Morning all.
If that’s the best Arsenal can muster up when “there’s still a lot to play for” then Lord help us. If Leno has a lapse in concentration in Spain on Thursday night, Lord help us. Yes, Xhaka’s defending has seen better days but Richarlison‘s shot/cross was soft and going nowhere until Leno got his hands on it.
Both Arsenal Everton were pretty poor, although their keeper was certainly the busier of the two and had to make a couple of good saves towards the end of the game when Arsenal showed a little bit of urgency.
The overall story was a rinse and repeat really. We were the better team, we had the most chances to score and had a penalty decision reversed by VAR and then we give away a sloppy goal.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to BBC Sport:
On the pitch performance wise we were the better team, we controlled the game and we had some opportunities and openings. We had a clear penalty that was disallowed somehow and then we score an own goal. The penalty is clear, those decisions have been made after, I don’t know how or who by, we cannot see their faces to explain it. It’s the second time in two weeks. I can see the images 20 times and I don’t get it.
Errors are part of football, we conceeded an own goal that defined the game at the end. We didn’t create enough against a team that is well organised, we lacked clarity in the final third. We need to go through the disappointment and focus our energy, the semi-final is more than crucial for us.
Actually, I thought the penalty was soft, purely because Cabellos went over about twenty minutes after he was clipped, if he was clipped but then earlier in the game, when he was fouled in the box but stayed on his feet, Moss showed interest and neither did VAR.
What does Arteta think about our home form?
It’s terrible, unacceptable.
It certainly is but it’s up to him to improve it.
Away from the pitch though, Arsenal fans were voicing their opinion on Stan Kroenke and the message was clear. Get out of our club.
Reports suggest more than 3,000 fans gathered outside The Emirates at around 6pm to make their feelings about Stan Kroenke and KSE clear. They are not wanted at Arsenal.
But, as they’re said before and have said since the Super League fiasco, they are not selling up anytime soon.
Perhaps the best way for the Kroenke family to earn the trust of the fans is to be more committed to the club. By that I mean more investment this summer so that Arteta can build a squad which looks like it’s capable of returning to the top four and in time, challenge for the Premier League title. Whether he’s the right manager to take us there is something I’m still unconvinced about.
See you in the comments.
Goalkeeper is a singularly unique position , Leno is making mistakes and Ryan should play until he starts making them . So far he has played a couple of games and looked pretty solid , he desrves to play and see if firstly we want him to stay and secondly if he wants to .
Leno has made what can be kindly called schoolboy errors and needs time on the bench to reflect on his misdemeaners . he needs to remeber how to go down and get his body behind the ball one knee would have done. Then both need to decide whether one he wants to stay and fight for his place or two whether the club wants him to as well.
I am leaning toward the belief that Arteta needs to reflect as well , he has made strange decisions in trying to fathom his position, he has made mistakes in his selections and tactics .
Maybe he need a bit of help as well.
Trouble is Potter, we’ve been here before regarding keepers. I’m not going to harp on about Martinez but surely any manager would know that you always play your best keeper. The one who is in good form. Just because Leno’s name is what it is, it doesn’t mean he should be automatic first choice.
Re Ryan, I agree. He’s not made an error so why drop him? If if wasn’t for him we’d have lost against Fulham.
These kind of decisions will lose fan support I think.
Good point about Arteta needing help. Every good manager has an experienced assistant and I don’t think Arteta has that. The reason Fergie was so successful imo is because he kept changing his assistant so his ideas were kept fresh.
Morning all.
That error from Leno was as bad as a keeper could make at that level.
Terrible.
Rumours of late he wants out don’t help the situation, but he needs to be dropped.
Start the Aussie 🙂
Rico, I think it was ever 3 years Fergie changed his staff?????
Brilliant way to bring in new ideas!!!
Wenger should have done that Scott, not that he’d have listened.
Morning. Keown talks a good game (which I know means nothing), but wonder if he would make an assistant, certainly better than Bould if his defensive input was anything to go by? Like his passion.
