Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Win
Mar 2nd, 2015 by 'holic
Three points secured, our third place regained, this turned into one of the good days after a shaky start. For half an hour it was noticeable how much time was spent looking left from my vantage point, into the Arsenal half. Everton were on top, and far more adventurous than expected.
The Gunners brought in Gabriel Paulista for Per Mertesacker while Santi Cazorla, still the main link between defence and attack, took the captain’s armband. Gabriel confirmed the impression he made against Boro in the FA Cup. He looks a solid defender indeed and needed to be as the waves of blue came his way early on. He did err once and was grateful to see David Ospina come to his rescue with a parry and slide tackle.
The game swung when the Brazilian robbed Lukaku with a superb sliding challenge. Moments later he had a swing and a miss at a corner but Olivier Giroud buried a glorious strike into the back of the net. It was just what Arsenal, and Giroud in particular, needed. His discomfort on Wednesday was clear, and this was the perfect response.
The second-half followed a similar pattern with Everton pressing for an equaliser, but creating little. Ospina had a nervous early parry for a corner but it was the only blip for him on the day and he did make outstanding saves to deny Lukaku and Lennon.
It wasn’t all one way traffic though as Arsenal started to string some moves together. Giroud had an effort blocked, Ozil and Cazorla both missed the target. In the middle of all this a sickening clash of heads between Giroud and Francis Coquelin left the latter with a bloody and clearly broken nose. He battled on for a while but the next header left him in agony again and he had to be replaced.
In between these incidents Tomas Rosicky came on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and with the aid of a deflection secured the points (and the ‘holic pound) with a drive from the edge of the box.
Arsene knew as well as anybody that the points were more important than the performance.
“What was very important today was that we had a mentally united response and we showed that. We are proud of the response that we showed today. Our defensive concentration was at a much higher level than on Wednesday night. We know that we can do better with the ball but overall what was important for us was to respond with a win.”
Hopefully this will restore a degree of confidence to the team ahead of the trip to Loftus Road on Wednesday. It isn’t often a visiting team has 53% possession at the Grove and it would be disappointing to see QPR grab a similar advantage on Wednesday. Having said that we did dominate the shots tally yesterday so we were more decisive with the ball than the visitors.
This was another good day pre and post match in great company, and made all the more enjoyable by the win, however it was gained.
Come back tomorrow evening for a QPR preview and a chance to win an excellent teeshirt ahead of the FA Cup tie at Old Trafford.
83 Responses to “Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Win”
First!
Beat QPR and maul ManU… looking forward to those matches!
Up The Arse!
😀
Just watching the Invincibles film and one of the saddest things for me about it, is that you would never get the current lot stand up for each other the way everybody got behind Vieira at Old Trafford. Not just the reaction to the penalty or the sending off, but all the “fuck them” stuff at the final whistle between our own players. Forget the jostling of van Nistelrooy and the squaring up to the opposition that went on, it was our lot chest banging and snarling at each other in defiance at the end that gets the hairs up.
Good old days. Nowadays with wins it’s selfies and self pity with a defeat.
Glad a good time was had. Points definitely the most important thing. A bit more fluency against the hoops would be good before Manure but, again, let’s just keep getting points on the board.
If it is wishlist time then I would like Kondogbia. He will obviously want to come after being so impressed by the fantastic style and steel of the team that demolishes his own Monaco team to progress to the Champs league quarters. Right?
Gunnersaurus, you’re so optimistic I hope you’re right, it will depend of how we play and the results we’ll obtain in the next few games, especially at united away from home. It will be a good test but a very hard one. If we did it once recently at manchester, we can produce that a second time. Step by step we have to win away at QPR before.
Good post by Holic, but I would like to know your appreciation about the players.
Obviously happy with the three points but a horrible game to watch, especially around 1.30 am Qld time.
A few talking points occur to me :-
Ospina saved us from a possible defeat – good decision making and shot stopping. Why do some still think he should give way to Ches?
Gibbs has no natural defensive instinct – why does he play if Monreal is fit?
Bellerin is a great prospect but is often still missing in defensive action – is Debuchy still first choice when fit?
Looking forward to greater fluidity and a hammering of the hoops along with an overdue hat-trick for Sanchez.
UTA.
@Cynic i watched the documentary as well and for me the best part was what Jens said- 12 draws hmmm, 5-6 too many, we should have won those. Now thats an attitude and coming from the man who was an invincible and went through 49 games without losing. That is what this and the preceding teams after that team, lacked.
3 points yesterday, hard fought, never convincing yet even everton never truly looked like scoring apart from the lukaku shot which was saved by ospina.
Gabriel had a good debut but does lack communication. He will surely get better as the days go by and i am sure he will now have a sustained run of games.
I wont want to comment on performances because it was average across the pitch.
QPR mid week and as much as they are fighting for their lives, we should get our 3 points of it, a hard fought one albeit.
People complained about our FA cup celebrations, well can those have a look at that sick club celebrating yday after winning the mickey mouse cup?????
@Cynic
That’s the most glaring thing about the Invincibles documentary, for me. That footage of the Battle of Old Trafford. I got wistful just watching it. Would love to see a bit of that from the new breed – a bit of hatred for the opposition.
@Gunnersaurus
I don’t think Kongdogbia is out of the question if Monaco continue their recent policy of moving on their highly paid players. He’d be a fantastic signing, based on what I’ve seen of him so far.
@Noosa
I rewatched a bit of the game last night, and it was glaring that Gibbs takes up some properly insane positions – not just getting up the wing, but coming inside as well. Maybe he’s been asked to do it, but it’s terrifying to watch. Didn’t see such an issue with Bellerin – he’s very adventurous, but came inside a lot less than in recent matches.
Just spotted some stats on Ozil that I thought were worth sharing. Quick note – I thought he had a bad game when watching in real-time yesterday, but am now starting to doubt my own senses when it comes to this player.
Ozil has 5 assists in 12 premier league games. Eden Hazard has 6 in 26. Yesterday, Ozil made both goals and played more key passes (whatever the hell they are) than anyone else on the pitch.
Ozil ran farther than all but seven players in the league this weekend. Ah yes, you say – but he just jogs! He never sprints!
I’d have gone with that too, except that apparently Ozil also sprinted more times than all but 8 players in the league.
And of those players in front of him, in both categories, none had played a midweek game.
I offer the above only to demonstrate that Ozil may be the strangest Arsenal player in living memory. Statistics can, of course, be profoundly misleading, but then so can your own impressions during a game.
Cheers, Holic !
Seems we all want the Kondogsbollocks ! 🙂
TR7 is clearly a friend of the ‘holic pound, and long may it last.
Indeed N7,
That’s why I never do impressions during the game. 😉
Noosa: why do some of us still want Szczesny in goal? Because he is a better keeper. Ospina had a good game yesterday and had a good game v Villa. But he too often flaps at crosses, he punches or pushes when he should hold the ball (see the corner he gave away totally needlessly early in the second half yesterday for example) and this most often gives the other team another go at attacking us. I also think he was partly responsible for the equaliser at WHL, because he pushed the ball straight into the path of Kane. That is an area where Woj is streets ahead of Ospina, Woj almost always manages to push the ball very far to the sides if he can’t catch it. Ospina is also quite small for a goal keeper, he’s only 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) whereas Woj is 196 cm (6 ft 5 in) and consequently has significantly greater reach. I can almost guarantee that Woj would have saved the third Monaco goal, for example.
Ospina also too frequently drops crosses he does try to catch. It hasn’t cost goals so far but it will if he keeps doing it.
Ospina does one thing better, and that is he kicks better with his left foot than Woj does. But then again Woj gets far more distance on virtually all his kicks when the ball is on the ground.
I don’t think Ospina is a shit goal keeper by any means. But I do think Wojciech Szczesny is a better one.
Heh @ Trev!
Ospina was really good yesterday. He’s a very good keeper. Personally, I don’t think he’s as good as Woj (his handling isn’t as good and he doesn’t command his area as well. He’s less of a loony though), but there you go.
Just glad we seem to have two good keepers at the club. They all drop clangers at some point.
Don’t mind them dropping clangers, as long as they don’t hurt the soup dragon. 😉
That’s the game I saw, H. Glad your wager has finally yielded fruit.
I am delighted OG got that goal. Pity he didn’t get his second from that late header. He deserved it for his work rate. Pleased for TR7 too – he always adds such energy to our performance.
N7@9 – I thought Ozil had a significant contribution to the game. His languid style of movement and delivery can give an impression of half-heartedness but the vision displayed by his passing game makes him an invaluable part of the jigsaw – constantly probing and trying to execute the ‘killer pass’.
