Days like today are what make life worth living.
Get the fuck in.
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Days like today are what make life worth living.
Get the fuck in.
I’d have taken a draw before the game tbh.
Actually thought Spurs were better than us and we are very goalshy.
Wasn’t following it, a mate texted me at 3-0, I checked and lolled.
Will be watching the highlights later :d
What Tomiyasu did
https://gumlet.assettype.com/nationa...&w=400&dpr=2.0
:haha:
MOTD2 just about to start :d
Cheers, Son's crying.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG
Nice one.
:gp:Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Cracking performance. Beating Spurs at home isn’t usually an issue so I fancied us but didn’t quite expect it to be that comfortable.
Finally feels like the season has started. Keep it going lads.
:lol: i like the 'Empty Cabinets' sponsor
:haha: :haha:Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
"why should he get to leave and be rewarded"
:haha: :haha:
why is the cabinet empty... they have a trophy from the 80s and one back in 61. surely a row full.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
anyway Spurs are so bad Xhaka would make there midfield better.
https://e0.365dm.com/19/07/2048x1152...up_4732962.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Bumble
I've said a few times that what we need to do as Arsenal fans is to learn to enjoy individual matches rather than seeing them as part of a return to our glory days. It doesn't get much better than yesterday, and it was brilliant to feel the joy of a brilliant first half performace (Letters - do you really mean that you thought they were better than us???), and a tonking of our bitter rivals. Spurs were awful for the first hour, but a local derby is still a big game, and we came through with flying colours. From how we started the season, for me its a real sign of progress, and I'm not going to let people who say that we won't play like that agaist better teams (Souness - i'm looking at you) take the shine off.
I hope that this will be a real springboard in terms of team confidence and joie de vivre, and hope especially that we can take some muscle memory of playing with this kind of intensity into future games.
It makes it so much easier to find enjoyment when you can clearly see what the plan is - our summer business was coherent, the comms have been much, much better since we got the squad in place and the fans feel informed and included because of it. We can see that this is a young team, we know there’s going to be bumps and we’re not looking at a serious challenge… but because we can now very see clearly see what we’re building towards we can finally - finally! - take some real interest in this thing called “the process”. We know the KPIs for this season are all about progress and moving closer to something we can all visualise, rather than silverware and specific finishing positions, and that makes it so much easier to set expectation levels and manage setbacks when they happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
Yes - I reckon that's true. Winning games also makes it easier to buy in too! And a NLD should improve fan club connection by a notch. More please!Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
Yeah, you need a few of those little glimpses of what the future looks like every now and then - a NLD where everything clicks to help you understand what you’re seeing in the Burnleys, where all the same passes are falling 5 yards short and it looks like we have no creativity. You start to see what the intention is, even when it’s not coming off.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
Yes good point. The other thing is that this style of play takes confidence and energy - factors that can only come with wins/good performances. It constantly surprises me how fine the margins are!Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
Before the game I'd have said that overall they are a better team.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
After 3 games we were rock bottom while they were top and I never over-reacted to that, I didn't think they were serious title contenders while we were in a relegation battle. But they finished above us last season, beat City without Kane and then when Kane stayed (or rather, failed to leave), it did feel like they were going to be pretty good again this season while we were going to bumble around in mid-table. A few wins from us later, and losses for them, and things now feel very different. Right now I can't call it, there's a long way to go with lots of twists and turns to come. But I was really encouraged (and surprised) by our performance on Sunday. Yes, Spurs were rubbish, but the way we moved the ball forward with pace was very encouraging - something we haven't done consistently for years and we've all been crying out for.
I'm still undecided about Arteta, but the last few games have certainly bought him some good will and time. We've got the makings of a good young squad so let's see where we are at Christmas, I guess that's the next milestone.
Spurs are no measure of anything. We both flatter to deceive but have the occasional day in the sun. Forget them.
What we’ve seen so far is Arteta’s reign in a nutshell. Good, bad and ugly. I’ve seen enough to feel like he isn’t the man for us but I accept that expectations are different to what they were 10 years ago, so I’m not going to hold this squad to the same standards.
The next few games all look winnable if we apply ourselves correctly, interested to see if we can put together a run of results now.
i know i'm biased against Xhaka but having been at the game i'm still mystified about how anyone can talk him up
it seems to me if has a game where he doesn't concede a goal or get sent off people think he played well - in other words he's so lowered his own bar that he gets off lightly.
what i saw on Sunday was again him being the weak link, selling people short with poor passes, making clumsy tackles etc. and adding very little for the most part
don't forget his tackle leading up to one of our goals could've got a yellow, he also did pick up a yellow later - and yes i know the second incident wouldn't have happened if play had been stopped for the first but who's to say he wouldn't have messed up elsewhere and been off again
Arteta really needs to give him up
Sunday was one of his better games.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
His better games aren't worth his worse games.
