Topic: Arsenal

[rebel23]

Pepe must be a concern.  Just don't see anything like a £70m player there.  Auba is a lethal striker though and i reckon they will do enough over the season to finish 4th.

A point at OT aint bad but it was a very boring game.

[ScottishGoon]

Your fullbacks will improve you but the biggest problem lies with Emery as he is incapable of solidifying defensive structure during the course of the season. In cup competitions he's been excellent but through out the league season at Sevilla and here, its blatantly obvious that defending isn't important to him

Hard to argue with you there. That's been what, 15 months at us and we still look as porous as ever. It might improve with a couple of better individuals across the defense & midfield, but there still needs to be better organisation to prevent the chances we give up a game.

You seem to have a lack of proper leaders in midfield / defence and absolutely bottle it under the slightest bit of pressure.

Again, hard to argue with you there. When your 'leaders' in each area are Luiz & Xhaka, you can see why we're as flakey as their performances. Hoping Holding comes back well and continues to grow in stature, i've read a few folk in here don't rate him, but i like him, he might not be top quality but he's certainly more stable than the others back there.

[CraigDS]

Just think you’d have been better spending £36m on two top quality players in CM and CB over spending £72m on another (meant to be) decent forward player when you actually had two decent players up there.

It’s like they’ve looked at us and somehow thought we’ve done well because we have our top class front three. Ignoring that we actually have a pretty competent group of players behind them too!

Edit - in fact 3 £25m players prob would have been even better for you.

[El Lobo]

Just think you’d have been better spending £36m on two top quality players in CM and CB over spending £72m on another (meant to be) decent forward player when you actually had two decent players up there.

It’s like they’ve looked at us and somehow thought we’ve done well because we have our top class front three. Ignoring that we actually have a pretty competent group of players behind them too!

Edit - in fact 3 £25m players prob would have been even better for you.

And that actually it was the beasts we signed in goal, CB and CM that have seemingly propelled us to the next level

[CraigDS]

And that actually it was the beasts we signed in goal, CB and CM that have seemingly propelled us to the next level

Even before VVD and Alisson we had a pretty decent group of players behind our front 3 (you’re totally right they transformed us though - that’s when you make £7m signings!). Arsenal really haven’t and had so many more positions they’d have been better spending £20m or £30m on before splashing silly money on a single player.

Then again the £70m+ signing screams of owners trying to appease fans. Which it was.

[ScottishGoon]

Just think you’d have been better spending £36m on two top quality players in CM and CB over spending £72m on another (meant to be) decent forward player when you actually had two decent players up there.

It’s like they’ve looked at us and somehow thought we’ve done well because we have our top class front three. Ignoring that we actually have a pretty competent group of players behind them too!

Edit - in fact 3 £25m players prob would have been even better for you.

I read somewhere that 1 of Emery's ways to try & improve the away form on last season was to improve on the wide positions with some pace to help make us less lethargic in the build up, to be able to sit in a bit better and be more of a threat on the counter.

I can see the thinking behind it, as we were slow in the build up & struggled to break teams down, meaning we ended up over extending ourselves trying to break teams down & leaving big gaps to counter us on.

It doesn't look like a wise decision now, but i wont write it off totally until we get the full backs & Lacazette back & until we see if Pepe can improve. Early signs aren't great for Pepe, and yes even at the time i thought we overspent for him, but i think that was more to do with Lille allowing us the payment structure that they did.

Would we have been wiser spending it on 3x £25M players, well you would say yes providing you get the right players in. But we could easily be underwhelmed by those signings as well. You could say the same with any big transfer, was Spurs wise to spend £100M on N'Dombele & Lo Celso when they could have got 4 x £25M players for that money?

[istvan kozma]

A good friend of mine has a couple of family members coming over from Trinidad for Xmas and the New Year and they're desperate to go to the Emirates for the Chelsea game on the 28th of December and the United game on the 1st of January. Apart from trying to buy tickets on general sale from the club (highly unlikely that will be successful because of the demand for those games) what's the best and most reliable outlet to get tickets for those games? I'd appreciate it if anybody is willing to help me out, cheers.

[Lush is the best medicine...]

3 games with mustafi=3 clean sheets

[Avenell Road]

Can’t believe Martinelli is only 18. His movement is really exquisite for someone so young. Early days but he reminds me a lot of Luis  Suarez and Aguero.. no pressure there!

[Max_powers]

Can’t believe Martinelli is only 18. His movement is really exquisite for someone so young. Early days but he reminds me a lot of Luis  Suarez and Aguero.. no pressure there!

He has looks really good. Goals aside, he seems to have what it takes to play at this level. His touch and movement looks really good and he works hard.

[GreatEx]

Why on earth did Aubameyang come on as a 75th min sub at 4-0? Emery seems to do this a lot, it seems a bit silly. Contractual vbonuses?

[Fairytale of 2005]

How did they get a work permit for an 18 year old Brazilian?

[ScottishGoon]

A good friend of mine has a couple of family members coming over from Trinidad for Xmas and the New Year and they're desperate to go to the Emirates for the Chelsea game on the 28th of December and the United game on the 1st of January. Apart from trying to buy tickets on general sale from the club (highly unlikely that will be successful because of the demand for those games) what's the best and most reliable outlet to get tickets for those games? I'd appreciate it if anybody is willing to help me out, cheers.

I'm in a different country as well so hopefully The North Bank will be able to give you some pointers.

How did they get a work permit for an 18 year old Brazilian?

Think he has an Italian passport now, that was the word anyway, that we were waiting on him getting that before he signed.

Thought the young guys did well last night. Not just Martinelli but Willock & Nelson played well. Tierney though, this guy seems another level from the left backs we've had since all the way back to probably Ashley Cole. Just need him to stay fit.

Got some right good youngsters in & about the squad now. Just hope they can be managed correctly & players play on merit.

[clinical]

The fact Martinelli was at trial at utd and they deemed him not good enough tells me all I need to know that this kid is the real deal.

[BrandoLFC]

Was going to say after that ManU game that Emery needs to be let go.  Thought this last year and it's even worse this year.  How is Torreira anything but a DM?  How is Xhaka on the field when you just want to defend deep and counter attack?  How do you look at that roster and think defend deep and counter is a strategy to start with?  I get that it's a hard roster to make work but he's not even getting it to be worth half the sum of it's parts.

[ScottishGoon]

Was going to say after that ManU game that Emery needs to be let go.  Thought this last year and it's even worse this year.  How is Torreira anything but a DM?  How is Xhaka on the field when you just want to defend deep and counter attack?  How do you look at that roster and think defend deep and counter is a strategy to start with?  I get that it's a hard roster to make work but he's not even getting it to be worth half the sum of it's parts.

It's very hard to analyse us right now. We're now up to 3rd, we've only lost 1 game this season, and that was away to you guys, the young guys are performing well in the cup and in Europe, and we've still got Bellerin, Tierney, Holding & Lacazette to come back into the team after the international break.

However, performances aren't great, we're still struggling to create, still struggling to defend, and just generally look unconvincing.

Our next 8 games are against Sheffield Utd, Palace, Wolves, Leicester, Southampton, Norwich, Brighton & West Ham. Not easy games but fixtures we need to do well in if we want to stay on target, as we have a tough festive period.

Still...it could be worse. We could be in free fall like a few other clubs! 

[The North Bank]

All our rivals for top 4 are about to get relegated , so its all good.

[PhaseOfPlay]

Was going to say after that ManU game that Emery needs to be let go.  Thought this last year and it's even worse this year.  How is Torreira anything but a DM?  How is Xhaka on the field when you just want to defend deep and counter attack?  How do you look at that roster and think defend deep and counter is a strategy to start with?  I get that it's a hard roster to make work but he's not even getting it to be worth half the sum of it's parts.

They're in third place, and top of their Europa League group.

Also "defend deep and counter" is the easiest strategy in the world to coach. That's probably how you look at it and think that

[1892tillforever]

It's very hard to analyse us right now. We're now up to 3rd, we've only lost 1 game this season, and that was away to you guys, the young guys are performing well in the cup and in Europe, and we've still got Bellerin, Tierney, Holding & Lacazette to come back into the team after the international break.

However, performances aren't great, we're still struggling to create, still struggling to defend, and just generally look unconvincing.

Our next 8 games are against Sheffield Utd, Palace, Wolves, Leicester, Southampton, Norwich, Brighton & West Ham. Not easy games but fixtures we need to do well in if we want to stay on target, as we have a tough festive period.

Still...it could be worse. We could be in free fall like a few other clubs! 

Your away form desperately needs to improve. I think it is 8 wins in 23 aways since Dick Emery took over. Your home record is pretty good; 17 wins from 23 I think. Arsenal remain a tough game at the Emirates but will find it hard to push on until you develop a way to tough out hard aways; easier said than done. Preventing Luiz from playing would be a decent start though!

[BrandoLFC]

Your away form desperately needs to improve. I think it is 8 wins in 23 aways since Dick Emery took over. Your home record is pretty good; 17 wins from 23 I think. Arsenal remain a tough game at the Emirates but will find it hard to push on until you develop a way to tough out hard aways; easier said than done. Preventing Luiz from playing would be a decent start though!

I think we talk about what would be best for Arsenal or any other team but lets be honest, we want them to be worse than LFC.  So by all means keep Emery and let a sleepy home win over a bad Bournemouth team keep things ticking over.

[ScottishGoon]

Your away form desperately needs to improve. I think it is 8 wins in 23 aways since Dick Emery took over. Your home record is pretty good; 17 wins from 23 I think. Arsenal remain a tough game at the Emirates but will find it hard to push on until you develop a way to tough out hard aways; easier said than done. Preventing Luiz from playing would be a decent start though!

Yeah, we are very flakey away from home still, playing well in patches but also can look amateur at other times. It is a worry, can't say i ever feel confident going to any away game as we never know what we are going to get. Take the next game vs Sheffield Utd for example, a game you need to be solid in, & as long as you stay in the game you can always win with a bit of magic or good fortune like you guys did, but you just know we could be 3 down by then lol. Lets see what the next couple of months bring.

[clinical]

All our rivals for top 4 are about to get relegated , so its all good.

[IgorBobbins]

Bobbins

[OOS]

What is a Emery Arsenal side all about?

Beige that's what.

[Gili Gulu]

I don't think losing at Sheffield United is exactly a disgrace, they've a very well organised defensive unit, and anyone can lose a goal to a set-piece.

[ScottishGoon]

What is a Emery Arsenal side all about?

Beige that's what.

Good question. I have a worry that with midweek games coming up for the next few weeks, he'll continue to use these games to blood our 'proper' full backs, players returning to fitness and continue to use Kolasinac & Chambers there in for the league games, and we'll continue to labour, continue to lack creativity, intensity & we'll just be content to knock it sideways or backwards.

Not that I think a pair of full backs solve all our problems, but we really need to get the better players playing and sticking with a settled team.

[BrandoLFC]

Pepe was overpriced and missed a sitter, he was still the best player on the pitch but was replaced by a kid?

Need a goal so Auba goes out wide?

I think Emery sucks and I hope he continues at Arsenal long term.

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

The Ozil situation is baffling. There is no way he is not better than any of the other options they have available in that position.

[rushyman]

Emery is morphing into the type of manager I despise

Says it’s good no matter what happens. Out to save his job at all costs, couldn’t give two shits about the club he’s at

Hodgson did it. It’s despicable behaviour 

[OsirisMVZ]

I don't think losing at Sheffield United is exactly a disgrace, they've a very well organised defensive unit, and anyone can lose a goal to a set-piece.

They'd lost their previous 3 League home games.

This was the most predictable result in the world, I even put the Sheff Utd GK and CB into my FPL team for a nice 12 points.

If Pepe doesn't start scoring soon Emery is going to be under crazy pressure. Gaping holes in quality all over the squad except up-front, he spends 72m on an inside forward who can't finish unmarked from the 6 yard box.

The Ozil situation is baffling. There is no way he is not better than any of the other options they have available in that position.

Ozil away at a physical team like Sheff Utd is just asking for trouble.

[Flaccido Dongingo]

They'd lost their previous 3 League home games.

This was the most predictable result in the world, I even put the Sheff Utd GK and CB into my FPL team for a nice 12 points.

If Pepe doesn't start scoring soon Emery is going to be under crazy pressure. Gaping holes in quality all over the squad except up-front, he spends 72m on an inside forward who can't finish unmarked from the 6 yard box.

Ozil away at a physical team like Sheff Utd is just asking for trouble.

Ozil has a great skill set, but is a luxury player they can ill afford to have in the team now.

[Lycan]

Ozil would have just gone hiding like he normally does against big physical teams away from home.

[Ghost Town]

Guendouzi is an object lesson in assessing the promise of young players. From day one at Arsenal he was doing quite interesting things, clever moves and runs that no-one else was doing, exhibiting vision and intelligence and sometimes acting as if he were on a different plane to the rest. But all in a slightly cack-handed, incomplete, young-player-ish way.

And he was also courting disaster regularly and making silly mistakes, giving the ball away in dangerous situations, which all led to a lot of mockery and derision. But the promise is there; with coaching and experience he'll grow into his limbs and come into his power. Wonder if that will be at Arsenal?

[OsirisMVZ]

Guendouzi is an object lesson in assessing the promise of young players. From day one at Arsenal he was doing quite interesting things, clever moves and runs that no-one else was doing, exhibiting vision and intelligence and sometimes acting as if he were on a different plane to the rest. But all in a slightly cack-handed, incomplete, young-player-ish way.

And he was also courting disaster regularly and making silly mistakes, giving the ball away in dangerous situations, which all led to a lot of mockery and derision. But the promise is there; with coaching and experience he'll grow into his limbs and come into his power. Wonder if that will be at Arsenal?

Who is the last youth player who was coached into a world class talent whilst at Arsenal? Van Persie? He's retired now.

[Ghost Town]

Yeah like Gnabry I wonder if Doozy will blossom elsewhere?

[CraigDS]

Who is the last youth player who was coached into a world class talent whilst at Arsenal? Van Persie? He's retired now.

Van Persie was 21 when he moved there.

Fabregas a better shout probably, but then he was 16 when he joined and had gone through the Barca youth ranks.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

Emery has absolutely no idea how to set up a team to play away from home. Never has, never will.

[Caligula?]

Emery has absolutely no idea how to set up a team to play away from home. Never has, never will.

He thought signing David Luiz to bolster their defense was a good idea.

[Ghost Town]

He thought signing David Luiz to bolster their defense was a good idea.

Perhaps he just thought Doozy needed a ketwig buddy?

[royhendo]

Sheffield United are quite a prospect at home though eh?