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In all honesty what I think arteta needs to do is be more vocal . Call out lazy players and demand relentless effort and attitude . The second half showed that if everyone came in with the Saka Attitude, we may not still have played the best football but we would most certainly be in the ascendancy for most periods with more that enough chances to secure maximum points.

The way they were walking on the pitch at times was infuriating. This is Arsenal at home and Southampton has so much time on the ball to the extent of having superior ball possession? It's a disgrace for any team other than the traditional four to have more of the ball than Arsenal at the emirates.

And why has our pressing disappeared and become disjointed? Is pressing so hard or are these players just flat out lazy. If any player can not work his socks off over 90 minutes then the manager should be brave enough to drop him

I like miguel azzeez and folarrin nd boy do I miss martinelli.

I'm also a bit disappointed that Arteta who learned under Pep with the same philoshopy is bowing to pressure of changing his style due to poor performances. I'd rather that he sticks to his philosophy of having possession to create chances from open play which is the type of football arsenal is know for. If any of the senior players are to lazy to perform . Be like mourhino and publicly call them out and use other players.

These guys are paid good money and this performances should not be tolerated. Even if we end up in a relegation dogfight. Let's know that the eleven we put on the pitch will play their hearts out . Liverpool do not have the classiest players but the most hardworking ones who will run for 90 minutes sticking to their plan. If we need to move forward the players coming in must embrace the culture and the present ones must be re orientated . No team respects Arsenal again and it's clear to see why cos the players are not ready to put in a shift. It's a ruthless league and only the strong survive.

Neways we move!

Spy360:
Whether as a player or a coach, I will prefer 7 FA cups to 7 UCL Finals without a trophy to show for it. The reason is long term effect. At the long term only those with medals can prove they were successful in their careers.

Confirm!!!!

BlueRayDick:
You are spot-on talking about the attitude of players. I felt angry watching Rob Holding in the build-up to that first goal. He took all the whole time in the world watching Barkley dancing slowly at the edge of the box while other players behind him were moving into goal-threatening positions in the box.

I know most people troll Wan Bissaka for his never ceasing tackles almost everywhere on the pitch, but one thing is certain; He wouldn't be ball watching while barkley was doing that rubbish.

I also must say that some of our boys are really really soft. Watkins scored the second goal by bullying Tiernney to will a header. Graelish did practically the same to Bellerin by body-checking him in the build up to the third goal. Those boys need to jazz up abeg.

For sure! I expect the manager to show his intent with team selection come game time when the epl resumes. This softy attitude needs to be removed.

Congrats to Aston Villa for a well deserved victory. After watching Arteta post match interview, I am very much delighted and believe long term we have a manager that can help this team grow. Sure he will have ups and downs but the attitude was key for me. He absolutely hates to lose and just like Lampard , He takes responsibility and where he needs to call out players he does so too.

I won't be surprised if some players will hardly feature for him anymore . I'd like him to examine this defeat and the inconsistency on all fronts such that when they come back from internationals they can start putting up consistent disciplined performances.

As rightly said by so many, the attitude and somewhat laziness of some players is costing the team. The Villa team on paper should never beat us but on the day, their attitude and hardwork made the difference. It's no mean feat to win the epl and if our players think winning manu has taken them to another level, then they all need a rethink.

Our team physchologist need to also up the ante to help them stay focused and always hungry for success. Some of our players get carried away easily and I still find it hard to know why they start games sluggishly especially at home. It's bemusing. Anyways we move

iskoki:
Better cool your horses. All of you saying you don't want to see Xhaka, Ceballos or whomever in that team should remember we still have close to probably 40 games to play this season. Every body will have their opportunity, how you they use it is left to them.

. Well said!

mostob:
How would you rate Mari? Is he really that good?

up until the injury he suffered. IMHO he was a very decent ball playing defender and makes the right pass into midfield. I do not think he is as physical as Gabriel but he reads the game very well ah la Per Mertasacker. Honestly I think the recruiting in defense has been good enough. It's now how we transition into making them play as a unit

One word. Gabriel. Partey, enough said. Special mention to Mo Elneny for the work rate he put in. Certainly he and Partey have some serious engines such that even at the tail end Elneny was still pressing high up pushing manu back to their own goal. Like someone said, we have really suffered from poor defenders for so long. Can't wait to see Pablo Mari back in that defense line albeit he is left footed too.

