Morning all.
I don’t like learning like that, but there’s a lot of learning that we can take from the game for sure. One of the biggest learnings after a disappointing result is focus tomorrow on the next one. Don’t get carried away with what happened in the past because we have to look to the future. We’ll look at what we should have done better and why we got punished the way we did and after that put our energy and focus on the next game. – Mikel Arteta.
No one likes to see their team take a good hiding. Not the players, the staff, the manager and certainly not the fans. Opposition fans will have loved it I’m sure although perhaps not all, not considering there are many fans of the game who actually quite dislike Liverpool. Certainly among my friends. Man Utd fans detest Liverpool I think but then I suspect the feeling is mutual. By the time the home fixture comes around, hopefully we’ll be in better shape physically and mentally and revenge will be sweet.
The positive for Arsenal is that Leicester City, Brighton, West Ham and Man Utd all lost too. But, both Wolves and Toots are just one point behind us. Brighton, who not long ago were sitting in second place have hit a bad patch and dropped down the table and the same has happened to Brentford and Brendan Rogers’ Leicester City. That’s how hard this League is. One minute all looks rosy, the next it’s not or vice-versa as we of all fans know only too well.
Putting right the wrongs from Saturday’s game is what matters now. A much better performance against Newcastle Utd at The Emirates is what matters next. Plus the three points of course. Arsenal need to prove they have bounce back ability. Remember Unai Emery’s first defeat after a twenty odd undefeated run which ultimately cost us a Europa Cup trophy? Even last season, having seemingly turned a corner after beating Chelsea on Boxing Day? The up and down performances/results cost us a place in Europe by the time the season ended because we couldn’t bounce back after things didn’t go our way during a game which led to points being dropped.
Do I think we’ve ridden our luck during the ten game unbeaten run? A bit, yes but when Mendy makes a couple of great saves in a match, or Alisson, Schmeichel, Ederson or Fabianski, does anyone suggest that the team they play for only won their game because they were lucky? Of course not. It’s not Arsenal’s problem if an opposing team can’t take their chances in front of goal, just as the lack of having a clinical striker or two in the side is a problem for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.
Arsenal’s top scorers are Aubameyang and Smith Rowe who both have four goals each. Yes, our 20 year old midfielder is matching our most senior striker. Salah, Vardy, Antonio and Mane have scored more goals individually than our two ‘main strikers’ have if you add their goals together. It’s a huge problem, it really is and one which I can only see having a continual negative impact on what Arteta is trying to achieve.
That’s half the reason I can’t and won’t be too critical of someone like Tavares when he makes a mistake as he did on Saturday because he’s at the beginning of his footballing career, not at the top and earning hundreds of thousand pounds a week. We have a team in which the under 24 year olds are more effective during a game than those who are supposed to be at their peak and because of it, resting/rotating them could have a detrimental impact on the team. Doesn’t that say everything about a lot of our senior/experienced players?
I know Aubameyang has been working hard off the ball etc etc but he’s our main striker yet he’s simply not converting enough of the chances which come his way. It was same last season too as he finished the season having played 29 League matches with just ten goals to his name yet in the two previous seasons he finished with 22 goals in 29 League games.
Auba’s PL stats, just out of interest really.
- Appearances for Arsenal – 125
- Goals – 68 (44 of which were scored in two seasons)
- Shots – 301
- Shots on target – 136
- Accuracy – 45%
- Hit woodwork- 11
- Big chances missed – 49
In my opinion, Aubameyang is at best, a second choice striker these days. A player to come off the bench instead of starting a match. Lacazette’s figures are worse with just two League goals to his name so far and one of those was from the penalty spot. Admittedly, he is playing a different role these days.
So yes, Arsenal certainly need to do something in January as far as signing a striker goes. Otherwise the options during the ACON are going to be Martinelli, Nketiah, Balogun and perhaps even Biereth. None are of which are playing regular or proper competitive football right now. I think the new few weeks will give us more of a clue as to what the club’s plans are for the January transfer window because purely based on logic, now is the time for any player expected to fill a void the ACON will leave, should start getting minutes in the League fixtures.
See you in the comments.
Good morning Rico and everyone. Beautiful writeup I must say.
I feel we should understand our position as a club looking and the strength of other clubs and finishing the season between 4th/6th will be considered a success.
As for our squad, I think we need a second young and vibrant striker, when I say young I mean ages 25/27 with alot of experience scoring.
Another area that bothers me is our midfield, we need muscle in there, players that can’t be easily bullied, partey is not living up to the hype and I hope he comes back from Afcon better but for now his performance is below average. And I don’t even miss Xhaka which says alot about how much he won’t be missed if he leaves.
I keep longing for a fernandinho/ fernando/ fabinho and song kind of player in our midfield, like 2 of those kind of players.
Generally I think as a club we are making progress on and off the pitch and I hope Arteta keeps learning and improving on the team. He is a really good coach I must say.
Morning Rico and All
well put Rico There has been a lot of teams this year that have been up and down which has helped us.
The biggest thing about those stats, is they also show what we fans see, Auba has failed badly,
However looking on the bright side, we are 5th and only 1 win out of the top 4 places can you imagine were we could be if Auba and Laca were scoring goals.
Morning Geoff, Mexzy and all.
I love a midfielder like Gilberto, or Petit and a striker like Wrighty. Simples. 😂
Me too Rico. Me too
If only eh Wavy…
In Arteta’s case he can’t buy personal experience so he has to buy someone that can lend him theirs. Either on the bench alongside him or on the pitch preferably both.
I’m surprised Arteta didn’t bring in a more experienced assistant when he took the job in the first place.
Rico The reason why Arteta will not bring in a more experienced assistant coach is he is worried that any assistant coach with a bit of talent are a threat to his coaching career.
Just read South American governing body of soccer want IFAB to change the half time break from 15 to 25 minutes world wide so they can have entertainment at half time, the same as they do in American football.
I say leave it alone
Perhaps Geoff but there’s nothing he’s said or done to suggest that’s the case.
Good morning all, can you imagine sitting in the freezing cold having to listen to, most probably, a mish mash of pop, rap and other so-called music together with cheer leader rituals and bellowing advertisements during a twenty-five minute mid-game break? For the armchair fans an extra ten minutes of the drivel spouted by the “experts” and pundits with added advertising wedged in would be the last straw for me.
Just another way for clubs to dip into the pockets of the fans. No thanks!
If they brought in half time entertainment can you imagine how much clubs would put ticket cost up.
The American’s have been trying for years to split the halves of football firstly into quarters and latterly split it to three 30 minute sections , like Ice Hockey , all purely to get advertising on the TV . They claim that the average person’s attention span is not long enough to take in about 50 minutes without stopping for in game refreshments.
It’s all about money though , improved income from sponsors etc and refreshment sales in the ground.
Many American’s complained that in Game of Thrones the actors had British accents and they found it hard to concentrate and wanted it dubbed with West coast accents and if you ever watch the American cop or hospital series take a note of how often there’s an obvious join in the film as the advert break is cut out.
When Sky took over football at the start of the Premiership they bought in the SKY Strikers doing a dance act at half time and latterly pop groups to try and boost audiences
. Apart from the fact that they were booed off the pitch I remember The Shamen and Samantha Fox getting howls of abuse at Highbury , the clubs soon realised that the takings at the refreshment bars went down and the idea was dropped.
Unlike like the parachute drop onto the pitch when the North Bank was being converted the somewhat embarrassedly missed the pitch all together.
Happy days , sometimes better than the match.
Morning Rico.
Having lived in the US and travelled there on many occasions I’d estimate their attention span to be about 10 minutes. If that.
Watching the 49’ers at Candlestick Park took hours and hours interspersed with countless hot dogs, gallons and gallons of coke, cheerleaders bobbing up and down and people screaming in each other’s ears about something or other.
The football experience here seems ever more entangled with getting people to bet on just about anything and it’s quite insidious.
Half-time entertainment just wouldn’t work in English football imo.
Morning Adam.
How many days does it take for a Super Bowl final to get through? Lol
That parachute drop tale is funny. I’d loved to have been there.
So, who’s the striker we’d like the club to sign in January?
The Metropolitan Police Brass band marching up and down the Highbury pitch was always sufficient half-time entertainment for me…plus a bag of fresh roasted peanuts of course. 😉
Percy Daltons and Alex Morgan .
…..and at some games the loudest cheer of the afternoon was for when the Drum Major tossed his mace high in the air and caught it on the way down. Did anyone ever witness him dropping it?
A snippet of news from the wrong end of Seven Sisters Road, The Spud’s net debt has risen by just over £100 million from 2020 to £706 million and the club made pre-tax losses of nearly £150 million for the two-year period of the pandemic. This comes after Levy spent £1 billion on The New Swamp and £400 million on new players since it opened.
Despite spending all that money, it’s been 4,116 days since they last won a trophy. The League Cup against Chelsea on February 24th 2008.
….and long may it continue. 🤞
Wow, that’s a lot of money to owe.
I wonder if they regret not taking the money for Kane when it was at it’s peak.
I bet they do. Just like we should have taken the money for Alexis.
Yeah Cicero, he dropped it twice in succession, the stadium was rocking with laughter, it was far more entertaining than the football at the time. I was standing on the North Bank so that’ll give you an idea of how long ago it was…
Highbury was a lovely stadium, it had a certain class about it that modern stadiums just don’t possess, the half time scoreboards, no floodlight pylons, the clock, undersoil heating when many clubs had none so we rarely called off a game, one of the last grounds to have advertising the guy in the West Stand with the enormous top hat, getting soaked at the Clock End, the peanut seller, it’s all so corporate and money grabbing now…
25 minutes at half time – beer sales will rocket, more players will get injured, not for me.
According to the Mirror, Stan Kroenke will have to stump up $790m to settle his lawsuit out of court.
Small change for him, surely?
I’ve just watched the second half of City vs PSG. Probably the best forty-five minutes of football I’ve seen in years.
Arsenal have a long, long way to go before they can compete at that level.
So Kroenke has to to pay $790m I will try to feel sorry for him when I stop Laughing.
Morning all
New post up now
Interesting to see Arteta bring up the return of Arsene Wenger once more, maybe it’s more possible than was first thought especially since the departures of Gazides, Mislintat and Raul.
I doubt that Wenger has any beef with Edu or Mertesaker, two of his old players, most of the Board have left, there’s no history between Arsene and Garlick or Vinnie or Tim Lewis.
Josh seemed conciliatory during his recent PR chat with Sky Sports and Stan isn’t really involved now so who knows?