PL: Cardiff vs Arsenal | September 2nd | KO: 1:30 BST | Sky Sports

[Mo Britain]

Six points is the minimum we expected at this stage and we've struggled to get them.

The defence continues to underwhelm. Emery bought two defensive midfielders, a keeper, a centre-back and a right-back. He's barely using most of them. You cannot have a £20 million keeper who is a dud so at some point he's got to put his mouth where his money was.

Same with Torreira. No excuse for not starting him anymore in my view.

Final point. All this talk about he hasn't got the players to play his system. That's all very well and he can't be blamed for inheriting what he's inherited. But at some point he either gets the players he wants or he uses the players they have to the best of their abilities. To do otherwise is dumb.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

The balance of the midfield looked off.

Defense awful.

Three points great.

That's the reason Torreira need to start to get the blance in midfield also our right side need to improve because all teams target this area to attack us.

 

[ThlRama]

People are being very pessimistic, Emery knows his job, Cech has improved, Mustafi is almost unrecognisable, our attacking play has been good in most games so far, Sokratis hasn't been a bad buy, and don't ignore that we got screwed over by the ref and our final ball this time around. On a different day this would have been a 1-5 no problem.

 

[SA Gunner]

Nah he’s fine when it comes to actual goalkeeping. I don’t know why everyone in football is suddenly obsessed with playing out from the back but I’d rather a keeper who’s solid in the air and a good shot stopper.

Yes there have been a few memes from how bad he’s been at playing out from the back but when it comes to the key aspects he’s fine.

Few memes you say.

Its those memes that are giving the opposition an opportunity to catch us cold. I would bet that teams are going to use our shaky build up play as a means of putting us on the back foot immediately during matches.

Its a massive worry in my opinion, and the sooner we close off that weakness, that better.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

It will perfect for Leno and Torreira to start after international break specially Torreira because he'll have more game time playinh with Uruguay

 

[Garrincha]

That's the reason Torreira need to start to get the blance in midfield also our right side need to improve because all teams target this area to attack us.

Hope he starts soon! But with trips to America this week & Japan next month could be a while.

 

[Finesse]

We are yet to get the best of the team because Emery does not know his team yet. You have to know your players before finding out if they can play within your system. Not the other way around.

Cech is a shot stopper and not a modern ball to feet goalkeeper! Who does not know that! Emery got a new keeper who is brilliant at that. So why not start him? Cech is made captain and starts on goal and for the past 4 games it has been a nightmare playing and building from the back. The hold tactic is terrible because our keeper who is the master planner on that is not good at that. It makes our entire midfield and defence play like a pub team. How is that not the Manager’s fault? Emery is new but not immunes to critics. He should solve that first and his team will change.

The defence is playing to its best because in terms of personnel and ability that’s what we can get from them. Our defence is suffering because it cannot build form the back. Not entirely down to lack of ability but down to a keeper who is not good at it. Simple. The manager should see and change that.

The midfield is same. Under pressure by opposing teams because they know we would panic playing from the back and press high. Why play Xhaka and Douzy in the same team ? Absolute carnage. Who wins the ball? Who puts pressure on the ball or intercepts? Non of them have that in their game. The moment you take either out and bring on Lucas the whole midfield gets a balance ! An interception! A tussle on the heels of opposition! Winning balls etc. While Xhaka provides options and forward passing. Emery should not take 4 games to know and correct this.

We have Zero width. Zéro. How can Özil and Mhki our creators thrive in such a role. Not even Zidane would. Özil on the width? Why? Is that what City is doing ?

How long did it take for the manager to see Laca is our best striker to play , hold up and bring others into play? 4 games ?

Emery does not have all he needs in terms of options etc but we should be playing better than this with what we got. I am not on his back at such but it’s is obvious we can play better. Using the wrong player in the wrong areas and we can play 10 years and his system would never work.

 

[Sanchez11]

It will perfect for Leno and Torreira to start after international break specially Torreira because he'll have more game time playinh with Uruguay

Is that a good thing though? I thought he needed rest!

 

[Football Manager]

Cause before that we let the rythem killer be at number 10.
he always tries the most spectacular pass or move, and he fails way more than a good player would. Özil at least can pull of those attempts.

he runs a lot, thats why ppl excuse him. but his decision making is awful and slow.

He needs to be in CM, and get subbed if he pushes forward like he normally does, no matter how good an engine hes got, once he is in the opponent box and they lob it, we are a man down.

If he returns to his humble self from a few years back he can be an immense player, and responsible, now it seems like all he wants is to pull off some amazing moves, nothing else is important to him, playing so arrogantly

I don’t know why people couldn’t see that

 

[Sniper Mik]

Nah he’s fine when it comes to actual goalkeeping. I don’t know why everyone in football is suddenly obsessed with playing out from the back but I’d rather a keeper who’s solid in the air and a good shot stopper.

Yes there have been a few memes from how bad he’s been at playing out from the back but when it comes to the key aspects he’s fine.

Being good with your feet in modern football is equally as important as shot stopping. But forget even half-decent. What we're trying to do with him is suicidal. I mean it's not Cech's fault. If he's given orders to kick it long by the manager he'll do it. But we could have conceded 3 goals today because of his poor distribution. Doesn't matter if he saves 3 more because of good shot stops.

 

[bojed]

Any one of yous old enough to remember how Senderos used to perform for us?

Xhaka seems to be filling in Big Phil's shoes nicely these days.

Modern day football is **** for certain footballers and Cech is no Ederson. Emery needs to stop this if he still wants to start Cech match in match out.

On a positive note, Laca+Auba+Torreira, what an explosive trio!

 

[krengon]

Nah he’s fine when it comes to actual goalkeeping. I don’t know why everyone in football is suddenly obsessed with playing out from the back but I’d rather a keeper who’s solid in the air and a good shot stopper.

Yes there have been a few memes from how bad he’s been at playing out from the back but when it comes to the key aspects he’s fine.

He's so slow to the ground, he's going to keep conceding shots that can be saved because of that..

 

[Bergkamp120]

Big takeaway for me:
- Laca's on form and should be in the starting eleven for the foreseeable future
- Laca and Auba continue to show that they play very well together
- Mustafi was phenomenal. If we criticize him when he's sh*t then we should praise him when he plays well. He's been very good this season. He seems to have recovered his Valencia form under Emery.
- For the second match in a row, Xhaka plays like sh*t next to Guendouzi and then plays well and is much more comfortable when Torreira comes on. Torreira allows him to play a more advanced role where he's much better.
- Torreira was a fantastic signing and should be starting after the intl break.

 

[dashsnow17]

We obviously don't have the squad to win a league, that's clear. But I take encouragement from the fact that we do have the squad to be better than what we currently are. We do have Torreira, we do have Leno, there are options there that can affect how the team plays. It just comes down to the manager and whether he can get the best out of what he has.

With every drop of talent squeezed out of this squad and with everyone pulling in the right direction, it can challenge fore top 4. If there continues to be disjunction then it won't challenge.

 

[Mo Britain]

Being good with your feet in modern football is equally as important as shot stopping. But forget even half-decent. What we're trying to do with him is suicidal. I mean it's not Cech's fault. If he's given orders to kick it long by the manager he'll do it. But we could have conceded 3 goals today because of his poor distribution. Doesn't matter if he saves 3 more because of good shot stops.

In a word..."No". Goalkeepers are there for the main purpose of stopping goals. For a keeper to play the ball well is a bonus but it is not the main reason for being on the pitch in the same way as a striker who doesn't score goals won't get played as a striker.

We hardly played a long-ball with Wenger as it happens but we are giving the ball to the keeper far too many times, often when he is under more pressure than the guy giving him the ball. This has to stop. You can make a scapegoat out of Cech if you want him dropped but the same thing will happen with Leno.

 

[MLK79]

He's so slow to the ground, he's going to keep conceding shots that can be saved because of that..

I don't know why people keep ignoring the fact that he defies gravity with how long he takes to get down.

The fact that Leno isn't starting over him is either because he's absolutely rubbish or our manager is incompetent.

 

[field442]

In a word..."No". Goalkeepers are there for the main purpose of stopping goals. For a keeper to play the ball well is a bonus but it is not the main reason for being on the pitch in the same way as a striker who doesn't score goals won't get played as a striker.

We hardly played a long-ball with Wenger as it happens but we are giving the ball to the keeper far too many times, often when he is under more pressure than the guy giving him the ball. This has to stop. You can make a scapegoat out of Cech if you want him dropped but the same thing will happen with Leno.

But the point is the same thing won’t happen with Leno who is very good with the ball at his feet. Goalkeepers are used more in modern football to retain possession and with the high press becoming so common to help play around it from the back. If you use the keeper as an extra outfield player then it’s easier to do that. Cech being **** at it and Emery keep picking him is the problem, not the tactic.

 

[bojed]

Being good with your feet in modern football is equally as important as shot stopping. But forget even half-decent. What we're trying to do with him is suicidal. I mean it's not Cech's fault. If he's given orders to kick it long by the manager he'll do it. But we could have conceded 3 goals today because of his poor distribution. Doesn't matter if he saves 3 more because of good shot stops.

No.

 

[DanDare]

- For the second match in a row, Xhaka plays like sh*t next to Guendouzi and then plays well and is much more comfortable when Torreira comes on. Torreira allows him to play a more advanced role where he's much better.
.

Its not a revelation that Xhaka plays better next to better players.

The issue is he was under no pressure, had the easy obvious pass to Guendouzi and decided (under no pressure!) to execute a more difficult pass to a player who had an opposition player nearby, was in no more advantageous position in terms of the game and had fewer passing options had he actually received the ball.

On top of all that amateur decisions making, he misplaced the pass. And then Cardiff went on to score. There were other mistakes but Xhakas unforced error when he had better options to me is inexcusable

 

[vijay]