Arsenal 22/23 - go to new thread

awop

Odds winner of 'Odds or Evens 2022/2023'
Newbie
Joined
Sep 28, 2010
Messages
4,327
Location
Paris
Supports
Arsenal
You can thank me yourself rather than piggyback! Be a gent.
Thank you for reminding everyone daily your preferred way of inhaling oxygen and expiring CO² :p
 

cyberman

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
37,331
game followed the same format as most Utd Arsenal games for the past 20 years, Arsenal had more ball but they always do, Utd looking for counter opportunities like they always have
And none of our goals were counters.
 

Rojofiam

Full Member
Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
3,797
Some of the comments on here :lol: They're a very good team with a very good manager, today's result doesn't change that.

Arteta has done a fantastic job overall, just compare their current squad with the one he inherited from Emery. Their transfer dealings have been great as well as the football they play. Arteta also seems like a good man manager. They'll challenge for the title next season or the one after, maybe even this season.

Today they just got beat by another elite manager and a decent team.

For what it's worth, I think United and Arsenal will be the 2 best teams in England by miles after Liverpool and City's downfall. (If ETH and Arteta can build their teams the way they want to)
 

RedorDead21

Full Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2013
Messages
9,218
Indeed. And Martinelli-Jesus-Saka front 3 with Odegaard behind is great attacking force.
Good at rehearsed routines that don’t lead to goals…like wenger players…pass pass passedy pass pass. Our defence was better than their attack and our defence are all newbies
 

Robbie Boy

Full Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
28,554
Location
Dublin
Some of the comments on here :lol: They're a very good team with a very good manager, today's result doesn't change that.

Arteta has done a fantastic job overall, just compare their current squad with the one he inherited from Emery. Their transfer dealings have been great as well as the football they play. Arteta also seems like a good man manager. They'll challenge for the title next season or the one after, maybe even this season.

Today they just got beat by another elite manager and a decent team.

For what it's worth, I think United and Arsenal will be the 2 best teams in England by miles after Liverpool and City's downfall. (If ETH and Arteta can build their teams the way they want to)
Very good team with a very good manager? Maybe we can revisit this come the end of the season, but right now, this is hyperbole.
 

Ayush_reddevil

Éire Abú
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
10,847
Was shocked by how open they were, expected them to be more compact. Felt a hint of overconfidence in their play
 

Rojofiam

Full Member
Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
3,797
Very good team with a very good manager? Maybe we can revisit this come the end of the season, but right now, this is hyperbole.
Hyperbole based on what? :lol: Arteta's been there since December 2019 and they've been getting better and better.

The football has been getting better. They were pretty impressive today despite the defeat.

He got rid of deadwood / players stinking up the place: Özil, Mustafi, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Aubameyang, Guendouzi, Torreira, Kolasinac, Bellerín.

Brought in Odegaard, Partey, Gabriel, White, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Lokonga, Tavares, Jesus, Zinchenko, Vieira, etc.

Integrated Nketiah, Saka and Smith Rowe into the team.

Stripped Aubameyang of captaincy.

Each season they've improved in every aspect + their transfer dealings have been very, very good.

They'll probably end this season around ~80 points (which could still be a title challenge, because I don't think you'll need anywhere near 95-100 pts to win it this season) and further improve the squad next summer.

What would you call this if not a great job done already?
 

lysglimt

Full Member
Scout
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
15,437
Some of the comments on here :lol: They're a very good team with a very good manager, today's result doesn't change that.

Arteta has done a fantastic job overall, just compare their current squad with the one he inherited from Emery. Their transfer dealings have been great as well as the football they play. Arteta also seems like a good man manager. They'll challenge for the title next season or the one after, maybe even this season.

Today they just got beat by another elite manager and a decent team.

For what it's worth, I think United and Arsenal will be the 2 best teams in England by miles after Liverpool and City's downfall. (If ETH and Arteta can build their teams the way they want to)
I agree that Arteta has worked miracles - but to claim they will challenge for the title next season is a very strange comment.

Jesus has looked very good - but will he ever score enough goals to win a team the league ? Playing for the best team in the league, with players like David and Bernardo Silva + Kevin de Bruyne supplying the passes - he scored a total of 58 league goals in 5.5 seasons. Erling Haaland in 6 games has scored more goals than Jesus did in 3 of 5 full seasons, thats how big the difference is between them.

Ødegaard and Martinelli both are of the highest class, and Saka is not far behind. But who is behind them ? In their last game, City had Alvarez, Grealish and Mahrez to bring on from the bench - Arsenal had Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith-Rowe and Vinicius.

You look at their central midfield - who is good enough to challenge Liverpool and Arsenal ? Xhaka has never been good enough, Elneny isn't, Sambi Lakongo - absolutely not. Partey is better but he has struggled a lot with injuries since coming to England.

And today they were also madly exposed defensively. I think Saliba and Gabriel have looked solid, today they were really poor

There are simply too many gaps in this Arsenal-side.
 

Dan_F

Full Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
10,561
Hyperbole based on what? :lol: Arteta's been there since December 2019 and they've been getting better and better.

The football has been getting better. They were pretty impressive today despite the defeat.

He got rid of deadwood / players stinking up the place: Özil, Mustafi, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Aubameyang, Guendouzi, Torreira, Kolasinac, Bellerín.

Brought in Odegaard, Partey, Gabriel, White, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Lokonga, Tavares, Jesus, Zinchenko, Vieira, etc.

Integrated Nketiah, Saka and Smith Rowe into the team.

Stripped Aubameyang of captaincy.

Each season they've improved in every aspect + their transfer dealings have been very, very good.

They'll probably end this season around ~80 points (which could still be a title challenge, because I don't think you'll need anywhere near 95-100 pts to win itthis season) and further improve the squad next summer.

What would you call this if not a great job done already?
That’s a big assumption. They’ve quite literally played no one decent before today.
 

Jcrossley94

Full Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2015
Messages
1,439
Location
Rochdale
Hyperbole based on what? :lol: Arteta's been there since December 2019 and they've been getting better and better.

The football has been getting better. They were pretty impressive today despite the defeat.

He got rid of deadwood / players stinking up the place: Özil, Mustafi, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Aubameyang, Guendouzi, Torreira, Kolasinac, Bellerín.

Brought in Odegaard, Partey, Gabriel, White, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Lokonga, Tavares, Jesus, Zinchenko, Vieira, etc.

Integrated Nketiah, Saka and Smith Rowe into the team.

Stripped Aubameyang of captaincy.

Each season they've improved in every aspect + their transfer dealings have been very, very good.

They'll probably end this season around ~80 points (which could still be a title challenge, because I don't think you'll need anywhere near 95-100 pts to win itthis season) and further improve the squad next summer.

What would you call this if not a great job done already?
Like the original poster says, we’ll wait until the end of the season to judge.

they’ve played and beaten inferior sides so far and got beaten by a good side today.

None of Artetas good work matters unless they can have a solid finish in the league, they bottled top 4 last season and it’s only fair to see where they finish this season before judging where they’re truly at? Because if they bottle top 4 again, does Arteta deserve his job?

worth waiting and seeing before judging, I think hyperbole is fair.
 

GoonerBear

Full Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2020
Messages
3,155
Supports
Arsenal
I agree that Arteta has worked miracles - but to claim they will challenge for the title next season is a very strange comment.

Jesus has looked very good - but will he ever score enough goals to win a team the league ? Playing for the best team in the league, with players like David and Bernardo Silva + Kevin de Bruyne supplying the passes - he scored a total of 58 league goals in 5.5 seasons. Erling Haaland in 6 games has scored more goals than Jesus did in 3 of 5 full seasons, thats how big the difference is between them.

Ødegaard and Martinelli both are of the highest class, and Saka is not far behind. But who is behind them ? In their last game, City had Alvarez, Grealish and Mahrez to bring on from the bench - Arsenal had Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith-Rowe and Vinicius.

You look at their central midfield - who is good enough to challenge Liverpool and Arsenal ? Xhaka has never been good enough, Elneny isn't, Sambi Lakongo - absolutely not. Partey is better but he has struggled a lot with injuries since coming to England.

And today they were also madly exposed defensively. I think Saliba and Gabriel have looked solid, today they were really poor

There are simply too many gaps in this Arsenal-side.
I'll be surprised if any Arsenal fan sees us as title challengers next year. Its simply too big a jump, with still too many gaps in the squad, that still suffers from nativity too often. And quite frankly, I'm still not sure the manager is a manger than can get 90+ points out of a team either. He still has it all to prove. We need a couple of years consolidating top 4 an imoroving the squad with more revenue. Even that will be a big challenge.
 

Rojofiam

Full Member
Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
3,797
That’s a big assumption. They’ve quite literally played no one decent before today.
They finished last season on 69 pts after a horrible start with 3 defeats out of 3, and then they slipped up in the last 3 games as well to lose out on the CL. Given how they've improved every season, and having strengthened their squad once again, I'd be very, very surprised if they don't get 75 at least.
 

Dan_F

Full Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
10,561
They finished last season on 69 pts after a horrible start with 3 defeats out of 3, and then they slipped up in the last 3 games as well to lose out on the CL. Given how they've improved every season, and having strengthened their squad once again, I'd be very, very surprised if they don't get 75 at least.
They had no European football last season. We’ll see how well the squad copes with that, even though you says it’s been strengthened, I’d question how strong it is. They certainly don’t have anyone close to the likes of Casemiro and Ronaldo to come off the bench, and I’d argue our squad isn’t strong enough right now either.

I’d be willing to bet it’ll be another top four struggle for them, unless City and Liverpool have shocking seasons.
 

NoPace

Full Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2014
Messages
9,521
They played well overall. Arteta threw the game away but they might have lost 2-1 anyways if he didn't try to overwhelm us with attackers so not a huge deal.

They desperately need to upgrade on Xhaka, though Lokonga does seem to have improved from last season, which makes sense as it was his first season in England and he's young for a CM.

Jesus was really good, his strength gave Lisandro trouble (so far it looks less like height is the issue for Lisandro, and more that really strong players can bump him then make a play), Martinelli has improved a ton and probably is better than Saka at the minute, and they know what they're doing as a unit on the ball. Defensively not quite there, but at gunpoint I'd have them narrow favorites for 2nd, though it does look like it's City by a mile for 1st then Arsenal/United/Spurs/Liverpool each with just under a 1 in 4 chance of second, then Chelsea and everyone else accounting for another 10 percent or so.
 

WeePat

Full Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Messages
17,693
Supports
Chelsea
Arsenal looked pretty good, defensive lapses aside. I don’t think there’s too much to be downbeat about. It was a good performance but they were picked off by quality counter attacking football in key moments. We’ll see how they react to a) their first terrible result and b) European football starting.
 
Last edited:

Mike Smalling

Full Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2018
Messages
11,481
They've rightfully been praised for their start to the season, and five wins in a row against any sides is good, but you also have to look at the opposition. Really, really poor Leicester and Villa sides, with managers leading the sack race, a Bournemouth side that hasn't invested and has since sacked their manager, a newly promoted Fulham, and finally a pretty decent Palace side.

The old Arsenal would surely have found a way to drop points in these kinds of games, but they haven't been challenged all that much really.
 

The Purley King

Full Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
Messages
4,319
Was shocked by how open they were, expected them to be more compact. Felt a hint of overconfidence in their play
They haven’t really been tested in that regard thus far.
They looked good today in parts but missing a cutting edge.
has been arsenals main issue for a while but can’t deny they are better than than last 2-3 years.
will be interesting to see which way the cookie crumbles
 

Reddevildans

Full Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
1,255
Location
Beyond the Wall
They've done well to win the first five games. In past seasons you'd definitely bet on them dropping points against the likes of crystal Palace and Aston villa. Odegaard and Jesus have been very impressive.

Whats a huge worry is the strength on the bench. We all know arsenal suffer annual injury crises. Especially in the winter months. The quality isn't there after the first choice players.

If they miraculously keep their stronger players fit they'll be in the top 4.
 

wr8_utd

:'(
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
38,403
I love how often it's said that Arteta has "worked miracles" despite spending loads to finish 8th twice and then bottle the CL spot after gaining a good lead on two occasions last season. If we had a manager doing this, our fans would be calling for his head.
 

Orton

Ati-virus, keeps missing the n button
Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Messages
18,981
Location
bonnie wee Scotland
They played well. Their naivety cost them in the end though. They play some nice slick football and will definitely pose a challenge for top 4. Jesus could well be one of the best signings of the season.
 

largelyworried

Full Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2021
Messages
2,101
My predictions are terrible so lets wait and see, but this Arsenal team just seems to have a certain fragility that reminds me of late era Wenger. In big games they'd always boss the match between both penalty areas but lose the game by being second best up front and at the back. Felt like that today.

They came back ok from conceding the first goal, but conceding the second just seemed to take the stuffing out of them, having worked so hard to equalise. From that point onwards they just seemed to lose their heads and offered very little. Reminded me of how things ended last season for them.

Still, they have a tough run coming up after their next game (which is a gimme vs Everton at home) so it won't be long before we see what they're made of. They have Brentford (a), Spurs (h), Liverpool (h), Leeds (a), City (h), Southampton (a), Forest (h), Chelsea (a). Those games against Spurs and Liverpool at home in particular should say a lot about where Arsenal spend the rest of the season aiming for. Beat those two and get a decent return from the others and I think they'll have proven something in the process, as well as getting important points on board.
 

Uniquim

Full Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
5,761
Location
Location, Location
They need to defend transitions better and on days like today they need finish off more chances. It's not a game they should've lost by two goals, but they look like a good team this year.

Lost their composure a bit towards the end, but I don't think the triple sub helped them.

Will be interesting to see if other teams try punishing them in transitions going forward.
 

11101

Full Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Messages
21,424
Posted in the Jesus thread that he played very well yet didn't threaten in the slightest, then I realised that sums Arsenal up entirely. Lots of nice bits but they never scare you. Will they ever change?
 

mu4c_20le

Full Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
44,904
I love how often it's said that Arteta has "worked miracles" despite spending loads to finish 8th twice and then bottle the CL spot after gaining a good lead on two occasions last season. If we had a manager doing this, our fans would be calling for his head.
Spanish Rodgers.
 

The holy trinity 68

The disparager
Joined
Apr 10, 2016
Messages
5,902
Location
Manchester
There next 6 PL fixtures are the following;

H. Everton,
A. Brentford,
H. Spurs,
H. Liverpool,
A. Leeds,
H. Man City.

Everton are a very poor team, but they are on a high after a good result in the Merseyside derby, so it could be tricky.

Brentford away won't be easy, they have been getting some very good results and scoring a lot of goals.

Spurs are a really good side under Conte and even though it's at The Emirates, the North London Derby is always tough and it could go either way.

Liverpool have beaten Arsenal in the last 4 PL meetings and will probably be improved as injured players will have returned, so will be very tough.

Leeds at Elland Road is never easy, so another tough game.

Man City will most likely have too much for Arsenal and will probably be in full swing by the time of this game.

After them 6 fixtures, we will find out what Arsenal are really all about, as they had a favourable fixture list until today. I fully expect them to fizzle out if I am honest.
 

GoonerBear

Full Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2020
Messages
3,155
Supports
Arsenal
There next 6 PL fixtures are the following;

H. Everton,
A. Brentford,
H. Spurs,
H. Liverpool,
A. Leeds,
H. Man City.

Everton are a very poor team, but they are on a high after a good result in the Merseyside derby, so it could be tricky.

Brentford away won't be easy, they have been getting some very good results and scoring a lot of goals.

Spurs are a really good side under Conte and even though it's at The Emirates, the North London Derby is always tough and it could go either way.

Liverpool have beaten Arsenal in the last 4 PL meetings and will probably be improved as injured players will have returned, so will be very tough.

Leeds at Elland Road is never easy, so another tough game.

Man City will most likely have too much for Arsenal and will probably be in full swing by the time of this game.

After them 6 fixtures, we will find out what Arsenal are really all about, as they had a favourable fixture list until today. I fully expect them to fizzle out if I am honest.
The weird thing so far is everyone is dropping points. We have a tough set, but Spurs next 6 are

City (A)
Leicester (H)
Arsenal (A)
Brighton (A)
Everton (H)
Utd (A)

Utd themselves have the likes of Palace, City, Newcastle, Spurs & Chelsea coming up as well.

I think everyone will take points off each other.
 

GoonerGirly

Full Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2014
Messages
1,035
Supports
Arsenal
No excuses. This is Artetas team. Too easy to play through.
TBF we were playing with our 4th choice midfielder, which is why I'm so irritated we didn't get anyone in when Elneny became injured after Fulham. We can't all have 60mil x5 CL winning CDMs as our 3rd choice MF.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,606
Location
Manchester
TBF we were playing with our 4th choice midfielder, which is why I'm so irritated we didn't get anyone in when Elneny became injured after Fulham. We can't all have 60mil x5 CL winning CDMs as our 3rd choice MF.
I mean you called Casemiro a panic buy. Bet you wish Arsenal had panicked now!
 

GoonerGirly

Full Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2014
Messages
1,035
Supports
Arsenal
How far in the Arteta journey do you need to be before you believe you can beat a United in turmoil though?!
I would have felt much better going into the game if we didn't have Lokonga (who isn't a 6) playing, with Partey and Elneny out. I was screaming for another midfielder after Elneny got injured, but yet again we have left oursevles short. No excuses, Partey has only managed to play just over 50% of games during his time here, so we know he's not reliable to stay fit. And no matter how much you are "in turmoil" (which I think was exaggerated by the media anyway), you always show up against us at OT. Kinda like your win over Pool few weeks ago - no one expected that on the back of 2 horrible defeats but OT is a venue teams will expect to lose/drop points.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,606
Location
Manchester
I would have felt much better going into the game if we didn't have Lokonga (who isn't a 6) playing, with Partey and Elneny out. I was screaming for another midfielder after Elneny got injured, but yet again we have left oursevles short. No excuses, Partey has only managed to play just over 50% of games during his time here, so we know he's not reliable to stay fit. And no matter how much you are "in turmoil" (which I think was exaggerated by the media anyway), you always show up against us at OT. Kinda like your win over Pool few weeks ago - no one expected that on the back of 2 horrible defeats but OT is a venue teams will expect to lose/drop points.
I think you should have strengthened that area so I’m not sure why it was neglected? You did spend a fortune and there was more money available hence the deadline day bid for Luiz.

With the cloud over Partey you’d have thought it would have been even more important to address.
 

GoonerGirly

Full Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2014
Messages
1,035
Supports
Arsenal
I mean you called Casemiro a panic buy. Bet you wish Arsenal had panicked now!
Yes, I also said panic buy or not, he was going to undoubtedly improve you. Not too shabby to spend 60m on a world class midfielder and only use him as a sub (so far). If we had him he would be starting all our games until Partey became fit again. Lokonga is not a defensive player and it really showed in the crucial moments, he left too much space. And yes I wish we had brought someone in when Elneny got injured. I understand that the club do not want to overpay and get stuck with players on high salaries they have trouble offloading in a couple of seasons, but we have left ourselves short again.
 

SWE-Chucky

Full Member
Joined
May 9, 2017
Messages
403
Location
Stockholm
Supports
AIK Stockholm
Arsenal has a good offense but their defense will cost them a lot of points against better teams, we didn't even play that good today and got 3 goals and could have another 2-3 with some luck.

When they play teams like City, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea or even Brentford/Brighton/Newcastle that are right now actually playing good football - they will struggle. Their defense are pressing so high up the field that when you have a fast striker and can make fast pass through or over their back line, they have zero chance to cover up. All 3 of our goals showed how "easy" it was to expose them when you play fast with one-two touches and specially our second and third goals were a combination of us playing very well but also their CBs having no clue where our strikers and wingers were going with their runs and their CMs were only watching the ball and totally lost their defending positions. They even made Eriksen look like Usain Bolt for the third goal.

Can't say that i'm to impressed with either Saliba or Gabriel. Hope they are and stick with them.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,606
Location
Manchester
Yes, I also said panic buy or not, he was going to undoubtedly improve you. Not too shabby to spend 60m on a world class midfielder and only use him as a sub (so far). If we had him he would be starting all our games until Partey became fit again. Lokonga is not a defensive player and it really showed in the crucial moments, he left too much space. And yes I wish we had brought someone in when Elneny got injured. I understand that the club do not want to overpay and get stuck with players on high salaries they have trouble offloading in a couple of seasons, but we have left ourselves short again.
In fairness to Lokonga I thought Odegaard wasn’t very helpful and didn’t bother picking up Eriksen when it mattered.

In contrast Eriksen was tracking Odegaard back but Odegaard couldn’t be bothered doing the same. It led to at least one of our goals in the build up.