Arsenal get lucky again! But how long will it last?
In a game of two halves we were, if not already, taken back down to earth after the emphatic Spurs win a few weeks back.
It feels like the Spurs game was last season, because since then we have unclicked and have only managed two draws against and (no offence to them), but teams on paper that we should be beating easily!
So, if matches were decided on halves, then after the first half we would have deserved the win, but after the second, not so much!
Just what has gone wrong since Spurs? Although we haven’t lost and we are still gaining a point rather than losing all three it is not enough for our club!
But we will only know at the end of the season just how much those draws will mean, they can be the difference between a higher place in the table or not.
And if the team and Arteta do not address this quickly we will continue to draw and slip back down the table, after doing well enough to get together as a team and show we can win!
The frustrating thing is that we know what this team is capable of, we saw as much against Spurs. And yes I keep going back to the Spurs game because something changed that day, and only for that day it seems!
Yes, it was the North London derby, one of the biggest games in our season and yes, it is not in our DNA to lose to the Spuds, but it should also be in our DNA not to perform so poorly against every other team we face and not to be happy with just grabbing points at “hard fought” sides.
We know the referees will not always help us out, especially Mike Dean! And who’s to say had he sent McArthur off we would have gone on to win, we may have even lost. But we know we have to go out and win the game ourselves, and if we get calls our way by VAR or the refs then it is all a bonus.
So yes, there is a hell of a lot of progress needed to be made, and although it was not the best of results, based on two halves it was not the worst of results. But what we need to do is not drop in tempo once or if we go 1-0 up, at least kill the game off and then sit back, because if we do not do that, we will get a repeat of last night.
Maybe if our boys watch the first half against Spurs every night before a game then they will take inspiration from the performance and will learn to kill off games in the first 45 and relax a little in the second where we defend until the end!
There are mixed reviews from last night of course and although a point is not the worst, we cannot and should not be content with it, but it does show a slight progress, and it also shows there is still a very very long way to go! Gooners?
Shenel Osman
@sh3n3l_
There was a little bit of luck factor, but we won mostly because of the team’s effort, the supports at home and Arteta’s tactic
The good thing about Arteta’s system is we usually don’t have big problems in scoring in the first half. We currently just have a high pressing issue, which he’d most likely fix before Aston Villa come
I wish he could use good tactics for more than 1 match. We have the talent that should be doing much better then we are. Losing to Brentford, drawing (almost losing) to CP, drawing with B&H, losing by 5 goals to City.
Of course I don’t expect us to win every match but it shows Arteta’s tactics aren’t good enough. We are 12th place after 8 matches
Arteta is inconsistent and sometimes makes bad decisions. We’re witnessing a very long learning process of a new manager and hopefully he’ll finally complete it before the end of the year
We hope sir. The alternative won’t favour him. There is a need need to keep up with a winning strategy and perfect it. When are we going to know Arteta football when he is inconsistent?
Stephanie I have looked at the December fixtures and it is NOT good We need points before then or we will be in trouble
The Spurs win was big upped by Arsenal fans because it was Spurs. In reality it was two mediocre sides battling away and we got lucky 3 times while they got lucky only once.
The Palace game was the same .
Two evenly matched sides got lucky twice each.
Their keeper parried the ball into the path of Auba and Laca tapped in a rebound.
Palaces first goal came from defensive lapses while the second goal was indecision by Whyte and misjudged attempt at a save by Ramsdale.
I think we over analyse games with solutions more complex than the dna nucleotides.
Football is chess on a 100m by 68m grassed rectangle.
Two sides set up to defend from the front 11 men behind the ball and mostly 90 minutes of pass pass pass side ways and backwards like a never ending game of chess where each pawn lost is like a death in the family. Both managers like chess masters hunched over the table agonising over every move. Goals when they come are more often than not the result of a moments lapse in concentration in defense.
The result is so important that many players get stage fright and forget how to play where mistakes are punished by being banished to the reserves. Wenger talked about mental strength. Arsenal right now are afraid to play. A little freedom to take a few risks especially on attack would do no harm.
Got lucky three times against the spuds ???
Did you even watch the game?
We completely outplayed them, outfought them and, especially in the second half, we tactically out thought them.
For the Palace game, it was the complete reverse, but to say their keeper “palmed it out” is absolutely bonkers.
He actually pulled off a tremendous save from a great move by Pepe and Aubameyang beat his marker to the ball and scored from the tightest of angles.
