Happy for Gabriel getting the winner. It was a poor error for the goal but also feel a bit sorry for him getting that pass with their centre forward on his shoulder. That's exactly the reason why one of the first things you're taught is not to pass the ball across your own goal. When there's no short passing option in the corner there you just fudgeing hoof it up the pitch out of danger.
He also had no outlet for a pass either as Tierney had come in field and was being marked instead of being wide left where he may have been able to take a simple pass.
For me I had no problem with Saka making the pass. It was the lack of next options for Gabriel that got him in trouble. Had KT or Xhaka been deeper he could have quickly turned it around the corner. That’s not on Saka to be able to see. Next time he’s got to be quicker realising he doesn’t have a passing option and lump it.
Sometimes you get an example of football being mental. They got this guy into do a job. He couldn’t do the job and he’s earning 10 million pounds a year to not do it. That’s an insane amount of money.
Ah crap. Looks like Partey will be out for 5 weeks or so. Wonder if this will force the hand in the transfer market as I’m not convinced Elneny can be what we need in that position
Elneny is out with a "significant injury" too. Wonder if Partey actually is out injured or that's cover for the Police investigation progressing.
Oh that is rough for Elneny. Finally going to get a chance for a good run of games. I feel for him. So does that mean sambi comes in? Or do we drop xhaka back? ( I shudder at the thought)
Big challenges on our doorstep immediately. I didn't know about Elneny. With Partey, Elneny and Zinchenko all injured, we are drastically short in midfield (assuming that Zinchenko was seen as an option there, which I'm sure he was). Lokonga will need to step in with Xhaka, and that will create a significant change in our approach on the left side I imagine. Xhaka will likely move to Partey's role, and Lokonga to Xhaka's role - Lokonga was playing wider on the left in pre-season. We should probably be pushing through with a midfielder in the market urgently now. It feels like we were on the fence a bit with that after our start to the season, and the signing of Zinchenko. I wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly re-prioritise that now and move quickly.
I called this last week, need to go to the market for a proper Partey replacement. As much as he is good his unavailability puts him in the Tierney camp for me - if we can’t sort it out then we sell and move on.
Xhaka as the lone pivot has its well documented issues, Zinchenko there means no cover for KT. Sambi seems too ponderous that deep and excels higher up.
Apparently we are tracking Mykhalo Mudryk. I had to google him to be sure that was a real name. Turns out it is and he is a wide midfielder for shaktar. But maybe the plans with him have change re the injury situation…. Tonali time?
I would love Tonali, or even Milinkovic-Savic for that matter. Tielemans is great but I'm unsure he's putting up the numbers to suggest he can be a Partey replacement. He would look great as a Xhaka upgrade though. From memory both Xhaka and Tielemans are out of contract this summer - we might just be waiting to get Tielemans on a bosman while we wave Xhaka goodbye.
Any of you guys watching live? Unbelievable game so far, cannae believe it’s only 2-1.
Yes, we needed to pull the trigger a bit earlier at times or delayed the pass in the final third. Quite a few misplaced passes as well which was unusual. I thought Lakonga had a good game. I was a bit worried about him coming in but he was a good link up in midfield and completed most of his passes. I just knew that Xhaka's skied clearance from the first corner would come back to haunt us.
Yeah fair, although the chances they created were minimal and we could have had the goal overturned if VAR was being more kind to goalkeepers. I think if the ref had called it a foul on Ramsdale VAR wouldn't have intervened.kwlap
I’m at work following the text updates. Sounds like villa have explosive in patches and poor the rest. Fair call?
Lokonga was interesting, for me he doesn't move enough off the ball in our build up. A few times Xhaka came from an advanced position to collect off the defenders because Lokonga was standing in a blocked passing lane.Gooner 4 Life
brumbys
Any of you guys watching live? Unbelievable game so far, cannae believe it’s only 2-1.
Yes, we needed to pull the trigger a bit earlier at times or delayed the pass in the final third. Quite a few misplaced passes as well which was unusual. I thought Lakonga had a good game. I was a bit worried about him coming in but he was a good link up in midfield and completed most of his passes. I just knew that Xhaka's skied clearance from the first corner would come back to haunt us.
