Shocking defending from the centre halves there. Lucky.

Odd that, via selection, we seem to have prioritised the league over this game. We must have a better chance of winning the cup than getting a top 4/6 place.

Some fairly aimless passes into the box. Some players don't look interested.

Saka and Partey on. Disappointed to see Martinelli off.

You and me too.

Agreed. One of Pépé or Willian would have made more sense.

Another foul throw!!!

Unbelievable. We have had so many foul throws this season.

£5,000 fine for a foul throw. That would sort it out

Better. Unlucky Eddie.

Punched out by Walker-Peters. Shouldn't that have been a pen?

Can’t work it out. People were calling our last League game a must win game. Our only must win games from now this season are today (plus the following rounds if we somehow get through) and the Europa League games. I just don’t see us qualifying for Europe next season via a league placing.

Interesting substitution and switch of positions. Going for it I hope.

15 minutes to go. It's taken us far too long to get going. Let's hope it's not too late.

Doh. Pépé free kick. Hopeless.

Ffs Pépé

Very disappointing performance. Oh well.

Hopefully we’ll turn up on Tuesday.

I absolutely get your reasoning Bernard, but I’d rather win the next league game against Southampton than this FA cup tie. In a crazy league year if we get some more wins on the bounce I can see us pushing into 7th to qualify for the Europa. Bearing in mind Someone in that top 7 will probably win that cup it extends European places to 8th does it not?

Just felt like one of those games where we would huff and puff and never bloody score.
Kinda get the feeling in these type of games if we fall behind there is no way back for us.
Just dont feel confident and it felt like that today.
Will be equally hard on Tuesday.
They were full strength but we weren't.
Still should have done better.
Quite clear how important Tierney and Smith Rowe are to Arteta. Not even in the squad.
We did win it last year so not end of the world.

Sad performance and a pathetic way for a club with such a proud tradition in the competition to go out.

I keep saying this but serious decisions have to be made on players........

Nketiah needs a loan, his all round game needs proper development and he can't do that at Arsenal.

Pépé is so consistently inconsistent. I'd get rid if we could afford to take the hit on his transfer fee, which we obviously can't. Who would pay more than about £25m for him now?

I doubted the wisdom of signing Ødegaard from Madrid with only 3 months left in the season and no buy option but boy do we need some creativity from somewhere.

Common theme when we pick the second choice players, we all knew what performance we’d get. We can’t play the same 12 or so players all season so whilst this was a route in to europe it was still a very long shot with all the big teams still left in.
So many players need to leave. Can’t see many teams coming in for them though sadly.
Nketiah needs to be sold and Balogun getting his minutes.

Hopefully saka, Tierney, Partey, smith-Rowe, Aubameyang and lacazette are all fit to play against Southampton on Tuesday. Of the two games that’s the one I want to win. Southampton went full strength today so it will be interesting what team they put out on Tuesday. If they go with the same team as today there is no excuse for us not matching and bettering their workrate and energy

As I’ve said before this is the most average squad we have had since 93 with few decent players in it.

6 of those players that started should be cast out.

Arteta has no choice but to play these turds as they are all he has.

Finances aside Couldn’t care less about not qualifying for Europe. I think playing a bunch of farmers every Thursday is actually part of the problem

I think it’s most likely to be top 7 in europe as a top 7 club will likely win both cups. I think it only extends to 8th with some exceptional circumstances of teams outside champions league places winning the champions league

We’re only 5 points behind 7th currently. With the amount of games left and the quality of teams left in Europa I would say at the moment it’s more likely we get 7th than win Europa. Get through the next round and see no upwards movement in the league and it might swing the other way

El Nenny
Bellerin
Pépé
Willian
Xhaka
Nketiah
Nelson
Willock

8 players simply nowhere near good enough for the club that need to be moved on. Time to cash in

I agree, TG, but easier said than done in the current climate.

Edu has come in with all his alleged South American links and the best we can do is bring in a kid from Real with no real hope of signing him if he does well.

Larry King, legendary talk show host, dies at 87

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/23/us/l ... index.html

They are going to have to do something because when the fans are back in the grounds these guys will get pelters.

Willian looks a *%^@*** ridiculous signing. We must have been out of our minds to go there again.

I think edu is out of his depth. His first job of this size we surely should have gone for an experienced European director who has been there and done it.

Strangely enough I found a positive or two from this match. But first the bad. It was probably the worst match I've seen Gabriel play in his young career in our shirt. He's entitled to it at this stage. He's been far good than bad. Holding and Gabriel are our best pairing at present so they need to get their partnership sorted...quickly. I even saw Partey make mistakes getting caught in possession that he normally doesn't. Some of our better players had below average performances (include Holding as well as Saka).

