Arsenal have lost tonight’s League Cup tie with noisy neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, knocking us out at the quarter final stage.
I’m not sure whether I’m being biased when I say that the score was unfair or not. We missed chance after chance and amazingly ending the game without even a single goal, despite playing against a back four consisting of Ben Davies as a central defender…
We of course had Granit Xhaka starting the game in our back four, but he did little wrong, with seasoned veteran Nacho Monreal at fault for the opening goal. OK Dele Alli has found a peach of a pass to put in the South Korean international, but the Spanish full back could definitely have done more…
That Alli will be the talk of the day, given he also scored our opponents second of the night, when Harry Kane put his England team-mate through with a long ball from the centre-circle for him to put the ball clear over the head of Petr Cech in goal. No chance…
Alli was then clattered by a bottle thrown from the crowd, to which he reacted angrily (as anyone would who had just been hit by something), but he reacted unprofessionally by goading the fans with a 2-0 hand gesture shortly after. He’ll likely be talked down on the subject, but so will our fans…
All in all, a thoroughly disappointing and frustrating match, one which I fully expected us to win today.
Sorry for not delving too deeply into our large number of attacks, and the wealth of chances we should have put away, but I’m way too frustrated.
Maitland Niles needs a loan or permanent move away. Monreal needs replacing. Centre-backs not good enough today. And of course… ‘Didn’t want to win the Milk Cup anyway’…
Over and out. Pat J
what are the chances of Emery not winning his next 20 games after this I wonder 😉
S stands for spud eh cos that’s what you are.
Undeserved?
We lost from Mkhi missed that clear goal.
Why emery stopped playing Laca and Auba together straight from the beginning?
Welbeck got hurt, so now we have no 3rd senior forward. Hard to play Europa, plus prem, plus carabao and play laca and auba together and keep them healthy. Need January
ok broth
Arsenal looking like arsenal of old again! I have to say I was bored out of my mind watching that! I get it’s only league cup but this team is a million miles away from being title challengers! I thought we were awful tonight and Aubameyang has been absolutely rubbish for a while now he usually is in big games so tonight isn’t surprising! Without signings I cannot see this team getting anywhere near top 4! Dreading 29th December
Oh don’t remind me of that date John ?
It’s on you’re mind too then Sue? ?
Oh god yes…. gives me palpitations just thinking about it ??
Haha dig out the defibrillator Sue ? December is the month us Gooners health takes a kicking ?
I’ve got my brown paper bag to blow into!!!
Maybe we’ll all be merry ? what with Christmas & all so it might numb the blow a bit ? or we may actually go there & get something ?
Haha I’m in need in one of those brown bags Sue ? i haven’t touched a drink since I was 30 but I’ll indulge if we win at anfield just to be sociable lol
So how long has that been John? Last time I drank was after we lost to Chelsea.. drown my sorrows with a pint of fosters ?
But yes like you, I would definitely have one to celebrate if we did get something – be rude not to hey ?
Almost 7 years Sue and I’ll tell you what I do not miss the hangovers they just get worse as you age ? good old fosters can’t beat a celebratory tinny as they say down under ? yeah well why not December is a tough month for us Arsenal go all out ?
Good on ya John! Have to agree with that hangovers are just the worst! I don’t miss them either!
So fingers crossed we’ll get back to winning ways on Saturday, we can’t lose to Burnley…. can we??? ?
Hopefully not Sue but tbh this Arsenal team looks tired we should have enough but my money is on a tie at halftime we just don’t win first halves ? haha arsenal give you a big enough hangover without the booze ?
Haha that’s for sure John! Get the paracetamol ready for the morning ?
Haha ? forget Liverpool Sue we got Brighton on boxing Day, we don’t usually win those type of games.. got a bad feeling about that one ? I’ll take 4 points from those 2 games right now ?
Oh Jesus, Glenn Murray will be on fire no doubt ? our away game doubts start to creep back in
Haha he’s on fire this season so he’s gonna be a problem for sure! I really hope we do some business in January Sue our squad is being stretched at the minute and of course the defence is very poor! Emery is doing his best but only so much he can do! One bad defeat for us and the wheels could come off so I would park the bus at anfield and go all out to beat Brighton
Sue and John, why are you drinking “Fosters”? We don’t drink this rubbish in Australia; that’s why we export it! There are so many good Australian lagers, ales and stouts (porters) to choose from.
