28 Feb 2020 06:35:40
Extremely disappointing result, I thought the team looked fatigued, perhaps a tiring combination of matches and trying to increase the player's conditioning caught up with the team.
I am also not a fan of playing Ceballos and Ozil in the same team. In addition we lacked energy in general and I would have selected Torrreira, Guendouzi and Martinelli in the starting line up:.
Leno
Bellerin Mustafi Luiz Saka
Torreira Xhaka
Pepe Guendouzi Martinelli
Aubameyang

I thought Mustafi was outstanding.
I also thought Pepe gave a decent performance, but was surprised to hear criticism of him and wondered what fellow gooners thought?
Lacazette looks exhausted, as did other players, including Aubameyang.

V Portsmouth:
Martinez
Maitland-Niles Sokratis Mari Saka
Torreira Guendouzi
Nelson Willock Martinelli
Nketiah.


1.) 28 Feb 2020
28 Feb 2020 07:34:47
911 - please give up on Luiz - he’s useless and not what we need. We need defenders who defend. We don’t need Mustafi either. Sell Bellerin, give Spanish guy back as he isn’t good enough, put Matteo on loan, drop Laca and sell Torriera. The side needs revamp to give Arteta a chance.
Please just drop the Luiz is good or Mustafi is excellent.
We might as well sell or give Ozil away also. As for Pepe - he’s not good enough either - he wants to stop and beat a player from a standstill and do six step overs - you can’t do that in EPL
Sorry - I can’t put up with any rose tinted views on our defence, midfield or attack. Or our manager - why did the Spanish loanee start! He sees a pass but can’t make it - the ones that count and is weak. Why play Laca for as long as you do yet say you need to earn your shirt, why drop Torreira, why moan you need defenders put always play Luiz. Why can’t you sort the attitude out, why can’t you organise a corner, why leave 1 at the back. Man up Arteta and walk the walk as you talk the talk

So obvious they would bloody score - more surprised we did as we couldn’t find a player in the box and to be fair it was w deflected cross and overhead kick do not really created by skill or purpose.


2.) 28 Feb 2020
28 Feb 2020 07:37:03
Sorry 911.


3.) 28 Feb 2020
28 Feb 2020 08:20:19
Not sure if the players are now being over trained on top of heavy playing schedule or its just the new manager novelty wearing off and the old Arsenal ways returning, hope it's the former because that's more easily fixed.
Whatever it is performances are patchy at best and although the upturn in effort has been brilliant to see its only going to be enough to pacify people for so long.
Mikel is a novice manager and although it would have been lovely if he'd taken to it like a duck to water it now seems he like most rookies has an awful lot to learn.
He has a very diverse coaching team he brought in which is a good thing because he will get different help and advice from them apposed to everyone signing the same old song as we've had in the past.

The reality is one champions league backdoor is closed and maybe or maybe not another will open up in a 5th place backdoor chance but in reality are we anywhere near ready to do he club proud at champions league level? I'd say not so it might be a good thing long term not to run before we can walk and qualifying through the front door ( top 4 ) next season or the season after might prove the wisest corse.


4.) 28 Feb 2020
28 Feb 2020 08:52:14
Not a problem SY4, you are entitled to your opinion. However, at present Arteta can only select from the players he has at his disposal. I may be wrong, but I thought Mustafi was quality last night and I have been critical in the past. What team would you have selected last night?


5.) 28 Feb 2020
28 Feb 2020 18:17:00
Leno
Maitland-Niles Holding Pablo Tierney
Torreira Xhaka
Martinelli Ozil Saka
Aubameyang

Not last night but going forward. or

Leno
Holding Papa Pablo
Bellerin Torreira Xhaka Saka
Ozil
Aubameyang Martinelli

Current squad is pretty poor and Arteta has done little to improve our main area of weakness while not doing a huge amount to improve midfield / attack consistently

He should be drilling the defence day in day out like GG did. People who played under GG say it was boring, regimented, practiced sticking their arm in the air and appealing as a unit. we need to do that and Arteta should have improved that.

Have you seen defensive training or passing training

If Freddie is in the director box - why isn’t he shouting at Arteta to stop leaving 1 at the back. Why isn’t the team listening. why are The excellent Mustafi and Luiz letting midgets mark giants, standing like statues and day dreaming with little care in the world. Then high fiving a slide tackle that was avoidable if we were organised. Or hearing straight to opponents or passing straight to opponents. Great to have a defender who passes 50 yard Hollywood passes with 30% accuracy but great for match of the day highlights but the same defender not bloody defending.

The board F’d up buying Pepe rather than a decent defender and then buying Chelsea reject who doesn’t defend. The club is a mess due to the board - they should have held Wenger accountable, never appointed Emery, not wasted over £100m on poor players in positions we don’t need.

We need to go back to the days when we had big strong athletic players with a solid attitude and played for the shirt. Torriera is too weak and too small For EPL unless we build around him. But we can’t be weak with the player next to him and then expect to carry Ozil. We then can’t have a crap centre back pairing behind a compromised midfield. plus non defensive minded wingbacks. This club is so frustrating and we always pin our hopes on the next great hope with no foundation and keep hoping our hope turns to reality despite reality suggesting it’s not moving in the right direction.

Huge clear out and start again - what I wanted 3 years ago and what many wanted 7 years ago. I was blinded by loyalty and a few FA cups. Not any longer.


6.) 28 Feb 2020
28 Feb 2020 19:56:09
Good old Perry talking sense :

Groves believes that David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis, Dani Ceballos, Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Calum Chambers, Mohamed Elneny and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all have no long-term future at the club.

I would spaded a few more to that list - Bellerin, Laca, Torriera, Pepe for starters. May be give Pepe 1 more season.


7.) 29 Feb 2020
28 Feb 2020 22:56:47
I'm a fan of Pepe 911. A little easy to knock over perhaps. He seems to be targeted every game with 3 or more players surrounding him when he's on the ball and I think it's magic when he outwits them. Doesn't work every time though!


8.) 29 Feb 2020
29 Feb 2020 13:08:44
It seems there are a lot of emotions flying around here for the simple fact that we lost the game. It’s good to take our head out of the clouds ☁️ and see things for what they are.

For starters I would reiterate BL is not the answer and as I have said before he try to look fanciful and hasn’t shown the professionalism and football knowledge to be a very decent goalkeeper.

It’s a know fact we have not got a decent defence but I believe that have improved slightly under MA. It maybe down to defending collective rather than just the defenders alone defending. It is like evident in the two goals we conceded - set play / corners - when defenders should be responsible. He may have been exhausted due to recent games played but DL was static for both goals with the scorers attacking the goal 🥅 dead centre unopposed. He just never tried. HB is no longer the future and need to be upgraded.

I don’t mind the way he has been playing DC at home of later. It improves the creativity and transition of the ball from the back to the front, albeit not yet at its best. GX did not contribute a lot and playing mostly on the left of middle field rarely passed the ball with his left foot and kept switching to pass it right or with his right foot 🦶 becoming less effective. The only shot he took beyond the rigid defensive line he skied. Why isn’t he taking more attempts in these situations is beyond me. His left foot and the power he generates his arguably his greatest strength.

NP what can I say, 72m is already spent and is currently not likely to be realised on the market, so will need to be taken to school. Ability- checked. Skills - checked. Football intelligence / game awareness- lacking badly. Currently only really effective when running at pace. The game needs to be set up for counterattacks to get more out of him until he learns how to read the game.

Strikers - what a over load! Possibly causing confusion and dilemma. AL and PA has such a bond you wish it would reflect or gel and brings results in games. A business decision should have been made to sell AL when we bought PA and deal with risk. We might have had a better second or more developed youth striker at this point.

The whole squad looks like they need a course on footballing intelligence relating to how to analyse and transitioning throughout the game based on preferred outcome while in play. BL should not have taken the risk under no circumstance at that stage in that game. We could or should have been able to manage this game at nil - nil or 1 - 1 without stressing. There are other games where we should be managing a 2 goal cushion to affect the mentality of the opposition so they naturally develop a attitude of giving up trying. It’s a natural way of resting throughout games.