That was an enjoyable performance from Arsenal, for about 40 minutes. After that, we couldn’t get back into the game. We couldn’t get on the ball, couldn’t hold onto the ball when we did get it, and couldn’t create anything on the counter because we dropped into a deep block and our fastest wide players were pinned back, defending deep. And that was all before Jorginho shoved Torreira over and scored the equalizer.
After Lampard changed the shape from a back three to a 433 you could see that we didn’t have an answer. They had 67% of the possession between the 39th and 75th minute, they had 105 passes in the final third to our 31, forced us to make 16 clearances to their 3, and created 7 shots to our 1.
It was the ghost of Emeryball which we have seen a few times since he was fired and shows us how much work Arteta still has to do. We knew this, though, gang: we knew that the team was cobbled together like a Frankenstein’s monster, we knew that a lot of our players don’t have a clue how to play possession football, that a lot of players are weak physically and mentally, and we also knew that the team is (it seems constantly) suffering from injuries.
Just to underline that last point, the current injury list is Bellerin, Tierney, Xhaka (sick.. of playing for Arsenal), Sokratis, Holding, Martinelli, Ceballos, and Kolasinac. On top of that we lost Chambers today with a knee injury and may even lose Mustafi after a massive clash of skulls left him in a lump.
I also know that Arteta has had like three training sessions. Which means that Arsenal don’t have many if any automatisms and also that we don’t have much capacity to change systems to react when the opposition changes things. All this is to say that I understand why we lost today, I even expected us to lose today and I expect us to lose to Man U on New Year’s day.
Still, knowing all of that, I was left bitterly disappointed at the nature of their equalizer. I was so angry that I turned the match off. Then I turned it back on and rewound so that I could see why Torreira was doing his breakdancing routine and Jorginho was wide open.
Look, I’m trying to be positive here so let’s just say that in order for Arsenal to concede the equalizer five things had to happen:
- The referee had to take a cowards route and allow Jorginho to remain on the pitch after what was a clear 2nd yellow foul – though at least to his credit he’d been consistent in that regard because he also could have sent off Guendouzi
- Arsenal had to struggle for 40 minutes holding possession
- Lacazette had to be lazy in his hold up play, give the ball away, and then foul Jorginho
- Leno had to miss the punch*
- Jorginho had to push Torreira down and Torreira had to do his flying breakdancer floor routine looking for a foul
So, yeah, frustrating. I guess another good thing is that Aubameyang worked ever so hard tracking back and covering for Saka, who didn’t go forward much. Though even that feels frustrating. I don’t think that Aubameyang running 90 yards to cover at left back is how I’d like to see him used for the next 6-18 months. It feels to me like his energy is best used up top, especially when we are being hemmed in and can’t keep possession. Perhaps bringing Pepe on and playing him wide left would have been a better choice but I’m sure Arteta had his reasons.
Next up, Man U. Expect them to counter us to death.
*Statistically, the “error” goes to Leno and considering how much pressure Arsenal put Leno under this season it’s a surprise that he’s only made two errors all year.
I would argue that the game change at 40 minutes was mostly related to our early adrenal surge wearing off and the better team taking over the game as opposed to a formation change making the difference.
Ok, but wrong.
It’s not that simple. If youre saying…
(1) that we played on pure adrenaline
(2) tactical changes did not affect the game
…then perhaps you didnt see it.
This is his thing. Every comment is how coaching doesn’t matter. I can’t tell if he’s just some pro-Emery dude who is still carrying the torch for that bum or if this is just his thing that he comments on on every blog. I’m used to people’s personality tics on here but this one is unusual in its persistence. Almost bot-like.
It’s kinda funny seeing how some people choose to fit everything into their preconceived notion of how things are . It’s like being in an abusive relationship , only it’s the lies hurting you again and again and yet you cling onto it because it’s the known comfort amidst the pain .
Emery had some qualities maybe but arsenal lost their spirit and he was totally the wrong fit for us .
His vision for arsenal was a bust – the players he recruited , the training ,the strategies , the preparation , the mentality – was neither coherent nor what was makes a top tier team (in the PL at least).
Time to move on . It is a period of arsenal history fans will try their best to forget even existed , a decade down the line
Am I still wrong for thinking our lack of 6 / proper protection of the defence is still a bigger issue than the individual center backs? With this I am suggesting that on an individual level we have center backs of higher quality than our CDMs.
