(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread (Part 3)

Nice calm routine home victory then.
The arsenal way :)
All our rivals lost, bonus.

Jeezus wept. That was woeful. We made Villa look like a top 6 side. Thank fudge for showing the slightest hint of fight, and for Matteo and Auba. 

Emery is a fraud

Maitland-Niles has been pretty bad so far this season. I'd be putting Chambers in at RB now until Bellerin is ready (he and Tierney played for the U23s at the weekend). 

Sokratis and Luiz have both made multiple errors but the issue for me is midfield. So easily bypassed, by the poorest of opposition too. Just a waltz through there, game after game so far this season. 

Xhaka actually didn't play badly this morning, but I'd be dropping him. The difference in pace and intensity in midfield after he went off was huge. We need more energy in there. I'd be pushing Guendouzi into the deepest role and starting Torreira and Willock. Ceballos shows good energy but still getting used to the pace of the game. 

Saka was unlucky to get dragged, he looked lively in the first half. I like how his game has a bit of no.10 about it as well - he likes to go central to pick it up sometimes, the perfect foil for Auba and Pepe. 

For ManU next weekend I'd be going:

                         Leno

Chambers-Sokratis-Luiz-Kolasinac

                    Guendouzi

               Torreira-Willock

              Pepe-Auba-Saka

Holy sh*t that was mental. Had the Mrs & a mate visiting from NZ with me for their Arsenal PL debuts - what a game to pick.

Xhaka was booed/jeered off the pitch which I loath. The guy captained the side and had a good game, it's such a sh*t way to treat your own players. I think the problem is Xhaka & Guendouzi don't suit each other, and I think if we leave Guendouzi at the base he'll actually look a little weaker.

For me the problem we've got is our formation, this 4-3-3 isn't working for us as our attacking press isn't coordinated enough, nor are our wingers providing defensive support quickly enough. At the moment our full backs aren't rushing out to shut down the wide areas as they're often in a 1 v 2 scenario. To cover this the midfield come across which costs us the control.

I think to try those three in midfield Paul would be a disaster, as they'd be all energy but Guendouzi/Willock would lack the positional awareness to track runners (i.e. Guendouzi was the man with the Villa bloke for their first goal and didn't track his run).

Ceballos was a disappointment for me, he lost the ball a few times and didn't control the game as much. I'd be more inclined to start Guendouzi further up and slot Torreira next to Xhaka for United, BUT it all comes down to our wingers.

Regarding Chambers I have so much respect for the lad, he plays well against Newcastle, gets dropped and our defence looks worse, then comes on to cover RB away in Europe and does OK and then puts in a shift off the bench and nabs a goal at the same time. The downside is we're not expecting more from Luis or Sokratis - who as a pairing aren't inspiring. 

The other critical pieces missing for us is that Aubamayang is not a good central striker for linking the play. Back to goal he doesn't have the touch for the hold up play that Lacazette brings to the table and it wastes his attacking threat as he's not running in behind.

For me without our best full backs, and with Laca out we should be amending our formation to get the best out of our players and cover the gaps, i.e. a lone striker with an Ozil in behind and 2 wide players who can support the full backs and not require them to always overlap.

I get your point about positional awareness in midfield but the fact is we dont have any now, see the first goal yesterday? No risks in changing that midfield for me. Cant get any worse. Xhaka doesnt pick anything up at all, needs to go. He wasnt bad yesterday but thats the issue - thats the best we can hope for from him. The other mids look like they have higher ceilings at this point, particularly with their defensive play.

Against popular belief, i feel that auba is best on the left. He brings goals no matter where we put him, but nothing else, so chuck him there and accommodate our other best players. Laca brings more to the team in the striking role.

With Laca out who plays central?

Neither did Guendouzi. I rate the kid but if we assume that this is all Xhaka's fault instead of trying to pair Xhaka back with Torreira who are amazing together (remember that unbeaten run last year?). For me we get Xhaka, Torreira, and Guendouzi together and we could have an absolute party.

That's when I'd have Auba there and bring another wide mid in. I liked Saka there yesterday. Thought he bought something different. I was expecting him to be a winger, which he has the attributes of, but was pleasantly surprised at his ability to go inside and get between the lines as well. He was a danger in multiple game situations, I was very impressed. 

I'd be ok with that even though it's not my preference. Somehow we need more stability in there. 

Personally I think Guendouzi can play Xhaka's role better than Xhaka right now. And I'd have Torreira there with him, being an animal, with Willock further forward (or Ceballos, but I think Willock looks better at the moment). 

Xhaka or not the one thing I think every gooner wants is for Torreira to start!

Heading back to the emirates tonight in the hope of seeing Holding, Bellerin, and Tierney get some game time. If the full backs are up for it I'd love to see us start those 3 and Chambers in a back 4! Perhaps we might see:

                      Martinez

Bellerin Chambers Holding Tierney

         Willock Smith-Rowe

          Nelson Ozil Saka

                   Martinelli

5-0. Sounds like a good performance. 

Martinelli with 2, Nelson 1, Holding and Willock the others. 

3 assists for Chambers?!?!!!

One for Bellerin too. 

That was  fun watch - it's like the players said 'fudge you' to Emery's shackles and just went for it. Even post game, Emery commented on Chambers advancing too far up the pitch when we were 2-0 up.

Martinelli running around like Carlos Vela

Interesting to see Emery getting the Wenger treatment now.

Any defeat is entirely his fault, any victory is despite his faults. 

Sigh. 

Sorry. I've seen enough - and heard enough - to be convinced that he won't change his ways. He's hesitant when 2-0 up against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup, and he's hesitant against Watford; the only time this works for him is against bigger clubs when it's expected we'll be up against it.

