Champions League, Arshavin A Laugh
Feb 21st, 2009 by 'holic
Sorry for the slight delay in posting. Removing egg from ones face can be a messy business. Ten days ago, while assessing the next seven Premiership fixtures I wrote ‘Should we really contemplate dropping points, let alone suffering a defeat in any of those games if a top four place is to be a realistic aim for the remainder of the campaign?’
So convinced was I that I even repeated the assertion on this weeks Arseblog arsecast. Only Arsenal supporters will understand just how much it hurts to have fallen at the first, very small, hurdle. If you cannot beat Sunderland at home (or away for that matter) then you are not likely to finish in the top four.
It should all have been so different. For a half it even looked as though we may have a half-decent game to witness. Not for the first time this season we started and finished the opening half with something as close as this side gets to a flourish. In between times Sunderland had a spell where they showed some ambition. Surely this would not be a third scoreless Premiership draw in a row?
There was even a massive boost for the crowd with an unexpected start for Andrey Arshavin, and it was he and Kolo Toure who shared four of our best efforts of the opening spell. I’m on record as saying that I don’t believe Arshavin is the player we most needed in the January window, but he showed glimpses of what a marvellous signing he is likely to be once he has acclimatised to the Premiership, even if that is likely to be next season.
Not surprisingly he departed the contest after an hour to be replaced by Carlos Vela. The Mexican joined a different contest from that which had preceeded the half-time whistle. Sunderland seemed to decide over their interval slice of orange that they could no longer make the game a spectacle, and decided to opt for a nine-one formation.
They are far from being the first side to do that, which makes it all the more incredible that once again Arsenal did not have the answers when faced with a blanket defence ahead of them. It is no consolation that once again the visiting goalkeeper earned the man-of-the-match honours. The best chances of the second-half fell to the late-arriving Vela, who snatched at both.
Robin van Persie had a chance in each half, and William Gallas made his customary last gasp effort to snatch a goal, but yet again a side with little intent had comfortably blunted our attack. What is so hard to fathom is that the slick, forward-passing movement of Monday reverted to the unimaginative and slow approach play that has dogged our season. The fact that we know we are better than this is what is adding to the hurt tonight.
We have until Tuesday to work out how to get things right again. Roma are light years ahead of Sunderland. Yet without the cup-tied Arshavin, and the likes of Fabregas, Adebayor, and Eduardo, do we have the invention and the finishing to make a difference. Let me muse on that before writing a preview.
For now, sorry to those who come here looking for positives. Even I cannot defend the indefensible. There is always another six easy games coming up though, eh? I’ll be back at some stage of Monday with that Roma preview, as long as I don’t drink myself into oblivion before then.
71 Responses to “Champions League, Arshavin A Laugh”
Hey Goonerholic, i completely agree with you, this is to say that are squad is simply not good or big enough. Wengers tactics were quite off today. Playing Denilson and Song in midfield was a waste of everyones time. But it was good to see Arshavin starting, but coming off after halftime
If we are to win on tuesday, we must work on our attacking efforts and creativeness. I look Towards Denilson, Nasri and Van Persie for those roles.
Know how you feel mate! This team is driving me NUTS!
We created enough chances to win the game, RvP had a very quiet game compared to recent games and he and vela missed good openings. Why the team reverted to the lethargic performances of previous games this season is a right old puzzler??? But we WILL end up with a top 4 finish AND a trophy… No egg on my face come May then!
ive said it before. arsenal have been totally and utterly worked out as an attacking force. we now have to rely on the opposition to over commit as they attack before we become dangerous. sunderland stuck to the current mould today and once again it worked.
we cant complain about what team’s do against us. it is incredibly frustrating, but it is successful for them.
arsene needs to change the way we play, i believe, if we are to start picking up the wins we need. we are too predictable and waiting for injured players to return is not forward thinking.
lets try some different formations perhaps, mix it up, give the oppo something to fucking think about. get more players forward into the box when we attack, stop playing two holding midfielders.
ANYTHING different. lets at least try.
bottle of white please guv.
Why does Wenger complain about the “negative tactics” of the opposition?
Ours were hardly anything to rave about either.
Passing endlessly across the breadth of the pitch from one side to the other doesn’t qualify anywhere in the “exciting” class imo.
and waiting “patiently” for the final 5 minutes to put in any effort in the hopes that the opposition will be tired doesn’t work any more.
