Arsenal Make A Point, But Is It Enough?
Feb 12th, 2014 by 'holic
There is, let’s face it, no way of capturing that match in a way that will please everyone, so it’s a good job that is not the thinking behind this blog. A goal-less draw against Manchester United would not normally be considered a bad result, but for a chunk of the support it undoubtedly was. I get that. Manchester United 2013/14 are beatable, although still packed with wonderful attacking talent that is struggling to gel under the hapless Moyes.
For Arsenal, it was a night when the lack of serious pace meant we were restricted to attempt to weave patterns through the heart of the United defence. In the first half Olivier Giroud posed an enormous problem to Vidic and Smalling in the target man role, but when he squandered a golden early opportunity to head us in front he set a precedent for disappointing when presented with the opportunity to produce the one killer blow that would secure three points.
That shouldn’t make him a scapegoat for us settling for a point. He kept his markers occupied and that could have created openings for others, and both Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla tried earnestly, if not entirely creatively, to provide that alternative. The German has taken too much flak for one dreadful outing at Anfield, and looked comfortable again, if not inspired. Cazorla enjoyed linking with him and was twice denied by De Gea as the two little midfielders sought that one moment of magic.
Yet it could all have gone the other way. United will point to two great opportunities for the returning ingrate. The first arrived and could have stirred memories of our disastrous start at Anfield when Wojciech Szczesny fed Mikel Arteta a hospital ball which van Persie latched on to. The Pole atoned for his one error on the night with a smart save low to his left, and went on to seal the BT man of the match award with a fabulous point-blank save from the same player in the closing stages.
Those exciting moments, and some fine individual performances, didn’t add up to much of an edifying spectacle however. The scene was set for a classic between two giants of the Premier League era who both needed the points for different reasons. It should have been an end to end blood and thunder contest, but instead it took on the air of two very dangerous heavyweight boxers warily keeping their guard up rather than take the occasional chance to land a telling blow. We needed to make a statement of solidity after the Anfield mauling, United had to avoid a ninth defeat in the Premier League. or so the old rivals made it look.
I can’t think of anybody who particularly stank the place out. I thought online criticism of Jack Wilshere, once again rotationally butchered, extreme. However at the end on Twitter I was bound to conclude that the sum of the parts did not equal the whole. At the end of the night we remain just a point off the lead with twelve matches to play, and by virtue of the City postponement we remain second rather than third in the Premier League. That Liverpool and the neighbours are at the front path, if not quite knocking on the door, should be noted.
The most open title chase in many a year is taking shape and we are not out of it, by any stretch of the imagination. It is, however, hard to remind yourself of that having secured just one point out of six against the most vulnerable reigning champions ever. If we miss out by two or three points in May we will remember these two games I fancy.
That said with all of our rivals in the top six still to play (yes United, you have sunk that low!) the Premier League remains in our own hands. Just try to remind yourself of that tonight as you rue the two points dropped.
325 Responses to “Arsenal Make A Point, But Is It Enough?”
Aaaaahhhjhh
Second????? I would take that in a heart beat..
Top Three
Well in cba. Balanced as always ‘Holic. It was 2 teams who could not afford to lose and therefore both played cautiously with this always in the back of the mind.surprisingly perhaps still all to play for right down to position 6.
Tots place for me.
Great post Holic!
I feel disappointed because we only made one sub and Podolski must be quietly thinking to him self wtf is wrong with me?
Not sure why we couldn’t make those subs especially when it wasn’t going our way is beyond me, time after time.
oh
and
more nice noodlin
‘hol
Best opportunity to beat them too! I feel we are cursed against them and I would ove us beat them especially this season when they are in total decline.
1 point behind, with Chavsea & City to play.
I think we’re gonna win the Prem!!!
Disappointed not to win, but it was so important not to lose.
Want redemption and revenge on Sunday and then we can think about accumulating league points again.
The CL, for this team and with the injuries we have, is a sideshow I reckon.
Need to concentrate on the two competitions that we can realistically win.
Vidic faul on Giroud shurly should be penalty
Where were the subs? Giroud was useless and should of been replaced. Where was Podolski? Gnarby? Another big game wenger fails to win and against a terrible Man U team. You think we can take points from man city and Chelsea? I’m sorry, but not with wenger in charge and with giroud as our striker( no fault of his own as it’s down to wenger to buy another striker)
There was no passion, no fire, no urgency. And that is down to wenger. This teams confidence is gone. We are being found out.
Liverpool is catching fire and have the best striker in the league and Sturridge in firing on all cylinders. Even the lot down the road are playing well.
Wenger lost us our title chance when he bought Kallstrom and not a striker.
Fair write-up all in all… Just have a teeny weeny problem with ‘sacker nd Giroud (as always). The latter has never impressed me really. Never!!! But ‘sacker always struggles against the fast teams. Taking note because we have Liverpool again this weekend and they are really playing some lightening bolt football ATM, Gegenpressing and all that shii. So the solution is just easy (since I have resigned myself to another trophyless season again): Get a new SHADOW striker, get a new DM (one that makes shielding the defence the priority), get a pacy defender. We won’t choke on two fast defenders. All these talks of one complementing one is bollocks to me. Well have a good night all. Apologies if my rant seems offbeat to some. Had a few good cans of Guiness.
A positive spin guv’, by and large I’m singing from the same hymn sheet.
However we gotta be careful now, no more points can be dropped against the so called leser lights. This one, every place in the top five/six, is going down to the wire. Forget the stupid media, this is not a three horse race and as Steve T said, if you think anything is nailed on, think again.
What worries me is our predictability, we were very easy to work out tonight, also an unwillingless to change things up. I agree that OG worked his socks off but as the sharp edge of attack he was pretty blunt, he never looked like scoring. Wenger has said that Poldi is our best finisher….. Why keep him on the bench then? If he’s not in the starting XI for the cup match then I think we might as well say goodbye now because he’ll be off in the summer, I can’t see any reason for him to stay. Yaya Sanogo remains a mystery man too. The game was crying out for someone to score, we had three strikers on the bench, yet……….??? Even taking into consideration that I believe AW’s plan first and foremost was not to lose, I still can’t understand that.
I’ve never been
first before
‘ceptin of course
for
the
dumfries and galloway c i d
who. seemed to
revel in elevating me
to
that status
80’s ferrys wise
what with me
being clearly
too handsome to travel
an all
🙂
H2H
Spot on I agree with that and I think you nailed it!
2 points missed
But i would rather be where we are today, than where i thought we would be before season started.
lets get Liverpool
Nice treatment, Guv’. I hope you’re mending well.
On balance, I am disappointed with the draw (perhaps that’s our punishment for my adopting the “MUMBD” benediction… I’ll not depart from the script again). In two games against van Stapleton and the Moyes contemptibles, we have only taken 1 point. It’s similar to the mental complex the Chicago Bulls had vis-a-vis the Detroit Pistons…until we beat them, they will hold an edge over us.
Watching the game, Yanited never seemed likely to score except against the run of play. But we never really seemed capable of punishing them either…and this is with Rafael (and later Rio) on the pitch at centerback. I’m afraid Giroud is too reliant on holding-up the ball at the expense of some true goal-scoring focus. When his “fulcrum” role works (like the Ox’s second goal against Palace), it’s a thing of sublime beauty. When it doesn’t work, Giroud too often serves as a funnel bringing the ball into the middle of an opponent set up in two banks of four. Poof! There goes the build-up and goat threat. Nine men behind the ball, then break with pace on the counter…that is become the primer for breaking down the Gunners – we (read, Wenger) must find a way to overcome that kryptonite.
Perhaps that’s when we should switch to a different mode of attack – shots from distance, Giroud the attacker (as opposed to hold-up man), width and pace with Gnabry. I wish I knew the answer…I wish Wenger knew the answer.
On the sunnyside (always look on the bright side of life…) Chezzer was (and is) immense. How many points has he earned us this season?
We have to get back on the winning foot. There are bogeys, bandits, and bastards (I see you Brendan/Jose/Pulis) lying in wait all around…harmony will see us through.
And another shout to Scruzgooner. Top man. Add 3 points the next time we watch a match and I’ll start singing Army (and Arsenal) fighting songs from the bar. Wow, it ain’t easy practicing law after an Arsenal lunchbreak.
Win the next match.
BMBD
“Goal” threat, even.
Wow, I had a few more pints than I intended…I hold you at fault Scruz.
Now, where’s that bond resolution?…oh yes, here it is. Wait, that shouldn’t be a $100 mil bond election…or should it?
BMBD
Just read “benediction”
lonestar
i nearly genuflected
catholic shite sticks
😉
If ever there was a time to play two up front and only one in front of the CDs, this was it. Giroud AND Poldi would surely have been better than Arteta and Jack. But the Poldi mystery continues…
And where was Ox? Didn’t he score twice recently? So why only given 15 minutes this time? And is Gnabry injured?
Bugga being champions, realistically we’re now in a fight for 4th, and more likely to win the FA Cup or CL.
AW is making mistakes again, imo.
Öskar
Well written, Holic. There was a level of trepidation in the play, as one would expect. The fabled handbrake was truly on throughout the game. As A.W said post match, the pasting on Saturday left a mark(indelible?) on the psyche of the boys as they are only human. A point is better than none but the boys could have gotten more against this hapless lot that happen to be defending champions (how?).
There are more challenges ahead but I reiterate that these lads WILL WIN something this season. I have probably declared open season on my humble self, but I haven’t felt this way in ages.
It isn’t a three horse race but we have as much a chance as any other to win the league this season. Call me what you may, but Arsenal will finish above 3rd place.
COYG.
Just back fro the game.
I should begin by apologising to all Giroud/HFB fans out there.
He works hard, links moderately well with the MFers – tho’ we have lots of good link up players but he simply does not take or create enough chances.
IT’S HIGH FUCKING TIME THAT WE HAD A DECENT STRIKER WHO COULD TAKE >50% OF THE OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED TO HIM.
Thankyou for your attention.
Rant over.
P.S. Someone tell LJW not to get caught on possession in our own half again, please. It’ll cost us again one day. Thank you.
Mini-rant over.
Nytol
Note that Fulham, currently bottom, also had a draw and a loss against Manure and Poo in the last seven days, but with a superior goal diff to ours.
Nuff said!
Öskar
Fine post H.
I’m rueing big time here.
We are not, as a consequence of an ineptly managed summer transfer window, being (in the words of Steve T) the best we can be.
Opportunity lost.
I have just returned from what seems this season to be a perpetually cold, wet Emirates although we spent the fifteen minutes before the game watering the pitch!
I have hesitated about contributing tonight because I desperately want to be positive about what we are doing this season but feel that we are likely to fall short of the title because we can’t beat the bigger teams. Frankly this United side were very ordinary but we are very restricted with a one- paced ( and that pace is slow) striker meaning we can’t play on the break. Today we missed Theo and Aaron Ramsey enormously and yet unless Sanogo reveals remarkable qualities before his inevitable next injury we have no alternative. We find it hard to break down the better teams when they drop deep and we find it hard to resist the quicker attacks because we aren’t strong in our defensive midfield. There were some positives. We defended well especially centrally, Wojciech made a great save but hardly was occupied enough to be MOTM. I thought Ozil worked tirelessly but never was it more obvious that we lack the attacking players to bring the best out of him.
To complete a frustrating night Jack was awful. He slowed the attack down, was inaccurate and casual in his passing and was nowhere near effective enough. I was amazed that he stayed on when Tommy went off.
The penalty shout was at our end and looked good to me but then I am biased and Clattenberg was incredibly lenient but reasonably consistent. He is a much better ref than Howard Webb or Mike Dean as he is less self- regarding and tries to let the game flow.
There were positives. The Dutch skunk didn’t score and Rooney looked thoroughly fed up. Moyes must go but hopefully not for at least five years. There is awful travel disruption up North. Fortunately most of their fans live in Surrey.
24
oskar
zactly
last drinks
i said same
fulham
fuckin fulham
jeez
And having back-drunk, I agree with the question: why did Poldi not get a run out? or even Sanogo – Frankly even Bendy could have added some threat up front in the last 15 when Ozil, Santi and the fullbacks were beginning to carve them open.
The only run out I’d give Sanogo is a run out of the ground to catch the tube. I can’t understand why Podolski is not getting games unless he is unfit yet again. Unless the manager doesn’t rate him.
