Morning all.
I don’t know about you guys but I enjoy reading the articles on the official site which are about our players, by the player themselves. This week there’s one on Emiliano Martinez. I guess it was a good time to publish this particular one because not only has he just played his first game for Arsenal in ages but he played exceptionally well and kept a clean sheet. Whilst he says he accepts playing understudy to Bernd Leno right now, his aim is to make that number one position his own and soon.
I’m the No 2 for now, but it won’t stay that way. My aim is to be No 1 and I’ll keep working until I get there, because I’m not comfortable with just being a No 2. When I was playing for Reading, I got this feeling of being the No 1 – and I want that at Arsenal.
I’ve been here for so many years and the only reason I’ve stayed here is because I believe I can be the No 1 here. I’ve got all the qualities you need.
Funny enough, I believe him and I love the confidence he has in himself. Not arrogance, just inner belief that he’s good enough to be at Arsenal. If Thursday evenings performance was anything to go by, I don’t think he’ll be waiting too before he is.
That’s not me knocking Bernd Leno by the way, I just think he’s going to have to battle for his place. Good. I certainly believe the extra two inches the Argentine keeper has over the German will help him.
I know people will be quick to point out that Martinez is yet to come up a top quality attacking side, although Frankfurt weren’t lacking in attack, or bullish strikers etc but in all honesty, the Championship can be a rough and tough old league and he more than held his own there. No, he was superb for Reading. Just as we often talk about Unai Emery rotating players or trying something new etc, goalkeepers can’t be excluded in my opinion. For now though, all Emiliano needs to do is carry on where he left off on Thursday and his time will come. In a way though, I hope it doesn’t because that should mean Leno has been playing very well. Note the word ‘should.’
In other news, the long awaited return of Hector Bellerin came last night, and Kieran Tierney played his first game in Arsenal colours too as they turned out for the under 23’s. The game ended 2-2 but I’ve no idea how either got on as I didn’t watch it but as far as I know, both came through unscathed. As did all of our players which is good because some of them might be in line to face Notts Forest on Tuesday night.
Before then though, Arsenal face another tricky opponent in Aston Villa and I still haven’t forgotten that fixture on the opening day of the season just a few years ago. It was Benteke that day and Darren Bent a few years before then…
I hope it’s one of our players stealing the headlines tomorrow. For the right reasons of course…
Apparently it’s the last day of summer today as wind and rain is coming in from tomorrow…. ☔️
See you in the comments guys…
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/how-arsenal-duo-hector-bellerin-16957472
A report on the two players last night
Thanks..
Tierney didn’t do so well then according to FL…
Good afternoon all, it’s good news that both players came through unscathed, Bellerin in particular as it is at right back that we have struggled in his absence. Tis is not in any way meant as a criticism of AMN who has done his best in a position that is not a natural one for him.
Tierney most probably needs a few more games to acclimatise to a new club, a new head coach and a new league. Kolascinac is playing well and could prove a hard man to shift.
Watched the Wolves U23 v Arsenal U23 last night.
Ballerina looked sharp and fit.
Tierney looked very ordinary. Their winger had the better of him, also he was caught out of position far too many times. Hopefully this was just a run out for him and not taken too seriously?
Bellerin. …..blasted predicted text. 😉
Afternoon Rico and all,
Great news that Bellerin & Tierney came through OK.Id imagine they will need a good few more games,for fitness.
We will probably see Holding on Tuesday
Fingers crossed Leicester can hold on for at least a point, they deserve it.
I was not surprise at Martinez’s performance on Thursday. Whenever he has gotten a chance to play he has done a good job.
That James Madison lad is some player. He’s totally embarrassing the Torts. LC 2 – Totts 1.
92 minutes
James Madison you beauty !
Spuds mashed. 😉
Cited 5 Watford 0 after 18 minutes. Just goes to show just how poor we were last week.
Just saying.
Afternoon all.
