Good morning.
As the sophists would point out, anger is intentional. It’s not an involuntary reaction, like shivering when you’re cold, or pulling your hand back when you get burnt. You have to make several conscious choices to display anger, starting with having unrealistic expectations, through to indignation (at the broken expectations), and finally on to the outburst itself. And so, with that in mind, and with Arsenal now clearly mired in a deep rebuilding #process and probably not getting past 6th place this season, I am choosing not to be angry, hurt, or even slightly disappointed at yesterday’s result.
This may sound preachy and I apologize if it does. You should, please, have the response that you want to have. I don’t want to police people’s emotions. It’s totally normal to be raging this morning because even with my #GloriousLoweredExpectations I have to admit that Arsenal played some really limp football against Pep Guardiola’s team.
One of the biggest flaws was a lack of energy and fight projected through the midfield. Torreira made just 1 of 6 tackles and Guendouzi 1 of 2. I wonder if Torreira isn’t too #callow and #slight to compete in the Premier League. He certainly has had a number of awful matches this season, where he’s been physically bossed by the opposition. And there’s a reason why Emery has to play three midfielders, mostly because while Torreira is a shield of sorts, he seems to need a bigger man next to him to help shield him at times.
And while Guendouzi looked a mature footballer in possession, he also looks too easily bossed off the ball. Easy to rile up. Targeted by the opposition for kicks. There are times when I’m watching him that I want to see him kick back. Or better yet, kick first. Get stuck in with a studs up “English” tackle and let players like Fernandinho know that you’re there. Of course, those are my expectations. Maybe he’s just a curly haired Xhaka and is doomed to never bring the strength needed to give a good account of himself in the Premier League.
But it’s also too early to tell. They need to be given time to adapt. Time to figure out what C Ronaldo’s diet secrets are and hit the weight room.
As for Lichtsteiner he was exactly how I expected him to be this season. This summer I said that the worst case scenario was him starting away to Manchester City and facing up to the pace of Sterling and Sane. That wasn’t some grand insight. I’d just seen him play a few times last season and knew that he’d clearly dropped off a cliff for Juventus in the Slowie A. I knew that the Premier League values #pace and that almost every team in the League has players who would love to face up one-v-one with a 35 year old who spent his entire career in the most ponderous league in world football and who had been deemed too slow to compete there anymore.
I expected him to be slow but what I didn’t expect was for The Lich to play football like a teenager in his first ever season of top flight. What’s odd about him this season isn’t his pace, it’s the mental “errors”. For example, on the second goal for Man City, you can see him literally run away from Sterling.
The supposed “good business” of getting a player “on a free” (and paying him ridiculous wages) has become a best case scenario where he never has to play.
And any leadership qualities he was supposed to bring to Arsenal seem to have vanished. He looks like a player who has realized that he made a dumb choice to come to Arsenal and is now just trying to cover his legacy. That running away from Sterling, I think was deliberate. He’s been playing football way too long to make a simple error like failing to track on a 1-2 pass. Especially since there is no doubt that Unai handed him a USB/DVD-RW with that exact play on it. City LOVE to get into those spaces, it’s what they train for.
I’m not angry, disappointed, or negative here, just pointing out some thoughts. But I want to leave this blog on a high note, on something very positive:
This moment. After Arsenal scored, Alexandre Lacazette got his teammates together in a huddle and spoke to them (Lich isn’t there, tellingly). And this wasn’t everything he did in this game. He was the only player I saw who was hustling to pressure City and trying to win the ball back. He also took on the creative role in the 442, looking to pick out Aubameyang on several occasions (when Arsenal got the ball).
No matter what else happens this season, I am loving this level of maturity and leadership from Lacazette. I don’t think anyone saw this coming. Philippe Auclair even commented on my post:
Funny - exactly what I was telling a friend of mine. I honestly did not expect that Lacazette could take on such a role, but he has. A superb finisher, a superb team player.
— Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) February 3, 2019
I feel like this started last year with Lacazette. If you remember he was top dog at Arsenal and then the Brain Trust decided to bring in another forward, spending a huge fee on Aubameyang. Lacazette found himself dropped and Aubameyang getting all of the glory.
Lacazette had been the focal point of the Lyon attack, scoring 20+ goals a season for three years. He was penalty taker at Lyon, he was loved at Lyon, and suddenly his new club had basically abandoned him for another forward. Not just any forward, but a rival. Most players would have demanded a trade. Most would have downed tools or looked to get out. But Laca put his ego aside, formed a friendship with Auba, and when he was allowed to play, he just did whatever the team needed.
