Not pretty reading... 72% possession 87% accuracy 11-2 corners 11-13 shots 3-5 shots on goal 1-1 scoreline
Lucky point. Wolves deserved the 3 points today. Definitely Leno as motm. Lots of backward and sideways passing in the first half. Slightly more urgency in the second half.
The only positives I can come up with right now: 1. Leno was a great shot stopper today 2. I continue to like Guendouzi and want him in our XI 3. We just barely maintain our undefeated streak 4. We put 1 more point between us and United Onward. p.s. Hopefully Nacho starts our next EPL match, after the break
Ramsey created the corner, was instrumental in it being taken quickly, and then got the assist on the Mhiki's cross that went in. His well timed run into the box to create his shot was something Arsenal were missing all game. Arsenal were much to static. Ozil and Xhaka are always going to have trouble moving the ball quickly when there is no movement in front of them.
I do t get auba as a lw For me, it’s obvious we lack a winger and attacking lb not to mention a mustafi replacement Imo we have to play either laca or auba and play iwobi left, mikhi right and ozil in the middle
In theory I agree, but when between them they have scored half of Arsenal's goals in league play, it's hard to take either of them off the field. Taking a page from your book, I'd like to see Emery use them in a 4-4-2.
I think Nacho is pretty decent as attacking LB. And he should be back next match I figure. But we badly need a #2 LB and I hope they're gonna try to solve that in January. But I'm not holding my breath. As for 4-4-2, I have a hunch it'll be coming back in style both in general and at Arsenal. We shall see.
Suddenly only 3 points from the last 3 games and two of the vs supposedly weaker sides It's almost as if ....
It was not a great game, but Wolves are pretty decent and I think we need to give credit to opponents sometimes. They had a over a week to get ready for us and we had two days. We weren’t sharp and they executed a good game plan against us. Time for emery to up his tactical game over the break. That said, I really feel the weak link today was LB both defending and attacking. Kolasinac can’t even go a full half before he’s tired. He wasn’t tracking back, he gave the ball away, couldn’t tackle, couldn’t win a header, had two defensive errors leading to chances, and a shares some of the blame on their goal in my mind. I guess the unbeaten run goes on, but this is definitely 2 dropped points.
It’s not luck when your keeper does his job and stops shots. Their goal was a gift and auba missed a big chance for us. I know it feels like we didn’t create much and we didn’t create many chances. But we did put them under a lot of pressure...they just handled it well and we were a little off technically. They had 23 clearances and four blocked shots from inside their box. Had we been just a little sharper we would have created a lot more.
I'm sure that our fellow Gooner back east @NorthBank must be happy as f*** right now as his New York Red Bulls have moved on to face Atlanta United in the MLS Eastern Finals with a 3-0 win (AGG 3-1) in the second leg of their series over Columbus. Unfortunately my Seattle Sounders could not advance due to choking in the second leg in our series against Portland (who are to us Sounders fans just as shite as Tottenham are), as we ended up losing the series on penalties, but overall things could not look better right now for our buddy NorthBank. both teams who don the Red & White did well today and tonight!!!
I'm just kind of over Ramsey now. Knowing he is gone, plus the fact that he has contributed little in the last few cameos he's had. It's also weird to say, but I don't think Auba and Laca can play together in the current set up, and because of that, Auba has to be the one dropped. Laca adds so much more to our buildup play. Weird game. Wolves are a good team. Probably best of the rest in the league. 16 unbeaten, less convincing as of late. Yet, at the same time we keep on moving.
Thanks man. I made the schlep out to Harrison last night and it was well worth it. The Red Bulls and specifically Danny Royer turned my day around nicely, after Arsenal's dubious effort in the morning. Sorry about your Sounders, but you should take stock that your team can easily put >40K butts in seats out there. Last night our crowd was as big as I've seen this year, maybe 16K. But Royer brought every one of us to our feet screaming... twice.
