First was abject and passive.
The second just completely different.
Iwobi in the centre was magnificent. So dynamic, quick. Berge alongside him looked completely different too. Again owned it.
Chukwueze really must start too.
Lukic is the player that must miss out. He was poor, and the team uninspired in the first as a result (of Iwobi on the wing, no chuk).
Hopefully Marco realises this. It was pretty obvious to the rest of us. Wilson still starts on the right, until hopefully Kevin has time to make the LW position his own and move chuk to the RW position.
Agree, Lukic looked off it tonight Iwobi and Berge is the pairing at this time. ESM had a good game too
I still think Lukic is a useful cog in the wheel but he seemed off the boil after his injury.
Just when things were coming together last weekend.. the changes by Silva seemed to stifle us. We invited a bit of pressure.. but ultimately it was woeful defending by Tete and Anderson who were both MOTM at the weekend. I guess that's why they play for us and not Man City! Consistency.
Combination of the Silva team selection and school boy defending. At 5-1 it was game over.. or was it?
Great games by ESR and Chuk. Had a bit of fun at the end.
All in all.. we now know Iwobi in the centre and Chuk on the wing is our best team. Let's push on.
Quote from: Milo on December 02, 2025, 09:44:45 PMI still think Lukic is a useful cog in the wheel but he seemed off the boil after his injury.
Just when things were coming together last weekend.. the changes by Silva seemed to stifle us. We invited a bit of pressure.. but ultimately it was woeful defending by Tete and Anderson who were both MOTM at the weekend. I guess that's why they play for us and not Man City! Consistency.
Combination of the Silva team selection and school boy defending. At 5-1 it was game over.. or was it?
Great games by ESR and Chuk. Had a bit of fun at the end.
All in all.. we now know Iwobi in the centre and Chuk on the wing is our best team. Let's push on.
correct hopefully Silva can see it now.
Also what talent is available to us now at Fulham .
Said it in the 1st half, iwobi on the wing with berge and lukic ducked all the creativity out. That's on Silva and he needs to learn
Hopefully it taught Marco something. I feel like a lot on this board have been saying that for weeks.
::scarf:: Such a good 2nd half performance... unlucky King at the end...
COYW
Thought the two lads who came on also looked good. What has Josh got to to get a goal. Kusi-Aware had some nice touches and was a handful for City.
Weak defensively Anderson was terrible tonight absolutely terrible. I fear Tete is injured again didn't come out for the second half and Doku had Castange on toast both goals came from that side
Doku pretty must roasts anyone
Quote from: RAY Rock on December 02, 2025, 10:45:42 PMWeak defensively Anderson was terrible tonight absolutely terrible. I fear Tete is injured again didn't come out for the second half and Doku had Castange on toast both goals came from that side
It's perplexing. I praised him up after the Spurs game as the player we had thought we signed. Promptly he turned back into the player Palace fans knew we signed. Ratz.
Chukwueze what a player. Absolutely incredible tonight. We need to sign him permanently now.
JKA Shades of Haaland. Speed, strength, direct. Can he score?
Quote from: Rambler on December 02, 2025, 09:34:09 PMFirst was abject and passive.
The second just completely different.
Iwobi in the centre was magnificent. So dynamic, quick. Berge alongside him looked completely different too. Again owned it.
Chukwueze really must start too.
Lukic is the player that must miss out. He was poor, and the team uninspired in the first as a result (of Iwobi on the wing, no chuk).
Hopefully Marco realises this. It was pretty obvious to the rest of us. Wilson still starts on the right, until hopefully Kevin has time to make the LW position his own and move chuk to the RW position.
I think Wilson & Chukwueze could both start
ESR Hassling, probing, running around and making a nuisance of himself. All the things he was not taught at Arsenal. But he was still able to demonstrate his sublime skill. Well done Marco , we now have a player.
The lessons of last night are so startlingly obvious, it would be weird if we now regress to making the same mistakes in either selection or patterns of play. After a fight back for the ages, I don't want to name players, but in a word "midfield".
Quite simply, our performance was heroic last night. After a mostly abysmal first half we showed what a brilliant team we could be with an inspirational performance in the second half. Ironically perhaps, despite losing the match, this never say die attitude will really boost our team spirit & it has certainly increased our fans' morale.
Quote from: Carborundum on December 03, 2025, 07:58:01 AMThe lessons of last night are so startlingly obvious, it would be weird if we now regress to making the same mistakes in either selection or patterns of play. After a fight back for the ages, I don't want to name players, but in a word "midfield".
Sadly we will regress in a few weeks due to AfCoN. But if the last few weeks haven't shown Silva/the board how important a new CM is, nothing will.
Quote from: Surlyc on December 03, 2025, 08:24:04 AMQuote from: Carborundum on December 03, 2025, 07:58:01 AMThe lessons of last night are so startlingly obvious, it would be weird if we now regress to making the same mistakes in either selection or patterns of play. After a fight back for the ages, I don't want to name players, but in a word "midfield".
Sadly we will regress in a few weeks due to AfCoN. But if the last few weeks haven't shown Silva/the board how important a new CM is, nothing will.
It's imperative that we win as many before the Nigerians leave, we are not the same without Iwobi and Chuk.
Quote from: sonnyjim on December 02, 2025, 11:11:48 PMChukwueze what a player. Absolutely incredible tonight. We need to sign him permanently now.
I would like to see him against a more 'normal' team as City played very open football and
That gave him so much more room.not that I am criticising his preformance(
Hang on. I'm not saying people are wrong in wanting Iwobi centrally, but it's a bit harsh to have a dig at Lukic.
Lukic, who's played for us and been reliable (including against Man City I might add), came into a first game post injury and was thrown in at the deep end and asked to perform. He wasn't at the races, and Marco should've probably eased him in against easier opposition, but to blame Lukic as useless and disregard him so readily is a bit immature.
Granted there seems to be substance to playing Iwobi in the middle, particularly given some of the talent we have on the wings, but don't forget AFCON is on the horizon and we'll need a fully fit and raring to go Lukic who can compete.
Perhaps Berge can keep his current playing style alongside Lukic.
This could be more of a tactical thing that a personnel thing
Maybe ...maybe not. Of course the discussion is hypothetical. I agree with the sentiment and have long thought playing Lukic and Berge together compromises our creativity. It has made us more solid though.
But there is another side to the coin .. the opposition. Maybe, just maybe, the way they played particularly in the first 30 minutes, meant we needed to be more compact and simply limit their chances. (We did create a good couple of opportunities on the break as it was, and ESR had a good chance well-saved.) So yes, tweaking our structure gave us more attacking verve but we were 50 minutes into the game, and maybe the City bubble was bursting, or at least leaking a bit. That may have helped. And to boot then the psychology of the game seemed to change with our self-belief growing and their confidence evaporating.
I think we look better with more creativity and like Iwobi playing more centrally (who is imo probably our most important player at the moment) especially as Chukweeze is looking extremely sharp and we have other wide options. It will, or would be, interesting to see if we started that 11 against Palace, an 11 that scored 3 against City in 30 minutes, and play with the same energy and conviction if they could take Palace apart. You'd like to think so, but football doesn't work like that. It's a funny old game. (But I would settle for being 3-0 up at half-time.)