Morning all.
Granit Xhaka continues to hog the Arsenal headlines which is no great surprise really. Until something official comes out of the club, the media will continue to guess. Unai Emery did say yesterday that he thought the player should have apologised, however, Xhaka clearly has no plans to do so. It’s too late now anyway I think, too much time has passed.
It’s not easy for him and for the team. He is now devastated, devastated and sad. We spoke yesterday and on Sunday night I also spoke. This morning, he trained as normal with the group but he is devastated and he is sad about the situation. – Unai Emery.
I saw a copy of some of the abuse sent his way on social media yesterday and it’s not nice. In fact it’s ghastly. Threats made against his young child were disgusting. Xhaka might be a poor footballer in our opinion but no one deserves to be victimised in a way that Xhaka and his family have been. Whoever is leaving such vile comments on social media should be hunted down by the boys and girls in blue and hauled in front of a judge. What kind of world do we live in…..?
No wonder Xhaka has changed his social media page to show him as captain of Switzerland instead of Arsenal FC.
Fans leaving the abusive comments, if they are real Arsenal fans are stupid, among other things of course because they’re not only hurting Xhaka but the rest of the players too. Imagine what they’ll be thinking about their own future at the club. Do they want to be somewhere where one day they can be cheered, the next jeered?
You win as team, lose as a team so if fans aren’t happy and really want to make their feelings heard, do the booing at the end of the game so no one player is singled out. Better still, stay away from The Emirates because that was the only thing in my opinion which made Arsene Wenger realise his time was up. After all, isn’t Unai Emery the real problem rather than any one player?
Or two, as Mesut Ozil will testify but he’s back tonight. This feud between him and Emery has gone on for far too long. It’s boring, tedious and in my opinion, dreadful man management from Emery. I get it, Ozil isn’t a grafter and anyone who doesn’t know that must have been sleeping since the day Ozil walked onto a football pitch. Mourinho knew it but that didn’t stop him selecting him at Real Madrid. A great manager would accommodate him by making sure his lack of defensive work wouldn’t have a detrimental impact on the team. Emery doesn’t, possibly because he’s no idea how to. I’m not a fan of Ozil as you’ve might have guessed by now but perhaps much of that is down to the way he’s been utilised by Arsene Wenger and now Emery. Great managers build a team around players like Ozil not hang them out to dry.
Anyway, our ‘2nd string’ against theirs is the likely scenario at Anfield this evening as both Klopp and Emery are expected to rotate heavily as they’ve done so far in this competition. There’ll be a few more experienced players in both teams too, Oxlade-Chamberlain the one we should perhaps fear the most as I’m sure he’ll be out to show how much he’s improved since leaving north London. Keita, Lallana and Gomez are expected to play too.
For us, Emiliano Martinez, Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin, Saed Kolasinac, Lucas Torreira, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli should start with either Willock or Guendouzi playing in midfield and Mustafi pairing up with Holding in central defence. I make that ten including Ozil so room for one more. Perhaps one of Pépé, Lacazette or Aubameyang.
- Arsenal have won the two most recent League Cup meetings between these sides – 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in 2009-10 and 6-3 at Anfield in 2006-07.
- Liverpool have lost consecutive League Cup matches at Anfield – 0-1 against Southampton in 2016-17 and 1-2 against Chelsea last season; this is their worst ever run in the competition on home soil.
There you go, a little bit of hope to end with..
It’s really nice to read an Arsenal post from a genuine Arsenal fans perspective…To be honest I’m getting a little fed up with the constant barrage of abuse many players particularly Xhaka are getting currently. I don’t condone his behaviour, but to put it into context, he’s a footballer, competitive and wants to win, the game isn’t going to plan, he’s frustrated and gets subbed…The Arsenal ‘so called fans’ then choose to jeer and derise him, and to be fair you can in the heat of the moment understand his reaction.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Xhaka is the best midfielder in the world, but he also isn’t the worse, we’d all love someone a little stronger and dynamic but they are short of supply at the moment, but every player still goes out and wants to perform to 100% of their ability and unfortunately that doesn’t always happen, we can’t always perform to our peak every time, we win as a team and lose as a team.
However, constantly righting how poor some of the players are and how they should never wear the Arsenal shirt again isn’t helping the situation. Imagine being at your place of work and constantly being told how poor you are at your job, it wouldn’t be long before your confidence was sapped and you were wondering what the best move was or how to do the job better!!! Footballers are no different, they need fitness and confidence to perform at their best, they have to take an element of abuse but come on, that really should be from the away fans.
Lets try and have a concerted effort to encourage and cajole those players that put on the Arsenal shirt because surely encouraging them to perform has got to be better in the long run.
I’d also like to point out that I read all the Arsenal forums on a regular basis and until now have chosen to never add comment to anything, so this is a first for me, I’m sure it will split opinion but that is the great thing about football, it splits opinion and gives us things to talk about, but foremost we are all Arsenal fans and want the team to succeed, so less of the sickening jibes about the players and a little more support please.
COYG
SIMON
Thank you Simon.
I thought Xhaka was bang out of order, especially as he’s our captain. He simply shouldn’t have told fans to F off. Big mistake. Also, if he’d have moved a bit quicker when leaving the pitch, I don’t things would have escalated the way in which they did. Another mistake considering it was us who needed to make the most of the time left to get the winner.
However, I don’t think he deserves the abuse he’s getting on social media. No one does.
Morning Rico. Every week that passes seems to heap problems on Arsenal right now. You are right in pointing out that Unai is a big part of it as his management of the team has been pretty bad and the biggest problem is that it isn’t getting any better. Performances have been enormously frustrating and I think we can all see that our top 4 hopes are fading already and it’s not even November yet. We can see that it’s not working and whatever Unai is doing it’s also clear that he’s sadly lacking when it comes to winning games or even playing attractive football. We are playing so far under our potential and it’s getting worse. Who was honestly surprised at the way that the Palace game played out? It was classic Emery stuff. Progression in a footballing sense seems non-existent to me and there is a total disconnect within the team all over the pitch. And now that has spread to the terraces, especIally at home. This is one of the worst things that could happen. Where the fans should be driving the team on they are now dragging them back.
There’s a whole debate to be had on the home fans and the ways that they have changed over the past decade. For any long-term supporters this is upsetting to witness. Personally, I don’t think you should ever boo your own players regardless of how frustrated you may feel. But this is a subject that we will hear a lot more about as events play out over the next few weeks.
Morning Adam.
I hate to say this but the club are in a worse place now than under Wenger, possibly because we knew what to expect and weren’t disappointed. A change gave us hope but regardless of having better players, the performances are equally as bad, if not worse.
The fans reaction is frustration I think. Doesn’t make it right, but I can understand why there’s booing. Fans are paying a lot of money to watch the club slowly drift further away from being a competitive team.
This has to sit with Emery imo.
I think it telling that Xhaka has changed his photo on Instagram from one showing him in an Arsenal shirt to one in a Switzerland shirt. I suspect that he will ask for a move away from Arsenal in January, and with “fans” like ours who can blame him.
The problem for Emery is that Xhaka is a popular member of the dressing room and his departure will do further damage to Emery’s own relationship with the squad.
If the club are determined to remove Xhaka from the Captaincy Quintet, perhaps December 12th will be a good date on which to hold a ballot for his replacement. 😉
Rico. I agree that the manager has the ultimate responsibility. I can’t condone the booing at any level. If people booed when I was there for every game, it didn’t go down well. But the social-media generation that fill the Emirates these days have this “I’ve paid my money, so I am entitled to behave in any way I see fit” attitude. Fair enough but it’s not helping.
The board must surely realise that, had they acted a few years ago, when it was clear that Wenger was past it, they might have had a better and more successful manager in place now. I just wish that they wouldn’t compound things by sticking with someone who isn’t up to the job.
Essentially we are looking at two places as surely Liverpool and Man City will fill the first and second, barring disasters. We are way off right now and the green shoots of recovery haven’t made an appearance. As I have said many times this season, why throw it away?
That’s my point too Cicero, with Lacazette and Aubameyang close to the sign or be sold deadline, they might think twice about staying. Throw in the kind of stuff Emery is serving up, who could blame them.
I think Raul and co need to act a bit quick here because otherwise it could be all too little too late as it’s not like we’re the kind of club who will spend a few hundred million to get us back to the top. I think once we hit mid table if we do, we could very well stay there..
I agree Adam. To let us carry on as we are would be dreadfully irresponsible I think.
I think there is little wrong with booing on game day. It is our only means of expressing our feelings on the other side of applause. I would only boo when I perceive a lack of effort and not for a poor performance. Poor performances are a result of a lack of talent or skill or judgement. Mustafi tried hard but just didn’t have it for me but I would not boo him. The fact Xhaka didn’t care there was time to win the game and just walked of was a booable offense in my book. But I would never ever confront a player of manager outside of the stadium or on social media.
If a player with a lack of talent or relevant skills, like Xhaka IMO, gets selected over and over again it is the manager who should be held responsible. We cannot expect Xhaka to refuse to play because he realizes Torreira should start in his role.
Once again, the club management have also failed by not dealing with the Xhaka issue quick and swiftly. They appear paralyzed and indecisive. This doesn’t help the player or the team. At the minimum they could have issued a statement on Monday that they have addressed the issue internally and are satisfied it has been dealt with. Now, having done nothing, they appear to have no balls.
We wasted a few too many years supporting Wenger after his sell by date and in the process missed out on Klopp and Pep, let’s not waste 2 or 3 years on Emery but instead let’s act decisively whilst we still have a remote chance to save our season.
Jan, the booing is all down to personal views and it’s easy for me to suggest not to do it but I haven’t paid vast amounts for a ticket. You’re right though, imo anyway, too much time has been wasted, too many better managers have been lost to other teams because the club have been slow to react.
I’m desperately hoping this new regime don’t do the same…
Rico, I agreed 100% with your 10:08 post and your views. I would have booed had I had the luxury of attending this game. I have a problem with players walking of when we are in the process of dropping points. They should sprint of the pitch to show they care and to inspire the team and fans into believing there is still time to get a result. But I just don’t don’t think some of the abuse is something I could justify. Particulary when you see the Aubamayang incident after the game. There is a time and place for booing of cheering, to me, that is game time.
