We have a defence that can't defend and defensive midfielder who can't defend either. So we have the worst of both worlds.....a dogshite defence with zero protection in front of them.

We have a defence that can't defend and defensive midfielder who can't defend either. So we have the worst of both worlds.....a dogshite defence with zero protection in front of them.

I used to think a good coach could take any back 4 and a pair of holding mids and turn them in to a functional, disciplined and hard to break down unit. I’m really not sure with the players we have. They lack so many of the basics and have had so long and show no sign of learning or improvement.
Gary Neville called Arsenal’s defence ‘uncoachable’ and its hard to argue

I used to think a good coach could take any back 4 and a pair of holding mids and turn them in to a functional, disciplined and hard to break down unit. I’m really not sure with the players we have. They lack so many of the basics and have had so long and show no sign of learning or improvement.
Gary Neville called Arsenal’s defence ‘uncoachable’ and its hard to argue

As an example Lacazette needs to be dropped, you can’t play the 2 of them let’s be honest. It’s always been an issue

Lacazette has been so average this year. I honestly think you replace the entire eleven who started today save for Leno, Guendouzi and Aubameyang and not miss them. So many holes in midfield and just poor recruitment at CB. We're better than our current form, or at least should be, but not by much. We are also some way off the top 4 standard. We are exactly where we deserve to be in the league.

Can anyone who managed to watch the game tell us if there was any signs of improvement in any aspect?
The comms said the workrate and tempo seemed improved.

I think your right Darren but I find it hard to judge the players these days. They are not being set up correctly at all. There wasn’t a single live wire type in that starting line up today.

That’s mental, did we learn nothing from pires, overmars and Ljungberg?

Who is running between the lines and causing problems. Nobody cause they were all on the bench. Plus Saka and Willock are being let down.

I can’t see the board waiting until the summer. Offer a serious cheque guys

Can anyone who managed to watch the game tell us if there was any signs of improvement in any aspect?
The comms said the workrate and tempo seemed improved.

We play Brighton at home in the league next....then by my rating I think we play 10 games where I really can’t see where a win comes from before we play Newcastle at home. That awkward combination of very good teams coming to the emirates and us going away to average teams. It is a run full of defeats and a few draws.
We really could find ourselves in the bottom 6

As we rebuild this side I don’t think Aubameyang and Lacazette are part of it. Contracts running down, we play better with just one of them, their age and we will need to take the money when they don’t sign new contracts.

If we have to take a backwards step to avoid losing both for free then we have to get as much money as we can for both. We needed champions league last year, were even more desperate for it this year. Without it we can’t afford to keep both, the fans won’t like it but it is the sensible decision for the long term future - because we’ve already messed up the short term.

Sanchez Flores is now available

Can anyone who managed to watch the game tell us if there was any signs of improvement in any aspect?
The comms said the workrate and tempo seemed improved.

Nice touch by Freddie to pay tribute to Emery with that starting line-up.

She wouldn't dare Gaz .. there's only one boss in this household .

I let her have her way 95% of the time but really important issues like how many V8 s I feel like buying ; how much rum I want to drink . She just has to zip it .

Bought another Ford flathead couple of days ago .

Getting my son's alternator checked at a local auto electrician started waffling to this old coot .
He was getting his trailer wiring sorted ..... "yeah I've got one of those somewhere "... went down to his workshop , old bulldozers , forklifts , pumps , gearboxes , hunks of pipe , steelwork ...you name it he had it

He roots around ... "under that bit of canvas "... there she is .... been lying there for fifty years . Seized solid . Paid $100 ... pretty horrified when I pulled the heads and sump off but after a high pressure water blast , a bit of wire buffing it looks more presentable .
If I can hammer the pistons out I think I can get it running .

He had a whopping great brute of speedboat called Topaz 30 feet long , had a 540 cubic inch Chevvy twin turbo producing 1100 horsepower ; reckons it does 85 mph .

https://boatmags.com/classic-offshore-powerboat-topaz/

I used to think a good coach could take any back 4 and a pair of holding mids and turn them in to a functional, disciplined and hard to break down unit. I’m really not sure with the players we have. They lack so many of the basics and have had so long and show no sign of learning or improvement.
Gary Neville called Arsenal’s defence ‘uncoachable’ and its hard to argue

Still have absolutely no idea why Freddie gave Martinelli 5 mins (and only that because of added time).

Surely the only time you make a sub in the 88th min is if you are hanging on and want to waste some time or there's an injury.

Give the kid 20 mins ffs!

Fair to say my first impressions of Freddie's team selection and decision-making were not particularly favorable.

I don't really think Ljungberg had a lot of choices with the squad, With current injuries it's hard to pick a 1st 11 when the defence is a mess and there is no engine room in CM or quick decision maker (Ceballos injured, Özil not interested). Below is an attempt of what could have been put on the field and what I'd be asking them to do. Whether they could do it or not is debatable and therefore expecting a sudden turnaround with 2 days notice is a bit optimistic.

Leno
Mainland Niles, Sokratis, Chambers, Tierney
Xhaka (mid to long range passing), Torreira (just sit in front of the defence),
Guendouzi / Mailand Niles / Saka / Smith Rowe (transition play, shorter range passing and driving forward)
Pépé / Lacazette, Aubameyang, Willock / Lacazette

Luiz should be dropped no matter what. His erratic, kamikaze defending is constantly pulling people out of position and will make any back 4 worse than the sum of its parts. Couldn't believe it when we bought him and he is actually worse than he was at Chelsea

After the comments in this article, I wouldn't expect drastic changes next week either. Emery was allowed to continue for way too long and it's going to now take time to turn this around.

https://arseblog.news/2019/12/ljungberg ... e-players/

We are only 7 points off 4th. It's doable with a good coach. Thinking about it we should get Allegri in and screw the entertainment.

Not football related but “The Irishman” on Netflix is quite a movie

Possibly Scorsese’s last epic and De Niro’s last proper hurrah and taps into the themes of sorrow and getting old. Really worth a watch

From the guardian
It’s striking, for example, how rarely you see an Arsenal player genuinely sprinting at full pelt. Occasionally you will see them running, but it is very much a going-through-the-motions, leave-your-desk-at-5pm sort of running.

In hindsight, we should have used the 72 mil to buy a CB. We need more than 1 reliable one. This defence is letting the team down.

Pépé was bought primarily to give us a threat on the counter away from home. Someone who can dribble the ball and give width.

Morning Rich,

Pépé is an odd one. He has magical quick feet and the potential to do great things but for whatever reason is being sidelined by the coaches. He has certainly not hit the heights yet, bar the two free kicks, but has not been terrible either. Infact, he was probably our biggest threat in some of the games he did play.

His downside is he does try to dribble sometimes in inappropriate areas and gets caught in possession. His tracking back is not the best either.

I think he just needs games and the more the better. The last europa game would have been ideal but he was sidelined again. Some time in the gym building up his strength to help deal with the physical nature of the PL would be helpful as well.