Arsenal v. Sheffield United, Saturday January 18 2020, 1500 GMT

Discussion in 'Arsenal' started by mebeSajid, Jan 16, 2020.

  1. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    I don't have the numbers to back it up, but I get the felling Xhaka is particularly adept at this kind of pass.
     
  2. ArsenalMetro

    ArsenalMetro Member+

    United States
    Aug 5, 2008
    Chicago, IL
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Slams it forward to a player who's never going to be able to receive the pass, makes a run forward as though he's anticipating a 1-2 that is obviously never going to come off, and is then 15 yards out of position to prevent the counter.

    The Xhaka Special.
     
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  3. MilesW

    MilesW Member+

    Aug 26, 2010
    Chicago, IL
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Arsenal have ball on edge of opponents box---2 passes later-----leno turns it over. Over and over

    I wonder how much Arsenal's "brand growth" has stuttered the last decade. City, Liverpool, Chelsea and I guess even Spurs have all had a "golden era" while Arsenal have just gone to complete shit and become a shore to watch.
    Some transfers now they say "I grew up watching Henry, Pires, Bergkamp, Wenger etc" but now what is that going to be? I grew up watching Aubameyang and Arsenal finish 10th? Just such a gradual collapse.
     
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  4. GunnerJacket

    GunnerJacket Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 18, 2003
    Gainesville, GA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    So true. Prior to the Sugar Daddy era Arsenal were part of a big 3 and the concept that anyone would view Chelsea or S***s as being on the same level was laughable. Now it's barely debatable that Arsenal is the weakest of the big 6.

    Put simply, in much the same way the team fails to put away opponents the ownership has failed to lock down trophies to secure the club's status. I don't abide the whole sugar daddy approach but there's no denying the business model has proven worth it as Chelsea have won enough trophies the past 12 years that their commercial value exceeds Arsenals. For all his spending Abromovich might actually get his money's worth out of all this.

    Arsenal didn't need to spend a ton to keep pace but they absolutely shouldn't have maintained their "penny wise, pound foolish" roster strategy. All those seasons 1-2 moves away from getting it right have come home to roost.
     
  5. The Jitty Slitter

    The Jitty Slitter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Bayern München
    Germany
    Jul 23, 2004
    Fascist Hellscape
    Club:
    FC Sankt Pauli
    Nat'l Team:
    Belgium
    Brand growth is pretty much a non-factor as really only City and Utd have shown ability to monetise this via strategic plays.

    Rev depends pretty much on the TV deal (rises all sponsorship boats) and CL football.

    So we suck because no CL YOY which is crippling.
     
  6. bandwagongooner

    bandwagongooner Member+

    Dec 9, 2006
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Because I want the recognition, I said the same thing weeks ago.

    Mikel Arteta is the new Arsenal Manager
     
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  7. Deep Wilcox

    Deep Wilcox BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 5, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  8. crazy150

    crazy150 Member+

    Aug 27, 2006
    North Cuba
    Well, does arteta get any criticism for this one? I’m pretty sure we played this exact same game in emery’s first few months.maybe wolves at home??

    Anyway, I’ll have to rewatch as I was distracted by my kid, but I got the feeling we were pushing very hard for the 2nd and players were all over the place.

    also, we are conceding too much of the pitch. The ball is in our half way too much.
     
  9. bandwagongooner

    bandwagongooner Member+

    Dec 9, 2006
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Very difficult to say for me. Imo, the overall strategy of what Arteta wants to do is more coherent than what Emery wants to do. Basically, I have little doubt that Arteta has a plan and specific goals in mind.

    It seems like fitness is the major obstacle in executing the game plan right now. So the question is can these players get fitter or do we need to buy some players who can stand the more intense playstyle?

    It's also worth pointing out that the last two games were officiated in a way that made it impossible for Arsenal to win.
     
