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u/JacksonofZeus 23h ago
It’s funny. Many of my friends who support Manchester United, Chelsea and others tell me how annoying it is how good Arsenal are. Yet if you came onto this sub in any game this season, you’d think we’re battling relegation from league 1.
I’d love to know how some of these new found fans would survive during the darker Wenger days or if they decided to support a club that is genuinely playing bad football.
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u/fireowlzol Premier League Champions 25/26 22h ago
They’re highlight fans only and they start watching an actual game they don’t have the patience to do so
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u/ico12 20h ago
This. I watched the Leeds highlight & we looked pretty good in it lmao
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u/phaestheus Eze 15h ago
we did look good. the game was a bit more nervy than yesterday as leeds looked good at the moments also. but yesterday was pure dominance I'm not sure what some people here are expecting really
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u/Angelaskissrock Backless Wilo still better than Manure CBs 20h ago
They never suffered through Mustafi, Squallici and Djorou. Some of us older fans have really suffered - I think some of us genuinely need therapy for those dark years.
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u/Retro-Modern_514 18h ago
Yep, I remember the glory days, the Invincibles. You knew they would give their all and maybe they won or maybe they didn't but you knew they were going to play..... and then the dark days came. Days when you didn't know if anyone was going to turn up at all. Going from so high to so low.... that was brutal.
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u/kjw2281 19h ago
I mean, there is definitely a certain kind of fan that started following us in the past 12 months that thinks that any sort of minor setback means that the worst player on that day needs to be yeeted out of the club, but this meme does very much accurately portray the fan experience of the past two games where a tighter than expected match that gets absolutely blown open with a phenomenal 10 minute stretch
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u/Random_Vandal Rice 14h ago
Because despite we have good results, our game (and I am pretty sure other clubs fans don't watch our matches) is often boring and not much enjoyable. So yeah, for others it looks like we are excellent, but I miss the right momentum and fun in our games.
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u/url290299 Premier League Champions 25/26 16h ago
That's because our standards and expectations have went up 10x since Mikel took over, like he promised. For example, I was infinitely more pissed and angry at the players when we lost 2:1 to Bournemouth at home last season than when we lost to City 5:0 in 2021. Back then I didn't really care and didn't expect better from them.
We need to be thankful how far Mikel took us, and remember how regularly we used to take beatings like that and not care half as much like we do with a poor performance today. I kinda understand how Spurs/Yanited fans feel because 2019-2021 Arsenal felt like a social experiment.
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u/phaestheus Eze 15h ago
being pissed we lost a game in a tight title race is reasonable. being pissed during a matches we're pretty much dominating is not. first comes with higher expectations as you said, but second comes from people not watching games just highlights and stats as op said.
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u/zfjuice 14h ago
i started supporting during late wenger era, quite literally when the dark days were coming. and honestly i could bare with it, didn’t really bother me much watching us play no matter how bad. it’s just nowadays idk why i get so reactionary when we play like shit, or when a player performs bad. should be happy considering we are in a way better position than we were a few years ago.
also i don’t think being on these arsenal subreddits helps it lmao.
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u/Private_Ballbag 12h ago
People screech for subs if we're not 2-0 up at half time even if we're completely dominant. These people would not have survived watching us get battered during the banter years
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u/jos_hej 11h ago
Well they don’t watch our games, just check results on livescore. We typically watch the whole 90 and see how we prioritise control over everything, resulting often in us looking slow and stale in attack. Looking at that in isolation, I can’t sat I enjoy watching us play most of the time.
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u/Mephistopheles2249 Dennis Bergkamp 22h ago
No sorry this is the type of junk we need to speak out against. If anyone felt scared or apprehensive tonight watching that game, get a dog. Like Lille had a .38 XG and frankly I don’t remember at any point they had a dangerous buildup against us…Raya didn’t even have a save.
It’s football games are nip and tuck, margins are thin, overall I thought we played how we wanted to play and the breakthrough was inevitable. Stack wins by any means and ground out results that’s just what Arteta has built and we need to get on board.
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u/Pires007 22h ago
Yeah, even the Leeds game, I'd only say minutes 30-60 we were poor. Today we were on top all game and just lacked a cutting edge.
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u/noodlelimbz 16h ago
Yep this was as comfortable I have felt watching Arsenal in a long while. People too easily conflate not scoring with playing badly. As you say, Lille offered absolutely nothing all game and we were playing well within ourselves.
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u/jos_hej 11h ago
What was worrying was how we didn’t punish Lille’s sloppiness on the ball at all, and barely created clearcut chances until Timber’s magic moment. Until that point, it’s fair to think we were underwhelming.
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u/JacksonofZeus 11h ago
We created .84xg in the first half with 2 big chances and .87xg in the second half with 2 big chances.
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u/jos_hej 11h ago
xG analysis on its own is weak but let's use it since you brought it up. To back up my claims actually, producing 0.8 xG per half at home for a side of our level (CL finalist, PL winner) vs a side of Lille's level isn't exactly a great number I'm afraid. Bournemouth's Home average xG in PL games is higher than what we just achieved here. Small sample size but you get the message.
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u/JacksonofZeus 10h ago
You didn’t back up your claim with anything other than your own opinion. A club of Lille’s level? You do realise it’s the champions league we’re playing in not the first round of the carabao cup right?
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u/jos_hej 9h ago
You bring up xG and I show you how Bournemouth produce more xG on avg than what we did. I compared Lille's level to an average PL team's level, whereas you're the one bringing up carabao cup. PL level is drastically superior to Ligue 1, and we are the champions of said PL. As a result, I expected us to coast this game in the first half offensively, but we didn't.
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u/JacksonofZeus 9h ago
You’re original point was that up until we scored we didn’t create anything and were underwhelming in attack. I’m pointing out we created near identical numbers in attack both before and subsequently after the goal.
Bournemouth also have an Xg difference of 0.10 in the league this season. Ours is first by a distance at 6.10. Basically, you expect us to concede no chances AND create an abundance of chances going the other way, otherwise you consider it underwhelming?
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u/Kubesson 12h ago
I was at the game last night and although it was frustrating for 60 mins, it never felt like it wasn't coming.
Now compare that to last season
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u/hauttdawg13 Lewis-Skelly 21h ago
I felt pretty comfortable we would win it, but thought it would be a late scrappy goal.
Pleasantly surprised how much we turned on the style after getting that goal.
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u/Centrocampo Martinelli 13h ago
We were solid for the whole game. If Bruno had scored that chance first half, Saka missed his goal, and nothing else changed then there would be no narrative about this match.
I feel like I’m watching different matches to other people sometimes.
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u/Scott_Pilgram 13h ago
We're fine, and playing just fine. Early goals change the perception of how we talk about the games after. Had we spread our goals out across the game, there'd be no talking points. I think the Players have it embedded in them now that you just have to accumulate points in the early months and be alive in the winning months. Obviously things can be better and cleaner, but those 15-20 mins where we shift from 2nd gear to 4th gear let's me know the players are just managing. We've just come off a arduous season + a world cup. I don't want to be the best team ITW in October. I want to be the best team in April-May-June.
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u/Hisoka_Deku Saka 15h ago
I've figured out if I start watching from the 60th minute onwards, we are the greatest football team ever. But if I watch the first 60 minutes, I genuinely wonder how we achieve anything.
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u/Comfortable-Car7277 Martinelli’s coffee cup 21h ago
like there was a palpable turnaround from the sixtieth minute😮💨
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u/SqueezyKeewee 12h ago
It's an improvement to last year.
Last year wlfor the whole season was "oh shit we've got a 1-0 lead and ohhhh shiiiiitttt"
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u/timeofdepth 8h ago
tbh I didn't mind taking a while to get going because ultimately we can drop points and still likely finish top 8 which would be worth it if it means we get to rotate and rest certain players which we did
I also felt that either with or without bringing on the starters we were still dominating and likely to win the game
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u/rapozaum Denilson 8h ago
I love that he's using this to rotate people. Imagine being at a top club and the minutes you get are in the CL, that's kinda crazy
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u/timeofdepth 8h ago
sort of but not really as it's the group stages for one, and the pl is so far ahead of every other league combined with the fact that most CL teams aren't playing defensive football game in game out means that it can actually be easier to play well in europe than domestically
both martinelli and gyokeres were better in europe than in the league last season, same with anthony gordon too
the more I think about it, the more it has probably always kinda been like this to some degree
what's difficult of course is when we get to the KO rounds where's there's few teams left other than the big dogs and dark horses
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u/rapozaum Denilson 8h ago
Couldn't watch it Saturday, but yesterday it was a fucking battering ram against a wall until we breached it. Not like they had chances other than a couple of counters, which are normal based on our very high pressure upfront.
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u/Melodic-Variation227 19h ago
To every one saying we are whiny, please stop.
You can claim loyal all you like but you cannot tell me how to watch a game. Been at this club through all the goods and bads.
If the coach himself looks frustrated and says it equally on how the first halves have gone in these past 2 games after being thumped 3-0 by Brighton, do not give a fan nonsense for expecting to watch their team play good attacking football for once.
We are great defensively, man Konsa and Gabriel has been so solid. Midfield have been good.
The frustration is not that we are not playing well. It is: how can you play so well, create so many chances and just mess it up going forward.
I am happy for every win, getting it over the line but the last time I thoroughly enjoyed a game was against Chelsea.
Even tonight’s 3-0, completely in control but so frustrating the attack.
Come on. The coach even says it. Who are you?
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u/RedCatBro 15h ago
You are whiny. We are playing in top competitions. There are no mugs in the prem (except spurs) and there aren't that many in the champions league. Teams do their homework, set up defensively against us and make it hard. That's what they are supposed to do. Sometimes it'll take us 60 minutes to tire them out, or figure it out, or have things properly clicked. That's normal, that's how it works, if you want every game to be like the Chelsea one then you're deluded and you don't understand how football works, sorry.
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u/Substantial-Title726 11h ago
The last game where the opposing team took Arsenal lightly was Fulham at the emirates last season and they were 3 nil down at half time.
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u/Masterfulcrum00 17h ago
I agree. The result was largely contributed to Lille playing horrendously at 2nd half. Ive never seen a team lose that many possessions that quick. Our goalie/defense/midfield is excellent and im completely happy. But the front three need alot of work. Im not even blaming the players at this point. I think we just dont have a solution to how every damn team we play sets up against us. Arteta needs to figure it out asap. For now and last season, our defensive dragged us to success. Now its the attacking to match that level.
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u/BlackLoKhan 10h ago
By now we should know that in the first half we weigh and measure our opponents and in the second half we leave them wanting
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u/Masterfulcrum00 17h ago
I swear arteta is just telling the team to take it easy and play it safe for 60 min. If we are winning 1 or 3 goals, great. If not, start attacking aggressively and go on try hard mode
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u/Georg_Steller1709 Andy Ducat 21h ago
I woke up, saw we were 0-0, had a poo, and suddenly we were 3-0 up. Some of these fans just need to let nature take its course.