And so, just like Christmas, the North London Derby comes around again. It finds the Arsenal goose somewhat underprepared this year if not raw after our worst start to a league season in 39 years. We come into this game in 14th place with just 13 points from 10 games. Our opponents sit 8 points ahead of us, squatting at the top of the table. Last Sunday they scrapped out a 0-0 draw at the Bus Stop in Fulham while we put in another poor PL performance ending in a dispiriting home defeat. The Marshdwellers are certainly in good form currently but the Arsenal’s performance and win against Rapid Vienna on Thursday has lifted the mood and shown what we are capable of, if only against a pretty poor outfit. Fortunately, the NLD often does not go to form because so many players raise their game for the occasion – will that apply in a largely deserted barn containing 2000 numpties? A win wouldn’t take the Arsenal into the top half of the table but it would go a long way to restoring the possibility of a St Totteringham’s celebration by season’s end.
Our PL record at their place (whatever you call it and including their squat at Wembley), is 5 wins, 12 draws and 11 defeats in 28 games with an aggregate of 35 goals for and 40 against. We have to go back to March 2014 for our last victory at the shabby end of the Seven Sisters Road when a goal from Thomas Rosicky after 2 minutes gave us a classic 1-0 victory. Strangely, in each of our last two visits to their lair, we took the lead in the 16th minute. In March 2019 Aaron Ramsey’s fine goal was pegged back by a late Kane penalty for a 1-1 draw and in July 2020 Lacazette’s goal was pegged back almost immediately then we lost 1-2 to an 81st minute goal from Alderweireld.
In the absence of a sceptical home crowd, the Marshdwellers have embraced the specious one’s dire game style. When out of possession they play a low block with midfielders Højbjerg and Sissoko dropping into the backline to create a back 6 screened by a threesome usually comprising Son, Bergwijn and Ndombele. As with all Moaninho’s sides, they happily concede possession and ground awaiting a stray pass or successful tackle to break out at speed. Kane is usually the initial focal point of their breakout receiving the ball inside his own half then firing it forwards for the onrushing Son, Bergwijn or fullbacks. They have become very good at swift and accurate passing between runners and on the counter attack they represent a real goal threat. The interchanges between Son and Kane in particular will have to be stifled. Will they adopt a high press or an all-out attacking strategy against a wounded Arsenal? I don’t think that they will press or drive forwards for long periods but they will do so for spells then revert to the shell. The specious one has suggested that Lloris and Kane are doubtful for this match. I don’t believe a word that man says.
Despite the solidity of their massed defence, their centre backs are vulnerable to pace and swift passing and movement. Furthermore, their fullbacks often leave acres of space behind them and are vulnerable to wide-men on a counter-attack. The Marshmen also retain a proclivity to crumble under pressure as Wet Spam demonstrated earlier this season.
Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal teams used to succumb to the Portuguese reptile’s ‘rope a dope’ tactic with sickening regularity. For years I wanted Arsene to beat him at his own game by drawing his team onto us and striking on breakaways but he never played against them that way. Sadly, we did then have a team capable of rapid counter-attacks but those days have long gone and I honestly can’t see that tactic working with Xhaka and Ceballos bestriding our midfield.
After the grim displays against Villa and Wolves and the paucity of chance creation and dearth of PL goals from open play, I found it difficult to see a more fruitful approach to this game than reverting to a back three, prioritising a low block and looking to strike on the break. This would replicate the playbook that we used at Old Trafford though that result relied on a liberal contribution from Lady Luck at both ends. Despite the good performance against Rapid Vienna on Thursday, the quality of the opposition was several rungs below PL standards so it is unlikely it will convince Arteta to retain a 4-3-3 but I think he will use KT3’s and Saka’s flexibility to morph between a 3-4-3 out of possession and a 4-3-3 on the offensive.
My nightmare is this: our central defence will be lambs to the slaughter if we lose possession when camped on the edge of the opposition box with our wing backs thrown forward and pedestrian midfielders left for dead as opponents race past them. To me, it would be far more preferable to play cat and mouse rather than drive forward, hell for leather.
I have found selecting a team for this match a major challenge. I hope Mikel Arteta has found it easier. On the one hand we have the record of miserable performances in our recent PL matches that demand improvement and on the other we had that delightful performance on Thursday with the injection of youthful enthusiasm in the form of Nelson and AMN and a re-invigorated looking Lakazette. Yet we must be realistic. Rapid Vienna barely closed us down and those players will not be given that time and space on Sunday.
The keeper and back three pick themselves (surely Luiz must be rested following two recent head injuries?). The continued absence of Partey is a huge blow as his midfield physicality and distribution were significant factors in the Old Trafford result. All our other midfield options lack those qualities. As a former midfielder of some distinction, MA8 will be well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the midfield players at his disposal. Like many, I am tired of watching Xhaka floundering in our midfield but he does have the experience and street-smarts to match the opposition’s big, tough midfield thugs. Yet I’m not sure I would select him as a starter because he is so bereft of pace. Before Thursday, the whirling Dervish Ceballos’ contributions had been equally turgid. However, his cameo against Rapid Vienna showed his creative qualities with several incisive forward balls and he has forced himself back into contention.
On Thursday, AMN excelled in his favourite position as a box to box midfielder. However, as he played the full 90 minutes and as Thursday’s opposition would have made Xhaka look like Patrick Vieira (I jest), I think he will be on the bench, perhaps to replace Willock late in the game. Lacazette and Nelson both also had excellent games, the former in a deep lying ‘10’ role in which he excelled (against weak opposition), while Nelson displayed high energy and linked well creatively (against weak opposition). Elneny had a less spectacular game but, a couple of poor passes apart gave a reasonable performance as the deep-lying midfielder (though Ceballos looked better). I think it’s a toss-up between Elneny and Ceballos starting in midfield and Ceballos’ cameo may have won him the starting position. For me, that would be alongside Joe Willock.
I expect Mikel Arteta to give Lacazette a chance to reprise the ‘number 10’ role against big boys. With Pépé’s continued suspension, I would start Nelson and Aubameyang drifting centrally from ‘inside forward’ positions ahead of him. This would allow Bellerin to overlap on the right and Saka and Tierney to attack the wide left corridor.
