Another loss at the Emirates and another really tasteless and toothless performance except for the first 10 minutes of the second half…Not many positives to take on tonight.

The numbers in the EPL are damning:

• 15th in the EPL, with only 13 points in 12 games and with a -5 goal difference (10 for, 15 against)
• 4th home defeat in a row for 1st time since 1959
• 1st defeat to Burnley in the EPL
• 1st goal conceded on a set piece
• 0 goal score in open play,,,

But tonight was worrying on many levels:

• Xhaka’s red card showed that he was still not learning anything but it also showed frustration
• Few minutes later El Neny could and should have been sent off
• Bellerin also getting carded
• Willian is still not hitting the next gear
• Auba is really looking like a lost puppy on the field;
• Creativity still a major issue, ineffective set-pieces and crosses still a trademark this season
• Laca missing a golden opportunity that could have paved the way for a victory
• Arteta unable to find a solution, which is the worse.

So where do we go from here? Well, if Arteta does not finally accept that he needs to do something different in terms of team set-up and squad selection, then I think we will be going straight to relegation battle because there is no reason why we would improve in this set-up although Martinelli and Partey will make a difference for sure but 2 players can’t solve everything.

If Arteta has some clue, he may at least start to:

• Go back to a system with 3 central defenders
• Rely more on youth and hungry players such as AMN and ESR for example
• Give a rest to Auba.

My problem was that the players really seemed to get frustrated on the pitch and that does not bode well because it shows lack of communication, lack of trust in each other, lack of trust in the manager’s instructions…If some are looking to replace Arteta already, Favre is now available.

Ratings:

Leno – 4

Bellerin – 3; Holding – 4; Gabriel – 4; Tierney – 5

El Neny – 4; Xhaka – 2

Willian – 3; Laca – 4 – Saka – 5

Auba – 3

Arteta – 2

For those of you that have been watching football religiously in the 90s, there was one incredible Argentinian player who terrorized defenders in Argentina and Italy called Gabriel Batistuta but known as Batigol. He was such a talented striker, a real predator in the box with good speed, movement and good use of his body. He was so good that if you picked Argentina or Fiorentina in the Fifa video games from 95 to 99, you could just get the ball to him and you will know there will be a goal for you…I was a big fan of his. A really good forward and I would say that in the last few years, maybe Cavani is the closest player to him although Batigol was faster but Cavani may have better movement…In any case, a quality striker.

Today, Balogun showed that he can play for us in the Europa League for sure and he will certainly be given a run in the Cups and I think that Arteta sees the potential of the kid so we may even see him in the EPL. He showed strength and composure today and he was decisive. I also thought that ESR had a great game today but that’s for another day 🙂 Arteta said that they are working on signing Balogun on a long-term deal because he finds the kid superb and apparently Balogun wants to stay. So what do we do now?

Who do we bet on to join Auba up front? Laca, Martinelli, Nketiah or Balogun. Auba will find his scoring boots, it is just a matter of time. I think his best partner in front 2 may be Martinelli but maybe we could have Martinelli, Balogun, Auba as a front three supported by Partey, El Neny, Saka in the middle…

The decision is tough – we are almost out of the Top 6 race in the EPL. Isn’t it the perfect season then to give our promising youngsters a real chance at gaining experience in the EPL? We can always play competitive teams in the EPL but have younger players in it and then also play more seasoned players in the Europa and Cup League. And if we play the young guns in the EPL, who do you put forward between Nketiah and Balogun?

So the point of this post is to reflect on:

1. Shall we give a chance to your young guns in the EPL and hope they develop into top players?
2. Who gets the nod as starting CF between Nketiah and Balogun if we decide to bet on youth?
3. Do you think that Balogun has what it takes to be our Batigol or Haaland?

Another win the Europa league tonight. Feels good. It may be our direct path to CL…who knows?

So it seems that we are letting quite some goals in from the right side with Bellerin often caught out of position, Holding outpaced or misplaced and with Willian/Pepe not necessarily supporting enough and same goes with our midfielders who are not closing the opposition down on that side…

I like Bellerin when he goes forward and I think that he has a good mentality and can also pass the ball decently but he sometimes goes missing defensively, at least one or twice in a match and we often get punished for his lapses.

