Morning all.
Leeds were good. Let’s not lose sight of that. They play football in a way I wish Arsenal could, albeit with our defence instead of theirs. They move at speed, their passing is quick and they use their wide men well. But we knew all of that long before yesterday’s fixture arrived.
Our football was pretty much everything Leeds was not. We weren’t dirty and we certainly didn’t need Anthony Taylor to turn a blind eye to key moments. Like the handball in the box. It seems to be a common theme with Arsenal and referees these days, so much so, one could place bet with bookmaker odds on us not getting the kind of decisions which the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd tend to get.
Pepe was a plonker when deciding it was a good idea to land a headbutt on Gjanni Alioski. Whatever Alioski said or did previously, Pepe’s reaction was stupid, naive and immature. To say the Leeds guy made a meal of it though was an understatement which is probably why Kieran Tierney was livid at the end of the game.
Pepe is now banned for the next three fixtures which to be honest, will be no great loss and it spares Mikel Arteta the job of dropping him. Yesterday was an ideal game for him to prove his worth but he failed dismally.
Other than our defensive unit, Arsenal were pretty much pathetic but even so, with Leeds Utd missing chance after chance, we could have nicked all three points on more than one occasion in the second half.
Leeds had 25 shots at Leno’s goal. Arsenal managed just 9. Yep, with ten men, we did well to come away with a point and that’s about it. I’m not reliving the game as once was bad enough.
I’ve no idea what’s going on at Arsenal but something seems wrong. Very wrong. The body language of a few of the players isn’t right. Pepe, Aubameyang and Lacazette although he was absent yesterday. I think it’s the Ozil situation and certain players are protesting through performance. Mikel Arteta has lost them and I don’t know how he can get them back and I don’t think he knows either. A simple solution would perhaps be to bring Ozil back from the cold in January and hope it resolves things, or make further drastic chances like dumping the underperforming players in the same corner as the German. Unai Emery went through something similar with Mesut Ozil but the decision to select him again when Arsenal were struggling bit him hard in the backside. Honestly, I hope Mikel doesn’t make the same mistake.
But Arteta has to do something to turn things around and fast because there’s only so long the board will put up with the club drifting mid table I’m sure. Fans too.
Our next two League fixtures are Wolves at home and then the NLD away. We really have to win both.
See you in the comments.
Morning all.
Surely it is unrealistic to expect a quick fix to a long term problem, though that seems to be a growing wave amongst fans atm.
Fans should stay behind Arteta and allow him his chance to change the culture of the entire club and if anyone thinks he’s had the time to do that, well they’re not being serious lol
He’s at least a year away from having been given a decent run.
Scott, I think so too but things are little different to how they were under Emery and we know how that went. We just defend better.
Personally, I think Arteta has some big decisions to make re selection. It’s clear who is with him and who isn’t imo.
If I were Arteta, I’d be tempted to bring in an experienced assistant manager.
Agreed, Rico.
I’m sure Arteta now knows exactly who he wants to remain at the club.
We just have no choice but to patient, imo, else we will develop into an absolute mess.l and though we aren’t great, we could quite easily be in a worse state.
None of us are enjoying this period but it’s something we have to go through, unfortunately.
Rico, any ideas on an assistant and I agree the idea has merit.
We need Marcelo bielsa. Its as simple as that
This reminds me of the difference between fans and supporters. Supporters back their club, through thick and thin. Fans are just there for reflected glory and bragging rights. The biggest problem with our fanbase is that so many are newbie fans, who were attracted by Wenger’s success. They’re not people I’d want beside me in the trenches, that’s for sure. They have no fight, or pride and are mentally weak. And they sure as hell wouldn’t have lasted through the 70s and 80s, like so many Gooners like me did. If you’re not going to support the club, then you’re part of the problem. Bugger off to Chelsea, or the Manchester clubs.
Scott, it’s easy to say we need to be patient but football is driven by results and were not getting the right ones. The way we’re going right now, we’ll be in a relegation scrap before we know it.
There does seem to be something not working at Arsenal. I would say though I think part of the complication might be that Mikel was one of the players and club captain a few years ago and so he knows and has played with those senior players and this may present an added complexity making it difficult for him. I know we don’t know for sure but I would suggest that once Ozil has departed then maybe we can get the team back all pointing in the same direction. I also think that most players can see how Ozil played with little or no defence work and tracking back he always looks to me like he’s in the way not doing anything of value in defence. So I hope the players can see that that type of player is a luxury we just cannot afford right now.
Nigel, who is your comment directed towards on here? If you read HH regularly you’d know both Scott and myself are right behind Arteta. Your suggestion for us to bugger off and support a different club is way out of order.
Is Sokratis still with the team?
Problems are arising in those who enjoy high wages.
The second problem is the neighbors on the side.
This morning in the Telegraph they marked every player in the weekend Premiership matches with points out of ten.