He's been OK as a stop-gap - but if we wish to progress (and with this squad + a CB or two, we should be progressing) then we need a manager with guts. He's not that guy. 

We're getting out shot against basically everyone in the prem and I don't think it's a personnel issue.

We're 4th on the table and are 6 games in. We've won our hardest away fixture in the Europa League and our youth are carving it up.

VS

We're getting outshot by everyone in the prem, the manager is hesitant when 2-0 up against Forrest.

I guess you just pick the narrative the suits your perspective.

I look at Emery suggesting Chambers was too advanced and agree, he did push on a lot. Looking at our positioning when we lost the ball Chambers was often pressing in the attacking third which left a massive gap behind him, in contrast to Tierney who was more conservative and picked when to push on.

I think the football we played yesterday was reflective of the opposition and the quality we had on the bench. Their striker never really pressed the back line, we won the majority of % balls, and Nelson/Smith-Rowe/Saka provided a lot of additional defensive work rate compared to what we've seen in other games this season.

I wouldn't write Emery or this team off yet.

Mustafi onced again showed he's a fudgeing pro. Man might not ever become our first choice but he's diligently playing the 'b' games and playing well in them.

Also giddy up lads, Sp*rs lost to fudgeing Colchester on penalties, with a team that included Alli, Erikson, Son, Lucas, Wanyama, Dier, and Sanchez. 

I thought we played well, don't get me wrong - but I'm taking our prem games into account more than a throwaway league cup tie.

I just feel like we now  have enough of an Emery data sample to realise how he's going to play it; and I don't agree with it. Simple as that.

Better first season than Klopp, and in a tougher environment, given we'd had the same management set-up for 22 years. 

Deserves this full season for me, 100%. 

Get top 4 and I'm good to go for Emery season 3. 

Liverpool away in the 4th round of the League Cup.

Reckon he's gone either way, personally. We'll see.

Of course, 100%. 

Although we've had some obvious issues, we're 4th, 3 points ahead of our 3 rivals, we've only lost once (against the league leaders away), with neither of our first choice fullbacks having played yet, and with 2 CBs that may well come in and supplant the others. Plus Lacazette injured.

Last time we had a fully fit defence under Emery (minus Koscielny!) we went 20 games unbeaten. I'm interested to see how things go with these guys coming back in. 

Having said all that, a bad loss at OT would be pretty disastrous, given their form. I expect a point at least, but more importantly, a good performance. 

How exciting did Tierney look yesterday. Getting some wood on that one. Martinelli and Saka (again) as well. 

One last thing... before Gazidis left he said the goal was one academy player graduating to our first team every 2 years. Talk about smashing a target... bloody great to see... I count 7 academy players in our squad this season, plus a group of others who we signed young. We can afford to take gambles like Pepe if we're getting that kind of success out of our academy and youth scouting. Bloody good. 

Nagelsmann. 

Sorry, I don't keep disagreeing just to be a cod I promise.

But for me last year we struggled to predict who would start and what formation he'd play as he switched between 3-5-2, 4-5-1, and the occasional 4-4-2. 

This year he's trying for more of a 4-3-3 and we still can't predict his lineups.

Last year we pressed more, this year we're pressing less. Last year we controlled games more, this year we're sacrificing that to create more counter attacking opportunities. The numbers show we're giving away a LOT more opportunities to the opportunity but I think Emery's logic is that they're opportunities from less dangerous positions.

Don't get me wrong the way we played at Watford & Frankfurt gave me kittens and isn't how I'd like us to play, but I'm not convinced that it's a reflection of what we'll see all season :)

yea how good would that be. maybe a few years too early though??

Xhaka confirmed as skipper. Ozil retains a role in the leadership group. Lacazette, Aubamayang, and Bellerin promoted into that group.

Surely Holding's got to be in line to replace Ozil when he eventually leaves.

Agreed. Emery is all pragmatism and no philosophy. We need a better mix.

From my perspective, we've seen the same thing almost every game this season no matter the personnel - opposition scything through a giant hole in midfield and cowardly defensive tactics against lesser teams; I'm not sure that's going to change.

Hasnt been defensive tactics against weak teams. Ganes have been too open if anything, last two were ding dong battles.
Ive seen a couple of decent tactical pieces explaining how emery has been trying to compensate for having 2nd choice fullbacks who are both bad defenders by having the midfielders split wide to support, leaving a hole in the middle.
There are sensible factors behind some of what weve seen. Its not that doom and gloom mate.

Bellerin completed 90 minutes for the U23's while Tierney & Holding didn't feature. I'd love to see Tierney get a start against United, might be a bit soon for Holding. Chambers should be at RB given AMN's red/injury.

Awful first half.

From both sides, that goal was completely against the run of play.

Nice duck out of the way captain. Fudge football. And fudge me Pepe is pony.

Can you honestly say that’s an intentional duck at that speed? Jesus Christ it’s like you’ve never played the game.

Thank fudge for VAR. But seriously, how has the linesman flagged that? If he was any further onside he'd have been in our penalty area.

We made the worst Man Utd team in a while look like Barca. Only being positive when we go 1-0 down. Summed up by not throwing any bodies forward at the end.

Terrible game, overall, and two terrible teams.

Is this when we start to worry about Pepe? Doesn't look like a prem level player. Off the ball, he's lazy. On the ball, he has poor touches and doesn't create. Was lucky with a pass to Saka, but that's about it.

I thought that anything other than a win against this team would've been a disappointment and I still think that - we never really looked like we wanted to win. So disillusioned with this team now. Best squad we've had in a while, especially offensively, and we play with no passion, no commitment, no desire - there's no combination play, we sit deep and look to feed off scraps; thoroughly uninspiring.