Possibly because I’m a lightweight Ozzie ?
? John
Miki missed a glorious chance in the first half. Maybe the game would have changed if he took that chance.
You win some, you lose some but gutted losing today.
Mustafi suddenly feels like our best CB.
Oh how I miss Holding…
Kos is passed it. Better still just coming back from injury so can’t keep up…
Hoping we ain’t going on a losing streak after 22games unbeaten.
Hate him, rate him or not but this game missed ozil with spurs make shift defense.
Cech distribution is horrible….
Argh….. We just didn’t take our chances in the first half. Gutted…… Gutted…… Gutted..
There’s a new book out for Christmas called “Where’s Ozil?”; it takes it’s place on the shelves along side “Where’s Wally?”
?
If we are waiting for the OZ to save us, then we are in deep sh*t.
All of a sudden AMN needs a “permanent move away”. Really Pat J? Monreal needs replacing? How did their performance reflect negatively on today’s game?….
Essentially only 2 shots on target for AFC.
Good teams win and find ways to win…and they did. We are still some time off being stable, consistent, with a reliable squad like Poch has at spurs.
Concern is players we need vs available investment fund.
Am beginning to have doubts with Emery. 2 losses in 1 week, just like the good old days with Wenger. Out of the top 4 and now out of the league cup. Don’t play with any particular style and the defending is as suspect as always has been. Guendozi overrated. Can pass but that’s all he can do. Can’t cross, doesn’t create chances. Mkhitaryan and Iwobi no point talking about them. A shameful display and now it seems we will be struggling to get any results with the excuse of choice now being “injuries”, just like the good old days.
Didn’t our run come off the back of two losses!? Albeit bigger teams….I think we all got carried away by the unbeaten run. I would have been satisfied if someone had told me at the start of the season that we would be in this position….excluding the injuries
The good old days gave us 3 league titles, 7 fa cups and 7 community shields, 20 consecutive champions league football ,a champions league finals and a golden trophy! Respect is scarce here Buh Wenger remains our best ever!
True mate! A few days back all were singing praise for AMN suddenly he is trash, there was talk of the winning mentality of Emery, now 2 losses in 1 week with a weak Spurs & relegation battlers Saints. Wenger did not want that cup, so does Emery. And there were some here who wanted Mourinho at AFC at Wengers’s expense, see the twist of fate.
Never the less, Emery is getting exposed, as the team is very weak and needs a clear out which will not happen. For a cup game we required Ramsey, Emery is getting it wrong.
Anyways all the best for the next game
Well, what expectation did you have for the season? Did you expect this squad to overachieve? Our Squad is essentially not top 4, no matter how you look at it, we do not have enough good players to compete with the other top teams. Even if we had gotten Pep as a manager, we would not win the PL or even end in top 4. My expectations for this season is 5th or 6th. If we manage to end in the top 4, that’s great. It’s okay to want more of this team, but we are not better, last win against Spurs, was more due to a total collapse on their part.
Injuries don’t help either, especially not when we lack depth in an already poor squad. Emery need money, and time to rebuild, he does not need to have a bunch of us fans with unrealistic expectations doubting him.
For to progress forward, Emery needs to sign these players in next transfer windows
Hector Herrera (CM/CDM) Free as a replacement for ramsey
doucoure(CM/CDM) 15M replacement for elneny
pablo fornals(CAM/RM) 20M replacement for ozil
miguel almiron(CAM/LM) 15M replacement for mkhitaryan
leon bailey(LW/RW) 30M
kalidou koulibally for centre back but he is very expensive however we can still sign him if we sell ozil at good price.
This team will be full of fighters and players of high work-rate and stamina and they will suit emery’s demanding high pressing game.
Thought on this guys??
COYG!!!!!!
