Arsenal v Leeds Utd Match Thread

[Chilli D]

I said ages ago that Rodon was not proven at PL level despite how good he was for us in the championship. Spurs loaned him first to Swansea and then us before we bought him and at no time did Spurs attempt to keep him even when they were poor defensively.
Struijk has definitely been the better of the CB pairing so far so it seems more likely to replace Rodon for Bijol if DF is considering changes.
Obviously all the bench players will start against the Wendies so we'll see what they're about.

[1964white]

44 errors in the first-half.

[1964white]

I said ages ago that Rodon was not proven at PL level despite how good he was for us in the championship. Spurs loaned him first to Swansea and then us before we bought him and at no time did Spurs attempt to keep him even when they were poor defensively.
Struijk has definitely been the better of the CB pairing so far so it seems more likely to replace Rodon for Bijol if DF is considering changes.
Obviously all the bench players will start against the Wendies so we'll see what they're about.

Ironically, Rodon was one of our better players in the first-half.

[SG90]

44 errors in the first-half.

And how many of our own making?

[White Lotus]

It's always wonderful to read the experts at the final whistle in hindsight, but they never seem to be able to tell us what they know prior to any matches starting.
In hindsight i should've left my £10 0-1 bet in my back pocket and i'm kicking myself for being so stupid as to dream we could win, but i've always been an optimistic person, probably too optimistic as i knew we'd get spanked and bet with my heart, if my life depended on it it's Arsenal all day long. I don't have any qualms at all with how Farke went about the game from the off and someone has nailed it - We are 'Aldi' Arsenal are 'Harrods' we have a long way to go. I don't have a problem because Farke had to find out where we're at, and i'm pretty sure he, the players, and the club have found out.

He has not been shy about the fact we are not strong enough up front, so i'm 100% certain things are going to change there, but he has some loyalty about him, not overly loyal but loyal enough to try and keep a happy dressing room loyal, the new players are not up to speed with team plans, so throwing Okafor straight in for example could easily not do Gudmundson any favours if he doesn't know to track back and combine with him yet,After last season and also beating EFC and performing ok/ish in the friendlies he was loyal to Willy, Piroe and James, forums would've been in meltdown had we lost 5-0 with Okafor- Dcl- Nmecha.

Could we have played any other way/s, absolutely yes.
Would we have won - I can confidently on yesterdays evidence say 'not a cat in hells chance'

The two biggest worries/concerns to come from yesterdays performance was - Have other teams now learned to really press us fast and high thus into panic, because - Are we good enough to play like we did in the Championship at this higher level? No, not against the better teams, which is a big concern I hope the lesser teams can't learn to capitalise on.
There's no getting away from the fact the rich clubs are going to be out of our reach trying to match them, I think we need more evidence for the rest.
When Arsenal went and scored the first goal I immediately thought it was over as a 'contest' there's are loads of reasons why, them being at home etc, but basically we haven't got the players they have to call it a contest and get back into the game, an army will outgun you with better men and artillery, the keeper and defence were under constant bombardment, the midfield over-ran and no fire power up front - We are not on their level, if you want 'Roukes Drift' then fine, you'll still lose.

The 2nd - Was our keeper, very concerning, more evidence needed, i don't particularly want to dwell on it because of that.
For any that want Farke sacked before he's had a chance - I think he will come under the spotlight if he doesn't address certain things, from EFC we competed well but lacked up front, from Arsenal - The keeper's plays/distribution - and their fast early press on us i.e Bogle's expression when the keeper chipped it nearly out of play to him etc and the look of 'What the hell am i supposed to do with that?" We were causing a lot of problems ourselves, but that's quite hard to fix 'in-play' - He needs to go through the game sat down with them all on a big screen replay, pausing and highlighting how good they were at things, and how bad we were at stuff.

Looking for positives - I think we can get better, we weren't terribly bad until their first goal, and it's a shame we didn't score first from Pascals corner header because it ended as a contest when Arsenal got the first, and especially the second they went into dictating 'overdrive. I don't particularly want to get into any arguments about our level/manager/players because it's plain to see where we're at. Better to be constructive/realistic/honest, we've a long way to go.

I think Newcastle will now beat us, but i'm hoping he can get his best team out asap so as to analyse, i don't feel that's his best team yet, we weren't very special v EFC, they came out playing all wrong first half and we were in total control, it was more of a contest 2nd half where we still lacked dominance/firepower up front until the changes.
So for me, the jury is still out on whether we're good enough to stay up, the games after Newcastle will be vital in determining that, unless of course we beat Newcastle, which would help a great deal

MOT.

[White Lotus]

I can also confirm that after the above^ long-winded post i was logged out.
Luckily i just pressed the 'back' button and it was still there so i copy and pasted it and then logged in again. I've been looking to adjust something as i seem to get logged out internally here everytime i leave the page and not something i do, perhaps there's a time limit safety feature like banking apps?

[1964white]

And how many of our own making?

The majority were of our own, simple passes, losing possession with ease, lack of anticipation, centre-midfield non-existent, extremely poor defending, poor decisions.....

I know the Gooners are a top drawer club, but we made the game so easy for them, we were just a mess and a complete shambles.

I don't think Arsenal were brilliant on the day. All five goals conceded were questionable!

[1964white]

Now, for the second-half.....

[Chilli D]

Ironically, Rodon was one of our better players in the first-half.

Until the first goal we were containing them fairly comfortably despite all their possession and the crowd were starting to get a bit restless but we seemed to fall apart once they scored.

[White Lotus]

The majority were of our own, simple passes, losing possession with ease, lack of anticipation, centre-midfield non-existent, extremely poor defending, poor decisions.....

I know the Gooners are a top drawer club, but we made the game so easy for them, we were just a mess and a complete shambles.

I don't think Arsenal were brilliant on the day. All five goals conceded were questionable!

Look at how fast they were immediately up our players arses/harrying them, no time to think, forcing the error.
Try and pay more attention in the first half to how Arsenal played and not us.

[John in Louisiana]

The majority were of our own, simple passes, losing possession with ease, lack of anticipation, centre-midfield non-existent, extremely poor defending, poor decisions.....

I know the Gooners are a top drawer club, but we made the game so easy for them, we were just a mess and a complete shambles.

I don't think Arsenal were brilliant on the day. All five goals conceded were questionable!

That, more than the loss, is what bothers me. We really missed Ampadu in the middle of the pitch.

Reminded me of how much things fell apart when Tyler Adams wend down a few years ago. Not a good sign that we're so reliant on one player to provide structure and composure.

[SG90]

The majority were of our own, simple passes, losing possession with ease, lack of anticipation, centre-midfield non-existent, extremely poor defending, poor decisions.....

I know the Gooners are a top drawer club, but we made the game so easy for them, we were just a mess and a complete shambles.

I don't think Arsenal were brilliant on the day. All five goals conceded were questionable!

Simply agree. You can guarantee Burnley will be set up to defend and contain Arsenal, and will probably lose by 1 or 2. Games like this are about damage limitation and keeping the score as low as possible. I dread to think the scoreline v Man Citeh and Liverpool with Farke trying to play out from the back.

[JoeDenver]

A southern staple. Any and every store sells it here in our Appalachian neck of the woods. Think it originated in SC if memory serves.

It was a glorious time when I discovered it when ai loved back East. Led to a bit of panic upon moving to Colorado, but thankfully Wal-Mart of all places has helped satisfy the void.

[JoeDenver]

Only available on Amazon and I never use them.
Never use anything in a squeezy bottle either especially not Hellmans heaven forbid.
If i could get a jar I’d try it.

Well worth making sacrifices for, IMHO…even with an annoying squeeze bottle. At least so you can try out. Maybe you’ve got a friend who can do the deed with Amazon on your behalf ;)

[1964white]

Until the first goal we were containing them fairly comfortably despite all their possession and the crowd were starting to get a bit restless but we seemed to fall apart once they scored.

Both Rodon & Struijk responsible for two of their goals, though statistically Joe & Pascal were two of our better players.

[Cjay]

Look at how fast they were immediately up our players arses/harrying them, no time to think, forcing the error.
Try and pay more attention in the first half to how Arsenal played and not us.

Bit stupid to try playing through them then wasn't it . . . . . .

[1964white]

That, more than the loss, is what bothers me. We really missed Ampadu in the middle of the pitch.

Reminded me of how much things fell apart when Tyler Adams wend down a few years ago. Not a good sign that we're so reliant on one player to provide structure and composure.

We missed Ampadu terribly, he would have got stuck in!

How can we have a central midfielder who is non-existent like Gruev was for much of the game, a couple of blocks & one pass is not good enough from a CM, along with Perri, Ilia was responsible for the second goal right on half-time.

If Gruev is our cover for Ampadu, god help us!

[1964white]

Look at how fast they were immediately up our players arses/harrying them, no time to think, forcing the error.
Try and pay more attention in the first half to how Arsenal played and not us.

Arsenal's pressing & movement was fantastic!

I'm sorry, it doesn't excuse the errors we constantly made throughout the game. As a team, we need to be disciplined & show composure in these type of games, not running around like headless chickens.

Lessons learnt hopefully.

[The Subhuman]

Both Rodon & Struijk responsible for two of their goals, though statistically Joe & Pascal were two of our better players.

Tough to blame anyone

Rodon should have made the run for their first. Gudmundsson let Saka go and Perri should have saved Saka's shot. Bogle got in Struijk's way while missing a tackle for the third. Ping pong for the fouth, no one got a clean touch on it. Stach gave the pen away for the fifth

Can moan we didn't hoof it more but it would have come straight back and made little difference, best defence is to have an attacking threat and we had none.. Why I said we can't be defensive this season it just won't work

[1964white]

That, more than the loss, is what bothers me. We really missed Ampadu in the middle of the pitch.

Reminded me of how much things fell apart when Tyler Adams wend down a few years ago. Not a good sign that we're so reliant on one player to provide structure and composure.

Had we been competitive & put in a decent performance John, I would have no problem with a defeat, the reality is we did neither!