Fixtures March 31st - Manchester City - Etihad Stadium - 3:30 Pm

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Post #510001  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:35 pm 
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You saw that coming somehow. We scored and I knew it. In all the elation where’s the party pooper saying get the *%^@ back! let’s keep it out! 5 minutes lads if you lose concentration I’ll have you on a plate.


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Post #510002  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:38 pm 
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I think playing Aubameyang out wide is just nuts. It's not like Lacazette is pulling up any trees down the middle.


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Post #510003  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:39 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Aubameyang misses a virtual open goal from 4 yards. He scored that 999 times out of 1000.

The perfect storm of a game is complete.

Awful ref call to not send their man off
Slack defending from set pieces
Dominate possession but no goal threat
Miss a sitter at the end

Don’t deserve to save anything from this absolute mess of a season. Terrible performance


Would you rather lose now or in the semis or final again? Because that’s what would have happened. Apart from anything the creaky defence guarantees it. At least we know where we are. I mean, that’s somewhere along sh*t creek, but at least we know...


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Post #510004  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:40 pm 
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long time gooner wrote:
Well Martinelli has made a difference. Creates the opportunity for Aubameyang.


Martinelli must start ahead of Lacazette. He gives so much more.

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Post #510005  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:42 pm 
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Such an annoying way to go out on the away goal rule when one team has 120 minutes to score them and one has 90 minutes to score them. Some will say we had home advantage for longer, but I’d always rather play the second leg away.

Too much of the old Arsenal today, very lax attitude, no tempo, no energy....dare I say it they thought they could just turn up and go through.

Just when we were all getting positive about the season again we’re reminded what a massive mess this has been and we’re a long long long way from getting back to being a serious team


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Post #510006  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:42 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Aubameyang misses a virtual open goal from 4 yards. He scored that 999 times out of 1000.

The perfect storm of a game is complete.

Awful ref call to not send their man off
Slack defending from set pieces
Dominate possession but no goal threat
Miss a sitter at the end

Don’t deserve to save anything from this absolute mess of a season. Terrible performance

Like he missed a penalty at Spurs last year and that cost us CL these season. Nothing and I mean nothing has changed under Arteta. That was a disgraceful performance and make no mistake Arteta was totally outthought by the other coach. The moment he went for safety with picking all the experienced players over others we started behind the 8 ball. Like Wenger And Emery when they started protecting their job over picking the form players.

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Post #510007  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:46 pm 
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Not just that that defence is poor, but our midfield is always so tentative. Özil, Ceballos and Xhaka cannot make fast attacking plays. They are always looking to pass sideways or back, especially Xhaka. You see the forward play from them only when it is backs to the wall time. Frustrating that this style of play continues from the Wenger days, through from Emery, Lundberg and now Arteta. We are just too slow in our attacking play. And Pépé is over-doing things. And his tricks and flicks are not working for us.

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Post #510008  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:50 pm 
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https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/ ... e-17829207

Luiz talks and talks, but messes up too often

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Post #510009  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:51 pm 
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A lot of people have beeing waxing lyrical about Arteta but I have been less than impressed with some of his team selections and substitutions.

Let's be real, Arteta's options are somewhat limited quality-wise but why not bring on Martinelli earlier tonight? Little things like that make me wonder what game he sees unfolding. Almost like Wenger's blinkered substitutions.


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Post #510010  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:55 pm 
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gooner7 wrote:
Not just that that defence is poor, but our midfield is always so tentative. Özil, Ceballos and Xhaka cannot make fast attacking plays. They are always looking to pass sideways or back, especially Xhaka. You see the forward play from them only when it is backs to the wall time. Frustrating that this style of play continues from the Wenger days, through from Emery, Lundberg and now Arteta. We are just too slow in our attacking play. And Pépé is over-doing things. And his tricks and flicks are not working for us.


I want to see Özil and Xhaka gone this summer and I wouldn't be inclined to make a play for Ceballos on the evidence so far.

The team needs to be faster, fitter and stronger.

I watched Bayern the other night and they play a possession-based game but everything is done more quickly and more accurately, the tempo of their passing is much quicker. Not to mention they look fitter and stronger than their opponents.