I am pretty sure that this regime will once again act too late with firing the manager. If they fire him at all before the end of the season, they will likely wait till after Christmas or till we are 8 or 10 points behind 4th and in the proces they will allow the atmosphere at the club to become more and more toxic.
Of all the rubbish written in various blogs, this is s breath of fresh air., so thanks for it!
I do not agree that Emery is the main problem. Whoever succeeded Wenger was going to be on a hiding to nothing. I do think that the communication is a problem and a manager with good English might have been a better choice. But personally, I think I should be given until the end of the season.
Now in my opinion, the main problem is that whereas the media have concentrated on the Xhaka incident, this has come on top of 2 games which were basically taken away from us by the referee (at Sheffield) not giving the obvious penalty for the foul on Pepe and the penalty for a dive by Zaha and the goal not given against Palace.
As Untold Arsenal has pointed out, UEFA have appealed for outside help against match-fixing. They say that the problem is so big that they can’t deal with it without outside help, possibly even with state intervention. But that HUGE piece of football news has been all but totally ignored by the British media. As Arsenal supporters know, we have had points taken off us since the early to mid Wenger years, consistently, every season. We had periods where 85% of incorrect decisions were given against Arsenal.
What I am saying is that Arsenal does not play on a level playing field. Often we have been playing against 12 men (11 opponents and a ref). Now it is more like 13 (11 opponents, the ref and now the guy in his ivory tower at VAR).
The reasons for this are beyond most people but I believe it is partly because Arsenal has been an honest club and when the big oil money came in, Arsenal refused to get involved in dodgy deals and back-handers. We also had the Fergie love-fest, where almost every decision for 10 years or so went in favour of Man United. No penalties against them at the theatre of prawn sandwiches for an age until Moyes came in and then they have 2 against in one game. Oh, how we cheered, with justice being done at last. We were as usual docked points by constant referee poor decisions while United were given points. If you look at independently refereed matches (there is a whole lot on Untold), you see that actual titles were taken away from us and given to United.
We can’t do anything about the past but we can make sure that against the anti-Arsenal media bias and match-fixing by referees and the PGMOL, we stand as a solid base of supporters, who support whoever the owners and management bring in and even the captain, who we may not all think is the best, but is captain for a reason. The abuse against him was foul and the supporters abusing his family should be arrested asap.
As supporters, we should get solidly behind the team and call out the referee and VAR decisions. We should also ignore the anti-Arsenal media (many of whom are United supporters). We need to be a solid base of support, like most other teams have. The fans of other teams have been laughing at our lack of support, saying how they would love to be in our position, playing in Europe and 5th in the table.
Bearing in mind that we should rightfully be in 3rd, had the referees and VAR not conspired in 2 consecutive games, would we have had this sorry state of affairs? We should support our club and point out the corruption against Arsenal by Mike Riley and his cronies at the PGMOL.
Rico, you are a good writer. You could consider ‘joining forces’ with the likes of Untold, by pointing out the bias against Arsenal and also, you could help to lead the wayward supporters to actually support whatever team is put out there by the management and hierarchy.
The vast majority of us are decent people. The media has created this horrible deflection. It is up to us to stand together and help move the club forward.
We are all frustrated at not being 3rd, a point behind City and pushing them and Liverpool for the title. But if not for the refs and VAR, that’s exactly where we would be. I doubt that we would have this mini crisis right now if we were 3rd.
This team is indeed capable of so much more but barring corruption, Emery would have had us in 3rd, pushing for second.
I will support the manager, like I supported Wenger before. The darkest hour is before the dawn. We will turn this corner and get back into the Champions League. The board will decide if Emery can take us there. FOr all this to happen, all we as supporters can do is back the team, back the captain and back the manager, at least, as you point out, until the end of a match where we have under-performed,as we have done a few times this season and last.
Victoria Concordia Crescit – Victory grows from Harmony. That is our motto. Let us uphold it and be the kind of fans who behave with some wisdom and integrity, not the ignorant rabble, who constantly turn on our own players and managers.
Victoria Concordia Crescit. Have a good day and thanks for some nice writing!
Booing our own players is never going to be in anyway constructive and only adds to the toxic atmosphere from my experience.
Morning all.
Booing players is pretty average, imo.
What kind of person pays money to criticise their own players??????
May as well stay home but as Adam suggested, people are happy to tell us how much they pay, and because of that are entitled to boo.
Of course they’re entitled to, but what does it achieve???
I believe Xhaka has a lot less to apologise for than a hell of a lot of our “fans”.
Booing, jeering, abusing and criticising is deemed ok by some, but their world falls apart when they’re told to F off in response????????
Really?????
Those same people will tell you Xhaka was disrespectful to the club, but they’re actions aren’t.
Mmmmm.
It’s ok when we do it………but don’t dare respond in kind lol
Xhaka must go, it’s best for all parties and his football is better suited in another league.
Those booing will see it as their little victory but what a sad existence it must be when that’s worth smiling about.
Hi Scott. Couldn’t agree more.
There are certainly no winners here, Adam.
It’s a really terrible situation all round.
