There was a Final.
We lost rather embarrassingly.
What a depressingly poor last eight weeks of the season it’s been.
Over two weeks to prepare for a European Final and all we could come up with was that.
Hello Europa for the third year – we’ve found our level.
Ratings
Every player gets a rating of 4 – one for each of Chelsea’s goals.
Soz, that’s all I’ve got.
chas
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I could not agree more. Perhaps Czech might deserve more. The rest played a game that they and we would prefer to forget.
Mid-table, here we come.
Can’t help but agree with BR, Ozil was a hologram of his former self.
Very sad state of affairs.
Doesn’t feel any better this morning, let me just remove that dagger (with Giroud’s name on) from my heart…
I’m not rating any of them.. the one night we wanted a performance, the most important game of our season.. and nothing, they rolled over for that all familiar mauling, we have come accustomed to…. typical bloody Arsenal, why did I expect any different?
I am devastated & to the chavs of all people.. 😫
Well it’s nearly time to go all Bear Grylls out in the unknown (although I draw the line at eating animals 😂) Yes Fred, there’s room for 2 haha!
Although Good Girls season 2 drops on Netflix tomorrow, will go after I’ve binged that 😁
TA.. I’m pleased to say I didn’t dream of creepy, little men with big arses (yes Hazard, that’s you) last night.. so that was a bonus!! No Kolasinac either though, maybe tonight 😏
some arsenal fans has becoming bad influence on emery, mostly the ozil fans, it because of their clamoured of weak ozil and the pairing of auba and lacazette that never work for us to start and left our star player iwobi to came in late to game.. prior to the late sub, iwobi perfomance was better than the great hazard last night.
Morning All,
I feel bruised.
Some excellent comments last night and much to think about.
Will the BoD replace Emery? Certainly not, though he may choose to leave if he doesn’t get financial backing. We achieved more points than last season and reached a European Final which must be seen as progress. IMO the manner of this “success” is not what I want from Arsenal but that is for a deeper discussion than this comment.
I couldn’t understand why there was so much space for the Chavs – was the pitch bigger than normal? Our midfield was easily by-passed and one had to feel very sorry for Kos and Sokratis who battled manfully but without support.
Baku has a reputation as a the best city in Europe for nightlife. I hope the traveling Gooners found solace in their post-match entertainment because they got very little from our team
Iluwa. Are you Nigerian? 😀
I feel so sorry for those gooners who spent all their money (& time) going over to Baku.. to witness that!!! AFC hang your heads in shame
It’s better we let go of emery and his useless philosophy, sell 0zil, auba and calamity xaka now!. It’s time we realize emery is not a good/better coach.
My biggest problem last night was the starting midfield pairing, Xhaka too slow, Torreira nowhere, and I think it comes down to the fact they can’t play together. Thats where we were overrun and where we were poorest. If the ball can’t get from midfield to attack effectively and the ball can go from their defence to their attack to easily there is a severe issue within the formation/team.
So how to fix?
Decide on a formation, one formation, stop worrying about other teams, find a shape that works for our squad and players.
So 4-4-2, or 5-3-2, or 4-3-1-2, or 3-5-2.
If we keep Laca and Auba it has to be 4-4-2.
Hector – Sok – Kos – Nacho
Iwobi – Guen – Torreira – Ozil
——-Laca——PEA———-
If we decide to let one go (we probably should) then it should be 4-2-1-3 or 4-1-3-1-1
Hector – Sok – Kos – Nacho
———-Guen—Torreira—–
————–Mikhi————-
Iwobi——-Laca——-Ozil
But in either of these formations the frontmen have to have freedom to roam, if we are going to play to some set routines (which it appears we do which is perhaps why both Mikhi, Ozil and even Xhaka struggles under Emery) we can get rid of any high paid talent, we need to find young and hungry players who want the chance of playing at this level, and we will find a great deal of them within our youth teams.
Time to be brave!
Spending will not answer the questions it hasn’t worked so far, in fact since the purse strings have been opened at the Emirates we have gone backwards.
GIE. We agree.
We have young and hungry players. .. Torreira, AMN, Willock, Iwobi, Douzi, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Holding, Chambers, Mavropanos, and Hector is still a young man.
The nucleus is there; what is required is bravery from the management to use it and patience from the fans to allow them to flourish
GiE, I liked your early morning comment in the last post and this one is also good.
