A promising little cameo from Ebiowei when he came on. He looked confident and willing to take players on, although I appreciate the challenge is doing that when you start a game and not when you come on for 10 minutes when a game is lost. But let's keep our finger crossed that he has what it takes, and I am happy he isn't going out on loan.

The opening 20 minutes was very uncomfortable but we were hanging on in there. So to then concede from yet another set piece was hugely disappointing.

I thought we gave it a good go in the second half and we did create a gilt edged chance which Eze sadly didn't take.

Can't say i was surprised by either the performance or the result.

The question marks over certain positions remain.

Big positive for me was Andersen - he was outstanding last night.

Old, Ungifted and White

This is a very fair assessment of where we are, there were clear positives but the usual concerns remain, we are slow coming out from the back and fizzle out in the final third. The defence last night was weak down the right and we still make silly mistakes in defence that cost us goals. We definitely need three new additions before the transfer window closes (RB/Striker/Attacking midfielder). The good news is we can only get better as we had a very disjointed pre-season splitting the main squad in to two separate groups which meant that we did not have time to gel as a team in the way PV would have liked. The result last night was not unexpected given the improvements Arsenal have made to their squad and the money they have in doing so. We may have to get used to being around the bottom of the table for the next month or so due to the tough fixtures coming our way. Thereafter with the right additions we should settle around our usual position, hopefully just below mid table.

Have to take your chances when you get them, particularly in a tight game like last night. Unfortunately Edouard and Eze both fluffed their lines. Whilst heading does not seem to be Edouard's strong point he looked ineffective for his time on the pitch. Was in/out last season through no fault of his own but hoping for more from him. Genuinely surprised that Mateta did not start. Eze might of been wiser to chip the keeper from his position. Let's hope we can improve in front of goal in future games. Expect with Tekkers long awaited departure we might be able to get somebody new in. Same set piece deficiencies in defense which was also frustrating to see. In conclusion not a disaster but hoping for better. COYP !!

Edited by Booted Eagle (06 Aug 2022 10.55am)

Edited by Booted Eagle (06 Aug 2022 10.59am)

“ [T]here are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that, we now know we don't know.But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know. ”
—United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld

My concern is why PV persisted from playing from the back with all the sideways and back passes it just slowed our attack. Was it that when he had the ball Quaita don't like kicking it upfield or just PV's instructions get the back 4 to do it to the wingers ? There were hardly any ball through the centre to attack.

Whilst I think we battled well and took the game to them in the second half, there were some worrying aspects.
Our defending of their first goal was shocking. Keep giving away soft goals like that and you’ll struggle especially when virtually every other team in the league has better options that Mateta and Edouard as forwards. Neither is likely to get 15 goals a season so we will be reliant upon goals from elsewhere.
I did think if we got back to 1-1 we could go on to win. But Arsenal sat off us and we couldn’t take advantage. We created very few chances and that’s also a concern.
Looking at our opening fixtures we are likely having to be sent playing catch up. 0 points from first 4 games is likely.
Think we should be too good to go down, but based on last night I think about 16th place is likely.