I genuinely can’t see any way forward other than Xhaka going in January and Emery going ASAP.
I saw a great point made earlier.
Assuming the numbers quoted were correct. 6 million to pay Emery out, 45 million if we make it the CL.
It’s a no brainer, and early enough in the season for a new man to come in, get settled and make a decent run at it in the new year.
Even another month or so could kill off the opportunity.
Scott. If Mesut sits his contract out it will cost roughly another £30 million plus. The figures to change managers are surely manageable.
A drop in the ocean, relatively speaking, of course hahaha
Is it possible a new manager would see Ozil back to his best?
I suppose anything’s possible, but isn love to see it.
Thanks Smalls.
I’m not convinced any manager following Wenger was onto a hiding. Most of us here believed it would take time for the next manager and knew we wouldn’t be challenging city any time soon but I know i expected to see improvement, certainly this season as the squad has changed but w are no better imo..
Jan, I’m not so sure they will sit back any watch potential money fall down the drain. Raul said not long ago that he expects top four and no doubt Josh expects it too, especially after the money the club invested in players in the summer.
Yes, had Xhaka moved a bit quicker, perhaps the booing/jeers wouldn’t have come. Who knows but it’s a mess whichever way look back on it.
I agree RIco. Wenger, superb though he once was, had let things slip for years. Low attendances strengthened the case for his leaving and we could well see that again perhaps.
Rico, you are right. We could have expected at least some improvements defensively. If you compare:
Wenger’s last 47 games: Goals scored 90 conceded 59 clean sheets 17
Emery’s last 47 games Goals scored 86 conceded 63 clean sheets 10
There is little improvement in those numbers and 47 games in charge is an eternity in modern football or at least long enough to see some improvements.
Rico, one area I’m sure nearly all of us expected an improvement was in our defence.
It was clear even to Arsenes most ardent fans that he couldn’t organise our backs yet it’s no better now at all, and probably will improve down to Holding, Tierney, Chambers and Bellerin coming back rather than due to coaching.
Adam, I think that’s the only way sometimes, better than booing perhaps but again, it’s a tough decision to make when a fan has invested so much money into their ticket.
Jan, I also read that we’re are worse off points wise than we were last season which tells us more perhaps than comparing us to the Wenger years. We’ve only played one top four team so far in Liverpool yet last season, we’d played Liverpool, Toots, City and Chelsea.
We’re regressing…
ScottfromOz I could not agree more. An other month of waiting could be the difference between CL and Nothing.
If nothing changes in the next month I fully expect us to be 8-10 points out of 4th, that’s a lot to make up for a new manager.
Agree Scott, that was the main concern I reckon but we are worse and yet Emery either leaves Torreira out altogether or dumps him on the right. I just don’t understand his way of thinking at all.
Another player who has suffered is AMN. He was struggling a right back yet Emery carried on and carried on despite Chambers being available and Mustafi who has been ok in that position.
Rico, and with a better squad than we’ve had for years, imo.
Jan, if it’s going to happen mid season, it must happen very soon.
Rico, and to think there are fans turning on AMN.
Very, very harsh on the lad imo.
Exactly Scott. Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac are three who are being criticised, yet less than a year ago, Sokratis was being given a shout out for his attitude and strong defending, Luiz imo isn’t as bad as our system (whatever that is) is making him appear and when Kolasinac arrived, how many of us were thrilled with his arrival?
I’m convinced that if a manager came in now who knew how to organise a defensive unit, these same would suddenly look a lot better than they do right now.
He just needs a boot up the backside and a bit of discipline Imo Scott, but he’s not alone..
Some good comments on here today, thanks for another top post Rico.
Let us not forget the effect of VAR and the change in the law regarding the penalty box/ gk etc.
You see defenders trying to block with their hands behind their backs, what a crackpot interpretation of the law, it was never intended this way, but that’s what VAR has brought us!
You have defenders almost terrified of touching an opponent – when did football become non contact?
Everybody is falling over, kicking opponents and then throwing themselves over, all this bollocks about contact giving you carte blanche to collapse in the box, it’s rubbish and it’s turning a great game into a charade, a game for actors not athletes!
The referees and pundits are to blame. The referees are inept and led by Mike Riley, a man of monumental ineptness.
The pundits make excuses for players diving, ‘There was contact’ they chirp in unison, ignoring the simulation and exaggeration of their fellow ‘professionals’ – and the game just dies of a thousand cuts, or a thousand dives.
Players like Zaha are masterful exponents of cheating, he dived last weekend, but the pundits and media have been so brutalised by years of diving that they can’t even tell the difference anymore. It’s sickening…
And don’t get me started on social media!
Why would any half intelligent footballer have an open Twitter or Facebook account?
It’s an invitation for any sicko out there to prove once again how the world is full of absolute cretins.
The debate over booing is minuscule by comparison.
Thanks Kev, it’s nice to see a few new posters too.
I think you make some good points. The new laws are like VAR I reckon, if everyone applied them in the same way, at least we’d get consistency. But as you say, divers are everywhere, far too many of them and they get away with it. We have one or two of our own and I don’t like it, especially as a lot of the proper fouls are going unnoticed.
