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Can’t beat the feeling of a last minute win!
It wasn’t pretty and I imagine it won’t be for the rest of the season, but I’ll take more pubbed wins if it gets us to 4th.
:gp:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
This team isn't perfect but they don't give up. We are in this top 4 battle until the death.
It's funny how no matter how much you despise football and Arsenal football club, one minute can still bring back the memories.
Pepe played like he knew what he was doing once he came on. Has he improved or has the standard sunk even lower?
Yeah he looked good, Nketiah was pretty useful too. I'll be honest i didn't think we would do it, almost switched off before Pepe's equaliser.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
:patrice:
Was going to do the same thing but thought knowing my luck we'd score two and win but I didn't and we did :good:Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Clive Tyldsley should be getting bigger gigs than random Amazon games. He’s better than most of the bums at Sky and BT.
Lucky charm Daz :bow:Quote:
Originally Posted by dazthegooner
It is a strange feeling. I wouldn’t have given a shit if we lost.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
But I’m elated we won.
Great win, what football's about, brilliant atmosphere in the ground, given where Wolves are in the table it really was a big one
Glad Pepe scored and hopefully gets him more minutes
Watford away next, COYG
A mate of mine who’s been going a lot this year said the atmosphere now is as good as we’ve ever had it at the Emirates. He said this season is as good as he’s heard the ground in at least 10 years. Massive shift in attitude now it seems, maybe that connection between team and fans has finally been repaired.
:lol: Aye. I am more detached from it all these days. But I've found it impossible to completely disconnect. I didn't watch last night but I kept an eye on it and am feeling unduly smug today. Football, eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Good side Wolves, so very good win. Conceding so early made it tough, but fair play as they didn’t give up.
Desperately need a striker who can play in those situations though. Whilst I’m a big fan of Laca he can’t get it out of his feet quick enough in the box. He plays better deep lying, and was more effective when Nketiah came on.
Big bucks signing required in the summer.
Great win nonetheless. Some tough games coming up..,,
Do we reckon Laca was trying to shoot or cross to Saka?
I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was a cross, but I'm not sure :d
Loved that winning goal - even going down the wire, we still built from the back, worked a good shooting opportunity from the left instead of just lobbing it aimlessly into the box, and then, when it eventually spilled out to the right, we calmly worked a final chance by playing through them. That’s a group of players showing that they trust what they’re doing in training and believe they will get results if they stick at it.
We will never have a better chance of top 4 IMO, yes we have performed relatively well this season but Man United and the Sp*ds have been absolutely shite. Our run in is not easy at all, there are a lot of potential dropped points in there but if we can put aside all the teams outside of the games against Chelsea, Man Utd, Spuds, West Ham & Liverpool then we are going to be in a strong position. Those games i have mentioned, if we can pick up points of some sort in the Man United and West Ham games then we will be more or less there IMO. I think we are also capable of getting something at either Stamford Bridge or Spuds, a point in one of those games would be very useful.
It's going to be very stressful but I think we can do it assuming we stay relatively injury free.
We’re in a strong position but given that we have to play away to Chelsea, Spurs and West Ham, it’s all very much up in the air. Then United and Liverpool at home to cap it off too.
Huge games but that’s what you want, better than being mid table with fuck all to play for like we’ve had for 2 seasons.
Eight points from that set of fixtures is doable. It should also be enough if we perform as we should against the rest.
It's in our hands but I fear not getting a striker in January will bite us. I just don't think we score enough goals.
Yeah those games in one way or another worry me, we are going to need to take some points from some of them. The only one I am really confident about is the West Ham game, I think we are good enough to go there and win.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
The others are all potential losses, even United at home....but on the other hand, the only game that I have written off as a guaranteed loss out of that set of fixtures is Liverpool at home, so it's not all doom and gloom!
yeah like you say it's good to have something to be fighting for, though i'm not optimistic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
you have to factor in at least one Xhaka sending off per half-dozen games so that's one game scuppered, i don't think we'll get more than a draw at Shite Heart Lane but let's see
This is my worry. Spurs have Son and Kane up front. We've got Laca and...that's about it really, and he's not all that. Others are chipping in with goals but we don't have anyone reliable. Spurs should walk it with that front line but they're being pretty Spursy. It's really hard to call.Quote:
Originally Posted by GP
It’s actually a minor miracle that we’re even in this position having only scored 38 goals. 1/4 of which came in 2 games at Christmas against Leeds and Norwich. It’s a testament to the strength of the defence but we will definitely need to score more to finish the job. The contribution of Laca will be key really, he’s going to start every game and if he doesn’t find his scoring boots we will most likely fall short. Just an extra 5-10 goals from him would make all the difference. It’s not a lot to ask for and hopefully that fluke the other day gets him going.
