Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Only fans of The Arsenal could moan when we win….

8 Replies
Saturday we WON and we WON AWAY, something we rarely did last season and had not done in the league since November this. Yet still too many on the social media and some blogs are using it as a stick to beat Unai Emery with.
Now I have the upmost respect to all match going fans, both home, away and the nut nuts who travel to Easten Europen war zones, I tip my hat to you all.
But there seems to be an element that say they are fans of The Arsenal that just can’t stop having a moan up on social media whilst sitting at home watching on a stream.
When chatting to mates who went oop north and seeing their social media; everyone seems happy, if slightly hungover. Very little moaning from the fans that do the miles.
No one is saying we were world beaters against Huddersfield, but a good day out with mates and a win will always trump a good day out and seeing us play well, “entertaining” and lose.
Yes saturdays performance wasn’t a 10/10,  but with 3 of our best defenders out right now and Emery wanting to build from the back we may struggle. With Granit Xhaka out we may struggle. With both Ramsey and Ozil out we may struggle. And with the 2nd highest goalscorer in the league this season out, we may struggle. We struggled, but we won, job done.
That lot up the road were praised for winning games when they had an injury crisis of 3 players. We were without 7.
As a supporter of a certain age I’m kinda used to seeing struggle. I grew up on the football over the 70s and 80s. When we won nothing.
I’m used to seeing us grind out results. I can hand on heart say I’ve enjoyed seeing us get a result we didn’t deserve more than when we turned up and battered sides in the 1st half. That 90th minute winner after a tough game.
Another point is Saturdays starting lineup had 2 London boys who came through the youth ranks in the starting, line up. We also had another 2 sitting in the bench.
Local lads playing might be a mute point to some, but I’m a big lover of seeing them come good.
From my early days watching a young Adams, Rocky, Merson, Thomas, Super Kev etc to Cole and Jack under Wenger. We have a great crop of youngsters right now, who Emery is backing and giving game time too,
I do find the stick the likes of Alex Iwobi and Ainsley Maitland-Niles get on social media very odd. We should be backing our local lads, not going out of our way to abuse and criticise them.
Every right minded fan knew that Emery had a tough job this season.
When he came most most agreed that his minimum target would be to return us to challenging for top 4.
Prior to the Manchester City v Chelsea game, we were 1 point off Manchester United in 4th. We have 5 points more than we did at the same stage last season and should be on course to get over 70 points.
This season made harder by the fact he couldn’t buy this Jan due the rules on increasing the wage bill. It’s been made double hard by the sheer number of players that have had fluke injuries. But yet we are sitting on the coat tails of 3rd and 4th, and have an easier run in then those above.
People are criticising Emery even though he is fulfilling their pre-season expectations.
We all want to see improvement, but only the deluded would think that a squad that spluttered to 6th place last season and got smashed away from home in the Prem would be title challangers in 2 transfer windows. Emery is building a new way of playing, he’s building a new squad and he’s not shy in bringing in the youth.
The damage left by Wenger/Ivan may take 3 years to fix. This summer we could see up to 10 first team squad members leave. Yet some want to give the manager stick after just 26 Prem games, I honestly don’t know what planet there on.
my only theory is that as they didn’t have Emery on their “wanted” list; they now go out of their way to criticise him to prove they were right in not wanting him.
People moaning about % of the ball, Xg Goals, how many more corners they had, how many passes etc. The only stat that matters is who scored the most goals.Theres even the fools that can’t see an improvement on last season. 
I wanted Wenger out for years before he went, I wanted him out as I couldn’t see an improvement, we all watched us slowely spiral downwards. The downward spiral has been stopped, we are heading back up and at the pace to which we went down. If that’s not good enough for some then I feel for you I really do, but I’m sorry we are not gonig to win the Prem this season.
We also have to accept that there are 6 top teams chasing 4 Champions League places. It isn’t as easy as it was in the 00s.
If only those who seem hell bent on moaning at Emery win, lose or draw put more time into moaning about ticket prices, games moved for TV, the cost of trains to and from games and often lack of trains, then we would as fans be a lot better off.
Ignore the moaners – UNAI EMERY’S RED AND WHITE ARMY….
Gav

Match Report: Huddersfield Town 1 – 2 Arsenal

2 Replies
Huddersfield Town (0) 1 Arsenal (2) 2
Premier League
John Smith’s Stadium, Stadium Way, Huddersfield HD1 6PG
Saturday, 9th February 2019. Kick-off time: 3.00pm
(4-2-3-1) Leno; Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Maitland-Niles; Torreira, Guendouzi; Kolašinac, Mkhitaryan, Lacazette, Iwobi.
Substitutes: Čech, Elneny, Lichtsteiner, Suárez, Mavropanos, Nketiah, Willock
Scorers: Iwobi, Lacazette
Yellow Cards: Maitland-Niles, Kolašinac
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance: 24,182
The mixture of joy and relief on the Arsenal players’ faces at the end of the match was clearly there for all to see; at last, an away win in the Premiership, the first since the victory at Bournemouth on 25th November. But let’s not get too carried away with this win in West Yorkshire today – it was hard work, dogged and at times, downright frustrating for everyone associated with Arsenal Football Club.
The good thing about these three points chalked up on the board is that a top four place is still in our sights, although it has to be said, there are some difficult matches ahead, namely Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, all of whom are now in the ascendancy. The messy business that became the first goal after just fifteen minutes, scored by young Alex Iwobi via a deflection that ended up in the bottom corner of the Huddersfield goal, merely reflected the fact that at that point in the match, albeit early in the fray, we were in control. After that, the first period became a push-me-pull-you affair of transitional football. Hats off to The Terriers, though, they didn’t just lay back and accept their fate, they did create some chances that made our defenders work for their wages, and at times we were looking frail in our own penalty area.
But, above all of this, it has to be said that every time we went on the offensive, Huddersfield appeared to fold in at the back and did have problems containing our strikers. The excellent Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who had a superb game overall today, was causing real damage on the flanks, and when he expertly slotted the ball across to Alexandre Lacazette to score our second and final goal just before the break, it was with the skill of a golfer with ice-cool nerves who had to make a final putt to win the Ryder Cup for Europe. This player has a superb future in the game, as his overall vision and intuition belies his tender years. The second half beckoned, and with it as we have seen so many times this season, a different Arsenal appeared from behind the curtain.
By rights, being 2-0 up, we should have built on this score and gone back to North London in the knowledge that we scored a hat-full of goals on our march to the top four of the Premiership, but hey, this is Arsenal, remember. There were times, it has to be said, when Huddersfield could have, would have and defintely should have scored, but somehow lacked the final certain something needed to give us cause for concern. Despite Mr. Emery bringing on Mohamed Elneny for the lacklustre Lucas Torreira and Denis Suárez for Henrikh Mkhitaryan (who looked impressive earlier in the match), we were unable to add to the two goals that we scored in the first half. Just when we thought we were going to walk away with our first match of the season with a clean sheet, Sead Kolašinac ham-fistedly directed the ball into his own net deep into injury time.
Look, three points is nothing to sneeze at, but it should be noted that Huddersfield’s statistics were somehow better than ours; fifteen goal attempts to our nine, five corners to our none (unbelievable) and their overall possession was 54% to Arsenal’s 46%. No disrespect at all to our old friends, but it was a good job we weren’t facing a top four club today, as we may well have been punished badly for our efforts. It has been widely reported that Mr. Emery may have an increased budget of £45-60,000,000 available for transfer deals this summer; if that is the case, then let’s hope we get in a 2 or 3 quailty players to push for starting places. Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as these early days are going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.

https://twitter.com/shewore/status/1092861498597261312?s=21

4312 for The Arsenal is not “too defensive”

Leave a reply

Arsenal’s best performance this season came against Chelsea. A 2-0 victory in a game that The Gunners dominated.

The formation we played in that match was 4312. It is a formation we have played numerous times since; and one which Unai Emery has come in for some stick for.

Fans wrongly claim that we are playing 3 defensive midfielders. Lucas Torreira Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi. They are not all defensive midfielders.

Gunners Town recently spoke to a Lorient fan about Arsenal target Alexis Claude Maurice. During the discussion they talked about Guendouzi, who signed from Lorient last summer.

They expressed surprise at Arsenal fans labelling Guendouzi as a defensive or holding midfielder, as he has only ever been box-to-box growing up and was utilised in an attacking free role last season in French Ligue 2.

And that is the truth, Guendouzi does not play as a defensive midfielder. He is more box to box. A proper central midfielder. Like what Patrick Vieira was.

It seems in many fans mind, you are either an attacking midfielder (Mesut Ozil) or a defensive midfielder (Claude Makelele). There is nothing in between. But there is, and that is where Guendouzi sits.

Xhaka has also never really been an out and out defensive midfielder. In fact he struggled at Arsenal when he was the primary defensive midfielder.

For Borussia Mönchengladbach and Switzerland, he always played with someone behind him doing the bulk of the defensive work.

A hulk of a man, Xhaka did contribute to his sides defensively, but his man job was transitioning the ball from defence to attack with his excellent passing. He is not as box to box as Guendouzi, more a deep lying play maker. He certainly is not a defensive midfielder.

Lucas Torreira is the closest we have to a defensive midfielder, but even he is not a Makelele or Gilberto Silva.

The Uruguayan gets forward a lot more than someone who is simply a shied in front of a defence. And he is a much better passer and creator then people like Makelele, Gilberto or Fernandinho.

Whilst for Arsenal he is the deepest of the midfield 3, he is more than capable playing further forward. He is a talented guy.

The reality is, Emery is building a high energy midfield trio who can provide solid cover for the defence, but also push forward and press high.

Playing all 3 ensures that they can push forward backing up the front 3 when they press, knowing that one will still sit so that they are not all cut out with one ball through the midfield.

They also allow Hector Bellerin and Saed Kolasinac to bomb forward and provide extra cover for them.

I like the 12 upfront as well.

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette both love dropping out wide. This then creates space in the middle for an attacking midfielder to bomb into. Aaron Ramsey would have been ideal for this role with his goal scoring record.

Back to the midfield, I can see us continuing to play 3 in the middle next season. It is why Emery is looking at the likes of Adrien Rabiot and Christopher Nkunku. If we play 3, we need 6.

If we secure both Frenchmen, it will enable us to cash in on Mohamed Elneny and, alongside Ainsley Maitland-Niles, we will have the midfielders we need to play the way Emery wants.

As for those who are still moaning about it being too defensive, let me ask you a question:

Is Liverpool’s midfield too defensive?

Liverpool also play a midfield 3. A trio combination of Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho.

Let’s compare their Premier League statistics to the lads at Arsenal:

Xhaka – 1885 minutes played – 3 Goals; 1 Aassist

Guendouzi – 1466 – 0G 0A

Torreira – 1790 – 2G 2A

 

Fabinho – 1096 – 1G 2A

Wijnaldum – 1774 – 1G 0A

Henderson – 1234 – 0G 0A

Keita – 970 – 0G 1A

Totals:

 

Arsenal midfield:

5140 minutes played

5 goals; 3 assists

Liverpool midfield:

5074 minutes played

2 goals; 3 assists

Yet no one is saying Liverpool’s midfield is “too defensive.”

The truth is, playing Xhaka, Torreira and Guendouzi is not too defensive. It is probably the only part of the Arsenal side that is solid and actually working at the moment.

Keenos