The good and bad points of Arsenal’s 5-1 win over Fulham

If you just watched the highlights of Arsenal’s entertaining game against Fulham you would think that the Gunners had a very easy game, but if you listen to what the Fulham coach Slaviša Jokanović said after the game you would really find that it wasn’t quite so one-sided. “My sensations are mixed a little bit,” Jokanović told the official Fulham site, “Because I thought we played the first 45 minutes well. We created the chances, the team was running well and we didn’t give them many opportunities to score goals.

“But in the second-half they scored really easy goals and I missed the team being more solid, I missed more speed, I missed more thought.

“At the end we opened all the doors and they finished the action easily after not so many complicated situations for us. The second goal arrived from some throw in, they kicked the ball and finished the action, we weren’t strong or fast enough to stop the shot, and the first goal too, we needed to be more solid and better in this kind of situation.”

Fulham were definitely in the game in the first half, but the thing that caught my eye in his after match conference was this one. Jokanović said: “After they scored the second goal I tried to find some way to find the equaliser, I don’t believe in too many statistics but we finished the game with 21 shots and the opposite team with nine.

“At this level you can be a little bit confused but at the end they showed the quality, they showed the base, they showed their strengths too and this is what I missed, especially today.”

And indeed Fulham did have 21 shots, which is a very worrying statistic indeed, but luckily for us only 4 of them were on target and 9 of them were blocked by the defence. It would appear that our back four were very busy until the second half which is when we started dominating the game.

If 21 shots conceded is the worrying statistic, then the good stats are that, although Arsenal only had 9 attempts we had 7 of them on target, and we scored with 5 of them! But despite the fact that we keep giving our opponents myriad chances in every game, we are still winning! Having just checked our last 10 games we have scored 29 goals, and an average of 3 per game is nothing to be sniffed at!

I personally will put up with the defensive frailties if we always score more than our opponents….

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24 Comments

  1. Great article!
    A sign of objectivity is the ability to point out the bad and as well the good sides of a game, manager, team and player.

  2. Yes we were efficient. That is the sign of a winning team.. and we are a WINNING TEAM at the moment no arguing that!

    This is the single biggest change Emery has brought with him.

  3. Let’s be “calm”.We used to go on a winning streak in septembre and octobre under Wenger before bottling it in the winter.

    1. Yes, but Arsenal were very unstable in the first half of the last season, whereas Emery won consecutively with most players he inherited from Wenger

      As what the others pointed out, we would know the current level of the squad when facing Liverpool

  4. I agree with Jokanović when he said he doesn’t believe in too many statistics. Fulham tried too many lucky shots, as opposed to Arsenal that tried to craft their attacks before shooting

    Arsenal’s defense was excellent too, apart from one mistake. Arsenal’s attackers often lost their markers in the wings and created some crosses

    Lacazette, Welbeck, Iwobi and Mkhitryan did a fantastic job in switching the roles, therefore I hope they keep similar strategy in the next EPL match

  5. When I see Emery’s style, I see Tele Santana of old, the Brazilian National Team Coach. He was told your defence is not too strong. His answer: What concerns me about defence. You win football matches with goals. You score ten, I score eleven and win.
    Great times ahead of us gunners.

  6. Well played to the Fulham coach for pointing that we were more efficient on the day. And that’s just what you need to win a game fair and square. Thank you Emery for bringing efficiency into this team.

    I’d also appreciate for those who had been giving Iwobi stick (rightfully or not) the past year, to also be humble enough and be a real Arsenal supporter by coming out to appreciate the improvement the player’s made by answering on the pitch with his performances. He is not a write-off after all as some wanted us to believe. #myEyesOnYouRobinVanPaySlip.

  7. I think against Newcastle and Fulham we have done well even if we gave away at the end stupide goals.The clean sheets we have got against Everton Watford and Qarabag were lucky.and if you face better teams you will be punished.You cannot out score your oppenets every game.

