Morning all.
Arsenal are in limbo and to be honest, they’ve only got themselves to blame. Arsene Wenger was allowed to stay for too long, Unai Emery the same. During that much wasted time we drifted before rapidly declining. A relegation battle is a real possibility although the word battle is not one many of our players seem to understand. If they did, we wouldn’t be where we are this morning on the league table. Fighters, battlers, warriors, whatever you want to label them are few are far between in this Arsenal squad. In fact I bet like me, you’d struggle to fill one hand counting. Plenty of bodies, not many spines.
The pressure really is on now to break this horrible run we’ve been on since around April this year. Poor results have been matched by really scrappy performances. Lady Luck rode with us during our unbeaten run under Unai Emery but late last season she packed her bags and headed elsewhere. Since then our journey in the league has gone from bad to worse.
Freddie’s had just over a week now with the squad and as yet there’s been little sign of improvement. Certainly not as much as we’ve been used to seeing in this league when other clubs make a managerial change and definitely not the kind of impact Mourinho has had down the road, or Ferguson has had after one game at Everton. Maybe Freddie is a slow burner.
We started dreadfully in our last match at home to Brighton, the worst in a long time and it kind of set the tone. Brighton loved the freedom as we struggled to get any hold on the game. Only the introduction of Pepe brought us to life really but even so, a terribly weak defensive display was again our undoing as the visitors went through us time after time after time. We were second best at everything on Thursday evening.
- Possession: 49% – 51%
- Shots: 12 – 20
- On target: 5 – 9
- Corners: 9 – 9
- Fouls: 10 – 11
We didn’t show up in the first half, didn’t work hard and want to play.
“Second half we had a word and were better but we are suspect on the counter and we have no confidence. I need to work on that and get confidence back into the boys.
“At half-time we said ‘This is not Arsenal, we have to give it a crack.’
“We’re in a difficult situation, we’ve lost a lot of games and the confidence has gone down.”
Didnt work hard, didn’t want to play and suspect on the counterattack – summed up nicely by Freddie but how on earth has this come about? How has it been allowed to get this bad? How can Freddie change it and can he?
But, all is not doom and gloom. Despite being close to a relegation spot, there’s over half a season to go yet which still gives Freddie or whoever finally gets the Arsenal head coach job plenty of time to turn things around. Five and a half months is a long time in football. Just as we could go further down the table, we could head upwards too should players suddenly wake up to the idea that in order to improve, individually, they need to do the same. They need to work harder, they need to want to play and Freddie, together with Merts need to ram that message home. No fight, no play. Simple! These are grown men, they don’t have to like each other, they don’t have to like the coaching team either but they chose to join Arsenal so have some bleedin respect for the club and the fans who pay money to watch them.
As I and others have said many times before, our central defenders might not be the greatest but a lot of their issues are laziness. Too lazy to work hard and to do what should come naturally, defending. Same goes for midfield and certainly our forward line. Too lazy to think about where they should be at any one time and where they should go next.
They need to get back to simple football. Put an end to playing ourselves into danger by ending the playing out from the back when the opposition is pressing high. Stop hoofing the ball out from defence up the pitch in hope that Aubameyang will be ready to go from zero to 100mph in a split second to get the ball before it crosses the line after the first bounce. Play simple pass, move and shoot football. Move being the key word. If every player gives 100% effort for 95 minutes each game, our performances will improve and better results will follow.
Beginning at the London Stadium would be ideal, or at least a start.. Charlie Nicholas reckons we’ll win 3-1. I reckon we’ll win too.
See you in the comments guys…
It reminds me othe story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
It’s about personal pride and responsibility .
Stop blaming others until you are doing everything in your power and that includes supporting your team mates.
Hear Hear, I commend the previous comment to The House.
Good morning Rico and all.
It may only be paper talk but this morning in The Telegraph Freddie is quoted as saying he sticking with the older heads and relying on the experienced players in the squad to get us out of the current mess.
I guess that means will see Thud and Blunder in central defence Xhaka in midfield and Ozil in Sleepy Hollow keeping out of the fray but happily trousering this weeks £350,000.
Replacement Stakes Latest!
Manchester City assistant boss Mikel Arteta is now top of Arsenal’s list to replace Unai Emery after Brendan Rodgers committed himself to Leicester and former Gunners captain Patrick Vieira did the same at Nice. (Express)
But Vieira says he is not unmoved by the situation at Emirates Stadium. (Canal+, via Mail)
And the former France midfielder has told friends he is interested in taking the Arsenal job. (Star)
Early January Transfer News!
