Why Can't We Win?

[Mac76]

yes it still seems to be down to single players deciding to take it on and run at people, a la Guendouzi earlier in the season

also our strategy at both taking and defending corners is still awful.

if i was Arteta i'd tell the players that not putting a ball direct into the box from a corner will mean they're left out of the next game

also not leaving a player up when we're defending a corner is criminal - I just can't get over how much these people are paid to make such a basic mistake

leaving a player up field means we have an outlet for when we (hopefully) clear the ball and then we can go on the attack, instead of simply giving the ball back to the opposition

it also means the oppostion has to leave a couple of defenders back to mark them

it's just so fuhking simple

[Özim]

Agree about the lack of speed moving the ball forward.
It is endless pass, pass, pass and by the time we get to the edge of their area there's 10 players in the box to get past.
We need a bit of pace to stretch teams. On occasion we score great goals where we do go forward with pace, we just don't do it often enough.
Matinelli got a bit of luck against Chelsea with the slip but that sort of pace going forward is really hard to defend and if defenders do make a mistake like get caught wrong footed and slip then you've made your own luck there. We need to do that more.

Yes, Martinelli did get a bit of luck but defenders hate players running at them at pace, they have less time to think and this in turn causes them to make errors a lot of the time, when you pass it around slowly it's much easier to defend against.

I'm not saying we should always attack at pace, but we certainly should be doing it far more often than we do as it really stretches defenders.

[Globalgunner]

yes it still seems to be down to single players deciding to take it on and run at people, a la Guendouzi earlier in the season

also our strategy at both taking and defending corners is still awful.

if i was Arteta i'd tell the players that not putting a ball direct into the box from a corner will mean they're left out of the next game

also not leaving a player up when we're defending a corner is criminal - I just can't get over how much these people are paid to make such a basic mistake

leaving a player up field means we have an outlet for when we (hopefully) clear the ball and then we can go on the attack, instead of simply giving the ball back to the opposition

it also means the oppostion has to leave a couple of defenders back to mark them

it's just so fuhking simple

Ive advocated this for years. There must be some law of nature that forbids coaches do this, i have no idea what. It doesnt even need to be your best striker left on the line, just someone who can move quickly with the ball at their feet and wont panic when he sees the keeper coming. That for us means no of course to Xhaka and yes to Martinelli or Bellerin even

[KSE Comedy Club]

Whatever the problem is that has happened, the answer is the same as it has been for the last 5+ years.

We need pace and revert back to quick counter attacking football.

I am appalled at how boring and slow our football has become

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Xhaka has been our most consistent player for a while now. I literally wanted him out at least 2 years ago, never mind recently....but I can't fault him lately.

[KSE Comedy Club]

He has improved somewhat but yesterday he was back to his worst when it came to passing again.

Solid defensively, but when we started to push up from the back, on at least 6 occasions, he was the most forward defender. He had options in front to on the wings and in attack, but instead he turned and passed it backwards. He kept doing it all throughout the second half and my god it was so frustrating. The thing is in the first half he put a couple of decent balls in towards Auba but then gave up.

[Özim]

Whatever the problem is that has happened, the answer is the same as it has been for the last 5+ years.

We need pace and revert back to quick counter attacking football.

I am appalled at how boring and slow our football has become

Definitely, I don't understand this obsession with pass pass football, it's so ineffective unless you have world beaters throughout your team, with our current team who have enough pace, pacey attacks would work very well and would certainly be more exciting and better to watch.

[fakeyank]

To give a simple answer to the question by letters.. our midfield is absolute garbage. They cannot transition between defense to offense in any way that is consistently effective. How we need a ball player like Cazorla now!! Xhaka and Guendozi might be positioning themselves better since Arteta has come, but they are 0% effective going forward.

And then you have our 'most creative player' in Ozil to who the ball goes to die. Sure he will have a couple of games where he reminds us there is an amazing player somewhere in there. Think of the number of times the ball goes to him on the left of the opposition box, and all he does is play a bunch of passes with the full back and Guendozi/Xhaka before it is passed back to the CB's.

If I had it my way, my midfield for the rest of the season going forward would be Torreira Ceballos and Willock. Might add Guendozi or Xhaka instead of Ceballos if we need to be more defensive, but no way am I starting two players with no offensive ability in the mix.

[Marc Overmars]

Boils down to confidence really. You can’t play fast and instinctive football if your forwards aren’t consistently making the runs or your midfielders don’t have the awareness to find them. You need the right players, players who do it as second nature.

[Globalgunner]

To give a simple answer to the question by letters.. our midfield is absolute garbage. They cannot transition between defense to offense in any way that is consistently effective. How we need a ball player like Cazorla now!! Xhaka and Guendozi might be positioning themselves better since Arteta has come, but they are 0% effective going forward.

And then you have our 'most creative player' in Ozil to who the ball goes to die. Sure he will have a couple of games where he reminds us there is an amazing player somewhere in there. Think of the number of times the ball goes to him on the left of the opposition box, and all he does is play a bunch of passes with the full back and Guendozi/Xhaka before it is passed back to the CB's.

If I had it my way, my midfield for the rest of the season going forward would be Torreira Ceballos and Willock. Might add Guendozi or Xhaka instead of Ceballos if we need to be more defensive, but no way am I starting two players with no offensive ability in the mix.

An AM needs to be someone who can receive the ball, even under pressure and extricate himself and move the ball forward at at least 10 yards and find the forward players consistently. Has anyone ever seen Xhaka stride forward with the ball at his feet?....Ever. All he does is collect the ball and redistibute it from a sedentary position. (To quote the former parliaments speaker). We are going nowhere with this turd as our AM. His partner is Guendouzi who can move the ball a bit, but falls down within 5 paces. Cannot shoot and cannot break up opposition play. How can you pair 2 such ineffective turds in your team. The 2 of them can barely do the job of 1 limited player like Jordan Henderson. Its so painfully obvious, but still we roll on. Pepe is a total waste of money. We should have spent that 72m looking for a better CM and adding whatever pennies we could have got from selling Xhaka.

Xhaka must have a Men in Black like brain bender that makes all his managers see peak Vieira/Keane instead of what he is a sloppy hacker who occasionally unleashes a cannon of a shot.