Some good showings today…just a bit fragile with the mentality it feels - always a few chances available to the opposition to make a result look quite different.
We have to start rebuilding that confidence somehow and this was a great way to do it.
Villas-Boas in 2013-14 absolutely had emphatic winsAs someone said the other day, things currently have the feeling of AVB 2013-14.
Wins, but not emphatic.
A nervousness on-pitch when the score does not offer
breathing space (which too often leads to Portu-ball) .
and the feeling that collapse in defence is never more
than a couple of games away.
The manager will have to work hard to get the squad
feeling anywhere near that of the first 10 games
of his tenure.
Vicario is starting to give me Gomes vibes.
Superb shot stopper but capable of the most inexplicable brain farts at a moment's notice.
Vicario is starting to give me Gomes vibes.
Superb shot stopper but capable of the most inexplicable brain farts at a moment's notice.
Just seen MOTD. It’s always difficult to come to a conclusion from highlights, but it does look like we tried to actually play forwards rather than sideways, so that’s a bonus. And no surprises that it resulted in more clear cut chances. Funny that.
Nice to see Johnson doing what we’d all hoped he’d do, and Maddison seemingly having a very good game.
Hopefully this is the start of a run we can put together and it’ll build some confidence.
Despite the missed opportunities in front of goal where we could’ve probably had 6, the highlights seemed to make Vicario the “star” of the show.
On the one hand we have a brilliant shot stopper, but on the other, we have a GK who is seemingly lacking confidence in other parts of his game.
I don’t remember seeing this from him before the opposition were “bullying” him on set pieces. It’s received a lot of focus in recent months, and personally, I think it’s got into his head. One minute he’s saving our arse, the next he’s morphed into Gomes, as others have pointed out.
if he can sort it out and get back to the Vicario we had for a large part of last season, he’s got the potential to be a brilliant goalkeeper. He’s got all the attributes to be so, but he’s gonna need to deal with the deficiencies quickly. Too many heart in the mouth moments that inevitably lead to mistakes and goals conceded won’t end well for him. The PL is too ruthless.
Anyway, much better performance which we need to learn from. Maybe it’s just a case of being a bit more brave and taking some more attacking risks. COYS
The decision to choose him over Raya is nearly as bad as choosing to sign Werner twice.
Both poor decisions by Ange
Vicario was signed because he was cheap (vintage Levy), he is now proving to be a liability and has no quality competition for his place, so we are stuck with him, probably until the summer. It was gross negligence not to sign another GK of the required quality to challenge and maybe even take the place of Vicario, Forster and the others are not that man. Penited away next and we really should be picking up a result at Old Toilet, which probably means a Spursy defeat.
Vicario is better for playing out from the back, while Raya is better for the Brexit Ball that Arteta has the Bottlers unironically playingI think Vicario was a Paratici push, not sure how much say Ange had in the matter, he'd barely been in the job for a few weeks.
But definitely, Raya is the better of the two keepers. I personally think we opted for Gigi because he was much cheaper.
This 100%There must be a point when a keeper just punts the ball upfield rather than fanny about in the box drawing on pressure from the opposition like Vicario did yesterday, that's common sense not coaching surly


I remember at the time that Ange said he liked Vicario’s journey and he related to it. Also the fact Vicario could already speak English. 2 reasons that personally I don’t think should be a big factor but obviously the club and Ange disagreed.I think Vicario was a Paratici push, not sure how much say Ange had in the matter, he'd barely been in the job for a few weeks.
But definitely, Raya is the better of the two keepers. I personally think we opted for Gigi because he was much cheaper.
In fairness, our system invites huge chances by design. The keeper is constantly having to measure and judge distances of up to 40 yards between himself and the nearest defender, and that often plays into decision making.
For me, Vicario's only major weakness is his ability to command the box at set pieces.
But it isn't entirely fair to compare him to Raya. Arsenal are superb defensively and as much as it pains me to say it, Gabriel and Saliba are the best CB pairing in the league right now.
...
Brentford showed exactly why disruptive tactics, like timewasting and feigning injury, need to be punished more.
They struggled to deal with Postecoglou's tactics, both when we had the ball and when we didn't.
A number of dangerous turnovers came from the high press and they didn't really have an answer to it.
Flekken tried to kill the pace and slow it right down as a result, even when they were losing.
Adding on minutes at the end does nothing to prevent this and isn't the answer. Getting the cards out does.