Match Reaction vs Everton (home).

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Four league wins in a row. :bow:

It's galling seeing us play like a pub side most of the time but we have goalscorers that often will make the difference.

Neverton are always so serviceable to us. :scarf:

[SMatthews]

Pure class from Emery. Another 3 points in the bag and we go from strength to strength.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Shreeves thought Lacazette was swearing there. :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Lacazette has to get Aubameyang to translate Shreeves' bollocks. :lol:

[Marc Overmars]

Not great but we win again. Shows the importance of having world class finishers who can score from limited service.

Ramsey, Ozil and Xhaka mostly horseshit as usual. Nice to see Torreira get 90 minutes, that South American energy and class and is very welcome in our joke of a midfield.

[Özim]

Lacazette won it for us, what a player he is, just goes to show what happens when you finally get proper forwards, you actually win games you'd usually draw/lose.

Indifferent performance again, but that seems to be the norm which suggests the players we currently have aren't really suited (or good enough) to the way Emery wants to play.

In short think this team needs a fair amount of surgery and I hope Emery recognises that, forward line is decent but most of the rest probably aren't good enough.

[dostoy]

It was a good result after a terrible first half.

Arsenal need a right winger because that is not Ozils or Ramseys position.

I hope that Sokratis is ok because he has looked quite good so far this season.

There are a few players that need to be replaced like Xhaka, Mustafi and maybe others.

Great goal from Lacazette, Auba was offside but that will be evened out in future games.

Four premier league wins in a row, hope that continues.

[Bumble]

4 in a row. good goal by laca he seems to be playing really well. Cech made some decent saves. Some decent games coming up to with Watford, Leicester, Fulham and Palace up next. if we can continue to win without playing particularly well or exciting football then that is a good sign and as someone else has said. it is the benefit of having quality goalscorers.

top 2 is out of the question, but 3rd place maybe???

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

We could easily drop points against Watford the way they are playing....so I think that will be quite a test.

Much like the last game ......distinctly average first half followed by a controlled second half performance.

I was late for kick off and spotted Gaitang Bong walking around outside the North bank. Kinda bizarre....is he a gooner???

[AFC Leveller]

I love Laca, such a classy and clever finisher. If he can keep his place in the team I can see him scoring 25 this season.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Cech easily man of match, which says a lot.

Poor performance mainly due to Emery still not knowing his best 11.

Torriera starting was nice, but he partnering Xhaka is an overkill; Guendozi or even maybe Ramsey partnering would have helped us look more balanced as a whole.

Attackwise Ramsey and Ozil have been poor for a while and either Mhiki or preferably Iwobi should have started with one of them. Also the fact that the latter 2 actually look comfortable carrying the ball and trying to beat opponents is effective with the style Emery wants us to play.

As for the goalscorers, we thank the Good Lord he has listened and hasn't fiddled with the partnership, yet anyway.

As for our defenders, I give up. We still need a whole new back 4, but we can do with easing out Mustafi asap and giving Lichsteiner far more game time anywhere along that line.

Oh we kept a clean sheet finally, but that was 100% down to Cech.

[AFC Leveller]

We are a lot more open than last year, we concede clear cut chances every game. Everton should have been ahead, we rode our luck.

I’m really worried about us defensively against the top 5 sides (especially Liverpool and City away), we really have to stop giving away chances.

[Marc Overmars]

No doubt we’re going to be absolutely roasted by Liverpool in a few games time. Unless there’s a dramatic improvement at the back.

[Mac76]

Cech easily man of match, which says a lot.

Poor performance mainly due to Emery still not knowing his best 11.

Torriera starting was nice, but he partnering Xhaka is an overkill; Guendozi or even maybe Ramsey partnering would have helped us look more balanced as a whole.

Attackwise Ramsey and Ozil have been poor for a while and either Mhiki or preferably Iwobi should have started with one of them. Also the fact that the latter 2 actually look comfortable carrying the ball and trying to beat opponents is effective with the style Emery wants us to play.

As for the goalscorers, we thank the Good Lord he has listened and hasn't fiddled with the partnership, yet anyway.

As for our defenders, I give up. We still need a whole new back 4, but we can do with easing out Mustafi asap and giving Lichsteiner far more game time anywhere along that line.

Oh we kept a clean sheet finally, but that was 100% down to Cech.

Agree with most of this but i still think Sokratis is good, but it's just not easy to look good all the time when you've Xhaka and Mustafi around you, plus i actually rate Holding too, he at least is prepared to simply put it out of play rather than try something stupid.

He has to drop Mustafi and Xhaka, we'll immediately be less liable to make costly mistakes

Cech did indeed save us with a top-class performance, well done him

[Gooner23]

Agree with the above. Based on performances this season I'd go with Cech, Bellerin, Holding, Sokratis, Monreal, Torreira, Guendozi, Ozil, Iwobi, Auba, Laca.