I'm feeling pretty relaxed about where we are right now, so I'm just going to enjoy the run in for once. Let's still give top 4 (or top 3!) a bloody good go - it's there for the taking right now so why not? - but I'm also looking at the average age of the team we've only just put together, and the fact that it's still an obviously incomplete side with at least two future starters (CF and a left-8) missing, and I'm thinking that we're very likely ahead of where anyone at the club had planned for us to be at this point. Again, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't push hard for a CL spot if it's all opening up for us earlier than expected - it just means that I don't think the club's current strategy is contingent on CL qualification being essential in yr1. It'll be far more of a disaster for united or spurs if they miss out than it will for us.
Yeah, I know what you mean - it feels like it's going to cost us a win at any moment. But then part of me also wonders whether we're maybe worrying more about this more than we need to at the moment? Yes, Lacazette misses a lot, and could / should / will be upgraded on in the summer... but for all of those misses the attack still somehow works, really, really well with him in there. Since we dropped Auba I think we're only third to Man City and Liverpool in terms of chances created, xG and goals scored, so something is going right. Our wide players are our strikers in this system: Saka, ESR and Martinelli, and If Pepe has found his second-half-of-the-season form again then you can add him to that group too. Ødegaard was also scoring semi-frequently before Christmas and should be well capable of chipping in with some goals - I'd even chuck Gabriel in there as a reliable threat from set-pieces. That's 6 credible goal threats without even needing to look at the two nominal CFs. If Laca and Nketiah can contribute anything at all then you could almost say it's a bonus.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Also, let's not forget that the aim is to score more than we concede, and our defence is looking a lot more solid than any of our direct rivals' right now.
A draw at the Spuds is a good result in the grand scheme of things. Basically not losing to any of the Spuds, West Ham & Man United will be good results if we put the games we should be putting away to bed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
On the plus side we do create a lot of chances, sure we don't score that much but that is mainly down to poor finishing which can definitely be improved upon. It's definitely a worry of mine and is probably our biggest issue in the team now....but outside of the games against the traditional top 4 and maybe Spuds, I think this team will score goals against the teams we have left to face.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Spuds are a big threat for 4th place, as are United....but United are kind of running out of games now and have a brutal schedule the next month or so.
Aye, this is a good point. It's the most solid we've been at the back for years. The Wolves goal was a rare aberration but overall we don't chuck them in like that anywhere near as often as we used to.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
:gp:Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
Was going to make exactly the same point - we lament that we only have Lacazette, but our Xg per game is up above 2 which is healthy, and we are creating an insane amount of shots per game too. Laca's stats in the Wolves game were very good. He is making this system work, and I think we need to trust the system. Auba didn't fit the system and its all to easy for the pundits to forget this when writing us off for lack of a 'top' striker.
...also whisper it quietly, but Nketiah was instrumental to both goals the other night.
As for the reference at the beginning to 'pubbing' this result...IMO it was one of the most comprehensive 2/1's you will ever see. Early mistakes aside we dominated a good team.
I don't want to spoil my enjoyment of how our team is progressing by looking at what might/might not happen to get 4th place...but if we set aside the 1st 3 games of the season and cup results in January this is looking like proper progress, both in terms of the football; the togetherness and mentality of the team and the connection with the fans. It does feel like something is building here, whether we get Europa or CL football next season.
The way I see it we've (reportedly) just halved our wage bill and our squad is now built around committed, hungry 20-24 year olds who are performing well - we're in a good place, and we have time on our side. There's pressure on us, but it's all healthy pressure that we're willingly taking on ourselves because we want to achieve something - it's not the constant, gnawing stress and anxiety of impending disaster if we don't hit certain targets. It's not the worry of our best players and manager walking out if we don't make it, or a tear-down of the squad and years in the wilderness. I don't know where we'll end up in the end, but for once everything feels fairly comfortable - even the worst-case outcome I see for us at this point would probably keep us on track.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
Indeed. There are always issues - and as I said on another thread one of the problems of building a team around a model of attracting the best young players (rather than trying to compete financially for the best players full stop - is that bigger or more successful clubs will covet what we have placed in the shop window, and - with the assistance of a press always looking for the next story - there will be pressure on our best players to leave. The only way to counter this is progression, but I think this is unmistakable now and I feel reasonably secure as a fan that a Europa League finish this season will not derail us or our best players. Where I think we will have done well is appointing a young manager who seems finally to have found his feet; is right for where the club is ATM and can grow with the club. I am certain that most Spurs, or even United fans would prefer to be where we are right now than where they are, and it's been a long time since this has been the case.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible