Indeed. VAR is a mess and the disallowed goal was a nonsense, but we should have coasted to victory after that start. The way we are playing now, we haven't a hope of finishing in the top 4.

Also, just on Aubameyang as you brought it up, he's one of the best strikers in Europe and easily our best player. But once Lacazette is back Aubameyang gets shunted out wide again. Another inspired move by Emery.

Have you seen the Mourinho clip where he discusses the Arsenal front in relation to the Liverpool front 3. He basically says Aubameyang scores kids for Arsenal as a centre forward, but he also thinks he’d score loads in Liverpool’s system as a wide left player. Jose says the key is firminho who drops deeper, knots things together and allows salah and Mané to make out to in runs to end up in central attacking positions - that space out wide is taken by very attacking full backs. He says Lacazette is not the same type of player as Firminho but I feel like it could be worth a try. Of all our forwards Lacazette has shown the best work rate offending tackling back, he can play with his back to goal and can come deeper to look for the ball. Then with Aubameyang coming from the left on to his right foot and Pépé coming from the right on to his left foot you have something quite dangerous.
Jose also talks about playing a back 4 but building from the back with a 3, for example by pushing your right back very high and very wide which could mean Pépé coming in to the half spaces, closer to goal.
I don’t like Jose, or his style of management of tactics but he is interesting to listen to when he is talking tactics. Far more knowledgeable and interesting than half the ex footballer pundits anyway

Apparently Torreira was really upset about the crowd’s treatment of Xhaka yesterday. Following the game it made me wonder how badly players such as Aubameyang and Tierney, who came from clubs like Dortmund and Celtic with a reputation for loyal and passionate support (I’d have said the same had Tierney joined from Rangers), would react to it. Might they lose respect for Arsenal fans? But Torreira, who we got from Sampdoria whose support does not have the same sort of reputation, never crossed my mind.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/talksport. ... xhaka/amp/

The positive I'm taking away from this is that that Josh gives a damn. Unlike his father.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... s-20741540
Josh Kroenke 'visits Unai Emery's office' after Raul Sanllehi speaks to Arsenal players

While I don't think fans booing Xhaka off is probably the best move, I honestly don't see what other alternative fans have to express their frustration when he keeps under performing and keeps getting selected by Emery anyway. Also he was ambling off at 2-2 when time wasting was not what was required and that was just more evidence of his lack of game awareness.

I still want to see what Ox or Wilshere could do with a bit of an injury free run. Walcott, Welbeck and Iwobi are performing as expected.

A respected team mate getting booed may well piss off other players. To be honest I was there and it made the fans look somewhat pathetic. On your ambling off point, he was probably shocked by it, as was I. How often do players run off anyway? It’s not something I’ve noticed.

I’m sorry but booing your own players is a negative thing, and I don’t consider it acceptable however bad you think they are. I didn’t boo Gus Caesar, arguably the worst player I’ve seen play for the club.

I didn't say it was right. What I can understand is the overwhelming frustration from fans who spend a packet to go every week and are constantly sold kid stories about how things are different, we're going to change, we're going to learn, etc. If the crowd had cheered his departure it could also have been interpreted negatively.

I would say it is pretty much standard practice for any team losing a game, or drawing a game they should be winning for the guy subbed to run/jog off so the game can get restarted asap. Put it this way, I bet the palace players took as long as possible to walk off when they were subbed.
On the booing, I don’t like booing players but I can understand it from our fans after years and years of under performance, being sold lies and the same mistakes being made over again. Xhaka has become a lightening rod for the general frustrations of the fans. I dare say there are plenty of players who have performed as badly as him or made plenty of mistakes leading to goals but not many of those are a permanent fixture in the team or the captain. Many of the boos would have been for Emery but it’s difficult to direct boos at a manager

Since Xhaka joined the club no player in the entire league has made as many errors directly leading to goals. He has 41 yellow cards and 2 reds in 141 appearances. Seeing him dive in to that tackle on Son earlier this season shows once again that he will not learn. If I made such a huge mistake in my work I’d probably be supported the first time, maybe sent on some extra training, but if I kept making that exact same mistake time and time again I’d get sacked.
Xhaka’s ‘efforts’ to stop the cross for Palace’s 2nd goal was non existent. He is dribbled last more than any defensive mid I’ve ever seen in the prem, he’s frequently out of position and doesn’t sense danger. I think you could take holding mids from the championship who would protect our defence better

People thought Arteta was too limited to play as a defensive midfielder. He’s like Pele next to Xhaka. The MOTD clip showing he was unable to move into space to receive possession I mean ffs. I think your right, there would be few teams in the premier league this guy would get into

Personally I think it’s simply bad football management that leads to a scenario like this. The manager should have identified he’s not good enough to start regularly and acted appropriately

Hi Bern.

I said on Sunday I disagreed with the booing but on your point about ambling off, I think any player subbed when a winning goal is needed and there is very little time left has to run or at least jog off so that no more precious time than is necessary is wasted before the game can be restarted.

I hear that Emery is consulting the players to see what punishment they think Xhaka should receive.

I mean come on, Emery needs to show more balls and get his ship in order. It seems like the lunatics are running the asylum.

I think the Xhaka situation may prove to be a defining moment in Emery's tenure. How he handles it, especially in light of how he has handled the Özil situation, is going to be very interesting. In terms of fan support Emery is running on empty and the decision to make Xhaka captain in the first place was silly in my opinion.

That and the fact he let the players voyte on who's captain makes me question whether he has the cojones for the job.

Özil being forced out. No sign of Aubameyang & Lacazette signing new deals. (Mark my words one of them is playing at Old Trafford next year if we keep this up) The club captain situation is a joke. Fans booing players. Players cant understand our manager. No fixed style of settled team. Defence still doggy. Torreira frozen out and low on confidence.

The Times say Arsenal’s players want Xhaka to retain the captaincy even after the midfielder appeared to swear at home fans on Sunday. The squad voted for him to be given the armband in a ballot last month & believe that he should continue in the post.

Apparently both Lacazette and Aubameyang have liked an Instagram post which says “Emery Out”. It’s almost hilarious that’s it got to this point.

Also worth posting this again. A twitter thread from when the manager was appointed.

We got it wrong with Emery he is a bum, a moocher, a card cheat, a country club golf hustler a scumbag pretending to do a job he isn’t capable of.

We’d have been better off with Wenger still and grooming a proper replacement

This frustration of the fans thing amuses me. The vast majority of people in the stadium are grown up people who are not gullible individuals being duped to sign up for their expensive season tickets. Most of them have been sending a cheque to Arsenal every summer for the past fifteen years since we last won the league, so success can't be the main reason they come. Booing your own players is not borne out of some sense of not getting money's worth, but more about finding defeat (or even a draw these days) unpalatable. Does Xhaka get booed off when we win? I think not. Like any big crowd football fans can quickly turn nasty, and Arsenal supporters are not immune to yob behaviour.

Yes, and it was said by many that things could only get better after Arsene!!

Bring him back!! Planes do return flights I understand.

This is a verbatim paragraph from an article in the Guardian.

“This is not a straightforward case of player v fans, a contest that rarely ends well for the individual. The photographs of a distraught Lucas Torreira, circulated online by one of the club’s photographers after the game, looking close to tears spoke vividly of the esteem Xhaka is held by his peers. So did the fact a group of them visited him at home within hours of the flashpoint against Crystal Palace.”

Some may think booing Xhaka was understandable. But I’m struggling to see how this can turn out well for the club. Not just in the context of the career paths of Xhaka or indeed Emery. But as I implied last night, in the attitude of other players towards the fan base. It isn’t impossible some could choose to leave Arsenal rather than play for a club with in their view such a moronic bunch of fans.

When Emery next plays for Arsenal, whether it’s home or away I hope Xhaka is given enthusiastic support from the crowd.

