29 Sep 2020 09:18:21
Well played Liverpool to be fair. Don't think anyone will stop them this season again. Ed001 opinions on the game and arsenal performance please?
{Ed001's Note - Arsenal performance - tactically inept and riddled with stupid errors caused by terrible management. Arteta must be blind or a complete idiot to persist with playing out from the back against Liverpool. Both Holding and Tierney were getting more and more disheartened each time they got the ball as they had no options. The midfield offered absolutely nothing and the attack, apart from the runs Lacazette made, were not helping at all. It was just like watching Emery's team yet again, where it is reliant on luck as much as judgement.
What was he doing picking Elneny and Xhaka as a central pair and then sticking Maitland-Niles out on the left? That just meant you had no mobility in the middle and they were just being breezed past to the point where they ended up dropping deeper and deeper and getting in the way of the defence. And why was Ceballos not on from the start if you are going to try and sit deep and hope to counter? He may be completely powder puff but he is the only midfielder you have capable of playing the pass to the forwards.
I just don't get why Arteta didn't change things, this was the kind of stubborn stupidity that cost Emery his job. Arsenal are nothing like as bad as they looked last night, but every time I watch them they look a very average side. You have quality players not even getting into the squad, that needs looking at, especially when Arteta insists on playing players out of position constantly. All he is doing is demoralising good players when it goes wrong. You can only ride your luck for so long.
If Arteta doesn't learn quickly from this, then you are just going to be stuck in the same limbo you have been in for the last few years, since the tail end of Wenger's reign. Gradually you will just continue lowering expectations until you are celebrating survival in the Prem if you don't arrest this slide. And for heaven's sake play Gabriel, Saka and Saliba, rather than shoehorn players into their positions.}
29 Sep 2020 13:08:13
Ouch Ed001! Don’t hold back just say what you think 😂.
{Ed001's Note - that was me holding back!}
29 Sep 2020 12:33:55
Thanks Ed, love the breakdown you gave. I feel some sort of sympathy has to be with Arteta though because he tried using the same style we beat you with again. Two things I wanted to ask (no bias) as you won and was the better team. 1) do you think Mane was a red card? 2) Do you think arsenal need Aouar AND Partey or one or the other?
{Ed001's Note - you beat us in a game after we had won the league already and had nothing to play for and in a pre-season friendly. No manager worth their salt would have seen that Community Shield game and thought anything other than Arsenal got away with it though. So it was madness to try it again.
1. No, he did not throw out an elbow with force, he was pushing his arm out to hold him off and Tierney made the absolute most of very little actual contact. I would have been gutted if it had been given as we see those kind of incidents 10 times a game when players come together. But you are, as a player, taking a risk of it being given each time you put your arms out like that, so while I would have been gutted, I would also have understood why the ref gave it. If you watch it though, it is Tierney's reaction to it hitting his chest that made it rise. He leant back so it slid up, it clearly wasn't a deliberate elbow to the face.
2. Is there an option for both and another? If Arteta isn't going to trust half the squad, which he clearly doesn't, you need a lot more than 2 players.}
29 Sep 2020 14:38:30
Thanks Ed for your insight. Hope you don’t win the premier league lool.
{Ed001's Note - erm thanks, I think.}
29 Sep 2020 14:44:58
Well said Ed. Mikel is doing a great job but people need to raise their expectations or we will end up with a slightly better Emery. Questions need to be asked of Mikel - nothing wrong with that as there were some questions that really need answering. He’s managing a top side. Top 6.
City look vulnerable, Chelsea too, Utd aren’t great - it’s all to play for and if the board get their 💩 together and sign a couple of midfielders so we can actually defend and create then Mikel is all out of excuses.
I really like Mikel but I refuse to lower the bar especially after the last 10 years. We must demand / ask / expect more than the junk on display last night.
{Ed001's Note - I think this is a job too soon for him.}
29 Sep 2020 18:24:28
I’m not on board with that Ed - he’s showed enough for us to have hope. He doesn’t have the players to be really held accountable - hence I want the midfield ripped apart to give Mikel no excuse. I think he could deliver but agree that it’s not certain. Only thing certain is 1. He won’t achieve anything unless he picks the best team not his favourite players. 2. He won’t compete with Elneny, Granit, Torriera etc in midfield.
{Ed001's Note - I am sorry but there is enough there for him to do a lot better but he has no idea how to use the players he has. Torreira showed he was more than good enough if used correctly, but Arteta won't even pick him. He would rather bomb out players altogether than man-manage. I don't see any signs of a decent manager in there, but then I never saw what was so good about him as a number 2 at City either, as he offered nothing new to their set up.}
29 Sep 2020 22:12:18
Who would you have at arsenal then ed.
{Ed001's Note - you should have gone all out for Nagelsmann.}