Goonersworld

To be honest I wouldn't expect that Arsenal team to beat Brentford, there is not a single "starter" in the entire team.

How did Turner do in goal?

Tough test, but negotiated it well. Need better performance from the midfield.

Shit performance. Good win.

Saw that plenty last season

Ach wrote:Shit performance. Good win.

Saw that plenty last season

Agree with this, didn’t see anything different from last season.

Still quite a defensive side with short periods of attacking.

First goal we scored was very poor defending by Palace, second was an own goal.

The midfield needs to step up. Was disappointed w/ Partey and Xhakha unable to control the flow from the back.

I'm still seeing the same issues ...........

Yes we have more quality but that's papering over the cracks, we still have a CF issue due to this formation which is blunting our attacks for long periods of the game.

There's nothing wrong with Jesus, he's great, he's just simply not a box CF, he's being isolated from the team up front, that's not an issue with a target CF because they sit in the box and hoover up crosses and balls across the face of goal but Jesus is doing all this hard work up front and he's not got the support as a false no9.

Henry had Bergkamp, then he had Adebayor ........ Jesus has no one.

Instead of dominating games we're snatch and grabbing chances and then sitting on that goal praying the opposition don't score.

Unless Jesus gets support from the wings or more so from the bloody no10 position which is what he should have at all times, then we're still going to struggle in games.

For me a switch to 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 would unleash a 3 up front of Jesus, Saka and Martinelli all attacking together, rather than as it is now with Mart / Saka on the wings and Jesus alone in the middle.

What's holding us back is Arteta's insistence on wanting to play a CAM / no10 role, its not doing much for us and hasn't been for a while, I'd rather see Ode in a midfield 3 with Partey and Xhaka.

Again, hands up those that thought our midfield would not be the problem, especially when you see Xhaka in the starting line up!!!

We had all damn summer to sort this shit out ffs.

DiamondGooner wrote:I'm still seeing the same issues ...........

Yes we have more quality but that's papering over the cracks, we still have a CF issue due to this formation which is blunting our attacks for long periods of the game.

There's nothing wrong with Jesus, he's great, he's just simply not a box CF, he's being isolated from the team up front, that's not an issue with a target CF because they sit in the box and hoover up crosses and balls across the face of goal but Jesus is doing all this hard work up front and he's not got the support as a false no9.

Henry had Bergkamp, then he had Adebayor ........ Jesus has no one.

Instead of dominating games we're snatch and grabbing chances and then sitting on that goal praying the opposition don't score.

Unless Jesus gets support from the wings or more so from the bloody no10 position which is what he should have at all times, then we're still going to struggle in games.

For me a switch to 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 would unleash a 3 up front of Jesus, Saka and Martinelli all attacking together, rather than as it is now with Mart / Saka on the wings and Jesus alone in the middle.

What's holding us back is Arteta's insistence on wanting to play a CAM / no10 role, its not doing much for us and hasn't been for a while, I'd rather see Ode in a midfield 3 with Partey and Xhaka.

A 3-4-3 switch…or that bloody central midfielder that most of us have been calling for!

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theHotHead wrote:Again, hands up those that thought our midfield would not be the problem, especially when you see Xhaka in the starting line up!!!

We had all damn summer to sort this shit out ffs.

Thought the same but as the game wore on, I thought Xhaka was a lot better than both Odegaard and Partey. Xhaka and Odegaard both played like 8s supporting left and right side whilst Partey played as DM.

Let’s not forget who we’re talking about here. Xhaka is Xhaka and it’ll only be a matter of time until he has his “moment.”

Get in that central midfielder so we can have Xhaka as an option not a reliance

CrimsonGunner11 wrote:Let’s not forget who we’re talking about here. Xhaka is Xhaka and it’ll only be a matter of time until he has his “moment.”

Get in that central midfielder so we can have Xhaka as an option not a reliance

It highlights how poor the other two were.

Power n Glory wrote:

CrimsonGunner11 wrote:Let’s not forget who we’re talking about here. Xhaka is Xhaka and it’ll only be a matter of time until he has his “moment.”

Get in that central midfielder so we can have Xhaka as an option not a reliance

It highlights how poor the other two were.

Fair comment

Power n Glory wrote:

CrimsonGunner11 wrote:Let’s not forget who we’re talking about here. Xhaka is Xhaka and it’ll only be a matter of time until he has his “moment.”

Get in that central midfielder so we can have Xhaka as an option not a reliance

It highlights how poor the other two were.

People might call me biased but, I genuinely believe playing alongside Xhaka affects other CM's games, you could see Partey unsure and in my mind thinking about Xhaka/having to cover for Xhaka in previous seasons which prevents Partey from playing his natural game. I also think thats the reason he gives the ball away a lot.

Its impossible to play your natural game when you have to constantly have one eye on Xhaka and prep to cover/bail him out of his mistakes!!

theHotHead wrote:

Power n Glory wrote:

CrimsonGunner11 wrote:Let’s not forget who we’re talking about here. Xhaka is Xhaka and it’ll only be a matter of time until he has his “moment.”

Get in that central midfielder so we can have Xhaka as an option not a reliance

It highlights how poor the other two were.

People might call me biased but, I genuinely believe playing alongside Xhaka affects other CM's games, you could see Partey unsure and in my mind thinking about Xhaka/having to cover for Xhaka in previous seasons which prevents Partey from playing his natural game. I also think thats the reason he gives the ball away a lot.

Its impossible to play your natural game when you have to constantly have one eye on Xhaka and prep to cover/bail him out of his mistakes!!

I agree on most cases but not for this game. Ode and Partey had their own demons to deal with. It looked like Partey was rattled by the fans and Ode couldn't deal with a physical game. Even without Xhaka on the pitch, both have to find a way to deal with this sort of pressure this season. We had total control for 20 minutes and then things took a turn and we never came close to looking as confident on the ball.