First I want Xhaka to write an apology in his section in the programme for disrespecting a 100 year old institution that is Arsenal. Then in our next game when he’s subbed in the 70th minute I want our entire stadium to stand to its feet to boo and abuse him in unison, every man woman and child giving dogs abuse.

Then I want Emery to write a letter to every Arsenal fan apologising that he never should have got his liver spotted hands on Arsenes job and tendering his resignation immediately. Then and only then will we be able to regain our self respect and move forward.

Meanwhile we could get some important players deciding they’ll get away at the next available opportunity.

That’s happening anyway. We are a complete laughing stock.

Players only join us now for a wage hike.

I mean in terms of defensive organisation, off the ball positioning, off the ball work rate, etc it was really really hard to get any worse than under Wenger's last couple of years. Any coach worth his salt should have seen that as a total open goal to fix, the fact that Emery has made us worse in each of these whilst at the same time dismantling any semblance of attacking play and creativity is extraordinary

My fear is we end up like Newcastle, even Man Utd and other clubs that go through more managers than seasons in a few years. The one good thing about us as a club is we had a rep for showing patience as a manager. That has gone out the window.

We'll be hiring the Steve Bruces, Chris Colemans, Neil Warnocks of the world eventually. Journeyman mid and lower level managers.

No mention of Sam Alladyce?

Chris Coleman wouldn’t have been stupid enough to let the team pick their own captain or even stupider to let them decide to keep him in the role.

We’ve had a decade of incompetence

Well done those players in supporting a colleague. They will know Xhaka personally in a way that 99.9% of fans never will, so if they wish to get around him, then good on them. Proper fans back the guys wearing the shirt, certainly during a match. Complain if you wish but don't humiliate one of our own.

Personally I don't think Xhaka should ever play for the club again, and not just because of this incident. He should certainly never captain the club again.

But if he does you are spot on Bernard. Booing your own players is unacceptable. If a player is on the pitch wearing the Arsenal shirt support him whatever you think of him.

Booing is unacceptable and certainly was on Saturday. Not the done thing.

However after his behaviour and Emery’s lack of bottle I think it’s fair game.. Brought it on his self. Boo the precious little sausage till he leaves as far as I care.


Booooooooooo

UPDATE

Mark Irwin: Emery and Xhaka spoke on the phone on Monday but the club’s attempts to persuade their skipper to issue an apology have so far come to nothing.

He’s refused. He’s tarnished the legacy of captains like Mclintock, Adams and Vieira.

He’s tarnished the reputation of a 100 year old institution.

He’s a disgrace to the club. Somebody should take a pigs head to lob on the greenery next time he plays.

Either a bad attempt at trolling or you need a wee lie down.

I’m calm and collected as usual. Life has been very good to me, less so my beloved Arsenal in recent years.

Fake custodians have ruined the club

According to Neil Ashton the view from the hierarchy is that Emery was supposed to be able to shape the modern Arsenal but one of them remarked "we were better under Wenger" and statisticaly he's right. More goals conceded, less scored, less points. Sacking incoming IMO. I will be amazed if he lasts the season.

Decision making criteria for making somebody captain...

1) They have to play 90% of the time. Pointless if they aren’t on the pitch
2) They have to be turning in strong performances week in week out to complement the point above and lead by example
3) They have to be respected by the squad and show leadership qualities.

That’s it

Therefore the captain had to be one of Leno, Aubameyang, Lacazette or Bellerin. Even David Luiz or Sokratis would have been better choices than Xhaka as they seem to be more mainstays in the side.

Count Dracula played a massive part in bringing this on Xhaka also.

Are you suggesting that people can change their minds Old Man?

Perhaps they just didn’t understand the implications of their decisions back then and let their hearts rule their heads.

Soppy old sods, eh?

You should put that as your signature. It will give some context any time you comment upon diversity, tolerance and prejudice. You have just disgraced this fine forum.