Morning all.
Twelve shots, four on target and one goal. Would have been two if Gabriel Martinelli had been paying attention to Fulham’s back line. At this level of the game, he should have been smarter.
Two more points dropped in a game which we should have won. We were all over Fulham at the start of the game before one quick break saw Jimenez give Fulham the lead.
After the break, we equalised. A Declan Rice free kick ended up going out for a corner. Rice crossed it, Kai Havertz nodded it down and William Saliba poked the ball past Bernd Leno. VAR checked for offside but the big toe of a Fulham player kept William Saliba onside.
As the end of the game drew near, Gabriel Martinelli found Bukayo Saka at the far post and he headed home what every Arsenal fan thought was our winner. However, after another VAR review, it was disallowed.
Whilst is easy to be frustrated with Martinelli for straying offside, I found it frustrating to see a number of really good opportunities to score squandered, the best falling to William Saliba and Thomas Partey who headed wide from really good corners.
Mikel Arteta:
Gutted that we didn’t win it, because I think we deserved to win from the beginning to the end. We did almost everything that we had to do to win it. But this is the quality of the opposition, with one chance they score a goal. And then the margins of the league as well. For millimetres we could have been sitting here with three points after a really strong and dominant performance against a really good team.
Were Fulham that good? I’m not so sure. We just lack a ruthlessness in front of goal or rather a player who is ruthless in front of goal. I know, I’ve written that so many times I’m boring myself.
Thomas Partey at right back deprives the team of something special down our right. As good as Partey is, he isn’t able to get up and down the pitch in a way both Ben White and Jurrien Timber can and do. As said yesterday, if Kieran Tierney is fit enough to make the bench, then surely he’s fit enough to start so why not start him, him or Myles Lewis-Skelly – keep Timber at right back which in turn leaves Partey in midfield where he belongs. That way, it’s less shuffling around of players or as we used to say in Arsene Wenger’s time, fitting square pegs into round holes.
Lastly, not so long ago, Mikel Arteta said he wanted to play Raheem Sterling more than he has so far yet he seems to prefer Gabriel Jesus instead. Sterling has pace, a bit of trickery and has been known to score a goal or two whereas Jesus has been little short of dreadful for a while. If our “striker”, which I assume Kai Havertz is these days, is substituted, what’s the point in bringing on a player who has forgotten where the goal is, in his place? A player who yesterday, completely bottled going 1v1 with Leno for the ball.
Mikel Arteta said in his press conference that he wants the club to be the best at everything which is great but he’s not going to achieve that without a goal scorer or two. The goals we score from set pieces, our wingers and midfielders etc should always be in addition to the 20 odd goals a top notch striker might score, not instead of…
Moan over…
Monaco at The Emirates on Wednesday night is Arsenal’s next game.
Catch up in the comments…
Good morning Rico,
Martinelli is getting stick all over the media with Merson having his say in no uncertain terms. In fairness it’s hard to blame a player for being inches offside when he was eager to make a difference when coming on as a substitute. His cross to Saka was an absolute peach, shame about the offside.
Morning Rico and all.
It’s a bit unfair to name one person for a lose or win, it comes down to a team performace and the managers use of the interchange players,
I don’t listen too much from Arteta as he it’s pretty much the same comment every time,
Totally agree with the text.
We are a pretty team , we are very nice , easy on the eye and quite laid back in a game when we are obviously superior . For 10 minutes they didn’t touch the ball, for 10 minutes we were completely dominant . Did we capitalise on this ? Did we use our dominance to put Leno under enough pressure to crack ?
NO we didn’t , we were too nice , we were out for a stroll , it was a matter of time until there was a goal , and then there it was .
Drawn forward by the total ball possession as we passed it around square , back , side to side trying to slip Saka into his usual shooting position we got caught in true Wenger style by the first bit of direct football from a one pass move where Jimenez left Kiwior flat footed , turned and with no cover anywhere close , we were 1 goal down.
Fulham then erected a brick wall and we spent the rest of the game looking for a set piece because we didn’t have the flair , the pace or the movement to break back .
