Clutching at straws, but we’ve survived 40 odd mins with 10 men. Some credit due there I think.

Oi. That Phillips challenge was worthy of a red.

Ok fine.

The post was our man of the match

Surely, we aren't talking about a change in manager? To whom? Last season he had to play with what he inherited, this season he got some of the players he wanted but will need time to get rid of the rot and he still needs other players.

Aubameyang on the wing is one of the few glaring head scratchers with Arteta.

Two on target? What was the other one?

Definitely.

And the post played better than Pépé ever has for us too.

Good resolve to get us a point but that was so poor. We were so toothless up top, but there was little or no service to speak of. Aubameyang and his lack of form becoming a big worry.

At least it was a clean sheet and we managed to look better with 10 men than 11.

Well at least we didn’t lose.

I’d rather Saka, Nelson or Willock start before Pépé and Willian in future.

And hopefully Arteta has plans to play Martinelli when he’s fit again.

It’s not really a lack of form though. He simply isn’t touching the ball. He’s not getting the chance to screw up.

I’ll say it again. Until you get rid of Xhaka in the middle of the park we will not progress as a team.

Slow, lethargic, no range of passing, no combination play, chickening out of tackles and literally walking round the pitch like a Sunday kickabout. You’ll get nowhere if you are playing with ten men when he’s on the pitch

The frame of the goal has been our star man today. Motm?

Fantastic performance. But not consistent enough to build a team around, I would say.

A bit too static for the modern game perhaps?

Indeed, he was good today but we can’t build our future with him, lacks pace and movement and we’re crying out for both!

Arteta rightly furious with Pépé. He’s an absolute idiot. I get that Pépé has been frustrated about not starting games, but for goodness sake, when you do get to start one prove the manager wrong for not starting you before, what he did was worse than an anonymous performance, it probably should have cost us the game but some good defending and goalkeeping and a bit of luck got us the point.
Pépé is now banned for 3 games and Nelson should take his place for all 3. It makes sense for Pépé to have to start the Europa games but he doesn’t deserve to after what he did today. I’ve defended Pépé so much and have been desperate for him to do well, more than any player, mainly because of his price tag and the scrutiny it brings and the mocking it being a from rival fans. If you offered me £40m for him tomorrow I’d snap your hand off

Not sure why Aubameyang’s shot wasn’t deemed a handball by the Leeds player. He slid in with his elbow up high and it blocked a goal bound shot. You just knew that with all the utterly ridiculous hand balls that have been given as penalties this season as soon as it was our turn to get a bit of luck from a stupid rule that we wouldn’t benefit

Rich, was it because it deflected up off his knee before hitting his hand?

Does anyone think Arteta can turn this situation around and get us challenging for top four this season or win a trophy?

I can't really summon up the enthusiasm to post.

All I can say is that we really aren't very good are we, and even before the sending off Leeds were by far the superior team both technically and athletically.

I saw something on another forum comparing the feel of the game to the end of days towards the end of Georges reign in 94 when we were just getting through games purely off the back of Adams determination and Ian Wright’s finishing and nothing else.

I have to agree with the thought to be honest. This is a plain average squad riddled with problems, it feels like we are as far as away of returning to success than at any point. Never mind winning I’m not sure where our next goal from open play is coming from.

Teams have worked out that if you nullify our threat from the full backs and width you stop us scoring. Arteta won’t compromise his ideology so we aren’t playing enough direct balls over the top.

I can’t recall how many games I sat watching the dross in that period sat freezing in the Northbank just praying for the ball to drop at wrightys feet around the box. Just feels the same.

The heat is starting to increase for Arteta. The positivity of his first season was characterised by clear and quite inspiring communication, a defensive solidity, fostering great team spirit, and ending with a trophy. This season we are seeing the alarming absence of any consistent attacking play, too many players underperforming and a slow slide into mid table. I hope he is given time to turn it around but for the first time I’m concerned that he may not have the answers as these negative traits are becoming increasingly prominent.

This is years in the making, no amount of coaching gets you out of this. Not sure you can level this at Arteta.

I am not sure where we go from here.

I kind of agree with Bernard though, the team performances are less than the sum of the parts. We have some reasonably decent quality players but they just aren't performing either individually or collectively.

Leeds fans must love watching their side....win, lose or draw. They play with pace, athleticism, movement and a high level of technical quality. They work their socks off without the ball, play a high intensity press and mark man for man so there is no absolving of individual responsibility.

Watching some of the press conferences and gunnerblog : the focus is on Pépé. There is almost an understatement that if he hadn’t got sent off we would have won the game. The first half did not suggest at any time that we were playing well and creating chances. Indeed Leeds could have been well ahead before the send off. It is hiding behind the send off.

I am starting to think he is losing the dressing room. The players have become constipated by his strict orders of where to move etc. now that’s all great if you are still winning but we don’t look too likely to score at all. The Wolves game is now massive and I don’t even want to think about the EPL game after that is not something I want to contemplate at all.

If Emery had been in charge this season and we played the way we have and got the results we have then fans would have been calling for his head.

Winning the FA Cup has given Arteta more time but at some point we have to see something more from his management.

There is no football manager on this planet that could achieve a top 4 finish in this league with a midfield 3 of ceballos, Xhaka and willock. We have only Pépé and Aubameyang who are comfortable at shooting from outside the box and our midfield players make john Jensen look prolific.