[Power n Glory]

Cech has saved our bacon on many occasions this season. It’s alarming how frequently we’re getting carved open. Saying that, I’m glad people are starting to see that Sokratis is a good defender. Unpopular opinion, but I also see slight improvements in Bellerin and Mustafi’s game. Far away from perfect, still making mistakes but less individual blunders and our defensive mistakes seem to be more of a collective problem. That being said, it’s still not good enough and we need to improve.

Torreira played as expected. A real pitbull in the middle of the park. Tracked back, intercepted, tackled, colletcted the ball from the defence to distribute the ball. A solid performance.

That being said, Xhaka adds little to our midfield. He’s unnecessary. Despite having less of the defensive burden on his shoulders and not having to collect the ball from our defence and being able to play a little further up the pitch, he added next to nothing to our attack.

Ozil has been a terrible purchase. Terrible. He doesn’t press with any intent and is a total coward in the final third. Time to get rid of him.

Ramsey can follow him. Unai has to do something different with Ramsey and Ozil. Bench or switch their positioning.

[Özim]

Really rate Lacazette, had a hard time from fans last season but I always maintained this guy is quality and needs his chance, you don't need to be involved for 90 minutes to be a top player, Lacazette is a finisher, he can get a goal out of nothing like he did today, that's what a finisher should be. The former manager always wanted players who were always involved (however bad they were) and didn't value finishers so it's nice to see Lacazette getting gametime under the new manager at last.

Torreira was great as well a real little terrier who also delivers meaningful passes rather than 5 yard sideways passes. Cech had a great game too and kept us in it, because in reality Everton gave us a roasting for 56 minutes until Laca scored, should have never had a chance to save some of those but Everton have got rubbish forwards who can't sore for Toffee like Walcott.

Ozil worked hard and created the 2nd goal (although it was offside but Ramsey should have scored it anyway), if we can play him into form we'll be in a good place.

Everton had a lot of pace today, thought Richarlson looked quality, very effective and we're crying out for pacey wide player or two.

Defence was caught out time after time in the 1st half, just not convinced with the personnel there, Mustafi in particular, the guy can't defend for toffee.

Ramsey for me should be dropped, out of contract and leaving next summer, no reason to play him, would also ditch Xhaka, guy is rubbish.

Overall we're winning games we should be winning so that's good, clearly not good enough to match the better sides, if Everton had a decent forward the result might have been different, but that's their issue, decent side with some quality but the forwards (one of which we finally got rid of after years) are rubbish.

Worry about playing Liverpool, they do have top class forwards, the next few games are winnable the real test is Liverpool but I don't think we're good enough to beat them bar some miracle.

[Mac76]

Unpopular opinion, but I also see slight improvements in Bellerin and Mustafi’s game.

Mustafi - not for me

Bellerin though, yes i felt he got back to defend his position better yesterday and his decision-making around the opponents' box is also improving i think

[selassie]

Still not happy with our performances, we were really horrible first half, a really disjointed and poor display. We did improve second half but this team still needs a lot of work to improve. We are lacking in quality and organisation and it’s a big worry for me.

Positives from yesterday were Cech who was outstanding and saved us. I thought Holding played well too. Also notable mentions for Laca and Auba who both produced the goods second half.

We are really going to need to improve because if we perform like this against any of our top 4 rivals we are going to take a real beating.

Despite the above, we are grinding out wins so it could be worse!

[selassie]

Really rate Lacazette, had a hard time from fans last season but I always maintained this guy is quality and needs his chance, you don't need to be involved for 90 minutes to be a top player, Lacazette is a finisher, he can get a goal out of nothing like he did today, that's what a finisher should be. The former manager always wanted players who were always involved (however bad they were) and didn't value finishers so it's nice to see Lacazette getting gametime under the new manager at last.

Torreira was great as well a real little terrier who also delivers meaningful passes rather than 5 yard sideways passes. Cech had a great game too and kept us in it, because in reality Everton gave us a roasting for 56 minutes until Laca scored, should have never had a chance to save some of those but Everton have got rubbish forwards who can't sore for Toffee like Walcott.

Ozil worked hard and created the 2nd goal (although it was offside but Ramsey should have scored it anyway), if we can play him into form we'll be in a good place.

Everton had a lot of pace today, thought Richarlson looked quality, very effective and we're crying out for pacey wide player or two.

Defence was caught out time after time in the 1st half, just not convinced with the personnel there, Mustafi in particular, the guy can't defend for toffee.

Ramsey for me should be dropped, out of contract and leaving next summer, no reason to play him, would also ditch Xhaka, guy is rubbish.

Overall we're winning games we should be winning so that's good, clearly not good enough to match the better sides, if Everton had a decent forward the result might have been different, but that's their issue, decent side with some quality but the forwards (one of which we finally got rid of after years) are rubbish.

Worry about playing Liverpool, they do have top class forwards, the next few games are winnable the real test is Liverpool but I don't think we're good enough to beat them bar some miracle.

