Gunners Bid To Stay Top – We Will Not Be Deanied
Jan 22nd, 2016 by 'holic
For most Arsenal supporters these days the upper hand that Chelsea have had over us in the last decade is unprecedented. There is a correlation between the arrival of Roman’s roubles and the bus stop in Fulham’s upturn against us. Some in the drinks though will recall the swinging sixties when Chelsea teams managed by Tommy Docherty and Dave Sexton invariably held bragging rights over us.
Guus Hiddink is the 28th managerial appointment at the Bridge since Dave Sexton was sacked in October 1974. In Arsenal’s case that number is ten, which includes four caretaker spells while the next full-time appointment was made. Chelsea have thrown money at their squad while Arsenal have built a new stadium and training facility. What was once a good natured rivalry has taken on a darker edge among the younger followers of both clubs, although thankfully we still share an abhorrence of Tottenham.
Chelsea arrive as reigning Premier League champions, a true test of our ambition to succeed them, although the discontent apparently sewn by Mourinho at the start of the season still has them in the grip of an astonishing dip in form. If in August someone had suggested when they made this visit that they would be in fourteenth place in the table, just four points outside the relegation places, one would have been forgiven for calling the men in the white coats for them.
The visitors have won just six of twenty-two league starts this season, and one of those was in the reverse fixture against us that resulted in a red card for Gabriel being overturned and the incompetent referee Mike Dean being temporarily relegated to the Championship for his ‘performance’. We weren’t at our best that day it is true, but that has been the case many times this season, and the spirit in the side is such that we have battled our way to a number of points that we might not have taken in seasons past.
Arsene’s press conference on Thursday gave hope that the injury situation that has plagued us may be coming to an end. Mesut Ozil and Alexis are set to be available on Sunday, although I suspect that only the German will start. Tomas Rosicky and Francis Coquelin are back in training and closing on a return to full fitness. Danny Welbeck is due to resume training next week. The infirmary card school may be reduced to just Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla this time next week if all goes according to plan.
That said Ozil for (probably) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is likely to be the one change from the side that scrapped their way to a point at Stoke last week. Theo Walcott is the other player who must be looking over his shoulder as the walking wounded look to return in the coming days and weeks. He has celebrated a decade with the club this week and has come in for some harsher than necessary appraisals on social media, I think. Much of that is sparked by his lack of form of late, but he has enjoyed matches against Chelsea before, and he is more than capable of exposing their defence again this weekend. Score da ting!
After reports earlier in the week suggested otherwise it is no surprise to see confirmation today that Eden Hazard and Diego Costa are fit for Sunday. How we deal with the latter is probably the key to the contest. With the aid of the ineffective Dean Costaย was able to create havoc in the Gunners back line at the bus stop. Discipline will be our friend this weekend, and of course the fact that in Mark Clattenburg we have one of only two referees on the PGMOL list who look capable of handling matches as big as this.
The ‘holic pound
I have had to change my gut feel for this one. I was all for a 2-1 to the Arsenal until I saw that the buffoon Lawrenson had tipped that outcome. Duly warned off I will have to switch the magical quid over to theย famous one-nil to the Arsenal. Shop around for 15/2 which seems a decent price to me in what could be a very tight contest that we should just shade.
So that is it for another preview. I know I will see a fair few of you in the usual place pre and post-match. There is a bit of a birthday celebration going on for one fine Dubliner, and I will be making my return to street level after twelve days on the wagon. It promises to be quite a day, and here’s to the post match celebrations.ย Slรกinte.
Have a good one, ‘holics.
206 Responses to “Gunners Bid To Stay Top – We Will Not Be Deanied”
Cheers H!
I thought 2-1 to the arse was a good shout, still do. Realistically we should beat them by 1 goal, but on a good day maybe 2? 3-1 to us? I lumping it on!
Come on you Arsenal!
And give my very best to The Pirate on Sunday – (whilst I’m scoring Worthing CC U13’s indoor league fixture, chiz chiz).
Fine and timely preview, ‘holic. I trust you will enjoy the return to street level sans bus stop interference. Here’s to Mark Clattenburg who is a jolly good fellow. ๐
We did have a massive run of success against Chelsea which dated from Wenger’s accession to that CL quarter – final where Wayne Bridge did for us . From memory we knocked them out of the Cup four years in a row( including one Final) and on one occasion we had a central defence of Luzhny and Stepanovs!
I fancy 2-1 to us but we may have to come from behind like PHW in the previous drinks!?
Cheers Esso, I will do. Thank you btw and TTG ๐
@TTG
Remember those years so well! 3 point cunts they were every time. That cup game with Stepanov playing was fuckin’ excellent! Igors played his one and only brilliant game for The Arsenal on that day. Magnificent! Cant remember all our goal scorers off the top of me head. Sure Wiltord got one at least?
Evening H
For once,i think this could be an open game.
Even though the Blue boys have conceded plenty of goals,they have also scored plenty at the other end.
Be interesting to see how Hiddink sets them up,but in the 2 away games they have played since he took over,they haven’t conceded.
But that was against a very stodgy Utd,and an understrength Palace.
They will probably go with 2 holding midfielders and try and squeeze the space in the middle of the park.
But with the pace we have in our side,and multiple scoring avenues,we should be able to circumvent that.
My concern is still our DM area,which is very vulnerable when we are caught with too many players in the wrong half of the pitch.
Would like to see Elneny on the bench,ready to come on late in the game to close things out if need be.
As with you,i would prefer Alexis not play til next weekend in the Cup tie.
Our advantage playing Sunday,is we will know all the results from our main rivals the previous day,and we have the extra days rest after the tough away games at Anfield and Stoke.
Overcoming the Blue boys will be an enormous fillip to the squad after a tough Jan so far.
With Leicester Utd and Barcelona to come next month,it doesn’t get any easier,so the 3 pts on Sunday are vital.
Great preview `Holic.
3 points indeed are vital, like many I feel we missed an opportunity against Liverpool so 5 points out of those 3 games is the minimum we need to keep our advantage in the title challenge.
Like CLive said `Hiddink, not the worst manager for that despicable lot, will shore up the midfield so getting a result will be a tough. Any win will do!
Oh and the rumor has it that Arsene will extend his contract so no Guardiola for us then. I guess we’re not rich enough anyway.
Good stuff, Holic and I’ll look forwad to seeing you tomorrow. Detailed statistical analysis reveals that when the holic pound is on 1-0, the score is invariably 2-1. Lawrenson will be sitting smirking while you’re wetting your whistle.
Last thing about DD since I missed the great debate.
Mike Ashley is a Newcastle fanatic, there’s no denying it. Goes to all the games and it’s quite brave at times when the entire ground is lashing at you while the team gets hammered.
Still there’s no question that Mike Ashley’s money matters more to Mike Ashley than Newcastle United.
I feel it the same for DD. Of all the people he could have sold his shares to he chose the shadiest, slimiest ruthless ex-convict whose money was made through bribe and blood. And Manure fan to boot! Nothing good could have come from the association of Arsenal with such a man whose only motive was trying to buy the respect he did not deserve.
So perhaps DD is an arsenal fanatic, I take your word for it meaning I believe you when you say it. But he screwed the club big time. To spite the board that kicked him out or to make more money I don’t know. Now we’re saddled with the uzbek dictator’s arselicker-in-chief who makes Abramovich look like a choir boy (and that’s saying something).
DD is our Mike Ashley. His personal interest came first at the club’s expense. Shame he’s still allowed on the ground, he doesn’t deserve it.
