Morning all.
What is there to say other than that was awful from Mikel Arteta’s team. Especially the first half. I’ve said it before I know but just because Xhaka at left back worked once, it doesn’t mean it’ll work again and let’s be honest, it didn’t work against Everton, nor did it work last night. With Cedric fit, I don’t understand Arteta’s decision.
For all the pre-match talk about Aubameyang, Lacazette, Tierney and Luiz being fit or ‘training like a beast’ as far as Tierney is concerned, just Odegaard came back into the starting eleven. Luiz and Aubameyang made it as far as the bench. Unlike Balogun.
Sloppy defending pretty much gifted Villarreal their two goals and with zero real threat up front, we looked unlikely to score. Two penalties given by the referee, one chalked off for handball by Pepe in the buildup, the second despatched by the same player to give the club a small lifeline in the tie. I say small because Arsenal have been dreadful at The Emirates this season. Another week though and perhaps Lacazette and Tierney will be fit enough to start. Boy we’ll need them too. If it wasn’t for a couple of really good saves by Leno, Man Utd would be facing Villarreal in the final I’m sure.
We didn’t want to come here and lose but after the way the game developed, you have to take the result. If you have to lose it is probably the best result we could have. Two different halves. We started to be us, in the first half there were so many moments we weren’t.
We started to chase and were not precise with the ball, didn’t have enough control. We didn’t have enough threat or desire to attack the box, in the second half it was completely different. We are very used to that (Bukayo Saka playing well) this season, but it tells us we need to do much more as we cannot always rely on him. Bernd Leno was very good, at 2-0, the chance with Gerard Moreno, he saved us.
I am confident we have a chance to win.
Arsenal’s best football came after Ceballos had been sent off but once Capoue received his marching orders, Unai Emery decided to protect the scoreline he had and that was that.
The fact that Arsenal were beaten by Unai Emery’s team doesn’t bother me at all because sometimes an opposing team is just better but the manner in which we lost it irks. Mikel Arteta played a Europa Cup semifinal without a striker, with our slowest play marking a player renown for his speed and trickery whilst leaving two ‘proper’ fullbacks on the bench along with three strikers in Martinelli, Aubameyang and Nketiah. Then, even though his team were playing badly, he stood on the sidelines and did nothing about it. Yet he had five substitutes to call on.
Could you see a second booking for Ceballos looming large? Yes, me too. What’s the point of bringing Willian and Elneny on with just seconds of the game remaining?
I know it’s easy to be super critical after the game but as these fixtures play out, it’s like we’ve gone back a few years and Arsene Wenger is sitting in the dugout because he always seemed to make changes according to the clock and in my opinion, Mikel Arteta is doing the same. Where is his in game management?
As said the other day, I want Mikel Arteta to succeed but it’s getting harder and harder to believe he will and if he doesn’t, he’ll only really have himself to blame.
See you in the comments.
Arteta has no future in arsenal. I don’t see anything new in him next season. He has refused to grow.
t
Good morning Rico.
I’ve repeated my comment from a little earlier this morning.
Emery must have been rubbing his hands with glee when he read Arteta’s team sheet, Xhaka at left back, Ceballos left midfield. Neither had the pace or nous to cope with Villareal’s flying winger Chukwueze and Emery took full advantage of the situation.
What is a “false nine”? The position the unfortunate ESR was asked to play. He had never taken that role before and it showed. His best efforts in midfield were sorely missed and his effectiveness higher up field was non-existent.
The nearest Pepe got to “leading the line” Was when he stood on the spot after Saka “won” his penalty.
Arteta needs to cut out the clever dickery and get back to basics, square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round ones.
Leave your comment.
Emery must have been rubbing his hands with glee when he read Arteta’s team sheet, Xhaka at left back, Ceballos left midfield. Neither had the pace or nous to cope with Villareal’s flying winger Chukwueze and Emery took full advantage of the situation.
What is a “false nine”? The position the unfortunate ESR was asked to play. He had never taken that role before and it showed. His best efforts in midfield were sorely missed and his effectiveness higher up field was non-existent.
The nearest Pepe got to “leading the line” Was when he stood on the spot after Saka “won” his penalty.
Arteta needs to cut out the clever dickery and get back to basics, square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round ones.
Emery must have been rubbing his hands with glee when he read Arteta’s team sheet, Xhaka at left back, Ceballos left midfield. Neither had the pace or nous to cope with Villareal’s flying winger Chukwueze and Emery took full advantage of the situation.
What is a “false nine”? The position the unfortunate ESR was asked to play. He had never taken that role before and it showed. His best efforts in midfield were sorely missed and his effectiveness higher up field was non-existent.
The nearest Pepe got to “leading the line” Was when he stood on the spot after Saka “won” his penalty.
Arteta needs to cut out the clever dickery and get back to basics, square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round ones.
Good morning Rico,
I’ve repeated my post from earlier this morning.
Emery must have been rubbing his hands with glee when he read Arteta’s team sheet, Xhaka at left back, Ceballos left midfield. Neither had the pace or nous to cope with Villareal’s flying winger Chukwueze and Emery took full advantage of the situation.
What is a “false nine”? The position the unfortunate ESR was asked to play. He had never taken that role before and it showed. His best efforts in midfield were sorely missed and his effectiveness higher up field was non-existent.
