Match Reaction: Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield

[Master Splinter]

In the end, a really good 3 points.

The struggle was self-inflicted with Emery's odd starting XI and the players themselves lacking sharpness everywhere.

With Huddersfield allowed to hack at will, the referee being dreadful, the linesmen being just as bad, not to mention the incessant interruptions and time-wasting, the fact that we strung any football together was almost a miracle.

Auba and Laca continue to miss easy chances. At least our best finisher, Monreal, is back.

Torreira :bow:.

[Letters]

Not a good performance from what I saw but a good 3 points, very important 3 points too.
Winning when you're not playing well. Stuff of champions, tbh :ninja:

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Not pleasant watching and got yet another injury. I'm sure that injury has been coming for Mustafi though. Every game I have watched he has a 10 minute spell where he is literally limping around.

Had to go back to work to pick up my enormous bag after the game, annoyingly.....and the spurs bus driver tried to not let me on, created a scene then opened and closed the doors in my face when getting off. :d I told him it's not my fault if you support a shit team is it!?

We both laughed. Spurs and their muggy fans!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Still think there is a place for Ozil in this team against the dregs of the league at least.

Rest up for the dead rubber against Carrier Bag and hope we are rather more prolific in the next one.

[fakeyank]

Great win. Horrible team selection. What does ESR need to do to get selected?

[Globalgunner]

Despite the result Emery 's HT subs didn't work. Why take off Litch just because he is on a yellow. Why sub off Laca and bring on talent free Iwobi.?

Emery out!

[Letters]

Great win. Horrible team selection. What does ESR need to do to get selected?

Yes. I'd love to see ESR get a chance in a PL game, he's earned it with some good performances in the cups.

[Chippy]

Despite the result Emery 's HT subs didn't work. Why take off Litch just because he is on a yellow. Why sub off Laca and bring on talent free Iwobi.?

Emery out!
Agreed! (not Emery out though you clown). Iwobi is only good enough for the Championship to be fair, along with Mustafi. Where the fuck is Mava gone? is he dead? He looked promising.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Have you lot only just started watching us this season?

Iwobi has dropped off the last few but has been outstanding before that.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I’m not convinced with Iwobi tbh.
Granted he has shown glimpses of quality when he has played but now it’s like he has completely run out of ideas.

All he does is try to double-dribble the ball to outsmart the opposition, but he does it when other player aren’t anywhere near him and overplays everything.

He needs to sort himself out or he will loose the good graces from the fans that he has built up

[Chippy]

I’m not convinced with Iwobi tbh.
Granted he has shown glimpses of quality when he has played but now it’s like he has completely run out of ideas.

All he does is try to double-dribble the ball to outsmart the opposition, but he does it when other player aren’t anywhere near him and overplays everything.

He needs to sort himself out or he will loose the good graces from the fans that he has built up
Sell him, he's shit :sulk::sulk:

[GP]

Have you lot only just started watching us this season?

Iwobi has dropped off the last few but has been outstanding before that.

Great talent is Iwobi.

[Letters]

Great talent is Iwobi.

Alright, Yoda..
He's been great this season.

[Gooner23]

Good start to the season but has gone backwards again in recent weeks. I think we need to do a lot better if we're to push on.

[Penguin]

Not sure what's up with Iwobi at the moment. Yesterday he could barely control the ball, it was bouncing yards away from him every time. But earlier in the season he was one of our brightest attacking players so I still prefer him over Mkhi. He needs to sort himself out though.

[Mac76]

Not sure what's up with Iwobi at the moment. Yesterday he could barely control the ball, it was bouncing yards away from him every time. But earlier in the season he was one of our brightest attacking players so I still prefer him over Mkhi. He needs to sort himself out though.

yeah that sums it up, no idea what's gone wrogn with him but when he's playign well he's a better option that Mhki

i'm wondering whether, now Nacho is back, he can play at LB and Kalashnikov goes in front of him at LW, so he can just focus more on attacking (which he pretty much does anyway)

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

The abuse he gets in the ground by some is unbearable at times. I can't remember an academy product and Arsenal boy getting so much grief before.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Sell him, he's shit :sulk::sulk:

It’s nothing like that, I like Iwobi but his play is staring to go adrift in games at a time where we need him to be sharper.

He seems to be suffering from a lack of composure when on the ball and it quickly gets away from him :shrug:

[AFC Leveller]

I think we missed Ozil, he usually does a great job against these kind of teams.

Iwobi is a waste of space. there is nothing about him that is quality or impressive, he has 0 composure and reminds of of Denilson the way he passes it back to the nearest layer to him.

Emery need a to sign two good wingers, the ones we have at the moment are average and will not take us to the next level.

[Özim]

Got the result in the end which is what matters. Lacked creativity today without Ozil and with Mhiki not impressing and Iwobi not performing think we'll need to get another creative player or two in the summer (to include a winger).

Not sure we should have taken Lacazette off as he's always likely to get a goal but hey ho we won in the end.

Down to the bare bones in defence (no great loss losing Mustafi though as the guy is useless). Emery is doing a great job with what is a limited squad, we just need to replace a few guys and we'll be in an even better place.

1-0 we'll take it, Torreira has been an immense signing.

[Marc Overmars]

It’s not all been pretty but 21 games unbeaten during a huge period of transition is good going. In most seasons we’d be closer to the top as well but that bar has been raised to unprecedented levels.

[SMatthews]

The team has shown it has determination and a willingness to adapt to Emery’s tactics. We’re like a young player with potential at the moment: we look great at times then slog it at in other games. We’re heading in the right direction which is what really matters.

The big test for the team, manager and the fans is dealing with the next defeat. Most fans took the first two as read given the opposition, but the next one is on the horizon and it could come against very unexpected competition. I wanna see how the team reacts and hopefully fans don’t start losing their shit, as they started to when we drew a few games in a row. Emery has done more than enough to show he deserves a lot of patience from us all.

[fakeyank]

The fact that we havent led a single time at HT is a big concern!

[I am invisible]

The fact that we're as close to the top as we are and on this 21 game unbeaten run is massively unexpected and a really pleasant surprise, but this season still represents a huge learning curve for everyone at the club, so there's bound to be some rocky times ahead. I kind of feel that those rough moments will be just as useful to Emery as the good times though, as he continues to stress-test this squad, and work out who can handle the step up to the big leagues and who is going to crack under pressure. Seems like we're already getting a pretty good idea of who contributes and who is just baggage.

The biggest concern for me right now is how hamstrung we look by these new PL rules on how much you can increase your spending by each year - we need a lot more wiggle room on that wage bill before we can start to think about rebuilding this side, and I don't know how easy that's going to be given how recently some of the players on big wages signed their contracts? I get the feeling Emery would quite happily sell all of our senior attacking midfielders if he could - really doesn't look 100% convinced by any of them, given how often he rotates and subs them, and I can't imagine he's impressed by the return he gets relative to the amount of his budget they eat up.

[Mac76]

The fact that we havent led a single time at HT is a big concern!

I agree, and while i don't mind us winning ugly (apart from the actual goal) on Sunday, there's no getting away from the fact he started with the wrong line up - three at the back at home against Huddersfield wasn't necessary IMO

[Marc Overmars]

Though on the flip side the fact we still haven't lost suggests a certain resilience about the team and also Emery's ability to react to what is going on and change things accordingly.

It is a bizarre fact though that we haven't led a game at HT, sooner or later it will cost us you'd imagine if we're not careful.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I agree, and while i don't mind us winning ugly (apart from the actual goal) on Sunday, there's no getting away from the fact he started with the wrong line up - three at the back at home against Huddersfield wasn't necessary IMO
3 at the back is as much a formation to get you to use your full backs with gay abandon as it is a means of shoring up your defence. It is all dependent on how the team plays it. If you're being negative you'll sit in a 5 all game but if you play it positively it will be a 3....and we already know the full backs are crucial to the way Emery plays.