Shoehorning

67 comments

1. No easy games in football, huh? To hell with that 🙂

   Yes we should beat them easily, and I expect us to. But sometimes a bad team can drag you down to their level.

   I like Licht, not just for the same reasons as you do, but because he takes no sh1t from anyone on the pitch. There’s something a bit Martin Keown about him. Iwobi should also get a game. he’s looked good in Emery’s system when he’s played. Mavropanos, and Elneny could see minutes too. Even Emile Smith-Rowe.

   The player Im most looking forward to seeing, though, is Leno. He’s waited a long time for his chance. it’s got to sting a little that he’s the only big money goalkeeper in the Big 6 who hasn’t gone straight in as first choice.

   1. True Claude. I think Unai is playing the long game with Leno. Hoping to ease Cech out from his leadership role while others fill the void. Just don’t know who that is at the moment…

   2. The market value of the FC Vorskla is £11m.

      Have we ever played a competitive game against a smaller club ( inflation adjusted)?

      1. So what you’re saying is that many of our players could buy their club? Wenger could buy their club?

2. “Torreira received a ton of praise for his performance against Newcastle. I didn’t see anything noteworthy with either my eyes or with the data, other than the fact that he stays mostly in the middle of the pitch. ”

   Tim – thanks for helping to preserve my sanity. I watched the game a second time, and came to the same conclusion. He actually made several poor passes, and was caught way too forward at least once. Don’t get me wrong – I like him as a player, and would also like to see him play with Guen, but please don’t try to tell me he was the catalyst for our 2nd half. Our 2nd half was largely dreadful. We did NOT play better. We scored 2 goals, but they weren’t things of beauty. We played more forward because Newcastle gave us more space, since they were chasing. We kicked a lot of long balls out of the back, especially trying to preserve the clean sheet in the last 10 minutes. There was no miraculous transformation in the 2nd half. Scoring goals makes it feel better, but it didn’t look better if you actually watch it.

   1. I’m a huge fan of Torreria but he was not a magic wand in that match and your observations are almost exactly the same as mine.

      1. We all desperately want him to succeed, so when we score goals and he’s on the pitch, we have that correlation/causation thing happen. I think Unai is smart to limit both him and Guen. They offer a change of pace that forces teams to adjust, and we have fresh legs halfway, when opponents begin to tire. I haven’t been viewing Guen as getting the hook so much as preserving him for a long season – same with Torreira. We will need them both.

         1. Just went back and watched the 2nd half:

            85th minute, Torreira was megged by Kenedy, tries to foul him from behind, falls over, no one in midfield picks up the runner, newcastle get a good shot/cross from Ayoze.
            At this point, Cech is stalwartly refusing to play the ball out of the back because no one is showing for him, and he has taken three long kicks in a row. It’s just that Newcastle are really awful that prevents them from getting good chances. They turn the ball over multiple times for no reason in this period of play.
            88th minute, Cech punts the ball long again, Emery signals for someone to come back, Newcastle win the ball when Torreira fails to control (tough ball), he and Bellerin both try to make a tackle (and fail), Newcastle retain possession, pass down the right, dribble around Ozil, switch play to Perez in open space on our left, he puts in a lovely cross to Joselu who has an unmarked header at the far post. This is a warning, Mustafi and Bellerin argue over who was responsible but it’s a mirror image of the goal they will concede.

            The goal we have been over.

            1. Yep. We just stopped caring or giving a $hit in the last 10 minutes. Hung Cech and the defense out to dry.

            2. Perfect observation. I was quite surprised at the lack of control in the later stages. For some reason, since Unai era we have become a team who are afraid to play and keep the ball. If AW has thought them anything its ‘Possession with Progression’. During the later stages of AW it was mostly the former without any impact but we can’t do even that now. Why??
               Also booting the ball up will never work for this team. Except Laca (minimally effective) NO ONE (Auba very poor, ramsey ozil dont even attempt) can head up front. Only by fluke/error/foul we will get possession from a long ball.

      2. Emery, after Arsenal -Newcastle, “But maybe in the second half we needed a little more balance on the pitch with the positioning. Lucas gives us this balance”. Interesting that you two saw it quite differently from what the coach and most of us saw. Perhaps we need to get our eyes checked.

         1. I guess I might have to get them checked as well! I also just finished listening to the Arsenal Vision podcast, and they all agreed that Torreira’s presence made the team better (even if his stats aren’t as eye-catching as Guendouzi’s). Paul mentioned Xhaka in particular as someone who benefited from Torreira’s style of play. Pretty sure James said something similar on the most recent Arsecast Extra.

            My point, by the way, isn’t to say that Tim’s wrong because those dudes disagree with him. Rather, it’s to say that you’re in good company whichever way you fall on the issue. My initial reaction was that Torreira made the difference. And while I do want to see new signings to succeed, my desire for the team to succeed far outweighs what I want for any one individual, so I don’t think my assessment of his play is (too) rose-tinted.

            Anyway, it matters little. We go from game to game, it seems, with Emery experimenting, changing things up, etc. Even if he said he liked what he saw of Torreira at Newcastle, I’m not convinced he’ll start him this weekend.

            Man, I hope he figures out his best eleven before January. That would be good. To me this shoehorning business isn’t ideal, and it would seem to be having an adverse effect on Aubameyang, Ramsey, Ozil, and possibly Xhaka.

         2. Also, should add that my praise of Torreira is not a zero sum game. I also really like Guendouzi. I don’t know what I would do in Emery’s situation. Different games call for different players? Guendouzi and Xhaka too similar?

         3. Even the new By The Numbers on Arseblog news was so desperate to buy into the Torreira narrative that he presented numbers showing no change, and then said he feels Torreira made us better. Weird, for a stats article.

            1. Um, yeah, it’s not “weird” to have a different opinion. I also think it’s desperate to characterize as “desperate” an opinion you don’t happen to agree with. Like I said, you’re in good company no matter what your opinion. There’s no need to belittle.

3. I’d like a virtually Carabao Cup line-up;

   Leno
   Lichtsteiner/Holding/Mavrapanos/Monreal
   Torreira/Elneny
   Iwobi/Smith-Rowe/Myhkitaryan
   Nketiah

   Cech, Mustafi, Bellerin,Welbeck, Ozil, Xhaka, Guendouzi on the bench. Let Auba, Laca, Ramsey and Sokratis stay home.

   1. I reckon Welbz will start ahead of either Nketiah or Smith-Rowe, but otherwise I think you’ve got it spot on.

      Also, would like to see Auba on the bench to get some game time and confidence at CF, and personally would prefer Guen over Elneny, though I suppose the latter deserves some playing time after having to be very patient this season.

   2. That’s probably the right line-up though I think if there was ever a time for corporal Jenkinson to get any game time with us, this might be it. It would allow us to rest Monreal.

      1. Better to use Kolasinac to replace Nacho. He is less injured than Jenkinson, and he actually is a left back.

   3. I read something that Mavropanos is injured.

      1. Oh, that’s too bad. I didn’t see any sign of him in the most recent training video (yes, I’m that sad). Holding will definitely play. Maybe with Mustafi?

4. This might be a bit of a risk but I think we should give a start to the toddler who appeared on our first team photo.

5. I like it Jack – just wish we had someone to rest Monreal – he’s playing a ton of minutes for a 32 year old.

6. Lucky you. In Canada, DAZN is our CL and EL provider and they charge $20/mo.

7. 1NIL, where are you??? I want more hints!!!

8. “I didn’t see anything noteworthy with either my eyes or with the data, other than the fact that he stays mostly in the middle of the pitch.”
   The Magpies had a dangerous fast break in the 41st because Guendouzi was out of position after going for a 50-50 ball on the edge of the Newcastle area. On that play, Xhaka ended up in the leftback position and it took a sliding tackle from Sokratis to end the threat.
   Newcastle had no such counterattacking opportunity in the second half because of Torreira’s positional play (all their chances after the break came from crosses from the flanks). There is no stat for preventing a dangerous pass with smart positional play, but it can prove just as crucial as making an interception. Likewise, Monreal was awful at preventing dangerous crosses but it won’t show in the stats. Tactically, and the reason why Emery said Torreira gave more balance to the team, Xhaka got more freedom to roam forward when Torreira took over the holding midfielder role. In the first half, Xhaka didn’t have that freedom with Guendouzi.

   1. That’s my takeaway as well. Also, the winning goal came from a Xhaka cross. He’s not that far up the pitch unless he feels confident that there’s a DM to cover. I think Torreira gets Xhaka playing to his strengths.

   2. So why does he consistently start a mismatched pair together, and yank one — Guendouzi twice, Xhaka once as I recall — at halftime? Why not bloody start Torreira? I agree with the comment Tim made last thread, that consistently subbing a young player playing reasonably well at halftime can be confidence destroying.

      I thought at first that the halftime subs showed decisiveness and balls on the coach’s part, but now that he’s done it every game, I think differently. It tells me that he consistently misjudges his starting lineup. And it’s the same 2 players. Are we supposed to believe that he’s discovering, anew every time, four/ five games running, that Torreira’s positional cleverness actually solidifies our play?

      Again, I think he wants to have his cake and consume it, which isnt necessarily a bad thing. He clearly values Guendouzi’s energy, all round play and progressive use of the ball. And he clearly wants Xhaka, a good striker of the dead ball, to influence the game further forward. So he shoehorns.

      But unless his halftime changes are premeditated, it is actually not a great reflection on his tactical planning, if he does it as often as he does. Which is every game thus far. Start Torreira, if that’s his effect. And pick one of Guen and Xhaka, fgs.

      1. Yeah, it is worrying that he’s still figuring out his best eleven. But, you know, we should give him time. If he’s still tinkering come January, then…knives!

         1. Fair enough. Im not knifing him, though. Not now, or in January. I think it’ll take him a year or two to get the squad he wants. I also think that we made an excellent hire. These are fair questions to ask now, that’s all.

            1. Agreed.

   3. “Newcastle had no such counterattacking opportunity in the second half because of Torreira’s positional play (all their chances after the break came from crosses from the flanks)”

      Completely wrong: I detailed this in a response earlier. I really don’t want to do this because I’ll be accused of “knifing” Torreira but he was directly at fault for two breaks by Newcastle, right before the goal. One a failed tackle, one a failed dribble, combined with the fact that his passing was awful and he lost control of the ball on a number of occasions and lost every aerial duel he was involved in, he actually had quite the poor outing. Plus the goal came from a man who ran right in front of both him and Xhaka. Also when Torreira was on the pitch and while Xhaka was up front “making a difference” to the attack, Cech resorted to constant long balls, which Newcastle easily dealt with and which put Arsenal under pressure. That second half was ugly and only the lucky goal by Xhaka turned things around.

      1. Wow! That’s an extremely negative analysis of Torreira’s performance. Of course, Torreira lost some duels. No player will win 100% of his duels. Yes, Torreira missed his tackle on Kenedy at 84:50, but he slowed Kenedy down and the Newcastle counterattack lost its momentum, forcing them to spread the ball wide to Perez for a cross-shot. What you didn’t see is that Torreira won a split second for Bellerin to get back in position and Arsenal had a good 5v3 situation at the back, they were not as open as in the 41st (a 3v3 situation). And yes, Torreira missed a 50-50 ball at 87:27, but he forced Kenedy to run backward with the ball, 70-80 yards from the Arsenal goal. And it’s ludicrous to blame Torreira for Joselu’s chance because the Arsenal team had a good shape when Torreira lost that 50-50 challenge. And blaming Torreira for Newcastle’s goal is even more ludicrous. It was Mustafi and Bellerin’s job to mark the two Magpies at the far post for the 6-yard header. If you want to be objective, you have to ask yourself why Monreal did such a poor job to stop crosses, why Mustafi was not tight to the Magpie at the far post for the crosses, and why Bellerin was in a too wide position instead of helping Mustafi.

   4. First, I don’t think anyone is saying Torreira was awful. Or that he is awful. Far from it. He’s definitely an asset to the team, and is undoubtedly more positionally aware than either Guen or Xhaka. But every blog and podcast are saying the guy walks on water, and completely tranformed our team. That’s BS. He was OK. But he also made serious errors. 60:24 loses track of his man, who makes a dangerous cross. 63:00 turns over the ball deep in our territory. Bailed out by a very poor pass by Newcastle. This in addition to the near disaster later that Tim mentioned. And more importantly, we just weren’t all that good in the second half. It felt better because we scored, (on a low percentage free kick and a ball bouncing around in the box) but our play was very sloppy and our defense still porous, especially at the end.
      I want Torreira to succeed as much as anyone – he has great potential to fill a hole we’ve had for a long time. And he should get better. But he wasn’t transformative. We scored when he was on the field. We have up our only goal when he was on the field. To say he was the big difference in the game is way too facile.

      1. “But he also made serious errors. 60:24 loses track of his man, who makes a dangerous cross. 63:00 turns over the ball deep in our territory. Bailed out by a very poor pass by Newcastle. ”
         You are picking on every duel Torreira lost. 60:24, Torreira is not losing track of his man, it’s a Magpie who’s making a run in behind Torreira. Someone must talk to Torreira on that play. 63:00, Hayden intercepts Torreira’s pass for Ozil. It was an ambitious but risky pass. Give Torreira some credit for heading the cross away (it’s not a poor pass by Newcastle).
         “But he wasn’t transformative. We scored when he was on the field. We have up our only goal when he was on the field. To say he was the big difference in the game is way too facile.”
         Then why Emery said Torreira gave the team more balance? Why Adrian Clarke in his Breakdown, and Ian Wright on the BBC said Torreira made the difference? Are they all wrong?
         Here’s what Alan Shearer said in Match of the Day: “”Torreira made a difference when he came on at half-time. The difference was that he looked forward so quickly. Every time he got the ball his first thought was ‘Can I move it forward?’ and there was so much more movement ahead of him where there wasn’t in the first half. That was the big difference.”
         Here’s also an article that nails exactly why Torreira improved Arsenal in the 2nd half (1. allowed Xhaka to run the game; 2. higher tempo; 3. better defensive cover than Guendouzi): https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/players/latest-arsenal-news-emery-torreira-15162370
         Last, but not least, here’s the tactical analysis from a Sky pundit. Yes, Torreira missed some passes, but it was because he took more risks than Guendouzi and it improved Arsenal’s attacking play: https://www.skysports.com/transfer/news/11096/11503175/arsenal-tactics-how-lucas-torreira-can-be-driving-force-in-central-midfield

         1. Nice!

         2. Yes, Emery, Clarke, and Ian Wright can all be wrong. There is a certain “group-think” going on right now with Torreira. But I’m seeing a player who actually hides from the ball quite a bit. His passing numbers are extraordinarily low for a CM who is playing in a big ball possession side like Arsenal. I also saw that Arsenal went long ball at the end of the match against Newcastle, that Xhaka had no one to pass to, that Cech went long ball, and that Arsenal couldn’t retain possession. Not because he was such a great attacking force but because Torreira ran away from the ball.

            As for the Shearer thing, I hear the exact same thing about Guendouzi when he’s on the pitch, plus his passing range is superior.

            The first link: “allows Xhaka to run the game” and look what happened against Newcastle. Xhaka cannot be trusted to run games. Arsenal constantly lost possession when “Xhaka was running the game”, so much so that the team conceded two great chances, one which ended up a goal.

            For the second link, again, just like the Shearer comment, I’ve seen the exact same said about Guendouzi.

9. i’ve read all of you guy’s theories about who should play together for arsenal to play well and what not. i think it’s a lot simpler than that. arsenal simply aren’t ready to play the game at kickoff. they’ve started every game, including pre-season, very slow. the only game they started fast was against boreham wood when auba had the hattrick in the 18th minute. i can’t remember another decent start to a game under emery. arsenal can’t afford that. something has to change.

   arsenal don’t engage until after just after the half-hour mark which leads to a decent end to the first half and a strong start to the second half. that’s it. how many goals has arsenal even scored in the first half this season? mustafi’s header and the comeback against chelsea are the only ones i can think of. most of the goals have been scored after the half-hour mark. most of arsenal’s chances have happened late. emery needs to make sure the players are ready to play, physically and mentally, at kickoff. if he does that, i think it will debunk many of the other theories i’ve read.

   guendouzi starts every game because he’s better than torreira. the eye test tells you that and the stats confirm it. tim’s assessment is spot on. sure, i wasn’t excited about torreira coming to arsenal at that price point but he’s here now so i’m gonna support him. also, xhaka always plays well against crap teams like newcastle. has he ever had a good game against a top team? i thought we’d established this facet of his game last season. i remember he scored a goal against man united but he didn’t play well. until he puts in a good shift against a decent team, i’m sticking with my gut in saying that we can’t win the league with him in midfield.

