₦airaland Forum

Barryseal:
Unpopular opinion, MO Elneny should be the natural replacement for Xhaka. He never looses the ball at the base of the midfield, though he is criticized for making too many safe passes instead of playing vertically but I will take those safe passes than the Sambi and Partey like turn overs leading to goals.
Recall Elneny vs Man utd at Old Trafford last season? Arteta must find a way to bring him back from cold.

one thing about Elneny is that he knows his attackers movements and releases the ball the way Ndidi does for Iheanacho or vardy at Leicester. Sambi thinks he's still in Holland or where? Poor and slow. You can't be advancing towards an opponents box and be such a slow snail and also fail to release the ball, at Least an overhead pass



Since Ozil left, overhead passes went with him. Our trademark style for beating offside traps of opponents and make them more eager to watch their backs than eager to press. Gone. Just like that.

BlueRayDick:
Even when u do all the bold part of my post right, u could still lose a match.

My point is the team I watched yesterday is an improvement from what I've been seeing in the past. They kept on pushing and pushing and pushing till the last minute. They had intent and they backed it up with purposeful football.

Maybe Arteta is not the best man for the job, but I can't just keep lamenting about him every match day when I know the board is not going to sack him anytime soon. I will enjoy the good games and critique the bad ones......and I will also call out the bad players too, not just the coach alone when things go south. Today it was Partey and Lokonga that nearly thwarted the efforts of the rest of the team, bar their "mustafi-que" showings we should've had a decent outing.

This improvement talk ya saying is mistimed and should never be on the table of positives or excuses right now. Especially as its not even true. Abi na another tv you watch?


How
I bet if that Laca last gap winner didn't happen, you won't be saying this atall.


I don't care if its better than the past. Other teams that are far worse off are stepping up. I keep using the Brentford example cos they're just coming from Championship. If we keep Applauding this crappy thing as improvement while other teams are doing twice as that, then whatever progress made, if it doesn't outdo their own improvement, it is simple FAILURE! Let's not mince words abeg.

What you called pushing was actually a display of indecision.

See the last few mins before injury time. They just packed the bus and we kept spinning round from left to right and right to left, unable to do nothing.


Like i said, if video analysts of other clubs notice an irredeemable pattern, all they need is counter it, especially when they know Arteta has ever used it to get anything tangible except time wasting.


Its only when you're in a comfy lead you can keep passing around. Lets call this broken spade what it is



A BROKEN SPADE!!!

iamoyindamola:
You claimed we were pushing for another goal show me na
Out of 3 shots, 2 were highlighted and the rest were palace's.
But according to you we played well
Issokay

If we didn't want to score we won't have two more shots on target after the goal in the 8th minute. Now explain this to me. How did that translate to parking the bus?

One thing about me is I try to be as objective as much as I can and I try to look for facts to back things up. You have not provided any evidence to show we parked the bus in that Match, it's just talks and perception here and there.

I think its time Auba either starts, then subbed off to give Lacazette at most 25mins to play, or vice versa.


Once again, Auba had ONLY 2 touches in the box all through 95mins. Laca entered late and had 7 touches in box 18 despite playing 1/5 of Auba's time. Nuff said.

Arteta should swallow his pride with better ogbono soup with obstacles and play Lacazette and Martinelli more. I won't mind two rugged acquisition in the mould of Guen or Torriera to make that Midfield a really juicy contest like years back. Its a timid Midfield right now. They'll be marking zonally and one pass will be their undoing. Why zone then?

daveP:



This improvement talk ya saying is mistimes and should never be on the table of positives or excuses right now. Especially as its not even true. Abi na another tv you watch?


How
I bet if that Laca last gap winner didn't happen, you won't be saying this atall.


I don't care if its better than the past. Other teams that are far worse off are stepping up. I keeo using the Brentford example cos they're just coming from Championship. If we keep Applauding this crappy thing as improvement while other teams are doing twice as that, then whatever progress made, if it doesn't outdo their own improvement, it is simple FAILURE! Let's not mince words abeg.

What you called pushing was actually a display of indecision.

See the last few mins before injury time. They just packed the bus and we kept spinning round from legt to right and right to left, unable to do nothing.


