Bournemouth reaction and player ratings

[HCZ_Reborn]

Too obvious do better

On a side note Arsenal twitter cuck Tim Stillman getting salty because some people been critiquing the use of Tequilla by The Champs for the Saliba chant

I don’t think cringing so hard that you crack a few ribs is an Ernest criticism…you do you mate. Just don’t get all offended when especially when the players themselves adopt the chants as a weird act of solipsism that some people roll their eyes.

Football chants are meant to be cringe, so you’re getting the right reaction

[Ollie the Optimist]

Islington council might as well start planning for a trophy parade in May

On a serious note, we actually look like a football team. Jesus & Zinchenko have made an immediate impact. Their presence is helping others raise their game. Sure, the first three games really shouldnt be that hard but in previous years, we have lost or drawn those and looked timid. This year seems different. Sterner tests to come but signs are positive so far.

On a separate note, they really need to sort out VAR & offsides. The system is there for the clear & obvious ones not ones where you are zooming in so much the picture goes blurry to see if Jesus big toe is offside. That is not a clear or obvious error. They need a system like cricket has with umpires call. In a situation like the Jesus goal or ben white one yesterday, the linesman before any check starts says off or on and when its tight, they go with the linesman.

[Marc Overmars]

Think it’s been many moons since we’ve had a squad as likeable as this. Hard working, energetic players with the skill to match. Slow starts have killed us in the past so to come out of the traps like this has been very refreshing to see.

Fulham and Villa at home next, so you’d be disappointed if we didn’t have 15/15 points. I am looking forward to seeing how we fare against the better sides though and of course things will become trickier with Europa League games sandwiched in there too.

[I am invisible]

Didn’t we used to use that Tequila chant for Eboue?

[I am invisible]

It’s great to win a game so comfortably again and still feel like we had another couple of gears to move through if we needed them - I’ve missed that.

That’s the biggest positive for me right now - we’re already playing well and it feels like there’s still extra levels to be found. Atm we’re still trying to find our balance. Our attack has been very left-focussed so far, but I expect that will swing to the right for a little while once teams wise up to that threat, before eventually settling into an unpredictable mix of the two. Likewise I felt we went a little overly defensive in the second half against Palace and then were a little too care-free against Leicester - I expect we’ll eventually find the right balance there too, and when we do I think this could be some team.

[I am invisible]

Pretty much.

Thing is, this was a fairly standard performance by him.

If not for me opening eyes on here he'd still have got man of the match on here. I've zero doubt about that.

Sorry m8, I just don’t see this big issue with Saka that you’re seeing? He might not be doing a glamorous, headline-grabbing job for us right now, but for me he’s still doing the job that the team needs.

We’re the classic kid-with-a-new-toy atm, now our left side is functional again - most of our plan is going down that side and Martinelli, Xhaka and Zinchenko (supported by Jesus) are getting to be the stars. Saka has been fairly uninvolved so far, but then he doesn’t really have to do anything at the moment other than hold his position, maintain the team’s width and draw attention away from those left-sided guys - that’s his part right now. Things will swing his way again at some point - teams will start doubling-up on our left as they wise up to that threat, Jesus will start to link more with the right as he settles (hardly surprising he’s leaning more to the left in these early stages with his old team mate Zinchenko and his fellow Brazilian Martinelli over there) and Martinelli will then have to do the thankless job of holding the width on the other side. And eventually we’ll start switching between both sides without preference or bias.

Personally, I think it’s great that Saka is now able to step out of the spotlight and let someone else carry the load - he needs the break. Everyone had a reduced preseason in the summer of 2020 because of lockdown and the late finish to the previous season, but then he had another reduced preseason in 2021 because of the Euros (where he literally kicked the last ball of the tournament!), and he’s had another reduced preseason again this summer because of the ridiculous 2 weeks of internationals as soon as the season finished. Chuck in the fact that he very rarely misses a game, and how teams often double-up on him and rotationally foul him all game long and I’m amazed he hasn’t broken down yet!

Everyone is full of cautionary warnings about heaping too much pressure and expectation on Saliba at 21, and how mistakes and dips in form will inevitably happen etc, but I think people forget that Saka is even younger than Saliba because he’s been around so long. He’s arguably been shouldering the weight of expectation for this team for the last 2 seasons, while all the cowardly senior players around him sat back and let him, and he’s also had to cope with the emotional baggage of that penalty miss against Italy. It’s a lot for 20 year old to deal with and I really don’t begrudge him a quiet patch - give the kid a break and let him catch his breath.

[mandela8]

Sorry m8, I just don’t see this big issue with Saka that you’re seeing? He might not be doing a glamorous, headline-grabbing job for us right now, but for me he’s still doing the job that the team needs.

We’re the classic kid-with-a-new-toy atm, now our left side is functional again - most of our plan is going down that side and Martinelli, Xhaka and Zinchenko (supported by Jesus) are getting to be the stars. Saka has been fairly uninvolved so far, but then he doesn’t really have to do anything at the moment other than hold his position, maintain the team’s width and draw attention away from those left-sided guys - that’s his part right now. Things will swing his way again at some point - teams will start doubling-up on our left as they wise up to that threat, Jesus will start to link more with the right as he settles (hardly surprising he’s leaning more to the left in these early stages with his old team mate Zinchenko and his fellow Brazilian Martinelli over there) and Martinelli will then have to do the thankless job of holding the width on the other side. And eventually we’ll start switching between both sides without preference or bias.

Personally, I think it’s great that Saka is now able to step out of the spotlight and let someone else carry the load - he needs the break. Everyone had a reduced preseason in the summer of 2020 because of lockdown and the late finish to the previous season, but then he had another reduced preseason in 2021 because of the Euros (where he literally kicked the last ball of the tournament!), and he’s had another reduced preseason again this summer because of the ridiculous 2 weeks of internationals as soon as the season finished. Chuck in the fact that he very rarely misses a game, and how teams often double-up on him and rotationally foul him all game long and I’m amazed he hasn’t broken down yet!

Everyone is full of cautionary warnings about heaping too much pressure and expectation on Saliba at 21, and how mistakes and dips in form will inevitably happen etc, but I think people forget that Saka is even younger than Saliba because he’s been around so long. He’s arguably been shouldering the weight of expectation for this team for the last 2 seasons, while all the cowardly senior players around him sat back and let him, and he’s also had to cope with the emotional baggage of that penalty miss against Italy. It’s a lot for 20 year old to deal with and I really don’t begrudge him a quiet patch - give the kid a break and let him catch his breath.

Or...orrrrr...imagine we had a functioning left AND right side. They're not mutually exclusive, man.

The excuses you, and others make for him are laughable, mate. Sorry, but they are. I'm not trying to be hostile there either, man. At what point do people just accept he is t as good as people thought/think? What does he do well?

He was the top scorer and assister last season, which seemed to be the proof of his ability but all it proved was how shite the rest of the team was. When was the last time he actually directly contributed to a goal from open play? I remember 2 penalties against Chelsea and Man U(?) but when other than that? This is supposed to be one of the brightest prospects in world fitba, ffs...just a label he has simply never, ever been able to justify. It's just the bizarreness of it all that sticks in my craw and it's detrimental to the team. He should've been dropped multiple times last year...he's clearly nowhere near the level of the rest of the team this season yet he's still the first name of the team sheet. There are people on this board who actually said Saka is Arsenal's best player. It's fuckin insane, man. A sheep mentality like I've never ever seen in fitba.

[mandela8]

Read that absolute retard, Arseblog, this morning and he gave Saka 7/10.

Same as Partey, for reference.

He also banned me because I said Saka was shit.

That's what I'm talking about. The protection he gets is 100% detrimental to the team.

Imagine we had 11 players on yesterday?

[HCZ_Reborn]

Or...orrrrr...imagine we had a functioning left AND right side. They're not mutually exclusive, man.

The excuses you, and others make for him are laughable, mate. Sorry, but they are. I'm not trying to be hostile there either, man. At what point do people just accept he is t as good as people thought/think? What does he do well?

He was the top scorer and assister last season, which seemed to be the proof of his ability but all it proved was how shite the rest of the team was. When was the last time he actually directly contributed to a goal from open play? I remember 2 penalties against Chelsea and Man U(?) but when other than that? This is supposed to be one of the brightest prospects in world fitba, ffs...just a label he has simply never, ever been able to justify. It's just the bizarreness of it all that sticks in my craw and it's detrimental to the team. He should've been dropped multiple times last year...he's clearly nowhere near the level of the rest of the team this season yet he's still the first name of the team sheet. There are people on this board who actually said Saka is Arsenal's best player. It's fuckin insane, man. A sheep mentality like I've never ever seen in fitba.

So is this Rab C Nesbitt affectation you adopt a genuine thing or are you just playing a character that is horrendously stereotypically Scottish?

[I am invisible]

Or...orrrrr...imagine we had a functioning left AND right side. They're not mutually exclusive, man.

The excuses you, and others make for him are laughable, mate. Sorry, but they are. I'm not trying to be hostile there either, man. At what point do people just accept he is t as good as people thought/think? What does he do well?

He was the top scorer and assister last season, which seemed to be the proof of his ability but all it proved was how shite the rest of the team was. When was the last time he actually directly contributed to a goal from open play? I remember 2 penalties against Chelsea and Man U(?) but when other than that? This is supposed to be one of the brightest prospects in world fitba, ffs...just a label he has simply never, ever been able to justify. It's just the bizarreness of it all that sticks in my craw and it's detrimental to the team. He should've been dropped multiple times last year...he's clearly nowhere near the level of the rest of the team this season yet he's still the first name of the team sheet. There are people on this board who actually said Saka is Arsenal's best player. It's fuckin insane, man. A sheep mentality like I've never ever seen in fitba.

That’s ok mate - I can handle people having a different opinion to me. Doesn’t bother me.

Imo we already have a functioning left and right side. We know the right side works fine because we were heavily right-focussed last year. We know the left side works because we’re seeing it in action now. Just like we know we can defend and soak pressure because we saw it at Palace, and we know we can go all-out attack for a full 90 because we saw it against Leicester - like I said in my other post, it’s just a question of finding our balance. Right now it’s all a bit ‘one or the other’, but give it 5-10 games and I’m sure we’ll start working out how to knit it all together and switch between all these things in-game. I don’t think we’re far off already, tbh.

Saka’s last direct goal contribution was the cross that forced the OG against Palace. He also took the corner than Zinchenko headed back across goal for Martinelli’s opener - straight off the training ground - and he also played White in on the overlap to tee up our second yesterday (not a direct contribution that, but he was a key part of that move within the final 2 or 3 passes).

Also worth pointing out that aside from direct goals and assists, he was the 7th highest chance creator in the league last season, only 2 behind KDB - if we’d had a functional striker for the whole of last season then those direct goal contribution stats would have been higher.