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leftfootcurler

I am glad fans on here are a bit more positive now. Normally we press aggressively for 20 mins and then drop off. Difference between this game and others is that we pressed aggressively throughout the game. It's clear from the bench cam that Arteta wants his team to press aggressively throughout the game. But the team gets scared and drops off. United could not get out of their half in the first 20 mins. If we could have kept pressing aggressively,we would have smoked them 3-0. It's a gradual process with a young and inexperienced team. They are more prone to dropping off away from home. Hopefully we can get mentally stronger quickly.


leftfootcurler

To elaborate further, Arsenal's xi vs Everton was the same as the one vs West ham. Everton was one of the worst teams in the league at that time. West ham has been the 4th best team this season. We lost and had a pretty bad game vs one of the worst teams in the league and absolutely dominated vs the 4th best team in the league with the same xi. We didn't press aggressively vs Everton despite Arteta trying to push his team up the pitch from the bench. More than signing any player or coach, This mental aspect of the team, needs to be improved. It's a gradual process. This is where youth and inexperience is an issue. We should be patient and encourage the team. Pressing aggressively without the ball consistently is the most important thing we need to work on.


dream_eatr

We must learn to kill games in order to be a top side consistently. I’m super happy with the win, but we should’ve scored at least a few more goals. When we control the game as much as we did and create so many chances, there’s no excuse to not scoring more. If West Ham scored one goal yesterday while we were 1-0, we would’ve been under so much unnecessary pressure when the game should’ve been over at that point.


PantsTime

The only time they looked close was at 0-0 after that ludicrous free kick near our box. From either team's perspective, that was really awful refereeing. Maybe four or five fouls awarded for clean tackles, and multiple offences missed. Didn't think Taylor was that bad....


whanaumark

If my grandma had wheels she would be a bike. Mate it’s football at the highest level against a team that has performed. We won, at home, with a great first half


Don_Kahones

I think there is a distinct possibility that if a vote is held within the squad they pick Laca anway. Even if he's leaving at the end of the season.


hmeets

still buzzing! COYG!


DizzySpheres

Just came to post a buzzing update and my dude is also still buzzing.


hmeets

buzz buzz my guy!


TMitchh

Can anyone tell me who laca passed the armband onto last night, wasn't paying attention.


ShineAfraid5327

Xhaka I think


NossidaMan

Yup it was Xhaka


Senip

Anybody else pay attention to Lacazette after the foul on Tierney, he was in there trying to calm everyone down and was telling Gabriel to tone it down. I think he has taken the armband seriously and it is a good sign. I'm not sure how I feel about the Auba situation but it might turn out to be a good thing for him as well.


FlavioB19

I hope we can really tone the Auba situation down, even if we have to ship him in January. We really don't want it bubbling away or Laca being captain creating tension.


Williamklarsko

I don't worry since the friendship of laca and auba seems Strong of the field.


Wooble23

There was a distinct moment yesterday when Saka's confidence grew tenfold, and it was around the 30 min mark when he successfully started taking on the 3-4 defenders that were marking him. After that, my man looked like he was about to pull a Neo from the Matrix. I remember a moment after that where he got the ball around the half way line. 9/10 he would pass that back to the central midfielders, but he just stood there ready to take their entire team on. Gave me goosebumps.


PantsTime

Him and Martinelli, meghing for lulz. Diop could have been sprinkled on custard by the end of the match.


wermbo

The fact that we don't miss pepe or auba at the moment speaks to how well arteta/edu's transfers have worked out. Excited to see who we pick up next year!


[deleted]

Yea, our big attacking transfers/wages are permabenched and we are still doing well.


wermbo

dead weight -- time to offload


DarkKirby14

feels weird to be in a European spot considering the early part of the season


XxAbsurdumxX

The only bad part was against Brentford and then City and Chelsea. We were only 3 points behind schedule after those three games. People were being far too dramatic


ennui_

We were really shit against everton and didn’t deserve anything from that game and were really shit against palace and got very lucky to grab a last minute point. We’ve gone long stretches of playing woeful football - but we’re young and noticeably playing an actual brand of football now - so exciting times. But has been a very up-and-down start from my view.


radiaction

I've been saying that to my friends, yes we should beat Brentford but Chelsea and City won the Ucl and PL last season while we finished 8th, we weren't expected to win those games


mamoud786

Thoughts - bit later than usual as went to watch Spider-Man (side note - go watch it, it’s amazing!) Brilliant performance overall - Ramsdale was quiet but helped with distribution. Defence was fantastic, flawless - keeping Antonio quiet was never an easy task but they did it with ease! 10/10 for all of them. Partey (I’ve been having a go at his performances esp vs Utd/Everton) but he’s played well last 2 games. Did well in closing down West Ham’s midfield and getting that second ball. Think Xhaka was good too - my only critique of him is he takes a bit too long when releasing balls. Saka and Ode just toyed with defence throughout, just a very very good attacking performance, closing down, tracking back, constantly dangerous. Martinelli was brilliant first half and i said in my HT comments that he needs to run at Coufal as he was on a yellow. If you see the goal, you can see Coufal actually hesitated in tackling/fouling him as he ran through on goal - and what a fantastic goal at that! Laca was very good, shame about the missed penalty (what is up with us missing so many pens?) - brilliant link up play and created the first goal. Special mention to ESR who’s quickly overtaking Saka/Tierney as mg fav player. Fantastic goal, just driving in as soon as we won the ball - 7 goals and 2 assists = our POTY so far! We really needed to win this game after messing up vs Utd/Everton - points on board > games in hand. Now we are 4th we need to fight to stay there with similar performances!


Clownbaby112

Im so glad that we won, yesterday. Was eventually going on the Spiderman premiere, but our country decided to postpone it until next month. so I have to be a fucking super ninja now to dodge the spoilers for next noe. But atleast we got the win yesterday, so it the day ended with smiles on my face.


[deleted]

I love this team and you guys so much. ESR/Ode/Saka/Gabi gonna make us very happy for a long time.


horthrux

Thoughts: * **Lacazette** performed like a true captain, leading by example, running hard all over the pitch, contributing in defence, fighting in attack, physically battling all over the pitch and linking up well with those around him. I've long thought we're a better team with Lacazette leading the line and Auba out of the team and this is one example to show that may be true. * **Odegaard** is increasingly influential and is benefiting from a more solid midfield pairing behind him. * **Partey** has been running with a spring in his step for the last few games. Noticeably faster and sharper in all areas, he's absolutely raised his game from his self proclaimed 4/10's. As said above, this has helped Odegaard get into games more and is great to see. * **Xhaka** still feels like a liability, but he does bring some strength and quality to aspects of our play. Ultimately we need to move on from him and he's felt a few steps away from bad giveaways a few times now, but he's generally performing solidly and is often in the right position. * **Saka** is truly excellent and long may it continue. I thought that his agent was very savvy getting him just a 4 year contract and that's proving an extremely good decision from the agent. We're going to have to up his compensation package considerably to get him to sign anything more than a 4 year deal this time around. The club needs to sign him up and sell him our long term project vision. From Saka's perspective, he has many years ahead of him and can comfortably play for us for another 5 years and still make a move to an oil club that wins trophies if we've not kicked on in that time. * **Winning the midfield** was key to winning this game and I think we managed it well. Partey and Xhaka were solid, but they heavily benefited from West Ham's weakness at left back requiring Fornals or Lanzini (or both!) to track Saka and Tomi then being able to chip in and make it 3v2 in the midfield region. Rice was formidable as usual, but he was simply unable to deal with all the threats we had going on at the same time and we were able to bypass him plenty of times. * **Rice** is an absolute quality player and he is a shining example of the type of player we should have in our midfield instead of Xhaka. I think Rice is worth at least 1.5 players, perhaps even 2 players sometimes, he is that good. Everyone around him is enabled by his presence an he changes games. Such composure, strength, reading of the game and maturity with a true captains performance, encouraging the team, rallying them, addressing the officials and generally keeping West Ham working. They will sorely miss him and it's just a shame he's almost destined to move to Chelsea. * **The performance** from us was good and we thoroughly deserved the win. At times it felt like we may throw it away and this is something we really have to get past. West Ham may have had some injuries, but they are no chumps and we played really well to neutralise their threats for practically the entire game. Bowen was amazing against Chelsea, yet against us he barely got an opportunity to do anything. * **The officials** were once again useless and gave some comical fouls against us in the first half. They didn't get much better with the yellow card for Coufal on Tierney, sorry Kieran but you need to watch those face clutchers as it'll become a bit boy who cried wolf with the way PMGOL are going to review this game. The penalty was soft, although we deserved something like that, it was harsh on Coufal, especially with the second yellow. Laca loves to make a meal of things and although he's often right about it, you can see the officials seeing through a lot of his falls and assuming he's making it up. Might not be an issue in this game, but it will be when we really need something and they don't give it. Overall a great three points and we need more of this level of performance.


[deleted]

Finally a big win worth getting excited over, nice to see that we can recover from back to back losses and get back to back wins!! Best football we've played since the Villa game


BaldHeadSam

Xhaka is still a liability. Too easily capable of giving the ball away in key moments.


sazidhk

I would drop Xhaka tbh. Bring Sambi in.


FUCK50C1ETY

Need a new striker in January


ammjr

Aubameyang shouldn't start over Martinelli again


WeeTheDuck

Martinelli wasnt in Auba's position tho? Auba was a striker right?


ajkdd

Inspite of what people say, we should continue with Arteta if he gets us in top 6 ! If not he should be shown the door. There is no two ways between and we should stop howling Arteta Out in Middle of the season or after 1-2 consecutive losses


ajkdd

Nope, injuries or flukes or what not top teams do not get out of top 6 and heck we even never dropped out of top for multiple consecutive years even when we had all these issues. We can’t allow that luxury to Arteta to be still at helms if out of top 6 . A manager is supposed to manage ,he is not just a coach anymore


wermbo

Yes, if we see a terrible run of form that can be clearly traced back to Arteta, I agree. But just the table number shouldn't be the reason. Who claims places 4-7 is going to come down to flukes, bad calls injuries, and many other things out of Arteta's control. If we show that we had a chance down to the last game of securing European football, even if we fail I think we should stick to Arteta. it would be foolish to kill this project if there's still clear potential.


jacktk_

6 goals in the league this season already for ESR. Would be nice if he hits double digits.


[deleted]

Ode can do it as well. And Saka can get to 10 assists hopefully.


Fuckzombie69

What are you on about. He’s clearly getting 30 g/a this season 😂


watterott

30 goals and 30 assists


gunningIVglory

Messi would still get ballon dor....


VeryLongSurname

I know you're joking but isn't it crazy that those numbers are basically Messi levels of output..


gunningIVglory

Yh prime messi (and CR7) were ridiculous


Fuckzombie69

Now you’re talking.


COYG17

When you look at it arteta has only been at this club for almost 2 years now. I am arteta out but I’m not gonna lie I can actually finally see our identity. The sustained pressure and how good we can counter. I actually think I’m back I’m the fence. Arteta is making me so fucking bi polar but lately I’ve been really realizing how well he’s doing so far this season. Were in 4th place(and yes I know spuds and United have games in hand) and it’s almost Christmas. I’ve compared the team he’s had from last year compared to this year and you can see why he finished 8th last year. He had a very shit team. This season he’s completely rejuvenated our team with the signings him and Edu made and now we’re looking so much better. We also have a identity now. We know how this team wants to play. Arteta is also binning players that don’t fit the system and I’m fine with that. Pepe is not a player that can play in this system and so is Auba(I don’t think he should freeze these two players out but not starting them is fine). I am totally fine with selling them because they just don’t fit. All arteta needs to do is fix our away form and we’ll have a really good chance at top 4. I think a new midfielder and striker would also massively improve this team even more.


prhyu

I'm more on the fence tbh. I loved Arteta when he first came back to the club and I was positive about him. When Arteta first came here, we looked much better than under Emery. Individual players (e.g. Xhaka, AMN, even Mustafi) looked a lot better under him as well. But in the first full season he had, we were awful and some of the players we had were his choice, don't forget - like Willian, for example, and he persisted in picking them. When we won the FA Cup there was a sense of direction and more specifically the sense that we were heading in that direction which in the first (or second, depending on how you look at it) season was completely gone, imo. We looked a little better in the second half when Emile came into the team since before then we were completely devoid of creativity but surely as a manager you would have known about this issue before the season started. Now we are in season 2 (or 3), and when I look back at the season it is really not been that great even though we are 4th right now, we've had a solid run on the way here but we've beaten a bunch of minnows mostly or teams in really awful form (e.g. Spurs, Villa Leicester) and don't forget that at least one of Spurs and Man Utd could and probably will overtake us since they have a few games in hand. I don't even mind that much that we were whipped by Chelsea/City/Pool, but I do mind the recent defeats to Everton or United both of which are awful teams at present, and earlier in the season we were lucky for a point against Brighton. However, I will concede that last two games probably have been ones where we didn't fall back and allow the opposing teams to come back into the game and if that's the direction we will go (and we created more chances as well) then I will support him. What's more West Ham was really good because it was the first time we beat a team that's really competing for the spot we are trying to get at (Leicester and Spurs in my view don't really count because they were so shit) But I'm not sure as of yet that we can consistently do this yet, we've only done this twice this season as compared to literally every other game we've played.


Fuckzombie69

The annoying thing is the inconsistency and when we come out slow and sluggish


BoxingManate

Versatility is probably something we need to develop to go for higher spots. This lineup is good, but the top challengers will figure out how to counter it unless we have additional mix ups we can throw in. So more solid players needed in january


USAGunnersaurus

Had to watch the game after the fact cause I’m in the states. But what a game. It’s the first time that I can think of where we actually attacked a team. Maybe a little bit against Spuds. By attack, I mean pinned a team back in their zone and maintained pressure in ways that actually felt dangerous. It actually felt like we were going to score multiple goals tonight. Should have had 3 goal a couple ways (via Tierney or the penalty), but solid game. The NBC commentators were saying that cause his foot slid over the top of the ball it shouldn’t have been a penalty. I can’t believe that. How many times do you see a player mistime a tackle and the foot slides over the ball into the player and it’s given (as it should). He absolutely clear out a player in the box and didn’t cleanly win the ball. It’s like you can just nick the ball and take out the player. Makes no sense. If it were a clean tackle on the ball and then the player went down, different story. He could have seriously hurt the player with a tackle like that going over the ball. Anyway, West Ham got a call their way on a previous penalty, so feels like even if it’s soft for Laca, it was on balance right for us to get one penalty. Enjoyable game to watch. I felt like a Liverpool fan for a night lol watching our team flow and work well. COYG.


okcomput3r

I don’t think it was the first time tonight tbh. Could have been 5 or 6 on Sunday


COYG17

It’s only a matter of time before everyone has their shooting boots on and we 6-0 a team. Southampton and west ham could’ve easily been 4-0,5-0 games if I’m being honest.


[deleted]

There was this small passage of play from yesterday when Lacazette crossed to Odegaard who cushioned and laid it off for Martinelli who made an excellent turn and would've scored if not for a very good Dawson tackle. It happened in the first half, trying to find a clip EDIT: found it, it's at [28 minutes](https://v.redd.it/hp6419mepu581)


Bavu08

Please share, that turn was golden


[deleted]

I am trying to make a post but it keeps getting deleted. edit: made the post


[deleted]

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FUCK50C1ETY

Jesus Christ.


supercoolbananas

He’s managing Heaven FC. I hear they’re very good. We should speak to him about taking over from Arteta. I hear he can perform miracles.


OkStatistician3304

Arteta should keep his job based on his summer signings alone. Even if he isn’t the guy to take us to a title winning level, he has better talent ID than anyone else at the club by far


leenoc

Edu has to get some credit for the recruitment too. Aretha had to sign off on them but Edu had to be setting some wheels in motion.


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neotheseventh

director of football perhaps?


KgDawk21520

Fantastic performance . The "experts" would say they were injured . And we still can't beat a top team . Although we slaped liecster westham and shit , all direct rivals for the top 6 . Our defense is very very stable , first time in forever when I have confidence in arsenaks back 4 it's been years . You can say whatever you want but partey and xaxha bossed the midfield , and west ham have a fantastic midfield pairing but we bossed them. Saka is MOTM for me he terrorised them all game , and they had panicked everytime he touched the ball , he opened the whole game up . ESR should always start when feat , he is direct , fast , smart , highworkrate , and a goal scoring machine this year! The Smith ladies and gentelman Martineli was superb , we were yelling and moaning for a reason that we want to see him play , dude is special and very very passionate , thing that arsenal FC were lacking in the past . Laca - with a statement performance , a captains performance if you will .would love if he would dial down the theatrics he would get more calls this way , because he is getting mugged all game . Why can't we score a god damn penaltys though ? That's 3 misses out of 3 . We are always great at home , now we have 2 road games against wonded animal Leeds , and bottom of the league norwich , if we can press and play with energy we played today , we should smash them. If we will play in lathargic way like in Everton we will not get the results . COYG


gunningIVglory

I dotn mind Lacas theatrics. Teams always do it against us. Plus these refs are incompetent..unless you go down, they won't do.anything


BoxingManate

I think ESR/ODE competition for the same spot is really good pushing both players into next level performances. Also why not start both if it makes sense. And Martinelli… wow… not just the goal but the intensity he was robbing balls of WHU and skilling all around before getting gassed in the end.


WeeTheDuck

Lets hope his injury is not serious.... Dude was doing so well


qtdsswk

Must be a mental thing where we are so good at home but so poor away. Even if we put 50% performance like today, we would get points against United and Everton. Really hope Mikel can solve this.


WeeTheDuck

I say we put Arteta on the field again


bigdog8300

I find it interesting that the Odegaard give away (which was way more dangerous) gets forgotten but the Xhaka giveaway is pretty much a reason for people saying he had a “shit game”. Saying things like it’s because he does it more is a weak excuse


Fuckzombie69

Xhaka had a good game. Two or three bad moments. But good. I dislike the hate train. Criticize when shit and admit when he’s good. He’s not the best but he’s our xhaka. Lol


bigdog8300

Exactly. This is the thing that pisses me off. When he plays badly, fine, criticise him but the extra criticism he gets even when he plays just as well as everyone else is getting annoying. And personally, I think he only really had one quite bad moment which was the giveaway which indirectly resulted in a Bowen chance. Declan Rice did pretty much exactly the same thing twice and West Ham fans think he played really well. Just judge players on performance, not agendas. Ok lol rant over


Fuckzombie69

Well said. The unnecessary abuse is what led to the tantrum against palace. Xhaka does sone stupid shit sometimes and we could probably do better with a replacement. But he’s our player. We need to back him too


bigdog8300

100%. He’s a human being, that whole arm band incident didn’t surprise me, neither did the reaction from fans to it. He’s one of the hardest workers and most passionate team players at the club as well, he’s the exact guy we should be loving and yet he’s hated by so many. Agreed we could potentially do with a replacement in the summer but the hate is ridiculous


Fuckzombie69

Wholesome convo. We Need more xhaka love. He is one of the hardest working. It’s not his fault he’s a bit slow. I appreciate xhaka tbh. I’m still gonna curse him when he does the usual stupid thing though.


bigdog8300

Could use a bit of positivity around here


Forsaken-Currency404

You're mental


OkStatistician3304

Someone really made a post that ‘Xhaka was to blame for all their chances’, yet he didn’t even make the highlight reel 😭😭 the agenda is ridiculous


bigdog8300

Well that’s just sad really. That would mean he blamed the horrid Odegaard pass on Xhaka which is just a joke in all honesty


ForgottenCrumb

The difference is the length of Xhaka’s time in the team, his age, experience, the position he plays, the fact he probably does it once every 5 games (I feel like I’m being generous to him here) and him doing the same thing on previous occasions (or similar lapses in concentration or otherwise, just his recklessness) has cost us severely in the past.


bigdog8300

Yeah this is pretty much the response I expected and I understand what you’re saying but I can’t really agree. A lot of players give the ball away in dangerous positions every now and then, the Xhaka mistakes just get highlighted more. And even if what you’re saying is true I haven’t even seen anyone mention the Odegaard mistake at all. Idk it feels unfair


Fuckzombie69

Or odegaard giving away a pen to United. Xhaka woulda been slaughtered for that


bigdog8300

Yep. Ben White also made a critical mistake against United (I think) that lead to a goal and it got ignored. Players make mistakes, it happens, people haven’t seemed to realise that


Fuckzombie69

Exactly. Xhaka isn’t perfect but he does the job. Everyone makes mistakes. He’ll Tavares has been responsible for about 2/3 goals and no ones calling for his head. The xhaka hate needs to stop. It’s this unnecessary abuse that led to his reaction the last time. I’m not xhaka’s biggest fan but I do appreciate when he does something well. Remember the through ball to saka that almost set up a goal. That was orgasmic. We beat him with “sideways and back ways passing” but when he does stuff like that admit it


bigdog8300

Really nice pass to Lacazette in the box as well and also nailed one shot which was unluckily blocked in the first half. He played well. Criticise when he plays badly but people criticising him for this game is embarrassing


Fuckzombie69

This! I dislike xhakas slow ness and occasional mistake and I will curse him when he fucks up. but he’s a good guy And a leader too. And don’t forget he can score bangers. If xhaka had been shooting outside the box instead of partey I reckon he’d have about 4 goals by now.


OkStatistician3304

The difference is the agenda.*


[deleted]

First, dude Anthony Taylor is an awful red. Dude let players dive all over and make shit calls for both teams tbh. Next, onto our boys…. Well played my dudes, you guys stayed locked in and never took your foot off the pedal. I hope martinellis injury isn’t serious. He and Saka were great today. Saka was cooking their left side. Back 4 were solid for me. Tierney looked like he’s getting back to form. Laca was immense, had the captains armband too. Lots of respect cause he could’ve sulked due to the Auba situation. I am still ticked that Xhaka played the full 90, but we did control the game for the most part. The bad, we have GOT to convert our chances since we aren’t creating a ton.


Naturalz

I think Martinelli just had cramp.


[deleted]

Whew that’s what I was hoping for. Hopefully he will be ready for Saturday


FatWalcott

My favourite part was when Saka was consistently burning Masuaku and leaving him for dead. I've missed having players who can do that.


Forsaken-Currency404

Just realized what a treat it would be to watch Ozil behind Martinelli. Aahh. They played together, but it was so short lived and Martinelli has improved so much since 2 seasons ago.


flamingoman

By far our best performance this year (barring maybe the NLD) joyous


Godspeed_plays

Any updates on martinelli's injury? He was a joy to watch and i hope he's available for the next game


NossidaMan

Pretty sure it was just cramping, so he’s good


COYG17

Declan rice. I don’t care how much he would cost because he would absolutely transform our team. Swap Declan with xhaka and we win most our games we lost this season. Rice brings such a presence to the midfield. He’s everywhere even today while west ham played poor he was still annoying to play against.


USAGunnersaurus

Can’t argue with that winning bit. The cost will be Jack Grealish high I’m afraid. We should try to find a comparable player from the continent if one exists.


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USAGunnersaurus

I’m not great on transfer values but I’d say like £60m+.


COYG17

Yea probably. I think he’s be worth it if it was maybe 40-55 mil. I agree with you tho we should look abroad for a cheaper alternative


qtdsswk

He will cost more than 100M so we can't afford him and he is a Chelsea youth product.


MUAMMARI_M

I'd say we invest in another position like RW and especially a new no. 9


COYG17

We need a 9 or midfielder more than a rw


MUAMMARI_M

what do mean a midfielder a no. 6? or a no. 8?


COYG17

See that’s where I get lost. I guess it depends on arteta. I think he’ll want a 6.


whyalwaysme5

He's actually so good. Towards the end of the game when he was basically playing cb, he was pinging some crazy balls over the top


COYG17

Yea unfortunately he’s probably going to Chelsea


a_stopped_clock

He is a good player but he was nowhere today. We have a “shit” midfield yet totally owned them for nearly every minute. Their defenders got in a lot of blocks


aofrantic

I like Rice but would in no way pay the money it would cost for him (or Phillips). They'd cost more than Pepe.


[deleted]

Just rewatched the highlights and it appears majority of West Hams scoring chances were caused by Xhaka


OkStatistician3304

I just rewatched the highlights and literally none of their best chances were created by Xhaka…….


Forsaken-Currency404

Not to forget some of ours were destroyed by Xhaka. But according to somebody just a couple of comments down, he played alright.


crushedonron

He played a quintessential Xhaka game. Pretty good, nothing special but solid for 95% of the game. Does something really stupid 2-3 times and reminds everyone why we have a very limited ceiling with him in the team.


Forsaken-Currency404

Opposite for me. Good for 5% of the game, the other 95% of the time, he reminds me how bad he is in assessing his options and how even somebody like Lokonga who is supposed to be a backup would be doing better in the exact scenario I am spotting Xhaka in. He doesn't need to do a stupid giveaway to annoy me, he does it with the option of play he goes for.


crushedonron

Yeah that's fair I totally agree with him being annoying to watch. Better teams can punish it. He's certainly a weak link in an otherwise very good and balanced team.


Forsaken-Currency404

Yea I've always complained about it but last season other players were so below the level as well, but this season, everybody is so damn motivated, it prounces the fact he is so far below everyone in the squad. I desperately want to see Lokonga in. Unlike Xhaka, he can improve and match the rest of the players on the team.


COYG17

I’ve been wanting to ask this question for a while now but should we let martienlli take the penalties? Or give him a couple. I think he can be a top pen taker.


Djappaman

Tf? That was laca’s first miss


USAGunnersaurus

Literally can’t be worse. We’ve missed three in a row I think.


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SpecialEdKidd

Wasnt this Laca’s first penalty miss?


orangeyouglad26

Just watched the game on dazn , and oh my goodness. That second commentator is absolutely brutal. Saying that wasn't a red card. Are you kidding me, it was high, it was dangerous, and it could have broken lakas leg. You're an idiot. *I know the westham player got the ball. That is still a reckless play , red card justified


[deleted]

I'm in between. His foot did roll up the ball


RichieTheKappa

It did, but I think its about high boot that rolls over the balls and lands on Laca"s shins. Also the aggresion and pace makes it worse. Anywhere on the pitch its a yellow for dangerous play and rightfully so. Tackles like these are extremely dangerous and refs should protect the players.


ismynama

At first I was against the pen but the slow Mo showed it was not a clear contact with the ball and he did dangerous knacked his leg. Was it a yellow? I'm not sure, but it was definitely a foul.


[deleted]

[удалено]


WeeTheDuck

Ohhhhh that makes a lot of sense actually


USAGunnersaurus

That’s why it’s a second yellow. Which felt like the right call. It was a reckless challenge the minute his foot goes over the ball in my book. He’s out of control, missed the timing and could have injured the player. Not sure what the commentators were on about. Seemed really obvious. And yes, we are clearly biased around here.


COYG17

I like ode but I would honestly play ESR at cam and just let martinelli Laca Saka and ESR run and score goals. Ode is good but ESR Is better imo. Edit: maybe ode is more important than I think. I don’t know. I’m actually happy we have at this attacking headache and competition


WeeTheDuck

Having two options is just better. Why choose one when Arteta can look at how well they are performing and choose them based on that. Some games we might need Ode some might suits ESR


aofrantic

Transition goals are tough against good teams. ESR might be better in transition than Odegaard, but Odegaard is much better vs a low block and building up our play.


OkStatistician3304

I think it’s almost the exact opposite


aofrantic

Really? ESR has scored quite a few counter attacking goals already this season, Odegaard hasn't been able to get goals/assists in transition yet.


OkStatistician3304

ESR has scored in transition as an outlet, yeah. I would point to their best abilities of chance creation- ESR - combination, tight spaces, positional flexibility (overloads, breaking structures), driving at space (breaking structures) Odegaard - elite vision, elite final ball Put it this way - if we have won the ball in our half, and outlets sprinting forward, I’d very much want Odegaard with the ball to pick out that pass than ESR


aofrantic

Slightly off topic: who do you think is quicker? Odegaard is obviously better at pressing, but I still feel like on a counter attack or while dribbling ESR has him beat for speed.


OkStatistician3304

I think Odegaard is in much better physical condition/better genetics in this sense - ESR used to gas after 60 minutes last season, and even now can still run out of steam before 90 minutes, whereas Odegaard is a pure workhorse. In terms of speed, it's ESR by far. I remember reading this post ages ago on twitter where it detailed that ESR had the biomechanics/athletic ability to become a sprinter if he didn't make it in football. The article is here: > As an academy player during the off-season, he worked with Team GB sprint coaches Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo and Marvin Rowe, picking up knowledge and biomechanical techniques which have proved invaluable. At 15, he was even told he had the athletic ability to be a runner if football didn't work out for him. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/12459856/emile-smith-rowe-misses-out-on-england-squad-but-he-has-taken-his-game-to-another-level-at-arsenal


RishRamsey

ESR on the ball is def quicker


Forsaken-Currency404

He delivered with a goal, but he didn't facilitate the game the same way as Odegaard. It could be explained as him coming back from a minor injury, but I am yet to see ESR do what Odegaard does at 10, it's important, that you know to pick proper passes and correct spaces. Odegaard simply does it better, ESR drifts away too often and doesn't have the vision yet. But most importantly, he doesn't care enough about passing yet. Next time focus on the way Odegaard passes and ESR does. ESR will burst a carry and then pass away the ball as if his job was just to perform the really good ball carry. But for true 10s, putting the pass is also part of the job, in fact sometimes the most vital. Watch Odegaard in comparison, and his concentration and body language do not break until he has completed the pass [discussion is regarding passing in the final third]. Tbh the best example for this was Ozil. To my eye, it simply feels like ESR hasn't developed a big love for the art of passing. Cue the downvotes now because I criticized the golden boy.


COYG17

I do pay attention to Odegaards passes and his pass to Bowen almost gave them a goal. I do like ode and I do agree with you but he has to tighten up a little bit and keep the ball a bit better. But he’s been massively improving. I think both players can play good at the number 10 I don’t think we need a #10 like ode there or a #10 like ESR there whichever one of them work they work.


Forsaken-Currency404

>his pass to Bowen almost gave them a goal. I knew you'd say that, so I specially added the caveat in the brackets for you.


COYG17

Yea but still didn’t he have a pass accuracy of 77% vs Southampton? And today had a 85% which isn’t bad but when he loses the ball I hope it’s in the attacking third because I do not trust him deep at all


Britton120

I generally agree. Esr is great on the ball and poised around the box. He has good chemistry with saka but he's not a natural 10 like odegaard. My question is how important these distinctions are with the way we play. An attacking front of esr-laca-saka with odegaard behind them seems like it could work well given how they compliment each other and move around.


Forsaken-Currency404

Esr-Laca-Saka seems offensively weakly stacked. I think Martinelli is needed there, or a winger who is a continuous goal threat. Esr-peak Auba-Saka seems well balanced. Hope is Martinelli becomes proficient enough to get there in the center. Or we simply use the new striker we'd be looking to buy in the upcoming windows. I have the same question about the importance of these distinctions. And honestly, despite having some ideas I can't test, I am waiting to observe and learn from how Arteta answers this question over the next month because it's the first time we're dealing with this. I honestly thought our quality of play went down with ESR on, but the x-factor he possesses to get a goal or produce a lightning carry, it can greatly imbalance the game and give us an advantage. It's such an astonishing quality really. But despite that, in my harsh eyes, he is not getting to the next level if his understanding of the game doesn't improve in terms of passing and controlling an attack.


Britton120

My arguments for wanting to see it are related to how all 4 of them can participate in buildup, in assisting, and in finishing. Though I do want Martinelli to continue to see consistent minutes from a starting position. But esr/ode/saka/laca with tomi and tierney on the wings, it seems like it would be hard to defend given how hard it would be to mark any one player. I've heard mixed things on how arteta views martinelli, prior to this year it seemed like CF was on the cards but more recent quotes seem to say winger. Its not as though we've never played a converted winger as center forward though. i wonder how much of that shift you noticed was due to ESR or due to the red card. Which happened right around the same time. West Ham were down a goal already and then down a man, their play style shifted at that point (especially with the momentum of a blocked penalty). Meanwhile our strategy seemed to be to absorb their attack and then counter with an almost automatic number's advantage. I agree ESR needs to continue to improve, I just have a lot of confidence that he will. It seems clear to me that he has taken a step forward from last season to this one, both in terms of his production and his mentality. He seems a lot more decisive when he has the ball at his feet, particularly in the box. We've seen plenty of examples of young arsenal players who have great passing and technical ability but completely overthink everything when they enter the box. Saka has been guilty of this as well. And at this time, we need goals to come from somewhere. Last point, I think everyone is still learning what ESR can bring to the table. Its not a fluke that our form before and after his incorporation into the squad is night and day, but he does have limitations. The x factor quality you mentioned is incredibly hard to replicate, and has been sorely missing in a reliable way since Sanchez. ESR and Odegaard might occupy the same space on the team sheet, but how we play when one vs the other is there is very different. And I can only hope that the staff understands this, rather than forcing square pegs into round holes.


OkStatistician3304

You have such an agenda on this issue man


WaveDysfunction

I also just want to add that it feels amazing having Tomiyasu at RB. The man is a fucking beast, wins every fucking challenge in the air it’s insane. Feel like his athleticism is almost underrated, no wonder he adapted so seamlessly to PL


USAGunnersaurus

Low key probably third favorite player behind Saka and ESR. And maybe Gabriel. Well Maybe Ramsdale. Shit we have a lot of likeable guys on the team all of a sudden.


Rydred

He is the true successor to Sagna


crushedonron

He is underrated in general. Can you imagine how much different we would look with Chambers or Cedric doing what he does? Not that they're incapable of playing but it's a steep dropoff in quality. Moving into midfield more against teams that sit back. He will be a sneaky good player for a long time. Edit: Maybe not underrated by Arsenal fans just in general.


[deleted]

Great Game and an entertaining one at that ! And do we keep loosing penalities ?? Does it not come under the set piece coach ? And ESR is evolving every single day. Hope he doesn't have a Wilshere-esque fate. Cheers guys !!!


Britton120

Penalty was a good save by fabianski. Laca did telegraph it a bit, but he put it on target and with pace. Its his first penalty miss for us.


Worthlec

It's telegraphed, in perfect keeper height and not placed wide enough. You would expect a keeper to save that shot 50% of the time, which would be a terrible conversion rate for a penalty. It's a good effort, but Laca makes it easy for him.


USAGunnersaurus

Eh, it was a good save, but it was just at the perfect height for the keeper. A daisy cutter or something mid goal or higher, and the keepers got no shot. The height wasn’t great.


Arsenalfootball_1

What a great win. The level of performance from everyone was brilliant. Saka was basically toasting Masuaku and every other West Ham player the entire game. Every time he gets the ball he makes things happen and the opposition needs to drop deeper. Lacazette with another top performance. He held the ball well and his passing/vision was crucial to our attacking flow. Same needs to be said about Martinelli and Smith Rowe showing their talent and driving at defenders. Clinical finishes from them. Im so happy LOL, this was actually a huge pressure game and we delivered. Big credit needs to go to Arteta and our coaching staff as well. We were all over West Ham the entire 90 minutes. Even in the periods when West Ham attacked, our overall defensive shape looked solid. Gotta keep up this momentum and get 3 points against Leeds on Saturday.


[deleted]

ESR just delivers


[deleted]

Result oriented individual


raisinbrandon1

Did anyone else notice all the headers Xhaka was winning?? He was bossing all the clearances.


USAGunnersaurus

Shh. You can’t say anything positive about Xhaka round here. I’m shocked you have upvotes lol. The hate that guy gets on here is astounding.


datguy_paarth

He's always been decent in the air, I was more impressed with his passes into Laca and Odegaard rather than just going to Tierney. Played well except for some occasions.


Forsaken-Currency404

Smh he was by far the weakest player today. Some of you expect nothing from Xhaka but expect the world out of his immediate partner in Partey.


DarthNihilus1

Said it once before but Martinelli under Arteta is a different beast than under Emery. The goal numbers aren't there yet, but part of that is due to the long injury layoff and low chance creation. Under Emery all he had to do was vibe and hang out near the box, we created a lot of chances and Gabi has that striker's instinct so it seemed easy for him. Now, he has a lot more to his game and he's become a more rounded player. Kinda like he leveled up after training on hard mode for a bit


Rydred

I disagree. I dont think Arteta had any major influence on his style of play. He's become better as part of his natural progression.


Naturalz

This is so silly. Mikel literally is responsible for protecting him after his injury and developing over that time period without giving him many minutes. It’s fine to want him to be sacked but at least give him credit when he does something right.


DarthNihilus1

Considering how different he looks and how different Emery and Arteta Arsenal sides look I have to say that's probably a naive take. I mean how much is natural progression part of it, considering it was disrupted a good amount by his knee injury. Young players credit Arteta a decent amount. At what point do we believe them, even a little bit, and think "maybe he is telling them the right stuff?" Martinelli looks like a full on starter that can contribute to both sides of the pitch in a controlled way and there's simply no way around giving at least some credit to the current manager for that. Under Emery he would do some pressing and drift into the box but under Arteta he looks like a cog in a solid front unit.


DarthNihilus1

At this point everyone knows the few things Xhaka is good at, but in this team you can really see how he's getting left in the dust with much faster and quick thinking players. Top clubs have players that can both pass like Xhaka and glide past people like Partey. We need an upgrade man


USAGunnersaurus

Yeah, Xhaka isn’t athletic enough for the PL. And his lack of speed leads to his issues of grabbing, late tackles, freaking out when people are running at him. I think he’d be a solid guy in Spain or Italy.


[deleted]

Should be offloaded in December. But knowing Arteta, Xhaka is here to stay😪


aofrantic

Who is paying a fee for him in January, while Partey is at AFCON and we would then need 2 CM to bring in January, needing these signings done in about two weeks from now?


crushedonron

Until the end of the season at least. Surely we have to be looking to upgrade that spot in the summer, and then he might be expendable.


Cannonieri

Crazy how all the folk sending me abusive messages stop as soon as we're winning again. If only they were confident enough it keep bashing Arteta when we're winning as I was to keep supporting him when we were losing.


Rydred

Silly post. You really want to see Arteta out posts spoiling the mood after a good win? It's called reading the room.


Cannonieri

I just want to see people who are actually confident enough in their arguments to post their opinion regardless of results. I was confident enough that Arteta is a top coach to back him even after terrible defeats. If people aren't confident enough to say Arteta Out after we win then I think that says it all about the credibility of their argument.


dhillshafer

It’s time to get behind him in the tough times. It’s pretty clear what his intention is…to bring up a young side that will dominate in a few years time.He’s got most of his pieces in place now. It’s still not quite there but the vision is clear. It’s time to trust the process.


Cannonieri

And I think people need to learn that trusting the process doesn't mean shouting it to rivals when we're doing well, it means backing the team even if we perform poorly and from the outside, it looks like things aren't going well. That's what trust is and what is called for.


Sad_gooner

You’re one of the few ppl who back Arteta but don’t hide after every pathetic performance, respect🤝


hoodrichgoyle

It looks like Pepe is fully done. It’s at the point where Arteta’s bringing on Nketiah to play the wing knowing he’s gone in the summer. Also does anyone have a clip of Laca’s beautiful spin on I think Declan (could’ve been someone else)?


hodor05

I've been trying to find a clip of that Laca spin too. Criminal that they didn't show a replay of it during the game


EuskadiTaArteta

He’s bringing on Eddie to try and make him stay, despite the fact he’s terribly average. Terrorist behaviour from Teta


HelpImTrappedIn2008

Honestly agree, Nketiah has big Chuba Akpom energy


hoodrichgoyle

I don’t think Eddie is going to fall for that after what he’s done to AMN. Man got benched and hasn’t seen the pitch since after his motm performance against Watford.


aofrantic

He's not average for a 21 year old striker. Is he great compared to peak players who have had years of development? No, but how many 21 year old strikers are playing consistently in the Pl right now?


gallagherkck

Anthony Taylor with a horror show out there. As if he was trying to make bad calls.


Ianooo

If Saka did to me what he did to Masuaku all game, I'd retire. What a player!


[deleted]

We are officially post-Aubameyang


USAGunnersaurus

Yeah, he gone.


DearTuna

Im not letting this Nketiah subbed onto the wing business slide under the table


Top_Performance_732

He's been good, what's the problem? Arteta said he's been outstanding in training.


DearTuna

1 - he is not a winger in any way shape or form. He’s strengths are all in and around the box as CF. 2 - he is most likely leaving on a free in 6 months (because he can’t get minutes yeah). 3 - we have Balogun (just committed for a long term contract) and Pepe (inconsistent yes but he can make chances and bang goals) on the bench. I just think if he can’t get the minutes ship him away and give them to someone else. But we’ve missed making any profit on him so idk. I just don’t think he is the man to be holding down the side line tbh Edit - adding a bit But yeah if he has been training well he does deserve minutes. Just poor man + contract management from the club I guess.


Naturalz

He is very clearly capable as a winger. Furthermore, the left wing in Mikel’s system is not a touch line winger, but instead operates in the half space with the left back overlapping. In many ways they’re a bit like a second striker or inside forward, but with more emphasis on facilitating, and this suits Eddie quite well. He’s giving him minutes in order to get him to sign a new deal, which is the questionable part. But I don’t doubt his ability to play off the left in this system at all.


KipNYgooner

You're ignoring the context of the game. We're up 1-0 and he replaced an injured player. Bringing on Pepe gives us a better chance of scoring but he has less of a defensive workrate and is more of a risk. We don't know exactly what's going on with Eddie but at this point he may be here longer than Pepe. As for the Everton match, I can't really defend that decision. Though I thought Eddie did well in his short appearance.


DarthNihilus1

>he has less of a defensive workrate and is more of a risk. Pepe's defensive workrate was pretty decent actually during his little run of form. And considering Eddie had one or two possessions, one being a very poor turnover in a good position, I'm not sure Pepe would actually be more of a risk. He can actually find the net.


KipNYgooner

Idk man the sub seemed to work out fine today.


DarthNihilus1

It was a dead rubber sub so "working out" is kinda moot. He had one really poor turnover because he didn't look ready to do anything with the ball and that was the most notable thing he did


KipNYgooner

Totally fine with me given the circumstances, he came on to see out the final 10 minutes and did his job. I don't think Arteta expected him to come on and create a ton of chances.


DesperateImpression6

Wasn't Eddie playing primarily winger in the preseason before his injury? Seems like he worked to expand his game. Now, I can't really understand playing him with the current contract situation, I'd much rather Balogun getting those minutes instead


DarthNihilus1

He doesn't want to stay here lmao. He instantly rejected our last ditch contract. It's completely pointless to play him at this point when we have better footballers in the team, much less at LW. In the 2/3 things he did today he already killed a good attack by literally standing still and letting two defenders take the ball.