Is it too early to start the comparison? by Dan the Cannon
So, the season has started, and points are up on the board. While it wasn’t the best of games it was 3 points and, let’s be honest, we aren’t going to remember most of the matches we play this season only the result.
Looking at how the weekend has panned out, I think it’s obvious the top two positions will be Man City and Liverpool, although I can’t call who will top the league. Spurs are looking stronger and I hate to admit but are a good footballing settled side. I still suspect they will bottle at crucial moments, as they revert back to type, but no doubting they are level with where we are right now and are the main concern.
Man Utd will be sneaking results all season, but I can’t see where the goals will come from, despite what will be a very good defence, to turn draws into wins when it matters so top four should get away from them. Chelsea I can see having a mediocre season, probably top six but I’d expect us to beat them when we meet.
I can also see Leicester, Everton and maybe one other starting to push into the usual suspects at the league’s top table but I genuinely believe we can achieve 3rd this year and minimum top four.
There are so many positives to build on this season and if it all goes to plan, I expect a much stronger challenge to next year’s top spot. Given the game this weekend, Chambers had a good game along with Guendouzi.Youth was given a chance and our new guns had a run out as well.
So many positives to see us into the next few games where we truly will see where we are in terms of progress right now. 5 wins in 5 games I’m hoping!
Dan the cannon
you cant see where united will get goals this season yet they scored 4 v chelsea
The score line flattered. Chelsea’s line up wasn’t great. The ban and loosing Hazard has hurt them hard.
Man United got lucky, because Chelsea attackers hit the bar twice
Had those two shots gone in, the result could be different
Wakeup dude there are no such in football united beat them 4:0 Stop this hit the post or had it gone in stuff
It’s what it is 4nill. United were the better side simple as that
Better side my a*** I would say they got lucky though cause they played to win. But Chelsea played the game United scored the goals. That’s football for you
How can Anyone that thinks man utd is a real deal based on yesterday result…unless you are a man utd fan. They weren’t the clearly better until they scored due to chealsea’s naveity. They would have suffered against any good attack. I think they and Chelsea are for the taking. Tottenham, not sure but they always spursy.
We managed 1-0 over a Championship team. MU hit a top six rival 4-0 and you think it’s luck?
@Impenia
MU beat a top 6 team who fielded mostly youngsters and a couple old hats. Chelsea were all over the place defensively.
Correct gotanidea, if those two shots had gone in it would have been a different score….. 4-2 ?
And we’ve hit the bar plenty of times in the past and then lose but have NEVER gotten the benefit of the doubt like Chelsea has from the entire media this weekend. Hitting the bar means your shot was off target. It’s not a goal. Chelsea were so sloppy defending counters and left tons of space between midfield and defense. They deserved to lose.
It was Positive result not Performance but in this early stages you need results…. We need time to gel our players…
Emery need to wiser in his selection…
He should go back to 4-3-3 Formation with AMN as RB, Kolasinac as LB along with chambers and Luiz as CB
Dani Ceballos, Lucas and Xhaka as CM
Pepe on Right, Aubameyang on left and Lacazette through middle
how did you fix xhaka in a 3 man midfield?
Deep line Midfielder for long string of passing
Dani Ceballos Will be Attacking Passer whose main duty is to support front 3 and Lucas will be only looking for protecting back 4
I am a huge proponent of the 4-3-3 formation like you, since most top European teams have been using that tactic with huge success. However, I think Emery knows that he can’t force his players to play with a system they are not used to
We beat Chelsea with 4-3-3 formation last season, but Arsenal can keep using 4-2-3-1 as long as it is still effective. Because we have three pacey young wingers now, Emery can be more flexible in selecting the formation
I bet he would ditch the no 10 position once he thinks his players are ready to adopt 4-3-3
But for 4-2-3-1 you need one effective number 10 and very strong defence…. Because you will only 1 DM to Protect Your back 4 but in 4-3-3 we can deploy Xhaka as well as Lucas as protector of back 4 with Xhaka to pull the strings with long passing which he has the ability…
Ozil is now ineffective in number 10…
He won’t creat nor he will help defenders…
Defending is his not job… Agreed but his main job is to create but his ineffective in that…
And we do not have any other specialists number 10
EASY! Make sure that his fellow two Huddersfield midfielders play alongside him. He would look great in a Huddersfield shirt.(Or ANY shirt other than ours!) Provided I was not watching them. That is about his level. Apologies to Huddersfield; nothing personal!