This is not a bleating post, but we’re not going to win the league with a striker and top scorer who only has ten goals in 26 games. No team would. I’m not knocking OG because he is a far better player than most people give him credit for, he just doesn’t get enough goals and misses too many regulation chances, let alone half chances.
Nice one H,hope youare feeling better.
I see the’ Vertical man ‘ is in full flight from across the waters.
Even though i am a ‘ Horizontal ‘ man myself,my Old man always said
” Live and let Live Son,otherwise the Gravy ends up all over the fucking table instead of on the Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding.”
Cannot see why doom and gloom is all pervasive over tonights result.
Anyone expecting anything other than a dour battle between a team recovering from a 5 -1 shellacking,and a team completely out of sorts
and determined not to lose,were very optimistic to say the least.
Much more important not to lose this one,as a defeat would have had dire consequences.
As with the City defeat,we were again unlucky that our ‘ recovery ‘ game was against a team we have had very little success against in recent times.
So confidence building blocks are being rebuilt,another clean sheet at the Ems,and 3 very winnable league games to come against Sunderland,Stoke and Swansea,the latter dependent on our Cup result this Sunday.
Only a point off the top,Flamini to return to bolster the midfield on Sunday,and 2 great Cup games to look forward to.
All teams have blips in a season,our 2 have cost us 5 out of 6 pts each time.
If we have another one it may well be terminal,but that is for the future to decide.
We can speculate till the Cows come home about who we should have bought in the summer/winter transfer market,but that is not going to solve anything now.
We’ve got what we’ve got and it is up to the Boss to use his resources as he sees fit.
For me,he is not doing a bad job if our league postion is anything to go by.
His belief and trust in his players is total,so should ours be,because they are all we’ve got.
Cheers
The Sweeper
I’m guessin
those that do
and
indeed those who can
splurge their ideas
all over the show
though
stay away
from
my george cox s
Oh o
*lurks*
I always said you were a genius, cba. Lowercase but upperclass. 😉
Öskar
Opportunity lost to go top there, but it was vital we did not lose so while not ideal, I’ll settle for a point.
Ugggh….really wanted to beat those clowns
Just finished backdrinking.
@30: Great post Sweeper! Have a glass of red wine on me. 😀
Evening clive
you don’t make
any attempt
to pretend
you like me
i don’t know you
but
as part of the ‘holic mush
i look forward to
your posts
(yer no trevtabsh2h,though)
but still do
.
night
vertical over the water me
and the answer to the question in the headline is a definite “No!”
33
oskar
you flatter me
with your lies
🙂
I arrived at the ground about 40 minutes early. Not really enough time to make it to the pub and way too early to go inside. I trip to the shop it was then. There I confirmed what I already knew. That Arsenal is all about money these days. Bath had already highlighted the thoughtful advice given by the club if there was a tube strike. The shop was full of tourists being charged extortionate prices for Nike gear that will be out of date within 3 months. Always an eye for a quick buck I guess.
Inside the ground was an initial degree of optimism. Most people seemed to be positive. Surely there was three points there for the taking? This Manc side are as poor as people could remember. Surely its in the bag??? Sadly not.
I agree with a lot of the above but Bath and H2H nail it for me. What we were served up today was not great. At times we looked rudderless and devoid of ideas. I understand that after the weekend we were not going to go out all guns blazing. But as I said earlier, I just could not see us scoring. We huffed a lot, we puffed a lot but like the weather we were thoroughly miserable.
We did seem stronger at the back but we had a midfield that really had little idea. I thought we played as individuals rather than as a team. Holic is spot on re the lack of pace. It was so evident that I was considering warming up at one stage. At times we look so lacklustre. Why do we break and then seem to wait for the opposition to get back? Why do we make the game so narrow and try and pass the ball through the eye of a needle in mass congestion? Why when we do get wide to we seem to hit aimless balls aimed at one attacker and four defenders? Why when we have the ball 10/15 yards form the opposition goal line does it take only a few seconds for the ball to end up with our defenders halfway back in our half? Why do our midfield players not bust their balls to get up and support the lone striker??? I could go on.
We desperately miss pace and genuine ability up front. Why we had three strikers on the bench and did not give one an outing will always be beyond me. The Mancs created even less that us but if you want to see what we are really missing watch the move that ends up with that great save by Shezza. RVP runs with pace AT the defence. He lays of the ball to the FGS. Then watch his movement. He manages to get into a position between three defenders that allows a great cross to come in for him to do everything but score thanks to Shezza. Personally I do not want to blame Ollie G for our lack of potency in front of goal. He never has and never will be prolific. The poor bloke is knackered. He is out on his arse. He has been flogged and flogged and is now bordering on diminishing returns. He looked shot at the end of this game and the last thing he needs is games against Liverpool and Bayern in the next 7 days. Why no Poldi or anyone else to share the load I will never get.
There were lots of boos at the end most of which I would suggest was directed at the way we played in injury time rather than for the rest of the performance. My feelings are that we had the intention of never wanting to lose the game. We did not focus on trying to win the game enough for me.
All in all a very disappointing night. Very little ambition and that was probably the most disappointing. The optimism of a few months ago is disappearing. There are more and more dissenters as weeks go by. Sadly, performances like this do nothing to swing the pendulum back the other way. I just hope we have a tad more to offer on Sunday.
I posted this in the previous set of drinks but thought it was well worth repeating…..
One interesting stat from tonight’s programme. This season Özil has created 56 chances. That is 21 more than Santi in second place. Now, if that is not irrefutable evidence of both his quality and of how much we miss a top striker then I really do not know what is.
So is that the big response the manager wanted the team to show tonight? Another game where he talks about the handbrake!
Sigh.
Also irrefutable evidence of which is more important, creating chances or converting them!
Öskar
If you create nothing then you convert even less. The fact that there is no outlet means that a lot of the work he does goes begging. I would respectfully suggest that that is not his fault. We fucked up massively not bringing in a striker. I think you will struggle to find many more vocal than me on that subject. Had we done so then who knows what we might be dreaming of???
Now, I dream of Jeannie.
steve t
39
good read
CBA
Not sure why you think i don’t like you.
I know i did threaten to get my shotgun once,but that was only in jest.
I think your posts are very amusing.
it’s just going down the page instead of across, causes my eyes to water.!!
My sentiments entirely, Steve.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
In our case, For want of a striker…
Öskar
just to say that was the most enjoyable draw, entirely due to dallas’ resident top gooner, lonestar. thanks for the generous hospitality…can’t remember the last time I’ve had a 4 pint game ;). I really enjoyed meeting you, and spending the time with you cheering on our gunners.
as for the game. we had our chances, they theirs, and it was a fair result. we are *this* close to winning this thing…
Great post @ 39 Steve
Even more commendable considering your long evening going to the game.
cheers
The Sweeper
Thanks, Holic.
A very fair piece and more positive than I admit I felt at the final whistle.
They will not be surprised to see that I agree with H2H, bath and Steve T above.
It is pretty clear that our midfielders don’t have it in their locker to burst past opponents, or even trick their way past Premier League defenders because they are not pacy or powerful enough.
In that case it is vital that their is a lot of movement around the player in possession, and team mates running ahead of the ball to get into striking positions. We seem currently to have reverted to sideways tippy tappy and over intricate tight passing movements right through the middle of overcrowded opposition defences.
There is no pace in the attacking half of the team, and it is making it almost impossible for Ozil – or anybody else – to find the killer pass.
I would love to know what the problem with Podolski is. His continued absence in the light of performances like tonight’s is truly baffling. He would provide some width, pace and purpose to a team which, at the moment, lacks all three of those qualities.
Congratulations to Woj though. After almost gifting them an early opener, he produced another fine display and a worldie to deny van Persie.
and lonestar, iirc it was your voice ordering each round…but I was getting furrier with each round, so my memory could be likewise 😉
I agreed with Clive in the last drinks that in the wake of the Anfield debacle not losing was the first priority, even if a win was the optimal result. So I am not going to complain about the draw. We are, as you observe ‘Holic, second with a dozen games to play and the final outcome still in our hands. Not doing it the easy way by an means, but still in with a good shout of doing it.
While a clean sheet after the 5-1 is positive, the opportunity lost grates. Like mentioned in the back drinks, I’ll never know why Podolski doesn’t play. There must be some way of sneaking into Wenger’s and the team’s brains a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and erase the very thought of this infamous handbreak. That’s bound to help.
Disappointing overall, Arsene said that there were a lot questions to be answered after our performance at Anfield. While we did answer a few,but there were many others that were thrown up. Giroud was absolutely knackered, surely Wenger knew that he cannot be played week in week out especially during a run in like this ? I can understand him not going and getting a striker in the hope that Sanogo or Podolski will come good, but what absolutely pisses me off is that we do not give them a chance when it was obvious to everyone today that Giroud was not going to cut it. Hand on heart how many of you here thought that Giroud was going to get us that winner today ? The problem now is that we do not have a breather, we play Liverpool, Bayern and then Sunderland in quick succession. What options has Arsene got ? The thing that pisses me off most is that he has the gall to come out and say ” we are only human”, well then why did you not go out and buy someone who could help you in times like these ? I want someone to ask Arsene that given how financially prudent he is , would he pay a manger over 65 million pounds in a ten year period where he has won nothing if he was the manager ? I felt players like Ozil and Cazorla are being let down completely, I would like to see Arsene try something new this weekend in the cup, but I think I know what I am going to see.
Just backdrunk Clive’s@30. And agree with that, too.
Fully agree with Goonersince54@30, our tactical focus was not to concede first, and go for the goal(s) towards the end of the match where the deep-lying opposition defense would more likely to tire out and can be moved out of position. Not the most adventurous tactics, but something that has worked very well for us this season against most teams. And it almost paid off.
Even though I would like to see Poldi start most matches — I think he is a very good left-sided winger, not just an excellent goal scorer — today his omission from the starting line-up can be understood. We needed someone who can hold on to the ball and dictate tempo, and both Santi and TR7 are good at that. One alternative could have been not playing Jack at all but playing TR7 in the box-to-box role, Santi in the middle and Ozil down the right (to interchange), and Poldi on the left.
What is mysterious is not attempting that even as an alternative after 60 odd minutes especially when Jack was showing signs of completing losing the shape and discipline.
Also, I think for a team of our technical quality we should really improve upon the set-piece delivery and be less wasteful about those. Have multiple variations and plans, and execute them in a regular and consistent basis.
As an isolated match, frustrating. Very. But this still retains all the possibilities of a very good season.
Another comment about easy Wenger-bashing (not many in this bar, fortunately): in contrast to many comments, I find his newfound pragmatism and realignment of playing style to be the sign of an ever-growing, ever-learning and fundamentally humble personality. Last one year we have not been playing anything like what Arsene’s team used to do. Gone are the cavalier attack-mindedness, gone are the continuous passing bravados, gone are the adventurous sprints of center backs. A more measured, composed, prosaic approach to fit a team that is built on solidity, tactical nous and technical consistency. And it has worked. When this season started how many of us had thought we would be one point off the top of PL at the middle of February? But we are here, and he does deserve some credit for that.
And, how we miss Theo and Rambo!
February frustration but April abundance?
Thank you for the review Holic. I’m only now getting to watch the match so I have nothing to add at this point other than we missed a chance to capitalize on the Chavs dropping points.
For all the differences of opinions in this bar, there are 2 areas that seem to enjoy some agreement regardless of your expectations of the team.
1- the manner of the loss to Liverpool was disappointing
2- our inconsistent performances at crucial times in the season.
so what are our expectations for the team.
Arsene regularly speaks about ‘quality football” and consistency as the two key things he wants from the team,week in week out.
Personally, the beautiful football philosophy starting from our academy is the original and main reason for my love of this club and also arsene as a leader and a coach.
I believe this is also a great overriding club philosophy.
Combine quality football and consistency of effort with a world class experienced manager, world class facilities, a world class academy and an industry leading financial model and you should have a successful recipe for success.
so why have those two key ingredients of quality football on a consistent basis, eluded Arsene and Arsenal FC for the last 8 years.
unfortunately we are consistently inconsistent…..and I fear that Holic is spot on with his comments above, that these last two performances could come back to haunt us.
How we miss Theo and Aaron indeed Dr. Faustus! Other than Aaron, it is safe to say, that all of our other midfielders flock towards the ball. Aaron is the only one who bursts a lung to get into the box or behind the defense. Likewise, Theo gives us such a different dimension and pace, thus, he’s really missed in games like these.
Our midfielders constantly do something that we were all taught not to do from schoolboy days, that is, play a good attacking pass and instead of bursting a lung to get into the box, stand and admire the pass – “Wow, what I beautiful pass I made”. I saw that at least 10 times in the game last night.
I thought ManU were there for the taking but we will just have to do with the point and keep it moving. Chins up Gooners!
Should be ” Wow, what a beautiful pass I made”.
1) No pace.
2) No penetration.
3) No Plan B striker or upgrade striker.
4) Plenty of cash in the bank.
5) Increased season ticket prices.
Equals no league title.
The FA Cup is the only real hope of ending this seemingly never to end silverware drought.
That is all.
Cheers Holic. Load of experts about I see.
The first 4 Mrs Noire’s told me what an absolute pain in the Arse Mr Noire was,but of course i didn’t listen.!!
I haven’t told him yet,but i am soon to be the Ex Mrs Noire.
He never knows when to call it quits,always has to have the final word.
He cannot even ‘ rise ‘ to the occasion any more,such is his obsession with the Goonerholic site.
He has many Pseudonyms as you are all well aware,but i just call him
‘ Fuck Knuckle’ when he is not listening.
I think it sums him up perfectly.
Morning Esso
Trust you are well.
looking forward to Sunday.??
Holic, as always you are spot on with your report.
Am I happy with the one point? No.
Am I looking at it as a disaster? No.
Three points would have been great, but don’t underestimate the importance of that clean sheet. I really can’t blame the team for not going all-out gung-ho attack at the end. Not losing was absolutely vital in this game. Also, remember how the team got pelted for “not being professional and at least making sure we didn’t lose” when they went for it v Dortmund? Well, it seems the team did learn their lesson but they still get pelted for doing the opposite of what they were pelted for then…
I also feel that people tend to forget that this was a full-strength ManU. Don’t forget that their problems mainly stem from Rooney and RvP not being fit for large parts of the season. Should we still have beaten them? Hell yeah, but this is not a team that would have been sitting in 8th if they had been able to play the same players they did last night all season.
And, what if Clattenburg had shown Vidic the yellow he should have seen after three very deliberate fouls in 25 minutes? What if Vidic had been shown the red for elbowing Giroud in the head? Or the clear penalty been given for his push on Giroud? Or if Clattenburg, instead of swapping tips with Rooney on where you get the best hair transplant, had shown him at least one of the several yellows he should have had? At least one ref is still scared shitless of Alex Ferguson, that much could be seen last night.
Yes, we should have won regardless of the ref. And I thought as the game went on we improved and did create a few chances that on another day could have gone in. Again, I am not happy with the overall performance but the worst thing we can do now is panic. We do miss Ramsey and Theo, but there is no point in crying over that particular spilt milk (apart, perhaps, from once again question why the hell we still haven’t found the answer to why we get all these bloody injuries of course) and just look to the next game.
Lastly, a word on Giroud. Yes, he missed a few half-decent chances. But did you see the way he kept two central defenders busy on his own? He was there for one-two’s, he provided an outlet for longer balls, he created what little space there could be created and anyone who blames the dropped points on him really needs to have another look at the game. I don’t understand those saying he looked knackered, it didn’t look like that at all to me. He was quite brutally assaulted by Vidic several times and on one occasion Rafael (who injured himself in the process) but still got up every time and came back for more. Like I said earlier he would also have won us a penalty if there hadn’t been a rule that says you can’t give penalties against ManU in the league.
So, once more: not happy with just the one point – but let us not forget the importance of not losing.
Lars you Viking.!!
You have surpassed yourself my friend.
Top Post,and not one spelling mistake.!!
Plus,you have also vindicated my previous posts about the importance of not losing last night.
Cheers
A very impressed Sweeper
I second the Sweeper@67.
And good start for Tre Kronor yesterday, Lars – even if they did wobble a bit in the second period.
Just want to add that at this stage last season, no-one gave us much of a chance of getting fourth. All to play for and lots of twists and excitement to come. I could understand all the doom if we’d drawn 0-0 away to Norwich.
Ah Mrs Noire No. 5 thank you for reminding me of the wonderful phrase “Fuck knuckle” that my old man used to bestow on me regularly, that and many of H2H’s fantastic phrases bring a gleeful smile to my face, and it is one of many reasons I drink quietly at the back of this bar.
Aussie @59 a thoughtful and perceptive post. As a S’sider I don’t always agree with some of your posts but you lucidly defend your views well and I agree with you here.
Lars – boss post as always. To Steve T, Trev, TTG,, N7 and others (again to numerous to post) over the last few postings cheers for the debates, views and comments, it’s kept me distracted and amused after the shambles of the last games.
However, a crappy couple of games, many injuries, handbrake on – oh how I’ve missed my Arsenal.
Zico knows @ 10
well
its a big howdy from me lars
66
a top read
.
g’morning you, ‘hol and all
Steve @ 40 knows
Thanks, Sweeper – truly appreciate your kind words.
dk: yes, good start for the hockey team but I struggle to find any enthusiasm for these first few games which are little more than friendlies. But if they make it to the final I’ll be glued to the screen – unless Arsenal are playing at the same time (don’t know when the final is) in which case I’ll say “Hockey? Fuck that!” 🙂
LTGH: cheers!
47
if we’d ham
we’d have ham ‘n’ eggs
if we’d eggs
Doctor festus’s opening paragraph at 56 sums it up for me. I also believe we could and should have nicked it with a little more confidence!
On to the next one!
My mate was at the scouse match last night, His words to me were that Pool were unconvincing and were saved by a debatable last minute pen!
Such is life! Let’s be sure to make them feel welcome when they visit at the fortress on Sunday!
Remember “soak up the early pressure”. They’ll wear themselves out eventually! 😉
All I can say is that it’s about time we got one of these “debatable” last minute penalties, although I didn’t see anything debatable about Vidic’s shove on Giroud. The only people who can have thought that wasn’t a penalty were the officials and that half-pint, half-brained “expert” on BT Sport. According to him the ref had a perfect game. Vidic shove on Giroud? Oh, he went down rather easily. Rosicky leaning a bit on Evra? Clear foul. Cleverley taking both Santi’s legs away from behind? No foul. Perfect refereeing every time. Maybe little Mickey’s doing his ref’s badge exams.
Lars knows.
The Dortmund point is an excellent one. Imagine the brickbats for the manager if we’d poured forward yesterday and got ourselves caught – it’s not as if the opposition lacked quality strikers.
That said, I did feel it was odd Poldi remained on the bench (though Santi, who he’d probably have replaced, looked the man most likely in the closing 20 mins) and I also felt we should have started with either Ox or Gnabry on the right wing – Evra was clearly vulnerable and we needed to stretch their defence, who instead were allowed to defend very narrow, which suited them well.
As per the previous drinks, I thought Ozil, Gibbs and Chesney were all excellent on the night. I thought Jack had a very disappointing game, one he’ll want to forget, and it’s important we get him up and firing again quickly.
It wasn’t the performance we hoped for, but nor was it a disaster. We looked a team coming off the back of a hiding and prioritising not getting beat, which may well have been a sensible policy.
Agree that we are in danger of being sucked back into a battle for fourth. Important that win the next three league games to give ourselves a bit of a cushion, although I still think Liverpool will drop points away and the LWCs will hopefully revert to type.
At the end of the day, we’re through the first mini run of tough league games and we’re still within a fingertip of top spot. It’s been a real theme of the season that we run the gauntlet, produce mediocre results against the top sides and yet still somehow hang on in there. If we are in the same position after the difficult run in March I will genuinely fancy our chances.
Regarding the weekend, I’ve a nasty feeling we’ll be seeing a greatly weakened side, and perhaps a cup exit. Very hard to see which of our upcoming two games should be prioritised, although I suppose the notion we’d ever rest players against Bayern is fanciful.
Agreed dkg. Clear, clear pen. Hand across the back and a shove when the defender had got wrong side.
77 league games and counting for Utd without conceding one…
Hey Mickey you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind hey mickey…
…Unfortunately DK, we might have to put up with his muggy comments again on Sunday! 🙁
Agree with my learned friends above, Clattenberg is debateable all on to himself!
N7 – I’d be astonished if we played a weakened team against Liverpool, especially as one of Man City/Chelsea will be going out this weekend and putting up the white flag at home wouldn’t help confidence at all.
I’m still not too worried about Liverpool (who have a habit of tripping up against weaker teams, I mean they laboured against Fulham yesterday) and the Spuds (who have Sherwood as manager, enough said). But we just need to focus on our results.
Cheers, Scruz. It was a pleasure to sneak out of the office today, knock back several pints, and slink back into the office just as casual as you like. Great stuff.
For want of a…well if “if” were a fifth, we’d all be drunk.
Chel$ki away in my mind will decide things. It’s all there to play for, and I believe we will do it this year. COYG!
By the way, what, exactly is a “fuck knuckle”? 😉
BMBD
Zico’s betel noire must be doing something right to have cajoled 5 women into saying “I do.”
Then again, maybe it was his “intellect?”
BMBD
Is Flamini back for the weekend? I have a vague recollection that the ban was three, rather than four, games. I may be mistaken.
I’ve a feeling we’ll see the same back five again, bar maybe Nacho for Gibbs, then maybe Flamini and Ox at the base of midfield with Poldo, Ozil and Gnabry ahead of them.
Up front is where he has the real dilemma – can OG play all three of our upcoming fixtures? I suspect not. I reckon he’ll either play Poldi up top and retain Santi on the left wing or perhaps even start Sanogo or NB52.
Some very difficult decisions coming up.
Poldi, rather than Poldo – sounds like a Hobbit.
Snir, mate, you were discussed today…and missed. hope all is well with you, buddy.
BMBD
In the last set of drinks I posted some staggering data from last night about Wilshere:
Wilshere had ZERO clearances, ZERO tackles, ZERO interceptions!
But, it is not just low numbers for him, there are some big ones too.
He had SIX turnovers and 81% passing accuracy.
There was no response.
So I must ask once again. Is everyone satisfied with that the player in that position has zero interceptions, clearances and tackles adding six turnovers in the process?
Or it comes normal for you with Wilshere, considering those numbers are near to his standard this season?
Not looking for a scapegoat more than anyone out there bashing Giroud. At least Giroud was fighting, was brave and worked hardest of all the players on the pitch last night.
What was Wilshere doing except losing the ball which resulted in THREE goal scoring opportunities for the visitors? Oh, forgot that he was falling and was hurt most of the time. No, the opposition does not want to hurt him all the time. Not more than our other players. Constant falling- it is up to him.
Wanted to write more balanced post, but I’ve just finished re-watching the game. And was more furious than I was last night. He played so bad, so Denilson-esque, that I am out of words to describe it. But when the words fail you the stats never do.
Depending on what you mean by “weakened team”, I agree that we won’t put out a team designed to lose the game or anything like that. But I am pretty sure we’ll see Bendtner, Nacho, Jenkinson, Podolski and Flamini in the starting 11 and probably Gnabry too. We’ll see something like this, I’d guess:
Fab
Jenks-Per-Kos-Nacho
Flamini
Cazorla-Chambo
Gabry-Bendtner-Poldi
If Vermaelen is fit he’ll play instead of one of Kos/BFG.
My order of priority for that game is 1) win it and 2) whatever we do, don’t get a fucking replay. Ok, I’m not going to pretend I’d rather lose the game than get a replay but the way our squad is stretched at the moment I really don’t think a replay at Anfield Road is the best thing for us right now.
@Lurky
Not sure what you’re after here.
Wilshere had a terrible game, not sure anyone is going to disagree. What more is there to say?
@Lars
Looks about right to me. I wonder if he might retain Ozil though – he’s not rested him often this season and may feel he needs to keep playing his way back to full form.
Agree about the replay. Cannot happen.
TTG @ 26
A belated tip of the hat to your post @26 – it summed up perfectly my own feelings, especially regarding results against bigger teams, missing the pace of Theo, lack of a real dm, the contributions of Ozil and Jack and the performance of Clattenberg. He is the best referee in the EPL by some distance – my only criticism being that Rooney should have been cautioned for constant dissent rather than simply warned.
Definitely two points dropped, no psychological blow landed and, more worryingly, difficult at the moment to see where the required improvement will come from. Our lack of forward movement off the ball, as noted by others above, is costing us dearly.
Let’s hope that Arsene can find a solution – quickly.
UTA.
[…] The most open title chase in many a year is taking shape and we are not out of it, by any stretch of the imagination. It is, however, hard to remind yourself of that having secured just one point out of six against the most vulnerable reigning champions ever. If we miss out by two or three points in May we will remember these two games I fancy. – Goonerholic. […]
@90.
Terrible game? One terrible game?
He has terrible season. And the fact that he scored couple of goals here and there doesn’t change that.
So, what am I suggesting you’ve asked.
It is quite simple, don’t start Wilshere. Don’t rush him. Let him find his form slowly. From the bench. Coming on as a sub. Whatever. Just don’t start him.
And f you start him, let him have one of the wings or in the hole, where he is least dangerous to our goal.
Because in case you haven’t noticed, he is a danger to our goal!
@Lurky
Ok, so you’re making a broader point about Wilshere then.
I’m not sure I agree his season has been “terrible”. The last two games certainly have, but he’s come back from a knock and is usually slow to recover. Before the knock I thought he was playing pretty well.
It would be tempting not to start him, but look at the alternatives: Flamini and Arteta (didn’t work at all last time they played together) or play the Ox, who is a kid and still adjusting to central midfield. I think it would be very very brave to try the latter vs Bayern.
If we’re going to get anything out of the next month or so we are going to need something from Jack. It’s as simple as that. Certainly much more than he showed last night.
Hopefully he can play his way back into form in time for the tough run of games in March.
Your stats didn’t surprise me at all. Anyone with eyes could see he had a howler last night. Kept giving the ball up when pressed, and he can expect a lot more of that treatment when we play Bayern, because they will press as hard as anyone.
LTHG@69- cheers and lets all hope the good arsenal returns soon.
N7.
You forgot Rosicky, he can play in that position.
Anyway, not sure what to think of Wilshere anymore to be honest.
I had great expectations about him, he was our finest prospect couple of years ago. But this flaws in his game were obvious even then. Remember the game vs Barca that everyone, including myself, is pointing as his greatest performance ever. I remember that game and at the time I thought that he was great, that he dominated Barca’s famous midfield.
But, watch the Wilshere vs Barca video on the tube and you will find yourself amazed.
It is the same Wilshere we have at the moment. Tendency to over complicate is there, running into cul de sacs evident even then, losing the ball on our half- there, tendency to fall on every touch- you can’t miss it, it’s there.
I thought that he will learn in time. Not so sure anymore. Injury surely didn’t help him. No matter what, I want him so succeed so badly, because he is one of us, he is bleeding Arsenal, so I desperately hope that I am wrong.
Lurky, I’m quite sure Wilshere will find his feet again. He’s currently suffering from the same thing that happened to Ramsey, i.e. trying too hard and thinking too much instead of just going with gut instinct. Ramsey eventually got back to basics (play the simple pass as soon as you see it even if it’s just a safety pass backwards) and built from there, Wilshere will hopefully do the same.
And I agree with N7 that his season as a whole has been far from a disaster. Inconsistent, yes, but far from all games have been disastrous.
Crosses for the far post and goes to lunch…
Spot on Oskar @47
In a nutshell
However I do believe that Arsene understands that and did try to address it both in the summer and in January. Just could not seal the deals/loans.
Easy one
Meanwhile this particular geriatric striker who scores effortlessly and unconsciously, is available. (Down Wolfie) 🙂
Aaaarghhhh, I sure know how Giroud felt yesterday.
Well in Bath!
@ Lurky
I was going to post exactly what Lars just has re: the Wilshere/Ramsey comparson – he beat me to it!
I would also add that I think his game will always be slightly risky. Arsene has talked about how he wants to see him break through those packs of players, as he’s so fond of doing, and how that can disturb the opposition’s shape. He clearly sees it as a major strength of Jack’s.
The downside of that if that when it goes wrong we get situations like last night. It doesn’t surprise me to hear that he ran into the occasional blind alley even against Barca.
What I’d guess he needs to learn is when to stick and when to twist. Last night, for example: 0-0, big game, 5 mins to go, on the halfway line with your defensive midfield partner ahead of you = stick.
I still think he’ll become a very good player and, in the absence of Ramsey, I don’t see us achieving anything of note this season if we can’t get a performance out of him. Injuries have made him critical.
Lars, I can only hope that you are right.
However I find it difficult to compare him to Ramsey. Wilshere is nowhere near the intelligence Ramsey possesses, both on and off the pitch, and I find intelligence as the main ingredient of players potential progress.
He has the talent and skills, even more than Ramsey does, but lacks sharpness, cleverness and rationality.
And I agree with you, if he could only simplify his game back to the basics, he has a chance. Until then he deserves no more than a bench, at least when most of our players are healthy.
That’s for the sake of this season.
Thanks Maestro. As usual, balance, perspective and common sense all wrapped in one post. I’m sure the championship will go right down to the wire this season and I hope we’re still in it when it does.
FA Cup next and a chance to atone for last weekend’s sins. Come on you Gunners!
N7
Agree, once more.
Breaking through those packs of players is Wilshere greatest strength.
The question remains, is this strength suited for his actual role in the team. Or, as I suggested, he should be better on the flank or in the hole where the risk of being dispossessed is not that damaging.
apologies in advance
just got
a new phone
has internet
is it possible
to get new ‘holic posts
and
new drinks
sent automatically ?
i won’t make a vertical
nuisance
of meself clive
i promise
Getting a strong sense of de ja vu all over again in the bar. I think I’ll go back to just watching football.
i should say
i have
running water
all the utilities
and
the cattle don’t live
in me home
where the coyotes
don’t roam
either
just
technologically un-savvy
bout some shite
😉
techy help appreciated
Lurky @103 – I trust that included thumping the earth with your fist and producing a ‘girning’ look on your face then looking to the sky (and wishing that you had inherited DNA providing decent acceleration and pace).
All a bit of a damp squib. Both teams played not to lose . It was so sad to see Jack floundering last night, nothing he tried came off and I was left wondering why he wasn’t subbed at the interval.
Everything has already been said on our strike problem,the HFB is spent and there was little support in the box to take advantage of Ozil and Santi’s endeavours in the second half. Chezzer saved our bacon with that remarkable save from the Dutchman’s header but there was little to warm us up on a very chilly night.
The biggest cheer of the night was when the tanoy announced at half time that Euston station was closed. I suppose I should be grateful the game was played at all and the 22.14 got us all home, having heard this morning of the guy from Weymouth who spent 8 hours driving to Eastlands only to find the game off.
Here’s hoping for better fare on Sunday.
As always COYRs
bath
d’you know how
to get ‘hol’s posts
and the drinks
automated ?
i’m typing on a miniscule
touchscreen
sheesh
nightmare
i’m guessing it’s a
sight to behold
it appears
my seed
is falling on rocky ground
its beltin down snow
here
a homemade heartstarter
of
homemade heartstarter
is perhaps.excusable
*opens swally bottle and throat*
cba
sorry
I don’t
I am
IT
illiterate
and even have
to reload
to get
new drinks
on my laptop
I do
enjoy your
poetry
most
reminiscent of
good ol’
ee cummings
but
as you see
I
can’t
do that\either.
🙂
A draw and we avoid psycho devastation .
In a week or two , Ramsey will be back and we should be very strong again .
cheers anyway you’re a champion – mind you – is the horizontal hold bust on yer telly too
MG @116 – no date yet on Rambo return – not good.
cba @ 117 – heh
Interesting take on last night’s game from P Barclay:
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/patrick-barclay-settle-the-nerves-this-result-will-just-make-things-worse-arsene-9125781.html
but
now that we’re
on the subject
where did this notion
arise
that i am attempting
to write poetry
the long
thin drinks
were originally
for
computer screen reasons
right side was
busted
now
i
just do it
through habit
Oh really?
There was me thinking you were an artiste.
proper snowin
have locked down
the house
if the family
have an issue with me
at
the head of the table
carving the baked beans
then
its their loss
more forensically carved
beans for me
.
i’m guessin herself
will land back
with pizza
.
aren’t other
people great
(people grate)
.
Howdy and outty
I would like some long thin drinks, seein’ as yer askin’ cba. 😎
for you zee
no problem
I am finding it incredibly amusing that Lurky has turned on Wilshere.
This from the poster who moaned incessantly about Ramsey and wanted him binned in similar circumstances (i.e. his first season back after a long injury) – too slow, blah blah….
If you back drink long enough you’ll find plenty of evidence.
For what it’s worth, I think he’s been pretty poor of late (Jack, not Lurky) but I expect him to come through it.
Rosicky didn’t pull up any trees for me last night either, given how he is being championed as the obvious solution.
The only tree pullers last night were Szcz (after the first minute accident with the silly ball to Arteta) and Kos though there were a fair few decent performances: Per, Bac, Gibbsy, Arteta (after the first minute accident), Ozil, Santi and Rosicky.
We really need a striker who can create something out of nothing or can take the chances offered. I can’t see him in this squad and I can’t see silver without that or a very large slice of luck.
i can’t
live
with my
head
thinkin of movin out
but
what would
i do with the kids ?
they watch my
every move
and
why wouldn’t they
i.m a vertical master
.
ooooohhhhhhh
.
.
pizza
🙂
italy
thank
you
got chips too
its
like being
in mc milan
.
yum yum
pigs bum
Cheers for the kind ones gents.
A high class of drinks in the bar since I left, so many good points. Puts me in the rather strange position of agreeing with both sides of the coin, the positives and the negatives.
Lurky, I get where you are coming from re Jack. He’s had quite a few outings that could indeed by classed as disappointing. But as Lars and N7 pointed out another player who had been doing the bizz this term struggled with the same problems, in fact I think you could go back in time, read many a post and substitute the names Jack and Wilshere, with Aaron and Ramsey and it would be frighteningly similar to the concerns you are now expressing.
The period he spent out of the game is a long time for one so young, plus the weight of expectation, not only from our fanbase, but also the media as Englands next great hope, is enormous and I feel it is a bit unfair that so much pressure is heaped upon him. Another thing i would say in his defence is that, like Aaron, he doesn’t hide, he always wants to be involved, maybe a lot of what he does doesn’t quite come off, but at least he tries, he is by no means a passenger.
If you’re really looking for someone to blame, then point the finger at Le Boss, because he’s the one that continues to persevere with him, but remember, he did the same with Aaron when almost everybody and their dog “knew” that the Welshman would never reach the standard required to be an Arsenal player.
2 points dropped, sorry these are 2 points dropped ala the everton/chelsea game, we should have won this if not easily but atleast say an odd goal. Castigating Giroud is fine but apart from one clear cross by sagna, the rest of the time the crosses were poor. Giroud though needs to stop this exaggerated touch play and take shots at the goal, he doesnt have a striker’s instinct and thats hurting him and more so us.
Ozil was fantastic, the man is so good that he makes everything so easy but even he needs to shoot for heaven sake, that perfect pass wont happen always mesut so please shoot.
Kos for me was man of the match, woj’s save was terrific but the way kos handled that twat was so soothing, specially the way he shoulder barged him away, wow epic kos, where the hell was that last saturday????
Arsenal are a point behind even now and that is not bad, i think what will win the title for us and yes i say we will win it, will be the points we will/should get against the likes of sunderland/stoke/everton etc in the upcoming games. Win the smaller games guys,limit the damage against the so called title challengers and viola we have a winner.
last note,anyone noticed mata yesterday??? shows that just buying big names may not mean instant success.
Play poldi sunday please, drop jack he was very poor and needs a rest,dont worry pool are good we are better
Got to watch the match this AM. The specter of SAF seemed to hover over the ground, as both sides played with squeaky bums.
It may be that squeaky bum time is looming for the Arsenal, but I have this feeling that every contender and pretender will also succumb to this malady. While all point to the March stretch vs City Chelsea Spuds as make or break, I think the next three “winnable” league matches are the real key to the season.
Afternoon all. Thank to those for their kind words. The one and only Sweeper, top stuff as always. I must admit that when I watch a game that I know will divide opinions then my first thoughts are always, “what would the Ramblers do.” It just makes me smile.
Giroud is running on empty. He needs a break. I do feel for him. He will get a lot of stick for a situation that is not of his making and not his fault.
LJW suffers from fans over expectation. He has been a world beater and the next big thing since he was 15. I must say that I do not think that AW helps with that situation. He could take him out of the spotlight once in a while. He needs time to develop. I have no doubt that he will be very special.
The problem for Jack Wilshere, I believe, is that he is just trying to play his natural game.
That has been, since his time in the youth team, to carry the ball through midfield – to be a dribbler if you like, and a creator.
The problem is that to do that in the Premier League he needs to be completely confident, fully fit, strong and balanced.
Because he is not fully fit, strong or properly balanced, he is not completely confident. If you don’t agree, just watch his irritable reactions to almost everything that is happening to and around him during a game.
Although Wilshere and Ramsey are quite different personalities, there are a lot of similarities in their games.
Other teams and players recognise Jack’s potential. That’s why they clatter him in rotation every game. That makes it very hard for him to recover his form and his fitness.
He is now where Ramsey was a year ago.
Can he make it back ? Time will tell.
He has the talent. A big crowd right behind him will help.
Good work, by the way, Lars, Steve T.
cba – “carving the baked beans”. 😆
As much as Woj saved us again last night with his two stops from judas, it hardly deserved a motm award which is what Michael Owen thought or am I being unfair? I just felt it accentuated the negative when Mesut Ozil was outstanding (or so I thought) with Santi a close second. Between them, they created most of our chances and you could only feel somewhat for Ozil when he countered again and again on the break, only to look up and see poor Giroud trying to keep up.
Numerically, we’re still in the title race. But if we can’t beat a team like Manu at home, do we realistically think we’ll beat Chelsea at the Bridge, or Citeh ? Of course we may not need to, given that no-one seems to be taking the league by the scruff of the neck and assertively putting their stamp on it, but the propensity is that it will most likely be another team in London, rather than this one, given our shortcomings in attack.
In the space of 1 week, instead of putting 11 points between ourselves and Liverpool and almost guaranteeing a top 3 place, Pool are now only 3 points adrift and gathering momentum while the LWCs are only 6 behind and are also gathering momentum towards a finish in the top 4.
So I feel discussions about winning the title must be deferred. We’ve a battle on our hands for 4th. And yes, we should prioritise the league. It is far far more important to secure a top 4 position than to win the FA cup. There is no comparison. So with Bayern coming up, (in the one competition Wenger has yet to win), you can be sure that the changes will be rung in for Sundays clash. Our priorities are the League and CL in that order. And Wenger has got that right for 17 years now and won’t be changing his spots anytime soon I feel.
Last year before the Bayern game I expressed some trepidation about facing them and was told that I should “man up” and “grow a pair”. We subsequently got hosed. And while we all like to think that we almost turned it around in the return fixture, the real truth is that the tie ended as a contest in London. This year, Bayern are an even better outfit as Per mentioned in his recent interview, so its going to be really interesting to see if we’ve closed that gap, or if its got wider?
Podolski has a big point to prove in his career. His tenure at Bayern was a failure. This is his second chance at a big club. For all his ability, there’s obviously something lacking in his work ethic / fitness to say Wenger has kept him on the bench for the big matches of late. It doesn’t bode well for him because when Bayern come to town, so too will the attention of the German football world in a year where they harbour serious expectations to do well in the World Cup. I hope it’s a psychological ploy by Wenger to put it up to Lucas. Because on his day, Podolski is lethal. He could well hold the key to our season if he answers the call.
Well, we need more versatile players so that we don’t have to play 6 midfielders (not that it’s a bad thing) EVERYTIME!
Hope to see some new personnel next season.
This season i fear won’t bring us any silverware from the league anyway, would be glad to be proven wrong but we are just too predictable for others to counter.
Still one can only hope…
@Joe
I agree with you re: MOTM last night.
I don’t agree that the previous Bayern tie ended in London. We went out on away goals; one more goal would have seen us through.
Even in the first leg we competed a much more even second half after being very nearly blown away in the first – if we’d taken our chances at 2-1 we might very easily have snatched a draw. I recall Giroud missing an absolute peach of a chance immediately before the third goal.
To win a tie against a team of Bayern’s quality you are going to have to weather periods of onslaught. It’s once those have passed that you can actually go on and win. We came close to doing so.
Superb report ‘H, and a very enjoyable backdrink.
Count me in the Sweeper/Lars “one point gained” group. They have both said it all, no way were we going to play an expansive game after last Saturday’s debacle.
Yes it was disappointing not to put an ordinary Manc side to the sword, and yes we played without pace,width or any real belief, but not losing was absolutely crucial to the rest of the season. Sometimes a win has to be sacrificed to achieve that end. The manner of Saturday’s defeat was of such horror that it had (and still has) the potential to derail the whole season. A meltdown can only be avoided by taking small steps. Regroup, set your stall out, and don’t concede. Achieve that aim, and little by little, that most transient of qualities, confidence, returns. It is the tried and tested method that AW utilises in the spirit of adversity and served us very well in the final third of last season.
The Mancs are nowhere near their level of previous years, but with a fit Rooney and Van Persie neither are they the inept clowns that some would like to paint them as (sadly). The afore-mentioned duo still have the capacity to hurt, and would have done so last night had it not been for a worldie from Sczcz.
So a disappointing night which made for at times turgid viewing, but all in all a decent point in my view. We may yet implode, or we may go on to use this point as a springboard for greater things. Who knows? Not me, not anyone. It’s why we all keep coming back for more isn’t it. We are one point off the lead with 12 to play. We are still in this with everything to play for. The rest, whether it be confident predictions of either glory or doom, remains, at this stage, mere hyperbole.
Win the next game.
H2H@129 – Agree entirely with what you, Lars and N7 had to say on wee Jack. Form is temporary, class is permanent.
cba@various – Howdy and thank you for the giggles Sir, “forensically carved beans” had me roaring 🙂
Bath – Good to see you last night mate, if only fleetingly.
Nice one lads.
We couldn’t beat a team like Man U at home, the Chavs couldn’t beat a team like Wet Spam at home, which would you consider the worst result?
It would all be a lot easier if football was played on paper, but luckily it’s not, as we would be probably lower then we are now.
I won’t believe we are out of it until we are, games against the big clubs are rewarded with the same amount of points as those against the clubs lower down. All we need to do is get the hoodoo off our backs and get a win against one of them and who knows what we can achieve.
Great summary tabs.
Steadying the ship always the order of the day and the probably the right thing to do when looking at the bigger picture. Unfortunatly some fans (present company and by and large those here excluded) and almost all meedja are extreamly short sighted.
Cheers H2H. Yep, that’s the way I see it. I think many underestimate what an effect last Saturday’s result (and performance) can have on the collective energy/confidence/will (call it what you will) of the group. It will only be recovered with small steps imo. Just have to hope we don’t drop too many points in the meantime.
On the record now – red card for tabs and trev and anyone else using the term worldie.
This expression was most recently used by one David Moyes (describing the Orc’s winner at the Caves) – neec I say more?
*need*
Apologies Dr Z 🙂
Excellent back drinking. I am disappointed with Jack as he has not continued on his original trajectory but my feeling is that he has a worse injury than has been disclosed . If you remember back to the Swansea replay last year when he was quite superb he is capable of dominating a match but yesterday he was operating at about 70% of the requisite pace !mentally and physically.
I believe that the Liverpool game is more important than the Bayern one. We have a realistic chance of winning the FA Cup. I think it will be very hard to beat Bayern over two legs. Therefore I would be happy if we can get a win on Sunday and then try to contain Bayern. If we can and they don’t score we have a real chance in the away leg. Then we have a run of winnable games in the league before we face the LWCs where I believe we can win.If the games against Chelsea and Citeh end in draws we can then roll out the flat track bully model and hopefully do extremely well in our remaining games. It’s irritant we don’t lose the big games but we don’t have to win them all. Hopefully Aaron will be back for the run in.
Also agree Re Wojciech as MOTM. Ridiculous and part of the subtle? Bias the twat Owen always reveals when we are involved. It implies United were the better team.De Gea made a great save from Cazorla as well.
My Liverpool friends are pessimistic about Sunday as they are still reeling from Saturday. If we can score two Z( by no means a given) I think we will win.
Straight after the game last night I had Woj as MOTM.
First let me clarify, luckily I don’t have that pint sized piss poor pundit, (taking the) mickey Owen bring me with his drivel during the game, I heard him once and trhink he would be beter suited narrating a paint drying documentry on the Wall Channel, but I digress….
It wasn’t because he had so much to do, actualy the contrary, but he was sharp, alert and made a
worldietremendous stop from van Stapleton. More then any other player he earned us the point and was the difference between a draw and defeat.Given Pool’s away form and our home form I’d be very confident about Sunday.
What concerns me is that we are nigh on certain to rest players, while Liverpool will send out their firsts.
Woj save was worth a goal. Well, a third of a goal anyway.
I had Ozil or Gibbs as Motm. Kos close behind.
Nice summary and wise words tabs. Likewise on the brief encounter.
Wise words also on LJW and his ‘mare. I agree thqt it seems just like the phase Rambo had to work through.
Onward and hopefully upward.
Wise words on LJW: +from multiple correspondents
-thqt
+that
Yellow card for H2H 😉
152. Are you M.Dean in disguise 😉
Agree with my learned friends that Jack is working his way back from injury, just like Rambo. No doubt he will eventually be back to his best, it may take the rest of the season to get there.
Can’t be M. Dean. Zico is Arsenal, if Dean at least a red if not a flogging.
In tens, please (ten pound notes) http://chateldon.com/buycelebrex/ celebrex price comparison Argus provides technical assistance and support to pharmacies with host processing
Jack should be shuffled back to the right side. When Theo was out in Sept / Oct we won 12 on the spin with Jack out wide. Granted we had Aaron going crazy at that time, but at least Jack’s mishaps won’t be as magnified as they are in the middle of the park. Let Ox get a run in the middle against Sunderland , Stoke, Swansea.
@155 … Thanks for the spam. Not hungry
154 Bath…as the recipient is H2H, he is used to those type of “clubs” in Amsterdam and is probably up for a flogging 😉
Vinay @130 made a point about Özil needing to shoot. I do agree. However, I’ve been doing some statistical analysis for a post I’m preparing on my site and Mesut’s shooting was one thing I looked at. At Madrid last season he took only 22 shots the entire season in 32 league matches. ( 18 on target , 4 off , 9 goals ) This season he has taken 19 shots in 20 matches … Last nights match not included ( 16 on target , 3 off , 4 goals ). He is actually shooting more with us but the fact is his game isn’t shooting.
Oh those numbers are from Squawka.com btw and great stuff Tabs, SteveT
well i fuckin never
sting has written
a musical
about himself
for
the broadway stage
oy
if he’s done nothing else
he’s achieved something
i thought impossible
.
making a shite medium
shiter
.
*minces off
to write
Wang Chung – The Wilderness Years*
Joe @ 135: I think Szczesny deserves a lot of credit for his performance yesterday not despite, but because, of the fact that he didn’t have much to do for most of the match but when he was required he made an astonishing save. That is the kind of match where the difference between merely good and excellent goalkeepers are found out, the latter category has a higher level of concentration and focus. Szczesny was always a great shot-stopper, it was his concentration and decision making that needed improvement and in both departments he has made great strides this season. Even though much can still be improved in decision making, some of his short passes to defenders are still hair-raisingly risky.
About Giroud, just like the team as a whole his game suffers a lot in absence of runner behind the defense. Either Rambo from midfield or Theo down the right or Poldi down the left.
I think some of Giroud’s best attacking performances came in tandem with Poldi or Theo, and I would love to have Poldi start on the left with him, and I think in absence of anyone in center midfield who can make Rambo’s timely runs in the opposition penalty box we will need to get Poldi involved to create more and make more out of our scoring opportunities.
Okay, its been asked but I cannot resist.
Where the hell was Poldi last night? Or Gnabry – a direct player to make something happen.
And why take off TR7? Is he injured?
I’m not Wenger out type, but WTF is with his man management? It appears to be really, REALLY awful. And has been for ages its seems.
There’s a certain symmetry to the 0-0 home draws following our away drubbings by Citeh and Liverpool. Now we just have to maintain the symmetry by going on as good a recovery as we did last time in the succeeding series of matches. Who wants to be the first one to say we will not do it?
We won’t do it 🙂 … Do I win something?
Arsegonian @ 159: Good statistical analysis. However I think his role is different in Arsenal, and with his abilities and intelligence he can become a more regular scorer for us. In RM with so many fast runners down the middle and the flanks — Ronaldo, Higuain, Benzema, Di Maria — creating chances alone was enough for him, but he also opened up spaces. He was never really needed to get himself into scoring position that much.
With Arsenal, and especially in PL where space opens up for MF schemers much more easily — someone like Xavi or Iniesta who do not score that many goals would have had a hatful if playing in PL — he just needs a bit more desire to score and he will score many more as his positional sense is impeccable and contrary to first impressions he can quicken up his runs when needed. One of my favorite goals of his was — not as spectacular as the Napoli goal but very clever — when Giroud dragged teh defense out to the corner and then delivered a cross for Ozil to ghost into and head home. We should and will see more of that types of goals from him.
@ Dr. F … I agree that he definitely has the ability and should score for us. But it will take some time for him to make the adjustments in the way he’s been playing for the last several years. I also enjoyed that goal, the only one in his career scored with his head.
Arsegonian @ 167: Yes, of course, but this is Arsenal and we give great players all the time they need to hone their abilities. 🙂
I am hoping to see 15+ goals from him next season, in addition to the inevitable assists, obviously.
BTW, rewatching parts of yesterday’s match, what does Giroud have to do to get those decisions in his favor? Arsenal should send FA referees’ panel a compilation of the brutalities Giroud had been subjected to all throughout the season with minimal amount of free-kicks and penalties being awarded. Maybe he should practice rolling around the floor a la Drogba?
Evening all, just finished recording for tomorrow’s Arsecast. I get all the best weeks to do it 🙂
cba, there may be a way of automailing the blog to you. I will look at the weekend and see if my tiny brain can work it out.
Is the email address you are leaving in the drinks a genuine one in case I can test it out?
Blogs had to bring in a voice of reason this week, Holic. 🙂
Oh yes ‘hol
thats my email
i’m nothing
if not honest
.
if it’s possible
but
doesn’t involve
too much
or
indeed
any hassle for you
i’d appreciate it ‘hol
.
top man
(hope yer on the mend flu-wise)
Re: Arsegonian @165. I am not a bookie, but must point out one factor at issue in this question. Did you lay your money down? 😉
Oh and
top stuff tabs
138
.
Himself
you
and
a left leg full
of others is
why i come here
.
well
that and
offloading
my pointless twaddle
cba
what phone
did your
wiseness
possess nowadays?
beard is such
i can
bite my moustache
which
alarmingly
gets soggy outside
in this arctic roll
cos of the set of
hot moisture laden
nostrils i have been
cursed with
or
indeed
the nostrils
with which i have been cursed
.
UP THE ARSE
Atg
it was 14.95
its by alcatel
*the ladies swoon*
The proper way is for users to register on the blog then they will/should get a email notification sent when new post is available.
The other easier way is to subscribe to an RSS feed.
cheers atg
i appreciate your help
i’ll try the rss option
if that’s the simplest
didn’t know what that meant
have seen the rss feed thing
hadn’t a clue
what it was
again
good man yerself
really appreciate your help
🙂
Subscribe on a PC though using a RSS capable browser i.e. internet explorer others may need an add on
No worries and you very welcome
Good stuff, Tabs @138 (i think it was)
I did think last night that the performance was over conservative – not to say looked a bit lacking in purpose – but take your point and, on reflection today, it was more important not to lose again.
What happens from here is, as you say, unknown. Can only hope we rediscover that early season spark when our game looked so much simpler and quicker.
Only have this phone
had internet before
on a computer
when people came
to visit with internet phones
which is the reason
why i appear and disappear
in the drinks
Jack has had an okay season. Getting caught on the ball followed by a clattering doesn’t help his dodgy ankles….and this happens every game numerous times. I appreciate his combativeness but he needs to back-off and move the ball and not always invite the tackle. TR7 moves the ball quickly and does not take one tenth of the challenges Jack takes. Just move the ball son.
Re: Ozil, regardless of what we paid he has almost played as many minutes this year as all of last season and may be running on empty…he looked good though last night.
For the run-in I think we need to take 6 points from the three games vs. City, Tots and Chelsea….and play well against the rest to give us a chance.
evening trev
hope yer knees
are behaving themselves
have a shite set meself
but
clearly pansy in comparison
to yours
Joe @135,
Good stuff. I noted your quote about being told to “man up” and “grow a pair”. I do remember saying something like that in a post, although I can’t remember exactly when, which game it referred to, or to whom.
In fact it was a general, jokey comment when a lot of people were getting very fretful over every game we played, and was meant in jest as a sort of ‘Mr T’ type order.
However, it clearly caught a nerve and, if it was indeed due to me, there was no offence meant and an apology is offered.
Spot on Trev (#133). The major problem with Jack is probably just a lack of confidence, overthinking what he’s trying to do rather than doing it instinctively. He also needs to get in his head that it’s not necessary to beat half the opposition in one go (unless you’re Messi and can actually do it). To break through a massed defence you only have to beat one player and get the ball to someone else before the opposition can recover. He will come good again in time. Sooner if he gets the right help from teammates.
I’d caution against expecting too much too soon of Rambo when he eventually gets back. He was in something of a lull in the last few games before his injury, and will also need time.
So I don’t see Jack and Rambo as our saviours. Or TR7 for that matter, he seems to be feeling his age or something and not as quick off the mark as he used to be. The player I want to see more involved is of course Özilla. In my view his skills are wasted on the periphery and he should be playing head of the diamond, in the hole behind OG. Instead of applying his skills from distance he should be offering an alternative target in the box or one-twoing with Ollie. That’s not to say a fox in the box, but he’s never going to help the defence so better to leave that to others.
While I admire the positivity still being shown by many here I believe the title is becoming something of a dream and that what we should really be concentrating on now is remaining top 4, ideally top 3. Believing dreams are possible could leave us vulnerable.
Öskar
Evening cba,
My knee, and yes the other one is beginning to suffer now, so knees, are to quote your current vernacular of choice “shite”.
Waiting for a date any day now for the first of two ops. It gave way twice today when I must have moved awkwardly while treating people. I almost fell on top of both patients – and only one of them was attractive.
Might be able to get the internet on one of them (the knees, not the patients) after it’s replaced. I’ll let you know – might solve your reception problems. 😉
Min you, it still come down to winning games. If we can continue to do enough of that anything is possible!
Öskar
Sorry about typos, my fingers are too big for this mini keyboard and letters keep getting droppe
Öskar
Cheers Oskar,
And I think you’re right about our aspirations.
I don’t think it’s plausible for the team to “aim” at third or fourth – they clearly have to aim at winning each game as it comes.
It is probably more likely that we will finish third, but that would not be the end of the world. We would then be in a good position to strengthen in a summer that will already be made more complicated by the World Cup, without having to first negotiate a qualifying tie for the Champions League.
We’re still in the mix though with Chelsea and Man City to play, so who knows ?
knees up maaava braannnnn
jesirlou trev
best of luck with the ops
gettin them
and
gettin through them
dunno
if i mentioned before
busted my kneecap
few months ago
so i can only imagine
the extra level of
holy fuck that’s soreness
yer trawling through
.
me brother
had operations
on his knee
confidence made all
the more shakey
by the big black arrow
drawn on his shin
to guide the surgeon
down from the clouds
ok the RSS feed on this blog will not send you email notifications there is a plugin to make it work
cba
What os is on that phone?
Chavs and Shitty aren’t exactly lighting up the league lately so who knows indeed. Right now I’d fancy Poo to win, they certainly thrashed us more efficiently than Shitty. But if the latter get Aguero back that could make the difference for them. Ifs, buts and maybes…
You’ve convinced me, Trev, we’re still in it!
Unless…
Öskar
Busted kneecap, cba – ouch, very ouch even !
Nasty one to get over .
Atg
i have no idea
.
i’ll just flollop along
opening
and
closing
‘hols site
to get the goods
.
as i said before
yer a good soul
for
trying to bolster my ineptitude
No worries have you got email configured on that phone? Other words can you receive email?
Yup trev
tramadol
and me arthritic mates
solpadol
eased some
but
whether necessity
or
habit
i now have
a limp
.
might ring frasier
and find out
.
head or leg?
answer me the fuck now!!!!!!!!!!!!
Question time in swindon next week
heres hopin a gooner of some note makes an appearance
Scores when he wants 😉
A fine Ozil worthy assist – ta, cba. 😉
trev
It was
my
chocolate knee
Dear sweet mother of god
first sign of the thames rising
paul bastardin daniels
and his hairsprayed attachment
front and centre
“Oh my quite frankly undeserved millions are safe
but only cos I’m brilliant”
jeez
twat
with all the banging on bout Giroud not being a striker, and that we need a striker, etc., etc., that may be the case but we are stuck with him till the end of season…so let’s not get on his back all the time and give him even more of a complex…if he doesn’t deliver the goodies then get a striker in summer and put him out to pasture! but always haranguing his lack of ability is not going to do us any favors…let’s get behind him and give him the confidence to at least continue trying (let’s not forget Sturridge was out for, what was it, 2 months?) Giroud has been with us throughout and given so much, no injuries…
as regards last night’s match…I was convinced we would lose, because ManU ALWAYS play better than us, so I am stunned we did not…and if you think we were going to ‘bomb’ forward because they were there for the taking…well, don’t ever discount Rooney(who seems to dislike Arsenal wholeheartedly), Van Persie, and Mata…we would have rued the day if they had scored…so for me, a draw was a huge step forward to breaking the ManU taboo over us…I don’t think the team were in the mood to ‘tear’ it up..not after the Liverpool debacle…is 1 point gained, 2 points lost that could have nipped us the title? I can’t say, but somehow the ManU curse has to be broken, and I think that they are even more despondent about not getting even one goal with such a world class 3some and all the baggage inherent in the Arsenal/ManU saga…
Peter 🙂
sorry, I meant to say ‘ManU always play better against us…’
what a load of b—–ox! lol…from the hideous Dialy Mialy
JOSE MOURINHO EXCLUSIVE: Liverpool ARE a chihuahua but they can be top dogs… And Wenger has no excuses – he’s had his team together for years and Ozil should be final piece in the jigsaw
[…] Goonerholic: […]
Some random stats about Ozil’s value to the team:
His shot accuracy at 84% is much better than the team’s average of 54%;
He creates more than a quarter of our chances on average each game;
He takes half as many shots during a game as Santi Cazorla on average, but is 38% more accurate;
He rarely makes a defensive error (two of the team’s 26 so far this season), but when he does there is a one in three chance we concede a goal.
And all the people of the lulled and dumbfound town are
sleeping now…
Still awake here, Ned, it’s only 7.30pm after all!
As I suggested in #186, Özilla is wasted in midfield or on the wing. It’s not like he ever goes back to help out the defence, so he might as well move up closer to goal and play in the hole behind OG. With the shot accuracy you quote he should get himself into the box more often as a second striker.
Öskar
Ned. Forgive me for asking but if Özil has only made two defensive errors then how of we know that one in three will result in a goal ????
Just asking like. Morning all.
😀
Morning Steve
tTrust the young ‘uns are well and looking forward to Sunday.
How did you explain away the belting at Anfield to them.??
Morning Fellas, I’m not really one to ask for help when it comes to my site, but I’m really struggling to find a good site for distance covered during a match statistics for individual players. Anybody know a good one? Thanks in advance.
Mr cba,
I have enjoyed very much your poetry, lyricisms and words-smith prowess but your efforts @ 161 and @203 are some of your best yet. Thank you
Trev @ 185,
It actually wasn’t you at all Trev that I was referring to. And I actually didn’t take offence by the remark at all, if I did I would certainly have made my own point on the matter at the time. This bar is a wonderful place and there will always be different points of view. Believe me, I see enough real confrontation and adversity in the day job to draw perspective when it comes to football. But thanks for being considerate and retaining that sense of class that makes this place all the more special.
N7,
We agree to disagree about Bayern last season. We needed to beat Bayern in Munich by 3 and we only scored the second in extra time if memory serves? The damage was done in the first tie and at this level I think the contest was effectively over in London. Those are my principles and as the politicians in this country say: “and if you don’t like them, we can easily change them” 🙂
Oskar @210 – Ozil does track back regularly and has made several key tackles and interceptions as well as delaying break-outs when our fullback is caught upfield. His defensive work is far better than you would expect from TV. OK his pass and lost tackle in the ‘Pool game were not followed by a recovery tackle but each of those would have required the superhuman superskills that many people seem to expect of him as a result of the pricetag.
@ Joe
Ha ha – fair enough!
The second goal in the Allianz was scored in the 86th minute, and the best part of 10 further minutes were played, during which a goal for the good guys would have seen us through.
Also, first goal on the night was scored just 3 mins into the game.
Morning Clive. All good thanks. I hope you and yours are all well?
My boy was the funniest. He was at a party. He came home, heard the score and stormed off in disgust. He then refused to watch it on MOTD. He was not happy I can tell you. Both were a bit more complimentary after Wednesday night but not much.
Still, both proud to be Arsenal supporters. My 14 year old is off to Germany and Switzerland with the school at half term. Pack lite they were told. She already has her shirt and Arsenal hoody in as some of her essential items.
They both get it.
You have raised them well, Steve!
Afternoon all.
Something a little different caught my eye today;
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26162408
Definitely doesn’t look like a teenager to me, but that’s not what bothers me….
What’s wrong with his head? It looks huge.
I’m not sure if should be on a football pitch or mounted to a cars dashboard nodding his noggin manaically. 😉
Arsene calls out Maureen as chicken in his presser:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/extra-wenger-on-title-race-and-sagna?
H2H,
Photoshop – that’s my guess. Just expand the picture and look at all the lines and odd patches on his neck. 😉
Expand the photo?!!?
But that will make his head even bigger, I’ll have nightmares for weeks. 😛
It does look extremely odd. I am sure it’s a Photoshop job.
Steve T@211: it is a one in three chance, not one in three. You are right to regard all statistical averages with a gimlet eye. If Bill Gates walks into a bar every one there becomes a millionaire on average…
221 Bath….nice riposte by Arsene to Maureen (in particular) and Brenda. No doubt it is too subtle for the cocksuckers of the press who no doubt will try to twist its meaning against him (Arsene).
Uply – the hacks are already cranking it up – Maureen will have to respond. Will he choose vitriol or another Delphic allegory that he thinks makes him look wise?
I preferred the ol’ “When the seagulls follow the trawler….” story from Cantona to any of Maureen’s parables.
You can always tell when Maureen is talking shit….
His lips are moving.
H2H
I was fortunate enough to view this photo earlier this week. The truth from my point of view is that, as much as this young man is who he says he is, it is down to the club to carry out the right tests and be done with the defensive statements.
Head’s like that don’t surprise me anymore. It’s called the big head little body syndrome. It may explain the discrepancies described in the articles.
Aaah, the big head little body syndrome.
What are the symptoms? 😉
Not sure H2H. It might be hereditary. However, I can confirm no such syndrome exists in the GT family. 😉
Time to promote Goonertown to The Quackery methinks.
Diagnoses like that are not easy to come by ………….. 😉
Trev, I try 😉
What a cunt!!!
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26188451
I see Sir Wenger has left himself wide open to ridicule by proclaiming that if Chelsea do not win the league, they would have failed. When it comes to talking about not winning trophies he has no ground to stand on whatsoever, lets be realistic about it.
Now I know he probably said what he did to get the obvious reaction from Mourniho – which well and truly was delivered with both barrols – but really, come on, Arsenal have some huge problem (being second is not one of them, by the way) and the moment, so he shoould refrain from the petty mindgames and get on with attempting to fix the faults.
Once upon a time in the days of Highbury Wenger would trot out the sensible line of “we (Arsenal) just go from game to game and see what happens”. Quite a sensible, measured stance, now he seems intend on making silly soundbites about others failing when his own record in recent years is not so brilliant – if you go with the notion his remit is to win trophies which I don’t believe it is.
Judging by the fan reaction on Wednesday come full-time (which I hope was aimed at Wenger and the board more than the players on the pitch who’s effort on the night can’t be faulted – the quality of the attacking play can be, not the effort), us not winning the EPL will not be taken lightly.
Woho. Here we fucking go.
Well out of this crap.
Fucking Journo’s
I have warned the Prof!
Hi all
I would have to say that the dissapointment felt by myself at a 0-0 is that Man U were there for the taking, if we would just up the tempo.
After Anfields dissaster i am not surprised we didnt go for it as another defeat so close to a gapping wound already smelling of almonds would be a very bitter pill to swallow *great Jam Song*
So overall 0-0 wasnt as bad as some have made out, chelski dropped points in a game they were suppose to win at a canter. we may not of beat all the teams around us but we have also been less prone to dropping them in unlikley places. There are alot more teams below us than above us, so the odds are still in our favour.
So onwards and upwards with a very tricky week comming up i`m sure we will have somthing to smile about Sunday afternoon. talking of Sunday afternoon i would drop Ozil and play santi just behind the striker who ever that may be as Giroud seems likely to be on the bench.
Dont take this as a Ozil isnt good enough to play at the moment more a rest may help. Santi will not stay out wide so give him a run in his favoured position and rest the German for Munich.
Cheers
Mourinho is a specialist in being a cunt.
If Maureen had made a comment that caused Wenger to bite as hard as the Portuguese just has we’d be hearing for weeks about Mourinho’s masterful mind games.
In reality, mind games are dull as fuck, and are generally peddled by managers like Mourinho, whose teams play football that is dull as ditchwater and necessitate finding something half interesting to talk about at press conferences.
I also find it humorous that apparently Jose knows nothing about failure despite having been sacked by Chelsea, pretty much tarred and feathered in Spain and publicly turned down by Man Utd.
Ignore and move on.
@238
Arsene said today that Santi is ill and won’t make the squad. I like the idea though.
@ David
I rather get the impression you feel that simply by virtue of inhaling and exhaling, Arsene Wenger leaves himself “wide open to ridicule”.
I’m sure he’ll live.
N7 knows @240 & 242
….and @241, for that matter. 🙂
Wengers words in the press conference were honest and certainly not aimed at Mourinho in any personal way. All he said was that the league was open and now that Chelski are top, its theirs to loose.
And then he gets personally slated in response from Jose.
People can talk about mind games but there’s only one man with any class in all this. If anything, its Wenger who winning the mind games by simply not reacting. Could you ever see Wenger eye gouging another manager? Odious little man.
It would be so much simpler if one just avoided the tired old nag Maureen and his rap…once that Book of the Dead is open it releases all sorts of rubbish
I dont understand why we need to keep defending Ozil, he is a brilliant player and he will have some average days as well, does messi and C rod always have great games, well dont answer that, they always seem to do hahha.
Mesut is our Messiah, i wouldnt trade him for anyone in this whole world, collectively he and the team needs to step up and take it upon themselves for that one final hurrah, do that and then we can talk, win lose or draw remember who you represent, thats all we can ask for.
Santi`s ill ?
oooo bugger
Where is that drawing board ?
Got the Olympics on the box here in the bar.
Just saw the Irish guy on the Skeleton….
He almost became one.
Is this drug the spammer keeps peddling some sort of top of the league prescription? If so, I’ll take it 🙂
Mourinho is an utterly loathsome man who is indulged in the tabloid/ Sky / TalkSport driven media in a way he wouldn’t have been years ago when class counted for something .
These days a gobshite like Mourinho who revels in the effect he creates gets off on abusing a man with decency and integrity. The rubbish he spouted when he took over and the hypocritical and inconsistent bollocks he produces for the trailer trash media in thrall to him do a huge disservice to a great game.
Builder of nothing, developer of no one, spender of blood money we know what you are Mourinho and we loathe it
We’ll beat that suppository mouth in his own backyard! You mark my words!!!
Mourinho, the man who spent the national debt of a small country on players and won the league. How could this happen ? The man is a dick head !
Done well with Porto to win the CL, but winning the title over there is somthing matched by AVB *nuff said*
Won the title with chelski twice *see above*
Won the title with Inter Milan after taking over from Mancini who won the league 2 years running before the special one took over. won the park the bus with Inter i mean CL.
Hugley found out at Madrid and left after gauging someones eye from behind, sigh, my hero.
Not impressed ! Arsene is used to failure was part of the bullshit he was comming out with.
He takes over the biggest team or one of the biggest teams in whatever league he gose into and we are suppose to be surprised he wins the league with that team. Wow ! Shock ! gasp ! Horror !
Mourinho is pure cunt.
Cheers Trev @181. Hope you don’t have to wait too much longer for the op. Will you be able to make it on Sunday?
I have to admit I thought it was funny as hell when JT fell on his arse in that penalty shoot out in the CL final. Killed two birds with one stone.
A penny for Roberto Di Matteo’s thoughts on “failure specialist” Mourinho….
Been back-drinking:
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
(Yeah, I know he was a scouser but for me he’ll always be a working class hero.)
tabs @ 255, surely utter is the appropriate adjective for this reptile. “pure” is inappropriate with its intrinsic positive vibe.
Only Chelsea and Spurs supporters will find Mourinho’s comment funny. The rest of the football world is reacting with disgust.
Haha good point Bath. An utter cunt it is 🙂
Total, utter, complete, fully fledged, all dues paid, membership confirmed, card carrying, affiliated twatcannon of the highest order.
And that’s putting it mildly. 😉
To quote John Lennon on Mourinho,
“The one mistake you made was in your head.”
BTW, as Jose thinks poking someone in the opposition bench on the eye with his finger is funny, I am sure he is now laughing like a hyena admiring the cleverness of his own quip.
“Specialist in failure, wow, did I say that? Really, I really am that sharp. What a sense of humor I have. No wonder the English love me so. They get me. Ha ha! They do.”
The silly circus and its favorite freak is back. How we did NOT miss these for the last few years!
This has been touched upon in the Arsecast (nice one H), but here’s my thoughts.
Winning breeds winning.
Under no circumstances would I be playing anything less than the best side that we can possibly put on the pitch on Sunday.
No Jenkinson, No Fabianski, No Bentdner etc.
It is about time that we took the FA cup seriously again, and Wenger’s mentality about the importance of the Champions League over the FA Cup misses one very important point: more than anything else, our club needs a trophy and this is by far our best chance of getting one this year.
The impetus that winning silverware would have on this current crop of young players would far outweigh the impact of again coming third or fourth in the league, and it would both induce a hunger for more as well as provide the necessary realisation of WINNING. Ferguson proved it with a generation of players which was kicked off by a League Cup win over Wigan.
And the team (or as close to the team) that disgraced the shirt owe it to themselves and the fantastic fans who went up there and suffered that display last week to do something to show that they are winners.
I want those players to earn their redemption.
I want revenge.
I want to Gerrard and all those manky thieves to be beaten black and blue.
And those players should want it too.
But more than that, I’m sure they want a trophy. They definitely need it. So get out there and earn it.
Win on Sunday and Wednesday takes care of itself.
Winning breeds winning..
zico knows
go for it you Gunners
Priorities which upcoming match is of more importance, Sunday or Wednesday? For me Sunday offers the most obvious chance of victory so should Wenger play his strongest possible side then instead of the ECL encounter then?
Absolutely. Strongest available team for each game as it comes recognising impending fatigue to prompt rotation as required.
Evening Zico
Much as i admire your Clarion call to arms for Sunday’s game,i think you will find there could be as many as 5-6 changes to the team.
The FA Cup is only Number 3 on the priority list for The Boss.
His holy grail is the CL Trophy.
So expect some changes on Sunday.
Fabianski/Gnabry/Flamini/Podolski are at least 4 that i expect to play.
He could well change the full backs as well.
I don’t subscribe to the premise that the FA cup is our best chance of a Trophy.
I still think we can win the League.[ Old Fool that i am ].
The Cups are always a game of chance,one throw of the dice,unless there is a replay,and then it’s over.
But with 12 games to play in the league we are in it up to our necks,and it should be our first priority.
For me both the Cup and the CL are sideshows at the moment.
As i have said before the most important games coming up are Sunderland/Stoke and Swansea,the latter depending on the Liverpool result.
Win those 3 and we go into the game with the Spuds on a high,ready for a month of great matches against all the top sides.
So yes i hope we beat Liverpool on Sunday,but i won’t be too upset if we don’t.
Cheers
The Sweeper.
What my learned colleague Dr Z said.
Win, just frigin’ win!!!
Would love seeing Gnabry, Podolski and Ox get a run out, let us see if the mug smashers have enough in their tank to stop these well rested players nipping and tucking. I hope Arsene lines up like this on Sunday:
Bendtner ( Giroud looked knackered,want him fresh)
Podolski Ozil Gnabry
Flamini OX
Gibbs Per Kozzer Sagna
Happy with that
but
A goalkeeper might be useful, strider!
Heh Bath.
Evening H2H, How’s it hanging?
@strider
Exactly the line up I’m hoping for. Well said.
Suspect Monreal will start though. And maybe Jenks.
@zico
Great post. Should be pinned to the dressing room wall, pre-match.
R-R-R-R-REVENGE! As Michael Palin once shouted while driving a steamroller.
I’m with the old fool 🙂 @269. The league is #1 for me. Even more so now to stuff it down the Special Cunt’s throat. Still believe we should play a strong team in cups, just with a little rotation.
Not too bad, cheers sir.
Friday night here in the bar, I started drinking a little too early. Not to worry, Im a professional. 😉
With Spuds right behind Liverpool, Rodgers could give a day off to a couple members of their best 11. Qualifying for the Champions League is far and away the most important for them.
My thoughts entirely, Clive (#269) wholesale changes on Sunday in preparation for Wednesday.
Mightn’t be a bad thing though, with newcomers out to impress and AW wanting, presumably, to give Poo a hard time to blunt their league aspirations.
In any case they couldn’t possibly do worse!
Öskar
Cheers @ various.
Clive – I might be thinking simplistically (or I might just be simple) but how can the league be our best bet of a trophy with 12 games to play when we are down to the last 16 of the cup (which by my reckoning means we only need to win 4 games, ignoring replays)?
Given the teams that are already out, we have a massive opportunity on Sunday.
Unfortunately, I am not expecting AW to think the same way and that you are probably right, he could make as many as 6 changes on Sunday.
His disdain for the competition really bursts my thrupennies.
Must be my age. 🙄
Sir Wenger? Heh? Sounds better than Sir Jose can you stick your knob out a bit further so the English media can choke on your bellend more easily Mourinho. That’s for fucking sure.
Sunday…
Fabianski
Jenkinson Mertesacker Koscielny (TV if fit) Monreal
Flamini
Gnabry Zelalem Rosicky Chamberlain
Podolski
I wish…
Öskar
I suspect Giroud will be on the bench on Sunday so it won’t be complete rest. I would prefer Podolski to play centrally ( even though he can’t ) than pick Bendtner who was utterly pathetic against Coventry in the last round.
Looking at the paucity of our attacking options it really is ridiculous for a team with our financial muscle and status. Rumours are reaching me that Ramsey may not play again this season and that information was available to us four days before the window closed .
Views vary in this bar about the need for or even interest in transfers but the difficulty in re energising ourselves after the humiliation at Anfield suggest that a huge opportunity has been wasted and valuable momentum has been lost. Let us hope we don’t spend the close season wondering ‘ What if’ . I even find it galling that having reached this stage of the season we would surely expect to be playing this number and type of game and we have to look at sending out a shadow squad to be competitive. Yes that is partly because of injuries but everyone suffers injuries by now. If we go out of the cup when drawn at home when there will be probably only one side left in it capable of beating us if we got to the quarter finals , the natives will be extremely restless especially if they have then be charged £81 for the seat against Bayern. That is an obscene way to treat supporters with our cash position. I hope and pray this shapes up as a much better week than last week was.
RIP Tom Finney
Amen- I am old enough and lucky enough to have seen him play. A great footballer.
He was reckoned to be the greatest player that Bill Shankly ever saw. One day Shankly went to see Sheffield United when Tony Currie was in his pomp and had a great game. At the end of the game a journalist who knew Shankly well and his love for Finney, asked if he thought Currie had played well. ‘ Aye lad ‘ ,he said ,’as good as Tom Finney ?’ said the journo teasing Bill. ‘ Aye lad ‘ he said… Amazing the journalist who had never heard him compare anyone to Finney before…….’ But Ye have to remember Tommy Finney is 55 years old!’
May they be happily reunited tonight in a celestial players lounge.
Finney and Matthews, the finest wingers ever to play together for England.
I’m old enough to remember Preston North End playing at Highbury when they were a major player in Division 1!
Öskar
Nothing wrong with your maths Zee.
As i said i do hope we win on Sunday whatever side we put out.
But given we have already lost 2 of our first eleven to long term injury,asking the same players to back up against Liverpool and then Munich,which will mean 4 games in 11 days,is too much of a risk.
With Diaby and Kim Kardashian supposedly back in March,it will be like 2 new signings to aid the Title push.!!! Ho Ho Ho.
But we want any returning players as additions to the squad,not as replacements for newly injured ones because we have gone to the well once too often.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-fans-fume-accounts-reveal-3145722
Interesting stuff. Will make the increase in season ticket prices more understandable.
Where will Kim Kardashian play Gs54, hooker? No wait, wrong game…
Öskar
Strider,
Quite like your team – with a keeper as bath said, and rest Ozil for Rosicky.
Mourinho might also be a specialist in failure if he tried managing teams without colossal amounts of money to spend. Other than that, ttg did a very nice summary of him.
Tabs,
Not sure about Sunday – have to get the ice packs out and think about Arsenal tube station. I can’t do the Finsbury Park walk again. Would love to make it though. Will you be there ?
Oskar,
Did you have a season ticket at Dial Square ? 😉
Haha Trev. Actually my great great lived in the Plumstead area around the time of Dial Square.
Öskar
http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/14/arsene-wenger-met-with-robin-van-persies-agent-to-discuss-transfer-back-to-arsenal-4304756/
This will please each and every one of you.
she said “fuck off robin”, “fuck off robin” she said.
and so do i.
you just *know* that cunt would get injured for the tough part of the season if he came back. wenger just ought to give his little boy a good hiding.
If we are spending top striker money in the summer, and surely we should, is a 30-year old Dutchman our best option?
also RvP’s agent, Sporting Entertainment Group, also represents TV5, so AW could have been discussing his sale, or even the purchase of the !8-year old Duisburg centre-forward, Julien Rybachi. Remember, you heard it made up first here.
..oops Ribacki.
If I have learnt one single thing in the last transfer window is that none of us on here should believe one bit of bullshit uttered anywhere about transfers coming into arsenal.
Especially RVP returning to arsenal. C’mon lets get serious.
The media are full of shit, most blogs are even more full of shite and we only do something about transfers when luck happens to fall into arsenes lap.
Arsenal and his team are not proactive spenders and we should all learn to accept that.
This does not mean he doesn’t want to buy, he just can’t seem to actually sign on the dotted line and get the deals done.
Main reason for this attitude is he really does not believe the team needs any strengthening
The kallistrom deal was an example of us having no intent to do anything, then do something with no cost to appease the fans.
RVP can languish in Moyes’ squad till kingdom come!
We can and will surely get better more committed players than he. First a striker and then maybe a rightback for the departing sagna.
One thing i learn is not to get too hooked up on players, especially the ones who are not fully focused on the team!
May this week be the start of a long string of wins!
RVP????? Stranger things have happened. Did you here what AW had to say in his interview???? He certainly did not dismiss it.
If the price was sensible I would have him back tomorrow. I know that won’t be popular but I make no apology for that.
with you there Steve T – but not for a fee of more than £12m or a salary of more than £80k pw.
I can’t imagine for one moment that, having prised £23m, or whatever it was out of Fergie/ManU, for a 28-year-old injury-prone striker, AW is contemplating giving even a bean back for a 30-year-old injury-prone striker. Especially after seeing how he fucked up the chance Ches/Arteta gave him on Wednesday. Yes, it was a good save by Ches, but he shouldn’t have been given a chance of saving it.
Much better to spend that money (and a bit more) on a younger player who has his little boy inside well in check and wants to play for Arsenal. No, Steve T, I would definitely not welcome him back. But I won’t have to – I’m confident of that.
Well in BB.
Oops NBN: Rybacki
dk: agree entirely on RvP. Come next season he’ll be one season older and with his injury record it would be silly to spend any money at all on him. Every injury he gets will take increasingly long to return from and quite frankly even without injuries he’s past his best in any case. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a very good player but how good will he be in 12 months’ time? I’m quite sure we can do better in a long-term perspective for the same money.
Lars knows 🙂
Morning all. Hopefully this wind will fuck off this afternoon.
Lars – utterly compelling analysis.
*re-edits 302 to free transfer and £80pw*
Lars. All valid points. All except that we have had 3 and a half windows and still not managed to find that long term prospect as his replacement. In fact, we haven’t found any replacement be it long term, short term or on loan.
My view would be similar to Mr Bath. If we could get him for no more than say £5 million then I think it is worth doing. I would not have thought it even remotely likely until I heard what AW had to say.
I think that it would be astonishing if Arsene were to sign that Dutch fella again after his antics in the spring and the summer of 2012. He declined to re-sign Anelka when he was looking to leave Bolton for a song and we were in desperate need of a striker and he expressed no interest in Adebayor when he was available. This summer expect an up and coming African or E European we have never heard of if we cannot sign a big name from France, Spain, Portugal or Germany.
Trev – Yep will be there mate. Hope to see you if the knee holds up.
RIP Tom Finney. My grandfather was from Preston and though he adopted Arsenal when he moved to London in the thirties, Preston remained his team, and my childhood was filled with stories of ‘ourTom’. He remained steadfast in his belief that Finney was the greatest player that ever lived until he passed away, and it became a bit of a standard joke that even when the real stellar talents of the modern game came along – Pele, Cruyff and Maradona – any praise for them would always be followed with a quick disclaimer that “of course, he’s not as good as Finney”.
Great Shankley story Ttg. I think it was Shankley’s stock response to any hyping of the players of his managerial era. He also said the same of Mick Channon.
Dr Z @265 – Great post. Winning does indeed breed winning, especially in our current dip. That said, there will be changes. I’m not sure those changes will necessarily weaken us though. The squad is stronger than many give it credit for, and with the obvious exception of the Prince of Denmark for Giroud, most other mooted changes can also be looked upon in a favourable light. Fabianski has done nothing wrong when called upon this season (and last), Arteta vs Flamini is a toss up, Ox might have been preferred over Jack anyway given Jack’s struggles in midweek, and Santi’s struggling with illness by all accounts. I do hope we stick with Gibbs and Sagna though.
so RVP back to Arsenal, eh? somehow I feel that might happen…
NBN – a Ribacki who can also play as a striker ?
Sounds like a typical Wenger player. Good as done. 😉
Utterly baffled by Southampton today – the one team in the league not gunning for the title/Europe/trying to avoid relegation and they still make a number of changes.
The traitorous, backstabbing cunt sucks now. Looking at his game stats on squawka and he has a lower season player rating than …. Olivier Giroud. 2 assists / 10 chances created in 15 PL apps. Giroud has 6 and 26 in 24 apps. Not to mention 15 appearances out of a possible 26 says it all. Some things never change
Camels 1 Little Pony Reptiles 0
City up 1-0 at the interval; rooting for a draw and a couple of 3 game red card suspensions for both sides.
Jose was right, chelski is the horse’s arse allright!
My goodness the Chavs are dire. Jose and his 4-6-0, a specialist in curing insomnia.
Taste the failure Mourinho!
2-0.
And Andy Townsend is a biased muppet!
With the style of an insipid toad and with as much charm to boot, Jose once again, does not disappoint with his parade of miniature ponies.
Still it would be good if they could get a draw, but that bunch of shetlands’ don’t look like it.
Offside? No way, i see chelski still paying the officials.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Chelsea are looking truly pathetic. Citeh are in a different class.
[…] The most open title chase in many a year is taking shape and we are not out of it, by any stretch of the imagination. It is, however, hard to remind yourself of that having secured just one point out of six against the most vulnerable reigning champions ever. If we miss out by two or three points in May we will remember these two games I fancy. – Goonerholic. […]