To clarify:
I obviously don’t mean all of our defenders, but at least the highest quality of CB > CDM.
The other week I did a neat self-own when I said it was time to start worrying about Lacazette… right after he has scored 2 goals in a game. I guess now’s as good a time as any to return to worrying about Laca? Five goals this season, and 27 in two full seasons previously. Dude couldn’t hold up the ball, was wasteful in front of goal, and fouled Jorginho for the decisive free kick. If Arteta had a proper auxiliary striker to Auba, he’s winning that game today. Here’s a player who has regressed before our very eyes. This is not an argument for saying “get rid.” I just want him to be better for us. When Theo Walcott was putting up those numbers, we were killing him. Laca had better do better, or Martinelli will eat his lunch.
Jorginho benefited from Chelsea’s manic, incessant fouling to break up our rhythm when we were dominating them. The ref probably made an unconscious decision not to have to send anyone off.
I’ve been watching football games long enough not to have a foreboding about 1-0 at 80 minutes. Our period of dominance yielding only one goal was likely to come back to haunt us. After failing to get the 2 assists his play deserved in the last game, Mesut was again outstanding in the first hour. Arteta is going to find out stuff about this team only by playing games. If the footballing god was a just one, he’d have 6 points in the bag, not 1. It is not going to be an easy turnaround.
I swear Arsenal are the only team that don’t seem to understand the value of a tactical foul to break up play in threatening positions. It’s another thing Arteta will have to drill into their skulls.
Well, I said the same comment in Le-Grove after the match. We lost it once they got 3 in their mid-field. What is obvious is – when we get the ball back we have no idea what to do with it and as mentioned in my pre-match analysis the reason is Gundeo. He dwells on and on and on and this restricts all passing lane to us. We might be in a relegation battle very very soon..
Agree with much of what you said. I think Arteta has started well, results notwithstanding. Given the long injury list and the limited time on the training field, I think it’s reasonable to expect the team to struggle with the final results which I think will come eventually. One thing Arteta mentioned in his post match comments that stood out was that he didn’t think physically Arsenal were/are the same level as their opponents. It’s a telling observation that most Arsenal watchers would agree with and goes a long way to explain their poor form. Arsenal players often looked ‘gassed ‘ by the 60th minute of most matches with an awful lot of hand- on-waists and pointing. I can’t be sure whether that’s a reflection of poor conditioning or innately poor athleticism. Guendouzi in particular struggles mightily with the physical aspects of the game. Your point on Torreira is another example. Although he’s looked much better lately, he’s too easily shrugged off the ball at times. I think Arsenal will be a much better side with two or three better athletes in key positions, particular in midfield. Even one physical addition during the January transfer window will make a difference.
Tim
How you make definitive statement that my explanation of what happened is wrong? The reality is the explanation is for the game changing probably a little of both our adrenaline wearing off and a formation change. I favor the adrenaline explanation as the more important because I don’t want to believe that Lampard is smarter then Arteta and Lampard made this brilliant tactical move that Arteta just couldn’t find an answer.
I don’t think anyone is saying Lampard is smarter. He did make an astute tactical change and that did change the game. Now, it might be fair to argue that the team playing from behind naturally ups the ante and the team holding on to the lead naturally retreats more as games go by, so some version of that would’ve occurred regardless; however it’s not reasonable to argue that the change to a three man midfield did not impact the game. It might also be reasonable to suggest that Arteta was “OK” in the circumstance to give up control in midfield because he had the lead, because he didn’t have a quality option to bring on, and because he liked the idea of being on the counterattack with Aubameyang and Ozil. Ironically it was shortly after when he evened up the numbers in the center by bringing Willock on that they scored.
I also think that the lengthy injury to Chambers changed the game. The prolonged pause and bad injury to a good player took the wind out of our sails and the introduction of Mustafi sowed seeds of doubt because I doubt his own teammates trust him at this point.
So much I could say but… the players worked hard, appeared to be following instructions, injuries are hurting us, Jorginho’s introduction flipped the balance of the game, we never recovered, scratch that, we got dominated thereafter, disappointed the coach didn’t try to counter their switch to 3-3-4, we need a win soon, Guen needs time out but we’re super short on options.
Lose to ManU and belief will disappear.
Sometimes in football, you have to tip your hat to the other side. Im talking about Tammy Abraham… his brilliant surge through the middle, his give and go with Willian, and his quite brilliant sleight of foot to make space to shoot past Mustafi. Awesome skill. Willian’s touch to take it past Luiz to make the space to give it back to Abraham was also a special piece of skill.
