Arsenal could not have had a harder start to the Unai Emery era, but both players and fans saw a much improved attitude and tactical awareness although they still have a lot to learn before they are playing pure Emeryball football.
But both games ultimately ended in defeat and we are sitting with zero points after our two games, but the players are again pointing out that we all need to focus on the positives despite the lack of points. It was Petr Cech’s turn after the Chelsea game. He told Arsenal.com: “Well, it was a great game for the fans and everybody watching because, there were so many chances. We went 2-0 down pretty quickly and had chances that we didn’t score in the first-half, but we came back and then we should have been up at half-time because we had another two really good chances to go ahead. But unfortunately we didn’t score the goals to go ahead and in the second half it continued in a similar fashion. But they put us under a little bit more pressure. Before the third goal I thought that we coped with it very well and I was positive that we were going to get something out of the game – at least a point.”
“After the second goal we started playing really well. We came back with a big personality and we showed the maturity to deal with the situation. We got back and created chances, we scored goals and I thought that we were in a good place. At half-time we could have been 3-2 up, but maybe this is one of those moments where the game could have been different in the second half. We come away with no points, but we have a lot of positives and a lot of things we need to improve on.”
Cech went on to summarise: “It’s not been easy, but sometimes that’s the way it is and you learn the hard way. We improved again from the last game, so having seen the work that we put in everyday and the way that the team response to things we do, I’m pretty positive we are on the right way to improve.”
Positives are great, but after our two games against top class rivals, we now need to turn those positives into points. Our next three games are against West Ham, Cardiff and Newcastle, all of which are also currently winless, and now we need to prove that we are back in business by getting nine points on the board. We play the Hammers at home and nothing less than three points is acceptable, but the following two are away from gome where we lacked confidence completely last season. This is where we will really see if we can turn the positives into points. A defeat in any of those games will be a massive blow to the fans and players alike.
So let’s all be positive, but make no mistake, the pressure is now on…..
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