Match Day Thread Cardiff City vs Arsenal - Matchday Thread

We've regressed defensively under this guy. We were never great under Wenger but this is appalling. 8 goals in 4 games now.

 

What the f--k are we doing in training,every time a high ball comes in we look like rabbits in headlights.

 

If Dick Emery lasts a season, I will be amazed, let alone get a free hit for 2 season! It is so obvious what he needs to work on (basic defending), none of this build from the back, press them high garbage!

 

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww what a strike from Laca,get in.Now lets try defend properly.

 

This lot remind me of Keegan's Newcastle,you score two we'll score three etc etc.

 

Another ball come's down into our box with snow on it a there's mass panic.

 

Cardiff played well today i thought.

 

We made hard work of that. Looked good going forward and two sublime goals from Laca and Auba. But defensively we are soft as ****.

Looked much better with Torreira on the pitch, he HAS to start ahead of Xhaka.

 

Was always going to be a difficult start to the season. But we have a winnable run of games now. Hopefully we can push on after the international break.

 

For those people tempted to scoff at the win today, last season we only managed 3 of such away wins. It's only our 2nd away win this entire calendar year (the other being a meaningless final day fixture against Huddersfield). Will take them any way they come right now.

 

Well we got the points eventually,sadly we haven't a clue how to defend and as has been said that's 8 goal's conceded in 4 games.

 

On the flip side we have scored 8 goals in 3 games so at least the attack is clicking.

 

I thought our defending was suppose to improve under the new manager. Lots of video analysis etc. We were really all over the place! I have high hopes that Torreria will help us. But even so, we always get countered on our wings as our wing backs push up a lot.

General observations from the game:

Cech is awful with his feet. No surprise.

Ozil. In the first half it looked like Ozil was trying to find his place in the team. In the 2nd half he took charge and ran the game for 10-15min (this is when we scored too)

Torreira adds another dimension. Plays fast and simple. Love his low center of gravity.

Lacazette worked super hard I thought. He adds a 'bite' to our attack. Auba benefits from this!

 

Torreira needs to start ahead of Xhaka. He offers so much more and we're instantly more stable in the middle when he's on the pitch.

 

It does seem to be a worry that we have conceded so many already under emery.

I cannot tell if the defenders we have are just not good enough, if we are still adapting to the defensive side of Emery’s game, or if emery is not defensive minded and has no clue how to sort out our defense...

 

Right, let's get the negatives out the way first.

I'm quite disappointed that we made a glorified Championship team look much better than they are. Make no mistake, I can guarantee almost every other top six side will beat them comfortably.

It is deeply concerning at how easily we concede goals and how, whenever the opposition attacks us, they look like scoring.

To be fair, Cardiff did hassle us quite well and didn't give us a lot of time on the ball in midfield, but our intensity was far too slow and we didn't move the ball around quick enough.

Cech and Xhaka, in particular, were key culprits of giving us scares due to their poor execution of passing and, in the latter's case, lacklustre tackling.

Positives now:

Another win in an away game where the crowd were boisterous and made the atmosphere as hostile as they could for us.

We would have lost a game like this last season, so it is great that we've managed to secure the victory.

Going forward, we do look exceptional. Despite how slow we can be in possession, we still have the players to create chances aplenty.

Fantastic to see Lacazette and Aubameyang get off the mark for the season. Torreira made yet another massive difference when he came on. Xhaka simply cannot start the next game.

Nevertheless, it's great to go into the international break on the back of 2 consecutive victories.

Still a lot of work to be done.

 

And hey, at least our games this season have been entertaining to watch. We certainly can't be accused of being dull!

 

Lacazette, Aubameyang and Torreira are really big players for us. Thought Bellerin was a lot better today too.

 

Agreed .

We need to sharpen up defensively, though. Cardiff didn't have to work that hard to get their goals and that's what troubles me.

Hopefully, the international break will give Emery time to regroup and plan how to tighten up the defence because whatever he's trying to do right now isn't working. It doesn't seem like he has the personnel to play the way he wants and certain players don't look comfortable on the ball.

 

Yeah we are soft as **** in defence. Conceding two against a team who hadn't even scored in the PL this season says it all.

I hope Emery picks Torreira ahead of Xhaka, because that will at least provide a shield for the back 4 and he looks tidy on the ball going forward too.

Xhaka offers practically **** all and usually has a couple of costly mistakes in him too. He was partly at fault for the 2nd goal as there was an easy pass to Guendouzi and he opted to try and find Bellerin and gave the ball away which led to the goal.

Guendouzi needs a mention too as being a big positive for this team