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Post #510011  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:55 pm 
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You can pick so many scapegoats from that performance. For me it served as a reminder, despite the recent optimism, that this squad still needs a total clear out in the summer. The same problems are there. The best players won’t want to stick around so we have to sell, the worst players we’ll struggle to find buyers for and there is plenty in between that needs moving on. The green shoots of recovery have been firmly stomped down with that result. So careless. It is a long long road for us to be competitive again. Next season looks like no European football at all which is a further £30m hit to the budget


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Post #510012  Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:40 pm 
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bromley gooner wrote:
long time gooner wrote:
Well Martinelli has made a difference. Creates the opportunity for Aubameyang.

We can't sell Aubameyang. We just can't.


We should. And rebuild.


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Post #510013  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 12:06 am 
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At first I thought we were deliberately trying to control the game by playing slowly and unadventurously, but then we as the game unfolded we had no real threat. Our final ball was poor, and our movement in the final third was poor. Lacazette looked a shadow of a player, Aubameyang was stuck out wide, and Pépé just incredibly frustrating. At the time I thought it was predominantly Leno's error which lead to their winning goal, but having watched it back, Luiz inexplicably lets the ball sail past him rather than clear the danger. It feels like the Arteta honeymoon period is now over.


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Post #510014  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 12:59 am 
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Rich wrote:
You can pick so many scapegoats from that performance. For me it served as a reminder, despite the recent optimism, that this squad still needs a total clear out in the summer. The same problems are there. The best players won’t want to stick around so we have to sell, the worst players we’ll struggle to find buyers for and there is plenty in between that needs moving on. The green shoots of recovery have been firmly stomped down with that result. So careless. It is a long long road for us to be competitive again. Next season looks like no European football at all which is a further £30m hit to the budget

We can go on about needing new players or even a different coach all we like. But I’m fast reaching the conclusion that it’s no more than a side issue. I can’t prove it but I strongly suspect we could appoint Klopp or Guardiola as manager, bring in an assortment of the world’s best players across various positions, and not an awful lot would change.

I reckon we could be in a KSE museum for old relics. The guide says the fossil over there used to be an English football club, sorry an English soccer club, with a great history of winning trophies. But under Stan we think measuring outputs in the context of winning competitions is so shallow these days. It isn’t the Kroenke way. We prefer a higher or more moral measure of success than tacky trophy wins.


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Post #510015  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 2:49 am 
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He was saving Martinelli for Pompey. :1laughter:

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Post #510016  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 2:52 am 
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Xhaka and Mustafi are no brainers to sell. A case (albeit possibly a weak case) can be made for Ceballos and Özil perhaps others.

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Post #510017  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 2:56 am 
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Arteta is totally and 100% incorrect:

"It hurts, big time," Arteta said.

"We had a lot of hope in this competition. It was a great way for us to be able to go to Europe and it is a very beautiful competition to try to win.


"I think we did a lot of positive things in the game. I think we created enough chances to win the game, but if you concede two set-pieces again in a tie like this, then you put yourself in big trouble."

Think we did a lot of positive things in the game... I call BS. Name them. It was not a game against Bayern/Barca/RM. Two evenly matched teams. Now that is a Greek tragedy in itself.

At the beginning of his reign he said if players did not perform then he would get rid of them. Well then Luiz must go immediately. Both goals he was standing and watching. Yep he will take on a kid like Guendouzi but does he have the guts to get rid of Luiz immediately. And what of Leno 2-3 mistakes since he has taken over. Or is he immune. I could just continue listing the problems and players.

The moment he decided that he would take the most experienced players into the game, rather than the Martenelli's, Eddie etc. He sent a message he did not trust them. Picking Leno back fired 100%. He was responsible for not closing out the game. I have not bought into the Arteta love affair and give him until Christmas or he must go. He said the right things when he started, but lets see if he backs up his mouth.

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Post #510018  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 6:00 am 
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AmericanGooner wrote:
Xhaka and Mustafi are no brainers to sell. A case (albeit possibly a weak case) can be made for Ceballos and Özil perhaps others.

A weak case can be made for Özil having to go? really? He should be the first out the door.
Ceballos won’t be bought, we can’t buy him. Real will demand at least £40m we need to be smarter than that in the window.

For me it is a total clear out from top to bottom with pretty much every position in the side requiring someone out.