10. I don’t want to sound like a negative pri#k but Arsenal and winning the league in the same sentence, whether with or without Xhaka in the midfield, is a fantasy while Kroenke’s the owner.

    Better coaches than Emery are in charge of teams willing to spend more money on better players than Arsenal ever will under Stan, period.

    I know Leicester did it but it would take another seismic event of three top teams or more reorganizing and retooling while Arsenal get their act together, but either part of this equation is highly unlikely.

11. Wasn’t that one of the last guy’s sins– shoehorning?
    Out of necessity, of course– from failing to have plied a position with appropriate cover. Still, feels familiar.

    Though still impressed that we’ve been playing competitive matches; trying to win them with only 45 minutes of effort. Imagine how good we’ll be when we use the right players, in the right spots for 90. Does feel like that. Playing with one leg tied back.

    I’m in the ‘Torreira makes everything better’ camp. Even if the stats (or your eyes) say it’s a psychosomatic effect. I’m for any effort ‘The Terrier’ might make– that pushes Xhaka further upfield (where he can be useful)– as well as mitigating some portion of the shelling Mustafi allows weekly upon our goal.

    Tim thanks for pointing out the B / R Live cost of $9.99 is ‘per month’. Didn’t see that expressed. Thought I’d found ‘the bargain’. Though am pleased to see single-events also viewable for $2.99. That’s a ‘by-the-slice’ cost that projects a next-gen pricing model to be even cheaper. Hope I live that long.

    jw1

12. (Sorry ’bout the three nearly-identical posts Tim. Was thinking I’d been caught in Askimet Purgatory– and was making slight changes to escape! All awaiting ‘moderation’. )

13. There’s something people are missing which is what really finished AW as a manager. The players are human, they have emotions, they watch games, they receive instructions and they play. The psychological impact of who you play with cannot be understated.

    With almost the same players except the trio of Torreira, Sokratis and Guendouzi we have won 2 away matches. Reasons are the structure and the logic behind the manager’s playing style, the quality of the players remains the same.

    In Torreira’s case he came on and we scored 2 goals. We also played a better game with more intent in the second half. It’s not the stats that the players rely on to perform, it’s the presence and competence of their mates in the heat of the moment.

    AW presided over a persistent lack of a DM in the team over a period and when confidence began to diminish, he did nothing to restore logical parity.

    1. I never understood AW’s departure from playing with a physically imposing and positionally sound holding midfielder. They were always hallmarks of his best teams, but after 2008 he seemed to decide he didn’t need them anymore. Not sure that’s causation or simple correlation, since he was investing money elsewhere in the team and seemed to consider fullbacks, central midfielders and goalkeepers to be low value commodities, but his choices of lighter weight playmaker types in the engine room speaks volumes about his preferences.

14. Iwobi’s reaction after the assist 😀
    Priceless

15. Auba! That would have been such a sweet goal. Great effort.

16. Vorskla doesn’t seem dreadful at all. I have seen United play way worse than this on more than one occasion in the past few years.

17. halftime.

    Iwobi and Mkhitaryan may have played themselves back into the starting XI on Sunday. They’ve been excellent, Iwobi moreso. Iwobi and Aubameyang have very good synchronicity. Watch that space.

    Sokratis imperious. He’s become the leader of our defence.

    I really like Torreira. Traffic control. Exudes such calmness on the ball. Mature head on young shoulders, and the fulcrum of our team for years to come, imo.

    Vorskla (av home attendance 3,000) decent. Do the fundamentals right, except for when Mhki picked the attacker’s pocket. This game fgootball, eh? We are comfortably better, but small sides keep shrinking the gap.

    p.s. Am I the only person a tad bit annoyed seeing Elneny in the No. 4 of Vieira and Fabregas?

    1. Highlight of the first half HAD to be Torriera’s head tackle! I think him, Iwobi and Socrates have been our best players so far. Mkhi did well for the goal.

       1. Torreira can do everything Xhaka can (tick-tock tempo setting and pass dictation and dead ball striking), and what he can’t (defend, tackle). Maybe it’s just a matter of time.