Actually, I think that Mikel Arteta will start Willian over Nelson because of his vastly greater big match experience and recognition that Nelson’s good performance was against lightweights. Heaven forfend Mikel sticks with the turgid combination of Ceballos and Xhaka in central midfield but he might just decide that experience trumps legs and he is paid to make those calls. I think we need more directness, energy, strength and pace than those three players offer but there’s no doubt that experience counts in games like this and youngsters can be overrun. The truth is that we don’t have midfielders of the quality that we need for this level of competition. The brave, though some might say foolhardy, choice would be to play a 4-3-3 with a midfield of AMN, Willock and Ceballos and a front three of Nelson, Aubameyang and Saka. It’s not happening, nor should it.
Thus, I expect we will start a 3-4-1-2, morphing into 4-2-1-3 when breaking forward:
Leno
Holding, Gabriel, Tierney
Bellerin, Ceballos, Willock, Saka
Lacazette
Willian, Aubameyang.
The Holic Pound
I will be satisfied with a good performance and a point but the Holic pound is backing a cheeky 1-0 to the Arsenal at 11/1.
A good result in this game, no matter how it’s achieved, would make a massive difference to this team’s confidence and its performances in forthcoming games.
At the risk of overegging the pudding by returning to the opening metaphor, I hope we don’t get stuffed because if we do, our goose may well be cooked this season.
Courage mes braves!
Enjoy the game, Holics.
Very clear-eyed preview, bath. I would take 1-0 to The Arsenal in a heartbeat.
Some fantastic memories of post-war London and getting to games at Highbury in the previous drinks. The past really is a different country.
A nice piece from Arsenal Media:
https://twitter.com/arsenal/status/1335177222215376900?s=12
We need to watch out for skullduggery and gamesmanship, particularly from Son and Kane, currently the premierships’s worst cheats.
Keep your heads, lads, and tackle hard!
Continuing the “what Arsenal meant to me” theme from the previous drinks –
When I was very young my first experiences of live football were at Barnet FC and the away grounds of the clubs that made up the Athenian League. I was taken by the next door neighbour as my Dad had to work on Saturdays. Finchley, Grays, Wealdstone and others were the palaces of footballing rivals we visited between Saturday afternoons spent beside the slope at Underhill.
I was completely immersed in the wonders of Athenian amateur football – such as a six and seven year old can be – the buzz of the crowd (about 1,800 checking back through the records), the smell of the horse-oils on the players as they emerged from the dressing rooms and walked within touching distance of you onto the pitch – a then customary mix of grass, mud and sand that nonetheless looked like Wembley compared to what we had to play on at school.
And then, when I was eight, something magical happened. My dad took me to an evening match at Highbury. We walked out of Arsenal tube station – I mean, what kind of football club had its own station ! – and made our way to the Clock End where I stood and gazed in disbelief at the lights, the vast crowd, the stands – what incredible stands – and that pitch. This was a truly magical place that in one amazing evening had me hooked for life.
I lived in East Barnet then which, at that time, put me in a very small minority of Arsenal fans compared to the numbers of Spuds all around. It’s now an Arsenal stronghold but in those days there were two of us at junior school and three of us at senior school against pretty much the rest.
That defiance, the struggle, the pride in my first Arsenal shirt one Christmas morning, which allowed me to run out onto an imagined Highbury pitch every time we went for a three-n-in in the local park, school holiday days spent standing at London Colney watching the youth team alongside George Graham and Frank McLintock, that drove Arsenal into my heart.
The successes have been fantastic, the disappointments immense. Whichever way it goes, that are there to stay.
Trev,
Lovely memories . How strong that first pull is and how amazingly atmospheric Highbury was! I was almost the only Arsenal supporter in my schools in South London . Chelsea and Palace country with lots of United fans in the Charlton/ Law/ Best era
thanks for the preview, baff. it’s a game that feels like pick-up-sticks, tossed in the air not sure how it’ll all land. thanks for that link, got some dust in my eyes…
all, keep sharing with us those memories. i only have tv memories, excepting two visits to thof. but those two visits, wow, it’s all there: the smells, the green of the grass, the crowds, the sound of the ball being struck…sigh.
Scruz – the sight of TTG struggling through the crowds in the Tolly bearing three pints of Guinness ….
Wonderful drink @5 Trev. I enjoyed it in the last drinks but before I could reply, the bar came down, threatening my fingers in the process! Glad you reposted under this preview.
Bath, an excellent preview. I was just discussing with my son that we cannot remember an NLD where they were such overwhelming favourites. Not until Partey is back can we hope to really go forward, as we did at Old Trafford where he was outstanding.
Mourinho has never lost a home game against us. Won seven, drawn four. and lost only two out of 21 games overall. Time for change. Bath is right that the form book goes out of the window for this one.
Bath,
That is a superb preview, very realistic and well argued.
For so many years the Spuds would run their hearts out against us because they were motivated to do so and they knew if they didn’t we would pulverise them . Remember the 4-4 draw at our place when we were top and they were bottom?
They are favourites but can we overturn the odds ?
Well we are a MUCH better team away from home partly because Arteta is a cautious, counter-attacking coach .Our last two away league games saw decent results given the circumstances at Leeds. The league positions are distorted by the fact that they have had much easier games to play than we have . Mourinho is deeply conservative but has great attacking riches and a balanced midfield in which Hjobjerg has done the sort of job we need . As Bath says we need to be conservative and canny and patient and not play into their hands like Kola did after we took the lead at their place last year
I think Partey may be in the side and certainly in the squad. He trained today and there is one way to enshrine yourself as a legend in Arsenal folklore – turn the Spuds over.Players like Pires and Rosicky relished the Derby . I would certainly play Elneny and Ceballos. I’m not on the Willock bandwagon as he never does it in the league but Arteta will play Willian who has a great record against Spurs and I would continue with the Laca experiment from Thursday . I like 1-0 to the Arsenal…but we might just make it 2-0 if Auba discovers his mojo . COYG!
Hope springs eternal !
https://metro.co.uk/2020/12/05/arsenal-receive-huge-injury-boost-on-eve-of-north-london-derby-vs-spurs-as-thomas-partey-is-spotted-in-training-13706267/?ito=newsnow-feed
Trev@5: What C100 said @10. I played at Underhill once. More like mountaineering than football on that slope.
Like others, lots of early memories of walking down St Thomas’s Road from Finsbury Park and then creaking through those narrow turnstiles at Highbury. Can still hear that sound in my mind today.