Fkhalifa:
You can't expect Auba to look good on the wings, baba no sabi use ball like that or average at best, everyone knows he's a CF.

Atleast Saka tries.

Sanchez in his days will drop deep, win ball himself, drive to the middle,cuts to his right foot, make runs to the box, shoots and does everything the likes of Mane and Sterling are doing.

Wing football requires energy and mobility, its not for the softies.
Also Wingers need support of AM and CF, and full backs.
Arsenal players don't make much runs on and off the ball.

This is the most disturbing part . I have seen Arsenal teams over the years with players whom are always making runs giving midfielders options hence why I think this may boil down to laziness from some of the immediate past and present crop we have now. Albeit now the team seems to dictate games better but that movement in the final third is essential to any progress we need to make when it comes to winning games

Arteta needs to work on his pressing tactics with these players. I have been watching Leeds and dare I say that no on in the league presses better than Leeds. No superstar players but unbelievable work ethic on and off the ball. It takes a toll on them though but they simply give no team whatsoever any time and space on the ball. It makes me wonder if some of our players are lazy or just don't have the right attitude when pressing the opposition.
With the nonsense Leno was doing on Thursday, I just hope we don not lose the game before it even starts

One of these days Gabriel may have a bad game, but his level of consistency so far is admirable. It does not take stats to know a good player. Hopefully he can deliver consistent performances over the course of the season. As for Partey, he is dream for any defense to have in front of them.

Players in my opinion should be judged over the course of a season and not on a few games here and there. The jury is out on all signings this season. But some have already started impressing with consistent good performances. For those that have had a full season and still below par, they need to wake up fast as this regime is zero tolerant to underperforming players

Did not watch the whole match except the last 20 mins or so. Easily I can say shout out to Gabriel and Partey. First ball he received with his back to goal in the defensive mid position with a player on him and he was able to use his upper body to shrug off the player and still make a pass. Plus the yellow he took trying to help stop a counter. If this is what he brings consistently then I am happy. Gabriel is just a very good defender nothing else.

There are a few problems which need to be addressed and it's about our pressing which is still not coordinated enough and the decision to know when to play out from the back and when to go long.

City literally blocked all lines for us to make passes from defence into midfield by pressing all the way to our half line. This is where I expected our defenders to go long and beat that line with a single pass. We need to stop being predictable. City were there for the taking but most of our players were too timid.

I think Arteta really now needs to consider a proper 433 if he desires since we have a quality player in thomas and allow more bodies in midfield .

Lastly the curious case of ozil. In my opinion , a manger lives and dies by his decisions. If Arteta believes ozil is not in his plans then so be it. I believe no one is in the position to know better what a player brings or not to his team. Honestly if some of the things I mentioned are perfected on a consistent basis. I see a very strong team in the making plus team selection should also be looked into critically to make this work

Plenty analysis but let me stop here fo now

Spy360:
Sure.


Also if we have a proper AM all these tweaking will reduce.

spot on!! Another reason the capture of aour is vital as it seems Ozil is out of the picture

Spy360:
For a team as Arsenal I would not want a Thiago type at the base of our midfield. Roland17 brought to light the type of midfielder he is and since then I lost interest. With need a Partey/Dacoure/Ndidi type.

Thiago will work excellently if we were the dominant side. But we are not so dominant even against smaller teams. And that's the problem Chelsea has whenever they face a top side. Jorginho is poor defensively and hardly provides enough cover for the back four.

Midfielders like Thiago and Jorginho are better fit into dominant sides like Liverpool.

I may have to disagree with you on Thiago. Firstly I would not want to think he would be played at the base of the midfield but rather in a more central and attcaking role. My thoughts are based on the fact that its clear to see that Arteta wants more possesion but he is forced into making adjustments because the likes of Ozil even though they are good offensively , do not offer anything defensively and this puts pressure on a back four without adequate cover because Xhaka lets be honest is doing well under Atrteta but still not the quality we need in that position.

