality.

    Tierney seems the only reliable one at present.

    Whatever mikel told them to do tonight they clearly didnt understand as they looked like headless chickens out there.

    The arsenal of old was like City now whether on the wing up front wherever they all interchange and had the quality on the ball of top midfielders

    This lot look like they’ve just met each other.

    After the pool game they are AFC Abject Football club!

  11. Defense just seems to panic after we score. I’m not convinced with Partey. Why are we missing such good opportunities. These players are completely useless. The whole bunch. People keep making a noise about Martinelli. I’m really trying to figure out what he brings to the team except for running into other players all the time. What is going on with Saka? As for captain Auba, he misses another sitter.
    Just had enough of these players.

    1. Agree Dboy abour Martinelli. He runs about a lot, but he’s poor this season and a liability as a starter. Hes an out of form headless chicken.

      1. He hasn’t been getting enough minutes to find his rhythm though…… I feel if he has had as many starts as Willian, he would be performing much better.

    2. Partey’s not convinced with Arsenal; wonders why he took the money to leave Simeone and Atletico Madrid?

  12. Laca was the most useless player in the pitch today. I mean what else are you asking for as a striker? And why the hell did Arteta have to wait till 75 mins before doing a sub. I think Arsenal is too big of a club for Arteta

    1. He worked hard and almost scored, but he missed two sitters. He’s good for link-ups, but too slow and too short to be a goal threat

  13. Arsenal are frustrating to watch.
    Such talented players but lack final pass or shot at goal.
    I still feel Arteta is too young to establish his authority on the team. Same excuses every time. Fire Arteta.

    1. jack, unfortunately we can’t bring back the past, when Arsenal had a proper football team.

  14. I guess on the upside it means we’ll have to come out firing, so we can’t do our normal of waiting to concede before waking up. I by does Arteta NEVER learn? When you have a side clicking in attack, you cannot then bring off both your potent playmakers and try to defend, especially with Arsenal who can’t defend – he did the same against the spuds but we were lucky by the skin of our teeth there.

  15. Manager needs addressing.
    Willian after his season for us?
    He was embarrassing.
    Defensive tactics.
    Passing back every time into potential trouble.
    Arteta time is up.
    Wanted him to succeed but not working.

  16. Pathetic, and that’s being generous.

    What’s all that cacophony of substitutions? Who does that?

  17. Anyone still believing in Arteta and Edu?
    Managed to sell Martinez and keep Leno , sending Guendouzi on loan, playing walking Willian insted of developing Martinelli,.
    Sending Saliba on loan and sticking to playing from the back.
    Hopeless team , coach and recruitment.
    I am very near to quit watching that horror show after 45 years of supporting Arsenal.

    1. With you on that, Ken. only disagree on Martinelli, who for me has been very poor this season. I’ve been watching them for 50 years, and Im thinking of switching to bowls!

  18. Arteta is the most useless coach have ever seen. Smith Rowe was not in the match and the useless coach didn’t do anything about it, why bring on Ceballos. And what’s wrong with Leno, he should have saved that ball well, he pushed a simple ball to corner and just like last season the team scored from the corner. I’m really angry right now.

    1. It was actually Pepe scoring on both sides. That’s so much for asking attackers to be become defenders.
      In real life, attackers are actually the defense. Everyone should stick to his work.

  19. Aterta cannot even read a match. His team selection and sub are rubbish. Wilian’s selection and playing for about seventy minutes is a mystery. ESR was absent. Laca was average and needed sub by 55 minutes. Saka needed sub early in the second half. What a mess

    This night Arteta must be given his P45.

  20. @gmv8
    You’re right when the pressures off and we dont know whether to stick or twist we relax and play better but we still need yo be tight at the back which is poor atm

  21. This team has everything but shows nothing. They are just training materials – that’s where they show off.

  22. Gosh supporting Arsenal is exhausting! Tough when Arsenal are playing two opponents – Slava Prague and themselves.

    The goal came from Cedric deciding not to clear his lines and pass back to Gabriel who was instantly under pressure. Every game is someone different doing something stupid.

    I’m confident we’ll beat Slava Prague next week. Just not confident we’ll beat ourselves.