It seems that in the furore over Xhakagate we have lost sight of the fact that there is a game of football to be played this evening. Liverpool away in the Carabao Cup.
We also have the little matter of a home 3.00 pm kick-off against Wolves on Saturday. Presumably the players who started against Palace will not play tonight and those who play tonight will not be starting on Saturday, so what sort of team should Emery select this evening?
Bellerin? Holding? Tierney? I know that I’d prefer to see all three in Saturdays’ starting line-up. Martinelli? Saka? Pepe? 45 / 60 minutes each?
We do know that Aubameyang won’t be involved nor Captain Xhaka, will there be an outing for Ozil? I hope so.
How much value does Emery put on the Carabao Cup? I believe the winner gets a place in the Europa League qualifiers, the way things are going at the moment we just might need that if we are to get into Europe next season.
Brilliant post as usual Rico, Thank you.
Great comments from everyone too.
Kev has expressed my feelings exactly, so I can’t really add anything to the conversation. But
I just watched an interview with Gary Neville about Xhaka and I think he has it just about right.
I don’t think we’ve forgotten Cicero but there’s the thing, other stuff is going on which takes us away from the game itself. All worth discussing of course.
Thanks Mike, what did Neville say?
He says that xhaka is the least experienced experienced player he has ever watched. Just doesn’t learn , still makes rash tackles, gets booked nearly every game and never sets the right tone for the team. After 3 years he sill hasn’t learnt.
It’s on the sky sports web site, worth a 2 minute watch.
Hi Mike, I shall be watching the game live on TV this evening, the last time I saw a game live (on TV) was the League game up at Anfield, it’ll be interesting to see what Emery comes up with this time, no doubt more tactical changes to confuse our squad.
Rico, as Ozil is one of the 5 captains I wonder if he’ll be leading us out this evening?
Nelson is injured so maybe another outing for Smith Rowe?
Martinelli of course, Maitland Niles, Torrieira, Willock, Mustafi, Holding, Mavropanos (3 at the back?) Kolasinac, John Jules, Burton, Balogun, Saka?
Who knows with this geezer?
But I will be looking forward to my supper… 🙂
Cicero. I would love to see Ozil Have the game of his life and run his lungs out.
Lets hope all this crap pulls them all together tonight and win or lose they just go balls out.
Hmm, Gary Neville has pretty much nailed it….
Great post rico….as usual.
Smalls 11:46……Spot on comments. I have been banging the same drum for years about the corrupt Anti Arsenal officials and media.
I have still not heard any radio station, tv program, or any one from Rileys slim brigade asking the VAR official from Sundays game to explain why he gave a free kick against Arsenal when we scored.
Don’t have your supper watching the game Kev. If you’re anything like me it’ll end up on the floor………Or worse, running down the telly.
God….. I can’t think of a worst captain than Ozil though.
VCC, I’m sure it was explained as a push by Chambers, of course that ignores the clear push on Chambers moments before, but hey, we’re all living in a Mike Riley wonderland…
Don’t worry Mike, I won’t waste my supper, it’ll be the highlight of the evening. 😉
Exactly allezkev. The reason we will not hear from Slimy Riley is the fact Chambers was clearly pushed before the incident in question. Then how would they feel? Egg on their faces? Spineless, the lot of them.
Thank you for a good and balanced article!
FANS ARE THE 12th PLAYER OF THE TEAM, RIGHT? So how would the 12th player of Arsenal rate these days?
Personally I would maybe give him something like 1 or 2 out of 10 so far this term. The 12th player of Arsenal acts more like a drunk, crazy, furious idiot with anger-management problems than a true supportive and constructive fan of Arsenal. Right now the 12th player of Arsenal tweets and screams with a rage it actually feels like the end of the world although we were placed third in the Premier League only two weeks ago.
The 12th player also think that booing off players make them and the team better. And after a game gone bad, the 12th player of Arsenal believes everything has to change. If you believe in the 12th player of Arsenal nowadays we should sack the manager, sack the captain, get rid of Kroenke, sell half the team and buy half a new one.
You could almost argue the 12th player of Arsenal is living in a fantasy world where everything is possible and nothing has consequences, but that would not be nice would it? But I am afraid its a close call. Cous when the 12th player of Arsenal gets drunk, which is pretty often if you ask me, it seems he is under the delution that he is smarter than both Emery, Ljungberg, Martesacker, Sanlehi, Edu, Abu, Laca and all the rest at club all put together.
So, what should we do about the 12th player of Arsenal? If we follow the mantra that is tweeted around by most fans these days, we should actually just sell the 12th player of Arsenal. Get rid of him. Buy a new 12th player! That would make everything ok again? Well, I believe maybe not. Cous I believe the 12th player of Arsenal is good, one of the best at times, although he has lost his feet these days, no question asked.
Things are difficult. It is actually very difficult for Arsenal these days because we have to build up a new culture and a new team again after 20 years with the same manager. Wenger did a great job. But things needed to change. And change take time. Did you really think this transformation period would be over in a year? Look at United. How many years is it since Fergy left? Six? Whatever good came out of changing manager every second year at United? Except using a ton of money?
