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

It's risk vs reward. If the opposition are pressing high on the keeper and defenders, and you manage to beat that press, you are probably going to get a chance to score, as they won't have numbers back to defend when you break. Especially if you've got passers like Xhaka and Guendouzi in midfield who can open up the pitch in an instant.

That's exactly how we scored our 2nd goal against Chelsea if you go back and watch that again. Played it back and forth across the back under pressure, stayed patient, beat their forward press, and then it opened up.

I know it gives us heart attacks because Cech looks awkward, but if you actually analyse, we only made one error that nearly resulted in a goal at the weekend, and ironically that was not under heavy pressure, just a really bad pass from Cech - it looked like Cech simply didn't see Arter there. He should easily be able to iron that out, without needing to be any better with his actual feet. 

I am happy to continue with this. Yes we've had some moments but it hasn't cost us a goal yet, and we should continue to improve. Cech also seems to be ok most of the time at deciding when to go long. 

Everyone talks about Leno being better with his feet, but lets be honest, if he's not starting already then he's clearly not impressing enough in training. Lets get a look at him in the Europa League. 

100% agreed. Nail. Head. 

If Leno was so great, Emery would've chucked him in. He's hardly conservative considering he's been playing Guendouzi in the middle of the park; a player who was playing Ligue 2 and has no experience at this level.

As we saw with Alisson; every keeper has a mistake or two in them when trying to play it out from the back. It's normal. Cech has been lucky that none have led to goals as of yet - but really, there's probably only been two *major* chances that have resulted, and one was from Cech almost putting it in the back of his own net.

Every other component of Cech's game has really impressed me this season and I think he's the playing the best we've ever seen from at Arsenal.

Are international breaks less punishing for fans of the major footballing nations? Because as an AW's fan they're usually just a suspension of the 99% of the football I watch, and it's just getting good at the moment!

Any of my English mates hate it as well.

It's a really pointless exercise, and this first break is timed really really badly.

Agreed. The main reason I'm happy to continue is that despite the shaky moments, Cech himself seems calm and comfortable. He's not great with his feet, but he doesn't appear panicked, he seems to know what is expected and how to do it, and he's doing his best. The errors he made were bad execution, not panic. He certainly isn't going to try a Cruyff turn, he'll get rid of it if he has to, so he knows his limitations and is working within them. On the other aspects of his game he's been excellent in the 4 games so far, better than last season, so I'm more than happy to see him continue at the moment. 

I expect our playing out from the back to slowly improve as the games go on, but I'm sure we will need to ride our luck from time to time while it continues to bed in. One of the best positives I've seen under Emery so far is that the heads don't drop. If we concede, we come right back at them, no time for sulking. The last couple of seasons under Wenger were quite bad in that respect. Occasionally we mounted comebacks but quite often we wilted under pressure after conceding, even against poorer sides. Emery appears to have made good ground on that mentality front. 

Guendouzi picked up player of the month for August. What a start to the season for the lad!!

Torreira came off around half time for Uruguay in a friendly and was spotted with an icepack on his calf. Hopefully precautionary and nothing major.

Typical, that.

Hey chaps, Mrs & I have been told by Arsenal in NZ we can only get 1 ticket for the Ars v Liverpool game when we're in London Oct/Nov. Any ideas on alternate routes for getting tickets? 

Find a bloke outside Arsenal station and pay well over the odds?

That's about all the ideas I've got at the moment ha! I think I'll just settle for a pub experience.

Newcastle away this weekend. Tricky fixture that, although so far this season they've lost at home to Sp*rs and Chelski, away to City, drew away to Cardiff, lost away to Forrest in the league cup.

Yedlin seems to be a key part of their attack, bombing forward with a pace that rivals Auba.

I'd like to see us start with:

                   Cech

Bellerin Mustafi Sokratis Monreal

            Xhaka Torreira

          Mhiki Ozil Ramsey

                Lacazette

Bench: Leno, Liechtensteiner, Holding, Guendouzi, Elneny, Iwobi, Auba

Looks like Torreira is injured, so I'd expect Xhaka/Guendouzi

Will be a tough game post international break - reckon I'd take a draw

I think I'd go for the same 11 as Cardiff. Perhaps the first time we see some continuity?

I was thinking about Torreira but sounds like he's picked up an injury for Uruguay. 

