PL: Arsenal vs West Ham United | August 25th | KO: 15:00 BST

[Big Poppa]

Emery hasn't improved our defence and our possession + attacking play is significantly worse. Its Sven and Gazidis' fault for the defence though, we will always struggle to win games with that back 5.

This is not a rant against you personally but we are THREE games into the season.

Wenger had this club under his stewardship for 22 years and was given a lot more autonomy than Emery during that time.

Liverpool and Sp**s were both far worse than us defensively under their previous coaches and in the 3 seasons after their new coaches took over they improved exponentially. Wenger was in charge during that same period and while they signed players like Alderwerield and Van Dyke, we signed people like Mustafi and Xhaka.

We kept chasing players who all had the same type of weaknesses and failed to address blatant flaws e.g. lack of defensive and midfield leadership despite several transfer windows. The season when we only brought in Cech was the biggest mick taker.

Emery is getting to know his players and how they respond to his demands. Some, he is finding out, are incapable of carrying out his instructions for 90 minutes, and they are rightly getting hooked. But he has a clear philosophy and one that the squad buys into.

He will need a lot more time and financial backing for him to shape the squad he wants.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Just win against Cardiff next weekend and then we have 2 weeks to keep working on our system.

 

[Sniper Mik]

Cech would have never saved that Ramsey shot, the one he conceded was easier to save.

Fabianski has seriously stepped up as a keeper. Made some cracking saves at Anfield too. POTY for Swansea last season.

 

[boyinneedofhumor]

1. Bellerin isnt "out of position" by coincidence. By now most should realise that. He's being instructed to attack.

2. Lacazette looks more natural than Aubameyang doing a... erm... Giroud??
If Aubameyang starts then we need to find a better way to play to his strengths

3. First touches and final through balls from some of our players seemed poor today.

4. There will come a time this season when some fans turn on Torreira. He isnt exactly fast. But tenacity, discipline and positioning could negate that.

5. We should probably try to pick a LB from the reserves for "lesser" games (non PL). We cant risk Monreal with his backups out injured.

6. Chances are, if we go a goal down this season we should level it back in most matches within 15mins. Yup, its definitely different from last few seasons.

 

[Trilly]

All about the points at this stage. Get the points on board and from that confidence and form will follow.

Good point, it’s a weird one knowing that what we’re watching isn’t the finished product. How do you separate what’s crap from what is a product of still learning?

 

[Makingtrax]

7-0 win

You called my post ‘bollocks’ when I suggested this might be a difficult game Richard.

7-0 really? What goes on in that head of yours?

 

[dashsnow17]

Got to start Torreira, just got to. No ifs or buts. Özil at no. 10 would be better too. No idea what to do about that Mkhi/Bellerin weakness, cos it's also been a strength. Real head-scratcher.

Torreira & Xhaka is a partnership I think I can get on board with. It has control, that's the key.

 

[Fewtch]

It really only took unai 3 games to suck all the excitement out of the season
Shocking team selections

 

[krengon]

 

[A_G]

No Özil row says Emery (although he would say that)

 

[DanDare]

Missed parts of the game today

What I did see, we still and all over the place when on the back foot.

I understand what Emery is trying to do with building from the back but these defenders, except Monreal (and maybe Sokratis- jury still out) can’t do it.

As has been said we’re still a couple of transfer windows away from being able to actualise what he wants

 

[Alkane]

It really only took unai 3 games to suck all the excitement out of the season
Shocking team selections

A bit harsh, it's only 3 games. Maybe he feels the team needs some known leaders such as Cech and Xhaka for the time being rather than having 5 new faces in the starting lineup. Whilst I don't agree with the lineups, I can understand the precariousness of the situation.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Ramsey, Nacho, Hector and Xhaka our best players offensively

 

[krengon]

 

[FinnGooner]

Massive win, terrible defensive performance. Going forward we look pretty dangerous but our counterpress is a joke and the team is unbalanced. However, it's lot easier to keep working on the issues at the start next week with a win under the belt than I would be had we drawn or lost. Looooot of work to do, though.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

You called my post ‘bollocks’ when I suggested this might be a difficult game Richard.

7-0 really? What goes on in that head of yours?

He hate Westham

 

[OnlyOne]

Oh look I made the match thread and we won..

OnlyOne - 3pts

 

[Slartibartfast]

Ramsey, Nacho, Hector and Xhaka our best players offensively

And worst players defensively, save maybe Ramsey. Bellerin kept playing West Ham onside and still gets caught out of position a lot. Nacho was getting burned too. Sokratis kept having to come out and cover for him, leaving Mustafi as the lone center back. Xhaka actually did alright defensively, but he was much better once Torreira came on and he was able to get forward more and not worry about taking on the defensive midfield role (I always thought he played better with Elneny last season for the same reason).

 

[celestis]

You called my post ‘bollocks’ when I suggested this might be a difficult game Richard.

7-0 really? What goes on in that head of yours?

A load of bollocks is what

 

[Gooner Zig]

Did we even press today? Against City and Chelsea we showed flashes of having a coherent press but we were a shambles today.