I understand the anger. But simple solutions and booing the players will only make us go backwards in the end, not forward. Lets be supportive and lets consider where we are at the end of the season. Then its time for choices, not now. And until then I sincerely hope the 12th player of Arsenal sober up and gets a grip on himself. Otherwise I think the 12th player will be one of the biggest reason we end up in a bad place come may 2020.
He’s not far off there Mike, although I’m sure there are worse than Xhaka if he looks hard enough.. lol
Thanks Vcc, do they ever come out any say anything about the errors they make? I thought Atkinson would be our problem last Sunday but he got both decisions right before VAR stepped in…
They all need to man up and take responsibility for their obvious errors. It’s become a societal thing, generally it’s the “blame game” buck passing for fcuktards!
Xhaka was once described to me by someone who claimed to socialise with him that he was, ‘really, really boring’. Perhaps that’s why nothing much sinks in or sticks! (For boring, read not very bright).
Is Asharvin playing tonight? If is we’ll be okay. If he’s not we’ll probably take a pasting even if we have our best 4 defenders playing! Bellerin Holding, Tierney and Mustafi.
All I really hope is that we play fast, slick give and go football, so we can all say we played well. The result then won’t be quite so painful and we might even come home having booked ourselves into the next round.
Afternoon all. Another provocative post Rico. Excellent..
That’s what makes it even more annoying Rico……….. They never say anything about the errors they make. And when they make an absolute howler, how many have ever apologized ……..Probably can’t admit a cock up incase they are sued.
John, did you honestly not expect to see some improvement?
Thanks Wavy, what a night that was eh. four goals and we still didn’t win. Lol
Think we might need four tonight to stand a chance…
They should be accountable Mike, that’s for sure. Weren’t the refs once interviewed after a match or did I dream that..?
Come on you’re all being too hard on Riley‘a secret society .Afterall it was widely reported that they get 98% decisions right🤥
Afternoon Rico and the House.
Thank you for the excellent posts you continue to pen Rico.
You know Small has got it wrong, he says you are a good writer,
I say you are are brilliant and have a great back up team.
Rico in his interview Neville said Xhaker makes 400 mistimed tackles each match.
He must be watching different games to me.
As for Xhaker I think Atkinson created the problem for him.
The rules state that when a player is subbed he must leave the
field of play by the nearest touchline or goal line.
This rule is overlooked by most P/L refs and Atkinson ignored it.
Team
Martinez
Bellerin Capt
Holding
Mustafi
Kola
Torrier
Willock
Niles
Ozil
Saka
Martinelli
Subs
Macey
Sokratis
Guendozi
Ceballos
Pepe
Lacazette
Afternoon Rick, that’s very kind of you. Thank you.
I don’t think Xhaka makes 400 tackles a game, let alone that many mistakes.
I thought the same when he left the pitch and the new rules, mind you, wouldn’t Xhaka have gone off at the side where the booing fans were if he went off at the nearest point? Might have been worse for him..
Ozil to start, is that Emery burying hatchet or avoiding the chop? 😉
Ozil to spare him the chop? That’s funny. 😆
Bellerin captain. Good.
Morning all.
I believe Xhaka’s main problem is just that split second too slow to react in challenges etc etc
Too slow in general for the League.
It’s not his fault-can’t change genetics lol
The hatred of him has, imo, been caused by him constantly being on the team sheet and then, to compound the fans frustration, making him captain and that down to one man.
Don’t hate a player for playing.
Come on guys, give us something to smile about.
Bloody hell,
Within one second of me turning the game on……Mustafi!!!!
Why does he go to ground when he doesn’t need to… ☹️
Just to upset you, Rico hahahaha
Nah no idea.
Puts himself in an awkward position for sure, but when things aren’t going your way…….
Ripper!!!!
Our little bulldog slots it home.
Just what I said here Scott, when the chips are down….
Thank goodness there’s no var… lol
Superb play by AMN.
Yep, determined…
Lovely move..
Do a Pepe Mesut….
At least it was entertaining… 😂
So far so good rico, gotta put that down to no var, another 6-3 would be sweet.
Indeed Micko, 4-2 and I still don’t think we’re safe.. lol
Lovely little flick from our number 10 to set up our 4th, anyone know who he is.
Just knew he’d score against us..
No idea Micko…..
Dear oh dear.
We only gotta hang on for another 30 minutes rico lol
Cracking goal from the Oz.
Too late Micko… lol
What a peach…
Now that’s a cracker……I think we’re back in front !
Only just.
Bloomin heck!
Penalties it is then !!! Deep joy.
☹️
Arsenal just being Arsenal, chucked it away again, when are we ever gonna learn how to shut up shop !
Nite folks.
Night Micko, all.
I am not surprised by the result – we just throw it away, all the good work to get a lead and downright shit defending!
Sweeping changes need to be made now with the guys that just keep making the same mistakes and we know who they are.
I used to play on the wing, and scored goals too, so if I was an Arsenal forward I’d be quite depressed knowing that all my hard work was wasted, because of a few idiots at the back who are NOT good enough to be playing for the club.
I heard the fans today. Very good performance by the 12th player. Great!
