West Ham v Arsenal – Match Day Blog

They look exhausted after a whole week off. I thought not playing in other competitions would solve that. 1 week of training to prepare for this game and it is deja vu 2 nil up drawing 2:2. WTF in the last 20 minutes we were always 2nd to the ball no drive and energy, no desire to win this game. WH was always looking like to get the next goal. Mentally weak and no manager to instill brains of steel.

Apologists on LG will say top 4 was always the goal so we did excellent, abysmal wankers.

Hi Killroy

Apologists on LG would be saying we’d have beaten Pool and the Hammers if only supermik had picked himself alongside the irreplaceable Xhaka. The Kroenkes ought to be looking at this and working out how much compensation they’d get if they fuck him off to Real Madrid or your friends at Barca. 4 points dropped and it’s down to the basque bantamweight who will never cure his addition to Xhaka. I fear we’re not going to move forward til we’ve purged these 2 ball bags from the club. We’ve moved from a clear position of strength to it coming down to a rigged cup final away at a superior team with a far superior coach. Play one more game with the same lack of cohesion and intent we displayed today and it’s over. They have to beat City and everyone else.

We are just as likely to beat City and then lose to Brighton. That’s how clueless Arteta is.

Let this sink in. We are top of the league and heading for our first tile in 19 years and Arteta let’s us lose 2 consecutive 2-goal leads where we run out of steam at 30 minutes, which has been our way all season.

Hoopah sorry to rain on your CL parade but look at Arteta’s stats for Europe and we’ll be lucky to get out of the group stages.

De Zerbi anyone?

Brighton played Chelsea off their park where Keppa’s brilliance kept the score respectable. Any other day and Brighton would have won 5:1. Football is delightfully simple to watch a poetic cohesion of quick touch football from end to end.

Arteta lost this one like he did last week. Wrong subs and at the wrong times. Worst 35mill signing Viera and he gets brought on, that is on MA. In game management and subs are on MA he should have taken off Saka as he had a shocker today, but that will not happen as there are a few non negotiable players that will always be first on the team sheet.

There is hope that Pep’s Gimp will be taking one of the available jobs at big clubs next year or the one after that. He is in his 4th year and the good fortune of two top 4 contenders having an off season enabled him to finish in the top 4.

At the beginning of the season who would have thought that Ten Hag, Howe & Emery in their 1st year are making a run for top 4 while MA in his first 3 years was beyond pathetic. But we won the trophy of youngest team in the EPL.

After being dragged over to the pub (completely against my will of course) to watch the match I can’t convey how fucking angry I am at Arteta doing an Arteta whilst at the same time being completely unsurprised.

What a complete and utter cunt the man is.

The best chance we’ll see in a couple of decades and not only has he just fucked it but he’s he’s managed to do it against one of the weakest of teams in the run.

What a CUNT!

Killroy

Nailed it – Arteta stays and next season we’ll be looking at finishing 5th – 8th.

So assuming we beat Southampton and lose to City that’ll be 5 points from 12 in a tight run, then we’ll see Arteta do his usual and lose a few more.

We’ve gone from being well in front of City to being lucky to finish within 6 points of them.

Draw

Killroy & Marc
Take your pick at why but this season is working out to be Groundhog Day for last season.

Exactly the same mistakes with exactly the same results.

Just finished my match viewing, as it was a rather early Sunday morning start on this side of the world, so I had to retreat to the cone of tech silence bat cave to watch a taped version undisturbed…must admit I had to chuckle once I starting reading the above posts as they all sounded a tad too familiar in that most of the comments were very reflective of the angry conversation I was having with myself

sadly, it came as no surprise whatsoever that our castrated one trick pony of a manager found a way to cock-up another early 2-0 lead…to make matters worse, somehow, someway our “centerpiece” figure, Xhaka, remained on the pitch even though we used all our available subs…for those keeping score, every single time we’ve faced a high pressure moment of real consequence, whether in a Cup, Europa or League match, MA’s tactical naivety has been suitably exposed…this should have been the kind of match where we made positive inroads towards the prevailing goal differential divide, but instead we’re heading home with our tail between our legs and another psychological black eye to boot

now I understand why our usually spasmodic manager was so stoic today, as he was clearly concerned that if he were jumping up and down on the touchline a Trainspotting-level of fecal matter would be flying out both of his fucking pant legs

Personally – and it obviously matters to no one but me – I’m staying positive and hoping that the players can do it despite the formidable obstacles posed by Arteta being our manager. I remember 89 vividly. And beating City at their place would be akin to what we did at Anfield on 26 May 1989. We had GG on the touchline then of course and he gave me and all the other Gooners confidence that we could do it.