Soon as that stupid giveaway was made, I too was thinking Ryan must play Thursday, for Leno’s own good as much as the team. Can’t blame Xhaka too much, he’s out of position and we know he will be beaten for pace, but overall has done pretty well covering. No moans from him like some who have to play other than in their favoured place.
At best Arteta should be the dynamic young first team coach working alongside a canny and experienced manager.
Instead we have promoted him to a role he clearly is not ready for.
Management and coaching are two separate roles. Arteta ‘may’ be a great coach, but he is a lousy manager.
If we do not get Auba and/or Lacca back for Thurs we are in trouble…
How can a defence have any confidence if the keeper behind them is letting in Sunday league goals. Every team that’s successful has a commanding figure in goals, we don’t. Build from your defence and then we can go forward, a serious analysis of what’s happened with us this year is not a pretty picture.
Raka, the fact you think we must get the misfiring Auba back for the midweek game is a worry.
Why the hell would we want him back?
To carry the oranges?
Laca, yes, but Auba??
ScottfromOz: Lol…
Auba still has it for me. Yes been misfiring, but has the experience.
But agreed Lacca, on current form, would be first choice.
Wasn’t he behind our 2006 CL run Andrew?
Raka, I don’t think we’ll see Auba for a while. He’s back training but he’s lost weight apparently and far from full fitness.
Not sure how bad Lacazette’s injury is but I doubt we’ll see him for a while either.
If we don’t have Auba or Lacca… and I would play either ahead of Eddie…
… then Gabby needs to play.
Eddie has potential, but has failed to develop last couple of years. Makes the wrong runs and timing is all wrong.
Play Martinelli.
On Thursday, I think I’d go with Pepe up front. Martinelli on the left with Saka on the right.
I would definitely play Martinelli at this point – nothing to lose.In fact I’d play him before Pepe anyway,Pepe is better coming off the bench in my view. I’d also play Ryan in goal.
To be fair the defence was mostly sound last night.Up front pretty toothless but better than Everton.
Looking at the league table Everton are right in the mix for the Champions league but are they really much better than us ?
What a lousy season this has been,when Everton have a chance of top 4 – I personally think they will be lucky to finish in the top 6.
Thanks for the post Rico, if anyone thinks that Stan or Josh are suddenly going suddenly to be more interested in Arsenal then well, good luck with that…
Stan Kroenke did not become a billionaire by being trustworthy, plain speaking and honest so if you choose to trust him and believe what he says then fine, but I’ll refrain from joining you on that journey if you don’t mind.
Stan is a liar and his son will just do just what Pa tells him to do and say.
Stan is silent because whenever he opens his mouth he cannot help revealing the snake inside, so he lets Josh do the talking.
Josh is more savvy when it comes to saying what you want to hear, but the bottom line is what he says means absolutely zero.
I don’t know if they’ll stay as the owner of Arsenal or not, Stan is never short term, he’s probably already mulling over his next attempt to Americanise european football and for him himself to personally hit the TV rights jackpot even if that takes 5 years or so, we have to learn from history and the fact that Stan always plays the long game.
If the AST, Red Action or whoever, are planning things and demos to make Stan feel uncomfortable then that’s fine but they better buckle in for a long old struggle because it’s going to takes most of this decade to shift him if at all.
He dug his heels in and ignored all the Usmanov rubbish that came from his group and eventually wore down the Uzbek, it’s what he does, he isn’t really a genius he’s just relentless, so this is going to take years and years.
As for the game, well good on you for backing Arteta whatever the circumstances Scott, but if I think that the manager can do better then I’ll say it.
He has to realise that he’s been quite isolated from the view on the street and when the fans eventually do return, as they will in the next few months, he’ll get a better idea about what they fans think, possibly even a shock and what the fans think could influence a management that’ll be quite nervous about upsetting everyone again, so Mikel has to sort himself out and quick.
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/english-premier-league/story/4182135/how-var-decisions-affected-every-premier-league-club-in-2020-21
That’s the point Limey we are so near yet so far .None of the teams that we have lost to have smashed us but definitely we are missing something .
