Kolasinac is having a fine game.

Has Sokratis been having lessons in how to be stupid from Xhaka?

That idiotic tackle for the penalty looks like it's going to cost us the win

And on and on...

A kind of a relief to realise that it wasn’t a second yellow.

Kane should be booked for that dive.

Well. It was never going to be 0-0 was it?

A good fightback but 2 points chucked away in the first half with brain dead defending. Very frustrating.

Good result

2 points ahead of united, chelsea and spurs having had difficult games at Anfield, st James park and the north London derby.

Our solid start continues

The art of playing without a defence......by Arsenal FC.

Yes this is right

We need Wenger

I admire your enthusiasm.

Solid isn’t a word that comes readily to my mind when watching our displays.

Guendouzi my MOTM.

Ceballos added some much needed creativity and composure when he came on.

Pépé looks like he could be a worldbeater......if he can get that final finish or pass right.

He should have got about 7 yellow cards today

Annoying result. Sokratis, Xhaka and, to a lesser extent Leno, were very poor. Aubameyang was very good and Guendouzi was superb. Pépé needs time to settle and hopefully he will be a good player for us but today he was extremely wasteful.

Subbing off Torreira was weird for me and I groaned when Mkhitaryan came on and was suitably ineffective.

Xhaka should be dropped.

Game was there for the taking but when you gift the opposition two goals it is always going to be an uphill task. At 0-2 down I'd have taken a draw.

We won't be a serious team until we sort our defence out. Liverpool found that out and once they sorted it there was no stopping them.

Emery's decision making has been terrible especially of late. Could he be angling for a payoff?

Can't defend Xhaka's penalty, it was a diabolical error that could've very well cost us the game. But I don't see how anyone can say he had a bad game apart from that. Him and Guendozi (who was motm for me) dominated that midfield. They positioned themselves well, constantly won the ball back, kept it moving and found players in the right space throughout the game. Torreira didn't do much at all.

This derby was there for the taking, sadly you can't afford to give away two goals like that. Lots of encouraging signs though, our energy and effort was spot on from start to finish and if we keep it up very few teams will be able to handle us. Pépé is going to be some player once he adjusts to the league. Ceballos is a must start for me, as is Lacazette.

As I said, scoring draw 1-1 or 2-2. And I will repeat. Anyone that thinks this defense can keep any club in the top 6 from scoring then I have some prime beach property in Leeds to sell you.
I don't even see us keeping any of the top 6 to 1 goal home or away too many times. Maybe Chelsea...maybe.

I saw more positives than negatives actually. The biggest is coming back from 2 goals down and looking very likely to score a 3rd. We are going to have to do it Kevin Keegan style. We aren't going to score much against Liverpool or City. They play team defense too well, keep the ball too well and have defenses that can frustrate our front 3.

Chelsea has the weakest defense of the lot because they haven't been able to strengthen it. Once Pépé and Ceballos get fully settled we will score much more. Mkhitaryan is a waste in matches like these. He's frustrating to watch. He really isn't interested any longer. He knows he's on the selling block, he knows he's not a starter. He knows his reputation is shot and he can't get to a top club.

Anyway, we showed a lot of spirit and that's been our achilles heel for a while. We showed belief. We will look like a different side in 2 months once Pépé and Ceballos get totally settled in and get used to the pace and physicality of the league.

Reading the forum on the way home from the game and the penalty aside, I couldn’t see why there were so many moans about Xhaka. I suspect it’s a reaction to him doing that.

Thought Emery got it wrong with the midfield 3, too similar. Willock or Ceballos had to start.

We put in a decent performance and deserved to win but individual errors seem to hurt us so badly.

Xhaka was stupid as usual but when mhikitaryan came on I watched his wretched performance where he just seemed headless and couldn’t find a team mate and thought Emery still has his work cut out. I can understand why we play Xhaka due to his physicality but he’s got to go. I don’t think Emery trusts mhikitaryan and Özil what so ever. We are still dealing with the hangover from the last regime.

Xhaka, mhikitaryan and Özil all have to go. They cost us 630k a week in wages and on the occasions called upon are abysmal

Emery needs to decide what his best 11 is, and the best formation for that 11 is and play it much more regularly.
Bellerin and Tierney both start when fit.
Holding could easily come in to CB.
The midfield 3 needs to include Guendouzi and Cellabos and one other
The front 3 picks itself.
However,
Aubameyang and Lacazette both play better as a centre forward. So naturally you want to play 2 up top to get the best from them. That means a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2. 3 at the back rules out Pépé and it seems he was bought so we don’t have to play without wide men. In a 4-4-2 we lack a natural left winger and it probably leaves us a bit exposed in the middle and certain players like Mkhitaryan and Özil don’t have any place in a 4-4-2.
If you want Özil in the team it has to be at the No.10 position in something like a 4-2-3-1. With the 3 big signings up top and asking 2 of our CM to hold the fort as they won’t get much protection.
We’ve got some great players but emery is finding it difficult to get the best out of them and the balance of the team right

It’s because he always does “that”. He’s a liability.

Lacazette took his goal so well. He has to be a starter.

If we can cut out the nonsense at the back, we'll be a good team. The focus should be very clear.

I didn't ever realise it had happened because it was almost off-screen it was so late. He needed to do an awful lot to make up for that.

Leno's also looked unbelievably lackadaisical.

