Everton desperate both for points and confidence. Koeman deep in the mire wearing open -toed sandals. Fans disgruntled by the awful football played, New owners disappointed by the poor return on the €150m+ spent in summer.
Not the best time to visit Goodison.
Especially as we are hardly in the best of form. The win in Belgrade was welcome relief but not enough to heal the scars earned at Vicarage Rd.
But before I get too upset about our return of just one point from 4 away games, may I point out that we are just 3 points behind Chelsea in 4th having played a game less. In other words, apart from MC we are keeping up with the pack. What does this show? That we can expect some unexpected results, not just for AFC, but for all teams. It will, as ever, be an interesting season.
Everton have some fine players, they have players whom AFC have reputedly tried to sign. A midfield from Schneiderlin, Barkley, Sigurdsson, Rooney, Gueye and Davies is sure to be strong and combative. In defence they have some excellent players. Upfront? How do you replace Lukaku, a one man attack? Answer – they haven’t.
One player to point out is James McCarthy. I really dislike this bloke. Dirty, violent and a man prone to dive whilst protesting his innocence. He is Alan Shearer without the talent.
We must hope for a strong referee as the messages coming out of Goodison is that Everton are ready to fight i.e. they will try and kick our delicate flowers off the pitch. Expect rotational fouling on both Sanchez and Ozil and probably one of our lads leaving the field on a stretcher. Following those final 15 minutes at Watford we can expect this type of treatment almost everywhere we play.
I expect (hope) to see a team ready to attack; not one lacking Ozil. He has to play if fit. Lacazette has been desperately lacking his genius.
My Team:
Cech
Holding Koscielny Monreal
Bellerin Ramsey Xhaka Kolasinac
Ozil
Lacazette Sanchez
We have a strong bench especially with the return of Coquelin.
In my opinion, apart from Mustafi, this is our strongest team. This leaves Iwobi, Welbeck, Walcott and Giroud out in the cold. Finally, we have a host of attacking options.
I am not expecting an easy 90 minutes, I expect Everton to battle, what we will need is “mental strength”.
COYRRG
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
I would still have the BFG in the middle and move Kos out to the right instead of Holding as my ideal while Mustafi is out.
Only a minor tweek but either way an exciting team.
Good morning Raddy, you must feel lonely on here?
I think you have it right – we may be in for a sticky time today. Two of my (dearly departed) best buddies were Everton fans even though one of them (Ray Bowen), used to play for post war Liverpoo. Ray was great friend with Howard Kendall and travelled with him on the Everton team train to the 1995 FA Cup Final when Everton beat Man U 1-0.
Great memory’s.
Thanks Raddy, you encapsulate me feelings perfectly. I’m afraid to say this game will come down to heart and balls … whoever has the greater will win as our away form is woeful and they’re flirting with the relegation zone.
Our quality up front should be the difference as long as our midfield can remember to defend. For once, please let’s get the ball forward quickly to those talented strikers and play like the away team.
In
Excellent pre-match, thanks BR.
From the Beeb
Arsenal’s defeat against Watford last weekend is their only loss in their last nine league and cup games (W7, D1).
This fixture marks Arsene Wenger’s 400th Premier League away match, making him the second manager to reach the milestone after Sir Alex Ferguson.
Arsenal are one short of 1500 Premier League goals under Wenger.
However, a defeat would mean they equal Wenger’s lowest points tally (13) after nine league fixtures.
Arsenal could go five away league matches without a win for the first time in 10 years.
The Gunners have conceded an unrivalled 11 goals from penalties since the start of 2016-17.
Only Crystal Palace (29) have conceded more Premier League away goals than Arsenal’s 26 in 2017 (prior to the latest round of matches).
Great work, again, Erik
However, I disagree. This must be the perfect time to play them.
We could be playing a good team at the top of their game who hadn’t played any First XI’ers Thursday. We are not. We are playing a crap team who did.
Oh, how we’ve waited since signing Mesut and Sanchez to team them up with an Ian Wrighty-sort. Now we have Lacazette, I pray we see all three consistently. My reservation would be that to see the best of that, we’d need Coquelin, still, a great looking side nonetheless.