For all his skills, he is never going to be a player who appears to dominate a match and I do think he will benefit from a big strong assertive midfield companion and while I think le Coq had another good game, he not yet the finished article in that sense.
Gibbs on the other hand had one of his worst games that I have seen. Indecisive in possession and awol to often when required to defend. Monreal is my choice for LB atm.
Ospina made several critical contributions. With our current mental fragility I hesitate to think about how we would have responded had those saves and interceptions not been made. Number 1 for me atm.
That’s true, bath.
I think we will start to look a better side once we get someone alongside Coq who is a natural box to box midfielder. Santi has done a great job filling in, but ultimately that’s what he’s doing – filling in.
A natural box to box player will link the defence and attack a little better, provide more coverage for the defence and allow us to play our natural game a little more.
It was noticeable that in the first half hour yesterday Everton flooded players into the centre, looking for a mismatch against Coq, Santi and Ozil. That suggests that Martinez perceived the midfield as something of a weakness, and I wonder if we’ll see more of the same in the next game or two – it could certainly be a factor against a very narrow Utd side at Old Trafford, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Fellaini deployed against us on the night.
Agree about Gibbs. I actually really like him, but some of the positions he took up seemed inexplicable. At one stage a cross went in and he was in the centre forward spot, ahead of our entire team. Bellerin got forward plenty as well, but I felt he got the balance a little better, and seemed to ensure that when he did go, the Ox was tucked in behind him.
As I’ve said elsewhere, I like us best when we play one attacking full back, and one defensive. Right now, that means Bellerin and Monreal.
@Vinay – Yes, complete agreement regarding Jens. I wish we had him and Keown around the backroom staff. I don’t know if they’d make good coaches, but they’d get the mentality right if nothing else.
Soup dragons and clangers, Trev? You’ll be back to Noggin the Nog before we know it…
N7G: Ozil is like a stealth bomber. He does all this damage without anyone much noticing his arrival.
Cynic: Isn’t Jens doing some of his coaching badges work at London Colney?
N7 — regarding Ozil’s contribution 7amkickoff runs the numbers
http://news.arseblog.com/2015/03/arsenal-2-0-everton-by-the-numbers/
[Who…
led Arsenal’s passing with 43/47
led Arsenal’s final third passing with 29/31
led Arsenal with 5 key passes
led Arsenal with 2 assists
…Özil]
The assists we saw. But the rest are very surprising based on the recollection of the game even to those of us who think we notice the subtleties & nuances of Ozil’s meta-football. I think other than the statisticians he is best appreciated by his team-mates for what he does. A players’ player, as they say. That said, the key facets of his game would be more visibly appreciated once Alexis gets his mojo back and on the other wing we can successfully meld a new player Theobeck Oxcott combining the best of the other three’s qualities.
Santi’s highly successful adaptation to the CM role — he has never ever played here, and those who remember him as the highly technical inside forward or #10 from the Villareal days would find it hard to believe that this slightest of player is dribbling fearlessly from defense through a crowd of flying tackles in PL; it is as if Iniesta has suddenly morphed into YaYa — demonstrates that with right technique, discipline and attitude everything is possible in football once you stay fit. As you rightly said this is not his best position and we have suffered significantly this season from not having Rambo at his best — I think Arsene didn’t expect the dip in early season and then the injuries don’t help — and we absolutely should go for at least one more CM who can also play the pivote if necessary, but what we have witnessed from Santi is one of the most memorable unlikely role transition. When our younger players look at him, and Alexis, and Giroud’s continued progress … they should have no lack of inspiration and example to evolve their games as necessary.
Which brings me to Gibbs. He is no longer the young understudy. For such an excellent athlete and intelligent young man with no little skill on the ball his inconsistencies are becoming really worrying. He was wasteful in possession yesterday and he lacked any incisiveness going forward, didn’t deliver a single memorable cross or cut-back and even though tactically it is well understood why he often chose to drift inside and then drag back to allow Alexis to find space to run in or curl, the sloppiness in movement was frustrating. Last season I thought he is finally getting the consistency and maturity that his talent deserves but despite not having any serious injuries — the curse of his career until now — he has simply failed to push forward this season. Hopefully something that can be sorted out in next pre-season.
‘Never Mind the Quality, Feel The Win’…
Goonerholic,
You are sly. You darn well know there are 2 camps of thought here. 😉
Holic, If you see a Vine on twitter showing Ospina’s ‘parry and slide tackle’, please post it. That’s just the stuff I live for ♥
From the documentary( http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/arse … cumentary/ for those of us who don`t have Sky) I was most impressed with Martin Keown who according to Wiki is still a part time coach and scout for The Arsenal.He seemed very calm,self aware and intelligent.Jens made me laugh several times.Ginger Pele was just natural .TH14 was on the edge of tears several times.
Well worth a view if you have got a spare hour.
I am delighted too, bath, but haunted by the recollection that I owe you a large and delicious Glenfiddich. I pray I remember when the Hammers come visiting.
@24 wuif
Many thanks for the link!
😀
No you don’t Guvna. I was repaying the medication you prescribed and dispensed to me before the previous home match. Happy to keep exchanging that sense of indebtedness though. :0)
Cheers H!
I like Gibbs, but injuries aside he just has n’t kicked on in the last couple of season. Monreal is streets ahead of him at the moment, from where I’m standing.
@ Ned – I think Jens was just doing a few weeks on his badges with us and that was ages ago.
Thanks for the report ‘holic.
Three points, just what the doctor ordered, the rest is just a side show.
Onwards and Upwards.
Agreed Esso.
I think you are right Cynic.
Thanks H2H, and all 🙂
Boy this bar is interesting.
N7’s post on Ozil is an example. He is an incredibly deceptive player that we discussed at length during the game yesterday. His body language is awful. He looks knackered, he looks slow, he looks devoid of inspiration and yet you go on Fantasy League and he is the third best midfielder in terms of points and he has missed almost three months of the season! I thought he struggled in the World Cup and yet his stats there, at the highest level were very good.
As Toyah once sang ‘itth a mythtewy’.
Every game now will be tough because almost every team bar Newcastle and Stoke have something to play for. Fortunately, we don’t have Stoke to play again but all games will be tough. I suspect Liverpool will find Burnley tough on Wednesday but I expect them to win. Normally its the teams with momentum who prosper. Two years ago we picked up great momentum at the end and were very tough to beat. Last year after we lost to Everton we sailed through the last few games. The teams with momentum now are Liverpool and WBA
and those struggling are Villa, Leicester and Citeh. We need to cut out the bad performances which come on the back of a run of good games. This year weve lost several games where we have been awful–Dortmund, Swansea, Stoke,Southampton ,Spurs, Monaco. Rarely have we played well and lost. We need to up the level and be much more consistent. That means a tight defence and a couple of consistent goalscorers and as few injuries as possible..and as much luck as we can muster
Tty. Stoke not having anything to play for? Didn’t you forget breaking peoples’ legs? 😉
Cynic@29: I am sure you are right. Difficult to keep up with the revolving door of returnees to Colney.
@ttg
The comparison with two years ago is very apt, and one that’s been in my mind for a few months now.
That was the season we signed Santi, Giroud and Poldi – a relatively high turnover of players into our first team by our usual standards. We started the season very slowly, found ourselves in bother around February, but then the side started to gel and we went on a run of winning games (winning them ugly, but winning them all the same) that provided the momentum for a little title push the following season.
I think what we are experiencing this season is incredibly similar. I noted on Sunday that no fewer than six of our starting XI were not in the first team this time last year, and a seventh (Santi) was playing in a new position. We have integrated a large number of players into the side this term, and at times struggled for fluency. Yet here we are again, building momentum – the second most points in the league since Xmas, hunting down City in second place.
I have been saying for about 18 months now that I think we will win the title in 2015/16. I didn’t think it was on last season or this, but I do think it’s on for us next term. Why? Because I think it takes three summers of spending money to properly kit out the squad and because I think the players will have bedded down properly. I would imagine Wenger will make only minor tweaks to the first team this summer coming (probably Schneiderlin) the rest will be additions for squad depth and that we will be good to mount a serious push, with the full summer’s rest that has preceded nearly every title Wenger has won with us.
That’s my tune and I’m sticking to it. It may seem fanciful right now, particularly given the Monaco fiasco, but if I’d told you in February 2013, when we lost at the lane and trailed the neighbours by half a dozen points again, that we’d end the year top of the pile that would have seemed fanciful as well.
I look above us and I see a City side who have been allowed to get old together and a Chelsea team managed by a man who has always imploded in his third year at previous clubs, generally from fostering a ludicrous and unsustainable bunker mentality. I see a window for us.
I know that the above probably sounds ludicrous after what we witnessed in midweek, but it’s the lay of the land as I see it – I’ve not felt we had a real crack at the title in years, but if we play our cards right, use the rest of the season to iron a few things out (I expect a few more bumps in the road before may) and add well this summer I believe we may finally, finally be where we need to be to give the league a proper, long overdue go. Like 2013/14, but without the fade towards the end.
Here’s hoping I’m right.
COYG
Martin Keown as manager with Jens playing good cop? Hehe…
Either Özil’s mutter is doing his stats, or someone is having a laugh, or stats are completely misleading. I favour the last.
As you know I tend to watch Herr Özil closer than most and what I see most often are soft option passes either sideways or backwards to players in lots of space. Nothing wrong with that, but creative they are not. And certainly not the kind of defence-splitting passes expected from a player of his calibre. Five key passes? One to TR7 obviously was, another was the corner (more of a lottery than a key pass) from which OG scored, so congrats for both. The other 3 must have been highly subjective cos I don’t remember anything ‘key’ about much else he did. And not mentioned above was the fact Özil was dispossessed in the game more times than anyone else from either side.
As you know I don’t subscribe to this novel idea that front men have to help out fullbacks when they go missing. But I know many here do, so perhaps I should point out that Özil had ZERO defensive stats in the game. Nada, nix, no help-out at all.
Öskar
…and he doesn’t score enough himself either which, presumably, is the balance required if you’re not going to defend..
Öskar
Ned … am I right in thinking that we tend to win more often when we have less possession? And that we generally have less possession this season than in recent years? Just a feeling I have.
Öskar
Say what, Aussie? Are you talking about the same Sir Ches who was rated the best keeper in the Premiership last season? http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/05/15/the-top-ten-goalkeepers-of-the-201314-premier-league-season/10/
Perhaps not so hot earlier this season, but he’s way better than you are making out.
Öskar
@ N7
I don’t mind the option of attacking / defensive oriented fullbacks. I’d be equally happy if the age old ‘axis’ system applied that if one fullback is bombing forward at any particular point then the other drops back. As it is, often both bomb forward leaving us outnumbered on the break. It would be interesting to know exactly what brief Arsene gives the fullbacks in our current system.
@ Lars
I think that Ches is a good keeper in the aspects of physique and technique that you outline. Where he is currently well behind Ospina is in his decision making which has often led to unnecessary goals and send-offs. I’m not sure how you improve decision making when training keepers – perhaps someone else here knows – but in our position we cannot afford for him to learn ‘on the job.’ It costs us.
The two best Arse keepers I’ve seen in my lifetime were probably Jennings and Seaman. Interestingly they were both keepers we bought with a depth of previous experience – perhaps their learning mistakes were made elsewhere and we never saw them?
UTA.
Jennings was the best I saw, Noosa, but he was forever tarred with the stigma of spud from whence he came. But I did almost forgive him over time.
So Sir Ches had a poor one against the Saints, Aussie. That can happen. But one game doesn’t make a keeper rate the best in the Premiership over a whole season suddenly rubbish.
I’m not saying he’s better than OspinO, just that you’re derogation is OTT and doesn’t help your case.
Öskar
*rated the best over a whole season…
Aussie, just so you understand, I am sick of your personal digs at people who go the extra mile for this club.
Fuck off.
Certain folk on here might just find this amusing.
If ‘holic could do the embedding magic?
For what little it’s worth, am of the opinion that we are not too far off from sustaining a campaign on many fronts for top honours!
Not too long ago, most would be arguing for many a transfer and for positions to be filled because the current crop isn’t good enough.. while currently we are arguing about who should be starting based on form and performance.
Take for example Sczcesny and Ospina.. I for one, am excited and over the moon that we have a genuine selection problem! Both on their days are capable of incredible performances and on their days off, really bad howlers! So I do think it’s unfair to judge a keeper on a single performance or two… the same could be said to our other players.
No one would in their right mind say Alexis is no longer a performer because he’s had a few ‘below par’ performances! And as for Gibbs, he does bring a certain aspect that Monreal lacks and he’s just coming back from injury too, let him have a few games. So yes everyone who’s here currently deserves a chance.
The only area we seem to lack depth in arguably, is the DM position and we may need to get a quality player in OR reposition some of our other defenders, who know.. Chambers may be perfect for it!
We are on the up, I firmly believe that.. and it would be good if we get behind the team more often rather than nit-pick every little fault after a game, and sometimes after a win too… incredulous!
Apologies for the rant…. too much caffeine the cause most likely.
Up The Arse!
😀
@ bb
I agree with much of that although I don’t think the DM need is either/or but rather an absolute necessity.
The only thing I disagree with is not looking for faults after a win – I think that’s the best time as it is easier to be more objective after a win than after the disappointment of a loss where opinions can become more emotionally based.
Say no to caffeine – it’s 6.40 in the evening here and time for a Peroni.
UTA.
Esso, I would, but what? Nothing there mate.
@Noosa Gooner
Indeed a DM is a necessity, but can we get one from our own ranks or do we try to spend silly money to buy an established player?! Decisions decisions!
Either ways it is a position that we do not have sufficient depth in for certain and it must be filled for us to sustain any sort of challenge throughout the season.
🙂
BB – The problem with the first sentence of your 46 is that it has felt like that for the last ten years, but too often in that period we’ve seen performances where we’re left scratching our heads, wondering how we could possibly have been so inept but at the same time not really being surprised that we were.
There’s a real failure in the way we approach games in the latter half of the Wenger era and it coincided, for the most part, with a period where the leadership was required from the manager and coaches, as we had a young and inexperienced side. We didn’t get it then and now we have older, more experienced, players in the team they are not strong enough to carry the responsibility.
That, for me, is failure by those responsible for preparing the team (not a one man responsibility) in coaching, selecting transfer targets and tactics etc.
It’s long past time for a change IMO.
Even though it will be painful
@Cynic
All I am going to say to that is that we were a selling club for the most part then and it doesn’t seem the case of late with Alexis and Ozil joining. Mayhap it has a little to do with our balance sheet.
However I will concede the point if we do not win any of the top honours (League and CL) in the next 10 years! We may have to revisit this discussion on a later date.
Anyways, am not going to languish in the past but am looking at the present and forward to what we can and should achieve.
🙂
Now that is how to present a view that not all might agree with. Thanks Cynic.
Cheers. Watching that Invincibles film, and reading what Bob Wilson had to say about him, reminded me that Arsene Wenger is a fine man, who has not been served well by those around him in recent years.
Board or players. He might run the club almost single handed (at least that’s the impression) but at the end of it all you do need everyone to play their part and the players, as a group, have got off very very lightly when the abuse is being handed around. In real life I mean, no0t online.
And on that note, I’m off to boo a photograph of Mesut Ozil 🙂
Heh @ Cynic!
Sanchez to be rested tomorrow?? i mean the man looks knackered and i just feel he is trying way to hard. Ramsey fit is welcome news but which Aaaron will come on to the pitch remains the question.
QPR battling to avoid relegation would mean a fight till the bitter end but quality should come through.
Theo set to start and i for one hope he has a good game for he is crucial to the final leg of the season. A run in which hopefully should see us nothing less than 3rd.
The best part could be pool and united fighting for 4th and thats the case, i would want united out.
Holic @44 . I ignore posts I consider to be beneath the standard of this bar. Personally I consider the guy to be a troll who I will not feed.
I could not agree more wholeheartedly or strongly with your @44. In fact, I have a far longer list of grievances than the personal attacks you mention. Not worth a list of course. And I would be at it for hours.
The only thing I myself have ever disagreed with you on in this bar (in terms of principle rather than specific points/opinions) is his continued presence. The cod-psychologist in me wonders if you think of him as a cross to bare as your penance for excluding other posters over the years less adept at framing their insults without the use of bad language.
To be clear- I have no problems with any opinions expressed on here. But the way they are expressed is everything. Everyone else who expresses views along the lines of his does so with respect. As does everyone expressing other views. He is the only person drinking here who cannot show the rest of us and the place itself any respect.
I have read every post of his and I do not think he even realises how rude he is, how little sense his arguments make or how often he misses the point then argues against his misinterpretation of what someone says and then acts like everyone else is a fool for not seeing that which is so clear to him. Reading this rubbish is the only negative thing that happens to me in this bar.
Like I say, I have ignored him for as long as I have been posting beyond the occasion when he told flat out lies about things I had written (even then I made general points applicable across the board and did not engage him directly). I will now continue this policy. But since you have opened the door I have taken the opportunity to express my feelings for what I hope and imagine will be the one and only time.
Apologies to all for such a negative post but it is a reaction not an action. Given the nature and volume of what I am reacting to I consider it to be extremely mild.
Who’s afraid of the Big, Bad Lars?
Heh@57 🙂
Not expecting an easy ride tomorrow, because you simply can’t expect any away game in this league to be easy. That said this is of course a game we should win, stay focused and don’t give away silly goals and we should be alright. Unlike many others I actually thought Alexis looked a bit sharper v Everton than he’s done for a few games so not sure he needs a rest.
However, one major worry for me is if Coquelin can’t play (boy, if anyone had told me just three months ago that I would be saying that today…) because our only option is to play Chambers or maybe, maybe Ramsey in his position. We’ll have to hope the swelling on the Coq has subsided enough for him to don some protection and get back into the swing of things.
In the immortal words of Ray Parker Jr: I ain’t afraid of no Lars.
Lars @ 58: If the swelling on the Coq subsides, there really is no point getting into the swing of things, back or front. And there absolutely then is no need to don any protection, is there? 🙂
But seriously, Arsene says he sees no obvious reason why Coquelin won’t be available tomorrow but he will check with the medical team.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150303/team-news-ramsey-coquelin-and-flamini
Even if Coquelin is available, we may want to rest him for this match and start with Chambers who is well capable of doing the basics right especially against a team who lacks creativity in the middle of the pitch.
Can’t stop thinking about the upcoming QF against those bastards. Win that one and I think we will push ourselves all the way to retain the Cup.
Finally watched the Invincibles (that plural is a bit awkward, like ‘Furnitures’ or ‘Fishes’ ) documentary. After the Amy Lawrence book there wasn’t any new insights, but very enjoyable indeed. The players’ interviews were the funnest part, especially Jens. “Don’t get up in the morning and think you are an Invincible though.” Ha ha …
As Arsene had said prophetically at that time, the stature of that team and their achievement will continue to grow over the years as it will become more and more apparent how extraordinary the latter was. To us the fans not winning the CL after we had shown our class with that performance against Zanetti’s Inter away at San Siro would remain the saddest part of that campaign … if we had won the CL that season Arsenal 03-04 would have been one remembered world wide as one of the best club teams ever.
Agreed GSD @ 56. ’nuff said.
Agreed Dr Faustus @ 60. I really don’t want to hype that game up like the 1000th game or any of the other games where the burden of responsibility seemed to cause a group ‘freeze’, but I think it is the game that will define how far this group of players have developed as challengers and what we will achieve this season.
As observed by many on this platform, wenger must work on the pshyic of his wards;they nid to play for eachoda nd the team nids a Viera to organise in field.overall it was a relief on sunday wit d’3 points ,hopefully d’team will show greater hunger,cohesion nd collective display at QPR wednesday!
Go here: http://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2015/mar/03/premier-league-manchester-united-arsenal-liverpool-spurs-southampton
Look at the (statistically selected) team of the week.
Recognise that you know nothing about football and probably never will.
N7 gooner, good to see that 3 of our players are in the team of the week despite a not very good game by the team, with forgetting Paulista which is sub in the team of the week for his first starting in the PL. Hope to see more players in that team next week, it will means a good result tomorrow.
@Mehdi
Indeed.
But a little disconcerting for those, such as myself, who spent Sunday’s game tutting at Gibbs being out of position, wondering at what point Ozil would be subbed and shaking his head that Ox clearly wasn’t fully fit.
Starting to question everything I thought I knew!
In my defence, I always liked Gibbs… have a preference for a speedster.
😀
Why cant we have both Ox and Theo start tom, i mean rest alexis have those 2 on the wings and Danny upfront, beat them by pace. I like Ox i mean i have always made it clear i feel he is better than theo and the kid wants to play week in week out.
We can finish 2nd and all needs to be put on the back burner, lets take game by game and if it does mean 2nd, we are all happy campers.
N7 — the statistics capture the things that are done right or wrong — correct or misplaces passes, successful dribbles vs turnovers etc. — whereas what we fans find frustrating are the potentials: a run not seen and pass not made, a poor defensive position that could have turned calamitous, open space where a direct run could have led to a goal, a shot not taken from the edge of the box . The statistics captured that those three players did much better on the ball — including conservative possession or passing — and is a better indicator of the overall contribution whereas our concerns represent the fact that they are capable of much better.
N7 gooner, I have many time ask myself why Ozil always ends his game even when not good, but even if I continue to ask myself this question I deeply know that history show us Wenger will never substitute him.
Wenger thinks Ozil can whenever make an assist because his is too good, but I think that sometimes he really needs to know that he can be subbed.
For me wenger does not rotate enough.
@DrF
I’m being a bit facetious above.
Obviously, statistics aren’t the whole story – you could run more than any other player on the pitch, it doesn’t matter much if you’re just zig-zagging wildly around your own half while the ball’s up the other end.
That said, when you learn that the three players you’d considered our worst performers on the day were statistically the best, it does make you wonder.
N7 @ 71: Agreed. My point was it is the expectation-reality gap that probably does us the fans in. Gibbo’s offensive game looked to be somewhat stale but he did make a whole lot of successful passes in the final third, didn’t lose possession that many times etc. Similarly Ozil in addition to having two assists created a few other chances.
I think the best indication of a player’s performance is how he is appreciated by other players, especially his team-mates, and how he is viewed by those who have played against him. Statistics is the second best, the team manager third best, experienced and non-agenda driven football reporters (if any of them are still left) fourth best, opposition supporters next , then a huge gap… then us fans. 🙂
N7, you’re a bit harsh to say that they was our worst performers. Ox did play a good game for his return, and arsenal did not concede, means that the defense in generally made their job (forgetting that BIG mistake by Paulista which can be really thankful to his GK). Ozil was not remarkable but made two assist anyway. Don’t mind if we don’t play really good as long as we win.
Mehdi @ 73 — That is precisely N7’s point: that while watching the game we fans were probably most frustrated at (I myself was very frustrated at Gibbo, not so much for Ozil but thought he was having a sub-par game, and for Ox I took into account that he is coming back from injury) these players who appeared statistically to have excelled in a relative scale.
On the BBC Sport homepage, copied verbatim:
“Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal does not know how it will take Angel Di Maria to settle in the Premier League.”
I would like to help the Beebsters correct their grammar and suggest the following:
“Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal does not WHAT it will take FOR Angel Di Maria TO settle in the Premier League.” 😉
What Dr F said.
bt8b – Is that “fixed” sentence English? 😉
OK Cynic. Didn’t think you would be looking that closely. My audition for sub-editor is a failure.
Maybe this:
does not KNOW WHAT it will take FOR Angel Di Maria TO settle in the Premier League.
I suspect that sentence is “fixed” in much the same way the medical team have now “fixed” Aaron Ramsey.
Don’t worry N7. Once the sentence makes it through its first paragraph it will start to regain its confidence in its grammatical structure. Before long it will be appearing regularly in award-winning sports journalism and by the end of the season may have worked its way into contention for a ‘sentence of the year’ gong- as voted for by its peers or the one voted for by the punctuation marks which support and inform sentences like this one throughout the year.
Win a teeshirt up next. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
GSD. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
N7. You could be wrong on both counts, but especially on the last one. I’m still seeing visions of the return of Rambo’s form of last season. 🙂
Back- drinking some excellent posts which express a variety of views which underlines the uncertainty around the club. N7 this morning elaborates on a theme he has consistently espoused that we will win the League next season. He does it well too. Another respected poster Cynic takes a contrary view in a very respectful way. That shows how wide the disparity in views is. People who love the club, know the game and are watching the same performances at opposite ends of the spectrum .
I’m nearer to N7 but while I still think we have an excellent squad and it will improve next season I think Mourinho sadly won’t implode, Citeh will get a better manager, Liverpool will be stronger and United will get stronger although I don’t think LVG will be good enough to win the title even if they spend the GDP if a small African state on players again. Sadly I also think Pocchetino is the best manager the Scum have had for a while . So next year will be competitive and while we may be better we will have to be, possibly even to stand still.
Cynic is brave enough to take the plunge. If we do I can almost guarantee we will take several steps back. We will crave the fourth place trophy in a couple of years and a lot of our stars will be restless. Such is Wenger’s alchemy. So I’m in the odd position of wanting to retain a manager who I don’t think can win us the League.
In fact I would be very interested if we can find three managers that we could and would employ , who would join us and who could do better than Wenger. I’m not sure I can find any