We were naiv in defence. The midfielders were naiv. Do they know how important they are for the balanse? Emery has to tell them. Emery and the team snd we as fans has to get this rigth. Balance. Defense is as important as attack boys. Yes, Ozil you have to run home too as Saka and as everyone in midfield. Before I go to bed. We got Martinelli! We got Martinelli! Not enough today, but we got Martinelli. He is going to be great! Really great! And what a screamer Willock! Thanks! Lets look forward although this was hard.
Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory . First team or second there is a soft underbelly , I listened to the oracle giving his verdict , Did not understand a word of it.
Bloody Hell 2 minutes to go and Saka who defended shite for most of the second half does nothing to stop a cross going in !
Typical Arsenal player, no gumption!
Do they teach that at the academy.
I watched the first half hour or so and thought at 3-1 we looked pretty damn decent.
Then I it downer was the own goal and while Mustafi shouldn’t have gone to ground, i
was a little unlucky afterwards but hey, out yourself in that position……
Off to work I go and next score I hear is 27 all or something lol
It’s never boring!
Potter, he speaks in tongues. They’re just not our tongues. Not sure he even knows what he says and less what it all means.
Why doesn’t he just get an interpreter in to help him out. Even
Porch used one and he had better English than Dick!
And there hangs the Arsenal problem. It’s all about communication….and he can’t!
The plus points for me, Martinelli was excellent, never stop working, running, closing down, pressing, we need another 8 or 9 like him, I hope that Edu has his feelers out and we can source 3 or 4 more young Brazilians before La Liga snap them up. My only criticism was that Gab should have scored from two more really straightforward chances.
Plus point two was Ozil, I thought he had a very good 1st 45 and unless Emery plans to use him vs Wolves then I cannot understand why Unai the tinkerman took him off? I’m certainly no Ozil fan but I thought we missed him when he went off especially as Guendouzi was bang average as his replacement.
Plus point three was Maitland Niles, still prone to infuriating lapses, overall he had a solid game, I just wish he would learn to focus for 90 minutes.
Plus point four was 90 minutes by Bellerin and Holding, both had very mixed games but the more they play the better, Saka did another 90 but looked out on his feet at the end.
Now the negatives, how on earth can Arsenal score 5 goals at Anfield and still not win, our game management was non-existent, some of our defending was simply rubbish.
Mustafi, after some previous encouraging games was back to his worst, I don’t need to go into detail because we all know what he’s about and if I had any remaining doubts about the need to move him on he did what he did and that confirmed to me, as if I needed confirming, that he simply isn’t up to it.
Kolasinac was equally uninspiring, not one of his worst games but we need an upgrade on him asap.
Martinez was poor, very poor. I don’t know what’s going wrong with our goalkeepers or the coaching they’re getting but it’s as if Gerry Peyton was back at the club, very average.
Can somebody please tell me what Ceballos brings to our squad, because I can’t see it? I’ll be absolutely amazed if Arsenal try to sign him as I’m sure we can spend the £30m in far better ways than giving it to Real for him.
Not good enough…
Willock scored a peach of a goal and was moved about by Unai the tinkerman, some good stuff, some no so good, overall I was pleased for him as I still think that he’s gonna be a big player for us, far more effective than Ceballos.
Torrieira was all action, I really like him and felt he didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
Emery, why the substitutions? They seemed safety first to me and didn’t work, he simply can’t stop himself from tinkering, we were doing ok at the time.
Kev, apparently the subs were sorted before kick off.
Amazing tactics, right there.
Seems what’s happening in the game doesn’t matter lol
Morning all.
Did you see Ceballos’s mistake defending on the last goal? How can defend this way !!! In the last seconds of the game, he “escapes” the ball and the play, letting the opponent make the only play he intended to make in despair.
Do you understand why we defend badly?
I’m a bit late to the morning and wondered who was 77 (Saka?) and 8 (?)because both chose not to block that final cross. You are right Mike.
Forgot to say we played some marvellous football and should be proud of the 5 goals!!!!!
Scintillating stuff.
Morning Rico and all.
Interesting game last night. Nice goals, gung-ho defending. We’ve been seeing it for quite a while now though. Ozil was excellent and made a bit of a mug out of Unai who is struggling big-time now.
Just a feeling but I reckon something is stirring behind the scenes at the club. It might be just wishful thinking though.
Morning Scott, yeah I understand that they’d discussed and agreed the subs, but if Ozil was doing ok and felt ok why change? It isn’t set in stone is it, he’s quick to change everything else!
I thought that Guendouzi could have got closer to the guy who scored Liverpool’s 4th goal and Saka just looked knackered for their 5th. Considering that we gave them two goals, terrible own goal by Mustafi and a very soft penalty by Martinelli, we can take a lot of good things out of that game and on reflection at least it was entertaining, not something we’ve able to say often this season.
To go a goal down so early at Anfield usually means we’re in for a mauling, but to turn it around and be leading 3-1 was impressive and very much down to the energy and pressing of our young players. 4-2 then 5-4 with seconds to play only to concede poor goals just points to questionable game management. Guendouzi, Ceballos and Tierney didn’t really improve us when they came on despite all three being senior players and that’s disappointing. We just can’t see a game out or hold onto a lead and that has to come from the coaching we’re getting.