Like i said, if video analysts of other clubs notice an irredeemable pattern, all they need is counter it, especially when they know Arteta has ever used it to get anything tangible except time wasting.


Its only when you're in a comfy lead you can keep passing around. Lets call this broken spade what it is



A BROKEN SPADE!!!

What most of y'all looking for is a miracle and it sure isn't going to happen soon. The moment the CEO Venkatesham made that comment that they were not going to sack Arteta but give him a chance to build a youthful team I already zeroed my mind on us getting even with the traditional top 4. The fact that most of u still think we will automatically get to dem Chelsea, city, man utd and Loserpool level is what I really don't get.

Arteta is here for now and I will not wish my team lose because I think he's incompetent. The team that played yesterday despite making costly errors still didn't give up and fight for a fair share of the spoils.

You can blame Arteta for tactical decisions he didn't get right, but u must acknowledge the team not keeping their heads down and taking the defeat like they used to in the past.

It's just like Leicester vs Man utd in which Leicester gave away their lead vs man utd only for vardy to give them the lead less than a minute later. That's similar to what I saw on display yesterday. The guys pushed on and still didn't give up. I've watched several arsenal matches with arsenal giving up against extremely physical sides after conceding erroneously not to appreciate what I saw yesterday.

Anyways everybody is allowed to see things the way they want to sha.

daveP:
I think its time Auba either starts, then subbed off to give Lacazette at most 25mins to play, or vice versa.


Once again, Auba had ONLY 2 touches in the box all through 95mins. Laca entered late and had 7 touches in box 18 despite playing 1/5 of Auba's time. Nuff said.

Arteta should swallow his pride with better ogbono soup with obstacles and play Lacazette and Martinelli more. I won't mind two rugged acquisition in the mould of Guen or Torriera to make that Midfield a really juicy contest like years back. Its a timid Midfield right now. They'll be marking zonally and one pass will be their undoing. Why zone then?

Touch or no touch, Auba will always score more than Lacazette any day any time....all things being equal. Auba has earned that top 9 position over time.

BlueRayDick:
Touch or no touch, Auba will always score more than Lacazette any day any time....all things being equal. Auba has earned that top 9 position over time.

Bottomline: Give Laca more minutes!!!

That's all.


We can't be wasting such inbox resources for uncertainties. The Brighton game remains one of the poorest Auba performance this season.

I hope its the last, for our sakes.

BlueRayDick:
What most of y'all looking for is a miracle and it sure isn't going to happen soon. The moment the CEO Venkatesham made that comment that they were not going to sack Arteta but give him a chance to build a youthful team I already zeroed my mind on us getting even with the traditional top 4. The fact that most of u still think we will automatically get to dem Chelsea, city, man utd and Loserpool level is what I really don't get.

Arteta is here for now and I will not wish my team lose because I think he's incompetent. The team that played yesterday despite making costly errors still didn't give up and fight for a fair share of the spoils.

You can blame Arteta for tactical decisions he didn't get right, but u must acknowledge the team not keeping their heads down and taking the defeat like they used to in the past.

It's just like Leicester vs Man utd in which Leicester gave away their lead vs man utd only for vardy to give them the lead less than a minute later. That's similar to what I saw on display yesterday. The guys pushed on and still didn't give up. I've watched several arsenal matches with arsenal giving up against extremely physical sides after conceding erroneously not to appreciate what I saw yesterday.

Anyways everybody is allowed to see things the way they want to sha.

our resignation to fate isn't the palava here as youre trying to make it be. Don't deflect pls.


I myself have faced my front about how long he's going to be here.


Of course everyone here can have diverse views. But I can't agree one bit that this team had improvements as you opined. Never!!


Did you see the crap of a post-match interview he did?


The team got gingered up because the sub caused that aka Lacazette. Else the flow would be the same. The anger in Tierney's powershot is proof that everyone is tired of things not going their way. Arteta got it wrong once again and it translates to the tactics. The fans weren't even cheering again.


If 60,000+ peeps in the stadium were almost silent, then that's definitely not an improvement of Performance. Even the commentator said we switched off at the middle and slow to break their Defence.


Their words vs yours?

I'll take theirs.


That's just my point.

daveP:
Bottomline: Give Laca more minutes!!!

That's all.


We can't be wasting such inbox resources for uncertainties. The Brighton game remains one of the poorest Auba performance this season.

I hope its the last, for our sakes.

Historical data has shown Auba is a better striker. Any other thing na sentiment and personal bias.

daveP:
Patrick has done more for Palace in 4months that this Mr Builder of Burj Khalifa in 2years. They are even compact on the counter without Zaha. Can same be said for Arsenal without keymen such as Saka, Auba, Tierney?

That Midfield may suffer till season's end. It looks inevitable. They don't know how to interrupt opponents flow. And when in control, they cant break lines.

Our team is disjointed and the earlier we let Arteta go the better as it stands now.

Conte is there waiting.

Jodera:
My thoughts on the game

1... We can't break or dominate teams who are good at pressing esp pressing from the front. Arteta haven't drilled this guys how to do quick passes and positional discipline to avert good press reason why we're making mistakes. We're just done for from good pressing teams

2.. Our passes and transitional play is damn poor and slow. I mean once we have a counter, the first thing we do set the tone and build the counter is not quick forward passes or running with the ball, instead the first thing we do is passing back. Like we pass back to our own half even wen we're on the ascendency to attack. Mehn, who does that?. Worst part is that it's laborious and slow.

3... I've been saying it times without number, we need a winger that can beat a defender. Pepe have proven he's not effective at such while Saka best wing is Pepe's wing. Aside the buildup to Auba's goal and the last minute cross that lead to the equaliser, I don't see anything noteworthy Pepe did. More so, martinelli reminded us the urgency we needed in our play cos he seems to be the only one who's fast with the ball.

4... Maybe what davep says is right. Just like pogba, partey needs xhaka to unlock him. Maybe both Xhaka and partey has each other's key to unlock themselves . Like the only match which we've dominated at least an entire half is just the Spurs game and that's the only game in which Partey and Xhaka started together this season.

You will offer me an unreserved apology for your no4.

daveP:
our resignation to fate isn't the palava here as youre trying to make it be. Don't deflect pls.


I myself have faced my front about how long he's going to be here.


Of course everyone here can have diverse views. But I can't agree one bit that this team had improvements as you opined. Never!!


Did you see the crap of a post-match interview he did?


The team got gingered up because the sub caused that aka Lacazette. Else the flow would be the same. The anger in Tierney's powershot is proof that everyone is tired of things not going their way. Arteta got it wrong once again and it translates to the tactics. The fans weren't even cheering again.


If 60,000+ peeps in the stadium were almost silent, then that's definitely not an improvement of Performance. Even the commentator said we switched off at the middle and slow to break their Defence.


Their words vs yours?

I'll take theirs.


That's just my point.

This is just a case of calling a dog a bad name just to hang it. In the match while we were dominating possession, Ben white switching play and Ramsdale doing a fine pass into an open space the fans were cheering really well. It's normal for fans to go silent the moment things aren't going Ur ways, so I don't see an issue here. Fans will surely get disappointed trailing behind at home. Those same fans in the AFTV jubilated when the last minute equalizer was scored.

I really don't know where u get this story of 60,000 fans in the stadium being silent but u need to watch the video of the highlights I posted earlier. The moment Laca scored the whole stadium erupted in joy and the fans couldn't even let Laca go when he jumped into their midst to celebrate.

Make Una dey take things easy when una dey come up with these criticism that can't stand thorough analysis na. For someone who didn't watch the match if he reads some of these comments he will think we just pass the ball to Palace and wait for them to attack and batter us as much as they liked.

Barryseal:
Unpopular opinion, MO Elneny should be the natural replacement for Xhaka. He never looses the ball at the base of the midfield, though he is criticized for making too many safe passes instead of playing vertically but I will take those safe passes than the Sambi and Partey like turn overs leading to goals.
Recall Elneny vs Man utd at Old Trafford last season? Arteta must find a way to bring him back from cold.

If Elneny was in that setup he will do worse. There's a reason both midfielders made similar errors in the same match. Once one is isolated and pressed, errors abound. The fault is on Arteta. Poor tactics. He should have either paired Partey with any of Sambi, AMN or Elneny or played a single pivot and push Ødegaard into AM position.

Secondly, Saka was a waste at LW. We have Martinelli and Lacazette to pick from, why play Saka LW? Saka and Pepe should be vying for the RW position or better still play Pepe nearer to Aubameyang.

Nonsense coaching.

Jodera:
Lol... It's not really unpopular tho.
That's what I was thinking also, instead of playing Odegaard at CM, why not play Elneny at DM then Partey at Cm?

It's even funny we're even talking about Xhaka replacement after how most of us here don't want to see him . Truly, sometimes, you don't know what you have until you lose it

Gbam.

BlueRayDick:
Even when u do all the bold part of my post right, u could still lose a match.

My point is the team I watched yesterday is an improvement from what I've been seeing in the past. They kept on pushing and pushing and pushing till the last minute. They had intent and they backed it up with purposeful football.

Maybe Arteta is not the best man for the job, but I can't just keep lamenting about him every match day when I know the board is not going to sack him anytime soon. I will enjoy the good games and critique the bad ones......and I will also call out the bad players too, not just the coach alone when things go south. Today it was Partey and Lokonga that nearly thwarted the efforts of the rest of the team, bar their "mustafi-que" showings we should've had a decent outing.

There's a reason both Partey and Lokonga made similar errors leading to goals. Ask why. Ask the manager. Even if you play Xhaka there, the same mistakes will happen.

Arteta's formation and tactics killed the vibes. I hope we get another manager because I am done with what Arteta is dishing to us.

BlueRayDick:
If we didn't want to score we won't have two more shots on target after the goal in the 8th minute. Now explain this to me. How did that translate to parking the bus?

One thing about me is I try to be as objective as much as I can and I try to look for facts to back things up. You have not provided any evidence to show we parked the bus in that Match, it's just talks and perception here and there.

It's not like we parked the bus but that we were pressured into defending when we should be dominating the game.

Spy360:
There's a reason both Partey and Lokonga made similar errors leading to goals. Ask why. Ask the manager. Even if you play Xhaka there, the same mistakes will happen.

Arteta's formation and tactics killed the vibes. I hope we get another manager because I am done with what Arteta is dishing to us.

My personal feelings about Arteta is well documented on this thread. I never really believed he had it in him to take us far when he was appointed as our head coach, however following his FA cup triumph I thought maybe this is Arsenal's Zidane coming to lift his former club out of turmoil we've found ourselves. I mater found him to be the opposite of that and wished he leaves ASAP but with the club's CEO statement earlier this season I gats to choice but to just siddon look as e dey go, celebrate the wins when they come and call for the stick when things don't go as planned.

That being said, I don't think I agree with the line of reasoning to blame the coach for individual errors leading to goal in a March. I mean these guys are professional who are duty-bound to showcase their professionalism on the pitch. There's no way I can give Arteta the stick for Partey or Lokonga's error. The rest of the team was upfront trying to push for a goal and they both lose the ball in critical areas and u want to pin it down on the coach? Nah!

If u watch that match well, Partey had it coming....he wasn't really at his best all through that match. That's not on Arteta abeg

Spy360:
It's not like we parked the bus but that we were pressured into defending when we should be dominating the game.

Now this is something I can relate with, not the so-called "we parked the bus" narrative being propagated here since yesternight. This is a more broadening view about the match.

Crystal palace ensured they put us in a position to defend more Than to attack, not that we surrendered attack to defend and chose defence instead.

We already know Arteta is more pro-defence than pro-attack. He wants to build the ball from the back but some of his personnel obviously just seem to know how to do it well thereby losing the ball in dangerous areas. I blame Arteta for not being able to use the personnel at his disposal as best as he ought to use them tho.

daveP:
We'd just be doing that stupid and rapidly useless left to right passing despite the numerous presence in the box. Personally i expect crosses into the boxes instead of those wingmen tryna find space to be doing pass and shoot. See how just their strikers kept interrupting the left to right crap and got uninterrupted, not even fouled till they enter our box 18. Shameful.

Very shameful indeed

Spy360:
You will offer me an unreserved apology for your no4.

Lol... It's pending for now.
I said maybe, so if I see run of games when we dominate opponents with partey and Xhaka pivots, I'll owe you an unreserved apology. I no fit use 1 game conclude

Spy360:
Gbam.

Lol... E dey sweet you ba.
Just calm down fest

@Blueraydick, here's my point.
I know they're not sacking Arteta anytime soon and because of that, most of us have toned down on our expectations unlike the Wenger days were we'll be looking/hoping to dominate the Liverpools, man citys, Chelseas and Man U's(and hoping for at least top 4).
Now we've lowered our expectations to hope that we'll dominate the likes of crystal palace, Aston villa, west ham and so on. But if after such insipid display ystdy(most of us opinions here) and you still think there's an improvement in that play and that we are undone by two costly mistakes, then I get the feeling from you that we should even reduce our expectations lower to the likes of Crystal Palace, Southampton and co. These are the teams we should be dominating.

Even tho I've lowered my expectations on this team, I don't want to reach that stage where with such an insipid display ystdy I'll start seeing positives. It's just as if we're present Newcastle or Norwich fans seeing positives in such a game ystdy. In fact, if we've played man city or Liverpool the way we played ystdy, I'll share in your optimism, not some sort of Crystal Palace biko.

Just my humble thoughts!

Jodera:
Lol... It's pending for now.
I said maybe, so if I see run of games when we dominate opponents with partey and Xhaka pivots, I'll owe you an unreserved apology. I no fit use 1 game conclude

Bookmarked.

BlueRayDick:
Historical data has shown Auba is a better striker. Any other thing na sentiment and personal bias.

Historical data has shown that Auba is better striker than Osimhen. But osimhen is currently the best african 9 in europe.


Let's not go over this who's better talk. I just, like other fans, want more minutes for Laca. That's all.


And overall, lets agree to disagree.

We look forward to Aston Villa.

BlueRayDick:
What most of y'all looking for is a miracle and it sure isn't going to happen soon. The moment the CEO Venkatesham made that comment that they were not going to sack Arteta but give him a chance to build a youthful team I already zeroed my mind on us getting even with the traditional top 4. The fact that most of u still think we will automatically get to dem Chelsea, city, man utd and Loserpool level is what I really don't get.

Arteta is here for now and I will not wish my team lose because I think he's incompetent. The team that played yesterday despite making costly errors still didn't give up and fight for a fair share of the spoils.

You can blame Arteta for tactical decisions he didn't get right, but u must acknowledge the team not keeping their heads down and taking the defeat like they used to in the past.

It's just like Leicester vs Man utd in which Leicester gave away their lead vs man utd only for vardy to give them the lead less than a minute later. That's similar to what I saw on display yesterday. The guys pushed on and still didn't give up. I've watched several arsenal matches with arsenal giving up against extremely physical sides after conceding erroneously not to appreciate what I saw yesterday.

Anyways everybody is allowed to see things the way they want to sha.

I respectfully disagree with this your take. No one on this thread has remotely wished for this team to lose despite the heavy dose of disappointment we are being fed week in week out. I am a harsh critic of Scamteta but I have said it severally that the Scam met me here and I will be here when he leaves. TH14 has expressed his displeasure at the situation with Arsenal, he was in the press box with D. Ek against Spuds, does that mean he wants us to lose? Or he doesn’t care about the club?

Baba, I can not celebrate mediocrity at any level, including in my personal life, people know me for that, I don’t know about others here. Arteta has been given to full backing, including financial support to get this team to play a semblance of football. No one expects this team to make the top 4 but are you now telling me that after spending over 200M, this side is not even playing better than Brighton, Villa, Palace, Westham, Burnley? If we switched coaches of these teams, will Arsenal play better? And who decided to go all young? Was Scamteta forced or was he the one that decided to trash everyone because he wants young players he can control?

We are not in any European competition, yet, we can not muster consecutive performances. Our players go to their respective national teams and dominate games but once they arrive Arsenal they become trash.. What does that tell you? If a coach continuously fails to plan tactically then what is God’s name are you paying him for?

I don’t care how you lace it, a bad coach is a bad coach.. there are no in-betweens. Arteta should have never been hired to coach a club like Arsenal. Until coaching is resolved you can’t go anywhere on the field, this thing is not magic.

daveP:
Historical data has shown that Auba is better striker than Osimhen. But osimhen is currently the best african 9 in europe.


Let's not go over this who's better talk. I just, like other fans, want more minutes for Laca. That's all.


And overall, lets agree to disagree.

We look forward to Aston Villa.

Òsihmen kor, osibodu ni.........

We are talking of someone who won EPL golden boot u are talking of Osimehn that started yesterday. The way una go just denigrate Ur own players just prove a point ehn, it just amazes me.

We are talking of who has proven to be a better striker between Auba and Laca.....here u are bringing in another players that's not even an Arsenal player. Lacazette even got to arsenal before Auba o, he's always had his chance.....in fact to accommodate him the coach played Auba on the wing yet he still outscored Laca with his 1000 and 1 touches. Abeg rest Jàre

Roland17:
I respectfully disagree with this your take. No one on this thread has remotely wished for this team to lose despite the heavy dose of disappointment we are being fed week in week out. I am a harsh critic of Scamteta but I have said it severally that the Scam met me here and I will be here when he leaves. TH14 has expressed his displeasure at the situation with Arsenal, he was in the press box with D. Ek against Spuds, does that mean he wants us to lose? Or he doesn’t care about the club?

Baba, I can not celebrate mediocrity at any level, including in my personal life, people know me for that, I don’t know about others here. Arteta has been given to full backing, including financial support to get this team to play a semblance of football. No one expects this team to make the top 4 but are you now telling me that after spending over 200M, this side is not even playing better than Brighton, Villa, Palace, Westham, Burnley? If we switched coaches of these teams, will Arsenal play better? And who decided to go all young? Was Scamteta forced or was he the one that decided to trash everyone because he wants young players he can control?

We are not in any European competition, yet, we can not muster consecutive performances. Our players go to their respective national teams and dominate games but once they arrive Arsenal they become trash.. What does that tell you? If a coach continuously fails to plan tactically then what is God’s name are you paying him for?

I don’t care how you lace it, a bad coach is a bad coach.. there are no in-betweens. Arteta should have never been hired to coach a club like Arsenal. Until coaching is resolved you can’t go anywhere on the field, this thing is not magic.

I don't recall calling Arteta a god coach since yesterday. All I said was our players also fumbled, most especially Partey and Lokonga. Even Odegaard didn't have a good game but it was Arteta's fault playing him out of position.

No matter a bad a coach is , it shouldn’t stop us from pointing out players who performed woeful too. Las las No be coach go come field play the ball himself Na .

BlueRayDick:
Now this is something I can relate with, not the so-called "we parked the bus" narrative being propagated here since yesternight. This is a more broadening view about the match.

Crystal palace ensured they put us in a position to defend more Than to attack, not that we surrendered attack to defend and chose defence instead.

We already know Arteta is more pro-defence than pro-attack. He wants to build the ball from the back but some of his personnel obviously just seem to know how to do it well thereby losing the ball in dangerous areas. I blame Arteta for not being able to use the personnel at his disposal as best as he ought to use them tho.

Exactly my point. Arteta needs to leave as soon as possible.

BlueRayDick:
I don't recall calling Arteta a god coach since yesterday. All I said was our players also fumbled, most especially Partey and Lokonga. Even Odegaard didn't have a good game but it was Arteta's fault playing him out of position.

No matter a bad a coach is , it shouldn’t stop us from pointing out players who performed woeful too. Las las No be coach go come field play the ball himself Na .

The errors made by Lokonga and Partey were forced errors due to tactical ineptitude displayed by the coach. Imagine Partey being dispossessed?
We have enough quality and rest time to make at least the top six in England. If Arteta is not sacked as soon as possible, salvaging the season will become more difficult.

Spy360:
The errors made by Lokonga and Partey were forced errors due to tactical ineptitude displayed by the coach. Imagine Partey being dispossessed?
We have enough quality and rest time to make at least the top six in England. If Arteta is not sacked as soon as possible, salvaging the season will become more difficult.

This has been my point to Blueray. Reason I said we are positionally poor. I've looked at both passing options they would have made no one was close by, except if partey and Sambi have some kind of iniesta movement to move out from such situation.

Auba said they stopped playing after the first goal
But blueraydick still insist they were pushing for the second
Who should we believe now

Ramsdale took 2 throw in on Monday
He did that to commit more bodies in palace's half
This guy sha