In THAT moment, we reverted to Emeryball. The vacant midfield that Abraham charged through. Guendouzi pointing. Mustafi backtracking. Luiz’ perfunctory attempt to block Willian’s pass. Mustafi left flat on his a** in the failed attempt to block the shot on goal. Guendouzi remonstrating with someone. The defence of space rather than players. The failure to challenge attackers before they get to our box. And dont you just love the pointing? Luiz pointed too, the to space that Willian played the ball into. But TA was just too clever for Mustafi.
Pure Emeryball. But also superb, counterattacking football from Chelsea.
And oh, to be fair, Mustafi had played well to that point. Arteta has some job making his players un-learn bad habits.
it wasn’t superb counter-attacking from chelsea, it was piss-poor defending from arsenal. our midfielders abandoned that space in front of the defense…and that’s alright as long as our defenders stepped up. mustafi was in a position to prevent abraham from turning in their half of the field but inexplicably ran back towards the arsenal goal. “no get, no turn”. mustafi should have prevented the turn and that chance probably doesn’t happen.
We had plenty of reason to fired up. New manager and his first home game and the crowd was really excited. It’s certainly a known phenomenon to see a team outplay a stronger opponent for part of a match based on an adrenaline surge but eventually the stronger team more often then not takes over the game
Similar in some respects to the Bournemouth game. Started off brightly and played to instruction for 30 minutes. Ozil was finding space. Nice movement off the ball. So far so good. They then seemed to hit a wall and revert back to type. It’s as if they can’t keep the effort and concentration going, for whatever reason. Chelsea adapted, but then of course they would do that.
Enjoyed the goal. I’ve lost count of how many goals like that Arsenal have scored over the years. It was always a Steve Bould flick at the near post and Tony Adams charging in like a rhino at the back post. Brought back some fond memories.
I didn’t think Chelsea were anything special. They’ve dominated youth team football for quite a few years, but their much vaunted youngsters looked fairly ordinary to me. Tammy Abraham was the reason they felt they could release Eddie Nketiah to us. The first goal was unfortunate. The second goal had “Arsenal” written all over it. Difficult to know where to start. Mustafi lost Abraham in the box, so he was a good yard away when the Chelsea man got the ball. It went downhill from there. Mustafi doesn’t quite close him down and is completely off balance. His weight is on his heels, his feet are wide apart. He’s in no position to do anything. Even so, he must have noticed during the game that Tammy is all right foot. He was only ever going to go one way. With that in mind, the very least he should have done was close down his right foot and try and force him on to his left. But no. Mustafi didn’t influence his thinking one iota. Rank bad defending. He might as well have not been there. This is an international footballer we’re talking about.
Laca is woefully out of touch. What does Martinelli have to do to get a game? Or Pépé for that matter.
Torreira has regressed to falling over again. If I was Arteta, I would fine him every time his arse hit the ground. Stay on your feet, for f***s sake!
I liked our tempo, especially in the first half. We went up a gear and looked good for a while. But we are so fragile and without confidence that any misfortune can be calamitous.
It’s going to take the time it takes but Arteta seems to have Tom Wolfe’s “right stuff”. He’s mission commander now and Arsenal are indeed lost in space. If the young Spaniard can impose himself on this squad, points, wins and good times will inevitably follow.
First goal was bs because Jorginho should have been off with a red.
Second goal is on Edu and Raul. Why? Because Saka was playing hurt and you could see he did his best to sprint back and help Mustafi but the last few yards he’s limping and can barely do anything to stick a foot in and stop Tammy Abraham from turning. He was banged hard a few minutes earlier but knew that there was no one else to play his spot and kept on going. Mustafi was bad, but a healthy Saka or Tierney or Kolasinac might have been there to help block the shot.
This roster is bent. We spend £80M on a winger who can’t get into the team ahead of an academy kid, but have zero legit backups for RB or LB. Saka will be out pretty soon and then maybe we can play Aubameyang at LB.
In the post game interview that Arteta specifically mentioned that he wished xhaka had been able to play. We as fans certainly don’t rate the guy but Wenger Emery Freddie and Arteta all believe xhaka is one of the players who should be in our starting 11.
Xhaka was a big miss for the game.his passes from deep would have killed Chelsea those first minutes.he would have been our jorginho.he seems to be our next best progressive passer after ozil.guen has to re learn to suit artetas passing system.maitland has had 2 good games.i guess arteta can improve him.hes control is getting better.
