Pre-Season 2018

is it because i am watching or are we playing a bit shit? I heard more positive things against PSG and Atletico ffs

Our defense is still big question mark

This is the first time we've come against a team with a near full strength eleven who can keep the ball, press, etc. Basically the first proper test of our defending.

Not great signs so far

Zidane has been demoted to Craig Eastmond for now.


Torreira really needs to be special to save this midfield.

Looks like we've settled down now. Chelsea seem to be resting after that intense opening spell (as expected in a pre-season game).

Bellerin and Kolasinac have been very poor, though. Just about every aspect of their play has been below standard.

As I say that, Kolasinac just made a goal saving interception.

Much better now

The fact that nearly all our attack has to fo through 19 years old newcomer worries me, he’s really impressive but still a kid after all. The shape looks like 3-1-5-1 when we have to carry the ball from the back.

The build-up from the back has been fine. Chelsea have put us under a lot of pressure and we've barely turned the ball over. When we've gotten past the initial press, our attacking midfielders have found space to run with the ball.

Guendouzi is a big help with this. His touch, positioning and decision making look excellent for such a young player. No wonder he's played every game.

A bigger issue is one caused by the personnel. Two AMs on the flanks narrows our play and puts too much emphasis on the full backs for width and in-behind movement.

Both Bellerin and Kolasinac had license to roam and both didnt have to the best recovery, think we need to balance wing play a bir

- Sokratis, as I expected and posted about, struggled with his passing with Chelsea’s intense pressing. He has been a right sided CB his whole career but is now expected to play on the left. I don’t think he’a going to adapt considering his age. Been fine otherwise, love the physicality.
- That Chelsea kid on the left looks more impressive than all our youngsters put together tbh as much as I like them. Jeez.
- We’re holding a high line but not pressing quality pass makers like Fabregas and especially Jorginho.
- In attack we’ve looked good, a lot of chances missed by various players, especially the one Aubameyang missed was a bit infuriating.

C’mon Arsenal!

It's also clear the pressing still needs a lot of work. The players haven't got the timing and co-ordination down at all yet, and Chelsea have been able to pick their way around it and get their forwards running at us with ease.

This makes those two opening games against City and Chelsea quite scary because a bad press leads to a very open structure they will exploit.

@Jay we really need a proper winger, dont we? Either that or Abau should move to the left and Laca on top.

I think what we need most of all is a left sided CB, I’m amazed that after Koscielny’s injury we haven’t bought one.

@urban even better than Guendouzi ? He’s the best Arsenal player for me this half, impressed by him a lots.

We do need a winger, but we need pace and movement on the flanks even more. Auba will give us that and I'm sure he'll be playing there when the season starts.

This is a bit of a trial with three AMs but the issues with that are obvious enough that I can't see it being a regular thing for us.

Twoism wrote:@urban even better than Guendouzi ? He’s the best Arsenal player for me this half, impressed by him a lots.

He and Cech have been our best players for sure.

auba does not look good. M----yan does though.

How come you never mentioned Guendouzi before sports. Kid looks great.

He's decent. But he's not the most talented player in his role even at the youth NT level. That said, I shouldn't just look at that anymore lol... there's a ton of talent coming up and it does get political.

Lorient being in Ligue 2 kind of took them off my radar.

My bad lol.

Kolasinac off injured. Maitland-Niles on to play left-back.

We've had a lot of the ball in this half, but good chances are rare to come by.

Mkhi off for Nelson, Auba off for Laca.

Uff, huge miss by Laca. Gotta get those out of his system before City.

Iwobi with a good chance now, denied by a great save from this Polish kid in Chelsea's goal.

The finishing tonight has been pretty bad, tbh.

Laca

Goal Lacazette in the last minute.

Quality disguised pass from Ozil got Nelson in behind, and he crossed for a Laca tap-in.

Time for pens again lol.

Wingers make huge difference man. Hope Nelson gets back on track with his potential.

Already a much better shoot-out than the Atleti one.