The nearest Pepe got to “leading the line” Was when he stood on the spot after Saka “won” his penalty.
Arteta needs to cut out the clever dickery and get back to basics, square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round ones.
Leave your comment.
Sorry Rico, a problem,since testerday I can only see a single line in the comment box.on my PC but it’s ok on my tablet.
Thanks Rico for your fine Piece .You always make my day with your writings .One thing is clear , Arsenal will not win the Europa league this season, especially with Arteta in charge, Except with an act of God..I hope we even get to the Final, which is not even certain at all. Imagine ,playing a semi final match without a recognized striker, even though we have three on the bench. etc…What Arteta sees in Ceballos defeats me. This Guy has been causing us so many headaches and goals throughout this Europa campaign, but he persist in using him..I hope his stubbornness causes him his job, even though I don’t pray anybody to become jobless .Well, I hope we scale through to the finals so that we can at least have something to look forward to in this season that has been nothing short of disaster for us.
Morning Cicero, no problem.
I’m baffled by last nights team and performance, I really am.
Thanks Chairman, if our injured are available next week then I think we might sneak through but our home form has been far from convincing so anything could happen. Emery will desperate to go through.
yesterday was a collection of motley crew being put together to form 11.
I am disappointed and also disheartened by what I saw. I just keep hoping that Arteta does well and that he gets tactics and formation right. But after a few minutes my head drops and I realize that it was like the proverbial carrot dangling in front of you…..never to reach it.
As I pointed out in the previous post…..is it Arteta’s way to show the board that they need to dish out money by setting us up to fail???
Because if yes than he has no balls to tell teh board what he really wants
Hi Rico,
I don’t know what to think about our manager I have backed him all the way until last night and now it leaves me wondering what the hell is going on. A master stroke of genius is was not, Arteta is really testing us fans. I could see the sending off coming to be honest I was shocked not to see Martinelli come on in his place at half time. What the hell is
Artetas beef with playing Martinelli he’s such a handful and would never have been outpaced by their full back. why in gods name wasn’t Cedric playing left back and why wasn’t one of our strikers playing time and again balls were crossed in with no one on the end of them. Basically Unai must have been laughing. His strategy was to run at pace through our midfield taking them out of play and then having greater numbers against our defence and it worked a treat we were lucky we didn’t concede more. And it was obvious from the way the second half played out that VR were defending their 2-0 advantage which was a bad mistake snd let us back in.
The one thing that really gets me wound up is Martinelli not starting these recent games when he’s fit. Every time he plays he’s a handful. I can only guess it’s Artetas way of hiding the fact he wanted to Sign Willain and we all know Martinelli would outclass him and Arteta doesn’t want to highlight that. But I think he’s making it worse. Sometimes we make mistakes move on play Gabi and use Willain when needed. Martinelli should be 4th or 5th name on the team sheet every week.
Hi Mig.
I don’t get the Martinelli situation either, but then I didn’t understand the Martinez or Saliba decisions either. But the most bizarre is as you say, leaving Soares out for Xhaka who’d have been more affective in midfield alongside Partey.
The mind boggles right now.
Devil, I can see where you coming from re the board but I’m sure they already know what’s needed. This was a Europa Cup semi-final and Arteta chose to experiment up front. Surely one does that in a league game where there’s nothing left to play for, not against a team like Villarreal in a cup match which has so much resting on it.
If Aubameyang is fit enough for the bench, he’s fit enough to start, same goes for Martinelli.
Everyone is scared of Utd.
The same Utd who have tolerated Ole and his terrible tactics, poor subs and bad transfers while the fans, who obviously know everything, have been calling for his head for years.
Oh he’s suddenly learned how to do his job, and with a big budget behind him so we must fear them.
I hope you all understand my point.
Hi Rico and all,
Devil I don’t think Arteta is setting us up to fail because Kroenke will not spend any more money than he has in the past.
What I don’t understand is why his assistant coaches don’t speak to him about his team line up, are they worried that Arteta will sack them for questioning his decision’s or is he too stubborn and will not listen to any one else.
Morning All and a very fair summation of the game Rico, Villarreal should have killed us and that’s the only positive to come out of yesterday’s game, we’re still in it…
I was texting a couple of friends and my son during the game but one of my friends asked ‘where is ESR?’ and I couldn’t tell him. I guess I kinda assumed that Pepe was our centre forward but it transpires that Emile was a false 9, which is a snazzy term for saying a deep lying centre forward but is Smudge suited to that role because he was fairly invisible until Ceballos got sent off?
Morning Rico/everyone
Totally agree with the summing up of last night’s game.
Bizarrely the sending off helped us, Ceballos was having a stinker anyway, also Xhaka at left back wasn’t working. Perhaps next week Xhaka will be back in midfield, where his partnership with Partey seems to work, a full back at left back, hopefully Tierney. The team play better with Lacazette at the moment so hopefully he will be back too.
I know Pepe scored the penalty and you can’t fault him for effort, I just don’t think he’s all that good. I reckon he’s worth maybe a quarter of his fee. Rico put up a video of his goals in France a while back, a lot of them were penalties.
All those crosses were pointless, we had nobody who could head the ball anyway, and yet that tactic carried on and on. Also it’s a mystery to me why Martinelli is not playing.
And yet we still have a chance next week, we really were poor last night, you know it’s bad when your goalkeeper is your best player, fair play to Leno.
Hopefully we can build on our luck next week.
Ffs Kev, we win.
It’s that simple 🙂
Hi Geoff. I’m not sure Arteta’s assistants are experienced enough.
Kev, I reckon ESR and Saka are knackered. Plus, I think the players were just as baffled last night as we were.
I actually thought that Ceballos was unlucky with the ‘foul’ that led to his ultimate red card, I’m sure it wasn’t deliberate and where else could he put his foot? Emile then came into the game when Dani was sent off but the real mystery to me was why Arteta didn’t react after the 2nd goal went in because the game only began to swing when Emery made some changes and Villarreal went into ‘we hold what we have mode’ it had nothing to do with what Arteta did.
Morning Limey, at least Ceballos won’t be in the team next week. Lol
Agree re Leno, he certainly kept us in the tie.
I’m not sure about that Scott, I’m not confident at all I’m afraid…
Rico, I think that both Saka and Smudge should be rested for Newcastle, give them a chance to recharge their batteries, but he probably won’t…
Agree Kev, there’s nothing in the game for us so no one could criticise Arteta if he rested ESR and Saka, Partey too. Talking of which, I’ve been utterly underwhelmed by him this season.
Kev, we will win easily.
Geoff how do we know what Arteta’s assistants are saying? Maybe they’re the ones telling him to do all the wrong things.
Cicero, I get your point, I mean every time I got it… 😀
But in all seriousness I don’t think that Xhaka was the main issue, because I think the Villarreal winger could have given Tierney some problems, but when Chuckwueze passed inside who was picking the guy who had the shot? The second goal was even worse, a free header, unmarked to another unmarked guy who scored, who is our dead ball expert? Sack him!
We were sloppy, slow to react and lacked urgency in the 1st half and that has to be on the manager, he prepares the team and they looked, well unprepared…
You know I no fan of Mourinho but he reacts if something isn’t working and that’s something that maybe Arteta doesn’t do, Martinelli on after 30 minutes just makes sense to me but hey, it’s only 1-2…
We won’t Scott.
DG I don’t think that Arteta is trying to tell the Board anything it’s just what he is and what he is is increasingly an image of Guardiola, but without the £1b squad Pep has at his disposable.
Playing Xhaka at left back, I get that, left footed with a good passing range, not ideal, but maybe those on here who suggested Gabriel have a point although Gabriel has been seriously off form lately and could have dived in and got himself sent off? It’s a no win situation.
Maybe we do miss Luiz and that’s worrying because giving him another contract at his age would be a retrograde step…
Good point Mig, I’ve backed Arteta all the way until Everton last Friday, not having Balogun on the bench just pissed me off and as you say it’s almost becoming an ego thing with Martinelli now and Wenger was like this, the more it’s mentioned and commented upon the less likely they are to do the obvious.
A look of fans turned against Wenger because of his intransigence and I can see worrying examples of the same with Arteta.
As can I Kev. Martinelli was superb under Emery. Just saying.
Rico, yeah, we will.
If we are not going to play with a real centre forward, then Pepe and Saka must take every opportunity to run the ball into the box and draw the fouls. Maybe then we can win the game by “winning” penalties. Emery’s defence panicked twice last night and were fortunate only to give away one penalty with one ruled out, correctly, for a previous hand ball.
Kev, Arteta explained around 2-3 weeks ago why Martinelli was not starting regularly.
Fans can disagree, they can even choose to ignore the explanation totally but that doesn’t mean they’re right even though they think they are.
Although I have been watching the sky closely Scott, I haven’t seen any flying pigs.
Cicero, if you’re like most Arsenal fans, you’ll be dragging your feet wondering why we aren’t winning everything lol
I mean, don’t we have a right to win everything???
But why aren’t we playing a centre forward Cicero, when three are sat on the bench and one not even in the squad. That’s what I can’t understand.
Poppycock Scott, fans don’t expect us to win everything, not that I know what fans really think but, I’d imagine they/I just want to see the basics done well and some sign of progress.
Cicero if the assistance are giving him bad advice then Arteta needs to stop listening to them.
Yes, Martinelli was the star, he was brilliant under Emery, I agree Rico, I know he had that awful injury but what is the point of not using him, ok he might be a bit rough around the edges but he’s like Alexis, he makes things happen, he takes risks and creates for others, like the goal Eddie got against Fulham.
Rico, you can think that all you like, doesn’t make you right lol
Yes Scott, I remember Mikel talking about Martinelli and his fitness issues, so if a player isn’t in the mind of the manager robust enough to do what is required then why pick him?
But tbh the Martinelli scenario is a sideshow, why have four defenders on the bench? Why not have Balogun on the bench? Why have players on the bench who you have absolutely no intention of using like Nelson? I don’t get it?
He needs to play to get back his form I reckon Kev. At least he’ll take on defenders and find spaces.
Scott, agree but the same applies for you. How can it be suggested that fans want us to win everything?
It’s not so much being scared of United Scott . I don’t actually believe that they are that good however I do believe that we are worse
. My point was not running scared of them but being pragmatic . Losing to Villareal is one thing , it will occupy the headlines for a few moments whilst the media cream themselves over United against Roma.
Lose to United in the final however and I believe that Arteta’s goose will be very close to being cooked and I am still not sure if that will be a good thing.
The media will go into overdrive and it will last throughout the close season and despite the board ,Kroenke , Edu etc giving him their support , the crowd will not.
So far he has been lucky to have played in empty stadia , this will not be the case when things restart and all the Wenger out signs will re- emerge with only the name changed and when the players feel the way the wind is blowing we go back to square one again.
never trust what a owner or president of a club say, after all many have come out and said the coach has our full support only to be sacked a few weeks later.
I still think that whether we win the Europa cup or not….Arteta will still be here a year on from today.
Arteta knows that all he needs to do is to win two more games……the return match against Villareal and the final. The other matches do not necessarily matter. The team is safe from relegation. He knows it cannot go much higher up the table. So he is aiming for two matches.
Just a question and I want honest answers….no washing of hands or staying on the fence. ………What if in the return leg against Villareal we produce a first half reminiscent of the game against Slavia Prague? What happens if the players turn it on and put 3 or 4 past Villareal in the first 45 mins?
Please dont bombard me back with …..its all ifs and but. I am asking what happens if the team turns it on like that in the first half.
Remember 2005….when Utd dominated us in the final….only for Arsenal to win on Pens.
Spot on Geoff,they are just like politicians,their lips move when they lie.
I’d be thrilled Devil.
I am a bit sceptic about it myself Rico….because I know from experience that you cannot just snap your fingers and produce a performance like that. However, these are professionals and their performances reflect their attitude. And we know that the problem with our players is not in their skillset but in their mindset. If they want to murder teams they will. They did it…more than once.
Fingers crossed they turn it on in the remaining two games in Europa league
Well Devil, we produced a good performance against Chelsea. Lol
If that happens DG, we will progress to the final…as long as we don’t give away five in the second half. Then….providing we don’t get an absolute hammering in Gdansk Arteta will survive. If it’s a repeat of the fiasco against Chelsea his position will be all but untenable.
It would be nice to know what compensation we paid City for taking their assistant manager, as I rather suspect he was allowed to leave with the promise that unless he made a complete horlicks his time at Arsenal he would return to City when Guardiola leaves.
The one thing that is in Arteta’s favour, Stan will not want to pay him a bundle in compensation for sacking him.
I would be surprised if the board or owner do any think with Arteta until the middle of next season this way they can say they gave him a chance and listened to the fans way or the other. trying to win brownie points,
Devil I can not see us winning by that much as I can not remember the last time we won 4 nil
it was a very long time ago Geoff that we won 4-0. it was circa 15 days ago against some team from the Cech republic. They even had a racist in their team…something unheard of nowadays. Some of those alive today had not yet been born and some of those who witnessed it have departed for better pastures. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’d take a 1-0 win if it means we go through and go on to win the final.
tbh….I would feel that same way Rico….if we scrape 1-0 the next game and then scrape another 1-0 in the final. Even if it means we lose/draw all the remaining EPL games.
At least it will silence those haters who keep on harping about sacking Arteta.
We will not finish in a better position in the league…..so Arteta might as well play a 2nd string or even better play the young ones like Azeez etc. Give them valuable time to learn. Players like Saka, ESR, Tierney, Laca, Partey etc, who are deemed important should be rested and played only in those two games.
So yes….Arteta should thinker around with the fringe players and reserves. Only then will he know if they are up to it to be seen as long term solutions.
If we are going to ignore the rest of this season then we should look at dropping Leno and work out who we want to keep as a back up keeper for next season after all why are we leasing Ryan and not playing him more does not make sense.
I don’t think it’s a case of Arteta haters Devil, it’s frustration because of the poor performances and bizarre team selection.
I am not talking about the people here Rico. I know we are all frustrated because of the poor performances and bizarre team selection.
I am talking about other sites and also on the comments I read on Facebook pages. The amount of vitriol coming out of people’s keyboards is astounding. Even scary. Kev pointed out last time we won against Slavia that there were even so called supporters who wanted us to fail so that Arteta gets sacked. I just read them I dont comment. I only do that here. But their stupidity and spiteful words bordering on the abusive makes one want to bash their face in.
That is why I want Arteta to succeed. Not only because its another trophy for us, plus we get to play in the Champions lge and also have a crack at the European super cup (while also bragging to my workmates especially the spuds) but because I want to see Arteta lift another trophy for us.
I take little notice Devil, in fact I barely read other sites comments because there’s little point.
Evening Rico and the House
Posted this on yestertdays post by mistake.
Thanks for a good post Rico.
The moment I saw the team that Mikal had selected I thought we would not see a good game
Shortly our u18s will kick off against Liverpool in the youth cup.
I think we are the underdogs and we are in for a very hard game.
But saying that I hope they play better then that lot last night
See you later
COYG Do us proud
Evening again Rick. Lol
2-0 down already but not convinced that was a penalty.
Fully agree rico, I too cannot understand so much about last night. Willing to refrain from criticising Arteta too much until we see if it can be turned around next week. But boy, that was poor on so many counts, and even the penalty was debatable, I dread to think what some would say had that been Sanchez going over the leg.
H/T losing 2-0 same h/t as last night.
But we are playing some good football against a very good side.
Nor do I think it was a pen.
