Match Reaction vs Citeh (home).

[Power n Glory]

I thought Ozil was just very oddly on a different wavelength to everybody else for the entire game. Not quite sure why, but I didn't think it was an abject performance from him....more disjointed, but I get that many feels disappointed. He made his bed when he got his wage increase and so get's little leeway.

I thought Lacazette wasn't the issue, but I do wish at times he would calm down in front of goal. Still get the feeling he is going for power too often.

Xhaka's performance was identical to his ridiculous performance(s) this time last season. Passively running around the field without any real purpose or sense of knowing what he's supposed to be doing, ball watching, giving the ball away playing a hospital pass and falling over. I'm aghast that so many people wanted him in the starting lineup for this season.

At this level you can't watch a player in the middle of the park, fail to understand what the fuhk he's actually doing in our favour and want him to remain there doing it. Guendouzi showed him up today, even with his errors, but that is no surprise to me.

It's not much consolation, but I thought Bellerin was good today and thought AMN was too and losing him was a big blow. The game was fairly open which I enjoyed from the point of view of seeing us move the ball from our third to their third much quicker. Scant consolation as we lost, but I prefer to see us move the ball in that way.

Mhki might as well have not been there most of the game. Forgot he was even playing for large portions.

Ozil is always on a different wavelength. For a playmaker with his passing ability, don’t you find it odd that he hasn’t formed an understanding with any of the players? I remember stories from players who played with Bergkamp, Cesc or even David Beckham….as soon as they these players on the ball, they make quick eye contact and know the sort of ball that’s going to be played. Sometimes something as little as eye contact isn’t even needed, they just know to expect the ball to come their way because said playmaker or more than capable of putting it on a plate for the strikers. That never seems to happen with Ozil despite now be surrounding with quicker players with an eye for goal like Aubameyang and Lacazette.

First half, we didn’t create much and Ozil did well to cover the flanks and defend. Second half he fluffed his lines a bit and we failed to really take advantage of our chances.

Lacazette made a positive impact once subbed on. You could see how he and Aubameyang will link up. I thought the chance you’re referring to, where Laca hit the cut back over was down to an overpowerd pass from Mkhitaryan. The pass was zipped under Laca’s feet and not in his path, I think Mkh was aiming for Ozil who was just behind Laca.

Mkh is a worry for me. No power or pace to his game for the wing. He has to do better than that. It was so poor, Danny Welbeck being a better option came to mind. Provided no defensive cover for AMN.

AMN had a really good moment going forwards where he dribbled through a few players but he was getting roasted and targeted by City. Lichtsteiner was better defensively and showed a moment where he wasn’t that slow getting forward. Shame about AMN’s injury though.

Xhaka just keeps on getting worse. Every theory and idea I’ve heard from fans of how he can be used better and it all being Wenger’s fault has really fallen apart. It looked as though he was playing a deeper role, like how he did in Germany, where he’s close to the CB’s collecting and distributing the ball. It was confident start for the opening few minutes but once City pressured him and he starting giving the ball away, he went missing and stopped looking for the ball. He wanted know parts of it and left Guendouzi to deal with the bulk of the work. A 19 year! When defending, Xhaka was coming way to deep and was on the defensive line way too often.

[Gooner23]

I don't think you can get away with having Mhiki and Ozil in the same team, certainly against top teams.

Based on yesterday's performance Torreira should be coming in for Xhaka. I think Lacazette made a strong case to start as well, even if that means moving Auba wider he can still be effective there with his pace and running in behind. I just think we need to find a way to get both on the pitch.

I feel for AMN as he clearly isn't comfortable at left back. He's obviously confident in his ability, but at times I think he's too complacent. Hopefully he'll be told to get tighter to his winger if he's playing full back. But ideally he will get more games in centre mid this season, he's clearly a talent.

Some positives for me;

Defence wasn't as bad as I was expecting (says a lot about where we are currently). Sokratis was solid and Mustafi played quite well. Lichsteiner adds a bit of steel. However an overall lack of pace, and Mustafi's guaranteed brainfarts will probably still come back to bite us though.

Guendouzi looks promising and will hopefully have the right coaching to improve. He always showed for the ball, looked to play positively and competed physically against seasoned international players. When he misjudged the bounce to let Aguero through my first thought was why the fuck was he left 1 on 1 at the back. At every level of football you get taught not to do that. That's on the coaches and senior players to spot and correct.

Auba and Laca seem to link up really well and I am hopeful they can form a formidable partnership.

[Power n Glory]

I don't think you can get away with having Mhiki and Ozil in the same team, certainly against top teams.