As for Holding, well he can be superb one match and absolutely average or poor the next one. His main issues are his pace and his positioning on certain situations. He does not always know when to close down or when to cover the back post….He is good in the air and his passing is also good but is that enough to be a starter for us?

Now we come to our right wing. Willian has been disappointing and Pepe not much better. We have not seen enough from RN yet so I will give him some slack.

All that to say that while on the left, we have Gabriel – Tierney – Saka and we seem more solid defensively and coherent going forward from that side, we seem to be struggling on the right. There are players that could help us maybe and especially AMN. If we continue with our back 4, we could play with 4 midfielders to and one of them on the right side could be AMN.

Anyways, seems our right side is our wrong side…

There is not much positive to take from our performance but I will try to not be too defeatist…

A third home-defeat in a row. A 14th place in the EPL. Another game without a goal in open play. Another game without Auba scoring. Another game with toothless attacks and sterile possession. Another game where Arteta and his players could not find an opening to score one more goal than the opposition. Another game where we waited to be down to finally show some intent…Just another game in a very poor EPL start by our team. Some people are already calling for Arteta’s head and asking questions about his tactics and team selections.

That said:

1. Saka has been dangerous as always
2. Tierney was combative and Willock also tried
3. Ceballos managed a few good passes (too few) that created a bit of danger
4. Willian had another assist and Gabriel another goal
5. Leno was not a disaster

Leno – 6

Bellerin – 5.5

Holding/Luiz – 5.5

Gabriel – 6

Tierney 6

Xhaka – 5.5

Willock – 5.5

Ceballos – 5.5

Willian – 5.5

Auba – 4

Saka – 7

Nelson: 6.5

Laca: N/A

Probably the grades are a bit inflated given our defeat but then again, I did not want to be too negative…

As the international break is coming to an end soon and as we edge closer to seeing club football again, I tried to reflect on which player has been our stand out performance this season so far. I came up with a preliminary short-list and please feel free to add more names and/or disagree:

Saka – This young man has been nothing short of phenomenal since he has broken into the first team. He is of course still learning but his work rate, decision-making and ability to attack with poise and create chances have impressed me.

Tierney – His work rate and the quality of his delivery are truly impressive and the best thing is that he is still improving. He has played well at LCB and at LB. A solid start of the season.

Gabriel – Who would have thought our summer signing from Lille would bring defensive physicality and solidity from his first start? Impressive start to a Gunner’s life.

El Neny – Seen by many (including myself) as a definite goner, he has come back with energy, enthusiasm and real purpose to end the opponent’s progression towards our goal. Mismanaged before or just a change in form due to better physical condition? Whatever the reason is, he appears to be the first name on the sheet in the middle of the park next to Partey.

So who is your MVP so far? The omission of Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Pepe, Willian, Ceballos would be explained by our lack of attacking edge and creativity so far this season but feel free to convince me that they are our MVP so far 😛

Hope everyone is safe and sound. Good luck everyone.

PS: Saka did well yesterday against Belgium but Grealish and Kane were really amazing. Shame that England won’t make the Final Four of the League of Nations.

We have been particularly poor away from home against Big 6 teams. Arteta has not really managed to improve our form away from home in terms of points collected but since he took over, we are harder to beat which is a bit of a consolation.

The good news is that Man Utd have been struggling at home in the EPL this season but the bad news is that I feel like they are hitting form, especially Rashford. I like Rashford and I d be delighted if he joined AFC once Auba leaves 😛

I was not happy with our performance in our last EPL game against Leicester and our win yesterday was expected and nothing to brag about except for the positive performances from Runnarsson, Willok and RN.

We are on a good run against Utd (won 2 out of the last 3 games ; have not lost any of the last 4 in the EPL) and I hope it continues but I am going into the game with no confidence because we seem to struggle to create chances and also because Luiz is missing and Leno is not having a great start of the season.

Here is my predicted line-up:

Leno – Mustafi, Gabriel, Tierney – Bellerin, El Neny, Partey, Xhaka, AMN – Laca, Auba

I think Saka, Pepe, Ceba, RN and Eddie will be on the bench to give us options.

