Yes ideally, you have ball players across the back 6/7 depending on your team but since we got rid of Giroud we cant even play over the top and Cech kicking is atrocious so here we are
I don't know. After watching AFTV I think Im pretty much in agreement with the rest of the crowd. Nobody knows what today meant. Did we really expect a win. We did not spend enough money I agree. Has anything really changed. We are currently not in a position to challenge for the title. Is it the same old, same old. ********ing ehh. I don't know if I can take 4th place, 5th place stress mediocrity again...... I think Chelsea is a huge match.....lose and we are 0-2. Its a must win or the attitude will turn ugly. We wanted change now we have it. An ass kicking at the hands of Chelsea will not go over well at all. It will get ugly quick. A draw is the minimum expectation.
Just a reminder that someone needs to step up and start the Chelsea thread this coming week, preferably by Weds/Thurs which would be 2-3 days before KO. :And here's to a very long run of thread-starting duties for whomever does that.
I was able to watch the first half hour. I could see a clear gap between us and them in terms of cohesion and quality. But there ain't much to be surprised about. They're champs. They're established and trying to raise the bar even further. We on the other hand are essentially a start up. No big deal. We won't learn a thing from one game
Anybody who expected to challenge for the title is out of their mind. City is gonna run away with it again and probably will win 3-5 in a row without a big challenge. Frankly, we probably can't really contend until almost all of the players from the Wenger era are off the team. Rebuilding the mess is gonna take 3-5 years by which time those players will have been replaced by better or younger players. Also, we can only buy players who aren't going to go to better clubs. The first step in regaining credibility is to make the CL. If Emery can consistently make the CL it considerably strengthens our ability to recruit new players. The best players want to make money and win trophies and we can only offer one of those options right now.
This is going to take a lot of time to get right if yesterday's performance is anything to go by. Yes, it was against City which is the hardest possible start, but you can see that the players are nowhere near what they will need to be to play the way Emery apparently wants them to. Cech isn't suited to playing out from the back, his footwork isn't nearly good enough. I can see Leno getting has chance sooner rather than later. Guendouzi played pretty well, he was energetic and always demanded the ball. I was surprised he started being so young and inexperienced, but he justified the selection I think. Xhaka on the other hand was poor, looked lethargic and had too many poor touches of the ball. Ramsey looked a bit lost, I'm not sure he knew exactly what position he was meant to play and got a bit caught between two stools. I wouldn't imagine there will be wholesale changes next week, but I'd definitely have Torreira in from the start in place of Xhaka, he looked confident and tidy on the ball when he came on.
Well, it’s at Chelsea so a win would be massive. I think people need to pump the brakes on their expectations a bit. We got murdered by city in same fixture last year 0-3 inside 34 minutes. This time we were in this game and threatening to them so much that they were time wasting 1-0 up with 35 minutes left to play. I know he didn’t have the most influential game, but Ramsey had one really good chance that he should have taken on his left foot, created another chance and was involved in a great move that miki wasted. So for me, I like what Emery is doing with Ramsey and I think against the meat of the league he will do well there. Ramsey also was really controlled in the press instead of the one-man press we saw from him under Wenger, so it seems Emery is helping him be more effective defensively instead of just relying on stamina. If ozil and auba had been sharper this could have easily been a 2-2 draw so I think that’s reasonable for a first game with new manager, 3rd choice LB, new CB and 19yo CM.
This is where we're at right now (specifically against the top teams) we don't necessarily have to win, just show signs of potential. We've been mismanaged for so long that it's gonna take time. We all need to leave our hearts at the door. No room for the mushy stuff right now.
I've been wondering about Cech vs Leno. I wonder if Emery is genuinely hoping he can stick with Cech, hoping he can teach an old dog a new trick? Or OTOH if he's kinda knowingly setting him up to fail, so that the politics of bringing in Leno will be easier? As for Guendouzi, I like the guy, but it's curious how many people cut him major slack over yesterday, where he figured prominently in allowing them to score. I still think he shouldn't be our deepest DM until he matures a bit on that front. Less risky to play him further advanced I think.
"It is the manager's fault."Unai Emery is attempting to implement a "stupid" style of play at Arsenal, according to Sam Allardyce.More here: https://t.co/r7eoRwIRqE pic.twitter.com/bexXReK2K4— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 13, 2018
Not using this as an excuse whatsoever for the result yesterday, but as a side issue, does anyone here think Xhaka would've gotten away with the persistent fouling that Sterling got away with yesterday, a few of which were quite cynical? Xhaka would have been given a second yellow in a heartbeat, methinks.
City get away with a lot of cynical stuff Mourinho called em out but its Jose so no one listened but he was right its their style of play that gives them cover
Well like most if u-I did not expect to beat city, but glad it was not a goal fest . Disappointed at Emery's starting line up/ formation and slecting a kid over Eleny. The kid was bad and a coach shud not throw him into the fire like that. Not having the courage to start two quality forwards also disappointing.
Yeah I really didn't have a problem with the result: They're the champs, they're much better and does everyone remember how shambolic Citeh were in Pep's first season? I think Xhaka should be gone; his "pace" is not fit for the PL. He'd be better off in Serie A or even back in the Bundesliga. Mustafi looked like he didn't know what he was doing. Ramsey looked like he wasn't match fit yet; that's very disappointing from him. If I were him and I seriously want to get paid by somebody I'd have a better game than that. Loved 'Dusy's effort but...he looked like a Ligue 2 player playing top-flight football. If Wenger were still around he'd have a short career; with Emery I'm more confident that his experiences will make him a better player. Wouldn't be surprised if they lost to Chelsea at the weekend at well. Like Conte's Chelsea who really didn't start to kick in to gear until the holiday fixtures, Arsenal might take that much time to see how the team shakes out.
Right; this coming from a man who plays football so dull that tar looks shinier than his style of football.
Fat Sam is a clown but he’s right We could not play out the back yet cech (who is awful with the ball at his feet) kept trying to be Ederson If emery wants that style of play we need a ball playing keeper in (Leno) and a ball playing cb
So why not play Leno? Cech has always been a great shot stopper but is awful with the ball at his feet. Sometimes u have to clear the lines and we invited pressure onto ourselves in our own half. I would rather play it longer at times if the spacing is correct Also, xhaka has gone under the radar, he was awful Torreira has to start games from now, I personally would like to see xhaka only play if we use a 433 with torrreira playing deep as he is hopeless in a 2
I dislike the man but why is this a false statement? There was very little to show we have anything new vs city this year (I know it’s early days) but we showed many of the same I competencies with a marginally better press