Positives

[Woodleyclaret]

Some good attacking moves from Jay
Beyer not injured .Good performance from Sander Berge.Luton lost

[Bosscat]

Some good attacking moves from Jay
Beyer not injured .Good performance from Sander Berge.Luton lost

Every cloud huh

But spot on

[daveisaclaret]

Two better performances on the bounce. Feels to me like VK is getting to grips with managing in the PL and learning what we need to do to be competitive.

[bfcjg]

I was expecting to get properly hammered ,we didn't.

[ElectroClaret]

We kept it to three and scored ourselves, which was something i didn't really expect.

And yes, better performances.

[Vegas Claret]

first 40 mins we were competitive (although I'm not sure Arsenal were at it tbh), gave them the game. 1000 times better than the Brentford performance

[agreenwood]

Two better performances on the bounce. Feels to me like VK is getting to grips with managing in the PL and learning what we need to do to be competitive.

Agreed. Continuation of last week.

Trick is turning them into points sooner rather than later.

[Ptangyangkipperbang]

No way did I expect anything from Todays game expected anything from 3 to 6 nil and total backs against the wall and tonight I find myself disappointed that we have lost if that makes sense to be a positive

[RVclaret]

Look far more compact in the 4–4-2 shape. Shame we never got to see a front 2 of Foster and Amdouni. Berge looked excellent again.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Better shape, created decent chances. Certainly something to build on. Probably going to be a record low points tally needed for 4th bottom.

[Rileybobs]

Two games in a row where we’ve looked more at home at this level. We gave Arsenal a good game today and whilst hugely frustrating, it was encouraging that their goals came from set pieces, which suggests that our shape off the ball was good. Hopefully we’ve turned a corner - but without Foster we’ll struggle for goals, and unless we learn how to defend crosses into our box we’ll get hurt.

[Boss Hogg]

There’s a break for 2 weeks.

[Newchurch Claret]

Positives:

4-4-2.
Berge.
Only -2 to the goal difference.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Looks like Kompany’s back room staff have survived another day.

[spt_claret]

Some good attacking moves from Jay

Please name one aside from his tame 25 yarder that was a routine save.

Positives:
Berge looks every bit a PL midfielder
Koleosho scared Arsenal, the lad has the stratosphere to grow into and looks a steal at £3m
Amdouni had some moments of very neat close control to get out of 2 or 3 on 1s and just needs Foster back, or Obafemi if fit, ahead of him to stretch defences enough that his runs can actually do damage instead of just gaining ground and catching the eye.
Vitinho had a remarkably good game against Martinelli, easy to forget he's 24 which is still young enough for a RB to develop, definitely not writing him off stepping up yet.

[jedi_master]

Disagree with it being merely a continuation of the last game. Far better for me than Palace because we were playing away against a world class side as opposed to at home against an under-par and passive average side.

We were pragmatic, stuck to our task, competed really well especially in midfield and offered a threat on the rare times we had a break. I am absolutely convinced that this team will get points against weaker opposition adopting this setup and largely this selection (Ekdal, Muric and Foster to come in for the obvious when they’re available for selection).

Said it elsewhere but the only sadness for me today is seeing that Vinny has stumbled upon a competitive setup AFTER Brentford and Bournemouth as opposed to prior.

I’ll stick my neck out - we will beat West Ham.

[ervi34]

Berge looks really good.

Koleosho is getting better and manages to last longer than he used to.

Vitinho looked solid once again.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Berge was excellent and Koleosho caused them problems. Thought Brownhill had a good game.

[FCBurnley]

10 of our starters did well

[BobSykes]

If there were any positives today, and I'm doubtful, they've been cancelled out by the Bournemouth result.

And Then There Were Three.

[willsclarets]

If there were any positives today, and I'm doubtful, they've been cancelled out by the Bournemouth result.

And Then There Were Three.

You're not seriously suggesting Bournemouth are out of trouble?

[LlandennyClaret]

You're not seriously suggesting Bournemouth are out of trouble?

They’re now 5 points ahead with a better goal difference . Also have a “decent” run of fixtures coming up.

It’s not terminal, but we have to start winning some matches. Somewhere, somehow.

[123EasyasBFC]

Had we picked up positive results against Bournemouth and palace you could be really positive after today but we have left ourselves so much to do already and put pressure on the games from now until Boxing Day to get a bulk of our results.

Vitinho and berge stand outs today
Trafford top shot stopping but very weak at set pieces
Need to get koleosho on the last man more often

[Bordeauxclaret]

I’m not sure we’d be cracking out the bubbly if we were five points clear.

[Foshiznik]

Koleosho is an absolute baller.

[123EasyasBFC]

I’m not sure we’d be cracking out the bubbly if we were five points clear.

Id be running round accy town centre naked if we where 5 points clear now

[BobSykes]

Until tonight we were clinging to the faint hope there were 4 cut adrift teams in this league and the one who survived might just be us.

No more.

We're down.

[warksclaret]

The effort and play today were pleasing. We put in a good shift, with Vitinho and Berge having good games. I felt Arsenal were not at their best today. We contained both Saka and Minarrelli , and could have taken a point but for our lack of command aerially in the 6 yard box. You could feel the tension in the away end every time we conceded a corner, and there were plenty.If you take todays game and the Everton one we have serious problems in defending corners. Part of it is the organisation of the defence but more significantly its too much of a task for Trafford to command his 6 yard area. Today he should have punched the ball away at least for their second and taken Saliba's head with the follow through, but he got bullied out of it. The third goal should have been cleared, and with their first Trossard wanted it more than our goal keeper. We cant keep raising our game and give it all away with these moments. So disappointed coming away tonight when so many of our team had given a very good opposition their all

[RicardoMontalban]

Until tonight we were clinging to the faint hope there were 4 cut adrift teams in this league and the one who survived might just be us.

No more.

We're down.

I’d hate to see what you put on a thread about negatives.

Plenty of positives to take from today. Let’s face it, the prematch predictions thread was hardly the most optimistic.

[Vim Fuego]

Quite a lot of positives today. The main one being the manager might be able to adjust. That solid 442 worked

The manager just needs to stop being stubborn about the keeper situation and we might make some progress

[Wile E Coyote]

improving by the week, december could be a decent month for us if we keep it going

sheff utd , wolves, brighton, everton fulham, liverpool, villa.

we will probably win all those easily.

[Alanstevensonsgloves]

Id be running round accy town centre naked if we where 5 points clear now

Unfortunately no-one would see you these days!

[Swizzlestick]

Vintage BobSykes.

[NewClaret]

Absolute BobSykes

[Jakubclaret]

I don’t see many positives so I can’t & won’t imagine something that isn’t there, we are improving (performance wise) but not converting any sort of good performance into points & the performances aren’t consistent. Teams that play well find ways to win even when they are off it, we struggle on both fronts.

[NewClaret]

I don’t see many positives so I can’t & won’t imagine something that isn’t there, we are improving (performance wise) but not converting any sort of good performance into points & the performances aren’t consistent. Teams that play well find ways to win even when they are off it, we struggle on both fronts.

Let’s not kid ourselves, Arsenal we’re at half strength and in general I think managers are telling their teams to be patient against us because eventually we buckle.

The kind words they have about us aren’t much consolation and I’d rather they be hating us because we’ve taken points off them.

But it’s also ludicrous to say there are no positives from today.

Berge the obvious one - brilliant.
Koleosho at 19 is a frightening talent if he adds some end product.

For anyone questioning VKs recruitment or ability to spot talent, look no further. A combined £15m for those two is a steal.

Vitinho also played well.
Brownhill-Berge midfield looks a step forward.
Add Muric, Ekdal to the back line and Foster up top and I think we have a team.

