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Thread: Why Can't We Win?

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marc Overmars View Post
    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.
    I think we do have some of the right players, as mentioned if we move Luiz into midfield and get rid of Xhaka for good then have Pepe and Martinelli (or Ozil) with Auba and Laca up front we could do it, we have players with pace and some skillful players, the setup isn't perfect but we could certainly apply it and look to improve at it.

    Trouble is Arteta is set on Xhaka being in the first team and that really hinders us, I'm not convinced Arteta doesn't just want us to play that boring passing football as well, that was what he learnt under Wenger, thats one of the reasons I never wanted anyone who played under Wenger in that era to take charge, it's almost like they're brainwashed into thinking that's the way football should be played.

  2. #22
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    Our attack has definitely suffered under Arteta, statistically we're taking less shots 9.5 rather than 12.6 under Emery apparently, so that won't help us score goals.

    I feel Arteta came in and people were expecting him to turn us into a free flowing attacking team, instead he's turned us much more defensive minded, whilst it's sured up our defence our attack has suffered as a consequence.

    So far Arteta reminds me of Emery in a sense that almost every game is a struggle, we never look capable of scoring more than 2, which is odd given our quality in attack, we seem very limited going forward.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Özim View Post
    Personally I don't think the pass pass football suits our team, we've got a potent strike force and a game based more on counter attacking might put their skills to better use, our football is too slow.

    We should be able to score and create plenty with players like Pepe, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Martinelly and Ozil.

    Xhaka for me is just awful, slow at everything he does which hinders our games terribly, we need to move Luiz who is more dynamic into midfield next to Torreira.
    Yep. Wengerball. Barca-Lite. Both euphemisms for dog shit. It will take a long time to scrub Wenger away. The whole culture has to be changed. With modern footballers you can't just storm in and throw a boot in their faces. Which is a huge shame. You have to coax the little lambs to accept change. If they fancy it then they might play along. Otherwise they'll go all chav dressing room and the manager gets the boot.

    This is compounded by the financial situation. We don't have a blank chequebook so we can't take the hit of dumping the whole squad and buying another one (which is what's needed if we want short term solutions).

    We were plunging down a chasm when Emery took over. He seemed content to let the players decide how everyone was going to hit the bottom. Arteta, at least, seems to have recognised parachutes are a top priority. Slow the fall, maybe come to a gentle landing that doesn't involve Championship football. Then begin the slow climb back up.

    Winning ways will return when we have forgotten every last aspect of the Wenger nightmare and learned how to crawl again, then walk, then run. Do that and we can learn what a football is. And how it can be used to play a popular sport. And how best to organise and train to be good at that sport. And we'll need players with character, rather than characters who had it easy under Wenger and forgot how to be competitive professionals and winners.
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  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice View Post
    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.
    He's not alone in killing the momentum of our play, but he's one of the better practitioners. Mustafi too. And, I've noticed, Bellerin seems to have caught the infection. Torreira. Pepe almost 100% of the time. Sokratis. Most of them.

    When we get some space and the opportunity to move the ball up the pitch is clear, many of our players will immediately shun the option (or not even see it) and instead look for the safe sideways or backwards pass. It's as if possession is a prize in itself. I know what we're trying to do. In theory. We're trying to shift the play left, then right, then left, probing for a mistake and a gap that gets too wide.

    But we play at such a low tempo the mistake or the gap is highly unlikely to materialise. We make it so easy for the opposition, and Xhaka's one of the worst offenders. I could literally scream when I see him with the ball, Auba or Martinelli will be moving ahead, looking for the space and looking for the pass. And Xhaka... takes a touch. Takes another. Turns this way. Turns that way. Taps it five yards sideways. Or literally turns his back on goal and hits it back to the safest possible option.

    Pepe is even worse.

    This is why Saka and Martinelli are looking so exciting. But they're only doing what everyone should be doing, showing a bit of ambitions and a willingness to take a gamble in return for a pay-off.
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  5. #25
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    For all of Wengers’s faults and he did lose his way in his final years, at least his team had a bit of identity and a moderate amount of stamina and pace.

