Arsenal (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

[Man_City_Loyal]

fuck me, may aswell have lost with some of the whingy posts in this.

can never win.

 

[Big Joe Corrigan]

I can understand and have to accept the reasons why we played this way, but why has it come to a situation where we felt we had to do it.
We have been so critical of teams who have parked the bus against us (including Arsenal) and now it's become acceptable for us. But to some, its being lauded as some sort of tactical awakening from Pep. Even Steve Nicol was singing Peps praises and that confirms how far we have fallen

I don’t think it will be a constant, just a pragmatic approach that will be required occasionally, we won’t be seeing it against Huddersfield and Burnley for example.

 

[stonerblue]

Probably the best we could have hoped for performance wise with the short turnaround. Felt like but for a tiny bit of poor game management from two very experienced players, we take the 3 points and run. This team is more of a team than it was at any point last season. Excellent defensively, compact, and with Haaland/Doku/Foden beginning to get real chemistry, a nightmare to play against.

This team is going to lose very few games between now and the end of the season. They're already in a groove.

Yep.

 

[Eaststander1]

For all their quality on paper, Liverpool have lived a charmed life this season so far. If they get a few key injuries or have a bad couple of games in a row (2 draws is worse than a win and a loss), that’s a 4 point swing at a minimum, so it’s far too early yet.

For those feeling desperation, you should review City’s start to last season and where we ended up after Rodri’s injury and others.

The reason we play the game is because almost every pre-season opinion committed to paper is wrong!

Whilst what you're saying is generally true, one thing will almost always 'win the day' ..... a winning consistency .... that leads to players and teams building a winning mentality, and right now Liverpool are winning games any which way they can, and, IF we want the title, it's that which we HAVE to respond to .... nobody can predict in September how any season will work out, but it's important that we stop dropping points.

 

[HolisticJim]

I didn't like the performance but on the flip side you've got Ange at Spurs and Amorin across the road refusing to change the way they play no matter what.

I've been laughing and critical and wondering how any top class coach can justify sticking so rigidly to their principles whilst losing game after game.

I can't then be critical of Pep changing the way we play for a game, especially when I'd have taken a point before the game.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Whilst what you're saying is generally true, one thing will almost always 'win the day' ..... a winning consistency .... that leads to players and teams building a winning mentality, and right now Liverpool are winning games any which way they can, and, IF we want the title, it's that which we HAVE to respond to .... nobody can predict in September how any season will work out, but it's important that we stop dropping points.

Whilst agreeing with your principle, I have to add that City are building that, as this week should, hopefully, attest.

The consistency you seek is results, not performances, even though it is the foundation upon which those results are built.

The performances we have seen this week have been as varied as they have successful…with the exception of one mistake within the last three minutes of the last of the three games!

 

[Matt Diablo]

I didn't like the performance but on the flip side you've got Ange at Spurs and Amorin across the road refusing to change the way they play no matter what.

I've been laughing and critical and wondering how any top class coach can justify sticking so rigidly to their principles whilst losing game after game.

I can't then be critical of Pep changing the way we play for a game, especially when I'd have taken a point before the game.

No you cant and also Ange is at Forest!

 

[TonyBookEnd]

"We’re in the middle of a complete rebuild of the squad"

I understand where we are as a club, I'm just bemoaning the fact that why are we in the middle of a complete rebuild?
We are Manchester F@*king City and we shouldn't be settling for 2nd best in any aspect. I feel that the club has dropped the ball and now we are playing catch up.

 

[blue by birth]

But did we play really well? Really?
Did we defend fantastically or did we just defend deep and with numbers?
Listen if you're happy with that, then I respect that. I just believe that we should be better than that. I'm just asking myself, would Real Madrid or Barcelona or Liverpool do that?

It just seems odd to me that Pep would pick this moment to dramatically change his philosophy. For someone who believes, to his very core, that to cede possession so easily is almost a sin. Why now? Why not last year when it probably warranted it more.

How many chances did they really create??
Very few so that means we defended really well in my opinion.
All teams have done what we did yesterday.. maybe Pep decided that the players we have are not as good yet as previous teams we have had and decided to employ a low block.
I loved the way we used to play when we had D.Silva Yaya etc but we don't have them anymore and maybe never will but we have to get results as it's results we need so we change style occasionally.
Playing a deeper line means we won't concede as many when teams catch us on the break..
Last season we needed to defend deeper but he didn't do it..maybe Pep has realised that possession while good doesn't necessarily mean you win.
Maybe Pep L has had some input and Pep has listened..
I'm more than happy with playing like that when the occasion arises but I'm sure most games we will have more possession and be more expansive.
If Khus hadn't gone off injured I'm confident we would have been celebrating an excellent win.

 

[pride in battle]

I was definitely heartened by that performance yesterday. The lads battled hard and I think it will put us in good stead for the rest of the year.

Shame about their goal, Savinho didn't press Eze when he should have, Ake caught napping and Donna should have stayed on his line longer.

Would have took a point before the game though so well done blues.

Savinho pissed me off big time, he's just come on and let's Eze waltz forward without even trying to close him down, hope they replay the incident and give him a bollocking !

