Match Day Thread Brentford vs Arsenal - Matchday Thread

Partey to score a brace when we play you

 

Gabriel won our 'Player of the Month' 3 months in a row, then got covid in December, didn't play for ages and then looked like a nervous wreck when he came back into the team. He didn't end the season well, but he wasn't a mess for the entire time at the club. Which gives me some level of belief that he can get back to his pre-covid level.

I'm not sure whether Arteta is the man to get his confidence back though, as his man management isn't up to scratch.

 

I think the advent of social media has led to the rise of armchair critics both externally and sadly internally. We cannot all be Citeh, Manure or Chelsea. What I loved about Arsenal is the development of talent, whether home grown or imported. The environment back then was not toxic... We got the likes of Edu, Gilberto, Viera, Bergkamp, ljunberg, our Cameroonian rightback (Lauren), Anelka and the list goes on, even the great Henry, we polished them and turned them into world beaters.. It seems these days we seem to have lost the patience, we listen to opposing fans telling us how gash our players are. Personally, I don't think our players are as bad as fans would have us believe (even Partey I hear is now being questioned), I would even go as far as saying that we have a better squad/team than we did in Arsene's last few years.. What we lack is a good Manager to improve these players year on year!

We need to get behind the team!

 

Yeah but you only won about 3 or 4 league games in that spell so it ain't much to brag about, lol.

He may well come good this season but basing it off of last season I definitely wouldn't be putting him in the same bracket as someone like Tierney when it comes to talking of quality. Speaking of Tierney, he's done so much better than I thought he would coming from the SPL, had his share of injuries but he really is mustard... unfortunately.

I agree about Arteta though, he looks so out of his depth. Long may it continue

 

Yes but he wasn't the reason why we didn't win more games.

My point about Gabriel is that he looked very good when he first came to the club (including putting in a monstrous display at Old Trafford, a ground we hadn't won at for 14 years), and did well in the following months. Then he gets ill, fine, but the fact he came back and looked very rash and nervous can't be a coincidence. The dip in his performance isn't because he suddenly became a bad player.

It's because Arteta isn't getting the best out of him in a defensive set up where his other partners have been poor too.

The issue here is the manager, not the player.

 

You could well win...think you've beaten then the last 3 times you've met.
Tbh if we can deservedly best city, without Kane, without a striker, without any of our new signings and Sanchez + Dier as central defenders then anything is possible.

 

Yeah but Man City were without Kane that day

 

Spare a thought for Jesus though. If you ever feel useless, just remember Jesus is the second choice striker at a club currently where he’s the only one.

 

True. I'd never thought about that. Tad embarrassing for the kid really.

 

To be honest people just repeat this but dont look at the reality. It annoys me because everyone just parrots the nonsense that comes out of Talksport etc..

Defensively there's not a huge issue at Arsenal these days.

We conceeded 39 goals last Season which considering our Pre-Decemeber form is'nt too bat at all.
Only Man City and Chelsea conceded fewer.

Tottenham conceded 46, Man United 44, Liverpool 42, West Ham 47, Leceister 50(who apparently are defensively excellent)

Wenger used to say, "If you concede more than 40 you wont win the league". Not that we are gonna win the league antime soon.

Our issue has been scoring and creating. Even against say Brentford - 20 chances no goals. I feel bad for Auba/Laca etc.. because they are being played in a weirdly conservative system that really does'nt suite the squad.

 

Also confused why the club took so long to tell the word players were missing due to covid.. Would have stopped lot of talk sport and other nonsense rumours spreading

 

If defensively there wasn't a huge issue then why have you spent £50m on a new CB and £30m on a new keeper? Plus if I'm not mistaken, aren't you looking to offload and replace Bellerin too before the window shuts? That's three out of your five main defensive positions potentially being different as the season goes on.

You've said yourself too that you're playing in a conservative system, so the likelihood is your defence are/ were being over protected at the expense of your attacking play. Jose done that with us during the first half of last season but it all fell apart when it became obvious we didn't have the quality at the back to maintain the concentration, also didn't help he ran key players into the ground.

I actually think you and us have similar issues though for what it's worth. Both have made poor managerial calls in recent seasons. Both lack sufficient quality in XI and squad. I'd say the differences are that we have one or two better individuals (Son and Kane) and I also think our fans are a bit more realistic with how we rate/ view our squad, often get the impression both on here and social media in general that Arsenal fans really overrate some of their players.

 

We bought a keeper and a CB because Martinez and Luiz left. Our main issue was quality in MF both in being able to protect the back four/three and be able to get the ball forward to our attackers. Partey was bought to sure up the defensive MF position, but spent most of last season injured. When he was in the team though, we were markedly better.

We've now brought in Lokonga, who looks really handy and Odergaard who is skillful and he's a grafter. As well as having a fit Partey back, we should be much more dominant in MF. But yeah, Arteta does set us up conservatively, he's not a park the bus like Jose type, but he wants us to play out from the back and keep the ball, and we just haven't had the quality to execute what he's trying to achieve.

