It was three goals, but one was a looping header that Ings knew little about. 2-2 would have been a fair and expected result but we still had chances to win. Auba missed chances again. Iwobi is off form and killed about 4 great counter attacks. Ozil did nothing when he came on.
The last point is valid, but the manager has to play him for Arsenal to get their money's worth out of him. Looks like Bellerin might be out until after the New Year. Given the fixture list, it could be worse - the only game that looks really tough is at Anfield.
Which is @mebeSajid ’s point. Emery is mismanaging this particular situation (among others)...and being praised for it. I’m cautiously optimistic about Emery, ftr.
Ozil didn't lose this match for us. Koscielny was awful. I loved the PR video the club put out this week too, but he was not tight enough to his mark on all three goals. You could argue the first one was a really well hit cross that Ings just did well on, but Koscielny still wasn't close enough. Too much to ask of him so it's a bit harsh, but it's the truth.
Also can we talk about Ings’ ‘challenge’ on Koscielny a few minutes before the first goal? Straight red for me, but ‘advantage’ is played and when the ball finally goes out of play, he gets a verbal warning? Fvck off.
The streak is over. It’s been a pleasure starting the matchday threads for what is one of our longest unbeaten runs in quite a while. The record is 27 I think, not sure where this one ranks but it’s been impressive. Not too bothered by the loss. Considering we had one fit first team defender available, I thought we were a bit unfortunate to not at least get a draw. After seeing some debate on Twitter I rewatched the 15 mins from when ozil came on until their winner. I’ve defended ozils languid style in the past, but he was horrid in this 15 min stretch and his body language is such a contrast to what Emery has done with the squad. Also, I know defending isn’t his strong suit, but he just let the attacker run though his zone untouched on that corner which Leno saved. His pressing was also terrible. On offense, twice he gives the ball away in midfield and just stops and looks around while Southampton counter attack. In the past we tolerate this behavior because he can generate a chance from nothing. But he’s not doing that either as evidenced by him missing the through ball to Auba. Not his fault we lost, but I’m growing weary of the Ozil apologist and honestly, I won’t be too sad to see him go.
I haven't rewatched the match or highlights, but my lasting impression was that we didn't defend properly, both from how we went about (not) pressing and how we were/are completely threadbare in our back line. Also Ozil seemed to be largely a non-factor. More pressingly we have a match in about 48hrs against you know who! Anyone interested in taking over match thread duty? (I've gotta do something else right now so I'd like to pass)
Better late than never, and taking matters into my own hands... https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/arsenal-vs-spuds-efl-cup-19-dec-2018.2091525/
I agree he wasn't tight enough on the first two goals, but on the third he has to provide cover, someone else has to pick up the far post run.
I went back and looked at this again. As far a I'm concerned this goal is on Emery. Playing Xhaka, who has zero lateral quickness, in the center of the defense is ill advised, at best. Because of this limitation he didn't apply any pressure on the cross. Emery could have played Monreal, an actual defender, in the center of the defense and either Guendouzi or Maitland-Niles as the left wing back.
Yup. I was scratching my head at the time about xhaka over monreal. I guessed we wanted a little more height or maybe Nacho wasn't quite 100% fit? Plus the defensive style we played, especially in 1T... so I felt the game/loss is on Emery as much as our threadbare back line, or anything else.
I’m hesitant to put much on the coach here. Sure he could have arranged things differently, but Kos was by far the worst of our CBs. He is the captain and most experienced and only fit CB we had. You can always blame someone for not blocking pressuring the crosses, but scoring from a flighted cross is low probability for a reason—most defenders mark the target well or attack the ball. We weren’t out numbered and did neither...Kos was caught in between and AMN was no where to help because he isn’t a RB. Then the keeper fluffed it as well. Emery has zero CB that started the season available for this game. That’s some pretty bleak shit. To only concede 1.2XG is not bad considering this. If Leno gets his hand on that cross or Kos prevents that shot it would have been only 0.5Xg conceded—one of our lowest of the season.
You're might be making my point for me. When your defense is shaky, it would be wise to limit the number of forays the opponent can make into your final third, by pressing them higher... at least in the middle third. We didn't do that, then they scored with a quality cross, but I felt the Kos of old might've gotten to it. Hindsight is 20:20 but Emery could've changed our style at that point and I feel that would've limited the further damage we took on.