Yep, I agree with a lot of this. I think if we are brutally honest we are not quite a top 4 yet and as such will struggle in the big games until Emery really puts his stamp on the team. This is still basically a “Wenger” team, Emery needs team to change both the personal and mentality of this team.

The Liverpool game in a few weeks time is s write off for me, we are a few levels below them right now IMO.

[Özim]

Yep, I agree with a lot of this. I think if we are brutally honest we are not quite a top 4 yet and as such will struggle in the big games until Emery really puts his stamp on the team. This is still basically a “Wenger” team, Emery needs team to change both the personal and mentality of this team.

The Liverpool game in a few weeks time is s write off for me, we are a few levels below them right now IMO.

You're right it is a Wenger team and that's the issue at the moment, at least this guy is willing to play forwards though, for years we were stuck with Wenger who was obsessed with playing one striker and about 9 midfielders!

Personally I think this team needs dismantling in areas and Emery needs to bring his own players in, obviously there are some that can stay but it just freshening up, Ramsey will be off so that's one, hopefully we can sell Xhaka, Mustafi and a few others to make room for some better more suitable players, a quality winger and a top notch CB and maybe a couple more.

Emery knows PSG so maybe he can pick one of their more talented youngsters as well as he tried last summer.

[hobson's choice]

As with the last 3 games. Not impressed at all, brilliant moments and playing the worst teams in the league basically covering how awful Emery has been as manager so far.

To this moment I still don't understand the point of hiring Emery. Such a coward and scared hire.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Cech has saved our bacon on many occasions this season. It’s alarming how frequently we’re getting carved open. Saying that, I’m glad people are starting to see that Sokratis is a good defender. Unpopular opinion, but I also see slight improvements in Bellerin and Mustafi’s game. Far away from perfect, still making mistakes but less individual blunders and our defensive mistakes seem to be more of a collective problem. That being said, it’s still not good enough and we need to improve.

Torreira played as expected. A real pitbull in the middle of the park. Tracked back, intercepted, tackled, colletcted the ball from the defence to distribute the ball. A solid performance.

That being said, Xhaka adds little to our midfield. He’s unnecessary. Despite having less of the defensive burden on his shoulders and not having to collect the ball from our defence and being able to play a little further up the pitch, he added next to nothing to our attack.

Ozil has been a terrible purchase. Terrible. He doesn’t press with any intent and is a total coward in the final third. Time to get rid of him.

Ramsey can follow him. Unai has to do something different with Ramsey and Ozil. Bench or switch their positioning.

Absolutely agree with your account of the defence so far. I can't stand the sight of Mustafi and washed my hands of him last season but he has been better this season so far. Sokratis' qualities have been very apparent the last few games. Was gutted when I saw him walk off. Holding in his Arsenal career has generally been very good when partnered with a mature and competent older player.

Xhaka whilst redundant in the first half I thought had a very good game in the second half. He's still not my cup of tea and I don't think he will ever be an top elite premier league player, but I liked his second half.

I'd still be quite happy for Emery to partner Lucas with Ramsey or Guendouzi in midfield. I'm secretly hoping to see Ramsey there because I think if he can't make it work there, we have a redundant player on our hands contract or no contract.

Outside of our own club, Zaha has won me back over and would actually welcome seeing him here now..... but I'm liking Iwobi's progression.

[Power n Glory]

Yep, I agree with a lot of this. I think if we are brutally honest we are not quite a top 4 yet and as such will struggle in the big games until Emery really puts his stamp on the team. This is still basically a “Wenger” team, Emery needs team to change both the personal and mentality of this team.

The Liverpool game in a few weeks time is s write off for me, we are a few levels below them right now IMO.

There are ways to put your stamp on a team without having to resort to replacing every player. Unai is falling into the same trap as Wenger by playing square pegs in round holes and sticking to a rigid format. Why not play two strikers up front? Why not have the balls to drop Xhaka, Ozil and Ramsey? He doesn't have to play the exact same team as Wenger did with the same formation. We approach every game the same and I haven't seen much evidence of him being meticulous and doing his homework on the opposition. Maybe the focus is on getting us to play a certain way but we'll continue to see this slow progress if he's unwilling to shake up the foundations.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

There are ways to put your stamp on a team without having to resort to replacing every player. Unai is falling into the same trap as Wenger by playing square pegs in round holes and sticking to a rigid format. Why not play two strikers up front? Why not have the balls to drop Xhaka, Ozil and Ramsey? He doesn't have to play the exact same team as Wenger did with the same formation. We approach every game the same and I haven't seen much evidence of him being meticulous and doing his homework on the opposition. Maybe the focus is on getting us to play a certain way but we'll continue to see this slow progress if he's unwilling to shake up the foundations.

The bolded is one of the reasons I supported him over Arteta from the onset.

Everyone who claimed to have worked with him swore to high heavens that he was meticulous in studying his opponents and actually adapted his game plan according to who he faced- something I think is a plus and makes a huge difference when your opponents have better players than you do.

But like you said, we have approached all games the same way and I can see no evidence of adapting styles either.

[fakeyank]

There are ways to put your stamp on a team without having to resort to replacing every player. Unai is falling into the same trap as Wenger by playing square pegs in round holes and sticking to a rigid format. Why not play two strikers up front? Why not have the balls to drop Xhaka, Ozil and Ramsey? He doesn't have to play the exact same team as Wenger did with the same formation. We approach every game the same and I haven't seen much evidence of him being meticulous and doing his homework on the opposition. Maybe the focus is on getting us to play a certain way but we'll continue to see this slow progress if he's unwilling to shake up the foundations.

I dont think the team is even playing in the way Emery wants them to play. First we need to get our shit together before we can go to the next level of having different strategies for different teams. This season is a wash for me and as long as we can play entertaining football and show marked improvement month upon month, I'll be fine. If however, we play all out attack with no plan B next season, I'll join the "Emery is may be not the right person" brigade.

[Power n Glory]

Me too. In fact, I was all for Arteta I heard about his analysis and how he helps Pep on tactics. The downside was his lack of experience and having no idea how he'd cope with his own team. A lot of people were unconvinced about his ability to be tough, pull players up and drop players.

When I heard about Emery instead of Arteta, I wasn't thrilled. He had a piss poor away record for his last season with Sevilla and couldn't handle the star power at PSG. But I wrote off the PSG situation because of the circumstances and was really impressed with what I heard about his attention to detail and tactics.

Now that he's hear, I haven't seen much in terms of tactics and out smarting the opposition. Still early days though. But the fact tGf he won't drop certain players and we're already playing key players out of position as a compromise has me worried. Ozil should be dropped and so should Xhaka just off the back of what Emery said about players working hard off the ball. If you look at the intensity of Ozil's runs to get forward when he sees space compared to when he needs to close down space...it shouldn't be accepted. Why is it? Same goes for Xhaka.

But as I was just saying to Blink, I think our degending has improved. Slightly. I see less individual mistakes and that's probably because they're covering each other a lot better. That's a slight improvement I can't deny.

Emery definitely needs more time but he can't be a push over with certain players. We're high on confidence and positivity right now but I'm waiting to see how we react when gut punched and the confidence goes. So far, I think we're winning off individual brilliance. But this all could be just step one. Getting the teams confidence back.

[Power n Glory]

I dont think the team is even playing in the way Emery wants them to play. First we need to get our shit together before we can go to the next level of having different strategies for different teams. This season is a wash for me and as long as we can play entertaining football and show marked improvement month upon month, I'll be fine. If however, we play all out attack with no plan B next season, I'll join the "Emery is may be not the right person" brigade.

That's why he has to drop the key individuals that are messing up. Let them learn off the pitch and see how someone else plays the from the sidelines so it's a learning experience.

On a side not, did you see that bullshit pass Ozil pulled off when one on one with the keeper and on his preferred foot to score? For all his footballing intelligence, why in the world would he cut the ball back to Ramsey who hadn't set his feet properly and and had a defender right in front of him that could have potentially blocked the shot if Ramsey tried to shoot? We were lucky Ramsey improvised with the flick and Aubameyang wasn't called off side. Emery has to speak Ozil about that sort of shit.

[fakeyank]

That's why he has to drop the key individuals that are messing up. Let them learn off the pitch and see how someone else plays the from the sidelines so it's a learning experience.

On a side not, did you see that bullshit pass Ozil pulled off when one on one with the keeper and on his preferred foot to score? For all his footballing intelligence, why in the world would he cut the ball back to Ramsey who hadn't set his feet properly and and had a defender right in front of him that could have potentially blocked the shot if Ramsey tried to shoot? We were lucky Ramsey improvised with the flick and Aubameyang wasn't called off side. Emery has to speak Ozil about that sort of shit.

That was total BS from Ozil. We were lucky with that offside decision or else he'd have got some real heat from the fans and press.

[Marc Overmars]

I agree with Zim in that a lot of this is down to personnel, Emery just doesn't have enough of his "type" of player. What we became under Wenger was so far removed from any style and cohesion that we completely lost our identity. I'm not exactly sure what Emery is trying to achieve just yet but I'm not overly concerned at the moment because by hook or crook we're getting the wins.

It was a mixed bag for Klopp as well when he joined Liverpool. However I think he had some existing hard working players who suited his philosophy and they were able to pull out big performances at least sporadically. We haven't seen those sparks from us just yet and that's been the disappointing thing.

I've got my eye firmly on that Liverpool game at the start of November. Proper acid test for Emery and he won't have the same benefit of the doubt he had against City and Chelsea.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

It's on my birthday (the Liverpool game) so I wouldn't be expecting much from that.

More interested in the Spud/Man utd games in December given that is the weekend and then midweek. :sick:

[Bumble]

It's on my birthday (the Liverpool game) so I wouldn't be expecting much from that.

More interested in the Spud/Man utd games in December given that is the weekend and then midweek. :sick:

i agree think those are more important games because they are the teams who have been a bit hit and miss this season as well and those that will be fighting for 4th place.

If Liverpool play well they will bash us and there isn't anything we can do about it.

[Chippy]

No doubt we’re going to be absolutely roasted by Liverpool in a few games time. Unless there’s a dramatic improvement at the back.

Partially agree (Bellerin, Monreal) constantly on the wrong side of the attacker and Mustafi is a fucking snail.
However, our midfield still offers very little protection which does not help.
Liverpool and City will fucking murder us.

[Power n Glory]

I agree with Zim in that a lot of this is down to personnel, Emery just doesn't have enough of his "type" of player. What we became under Wenger was so far removed from any style and cohesion that we completely lost our identity. I'm not exactly sure what Emery is trying to achieve just yet but I'm not overly concerned at the moment because by hook or crook we're getting the wins.

It was a mixed bag for Klopp as well when he joined Liverpool. However I think he had some existing hard working players who suited his philosophy and they were able to pull out big performances at least sporadically. We haven't seen those sparks from us just yet and that's been the disappointing thing.

I've got my eye firmly on that Liverpool game at the start of November. Proper acid test for Emery and he won't have the same benefit of the doubt he had against City and Chelsea.

It's not a great squad and Emery is limited to what he can work with. That's true. But looking beyond that, when looking at where he's asking certain players to play, what is it that he trying to get out of them playing there?

I can almost understand trying to get Ramsey playing higher up the pitch to focus on runs in the box and scoring. But the way Ramsey plays it, he might as we be a second striker because he doesn't contribute to midfield build up play. It's like we only have two Cm's. With that being the case, why not just play Aubameyang and Lacazette up front? Lacazette is working his socks off at the moment with strong link up play and can bang in goals. If not two strikers, why not just play Mkhitaryan or Iwobi as the number 10? We'd get more polish from Mkhitaryan for sure. Or why not just play Ozil as 10?

Now speaking of Ozil, I think he's pretty shit regardless of where he plays but you're going to persist with him and try to get him to defend, wouldn't it be better to just play him as a 10 or not to play at all. What are we trying to pull from him playing on the right wing? He won't gets goals because he's afraid to shoot, doesn't like to defend and he's not even that great at carving a defence up with splitting passes. What more will we get from him out wide if in his natural position he's not that effective? Again, Mkhitaryan or Iwobi can play that position. Heck, if you want a workmanlike performance, Danny Welbeck can play there and he'd be more dangerous on the counter.

Last and definitely the least, Xhaka. There is no reason to play this guy over Torreira or Guendouzi. We have options. Try Elneny there instead. Try bringing Ramsey back and coaching him to play like a CM. We can't say we're limited to choice for this position. We have options.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I'd forgotten the detail about him preparing for the opposition and doing his homework. The last few game she has spoken about needing to control games better which makes it even more strange why he gives Ramsey a position in which he has these low touch games. He miraculously got 2 assists against Everton....but from where I was sitting I genuinely only knew he was on the field by the lineup on the screen, as I missed kick off and got to my seat late.

The problem will resolve itself as his contract will run down and we may lose him anyway, but I think we have to call his bluff on this one unlike with Ozil. Can't get mugged off yet again.

Interesting and slightly odd we are being linked with Banega again who I'd have loved to see here.

[Power n Glory]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysqfMyrb-2g

New Arsenal Vision Podcast

[Power n Glory]

I'd forgotten the detail about him preparing for the opposition and doing his homework. The last few game she has spoken about needing to control games better which makes it even more strange why he gives Ramsey a position in which he has these low touch games. He miraculously got 2 assists against Everton....but from where I was sitting I genuinely only knew he was on the field by the lineup on the screen, as I missed kick off and got to my seat late.

The problem will resolve itself as his contract will run down and we may lose him anyway, but I think we have to call his bluff on this one unlike with Ozil. Can't get mugged off yet again.

Interesting and slightly odd we are being linked with Banega again who I'd have loved to see here.

We have three major players all playing out of position and none of them are playing particularly well. What’s more frustrating is that I think we’ll see the exact same line up for the next game unless someone gets injured.

[Letters]

We have three major players all playing out of position and none of them are playing particularly well. What’s more frustrating is that I think we’ll see the exact same line up for the next game unless someone gets injured.

Our next game is Brentford so that seems unlikely ;)

I don't know what to make of how things are going this season really. We've lost the games you'd expect, we've won the games you'd expect. We've not played that well but it's early days in Emery's reign yet.

[Power n Glory]

Forgot about the cup game. Plenty of changes to come there but we'll probably see the same team that played against Everton play against Watford. Can't afford to underestimate Watford.

[Özim]

It's early days for Emery and I'm reasonably satisfied so far, he's started playing two forwards and brought in Torreira for the last game so he is making changes.

His persistence with Xhaka puzzles me a bit, I just don't think the guy brings anything to the team that we need, he's slow, poor defensively and doesn't offer much going forward either.

Realistically though right now there's too many Wenger players who are still regulars, I was a bit underwhelmed with our summer transfer business for this reason, think we needed a couple more new faces to give us more options and allow us to phase some of the players selected by the former manager out. Due to the fact we have no alternatives we can't, they weren't good enough last season and they're not good enough now regardless of the system.

Next season I expect we'll see something quite different (hopefully minus Xhaka and Mustafi), we definitely need some width and a few more new faces, right now I just want to see some progression and for us to moe away from anything the former manager was doing, playing two strikers is a good start as is playing Torreira (though it took him a few games to implement those changes).

As I said before I don't rate this squad of players, quite a few of them lack heart, desire and that winning mentality, Cazorla even said they lacked belief they could win, I can't wait to see this squad overhauled, IMO last seasons' group of players was one of the worst we've ever had all in (there's obviously a few exeptions), anyone that thought a new manager could do anything with that bunch is sadly misguided.

It's one thing having a manager in charge for a few years and using that squad but it's something completely different taking over from a guy who was there over 20 years and ingrained his players with a nonsensical approach year after year, I'm afraid for those guys there's no hope, get rid and bring in players you can teach.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I firmly expected us to drop points against Newcastle and could easily see it unfolding against Watford...so if we beat Watford too, I'll be pretty impressed results wise.

Watford are as physical team as there is in the prem now and have a few players that can nick the points from you.

[Letters]

It's early days for Emery and I'm reasonably satisfied so far
:faint:

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

It's early days for Emery and I'm reasonably satisfied so far, he's started playing two forwards and brought in Torreira for the last game so he is making changes.

His persistence with Xhaka puzzles me a bit, I just don't think the guy brings anything to the team that we need, he's slow, poor defensively and doesn't offer much going forward either.

Realistically though right now there's too many Wenger players who are still regulars, I was a bit underwhelmed with our summer transfer business for this reason, think we needed a couple more new faces to give us more options and allow us to phase some of the players selected by the former manager out. Due to the fact we have no alternatives we can't, they weren't good enough last season and they're not good enough now regardless of the system.

Next season I expect we'll see something quite different (hopefully minus Xhaka and Mustafi), we definitely need some width and a few more new faces, right now I just want to see some progression and for us to moe away from anything the former manager was doing, playing two strikers is a good start as is playing Torreira (though it took him a few games to implement those changes).

As I said before I don't rate this squad of players, quite a few of them lack heart, desire and that winning mentality, Cazorla even said they lacked belief they could win, I can't wait to see this squad overhauled, IMO last seasons' group of players was one of the worst we've ever had all in (there's obviously a few exeptions), anyone that thought a new manager could do anything with that bunch is sadly misguided.

It's one thing having a manager in charge for a few years and using that squad but it's something completely different taking over from a guy who was there over 20 years and ingrained his players with a nonsensical approach year after year, I'm afraid for those guys there's no hope, get rid and bring in players you can teach.
Bellerin is slowly improving as is Iwobi and Laca and even Mustafi isn't quite as bad so though the collective system is no more discernible, individuals are improving......and as everybody keeps mentioning, Sokratis having a go at mustafi after he got injured covering him shows that the culture is changing here.

[Marc Overmars]

Not much talk of how shite Ozil has been. Or has continued to be.

If Unai really wants to make a statement, he can start by getting rid of him. :pray:

He's like a giant shadow that continues to be cast over the team.

[Letters]

Not much talk of how shite Ozil has been. Or has continued to be.

If Unai really wants to make a statement, he can start by getting rid of him. :pray:

He's like a giant shadow that continues to be cast over the team.

Are you saying he's not a good player at all, or we aren't getting the best out of him or he doesn't fit into our system?
I call bullshit on the first of those, if it's the other two then Emery should work with him, there's no doubt about his quality.

[Power n Glory]

Are you saying he's not a good player at all, or we aren't getting the best out of him or he doesn't fit into our system?
I call bullshit on the first of those, if it's the other two then Emery should work with him, there's no doubt about his quality.

When was the last time he had a great season? This could be a Fernando Torres moment.

[Power n Glory]

Not much talk of how shite Ozil has been. Or has continued to be.

If Unai really wants to make a statement, he can start by getting rid of him. :pray:

He's like a giant shadow that continues to be cast over the team.

I don’t think Emery will do anything about him. Emery made a huge point about every player needing to put a shift in on defence at the start of the season but he’s allowed Ozil to continue playing the same way.

[Marc Overmars]

Are you saying he's not a good player at all, or we aren't getting the best out of him or he doesn't fit into our system?
I call bullshit on the first of those, if it's the other two then Emery should work with him, there's no doubt about his quality.

Well he’s not a bad player and he has undoubted ability, but I think he’s massively overrated and isn’t anywhere near as good as he’s perceived to be. Bit bored of hearing excuses for him in all honesty. Talent is one thing, applying that consistently on the pitch is another.