Arsenal are leading Everton and Leicester in the chase to sign Manchester United and England defender Chris Smalling, 30, once his season-long loan at Roma ends. (Mirror)
Hi Rico and All Well put potter I was thinking on simular limes can not remember what they call then but there are 3 monkey 1 hears nothing 1 see’s nothing 1 says nothing
see’s nothing = back line as they keep loosing the site of opponents strikers
speak nothing = no encouragement to each other on the field
hear nothing = the whole for not listening to the coach
Morning Potter, Cicero, Geoff and all. It’s a bit breezy out there..
I like the first comment today, so very Arsenal…
Hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil.. that’s what you’re thinking of I think Geoff.
Hmm, isn’t that a breach of Evil’s civil rights Rico? 😉
Hi Rico Thanks that the 3 I”m thinking of Did you see the daily mirror are claiming arsenal are willing to sell Aubameyang as long as they can get close to the 60 million pounds they paid for him
Don’t go there Cicero.. 😂
Geoff, we should get more than £60m for Auba I’d have thought..
Everton want Unai Emery apparently. That’ll be interesting if he goes there…
if Everton take Unai Emery and they start winning what would that say about our players, however what happens to Freddie if we loose tonight I read some of the players all ready don’t like him as a senior coach.
Players have to much say and need to be pulled back a peg or two
will Charlie Nicholas play against West Ham?
Not??? !!!
How do we score 3 goals if we only score if we have got a penalty, a free kick or a corner (rarely)?
Cruzeiro was relegated
Another solid post Rico.
Comments kicked off in style today Potter and, some good comments too guys.
Auba isn’t signing a new contract (so far) so, likely he’ll disappear in the New Year followed by x, y, z?
Why is that rumours surrounding possible transfers of “has beens” to Arsenal appear when we are struggling?
If Smalling was allowed to leave Man U it’s probable that he wasn’t up to the task so (yes it may be one of those unsubstantiated rumours) but we shouldn’t be even remotely interested.
Can someone remind me which full back we took from Man U who was also not up to the task, some years ago?
As someone suggested in a earlier comments, we should be looking at some of the defensive qualities of The Championship players, there HAS TO BE some worthwhile contenders – cheaper to buy and, eager to please with sustained effort and commitment, that our current lot are incapable of.
Everton want Emery, Rico?
Iwobi won’t be too happy about that possibility? He just got away in time…….or did he?
Freddie apparently “Sticking with the older heads” like Thud and Blunder, Cicero?
That would be a source of severe depression for me of how this club operates, if that were true, my confidence in Freddie would depreciate faster than Usain running the 100m.
My crystal ball may be optically opaque but surely those running the club have to choose the next candidate with great care or we will end up dropping down to the Championship (which we have never done in the history of this once, great club)?
West Ham tonight…..another nail-biter?
Ex manure- Sylvestre……pile of crap……..hence he played for the aforementioned 😂
Afternoon all.
Not often that I feel this way but, I just can’t see us winning tonight, a draw perhaps that’s as good as I think it gets! And bear in mind w..ham are a very poor team.
Everything at Arsenal seems to have come undone at the seams and I don’t think the ‘garment’ can be repaired by simple ‘darning’. The garment needs tossing in the recycling bin and replacing with a shiny new wardrobe full of this year’s stock.
I should imagine if Auba is binned in the new year that will almost certainly guarantee relegation. Lacazette is not a 20 season goal scorer! And none of the rest are either, not even Martinelli. So where are the goals going to come from?
Woe is me……..
Thanks Andorra, I can only think of tweetie pie too.
Wavy, there’s always Pépé, he was once a striker before turned winger…
Pepe, Transfer fee £72 million (payable in instalments) plus wages August to November, 16 weeks at £105,000 per = £6.80 million. Total liability so far £78.8 million. Or put another way £26 million per goal.
Good business? I’ll leave you to decide.
Rico, could you please delete/bin my last comment, thanks.
For the life of me I cannot remember our last convincing Premier League performance when we were not lucky or played shite…………………………when was it ?…………………last season ?
Evening Rico/all,
great comment Potter, you’ve got to laugh.
Weekend away for me,as I was sat on the train going into Kings Cross,I looked upon Emirates stadium and those images of great players of the past, none of the present lot have got much going on.I don’t care if we get rid of the lot.
Funny enough I also have a feeling we could win tonight.
COYG
Toots and Liverpool at home Lc..
Evening Limey. 1-3 I’m going for…
Fingers crossed.
They’ve been in a similar run of form to us.Great win over Chelsea but mostly poor.
Top post Rico .Thank you. Evening fellow sufferers !
Great comments guys, started brilliantly by Potter.