I think Aubameyang and Lacazette need to go for the longer term planning. How can a team in 8th with no European football keep Aubameyang, how can we justify saddling ourselves with his wages or how can we write off the £50m+ we’d get for him this summer.
The entire midfielder needs rebuilding, every position.
Central defence needs a big clear out
And I’m worried Bellerin is nowhere near the player he was so a new RB is on the shopping list.
The fact is the team won’t/can’t buy for every position so we need to see where we can middle through with either the current players, young players or free signings. And the free signings probably won’t be Arsenal quality but as long as they are better than what we have it is a step in the right dorection.

Man U have had £1billion and 7 years to fix things post Fergie and are still miles off. How long will it take us


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Post #510019  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 6:23 am 
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I saw ten minutes before half time and thought this is going to be messy , these clowns have absolutely no idea of what is required . So I went out shopping .

We have as a squad probably the most braindead bunch of pampered pr**cks in the history of Arsenal Football Club .

Fairies like Xhaka , Kolasinac , Luiz , Özil , Pépé should never be pulling on the shirt .
Pépé I think is a total waste of space , so one footed it is embarrassing .

Some left footers like van Persie / Brady / Petit , Pires ooze class ..... Pépé , Xhaka and Özil totally destroy that image .

Where is the leadership to exhort the troops ...? Aubameyang out on the touchlie a million miles from the action :1cry:

I had high hopes for Mikel but given his summing up of today's performance I'm thinking you are a bit of a clucker similar to the three PC dickstops before you .
Getting our club on an even keel is on the same scale as re- building Stalingrad ... it is job for a no nonsense hatchet man Clough , Ferguson .

I'd be telling Mustafi , Xhaka , Torriera , Bellerin , Luiz . Kolasinac , Özil , Pépé , Lacazette , Leno , Sokratis , Tierney , Chambers , Maitland Niles Aubameyang to look for other employment .

First target in the transfer market ; a decent hard arse leader with a bit of size , someone teamates can look to when things are going pear shaped .
End these goddamn headless chicken performances .

Hire Roy Keane as assistant manager .

PS Welcome back to my good mate ; that simpering little leprechaun Johnny Boy ...

I heard you were seriously laid up because you got tangled up in the plough harness when the donkey bolted .

Donkeys in the rutting season can get very temperamental , unpredictable and ornery .

Hope things are well .


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Post #510020  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 7:04 am 
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kiwipete wrote:
I'd be telling Mustafi , Xhaka , Torriera , Bellerin , Luiz . Kolasinac , Özil , Pépé , Lacazette , Leno , Sokratis , Tierney , Chambers , Maitland Niles Aubameyang to look for other employment .

I agree on most of those. The trouble we have is it will be impossible to do such a rebuild over night so we need to cut our cloth accordingly.
If we sell a player for £Xm but can’t find a better replacement for that price then we may need to stick with them.
Luiz as an example is he’s barely worth £2m due to age and size of contract and he only has 1 year left on it. Move him out of the first 11 but I think we have to be super realistic on who goes and stays and that will mean keeping players we want gone
Also chambers will be with us next year due to injury but I agree he’s nowhere near good enough.
Tierney needs games


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Post #510021  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 7:31 am 
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We must push on and find a way to get Europa League via league position or unlikely fa cup win. As much as we hate it various football finance websites show it is still worth £30-40m to us.
If the City European ban stands but they win the carling cup (likely) and FA Cup, or a top 5 team wins the FA Cup (likely) then I think europa league places will go down to 8th in the league for the 3 places for English teams.


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Post #510022  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 7:46 am 
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We need to be looking at players who are free, only have 1 year left on their deal or have a good release clause. I think Upamenco is a no goer, much bigger teams will be in for him.
Mertens, Fraser, lallana, Cédric, meunier, gotze all available for free this summer
Beggars can’t be choosers.

If we’re ruthless I think we can raise £150-200m in sales from the squad


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Post #510023  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:08 am 
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Rich wrote:
They are fantastic and will be worthy champions and likely with an unbeaten season and record points tally but that doesn't mean that I see them as the best prem side ever.
For example, In City's 17/18 title season they won 13 games by 3 clear goals. Liverpool only have 6 so far. Liverpool have 13 games won by only a single goal. City won 10 games by a single goal all season.
City scored 5 or more on 6 occasions, Liverpool only have once so far.
I just see that City team of 17/18 as more dominant in individual games than this Liverpool team.