I'm with you Valeo, this will be tricky. Newcastle defend well and we've got guys back from a heavy international break workload. 

I really want us to win and carry on the momentum, but would probably accept a draw, depending on how the match unfolds. 

If I was thinking with my head, I'd bet on Newcastle - 3-1. I really think our defence is going to get completely found out.

A clean sheet would be very good for us right now... 

Not sure that we will lose as Rafa has been employing his 5-5-0 formation recently. I think a win is on the cards, but we will need to be patient with possession and smarter movement from our centre mid and forwards. 

I agree. They haven't exactly started the season with great form, and while they are scoring against City & Chelsea they're conceding too. It'll likely be more of Unai's 4-3 victories I imagine.

Sure, but we let Cardiff score 2, and every other game we've gifted a whole bunch of chances that haven't been taken. I am not overly optimistic, but good to see Torreira back in training.

It's the counter attack we seem to be vulnerable too, and Yedlin's bombing forward from full back will hurt us if we turn over high up the pitch. This is why, for me, we need Torreira playing. He's the only guy in our midfield who reads that danger well and has the pace to get back and cover the full backs when needed. The other option is you then have to ensure Bellerin or Monreal reduce their runs forward which isn't ideal given how critical this is to our attacking.

This map from the cardiff game sums it up well:

Cardiff on the left, Arsenal on the right.

Edit: ammended - thanks Paulm for the spot, did this in a rush *facepalm* 

Other way round innit (Arsenal on the right)?

Good news;

@BenDinnery

Good outcome. If he's fit I still think he starts. Given we're trying to fix our defence by playing a different way as a collective and not re-jigging which defenders start, we've got to see how we play with Torreira starting.

I'm a bit torn. Despite a couple of moments Xhaka has had a pretty good start under Emery, and Guendouzi is undroppable really. Plus Torreira has made good impact off the bench. And although he's not injured, he's flown back from the US after a slight niggle, and will surely start midweek in the Europa League in any case. There's plenty of games coming up to give these guys a crack. 

I do see him as a starter for us in the long run, but I'd probably persevere with Xhakadouzi for this weekend. 

I do not agree that Guendouzi is undroppable at all. His performance has dropped noticeably (against worst teams), and he's still obviously raw. I would drop him to the bench and start Xhaka/Torreira, which I believe is the most promising partnership.

Disappointed that Foal isn't around to enjoy the Obafemi rumours.

Anyone else counting down the gmaes until we get a mistake from Guendouzi that leads to a goal for the commentators to finally unleash "and a doozy from Guendouzi sees the Arsenal concede"

Not quite. I'm waiting for him to rip a 30m shot on goal that fades into the top corner for the "doozy from Guendouzi" call. 

That mistake v City would've been sufficient if they had scored.

that was better. But we really should have put more away and defended better. for their goal, I am not sure how we could leave ourselves open at the back when they were pushing so many players forward

But its 3 points and I'll take it. 

We grew into our work for sure. First half was horrendous viewing. Second half we started to assert our dominance and deserved both our goals when they came, Newcastle were flat and we were well on top at that stage. Thought we were seeing out the game perfectly until we conceded that late goal.

Most important thing is 3 more points away from home. Doesn't matter how we get them, we got fudge all of them last season so it's a step in the right direction.

I just meant undroppable in the sense that he has been our best midfielder so far this season, so it would seem harsh to drop him.

However after this morning's game, I'm in total agreement with you. I think Xhaka/Torreira would be our best combination at the moment after seeing that. They were excellent together, and it made me realise that Xhaka and Guendouzi should really be competing for the same spot, alongside Torreira. They're both relaxed and calm on the ball, but they need that terrier next to them. And what a terrier Torreira looks to be, he was everywhere, reads the game so well, and has a pass on him too. It was exciting to see our midfield transformed when he entered the pitch.

Man Aubameyang was woeful this morning...

I'd also be seriously considering giving Lichtsteiner a run. Bellerin has been good going forward but he's making so many errors at the moment, he's a liability at the back at times, especially next to Mustafi, who had several horrible moments this morning.

Sokratis was very good, I thought it was probably his best game, mopped up after Mustafi shenanigans, did his own job well, and he brings the mongrel, which we desperately need. I think Lichtsteiner could come in and bring some more of that, and shore up our right side a bit. It might detract from our attack down that side slightly but Bellerin just seems to be doing my head in... he needs to show more defensive grit when we're in our own half!

