Morning all.
“It was an intense game. “It was a good game for the fans and we also played very well. I think we deserved to win but the draw is OK because Liverpool are a big team. The way we played was very good. “I think today we saw that we can play our way against big teams. We controlled Liverpool. We played out from the back.
“It was not just lucky or lucky things to create from. We played the ball with passes from behind and that’s the way we want to play. “The coach gives us a lot of confidence to play like this and we train every day very hard with him, and in the videos as well. That’s the way we want to keep going.
“I can’t compare it because last year I was not here but I think [Emery] changed some things – of course, the way we play from behind but also to play very aggressive, the defence is getting better, controlled. We don’t always run up front with nobody then at the back.
“Tactically, it is one step better than at the beginning of the season because it needs time and it also needs time now in the next weeks. If we work like this and play like this, we could have a great season.”
Bernd Leno may have not been at Arsenal last season or those before but plenty of others have. It’ll be from them he’s learned about how things have changed I’m sure. It’s has to have been. I like the word ‘aggressive’, not in general but in terms of football. Aggression together with great timing is the way footballers survive, certainly defensive ones. There’s nothing better than seeing a good old fashioned defender make a good old fashioned tackle. If ever there was a defender who would have loved to have stuck around long enough to benefit from Unai Emery’s football it was Gabriel. He was a beast who with a bit of fine tuning would probably be pairing up with Sokratis in this side. Not that I’m complaining about Holding or Mustafi, well, Holding.
But it’s not just the defensive players who are playing with more ‘aggression’, Iwobi is doing a bit more, as is Lacazette who seems to love tracking back to stick his boot into someone. Occasionally he gets the ball too. I jest about the last bit. A little. In fact barring Ozil and imo, Mkhitaryan, everyone does their fair share of getting stuck in. Certainly on Saturday they did.
Then there’s his ‘better and controlled’ comment. The defending is definitely better but the way we defend still has work to be done. I’m not going mad by saying that as what I mean is, if we were better defending as a unit, opposition teams would not be getting into our box or down the wings as much as they do but once they do, we’re working hard, no, harder to ensure they don’t score. Hope that makes sense. Even so, we look miles better than we did this time last year. Much of that is down to individuals being coached properly and improving in my opinion. The addition of our little terrier has made a difference too. A big one.
Playing out from back works well when Leno is between the sticks but when Cech plays, it all seems to go a bit wrong. Doesn’t mean to say Cech is a dreadful keeper, he’s just different. Behind the two is Martinez and then Macey, both who if turn out to be top keepers themselves, means we’re well covered for the foreseeable.
More from Leno:
“First of all, it (referring to playing ahead of Cech) gives me confidence to play in big games like Liverpool. But I think he (Emery) pushes us because nobody is safe to play. I think both of us will play many games this season and so the performances have to be good. I think we push each other every day in training and in the games.
“I am proud and happy the coach decided on me and I will give my best performances so that won’t change.”
Thats the kind of stuff we want to hear from our players isn’t it? Mutual respect between the two fighting for number one, they work together to push each other to be the best they can be. No rivalry, just putting Arsenal first. Same goes for Martinez because when you hear Emery talk about his keepers, he always mentions the three together. Smart.
But I think that’s Emery all over. He has a squad, all of whom he believes in. He’s not afraid to rotate, nor is he afraid to drop or substitute players if he believes it’s for the good of the team. Clearly, he doesn’t rush players back from injury either as goodness only knows how long Monreal has been ‘assessed’ for before returning from injury.
We’ll see rotation again on Thursday night too when Sporting Lisbon arrive at The Emirates for our return Europa fixture, which is great for the guys like Elneny (if fit) Smith-Rowe, Maitland-Niles, Pleguezuelo, Eddie and co, although the latter hadn’t seen much action yet. Once this match is over and as long as we win it, we might see other under 23 players come into contention too.
Bernd Leno seems to think so:
“On Thursday we have to win, then the group is finished for us. Maybe we can change a lot of players then as we have a lot of games in November and December.
It won’t quite be over as we’ll still have two more fixtures but I know what he means. Win the group, rest the players and concentrate on the domestic games.
Sounds like a plan…..
Morning rico, house, good post. How refreshing it is being a Goooner again, now we seem to have a plan! It may not work, personally I think when Cech plays he should play as he always has, but everything we hear, gives optimism that was nearly drained out of most of us.
Morning all. I really hope we can rotate heavily for the game against Sporting. Let Kolasinac get some more game time, let Lichtensteiner play, Cech, Welbz, Niles, Sokratis, Ramsey.. Rest the likes of Torreira, Xhaka, Bellerin and so on. Let’s beat them, secure 1st place and then win big against Wolves and let the players go on international duty with no pressure 🙂
Just caught up with yesterday’s later posts, Kev, Potter, rico, you maybe right that AW caused some of the bad feeling among refs. Not a fair reason for the bias that happened, but may be in part an explanation. What I’ll never understand was against Chelsea when ref sent off the wrong player (Gibbs) and many Arsenal players appealed to him. Did he really think in this day and age of TV, that they were ALL lying? But nevertheless he wouldn’t listen. Imagine if he had taken what every player had said, and then they were all proved liars? But no, arrogance of ref was incredible.
Morning Andrew, thanks.
Odd though how quiet it is here. Yet there’s so much to be positive about.
Adk, I think Emery will rotate. Elneny, Guendouzi, Cech, Welbeck etc etc. Central defence is where we’re short..
Wenger’s problem Andrew was he only usually moaned after we’d lost so it always sounded like he couldn’t handle defeat.
Mind you, he couldn’t.
Afternoon Rico. You’re right. Where the officials were concerned there was a quiet rage burning inside Wenger as he knew what was going on. Actually there was the same thing within many of us as we suffered some scandalous performances from referees over the years. I can remember that dickhead Poll fitting us up royally against Newcastle back at Highbury. Sending Sol off for what was a quite magnificent tackle on Shearer I believe. Wenger protested and things were seldom ‘right’ after that. Riley slaughtered us at Old Trafford and allowed the Neville’s and Scholes to essentially kick the life out of Reyes, turned a blind eye to Van Nistleroy punching Freddie straight in the chest and then went on become the head of a very, very dubious organisation responsible for officiating but without any checks or scrutiny regarding their actions. The list of refereeing scandals is essentially endless.
G’day to you all. another good ‘un Rico.
It’s encouraging to know that there are no favourites in Emery’s squad, those that play do so because they are worth a place in the team.
I don’t think there will be wholesale changes on Thursday, it’s an important game in that a win will ensure we are group winners. The final two games in the group will provide sufficient opportunities for the younger players to show their paces.
Perhaps it’s quiet Rico, because there is considerably less to moan about.
Afternoon Adam, what a good memory you have.
Thanks Cicero. After the effort the team put in on Saturday, I think he has no choice but to rotate. Certainly hope Torreria is nowhere near the subs bench let alone the first eleven.
Rico. Where scandalously bad decisions and horrible fouls are concerned I have the memory of a Pachyderm. 🙂
😆 Adam. Mine is terrible as you know. Too much time spent on the 19th hole… lol
Afternoon Gooners.
Afternoon Rico, good comments from Leno, they give you just a glimpse of how things are inside the camp.
I bet that the dressing room is a more noisy environment with the likes of Sokratis, Lichtsteiner and Guendouzi pumped up, no more nicey nicey Arsenal.
Afternoon Kev. Training photos always look like they’re a boisterous lot. Lol
Ghendouzy will be one, two or theree match off?
One Jm, and he’s served that.
Monaco two nil down at home to Brugge after 22mins. Thierry for the chop in the morning? 😈
Make that three nil, sacked at half-time?
I believed for a long time that it was Wenger versus the PGMOL . His demeanour suggested that he was superior and that he knew best it was guaranteed to upset the northern based referees executive. He went head to head with Webb, Poll and Riley he proved them to be culpable and inevitably they got their revenge.
However that has gone away , hope that Gazidis has Collina in his pocket otherwise if he replaces Gattuso , Milan might find that the long arm of the law stretches across Europe.
Fergie seemed to get plenty go his way and he was a hell of a lot more aggressive to officials than Arsene ever was.
Officials are supposed to be neutral, so regardless of how managed carry themselves, their failure to be fair is on them, not the managers IMO.
New post up now.