Again it was a corner that rescued us , had it been called offside , would we have been surprised ? it was tight probably so tight that when Saka scored at the end the Stockley park crew felt that they could not allow another one and deemed Martinelli offside by the same margins that they allowed Saliba’s to stand.
We can complain about players being in unfamiliar positions . We can complain about the substitutions too but really it’s about the attitude . It’s about the will to go for the throat and put teams out of the game . We don’t have that drive and as much as I admire our captain for his skills he is no Tony Adams or Frank McLintock when it comes to pushing the team over the line .
Whilst we have these games in us we will remain the bridesmaid , as much as we need a goalscorer we need a driven entity in midfield that won’t accept games like yesterdays.
Morning Geoff, Cicero, all.
Spot on Potter. Possession is great if there’s an end product but their goal was pretty much what we are not. Dynamic, quick and ruthless..
Surely the lack of purpose in our play comes from Arteta. It’s his tippy tappy tactics
As I have said before, unless Arteta changes his tactics, he maybe a good coach but does he have what it take to win the league I am not conviced.
I also think it’s harsh to single out Martinelli,especially as it was only a matter of inches/centimetres. And it’s not like others didn’t miss golden chances. And our defenders were caught out badly with their goal.
So really unfair to single him out,I thought he looked like making something happen when he came on.
Arteta has a reputation as a smart tactical coach,it’s time to show that.
If you look at our next few fixtures we can win them all.
We probably need to.
Good afternoon Rico and all
Good post Rico. But I still dont agree with you (and also many others I suppose) that what we need is a goalscorer. Someone with an eye for goal is always needed yes. But that is only a small part of the problem.
I am more concerned with the lack of creativity, lack of open play clear chaces that we should be expected to create against top half teams. Jorginho and Rice together in midfield is negative for a side like us and while it was good in previous game against Man Utd its not good against certain other teams. Were Zinchenko and and Lewis Skelly really injured or where they not chosen simply because Arteta wanted to prove a point and play PArtey in RB while moving Timber to LB. Tierney should not have been chosen on the bench simply because he needs to be sold before getting injured when someone wishes him good morning or good evening. Who did you dread most and think we were going to drop points against??? Fulham or Man Utd??? I guess we were dreading United more than Fulham.
People can blame Trossard, Havertz, MArtinelli all they like but if Odegaard is heavily loaded by opposition pressure in midfield than nothing happens. I agree that Martinelli should have been more aware of the offside being in such a great position however that is one moment in the game. A mistake many players have committed over and over again. What about the sloppiness in the first half?? What about the lack of urgency in the first half? what about our approach in the first half?? Even if we had a goalscorer would we have scored against such a low block??
Why can’t Arteta be brave and play attacking football. Corners are not going to save us every game. It’s pleasing that we are frustrating opponents with such good set piece quality but so frustrating if we are bang average in other parts of our attack.
We have no guarantee that if we sign a striker like Gyokeres, Sesko, Openda etc he will score the goals needed. He will be marked and the onus to score will fall on those around him which might be the same players.
Partey would still have missed those chances when he headed off target with the gaping goal at his mercy. The striker would not have taken his place. If HAvertz had a hatful of chances and missed them all then that argument we need a goal scorer is right. But the chances we had to win in the 2nd half didnt fall to just one player but to different players.
Does that mean we need to replace the whole attack and get 5 players who are goal scorers???
Or does Arteta need to move away from Saka and Odegaard as the creative force since marking them is making our attack look one dimensional???
We dont need a goal scorer. we need creativity and different attacking mind set. Thinkers who think outside the box.
Had those chances fell to a player who loves to score goals Limey, I’m quietly confident At least one would have gone in.
Imagine if it had been Giroud or similar instead of Jesus going for the ball which Leno could easily have spilled if challenged…
Afternoon Devil, thanks.
Away from home against Fulham, once they scored it was always going to be a solid defensive performance from them. I think we lacked something because it was Partey at right back instead of Timber or White who give Saka/Odegaard more support. I also think if we stopped dawdling at the back and moved the ball forwards quickly, defenders wouldn’t have so much time to regroup.
Beside that, we still had 13 shots of which we scored only once. That’s why I think we need a goal scorer. Stick a young Ian Wright in this team and I’m sure we’d not be having a conversation about creativity.
