Arsenal Banter Archive February 10 2019

10 Feb 2019 18:29:01
Arsenal has conceded the least number of goals from set pieces this season among epl clubs. well atleast that's what the commentator said in yesterday's match. i guess there is some sort of improvement defensively under emery. i really hope he gets the defenders he wants in the next window and maybe then we can see marked improvement! COYG.

10 Feb 2019 18:40:17
That's an interesting fact gunner4 and when you think about it then it sounds right too, now if we can just stop people walking through our middle and finding space on our flanks for fun we'd be back in business.
But when you think about it we don't seem to be conceding from corners as easily which is obviously a big plus.

10 Feb 2019 19:12:05
Interesting stat - I don’t feel any safer at corners and Leno terrifies me at corners with his erratic decision making. Think he’s terrible at crosses / corners while good with feet and shot stopping.

Thanks for making me think - my gut is to think we have given away less corners because of poor finishing by opponents Vs blocks / saves by our defenders but that sounds negative. That statement makes sense when I think how lucky we were against Huddersfirld and during our 22 match run. Given away plenty chances but more misses than saves / blocks do less corners.

Don’t want to be defensive of my position 😂.

10 Feb 2019 19:26:14
Haven't we conceded more goals overall though?
Which can only mean we are conceding more from open play than before Dick got here, hey ho back to the drawing board:-)

10 Feb 2019 19:33:36
Goals conceded per game - same ball part as last year and on target to be slightly worse 54 goals Vs 51 last season. So call that zero improvement and give him a little room as the new guy this season 10th most conceded Vs 13th last season.

Clean sheets - we are effectively second from bottom with just 4 clean sheets. Last season we were 6th best with 13 clean sheets. So gone backwards there


Second most conceded penalties - equal to last season

Goals scored - we will end up 5th now Utd have gotten rid of Jose. Last season we were 3rd top. Currently 4th with Spurs pipping us.

So looks like we will be slightly back on our attack and back on our defence if we continue as we are. Not great reading. But lots can change between now and game 38. We may actually get a set up that works and get organised while not stifling our creativity 🤞.

10 Feb 2019 19:51:54
Excellent info SY, so in the main it's all pretty similar with the odd tiny better/ worse bit thrown in here and there.
What was it David Cameron used to say back in 2010, once he'd already been elected of course :-)
" not being forced to take a pay cut is the new pay rise "

10 Feb 2019 19:57:24
Makes you wonder how we are closer to 4th than last year and more points so far than last year. Also makes you wonder how we have already more points against top 6 than last year and more away wins than last year. Maybe when Dick gets some improvement out of us we might get slightly better. Not doing bad though, seeing as though we have gone so far backwards.

10 Feb 2019 21:49:54
That's the thing Steve mate we haven't gone backwards or forwards we are pretty much the same as we have been for far too long.
Finish top 4 and I will be impressed but don't forget since Ole took over are united they have overcome an 8pt lead we had over them and moved ahead of us, our 4th place pace keeping is as much down to Jose as Dick in my opinion and the biggest difference between our postion now and last season is Uniteds terrible start to this season.

10 Feb 2019 22:17:44
Yes gunner, if we look for one, we can always find an excuse. Lol.

10 Feb 2019 22:53:32
Too much Steve? Sorry mate :-)
But Just between the two of us if we are comparing previous and present managers on then and now points won Ole's United would be top of the table and Spurs would be 4th 10 points ahead of us.
Personally I think it's just easier to go with what we see with our own eyes and be as honest as possible rather than use stats that we can all use or ignore to suit our personal feelings.
And for me watching our defence, it's not any more enjoyable viewing than it has been for a decade.

11 Feb 2019 06:05:03
62 - our defence and attack is less enjoyable to watch. Having a manager walk his technical area but do nothing about our set up - don’t enjoy that either. To be fair, there’s not a lot of joy at all. If the only way to improve is to extract all creativity - then the future is dull and boring.

The main difference is - we can’t keep a clean sheet to save our lives. That’s the difference and where we are worse.

To see Rambo and Ozil not utilised is crazy also.