Here’s the Sun’s piece of Arsene extending his contract: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/6879934/Arsene-Wenger-close-to-agreeing-new-deal-with-Arsenal.html
As you could expect it’s based on nothing.
Great stuff, Holic.
2-1 was my preference too but if it is proscribed I will have to say 3-1 to the Arsenal as I have a nasty feeling the loathsome scumbag that is Costa will somehow cheat his way onto the scoresheet.
Hehs in the previous bar, Ned, Uply, TTG. ?
Fine preview Guvna. I’ll take whatever win we can get on Sunday as I think this is going to be a very tight and competitive game.
I think this is a very dangerous time to be playing the Chavs. They have seriously under performed this season and will be well up for this match as this is their opportunity to show that they are a match for the league leaders and that all that has gone before was an aberration. Their pride is piqued and a victory over the Arsenal would seem highly therapeutic.
We need to be bang on our mettle, starting as we did against Manure and taking the game by its scruff by scoring early and hopefully, often.
Hope to see you pre- and post-match Guvna. My turn to get the drams in.
COYGs
Only one goal in this game seems improbable to me. Both sides are capable of scoring several on their day and neither defence is as strong as their attack. So three or four goals minimum, imo, with us doing them by two … 3-1 or 4-2.
I just hope Theo plays further forward than the no-man’s land he’s been inhabiting in recent weeks. Or even in 4.4.2 alongside OG. Not that that is likely to happen!
Oskar
Otd@15: Counterintuitively, I think that points to a 1-0. I am nervous the game will end a draw, however. Three points are vital at this stage. As important is slaying the beast of Chelsea’s recent supremacy. Interesting to see if Gabriel is given a start.
We have won only five of our past 30 games against them in all competitions, losing 17 and drawing eight. Overall, the record is won 72, lost 60, drawn 54.
Of the last 30 games, eight were 2-1s and only three 1-0s. There were four 0-0s.
Also, in the last seven games, one side has failed to score. Unfortunately on six of those occasions it was us.
Exactly, Ned. Counterintuitively it’s time for a change. Us to rout ’em!
Oskar
Excellent preview Holic which is earlier than previously intimated – no 6 pinter to delay you tonight ๐
Chav$ki are a despicable club and to see them beat in their current plight would be a additional bonus. They will seriously be up for this one but providing we can match their intensity I fancy a win, as their defence is under performing this season. If we can act with speed in the last third then we should have enough fire power to get the right result.
Upon reflecting the injustice of our previous envounter with them, it appears the anti Arsenal and incompetent Mike Dean had been kept well away from officiating in any of our matches since then. Should the PGMO maintain this stance until the end of the season, I guess we can consider it a result of sorts.
Hope all those going on Sunday have a great time and will be downing victory pints and drams post match – trust the Tollie has ordered extra supplies. Looking for Theo and our Guvna to end their recent droughts in style.
Decided to pop in for a quick drink at the bar. 3-1 to the good guys with Theo, HFB, and Rambo scoring beautiful goals and Costa scoring a penalty after a dive by Fabregas in the box (I don’t know if Costa even takes penalties for the Fulham Bus Stops but I imagine him head butting his teammate that is first in line for penalties, grabbing the ball, and walking to the spot while glaring at his other teammates with that ugly mug of his).
Thanks for the excellent preview Holic. Over the last decade, I have always felt some trepidation about matches against Manure, Chelsea and Stoke away as we have lost to them on most occasions. Our stats against Chelsea make for depressing reading-we haven’t beaten them since Oct 2011 and have drawn 3 and lost 5 since that match. We have not managed to score against them for almost 500 minutes, so any talk of us scoring 2 or 3 goals is premature. Though their form this season has been abysmal, they are sure to play for pride and raise their game against us. I only hope we don’t go in gung ho and concede early goals. I would take a one nil win any day.
Mike Dean-Anthony Taylor lucha libre cage match for the undercard? Mutually assured destruction of a quite enjoyable sort. ๐
Actually, ksn, we beat them as recently as August 2015 in the Community Shield. 1-0.
Oskar
Iwobi for Walcott and Mezut for Flamini. The rest of the Team should be alright. While we would all like to see Elneny in action. Go Gooners!
OtD, my comment was with reference to EPL matches only. I should have mentioned it.
Lamb, I don’t expect Iwobi to start in a crunch match such as this. Walcott is likely to start with Sanchez on the bench, in my opinion. Iwobi’s time will come as he has shown he can play at this level in the few opportunities he has been given.
AW reveals his pre-signing concerns about Cech.
โIt was a very, very difficult decision for me because I rate Ospina highly. He is a keeper who is underrated, especially in England.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160122/-cech-is-a-camera-behind-the-team-
i think d game will end 3: 0 arsenal will take d lead trust guys.
Otd@18: then you will be attracted by the odds of 40-1 on any winning scoreline in which we score at least four.
Esso
That 3-1 game was I think decided by two from Wiltord and an Henry penalty. Hasselbaink, as he so often did got a blaster for them as I recall
Theoโs record in the league against Chelsea isnโt that great, though that can be said of any of the team: three goals in 12 matches, of which he started eight, and on the wining side only twice, though he scored in both those games.
Ttg, Esso: Indeed — FA Cup 5th round at Highbury, February 18, 2001. Henry penalty in the 52nd minute. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink equalizer in the 62nd. Wiltord, subbed on for Pires in the 69th minute, scores in the 74th and again in the 85th. The team was Seaman, Dixon, Luzhny, Stepanovs, Cole, Lauren, Viera, Ljungberg, Pires, Henry, Bergkamp. Terry was playing for them.
Just been looking at the wins per games played record of the likely squad for tomorrow. Makes dismal reading. (This is for all clubs and in all competitions.)
Cech 0/0
Bellerin 1/3
Mertesacker 3/8
Koscielny 3/11
Monreal 1/4
Flamini 1/9
Ramsey 2/9
Campbell 0/0
Ozil 1/7
Walcott 3/15
Giroud 1/8
Subs:
Elneny 1/3
Oxlade-Chamberlain 1/6
Gabriel 0/1
Iwobi 0/0
Chambers 0/3
Gibbs 1/9
Arteta 5/17
Macey 0/0
The above is wins and number of games played against the Chavs.
It will be one extra win tomorrow Ned for our lads
Indeed, I hope so, Ttg — and that it will just the start of getting those numbers into better balance.
Nice one H.
NBN. Cech has quite a good record in this fixture. I trust he will maintain it.
Norwich v Poo is really kicking off.
What a crazy league this is.
Benik Afobe, formerly of this parish, scores for the Cherries again. On a brave diving header, no less,
http://i.imgur.com/fYqVhuK.gif… sums up the league at the moment!
Go Benik! Can’t wait for him to face us again!
๐
This Leicester is getting on my nerves.
Elneny already played three games against the Chavs? Send him on fir his experience then to shore up the newbies’ nerves. ๐
Bad day so far with Liverpool, Leicester and Spuds winning – saving grace was Manure losing. Pool lucky to win but Spuds and Leicester are been playing really well and creating a number of chances. Hope we stuff the Spuds when we meet them in March. Pressure on us to get a win tomorrow.
Is it time to be just a little concerned about Leicester now??!
We better do the chavs in…. got to think about the goal difference!
