Ratings & Reactions: Arsenal v Villa

[Ender In The Sky]

On 01/09/2022 at 00:47, wilko154 said:

Gerrard can’t even find a first 11 let alone his feet. He’s so far out of his depth I almost feel sorry for him, whilst I’m travelling back from London at 1am on a Thursday morning after witnessing another pathetic display.

If people honestly can’t see Gerrard’s flaws I seriously worry about them.

I’ve just got back myself. As I said not easy on the eye but they worked hard. As long as the attitude is right the results will come 

[KentVillan]

12 minutes ago, Ender In The Sky said:

I’ve just got back myself. As I said not easy on the eye but they worked hard. As long as the attitude is right the results will come 

Working hard isn’t enough if you aren’t working smart. You don’t win games by running further than the opposition - that’s just a foundation for playing well. You need to find feet, be positioned well, finish chances. We’re not getting anything right. And this is *not* a relegation squad. There is plenty of ability there to work with.

[Thug]

19 minutes ago, Ender In The Sky said:

I’ve just got back myself. As I said not easy on the eye but they worked hard. As long as the attitude is right the results will come 

No point in working hard without direction and cohesion.

They’re not being told to pull in the same direction.  Match after match there’s gaping holes in our defence.

Once again Arsenal we’re overloading the left wing area and exploiting a weakness around cash.

Once again our team is too narrow, and the midfield setup is just wrong.

Against a team that are likely to control possession, why would he not start with a Kamara - Luiz sitting infront if he back four?

concede almost 70% possession, which by itself isn’t a problem - but when the opposition go in at half time with so much possession and quite frankly should’ve been 4 up, - you really think a tactical shake would happen.

Nothing.

He can’t see the problem on the pitch thag even us fans can see.  He makes changes too late, and even when he does, he doesn’t address the big issues.

Tactically naive, and clearly didn’t appreciate that if you’re gonna come in swinging your dick around - you better show that you’re capable.

He’s not capable, at all.  Shouldnt have rocked so many boats at the same time

[Marka Ragnos]

53 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

Did you just look at the scoreline? Because it was anything but close. 

Miracle it wasn’t 5-1. Luiz helped us save face, but that was a case of lightning striking twice.

[Shomin Geki]

Desperate football again.  Clumsy, leaden-footed and hapless.  We seem to have what I can only describe as Bad Adrenaline coursing through this side.  Bad Adrenaline in our jittery, unconvincing passing.  Bad Adrenaline in the defensive disorder as the thick swarms of Arsenal's attacks threatened to slap us silly.  Bad Adrenaline in our somewhat awestruck chasing, and being passed by, shadows.  Bad Adrenaline pumping inside our players heads and legs where, it would be reasonable to expect, tactics and planning should be.

Final point: What a difference a, say, Odegaard makes to a midfield, eh? 

Today's ratings (season average in parentheses)

MARTINEZ 5 (6.6) A number of desperate saves somewhat masked one of his worst performances for us.  Lost his head.  One hopes he manages to screw it back on successfully.  I shudder to think what a scatty Martinez might do to our goal difference.

MINGS 8 (7) An absolute captain's performance, never let his head drop.  Seeing him stomp around the wobbly jumble of the rest of our defence was a bit like watching a merman during a tempestuous shipwreck.  The evil piece of gum that he keeps prisoner in his mouth only managed to whisper a few mad things to him today.

KONSA 5 (5) Another weak, frightened-looking performance from our former Rolls Royce.  Misjudged the ball a number of times and didn't seem to have the muscle, physical or otherwise, to wrestle it back.

DIGNE 4 (4.8) Must have contributed to what could be a record number of inaccurate crosses (previous record: the West Ham game), and when he wasn't doing that he was out of position and weak against his man.

CASH 5 (6.2) Huffed and puffed and got frustrated but then then momentarily perked up trying to overlap with Bailey before remembering who our manager is and slumped back into whatever his position is meant to be.

KAMARA 6 (6.2) What is our brilliant, beautiful boy to do with what is happening in front of him?  One can only hope the lad loves a bit of the old 'character building' experience.

MCGINN 4 (4.2) Unchanged from his recurring persona of 'bull that just learned how to ice skate'.

RAMSAY 4 (5) Awful again, looking once more like the spooked boy you were always surprised he managed to transcend at notable points last night.  It also has to be said, positionally atrocious, the awareness of a sleepwalking sloth.

BUENDIA 5 (5.6) Whereas in his previous pomp Buendia's feet seemed to almost thrum with danger and excitement he now seems jaded and limp.  But this is brining a fencer to a gunfight in our current predicament.

BAILEY 5 (5.5) Managing the impressive feat of looking simultaneously like our most dangerous player and our most wasteful.  Feet sometimes resemble cellotape trying to unwrap itself.  It kinda seems like his left leg doesn't like his right leg and vice versa.

LUIZ 6 (6.33) He did his party trick!  Hooray for him.  I wonder if he'd actually prefer operating in a balanced, intelligent midfield instead?

COUTINHO 6 (4.8) Looks a bit more interested of late.  Maybe he's aware of what a desperate situation we're in?

[ciggiesnbeer]

36 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

Miracle it wasn’t 5-1. Luiz helped us save face, but that was a case of lightning striking twice.

I only watched the first half and that was enough. They should have scored 3 and could have scored more in that half alone. We were very lucky to go in at half time only 1 down.

I was appalled to see us openly abandon entire areas of the pitch at times. At times we abandoned the right flank, at times we abandoned the center each time to have to spring back at full pelt as Arsenal predictably passed into these abandoned areas creating another attack for them. It was frightening just how badly coached they had clearly been. That doesnt even begin to address the bizarre  team selection and style of play again.  We oscillated between a 2-3-5 formation (with the full backs as part of the attacking 5 naturally) or a somewhat more sane 4-3-3 but with the front 3 scattered randomly like marbles across the pitch.

The owners simply cannot watch that first half and think anything but "oh my god this man is destroying our investment."

Yeah it was a bad first half, maybe the second was great I dunno but that first made a mark, in a bad way.

And I am giving the players a pass for this game. It was clear to me they were frustrated. I am not a professional athlete but I imagine being sent out without a plan to win would anger me as a manager throws away my career because he is too lazy or arrogant to do his job and help these talented players win games. These are good players, very good in some cases, they need a competent coach.

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by ciggiesnbeer

[sne]

Honestly not much new to add is there. We look like we almost always do and and we have the same glaring issues. It is what it is.

Club might be content with it. I'm certainly not.

Gerrard out, obviously.

[nick76]

1 hour ago, sne said:

Club might be content with it. I'm certainly not.

4 defeats in 5 games, if they are content then heaven help us!  

[TRO]

Cash's defending at the back post is scandalous.....exposed Martinez, who joined in for the errors.

Never seen Watkins lay a glove on them, just passively jogging around to LOOK busy, no aggression, no drive, no physicality.....In contrast, Jesus, was busy, and physical, taking on Mings in the physical endeavor, despite the mismatch in stature.....sure the service was poor, but his pressing was half hearted and uninterested.

This is a pathetic outfit, despite more running for a change.

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by TRO

[villa89]

Comprehensively outplayed and never really looked threatening at all. Hoofing long balls up to 50p feet Watkins was our only form of attack. Fluked a goal from a corner because ramsdale is brutal. Martinez also was terrible on the night.  

Edited September 1, 2022 by villa89

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

15 minutes ago, TRO said:

Cash's defending at the back post is scandalous.....exposed Martinez, who joined in for the errors.