Fine preview Bath. Any win will
do of course and it would be a
truly great moment for Auba to
kick start our season.
countryman@9: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgy8caG63Dg
🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for the kind words fellas. I will be like John Cleese in scruz’s excellent clip @16, if Thomas Partey is fit to play tomorrow. 🤞🏻
Scruz! You’ve never forgiven me for working that comment into the drinks have you? 🤣🤣 Happy days.
c100, i’ll never forget your reaction at the tolly 😳😳🤣🤣🤣
happy days, indeed.
It wasn’t just me! There was a perceptible pause in the conversation of everyone around us! 🤣🤣🤣
“who is *that* guy?” they were all thinking as they edged away. though to be fair, i was quoting a well-known english comedy skit…
Bath – an insightful, optimistic review with a healthy dose of pragmatism!
I think you have got the line-up spot on. Except that if Partey comes through the training sessions he will start. I do have a feeling in that case one of our two young Turks — Joe and Reiss — will start in place of Dani or Willian, respectively. But definitely not both.
This match never follows any rhymes or reason. Last time we won away at their place — as you mentioned — I remember after TR7 scoring that beauty in maybe 2nd minute we played very much on the back foot with Per organising the defence well as they attacked throughout. It was an uncharacteristically rearguard Arsenal (of that time) win and no one cared about the lack of attempts etc. It will be quite gratifying (and funny) to out-specialise the specialist.
Any win will be a great boost …
I am smiling from ear to ear. !!
I log in to the pre match review from Bath, and who do i see has popped in to the bar with his succinct thoughts on our neighbors, but our old friend Dorset Mick.
Lovely to hear from you mate, and i do hope the Chemo hasn’t knocked you around too much, and the dishlickers have been giving you some joy, unlike our football team.
A win over the Lilywhites would make both our weekends.
I cannot believe no one in the bar has welcomed you back. !!
But i guess we can forgive them, as they are very worried about our beloved Club and must have missed your post.
As for the match itself, i can take losing, as long as the players give 150% for the shirt, and make sure the Spuds know they have been in a game, preferably with at least 3 stretchered off. !!
It would take a dramatic form reversal for us to win, so a draw in my opinion is the best we can hope for and would be very acceptable in our current malaise.
Remiss of me not to compliment your fine preview Bath
Although i am starting to wonder if Willian has a clause in his contract that guarantees he plays every league game unless injured, given his paucity of form since the opening day.
And if the old man Giroud can play away in Spain on Wednesday, and back up and start
tonight against Leeds and score, then there is no reason a youthful AMN cannot reprise his role as an attacking midfielder [ last seen since Rambo ] tomorrow at the Lane.
The thought of X and C lining up together is not a comfort, so let’s try something new, after all it cannot be any worse than the current incumbents.
Good call @23, Clive.
Good to see you in this fine establishment. I hope you are well. A bottle of your preferred tipple is on the bar.
An excellent & pragmatic preview Bath. It’s not that often we arrive at a NLD in such woeful
league form. Normally the mob at the other end of Seven Sisters Road are fearful of the outcome – the boot is on the other foot for a change. However they have often gained a result as the old saying goes “ form goes out of the window in derby matches “ – I sincerely hope so. What supporters want is to see their team put in 100 % effort, every one of them, and any negative result won’t feel quite so terrible.
We will need to score a minimum of 2 goals to win as a dubious penalty to marsh dwellers seems prevalent of late.
I expect Willian to play for his experience and he is due a performance worthy of his most generous contract. If Partey is fit he will supply much needed vim & vigour in the engine room. Possibly Laca has done enough to gain a recall – either as the no 10 he played on Thursday or as striker with Auba pushed out wide again. I’ll be surprised if any of the youngsters start the match.
Here’s hoping for that 2-1 scoreline – a defeat against the old enemy is bad enough and to see Maureen’s smiling face in such a case is too much to bear.
I guess Willock plays as he was rested
midweek wasn’t he? I hope we’ve given
Gabriel a crash course in the cheaty arts
of Son and Kane.
Thanks for your excellent preview Bath, a 1-0 to the Arsenal being just what the doctor prescribed. 🙏😁
Nice to hear from Clive, Mick, Uply and all the other usual suspects.
Like Saka, Willock was an unused sub v RW, OM
Bath @25
All well mate.
Although if our dismal form continues, i might have to break the habit of a lifetime and drink something stronger than freshly squeezed orange juice.🍷🍷
Ned/matt
The scary one which will do nothing for TTG’s blood pressure, is his fav midfielder was nowhere near the squad on Thursday night, which likely means he is a certain starter today.
God forbid.
Not sure we should risk TP after only one training session, rather give him the extra week for Burnley game.
We have a long season ahead.
Enough of this pessimism.
3-0 to the Arse – you heard it here first.
UTA.
Excellent preview and I like your predicted team, Bath.
Inspired by Kane in the form of his life the Spuds are playing well and the Arsenal will need to be at their very best to achieve the 3-0 away win that Noosa confidently predicts. (Australian sunshine is casting a brighter beam than the grey clouds over the new toilet bowl in London at the moment. G’day Noosa and Good on ya).
Irrespective of the outcome we’ll only be at game eleven, nearing the end of the entree course. While the chef may have his chopper in hand and Mother Goose may be squawking, she’ll be a long way from being stuffed.
Thanks, Bath, for an excellent preview.
I agree about AMN particularly. Some say he’s never shown much in that position – but he hasn’t played much in that position. I remember that game at OT at the end of the season before last and then …. he was back to fullback or on the bench. The game against Vienna on Thursday was more evidence of what he can do, albeit against weaker opposition, and his pace, desire to get forward and composure on the ball are all qualities missing at the moment. Can he really be any worse than what we’ve seen lately ?
A massive game for sure. Everything crossed that the reported meetings at the training ground in the week were both productive and decisive.
BtM. If the chef has his chopper in his hand, can it be long before HR get involved?
Clive@23,
Thanks so much for your kind thoughts. The chemo has certainly kept me sheltered away from people since June, and will thankfully finish in January. Beer should taste ok by March, I can hardly wait!
As for dishlickers, we only have a share in one (Dundee June) presently, but she somehow managed to win the Scurry Gold Cup in October, the little beauty.
