A Tale Of Two Keepers
May 11th, 2015 by 'holic
A tough weekend turned into a worse one for Arsenal as Swansea pulled off a smash and grab at the Grove. Second place is no longer in our hands, three points behind Manchester City, albeit with a game in hand, and nine goals worse off.
We started the match positively enough, and before three minutes had elapsed Olivier Giroud headed narrowly over from Aaron Ramsey’s cross. However we were flattering to deceive, The visitors massed ranks, and as usual I won’t blame them for that, ensured a crowded midfield dogfight. Swansea borrowed a familiar gameplan, for we know they can be more ambitious. They combined the physical with far from subtle time wasting, and you know who I think should deal with that.
In fairness they were not slow to spring forward when gaps appeared, and David Ospina saved at his near post from Rangel. That was a rare venture into Arsenal turf though. The home side, totally dominant in terms of territory and possession, but lacking in creativity and speed of movement, hoped for a penalty when Alexis was tugged in the box, but Kevin Friend was having none of it.
After the break the urgency returned and Arsenal created much more. Hector Bellerin lost his marker on the right and a teasing cross toward Olivier Giroud was just defended, last gasp style. Alexis, lively as ever, but struggling with his distribution, had a couple of good chances but this was not his night as he could only find the side-netting and the grateful arms of the returning Fabianski.
Giroud, freed by Mesut Ozil, could only fire straight at his former team-mate who was growing in confidence as a result of being presented with a number of comfortable saves. The inevitable substitutions saw, perhaps controversially, Francis Coquelin and Giroud again withdrawn for Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott. Both contrived to hit great chances into the arms of the magnetic Pole, if you will forgive the pun.
With five minutes remaining the positive had taken to social media to say we would nick it, whilst the pessimistic were warning of impending doom. Said doom duly arrived in an awful repeat of the moment in the reverse fixture when Gomis was left one on one with Nacho Monreal to feast on a far post cross. Ospina made what appeared to be a pigs ear of a gentle effort, but criticism of the Columbian is harsh when you take a step back. His mistakes that have cost us goals and points wouldn’t even require the fingers and thumb of one hand this season.
That the ten match unbeaten run was ended is a frustration for many tonight, this not-even-a-hack included. Perspective is easy to talk about when that run is in full flow, and harder to achieve on such an evening. We fielded what most have agreed is our strongest starting eleven, a settled side indeed, but sometimes things don’t click the way they have before. Arsene was Arsene after the event.
“It was a question of being patient enough and if we couldn’t win it not to lose it. Overall I was encouraged by the quality that we showed in the second half, but it’s frustrating. When you cannot win a game, don’t lose it. We knew exactly what could happen.”
So we have United away next up. A second win of the season at Old Trafford would guarantee third place and our automatic qualification for the Champions League next season. Failing that we have the back-up of beating Sunderland and West Brom at home to achieve the same objective.
Let’s take time tonight to appreciate the run that put us in that position.
Cheers all.
171 Responses to “A Tale Of Two Keepers”
Bang….
More lethal than the Arsenal
How’s things Steve. Tell me you are coming to the West Brom game? It’s been too long…
Generous review, ‘Holic. To repost what fell under the chevrons in the previous drinkgs, it was one of those nights that came just at the moment we didn’t want to have one of those nights.
Can’t help thinking that with Swansea playing deep there was never going to be much chance of Theo getting a clear run at their defence so finding a way to keep Giroud on so Theo could play off him would have been the thing to do. We don’t seem to have a three at the back option that would let us replace a defender with an additional attacker in these circumstances. Wilshere for Le Coq pushes everyone forward one position, in the hope we can overload in the middle, but it makes it very tight there and you then need a striker who can feed off half chances.
Also Monreal didn’t really challenge Gomis with the header that brought the goal. I am, though loathe to criticise Nacho who has been one of the great successes of the second half of the season.
My thoughts from inside the ground posted in the previous set of drinks.
Just on the way home now from what I can only describe as a dismal evening. The first half was as poor as I can remember for some time now. No shots on target and passes going astray all half.
The second was marginally better and we came to life a bit more when the changes were made. I was not disappointed to see Coquelin taken off for Jack. I thought that was the right decision. I was disappointed to see Ollie G taken off. Unless he was injured that made no sense to me. We now had two extra players on the pitch that could cross a ball and had removed the one player who was likely to win it??? I still don’t get that.
Then on 75 minutes The Flapster came and caught a corner and you just knew it was going to be one of those nights. What followed was a succession of back passes to Flappy before we fell hook line and sinker for the sucker punch. The sucker punch that many around me could sadly see coming a mile off.
We have been on a great run but we do still struggle to break sides down who come to defend. We seem to run out of ideas. We may have scored 100 goals this term but our striking options are limited. I think we paid the price for that tonight.
All in all a disappointing and poor performance. We need to dust ourselves down for the weekend. Another performance like that is just not going to be good enough.
All good thanks H. I trust you and yours are all well?
I should be at Sunderland next week and at West Brom all being well. Then off to Wembley for the season finale.
I just hope we play a bit better than we did tonight.
Nice report by the way sir. I think it was right to take off Coquelin and bring on Jack. Personally I would start Jack at OT on Sunday and give Rambo a rest.
I said on my last trip to a Holic Tollie extravaganza that I thought Theo needed to play more. If he was fit then I could not understand why he was constantly left on the bench. Perhaps if he had been given more game time then he would have been that little bit sharper and who knows??
I like Ospina a lot and it’s no coincidence that until tonight, we’d only lost one league game since he came into the team (IMO) but he was poor on the goal. Never mind the position he took up for the cross, his feet were in cement once it came over.
Oh well… Changes are required for Sunday. He won’t make them of course, but he should.
Just returned home after a long day which took me to Preston and Lytham and thence to the Grove. I had not been to a league game at home since we beat Everton – far too long. I was so looking forward to it and we lost to a bang average team. Very well organised and decent on the ball but they played without a striker until Gomis came on and frankly that suited their u ambitious game plan.
Our tempo in the first half was non- existent and we just passed the ball around in front of them. Bags of effort and flair from Alexis but it wasn’t his night. Ozil had one of his frustrating nights and was lucky to stay on. Nobody had a great night but the goal was a complete surprise to me as Swansea had showed such little inclination to attack. Poor Ospina will probably take stick for the goal. Certainly he might have done better but I think he is a superior keeper to Szczesny now. Fabianski kept a clean sheet but did nothing exceptional – every shot was straight at him. I thought Wilshere changed the pace of our game. I would have left Coquelin to sit and pushed the full backs on. Nacho got in once and Bellerin is always a danger. And I agree when chasing this sort of game add Theo don’t subtract Giroud
I hope we get at least a point at OT. We don’t want to lose momentum before Wembley and it would be nice to finish above United. Sadly I think second place has gone now but third is important.
Cheers H.
We needed more width from the fullbacks, they are even more vital when we have Rambo ‘out wide’. Montero, in particular, tied up Bellerin and it meant we stayed far too narrow as we need him running past Rambo and giving us an option away from the centre. Just no space in the middle and we tried to play through them all day. Daft.