The midfield does not work because Emery wants to play attacking football and has not got the balance right there. Look at our team last night: it had 8 defensive minded players and just three pure attackers. This puts pressure on both Xhaka and Torreira to join the attack, and therefore leave their defensive midfield positions, something they are not very good at. Xhaka is the main man for the Swiss national team and they allow him to play deeper and protect him with a hard working defensive mid next to him. This could be Torreira but he is forced to do the B2B stuff for which he is not a natural. So if we play both Xhaka-Tor we need to play a less attacking style of football, absorb pressure and sit more deep and be hard to beat, and from there we can spring attacks on the rebound. This is not what Emery wants, yet he plays a formation and set of players that suit this best.
This formation also forces the wingbacks to support attack all the time, otherwise we are simply outnumbered in attack and leave our fine attackers simply isolated. Ozil gets slated but he had very little options in terms of passing and making things happen last night – as so often in Emery’s team set-ups. Our two attackers love space but they were denied this and our wing-backs struggled to find them once they got behind the Chavs’ defence (and lacking aerial threat really didn’t help either).
So the formation was not set up for attacking as a team (the Arsenal way), and as soon as something went wrong in attack the Chavs so were in their element as we were all over the place, shapeless and ready for the slaughter.
Sue, glad you avoided the big-arsed creep in your dreams. 🙂
I agree the game was lost in midfield. Surely that was due to the fact that we had 3 centre backs and they had 2. We were a man short in midfield, which they capitalised on.
I also think that Tereria is a shadow of the player he was earlier in the season, so that creates a weakness there as well.
I have made no secret of the belief that UE was the wrong man for the job. Whether that mistake will be carried further into next season remains to be seen.
I think it is also true that we are more suited to the Europa league at present and are simply not good enough to progress fas in the Champions League.
We are a football team, not a money factory. Just because the CL provides more money, is that a reason to be in it, rather than to progress and improve our football?
Jjgsol, it is the money factor that keep us from rebuilding properly, with patience, a mid-long term plan, clever investment in up and coming players, using the talents of the youth academy properly etc. Everything that the club does – under Wenger as well as Emery – is simply aimed at getting back into the CL asap but within our means (the latter I agree with). Our direct competitors are outsmarting us managerially and in terms of spending money wisely rather than simply outspending us (except for MC who are doing both) and that is the real concern.
To second TA on the spending/money. Our spine that took the field last night cost around £250m!!!!
Spine of our side last night cost £250m, so why is money a solution.
Arsenal football club really have a knack of causing grief within my marraige and my relationships with friends.
I’m still very much in the angry phase right now so I’m trying to avoid everyone in my life who is into football (that includes my wife and mother in law who are Chelsea fans, colleagues in the office – one of which brought in a Chelsea scarf and is currently hanging 5feet from my desk, and friends – most of whom are liverpool fans).
They all have an opinion on the state of my football club and to be totally honest, I’m not yet in the place to discuss or even agree /disagree with them on anything – whether it be related to tactics, finance, or players/manager motivation and quality (or lack of). I simply don’t have the energy, metophorically feeling beat up and curled into a featus position in a street corner somewhere in the depths of North London, enraged at both the team I love and my inability or unwillingness to defend them.
I guess the next phase is sadness, which I’m sure will stick with me through the summer break until a slight sense of hopeful optimism will creep in through my self-protection barrier by the first game in August.
However all I keep reminding myself is this: you need the low’s to appreciate the high’s. Currently we’re very low. But one day, many years from now maybe, it will mean we all experience a very high high…
We (AFC fans) are all in the same phase right now. Let’s draw on support from each other (like an AA meeting) before moving through the phases to the next high that comes along.
I’d also like to take this opportunity (as I don’t comment much) now that the season is over to thank all on this blog for helping me through the tough times and enjoying the good times with your writing and articles – it’s very much appreciated.
Chris.. I feel your pain! I often become a recluse after a loss.. as I can’t deal with the grief, the bragging & the mickey taking! I don’t need to be told by others that my team is poor, I already know!!
Albeit, I’m not as bad as I used to be, falling into a deep depression after every loss, breaking whatever I could lay hands on 😂 everyone walking on eggshells & wouldn’t dare mention football… sounds quite amusing now!!
The anger has subsided, somewhat.. although now, I’m bitterly disappointed & will avoid Sky Sports News like the plague, for the next month (at least!)
I would say keep your chin up & keep the faith, as surely it can only get better, but I seem to say that to gooners every season… now what’s that telling me??! 🤪
There are five stages of grief
Denial is the first of the five stages of grief. It helps us to survive the loss. In this stage, the world becomes meaningless and overwhelming. Life makes no sense. We are in a state of shock and denial. We go numb. We wonder how we can go on, if we can go on, why we should go on. We try to find a way to simply get through each day. Denial and shock help us to cope and make survival possible. Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. There is a grace in denial. It is nature’s way of letting in only as much as we can handle. As you accept the reality of the loss and start to ask yourself questions, you are unknowingly beginning the healing process. You are becoming stronger, and the denial is beginning to fade. But as you proceed, all the feelings you were denying begin to surface.