I shall risk a few quid on Bath’s cheeky, but highly plausible scoreline!
Very best wishes to all Gooners, and everything crossed this afternoon.
Dorset Mick,
I was unaware of your situation, unlike Clive evidently, but just wanted to wish you all the very best in your recovery.
You are very welcome Dorset Mick on what we hope will be an auspicious day. Hope your treatment is effective and you are in increasingly fine fettle
Peter Alliss has died aged 89.
I’m not a golf player or fan but if any voice could ever make me interested it was his. A remarkable style to both interest and relax you at the same time.
RIP
Dorset Mick @35, good to see you mate. I hope you get a great result from the chemo and beer tastes even better than you remember in the New Year.
Trev @33, Tim provides an excellent analysis of AMN in his latest post at: http://7amkickoff.com/index.php/2020/12/05/the-nld-looms-but-a-little-about-maitland-niles-first
Adding my best wishes to those above, Dorset Mick. Stay strong. A win today will be a tonic.
For those of you that don’t know
winning the Scurry Gold Cup is
quite a big deal in the greyhound
world. So congrats to Dorset Mick
👏👏👏👏
I once went to Slough with my
Dad to watch Mutts Silver in the
Scurry Gold Cup Final.
I think he got beat ( the dog that
is, not my Dad who was a generally
peaceable man) but it was an
exciting night out for my 10 year
old self. Used to get a big crowd
at the dogs in the olden days.
bath@39: interesting link. It raises the question of whether the multiplicity of roles that AMN has been asked to play means that he has become a jack of all trades but master of none.
Partey on!
Leno
Holding, Gabriel, Tierney
Bellerin, Partey, Xhaka, Saka
Lacazette
Willian, Aubameyang
Willian really must justify in this match the continued faith shown in him. He has had a very good PL career and it’s time he finds that quality for us.
Miraculous healing for Kane and Lloris !
Nice to see Thomas back though he
and Xhaka don’t seem the most
natural fit really.
Just win please COYGS
Cheers Baff! Still watching the egg chasing here.
I hope Harry Kane has a game like Owen Farrell!
Excellent preview Baff. I hope the team today replicate your quality.
What a trooper Harry Kane is. Fighting his way back to fitness against all the odds. Who could have seen that coming?
I’m pretty nervous. This is a game we need something from.
Partey in the middle is great news. How dearly would I love a one nil to The Arsenal?
Although 3-0 a la Noosa sounds great too!
Come on you Gunners!
Best wishes to Dorset Mick. It’s always good to see you pop in. And you can still drink the virtual beer in this bar!
COYG….
Looks like Partey has recovered.
Xhaka rugby tackle he’s lucky he wasn’t carded for that.
How did Xhaka not carded for that NFL block?
morning gents. saka could have done better there. xhaka belongs in the nfl. as a tackling sled.
Well played KT3
i’m happy to see holding/gabriel.
It was coming
Boooooooooooooooooooooo
no defense. even i knew son was going to do that. so much for rob 😳
You cannot defend that. Just a brilliant goal.
We have to stop backing off everytime someone runs at our defence. Already behind after 12 minutes.
Was it actually possible to give Son any more space??????
exactly, ksn.
It was a superb goal . You’d let someone shoot from there all day
Kane is a diving, cheating c***. As is Atkinson.
Fully agree TTG
Also fully agree with ksn @70!
Can’t agree with that, Son had
far too much space and time.
Xhaka with a back pass to Leno, from the opposition half???????
his best move, steve.
We are so slow. So lacking in any effort or enthusiasm. No movement, no closing down and no real direction.
Pathetic so far.
Auba so lacking in confidence
Fuck off Bellerin with the foul throws.
Yet another foul throw from Hector. I’d be fining him £10k a time
How the fuck have they not sorted out the throw ins????? Embarrassing from Hector. Schoolboy stuff.
Wrists like John Inman, that lad.
Keep it to 1-0 and try to sort it out at HT ffs
sub in john inman for xhaka.
fuck me
FUCKED
Partey crocked and leaves the space. Should he have played?
Partey gone for good?
Bellerin and Holding very poor for both of their goals.
Willian should have equalised on 40 minutes. Gilt edged.
Kane MotM so far.
AMN for Xhaka please at half time, Mikel.
Partey has been excellent. His injury nukes things.
wot e said.
Gonna be AMN for Partey. And should have started like that,
well that was a fucking disaster
of a half.
I’d have played Thomas, it’s the
NLD and we’re shit out of form.
We needed to do something though
obviously it hasn’t worked.
Auba had 2-3 chances where he should have gotten a shot away. Willian is doing nothing on the right flank. Both him and Xhaka shouldn’t start in PL anymore.
didn’t dani come on?
Embarrassing. Totally embarrassing. Pathetic first half.
Partey off??? Why the fuck was he even starting??? If that’s a recurrence of the same injury then someone deserves shooting.
We are clueless. Completely clueless. We can’t take free kicks, corners or throw ins. We make back passes from the opposition half. We’ve had 62% possession and not one shot on target. It’s clueless and fucking shameful.
Down in 15th out of 20 after 11
What a fucking shambles.
The first goal was nobody’s fault, it was just a great strike. If Holding had lunged and been beaten Son was through on goal so back off a couple of strides is fine. You just don’t expect it to get spanked into the corner from there.
Two down. Kane’s big plus is his shooting. We don’t have anyone with his or Son’s ability.
Totally agree with Steve T that we are so slow and lethargic. Our players must watch yesterday’s game between Chelsea and Leeds, so full of running, energy and hunger from both teams. On the contrary we move everything at a snail’s pace and when faced with pace we back off, no cutting the run off or getting a foul in to stop the opposing forward.
We thought we had sorted out our defence. We haven’t and we have regressed in our attacking play. No inventiveness, pace, creativity, running off the ball – nothing. We suck massively. I am happy if we have three teams which are worse than us till the end of the season.
Seems a long time since the Cup Final
hector should have covered when son went inside, he slipped and partey was just behind son. hector needs not to slip.
We should encourage players to take a shot on goal from the edge of the box instead of trying to find Auba every single time. Son scored a goal with a wonder strike – I don’t blame Holding for backing off there – Son did not have a dangerous pass on and you would back your keeper to save from that distance. One in 10 are struck with that kind of precision. The complaint I have for that goal is against Willian who makes a seemingly good aggressive defensive run backwards but for some inexplicable reason keeps going straight instead of following Son and the ball and trying to intercept or atleast put Son off with some pressure.
Willian’s selection and Nelson not even being on the bench is really irksome. Willian better play out of his skin in the second half to justify his position.
They haven’t played anything great. A great strike and a typical sucker punch of a goal. We can get back into this. Let’s get one early.
sigh. maybe it’ll be a game of two halves.
I repeat my half joke about the difference between Arteta and Emery being that Arteta won his cup final.
We have got to find some wins from somewhere pretty sharp and stop treating beating shit awful sides on Thursdays as some sort of validation of various players.
cheers, desi, for that and the ton. one on the bar for you.
Arteta at the moment is making Emery look like a tactical genius.
Jeebus that was a back pass from Dani. Ref being very kind to us.
We need every optimist we can get so well done Desi. A goal from us can change things but I can’t see where that will come from.
I would like to formally apologise to Denilson for accusing him of playing the most square and backwards passes ever. My only excuse is that at that point I had not seen Xhaka play.
All Arsenal.
Auba than Laca fail to make it 2-2 inside 50 mins.
Another unbelievably shit corner. It continues to totally amaze me how we can’t get stuff right that 11 year olds can achieve.
Or the 35 year old on a Sunday morning who had a gallon, 20 fags and a curry the night before.
English meaning of fags Scruz
Saka is bleeding from his nose. Was he caught by one of the sneaky spuds.
Granit Xhaka. A man depriving a village of its idiot.
Spuds pulling out every trick in the book to slow the game down. First Sissoko and then Son, make the most of it.
This match is a replica of all those matches between Mourinho and Wenger’s. Nothing has changed. We are still to beat him at his place.
We could do with someone like Giroud.
Hojberg and Reguillon have been really good additions to spuds this year.
It’s painful to watch us trying to
score at the moment
9 strikers out of 10 convert that chance Auba just screwed up.
So can we beat the mighty Burnley next week?
Any team (other than the Arsenal) who create as many great chances as Arsenal did today win that game very comfortably.
A feature of the season so far.
They are an average team that can score. We are an average team that cannot.
Slightly better second half but that’s as clueless and as rudderless of an Arsenal side as I’ve seen in ages. We’ve totally run out of ideas, so let’s hit big balls into the box and hope.
Is this any better than under Emery?????? It’s awful, and devoid of any creativity.
Trying to count the positives. Tierney. Gabriel. Partey. Martinelli to come back. Play Reiss Nelson. Drop Willian and Xhaka. But a truly creative forward player as soon as.
Auba cannot stay in this slump forever.
NBN@122 sums it up perfectly in that one line.
Although I am amused at how the Spuds are believing in their own hype. The media loves to big them up so that they can be the tragedy queens at the end of the season.
They are an average team that Mourinho has got them to believe in themselves and they also have some organisation and steel in them. Arsenal is the weakest (physically) team in the league and our slow passing sideways will never help us score.
C100 @124, agree completely. Although with the way we are playing these days, we should rather buy an old fashioned tall striker just to put his head on the crosses and corners. Every single team will use this template of sneaking a goal against us and play a low block. Auba is almost useless against low blocks. And can we relegate Willian to playing thursdays and promote Nelson to playing on Sundays please. I would rather see an academy player try and fail than a Chelsea veteran.
Desk, spot on. But Martinelli is good in the air …..
So proud of the boys. You couldn’t tell which was the home team. Pass left, pass right, we owned the pitch and made the leaders look like a bottom-half team.
We would have drawn this 9 out of ten times, but today were victims of a lucky strike and a sucker punch. Better days lay ahead, of that I have very little reason to doubt.
Desi, sorry.
We.re petty dogshit at the moment
Stats before the game today. The numbers may have slightly changed but I’m guessing very little else has.
Goals 10. 17th
Shots on target 32. 18th
Chances created. 65. 20th
Happy to hear how we’re making progress??? And don’t forget all this we need 3 more transfer windows bollocks. This squad may not be title contenders, but it’s improved since last season.
I struggle to believe that the club has any proper football leadership at any level.
I’m not as disappointed as I expected I would be losing this match.
We lost to two flukes: 1) the predictable Kane – Son breakout with a Son Worldie finish (9/10 times that shot goes wide or over from there) 2) another breakout with a 4v2 because Partey left his post – wtf was he thinking?. However we had a good second half lacking only a sharp finisher or a break in the box. We were up against that 6 man Marshdweller defence who hoovered up most of our crosses because we don’t have a natural target man. We had to rely on crosses because we don’t have the quality of midfielder to weave or pass through the centre of that defence – few do. We need to find one. To think we once had several on the bench unable to get in the team.
If we play as well in that SH we will win most games if we can find someone with an eye for goal. Auba needs to play on Thursday to rediscover the art of finishing. He wasn’t the only player who didn’t cover himself with glory but he needs some help.
I want Arteta to prove we can open up lesser teams at home. I’m afraid his teams are very lacking in improvisation and this has affected the confidence of Auba and Laca . Forget the wins and performances against Mickey Mouse teams in the Europa . They matter not a jot.
When Mikel arrived we needed to rebuild a sound defensive foundation and we tolerated a counter- attacking style because there was a solidity about the side that was lacking under Emery . But we haven’t developed our attacking play at all. We are excruciating at home against PL teams and are picked off by the better sides .
We’ve had some gains this season with Gabriel and Partey and Saka and Tierney continue to improve but we’ve got four or five positions where we aren’t good enough- RB, CM, AM and Striker and our main attacking weapon has lost his confidence . Until the window we can’t do much about that but I’m not keen to see Bellerin the man who can’t even take a throw in, Willian who clearly can’t play in this style of football and Xhaka near the side .
It remains to be seen what the Kroenkes do. The club is haemorrhaging money and they won’t want to change manager ( neither do I think they need to) but we do require two or three signings of the sort of quality that Gabriel and Tierney have introduced . Are they available in the window and can we afford them?
Stan may be starting to consider a sale as the strain on his wallet in what was supposed to be a cash cow is getting painful for him
2 flukes? And outplayed for 86 of the other 90 minutes?
Bollox
We were dogshit
Bath. I love you to bits my old friend. But two flukes?????
Look at the stats above. We are dreadful. With the players we have, is there a side more under achieving than us at the moment?
I would love to give Arteta all the time he needs, if I was convinced he could turn this around. So Please enlighten me, please explain to me how we have not become rudderless, headless chickens? The squad we have and the worst start to a season in 45 years.
Very much looking forward to being told how wrong I am and it’s all just made up????
THing is, Mourinho has been pulling off these “flukey’ smash and grab victories against us for 15 years or more. Everybody knows how he plays. A smart manager would expect it and set up accordingly. So they’re at home, in front of their web toed Middlesex inbred fans, so give them the ball. Make it difficult for them by making a Mourinho team have to play football, sit back and defend. Let the fans get in their back. Instead we played as though we were at home and did exactly what Mourinho knew we would. The thinking on Artetas part was just childlike. I don’t mind losing but where is there any sign that the manger can exhibit the slightest bit of tactical nous?
I thought both their goals were flukey.
Son’s shot was aworldie but 9 times out of 10 his shots from that distance go wide or over. We should have dealt better with the break-out when it went to Kane even if it involved a foul while Bellerin overran him then fell over. The shot was a fluke.
The second goal was another fluke. It was another breakout when we were again overcommitted forward. The flukey element was that Partey decided to walk off instead of collapsing in a heap in the centre of the field. He left us 2 v 4. There were others at fault. Xhaka was too far forward and our pass (Bellerin?) into the box was very poor.
I feared that we would be thrashed in the second half after that second goal just before HT and the loss of Partey so I guess my positive drink that Esso @136 and Steve @137 was coloured by that fear and the fact that we worked hard and made several chances that an on form striker or our off form striker on a different day would have scored. Given that we have barely made chances in recent PL games I do think that is progress.
Trust me, I don’t think we are playing well or have a well balanced, good enough squad. I would personally drive several of our players to the airport even with the Covid-19 risks. I don’t think sacking Arteta is the answer. I think shedding the dead wood (including several who started today) and bringing in ambitious young players with the talent to play the positions we need to upgrade is vital. The road back is long.
CER @138, exactly what I said in the preview.
Is Aubameyang out of form? Or is it the fact that there isn’t one club in the Premier League that has created less chances than we have a factor???
Did you ever see us scoring today???? We could still be playing now snd we wouldn’t have scored.
Son’s goal was a fluke? 9 times out of 10 they go wide? Well the uncomfortable truth is that Son as 10 goals in the Premier League this season. The same number we have.
If Pochettino was willing to cross the divide I believe he would be a better short-term bet than Arteta. He hasn’t won anything but his sides are much more creative than ours at the moment . But he wouldn’t come – we aren’t an attractive prospect financially , the club needs much surgery and it’s all very well to suggest putting in young players but they have to be good enough and at PL level I’m just not convinced that Willock , Nelson and Nketiah are .
I wouldn’t have thought of playing anyone who might play against Burnley but Bath may have point about Auba . Otherwise work on the training field,( I suspect we won’t see Partey for some time ) , try to inject some off the cuff attacking football and let’s see if Azeez , Cottrell , Balogun and Cirjan etc can start their first-team careers positively . Out next three games are winnable but we need goals . It may help to have fans back because the sort of fans who will get into the ground are the CERs and C100s who will get behind the team . A couple of good home wins and a couple of Auba goals will improve things no end
Steve, Son is an excellent player. I’d have him in our team in a heartbeat and he’s so dangerous on breakaways but from that distance even his shots generally go high, wide and not very handsome. Most of his goals are, I think, scored from within the box after intricate interplay or a run like the one we let him make against us.
As for Auba, His lack of goals is certainly in part our dire lack of chance creation but he also looks a shadow of the player he was last season which may be a result of the pressure of trying to do his job in the face of our creativity blight. I did think we might have got a goal back during the first 30 minutes of the second half when Auba and Laca both had beter chances than we’ve made in recent PL games. At least Laca got his on target and forced a good save.
I do think the suggestion of replacing the underperforming older pros with some of our promising youngsters is worth trying – they cannot do much worse than Willian and Xhaka but it’s worth remembering that their performances against the likes of Rapid Vienna are harder to reproduce against PL opposition who will close them down and rough them up.
Bath. I’m not in the slightest bit interested in what we do in the Europa. We play a side with a minimum of 9 changes against teams that are divisions below Premier League standard.
But you can’t argue with the figures. You just have to ask, why? Subs is a class act. His record speaks for itself. But he’s feeding off scraps. Perhaps if we created more then he might have a better chance of bagging a few???
Arteta said that we had 54 crosses today????? 54???? I would suggest that tells you how devoid of creativity snd ideas we really are. If we hit 54 crosses and are 10 nil up then I would go with it. The fact that we couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo suggests to me that we might want to try something else???
I have real worries about Arteta. I would love him to be good enough. I would love him to make this into a rip roaring success. But at the moment, I have massive doubts. At the moment I see a team that just looks rudderless and clueless. That, is down to him.
Fair points, Steve. I know you care and I share much of your angst. I just think it’s far too early to call for Arteta’s head. He’s got a massive task and a squad that just isn’t good enough and a midfield that is pedestrian and lacks a creative spark. He’s added two good players in Gabriel and Partey (if he can get and stay fit) and a turkey in Willian (which is a great shame but he too may be better with a bit of pace, creativity and direction around him.
Bath. Arguably, we were in better shape at the start of this season than we were at the end of the last. Potentially, our most prolific striker of all time signed a new contract. Gabriel looks a fantastic signing. Partey, came in late and potentially will also be a great signing.
But it’s worse. It’s a lot lot worse. Be the best you can be???? Remember when that was a topic for discussion??? If we have players they play their hearts out but just aren’t quite good enough, then I can live with that all day long. Until we bring in an upgrade. Are Elneny at the Mancs. A player of limited ability, but someone who ran his socks off for the cause. Where was that mentality today? Nowhere.
We are the worst in the league at creating chances. Yet the likes of Ozil can’t even make the list of 25. Now, I’m not an Ozil fan, but you can’t look at that side, that performance, many recent performances and just think that he at least deserves a chance? It has to be an option? In the creativity stakes, how could it get any worse???
And when you look at the table and see us at 15th, just think how lucky we were to get a point at Leeds?????