You could right Adam, there is something in the demeanour of Emery that makes me feel that his job is under a lot more threat than we’re led to believe and he knows it.
Kev,
As I said, amazing tactics lol
Surely when you’re managing, you’re adapting and adjusting things during the game-it’s impossible to know what’s going to happen, so how the hell can a manager know which changes to make and when?
Incredible.
He must go.
To be honest Scott a lot of managers make similar decisions but it’s usually with players coming back from serious injuries. I thought that Saka probably needed a breather, he’s been playing a lot really and all over the pitch due to his versatility. I felt sorry for him with Liverpool’s 5th goal, where was our left back?
Why not switch to 3 at the back to see out the game as all the threats seemed to come down our flanks? To me, you leave a Ozil on, unless of course he plans to start him vs Wolves, which isn’t likely as he isn’t going to drop either Pepe, Aubameyang or Lacazette…
Kev. As we’ve seen time and time again, changing managers can be fraught with complications. Man Utd, even with their wealth haven’t got it right yet. If Unai hasn’t worked out and achieved his targets, then make that assessment and move on. It’s all part of the process surely.
‘morning all.
Never mind the result, what a game of football. Goals galore and myriads of mistakes.
The stand out player for me was Mustafi, the epitome of poor defending. An own goal, I’m practically certain that he ducked out of the way of The Ox’s shot and plenty of panicky attempts at clearances. Is he the clumsiest Arsenal centre back since Ian Ure?
A tough night for both ‘keepers picking the ball out of the back of the net nineteen between them. The one redeeming feature for Martinez was that he didn’t slavishly follow the idiotic trend of always playing out from the back.
I expect Willock to be disciplined, one just doesn’t go storming up-field and hit a screamer into the top corner from thirty yards, that’s certainly not in the Emery playbook.
Not the best result for us, but that’s football for you. 😉
Yep, I agree Adam, there is no benefit that I can see from dragging out this agony, the rapid loss of support for the manager is quite astonishing, I think the UEFA Cup final really damaged his reputation among the fans, he needed a good start and some improvement in performance this season and it’s not been forthcoming.
Morning Adam, all.
There’s a new post up now..
Agreed Kev. Emery is walking the title rope of employment, imo.
His behaviour on the touch line is detached, he’s looking at the game but it all seems to be passing him by. He seems thoughtful but I don’t think there’s much going on upstairs. The substitutions seem pre arranged in his head and nothing will alter his ‘game plan’ ! The choice of who he hooks is most likely personality based. It may be a bit of spiteful revenge. If he has lost the dressing room then hooking those individuals he considers responsible for his loss of face/power/control off field, he is getting his way on the field of play demonstrating to all the players that ‘he is in control’, when in actual fact he is not!
If all of that makes sense.
In any event I did enjoy the game despite the loss and the countless simple passing errors, poor defending and lack of any real plan but, an end to end bonanza!
Morning all. Cold, crisp and sunny here, a nice day.
Morning All, Well at least we made some chances I suppose.
But really, 2 minutes to go and we defend like that, after throwing it away at the weekend ?
Are all the players thick or is it our coaching staff. Can you imagine a team managed by Sam Allardyce letting a 2 goal advantage slip twice in a row ?
Maybe I’m being a bit harsh but it wasn’t a great team we were playing.
I agree Kev about our substitutions, if anything they made us worse. Kolasinac was struggling on his own that side so I understood that change but Tierney was nowhere to be seen when the final cross came in.
I just can’t see any improvement at all and we need to find some very soon.
Kolasinac picked up a knock I think Mike. Saka was the one for me. He should have been changed to provide some extra defence. Before Ozil that’s for sure.
I don’t think the players are the problem, Emery is the problem, we have good player we have very good players what we don’t have is enough intelligent players, Ozil is that, why does he leave him out, last night Ozil was our best player on the pitch, Emery decided to change, what happens, we lose the flow and lose the game. Emery needs to go.
I don’t think it’s the players either Ren. Not now…
Afternoon everyone, good comments one and all.
Only watched the game from 3-1 up and by the time we arrived at 5-4 with extra time I had this deep seated feeling that we would conspire to allow Liverpool back into the game because it’s in our DNA, with a manager that persists with individuals who have patently shown they are not up to the job. Captaincy? Xhaka? “are you serious” ?
Xhaka, according to all the reports is liked and loved by his team-mates because he’s a likeable guy. And why not? But, that’s not what this is all about, is it? We’re talking leadership, ability, tactical awareness and, very few mistakes, which are all in short supply with him. Gary Neville is absolutely right and we the fans (well, some of the fans that vocalise on this page) on HH, would rather he was elsewhere. Mustafi can join him too.
I don’t do Facebook, Twitter or any of these other Social Media outlets (apart from WhatsApp) and those sportsmen and women who do, are open to abuse so perhaps they should take more care. I find a lot of the abuse (nazi salutes, references to the players background etc) is reprehensible and those that are responsible should be singled out on Matchday and be banned for life from gaining entrance to the grounds.
Most of the comments on UE are, I think, spot on – he looks a worried, nervous man whose team choices and tactics are not working, and wondering if he’ll still have a job in January?