    The current team which is pretty much Emery’s has no distinct qualities whatsoever. Central Defence lacks pace, stamina, strength and any semblance of tactical awareness. Arteta has them more organised, still a shite central defence.

    Our first choice full backs are crocks. Bellerin hasn’t improved since he first came through, he has arguably regressed.

    Central Midfield is shite, Xhaka slow, Torreira headless chicken, Guendouzi headless chicken, Willock not sure what to make of him, sometimes great, sometimes gash. Ceballos? What is he?

    Central Midfield lacks consistency and direction.

    Ozil is Ozil. 350k per week, Jesus Christ!

    Wings, Martinelli is a great prospect but will and does blow hot and cold. Pepe right now is Pepe, sublime to the ridiculous.

    Auba is obviously great, without him we would be fighting relegation. Laca is Laca and looks to me to be on the slide.

    We are just not very good. Our players aren’t very good and we are where we are.

    P.S Oh and our players are criminally unfit. We use to be one of the fittest teams in the league, we look to be one of the unfittest now.

    P.P.S Now is genuinely the time to blood our academy graduates, I see no reason to not play Saka ahead of Kola or Willock ahead of Xhaka or Nelson ahead of Ozil, Martinelli ahead of Laca. Most of our senior players are shite.
    Last edited by selassie; 04-02-2020 at 02:30 AM.

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn View Post
    He's not alone in killing the momentum of our play, but he's one of the better practitioners. Mustafi too. And, I've noticed, Bellerin seems to have caught the infection. Torreira. Pepe almost 100% of the time. Sokratis. Most of them.

    When we get some space and the opportunity to move the ball up the pitch is clear, many of our players will immediately shun the option (or not even see it) and instead look for the safe sideways or backwards pass. It's as if possession is a prize in itself. I know what we're trying to do. In theory. We're trying to shift the play left, then right, then left, probing for a mistake and a gap that gets too wide.

    But we play at such a low tempo the mistake or the gap is highly unlikely to materialise. We make it so easy for the opposition, and Xhaka's one of the worst offenders. I could literally scream when I see him with the ball, Auba or Martinelli will be moving ahead, looking for the space and looking for the pass. And Xhaka... takes a touch. Takes another. Turns this way. Turns that way. Taps it five yards sideways. Or literally turns his back on goal and hits it back to the safest possible option.

    Pepe is even worse.

    This is why Saka and Martinelli are looking so exciting. But they're only doing what everyone should be doing, showing a bit of ambitions and a willingness to take a gamble in return for a pay-off.

    We certainly don't have a Tomas Rosicky in the ranks, who's main skill was taking the ball on the half turn and just driving towards the oppositions goal.... though when he was here, plenty complained about him too. Same again with Santi at times because his stats weren't what fans wanted them to be.

    Guendouzi was taking far too long to play simple passes (backwards like you say Xhaka is prone to) and Willock was taking far too long to release the ball when he came on (which is seeming like a habit of his). I'm not sure why there is any real clamour for Douzi or Willock to start. There is the athleticism, but we seem to scoff at this as a tangible attribute when we see Sissoko for Tottenham play for this very reason.

    For me, the glaring omission is Ceballos. Someone will tell me he's been average but who hasn't really bar what's gone on the last month or so. He has real technical ability, an eye for a pass, likes a foot in, looks after the ball generally. Didn't we bring him here on loan for a reason and decide to continue with it despite murmurs he wanted to go back?

    Real Madrid with never ask for Guendouzi or Willock on loan for us, but we have a young Spanish player who is fairly highly rated in Spain. Anyway several decisions Arteta made in this game was odd.

    Martinelli looked as poor as he has all season but that was not his fault imo.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice View Post
    We certainly don't have a Tomas Rosicky in the ranks, who's main skill was taking the ball on the half turn and just driving towards the oppositions goal.... though when he was here, plenty complained about him too. Same again with Santi at times because his stats weren't what fans wanted them to be.