I, like Steve T, would not single out Ozil (or anyone else really) as being notably worse than the rest. And I certainly did not get any sense of a lack of effort or interest which occasionally rears its head during these ‘complacent’ games. They worked hard, just not effectively. And it could easily have been a win- we had good chances, but poor shooting too.
I’m not pleased about the result but sometimes you get nights like this. We’ve seen them before and will again. Manure next though. Glad that Holic pointed out what a great run it has been, let’s hope this is just a blip…
A typical under average performance from the Gunners. Very Disappointing. Yes Swansea parked the bus but we vogued through the match. Georgie Graham was the original Stroller this lot should be called the Amblers.
“Bit of luck the lights will go, then we can bring out the deck chairs and watch sparkie at work while singing The Grand Old Duke of York. Ho Hum just one more boring day at the office.”
Nice summary.
I understand everyone is more accepting of this loss because this came due to no lack of effort and we have been on a phenomenal run. But what if we were leading the PL and at least a draw would have kept our destiny in our hands (just like a draw here would still have kept #2 fully under our control)? Would we be equally accepting then? Or would the team not falter similarly if we are in that position?
I find as a team we remain significantly vulnerable to late-game counter-attacks against any team that have quality up front if we are not using a deep-lying MF like Coquelin, especially if we are chasing goals. Almost all PL-CL teams have become adept at counter-attacks late in the game given the rapid increase in physical conditioning and tactical development of the game. I know taking Coquelin off seemed like the right decision as Swans were not really attacking but it opened up the possibility to be caught in counter and they evidently capitalized. Attacking wise we will have days like this when the players would be, collectively and individually, a little short of their high standards but in those days we would need to recognize that fact and continue to play ensuring defensive solidity. Against Reading in FA Cup SF we had forgotten that and had almost paid the price.
If we are to win PL next season, in games like this when a group of technically capable — Swans have good technical players all around — players playing tactical attrition football sitting deep and our offensive players are not at their best we must still be able to salvage a point.
We now have a deep squad of high quality, experienced, matured players and tactical/positional naivety should not be a reason to lose matches.
Doctor Faustus ,
I really enjoy your analysis, very accurate
MG @ 12 — Thanks.
Le Coq was taken off in order to supplement the attack. You win games by scoring more than they do and we’d shown little inclination to score up to that point. That’s not to say the gate should be left open for the opposition to pour through. And the goal, when it came, had little to do with Coq’s absence anyway.
AW’s choice of the same XI for a fifth successive game sounded great, but also invited the over confidence evident for most of the first half. Given we have one v important game to come (the Cup final) I would have thought today was an ideal opportunity to give some of the bench-sitters a run … both to check their fitness levels and game touch, and to remind those rested that others are wanting their slots. Instead we have allowed some doubt to creep in, and an OT visit to follow it which could see that doubt further extrapolated.
Altogether too much hubris and not enough energy today, imo.
Öskar
About Sunday, I won’t mind seeing TR7 down the right. ManU left side of defense and MF are not the best against high-press, especially of the type super Tomas would provide all day and then he is one of the best in our squad in releasing full backs behind the defensive line and playing rapid one-two. I think players like Bellerin would play even better with TR7 who would give him cover when needed but use his pace much more intelligently. Whenever we need to increase the tempo of our passing and movement I still think he remains the best we have. He doesn’t have Ozil’s vision (though not too far behind) or Alexis’s directness but can influence games in a manner no one else in our side can.
Giroud had a spell of games like today’s towards the ends of last season too and later he and Arsene had both confirmed he was playing through minor injuries and fatigue. He can really do with a rest but if Welbeck is not fit by then he would probably start. Not that Danny is very good as the kind of focal point of attack Giroud provides, but at least he would be able to offer his physicality. When Giroud is fully fit he offers much more lateral movement and presses the defense much higher.
Danny’s back-to-the-goal playing and finishing maybe poor from central position (things he must improve on to provide a viable alternative to Giroud), but in addition to his pace he also offers an excellent relentless high-press which actually had earned us a few goals (mostly via Alexis latching on to the loose ball) and may have come in handy today.
Oskar @ 14 — The goal came mainly due to lack of covers for the flying full-backs on either side. First we were attacked down the left, then they switched the ball, Bellerin was stranded on the right and couldn’t get close to the crosser. Teams try this tactics against us all the time and it is nowadays much less successful because Coquelin typically covers the first attack but if he misses that he rapidly drops back deep and does a superb job of aerial clearance. It is not a coincidence that with Coquelin on the pitch we have hardly been successfully counter-attacked.
I am probably in a minority, but I think Alexis could have done with these last couple of games on the bench, and coming back all refreshed against ManU. With TR7, Theo, Jack playing a bit more.
Top posting Doc.
Alexis won us the game against Hull, Dr F. And he was just about the only player today with energy. You couldn’t have dropped him with just half a dozen games to season’s end. Several others I’d have liked to see dropped ahead of him.
There should be no problem for the FBs to play a little more conservatively without Coq on the field. Less of the ‘flying’ forward. Likewise the CDs should be more aware. There were two players on Gomis when he scored, but neither Nacho nor Kos could climb high enough to stop the header. It was a goal any competent defence should have kept out. As Flappy did at the other end.
In passing I must say the goal-line technology worked perfectly (unfortunately). I was impressed when Friend tapped his watch, which apparently gave him the nod it was a goal.
Öskar
Dr. F: As astute as ever.
Ttg: Agree with you that Fabianski was not found wanting but equally not seriously tested.
All our players were crowding each other at the end. taking off coquelin was not very smart in hindsight.
was ramsey asked to play further forward? when coq was taken off ramsey sat deep. then got bored and was always venturing forward.
our manager cant seem to enforce discipline in the team it seems.
shit day at the office for everyone concerned. manager and players.
Enjoy your posts as ever Dr. Faustus.
Spot on, GSD
Cheers Holic !
This was like dropping back three years in time. Endless sideways passing across the back line, no pace in the play apart from Alexis trying to get the team moving, and Ramsey at right wing added nothing in terms of width or the aforementioned pace.
The second half was better but we finished up with possibly the smallest team in Premier League history – Wilshere, Cazorla, Alexis, Walcott, Bellerin and an off-form Ramsey swopping positions mid-way.
Fabianski played the game of his life but, in reality, we made it fairly comfortable for him.
I like Giroud and he does a tremendous job for the team. Last night he didn’t really seem to get involved in the play much though and I can’t escape the uncomfortable feeling that we lack a truly top class striker.
Very frustrating to lose to a team who clogged and wasted time through the game, aided and abetted by another hopeless referee. But in truth we wasted the chance to get some momentum going in the first half and then conceded a carbon cooy of the goal that did for us in the away fixture.
The difference between second and third place could prove to be very important too as the seedings for next season’s Champions League will be done on league position and not historical coefficient.
If Alexis had taken one of his two really good chances (one of which was an absolute sitter), or if Theo had converted his sitter, or Ramsey’s shot had been a couple of inches the right side of the post instead of the wrong, or Giroud had connected slightly better with his sidefooted attempt from the edge of the area we’d have been sat here talking about a patient performance where in the end we broke Swansea down. I really don’t think we did much wrong apart from the woeful finishing, because for all their bus-parking and time wasting we still created more than enough to have won the game. I am incredibly frustrated and pissed off with the result, but I’ve seen us play far worse and win. Crystal Palace away this season, for example.
We were also robbed of two absolute stonewall penalties in the first half, Giroud was held by a Swansea defender in a way that would have made even Martin Skrtel embarrassed but Kevin Fuckwit gave a free kick for Swansea instead and then of course the Alexis situation which the landlord mentioned.
(And yes, I think Woj would have stopped the goal but I am not going to blame Ospina for the loss – we should have been out of sight by then)
So Im sat in my local with a few pints in and a complete and utter neutral, just totally for fun, says: “ok, for a pint, I’ll bet that Swansea will score first and win”.
Immediately, they look across at me and see me wince and shuffle uncomfortably in the seat. Of course, I tried to smile it off but as the night went on……..
There’s “a way” to play the Arsenal for teams like Swansea (and Aston Villa). It largely involves keeping things very tight at the back and playing for set pieces or aerial challenges up front. While this is the second time Gomez has scored to earn the points and gets the plaudits I think the person who really caused us trouble in both fixtures was Montero. He’s a very good winger and our young full back has a little more to learn in terms of positioning and getting tight to good players like him. If you stop Montero, you stop Swansea.
Gary Monk got his tactics perfectly right. Ok, it involves riding your luck a little against a team like Arsenal, but Swansea have taken 6 points from us this season. He’s a shrewd coach with the players he has to hand and I thought Swansea did a good defensive job on us. When you have Rambo playing on the wing, y’know your not going to get stretched so it’s a matter of keeping a tight shape. In doing this you force us to do something “special” to break down the attack. And while we have one or two players who are capable of that, they need to fire on the night.
There can be no excuses at our end. None. We have seen this far too often and its become a familiar scenario. Whether your trying to secure a 2nd place berth in the PL to enhance seedings for next years CL, or whether your playing European cup ties. Wenger said as much after the game: If you can’t, you’ve got to make sure you don’t loose. We might not have done enough to win, but we should never loose like that. You’d be forgiven for thinking we might have learned that lesson by now. We haven’t.
I think its d right tym Wenger av to sub Ozil in 70mins and allow Carzolar or Rosicky or Ramsey to play is role. Ramsey, Carzolar and Rosicky av more pace, more goal sense, more pace, more shot accuracy and more work rate than Ozil.
Ozil lack energy once its 65mins upward and he doesn’t deliver when we r playing against a team tht strong and tough i.e Chelsea, Totheham, Swansey e.t.c . So i don’t know y Arse allow him to always play 90min.
Good posts -but what I saw was a team frightened to actually do anything. Cazorla passes short, and never takes on a man these days; Ozil can pass well, but also never takes too much initiative; Ramsey too seems scared; Giroud cant go past anyone; and mostly all we did was side-pass the whole night, and then pass backwards. we were also far too slow and when someone did eventually pass, it often went astray!! no imagination, no initiative. these are not future champions.
And it seems everyone knows how to play Arsenal these days (park the bus, and crowd out the middle) – cos we always play the same way, very predictable and unimaginative.
Jack added impetus and Theo a little bit; I think we are missing the Ox and maybe Thomas. maybe some players need a rest.
i felt in this game, and against chelsea etc., that when the opposition attack, even on the counter, they somehow always seem more dangerous than we do – they are always allowed more time and space on the ball, our fullbacks (both) always seem to be caught out of position and do not pick up their man (luckily were not always punished) and we dont crowd out the penalty area to stop shots going through.
altogether a bad, and boring performance, which was punished, and not for the first time.
I was sad at the loss but that is another side to the game of football. Let’s hope the hard lesson helps us in the next game. No shifting of blames but I’m not happy Rozza hasn’t been playing lately. We need his experience and high pressing.
I saw the same game as Trev and Joe. Hugely frustrating.
And it seems everyone knows how to play Arsenal these days (park the bus, and crowd out the middle) – cos we always play the same way, very predictable and unimaginative.
There’s “a way” to play the Arsenal for teams like Swansea (and Aston Villa).
But that goes for every team, including Barca but any team with Messi in it will win almost any game anyway. Playing a midfield five/six (depending on what you define as a midfield player) in front of a back four isn’t exactly rocket science after all. It happens often against us but most of the time we break them down anyway in the end – and like I said, we created more than enough to have won last night. It was the finishing that let us down, not the lack of chances. The previous weekend WBA did to ManU exactly what Swansea did to us. And the week before that Chelsea did it to ManU at Stamford Bridge. Burnley did it to Man City. Middlesbrough did it to ManCity and knocked them out of the cup. Hell, we pretty much did it ourselves to ManCity at the Ethiad and ManUre at Old Trafford in the cup, come to think of it.
Swansea are a good team and had a day when things went their way, their tactics weren’t “Arsenal Kryptonite” or anything. I’m pissed off that we didn’t take out chances, but I have no major problem with how we approached the game in general. Could we have done better? Probably, and definitely for their goal. But again, we had the chances but just didn’t take them and paid for it.
Anyway. Drinks on the bar for everyone.
cheers lars
.
what a horse’s ass of an evening
Henry got a little bit of stick for his comments the other week, but he was spot on. A better keeper would not have let such a soft header in (no foot movement at all) a better centre back than Koscielney would not have allowed the header in the first place, Ozil creates nothing against better sides (for better sides, that usually means well organised ones). Swansea are not a “better” side but they were superbly organised and he created nothing. He wasn’t alone in that but he’s one of the best players in Europe (so we keep being told) and on nights like last night, it is his job to unlock the opposition. Not for the first time, he failed – you need more from a player like him other than keeping things ticking along in midfield.
Giroud? Not good enough in tight games.
Oh well.
Very good analysis by Dr F, Trev, Joe and GSD after Steve T last night.
Thinking about the game today ( which was painful) I really think at home Ramsey should not play wide. He was effective away at Hull but it is a choice between him and Santi in our best team because in that I would have Ox wide on the right every time and I hope he can turn out against Villa. I think Dr. F’s shout for Rosicky is a sound one for Sunday but away from home Ramsey contributes more in a freer role. He doesn’t create much down the right as Ox or Theo might but he makes great runs from deep which help you on counter attack.
I would also take issue with Cynic about Koscielny. There are very few centre backs in Europe better than Koscielny and this season only Terry has probably been better in the PL.
Lars is right. If we’d stuck away one or two of the chances, it wouldn’t be ‘hopeless Wenger’ but Arsenal grinds out a win.
Cynic@33: if you are going to point the finger at anyone for the Swansea goal it has to be at Monreal as he was the defender Gomis outjumped. The cross went over Kos’s head.
Thanks GSD, Lurky, NBN & TTG.
Koscielny is one of the best in business, and as NBN pointed out hardly in blame for the goal. The best protection against goals like that would be to not let the cross in especially when there are not enough bodies in the back.
Anyway, the team (the players as well as the manager) had shown yesterday that in terms of tactical game management when things are not going our way we still have to wise up a bit, learn to be more direct in attacking third (it was strange to see the crosses finally coming in after Giroud had left to fly over poor Theo’s head) and remain defensively focused. If we are to win the PL we cannot probably afford more than one home loss like that, and cannot definitely afford to be doubled by #7 team in exactly the same manner home and away.
If we have to apportion fault for the goal, it’s a three way split between Bellerin (who was had up by Montero for the only time in the game, Monreal (otherwise our motm) and Ospina (footwork).
All three of those players have been ace lately, so very tough to point the finger at them.
Ditto Ozil. Are Swansea a “strong side” now then? What’s actually being said here is “Ozil struggles to create against sides we struggle to great against”. I thought he had a decent enough game last night. The main issues seemed to be me to be with the front three and our narrow attacking shape.
Onwards and upwards.
COYG
Blame game is easy but then Monk and his men came with a plan and executed it well enough whereas we did not have a plan and expected us to win just because we are superior than them. Football does not work like that, does it????
I do not want to single out names for we did have quite a few yesterday who were playing in slow motion but my point is simple, this perennial problem of what to do when teams park the bus, train or whatever it maybe persists. We need to break this down and it does come down to the boss playing a major part on this. He needs to know by now that most teams do play this way against us at the emirates.
3rd place looks the likely end to the campaign which i think represents a fair picture. We were good but not good enough.
Aston Villa will play close to what the swans did yesterday so we better be prepared, benteke and co are far more potent than the swans for sure.
OT over the weekend and i do not have any hopes with shrek and co around. Yes we won there but i do not see that happening again. No this is not based on yesterday’s performance but just sense fatigue and jadedness setting in. Just win the home games and beat villa please.
Totally agree with all of that N7.
I am not going to dig Ospina out for the lack of a save there, he has been pretty good recently. But if our goalie had saved that then second place would still be in our hands. Top keepers make a massive difference. Having a world-class keeper will get Manure into the Champion’s League this year.
I like the goalies we have. But it is an area that we are weaker than all our rivals. And the swampies.
We must sort it out.
Ned – After Koscielny managed to complete lose his man.
*completely
Doesn’t quite do it does it?
In the first half we were so slow we had virtually no chance of scoring. Second half we could easily have scored several goals but the chances were not taken. Giroud’s defensive presence was a massive miss after he was taken off, particularly in conjunction with the withdrawal of Coquelin, and Garry Monk has won the tactical battle against Arsene Wenger two times running. The one point from a draw could have kept us in the driver’s seat for second spot.
Right after Fabianski’s three saves on Alexis/Walcott/Cazorla with about ten minutes to play, I had to stop watching the game to drive my daughter somewhere so I missed the Swansea sucker punch but I can’t say I didn’t have a bad feeling at that point. To put it in the words of a man who is wiser than I could hope to be, “We were naive.”
@bt8b
So you stopped watching the game and they scored?.. Jinx!
There’s no other explanation..
Anyway as long as we finish above MU this season..!
😀
He needs to know by now that most teams do play this way against us at the emirates.
Funny how a manager who presumably doesn’t know that opponents do this had lead his team to a run of ten wins in eleven games before yesterday and before that won (iirc, can’t be arsed to count exactly) eight out of ten.
Once again, creating chances wasn’t the problem yesterday. Converting them was. Shooting straight at the keeper from five yards out has the grand sum of absolutely fuck all to do with opposition tactics.
I’m as pissed of as anyone else with the result, but this is football. Sometimes the better team loses the game.
I expect us to finish second… or fourth!
Third is not in the entrails nor in the tea leaves… it has spoken and it is said.
😀
@Lars, i am not blaming him at all, it is plain obvious and i am sure he knows it as well. It is just stating the obvious and hoping things change for the teams wont.
Fair enough, Vinay.
Quite frankly I’m amazed Liverpool fans would pay that much:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32713079
for the opportunity to sing derisively about Steven Gerrard, like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeJjTHCN1jg
😉
N7 – I didn’t say Swansea were a strong side did I. What I said, and what you are well capable of reading and understanding is this.
Ozil creates nothing against better sides (for better sides, that usually means well organised ones). Swansea are not a “better” side but they were superbly organised and he created nothing
Perfectly clear. Perfectly true.
Hear hear Cynic. And the stats back it up … just one goal and no assists in Özil’s last 7 Prem games, of which he’s played all but 24 minutes (he got early marks in the ‘easy’ wins against WH and Poo). Just not good enough for our most expensive ever transfer.
Öskar
Calming down now…
Agree with Lars (#45), we created enough chances to win the game but failed to convert – something I’ve been hammering for years now. When OG has an off day it’s up to the MFs to score, but Santi can’t get the ball on target, Alexis prefers to attempt difficult strikes when a sideways pass would give someone else a tap-in, Rambo is stuck on the wing and has few opportunities and Özil only ever fires at goal from frees. We get more shots from Bellerin than Özil and Coq combined.
The answer of course is, or rather was weeks ago to give Theo a lot more game time to sharpen his touch. His positional sense is fine and he could have had a brace on Monday – if he’d been that little bit sharper.
Öskar
One and only:
[In fact the former Ajax forward assisted 94 Premier League goals for Arsenal, which is 20 more than the next most for the Club in the competition (Thierry Henry). It’s also the third most in Premier League history, behind Ryan Giggs (162) and Frank Lampard (101), who both played at least 250 more games.
]
http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/dennis-bergkamp
Interestingly,
[
…in the history of the Premier League, Mesut Ozil has the best assists to games ratio of any player at any club, with one every 2.63 games (minimum 10 appearances).
]
Useless player, of course. 🙂
Bollox, Dr F.
Özil’s assists to EPL games ratio is 3.2 overall (14 assists in 45 appearances), and 3.8 in the current season (5 in 19).
Even Theo averaged 3.2 in his last full season before injuries (10 assists in 32 – incl 8 as a sub so played a lot less minutes).
Öskar
Oh, and one other at random … Cesc Fabregas’s average is 1.8 (18 in 33). And I don’t doubt there are others.
Öskar
Dennis, otoh, was on another planet.
Öskar
Oskar — I simply quoted the mouthpiece. I would request NBN and his monks to sort this one out. I suspect the article was written before the last few matches. 🙂
Cesc’s average for the season could be 1.8, but not his career PL average. Mesut, lest we forget, was the top assist-maker in Europe for a couple of seasons before he joined us.
I am not trying to convince you of anything, BTW. I just saw those lines in that article about DB10 and thought was worth sharing.
Okay, according to http://talksport.com/magazine/big-picture/2011-07-23/most-creative-player-premier-league-history-revealed-can-you-guess-who-he?p=19 … the best assister in the history of the Prem is David Beckham who averaged 0.56 assists per game. In comparison Özil is averaging 0.31 per game overall and 0.263 this season.
Interesting that last figure. It looks remarkably like the 2.63 figure you quoted originally. Now we can see the mistake … someone with a maths problem?
Sorry Dr F, I didn’t mean this to reflect on you. It just never looked right to me. You were led astray! 😉
Öskar
My earlier stats were of course games per assist, not assists per game. YOU led me astray with that! 😀
Better to move on, aye…
Öskar
Point taken about Cesc, Dr F (just catching up with your latest post).
And to clarify, Özil’s assists average would actually have him equal 17th with Stevie G and Nic Anelka. Sounds about right to me. But that table is a few years old so not strictly gospel.
Öskar
Moving on … I’m off to walk Öskar (the dog). Back later.
Öskar
Stats, damned stats and utter boredom.
You seem to have sorted out the assists per game ratios among yourselves. The only point to add is that someone has to score for an assist to count as an assist. So it doesn’t accurately measure chances laid on let alone any Hlebesque pre-assists.
Ain’t that the truth, Esso. But if someone’s going to quote them they should at least ensure they’re accurate.
For the record, Dr F, Cesc’s total EPL stat would be 0.49 per game, compared to Özil’s 0.31.
Öskar
Or the pre pre pre pre assists which begin with keepers taking a goal kick…
My previous was out of sync, Ned, as I had a phone-call.
Öskar
If Theo doesn’t play, then he should.
If Theo does play and plays badly, then it’s because he hasn’t played enough – he should play more.
If Theo does play and plays well, he should play more.
Round and round we go….
@Cynic
Ozil doesn’t create against better sides, which means well organised sides. Swansea aren’t a better side, but they are superbly organised?
Nope, I’m still not getting it ; )
Morning Theoholics !
N7,
Theo came on on Monday night and missed his usual ( this season) open goal from 6 yards.
Why ?
I refer you to your own @66 which is spot on.
I didn’t mention it in my own original match comments ‘cos I knew exactly what it would precipitate.
For the rest, he managed to keep safely out of the way of the other crosses that were whipped in – one we t over his head – but I saw no real effort to get on the end of any of them.
Lacks sharpness ?
‘Course he does – he only trains with the first team every day.
Damn computer deleted the entire thing. I’ll type it out again then…
For the last few years our corners have been rubbish. We never expect to score from them, are as surprised as anyone if we do and generally look more likely to concede on the counter than bag one ourselves. That has changed this season. We do not have the old attitude of ‘just sling it into an area and we’ll do the rest’ that prevailed when we had bigger, more physical teams who relished dominating the aerial duels but nevertheless we have been much more effective.
Corners and free-kicks around the box are such a cheap, easy way to score (matron!) that top-teams have to take advantage and use them to get the points when more traditional methods fail. See the Chavs this year. When you are playing badly a goal from a corner can get you out of jail. Likewise when you are playing okay but missing all the chances you create.
Against Swansea our corners were awful. Seriously bad. If we had given ourselves a chance to score from them it could have made a big difference. And where are our goal-scoring defenders? The CBs who score AT LEAST 5 every season just from headers and the full-backs (who have such license in our team to join the attack) who finish off the moves every now and again?- Hector looks to be one who will do so more and more… If Monreal, Gabriel, Mert, Bellerin and Kos all scored five in the league every year that would help massively on days that our world-class offensive talents decide to kick the ball straight at the goalie from eight yards out.
@66 – He should have played in his correct role as an addition to Giroud, not as a replacement for him.
If anyone can be arsed to watch that second half again, watch how often we go forward with nobody at all in the acres of space on the right flank, and how much of the half is spent tippy tapping it about from left to middle and back again.
Everybody could see we needed width.
Apart from one man.
Dennis, otoh, was on another planet.
And also far too frequently on the bench.
GSD @ 69 — I think we lead the table in scoring from set-pieces this PL season. And if we exclude the penalties even then we are #3 or something like that. So, yes, as you mentioned, quite a turnaround. Our set-piece defensive record has been excellent too. So evidently lot of work has gone into those aspects in the training ground. Against Swans as you said the corners were pathetic … some days the attacking qualities fall short like that, even then the better teams either find a way out to get a goal and if not make sure they don’t concede avoidable goals.
Oskar — that is a lot of posts about division and multiplication from someone who doesn’t think numbers are important. 🙂 As I said, I was not trying to convince you or anyone, I didn’t even compute the stats, I simply quoted an “interesting” sounding passage from official web-site article about DB10.
To your and NBN’s points about chances created and not taken, nowadays “chances created from open play” is also tracked by Opta etc., and 7amkickoff (checkout arseblog’s by the numbers column) and others often use that number to analyze… our German wizard generally tops those, as he does in final third passing etc. but again, not trying to convince you.
One final comment about statistical/numerical analysis, you may not like to think about it but most aspect of your life where you live under the illusion of pure autonomy your decisions (at least the boundary of possible decisions) get made by some software running exactly those kind of analysis. 🙂
Includes your investment portfolio, your retirement fund, the plane tickets you pay to come all the way to England, the cost of your health insurance, the books that are available from online sellers, the value of your currency, the government you think you have chosen etc. etc.
🙂
Genuine question: does Theo give us width?
He used to, two or three years back, but nowadays doesn’t he tend to drift into the centre a lot, looking to play off the forward and get in goalscoring positions?
Here is something to cheer up Otd:
Ozil got a assist every 140 minutes and a goal every 420 minutes when playing for Real Madrid;
an assist every 150 minutes and a goal every 517 minutes when playing for Werder Bremen; but
an assist every 243 minutes and a goal every 466 minutes for us.
This site is becoming as anally retentive recently as it did temporarily in the summer when one of our long gone posters was pleading with us to ‘ ‘ free Balotelli ‘ – remember that one? How glad I am we ignored those entreaties .
I’m happy to accept that Ozil is crap and Theo should win the Ballon D’Or if we can just move on;););)
I am new to this site. The biggest problem I see with Arsenal is that now that Wenger has a bigger pool of players to pick his line-up from, for a given, he does not know how to the right line-up to field for a given game. He does not know when to substitute. It is going to get worse next year when Ox is back & Gnabry becomes available. Why does Ramsey play on the wings ahead of Theo? Does that help spread the opposition defense? Alexis/Carzo/Ozil do not always have to play 90 minutes pretty much every game. Someone please tell Wenger it is okay to make substitutions at halftime, and not always wait 15 minutes to go in the game. I do not think Giroud should have been substituted in the last 2 games. Is there a policy that says because you paid a boatload of transfer money for a given player, then that player has by default have to play? Give Gabriel & Chambers some game time.
you shoulda
sent em awwlll daaaannn ttg
.
mr beak sir
.
.
hangings too good for em
its a good boot in the arse they need
.
😉
.
i agree though
visceral not statisticationally-al
.
.
arsenal to me
hardly fuckin any telly 70s
80s i was there
90s some
.
dunno what i’m on about
m’lud
.
send me daaaan an allllll
i mean well
i just shite on me creepers
afore I delicately blunder
.
anyhoo
.
howdy
.
🙂
time for some kinks
.
.
indeedy
i’m up in the north
the bit whence i came
.
herself was worried about stuff
.
all ok now
.
.
send her daaaaaan ttg
*tear runs down face*
jeez
how much shite
do i need to bleurgghh
to get to the ton
.
*tumbleweeds*
.
i’m a simple man
with
metric needs
i did see a woman
seabiscuit pissin
punch
what transpires
was
her sister
.
thence
.
(word? oskar?)
.
spread the liquid love
.
.
and people wonder why
i live in the arse end of nowhere
instead of here
.
gimme cattle
anytime
.
“Head em up”
“Move em out”
.
.
i’m gil favor – trail boss
.
YEAAAHHH!!!!
Bale compiles enough big misses in one game to fill up an entire highlights (lowlights?) reel. Real Madrid do love to waste money.
Metric needs, cba. You’re lucky you don’t live in the only country in the world that’s still stuck using the English system. 🙂
*Makes another contribution toward the tonne.*
*Note non-intuitive non-British spelling.
ssshhhhh 8ball
the north of ireland
the only “country” in the world
still st. . . . .
.
ooooohhh
bitta politics
🙂
The best the announcer could do to anticipate the “excitement” of the Champions League final matchup was to talk about Suarez v. Chiellini in a reprise of bitefest 2014. Is it a sign the Champions League has had its day?
*wallop*
.
i declare the ton
.
me chops are done
.
fuck the lotta yees
.
.
proper good chops
mmmmmmmm
lovely chops indeed
.
.
i had good looking parents
.
.
just the two
.
i’m not greedy
awwwwwww
i’ll just pad shite
and
i dunno
zicoh2htrevorsomesuch
bet it would be ‘holic
loada fuckers
will nyuck it
.
GRRRRRRR
spent today
self levelling
.
£22 a bag
tad spensive i thought
b&q
95 is the magic numbervvv
yevvv it ivv
iv the magic numbervvv
fuck this
its childish
ooooooh
though 🙂
aw fuck it
.
Shoots
*self assists*
I AM TAKING MY BALL HOME WITH ME MR HOLIC MAN
WHAAAA
.
i know people
fuckit
.
I AM PEOPLE
.
.
pffffftttt
Just you and me then mate? The place has changed. Maybe the race is run?
Bless you fella. 🙂
‘holic buddy
.
ye’ve changed lives
ye still do
.
changed mine
.
i used to put me shoes on
with both feet
😉
I was just watching Liz Kendall on Newsnight. If that (and the other candidates) is the best Labour has to offer, we’re all doomed.
Football content (test – this is not going to work)
http://www.ronaldo7.net/news/2012/cristiano-ronaldo-505-crying-in-a-real-madrid-game.jpg
I knew an embed wouldn’t work.
Chisel.
all hail
the ‘holicnation
see above 🙂 🙂
Heh C, (Forgive me cba, what follows won’t interest you. I’m not sure it does me, anymore!)
Millipede was unelectable, the country got scared about giving him and SNP a coalition opportunity, and so people voted for a Tory/LibDem/Ukip coalition.
Having voted for Christmas the Turkeys, me included, are fucked. 🙁
Now, cba, how can I help you.
I know. Another whiskey! 🙂
small sherry at christmas
as you know
.
other than that
.
*hoovers liquor*
.
🙂
Song for ye:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgtQj8O92eI
Ttg @76,
Spot on, sir.
I just don’t come in here to get involved as often as I used to. I’m bored to death by the Theo /Özil agendas.
The slightly ridiculous thing is that when I sit in the stand now I quite conciously ignore Özil’s less good moments and am probably hyper-critical of Theo, all because of the constant whining on in here about their relative merits and shortconings.
I have been watching The Arsenal for a very long time now and I know what I am looking at. It is all about opinions, I know – I just don’t want to hear the same one a million times.
For positively the last time, I am super impressed by Özil’s skill and far more impressed than I expected to be by his work rate. What is not visible on a TV screen is the amount of running and taking up positions he does way off the ball that the cameras are inevitably following.
He links our whole team together and has amazing vision.
Every touch is never going to be a goal or an assist but he is a creator.
There is a reason why other players look to give him the ball in tight situations – he is the one who will find what ever little bit of space might be there.
He doesn’t go in for big crunching tackles. His physique would not equip him brilliantly to do that. He does, however, avoid the crunching tackle extremely well and, as a result, is seldom injured, unless poleaxed by an Ivanovic body check.
So what is better. To play to his physical attributes or be another Jack Wilshere and spend seven months out of every nine in the treatment room.
I am far less inpressed with Walcott. If he is not ready to commit himself either to give 100% on the pitch, or to his new contract, he should not be in the team at all – regardless of how many minutes that is for.
Sorry to restate the advantage of the view from the stand but, at the moment, he is hiding from the play. He wants to play centrally but positions himself behind central defenders where he cannot be found with the ball. Neither does he fully commit to the runs he does make, in order to get to the little reverse passes of the likes of Cazorla, Özil and Ramsey, or the crosses from Bellerin and Monreal.
I have, like every other fan in the stadium, supported Theo very vocally since he joined the club, hoping season after season that he would ally some other attributes to his undoubted speed. Sadly, it has never really happened. Some promise at the start of last season seems to have been destroyed by the ACL injury.
My own view is that after the proportion of his Arsenal career that Theo has spent unavailable, he should consider himself very lucky indeed to still be at a club of Arsenal’s stature.
If he cannot bring himself to accept whatever fantastic amount of money Arsenal are certain to be offering him, I am very willing to help with his bags to the nearest taxi.
Sorry to have re-re-regurgitated that all again. I promise I will never do it again because I am, paradoxically, sick to chuffing death of the whole subject.
Holic,
Best analysis of the election I have seen yet.
‘other version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hw846vx_uk
Practically a guest post that was @114 –
Except nobody would want to read it.
Apologies.
the stats are scary ‘hol
.
ned did a few
.
a few others did a few
.
ye don’t get the government ye want
ye don’t get the government ye don’t
.
ye don’t get the government
Re: ‘holic @104. Bless you fella and I hope your race is far from run. 🙂
Howdy Trev and cba. 🙂
And greetings to Tapera @77. Interesting stuff about AW’s substitutions. Can’t argue with you really. I wish I understood most of his substitutions better, not that they all turn out bad. Taking Giroud off against Swansea was a mistake though in my opinion.
indeed
howdy 8ball
howdy trev
ya pair o dullards
.
“Hang them there degrees up on that there ,um, posty thing”
.
*isnt intimidated*
*isnt intimidated*
.
actually
I’m not
YA BASTAS
HOO FOOKIIN SED I WUZZ
.
more tea vicar? 🙂
i am typing
on a wee phone
width 2/3 me thumb
.
bizarre
.
where i am just so
.
.
place has got odd
need to
yeah
odd
.
need to get back to donegal
What a lot of cba!
Got to love him, though.
Here are the headlines from the May 2020 Election:
SNP makes big gains in England taking even Surrey Heath and Mole Valley from Conservatives
New government to move UK parliament to Edinburgh but promises to devolve some powers to Westminster
Outgoing prime Minister Boris Johnson splits vote with Eccentric Party in Uxbridge & Ruislip South
UKIP leader Nigel Farage tops ballot in Thanet South but doesn’t win seat under pissed-past-the-post system
Some Russian bloke wins new seat of London Oligarchs
Superb Post Trev.
For a long time, I have deliberately stayed mum about Walcott because I honestly felt that maybe I was being unfair on the lad.
But your post above makes wonderful points – and the one which is really under appreciated I feel is the sheet amount of chances, time and patience that have been extended to him by Wenger since his arrival. Everything down the number of the shirt he wears on his back has been accommodated.
I think for his sake now, he must go because he just won’t get the game time he needs.
Any thoughts on what Smudger had to say on Sky – that he heard Milner might be coming on a freebie?
i suspect you do ned
but
lets face it
whats not to love
i am completetetetely adorable
Trev@117: I read it (I don’t get out much) and have to agree with all say @114 about Ozil. He can do more damage to the opposition with a run and a touch than most other players can do with the ball at their feet for half a minute. As for Theo, I think we’d all like him to be the player we thought he could become, but beyond that I am studiously trying to avoid the topic.
I also feel that some of the air that pepped up Guadiolas bubble these past few years has escaped.
What the F*c! was he doing with 3 at the back against Suarez / Neymar & Messi? And when 2 of those 3 comprise of Boateng and Benatio then serious questions need to be asked about his management attention to defensive cover.
Glad to see Juve get through. The thoughts of another El Classico collage of diving, biting, bitching and cheating is something we’re all better off without. Seems like the writing is on the well for Ancellotti and Bale. Can you believe they spent 80m on Bale?
Unlike the monks to studiously avoid topics Ned 🙂
ye gonna grumpy stat me, ned
.
please don’t
.
i know exactly how many etcs
and
indeed
howevers
i
.
yup
.
no
.
. yes
.
no
cba@126: 🙂
Joe: My guess is that Milner would only leave Man City for a club that guaranteed him regular starts. I am not sure we could do that.
Well thats true Ned – we couldn’t do that. But no one is guaranteed a place at this level. But Milner on a free, if true, would be a good squad addition I feel. He’s a very honest player – works hard and a real wing option.
He can do more damage to the opposition with a run and a touch than most other players can do with the ball at their feet for half a minute.
It’s about time he started then, frankly.
Golly Trev, you bemoan the debate then add to it (again) by repeating your well expressed (and well repeated) opinions. If you really are ‘bored to death’ with the whole thing why keep adding to it?
My comments on Özil in this round have been pretty much exclusively to correct erroneous stats which claimed he was the finest assister ever in Prem history, when equal 17th was in fact the fact. Oh, and while watching him on TV it’s not hard to check his running which does indeed indicate a high work-rate. I mean I don’t assume he gets about the field via worm holes! It’s just that I don’t equate work-rate as highly as I do end result. And his isn’t worth what we paid for him.
As for Theo, all we really want is for the guy to have some proper game time so we can see what he has to offer, not keep sending him on for mission impossible in the last few minutes. He’s been given less than 10 minutes a game in his last 5, and always when the opposition goal third has been a bus park. You can bet your life we’ll see Danny back for OT, a guy who has just one assist and no goals in the Prem THIS YEAR. Yet he can do no wrong apparently.
Öskar
Joe @ 128: Buying Bale had a lot to do with short-sales. Even before the ridiculous financial bubble Los Blancos had always operated in a world of their own, essentially with unlimited bankrolling by Spanish establishment and marketing new “star” players. It is a grand circus with great footballing teams.
Ancelotti is a great manager. Along with Arsene the best of that generation and last of the remaining gentlemen. And I know I will be skewered for saying this, better than Pep or Jose. Better manager. And was a superb player in a brilliant Milan team too. If the timings work out correct won’t mind him at all picking up the baton once Arsene leaves.
@135: “…shirt sales…” …strange trade-minded autocorrect that was. 🙂
* less than 10 minutes a game (average) in his last 5. (my previous).
Öskar
Oskar & Trev — E.M.Cioran once wrote something like (quoting from memory so not exact) “if one wants to avoid paradoxes one must accept absolute silence or martyrdom” … 🙂
Oskar, I am not entirely sure you understood my “interestingly” @53 … think about it. 🙂
As for Mesut Ozil, I was his fan from his Bremen days, even before Real, and am glad he plays for us. I anticipate football journalist looking back at this time 5-10 years from now will recognize the emergence of a new type of subtler playmakers. I could be wrong, but as Santi said he can have as lasting an influence in his time as Zidane had on his. He already has a WC medal, domestic Cups in three of Europe’s best league, and a La Liga medal. He will earn a few more with us and Germany and his fellow players would always say that they are glad he plays with them.
You have me there, Dr F. I assumed that “in the history of the Premier League, Mesut Ozil has the best assists to games ratio of any player at any club” was what you found ‘interesting’ … insofar as it refuted opinions repeatedly expressed by myself and others.
Unfortunately that statement was wildly inaccurate. Which fact is mildly interesting in its way, but beyond that have I missed something? Were you suggesting the praise for God was questionable on account of the Özil solecism?
Whatever I suggest we wrap this up before poor Trev kneeds medical attention.
Öskar
Nearly a ton and a half. All credit (almost) to cba. 🙂
Oskar @ 139: I thought that uncorrected inaccuracy in a published article focusing on statistical aspects — the column is even called “Behind the Numbers” — is amusing in itself. But it becomes all the more interesting when that article celebrates the genius of DB10 whose game was supremely efficient. No wasted movements to wasted numbers… was that deliberate on the writer’s part in a self-aware meta-critical manner or just a pure mistake? 🙂
Anyway, it was odd … and hence interesting.
Okay, interesting, but I doubt it was deliberate. More likely careless, as many people tend to be these days.
Quoting 2.63 when the correct figure was 0.263 is too coincidental.
Öskar
‘thence’ is a perfectly good word, cba (#84), with the meaning ‘as a consequence’ in context with your verse.
Or were you asking me for a word to go between ‘thence’ and ‘spread the liquid love’? I am confused. And anyway, who am I, a mere hack, to offer guidance to a poet? Let your whores spread their male gifts in whatever way you allow them!
Öskar
‘Why keep adding to it’? Heh! *guffaws massively*
Joe@132: Milner is indeed out of contract at the end of the season and will prove a good piece of summer business for some club. He is neither as quick nor as technically accomplished as some of those he would be playing with if he joined us, but the same could be said of the Romford Pele, and Milner would add many of the same qualities. He is a utility midfielder in the sense he can play wide, centrally and defensively, so I guess he would be competing with Ramsey, Wilshere, and Le Coq for starting places. Flamini and Diaby are out of contract at the end of the season and Arteta and Rosicky are entering the last year of theirs so there is potentially room in the squad. He would be an upgrade. But would that be enough to attract him?
Ned – thats exactly the point I make. I can’t see him go to another club in Manchester so its either ourselves or Chelsea if he wants to play in Europe.
Faustus:
Ancellotti retains a lot of respect from real football people. He was treated deplorably by Chelsea and looks like he will be discarded by Madrid in a desrespectful manner too. Not too many top managers left in world football – and those with any modicum of self respect stay away from clubs like Chelsea and Madrid unless of course they’ve nowhere else to go. I have no doubt that Jose wanted the Manu job. Says a lot that they wouldn’t even interview Jose. That said, Jose is a proven manager. His record with different clubs at a domestic and European level say as much. Pep has to win the CL with another club to be regarded in the same light I feel. Its one thing to ignore defensive shortcomings when you have Messi & co upfront. Its quiet a different story when you don’t.
Just to note: Carlo Ancelotti has won 3 titles in an 18 year coaching career in which he has managed Juve, Milan, Chelsea and PSG.
Not saying he’s anything other than a very good coach (and his cup record is as impressive as his league record is unimpressive), but thought it was worth pointing out.
Ah, James Milner.. the Alf Tupper of football.
ping
pong
I’m somewhat confused here. Oskar, I’m getting the impression, and I may be way off here, that you don’t think that Ozil has been a good signing so far? Not quite sure why I think that. Just a gut feeling I guess?
On another note I have just read that if Barca win the Champions League then we pick up a €3.8 million windfall as a result of the sale of Tommy V. If that’s true then that really is quite funny.
Cup Final tickets arrived this morning. Happy days.
CBA. Total legend. You need a trip over for a game early next season. I’m sure you will find some great hospitality at your disposal.
Politics? Vote Kermit. At least you get a say in which muppet runs the country.
Milner on a free would be a great signing. Very underrated in my opinion. I know a couple of citeh fans and they love him up there.
ah cheers steve T
top man
tried a few seasons ago
but the arse fell out of me plans
but
have it in me sights again though
wallets been in a stranglehold of late
oldie but goodie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gX1EP6mG-E
I just wanted to say that I am a little disappointed for Sanchez, that we are now looking like we may not finish second in the league. The little magician has been all over it this season.
Surely our luck will change this weekend…
City to dhrop points at Swansea, it is dharma. Tangential consequences of that result could be Spu***rs dropping to eighth spot in the table.
You may thank me for the positive thinking. 🙂
N7 @ 147: Excellent point. He has 3 CL trophies, FA cup, domestic cups in Italy and Spain. And each of his three domestic league titles came in three different leagues. His Milan team came second for those two seasons where Juve’s champion record was removed due to the match-fixing involvement.
Arrigo Sacchi was also more successful in Europe than in Serie A.
The Doc @72. Cheers for the response. And too right about not conceding avoidable goals.
Trev @114 I have nothing new to say about either player but I agree with you on this, as everyone already knows…
I have a request for Ned and the monks. How many goals have we scored from direct free-kicks under different Wenger teams? And, if you have the time and inclination to go one further, kind sir, how many goals has our defence contributed in total in these years?
When we had Dennis and Henry we used to get a fair few free-kick goals. RVP got some. Alexis has been dangerous from them. Presumably Henry has the most? And our defenders used to love scoring. Not all of them obviously… now, why am I thinking of Gael Clichy?
A few more goals from free-kicks added to a few more goals from our defenders would give this team a real boost. Another 15-20 goals a season from sources we used to rely on but which don’t require any personnel changes would be massive. As well as the 15-20 goal player that Wenger is apparently after this would put a lot more goals in the team. Let’s be really dangerous from set-pieces again and generally have defenders who believe they can make a difference in the opponent’s box. Yeah!
Joe @ 146: Not only Messi, having Xavi and Iniesta (a superb match-winner in tight closely-contested matches) at their peak in the same time is a rare combination of excellence that a manager would not come across too many times in his career.
Ozil will never truly satisfy all and i rather let it be to each their own than argue his case. I am just so happy that he plays for us and i will enjoy it till he is here, which i hope is for a long time.
Danny fit to go and hurt his former employees again. Nice and i rather have him starting again. I know Giroud has been good but for me united can be beaten by pace and what better than having danny start and maybe even theo.
Strangely i am not up for this game. This usually is the game i look forward to the most in the whole season, but not this week. Maybe i am being the team, jaded and tired. Well boys, play well is all i can say, wait beat those so and so will you please.
GSD@158: We’ve taken a quick look over the past seven seasons at back-four goalscorers. They contribute a consistent 6-8 goals a season (league matches only) with the exception of a couple of seasons when Vermaelen scored half a dozen on his own, which boosted the numbers accordingly. I don’t know how far you extend ‘defenders’ to cover defensive midfielders, but something we have missed in the past couple of seasons is half a dozen goals from Arteta.
Goals from free-kicks (excluding penalties) are a rarity. Only 13, we think, over the past nine seasons (again, league games only; and we are double checking as that seems such a low number). It would account for 2% of all our goals scored. The comparative figure for Chelsea and Man City is 3.1%. Even the Premiership’s free-kick kings, Man Utd only scored 25 times over that period. So there is a reason free-kick goals make the highlight reels.
CBA. The first round is on me. It would be an honour. Don’t expect BTM to put his hand in his pocket though. Never been known in these parts.
I’ve been really busy at work recently so playing catch up. Us Gooners are a funny breed. For as long as I can remember all I have read is people going on about our injury crisis and how it has cost us. We get virtually everyone fit, play the same team for 5 games in a row, lose to Swansea and people are calling for rotation??????
We are a funny old lot.
🙂
Thanks Ned. You must be cracking the whip- those monks sure are moving fast!
So the figures seem fairly settled for defenders scoring goals. Did our league-winning teams beat them? Does it seem like a factor that regularly goes in favour of the league winners? Or is it not so important?
🙂 steve T
.
funny lot indeed
.
mind you
even spuds
prefer
odd gooners
.
*already has coat on*
A question — Is this still Goonerholic, or the Oskar The Dog Show?
Far less enjoyable read since Oskars relentless “look at me,I know everything” approach to debate.
All opinion is just that. Opinion.
Tedious anal repetition is neither entertaining nor enlightening.
So, so over it now.
Please Oskar,spare us your highly selective use of stats — we could all do it to “prove” our respective points of view.
I think we all understand your take on Wallcott/Ozil etc, by virtue of your endless repetition.
Your posts always have the air of a sermon and I for one am not a man of faith.
Be a dear and change the record would ya?
.
oskar is
indeed
a relentless thumper
of the zact same tub
but
i still like him
and hope
funny oskar
newly tubbed up returns
at least for the final
Stayed away from the post mortem as have been too depressed with just about everything in the world since last Thursday…any sort of scrappy victory would have cheered me up but one of those nights.
Just like to say thanks to those on here who gave me the streaming links on the previous thread….found a decent stream of the U.S. showing of the game.
Danny Mills is up there with Michael Owen for talking shite though !
8ball
154
on bnc radio 2 now
154
i’ve that album
WIRE. 78/79 odds
the sun is shining
a literal blinder
.
gorgeous
.
down low but brutal
i have shades
loadsa three legged cattle
a hoof over their eyes
rookie mistake girls
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>