Fuck Arteta. Keep believing in the players to do it starting on Friday with Southampton. If he’s fit, ESR needs to be given his chance and Xhaka needs to be sat down. I’m hoping that the data from today’s game will support that and Arteta will eat humble pie. We desperately need to have Saliba back too.

On a different issue, I sense a real opportunity for you Ambarish to start usurping Pedro or at least offering a credible alternative to the Arteta-is-a-genuis mantra. Subtly or otherwise I recommend you get yourself on there and wrest away some of the posters who are being vilified for daring to suggest Tets is the problem rather than the solution. Pedro probably thought he was avant garde at some point but LG is nothing but a piss poor facsimile of the club programme and official talking points now. Offer them readership three things – honesty, openness and freshness. Pedro did it when it was clear Wenger was a busted flush. You can corner the market by making LiR a place where its OK to debate and also cast doubt about Arteta.

KP
There’s always hope until there isn’t and mathematically impossible. As Gooners and deep in our gooner souls we hold on to what slivers of hope are left and support each game no matter how painful it is to watch thinking of what could have been.

There’s that and the Arteta stark reality we are left with.

after scoring 2 with relative ease, on the backs of a Pool affair that went tits up, a ballsy manager would have replaced Xhaka with Trossard and forced Moyes into a position where it would have been difficult to have Rice pressing so high…the Hammers were playing a rather unsettled back 4, which we should have continued to take advantage of…instead, all of a sudden, Partey’s getting squeezed, Jesus is coming way too deep and it’s the sideways borefest all over again…Tierney was decent on the wide flanks, but when tucked inside he was telegraphing his passes too much, which led to numerous cheap turnovers…if we had Trossard taking up those more inside positions, Tierney could have played in more logical wider spaces, which would have likewise stretched their defensive zone coverage…once again, by the end of the match it felt like we were actually fortunate to leave with a point, which isn’t acceptable considering our respective places in the table

Kroenke

What’s ESR got to do to get a minute on the pitch? You’ve only got to cast your mind back a short time and it was ESR who kept Arteta in a job now he can’t get on as a sub for love or money.

I’d love to be wrong but the simple fact is we’ll end up being closer to 3rd (or even 4th) than 1st.

Maybe when shit for brains finishes 5th or worse next season we’ll see the larger fan base realise what we’re dealing with.

TRVL

Yep – Arteta being so smart he’s stupid again. Today especially at 2 nil was or at least should have been a walk in the park but Arteta bottled it.

He’d be a great manager for the Spud’s.

Marc-funny thing is, they wouldn’t want him, which speaks volumes about the glaring lack of self-awareness by both North London clubs

Ambarish
Another USP which distinguishes you from LG is your willingness to let others write pieces without fear of censorship. Paranoid Pedro would never allow the overall narrative to slip from his hands for fear the truth will emerge. Go and sell it if you can – you won’t regret it. At the very least you’ll still have us old bastards!

watching MA manage a two goal lead is like watching pie-head Maguire start for United, as you just know something asinine is bound to happen

KP-totally agree with your LIG sentiments, as we’re all well-aware that Pedro’s only as good as his delete button will allow…really enjoyed your earlier comment regarding Pedro’s late to the party Wenger ouster campaign, as some of us were trumpeting the call for his removal long before it was in vogue

TRVL

I’d love for one of the fan boys to give me an honest take (which they stick to) on what’s an unacceptable level of performance for Arteta.

Their problem is of course is they can’t be honest because they’d set the bar so low they’d make a mockery of themselves – they’ll claim this season is a master class without admitting that having spent £350 million plus inheriting a good couple of hundred million pounds worth of players already at the club that should be a minimum expectation.

I never expected us to mount a title challenge this season but having got into the position to throw is away is beyond unforgivable.

Tony-no Scottish accent, unless you count my outstanding Star Trek Scotty impression, but I’m a mix of Scottish, British and Ukrainian…btw my son’s Asian leanings likely stems from the fact that his schooling included an incredibly diverse student body, which certainly isn’t the norm in my neck of the woods, which he embraced with great zeal…far too often, in parts of North America, children will harbour the oft-times ill-conceived prejudices of their parents instead of embracing the untold possibilities…in our household we wouldn’t tolerate such nonsense, as my sporting background has brought me in close contact with peoples from all manners of backgrounds, which I’m sure helped to shape his views on such matters…Cheers

I never expected us to mount a title challenge this season but having got into the position to throw is away is beyond unforgivable

Marc
A perfect summary of where we are.