This season will see if he's made the right choices in his recruitment to be able to achieve how he's trying to get this team to play.

 

The vast majority of fans are incapable of being subjective. It's why we are fans.

A look at the odds (bookies aren't remotely subjective) will give you a cold hearted view of this Arsenal squad and manager.

The title is a pipe dream of almost Leicester proportions and top4 is a 10/1 shot.

Akso, the idea that Conte (who has just ended Juve's monopoly of SerieA and left a handy seeding in the Champs league) would JUMP AT THE CHANCE TO MANAGE ARSENAL is frankly laughable.

He is looking at the managers of Bayern/Real/Barca/PSG etc and waiting for a failure and opportunity.

As someone already pointed out, a gazillion twitter followers in the middle of football nowhere means nothing to a manager of his pedigree. He just left a title winning team. He wants to win titles and challenge for the CL.

 

Ramsdale was signed not to replace Martinez though, you don't pay £30m for a backup keeper, no one does, he's signed and joined with the intention of replacing Leno in that line up. £50m on White too when you've already spent £25m+ each on Saliba and Gabriel in recent seasons, as well as having Holding, Chambers and Mari still at the club, to me that shows neither the existing or the newer purchases have done enough.

I can't comment on Lokonga as I've not seen him play but Odegaard didn't pull up many trees when he was with you last season. I'd imagine both wouldn't make any top six XI, at least not right now. Both young though so time's on their side.

As a rival I naturally hope Arteta's choices don't work out, personally I think you've massively overspent on Ramsdale and White but I said the same when Pool spent £75m on van Dijk so you can never be sure these days. I definitely agree with those of you who've said Arteta is holding you back, though I would also add that I don't think a top class manager would get tons more out of a number of your players, they'd have to bring their own in to get you back on track. Like us there's a lot of mediocrity at Arsenal, it's why both of us have struggled in recent seasons and even though the managers haven't helped, until a number of that dross is shifted it'll continue to hold both sides down.

 

Ramsdale was £24m and is competition for Leno. Don’t know why Saliba hasn’t worked out but neither Emery or Arteta fancy him and with Luiz leaving we needed another CB

Lokonga and Odergaard will both add quality to our midfield. You’ll see.

 

Initial £24m, with £6m in add-ons. At that sort of fee, he'll have been signed to eventually displace Leno, no way was he signed with intent to just keep Leno on his toes and play in the domestics.

I've yet to see Saliba play obviously but judging by that video of him recording Matuidi ****ing, you have to wonder if the guy is missing a few brain cells. Ligue 1 to Prem is a big step up too as you've seen with Pepe, maybe Emery and Arteta just feel he isn't the talent he looked at St Etienne? We've had some gash from France in recent years too; Capoue, Stamobouli, N'jie, Nkoudou, Aurier, Ndombele... last truly good signing from there was Lloris and he was 10 years ago! For a country that produces some world class players and a strong national side, it's mad how many flops come from there to the Prem.

 

Na I've never been more convinced of a young CB's quality than Saliba. You touched on it there but I think if he has an issue it's attitude.
He's 6'4 powerful, quick yet really decent on the ball. Physically at least he has everything.

What upsets me would be loosing a player of Salibas calibre because Arteta has an issue with him. I simply do'nt trust Artetas judgement.

I also dont think the LIgue 1 Argument is valid - it has quite clearly been the best source of talent for the EPL. Soo many success stories from that league.

Lokonga and Odengaard are excellent signings though - really happy with both. White and Ramsdale are the two i'm unsure of.

 

Arsenal have been the biggest spenders this window. But have they had the best buys? Players who would make a difference to their fortunes?

You can judge the quality of the new buys by whether other top clubs were also competing for them. Did any other want to buy White, Ramsdale or Odegaard or that defender from Bologna? Both white and Ramsdale seem significantly overpriced. Ramsdale in particular was a surprising choice at that sort of money. Is there any fan thinking that he is better than Martinez who left for a pittance ? Martinez massively improved Villa while Ramsdale replacing Henderson not only made Sheffield United worse but for many was key in their relegation. He simply didn’t make the key saves that Henderson did regularly in SU’s good season.

 

Well my issue is that people are claiming that our buys havnt improved the side without seeing them play.

Lokonga looks class, still only 21, I think he will usurp Xhaka next to Partey.
Odengaards potential is soo high - hard to say he doesnt improve the squad at the very least.
Tavarez looks like a solid backup for Tierney.
Takehiro Tomiyasu I dont know much about. He played as a RB last Season so I assume thats where he will be playing for us. 6'2 and quick by the looks of it.
Ramsdale - Is he better than Leno? Can he play out with his feet better than Leno.. almost certainly.

White is the transfer I have an issue with. We spent £50m on him while we sent Saliba out on Loan - for me thats the biggest question mark of the transfer window.
Im sure he will be a decent player for us but I also think Saliba is at LEAST as good as White. He's also younger and physically alot more imposing.