That’s not what I’m suggesting Devil as that would be ridiculous. The point I’m making is Jesus isn’t a striker, in fact we don’t have one in the squad at all which is not only unique, it’s bonkers.
I think that Monaco is a huge huge game, win it and we’re pretty much straight into the knockout phase, it’ll also be halfway to avoiding the qualifying round as beating Red Star at home and Girona away should be easily within our capabilities. Progress in the Champions League is absolutely essential to Arsenal both in terms of finance and status.
Agreed re the Champions League, the money is big deal for every club. Bar Chelsea 😜
Our FA Cup third-round tie against Manchester United will be played on Sunday, January 12 after being selected for live television coverage in the UK.
The fixture against the Red Devils will be a 3pm kick-off at our Emirates Stadium home and broadcast to the nation on BBC One.
David Coote has been sacked…
As long as Arteta has the support of his players, which he obviously does, then it is steady as we go, there’s not been a hint of discord in the camp since Ozil left regardless of a few miserable faces – Leo, I’m looking at you.
Mikel will be aware of the work that needs to be done on the attacking side and I’m sure we’ll see upgrades in the dept over the next few months.
The fans will always give out a smorgasbord of opinions, it leans one way then the next and I’ll be blowing smoke up the proverbial of Martinelli if he scores against the mob from Monte Carlo regardless of my criticism of him yesterday.
My worry is how long they’ll stick around if we continue to go trophyless..
Another one bites the dust! The PGMOL has sacked David Coote, although he does have the right to appeal the decision. This one could run and run.😕
Come on people we are in early December, there’s a long way to go. Don’t write the season off just yet.
I’ve not written the season off, just accepted we’re not going to win the league 😂
Rico 5.26pm. We’ve just gone through a run of results: 3-0, 5-1, 5-2, 2-0, 1-1, that’s not bad at all is it, it’s just that the last two years have been so hard to take after seeing Arsenal play so well and finish up empty handed, it kinda makes you a bit twitchy when we drop points we shouldn’t.
I get it, I was so pi**ed off yesterday – but we still have 4 prizes to play for and as long as we get a fair crack from the referees and a bit of luck with injuries and the cup draws we’ll be ok.
Not Red Star, Dinamo Zagreb, I knew they were from somewhere in the Balkans.
Rico, It’s not only how long will players hang around, it could also have an affect on whether top player will come if there interested in winning trophies, and will sponsors want to pay big money and not see some sort of return.
That’s made me feel better Kev. 😜
Geoff, players will always want to join Arsenal, just look at where we were when the players we now joined the club…
Interesting but the bookies last summer, who don’t often get things wrong and if I recall correctly, made Arsenal favourites alongside Real Madrid and Man City for the Champions League!
They might have changed that opinion a tad given the form of Liverpool but Arsenal are still a team that most opponents want to avoid. The Sporting result in particular will have made a few sit up and take notice.
Who is to be next to bite the dust? Three clubs are, reportedly, on the brink of sacking their manager. Wolves, West Ham and, if the fans start calling for Chairman Levy’s head, Tottenham. Whenever there has been discontent Levy’s reaction has been to sack his manager in order to divert attention away from his own failings.
There could be an argument for Ipswich to join the list, they have just one win in the League from fifteen matches but the manager did get them promoted to the Premiership so may be given a bit more time
Luck of the draw with the Champions League isn’t it? With a fully fit squad I don’t think we should fear any one…
Daily Mail…
Arsenal are reportedly considering a move for Dan Ashworth following his shock exit from Manchester United.
Ashworth’s five-month stay at Old Trafford was brought to an end on Sunday after a series of disagreements with senior figures led to him being axed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
But he could be set for another high-profile job, with Arsenal now viewing him as a contender to become their new sporting director, according to ESPN.
Rico, I guess it comes down to 2 things (1) do they want to win trophies (2) how much influence did Edu have on them joing us, also for bigger pay.
At the end of the day, the most important thing is, any new players can fill in our weakness and not just a bandaid to cover the cracks
Such a vital game tonight as we currently sit 10th in the CL table as do Monaco with so many still unfit including Gabriel and Timber is a doubt .
Morning guys.
New post up.