Arsenal (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

I've been a bit doubtful about how much Pep can change, he tends to just try what usually works over and over even when it obviously doesn't work

this was the most un-Pep setup I've seen and one I never thought he would do and it so nearly worked. Given we haven't been at the races for 12-18 months defensively, there are really good signs that they are getting back on track.

I've been critical of Dias for a good while but he has played much better the last 3 games, more like his usual self. Add in Josko is back and class, Khush is what we need at RB with pace and willingness to get a foot in. O'Reilly has done well at LB and options now Stones and Ake are fit.

Thought it was going to be a big season for Doku and he is really stepping up, slow start to the season but on fire last 3 games, just need the same impact from Savinho who didn't help us at all when he came on, their goal from the failed counted was due to him just not moving and wasting the chance Reijnders could have played him in

Reijnders looking back at it after the lull which I expected as he gets used to the pace of the prem

Wouldn't have taken Haaland off but maybe he needed to come off, he is really stepping up as a leader as well, work rate massively improved and hold up play being good

Not sure on Bernie in the middle but awesome foul and the most obvious yellow ever

leading onto quite possibly the most useless sack of shit referee I've seen, hadn't got a clue what he was doing all game

love donna winding their fans up too, ironic to see Arteta complaining about time wasting, was a nice touch. After spending all their money, they look no better at breaking well organised teams down
 
I'm in Sacramento for seven weeks (family thing) - watched it after breakfast....John Champion commentating - hates us so much. Best defensive showing for years. If Khus is on the pitch, that last minutes goal doesn't happen. Classic Haaland finish. There isn't a defender alive who can deal with Haaland when he gets the service - his all round game was colossal. Overall, we are a team that is improving - no-one wants to play us even though we're still without some class players.
 
St Helens Blue (Exiled) said:
Nearly home now.
What a great performance that was.
Not forgetting the tarqs had an extra 2 plus days off.
Credit Arsenal for their equaliser was a great goal(twats).
Doku,O'reilly and Khusanov superb.

See you at Burnley
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What was the city end like normally when we are in London our end is riddled with tourists was it the same today
 
St Helens Blue (Exiled) said:
Nearly home now.
What a great performance that was.
Not forgetting the tarqs had an extra 2 plus days off.
Credit Arsenal for their equaliser was a great goal(twats).
Doku,O'reilly and Khusanov superb.

See you at Burnley
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If you go to Burnley there will only be you and the club groundsman there ..... the game is a 3pm kick off at the Etihad!
 
If we look at the teams we play in our first 10 PL games this season and analyse the results we find that we won 2 drew 2 and lost 6. One of the games we lost, and lost heavily. was against Arsenal at the Emirates. Since then Rodri has returned from injury, Foden is returning and there has been considerable change of personnel. But it is naive to think that we can jump straight back to playing the delightful football of 2017-18 or the treble season. But today showed we have different abilities. We have real height in our team and today we had real resilience and didn't look likely to concede from Arsenal's fabled set pieces. And we showed a real ability to use Arsenal's crowd against them! By taking our time and defending resolutely the crowd booed and got frustrated, very much to City's benefit.

Last season there were still those who thought City were a better team without Haaland!!! He spent some games wandering around and having few touches. The derby and today at the Emirates show that he is much more involved in defence, the build up and the attack and what a player he looks.

So, in brief,I think it is a mistake to think City will always play as they did today - the team is evolving and part of Pep's genius is to fit his style of play to the players he has and his tactics to those he is playing. Today it worked very well up until a slack moment deep into injury time.
 
Proud of them today, although it wasn't pretty to watch and I was very uncomfortable with our lack of possession.

I knew as soon as that Martinelli came on he would score- some subs just have that way with them. Unfortunately not ours, I still don't and won't ever rate Savinho.

Considering Arse were at home, had more rest between games, had Atwell and Gillet as 12/13 th men and the best squad imo in the league and are far fitter than us we did well.

I'm annoyed at the manner of their goal, for me it was a foul on Nico G, but there you are the high line and one lapse in concentration. I was screaming for us to get the ball upfield and play keep ball in the corner. But Sav isn't Jack, Kyle or Kev.

All in all semi pleased, thought we would be mullered, but conceding 3 minutes from time was so annoying.

Sky were usual biased selves, set of twunts.

Give the first team a rest on Wednesday, Rodri looked totally goosed today.

Well done lads.
 
antspider said:
Kushanov goes off , we concede..
Happened against spurs I think..
Also I think he needs to man up, (not the only one I suspect) I know he had his foot trodden on but blimey!!!
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I f'kin hate this mentality.

How the f'k do you know he's not broken a metatarsal or that his foot has blown up when he's took his boot off at halftime?

The lad flies into tackles, shoulder barges anyone that in his path, but you think he needs to "man up"?!!

Fook off.
 
I don’t think we will win the league but I’m telling you now they certainly won’t

They created fuck all!

They want, corners, free kicks and throw-ins. If Pep was their manager they’d have steamed into us from the go. They’ve got everything a team needs to win the league, apart from the manager

Also, why were they jumping up and down when they scored? I thought they’d have grabbed the ball and tried to get a winner - I thought it was very odd
 
the plasterer said:
Good hard earned point that, blatant foul on Nico for the equaliser, why var didn't pick it up is beyond me, been a good week so as Marc & lard used to say.....mustn't grumble
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Correct. Most of us would have taken a point at the Emirates before KO. Yes, it was a kick in the guts to concede so late on, but that's football, especially when Arse had been pressing for almost the entire 2nd half. A decent point for us today. There's a long way to go until May.
 
Dobsy said:
They made one mistake in 97 minutes against a top team and it took a worldy finish to beat them. To call it "unprofessional" is way out of order, more so to say you're "infuriated". Grow up.
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You can call it what you like mate, but we didn't focus enough at that one important point, whereas Martinelli did !

And if you was happy with dropping two points from that late winning position you should be questioning yourself, nobody else!
 
cleavers said:
Couldn't agree more.

This season (mostly), most of the CWC, and the later part of last season, it hasn't been justified for me, but a lot of the negative posters have been very quiet in the last few days (thankfully).

It was disappointing when they equalised today, but if that had been Nov/Dec 24/Jan/Feb 25 we'd have lost today, we've moved on from then, and I know we blew it at Brighton.

What is really encouraging at the moment, is the camaraderie in the team, and we've still got players missing.
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There are some promising signs that’s for sure.
 
Arsenal -god i hate the red cartel- deserved something out of this game. Despite a few shot's on target they created very little. But them scoring was a near certainty. They did. We did. A draw. I take it.

Tough week. Two days less for resting. Whatever.

Now moan or whatever, but most of you moaners on here wud’ve loved to take a point. Pity we didn’t all three, but we are on the right road.

Side note: Anyone think the media would state we defended really well? Nuff said.
 
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Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
I broke my own rule by looking at the first fifteen pages of the post-match thread, expecting to see — not untrammelled praise, for sure not — but due respect for what was a cussed performance of a sort that we were not capable of turning in once all of last season. Some of the posts, I have to assume, were either posted by trolls, by infiltra(i)tors from other clubs posing as City fans, or simply by people who need help because they are miserable if City don't play all opposition off the park. They got right up my nose.
More fool me to have broken my rule.
How much does it need emphasising that we will have two obviously difficult away games this season, against the two likely pretenders to the PL crown? We have not suddenly turned into a Mourinho team, and it is a high probability — no, a certainty — that we will not play that way against anyone else in the PL, with the single possible exception of LFC.
How much does it need emphasising that we are in the middle of a major rebuild, that this is Pep.2, he's trying to set something up for before he leaves, but that it is only slowly falling into place? That in the mean time, we need to be a bit pragmatic.
How much does it need emphasising that we played an important European game on Thursday night, and that Arsenal benefitted from 48 hours more rest?

Finally, that we have Marmoush, Cherki and Ait Nouri, who have only just arrived, pretty much, out for apparently weeks, and that Khusa, one of our best defenders this season and arguably our key defender for forty-five minutes today, had to be subbed at half-time, presumably because of injury?

We couldn't hold out for the three points, and that's disappointing. We took one point, a draw away, at the ground of the most serious challengers to Liverpool — who up to now went head to head with them at Anfield, were amply deserving of a draw in that match, and have beaten or downright thumped everyone else.

Did you hear the way they roared at the end at the Emirates, as if they thought they'd actually won something?? That's who we are, that's how we live rent free in opposition fans' heads, when they think a draw at their own place against MCFC is some kind of victory…

We have Burnley and Brentford coming up. If we play the same way against them, I'll be the chief moaner on this forum.
But we won't.
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