Not looking forward to tonight I must admit but pleased to see there is some positivity ……..Rico, Limey! I hope you’re right.
What starting line up will we see tonight?
Morning all.
The lucky dip to follow is very exciting 🙂
Hooray, Chambers CB? Tierney in, Pepe in, Marti neli in.
Leno, Bellerin, Chambers, Sokratis, Tierney, Torreira, Xhaka, Pepe, Ozil, Aubameyang, Martinelli.
We’ve still got Thud but Blunder is only on the bench.
Our best games Rico !……………..and only one point ! 🙁
Apart from The Plate Smasher that`s a good looking team…………………..on paper !……………………..now we just have to transfer it from paper to pitch……………….both 5 letter words that begin with p !…………………then it goes shite shape………..both 5 letter words that begin with s !
Just noticed Granny Xhagger is playing ……………………oh well 9 out of 11 aint bad !
Thanks Mike
Lc, I meant last season.
I like that team bar Ozil.. lol
rico,
Ozil v Noble ….. interesting
Bellerin injured in warm up, AMN takes his place……………………make that now 8 out of 11 ! hahaha
Worrying Andrew..
We have Everton in 2 weeks wonder if we will see Emery so soon
Tierney injured now, looks nasty too.
What a coward, seen some backs turned but that was pathetic.
Xhaka pulls out of the header
Oh dear oh dear oh dear…….Showing our lack of mettle again.
What can any manager do against that ?
Really poor from Xhaka.
Perhaps guendouzi on for him second half.
Drab old game between two sides down in the dumps…
Manager could stop them playing out from the back when we now good enough or quick enough to do it. What a shambles.
I know he isn’t exactly flavour of the month, but Xhaka was never going get to that header-different camera angle showed he was well behind and only would’ve given away a penalty if he continues with the challenge but Maitland-Niles was as weak as piss.
Hell, I can kind of condone players turning for a full blooded shot from close distance as that’s always happened in the game but a header?????
Never seen that before!
Heartless and just feeble.
Pepe looks sharp and must continue starting and Martinelli just looks good every time he’s on the pitch.
We have some energy but still keep opening up through the middle.
We really are lacking in the middle of the park but that’s been the case forever and a day.
Still messy in defence and this is why we need someone like Arteta in to sort it, and he would.
Players lack any confidence but so do West Ham-we’ve seen to that, though!!
Dire game of football……2 shots on goal all half. 0 on target ! Christ.
I’ve not seen such a poor display as this since 1966! This is truly awful. Question time would have more movement and urgency than our lot. They are all shit scared of making a mistake/ giving the ball away. No one is prepared to do anything inventive or even quickly. If we carry on like this we truly are potential Championship fodder. And no I’m not joking.
Come on Arsenal, give it some beans.
There’s absolutely nothing from that first half which gives me hope for Arsenal.
Dreadful.
If I were a neutral observer, I’d be thoroughly enjoying the game.
I’d know there are two clubs my side would have covered lol
Messy in defense Scott is being very polite.
Really worried we’re going to gift them a penalty as well.
Mesut Ozil’s body language sums us up I reckon. Lousy!
Andrew, 2 clean sheets away in the league in 18 months, I can understand why they’re all scratching their heads at Arsenal………..must be quite hard to pin point !
Oh come on Rico, It’s a bit cold and windy for poor old Mesut……..Who would you least want with you in a battle. GRRR. (angry face).
Ozils corners are crap.
I detest the bloke Mike. And Xhaka after that pass…
Get Xhaka off ffs before he causes any more damage…
I never want to see AMN in defence again, gutless that duck.
Have we even had a worthwhile effort yet? This is against another poor team. Oh, one effort, 1-1!
Simple football…
Nice.
😂
Pepe!
Did I hear correct, it’s been 8 years since Arsenal have won a game after being behind at half time?
Just maybe, they are as bad as us.
You did Andrew. I doubted that stat in my head…
Are we actually going to win a game?
Two more goals and I’ll believe it..
Auba. Now defend for Christ sake.
Was Ozil listening to me ?
I hope you put a bet on Rico….1-3 Genius!
Hasn’t finished yet Mike. 😜
How bad is it, when you hope one of your own players has concussion?.
Pretty bad Andrew , but you’re not on your own.
Those hugs at the end don’t support the theory that the players don’t respect Freddie. I thought Sokratis was going to cry… 😆
The video session this week should show a two second clip of Chambers sticking his head where few players would dare.
The kids got ticker and others should be embarrassed in their own “efforts”.
Martinelli and Pepe must get more game time
Funny that for a short period, we were going forward as soon as we had possession and scored a few goals.
