Match Reaction v Norwich (home)

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Norwich gifting us goals. :bow:

Easy stuff really.

Up to seventh, for now. :wacko:

[Marc Overmars]

All about building up some momentum for the cup semi final.

Wolves away next. Big test.

[Master Splinter]

Ceballos' best game since the Burnley game early in the season. Xhaka solid again,

Auba being Auba.

Laca, sadly, being Laca.

Tierney and Martinez continuing their good form.

Cedric :bow:.

[Mac76]

All about building up some momentum for the cup semi final.

Wolves away next. Big test.

And then Leicester, spuds and liverpool... :faint:

[Mac76]

All about building up some momentum for the cup semi final.

Wolves away next. Big test.

And then Leicester, spuds and liverpool... :faint:

[Master Splinter]

Tbf, Leicester and Spurs have been pretty shit too.

If you take out the Brighton game, our results have been fine in the league recently.

Nobody is convinced by our performances this season. But, the back-to-back defeats at Citeh and Brighton sent everyone into even more of a panic than usual when in reality we we were pubbing along quite well and not conceding too many goals.

[I am invisible]

Hopefully Liverpool will treat themselves to the last few games off - put the kids out, give everyone else whatever extended break they can with the reduced pre-season...

[I am invisible]

How have we somehow ended up with two really good keepers at the club? I’m sure we don’t deserve it, but I’ll take it!

[A Gunner]

How is Martinez playing?

[GP]

Faultless so far.

[Globalgunner]

Ceballos' best game since the Burnley game early in the season. Xhaka solid again,

Auba being Auba.

Laca, sadly, being Laca.

Tierney and Martinez continuing their good form.

Cedric :bow:.

You should name your next kid Cedric

[Chippy]

How have we somehow ended up with two really good keepers at the club? I’m sure we don’t deserve it, but I’ll take it!

I totally agree, how the hell has this happend?

Once we get Saliba in, Chambers back from Injury (although Mustafi and Holding are doing well at the moment) we are getting a decent defence in place.

Oh no.........I have once again discovered optimism around Arsenal Football Club! It can only end in tears :crying:

Damn you optimism :p

[Mac76]

I totally agree, how the hell has this happend?

Once we get Saliba in, Chambers back from Injury (although Mustafi and Holding are doing well at the moment) we are getting a decent defence in place.

Oh no.........I have once again discovered optimism around Arsenal Football Club! It can only end in tears :crying:

Damn you optimism :p

i know what you mean, i'm trying to tell myself that yesterday's performance from auba was just a flash in the pan rather then him and the team gelling, and getting progressively better...

i still think we have a tough run of fixtures from now though and it will be a miracle to get anywhere near fourth - i still wouldn't assume EL either

[Chippy]

i know what you mean, i'm trying to tell myself that yesterday's performance from auba was just a flash in the pan rather then him and the team gelling, and getting progressively better...

i still think we have a tough run of fixtures from now though and it will be a miracle to get anywhere near fourth - i still wouldn't assume EL either

The next run of fixtures are tough, however, this should let us know if we really are improving.

As for the Europa League, I would rather not be in it tbh. Playing Thursday's and Sunday's and travelling to the edge of the world and back is a hindrance.

[I am invisible]

I totally agree, how the hell has this happend?

Once we get Saliba in, Chambers back from Injury (although Mustafi and Holding are doing well at the moment) we are getting a decent defence in place.

Oh no.........I have once again discovered optimism around Arsenal Football Club! It can only end in tears :crying:

Damn you optimism :p

Building blocks, for sure. A lot of this group will need to be replaced, but you can start to see that there's bits of a side there, and a few starting points.

I keep thinking back to the first half of the season, when teams like Watford were raining 30+ shots on our goal, almost completely unopposed... we're still a long way from perfect - even on a good day, our defenders could simply be outclassed by better forwards, and most of them will probably always have a self-destruct switch in them that could go off at any moment - but at least we've cut the number of heart-attack moments down from about 40 per game to about 4 or 5. At least it's not open season on our goal for 90 minutes of every game. Sure, we still have the odd horror show of a game in us, but I don't think that will change until the personnel change - there's a lot of damage there that probably goes too deep to coach out of them at this point.

Definite progress since Christmas, though. For me, anyway. Probably about as much as I was hoping for given our shell-shocked, incomplete, unbalanced side, that doesn't have a central midfield or a playmaker, is full of flawed players and is now largely being propped up by kids. Tbh, I was never really expecting Arteta to start implementing his own ideas (not in any significant way) until he'd had a chance to go shopping, and bring in some of the attributes he needs to make them work. If you listened to his interviews then the rest of this season was always going to be about re-establishing professional standards, getting a grip of the piss-poor culture at the club, giving the players a crash course in shape, positional discipline and pressing, getting them fit, and basically seeing what is salvageable for next season.