Steve T, your point of chances not being created is valid but Spurs don’t create too many of them either. The only difference is that their forwards are scoring the ones they create and ours are not. During our cup run last season, it was the opposite where Auba was scoring the few chances coming his way. In fact one could argue that if we take out Auba’s goals from the last two seasons, we would indeed be 15th or 16th. The guy was due a bad patch, just the law of averages but we generally don’t score if he doesn’t.
I agree completely with TTG that we need to win a couple of games and Auba needs a couple of goals. That would lift the doom and gloom to a certain extent.
If you take out the Son and Kane goals, which weren’t flukes but exceptional finishes both, that game would have ended 0-0, probably the appropriate score given the fare offered.
I lost count of the number of times when Xhaka was on the ball, looked up, waited for all possible forward passes to be closed down, and then passed backwards.
In the first half, Partey showed on a couple of occasions how to break through the low block by running at it. We need more of that from midfield, which means playing Willock, Nelson or ESR.
In fairness Desi, they didn’t have to.
Now, I’m not an Ozil fan, but you can’t look at that side, that performance, many recent performances and just think that he at least deserves a chance?
He’s a busted flush who had four years of wasted opportunities. If he gets put back into the squad in January any lingering attraction this club has for me, and at the moment it’s only Tierney who I look forward to watching, will vanish. Picking Ozil will do him ore favour than us, the only way he should come into Arteta’s thinking is when he’s trying to work out if it’s possible to fuck him off on the first day the window opens.
I think people, and by people I mean anyone who has even suggested Ozil deserves a go, this is not just aimed at an individual drinker, must have a very short memory. He was dross for us for years. Fuck him.
And one day I might tell you how I really feel about him. 🙂
Desi, the simple fact is, they stopped creating chances because they knew the game was won after the 2nd goal went in. We would have still lost 1-0 or 2-0 even if we’d reached HT goalless.
Cynic. I would happily have seen Ozil depart two years ago. But the fact is. He didn’t depart. He’s still here. And being handsomely rewarded in the process.
I don’t for one second think he’s the solution. I wish he was not at the club anymore. I wish we had freed up his wages and used it to bring some quality in. But we haven’t, and he’s still here. I don’t have a short memory. I’m more than aware of how little he has produced in recent times. But we are producing nothing, absolutely nothing and so I don’t see bringing someone like that off the bench for the last 30 as a real gamble. I’m not honestly sure that we can be that choosy at the moment. If it doesn’t work then what honestly have we lost????
If it doesn’t work then what honestly have we lost????
We’ll have effectively begged a total arsehole to save our season. And if it works really really well and shoot up the table what then? A new deal? Fuck that.
We’d be better off trying to find a way to make Aubameyang realise that him staying wasn’t him doing us a favour and getting finger out.
I personally don’t see what’s wrong with playing two holder in midfield and giving Ceballos the 10 role. He can at least see a pass and I hate seeing him dropping off to pick the ball up and try to get things moving from deep. Put him in the areas where he can hurt opposition, don’t be playing Lacazette in the hole against The Scum just because it worked against a shit team on Thursday.
Bellerin out, AMN in. I’m relaxed about Holding and Gabriel, Tierney picks himself.
Midfield is any two centrally, as they’re all much of a muchness, I’d try Ceballos in the hole and then you can perm any combination you like for the striker/wide roles. I wouldn’t be picking Willock or Nelson though. I know they sort of carry the torch for the academy on here but they’re not going to win Premier League games when one of them can’t even take a corner properly.
Apologies for typos I am watching NFL and typing with a frozen shoulder.
Not the actual shoulder but you get my drift.
In other, but related, news.. Alex Scott in leather trousers was a bit iffy. It could have been worse though.
Souness could have been wearing them.
Cynic, we have an unwanted reputation for being the league’s most toxic fan base, and people like you are the reason why.
I agree Ozil’s time is up, but telling one of our longest serving and most successful players of recent times to “fuck off” is just plain sad. He’s worn our badge for 7 years and helped us a lot more than most others in that time. Yes he’s been handsomely rewarded but that’s kind of the point, he was a great player for us.
Some people only want to remember the last couple of seasons (where he’s hardly featured) and forget how integral he was for us for many years. It’s no coincidence that we ended our 9 year trophy drought in his first season.
Apparently it takes us an average of 56 passes before we get a shot off. Congratulations, we are actually top of that stat table. In fact, no one comes close.
Something to cheer at last.
Laca and Abam have scored a total of 86 goals from open play. Only 7 of these were from headers.
I know, let’s hit big aimless balls into the box and see if we can get on the end of something???
You wonder why I say we look clueless???
Barack – Ozil was never any good even when he was “integral”. Actually I think you’ll find we had far more important players in that success than him. This guy has had ONE season worthy of a player with his reputation. One. And that was five years ago.
He’s played the grand total of 158 league games for us in seven seasons, including this one, and I don’t think he’s had a serious injury in that time. Not one I can remember anyway. He’s had plenty of “illnesses” and a “bad back” that’s let him miss a game or two here and there, when he’s felt like a rest.
28 league goals in seven seasons. 45 assists in the league, 19 of those in one season. Those are rubbish stats for a so-called world class player.
Meanwhile he’s trousered £18m a year on his current deal. God knows how much he was paid before that, but there was speculation that the new deal he signed doubled his basic wage, when he signed it. So let us say he has been paid, not earned, wages over his seven years at the club of something like £93m. Just think on that for a moment.
Ninety-three million pounds. For that sort of money, he’s been by far the worst value signing this club has ever made. He’s had three managers since the over indulgent Wenger, if you include Ljungberg, give him a chance and all three have decided he’s not worth picking in the end.
I hope Arteta shows a bit more courage than Emery and has decided that, with Ozil being booted out in the summer, he’s not worth a place in the squad and we’d be desperate and weak to give him a chance that in the long term is a meaningless gesture to someone we should have got shot of, instead of rewarding him with the most insane contract we’ve ever agreed to.
Cynic,
Wholeheartedly agree. It’s amazing how good some players become simply by not playing. On that basis I must be a world beater. The only question to which “Ozil” is the answer is “which current Arsenal employee most resembles a fart in a spacesuit?”.
Ozil isn’t in the squad like
Sokratis so doesn’t matter.
