We are three points ahead of Man City with a game in hand. A win today would restore our point difference to six, could have been better but a person sitting in VAR room FORGOT to draw a line. Yep, you read that right. If we lose today, we would lose the top spot for the first time this season, but having played a game less.
We had problems in our last 2 games. We lost against a poor, relegation fighting Everton and then shared points with Brentford. There was a common theme in both the games, we were slow on the ball, lost duels and some of the players weren’t up to the speed. This includes Zinchenko, White and Martinelli, who had been prolific otherwise and playing some of the best football in first half of the season. Everton game showed a glimpse of our last season, when we didn’t know what to do when the opposite team decides to let you keep the ball and setting up a deep defending block. We had 71% possession to Everton’s 29% but we couldn’t make it work. Same was with Brentford, though it was the VAR which fu*ked us up AGAIN.
Right, back to the City game.
I’m guessing Trossard will start in place of Martinelli, though I would stick with the later personally. Martinelli is lethal, he can out-run City defenders, he can create chaos on the left wing. I haven’t seen much of Trossard but in a game when you need your best players, implementing your best strategies, stick to the players who had been doing it right. The only change I can get away with, would be Tomiyasu replacing White.
City, on the other hand, would be hungry to get back to the top. However, we will have to see how much effect the recent controversies have on the players and their morale. Fu*k them. Haaland is back, which isn’t a good news for us, but hey, we have the big Gabby and Saliba in the defence.
In the pre match conference, one of the reporters touched a very important point.
on what he thinks when people say they have figured out Arsenal
I don’t know. Every team is trying to work out what we do, the same that we do with every opponent (we face). When I look at the games, and what we produce in the games, I’m usually very satisfied with what happens. Sometimes we can do better because there are many factors that can determine that, but for sure we are always looking to evolve to be better, with the players we have, and put them in the best positions to win the games.
source: arsenal.com
After the loss against Everton and a draw against Brentford, most of the publications ran articles saying Everton showed a way to beat us, to the rest of the Premier League teams.
BOLLOCKS!
We are sitting on top of the table, with 51 points in 21 games, only lost twice and playing some scintillating football. Do you really expect me to believe that a relegation fighting team with a new manager in Sean Dyche figured us out, but not the Man United, Spu*s, Liverpool? Come on. It was a bad day at office, we will bounce back and get back on winning tracks.
Lets hope today’s is the day. A win and we will be flying. A loss, and we still would be in the mix. There is a lot on stake but I’m sure the Emirates would be a difficult battle for Pep.
I’m wearing the Arsenal Jersey today. It’s a late for us Indians, 1.30 in the night but I’m all up for it. That’s all for today, see you in the comments.
#COYG.
We are back in the game now.. #COYG
Yes…saka.again…!
DK, you asked for a penalty, we got one. 😉
Ambarish…Yeah man..!
We’re a fighter…we know how to play… cheers ✌️
So far so good. We showed he have style, mental strength and gumption. Hope that the 2nd half will be at leas as good and we can keep up the performance. Hopefully Pep will not introduce some magic for City.
So closed…but in the end… it’s saved
Hoping our collective gas tank has enough for another full throttle 45+ minutes. Xhaka is having one of his rare good games and Jorginho is very vocal in organising players around him. He’s been decent but City seemed to fall off the pace a little.
Always happy to be proved wrong and fair play to you Ambarish and Divyanshu for calling it right.
Pep will be furious in the dressing room so expect fireworks on the pitch from City and a red for Barnardo perhaps if the gods are really shining on us for a change.
Zero class Arteta… What a twat.
Don’t forget the lines on the screen you cunts
Fucking Eddie is useless, but Arteta has no one to bring on except changes formation Martinelli through the middle and Trossard on the left.
Take fucking Eddie off, bar none.
I am having fucking heart attacks when Arsenal is playing out of the back.
Xhaka always wants too many touches never changes.
Need a big 15+ minutes now
And there’s 3
Our tanks running on empty always an issue
I’m done for the day.
All the fucking Eddie apologists from LG got schooled to day what a shitty player he is and not being able to convert chances.
we gifting them a goal, then the ref gifted us one, which should have emboldened us…instead MA didn’t take a chance and bring on Trossard for Xhaka…their defence was too narrow, which is why we had a couple of rare early crosses that worked, but Ode was unusually poor with his service and Xhaka is way too indecisive on the ball…Eddie’s first touch is equally as bad as his finishing capabilities, unless it’s of the poacher’s variety…too bad, as Pep actually came in worried more about the defensive end of the pitch, which means he would have settled for a point, but our manager didn’t have the onions to make the necessary front-foot changes…not sure exactly when Partey will be returning, so we could be in tough for our next two road affairs…still no wins since our uninspiring TW
Fucking terrible second half. Utter dogshit. Another Arteta masterclass.
Looks like one game today going my way Dortmund winning over Chelsea.
Well Guernsey Gun from LG called this 3:1 for City
A huge, self-inflicted loss.