Up The Arse!
unfortunately spurs will finish above the gunners this year. Shock horror. Owing to Mr Wenger refusal to buy quality striker this Jan window. Arsene does not remember the team he played that beat Bayern 2-0. Giroud wasn’t the striker. It’s good that Welbeck is near returning. The problem Wenger won’t play as main striker, which is such a shame. We huffed and puffed last game against stoke. Stoke would have at least 3 goals only for cech. Leicester today won easily scoring 3 goals.
Unfortunately no chance of winning this year [there are harder away matched for second half of season, so far only got 2 pts from 2 of these matches]
And it seems Mr Wenger to stick around to 2019. Ugh.
Fan since 72.
It would great if Henry was manager. ๐
Bloody Ranieri kicked us out of CL 12 years ago.
Now he’s back to haunt us…again in fucking blue.
WHU 1-0 up in less than a minute of start; hope they win.
I do hope Arsene stays beyond 2019…
๐
It’s going to be a close run thing this year. My policy is to trust Wenger’s judgement at this time because he is in possession of all the facts and has much greater experience and football knowledge than me or any of us amateur managers.
But it’s the first time that I have ever been worried about the Spuds. This is the best team and manager they’ve had for yonks and they are as big a challenge to us as Man City I think.
Big day tomorrow!
I rarely hear people arguing that playing Danny Welbeck as our main striker is the key to winning the league. Or that Henry should be our manager.
As much as I like both men I find myself disagreeing with Mr Taylor in his analysis.
The statement that ‘spurs will finish above the gunners this year’ is not something anyone can know. I am extremely suspect of the opinions of anyone who claims to have been watching football for over 40 years and still thinks that it is sensible to make this sort of claim.
I look forwards to a return to the bar and a full and frank admittance of what a daft comment this was should we, in fact, and again, finish above the spuds.
And i am thrilled that I shall not be watching the second half of this season under the delusion that we have ‘no chance of winning this year’. That would be a real downer for me and would certainly show a lack of faith in the club that I just don’t have. Que sera sera and all that- but still, give ’em a chance, eh?
Agree 100% with TTG @ 48.
and with GSD @ 49.
City and West Ham draw 2-2. The first result to go our way today. Hope we are able to take advantage of this by beating the chavs tomorrow.
I cannot understand Taylor’s rant against AW who is our best Manager ever. Good he is staying till 2019. Agree with TTG and GSD at 48 and 49 above that though Spuds are really playing well they will not finish ahead of us. We edged them in our last meeting at the Emirates and would have won but for some misses by Giroud.
Dear Gerry,
I hope you are using sterilised needles.
Mr. Taylor also seems to forget that the maligned Giroud actually scored the goal that won us the game against Bayern! But that was one of a series of bizarre barbs at a man who could arguably walk into any club job on this planet on his own terms- and he chooses to remain loyal to us.
Interesting that a fan since 1972 can’t remember the years from 1974-76 when we were putrid or 1995 when we flirted with relegation. That boring old fart Wenger just insists on qualifying us for the Champions League 18 years in a row. Get him out immediately- bloody liability
Thank you for the laugh Mr. Taylor.
I wonder how long it will be before Ranieri will admit Leicester are in contention for the title. Anyway let’s win tomorrow so we don’t have to worry about it ๐
And here’s Saturday’s best goal and no it’s not from a spud it’s from our own young Mr Toral: https://gfycat.com/FlatDecimalAsiaticmouflon
That’s a terrific goal Matt ! Toral is quite a talent. In the other squad was Maitland- Niles who got a cracker for Ipswich on Wednesday.
Have to agree with TTG and bath, the LWCs looked very assured today. And GSD apropos Danny, a hard worker but dismal in front of goal.
And of course I have no probs with AW extending, and wonder if it has anything to do with Pep possibly moving somewhere in the interim.
40-1 looks about right for 4 goals, Ned, and wouldn’t it be nice! I’d settle for 3, which is more likely and eminently possible imo. I just don’t see a single goal game when both defences are capable of leaking silly goals. Especially theirs.
All speed and run Terry ragged would be my tactic. But who’d have me as manager, eh Trev?
Oskar
Grand work in this and several other recent bars, GSD. I’ve been somewhat under the weather recently but am starting to feel better, so should be able to take some of the strain off you from now on.
COYG
Surprised, but delighted, to see this on Media Watch today. ๐
First on Media Watch, even.
Well done, H !
Pangloss
Sorry to learn you’ve been poorly .
Here’s hoping the lads give you actinic tomorrow.
It’s a very big birthday for TTG on Monday so I hope I get an early present
Pangloss
A tonic sorry old chap!
Just wanted to make you feel at home
I bought some coconut shampoo today.
Then realised I don’t even have any coconuts . . . . . .
TTG….giving Panglos a tonic, why that’s Schwepped him off his feet ๐
Well done guvna for Media Watch…it’s about time ๐
Thanks TTG, for the thought and the manner of its expression. Foul pun, Uply, congratulations.
Morning all.
So, what Arsenal team will turn up today? That I feel will be the key question for today. The Chavs are a shambles. They have been all season. But they are a side full of decent players so we will need to be on our game for the full 90.
Will hopefully catch up with some of you later.
Girding loins, putting on tin helmet.
COYGs
Just off, rail replacement buses today not to mention a very early train next Saturday.
I deliberately avoided last seasons home game with the Chavs, went on holiday to avoid seeing Cesc in Blue and ended up watching it in a bar in Kyrenia. Today all the love has long since gone and as you know my affections are now with the lovely Hector.
A bit worried that we can contain the dreaded Costa. I doubt whether Gabriel will start for obvious reasons but so long as Ozil weaves his spells and the HFB has his shooting boots on, we are in with a chance of a precious 3 points.
COYRs
http://www.espnfc.com/story/2793153/alexis-sanchez-happy-at-arsenal-and-wants-title-win
You have just got to love the man’s passion and enthusiasm.
Am so very glad he is with us!
Up The Arse!
๐
Well linked BB.
And well said.
Nice to have you back Pangloss. I’m starting to get seriously fired up for this one. You don’t want to exert yourself too much today though so make sure you have your actinic…
COYG!!!!
Cheers, Pangloss and all the rest. ๐
COME ON!!!!!
COME OOOON!
Let’s go boys three points
theo is captain?
What utter bollocks!
Never touched him
lying cheating sack of shit cunt Costa.
Why are we playing such a high line?
Giroud substituted and Costa scores. Any surprise
I repeat…
fuck this shit…always against chelsea ..always
Always against Chelsea because we refuse to learn and leave vast spaces in our half for their players to exploit. Deja vu.
And you say the manager should get a new contract with that kind of substitution? Why not start Gabriel sometimes? Granted there was no foul. When will this team beat Chelsea?
Ah yes the semi-annual bottle job against Chelsea. A shit, Maureenless Chelsea. Roll on 6pm.
Come on Arsenal.
As far as I am concerned any fan who is anything other than right behind our boys right now can go do one.
Keep the faith.
UTA.
Another very very poor substitution! How can you, no matter what, take off your only attacking outlet from open play! Useless. We’ll do well to get a draw out of this now! My Grandmother’s quicker than Mertesaker. Poor decision from such an experienced defender. Always a liability with a high-line; which I can’t understand why we’re playing anyway. The Chavs are doing absolutely nothing that they’ve never done before over the past decade. Arsene never ever learns tactics against Moaninho indoctrinated sides. I am well and truly pisssd off right now!
amen, gsd. all that did was make the playing field even. well, it also showed the world again what a cunt is Costa…
GST,
We are but not with amateurish tactical substitutions like that one of Giroud! Farcical Muppetry!
I meant GSD!
Agree with Henry that we should have taken Campbell off, especially as Theo has been told to stay left and most of the time Ozil is playing up the middle. That’s never going to work is it?
Fuck fuck fuck.
Amazing how some people start posting every time we aren’t doing well!!
This game isn’t over yet – not by a long shot.
Don’t want to waste too many words on that slimy cunt but what are the chances that we can appeal and get the three match ban on mertesacker rescinded? Clearly there was no contact so there is ground to appeal for sure…
For the remainder of this game – keep it at 1-0 till 70 minutes and throw in Sanchez and the Ox for an almighty go in the last 20minutes…
‘Amateurish’?
If you say so Dan.
Either way, I’ll do the analysis after the game. Right now I’ll stick with the cheering on our boys.
Crucial game… but we should not risk Alexis if he’s not fully fit….
COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
And forgot to add…
COME ON ARSENAL
COYG!!!
Come on Arsenal.
Denial of goal scoring opportunity is a one-game suspension, isn’t it?
And I don’t think there was contact. Even if there was it was not enough to bring him down (watch him let his leg crumple a step after he is past Per).
Sky have yet to show a reply of the handball incident that saw 4 of our players appeal for a pen in the direct build up to their goal. I’d like to see it…
I understandbtaking off OG.
Go for speed on the counter.
But you right Dapper Dan. Shit tactics otherwise.
No change at half? Goddamnit AW.
If we lose this one Chelski will get relegated!!
And Costa can pick a fight in a pub !
Grrrr…come onnnnn!
#86 & #88, you can say all you want about Costa, but at the end of the 2 league games this season Chelsea has 6 points in the pocket & we have zilch. What faith if we continue to see our team struggle against teams that other less teams do not seem to struggle with, eg Pool a week or ago, Stoke & today Chelsea. I am in the US, coaches get fired for continuing to lose against their main rivals.
I now look forward to watching the Carolina Pathers (favorite American football team) play Arizona Cardinals.
Should the manager be bringing in Ox, instead of Sanchez, given that Flam is on a yellow card already?
I am just saying.
Nothing is going our way.
Fucking NOTHING
Sorry. Suggesting that AW shuld be fired right now while the boys are in a real fight is sorta shitty.
GSD,
Are you watching? The Chavs are doing f**k all cos they’ve nothing. If OG was still on we’d be creating more. Amateurish!
Amateurish substitutions!
Even with 10 men this game was ours! We’re making the Chav look good!
Dapper Danc,
I am watching.
The Giroud substitution was a mistake allright. That is finished now.
My problem is that – in spite of all that’s happened – we’ve still had three half-chances. On another day at least one of those would have gone in.
Arsene Wenger = Muppet tactician.
He just relies too much on his players to find the answers after he handicaps them with utterly inept substitutions.
That match, even with 10 men, was there for the easy taking.
I hope that at least Arsene Wenger’s learnt something from this game; your team cannot attack effectively with a good central attacking target man! That’s the end of my critique from this nonsense game of football!
Up the Arse All Day and All Night. I’m heading off home on the tube with my little boy.
I meant “without a good central attacking front man”..
Back to third where we belong.
Valiant effort by the boys. If only we showed that kind of fight in each of our games. Gutted!!
Arsenal dominated 2d half.
Really unlucky.
Alexis is back. Le coq is coming back. Ox looks like he found his mojo today.
Good signs. Now go on a run.
GSD,
There’s no such thing as “on another day” when you have probably the best chance you’ll ever have to inflict a fatal blow of those cunty Chavs when they’re on their knees! I hate those smug and amoral cunts than any other side in football history! Wankers!
I’m getting completely pissed tonight. I’m on a week’s holiday!
Right. “Doninated” an over statement.
We definitely had the better of it though. And chels are shit.
Some of the criticism today is a bit over the top. Frustrated? Sure, but we are still in a good position with no reason to get down on ourselves. Only a positive attitude will pull us through.
Dapper Dan C
You have gone on for too long with your ‘amteurish substitutions’ rant.
For your kind information Giroud was a doubt for this game after he turned his ankle during training on Friday. He had to pass a late late fitness test to make it to the first eleven. Once we had gone down to ten men the workload would have been immense and could have probably been risking an injury to Giroud. Secondly once Chelsea were a man up they were only going to be cautious and the best way to beat a cautious Terry is with pace and who better than Walcott to do that… As it did prove Walcott did have couple of good chances but unfortunately he couldn’t get the timing of his runs right. And if you’re saying that bringing on the Ox and Alexis was amateur then well please enlighten us with your ‘professional substitution’ strategy.
As for me I am happy with the way the team fought with 10 men for such a long period. Somehow it just wouldn’t fall for us today… Gutted but expect this team to have the perfect response. Delighted to have Sanchez back…
on another day? It’s always on another day isn’t it? Maybe when all the current players and management are retired or moved on we’ll beat Chelsea in a meaningful game. Is that the other day your’e talking about?
We haven’t scored against Chelsea in over 9 hours of competitive football. Today wasn’t really about the title, it was about showing these abominable cunts that we could beat them albeit in the season we had our strongest team for ages and they were at their worst. What happened instead? They’ve done the double over us in the season they are hovering above relegation and we’re fighting for the title. Please tell me one more time how shit they are.
I did not mean fire AW now, but I what I meant was I do not see a reason to renew his contract.
The game is over now. They have taken 6 points from us this season, a season they have been really terrible.
February brings games against Southampton, Bournemouth, Leicester, Barca & Man. U.
Leicester plays: Pool, Man City, Us & Norwich.
Man City plays: Sunderland, Leicester, Tottenham, Dynamo Kiev & Newcastle
Tottenham plays: Norwich, Watford, Man City, Florentina twice, Swansea.
Desi-gooner,
Where you at Ashburton Grove this afternoon to watch that arrogance from Arsene, yet again? Where you able to watch the whole match play out on the field? I doubt. It’s not rocket science; without a strong target man, we no longer have the final third threat. End of debate!
Even with 10 men , Arsenal is imposing . Chelsea isn’t any other team , it is is an excellent team .
There will be a tomorrow .
We will win the Premier league this season as long as OG keeps playing but not because of Arsene Wenger; it will be “inspite of Arsene Wenger!”
Even is sitting in the stands saw OG shaking his head in disbelief at his substitution. Did you get that on your TV or Internet feed?
I am surprised that someone of you guys are content with moral victories that do not move you up the log. At the end this game today, Chelsea managed to get 6 points out of a possible 6 from us this season, & that my friends is the bottom line, they get the points and we get moral victories.
We better come out of February with 10+ points & hope Man. City shares points with both Tottenham & Leicester City.
Given that Giroud was carrying a minor ankle knock from training the sub decision was okay, and would have looked better if Theo had done better in possession and took more responsibility in a central area. He tried the cut in from left routine but Chelsea defense was alert to it. Him, Rambo, Flamini were guilty of not showing more composure in possession. Theo nowadays plays very well centrally when he is up for it, including running directly at the defense, more of which would have helped today.
It is also becoming evident that for Ozil to flourish we need better control of the deep midfield, which the gung-ho duo of Rambo and Flamini fail to do. Cannot wait for Ciauekin’s return. Ozil was standing up to the physicality a lot better before the winter and was getting himself out if close marking magnificently. Looked less assured today.
Great effort by everyone though. Superb performances by our two brilliant fullbacks.
Imposing means nothing if you can’t win the game. Ask United if you want to know all about controlling the game and all that stuff. I thought the praise we were getting this year was for getting results and producing not our fancy imposing football. You guys are retreating into your cliches after this highly frustrating game we’ve just had to endure. My own questions are, why oh why can’t Wenger’s team produce against Chelsea? What is it about Drogba and now Costa that Wenger finds so hard to deal with?
Coquelin’s return…strange autocorrect that one.
Dapper Dan 116.
That comment was not made by me. But as you have not bothered to read who it is that you are replying to and have told us all that your point is so perfectly unarguable as to signify the ‘end of debate’ I shall say no more.
Sorry we lost but we did put up a fight and were unlucky to not score. Chelsea is full of street smart (cunts) players like Costa and we are a little naive which is why we always end up with decisions going against us. Per played into their hand by lunging in while not even looking at the ball and Costa took advantage. We never seem to learn.
We also defended poorly, especially for their goal. Three of our defenders vs Costa and we let him score.
I also felt that substituting Giroud took away the one weapon (some one who is good in the air and effective in set play situations) we had. We should have taken off Campbell or Walcott instead.
This is a real set back in our quest for the title. We got only 2 out of the 9 from our last 3 matches. A great week for the Foxes and Spuds.
With players coming back from injury, our situation should improve. All to play for still. COYG.
Frustrating result. A lot of effort from our boys though.
I will not be shoehorning today’s events untidily into a preconceived narrative of my own.
Burnley next. UTA.
We were shite today, but some of the cry-babying in here tonight is shameful. We’re still bang in the title race, and we have players starting to come back.
Everyone is disappointed, I know I am, but to pop out of nowhere and argue that the manager doesn’t deserve a new contract only goes to demonstrate your pathetic little agenda. I can only be glad that said agenda is increasingly held by a tiny vocal minority of our support, and that you get steadily decreasing opportunities to verbalise it after bad results.
Enjoy your hollow evening of “I told you so”ing. I somehow doubt we’ll be seeing you come the victory parade in May. As for the manager; he’s clearly going nowhere. Suck it up.
We were pony today, but hopefully that’s the last we see of that midfield set up for a good long while. Giroud sub obviously a bit weird, but some suggestion he had a knock, which only goes to show that Internet geniuses don’t know everything.
Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down, go again.
COYG
Yeah Dapper I saw the entire game and even without that target man we could have scored tonight. But I don’t think you saw that… And since you are talking tactically – taking Campbell off (I am assuming that you surely don’t mean Theo should have been taken off) would have meant leaving Bellerin alone on our right flank and that would have opened the gates for Chelsea to score more through crosses…
But anyway I don’t want to argue too much with someone who only turns up after losses and calls the best manager in the club’s history a tactical muppet (and amazingly claims that it’s the manager who is arrogant!!).
Just returning from the match. Very disappointing but now is s time to support not toss recriminations. We did well in the second half and Chelsea were well organised and solid. Willian and Fabregas were much better in midfield than Ramsey and Flamini but always had the spare man which helps.
Props to Ozil for running his legs off. Sanchez contributed well but was inevitably rusty and our heads never went down but Theo has to give us so much more in big tight matches . He was a poor choice for the armband and needs to step up .
But it’s not a disaster if we can get proper fit and get our heads down but it will be a very tough battle and we need committed players and supporters
Letter of the law says that it has to be a clear goal scoring opportunity to be given red card. When The fucker Costa touched the ball, it went to Cech and Gabriel was covering. So how come it was a goal scoring opportunity. With the scum scoring equaliser against Everton at last minute courtesy offside in 7th of extra time , I am struggling to see how oil money is not showing its colours. Don’t be surprised to see a few referees dragged into corruption in football
#133, What has the manager done in the last 5 years to justify a new contract?
I repeat at the end of the day, the bottom line is we have managed 2 points out of a possible 9 in the last 3 games & despite Chelsea playing very poorly this season, they have collected all 6 available points between us.
what the bar needs right now is for a needy, narcissistic nitwit to do a bit o’ good ol’ grandstanding – oh soz, woz done already.
#GoForthAndGetATrophy
I meant Koscielny was covering
Greetings from early morning Auckland NZ where temperature is an already sizzling 27C.
Tempers are a little frayed it appears. The game it seems hinged on Clattenburgs decision to send Per to the stands. Was he correct? We can argue all day, but ultimately we were robbed of our most potent striker for the majority of the game. Arsene Wenger may be many things,but he is surely not “amateurish”.
He had a choice to make and made it. We had to bring on Gabriel,no question. Whoever was subbed would have impacted our ability to win the game.
Having said that,I thought our effort was superb. I can’t think of a tougher team to play against in the Premiership with ten men than Chelsea.
True, today they will have their victory and moment in the sun.
Would I rather be second in the league with two defeats to Chelsea, or 14th with two victories over them? The former,of course!
The title is rarely one easily. We are very much in the mix with some of our toughest fixtures behind us. Add to that a host of players returning from injury and I am as confident as anyone can be that we have every chance of popping the Champers come seasons end.
Oh,and Costa is an unmitigated cunt.
N7g, I really did not know that Giroud had a knock. In my defense, I can only say that this “Internet genius” did not ever claim to know everything.
At least Alexis is back and not injured…..
Oh what we could have, had we had Coquelin, Santi and Wilshere available….!
Campbell is a starter now.. that’s a positive too..
Play Alexis and Elneny against Burnley! Needs to get match fit!
Here’s to Chelski’s impending relegation and Costa’s perpetual hamstrung…!!!
Up The Arse.
Ksn – not aimed at you, mate. We all wondered about the sub.
That was a shite defeat.
As for the substitution, any choice was a gamble with the odds against, as is inevitable when you go down to 10 men. Whether AW had taken off Giroud, Campbell, Walcott or no one (Monreal to CB, Flamini to LB), he would have been criticised. These decisions aren’t made on the spur of the moment; contingency plans are laid for playing one short. There was logic to the Giroud sub in that Theo’s pace on the counter against a slow defence was potentially more threatening than Giroud’s hold-up play. On the day, Theo didn’t deliver partly because Hiddink neutralised him by playing deep.
And with that I will retire to my contemplations.
“What has the manager done in the last 5 years to justify a new contract?”
How on earth can an Arsenal supporter write/ask this? Blindingly mypopic and seat-of-the-pants.
I wasn’t going to weigh in here, as I don’t want to contribute to negativity, and pointless bickering. But such statements are just foolish. Truly.
Tapera — you have made your stance about the great Arsene Wenger very clear. Now please go watch a group of doped brain-damaged athletes jostling each other in a choreographed fight, punctuated by ludicrous inanities placing toxic products, while munching on an obscene amount of food to keep a third world family fed for a week.
And I am a proud American. ๐
If at the end of November with Coquelin-Cazorla-Alexis all out for a few months I was told at the end of January we would be just three points off the top with players returning, no new injuries and anothe young player stepping up for the mighty Arsenal, I would have happily taken that.
Watch out for Ozil-Alexis show in the next few months. ๐
Steve T.
I owe you somewhat of an apology on the Stan K moving the Rams thing. You were obviously right. Apparently, many in St. Louis recently sent to Stan a truckload of cow manure (ranching is apparently one of his many side biz.) I saw the Kronke v. Usmanov debate here last week but lack the intel to contribute meaningfully. And I’m savagely busy lately.
Saw a good piece in the NY times recently that St. Louis actually dodged a bullet with the Rams leaving due to the funding requests the Rams made for a new stadium, given the budgetary plight in which Missouri apparently finds itself (e.g., cutting school lunches, teachers pay, and the like to float a bond – or something along those lines. (I’m no finance guy).)
