I can’t help but feel bitterly disappointed after the match against Aston Villa this weekend and not only because of how we lost, but because of the importance of this game and the chances we had to finish it off.
Again Arsenal looked like they weren’t able to finish off the big chances and with plenty of them, it makes you wonder, was it just our luck or could the players have done more to try win the game and get the points?
What got on my nerves the most was how good we looked in the build up play, to only mess up the finishing and we had plenty of open chances that we just couldn’t take. Martin Odegaard really stood out for me and I hate to single anyone out, but this performance was just poor and you expect a lot more from your captain in such an important game. And coming off last week’s performance against both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Luton Town, I didn’t expect so much of a drop off in his form. He had more than a few chances to get us back on equal terms, but it looked like the pressure on his shoulders was a bit too much.
Something doesn’t seem to be clicking for our midfield maestro and as time goes by and he somewhat ghosts in the bigger games, it does begin to raise concerns. Not to say he was the only one who wasn’t clinical enough but those two open chances he had really stood out for me.
Our build up play was perfect, we were moving the ball around the pitch and looking dangerous when going forward, but just couldn’t seem to finish off our chances. Which in turn made our play look sloppy and it felt like we were another goal away from losing all sense of control.
Martinelli also had a few chances that he couldn’t manage to finish and for me was one of his poorest games down the wing this season. For someone who is normally top class in everything he does, there seemed to be something lacking from the Arsenal forwards in this game.
Our lads put in 100% but sometimes that just isn’t good enough. I must give a shout out to Kai Havertz who I think showed a lot of heart throughout the game, and for the first time I really felt like he felt like a proper Gooner. With a few tussles and tempers risen, he showed how much he cares, and for me that’s all I need from someone who pull on the shirt.
Our defence was solid other than letting in the early goal but our attack let us down and when we really needed to win every game before Christmas, every game from here forward becomes that much more important from Areta and his squad.
What do you think went wrong against Villa Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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Arsenal didn’t guard Bailey properly, they couldn’t convert great chances into goals and Aston Villa’s offside-traps were immaculate
@gai
Plain and simple. Plus Martinez made some superb saves, to keep us from scoring. Jus sayin
Yes, I forgot to mention Martinez. I wish Arsenal never sold him
@gai
Same here Gooner, same here…
We lost not because we conceded but because we could not score and then Aston villa also had a stroke of luck with Martinez making some good saves
If we didn’t concede, we would’ve at least drawn the game
exactly. We basically had the whole 90 to score even once and had opportunities to do it and never did. The blame lies in the attacking players for failing to convert their chances and making poor decisions in the final third. The team in general didn’t have the right intensity from kickoff so people can blame individuals for the goal conceded, but let’s be honest. Majority of our games the team has not had fast starts and we do typically give opponents at least once chance to score against us early now.
Gotanidea
If you creat “great chances” that means that the offside trap of Villa wasn’t that immaculate,…..Villa got lucky that attacking wise we were not at our best
Yes, maybe they got permission, from the flag… We don’t have a point just for the championship… fate will happen at some point
Our midfield isn’t clicking ,especially when Rice plays as CDM, Odegaard might be our best player but in the EPL skills alone wont help you, you must have stamina and strength, he obviously lacks this,
IMO, for Odegaard to shine, we must have a stronger Left AM, alongside Rice as DM,
We cant have Zinchenko and Havertz on same line, it affects Martineli against well composed opponents, he constantly had 2 players on him, Havertz wasn’t there to support him,
Arteta needs to twerk the team.
Odergaard’s stamina is good enough
What are you watching
The midfield isn’t clicking ???
Cos they lose one match ???
Especially when Rice plays CDM ???
The one player who’s been producing Man-Of-The-Match performances match-in match-out ???
We were’nt there to win the game. Just not in to ruin their party, we will be back stronger and better. And i’m not being positive for the sake of it, i’m positive cos we’ve got it all to win any game at anytime and anyday.
@vamos
If we were not there to win, then we were there to lose, using your pretzel logic. Which I find unfathomable…
We didn’t guard Bailey properly cos we don’t have a defender on our leftside
Zinks is way too much of a liability defensively, everything goes past him, every single thing.
That aside, it seems the knowledge that Aston Villa just beat the Champions played on the players minds a lil bit
Odergaard puts those things away too easily before but on the day seemed a lil flustered
Even Trossard seemed off when he came on
Aston Villa did a great job on silencing Saka (asides kicking him too much)
If 1 goal had gone in, everyone would have been more relaxed and the second would easily come
But I guess there was too huge respect playing in the players minds from the consciousness of: “these guys just beat Man City”
The usual panicky DAISY piece , designed to garner comments, but not to get deeper, proper analysis or promote proper context, given that Villa came into the game on 14 straight home wins, having well beaten CIty just days prior to us.
Go on then Gooners , panic if you wish, as that is what Daisy is trying to get you to do.
And avoid all contextual analysis and debate, unless like me, you choose to see the wider, bigger picture, which is that we had a slight off day, but that AFC is making steady remorseless progress, IN THE WIDER PICTURE.
Panicky??? She clearly says that Odegaard had an off day (which he agrees with himself) and also Martinelli.
And you ended up saying the same thing!!
Simple answer Jon is that you appear to be victimising her and discredit every article she rights. Even like this one when you actually agreed with her.
Stop being a bully and pick on someone your own size.
We missed Tomi on the left back. That explains the goal we conceded. Zinchenko is not a replacement for Tomi in that position. He disrupts our defensive shape in transition. Rice tried to support and thus vacated the center eighteen.
@Abul
🎯
We’ve been winning ugly for many games now, the naive fans seemed overjoyed at this saying things like “thats what champions do”.
The reality is top team win ugly when they have an off game every now and then…..it’s supposed to be the exception, not the rule! This fact completely evades some fans.
Zinchenko is a poor LB, everyone knows this. We should never have sold Martinez (imagine creating the goal keeper issue we have now for nothing when we had a top keeper already). We need another powerful midfielder, been a issue for years. We need a clinical striker
We knew how dangerous Bailey was going to be, yet for the short time he was on the field he was able to have his way with us, and Villa scored.
Some midfield players are better, more clinical, goalscorers than others. If you compare Odegaard to John McGinn who got the Villa goal I would say McGinn is a better finisher but Odegaard will get far more chances to score because of the way Arsenal play compared to Villa’s set up. Really its the forwards who should be putting most of their chances away. Arsenal’s main threat is down the wings. Again if you look at Arsenal’s central striking options I would argue Villa’s Watkins is more convincing as a centre forward. If you go man for man Arsenal probably have better players. But if you look at the two teams Villa look better balanced. It’s all very well saying “if we got a goal”. But Villa look like one of those teams who if they go one in front won’t give the lead back easily if at all.
Really? What game were you watching? Have you seen Villa play much? McGinn a better finisher than Odegaard? Villa a team that will not give back the lead easily? You forgot to mention their offside trap.
Yes, we were not clinical enough. That can happen. Should not happen, but it does. Regroup and go again. We do need couple of extra bodies to round out the group in Jan. Maybe someone more convincing than Watkins. Haha….
Arte ta is a disciple of Pep and as such you have to be careful on how much success he can bring to the club if he does spend big. Pep has achieved glory but truthfully, he has been at the clubs with most money to spent to get trophies. MA I think is falling into that mold.
IMO we did not win the title last year due to poor player/personnel management. He should have brought fringe players in sooner to contribute and rotated more to be ready for the business end of the season . He is falling into the same issue this year so far. Ska and Martinell by the time we end the year will need to be rotated heavily to have anything left in the tank. As far as the inverted fullback experiment another Pep trait it has run its course. Keeping control of the game is meaningless unless you can convert possession to clear cut chances. I think Klop and AP at Spurs have taken that to another level by moving the position into a more advanced option and scoring goals or getting to overload the final third hence Udogie and Trent score more goals and contribute
into the final third.
Maybe Arteta can learn as he is young but he needs to open his eyes and look around.
The type of football Reds and Spurs are playing seems a bit more forward and progressive.
we are a bit more predictable .
Was that the problem at Aston Villa?
Do you think otherwise?
Gave up a goal because the inverted fullback was nowhere defending properly no ?
We lost because Bailey scored for them as Zinchenko isn’t as good a defender as Tomiyasu, we didn’t take the clear cut chances we had to score, oh, and Jarad Gillett was in the VAR room!
WOW GB!!! You sure got the bigger, wider picture my friend.
Just like to add that the officials didn’t help either.
The biggest thing that went wrong vs. Villa was Jurrien Timber and Tomiyasu not being available due to injury; which led to Zinchenko trying to mark Leon Bailey………………..which was disastrous. I don’t think he would have started if either of them were healthy. With that said, he’s really becoming a target for opposing attackers. Zinny is absolute shambles on defense, and we’re going to pay for that every time he suits up. Full stop.
I can see that most arsenal fans on JA are afraid of criticisizing Arteta and officiating. How long will it take Arteta to realise that Zinchenko had become a target of oppositon teams? Can he pretend that Zinny + Harvetz at the left side makes Martinelli not function well? Why is he closing his eyes glaring truth that the team needs a clinical strikers which Jesus and Nketiaare not. Why is it a rocket science for him to realise that his team is prefictable?
That said. Our major problem in that match and some other matches the team are not clinical and lacks killer instinct. Another reason is officiating. I wonder why we (including players) think that Referees and VAR will be fair to us after the recent outburst of our coach the management. For us to win our matches, Arteta should feature players according to opponent, be businesslike on the pitch and be clinical to winn matches squarely without expecting officials to give them favourable decisions.