    Guendouzi was taking far too long to play simple passes (backwards like you say Xhaka is prone to) and Willock was taking far too long to release the ball when he came on (which is seeming like a habit of his). I'm not sure why there is any real clamour for Douzi or Willock to start. There is the athleticism, but we seem to scoff at this as a tangible attribute when we see Sissoko for Tottenham play for this very reason.

    For me, the glaring omission is Ceballos. Someone will tell me he's been average but who hasn't really bar what's gone on the last month or so. He has real technical ability, an eye for a pass, likes a foot in, looks after the ball generally. Didn't we bring him here on loan for a reason and decide to continue with it despite murmurs he wanted to go back?

    Real Madrid with never ask for Guendouzi or Willock on loan for us, but we have a young Spanish player who is fairly highly rated in Spain. Anyway several decisions Arteta made in this game was odd.

    Martinelli looked as poor as he has all season but that was not his fault imo.
    They're all terribly frustrating. Lacking confidence. My guess is, you get brought up in an environment where it's all about bullshit like, "Express yourself, you decide, train yourself." I think Emery was probably worse than Wenger in that respect. "pick your own captain." What a crock of shit.

    What these players need is, "Do this you cunt! Then do that! And shut the fuck up!" But, like I mentioned before, players have all the power these days. If you upset them they have their little cliques in the dressing room and can bring the whole house down if a single feather is ruffled.

    I'd back this up by noting the first few games with Arteta in charge. There was a tangible difference. They were really pressing, in an organised fashion. They were working until they cramped up. Was that a willingness to work for a new manager? Maybe. The novelty of it? Or did it coincide with the January transfer window approaching and each of them wanting to ensure their comfortable perch and overly generous benefits?

    Whatever, they are back in their groove now. Sloppy, sub-par, negative. One minute Ozil is running marathons and putting in tackles. But before long we're all playing Where's Ozil again. It's not good enough, nowhere near. These are privileged individuals who don't appreciate it. On the contrary, they're all crying about winter breaks and mental fatigue and getting rid of cup replays. It's appalling.

    Managers have a thankless task these days, trying to tease 100% out of pampered twats. That's at any club. But at Arsenal it's worse, because we've spent a decade building that lazy, unprofessional and counterproductive culture. And you can't stick your foot up anyone's arse these days because that would hurt their feelings or impact their mental health.

    We know that all of these players are better than their performances suggest. Because if they aren't, why are they "earning" five and six figures a week?

    I blame the players. We've had two new managers in now and Freddie in-between and hardly anything has changed. I didn't expect miracles, but when I'm still watching the tip tap bullshit that our lot claim is football then it strongly suggests nobody can get through to these players.

    Xhaka stands out because of his other issues. But, for me, Pepe is the worst offender. An absolute waster, so far anyway. Weak. Lazy. Negative. And 72 million quid. What a joke.

    Again I'll say, let's go with the kids and try to get these seniors out the door as fast as possible. The younger players still seem to have some heart and may have more manageable egos so they can be shaped into a decent team. I saw AMN in the middle a few times and he was hot and cold. But when he was hot, he showed a lot of promise. Himself and Willock, that's who I'd pick for the middle. It would have no impact this season, but give them some time and let's see what they can do.
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  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Letters View Post
    So here's the points per game over the last 3 seasons:



    The blue line is Wenger's last season.
    Orange is Emery's first season - overall better and one impressive runs at the start (although results flattered us at times in that run).
    Grey is this season. First 8 games comparable to the last 2 seasons. Since then...
    We've not lost that many but we've won 2 out of 16. 2!
    Why can't we win games?

    Or rather, why is our inability to win games so much worse than the last 2 seasons.
    We won 21 games last year. Even in Wenger's last season we were losing too many but we still won 19.
    This year so far it's 6.

    What the hell is that about? What is so different this season that we just can't win games?
    With the risk of stating the obvious, today is a must win game.
    There can be no excuses for tiredness.
    We have most of our senior players fit and well rested. Arteta must start bearing the fruits of labour. A win is needed, not a draw.

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