I agree with Soc (and others perhaps) on Nketiah. I like him and thought the criticism he has been getting on here was a wee bit harsh but I am forced to agree. He needs to be loaned out. Both Willian and Pépé are not working out. If we had to choose between one it would have to be Pépé I guess because of where each are in their careers and fees. BUT, if Pépé doesn't get himself sorted out this season, we should start looking on how to unload him. He doesn't seem to have a footballing brain and makes decisions that seem more self serving than what is best for the team.

The positive I got from this match is we didn't give up. We fought for an equalizer. This same squad would have given up at half time 3 months ago. We felt we deserved something (which we didn't) and fought like we thought so.

Martinelli just needs a run of games and proper service. That happens and we'll see him pay dividends.

As frustrating as Pépé was today he created 5 of the 8 chances the team had today. If you only had to persevere with one of him willian and Nketiah I’d choose Pépé

Me too. As a debate it’s as one sided as you an get, in my view. Pépé is miles better than Nketiah. Willian is a strange one. You don’t perform like he did at Chelsea for so long, or win all the Brazil caps he has, if you’re a bad player.

Baffling.

Random video among the several I view pretty much every day. I love looking at old vids, specifically English football. The comments in these videos are often more entertaining than the actual video.
PS: I don't agree with the title, I think its quite fun.

One thing we need to bear in mind with the group of underperforming players that made up the attack today is that they haven’t played with the confident vibrant team with partey, Saka, smith-Rowe, at the moment when they play they are in there with each other.

I’m not saying if you put them in the best team on an individual basis that they suddenly find their form but it is a factor to consider. After all Lacazette was out of form and has had a new lease of life playing with the movement, energy and quality of the younger players

I wonder with Pépé whether it is worth playing him on the left. When he’s on the right he’s constantly coming back inside, not in a devastating Robben and Mahrez way but more that he just goes backwards or square or in to lots of bodies because he doesn’t get the ball quickly enough.

Perhaps on the left he can simply concentrate on being a natural winger rather than coming inside. He Can go down the outside and put crosses and cut backs, or playing quick one-twos to get in behind.

My hesitance would be whether it stifled Tierney, effectively getting in Tierney way. Of Aubameyang is out on Tuesday then I’d want to see Martinelli there but perhaps Pépé could find more joy down that side.

If you have a midfield of El Nenny and Xhaka you will struggle. End of story really the wingers and forwards won’t get the distribution needed to do the things that score goals

I notice a trend developing on here and from some podcasts to try and move the blame to Edu. Arteta is the centre of the whole thing - Willian was his signing and people are trying to protect him because they want him in.

It is Arteta who thought Eddie, Nketiah, Willian and Luiz were the solution to our problems. Eddie & Nketiah in my view because they were compliant unlike Guendouzi. Frankly his controlling manner has totally scuppered any hope Eddie & Nketiah and a few others had of making it. They need time away and try to revive their play. He has done the same to M-N.

Now there is a lot of talk of buying a number 10 to try and protect Smith Rowe. I agree he cannot keep playing the minutes they are putting on him. But strangely if you wanted to bed S-R in we had a number 10 for another 6 months which could have brought time. S-R only ever made the team when Willian Luiz had a Xmas lunch with someone. He would never have picked him otherwise.

If you wonder why so many players are struggling - just look at our style of play. WE DON'T HAVE A STYLE OF PLAY. Ask yourself is it the pressing game and slow play out from the back, the defend at all costs and break, the fix the defence but don't allow players to encroach over the half way line (calling Ceballos out all the time) the 40 crosses and we will score, don't play a number 10 (that went well), we need a right winger (Willian) and his insistence that only experience will fix it. So how are players supposed to sort out what to do each game.

He is the person not getting the best out of many players. M-N, Saliba, Guendouzi as examples. Saka was an Emery find.

It's not Edu - its Arteta. There is no money to spend and I would never trust Arteta to have a say in who to buy. I see minimal improvement manufactured by him.

I don’t know where to start with this it’s such utter cobblers

The cumbersome style of play is very similar to what we saw from Emery after we sold Aaron Ramsey.

Without addressing every silly point you made I’ll say that the style of play is dictated by the midfield players. If you start with Xhaka and ceballos it’s bad enough but El Nenny and Xhaka and *%^@*** forget it mate

Until we bring in new midfield players to go with partey we won’t be able to adapt and there will be no major improvement. Just get used to it.

Yes I know you are an Arteta lovechild. You will never see the obvious. Explain Saliba, Willian just for starters - out of his depth and costing us to give him experience.

Willian is a mistake brought on by trying to get an alternative option to Pépé who was a huge expensive flop signed by the previous regime. Likely initiated by Edu as they share the same agent.

Saliba is an issue that relates to us not being able to play him for financial reasons.

There is no manager that is going to get a tune out of Xhaka and El Nenny trust me. 3 have already failed, a fourth would too.

Half our squad isn’t good enough. Replacements are required and coaching won’t affect a damn thing until you bring in better personnel