  10. ArsenalMetro

    ArsenalMetro Member+

    United States
    Aug 5, 2008
    Chicago, IL
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Some. He wasn't proactive enough with substitutions and the attack was pretty toothless.

    The underlying stats are a lot better than that Wolves match though. We got outshot 24-10 in that one. The result wasn't good, but we weren't getting battered today, so...some progress. The midfield spacing is also world's better than it was under Emery, which helps someone like Mustafi look like a competent defender.

    I'm not sure how he can get this attack working without Lacazette contributing though. He had 1 shot (off target), created 1 chance, and completed 13 passes (9 in the attacking half) in 74 minutes. That's truly awful.
     
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  11. Super Llama

    Super Llama Member+

    May 21, 2006
    Seattle
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I didn't watch this match, but the difference between Emery's time and Arteta's is that under Emery we'd get a 1-1 draw and be significantly over-achieving our performance data. Now we're getting draws and under-achieving the performance.

    The performance is significantly better under Arteta, but we aren't getting results to match that yet. It sucks but I'm optimistic long-term. With results like this we are going to have a really hard time getting a European spot though.
     
  12. Super Llama

    Super Llama Member+

    May 21, 2006
    Seattle
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    What would we sell him for now? We'd probably have to take a loss on him just to get his salary off-books
     
  13. Shen-O

    Shen-O Member+

    United States
    Jul 26, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    its all in my pre-season posts about him lol
     
  14. The Jitty Slitter

    The Jitty Slitter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Bayern München
    Germany
    Jul 23, 2004
    Fascist Hellscape
    Club:
    FC Sankt Pauli
    Nat'l Team:
    Belgium
    I feel this is a bad result, no matter what the seasons over crowd say

    2 pts more (not to mention last week) and we are just 3 points off 5th, level with Spurs and right back in the mix. As it is we are back in 10th and I wonder what this does for the mood we were building.
     
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  15. DaPrince84

    DaPrince84 Member+

    Aug 22, 2001
    MD
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    We defend way better positionally now than under Emery.

    The attack is the weak point, particularly Lacagoalscoringthreat.

    Nketiah had way better movement in his limited action than Laca did the entire match. That’s bad because Nketiah wasn’t that good either.

    Saying that, this wasn’t a good performance or result.
     
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  16. Walia Ibex

    Walia Ibex Red Card

    Arsenal
    Ethiopia
    Oct 2, 2019
    I feel at this point we just don't have the quality nor horses to execute the play style that Arteta wants and get a win as well. Positionally and strategically we are way better under Arteta then Emery-Freddie era. We give more effort we are just underperforming and are totally unlucky with refs and VAR.

    I feel like we are Everton quality, we have some good or above average players 1 or 2 but overall we are just an average team, with average players who will end up being in the middle of the table (10th). Our name and brand gives us the expectation that we should be better than we actually are.
     
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  17. DaPrince84

    DaPrince84 Member+

    Aug 22, 2001
    MD
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Also, I’m sorry, not convinced at all by Pepe. I don’t think he is it.
     
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  18. Walia Ibex

    Walia Ibex Red Card

    Arsenal
    Ethiopia
    Oct 2, 2019
    He has been dangerous and productive lately. Without him we look rather toothless. Problem is he has to collect the ball so deep and for a strange reason doesn't run in behind players. I feel like refs allow defenders to foul and rough him up with no consquences. He is coming around. Our biggest holes are CB and CM.
     
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  19. KozIsCul

    KozIsCul Member+

    Feb 6, 2005
    Well, I wanted Arteta and so far at least I haven't seen anything to reconsider that, and even if the intentions are a little clearer the results are still disappointing. Against Everton, Bournemouth and Sheffield United we have three draws. Ideally we should get nine points from those games but even if you can't help occasionally dropping points in that kind of fixture, you ought to be able to at least get one or two wins.

