On another point, I think this is a pen and a red card. Merino has got in front of Ballard and Ballard uses his elbow to stop Merino getting there first. You can see the use of the elbow well before the ball arrives. please log in to view this image As for Ballard - he is going to seriously injure someone with the way he plays. When he does, we'll be hearing about how 'he's not that type of player'. But he absolutely IS.
I was surprised that VAR didn't take a longer look at that. Anywhere else on the pitch and that's a foul
Even though we didn't win. Have to give credit again to Declan Rice This guy is immense. Always puts in maximum effort and the way he can defend and then switch to bring us forward is superb Also dangerous going forward, brilliant deliveries from set pieces and is the bedrock of this midfield
I am not. We've seen too much from the PGMOL to know this was to be expected. I still remember Saliba conceding a penalty when he won a header and clashed heads after the ball had arrived.
I'm not criticising the manager, I'm saying thats what he should've done, there is no guarantee it would've worked but I would rather we try than not try. Like I said, I'm not disappointed with the draw, given the circumstances, given how well Sunderland played, given we didn't lose the game, given how ****e we were in the first half. I'm buzzing that we are top, we are playing relatively poorly, there is so much more to come from us !!
I thought he was ****e in the first half but much better in the second half, I agree he didn't get bullied and that yellow card was an absolute joke of a decision.
Yes and we too can improve, we are far from our potential, just a smidge above average I think we are playing, 6 out of 10.
I think if anything, we could have kept Eze on (he didn't have a great game) instead of Mosquera, to provide an out ball towards the end But I understand why Arteta did it. Eze didn't have a great game and we were looking to see the game out. But it did invite more pressure It's just the way it went though, 9 times out of 10 we see that game out.
I disagree ! All HA knows is how to play as a CF, he played against Brighton and didn't look overawed at all. We all know what we needed, the energetic running of Gyokeres. What difference does it make who does the running as long as it gets done, we are not asking him to come on and quarterback the game for us. This age thing is overstated too often, we see a 15 year old Dowman terrorising international experienced footballers. A couple seasons back I think it was Liverpool brought on 2 young players none of us had ever heard of, in the FA Cup tie we lost at the Emirates 0-2. Their age and experience didn't bother Klopp.
We've been over this, and whilst I agree that we needed an out, HA wasn't the player to throw into this game.
Lets be clear about one thing, players play a certain way if the manager lets them. If Arteta didn't want Merino dropping so deep he would've told him to stay up ! You don't directly disobey a manager, I don't recall seeing Arteta gesticulate for Merino to stay up. I think its Arteta's nature to be overly cautious but it cannot be your default setting. Once you took off your only creative midfielder and replaced him with a defender the last thing you should want is your CF dropping deep too which invites even more pressure.
Controlling the game is just that, controlling the game. Sitting back and inviting pressure is not controlling the game but neither too is aimlessly passing the ball across the back 4 and midfield, thats just pointless possession Controlling the game is being able to attack at will and containing the other team. At no point did we look like containing the other team, they were a threat all game and created some fantastic chances.
We were trying to see the game out, so I can see why the manager did what he did. He brought Mosquera on at 90 mins, so it was at that stage of the game where we were trying to shut up shop. The flip side is if he'd brought HA or pushed Merino further forward and we'd lost, then people would be saying Arteta was naive, should have shut up shop and seen the game out. I've got no criticism of Arteta in this game, he did what he thought was needed and 9 times of out 10 we see that out and get the 3 points.
Nah, possession is controlling the game It was only in the last 10 mins we dropped deep and invited pressure We went there with a plan, but the reason Sunderland weren't able to be fully contained and were a threat is because they are a very good side. When we went 1-0 we switched it up and were very good in the 2nd half and were a bit unfortunate not to win it.
Exactly and to be fair while others said we shouldn't have brought Mosquera on, such was the pressure being exerted, it made perfect sense to me and I had no problem with it, Wenger used to get criticised for not seeing out games.
We will have to agree to disagree. Think back to when Maureen was at Chelsea and he would say they controlled the game, he was talking about not only nullifying the other team but attacking them when they chose to, they never just sat back and had pointless possession with no ambition.
This is simply not true. There is no control in passing around the back 4 and defensive midfield if the other team are actually letting you do it. That's just simply possession for possessions sake - it's not control. I have seen teams control games with less possession, easily stopping attacks and breaking as part of a strategy. Possession is entirely irrelevant unless there is purpose to it.
We’re not Maureen’s Chelsea though. They played every game to park the bus, the whole team was set up that way. Given the attacking options Arteta had yesterday, I think he approached the game in the right way.
Sunderland weren’t just letting us do it though. We were trying to control the game with possession and then work openings to score, whilst also trying to nullify their attack So that was our purpose. after we went 1-0 we needed to switch tactics, which we did. It was largely successful as we dominated that 2nd half in the main and were a whisker away from winning it
