Match reaction v Norwich (away)

[Letters]

Worst start since 1975, apparently

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Brave stuff from Ljungberg selecting the worst back four he could.

Appalling defensively. Only Aubameyang and Torreira have scored away from home for us this season.

Emery would be so proud of Freddie where ever he is, he clearly doesn't want the job, no Enrique situation here!!

I earlier said the board should take their time with choosing the new manager but if these are the kind of lineups Freddie's got in store for us, then they need act asap.

However, the substitutions were better, though how any manager can start Guendozi and Xhaka over Torreira really confuses me.

Really poor form from Freddie and I'm just glad we managed to scrap a point.

BTW, this just makes it clear that we cannot have a novice as our new manager...... so can we kill the Arteta talk once and for all?

[Mac76]

Emery would be so proud of Freddie where ever he is, he clearly doesn't want the job, no Enrique situation here!!

I earlier said the board should take their time with choosing the new manager but if these are the kind of lineups Freddie's got in store for us, then they need act asap.

However, the substitutions were better, though how any manager can start Guendozi and Xhaka over Torreira really confuses me.

Really poor form from Freddie and I'm just glad we managed to scrap a point.

BTW, this just makes it clear that we cannot have a novice as our new manager...... so can we kill the Arteta talk once and for all?

[Niall_Quinn]

The signing of Pepe is starting to look farcical. We're desperate for a goal and Martinelli and Saka come on before him!? What's going on with him behind the scenes that we can't see?

Pepe. Ozil. Same problem. You bring them in to be creative and offensive, but when the rest of the team are operating at 1mph top speed there's no point having creative and offensive players, they just end up having to conjure magic from thin air to justify their transfer fee and/ or wages. These are players who should be enhancing an already coherent and effective team, not saviours who have to single-handedly drag the rest along. There were a few players throughout history who could do it almost alone - Maradona, Messi. But even the best of the rest need a decent team around them to shine.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

The signing of Pepe is starting to look farcical. We're desperate for a goal and Martinelli and Saka come on before him!? What's going on with him behind the scenes that we can't see?

There's nothing going on with him behind the scenes.

Almost every poster here creamed themselves on how perfect our transfer window was and how Pepe was going tear this league apart, everyone clearly having amnesia on how terrible our defending was and how that should have been our only priority last summer.

Anyway I told you so's won't help anyone, he's a good young talented player, but expecting an attacking player to come from a different league and instantly set it ablaze, choosing to ignore all the inherent problems we had with the poor management, was so naive of so many on here.

Also if we now decide to turn on him and start discussing flogging him off, that would make us even more stupid and silly. Go ask Chelsea fans and they'll tell you about Salah and De Bryunne.

We've got to get our house in order first, get a decent manager, get some worthwhile defenders.... and after a period of stability, we can talk about Pepe.

Oh, and I think the only part of the lineup Freddie got right was the ozil-laca-Auba part.

[Niall_Quinn]

Emery would be so proud of Freddie where ever he is, he clearly doesn't want the job, no Enrique situation here!!

I earlier said the board should take their time with choosing the new manager but if these are the kind of lineups Freddie's got in store for us, then they need act asap.

However, the substitutions were better, though how any manager can start Guendozi and Xhaka over Torreira really confuses me.

Really poor form from Freddie and I'm just glad we managed to scrap a point.

BTW, this just makes it clear that we cannot have a novice as our new manager...... so can we kill the Arteta talk once and for all?

Could be the game plan (sic) was already in place and Freddie had no time to do anything other than run with it. If we see the same sort of lineup next time though, then we're in deeper shit than I ever thought.

[Niall_Quinn]

There's nothing going on with him behind the scenes.

Almost every poster here creamed themselves on how perfect our transfer window was and how Pepe was going tear this league apart, everyone clearly having amnesia on how terrible our defending was and how that should have been our only priority last summer.

Anyway I told you so's won't help anyone, he's a good young talented player, but expecting an attacking player to come from a different league and instantly set it ablaze, choosing to ignore all the inherent problems we had with the poor management, was so naive of so many on here.

