Arsenal just about held on for the 1-1 draw at the St Mary’s Stadium this afternoon, with Southampton having threatened to steal all three points late on.
The Gunners started the match in the usual fashion, with our foot straight down on the pedal to put our rivals immediately on the back foot, and it didn’t take long before we found the opening goal.
Ben White’s cross was met by Xhaka on the edge of the six-yard box, who lashed his effort into the roof of the net, giving rival goalkeeper Bazunu no chance of denying us the early lead.
We continued to dominate the remainder of the half, but the other talking points come from a yellow card for young star Bukayo Saka, who was penalised for simulation while Jesus closed out the half by forcing a late save in the middle of the goal.
Things changed in the second-half however, with our rivals enjoying much more time in our final third, and when the Saints found an equaliser with Stuart Armstrong finishing off a neat team move to steer the ball beyond Aaron Ramsdale, I feared we could end up losing the tie.
Martin Odegaard did manage to get the ball in the back of the net, but Kieran Tierney had allowed the ball to trickle over the goal line before he played the ball into the Norwegian, and it was swiftly chalked off.
Nketiah, Tierney and Vieira were brought on for White, Martinelli and Odegaard as we look to freshen things up in attack, but the flow of the game remained in favour of the home side, while our best efforts to gain momentum were halted by fouls, and the it wasn’t a pleasant watch.
We shared the spoils in a game which you could say was a fair result, given that we were the clear better side in the opening 45 minutes, but the reality is that we had to hold on when it counted, and were lucky to escape with a point in the end.
Has talk of a title push affected our preparation, or do Southampton just deserve credit for stopping us from playing our game?
Patrick
Beautiful goal by Soton and we should’ve scored more than one goal in the first half, but we were unlucky. Tomiyasu made a few awkward first touches and I think our midfielders were instructed to pass to the right side more often
We really need Zinchenko back ASAP, otherwise Tierney has got to step up in his position. Hopefully Zinchenko isn’t an injury-prone player
If its not broken don’t fix it but when you know it will break what do you do. Do you watch it to break or you put measures in place so that it wouldn’t??Tomiyasu is not a LB. It should be either him or White at RB. Tierney is far better there and even in the Europa he played well enough to start this match.
Fatigue seems to be setting in
I said the same thing after our 3-1 win to Bodo Glimt at home that intensity has dropped. Arteta must rotate and let some players breathe. Albeit he must do so wisely.
Arteta himself told great players don’t have problem in playing 2 games a week, so he refused rotating our key players. He seems delusional after few of his decisions went right, he thinks whatever he does is masterstroke. It’s not one game off to blame fatigue but last few matches we all know how lucky we have been despite poor performance. We can’t rely on luck for 38 matches. Yes 2-3 match luck can win us but other 35 we have to play good. But our creativity has vanished at the moment and too slow and predictable in final 3rd. So let’s accept the real ability of our team n keep expectation at bay.
Players looked gassed and running on fumes. Arteta needs to work in some of his depth while supporting them with his preferred bunch.
Vieira in at 10 with his normal front 3, or play Marquinhos and keep Odegaard, Martinelli, and Jesus in attack.
Good thing Xhaka has saved us the last 2 games. Jesus has been dull, Saka looks tired and invisible, and Martinelli looks better with Tierney as LB.
Like to see Saka go at defenders more like when Martinelli runs at them. Our attackers have been poor lately, look dull and off the boil.
Work to be done this week. We go again on Thursday, play the backups and rest his preferred starting 11.
I would do the same!if it has to come down to the last game so be it,at least our first XI would have been rested and who knows we could get the point we need on Thursday,earning the same players the right to play the last game as a reward.
Tomiyasu defended well against Liverpool in the LB position, but we can’t expect him to make good left-footed passes all the time
I guess Arteta wanted to nullify Joe Aribo’s aerial threat on our left wing, hence Tomiyasu played there
At the upcoming EL game in Netherlands, I bet Tomiyasu will be back in the RB position to shut Gakpo down and Tierney will play LB again
He doesn’t have the right balance of defense and attack to play consistently as a LB. He can be used to shut down dangerous wingers but he should be played more often as a RB.
Yes, he seems more comfortable when playing RB
We have a perfectly good Left back in Tierney a perfectly good Right back in Tomiasu, i never got it and dont get why our best left and right back dont play where they should. Sticking plasters work but not forever.
I think White is currently better at passing from the RB position
Tierney is great at attacking, but his aerial ability isn’t as good as Tomiyasu’s. If we play against struggling teams like Soton, we’d better play Zinchenko or Tierney
I dont.
And why go on about Zinchenko, when he isnt fit, isnt any better than Tierney and while we have Tierney, isnt an issue. The issue is, we have two perfectly capable RBs and LBs and he doesn’t play them, only in the EL when we looked better balanced for it.
Remember this used to be the Wenger way, playing players out of position, we need to buy in January, we need a striker, back up for Partey and a winger if we want to finish top four, and the team looks completely f..ked, out of gas and it is only October, other teams are suffering as well.the change of the WC is having an effect on all teams across Europe.
Let’s stop expecting too much from bang average Arsenal team. This result has been coming for sometime after below average recent performance. The old Arsenal is back , and let’s return to our old expectations.
@vz, I don’t think So.
This team has done so well. They deserve the credit.
We drew this weekend. Liverpool lost to Forest.
Arteta has to rotate more though.
We move
Arteta should stop playing his league 11 in Europe with little change. We can see we are running out of steam but ge keeps putting them in Europe week after week. League should be priority. What if we don’t top the table and gave to play 2 more matches. Give opportunity to other players they will love to have more game time.
I agree,give them the chance to earn the point we need to qualify and if they do reward them by playing them in the last game.that should be good motivation.
I am really not concerned about the result, we are still top of the league but the way we have been playing is really concerning. The connection, that determination to get the ball back, and the effectiveness of pressing is really seem to have been lost. We we continue like this then it’s only matter of time when we will be fighting for 4th place.
