I always thought Spurs had a better chance. They have Son and Kane up front and we...don't. It was a bit of a mystery to me that they were struggling to break teams down with that front line, but they seem to be getting it together now. We have a couple of winnable games before Chelsea, Spurs will slip up here and there so things could feel different in a week or two. Right now it feels like it's swinging back towards Spurs but there's a way to go yet,Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
4th is still in our hands we have to win the next 2 games although we could easily lose away to Chelsea home to United away to West Ham. but Palace have lost the same as us. they are a decent side. they held City twice this season after all. so cant be that bad.
Goes without saying we have to win the next 2 to have any chance, my concern though is that we won’t be taking 9 points from Chelsea, United and West Ham, so I think by the end of the month we will be chasing.
Spurs don’t play at Anfield until after we’ve had these games so we really need them to have a shock result or 2. I think if we end the month in 4th we may well go on to do it but given how weak our attack is it’s hard to see this ending well.
I don’t think it should be underestimated how poor Lacazette currently is. A statue of a striker, shows no instinct or desire to move around the box and create danger. He never seems to show any greed and get some shots away like all strikers would. His entire game now is just based on laying off the ball, for me it’s always a red flag when a striker is spoken about for everything but actually scoring goals. Huge upgrade is needed this summer.
Last edited by Marc Overmars; 05-04-2022 at 06:09 AM.
Excellent summary.
What I find interesting is that many of the Gooners I know had a bad feeling before last night...and this wasn't just nerves. As good as our results have been lately, there has been a bit of a 'knife edge' feel about some of our wins. Some dominant performances aside; we were a whisker away from dropping points against Wolves at home; allowed Watford back into the game for a nervy finish; conceded late against Brentford; scored a single, fairly fortunate goal against Villa...all 3 points taken and some good performances at times but we have not been emphatic against teams that we would be expected to win against. Now that teams have worked the Laca deep system out, we are vulnerable to opposition willing to take the game to us. And we do not have the squad to change things up...
Re our failure to strengthen the team/compensate for losing Aubameyang (and BTW I am not sure that the Aubameyang for us of this season would have made a huge difference to the games we have lost) seems to me indicative of a decision made that top 4 would be a bonus, not a serious goal for us this season. And with the injuries, this now looks more likely to pass.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
i think 4th place always flattered us, some of the wins weren't all down to us, think of how bad Villa were when we beat them and we only managed a 1-0
i think we'll end up 6th, Man Ure will rally and Spuds i hate to say it are nailed on 4th with their run-in
i think the best we can get from the NLD is a draw, we'll lose to Moan U and Chelsea though, not so worred about W ham they're not playing well atm.
Brighton can be a bit of a bogey team and Saints are quite handy again, so i think we'll be fighting to be 6th tbh
Yeah - can't really argue with that prediction, although I do struggle to think objectively after a disappointment like last night. I think for me its the injuries to Tierney and Partey that have really dampened my optimism. Arguably they are in the positions where we could least afford this. Without these it would be easier to say 'look at the Chelsea result on the weekend but noone really thinks that they will nosedive'. On the other hand our 'fab 4' cannot be this shit again - can they??
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
If Tierney is done for the season that is a killer. Tavares isn’t ready and his confidence is probably in the gutter after being hooked again.
I don’t believe we will fall apart like Arsenal teams of the past, the disappointment lies more in knowing that we have a great opportunity this season but there’s an acceptance that we probably don’t have enough in the squad to finish the job. I’m sure the club knew this too and that’s why they prioritised getting rid of what we didn’t need now, so in the summer we can pad out the squad again with the right players of Arteta’s choosing. Goes without saying that we absolutely need to find 2 strikers who can play effectively in this system. The last striker we signed was Auba and that was 4 years ago, it’s definitely the one area of the team that has gone completely stale.
Last edited by Marc Overmars; 05-04-2022 at 11:37 AM.
Spot on IMO with your assessment of how the club saw the squad. I honestly think that the priority was more to avoid going down the Willian route (short term signing to try to get top 4 rather than a more sustained and planned approach), over trying to sieze an unexpected opportunity for 4th. If we fall short there will be disappointment - and the real issue is that Spurs may well improve (particularly if they get 4th this time); and Manure surely can't be this inconsistent again? But I have to agree broadly with the building round young players approach that has seen us make such progress. Even if lack of CL football will affect our ability to sign certain players, as long as we don't completely implode for the rest of the season, Arteta has shown that we are an in demand destination for top young talent.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
Tavares will be totally shot after that, it's like Arteta made him the scapegoat for an overall bad performance but in the process undermined our main replacement for Tierney.
i still think Arteta's got a lot more to learn about man management
Confirmed that Tierney’s season is over.
FFS
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