Just heard an interesting stat... Granit Xhaka leads the Premier League in... mistakes that lead to goals. Edit: this may be for the past 2.5 season
My view from row 16 of the Clock End. Giving up the early goal was a Christmas present for Wolves. It allowed them to play 11 men behind the ball from then on out. Xhaka had a poor match compared to how he's been playing lately, but Kolasinac......ugh.....horrible. Every attack seemed to go into the space behind him and he could barely be bothered to track back. Gave the ball away several times in dangerous areas as well. Yeah, it didn't help that Auba was in front of him, but man, he was horrible. We need a young up and comer as cover/competition for Monreal asap. Iwobi is wasted on the right. Auba is wasted as a winger despite getting into positions where he had two really good chances. I love him but we need to play a true 442 if he and Laca are on the pitch together. Bellerin and Torreira run their asses off. I came away impressed with both of them and how much ground they cover. It's also amazing how Torreira has such a nose for nearly every loose ball, always popping up in the right place. But as some of you have noted, Leno was MOTM. Saved our bacon several times and his confidence with his feet is readily apparent. Finally, credit to Wolves. They played hard, blocked a ton of shots and generally defended well. Traore's speed is ridiculous.
Agreed. Really hope that his lack of recent playing time and form leads him to pushing his way out in Jan so that we can A) get him away from the team and B) get something in return PEA and Laca can work very well together but not in the 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-1-3. To get the most out of them on the pitch together you need to run 2 ST up top. Given our other roster players, I think the best option is a 4-2-2-2. Only problem with that as I see it... That formation is not ideal for Ozil (playing as a wing) and Xhaka's defensive issues make him less than ideal in a 4-2-2-2 CM pairing. Given the other team needs, I think our best path forward is the 4-2-3-1/4-2-1-3 with PAE as a ST super sub that can come on for Laca or for a AM that shifts the formation to a 4-2-2-2 (PAE has been far more effective off the bench this season). With that in mind, we could offload Ramsey (and maybe a couple other guys just taking roster spots) in Jan and focus on adding a real LB and RW (or recall Nelson). Then in the summer we can look at CB to replace Mustafi and maybe CM to replace Xhaka/ElNeny.
Great stuff here from our man on the ground, but I definitely want to emphasize the bit about the gifted goal and subsequent Wolves approach. Score effects were a huge factor in this one.
Absolutely. They had a couple of good attacks early on exploiting that space behind Kolasinac, so I'd say they were targeting that. But we dealt okay initially, and the goal was nevertheless a complete gift.
yes! But this is exactly what people have been saying Bad luck starts to turn up. 6 points dropped in 3 games So despite a 10 game unbeaten streak Arsenal are 5th There is no magic sauce here. Hopefully the improvement under Emery is enough to snatch 4th That opportunity really presents because Utd are showing Moyes level form
I agree there is no magic sauce. We have a weaker defense than we started with last season where we finished 6th and have conceded more chances—no surprise there. Liverpool have an entirely new back 5 than they started last season—all better. Chelsea, spuds and city all have more than twice the squad value in defense as we do. Our front 6 is on par with the rest or better, but as you say game state matters for them which is why defense is very important. Kolasinac had the worst game of any LB I can remember. Xhaka made a mistake and from there despite totally dominating the pitch we couldn’t pry them open enough. It happens. When Klopp took over at pool they were 5th in squad value according to transfermarkt and we were 3rd by just 20-40% from the top. Now we are 6th and not by a little either (60-80%). That is a huge mountain to climb.
Agreed And as i have mentioned a few times, it took kloppo multiple seasons to fix the defensive systems, which is now crowned with vvd I guess the good news is with the acquisitions in midfield and upfront, the team is stronger than 12 months ago. But as you say, the defense is a hot mess and very dependent on Kos not being done.
I haven't run into anyone who earnestly believed or believes that we could achieve any better than top 4 this season (maybe top 3 in dreamland). And that making 4th place would depend on a level of effort and consistency which we would be essentially happy with. IOW, for the vast majority of us, our expectations were adjusted downward some years ago.