Afternoon Limey, all.
Yes, good to see City struggling against Watford. Still, we were 2-0 up at halftime… 😂
Thursday Summary: Martinez and Saha liked what I saw; Smith Rowe didn’t evolve at all and was the least productive element of the team; the midfield is no longer superior to the opponent neither technically nor physically less; Any opponent scores dozens of shots on goal. If they had a 50% hit rate, we had to score at least a dozen goals per game; Pepe is a good player but it is time to start being more active and productive.
Citeh ffs predictive text……….what a boon!
Don’t we go to Leicester real soon? I wouldn’t laugh too loudly at Toots just yet..,
If Arsenal were to win 5-0, the game was far from controlled, let alone decided.
Especially if the opponent was called Watford and played on Vicarage Road.
I don’t think so Jm, if we’d have gone 5-0 up last weekend, there would have been no fight back from Watford.
Not rico. We tremble everywhere under any pressure, when we play away.
Morning All,
Martinez, Chambers and Saka make the Europa League team of week. Watched the game (Frankfurt) and didn’t think we were that bad.
I thought defensively we forced them into bad shots. Not all the time but that was where Marty came in. They were really good on the break so a clean sheet was nothing to be sniffed at. Our counter play looked like it has started to click. Hope it continues against AV.
All in all I thought it was encouraging especially after Watford.
dailycannon.com/2019/09/bukayo-saka-makes-europa-league-team-of-the-week/
This is europa league tow link
dailycannon.com/2019/09/bukayo-saka-makes-europa-league-team-of-the-week/
Evening Rico and all. Reg I kind of agree we may have forced them into bad shots, but……… they were still shots and a hell of a lot of them. I can`t believe we give teams so many chances.
As for Martinez, Yes I really like him. And he`s always looking to get the ball away quickly.
Mike,
Biggest thing was we didn’t make stupid mistakes.
Yes Reg You`re right there……….We didn`t gift any goals like we have been so a big improvement from the Watford game.
A good day so far,Spurs Chuck away a lead again,I look forward to the media inquest.
Even Southend United got their first win (my local team)
Hopefully we can take care of business tomorrow,an Arsenal/West Ham win double would do nicely.
City 8 – 0 Watford. We scraped a two all draw against them, that highlights the difference between Arsenal and the top tier teams.
The Media aren’t dwelling on Spurs’ funks. Can’t be a big club yet )-:
Emery’s “mea culpa”
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/sep/21/unai-emery-arsenal-watford-aston-villa?CMP=share_btn_tw
We were unlucky to get Watford when they got the ‘new Manager’ bounce for the 2nd half. We ‘won’ that game then made two Catastrophic mistakes which got their tales up. looks AWFUL now when the week after City score 8 against them, but if we had scored a third, then we might have gone on to score more . Watford played a different game against us then they did yesterday , & no doubt they will no go back to being awful against all the other teams they play. The WORST thing I think about the result was that all the other PL teams now will always harbour the thought that Arsenal can make mistakes , & keep trying to make us make them & keep going until the end as they always feel they have a chance against us. and even worse our own players will now be thinking if any team get a goal back against us, that we are going to lose . Emery has got to try firstly to eliminate our defensive mistakes,& to somehow change the team spirit & attitude. We can improve & I think we will still get 4th
Yes, the other teams know that we are going to play kamikaze play out from the back and will press us into a mistke that will inevitably happen for them to score !…………..Kamikazeball is suicidal !
Morning all.
I think we just need to accept that we’re poor right now and that’s down to Emery’s style and a lack of discipline in midfield. Problem we have is the man who could change it doesn’t seem to either know how, or simply won’t.
Personally, I think we’re stuck as we are until Unai Emery’s contract expires or the board react. Or of course, Emery proves us all wrong. I really hope it’s the latter, but I’m not overly optimistic.
Morning Rico and all. I tend to agree. The question is whether Unai can come up with some sort of winning tactical plan that the players understand and can implement. He’s got a lot of work to do if he and the team are to erase the gruesome memory of last week’s debacle. I think it sent a bit of a shockwave through the fan base.
Morning Adam. So do I. The way we just fell apart was the worst in a long long time.
Arsenal have scored 8 EPL goals, Aubameyang 6 and Lacazette 2…
Arsenal have conceded 8 EPL goals, 7 of them with Sokratis and Leno as our C/B’s.
No goals from our midfielders or defenders or Pepe…Is Mourinho the answer?
Villa have scored only 4 EPL goals and conceded 6 EPL goals.
I wouldn’t want mourinho as manager but we sure need someone at the club who knows how to coach a defence as well as he does…
Emery has not yet realized that playing with Ozil is one less player because there is no pace for 1st League, that playing with Ceballos in away games is playing with 10.5 players, that playing with Ozil + Ceballos in away games, It is playing with 9.5 players, which has to have a much more solid, strong and compact midfield to balance the game in midfield and for individualities to appear and make a difference.In our favor, of course.
To know and understand the squad you don’t need a Mourinho; You need to have a balanced squad, with 2 players per position ready to play, know the opponent and put the line-up best fits the required.
I think he has Jm, that’s why he barely played Ozil away from home last season. His error imo was playing him at Watford.
Leno, AMN, Luiz, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Ceballos, Saka, Aubameyang, Pepe.
Afternoon Rico and the house.
Todays team
Leno, Niles Sokratis Luiz Kolasinc,
Xhaka Guendozi, Ceballos, Pepe Aubaa Saka
Afternoon Rick. Saka starts then. Big call and he deserves it imo.
No Torreira yet again, odd.
Ozil, Torreira, Chambers, Nelson,Martinez, Martinelli, Willock.
Neville reckons Utd need 4/5 £100 million players to compete…
Hello rico, when you’ve spent £800 million in the the past six seasons what’s another £100 million lol.
Hi Micko, £500 million would be nothing for them. The Glazers will just add it to their debt…
How long will they stick with Solskjaer?
Emery is brutally awful with his selection, tactics and in game management. Just look at the lineup he just put out. Who is going to defend or tackle? We will never achieve anything with him at this rate.
Obi, have to hope Raul thinks the same
Always the same issues with the midfield and the wings….
Rico
just watched the team warming up.
Saka between Niles and Auba and dosn’t look out of place
Like you cannot understand no Torreia.
He must be out of favour Rick
One nil down after twenty minutes.
AMN reed card ….off.
Another home defeat on the cards?
How can you be overrun in midfield and not play Torreira.
Emery must be a concerned man. He should be…
I haven’t figured out where to go with this team yet. It is worrying to me, as it has been in almost every game, to do less shots than the opponent, to be extremely vulnerable, to accumulate yellow cards, to have a confused, unclear football with no goal in the eyes and to have Luiz take penalties or sleeping at the intersections. For the League it has to be a team with a totally opposite ideal.
Playing at home to a bottom three club and we have allowed them twelve attempts on goal to our eight. We have conceded a goal and lost a player to two yellow cards.
Is this the Arsenal that I’ve supported for nearly seventy years?
Cicero, this is a Billy Wright squad. I’ve not seen anything like this seasons performances sine the mid sixties. AND, I blame the manager/coach he is the man in charge and the buck starts and stops with him.
I’ve reached the point that I believe he is absolutely clueless.
Me too Wavy. Clueless is about right.
1-1 Pepe penalty
I’m changing my mind even if the Arsenal run out winners.
Emery can get on his bike and go and seek another occupation – as soon as possible.
1-2
I was right not to alter my opinion
Afternoon to you Wavy.
Doesn’t it say a lot that within the time it took you to write your comment about Pepe, you’ve had to include us conceding again. 😝
I’m not changing my mind, that should have read.
Afternoon Rico and all. Today is not going well!
Yes Rico, we are clueless!
Sorry to repeat myself
Ha ha Wavy. Hard not to really, just like the the mistakes repeated week in week out by Arsenal.
2-2
3-2
2-2 Chambers.
Can we shut up shop and just settle for a point to consolidate our lower half of the table status?
3-2 Auba, of course😳
Means I shall have to watch MotD2 later. I wasn’t going to.
Don’t speak too soon Wavy…
No let’s make it 3-2. Must make gain after spurs and manu results.
Phew!
Fcuk me, up to 10th………anyone got any remedies for a nose bleed !
I wonder how much credit should go to our inspirational manager?😥
Not a lot I don’t think.
Mciko
we are up to 4th
Cheers Rick, you made my day, the nose bleed is under control.
Pleased for Chambers. But according to Arsenal App commentary, we got away with a late handball they were sure would be given on VAR. But they didn’t check! They also felt AMN was unlucky to get a 2nd yellow.
Oh well, have a look tonight, but after Watford, if we chucked away further points, season would be more or less over before October! Emery, does he know what he’s doing? Sure doesn’t look
like it.
Villa one yellow card. Arsenal seven 🙁
I watched most of it on a decent stream. The first half was pathetic. AMN got the ball first in a hard tackle. Surely VAR could be consulted by the ref to confirm what he thought he had seen. It was a harsh second yellow but we are talking about role-poly Moss here.
Second half and Guendouzi was superb if a bit edgy. If he can keep the passion and lose the desire to have constant rows, then he could be great. Xhaka surely needs to be dropped and then sold. He got another brainless card today and was poor.
Emery played a get-out-of-jail card today but the comeback must be applauded for sure.
Watford in reverse.. lol
Emery has to be clinging on by a thread surely…
Gossamer thin Rico 😃
That’s Moss for you Andrew..
Unless there’s any finer Adam, yes.. 😆
I was seeing that the coach was not going to make the 2 remaining substitutions. It was necessary to have sent him a scream from here!
Adam, as you watched this feast of football, can you tell me if we became noticeably better before or after Xhaka was hooked in favour of our small but perfectly formed pocket battleship, Torriera? And, do you think our coach will at least recognise that the latter is a far better player than his current choice of captain?
Today has been really harrowing. Glad they won but the emotional investment in real anger and a great deal of despair before Auba’s winner, was a journey too far. I am really grateful that Sky didn’t schedule it and show it on tv. I’ve a feeling I would be having to buy a new one right now, as the one that started the day would have finished in the skip.
It’s becoming really hard work being an Arsenal supporter just now, really hard work😭
Wow,
conceding the number of goals we do is just not sustainable.Emery doesn’t rate Torreria,why he rates Xhaka is a mystery to me.Also what is the point of Ozil on the bench ? I can’t imagine him impacting the game like that.
Our rivals had a bad weekend though.Top 4 is up for grabs.Leicester are in the mix though.
I’m off to Australia for a month in a few hours, might not be able to visit the House.I will look out for my mate Scott – it’s not like it’s a big place after all…
At the very least, our lads showed some resolve today.
Shame it didn’t happen a week ago.
I didn’t see an Arsenal 1st team game until Billy Wright had been sacked, but I have been told, many times, how terrible we were under the ex-Wolves and England captain.
Therefore I cannot really compare Unai Emery’s Arsenal with Billy Wright’s, but I did see the Arsenal team of Bertie Mee before he retired and that has to be the worst Arsenal team I’ve seen. A team that ended up scrapping to avoid relegation.