Based on our previous games, I repeatedly said our team is good enough to finish fourth
Expecting them to challenge Man City for EPL title will be too much, since our team aren’t on that level yet
The competition is still long though, so everything could change after World Cup
I don’t agree gotanidea, that is a looser mentality. If you have participated in a competition then you have to atleast try to win it whats the point of going into a competition otherwise. Plus if every team would just think like you then no one would win the league apart from City as even Liverpool has never been good as them, Leicester would not have won the league even Sir Alex’s United would have thrown in the towel when Chelsea were dominating with Morinihio.
Here he goes again, Man City, Man City, Man City, you are just so obsessed with Man City jeez!
Spot on👍
Sorry to say it but you must be a very mean character! I hope Jon Fox will have the right words for you. I saved myself that bother.
Sorry. The above message is misplaced. It was meant for vz.
One draw is about enough to unleash pessimism from unworthy fans like you, I’ve never seen your comment on this platform. When the team was flying no comment from you, pathetic.
Tierney did fine when he played today. Tomi at LB wasn’t bad today it just wasn’t needed. A better player in that position was on the bench.
Agree
Tierney offers more going forward….
It’s just fatigue nothing more, playing Thursday games without resting players is tough, that’s why after 60 minutes the energy started dropping.
Arteta needs to start using his B team in europa, we only need 1 point to top d group, we can get it in the remaining 2 games.
We are nt going to win all our matches till d end of the season, we are going to drop points, so is mancity, Liverpool spurs and Chelsea.
On to the next one
If White at RB, Tomi at LB and Tierney on the bench is such a good decision then why does Arteta always shuffle them when going gets tough?? He also takes long in making subs even when it’s obvious there are underperformers. Sometimes we play great but others times its like last season. We need to rotate a bit to create more competition. We are at the top so there should be greater responsibility to maintain our position. The ref wasn’t good but I don’t buy that cheap idea of bias. I’m happy we drew but didn’t lose so this can teach us some sense and urgency.
There is a huge difference in quality between our first 11 and the subs, exept for Tireny and Tomi. In midfield and attack there is not a single player we can rotate without massive drop in quality, exept maybe for Viera. So I don’t balme Arteta for not rotating today, but we should rotate heavily against PSV, and buy 2-3 good players for midfield and attack in early January.
It’s not necessarily about rotating but finding some balance. It’s too much of the same things. I disagree about the bench too. The subs we have are good enough to affect the game. They may not have been good today but I’ve seen them impact matches from the bench well enough.
I am not sure how Niketiah looks good enough for you…
Also there is something going wrong for Viera..
After that Brentford game his performance has dropped drastically…
He was poor against PSV and Bodo
He’s not playing well at all at the moment but he was doing very well off the bench when the season started that he could’ve even been a starter. Anytime he came on from the bench he looked like the best player but now he’s doing badly. I only hope he picks up but I still feel there should be some rotation.
they might affect games, my point was that their level is way below our starting 11. Nelson, Eddie, Sambi are miles appart from our first 11. there is no real competition for places since it is clear who are our best 11, at least in the midfiel and attack. we need some 3-4 top quality players not as squade players but as first team real challngers.
And that’s why we need Tielamans.
Some of the fans may argue that he is not good enough but he is better that what we have back in the Midfield…
That’s not true. Nketiah and Vieira are not far off from the first team. Their levels have dropped especially Nketiah who was doing very well when the season started but I think not playing has affect him. I think Vieira can also displace Odegaard who hasn’t been great. Also there must still be rotation because sometimes starters can be off form. You can’t just maintain the same team over and over.
Yes you can’t maintain the same team over and over but that’s where squad depth is key element..
City dropped Foden replaced with Grelish..
That’s what you call squad depth..
I still believe city also doesn’t have squad depth in all areas..
If Haaland and KDB gets injured for few weeks at the same time then City doesn’t have anyone who could replace these 2..
But at the moment City has better squad depth compared to us
Odegaard must be sick to death of putting players through on goal, only fo 3rd them to “fluff their lines”.
Also he must be more selfish in running on goal and not miss chances himself.
Mikel Arteta “hit the nail on the head” with his comment about the results of spurning chances at this level.
Viera is a huge drop in quality too
He’s a good player but presently he has no effect on the team
Doesn’t create, doesn’t dictate play
People will say he’s scored two goals
Odergarrd has scored goals too, his role in the team is to actually create chances, which he is also doing but Viera is just so shy and hides
He is not even able to keep the ball, let alone creating chances..
After Brentford game his performance has dropped drastically…
We have certainly lost some of gas going forward…
We need depth for tittle push..
May be next summer if we add 3-4 genuine quality players then we may push tittle next season
Odegaard hasn’t been doing much. I don’t think he’d be at this level if he was on the bench and this is considering how he starts week in week out. I think he’s a fan favorite but can also be overrated at times. I expect more but he’s getting away with a lot of above average performances because people don’t rate Vieira.
Odergarrd still creates load of chances
He’s still by mile the best creator in the team
We scored against PSV almost immediately he came on for Viera with him being involved in the goal
The goal against Leeds, he was involved
Today he created a couple for Jesus who couldn’t put them away
Odergaard is still behind 65% of our goals and 90% behind everything that comes via Saka’s wing
Odegaard is starting week in week out compared to Vieira. I’m not saying Vieira is better right now but then looking at the way Odegaard is playing it is more than possible that he can be displaced from the line-up if Vieira can do better given the same chances. Odegaard has been good but hasn’t been as great as you or others make him out to be.
You’re right he’s been good not great
But Who’s be great in our team recently ?
Saka I think
Maybe Ben White & Ramsdale too
Not Jesus, Not even Saliba – most of the team’s been good not great
Yes but Odegaard is supposed to do more as the one who creates and captain of the team. He gets away with several above average performances because he’s likable. He’s part of the players Arteta needs to rotate to create more competition in the team. Overall I don’t think any of our players have been great but I believe they will pick up and have a great season.
Nice
You’re correct there
If I were the coach, I’ll sometimes sacrifice Ødegaad to play Eddie and Jesus upfront. That partnership produced goals in our preseason.
U know Smith-Rowe was at a time ahead of Martinelli
Martinelli fought to displace Smith-Rowe from the starting line up
I remember Lacazette doing that also and even Odergaard had to do it at the beginning of last season if u remember – 442 was working for Arteta with Lacazette being the person behind the Striker
Odergaard produced performances from the bench to send Lacazette back to the bench
Viera almost doesn’t merit a substitution even at the moment, prove your mettle from the bench
To put it in context Smith-Rowe isn’t a pure winger and Odegaard on any day is a better No. 10 than Laca. These two starting was just a matter of time. Rotation can be used to keep players fresh and raise competition. Sometimes even the better player can be off form.
Odegaard is not as good as people say. He goes for long periods without touching the ball at all. Without Partey in the team Xhaka and Odegaard are just average. We need two better midfield players. Our energy levels are very low. Arteta and Edu knew we would playing Thursday Europa games they should have been well prepared with a deeper squad. We need a better striker than Jesus and Nketiah. Jesus must stop going very deep leaving his role upfront vacant.
Simba, I agree with you on Arsenal’s strikers; however it is not Odegaard’s fault if he is not given the ball.
As for kev, with regard to Martin Odegaard, we much be watching different matches.
Spot on, people can’t see what he brings to the team along with Martinelli
If there is a massive drop in quality when using squad players,how is it not MA fault?he bought Vieira,Marquinhos…he also gave Eddie a new contract. Who should be blamed then?
You can see our players are already tiring. We were poor, i won’t blame the ref.
Can’t win them all, onto the next game.
When we can’t put up with not winning then we start blaming the ref and saying they have a bias when that has no basis. Thry are just incompetent. We missed several chances and made a lot of poor final balls in that first half. We have ourselves to blame
Very poor again. If we continue this against better opposition it won’t end well.
Tired performance – too tired to even play the system well which is where we fell down second half. Partey can’t play 90 minutes (never could) in a high octane game. Nervous at the back, Ode and Jesus never at the game and Nketiah and Vieira were extremely poor. Yes the ref allowed them to kick us around but ultimately we got what we deservered in a game where we lost energy half way through – paid the price for making sure in the Europa…
guy, see my comments above re Odegaard creating chances; the problem is Arsenal’s inability to hit the target. For some time Arsenal players have been required to be shown where the barn is to hit, let alone the barn door.
lol Oz – you are preaching tto the converted. I complain sometimes about Saka too but he is still vital. Whilst I get that Ode misses a few, his primary purpose is to create and I would say that GM, Jesus and Saka, all of whom play further forward than him and are therefore more akin to “strikers”, have been missing a far higher percentage of their chances than him. I can criticise him along with many in the team for a tired performance, but not for lack of goals. And like Saka even a subpar Ode gets in every one of my teams.
I’m still trying to work out whether finishing is the last bit that Arteta hasn’t coached the players on yet or whether we are just cursed with players who aren’t intuitive finishers. Who would have thought a few months ago that Xhaka would be a more natural goalscorer than Nketiah?
Team really tired. Saka was tired. And once they doubled up on him Arteta should have moved him to the left. Vieira has no bite, sloppy. Party’s poor today. Selfish forwarders -Martin Eli and saka, not willing to pass when they had a chance
For me Jesus is problem, he has been really poor infront of goal and he keeps trying to dribble past players when better options are available which can lead to better chances of goal. People did say he is not a 20 goal a season striker n that has started to become visible now.
Thanks for this comment!
Reading through, I was wondering why no one was pointing this out.
Gabriel Jesus is currently failing at his primary assignment, and this is hurting us.
Yes, fatigue was evident today and it was all very laboured. But, not in the first half.
Our Number 9 should have put one in at least, to double the lead in the first half – that was gonna be a cushion before the fatigue hurt us.
*He’s beginning to give me concerns.
👍👍
Should have bought Haaland, he doesnt look tired and played same number of games, probably more in fact.
Reggie, not much more in price percentage wise over Jesus, but Haaland obviously couldn’t be sold on the “project” or “Norway United” (with Odegaard) over Manchester City.
I do believe that the decision making by the ref in the first half had a significant effect on the course of the game. Very good chances involving manhandling Jesus went unpunished.
I don’t deny we went off the boil but there is no question in my mind that those decisions adversely affected us. We were in full flow
We then tired
I wrote in another article that Arteta has chosen to beef up his EL league team – most likely to ensure top spot. This will probably work for that but has arguably knackered them for the league
SueP, I concur about the ref. Chelsea got a penalty last night for exactly the same holding of a player that we were denied a free kick on the edge of the area today. There’s just no consistency with the refs.
Lack of consistency of referees in the EPL is a major concern, even interpretation and use of VAR.
We need a back up for Partey, Saka and Gabriel’s LCB
need to get Zinchenko back as quickly as possible the midfield simply could not pass ball in the 2 half the warning sign were there against leeds
Great first half ,so so second half .
Ref wasn’t the best we we got away with one last weekend .
The ref didn’t score Southamptons equaliser .
Martinelli for me once again stepping up with some magical runs ,thought him going off was a strange one unless he was knackered,which I doubt .
Still top of the league ,so onto next week .
We got away with one last week for sure but it wasn’t because of the referee it was because Ramsdale kept Leeds out. That is merit. Not equal but kind of equal except Leeds was balanced with Man Utd previously.
Agree DK – maybe a knock but GM was the one player still looking like he could do something whereas most of the others were running on fumes. It’s been a long fortnight for our first team.
Surely Nketia can not play on the left. Martin Eli should have remained on.
Positive we are two points clear at the top and miles clear of our top 4 rivals.
Negative disgusting ref decisions.
Those saying we were tiring did you watch the end of the game? Outside the equaliser boost which lasted all of 2-5 minutes, we pushed for the winner they countered with much commentary glee but no real end product. Not going to engage with those comments tonight.
We are in a fantastic position (literally top of the league) no matter how hard this is to take.
Onwards and upwards!
I like your positivity mate.
Top of table 2 points clear.
We take the point and move on.
Game we would have crumbled in previously.
We were obviously tired.
Put a lot in to beat PSV.
Keep the good vibes Angus as post match v Man U we still felt great after playing great, and post Leeds we won slbrit badly but our system held out. Today we draw at least but the performance was so poor second half we imploded because we looked all in and our subs were not great either, so we need your positive energy right now!
In that sense, it has equalised but the ref was particularly bad today. They’ll suggest that what Southampton got away with is the new standard yet Arsenal have to train Gabriel for instance not to do that or he’ll be punished so not a fair platform.
Outside that, I’m as proud of the team and the supporters that go to games now as I was when I posted after 15-20 mins saying that. Hasn’t changed.
Heck no loss of faith overall Angus – and look at the other results: Liverpool lost at Forest, Chelsea drew at home and Spuds lost at home. Discounting City (who may well soon leave everyone for dead) we didn’t exactly lose ground today! The only other team holding it together are Newcastle, who have no European games.
👍
This is the best comment here for me, this is the kind of match we usually lose, maybe fans on justarsenal are expecting Arsenal to not drop points really? We move to the next match.
I told this before but 3 consecutive 1-0 wins means we are slowing down, ever since that Pool game. Today it was evident. Need something new in our forward line. Damn I wish ESR was healthy.
I hope MA takes our B team to Eindhoven as that match is relatively meaningless for us. We need to bounce back big time next Sunday against Nottingham at home.
Oh and Jesus needs find his scoring boots. He’s shadow of himself in front of the goal compared to the start of the season.
Agree DaJ Jesus is still playing like a crazy thing but him struggling to score is creating problems. Plus Nketiah isn’t finishing either and Vieira’s form has fallen off a cliff. There’s are my only worries other than missing ESR an Zinchenko we could really do with them now.
Not a bad result given the history at St Mary’s.
It is banana skins game like these have seen Bellingham comes alive in
Just because Tomi at LB worked against Liverpool does not nean you keep playing him there when u have a proper LB on bench. Tomi just does not give us offensive outlet on left. I don’t understand why Arteta keeps playing same 11 with very little rotation in Europe, league should be preference specially when you know team will qualify from group stages. Why not play Nelson, Brazilian kid n Nketiah in Europe? This team is starting to burn out. Last few matches have been poor but I know what some of the fans will say we got the points. You can not ride your luck so many times. There is an issue and keeping our eyes closed won’t solve it.
Are you suggesting Southampton were value for their draw? Vis-a-vis Tomiyasu?
We only outplayed Southampton in first half not second, I agree to play tomi as LB was a master stoke in Liverpool game but since then he has been poor as LB he offers no offensive outlet and that’s not his fault. We had same issue against Leeds n same again. Why keep playing him there when u have more natural more attacking LB in Tierney.
Their 1st shot on target was the goal, the 2nd was an incredibly tame effort that Ramsdale gathered easily just after the 1st they had no others. Not sure when we were not on top. 1st half was better but we still were better 2nd half especially when you consider the ref disruption that allowed their defence to literally two-handed push our players without consequence.
To add to that pushing with your hands is not football. It’s not muscle. It’s cheating. It’s a contact sport shoulder to shoulder not pushing and not holding. I’m 5″7 and will fly into challenges when I play, I won’t shove people however much advantage it would give me.
Agree logic – Big fan of Tomi1 but last two games Tierney has been far better at LB when he’s come on. I guess Arteta has to try them all for a couple of games in different spots but it all depends on whether he gets the message now that Tomi is actually far more comfortable on the right normally, and Tierney (or Zinchenko) against defensive teams is the better option, which is what the rest of us are seeing.
To be clear we massively outplayed Southampton as we did Spurs and as we did Liverpool not long ago.
I’d agree “in the first half” Angus, but from what I saw we certainly didnt outplay them after the half time lemon!
Logic, we did play those players away to Zurich and look how we struggled to get that win. We needed to play a stronger side in the other games to make sure we win the group, so that we don’t have to play 2 extra ko games in the next round.
While we were very good mid-week this is the second straight PL game where we looked leggy. I’d like to see Arteta name a complete B side on Thursday and see if thay refreshes the starters for Notts Forest. On.a plus side, Gabriel was very good today and certainly justified his new deal.
Ditto Voya on both points – so nice to see a player IMPROVE after getting a new contract for a change!
If I were the coach, I’ll sometimes sacrifice Ødegaad to play Eddie and Jesus upfront. That partnership produced goals in our preseason.
Thank God you are not the coach….. Too much complain of some fans here just bcs we drew. Soton only had two chances and the first one was the goal which gave them the momentum but we were equal to the task and didn’t allow them to create any other chances again…..
There was clear penalty against soton( Gabriel fouled and Ben white) but ref didn’t blow, Soton players were being physical and roughed handled us bit the ref allowed them, what else did u want our players to do… Weldone gunners and let’s win the next game.
After 11 games, we are 2pts ahead of city, 5 ahead of spurs and like 8pts ahead of Chelsea and Newcastle, what a good performance and hard work from the teams.
In addition, we are topping the table in our Europa league…..
Keep it up guys and continue your winning against our next opponent…
The Europa league is really taking a toll on the players. Once again we were very good in the opening 45 mins but faded after the break. We lost possession cheaply so many times in the second half and some of the starting 11 looked really tired by 70-75 mins. Arsenal really need to sign a backup for partey/Xhaka and another attack minded player so that saka/Odegaard can be rested once in a while. As the season goes on, it will just get worse with injuries and fatigue.
It is clear case of lack of depth…
And this is the only reason we not gonna win league this season…
This Thursday and Sunday made difficult for our players…
From past few weeks, since Bodo away we have lost some of our gas going forward…
We were lucky last week against Leeds and today luck was not in our favour…
We looked overplayed and tired…
Also subs were completely ineffective… not sure what’s wrong with Viera lately…
After that Brentford game he is having great drop in his performance..
Niketiah is not good enough for 100k week..
Partey also so many times late in 2nd half lost ball cheaply…
We need to bounce back immediately…
Also need to rest our starting 11 against PSV
Even if we get a draw we still win the the group irrespective what is happening in the last game against Zurich..
We need to win next game against Forest to keep the pace with Chelsea and Tottenham because our target for this season should be top 4…
Next summer we need to add more quality so that we can have depth in squad…
Top 4 was always the aim.
Yet we are still 2 clear at the top.
Why aim low, you should always aim high so I you don’t win it atleast finish somewhere near it. This mud table mentality needs to change. If we want to become a big club again then our fans need to change their thinking as well and start aiming high. For years u lot have been asking winger what’s the point of being in Champions league when we are not going to win it so what’s the point of being in EPL when you have desire just to finish in top 4.
It’s not going to happen overnight..
We need to realistic 1st..
We are good.. pretty good but we need to add more firepower apart from our starting 11
Next season we will be flying if we add 3-4 quality additions and if we keep our this squad together..
I believe we can win the league, I just know the top 4 is the target.
World Cup could be game changer because most of our player will not go to World Cup and we will be fresh after World Cup.
Also post World Cup till Feb we won’t have that Thursday and Sunday trouble…
Also we must beat Man City at Emirates I assume we not gonna get anything at Eitihad
Wow we draw a difficult game and the negative comments immediately come out!
It is a fact we lack quality apart from starting 11
It is a fact that Niketiah is not good enough for 100k week..
It is a fact that we lost some of gas going forward…
It is fact we were lucky last week against Leeds
It is a fact that our target is top 4 this season..
It is fact we looked tired because of this Thursday and Sunday thing..
It is a fact that there is drastic drop of performance for Viera..
I am not sure how it is negative…
Please clear eyes and head to understand what is positive or negative…
Also it is fact that after adding some quality in the summer we can compete for tittle next season…
I haven’t said that we are poor or anything…
The fact is we are tired and we lack quality and we don’t depth in squad…
observations are now considered negatively. The games some ppl play on here to prove what a “better” fan they are gets ridiculous. Nobody is hating on anyone on here. We obviously weren’t at the top of our game today and we’re allowed to discuss that 🤷🏾♂️
yup
When has Southampton away become difficult game? Everytime we drop points same reason is given oh it was a difficult game. Every game us difficult so might as well pack the bags n go home.
I agree with most of your points Kedar, but to believe if we weren’t tired we would finish top ie above City, is a victory for hope over expectation after just 10 games.
We will buy at least one maybe 2 players in January ie after the WC which means after only 5 more EPL games. I think many of our players WILL be rested in the Europa and yes Partey is a one hour a game player – not only does he lose form but risks injury if more – I guess him staying on today shows how little Lokonga is trusted in physical matches.
You mentioned Saka booked for simulation but no mention of Walcott booked for a really blatant dive!
The Naysayers have suddenly got ammo.. They coming gout like Vampires at night.. trying to suck every ounce of optimism left in every Fan.
It’s Southampton away. In a match the referee made it his personal mission to deny us.
It’s true we need to up our performances going forward .. but to come for Art3ta and the Team at this stage is just bollocks!
Yes Jimmy well effing said!
Don’t you get tired of blaming ur failure on refs, people who blame their failures on others instead of looking at their own deficiencies never succeed. So you so called optimistic lot want us to have less desire to succeed, less hope from the team and be satisfied with poor performance and you think u r optimistic? 🤣😂
Jimmy and GB. Nobody here is pessimistic overall and we all wish the best for our team. But surely it’s better to discuss actual or potential issues, weaknesses or poor performances from a position of strength rather then stay silent until our form nosedives? Do you think the comments here will cause mass despair? Do you believe they are total fabrications? No? Then allow criticism please. A successful club cannot be run without allowing criticism and thus learning where the problrms are. These are not “doomsayers”, pessimists are Arsenal trolls. We are all positive about our season, we are not “haters”, so please do not try to create a divide where there is none, as others will not criticise you for only mentioning the good bits…
I think you are wasting your time Guy but you are right.
Fatigue was so obvious in the game. We completely lost physicality and steam in the second half.
We missed plenty of chances in the first half in which we should learn from Southampton. They had one clear chance and they took it with great composure. TH14 recently commented that Rashford needs to use his brain and not simply smash the ball goalwards – something our attackers did when in great scoring positions.
But again, I’ll still blame it on fatigue. A tired body can affect the brain.
Lastly, the lack of plan B on the attacking front may come back to bite us in the long run.
Tiredness. Can’t bring everyone to Holland midweek. It’s getting to the players. Subs were letdowns besides tierney who should’ve started. Partey poor 2nd half also killed this game. Everything starts with him and he was so sloppy in possession. Positives is Gabriel and another good game for White. If we don’t pick up 1-2 players in Jan this team will burn out very soon.
If we were to get players in January,they would have to be ready to hit the ground running,not an easy thing.
Not at all easy. But necessary. Partey injury has us relying on lokonga again, Saka or martinelli injury puts nketiah or Marquinhos as starters. Even if they all stay fit either one of them can also lose form and we have no real competition or player to call upon until ESR gets back. And he’s gonna take a while to be at 100% himself. Jan signings have turned some clubs seasons around. Will need the scouting to be spot on.
I agree.
B for the 1st half
D for the 2nd half
Bang average performance.
Need another winger or cf, and a cm.
I don’t know about the rest of our fans,but I find it worrying that we are already talking about fatigue amongst our players, especially so early in the season,no??
👍its not an excuse or at least shouldn’t be.
True that,especially with a nearly fully fit squad.i dread to think, what would happen if we had several injured players at the same time.
🎯
Agree guys – it shouldn’t be. But look around us, we are not the only ones. EPL tougher every year, quicker, more physical. Add Europe and all EPL clubs except City are struggling playing so many games quickly to shoehorn in the World Cup (by clearing a whole month) in a few weeks without a reduced season. Yes a bigger squad and fewer injuries would help, but I think it’s as much the mental pressure of playing as the physical…
Can’t win them all.
Back on the horse next week.
COYG
Its not about winning them all but we have been poor in last two games against Leeds n second half against Southampton. I am worried about the symptoms and to dismiss the symptoms just in name of supporting the team will be highly foolish. We will back the team in every situation but the mgmt should really start looking at these performances creeping in lately.
I am not saying the performance was good.
But no team goes through the season without dips in form. If our dip means mostly wins and draws, it will be good.
You seem to think it is a more permanent problem.
Time will tell.
Show me a single team that has been 100% over the years in the league. Hahahaaa….time changes.
Arsenal is top of the league after 12 matches with a game less, draw today at St. Mary’s and some people chose to be critical of the team and cry wolf of a “crumbling team”…. My oh my. Maybe greedy heartless fans.
Give us a break! Can’t win all games.
Anyway, I feel good about this because it’s a sign of massive progress.
No team has performed better than the Arsenal this season.
We are still top and vision in progress.
Kudos to the team and I know they will step up in their next game to continue with the splendid performance exhibited so far.
We love you guys.
COYG 👊🏿💪🏿!
I understand our disappointment with the result but on a positive note, we drew a game that we would lose previous seasons with the kind of weak second half seen today.
But the truth is that since man utd game, we have shown traits of losing steam in the second half….even during home games as well….
Like comments above, arteta needs to rotate where necessary and make subs on time as well….
partey, odegaard tire easily, saka and martinelli need to come off early…
Jesus hustle style of football is taking a huge toll on his productivity as his heavily involved in pressing/build up…he needs to refocus on CF duties ,just like preseason
Tomiyasu should only play LB for games where we need extra defensive cover ,not games where we need to obliterate small teams… Tierney is more suited for that and gives martinelli the much needed outlet…
Marquinhos and Nelson are good covers, we need to utilize them also, lokonga in an advanced role worked during pre season, so Vieira can grow with the midweek games before being slowly integrated into a very fastpaced physical EPL games, he also needs to bulk up real fast…
We are still top…kudos to the lads…we can’t win all games
Seems like common sense too me, agree!!!!!!
As in the Leeds match, we ran out of steam in the second half but on this occasion we could not hang on to our one goal lead which ought to have been more to reflect our domination in the first.This lack of energy after a midweek match is concerning, as in the absence of Elneny, Zinchenko and ESR, we simply lack the depth to cope adequately in midfield and attack.Jesus in particular is running on empty and clearly needs a break.The Southampton goal was well worked and some credit is due to the home side for a very vigorous, energetic performance in the second half.Great goal from Xhaka who along with Partey faded in the second half, not surprisingly as he has featured in every game this season.
Partey was injured and rested, Xhaka has played most games for Arsenal since he signed, machine not new.
Either that Grandad or rotate better for the EL. I dont buy this fatigue excuse, every team has to cope with more games, the more successful you are. The top 7 teams all have to manage more games each week. Rotation has to be better and so must our system to cope better when we dont have the ball. Excuses like injuries and fatigue are part and parcel of managing top teams. If you think you need to freshen up, then freshen up, dont just keep ploughing on doing the same thing. There is a thing called trust and sometimes you have to trust players and especially in the EL. How are we going to have a good squad, if you dont use them.
We clearly need more rotation or we will begin a decline.
We do but we should not use it as an excuse.
Agree with grandad
Fun fact we are now 10 points up on the equivalent fixtures last year.
A dreadful and unacceptably timid and shagged out perf, after a decent opening twenty mins or so.
In fact to say twenty mins, is being generous to us. The longer the game went the worse we got.
Several players had their clear worst perf of the season, JESUS esp, even though his brutal opponent seemed bent on trying to maim him, ignored by the appallingly incompetent and “should be sacked” sick joke of a ref.
PARTEY DISAPPEARED ALTOGETHER IN THE SECOND HALF, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. I only noticed him when he constantly gave the ball away. Huge setback overall!
I find it incredible that even players who have played a great many games can be so obviously unable to run with intensity after 20 mins , save only MARTINELLI, who was still overall a disappointment, though less than most others.
Only ONE player escapes my wrath; RAMSDALE. I was left to think that any half decent team, other than the very limited SAINTS, would CERTAINLY have beaten us today. We deserved nothing better frankly.
I don’t know where to start but I’m used to your rhetoric so I let it go largely because anyone that disagrees gets the iron to the face. You told me firecly the league wouldn’t start again during the pandemic only person that was more insulting and more forceful in that opinion than Reggie was you. No matter how many times I explained the obvious financial reasons.
Seriously this game the intensity died slightly with bad decisions and the goal, sucked a lot out of everyone. As I said below, point to a chance Southampton had except their goal. Do the same for us and there is a conclusion.
They never deserved to beat us and your opinion speaks of your character. You’ve been pro this pro that and negative that negative this. Here it makes no sense. You believe we should of lost I doubt even the most negative fans that you have recently railed against (you were with them when it was wenger) believe the same. So I have no idea what to make you of you as I imagine most others don’t.
Angus, dont bring me up in your arguments, you freely admitted you were the one at fault in our little clash. You have a short memory and you have no need at all to mention my name and wrongly.
I brought you up because I’ve had a go at you about that subject directly previously, You were at fault then when I got fed up with your attitude after I have been at fault and never hesitated to apologise for it afterwards because I was in the wrong.
The worst wrath I gave you and had to apologise for was on the back of Real Vieira making me feel like shit. The 2nd one was this exact subject so that’s what we are talking about. Both I apologised for even if we don’t see eye to eye.
Angus, you had NO reason, except childish to do so. That is why i steer clear of you!!!!!
Your beef was with fox, leave me out.
I honestly don’t have words at this point. Fine it’s me and Fox a position you argued with Fox at the time, fine.
As far as I see it I don’t have a beef with Fox or you. We’re all Arsenal fans, I hope that’s clear. I’m sure we’d all enjoy ourselves together at a game regardless. Just speaking on conversations that have happened.
Angus I have no idea exactly what you refer too You are being very generalised and seemingly spoiling for a fight. If you care to accuse me of something specific, that is in any way current, I will gladly answer you with sensible words and not accusatory nonsense, as you are doing here. I t seems, from the only specific thing you did say, that back in the pandemic we had a difference about when the league would restart. So what, I say!
I canot recall who said what that long ago and its is surely beside the point by now all that time later, or at least it should be, to anyone who does NOT hold GRUDGES!
If that cap fits, my grudge holding fellow Gooner, then please wear it.
PS: you may or may not choose to notice that nowhere in my post did I say, as you falsely claim, that we deserved to lose to SAINTS.
Not at all spoiling for a fight and I’m fairly certain you already knew that or you would have engaged earlier.
“Only ONE player escapes my wrath; RAMSDALE. I was left to think that any half decent team, other than the very limited SAINTS, would CERTAINLY have beaten us today. We deserved nothing better frankly.”
Certainly have beaten us. (when you said Saints would have won)
In reference directly you said that. As to the pandemic, bygones be bygones. I am Ramsdale’s biggest fan and recently have had to defend him on these forums, he didn’t make a save today that saved us. Testament to the defence.
We should not hold grudges I agree completely!
You didn’t bite on the technicality so that means your listening. Ain’t a person on this forum that doesn’t belive you care about Arsenal, also is not a person that didn’t appreciate my iron analogy. Reconcile that. Reconcile that with some of the nonsense I’ve posted 🙂 Red army!
Got hijacked slightly but prove me wrong, sure you can.
I want to say this again. Until arsenal players are taught to be clinical and take their chances to kill off games, it will be old same arsenal. Another thing is that, the Coach should not be emotional while making substitutions. It’s absurd to see a team pushing for a winning goal suddenly removed Martinelli and replaced him with Nketia. I think Nketia is really not ready for the challenge posed by the presence of Jesus. Shortly after that substitute, our press in attack dropped.
Finally, arteta as a matter of necessity rest some of our first team players especially, in EL matches. I just hope this match will not be a down turn on our fortunes this season. One point from Soton away may be after all, crucial although three points was within our reach.
We dominated the game in the first half and should have made more than one goal. When not being able to score more than one goal you can’t concede either. Today our passing were inaccurate and too slow, but it’s a great quality not to lose on a bad day 🔴⚪️
A draw is better than a loss on the plus side but the turn around in performances from one half to the next is worrying. We put ourselves under pressure and then big holes appear. Our system has to be more robust and flexible than that. Also Jesus is a massive problem, he is expected to compete with big central defenders on his own and looks shot. He never played Thursday but looks dead on his feet and worn out. We didn’t lose but it was a worrying draw for more than one reason. It isn’t the first game we have had chalk and cheese performances in the same game. Under pressure we look really bad and everything breaks down.
And away from home again!
Sorry, meant to read Jesus played Thursday and looked tired. Nketiah should have played Thursday.
Name Southampton’s chances outside the goal?
I dont understand how that answers the questions asked but over all Southampton had 10 shots 3 on target, the same as us. Seeing as though they hardly got out of their half first half, they must have had most of theirs in the second half, when we were hopeless.
name the chances you saw? It was not a complicated question.
Angus, i dont want to answer you because of your attitude and the way you call people. I gave you facts not opinions. We were crap second half, that is another fact.
I asked you to name the chances, no attitude. If you can’t just say so, seriously.
Thats my final answer to you. Try talking to someone else, please!!!!!!!!
I come on here for grown up conversation.
What grown up conversation? I asked to name chances and you complained about my attitude.
OH !!!!! so dragging something up and naming me in a post up above that had nothing to do with me and then twisting the truth, is not childish or a bad attitude? Angus i cant debate with you.
I brought this up way before your response above. Who is childish? I asked this way before then and it was simply name the Southampton chances? Why is that so hard? You could prove me wrong in an instance with the examples.
Remind me never to pi** Angus off, Reggie! lololol
I don’t just understand the crying and fuss all about the team. We are not expected to win all the match. we drew which is not too bad. Tottenham are currently losing at home. We should try and appreciate this team more please
Looks like some haters have crawled out of their hole, good for them some sunshine until we continue our winning ways.
The players looked completely spent in the 2nd half as the accumulation of matches finally took his toll. It was already visible in the last few matches especially vs leeds but once again we are showing that strong mentality that has emerged this season. Never once did the players dropped their head after conceding and seeing the tide turning against them.
Arteta needs to rest everyone vs psv, put the reserves and kids on, they win/draw good for them they lose won’t matter when we can finish the job vs zurich the week after.
Performances have definitely dropped off since the Liverpool game and this result was always coming, last match against Leeds was the warning sign.
As Siamois mentioned earlier Arteta still doesn’t trust his bench enough to make pro active changes when we start to lose control in games, which is alarming since this is fully his squad now whether that’s new signings or contract renewals.
With this current squad I think top 4 is very achievable however to maintain a title challenge over the course of the whole season our bench is not strong enough not enough game changers especially in attack when we need goals and our starters are not firing, central midfield is a little short as well. Ideally we would look to bring in a striker, Winger,cdm and lcb in January, I would personally love us to sign Toney, Trossard, Neves and N’dicka but I don’t see us signing more than two players. P.S Spurs are losing 😭
I am amused by the level of negativity following an away draw at our bogey team where in the past we would most likely have lost the game. Furthermore, any unbiased observer should realise that these players have played far too many games in such a short to time. For starters, we have been playing three games every three days for three consecutive weeks. If that is not exhausting enough then I wonder what is!
That aside, we didn’t lose the game but got a draw. Even in the invincibles’ season we had 26 wins and 12 draws. What is new here? If people can rave mad after a draw what would they do after a loss. This is pretence of the highest degree. In games you expect such situations and all of us must accept it as a factor of life
@dr Obviously english us not your or ackshays first language as you both comment on negativity THEN you both bring up the very pts the ‘negative’ comments were talking about. 🙄 duh?
