FT NEW 1-0 ARS Super frustrating but completely fair result. Given how little we produced today. Early doors still, but we may just have dug ourselves too big a hole to get out of. This may have just forced us to revise our target to top 4. Edit: sorry for jumping the gun there. Hit post a few seconds early.
We've definitely dug ourselves too big a hole. Very disjointed right now . . . Mikel needs to earn his money and do some coaching instead of relying on set pieces.
Our disastrous summer transfer window sealed our fate with regard to the title, imo. This game is just a result of that. Given our start to the season, we will struggle to make top 4. Not good enough by far.
Can’t believe we lost to these mugs - again - by a 1-0 scoreline. NUFC were super organized defensively and converted their chance. We clearly were the opposite.
Going to be honest, we will be lucky to get top 4. Need England to get that 5th spot if we want to qualify for the CL. We had a poor summer, so the outcome this season isn't that surprising.
We in a lot of trouble Kai is carrying an injury. He has no explosion. We don’t have any midfielder that can break teams down without Odegaard. Sterling isn’t trusted. Trossard is a squad player. Martinelli is a squad player. We are in a lot of trouble.
Merino was a stupid buy rice does the left 8 role we needed a creator capable at the 6 merino is literally rice but left footed
Also this is typical Arteta, we have very little attacking flair just loads of tall defenders martinelli is not right, Kai looks shit lately maybe we do need a striker
Not great. Jorginho yellow for the raised elbow on Bruno may have been the highlight. But I watched the game on mute, because my wife was still sleeping, so I have two questions. . First, was it Nwaneri that when surrounded by three Newcastle players late in the second half escaped with the ball at his feet? Second, did Gordon touch the ball before or after he ran through Jesus’ leg when Jesus was bringing the ball under control in the box?
I don’t recall for sure on the first question: Nwanieri looked bright but didn’t bring much substance. We were poor today in the final third. No cohesion, little interplay to put NUFC on their heels. For second question, doesn’t even sound like VAR looked at it. I never heard the commentators mentioned it was under review, and they said it was a good challenge by Gordon. As I recall, they only showed a replay from behind, not from the side or front. Jesus seemed to make a meal of the challenge which was why it was probably waved off altogether.
Doolz! One of my biggest frustrations right now is that this is a team that has been built to win DUELS, seemingly at expense of more technical/creative players.What we got here was losing the duels but also lacking creativity and technical quality.It sucked. https://t.co/MNfMWMK1He pic.twitter.com/wgBXqD6ZaW— Scott Willis (@scottjwillis) November 2, 2024
I was staggered we let so much attacking depth go, and once Odegaard got injured we have been totally ********ed. Haven't replaced Xhaka. No proper depth for Ode. No genuine striker. But hey Mikel got the 7 6ft+ defenders he wanted. I retrospect this transfer window is looking like it will cost us top 2. Top 4 isn't a sure thing and our best chance of a successful season will rest on a CL trophy we have never won before. What a bumbling ********ing mess.
Our key summer signings (namely Calafiori and Merino) have been more injured than available so far this season. Sterling was never going to get many starts or major minutes. My biggest concern is it’s November and we still have no idea what is Arteta’s preferred formation and lineup, largely due to injuries and some ludicrous suspensions. That’s an issue, but it’s largely not caused or exacerbated by Arteta. of additional concern is our growing reliance on Partey, who is in the last year of his contract and due for another injury any day now.
Pretty much everyone except Saka was trash today, but I want to give special recognition to these players: Trossard: Genuinely has had more games where he is actively bad than games where he is even just okay or good. Basically the worst player on the pitch in both our losses and directly responsible for the Bournemouth result. Martinelli: What happened? The regression is crazy. He started looking a bit better to begin the season but he has been atrocious since the last interlull. His form in combination with not buying another attacker is season-breaking stuff. Rice: Our midfield only ever looks decent when we have someone holding his hand in a double pivot. He can’t hit the Partey passes to save his life, so all our control in the second half was dependent on, firstly, Partey inverting, and then subsequently, Partey just outright taking over the position. Remind me of the last time you saw Rice hit a line-breaking pass? Not good enough from a 100m pound player. Merino: What, would you say, you do here? Great, we got another big orc to orc around in midfield. Only problem is: he’s slower than Xhaka! All that dooelz stuff is meaningless if he can’t catch up to a single Prem midfielder! Beyond that he offers literally nothing, just jogging from the last phase of action to the second-to-last phase of action. I don’t understand this transfer—a mid-tier player who was being propped up by the performances of players around him. Maybe the least technically-gifted Spanish midfielder of the last fifteen years? Lol idk Timber: for me, been more mediocre than good so far this season. Our fullback situation in general is a big reason for our attacking problems. Saka was triple teamed every time he had the ball, for example. Timber offered no real help for Martinelli in attack, and then for me was far too far away from Gordon for the goal. Idk guys, we look stodgy and workmanlike, without any of the defensive solidity of last year. Obviously our luck has been bad but the team is clearly worse than last year. Not having a single player who can pick up any of the playmaking slack for Odegaard is a massive failure of transfer policy. Fundamentally I don’t get the obsession Arteta has with playing Moyes ball. Who was the last technical, attacking playmaker we signed? If memory serves, since Odegaard, I think we’ve only brought on Fabio Vieira. You can’t convince me that Fabio wouldn’t be doing a better job than Trossard right now, for one thing. But really otherwise, our football is just incredibly unenjoyable in comparison to the last couple of years. And we don’t get a Dubai trip to fox that.