Yesssss
Team to play Everton: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Kolasinac, Ramsey, Xhaka, Ozil, Sanchez, Lacazette
Subs: Macey, Wilshere, Giroud, Walcott, Holding, Iwobi, Coquelin
10/11 Erik
11/11 LB
Good work lads
Ok Chas, you win the pretty line up competition
Where do you find it?
It’s a twitter photo.
You beat me anyway.
Where did you get the team from?
sky sports website
Actually, I practically live on twitter at the moment due to other non-football shit, but no idea how to do stuff like copy
Right click then ‘copy image address’
Bench looking stronger by the week. Now Jack and Coq have bums on seats as well
I have a twitter account but have never used it. Will it help us today?
Ha ha, sounds so easy. I’ll cock it up, and give away the twitter name I’m using now, and that’s not for here. Different audience
Come on ref, blow the whistle while no-one’s looking.
Erik
I have around three facebooks as I think ok, I’ll do it, but have to keep re-signing on as I forget names and passwords
I have I think two twitter ones, and ditto, same problem.
Until recently, neither mattered, now I need one working twitter
Don’t like to think about the “different audience”
Wow Chas. Thou art the master
Yes, I signed up years ago as Didit, simply to send that Christmas card to AA’ers
What’s my password on that one? 🙂
Erik, no, I really wouldn’t think about, although I can confirm it’s legal in most countries 🙂
Your password is ‘Purists235’
Not Purist 1+2+7?
Is that pic from Didit’s twitter account? He does live in the country and very near Wales
It’s definitely legal in Wales – in fact, it’s compulsory.
ha ha ha lads
right, come on you gunnnnnners
COYRRG
Ramsey should have scored, went the wrong side of the GK
Torture for me … I can only follow by text .. except the BBC have stopped their live reporting … so any observations from you chaps during the game would be gratefully received 🙂
Rasp. We have had a couple of decent chances. We are on top but Everton quite physical.
Thanks Raddy … as expected so far … as you say in the PM, let’s hope the ref is strong and punishes persistent fouling/over physical play
What do you think of this away kit?
Looking very good. Great start
Wow, we’re looking amazing ……… have to score soon
Oooops that was the kiss of death 😦
The stats say we have 65% possession and 3 shots to 0
…. and that they’ve just scored 😦 😦
Another school boy error from Xhaka
Xhaka laying on the ground like a bloody starfish!!
FFS … Is Rooney our nemesis or something????
Xhaka is not the midfielder we need … why on earth did we buy him?
Not converting our chances again and now 1-0 down. Oh dear.
Just need to never give the ball away ………..
………… until we’re three up at least 😉
Assuming we win, this could be an epic
Quote “Only Arsenal could have 3 one on ones and be 1 goal down”
We need to have a proper DM and sell Xhaka. But until we do, we need to learn to play like the away team. All that possession, all those chances … and losing … familiar?
68% possession now 🙄
74% possession, 9 attempts = nothing. Everton, 1 attempt, 1 goal 😦
Do our midfield have any idea what they’re supposed to do?
…. does the manager?
Thanks for the post Raddy.
We are playing well, just need a break.
yessssssss
Nacho ……. what a strike, what a hero 🙂
Get in
We deserve that. Lovely finish from Monreal
Can we man up now and play sensibly? No need to over commit to attack with 50 minutes to go, we need to score the next goal!
Superb half of exciting attacking football
I say get Coq on for Xhaka and then “over commit to attack” 🙂
Hi Rasp 🙂
Pickford is keeping them in it.
We are playing some lovely football with Ozil and Ramsey everywhere.
Not sure about Xhaka, sometimes a visionary and at other times asleep – Eddie told us about him!
Who’s to blame when you have 17 shots in a half and score 1 goal courtesy of a defender. It’s easy to man at defence and midfield but we’d put in 3 or 4 of our chances then this game is over.
At the end of the day, the top teams in the league have the best defensive records. We have a rubbish GD because we’ve conceded too many silly goals. While we all get doe eyed over brilliant passing triangles, its the lack of attention to defence that has cost us over the last several seasons. If one team has the lion’s share of possession and fails to score, it is invariably the opposition who score on their first meaningful attack.
http://arsenalist.com/f/2017-18/everton-vs-arsenal/alexis-gets-bowled-over-after-lacazette-move.html
In the long term I would agree Rasp, but within certain games there are often accusations thrown at the defence which would be made irrelevant if we had finished the chances at the other end. I guess it’s a bit chicken and egg at times.