I'm looking forward to our next 2 league games, both at home, to Everton and Watford. Our percentage of possession has been steadily increasing, and in these last two away wins we've shown some character and grit, and seem to have settled on the right mix attacking-wise. With Torreira probably going to start now, I think we'll see our real "best 11" for the first time under Emery through the next league games, as he's gradually given most of the squad a chance, and now the 11 has become more stable. I am expecting to see us turn these good 45's into 90 minute performances now. Everton and Watford are two good tests too. 

3 wins has been promising, but we should get a better gauge of progress in those 2 games. Hard to know what to take away from the Europa and League Cup matches, I am assuming we'll see a 2nd 11 for both...

Don't agree that Bellerin is a laibility compared to what's next to him. I counted 4-5 major errors from Mustafi (losing his man, falling over etc.) that could've easily lead to goals (one did).

Bellerin was our entire attacking threat down the right hand side as Ozil/Ramsey both took up central positions. He literally ran that wing on his own.

Monreal has been playing far worse, imo, and no one seems to comment on that.

On the plus side, I've been quietly impressed with Sokratis.

Much better 2nd half, and I would expect Torreira to start next game. Auba was poor because he was on the wing; it's not natural to him, and never will be. Either we play him up front, or we don't play him at all.

I don't think Bellerin or Monreal is playing better or worse. I think Bellerin is being exposed by Ozil, and to a lesser extent Mhikitaryan. Aubamayang really puts in the yards defensively, coming back from left wing to right back at one stage. Nothing like that's coming from whoever starts on the right. I'm not sure I'd be dropping him just yet based on this.

Paulm I agree with your insight on Xhaka and Goundeouzi. I actually think Ramsey could play alongside either of them and bring a bit more upbeat tempo, but alas he doesn't have the defensive discipline to be able to do it.

Ramsey and Ozil starting together seems to be a combination we can't work. Ozil, even when deployed out wide, still drifts centrally and doesn't connect with Bellerin as much as Mhiki does. I'd be inclined to at least try swapping Ramsey & Ozil, before giving up on it completly but Mhikitaryans early combos down the wing with Bellerin do give food for thought.

Today I felt Sokratis really stood up. As mentioned he covered Mustafi's BS and at some points seem to be making more on field calls about starting plays than Mustafi was - which isn't a bad thing. His recovery pace is better than expected.

I'm not saying Bellerin is worse than Mustafi, I'm just saying that Bellerin's defensive errors (of which there have also been a LOT this season) are worsened because he is playing next to Mustafi. 

I don't think we'll be dropping Mustafi until Koscielny is back, so I'd rather see Lichtsteiner come in and shore things up to some degree.

And yep Bellerin has been wonderful in the attacking end, so we would lose that (although Lichtsteiner's no mug in that respect either), but I just want to see less chances given up at the back and a bit more Sokratis-style grit. 

In any case I don't think Emery will do it so it's probably a moot point, just my personal preference. 

I definitely disagree on Monreal. I think he's been excellent, our best back. Can't recall any errors and he's contributing well down his flank. Showed some very nice touches at the weekend. 

Ramsey has been hit and miss but I think we've settled on our best combination in the attacking end, I don't expect that to change for the league matches. He's key to the pressing side of our game and I think he'll warm into his work. Ozil is starting to look at home in Emery's system, a role has been found for him. I guess in that respect my idea about Lichtsteiner takes a hit because Bellerin's bombing forward is key to how Ozil is playing, cutting in like that to create the overloads. 

Upcoming fixtures (all at home):

21/09 Vorskla (Europa)

24/09 Everton (EPL)

27/09 Brentford (League Cup)

30/09 Watford (EPL)

It'll be the first chunk of back to back games where rotation will be on the cards. Will be interesting to see the likes of Iwobi, Leno, Liechtenstiner, Holding, Mavropanos, Elneny, Welbeck etc some game time under the new man.

As they're all at home you'd be expecting 4 wins.

Watford and Everton will be very difficult games; Watford have been playing quite brilliantly except for the hiccup v Man U.

Looking forward to seeing some youngsters.

Everton's lack of striking quality up front has me less concerned, they were pants on the weekend. Agree about Watford, will be interesting to see if they can bully as at home like they've done to us previously at Vicarage road.

Last time at home we produced this: