Considering that Mikel Arteta having a very unconvincing season so far with his team of youngsters and unknown new recruits, it is interesting that we currently have the best home record of any Premier League team this season. We have won 9 and drawn 1 of our last 10 home games, with the latest 2-0 win over West Ham also being our 5th clean sheet in a row at the Emirates.
Away from home is a different story completely and we have lost our last three on the bounce. Granit Xhaka is very clear that the Gunners need to up their game on their travels if they are going to have a chance of staying in the Top Four in the second half of the season. ‘We are looking much much better at home but if you want to be in the top four you have to win and you have to also take the points away from home,’ Xhaka told Stadium Astro.
‘Hopefully this can start against Saturday against Leeds. But yes, we have to improve away we have to be more clever, more solid.
‘We can’t play every time the same game at home and away. We have to be more clever and start from the experienced players to the young guys.’
We could certainly improve our record in our next 3 as have Leeds and Norwich away in the League, and then Nottm Forest in the FA Cup, and I am sure there will be further calls for Arteta’s head if we fail to win all three.
Personally I think we certainly do have the quality and confidence to do it, but the players just need to learn to ignore the intimidating atmosphere at away matches, and the points will come….
Water is wet, sky is blue….
ADMIN COMMENT – I don’t care if it’s funny or it rhymes, but it is not very nice….
Obviously
Talk about stating the obvious! But then footballers aren’t often known for their meaningfull insights into the game.
The one concerning comment was “We can’t play every time the same game at home and away. We have to be more clever…”
Presumably this is a call for more tinkering with teams and tactics, more negative football. Sorry, but after the Saints and West Ham games this is EXACTLY the way we should set up away as well. It’s the fact we haven’t reproduced this form away – often through Arteta being tinkeringly over-cautious – that has created the huge difference in form.
Hardly surprising though that it’s Xhaka making these comments – the Swiss are famous for being risk averse!
I can see some holes in that cheesy statement!
Pat, the Swiss are also famous for cuckoo clocks. Swiss Xhaka, however, is simply cuckoo.
I wonder what his next blinding insight willbe!! Perhaps that we get three points for a win and one for a draw.
Thats some “mighty” brain he has there. NOT!!