To my mind Arteta has found things out by luck rather than judgement. Circumstance forced his hand with Saka , then Smith – Rowe now we see our midfield looks better without Xhaka as he is forced to play at left back .
To have any chance of qualifying for the Europa League next season from the league we just had to beat Everton and we failed .Unfortunately Villareal , our only other chance , has come at a time when we have no chance of Arteta stumbling on another system and getting a match to practice , so we go with what we have .
Emery will pick our side before he picks his and tailor his tactics accordingly , he will know that we are shot shy and don’t convert enough of our chances . Whats more he knows that we do not have a centre forward , they too are just outside qualifying but their defensive record is not bad and they tend to draw more than we do . This suggests tight games where we need to be defensively sound .
I am not optimistic.
Who has benefitted from VAR decisions this season from ESPN :-
Burnley +5
Everton +4
Chelsea +3
Fulham +3
Aston Villa +2
Brighton & Hove Albion +2
Manchester City +2
Crystal Palace +1
Leeds +1
Leicester City +1
Sheffield United +1
Newcastle 0
Southampton 0
West Ham 0
Tottenham Hotspur -1
Manchester United -2
Wolves -3
Liverpool -6
West Brom -6
Arsenal -7
Kev and others, where have I said Arteta is not making errors???????
Where have I said nobody can criticise him?????
I’ve stated on numerous occasions he is making some poor decisions, and must learn from them but is also getting plenty right.
People can choose to look at the small picture each Saturday, or the big picture and see the slow transformation of the club which EVERYONE demanded.
Remember, we all saw things decline for quite a few years???
We want change but we also want immediate success.
It’s not possible.
Well, not unless Stan throws half a billion Mikels way-that’s certainly not going to happen, so the grind continues.
The only instant changes Mikel can make is each transfer window where the effects are seen immediately, then we will see slow and steady changes until the next window.
Hopefully, after 4-5 windows, he has his squad, the deadwood is gone, the clubs culture has changed and the results will
Come so either everyone accepts that, or demands his head on a stick at which time the entire process starts again.
Big name managers don’t want the grind, they want the money to spend.
We needed someone who cares about the club and was prepared to grind.
Guys, name another manager who you’d want right now that would’ve taken the job 18 months ago.
If you’re genuine, the list will be extremely short.
Scott it is obvious that you still haven’t re-read my comment. I did not criticise Arteta for selecting Leno. I criticised him for not playing fullbacks at fullback.
I don’t know what commentary you listen to, but here Alan Smith made the comment that had Tierney been playing Richarleson would not have got his shot/ cross away.
Cicero, you keep defending yourself as if my every comment is directed at you.
They’re not.
Though to give you my opinion, it doesn’t matter who plays fullback when a keeper is going to let one in like that.
Also, forget the fullback part of the discussion for a moment, Xhaka is an experienced pro with a vast international pedigree, so why is he lunging in on a challenge like that and how is it Artetas fault?
When do we stop blaming the manager for individual errors?
We don’t blame players for tactical errors or selection decisions but as I said yesterday, when things aren’t going so well, the manager suddenly becomes responsible for everything bad and in my opinion, that’s not fair.
Kev, I think Stan could be forced to sell if fans repeat what happened last night often enough. He might be a stubborn old sod but I bet he didn’t like seeing his effigy.
Americans like to be popular I was once told so push him hard enough and he’ll budge. Finding a buyer might prove more tricky.
The VAR stats are shocking…
Thanks for the link Rico, Not sure how true it is but I read Laca could be out for the rest of the season.
I don’t think this super league is going away just yet as I believe it was Real Madrid’s owner has come out and said the clubs who signed for the super league have signed a contract to play so he does not understand how they can walk away.
The only way I can see stan sell would be for big businesses refuse to deal with as he is getting a bad name and they don’t want to be associated with him.
I made the point when he first took over , If you want to destablise Kroenke the only place to do it is on his own doorstep in America.. There’s too much of a cushion between here and there and who on our board has the guts to phone him and say ” guesss what Stan , they really hate you ”
If you want him to go put pressure on him everyday . I used to write comments on the Mark Kisla column on the Colorado and Denver Post but although he is not popular overthere it doesn’t seem in their psche to really go for the throat in print .
