Offical match day thread

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afcftw said:
I thought Auba, Laca and Ozil were off form today. Not the same energy and they all looked frustrated. But I think part of that was the lack of transition from back to front. We weren’t giving them the ball quickly enough. Willock came on and did nothing in Ozil place and again I think it’s because the front players were disjointed from the rest of the team.

I think Arteta got his team selection wrong and didn’t use his subs as well as he could have. But mostly this hasn’t been the case in other games and he is going to make mistakes at times as he finds his feet.

Our finishing also let us down today as you said, we had some golden opportunities to get a goal.
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Lacazette's form is a real concern. He has 6 goals this season. You want to know when his last away goal in the league was? 9th February 2019. Against Huddersfield (who finished 20th). He may as well not play in our away games considering his lack of contribution.

Ozil's form has been poor for a while, but to be fair to him, he's not exactly being blessed with runners in behind or players creating space for themselves. It's almost like everyone wants ball to feet, rather than trying to stretch defences with intelligent movement and quick interplay.

Burnley's last two results would have given them a real buzz, and they are a certainly a difficult team to play against. But we had some real good chances to win that comfortably (especially in the first half) and we've squandered them.

31 points in February is beyond humiliating.
 
BrunelGooner said:
Lacazette's form is a real concern. He has 6 goals this season. You want to know when his last away goal in the league was? 9th February 2019. Against Huddersfield (who finished 20th). He may as well not play in our away games considering his lack of contribution.

Ozil's form has been poor for a while, but to be fair to him, he's not exactly being blessed with runners in behind or players creating space for themselves. It's almost like everyone wants ball to feet, rather than trying to stretch defences with intelligent movement and quick interplay.

Burnley's last two results would have given them a real buzz, and they are a certainly a difficult team to play against. But we had some real good chances to win that comfortably (especially in the first half) and we've squandered them.

31 points in February is beyond humiliating.
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His away performances are pathetic. I mean worse than Bentner/Chamakh and multiple other players we have sold for not being good enough. The difference with Lacazette is we all know he has the ability and talent - but if he cant get over whwtever mental hurdles are holding him back he needs to be dropped or even sold.

The other issue is Ozil. You know what makes both Messi and Ronaldo so great? Hunger. Sure both are incredibly talented but they also never stop fighting. They never stop trying to imporve on their legacy.

In terms of talent Ozil is one of the best players on the planet but in terms of attitude, desire, commitment he's one of the worst in the league. He may run a decent amount but just watch him.. he doesnt really try to close down. He doesnt try and take the game by the scruff of the neck. A guy with his ability should be reguraly winning games for us much in the same way Aubemayang, Fabregas or Sanchez used to.
 
Another draw FFS our record is 6 wins, 13 draws, 6 loses.

Under Wenger and Emery we probably would have lost half of the draws, so perhaps there has been an improvement, but we need a win to get some belief and confidence and to get the fans onside
 
gooner4ever said:
Another draw FFS our record is 6 wins, 13 draws, 6 loses.

Under Wenger and Emery we probably would have lost half of the draws, so perhaps there has been an improvement, but we need a win to get some belief and confidence and to get the fans onside
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Under Wenger we would have lost more and won more due to his style of play. Under Emery I think we just would have lost more.
 
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A thought just pooped into my head.. The tough games we have ahead in the epl. Liverpool, Wolves, Southampton, City, we typically don't get anything from these games.. So it is imperative we start winning otherwise we might find ourselves dragged into the relegation dog fight!
 
omogooner said:
A thought just pooped into my head.. The tough games we have ahead in the epl. Liverpool, Wolves, Southampton, City, we typically don't get anything from these games.. So it is imperative we start winning otherwise we might find ourselves dragged into the relegation dog fight!
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It's not impossible, I have to admit. Irony is, we'll probably go on a decent cup run
 
winifred122 said:
It's not impossible, I have to admit. Irony is, we'll probably go on a decent cup run
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The league to my mind is done, however, key is we reach the magical 40'ish points quickly, hopefully finish a respectable position, in the top half of the table... Also when we play teams in the relegation zone (Watford, Norwich, Southampton, Newcastle) we do not allow them the opportunity...If we go on a cup run, then excellent!
 
