I was very disappointed with the display today. Frankly, I think 1-0 to them was probably just about right. Our mitigating circumstances of having too many strangers getting to know each other, only extends so far. They have had a mixed start to their season, yet looked more up for it than us and disappointingly for me, I always felt when they scored that we would struggle to get a point out of the game, such was the way we were playing. Yet again I find myself questioning Dembele's contribution and I think Soldado will very quickly get pissed off with our patern of play. On a positive note, one of Lloris's saves was quite superb.
A wake up call for most, title contenders? don't be silly. Capoue better then Sandero? Good Joke AVB a tactical genuis? oh yeah, taking off our best player (townsend) and keeping Chadli on? great tactics AVB Soldado can't hold the ball up, 28 million for a striker that plays as a lone striker, but can't hold the ball up?...guess what, he needs players to create chances for him, how many did we create? not many! Too much has been said about the goons being a spent force, well as much as it pisses me off, they are the better team unit, they play the better football and theres a lot to be said for not changing your team every year, we have to stop changing our squad every year and build a cohesive team unit, then we may get somewhere. Defoe & Sandro showed more ability then most showed (aside from townsend) and thats because they know the league and are proven, to think people where suggesting capoue was better then Sandro, or if we beat Arsenal then we would be title contenders? what planet do some people live on? Anyway, at least now we can accept we're just a team with potential, nothing else, we haven't proved anything and its going to take time to build a team ,and that depends a lot on AVB and if he can pick the right system, yet in all honestly he strikes me as rather clueless with tactics, not just this year but last. He was making the same mistakes last year, and if it wasn't for Bale we would have been nowhere near 4th, so without Bale we need a manager that can get the best out of these players, or are we going to rely on Lamela being the next Bale? The games agaisnt Palace and swansea suited us, they allowed us to think we're better then we actually are, mainly our midfield. Yet we can't function as a team unit to reach the level fans expect, so even after spending 110 million, I hope we can at least match what Redknapp achieved and took us into the champions league, as otherwise we haven't moved forwards and have invested money in the wrong manager.
It was only 1-0 which is not a disastrous score line Boss but give these players a little more time and let's all be given a little more time to get over the loss of Bale.
Not sure what game you were watching both teams were awful IMO. Arsenal are no way the team they used to be - 6 defenders on the pitch at final whistle I would be embarrassed if I were them, the home team counter attacking in that fashion. Still let them have the battle they have drawn first blood but as us Spurs fans no too well, it's a marathon not a sprint. Disagree with your comments on Modric we have signed 2 creative midfielders in the last week in Eriksen and Lamela once settled I foresee a bright future for us.
Both the Liverpool v Utd and Arsenal v Spurs games were typical early season derbies, played at 100mph, with players having no time to settle on the ball and few clear cut chances being created. None of the four sides played very well and not one single player looked capable of showing any quality - scrappy games which could have gone either way. I don't know what foreign players new to the PL make of these types of games, but all the silky skills they show abroad when the game is played at a snail's pace without a tackle in sight counts for nothing in the hurly-burly of a competitive PL game.
Its not about the scoreline, its about fans thinking we're title contenders or new players are better then proven established players on the basis they play well against palace. No issues with our new players, of course they need time, yet thats why its ridiculous how much we hype our team up before they have done anything to warrant the type. Plus AVb hasn't a clue when it comes to tactics/
I think that post is a bit of an over reaction boss. Chance creating wise we were disappointing but I don't think Arsenal were better than us just they have a very settled first team and they were at home. The problem Arsenal will have is if they get any more injuries. I thought we looked very solid aside from the goal. I agree with OS that once they scored I did think we would struggle to get the equaliser. On the flip side if we had scored first I would have been confident we could have seen the game out like they managed to as they had nothing on the bench to come on and change the game. If we win our next match things will look a lot more rosy so lets not be too reactive at an away defeat at a top 4 side with half a new team trying to bed in.
Arsenal were brilliant first half. They'd clearly done their homework and were happy to let Spurs have the ball in non-threatening areas whilst exploiting AVB's high line. It's a tactic Wenger uses time and time again against AVB. Spurs broke up play and dominated the midfield area but didn't really trouble Arsenal at all. Arsenal wasted plenty of counter attacking opportunities and it was only really that and heroics from Lloris that kept Spurs in the game. Lamela and Eriksen may well turn out to be the creative spark Spurs are missing but for me Cazorla is proven and on another level to anything Spurs have creatively. Under the circumstances very good result for Arsenal, disappointing from Spurs but they've also had a good start to the season and can draw positives.
Whilst the likes of Gunner B Alright seem to be going on like this result sets the trend for the season, if Wenger thinks similar and believes today's result vindicates his lack of activity in the summer then at the end of the season it's likely that he may have won this battle, but will lose the war. As was said a few times on here in the week by several posters, right now Arsenal have the better team because they're settled and are used to playing together, which cannot be said for a large chunk of our team who have little to no experience playing in the same side. However, if the likes of Eriksen and Lamela justify their reputation we should more than make up for today's result (and performance) during the season and then we will see if we have the better squad in the long-term.
I think it's far simpler. We, once again, lacked a cutting edge. Had we had one, Wenger would have paid for his tactics. I'm convinced that had we scored we would have gone on to win. Hopefully, the cutting edge will come from within the new signings.
Carzorla wasn't proven when Arsenal signed him was he? Neither was Suarez for Liverpool, Michu for Swansea etc. Players take time to settle especially when you consider our starting 11 consisted of 4 new faces all in attacking positions. I don't think the high line killed us today it was the space Cazorla found behind our midfield Capoue and Dembele both failed to track back on a number of occasions - can only assume this was communication and a lack of experience playing together. This team will not contend for the title this season bit will mount a top 4 challenge.
I was surprised that Holtby wasn't involved in the game. If he was brought on, either for Dembele in a deeper role or Chadli in a more advanced one, we would have had a spark of creativity when we needed it.
I agree NSIS. There goal came against the run of play and was down to defensive errors from Dawson and Vertonghen. From that moment on it was really just is huffing and puffing trying to break them down whilst occasionally almost getting caught on the break. Looks like Arsenal may be signing Ozil which will be frustrating as that is another downside to the Bale deal. While I am well pleased with our transfer business this summer if we end up breaking even financially it will leave a slight sour taste in the mouth.
We are talking about the PL not the EL HBIC. We need to put it right in the PL. Why have we scored eight in the EL and only two in the PL both penalties?
AVB doesn't like using the correct players from the bench, unless townsend was injured, why take him off? he was our best player attacking wise, and Chadli aside from 10 minutes was crap, Chadli has to learn how to work for the team as he wants to entertain and use tricks, yet this isn't holland where he would have got aches of space.
Pretty poor game of football overall compared to the goalfests we've gotten used to, not sure which i prefer tbh..