There are a lot of players in this league who I think I’d prefer to him. Hell, there are players in our squad who deserve a shot ahead of him.

He’s always the elephant in the room.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Not much talk of how shite Ozil has been. Or has continued to be.

If Unai really wants to make a statement, he can start by getting rid of him. :pray:

He's like a giant shadow that continues to be cast over the team.

I’m sick of him tbh.

I could understand it if he was on the same wage structure as everyone else, but instead, he’s the highest paid at the club - based purely on his former stature.

If he was paid per performance he would be working part time to make ends meet.

On 5 live they we’re saying that he doesn’t look happy when he plays, I mean what the fuck does he expect things to be like exactly!?!
It’s probably likely that he doesn’t like it now he can’t have every other game off and is being told buck his ideas up by Emery!

He lets himself down continually, he mis places a pass and gets stroppy, or if he loses the ball the minute he comes into possession - he just lifts his arms up and down and watches the player run away from him. It’s pathetic to watch.

He should be the guy inspiring the players around him to up their game, instead he is less than a passenger most of the time.
I’ll give him his due in that he scored a couple of goals, but that’s not what he’s there for. As a play maker, this season, he has been shocking tbh.

It’s time he sorted himself out or by January we should be looking to offload him somewhere.

He is living on past glories, overhyped, overpaid and not playing as well as he should be.

And, quiet frankly, I for one have had enough.

[Marc Overmars]

My opinion on Ozil has always been quite fluid. He’s had times where he’s genuinely looked a cut above and other times where he’s been utterly useless.

IMO his performances over the past couple of seasons have levelled out now to a point where there are barely any peaks and we’re looking at mostly troughs. He’s 30 this year and maybe we have to consider whether he’s actually past his best.

[SMatthews]

Given a choice between Ramsey and Ozil I’d take the latter all day. 50 odd assists and 20 or so goals in about 140 games shows he has value. He just needs to be used correctly. If he had more goals to his name he’d be seen completely differently I’d imagine. That said, I wouldn’t be heartbroken if he left.

[Power n Glory]

Ozil turns 30 next month. How many players get a second wind at this level, at this age, after years of being off form and not even coming close to capturing their best form? I haven't seen it before. The players that still play well in their 30s and beyond are the players that have peaked late in their career or work ridiculously hard to stay on top of their game and in shape. Ozil is neither of those.

After the summer he has had, you'd think he'd want to prove everyone wrong, right? I highly doubt he has the motivation to be a top player. He hasn't come close to replicating the sort of form we've seen from top Arsenal players so I wouldn't expect it now.

[Letters]

Given a choice between Ramsey and Ozil I’d take the latter all day. 50 odd assists and 20 or so goals in about 140 games shows he has value. He just needs to be used correctly. If he had more goals to his name he’d be seen completely differently I’d imagine. That said, I wouldn’t be heartbroken if he left.

That pretty much sums up my views. I don't buy the "sell him, he's shit" argument.
But I don't think we've got the best out of him - even then his stats are pretty good.
Definitely should see what Emery can get out of him before doing anything rash, I'd suggest that applies to any of our players but Ozil has been at top European clubs, he's been part of a World Cup Winning side, he's clearly a good player.

[KSE Comedy Club]

That pretty much sums up my views. I don't buy the "sell him, he's shit" argument.
But I don't think we've got the best out of him - even then his stats are pretty good.
Definitely should see what Emery can get out of him before doing anything rash, I'd suggest that applies to any of our players but Ozil has been at top European clubs, he's been part of a World Cup Winning side, he's clearly a good player.

Not anymore he isn't.

If we haven't gotten the best out of him, its because he can't be bothered. He isn't putting any effort in and for the money he is earning, that is unacceptable.

[Letters]

Agreed. It's not acceptable.
But the answer to that is for Emery to work with him. If he's no good as a player then fine, at his age get rid, he's not going to get any better.
But he's clearly a good player, his attitude needs to be sorted out, if Emery can't do it then fine, we should get rid of him. But not yet.
IMO.

[Özim]

I actually think Ozil worked quite hard in the last match, he's not at his best that much is clear, but he's not in form.

The money thing though, well that's down the club, they messed up (Gazidis and Wenger and co), we were losing Sanchez so as good as nothing, to lose Ozil as well would have been a PR nightmare for them given our situation at the time as well and the fans really would have turned against the club, so they were left with no choice but to pay him what his agent was asking and we did (it would have been losing 80 million worth of talent for nothing as well).

Had we not had 2 of our best and most expensive signings able to walk away for free in the summer, things might have been different, the club brought it on themselves to be honest, the money is kinda irrelevant, why wouldn't his agent try to get as much money as he could, that's football these days isn't it!

Ironically we've not learnt our lesson as we're about to lose Ramsey for nothing unless we give him megabucks.

Thing is he's signed up and under contract, the guy has talent, we've seen it, he wouldn't have played for the clubs he's played for otherwise, we've also seen it on the world stage, yes he's not performing well, but maybe Emery can get more out of him, in all honest how many of those players out there are actually performing that well, other than maybe Lacazette and one or two others very few. Ozil is also not being played in what you would call his best position in reality, so that won't help, personally I think we have bigger fish to fry, the horrendous defence and the likes of Xhaka would be the first port of call.

Yes he gets paid more, but that's a consequence of our incompetence, his agent was opportunistic but we're the ones that messed up, as I said before sign them up well in advance or sell them and bring someone else in, if you don't this is what happens.

I agree he's not performing like he can, but I think we need to see what Emery can do with him, to be honest so far there hasn't been a huge difference in the way we play or our players under Emery, but it's early days and he needs more time and a couple transfer windows more before you can really judge him properly, this is after all by in large Wenger sub standard team on the whole so we won't be achieving a whole lot with this group.

[fakeyank]

Given a choice between Ramsey and Ozil I’d take the latter all day. 50 odd assists and 20 or so goals in about 140 games shows he has value. He just needs to be used correctly. If he had more goals to his name he’d be seen completely differently I’d imagine. That said, I wouldn’t be heartbroken if he left.

I would chose a tree if the choice was between Ramsey and a tree. Ramsey is absolute shite. We should look to cash in on him in January.. useless headless chicken.

[Master Splinter]

Power n Glory, MO and Aubameyang's Wang are completely right on Ozil.

Letters you admit to not watching football regularly. Just repeating that he's still a good player and a super talent belies the fact that the guy can barely do the basics anymore. That's far more of an indictment of him than his apparent lack of interest, running, hard work or the fact that he never smiles. I don't give a shit about that. What I've seen more and more over the last 18 months is a player who constantly makes basic technical errors with his control and passing. He was always a timid player, but now in addition to never shooting when in a good position, he can't even play accurate passes in the final third when given time and space. He loses every challenge, even when he's the clear favourite. I don't care to speculate on the reasons for this shocking level of play. All I know from watching him every week is that he should be nowhere near the squad, never mind a certain starter.

You've been on the internet almost as long as Coney, so you should know which posters are being truthful and genuine about a situation rather than having immature and pathetic agendas against individuals they've never met. When most regulars are making the same grave observations, it should be obvious that the player has reached a nadir.

In terms of Ozil v Ramsey v Xhaka v other undeserved starters, it's further obfuscating the issue of Ozil being by far the the biggest underperformer, especially given his status. None of them should be starting, but even Xhaka with his tank movement and self-destructive tendencies, has had good halves where he can string a series of competent passes together.

Seriously, just watch him against Watford on Saturday. If he suddenly produces a decent performance, I'll be on here to praise him and would be pleased as it would likely mean he's contributed to a positive result.

But on dozens of hours of recent evidence, I sadly hold out no hope of this happening.

[Power n Glory]

Power n Glory, MO and Aubameyang's Wang are completely right on Ozil.

Letters you admit to not watching football regularly. Just repeating that he's still a good player and a super talent belies the fact that the guy can barely do the basics anymore. That's far more of an indictment of him than his apparent lack of interest, running, hard work or the fact that he never smiles. I don't give a shit about that. What I've seen more and more over the last 18 months is a player who constantly makes basic technical errors with his control and passing. He was always a timid player, but now in addition to never shooting when in a good position, he can't even play accurate passes in the final third when given time and space. He loses every challenge, even when he's the clear favourite. I don't care to speculate on the reasons for this shocking level of play. All I know from watching him every week is that he should be nowhere near the squad, never mind a certain starter.

You've been on the internet almost as long as Coney, so you should know which posters are being truthful and genuine about a situation rather than having immature and pathetic agendas against individuals they've never met. When most regulars are making the same grave observations, it should be obvious that the player has reached a nadir.

In terms of Ozil v Ramsey v Xhaka v other undeserved starters, it's further obfuscating the issue of Ozil being by far the the biggest underperformer, especially given his status. None of them should be starting, but even Xhaka with his tank movement and self-destructive tendencies, has had good halves where he can string a series of competent passes together.

Seriously, just watch him against Watford on Saturday. If he suddenly produces a decent performance, I'll be on here to praise him and would be pleased as it would likely mean he's contributed to a positive result.

But on dozens of hours of recent evidence, I sadly hold out no hope of this happening.

:gp: by the way.

[Letters]

Letters you admit to not watching football regularly. Just repeating that he's still a good player and a super talent belies the fact that the guy can barely do the basics anymore.
I think that's an overstatement but it's fair comment that I don't watch football enough to really assess his performances. His stats look good and while I'd concede they don't paint the whole picture they aren't irrelevant either.


You've been on the internet almost as long as Coney

:lol:
I'm not accusing any posters of lying but we all have our biases. But I accept that the view that Ozil isn't producing is a common one.