I really don’t know where you get your thoughts from, but they cannot be from having watched the two games in question.
Too true ken1945
I actually do feel you love Arteta more than you love arsenal FC!! You defend him so much yet he is a guy who has never done anything good for arsenal both as a player or a manager. You never respected Wenger the way you respect Arteta!! We totally regressing under Arteta.
The fact is, out of pre-season games and the 8 league games this season, we have really only played well in that 1’st half against Spurs.
The rest has been from poor to bloody awful.
Anders, I disagree completely with you over the spud game and here’s why.
They went in 3-0 down.
They had been outclassed
They had been out fought
They only had pride to play for
That’s exactly what they did and we, tactically, let them come at us and played such a controlled defensive second half, it seems to have gone unnoticed.
Of course, with Kane and Son, chances would be made, but the only breakthrough came ten minutes from the end.
That game for me anyway, was up there with the way our Invincibles played and the problem is, the rest of your post is correct (in my opinion) so why the difference?
The only player missing from 5scenario is Xhaka and that opens up another can of worms!!!!
Ken1945
We may be somewhat in disagreement on the second half against Spurs, but I take it, that we are in general agreement apart from that.
Personally, I think we have missed Xhaka lately. We miss his physical presence in midfield, and we are really struggling to win the ball back.
But even with him, we don’t seem to be playing to our potential, most of the time.
Yes, we agree totally AndersS.
The only thing wrong is xhaka missing from the midfield since injury picked up then. Hate him all you like,he sure does what is needed in the middle bar some far in between errors.neither lokonga nor ordegard is quite ready for that holding mid role.however ,odegard is not a holding midfielder.
The fact people are even mentioning xhaka, just shows the levels we have dropped too. Xhaka is an awful footballer and people “missing” him is a sign of where we are. Mediocre!!!!!!!
I think many are misinterpreting why they miss Xhaka, Reggie. If they really analyse their emotions, it’s not the skill, goals, leadership, stability, defensive or offensive quality, or drive, because he really doesn’t give us any of those. He gives us almost nothing.
Except the one thing that we constantly criticise him for. He is hot-headed, rash and often dirty.
We are being bullied out of games by bigger, more physical and aggressive teams. We are too nice and easily intimidated into surrendering. We only have two players who fight fire with fire – Xhaka and Lacazette. Laca rarely starts, but when Xhaka plays, whilst he can detract from the overall performance and can still play appalling football and be overrun, he is the one player who teams can never bully. Until of course, he gets sent off…
I dont know why most of us dont want to accept that without Xhaka in our midfield we lose the battle there, we have so berated and underrated him that we dont want to give him his credit, 3 managers has come and gone and he is the first on the team sheet, two goals that were scored at the Spurs game all started from him. That’s the core of every winning team, ones the central midfield and central defense is settled, all other areas flourish.
That team against Spurs is our first team especially the midfield, non of the top 6 teams in the league has rookies in their central midfield area, the will be out muscled like what they did to Lokonga that led to the second goal against at the Palace game.
So much delusional chatter about the supposed negative “impact” of not having Xhaka in our lineup…how quickly people forget how this underwhelming, slow-footed, sideways passing, reckless defending, underperforming and entitled weak link, has failed to live up to expectations, provided exceedingly little at either end of the pitch, received more senseless cards than produced helpers and goals and who not only functionally spit on the armband, likewise openly flirted with Jose in the off-season and displayed more footballing acumen in a 20 minute period of a singular Euros match than he has the whole of his time here…it seems so f’ing baffling that anyone could actually choose to forget what has TRULY transpired since his arrival at our club…as such, I can only conclude that this sort of senseless banter emanates from those desperate Apologists who are trying to provide what they believe to be are viable excuses for the piss-poor brand of football on offer under our novice manager
I dont really watch Arsenal, but as a spurs fan you shouldnt overstate that win – we were absolutely dreadful and Nuno got it completely wrong. Arsenal were far better on the day, but like I dont take much from beaing Newcastle…
Yes, it was one time experience and will NOT happen again against any top team (1-6).
Picking up 1p or 3p here and there, at the end of the season ARS will finish 13th to 15th place.
Spurs were amateurish in the first half and we took advantage of this. They had huge gaps between defence and midfield, and attacked with a lot of players, leaving only 5-6 behind the ball with no pressing, so we reached 4v4 numerous times. No other team will do that against is, and this game is an indicator for nothing. Other teams press or park the bus, and for that we have no solutions.