Arsenal (A) Post Match thread

[Chi-town blues]

One thing I noticed yesterday was how often Dias and Stones carried the ball forward deep into Arsenal territory. Time and time again, especially in the second half. Much more so than in recent games. Normally Ferna would be the one doing this from deep. A very smart reaction to Arteta asking Saka to drop onto Cancelo and Odegaatd onto Ferna and man-mark them when we were in possession. Proper 4D chess shit to still create the spare man

And that is the reason why ferny is a modern day hybrid defensive midfielder with brain cells and i love him to bits.
Saka tired but ferny was too intelligent for the kid . He let stones or dias take the ball forward while he tucked in their place and saka was lost and bam he comes out after reading everything in front of him to null their moves.
What a fucking player

 

[LongsightM13]

Special mention to Gabby for fighting for every ball and made sure he returned home with 3 points.

Liked his aggression and strength when he came on, hope he continues in that vein

 

[lazerblue]

I don’t think we can make this call just yet when we played in first gear even after Kev went off. I would say that Rodri, Bernardo and Gundogan is undisputedly our best midfield 3 so for me Kev would be competing for the 9 role with Jesus.

time to give bernardo a rest now, he's been flogged to death lately

 

[Blu3m00n91]

We played at a walking pace and arsenal didn’t even lay a glove on us. That’s some confidence from our players that, it’s almost as if they knew they couldn’t score past us so thought fuck it why waste energy

 

[Ballet-on-ice]

Was it my imagination or did the post match fist bump between the managers look a bit frosty?

 

[LongsightM13]

And that is the reason why ferny is a modern day hybrid defensive midfielder with brain cells and i love him to bits.
Saka tired but ferny was too intelligent for the kid . He let stones or dias take the ball forward while he tucked in their place and saka was lost and bam he comes out after reading everything in front of him to null their moves.
What a fucking player

Amen brother, my favourite player.
Also a master at managing the game and quietly winding up the opposition.
Until they changed the rule, Sergio was football’s all time greatest exponent of the long, slow walk from the furthest corner flag when being substituted - adjusting his shinpads, eventually setting off at an OAP’s amble and pausing to shake hands with everyone in the stadium except the stewards.
Ferna is a similar master of the “casual throw the ball forwards with a bit of backspin” when we get a trivial free kick in the midfield, especially late on as we protect a lead and manage the game out. The opposition invariably get frustrated and wound up and kick the ball back behind him. He does it again, they start moaning, the ref gets involved and it all eats up more valuable seconds. A man playing with boys.

 

[Chi-town blues]

Amen brother, my favourite player.
Also a master at managing the game and quietly winding up the opposition.
Until they changed the rule, Sergio was football’s all time greatest exponent of the long, slow walk from the furthest corner flag when being substituted - adjusting his shinpads, eventually setting off at an OAP’s amble and pausing to shake hands with everyone in the stadium except the stewards.
Ferna is a similar master of the “casual throw the ball forwards with a bit of backspin” when we get a trivial free kick in the midfield, especially late on as we protect a lead and manage the game out. The opposition invariably get frustrated and wound up and kick the ball back behind him. He does it again, they start moaning, the ref gets involved and it all eats up more valuable seconds. A man playing with boys.

View attachment 11137

Shaktar vs chelsea he blew my mind and still hasn’t lost a bit .
Legend

 

[Manc in London]

Was it my imagination or did the post match fist bump between the managers look a bit frosty?

Pep and Arteta are always like that with each other after the final whistle. They chatted before the game. Would not surprise me if they chatted after the game.

 

[Kinkys Left Foot]

It's optics, but the players were all having a Portuguese chinwag which kind of dilutes it somewhat.
It winds some fans up that their players can be mates with opposing players, not sue why when they are sometimes international teamates and have spent the last 90 minutes kicking and swearing at each other to get one over on the other. Guess that's polarised partisanship for you.

 

[Nelinho]

One thing I noticed yesterday was how often Dias and Stones carried the ball forward deep into Arsenal territory. Time and time again, especially in the second half. Much more so than in recent games. Normally Ferna would be the one doing this from deep. A very smart reaction to Arteta asking Saka to drop onto Cancelo and Odegaatd onto Ferna and man-mark them when we were in possession. Proper 4D chess shit to still create the spare man

Excellent post. Arteta made the adjustments you describe in minute 10', a few minutes later Ruben will take the initiative and penetrate through their lines. John would very soon follow from the other side, making Aubameyang feeling like an idiot: the man cannot possibly mark 2 players at the same time...

On a couple of occasions in the first 30' Holding felt Ilkay had entered his area of responsibility and started chasing him back to midfield, unsure when to stop and come back to close the gap again, the same with the other CD vs Kevin. They had absolutely no clue throughout the 90' where it was coming from, our positional fluidity provided answers to everything they tried, we constantly kept them guessing. All that while dealing with the game as a training session while opposition was trying his very fucking best...

Whatever they're trying to make out of it, it was men vs boys all 90'. My only concern was that the lead remained narrow because we weren't serious (again) in terms of finishing chances (and the game). Other than that, comments made by Arsenal fans in this forum are the ones speaking the truth -exactly because they were suffering the reality of the match as it evolved...