Ugh.. Luiz and Mustafi again.

I think we will win today but prepare for at least one ludicrous defensive error.
 
I'm happy Nketiah is starting and Laca has been dropped.

Interesting that Ceballos is starting in the middle next to Xhaka with Torreira dropped...didn't see that one coming.
 
BrunelGooner said:
I'm happy Nketiah is starting and Laca has been dropped.

Interesting that Ceballos is starting in the middle next to Xhaka with Torreira dropped...didn't see that one coming.
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If I'm honest I think this lineup looks pretty awful
No Torreira, two calamity prone CB's.

No Torreira, No Martinelelli, No Guendouzi, No Laca, No Sokratis...<confused>

Ah well - I'm hoping Arteta knows what he is doing here.
 
TheBear said:
If I'm honest I think this lineup looks pretty awful
No Torreira, two calamity prone CB's.

No Torreira, No Martinelelli, No Guendouzi, No Laca, No Sokratis...<confused>

Ah well - I'm hoping Arteta knows what he is doing here.
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My guess is he's trying to work out who can fulfil what he wants and who can't. Perhaps there's an element of squad rotation as we play 3 games in the next 7 days?

It's certainly a bizarre line-up. On paper though, we should have enough in the tank to get the 3 points.
 
BrunelGooner said:
On paper though, we should have enough in the tank to get the 3 points.
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Not comfortably though - Nketiah could barely get in the Leeds side, he's talented not the finished product.
Pepe is struggling (but undoutedly talented)
Ceballos is yet to really make an impact in the EPL.
Mustafi and Luiz would struggle to get into MOST Premierleague sides.

But looking at the two sides my main concern would be Newcastle are physically ALOT bigger. We need to keep the ball and move it quickly because they will try and bully us for sure.
 
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Xhaka is having one of those games where he just hasnt met the pace of the game soo far.

He's gotta be careful or he will get sent off.
 
TheBear said:
Not comfortably though - Nketiah could barely get in the Leeds side, he's talented not the finished product.
Pepe is struggling (but undoutedly talented)
Ceballos is yet to really make an impact in the EPL.
Mustafi and Luiz would struggle to get into MOST Premierleague sides.

But looking at the two sides my main concern would be Newcastle are physically ALOT bigger. We need to keep the ball and move it quickly because they will try and bully us for sure.
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A bit of a strange one with Nketiah starting.. He could not get into the Leeds starting 11, (with all Leeds struggles for goals), he walks into Arsenal starting line-up. I guess what do I know about football?
 
You begin to wonder what was done during the winter break... It seems they saw it as a proper holiday!
 
We are still absolutely awful to watch.

No-one is making runs to stretch defences. We aren't passing the ball quickly enough. Not enough penetrative passing. Most of our possession has been horizontal, which suits Newcastle, as we won't threaten them with horizontal passes.

We got better in the final 10 minutes, but Saint-Maximin is ripping Bellerin apart. And Almiron had a mazy run right through the middle of the pitch unchallenged. Newcastle look dangerous on the counter.

Ozil actually has played quite well in fairness to him, but he's not got anyone to feed because no-one is looking to create space.

Aubameyang is not a winger FFS.

Saka's not having a good game, either.
 
It looks like we lack creativity.

also we seem to emphasize wing play a lot, which is odd, considering nketiah is the only one in the box at all times.

I’m going to say it now - I’m not really impressed by arteta so far since he’s come in. I don’t think he’s really got us going.
 
Aubamayang NEEDS to play in the middle.

Play your best player where he is most effective. ****s sake. (Feel like im constantly repeating myself here)

Pretty mediocre soo far, Looking like a team placed 10th in the league NOT a Champions League side.

On the plus side Bellerin has been good.

Hopefully the sceond half will be better.
 
white_gunner said:
It looks like we lack creativity.

also we seem to emphasize wing play a lot, which is odd, considering nketiah is the only one in the box at all times.

I’m going to say it now - I’m not really impressed by arteta so far since he’s come in. I don’t think he’s really got us going.
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To be fair he has not been an improvement on Emery.. I feel this season is already a write-off, next season is when to judge him.
 
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