Also I think the quality of the league is particularly low this season. Of the traditional big 6:
City having their worst season for 4 seasons
Chelsea having a poor season and had a transfer ban and rookie manager
Man U perhaps just steadying a long period of decline and an unproven manager
Spurs with their worst season for 4 years, sacked their manager
and we all know this is Arsenal's worst season for 30 odd years
Teams like Leicester, wolves, sheff utd all having good seasons but their points tallies wouldnt be much to shout about if the big 6 had pulled their finger out. 3 seasons ago we got 5th on 75 points, the season before we had 4 fewer points but finished 2nd. I see this season with a lot of similarities to that Leicester title winning season - a huge lack of quality in the rest of the league.


I'm not suggesting they are the best prem side ever, far from it. They need to be winning titles for a period of time like Utd were to earn that accolade. Their margin of victories may not be as good as City's but it's points on the board that count. I doubt we would be moaning about putting teams to the sword if it was us doing a Liverpool this season. The thing is we can debate about it being a weak league etc but it doesn't detract from the fact that they are heading for a massive points total. There have been weak leagues down the years but I can't recall a team being so dominant from start to finish. That said, I don't think they will repeat it next season and they need to win it again to start being thought of as one of the prem greats.

Think I've said it before but as much as our unbeaten season was a fine achievement, I would have traded it in to have successfully defended the title the following season as well. I dare say some Liverpool fans might feel the same way. How you win titles and cups isn't that big an issue for me as long as you do. Anything else is a bonus and a good talking point.


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Post #510024  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:18 am 
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I thought Mustafi was fantastic last night, a real body on the line performance. I still don't think he's the level we require but fair play to him, one of the few who turned up.

Conversely, I thought Bellerin was awful and was tormented by their left back. He seems to have lost his exceptional pace which is a real worry because he's never been great defensively and that used to get him out of trouble more often than not. Needs a break.


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Post #510025  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:20 am 
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richie wrote:
Rich wrote:
They are fantastic and will be worthy champions and likely with an unbeaten season and record points tally but that doesn't mean that I see them as the best prem side ever.
For example, In City's 17/18 title season they won 13 games by 3 clear goals. Liverpool only have 6 so far. Liverpool have 13 games won by only a single goal. City won 10 games by a single goal all season.
City scored 5 or more on 6 occasions, Liverpool only have once so far.
I just see that City team of 17/18 as more dominant in individual games than this Liverpool team.

Also I think the quality of the league is particularly low this season. Of the traditional big 6:
City having their worst season for 4 seasons
Chelsea having a poor season and had a transfer ban and rookie manager
Man U perhaps just steadying a long period of decline and an unproven manager
Spurs with their worst season for 4 years, sacked their manager
and we all know this is Arsenal's worst season for 30 odd years
Teams like Leicester, wolves, sheff utd all having good seasons but their points tallies wouldnt be much to shout about if the big 6 had pulled their finger out. 3 seasons ago we got 5th on 75 points, the season before we had 4 fewer points but finished 2nd. I see this season with a lot of similarities to that Leicester title winning season - a huge lack of quality in the rest of the league.


I'm not suggesting they are the best prem side ever, far from it. They need to be winning titles for a period of time like Utd were to earn that accolade. Their margin of victories may not be as good as City's but it's points on the board that count. I doubt we would moaning about putting teams to the sword if it was us doing a Liverpool. this season. The thing is we can debate about it being a weak league etc but it doesn't detract from the fact that they are heading for a massive points total. There have been weak leagues down the years but I can't recall a team being so dominant from start to finish. That said, I don't think they will repeat it next season and they need to win it again to start being thought of as one of the prem greats.

Think I've said it before but as much as our unbeaten season was a fine achievement, I would have traded it in to have successfully defended the title the following season as well. I dare say some Liverpool fans might feel the same way. How you win titles and cups isn't that big an issue for me as long as you do. Anything else is a bonus and a good talking point.

Agreed, what they are doing this season is phenomenal, and of course it is always difficult to compare teams from different seasons. I'm just trying to prepare myself for the unbearable Liverpool fans and the short termist view, or recency bias some people will have when declaring this team the greatest ever. Everything has a context.
Even our invincible team had large shades of luck. A van Nistelrooy penalty away from it being stopped in game 12 or so. Pretty much a healthy squad all season.
I've said before this Liverpool side remind me more of Jose's first Chelsea sides than the sort of swashbuckling Arsenal, man U and City sides.


