Against Newcastle we have to be careful defensively. They've got St.Max, Almiron, Joelinton, etc who can really toy with our defenders. With that in mind Nuno at LWB is probably safer than at LFB. That said, Cedric is a better defender than Nuno at this point. And I agree that Xhaka at CB is pretty likely, if White and/or Gabi aren't available. I suspect that Arteta and his staff are gonna be spending a lot of time tomorrow figuring out our defensive plan so they can start training it on Saturday, if not sooner. But we're getting ahead of ourselves... we ain't got no new MD thread yet.
Or gone with four at the back with Tavares on the left (I know he's not the greatest defender, but he could deal with Kulusevski well enough) and Tomi on the right to deal with Son. Not sure why he didn't.
could not agree more. the other thing, too, is spurs are better on the counter and sitting back more puts the pressure on them at something not their strength. especially since a draw would have been a great result for us where they needed a win.
i think the tough part of that is how many things he does well. out wide, his ability to take someone on and get by them makes him great. he has the physicality and control to likely succeed just as much inside. and the biggest thing is he has the footballing intelligence and willingness to take what's there instead of forcing it to do either/both.
yeah, it's a poor match. against big bastards and teams that like to hoof it in, he's an excellent match. being stranded in the open against tricky bastards is tougher match up.
when i thought it was a handball call (based on announcer), i thought it was a shit call. looking at the replay, if the call was on cedric jumping into son (and not the invisible handball), then i can't argue.
son sold it well - like, just enough without overdoing it - and cedric looking out of control did not help.
Can someone please send this to VAR? Son should be off too.pic.twitter.com/vFcX7raRiT— Peter Høst (@Peterhoest) May 12, 2022 i mean, there's plenty to be said for "who instigated" but i don't see how that isn't a sending off. when westwood came in and "instigated" (on a play he wasn't involved in) and xhaka got a red for responding, you didn't say, "well, westwood instigated".
am i remembering incorrectly or was this not the same asshole who complained about his own actual roster, like, a few months ago?
Prior to the match, I really wanted Nuno on the left and Tomi on the right to help with Son. I was a bit surprised when that seemed to be a minority position amongst the Arsenal punditry --- and then, obviously, Arteta. I get it. It was a tough decision either way, and I can understand why some didn't think playing Nuno away in a match like this would be too much for him. But I just thought we should keep Tomiyasu in his best position. I think he would've helped Holding not feel so isolated, and I doubt Kane sneaks in for that back post header if Tomiyasu is on that side.
I'll try to track it down but there's a replay of an incident in the Liverpool vs Spudz match from several months ago, in which Tierney didn't find anything wrong with a worse push in the back on Jota. https://www.si.com/soccer/liverpool...iverpool get a draw away,Jurgen in a big rage.
I was hoping Arteta would go to three at the back, with Tomiyasu, White, if healthy, Holding if not, and Gabriel. That defense would probably provide better matchups vs Son and Kane.
That, also, would probably have been better. I just thing he'd wrung all he could out of Cedric as a true RB. The warning signs were there against Sancho. Again, I'm being harsh though. He didn't have a ton of great options.
This is how an inexperienced manager hurts you though. Tavares at LB and Tomi at RB is significantly better than Cedric anywhere. He made one good tackle in the box on Kane, but gave up the ball 3 times coming out of defense, gave up the pen, and multiple times did his "cross to no one" schtick. He had a 3 game purple patch last year but honestly if we go into a CL match next year with him at RB teams will target him and he will give up silly goals.
I agree with you but there are a significant number of people who don't agree with the Tavares part. And I can't say with certainty they're wrong. That's why I acknowledge this was a tough call for Arteta.
Yeah. His favorite (and our best) back line has been Tierney-Gabi-White-Tomi. Yesterday we weren't anywhere close to that. Gabi was the only one in his usual spot. Tomi was on the reverse side. Holding & Soares continuing to deputize. That said, after the first 10 mins or so we looked fine. Then things changed and we faced 2 major "destabilizing" events: a PK/goal against us, and Holding's sending off. Personally I think that Holding's boneheadedness was the dominant event. We were likely gonna have trouble against their forwards with a full strength XI and our best back line. So losing Holding was huge blow, both practically and psychologically. Edit: later on, I'm just listening to Arsecast and they both seem to think Holding's over-aggressiveness was not just up to him, and not necessarily ill-discipline, but rather a gameplan tactic (to intimidate Son?). If so, then that's squarely on Mikel. If that didn't happen, and we played the whole match with 11 men, I think there's a chance we'd come out of this with a praised draw and Arteta's defensive design, including a back for with Tomi on the "wrong" side, would not have been criticized as much as it is being now. In other words... fine margins... with Holding's ejection being the tipping point. But it's all conjecture, and water under the bridge. Now we have to pick up the pieces, go home and refashion a way to get win our last 2 matches... ugh.
I've said/implied previously on this board that even with everyone healthy Arsenal is likely second best against this particular Tottenham side. At the very least they don't match-up well and in those contests Kane and Son will almost assuredly be the best players on the pitch. Especially if the match is away. Doesn't mean the whites can't S***s it up or that Arsenal can't have an exceptional run, merely pointing out the margin for error required for Arsenal. Let's be honest: This Arsenal side my claim fourth this season but we all know it would also need significant investment to prove a worthy CL competitor. Having now watched the highlights and some of the replay I remain convinced the bigger issue is how the team reacts to this performance and regains confidence and energy heading into Monday. There is no more room for error, so Arteta and company had best find anything and everything needed to get 3 points, or else it will be an off season full of regretful thoughts that might impair the rebuilding process.
Its literally just Son. Kane was a passenger when it was 11 on 11 and typically he celebrates a penalty like he was best on.
I disagree with this. When healthy, we're better than them across the pitch except as to Kane and Son. It's just that in a low chance sport like footy, having two players like that is huge. A difficult match up for most teams, as even City and Liverpool can attest.