Suspicion well warranted.
And by the way, that’s like the 3rd debate I’ve lost against you. And, to be perfectly frank, I’m getting mighty tired of you being right all the time! Nonetheless, the Jameson is on me. Cheers.
N7,
Explain to me why Arsene deserves a new contract? How much longer can he go on for as football becomes more dynamic and modern tactically? Even myself I’m 42 years of age, and a Consultant within the NHS in the UK, knows that my time is finite? I don’t know as much in my field of Interventional Radiology as the young geniuses now coming through working under me but I’m quite ready and happy to retire as I have other interests away from Medicine, once they know more than I do and I can’t keep up. Arsene clearly doesn’t have much else in his life away from football which is why he keeps staying in charge of OUR CLUB now that his restructuring work is all but pretty much done. For me, once he wins the EPL title back this year he should retire on a glorious high like SAF did. His legacy deserves that, and thank God that he still has the chance to still do that. One should “never ignore a gift horse in the mouth”.
Arsene should perhaps get into owning champion racehorses just like SAF and leave Arsenal Football Club to young, hungry, more contemporary and capable managers/coaches/tacticians like Pep Guardiola who are just waiting for him to hand over a wonderful legacy onto them. Please Arsene, don’t let us reach a Manure scenario with a crying “boy-within” Van-Stapelton running off to to Turkey heartbroken because your inevitably total-arthroplasty expedites your rapid retirement when we’re not fully ready, and we get lumbered with a “Van-Gaal double” as a failing transitional back up. COYBG! I love this club too much, and what you’ve done, to permit you to destroy your legacy in your lifetime. You deserve to end on the same ultimate high just like SAF did. Up the Arse all Day and all Night! Win the EPL this term and then please leave on a true high. Another FA Cup double parade along Islington High Street wouldn’t go amiss!
Just on the way back from the game now. I only caught up with some of the previous drinks. I share a lot of the frustrations. For those who thought we played well and dominated the second half I couldn’t disagree more. We huffed and puffed our way around the pitch and created very little. I can’t see how we dominate a game with only 46% possession and only 1 shot on target. The fact is we lacked the quality in the right places. We were simply not good enough.
I’ve not seen the sending off again but it happened quite close to where I sit. It looked a foul to me and if it is then it’s a red. Why we have allowed costa to have so much space to run at Per is the big question for me.
Down to 10 it all became very predictable. The substitution was bizarre in the extreme. With Per gone we lost our only other player with any height. As decisions go I thought that was ridiculous.
The introduction of Sanchez was the one big positive for me. Both he and Ozil tried desperately to conjure some magic but the quality was sadly lacking in support. And with no target up front I honestly could not see us scoring at all. Campbell had his toughest test today and looked a fish out of water. The midfield struggled in general. We allowed them to play and gifted them the ball
In the end it was all very poor. This season there have been far too many performances like this one where we are just not good enough. It’s the same old failings that come back to haunt us and when the going got tough, we looked totally rudderless. Just not good enough.
Go Panthers!!
Desi’gner gooner,
We don’t turn up “just at losses” because some of us have a life that involves two things:
1. A job that saves the lives of people working as a senior doctor.
2. A season ticket holder at Ashburton grove (and the Emirates before that) for over 30 years.
Cheers matey!
Some people seem like they just sit down eagerly awaiting a loss to come here and talk shit.
My regret is not being able to see Arsenal play those Cunts with 11 men on the pitch for 90 minutes this season.
The quicker we forget this game and move on to the next one, the better we’ll all be. COYG!
Steve T @150,
You’ve completely nailed it! No more need to be said by those that were not there!
I’m getting pissed watching the American “football” playoffs. Come on Patriots! I’m just too posh for my own good I guess! Up the Arse!
Dapper @152
Being a season ticket holder for 30 years, I would have thought that you would atleast get the name of our old ground correct!!
And I feel sorry for your job that doesn’t let you turn up at this bar for our victories…
The internet is both a wonderful thing because it facilitates speedy communication and a diabolical thing because it allows windbags like Piers Morgan to twist in the wind depending on the last result.
As we’ve also said this bar is for Arsenal supporters who love the club, want us to do our best but realise that often we won’t.
N7 is spot on. We are in a great position and with a good end to the season we can do great things. Certainly we have huge talent to be unleashed and hopefully will get reasonable luck with injuries.
Wenger is not infallible and got some things wrong today. Enforce the game I said I would prefer Gabriel to BFG and I would have started Alexis. But it’s time to support our club not whinge
Desi’gner Gooner,
I do hope to see you at the old Highbury sometime soon, and at Ashburton Grove before Arsene is no more.
Always support the club and not a man! Just a bit of brotherly advice. COYBG!
charaterize informed criticism as a “whinge” (even though its whiff might not be to your liking) and one might be tempted to suggest that you and your red army of so-called contacts might not know what they’re on about – little man #SwigsAndRoundAbouts #Don’tDrinkAndDriveYourfriendsMad
Awful Substitution I thought…but that is just my opinion, happy to listen to others and as usual their are some very salient points raised by others on this board today.
My first match as a bona fide fan was the 1978 cup final (a REAL disaster) and I have stuck with the team ever since…one loss against a well organised Chelski team with the correct game plan and…well you have to wonder about some “supporters”…
The internet is both a wonderful thing because it facilitates speedy communication and a diabolical thing because it allows
people to use fucking hashtags all over the place..
Not really worth talking too much about that game as it has all just about been said. At the end of the day though, this is the worst team Chelsea have had in the Abramovich era and they’ve done us home and away.
Still winning the league though.
Us I mean not that shower of shite. (insert silly internet smiley)
Oh and for all the talk about Wenger and his future (and I do think this should be his last contract) I am eternally grateful that we never had Mourinho as manager, even though I really wanted him to be very badly once upon a time, and I think we’ve had a lucky escape with Klopp, who looks like all he has to offer is touchline antics.
Almost 10 hours of football since our last goal against ’em.
In the League.
Ah well; still all to play for!
Like many, I was surprised it was Giroud who was sacrificed. While he may have been carrying a knock, and can understand being cautious, my eyes were telling me that he was moving around well, and with a bit of pace, so I would have taken off Campbell. Suspect that AW’s reasoning was that the threat of pace from Theo (and even more pace from Ox and Sanchez as future substitutes) was a better alternative; he certainly didn’t factor in conceding a goal within five minutes of the red card.
As for the red card: had the situation been reversed with the exact circumstance (e.g., Terry takes down Theo, only barely touching the trailing leg and Theo going down hard, with Zouma in the same position as Koscielny), you’d have thought the red card was justified. It’s just that Costa is a world class front bottom who acted like he’d been attacked with a sledgehammer that makes it nausea inducing.
Oh, and don’t forget the penalty that didn’t get called on Koscielny against Fabregas; could have been worse.
I sure hope Gabriel can start playing more often. Its time Mert start sitting on the bench. I don’t care if he is the club captain or not. I am not just saying this because of today, I just prefer Kos/Gab especially with their pace.
Gary Neville has already overseen Valencia’s longest winless run in 30 years. He must’ve learned something from Van Gaal. ๐
#161 – you know it makes sense!!! Everyone else is just guessing though #Honest
One more thing, I truly love and appreciate all what Wenger has done for this club. Truth is, I actually started watching Arsenal around 1995 or thereabout and fell in love with Arsenal because of his playing style. At this point in time, I really don’t think its any good for him to sign an extension. This got nothing to do with today’s result. There is so much that one can do and I really believe he has done great things for the club both off and on the pitch but its time to retire and call it a day with managing the team.
