Arsenal (H) - 25 February

[Koke]

These are better than Man Utd and unless we fix up our defensive issues it's another L. We can't keep relying on our attackers to bail us out by scoring 3 or 4 goals per game.

[AKCJ]

Ward

Castagne Souttar Faes Kristiansen

Ndidi Tielemans

Tete Maddison Barnes

Iheanacho

[PhillippaT]

Yeah, nah. This aint happening... We're not winning this one after what we saw yesterday.  Shame.  Oh well.  Let's hope the Gunners have an offday and let us have a draw, right?  

[South Shire Fox]

6 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Ward

Castagne Souttar Faes Kristiansen

Ndidi Tielemans

Tete Maddison Barnes

Iheanacho

What has Ndidi done to start over Mendy? 

[Chelmofox]

We knew the more attacking selection would expose us. Difference with Man U is we didn’t take our chances. 
 

Do we want to see us continue with this, knowing we are going to leak at least 1 or 2 a game, or would you rather Brendan went in more defensive?

[AKCJ]

1 minute ago, South Shire Fox said:

What has Ndidi done to start over Mendy? 

Tbh if it was up to me i'd play both Mendy and Ndidi. I just think that's what we'll see.

[Chelmofox]

Just now, AKCJ said:

Tbh if it was up to me i'd play both Mendy and Ndidi. I just think that's what we'll see.

There is a reason you aren’t in charge. 🤪🤪

[South Shire Fox]

1 minute ago, AKCJ said:

Tbh if it was up to me i'd play both Mendy and Ndidi. I just think that's what we'll see.

He brought Soumare on for Mendy yesterday so looks like Soumare is above Ndidi in pecking order 

[Nalis]

4-2 Arsenal but hopefully a decent performance.

 

Big run of fixtures coming up after this.

[AKCJ]

1 minute ago, South Shire Fox said:

He brought Soumare on for Mendy yesterday so looks like Soumare is above Ndidi in pecking order 

and Soumare had a genuine shocker. There's no way he keeps his place IMO.

[FoxTimmy2]

6 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

We knew the more attacking selection would expose us. Difference with Man U is we didn’t take our chances. 
 

Do we want to see us continue with this, knowing we are going to leak at least 1 or 2 a game, or would you rather Brendan went in more defensive?

We had some good attempts that we should have scored on, the difference was De Gea.

[StriderHiryu]

Man City of all teams changed their approach to concede possession and killed Arsenal on the transition by forcing mistakes from their defenders. We could try to do the same thing with the way our team is setup. That probably would mean more of a 4231 type of shape instead of 433 and get our attacking wide players and striker to press at the right times.

 

It might have gone unnoticed at Old Trafford, but the reason things changed so much in the second half is that Ten hag put on Sancho and moved Rashford wide. Those two pinned back our fullbacks Castagne and Kristiansen and it changed the entire outlook of the game. Arsenal can do the same with Saka and Martinelli / Trossard, which is a problem. First half against Man United we were winning the ball back so quickly and kept the pressure on them relentlessly, but this was no longer the case in the second half.

 

I think we can score against them, but every time I see Arsenal play they make so many chances that we are bound to concede. Will hope for a result, and it is possible we could get one, but we really have to be on our A-game to do so. Try to keep Odegaard quiet if possible, though he has been one of the best players in the division this season. 

 

 

Edited 20 February 2023 by StriderHiryu

[fuchsntf]

We went to Manutd,presently one of the most in form teams in Europe.

with the best striker hitting his stride…and a midfield a notch above many…

I am more disappointed in only drawing there in our title season…

 

We really did  in this game..give it a go,then faded…

Arsenal challenge will be the same…anything would be gravy..

our relegation opponents aren’t going anywhere…

I am sure Players & Rodgers,will give it a go,but are eyeing the rest of the games

there from..

[surrifox]

5 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

and Soumare had a genuine shocker. There's no way he keeps his place IMO.

I’d be happy to see him out of the first team picture altogether - a total zero of a player- but making him invisible reduces our chances of dumping him on to someone else 

[HybridFox]

Depends on the referee ultimately. We never get a fair game against these lot

[Pliskin]

I actually think we will win here. They’re faltering a little and on another day Villa could have gotten something out of the game. If we can tighten up a bit I think we can take these at home. 
 

2-1 win. 

[Mickyblueeyes]

Winning this. 

[Vindaloo FOX]

Think we will beat them 

[Vindaloo FOX]

Wouldn't mind is Ricky P starting this, but probably not ready yet.

[StanSP]

57 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Ward

Castagne Souttar Faes Kristiansen

Ndidi Tielemans

Tete Maddison Barnes

Iheanacho

This. 

 

I'm not fussed whether it's Mendy or Ndidi. I think it'll be Mendy though. 

 

Hard to call if it'll also be KDH or Youri. Latter was absolute turd yesterday. Couldn't get up to the pace of the game and looked so out of his depth. Maybe if he starts it's different. But Dewsbury-Hall has his benefits with giving more energy than Youri. 

 

Either way, it may all just be a moot point because their midfield and wingers will be far too good for us. We can't let our defence get exposed like they did yesterday, but I think there's just an air of inevitability about it. 

 

We may start fast, but Arsenal have this never-ending belief about them. 

 

1-3.

 

Beware the team selfie in the dressing room shortly after

 

[Supergray22]

32 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Man City of all teams changed their approach to concede possession and killed Arsenal on the transition by forcing mistakes from their defenders. We could try to do the same thing with the way our team is setup. That probably would mean more of a 4231 type of shape instead of 433 and get our attacking wide players and striker to press at the right times.

 

It might have gone unnoticed at Old Trafford, but the reason things changed so much in the second half is that Ten hag put on Sancho and moved Rashford wide. Those two pinned back our fullbacks Castagne and Kristiansen and it changed the entire outlook of the game. Arsenal can do the same with Saka and Martinelli / Trossard, which is a problem. First half against Man United we were winning the ball back so quickly and kept the pressure on them relentlessly, but this was no longer the case in the second half.

 

I think we can score against them, but every time I see Arsenal play they make so many chances that we are bound to concede. Will hope for a result, and it is possible we could get one, but we really have to be on our A-game to do so. Try to keep Odegaard quiet if possible, though he has been one of the best players in the division this season. 

 

 

All good points. The changes they made did expose us particularly at the back with our style of high line forward defending. We got caught twice when we were pushing on and lost that compact shape at the back. when we did drop back later and kept it compact we found it difficult to get further up the pitch. They still managed to drag us around when we tried to counter. Would have been a different game had we managed to take some of those early chances. De Gea pulled off some great saves. That first half exertion seemed to take its toll and when we made those substitutions we were unable to wrestle back the initiative. United played well but we have to learn the lessons and do better against Arsenal or they will expose us in the same way. 

[lgfualol]

Same team that started yesterday but Iversen in goal. Dont want Tielemans starting, he'll get battered by the Arsenal midfield.

[Pliskin]

13 minutes ago, lgfualol said:

Same team that started yesterday but Iversen in goal. Dont want Tielemans starting, he'll get battered by the Arsenal midfield.

Can’t play KDH though, he’s been dreadful recently and offers very little in terms of attack. Youri May look like he’s running in treacle, but he’s still got that one pass in him that can create a chance. He’s got to start in my opinion. KDH has been poor for months. 

[StriderHiryu]

26 minutes ago, Supergray22 said:

All good points. The changes they made did expose us particularly at the back with our style of high line forward defending. We got caught twice when we were pushing on and lost that compact shape at the back. when we did drop back later and kept it compact we found it difficult to get further up the pitch. They still managed to drag us around when we tried to counter. Would have been a different game had we managed to take some of those early chances. De Gea pulled off some great saves. That first half exertion seemed to take its toll and when we made those substitutions we were unable to wrestle back the initiative. United played well but we have to learn the lessons and do better against Arsenal or they will expose us in the same way. 

We were unlucky in that game. Overall Man United deserved the victory and once they went 2-0 up it was game over. However, there was a patch where we played them off their own park and made some amazing opportunities. When you are on top, you have to take your chances!

 

For that reason we definitely have a chance against Arsenal. But it will be an order of magnitude harder than in our last 3 games. Arsenal didn't even play that well in the away fixture earlier in the season and still won convincingly. 

[Nalis]

2 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

Can’t play KDH though, he’s been dreadful recently and offers very little in terms of attack. Youri May look like he’s running in treacle, but he’s still got that one pass in him that can create a chance. He’s got to start in my opinion. KDH has been poor for months. 

Thats a bit harsh, he was injured for a chunk of that and played well against Spurs.