please log in to view this image Emirates Stadium 15:00 pm Kick-Off Saturday 29th September Head to Head: Overall: 28 Won: 15 Drawn: 1 Lost: 12 Last 6 results: Arsenal 3-0 Watford Watford 2-1 Arsenal Arsenal 1-2 Watford Watford 1-3 Arsenal Arsenal 4-0 Watford Arsenal 1-2 Watford (FA Cup) please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Team News: Arsenal defender Sokratis is set to continue his run of starting every league match this season after recovering from a dead leg. Emile Smith Rowe sustained a hip injury during his first start in the midweek League Cup win over Brentford and will be assessed. Watford defender Daryl Janmaat is out for six weeks following knee surgery. Christian Kabasele is available after his red card in the League Cup defeat to Tottenham was rescinded on appeal. Troy Deeney will have injections in a bid to play after suffering ankle ligament damage in the draw with Fulham.
Arsenal Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Monreal, Torreira, Xhaka, Ozil, Ramsey, Aubameyang, Lacazette Subs: Mkhitaryan, Lichtsteiner, Iwobi, Leno, Welbeck, Guendouzi, Kolasinac Watford Foster, Navarro, Catchcart, Kabasele, Holebas, Hughes, Doucoure, Capoue, Pereyra, Gray, Deeney Subs: Gomes, Mariappa, Femenia, Masina, Chalobah, Sema, Success
Bellerin has been poor for months. He's working hard but delivery is awful. I feel like Lichsteiner deserves chance.
Half time. I actualy think this game shows clear improvement from last Season. This is exactly the kind of game Wenger would lose over the last few years. Watford have been aggressive, hardworking and disciplined. Holding was good, Mustafi was typically dodgy. Cech now off injured - looks like a hamstring tear, Leno will get his chance for the next few weeks at least.
Holding has been excellent whereas Mustafi is needlessly fouling and making errors. Cant tell who the 'experienced' defender is here for sure. Leno has great feet. Seems way better suited to our current style.
2-0. Ok so I think this was a very good result. This Watford are exatly the kind of side that would traditionally give Arsene Wengers recent teams problems. Pros: Leno looked great when he came on. Solid with his feet and made a good save. Holding. For the most part looked solid. First half was excellent. Iwobi. Was excellent when he came on. Lacazette. Another decent performance. Didnt get a goal but always looked dangerous he's suprisingly tenacious as well. Cons: Mustafi. Needless fouls, panicked clearances. Poor performance. Cech looks like he will be out for a while. Ramsey - you would have thought Ramsey would have come out and played like he had something to prove. He was invisible for most of the game.
5 league wins on the bounce, no matter how you look at it, that’s impressive. Hopefully we keep on going and improving.
Yup, have to give the coach and the boys some credit! He has gone about the job quietly, tougher games ahead however taking over a toxic environment and getting some of the players to up their game surely has to be praised. More of the same please. You sense the players are buzzing and have no where to hide now!
7 wins if you count the Europa league and League cup We're building momentum, and that will give everybody huge amounts of confidence in the new project at Arsenal. We'll hit some bumps along the way, but Emery and these players have already shown that they can bounce back from defeat. Also I love the way that Emery is bold enough to make changes during a game and hook players who aren't performing to his standards. That alone will ensure that everybody ups their game. And it's proven to be effective too, taking Ramsey off today and bringing Iwobi on won us the game.
I was pleased to see Iwobi looking buff strong and dangerous. I also thought the defence made another incremental gain. Interesting stats from an article I ran across - "Ramsey played for 63 minutes. Emery then got sick of his performance and hooked him for Alex Iwobi, moving Mesut Ozil, a player who has grown up and largely flourished in the role that Ramsey that patrols, central. In that 63 minutes, Ramsey had just 28 touches of the ball. In the remaining 27 minutes, Ozil had 21. He also created one chance during that time. Ramsey didn’t create any." https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/09/29/arsenal-mesut-ozil-aaron-ramseys-job-better/ Of course he also scored a goal.
Again, I thought we were a bit lucky to win. The scoreline would suggest we won comfortably, but watching the match itself would tell you it was anything but a comfortable game. However, there seems to be something ingrained in these players that suggests they have the psychological tools to win even when things are looking ropey. I have no doubt the performances will improve as the season progresses, but knowing we have that ability to 'never say die' is a real comfort. Because it's something we haven't seen in this Arsenal team for a long time. I certainly didn't feel like some of these players Emery inherited were capable of what they've shown, so credit to them and to the manager. What I will say though is that if Lacazette goes down and doesn't try to stay on his feet in the first 4 minutes, we get that penalty (which we should have done anyway). Then (assuming we score), it's a completely different game. Early goal, wind in our sails, Watford on the backfoot early on and the dynamics of the game are different. As bad as this will sound, Lacazette is sometimes too honest when he gets fouled and referees, unfortunately, do not reward 'honest' players. That's two consecutive Premier League matches now where he's been blatantly fouled in the penalty area, yet because he tried to stay on his feet, the referee hasn't given it. Watford were well organised and tough to break down, they got in behind our defence quite a few times with the pace of Success. They're a dangerous side, I'd say they're on a similar level to Everton, so it's great that we won and managed to keep another clean sheet. 4 wins in 10 days, 7 wins out of the last 7 . Let's keep it going.
Lacazette showing exactly why diving exists. Refs are rubbish. If we beat a top team I can see some serious confidence come into this squad. They surely must already be looking at Emery and thinking '**** we haven't won this many games in a row for a long time, this guy knows his stuff'. Imagine when he gets a few more transfer windows under his belt and our squad is even more Emery-cloth and less Wenger-****e.
Off the top of my head, I think this is the most optimistic thing I've seen you post since we were duped by our team's capabilities following the 3-0 win against Chelsea 2 years ago!
I'm easily swayed by hope. I'm a sucker. As long as its not full of ****e like TTs crud. I remember what it's like going into games with the confidence of knowing that even if we play badly and whatever the opposition does... We can still ****ing win. Emery sorting out the results and the performances will come once the results have bred the confidence. Cue a run of several games with no wins coming up now
I gotta be honest I dont know why you think its 'luck'. Emery has been winning games like this from the moment he got here. Even Pre-Season we were doing it. He clearly doesnt care if the opposition has a decent amount of possession. Emery tends to change the shape and make little adjustments throughout the game based on what's happening on the pitch. This is what's winning us games. (not luck) Most (maybe all?) our wins this Season (and Pre-Season) have gone the same way.. started slowly but scored the all important winning goals in the second half. Emery is clearly a good tactician - what we need to see now is less defensive errors and improved ball retention when we have a lead to protect.
I tend to agree with you on the whole, but you cannot get away from the fact that all successful winners enjoy a bit of luck. (As Gary Player said famously, when someone accused him of being lucky, "You're right...but it seems the more I practice, the luckier I get.") That said, there is something of a new breeze blowing at the moment, which is only to be expected, as the players respond to the Emery style. We will have some tougher tests but I feel that confidence is building nicely. This is borne out by the performances of Iwobi, using one particular example, and , whisper it softly, Xhaka is starting to look good!