……………………………………………………………………………………….
This does this sound familiar – but where are the expletives?
I did not watch the half time discussion on BT. Did they show any more details of the 2 penalty shouts, as to whether they were penalties, or just wishful thinking and Lacazette falling over?
Sue – yep you’ve pretty much summed me up in your first few sentences! At 36 I would hope I would be used to it by now, maybe it will improve with age and realism. I tend to deflect the outside world when the defeat is so raw but I’m still gluten for punishment by secretly reading the back pages of the newspapers in our work canteen (being careful to avoid anyone noticing who will drum up a conversation about it haha).
I guess, GunnerN5, that sums up the ‘denial’ phase quite well! Thanks both. I’ll come back when I’m some way through the healing process and can bear to see red and white colour combination on web pages again…
The team needs an injection of youth and enthusiasm. I’d be looking to move on from Lichsteiner, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal, Xhaka, Özil, Elneny, Welbeck and Jenkinson. The club needs to start from scratch which means getting rid of the players who have been synonymous with disappointing performances and results. Bring in Mavropanos, Holding, Willock, Smith-Rowe, Nelson and buy a CB partner for Sokratis, a real CM box to box player to stick alongside Torreira, and revamp what has been an appalling AM display from our team this season.
We all know the problems in defence but I have serious issues with how our attacking midfielders have performed for the majority of the season. According to WhoScored.com our AM players (Özil, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan) combined for 17 goals and 18 assists in 7242 minutes of PL and EL football this season. Just to put that in perspective, Hazard scored 18 goals and created another 17 in the 3377 minutes he was on the field in those 2 competitions this year.
Take into account the quality of striker our AM players have to feed and what Hazard has worked with this season and that is a pretty damning statistic as far as I’m concerned.
Total
Just bouncing off your comment.
“Ozil gets slated but he had very little options in terms of passing and making things happen last night”
I thought it was Ozil’s job to make things happen, he failed spectacularly.
I thought Auba and Laca ran their hearts out and often found themselves with the ball on the wing but with one of them out wide the other was easy to defend; we needed Ozil to do a Ramsey job and augment the attack in the box — he failed.
Who would have thought three years ago that given a choice between Ramsey and Ozil, Ramsey would have been the more desirable.
I suppose reading this back the only thing missing is a tear stain to go with the sob story as to how Mesut has broken my heart.
Thanks to all who have commented in the last couple of days.
There is really nothing much to say after last night.
We were given a thorough beating, like 11 dirty old carpets.
I’m just disgusted with the whole debacle, I thought I would calm done but I haven’t.
It took us 3.5 hours to get to where we chose to watch the game and we left with 20 minutes left in the game.
I have so much to say but I can’t bear to put in writing just how badly I feel about us millions of worldwide fans being let down in such a passionless manner – they simply abdicated……….WTF.
We need a wholesale change in order to restore pride and passion into our players and our club.
Cheers LB, I can feel and appreciate your pain. Laca and Auba did indeed run their hearts out but they were still outnumbered and Ozil did not have enough options in our system of football. Neither Laca or Auba is a Hazard type either, so he really had little to work with last night. it is not working for Mesut in Emery’s ‘system of play’ (whatever that is) and I am not going to blame him, as we both can see he is a splendid footballer. He is also not a B2B player like Rambo is (the few times he remains fit for more than a game or two). Now imagine a quality B2B (Smith-Rowe looks promising) and a quality (mid-)winger (Iwobi is getting there but we need to buy here) to play with and all of a sudden Mesut is back in his element again.
LB,
Mesut is being given the soubriquet ‘The Ghost” by some fans,
He is a talented player – and should be taking the game by the scruff of the neck, and making things happen, as you said.
Instead, he goes missing, every time in recent times, and when you contrast that ‘ghosting’ with the way Hazard takes control of games, like some deity, scoring and making assists, it is a very sad contrast.
Oh LB… 😢
FGG, it is clear that Hazard is an exceptional talent and those sort of mid-wingers really make an individual difference. They are also hard to find and a team often becomes very dependent on them. The Chavs scored ten less PL goals than us, and I much rather have a system of play in which many score and produce assists than being so dependent on the one player. That does not mean that we should not ask for more from those three Gunners, and we need to look at how to make this happen going forward.
