On the bright side Arsenal didn't find a way to lose the match. Really need our summer singings to get back to full health.
Credit to Eddie - he had 7 touches and drew 3 fouls. That's a lot more involvement than you usually see from a late attacking sub.
There were 8 times that second half where he clearly had someone free ahead of him when he was just inside halfway and instead of playing the quick, easy ball he went sideways or backwards. Not to mention his two token attempts at long range goals that were never a chance and just turned the ball over.
Seems Mari was injured. Shame because Luiz had a few very iffy moments today. Doesn't look safe at all.
i find xhaka's season to be interesting. his main (?) strength is his passing and ability to find attackers in advanced position. and there are times when he still does it like when he released tierney for that penalty. but i have heard on various podcasts of multiple of instances - not just this game as you described - where there are breaking runners that he hesitates on and, once the window is closed, he needed to recycle the ball.
i think that is one of the problems with a willian/bellerin partnership (in general) on the right because both are conservative and possession-oriented and you need ONE of the two to be adventurous.
I just watched it, mostly the 2nd half. Overall a rather poor performance by us. Too slow and plodding, Our combination passing was just not on. And Palace clogged up their final third very effectively. I thought Dani and Ainsley were our least effective players and I suppose Arteta agreed, since they were our first 2 subs after the hour. We were very lucky they didn't score. Luck plus continued solid saves by Leno. We should be happy with 1 point. Sigh.
obviously, a win would have been preferred but, heck, there is a part of me that is just happy we didn't find a way to lose. not trying to argue their quality but we have, in the past, struggled with a center forward like benteke. and zaha + david luiz just screams penalty to me. so . . yeah, it sucks to drop points against palace but we were missing some people, did not drop the full 3, and still get to ride @And_ROOS' thread streak. next!
Xhaka MOTM Ceballos was good, but Xhaka was too good to make way for Partey. We missed Tierney dearly. Leno is in top form. Overall it was a ho hum performance, but credit needs to be given to Palace for remaining rigid and resolute in their shape. Unimpressed with Zaha.
I'm sure I heard Arteta saying that the players were tired because of extra time against Newcastle. No, not the tired excuses, that game was on Saturday, manage your players, they're supposed to be professional footballers and fit, they don't do anything else. Poor, poor excuse.
Kieran Tierney created more chances from open play against Newcastle on his own (6) than all Arsenal's players added together did last night against Crystal Palace (5).— Orbinho (@Orbinho) January 15, 2021
That doesn't surprise me. We really missed him which is very worrying to miss a left back so much when we are supposed to have big guns up front and internationals in the middle.
Dumpster fire Pepe hasn't created a single chance for team-mates in the Premier League from open play this season:-20 Tierney15 Bellerin15 Ceballos13 Lacazette13 Aubameyang12 Saka12 Willian6 Smith Rowe5 Nketiah0 Pepe— Orbinho (@Orbinho) January 15, 2021
I meant more that we've had so little value from our big investment - just like last season with Pepe. It's not his fault - but maybe we should be placing more tierney sized bets on younger guys
That, I agree with. Pepe needs a solid run of matches to see what we have. But more and more my optimism as to whether he's a good fit for us is waning. Incredibly talented, but probably better-suited to a pure counter-attacking team than one that's going to face a lot of 10-behind-the-ball defenses.
The balance of the squad is all messed up Loads of old guys on huge contracts. Some talented young guys Very little in the middle.
Seems bad to have so many players (Tierney, Leno, ESR, Saka) that are irreplaceable and whose absence causes the team to fall apart. I don't know what Arteta is doing with AMN. He could have sold him for 20m in the summer, instead he seems to be trying to sabotage his value by playing him once every 3 weeks out of position at LB. It's very Xhaka-esque that some say he was MOTM while others say he was sh*t, I guess I fall into the latter. Between AMN being rusty and bad on crosses with his left foot, Auba not being part of the build-up play at all, and Xhaka being slow on the ball and bombing passes to no one, often starting Palace's counters, the attack from the left was pretty anemic when it used to be a real strength.
I think he's dangerous in space. I don't think he has it in him to unlock a deep defense other than the occasional screamer shot. He'd probably be great on crystal palace.
Interesting because he led the team in both key passes with 40 and assists with 6 last season. So we know he can provide chances for teammates, the question is why it isn’t happening this season. He’s getting fewer minutes, but his confidence may also be shot.
How many of those were from set pieces? I feel like he took a ton of those last season, but hasn't as often this season.
It could also be the confirmation bias of fans in general, and people on this board specifically. For me, I don't really have an axe to grind about Xhaka but I'd like an upgrade on him. I thought he played a well above average match for him. But I've come up with a theory about him (or maybe I subconsciously stole it from someone else)... I wonder if he's really stats-oriented, and obsessed with his passing completion stats. Maybe that (partly) explains why he's so prone to pass it backwards and sideways, rather than the more "risky" forward passes. If so, that's a huge shame, because that thruball he played to Tierney for the goal against Newcastle(?) was one of the best passes of the season in my book.