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Arsenal EFL Cup - Match Thread

St Chalet

By St Chalet
in The Saints

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saintsmike25

saintsmike25

Posted
Posted

When the players are fully motivated we're a real force, I wonder whether the air miles and journeys led to lacklustre performances against the Isreali side and Prague, but this was a great selection by Puel, he's using fast players on the counter, Boufal has looked superb tonight. He won't always make the right decision but he runs and commits players and has fantastic ball control and tricks up his sleeve and he's becoming more confident too, and also working back as well.

Reed has been excellent and taking his chance jumping into tackles and that has also free'd up more of Davis and Clasie who are roaming far more and it makes us look braver and more dangerous when we break, unlike our midfield three who only sit in.

When defending Yoshida has been solid as has VVD tonight, Bertrand has been a force down the left and Martina seems to be doing OK, and Shane Long has been causing the Arsenal defence headaches with his off-ball movement.

 

What may be an issue is Xhaka is starting to get Arsenal in gear and looks like he needs to be closed down early and Iwobi has caused some issues but Arsenal haven't threatened and we've looked comfortable, I said there was another goal in this for us and I think it will end up 3-1 to us as we're dangerous on the counter, I think Boufal will score a screamer his confidence is sky high.

austsaint

austsaint

Posted
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Long is just rubbish take him off

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

The only let down of the night so far is Long - his touch is just awful. Why not Sims? McQueen looks all-at-sea in an unfamiliar role - he would be the other change. Boufal's been magical at times; Davis very good with attacking passes and runs; Harrison Reed very solid; I hope Koeman is watching Reed's game. Yoshida and VVD, Bertrand all solid and Martina hasn't let anyone down so far.

Gunnery

Gunnery

Posted
Posted
Brilliant. First half excellent

 

Boufal looks great tonight

 

Taken our chances for a change

 

Let's see this out

 

Don't let it drag you down fella, turn that frown upside down eh !

qwertyell

qwertyell

Posted
Posted

Best half we've produced in ages. Fast and dynamic on the counter, snappy and tidy in the midfield, compact and organised in defence.

 

Boufal has been outstanding.

 

If we were actually playing with a centre forward who wasn't at all-the-things-wrong-with-Shane-Long level, we might've wrapped this up by now.

 

Claude needs to find more minutes for Harry Reed, moving forward. He always looks like he belongs.

 

Come on, chaps, bring it home.

Mallagroth

Mallagroth

Posted
Posted

Yeah to be fair what has been apparent so far this season and no more so than this game so far is that Long is not a very good team player, what I mean by that is he has an awful pass on him. Last season he benefitted from Pelle flicks and Manes matching his speed to set him up. When its long on his own not a shot against a defender, and when he is part of a team passing move it seems to break down with him. Love the guy but he doesnt seem to suit a passing and possession system I think.

Saintsteve7

Saintsteve7

Posted
Posted

That's exactly why I never comment on how we'll play or whether it's the correct starting line up, you can just never tell what's going to happen and risk making yourself look like an idiot!!

Sheaf Saint

Sheaf Saint

Posted
Posted
Long is just terrible.

 

He simply has no skill on the ball. Every touch is a heavy one.

 

If it wasn't for his pace and determination then he would be lucky to be playing league football at all.

suewhistle

suewhistle

Posted
Posted

Well, there was some great attacking football at the end there. Long may not be having a good game but he's being a nuisance as ever with his pace alongside Boufal. The latter needs to have sleeveless shirts as they're constantly pulling at him. I'd like to see Sims alongside Boufal: in fact there's a number of new combinations that look really promising. Martina managed to get caught in no-mans-land just when I thought his positioning was looking better but he played a good part in the last attack in injury time.

 

Please don't throw it away Saints...

Mallagroth

Mallagroth

Posted
Posted
Boufal and Bertrand = Right Back's across the leagues having nightmares

Based on recent games alone I'd love to see Boufal, Sims and Austin up top. Tadic, Romeu, Hojberg in the Mid. Bertrand, Cedric, Van Dijk, Fonte.

Shance

Shance

Posted
Posted

Boufal has been class tonight. Get Jay Rod on for Long and that's it. Long is having a poor game and Jay needs a good oportunity to prove himself. This could be it.

CB Fry

CB Fry

Posted
Posted
My Bein sports Acestream died so now I'm watching in Swedish, it's quite entertaining.

It's on Five Live Sports Extra if you want slightly out of sync English commentary.

5string

5string

Posted
Posted

Ooh close! Unlucky Boufal, and then McQueen. Long was unlucky just before that.

 

Chances are coming.

 

VvD clash with Arsenal gk. Seems ok, just needed a brush of the hair.

mrfahaji

mrfahaji

Posted
Posted
I wanted Boufal to return the pass to VVD there, but you can't blame him for shooting, he is having a stormer.

 

Even with the deflection it looked like it was heading in until right at the end

mrfahaji

mrfahaji

Posted
Posted
Ooh close! Unlucky Boufal, and then McQueen. Long was unlucky just before that.

 

Chances are coming.

 

VvD clash with Arsenal gk. Seems ok, just needed a brush of the hair.

 

Haha. Says a lot that Virgil's head smashed into Martinez's arm and Martinez might be the one with concussion.

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