The opposition just sit and take it easy for 85 minutes just like we do, then also put in all their effort in the final 5 minutes just like we do.
sunderland had bags of energy and endeavor to frustrate us near the end, while we just looked clueless.
Time Wenger caught a wake up.
Get interested from the off for a change.
Everyone’s sussed us out and our players seem to be the last to know.
I wonder whether a case of Glen Grant might dull the pain?
Oh wait, my sense were dulled by that game anyway – talk about a cheap round.
Oh, and the fucking awful lullaby just HAS to go.
No wonder our team are asleep by the time they get on the pitch.
It’s the kind of song your grandmother dragged you onto the dance floor at weddings for when you were 8 years old.
repeat to fade…..
…WE CREATED ENOUGH CHANCES TODAY, RVP AND VELA MISSED DECENT OPENINGS………
Its quite simple Arsene should stop using song+denilson together in the same midfield they play almost the same thing week in week out and no attacking pass too much predictable runs its so frustrating today i felt like crying
endless sideways passing after we win possession – its boring, predictable and easy to defend against. there is a lack or urgency and pace right down the middle. you need either song or denilson in the team not both. it makes us too pedestrian in home games where we know they will park the bus. we do actually need walcott back for his pace alone, and we need wenger to realise that the stats about denilson dont tell you everything.
while den makes more passes and tackles than a lot of player I read the other day he completes the lowest percentage of forward passes in the opposition third than any other attacking central midfielder in the top half of the table. basically that means he make the passes that count – he cant make the difference – he cant win us games. he had a good game today but a Song/Den central midfield really lacks ambition.
Agree with Wayne – We are totally worked out and I am starting to think that Wenger has lost it. We don’t have the personnel to play how we used to because we don’t have the same pace. Why do we even bother with the charade that we are going to cross it into the box now? There never is anyone there and all we do is give the ball away. It certainly doesn’t help that our best man in the air is the one crossing the ball (Bendtner). If, however, we actually played with width, it would afford us to play through the middle as well….
this team is shit they dont believe in ourself because we know what to expect against team like that, the problem WE have is we play too slow, we dont try the unexpected , too many misplaced pass all season and too many players under performing.
last season i use to jump of my seat with the way we played it was so sexy! but now i just turn over the tv and watch other teams play we are BORING.
AND WHAT DO KNOW! VAN PERSIE MISSED THE MOST PROMISING OPPORTUNITY OF THE MATCH OH GOD THE WHOLE TEAM IS CRAP!
How come we had Song & Denilson the other night and the team was full of verve and forward passing and great movement?
Nasri on the right looked loads better IMO and of course eduardo makes great runs etc… Bendy was up for it and Vela on the left was great…
I just dont get it?
gunnersmith;
Sorry, my point was way too subtle for ya.. i was saying things werent that far off us winning, as we created enough to win, yet poor finishing ended up costing us..
I will try to be a bit more obvious in the future..
It pain me to see us carve out a mistrable draw and see Manc Chav win our game pace has finally faded away and we are creating nothing attacking wise
I just don’t get it i’m one of the most optimistic Gooner around and after the Cardiff game i thought i’m supporting the best team in the world but for once i’m beginning to think otherwise
Maybe its time up for Le boss
cardiff didn’t really park the bus on Monday so it was a big difference to today, but yes missing chances when you get them, does not help either.
whats more vela played from the start and so did Eduardo! small differences but enough to make a huge difference.
I also do believe we will end up in the top 4!! Why do I say this? Look at Aston Villa’s next 7 fixtures and look at ours and you’ll begin to see why.
Having said that, our two but last remaining fixtures do not make good reading (Liverpool & Man U away) and that is all the more reasons we should be dispatching with ease teams like Sunderland.
I hope Arsene doesn’t live to regret inability to do so because then he would have himself alone to blame.
But I have faith we would come in 4th and then see us fulfil our promises next season!!
We might as well give one of the reserves a chance to play up top with RvP. Maybe Sunu, don’t know how he is doing, but with Eduardo out for the next couple of league matches, we need someone who will hang round in the box. RvP and Bendtner both spend too much time fetching the ball from the midfielders and nobody is ever in the box.
Worried about the Roma games.
At least we didn’t lose- if we had won the situation wouldn’t be drastically different, either way we need Villa to slip up twice and that is something they certainly will do. If we had lost we would have needed them to slip a third time which is a completely different situation at the top of the league. There a positive for everyone!!
As for whether we’re good enough at the moment to take advantage when they do slip up though…!
Looking at the fixture list we should be ahead of them in 5 or 6 weeks time. And around then we might be able to cobble together a fit midfield that’s capable of creating some quality, positive football so there’s definately reasons to be confident still!
Today was just not a great day at the office. It is strange but from the moment I took my seat it just did not feel right. Let’s all put the Cardiff game into perspective. They are a Championship side who did not play anywhere near the level they achieved at their place.
Today was just labored. It looked a tired performance. I agree with the comments about us playing across the pitch, At times it was as if I was watching a handball game. We do not play with pace anymore. we do not play with width anymore. Why the big balls into the box? That has never been our style.
There was one moment in the match that summed it all up for me. A ball is played out of the back. It finds its way to Bendtner. He controls it and breaks down the left. He looks up to see no one in the box. He checks, holds up play. He then puts a cross into the middle. By this time there are now 8 outfield players in the box. RVP and 7 mackhems??????????? Nasri is doing his best to make up ground. Denilson and Song are just walking over the half way line. That is the problem in a nut shell. I mean, what the fuck is that about?
I always try to be positive here but am finding it harder and harder as the weeks go by. Arshavin was impressive. Looked short of pace and match practice, both understandable. The Gallas Kolo partnership at the back looks better each game. I was also impressed with Bendtner again. Yet again he won everything in the air and was a willing runner. Good to see him improve.
Bring on Roma. I just hope that we actually send a side out that actually wants to play the game. Otherwise it may be the last Champions League action we see for a while.
How many times have said that this season ‘look at villa next 7 games bla bla bla…….. Let’s face it we’re finishing 6 this reason and fighting for a UEFA CUP slot!
To be honest I am bored stiff at looking at who other teams have to play. I am looking at who we have to play. The long and short of it is this. We are dropping too many stupid points. There should be no excuse for it. None at all…….
Bollocks to the others. Let’s start looking closer to home and getting that sorted.
am tired of song and den,no pace,no urgency,infact we lack everything.just close to tears today,we can”t beat roma like this.we are done with wenger him self,four years no trophy is not a big club stuff.
True dat! Ive looked at the fixtures and thought, yeah we will win these games, yadda yadda… I did it at the start of this season! FFS! We had a piss easy start and shouldve won all the games til we played United and look what happened? We are running out of games… Arshy will dom it for us in the league and FA cup games tho, marketh mine wordings!
It has to be time we gave Ramsey a go in the middle, that is where the problems are starting Denilson and Song just aren’t incisive enough. Or start with 3 up front against these 9-man defenses. Whatever the case we have to change something three league games without scoring just isn’t good enough, especially when we’re chasing down a six-point deficit!
Roma are not unbeatable, but i’m not looking forward to that match.
Im a gooner from australia so i might not no as much about the club as pple in london. But, the arsenal of this season cannot even make a forward ball!!Denilson and song keep passing it backwards and sideways, dont make runs, look tired and boring on the ball, looking for someone else to find a bit of magic! thts been the story of our season since we lost fabregas, walcott…. Lets face it…. the arsenal of right now dont even deserve to be in a uefa cup place… we cant even beat easy teams like sunderland! When I saw us thrash Cardiff i thought the real arsenal might be just coming back! But, once again I was wrong, this youth policy is simply not good enough. I think its time to let le boss go. It just pains me to see the arsenal of now compared to the one of last season. arsenal might see a very glum future if they dont do something now! Even before when we were losing games at least we could score! In fact ive almost given up on arsenal, if they cant show me sumthing gud at home against roma on tuesday then they arent worth following.
maybe you should start supporting sydney then. whenever people start sayin its time to sack wenger i get scared. i couldnt imagine anyone could replace him.
white russian please
The 2 people on feild that make me really angry are Bendtner and Song. These guys are JOKES to the arsenal name. Ok, so i get they are both young and have “talent” according to wenger. But there are some things that DONT CHANGE. Bendtner is HORRIBLE for arsenal play because he simply can NOT EVER keep up the fluidity of an attack. If we are on a break, he will just stop a beautiful run to take a good look at the scenery before he makes a fucking pass across the pitch instead of anything useful forward. He has his occasional moments of brilliance, but they are far too few. The only positive about him is that he has passion, which alot of players lack. Song is just a joke. I look at this guy and I remember the midfeild we are supposed to have. Guys of quality like fabregas, rosicky, walcott. Heck look at our older team. His position would have been filled by vierra. WE WENT FROM A BEHEMOTH DEMOLISHER TO THIS CRAPPY FUCKING EXCUSE FOR AN ARSENAL PLAYER. He can’t even pass, which is one thing we do more than anything else, even though its all pretty useless. God I miss fabregas, for his creativity, and walcott for his amazing runs down the wings. We need that incisive touch to our play that was just LOST when we decided to let players like song take their chances.
The reason why we won in the Cardiff game was because eduardo added the belief in our attack that we just dont have in bendtner or our central midfield. I love denilson, but he is NOT a creative midfielder. He just wastes time. I wonder what percentage of his passes actually go forward instead of to the sides or backwards.
FUCK.
Btw I think the roma game will be fantastic, because atleast there wont be a 20 man defense to play against for once.
I dont wanna replace Arsene yet but when he moves aside how about Marco Van Basten and DB10 as his assistant. His Dutch team played good incisive football at the Euros
I agree with the sentiment that a central MF of Denilson and Song just isn’t proving creative enough. Both are playing very well in their own way (in that holding role everyone thought we needed to sign someone in for!)… and our defensive solidity has greatly improved… but together those two just don’t have enough of that Cesc/Bergkamp defense-splitting, forward-passing vision and touch.
I have two suggestions to address this until Cesc or Rosicky get back: play Denilson or Song in the holding role (but not together)… and play Nasri or Arshavin next to him… Or else give Fran Merida/Aaron Ramsey a chance in the attacking central MF role.
Song was slow and not up for it today.
His touch and passing was well below par. He should have been subbed for Ramsey.
Just because we played well against Cardiff complacency and arrogance creeps into the teams attitude.
IMO this was evident today.
Our Defense was strong but our midfield the weakest link, thats why Toure was bombing forward at any and every opportunity. Song or Denilson should have been doing that.
I watched Yaya and Keita for Barcelona after the Sunderland draw.
Song and Denilson are light years away!!!!!
We will loose or draw against Roma.
After the roma game u lot will have forgotten abt this performance. N wenger hasnt lost anything u lot have. U’ve been spoiled wit pretty football for far to long. And sumthing interestin ade wasnt playin so he cant be blamed for the bad run of the team nor can song n denilson, why nt rvp on his day his the best bt other days his nt worst then bent (and i aint no spurs fan). When cesc, theo, rosicky, ade n eduardo are in the next startin line up that the REAL ARSENAL XI.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEDS GAME AND SAT GAME IS, SUNDERLAND PLAYED A 1 9 FORMATION WITH NO FOOTBALL BE PLAYED AND CARDIFF TRYED TO PLAY FOOTBALL! JUST IMAGINE IF WE WENT THOUGH THE SEASON PLAYED 38 GAME WHERE 32 OF THEM THE TEAMS PLAYED 9 1 FORMATION AND THE OTHERS PLAYED THEIR NORMAL GAME (MAN U, LIVER, CHELSEA) DO YOU THINK WE WOULD BE IN THE PREMIERSHIP STLL? JUST A THOUGHT
MY POINT IS OUR MANAGER SHOULD NOT BLAME OTHER TEAMS FOR OUR POOR PERFORMANCE BECAUSE PASS AND MOVE FOOOTBALL IS GREAT TO WATCH BUT IF THERE IS NO PLAN B THERE IS NO PIONT BECAUSE ALL IT IS , IS KEEP BALL
THE ONLY WAY TO OVER COME THIS PROBLEM IS PACE (PLAY AT A HIGHER TEMPO AND PACEY PLAYER WALCOTT AND HAVE A BIG MAN THAT CAN HOLD THE BALL UP IN THE DANGER AREA) WALCOTT IS INJURED ADY IS A LAZY GIT (SELL HIM HE DOES NOT WORK FOR THE TEAM AND I THINK HE WILL LEAVE) I HOPE.
THIS SEASON I THINK WE WILL WIN THE F.A CUP BECAUSE ITS NOT A COMPITION WHERE U WOULD NEED A POINT , YOU HAVE TO PLAY TO WIN AND WE WILL FINISH 5TH.
AND NOW I WILL CONSOL MYSELF WITH FOOTBALL MANAGER AND PRO EVO 2009!!1
Arshavin looked awesome – denilson was the best player on the pitch – we had some great chances to win the game particulary with RVP chipping wide with an open goal vacant and Vela missing from 6 yrd out again with pretty much the whole goal open towards the end of the game. Fulop also made some great saves to deny Arshavins fierce left footed drive from the edge of the box with his fingers early in the game, Bentenders header from Arshavins cross and RVP’s injury time low shot. We REALLY needed all 3 points today esp with Villa losing to CHElsea but I was really proud of the effort the guys made on the pitch today , and Le Boss’s lastest recruit looks like pure class ! we played well today just not well enough but I still feel we can snatch 4th from Villa once we have more of the players back and still have a great run in the CL and FA. COMON YOU GUNNERS !
Come on, the result is disappointing but you know that when the opposition’s manager admits they rode their luck and their keeper produced his best performance of the season, it was just not our day. If only one of our strikers had converted from the many clear-cut opportunities we’d be having a very different opinion of the game and our players.
2=3 months ago everyone was fearing the worst before every game with our defense in shambles. We’re now on the league’s longest unbeaten run after ManU I believe.
The only bits we’re lacking now is a faster pace and better finish in front of the goal. That’s exactly what Arshavin, Walcott and Eduardo will provide within 2 weeks.
That said I agree with you Holic. Denilson does not need Song to play next to him. The more I watch Song the more I fear for his career, he has amazing athletic qualities and decent technical skills but definitively an attitude problem.
Vela Denilson Nasri Arshavin would have been a more inspiring starting lineup although I would not mind Vela given an opportunity as a striker.
Straight ice-cold shot of vodka tonight. I need the rush.
Song & Denilson in the middle just doesnt work!
Have they ever played in midfield and had a good game together?
I believe they are too similar, they wait for the ball and dont chase, that is fine for Denilson because he is creative.
However, for Song to stroll around he must have something else to offer the team apart from tackling…it seems no one but him and Wenger believe this. Even Eboue showed more energy and willingness than Song!
Song&Denilson seem to create a bottleneck in midfield, they slow down any counter attacking move by dawdling and passing sideways or back. If we can see this every week why cant Wenger? I’m sure our creative players and strikers are frustrated by this too and you can tell sometimes just by their body language.
y choose a 4-2-2-2 formation a-la Spain/Barca when u don’t have the players for it ? for Spain Senna + Xavi or Alonso sit in front of the defence; for Barca Yaya/Keita/Busquets and Xavi/Iniesta sit in front of defence.Does AW really think Denilson and Song are are of same quality? If he thinks so then he is more delusional than Spuds, he simply doesn’t know.
Arsenal could also have gone for 4-1-3-2 with Nasri in the middle behind the strikers and Gibbs/Vela/Wilshire/Merida on the left combined for 90 mins ?
And all saying Villa will drop points and we will finish in 4th — wont we be dropping points too?
4th place is getting further away every week.*sigh*
Last hat-trick of nil-nil draws in League : 1998.
I watched the game on setanta ireland and the commentry was spot on. They kept talking about the lack of of athletic players in the team, and made a good point!
The team of old had vieira, petit, pires, henry, bergkamp -all over 6 foot tall. Yesterday our team was so small that we needed van persie and bendtner back for every set piece to help the defence.
They also mentioned how long it takes the Arsenal team to win back posession, in the old days we’d have a vieira, petit,gilberto, flamini to snap in and get the ball back. In the last few months we have had to watch the likes of sunderland, cardiff and w.brom pass the ball around us like brazil.
my final point is about Ramsey, what must be going through his head when he see’s Song picked before him!? Yes he is not physically as strong but his attitude is a 100 x better and every time Ramsey is on the pitch he gets stuck in.
here comes UEFA Cup if we are lucky. We need to be realistic here, if anyone thinks this squad can get a CL spot come May is a backneck-waterhead retard, sorry I know thats rough but thats the way the cookie crumbles folks…. You cannot rely on lazy players like Bendtner to pull you through, and Ade got his payday so he’s content. My only fear is after May we lose RVP and Cesc to CL qualified clubs, and not be able to bring in anyone decent because of it as well, hell we may not even get a UEFA spot if this garbage continues??? Sorry for the retard crack, I’m upset as I know we all are, my bad!!!
Kaan, you are typical of the breed of ‘supporters’ that have crept into the game, if you can’t be bothered to ‘support’ the Arsenal then grab yourself another shrimp and bugger off to the ‘Barbie’, ‘we don’t want your kind here’.
The REAL PROBLEM with this side is that we have no variety in our play. There is no plan B, we don’t try to play direct even though we have players to do it. A game like yesterday’s called for balls up to Bendtner and outmuscling the opposition. We need pace in our game because raw speed is one thing teams are forced to take notice of. Pace is so valuable in today’s game and I dread seeing Theo ousted from the side upon his return, as is almost certain to be the case.