Comment of the day on LG from Guernsey gun:
6 straight defeats to city for Lego…..generational it ain’t.
still no win since 2015 and the goal differential now sits at 29-4…hard to see how our amateur hour manager will navigate the business end of the schedule, which is why we needed to make a significant move in the window…one that didn’t require like-for-like switches, like Trossard for Marts, but one that made us far more proficient in and around the box and replaced the lesser lights, such as Xhaka, while keeping Marts and Saka on the pitch
Thierry Henry spoke extensively on the Paramount+ CL coverage about this game and made an excellent point on Gabriel and his giving the ball away that led to the 2nd goal. After he gave away the ball he chased after it which was daft and a mistake because if he would have stayed in his position he would have covered KDB and Tomi did not have to leave Grealish to cover in front of goal. A rash decision that exposes Gabriel as a not elite defender.
In addition TH said not winning the title would be a huge disappointment and also faulted the Jan TW and not getting the players they wanted. In addition he said once European football starts City are in a far better situation then us because they have been there and have a huge squad depth. Fuck the three stooges that are making the club’s exec decisions.
let’s pray that Unai adopts the same plan he used in the first-half of their City fixture last weekend and not the far more aggressive and effective tactics he deployed from 65+ minutes and on…now of course, he might have flipped his script due to the fact that they were chasing the game by that point, but it just might have been a light bulb moment…if I were him I would force us into a potentially higher scoring affair, as we’ve struggled mightily in front of goal for quite some time now
Killroy—I do agree with your sentiments regarding Gabs maybe not being an “elite” defender, but I never expected such lofty heights from him anyways…that said, I do think he brings enough to the table to be a starting LCB on a title winning club…I think sometimes people tend to forget just how little help he receives on his side of the pitch, as his primary help comes from bang average defenders like Chenko and Xhaka, whereas Saliba has the luxury of having Tomi/White and Partey, who plays on the right far more than the left…as for the whole underwhelming TW, you know my thoughts, as I’ve been banging that drum since long before the close of the window
Very disappointing. ManC turned the screw 2nd half and our competing felt like more of a token effort. They showed us there’s still a gap in quality between us.
I’ve heard mention among my peers and also online that we made costly errors and handed them the game as a result. I think that ignores the insane press from ManC forcing us into making rash choices on the ball and off.
Tets takes credit for bringing Tommy in today. Given White’s recent form, that was right. He loses credit for persisting with Eddie when I don’t think he’s ever shown he can live with a top class defensive unit or defender.
Personally, starting with Trossard makes more sense in the circs. Either he or, at a push Martinelli can be moved centrally without making things harder.
We don’t have much else to offer from the bench, Viera offers glimpses but like Eddie, always looks game. Nice to see Reiss in again and perhaps at 1-1 wrong could have brought in Rob H for a half of Haaland bashing.
It’s to his credit that Tets gambled to going toe to toe with Pep and making a game of it. Most teams don’t even try and the ones who do, they usually come a cropper. If we want to look like we’re at least half time I’ve seen
“every criticism of Arsenal should be through the prism that no-one expected them to be in this position this season”
this will be the mantra for the usual apologists and Kool-Aid junkies
btw anybody who says we went toe-to-toe either didn’t watch the second half, when we didn’t have a single attempt on goal for the better part of 40 minutes, and/or cares far more about finding some sort of silver lining than telling it like it was, which some would suggest is a loser’s mentality…of course, there were a few positives, but less than a week and a half ago we were 5 points up with a game in hand, so the notion of handing out participation badges after tonight’s fixture is a bridge too far for my liking
Very disappointing. ManC turned the screw 2nd half and our competing felt like more of a token effort. They showed us there’s still a gap in quality between us.
I’ve heard mention among my peers and also online that we made costly errors and handed them the game as a result. I think that ignores the insane press from ManC forcing us into making rash choices on the ball and off.
Tets takes credit for bringing Tommy in today. Given White’s recent form, that was right. He loses credit for persisting with Eddie when I don’t think he’s ever shown he can live with a top class defensive unit or defender. He’s going to be another of those players that gets game time simply because Tets takes too long to admit when his assessments are wrong.
Personally, starting with Trossard makes more sense in the circs. Either he or, at a push Martinelli can be moved centrally without making things harder.
We don’t have much else to offer from the bench, Viera offers glimpses but like Eddie, always looks short of the required quality. Nice to see Reiss in again and perhaps at 1-1 wrong could have brought in Rob H for a half of Haaland bashing.
It’s to his credit that Tets gambled to going toe to toe with Pep and making a game of it. Most teams don’t even try and the ones who do, they usually come a cropper. If we want to look like we’re at least half serious then I think actually trying to play rather than settling for the draw was the bold move. It might just be Tets and his dogmatic nature, I would have taken the point and been grateful. The game showed us that we’re not at their level yet. Having said that, I don’t think our challenge is over, far from it. ManC may have shown their quality against a team that tried and failed to match them, they’ll come a cropper v someone who doesn’t even try. And we still have a our game in hand. While I think the crowd were still very supportive, we weren’t blind to what we were seeing. Winning leagues isn’t easy. A better TW may have made a difference, it wasn’t why we lost and our two big buys showed enough. Jorge was one of the few who appeared composed as heads as things fell apart although I haven’t had a look at his stats yet.
Winning leagues isn’t easy but after 3 games winless we’re still contenders, a demonstration of progress in my view.
Trvl, going toe to toe was part of the problem, a bit like the ManU game we lost. Tets seemed to have gone for his ‘death or glory’ moment when ‘don’t lose’ would have been more practical.
(Sorry for second post) thought hadn’t gone through)
Nobody is asking for participation medals or demonstrating a ‘loser mentality’, you’re sounding off like a budget Andrew Tate.
Acknowledging that winning leagues is hard and getting it right can be a long process depending on the starting point. The list of top managers who flopped at ManU over the last 10 years despite their ‘winning mentality’ or sense of entitlement is a clear example of that. This isn’t some ‘Law of Attraction’ bunk where ‘believing it means achieving it’.
Has there been progress? I think there has.
Is it all positive? No
Does the progress outweigh not winning the league, Champions league, Grand National and EFL Cup?
Without progress we wouldn’t anyway.
Aitcho—just a couple quick suggestions, as it’s become glaringly clear that you lack the requisite amount of self-awareness to engage with others who don’t agree with your every word
firstly, don’t compare others to a self-proclaimed misogynistic windbag who’s presently being indicted on sex crimes, as it says far more about yourself than the intended victim of your reckless barbs
secondly, unless you actually physically watched a particular match, which doesn’t appear to be the case in regards to today’s fixture, according to your own words (“I’ve heard mention among my peers and also online that we made costly errors and handed them the game as a result”), keep your “detailed” commentaries to yourself, as it adds nothing to the equation…of course, there was a very good chance that was going to be the case regardless of whether you watched or not
thirdly, try not to constantly move the goalposts, as it shines an even more negative light on your already waffling disposition…for example, one week you’re hammering anyone who dared to speak critically about our rather problematic TW, then the next you’re adopting a very similar posture simply because it fit your “soup of the day” narrative
finally, and most importantly, stay in your lane
Let this sink in:
Arsenal dropped seven points in their first 19 games of the season. They have now dropped eight in the past three games and scored 2 goals one being a penalty. I know we were robbed of two points, but the attacking shit show also has to be blamed for 1 goal from open play in 3 games is wworthy of relegation bound teams. Looks like Arsenal has been found out and the NOT so generational one has no clue how to correct it.
When have we read this book before? Oh, yeah for the past two seasons. If the attackers are athletic like Haaland, Toney and others that muscle our CBs off the ball we are in deep shit because we have Eddie lightweight up front. In the City game we had one shot on goal and that came in the 85th minute. Been screaming to bring someone in during the Jan TW but we are getting fucked because the blue print for beating AFC is out there now and Tets has his thumb up his ass.
Can’t wait for Unai confronting Diet Pep on Saturday and if we loose that one also, then the full implosion is in process and the fear that we had put into opposing teams has vanished.
Hi Ambarish just sent you the post game post.
If this downward turn continues, this season will be the reverse of last season’s: rubbish first half and a salvaging second half.
Arteta has to arrest this 2nd half slump at Villa.
Trvl
I was at the game, I go to most. You missed my point in your ire. Now read again.
The errors were a result of a very good press. ManC forced the errors. Those who suggested unforced errors are the issue miss the point.
The TW wasn’t the problem here. Jorge actually had a decent game, he wasn’t the problem. Neither was Trossard. Making the TW the problem missed the point.
We’re all windbags. That’s what we do here.
Thanks for your interest in my affairs. But criticising fan’s opinions or valid assessments of where are on something as nebulous as not having a “winning mentality” is facile. The only ones who need a winning mentality are the players, not random posters on a website. With more self awareness you’d recognise that
Aitcho—in your zeal to pat yourself on the back, once again, you completely missed my overriding point…my chief concern was the fact that you chose to use the rather despicable Andrew Tate for comparison purposes, which tells me that you care infinitely more about landed another smarmy dig than reading the room and simply biting your tongue…instead of doubling-down, a simple apology would have sufficed…the silver lining of this whole encounter was that you revealed your true intentions my litlle troll…as a former educator I tend to remember others by their respective prose “tells”, as such I know that we’ve encountered one another before, albeit you had a different namesake, so thanks for the not so subtle reminder that engaging with you has functionally no value for footballing reasons or otherwise…sweet dreams douchebag
Trvl, just ignore me. You’re getting too invested in policing my tone.
If all you needed was an apology from me, just ask rather than rant, I’m a reasonable sort.
But fine. I’m sorry for any distress caused.
Aitcho and TRVL
You both are decent contributors here, shake it off and lets get back to football.
New post!