Tim, again you hit the nail right on the head. This team has some very glaring issues but direct confrontation of those isn’t the only remedy. Sometimes it only takes one aspect to be worked and the effects filter throughout all systematic issues and reduces them considerably.
For me, the main thing isn’t in not having a big and strong defensive midfielder, it’s not buying new centrebacks or asking for more running and tackling. It’s basically how we are not very good at playing possession football. Chelsea showed that quality of player and tactics are play a very big role for a team to be able to take charge of the game and control the tempo/ball.
Our starting central midfield trio was better than Kante and Kovacic in possesion play. But the introduction of Jorginho showed the type of player we will need to bring in to aide Torreira and Ozil control the ball in any game. Jorginho showed that he was able to facilitate the domination of possession even against City, at City.
Guendouzi, for me is very French. They are usually very good technically, physically strong, are very athletic and can run for days. But they are usually not up to scratch in terms of tactical intelligence in game. They can do amazing things in very well built and sometimes bad structures, but they never really improve their teammates. The way they play, they are just incapable of controlling the flow of games. The national side won the world cup by playing counter attack football against everyone. Guendouzi is just like that, he is probably our best midfielder right now, but nobody really benefits from having him on the pitch. He has no playmaking ability and it really a standout on either side of the ball, but he is a good player. He just won’t allow us to dominate the ball when we want to.
Our inability to dictate possession terms has put us in very tight spots against most teams, because we are unable to stem onslaughts on our goal if we can’t dictate were the game is played. Player wise, Arteta is going to need a very specific player that most will not like. A sideways passer extraordinaire. They are usually small in physique, not great defenders, very mobile, very agile with small turning circle and tactically intelligent.
I had hoped Gedion Zelalem would have turned out into one of those, but Wenger pushed for him to be a #10. Watching his videos now, he looks like the exact type of player we need. I hoped we would have been in the chase for Arthur (Barcelona) while still at Gremio, but we were not even in talks for him. Fabian Ruiz will most likely cost close to or over 100 million. Marcos Antonio Silva Santos of Shaktar is young and could become one of the best in the world, but having a midfield partnership so light in size is not fit for the Premier League.
I wonder how good Robbie Burton is, and whether he can do a job for the first team. In times like these, we don’t really have much to lose.
Outside of that, I really like what I saw and I am buying into what Arteta is trying to do. Raul just needs to tell Arteta to focus on his job and get him whatever players he needs for his philosophy to be implemented effectively.
Compare their TA goal to what Chelsea did to Reis Nelson’s break. They squeezed him and got the ball.
First 30 mins against a back 3 we were good I saw players available for the pass all over the pitch, as soon as Jorginho came on , we reverted to Emery fear the ball..
I also have my doubts about our fitness levels!
and now we are screwed Mustafi- concussion, Chambers knee, Saka hamstring/groin
tough to lose that way but arsenal surrendered the initiative.
bottom line is the same as i’ve opined the past 3 years; if arsenal don’t get a cdm, it doesn’t matter who else they buy. being forced to play two youngsters in the pivot because the club allowed the experienced midfielders to leave is derelict. i thought the kids did okay but, when the game got tough, they didn’t know how to deal. arsenal needed a more accomplished campaigner.
a criticism of arteta: he should have subbed laca or auba at around the 65th minute. after playing the full 90 the other day, both those boys were clearly smoked. it’s the not only the quick turn around with the games but the new strategy that requires them to defend; they’re not used to defending under emery and aren’t fit enough to do it for a full game yet.
like tim alluded, the second goal was emeryball showing it’s ugly head; old habits die hard. the midfielders abandoned the space in front of the defense when abraham received the ball. next, mustafi was in a position to stand abraham up but decided to retreat towards the goal. i believe with all of me that if mustafi doesn’t allow that kid to turn, that second goal doesn’t happen. it goes yet again to the point jack and i were making about “no get, no turn”. mustafi can’t let him turn right there.
Afternoon from across the pond chaps an hope you all had very good holiday. Re mf… there is 1 player i would love us to buy on an 18 month contract. Knows the club, can play of both feet, is a magician with the ball and has said himself has some unfinished business with The Arsenal.. the one and only Santi Carzola. One can but dream
In calendar year 2019 Auba has scored 22 EPL goals, Laca is next with 12, and then its two players no longer at AFC, Koscielny and Ramsey. It shows how weak the talent is in our squad after those top 2 players. Auba is the only true top player in this squad and he is at the age where the downside of his career arc can’t be to far away.