Leno, for instance got 7. No player, in any match, got less than five with the exception of Pepe who was awarded 3. I think that is the lowest mark of any player ever.
Never has seventy million pound been less well spent than on Pepe.
Have to agree re Pepe. Thanks Raul!
Morning Rico. Yes, the good old ”Bugger off and support another club” thing always rears its ugly head doesn’t it. It’s as if fans/supporters have no right to an opinion that doesn’t mandate the blind following of whoever is or isn’t doing well at the moment.
Plotting the trajectory of Mikel’s time you can see that it all began to go wrong around the time that Mesut fell from favour and the new contracts were dished out.. Presumably and listening to Freddie yesterday, there seems to be some doubts about his training/condition/attitude/wages, take your pick.
I can envisage several scenarios that have bought us to this current situation and I agree with you. All is not well. But though the evidence might lead my of us to conclusions, it’s probably best to focus on what we see when the team is on the pitch. That itself throws up several tempting conclusions.
Willian isn’t working, nor are Auba, Laca, Pepe and I would add our entire midfield to that, with the exception of Partey and perhaps Elneny. Our game, time and probably the entire PL has passed Granit by. He looks so out of the loop with his slow game that everybody knows he is in no way an Arteta player. But is Willian an Arteta player? If so, then we aren’t seeing what he is bringing to the team as he has been super-disappointing. Add the lunacy of his contract and it seems self-evident that, right now, he seems a disastrous signing, to me at least.
The list goes on with only the defence surviving largely unscathed from too much criticism.
The elephant in the room is whether the players have stopped believing in Mikel. I must say that he seems to have become a rather dour character. His much-publicised uncompromising list of do’s and don’t’ s and drill-sergeant demeanour are worrying. Auba’s contract, we hope, will not prove another costly decision though he looks such much older and less mobile now.
Whatever is happening and to what extent internal unrest has played into the bad run we are in must remain the subject of pure conjecture for us but, clearly, things are not right and Mikel must sort them out if he is to survive. The games coming up look ominous this morning and a manager with relatively little experience is going to need all his wits to overcome the sense of negativity swirling around. If it isn’t to engulf him.
From the BBC Sport website:
Arsenal and Leeds have both condemned the “vile” abuse directed at Nicolas Pepe and Ezgjan Alioski after Sunday’s Premier League game at Elland Road.
Pepe was sent off after 52 minutes of the 0-0 draw when he put his head into Alioski’s face following a number of niggly exchanges between the pair in the preceding minutes.
However, Alioski’s reaction annoyed the Arsenal players and Scotland defender Kieran Tierney had to be pulled away from the Leeds man after the final whistle as he made his feelings known.
Pepe and Alioski were both targeted on social media, leading the clubs to release co-ordinated statements, in which they promised to work with the police and football authorities to identify those responsible.
“We utterly condemn the vile abuse directed at Nicolas Pepe and Ezgjan Alioski on social media,” said Arsenal in their statement. “This is completely unacceptable.”
Leeds also called the abuse “vile” and said it would “not be tolerated”.
Pepe, who has struggled to impress since his £72m move to Arsenal from Lille in August 2019, is facing a three-match ban, which would rule him out of the north London derby at Tottenham on 5 December, in addition to home games against Wolves and Burnley.
Morning Adam.
If certain players have already given up on Mikel, surely they must be treated in the same way as Mesut Ozil. In my opinion it is the players too because history would suggest so. Look at how they were under Arsene and then Emery. As suggested earlier, it’s easy to spot who is showing up and who isn’t.
Rico. Not sure about that. We’d have very few players left and would have to rely on a lot of over-hyped youngsters. When was the last time we played really entertaining football?
Afternoon Rico and All
We never looked good,did we.
Micky made a point a few weeks ago
You on board or not
We all have opinions football is that Micky has to be given some rope I’m certain us Arsenal fans won’t be shy to tell him on mass
Micky needed a clean sheet yesterday after that last game it ended up 0-0 with 10 men for half the game
For me you have to get a point at least in every game
I’m probably the only one I think still thinks with 11 we would have won
Adam, overhyped or not, at least they’d give a lot more than what we’re getting from the likes of Lacazette, Pepe, Willian etc right now. Imo of course
Afternoon Fred, we’d have certainly had a better chance of winning with eleven. After Pepe went off we just had to sit back and defend. Saying that, we still created one or two good opportunities.
Rico. You could be right. 😃
Can you imagine the uncertainty within this squad now regarding the first eleven,Micky’s chopping and changing juggling with the players has confused a lot of these that’s his job,we have one of the best squad forwards in the premier,where we are short is the middle I never thought I would hear anyone say We missed Elneny seriously he is an average player But we did
I don’t think Arsenal will be in relegation danger, mainly because there will be at least 3 worse teams. You have to hope things improve, surely they can’t remain as dire.Talking of dire,even Eric seems to be on good form. That lot look a good bet for a trophy, it’s enough to make any right minded person despair.
