Was it Leno though ? Have you noticed that Sokratis hasn't featured at all under Arteta ? Wonder why that is.

Keowns commentary after the 3rd goal “you won’t see a better team goal this season that started from Leno”

Not a campaign and I’m not having a go at you either mate, I just don’t get the problems with the perception of our goalkeeper

Ok I’m reminding you of this one dude when it happens

Even the BT pundits today said it was going to happen. Also when Leno needs to get rested “why the F did we let Martinez go!” Etc etc

FT - Arse Ladies 1-9 v West Ham

FT Liverpool 4 Leeds 3. Leeds were a bit unlucky. Bin Dippers got a very dodgy pen and a milky one to win.

Van Dijk seems to be losing his aura of invincibility. Carrying on from last season’s cock-up against us, there was another howler today - and a couple of near misses too.

Very impressed by Leeds. Scoring three at Anfield isn't easy, they have some things to work on defensively but they will cause a lot of trouble for teams this season.

Ok, but these are really minor comments on Leno’s ability, you and Bern are batting them away like he’s been Neuer crossed with Beckenbauer (that’s for you Bernard) he had room to improve, as Martinez’s performances showed. Yes I said the defenders were atrocious, but Martínez was more impressive playing out with the same squad. Last season under Emery was ridiculous and I don’t blame Leno for the defenders he had to work with, but I also can’t give him credit for it. I’ve got no problem with Leno and neither as far as I can see does anyone else, and I think the club have made a good decision in getting 20m for Martinez.

Real shame about that penalty at the last, but the casual way they approached playing out from the back was a bit precarious, Liverpool had half a dozen chances from closing down alone.

I was thinking how well we’re doing it as an example and marvelled at the turnaround!

Very good start and important to start with a win.
Lovely goal by Aubameyang. Surely contract gets confirmed soon?!
Gabriel looks solid after nervy start and with saliba still ro come, holding being kept and mari soon fit the centre back options look quite promising.
Willian had a good game. Could turn out to be an astute signing.
Has Elneny resurrected his Arsenal career?
He did well today.
I'm one of the ones who thought Martinez was the better keeper so sad to see him go.
Leno is a very good keeper but I felt more secure with Martinez in goal.
However I was thinking today. Not sure he did himself any favours with that reported guarantee of wanting to be a No 1 or he wouldn't sign the new contract. Dont think arteta was prepared to do that.
Maybe Martinez would have been better off saying nothing and just seeing who arteta selected for the first game then gone from there....if he backed himself to be no 1 then hold onto the shirt if selected.
Anyway sad to see him go.

Can’t disagree with much of that.

I think it boils down to a few things

1) we love a rags to riches story
2) in Britain we don’t like a keeper that punches, there’s no problem with it and it has cost us nothing but Leno does prefer to punch in certain areas of the box.
3) football fans have short memories
4) Martinez played most of his football recently under arteta, Leno had Emery. Really doesn’t need further explanation

Yes Emi would be a strong backup for Leno so there’s the argument of trying to keep him if Leno gets injured again, that’s valid, but no one needs to rest GKs.

I wouldn’t like to cast aspersions on the opinions of BT sport pundits but......

There are valid arguments for Em being first choice, the club decided Leno was the better bet and, I’m going to say it for the last time, I think they made the right choice all in all.

There’s no accounting for idiots on twitter, twitters like those million typing monkeys wait long enough and everything is said, but no one on here is going to have a go at Leno citing Martinez if his form stays as it has been, i.e. very good, with the odd normal mistake.

1) yes i probably fall into the more romantic than pragmatic fan, albeit Martinez was impressive. It’s more Arsenal for 10 years but I get what you’re saying.
2) yes, although I’d argue with the distribution control for a team that wants to play out from the back that’s a big advantage.
3) Yes, absolutely
4)That’s a very good point.

I hope Leno really grows into it, Emi after a few games in when Luiz was charging forward shouted, “Oi David!! Where the *%^@ are you going??” just brilliant. I think fans really liked everything about those 10 games and it is a real shame to see him go.

The Aubameyang goal was terrific. It must give the players a lot of confidence to score a team goal like that. Not just in each other but also in Arteta's methods.

I agree. Not every cross can be caught and there are occasions when punching the ball away is absolutely the right thing to do.

Having watched two of the three promoted teams today, you’d have to say there is an absolute gulf of class and ability between them.

Sorry if this sounds dismissive of our performance today, but Fulham looked like a prison team. Leeds on the other hand gave the PL champions a serious game and a big BIG fright.

But then Leeds outplayed us for long periods when we played them in the cup last season.

Yeah I think it’s fair enough to be tempering our perceptions of the result, not that it wasn’t a good performance, as fulham looked a lot like they are, the same side that got them through the Championship.

Leeds look a completely different animal even if their playing out against the Liverpool press was pretty bad the bits I saw anyway.

Interesting article. Lets see if they are asked to apologise for their behaviour

https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/p ... da8171a394

Yes, Arteta starting Martinez in the Community Shield made it clear he wasn't just going to give Leno his spot back in my opinion. It seems Martinez wanted more reassurances than that though, and Arteta couldn't give it to him. I understand where Martinez is coming from, but not sure we were left with much of a choice here.

Maybe Ash himself will now feel obliged to keep quiet about the next Leno boo boo. But he’s not the only possible candidate.

Uninstall. Reinstall. Done the trick.

So if/when Martinez goes will Macey be stepping up for Europa league duties etc?

Has any of us ever seen Macey? One assumes Hodd has but he’s not around at the moment. I haven’t so have no idea what he’s like. If he isn’t that great, as someone (think it was Top Gun) implied, keepers surely need to be rested less than outfield players. So if Macey isn’t that great, maybe we’ll only see him in the League Cup, not the Europa League and FA Cup?

EDIT: Just looked Macey up. Apparently he has played for the first team twice. Which means I’ve completely forgotten those appearances. So I’ve still no idea what he’s like.

All sounds plausible. I had to look him up to remind myself just who our third keeper is.

I don’t know too much about him and can’t remember those games either Bernard but read that he’s in no way ready to step up and be number 2. The only option is to sign someone With very few links apart from the Brentford guy.

That’s another one that’s gonna happen. New replacement keeper makes a mistake “Oi this guys rubbish why did we sell Martinez he was a saint”

If Aubameyang signs his new contract contract I wonder where he will end up on this list ?

https://www.arsenal.com/history/club-re ... ng-records

Actually easy to work out, if he keeps up the current rate of scoring around 30 in all competitions each season like he has for the past 3 years for the next 3 he will become our 4th greatest goal scorer in between Bastin and Radford.

I saw him play for Plymouth at Charlton when he was on loan. I don't remember him looking anything but pretty average.

Really liking these sorts of goals. Great way to deal with the high press. A couple of passes and we beat 7 Fulham players, then there is the space. Also it was fantastic to see that when Aubameyang got the ball we had 3-4 players racing in to the box. Bellerin, AMN and Xhaka all up there - it is those runs like in the community shield that gives Aubameyang the time to make the defender back off and for him to pick his spot

Impressed with Elneny in the two games he's played. The system Arteta plays possibly suits him more. There is no doubt we need reinforcements in central midfield and it still may be he's moved on if those players come in. I was bemoaning the fact that we're still relying on Elneny but to be fair he's done ok so far. Under Arteta anyone who can follow his instructions and the game plan is getting in the side so Elneny is ahead of Willock, Torreira and Guendouzi.

I also moaned about the 5 at the back with 2 holding mids in general. Based on 7 defensive minded players and only 3 attackers not being enough for us going forward and causing us to struggle to link the midfield to the attack. Arteta's 5 at the back is more sophisticated than a basic formation. You only have to see the touch map of AMN, Bellerin and even Tierney to see we're more than capable of flooding the attacking half of the pitch with players.

Really pleased to see Willian and Gabriel get off to good starts. I know a lot of people were worried about Willian's wages and his age but if he's doing the business on the pitch that is all irrelevant. Willian may be 32 but his injury history is brilliant, he looks like he's kept himself in terrific shape so he doesn't seem like you're typical 32 year old footballer. We were getting a player who can deliver here and now in a league he's accustomed to. He also brings some much needed creativity.

The dilemma Arteta has is fitting all the players in. If we move to a back 4 at any point then I could see Willian as a No.10 with Aubameyang/Lacazette/Pépé. But whilst we play a back 3 one of those 4 needs to miss out

Rumours of Brentford's David Raya coming in to replace Martinez. Raya would count as a home grown player even though he's Spanish. He was also left out of Brentford's first game of the season yesterday.

Arsenal usually play their No.2 in the cup games, but given how important getting back in the champions league is I think we should be using Leno in the Europa League. Certainly for the knock out stages

Arsenal rumoured to have made a £22.5m bid for Odsonne Edouard. You'd have to assume Lacazette would be off if that went through. Lacazette only has 2 years left on his deal and there haven't been any noises about a new contract. I would assume Edouard would be on significantly less wage than Lacazette, is 7 years younger and would still retain a decent value.

If the club are looking at decreasing the wage bill and making money on players whilst we can then this would seem a sensible switch. The risk is we don't know how Edouard will adapt to moving up a level

Did you see the Lacazette interview though ? He made it quite clear he doesn’t want to be sold.

I’d prefer to keep him personally I think he’s an under appreciated player

Most, if not all of us hated Leeds when they were in the top flight and probably took pleasure seeing them implode. But I gotta admit I was hoping they made it back to the PL. Chastened, phoenix from the ashes.

Random music story.

https://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/diana-ross-cher-ended-their-friendship-over-a-man-most-cant-believe-they-even-wanted/?fbclid=IwAR28InR-it4D84His3MDFVo95Vu4UZF7_yhPnnT5Bfls5HuCrI8A-qJJ8fk

Many of us will have hated them since well before then. The brand of anti-football of Don Revie introduced us sticks long in the mind.

Anyone seen the new Christopher Nolan movie ?

Thought he over cooked it personally but a good watch never the less.

The trailers look good. I quite fancy it.

But, sadly, it will be a long time before I would attend a cinema.

Martinez gone. £20m and 4 year deal. Villa have a good keeper and we have some money towards our midfield.

And towards a replacement number 2 keeper?

Seen us linked with an Icelandic GK from Dijon for a very low fee £2m or so.

Raja is rumoured to cost £10m+. Depends how much of a risk we want to take in order to secure our first choice midfield target(s)

Everton should be 1-0 up v spurs. Richarlison goes round the GK, tight angle and a defender covering the line and he shoots wild and high - but standing completely free in the 6 yard box is Calvert-Lewin, a simple square pass from Richarlison and he taps it in an empty net - get your head up!