11 Feb 2019 09:01:15
Ramsey is off so I understand not using him but to me a Mesut and Dick is like Pogba and Mourinho, if your going to make an example of your highest paid star player then you have to be more successful without him in the side than you are with him.
It didn't work out for Jose and so far it's not going great for Dick without Mesut.
If we were much more effective at the back by leaving Ozil out then there would be a case for not using him but at the moment We are no better without a Mesut defensively and less effective in attack so not playing him is achieving nothing.

10 Feb 2019 23:14:34
Gunner defence, attack, dick, ole, 22 game very lucky run, 9 games transformed by ole, poor defence (which must be bad, we've let in 2 more than utd to date) chelski letting in 6 at citeh, good form, bad form, ultimately adds up in the end to a total number of points at the end of the season.

11 Feb 2019 10:45:05
Very very true Steve mate, the final table never ever lies.
If you get more points than anyone else you are the best that season no questions no ifs buts maybes and whoever comes bottom is the worst and so on, wherever you finish tells the true story of your season no excuses for anyone.
For me personally I'd prefer 5th with a Defence that is credible than 4th with and a free for all shoot out simply because it gives us a chance of getting back to being where we all do or should ultimately want to be, 1st.
But if Dicks after you sir shot swapping style gets us 4th place then I will gladly say he's had a fantastic 1st season but will still feel that the outscoing rather than controlling games approach will never get us back to being truly competitive again, it didn't work for Arsene and I can't think of any previous champions ever that were weak at the back and I really don't think Dick will be the first to achieve it either not even in 22 years of trying if simply be patient.
That strategy is so basically flawed that very few waste their time even following it.

10 Feb 2019 15:48:35
Why can't we play 3 at the back - surely 3 CDs mean we always have cover!

Then 5 in midfield - Kola and Bellerin on the flanks. 2 CDMs and Ozil in front in the hole.

2 upfront - the deadly Laca and PEA

Let's not remove creativity but set ourselves up to not get exposed and use the talent we have at our club

Don't drop the creative talent as it's boring while we still concede.

Is dropping a player like Rambo or Ozil really the answer?

Is playing a back 4 plus 3 central midfielders really the answer

Is leaving 1 at the back to get exposed sensible or beaten by a simple ball over the top. Why not address the number of players that hold a position at the back without removing creativity. How do we still get exposed at the back so easily

How should we be playing? Not sure Emery knows best especially as he's played so many different set ups.

10 Feb 2019 17:38:45
We needed a George but appointed another Arsene
We've put the cart before the horse, under George we lacked almost any creativity but were rock solid at the back and Wrighty used to get one chance a game and it was invariably 1 0 to the Arsenal.
Arsene came in and brought excellent creative players to compliment the solid foundation that was already there and the rest is fantastic history.
Dick looks every bit as lost as Arsene at organising a defence that isn't already self organising, when the last of the George generation left (Keowen and Parlour) is when the non competitiveness problems started.
Have we made a mistake in appointing Emery? If he can't organise any better than Arsene then the answer has to be yes we have made a mistake and if he really can organise better than Arsene what's he waiting for? Why haven't we seen it by now?

10 Feb 2019 19:39:47
Safe to say outside of the relief that we have a change in management - nothing else to get excited about but rather more to get concerned about it.
Hope is what we are pinning our future with Emery on as nothing to suggest anything other than hope to explain any optimism. While we have hope, what more could you ask for. Here’s to blind hope and where it can get us.


Question - If you had your life riding on our success - would you be happy with Emery being in charge?

Answers on a postcard.

10 Feb 2019 22:03:06
SY mate we always knew in the search for our next manager who could make us competitive again we might not get it right first time round, but it will happen mate, highs and lows all clubs have them.
Who'd have thought the Liverpool who dominated the 80s would go 20 odd years in the premier league years and still not have a title? But it will happen, even if not this season it will come for them at some point and Who'd have thought our invincibles of 2004 would be Arsenal's last champions for 15 years and counting, but it will happen again mate.

10 Feb 2019 07:29:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Review Of The Day 10th February 2019