A Fab Reunion Is On The Cards
Nov 8th, 2014 by 'holic
Swansea away, probably not the ideal fixture to follow Tuesday’s events, but a happy hunting ground for us last season thanks to a 1-2 success.
Those who would argue that the same side should be offered the opportunity to redeem themselves will have read by now the news of the skippers absence with a hamstring injury. Fit again Jack Wilshere is a likely replacement which may mean either Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Aaron Ramsey is asked to start alongside Mathieu Flamini in the shielding role, and Santi Cazorla is switched back to the flank. Arsene insisted that Theo Walcott is not yet ready to start a fixture, which may frustrate those to see him teamed up with Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welback in a flying front three.
Swansea will field FA Cup winning goalkeeper Lukas Fabianski, facing us for the first time since his summer move to find regular first-team football. He matured during his time with us and that is validated by his five clean sheets this season, a statistic bettered by only one Premiership goalkeeper (and that isn’t Wojciech Szczesny). The Swans would leapfrog us in the table with a win. They have been in decent form this season beating Burnley, West Brom, and Leicester at home following an opening day success at Old Trafford. They have also drawn at Sunderland and Everton as well as at home to Newcastle.
Let’s face it, we haven’t a clue which Arsenal will turn up for this one. I’ve looked long and hard at the odds to decide on the ‘holic pound. The bookies favourite 1-1, followed by 0-1 and 1-2 away wins. I am tempted by the latter, a repeat of last season’s scoreline. A small punt is on at a generous looking 17/2.
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Have a good weekend, ‘holics.
193 Responses to “A Fab Reunion Is On The Cards”
2 nil down, 5-2 up.
Stand on me.
…belts one into the top corner to prove the power of positive thinking.
Here’s to the health of the ‘holic pound.
COYG
A hale and hearty ‘Holic pound would be no bad outcome, providing we don’t have to score the last two in the dying minutes.
Top 4?? Trophy at last!! Oh how I’ve been wanting to say that! Literally
I will try to keep my run going but favour a 1-0 victory. I’d be more confident if Flamini doesn’t start!
Otd, from the previous drinks: As it happens I watched The Damned United on a plane just a week or so back. Wonderful film. Always had a lot of time for Cloughie. I doubt any manager will ever again be able to do what he and Peter Taylor did with Derby Co. and Notts Forest. It just takes too much money to win the top trophies now. Leeds were nasty, no doubt — and they had the talent not to have needed to be dirty. Don’t know about the pitches. Sliding tackles really were sliding then.
Dr F, from the previous drinks, too: Spot on about Dubuchy. As for the CBs, AW has said several times that will be Chambers position. Hayden is highly regarded as is young Pleguezelo. We seem to have three 4th CBs learning their trade but no experienced 3rd CB, if you don’t count Nacho filling in, not such a good place to be when our first-choice pair is missing one of its halves.
Cheers, Holic,
I’d be pleased and relieved to see you collect on that bet. 😉
Ttg,
I’d heard that Hayden was out for two months but, as Esso said in the previous bar, if we have centre halves in the reserves then play them. Or are all the reserves including that Spanish lad injured.
We have players all round the team struggling to forge relationships because our injuries mean the line up changes every week. That they are trying to forge relationships with ever changing partners who are also playing out of position just makes things at least doubly difficult.
I noticed a lot of laughing and joking in the training pictures following the pathetic collapse against Anderlecht.
Hopefully the players’ disappointment had extended at least to their journeys home in their Bentleys and Porsches, while some of us walked back to stations to wait for cancelled trains, and eventually travelled in less room than animal welfare officers demand for cattle.
I said a few weeks back that I feel I am being taken for a mug at the monent. The minimum requirement tomorrow is for every player to at least do their job.
In case you’re reading, midfielders, that includes defending. Ta.
Not really looking forward to tomorrow, but will obviously watch through whatever the equivalent of gritted teeth is for the eyes.
Currently listening to the new Pink Floyd album through whatever the equivalent of gritted teeth is for the ears. It’s pleasant enough but it ain’t Floyd.
Flamini to flambee and debone Bony.
Contrary to all expectations.
Heh at Cynic.
Excellent opportunity to make up some points on City to to put some distance between us and UTD.
Oh and the customary F chelski!
UP THE ARSE!
😀
Cheers Holic! And all the regulars on here.
New day, new attitude.
Come on you Arsenal!
Nice preview, H. Here is to three points gotten the Arsenal way!
I truly hope for a season changing match against swansea:
I would like to see;
A return of arsenal stylish football that is truly enjoyable to watch again
Stylish arsenal football with crisp sharp passing
Creation of multiple scoring chances with plenty of shots
To lead in the first half 1 nil
To not concede first
To not concede from a set piece
To be first to head the ball clear from corners against us
To score from a corner
Decisive goalkeeping
Fast tempo with the ball
Smart team football in defence
Strong defensive display from the whole team
The team to work as hard as sanchez from start to finish
high pressing as a unit
confident and timely decisions from the coach
Each player to play in their strongest positions
Blood some youth and see if they sink or swim
To shut the game down when leading
No naive mistakes that allow the opposition to comeback
To hold onto a 1 nil lead and take 3 simple points
Your not asking for too much then auzzie.a scrappy 1 nil wil do me 😉
A simple little wishlist CG.
I would just be happy with the return of the stylish football part
Cheers Holic.
Back to basics please…just remember its a team game and quite often the best team wins! A nervy one goal in it I thinks.
COYRRR
Nice one H. Too hard to call. I hope the team deliver for the Holic pound but a clean sheet would be very nice.
Morning all,
Little update. I’ve had a back-up pound on 2-3 because I don’t trust us to keep that blank sheet.
Oh ye of little faith (how wise). 🙂
Bunch of pessimists…. i see us winning by at least 2 goals!
Up the Arse!
😀
Cheers for the preview guv’.
I’ll take a win anyway we can get it.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS.
Odds on Spuds and Yannited to swap managers before Boxing Day?
Pessimists here, BB. Only on our good days… 🙂
Hi All
I have not posted because I have not had anything positive to say, so held my own council.
All im looking for today out of the game is CONCENTRATION !!!!!!
I think we could win if we stay switched on for the whole game.
IT WOULD ALSO BE NICE TO SEE SOME OF THE OTHERS HAVE THE SAME DRIVE AS ALEXIS !!!!!!!
Spuds got stoked!
😀
Interesting that Stoke can have two defenders injured in the first half but Spurs attack looks no more dangerous after the replacements come on.
Swansea: Fabianski, Rangel, Bartley, Williams (C), Taylor, Ki, Carroll, Sigurdsson, Emnes, Montero, Bony
Subs: Tremmel, Tiendalli, Amat, Britton, Fulton, Barrow, Gomis
Arsenal: Szczesny, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs, Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Alexis, Cazorla, Welbeck
Subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Rosicky, Wilshere, Podolski, Walcott, Sanogo
Watching Leicester, Hull and Spuds this weekend, cannot fathom how Arsenal managed to drop points against that lot. The draws to Hull and LWCs (both at home!) are particularly galling. When AW was asked if they were at the points total he expected at this point, he said “3 or 4 short”. More like 6, and with the way City is going, 8.
Enough of that, though; can’t do anything about it now.
COYRG!
In the end Spurs attack hardly offered anything until after they had Naughton sent off, at which point they started to dominate the game. It’s a good thing our club isn’t the only one that has something wrong in the head. 😉
The gift that keeps on giving. Four home defeats and counting!
Hard one to call! Hope we play out of our skins!
Now come on Arsenal!
COYGs
Need to keep it tight at the back!
Expecting belated bday present!
Talk to each other ffs
Come lads a bit more application please
Cone Come on Arsenal!
We are under a kosh a little here. Come on lads!
This is looking ominous. We can’t win or keep the ball in midfield but he persists with the same individuals game after game. Is Cazorla playing?
Enjoyable this is not! Chambers looks vulnerable, fans doing their best to get us going.
COYRs
Ttg
Not looking good if you ask me!
We look pretty ragged.
Pitch is rather slippery ….!
Bellerin needs to be on the pitch, not the bench. Chambers is not suited for a RB position.
No game plan what so ever we look vulnerable every time they get the ball!
Wake the fuck up!
The pitch and his height is not helping him (chambers) at all in that position.
Chambers being turned inside out by montero.
Knowing montero is fast and tricky – why not put bellerin out there?
We are a misfiring machine at the moment. All clunks and farts.
THis has got 0-0 written all over it.
Take Ramsey off… it’s slippery and he’s got a yellow.
Ox looking good.
Re: Homer @47. I was thinking the same about Bellerin and I would be extremely surprised if Bould and even Wenger weren’t thinking the same.
And SAG @44 too. Backwards backdrinking has done me in again. 🙁
And Delia @40.
Better in the late going there. Alexis still working. Earlier on he chased down a lost cause on the left, brilliant cut back, but no one anyone up front to collect.
Bayonnne Jean. The critical part of the game seems to be taking place on our right flank. AOC looking very dangerous on the attack but perhaps not offering enough help to Chambers who looks so vulnerable in back of him.
That’s a red!!!!!!
Off with Williams!
Oh.. he didn’t get a yellow earlier… ok then. His time will come!
COME ON!!!!
Only a yellow though
Put on Theo and keep OX on!
Speed it up on this slippery pitch!
Come on Arsenal!
Dig deep lads come on!
Bony another dirty…!
Give it to ALEXIS!!
COme On!!!!!!
Rozza Wilshere and Walcott for subs come on
Has arsenal had a uesful set peice since santi scored in the fa cup final?
Raining cats and dogs… take MORE SHOTS!!!!
Flamini got the ball
Boy can Montero act….!
Flamini – booked for a clean tackle?
Geeeeeeetttt in thereeeeee Alexis!
Come ooooooonnnnm!
Alexis the pure centre forward! Good choice Welbeck..good choice!
😀
Alexis!!!!
Home Chambers got the card
Alexis unbelievable
That is an ARSENAL goal.
AOC – Cazorla – Welbeck – nice hesitation and great pass –
ALEXIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GET IN!
Goal!!!! Wenger needs to sub Chambers before he gets a red card
Need gain control now come on
Bellerin to cover the oscar nominee Montero…. make it happen!
Wenger sub chambers. Is he not seeing this?
Montero is eating chambers alive.
Make a fooking change arsene!!!
Brilliant counter from the Ox, lovely assist from Welbeck and guess who sloted it home!
Tricky conditions, let’s be careful Reds.
Things have bucked up at both ends!
Take chambers off
Sub chambers. Why is Wenger so stubborn?
Great nutmeg by Welbeck too
70th… make the change!!!!!
Good challenge Gibbs!
Good job Gibbs.
Good foul by gibbs …. a much needed one
Well …. maybe not so much
Not that good now.. but how can you stop that?!
Time to score two more Alexis…!
Come On!
Shit!
Shit goalkeeping
Arsene fucking subs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When is Wenger going to make his subs?
Bring on some fresh legs Arsene!
That was some free kick.
Pirlo-like.
Subs come on!
Great … just great … well what can u say
Ah well.. Chambers was going to lose out all day there.
They made changes and it fucking helped Arsene you stubborm person you are!
Chambers kept on … poor decision
Chamber beat by montero.
Easy cross.
Yet again. Aresene wenger – what the fuck are you thinking.
Boy.. sure hope Alexis decides to stay with us if we keep this sort of defending up.
So predictable.
Where those fucking subs! Jesus Christ!
Now you want to make changes. Get outta here
That is unpardonable by Aw not to take Chambers off when we all could see this coming.
Another nervous ending fuck sake!
Seems Arsene doesn’t rate Bellerin…. much sad to see.
This is on you Wenger.
Goddamnit – get chambers off.
Hes even on a yellow.
And chambers is still there.
Yep. Great call letting sagna go.
Really well done there.
Our squad definitely doesn’t have the depth… if we don’t see our first team players back….!
Fuckity fuck and shambles
Sagna chased the money. The mistake was letting Jenkinson go on loan.
Didn’t mean to post that under the Shark moniker but still …
Oh dear, reinforcements were needed 20mins ago, lots of tired legs.
This is going to have to be another smash and grab job if we are to get out of this mess.
Cynic – youre surely right.
AW totally out thoght by gary monk.
Sanogo ha ha ha ha
Why the fuck is he putting a sub on with two minutes to go?
Really, Sanogo for chambers?
After all the money spent and all the BS.
Were mid table. This is fucking dross.
And he puts on yaya fucking sonogo?
Jaysus. This is like my crazy grandpa shitting bimself.
What a brainless twat. Going nowhere deep in their own half so he gives away a cheap free kick
We are right where we deserve to be.
Anoher fucking gutless display.
Such a sinking feeling …. all too familiar
And the collapse is on.
All totally avoidable. Bellerin for chambers at half.
I am now. Firmly in the wenger must go camp.
Is there really any other rational way to look at this?
Ah well.. if we don’t find the defensive solution we’ll be out of the CL next season for sure.
Someone the whole team seems lacking the desire (except maybe Alexis), they hardly chase the ball except when they’re one goal down.
Much sad. 🙁
*Somehow
Well done Swansea! You deserved all three points. You wanted it more and were hungrier. Happy for Fabianski too!
He has really lost the plot Sanogo in fact got in a way of a cross!
Still chasing shadows shambles and more embarrassment
So Arsene what wen wrong?
Overall the rain came down on us too hard!
Well done to Flappy was faultless
When your team is not playing well, you don’t wait till he 82min to make changes. I don’t understand this whole idea of waiting till the last few minutes to make changes. Everyone and their mother knew chambers had to be subbed, but not Mr. Wenger Am smarter than you all. That’s what happens when a manager is bigger than the club.
Were a laughing stock. Yet again.
Yaya freaking sonogo? Ehat mond of a sub is that?
Its a like he has no idea what to do when things dont go to plan and other actually, ya know, play against arsenal.
Why even bring bellerin if you dont use him to fix an obvious problem? A problem that gary monk saw and exploited. Ridiculous.
More dropped points. Christ ona bike.
Lost for words here to be honest I will cool down a bit first but that still doesn’t make things better and I won’t feel any better later either!
What irks me is the team has no confidence, shows in the way they play. May be because of all the injuries we have, hope it’s not too late to rectify.
If you don’t trust your reserves Arsene, then by all means please get adequate cover! And FFS put on our subs earlier! Must we wait till we concede and go behind before we make changes?!
But other than that, good job Arsene, keep getting players like Alexis in. (and stop feeding them to our rivals please!)
🙂
Groundhog day number whatever.
What a load of rubbish! Could we transfer Wenger in January for a professional manager please. We don’t need a spectator in the dug out fiddling with his zip all game. What is the point of having “first team” players in the squad riding the bench when your right side defence is getting shredded continuously from the first two minutes. Substitute Wenger for a doormat.
Ooo.. Man U next.. should be an interesting month!
Chambers in trouble from Montero from the first minute till his substitution when we were 2 nil down but did anyone recognise that and help?? No! Well, same old, same old! Felt sorry for the young boy Chambers! “Tactically clueless”!
Not surprised at all.
First goal. Ramsey losing the ball in the middle, they make a counter, get a free kick and score. Decent shot from Sigurdson but that was a distance a good GK should not concede.
As I’ve said countess of times before- we sold the better Pole.
Second goal. Chambers being destroyed on the flank for the whole game, but why bother subbing him… Decent cross and Monreal being out jumped. Not his fault though, he had a good game, but that is what you get when you play a LB as a CB and you had a fucking THREE months and all the money in the world to by a decent central back, especially as you were aware of Kos playing with pain since Man City game in the Community Shield.
But this is not the end, far from it. We are going to be beaten up by many average and midtable teams, because that is what we are too- a midtable team, with too many average players and a joke of a management, both of an on the pitch.
This is going to be a long season.
And for some more perspective, were now a sinkge point above Manutd.
Thats how bad we are right now.
Sure. Seansea away is a tough game. And more big teams will drop ponts there. But we have to get a result against the top 10 teams away and win all home games to even be within a shout of the top 4 – let alone actually, ya know. Win the league. What the hell is going on at the club????
Im following atg’s lead. Im too angry to make any sense.
I know I won’t be making many friends here but I hope Sanchez leaves us and joins a proper club next season. He is going to waste his talent in this garbage team and dare I say a garbage manager. Only wenger believes he can go an entire season with 2 central defenders challenging on all 4 fronts. Hats off to our French genius who earns 9m an year for such elite thinkibg
Indifference …that is exactly how I felt when Gomis’ header went in, I was not even furious like I usually am when we concede a goal.
That FK was marvelous and I have no problem with that going in since it was just wonderfully struck, but the fact that the deciding goal went from the side where Chambers have been turned inside out whole evening, was just so expectable that it all left me “saw that coming”….this condition is worst for me, so now I am going to have very very long lay off from all things Arsenal.
Cya.
A manager like mourinho would have asked chambers to stay back and put rosiscky with him to shield that side after going 1-0 up. But hey wouldn’t that be a farce accordingly to our tactical genius. Honestly I don’t even get angry these days. This is expected from this club.
*2 – 1 down..
And we still have 3 more years of this shit.
Lurky – Two things on the two goals.
1. Mad defending with two players back. No shape at all.
2. Have a look at how many players we’ve got in the box on the second goal, how many players they’ve got in the box and the position of Mertesacker.
This is a horribly coached side.
Ramsey losing the ball under pressure (lost count the number of times that happened today and this season in general) and after that this
happens…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2BNEYRCMAA0CYC.jpg
This pic sums the season for me. Countered when being 1-0 up!
Where are our midfielders?? You will never see that in a serious side.
The way we played after we scored the first goal was alarming for us and I am sure comical to other observers. No structure, no plan, and no one trying to control the tempo. There is an excellent midfielder on the bench who is very good and all of these and putting some great through balls in as well, but of course he cannot now be played because he is not the “future” and the young players would all have to learn “on the field of play.”
We had a strange game against Anderlecht, similarly shapeless and formless and looking vulnerable in defense. And no changes except for the forced one?
We want a quick goal and we get, yet again, never having scored goal in English football YaYa Sanogo. There is someone on the bench — or was he? Can’t bother to check — who given half a chance in the penalty box would get you goal. But of course we are not going to use his experience as he is not the “future”. A desperate sub around 90th minute bringing on YaYa Sanogo was one of the worst sub I have ever seen on top level football.
I have always been Arsene’s biggest fan, supporter and admirer — but I have started to think that he is now seriously stuck in a mythical “future team” plan at the expense of too many performances and points.
The club needs to thinking about who the next manager should be.
AW – i hate to say this – but ive just totally lost confidence in him.
Yes, he steered the club Thru the stadium build. But hes currently sterri g us straight into mid table mediocrity.
But they wont. Someone said it a ove: the manager is now bigger than the club. Very bad situation. And what the fuck is the point of steve bould? Clearly noone practices defense.
If Chambers was playing as a CB, maybe gomis won’t have been able to score that goal. Play the boy in his position and play bellerin in his position. Why let jenkinson go on loan if you don’t have trust in bellerin. We play both Monreal and Chambers in the wrong positions in the most important parts of the field.
Agree Cynic.
Can’t wait to hear all the “back to the basics” and “lessons will be learned” talk, instead of “I made a mistake by not signing a decent CB and(or) a good reliable DM, and I’ve potentially ruined the season by trying to experiment with the 4-1-4-1 formation.
Admit it, get the job done on the first of January and maybe the fortune will change.
Except for Bellerin no defensive minded footballers on the bench? We had Coquelin in the squad who would have been an IDEAL player to bring in to protect a lead and give Chambers some support, but of course he is not “good enough” anymore (he was a couple of years back though) and goes for a month long loan at Charlton just when we have the thinnest defensive cover possible.
Why not loan out Bellerin as well? We don’t need defensive rotations anyway.
I guess our team and management got greedy. We saw Alexis and Ozil and Theo returning and Welbeck etc. and just fooled ourselves that we would score a bunch of goals in every match without having to really care about the defensive aspects.
Bad week for us, did not manage to make up any ground on City. Time for a shake up, bring in new players, reserves or otherwise! (or get the current crop motivated!)
And finally dedicated to Chelski and their ilk : http://i.imgur.com/l6ga1Sq.gif
I have said if before and will say it again, Wenger needs to go upstairs and do what he does best, balance the club’s account and let’s try our best and see if we can lure Guardiola from Bayern next year. Don’t know how we can pull that out. Something has to give, I don’t want the situation to get to the point where fans will start showing up on match day demanding the boss to step down. He deserve better than that, but the club needs to start making moves. This is unacceptable, am sorry.
SAG @ 155: Because that would probably be erring on the side of pragmatism and obvious wisdom. After two seasons of steady progress playing pragmatic football we are back to being more adventurous than we have the ability for.
Wenger had a few sly words for Merson before the game today, yet there we are again, piling forward, hardly anyone goal side and getting caught on the break. “Tactically clueless” is being generous.
Nothing learned from Tuesday’s captilation I’m afraid.
H2H @162 – nothing learnt from a lot longer than last Tuesday, I fear.
I’m too pissed off now to backdrink and will probably stay away for a while after getting this off my chest, but anyway…
I am definitely not a Wenger Out man. But today I feel he cocked up badly. We had both central midfielders on yellow cards at 1-0 up – the first thing you do is either reshuffle to get a player not on a yellow in that crucial position or you make a sub. We had Wilshere and Rosicky on the bench, both players who aren’t afraid of getting stuck in. But no, let’s continue with Flamini and Ramsey and lo and behold, they are both too scared of a second yellow to make sure the attack that Gibbs had to stop and give away a free kick never happened. It’s fucking pub team basics but Wenger messed up big time. And why the everloving fuck was Chambers left on his own all afternoon against a player he clearly couldn’t cope with? Sure, long-term view and learning experience and all that jazz but what was he learning from getting left all on his own all fucking game against a player who had both his number, e-mail address and Twitter handle?
Ah, fuck it.
Nutshell Lars. Incomprehensible from the bench again.
I’ve kept my thoughts to myself over the last couple of weeks as everyone got carried away with the relative highs of a 3-0 win against Burnley, followed by the appalling 3-3 surrender against Anderlecht.
However, it’s now time for another interlull, the ‘quarter-season marker’, and I think some clear conclusions can be drawn. I set Arsenal a 9-point minimum haul from the last 4 winnable run of games, and 7 points quite frankly isn’t good enough. I know from one lenient perspective, the only real side we’ve lost ground to is Chelsea, and we are still just ahead of Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton, Spurs et al – but just as we assume improvement from ourselves going forward, you can be damn sure that most of those sides (especially Man U and Everton) will be motoring soon too.
The defensive situation is quite frankly unacceptable professional negligence from Wenger and any other persons responsible for player recruitment. I know we can point to untimely injuries to Debuchy and Koscielny (though wasn’t Kos carrying his chronic achilles problem into pre-season?), but the provision of Chambers as the only even remotely acceptable back-up to our first choice CBs and RB is ridiculous. And this is a 19-yr-old who’d played less than 20 times for Southampton. By all means a great prospect, squad-filler and pick for the future, and if he had to play 5-10 games over the season filling in for the odd injury/suspension then fair enough, but to think he was the only factored-in solution to any injury to Debuchy, Kos & Per is pathetic! And that the 4th CB was an untried, willowy 5′ 9″ Spanish left-back is even more laughable….As someone on this forum has mentioned before, in a corporate middle-manager role, if I left my office staff woefully under-resourced, and if the only solution to our senior sales manager being ill on the day of a vital contractual negotiation was to hurriedly entrust the office admin temp to do the key presentation, I’d rightly be fired on the spot! And maybe that middle-manager only earns 30-40k a year, as opposed to Wenger’s 2-3m a year!!! Also, if Arsenal appointed me as a scout, I could guarantee you that I would bust my guts over 50-60 hours a week, trawling through videos and travelling all round Europe, to bring Wenger/Gazidis a list of 30-40 viable Centre-Back options – from 20mil top-class maestros, to a range of alternative short/medium/long term prospects at varied prices. Also, I don’t buy that b/c Per and Kos are our untouchable first-choice so we are only in the market for a 4th choice CB. We haven’t won the title yet with those 2, Per in particular has his flaws and isn’t necessarily going to improve anymore, and any aspirational, top-ranking team should never shy away from adding quality to an already established area of the squad – as healthy competition lets the cream rise to the top, and in the case of injuries (which we seem to get a hell of a lot of) it acts as insurance.
The only silver linings I can find are that fortunately everyone other club bar Chelski has been mediocre (though we can’t continue to rely on that). Giroud, Ozil, Kos and Debuchy would all definitely strengthen our first XI when/if they return from injury, Walcott must be nearing full-fitness, and Ramsey and Santi’s form can only go one way! I still think 3rd place is viable for us, but Wenger has really got to pull his finger out and manage what could be quite a tricky upcoming month of nasty-looking league/european games, as the transfer window and those injury returnees aren’t even an option till the end of Dec!
Lars knows.
For fuck’s sake, Arsenal.
Lurky @ 156: Cannot agree more about the 4-1-4-1 experiment. In the light of so many new players and yet with an unbalanced team with such an injury impacted defense we should have tried to stay close to the leaders by playing simple, pragmatic football and then go for the more expansive formation once the stalwarts are all back and the team has found a rhythm.
We will still make top four, maybe even top three, but PL is out of grasp now.
The old-timers here really don’t deserve what’s currently on offer from the club.
Sort it out, Arsene… please, sir.
BMBD
Gregoire @ 166: Good point about Per. With Kos covering him for his lack of pace he provides a very reliable ‘reader’ role, but without Kos he looks rather ordinary against oppositions that play through channels. Even after all the injured players return we will need at least one other top CB and a DM who can cover space as well as rotate the play to be able to challenge for PL next season.
Yep, Lars.
Nice post Gregoire. but…
…….as opposed to Wenger’s 2-3m a year!!!
He probably pulls in three times that.
@ 166 Gregoire
Fucking SPOT ON fella I would have written something with a fair more swear words and anger to top it up.
It’s true what you wrote in our world if you don’t preform you loose your job because there are others who can do it too. No one is irreplaceable!
Worst thing is this has been happening over the years and sadly it comes to bite our arses again.
Didn’t strengthen in key areas in the summer – Management mistake
Can’t play a tactical game – Management mistake
Playing same old when things have changed – Management mistake
Not reading a game – Management mistake
Leaving subs until things go wrong! – Management mistake
Do I really need to carry on?
Gregoire @166
Great post, agree every word, except that you need to check your info on our manager’s salary.
Dr. Faustus.
The main problem is that we have unbalanced squad and I am afraid that whatever formation he chooses would not make great difference, but the 4-1-4-1 is the worst of them all.
Today’s 4-1-3-2 is not better too. Ramsey is in bad form, so while that is the case, double pivot in 4-2-3-1 is the formation that suits this team the most.
However the main problem I feel is not the formation itself but the fact that we have to many similar profile of players.
To many diminutive players, to many who want the ball in their feet to dribble and dribble and dribble. What we lack are runners in attack and strength in defense. We may improve offensively with Theo, who is a runner, but I don’t see this team to become better in defense in the near future.
For all his height Mert lacks nastiness, speed and most importantly- muscle. We miss Kos badly and until he is back along with Debuchy I just don’t see this side keeping clean sheets and winning games.
We all like Welbeck for his pace and the honest attitude, but Giroud’s (hopefully) early return would significantly improve the structure of our game and we will also score more goals. Giroud does a much better job of protecting the ball and bringing midfielders into play, and a better foil against counter-attacks from our set-pieces. Also he is a much more crafty penalty box player, offering runs in the near post and attacking set-pieces and off the ball dragging defenders with him.
“On the defending…
We play a lot, we give a lot. I believe that overall we controlled them quite well defensively but suddenly in the last 15 minutes you could see that we dropped and allowed them to be dangerous.”
I’m sorry Arsene but they were all over us on the right flank where Chambers has problems all afternoon! Unless you went to see a diferent game?
“on making changes earlier…
I feel that it’s always difficult at 1-0 because we were quite solid defensively and we didn’t look in the need to change. We were struggling a bit on the right side but I have no experienced players on the bench. It was unfortunate and I didn’t think there was a need to change.”
How about to play someone who is fast enough like Bellerin it’s not exactly Chambers is full of experience!?
I have tried to compose my thoughts before commenting. The bitterness of an entirely avoidable defeat against a decent but far from top- quality side can provoke comments you wish you had not made when you review them later. But this was a very bad day for the club and I think most of the blame has to be placed at the door of Wenger.
I often wonder if he works out his substitutions in advance and will not vary them unless we have a serious injury. Almost anyone with a basic knowledge of the game could see the struggle that young Chambers was having against Montero . Incidentally can I point out to those who keep asking for Chambers to play at his natural position of centre back that it is Wenger’s idea that he is a centre back and that he had never played there in his life before joining us. I feel sorry for the lad . Sometimes young players like him need periodic rests and it is hard to see where his is coming from with our injury problems.
We are chronically short of depth in defence and he is being asked to do too much at his age and level of experience. Bellerin might be an option but he is a kid too. A boy called Jenkinson at West Ham might have been an option that would have been very useful at the present time.
I would also like to query the input and value of Steve Bould in terms of our basic defensive alignment. Either he is a cypher cowed by Wenger’s position at the club or his input isn’t effective. But either way when we consider the next Arsenal manager he’s not on my list at the moment. We look vulnerable from every set piece and you can see goals coming from a mile off like their winner today.
I would condemn those who suggest Sanchez should be off. There is a breed of ‘ fan’ whose attitude to defeat is to throw their toys out of the pram and to suggest stuff that would hugely harm us. We desperately need him and Ozil to stay and commit to the club and I believei this boy is so good that he could be one of our best ever players.
I have been critical of Wenger from time to time but have always felt he was the right man to take us forward but to be honest my view on this might be conditioned by who else we could replace bim with. I still believe he has done a superb job but I sense a draining of energy this season and this has been reflected in some frankly bizarre comments like his admission that we couldn’t find a centre back in the close season at the AGM. Someone mentioned in back drinking that Wenger earned £ 2-3 million. You can treble or quadruple that with bonuses ! We could attract a serious heavy- hitter with that salary . I don’t think there is any way there will be a change because Kroenke loves the record of Wenger in achieving heavy and consistent profits whilst keeping the club competitive and won’t look at the current table and see any cause for panic. So in short don’t expect anything other than the status quo to be maintained at the club despite angry words and critical abuse
Lurky @ 173: Agree about the highly unbalanced squad and not enough runners and tacklers.
However even with that composition I believe we can be tactically more astute, much more pragmatic, to make sure we get results and not attempt to build an insouciant style without first taking care of the basics.
There should have been explicit direction to the team to give Chambers support — rotate if necessary between different players — and the senior players should have been tasked with reminding everyone about that. That kind of simple in-game tuning. Or asking Rambo to stay in line with Flamini especially after the goal was scored and keep the middle of the field congested. Exactly what the Swans did after they took the lead, Ki playing as a second/third DM.
I think we are missing that collective humility in our game — respecting the opposition and recognizing our current limitation — and simply trying to play through a bad patch relying purely on the creative aspects.
You know what I wish he could admit to it and say yes it’s my fault at least it would show he knows what went wrong but instead we hear same old excuses.
You are the manger if the right side was shaky bring on a fresh player and double the right side if must be fuck sake it’s not rocket science!
And then we get Sanogo at 90th minute! Embarrassing to say the least!
TTG @ 177: I don’t think it is the defensive training — we did rather well last season defensively (except for the occasional “I can play better than you” mistakes against other top oppositions) with the same management and coaches — but it is the collective attitude of not taking the simpler basic side of the game seriously. Forget the defensive side, say something as crucial in modern game as high pressing. Either we don’t ask our players to do it — except for Alexis — or our players don’t have enough legs and lungs in them to do it. For the latter there is squad rotation, but for the former there are words and gameplans.
All pretty basic stuff that we have shown in last couple of years we are capable of doing consistently if we keep our attitude right.
Santi has been looking exhausted for weeks now. Is TR7 suddenly such a drop in quality? Or is that that we have made up our mind about letting him go next season and hence looking towards the “future”?
“I feel the free-kick was a bit harsh but he took it well and Swansea is a good team.”
Free kick was harsh?!? Seriously? Was Arsene watching another football game today?
Also, it appears now that Swansea is a good team now. Along with Anderlecht who also are a good team as he said four days ago. Hull too were a good team along with Leicester City. So, what we learned over these past two months is that there are lots of good teams in Europe at the moment.
Nothing more.
Gazidis gets the best EPL CEO and we still could NOT find a CB and a CDM during summer ha ha
Too funny to be getting angry! These are going to be a very two long weeks now and I honestly don’t think it will get any better against the Mancs.
Perhaps hibernation is required early this year! We were laughing at Spurs earlier and in fact we aint no better then them!
TTG @ 177: Fully agree about Jenks. Including him we had three defensive departures — TV5, Sagna and Jenks — and brought in only two players (Debuchy and Chambers) one of them being a rookie (however great the potential might be). We were very lucky last season with minimal injuries to Per-Kos — a kind of luck that never happens to Arsenal — and I hope we didn’t just count on it to continue for this season as well.
Saying nothing, for now.
Afraid I might break the abuse rule, Holic. 😉
Esso – you did try to tell them, mate.
Haven’t back drunk either – can’t face it yet.
Like most, could say a lot, but Sanogo in the 88th minute says it all really.
Clueless.
Winning the FA cup might well have got the media monkey off our backs, but it also got AW another contract.
Now *that’s* a double edged sword that takes some swallowing.
‘Holic, have you found your missing perspective yet? Because we’re going to need a lot of it over this interlull.
Nothing much to add. As a famous American football manager once said, “You are what your record is.”
Lot of good posts above.
The first goal was unavoidable after the free kick was given and the kick was brilliantly taken. However I agree that substitution of one of our yellow-carded midfielders might have cut down the risk of that last ditch challenge by Gibbs being necessary.
However much more disturbing was the incomprehensible absence of a logical in-game strategy to address an obvious point-losing threat for the second game in a row.
Chambers needed help. Moreno had the beating of him every time and was getting to the by-line and cutting dangerous balls back into the box. It was only a matter of time before someone connected with one. It was obvious for at least an hour of game-time before the winning goal.
Either the instruction for someone to double cover Moreno didn’t happen or the message didn’t get through or the player in question ignored it.
Someone deserves a rocket. Who knows who?
We keep talking about players coming back from injury like that would somehow change what we are seeing right now. Nothing will change if we keep making the same mistakes, not defending as a team and Wenger waiting till the end of a match before making changes. Every body is out coaching Wenger right now, and that got nothing to do with our injury situation. When you tell your players to go and express themselves on the pitch, this is what u get. Players expressing themselves, no tactical changes from the bench.
Couldn’t resist starting a back drink.
Ttg @177,
Good stuff – and very good point about Chambers’ position. I’d thought it myself when people keep saying he isn’t a right back – well, he was, but we’ve decided he isn’t (as has his lack of pace) and Wenger has said he isn’t.
To be honest I’ve almost lost the will to keep writing the same thing.
I have said that I’m afraid Sanchez will go if we continue in our present vein, not because I in any way think he should go, I’m just very afraid he will not want to keep putting in the kind of effort he does, just to see it thrown away behind him.
Sanchez is good enough to play for the very best and we urgently need to do something about it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
As a younger fan, I have only followed arsenal with AW at the helm. My memories are of Bergkamp, Henry, Overmars, Petit so on and so on. Pretty much the invicables. I started watching the Arse at Highbury and have ended up watching them on my dads 20inch Apple Mac at various early a.m hours, ironically at the ‘Arse’ end of the world, NZ.
I can’t imagine another manager in charge of Arsenal as it would be so foreign to me. But I am seriously losing the will to get up at 5am to watch arsenal, especially after a heavy night on the grog. However I think it is time for change! There are so many choices Wenger made/didn’t make in that Swansea game that just perplexed me. Thank Goodness for Sanchez, he is such an exciting player. And I feel as though the rest of our team is good enough to compete, with the exception of a couple of players. So I put it down to poor tactics and managerial choices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqC0XGAk1is