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Post #510026  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:26 am 
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We obviously need a big overhaul in the summer but, realistically, how often do you see that happen?.

Too many players on fat salaries with very few suitors willing to pay a big salary and a decent transfer fee. Too many players happy to stay at a big club with all the status it brings rather than move to a lesser club in order to kickstart their careers. It needs some real ruthlessness from the manager and the owner.

What top quality players can we attract without CL football, our scouting team needs to be spot-on in identifying future superstars because we won't be signing the finished articles that's for sure.


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Post #510027  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:28 am 
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Rich wrote:
kiwipete wrote:
I'd be telling Mustafi , Xhaka , Torriera , Bellerin , Luiz . Kolasinac , Özil , Pépé , Lacazette , Leno , Sokratis , Tierney , Chambers , Maitland Niles Aubameyang to look for other employment .

I agree on most of those. The trouble we have is it will be impossible to do such a rebuild over night so we need to cut our cloth accordingly.
If we sell a player for £Xm but can’t find a better replacement for that price then we may need to stick with them.
Luiz as an example is he’s barely worth £2m due to age and size of contract and he only has 1 year left on it. Move him out of the first 11 but I think we have to be super realistic on who goes and stays and that will mean keeping players we want gone
Also chambers will be with us next year due to injury but I agree he’s nowhere near good enough.
Tierney needs games


Evening Rich ..... " If we sell a player for £Xm but can’t find a better replacement for that price then we may need to stick with them"

WHO ISNT A BETTER PLAYER :laughing7: I'd swap Brighton's back four for ours ...... with Kolasinac ...not Saka


We don't need to stick with anyone , these pansies aren't performing .

Players who a few years back we'd have scoffed at Grealish , Ward Prowse , Cantwell are performing light years in front of our midfield .

" Tierney needs games " of course but he is an injury crock . Diaby Mark 2 .... in the bin .


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Post #510028  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:05 am 
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socrates wrote:

What top quality players can we attract without CL football, our scouting team needs to be spot-on in identifying future superstars because we won't be signing the finished articles that's for sure.

Corona Virus n the news , couple of cases in NZ.

I'm taking necessary precautions .... apparently old people are more susceptible .... three beers , two bottles of wine so far maybe half a dozen hefty rums next ...get passed that ; you little &&^*****


Soc ... you mentally deficient turnip ....don't you see the last thing we need is glamour superstars , like Özil , Pépé . Aubameyang . Lacazette , ...we need to get back to basics ; blokes who know their job , solid foundations .

Who in this current glorified collection of poofters knows what winning and Arsenal's traditions are all about .

After a loss they all climb into their shiny Porches , Range Rovers , blah blah go home shower up , go out on the town after going on Facebook , Twitter cluck about lessons learned , corners turned and come out next week and the week after and produce the same f***&&^% mind dead rubbish .

What we need desperately is a few home grown hard arses Brits , Scots , Irish , Welsh who are not here for the big $$$$$$$$$B but want to play for the club .
They are out there stop paying Zippedy doo dah day ....mega cash to search the Brazilian rain forests and West Africa ..... go to Gillingham , Hereford , Bolton , Tyneside .


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Post #510029  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 11:40 am 
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Bernard wrote:
Rich wrote:
You can pick so many scapegoats from that performance. For me it served as a reminder, despite the recent optimism, that this squad still needs a total clear out in the summer. The same problems are there. The best players won’t want to stick around so we have to sell, the worst players we’ll struggle to find buyers for and there is plenty in between that needs moving on. The green shoots of recovery have been firmly stomped down with that result. So careless. It is a long long road for us to be competitive again. Next season looks like no European football at all which is a further £30m hit to the budget

We can go on about needing new players or even a different coach all we like. But I’m fast reaching the conclusion that it’s no more than a side issue. I can’t prove it but I strongly suspect we could appoint Klopp or Guardiola as manager, bring in an assortment of the world’s best players across various positions, and not an awful lot would change.

I reckon we could be in a KSE museum for old relics. The guide says the fossil over there used to be an English football club, sorry an English soccer club, with a great history of winning trophies. But under Stan we think measuring outputs in the context of winning competitions is so shallow these days. It isn’t the Kroenke way. We prefer a higher or more moral measure of success than tacky trophy wins.


