Arsenal v FC Zurich (03/11, 20:00 GMT), BT Sport 2

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arsenal playing on my birthday, what could possibly go wrong?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Elneny, Lokonga, Nelson, Vieira, Jesus, Nketiah.
Subs: Hein, Hillson, Cedric, Tomiyasu, Saliba, Zinchenko, Partey, Smith, Odegaard, Saka, Marquinhos, Martinelli.

Zurich: Brecher, Boranijasevic, Kamberi, Katic, Aliti, Conde, Selnaes, Guerrero, Aiyegun, Okita, Rohner.
Subs: Kostadinovic, Omeragic, Krasniqi, Santini, Marchesano, Hornschuh, Vyunnyk, Hodza, Mets, Sauter, Omerovic.

[Mac76]

0-3 Okita hatter

[GP]

5-0

Lets fuggin go guys!

[Marc Overmars]

Surprised White is playing.

Can only think Jesus is in to stop the rot and get a few +1’s.

[Mac76]

Can only think Jesus is in to stop the rot and get a few +1’s.

Yes definitely

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Zurich are playing well.

[GP]

TIERNEY!!!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

TIERNEY!!!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Would've been an amazing goal from Vieira, completely fluffed it in the air unfortunately for him.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

How didn't Vieira and Nelson score?

Also, I think BT's commentary is a fraction out on the action. Again.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great save to deny Nketiah's header.

[Mac76]

PSV also leading 1-0 :popcorn:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 HT.

[Mac76]

Decent performance once we got going but need that second goal to make it comfortable

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tierney's shirt. :rose:

[Xhaka Can’t]

Saka has been invisible up to now.

[Xhaka Can’t]

PSV up by two.

We aren’t making this easy

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tomiyasu is dead again. :rose:

[LDG]

Shoot that fucking drummer

[Xhaka Can’t]

Fucking poor show, barely managing to hang on at home against these lubbers.

[Mac76]

This is getting a bit nervy...

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 FT.

BT. :lol:

Really trying to build this up to being something it isn't.

[LDG]

Best bit was Tomy coming off, as it means we may play a left back at left back on Sunday.

He’ll probably play Cedric there now

[Ralpheroo72]

Emphasises the need for an additional striker, we managed 8 goals in this group. The Forest result aside, we definitely dont score enough, Jesus is a wonderful player, but needs proper support.

[Mac76]

Def need a striker, I'd say pretty much than any other position now that Arteta's realised Nelson can actually play

[Marc Overmars]

Just don’t score enough really for all our intricate play and that will be our downfall.

[LDG]

Tbf, their keeper has made some brilliant saves yesterday.

[GP]

We're the 2nd highest scorers in the Premier league, behind City and their freak.

It's not as much of an issue as it was last season.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Yes, I had a look at that last week after we drew with Southampton and was surprised with where we ranked in scoring.

But something just doesn’t pass the eye test here. On balance of play, it doesn’t look right - it appears we should be scoring more and there are games that have ended up much closer than they ought to have been as a result of not getting the goals our play merited.

I think we got lucky last night - though maybe if Zurich had scored, we would’ve stepped up and got another one if needed.

What I’ve most impressive this season is our reaction after conceding - there have been at least a couple of times where we’ve gone right back up the pitch and scored.

This team is much more resilient, but that can be exhausting as well - I’d love to have at least the option of having another reliable striker on call.

Problem is, if FFP hits anyone, it will likely be us.

[Marc Overmars]

I can see Eddie getting sold next summer. I think his new contract was as much about protecting an English asset as it was him actually ever becoming a goal scorer for us. He’s played near enough every minute of the group stages but hasn’t really given Arteta anything to think about. He’ll never start PL games unless it’s forced through injury or suspension.

[Letters]

Saw the highlights. Looked like a decent enough performance. We aren't ruthless enough in front of goal, but at least we're making chances which we weren't really last year.
At least we're not at that level we were when it was 0-0, or we were 1-0 down, and it was one impotent "attack" after another where you could see we'd not sure if we were playing till midnight.

[Mac76]

Saw the highlights. Looked like a decent enough performance. We aren't ruthless enough in front of goal, but at least we're making chances which we weren't really last year.
At least we're not at that level we were when it was 0-0, or we were 1-0 down, and it was one impotent "attack" after another where you could see we'd not sure if we were playing till midnight.

We were really hanging on at the end, could easily have been 1-1

[Letters]

Well, sure. That's the danger of only scoring one. But we were good value for the win. Need to put away more of our chances, but the improvement from last year is obvious.

[LDG]

Yes, I had a look at that last week after we drew with Southampton and was surprised with where we ranked in scoring.

But something just doesn’t pass the eye test here. On balance of play, it doesn’t look right - it appears we should be scoring more and there are games that have ended up much closer than they ought to have been as a result of not getting the goals our play merited.

I think we got lucky last night - though maybe if Zurich had scored, we would’ve stepped up and got another one if needed.

What I’ve most impressive this season is our reaction after conceding - there have been at least a couple of times where we’ve gone right back up the pitch and scored.

This team is much more resilient, but that can be exhausting as well - I’d love to have at least the option of having another reliable striker on call.

Problem is, if FFP hits anyone, it will likely be us.


You can’t win 5-0 every week. Do you remember us struggling to 1-0 wins against Bolton and West Ham with Ljungberg goals to win the league?

We can be pretty demanding. I get that we have to be more clinical at times, but last night showed you can be thwarted by good goalkeeping, and against Southampton, brutal defending or crap refereeing.

We just need anothee option for the times its not going so well. Something more direct

[Xhaka Can’t]

You can’t win 5-0 every week. Do you remember us struggling to 1-0 wins against Bolton and West Ham with Ljungberg goals to win the league?

We can be pretty demanding. I get that we have to be more clinical at times, but last night showed you can be thwarted by good goalkeeping, and against Southampton, brutal defending or crap refereeing.

We just need anothee option for the times its not going so well. Something more direct

I agree pretty much entirely, but there is an element that is not quite there. Our play, if anything should be producing more goals. All parts of our team are working together as a cohesive unit more than I’ve seen since the mid 00s. And they work hard - which is a pre-requisite for success, particularly when you haven’t got hundreds of millions of pounds to throw at a team until you get it right.

I think we need a more clinical finisher to complement what we already have and to provide that extra depth we’re going to need to solidify our place in the top 4. For the first time in well over a decade, we’ve built a team that doesn’t need major surgery. With a little ingenuity in the January transfer window, we can really build something with this team.

They have character, a work ethic and players who are likeable. Their play so far has to have earnt the trust of management who should now be in a position to make further investment in them and the team.