Really? Man these prices are no where close to the actual valuation of these players…i mean 15m for doucoure!!!! Bro drop that pad this ain’t fifa
iwobi does not score he is rubbish ! miki he is no way the same player he was for dortmund! The fact is we need players from the wing who score 15 goals a season both wing! center mid who gets the least 10 to 15 goals a season and two strikers who score between 20 and 30 a season that is on my way you win that league nd man city got that! arsenal are upto something the clue is finished they got a little lift as a new manager come in but look now same. Ozil iwobi and xak are players that must go we need energy the players at arsenal are not those players they just look tired now
I missed the first 30 minutes. Looked like we were starting to get on top at the end of the 1st half but lacked that final bit of quality.
Second half though ? we were awful. We had zero composure and zero creativity. The only two passes we had were a pass down the wing with followed by a weak cross – or – a big hopeful lump with nothing on the end.
Big changes needed from back to front. Can’t understand how Ozil does not even make the bench yet Iwobi starts every game and the sooner we move Xhaka back into the middle of the park the better. Don’t understand why we brought Mikhi off for Kos and didnt move Xhaka into the midfield with Torreira and Guendozi reverting to a back 4.
We failed to control the midfield against a poor Tottenham side. I mean they didn’t play fantastic but they were good organized and had a compact formation. Gouendouzi needs to gain some experience coming from the bench, it’s not the first time where he underperforms against a bigger side. AMN looked good at times but also made some mistakes. Our best player tonight was Monreal, did his job quite well and was composed. I really can’t understand how Miki missed that chance or why he loses his cool in the final third.. Maybe he is feeling the pressure a bit too much? Maybe he doesn’t get the support he needs from his teammates? Or maybe cause he is just an ordinary football player just the rest of the lot?
Agreed about the midfield, I have thought we have struggled to control games since Xhaka dropped back into defence which is why I don’t understand why we didn’t revert to a back four when Kos came on. Xhaka would have added a little bit of physicality in there, an additional man in the middle and a good platform to play off.
I think Emery got this one wrong tactically. Not going to be too judgemental though, he is still playing with a weak squad and the majority of the players are not his. Hopefully he and the players learn a lot from the last two games and we see a good response.
Ok, Miki should have buried that chance and either Papa or Rsey should have scored too. But that’s football. Gouendouzi was over the place in the first half, whereas Ramsey and co rushed almost every ball after 1-0. I think Özil could have been a useful addition in the second half when Tottenham started playing more defensively. Both Tottenham goals should have been avoided, Cech should have come faster out of his goalspost and Koscienly should have kept tags on Dele Ali for the second. We really need a technically equipped midfielder who can raise the quality in midfield and maybe another CB, I really don’t know anymore…Gutted with the result and the way we attacked and defended tonight…
Just not good enough, we as supporters have to realise that we will never win the premier league again because the people running the club do not have the hunger for it.
?Arsenal FC is a self sustaining business and cash cow, not a football club with Kroenke ownership.
Sad, and true, i miss Dein.
I gotta say fatigue is setting in.. Torreira looks like he could use a rest. His energy was missing today. I don’t see the point in playing all 3 of our defensive midfielders at the same time. Rotation helps a lot, we should have one of Guendouzi or Xhaka on the bench at least. Resting Xhaka and playing a defender from the U23 can’t be any worse than this is, Xhaka’s positioning is awfully poor. Both goals, he was out of position and far from his defensive line. Rotation is key: I mean I’m not worried about this loss TBH, I wasn’t buzzing about the game, all I want this season is UCL ticket next season so rotation comes in during this time of the season. What’s the point in starting Aubameyang tonight and burning his energy? The man plays almost every game and what has Lacazette done that he’s hardly starting games?
Why do we Pay Elneny? Why do we pay Ozil 300k? Why do we pay them and not use them? There are certain games that we need to drop and rest our important players, but we’ve hardly done that. Another match is coming up this weekend and another is coming up next midweek before the Liverpool game. Iwobi and Mhiki keeps starting important matches yet they bring nothing to the team and I still don’t get why Emery keeps playing them. At this point, Ozil and Ramsey should be given the same game run that these 2 duckheads have had. Ozil can’t be any worse than Mhiki and Iwobi are.
Mhiki lost a goal that could’ve pushed us forward and energized us.. Ramsey still fails to do the simple things that matters in football, trying useless flicks. Today’s game is our worst match this season considering our line up
This clueless coach will soon lose the dressing room. He’s already lost and it won’t be long before he loses both Auba and Lacca. Poor him.
Omg the doom & gloom!! Yes we lost tonight & it hurts, but look at what we’ve done, gone 22 games unbeaten. Have the joint top scorer in the league (sometimes I wonder how as he does miss a lot of chances ?) in the Europa knock out stage, we’re not far off the top 4 & everyone said at the start of the season we wouldn’t get anywhere near it!!! Have the FA cup to play in too. Emery has changed a lot for us since he came in & I’m sorry to say he’s not a miracle worker, he is doing his best with what he has until January. Jeez a lot of teams would give anything to have what we have!!! Even some of the United fans said they wanted Emery!!! So lighten up mate!! Once a gooner always a gooner!!
Do you believe we are going to be that ambitious in the January transfer window? I seriously doubt it… Only if we sell both Ramsey and Özil could we have a chance to get a fair replacement or even a proper winger. I just don’t see it happening..For me a versatile winger and a creative CM would do the trick. We need to spend some serious cash in order to have a realistic chance of UCL or Europa Cup win.
I don’t know… maybe 1, maybe 2. Who knows what Sven & Unai (& silent stan) have up their sleeve
It’s difficuktvto believe you’re nothing but a Spurs troll. A bad match today but after a 22 match undefeated run you really believe he’s lost the dressing room. If you’re not a troll then your toxicity is sickening
With a week defense I thought Emery would have gone all attack. Auba & Laca should play together till we invest in at least one deadly winger. Micki & Iwobi lack the finishing edge.
Elneny………Socratis……..Kos……..Monreal
Goundouzi……..Torreiera…….Xhaka
Ozil………Mickytaryan
Laca
.
.
.
Goal
4321
Way too much doom amd gloom overreaction by so many on here. Yes, it was a disappointing night and an injury depleted and clearly jaded team performed below par and against Spuds, of course that hurts. But guys, perspective PLEASE! We have just finished a 22 match unbeaten run even without playing well BUT AT LEAST in that run we had our best defence mostly available for selection. i thought some tactical mistakes wer made tonight but to slaughter our new and dynamic manager or to call as one moronic person did on the previous thread , for Emerys sacking and WENGER TO COME BACK SHOWS A MIND NOT FULLY MATURE and that is being kind to that “mind”. The realisation that this squad is nowhere deep enough in quality to get top four is starting to dawn on some of the “fool themselves” type of fans on here. As a realist I never expected – HOPED yes, but did NOT EXPECT – to make top four this season. Our real problem that dwarfs all our other problems put together is that Scrooge Kroenke holds this club back every day he remains here, bleeding our club for his own ends. if you REALLY want to help Arsenal, leave the stadium empty and do not buy club merchandise, until he is forced to sell up, to stop bleeding his OWN GROTESQUE POCKETS TO DEATH. Some of the moaning after just a disappointing night is truly pathetic from some of the snowflakes on here. Grow up! Literally GROW UP, mentally mostly!
For God’s sake Wenger’s sacking was the best thing that happened to our club for years… Although I cannot say that Emery’s type of football is as beautiful as our late Arsenal under Wenger with Cazorla, Sanchez, Özil, Wilshere and co. at their prime. We need to buy such type of players in order to compete again with the big boys. I can understand the moaning cause we were given false hope with that 22 match unbeaten run, when it was clear to see that we were constantly underperforming and we were only scrapping away wins against smaller sides. Our best game came against Tottenham in the league, where we showed real character. It was a matter of time, till injuries and Fatigue depleted our already thin squad and we started losing games. Emery’s decisions were not always spot on too. One or two marquee signings in January may move the balance to our side. If we don’t seaze this opportunity, it’s mathematically certain that our season will end badly, I’m afraid…
fully agree a winger and a def pronto 🙂
?
I dont think Managerial change is a solution.we have seen the potential of Unai. I clearly see there is shortage of quality and depth. still it is not too let.bring quality players if that does not work for two seasons we will play the red card.
So the spuds v chelsea.. urgh!! Jeez who would you want to win out of that??
Uhh, Chelsea of course? And then get beaten by Burton Albiol in the final! 😀
I hate both of them! Not sure who the most!
Ha that would be hilarious – Burton lifting the trophy! ?
You’ll not been honest on this site Emery brought fresh blood and confidence to the team the first couple of games we all wanted to give him a chance to find his way around the players. Torriera said coming to arsenal he was excited to play with Ozil, lacazette said the same. Auba said the same now we are stuck with iwobi no one fairs the arsenal anymore so everyone attack us and the back line crumble under the pressure
Poor old Piers Morgan having to wear a spud shirt while doing the semi final draw…. how horrible must that have felt ???
Correct me if I’m wrong but 17 games 15 half time change is real cause for concern
I watched the game on TV tonight and I am amazed that, first of all, there is no condemnation of the moron who threw the bottle at Ali. A disgrace to himself and our club.
it will enable the media to produce headlines that will paint the club/supporters in a bad light, something they need no encouragement to do anyway!!
I urge anyone who knows who this so called fan is, to get in touch with the club in order that they can ban him/her for life.
At least we can thank the fans immediately in front of the incident for not cheering and laughing, they like me, looked stunned that this had happened.
I thought Iwobi had a really good game tonight and was surprised when Unai substituted him as he was a constant threat. This player is an enigma and I just hope Unai can make progress with him.
No Ozil, not even on the bench…am I missing why he was awol again?
We all agree (I think) that the defence has been our weak link for a long time and, despite Unai spending the majority of his transfer kitty in that area, we are still so vunerable.
To cap it all, the injuries we have suffered (apart from Wellbeck) have been with our defensive players.
However, why anyone would expect Kos to be able to hit top form after six months out (and against a very mobile spud attack) is ridiculous.
He needs to play in order to get match fit and our injuries have enabled him to do just that. The same goes for Monreal, so let’s just take our medicine and get ready for the next game.
As long as we are in touch with the top four spot come January, Sven will bring in reinforcements, if only to replace Holding and Welbeck.
Let’s start judging our progress afterthe January window closes.
We seem to have been lucky with our europa and fa cup opponents (not taking anything for granted) so let’s hope Unai’s defensive signings actually start to make a difference when they are fit and not banned for silly yellow cards.
? rarional response as always, Ken
Oops, “rational”!
I wish many of our fans were rational and balanced like Ken 1945. He brings out his points in a calm and well reasoned manner and doesn’t get swayed by emotions. This is very admirable and worth emulating.
David and ozzie, thanks for the compliments, I appreciate them….as I appreciate those who take time to argue with my points in a rationale debate.
David, there is one emotion that does sway me I’m afraid and that’s the abuse given to AW.
I am reading even now on this present subject that Kronkie is the main cause of eveything that’s wrong at the club and always has been, yet this was never recognised as being so under AW.
Wenger was blamed for everything that went wrong, from injuries to disciplinary matters under the banner “Wenger is in complete control because he is power crazy”.
Yet here we are, the day after spuds beat us for only the second time since we moved to the Emirates (under Wenger and his dross, weedy players for the record) defending everyone but Kronkie!!
Leopards do not change their spots and maybe it’s finally sinking in to those who ranted and raved for ten years that Wenger was the main reason for our decline, that they got it wrong for so long.
Of course it was time for the man to go, if for no other reason than he failed to obtain CL and trophies in his last two years. I also believe he had lost the dressing room in the final season, he realised this and resigned.
Respect has to be earnt and I personally believe that Arsene Wenger did that during his twenty two years as manager of our club.
Unai Emery has already earnt my respect with the dignified way he recognised AW’s record and his excellent results in just six months.
A brilliant signings by, of all people, Ivan Gazidis.
The loss last night is difficult to take, along with the fact that we have morons, masquarading as gooners. throwing bottles and bringing the club into disrepute.
But Unai Emery needs our support and also time to put his stamp on the club.
He has the same support I gave AW simply because he is manager of The Arsenal.
Lots of points Ken. With you totally on the bottle and moron who threw it. On Iwobi, yes he was busy but when you analyse much of his game he mostly gave the ball away, as he does constantly. Runs into trouble, down blind alleys, Walcott style. I think he has SOME ability, though whether it is enough looks doubtful. Iwobi DOES work though , whereas with Walcott…….! On Kos, I thought him way over the hill even before he got the long out injury and though you would expect him to be rusty -and he is – he is not now good enough anyway, even when match tight. Your Ozil comment frustatates me. You wonder why he was not even in the 18 and I find it strange that a man of your intelligence does not see the obvious answer why. LAZINESS and with a manager who will not tolerate that. Ozil will be gone by next August, one way or another. I would put serious money on that as long as Emery is manager. Lazy players are poison in a team sport. Why otherwise intelligent folk like you/ Phil/ Sue and others refuse to see that baffles me. It was Walcotts problem which, thanks to Wenger, became ours for a lamentable whole decade. I thought our team lost their football heads last night with a series of silly fouls breaking up the second half momentum we had regained after being outplayed in first half. There are clearly NO leaders on the pitch , just headstrong, “too much testosterone” twits like Xhaka and the nonsense he had with one of their players. He is a hindrance when he sees red , even though he has passion. Without some element of self control raw passion can be as harmful as having none, a la OZIL! I also though Emery made mistakes last night ; picked an unbalanced start eleven and the subs were unhelpful. Personally, I would always (in Prem) start Lacazette centrally up front as he works hard, whereas Auba does not. Auba is also lazy much of the time and is not a well rounded team player as Laca is. The main problem remains KROENKE and his refusal to sanction serious funds to clear out most of the entire outfield defence and replace with far better. Of the pure defenders I would keep , long term, only Holding, Mavro. I would try to keep Bellerin as a wide player come winger OR if that fails let him go. He simply cannot defend. AM-N should not be used in defence once all are fit again. He is clearly a central midfielder and should be played where he fits, like all players too. Speak again soon, no doubt.
In our last NLD we came out best, if Tots has now stepped up to make sure we don’t go on two on two against them then it means the old rivalry is no gone. This is football you win some you lose some. Jeeze! Guys, this team should be encouraged otherwise ask Man U fans what’s like before they fired Morinho.
We are in a process, they [Spurs] are ahead of us in the process. Emery
Can’t agree more. It’s difficult with so many injuries to teach the system we want to display. 4321 is unai’s main approach with 433 movement within it. At the moment we can’t play this If none of our forward line press zonally.
3421 is being used to compensate this problem.
We must enquiry in Jan for our long term targets and see how much extra it will cost (If at all) in Jan and judge that against how much that will help the here and now. The reward will only be being in the CL next year and currently this squad is not deep enough nor have enough driven personal to do so.
I’m worried because Claude on AFTV has agreed with me that playing Xhaka as CB weakens 2 positions and breaks up the successful partnership with Torreira in midfield. Without Xhaka Spurs controlled the midfield. Although AMN did not have a good game (again played away from his midfield position) but specialist CB’s like Medley have to be given opportunities. Also Arsenal had defenders unused on the bench.
Apparently Emery considers Mhikataryan a better player than Ozil, who can’t even make the bench and Iwobi starts over Lacazette.
Arsenal are not good enough to have £300+ per week players not even making the bench. Unfortunately Spurs were better on the day, clinical against shambolic defending. What is Steve Bould, one of the best centre halves on the planet in his day doing to earn his salary?
The standard of refereing is atrocious in England and the FA is doing nothing.
Anyway all we can do is move on to the next match.
I saw the interview as well. Speaks volumes that Emery would rather play Xhaka in defence than Lichtsteiner or any of the actual CBs in this club. As for Ozil, all I can say is I hope he can be quickly brought back into the team as we really cannot afford to have 350K-a-week going down the drain every week and more so for the next 3 years.
@Ozziegunner, I like your analysis but I feel Mhkitanya is fer a better football player than Ozil. He’s a natural central Midfielder like Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazolar. Our can deliver good results if we start playing them in their right position.
Defense
Sok, Kos, Mus, Holding, Bell, Lech, Niles, Monrael.
DM
Xhaka, Torrera, Guendozzi
CM
Mhkitanya, Iwobi, Rambo and Niles
AM
Ozil, Rambo or Iwobi
FORWARD
lacazette9 and Auba14
WINGERS BOTH Right/Left
Needed ASAP
Looking forward to see the first transfer window under Kroenke.
We will know very soon if this guy is the preserver or the destroyer of our club.
It’s obvious now that the squad needs to buy.
Looking forward to meeting Scums again at ANY competition.
I couldn’t agree more pat, as I said yesterday we are not good enough at the back I’m sure AMN will be a useful asset but i am afraid he didn’t know how to go past players and he froze whenever he got the ball the other defenders are not good enough for this standard and we are beginning to look (dare i say it)like a Wenger side good going forwards rubbish at defending, we clearly need to aquire a better standard of defender if we are to get into the top 4.
We will continue complaining as long as we don’t do the right thing. For those of you saying Emery bench this one and bench that one, log into arsenal.com and see the players he has to work with. I said it at the close of this season’s transfer window that the only reason we will achieve sth remarkable this season would be bcos of the manager. You are competing with teams that are willing to spend any amount to improve their squad weakness. But we are looking for cut price bargains. How will you explain a situation where teams are spending over 300M and 200M on transfers even mid table clubs are spending over 100M. But my club is struggling to spend a million pounds.
I still wonder how Arsenal started thinking like a mid-table club.
Xhaka did little wrong???
He was very much involved in their second goal, because he is not a CB. When the long ball was under way to Kane, Xhaka first went backwards, then realized he should compete for the ball with Kane and went forwards, but it was too late. Kane had time and space to get the ball down and make the killer pass.
This is not Xhaka’s fault as such. he is not a CB. he doesn’t have the eye or the skills for that position.
It is shocking, that we don’t at least have a young CB, we could have played there, with all the injuries. Then we would at least have given a young player some experience. Now it was just a waste of time.
We do, Medley and he should have played(if he’s not injured), allowing Xhaka to play his normal position which we missed.
Please focus on the facts.Kocielney was culpable for the second goal not Xhaka who engaged Kane as he passed.Kocielney , who was dire against Southampton, failed to match the run by Ali who finished superbly.With regard to the first goal Monreal, was 3 yards on the wrong side of Son who also took his goal very well.Simple defensive mistakes by players who were very good players but no longer are.Until we get upgrades in defence we will continue to flatter to deceive.As for the garbage aimed at Xhaka and Iwobi they were two of our better players last night.
You’re right Grandad, Our two ageing defenders let us down again. They did under Wenger tbh. The day has come to say “thanks but it’s time to go” to both Kos and Monreal. Unfortunately, Xhaka and Iwobi were only better than the rest of that crap and are still not the right quality Arsenal need!
Over 60-70% of that team would not make it into any top 4 EPL team, period!
Look at the defenders that came in last year. Are they also that impressive? We went cheap and go cheap! Emery will never finish in the top 4 with this team and I doubt the kitty will suffice for the amount of change needed next year!
An irritating loss to the spuds, but calm down! Emery has inherited a squad which is used to playing in a certain way and it will take time for him to get them playing the way he wants. Irrespective of whether you agree with his style, that’s what it is, HIS style. He needs at least a season to work with the players and see who will adapt to him and who won’t or can’t. Ozil wasn’t in the squad last night for ‘tactical’ reasons and I suspect that he is one who can’t adapt to the pressing Emery wants. Likewise Cech doesn’t have the skills to play out from the back. I think both players may be early casualties. Some really promising players have been brought in to the squad this year and need time to gel. AMN and laca are both just back from injury and need time to hit their stride again. I don’t think Laca is fit enough to play 90 mins at the moment. Patience! Let’s see what Santa brings in the transfer window and judge Emery in 18 months, not after two poor games during a frantic few weeks with several important players missing due to injury.
Well said Gworm.