That is surprising considering the downturn in our performances recently.Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
That is surprising considering the downturn in our performances recently.
I have said more than once that I don’t think people seem to remember that the first half of last season wasn’t that great at all. The highlight was undoubtedly beating City at the Emirates, but literally everything we are complaining about now are exactly what we were complaining about a year ago (I think the only difference is that we are exploiting set pieces better now).
The second half of the season wasn’t attributable to the goalscoring runs players like Havertz and Trossard went on.
But yeah overall I don’t think we are significantly worse than we were between August and December 2023. The disappointment lies in that we have been unable to replicate the league form we had between January and May of this year
ExactlyYep, slow passing back and forth between the midfield and defenders, retaining maximum possession and then doing sod all with it
They will be bored into submission
Funnily enough, taking as an example the goal which MLS initiated the other week (against Monaco I think), suddenly passing forward instead of (as usual) passing back, I could almost believe our strategy is to bore the opposition a bit and then unexpectedly pounce by actually attacking...
I'm not arguing with that but I do think injuries, fatigue and ridiculous cards really do have to be taken into account this season, but perhaps only in that they've exposed fundamemtal weaknesses when because of those things, every sinfle point is now vital but we're still dropping way too many
I don’t disagree with that either. I won’t lie, in the back of my mind I’m hoping that we can do another second half of the season thing this season. That I think would win us the title, as I simply don’t think Liverpool or Chelsea are capable of the kind of run City went on. But it’s a big ask, and would almost certainly require recalibration of the way we play (and going into the transfer market for a striker)
Frankly last night was a very clear indicator of how we suffer bereft of key players, there wouldn’t have been that turnaround without Saka and Odegaard being brought on
Last edited by HCZ_Reborn; 19-12-2024 at 12:56 PM.
Also if we remain unbeaten against Palace and Ipswich, we will have the fewest defeats both in the league and overall for 20 years
It was also an indication of how important it is for us to score. This was a cup game so Palace had to try to win it once we equalised. Also, arguably they scored too early - so simply shutting up shop for 90 odd minutes (including stoppage time) was always going to be a hard ask. Once we scored they needed to come onto us, and we are far more effective in these situations - see also a number of CL games where we have scored more freely. In the league, many teams will regard a no score draw as a good result, so we have to try to unlock increasingly more well organised low blocks - something we are struggling to do. When the opposition scores first we are really up against it.
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
I don’t necessarily buy into the idea that Teams are imperilled by scoring too early against us
Newcastle scored against us in the 11th minute and never looked like relinquishing the lead.
In recent years Villa have beaten us at Villa Park, scoring in 90 seconds and holding on, and scoring in the 7th minute and holding on.
In Europe, the game at Inter was over as soon as they were awarded that dodgy pel
The fact if we concede the first goal (especially away from home) no matter what the competition…our record at coming back and getting a result is horrible. Then again that’s been a disturbing trend with us for years, it long predates Arteta even.
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