 

[chris85mcfc]

I can understand and have to accept the reasons why we played this way, but why has it come to a situation where we felt we had to do it.
We have been so critical of teams who have parked the bus against us (including Arsenal) and now it's become acceptable for us. But to some, its being lauded as some sort of tactical awakening from Pep. Even Steve Nicol was singing Peps praises and that confirms how far we have fallen

"The problem with Pep is he's never got a plan B"

 

[Nicholas van Whatsisface]

I understand where we are as a club, I'm just bemoaning the fact that why are we in the middle of a complete rebuild?
We are Manchester F@*king City and we shouldn't be settling for 2nd best in any aspect. I feel that the club has dropped the ball and now we are playing catch up.

Fair enough mate.

Some like to bemoan - some like to see the positives.

Each to their own, I guess.

Not sure what you hope to achieve by bemoaning a load of stuff that happened in the past rather than focusing on what we’re trying to build in the here and now.

Surely I’m not alone in hearing echos of Gary Neville’s entitled bleating about ‘This is Manchester United we’re taking about here’ in your second statement.

It achieves absolutely nothing constructive, apart from making the speaker sound like they’re stuck in the past.

Being good in the past entitles you to precisely fuck all in the present.

 

[bluegaz13]

Yesterday was a sad indictment on the club, that we had to employ such agricultural methods to get a draw
I'm sure Mourinho has a wry smile after yesterday

I think it’s been well documented the mistakes that have been made in not replacing some of the treble winners a season earlier (even if that was coming off the back of 4 in a row)

At the moment we cannot go toe to toe with the likes of Arsenal or Liverpool, we found that out to our cost many times last season but the foundation has got to start with the defence to make us hard to beat and yesterday Pep got the tactics spot on.

The one mistake he made yesterday was leaving Rodri on, who was understandably really struggling with his fitness after about 65 minutes.

The really pleasing thing for me is the capitulations that kept happening last season are a thing of the past.

Doku was nearly unplayable at times yesterday and that has got to be his benchmark and hopefully with a fitter Rodri, an inform Foden and Haaland plus a returning Cherki, we will see more action at the other end of the pitch.

 

[SamBlue]

Are you asking " what's the point of sticking with" Pep fucking Guardiola? Seriously?

No I am not, unless you read what I wrote as it suits you!

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

Whilst what you're saying is generally true, one thing will almost always 'win the day' ..... a winning consistency .... that leads to players and teams building a winning mentality, and right now Liverpool are winning games any which way they can, and, IF we want the title, it's that which we HAVE to respond to .... nobody can predict in September how any season will work out, but it's important that we stop dropping points.

Exactly
We had a couple of last minute wins in 17-18 v Southampton and Huddersfield and I'm sure our nearest rivals were bemoaning our good fortune, especially after the Southampton game, which felt like a huge psychological lift.

They were probably expecting our luck to run out, but instead we accelerated away from the pack.

 

[Sleeping_Easy]

For me this is just a stepping stone to getting back to where we were. We're still a team with fitness/injury issues, integrating new players and trying to get players back to form. I'd be worried if this was a sign of how we'll play moving forward but I genuinely don't think it was/is. If we'd have gone there and played open and expansive football and lost it would feel like we're back to square one. This feels like something to build on. We've seen how resolute and strong we can be now and the team are building that confidence and trust in each other again.

The upcoming schedule is a lot kinder to us and realistically we should now be looking to put together a winning run. On paper all the games up to Dortmund on 5th Nov look winnable .The city of old would've won every game up to then and it'll be a marker of where we are in the rebuild with how many results we get between now and then.

 

[Phoenix900000]

Considering a lot and I mean a lot of fans (rivals and our fans) thought we were going to get battered a point isnt bad at all.

Plus a very tricky away fixture out of the way

 

[TonyBookEnd]

Fair enough mate.

Some like to bemoan - some like to see the positives.

Each to their own, I guess.

Not sure what you hope to achieve by bemoaning a load of stuff that happened in the past rather than focusing on what we’re trying to build in the here and now.

Surely I’m not alone in hearing echos of Gary Neville’s entitled bleating about ‘This is Manchester United we’re taking about here’ in your second statement.

It achieves absolutely nothing constructive, apart from making the speaker sound like they’re stuck in the past.

Being good in the past entitles you to precisely fuck all in the present.

I'm not saying there weren't any positives from yesterday and certainly this past week.
I just felt that yesterday wasn't as positive as some have made out

Precisley, you remain good by keeping doing the things that got you there in the first place. You need to keep bringing in the best players.

 

[dadnlad]

Dont think Ive ever seen a throw in thrown out not once but twice

did it against napali .....

 

[Manc in London]

Good point. Good to see the side defend well as a unit.

More positives. Gvardiol, Nico O Reilly, Rodri, Doku, Reijnders all put in a real shift. Haaland, what’s more to be said? Elite.

Shame about Khusanov’s injury, hope it’s not a serious one. Nunes did alright fwiw.

My only concern has been some of the subs and their lack of impact. Nico G, Ake, Savio made us more vulnerable than stable when they came on. Makes sense why Pep wanted to keep the same lineup for 3 games in a row.

imo missed a trick by not subbing off Reijnders for someone. But on we move, he looked knackered.

Big away game out the way, and as expected, the big spenders in Arsenal are still rubbish. They had more rest than us too.

Given the run of games and intensity, I’d have happily taken 7/9 against the opponents we’ve had after two back to back losses.

To be fair, they have not played much football of late. They need to get some minutes in tehir legs. I would hope all three get minutes in the league cup.

Like you, very happy with 7 out of 9 points. Granted two games were at home but having three consecutive games like that is a tough ask while changing the way we play and our key player building up fitness.