Marc-couldn’t agree more…in many ways it reminds me of the Pool gig, in that I didn’t expect us to win, but when we found our way to dominate the first 35 and pot a couple goals along the way, it’s only logical that expectations would subsequently change…that’s not a case of arbitrarily moving the goalposts, that’s just common sense

I think we’ve performed admirably this season, especially in light of my early days expectations, but once we emerged as one of the presumptive favourites come the winter window, it was imperative that we acted the part and did whatever was necessary to make an honest push for an otherwise unexpected title…this was why I was so distraught about the way we settled in the window, regardless of how one might colour the subsequent results…for me these moves spoke to the settling and scared nature of our manager, which has come home to roost once again…of course, this doesn’t mean that I have no love for those who’ve come on board, I was just convinced that we needed was the kind of players who could help us over the hump in spite of the gutless tendencies of our resident eunuch in charge; not to mention they will negatively impact our future transfer options…furthermore, neither provided us with the kind of tactical flexibility that’s generally needed when the same old, same old gets stale and we need to find an alternate way to score…now maybe if MA could take his Xhaka blinders off, he might find a way to open up opposing defences, but I swear those Swiss-made specks are welded the fuck on

why am I in moderation mode?? If there’s a particular reason, like swear words, just let me know and I’ll make the necessary adjustments….Cheers

I’m sure it’s just some sort of IT glitch, but it’s more than a little disconcerting, especially on gameday

OK guys here is one that will lessen the pain we all feel today. It appeared in the comment section of the Athletic under an article describing the situation at Chelsea that has developed since Todd the Chump took over. It applies equally well to MA.

A Turkish proverb describes aptly the situation at Chelsea and Arteta at AFC:.
“When a clown takes over a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.”

Ambarish? what’s going on with my posts bud??

thanks…I guess I’ll know in about 10 seconds if everything is smooth sailing once again

all good bud

there must be an element of schadenfreude when it comes to City’s fans watching us perform lately…tv ratings in East Manchester must be through the roof as fans of the baby blue tune in to see how far Sisyphus can get up the hill before the rock rolls backward on him

frankly, I’m sick and tired of these and other embarassing narratives that have centered around our habitual shortcomings…it’s becoming so deep-seated that I fear if we don’t find a way to win the day I’m seriously concerned that our next opportunity will be a long time coming…so whereas there are those on other platforms who will see this as a logical stepping stone to bigger and better things, regardless of how and/or where we finish, I take a totally contrarian view

face it, how many seasons can we expect the following things to happen: (1) that several perennial contending teams would mightily struggle for considerable periods of time, (2) that we would be offered up so many silver-platter affairs where it appeared as if the opposing teams made a collective decision at half to save their energies for their next respecitve matchups and (3) that we would have a relatively healthy starting 11, considering our organizational history over the past decade and a half, for the vast majority of the season

it might seem overly pessimistic, but I’m much closer to the now or never camp than buying into the Kool-Aid crew notion that contending for titles will be some sort of commonplace occurrence so long as MA’s roaming the touchline…boy, I hope and pray I’m way off base

Just finished watching MOTD and what a fucking shit show AFC put on display but especially by Saka and the defense. Saka should have come off and would have liked to see Trossard much earlier after the 2nd equalizer by WH. The subs should have come on because Saka, midfield and defense was ineffective in the 2nd half not a single shot on goal.

We had a defensive problem for the first 3 seasons under the Everton reject and by bringing in Saliba we masked that problem. Take Saliba out and the defensive problem resurfaces. WTF did MA buy Kiwior for just to keep him on the bench? Totally clueless the same applies for Vieira both of them cost £55mill just to warm the bench totally inept manager that can’t win a piss up in a brewery.

Hopefully one of the clubs looking for a manager will take a look at the not so generational one. Can’t wait until we get a manager that can produce in the 1st year at the club and not string along supporters for years.