A far easier decision to make is to believe that Arteta is at fault and he’s lost the dressing room than to believe the we simply aren’t all that great and our transfer strategy has been ridiculous for 10 years

Wasn’t there a penalty given for exactly that earlier in the season? Doherty was it?
I don’t really know what the rule is anymore, other than Man U get penalties no matter what

Totally agree on this. Heard Arteta's post-match interview on the radio and he was asked if he was concerned by our lack of progress over the last few games. He said, straightforwardly, no, we have to realise it's gong to take some real time to build a squad capable of the level we require. He said there may be some rough times ahead in the shorter term, but essentially said the squad wasn't anywhere near the required standard for Arsenal. He was also clearly livid with Pépé - who I'd sell quite frankly now.

the only players to come out of today with any genuine credit were; Saka, Gabriel, Leno and Tierney who I think is a proper leader on that pitch. Possibly Bellerin too. Unfair to judge Aubameyang I guess as he's receiving no service whatsoever.

Saw Tierney had a pop at the Leeds player who Pépé butted. Did it at the final whistle I presume suggesting he went down far too easy, which he did but it’s still a red for Pépé. Much prefer Tierney as a full back and is one of the more consistent players in the team, the attitude and spirit is right.
Can’t underestimate the effect missing Partey has on us. His level is so far above anything else we have in midfield it was a bit of a shock when he came in and just did some pretty basic central midfield things comfortably.
Sad to see the team so far away from where we want to be in every aspect, it has been years in the making this but right now it doesn’t even feel like there is untapped potential in the squad, it’s just a lot of very average players who we’re only hoping can be better because they cane with higher price tags than their contemporaries at the likes of Leeds, Southampton and Villa (to pluck 3 other mid table teams)

After the game I looked at the league table. There are at least 8 sides in this league who are comfortably better than us. Since 1993 we haven’t had so many average players in our squad. We have players sides like Leicester or villa wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. This won’t rectify itself quickly

I think Wiltshire called this correctly sometime ago when he said we have a managerial merry go round about to occur, I agree and our fans expectations exceed observational reality.

I agree. Even games like Westhsm they had a massive number of good chances and could have beaten us. The Man U game is looking like the odd game out rather than the norm. I just can’t see what way we are trying to play. It appears he came in last season and used all his magic and now other teams just play to block that game. There are some good players in our squad but very few good combinations of players.

Today, I didn’t understand Willian being picked. He looked like a player who had jet lag

Pépé looked like he just didn’t like his instructions from minute one and just wanted to do the attacking bit but nothing else. I just don’t see Cellabos as a fit for the team and Xhaka is too slow when opponents have any zip. Leno Bellerin and Saka and a bit of Tierneys play were okay. This could be a really long season. Arteta and some of the players are lucky there are no fans in the ground.

So it's confirmed that Pépé is brainless and at this stage no better than Walcott. Thankfully we won't see him again for 3 PL matches.

Arteta knows what's wrong and he changed the formation with the tempo also quicker in the first 20. Players like Willian and Ceballos trying to beat that first defender and Gabrielle floating into the midfield to try and draw a defender out of it. Given how much effort it must have taken in training to sort out the defensive shambles and team shape, it will also take time to rebalance towards attack. I agree with what Arteta said in the interview that the stop, start season so far is hindering training plans and any kind of fluency, especially when it wasn't there to begin with.

Opposition improving their game for us then becoming mediocre for their next game shouldn't be a huge surprise. They will always lift themselves to beat a so called tier one club, especially when they think they can get something from it. Sadly, that's the way it will be until we develop a reputation.

I think Arteta had to do that to instil the discipline on the tactical side and you must recall that under Emery, players were floating around all over the place with no idea where they were supposed to be. What I agree on though is that now that he has the structure, he needs to ease off on the running commentary although I also don't want him parking himself on the bench like Wenger.

Willock had his chance yesterday. But, he did not play with the same level of conviction that Saka gives. There were moments when he, momentarily (pun unintended) stood still to watch, when the ball was coming towards his direction. By the time he reacted, the Leeds player had already moved the ball a few metres forward. I felt his level of concentration was not good enough.

Ceballos had a few moments of good progressive football. But, still not good enough.

Xhaka, well, he is just not good enough. A few times he immediately ran back to our penalty area to join the centre-backs in defence. I'm not sure if that was Arteta's instructions. I thought he should be running, intelligently, towards an area outside the penalty area to make it more difficult for the Leeds winger to find their player. It ended up with a few free Leeds players waiting for the easy ball to them.

Pépé, still not enough end product for the more than 70m spent.

We have no midfield

Based on his reaction to the losses, no. But I hope I am wrong.

Unlikely this season, but it's too early to be too pessimist, especially considering how most of our rivals are also unable to show any consistency, and that the defense is starting to feel pretty good.

I'd like to see a decent run of games with Partey in the side and Aubameyang (whose current lack of impact is worrying) in the middle, with Saka and Nelson starting and Willian and Pépé used as a sub.

When is Martinelli expected back?

Forgot to add the useless Willian, another player on retirement mode

Two players I looked to for some leadership this season are Aubameyang and Willian. Neither are close to the players they were before signing contracts this summer.
Tierney is a fighter and still seems very happy to be at a big club and is making the most of it. Pépé simply lacks the maturity so far at this level. Maybe with time he will mature but right now, he's a somewhat petulant young player. I'm guessing he thinks he's better than he actually is. The fee paid may have a lot to do with it. He's not a team player right now and that is hurting us when he's on the pitch. I think he thinks step overs and wonder goals are the only way to show his worth.

All these issues and more are what Arteta has to deal with and make it work...and fast before we find ourselves struggling to be top half of the league.