What happened to our number 9?

He'll be okay - needs a good rest.

Curse od the number 9 strikes again. This guy's looking like a flop.

He's probably addicted to benzos.

looks completely busted. the combination of the english winter and our horrid play seems to have sucked the life out of the guy. this kind of thing used take at least 1 season, but he's looked done in after 3 months 😆

This guy also doesn’t get the ball. Complete trash is strong. Let’s see if Aubameyang’s movement is much better. I am fearing that with the same set of witless players like Xhaka et al, he would struggle to get the ball. Our build up play is senseless. If Lacazette had been a striker on Swansea, he would have seen the ball often just because of the crispness of their offensive play - wait for Arsenal to mess up, and then storm forward before the Arsenal defense organizes and score (because our goalie is a scarecrow).

At Arsenal, on the other hand, the ball stays in the zones between the halfway line and the penalty box being recycled by midfielders and defenders. The only way for Lacazette to get on the ball would be for him to do that frustrating thing that Alexis liked doing, drop into midfield. But we have only one striker, so then we’d have nobody to aim the ball at. So he’s doing the right things by not getting on the ball. He’s a victim of our toothless buildup

The guy had an absolute stinker last night but he's not thrash. Don't be silly. He's one of Europe's best and most consistent top scorers in the last 5 seasons.

Isn't it telling that there are only a couple of players in the team who are currently delivering? I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if Aubameyang manages to do a lot better.

Segway wrote:

Isn't it telling that there are only a couple of players in the team who are currently delivering?

You're spot on Segway. It's not just a recent issue it's been that way for ages, either a player hits a random patch of good form or remains in a slump for a couple of months. It's the clearest hallmark of a team that is devoid of leadership by its manager

Yet we continue to blame the players. Couple weeks ago it was Alexis who didn't look interested enough, earlier last year it was Özil who was a liability on the pitch etc pp

If Gazidis really deserves his recent accolades he'll be working on a successor for next summer the very latest. Hope Mislintat has a mandate for scouting managers too although it's not that difficult to spot one of the dozen or so managers in Europe who'd immediately do a better job than Wenger

Segway wrote:

The guy had an absolute stinker last night but he's not thrash. Don't be silly. He's one of Europe's best and most consistent top scorers in the last 5 seasons.

Isn't it telling that there are only a couple of players in the team who are currently delivering? I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if Aubameyang manages to do a lot better.

Yeah this was what I was left thinking after last night. Mustafi, Xhaka, Lacazette are all big signings that looked far better before they joined Arsenal. Its no coincidence and I don't think the issue is scouting. I think there are bigger fundamental problems at Arsenal now that go way beyond signings. Hopefully a couple of new players in means we might have a bit of excitement and a bit of a bump in performance but the main issues still linger.

I was harsh of course, he's a good player. Early this season he displayed tidy link-up play and one-touch passing, and he was strong and competed surprisingly well in the air.

But he has next to no pace! He is honestly like Joel Campbell.

Anyway, the real issue is how we build up to our attacks - it is utterly clueless and cowardly. Just Lacazette in forward central positions last night, no wonder he couldn't do shit.

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert wrote:

Just Lacazette in forward central positions last night, no wonder he couldn't do shit.

I know that he's knackered and has it tough up front isolated against 2-3 defenders, but he really needs to start at least attempting to beat the defenders to the near-post. At the moment he just stands in between the defenders when we create a crossing opportunity. He's making it look like he's looking for the cut-back, but that's almost never on without someone first making a run to drag the defenders away.

Not giving up on him yet though. He's shown glimpses of potentially being very good. Hopefully the addition of Auba will take the scoring/leading the line burden off him and he can start slowly working his way back to the necessary fitness/playing form.

He looks absolutely knackered. He's not world class but certainly better than he is showing now.

est wrote:
Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert wrote:

Just Lacazette in forward central positions last night, no wonder he couldn't do shit.

I know that he's knackered and has it tough up front isolated against 2-3 defenders, but he really needs to start at least attempting to beat the defenders to the near-post. At the moment he just stands in between the defenders when we create a crossing opportunity. He's making it look like he's looking for the cut-back, but that's almost never on without someone first making a run to drag the defenders away.

Not giving up on him yet though. He's shown glimpses of potentially being very good. Hopefully the addition of Auba will take the scoring/leading the line burden off him and he can start slowly working his way back to the necessary fitness/playing form.

To be fair to him, he knows with the way we try to carve out attacks that he's not going to get shit created for him. He looks really dejected.

He's not helping himself with his lack of movent though, his mode is just to stay marked and try to make a yard to get on the ball and that's not working as his pace is of off at the moment. He needs to get the CBs moving one way to the get a move back into a space where he can be dangerous. His current runs are just too simple to defend against. Saying they, poor movement is a feature of the entire team at the moment.

evoh_1 wrote:

He's not helping himself with his lack of movent though, his mode is just to stay marked and try to make a yard to get on the ball and that's not working as his life is of off at the moment. He needs to get the CBs moving one way to the get a move back into a space where he can be dangerous. His current runs are just too simple to defend against. Saying they, poor movement is a feature of the entire team at the moment.

Yeah, there was at least a couple of tap ins for him yesterday if he bothered making the run.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

Be interesting to see how he responds to Auba signing

Nice to have some genuine quality competing for a place up front.

I think it's gonna do him a world of good. He looks like he could desperately use a few weeks of rest, and now we have the opportunity to give it to him.