    1. I agree about everything, just not the last sentence. I’m not convinced. Players are nervous. They never showed that under Wenger. I know he’s style is obsolete now and it’s not a post about him. But giving players confidence to just go out there play the enjoyable game is priceless. Can’t Arteta pull off something similar just by calming down and just staying sitting on the bench ffs! I’d buy a jacket with the terrible zipper.

  23. Arsenals season really.
    Looked the better team made the better chance s but failed to capitalize then concede a sloppy goal
    Arteta must be fuming
    The team are letting him down.
    Actually not a bad result as Praha look so ordinary.
    We definitely will take the tie.

    1. Wyoming please for once just say the truth, the team let him doesn’t? WTF are you talking about, who choose Willian ahead of Martinelli who brought on Ceballos when we should have keep attacking, please don’t be an hypocrite.

    2. @Leno Happy?
      Clearly your not happy.
      Nobody is 😪
      But the last 10 -15 years have been full of these kind of games. We somehow manage to let the game slip through individual errors.
      I’m not the least bit surprised.
      Trudeau (above) summed it up brilliantly when he says “I’m confident we’ll beat Slava Prague . Just not confident we will beat ourselves”.
      I am not angry any more.
      I always think we are going to win except v Man City and Liverpool because on paper we have a talented top 4 squad.
      Arteta has too any highly paid players who are cruising and yes he is supposed to motivate them but missing open goals and terrible defending is an individual problem too. Having no decent LB cover is a systems problem out of Artetas hands.
      We are not far away though.
      Keep the faith and believe we will advance to the final 😊

      1. Too many Arsenal fans are reacting emotionally and seeking to blame Arteta for everything.
        When a supposedly £50m+ striker runs free on goal and manages to hit the bar what is the manager supposed to do?
        So many are clamouring for Martinelli, yet when he has played this season his impact has been limited. He is a young player who is returning from significant injuries and needs to be managed carefully.

    1. What’s going on with Auba full stop? 🤔
      Not worth £1000 per week at the moment, let alone what he is paid!

  24. Martinelli should have started this match but this useless coach didn’t see that. Our worst coach ever just defeated Dinamo Zagreb and the best keeper in the league can’t even punch a simple ball out. OMG I’m so angry right now.

    1. Emery is far from Arsenal’s “worst coach ever”, if you know the history of “your” Club.

  25. Leno is his own worst enemy. No defenders on the near or far post. That’s a cardinal sin. He doesn’t command that 18 yard box. Very similar to the Liverpool goal. He didn’t stand tall. He was crouching down like a wicketkeeper. Watch that goal, and take note of his positioning. That’s what I’m trying to coach my group of young goalkeepers. You must stand tall

    1. pjennings Leno has always been like that, I said it here last week that we are not going to win any major trophy with Leno as our goalkeeper.

      1. Yet we had a keeper that instilled confidence in the defense that boy genius Sharteta shipped out. For me that was the moment I realized that he didn’t have the intangible to be successful.

  26. We should be investigating the whole attack for deliberately missing chances. The finishing has become absurd at this point. Could it be that arteta has lost the dressing room and the players are playing to get the coach fired again. I mean they did it for wenger and emery so not impossible.

    1. It was we fans who got Wenger sacked pls. Wenger never lost dressing room it was only UE plz next time just research a bit before stepping on here to voice out ur deserved opinion.
      In this case it is we the fans who are going to get MA sacked again together with #Martinelli in brigade just relax and it will happen.

  27. Where are those who always shout that Arteta has improved our defense, i can’t remember the last time we had a clean sheet.

    1. I can still remember how we beat Chelsea, Leeds, Leicester, Benfica and Spurs

      Chelsea 2-5 West Brom showed how the players’ brain fart could ruin a great plan. In our case, it was our finishing

  28. We knew slavia Prague would be a tough game, we got the chances but didn’t take them. no blame on arteta. players should be more clinical.

    1. Kori, really no blame on Arteta? Who started those players that missed those chances, who started Willian ahead of Martinelli and Pepe.

      1. … and finally when we had a team on, who were clicking and finally playing some decent football, he thinks it’s all too much and too comfortable, so he brings on the Jonah of Europe. What is it with him? Why does he insist on tormenting us? That was TOTALLY unnecessary for the last 5 minutes. Saturday was the players fault, but tonight was his fault.

