[UpWithRivers]

Im sick of all these excuses - we're tired and have a sht squad. Well Arsenal are playing Europa and have a worse squad and are doing ok. Lots of the teams are playing loads of games. It sucks but we cant keep using that as an excuse.

We lost because we make the same mistake as always - putting players out of position and getting overrun in midfield. I love Ten Haag but I have to say it as I see it. He fkd up. I know there are injuries but putting Rashford on the right is pointless. Yeah every now and again he will get a goal but basically you are taking our most in form attacker out of the game. Then he has persisted with Ronaldo and VDB. They have done fk all over the last few games. Thats 3 players down. How can you win? Then we have Eriksen and Casimero holding the midfield. All Villa did was push extra bodies into midfield and overrun us. Simple and predictable. Fred or McTominay for VDB and we would not have lost 3-1.

 

[tjb]

Of course, the new manager bounce and all, had to happened against us.

Frontline isn't working and has never clicked yet this season. Drop Ronaldo and we will look a bit better, but I think the problem is deeper.

What do you think the problem is when referring to it being deeper?

I don't think the problem is that deep, at least as far as controlling the game. Ronaldo and VDB's inability to press leaves us exposed. We either get bypassed by the CB's and DM or we sit back. In the early part of this game, we chose to push Casemiro and Eriksen a little higher to create more pressure, that led to Villa being able to attack us directly, as neither Eriksen or Casemiro received the support from Ronaldo or VDB to win back possession or stall Villa's build up. This led to us being cut open easily. After this, we chose to drop our midfield a bit deeper and not engage as aggresively as we would like to in midfield. Hence, just on the basis of that decision alone, we had lost the ability to press high up the pitch, and now we were scrapping in a midblock ( that was still compromised due to the lack of defensive engagement from either Ronaldo or VDB). Emi Martinez was literally able to walk with the ball, knowing it was almost impossible for us to try and win the ball in their final third. We only started really attacking when Villa were choosing to sit off, which says alot.

My point here is that we can only attack consistently when we have the ball. We are no longer a pure counter attacking side, so having the ball is important. Ronaldo and VDB not pressing, limited our opportunities to have the ball and definitely within their half. Them not engaging probably cut the amount of attacks we could procure by half the amount it should have been. This was in addition to exposing Casemiro and Eriksen to far more pressure than they should have had to deal with. Not due to coaching or tiredness from the rest of the team, but simply due to a lack of effective engagement by 2 players, both of whom happen to play in positions in the centre of the pitch. Look at Arsenal, small changes like adding Gabriel Jesus can lift a team, particularly in positions at the centre of the pitch.

 

[simonhch]

You can only play so many games on Thursday and Sunday, with an injury ravaged squad, before you start showing signs of exhaustion. Not reading too much into this game. There are going to be a lot of upsets this season because the schedule is fecking preposterous. Doesn’t affect top four race too much because everyone around us dropped points.

We’ll need to add more depth in January to stay the course, and genuinely hope for some luck vis a vis injuries. The less players who get called up for the WC the better tbh, although I wouldn’t actively wish anyone to miss out when they have a genuine chance of going.

If we can ditch Ronaldo in January and add some younger, fresher, fitted legs, all the better. He’s genuinely awful.

 

[tjb]

A bad result for us, especially during a weekend when some of our rivals for top-four are expected to drop points. The problem, though, was not the defeat itself, but the fact that you could see it coming from miles away.

Although the absentees, combined with the lack of depth in terms of quality, is a more than valid excuse, focusing solely on that, we would be missing the forest for the trees.

There's a serious problem up front, besides the rather obvious predicament with Ronaldo's antics and Martial's injuries. People are banging about the chances we're missing, but the stats keep warning us that we have scored as many goals as we deserved to have scored. We create very little off the dribble and we can't rely on combination plays when the spaces become tight and the and the time to act on the ball minimal. Come next spring, Ronaldo will be gone, but United will still have an overpaid and underachieving frontline. Don't forget that, even in games we played well (Spurs and Chelsea), we showed very little in the final third. At the Bridge, we should have been out of sight after half an hour.

Until now, we've been getting by on our solid defensive displays. Even today, the xG (Understat) was 0.58vs0.52. We usually scrape narrow victories. What change today was that Emery was smart and he also got a bit lucky: He identified Lindelof as the weak link in our backline, he targeted him with pace and physicality and he reaped the rewards. He got lucky because the first and third goals came at very crucial points in the game.

Of course, this should not be an excuse for the team and the manager. We need to do better, although i disagree with some on how we are going to do that (and i think i agree with ETH). There were shouts for Fred and/or McT because we "needed" to match AV's physicality in the midfield. There will also be people who will blame it all on Lindelof for basically being who he is as a player. Well, i don't agree. In the long term, we don't need more physicality, more grafters and more water carriers in the midfield. The barometer for keeping the opposition at bay and controlling games must be the ability of the team to move the ball from point A to point B without much fuss. When that happens, we'll also be able to accommodate a problematic defender (call him Lindelof or Maguire) without allowing the opposition to make the most of it.

The problem today is that we were relying on a teenager to take defenders on, and on long diagonals that the defence could easily read.

I actually think we have actually become good at moving the ball from point A to B. You can see it in various stretches of our play this season, both against top opposition and even in games like today. Our build up is not an issue anymore. Outside of the poor pressing today, which can be attributed to Ronaldo and DVB, you are correct about our attack. When we get to the final third, I think the issue is that we aren't aggressive enough on an individual level. City are a rare team, they can create consistent tap in opportunities for their attackers. However that isn't the case for almost every other team. Their attackers need to win their duels to create and attack chances when they are given the space to do so, particularly in the Premier League. On too many occasions this season, it feels like some of our attackers are waiting for either Bruno, Eriksen ,Shaw, Dalot or Casemiro to create the perfect opportunities for them. These players, aside from Bruno, play in deeper positions, and unless the opposition is completely pinned back, creating chances from that deep is pretty difficult to do. Instead of consistently passing back, looking for overlapped crosses and moments of magic from the mentioned above, our attackers need to start driving towards the box and shooting more when they are in and around the area. My theory is that we don't create enough great chances because our attackers aren't active enough. They don't win their duels enough, they don't make enough runs, they don't shoot enough and they aren't brave enough to push into dangerous areas.

 

[meamth]

Lack of one twos are frustrating to watch, players looking tired, and attack is non-existent.

No way we could've won that game.

 

[glasgow 21]

Watching VDB move in the mid field is like watching a 40 year doing a warm down at a sunday league match. He offers nothing and not one premier league team will ever touch him with a barge pole. Simply, he has to leave.

 

[Lost bear]

*sigh* couldn't they kept slippy for a few more games. Yes, yes second string players but we were so poor.
Is this just yet ANOTHER false dawn? Gosh I hope not.

No. I’m pretty sure it’s not our millionth false dawn. We’re 6 months in, and when a few of ETH’s players are out injured we’re stuck with Ole’ s boys again- with predictable results. It is going to take time, when what was needed was virtually an entire new squad. That said, there were some terrible selections today. VDB is really awful, isn’t he? Same with Ronaldo , unfortunately. The guy has, without doubt, seen better days. Still, a lot of progress, and I think ETH has earned some patience.

 

[simplyared]

C'mon lets face facts:
Ronaldo is becoming a liability and shouldn't be starting games for us. Playing him 90 mins is crazy.
Eriksen has seen his better days and is a squad player at the most.
Elanga and Van de beek are just not good enough.
Fred should be starting games alongside Casemiro in our midfield.
Our most important player is Fernandes and without him we're fecked.
Martial has been around far too long.
Garnachio is good enough to be a regular and has great potential.

 

[tomaldinho1]

A good indicator of where we’re truly at. Scant depth wise for real quality and a transfer window (at least) away from having the attacking quality to really punish teams. We are relatively solid, I think we’ll be in with a shout of top four given poor form elsewhere but we are some distance from where I get the impression some thought us. There are some promising signs but the core of the team isn’t dynamic or aggressive enough as soon as an injury hits.

 

[jesperjaap]

Dont buy the "we are tired" excuses, playing no more games than a lot of teams and no more injuries than a lot of teams.

For me the simple fat is there should have been 12-15 players out in the summer and 10 in which was probably unrealsitic, we need another quality summer to get this side right, there are still far too many players in a very big squad that simply shouldnt be here for various different reasons.

We have a first 6/7 not a first eleven, there is squad depth, jsut too many players I class as squad players within it, not enough proper first team players

 

[Lee565]

It feels a little like we are Back in the van gaal era, a bit toothless in front of goal, decent at the back, playing a more possession based game, erratic results and tactics/player selections.

Oh and playing a past it striker ( Rooney/ ronaldo)

 

[Pjisared]

C,mon Eric...Ronnie captain..Youre having a laf

 

[croadyman]

Got what we deserved for such a sloppy start to the game,also Erik has to take some blame for not bringing on Martial at 2-1

 

[croadyman]

It feels a little like we are Back in the van gaal era, a bit toothless in front of goal, decent at the back, playing a more possession based game, erratic results and tactics/player selections.

Bit toothless are you kidding me

 

[Hughes35]

Thought we were terrible today. Only desire came from Dalot and Martinez.

Hopefully Martial can get himself sharp for the return after the world Cup. We're desperate for something in the attacking 3rd.

That has to be the end of DVBs career In a Utd shirt. He's been absolutely awful since we signed him. God I hope we get shut of him in January.

 

[The Dane]

Fulham next week. Oh dear

 

[jackal&hyde]

Irrelevant result. The upward trend is good but we were always going to have bumps and lose to poor teams. Especially with the schedule and injuries.

Onto the next one.

Rubbish. This was a major kick in the balls and a reality check.

I am mega angry that I can't even express. After some so and so performances while still getting results we were due a good performance and result. We were shit and got what we deserved.

I've been disappointed a lot with this team but now I am so fecking angry.. I will not even watch the rest of the games till the WC.

 

[Lentwood]

Im sick of all these excuses - we're tired and have a sht squad. Well Arsenal are playing Europa and have a worse squad and are doing ok. Lots of the teams are playing loads of games. It sucks but we cant keep using that as an excuse.

We lost because we make the same mistake as always - putting players out of position and getting overrun in midfield. I love Ten Haag but I have to say it as I see it. He fkd up. I know there are injuries but putting Rashford on the right is pointless. Yeah every now and again he will get a goal but basically you are taking our most in form attacker out of the game. Then he has persisted with Ronaldo and VDB. They have done fk all over the last few games. Thats 3 players down. How can you win? Then we have Eriksen and Casimero holding the midfield. All Villa did was push extra bodies into midfield and overrun us. Simple and predictable. Fred or McTominay for VDB and we would not have lost 3-1.

Arsenal don't have a worse XI (and/or 15) though and crucially, Arteta has had several windows to put a team together in his image and with round pegs in round holes.

We have some very good players but also some glaring weaknesses, and we're still not equipped to play exactly how ETH wants to play

 

[Hughie77]

There was always going to be a Europa league hangover game. This was it . Missing players and a poor start. But the players we put out should have been good enough to beat a not very good Villa side.

OK they get the new manager boost like most teams. Trouble is this team doesn't score enough goals, said it on Thursday night when looking for a 2nd until that is sorted this team won't progress further than they have got so far.

A striker in January is a must even if a top 4 is going to happen, because you can't drop points against sides like Villa.

 

[jesperjaap]

It seems like we have no squad depth yet again, despite spending a lot of money recently.

Its not squad depth in numbers, its quality in numbers. Realsitially we had a squad of over 30 when near half of those players shouldnt be here, our first eleven in terms of thos egood enough was barely a five a side team.

We have made good progress I feel so far, but so have a lot of other sides. I think our failure this summer really was not signing a couple more and movin on several.

For me our best first eleven is definately a cm and cf short of a good side but there are so many squad players here.

We have Maguire, Lindelof, Jones, Bailly and Tuanzabe still on the books as CB's - 3 of those should have been sold at least and a young CB bought in

We have Fred, McTominay, VDB as well as 2/3 youngsters in CM - Not one of them has consistently even been average in there time here

The we had ROnaldo who wanted to go, Greenwood in court and Martial who has had two good seasons at best his whole career here

Then there are question marks over a whole host of other players who after three months of decent performances from some of them people are forgetting how poor they have been or anomynous or problematic....Henderson, DAot, Shaw, Rashford, Sancho.....Fernandes too

We have a big squad, there are just for me big question marks over far too many players here to think everythign is rosy from the work Ten Hag has done and improvements some have made in a coupl fo months of a season. Is it really any co-incidence, our two best players have been Casemeiro and Martinez.

We are progressing, but we are still a long way short, a top four finish this season would be a great achievement and a great gateway to a quality summer of signings again hopefully, we still need 5/6 players in to challenge for trophies, and good ones at that

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Scraping a goal back before half time to capitulate within 5 minutes only reiterates what we already know too well about a number of this squad.

Can make all the excuses you want, the likes of Shaw & Lindelof will never change.

 

[steffyr2]

I haven't read this thread, but have a question -- why did Luke Shaw come off early?

 

[jesperjaap]

Arsenal don't have a worse XI (and/or 15) though and crucially, Arteta has had several windows to put a team together in his image and with round pegs in round holes.

We have some very good players but also some glaring weaknesses, and we're still not equipped to play exactly how ETH wants to play

I agree and it isnt squad depth, its squad quality in the right mould. I feel there are nearly double the umber of players to move out than the number of players we need to sign

 

[V.O.]

I haven't read this thread, but have a question -- why did Luke Shaw come off early?

Mainly because he picked up an early yellow, I think. Pretty average game otherwise.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

I actually think we have actually become good at moving the ball from point A to B. You can see it in various stretches of our play this season, both against top opposition and even in games like today. Our build up is not an issue anymore. Outside of the poor pressing today, which can be attributed to Ronaldo and DVB, you are correct about our attack. When we get to the final third, I think the issue is that we aren't aggressive enough on an individual level. City are a rare team, they can create consistent tap in opportunities for their attackers. However that isn't the case for almost every other team. Their attackers need to win their duels to create and attack chances when they are given the space to do so, particularly in the Premier League. On too many occasions this season, it feels like some of our attackers are waiting for either Bruno, Eriksen ,Shaw, Dalot or Casemiro to create the perfect opportunities for them. These players, aside from Bruno, play in deeper positions, and unless the opposition is completely pinned back, creating chances from that deep is pretty difficult to do. Instead of consistently passing back, looking for overlapped crosses and moments of magic from the mentioned above, our attackers need to start driving towards the box and shooting more when they are in and around the area. My theory is that we don't create enough great chances because our attackers aren't active enough. They don't win their duels enough, they don't make enough runs, they don't shoot enough and they aren't brave enough to push into dangerous areas.

There's been obvious improvement in our build-up, no doubt about that. My post was about the singling out of players and the call for physicality, which are some of the Caf's favourite pastimes after defeats. Not seeing that, as you mentioned, the problems originate higher up the pitch. Not seeing that DvdB and Ronaldo's inability to press high is what makes Eriksen look weak in the midfield and gives Lindelof more than he can chew at the back. Forgetting that "plugging holes" became Solskjaer's downfall in the end. Forgetting that SAF won his last two PL titles by opting for more options and more intelligence in the midfield.

I agree with the rest of your post. I saw the other day that Rashford, who's looking lively nowadays, has scored just as many goals as his xG suggests in the league. That's a problem. Antony, after scoring in his first games, is also struggling a bit. It's no coincidence because the league is adjusting to him. The opposition FBs expect him to always cut inside, even when he's going down the line initially because he rarely uses his right foot.. We've been treating Sancho as a Hazard kind of player. We generally have attacking players who become more and more ineffective the farther away they are from the box. When you know that Dutch managers, in principal, like their wide players to hug the touchline and stretch the pitch, you can understand that we may have a potential problem here.

Teams know that if they shut down the central channels, they have a good chance of getting something against us. More so when we want to push our lines higher because our attacking players aren't good enough at keeping the ball and beating defenders with good balance. It's so frustrating to watch because the positioning is mostly good. It's the quality that's missing. And quality isn't always about the end product. For example, Aubameyang registered almost one and a half goal/assist in every two games for Arsenal. Jesus won't even get close to these numbers but Arsenal would not have been able to play the way they are currently with Aubameyang. Not in a million freaking years.

 

[Solius]

Rubbish. This was a major kick in the balls and a reality check.

I am mega angry that I can't even express. After some so and so performances while still getting results we were due a good performance and result. We were shit and got what we deserved.

I've been disappointed a lot with this team but now I am so fecking angry.. I will not even watch the rest of the games till the WC.

That’s your own issue. If you didn’t expect losses to shit teams in a transitional season then I don’t really know what to say.

 

[DevTheRed]

Still can’t get over our wall for the free kick.. never seen that before. Rookie refereeing at its finest.

 

[NewUser777]

I dont know.. This was an important game with Tottenham and Chelsea loosing. Ok, I question some of how we set up, and I see a few usual players being singled out. But this was a collective failure. To far distance between our players, as usual when we loose, and little grit, tempo or plan going forward. Can’t even single out a MOTM vote.

 

[V.O.]

That’s your own issue. If you didn’t expect losses to shit teams in a transitional season then I don’t really know what to say.

Yeah, it was shit, but it wasn't that shit. Nothing to lose your head over. Klopp's first season at Liverpool finished with them coming 8th behind West Ham and Southampton ffs.

We were underwhelming with multiple key injuries and a suspension and Villa's finishing was of a level they'd never manage again in a hundred more tries. It's mental to have a 'burn it all down and start again' type reaction to that game like some people in here.

 

[Solius]

Yeah, it was shit, but it wasn't that shit. Nothing to lose your head over. Klopp's first season at Liverpool finished with them coming 8th behind West Ham and Southampton ffs.

We were underwhelming with multiple key injuries and a suspension and Villa's finishing was of a level they'd never manage again in a hundred more tries. It's mental to have a 'burn it all down and start again' type reaction to that game like some people in here.

Yep. Nothing to get too upset about. That guy saying he’s mega angry and won’t watch any more games probably some other issues attributing themselves to that.

 

[The Corinthian]

If Bruno was suspended we should have played Eriksen further forward and Mctominay or Fred next to Casemiro.

 

[Strelok]

Not a bad game considering we played with only 9 players.

 

[r0663664]

VDB is going to compete for most worthless buy ever. Can't understand how Real could ever being interested in him. Please sell him back to Ajax after this season. Ronaldo is simply done at this level, I rather player a youth striker who is hungry then a has been striker. Get Diallo back on loan and stick him to ring wing. I think he deserves a chance to fight for XI.

 

[tjb]

There's been obvious improvement in our build-up, no doubt about that. My post was about the singling out of players and the call for physicality, which are some of the Caf's favourite pastimes after defeats. Not seeing that, as you mentioned, the problems originate higher up the pitch. Not seeing that DvdB and Ronaldo's inability to press high is what makes Eriksen look weak in the midfield and gives Lindelof more than he can chew at the back. Forgetting that "plugging holes" became Solskjaer's downfall in the end. Forgetting that SAF won his last two PL titles by opting for more options and more intelligence in the midfield.

I agree with the rest of your post. I saw the other day that Rashford, who's looking lively nowadays, isn't outperforming his xG in the league. That's a problem. Antony, after scoring in his first games, is also struggling a bit. It's no coincidence because the league is adjusting to him. The opposition FBs expect him to always cut inside, even when he's going down the line initially because he rarely uses his right foot.. We've been treating Sancho as a Hazard kind of player. We generally have attacking players who become more and more ineffective the farther away they are from the box. When you know that Dutch managers, in principal, like their wide players to hug the touchline and stretch the pitch, you can understand that we may have a potential problem here.

Teams know that if they shut down the central channels, they have a good chance of getting something against us. More so when we want to push our lines higher because our attacking players aren't good enough at keeping the ball and beating defenders with good balance. It's so frustrating to watch because the positioning is mostly good. It's the quality that's missing. And quality isn't always about the end product. For example, Aubameyang registered almost one and a half goal/assist in every two games for Arsenal. Jesus won't even get close to these numbers but Arsenal would not have been able to play the way they are currently with Aubameyang. Not in a million freaking years.

Completely agree with you. The attackers we do have aren't aggressive enough, but I actually think Antony is a bit of an exception. He actually wins his duels and his actions on the ball are quite decisive. Even when he is lagging on the ball, he is able to hold onto possession of the ball, allowing more numbers to support him. I don't see him as a goalscorer anyway. I view him as more of a Di Maria type of player, where he can use his balance and tricker to create avenues for inward crosses and through ball opportunities. Sancho is a problem. For me, he's been getting away with a lot of poor performances since he's been here. Ronaldo playing centrally makes his poor pressing more impactful to the structure and abilities of our team; but Sancho really has been lazy off the ball since he's come here. When paired with Ronaldo, it really makes it a challenge for us to control games, as 2 of the front 4 aren't defensively engaged. On the ball, he needs to become far more aggressive and decisive. When you compare him with Martinelli, it becomes a bit of a joke. Martinelli fights for every dribble, frantically moving off ball to find spaces for effective one two opportunities. In Germany, that level of aggression particularly on a Dortmund team that was playing such a high line may not have been required, but in England, where every team is aggressive and teams drop deep in numbers at times, it is paramount to play with some form of velocity.

I also agree with you in relation to people harping on about the rest of the team. It's why I genuinely dislike passive players. There are players that we have who have been able to skate on anonymous performances because other more impactful players copped most of the blame due to actually taking on responsibilities during the game. Today, Van De Beek and Ronaldo were terrible, both in possession and out of possession. Their lack of pressing invited Villa to attack and overwhelm Casemiro and Eriksen. Yet at half time, there were people discussing the possibility of yanking Eriksen off and blaming him due to a few misplaced passes whilst he was actually trying to link our play and get things moving. Neither Van De Beek or Ronaldo presented good passing options off the ball (particularly VDB), so this made building up particularly difficult in this game for both our midfielders. Yet Eriksen got more exposure than he should have faced, as did Lindelof, who performed no worse than most defenders in the league would given the circumstances. This is not something that is new either. During Mourinho's tenure, despite their improvement later on, both Martial and Rashford were consistently anonymous. Mata was another consistent passenger, yet players like Pogba, Lukaku, Ibrahimovic or even the likes of Smalling were scapegoated. With Ole, Mctominay, Fred and Lindelof consistently got away with this as well.

 

[tjb]

VDB is going to compete for most worthless buy ever. Can't understand how Real could ever being interested in him. Please sell him back to Ajax after this season. Ronaldo is simply done at this level, I rather player a youth striker who is hungry then a has been striker. Get Diallo back on loan and stick him to ring wing. I think he deserves a chance to fight for XI.

I think he might be our worst signing ever. Given the cost, given the hype and given the length of tenure. Other poor signings we've had had their limitations, but they could provide value on specific aspects of the game. I wouldn't trust VDB in a game against a Championship team. I can't say that about the likes of Prunier. He doesn't even offer work rate. At the moment, he hasn't shown any passing range, he hasn't shown any dribbling ability, shooting ability, crossing ability or even the ability to get into good areas, as was expected.

What makes it worse for me is why we persisted with this nonsense for as long as we did, both for the club and the fanbase. For me, United not being as good as we should be, mixed in with the knowledge that we haven't been using the modern tactics other top teams are using allowed the illusion of misuse to exist, despite the fact that Ajax are not playing at the type of level United constantly have to play at. We allowed a smaller club in a much smaller league convince us that VDB was much better than he was AFTER his poor performances. What makes it annoying is the inferiority complex it came with. VDB should have been dumped in the summer of 2021 at the minimum

 

[tomaldinho1]

I’m surprised (or maybe I’m not given it’s the caf) at some of the extreme reactions. Seemed like a lot of posters saying they didn’t fancy our chances and Villa would have a new manager bounce, well that’s what happened.

Really this is what we all, deep down, probably expected. We’re on the cusp of top four, we don’t look particularly scintillating but signs are there of some promising things. We need to end the pre WC period on a high though.

 

[DRJosh]

The result isn’t surprising. We have no depth beyond the first team. Relying on a washed up 37 year old to change the trajectory of the game will always end on tears.

VDB quite possibly played his last game for us….or at least that’s what I’m hoping.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I’m surprised (or maybe I’m not given it’s the caf) at some of the extreme reactions. Seemed like a lot of posters saying they didn’t fancy our chances and Villa would have a new manager bounce, well that’s what happened.

Really this is what we all, deep down, probably expected. We’re on the cusp of top four, we don’t look particularly scintillating but signs are there of some promising things. We need to end the pre WC period on a high though.

It’s fairly typical of our fixture list this season we had to be drawn in an away match after our toughest European game of the season so far, against a team that a) wanted to impress their new manager b) didn’t have any midweek match and c) have been punching below their weight for ages after spending a shit load of cash. This season so far has been absolutely horrendous in terms of the timing and sequence of our fixtures. Today was just the latest in a long list.

 

[Chairman Steve]

Talksport’s one good journalist summarises it all up nicely in my opinion.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Arsenal don't have a worse XI (and/or 15) though and crucially, Arteta has had several windows to put a team together in his image and with round pegs in round holes.

We have some very good players but also some glaring weaknesses, and we're still not equipped to play exactly how ETH wants to play

We had a better team than Villa did on the pitch. And better than Burnley and Brighton. Where is the excuse for that? Tired? Gabriel and Xhaka have played 18 games. More than most of our team except Dalot at 19. And who is this brilliant 15 they have thats better than our back ups? We have an 80 mill England Captain on the bench. A 50 mill right back that should be back soon. Fred a brazil international. And on and on. Our squad should be fit enough and strong enough to beat Villa