There is no bite in midfield. We all knew this in the summer but Arsene has gambled. There were plenty of players that could have helped us in central midfield and they wouldn’t have cost the earth.
@arse and nose, I totally agree with you on Ramsey. How Song is continually picked, I don’t know. If Song could sort out his positioning and try to be a ‘makelele’ then he could become a good DM. As it is he tries to venture forward and all over the place and he isn’t a Gattuso-type player and doesn’t have the recovery pace to bail himself out when committing elsewhere on the pitch.
We are all led to believe that Ramsey will be the long-term successor to Cesc Fabregas. I really hope he will be, but he deserves the opportunities in midfield no less than Song and it is only a hierarchical system that is keeping a pecking order in front of him. What better time to blood the young Welshman, particularly as he has a creative spark and excellent engine? Also (and I haven’t thought much of this view until recently) perhaps the club could do with a British base for stability. I’m not saying we should go and pay over the odds for English talent like the lot up the road, but for the likes of Ramsey and Walcott to feel integrated should do the club some good rather than the balance we have now.
Replace Le Boss?
What a load of crap!!
We run on a budget close to everton’s, yet we demand to compete with manure and chelski.
Yes we have been spoilt over the last decade.
If all the prem managers were equal in ability, where do you think we would finish each season?
scum, mc, geordies, as well as the current top four have all spent more than us. The difference has always been Arsene, especially since the introduction of our large mortgage.
There is one reason manure are above us, they have the money to continuely buy the finished article or with the shriek an ‘odds on’. Even Ronaldo comes from their ‘paid off’ feeder club sporting lisbon.
How close did we come last year with such little experience in the available squad and a small budget?
We certainly lost flamini due to cash and it is probably the same with small town loving hleb. Their leaving has set us back two years as their replacements need to be found and developed.
I do believe Arsene has had misguided faith in denilson & song filling the d/m role this season. Though who is to say they won’t step up a level next year, flamini was a case in point as a squad player moving up a gear and even suprising Le Boss.
Apart from the likes of alonso (who was never going to be allowed to come to us), who could we have got in that has prem experience for such a demanding dm role & instant return?
Unless we get LUCKY now with injuries and the rub of the green, we will battle it out with everton for 5th spot.
Just remember if/when Le Boss leaves we could be looking at getting someone on a level with curbishly, allardyce or coppell. So be careful what you wish for.
ARSENE IS THE BEST!!
[…] I have a sore throat. Just what I needed after yesterday’s lovely weather and yesterday’s not so lovely draw against Sunderland. Quite a few of the world’s good Arsenal blogs haven’t updated today, probably because they are all still trying to calm themselves down, though the unlucky Tom over at Arseblog has some words for the team, as does Goodplaya and Goonerholic. […]
Our problem is we have players that are used to playing at Fabregas pace in midfield, much as it pains me to say it. When arshavin is up to pace he can play in the whole, RvP up front Ade i no more than bench player at most. At the mo to have enough pace in build-up and and finishing power we need the full backs to “show” for the ball, Almunia to givit to them, not kick it, this may draw the oppo midfield to us creating space to explode from midfield. A midfileld currently of Vela, denilson, Nasri and Arshavin in the league. Eddy (in a couple a weeks) and RvP, up front. Enough gile and pace going forward to turn the defence, there I think. The type of cross we should deliver into the box should be not in the air as most of our plays cant dispatch a header. Well it would give the opps more proble than lining up is to banks of 4 and allowing half chances…. incicive and fast build up….. ramble over
*Sits in rocking chair gazing out of the window smoking pipe with tartan rug over knees*
Anyone remember when we used to pass to players who were moving ? (or even pass to our own players)
Good post, holic. I wouldn’t overdo it with the sackcloth and ashes though. We all expected a win. We should have got a win.
I got down to about post 25. Couldn’t read on though without running the risk of reaching for the razor blade or the aspirin bottle to swallow whole.
I though Denilson was SUPREME. Best game so far. His ball to Robin was master class. Nice effort from RVP and should have been 1-0. Game over. Denilson’s defensive game is coming on well too. Not quite where Cesc was at 20, but a future winner for the team.
Arshavin had a good game. More positive after 4 minutes, would have been 1-0. Game over. Superb left footer and a great save. Different day. 1-0 and game over. Arshavin will win many games for Arsenal next season.
