The Warning Signs Are There For Arsenal
Sep 25th, 2010 by 'holic
Two Premiership contests either side of a victory by the shadow squad at Tottenham must be a huge concern to Arsene Wenger. Arsenal followed up last weekend’s cruel draw at Sunderland with a home defeat in an abject performance at home to West Brom.
I should at the outset, however, give credit where it is due. It was refreshing to watch a visiting side commit numbers to attack, and not resort to the thuggish tactics employed by some of the second-class clubs and second-rate managers in the Premiership. Make no mistake, the Baggies won because they simply played better than Arsenal and took their chances at the Grove.
Whilst they, quite rightly, enjoy their triumph, I suspect we face a weekend of much blood-letting amongst the Arsenal faithful. Particularly disappointing will be the inevitable backlash to the performance of the whole back five in a week where so many were drawing comfort from the way the team had been defending in the early weeks.
For forty-five minutes it looked as though that defence might just have kept us in the contest and I suspect most expected a much improved showing from the home team in the second period. Almunia’s excellent penalty save from a penalty he himself had conceded was the focal point of the opening half. Frankly Albion were deserving of the lead that spot-kick should have given them.
The opening seven minutes of the second-half saw the whole defence contribute to a two goal advantage to the visitors. They will know that, and hopefully today will just have been a blip for the back four. For the man behind them though, I suspect there will be precious little understanding.
Manuel Almunia will be savaged elsewhere, which is a shame. He had recovered from what I thought was a shaky first couple of games and looked to be settling into a confident spell of form. You could though see that confidence drain from him as he reflected on the second goal.
“We are told Almunia picked up an arm injury in the first-half”, said the commentator on my stream. The fact that we were willing to keep a goalkeeper with an arm injury on the pitch tells you everything about the confidence in his understudy on the bench.
In a week when the impulsive Szczesny has not done himself any favours with his public outburst, Arsene faces the inevitable clamour that will follow for his inclusion. Our two first-choice custodians are about as secure as a wet paper padlock. I have some sympathy with the baying mob on this one issue.
When former Gunner Jerome Thomas took advantage of another Manuel howler to add the third goal the points were lost, despite the heroics produced by the outstanding Samir Nasri in the closing stages. Twice he hit the target and cruelly raised hopes of an unlikely comeback in the five added minutes. It wasn’t to be.
On the very day that Chelsea were beaten for the first time the last thing Arsenal needed was a home defeat. A week before we travel to the bus stop in Fulham the talk should have been of a victory in West London to take us top. Now the pessimists will be to the fore, and it has to be said that they have a case.
We have a week to restore shattered confidence. A tricky trip to Belgrade provides an opportunity for spirits to be lifted, but I have to say this again. Arsene, the time for Szczesny has come. Those ahead of him couldn’t catch a bus with a puncture, so what have we to lose?
One defeat, we can live with as long as we don’t add to it in the coming eight days.
183 Responses to “The Warning Signs Are There For Arsenal”
Large whisky ‘Hols and keep em coming…
Poor. This team does not seem to have the mental toughness of Champions. To lose at home in sucha a manner to a newly promoted team no less, is beyond the pale.
A sloppy, abject performance. Almunia had a nightmare. He redeemed himself with the penalty, but goals 2 and 3 have to be laid at his doorstep.
Clichy and Sagna were poor. So too was Song. Nasri was the one bright spark – he put in a performance worthy of a captain.
And we face Chelsea next week. Defining moment for us. Already.
Good reasoned post in the sea of bloodletting that is happening in Goonerland. Two good results next week and this will be consigend to the past. But a VERY worrying performance that raises more questions than we could care to have at this point of then season. And as you say Manuel didn’t help himself, however, his defence didn’t help him either.
Disappointing but there’s another 32 games to go. Another 32 chances to watch Arsenal play. Just love it. Cheer up guys and avoid most blogs for the next 2 days. Things will be ok : )
1st game I aint been to this season and seems I picked the right game to miss!
Almunia will obvously get all the stick as will Wenger, [articularly after the profits were just announced (im[eckalble timing eh?)
Not sure bringing in Chesney is the best moved either tho. If he happened to make a mistake he would get the same shite as the other keepers. Lok how quickly mannone got turned on. In fact, I’d be quite happy for the Italian to get the nod, but it weems Wenger wants to keep faith with Fabianski.
Double Brandy, 2 large lines of coke with a valium chaser please!
I have been rooting for Almunia to do well. Really.
He was not helped by his defense, but then again, it is the job of a great keeper to cover for his defense. All of the goals were soft goals, and Almunia was largely responsible for two of them. Had he shown more focus we could have tied or even the game. This is a goalkeeper’s job.
It is sad for Almunia, as I don’t know how his confidence will recover from this.
Thanks for acknowledging the better side. I understand why your readers think so highly of you. Good to read a balanced take on things from an oppo fan.
Good luck to Arsenal. We would love to see you take the title.
Well, I was right about one thing on the last blog, Nasri got himself on the scoresheet, unfortunatly it was just too little, way too late.
It was difficult to see us lose like that on our own patch, but I will join Mr Holic in congratulating the Baggies, they played well and were worthy winners.
It’s not the end of the world, and if lessons are learned in the defence, then maybe there are some positives to be taken (extreamly hard to find at this moment, I agree.) from this game.
But I too fear that the axe has been sharpened and poor Manuel’s neck is heading south for the block, the look on Wenger’s face after the third went in said it all.
A quick pint for me please Holic, sir.
I wanna be off before the peanut chuckers get in.
Cheers.
If Wenger harbours any ambitions of a trophy,he must look at himself.For starters he doesn’t seem to learn that all out attack is self destructive if the gunners aint clinical enough.We thought the new defenderrs would bring stability and were disappointed.Albion are not a top rate team though they were not afraid to attack and leave gaps.
I am afraid Anceloti will be optimistic facing Arsenal. I am afraid the defence when under pressure has failed and gone to sleep.However all is not lost . I don’t care about the result at Belgrade.If the gunners can turn things around at Chelsea,all is not lost. Major tests are forthcoming and if the gunners can clear them,well and good . If not Wenger has alot of soul searching to do ,injuries not withstanding.
Shambolic performance by our boys. Baggies looked infinitely more comfortable in possession than we did, on our ground, and they deserve all credit that can be given. We’re certainly not the last side that they’ll trouble this season. Glad to see Wenger avoiding any excuses. Certainly today was concerning, but panicking would be ill-advised.
On the plus side, at least West Ham now join Wigan among abject-looking sides to have gotten their first win of the season against Spurs.
Hmm ,i have only 1 question,how can you support a team and not get angry about such fucking performance!!
Almunia should never play for Arsenal ,there i said it,may be Wenger can play himself in goal but not Almunia!!
for me this is just a great lesson for Mr. Proff, the very stubborn man and so arrogant.. Really love this result cause it was good to have this kind of game when there are still 32 games to go.. Hope we can come back stronger when we’ll meet chesky next week..
Devastated. But I still think Manuel is our best bet against Chavs.
Trying to look for positives from today is to clutch at straws.
We needed a good kick up our rear early last season for us to get going (Utd and CIteh losses) – hopefully this is that kick for us htis time around.
Rubbish, disgusting,disrespectful and annoying.Except for Nasri the rest were a bunch of clowns including the manager Wenger. Maybe he should resign now that his stubbornness of not buying a goalie (when it was obvious even to our opponents that we needed one)has proved him wrong.I am at a loss of words.As for any silverware, let us forget it guys,at least for this season.
Of course you are entitled to get angry but do try cheer up and avoid reading most blogs. They really do stir up your boiling point further. We are not championship managers. Leave it to Arsene. He will get it sorted out. Somehow i would rather we got beaten up knowing we play collectively so poorly then being outplayed by a superior team (no offences but we do make it easier for WBA). Its just me thinking this way : )
Haven’t seen the game thank god and doubt I will bother now π Everything I’ve heard and read is that we got our just deserts so fair play the Boing Boings, Im not going to get to down on this performance just as I didn’t get to excited by the earlier good results as we are only just starting but I really really fucking hope we are not going to keep hearing how great we are run and how much money we have in the bank whilst continuing to see our goalkeepers making fuck up after fuck up as it’s simply beyond a joke,
Anyways Snakebite and black with a rum chaser and a couple of mugs lines please π
Up The Arse,
Cheer up guys.We won.Atleast we declared a profit.If we had bought a decent defence,the profit would not nave been that high. You cant win when u dont spend a bit
The Arsenal side that turned up today (with the exception of Nasri) was very reminiscent of the one that ended last season with a string of woeful performances.
There was precious little in the way of leadership and backbone. Too many wanted to just pass the ball around in midfield with no desire to get forward and get into scoring opportunities. The last five minutes presented us with a chance to nick an equaliser. At that stage we should have been lumping the ball into their box and placing their defence under pressure. However, too many players were happy to play pretty football passing around in the midfield.
It’s all very well being technically gifted, but if you have no killer instinct and no desire to get forward and score, then too often you’ll come up short.
a whiskey to drown my sorrows ‘holic.
i expected the chavs draw at citeh and 3 points for us. i started well, the chavs lost and we could have gone one point behind them for next week’s clash. alas, we blew it.
just didn’t understand the attitude of some of the players… painful.
The thing is teams know how the gunners play.I believe they iover pass and that is why the gunners have problems getting shots. Too many passes.Yeah I know that is how the gunners play but it’s very easy to stifle. Let them attack and a swift counter and the ball is in the gunners net.
Haven’t we seen this scenario repeated by Hull/MU/Chelsea/ Mc and Spurs.What bothers me is the gunners are ineveitably trying to waltz their way thru a packed defence.This causes the attack to break down and invites the swift counter.
