What a performance, all over the pitch we were better than Spurs. That first half was men against boys. Every player played their part including a stunning Ramsdale save at the end to keep our nerves in check.

3 games ago Spurs were top and we were bottom, and now we're above them in the table

The bad news: I gave away my tickets for this game.

The good news: I gave them to my kids

Very interesting stats.
We lost first 3 matches, and won the next 3
They won first 3 matches, then lost next 3.

For a while, they were the only team with a perfect record, sitting top of the table. No goals conceded. Their fans must have started to think it was their season.

Your kids will never forget your generousity

Fredrik Ljungberg is now working as a pundit for Swedish TV. He's very humble about his role in the development of Saka and Smith-Rowe, but he's been smiling from ear to ear since half time.

I like Ljungberg. Was hoping he would be successful when he was interim manager.

One almost feels sorry for them.

Loved that celebration from Aubameyang with the grass slide and glare.
Very reminiscent of Thierry's celebration but I couldn't remember who it was against......
It was also against Spurs!! In 2002.
Wasnt it that mazy run from one half to the other and the slide rule finish?
Great seeing Thierry in the crowd wearing his vintage shirt. Didn't realise that was Daniel Ek sat with him.
Great great win and performance.
Bit nervy at 3 1and Kane went close a couple of times but we thoroughly deserved that.
Actually this was last game before another bloody international break but no Brighton next week.
Let's go again!

Excellent stuff, Bored.

Two questions.

First, have we turned the corner or too early to say? Second, assuming the reports of Saliba's form as good as we hear, and Arteta brings him back from exile, is he the 3rd CB or do we play 3 at the back? And if its the latter who sits?

Thanks Haz
You read my mind.
I tried to post the picture with no success.
Great photo!

Post-match interview with David Seaman and Ramsdale. Ramsdale disappointed with not keeping a clean sheet, says he could've saved it.

https://youtu.be/FfQf-XjqLME

On way back from game sitting very happily in pub.
Interestingly to see real connection being forged between team and fans. Very early days but feels bit like early GG days.
Long May it continue.

Got up early to watch the highlights. We looked like a team who believed. Great win and will make the morning walk really enjoyable

Arsenal ladies 3 up against Man City

For me this result doesn’t buy Arteta anymore time. He’s got to prove it on the the big stage….after all… it was only Tottenham

https://www.football365.com/news/sounes ... our-moment

What is wrong with Souness? I've also never heard him refer to Spurs as 'we'.

I find it a bit odd in the media that if Arsenal lose all the old phrases come out and they revel in taking us apart, but as soon as we win they tell us we can't celebrate it because we're still not good enough. Its like we can only 'win' in some pundits eyes if we win the title.

It needs a more objectionable eye with an ability to look past individual results and look at progress (or lack of). Talk about individual progress, recruitment, patterns of play. Absolutely fine to say 'they need to do this every week/more often' - but in reality you're saying that about 17 out of 20 teams in the league (I'm including Man U in that given the talent they have, money they've spent and poor results they still churn out)

Worth reiterating once again, apart from Aubameyang, Xhaka and Partey the rest of that team is 23 or under. All 6 summer signings were again on the pitch at the end of the match

Me waiting for MOTD

Block 133 where I sit was absolutely buzzing and very vocal all game. In fact the whole ground was very noisy today.

You are right in your observations I think. Don’t let people micro criticising the team and manager on the internet fool you, there is a lot of goodwill to this team from our support especially the younger fans it seems. Loved the fans behind Ramsdales goal at the end staying on twirling their scarfs and some taking their shirts off.

Does anyone still think we overpaid for Ramsdale and White ? Both terrific today only bettered by Gabriel and Tomiyasu who literally wins everything so many 50 50s and knockdowns. The guys been our man of the match in both our last 2 home games and looks an absolute snip at 19m.

You can see partnerships and trust forming in the team. The defenders know they can pass it back to their keeper now because they trust him, the midfielders know the can swing a high ball at Tomiyasu because he wins them. Trust and understanding is developing.

Only suggestion I would have made is that I felt maybe Lacazette for Aubameyang around the 70th minute would have made sense to me and that we still don’t seem to have realised that by the 60th minute of most games Emile Smith Rowe has totally burnt himself out with his work rate.

Full team dressing room photo

Yep subs could have been earlier. Game management is very important because even 3 nil isn't completely safe.

Big plus is the way we didn't take the foot of the pedal when we went ahead.

9/10 for Arteta.

Seaman was giggling like a kid throughout the interview with Ramsdale, love it. Such a personality, exudes lots of positive vibes.

Kaveh Solhekol the sky sports transfer guy is taking pelters from arsenal fans on social media. He was the guy who was giggling about us signing Tomiyasu and claimed he had inside info that Tomiyasu had been offered to every single prem club and not a single one was interested. I would wager there is no chance this bloke had ever seen Tomiyasu play

Tomiyasu was outstanding. Again. He seems perfect for the high intensity and physical nature of the Premier League.

I've only been to the Norwich game this season but it was noticeable how there was an energy and enthusiasm amongst the support that you normally associate with a team going places. I think the emergence of such a young team, full of really likeable and commited players, all with something to prove, and backed by supporters who havent been to a match for over a year has created this atmosphere. If the team can keep improving it could turn out to be an exciting time to go to Arsenal matches.

Noticeable after the game yesterday how every post match interview sang the praises of the fans. Feels like there may have been a directive for what to be saying in post match interviews even though players generally thank the fans quite often.
Arteta clearly trying to get everyone on board and pulling in the same direction. Wins like yesterday help a lot

On MOTD2 last night, Keown said this was only the twelfth game Arteta’s teams have played in front of a full house. Nothing about the explanation for that, if it’s true, being the behind closed doors policy. Even the games last season when some fans were let in had a restricted capacity.

I wonder how many times Arteta has been able to pick Xhaka and Partey in the same team?

But for the late and fortunate winner v Wolves and the late winner and then subsequent missed penalty v West Hame we'd be on equal points as Man U.

I always find it interesting to try to look at the stats of games and context of the performances because these will catch up with you and results will follow. Man U were poor against Wolves and West Ham and finally got punished for an equally poor performance against Villa with the defeat their previous 2 games might have deserved.

It reminds us of where we need to improve as I still see us as a team who generally only wins when we play well or clearly deserve it.

As the players came out Ramsdale and others were clapping the supporters. I think there are so many likeable players in the side, as a supporter you are prepared to cut them a lot of slack. The team looked balanced yesterday. You can’t fit Pépé Emile Smith Rowe Saka and Ødegaard all on to the field at the same time IMO. That’s not to say they can’t be rotated. Tomiyasu has been a very good buy.

This is a very valuable point to highlight.

The behind doors games appeared to be essentially high intensity training sessions where pretty much anything can happen.

Confidence plays a massive part in football as confidence enables creativity and expression and the players seeing that they have a stadium full of fans cheering them on like yesterday can only help especially for a team like ours with so many young players. Without that they are essentially listening to the media and social media to gauge people’s opinions on their performances and that is not good.

Yes you can, worked well againest Burnley. If you are playing a team less likely to dominate the middle of the park like a top 4 side or Leicester you can sacrifice some of your combativeness in the middle for creativity.

I can see us using that formation a lot this season especially at the Emirates so expect to be disappointed again.

Trying to show with these screengrabs the pace of Smith Rowe which I'm not sure I appreciated he had.
image 1 he receives the ball and flicks it to Tierney - Sanchez I think is tight to him
image 2 Aubameyang flicks it round the corner and Emile Smith Rowe is 5 yards ahead of Sanchez
image 3 as Emile Smith Rowe bursts in to the area Snahcez is only just in the frame

I think Aubameyang in particular is someone who thrives off the crowd, I thought for all the plaudits other players were rightly getting yesterday I really enjoyed Aubameyang's performance leading the line. If we can get him at those sorts of levels for just 3/4 games this season we'll have a good season

Some pretty damning stats for Spurs after yesterday's game.
They rank 18th for goals scored, 19th for shots, 18th for shots conceded, 19th for expected goals and 20th for distance covered.

City look like they've done enough to completely disturb Kane, their midfield lacks skill, pace and balance. I saw them play a midfield of Hojberg, Skipp and Winks the other day - that is championship level.

They've bought a new CB and new RB and neither started against us. Dier and Sanchez will always have a mistake in them. Yesterday they seemed to just bypass their midfield and we had huge joy in almost creating a box style central midfield: Xhaka deep left, Partey deep right, Smith Rowe advanced left and Ødegaard advanced right - the later two in those half spaces that Spurs just struggled to pick up. Tierney and Saka kept the width for us and the back 3 provided a solid foundation.

I think you're right on the likability of the team and squad. Of course we all tend to like players better when they're winning matches and scoring goals but I think we're talking about personalities above football skills.
We seem to have the makings of a group who are humble but willing to fight for each other, the fans and the manager. There seems to be a sense that a lot of the players we have are ecstatic to be playing for The Arsenal. Obviously the Hale End boys but players like Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Tavares, Lokonga, White see us as a big deal, there isn't any moping around it feels more like an attitude of work hard and get back where we belong - a sense of opportunity.
Also, I'm not sure if this is a younger generation thing but I do believe younger footballers are more socially aware. The drinking and party culture is dead or dying and even the flashyness is not 'in fashion' anymore. Younger players, particularly those from more humble beginnings, realise they really are role models and have a big opportunity to give back - and I don't know if this is just Arsenal (because I don't listen enough to other teams players) but the younger lads speak very well in the media. I recall when Walcott joined how well he spoke for someone so young as it seemed to go against the stereotype so much. younger players potentially feel more relaxed in their media duties so you see more of the personalities - particularly evident in interviews I've seen with Saka and more recently Ramsdale.