Based on yesterday's performance Torreira should be coming in for Xhaka. I think Lacazette made a strong case to start as well, even if that means moving Auba wider he can still be effective there with his pace and running in behind. I just think we need to find a way to get both on the pitch.

I feel for AMN as he clearly isn't comfortable at left back. He's obviously confident in his ability, but at times I think he's too complacent. Hopefully he'll be told to get tighter to his winger if he's playing full back. But ideally he will get more games in centre mid this season, he's clearly a talent.

Some positives for me;

Defence wasn't as bad as I was expecting (says a lot about where we are currently). Sokratis was solid and Mustafi played quite well. Lichsteiner adds a bit of steal. However an overall lack of pace, and Mustafi's guaranteed brainfarts will probably still come back to bite us though.

Guendouzi looks promising and will hopefully have the right coaching to improve. He always showed for the ball, looked to play positively and competed physically against seasoned international players. When he misjudged the bounce to let Aguero through my first thought was why the fuck was he left 1 on 1 at the back. At every level of football you get taught not to do that. That's on the coaches and senior players to spot and correct.

Auba and Laca seem to link up really well and I am hopeful they can form a formidable partnership.

I think we have to play Aubameyang. I was against it at first but we have no other options with that sort of speed and strength on the wing. Ozil and Mkh are just too weak to play on the counter attack. We’ll need a drastic improvement from them both. Heck, even Ramsey or Welbeck out wide looked a better option.

Agree on the positives. The defence had wobbles but looked better. Sokratis and Mustafi were ok. Guendouzi made mistakes but he never hid from the ball, fought to win possession and pressed hard. By far our best midfielder on the day. A 19 year old kid that came from Ligue 2!

[Gooner23]

If Liverpool can do it with Salah no reason why we cant make it work.

[Power n Glory]

If Liverpool can do it with Salah no reason why we cant make it work.

I was thinking of Liverpool. France as well. The way Lacazette was dropping deep to link up play....he definitely has more to his game that would help us out.

[Power n Glory]

Arseblog Player Ratings.

Arsenal 0-2 Man City – Player Ratings

GK Petr Cech, 6 – He made some very important saves, although he did look a bit unsure with the ball at his feet and only Guendouzi made more touches. However, he seemed to enjoy that part of it.

RB Hector Bellerin, 5.5 – Had our best chance of the first half, and the system Emery used left both full backs exposed quite often.

CB Shkodran Mustafi, 5.5 – Turned easily by Sterling early on, but didn’t dive in too much which is a good sign.

CB Sokratis, 5 – Being an aggressive central defender doesn’t mean you clobber the opposition, it’s how you try and close down the ball, and for both goals today he wasn’t as aggressive as he could have been in that regard.

LB Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 5 – Absolutely roasted down the left in the opening periods, after which it settled down a bit, but he’s a young guy playing out of position and he should have been given more protection and better guidance from the experienced defenders around him.

MF Matteo Guendouzi, 6.5 – There was a lot to like about his performance, particularly after he was poor for the goal and struggled in the opening 20-25 minutes. He worked hard, never hid, and those are positives, but there were times when his inexperience at this level was evident and he was lucky one bad mistake wasn’t punished with a City goal. Hopefully he’ll be a quick learner.

MF Granit Xhaka, 4.5 – Late back from the World Cup and hasn’t had as much pre-season preparation as some of the others, but he was still poor and rightly taken off.

MF Aaron Ramsey, 5 – We can only assume he was playing that far forward because he was instructed to, and he did produce some good moments in the first half, but he was hooked early in the second half to make way for Lacazette.

MF Mesut Ozil, 5 – Had some chances late in the second half which a player of his quality really should have done better with.

MF Henrikh Mkhitaryan, 4 – Invisible and lightweight.

FW Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 5 – We never got him into the game at all.

Agree with most except I would have given Sokratis more than a 5.

[Özim]

I think it's a learning process for the team, but what I did think is that Emery made a mistake with the lineup, Xhaka definitely shouldn't have featured and Lacazette should have played as well.

In goal Cech can't pass and to be honest if you're signing a keeper for 20 odd million you really should play him, Cechs best days are behind him and we should be building for the future and that hopefully will be Leno, big kick in the teeth for him not to start after swaping Germany for England, he's 26 as well so not some kid.

As for the style, passing from the back and the movement required will take time to learn, City were great yesterday and they're a top top sides, we're so far behind it's unreal to be honest, totally outclassed and they should have been out of sight by half time (it kinda shows how far we've fallen).