Predicted score: Man Utd 3 – 1 Arsenal; Rashford (2), Martial (1) and Tierney (1) for us.

I hope you are more positive than I…Keep safe and healthy everyone and COYG!

Arteta and Edu have:

1. Managed to extend Auba
2. Managed to bring Ceba back
3. Managed to get Willian on a free
4. Managed to land Gabriel
5. Decided to keep Soares and Mari on long-term deal after their loan
6. Replaced Martinez by Runnarsson
7. Done two relatively obscure investments in 2 young players: a defender and a striker.

So are you happy with the business we have done?

A few days after our defeat to LFC in the EPL, we are back at Anfield to play the Carabao Cup.

What we know for sure is that Klopp will field promising young players (Jones, Brewster…) and his usual subs but his subs include Jota, Xhaqiri, Origi, Milner, Oxlade (is he fit to play?), Minamino…so it is not like they are going to throw the game away…

On our side, Arteta will also give some playing time to our subs and younger players so I can imagine Arteta fielding:

Runnarson – Soares, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney – Ceba, Xhaka, Saka – Pepe, Nketiah, Nelson

In any case, I do not expect something out of this game except entertainment. Would be good to win but if we lose, I wouldn’t be too distraught.

So it seems that Kolasinac is going back to Germany and most likely to Leverkusen or Shalke. Arsenal is looking to recoup 9 Mln EUR + 2 Mln bonus so a total of 11 Mln EUR for the Bosnian international left back.

Kolasinac joined AFC for free in 2017 and made 107 appearances for the club. He has now fallen behind Tierney, AMN and Saka as a left back but has deputized with his usual commitment and intent at LCB and LB whenever called upon.

He scored 3 goals and delivered 11 assists. After a very promising first season, he struggled a bit with the demands of the EPL and was definitely a player that suffered under Emery. When he joined the club for free, he had just had a great season with Shalke and overall, it seems that he failed to live to the excitement and expectations. That said, he always showed commitment and professionalism.

I think he will also be remembered by his nickname “The Beast”, not only because of his robust physique but mostly because of how he handled the whole car-jacking incident with Ozil.

I know Sue will miss his physicality and looks but he is still young and returning to Germany makes sense for him from a footballing and family perspective. So as we are near to parting ways with Kolasinac, let us all join in and say “Auf Wiedersehen Kola and vielen dank! Alles Gute!”

Looking forward to reading your views on Kola’s contribution to our club and his departure.

Fatgingergooner – post match report: Shape, effort, closing down, understanding of the game. We’ve come a long way under Arteta so far, but the reason he keeps saying it’s a process is because there is still a long way to go before we can really head to Anfield with belief. It’s not just work on the field that is required, its also making sure we sign players with the right attitude who can improve us (Pepe…!? ) over a couple of windows. We lack a bit of authority on the ball and a bit of creativity. The fact is our players are not as good as those of the top, top sides. It feels like Arteta is getting a lot from this group so the improvement will have to come from the youth ranks and from recruitment. We were certainly competitive tonight though, and that was probably our best performance at Anfield for quite some time.

LBG: summary post-match report: MOM Elneny in 90mins, Ceballos in 15mins. No team would have beaten Liverpool tonight. Disappointing for us and Lacazette, but I believe we would still have been swamped by the end. The good luck God of football is saving things for Thursday.
No team, except the Invincibles, is excellent throughout a season. COYG

RC78: summary post-match report: Not a bad performance to be honest – we contested well but ultimately, LFC was too good. Ceba gave us another creative dimension when he came in and AMN is growing into this LWB role. Liverpool has too much quality around the pitch and ultimately, it showed. 3-1 is a bit harsh I feel and I am convinced we could have snatched a draw but I am not disheartened by this defeat. Team is still growing under Arteta. On to Thursday for our Cup Game vs LFC, again

RC78 Player ratings – feel free to disagree

Leno – 5
Bellerin – 5
Holding – 6
Luiz – 6
Tierney – 5
AMN – 7
El Neny – 6
Xhaka – 6
Willian – 5
Laca – 5, should have scored the second
Auba – 5

Pepe – 4, two poor corners and nothing else
Nketiah – N/A
Ceba – 6, made a big difference