Arsenal 2018/19

[sev1]

What wingers do Arsenal have?

No natural ones. We seemed to have a spark when Laca came on as a central striker moving Auba to the wing.

IMO I think Iwobi is an option for The Wing and hopefully Emery can develop him a bit there. He’s bulked up recently and looks physically imposing when dribbling down the flanks. Still needs some end product though but I think the talent is there for development.

 

[Robbie Boy]

It’s our weakest link and we’ve all been sketchy about it since pre season. I’m hoping Emery can put some focus into that area regarding coaching it into the players he has at the moment, but Sven and Raul have an awful lot of work to do in the recruitment area.

I guess we’ll just have to hurry up and wait on this one.

I used to think Bellerin was the next big thing but he’s really regressed, or at best, stagnated over the last couple of years. Mustsfi is an ok squad player but he should never be a starter and I haven’t heard overly positive things about Sokratis.

 

[NieThePiet]

Positives:

- Emery is a manager who likes to give instructions on the touchline compared with the dead Wenger. This thing motivates the players;
- There was some good pressing in some moments of the game and City clearly struggled with it;
- Guendouzi. We could have a gem at our disposal.

Negatives:

- Our defence. A lot of work to do to clean all the mess Wenger has left;
- Our wide play. That's a big problem because without width we are less dangerous;
- Xhaka. Don't want to see him again.

The pressing was the most positive thing. Thing many teams would struggle against it today, but City was to good for this. Then of course our defensive line had a problem playing against this offensive line.
Would bench Xhaka to against City. He has a problem if he doesn't get enough time on the ball. Against smaller teams he is helpful, but not against Chelsea.
Torreira and Guendouzi against Chelsea hopefully.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Arsenal looked worse than expected yesterday. The defence was just all over the place. They needed a bigger/better overhaul than signing the likes of Litchenstein and Sokraties. It's clear those two are not top 4 material which is presumably Arsenal's goal this season.

Then the midfield was erratic. Even the kid arsenal fans rave about was all over the place. Xhakha has never impressed me anyway.

And the thing that again looks off about this team is the lack of wingers. Mkhitarian and Ozil just doesn't cut it for me. Both are one paced footballers who take their time doing things. And in Mkhitarian's he takes his time not doing things.

 

[ErranMorad]

There would be verbal riots on Arsenal FanTv if they had a similar window under Arsene Wenger. Lichtsteiner & Sokratis are not players that will elevate a team's level. Leno after early promise never quite showed that he is a top keeper. It'll be a big test for him. Torreira is the only good signing they made this past window. Their defense without Koscielny is weaker than it was under Wenger last season. They also didn't address the need for a creative midfielder to replace Carzola. All their attacking players like to play through the center and none of their fullbacks are good enough to compensate for that by providing a constant threat out wide.

Another long league season ahead for Arsenal. Think 6th is where they'll end up again in the league. Europa is their best bet to make the champions league next season. Emery is a cup manager, so they should do well there.

 

[lex talionis]

5th at best for Arsenal this season. Not a major concern for United any time soon.

 

[KM]

How does Xhaka keep on starting and who commissioned a new contract for him?

 

[B20]

I thought they looked what they are - An oddly assembled motley crew that is distinctly a level below the top 5, while still being two levels above the ones below.

If Emery has them playing to their level, it's going to be an unexciting 6th place finish.

 

[Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87]

I love how people criticize us, but "it's early days for United and Tottenham. You can't expect them to be at their best".
We have just changed our manager who have never cared about defence and tactics to get one who is the opposite. He is someone who loves details and analyzes the opponents. Give him time. Not that we are gonna fight for the title, but let's see if we can at least have a shot at the 4th place.

 

[Xyx]

Look at Spurs in 2014/15 and Liverpool in 2015/16. Even Pep had a somewhat frustrating first season in the Premier League. People are being excessively reactionary forecasting an entire season based on one game against the best team in the league. City thrashed Spurs in both their matches last season and made Chelsea look like a midtable team.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Arsenal looked worse than expected yesterday. The defence was just all over the place. They needed a bigger/better overhaul than signing the likes of Litchenstein and Sokraties. It's clear those two are not top 4 material which is presumably Arsenal's goal this season.

Then the midfield was erratic. Even the kid arsenal fans rave about was all over the place. Xhakha has never impressed me anyway.