  29. Way too many mistakes in this Arsenal team to even consider them capable of winning this cup even if we get through this round.I have a feeling that both the sacked managers from the Spuds and Arsenal will win the CL and the Europa.

  30. Eddie TMJW JON FOX, i know you guys are reading this, so please I will like to hear your honest opinions about the match, especially Eddie.

    1. Lol… I already made a comment up there bruv.. Regarding Martinelli, pffft! There’s nothing there I have to say, Willian is more of a ball retainer and holder than Martinelli and he wasnt at all terrible today. There were far more terrible players on the pitch than Willian today
      ESR being one of them. Arteta should’ve taken him off early.
      When you look at the chances created and how we missed sitters then you really don’t expect me to blame the coach for a bunch of players missing sitters and two 1v1 do you?
      I do defend Leno, but he’s been a letdown this season for me, doesn’t mean there’s no goalkeeper there.
      We should’ve won this game easily, it’s the same búllshít over the season, inability to take our chances. If you’re expecting me to blame this draw on Arteta then you won’t get it from me, maybe next time but not tonight bro, this one is on the players.
      I mean he even brought on Martinelli first over Auba while looking for a goal.
      Partey’s been average for me I ain’t gon lie, apart from the Utd game, he’s looked like shít for me, losing and giving away the ball too much.
      He doesn’t have supporters and I was never a supporter of his but till now he’s still our best midfielder. The name is Xhaka.
      We need players better than Xhaka, until we get such players, Xhaka will keep showing he can’t be dropped.
      Leno, Laca, and Saka were disappointing today. But then onto the next game and onto next Thursday. I’m still behind the manager and the team. We have another battle to fight next week

    2. LENO HAPPY, I will not lie and I will say I was unhappy with tonight. For me the wrong eleven began. I would definitely have started MARTINELL and I would now give him an extended run as first choice striker, since both Auba and Laca have been not good enough and Auba has been consistently lazy, though did work hard as a late sub tonight. But its too late now.

      I would never play Bellerin and cannot abide him as a player. Decent human but rank bad player. Chambers should now be RB while Cedric is depping for Tierney on the left.

      Most of all, a complete lack of urgency and no closing down, esp in first half and ONCE AGAIN we started too slowly and our passing constantly lacks pace all across the pitch. All our CB’s and XHAKA TKE AN AGE TO PASS THE BALL AT ALL AND RARELY FORWARD IN ANY TRUE SENSE OF THE WORD.

      I must put much of the blame on Arteta and will not lie. It was a set back and our chance of winning this vital tie is on a knife edge now. I would not have brought on MARI for ES-R so late on, to protect our lead, but gone looking for more goals. It failed and that was poor and timid tactics by MA.

      HONESTY AS EVER FROM ME, EVEN THOUGH I remain a confirmed MA supporter but I do accept he is STILL making too many mistakes. He did tonight, for sure.

      1. Jon very good points and solid assessment of the game. Everyone deserves blame for the result.

        Starting with how Arteta instructed them to play, poor passing & missed chances by the players, and yet another capitulation substitution from the manager.

        I wish he would show more trust and belief in the players; sub in a reinforcement as if to say “go get’em boys!” Or even take off the handbrake and see what they give him in return.

        Many fans aren’t trusting the process, players look like they are not either. No one is backing this negative football of Arteta; it’s looking Emery 2.0 to me.

        Emery 2.0 meaning
        1. Gutless football not playing to win
        2. Constant chopping & tinkering
        3. No clear style or philosophy
        4. Double standards with players
        5. Won’t play attacking football
        6. Stubborn refusal to change ways

        1. Spot on with every point Durand. I think he exaggerates the danger of the opposition to his players, so they are too cautious, and stresses no individual mistakes, so they are again too cautious, but now throw in nervous too, which increases the likelihood of more mistakes, and throw in overcoached in holding the right positions, which takes out the flair, replacing it with the fear of losing their place if they do anything spontaneous. I think that about covers it! ok, back to my psychology course… lol

  31. GAI, if we had won convincingly, I’m sure you would have stopped at nothing but to shower praises on Arteta. Why won’t he also take the blame for the team’s lackluster performance? It’s only a lazy man that blames his tools but himself, stop making excuses for him.

    1. I can blame Arteta for not being able to improve his players’ confidence, but our attackers’ awful finishing wasn’t his fault

      Chelsea 2-5 West Brom showed how the players’ brain fart could ruin a great plan. In our case, it was our finishing

  32. Everyone above is bagging their least favorite players, but who exactly had a good game today. Wonder Boy, Saka? Not really, his touches were too heavy and he had ESR in good positions but made the wrong decisions. Partey, too many missed passes. The man of iron Xhaka, too slow to get the show moving. The two fullbacks? They’re both squad players. William? You’re kidding aren’t you? Laca? We saw the good and bad but must definitely not be given a new contract. I must have watched a different game but I thought ESR was decent. He was often in good positions, but unfortunately his teammates are not on the same wavelength. The manager? He and his staff have to go.

  33. A lot of people are understandably angry right now that’s why I wouldn’t try to blame the players outrightly in order not to look like a troll

    Arteta made the following mistakes:
    Wrong line up
    Late subs.
    I think we can all agree on that

    Now let’s look at the players:
    Saka was bad today.
    ESR was bad too
    So many misplaced passes across the team most especially Partey
    Lacazette missed a sitter
    Aubameyang missed a sitter
    Cedric’s pass to Gabriel was bad
    Gabriel was all over the place (as always) and made a mess of the pass
    He gave away a corner that led to equaliser.
    For me, the players bear most of the blame and it is on them.
    Now regardless of whether we qualify or not, maybe Arteta should be sacked so we can all see the difference the new manager would make WITH THE SAME PLAYERS apart from Ødegaard and Ceballos of course..

    You may want Arteta gone but ultimately,I would blame the players for this game!

    1. Lacazette missed two sitters, Partey missed one and Aubameyang missed one. Imagine if we converted at least two of them

    2. I disagree with you on Arteta. There was nothing wrong with his starting line up in my opinion.
      There was an issue with pressing however which the team did not get right. Arteta will have to take some responsibility for that.
      We’re the subs too late? Maybe.
      Would another manager get more out of this squad? That’s very unclear. Simply saying Arteta should be sacked does not make sense unless there is clarity on who should replace him and what support he will receive.

  34. Not often I agree with every comment. Garbage. Sack the manager, sell all the players, convert the ground into an Amazon Depot. Then maybe I can stop getting excited before having to look at dross for two hours. They played poorly, begged us to thrash them, Leno abysmal keeper, Bellerin always where the ball wasnt. Willian why oh why? Martinelli – now do you see why he doesnt start? Partey, I want a refund. Lacazette time to go. NOBODY can shoot straight. Arteta – if he resigned tonight I wouldnt be upset. Very, very poor all around.

    1. Wow Guy
      You are angry.
      If only they could shoot straight we might have got the 4 goals Dan predicted in his article earlier
      Not a great night for Arteta. Back to the drawing board

      1. Yes angry ce soir Sue. Exaggerating a tad as a result – at least about the Amazon depot, but I am running out of patience with MA not addressing the problems that I feel ARE down to him (;-))

        1. guy,, given Kroenke’s 100% ownership of Arsenal FC, he may redevelope the Emirates as apartment blocks.

          1. I think Kroenke will have to do something and it’s not just about Arteta although he is culpable in some areas. It’s hard to believe that Arsenal have got so bad under the ownership of just one man

          2. And SueP, Usmanov owned 40%, wanted to contribute funds to make Arsenal successful, was denied a seat on the Board, virtually forced to sell and may now invest in Everton.

  35. Early thoughts peeps …….
    we got to stop this whole we can’t blame manager just because players miss chances
    Managers are responsible for results period

    Lets put things into perspective though
    If someone said start of season you need to beat Slavia Praugue to get to semi final, you take it wouldn’t you ?
    If we can’t do that then we deserve to go out
    We should approach the game all out attack knowing if we score 2 goals they would need three

    1. The point is we were comfortable until he brought on Ceballos. We were pushing forward and looked the most likely to score again. He just needed to sit on his hands for 5 minutes and we would’ve won, by the same or a greater margin. He does this every single game, if we are a goal ahead in the final stages, he decides to take off our attacking power. We simply can’t defend, and it is even worse without Tierney or Luiz so keeping the ball in the oppositions half is our best chance of winning a game. Why he doesn’t see this, I cannot comprehend.

  36. No one escapes blame except the players who never left the bench. Pathetic all around. More of the same, rinse and repeat.

    We’re not getting relegated so rather see more of the youth. Martinelli as striker, Saka and ESR.

    Partner Azeez with Partey, why not, can’t get much worse. Could have been sharpening Saliba, but ironic how Arteta claims he’s “not ready” when Arteta himself clearly “not ready.”

    Players were awful, but isn’t it managers job to have solutions? Different pairings? Different tactics?

    Still struggle to score, can’t string passes together, and defenders create their own demise.

    Frustrating that nearly 18 months along and same mistakes are prevalent in our game.

    At this point why not take off the handbrake. Just let them go out and play, could it be any worse?

    Auba a top scorer looks absolute rubbish, Partey a top midfielder looks like academy graduate, and Leno as nervous as a virgin in a brothel.

    Nothing Arsenal about this team or manager except the kits. They should thank covid for keeping fans out of the stadium.

    1. Exactly how I want to see things now… All young guns going forward, Arteta needs to grow some balls and do it cuz his job depends on taking risks again like in December..

      We all know young guns got us through group stages of the Europa… These weak lots would have got us knocked out since..

      Play balogun, ESR, Azeez,saka,martinelli,lopez,reiss,odegaard,tierney,cotrell,nketiah…just play the kids… After all our season looks over already…

      Now we are expecting a miracle again against a poor slavia Prague, escaped a poor Benfica,lost to olympiacos…. God help us as all slavia needs to do is show up, defend deep and watch a Goaless draw play out…

  37. It’s clear what needs to be done. Sack Arteta and in the break try to get Brendan Rogers. Make him an offer he can’t refuse and within a season we will have a good team. If Arteta is not sacked after this then the world has gone crazy.

  38. Kroenke can’t be watching us play like this and you expect him to invest his hard-earned cash in a shit team like Arsenal.
    Holding should never be near the first team… Gabriel had to keep covering for him for almost 90mins… Bellerin is just …sigh.
    Why can’t Arteta play saka at LB and Cedric in his natural position, and start pepe?
    What is with his 70+ substitution?
    If Willian was that good or useful, why did you think he was substituted first? my question is, why is arteta always starting willian only to be substituted first?
    Arteta can’t Coach this players… he needs to GO

    1. Outie, the concern with Arteta is that, as you exemplified with Saka, Cedric and Pepe, with Tierney injured he didn’t utilizes his player assets in their strongest positions for the team.

  39. i am not 100% convinced that any of our players wanted to win this game tonight .sounds daft i know, but i just get the impression that there is some sort of clique happening , and its not just the senior players either.we are going nowhere fast with this squad,and i have to say that our manager did not exactly cover himself in glory either, bad team selection, bad tactics. are the players holding back deliberately i ask ?.

  40. My argument is pure and simple. Football was a simple game. It used be. I’ve all my coaching levels. I’ve been a Director Of Goalkeeping for nearly 20 years. Every so many years I have to resit for my credentials. It gets harder. Science is now involved. I’m an absolute dummy when it comes to science, dieting and the written examinations. Goalkeeping drills of old are now out the window. Over the years I’ve had great conversations with Bob Wilson, former Arsenal goalkeeping coach. As Bob says, goalkeeping coaching is not rocket science. The same as coaching in general. Things are getting way too technical. Players can’t absorb all the information. Players/ goalkeepers in today’s era are mistake prone game in, game out. I’ve a team of 8 young goalkeepers. One young girl. My group are progressing way much faster and better than the goalies in the capital cities in Australia. So simple. Old schooled of goalkeeping training. The same goalkeeping drills that Pat Jennings, Peter Shilton, Ray Clemence, Dino Zoff and company were put through. My goalies work their little asses off, and they love it. Just a trivial food of thought. Cheers folks. We will get them next week. It’s 1-1. Could be worse. Look on the bright side of life

    1. We might or might not come out of it but even if we win that is just paper over the cracks. We should not be struggling to dominate a team like Slavia at home, this means there is an issue with where we are heading as our season so far is a clear evidence of this.