  8. Off Topic.
    Just as everything seems to be on the up, team playing well, 9 wins on the trot, harmony and togetherness within the team, our old mate Paul Merson can’t wait to put a spanner in the works. He’s now come out with a statement saying we’re going to get one hell of a thrashing very soon. The ex-drunk and park bencher can’t wait to put negative vibes into the equation. It’s as if he is gutted that we’re doing reasonably well after continually saying, “we’re not good enough” You’re been wrong about most of your tips Merse so does it surprise you? He should keep his big mouth shut and go and have a few vats of vino to drown his sorrows.

    1. Kenny-I just cannot for the life of me understand what Merson’s problem is.Arsenal Football Club (and David Devin in particular)looked after Merton through his Drink Drugs and Gambling issues.He was given a Testiomonial Match AND Dinner.I know because ai was at both of them.The money?Used to pay off his debts.This was a player Arsenal could (and maybe should) have turned their back on and thrown him out of the Club.But that’s not the Arsenal way.He was looked after and even given a transfer to Middlesbrough who offered him a greatly improved Contract to play in the Championship.I have know problem with ANY pundit giving a true and honest opinion of Arsenal Football Club.Merson should show some respect.At that Testimonial Dinner he was given nothing but respect for facing his problems.At the Testimonial Match He was even indulged to the extent that Paul Gasgoinge played for ARSENAL that night.Utter disgrace for that to ever happen.
      There are ways of pundits to be critical but respectful at the same time.Merson needs to remember how him and his wife and kids would have been in the gutter if Arsenal Football Club had showed him the same respect he shows to us.

      1. Phil,
        I was told by a very reliable source the crying on TV was nothing to do with drink or drugs, it was all about doing all his money.

      2. Well Phil and Kenny , It is an open secret that Merse has always been a Chelsea fan and therefore not surprising he has his own agenda with Arsenal. But more than this, I never understand why some Gooners -and the same applies to other clubs fans too- get in such a stew because a certain football media “name” or journo thinks differently. So what? Who does it hurt? You can’t expect the whole football world to worship Arsenal as we fans do. THIS IS JUST NOT HOW LIFE WORKS. This refusal to accept that others differ from us, AND are so entitled too, is exactly what I meant when I posted on the “double standards ” thread two or three days ago. Just chill! All humans, in my long life experience, have double standards and this is normal and natural , though irritating when others do it . Not so much when WE personally indulge in it. Just saying!

        1. Jon, I respect what you’re saying but when you listen to Phil Thompson or Steve Mcmanamam, Rio Ferdinand, Alan Shearer, Glen Hoddle etc, they all back the team they played for. Now I’m open to constructive criticism if it’s deserved but this fellow has never said a good word about the team he played for and is always the first one to give them stick. It could be because he played for Arsenal and if he says good stuff about he’ll seem bias but I don’t think it is that, I think does to keep his job at Sky because lets be honest, he doesn’t keep his job because of his journalistic genius.

    1. Exactly Ozziegunner, Unai’s performing miracles all through the team. Sokratis, Holding and even Mustafi are all looking good, Torriera is improving Xhaka and even Iwobi looks a different player. As for the strikers, enough said. I wouldn’t mind seeing Lichtsteiner given a game, I think his experience will make our back four even stronger.

  9. As much as I understand Fans, pundits and everyone is afraid of rating Arsenal as a title contenders or jinxing their run and talks of its only been 5 games and we should not get carried away, I TOTALLY DISAGREE.
    And I only do so cos I was waiting to see cos I had/have a theory and I am not surprised with Unai’s management so far…I am not here to say I told you so but like I said ,I had/have a theory and I am sticking by it till end of the season especially after watching Arsenals performances. I think Arsenal will be up there come end of season.

    ADMIN COMMENT – i AGREE THIS SHOULD BE A STANDALONE ARTICLE – i will post it as soon as I’ve finished editing it!

    1. @theGoon,

      Waoh! I got engrossed reading this ? and completely forgot it’s merely a comment on the main piece.

      This surely deserves putting up as a main piece of writing, for others to comment on. Very concise yet detailed analysis.

      Big ups ? mate.

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