We can start the season slow as long as we get the results and build on each win.
The newcomers will settle in and given sometime start producing such as Pepe and Ceballos I’m sure.
There were many players not 100% fit so a great result considering the starting line up.
Having time to reflect on the win, the performance impresses me even further, and it hasn’t been given the respect it deserves.
Arsenal are renowned for gung-ho attacking football, so a controlled victory, with no dramas at the back for us, seems so un-Arsenal-like. Because of this, I feel many have downplayed the performance.
Leno didn’t have a lot to do, because the defence was solid, and our midfield worked hard to support them. We kept Newcastle at arms length, we were not left exposed at the back, and it was refreshing to see. To think that this was an away performance, with so many young players, makes it all the more impressive. We didn’t offer a huge amount in the final third, but that will change once the likes of Pepe, Laca, and Torreira start, and Willock, Nelson, and Martinelli get more experience.
I am not getting carried away, as it’s only one game, against one of the weaker teams in the league, but there is potential in the performance.
I still cannot see ourselves, or any other team getting near Liverpool, and City, but I feel we have a great chance of finishing 3rd.
TMJW totally agree with you our win hasn’t had the respect it deserves, i thought we controlled the game well ESPECIALLY in the first half, we have not had a good start in recent years especially away games so the win against Newcastle is a good achievement playing with our “B” team
and Jose Mourinho still playing mind games with Arsenal
we have a lot of tools in our box this season if they all do their job it could be a masive season
Tas, perhaps the actual reason it has not had the respect it deserves it that most realistic Gooner fans are aware how dreadful Newcastle were. I thought it was them BEING dreadful rather than us making them look dreadful too. Our perf was merely efficient with few alarms but once the new boys are up to speed things DO now look more hopeful. No Mustafi and no Ozil were helpful omissions too!
Come on John half the team was out
ThirdManJW, thank you for having a rethink on this match. Arsenal won away in their first match of the season for quite a while. Arsenal kept a clean sheet. There were many players on the bench, who one would expect to normally be starters.
The cold wet weather, rain throughout the match ad heavy pitch was not conducive to intricate passing and free flowing football.
Yes, some of the Newcastle players may have met for the first time, when they shook hands in the dressing room; however they will give plenty of trouble to teams coming to St James Park during the season.
Unfortunately it doesn’t matter what the result or who is selected in the team, there are constant moaners and critics on this site.
I learned there is no stand out performer in that Chelsea team and Man U loosing Lukaku currently takes away some of the fear factor (no attacker to really bully the defence).
I think Rashford will step up and get a bunch of goals but will need the whole team to perform.
Chambers looked solid and hopefully he can keep consistency throughout the campaign. Xhaka still makes mistakes and our youngsters look promising
Good bye British Core
Welcome English Lions
The past
Jenkinson
Wilshire
Ramsey
Chamberlain
Welbeck
Walcott
The future
Maitland-niles
Chambers
Holding
Willock
Smith-Rowe
Nelson
Nketiah
John-Jules
In my opinion, Man City and Liverpool are still the strongest title challengers. I predict Liverpool would get their EPL title in this season though, because I doubt Man City players’ motivations
Based on the first game, I think Arsenal have a good chance to be the dark horse in this competition. Because Emery didn’t hesitate to use the young British players, which could re-ignite the old local spirit that has been gone since the Invicibles era
Winning an away match is a perfect start for us, since our away forms were awful last season. I can’t wait to see Willock start the game again
You doubt Man City’s motivation?They looked pretty motivated watching them on Saturday.Another pretty stupid comment from the master of pretty stupid comments.Well done.
??
I think bean a fan/supporter can sometimes over cloud our judgement we are the same level as Tottenham what a big statement that is. If we are the same level as Tottenham I will expect nothing but a premier league challenge.. Tottenham may not be consistent as a team but hell. They are shoulders above us dude..
And for united I don’t want to comment on that, just watch
+1. I’m really looking forward to how the new boys will integrate into the team and how their impact will be. But we still do not have an “identity”. We’re not playing like we want nothing else but a win. Unfortunately, I rate the noisy neighbors higher than us atm. But I hope the team changes that opinion.
To some Arsenal fans, nothing is ever good or improved. Many are saying Newcastle are championship team but we kept only a clean sheet away against 10-man Watford team. We did that this season, first time of asking. The team is still transition, so I think we did well.
what ive noticed from yesterdays match is the sideways boring football of the previous regime seems to have disappeared, hopefully for good. desperate football , passing cross field and going nowhere. so, i for one, am delighted with our performance , albeit against a very mediocre newcastle team. but that matters not, what matters is that emery is beginning to put his mark on the team , and fiar play too.
When will this admins writing this article stop been biased…
Wasn’t written by admin, written by Dan the Cannon.
Bias in what way? Man united have weaknesses that will be exposed this season with a young lad leading the line expected to get the goals. If you assess our team to spurs on paper it’s fairly even with strengths and weaknesses cancelling each other out so I think it’s a fair assessment to say we are on the same level over a season. Happy to debate but I can’t see why it’s bias
Our midfield is not at the level of Spurs…not that I’m happy to say that.
Biased? Better you Go to united blogs to read their praises. Many neutral fans know they have not become a strong force based on yesterday Performance against that weakest Chelsea team in years.
Good performance that can be built upon. Im surprised a lot of fans are so negative. I think a lot of us watched City, and Liverpool and saw the top quality play compared to us. No, we are not at their level yet, but they have a team that is far more settled than ours and both managers have had the players they wanted for over a season by now. Our first XI did not even have any of our new players. Nelson and Willock did a fine job, Auba looks fantastic, defense looked great. Again, the defense looked great and kept a cleansheet. For all those saying Newcastle is bad, that did not matter last season. We only kept one away clean sheet last season. So this is an improvement and that the defense actually looked comfortable in an away game for once. More players fit and coming back we will be even better.
Points to note from the game:
1. Surprised and happy at how we totally controlled Newcastle in the middle of the park. More of the same.
2. Ceballos also surprised me at how slow he was on the ball… He needs to change this quick.
3. Guendouzi is nailed-on for a starting berth (he’s turns are world class) — I didn’t know that I would be saying that.
4. With the way the boys played, I am sure when Luiz, Tierney, Ozil, Pepe, Torreira, Ceballos, Lacazette come back into the starting 11 top 3 is a MUST.
5. Please ignore the fuss about Man Utd they were really lucky yesterday with that non-existent midfield, so we’ll surely finish above them, Chelsea and Spurs.
We signed some exiting players yes nk doubt but there is no guarantee all will hit the ground running…
United signed 2 established players from EPL. Scored 4 against Chelsea and you write them off like that…
If we were making this assessment based on one week one of epl then I don’t know what to say
Based on your last statement, united beating THAT Chelsea team doesn’t make them better than us. It is a matter of opinion. I still that united team will suffer against good attacks based on what I say yesterday.
That united performance really got you hard didn’t it ?