[Jakubclaret]

Let’s not kid ourselves, Arsenal we’re at half strength and in general I think managers are telling their teams to be patient against us because eventually we buckle.

The kind words they have about us aren’t much consolation and I’d rather they be hating us because we’ve taken points off them.

But it’s also ludicrous to say there are no positives from today.

Berge the obvious one - brilliant.
Koleosho at 19 is a frightening talent if he adds some end product.

For anyone questioning VKs recruitment or ability to spot talent, look no further. A combined £15m for those two is a steal.

Vitinho also played well.
Brownhill-Berge midfield looks a step forward.
Add Muric, Ekdal to the back line and Foster up top and I think we have a team.

Yes played well but at the end of the day yet again nothing to show for it, we can literally play really well with good performances from certain individuals & the week after them same players can play garbage, it’s no good in this league you need everybody on it week in & week out.

[Kilson810]

Clutching at straws.
10 losses from 12, and 5 points behind Bournemouth now. The whole season has been a shambles so far and points are all that matter now, not the odd player putting a shift in here and there.

[Swizzlestick]

The performances in the last two games have been better, and it was interesting Kompany named an unchanged side today (first time this season?) - I think we've stumbled upon at the least the nucleus of a more solid and pragmatic line up. Lyle needs as much time as he needs, but if he's ready to come back into the team after the break, we'll be improved significantly. Berge looks really impressive in the centre, and I thought Brownhill and Gudmundsson added much needed legs and tactical solidity. The defensive unit is the issue - full backs actually did pretty well against very tricky opponents, Vitinho in particular, but the keeper now needs to change - give Muric a chance, he isn't going to be the panacea for all our travails, but we have to switch it up there. We've gone over the reason ad infinitum. O'Shea just doesn't work for me - hopefully Ekdal will be close after the break. We at least now look more competitive and are making teams work a bit more - so frustrating we didn't do this against Brentford and Bournemouth. Two massive home games coming up for us and for Kompany personally.

[xxmunkyennuixx]

Berge and Browny are providing energy and stability.
Beyer looked calm.
Amdouni was more involved.
We had shots on target.
We had a good defensive structure in open play.
We pressed quite well.

Sort set pieces out and we might pick up a couple of points.

[NewClaret]

Yes played well but at the end of the day yet again nothing to show for it, we can literally play really well with good performances from certain individuals & the week after them same players can play garbage, it’s no good in this league you need everybody on it week in & week out.

I look at it differently than you and Kilson810 because I’m not too bothered if we go down. Obviously I want us to stay up, but it’s not the end of the world if we don’t.

We had a brilliant year last season and as I see it we’re a miles stronger squad now than then. Koleosho, Amdouni, Berge, JBL, Ramsey, Odobert, etc all miles stronger than we had last year. Trafford also an upgrade on BPF. If we go down we’ll lose some of course but feel we’d enter next year stronger than last time in the Championship so can see a process of improvement.

Agree that inconsistency is an issue. Which is because they’re young. I think they’ll get much better towards the end of the season but it may be too late.

Truth is Kompany placed all his chips on youth and it doesn’t look like it’ll pay off, but I think he’s still young too so imagine he’d learn from that.

[BabylonClaret]

Good ee kept the line up the same - we looked more solid Gainst Palace and again today. O shea is getting better each game too.

Berge Nd Vitinho both played v well and de ent games also from Browny, the defence, Koleosho and Jay (although ee can't be relying on Jay to provide goals. Obafemi back is a welcome sign too.

We scored (and remained in the game longer than previous games) so there is improvement. There is still time to turn this round but we do need to start turning the performances into points.

Sadly Traff isn't right at this point. He made a couple of great saves (one of which perhaps Muric doesn't make) but his lack of presence e in the box puts the whole defence under pressure - certainly the 2nd shouldn't be going in - the keeper HAS to make that his - it's down his throat.