The team at the end of Terry Neil’s reign and the team post bung of George Graham were also pretty pathetic as well. Those seasons are easy to forget and I mostly have done, but the ghost of that rubbish remains in the recesses of my memory – I wish they didn’t…
When you see Chris Whyte leading the Arsenal attack, Terry Mancini at centre half, George Wood in goal, John Hawley as our centre forward, Brian Hornsby up front, Chris Kiwomya, Glenn Helier, Pal Lydersen or the sole summer signing of John Hollins and many many more it makes you realise (well it makes me realise) that we’ve seen some terrible shit in an Arsenal shirt and imo a lot worse teams that the mob we have today…
That’s not to say that I’m happy about today’s Arsenal it just that I thought it needed saying Gooners…. 🙂
It’s a fair call, Kev.
The issue now, imo, is that we have a damn talented squad who aren’t playing near their potential, but most importantly, our defence is not any better than it was 2 years ago and for that, it’s hard to make any excuses.
You’re right though-things aren’t as dire as they may seem.
Wavy. Seems to me that, in finding a place for Xhaka, Unai sees no use for Torreira. A stream is not ideal but I think Xhaka got another booking for a senseless tug of a shirt and his lack of athleticism and impetuosity always has me worrying that he could go at any time. He can ping a fine pass but seems to slow everything down. Torreira often seems like a striker when he comes on. The midfield is a bit of a mess for me. Guendouzi was great today and we have the bite in Torreira but can’t seem to find much stability. We have creative players who can link things together but solidity is flakey.
We’re a one-half team still but the comeback today will hopefully build a bit of team spirit and belligerence.
It is a really hard watch though I agree.
Scott, the thing that screams out to me in this squad/team, is the ongoing lack of a proper defensive midfielder, not the defence…
Wenger failed to address this issue for years, fiddling around the edges with ersatz D/M’s instead of solving the problem and paying good money for a quality player of that type.
His inactivity in this area imo accelerated his demise…
Emery shows the same worrying stubbornness in this area.
Torrieira is our best defensive midfielder and he uses Xhaka instead.
If it gets him the sack, then so be it, he’ll deserve it…
Kev,
Agreed and it’s been that way for a long time now.
Why do we have one manager after the other who cannot see the obvious, when 95% of the fans can? That’s pretty unlucky. AW had credit in the bank but I couldn’t support the longer it went on. Emery seems to be saying sillier and sillier things, his English seems worse than when he joined and he has blind faith in certain players and compounds this by making one of them captain!
Thanks for that Adam. Having just watched MotD2 I have a slightly clearer idea of what happened today. In a highlights programme drawing conclusions is difficult simply because there’s not enough fluency or connection with the game. However, there was a bit of analysis showing our defensive ‘discipline’ or ‘organisation’. It showed approx 9of our players dotted about on the 18 yard line having conceded the 10/15 metres up field. The mid field had been absorbed by the back four none of whom were attacking the ball which was 10/15 metres in front of them. The Villa players just moved the ball forward with gay abandon through ‘no-man’s land’. They just let them come! Now where does the fault lie. The players for being naughty and not carrying out their duties or the coaches for forgetting to tell them where to be when the opposition attack them? Buggered if I know and the same probably goes for the players.
Kev, I have no real gripe with the ability of the players we currently have. Some are truly gifted, unlike some of the names you mentioned earlier. I saw Kiwomya and Helder make their debuts at Highbury. They were as good as you suggested! I think GG signed them and then got sacked, so they played and he’d packed his bag/desk! (Arsenal beat Notts Forest 1-0. The game was dire, but Merson was a revelation, he scored too). That side was awful.
I think we have some real quality players, it’s not their fault. I suspect they are being instructed to do stuff that is both unnatural and is way beyond their comfort zone and ,frankly they can’t achieve. Playing out from the back for example, or defending in two banks of four. Etc etc.
Returning to today’s theme, is it the players fault? Or, is it the fault of the coach who seems unable to transfer his playing demands to the squad who having processed his demands have not and cannot translate these into practical applications on the field of play.
I think Dick’s style of play cannot be put into practise because nobody knows what to do or indeed how to it!
In my opinion, of course. Sorry to ramble and rant but you know….I want my Arsenal back and I’ve seen no sign of it arriving any time soon.
New post up now