It was a disappointing result drawing 2-2 at home to our bitter rivals Tottenham and there was a lot to be frustrated with, however, there were also some positives and we should acknowledge that.
It is always easy to identify the negatives and to focus on them but if you do that you will end up missing the signs that things are improving and that we will see the benefits later on in the season.
Arsenal showed character
Arsenal never gave up when they went 2-0 down and you could see from the body language of the players that they believed they would claw the two-goal deficit back and that is exactly what they did. Last season when they went down a goal they tended to fold rapidly, but not last week against Liverpool and certainly not yesterday against Spurs. That is an improvement on last season.
Matteo Guendouzi
It is easy to forget that he is just 20 and despite being surrounded by some world-class players and having to take on all-comers for his position he was still the man of the match. It is not his fault that he is not the creative player that Arsenal needed yesterday but he did his job better than anyone else on the pitch, he never gave up and made sure Tottenham did not get control of the midfield and when you consider that his partners were Mr liability Xhaka and the strangely ineffective Torreira, his performance was even more remarkable.
PAL
Pepe, Aubameyang and Lacazette may not have sparkled first time out as a threesome but we saw enough to see that it will work beautifully and I am positive that if Lacazatte was not taken off with a slight knock that Arsenal would have won the game. There was understanding and cohesion between them and of course, there are some rough edges to smooth out, this was their first start together, but the signs are clearly there that the trio will be as good as any other front three in the league and I include Liverpool and Man City’s formidable front lines in that.
Gen Dozy will be quality
Pal will scare the pants of Any other side
I’m frustrated because I believe we are so close to having that top 4 position it just takes the right team selection and no tinkering
Yet emery doesn’t see it
he will be sold to Barcelona,real Madrid ,PSG or man city when he is ripe.. arsenal is just developing him for them…sad
It depends on the Board… I hope Guendouzi will be our captain!
It was a fair result. Derby is always tough and Spurs are a better side than us and Champions League finalist. So not disappointed at all
Guendouzi hopefully will be a world beater in a few years. Probably our best 20 year old player
He should start over Xhaka
“and Spurs are a better side than us and Champions League finalist. So not disappointed at all”
Huhun!! It’s about time somebody threw this out.
I expected it and said it would be among the top excuses for dropping points against Spurs.
UCL finalists!!
We played two UCL finalists in two weeks, wow!!!
Arsenal must’ve had the biggest mountain to climb recently.
I suppose this is the same finalist team that lost against Newcastle at home and got Lucky against City?
or which?
Dnt bother Eddie…. gotenidea, kev, innit and all those wenger lovers are (I hope) very young kids, who dnt know much about game but likes to write without much thinking.
Ignore them…
Maks, what an ignorant piece of writing.
What the heck has Arsene Wenger got to do with The Arsenal playing spuds yesterday and pool last week?
That was what Eddie was writing about, but that’s a little too much for you to grasp, being such a well educated person.
Before you start trying to sound off, just check your facts about the most successful manager in the club’s history…but then again… as you weren’t seemingly born when he was achieving this status, it’s not worth spending time trying to educate such a little twerp as you have made yourself seem, probably are and always will be.
KEN1945, you sound so angry man, not like you to be angry. i tthought you were the one rock of sense on here , wow.
Eddie you don’t have to bother.
I said it after Liverpool’s game that Emery’s lickers we find an excuse like Spurs are CL finalist and thank God they don’t disappoint.
I just hope Emery open his eyes and know Xhaka will cost him his job and stick to Torreira with instructions to face only defending and forget about going forward and if it doesn’t work, give Chambers the chance.
Chambers can’t be any worse than Xhaka.
Xhaka on better Chambers in midfield with only his long pass but Chambers is better than Xhaka by out jumping him to nod a ball, can tackle, can run a bit than Xhaka, can change direction with a turn of the ball.
Totally agree about Guendouzi & PAL.. so mad about gifting Tom Daley (& Eriksen) a goal each.. what else could we do, but show character. I bet the spuds & their fans left the Emirates laughing, saying that’s the easiest point they’ll pick up this season… thanks Xhaka, Leno….ffs
Lol…Sue let it go, I think by now you should know how to limit how our performances gets to you
One day I’ll be like you, Eddie.. ? not sure when, but one day haha.. at least all should have been ok in Pat’s household ?