.Btw if Wenger aintcareful,he will be inviting Drogba to inflict more pain. Prove me wrong.
unfortunately ever since his error at man utd last season inviting rooney to fall over his outstretched arm when we were on the way to 3pts at old trafford, almunias form and confidence has gone rapidly downhill.
no matter how many times he has a good game or bales us out of trouble (e.g. man u CL semi away, barca at home last season), he will invariably have various off days such as today and the opening game against liverpool when basic errors cost us goals and points. his confidence is undermined by the fact that wenger openly admits he wanted shcwarzer, and for AW to come out and admit his keepers failings would only make this worse.
unfortunately due to either wengers reluctance to part with the extra money, or mark hughes’ refusal to sell MS to us in Jan (depending on which newspaper you read and what you believe), we are stuck with almunia for the next 3 months. surely AW will move for Given or schwarzer again. personally i’d buy them both.
don’t even get me started on fabianski, but the fact is our 2 keepers would not get in many championship sides, let alone prem lge. AW needs to act belatedly but firmly in jan, or this could be the beginning of the end of the faith and trust all arsenal fans have in the man who has served us so well over the past 15 yrs.
Now then again Clichy was crucially responsible for 2nd and 3rd goals.. But then who am I to blame him…lest I be part of the mob
Evening Holic and Holics
West Brom was better than us today. They looked fresher, sharper and were more alert.
They closed us down well, intercepted our passes, beat us to a lot of the 50/50’s and defended high up the pitch. The ref made a few poor decisions that went against us. But most disappointing on our part, was that we allowed West Brom the time, space and luck on the last two goals, they needed to get a result.
In goal –
Manuel conceded and then saved a penalty.
Goal 1 – Defence was poor
Goal 2 – Manuel left his area and WBA slotted in to an empty net
Goal 3 – Same as goal two
Defence –
Our full backs found it difficult to deal with their wingers for most of the game. Central defence looked nervous and under pressure.
Midfield – Our passing and receiving of the ball, pressing and defending was poor. Our whole co-ordination until we were 3-0 down was all wrong today.
Attack – We were not clinical enough, although Arshavin hit the post twice and Nasri the cross bar once.
The way we played in the last 20 mins is the way we should have played throughout the whole game.
Regardless of Manures result tomorrow, we need to re-group and sort this mess out, starting on Tuesday in Serbia.
A light beer please bar tender
Matt P,
I would certainly stop reading any newspaper that suggested Mark Hughes was anything to do with Mark Schwarzer not leaving Fulham in January, particularly as Roy Hodgson was the Fulham manager last season.
He’s worse than our two put together, as well.
as a loyal fan I am happy to see we are defeated and I am happy to let Mr Wenger know its what we deserve with a team like that.
a good goalkepper was mandatory,a defensive midfielder & a left back were essential..
He is too good for me to understand
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Hairy Bottle: “avoid the blogs for the next two days”, not this one though. This was a really well balanced article, right to the important points that Wenger should focus on. It’s time for Szczesny, even though I have a feeling this season will be another 08-09, remember Hull city???. Hopefully this doesn’t happen, but from now on everything will just lead to another, if Almunia is overhauled and Szczesny is given the no.1, it will be just like giving Cesc the armband after taking it away from Gallas….etc. I dunno but maybe reincarnation was meant to also include the occurrence of events in different forms over time where things just keep repeating in different ways. It’s gonna be a bloody long season after today, listen to Hairy and avoid the blogs, it’s a good thing from now on.
goonerholic,
sorry i meant in august not jan, when certain sources had the deal done for schwarzer until hughes was appointed, at which point he told MW he was going nowhere, resulting in the unsuccesful transfer request he put in.
further to this, palace’ refusal to sell fulham speroni due to their own reserve keeper getting injured was cited as another reason hughes was unwilling to play ball, much to schwarzers annoyance. either way it should have been sorted long ago.
That’s the worst part of it tho Holic why do we continue to shop in the bargain basement whilst printing money it’s beyond me, Lol Almunia or Fabianski it’s like being asked would you rather the electric chair or rifle π
sunderland outplayed us and now the baggies beat us at the emirates. It really isnt good enough. Song is way off-form and the defense cant handle continual pressure and as for the keeper…that is laughable considering he (aw) has had all summer to fix that one, Perhaps hes waiting for joe hart to become available on a free?
lets face it WE AINT GOOD ENOUGH and havent been for years.
A bad day.
I’ve been ranting about the Szczesny situation for a little while.
Today was the first time I’ve seriously questioned Arsene Wenger’s judgement.
Today was the first time I couldn’t bring myself to properly celebrate an Arsenal goal (Nasri). The writing was on the wall in this game. It didn’t matter what they tried to pull off in the last 10 mins… a lazy, disinterested performance had the result nailed on.
A bad day indeed π
Sunderland outplayed us?
Reality check required…
From a lovely start to the season it’s suddenly a bit backs to the wall time – and as you said it was a collective team failure today to a better side (on the day).
We used to always perform best after being stung….8 days from now let’s reconvene celebrating two important wins. How strange looking to Wilshere to salvage a 3 goal deficit.
Do we need Cesc? I think that much is clear…..
Typical and predictal over reaction by some people on here. Wenger to resign? Better still, maybe he should top himself eh?
realistic tony, I take it thats an ironic name!
possession 54-46 in favour of sunderland…11 corners to our 3…………..
Ooh more corners. Thats us well outplayed then! Jeeeez
i wish i was being ironic!!!.. not at all..take off your rose coloured specs…see the weaknesses…….did you see the liverpool match…it was pathetic…..struggling to draw against 10men…and not the liverpool side thats brimming with top quality players. i hate to gave to say it……but at least i am not living in a dreamworld?….or pluto!
realistic tony; ‘aint good enough’ for what? 10 yrs continuous qualification for the CL, getting to 2 semis & one final, punching above our weight financially & on the field whilst paying for a new stadium, playing what is widely regarded as the most attractive football in the prem?
we were a good goalie away from winning the european cup 4 yrs ago, and probably the same 2 yrs prior when lehmann cost us the qf against chelsea…haven’t had a keeper of the required quality since seaman took his ponytail to man city. we need one. our defenders will defend when they have the assurance of a safe pair of hands behind them, they haven’t got that now so no wonder they get the jitters and ‘can’t handle continuous pressure’.
we are only a couple of players away from being able to challenge realistically for the 2 trophies that matter, i just hope and pray we get them soon.
keep the faith.
We have seen the team do this in the past. It can happen yet due to the nature of some people, there always has to be a drastic solution to a defeat these days.
I remember us getting beat at Highbury by Boro 3-0 and Boro only had 1 shot on target that day as well! Oh and that was with the likes of Henry et al in the side.
I’d beat them down and show what it means to slack off when you’re going for the league, and play for Arsenal. Apart from Nasri, I think we all have no idea why they were so pathetic. Explanations please.
One of mine is that everytime I dont see a match, we lose. So this is all my fault. Please strike me down.
tony;
Rise tinted specs? No its valled having some balance and perspective and not being an over reacting simpleton.
I was at the Liverpool game, and Sunderland oh and Blackburn for that matter. The team has been playing well. You have no concept of football Im afraid if you think its some how a given that we should walk over a team because we had 1 more player than them for 45 mins.
Then again, you probably think its just like playing fantasy manager where teams just turn up in August and are in top form all season.
bollocks my typin is shite. Maybe I should bin my laptop!
By all means argue the points, but please keep any personal abuse off these pages, thanks.
ok but we beat braga 6-0…….oh and bolton 4-1…so we are great and we dont need anyone do we….and we can pass it quite a lot and we have wellington siva…just wait till next …er the year after…we’ll just sluaghter them all !!!
mug indeed
matt p
I think Wenger made a rod for his back when he failed to sign a keeper mate. Now, as expected, Almunia is public enemy number 1. I was hopeful we’d get a new keeper and loan out Fabianski too to see if he has it in him to be a decent keeper. Its a shame for him coz I thought he would be a top class goalie. I read loads of pieces on him saying howly rated he was and big things were expected.
And Mannone? Why should he relent to the 4th choice keeper?
You aint making any sense tony. So, we shouldnt get carried away by beating teams, but we should go over board when we lose?
@ Mug and Goonerholic
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree. Sunderland and West Brom were both very sub par performances by Arsenal. Arsenal created little against Sunderland, and we were lucky to have earned a point.
Against West Brom, we were extremely lucky that the scoreline was not 4-2 in their favor. We may have dominated possession, but did not look dangerous until we had fallen far behind.
Really, it is churlish to split hairs over whether or not Sunderland outplayed us. We have been poor in the last two league games.
Because he isn’t good enough either, sadly.
Good point Goonerholic @44-
As Sister Sledge said: “We are family…”
Almunia is a 2nd tier keeper at best, but still better than “the new Richard Wright” Fabianski, he had no choice to cause the penalty and saved it well. Their 1st goal was a series of errors compounded by Sagna, until then arguably our best player, letting Jerome T waltz past him with consummate ease. The second goal was Ibrahimovic revisited and proved that Manuel has a serious blind spot to fast balls played to his left. The third, quite simply, was because we had only 1 centre half on the pitch and our keeper was doing a covering role when he should have been in his 6 yard box; not entirely his fault. We do need a keeper – or an immediate promotion for Sczeszney regardless of the “risks” – but to blame Almunia entirely for today would be to miss the point. Abou Diaby is the most frustratingly inconsistent regular 1st team player I can remember in 34 years of watching AFC; Clichy is worryingly prone to massive concentratuon lapses as evidenced six times today; Eboue had a retro bad day; Arshavin is a lazy bastard…you catch my drift. Nasri was a fighter today and Wilshere was very good when called upon. Those unnamed were 6/10. Basically, half the team turned up and half shouldn’t have bothered. I’m at least glad that Wenger, for once, accepts that it wasn’t good enough (I was dreading “we lacked a little bit sharpness” and mercifully it didn’t come).
Double neat Black Label please – and fast barman!!
@ Mug
People are going overboard for one simple reason – this team has flattered to deceive for successive seasons. The resulting frustration is understandable, as people are afraid of seeing the same act being played out all over again.
To be honest Stevus @53 –
I didn’t get a good view of the goals from where I was sitting, but Almunia looked out of position on both the second and third goals!
jonesmalo
I think people are going over board for various reasons. mainlhy borne out of simmering frustration due to the lack of siver ware I think. I can feel that. Its understandable. However, if this team/squad was going backwards not improvong then I would be loads more pissed off.
However, I think we are a better side this season than last, have improved the squad significanly.
We didnt play well at Sunderland, but we didnt get out played! But we never play well there, like we used to streuggle against Sheff Wed for a few seasons!
Anyways, Im off, need to buy some razor blades and a bottle of vodka!
haven’t seen any of the game yet, but it sounds like we have to do whatever to secure the services of Shay Given in January
Let me say that I think a Sober analysis of this match and the first half hour at Sunderland are incredibly instructive for the issues that need to be confronted in the Arsenal side for us to have a chance of seeing trophies this year.
I will say that I thought the penalty kick was not that big of a deal in terms of a re-assessment of the way the defense plays but rather one great connection by the player on the ball and the attacker making a great run onto a perfect ball. But when you look back at that “play” ask yourself where the pressure was coming from on the player passing the ball (everyone together now – non-existent!).
The first goal was everything about our commitment to the non-attacking side of the game that anyone needs to know. Player out wide with the ball and our outside back engaging. 1 v 1 defensive concentration? Commitment to absolutely not get beat – especially before allowing the attacker to gain the penalty box still in possession? Any “helping” or “second defender” even making an effort to close down from a layer above / provide close cover to the outside back who is defending in isolation? (everyone together now – non-existent!).
Second goal – simple 1-2 notwithstanding the fact that the back heel went between clichy’s legs. Arshavin and Song around the initial point of attack. Player plays forward to flank attacker who (again with no second defender ever providing back pressure while clichy is defending goal side) receives the ball and screens off clichy while the passing player runs away from Arshavin and past Song into the top of the Box with the 3 aforementioned players wondering what happened (the phrase “track the runner” do not seem to translate into Russian, French or Cameroonian). I do not blame koscielny as he made sure the player then had to go wide of goal and the angle to shoot from was about as good a result in that crocked situation as he could hope for. Almunia did what he does sometimes and 2-0.
Third goals was more of the same woeful defending but much more understandable as we had to commit numbers into the attack and create the risk that wound up as it did. Almunia might have gone for the ball but – let’s face it – he was incredibly smart here because at 2-0 the forward was going to be on the ground no matter what and with a little help from the easily conned referees I have seen in play this year, a second yellow, Almunia is out of the Chelsea game and it’s Flappianski time at Stamford Bridge (Ahhhh!).
As I heard the commentator on the TV say time and again – they just don’t seem to have any commitment. What he really means is we don’t have any commitment to winning the ball back or winning the 50-50’s. This had to be the second match in 8 days where it seemed like every second ball or any ball to be won in transition was WBA’s – just like Sunderland. Too many of the boys don’t seem to feel that such a level of work (Chamakh and Song excepted – only) is what they are on the field for.
It needs to be corrected and soon.
@56 Mug
I question if there has been any improvement, but its still VERY early.
@ Sunderland we should have won. The hard work done by the team was undone by an incredible and untimely defensive collapse. Can this really be counted as an improvement on last season? I do concede that we down to 10, but we folded with three points just about wrapped up.
Against West Brom we choked – Chelsea lost today, and it was a great opportunity to put pressure on them AND reduce a four point gap at the top. Is this an improvement from last season?
I am seeing the same old mental frailties, and I am fearful about our prospects. I think many of us are. And I hate to pile it on, but Almunia lost it for us today. For all of our poor play, we could have still stolen the game had we kept things tiday at goal.
wenger chose wrong day to tinker . west brom were good .
@jonesmalo –
Your last two sentences sound spot on.
The more the goals went in, the more we found it difficult to regain composure until it was too late!
sometimes you just have to give the opposition the credit they deserve and maybe, just maybe, fat sam and his ‘hit ’em hard’ cronies will have seen todays performance and realised that you can sometimes beat arsenal at our own game when we have an off day; and we might actually see a game of football next time we face blackburn/stoke/bolton etc. i fear you may have to add fulham to that list now aswell.
hopefully that might lessen the ocassions we’re forced to watch our players being stretchered off with an oxygen mask clutched to their face.
well done west brom. over to you, arsene.
Evening, Holics. That was fucking depressing. I think we would be amiss to focus to heavily on Almunia, personally. I think a player like Diaby (who I don’t think has even been mentioned tonight) is much more emblematic of our trouble today- he seemed truly absent the entire game, in comparison ove the last few games to the man he replaced- jack. I think having Diaby and Asharvin out there as they played tonight really changes our momentum and link play. Each have unbelievable skill, but often are challenged to participate in the team play that scores us goals. And neither had the workrate today to force any mistakes from West Brom. I personally felt like letting them at us through the midfield was where the real problem lay, not strictly or even most importantly with the defense.
Guinness, please, Mr. Holic. Two.
@Matt p & Goonertown
West Brom were great – played the game with the right spirit. Hats off to them.
That being said, they had no right beating us like that on our own turf. We are SUPPOSED to be a class above.
It happens to the best of teams (Mighty Barcelona lost to humble Hercules a couple weeks ago) but this has become a worrying trend for a club with high aspirations. It always seems to happen when we are close to making a statement to our rivals.
jonesmalo –
I know it was frustrating mate!
If Man U loses tmw it would be a relief!
But after a reasonably good start it would have been good to be in a better position at this stage!
I say lets fully recover for now and look forward to the next 32 games!
Over to you Hansen! Enjoy!
I have had enough, I do not care how many apartments you sell, how much money you make for arsenal as an enterprise and how shrewd you are in the transfer market if you cannot guarantee us 3 points against a team that has struggled to win away. This is not something new either, hull 2008 anyone? wigan away 09-10? are we learning anything from these defeats? It is not the case of ‘we turn out for the big games’ either. Twice falling to chelsea in the league cup, the ucl defeat against united and then being pumped by them in the league as well, the defeat against barcelona. I never fell in love with arsenal because of the potential for its economic growth,I do not say that I am not proud of how different we are from the others but please arsene sometimes it is okay accept that you have made a mistake and do what everyone can see,sometimes you need not be proved right, this defeat hurt,please turn up against chelsea, I want proof that we have matured and now know how to deal with those thugs from the bus stop at fulham,if the same problems persist and we win fuckall this season,I am sorry to say arsene as much as I love you, its time for you to move and give the reigns of my beloved club to someone else. from a stoned and hungover gooner from phoenix..
Much as I’m not a great fan of Aluminia, goal no.2 was a ouerly defevensive error the goalkeeper was alone has to move out of his area, he then notice the if he tries to dive to get the ball he might miss an get a red
(for 2nd yellow) Our defence went AWOL in this one no one was covering him look the was only
jack at between the post where was our defense?. I think this game was lost due to whole team poor perfomance not only the keeper. He may be flat but he was not alone. our passing was poor, no drive, lack of commitment and urgency across the whole team. I wonder if thismismthe beggging of a bad ptach or it was just an one off incidence. presonnaly I will hope for tha latter. there are stiill 32 games to go but we need to fight not tostrll in the pitch and hpe for gifts.
pires is king
Good points
I also felt there was a spirit lacking within the team today!
Maybe we were also too complacent after Tuesdayβs result and the fact WBA are a newly y promoted team!
That was very hard to watch. While we cant expect to win every game, we can expect the players on the pitch to give their all. That didn’t happen today. From the first minute most of the team seemed like they would rather be somewhere else.
There is an air of arrogance about some of these players and they need a right dressing down this week. i hope arsene makes them do 200 laps of Colney tomorrow morning. you could see the disappointment in his face. his kids really let him down today.
Apart from some very obvious time wasting west brom played an admirable game for a visiting team. fair play to them.
All i can hope is that this is just a blip and we learn from it.
I want almunia to succeed because he seems like a good guy but i’m not getting my hopes up about winning any trophies this year with him in goal.
chief gooner, almunia ‘a good guy’..so what…i don’t care if we have gary glitter in goal as long as he makes the saves almunia blatantly can’t..some good comments on here about arshavin and diaby though. both could be the best midfielders in the country if their application and concentration was spot on. diaby normally does the biz for 20 mins then disappears, wheras aa does fuck all for 89 mins then invariably spanks one in when the games already won so he can do his ridiculous celebration. both need a kick up the backside. or a big money move to barca/man city.
Evening ‘holic and ‘holics.
Just wanted to make a quick point about Almunia, and how I hope that there won’t be some mass movement to make the guy a scapegoat for todays shambles.
It has to be said that Almunia was certainly not great today and made mistakes but I certainly don’t lay all the blame at his door for conceding the goals that we did today; The defensive side of the teams’ game today was very poor and and left the guy exposed at times. Perhaps had we been better organised at the back, and the midfield not so pedestrian when it comes to chasing back and being aware of the opposing teams runners (see the 1st goal as a prime example of that, Song jogging back and Nasri with no idea of where Odemwingie is) then maybe the result might have been different. Again, not saying Almunia is blameless at all but I hope that people will bear in mind that he was one of many today who just weren’t good enough.
Considering how proactive we were against Spurs when it came to hassling the opposition to win back the ball and how organised the defence has looked so far this season, today by comparisson we were totally sub-par and deserved to lose. Hopefully we will learn from it and move onwards and upwards!
I’ll take a shot of Bullet before I get on the White Russian vibe please ‘holic π
Having seen clips of Diaby’s performance for France a couple of weeks ago, I was optimistically looking forward to his display today and, even with the changes, that side out there was good enough to win. Arshavin’s attitude and workrate currently are not worthy of him starting every game. I remember one play where he tracked back, motioned to Sagna to cover the running attacker coz he was going to cover the right winger, and then duly lets him go. Clichy seems to have regressed beyond recognition. Unless something dramatically changes, you simply can’t see this side winning the league. We’ll probably end up third again. I’m not one for looking at people’s nationalities, but the sooner Gibbs, Wilshere and Ramsey become regulars in the first-team, the better. I feel we do need that extra grit.
Evening Holic and Holics,
For some strange reason I knew from the start of the game it was going to be very ugly and it was, forget my prediction everyone on that pitch was disappointing.
We were very lucky not be at least 0:2 down in the first half, Almunia saved his own head with that spot kick save and I trully believed we where going to see an different Arsenal side in the second half.
It wasn’t meant to be now was it? Within 5 mintues we were 0:2 down and looked very ordinary.
The first goal was conceded with very poor defending. Secong goal Almunia couldn’t cover his inside post and let in a howler, Arseblogger mentioned on Friday how Fabianski let in a goal agaisnt the Spuds midweek but this was even worse. I haven’t seen the third and oir goals yet as my stream kept on dying all the time, when it finally came back up it was 1:3 and to be honest I have seen enough. I switched the stream off with 3 minutes to play normal time and I never do that. The thing was I was livid and very disappointed and I coudn’t bear to watch more shambles.
I’m yet to see the highlights but if we are to carry on with minow teams at home like the way we did this arvo then believe me…
Carling Cup is all we can aim for this season!
Why isn’t anyone talking about the ref blowing a foul for Eboue in the 1st half when Nasri is clean through? That was a horrific call. No advantage whatsoever.
As it stood, a horrific team performance. No one to take the game by the scruff of the neck, bar Nasri. Quite deflating…
why is it that gooner’s from such far flung places as india and indonesia seem to be the ones more willing to slate the manager, and the team – more willing to adhere to the view points of those that want change at all cost. certainly there are more than a few home-growns like this, yet it seems almost every gooner the further away from ashburton grove you get, becomes more irrational and abusive.
what’s up with that.
Double Brandy and sharpish please.
We started well but faded after 20 mins.
Thought Diaby stank the place out his positioning was awful and when he struggling in a game he doesn’t up his work rate to compensate. It’s the lack of leadership on the pitch more than anything. Wenger says his team are no longer young but near their prime; this game shows some will never be up to winning anything. Thought Wilshire showed his class immediately after coming on.
Point to note WBA were clapped off the field by the remaining gooners in the ground only wish their timewasting hadn’t been quite so blatant.
Great report and I agree fullheartedly that WB deserved their win as much as we deserved to lose.
We dropped the ball collectively for 80 minutes before playing light we ought to. Had we started the game like we played the last 10 minutes it would have been done and dusted before the end of the frst half.
The only positives I take from the game is that the players will have to step up and stop counting on Cesc to motivate them from beginning to end, in that sense it is a good thing that the wake up call comes early in the season. Had we scored those 4 posts/bars shots (Arshavin x2, Nasri, Roskici) we would skip the required introspection, at least now there’s no escape.
Playing the blame game is pointless, all the players were asleep for most of the game. They all have to take a hard look at themselves, including Nasri who didn’t have to wait 80 minutes to showcase his immense talent.
To gun for the title we ought to have 2.5 * 6 = 15 points so we’re 4 points short already. To make up for it we have to win the next 8 games. Better get to it in every game…
Whatever is on tap bartender and lots of it!
Matt
I agree with you on this one, the whole team didn’t show up until we were two nil down.
There was no urgency and most of all No fucking leadership! No one apart from Cesc would take the whole team on his shoulders. Rosicky and Jack should have started the game no questions asked.
Mistake after mistake after mistake….
@wandarah
i think u r completely wrong….how do u support your argument
I heard about the injury to Almunia from Roebuck on ATVO post-game. I thought about the same issue–why wasn’t he substituted and concluded that it was a question of how bad Fabianski has been really. If the young Pole had been started in the CC and played well, Arsene Wenger might have more confidence bringing him in such situations.
I wonder if the injury affected Almunia on the second goal–he has been quite good and looked uncharacteristically bad on that ball.
Partizan and Chelsea loom even larger now. I think we need a really strong performance. What will Wenger do?
I have to say in his press conference after the game, he looked depressed. He said he didn’t recognize the team, and I found that quite disconcerting. I hope he can figure out what is wrong and what can be done.
I am also pretty concerned that Fabregas won’t be ready to come back in and start. Without that leadership or RvP or Vermaelen, we can be quite vulnerable in that fortitude and organization. Nasri played very well, but neither he nor Arshavin (who also was dangerous) or anyone else has that status, stature and personality in the squad to exercise the needed leadership.
Come back soon Cesc, Vermaelen and RvP. The new boys are fighters and determined players but they are adapting to a new league, faster pace, and their teammates. They can’t be these leaders yet.
Gutted – didn’t see that one coming.
A big week coming up now – time for Arsene Wenger to earn his substantial salary.
There were more of them there this time. More than the Blackburn game, I mean. βWelcome back!β said the fox with the braided hair. βYouβre becoming a regular here in Block 91. Moving in on us, are you?β Thoughts of Her Nellieness, sitting at home and βnursing her wrath to keep it warmβ flooded my mind. So I just smiled politely.
The Brazilian girls in Row 33 of Block 91 are worth the price of admission. Theyβre worth every sharp twang of the heart, every searing lung burst, when the air becomes rarified as the ascent of the West Stand nears completion. It was chilly up there today. I couldnβt help but notice that they had their bikini tops on under their Number 15 shirts. Each one seemed to have smuggled along two organ stops, nestled inside DD cups. βAn organ accompaniment to the Samba today then?β I pondered.
βDenilson starting is he?β I asked. The long legged blonde pointed to the pitch. Deni was thrilling the early comers with some ball juggling in 4/4 samba time with Jack, JET, JD20, Rosicky and Vela while Pat Rice put the starters through their paces. βArsene doesnβt think we need himβ she added.
βLondon Callingβ and βThe Wonder of Youβ were followed by the new, high-powered video that signals that an unbeatable Arsenal is just about to take the field. The whistle blew and we were off.
But, just for a lark, the players had switched shirts in the tunnel and we were actually playing in black and white with WBA wearing red. Or at least thatβs what it looked like. The black and white team knocked the ball around crisply, looked purposeful from the first few minutes and, if theyβd taken their chances and a penalty, could easily have gone in three up at the turn.
They started to warm up the samba drums over a few caipirinhas. βHeβll be on for Eboue when they come outβ, smiled the well upholstered brunette. βDonβt worryβ. Eboue had had a shocker in the first half, so I was hoping she was right. She was wrong. Emmanuel 27 sprinted out to cause more havoc.
And within minutes we were one down. Make that two when, just for fun, a Fawlty Towers moment saw Manuel parry, quite beautifully, an easy shot from outside the box into the back left of his net. After another βShould I Come Or Should I Go Nowβ chorus from the waiter from Spain it was 0-3. The Girls from Brazil werenβt happy about the absence of their Boy From Brazil.
Arsene sensed their discomfort. He pulled off Eboue and Diaby. βSeeβ, they said βHeβs seeing sense now. Here comes Deni!β Instead on trundled Jack and Rosicky. The samba drum crescendo dropped to silence. The girls lips pouted. I sensed we werenβt going to be treated to yellow and green bikini tops today. Damnation! That had threatened to be the high point.
The record will show that we finally woke up with twenty minutes to go and that AW pulled Kos off to increase our fire-power with some Mexican punch. All too little too late. Sure, Samir Nasri, the only Gunner who seemed to want a win, scored a nice brace and hit the bar. But it never felt like weβd win this one. Quite honestly, we didnβt deserve to. With Citehβs win, a golden chance to go top next Saturday had been scorned and frankly, looked like a pipe-dream anyway, with the prospect of Arsenal playing like that at The Bus Stop.
The whistle blew. The Brazilian girls downed another caipirinha each and foxed their way to the exit. What was that they were singing? Sounded something like –
βHeβs four feet four, doesnβt try, doesnβt score β transfer Arshavin, bring back Adebayorβ, but it couldnβt have been. Could it? Nah.
Caipirinha and two organ stop shaped ice-cubes, crushed (by your method of choice) to just the right size and texture please, barman.
Lovely report BtM, I’ll join you for those Caipirinhas…
@75 wandarah.
that was a bit too harsh, wasn’t it?
i don’t know too many arsenal supporters here in india who are baying for the manager’s blood each time we get outplayed like the way we did today.
yes, we are far away from the grove, but our hearts are firmly in place for a team who made us stand apart from those lame fans who root for the chavs and manures for the simple fact that they have been winning more trophies than we have in the last decade.
tone it down a bit, will ya? we love the arsenal as much as anyone else.
period.
A stunning midweek performance is always shattered by a very bad defeat. I will have to say i didn’t see this one coming. I am not bad mouthing WBA as they deserved their win but i did have this one down as a home win to be truthful.
If we have any title ambitions we should be putting these teams to bed on are home turf. The chavs put 6 past them at home. Some could argue that the team suffered from the 120 mins plus play at the lane but we looked fine at the end of the game we didn’t look out on are feet when the final whistle blew, so who knows ?
Goalkeeping and defensive errors are all to familiar to last season, have we learnt nothing. The new defencive partnerships has to grow and blossom, but this is a hard league to build these partnerships in as shown today that any team in this league can hurt you if not all on the same wave length, so it could be a long hard lesson to learn but what choice do we have.
When things don’t go our way some players have a habit of disappearing when a team effort is needed and regardless of ability and reputation all need to put in a full shift and do the leg work and not wait for it to be put on a plate for them.
I have re-framed from kicking the cat as i do not own one, but seriously if we can learn from this i will have no problem as there is a very long way to go but we need to make the emirates a fortress if we are to progress in the league and cups.
So onwards and upwards as they say and lets hope some lessons are learnt and this defeat wasn’t in vain. It could be the catalyst needed to drive the team on. Fingers Crossed !
A glass of warm milk barman as i do not want to watch match choice tonight as once was enough.
unbeaten:
perhaps just the loudest ones, then.
btm, delightful report–you’re going to make tickets in block 91 very hard to come by as everyone will want to see the samba crew…
But I don’t think Arshavin had an especially terrible game; certainly not one to be singled out in comparison to Eboue and Diaby, at least, who were rightfully substituted.
Unlike the Brazilian girls, I am not a huge Denilson fan, but I do agree with them that our central midfield had problems keeping and passing the ball, which is something he is very good at.
Many good comments on here and constructive, not just slagging like Le Grove! However, the whole team looked lazy and casual but the line up didn’t look right from the start. Couldn’t see goals, work rate or brains in the starting 11 and so it proved.
If there has ever been a lazier player than Arshavin at AFC then I can’t remember him. Even Alan Sunderland at his drunken worst could produce a little bit of effort. Ditto Merson! Add the inconsistent Diaby, the out of sorts Song, plus the positionally diyslexic Eboue and things look bleak. I think its obvious that Fabregas makes a lot of these players look better than they are. For some reason, our players seem to reach a plateau (Clichy) and never move on.
Problem is- I don’t now what the frigging answer is!!!
P.S After saving the pen, Almunia signalled to the bench that his shoulder was hurting. Assumed it was sorted at half-time.
West Brom were good – we were bad (with one or two notable exceptions. The problem? HUBRIS! We must learn that we have to do more than just turn up to beat the ‘lesser’ sides. One swallow doesn’t make a summer and one decent performance doesn’t make a great football team. Application, concentration, discipline and commitment must be the watch words from now on.
Good post bob john.
Been in bed all day working nights @ the moment so thought Iβd keep my powder dry until I’d seen the highlights on MOTD.
Now before I go any further he did not get much help for most of the afternoon from his defence BUT……
Oh Mr Almunia, what a game you had today, why oh why did AW not buy SOMEBODY in the summer seen goalkeepers with more about them over Hackney Marshes then this bloke, he’s always been the same great shot stopper but as soon as the going get tough he is gone, + his general ownership of his area is at times amateurish…
He never recovered from the penalty he conceived early doors, sorry to say this guys but he has no balls for most of the games he plays in. he flatters to deceive for one or two games a season, imagine how bad he would be if he played in a team that was in the bottom half of the table.
For a brilliant manager AW has no idea of how to solve the most important position on the field since 2003, when we last had a world class goalkeeper, so in this instance please don’t anyone tell me he knows what heβs doing here, Cos he donβtβ¦..
by the West Brom were good……….
i love when we lose all the blame go on our spanish GK.What he suppose to do when our fullback disappear from their post and left him on his own defending.Clichy doing his usual error at defending and sagna was very poor and cannot cross even if his live was depending on it.
I m fed up with diaby:one day he is one of the best midfield in the world , another match an average league 2 player turn up with same name .
Why Wenger have to wait 60-70mn for make change as he was clear some of our player were struggling
Of course all this people who invade arsenal blog to moan and ask for change will disappear as soon we win.
Not me Iβll still be here!!!
By the way did you actually read what i said about our defence or did you choose to ignore that???
I consider myself very lucky today as I had to give my ticket away for the game. Have read the reports and seen the highlights on MOTD. Now I know they are not always a good representation of events but as far as I am concerned we were shocking. The defensive errors were not even of school boy proportion.
Do we really need to buy a keeper? Do we?? I mean, that is a bit out there isn’t it? A bit controversial that one? I mean, who would dare suggest such a heinous idea????
I do find it very very hard when I look at that side and the goal keeping situation. Especially when this week we have had all the top execs saying what a wonderful business we are, what a great profit we make and what a massive turnover we have. I have gone on and on about maximising the potential of the club. I look at our keeper situation, then look at the Β£60 million sat in the bank not doing a great deal and have to wonder if somewhere something could have possibly been done to address the situation. As I said, I know it is a controversial idea but one day, who know?????????
Irrelevant of the result in midweek if we lose to Chelsea next weekend the ‘Arsenal Action’ brigade will go into overdrive in the anti-Wenger comments, there will be a pretty strong opinion we’re out of the title race and we’ll be back in a situation pretty similar to the ‘geriatric’ Q and A a few years back, but this time mid-way into the season.
My point is though, that we, by we I mean Wenger, surely bring a bit of this upon ourselves through his comments on the official website. Can it be a surprise that fans are infuriated by abject performances like this and the first half against Sunderland when they are reading stories such as ‘I am not scared to spend money’ and ‘Buying stops me developing youth’. If Wenger is a good football manager, I don’t think there is much debate anymore that Almunia, or indeed Fabianski, are not good enough to play in goal for our club. So if Wenger is not scared to spend money, then why is Alumnia still in goal? Equally, if buying stops Wenger developing youth, then that explains why Wenger hasn’t bought a new keeper to develop our two youngsters. Yet, we don’t see either of them starting in goal?
There is a clear lack of consistency in Wenger’s transfer and youth policy and even a desperation that I feel, albeit reluctantly, is well brought out in a Manchester United blog… http://therepublikofmancunia.com/arsenal-boss-arrogance-clouds-the-truth-about-bringing-through-youth/#comment-213205
Hows this for spooky.
We just had the biggest victory at Shite Hart Lane for 32 years (5-0) Guess who are next oppnents were at home back then?
WBA and we lost 1-2 (boxing day 1978) we went on to finish 7th that season but did at least win the FA Cup
Then we lost away to man u before going on an amazing cup run after first demolishing Sheffiield Wednesday (after 16 games & extra time)
They say history repeats itself
“Abject.” A great word we in America don’t use much. We remember the words of Brian Moore from that night in 1989: “It’s up for grabs now! Thomas! Right at the end! An unbelievable climax to the League season! Well into injury time! The Liverpool players are down! Absolutely abject!”
This game was, indeed, abject. Who could have foreseen that, today, the “Only one team in London” would be the Hammers?
We consistently underperform without Cesc and although we improved after Wilshere and Rosicky replaced Eboue and Diaby, we need an assistant captain if you will to marshall the midfield in Cesc’s absence. Any volunteers?
Just home from that comedy show.
Our players couldn’t be arsed to put in the effort in the first half cos they (like me) thought it was a question of how many? The Keystone Cops defensive performance in the second was a disgrace that should not fall entirely on Almunia (though the decisive second goal was nearly all his). Thank God, Gibbs does not have a fracture cos Clichy is in his worst form ever, Diaby was a lumbering oaf, it was the old hapless Ebouie and old dozy Song and Arshavin might as well have been in the stands.
Samir Nasri was the only starter to come out with credit as he worked the whole game thru and deserved his goals but oh they were a cruel tease that we might salvage a point from the wreckage.
Jack and Rosicky added value but Vela seems only to shine when the fat lady has already sung in our favour.
Well summed up ‘Holic, as ever. The Baggies deserved the 3 points.
Mine’s a glass of hemlock.
Hello everyone, Please vote Almunia as man of the match on Arsenal.com He is already second behind Nasri with 8%. Maybe that way us fans can get a point across that heβs crap. hehe
“ARSENAL WILL NEVER WIN A TROPHY WITH ALMUNIA IN GOAL” MARK MY WORDS!!!
Good call rosicknote, maybe a bit harsh on Nasri but it has to be done as I already have……
@Lee, Clearly, Nasri was the only outstanding player for us and without a doubt, the man of the match.
I think it’s pretty obvious it would be a sarcastic result. Unless arsenal.com put a spin on it, interpreting the result as us fans “showing our support to Almunia”.
That would beyond ridiculous.
@Rosicknote: I am totally against this initiative. Scapegoating Almunia would leave the other players off the hook. Everyone let us down, every single player should reconsider his commitment. All of them.
Please don’t do this. Don’t give any player an escape route from their responsability in this debacle.
@104 – I can see that happening…I’d prefer people didn’t go for that gamble.
Without Cesc on the pitch, we seem to lack discipline defensively and creativity going forward. The defensive concern is nothing new…We’re fantastic when we hustle and press for the ball but when that desire isn’t there, most often than not we become succeptible to giving away goals.
I’m worried. Forget the goalkeeping situation…we’re stuck with that for now. The lack of cohesion and drive when playing at home is what’s upsetting. West Brom fully deserved the points today and for most of the second half, we were useless. It’s a big job for the manager but if you wanted a case study on how not to play football, the second half today provides a perfect resource. I hope they learn from this and permit it to be their darkest 95 minutes.
@behind the 8 ball but not nasri / 99: it’s 06/07 all over again, remember when all the players where in awe of TH and there was no one to lead when he was injured?
We built the team around Cesc and that is a major mistake as it emasculates all the other players. I know we had to do it to keep him at the club but the end result is that the more he grows in stature, the more everyone else becomes subdued. I’m hoping Nasri and Wilshere will fill the void but it will take time, may be not too long if Nasri keeps impressing.
Chelski have a psy on board, it’s about time we get one and put him to work.
the lack of commitment today (until it was to late) was awful, and unfortunatley felt all too familular. where are the arsenal i love??? Full credit to Albion though, I wish them well for the rest of the season.
and by the way, sorry to all the crowd over at ACLF, but we really do need a keeper.
snakebite for me thanks holic, want to get pissed as soon as possible.
oh, and a pint for anyone else in the bar at this ungodly hour
We were awful, just plain bloody awful, and West Brom wern’t.
Simple as that really.
Oh, how I hate it when Plan A goes wrong π
As I said before one decent game doesn’t make a great team but one bad game doesn’t make a poor team and there is no reason why we shouldn’t recover from this. OK, we have dropped five points which we shouldn’t have and it makes things a bit harder from now on but we can, and I predict we will, recover and string together some good results.
I have no idea what was wrong with our team yesterday, so many indifferent performances and defensive lapses, it is pointless to try to pin the blame on one or two players. So many were found wanting and really only Nasri was excellent although Rosicky and Wilshere did OK when they came on. Why normally dependable players like Clichy, Song, Sagna and Kos were so poor I don’t know but they will get it together again.
Finally don’t blame the manager either – if his players just fail to perform when they’re on the pitch there is little he can do at that time and what happens from now on is what matters most.
All the fans are clamouring for either Chesney or Mannone in between the posts for the future and I too would love if Wenger would swallow the bitter pill and do so. But I am afraid Wenger is too stubborn to heed the fans call
That was a grade A shower of shit. Nasri, Wilshere and Chamakh did ok, but the rest most certainly didn’t. Hell of a poor game to pick for travelling over to the Grove, five hundred quid or so and I am treated to this uncommitted game. But as others have said, fair dues as well to West Brom who played well and deserved their points.
Oh well, life goes on and again as others have said we should not go anymore overboard with this failure than we do from winning games in style. Have a good morning everybody, I am off to “enjoy” the hotel breakfast.
@89 and 111 Norfolk – You don’t post as often as I’d like, but I do like when you do and I like what you say. Your ability to retain some perspective is admirable, and the points you make are, to my mind, spot on.
Your final para gives pause to ponder. Arsene was let down badly by eleven lads in red whom he has championed well, above the baying to “spend, spend, spend”. Each and every one should look hard in the mirror today and, well, reflect (as one does in a mirror).
@87 Limestonegunner. Quite correct. Russia’s finest haircut did not deserve to be singled out by the Brazilian girls as our worst performer. But I’m with them in wondering when he is finally going to turn up? He flickers, scores a few good goals, provides some superb assists, but is otherwise very lazy, gives the ball away easily with bad passes, misses chances galore and is off-side too often.I think we’re lucky to have him, but, right now, he’s very lucky to be in the first team. If Vela could perform (Steve T said it nicely above), AA would be sitting watching.
And of-course, you captured Denilson’s core strengths of holding and passing. He is second only to Cesc in making himself available for the ball. Add to that ball-winning and scoring and you’ll realise why the long legged blonde Brazilian girl has his name tattooed on her DD cup-filling left breast.
When Cesc doesn’t play, Deni must. The TTT of Cesc, Song and Deni is our future. The great news is that Jack, Ramsey and Frimpong are their under-studies. (THANKS, Arsene – magic!)
Now, let me get on line for Block 91 tickets for the Birmingham game. I’ll polish up my maracas so that I can add to the samba rhythms up there.
Wish I could afford block 91, BtM π
Sounds like a blast. Managed to pick up a great seat next to the tunnel for the Brum game, so I’m actually getting the next two Premier games in a row, and the management is still talking to me!
Feeling a little bit nervous about going to the bus stop in Fulham now, but it’s under such circumstances we often come out with something unexpectedly excellent. Fingers crossed or I will be in for a painful journey home. There are as many old school Chels out here as Gooners.
I may be wrong but i think denilson was being saved for the trip to belgrade, right or wrong, discuss…he certainly does put a foot in but he isn’t the creative match winning midfielder we need when we’re without fabregas, and the games i’ve seen him play certainly haven’t been examples of his passing being a core strength; most of them seem to end up either 5 yards away from where he should be placing them, or to an opposing player.
it will be also interesting to see if almunia keeps his place in midweek, unfortunately fabianski has consistently messed up when the chance comes his way (wigan last season, spurs last week), so i reckon we’re in for another 90 mins of looking away or watching nervously through splayed fingers whenever the ball goes near our erstwhile custodian gaurdameta.
I was not our day. One of the comments was very clever; bringing young players (2-3) is very good in this type of matches.Iit is at home, and they will show great detemination and work rate. We missed that a little bit yesterday.
Fabrigas could have made the difference in the first half already, Im sure of that. I said before and I say it now, we are not the same without him.
Nasri and Whilshere were the only two players who did their job correct. Nasri did very well, In other circumstances he could have been the man of the match for us for his performance.
Chelsea can have a bad day too. They were also bad yesterday. I believe a win next week for us will bring the optimism back. It is still early to make judjments. I know a lot of fans have a lot of doubts about our team, but I m convinced we are more than capable of winnig the game next week and even winning the leagues.
I would say Denilson or Wilshere will be tasked with playing in tandem with Song for a tricky away tie. Nasri can be the advanced player in the middle. It’s a safe bet Arshavin will be on the left, which leaves a toss up between Eboue and Rosicky on the right. My hunch is Eboue will get the nod in Eastern Europe, as much for his defensive qualities as anything else. He will need to play a lot better than yesterday, but to be fair to him it is a long time since he put in such a poor performance.
Guys as some posters are saying ‘one swallow does not make a summer’ but this game represents everything bad about football and its followers. The game was won by the better side on the day – end of story.
In the first half I asked the question if you were a neutral and knew very little it was hard to differentiate who was the home team. West Brom have been playing well recently – ask Spurs and Birmingham City regarding there recent second half displays – not to mention Manchester City in the week.
The second half suprisingly saw the Baggies again come out fighting their corner and deservedly saw their enterprise rewarded not with bad defending but outstanding wing play by a former player with an excellent cross and finish. The second was started by an excellent back heel – if it had been performed by a top four club would now be edited into all football adverts and been replayed worldwide – but hey it was Albion’s Chris Brunt, a Northern Ireland international, and the right back was through notwithstanding his position on the right hand side of the box Almunia should have collected with ease.
Even following this and the substitutions that followed Arsenal did not really look like getting back the deficit – in fact how many direct shots throughout did Carson really have to make.
A third goal kind of put the icing on the cake for WBA and the keeper has to take some blame but as a previous post has indicated his decision was probably made by the fact he was already on a yellow.
Some credit must be made of Nasri because he was the only Arsenal player to make a fist of it, but you have to admit 2-3 rather flattered Arsenal.
COYB
No problem with that, Joey. You were the better side, and deserved the win, as I think most here would agree. You can’t be surprised the focus on an Arsenal blog though would be on how badly we played rather than how well you did?
Good luck for the rest of the season. If you are going to carry on attempting to replicate that performance I hope you survive the drop for a change. There are a lot more than three worse sides than the Baggies on that showing.
Morning Holic and Holics,
I just plucked up the courage to revisit the crime scene on ATVO just now.
I will concede my earlier review that Almunia left his post on the second goal as well as the first.
Thinking about it now, I do remember watching the replay from block 3 and telling my cousin on my mobile that Almunia had not stopped the ball.
In his press conference Wenger looked more than deflated.
I’m just glad I haven’t seen MOTD!
120 – Goonerholic
Thanks for the kind words and believe me when I say that if I had to pay to watch another football club it would be yours – and you’re right there are three other worse teams than us but unfortunately we have to prove consistency and that has always been a problem. However Saturday was a good day for us. Good luck for the rest of the season.
@115 ‘Holic. May I be so bold as to recommend that you ask Management to establish the HolickyWolickyPigglyWiggly GoonerBank. At her discretion, you should be allowed to deposit five bob every time you do a good deed or otherwise gain a brownie point. When the five bobs add up sufficiently, you’ll be able to join me up at 91/33.
The cushions behind row 32 are warm, full and receptive. On a couple of occasions when I laid my head back there, I was able to ponder our formation as Julia massaged my bald spot. The organ stop in my ear was dsiconcerting, but not entirely unpleasant.
I found our attacking formation a puzzle. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to achieve their boyhood dream of playing centre-forward for The Arsenal. At one stage, we had Eboue, Arshavin, Nasri, Song, Chamakh all queuing “on a dime” for a shot while both wing berths were either denuded or served by the hapless Clichy on the left (Sagna did manage a couple of crosses, but was generally prone to hit 45 degree angle crosses rather than get to the line).
When I was leaving the ground, applauding the departing Baggies, my feeling was that we won’t win at the Bus Stop, so I understand your foreboding. Having said that, minutes after Braga, I would have put my house on us beating a World Eleven. So what do I know?
Next Saturday is big. A defeat will be BAD. Will Mr Hyde turn up or will Mr Jerkyll feature? Damn, should have asked Big Rita from Ipanima for a read on that one! Should you “bump” into her at Chelski – please pass my kindest regards.
If Bolton can hold on we may just may have got away with a bad result,Especially when we put four past Chelsea with no reply next week π
We lost a net 1 point this weekend on Man U….none with Chelsea.
Glass is half full….don’t press the panic button just yet. Keep the faith, we were all ecstatic on Tues night two wins in the week ahead will return that feeling.
A tall mug of reality for Arsene Wenger please. “We got what we deserved” he said in a post match interview. Really? How about the goalkeeping? Did we or the team deserve that pathetic display? I know we were lethargic & careless yesterday (yes, especially Diaby) but how can we undo the utter shite that Captain Manuel served up? Buy a proper keep ..tight cunts!
Tim Merrick@125-
As I said @65 it would be a relief if Utd lost.
Them drawing rounds off a weekend of big clubs under performing.
Utd’s result has taken the edge off of ours.
Nothing less than a win will do next week.
October wll be a telling month at the top of the table.
the rush to blame the goalie should be tempered by watching Schwarzer lately….not an upgrade in truth….our eleven will win or lose and Almunia is the man for now so get behind him….he had a bad game…as did 6 or 8 others
well it seems we have got off incredibly lightly; you won’t see many more occassions when both chelsea and utd drop points simultaneously, and if there was ever a weekend to have a nightmare, it seems we picked the perfect one.
To have a kick up the arse like that will hopefully motivate the players, and could have a positive effect in the long run; luckily they have the opportunity to bounce back very soon and go into the crunch game V chelsea with a good performance under their belts.
Unfortunately unlike other teams, if our defence have a collective off day (like yesterday) we cannot rely on our keeper to bale us out; in seasons gone by time and time again you watch chelsea, man u, liverpool, and (lately), man city, when their defence comes under pressure they are reassured by the commanding presence of an assertive figure behind them.
We are not blessed with that luxury (some would say necessity) and have to hope and pray that the back four in particular play well week in, week out. With the centre backs having only played a handful of games together so far, I fear this is too much to ask at this stage of the season, and when they are below par there is no safety net, we get punished.
As for Manuel, if his confidence wasn’t shattered before the weekend, it surely is now. The most damning indictment is that if there were any reasonable alternative, Almunia would not be playing on tuesday night; but he is still our best goalkeeper and will almost definately line up Vs Partizan & Chelsea. Sad, but true.
Wenger need to see all the empty seats at the Emirates before he fire Almunia.
Tim, my boy, why should he see empty seats? I thoroughly enjoyed my day out on Saturday. A good game of football. Some quality (mostly from WBA). Some excitement towards the end as we strove to get back to 3-3 (and would have done but for a cross bar). A nice spot of lunch in Almeida Street before and a Thai green curry with my kids on Upper Street after. Magic. Couldn’t have been better – well, yes, it could have, but life’s like that, isn’t it?
These flights back and forward across the Atlantic are tiresome. But empty seats? Bollocks. I’ll be there. Hope you will too.
Try and get yourself a ticket for Block 91 Row 32/33 and chill.
Sod block 91.
I had a seat in block 22 that was 3 seats and a steward away from a fat bloke in what looked like a Newcastle shirt, who quite got the hump when i continually told him to go back to Wolverhampton!
I had a lot of fun up the clock end for a change.
I’m normally in Block 5 (red action area) and I seriously didn’t realise that you cannot hear them signing from the Clock End, neither can they hear the Clock End sing that often.
The acoustics of the stadium are terrible, no wonder it comes across as quiet as a library on the telly.
The WBA supporters were going bollistic after their goals!
Hats off to em!
Can’t argue with a word, as usual ‘Holic, and BtM’s report is almost some compensation. I’m in row 19 of Block 91 and will definitely be keeping an eager eye out for the Brazilians, so to speak.
I don’t really see any point in adding further criticism of Almunia – all points are well known by everyone here. In fact, I have already written several positive comments on his performances this season – before yesterday, of course.
But here is my gripe. My costly spot in Block 91 sets me back Β£1825 per season, assuming we play 7, or fewer, cup ties. Add to this the extras – travel, food, programs etc – and I am looking at over Β£2500 per season. Yesterday cost me an extra Β£70 as I was lucky enough to get a neighbouring seat for my 6 year old daughter.
To me, this is a lot of money, but I am willing to pay it, win, lose or draw, as long as the team, and indeed the club, give their all to make it worthwhile.
Doubtless, Β£2500 is a negligible amount to our players, but yesterday far too many of them hardly bothered at all.
Where has the Barca (sorry) style closing-down gone ?
Has it been abandoned after 6 games, as happened last year ? Why ?
With Chelsea losing yesterday, here was the chance to close the gap to a single point, for all these players who tell us continually that they really want to win something. The response was pathetic – exception Nasri.
On the point of money, the club announced a profit of Β£56 million – a fine business indeed.
However, inspired by Lars (blondes and brunettes) I will attempt a little analogy – subject Almunia and Fabianski and, sadly, Mannone.
If a business offered me a state-of-the-art 50″ plasma TV for my Β£2500, but warned me that every time I tried to watch it one vital component would go wrong, I would not waste a lot of time considering their offer.
The club are lucky that they sell to fans, and not customers, who have no choice in their hearts but to accept whatever dodgy components they provide us with.
It is a disgrace, that a club like Arsenal, can sit on Β£56 million profit, and not install one decent goalkeeper in it’s ranks.
I’m normally, hopefully, pretty balanced when I post on here, but yesterday left me feeling cheated, let down and despondant – another season when every moment of promise evapourates into complacency and failure.
How are we ever going to convince our players of real quality and endeavour to stay, when so many are content to coast ?
I asked the question on here, in the latter stages of the transfer window, as we failed to sign a keeper – “should I be worried” – and got an entire post from you ‘Holic, in reply.
I am now worried.
Could we please, just this once, go shopping at Harrods for a top-class keeper, instead of rummaging in the bargain baskets at Lidl. We do have the money.
By the way, mixed with the despondancy and hurt, was just enough feeling of pride in the fantastic football of which we are capable, to keep me going back for my next Β£2500 worth.
With a proper goalkeeper we would probably have won, certainly not lost Saturday`s game. While Almunia was at fault, I find it hard to blame him simply because he is clearly out of his depth, and the realisation that you can`t cut the mustard can be devastating. The real blame lies with AW and his dogged determination to prove that the pair of clowns who masquerade as our first and second choice keepers are up to the job. Unless AW bites the bullet and gives Szczeny (not Mannone, as I heard one gooner say on the radio), a chance, our season will be over before christmas.
Holics
I don’t make a habit of criticising individual players,because i am of the belief that we win as a team and lose as a team and all are collectively responsible for the results.
But i really do wish that John Cleese would reopen Fawlty Towers
and take Manuel back.!!!!
What a way to end a two week vacation in France and UK! First trip to the Emirates and to witness this….
I have to second a number of comments made previously:
a) this was a fixture where some of the younger lads could have featured, instead of playing an unfit Diaby and Eboue, who could have played at right back instead of Sagna, resting Bac for next week
b) this was a match made to order for Denilson; why not play him?
c) most of all, good show by Albion, which really looked a solid side all day long
Final thought; might have been better off if Albion had put away the PK in the first half — led to a spiked sense of urgency, instead of the “well, we dodged that one” feeling that seemed to set in. Also we may then have seen Wilshere and Rosicky on at halftime, instead of after it was too late.
Can we buy Brad Friedel? Right age so as not to stand in the way of Woj. And amazing keeper. Bags of Prem experience. Solid and calming.
Just a thought.
@`Holic: Since Trev brought up the topic, I’m wondering if you will post on the financial results that have just been published.
Having read the summaries that popped up in the media, I was expecting an all-rosy picture but after I read the report and stopped focusing on the positives, I ended up surprised by how much a mixed bag it paints. Certainly we can afford a new GK (that’s not my point anyway) but the club is not “sitting” on the profits either. Considering the ticket prices and our (much) lower wage cap (than our competitors), how many here would have guessed that the footballing side is barely breaking even?
At this rate we won`t even have Woj. Remember AW`s comment last week that Don Vito deserves a shot too. I wouldn`t be surprised to see Szczeny snapped up as the next Chelsea no. 2.
West Brom played as well as they can, and we didn’t come anywhere near to playing as well as we can. On the day, the result was just. But one has to reflect that without a couple of goal keeping errors we might have escaped with three points against the run of play — and that is what champions do. Given Chelsea’s loss and Man U’s draw it wasn’t as costly a loss as it might have been in terms of the table, though clearly the opportunity cost was high. One thing that should be said about the goal keeping situation is that it is clear that AW tried to buy a seasoned No 1 during the summer, but failed to land one. That is not at all the same thing as not wanting to spend/not having the money to do so.
A restorative glass of your finest claret, if you will.
Good morning ‘Holic and ‘Holics
I’m travelling this week and last (hence quiet) but just managed to catch AOTV highlights of Saturday’s….. erm…. debacle. I also managed to listen to most of the live commentary, it sounded like we were struggling from the off and that the final score-line may have flattered us. I can only imagine the “Hansonisms” on MOTD later that evening – I’m so glad that I was back on my travels by then π
Positives? Samir Nasri’s two great goals, the teams performance in the final 20 mins and a couple of liaisons with The Emirates’ woodwork – AA first half (twice!) and Nasri second half. Oh, and of course our two main rival also dropped points, how lucky was that?
Negatives? You’ve all covered them so well – some with a little too much vim and vigour for my liking – but hey, it’s a free world and diversity is always a good thing π
My thanks to BTM’s witty and wonderful match report especially the focus on two or was it four outstanding highlights of a Brazilian variety. Any chance of a furtive photo sometime soon BTM?
My commiserations also to our “Spanish Waiter”. After a sterling start to the season and a fine penalty save on Saturday, in hindsight his season was always going to be an accident waiting to happen. After Saturday’s three vehicle pile-up he again has nowhere left to hide, his confidence shot to pieces and worse, there is a disaster of even bigger proportions waiting in the wings to replace him….
…. Please, dear Arsene, there is no Gaviscon liquid of sufficient strength to allow me to properly contemplate a tricky CL away match in Belgrade plus an even more crucial trip to the Russian’s Blues on Sunday if either of those two are allowed to be given their head (sic) in either of those matches. I know Chezzer’s been a very naughtly boy recently with the press (and he’s not The Messiah) but if Jack’s ready at 18 why can’t he be ready at 20? Fortune tends to favour the brave, go on, give him his chance.
Come on you Mighty Reds, no time for moping and navel contemplation now, we’ve got a Championship and a European Cup to win!
Wishing you all a very good day, wherever you may be, and I’ll have a stomach calming glass of Milk of Magnesia please barman π
Who else was on the pitch apart from Nasri, Chamakh and Song (whose bottom i would tie to the defenders – What’s he doing in the box?)?
Any way i hate to say this but everybody around us dropped points, apart from that Abudhabi lot.
Bring on the Chavs! (Heh, that didn’t sound right)
Hot chocolate for me. Do you even serve that, i wonder?
Being away for a weekend, I only saw the highlight (? oh Samy’s goals), but was impressed by the Baggies
I’m afraid I must return to a bleat I made many times last year concerning AWs judgement
If after the match ‘I didnt recognise my team today’, well there are enough of us on this blog who did recognise the team he put out from certain games last year where his game plan and/or lack of plan B led to unwelcome results
The only other alternative is that his memory , like mine, is selectively going
A litre of er er summat or other – I’ve forgotten your name burmon
@ cognacgooner #144
Old Twitchy, he of the hands screwed on backwards, says that our Arsene ” ‘as lost the plot ” and that the pressure has finally gotten to him. Understandable I’m sure, but you do make a very good point. Worryingly, a failing memory is often the first sign of Alzheimer’s (spelling?) but let’s not get too carried away at this point.
@ ette #143
I think our friendly barman stocks whatever we desire, great here isn’t it? Maybe Man Emirates will now pose a serious threat to a top 4 finish – unfortunately, we’re looking at rather a few too many close rivals on results to date. WBA for a CL spot anyone?
Have you been drinking already, cognac? π
‘holic
I wish I had – in middle of some DIY which isnt going well – just like AW I guess
Morning Holic and Holics
True Storey@142 –
Lol@ vim and vigour
A pint for True Storey pls barman!
@ AFC1974@ 138
Wow! I didn’t realise Brad Friedel was 39 years old!
Afternoon Holic and holics…
So we have Fabianski in goal tomorrow, not sure if Gibbsy will take the trip, his foot had massive bruising so he may not feature.
All of apart from the obvious few need a kick up their arse.
I disagree with Wenger here (quoted from Arsenal.com):
“Yes [it is good to draw a line under it] because we gave a lot physically against West Brom and it was not because we lacked effort [that we lost],”
It was a definite lack of effort in the first and most of the second half, you can’t defend players like this, he need to let them know they need to put their 100% of effort from the start not in the last 20 minutes of the game.
Arthur Totally Agree,
Id hate to see us when we were lacking effort in that case !! Why why why for once dosent he just tell it like it is ! Theres far to much softly softly at Arsenal these days is it any wonder players sometimes seem so lax when the boss rolls out ready made excuses for them,
‘Holic – can I have a pint of vim and vigour please, sounds good!
So Fabianski in goal tomorrow. Woo hoo – will be fun. What’s the bet he actually catches a cross and Wenger points to that as proof of his worldclassness…
Surely Le Prof is the most intelligent reasonable man I have ever come across in the world of football, so why does the goalkeeping issue cause him to put underpants on his head, stick two pencils up his nose and serenade us with a repeating chorus of “wibble”?
So, Almunia is to miss the trip to Belgrade, eh? That would be encouraging, if not for the fact that the only thing more terrifying than him his the man who will replace him. Bah!
Essex,
Laugh out loud Moment !! You can see him going all Blackadder in the changing rooms after another howler “Pat – Arsene its really really time we bought in a competent keeper- Wibble Wibble Wibble comes the reply π
Good read found by Arseblog on his Twitter:
http://joe.ie/football/football-opinion/arsenals-millions-and-almunias-misery-005613-1
yup guys it will be horrifying and amusing at the same time………
The players who didn’t play come away with more credit after that West Brom match – players like Denilson.
Diaby looks like he was rushed back.
Too many misplaced passes – it was a poor display.
So Flappy to play on Tuesday?????
I am 5’09” tall and now 45. Being polite I would say I am a tad rotund these days. But I still have a pair of boots and can pop into Sports Direct tonight and get some keeper gloves. Do you think I might get a game????? I still have time to make the flight??????
The more I think about Saturday the more annoyed I get. Am I the only one that thinks money is a factor here? I have thought that some of these players are only concerned about their pay packets. Do you really think they all go home and sit in a darkend room ashamed of the lack of a shift that they have put in? Or do they just sit back and think about how to spend the Β£60k a week they have just picked up?
Sometimes I do wonder you know…….
ArthurTheGooner@150
If I remember Gibbsy had his metatarsal smashed last season in a champions league fixture after returning from severe bruising!
Best if Wenger does not tempt fate!
But Ned, our first bid for Schwarzer was placed in may, well before Hughes was appointed Fulham manager. For the sake of a million or two we missed out on a keeper who IMO is not much better than competent (ie doesn`t make the regular howlers our pair do), but better than nothing. AW was merely going through the motions, and I don`t believe there was any real intent to sign anyone at all. He was just stringing us along.
Biscuitbum –
Wenger made a second bid after Hughes arrived (a week before the window closed)
Here’s the 18 man squad for Partizan:
21. Lukasz Fabianski
53. Wojciech Szczesny
3. Bacary Sagna
22. Gael Clichy
6. Laurent Koscielny
7. Tomas Rosicky
8. Samir Nasri
11. Carlos Vela
15. Denilson
17. Alex Song
18. Sebastien Squillaci
19. Jack Wilshere
20. Johan Djourou
27. Emmanuel Eboue
23. Andrey Arshavin
29. Marouane Chamakh
28. Kieran Gibbs
46. Henri Lansbury
Good to see Lansbury in there!
very interesting to see typo in there ahead of mannone…is he injured? after wengers comments to the effect that Wodgy is still behind mannone in terms of getting his chance, he now appears to have bowed to the poles public utterances by pushing him up the pecking order. i wouldn’t be surprised if wenger actually picks him tomorrow night, then if he does fuck up he can turn round and say ‘told you you weren’t ready’…but probably not, in a match this important.
my bet is that, barring injury to the man with the lego haircut (and the positional sense to match), we will see our young pretender between the sticks at st james park in the next round of the kids cup, a baptism of fire for any young keeper. fingers crossed he passes that test eh.
@ Goonertown #148
Thank you good sir/madam? I’ve just had a skinful of G&T, lager and G&T (not necessarily in that order) – in my defense it’s late where I am – so can I please take a raincheque on that pint?
Also, apologies to all the women contributors on this fine tomb regarding my Brazilian comments. Any offense caused is humbly apologised for in these few words.
Er, Alka Seltzer and a good night’s sleep please barman.
@ Steve T #158
You get my vote vs the “The Older Pole” any day. Barman? A strong dose of vitamins, a first class ticket to Belgrade, a good rub-down and a quick strectch on the rack for this fine, volunteering individual if you would please!
Incidentally, are you available to play against the Fulham KGB on Saturday as well? I hear the wages are quite good. Just stand there and shout loudly, how could you be any worse?
All the best things were created in 1965 – heh!
B*ll*cks @ #164 – my very own howler!
I meant “tome” not “tomb”, of course.
Off to my crypt now… best place for me in this state….
No he did not. He merely reminded Fulham that our original bid was still on the table. The point is, he wasn`t trying very hard was he?
You been on the VIM TS? π
@ArthurTheGooner/155: Not too sure about the article, as I said I read the financial report and I’m pretty sure the guy who wrote that article hasn’t.
Again we do have the money for a keeper, that’s not the question. But the club is not “fleecing” the fans in any way.
I think the only reason Wenger won’t pick Chesney is he doesn’t know how to pronounce his name. For a man so clever as he it would be very embarrassing to get this wrong and clearly he won’t call him “Chesney” as AW is Arsenal’s one and only.
Vito, Manuel, Lucas – so much easier. Even worse, can you imagine how say Ian Dowie would struggle…
Also, interesting to see all the Wenger going nuts quotes following Redknapp’s comments. If only Wenger would say that this must be right because he has suddenly developed this awful twitch!
matt p@163 –
It’s interesting that Wenger did not send Schezney out on loan. I understand that a loan deal fell through this summer. I also recall seeing quotes from Schezney during pre-season, saying he is ready to be No.1 rather than go out on loan.
I remember when MA had a collision with Rooneh, @ Old Trafford and then a couple of slippery moments at Citeh, he went down with an injury and Wenger introduced Vito Corleone between the sticks! He made his debut in the Champions League and then featured in his finest moment v Fulham. His run lasted until a game against the Hammers where we let them back in to the game after cruising 2-0 up! As a consequence, Corleonesβ experience was called to question and my guess was that with an experienced waiter sitting on the subs bench and an effort to retain the young Italians confidence, Wenger thought it was a good time to ring the changes starting with the following game, a crucial North London Derby.
I believe that we will sooner rather than later see Schezney being selected as a starter whether it be during the Beer Cup or other! His performance at Brentford was too obvious to even a supposed deluded boss. History has a way of repeating itself!
True Storey@164 – I’m a bloke although quite a pretty one if I must say so myself!
Biscuitbum@167 – I’m not professing to know all about the transfer market, but from what I understand, as Schwarzer had handed in a transfer request, we were within our rights to offer the West Londoners what Schwarzer was worth. Indeed it was the same as the first bid and other clubs were also free to place a substantial bid for the stopper and did not.
But I get it, if we wanted (okay – needed) the player why not put our money where are profits are, right? Wenger made the same gamble with Chamakh-attack and we effectively lost out on the title! If we are a keeper away from winning the title, then waiting to get MS on a free is a long thing right?
I guess another way of looking at it is that Jack went out on loan last season and came back a first team regular…so what of Schezney?
Watch this space folks!
I think I’ll have a Brandy & Coke to this one!
Just voted! Arseblog has a goalkeeper poll.
As it stands:
Woj 62%
Don Vito 18%
Fawlty 18%
Flappy .89% (I shit you not!)
Says everything. Remember what happened when the French Bourgeoise (spelling?) paid no mind to the peasants!
89% eh?
So Gibbsy is in the squad and I only think this is a good thing, cause Clichy needs to pull his finger out of his arse and start showing some progress beacuse Gibbsy is definitely stepping on his toes now. Compare Gibbsy to last year he made some howlers right? Remember the CL game against Man U? That was most unfortunate I know. Anyway I have praise for him beacuse he seems to have made progress and Clichy seems to be making same mistakes every time “lack of concentration” that is. We can’t just blame the keepers all the time can we now?
Anyway it’s definitely good for both of them I wanna see them fight for that spot. π
Goonertown that was point .89%! Not even 1%. ahh, but you knew that – you are just compounding our misery π
Haha .9% 67 votes out of about 7000 for our Flappy pole,Those 67 are either A) Injecting copious amounts of golden brown B) His extended family or C) Belgrade and Chelsea fans π
Surprised Mannone has more votes than Al mind as He was sent back by Barnsley for not being up to it-Must say I’m with the 63% let’s give the young pole his head if he’s good enough he will swim if not what have we trully lost,
Am I the only one that thinks Sczenzsny should be punished for his outburst and not rewarded with a new contract offer and a place on the 18 to Belgrade?
ArthurTheGooner@174 –
I can’t forget about Gibbsy in the CL semi slipping and what it did to his confidence. Although he lacks experience, he has always looked defensively sound.
AFC1974@175 –
I was about to say. I thought it was all a terrible dream and that le boss was right all along about Lukaz
Sczezney should not have gone public. Wenger has the knack of nipping such outbursts in the bud, as he did.
@Chippy: I voted for Fabianski because indeed I do want to see him in goal so as to have the GK situation sorted out as soon as possible. Arsene said he won’t have too many more chances and he better seize them so let’s be done with it. If by a miracle he starts showing in games what he is capable of in training then we’ll all be better off, if not then he’ll be definitively out of the picture at Arsenal. The sooner it’s sorted out the better.
@Snir: I’m thinking the exact opposite. He’s a fighter with a very strong personality and this is exactly what our current GK are missing. Remember how Lehmann would go ballistic if he wasn’t number one? I don’t think he was a great goalkeeper and he was an ass too but his mentality was always his greatest asset. We all hope Woj has not only a similar mentality but the skills to match. To me the more upsets he grows at not playing, the more he shows he has a winner mentality.
Snir – can you blame him? With two very accident prone goalkeepers infront of him continually getting the nod, is it any wonder? Put that into a work context say in an office, where two numpties get put forward despite there howlers. I know I wouldn’t stay quiet!
Why on earth do I keep spelling Szczesnys’ name wrong?
I know I’ve been doing it with Koscielny too!
I was on the wrong road with Squillaci until I learnt to drop the h between the c and i. Now I’m a new man.
But I must get the others right too. It’s doing me no favours!
Play Flappy and hope he cocks up. The trouble is, every howler is a potential points loser; but I see the logic although it is tragic that so many of us are thinking this way.
“Play Flappy and hope he cocks up”
Well, I needed a laugh biscuit and that gave it… lol… nice one π