Hopefully Roma will come back in January and rid us of this turd. He gets at least 12-15 yellows each season. Complete liability. Sadly Arteta sees himself in the twat and will keep him as long as he can
His average is 8.4 yellows per season, ak-choo-alley, and he's had 4 red cards.Quote:
Originally Posted by Globalgunner
But I agree he gets too many and while I don't think he's as bad as some people make out, we do need better if we are going to push on.
Ah - I thought you'd lost your mind and thought they were better than us on the day! :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Agreed re the jury being still out on where we go from here (and the manager), but at least we can start to hope/believe in the project and there's no doubt that this will be the players' mindset too.
Maybe so - but I ain't having any argument that it was 'only' Spurs on Sunday. A NLD is a big game. Simple as. And even bigger on Sunday because so much was riding on the game. It is really encouraging that we came through it like that. If we can't put together a decent run now, we never will under arteta.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
agreed - we let them back into the game late on because Arteta didn't freshen up the side when he should have, even a sh*t Kane nearly scored and we were really on the ropes for 5-10 mins after their goal.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
Arteta needs to be wise enough to take some lessons from that late period
Of course it’s a big game but it’s a big game we win at home more often than not.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
It was a wonderful win but a marker for something greater? I doubt it but of course live in hope.
Burnley at Turf Moor was probably the game I was most pleased with in this run - after the Brentford game I really worried that they would use the exact same tactics and give the rest of the league a blueprint for playing us, so it was great to see us prepared for it and kill it stone dead. Spuffs showed we can play, but that one showed we know when it's time to scrap.
yes that was an important moment, Turf Moor was almost the new Mordor and we didn't take any of their sh*t, though from MOTD it lloked like the ref was mroe even-handed after what they got away with previouslyQuote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
I don’t recall us ever losing at Turf Moor and to our credit we always seem to scrap our way to results there.
It’s all par for the course so far this season.
Sure, but I bet it doesn't stop you worrying about this fixture every year when it comes up? It's the kind of game everyone expects us to struggle in, and we were going into it in pretty terrible form, low on confidence and with a team full of new, unfamiliar players. Was delighted with how quickly they all seemed to bond, even if the football was a little rough...Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
I suppose it’s always tough at Burnley but they’re not a peak Stoke that’s for sure. They’re a god awful team and we should always be looking to take 3 points off them, as we have done multiple times in recent memory. I feel like the idea of us struggling against these so called bully boy teams is old hat and hasn’t been relevant for a long time anyway. So while I don’t take it for granted it’s not a fixture I particularly worry about.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
The thing is banana skins are perceived to be everywhere now because of the fact we’re not as good as we used to be. Fixtures that we used to consider bankers are now a different animal.
As I said I think from the 6 games this season it’s been par for the course. We’re never far from a cliff edge so I look forward to seeing what kind of run we can put together now, especially with a seemingly settled team.
Brentford was the only result which raised eyebrows, but I guess their result against Liverpool shows they're having a bit of a "newly promoted team" effect.
The City result was predictable as they come but I was alarmed by quite how easily they swatted us aside. I'd like to think it wouldn't have been 5-0 had it not been for Xhaka having one of his brainfarts, but they didn't have to break sweat against us which is a bit depressing.
I basically agree there isn't a result so far which has made me think "we are back!!", but it's nice to get a few wins on the bounce, builds a bit of momentum and confidence. It's hard to know whether there is a general upward trajectory, since last Christmas you could argue there is but we need to see a sustained improvement over the course of a season. If that doesn't happen this year then Arteta needs to go.
For years fans have been saying the journeymen were overpaid shite and the kids should be given a chance because there was fuck all to lose. Arteta, a ludicrously compensated individual who trained at the feet of an even more ludicrously compensated individual, seems to have stumbled upon what the common fans realise by default.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
Yeah I get the circumspection. But I guess if we can't hope then what's the point? I think the difference now is that there's a plan, and now that the manager has his new, predominantly young signings together we can see where we are supposed to be going. That is a key difference fom previously, and it does make a difference. The FA Cup run/win was based on defensive structure and knicking a goal, and even last season our complaint was that we were far too rigid - not enough invention and creativity. Now we are far more balanced than before and that is a better basis for progress. Will we progress the way we want? Who knows? But it does feel a bit more refreshing seeing where the manager wants to go rather than being as confused as the players seemed to be at times last season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
If you want to be glass half full, then if we want to look at 'par for the course' - and we discount the terrible pre Xmas 2020 run as an aberration (it was), we haven't done too badly as a team this calendar year!
The fans know :scarf:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn