I've read all the posts on here and I think we can say that most of us feel encouraged by the recent performances but a little bit anxious whether we can produce that sort of level of play against Cardiff, West Ham and Palace. I thought Tettey, Fer and Howson were great on Saturday. If we lost the game, we didn't lose it in midfield. Tettey, especially, I feel is really blossoming by being beside Fer. My only negatives would concern Martin, who struggled at times to operate at this level of speed and quality, and Hooper, who looks to me like a guy who would score bucketloads in the Championship but lacks guile against the very best. I definitely think RvW is the better option judging by what we saw on Saturday. Hoolahoops made no impression when he came on, and, like other people, I have to sadly say that his days may be numbered. All in all, though, a very good performance with a scoreline that is rather cruel. Arsenal's first goal was unbelievable - all those flicks - and in the final third they were magic on Saturday. But we won't have to face that level of skill every week and I won't criticise CH at all for anything that has happened over the last few games. Things are going in the right direction, I hope, and if sometimes that means one step back to go two steps forward, that may be necessary.
Totally agree Vietnam. The seeds of a bright future are starting to germinate. There seems more self belief in the players as well.
Watched MOTD2 last night and I think it was Dion who said, "Arsenal would have beaten any team with their display on Saturday!!!" Their real tests come in Nov - 2nd Liverpool at home, 10th ManUre away, and 23rd Saints at home. I think the 'real' league positions will become much more evident by Xmas, bith at the top and bottom of the league!!!!
their finishing was, certainly. they still look a bit shaky at the back but realistically, its only the other top teams who will be able to take advantage of this. i didn't think they'd challenge for the title because of the backline and if anything happens to giroud they are screwed and although it is becoming clearer that they will contend, i still stand by them not winning it, but they are absolutely flying at the moment and we probably couldn't have played them on a worse day. i think we did pretty well overall - we definitely gave them problems. i still keep watching the wilshere goal. its absolutely beautiful.
by the way, agree with most of vietnam's original post. i think he's been very harsh on hooper though. how can you judge him on that game? he's a clinical finisher and he will score goals at this level. he probably won't against the biggest teams.
He had the same problem that RvW knows only too well - feeding on scraps. Too many times Pilks and Snodgrass took shots from long (ish) range when laying the ball through to Hooper may have been a more productive option. It's a shame that 8 games in to the season (nearly a quarter of the way through ) and a much improved and confident midfield shape and movement, we still don't appear to have found a way of delivering quality balls for the lone striker to latch on to. Surely this is training ground stuff?
to be fair, it is difficult to gauge how much the new and improved midfield system will help the strikers when they have been faced with chelsea and arsenal back to back! we've created quite a few chances in both those games, although not for the strikers. i do think getting whittaker back in the team might help snoddy's mojo return. pilks is obviously not fully fit and if he is, hughton is (rightly) wary of playing him for 90 minutes in case he lapses again and he's such a key player when on form. i'm confident it'll come together now we have a way of securing more possession during games. i'd put both redmond and murphy on the bench next weekend and (depending on the situation) bring them both on for the last 20 minutes. i think that could give us a spark but they are both quite selfish.
But once again, at the risk of repeating myself, this is training ground stuff and despite their age, can and should be coached out of them asap.
Totally agree with your statement. a couple of times against Chelsea, our midfield tried to pass into the box for RvW to run onto, but it was snuffed out by the Chelsea defenders. Let's see if there's any improvement against lesser defences!!!
ha, i know, but they are 19 and 18 respectively. ***PATIENCE ALERT*** there is a fine balance between 'coaching it out of them' and 'letting them be individuals'. at that age its important to let them 'find themselves' - i hate that phrase but i'm afraid its the best to use here - in a similar way i suppose to how townsend is currently doing at spurs. he is still some way from the finished article, he is way too selfish but he's beginning to realise he's a good player but it takes time. we don't want robots out there - we want a bit of individuality to bubble in talented players. they'll soon find out they are making bad decisions when they are shouted at or left out for a few weeks. snodgrass and pilkington should both be a little more aware by now - to be fair, i think snodgrass is but he is suffering from a loss of confidence and his way of regaining it is to score a goal (hence he took that penalty). maybe his goal for scotland will help. pilks is better at spotting the right pass but we couldn't get the ball to him on saturday. we WILL next saturday...