I take Scott’s point about Arteta needing time,but it doesn’t matter who you are,if results are poor,it spells trouble.
We were lucky yesterday that Leeds forwards couldn’t hit a barn door.
I look forward to Thursday anyway,those games are a lot more enjoyable.
I’ve just listened to Arsene Wenger on Desert Island Discs – very good.
Fred, I think Elneny is the most improved player to return from loan recently. He was developing a very good understanding with Partey until an injury, the interlull and a failed Covid test intervened. He appears to be unaffected by the negativity in the dressing room and just looks happy to be back at the club and playing in the first team.
I don’t think Arteta can be blamed for juggling with the players, like all the Premiership managers he must rotate the assets he has in order to cope with the crowded fixture list, the injuries and now the suspensions.
On a positive note, Rob Holding is turning out to be a very good defender, obviously playing alongside the excellent Gabriel, rather than the dodgy Luiz and the hopeless Sokratis, is making a huge difference.
Let’s hope Elneny can keep improving Cicero not sure his the answer mate best of a bad bunch my opinion
Adam, the bar hasn’t been set too high though. 😆
Ditto Limey re Thursday, I’m enjoying Europa more than the PL.
I’m a big fan of Elneny too, keeps things simple and keeps the ball moving.
Lest we forget :-
: Premier League club fears losing out on Chinese millions after state broadcaster CCTV scrapped coverage of Man City’s victory over Arsenal following Mesut Ozil’s comments about the country’s treatment of Muslim Uighurs
Guys, how often does a club in trouble suddenly explode with success with a new manager?
It rarely, if ever happens.
How often do clubs sack managers after a year or so, only to find them in a revolving door scenario?
Liverpool brought Klopp in, allowed him to rebuild the squad to his liking and look how they’re going.
Now to look at other scenarios while ignoring the success story staring us right in the face is pretty damn naive imo
I couldn’t care less if we have a season or two in mid table, as long as things are changing and we all know things need to change.
We also shouldn’t forget that not too long ago we beat Utd at OT.
When was the last time we won a game against one of the big clubs away?
Ok, a step forward on occasions two backwards, but that will happen for a while.
Potter, I think that’s a big part of the reason he’s not playing.
could be why we couldn’t shift him on . That’s why I think he will go to Turkey under Erdoghan’s protection.
Thursday against Molde , I would go with a strong team and get the league won and let the fringe loose against Dundalk and Vienna . One thing I would like to see though is Lacazette and Nketiah as a pair with Nelson playing wide in a kind of Merson , Smith and Wright system .
We have tried to accomodate Aubameyang maybe we should try something else
Afternoon Rico and All
Wonder why a lot of Arsenal fans are bigging up Ericsson ex-spuds The only silverware he picked up was a knife and fork
I wish he’d hurry up and go wherever he’s going..
Afternoon Fred, that’s funny.
Afternoon Rico and the house.
Fred I bet they were picked up from tesco.
Rick Mr Cohen was a spud I used to print his greenshield stamps gospel
Saturday boy, me. Hated it. Spent every Saturday behind the cooked meat/cheese counter. It was always smelly, often mouldy and always tedious, but I did develop a love of corned beef! Still quite partial to the odd slice as a nostalgic treat!
Ozil to Turkey, it’ll do for me but we really need a creative player to take his place.
Baseksehir are at old toilet tonight if they should take the points they would be level with United with two games to go
Who is Mr. Cohen ?
When at Real Madrid, Mourinho put Ozil aside, he had a reason. In the Totts, he did not hesitate to sell Erickson. The probable reason is that they do not fit into a system, which requires everyone to defend, be quick to cover the passing lines and occupy empty spaces, indulge in the game and create a solidary team. None of them fits this philosophy. Erickson does not play for Inter. What do we want it for? 3 years ago, I posted to buy Bruno Fernandes (at the time for half the price it was sold to MU). Wise words.
In my opinion, Pepe is a good player; William too, Lacazette ditto. The point is that you can be a good player, but have no performance on the pitch. Or, on the team. Or not “fit” the team. And what I see is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to surgically find out what it takes for the team to work.
For example, in the Totts, Holjnberg was the best buy. And it wasn’t far away… and nobody talks about him.
JM
Jack Cohen was a London grocer
He started the supermarket Tesco.
There was talk (alledged) he gave the spuds a lot of cash
Rick, I see that Balogun has been included in the squad for Molde, it’s looking as if we might hang onto him after all.
Smith Rowe, Cottrell and Azeez in the squad as well, it should be an interesting game and maybe we’ll score a few from open play…
Sir Jack Cohen founded Tesco supermarket. JM. He started as a market trader after World War 1 and made himself into a very rich man.
Morning all
New post up now