We then settled back into playing out from the back when 3-1 up.
Please Freddy, ditch that tactic.
We became the result, not the game.
The team is sick and cannot “fall asleep” in the shadow of this result.
The referee was a disgrace. WH’s left-back felt free to override Pepe anyway. When he should have been sent off, he was injured and the game turned.
It seemed to me obvious errors in the organization of the team.
I still don’t understand why Ozil is on the pitch. Everywhere he went, he just had problems. But I still played. Play 90 minutes and there is still no defense-attack link.
Scott …..Absolutely right. A rare bit of grit shown for a change.
rico, The Fredster deserved a break, the underwear come back can go on hold for now lol.
Why not both Micko… Bit chilly on the sidelines for CKs though. Lol
Just back from the cinema – The Good Liar (Highly recommended) and what do I see? “1-3” Rico – your crystal ball was obviously clear.
Xhaka doing his best to throw the game away (what a tosspot) and then………….three absolutely cracking goals.
Is this the turnaround that might define our season as the front trio, Martinelli, Pepe and Auba combined so well and were ruthless in their finishing. The absolute joy on the players faces was so palpable.
Lets not forget though, the defence is THE issue. Sort it (be surgical in January) and maybe, just maybe, we’ll make some progress up the table?
COYG
Andorra, don’t get any ideas about me giving out six numbers… 😜
Rico, bet after 50 minutes you didn’t think we had a chance of 3-1. It was as bad as we have ever seen. But a bit of class and three shots, three goals. Xhaka and AMN awful. But a but if confidence and suddenly quicker passing. Why can’t the players manage it quicker from the beginning. And if Llungberg can’t see this playing out from the back is waiting for the next disaster, then he’s not right for the job.
Andorra, We still open up right down the middle of the pitch, so the midfield remains a concern I reckon.
Still, we showed some fight in that second half and that can carry a side a long way.
Too right I didn’t Andrew. I couldn’t see a goal coming at all.
Really good from Kolasinac though and great movement/timing from Martinelli. He’s got to play more now surely. Smart arse me has been begging for him to play on the left for weeks, months even. 😂
No nightmares tonight…lol
Night guys..
I was unable to watch the game live so have just finished watching the recording.
Eighty minutes of torture! Dull, uninspired torture. Why? Why? Why are we still playing out from the back? Our defence never gets a moments respite, they and Leno are constantly under pressure. There really is no need for it.
Pepe was a revelation, an excellent goal but every defender in the Premiership will be aware of his threat if he gets the ball onto his left foot, he needs to add a bit more variation. Oh, and he’s in danger of getting a reputation as a diver.
Good reflex goal by Aubameyang.
What a beauty by Martinelli.
I liked to to see the reaction to Freddie by the team, something that has been missing over the last ten seasons or so.
Wenger was off like a rat up a drainpipe, as soon as the final whistle blew and Emery was the same.
A nice touch by Torreira, at the end, giving his shirt to a youngster in the crowd.
Three goals to one, away from home, a light at the end of the tunnel? Maybe, or is it the Man City locomotive heading to The Emirates?
Good night Gooners…..everywhere. 😴
Really pleased with the win but………What ever way you look at it we were utter toilet for over 70 minutes of that game.
Martinelli is a revelation. He made 20 sprints (double anybody else and won the ball back more than anybody.
That’s what Freddie should be showing the players! An 18 year old putting the rest of the lazy cowardly bunch to shame. Joaquim, I don’t think the ref had a bad game really. Pepe does like to fall on the floor and West Hams left back did what I wish our backs would do and made life hard for him.
I hope Tierney is ok, but although he’s not much of a defender Kolasinac does show some bottle
AMN needs to have a good look at himself and Xhaka, well, he tried as hard as he could to gift the Hammers a goal. Turns out they.re more shite than we are.
Please God let us get some tough midfielders and defenders in January.
come on Rico we don’t normally agree but this time we must be close to agreeing.
Nice win today but the million dollar question can we keep winning after all looking at the ladder thanks to the other clubs stuffing up we are only 7 points behind 4th place ( yes glass all ways half full ) trying to find positives
Three really good goals, first time in 8 years that Arsenal have won an away game when losing at half time, 2011 vs Chelsea was last time (I think)…
Chambers seemed to have a steady game, but then you don’t have to do a lot to be an improvement on Luiz.
Long way to go, but if you can’t be happy at seeing us win 3-1 away from home, then good luck!
One game at a time and next up it’s Standard of Liege, let’s win that one and continue the confidence rebuild.
Sleep well.
Spot on Kev at 3-27.
New post up now.