Mustafi may not be good enough but no one can fault his effort. He started the game shakily, made several misplaced passes and then the big error but after that he played really well.

I think Saka may have a future at LB. So much of the modern game focuses around the ability of fullbacks to get forward and he could be elite in that context. Very intelligent and a quick learner.

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/01/22/u ... al-fans-a/

Please match your words with action

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/01/22/a ... ght-about/

Özil was good in the first few games for Arteta. He is slipped back to his slow-mo, ineffective style. Clearly past it to keep going at the high speed, high tempo expected of him.

https://arseblog.news/2020/01/arteta-ex ... -red-card/

Big shout out to Xhaka, who did very well at CB for the team. He is putting on much better performances.

Not at all. Amy Lawrence was talking about Artetas tactics. The ball goes to Luis and Xhaka who try and put long balls forward. This way they don't go upfield too far and don't have problems being turned around. Look at the first 25 minutes Lampard realised this and just closed down Luis and Xhaka. Whole first hard we struggled.

What is surprising and disappointing is that Pépé doesn’t feature there. I envisaged him as a pacy destroyer in the mould of Zaha.

Hi ltg,

He's shown he has pace and skill and trickery but I think Top Gun touched on it when said he needs the ball higher up the pitch and not on the halfway line with his back to goal where he needs to do something miraculous just to get out of a tight situation.

If we had a midfielder who could find his runs with more expansive passes, then we could perhaps see what we paid all the money for. Özil should be the one but he seems to play too much in Pépé's area of the pitch making it difficult for him to produce a defence splitting pass.

That said Pépé also has to work on his movement and the timing of his runs so that those kind of expansive passes are on for him.

I fully agree socrates. On the way home last night I had a look at the forum and I think I noticed someone (can’t recall who) say Mustafi’s heart wasn’t in it. I was surprised because heart is the one thing he does have. He has various faults. But a lack of heart is not one of them.

I also noticed Darren use the word hate yet again to describe his feelings towards Mustafi. He has before and I still think it’s the wrong word to use about a player you don’t feel is good enough. The worse player I’ve ever seen play for the club was probably Caesar who I also knew was a lifelong Tottenham fan (I think he came from there). Did I hate him? No way. Myself, I find it impossible to dislike Mustafi because of his attitude, whether or not he’s prone to making bad errors or falls short of being good enough.

I was very close to the front of the stand behind the goal at the away end and you could see how bad he felt about the mistake. So well done to him for sorting himself out to then play well. I give him credit for that.

Ok, so we all know we could do with better defenders but what Arteta has done to our defending with what he has is pretty good in my book. There is a passion in our defending now which hasn't been there for far too long. Six months ago we would have taken a hammering in that game but now people are throwing themselves in to block and the structure of the defending looks much better. Xhaka seems far more suited to the semi-CH role (it was noticable the other day that whenever both full backs were forward he dropped to form a back 3) and he was superb there last night playing, dare I say, a captain's role.

Anyway, if you were at Highbury today in 1927 you'd have had a right sing song with this. A notable date in Arsenal history as not only was LTG honoured by being asked to lead the singing on the day of his retirement, he also got to introduce his Grandson Nicholas Parsons to the crowd. Happy days.

Wasn’t it was to celebrate LTG’s hundredth birthday and telegram from the queen (or was it a king in 1927), not his retirement?

Now now Bernard, there's no need to take the mickey.

Yes absolutely slow clap and circle jerk for mustafi folks for not screwing up further after another match affecting balls up.

Someone needs to sit him down with a nice cuppa tea and a biscuit.

Maybe he needs a pet ? Maybe a nice cuddly puppy

Yes absolutely, this is the main problem. You won’t convince me Lacazette and Pépé are bad players. In his last year in France only Mbappe scored more goals. He can’t really be that bad.

Also it’s worth pointing out the same issues those 2 players are experiencing also affect Martinelli. He didn’t use a Jedi mind trick to make Kante slip and aside from the impressive goal his performance was similar to Pépé without the expectation because of the fee.

These guys are just getting zero service right now. Midfield is non existent

Why bother replying in a snide sarcastic tone. Mustafi played well after the mistake. He is not actually a bad player. I think someone said he was the worst player ever in an Arsenal shirt. That is simply nonsense.

Yes he *%^@*** well is thanks.

Wasn't it Cardew Robinson?

When Henry came back!

We’re being linked with Shakhtar Donetsk centre-back Mykola Matviyenko. I’ll be impressed if anyone knows anything about him without googling it!

Back to Martinelli’s goal. How fantastic to have a player who can run faster with the ball than most defenders when they’re just sprinting.

Dribbling a ball 70 yards without much of a challenge and then slotting it past the GK was made to look ridiculously easy by Martinelli last night. It definitely isn’t

As you know I have a spreadsheeet of all the top centre backs in the world.

Edu has earned his wages purely on finding Martinelli alone. Pépé is on the cusp of big things if we can coach him properly on his decision making. And the proper set up for his success. He'll take on 3 players, which obviously means space elsewhere and our players don't make runs or get into left open spaces to receive a pass. Lots of standing around watching him dribble.

A couple takeaways from the match.
Martinelli is a star in the making. I'm not saying he will be another Henry, but he can invoke memories of the great one. Work rate is superb. Has a natural feel for making the right run at the right time. Özil could be the perfect foil for him and release him (as well as Pépé). Possibly what Arteta is thinking but so far has not come off.
We scored 2 goals with ten men at Stamford Bridge. That can not be over emphasized enough. Giving up 2 goals at the Bridge with ten men is not an eye raiser, coming back is huge. It's also huge for our confidence. More than a month ago we would have lost the will to fight back. And we did it without Aubameyang.
Pépé has reversed his form and is game by game improving.
Saka's flexibility is an asset. He may have earned his being considered as a stop gap for a couple different positions.
The club should have got rid of Mustafi ages ago and my guess is not that they can't sell him, they are more concerned at taking the financial loss. In all businesses, you cut some losses right away than make it worse by hanging on.
It would have been suicide to consider selling Aubameyang now we should think about cashing in and using that money for players in positions we desperately need. We have enough in the attack to score without him. Yes, we are not nearly as good in attack without him but we have the means to score without him.
The road back is not as far as we think it may be. We get the central defense sorted and a quality box to box Kante type center mid and we are a very decent side.
Finally, I may end up owing Mikel an apology.

So all Mustafi needs to do is make an horrendous cock up every match and after that he'll put in a Man of the Match performance .

"Not actually a bad player " he is worse .

Swivel ; off balance to try a back pass ; just too stupid for words .

He just doesn't know the basics of centre half play .
Every game he is guaranteed to present the opposition with a couple of goal scoring opportunities .

He looked better for the rest of the match because .... [a] the cock up strengthened his resolve
[b] having the man sent off the whole team compressed which suited because he didn't have the space present another gilt edged opportunity .

Many of the lesser players from the mists of time get reeled out as rubbish players Caesar , Selley , Morrow , McGoldrick , Groves , Hartson but I reckon included in this current mob they would look quite competent .

Everytime Martinelli , Saka , Willock , Nelson get the ball I think Whooppee ..... these kids are going to try and attack .

Saka ..... love the kid's , application , style , drive , skill .

That is simply stupid whingeing. J watched those players and even those from an earlier vintage. Mustafi is not top drawer but he is no poor defender.

No poor defender ? He’s abysmal, how many dropped points is he responsible for over the last few years. I can’t recall any other defender for a long time capable of such monumental screw ups. Even Cygan.

Nobody is whingeing but being surprised at the output of sympathy following his millionth cock up is hysterical

It's icing on the cake seeing Man Utd losing at OT.

How much longer can OGS last?

What a bunch of dicks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51211078

Blimey. "Not poor"! I've my go at defending some players in the past but how many mistakes and crap passes straight to the opposition does he have to make to be considered poor/bad/rubbish?

Did Sol Campbell come back on loan? If so that definitely worked. I recall DHD saying he was still the best c ntral defender at the club when he retuned, and DHD was right.

As well as Henry and Campbell I see Benayoum as doing enough to count him as a successful loan signing.

He came back to train with us as a free agent in 2010 and subsequently signed on again; as such, he wasn't technically a loan, Bern. And he was still an excellent defender - quick, commanding and decisive even at 36. Apart from his athleticism though, it was his sheer bulk that always impressed me. Huge arse. He blotted out a lot of sky and it took a serious detour just to get around him. He wasted a few of his latter years chasing big paydays with clubs like Portsmouth and (bizarrely) Notts County when he could still have been dominating for us. But then Sol's issues were usually psychological rather than physical. He was and still is a complicated man but he's one of the best defenders I've ever seen.

A couple of pictures I took of the old place today in 2005.

Please Wolves, please!! Invoke the ghosts of the 1950s. Something, anything.

Between Lampard and OGS, it's gotta be OGS next to go. The job is way too big for him at this stage. He is not only manager but also help with transfers, etc. They are throwing a junior executive in a CEOs job if we want to use a company analogy. No skin off my teeth. I hope he fails miserably. Same with Lamps although it seems Chelsea are aware of the issues he inherited such as being banned from a transfer window. He will get a bit of time to get players and the youth movement they have going on will get him even more time.

If Aubameyang goes, and i'm not opposed to it IF we get a good price.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... r-21329327

OGS gets the dreaded support of the board. He may not make it the rest of the season.

OGS a mishap of problems. Explains why MU are going back in for Carlos Tevez. On loan at 35.

That didn't take long.