          1. Torreira was very strong today. Most of the guys did well. They gave us eons of time and miles of space on the ball. The last goal was so disappointing. Zero effort from our midfield.

             1. Mirror image of the late Newcastle consolation then. Not tracking runners when 2-0 or 4-0 up! I’ll take that if it’s our worst problem right now 🙂

18. Auba has been sublime. Credit to Emery for starting him. He needed a confidence booster.

19. Well played Arsenal, but that was some good work spoiled at the end. Lovely goals, could have had 6. Auba looks like he’s back, which is great news. Laca had the look of a man who want to happy to miss the party when feats were on offer. I’d surprised if Iwobi doesnt start on Sunday. Mkhi lively. Sokratis grappling a Brazilian player nearly a foot taller summed him up 😀 The more I see, the more I like. Welbeck had a good game, and showed his value to this Arsenal squad. Elneny hared around, as he does, with nary a tackle on anyone. Rob Holding dealt capably with every aerial challenge.

    Lichtsteiner guilty of dozy defending for both goals. We look capable of dropping a clanger amid our good work, don’t we? 4 – 2 is such an Arsenal result, all things considered. The gap was bigger than the scoreline suggested, but we will always give the opposition a chance. Hard to judge Leno on this. He was beaten by 2 good wallops.

    Mesut took his chance well, but (perhaps inevitably given the state of game), I thought that our intensity dropped with his arrival, which coincided notably with a tendency to overplay and go tippy tappy.

    1. (ugh. ugly Proofread, Claude)

       Laca had the look of a man who wasnt happy to miss the party when feats were on offer.

    2. Good workout. Ticked lots of boxes.
       Was about 20 minutes behind the broadcast late in the match. Just now seeing the end. Not much worried about the 2 late goals. Aesthetics really. More so than Ozil’s influence? Once we’d put a wrap on it at 4-0 — the only real concern was everyone finishing without injury. So, all’s well…

       Felt Auba could grab a brace with Mkhi at 10 today.
       Hat trick 1st-half was doable.

       Sokratis, yes! Clever 1v1 defusings on several occasions.
       Pleased with the responsible play between he and Holding.

       Guendouzi with a couple of Laca moves top-of-box late.
       Just never could find a lane to pull the trigger.

       jw1

       1. I try to focus on the positives but the two goals were really disappointing from my perspective. I think it’s more than aesthetics. It’s a mindset and I would like us to be a team that plays like they don’t want to concede.

          1. Admire the expectation. I’d certainly love it myself as well.
             Had we the ability, and our new man had settled on a plan for the solution. But he’s not nearly close. We’re seeing UE is barely sure of anything — except– this group CAN score goals.

             Just 6 meaningful matches into a years-in-the-coming regime change? Pivoting from a mostly-skillful bloodless-coup? Which, by all intents, only ended just this week? I’ve got hopes at this point. But not yet to the level of expectations.

             That we keep managing to win matches is good medicine.
             Going to lend the all the patience I can muster.

             If there were a positive today for me personally (and no, I don’t care it was Vorskla Poltava)? I enjoyed watching Sokratis and Holding play solidly. Can’t recall the last time our CB pair could claim that. (Nevermind. I’m good with today’s afterglow.)

             Cheers!
             jw1

20. Why oh why when Arsenal should be home and dry on a beach in the south of France do we give up late goals and to a 5th place Ukrainian League team. Maybe we need to go to a back five when we get a lead and play catenaccio (Italian for park the bus). On the other hand, we could be Brazil ’70 where you score one and we’ll score two to that one, defense be damned.

    Google T. Spits stadium debacle for lessons on how not to build an 850 mil stadium while cutting costs proper construction oversight. Reading about drugs, booze and communication failures leading to costly delays which will push the stadium opening into 2019 seems so typical of T. Spits that no one should be surprised (from an Arsenal perspective).

21. I lost my feed after we scored the third and was very disappointed to read about the two goals that we conceded. Was is just a matter of our players switching off? I hope Emery gives the guys an earful about the goals we conceded but given his defensive record, I am not very confident. I suppose this is who we are now and will be for the foreseeable future.

    Agree with Claude on Iwobi. He continuously beat his marker on the left and a cross was almost always on. Though Vorskla wasn’t as awful as I thought they would be, the quality of the opposition also needs to be factored in but I think at the very least, Iwobi should be given more playing team based on this display.

    1. Actually, both were thumpers from edge of the box– from either side of center.
       Lichtsteiner lost control of a ball at his feet– that came in from a FK (essentially a corner)– which one of their CBs whacked into goal upper-left. Just appeared at his foot. Nobody had a chance to react.

       Second came at the stroke of midnight– Vorskla breaking down the left flank– a pass was centered that missed its’ intended target– an unintended dummy– that was met in-stride by one of theirs. Same velocity, almost same location– as the first. Leno with no chance. Elneny nor Guendouzi saw the trailing player. How late was it? There was no kickoff following the goal.

       jw1

    2. You must have been on the same stream as me; mine went t**ts up after the third also, so I switched off think that we’d probably Geta couple more.
       Good result even factoring in the two against, and agree with all comments here about Iwobi. I’ve been banging his drum since last season and really regret uncle Jay Jay’s intervention in persuading him to to select Nigeria over England for his international career.
       Another plus (for Arsenal) is that Alex is rarely injured, and considering that he runs with the ball that’s quite an achievement.

22. Only just saw the goals on the .com, nothing else yet.

    Vorskla did seem pretty bad, particularly on the Welbeck goal he was the only red shirt standing amongst about 8 green ones, but hey, we scored some nice goals and that’s always a good thing. Maybe we are developing kind of a bad habit of relaxing too much when we’re up late in games but that’s a terrific problem to have given the other problems Arsenal have had recently, namely, not being in the lead late in games very much at all. Sure, it’s “Just” Vorskla and it’s “Just” Newcastle, you would say, but apparently the players see it that way too or they would bother to track midfield runners and stuff. We know they know how because they’ve done it for lots of minutes before suddenly not doing it when we’re 2-0 or 4-0 up. I’d say if that’s the major issue with our football right now, even against Vorskla, I’m pretty happy with that. Progress, not perfection!!

    Along those lines, I am tempted to believe LIchtsteiner’s assertions about having the body of a 28 year old when I watched him make that recovery sprint during the first part of the highlight just before our counter attacking goal. He stayed with that other guy, who was presumably not 34 and presumably playing in an attacking position because he is not 34, step for step and looked like maybe he had another gear to go to after that. I’m also tempted to believe him because he has access to the data and we don’t, and he doesn’t seem like the sort of bloke who goes around saying things about himself that aren’t true. His 28 year old body was dispossessed on the edge of his own box though so even 28 year olds can make mistakes.

23. Just when I’d hope to be done with him and his smooth talking BS, he now takes his corporate act to my other team for his ACT II. It will be interesting to see just how well he fares as the outsider in the AC Milan hierarchy.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/ACMilan/comments/9h429f/gazidis_i_have_a_head_start_in_this_project/

24. The more competitive game (on paper) should be the 10 AM game with Man U (8) vs Wolves (9) but it gets relegated to the the Gold package while NBC ‘shoehorns’ Man City (3) v Cardiff (17) (no wins in 5) onto the business channel (CNBC) and Pool (2) v Southampton (12) (1 win in 5) gets the prime spot. The better game to shoe horn in would’ve been Watford (4) (1 lost in 5) v Fulham (15) (1 win in 5). Watford getting no respect.
    Why does this even matter to me you might ask? I’d to see a good Wolves team beat Man U and read about Mourinho moaning like drain afterward.

    1. Fulham vs Watford — is — on the NBCSN main channel (in Houston). Which I’d wager means everywhere US. Wish it wasn’t. Looks like high-school gym class scrum-soccer.

       jw1

25. Poldoski
    Boateng
    Brandt
    These are the only German NT (current and former) players who fully supported Özil when talked about the racial under current behind the criticism directed at him and didn’t ignorantly hide behind the ‘I never saw racism in the German NT’ statements from native German players which is not what Özil said or even implied.

26. United 1 – 1 Wolves Hhaaahaha!

    Now, if Brighton beat Spurs and we win tomorrow, it will be just about the perfect weekend!

    Come on you…uh…Seagulls? Really? The rat of the sky?

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