Subdued Winning Reaction vs Saliva plrr

[LDG]

Noice

Onwards Teta’s Army

[Letters]

Weird to watch Arsenal and not be absolutely furious afterwards.

[Gooner23]

Excellent stuff, demolished them in the 1st half

[dazthegooner]

We only had 39% possession.

[Ralpheroo72]

Weird to watch Arsenal and not be absolutely furious afterwards.

:lol:

[Marc Overmars]

The thought of going out to Emery. :sick:

Must beat that clown and win this shit.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great win.

Will definitely end in tears with Emery doing us over.

[Gooner23]

It's a potential final with Utd I'm most worried about :sick:

[Marc Overmars]

To be honest us in any final that isn’t the FA Cup is usually a disaster. :sick:

[KSE Comedy Club]

Good result, thank god.

I do feel that we are still a 45 min team rather than a 90 min one though, we'll need to up our game a bit for the semi's

Onward to victory!

'Good Ebening'

[WGC Goon]

That's more like the Arsenal we all want to see, thoroughly professional against inferior opposition, just shows how poor we were in the 1st leg.
I certainly don't want to see David Luiz and Willian start another Arsenal match, unless it's due to injuries/desperation.
We're definitely better without Aubameyang for now and him having Malaria may mean we won't see him for the rest of the season anyway.
Onwards and upwards! :tiphat:

[GP]

Great win.

Will definitely end in tears with Emery doing us over.

It is inevitable.

[Mac76]

The thought of going out to Emery. :sick:

Must beat that clown and win this shit.

yeah i'm worried about that - it feels like a jinx-type situation - I'm just hoping Villareal fans feel the same but the other way round...

[I am invisible]

Anyone else starting to think that Mari should be first-choice CB atm? He just seems to add that air of calm to the backline that I think we lost when we sold Emi, and we never look like we're about to descend into panic and chaos with him there.

[IBK]

C'mon guys. That's too subdued for me. I have as many doubts about Arteta as most on here, but let's enjoy a lovely win.

For once, the manager realised that Laca is effective up front with mobile runners in support. I was in 2 minds about whether Martinelli should have started on the left but Pepe in front of Xhaka worked well, and I don't think Xhaka gets the credit for being really solid out of position there. I was worried about Ceballos in MF but the manager as right to keep the set up that won against Sheffield. Giving Partey that responsibility for anchoring MF really suits him. Also - look at the benefit of keeping a well working CB pairing - even if Luis and Gabriel may be better individual 'footballers'.

So he resisted changing too much, and we looked really well balanced and mobile - albeit that Sparta were poor, both in approach and execution.

I'm not going overboard, and I will not believe that Arteta has turned a corner until we have played well against proper opposition and shown some consistency. We need to see what happens when Luis and Auba are fit...and it'll take more than this to break the manager's Willian fetish.

But let's at least acknowledge the success that the manager has made of a mix and match team with 4 previous nailed on starters out. Can't remember us being this devastating going forwards and secure at the back for a while and it felt great.

[Chippy]

The thought of going out to Emery. :sick:

Must beat that clown and win this shit.

Great result.

We aint winning shit.

Calm your excitement because dissapointment is ahead.

Thank you.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I don’t think I’m capable of disappointment where Arsenal is concerned.

[Mac76]

Anyone else starting to think that Mari should be first-choice CB atm? He just seems to add that air of calm to the backline that I think we lost when we sold Emi, and we never look like we're about to descend into panic and chaos with him there.

yes i think he should be first choice - you kind of don't notice him until he calmly works a bit of skill, which i always think is a good sign

[Niall_Quinn]

I don’t think I’m capable of disappointment where Arsenal is concerned.

There's always next year's away kit to look forward to in bitter anticipation.

[I am invisible]

yes i think he should be first choice - you kind of don't notice him until he calmly works a bit of skill, which i always think is a good sign
Or when he outpaces Vardy out of nowhere! Seriously, where did that come from?

It’s his effect on the rest of the defence that I really like, though - the rest of them just seem so much less jittery when he’s there.

[I am invisible]

C'mon guys. That's too subdued for me. I have as many doubts about Arteta as most on here, but let's enjoy a lovely win.

For once, the manager realised that Laca is effective up front with mobile runners in support. I was in 2 minds about whether Martinelli should have started on the left but Pepe in front of Xhaka worked well, and I don't think Xhaka gets the credit for being really solid out of position there. I was worried about Ceballos in MF but the manager as right to keep the set up that won against Sheffield. Giving Partey that responsibility for anchoring MF really suits him. Also - look at the benefit of keeping a well working CB pairing - even if Luis and Gabriel may be better individual 'footballers'.

So he resisted changing too much, and we looked really well balanced and mobile - albeit that Sparta were poor, both in approach and execution.

I'm not going overboard, and I will not believe that Arteta has turned a corner until we have played well against proper opposition and shown some consistency. We need to see what happens when Luis and Auba are fit...and it'll take more than this to break the manager's Willian fetish.

But let's at least acknowledge the success that the manager has made of a mix and match team with 4 previous nailed on starters out. Can't remember us being this devastating going forwards and secure at the back for a while and it felt great.
It’s so hard to know what to make of Arteta sometimes? You can see that there’s a really bold, innovative coach in there, who can find interesting solutions to problems and get a team to play fast, sexy football, but he only ever seems to emerge when his back’s against the wall? How do we get that Arteta all the time?

Tbh, I’m not expecting much in the way of consistency between now and the end of the season - I just don’t think we have the quality in depth yet to be able to casually absorb and manage things like the fatigue, loss of form and absence of key players, so we’re probably only capable of 3-, maybe 4-game runs before something blows up. I’m just looking out for moments that hint at what we’re trying to do and what we could be with a bit of clever recruitment.

Cracking performance though - it’s really easy to like a lot of this team and a lot of what we’re doing when they play like that.

[I am invisible]

Quick shout out to Pepe too - I’ve been indifferent towards him at best up until now, but he’s quietly dragged himself up to double-figures for the season and is starting to look consistently dangerous. More importantly he’s starting to look like he’s part of the team, and not just doing his own thing out there.

[Mac76]

Quick shout out to Pepe too - I’ve been indifferent towards him at best up until now, but he’s quietly dragged himself up to double-figures for the season and is starting to look consistently dangerous. More importantly he’s starting to look like he’s part of the team, and not just doing his own thing out there.

I really like Pepe, he's proving to be really good on the left and showing that if he gets regular game time he can play at a consistently high level

[IBK]

It’s so hard to know what to make of Arteta sometimes? You can see that there’s a really bold, innovative coach in there, who can find interesting solutions to problems and get a team to play fast, sexy football, but he only ever seems to emerge when his back’s against the wall? How do we get that Arteta all the time?

Tbh, I’m not expecting much in the way of consistency between now and the end of the season - I just don’t think we have the quality in depth yet to be able to casually absorb and manage things like the fatigue, loss of form and absence of key players, so we’re probably only capable of 3-, maybe 4-game runs before something blows up. I’m just looking out for moments that hint at what we’re trying to do and what we could be with a bit of clever recruitment.

Cracking performance though - it’s really easy to like a lot of this team and a lot of what we’re doing when they play like that.

Having reflected further (I need something to do rather than debate the Super League), I think that Arteta has consistently shown his lack of experience by his indecisiveness and his own decision making inconsistency. So - decide whether or not you are going to priritise the Europa League over the EPL. If yes, then don't play your top striker who doesn't tend to react well to being overplayed, and think about overplaying your best player (Saka), at least for starters. If no (and this shouldn't have been the case), then try to maintain momentum and don't start with Ceballos and Elneny in MF and change 4 of your back 5.

Again - if you have been shown what your young players can do - give Martinelli, Nketiah or Balogun a start up front. If a player (Pepe) is excelling at LW, keep him there).

More generally, don't take a stand with Auba and then play him even though his form sucks. Don't see Willian stinking up the place but pick him time and time again when others have impressed.

Its funny how some things (playing out from the back); not making subs early enough and dumping certain players seem to be absolutes, but this attitude has not been shown with choosing players. Or how the manager seems to change up playing on the front foot so often to revert to caution, and continually tinkers with formations which prevents the telepathy that we play with when on form...