Most of the smart brains in football didn’t think Lacazette could be the hold-up man that he has become. Most didn’t think he could be the Charlie Hustle on this team. Most didn’t expect him to play that exact leadership role that he has played.
The moment of the season for me was when Emery took him off too early for the Arsenal away fans and they started booing the decision. Lacazette went over to his teammates and told them to think, to play switched on, and then he applauded the Arsenal fans, turning their boos into cheers.
Arsenal may have #FiveCaptains but it seems like there is only one real leader. The unlikeliest of leaders, Lacazette.
Agree about Laca and Guendouzi – they have fire and guts, something we are otherwise light on. Guen has been one of my favorites all season, and I think he has a lot of upside. What I have seen repeatdely, however, despite all of his promise, is a worrying lack of pace at times. If he can’t keep up with opponents on the counter he may never get to a high level. Still, he’s a joy to watch on the ball, and his fiery attitude can be felt in the team.
As sobering as yesterday was, I was heartened by the first half performance. That is one of the most makeshift defenses we can field, and for long periods we were outplaying City. I had maybe just lowered expectations more than you, but I saw glimmers of hope in an injury-ravaged team. This loss shouldn’t have lingering effects – Top 4 chances never hinged on this match. But the next 3 matches might tell the tale for the season. Any dropped points and Top 4 is gone. A lot would have to happen for us to make it, but getting Sokratis healthy would be a big one. I said we would finish 5th and I stand by it. Thanks as always for the great insight – Lich was beyond disastrous in that sequence. I remember scratching my head during the game but your analysis nailed it. He MUST have known what he was doing. Just didn’t want to get abused.
You were right on Licht. I expected he could still sprint but mainly that he’d have some defensive nous. He does have the sh**housery but even that’s less convincing as time’s gone on. We should just have played Jenkinson. Big accusation to throw that he ran away on purpose, but I’m not as charitable towards Arsenal these days so meh, maybe,
I love Lacazette but you also have to applaud Auba for his attitude in forming that friendship. Auba was the hot stuff, had Miki here with him but instead of playing the big man he’s just lifting everyone’s spirits. He also gave Laca the penalty instead of completing his hattrick last season. That helped.
But I love Lacazette. I think I like the quieter characters more anyway. But that time he was subbed off really was the moment. Since then he’s never stopped doing more than his share for the team.
I was pretty annoyed about the game yesterday, and today. But I have since vented and now feel a bit better and ready to subject myself to more. I don’t mind us finishing 6th or whatever. I just want to enjoy the journey.
Anyway, my positive ending will be the Arsenal Pre- Superbowl video which really made me smile (and taught me some ‘Football’ terms)
Couldn’t agree more re Laca.
This whole five player captaincy thing, where three of them ( Ramsey, Ozil, Cech, aren’t even regulars, and one (Ozil) has been treated like he’s got some sort of contagious disease , has been ridiculous from the start.
The fifth is Xhaka. Or Xhoka, to some of us.
Number 1 is Perry Groves
Yeah, that wasn’t too far off my expectations from a scoreline perspective. Given our injury situation, and how far ahead of us City and Pool seem to be, I’d have been delighted by a tie.
And I didn’t feel too bad about Torriera’s performance in this match. He seemed to tire towards the end, as did almost all of Arsenal, but I thought he had a pretty good match. I’m not yet worried about size. Not like Kante is a big guy.
But I am worried about Emery’s decision making. Not like Jenko is an ideal choice, but he could hardly be worse than Lich. At least he has a little pace.
Iwobi was awful. You can’t play both Lacazette and Auba, with Xhaka out injured and expect Iwobi to link. He’s can dribble, but he’s never shown much of a direct passing game. Ramsey or Ozil needed to start. And it made no sense to bring on Suarez, who just joined the team, at 3-1 down. At that point defense isn’t my biggest worry. Why not bring on Ozil, who at least is familiar with the team and proven creator?
The scoreline wasn’t frustrating, but the way it happened definitely was. City could easily have had 5 or 6 goals.
Not only is Laca the emotional leader of the team, he should be first choice CF. Auba will get you more goals, but Laca will make you play better. When playing the 2 in the same team, Auba should play wide and Laca up top. Auba had poor service, but he was a crushing disappointment yesterday. Even when presented with the ball, he’d turn it over religiously. One time, in a position of promise, he tried a flick and run (to no one) instead of putting his foot on it and waiting for help.