Your right Bernard, 100% (i didn’t watch the game yesterday FYI)

Never said this but a few years back me and some mates piled onto a train to an away game for a conference side my mate was a fan of. We jumped in a seat and across the table from us was David Dein to our surprise who was going to the same game. We chatted and he even had one of our lagers. My mate was staggered at his knowledge of the conference, good players, his club’s chairman and so on and so on. He knew everything. Total knowledge and gravitas

We just don’t have that anymore. We are finished.

You are 100% correct, all we are now is a debate about where we are going wrong.


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Post #510030  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 11:52 am 
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Rich, a weak case to keep them. Not to let them go, sorry, apparently I wasn't clear enough. There is no case strong enogh to keep Mustafi and Xhaka. A weak case can be made to keep Özil and Ceballos.

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Post #510031  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 11:54 am 
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If Wenger wasn't so petty, we could have had Fabregas spraying slide rule passes to Aubameyang and Martinelli. :7laughter:

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Post #510032  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 12:05 pm 
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TOP GUN wrote:
Bernard wrote:
We can go on about needing new players or even a different coach all we like. But I’m fast reaching the conclusion that it’s no more than a side issue. I can’t prove it but I strongly suspect we could appoint Klopp or Guardiola as manager, bring in an assortment of the world’s best players across various positions, and not an awful lot would change.

I reckon we could be in a KSE museum for old relics. The guide says the fossil over there used to be an English football club, sorry an English soccer club, with a great history of winning trophies. But under Stan we think measuring outputs in the context of winning competitions is so shallow these days. It isn’t the Kroenke way. We prefer a higher or more moral measure of success than tacky trophy wins.

Your right Bernard, 100% (i didn’t watch the game yesterday FYI)

Never said this but a few years back me and some mates piled onto a train to an away game for a conference side my mate was a fan of. We jumped in a seat and across the table from us was David Dein to our surprise who was going to the same game. We chatted and he even had one of our lagers. My mate was staggered at his knowledge of the conference, good players, his club’s chairman and so on and so on. He knew everything. Total knowledge and gravitas

We just don’t have that anymore. We are finished.

You are 100% correct, all we are now is a debate about where we are going wrong.

Lucky you for missing the game last night.


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Post #510033  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 12:08 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Mertens, Fraser, lallana, Cédric, meunier, gotze all available for free this summer
Beggars can’t be choosers.


Why would we want any of those players? None of them are better than what we have.

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Post #510034  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 12:35 pm 
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We all know Arsenal have big problems from the ownership down to the players, and it seems unreasonable to expect any manager to build a winning Arsenal team with such chronic restrictions. However, despite last night's set back, I think Arteta has done a decent job under such conditions and in very little time. I think last night was our 4th game in 10 days so perhaps it wasn't surprising the display wasn't dynamic, and we opted to play within ourselves. We hoped to keep Olympiacos safely at arms length but also knowing we had enough attacking quality on the pitch to score ourselves. Unfortunately, our much improved defensive displays under Arteta have creaked in the last two games. Bellerin doesn't look match fit, Saka isn't quite as sharp, and Luiz is great with the ball at his feet but not as great defending. At least we have the promising Saliba coming next season. Also, our midfield seemed unable to break down their well organised defence and we resorted to passing back and forth and back and forth and back and forth hoping for a gap to magically materialise. Unfortunately, our £350k/pw assist maker no longer creates assists with any regularity, and despite his overall improvement under Arteta, I think he needs to be replaced next season. Ceballos for all his talent was quite sloppy in possession and on current form doesn't merit a permanent deal. Xhaka despite well documented flaws will probably stay as managers seem to like his determination. Anyway, my original point was that Arteta is doing okay, and despite the calamity of last night's loss, there has been an upwards trajectory. Lets see if Arteta can maintain it.


