Today’s fixture is a bit of a rarity with us playing on a Saturday at 3pm. Must mean that Sky Sports and BT Sports believe this match isn’t going to be entertaining or they think it’s a home banker for Arsenal. After all, if West Ham were favourites to win, either one of them would be showing it live I’m sure. Or have I just become a cynical old bugger.
When I think of how Arsenal are playing these days, I often think back to a television programme The Mrs Merton show, played of course by the late great Caroline Aherne. She interviewed Vinnie Jones during one show and said to him something along the lines of ‘so Vinnine, when did you last play football… for 90 minutes?’ I still laugh now, nearly as much as when Shen said to Debbie McGee: ‘What was it that first attracted you to millionaire Paul Daniels?’
Back to the Vinnie analogy. Arsenal aren’t managing to play their best for an entire game, or as near to it as physically possible and circumstances allow. We’ve see a good half here and there, a great half on the odd occasion too but we’re not consistent enough. Nor are we tending to start particularly well either. That has to change if we’re to have a chance of nicking one of the Champions League places which might well come up for grabs. Even a Europa League spot could be in doubt if we don’t get it together. Mikel Arteta has proved he can wake the players up a bit at halftime so I’m confused as to why we aren’t starting well. As is Arteta no doubt.
The Spaniard has spoken about today’s opposition:
They caused a lot of problems to big teams recently. I know David because I worked with him for seven years. I know his structure, I know how organised he is. I am sure he’ll put a team out there that is going to make life very difficult for us. They will compete, they will be physical. We need to use our resources, play our game and then just think about performing. That performance will bring the points home.
It’s hard to know what ‘our game’ really is right now.
West Ham have some big old boys so they’ll a threat on set-pieces, an area of our game in which we’ve been vulnerable of late. They have Cresswell too and we all know what his game is about. Pepe certainly does. David Moyes is no stranger to the deployment of ‘get in and at ‘em’ style of football either. Martin Atkinson and VAR could be busy.
Personally, I think we need be a lot stronger in midfield both in attack and defensively. We certainly need more pace in our attacking play and it’s not like we don’t have quick players but the passing has been too slow and negative. Players like Ozil, Guendouzi and even Pepe are too ponderous. Make the ball do the work with the players making themselves available for the early pass. All to often our slowness allows a defence to get back into position and close us down.
West Ham.
In other words, we can get through their midfield, get at their defence and walk away with three massive points.
However, they can do the same to us if we aren’t focused, especially early on when we often seem to be half asleep. This group of players can react after a Mikel Arteta half-time talk, so there’s no excuse for not responding to his pre-match words either.
Aubameyang should play today, his first game since that awful Europa fixture. I reckon he’ll be in the mood for this one…
Enjoy the game guys, see you in the comments…
I’ve found it…lol
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4QHGccDV2k0
Good morning Rico, A Saturday three o’clock match is what we should expect as a mid-table club playing a relegation struggler.
Nice read, Rico 👍
3pm on a Saturday is my favourite time to go to the Emirates, so needless to say, I’m excited about going!
As you say, I hope Auba picks up where he left off, not only for our league position, but the golden boot!
Should be a good game, I just hope we’re victorious! The table should be looking very interesting at the end of today 🤞
Morning Cicero. I’m glad I don’t live in your cheerful and optimistic world. 😜😜
Thanks Sue, should be ideal weather too. Enjoy.
We need clubs around us to drop points as well as us winning them, but doesn’t look likely today. Have to win this one today as I doubt we’ll get anything on Wednesday.
Rico, there are twenty teams in The Premiership, Arsenal are in tenth position, that looks pretty well like mid-table to me.
I haven’t read too many optimistic comments regarding today’s match and I don’t see much to be optimistic about next Wednesday’s trip to Manchester to play City. I rather expect to still be mid-table on Thursday morning.
Thankfully my world encompasses a little more than the fortunes, or otherwise, of Arsenal.
Six points in our pocket in the two next games will be very good. 🙂
Yes JM it would.
As a doomsayer though, nil points would be very bad! And we’d be lower than mid table, I think.
Would somewhere in between be okay? We’d remain mid table with the hope that we could climb higher. ( I know, it’s the hope that kills you!)
Surely we’ll beat W Ham. If we don’t then our state really does totter.
Coygs.
Cicero, you clearly missed the irony in my comment.
More like a miracle Jm. I’d take 4 though, in a flash.
ARSENAL TEAM NEWS
Team to play West Ham: Leno, Sokratis, Mari, Luiz, Saka, Xhaka, Ceballos, Pepe, Ozil, Aubameyang, Nketiah
Subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Lacazette, Nelson, Willock, Guendouzi, Martinelli.
So Sokratis gets to play right back while our (former?) first choice right back sits on the bench. Strange!
No I didn’t miss it Rico, I didn’t recognise the irony.
Was that a penalty?
78% possession, 3 shots none on target. Doesn’t sound like much of a first half, we can only hope the second period is a bit better.
Foreign channel reports Bellerin pulled a hamstring in warm up.
If that is the case I wouldn’t have expected to see him sitting on the sub’s bench Andrew.
Good heavens we’ve had a shot on target….haven’t scored though.
Cicero, on as a sub!
Wow, worried two minutes when VAR showed clear onside
That’s the way to start a game 3 minutes 57 seconds and England get the first try. 7 – 0.
Phew, that sounded like a tough three points won..
Apparently they were measuring the distance of the players Andrew. Clear and obvious at its best. Not!
Rico the line straight away showed a foot playing him onside. For offsides they have deemed any distance to be offside rather than clear and obvious mistake. Black or white. Rightly or wrongly! But after the Chambers fiasco, we deserved one to be overturned our way.
Not often I’d say it, but West Ham had more chances and probably did enough for a point. Leno some great blocks point blank.
3 points in the right pocket. Next Wednesday, 3 points for the left pocket.
Whoever saw the game, Arsenal dominated, controlled and was the best team on the pitch. Almost 80% of possession (there were times that he passed). It analyzes shots and attempts to shoot, framed or not, and WH had a lot more. There is something wrong here. I don’t understand why Bellerin came in so late. Ozil, when we have the advantage, has to leave the game soon. Without Torreira, we have a hard time holding a game. In addition, Maitland Niles. Haven’t we been able to win any game in U-18 and U-23?
With VAR, Football started to have another associated subject: Descriptive Geometry.
Andrew, I think they make it up as they go along. Apparently the Eddie penalty should have been given too..
20.30 Sky Sports 2 full re-run of the match, a chance to see all the action for yourself.
Burnley 1-0 up
I enjoyed that, Rico… a hard fought 1-0 to the Arsenal 👌 Ceballos was my MOTM, Mari also played well… and how good was Leno?! 👏 3 points in the bag – just what we wanted. I thought it’d be a draw – was elated we didn’t concede in those final moments!
Etihad next – piece of cake, hey?!! Hahahaha!!
I didn’t see it Sue, but the guys on afc.com said Ceballos played well. Auba had a stinker I read..
1-1 Toots
I’ll wait until I’ve seen the game before commenting further but struggling for a late one nil win against a struggling relegation candidate doesn’t augur well for a top four/five finish.
England march on with a good win in a very competitive (tough) game. 🔔🔔🔔
Results are what we need, so job done imo.
The defending is much better so another tick.
Not sure about the improved defence Scott we conceded fourteen attempts on goal only rank bad finishing prevented a nasty outcome.
The first half was a disaster as far as ball retention was concerned, a bit better in the second half but the pace of our attacking was far to slow. Ponderous, lateral and reverse passing gave the Hammer’s all the time in the World to get back and set up there wall.
Aubameyang was rubbish! Our best players were Caballos and Leno.
Andrew, apparently it was Tierney who broke down in the warm up with a hamstring injury. That’s probably another six weeks out.
Cicero, our defence is much better mate, no question, since Arteta took over.
Tierney is turning into a basket case lol
There’s a top player there but maybe they should just let him be this season and get him fit and healthy.
I don’t think the defence is our biggest problem. It’s the midfield….
New post up now
Morning all.
I’m not moaning Scott, just stating the obvious. But, I didn’t and still don’t expect much difference until next season. I was thrilled with the three points, the determination to keep trying until the end, the clean sheet etc but the football? Awful.
Arteta needs a summer of preseason, a couple of midfielders and time imo.
His ‘for sale’ list must be growing. 😆