Different day, Vela from five yards. 1-0. Game over. Kolo Toure header, whipped off the line different day, 1-0. Game over.
There were several more. I won’t go on. IF this had been a 1-0 finish, every single post here would have been nearing euphoria. Arsenal played Sunderland well. Much better than ManUre did (remember Vidic’s scrappy goal in 94 minutes after Sunderland took them apart for most of the game?)
A superb young squad. Best manager on the planet. Super-moaning gooners on this site. We’re all disappointed, but getting down on the team and booing them off the field ain’t gonna get the job done. Anyone can support a team that wins every week. True fans turn out when it’s tough going.
So, for the guy above who switches his channels to watch another game, you’re not an Arsenal fan, son. Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself, “who’s going to win more games? Man U, Chelski, Liverpool, Real Madrid?” Choose then go off and watch their games on your telly. At the end of the day, it’s about more than winning.
I’ll have whatever drink to help with the hangover, cheers ‘holic.
Holic, have you noticed that you get, at least, twice as many drink requests when Arsenal are beaten, or play poorly? You’re not having a quiet word in old Arsene’s ear are you, just to boost the holic ego?
Good news from me is that another free pass has been secured to the prawn sandwich tier for Fulham game next week. I’ll be the guy third row back wearing the kilt with matching gunner’s tartan sporran. I had hoped to catch both Eduardo and Andrei. Maybe I’ll stay over for the trip to WBA and see them both and young Jay Simpson. Do loanees get to play against us?
Listened to your contribution to Arsecast. Nice job, Holic! The man with the slivery (oops) silvery tonsils. Good comments, nice pace, came over very convincingly and natural.
OK. Enough. Off to see fellow countryman Daniel Craig kicking the whatsits out of the nazis in Defiance. Be back in time for the Roma game. Tough nut to crack with the injuries we have. Never mind, we’ve got Eboue, haven’t we.
ROSS who else would we have played in midfield ffs song and denilson are our only options other than ramsey.
unless you count nasri i supposebut he didnt have his best game and kept coming inside anyway so would not have made a difference
couldn’t agree more with BTM. Yes, disappointing result> but yes played better than manure and remember they dodgily scored in the 94th minute… game should have been over, and they nicked it. On another day we easily could have.
Yesterday i felt the same way as holic. it hard to take positives but nearly 24 hours later, i feel better, we’re a point closer, and a draw is not a terrible result. Sbragia has done a decent job at sunderland and they played their tactics well. We are still on an unbeaten run, which already is a vast improvement from what we were watching earlier in the season.
Add our continued injury woes into the mix and …… Just unlucky.
Yes, we should be convincingly turning over teams like sunderland at home (and away) but sometimes these things happen.
As for sacking le boss. Shut-up!! No-one could have done what arsene has done for this club, and people need to remember that. It is sickening to me that people are even contemplating this. There is a lot of promising talent in this side (and with the exception of the arshavin sale) other clubs would dream of being in the position we are in, in terms of upcoming talent and the money that has been spent. A few back from the injury table and we are as good as any team in the league on our day, and it has been proved already this season against the “big” sides.
Yes, it looks harder as these results slip away so finely, but this team is growing in confidence and consistency, i feel they are progressing and any day now (hopefully tuesday) we are due a performance that i feel will give the confidence to go on and take it to the next level.
Egg or not … Gotta try and keep the faith. There will always be highs and lows.
On another note…
As for the ‘f**ki** referees in this league. Disgraceful. How does ronaldo continually get away with kicking out at players without “the referee seeing it”. The dispicable excuse for a human being should be off the park and then scores the winner for them. it’s outrageous. If a player can get a red card recinded after a match on appeal, then why is he not being slapped with a ban?
Disappointed about not winning any silverware… take it up with the referree’s association. They cost us ours last season. And are doing a pretty good job again this year. Respect. Pah! it’s laughable.
ps… LOL … “we’ve got eboue” ha ha ha ha
BtM and typical to the rescue. Cheers both. I’m back with the programme now 😉
Some interesting posts here. Have to agree that all the people calling for Wengers head need locking up. Do they have any idea what he has done for this club???
Remember ‘Form is temporary. Class is permanent”.
I think everyone knows what Arsene has done. It’s what he’s currently doing that is of major concern.
Plagued by poor/biased refereeing? Injuries? Bad luck?