I have no problem with Aubameyang on the wing. Thought he played well there today, and it's not like the positions in our team is so rigid he's not allowed to take up central positions in a game. Lacazette is just so much better with the hold up play, he needs to start centrally.

For me it's 4-3-3 we should be playing. It suits most of our players, gives us potentially one of the most dynamic frontlines in the league and plenty of different options in midfield.

For me it’s a 433

Today’s front 3, guendouzi, Torreira and Ceballos in the middle. Holding partnering sokratis to offer a more defensive focussed back 4.

That’s our strongest team.

He needs to take most of the blame for the first goal. To be fair to him, it was an uncharacteristic error because he's usually an excellent shot stopper.

Completely agree with everyone who has said Guendouzi was the man of the match. Ceballos looked good once he came on.

Just watched 20 mins of highlights & our recovery was full of character but we will give up goals all season with the back 4 Maybe Holding might marginally improve us and maybe Tierney will marginally improve us but we needed a CB and instead spent most of the off season arguing over a couple of million with Celtic for an injured player.

Guendouzi was really good and continues to grow. Good goals from Lacazette & Aubameyang were good but it still was 2 points dropped at home.

I probably know even less about what combinations work best for us than I did last week. Happy to get the point but not sure where we go from here.

There was not a single credible whisper this summer about us wanting to get rid of Özil or Mkhitaryan. The simple explanation for this is probably that Emery thinks they have a role to play in the squad. As maligned as Xhaka is, the fact that he's the captain means Emery sees him as an integral part of the team.

This is not about the old regime. This is about Emery rating the players more highly than you do, and if you really think they're that bad you have to mark it down as a flaw in his judgement.

I think sooner or later Willock will find himself one of the first choice midfielders. He has height and strength and the running power to go box to box.

I think when we signed Torriera many were hoping he would be our Kante but I don't think he is that type of player. He's tenacious and likes to win the ball but I don't think he has the defensive discipline or positional sense of a natural DM. The last few months have shown that.

Xhaka seems a decent enough fella and I have nothing against him personally but his game is just not suited to the PL. He's technically adept with a good range of passing but he just can't get around the pitch quickly enough to cope with the speed and intensity of the PL, hence he has to resort to making numerous silly tackles and technical fouls in every game. Even the commentators remarked that they had never seen a player make so many fouls in games as Xhaka does. He's not a dirty player or particularly aggressive he is just too one paced for the PL.

As I said earlier I very much doubt we will be a serious team until we solve our CB issues.

I think Xhaka is so slow his thought process causes him to foul. The really good teams don’t give up posssession with silly fouls. The pen in this game was just such a slow reaction to a move by the other player . But he was so far behind what was happening that it looked a disaster. Is he good enough to play the position in the EPL in a team with ambitions - no. It follows that he should not be captain. The fouls are senseless and often in a dangerous position.

The media kept bringing up that stat of Van Dijk not being dribbled last for 50 odd games until Pépé did him last week. I wonder how many times Xhaka is dribbled last each game?

That 2nd half display, bar the minutes when Mkhitaryan came on, will put in more belief in this team. It was great to see them closing them down faster. The energy and drive from the team was very good. Xhaka did much better in the 2nd, albeit still being his slow self. Mkhitaryan was a waste, and hardly did anything good for the team. Why does Emery still play him? His heart is not in it, and he would never bust his gut for the team. Look at Lacazette, he wins balls you wouldn't thought he had a chance.

I agree Guendozi was MOTM for us.

http://www.insidefutbol.com/2019/09/01/ ... an/436087/

Please, make it happen!

Hope so too, although Roma could play him for 24 games and then not again in order to not trigger a clause.
Quite a few players leaving or potentially leaving will certainly strip a bloated squad back, and I’m sure at some point this season we’ll probably wish we had some of these players just for cover numbers wise - however if loans like this mean we can get rid of players permanently then it is worth the risk. Also, if Mkhitaryan’s role this year is mainly off the bench I think I’d prefer the unpredictability of Nelsen, Martinelli and Saka in wide positions for the final 15 minutes.

Encouraging that Raul and his team seem to be on the same page as the fans in terms of which players need to go. Lots of deadwood are moving on, Mkhitaryan, mustafi, Xhaka, Özil, Kolasinac must be next on the list

I do for Xhaka however I think the moment we get a decent offer for him he also goes too. The reason why there is a lack of interest is due to their salary’s and talent not because Emery rates them, are you kidding. He doesn’t trust Özil in the slightest

Kolasinac, Özil, mhikitaryan, Mustafi and Xhaka have to go. They are passengers in this squad and this morning there’s rumours of mhikitaryan going to Roma on loan despite us not having a replacement such as our desperation to rid ourselves

Funny how spurs seemingly took a tough stance with two players who won’t sign new deals, Eriksen and Vertonghen....until they realised they were pretty awful without those two, then they were pushed back in to the first team for the game v us. All well and good to take the stance but by basically admitting they need them they’ve lost the power. I hope both leave on a free next year or even before the deadline tonight

Surely they will hold onto them till January before selling now.

Take Erikssen out of the team and they have serious problems

But the rumours this morning shows there are interested clubs - and not bad ones. Do you seriously believe we've been desperate to offload him all summer and haven't been able to find a taker until now when all of a sudden Roma realized they needed him?

I have no problem with getting rid of Mkhitaryan. He's overpaid, but a decent squad player, and that's probably how Emery sees him as well considering how he's used him.