So, we will play in the CL next season, but if we play like we did in the last two games we will never make it out of the group stages and may even end up in the EL again playing Thursdays. What a fucking disgrace this club has become by Pep’s gimp.

definitely agree Killroy, as there’s no way MA’s chickenshit tendencies won’t get exposed at the CL level…you can’t pursue an offensive brand of football, then abandon it whenever the stakes get too high, as we’re simply not wired to defend for 45+ minutes against teams of consequence…fuck, we can’t get away with that shit against bottom-half squads…so maybe what we need most of all is to find a manager who’s got an eye for talent and the onions to stay the course, as I believe under the right managerial circumstances we’re 2 or 3 top quality players away from competing with the best Europe has to offer

Morning all
Everything said above ratifies what a shit show Arteta has created through ‘The Process’.

When you break it down we can sprint for 30 minutes and then spend the rest of the 90 trying to recover enough to do a few token counter attacks while backs to the wall defending with a completely porous midfield that hasn’t been fixed in the 4+ years by Arteta who has laughingly been called a manager and tactician.

Where do our fitness levels go? We had a week off and were running on empty from the 31st minute. A brief flurry of action in the 2nd half, and then it was park the bus midfield and defense becoming as one.

Almost a carbon copy of the Pool game last week. Arteta at the end looked like Emery after losing the EL cup final: beaten and clueless.

I really feel for you, Ambarish. To be so close and see the manager make the exact same mistakes as last season. There is still a sliver of a chance mathematically that requires City to have at least one bad day at the office. I think De Zerbi will beat us at Brighton and Southampton away just became winnable for their players, fans and manager. They just have to be fitter than us for 90 minutes.

It’s a cruel baptism by fire for you Ambarish and my Junior of how The Arsenal works. We’ve always been a benevolent club sharing the points at the business end of a season- last season was the same and this will follow the same path.

Why is it we are throwing another title away?

Poor squad management throughout the squad including Hale Enders with potential

Not bringing players like Balogun back who might just have won the game for us in his current form

Extremely poor team selections trying to fit Arteta’s football rather than football players can adapt to in their preferred positions

Continually over playing key players (Saka) into the red zones

Reliance on Xhaka as Arteta’s MVP who is mostly a passenger and always a liability

Not buying a RB and 2 quality midfielders last summer TW and ensuring we had the right sized squad to at least show well in the domestic league and EL cup

I’m sure anyone reading this can add many more reasons why Arteta won’t succeed at The Arsenal and be our “Pochettino” until Josh wakes up and smells the coffee and realises he’s been royally scammed and indeed Arteta was using us to gain experience for Madrid et al.

No point in rehashing the game we’ve had nightmares enough in the last 24 hours to endure.

When a team plays collectively bad as we did yesterday, there is only one person to point the finger at: The manager, Arteta.

Did anyone notice Rice running the show yesterday and force his luck to their first goal? Apparently, Rice waited in the tunnel to talk to Ode.

That’s the kind of winner we need bedside Ode in midfield.

#Arteta out – De Zerbi in it won’t be popular with Aitcho for understandable reasons, but as Ten Hag is busy, I’d fancy De Zerbi ahead of Nagelsmann on his footballing methods and tactics. Chelsea win was no fluke.

His teams run virtually flat out throughout the game and never tire. He can also bring BHA’s recruitment systems.

Commiserations, KP, just saw the Cardiff result and felt for you. Us and The Bluebirds results are a terrible thing to endure at the same time.

Ever thought of paragliding and doing aerial photography at the same time, the results would soon be lost to the heavenly sights from 20,000 feet lol. Wouldn’t suit my vertigo, but I would imagine you’d get some great shots off the bluff where your rental is.

I find beating and kicking a 160kg punch bag in our gym does it for me only I’ve run out of Arteta and Xhaka faces so will have to get Mrs T to run some off at the office.

Arteta needs to spend the next few days working out what went wrong (the same set of problems in 2 consecutive games). And the psychologists need to restore the players’ mindsets before Southampton. Odegaard also needs to work out how to motivate his fellow players on the pitch especially if Arteta is failing to come up with anything new and credible. We need a good old PL home domination against a club that is falling fast and unable to score. Don’t give them a sniff on our goal and avoid giving Ward-Prowse any free kicks. Start like a train and maintain the intensity until at least 3 goals have gone in and 60 odd minutes have elapsed.

He’s not really impressed so far in the little time he’s had, but it might be worth trying Kiwior and moving Holding back to the bench. Southampton pose no aerial threat which I think might be Kiwior’s weakness.

I’d pick.
Ram
White Kiwior Gab M Tierney
Partey Ode ESR
Mart Jesus Tross

With Saka coming on if needed. He and Xhaka (obviously) need some rest. I’m assuming Zinch and Saliba remain unfit.