Match Reaction v Chelsea (home)

[Bumble]

As has been said

Saka smith rowe and martinelli 3 behind the striker is the way to go.

Laca works harder but auba is a much better finisher.

Back four is solid with bellerin holding gabriel and Tierney. Leno is good shot stopper.

So its the central midfield that needs work and the obvious lack of depth. Partey when fit is one option so i would like the energy amn would provide as the other option.

As i have said before the board come out and show that the onjective of arteta is to blood youngsters then the fans can buy into that and perhaps give breathing space for this season.

[Ralpheroo72]

Man, you are one pathetic loser.


No offence.

[I am invisible]

As has been said

Saka smith rowe and martinelli 3 behind the striker is the way to go.

Laca works harder but auba is a much better finisher.

Back four is solid with bellerin holding gabriel and Tierney. Leno is good shot stopper.

So its the central midfield that needs work and the obvious lack of depth. Partey when fit is one option so i would like the energy amn would provide as the other option.

As i have said before the board come out and show that the onjective of arteta is to blood youngsters then the fans can buy into that and perhaps give breathing space for this season.

There’s the start of a decent team there - not much depth once you scratch the surface, so it’s going to need a lot of reinforcement, but enough to see what we could be.

We’re going to have to manage our expectations with this pretty carefully over the next few months because we may not get to see this XI too often - Martinelli and ESR aren’t up to playing a full 90 yet, let alone 3 games a week, and random injuries and suspensions will mean it’s going to be rare that everyone is available at the same time. Between now and May I just want to see these players picked whenever it’s possible, even if that’s 1 in every 3 or 4 games, and that we get a good look at the type of football we want to be playing when they do all come together. In between those moments I guess we just have to hope that the other players are stung enough to raise their games and fight for their places?

I’m not setting any points totals or expected finishing positions - not much point now - but by the end of the season I want to see clear evidence of the plan / vision for this team. Whether Arteta makes it to his second 18 months all hinges on that.

[Slacker]

There’s the start of a decent team there - not much depth once you scratch the surface, so it’s going to need a lot of reinforcement, but enough to see what we could be.

We’re going to have to manage our expectations with this pretty carefully over the next few months because we may not get to see this XI too often - Martinelli and ESR aren’t up to playing a full 90 yet, let alone 3 games a week, and random injuries and suspensions will mean it’s going to be rare that everyone is available at the same time. Between now and May I just want to see these players picked whenever it’s possible, even if that’s 1 in every 3 or 4 games, and that we get a good look at the type of football we want to be playing when they do all come together. In between those moments I guess we just have to hope that the other players are stung enough to raise their games and fight for their places?

I’m not setting any points totals or expected finishing positions - not much point now - but by the end of the season I want to see clear evidence of the plan / vision for this team. Whether Arteta makes it to his second 18 months all hinges on that.

Arteta is for me the problem. Luiz will be fit again soon and will displace Holding. He'll put Martinelli back on the bench, find room somewhere for Kolasinac and we'll be back to square one. From the moment he walked into Arsenal and started playing proven failures and not giving the youngsters enough game time, I knew I couldn't trust him. I just don't buy him at all.

We need a bold manager who is going to stick with the kids and keep players like Mustafi, Luiz, Kolasinac and Xhaka out of the way. They have never been good enough for Arsenal and if he doesn't know that, he shouldn't be the manager.

[Mac76]

Arteta is for me the problem. Luiz will be fit again soon and will displace Holding. He'll put Martinelli back on the bench, find room somewhere for Kolasinac and we'll be back to square one. From the moment he walked into Arsenal and started playing proven failures and not giving the youngsters enough game time, I knew I couldn't trust him. I just don't buy him at all.

We need a bold manager who is going to stick with the kids and keep players like Mustafi, Luiz, Kolasinac and Xhaka out of the way. They have never been good enough for Arsenal and if he doesn't know that, he shouldn't be the manager.

that is the key test - he's been shown the way and if he doesn't now have saturday's side (minus Xhaka) for his default starting eleven he isn't the right man for us.

he had to be taught the lesson but someone on £5m a year should be bright enough to wake up and smell the coffee at this point

[I am invisible]

Look, if Martinelli and ESR aren’t making it through a full 90 minutes yet then they’re probably not going to be up to playing 2 or 3 games a week just yet either. I think we all know that we’re still going to have to rotate with the bums for a little while to come (likely until the end of the season) because that’s all we have in depth right now, so I’d set the expectation level more at expecting Arteta to pick this team (*with Partey) whenever the players are available and rested.

If it makes everyone feel any better, Chelsea was a massive, massive game for Arteta - his neck was literally on the block before this one, and when he really needed a result these are the players (and the system) he turned to. He didn’t have to pick these guys - he could still have gone with Pepe or Willock or Nketiah over Martinelli and/or ESR. He could have picked Mustafi over Mari. He could have played it safe and gone with a back 3 instead of a #10.

Likewise, earlier in the season, when Partey was fit, Xhaka’s ass was getting benched on a regular basis, and you could see a definite preference for athletic, mobile central midfielders. Of course we didn’t have the attacking players we needed available at that time, so it still wasn’t a complete side, but I think there have been little signs along the way that hint at how Arteta would like to shape this side when everyone is fit and available.

I’d also say that, as bad as these last couple of months have been, it was really encouraging to see how much of a difference just two more decent attacking players made to pretty much everything.