    2. pjennings, with coaches like you around no wonder Australia produces very good goalkeepers. Congrats and thank you for your service. 🇦🇺

  41. There seems to be an issue here otherwise why well established good players are struggling under Arteta. Willian was no where near that bad for Chelsea, Auba is a proven goal scorer for many years in different leagues as some of the examples and issue seems to be with offence minded players. To be honest some of the football we have seen this season has been even worse than Emery. Even if we win the EL I still think we have a major issue with the type of football we are playing, tactics and player management.

  42. I dont think the blame lies solely with Arteta tonight, yes he made some judgement errors but the players let him down tonight. They tried, they tried their hearts out but ultimately they let him down to a man with poor decisions and poor finishing. Tonight was not squarely on Arteta but this season is and while i saw enough tonight to get us through, it wasn’t or isnt about tonight, it is about the season. If we fail to go through there is one man who is responsible, just like it would be if we go through. For me a big game for Arsenal and Arteta in the second leg.

  43. On peoples comments about Arteta Hermes mine, I.should note I’ve gone from very supportive of him to now losing patience fast!

    However I dont think the guy is stupid, I’ve a few theories.
    Team selection:
    He either doesnt have much choice due to injuries, a lot of players lacking confidence and form or lost key likely.showing some good promise in training apprently this is what Willian does and then goes missing game day.

    In tactics I think for the team to play so strangely with holding overlapping and laca sitting deep to rotate with Partey these things are too bizarre to be accidents I think they’ve been primed to do this, (goodness knows why mind!)
    The problem is I think arteta and the players at city were more used to absorbing tactics and executing them than our squad.
    I can imagine Mikel saying so “got it happy any questions?” And the 0layers all nodding but not being completly sure.
    He needs to keep it simple and go back to basics sometimes as 14 with No clean sheet is terrible and we saw today when pumping the ball long and going direct we did okay with that.
    Sheffield Utd will be interesting.

    1. I’m turning Kieron just like you. IMO there’s definitely an element of overcoaching here, which not only confuses players but also takes away the option to be spontaneous. At City his players were already technically superb, used to high level coaching and smart. Here his material is rather more raw! So I think we agree!

  44. Everyone can have a bad performance example Chelsea vs West Brom. The thing is Chelsea bounced back and got a great result away today.
    We went from a bad game vs Reds to a worse vs Slavia. The whole season signifies the lack of improvement under MA. Players have more bad games than good. That is a problem. Lack of consistent direction and philosophy it is a problem.
    Changing ideas mid stream is a problem. First we paly out of the back now we don’t . Can anyone really perform under this?
    Most succesfull managers have a clear path to results. MA is an experiment and it shows. I bet we could buy 3 great players and still be the shit most
    of the time. Here is Partey who was touted as a major coup and up to now who can really say he has performed?
    Where is the problem ? My 2 cents it lies with the manager.

    1. Agree CF. For somebody who came with a plan he sure changes it a lot! Shades of Mourinho creeping in – overcautious, falling out with players, buying good players whose form deteriorates. Do you recall how good he was too with the media when he started at Chelsea? All we need is the paranoia to set in….

  45. Hi Sue, where ever you are. And yes, I’m still awake. And no,, there’s no sleep for the wicked. I’ve heard from most of my young pupil goalkeepers. They don’t miss much at all. The topic is on Leno, and his communications and organization of the corner in the dying minutes, and standing tall. Funny how these kids saw it. I’ve heard Leno and the way he communicates with defenders. Not constructive talking. Where as Martinez is more of a commanding vocal keeper, and can read the game. Plus Martinez has tunneled vision. Not all goalkeepers have that. It is a gift