    The change of manager had to happen of course, but even above anything Arteta brings, for the short term I think we need Ceballos, and the lack of him has really taken the steam out of us. The other team can and does commit bodies forward to press us when we gain possession, and even if we're "smart" and defensively "solid", our buildup play is still stifled because it's so hard for us to create anything that their shape hasn't accounted for.

    I've getting frustrated with the backwards diagonal ball. We need to work some quick 5-15 yard forward passing in our own half or give the ball to someone who can carry it under pressure, ie Ceballos. If those aren't available, I'm pretty much ready to punt the ball downfield and fight for it there.
     
  20. Shen-O

    Shen-O Member+

    United States
    Jul 26, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes mate :thumbsup:

    Arteta is doing all he can at the moment. We will need to wait until summer at least, to fully translate his ideas onto the pitch.

    Regarding Pepe, I said the same thing at the beginning.
     
  21. Walia Ibex

    Walia Ibex Red Card

    Arsenal
    Ethiopia
    Oct 2, 2019
    I don't know if ownership is willing to spend. Sure they got Pepe in installments but are we going to have the revenue or most importantly the will to sign players who have high price tags? Seems to me we get upcoming players based on potential or old guys who are cheap instead of mid or late 20s established full time players. We are falling so behind other big clubs in England. We are a shell of ourselves and partly that is ownership not willingy to make the moves to get us top 4 quality of players. I have no hope they will get Arteta what he needs.
     
  22. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I just got around to watching it*. Another mediocre performance with a few bright spots if you're looking for them.

    During 1T I kept thinking that Saka & Martinelli we're perhaps our most valuable players. And lo and behold they connected for the goal.

    Pepe was quite dangerous, incisive and creative... but his ragged giveaways can be risky.

    LT had a GREAT game I thought. And he lasted 90, after having injury doubts midweek. Gone are last year's fitness limitations? I still really like the guy and hope he'll stay.

    Both CB's had a good day, if you subtract 1-2 fvck up's for each... which luckily didn't lead to goals.

    At HT I thought if we don't get a 2nd, we'll NOT be able to hold it. Then towards the end I said "you know we seem to be riding our luck so it looks like we'll squeak this out". Of course that didn't come true, but in the end it was the fair result.

    Lots of effort and endeavor exhibited today, but...

    Yet another BIG opportunity lost, to pick up ground on teams like Spuds & Chelski who dropped points also.

    *p.s. The Womens March in Stamford was OK but a shadow of what it was in 2017. :(
     
  23. Shen-O

    Shen-O Member+

    United States
    Jul 26, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't have faith that management will supply Arteta all he needs immediately, but I think even they see that Arteta is our best bet now. And they will need to spend to fix our problems. Either spend now or lose even more money later.

    Just adding 2-3 new players can help us immensely. A new CB (Saliba incoming, plus someone else?), a new CM, and a LW, and we'd be much better off.
     
  24. yossarian

    yossarian Moderator
    Staff Member

    Jun 16, 1999
    Big City Blinking
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agreed. Just before he got into the box, Pepe had already burst past a player who thought he had a step on him for the ball, the second defender left his leg out to prevent that from happening a second time. That's given every time if it's our defender hanging that leg -- I guarantee it.

    Overall, it's interesting that Arteta has made the defense more solid when most of us thought they were bordering on a hopeless cause. The trickier part now seems to be progressing the ball through midfield and creating more chances. We see glimpses of it, but it's just not quite there.
     
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  25. Super Llama

    Super Llama Member+

    May 21, 2006
    Seattle
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Probably was his first priority, to stop the bleeding at the back. Can't do anything right if we're conceding over 20 shots a game, every game. To his credit, our defense is much better in every way. Problem is that building attacking fluency/patterns takes a lot longer to properly install and coach. We're basically the same team in attack as we were under Emery, which is a problem. Hopefully this improves with a couple more weeks of training but who can say. Also we're such a thin squad that we run the risk of burning out on defense before we get the attack right.
     
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