Also if we now decide to turn on him and start discussing flogging him off, that would make us even more stupid and silly. Go ask Chelsea fans and they'll tell you about Salah and De Bryunne.

We've got to get our house in order first, get a decent manager, get some worthwhile defenders.... and after a period of stability, we can talk about Pepe.

Oh, and I think the only part of the lineup Freddie got right was the ozil-laca-Auba part.

If we can't get Ozil, Laca and Auba firing as a unit then all other bets are off anyway. That trio, a midfield that has a little bit more about it than the three plodding amigos Xhaka, Gwen and the overrated Argie guy. Defenders who went to a football academy rather than clown school.

Damn, there's a big job to do at this place. We're absolutely nowhere right now.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

There's nothing going on with him behind the scenes.

Almost every poster here creamed themselves on how perfect our transfer window was and how Pepe was going tear this league apart, everyone clearly having amnesia on how terrible our defending was and how that should have been our only priority last summer.

Anyway I told you so's won't help anyone, he's a good young talented player, but expecting an attacking player to come from a different league and instantly set it ablaze, choosing to ignore all the inherent problems we had with the poor management, was so naive of so many on here.

Also if we now decide to turn on him and start discussing flogging him off, that would make us even more stupid and silly. Go ask Chelsea fans and they'll tell you about Salah and De Bryunne.

We've got to get our house in order first, get a decent manager, get some worthwhile defenders.... and after a period of stability, we can talk about Pepe.

Oh, and I think the only part of the lineup Freddie got right was the ozil-laca-Auba part.

It was something of a rhetorical question/position.
I think given the car crash that was the end of our season and varying degrees of interest/disinterest from the ownership, our window was a success. Even if we hadn't lost Iwobi, Pepe was a missing part of this squad. The fact we didn't bring in a top defender shouldn't mask that, however the priority list was drawn up.

Pepe has been playing well and actually should be playing. The fact he didn't see the light of day today despite a change in management is a concern. We are not a club that can afford to have 72 million signing polishing his boots on the bench. We need that singing to work and this isn't a good way about going about it.

[Bumble]

Problem is defensively we cant be much better anyway. Bellerin and holding injured. Sokratis has been so poor. Who else can play in the back four. Xhaka plays because we dont have much choice.

It is bizarre that torreira and pepe dont start. Why not play laca auba pepe with ozil behind. Toreira plus one sitting deep.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

It was something of a rhetorical question/position.
I think given the car crash that was the end of our season and varying degrees of interest/disinterest from the ownership, our window was a success. Even if we hadn't lost Iwobi, Pepe was a missing part of this squad. The fact we didn't bring in a top defender shouldn't mask that, however the priority list was drawn up.

Pepe has been playing well and actually should be playing. The fact he didn't see the light of day today despite a change in management is a concern. We are not a club that can afford to have 72 million signing polishing his boots on the bench. We need that singing to work and this isn't a good way about going about it.

Define playing well? I mean from a perspective of an attacking player who happens to be the club record signing by a wide margin , most people would expect his playing well to be measured with goals and assists. I mean wasn't their a stat about him having the third best assist record in the whole of Europe after Messi and someone else?

Clearly he's not come close to that since he joined us and TBH we overhyped the young lad and he's already taking flak from some over how our season has panned out.

Now I'm not saying he doesn't deserve a chance or he hasn't improved nor that he shouldn't be involved, but who do you drop for the "great potential", Laca or Auba? I know Ozil isn't the flavour of the moment, but just like the other 2 mentioned, he has proven on all stages in the past that he can cut it.

Personally I think not starting or playing Pepe in an underperforming team might just be doing him a favour. He will carry the burden of his price tag every single time he steps on the pitch and as long as the team underperforms, he will get an unfair share of the blame. Lukaku and Coutinho are good examples.

We need the team to gel better and unfortunately we need to rely on our old heads and more importantly players who've got some measure of goodwill shielding them from the ire of the fans ........ or another Xhaka pantomime might have him starring in it.
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