Disappointed Omari Huchinson is not avaible tonight,
he would have made all the differance
We may see Edu’s son Gasper 2nd half
We all want Arteta to do well. It follows that if our manager does well the Arsenal do well.
The evidence bears out one conclusion: Arteta is not up to the task. Facts don’t lie. It’s so very obvious that we must move on from him and the sooner the better.
Oh and saying i’m stupid, have no clue, am wrong, etc. without offering any evidence and facts to the contrary doesn’t make you right. Facts please otherwise just admit you’re in denial and we can move on.
Trouble is Andrew, it gets more and more difficult to see where we’re heading. Is he trying to deploy similar tactics to Pep, because if he is, they won’t work with our squad..
A penalty won that’s for sure..
Easy to see that Saka has been training with the England squad . Hanging his leg out to make contact was just so Kane , Son and Alli probably would have got carded for simulation by our refs.
Of course it’s inevitable that it will be compared to Pires and totally ignoring the many that have done the self same thing since.
Mortimer, empty stadiums have helped no one. I think he deserves another summer and beginning of a new season at least.
Andrew, “some” being me, and if you take notice, I call out any of our guys who dive.
I said earlier I didn’t watch the game so I’m hardly in a place to comment on the incident.
Maybe “some” need to pay more attention on stop worrying about rubbish from several seasons back, hey 🙂
Well I saw about 10 minutes at the end of the Youth Cup and didn’t think much of Liverpool, but we were 3-1 down so I can only imagine that it was more slackness in our defence.
Taylor Hart looks a really good player, I hope we can hang onto him because he looks mustard on the left wing, imagine him and Tierney linking up?
Seems as if finishing is as big an issue at all levels for Arsenal because even in thos3 10 minutes we missed enough chances to be level. C’est la vie….
Finished 3-1All Arsenal last 15 mins but just could not score.
Its no disgrace to lose tonight I think Liverpool will win the Cup.
We have 2 very good full backs in the making and strange as it may seem the left back is left footed.
Kev, is this passing game making our players less direct these days?
Trying to score that perfect goal, training that way, could it mean we’ve forgotten how to take a chance and just pull the trigger?
We have a few guys capable from distance and rarely see it.
Even our best credentialed striker has been missing sitters most of the season.
Martinelli seems the one most composed and confident in front of goal.
Great to see VAR is pissing off everyone in football here in Oz.
Well, bar the officials lol
While I’ll never be a fan, until recent times, I’ve thought it was actually utilised in a relatively decent manner here, but as always, annual tweaking of the rules to suit the technology means barely a game goes by without controversy.
Rick, Xhaka is left footed hahaha
I jest 🙂
Kev now you can understand why I have beenbanging the drum for the club to
give him anew contract
Scott I should have added not only is he fast he is built
like a brick outhouse.LOL
Another defea for the u-18
Willock can play against us?
Scott, ‘some’ constantly bring it up every time we mention how we miss the great player’s attitude. He was one of the last match winners we had so of course we mention him.
I miss him Andrew, if only he’d stayed and Ozil went back then…
Agree rico, hard to know what would have happened but it couldn’t have been worse. I only see quite the same passion in Tierney, lets just hope he can have an injury-free year. Shouldn’t have to rely on a left back though to create half our chances. Similar to what Arteta said about relying on a 19 year old.
I would like to some of our players like Xhaka / Pepe ect in the first 20 minutes start taking some long shots at goal before their keeper gets fully focused
I have been saying that for weeks now Geoff. We should be taking a number of long range shots in the first 10 mins alone…..to test the keepers, have the defenders guessing and also 1 might actually fly in. Plus it would look nice on the statistics sheet. Sometimes after 30 mins we get stats of 0 shots on target and 1 or 2 off target.
‘morning all.
We won’t get to see our out on loan player tomorrow, Willock is “ineligible”. Presumably part of the loan agreement says he can’t play against us.
Cicero, it’s a Premier League rule. ‘On-loan players are forbidden to play against their parent club in the Premier League. They are, however allowed to play against their parent club in domestic cup competitions’
Well we certainly won’t be seeing him in those Andrew. 😉
I think it’s a shame players on loan can’t face the club they’re on loan from. After all, if one club manager thinks a player can’t improve his own team, why worry about facing him?
Morning all.
Agree Andrew, and to think we ended up with Mikki too…
Rico I agree with loan players not being able to play against their main club,
The problem I see is if he looses the ball or gives a free kick away in the dying minutes and they score and win the game his loan club and fans may blame him for helping his main club win and may not pick him again to play.
I was a critic of the 5 a side training that was evident in the latter Wenger years which came as a copy of La Masia’s system which spawned Arteta under the gaze amongst others of Guardiola.
It worked well at Barcelona , but then they had Messi , Iniesta and Xavi to operate it . The nearest we came was Cesc , Hleb and Rosicky but they had had Busquets to anchor things whilst we had Flamini .
My point is that it didn’t work then with better players and it won’t work now . It was a pleasure to watch and sometimes our play is nice to watch now , but the system is flawed and has been found out.
A few pot shots would make opposing managers think , there is a defined pattern of play against us where teams surrender the middle third and allow us to pass aimlessly across the pitch .They sit back and wait for the missed pass or the miscontrol and hit quickly on the break .
We have seen it so often ,why can’t our coaches ?
Perhaps that’s why the rule is in place Geoff.
Seems to me that Arteta likes the perfect goal. I’m pretty sure under Emery, we took more shots from distance than we do now.
Mind you, if Partey is to shoot, he needs a lot of practice.
Yes Rick, I can see why you are such a Taylor Hart fan, he’s also a tall lad so speed, trickery and height, which is the perfect combination and makes him a very dangerous customer, he just needs to work on his finishing, btw Miguel Azeez has a year left on his contract according to Jeorge Bird, I hope he’s right.
Andrew, let’s discuss Alexis.
PL record breaker for turnovers in a game yet plenty loved him for abusing team mates who didn’t pass him the ball.
Passion?
Damn, who’d pass it to someone who’ll likely turn it over?
What a player.
But then, he could fall like an Oak tree lol
Laca, Xhaka, Elneny and Partey can all score a goal from range.
It’s madness not to have them trying on occasions.
1st of May, just a few more weeks and the season will be over, seems as if it’s been wall – to – wall football for almost 18 months, maybe we need a break?
Kev, I’d say the players do as well.
International games really should’ve been kept to a bare minimum this past 12 months.
Is the passing game making us less direct? (Scott said) – I’m not sure, defending has changed for sure, Villarreal got 10 men behind the ball when they lost possession and they were leading 2-0, so penetrating a parked bus is problematic.
I think Scott that it starts from our goalkeeper, Martinez would often launch a long ball over the top before the opposition got organised and back into shape, that would prevent them pushing up on us as much because of the fear of an Arsenal counter attack, but Leno gets it and waits and waits and waits and then rolls it out to a defender and then we’re under pressure and/or our build up is slow and ponderous so shooting opportunities don’t come about.
Is that Arteta’s fault, the goalkeeping coaches fault or just how Leno likes to play, I’m afraid that Bernd is to blame, he has his style and to me it’s inferior to what Martinez brought to the table in as far as what we need.
Selling Martinez has turned out to be a massive blunder and I think it’ll haunt Arteta until he moves on Leno and replaces him with a top top goalkeeper so we finally forget Emi.
The joke is to replace Martinez with a goalkeeper of similar or better ability is going to cost us a lot lot more than the £20m we got from Aston Villa. Leno isn’t the answer and we won’t improve viz a viz distribution from the back, until he is replaced…
Then you’ll see us becoming more direct to answer your question – by going around the houses. 😉
Scott, players, coaches, managers, referees in particular, fans, we all need a break.
International football is increasingly only for the players, I couldn’t give a fig.
Kev, I’d happily bet as much money as anyone wanted to take that Arteta didn’t want to sell Martinez.
Where’s the evidence for Alexis bullying his teammates?
Donna rummy has gone to Juventus does that make SZczesney surplus
Prediction text
Rico, I said abusing, not bullying and every fan saw it!!!
At least you didn’t also try and deny his “record” and his diving 🙂
Potter, interesting situation.
I’d take Szczesny back in a heart beat.
I would love Chesney back ….in half a heart beat Scott. ASAP
He would have the added plus of being coached in Italy.
Devil, he’s now a mature, professional keeper so yes, let’s hope it happens.
Bullying, abusing, both similar imo Scott. Either way, there’s no evidence. Players getting at each other on the pitch is normal, it shows passion. Don’t recall anyone moaning too much about Henry…
I don’t need to defend his diving because imo, he wasn’t a diver. You must be confusing him with Ozil. Lol
Rico, your blind loyalty to Alexis is admirable 🙂
As is yours for Arteta Scott. 😆
Scott, no point discussing Alexis or Broad with you, your mind is closed.
I not sure about Szczesny how every I just looked up his value and they claim in December 2020 that he is worth 35 million euros and I don’t think we will pay that much for him.
I feel the same Andrew.
I know it’s not easy but I’d really like to see an English goalkeeper between the sticks and you could say, after spending most of his professional life in England, that Martinez was to all intents and circumstances an English goalkeeper, he certainly plays like one.
I don’t see the new Spanish goalkeeping coach as an upgrade on Woodman, in fact how many of our coaching staff actually stretch Arteta with their suggestions. Who knows, maybe Ljungberg did and that’s why he’s gone?
Good question Kev because it was strange how Freddie left so soon. Who are Arteta’s team bar some bloke who assisted Giggs for Wales? Imo, he’s not got anyone with any PL experience around him, or much experience in the game full stop.
Don’t get me started on Martinez. If the club was so desperate for £20m, I’m sure they could have sold Pepe for that amount. Just an example. If a manager picks a team on performance alone, EMI should have started the season as first choice.
Rico, this is where the Kroenkes fail, they could have stumped up the £20m and we kept Martinez
There would have been no point though Kev, not unless Arteta played him before Leno. That was the main problem I think.
Ten years of waiting for his chance only be told no. Dreadful imo.
tbh I just wish we kept Martinez. But we are stumped up with Leno. Either way….had Martinez been playing and Leno sold, the moment that Emi made a mistake it would be normal for some people to jump up and claim that selling Leno was a big mistake. Arteta, like all coaches, can never win in the eyes of some.
Now the situation is as it is. If I was the one making choice I would go for the following choices……1) Nick Pope. 2) Szcescny 3) Keep Leno as it would not make sense swapping him for another foreigner while good English keepers are at a premium. Pope is English while Ches is homegrown so he would not be taking a foreigner’s place.
I don’t think they would Devil, every keeper makes an odd mistake but without Martinez, I don’t think we’d have won the FA Cup.
Sad day for my hometown club, Southend United unless things change in the next 30 minutes. Been in the league since 1920, but sadly leaving today.
I agree with you about Martinez and the FA Cup Rico. And I also think that with him in goal this year we would have some more points as well
That is rather sad Andrew. Southend are my team on an online internet game. I have a friend who lives in Southend.
The odd thing was that the whole defence seemed more confident ahead of Martinez. This could either be a coincidence, or that they had more confidence in him.
My overriding memory of Martinez is him being choked at an interview and not being able to continue. Thought there was such a bright future ahead.
Welbeck ensures Brighton Premiership!
Yes Andrew, I think that our defenders had a much better rapport with Martinez, he was talking to them all the time, at corners and free kicks, reminding them of their responsibilities, giving them advice and encouragement, I don’t see Leno being as vocal.
I know some Arsenal fans get annoyed by some of us still referring to Martinez but it’s because we could see the positive influence he had and we suspected that selling him was a fecking dumb thing to do, as it has transpired…
Afternoon Rico and the House.
Our u23’s have lost to West Ham 2-1 at home
They are just 2 points behined us.
Yep, I think so too Devil. I think his presence settled the defence, unlike Leno. Plus he would distribute the ball a lot quicker than Leno does.
Norwich City are Championship Champions. If they can hold on to Max Aarons, Emi Buendia and Todd Cantwell. They will be much more of a force than in the 2019/20 season. Good luck to the Canaries.
That’s sad Andrew.
Afternoon Rick. End of the road for Bould soon?
Emi Martinez has gone and there is not a hope in hell of him coming back as long as Arteta is in charge.
I wouldn’t mind us selling Leno, he’s had plenty of time and opportunities to prove his worth but I think that basically he has reached, if not passed, his best and that best has proved to be not good enough.
Ryan may be the answer but how will we know if he never gets to play.
Sadly, I think you’re right Cicero. I’d love to know if we have first refusal or some kind of clause in his contract.
Kev I raised a similar question the other day that Arteta’s assistant coaches don’t seem to be questioning Arteta about his team selection as I wondering if they are worried they will get sacked if the question any think he does. I hope that is not the case.
Even if Arteta and Leno both left I can not see Martinez wanting to come back, After all the years he tried for us and get told by Arteta that your not good enough and the board not really supporting him I recon the damage is done and you can’t blame him.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that Martinez will return I just think we still rue the day he left, it was a big error I felt at the time and nothing that’s happened since has changed my mind on that.
Agree, the Martinez ship has probably sailed. The big mistake will never go though, not unless we sign a top top keeper.
Andrew, I outline my reasons why I didn’t like Alexis, so If you think that’s blind loyalty, then I say that’s ridiculous.
Quality player, flawed character which shows in his game at times.
Broad-wow, you’ve gone back through the archives on that one lol
Desperate times, hey 🙂
You mentioned ‘blind loyalty’ Scott, not Andrew.
Kev, you nailed it at 3.29pm.
If Stan coughs up, we didn’t need to sell Martinez and as I’ve said several times, Leno was never going to be sold at that stage because he was coming off a major injury, so Martinez made his stance leaving Arteta no alternative.
Martinez could’ve stayed and won the position but didn’t want to.
His choice.
Money was needed, we had a keeper demanding first team football which is something from a player I’ll never agree with, we had a keeper who couldn’t be sold.
There was no other choice.
If Martinez wasn’t going to be given the gloves going into the season after the way he played when Leno was injured, he was never going to get it.
Martinez didn’t want to leave, he said that himself but he’d stuck around long enough. I don’t blame him for wanting first team football, he was far too good to warm a bench.
Rico, I don’t blame him for leaving either.
I don’t believe players should demand first team football, though.
I just can’t see how we could sell Leno right at that point.
I believe it is Arteta that got it wrong. Hired a gk coach while having one in place, just cos he coached le Masia.
Same guy suggests Runarsson as Martinez replacement, that worked out well.
Leno says he prefers Woodman as he has no faith in Pavon, Woodman told his contract will not be renewed end of the season.
I very much doubt Martinez demanded number 1 as reported, but probably felt he deserved to start season first choice as he played with distinction during Leno’s absence. No manager could ever be expected to give any player guarantees for a place (unless your name is Willian😃). We will never know the true words spoken, it’s just clear we lost out. Similar to now, Ryan should be getting a chance after Leno bloopers, but goalies have extra protection it seems from being dropped. Leno has a problem with the way Arteta wants to play, but equally is a pretty good shot stopper.
Andrew,
I find it hard to criticise keepers who struggle to play out from the back, to be fair.
They’ve learned their trade from a young age, and now football has changed so much, they’re almost staring again.
Chechen was harshly treated when he joined us by fans, imo.
Mid 30’s, been a world class keeper for a decade and suddenly his job description changed.
It can’t be easy.
Cech suddenly became Chechen lol
I can’t see him demanding first team football Scott, he probably just wanted what he believed he deserved after ten years at the club. Let’s be honest here, out of the two keepers we had, we played better with Martinez in goal.
