Marquee
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over 16 years
this can help pass the time during the internal window
 
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
Palace & Villa at home in the PL, then Leeds at home in the cup.

Really need 3/3 W’s in those.
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
Giving the upcoming fixtures all being at home I’d like to see us try 4-3-3 again:
  Pepe       Auba       Saka
            ESR          MØ
                   Partey
Tierney Gabriel White Tomiyasu
                 Ramsdale
Would also be pumped to see Laca start ahead of Pepe with Auba off the left but I think I’m still eating my hat after Auba’s link up play in the NLD was so much better!
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
agree with the 4-3-3 plan, I think it will be Arteta's go to set up. Laca must be itching for a start and is surely demanding it from the coach.
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
Laca’s got every right to feel aggrieved for not getting to start Brighton away. Auba was MIA. I know he played well in the NLD but sideways rain + 3 x big lumpy CB’s is not the skippers ideal environment.
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
Got a decent run of very winnable games coming up.

Currently 11th with 10 points.
Crystal palace next up (must win)
then Villa 4 days later (also must win)
that should see us on 16 points and rocketing up the table.
Midweek game against leeds (should win that) then onto 
Leicester and Watford.
These 4 games are all very winnable, given its possible we will draw one I'd be happy with 10 points from them giving us 20 points by 8th November. Strong chance for Arteta to get manager of the month again.
The 4 games after that are a little tougher:
Liverpool, Newcastle, Man U and Everton.
Legend
2.3K
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17K
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almost 17 years
6 points in the next five days please.
Marquee
3.1K
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6.7K
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over 16 years
watching arsenal from home while I eat breakfast is a part of lockdown I wasn't expecting. I almost could get used to this. 
Marquee
3.1K
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6.7K
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over 16 years
If White could play more short to medium length passes, i think we would be more effective moving out from the back. I think he too often goes for the magic diagonal ball or ball over the top when its not on. 
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
1-0 up against a very plucky Palace, thought after the fist goal we looked like scoring plenty, then after the first 20 we just went quiet and let them boss the play a bit. They could have equalised a couple of times in the last 10 minutes.
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
That McArthur foul is madness. Should be a red. If dean had done his job and given him a yellow earlier he wouldnt have been able to make the foul that injured Saka.
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
Jesus wept we have shat the bed tonight.
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
ref has let a couple of hard tackles go which have resulted in goals for palace.
this is the typical arsenal game that we lose points to a team we should be beating.

this is going to be another brentford result, we've been muscled off the ball and it's cost us twice, along with being lacklustre upfront
Legend
3.6K
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15K
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almost 17 years
Laca deserved that, he was at them from the second he came on. Fighting attitude. 
Disappointing result but glad we avoided defeat in the end. 
P*ssed off that we have not stepped up a level after the Spurs game, two draws in matches we should've won. We must beat Villa next weekend. 
Legend
2.3K
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17K
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almost 17 years
Pathetic performance but very relieved to get that equaliser deep in injury time. Feel it’s crucial we salvaged something from that nonsense.

Need a massive massive improvement against villa on Saturday morning.
Marquee
1.5K
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5.2K
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over 16 years
I thought that was awful to watch and that Palace were the better side. Glad to get a point and Laca totally deserved the goal after the effort he put in after coming on. So frustrating like paulm said, that we haven't continued to improve after the Spurs game. I dread us having to play Liverpool. We could be in for another 0-5. 
Starting XI
2.1K
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4.3K
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over 11 years
It was a dreadful performance at home after the early goal and didn't deserve the draw. Feel for Vieira. Think that's 3 times now the last kick of the game has denied him the win.
Marquee
3.1K
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6.7K
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over 16 years
agree with what's been said. My 2 cents are that I think Arteta got out coached tonight. Palace came with a plan and the players to execute it. We didn't. Our biggest weakness was down the right as pepe didn't track and left space for players to go into or press Tomi. Pepe also struggled to give Tomi support or options when trying to play out and often was looking for a ball in behind which made us play long, which in turn took out MO and ESR.
On a more general point, we cant have Partley on his own, we are just too open in the middle. He needs someone next to him. Sambi isn't there yet but as far as I can tell its either him or AMN. If we did provide Partley with more support, we could also push MO further up and take Pepe off which would solve my earlier point. 
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
If Arteta got out coached that’s against Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace. 

Several frustrating moments for me last night;
1) Deano’s inconsistent refereeing leaving Saka injured/CP with 11 men
2) Partey/Lokonga unnecessarily getting the ball knicked
3) Our continued pursuit of a half arsed press

We had the technical superiority against all 3 of the sides mentioned above to play through a press, why didn’t we make their lives more uncomfortable?
Legend
2.3K
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17K
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almost 17 years
Allowing them to grow into the game after making such a positive start was inexplicable. Really hope there’s a hunger to make amends against Villa.
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
Three games against smaller teams that we've lost or drawn, these games are the ones that Arteta should be getting judged on as they should be less of a lottery. As has been mentioned he got out coached and the players got out played by 3 smaller teams that we should have beaten. Villa is another of the smaller/mid sized clubs that we should have the people to beat (even using our b team). the question remains will Arteta be able to provide the plan and get the team to execute it properly on Saturday.
Marquee
1.5K
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5.2K
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over 16 years
Do we still think of ourselves as a big club??
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
I'd argue we are one of the bigger clubs globally from the EPL. Man U, Man C, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, followed by Tottenham. They'd be the big 6 I think.
Marquee
1.5K
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5.2K
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over 16 years
In terms of trophies won and global support, yes we are a big club but currently our rivals are the so called smaller clubs like Villa, Palace and Southampton. 
Brighton, West Ham and Brentford are all above us on the table at the moment and I think part of our problem is that we think we just have to turn up to win. Laca showed the kind of passion we need to have from the start if we want to win games. On paper, we have a very good starting 11 but they're just not performing like it. I'll be keen to see how well Vieira does at Palace with the limited resources and squad that he has. 
Legend
3.6K
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15K
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almost 17 years
Tierney out yikes
Laca deserves a start
Glad to see Saka back on the right
Very interested to see how nuno goes
Marquee
3.1K
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6.7K
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over 16 years
I don't think that's a pen....
Marquee
3.1K
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6.7K
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over 16 years
Cracking save from Martinez. Good follow up from auba. 
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
i dunno, defender certainly makes contact with Lacazette before the ball. Tackle from behind is always a foul, so t has to be a pen.
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
2-0 up at the half is nothing more than was deserved anyway, we've outplayed them across the pitch.
Marquee
3.1K
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6.7K
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over 16 years
sharkty yet beautiful goal to conceded
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
overall im pretty happy with the performance, 3-1 is decent, we just have to be consistent week to week. So stoked to see Laca starting. Even if it did mean Odegaard was sacrificed.
Marquee
3.1K
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6.7K
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over 16 years
Did Auba just leave the field with the captains armband still on?
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
lol probably,
lots of positives, Ramsdale solid as always, back four was good, Tavares was really good, midfield operated well, Lukonga did well with Partey, Saka and ESR were strong and game Laca and Auba good chances.
Not sure the subs added much, Maitland-Niles is just pants as a midfielder, Martinelli only got a few minutes, and Odegaard did ok with 25 mins.
9th after 9 games, on 14 points - gotta keep moving up.
The club have to get a new deal in front of Laca, we need him at the club, unless this Haarland rumour is to be believed.
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
Was it me or was that a cheeky 4-4-2? Either way, so much better with Laca there to link with the midfield.

Also cracking to see us doing the press well.

Looks like KT can have a full week or so off, Nuno 🤩
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
theprof
I'd argue we are one of the bigger clubs globally from the EPL. Man U, Man C, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, followed by Tottenham. They'd be the big 6 I think.
 
The interesting part of this is why these clubs are big. City and Chelsea far more recent history compared to Pool, United, Arsenal.

How Sp*rs get in there is always beyond me. Such a lack of history that we could move over the Thames, get the tube stop changed, and surpass them with ease. Joke club summed up by the fact they sacked their best manager they’ve had this Millenium and he is now coaching Messi, Mbappe, and Neymar while his former charges play their home matches in a stadium shaped like a toilet bowl.

What do you think of Tottenham?
Marquee
3.1K
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6.7K
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over 16 years
brumbys
Was it me or was that a cheeky 4-4-2? Either way, so much better with Laca there to link with the midfield.

Also cracking to see us doing the press well.

Looks like KT can have a full week or so off, Nuno 🤩
And it wasn't a bad 4-4-2 either. I wonder if we will see more of it until we sort out our structure for the attacking third.
Thought that Sambi and Partley played well and controlled the middle well together. Sambi reminded me a bit of Ozil at times. Not his play, but how his resting facial expressions can make him look uninterested in what's going on. 
Having Laca switching between forward and attacking mid position enabled Auba to play high and a bit wider which helped stretch their defence. 
Our defence was pretty solid. The only poor part was the half tackle that lead to their goal and then White letting it bounce 5mins later. Other than that they controlled the game well. Nuno did very well and can happily fill in for KT.  
Would have liked to see more mins given to Martinelli than Odegaard but understand why the switch was made. 
Legend
2.3K
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17K
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almost 17 years
Great first half, average second half. We still aren’t a 90 minute team yet, but a massive improvement on the past few weeks. We made Villa look incredibly average.

Bit worried about Lokonga’s ball retention. Also think Partey should have been far stronger for their goal. Apart from that there were a lot of good performances all over. Smith Rowe was incredible, and Ramsdale, Gabriel and White all looked superb. Also impressed with Tavares on debut.
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
I do feel for our midfielders at times. The la masa mantra of “give, offer, receive” is replaced by “give, run the fudge away, maybe receive”.

I know we’re not Barca but a bit more maturity from some of our players of when to push forward or wide and when to come closer would help those on the ball greatly.
Legend
8K
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14K
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over 16 years
I think the combo's and familiarity with the style of play will come, Arteta clearly want to play the high press and counter kind of football that the gunners we famous for under Wenger, this kind of play requires high energy to press high for 90 but it also requires a midfield wth the ability to hold onto the ball and hit o the counter in transition. Right now we probably dont have all the midfielders we need to do this constantly.
ESR's goal on the counter was a classic example of how Arteta wants to play, we win the ball in our own half and hit on the break with some lovely one two passing between the midfield.
Marquee
1.7K
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8.1K
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over 16 years
I do wonder if Xhaka missing is part of the trouble when it comes to retention. He has his foibles but recycling possession efficiently, switching the play, and first time balls on the break are where he is at his best.

It does lead me to wonder how we’ll go in a post Xhaka world - by the time he leaves we’ll need to replace him properly (assuming Lokonga is heir to Partey). 

Equally what do you do about Laca? Seems to be the spark that this team connects around at the moment but isn’t getting a new contract and is off on a free. Auba into his last year next season too.

Can only imagine we’ve got another big expensive summer coming up next year. 

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