And the thing that again looks off about this team is the lack of wingers. Mkhitarian and Ozil just doesn't cut it for me. Both are one paced footballers who take their time doing things. And in Mkhitarian's he takes his time not doing things.

That just seemed like standard fans getting giddy over undercooked youth prospect who looks good in pre-season friendlies. Then he got picked for the first game, so I thought maybe there was more to it than that. Only for him to go on and play like an undercooked kid who looked good in pre-season friendlies. Doesn’t look ready for PL football, that’s for sure.

 

[SilentWitness]

Gonna be another long season for them i reckon. Challenging 4th is about as good as it's going to get as City/Liverpool are the main challengers for the title with Chelsea and United bringing up the rear. 5th and placing above Spuds would be a good season for them.

 

[Karappa]

If they lose against Chelsea next (which seems very likely) watch out, this could become a very bumpy season for Arsenal who still have tons of deadwood from the Wenger reign in their team and squad... Should have got rid of him 5 years ago, now it will take a lot of time to repair the damage...

 

[Kos Forehead]

I believe playing Ramsey way forward was the problem IMO. That weakened our already weak midfield. Ozil and Henrikh do not offer much to defend the wings. We should have approached the game more cautiously with 3 in the mid field, sit back and absorb the defense. I like the pressing but I didn't expect right in the first game against City. I know we have weak links, but I think we will only improve from here.

 

[Vadim]

The issue for Arsenal is obviously the playing staff who are far from good enough. I simply don't understand how some fans of the game rate Lacazette so highly, he's simply not good enough for a team aspiring to win the big prizes (which probably isn't Arsenal these days to be fair.)

Ozil and Mikhtaryan will stink the place out under Emery. Again, they're both lightweight and not exactly the most hard working of players. The defence is extremly poor all over and why he played Cech yesterday was anyone's guess (unless Leno was injured?)

Rome wasn't built in a day and Arsenal fans need to have patience because it's going to be a very long season I predict.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Look at Spurs in 2014/15 and Liverpool in 2015/16. Even Pep had a somewhat frustrating first season in the Premier League. People are being excessively reactionary forecasting an entire season based on one game against the best team in the league. City thrashed Spurs in both their matches last season and made Chelsea look like a midtable team.

I agree. One game against the best team in the Prem, even if you were at home, is not enough to base any reasonable judgment on concerning the rest of the season .... especially when you have a new manager who will need some time to settle in.

 

[Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87]

If they lose against Chelsea next (which seems very likely) watch out, this could become a very bumpy season for Arsenal who still have tons of deadwood from the Wenger reign in their team and squad... Should have got rid of him 5 years ago, now it will take a lot of time to repair the damage...

Really? Facing two of the best teams in the league starting from zero is not enough to judge us.

 

[Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87]

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[Casanova85]

They seem too bland to survive against Liverpool, Chelsea or us

 

[sincher]

Very interesting debut for Guendouzi. He managed to look both brilliant and terrible all in one game.

Torreira did very well when he came on - not sure why he didn't start but he could make a big difference for them. Actually all their new signings did ok. The squad just reeks of 6th place though.

 

[Kapardin]

Very interesting debut for Guendouzi. He managed to look both brilliant and terrible all in one game.

Torreira did very well when he came on - not sure why he didn't start but he could make a big difference for them. Actually all their new signings did ok. The squad just reeks of 6th place though.

Considering who he was playing against, his age and this being his first game, I'd be optimistic about him if I were an Arsenal fan. If he dropped a 5/10 performance against City, you can imagine he would be able to do fairly well against the lesser teams in the league.

 

[Karappa]

Really? Facing two of the best teams in the league starting from zero is not enough to judge us.

It's not about judging but with 0 points after 2 games you're already playing catch-up. And that's not a comfortable position to be in when there's a massive overhaul and rebuild under way. The final league table will tell if the season is a success or not but the circumstances couldn't be any more difficult - and it looks like they get worse. And if there's one thing Emery is traditionally bad at it's dealing with pressure... He has an abysmal record against other top teams in Spain and the CL and I'm still not convinced he is a great coach - three EL titles will give you that, a team that's good enough to win the EL...

 

[ZlatMan]

If Emery wanted to play out from the back, I don't understand why Leno and Torreira are on the bench and have players useless on the ball like Cech and Xhaka playing instead.

