Coquelin Injury May Be Bigger Loss Than Three Points Today
Nov 21st, 2015 by 'holic
Arsene Wenger decided to go with Laurent Koscielny, Olivier Giroud, and Alexis Sanchez at the Hawthorns. Kieran Gibbs reward for scoring the equaliser in the North London derby was to start on the left flank with Alexis switched to the right.
A slow start to the match was made worse when Francis Coquelin limped off after a challenge with Yacob. The significance of that moment will become evident in the coming days or weeks. Mikel Arteta came off the bench in a straight swap.
The first attempt on goal came in the fifteenth minute. Nacho Monreal was hacked down by Sessegnon and a superb free-kick by Alexis was thwarted by Myhill at full stretch.
West Brom’s rotational fouling got it’s reward in the 28th minute. Alexis was chopped down by Morrison and Mesut Ozil floated a delightful ball onto the head of Giroud, unmarked seven yards out. He doesn’t miss those! A couple of minutes later Gibbs fired just over as Arsenal looked to double their advantage.
Somewhat surprisingly, given his early reluctance to penalise any Baggies, Mark Clattenburg showed a yellow card to Hector Bellerin for a challenge from behind. The young Spaniard was being given a chasing on his return to action and should be forgiven his apparent rustiness.
Arteta disputed the award of a free-kick in the 35th minute, claiming he had won the ball, and from the resulting free-kick Morrison netted with the home team’s first attempt on goal. Subsequent replays showed the Spaniard had a right to be aggrieved.
Five minutes later Arsenal’s right flank was opened up again and when Cech missed Morrison’s cut-back the hapless Arteta knocked the ball over the line with his arm. West Brom, with one attempt on goal, found themselves 2-1 up.
Olivier Giroud was the next to see yellow when he too appeared to have won the ball in a fifty-fifty challenge. I’m on record as regarding Clattenburg the pick of our top-flight referees, but he was having an off day today, despite finally booking Morrison as the half closed. I should make it clear he was not responsible for the outcome. That was down only to ourselves.
Three minutes into the second-half Ozil drove the ball against the far post after Giroud had appeared to be hauled to the ground by Olsson. As that incident took place Arteta was signalling to the bench that he had a calf problem and Mathieu Flamini substituted for the substitute.
As the Gunners took complete control Alexis wriggled through challenge after challenge to set up Gibbs, but his effort was blocked by the massed ranks of navy and white.
A simple punt into Arsenal’s box caused more confusion than it should and Cech had to save smartly at the feet of McClean. Straight down the other end went the Arsenal and Ozil came close to putting Flamini in with a lovely through ball. That was the key for Pulis to send on Gardner for Sessegnon.
The visitors third change saw Joel Campbell introduced for Gibbs in the 63rd minute. He was almost immediately presented with an opportunity to level the score but completely fluffed his effort, missing the target from four yards.
Koscielny’s failure to find Cech with his head presented Albion with a corner that Olsson headed onto the bar. Cech grabbed the rebound as the linesman flagged Berahino offside on the goal-line.
With a quarter of an hour remaining Alexis couldn’t control Bellerin’s excellent cross and another chance went begging. Santi Cazorla attempted to put him in again but Myhill advanced smartly to claim the through ball.
A dramatic ending was assured when Brunt hauled down Alexis in the box, earning a yellow card in the process. Typical of Arsenal’s afternoon though Cazorla slipped as he struck the spot kick and it sailed harmlessly over the bar.
The siege continued but in the last of the ninety minutes Giroud was denied by Olsson at the near post. At long last Myhill was booked for time wasting. Why that particular offence isn’t punished earlier baffles better brains than mine. The West Brom ‘keeper went on to save Koscielny’s volley in the last of four added minutes and so ended the most frustrating of afternoons.
The result of this one match is a blip, not a season-ending calamity. With just 27% possession and just one effort on target the Baggies will know they rode their luck. Credit their rearguard action throughout. More of a concern will be the injury to Francis Coquelin, so pivotal to our title hopes. Everything will be crossed that our worst fears are not confirmed.
85 Responses to “Coquelin Injury May Be Bigger Loss Than Three Points Today”
SCORES!
Excellent report Holic.
Awful luck for Santi in the match. Glad he’s being credited with a goal in here and loved hearing the away fans singing his song just after the miss.
I wish Coq all the best. Bring on the next game.
Watched the last 20 mins or so. In that time I don’t think we even looked like scoring. The penalty miss looked typical of what I watched. 72% possession and 4 shots on target. One if those was Kossers back pass in the 3rd min of injury time tells you enough I guess. The fact that they scored twice from only one shot on target probably tells you more.