Well yes, but they’ve all been features throughout his reign and previously he’s built squads of sufficient depth, talent and determination to overcome such adversities. Part of the current crop have the talent, but depth and determination? I think not.
As for the suggestion that a 1-0 win would have been greeted with euphoria, I don’t recall too many people being ecstatic after achieving that score line against Wigan.
The security of Wenger’s tenure is based on past achievements, a keen economic sense loved by The Board and the devotion of his players (with the implicit threat that many would go were he to leave).
With the UEFA Cup beckoning the money will dry up and players will leave anyway in search of CL glory.
Whilst I have huge respect and admiration for what he has done for the club he hasn’t exactly brought much in the way of success for several years now and this current season in particular seems to me an exercise in hubris.
Team selection, substitutions, tactics, failure to address problems that even he acknowledges are present, etc. have been at the heart of a wretched season and in response the mantra that his youth project is the answer.
Nothing lasts forever and I have to say I’m increasingly of the view that it’s time for a change.
i expect a lot of arsenal fans may feel that way garrett. and you make some very good points, and you are a far more talented writer than myself so i can’t retort as comfortably and concisely, and i will admit that even i have thought “arsene has lost it” at points this season but i just think people should be careful what they wish for.
I think it would be a bitter pill to swallow if Wenger was at Madrid winning titles next season.
And … look at chelsea … it hasn’t exactly helped them much since sacking mourinho (i know different circumstances etc…)
It just hasn’t quite “clicked” this season. (yes i take into account all the features we’ve mentioned above, strongly) but this is the same team that Robin Van Persie described as “playing football from another planet” 18 months ago. It’s the same team that romped their way through the league last season (before “gallas-gate”), i feel they are just starting to get back closer to the way we like to play and as the confidence grows i’m sure we will be back to the exciting team we ALL love.
I appreciate your opinion, but i personally think people are mad to even suggest getting rid of wenger, and i know i’m not alone.
I think we would find it very difficult to find a manager as good.
Avram Grant’s still available. Tony Adams might do. Brolly man could come back from Holland or, wait, I think I’ve got it SVEN! YES YES YES!
Good plan, Arsene to Real Madrid, Sven to the Emirates. Any takers?
Does Andrei Arshavin’s mum know anything about football management?
Fair points TG.
I’m not actually calling for his head this minute but I do think that sooner rather than later the Board will have to take a dispassionate look at where we are and what the future holds.
BTG, is that the same Avram Grant that took the chavs to 2nd in the league and the CL Final last year?
Compared with where we are at the moment I’d say go for it – do you have his number?:)
Yes, got the number right here : 1-800-No-Hoper.
I think you miss the point that 1) it was the team that Jose built and 2) the 500 Million that Abramovich leant (interest free) 3) Arsene has WON the league without a 500M loan 4) Gunners also runners up without 500M loan.
Would you also like Usmanov’s telephone number? I have it too.
Well, well, well, who would have thought it. A request for Usmanov and Grant at The Grove. Win at any cost and sell all the young talent?
BTG, I think you miss the point – my tongue was firmly in my cheek.
I don’t want either version of fat and ugly.
I do however want us back on track and despite your commendable optimism I don’t see the present run of 0-0s against mediocre opposition as indicative of a real revival.
I did enjoy your “True fans turn out when it’s tough going” followed by “Good news from me is that another free pass has been secured to the prawn sandwich tier for Fulham game next week” though.
Personally I’ve turned down seats in the prawn circle as I prefer to pay for my tickets and sit with the common folk, as I will be against Fulham, but that’s just me.
I’m not interested in a pissing match as to who’s the bigger fan – I’m sure we both bleed Red and White – just accept blind faith isn’t always the best policy.
We have a real problem and we’re all entitled to a view
Good on you, Garrett. Mind you, it’ll be pretty common in the pc with me up there and I’ll be relegated to the common seats for my next game.
Enjoy the game and get right behind these youngsters. Think we’ll be lucky and see Eduardo back? Come on you Gunners!
Might one enquire where the Old Chap is and to request a case of Wild Turkey; the last week has been a bitch.
I think a Roma preview was promised or, after getting back on the programme, have the Waters of Oblivion beckoned?
BTG, give us a wave on Saturday, enjoy the match and welcome back to the cheap seats for next time ’round.
Can’t see Ed making it but here’s hoping.
Come on You Rip Roarin’ . . . . .
Apologies to Bergkamp’s The Man – just realised I keep putting BTG instead of BTM.
Sorry.