Arsenal - Crystal Palace. Saturday. 20 Jan, 12:30 UK Time.: Page 13 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Arsenal - Crystal Palace. Saturday. 20 Jan, 12:30 UK Time.

Big Willie

lorddulaarsenal Smith Rowe looked good. You can tell he’s not fully match fit.

Can't be match fit if you don't play matches.

Clrnc

Don't remember Gallas scoring that many goals?!

Qwiss

Clrnc Gallas was a terrible defender for us most of the time, he's goals kept people thinking he was ok.

Vermaelen let the goals ruin him. Got obsessed with getting forward and left us too open.

QuincyAbeyie

Me neither. 😆 Vermaelen and Gabriel would be the first two to spring to mind.

Pepe LeFrits

Mirth But it was quite evident watching ESR in the same role running with the ball and creating space was what the team needs. Obviously small sample size and we were 3-0 up but still - it was good to see someone beat a man and then actually attack the space created

I don't think it should be either/or tbh. Arteta doesn't seem to like ESR in a wide role but historically it certainly wouldn't be unusual to have one creative wide player and one more movement-oriented wide player, like Pires/Ljungberg or Hleb/Walcott, supported by a creative 10 like Bergkamp or Fabregas. ESR and Odegaard as dual creative 8/10s and Saka/Martinelli in the wide roles is to me actually more innovative/unusual to me. ESR on the left tucking in I think would really suit Havertz's running ahead of the ball, though I'm not sure it'd suit Zinchenko.

Gunner89

vermaelen only scored in 2 of his 5 seasons

gallas had peak cesc on set pieces

Gabby's the best of the lot IMO both defensively and offensively

lorddulaarsenal

Willie Young was a force to be reckoned with

Big Willie

lorddulaarsenal Willie Young was a force to be reckoned with

Yeah I was a beast before age and injuries took their toll on me.

RocktheCasbah

lorddulaarsenal it did not feel that way in the stadium. The difference between him and ESR was night and day. There's no conviction about anything Havertz does, whether it's running with the ball, passing or shooting. On the other hand, Emile looked very sharp indeed, filling what felt like a Kai Havertz shaped hole in our midfield.

Qwiss

RocktheCasbah I thought it was very noticeable how much more Emile got involved in the game. Havertz was just there today, didn't do much bad or good really. I thought Smith-Rowe was great wen he came on. Positive in everything he was doing and constantly looking for the ball.

lorddulaarsenal

Did you have a good time at the match?

Hopefully sank a few pre at halftime.

Telly showed Zinny being good.

RocktheCasbah

lorddulaarsenal had a great time, thought we were very comfortable without having to get out of second gear. Palace, despite the efforts of Eze - who James and I agreed we'd both take in place of Havertz - were pretty toothless. Trossard's goal was a thing of beauty and it seems Martinelli has been taking finishing lessons from Thierry. What's not to like?

Agree about Zinny btw, nothing exceptional but quietly effective.

lorddulaarsenal

Eze is a talent indeed. Powerful guy too

Clrnc

lorddulaarsenal Everytime I watch Palace I struggle to say whether Eze or Elise is better. Both their games are incredibly similar too

RocktheCasbah

QuincyAbeyie Imagine checking that goal for offside.

Seemed like an insane check in the stadium, I've just had it verified it was exactly as insane as it seemed at the time.

Gunner89

Eze is exceptional at ball retention and is a clever player. Would gladly take him and that olise lad.

RocktheCasbah

Qwiss it's very hard to watch him (ESR) and try and understand how Havertz gets in the team instead of him. I really hope it has just been a case of building ESR's fitness up - there's a brightness to him that Havertz just doesn't have.

Qwiss

Clrnc Eze for me. More consistent.

lorddulaarsenal

Both silky though I’d say Eze is a bit more bullish whilst Olise has more craft

Big Willie

Why the fuck was Gabriel's goal given as an OG and taken from him when it was on target? How is that any different from someone trying to block it off the line and not getting enough on it to divert it away.

Qwiss

RocktheCasbah I hope so too. Arteta spent £65m on Havertz though so he's obviously going to keep giving him chances because its a black mark against him if he's a flop. However I am encouraged by his talk of Emile being on the "right trajectory" as it sounds like he's learning to fit more into Artetas system. I'd be happy if we just got a lot of rotation in the left 8 between 2 given the circumstances. Can't really be pushing ESR for 2 games a week anyway.

Clrnc

RocktheCasbah reading between the lines of both ESR and Arteta interview doesn't feel fitness related. Esr specifically said he needed to do more to get into the team and Arteta in response said Esr deserved more minutes and he was sorry he couldn't give him...

Hope something has changed since Dubai!

« Previous Page Next Page »