Not to make this about me but I felt validated by this rant because it’s exactly what I was reacting to in real-time when I said he was pissing me off. Even Elneny’s most progressive instincts force other players into dead-end positions that necessitate recycling the ball back into healthier spaces. He’s got no spatial awareness whatsoever. Further, a lot of the reason Partey looked so bad against United was that they double-marked him and let Elneny do his thing, knowing that’s a net-negative for us. Conversely, Newcastle did the same thing to us, but consequently gave Lokonga all the space who then created something like seven (?) chances, more than any player for us this season in a match.
yeah - I mean I thought that point of him was just to cover a midfield position in case of injury and close out games where you need some fresh legs or protection a top player. Even his supposed great game vs Utd I didn't think he was good. Starting him seems bizarre
Yes to all of this, I guess I wasn't clear. For me the ownership negates any discussion of what to do next because i just think they're not able to identify OR have people help them identify what is needed. With that you also have to question if they are willing to spend what it takes to get people who can actually do the job. We need experienced adults in the room, not on the job trainees. With that said we should "look" better than we do but talent wise we're still not a Top 4 team and, i could be totally wrong here, that is what Arsenal fans want and that just ain't realistic with this crop. Despite just "playing once a week". Another thing that also hampers us we stink in the most critical positions required for a top side. We stink at striker, we stink at midfield. It's just not very good, not setup wise and not talent wise. Again, 17 yrs of neglect get you what we have now. Some great talent, some potential talent, and 4 critical errors that you cannot move because you know you just keep doing it on the cheap.
Its just not smart business giving such an inexperienced manager the run at a club at a massive crossroads who need someone not only good with man management, but tactically as well. Artetas substitutions are never on the mark. When has he brought on someone when we struggle to change the game? Rafa did it against us when he brought on Gomes. Out of that list, if all those managers were available and the Arsenal job was up for grabs I have no doubt only Pep, Klopp and maybe Tuchel would be untouchable and we couldn't afford them. As for creating more chances, when I talk about it I am referring to tactically, so its not a "by whom" for me, its why are we set up to be so overwhelmingly defensive, why do we go super defensive when we take an early lead, why do we frequently have slow build up that results in us having to pass the ball around in a U shape which leaves us open to counter attacking goals. Artetas inexperience is showing. When Wengers teams were a bit defensively naff, he switched to a back 3 with wing backs. Arteta doesn't have a plan B. Theres no change in formation to encourage more attacking play. Our goal against Everton came from a lot of luck in how the ball bounced off Tierney into space and he went off instinct, but typically he gets that ball and ends up passing backwards more often than not.
Well that worked out well for me didn't it? Anyone else fancy their chances for the next match Saturday 10am? It's only little Southampton right? And at our place... so surely 3 points are in the bag!
Just finished watching Marseille’s 1-0 victory in the Europa League. For the most part Guendouzi looked pretty good. I don’t know whether his personality has matured, but it looks like his game has matured since he last played for Arsenal.
That's about what I would've expected. At that age his game should've improved quite a bit. But it wouldn't exactly be easy to coach out of him the "undesirable" aspects of his personality. And some of those aspects are dual-edge swords, pun intended... e.g. sometimes we liked the steel he showed and sometimes we thought he showed immaturity in how and when he let that steel take center stage.
damn. i hadn't thought about it but that's a great point. the emery situation had gotten bad so it was an easy decision (whatever we think of the timing). but arteta is "not bad" and the situation is simply "not bad" so it's a lot more "will they/won't they".
a perfectly adequate midfielder for a team fighting for 14-19, i think. not so much if you have hopes otherwise. for me, he's a not terrible last 15-25 minute guy to kill off games. huh. that's an interesting point. i never picked it up otherwise but i can see that.
He was only 19 when he broke into the Arsenal team Peak for a central midfielder (one of the hardest positions to learn - is like 25-28 I followed the rise of Tony Kroos quite closely and his move back into central midfield took a lot of work. Ditto Schweini started as on the flank. So I am not surprised he is getting better.
Exactly - a below average EPL midfielder. Still useful squaddie, but nowhere near the quality of midfielder Arse used to have. Remember we had deeply flawed players like Ramsey or guys who got injured like Diaby. Elneny is miles off that level. He's not even at Song level.
Who are the game changers? Bro we STINK the guys that are supposed to be game changers are three of the worst players in the attacking phase. Pepe, Auba and Lacazette. I don't think you guys are thinking this through. So let's, for the sake of argument, ignore those three. Who is left? Martinelli - inexperienced, Nkethia - Inexperienced. So you have FIVE spots taken up that should have at least one game changers. The truth is we have 2 out and out game changers but they're too young to be able to do it all alone. So again, I'm not here to say ARTETA IN, but I ask you again what would another manager do with the same terrible squad makeup. To me Pepe, Auba, Laca are terrible buys add in Partey and I don't even want to calculate how much squad $$$ they're taking up and that's what we are dealing with. Let me be clear, Arteta training on the job is not ideal but man we got some SERIOUS squad issues. As for the midfielder, Jitty you are right and that's why I think Lakonga is the guy Arteta has identified as his guy but it will take 3 yrs for him to hit peak.
Game changers don’t need to be forwards. In fact, when forwards are generally starved of service, the game changers needs to come from the midfield or, alternatively, from a switch of tactics. As far as the midfield is concerned Lokonga has the potential to be the guy, but is he Arteta’s guy when Arteta starts Elneny vs United or when he rushes Xhaka back into the starting lineup after more than two months out. In reality, Xhaka is his guy.
Well let's go there, El Nenny, Xhaka, Parta take up too many spots in the midfield. So again we're short. We are short all over the pitch IMO you have to look at the team as units, attacking and defending and then within those units you have combinations that work. I mean we can sit here all day and the truth is all those units and combinations/partnerships within those units just are subpar except Defensively. It is what it is.
That’s exactly what I was implying. I think the midfield two is the weakest link in the team. Partey has not lived up to expectations and Xhaka is Xhaka. His stats may look great, but he doesn’t move the ball quickly enough for my liking. He rarely plays one touch passes and he rarely passes while carrying the ball. It’s all a little too predictable. Because Locatelli was enamored with Juventus, Arsenal missed out on a player that could have been a true game changer for them. Lokonga may become a game changer in the future, but he needs a little more experience first.
Good stuff @casoccerdad47 yep we have slow and or turnover prone midfield options. With all due respect, anyone in the Arsenal hierarchy thought they could sign Locatelli were on crack who is the last high profile Italian to show up in the EPL?
The philosophy isn't rocket science, you have structured, organized play to get you out of your half, and then leave the attacking to more unpredictable and spontaneous choices with a lighter organization touch. But, that only works if you haven't coached the creativity out of creative players and disavowed anyone with a genuine creative spark or edge.
Swiss Ramble's lastest thread on CL money illustrates why you can't build a european level squad without regular participation in the CL This is really clear in the BL where only Bayern and BVB are regular participants.
That did look to me like clash of philosophies a bit. Like the more modern school (Klopp/Rangnick) is going to play that pass, because you want to be as vertical and fast to goal as possible. Whereas the Pep school uses possession more as a weapon and will be patient. I feel like Arsenal doesn't really have the players for such a system
yes - the irony is that the super competitive nature of the BL for the teams not named Bayern is a lot of what stops any team challenging bayern. leipzig emerge then sell half their team and their manager and probably won't get top 4 BVB just about scraped CL football in the 2nd last game of the season, then immediately sold sancho, haaland will go this season, and hummels is done. Very much like Wenger era Arsenal - trading players to tread water