Arsenal Deanied Again
Dec 23rd, 2013 by 'holic
The fixture computer might have been kinder in the supposed season of goodwill. A game that had the neutrals howling in protest ended with the points shared and little to commend it if we are brutally honest. It would be churlish to complain about the visitors setting up not to be beaten, as confirmed by their captain and manager after the match. They have to do what is best for them.
Having said that some of the criticism I have seen of Arsene and his team tonight is harsh even in the immediate aftermath of an emotionally charged derby night. It was not a great performance because a powerful Chelsea team arrived to break the game up and stop us making the most of the possession advantage even they knew we would have. They were aided and abetted by a generous view of what was acceptable by an old friend, Mike Dean. They played as he allowed them to.
Let’s establish something at this point. On the balance of play between the 25 players who were used by both teams on the night the result was unquestionably appropriate. Neither side created enough clear chances to seal the three points. Having said that it could have been so very different with another interpretation by the referee. The lack of punishment for the Mikel challenge on Mikel Arteta is hard to accept through rose-tinted spectacles. Seconds later the denial of the penalty for a clear trip by Willian on Theo Walcott added to the sense of frustration at an official with whom we have history.
Had either event been dealt with the match would have followed a different course so let’s just record the fact and move on. Mike Dean’s record in charge of Arsenal matches is well known, but we had opportunities to make his appointment immaterial. Two fell to Olivier Giroud, so impressive this season, but this was not his night. No more, and no less than that. Like Aaron Ramsey, who also had an average performance tonight, he has helped us to be right in contention for the major prizes to this point.
Aside from a brief spell in the first half when Wojciech Szczesny and Per Mertesacker denied the otherwise anonymous Torres, and Lampard came closest to breaking the deadlock with a volley against the crossbar, we had the lions share of the ball, and the attacking intent. Sadly it was all a little toothless. Overall, aside from the Giroud chances we had a Thomas Vermaelen header cleared off the line by Azpilicueta and not much else to crow about.
A word for the skipper, largely sidelined by the wonderful Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny partnership. The man of the match award went to the two Chelsea central defenders because they were by far the busier pairing on the night, but I thought Vermaelen deserved a mention. He was excellent when called upon, which required a degree of concentration as well as application and ability. Top work Thomas.
And so that was that. More words than I expected to be able to type about a truly forgettable game. We won’t be blogging about tonight in years to come. At the end of the day we are back up to second place only on goal difference from Liverpool, who won’t be winning the title. I would have taken that after the opening day of the season.
How about you?
127 Responses to “Arsenal Deanied Again”
1st from aussie
happy xmas to all gooners around the world
fair post ‘holic….wasn’t the late header off the line from (man of the match) Sagna?
A fair report H. Hard to love football tonight. Going to read a book instead 😉
Spot on.
Well played and merry Xmas Holic.
fuck..sorry….Merry Christmas to you and yours !!
You called it as I saw it too. The more I see the Mikel tackle the more incomprehensible it is that he didn’t walk. He broke Arteta’s shinpad ffs, and it’s not even a yellow!
Well in sydneyred. Perfectly summed up Holic. 100 % perspiration without the same amount of inspiration in very difficult conditions. A very forgettable game with man of the match obviously Mike Dean. Still the onus was on us to overcome both him and the obnoxious one – unfortunately something beyond us tonight.
On a more critical note, we could do with some pace in the build up in the final third…..the HFB is an excellent player but we could do with a top clinical striker to complement him if we want to be número uno in 5 months time. Easier said than done of course.
Trev in previous drinks…..on the money as usual.
MoTM for me is Arteta. He played like a hero today and got a swelling for it. Boring game but you all already know that. I would talk about how we need a striker and Giroud’s miss BUT you already know that also…so a merry xmas to all of you.
Love that title. One worthy of the archives. 🙂
Agreed about the excellent performances by Vermaelen and Arteta. Merry Christmas ‘holic. 🙂
I would have taken it also Holic, a very well measured post 🙂
Well said ‘holic. Nail, head, hammer and all that!
Just like you I just don’t understand some of the points people are making up to criticise the team with. People are criticising the team for too many stray passes and I’m just sitting here wondering what they expected under that weather condition. Some people casually chose to ignore the effect(s) an incompetent/corrupt referee has on a team who likes to keep possession, I wonder if they would have continued going for 50/50 balls if they were in Mikel Arteta’s shoes after Dean”s decision, or more aptly lack of decision, on Obi’s careless lunge or the one from Ramires to name just two?
Then there is the outcry about Arsene’s decision to not make any subs, I wonder if there is a rule that says a team must make a sub before they can win a game of football? If Arsene made a sub and we lost I bet we would have had people coming on here to tell stuff ‘ain’t broken don’t fix it’ down our collective throats.
we are second on goal difference and instead of people giving a team they wrote off before a ball was kicked credit, they move the goalposts and start giving the team stick for not winning all our games at a canter, instead asking what we did right to be ahead of all the favourites at this point in the season they’re looking for what they think we are doing wrong that has stopped us from winning the league in december. Lord give me strength.
Mike Dean 1 : Arsenal 0
Very good, fair stuff, Holic.
I mentioned TR7 as possible MotM in the last bar but, on reflection, it is hard to look further than Arteta.
Many good fighting performances actually.
Second on goal difference – Wagner AHHTTT ! 😉
A big fan of Giroud, but, from this angle it is a must scoring opportunity. He has the ball on his favorite foot, one meter in front of the defenders, with plenty of options to chose. But, as far as I remember he didn’t even got his head up to see the positions of the opposition players and the keeper. Not good.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcNP9vdCUAAKl7G.png:large
Cent – right on the money.
Press seem to be writing this one up as if Chelsea won. Point was still handy for us and leaves us second, a couple of points clear of them.
I really don’t see how what we just witnessed can possible be construed as Mourinho “extending his mastery over Wenger”.
It’s become increasingly clear that Sky and the press pack will swallow any load of nonsense Mourinho feeds them (I only spent £60m in the summer, these aren’t my players so you can’t judge me, etc). The sucking off he was getting from the commentators tonight was shameful.
The last 3 matches are ones to forget, lets just get on with the season. Bring on westham. COYG.
N7, the general dick-riding of Maureen is sickening. What gets to me most is that some people who are supposedly Arsenal ‘fans’ have gotten so sucked in by the rubbish that they can’t see the improvements their supposed team have made and are still making. How an Arsenal fan will come out from that game with the feeling that Mourinho outwitted Wenger tactically is beyond me.
Well in Sydney red and a very accurate assessment Holic.
No real damage done and a healthy squad at this time of year is important even though not exciting.
On a dry pitch with podolski on the left and theo on the right, ozil in the centre and any mix of ramsey/arteta/rosicky/ flamini we will be right in the mix.
Can’t help but think what we would be like with that added firepower of 1 x additional Striker/enforcer to assist giroud when we need a change up.
Merry xmas and a happy new year to all holics
A carefully wrapped and packaged Diego Costa would be the perfect xmas gift. Or Pato¿.
Mike Dean should be expelled from the refereeing urgently! He must be corrupt, as the betting moves waves when he referees us!
We should probably take it as a compliment when people are gloating about us shamefully being just off the top of the league at Christmas.
Also the whole ‘Mourinho has Wenger’s number’ angle the media peddle is a bit redundant considering they’ve played one meaningful game against one another since 2007.
Hiding in your own half and grinding out a ref-assisted draw on a paddling pool surface.
As tactical “victories” go, it’s not exactly Fischer/Spassky, is it?
Excellent summary once again Holic. Sadly the perfect headline as well :/
Cent nailed it with his #12, can’t add anything to that.
Fischer/Spassky ?
I need to check that, mate. 😉
Just another thought:
“Mourinho shows tactical superiority over Wenger”
Well, the evidence certainly seems to support that. Wenger certainly appears to be incapable of assembling a squad that can play negatively for 95 minutes at a time two or three times a season.
Speaking strictly for myself, I’m quite glad about that. It’s a price I’m happy to pay. If anyone thinks otherwise, they are entitled to their opinion and I won’t attempt to persuade them differently. I’d advise them any attempt to persuade me to agree with them, will be unsuccessful. Open-mindedness can be taken too far.
That is all.
Bring on the second half of the season.
COYG
Lurky @ 15: I think Giroud has lost a bit of confidence with the lack of goals after such a bright start. This happens to Strikers and to be fair to him he has been used so much more as a pivot — and less as the actual no. 9 — in the last couple of months there was always this risk that one he enters a dry patch it would take him a few games to fire again. He is not the most clinical to begin with.
N7 @ 23: Exactly, that is not a tactics, that is a predictable, ultra-defensive, unimaginative scheme. This shit worked for the Portuguese translator in his first stint because of some extraordinarily clinical attacking talents and may the current front line of Chelsea continue to be average for long.
Aussie @ 19: Hopefully Poldi is really really fit and back, he-Giroud-Theo had a good understanding last season and with him in the starting line-up — along with Giroud or in place of — our conversion rates would increase significantly.
Just one thing that keeps me awake:
If this game was played the opposite way we would have had 9 players leaving the pitch after a 0:1 loss because of a pen.
I’m going to throw up now!
One question left:
What is your wish for christmas? An additional striker or a thunderstorm in M. Dean’s house 😉
Good night all
Trev/N7 — I would rather take Kasparov-Karpov analogy. Kasparov a more of an adventurous, trailblazing, philosophical, progressive-minded winner, with charm and charisma, and Karpov an uber-defensive strategist and apologist for totalitarian regime. 🙂
N7 @23, my point exactly!
Cheers datsyuk.
Pangloss, Maureen didn’t show any tactical superiority whatsoever over Wenger tonight, at best they cancelled each other out as the result shows.
Dr F, knows re Giroud.
Cent @ 12: Another reason I thought Arsene may have opted not to use subs is given the condition it would take at least a few touches and passes for anyone (even someone as technically gifted like Santi) to find the right weight and spin in passing and given the way the game was emerging out of a stalemate he might have felt a mistake would be less likely with players on the pitch.
Substituting Hazard and Torres with 0-0 as score is all one needs to know about Mourinho. A chicken.
I saw the same game as you did Holic and a draw was undoubtedly the right result .Having arrived back an hour after I normally get home I have to say the conditions were as atrocious as any game I can remember for years. Both sides were reasonably pleased with the outcome but the Arsenal natives were restless. A man behind me abused Giroud from minute one and in the pub beforehand one of my companions was hugely critical of HFB. I defended him to both but I must confess we will not win the League with OG as our only striker and his miss tonight was poor .He was willing but limited and our offensive players TR7 aside were disapponting. Ozil worked really hard but we really do need more flair from him. I totally agree about Vermaelen , I thought he had a great game. I can’t agree with the praise for Arteta. I thought he didn’t play an incisive ball all night and was often caught in possession .
But the key as Holic outlined was the referee. Dean gives more penalties than any other referee in the EPL and he had a great view of a pretty careless challenge. He also failed to protect Arteta and at the end if he had refereed properly a minor argument would not have escalated into quite a big skirmish. He is a referee who really does have a case to answer against Arsenal. Our record is so poor with him in charge it really can’t be coincidence.
We really need some momentum to be restored and I think Arsene might have to think about the best way to do this. A striker to rival/ help Giroud would be a good start
Good point, Dr F, I just couldn’t understand people bemoaning our lack of subs as if it would have guaranteed us the win. Some people simply just refuse to make use of their brains and think of possible reason(s) why Arsene makes his decisions, they just assume every decision he makes when we drop points are wrong and funny enough when we win they are quick to distance any form of credit from Arsene.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, HOLICS !!!
Oops, still suffering with that premature congratulation. 😉
Arf Arf, Trev 🙂
well written, as always. mike dean is the perfect ref for chelski, a cunt among cunts, if you will.
I’ll take where we are as an early Christmas gift, and look forward to topping the table in the new year.
Cent @ 34 — Exactly! I know the general response to today’s performance has been underwhelming but given the conditions — one could tell even watching on TV — I thought there were many positive aspects. There was not a single accurate through ball to Theo and Theo didn’t impose enough with ball on his feet, but I liked his positional discipline and defensive maturity, these two aspects of his game are really improving this season. I thought TR7 was fantastic under the circumstances and Gibbo was quite excellent. Arteta’s passing erred a bit too much on the side of caution but his controlling the midfield space & rhythm and his tackles were really excellent. TV5 covered his area in calm and unhurried manner while making a couple of very good trademark forward runs (something that makes you wonder whether against certain opposition, say Barca away, whether he can be used as a second defensive midfielder)… lots of positives to take away.
Out of the top five we have played Pool, Chelsea, Everton at home and 5/9 is a decent point tally from those three games. A home win against City would bring that up to 8/12 against rest of the top five which is very good. If we include LWCs in the ‘challenger’ category then it is already 8/12 at home against other challengers.
Good analysis, Dr F, even though I don’t think Vermaelen can ever do a good job as a DM, I guess we have to agree to disagree on that one. Cheers.
Not been in from the game too long. Very tired so I will be back tomorrow with a full update. I will be brutally honest, that is one of the worst games of football I have ever seen at The Grove. I thought we were very poor. We looked labourer and a yard of the pace. We were second to almost every second. Ball and played with no urgency at all.
I have just seen the penalty incident again and yes, definite pen. Dean was crap all game but to blame him for not taking all three points I would suggest is way off the mark. Especially when you consider that it took 85 minutes for us to register a shot on target. Not good enough I’m afraid. One last point before I turn in. Why did we not make any changes??? I thought we were crying out for a change or two to bring some urgency to the proceedings.
The conditions were awful I grant you but tonight I thought we were very poor. Let’s hope it’s just a bad day at the office.
Oh, and Zico. Is it a bit too tough for you in the South?? The mention of some wind and rain a bit to much for you? I mean, why else would you turn down a lift and a free ticket for club level??? Poor show I say. No need to be frightened.
😀
Just got back from the game in my view as the Governor says Mike Dean was a complete disgrace but that’s nothing new from what I have witnessed in my years to come! An absolute twat when Sagna was hacked on the touch line he gave a throw nothing else but just the throw in what can you do!
I do think the weather played a good part in what happened on the pitch it was complete wind drizzle in your face for all the game! I know they are ori footie players but they are a human at the same time!
Chavs were negative and even though there was a scare through the furst half we dominated in the second.
61% posestion meant Mourinho took off Torres and thre David Luiz in the mix.
For all it was worth Chavs played for a draw nothing else!
I have not read any drinks but Steve has a point we did not make any changes is Arsene again going back to his silly tactics?
It wa s agame that could have been won and should have been won if we are to play for the top draw this season 🙂
Bed time!
WIN THE NEXT GAME!
Fair summation, ‘Holic. There is no getting away from the fact that a team determined to park the bus, especially one with the defensive talent of Chelski, is extremely difficult to break down. Mourinho’s tactics were hardly managerial rocket science: two banks of defenders and then some more to fill the gap between. It blunts any cutting edge. On the plus side, we did not look vulnerable to the break. But to others’ point, when we did create the chances, we didn’t put them away. As for the ref, more than enough already said.
Lurky@15: Ollie G chose the right shot; just didn’t execute it well enough (see above).
Good summing up Mr H. A game to forget. Perhaps the conditions did not help. but cannot say we did enough to deserve a win. this scum team held out the likes of bayern for 120 mins earlier in the season. so they are quite good at keeping their shape. we needed a bit of guile and some quality shooting.
with just 2 shots on goal the entire game against a toothless scum side this was a very poor night. This can only be considered a good result if we win our next few games.
Games against teams like Chelsea are always going to be tight affairs that will be determined by fine margins. We created two chances and we failed to take either of them. Thats what a world class striker brings to the table.
Conditions certainly suited Chelsea, and of course the ref bur we could have played better. Re: The changes, whether Arsene has one eye on the fixture list, only next few days will tell
Onwards and upwards
Happy to get through last night in every sense. Don’t like the media suggestion that Mourinho ‘ won’ last night. The conditions completely won it was that and two very cautious sides that dictated the game. Dean decided to let it flow and went too far.
We are unable to beat the top sides at home ( Liverpool are not a top side) we need more game changers and while I see Ozil doing this I find the current mix inadequate. Rosicky is the only one who makes things happen. Did Arteta get a good chit on the TV last night because the difference in performance and enterprise between him and Rosicky was enormous, Admittedly he had a holding role but he created nothing and was the classic handbrake player.
Above all I do believe that Giroud ,admirable although he is in some ways handicaps us too. Great work rate but absolutely no pace or ability to beat a man.
We are in a very exciting position and we have been before in January only to fail to get reinforcements. This squad will get top four but won’t get the title as it stands and the title us winnable this year unless Citeh go on a great run and Aguero us missing for 8 weeks.
Finally TV 5 deserves enormous credit for his professionalism as well as his performance. His whole demeanour is of a total professional and I understand he us a terrific influence inside the club- compare William Gallas when he was skipper. I would not rush Koscielny back and we can rotate BFG in the right games.
Eh, the title 😉 Holic, agree with you on the whole kit n caboodle. Also was impressed by TV (God bless him for making those forays forward, showed some ambition!) You didn’t mention Arteta (other then being viciously assaulted by a couple of extremely ill mannered players) but I thought he put in a gritty performance. Am looking forward to seeing ‘the brawl’ again (really like that!) 🙂
Funny that you bring up the ‘fixture computer’; saw a documentary
about an American husband and wife duo, who used to do all the scheduling for MLB. This was before computers took over the world. Anyway, this couple really loved the game and knew all the nuances of local rivalries, took into account the fans’ needs as well. Bit of trivia, 😉
If wenger doesn’t buy a good striker in jan, we’re
pissing away the title for this year.
TTG
I’m inclined to agree re: Arteta.
I thought he worked his nuts off, as ever, but his passing was frequently wayward (pitch probably contributed) and he showed again that he is vulnerable under heavy pressure.
That said, it was quite clear to me that the Chelsea midfield had been sent out to pressure him, by fair means or foul. It’s no coincidence that the Mikel leg breaker and Ramires booking were both on MA, and Mourinho still complained afterwards that Arteta had been given too much space.
Combine that with a difficult evening for Rambo and the engine room never fully got going.
Do not understand the slating of Giroud at all. He is not and never will be a world class striker but he arrived for £11m and has done all that has been asked of him – works as hard as any striker in the game and links our play. He was unfortunate not to score the second chance last night and he kept Terry and Cahill busy. I do not understand this mentality among certain sections of the support where there always has to be a boo-boy. We’re joint top of the league, we’re ahead of sides who dramatically outspend us and the team have acquitted themselves tremendously in 2013, and yet still this sort of stuff goes on. You’d think they’d have learned from Ramsey, but I think the sad fact is that there’s a section of our support who attempt to insulate themselves from the inevitable emotional risk of football by picking a player and cussing him out for the full 90. Got to get behind the lads – this team gives 100%, and that’s all we can ask for.
Good to see you here abb. 🙂
some one is due a smashing from us soon. hope its west ham and walrus face.
YOU ALL KNOW!!!… West Brom should look no further than here. Hehehe. Lordy Lord!
Mourinho: “Arsenal players like to cry”.
Bit like Jose when Utd turned him down. WHAT a Cnut.
Ankle seriously knacked. This is not going to be a fun drive today. Will need medicinal alcohol on arrival…
Very fine report, Sir. Very poor game. Atrocious conditions. Fair result. While there were some commendable performances, no one player covered himself in glory. Take the draw and move on. Win the next two. I haven’t seen the TV replay of the penalty. Mikel’s tackle on Arteta was a shocker.
Long drive from Fife for a nil-nil draw! Power outage at Gatwick for the flight home. Oh, oh, oh to be a Gooner.
TTG@50. I agree with almost every word of that.
N7. Who has been booing Giroud????? I certainly have not heard anyone even remotely come close to booing him. He has worked like a Trojan all season and battles for very second he is on the pitch. He brings a lot to the party. But, as others have stated, he I not blessed with fantastic pace and I do not think he is clinical enough. I think he needs the support of another who does have these qualities. I sincerely hope that we have someone earmarked for that role when the window opens.
Whilst I agree with DB10@55, I’d be equally delighted for Arsenal to keep winning games against weak sides by one or two goals and to be written off all the way through this season before emerging at the end having “somehow” accumulated more points than any other team. Stealth championships count as much as any others.
COYG
Steve – see TTG @ 33
Agree with your appraisal of the HFB.
Thanks N7. I must say that that is very much the exception in my opinion. His name is sung louder than anyone else in my opinion. All players have limitations but OG does fantastically well at maximising what he has. I have never heard anyone boo him. If anything it’s the opposite. His efforts have actually bought him that extra bit of tolerance.
Safe journey Holic. You take good care of those aging limbs.
Thanks Steve, I think :-s
Very fair post, the Mike Dean thing is now getting silly. Would be interesting to see if any other side has a similar record under one particular ref.
Giroud is starting to look jaded now and we must bring in a striker on January. If we don’t I feel we’ll slip out of the title race through nothing more than fatigue
http://www.notanotherarsenalblog.wordpress.com
Time to load up. Have a good one you lot.
Safe and comfortable journey Holic. Leave the ‘ medicine’ until after you arrive!
Re the Giroud debate we had an idiot behind us ( non- regular) who slagged him,off all game until he was encouraged to be a little more supportive. He was the worse for drink as they say and obviously had an issue with HFB. I think we may see Poldi in some capacity at West Ham
First of all, great to see you back, abb. Hope you and your loved ones have a happy Christmas!
Steve, I think you are being a bit too harsh there to be honest. I thought we improved as the game went on and while not good enough I have certainly seen worse.
Faustus: good points on our points haul against the other top teams. It should be noted that we are second on goal difference, and we have played both Manc teams away as well as Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and Tottenham (I don’t care what people say about them not being a top team, a derby is always a derby and we didn’t have Özil at the time etc etc) and while I am not at all happy with the game at Old Toilet and we probably should have beaten Everton it should be noted that contrary to popular belief we haven’t just played relegation fodder all season.
N7: but I think the sad fact is that there’s a section of our support who attempt to insulate themselves from the inevitable emotional risk of football by picking a player and cussing him out for the full 90.
This. A hundred thousand times this. I could probably write an essay on the psychology behind this, but some people simply can’t handle things going bad and need a scapegoat however far from reality they have to look, whether it’s the manager, a player, the board or whatever.
And on this topic: Steve, I can’t obviously speak for how it is at the stadium as I don’t attend enough games, but Giroud certainly has had his fair share of blame-apportioning online and in pubs. Alan Davies has ripped him to shreds numerous times on the Tuesday Club podcast as well. I should add though that I agree with your assessment of him, I admire his work rate and his never-ending commitment but he isn’t quite clinical enough.
That also brings me to another rather annoying topic that is related to this. I have no problems admitting I like Giroud a hell of a lot but don’t think he’s quite good enough to be a top, top striker. I have no problems admitting I thought Pascal Cygan, while almost always stinking the place out in matches against opposition of any sort of quality, had a terrific attitude and always, always worked his socks off and for that I appreciated his efforts. Why do I have to pour hatred on a player just because he isn’t good enough? It is entirely possble to like a player and still don’t think he’s good enough and I must say that this place is, in this respect, a wonderful place as pretty much everyone here seems to share my view on this but that certainly isn’t the case elsewhere.
Anyway, bit of a rant there but now it’s time to get ready to celebrate Christmas as we here in Sweden celebrate it a day ahead of most other countries for some reason. Merry Christmas everyone!
Lars knows.
What Lars said!
Lars knows. Giroud does very well defensively for us too but Titi, he will never be.
Hopefully that’s the end of our mini wobble. A decent run of fixtures now and chance to become consistently consistent again.
Merry Xmas ‘Holic & ‘Holics. Hope to some of you when we welcome Sherwood and his merry men to The HoF on 4th.
UTA!
lets keep our chins up fellas..liverpool will be back in 3rd by sunday…http://gidigooner.blogspot.com/2013/12/match-review-arsenal-1-vs-chelsea-1.html
Fine account H. The game I saw. Good call on TV5. He fitted right in and was restrained in his ‘walkabouts’. I still cannot understand the failure to change the personnel at 70 mins. The game was crying out for something new and Santi, Poldi and Flamster would have freshened things up.
And Lars does indeed know. 🙂
Have a cool Yule y’all.
Games like these are games champions win, remember united winning games towards the end and fergie saying that it indeed was a tactic to throw it all and then those deflections or lucky breaks do tend to happen. Wenger and the boys i feel havent got that winning habit mentality still, we have leaders but winning is a habit and winning crunch games is even more so.
Yesterday i felt bad my team, our team were playing for a draw towards the end, please throw away bigger picture stuff and all that, we are The Arsenal, we play to win. We cant be like that cunt and his shit team who came for a draw and always looked like getting one.
Why no subs boss? system may get affected was the explanation given after the game but when you have a cazorla and podolski on the bench and the game is going nowhere, simple logic is bring them on.
3 more games to follow and then an eminently winnable games in jan, dont mess it up now boss/boys, i dont see us winning anything else but the league, put all your eggs in one basket and go for the kill.
OliG’s only problem is he doesnt think like a striker, one on one situations, running at defenders, things strikers do he hesitates, he is never sure and i cant think of a confident finish apart from the one against sunderland. I like him a lot but for a team that wants to win the title, he is not the one who will score those crucial goals, he will play his part and well enough to.
Lastly feel Wenger is protecting players coming back from injuries fearing what if they get injured again, obviously this is based on past experiences but i do feel he should take the risk, being afraid doesnt help,winners never take a step back,we are The Arsenal, remember who we are and who we play for
@ 41
Yes. Terrified.
At the thought of being in BtM’s debt. 🙂
Have a cool Yule, Holics.
No, Vinay, winners take a step back, analyse the situation and react accordingly. Winners stoop to conquer.
I think the Boss will start to play Bendtner now…he’s been in the doghouse long enuf
Good review ‘holic and Steve T.
I was one of those last night who, in the midst of disappointment at the result and the quality of the game, also expressed an opinion on AW’s tactics.
In the cold light of day, I stand by what I said. I think when you know exactly what your opponent is going to do, and you know he knows what you are going to do, it is worth doing something to surprise the narcissistic bastard. And especially if what you are doing is not working, then it is worth putting on some fresh legs (Cazorla for Walcott, Podolski for OG, for example) just to fuck with his mind for 15 minutes. But to do nothing is something I just don’t understand. I didn’t expect a “tonking” but I did expect some tactical nous and I didn’t see any.
The Mike Dean statistics are something that should be investigated at a higher level – it is absolutely preposterous that a referee should have such skewed statistics without the FA looking at it. I think pressure needs to be put on the mainstream media to bring this to more general notice and in turn hopefully put pressure on the powers that be to come up with an explanation. It would be interesting to see the statistics for other referees too – anyone know where these can be obtained? If you leave out the three refs that have only had 2-4 games this season, that leaves a list of 15 which means we should only get MD a maximum of 3 times a season.
On Thursday we have West Ham and Phil Dowd – not one of my favourite refs after his Newcastle show but I think I should take a look at his statistics too :).
Merry Christmas one and all – here in Denmark we also celebrate (food & presents) today. My wife and I decided long ago to drop the presents hassle and concentrate on the food and drink.
Just found this site with statistics. Looks like the claims of intrinsic bias I linked to last night on 101goals are somewhat removed from the facts:
http://www.transfermarkt.com/en/michael-dean/bilanz/schiedsrichter_379.html
Not to say that everything looks normal – his Chelsea stats seem rather better than their overall record would suggest, but Totts and Man City have just as much cause for complaint as we do (which is little overall imho, even after last night).
Off my high horse.
Dk
That’s interesting but they are a very long- term view. The stats look much more sinister if you look at the last three full seasons and this one.
Every time he referees when there is a penalty shout he gives it. He has a very high tendency to give spot kicks and there was the famous ‘ celebration’ when Saha scored against us in the 5-2 match( just before he gave Spurs a penalty because of a Bale dive)
I really dont like him as a ref.
Re OG. The big problem is that he has been out only real striking option all season. He may suffer criticism from others simply because there is no alternative and he is constantly in the spotlight. Let’s not forget, we were originally told that both Ollie G and Poldi were bought to play alongside RVP and were not bought as his replacements. Perhaps if we make good and actually get the RVP replacement then it would take some of the pressure off of him???
Lars, sorry mate but I stick to my original assessment. I accept the conditions were dreadful but at times we were awful. If we have nothing on the bench that would have changed things then I think we have real issues. The chavs were there for the taking and to take 85 minutes to register a shot on target is just not acceptable in my opinion.
Poor excuse Zico. I thought better of you.
😀
Afternoon Chaps,
That’s me done for a week and the call of the pub is to loud to ignore so before I get to pissed and struggle to write a coherent sentence (No wise cracks needed thanks 🙂 )I will take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Xmas,
Up The Arse,
Roll on Boxing day 😉
Always looked like being a draw before a ball was kicked. If we’re to realistically think about winning the title, we do need a couple of additions. Would loved to have seen Mikek get a taste of his own medicine yesterday. We need a DM & a Striker. Regarding Mourinho, I really do hate Chelsea w/that ponce mincing around the sidelines. Tart.
COYR.
Have to endorse what Steve and Lars have been saying about Giroud in that he, I believe, is widely appreciated and respected but that we need a world class striker in addition to his herculean efforts so far.
As for Arteta and Rambo, I don’t think there are two players who have given more to the club over the past few years. I know they weren’t at their best yesterday, but neither of them hide when there’s grafting to be done. Signs on, its when they’re not playing that they’re missed the most.
This is the easiest league title in years. It begs belief that a team as poor as Manu won it last year and shows what a manager Fergie was. Its incredible to think Liverpool are joint top…! And for me, yesterday was two points dropped against a Chelsea side that were there for the taking. This Arsenal team have alot of questions to answer yet. We might be top of the league, but we’ve yet to beat any of the top teams and for all our possession yesterday we never really threatened either. It only matters where you are in the league in May. How many times in the past 8 years have we done all the pace making and then capitulated at the business end of the season? Rambo and Giroud count for almost 50% of our goal tally and other players need to step up to the plate and take responsibility because chances are it will be the summer before we acquire another striker.
The real positive is in the defensive solidity. I can’t think of a more important player at the club right now outside of Per Mertesacker.
So by ‘top teams’, are we just defining that as Man City and Chelsea at the moment? Because if we’re counting Man Utd we’re still ahead of them despite losing there. If we’re counting Liverpool then we beat them and kept a clean sheet (ditto the Spuds). And what about the game at Dortmund? But if we do just mean Man City and Chelsea, then we still have two games to play against them, and we have the trip to City (where they’ll probably drop two points max this season at this rate) out of the way.
Will there be a red fox in the box? Let’s hope not just this one. 🙂
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JxDgqk5UL._SY300_.jpg
Among the positives: We showed good discipline in not responding foolishly to Mikel’s challenge, because if we had, there can be no doubt but that Dean would have shown a red card to the Arsenal player. Within a millisecond. 🙁 🙁 🙁
Re: TTG @82. But do you like him as a person? 😉
And in the spirit of Chippy @ 84, Merry Xmas to all and to all a good night. Except to the new world ‘holics a good afternoon. 🙂
Merry Christmas everyone. Wishing you a meaningful and peaceful holiday. xx Thanks Lars and Holic, for your warm fuzzies 😉
Merry Christmas, abb, and to all holics. hopefully the new year will bring a return for tabs, ollie, and more of clive. a pot of gluhwein is on the back bar for those who’d like a winter warmer after their travels.
=========== Press release =============
SG&R International wish Holic and all Holics a very Merry Christmas
ENDS
Behind the 8 Ball.
I have absolutely no desire to get to know him as a person.
Very disappointed with the media take on the game. It is largely about what a clever lad Mourinho is. An alternative view might be with the talent they have it must be hard to get them to play that badly and that unattractively. Ancelloti’s team must be a distant dream for Chelsea fans now.
Cheers Holic! Merry Xmas everyone!
Just pottering in the kitchen and listening to R5. God its depressing. The English football media to a fucking man, cant wait to (in the words of Madonna) get on their knees and take Scruffy moaning lying Porto cunt, there. Pricks. The fucking lot of them.
Time to stick some sounds on.
And once again, festive greetings to all, wherever you in the ‘holic world!
Well, well its almost christmas and Arsenal are joint top (er, … topish).
All good. And while there is great room for improvement, we have Lukas ThunderBoot Podolski to come back, along with The OX! Impending improvement i’d say.
Cheers all and merry christmas to those who partake. A special shout to the ‘holic who, depsite a rocky and chaotic start to this campaign, kept it classy, wise and wo still keeps the best bar around. While not all of us always live up to that example … ahem … the joint is salvation to us (or, at least me) nonetheless.
A round on me, if you please. And when my tab runs out … Lars!
Merry Christmas to one and all, may the blessings be on all and sundry. Lets also have a prayer for our dear team, its about time we win, its about time to prove that indeed good football, a well run club can also win trophies and most importantly let the festive cheer bring in the best for The Arsenal.
A pre assist wishing all the holics a very special Christmas. Whatever you are doing may it be filled with happiness.
Christmas Pud
Well in, Pangloss.
All the best is what I wish every one of us here and elsewhere this Xmas and always.
Merry Christmas everyone! Wish you all a great festive season.
Merry Christmas one and all.
Dear Santa,
I’ve been a very good boy all year. Honest.
Please can you make it that the Arsenal keep on wrapping up wins against teams they should beat and that other teams keep on showing inconsistent away form. Please can you let the MoTD “pundits” continue to pontificate about how Arsenal can’t win the league and please don’t let them realise until it’s too late. A seven-point lead with two games to play would do very nicely.
Thank you Santa.
As for those questioning why the boss didn’t make substitutes:
Think again about the long term impact of last night’s game on the team’s moral.
We just made Chelsea and Moe look completely shit and in defensive awe of our potential footballing superiority.
A superiority that would have been definitive if either Dein was not a cunning stunt or OG had a bit more luck.
The 11 who played last night can walk off the pitch feeling very proud of themselves and we now know they have the measure of the worst the chavsovites can throw at us.
Poldi, Santi and Flamster 100% raring to go against West Ham, Newcastle and Cardiff is certainly mouthwatering.
Let’s get 40+ points up at the halfway stage and we can start looking at the 19 games of the second half of the season – 12 or 13 of which are certainly winnable with or without a hand break on.
Merry Christmas you lot! lol
Merry Christmas to Holics everywhere some of whom will be already some hours into Christmas and others still in the middle of zchristmas Eve. Here’s hoping we enjoy a very happy 2014 at THOF!
Slainte, Ttg.
I just realized my 107 may not be the most appropriate reply to Ttg’s 106. Maybe I should have just clinked glasses and gulped down the drink. 😀
Hello all, had a rather good day with a bit of Xmas lunch, a beer or two and some G&T. Good stuff!
Just one thing about the lack of subs:
I totally understand where Arsene is coming from when he said he didn’t want to risk the defensive stability. When we played Dortmund at home we went for the jugular and was caught on the break and Arsene and the players were pilloried for not being professional and securing a valuable point – but when doing exactly that last night he was a clueless coward? No, not for me. Personally, I would probably have put Poldi on (not sure for who, though) knowing it would have been a massive gamble but I can’t blame Arsene for thinking the potential gain from one point was enough to minimise the risk of losing it. Let us not forget that the psychological ramifications of losing yesterday would probably have been quite severe but the gain from keeping a clean sheet the game after we’d conceded six is sure as shit not to be sniffed at either. Also, the way the game was going, nothing much would have changed because Chelsea would still have had their parked bus lined up, and we did create our two best chances of the full 90 during those last minutes and could very well have won it. After all, that Giroud flick off Cech could just as easily have ended up in the back of the net and if it had we’d probably have a rather different view of the game today. I absolutely see where, for example, dkgooner is coming from with the “fuck with his mind” idea, but the thing for me is that you can’t really fuck with the park-the-bus idea. Cuntinhou’d still have had a bank of six behind a central bank of three and tried to funnel our game towards the wings and neither Poldi nor Santi would have changed that, but Santi would certainly have meant a greater risk of weakening our defense because while I admire his attitude and attacking prowess he just isn’t very good at defending. And how much did the three Chelsea subs change the game? Not much at all, if anything it handed the initative over to us even more which for me if anything proves Arsene right more than wrong. Shürrle was more or less invisible at both ends of the pitch, and taking off Torres for Luiz pretty much sums up the negative priorities of the twatty one.
Steve@83: I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree for once 🙂
Joe@86: yet to beat any of the top teams? You do remember that we beat the league leaders 2-0, right? 😉 Don’t really agree we never threatened yesterday either, on another day that Giroud flick that came off Cech’s knee (or was it his arm? Can’t remember) would have gone in. A centimetre – that’s slightly more than three eighths of an inch for you non-metrics! – higher and it would probably have been in.
Again, I don’t think we were good enough yesterday but Chelsea lined up to get the draw, as they themselves said after the game. And if there is one thing their players do well it is to strangle attacking sides while playing for the 0-0. Just look at the way every throw-in, every goal kick and every free kick for them took fucking ages to take – all to waste time and to try to disrupt our game as much as possible. The difficult conditions didn’t help us either, so while we weren’t good enough I don’t think we were that bad either. I wanted the three points and I am not happy with just the one point but it could have been far, far worse. A loss could very well have sent us into a… dare I say it? negative spiral of results… So all in all, I guess you could sum up my feelings in a rather simple way: “Not really happy with just the one point, but it could have been worse so I’ll take it” 🙂
Lars knows….again.
Blaming the ref is a pretty poor excuse, imo. Okay he could have done this, or not done that and otherwise affected the game, but that can’t explain then lacklustre approach from a side which had nine days to prepare for a fixture where the opponents’ negative tactics must have been foreseen.
Time and again I was urging our men in possession to charge into the gaps in an attempt to break up their mid-field road block, only for the player to decide against and play sideways or back, interminably. Even TR7 fell into the trap, surprisingly since he’s usually a great one for exploiting the smallest gap.
No, if you want to blame something other than our own lethargy try the weather. I wasn’t there but it seemed the blustery wind was as much to blame for the poor game as anything, plus the rain making for a very zippy surface.
As for the lack of subs I’m with AW. Santi has had a string of poor games, and the last thing he’d want is Poldi slipping up on the difficult surface so soon after a lengthy hamstring injury.
We’re still top and we have the easiest next seven games of any of the top teams. Let’s get at least 17 points from them (5 wins, 2 draws) and see who can keep up with us. The next couple of months should sort out the real contenders. We should certainly be one of them … even without the extra striker and CD/DMF that I hope to see in the window.
Öskar
Oskar knows too – and is correct about the conditions – truly awful…..they fully explain the number of poor passes.
Perhaps AW could have subbed Flam on, he has more enthusiasm than anyone else in the squad pour encourager les autres.
Öskar
Results so far against the alleged other title chasers:
W2 D2 L2. Not brilliant but not exactly terrible.
9 wins and one draw out of the 11 games against the cannon fodder.
If we perform similarly in 2014 we are in with a real chance of being top of this league in May.
Considering how competitive the league is right now amongst the top 7, I reckon no one is going to get more than 80 points, but Arsenal could get very close to a total like that this season.
That’s only 2 wins and a draw better than last year, and we are already doing better than that so far this season.
Keep the puckers up, fellow ‘holics!
Where is tabs?miss u buddy. happy Xmas all.top of the pops.
Hey there all!
Haven’t been around for quite a while. Can’t be around much at the moment due to a work schedule that is threatening to do me in!
Anyway, just wanted to say (quickly, so as to make Trev happy!) that I cannot believe that ANY Gooner is able to find it in themselves to be unhappy right now. Joint top, transfer window almost upon us, team has had a wobble, but don’t all teams ALWAYS have a wobble?!
Truth be told, there cannot be many of us (BtM aside) who would have bet upon us being joint top at Christmas at the start of the season, maybe not even 10 games into the season and yet here we are.
Wenger has done everything that I wanted him to, needed him to, begged for him to…He has got the team playing together, bought one of the missing pieces of the jigsaw and will surely go on to buy the striker that we so obviously need to keep us on top of the pile. Well done Arsene. He did know after all!!!
Champions this year…Even BtM knows that!!!!
Merry Fucking Christmas all….and what a VERY Merry Fucking Christmas it is too!
A Christmas drinkie on the bar for all!
See you next year!
Come on you Gooooonnnnerrrrrsssss!!!!!
🙂 🙂 🙂
Never thought I’d write this…
TW knows.
And another Merry Christmas to all, and it’s good night from me.
COYG
I actually defend wenger on not Bringing on subs in those conditions.
Chelsea’s didn’t look too dangerous and after 70 mins why risk a fresh player getting injured by going out in cold wet and slippery conditions.
The comp is not won now, there is a long way to go.
Just as in the world of pro cycling, there is a lot of merit in just sitting in the leading pack, conserving the legs and come home strong.
I believe arsene simply made the decision a draw was a decent result and being tied at the top is not a bad spot to be with players coming back.
A lot of football to come Holics – a lot…..
Aussie knows.
Thanks for the report ‘holic, sir, and all r he rest of you fine folk for the drinks.
I’m afraid I didn’t get to see the game, I made it to my room, found the right tv channel, but that was all she wrote, the day’s drinking session in the sun caught up with me.
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of you and yours a very Merry Christmas and raise a glass to your happiness and health.
Cheers all.
To anyone who is celebrating it today, have a very merry Christmas!
My only grouse is we dint try to win because we wanted to avoid losing??? come on thats not an attitude to have right, atleast not us. No i dont mean all fire and brimstones but atleast try to win, 3 added minutes per and bacs are stroking the ball and passing it between them???? incredulous, well the game is over but now its 4 points dropped quickly, everton and chelshit at home, how costly will they prove in the end? hopefully not much, time to get on to a winning run and lets start with those hammers, Merry Christmas
Lars,
Thanks for the constructive feedback and your point of view is well founded.
I couldn’t agree with you more about Mourinho’s defensive set up. In some respects, its a testament as to how far we’ve come that they shut up shop like that, although I also take the point, that its their modus operandi in most of the games they play and hardly something intelligible or creative given the amount of money they have available. I just wish we had the where with all to open them up and to defiantly beat them and Mike Dean in the process.
And while I might sometimes be critical, I don’t think anyone can doubt where my loyalties lie in relation to Wenger. I think he’s done a magnificent job and what I like the most, is that we’ve adapted a more pragmatic approach to how we play this year, while still retaining some of the artistic vision. Its been a potent cocktail, and with a little luck, it might just bring us some silverware in 2014.
Anyway, this morning, my 4 year old little girl was up at dawn and arrived into to the bedroom in a fit of excitement wanting to know if Santi Claus had come? Two minutes later my 3 year old young lad came running into the bedroom, he leans over and whispers into my ear, “Dad, can I have cornflakes for breakfast”. Priorities eh…!
Have a good Xmas all Holics.
A vintage rum to toast Terry in remembrance of friends passed and good times to come.
As Trev says, “virtual bar, real friends”…!
Merry Christmas, all! Enjoy the day wherever you are, and may the spirit of the day fill you through and through.
Joe, my 15 years old is still abed at 9 am, times change, eh? 🙂
So the glorified Jacques Santini has nothing to offer than the national express.
His follow on comments have further eroded any remaining respect for the negative one
Football has come a long way and among other coaches le prof has pushed boundaries. Even when we played negative under him we still had the flair to score fantastic goals.
Yet Chelsea witness the same diatribe that hath previously befallen the self opinionated one. Let’s see how long this can be accepted under the “new project”!
Unfortunately le prof still has no plan B for scenario.
In other leagues you can lift the ball above the midfield and it’s not any less elegant. Argentines and Spanish can do so while playing attractively.
So the world doesn’t stop watching if a ball us lifted wenger it may applaud if it’s fine from midfield to attack rather than defence to attack.
Onwards and upwards
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Curses. This time with a proper link.
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