Dominant performance that got close than it should have which is always the worry when you don't get the 2nd goal. Another strong response from adversity though following the come back the other day and also against Leicester twice scoring immediately after they scored. These experiences bode well for when we play the stronger teams or a potential Europa knockout game where it's likely we'll find ourselves a goal behind. Interesting seeing Liverpool going berserk celebrating at home against a team that hasn't even finished in the top half in living memory. Presumably the celebration police will be out again telling us you are not supposed to enjoy winning.
great to see the boys win again, 5 from 5 is history making and a massive turnaround from last season. Biggest concern is the injuries to key players. Partey is supposed to only be out for 2 weeks, ESR can cover for Odegaard, Tierney covers Zichenko. Sambi is nowhere as useful as Partey and puts pressure on Xhaka to cover the defensive side way too much.
Good point on Tielemans there Brumbys. I wondered why we were chasing him and where he really fits in, but I can definitely see him smashing a role like the one Xhaka is playing for us now. He would be amazing in those areas of the pitch. I wouldn't mind getting him now for that role, and Xhaka then providing the back-up for Partey's role. I agree that I'm not sold on Lokonga in that position - he is too relaxed sometimes in the deeper areas. Although to be fair, I don't think he gave it away once in our own half this morning - typically he's given it away at least once in his past performances in those areas. Another fantastic performance this morning in my opinion. We do need to turn this dominance into more goals but I'm very impressed with our resilience when things don't go our way, we just crack right back in. These 5 wins have been very good. I think the Bournemouth one was the only truly easy win, all the other teams have come at us hard and really got stuck in, and we've worked through it all and got the wins. Injuries are a massive storm on the horizon that is worrying me. Odegaard and Ramsdale look like they picked up niggles this morning. I wonder about White's substitution, perhaps he's in the "red zone"? Jesus looks very fit but his all action style is sure to bring an impact injury sooner or later. Tierney never strings a lot of games together, I worry for this upcoming series of games if Zinchenko is not back and fit. Things are going to get tough, 2 games a week for the foreseeable future, we're playing with a lot of intensity, I fear we will see more go down. Fingers crossed.
Bit of chat Douglas Luiz, who was the Villa goalscorer yesterday, is on the list. Only 12 months on his contract so it must be tempting to cash in now. Much like Tielemans could too.
For al our transfer strategy, this looks like it could be a crazy closing day. Bellerin has gone to Barca on a free on a 1 year deal with arsenal getting a significant sell on %. 2nd bid for Luiz submitted. AMN to Southhampton looks likely.
Dont know much about Douglas Luiz but seems a good option on paper. Arteta mustve worked with him at Man City so knows the player. We need another body in midfield so hope we get him. Watching Leicester vs ManU ahead of our game on Monday morning. Overall ManU don't look very good but they are lethal on the counter attack, plenty of goals in them, and they will be buoyed by their home crowd. Perfect recipe to beat us, the way our games have been going - we're dominant but not scoring all the goals our dominance suggests, and prone to being hit unexpectedly. I would happily take a point from this one to be fair. Really hope we don't lose and keep the streak going.
Man United celebrating scraping a win against "only" bottom of the table Leicester "as if they have won the league." Anyone got a link to the outrage? Can't seem to find it.
The worrying thing is we didn't consider we were short in midfield until Elneny got injured. Left it too late, and although we've strengthened with our early signings, the squad is ultimately still going to end up short.
Looks like villa have rejected a 2nd bid for luiz. They are saying that he is no for sale… However arsenal fans have tracked his car driving in the highway… hopefully London bound
The chat is that we've agreed personal terms, all down to getting a bid accepted by Villa. They've just signed Dendoncker from Wolves so appear to have a replacement sorted, and Luiz has one year remaining on his contract, so I suspect they are resigned to letting him go and are holding out for the coin they want, which is completely reasonable. Up to us to pay what they want, or walk away.
Doesnt look like we seriously pursued any wingers after failing to get Raphinha either. I do wonder if Arteta changed his thinking, for two reasons. The chat is that Marquinhos has been very good in training, and I notice he's made the bench for the last two matches. And now Fabio Vieira is being seen as an option on the right, training there and playing a game for the reserves in that role. We should be ok in the attacking end unless we get an injury crisis.
No deal done. Bit disappointed in the club for not seeing the cm issue earlier. Yea really interesting about the tielemans chat. At the start of the window I would have said that it was certain that he would be playing for us by now.
