Arsenal vs Watford

Another class match by XHAKA btw

Jay29 wrote:The salt is this commentary box

So disappointed that hard lads Watford are going to lose.

His love for Deeney

Twoism wrote:Think this settle it, on current form Iwobi should be suck on that wing and Ramsey somewhere on the bench. This game also shown me Torreira is not be all end all, Doucoure was all over him, I like Doucoure, really in our face.

He'll get better with more game time in the PL. He won't be used to playing games that are as frantic and physical as this one.

For him it's about gauging which challenges he can win and which he can't. Atm he's trying to win everything but finding that some players are stronger/quicker than he is.

Yeah ure right, tbh our whole midfield got bullied except XHAKA. Their midfield are like three bulldozers running up and down

We did it again! Project 24 still alive,

The commentator was more bitter about the Deeney schadenfreude than Deeney himself. What an embarrassment, who ever that dude is.

I loved that we started the olé chants. Good for our confidence. Tough game and yet we won, lovely stuff.

7th win in a row is something.

So Holding and Sokratis experiment? Mustafi is just >.<

Holding was my MOTM but he has issues with pacy players. Sokratis is quick so it can work.

But Emery won't drop Mustafi

This Watford team are set-up to by in your face in every sense. It's taken some teams by surprise this season.

At times we struggled with it but other times I thought we battled well. The most concerning period was in the 2nd half when their physicality seemed to be making the difference as our players tired. We didn't keep the ball well enough. Watford didn't have the quality to make it tell but a team like Liverpool, Spurs or City certainly would.

Ramsey didn't look happy when he came off and apparently it was Emery's assessment of him that convinced Arsenal to withdraw their contract offer. Given Iwobi's form at the moment I think - and hope - that the time to drop him has come. Auba-Ozil-Iwobi should provide better balance. Obviously it's still Auba on the wing but maybe with better balance across that line we make more chances for him.

And hopefully Mustafi is binned for Sokratis. Holding was very good. He's not going to win in a race against pacey players but he does well against physical forwards. Sokratis could be good cover for him. Mustafi is just thick.

Mustafi pisses me off man, it‘s not that he lacks talent, he is physical, quick, he can win headers despite his height, his passing is good. He’s just dumb man, there’s no cure for that.

That's basically it. Whatever talent or potential he has will be forever squandered because he plays without a brain. He's just "see ball, try to win ball". Doesn't matter if there's a player in the way, or if he has to slide in to win it, or if he'd be better off holding his position. I don't think this can be coached out of him, either.

There's literally nothing in his game that acts as prove to how he ever became a professional footballer.

re: Mustafi

Hopefully Mavrapanos is legit and not another false hope.

Still excited for Koscielny to come back lol

Kos has always had his own problems but being without him makes you appreciate how good he was.

xG today was Arsenal 1.59 vs Watford 2.38 We got lucky again. No doubt about it.

Obviously happy with the wins but we need to start performing better soon because I've feeling the next big team we face will destroy us.

It's the same 1st half/2nd half division. It's definitely not a coincidence how effective Ozil looks when he gets moved to the centre. Once again his 2nd half performance was 1000% better compared to 1st.

But we did get lucky with the defending. Success should have scored for Watford. However these things happen to every team. We do deserve credit for matching Watford's physicality and pace.

In terms of the top 5-6 teams. I don't think we can beat most of them away. At home we'll have a better chance but they are all equipped to beat us (better technical players, scorers, match winners, defenders).

But rest of the league. I do think we can beat most. 70+ points can be earned by beating teams from 7-20. No reason why can't aim for that.

In brighter news, today's second and the second vs Brentford are perfect demonstrations of the sort of football Emery wants us to play.

Ozil's today saw Welbeck win it in midfield to set-up a quick transition. Three passes later and it's a goal.

Welbeck's goal against Brentford started with Leno. Played our way out, swept up the pitch and scored.

Signs it's coming together in patches.

auba has two great attributes which are movement and finishing. i hope he adjusts quickly to his new position because he can do it based on his two attributes he already has.  

It means arsenal have one of the deadliest attack.

I suppose he can always adapt the Walcott role