The Watford game was an ugly mess. We should have buried them by the start of the second half but once again, we have shown ourselves as a team who cannot be trusted to kill a game off, even from 2-0 up.
A number of the issues I saw in the Watford game are things that are raising their heads time and again this season:
- Sokratis. He isn't even close to the player he originally duped me into thinking he was. I thought he was a destroyer, because of his occasional thunderous tackle followed by a fist in the air. What he is, based on the last few games I've watched properly, is a slow, lazy, clumsy lump who, thanks to a moment of absolute idiocy, sent us back on our heels while we were cruising.
- Needless penalties. Three in as many games is unacceptable, and all of them were from completely avoidable fouls. Xhaka got the brunt of the criticism because his was the worst but Luiz has committed two - and both were equally stupid. Our defenders need to stand their ground in the box.
- Over-reliance on Aubameyang. Lacazette is out, thankfully just for the short term, but Auba cannot carry us on his own. From the last 19 goals, only three have come from someone other than Auba or Laca. We are no longer a team who shares the goalscoring duties around and if he goes through a dry spell or gets injured, we are in real trouble.
- Passengers. Some of our players (Auba, Laca when fit, Ceballos, Guendouzi) are pulling their weight. Many aren't. I'll get dragged for this but other than his assist I saw Özil do nothing against Watford - by the time he came off I'd forgotten he was on the pitch. But the biggest letdown is Pepe. £72m for what looks at the moment like a goalless Ryan Babel. The man has done next to nothing and is supposed to be our main go-to along with Auba, but his finishing and decision making have both been terrible. I know players can take time to get their first goal, but I'm having flashbacks of Gervinho - which someone else said previously and which I scoffed at, but understand now.
- Awful team selection and tactics. Passing the ball around from the goal kick, with our defence, is insanity. Starting Xhaka after a poor game and leaving off Torreira is confusing. And why bring hungry young players like Willock and Nelson on for a part-game when we could and should have used them in a more attacking lineup from the start? A Spanish colleague of mine warned me about Emery before he started and I'm starting to understand why.
There's a lot to fix, but even five games in I'm starting to worry this might be another 'also-ran' season where our biggest celebration, if we even manage to swing it, is the return of St Totteringham's Day.
Biggest issues at the moment
posted on 17/9/19
" we have shown ourselves as a team who cannot be trusted to kill a game off"
I think this is where you're (the club) going wrong. You don't need to score more goals at 2-0, you need to not concede them.
posted on 17/9/19
comment by Desperate Dier-Bring me Ndombele (U6468)
posted 4 hours, 26 minutes ago
Its funny that we never named he day when we finish above you. Clearly means more to you than us. Small time really.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And yet you're the one curtain-twitching on an Arsenal post. Go figure.
posted on 17/9/19
comment by Desperate Dier-Bring me Ndombele (U6468)
posted 4 hours, 46 minutes ago
Its funny that we never named he day when we finish above you. Clearly means more to you than us. Small time really.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That'll be because you've not done it enough to get so bored with doing it, you need too make up a name to relieve the manotany of it.
posted on 17/9/19
People need to chill. 5 games in and missing half the starting lineup, means nobody should be expecting much better league position wise.
It's plain deluded to think we'd be at all settled or truly competitive missing half the team. As deluded is expecting a reportedly exhausted Pepe to hero debut and bang away a bunch of goals instantly proving his price tag.
People on here always telling me I'M deluded or overly optimistic. Yet here eople are, moaning that we're not looking like contenders with half a team and Pepe never had a wet dream start too the PL. Seems to me that the only delusion is that of the people complaining. Current squad state of affairs means nobody should have been expecting those things.
Not saying things don't need changing, nor that the Watford game wasn't dire. Just that people need to appreciate, league position is about what it should be, given the club state. Anyone overly mad, writing people off, is only really doing so due to their own deluded expectations for the first 10 games. We just need to stay in touch until the team is fit/settled. We're doing that for now. So chill.
posted on 17/9/19
I’m willing to give Unai a proper run with a fully fit 11. I am baffled as to why he keeps trust in the players that let us down, it’s very Wenger in his final yrs. Last season he was making positive changes and making a point to players like Ozil that sloppiness won’t do. I don’t know whether it’s because he’s got his hands tied with injuries but constantly playing Xhaka and making him captain is very alarming. With players now returning it will be interesting to see who he goes with from now on.
posted on 17/9/19
"I’m willing to give Unai a proper run with a fully fit 11.."
I think the club should seriously look at replacing him if things are this chaotic after 19 games. After the outlay, the fact that we have a very good team on paper, the capitulations in the league and Europa at the end of last season meaning losing out on CL, I don't think this club should wait till the end of the season if things do not look like they're improving.
posted on 17/9/19
Seems like Arsenal FC has trouble signing the type of players who will really bust their asses for the team?
WHU yesterday, with 10 men, looked much better than Arsenal did on Sunday with 11. >
posted on 17/9/19
I see a lot of what you said as being the symptoms of the problems we have, not the problems themselves. Even Mustafi was good but once the problems we still have came along he (and a lot of other players since) couldnt adapt to make up for them.
Our biggest problem is Xhaka. He is the biggest influence on the team and that influence is to slow us down, both in attack and defence. We are playing the ball out from the back too slowly. we are too slow to get back and defend Both of these allow the opposition to press and overrun us. It makes attacking harder as we dont have the players to break down an organised defence like City can. We also leak a lot more goals because we cant cope in midfield.
posted on 17/9/19
comment by Arsenal's tree fella's -O'zil, O'bameyang and Mick O'Tarian (U16927)
posted 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
I see a lot of what you said as being the symptoms of the problems we have, not the problems themselves. Even Mustafi was good but once the problems we still have came along he (and a lot of other players since) couldnt adapt to make up for them.
Our biggest problem is Xhaka. He is the biggest influence on the team and that influence is to slow us down, both in attack and defence. We are playing the ball out from the back too slowly. we are too slow to get back and defend Both of these allow the opposition to press and overrun us. It makes attacking harder as we dont have the players to break down an organised defence like City can. We also leak a lot more goals because we cant cope in midfield.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If we're going to talk about targeting the problem and not the symptoms, Arsenal's biggest problem right now is Unai Emery. How the players play, and indeed WHICH players play, is directed by the manager / coach. Sure every team goes through slumps but some of the things we've seen go beyond poor decision making on the field, whether you think a season and a bit is not enough or not.
posted on 18/9/19
comment by Maul Person (U12977)
posted 17 hours, 19 minutes ago
comment by Arsenal's tree fella's -O'zil, O'bameyang and Mick O'Tarian (U16927)
posted 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
I see a lot of what you said as being the symptoms of the problems we have, not the problems themselves. Even Mustafi was good but once the problems we still have came along he (and a lot of other players since) couldnt adapt to make up for them.
Our biggest problem is Xhaka. He is the biggest influence on the team and that influence is to slow us down, both in attack and defence. We are playing the ball out from the back too slowly. we are too slow to get back and defend Both of these allow the opposition to press and overrun us. It makes attacking harder as we dont have the players to break down an organised defence like City can. We also leak a lot more goals because we cant cope in midfield.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If we're going to talk about targeting the problem and not the symptoms, Arsenal's biggest problem right now is Unai Emery. How the players play, and indeed WHICH players play, is directed by the manager / coach. Sure every team goes through slumps but some of the things we've seen go beyond poor decision making on the field, whether you think a season and a bit is not enough or not.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Agree with this. Any problems posed by Xhaka are finite in their effect. But those caused by Emery are much deeper, because he picks the team, chooses the tactics and makes the decisions. And to be honest, despite his penalty giveaway against Spurs, I don't think Xhaka is the biggest problem of our players. Both of our centre halves (especially Sokratis) have been horrendous, and Emery seems determined to select Özil now that he's available, despite the fact that it destabilises the midfield, and that Ceballos does the same job and does it better.
I hope this idiotic practice of playing the ball from goal kicks is knocked off. We don't have the skilled defenders to do it right. If lessons are not learned, we will haemorrage more goals and my TV will end up with a boot-shaped hole through it.