Brad, me neither. The GK situation last summer was a royal cockup from start to finish.
Imo, Cech was past it when we signed him. I don’t think was ever the same once he had to wear his head protector.
They do at Arsenal Andrew. Other clubs don’t seem to worry about dumping keepers. Chelsea, Liverpool and City certainly didn’t.
Rico, I’ve never suggested I preferred Leno to Martinez.
I just don’t see how we could sell an injured player (or one just back from injury and yet to show his fitness).
Martinez was fantastic in that last spell.
His profile was lifted, but we needed cash.
What was the alternative?
We were all ecstatic to sign Partey, but as I see it, we paid the price by losing Martinez.
It wasn’t about the money imo Scott. He’d have stayed had he been given the opportunity to start the season in goal which I think he should have.
I didn’t suggest you did Scott.
Rico, I just don’t think it was a situation where the club could do anything different.
It wasn’t easy seeing a guy who’d been at the club a long time and finally made it have to leave.
Anyway, Ryan deserves his chance now.
Let’s hope he gets it and performs.
Did anyone seen Danny Welbecks goal?
Absolutely brilliant.
Aguero scored a world class goal, as well.
Someone will snap up a bargain.
Rico.. just worried that another summer and year under Arteta might see us facing a relegation battle (perish the thought). Seems alarmist perhaps but I never thought we’d see an Arsenal team languishing in 10th either.
Todays game moves too fast for dwelling on the ball but we’ve been turned into a bunch of predictable ‘dwellers’. Players must be allowed to play the game, express themselves, use thier talents, etc..
We have the talent to do better.
The academy players (products of wenger’s eye for attractive ‘one touch’ success) have saved us. They seem to ignore Arteta and just get on with it.
Put any of our on loan or academy midfielders beside partey and it would be better than ceballos.. just saying.
Mortimer, every player I’ve heard comment has raved about Artetas football knowledge, and while nobody would come out and say he’s rubbish, they almost gush over him.
If I were to pin down what is going wrong on the pitch, and it’s just my opinion, it’s that he’s trying too hard and is guilty at times of over coaching them.
As you say, some players just need to get out there and play the game, while others actually need to be micro-managed and have specific instructions.
This possession based game works well if you have a squad of players capable of finding a pin point pass under pressure.
Atm, we do not.
If Arteta can bring more in like that then fine, but one thing that’s obvious is our build up play is bloody slow when certain players have the ball, and/or we are up against a well organised defence.
That’s why we look brilliant in some games, and bloody woeful in others, imo.
So we either bring in more players of quality, or we find another way to play-the infamous Plan B:)
It seems Arteta is coaching every player in his style, so I’m hoping Stan will back him with money where possible, and sales will generate more cash to spend because if things don’t work out, we will be a side with absolutely no Identity.
Yes I know plenty will say that is the case now, but we’ve had none for a long time and Arteta is trying to build one.
He needs more time, and definitely some more players.
Game Day….
I wonder if Tierney or Luiz will be involved to some Degree?
I do hope that Balogun gets some minutes and who knows even Nelson…
With the second leg against Villarreal in mind we shouldn’t risk Tierney today, maybe a last fifteen minutes run out to see how he shapes up. Holding and Mari are developing a good understanding, so either rest them both or play them both but don’t tinker with the pairing just for the sake of it. Maybe give Willian a run out today, then he can go back on the shelf until the West Bromwich game. No Lacazette today so we should start with Martinelli or Balogun in the middle, Oh and just bin the false nine nonsense.
I share your concerns Mortimer but I do think empty stadiums haven’t helped. At least next season, as long as the stadium is full, Arteta’s constant coaching from the sidelines won’t be heard. I would find that annoying if I played. I think Edu has a footballing brain and together with Arteta, I don’t think they’ll flunk the transfer window as far as signings go. Sales might be a different thing if Emi Martinez is anything to go by.
Also, a full stadium will go one of two ways, be behind him or force the board into sacking him. I think see where we are around November. Although an utter disaster on Thursday might force the boards hand. Just guessing though.
Scott, I do. He didn’t need to be sold.
Rico, tell me how we could keep him.
Short of Stan coughing up, I don’t see how it could happen.
As you repeatedly say Scott, we couldn’t sell Leno because he was coming back from a severe injury and what club would want a number one ‘keeper who could suffer a relapse at any time, Well Arsenal settled for that. What should have happened was Arteta to tell Martinez that he would be first choice until Leno Had proved his fitness and then the choice of who plays would be on merit not entitlement.
The derisory £10 million we got for Martinez made little difference to our transfer budget anyway.
That’s my opinion but I don’t expect you to agree with it.
By playing him Scott, the only reason Martinez left, as he said himself, was to play.
All Arteta had to do is start the new season as he ended the last, with Leno the one trying to fight for his place.
He cast aside 2/3 players who won him the FA Cup with ease imo.
Agree Cicero, in fact I don’t know anyone who thought selling Martinez was the best option last summer. Not one, other than on here.
Stan coughed up for Partey though Scott.
New post up now.
I wonder If Martinez would have stayed if Arteta promised him main matches until Leno fully fit then all rounds and finals of the FA cup, European cup and all smaller cups
Can we put this spat to bed and go and get Szczesney back