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Post #510035  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 1:53 pm 
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kiwipete wrote:
Rich wrote:
I agree on most of those. The trouble we have is it will be impossible to do such a rebuild over night so we need to cut our cloth accordingly.
If we sell a player for £Xm but can’t find a better replacement for that price then we may need to stick with them.
Luiz as an example is he’s barely worth £2m due to age and size of contract and he only has 1 year left on it. Move him out of the first 11 but I think we have to be super realistic on who goes and stays and that will mean keeping players we want gone
Also chambers will be with us next year due to injury but I agree he’s nowhere near good enough.
Tierney needs games


Evening Rich ..... " If we sell a player for £Xm but can’t find a better replacement for that price then we may need to stick with them"

WHO ISNT A BETTER PLAYER :laughing7: I'd swap Brighton's back four for ours ...... with Kolasinac ...not Saka
" Tierney needs games " of course but he is an injury crock . Diaby Mark 2 .... in the bin .

I'd happily rip it all up and turn over 15 first team players but it just isn't feasible.
My point on someone like Luiz was that there may be a lot of players who are better, but at the price we can Sell Luiz for? Brighton were asking £50m for Lewis Dunk.
I have no idea what our summer budget is but I can't imagine it is a lot. There are areas of the team we need to prioritise. CB and CM have been problem areas for years and they still are.......but the issue now is we've let other areas become critical. Creative midfield is really lacking and we have 2 big name strikers who aren't singing a new deal so we must sell them and replace them.
I don't know how we churn 15 players on a budget of £50-60m which is why I think reluctantly we will be forced to keep some of them unless we can unearth a gem for a bargain price!


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Post #510036  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 1:59 pm 
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Gunfire wrote:
Rich wrote:
Mertens, Fraser, lallana, Cédric, meunier, gotze all available for free this summer
Beggars can’t be choosers.


Why would we want any of those players? None of them are better than what we have.

Well Mertens is certainly better than Lacazette at the moment. and if you can raise £40m selling Lacazette, replace him with a short term solution and use the money to better balance the team then these are the creative ways we have to think in the market.

We are not going to be able to spend our way out of this mess, we're also not going to be able to pick up 7 or 7 Martinelli's each transfer window.

Lallala/Gotze over Özil? I'm not saying go and sign all these players, we obviously want better but we need to be realistic and in order to get rid of players who have consistently underperformed and to enable us to spend money on quality where we need it we may need a few stop gap players


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Post #510037  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 2:25 pm 
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Probably the worst managed game so far under Arteta in one of the most winnable positions to be in. Everyone is allowed that, Pep, Klopp, all have had badly managed games.

I trust Arteta to make adjustments.

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Post #510038  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 3:19 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Such an annoying way to go out on the away goal rule when one team has 120 minutes to score them and one has 90 minutes to score them. Some will say we had home advantage for longer, but I’d always rather play the second leg away.

Too much of the old Arsenal today, very lax attitude, no tempo, no energy....dare I say it they thought they could just turn up and go through.

Just when we were all getting positive about the season again we’re reminded what a massive mess this has been and we’re a long long long way from getting back to being a serious team

Massively disappointing. :22cry:
Dashed hopes yet again.

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Post #510039  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 4:20 pm 
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I don't like losing. Not at all. And I like a good moan when we do.

However I do not give the arse of a rat about the poxy Europa Cup, and I never have. I rate it lower than the League Cup, whatever that's called this week. In my view it is a pointless waste of time and energy.

Personally, I am quite content that we're out of it.


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Post #510040  Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 5:05 pm 
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Wow DHD! Haha...Really?!. I'm sure you rated it when it was the old cup winners cup. But I am going to take your reaction as being upset about losing to a side we should have easily managed. So, all is forgiven.

The league cup is something I see no use for. It's a great way for lower table sides to get into Europe, get a trophy and make some money playing EPL sides, making some money while at it. But it never really interested me other than the fact Wenger never won it and I wanted that (and the CL) on his CV and for me to experience as a fan. You all experienced league cup wins except me.

With us out of it, it helps us in terms of scheduling. Mentally, it remains to be seen if we will brush it off or carry the loss with us into the next few matches.

We have a problem in the middle of the pitch. We can't get the right combination of players to have an effective midfield. The back line isn't much better but it has improved under Arteta. I was willing to sacrifice some scoring for a better team defense but we aren't doing a lot of either. The defense has improved. We have had shut outs and that is something we didn't see much of prior to Arteta. It's still early in his managerial career but its still frustrating.

We don't have much confidence going forward at times. Passing it sideways, slow build ups. The opposition can easily read a couple passes ahead. Other than individual skill like Pépé or Saka to make space and disrupt the defense, we don't do much as a team in attack.

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