When it comes to the bigger picture I would argue that Xhaka should not be our last line of midfield. He’s a fantastic footballer and I think he should get in the team, but is he a DM? No. In my opinion there should be somebody behind him before you get to our back line, but Wenger prefers Ramsey next to him and that’s what we have to put up with.
Yesterday I spoke about 2 things which we have issues with, whether or not it’s the system or the personnel that aren’t quite right, and our conversion of shots to goals. Both have been brought up again today after 45 minutes of football.
Woooooo hooooooo Ozil
wow
That is an absolutely cracking goal.
All three frontmen combing and a delicious cross from Sanchez.
Come on Arsenal
Want away Sanchez to want away Ozil
😳 I just shouted at Ramsey
You can tell by their body language.
The shirt doesn’t seem too heavy for Sanchez and Ozil today 😉
Oh gosh, how beautiful was that 😃😃😃
Dear Arsenal
Sell anything. Furniture, the lot. Just pay Sanchez and Ozil whatever it takes
Cheers
Didit
I’ve got no signal …. what happened?
Ooooooh Jack too 😃😃😃
https://twitter.com/yankeegunner/status/922100913224822785
Oooo good, 5 more mins 🙂
Oh for goodness sake, as if teams need any help scoring against us Monreal/Cech 😡
Big hugs for Alexis 😃😃😃
Don’t know what you lot thought, but I reckon Usmanov’s chum looked quite pleased when we scored the 5th
Superb game, superb performance
We can win away from home and we can score lots of goals. Happy Gooner here 😃
Up into 5th.
First away win from being a goal down in two years.
5 different scorers.
Some wonderful passing football
Happy Days indeed
Good attacking performance dotted with some terrible defensive mistakes and average finishing. In the end we found our shooting boots and put them to the sword, but not before gifting them another terrible goal.
Good to see JW back with an assist and even better to see Sanchez and Özil putting in the kind of performances we are going to require this season regardless of where they end up next.
Also nice to see a Lacazette away goal!
Sounds entertaining, I can’t wait to see it later … now knowing we’ve won 🙂
A bruising draw with injuries and red cards for the undercard to follow please 🙄
Oh well, I suppose one positive to take from that shambles is that ultimately, Sanchez, Laca and Mesut will gel one day
ROLF
30 shots, 14 on target. More of the same please
Micky 😃
That was totally enjoyable.
Turned off the sound, and just watched.
The interplay was fantastic, the finishing was close, and looney cracked a very good strike. (Xhaka was fouled in the build up to that goal as the player hit him straight on the knee with force-easy to see really)
The goals in the second half were coming, Arsenal were bossing the whole game. When the Everton player got sent off, everyone knew it was game over.
Cech made the mistake, but Monreal could have played it to the touchline also.
Onward and upward.
The movement in the final third is so much better with Lacazette instead of Giroud. If he comes deep he’s got the pace to still be part of an attack – Ozil, Sanchez and others know where he’ll be. I love Giroud but Ozil and Sanchez need better than him to get the best out of their games.
I think shit defending must be a PL thing!
Spurs and Liverpool looking worse than us.
Jonah oxlade chamberlain is working his magic again I hear 😂
http://arsenalist.com/f/2017-18/everton-vs-arsenal/everton-vs-arsenal-extended-highlights.html
Chas,
That image with the pink boxes on seems to show what we all already know, we finish some of our more difficult opportunities and miss the easier ones!
Chas’ graph 6:14
Does anyone have any idea why Arsenal get more ExpG’s than Everton as the game progresses?
Does anyone actually know what an ExpG is?
Personally, I couldn’t give a shit so long as we have tons of the stuff
What a great day
Does it FGG 🙂
FGG
That chart says the rough x G sum was 1.0 – 3.9 which I think means Mesut was bloody sensational and should get a very large pay rise. Non?
BR – All three frontmen combing
I’m trying desperately to educate you all. 😆
Expected goals is (supposedly) an objective measure of how many goals a team might be expected to score based on the number and quality of the shots (chances) they create.
Pretty simple really.
I’m sitting at the back of the classroom, firing wet paper pellets through my biro tube at FGG’s ears
In fact, I’ll fire at anyone who talks about defending when we just scored five
Being a half full kind of chap, I often conveniently forget good chances for the opposition.
Others, of a more half empty disposition often disregard our own good chances in their haste to laud the opposition for taking the odd chance.
So expected goals is one of the few non-biased measures we have of evaluating our own subjective view of a game with reality.
Then again, if it all seems either too fanciful or too obvious for the great analytical minds on here, then I’ll not bother in future. 😀
If I did an ExpG chart, the wretched red line would be at the very top, run horizontal, and bloody well stay there. Full 90 mins an all.
It’s not your expectation of goals, you feckin idiot.
I just read –
There will be a #KloppOUT protest before the Huddersfield game next week. We will be taking donations for a plane to fly over Anfield.
OK, message received and understood. 😊😊😊
ha ha ha you sound so like all teachers I ever had ROLF
VP
That KloppOut chap is, apparently, a manc supporter trying to stir the pot.
Chas
Are you sulking now?
Ok, put this in your pipe and smoke it. Can we have a heat map. Don’t care what one 🙂
Oh blimey, I’ve still got four hours before I have to pick my daughter up from a party
Well, scrape up more likely
Shouldn’t have upset everyone here I suppose
https://twitter.com/fumbucker/status/922180599653326848
Now that’s a real hot – heat map.
It’s disgusting GN5
You do know it’s a gentleman’s bottom on the right 🙂
Oh dear – excuse my ignorance.
Now is Klopp going to kop it?
Football is really very simple. Create as many big pink squares as you can for your team, and at the same time reduce the number of squares the opposition has and make sure their squares are tiny and don’t turn pink. Easy.
I guarantee this is what Wenger tells the players before kick off.
Having watched Chelsea look very leaky yesterday (Richarlison missed 2 sitters to put Watford 4-1 up), United concede 2 cheap goals to Huddersfield, and the Spurs/Liverpool game throw up plenty of woeful defending, I suddenly feel a lot better about our own shambolic efforts and I now know that modern football would be a Mourinho fuelled snooze fest if teams could actually defend correctly.
Long live the seven goal thriller and the dreadful back pass.
https://twitter.com/Attenboroughs_D/status/922208330331906048
Morning All,
Basking.
Morning all
Missed MOTD, fell asleep as usual, I hope Ian Wright and Martin Keown were suitably excited about our football yesterday.
I’m off to watch Tott v Ars under 23’s this morning at the training ground at 12. Shame it’s Caraboa cup tomorrow otherwise I’d get to see Reece Nelson and Joe Willock ……… hopefully others will impress, I’ll let you know. One of my boys is playing but I’ve already told him it’s all about The Arsenal today 😉
purchased Xhaka for my fantasy side today. His assist got us back into the game. An assist last game as well. I’m happy with him.
as for people criticising why AW didnt sell Sanchez and Ozil to cash in on them. Well one only needs to see how formidable Sanchez and Ozil are now with Lacazette up front. Its a frigging joy to watch. When fans say its not just about the money, well that there is proof for me. Thank you AW for ignoring the noise, hehe
This is terrible of me. I read about George Young passing. An awesome musician and the first thought that struck me was, Ramsey scored.
VP. Somehow that is amusing (Ramsey) and sad at the same time. I am a huge fan of AC/DC though I have to admit that I did not realise George was a member of the Easybeats (love the Bowie version of Friday on my Mind)
Hmmm, didn’t notice Xhaka’s assist, must look.
Koeman out – only 9 games played in the PL and 3 managers have already been shown the door. That must negotiate huge termination clauses in their contracts, the clauses are probably more important than salary.
Given the quality of the players in the Everton squad it comes as no surprise.
I have never liked him since ’93. Finally given the red card he should have received in this game,
Giroud wins Puskas award
https://www.arsenal.com/news/how-our-front-three-eviscerated-everton
https://twitter.com/CaughtCctv/status/921656873417363456
Morning All,
Giroud wins FIFA goal of the season but not PL 😀
7.46 Rough justice
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