When was the last time it felt like we had a squad who could cope with the loss of a key player or two through injury?

It’s night and day and we haven’t got any back up that can affect games in the league the way we need to.

We have obviously improved under Arteta, but as its a medium term project and the rebuilding of the squad is only partially done, is it a bit harsh to lay all the blame for our present blip at his door? If we qualify for the Europa League then I'd say we are on schedule, but its imperative that Arsenal are bold and aggressive in the transfer market this summer.

We have obviously improved under Arteta, but as its a medium term project and the rebuilding of the squad is only partially done, is it a bit harsh to lay all the blame for our present blip at his door? If we qualify for the Europa League then I'd say we are on schedule, but its imperative that Arsenal are bold and aggressive in the transfer market this summer.

People go way overboard when we hit bad form. All of a sudden Eddie Nketiah becomes a saviour and the manager gets abuse for not playing him when he’s never looked up to it, Tavares can stink the place out in one game but become a hero the next game he’s dropped and the minute and change or every substitution gets questioned.

Nobody on here has said anything like this of course, but you already know that.

Clearly you can’t read.

See :14laughter: :14laughter:

I know 5th place gets Europa league but if one of City Liverpool or Chelsea win the fa Cup what happens to that fa Cup europa spot seeing as all 3 will qualify for the champions league. Does it go to the 6th place team in the league?

If only we had a quality option like Bergwijn to come in and save us. We could've used his seven goals in three seasons against Palace and Brighton.

It’s ok we’ve got Zak Swanson on our bench

I thought yesterday's performance was disgraceful, a team packed with internationals who can't turn up on a sunny afternoon at home against moderate opposition. I mean we weren't playing prime Barcelona.

I don't just blame the players, I think Arteta is equally culpable. His team selections, intra-game management and substitutions often raise more questions than they answer, even if his options are sometimes limited.

Our capitulation in the last two games reminds me of the bad old days under Wenger when we used to implode around February time each season and be out of every competition in the space of a couple of weeks, or at least it used to seem that way.

Yes, that is what happened last season when Leicester finished 5th and won the FA Cup. Same with the Conference Leage spot really, it's supposed to go to the winners of the league cup, but since City won it last year and Liverpool this year it will go to the next placed team in the leage that hasn't secured European football (in all likelihood 7th place).

Fun fact: Zak Swanson has only played 78 minutes less than Welsh International quality option Joe Rodon in the PL this season.

You are deluded if you think their squad isn’t better equipped generally than us. They have players they can give minutes to ease injuries and rest legs. We have Swanson and azeez. No point discussing it further. You’re clueless

In some positions yes - they have a few more full back options than we do, although it should be said their starters aren't as good as ours. In others? Definitely not. Skipp and Winks as options in central midfield is pretty much on par with Lokonga and Elneny. Moura and Bergwijn as attacking players are worse than Smith-Rowe and Pépé. Sanchez is decent, but so is Holding. Overall there's very little in it, and I think there's a reason why you're focusing on our respective bench options in one single games where we had more players out than they did.

No way would their fans swap winks for elneny btw just ridiculous suggestions and even you don’t believe that.

if you watch the 1st 5 minutes of our games you know if we're up for it or on it, or if it is going to be another lethargic frustrating performance.

I made exactly this point in post 545327, page 13634. It’s another thing I reckon Guendouzi would have helped with. He had tremendous energy and covered practically every blade of grass in each game. I know some criticised him for that in making the wrong decision where to go and when. But that’s surely something that comes with experience.

Jesus has been brilliant for City ...

There are a lot of players who can run and run, being intelligent about it is key. I thought Connor Gallagher was brilliant at this when we played Palace. Guendousi has energy but I wasn't always convinced with his defensive discipline and awareness.

Woah someone trying to be rational and logical. Of course this makes sense.

People go way overboard when we hit bad form. All of a sudden Eddie Nketiah becomes a saviour and the manager gets abuse for not playing him when he’s never looked up to it, Tavares can stink the place out in one game but become a hero the next game he’s dropped and the minute and change of every substitution gets questioned.

If Gallagher had played for Arsenal at the same age as when Guendouzi did, you would quite possibly have doubted his defensive discipline and awareness too.

I bet Guendouzi will end up being recognised as a greater player than Gallagher.

Great game. Liverpool were very lucky. Anthony Taylor is half-blind

Well, when Guendouzi played for Arsenal he didn't play in the same position as Gallagher. Gallagher is the most advanced of the 3 central midfielders, (demonstrated by his 8 league goals this season) Guendouzi wasn't that for us, he is more for Marseille and he's playing better because he has less defensive responsibility.

In terms of energy, workrate and tempo there is a difference between runnig around a lot and running intelligently, cutting off passing lanes, being the trigger for the press. I'm not saying Guendouzi can't do that but I've not seen him do it the way Gallagher does.

If I had to put one of those players in to our team right now I'd chose Gallagher. (Gallagher is 2 months older than Guendouzi)