Again Thiago offers key passes in the final third which is a dream for any attacker which we are currently blessed with and his willing to also press in the opposition half as well as get back in defensive position in out own half. I can see why Arteta wants to get Aurora from OM even though im not sure he his as good as thiago.

On the Jorginho case, i simply do not understand why he he being played at the base of the midfield when he has good delivery of the ball. It amuse me that coaches would rather push Kante forward and leave him behind when imho believe he should be pushed further up. The guy his one of the better passers of the ball in world football and just like ozil, you cannot rely on him defensively when the is heavy offensive pressure on the backline. This myth of him being like a quarter back is garbage and i'd like to see a coach actually push him further forward to see what difference that makes.

Back to the thiago matter and the issue of dominance. Again the type of player you have on your squad will determine the level of dominance and i make bold to say that a player like Thiago can easily make you a dominant force especially under the coaching of someone like Arteta who has learnt under Pep. The tables are instantly turned even though we still need to get an enforcer to cover the back four, we can be sure that we have someone who will give us a lion share of the possession over the course of 90 mins. It just automatically makes teams setup for the counter against us

Liverpool to be honest have done brilliantly with that recruitment and over the course of this season, im sure we will have this discussion as to why this was a win for liverpool even though i belive if we get our intended targets we can match them as well.

Boy oh Boy. Liverpool's recruiting is on another level. Thiago and Jota. Hmmm the board better back up arteta to do whatever it takes to clear out deadwood and get the intended targets. I won't lie but Thiago would have been the sort of player that the arteta revolution would have thrived on immensely. Guy made key passes more than any other player in 45 minutes with retention ability near 95 percent. I hope aouar is anything close to that level is we have to fork out 60m for him. It's really a game of chess with transfers now and this is where the recruiters need to earn their pay.

BlueRayDick:
You are just being unnecessarily rigid on this matter jare.

Last year Arsenal had a very decent attack and a good goalkeeper; an average midfield and scrappy defence.Arteta was able to get a trophy out of these players and we are all happy about that.

Now he has a chance to sort things out and the first department he faced was the backline which is an eyesore. Even when Arteta was on his way to win something last season the defence still messed him up.

Are you saying he's a fool for first trying to sort his team's defence problems ? Are u saying if you were in Arteta shoes u will bring in Partey immediately and make him cover for Mustafi's deficiencies ? Will partey be the one to tell Mustafi where to stand when other players are setting offside trap? Will Partey tell Mustafi when to jump and when not to jump in his own 18 yard box as a CB? Will Partey help Mustafi not to get turned in and out anytime some player from bottom team face him one-on-one?

Arteta has done the right thing by trying to sort the defence out first and he's definitely going to upgrade the midfield if need be.

The crux of the whole matter is coming from last year our defence needed complete overhaul while our midfield need just an upgrade.

I understand Arsenal's inconsistency at times can make one pessimistic but this one wey u just dey assume say everything will go bad because we are not getting a particular player ehn, E get as e be for my eyes o.

Well said! Could not agree more...

Roland17:
Happy to have you back boss!

Great to be back Bro. Hope we have another great season

Jodera:
Longest time bro...
Even our fa cup win couldn't bring you out.

Nice to have you back

Hey its great to be back again and was fun seeing the usual banter from you guys every once in a while i checked in on the comments.

Sure the Fa Cup made it a good season in the end but i still need them to officially announce that Auba has signed as that would be the most critical phase in this new rebuilding process.

New Season new hopes! Gabriel is really good on the ball and reminds me of a prime Koscielny that goes tight on the player he is marking.
Hopefully we can see a formation where Willian plays Centrally as i feel he is not suited to playing on the wings although he gives us something which im sure arteta wants which is ability to retain and distribute the ball in tight spaces . A pairing of him and Ceballos would be fun to watch. early days but a good start nonetheless.

Roland17:
My thoughts and prayers are with Arteta and his family, hopefully they are on self quarantine. He is young and except he has compromised lungs or other severe health issues, he should respond to treatment and be fine afterwards.

We need to test all our players and have everyone on self quarantine.

This is really a sad day indeed. I pray Arteta and his family get beyond this . Sports must really be on hold until this virus is eliminated cos the more games are played the more possibilities of the spread. God protect us all

Kbs468:
How true is this.

Our match with City has been postponed again

Corona virus issue with staff and players coming into contact with forest owner who was at Olympiakos game and had contacted the virus.

Spy360:
Lacazette once confessed Arteta shouted at them after they had a poor half. I really want to commend that because it is the problem with recent Arsenal teams where they get too pampered that they forget they are being paid.

For sure. I remember a certain half time where we had a poor performance and the coach did not even talk to us at half time but the look on his face said a thousand words. It was not a case of we must win but rather that our performance must improve . It's key to note that sometimes you play well and lose but 95 percent of the time, you are expected to play at optimal levels such that even if it's a bad result.you can lift your heads up in confidence that you gave it all. Over the last 13 years how many of such performances have we seen from this team until just recently. One of which comes to mind was fa cup vs leeds where it was a completely animalistic Arsenal that came out to play against a leeds side that I dare say we're far better than us in every department. But that pure drive and cold blooded mentality gave us the 1 0 result which was all that was needed to scale through. I wonder why these players cant show that side of them often enough and not need a coach to have to shout his lungs out for them to realize that they need to put in a shift to get a result. I watch the Barca games of old during the Messi Pedro iniesta and xavi era. Those guys were hard-working and there press was of the highest intensity ever . No brainier they dominated for long before movement and age started creeping in. Same with our squad of old and even the mancs when vidic and fedinand had scholes and butt playing in front of them. These teams were hard-working and always stepped into the pitch with only one goal in mind be that is to win no matter the opposition. Indeed the caliber of players these days are more of money and media . Only a few still have the right playing attitude. Our scouting system really needs to do more going forward

Pep was once asked how he manages to get his players in the right frame for every match and I recall his reply saying he expects the team to play with the same intensity from start to finish regardless of the opposition as any player who flouts and starts show boating because they are winning a game will risk being dropped for the next game even if he is the so called star player.

The right attitude starts from the top down and a lot of credit has to go to Aterta for trying to bring the attitude back cos it is said that he always has harsh words in the dressing room at half time if the team is not performing repeatedly shouting at them to get their acts together. This has nothing to do with the opposition but rather the mentality of being a serial winner. Honestly I sincerely hope the board can back him in the summer and give him time and then we can assess .

Spy360:
This is true, but it's mere theory.

In pragmatic terms, the opposite is the case and it is OK.

Have you experienced Nigeria Vs Ghana in those days? That's not just football, it is life. That's why so much is said about derbies. The competitive spirit is higher.

I don't need to buttress much on this issue.

I may have to disagree again that it's mere theory having played and experienced it. Nigeria and Ghana has always been war and still is till this present day on the pitch and yes egos and tensions are always high as it is when we play Cameroon as well.

At the end of it though, it all boils down to the dna of the club from top to bottom especially the personell that play in week in week out. If they feel passion for one game because it's a derby and feel nothing for another game or apply less intensity because the team is smaller then that speaks volumes of where we are headed and if truly we can compete to win laurels. Never have I had that attitude and God bless my team mates of then cos we always played every single game with the same intensity bar injuries . It's really a debate that could go on and on but I also respect your opinion and truly hope for all it's worth that this team can get back to where it used to be with the right attitude from top to bottom

Thanks to the guys for posting pictures of the Good old days when we had characters that were always in it for each and every game and were relentless at it. Not to say one wont lose games but you can be rest assured that with such efforts, come end of the season, there must be a reward.
City may be out of the EPL race but the way they tear small teams to pieces has given them rewards and like it or hate it, they already have a trophy in the cabinet this season for all their wobbly form and that is exactly where we need to retrace back and start from. We must be ruthless against any lower opposition and yes it requires desire and passion to do that week in week out.

Ha menh, we have really gone down oh. The days when even during the press conference , you can see the opponent already scared of losing before playing the game. These days small teams will even be bragging that they know how to handle us. Chai we have really suffered.

But hopefully this torturous cycle will end soon enough and we can start a new one as it was back in those days

Spy360:
You must understand that every game is unique and passion will vary. For example you cannot compare the passion against Spurs to when we play Burnley. In fact it will take a lot of inner strength to find passion against such teams. That's why it's said that some players are big game players it's because that's the kind of matches they easily express their passion.

Same reason why Man Utd can lose to small teams but beat City and Chelsea hone and away.

Don't worry our boys will find the passion needed to face City. It's an away game so there will be a lot of pressure from City. But with Arteta I believe we will find the grits to get something out of the game.

I may have to disagree with the bolded. In some terms , yes we have more passion playing against spurs being a local derby but why should we drop the same enthusiasm against Burnley? A team that wants to win does not disrespect any opponent. The same desire we need to beat Spurs should be the same desire we need to beat Burnley albeit being a smaller team with no disrespect to them. The fear factor has to return such that teams must already feel they have lost even before playing the game. I don't think a top player needs to find inner strength to play a lesser team. It must be an ethic to always play to win and annihilate the opponent each and every time you step unto that field.

It shows the character of the present team we have if they always need the manager to spark words at half time before they realize they are playing a game which they need to win.

Hopefully our scouting team can start looking at not just skills but character before bringing players to the club. Martinelli and Alexis are great examples of players who always have the drive in every single match regardless of the opponent to thrive and you can hardly lose games or not win trophies when you have 5 or 6 characters in your starting line-up like that going full throttle every game until the end of the season.

I watched the Manchester Derby and the only thing I saw in that game was passion and desire from manu Tactics counted for nothing but a will to do whatever it takes not to lose to city was all I saw. I really hope we can see such from our lads going into the game against city even though I doubt it. Sometimes tactics count for nothing if the desire to win at all cost matching the opponent stride for stride and winning all the 50/50 challenges and giving them little or no time on the ball is not done.

Unfortunately I really do not see those attributes often in our players and unless they put that into play coupled with the tactical understanding the manager is drilling into them, then we may win lower opposition but still lose woefully to the top guns.

I'm even skeptical of our chances against Sheffield in the fa cup because Sheffield are a well drilled team. And their players have passion in them to go out and do whatever it takes to win. We really need our team Phycologist to help this team understand that winning should be a habit and losing should not be an option against any opposition. The game against westham could have gone south if West Ham converted their chances and to think we were at home. I can't fault the manager here because its glaring what he his trying to instill but seems some of our personell are not good enough to execute. I really just hope we can make top four but more optimistic about the next season where arteta can get funds to bring in his own type of players and a full pre-season. All in all hoping we can do well on Wednesday and the rest of the season

davebiyi30:
Law of Karma! Remember Intercontinental Bank? We might have forgotten, but God will never joke with Hips children. No matter how long it takes.

It was already in the making.

BlueRayDick:
Search lordjb on nairaland search box. Click on his profile check his signature.

I'm using his link to watch loserpool v Bournemouth

Thanks

Hello guys, does anyone have a good streaming link to watch todays match?

Spy360:
Bros your point is not valid. Midfielders covering FBs have been employed for long with many successful teams including current top4 in EPL.

You have not taken your time to watch, I know you are smart. Kindly refer to Football Made Simple on YouTube for tactical analysis.

Kante covers Alonso (remember Martinelli goal Vs Chelsea?)
Fenandihno drops into CB to a 3man defence as both FBs for City push up.
Henderson or Fabinho covers Trent Alexander Arnold or Robertson (as the case may be) for Liverpool as Saah and Mane tuck into forward position.

This tactic is widely used and known to be effective. It adds more bodies in attack when a team is with the ball.

So Arteta's use of Xhaka as an auxiliary LB is not out of place and only shows how tactically flexible the player is. Xhaka even drops to CB when we are defending and LB when we are attacking.

There is a reason why Xhaka has always been on the first team since his U17 days in Nigeria for Switzerland to his time at FC Basel, to Borrusia Mgb , and Arsenal all under Wenger, Emery and now Arteta.

He may not be the super star midfield maestro, but he does bring value to his team. You can wish for Partey but don't underestimate Xhaka.

Cc Fkhalifa

Spot On!

Var is fast killing EPL .How was Sterling and now ceslo able to escape a red card for the same incident auba was punished for. Absolute disgrace to whoever was in charge of var for that Chelsea. Totenham game