Quite how to do it and garner support I don’t know..
In the aftermath of the ESL fiasco an interesting article in this morning’s Telegraph, Jeremy Wilson posits that had Arsene Wenger been offered a place on the board, following his retirement as manager he would have made it clear to Josh and Stan that joining the ESL would not be welcomed by Arsenal fans.
Wilson also says that now a reasonable amount of time has elapsed since his departure, Wenger would be a popular addition to the Arsenal board. He could be the link between our absent owners and the fan base.
How would the House members feel about that?
But he must get a newspaper Potter. They’ll have Arsenal problems over the sports pages.
Can he read Rico, I guess he only looks at the pictures. 😉
Good question Cicero. On paper, AW returning makes sense but he’d probably try and take over.
The pictures should do it Cicero 😆
Willock scored again for Newcastle today. A 95th minute equaliser against Liverpool. No wonder Newcastle want to keep him..
I think Wenger in a purely ceremonial role on the board would be OK,I don’t know if he would go for that,I saw an interview with him where he said basically he likes not having stress in his life. I’ve seen Bob Wilson mentioned before as a popular board member,everyone likes Bob.
Good evening Rico and all
Thanks for the post. just read it now as could not access it.
I hope that Arteta takes note of Willock’s improvement. Next year he should not sign Ceballos or anyone else on loan. Willock should be given all the chances he needs. That is three goals in the last four games. and he is a big game player.
With regards Leno I am hoping that next Thursday he will not be in the team. It should be Matt Ryan there. Yesterday’s howler was not even Sunday league farce as even an under 12 keeper of ten years old would have collected that safely. I just wish there was a defender covering Leno behind his back to clear the ball and in the process kick his balls so hard that they would come out of his mouth and follow the ball. Er no…..the game would be stopped as there cannot be more than one ball on the pitch.
Arteta can only play what he has at his disposal. Chambers and Xhaka are doing their best and it should not be laid down at their door. even hardened defenders make mistakes let alone two stand ins who should be applauded for staying there even when its not their position. However, when you have a keeper who makes mistakes like that it doesnt matter who is infront of him…..as he would have let it squirm through him.
BDW….Nketiah, unless he gets a hat-trick in his next game, if he plays, cannot say anything if he is moved on in the summer. Too many chances till now. And he is failing to grab them. Imo next game it should be Martinelli leading the line.
Might be a bit late for Bob he must be in his eighties or very close .From a footballing angle I would think someone from George Graham’s day , Dixon maybe obviously not Merson , Rocky would have been good.
Wasn’t David O’Leary once link to the Arsenal board?
Evening Devil. Similar to you really re Xhaka although he was naive to get caught out so easily but Leno, that was of the simplest of balls for him to deal with but he failed spectacularly. So much so, if match fixing was in the PL, I’d think Leno was part of it.
Yes Xhaka should have shown him the sideline. Instead he tackled him and Richarlison showed him a clean pair of heels. But still Leno should have collected the ball safely
Devil, I’m a Xhaka fan, but he stuffed up and that error was nothing to do with playing out of position, but there is no doubt in the world that Leno is the man to blame on this one.
Incredible that a keeper at that level can do so many things wrong in one second lol
As a few have pointed out, getting rid of Stan is great in theory, but what then?
Actually, WHO then?
Unless we get the right owner, nothing changes so it’s a delicate situation.
Football only won the hearts of the masses because the weak can beat the powerful … The Super League failed to be the opposite.
How is it possible to still be talking about staying in the first six?
The Swedish billionaire Spotify founder Daniel Ek has said that if KSE want to sell Arsenal he would “throw his hat in the ring”
Ek is worth around £3.5 Billion, There are hints that KSE would accept £2 billion.
Morning all.
https://highbury-house.com/2021/04/25/is-daniel-ek-wealthy-enough/
New post up now
Cicero, I’ve just written about him. 😂