Hi GN5,
I was thinking of the Arsenal fans who paid so much money and made a wearisome journey to get to Baku and watch their team, only to be served up some dreadfully gutless performance.
You come into that category too, setting off for a long journey with hope in your heart for at least an honourable attempt by the guys in Red and White, only to have those hopes dashed.
Actually, it was a gutless performance, by Arsenal, and that is what hurts. I can accept poor quality teams getting beaten when they come up against better teams — but a witless surrender is simply not acceptable.
It is best you, and I, and Sue, and many others keep quiet about it — there will always be those telling us we are wrong to be candid about a rubbish performance. 😳
Crikey, Sue,
I thought you had grown a blue tongue, @ 4:20, to praise Chelsea — who did deserve to win — but it was only a tear.
The worst part me was the best thing that happened in the game was Giroud’s brave and incredible headed goal. In it’s own way it showed us everything that we lack…………………..( you can fill in the gap with your own thoughts)
part FOR me…………..
My plan is just to let the pain subside and wait for the optimism to seep back in – it may take a few weeks.
Come the new season I’ll be excited as always (although probably not particularly expectant).
We’ll know by Christmas whether Emery is the man to move us forward. He has the summer to prepare and will presumably have a decent say in who stays and who goes.
Reading the comments, I’m coming round to the idea suggested by some of rolling the dice with a crop of young players, making them the heart of the team and letting them grow together (with our two experienced strikers up front).
We’ve had many worse seasons than this one in my decades supporting the Arse.
Thank God for cricket and Ben Stokes!!
Hi ya, Rocky,
Wise and sensible words – pragmatic about the disappointment yet hopeful for the future.
The comments about Ôzil, technically our most talented player, show it is a sensitive subject for some, but it was clear that when he was hooked and Willock came on, he and Iwobi brought on earlier immediately made runs, helped with assists and looked ‘up for it’ – a startling contrast.
There are many kids who could/should be brought into the 1st team squad, but those selected for the bench, like Nketiah, tend to stay on the bench – barring the odd few minutes.
If it is true that the transfer budget has suffered by our missing out on the CL money, then we have a lot of riches available in these kids — otherwise they will walk – and find a German team awaiting.
LBG
Archer has been really impressive too. But Stokes’ one handed athletic catch to take Amla was fantastic.
Yesss — Stokesy — game over!! 👍
Regarding football…..as I mentioned last night, I am totally with GN5 4.14 and FGG 2.08 and without that “injection” and particularly a change to the ethos, desire, drive of the whole first team squad, we will wait a long time for significant improvement.
Never thought I would decry Mesut, but his attitude as he walked off ( giving the impression he had ” put in a shift”, and was unfairly being benched) sums up what is wrong and, like an infectious disease, is catching!! All too many of those players listed by FGG are not only not good enough, but, think they are, AND think they are producing acceptable performances!! ” If Mesut feels he’s done enough, perhaps I have!”. A bomb is required!!
The England fans in Baku were giving some decidedly irate comments to Mesut — and then oddly, Xhaka said it was not fair to pick on Ôzil,(which may or may not be right) – but went on to say they were all culpable — or words to that effect — and he was correct – especially him, with his feet of lead.
Terrible result
Concise and accurate, as usual, Terry. 😁
It could have been 6 : 1 and that would have been terribler. 😛
I have caught up with the phantom Cornwall pastie deliverer — still has such a wickedly funny sense of humour! 😂
Nah LBG, you got Mesut totally wrong. He made a statement with the way he walked off. It showed how much he cared and is pissed off with Emery and his football. One day you will see it that way too. 🙂
Rocky. Good to see you on AA and as always nothing to disagree with.
Onwards and hopefully upwards
Indeed BR.
Win the first five games of next season and we’ll be thinking about winning the league 🙂
Total,
Shame he didn’t make a statement whilst he was on the pitch.
Dare I say the club need a ‘Sanchez’ signing. Somebody who can come in, hit the ground running, and instantly lift the play of those around them. Not easy to find, but it’s certainly what we need. In fact, we could do with 3….1 in defence, 1 in midfield, and 1 in attack. I’m not sure we’ve had a big impact signing since Sanchez. I know Lacazette and Auba are big names but they joined at a time when everything was overshadowed by Wenger. I would much prefer us to go back to the odd big transfer mixed with the youth team rather than this middle of the road approach we’ve got at the moment. It really does feel like we are due some luck in the transfer market. The last 5 years or so have been painful and the results have followed that trend.
Did Hazard really “take hold of the midfield”?
Did he not have Kante, Jorgino, Kovacic and Pedro there as well?
Not a bad group of players all in their own right.
I really do think that we should not get too carried away with the Hazard love in.
Did he get much of a look in in the first half? Not really.
Clearly, Sarri changed it at half time, and that made all the difference.
Remember Chel$ki had an extra midfielder, as they only had 4 at the back.
To blame Ozil is to be somewhat simplistic.
Could it be that he did not have the space to weave his magic as we were outnumbered in midfield?
I dare says that his expression when he came off was of resignation that so many people would end up blaming him, in my view, most unjustly.
We were beaten by superior tactics if not anything else.
Oh yes, did not Hazard play a lot of games as a sole striker, hence some of his goals and assists.
If indeed Özil can only really excel with great players around him or when Emery gets his tactics 100% spot on then even more reason to sell him as we certainly don’t have a team full of world class players and Emery and his hit n miss tactics look likely to stay for another season.
jjgsol, blaming tactics is a level that one or two on here don’t get. They want to see blood and Mesut’s is the most popular one to sacrifice. After that it is usually Mustafi (who thank God for him did not play) and Xhaka. It is the way of the world, unfortunately.
FGG,
Unai really does not get Ozil, so there is no hope unless the Spaniard is given the boot this summer. He has dipped in form and it is desperately sad that the one who actually signed the contract is now being scapegoated. Wenger understood Mesut and got the best out of him, so did Joachim Low; Emery hasn’t got a clue.
What’s sad is that Gazidis authorises a £350k a week contract to save himself the embarrassment of losing his 2 star players on free transfers and then buggers off shortly after (sacked or otherwise), leaving the club with a huge contract and a player who, regardless of ability, is not performing and hasn’t done for quite some time (under both Wenger and Emery).
It doesn’t matter how good Özil was, can be, or might be, the fact is he’s not performing right now when we most need him to. You can blame Emery for that, but he’s had plenty of game time this season to put in some performances and he’s got 3 assists to show for it. His performances have been worse than Iwobis yet a lot of Arsenal fans seem to dislike the Nigerian whereas they adore Özil. I don’t understand it.
So illustrating the deep canker I talked of yesterday, the miserable, slow thinking, slow moving, arrogant twat Xhaka, is ” not sure how far forward Emery has taken the Club forward this year”!!”
You and many of your fellow slackers, prepared to take thousands of pounds a week in salary; spend minutes on the pitch congratulating yourself when you hit the odd thunderbolt actually on target rather than getting the ball back and getting on with trying to win games; practising stupid handshakes; making idiotic noises when you nutmeg a teammate……you lot are the reason we haven’t gone forward, not Dick, and he should dump most of you!!!
Oh, I forgot…..”quick fouling, quick getting booked, slow picking up runners at corners, quick blaming others…..twat!
And in case you think Dick doesn’t deserve any criticism this year he does..for the aberration of thing you were ever worthy of captaining our great Club!!!!
LBG.. 😂 you have to cut Xhaka some slack (he’s been too busy impregnating his wife!) 😄 some of the responses on Twitter were hilarious!!
Please give him 3 years paternity leave!
Please don’t enrol your child in our academy!
His shooting is that bad, he made it on the 15th attempt!
All joking aside, I have to agree with you though, he’s such a frustrating player.. I had high hopes when we signed him!! 😳 sheesh!!
Hope you have sorted your sugar levels out by now, LBG. 😀
Sue
I’d cut Xhaka, but not slack!!
Total – nothing wrong with my sugar levels that wouldn’t be corrected by some good, old fashioned coppicing, thank you!
I think the mood around the club has been made worse by the fact Spurs are in a certain cup final at the weekend. If they lose (which they must) then I’d like to think the mood around Arsenal will brighten a little bit and we will all hold hands, stare into each other’s eyes, and sing sweet songs about a certain terrible/majestic German number 10 whilst contemplating how we are going to storm the PL next season with Mustafi at the heart of our defence and Xhaka orchestrating the midfield.
If, however, Spurs someone win, then I shall end it all (get rid of my Sky Sports subscription).
There is a New Post
Haha, nice one, LBG 😄
I’m heading to London today.. Wednesday night was to determine what I’d be wearing.. so, needless to say, the gooner top is back in the wardrobe (to gather dust until August.. at the earliest 😂) the way i’m feeling, I can’t even bring myself to look at it 😔
No doubt, I’ll be surrounded by blue & white tops today.. and feel like I’m in hell!!!
Tomorrow could cap off the worst week ever!! 😬