Tim, what happened to our early season press? Players seem afraid to assert themselves in the tackle. They stand 6 feet off the player with the ball, not pressing, closing, or tackling. They seem coached within an inch of their lives to occupy a space instead of fighting for the ball. So for example, Sterling makes a run wide left, and Licht is in the box. Does he go out to meet Sterling or show him onto his left foot? No. He hangs back, let’s him come in. Iwobi was painful to watch yesterday. He didn’t seem to know much about positioning, pressing or tackling. Kolasinac is strolling 60 yards away from gathering danger which Nacho is dealing with on his own. You said on twitter that if Iwobi is giving no D and little creativity, that you’d rather have Ozil. It’s hard to disagree.
The caveat to everything I just said is that City area superbly drilled and coached team, with better players. But they’ve been beaten 4 times this season, and Palace went to the Etihad and won.
Yup and they did have a mini confidence crisis when we scored, after their loss to Newcastle. If we’d had more to punish them with, they might just have fallen.
Re: the press, I just don’t think they have the players to do it right now, outside of maybe Laca and LT. Iwobi/Kola are adventures defensively, and Auba isn’t that guy (though he has shown flashes this year of defensive hustle). Guen is still learning, and Licht/Nacho are lucky to be able to run the whole 90 let alone press. He has pressed everywhere but PSG, so I think it starts to come out next year, with new/young players.
The worst thing is managements inability to react into what we see; when its obvious that we need to strenghten defense, how an earth we dont do that? This Lich thingie reminds me of playing Silvestre, Squillaci, fat bloke from brazil etc.
I am telling you that there are far better cb’s, dwb’s and dmc’s in Championship than in our line up right now. Actuslly purchasing Holding with 2M£ makes more and more sense for me every day. In addition to this, we got our youths, but stubbornly these options are not used, instead there are players lacking toughness, ability and mentality to make their mark. Mustafi, Lich, Torreira, especially Kolasinac are pure waste in this level, overpaid garbage that is certainly not worth of their earnings.
But its managements fault. This team looks mentsly fragile, tactically lost in translation, or in transition to be precise. How an earth we need to play high up the pitch our covering wing backs, whom are not able to track back to fill their main duty. Under wenger we were constantly exposed in transitions, even shit teams made us look fool. This season I had high hopes with new manager, but its just getting worse than ever, but I feel that there is no right to complain, because we got the change we needed for at least decade. Now we should just swallow it all, no.matter what, and it reslly sucks. Thanks and sorry.
Thought both Guendouzi and Torreira played well yesterday given the “contributions” of the rest of team around them. My rather depressing prediction is that A Big Team will come in for MG and/or LT during the summer. As two of our few sellable assets, Arsenal will probably be quite happy to sell either for a decent price to raise some money for replacements for the whole host of players who will (or hopefully will) be leaving. And either MG or LT would probably be happy to go to a properly run club with some sort of ambition.
This would no surprise me at all, and if I had real faith in our recruitment do think there is a value that would be good business to cash in at.
Emotional responses aren’t intentional. People have emotional responses to external stimuli constantly, and most of those responses are subconscious and intuitive. It’s a rhetorical sleight of hand to claim that they are intentional by asserting that *displays* of emotion are intentional. And that’s not even true. Many of the typical physical manifestations of emotion are entirely involuntary. Such as an increased heart rate, flushing, etc. That doesn’t mean you should be a slave to your emotions. But to pretend you can command them entirely is foolish.
I was thinking about the question of value. Maybe KSE AFC would be tempted to cash in LT at >40m and >25m for MG but I have absolutely no idea. Depends on how cash short they really are and how many players they need to replace. However, Arsenal don’t really have a good record in selling players so probably wouldn’t be good business no matter how much they potentially went for. Hoping that this prediction is not true though.
“That running away from Sterling, I think was deliberate.” What do you mean by this? He is playing for Arsenal to lose?? I don’t think so. No soft spot for Licht and I never want him to play. Think he is just overwhelmed by PL.
Laca maturity has been in show even before Auba came. When he went through the goal drought playing with an injury and he was still a creator and worked hard. Worth a look back at the Bournemouth game of last season (famous Iwobi pass game).
Also why are we surprised? Which away game performance of this season gave anyone the confidence to get a point?
Win the ManU game at home, at least draw spurs away and clean up games outside top 6. We will get top 4! Lose to ManU and Spurs then we don’t need to bother the last 8 games of PL and just go ALL IN for Europa.
You answered yourself in the last sentence of the 1st paragraph. He got overwhelmed and mentally checked out. He knew he couldn’t keep up so was hoping he could play him offside somehow or a team mate would pick him up.
He’s 35 years old, he’s running around like a first year. Players sometimes make intentional errors (“I was covering the other guy”) in order to make themselves look blameless. That’s the only logical reason why he made that run.
Put like that it seems less outrageous an accusation. This happened when I played basketball and it would annoy me no end.
the first half was encouraging, never expected us win this game
This is the first change of manager for most of the Arsenal fanbase (think this is my 4th, and yes I’m including Stewart Houston lol) so the level of anger around the club is to be expected. I’m not angry about Emery or individual players. I’m not even angry about Lichtsteiner. I just hate losing to City and that cardigan-wearing bum Guardiola.
Utd overtaking us has transferred a lot of their fanbase’s tension to us to but I don’t begrudge them as much.
If letting Arsene play out the season was a choice made out of love and respect, replacing Mourinho mid-season seemed like a choice made out of anger and cold logic. Instead of sending out Lord Hoity-Toity to make that pithy official statement and doing nothing we needed an angry response from the club. Maybe United learnt from our mistake. Maybe Mourinho made it easy for them. But making sure our next manager had CL and a proper budget to work with should’ve been the top priority. Or you end up with Derelicht, which is where we are.
I’m not an Ozil fan necessarily, I’d sell him if there were a buyer, but I don’t get the pass on Ozil yesterday If we’d gone 4-4-2 with the Chelsea game formation, Ozil could have played at the top of the diamond and he would have given Fernandinho something to be concerned with, but instead Fernandinho bombed forward knowing Guendouzi and Torreira were both midfielders who took the ball deep off the defense. Emery could have really exposed Guardiola’s decision to play some weird quasi-back three.
Iwobi was poor and Kolasinac might work at LM against a bottom 10 team, but he doesn’t have the relationship with Monreal to make the left side a real threat.
As weeks go by I am less and less convinced by Emery’s decisions.
I should say I would have had Torreira at the base, Guendouzi left, Iwobi right and Ozil at the top. To start. Swap Ramsey for Iwobi at half-time. Kolasinac in for Mustafi later, move Monreal inside to CB.
Snubbing Ozil in favor of Suarez for a 20 minute cameo surely had less to do with abilities and more with petty stubbornness.
If you wanted Suarez to get off to a good start in this league, 20 minutes off the bench against City away, down by two , would’ve been the worst way to start his loan spell.
What did he have , 2 practice sessions with the club?
He was awful too.
Hey Tim, btw, I just saw your Fyre Fest response to me from the other day
( lol)and I want you to know that as a team player I would consider taking one for the team, if you really, really needed water badly 🙂
If you’re Emery, don’t you at some point accept that getting an extra point or 2 here and there could mean getting to CL-which gets the team more dollars for transfers (in theory), which makes him more likely to succeed. Yes, sell Ozil in summer but get something out of him when your other options are obviously lacking.
A big bucket of sh1t is raining down on Lichtsteiner’s head from gooners everywhere (deservedly so; I hope he stays off social media).
But it’s unfair, Tim, to suggest that he ran away from engaging Sterling. What is clear watching Arsenal is that they are drilled to defend space. He probably realised, belatedly, that he was out of his zone. The players are not so much pressing opponents on the ball as attempting rigid adherence to a defensive shape. This is what Iwobi was so woful at doing. He was all at sea with his positioning…. who to pick up, whether to go to the man on the ball or hang back, WHERE TO BE, FGS.
It seems to me that Emery’s learning curve is steep, and even experienced players are having trouble keeping track. Lichtsteiner may have been found out, and let’s bash him on his ability or lack of it. But he’s a professional, and he’s not going to deliberately run away from engaging an opponent. With millions of people watching.
You were spot on in your initial assessment of the player, but I think you’re being harsh on him in this particular instance.
Claude, I think it’s even simpler than that.
If you watch Arsenal back three of Kos, Mustafi and Licht before the ball is played out to Sterling on the wing, you’ll see them holding a perfect line.
Once Licht makes his attempt to close Sterling down he doesn’t realize Kos and Mustafi drop some three yards deeper, and when Sterling passes the ball to Gundogan and makes his run for a return ball , Licht probably thinks springing the offside trap is the better option than trying to track Sterling.
If you look across the penalty area you’ll see Monreal doing exactly the same thing as Licht, almost the mirror image.
I’m not gonna sit here and say that it’s the easiest of things to hold the line under pressure like this City squad can put you under, and that’s why they have scored this type of a goal pretty much against everyone in the league, but Arsenal don’t deal with it well at all.
Good analysis.
City move the ball REALLY, really well. And on that occasion, it was perfection.
Dude. He runs away from a player and lets him go behind to close down on nothing. He’s not trying to spring an offside trap because he’s not looking at any of the other defenders. This is a major failure of basic defending.
I remember being told in a self-help seminar that when life doesn’t meet your expectations, it’s a lot easier to change your expectations than to change the things that are pissing you off. At which point I really should have walked out.
emery’s brand of football is the worst! they don’t win and there’s absolutely zero entertainment value to watching arsenal play. emery-ball means safe, uninspired, conservative football with absolutely no direction. ugh! makes me wanna throw up. what happened to the dracula-looking dude talking slick about wanting to win 5-4 rather than 1-0? even if city are a good side, don’t just concede to defeat. that’s just wimpy. if fans are going from london to manchester, at least let them be entertained by good football and a manager trying to win. that bleeds over to the players and, likewise, to the fans who really get behind the team. this dude is scared.
arsenal has one of the best strike duos in world football, both in their prime but no one to provide them service. this is a total waste of arsenal’s two most expensive players. can someone explain how that’s good management? likewise, he has a generational talent who puts fear into any team he faces because he’s brilliant and they simply don’t know what he’s gonna do, but the manager’s determined to make a point by leaving him out of the side. who does that? only an egoist. how can you be an egoist if you can’t win a top league? he even found a way to lose the french league with psg. he doesn’t know how to manage big players. that’s why psg sacked him. arsenal look like a joke because the manager either lacks the skill, charisma, or moral courage to manage a team to entertain and play winning football.
The result reflects the difference between Arsenal and Man City now. As Emery said. Personally, I didn’t expect anything but a defeat in this game. ” I don’t think anyone saw this happening”. ??? Lacazette was indeed the focal point of Olympique Lyonnais but not only that. He was the captain, technical leader and whatever you can imagine from a good player. Never complaining or moaning about coach or fans. Lacazette is what I expected him to be at Arsenal. If you used to watch french football (Ligue 1), you know that Lacazette is a fighter. And I think, There’s more to see from him.
While I can’t disagree with your observations, I will just say that Phillipe Auclair watched him a lot and came to the exact opposite conclusion.
A couple of specific things led to people like Auclair being too cynical about Lacazette.
One was his loyalty to Lyon. Linked with transfers away every year (when Qatar took over PSG he was one of their early targets) but didn’t cause trouble or become a dressing room problem. So he was happy to play for Lyon and stay in Ligue 1 when most French talent of his generation had left years earlier.
The other was he could’ve done better with the few opportunities he was given with Les Bleus, but with their world-class selection of forwards, there was no room for error or 2nd chances.
when emery came in, everyone suggested give him 3 years before having any expectations. i said no simply because arsenal’s best players were approaching 30 years if not already there. lacazette, ramsey, monreal, koscielny, welbeck, aubameyang, mkhitaryan, cech, and ozil are arsenal’s nine best players and will all be over 30 in three years. while it’s nice to get in all of the players he wants, emery needed a plan to make the best of arsenal’s available resources and try to win the championship now and every season.
the champions league is a competition for top european teams winning or fighting hard to win their domestic league. that’s not arsenal and until it is, they don’t deserve to be in the champions league. what a loser attitude to say we just want to be in the top 4 when you’ve got as much money and talent as arsenal.
It’s a lot easier to like the statistical analysis on 7am on a lot of occasions ( It might be just me) ; however, the character sketch of Laca seems to be absolutely spot on. If I remember correctly, he even stepped aside to offer Auba a penalty, almost welcoming Auba to the Arsenal fold. Watching his game, the mental fortitude and the sense of fair play are quite obvious. Being called offside by the eyebrow or getting fouled in the box and staying on the feet were not exactly easy for him when fighting for the manager’s mindshare, I’m sure. A class act!