Another issue is no width in the team, can't understand not signing a winger in the summer, there's no logic, there were players available some for free!

I'm beginning to feel like we might never be challengers again to be honest (as much as I don't want that obviously), it's a combination of the owner situation and having some guy who has no interest and the fact I'm not convinced we're really willing to spend what is required, which in modern day football (highlighted a bit by our summer transfer window) you need to.

As much as I'm happy with Emery he's not one of the elite coaches (hence the reason I wanted Simeone as my number 1 choice), his record is good but his stock was somewhat lower due to his issues at PSG, that's not to say that he couldn't produce a winning team, just that we never seem to aim for the best (likewise with signing players), which I think you need to to have a good chance of winning.

Time will tell anyway, but Kroenke taking over the club has really put a dampener for me, I never wanted this guy in charge he was just as much of a problem as Wenger was a he's the guy that let him carry on, anyway will back Emery and hope he can turn aroud our fortunes and pray he doesn't get hampered by the owner and his commitment to making money, meanwhile at least we're likely to see something different which can only be a good thing.

As for Ramsey, the guy shouldn't play until he's signed and if he won't just sell him, can't have another Ozil/Sanchez situation (though it's looking more and more likely by the day).

[I am invisible]

Feeling oddly deflated today, which is stupid really, because I expected us to lose, and wasn't expecting to see things really start to click under Emery until well into 2019. I guess thinking something and actually living with it are two very different things, and I wasn't quite as prepared for this slog as I thought I was.

(Also doesn't help that all our rivals started off with wins, despite all the talk of players returning late from the WC, and meltdowns at united, etc.)

Did the players at least look like they were playing with a little more effort and urgency? I'm not expecting the tactical side of things and the fluidity of our play to be anywhere close yet, but improved attitude shouldn't take any time.

One positive I can see from the match reports is that the new coach at least had no qualms about hooking Ramsey and Xhaka for underperforming - that's something.

Any word on AMN? How serious is that looking?

[Özim]

Feeling oddly deflated today, which is stupid really, because I expected us to lose, and wasn't expecting to see things really start to click under Emery until well into 2019. I guess thinking something and actually living with it are two very different things, and I wasn't quite as prepared for this slog as I thought I was.

(Also doesn't help that all our rivals started off with wins, despite all the talk of players returning late from the WC, and meltdowns at united, etc.)

Did the players at least look like they were playing with a little more effort and urgency? I'm not expecting the tactical side of things and the fluidity of our play to be anywhere close yet, but improved attitude shouldn't take any time.

One positive I can see from the match reports is that the new coach at least had no qualms about hooking Ramsey and Xhaka for underperforming - that's something.

Any word on AMN? How serious is that looking?

Yeah for me, what I would have expected was players keen to impress the new manager, just not enough energy for me, still looked stale, not enough desire and noone looked rejuvenated (which often is the case when a new manager comes in), which makes you question what some of these players actually offer.

IMO it's because these Wenger players have got use to an easy ride, they're not winners, they don't really care that much, overpaid and overrated and that's the reason I'm very keen for us to get rid of most of the Wenger players and was against the new contracts handed out to them, they just don't have it in them to win, they don't want it enough.

Ozil, Mhiki, Xhaka didn't look hungry or motivated, it's not to do with playing well it's to do with showing real hunger and effort ont the pitch and it goes for numerous others as well, to be honest Guendouzi put them to shame, yes he made mistakes but he actually showed some desire unlike 90% of these former Wenger players.

Bit too much like old Arsenal for me and the reason is too many Wenger players.

I agree with some of the points this guy comes out with



Re his point about Liverpool they actually had already spent all the Coutinho money bar 100 million so spend net 150 million this summer.

[dostoy]

Feeling oddly deflated today, which is stupid really, because I expected us to lose, and wasn't expecting to see things really start to click under Emery until well into 2019. I guess thinking something and actually living with it are two very different things, and I wasn't quite as prepared for this slog as I thought I was.

(Also doesn't help that all our rivals started off with wins, despite all the talk of players returning late from the WC, and meltdowns at united, etc.)

Did the players at least look like they were playing with a little more effort and urgency? I'm not expecting the tactical side of things and the fluidity of our play to be anywhere close yet, but improved attitude shouldn't take any time.

One positive I can see from the match reports is that the new coach at least had no qualms about hooking Ramsey and Xhaka for underperforming - that's something.

Any word on AMN? How serious is that looking?

Neither of our rivals won.

Burnley and Everton both drew.

Arsenal are miles behind the big 5.