    1. Good morning PJ
      Unfortunately Martinez has departed and we are left with Leno. Not a good position to be left in as I was never his biggest fan from the start and I am not jumping on the band wagon of Leno must go people, he has always made me nervous.
      Not a qualified coach like your self so who am I to judge a person who is a professional in the game but I feel he is indecisive at times. Doesn’t know when to go long or go short. Doesn’t give you that presence in the box when needed
      Punches rather than catches and hence could take the sting out of the game
      Stand tall, be big and command and like you said have the tunnel vision.
      Don’t get me wrong he is a good goalkeeper at times and pulls off some big save but lacks something..does that some thing come with age?
      Bearing in mind he is not a Young pup but still has many years left as a goalkeeper in him.
      We have struggled in this area for years and before Martinez got his big chance last season and came good even Martinez struggled at times..
      BAD move by us to let him go but we will ever know the full story on why. We needed the money. He didn’t want to stay. We couldn’t give him the 100% assurance he needed to be no.1
      He wasn’t going to sign a new contract and we would have to let him go for nothing.. who knows

    2. 😄 hats off to you!! I like Leno… but unfortunately he’s having a mare, like most of the team!!

      1. 👍 👍 👍 Leno is a shot stopper; doesn’t command his area, doesnt communicate with his fellow defenders organizing the defense in front of him and parries/punches too many balls, which he should be catching. He does not appear confident in his hands to catch a ball.

          1. Leno has his weaknesses but is one of the best shot stoppers in the league. He has made some remarkable saves to keep Arsenal in matches.
            Continually comparing him with a goalkeeper who has left is no use to Arsenal. Or are you now expecting Arsenal to go back and make a bid for Martinez?
            As far as goalkeeping is concerned I am more concerned about the back up. If the outfield players did their jobs properly we wouldn’t need to worry about Leno.

          2. David, the unfortunate thing with Leno, is that the Arsenal coaching staff should be building on his shot stopping strength and working to improve his weaknesses in the other areas, to make him a better, more rounded keeper.

  46. I dont like to talk about the missed chances because slavia praha had them as well,what i observed from the game
    –we were the technically better team
    –Saka,martinelli should work more on their technique (touches,crossing,finishing)
    –If slavia praha parked the bus next week we could be in big trouble to break the line
    –Laca,xhaka must play they press well and bring others into play.Without them this team yesterday could have been …..
    –Auba is not out of form,the system being used is not best suited for him(hard to build the team aroynd him)
    –Have a gut feelung that martinelli will attack the half chances better than auba and laca

    1. And the equaliser is not lenos fault,he saved the kick and tge corner was hard to keep out(well executed by praha)

  47. Good late evening to you Alanball08. I would say Leno out. Unfortunately goalkeepers today are not goalkeepers. If you know what I mean. They are more like Shot Stoppers. It’s the way we are meant to train them. The old goalkeeping manual was thrown out of the window many many years ago. For me, that’s so frustrating. We are making goalies way too soft. Mentally and physically. The things I would love to implement with young goalkeepers are considered to be cruel and unethical. Things I was put under in certain goalkeeping drills are now outlawed. These things toughened me up mentally. It’s a true fact that goalkeepers are born, not made. We are teaching these youngsters at an early age to make saves more difficult than what they appear. Giving the opposition free easy corners. Goalkeepers today are so easily beaten in one on one situations. Goalkeepers don’t know their post and their angles. They get beaten easily on the near post. They concede too many goals from 25 yards out. I’m 55 years of age. I will have a session with the senior first division lads. Shooting practice and proper game situations. I don’t expect favors from them. Some lads don’t believe my age. I do dye my hair. But goalkeeping unfortunately has changed. I’ve gone through all of the eras of goalkeeping and all of the goalkeeping law changing rules. I personally have not found it hard. The only difference, the balls are getting lighter, and the gloves are so much better. But way too expensive

  48. Where do I even start…everything that’s wrong with this club was on display last evening
    (1) negative tactics—scared football = loser’s mentality
    (2) no presence in the middle of the pitch—some are harping on ESR, but he received very little service in the middle of the pitch as most of the play was being ushered to the wings…in fact I saw him more out wide left than in the middle of the park
    (3) Willian has lost a step…when did he get so slow
    (4) Leno is a bag of toys with the ball at his feet and lacks the commanding presence that Martinez had finally brought to the club
    (5) Xhaka sideways pivoting nightmare…he didn’t make a single meaningful forward pass in the final third all evening…in fact twice he had an opportunity to use that left foot of his to send in a wide open player on the left and both times put it directly to the out of position defender
    (6) Partey wants to play more direct but gets caught in the ball and/or makes a poor pass too often for my liking because we simply have no presence in the middle of the pitch
    (7) Bellerin is still too sloppy and clueless to be an everyday RB…he plays likes he’s still learning the position and his deficiencies have a negative effect on Saka’s ability to get more 1 v. 1 opportunities in the final third
    (8) Laca simply isn’t the answer to what ails us
    (9) late subs—how so few people see the multitude of problematic similarities between Arteta and the inept latter years Wenger is beyond me
    the only time we looked like an attacking team was when Marts, Auba and Pepe were on the pitch, which led to several good chances and ultimately the goal that should have won us the match…unfortunately, once again, Arteta wanted his attacking subs to switch off and defend following the goal, which led to some all-too-familiar sloppy play deep in our end, then the game-tying goal…we should have stayed on the front foot, we had fresh players up front and their defenders had no answers until we put the brakes on again and let them off the hook

    As far as I’m concerned Arteta’s Arsenal is functionally no different than the inconsistent uninspiring version we witnessed under Wenger in his final seasons and then again with Emery at the helm…we need men of courage at the club that have the fortitude required to make the difficult decisions, especially in light of the indifference displayed by our absentee landlord

  49. I don’t think fans here appreciate the necessity of players preserving energy for the difficult game at bramall lane on Sunday

    1. The mighty Blades… the thought of us struggling against them and failing to win 😩
      Where was the reaction last night?? God only knows what to expect on Sunday!!

    2. That simply was not necessary RW. All our eggs are in the EL basket now. He could play the kids on Sunday. Or was that irony? Sorry if I missed it lol

    1. We will only trust the process if they could come and tell us what the process is….
      Omg.. can people see the way we play?
      We play completely sh$t
      Some say blame the players for what exactly?
      The missed chances really we created only 3 good chances all night against slavia at the Emirates and you are saying blame the payers
      What are we even doing in the whole of 90 minutes. Every player now looks bad and plays sh$t yet the manager shouldn’t be mentioned..
      We improved defensively, I can’t even remember when last we kept a clean sheet
      This stage last two seasons Emery’s arsenal soundly beat Napoli 2:0 at the Emirates
      What football are we playing definitely there is nothing arsenal about this team from top to bottom only the Jersey
      No entertainment, no movement, nothing at all
      I enjoy other teams playing this days than watching this arsenal play this is when I realized that everything is dead

  50. Apart from Holding, who was very good yesterday, every single Arsenal player, including the subs,has been criticized by fans responding to this article.This suggests to me that any replacement Manager for Arteta would face a considerable challenge, to say the least, bearing in mind the demands from fans for immediate success.

    1. Grandad, what we are seeing is not “immediate success”, or even maintenance of the status quo or gradual improvement, but rapid decline in the fortunes of this once great football club.

    2. Got it in one Grandad
      My thoughts exactly
      Saka was sh*te according to one
      Martinelli apparently isn’t as good as some think he is
      It was a long list of players who are either good according to some and rubbish according to the rest

      1. There is clearly a lack of balance in the assessments of the team and the manager.
        There is also an implicit lack of respect for the opposition. This Slavia team may have limitations but they are dominating their own league and knocked out Leicester from the EL
        How Arteta wants Arsenal to play is clear, the obvious issue is that it has not consistently worked. In the longer term, for him to be consistently successful with this approach will require a better squad.
        It is also worth noting that for Arsenal to return to consistently challenging for top honours will require a better squad whoever is the manager.

  51. Sorry Ozzie, but I do not see a rapid decline, but a continuation of the mediocrity which has plagued us for the past 5/6 years.To me it is immaterial if we finish 5th in the League or 15th, what I want to see is the acquisition of 4/5 quality players to replace our glaring weaknesses.Unfortunately our recruitment team has failed us badly, and I am not sure that this will change with Edu in charge of that department.

    1. We papered over the cracks for years Grandad, but underneath the paper the plaster had disintegrated. Should have learned a lesson from the Roman empire (no I wasnt an eye-witness!)

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