The Official Arsenal - 14 x FA Cup winners thread - Vol 4
Discussion
evoivboy said:
Well, can we start getting excited?
Liverpool in a couple of weeks will give us a good idea of where we're really at. I imagine we'll lose, but I'd like to see us really give it a go and score a couple. If we could draw, amazing, if we won.... Well, lets just wait and see. In fairness I picked out Auba, simply because he looks like an truly world class player every time he touches the ball, but across the park there were really excellent performances.
Iwobi, Guenduzi, Torreira stood out for me, Laca and Bellerin contributed a lot as well. Even Mustafi made a passable impression of a professional footballer.
Leno's save from Maguire early in the first half needs to be mentioned.
After the opening 30 mins I thought it was the most confident performance I've seen in a long time. After the third went in Leicester looked totally deflated.
There's still lots to improve on, but that's a good thing when we've ground out ten wins on the bounce whilst not hitting our peak!
Iwobi, Guenduzi, Torreira stood out for me, Laca and Bellerin contributed a lot as well. Even Mustafi made a passable impression of a professional footballer.
Leno's save from Maguire early in the first half needs to be mentioned.
After the opening 30 mins I thought it was the most confident performance I've seen in a long time. After the third went in Leicester looked totally deflated.
There's still lots to improve on, but that's a good thing when we've ground out ten wins on the bounce whilst not hitting our peak!
evoivboy said:
Well, can we start getting excited?
No. I went tonight, first time I’ve been this season. We were atrocious in the first half, a better team would have been two or three up. That said even in the first half Ozil was night and day the best player on the pitch, his abillity stands out even in relatively innocuous passages of play. I’ve said on this thread before you have to watch him live to really see how he is just a level beyond sometimes. Second half was obviously much better and who would have thought Xhaka could put in a shift at left back! He played better there than he did in midfield in the first half. Outside of the final third he was atrocious in the first half but he just seems to come alive when pinging passes in the final third.
Away from Ozil my Man of the Match was Torreiera...he’s just so effective in that position. He’s right up there with the best in the league I would say. The player who really looks transformed is Iwobi though, physically nobody on the Leicester side could deal with him, he just needs a bit more in that final third, if he finds that he’s going to be a huge player for us.
What can you say about Auba ? World class finisher end of. Makes being in the right position look much easier than it is! Lacazette was great too, apart from in front of goal. He’s another player who is a real handful.
If Emery can sort out how we start games and can make us a little bit less open in midfield it we could trouble most teams, Mikhi had a good game and tackled back well which is not something he’s noted for...however in the build up to their goal he went to sleep and Leicester made it count. Cech’s not getting back in the side automatically, Leno’s save was top drawer.
Even before the fireworks started there was the best atmosphere at The Emirates I’ve experienced for a good while.
Yes, the way we’re starting games at the moment is very strange. Last nights game was almost a carbon copy of the Fulham game before the international break. First half ponderous, slow and getting caught out defensively. Second half was like a different team.
If we can sort the bloody defence out once and for all we might be onto something. The most bizarre thing about last night is Xhaka appears to be a better left back than he is midfielder, I honest thought wtf is he doing at first when Lichtsteiner was taken off, but it seemed to work
If we can sort the bloody defence out once and for all we might be onto something. The most bizarre thing about last night is Xhaka appears to be a better left back than he is midfielder, I honest thought wtf is he doing at first when Lichtsteiner was taken off, but it seemed to work
Not an Arsenal fan but was lucky enough to get taken to the Emirates last night (Club Level seats too!). It was a great match for the neutral so I picked a good one.
Agree with the poster above - Ozil gets a lot of stick, some of it justified, but seeing him on his game live last night was football poetry in motion. I'll remember that 3rd goal for a long time!
Iwobi was poor in the first half but part of that was down to Lichsteiner having a mare - when he switched to the right with Bellerin in the second half he was superb. Not sure why all the play was sent down the left in the first half but it was good viewing for us.
What frustrated me was Arsenal's resistance to playing the ball in behind in the first half. Leicester were so high and pressing up the pitch to good effect - it took to the 35th minute before someone pinged it over their defence and Iwobi (I think) just mis-controlled it. Suddenly Leicester were unsure whether to push high or not and that was when the momentum swung.
A mention for the lad Guendouzi who IMO was stand-out.
A great evening!
Agree with the poster above - Ozil gets a lot of stick, some of it justified, but seeing him on his game live last night was football poetry in motion. I'll remember that 3rd goal for a long time!
Iwobi was poor in the first half but part of that was down to Lichsteiner having a mare - when he switched to the right with Bellerin in the second half he was superb. Not sure why all the play was sent down the left in the first half but it was good viewing for us.
What frustrated me was Arsenal's resistance to playing the ball in behind in the first half. Leicester were so high and pressing up the pitch to good effect - it took to the 35th minute before someone pinged it over their defence and Iwobi (I think) just mis-controlled it. Suddenly Leicester were unsure whether to push high or not and that was when the momentum swung.
A mention for the lad Guendouzi who IMO was stand-out.
A great evening!
Our sometimes poor starts fill me with dread, maybe it’s the last few years of anguish.
That said, it really does feel like a solid turn around and even with a few poor starts, it’s being turned around.
Yesterday was on-point and for all the stick Ozil gets, we wouldn’t have won 3-1 without him!
Too early for me to start getting excited, but I’m confident that if we can grab a top four finish Emery can turn Arsenal around from our recent years.
That said, it really does feel like a solid turn around and even with a few poor starts, it’s being turned around.
Yesterday was on-point and for all the stick Ozil gets, we wouldn’t have won 3-1 without him!
Too early for me to start getting excited, but I’m confident that if we can grab a top four finish Emery can turn Arsenal around from our recent years.
Torreira, Guendouzi, Iwobi, Auba, Ozil - All fantastic last night.
Nobody seems to have mentioned Bellerin either, thought he had a great game. Seems to have finally figured out how to get a cross past the first defender at last.
We need to sort out our defensive frailties, we won't be able to outscore everyone.
Great positive strides forward though, confidence is high, and I'm enjoying the fact that despite Spurs having their best ever start to a premiership season, they're still below us.
Nobody seems to have mentioned Bellerin either, thought he had a great game. Seems to have finally figured out how to get a cross past the first defender at last.
We need to sort out our defensive frailties, we won't be able to outscore everyone.
Great positive strides forward though, confidence is high, and I'm enjoying the fact that despite Spurs having their best ever start to a premiership season, they're still below us.
cbmotorsport said:
Nobody seems to have mentioned Bellerin either, thought he had a great game. .
First half he was as ponderous as the rest and obviously got caught napping for their goal, but him to be fair a) Arsenal seemed to play everything down the left despite Lichsteiner being way off the pace; and b) Henrikh kept on tucking in so Bellerin has no wide outlet.Second half, like Iwobi, he was a different player and as you say, brilliant.
Legend83 said:
cbmotorsport said:
Nobody seems to have mentioned Bellerin either, thought he had a great game. .
First half he was as ponderous as the rest and obviously got caught napping for their goal, but him to be fair a) Arsenal seemed to play everything down the left despite Lichsteiner being way off the pace; and b) Henrikh kept on tucking in so Bellerin has no wide outlet.Second half, like Iwobi, he was a different player and as you say, brilliant.
I know in the system we play that Torreira is tasked with dropping into the full back space when a FB is caught up the pitch but his lack of urgency getting back was startling. Not something you’d see on TV. Mikhi in particular was really good at tackling back if we lost possession....and a la Man City fouled a couple of times to stop a break developing.
I believe every game after the Chelsea match, we have been better in the 2nd half of the game.
1st half we always seem too slow or not getting out of 1st gear, the ref blows for half time, Emery and/or the team adjust/tweak the tactics and speed of play, they then perform better and score more goals in the 2nd half.
Our defence is still very poor, although we are on a good run we have only kept 2 clean sheets in Premier League games, any good team will or should take advantage of it sooner or later.
1st half we always seem too slow or not getting out of 1st gear, the ref blows for half time, Emery and/or the team adjust/tweak the tactics and speed of play, they then perform better and score more goals in the 2nd half.
Our defence is still very poor, although we are on a good run we have only kept 2 clean sheets in Premier League games, any good team will or should take advantage of it sooner or later.
For some reason in the first half we spend our time trying to keep possession and tip tapping it around the defence, maybe into a midfielder or wing back and then back again.
In the second half we seem to turn on the ball and try to get it up to the front players as quick as possible.
I can't work out if this is tactical or confidence! But I nearly threw the remote at the telly as yet another pass went back to the defence in that first half.
In the second half we seem to turn on the ball and try to get it up to the front players as quick as possible.
I can't work out if this is tactical or confidence! But I nearly threw the remote at the telly as yet another pass went back to the defence in that first half.
cbmotorsport said:
It's all gone a bit 'Spursy' for our neighbours again. Not so long ago, they were smugly touting this ad around:
I think this one may be more appropriate now:
And certainly this one:
Images courtesy of Paddy Power. :-)
The last one is I think this one may be more appropriate now:
And certainly this one:
Images courtesy of Paddy Power. :-)
Loris played another blinder again...... they are obviously struggling to keep him sober
that’s going to all my Spud supporting relatives aeropilot said:
The last one is
Loris played another blinder again...... they are obviously struggling to keep him sober
Lloris is a myth for me - great shot stopper but he is prone to as many mistakes as anyone, never really seems to get spoken about.Loris played another blinder again...... they are obviously struggling to keep him sober
His decision making is poor, distribution is poor, catching/punching poor. No one can fault his saving but more to a keep than that.
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