Hope that Gabriel takes this chance and make himself a starter for the rest of the season. Might be harsh but Per red card can be a blessing in disguise.
Can’t wait for Coq and Cazorla to be back, and we start playing some proper football. Had enough of Ramsey and Flamini in the middle this couple of months, to be honest. None should be a starter for a PL winning side. Good squad players, nothing more, nothing less. Both of them.
We have a title winning material squad. Couple of fixes and tweeks here and there is all we need. We can do it.
In other news, I am very happy that Goonerholic family has one more member as Mrs. Lurky gave birth to our firstborn. It’s a girl and she is already a Gooner, in red and white baby clothes, with a cannon sticker on her bed.
COYG!
.
i’m not 42
nor
am i ostentatiously
and
medically-un-keepy-uppingly tending to the needs
of the dead and dying
.
deep joy
congratulations lurky ?
Congratulations, Lurky! Kids are among the very best things in life. Enjoy every moment, it goes by far too quickly.
Congrats Lurky!
A little harsh on Ramsey though mate.
saw the Ramones live
many times
was Joey mumbling most words sometimes?
yes
he was
did i get fucked off the odd time
yup
but
are they the greatest band of all time ?
yes
.
toys thrown outta prams
just as valid as
instantaneous learned considered
let’s get behind the team schtick
Congrats Lurky and Mrs.! Another Goonerette in the world! Not such a bad day after all! Time to “wet the baby’s head” with another! A round all-around barkeep. Stick it on my tab. COYBG!
Congrats Lurky!!!!
Cheers gents ๐
Congratulations to Lurky and Mrs. Lucky!! Buckle up for the wildest ride of your life. ๐
Congrats Lurky. ๐
Mr and Mrs Lurky. Many congratulations. Welcome to the very best years of your life.
We were still pants today though. I hope young Miss Lurky can help improve our performances.
Well done Lurky, at least you scored today. ๐
I’m with desi (#120), with Giroud in doubt before the game his subbing was the right move (although I admit being surprised initially). And Theo looked the most dangerous threat subsequently, even if the through balls came too slowly for his dashes on occasions. Not that we were much of a threat at any time.
I have serious doubts about our ‘smarts’ in games like this. Could Per have been any dumber? And how lucky was Kos not to concede a penalty for interfering with DNA Boy? It’s times like this I wonder if we have sufficient intelligence to win the title frankly.
Fantastic to see Alexis back, and looking fit if not 100% match sharp for obvious reasons. Less pleasing to see รzil having another poor one, failing to create, failing to retain possession and outplayed by Fabregas in midfield.
With Per now out for the next three games at least Gab will get a regular run (and perhaps take the opportunity to replace Per permanently), and the Cup game should also see Alexis sharpening his game and Elneny showing us what he’s got.
Another frustrating day (now just 2 points from the last 9) and still the gauntlet to run later in the dog park. And the LWCs just 2 points behind and looking far more composed.
Still time to sign a goal-scorer in this window AW.
Oskar
Congratulations Lurky! Welcome to the sleepless nights ๐
Don’t worry its very rewarding all the same!
Congratulations Lurky! You now have something to cause you sleepless nights, other than the Arsenal performances vs. Chelsea.
OTD: Per’s suspension is for one match only, which will be the cup tie. Three games is for violent conduct, which is hard to justify when you barely touch an opponent. Only violent conduct on display was Costa’s simulation of a grand mal seizure on the “foul”.
We always bottle it against Chelski and that is a fact, we show them too much respect and it always back fires!
Per on the other hand is experienced enough and he should never make that tackle I rather be 0:1 down with 11 than 10.
Congratulations Lurky! Some nice news on a depressing day!
Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Lurky, you are now entering a brave new world with wonderful experiences ahead of you ๐
Congratulations Lurky.
I have two things to say about this match.
Firstly, I have seen plenty of people blaming Clattenberg for sending off Per because Costa dived with no/minimal contact. However Per dived in, made no contact with the ball and gave Clattenberg a decision to make. It was straight below me in the North Bank and I couldn’t see there was no contact in real time. Clattenberg did what 99/100 refs would do and sent Per off for being the last man.
Secondly, I never ever want to see Feo in an Arsenal shirt again. With all due respect to those who think he’s a genius (Oskar), I was disappointed with him 10 years ago and I have seen no consistent improvement since. Half a dozen great moments in a decade do not make him an automatic choice for me. I would be happy to see him leave in the summer. I thought he should have been subbed when Per was sent off, then I was surprised when he came out at half time, then was utterly shocked when Joel was subbed before him. Frankly he has been a passenger for three months apart from his goal v Shitteh and he was an utter failure again today.
Oskar. I don’t think Ozil had a poor one. Far from it. From my seat he seemed to be surrounded by average players who were not even close to his level. There is no point in having the best gun and the best ammunition if you don’t provide a target to aim at. At one point Ozil was trying to make things happen and create an opening. The remaining 9 outfield players were playing statues.
Don’t forget Bath. If we don’t win the league then it’s down to the officials. Nothing else. It’s always the officials fault. It was definitely Clatenburg’s fault that it took us 80 minutes to have a shot on target. Had to be.
๐
Steve, thought your earlier comments were spot on apart from those on Joel. He faded in the second half but did at least make a considerable effort in the first. Anniversary boy seemed to be jogging around looking for a cake with candles on it. ;0/
Unfortunately Bath, Theo is one of many. We have players that are just not good enough. Far too many one offs for me. We have a lot of players that flatter to deceive. When we play lesser opposition they have the chance to shine. When it gets a bit tough then we struggle. When you watch the likes of Alexis and Ozil you can see the gulf in class.
As I said. Sometimes we get away with it, sometimes we don’t.
You will never fault JC for his work rate and his attitude, but for me he looked out of his depth a bit today. He should have been taken off to make way for Gabriel.
Having just watched the MOTD highlights our defending for their goal was awful. As I said above, you will struggle to win any game when you only have one shot on target.
Yep, very poor on the goal. Good cross but there were there men round Costa who still got to the ball with a clear strike on goal. Shoddy.
-there
+ three
Dapper DanC @ # 154. Being a Pats fan, I am sure you have a good understanding of what a good coach is, granted its a different sport, but I do not think there a better coach than Bill Belichick is this world. Wish AW was even in the same neighborhood coaching-wise.
Superb comment Bath.
I have given up believing in the point of Feo. I honestly sit back and consider him to be a masterful business man at this stage. How he earns 130k a week is imo, the 8th mystery of the world. He even writes Childrens books as well. Giving him the armband against Chelski was like arriving at a mexican gun fight with “Bambi” tattooed across your forehead. You just couldn’t make it up.
Sadly it wasn’t all down to Feo. We were comprehensively and completely beaten throughout the field. Every time our defence was put under pressure – we croaked and looked vulnerable. I wondered what in the hell we were doing playing Per in team that needed to play a high line? We have two vulnerabilities in our full back line – a lack of pace with Per and a lack of height with Bellerin. Chelski targeted and exploited both.
Our midfield was completely overrun by the lad many on here thought wasn’t good enough for us. Sure enough Cesc wasn’t brilliant – but he didn’t need to be brilliant. He just needed to be good enough for 20 minutes until they scored and then they locked-up-shop knowing that our hopes and ambitions depended on a lad named Theodore.
We created nothing, had zero shots on target and we had no-one to exploit a seriously experienced defence. The only lad we had with an X factor was sitting on the bench.
The team we fielded had at least 4 players who are just not good enough at this level. I refuse to believe anyone who tries to tell me that this squad doesn’t need to be improved in a pretty dramatic way. Defence – Midfield and Strikers – we lack throughout. We can sit here and think – we’re top of the league, in a league that Chelski have discarded (and still taken 6 points from us), Citeh have strolled carelessly through and Manu have all but abandoned. We might find ourselves top and continue to convince ourselves that we’re good enough. But we’ve taken 2 points from 9 in the last 3 games. Is this the stuff of winners?
When have I ever described Theo as a genius, bath? I admit I began a bit of a campaign for his reinstatement last year, when he was fit but left on the bench forever while Danny was preferred to him despite proving hopeless at the primary function of scoring. And when, finally, Theo was picked everyone was surprised how well he played.
Since then, however, he has increasingly become the whipping boy for everything that goes wrong, despite others being at least as much, and often more, to blame.
Recently he has obviously been told to look to his defence duties, and this has caused a distinct drop-off in his attacking ability. To the extent I agree that his position in the side is questionable, at least on the left where he often finds Mesut, who tends to play mostly on the left, in front of him. If he was allowed to play RW I believe we’d see a much better Theo, and a far more dangerous one than JC.
As for รzil, I have always recognised his world class talent, but sometimes he fails to deliver. Today was one of those days. It happens, and you can blame others for it Steve-T. รzil doesn’t usually have a problem finding one of your statues, but today he wasn’t finding any one of them. Can’t remember whether he was the one who failed to anticipate Theo running in behind until too late leaving him offside, but Theo certainly wasn’t a statue on those occasions.
And if we want to apportion blame, where was Belle when Per was left stranded? And why did JC cock up the perfect assist Theo laid on for him? And a dozen other salient questions? No one played well today and again I question whether this lot have the relevant mental qualities to win the title.
As for the captaincy AW gave it to Theo for the day to mark his 10 years at the club, which I thought a nice gesture. On a long-term basis I would give it to Kos.
Oskar
Oskar.
From my seat Ozil was one of the hardest working players on the pitch. He did not come off but was continually working hard. More often than not there was little to no movement. Having no centre forward may have played a major part in that.
Congratulations Lurky…
Theo is one of the few players that we have that is a potential game changer. However, after 10 years the word potential still seems to follow him around. He needs to step up and deliver with a lot more consistency.
One thing I will say is that playing him in all different positions does not help.
Per lost us the game. At 10 vs 11 for 70 minutes the odds were massively against us, a draw would have been exceptional and a win miraculous. It was really hard to watch.
From where I watch we will struggle as long as we play Flamini. Not questioning his attitude but his positioning is as suspect as it ever was, still the mad dog but without much bite left. From Coq-Santi-Rambo to Flamini-Rambo-Campbell our midfield has lost balance and control making everyone play worse.
To make things harder Chelsea were playing with 2 DMs. In all fairness a draw could have been a decent result.
Turns our the injuries have really played their part this season. With Sanchez and Coq back for the final sprint it’s still looking good to me.
I will try to start off on a positive note. Our full backs and Cech were excellent. Thats that. Now the rant.
Per Mertesacker and Flamini should not start a game for us. They just cannot match up to the pace or have the ability to last an entire game. Per has had his moments and we are grateful for it, but he is done. No legs,positional sense which was his biggest asset is gone and this absolutely stupid raising his hand for an offside instead of trying to clear his lines is infuriating. What on earth was he looking towards the linesman for yesterday????. Flamini less said better, all legs and hands but no brain.
Theo should be ashamed of himself, how can he not play a simple pass. He cannot hold the ball and when he knows it, why can he not play the pass quickly, instead he wants to play his way through??? Theo you neither have the skill or the awareness to do so. Captain’s arm band??? i mean are you kidding me? Rather would have given it to Cech or Kos or even ramsey.
Talking of Aaron, he has fallen back to his past mistakes. he overdoes thing, keep it simple and you have a fantastic player. Complicate it and you look absurd. The amount of times he lost the ball yesterday was incredible.
Ozil average at best. Kos again a poor game and stupid of him to allow Costa get in between and score but then dear Flamini blocked his view just to make it even more easier.
A wait of 12 years, a dream of seeing us win the league is fast eclipsing and until and unless we turn this around soon, the league championship will remain a dream. Oh this hurts a lot.
Boom!
๐
Theo was bad, Ramsey was just as bad and very sloppy, Flamini was non-existent running around aimlessly for the goal and cocking up the few chances we did get. GSD at 132 and TTG and all the others saying it was a valiant effort and it was just one game lets move on must be missing the last 9 hours of league football we’ve played against Chelsea without scoring. I love Wenger but taking off Giroud today was amateurish. Everyone questioned it, and it turned out we were right. Theo produced nothing.
Speaking of which, in a game we really wanted to win being sentimental with theo and the armband wasn’t the best way to start the game. After ten years if you have only developed as much as theo has its embarrassing he’s considered a starter and is making as much as he is.
Shit Results, Even shitter that it came against them cunts, The Hoodo continues, but we are only 3 points of the Summit id have taken that at this stage at the start of the season so im not going to suddenly go all the Sky is Falling, We have Major players on the way back all Wenger title winning teams finish strong and its still all up for grabs – Fuck Em all ๐
Ps He really needs to sort out the centre of our Midfield tho
Up The Arse
Hi everyone. my very first post on here and i am delighted to be in the midst of such distinguished and passionate fans.
Now to the game. It goes without saying that this was a frustrating display and an extremely disappointing result, but we must carry on. I have always felt that a wonderful club such as ours deserved a certain type of player, one who has class both on and off the pitch. so, i have been pretty pleased with most of the personnel that have donned our colours (with the exception of the likes of Adebayor). But the time has come to move on from this sentiment. I’m not saying i want thugs like Costa at our hallowed club, no not at all, i’m just saying being a personable bloke just won’t cut it anymore and the manager needs to be more ruthless with underperforming players.
Theo would be my best example of a player in this category. I really like theo, but after ten years and we are still talking about “potential”, that has to be ridiculous. Arsenal is big club and should be doing great things! These players need to pull their sucks up or we look for players who can deliver big time on a consistent basis.
Arsenal 4ever!!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Back afyer 12 jpurs of meejah lockdown.
First things first. Congratulations Lurky and Mts Lurky and a big welcome to the Lurkette.
Next, apologies to GSD for leaving him to shoulder the burden without support.
That was a crap game and a shit result.
I was terribly upset to see, amongst all the reasonably expressed opinions with which I profoundly disagree, some over emotional, overstated views from one who I remember as being vaguely sensible a few years back. All the “#COYBGs” in the world after the event don’t really properly undo the excess contemporary bile. Perhaps a little more time spent formilating your opinion in a manner unlikely to cause accidental offence might be wotth consideration? DapperDanC, I’m talking to you.
Doctor Faustus nailed it @147 for me. We had a collective bowel loosening when Santi, the Coq and Alexis went down in quick succession a few months back. Here we are with them starting to come back, only 3 points off the top. Intestinal fortitude must, more than ever, be the watchword.
UP THE ARSENAL. COME ON YOU GUNNERS.
Tapera @192,
For sure; Belichick is the “Dogs Bollocks” as a coach and tactician! Way to go Panthers – that was a massacre; men against boys! The Broncos got lucky against my lads! Bad pass from Brady on the 2 point conversion!