The performance wasn’t much better against Leeds, the difference was Southampton were able to score with the chances they created.
Holding isn’t being punished for not being Saliba he’s being punished for being slow and ponderous as I said before…the defending was often not brilliant when Saliba was playing. Even before Saliba got the back injury we’d conceded 16 goals at home in 13 games.
Playing Jorginho against City would for me only work if he played alongside Partey
In a previous thread I had suggested we use Friday for the dress rehearsal against Citeh..and .if indeed Arteta's plan is to try Viera one more time with Partey, then we might as well not even show up and just give them the damn 3 points!!Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
Jorginho with Partey should have been attempted already , though you could say with Zinchenko back in the team you might be overcrowding the middle just a bit too much....but cone to think of it is that a bad thing for a team that keeps conceding +2 goals in every game??
The other option if he really wanted to go gung ho (and face it we have nothing to lose anyway) is to start Trossard their...then Jesus and him could interchange a bit and he (Jesus) could fall as deep as he like.
Itsan extreme shame we could not make a better use of playing the bottom team in the league but honestly we've been borderline suicidal these past few weeks and it seems thats the way we want to keep it!
Last edited by 21_GOONER_SALUTE; 23-04-2023 at 03:26 PM.
My thoughts...
For me Friday's game showed that there are no 'gimmes' in the EPL. The standard generally is very high and if you are off your game by even 5% than you'll get hurt. Even the mighty Citeh drew at Forest and these games can happen. We were off by more than that against Southampton. Stupid risk taking led to their first; sloppiness in MF for their second.
Funnily enough I'm more sanguine about Friday's result than I was with that at Anfield and at West Ham. Southampton are a bogey team for us. Arenal have 'always' in recent times been a team that beat themselves with stupid mistakes, but to lose our composure when we were in total control at those 2 away games was very difficult to stomach.
And lack of control/composure is the issue with our team lately, IMO. It's not a lack of self belief per se - we still have this. Instead it is losing our heads. Friday was anarchic - as we were so desperate to make amends for going 0-2 down. It's ironic that Arteta's team has transformed from an over-structured set up that frustrated with a lack of lateral movement to one that is too gung ho and aggressive - creating far to many turnovers and attacking opprtunities for the other side. We need to understand when to push high, and remember that probing for an opportunity but keeping the ball - and waiting for an error from the other side lets us control the tempo of a game and puts our defence under less pressure. We need to trust in the quality of our MF and attack to take opportunities when they present themselves - not try to force the issue.
We looked immature and jittery on Friday - as we did for large periods of the preceding 2 games. It's too easy to blame injuries for this. More a mindset - that has disintegrated a bit with pressure.
And while I have not tended to point the finger at the Manager recently, he made some obvious mistakes against Southampton. I don't understand what Vieira has shown to merit a start ahead of Trossard, and if there were any instructions to manage the game state properly then these were not in evidence. A slow patient start was required - to allow our team's superior quality to assert itself. Instead we saw a team looking to score goals from the off - and this set the tone for a chaotic display.
Its difficult to see where the magical turnaround is going to come from with this team ATM. Its seems a bit strange referring to a turnaround when we have not lost the past 3 games - but I mean a turnaround in self control. I agree that our only hope is to be positive against Citeh on Wednesday, but any less than 100% focus will only mean one thing...
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
The result on Friday was the most unexpected of the three draws simply because this is a side that has given up the ghost on premier league survival. I wasn’t as angry about it as the West Ham game because I believed the league was done with as a result of not beating West Ham. We had for me a narrow path to the title that allowed us to drop points in two maybe three fixtures and this was not the fixture we could afford not to win.
I don’t often agree with NQ but I think there is an argument to be made that on a psychological level anyway losing to City at the Emirates made the title a big ask….not just because of the result but the performance in the second half where it didn’t feel like we believed we could get anything from the game.
Fridays game was interesting because it felt like even getting a draw came out of out of a nothing to lose hit and hope mentality. Odegaard went for a shot that I don’t believe he would have tried were we drawing the game and it came off.
This approach won’t work against City and for the life of me I don’t see what will. If we go for it they will pick us off like they did with Liverpool. If we play like Newcastle they will wear us down.
A couple of the missed chances at the Emirates against City suggests to me we lack the belief that we can beat them. Even in the 1 in 100 chance of getting a win there wouldn’t make us favourites for the title and we would be sweating on the fitness of Saliba for Newcastle and given he’s already been ruled out for a game in 8 days time (against Chelsea) suggests he won’t be ready for that game
Team I would play against City
Ramsdale, Tierney, Gabriel, Kiwior, White, Jorginho, Partey, Odegaard, Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard
Generally ok though despite Holding's failings it's a big risk bringing Kiwior in
I'd leave out Partey (or maybe play him at CB instead of Holding) and play Saka, with Trossard in the No. 8 role
It is a big risk but there’s no avoiding big risk.
Playing Jorginho on his own in midfield would be suicidal, he’s just far too slow to cope and we’d find ourselves penned in like we did in the second half against City
Whilst I think we need personnel changes, we should no go Galaxy brained (like Partey at centre back or Trossard in No 8 role…not to say neither couldn’t work but these would be the kind of go for contingency when playing against relegation fodder at home because whilst Kiwior is a risk that’s whole other level because at least you’re playing him in position)
Holding is a no no not just because of his defensive vulnerability but because he cannot play his way out of trouble (neither can Gabriel) that’s been half the problem with him…it’s become harder to make defensive to attacking transitions
If we were to make any radical changes, I would suggest Zinchenko at RB and White in as a CB again.
Agree with you re: Kiwior.
We bought him as back up and then dust Holding off (who isn't good enough) to cover every game.
He is a liability and Gabriel clearly doesn't have enough confidence in him.
Also, whilst I think Jorg should have started alongside Partey (over Vieira) on Friday, I think if Xhaka is fit then he should be in there as normal.
Absolutely it should.
Unfortunately that is one of Arteta's limitations and where he fails.
He only seems to see players as like for like and 90% of his subs have been so in games. He reacts too late and not always with what is needed.
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