Never seen Watkins lay a glove on them, just passively jogging around to LOOK busy, no aggression, no drive, no physicality.....In contrast, Jesus, was busy, and physical, taking on Mings in the physical endeavor, despite the mismatch in stature.....sure the service was poor, but his pressing was half hearted and uninterested.

This is a pathetic outfit, despite more running for a change.

 

Jesus could get at our players in possession because Arsenal pressed as a team. We don't because our coaching is sub par, so you might see Buendia or Watkins trying to press alone and being completely ineffective at it. Has to be deflating.

[TRO]

11 minutes ago, Kuwabatake Sanjuro said:

Jesus could get at our players in possession because Arsenal pressed as a team. We don't because our coaching is sub par, so you might see Buendia or Watkins trying to press alone and being completely ineffective at it. Has to be deflating.

I never saw Watkins make a challenge on a defender......you can only blame coaching, so much.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

4 defeats in 5 games, if they are content then heaven help us!  

Something has to give NIck......I get that.

[nick76]

5 minutes ago, TRO said:

I never saw Watkins make a challenge on a defender......you can only blame coaching, so much.

Watkins was always a presser but we’ve all seen that diminish under Gerrard so that must be a tactic by Gerrard.  

Watkins was famous for hassling defenders and being a real pest, that has really reduced.

You can blame the player somewhat but seeing as other players are the same, then it’s a tactical decision so that’s down to Gerrard to press less.

[RicRic]

38 minutes ago, TRO said:

Cash's defending at the back post is scandalous.....exposed Martinez, who joined in for the errors.

Never seen Watkins lay a glove on them, just passively jogging around to LOOK busy, no aggression, no drive, no physicality.....In contrast, Jesus, was busy, and physical, taking on Mings in the physical endeavor, despite the mismatch in stature.....sure the service was poor, but his pressing was half hearted and uninterested.

This is a pathetic outfit, despite more running for a change.

 

Hes arrived and couldn’t agree more .. and that was just the tip of the iceberg… do we not do things like passing at bodymoor because that part of our game was horrendous in fact its been terrible all season

[Davkaus]

.

It's incredible to see it like that

[avfc456]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

Cash's defending at the back post is scandalous.....exposed Martinez, who joined in for the errors.

Never seen Watkins lay a glove on them, just passively jogging around to LOOK busy, no aggression, no drive, no physicality.....In contrast, Jesus, was busy, and physical, taking on Mings in the physical endeavor, despite the mismatch in stature.....sure the service was poor, but his pressing was half hearted and uninterested.

This is a pathetic outfit, despite more running for a change.

 

This this and this again. The fight starts from the front and how Jesus did a great job of that, Watkins is pathetic, although that could be said for many of them. 

[tinker]

4 minutes ago, avfc456 said:

This this and this again. The fight starts from the front and how Jesus did a great job of that, Watkins is pathetic, although that could be said for many of them. 

You need to press as a team, you can't press  4 players on your own.

Watch Arsenal, they pressed all over our back 4 as a team, we then had nowhere to pass the ball and either lost it, played a risky pass or hoofed it. 

[TRO]

11 minutes ago, tinker said:

You need to press as a team, you can't press  4 players on your own.

Watch Arsenal, they pressed all over our back 4 as a team, we then had nowhere to pass the ball and either lost it, played a risky pass or hoofed it. 

I agree, totally.

but if you lead the line and no ones doing it(pressing)....you can at least show some initiative, and make a challenge on your own.....he done the contrary, took advantage of it.

[tinker]

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

I agree, totally.

but if you lead the line and no ones doing it(pressing)....you can at least show some initiative, and make a challenge on your own.....he done the contrary, took advantage of it.

Ollie will press as he has shown us in the past, it was a major strength of his. 

It's one of two things, they are not  being told to press ......or they are choosing not to press as individuals.

I suspect Gerrard has lost the players, they are not willing to fight for him or press for him. We don't know what he's like in training but I suspect he's an arrogant person who has no time for failure and its destroyed the team spirit we had.