2-0 down. Their heads did not go down. Can they try same when 1-0 up? I’ll be glad.
That there are positives is only natural when the board went out and bought players so that the badger could do something with them. 2-2 at home to a “definitely not up there” spurs is no positive sign at all. I wish I could sing paens for those who played well, but the volume far overrides the negatives of s few usual suspects, including the badger.
I’m generally not a negative guy, but with Emery I’m getting there.
you are generally not a negative guy but with Emery you are getting there?
is this not funny friends? I’m just 1 season and 4 matches you are already having negative thought, if by now you have started having negative thoughts you must have been having those thoughts since Asene Wenger time. the negativity has always been in you
Please replace Xhaka with Chambers.Chambers played holding midfield for Fulham last season and was their best player.
In an awful team that got relegated. To borrow a Jimmy Carr joke that’s like being the prettiest girl on the burns ward.
That’s a horrible joke, strong analogy ..but it’s bad.
So, what will happen with Mustafi now then? Cup games and/or Europa? Or will we see him in the league again?
Boot cleaner, Sue! ??
???
The three points are all correct, but the one point that overides all these is the performance of our coach.
Once we get the so called “dross” players, Bellerin and Holding, back and Tierney is fit, will he play them, or keep soks and luiz there to mess it all up?
Most of the other “dross” players so vehemently derided have now gone (Myk, Iwobi, Jenks, Elneny, Soks(?)) leaving Xhaka, who he plays no matter what and Ozil, who he doesn’t play, no matter what, so no excuses there then!!!!
It’s now soks, leno, luiz and Torreria, plus Pepe would you believe, who are getting it from the same fans, all signed by the new regime, and the coach being deserted in droves by his newly enlightened fans!!!
I don’t know the answers, but I do know we have some fans, most of whom don’t even go to the matches, but base their wonderful analysis on m.o.t.d. and sky/ bt live games and the pundits that appear on these programmes. They then beliitle other fans who have a different opinion,
those same fans who they now seem to be agreeing with regarding UE and his team selections!!!
Am I pi**ed off? You bet I am!!! We should have beaten the spuds on sunday, we had the players, we had the crowd, but we didn’t because we had UE, soks and xhaka and a defensive line up that was c**p.
By the way, Leno made one mistake, he made three other outstanding saves…yet he has suddenly got “chocolate hands/wrists”!!! Sums it all up doesn’t it?
I thought Pepe look very good ,abit rusty on his finishing but the way he goes past people is a delight to watch ,definitely have t had this kind of player here for a while .
I think the Pepe bashers are the old iwobi fans that can’t let it go and are aiming their sights on him .
I also find the Ozil situation weird 4 games in not one minute played and like you said Miki got in yesterday event though emery knew he was going today ,what’s the betting after the 2 week break we come back and Ozil is missing from the squad again .
Dan, pepe will be a very good player once he has had time to adapt to the premier league.
Do we really have fans who come on, trying to be clever by comparing him to gervinho?
It is unbelievable that someone can be judged so harshly and so quickly.
Yes, the Myk substitution was weird, but everything seems topsy turvy at the moment in my opinion.
Torreria not being match fit supposedly, while other who played in similar/same tournaments were back fro the first game.
Chambers being dropped, lacs coming on for ten minutes, Monreal being sold the day before a NLD for peanuts, Ozil on the bench, just too many questions need answering…but that’s what UE gets £6,000,000 a year for I guess!!!
We could have done with a 4th positive, like Xhaka tearing a hamstring and being sidelined for the rest of the season!!
The whole world can see he’s useless except Unai Emery for some reason? Has to be a love child I swear to god!
?????
The key is in the mid field.The front three (PAL) we are at par with the other top clubs,the defence is never going to be good for this season so no need to bother with that.But the midfield,we have enough staff to make it one of the best.It just comes down to how the coach sets it up.