United were lucky they could have been 2 nill down after that different game, we’d would have to take risks meaning more opening, counter attacks from Chelsea some there is bad and good luck in football, lucky rebounds,pin balling in the boxe,lucky deflections and so on, remember how utd started with Solkjaer win after win then they crumbled even losing to Cardiff and Co…,as arsenal we couldn’t put our strongest line up for various reasons injured,players,new players from new league with new teammates, look at our bench pretty good and also inured players it will take some time for it to gel,news guns able to play high tempo demanded by the coach by the way utd beat weak Chelsea team, new manager transfers bans, sold his 2 most seniors player because of the respect they had in the dressing room hardly a great Chelsea team, spurs have unhappy player rose to Everton was stopped by levy,Dobby was left out the squad can’t be good,Eriksen is no longer in Pocc plans this season’s because he wants a new venture,once out players come back fit, Luiz, Lacazette,ceballos.. are back it wil be a different story,auba that some fans wanted sold already on the mark,please give our team a fair trial not on the first game,30 minutes, everybody knows that the Pl is a marathon not a sprint it how you finish these are clichés but sadly are true remember utd with Solkjaer heat start and then crumbled give time to our team
, Players once they are back will be fit and ready and able to communicate with teammates, trust me! give your team a fair chance,I for one I am optimistic for what is to come !
Also Aurier wants to leave with his former club PSG INTERESTED AND other clubs…,not good for the dressing room!
Thus far all the comments are based on last season. There will be a lot of unknowns that may tilt the title towards a team we didn’t expect and it could as well be Arsenal. For once I might be superstitious and say that Arsenal wins the premiership in even years, to wit 1998,2002 and 2004. Why not 2020? I remember the James Bond movie “Never say never again”. Indeed Arsenal can win the title. Considering the players we have and the quality of our coach we are more than capable of standing up to the best. Our rivals may spend fortunes but what matters is how you use the resources at your disposal. Many of us have long forgotten Leicester’s miracle in 2014-15 but who denies it can be replicated by another team? What matters in the league is consistency, determination and good luck. Of course the last is an invisible element which could change the equation. We have to keep believing as we set about our games. I don’t believe that Man City are ordained by a deity to win the league this season. If that was the case there would be no need for the competition. There are favourites of course but these are not foolproof. George Foreman, a former heavyweight world boxing champion, used to say that anything can happen in the ring. Similarly anything can happen on the football pitch.
Fair general comments about favourites do not always win Prem titles. Problem though with your post is that I doubt anyone at all, in their private own heart of hearts, probably not even you, REALLY believes we will or even can win this years Prem. Tell me I am wrong if you wish but please be REALLY HONEST and only write your TRUE thoughts. Optimism is fine but reality is always preferable. Though you did, admittedly write Prem era, not old Div One, many of our thirteen league titles were also won in odd years: 1931/33/35/53/71/89/91. In fact 7 in odd ending years,6 in even. Theories are fine until factual reality dawns, to change things. Just my own personal take though!
I wonder when you guys will learn to support the team with passion? Some don’t even want to give us a chance because mct, mu and Liverpool all won with great margin. Even though we did not have a great team coordination last season we were able to come up from Wenger’s Era, so this season has great value for the gooners
George, it is perfectly possible to have both passion and a sense of reality and perspective. They are quite compatible things. MERELY NOT BLINDLY BELIEVING WE WILL WIN EVERY GAME AND ACTUALLY THINKING WE WILL LOSE SOME, IS NOT BEING WITHOUT PASSION. IT IS MERELY SHOWING THAT COMPATIBLE REASON I MENTION. Aged 68 as I am, I have long since learned not to believe in many of the things I did as a boy and then as a younger man too. BUT I have retained 100% of the passion I had way back then. PASSION AND REALITY ARE GOOD AND COMPATIBLE BEDFELLOWS. LIFE WILL SHOW YOU THAT WHEN YOU GET OLDER.
One thing I noticed about guardiola is that he is never satisfied, even after city won 5-0 he still complained about their “sloppiness”.. Let’s not support mediocrity. The boys could have done better and we didn’t really create more chances but I’m really happy about the point tho