. A lot of rebuilding work to do At every level from back to front in this squad.
All this criticism of Mustafi and yet you all know that if he had done so Abrahams would have gone down in a heap and a penalty would have been given.
He is wrong if he does and wrong of he doesn’t.
Surely our main problem is that we have not learnt how to cheat and get away with it.
I reckon if we had played that game in Europe the ref would have put a stop to the Chel$ki fouling.
Just as we know that the refs give us special treatment, so do our opponents.
They know they will get away with it and do.
I thought Chelsea were an “ugly” team. Lots and lots of niggly fouls. With almost every tackle, they left their foot in. In the end they got the job done. I wouldn’t go to watch them if you paid me. That said, Lampard is operating under a transfer ban, so you could argue he’s doing what he has to.
Regarding the second goal, good defenders can shut players out of a game without clattering into them. Mustafi is not Franz Beckenbauer unfortunately.
William saliba is coming but he is U20 and will have to learn the PL We need at least 1 and may be 2 CB’s
We need a true defensive mid and major upgrade in creative talent in our central midfield.
We also need at least 1 or may be 2 more players who are a threat to score double digit goals in a league season and we probably need to think about buying someone who might replace Auba as our leading scorer in the next couple years
Mustafi should’ve taken one for the team in the build up before Abraham got the ball.
Running 60 yards back until you run out of pitch and then ball watching isn’t defending.
Mustafi is hopeless.
The bigger problem Arteta has is that our entire team defending is amateur-like and our players lack the basics , starting with Guen who had plenty of time to get his bearings after Rudiger’s looping header out.
Insted of turning his head and boxing out the Chelsea player before controlling the ball…., or heading it back like he wanted to, he simply makes a half hearted effort to jump( his vertical looks about six inches?) and gets taken completely out of the play while doing his now usual arm waving routine.
Just to be clear, Mustafi was even worse on this play but Guenduzi doesn’t cover himself in glory either.
For a player who was benched the last two games he should’ve been hustling back at break neck speed, but instead he just kinda jogs back while ball watching ,not turning his head even once to see if a Chelsea midfielder might be coming into the play from behind.
I actually feel sorry for Arteta trying to turn this group of players into a cohesive outfit.
I looked at the Torreira/ Jorginho incident again and even with my Arsenal color glasses on I couldn’t see a foul there.
LT initiates contact and just collapses to ground like he usually does.
He had a good game but LT stands for lightweight apparently.
I thought Chelsea were an “ugly” team. Lots and lots of niggly fouls. With almost every tackle, they left their foot in. In the end they got the job done. I wouldn’t go to watch them if you paid me.
This was a London derby , right?
Put Keown , Veira , Freddie L, or even Fabregas ( before he left for Barca ) back in and you’d have had our players dishing it out just the same.
We’ve got a lot of issues, and Arteta can in no way fix them quickly. The most immediate one is injuries. If Sokratis, Holding and Bellerin aren’t back, and Chambers and Saka end up out, we’re in deep trouble defensively for the United match. If Chambers injury is serious, I think we’re going to have to get a defender in January, as he provides cover both in the middle and at RB. I think we’re still not sure if either Bellerin or Holding will come back to where they were before the ACLs.
In mid-field, if Xhaka goes, we need another option to pair with Torriera. He has good qualities, as does Guendouzi. But those two together don’t work for me. Xhaka -Torriera isn’t ideal, but it may be the best we have for now, unless Chambers is free to play CDM, or maybe Luiz(but neither of those is an option now).
Offensively, if one subtracts Auba’s goals, we have the fewest in the PL. One of Lacazette or Pepe needs to start contributing. Too much money going to waste there. We can’t move Pepe at this point, so I’m starting to lean to selling Lacazette. Maybe bring back Nketiah and try to depend on he and Martinelli.
At this point top 4 is gone, and even getting into Europa looks doubtful. We need to focus on not getting relegated and on a base for next season.
I was fuming furious watching build up to their second goal. The moment the ball passed Guendouzi I knew how it’s going to finish. And then I could only watch Guendouzi.
I have a legit concern here: is this guy capable of sprinting? I’ve never seen him in full dash, I believe. The pace he tracks down opposition players with on a counter makes me want to throw things at him.