 

[Grinner]

Very interesting debut for Guendouzi. He managed to look both brilliant and terrible all in one game.

Torreira did very well when he came on - not sure why he didn't start but he could make a big difference for them. Actually all their new signings did ok. The squad just reeks of 6th place though.

His mistakes didn't bother me at all when you consider that he didn't hide and got stuck in all game. He's going to be good. I don't know why the manager chose him to start over more experienced players against the champions though. Not a game for experimenting with players.

 

[Klopper76]

His mistakes didn't bother me at all when you consider that he didn't hide and got stuck in all game. He's going to be good. I don't know why the manager chose him to start over more experienced players against the champions though. Not a game for experimenting with players.

Was Torreira not fully fit yesterday? Seemed like he would've been a good option in a game like that.

 

[Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87]

It's not about judging but with 0 points after 2 games you're already playing catch-up. And that's not a comfortable position to be in when there's a massive overhaul and rebuild under way. The final league table will tell if the season is a success or not but the circumstances couldn't be any more difficult - and it looks like they get worse. And if there's one thing Emery is traditionally bad at it's dealing with pressure... He has an abysmal record against other top teams in Spain and the CL and I'm still not convinced he is a great coach - three EL titles will give you that, a team that's good enough to win the EL...

I consider this one a rebuilding season. We could even finish 10th that i wouldn't care that much. Just want to see us going into the right direction.

 

[sev1]

Was Torreira not fully fit yesterday? Seemed like he would've been a good option in a game like that.

Not sure, but when he came on he certainly was our best midfielder by a mile.

 

[Cascarino]

If Emery wanted to play out from the back, I don't understand why Leno and Torreira are on the bench and have players useless on the ball like Cech and Xhaka playing instead.

I thought Cech had a decent game on the line, but his inability to play it out was really highlighted. I've not seen much of Leno, is he good with the ball at his feet?

 

[sincher]

Considering who he was playing against, his age and this being his first game, I'd be optimistic about him if I were an Arsenal fan. If he dropped a 5/10 performance against City, you can imagine he would be able to do fairly well against the lesser teams in the league.

Might be a fair point but the mistakes he made were actually simple things, rather than being due to the opposition. He was not fazed though, kept showing for the ball.

I was also impressed with Elneny's first game though...

 

[NieThePiet]

I thought Cech had a decent game on the line, but his inability to play it out was really highlighted. I've not seen much of Leno, is he good with the ball at his feet?

He isn't a Neuer, but he is clearly better than Cech with his feet.
Hard decision for me: Cech is probably better on the line and hopefully he will not make an error like yesterday every game. Think one big error from him and Leno will get his place in the PL.

 

[padr81]

All the same criticism's levelled at Pep's first season popping up already at Emery. See Sam Allardyce's rubbish article and calling him stupid.
Rome wasn't built in a day, Arsenal were shaky yesterday but losing 2-0 to us is hardly a disaster, we are in our 3rd season with Pep, and have the system pretty much nailed. Arsenal are in their 3rd week of trying to play this way and you could see it yesterday, pressed at wrong times, sometimes a few pressed and a few didn't. Cech looked ropey but it will click for them. Give Emery time, but Arsenal fans you need to get used to the same rubbish articles about how that style won't work in England, only works for Pep is probably the new one etc...

Dunno if they'll crack the top 4 this season but they will certainly improve.

 

[elnorte]

I consider this one a rebuilding season. We could even finish 10th that i wouldn't care that much. Just want to see us going into the right direction.

Would Emery survive a tenth place finish? Would he even survive anything lower than sixth at best?

 

[Robbie Boy]

I know Ramsey has a weird **** following but I think he’s pretty poor and hasn’t improved after looking very promising at one stage.

 

[JSArsenal]

I consider this one a rebuilding season. We could even finish 10th that i wouldn't care that much. Just want to see us going into the right direction.

Ummm, how can we finish tenth but yet be going in the right direction?

You would have to go back twenty plus years to find a year where the club finished 10th or worse. Newcastle finished 10th last year and lost 18 games.

I care very much where we finish, Liverpool stuck with Klopp but they also sacked Dalglish and Rodgers when it was clear neither were up to the task. It can be a rebuilding season but the bare minimum for Emery to keep his job should be achieve top 4 or win the Europa League. No exceptions and no excuses.

 

[Handré1990]

Very interesting debut for Guendouzi. He managed to look both brilliant and terrible all in one game.

Torreira did very well when he came on - not sure why he didn't start but he could make a big difference for them. Actually all their new signings did ok. The squad just reeks of 6th place though.

This was exactly my impression of him watching in the stadium. Hadn’t heard of him before. He did cover a lot of ground and looked switched on the whole game. He impressed me most of the Arsenal players.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Ummm, how can we finish tenth but yet be going in the right direction?

You would have to go back twenty plus years to find a year where the club finished 10th or worse. Newcastle finished 10th last year and lost 18 games.

I care very much where we finish, Liverpool stuck with Klopp but they also sacked Dalglish and Rodgers when it was clear neither were up to the task. It can be a rebuilding season but the bare minimum for Emery to keep his job should be achieve top 4 or win the Europa League. No exceptions and no excuses.

That's harsh. Don't you need to give a least a couple of more transfer windows to shape the squad as he wants? Did he even have time to have much input during this summer's window?

It's going to be very tough for Arsenal to make top 4 this season, because it will likely mean having to do better than two out of Spurs, United and Chelsea.

Aa for winning the EL. Well, that's possible of course, but depends to some extent on the luck of the draw. Moreover, the more focus on the EL, the less focus on the Prem.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Ummm, how can we finish tenth but yet be going in the right direction?

You would have to go back twenty plus years to find a year where the club finished 10th or worse. Newcastle finished 10th last year and lost 18 games.

I care very much where we finish, Liverpool stuck with Klopp but they also sacked Dalglish and Rodgers when it was clear neither were up to the task. It can be a rebuilding season but the bare minimum for Emery to keep his job should be achieve top 4 or win the Europa League. No exceptions and no excuses.

Wtf


He got like 70 mill to bring in like 5 players, how exactly is that expected to bridge the massive gap that has existed between you and the top four the last couple of seasons? Your expectations are wildly out of proportion with reality, you have a new manager trying to implement a new system on an extremely tight budget, having taken over a mess of a squad which has been comfortably behind the best teams in the country for a couple of years now. He's not Jesus, he needs at least a season before you start giving him extremely difficult to achieve objectives. Top four is so competitive and Chelsea, Spurs, United, City and Liverpool all have more settled/stronger teams than Arsenal, all under great managers too, and many of those had more money to spend than Emery, despite already having better players to work with!

I think you need to see a progression in your playstyle over the course of the season and see an improvement in the bigger fixtures where recently you've been completely uncompetitive, and that should be the expectation. He hasn't been handed the budget to expect miracles or a complete turnaround, and like has already been stated it took Guardiola a season to get City firing and he had hundreds of millions at his disposal and a world class team, albeit one with several key deficiencies but still clearly a better side than Emery has at his disposal. A decent challenge in the Europa League may be expected, but it's a cup competition and since it now gives you a CL spot is far more competitive than it used to be, what if a team like Atletico drop down again and Arsenal face them? I don't think it's reasonable to expect anything in cup competitions where the draw is so key to how a team may do. If Arsenal get a draw like United had the year they won the competition, then yes Emery should be expected to beat all of those teams, but it's not likely you'll get that.

Do you honestly think Emery has a team available that should be 'expected' to make the top four?

 

[sincher]

I consider this one a rebuilding season. We could even finish 10th that i wouldn't care that much. Just want to see us going into the right direction.

How could you finish 10th and be moving in the right direction? You would probably be behind the big 5 plus the likes of Leicester, Everton, and maybe 2 of Burnley/Wolves/West Ham etc., all of whom you should be ahead of even if you have a poor season. You should be in the top 6 even if you are 6th and a bit short of the others. I personally can see you competing well with Chelsea... not sure about the rest.

 

[Lash]

I know Ramsey has a weird **** following but I think he’s pretty poor and hasn’t improved after looking very promising at one stage.

Ever since he did that horrendous bleach blonde Barnet, I knew he was much more interested in looking the part, than being it. So talented, yet never made a decision where he wanted to play. Wants this free role, which he has no right to at Arsenal.

 

[Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87]

Would Emery survive a tenth place finish? Would he even survive anything lower than sixth at best?

It was just to say i really don't care about the position. All want to see is a team who look eager, united and that play clever football. Let's say a bit like Spurs.
Emery need at least 3 seasons, imo. The state of our squad is turd.