We've got one of the best squads we ever have.

[Pat Vegas]

and watching them play quite boring.

there is only a short window with this sort of thing and honestly I think Arteta should have already had 2 titles under his belt.

Liverpool will walk away with it again.
when it matters Arteta will always do what he did yesterday, I honestly think we could have beat PSG if we hadn't gone into the first leg that style.

[Peter]

and watching them play quite boring.

there is only a short window with this sort of thing and honestly I think Arteta should have already had 2 titles under his belt.

Liverpool will walk away with it again.
when it matters Arteta will always do what he did yesterday, I honestly think we could have beat PSG if we hadn't gone into the first leg that style.

I think we may have reached a stage where he has drummed caution into them so deeply they can't escape it. And then when he picks a team like that, for that game, it hammers it home.

We are so predictable in our play. The central threat is virtually non existent, the movement of the ball is slow and laboured. There is hardly any one-touch movement and the runs are horribly predictable. Picking Trossard was odd. Waiting so long to bring on Martinelli when they had that pillock at right back was criminal.

It is so easy for teams to double up on our flanks because they know we can't play through them. Watching yesterday, I knew where every single next pass was going before the guy even received the ball.

The increased options on the bench will mean we are better able to chase late goals, hopefully. But it is clear already that Arteta hasn't learned anything tactically from last season and I cannot see us changing that much this year. I hope we will improve as the new players have more impact. Eze has a natural game that will change the way we play, unless he is forced to conform.....

We'll finish in the top four but I think the only hope we have of winning the league is if Liverpool collapse and we end up in the scenario that Liverpool found themselves last season, where everyone else is ****.

Poor old Gyokeres. He barely touched the ball, didn't get a sniff. It is quite funny listening to these pundits who spent years screaming at us for not signing a centre forward now arguing that the problem was always a lack of creativity and chances....

[7sisters]

and watching them play quite boring.

there is only a short window with this sort of thing and honestly I think Arteta should have already had 2 titles under his belt.

Liverpool will walk away with it again.
when it matters Arteta will always do what he did yesterday, I honestly think we could have beat PSG if we hadn't gone into the first leg that style.

Wenger had the best 11 of all time but never this kind of depth of talent. Yesterday?s bench would have walked into most starting 11?s in the Prem.
The board have done their job and now all eyes are on Arteta. He?s been too conservative (bottled it) against two of the serious title contenders and dropped 5 points.
An away draw at Newcastle has a ring of inevitability about it.
There will be rumblings.

[Peter]

Wenger had the best 11 of all time but never this kind of depth of talent. Yesterday?s bench would have walked into most starting 11?s in the Prem.
The board have done their job and now all eyes are on Arteta. He?s been too conservative (bottled it) against two of the serious title contenders and dropped 5 points.
An away draw at Newcastle has a ring of inevitability about it.
There will be rumblings.

I think we'll lose at Newcastle. Certainly can't see us winning there.

[Rich]

I think we'll lose at Newcastle. Certainly can't see us winning there.

Hmm no. I think we'll win. Not sure why City setup like that. They had Haaland at centre back.

[WES]

Wenger had the best 11 of all time but never this kind of depth of talent. Yesterday?s bench would have walked into most starting 11?s in the Prem.
The board have done their job and now all eyes are on Arteta. He?s been too conservative (bottled it) against two of the serious title contenders and dropped 5 points.
An away draw at Newcastle has a ring of inevitability about it.
There will be rumblings.

It feels like Eze in the Odegaard role will solve some of our predictability issues. That and having more and better wide options with Madueke should be enough to get the best out of Gyokeres. And maybe Eze will force Odegaard to up his game.

I have faith that Arteta will realise that now that he has better options he needs to use them. This is the first time he has been in this position, after all.

And we'll beat Liverpool at home, we should have beaten them there. That's a 2 point lead with 33 games to play. Hardly a time to surrender.

[Pat Vegas]

Wenger had the best 11 of all time but never this kind of depth of talent. Yesterday?s bench would have walked into most starting 11?s in the Prem.
The board have done their job and now all eyes are on Arteta. He?s been too conservative (bottled it) against two of the serious title contenders and dropped 5 points.
An away draw at Newcastle has a ring of inevitability about it.
There will be rumblings.

Rumblings were just a few mins away yesterday. the Pundits are starting to question Arteta now.

[IUFG]

I think we may have reached a stage where he has drummed caution into them so deeply they can't escape it. And then when he picks a team like that, for that game, it hammers it home.

We are so predictable in our play. The central threat is virtually non existent, the movement of the ball is slow and laboured. There is hardly any one-touch movement and the runs are horribly predictable. Picking Trossard was odd. Waiting so long to bring on Martinelli when they had that pillock at right back was criminal.

It is so easy for teams to double up on our flanks because they know we can't play through them. Watching yesterday, I knew where every single next pass was going before the guy even received the ball.

The increased options on the bench will mean we are better able to chase late goals, hopefully. But it is clear already that Arteta hasn't learned anything tactically from last season and I cannot see us changing that much this year. I hope we will improve as the new players have more impact. Eze has a natural game that will change the way we play, unless he is forced to conform.....

We'll finish in the top four but I think the only hope we have of winning the league is if Liverpool collapse and we end up in the scenario that Liverpool found themselves last season, where everyone else is ****.

Poor old Gyokeres. He barely touched the ball, didn't get a sniff. It is quite funny listening to these pundits who spent years screaming at us for not signing a centre forward now arguing that the problem was always a lack of creativity and chances....

Being too slow is the root cause of all our boringness.

It makes everything else predictable and lets the opposition get sorted defensively.

There were occasions yesterday when midfielders, never mind defenders, were stood still with the ball at feet.

[PSRB]

Hmm no. I think we'll win. Not sure why City setup like that. They had Haaland at centre back.

Even my City supporting boss said we deserved to win and Haaland was their best defender for the last 20 minutes.

[Peter]

Being too slow is the root cause of all our boringness.

It makes everything else predictable and lets the opposition get sorted defensively.

There were occasions yesterday when midfielders, never mind defenders, were stood still with the ball at feet.

When you endlessly coach position, you stifle your own possession.

With anyone else, I'd expect this to improve as the new players settle. But I have been watching this for two years, and I am seeing his team selections coated in a layer of caution.

He desperately needs new input, new approaches. You can see the lack of movement across the board. We don't create angles, when we create space nobody fills it and when we isolate defenders we invariably turn back. Madueke and Eze are currently our players of real threat because they don't think like that. My worry is he will drum it into them rather than allowing them to shake the rest of us out of it.

Apart from anything else, if we are going to continue playing like this then we made the worst possible choice of centre forward. He is clumsy, with a heavy touch. Unless you can find him space to use, or create him a chance, he is useless.

[7sisters]

It feels like Eze in the Odegaard role will solve some of our predictability issues. That and having more and better wide options with Madueke should be enough to get the best out of Gyokeres. And maybe Eze will force Odegaard to up his game.

I have faith that Arteta will realise that now that he has better options he needs to use them. This is the first time he has been in this position, after all.

And we'll beat Liverpool at home, we should have beaten them there. That's a 2 point lead with 33 games to play. Hardly a time to surrender.

I couldn?t understand why he started Trossard and didn?t put Eze in for Odegaard. I?ve a feeling our young Nog is heading into that Bryan Robson cycle of perpetual shoulder injuries. They?re not easy to overcome after you keep jarring your ligaments & tendons around the rotator cuff. It?ll likely end up requiring surgery, although I?ve not seen any reports that he?s actually dislocated it in either of those falls.
Mikel will have learned bugger all if he doesn?t bench Merino at Newcastle, although I suspect he?ll start Eze on the left again and we?ll have the same defensive looking midfield.

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

and watching them play quite boring.

there is only a short window with this sort of thing and honestly I think Arteta should have already had 2 titles under his belt.

Liverpool will walk away with it again.
when it matters Arteta will always do what he did yesterday, I honestly think we could have beat PSG if we hadn't gone into the first leg that style.

Re: PSG - what options did we have? We we're playing MnM up top and Yakob at LCH. What cost us was what cost us yesterday = conceding a world class opening goal early. It takes the wind out of our sails, and the fans, and it becomes a long old uphill slog against a top team. And top teams park the bus even better than weaker teams.

Few inches either way with that PSG shot and it's saved or hit the post. I fancy us to win 1-0.

Like yesterday, if Gabby's back where he should be, the ugly Orc doesn't run past him like that and City have to try to play a bit more.

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

When you endlessly coach position, you stifle your own possession.

With anyone else, I'd expect this to improve as the new players settle. But I have been watching this for two years, and I am seeing his team selections coated in a layer of caution.

He desperately needs new input, new approaches. You can see the lack of movement across the board. We don't create angles, when we create space nobody fills it and when we isolate defenders we invariably turn back. Madueke and Eze are currently our players of real threat because they don't think like that. My worry is he will drum it into them rather than allowing them to shake the rest of us out of it.

Apart from anything else, if we are going to continue playing like this then we made the worst possible choice of centre forward. He is clumsy, with a heavy touch. Unless you can find him space to use, or create him a chance, he is useless.

I think the Kai injury is hitting us. He really keeps the team together and would be my preferred choice for the hardest games. I also think and rotating him with Vik would allow Vik more time to fit in, and would give us other options.

Imagine starting with Kai and when chasing a winner, bringing Vik on for Zubi so we have 2 no.10s?

[Peter]

I couldn?t understand why he started Trossard and didn?t put Eze in for Odegaard. I?ve a feeling our young Nog is heading into that Bryan Robson cycle of perpetual shoulder injuries. They?re not easy to overcome after you keep jarring your ligaments & tendons around the rotator cuff. It?ll likely end up requiring surgery, although I?ve not seen any reports that he?s actually dislocated it in either of those falls.
Mikel will have learned bugger all if he doesn?t bench Merino at Newcastle, although I suspect he?ll start Eze on the left again and we?ll have the same defensive looking midfield.

If he picks the same midfield at Newcastle he will have a lot of explaining to do when it doesn't work.

At least we have finally found Martinelli's natural position- the bench

[Peter]

I think the Kai injury is hitting us. He really keeps the team together and would be my preferred choice for the hardest games. I also think and rotating him with Vik would allow Vik more time to fit in, and would give us other options.

Imagine starting with Kai and when chasing a winner, bringing Vik on for Zubi so we have 2 no.10s?

Havertz is clearly better suited to the way we play. His touch, his intelligence, his ability in the air and the way he irritates defenders make him ideal against low blocks. But it makes **** all difference if you just plod along and keep trying the same thing......