The problem we have is that
we simply haven’t been taking
our chances – despite our
mediocre midfield we could have got
points from the Leicester, Wolves
and spuds games but we missed
when it counted. Personally I don’t
believe the team is clueless or that
Arteta is suddenly hopeless and see
no reason to slag them off. We need
Auba, Laca, Willian and Saka to step
up on their finishing and that’s it to
me. Starting against Burnley would
be best for my blood pressure.
CER
Ozil was a terrific acquisition in his first three years and we might have won the League in Leicester’s year with him and Sanchez combining so well .But as you say he has acquired a mythic status and his unwillingness to move is not loyalty it’s because he wouldn’t get the same deal anywhere else. Can you imagine Aubameyang being willing to rot at the club if he wasn’t being played ( leave aside the fact that he’s playing like a man who might be dropped if we had someone to replace him )
But Ozil is not alone in having a reputation that is wildly exaggerated. Bellerin is a very average full-back defensively and has never been as good as many have maintained . If Lee Dixon had a continual problem with something as basic as taking a throw-in he would be back at the training ground rectifying it. Hector has done it in FIVE successive games ( twice in one). The coaching staff should have eradicated it and it’s symptomatic of a player who is very comfortable with his lot . We could do much better at right back ( AMN would be an upgrade ) .I won’t go into detail on Xhaka but as GSD said yesterday his ‘ rehabilitation’ is nothing if the sort. He’s a real weak spot in a pivotal area and has not shown any level of consistent improvement .
There are others who are not good enough to play – Lacazette, Willian and Holding is marginal but his attitude is very good. Pepe is an enigma , a terribly flawed use of £72m when Zaha would have been a better signing but he has real ability . It leaves a remnant of Leno, Gabriel, Saka, Tierney , Partey and Aubameyang who would score in a more creative side ( remember he won us two trophies not so long ago ) . Add in Martinelli , Possibly Mari and leaven this with Ceballos , AMN and Elneny and that might be a team that might achieve top 8 .
One idea- I’m told Moller the lad we got from Sweden is mustard and great in the air. If you’ve not scored from 54 crosses why not see him and Balogun against Dundalk and see if they might be more of a threat ?
I’m not sure it’s a case of how good players are because they’re not playing. It’s also not a case of calling out his record as if to hold him to account.
As I’ve said numerous times now, I wish he’d left the club two years ago. But he didn’t, he’s still there, and we are creating less than fuck all. So, in my opinion, there comes a time when you have to take a gamble.
I’m fine with Ozil not being part of the squad. I’m fine with Guendouzi being sent out on loan along with Torreira for that matter. Just as long as we have replacements. That, for me is where it’s all gone wrong.
It’s not about how good someone has become since they’ve been absent. It’s about how awful the stuff being served up week in week out is. Personally, I don’t think it comes even close enough to being good enough. It’s our worst start in 45 years. As painful as it might be, it might just be the time to consider what other options we have because the current ones have failed miserably.
Matt. There isn’t a club in the Premier League that has created less chances than us. Not one. We are expecting our strikers to feed off scraps. It’s pitiful.
Steve T,
Yes, when necessary I expect top
strikers to feed off scraps – preferably
voraciously.
I’m not disagreeing that we should create
more chances or should shoot more I’m
saying that we had reasonable chances in
all the games I mentioned and we missed
them.
The club leadership has been digging a hole for quite a few years and it will take a few years to get out of this. A disgracefully obtuse — but unfailingly vocal — part of the fanbase had always taken for granted our goal-scoring abilities. They slaughtered Arsène for failing to tighten up the defense without ever acknowledging that even in our worst seasons we didn’t go through any noticeable patches of attacking failures. So when the time came to change our manager — and yes, it most likely was the right time, even though both the fanbase and club could have handled it with much more grace and class — the clueless (on the footballing side, in terms of financial management they are super smart) owners ended up relying on a couple of corrupt self-serving big-mouths who did whatever they felt in their personal best interest and to help out their friends.
We lost — for one reason or another — TR7, Santi, Jack, Ox, Rambo, Alexis in a very short space of time with Ozil’s form rapidly deteriorating. That is a LOT of creative abilities and goal-scoring. Mkhitaryan didn’t work out and even though we let him go we didn’t think of replacing him (not the player in poor form himself, but a player in that position).
I like Pépé who has a lot of quality on the ball (which is evidently rare in the current Arsenal line-up), but he is a classic counter-attacking option and not a midfield creator. Over time I think he can be converted into more of the inside forwards that Arteta seems to prefer but that will take at least this season. And if only he gets a chance to play, as Willian for inexplicable reason gets picked ahead of everyone (even when Pépé was available).
In the summer transfer window we absolutely needed an established attacking midfielder and we screwed up deals. It is no wonder we are where we are as we have no creative abilities through the middle. Absolutely none. You can work tactically around that limitation only for so long, in the most unforgiving league. Arteta has hit a roadblock, further compounded by the abysmal form of Willian, Xhaka who because of their reputation and seniority get picked. Until we start solving the creativity problem Mikel may have to just throw caution and reputation to the wind and put faith in younger players who can (a) pass through the lines, (b) dribble past players, (c) arrive at the box as an additional option from the midfield. Joe, Reiss, AMN, ESR are not the “end products” yet … but at this time they will bring more unpredictability and verve in the attacking sense than what we are doing.
Matt@166: Agreed that when the creative outlets have dried up you expect the elite strikers to make things happen.
In the last two matches Auba had chances — not “open net” chances but chances that a striker of his pedigree really should get some shots from. Yesterday there were three chances — once he mistimed his header, another time he moved ahead of the ball, another time he hesitated to get the shot from a position that he used to score from. It is understandable that the immense pressure of assuming ALL goalscoring responsibilities has taken a mental toll (he really had saved us in the last couple of seasons as without his goals we will be finishing maybe 15th or 16th) on him but at the same time the reason we were so desperate to sign him is because that he was expected to carry us through when these types of creatively dry patches inevitably hit the team. I love the player, and I think Mikel and his team needs to get him back to play more relaxed and with his typical joyful demeanor … it will help if others could score.
To be honest, we’re fortunate to be 15th. The Fulham and Man Utd games aside, we haven’t deserved to take any points from our other matches.
West Ham outplayed us at the Emirates and we won. We were poor against Sheffield Utd at home and we won. And Leeds absolutely battered us in the 0-0 draw.
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