[Chippy]

Building blocks, for sure. A lot of this group will need to be replaced, but you can start to see that there's bits of a side there, and a few starting points.

I keep thinking back to the first half of the season, when teams like Watford were raining 30+ shots on our goal, almost completely unopposed... we're still a long way from perfect - even on a good day, our defenders could simply be outclassed by better forwards, and most of them will probably always have a self-destruct switch in them that could go off at any moment - but at least we've cut the number of heart-attack moments down from about 40 per game to about 4 or 5. At least it's not open season on our goal for 90 minutes of every game. Sure, we still have the odd horror show of a game in us, but I don't think that will change until the personnel change - there's a lot of damage there that probably goes too deep to coach out of them at this point.

Definite progress since Christmas, though. For me, anyway. Probably about as much as I was hoping for given our shell-shocked, incomplete, unbalanced side, that doesn't have a central midfield or a playmaker, is full of flawed players and is now largely being propped up by kids. Tbh, I was never really expecting Arteta to start implementing his own ideas (not in any significant way) until he'd had a chance to go shopping, and bring in some of the attributes he needs to make them work. If you listened to his interviews then the rest of this season was always going to be about re-establishing professional standards, getting a grip of the piss-poor culture at the club, giving the players a crash course in shape, positional discipline and pressing, getting them fit, and basically seeing what is salvageable for next season.

:gp:
Not only this, we will eventually be getting rid of highly paid wasters like Ozil. He blows a massive hole in our budget and never plays. That was a terrible decision to extend his contract. Ozil should be in jail for taking money under false pretence :banghead:

[Mac76]

The next run of fixtures are tough, however, this should let us know if we really are improving.

As for the Europa League, I would rather not be in it tbh. Playing Thursday's and Sunday's and travelling to the edge of the world and back is a hindrance.

there was a time when i was worried that no european football might mean we lost some players, but apart from Auba (and for him it's more of a question of the CL anyway) i'm not sure there's anyone that fits into that bracket now, so yes i probably feel the same, and not having the EL to contend with would really help Arteta i think - it would also be a good excuse to get rid of a few more players as we wouldn't need quite the same depth of squad

[Mac76]

:gp:
Not only this, we will eventually be getting rid of highly paid wasters like Ozil. He blows a massive hole in our budget and never plays. That was a terrible decision to extend his contract. Ozil should be in jail for taking money under false pretence :banghead:

he plays when he gets the chance - it's not his fault if we handed him the contract, though i'm surprised he doesn't want to leave to get mroe game time, that is disappointing but i guess he's happy in London and being at the club because it still pampers players a bit i think - hopefully Arteta might start to straighten that out a bit over time

[I am invisible]

Özil's done here - he'll either sit on his contract or we'll agree to terminate early, but either way I don't see him playing another game for us. Arteta isn't bending on his 'non-negotiables' and I genuinely don't think Özil has the motivation to respond - he knows he gets paid either way, and he knows he can walk into an easy retirement in Turkey whenever he wants, even if he doesn't play for a year...

[Marc Overmars]

The EL can do one. We won’t be finishing 4th so where we finish now is of no concern to me. If we win the cup and qualify that way then so be it, but the league is dead to me unless we go on some crazy winning run.

I don’t think we’ve got the squad depth or quality anymore to deal with the extra games. A season of just 38 league games plus cup games sounds just fine to me and I’m sure Arteta secretly wouldn’t mind either.

No player of note aspires to be in the EL, so I don’t think our transfers hinge on that.

[Marc Overmars]

Özil's done here - he'll either sit on his contract or we'll agree to terminate early, but either way I don't see him playing another game for us. Arteta isn't bending on his 'non-negotiables' and I genuinely don't think Özil has the motivation to respond - he knows he gets paid either way, and he knows he can walk into an easy retirement in Turkey whenever he wants, even if he doesn't play for a year...

We can’t move on until he’s gone. Every second he’s here and not playing is just haemorrhaging the club money it could put to much more effective use.

[I am invisible]

We can’t move on until he’s gone. Every second he’s here and not playing is just haemorrhaging the club money it could put to much more effective use.

Sends a shocking message to the rest of the players too, every time we recall him because of injuries and suspensions. Just look at the pitiful attempt to oust him and Mustafi last summer - within a few weeks both players were back in the side. Made Emery look weak as fuck, and the players knew they could walk all over him at that point. What are the younger players meant to think when they see that going on?

Really glad Arteta's sticking to his guns on this (and not just with Özil) - it might cost us being able to pick our "best" players in a lot of games, but this marker needs to be layed down, otherwise we're going nowhere.

[Penguin]

How is Martinez playing?

I like him, he has an air of confidence and calmness about him.

[Mac76]

I like him, he has an air of confidence and calmness about him.

Great goalie, glad he's getting a runout