Touché, PDoff – I too don’t see why some of as are classed as negative and some positive for making exactly the same points! I’m fully in favour of debate both ways, but dislike the constant inferences that any criticism in a season when we are all generally praising Arsenal is somehow disloyalty!
The team seem exhausted. We had some chances in the first half and didn’t score. Saints were better in the second half. The refs was leaning towards the home side. We need to reboot for the next league game. Hopefully Arteta will play some reserves in Holland and pack the bus for a draw.
Well….what i can say is dat we did not play too bad. We had clear chances in the first half….we could have nailed it but we did not. Now i see why pep dont play gabriel.
Its simple… he has a lot of players than can created chances, the primary objective of a striker is to score.
Gabriel do your Job!!!
Should have won the game in first half dominated and Should have put the game to bed! 2nd half the players looked jaded and unfortunately don’t have the quality in reserve to effect the game! Will need at least 3 signings in Jan whether it’s possible is another matter as it’s a very difficult window to buy quality players but if we are to stay in top 4 will need to go all out to get these players in!
Some people on here are hell bent on trying to agitate others in to an argument.
It is a point gained and a point that gets us closer to securing top 4 spot
Are the players tired, fatigued, dead on there feet. Maybe, maybe not
MA put out his strongest team to do a job.
We got a point and any other season in the past we would have walked away with zero point
Onwards and upwards
Ps
Reggie and Angus
You two are like Laura and Hardy
He said she said 😀
I have to say we were poor…..tired, BUT I feel for our players because the referee was as bad as I have seen. One of the Southampton defenders virtually assaulted Gabriel Jesus on a few occasions. When Scott McTominay did it…a penalty was given. When Jesus got assaulted nothing happened. Also Saka’s yellow card was a disgrace. What a shite referee, although that does not excuse us for looking so slow and tired in the second half.
Agree Sean – a bit of a perfect storm. We failed to score enough in the first half, the ref allowed them to get away with a lot and so they roughed us up and frankly outfought us second half (as they didn’t have a game a few days before). But look around – who accept City of the EPL European teams isn’t losing form right now?
Wow. So much negativity for a team that draws its first game of the season and is 2 points clear at the top of the PL.
And some posters don’t seem to understand the difference between a fact and their own (questionable) opinion.
Here’s a fact for you: this is the first time that EL qualifying has to be completed by November 3rd.
Here’s another: our opponents today (and last week) don’t have any European football to play, as we do.
So if you’re wondering why the guys are looking tired, look to the nutters in FIFA who decided it was a good idea to have a WC in the middle of the season in a country that has 50C heat.
Who mentioned brown envelopes? Nope, not me 😉
We never had european football last season and didn’t make top 4 so that’s a poor excuse also the club knew at the start of season the hectic fixture schedule we would face and never got enough players in to deal with it in my opinion and not just talking numbers I mean top quality players that could start and influence games we have to many average back up players and that could end up costing us a top 4 place!
I was talking about the tiredness factor in this unique situation, what happened last season was a different thing – obviously, for teh reasons I mentioned.
The club is still rebuilding but as soon as people see a bit of success… everyone starts whinging about lack of depth etc.
All the clubs with European football are in the same boat. Spurs and Liverpool both lost. Chelsea drew at home. But only Arsenal come in for your criticism?
IDNWIC – I don’t see it as negativity for exactly the reasons you stated. There’s not much critisism out there just the facts. Still top and not many teams in Europe are playing well. We will be top in January.
This site makes a good soapie sometimes
O.k. that’s my lady’s opinion
She tells me there’s a lot of bickering going on
They neutralized Partey and Odegaard. Partey always had two guys close during the match. They hurried Partey and OD. Next game.
We are losing form!! Fatigue, arrogance, over confidence? Who knows, only Arteta may have a hint.
Biggest surprise was how bad Partey played, lost the ball so many times that I stopped counting. Never thought I would miss Elneny.
Saliba made two big mistakes, and Jesus is now totally dry.
Vieria mas also losing the ball all the time, Odegard, although average, was better.
Tierney was better running down the left line rather than trying to play midfield. Tomi works well in both sides (great).
Additionally, EPL is becoming too physical. It’s like watching full boxing. You can push a player any time or retain him hardly with your hands at the back and is all ok. Watching games in another league, more tactical and technical, may be tempting.
Thought that thug Lyanco was given too much leeway by the ref but outside of that there isn’t much to complain about. The main issues for Arsenal are tiredness, predictability and a thin squad. Like me Arteta must be looking at the World Cup break as an excellent opportunity to re evaluate.
The ref in that soton game is the reason english ref’s have such a poor reputation.
It was scary to hear the comments by the commentators that that soton had never lost a game that idiot ref had referred in.
Coincidence? Or doing his best to maintain his record? Gab was sent off for an airish swing yet a head butt doesnt even warrant a yellow?
I bet the villager was annoyed that soton was honourable enough not to dive in our box.
There were 3 penalties if any other ref had officiated and and saka’s yellow must be cancelled. So falling over after being pushed is a dive in that villagers eyes?
And dont get me started on the even bigger village clown manning VAR.
However, the referring doesn’t excuse the fact we always switch off after we score the 1st goal. We allow the opponent to play their way back. Happened against spuds, pool, Leeds and ydy.
We went downhill after the 20th Min in the 1st half. No plan b unlike soton whose manager changed formation after they conceded
The pre world cup games are not over yet!
Starting this Thursday we play 6 matches with just 3 days between each match.
4 League games and two Europa games.
We still need one point in the Europa League to win the group, so we will probably need to play our better players in one of those games!!
I think we were tired in the second half against Leeds, same in the second half against Bodo Glimp, again in the second half against PSV, and now in the second half against Southampton.
Nottingham Forest look to be a fit side, so we may well struggle against them.
I am really worried that we might have hit a wall with our stamina, and my tail off in the upcoming November matches
Again, fingers crossed we can get thru those games, but I am worried!!
I would rest key players against PSV. We play Zurich at home later which is definitely easier game so I would rest players Thursday, and have them ready for Nottingham