Oh well. Never mind.
See you all on Tuesday night.
Pulis’s formula worked again. Big men rotationally fouling Our smaller built technical players and not allowing us to play. In any other league there would be a few yellow cards awarded for such foul play, but in the EPL it is Arsenal’s players who are booked! Fucking Clattenberg ruined the game today. However, cannot blame him alone. We played badly and switched off after we scored. WBA rode their luck (2 goals with one shot) and somehow won. Bellerin was rusty and Campbell useless. But what a player Sanchez is.
Must bounce back and win the next three games. With players coming back from injury we should do it. Hope Coquelin’s injury is not serious.
Sorry to say but I think Arteta’s time is well and fully up. Get him a position in the coaching staff or something. I am really worried about Coquelin. As soon as he went out I just had a bad feeling…
Cannot blame Clattenburg at all ksn. He had a ‘mare of a first-half, but we failed to turn 73% possession into more than one goal. That is entirely down to us.
Good effort with that post H. Bad day at the office, very bad day in fact. Still now for dinner, a bottle of reasonable merlot, a bifta and then watch a few Thick of it DVDs. Cheers!
Impressed with the objectivity holic.
Arsenal were generally poor. A real title challenger gets a result today. Huge let down here. JC is simply not good enough. Many have said it. We have seen him play and henis not up to it.
Arteta is a disaster. Flamini not much better. Note how all T2 he was far upfield leaving the back exposed and a huge hole in the middle of the park. The injury to le coq is massively troubling.
We need – needed – to go on a run. Showing not an inkling if the ability to do it.
To make matters worse im sitting in a pub in seattle – of all places – with el classico on and its 4-0 barca. Surrounded by not a single spaniard all clapping like tweens on a sugar high and squealing about messi. Meanwhile liverpool is leading city 3-1.
A seriously bad day. ☹
Don’t understand why you fail to point out the routine way when we give away goals it is due to Mertersacker moving and staying up field after releasing a ball with absolutely no thought of backtracking. That happened with the second WBA goal.
Compounding Mertersacker’s amateur football nous was the failure of any other team member to immediately bollock him at the time he could have got back (wings of Mercury he aint) or after the goal. If the captain cannot appreciate the basic concept of positioning he should give up the armband. How many games now have we lost due to this one recurring failure in leadership not just from him but from other defenders who cannot spot the danger and scream at team mates. One day when it next happens I hope FlaminI even if on the bench runs over and slaps the offending player silly.
And liverpool look like world beaters today.
Im not a klopp believer, mind. He had a ton of talent in the BD salad days. When the talent left and got old, the whole thing went south. Not a believer yet anyway. Well see.
We need to start playing Gabriel more often. I am not feeling Mert at all lately. Twice now we have failed to take advantage of Mancity.
The only grouse I have with Clattenburg is that he allowed WBA to get very physical. Giroud was manhandled throughout and he could have stopped that with a yellow early in the game which he did not. There was another penalty which could have easily been given to us.
Other than that, I agree entirely with your very objective assessment of the game. Hats off.
Another one of those days, again, again, again….
All the possession but no penetration, inaccurate passing when it mattered (and also when it didn’t), an own goal, a missed pen, one poor starting winger, a useless sub winger (how we miss Rambo and Ox out wide – or even Theo on the wing where he would have been today), defence forever out of position, reluctance to shoot, two more injuries, and a general lack of energy. Have I missed anything?
Jeff R-A would have been a better bet than Campbell, imo. As would starting Debuchy with Belle on the RW as I have suggested before. The latter was out of position for their first goal, and Ozil gave the ball away cheaply leading to their second. And most of the above was no fault of Clattenbugga.
Slack slack slack.
Oskar
Not seen anything of the game yet. Your match report is such a familiar story though Holic that I think I can see pretty much how it all went down. I feel that this familiar story suggests that we still lack the quality (in depth) and mentality to deliver this trophy. Disappointing. Time for a consolation dram. I may skip MotD.
73% possession….
Own Goal……
Concede from set piece…..
Missed Penalty…..
Awful.
Just watched the highlights
How the hell did we not even get a point ?!?!?!?
Ridiculous.
Utterly ridiculous to lose TWO more midfield players to injury. Let’s have a guess when we will see Coquelin back? Arteta isn’t fit to play Premiership anymore ( physically) . We have to stay in contention until January and then Wenger has to be pragmatic about strengthening the squad. We have too many players who won’t win you the league because they won’t be on the pitch enough. It’s a familiar refrain from me but our injury record drives me mad.
I think Pierre has a point about Mertesacker. I have huge regard for him and he brings character and remove to the defence but he is the slowest player I can remember and his judgement of offside and his recovery rate have deteriorated.
I fully expect Wenger to do something in the window and I pray he is not too late to give us a squad that can last out the most winnable title race I can remember .
Good, if depressing, report, Holic.
I’ll have to wait to see whether I agree with your assessment as to whether this match becomes a season ending one.
Of course it shouldn’t but, as ever, when Coquelin is absent our defense looks all over the place. In fact, it is all over the place as our centre backs get pulled out of position trying to cover the unprotected spaces in front of them. Mertesacker suffers especially in those circumstances as once he is out of position he has no chance of getting back.
It is not an excuse for his miss from four yards, but Joel Campbell’s confidence must have been near rock bottom today. After a couple of decent performances and a well taken goal at Swansea, he found himself on the bench today, in order that our reserve left back could play at left wing, with Sanchez switching to the right. That must have convinced him that his Arsenal days are numbered. His performance seems to have convinced the rest of us.
And what can you say about our injuries ? Let’s not say anything but let’s, for a change, say a word about the other aspect of our medical team. Conditioning and match preparedness.
At Sheffield Wednesday, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first attempt to run resulted in a damaged hamstring. His substitute, Theo Walcott, left the field, ten minutes after entering it, with a torn calf.
Today, Francis Coquelin was injured after around fifteen minutes, albeit as a result of a hefty challenge, which could well be put down to bad luck. His substitute, Mikel Arteta, managed about half an hour before withdrawing with another calf strain.
We were all predicting exactly this situation in the summer when the club failed to identify a single player who could have provided at least decent cover for Coquelin, should he suffer an injury – or, indeed, for one of our two strikers, Giroud and Walcott, if the latter is classed as a striker.
Actually they did identify a couple of players – they are called Arteta and Welbeck.
Oh well …… Just as well, as I was informed by one of the medical team when I wrote a guest piece about our injuries, that we only suffer an average number of injuries, that last an average length of time.
Just as long as ‘we’ remain in denial, the situation is not going to change.
Trev @19
Spot on as you always are on our injury issues. The last two Ox injuries occurred at United when he made the slightest change of direction and as Trev describes today. Ramsey’s strain against Bayern seened thoroughly innocuous. And we were congratulating ourselves a few weeks ago that our injury problems were behind us.Not with this group of players they’re not and never will be.
My estimate is that we have a group of players
Ospina
Gibbs
Arteta
Ramsey
Rosicky
Wilshere
Oxlade- Chamberlain
Walcott
Welbeck
Who collectively you expect/ need to play – 160 or so games a season ( assuming starts) . With that lot you will probably get a title over half that. So you must fill gaps for 80 games a season and who do you fill them with?
Cech( we pray stays fit because Ospina ( ability aside ) is fragile
Gibbs is yet to be injured but always is but we have Monreal
Arteta is a back- up who cannot back up much because he’s not there.
Ramsey is a regular but will miss at least half of every season.
Rosicky will on average miss more than half of every season. He’s not a starter but I’d have loved him there today . He won us a match at West Brom two years ago off his own bat.
Wilshere is lucky to play 15 league games a season
Ox plays slightly more but will always miss half a season.
Walcott is made of bone china and will miss almost half of every season.
Welbeck has missed from April until possibly January . He shows every tendency of being another sick note.
We are losing about four man seasons in our midfield alone.
We are losing a man season from our strikers and replacements.
That leaves us having to pick Joel Campbell and Flamini. They won’t get you near winning the league.
This isn’t bad luck this is statistically proven fragility . That’s why some Holics got so upset in September.there had to be options we could have taken to prevent the utterly predictable plight we always find ourselves in.
Cracking game for the neutrals live on TV here. 120% effort and 150% frustration for the team in yellow (don’t we like red anymore?). Three really golden chances to score for Ozil, Campbell and Santi, all of which should have been converted and would quite likely have caused a flood.
Very nice objective report, Holic. ‘WBA know they rode their luck’……..they surely do. Ours’ was out completely today but we were certainly there in spirit, demonstrated most splendidly by Alexis.
I recall over our last pint when I said to you “Gabriel will be a first pick starter next season” your response was “It won’t be that long”. I think you may have read the tea leaves correctly. Can he play DM I wonder? The loss of Le Coq is dramatic verging on catastrophic.
BTM
Very good observations. There were some positives. Another Ozil assist,,another Giroud goal and an ability to put extreme pressure on the opposition.
The loss of Coquelin could derail our season and we will find today that he will probably be missing for a month if our usual luck is anything to go by. It’s a largely manageable month with Citeh on the horizon and we’d need him back for that because Flamini despite a fine effort against the Swampies is no Coquelin,
As for Citeh who are probably our main rivals, they have been unceremoniously thumped twice 4-1 by teams of quality below them and beaten narrowly at home by West Ham. They are so dependent on Aguero and Silva and both are injury prone enough to be Arsenal players. They can and almost certainly will buy in the window but Bony, Mangala and other recent, wildly overpriced buys ( even Sterling) suggest Pellegrini doesn’t buy as well as Mancini generally did. Ok pant us declining as a force. This is a 1970 s title race where surprise packets are in contention and the winner will be the most consistent. We really could do it if we can put strong teams on the park, have options on the bench and defend intelligently. We have had two previous years where we led in February, the Eduardo team and the Fabregas/ Wikshere team. One imploded at Birmingham and one imploded against Birmingham. Birmingham aren’t there any more so we’ve no excuse now?
Both sides suffered grievously with injuries but we failed to strengthen in the windows each time. Once because of money, once because of loyalty to the team that had got us there. This time if we don’t it will be extreme conservatism possibly borne out of loyalty. It won’t be money. Arsene will be having some sleepless nights, like me tonight as he contemplates it all
I have a lot of respect for Mikel Arteta as an Arsenal player and before. I wish we had bought him earlier in his career. Classy player and a very classy guy.
However, time and injuries have combined to make him a largely peripheral figure for us and I hope he takes the time that this latest injury will afford him to consider his retirement, possibly immediately.
I fear that staying on longer with more cameos like today will tarnish what should be only good memories of his contribution to our club and I hope we can find room for him on the coaching staff, perhaps with the youngsters.
Gutted that we lost today with only Sanchez rising above the mediocre. Back five were abysmal – out of position, not tracking and continually giving away possession. Bellerin was clearly unfit and Debuchy should have started. Even Cech looked flustered on a couple of occasions. Ozil and Giroud – the goal apart – were never in it and as Trev alluded to above, how on earth does Gibbs get to start ahead of Campbell?
You’re right Holic, Clattenberg did have an off day both generally with decision making and also continually getting in the way of our passing game – he needed to drop off another ten yards. However, at least he gave the spotty which others might not have and that should have delivered us at least a point.
I hope it is just a blip but one point out of the last six heading towards December is not feeling too good right now. Onwards.
UTA.
Agree with all of that, TTG. I’m still firmly of the opinion that the league is there to be won by Arsenal this year. We don’t need to be leading at Christmas but we do need to be no more than five points of the lead.
My hopes? Wilshere, Ramsey, Wellbeck, Walcott and Ox will return and contribute fully during the second half of the season. Gabriel will feature more prominently.
Transfers in during the window? Unlikely to be more than one and that would be DM if someone of the quality of Carvalho can be shaken free. I see no point in bringing in Joe Average to sit on the bench and perform only marginally better than Flamini/Arteta (if the latter ever plays for Arsenal again, which sadly he may not).
Noosa, need 9 out of 9 from the next three BPL games. Probable with a full squad. Challenging minus so many. Two tough CL games doesn’t make the task easier.
Sobering write-up, ‘Holic. On the basis of it and the highlights, we should have had all three points regardless of the misfortunes. Sufficient chances created to win it. WBA certainly rode their luck.
Why Arteta didn’t take the penalty? He always used to.
Big missed opportunity with City dropping five points in their past two games. Not the best of timing to do the same. To Ttg’s point @21, this will be a tight title race. Consistency thus becomes crucial.
Trev@19: On the money, about both injuries and Campbell. Still feel there is a Premiership player in their somewhere, but, increasingly, not perhaps an Arsenal one.
TTG, BtM, Noosa, all good stuff.
I also see no point in bringing in Joe Average to sit on the bench but we do need a viable alternative to Coquelin. He is going to pick up cards and injuries in his position, and can’t play every game in all competitions. I wouldn’t personally want him usurped, as I haven’t seen anyone doing his particular job better than he does, but Arteta is, unfortunately, a spent force and Flamini no longer appears to have the endurance or the discipline for the position.
It would be great to see one of our U21s make the step up but Arsene doesn’t seem to think they are ready.
BtM, if I ever find myself needing to sell cups with holes in, I’ll be in touch. ?
Morning, Ned. Yep, we do need to stop copying City’s results.
Ned: Arteta didn’t take the penalty as he’d limped off with his customary calf injury some 30 minutes before….
Slightly concerned by all these injuries and a clear loss of momentum at the moment. The only saving grace league-wise is that we have a run of favourable games immediately ahead of us (Norwich A, Sunderland H, Villa A). If we had some of the “big” clubs coming up, I’d be genuinely concerned that the season could derail…
Issues for Wenger to address are: 1) If Coquelin is out for a reasonable period of time – what’s the plan? Flamini? Ramsey and Cazorla as a deep-lying pair? Try and buy someone in Jan? 2) All these “Xmas returnees” – Wilshere, Welbeck, Rosicky – are they actually going to be fit, raring to go, and challenging for a first-team place by that time, or are we just talking about them being tentatively back in training by then?
Good even handed report ‘holic. That was a game in which we did enough to win but contrarily managed to lose. What is clear up to now is that no team is showing the consistency to run away with the title and seems it will be up for grabs right to the end.
A run of so called easy games are coming up but there are no easy games any more in the EPL – every one requires 100% effort and concentration or you will get found out.
What is disappointing is that our proneness to injury continues
unabated. The loss of Coquelin for some time is a blow and fairly predictable this would occur at some stage in the season. The obvious replacements are themselves injured or no longer up to the task. I guess the best (only?) option will be to play Rambo in that position but that will require him to be both disciplined and injury free – what odds the bookies eh?
The good news is that we are still very much in the title race and a little bit more consistency (possible) and less injuries (unlikely) could see us there right at the end.
Morning all. Thanks for the kind words. I am rather enjoying writing these games up as they happen. It gives a sense of how the feelings change over the course of ninety minutes. It also means I get Saturday night to drink the sea of sorrow dry! 🙂
I suppose there will be news of Coquelin tomorrow. Please let it not be as bad as it looked.
“A” grade in time management guvna. Must be a mighty big sea down Swindon way 😉
Gregoire,
Wasn’t yesterday’s supposed to be one of the run of ‘easy’ games ?
There is no such thing, as we have discovered to our cost at the sharp end of several seasons. I think this team is mentally better suited to playing the bigger games, although our never ending sick list scuppers our chances in many of those too.
Sadly, I’ve seen nothing to alter my feeling that some tough decisions are long overdue. As a veteran, unfortunately (!), of the days of Brady, O’Leary, Rix, Stapleton, George, Rosicky, Davis , Adams etc. I would love to see our home grown/developed players winning trophies for us. Time is proving that they are not strong enough to do it.
I agree with Trev 100%
Our season maybe over before the transfer window opens such is the nature of the league this year with competitive teams….its not hard to figure out our shortcomings and the other teams will surely have taken note….
why do we have players like Chamber sitting on the bench rather than grooming them for more useful positions… putting a left back in at mid field says it all…
Wenger- listen to the Eagles- ‘we are all victims of our own device’…adapt
Those days are gone, Trev. It’s now the era of the multinational mercenary.
No matter your talent, if you can’t be relied upon to turn out regularly for the team when called upon, then you might as well be somewhere else.
We went into this game with 6 players out injured. Most of those bring the serial recidivists. Out of the starting 11 we had our first choice keeper and back 4. We also started with Santi, Coq, Ozil, Alexis and Ollie G. So 10 out of our starting 11 would arguably form part of our strongest team.
Not that many weeks ago I read many posts from people telling me how Shad and the gang had turned it around. How much fitter and stronger we were. I can’t be the only one that did not fall for all of that nonsense?? As Trev and others point out, sometimes players just are not up to the physicality of the premier league.
We are starting to run out of excuses. We can’t keep blaming injuries when virtually all of our strongest first 11 started. We can’t keep blaming injuries when it’s the same players sat in the same treatment room year after year after year. There are lots of people at the club that are paid vast sums to make grown up decisions. Some of these needed to be made a few seasons ago. I would suggest that those so richly rewarded start to do their job.
I don’t remember the last time we did not have injury problems. We are either very unlucky or we need to deal with the problems.
Having watched the game now I must say that there was little in that performance that gave me much to cheer about. I thought it was a pretty drab affair.
Sorry Trev. I’ve just read your post in full. It would appear that we agree on a lot more than I had originally stated.
Was doing long distance auto travel so have only caught highlights; per Holics’ approximation to minute by minute and the snippets on view, seemed to be down to hard luck as much as anything else.
The way Le Coq plays, it’s not surprising he’s come up injured; the more surprising is that he hadn’t done himself earlier, unlike the many injury recidivists on the roster. As to who could hold the fort if he is out into the new year, to these eyes, the leading candidate would be Ramsey. Wilshire would be too rusty and Chambers too inexperienced. Some have proposed Gabriel, but it appears that he is more a dedicated CD.
How’s this for out of the box? Pair Gabriel with BFG, and move Kos to the DM spot? Has the defensive nous, mobility, and can move up and launch an attack with solid passing.
Interesting BJ, interesting…
of course ideally it would be nice not having to do that…injuries and squad depth go hand in hand…if the player isn’t good enough to hold what we have when they come on then they shouldn’t be in the squad…the ‘English core’ of young players offer something on their return, however old and injured …nothing…
we shouldn’t be starting left backs (or CB’s) in midfield when we know that the other team is going to defend deep…its recruiting wisely…and not getting caught out…
Ramsey might be a tireless worker but he is not a defender. He doesn’t really spot where danger is growing, doesn’t have the speed to deal with it, if he does, and dwells on the ball too long in places where you simply can’t risk losing it.
Centre back and Defensive midfielder are two entirely different positions. They demand completely different types of fitness; the former needing quick, anaerobic bursts, the latter aerobic endurance. CBs mostly have the game in front of them and have far more time to read situations. DMs are playing at ever changing angles to the ball and their own goal. They have to be able to protect the ball from all sides and use it quickly and accurately.
Personally, I think trying to play a CB at DM would be a short-lived, disasteous experiment.
As we all well know, there is no internal solution to the Coquelin absence. There is no-one at all who can replace that physicality in our midfield. Another gamble has failed. How many times?
Gregoire@28: Good point. Thank you. That is what happens when one is reduced to watching highlights: lose all sense of the flow of the game and what happened when.
Uply@31: 🙂 A veritable ocean. Suinduneholm, as we would have said in the old days.
Trev@39: A belated or premature good morning. Spot on again about CBs playing as DMs. It only ever seems to work the other way round.
It’s galling to watch the Scum with a full first team squad apart from the suspended Lamela play with the inevitable rhythm you develop when you can develop continuity. Pocchetino has sadly done a very good job with them and their fitness and conditioning appears to put us to shame. Nevertheless I will still react with hysterical laughter to their first cries of ‘ Mind the Gap’!
I don’t know where these rumours begin on Twitter but the rumour on Coquelin is that he faces a 3 month lay- off. Almost every time an Arsenal player gets injured the news is always about as bad as you can imagine. It’s a grievous blow if true and means we have to find another DM of quality in the window ( and early in the window, not at the end of January) Trev is right about Ramsey who is admirable but not a replacement for Coquelin. Sadly no one on the staff is.
We discussed poor contingency planning in September. Our chickens have come home to roost. Or our Coqs at least.
The source of the Coquelin news is a L’ Equipe journalist , Bruno Constant, who claims he is out for three months’ without a doubt’ . Sadly these French sources tend to be quite reliable .
even ned is gettin shit wrong
“WE’RE DOOOOOOOOMED”
imagine baff sayin it
“Holy dear sweet mother o fuck”
we’re all sayin it
accents not important
🙁
ned ?
.
NED!!!!
.
i dunno
its the death ned
nell
.
.
If Coq is out for that long, I’ve no doubt Flamini will get an extended run in the side. As Trev and others have said, it’s no time to be blooding specialist CBs in that position. Hopefully, we can get by with Flamini in a marginally easier run of games (though I accept the point others make about very few PL games being easy these games).
I just hope Wenger instructs Flamini to sit a bit deeper, be more judicious with his pressing, and just generally not to be quite so much of a berserker around the pitch! And a squad addition in that position in early Jan is essential – it’s perfectly clear we can’t rely on Arteta anymore alas.
Gregoire
Agree completely
Weren’t Arteta and Flamini the backups for Le Coq?
Arteta now injured. AW will continue with Flamini starting in his place – that is his backup plan (despite Flamini being a significant downgrade on Coq). Why then would AW see the need to “experiment”?
But obviously having no Coq is a huge miss. (and there’s surely a good dick joke in there somewhere, but I’m too lazy to make it ….)
As Bayonne Jean said yesterday, Bellerin did not look match fit. This surely had a big impact. There was zero going forward on the right, Bellerin was coming inside at the back and looked a step slow.
And don’t get me started on JC … his days at Arsenal are surely (hopefully) numbered.
First match after an interlull seems often to be a cockup for Arsenal. It should not be so. I watched el classico yesterday and it looked like barca’s side were in tune and had been playing together all month, those bastards.
*searches for enlightenment*
.
*doesn’t*
.
.
*finds imperial stout*
9.2%
measured by mine own hydrometer
best batch ever
easy drunk
as are many
cheerio
some cunt is doin a tour of ireland
on bbc
and
i feel the need to shout at television
slainte
Surely Chambers is the one for the holding role? I thought that was the position he was destined to play anyway????
Reading some of the above does smack of desperation. Surely we have a squad strong enough to cope?
awww fuck
its not live
*stows profanities*
night ruined
TTG,
I wouldn’t be that surprised. From the brief bits I saw, Coquelin’s right knee seemed to twist and jar in that tackle, which can easily damage ligaments. The knee becomes much weaker when it’s bent. I only saw it on highlights – and no slow-mos – but that looked the most likely to me – medial ligament or, maybe, cartilage – there seemed to be an awkward little twist …… ?
Painful to watch that game and the Coq injury.
As a backup DM may I offer Jack my dog? Fierce bark throws strikers rlght off their game, followed by a quick show of the teeth that normally has them running to the dressing room. Gives new meaning to “bossing the midfield” too.
Response s’il vous plait.
cba…..”Imperial” stout…..shurely there’s some mistake 😉
Slainte mon ami 🙂
OK, so looks as if consensus is for Flamini to get an extended run at DM. Hopefully he can apply some of that oil alternative he’s been investing in to his aging legs to get through this period. But given Flam’s yellow card proclivities, who else could back him up? Perhaps the forgotten man Debuchy, who supposedly has played the position in the past, and who should be eager to have any kind of pitch time.
Interesting prediction for Welbeck’s return on physioroom dot com.
They clearly don’t believe the club any more as they state the following –
“Hodgson says he may be out until March. Wenger says Christmas” –
so they have actually printed “12th Jan 2016”.
Ramsey apparently due back on Tuesday (24th).
Your dog Jack, 8 ball? He could pair in MF with my Oskar, the perfect Arsenal type – dodgy knees, arthritic, repaired cruciate ligament, but still keen to play if a bit slow and no longer chases balls since he decided he was a guard dog not a retriever.
A thorough overhaul of the club prior to next season is all I can offer. Time to (reluctantly) farewell AW’s dream of a team based around pretty boy local footballers and hire some tough guns from Germany, Italy or Brazil or anywhere else frankly.
Oskar
cba@45: 🙂
Not so much wrong as confused, or am I wrong about that?
Alot has been said regarding our season so am not going to get much jnto it. Instead i’m going to delve into some potential treason.Been an arsenal fan since ’95 and normally i watch an average of 70% of our fixtures every season….but something strange has been happening to me lately. I have found myself increasingly not missing crystal palace matches. Not particularly because I like alan pardew,the man is utterly despeakable…I have found myself watching each of their games since we beat them for jus one reason. To watch yanick bolasie!! Is this perfectly OK since I have been a lifetime gooner?? Through the good times and these lean years. Should I hate myself for loving another player other than our own?? Or loving the way they play? I have been roasted me mercilessly several by my crew because of my perceived disloyalty…BIG PROBLEM!!
I am not even going to hold my breath in regards to us signing anyone in January. Way tougher to get it done then especially when Wenger told us he didn’t see anyone better in the whole of summer ( funny indeed). I cant imagine us finding anyone better within a month. God help us, we definitely need some miracle to get through the next few weeks.
It’s okay, kenyangooner, so long as you don’t make a habit of it. Or start worshipping swampdwellers. I myself have a sneaking admiration for Lionel Messi and have been known to fantasise about him in red and white (and I don’t mean as a black cat).
Oskar
A game which looked set for a routine win ended up being a defeat. I do not know how we conjured up this defeat but defeat it was and it was a deflating one as well.
I am tired with per and his antics. He is done and should have announced his retirement after the world cup win. He just is amazingly slow and completely out of position on most occasions. How he continues to start instead of gabriel is beyond me.
Coquelin will be an agonizing miss. He is irreplaceable and it was known that if we lose him, we have no substitutes. Alas thus it happened. Arteta would never have been able to match up and Flamini, less said the better.
The worry is there is absolutely no one to play DM. If we play the ramsey/Santi pivot, there will be no defensive stability and our CB’s will be under constant pressure especially on the counter. Kos cannot play DM, so i think it just might be Chambers. God have mercy on us.
Tuesday night makes for an interesting team selection. Wenger would want to win the game but can we afford any more injuries??? Even if we win the game, there is no guarantee of us progressing and it begs the question, is it worth the gamble?? Conversely, getting back to winning ways is quint essential in an already fragile environment. Time shall tell. Till then, pray hard.
Le Coq out for at least two months according to Sky.
God knows what that means in Arsenal terms.
Aye, we’re dooooooooooooooooooomed, laddie!
That’s just for cba. 😀
Le Coq out for at least 2 months. Scan result this afternoon will predict more accurately.
AW: “I’ll do what’s needed in January even though in Jan it is not an ideal transfer market.” 😮
Hey Bath at 68.
Wonder what that means in Wengerspeak? ?
New contract for Flamini?
It probably means we have to pay over the odds for a DM but so be it.
Need to think about strikers too.
He is talking about using Chambers there tomorrow. I’m not a big fan but it looks like his best position to me . Might be a good game to start him there tomorrow.
So it appears Flimflam is to play DM to start with, well until the inevitable injury / build up of cards takes effect. He will certainly need to be more disciplined and play as a DM and not as a box to box if he wants to have a positive contribution to the team. Boss also suggesting CC as second in line for the DM role – has he written off MA’s fitness already?
Seems lack of transfer activity in the last window is coming back to bite us in the Arse..nal.
For the benefit of cba “we are doomed, doomed” in my best Kenneth Williams voice. Yes what a carry on 🙂
@68,
“AW: “I’ll do what’s needed in January even though in Jan it is not an ideal transfer market.” ? ”
Bit of a shame he didn’t do it in the summer then. Hope we’re still challenging for something by January.
I haven’t seen anything of Bielik myself, apart from the Sheff Wed game, but does anyone have any view on his readiness ? At least it’s his position …..
Trev @ 71. In Arsene’s own words after the Sheffield Wednesday debacle, no one from the youth set up is any where near first team level – how times have changed! I recall when we purchased Bielik in last Jan window, he was going straight into the first team squad. That changed quite quickly & quietly in the following weeks.
Since his recall, Coquelin has filled the holes in front of the back four superbly ( which was something many of us had been crying out for over the preceding few seasons ). There is no one else in the squad able to do this role at that level, so it looks like another sticking plaster job. Will Arsene be lucky again and pull another gold plated rabbit out of his magic hat?
Trev, of all the youngsters on show at Wednesday, Bielik was the only one who gave me some hope but he was a late sub and Wednesday had wrapped things up by that stage.
If Rambo is as fit as Hector was on Saturday I will be holding my breath in the warm-up never mind the game itself.
Dread to think who Santi will line up with. Without Le Coq for 2months we are in deep trouble. We were out muscled in mid-field on Saturday and opposition teams will just take advantage and the BFG and Kos are in for a hard time. Do I really see Chambers as the solution?
You know the answer!
COYRs
Cheers ‘holic.
If it wasn’t for bad luck we wouldn’t have any!!
Our injury list is getting a bit silly though, and the worst fears of many, since the transfer window, shut have now come to pass.
Why o why did we go into this season with (a broken) Arteta and a (with all due respect, not quite up to scratch) Flamini as cover? The not getting a new striker was bad enough, if not a little bit understandable, but not getting adequate back up for DM was (imho) downright negligent.
It just seems all so depressingly familiar.
Ah well.
Onwards and upwards.
Be careful brother H. That’s bordering on treason?
Sadly, none of the answers are rocket science. Even more sadly, it is all incredibly predictable. I mean, who honestly believed that we would not get any injuries and that the squad had sufficient depth??
It’s just so incredibly frustrating to see the same things year after year.
This is the weakest premier league there has been for ages. We are at the end of November and are already wondering what bargains we might be able to find in January? It’s all so avoidable.
Probably won’t see Le Coq back this side of next Christmas, let alone this one, by the sound it.
AW: “It is a least two months but I’m cautious as we had so many bad surprises on scans that I do not want to speculate more than that. Certainly for the next two months we play without Coquelin.”
“It is of course a disappointment to lose him in the longer term but we have in the squad the players who can compensate. We have lost a player of quality for a while but we know that can happen…I will give myself time, we have players who play in this position like Mathieu Flamini and players who can play there like Calum Chambers…Sometimes this is a good opportunity for other players to turn up and do the job. I will do what is needed in January, knowing as well it is not an ideal transfer market.”
On Bielik, in the five games he has played for the U21s this season he has played as a CB, not a DM. So doesn’t seem he is being schooled for Le Coq cover any time soon.
dotcom site now saying but the team for the next few months will be without Coquelin
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20151123/team-news-coquelin-ramsey-arteta-ox
dooooooomed!
IF that is accurate, AW’s statement makes me want to puke.
Flamini better (1) get in there and do his job right (shield the back four) and (2) stay healthy. Neither seem likely, do they?
Only Arsenal could have three – THREE – of their Coqs out!
What a fooking mess.
Sorry … couldn’t resist the cheap humor.
Wenger you made your bed, now its time to lay on it boss man. Great coach but stubborn as fuck. Mathieu flamini/ Chambers? yea you are having a laugh.” You will do what’s needed in January”. Really? it was needed during the summer time.
It was either Jane or Peter who Mr. Fonda was considering naming Absence Make The Heart Grow but it could apply equally to Coquelin. Not that anybody wasn’t appreciating his importance to the team before he was injured.
Trev-worthy, bt8b.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Oxlade can play there.
He’s bloody rugby trained.