Where Did That Crazy Second-Half Come From?
Dec 22nd, 2017 by 'holic
Arsene Wenger opted to stick with the flat back four against Liverpool and slotted Alex Iwobi into the right hand side of midfield. Liverpool went with the so-called fab four, prolific when started together this season.
Both sides started energetically and the Arsenal won the first corner of the night in the fifth minute. Liverpool achieved theirs two minutes later but both were comfortably dealt with by the defending team. The visitors suffered a setback in the tenth minute when skipper Henderson departed the contest with a hamstring problem.
Petr Cech was the busier of the goalkeepers in the opening twenty minutes but was professionally claiming a stream of crosses in his area. He had to be on his toes to prevent Firmino from heading home at the far post. Arsenal attempted a response when Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis combined but were denied by the alert Mignolet.
Back came Liverpool, seemingly targeting the out-of-sorts Hector Bellerin. Firmino again got his head on it at the far post but it flashed across the face of goal. In the 26th minute the visitors were deservedly ahead. Ainsley Maitland-Niles was caught out of position, Salah’s cross looped off the attempted block of of Laurent Koscielny and Coutinho dinked a header over the stranded Cech.
The Arsenal 0-1 Liverpool
The Arsenal response, a shot from Lacazette blocked, preceded a spell where the ball was being given away too cheaply, principally the offender was Alexis. Milner brought down Lacazette just outside the box. Finally a chance to get an effort on target, but Mesut Ozil’s attempt didn’t clear the wall.
Somehow we survived when Koscielny slipped over and Cech could only block Salah’s effort to Mane who attempted a spectacular effort that just cleared the bar. Our continually giving the ball away gave this first-half the feel of a contest between men and boys. A clearly unhappy home crowd booed the team off the pitch.
At the start of the second half Skhodran Mustafi came on for Nacho Monreal, injured when fouling Mane. Early on Milner targeted Jack Wilshere so it was a relief to see the little man get up and on with the game.
In the fifty-second minute Liverpool unloaded Alex Iwobi by their own goal-line broke with pace, and Salah scored a wonderful goal against a woefully guarded defence.
The Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool
Stung by the boos of the crowd again the Arsenal fashioned a decent response. Bellerin’s cross found Alexis galloping in at the far post to pull a goal back for the Gunners.
The Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool
Three minutes after going two down the Gunners were level. Xhaka’s long range effort swerved through Mignolet’s grasp and the home crowd were back onside immediately.
The Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool
Two minutes on the miracle was achieved. Lacazette’s wonderful back heel sent Ozil through on goal and the wizard slotted the ball calmly over Mignolet. The atmosphere was transformed. Three goals in under five minutes had turned the match on its head.
The Arsenal 3-2 Liverpool
It was mighty close to 4-2 when Klavan put a cross over his own crossbar. Instead with twenty minutes to go the ‘holic pound was sunk when Alexis surrendered the ball again, the defence parted as if commanded by Moses, and Firmino’s drive was parried into his own net by Cech. This was not a good night for the goalkeepers or defenders.
The Arsenal 3-3 Liverpool
Bellerin’s ambitious drive from wide gave Mignolet a chance to err again but the visiting ‘keeper was equal to this one. The manager sent on Danny Welbeck for Iwobi and Klopp responded by sending Wijnaldum on for Mane. Had he settled for the point? Milner avoided censure once again when clattering into the back of Alexis in front of the Arsenal bench. Next to get away with a blatant trip was Firmino on Lacazette to prevent a Gunners counter-attack.
The boos rang out again when Oxlade-Chamberlain came on for Coutinho. I’m not sure why. £35million plus add-ons was an incredible deal for a player who has yet to fulfil his potential. The boos turned to cheers when he swung a corner into the hands of Cech.
As the clock ticked around to the 89th minute Theo Walcott was sent on for Alexis for whom the night had been a mixed one. Lacazette appeared to be held back in the box but nothing was given. I need to see it again, so will give Mr Atkinson the benefit of the doubt.
The second-half made this once more an astonishing fixture. At two down we looked dead and buried but the way Liverpool, and then ourselves, defended the lead showed just why neither are potential champions.
Have a great Christmas all.
114 Responses to “Where Did That Crazy Second-Half Come From?”
Hard luck on the Holic pound 🙁
2nd. More sloppy defending.
Too many poor performances individually and as a unit, both as a whole and in the respective departments.
Everything bad about this team and the way it is managed and coached was on display tonight.
It feels like the luckiest point we’ll get all season, but to be fair they were as bad as us at the back. Turns out the worst thing the Scousers did all night was to score a second goal. We woke up then.
Highlight of the game was Lacazette’s back heel assist.
Reminiscent of our first Friday night game against Leicester without the happy ending.
But given how poor our form has been recently,i would have settled for a point before the game,but fighting back to lead 3 -2,i am disappointed we didn’t end up with all 3.
Without some injection of quality in the transfer window,cannot see anything changing in the New Year.
A Cups team at best,with an outside chance of making top 4.
I didn’t make the match. Car broke down on the M4 before Swindon! The AA were great. Quick diagnosis of alternator failure. Props to Kev who got me started and home by 5pm.
The wife’s wise counsel prevented me jumping in her car to make the ground around ko. Went to the local for a meal with my pal whom I was taking to the Ems for his first visit then home to watch the game on Sky. It felt the right decision at 0-2, very much the wrong decision at 3-2 and feels very much the right decision now that I can drink a few more pints.
We were lucky not to be 0-4 at ht but still unlucky not to deliver the Guvna’s punt at 3-2.Terribly sloppy possession from the usual suspects followed by very sloppy defending. We are not a top 4 team. Please find a defensive midfielder. Please.
I’m sure they will all build that up as one for the neutral. Sky will be rubbing their hands and Stan will be expecting at least 1 more zero on the end of the next TV deal.
At 2 nil down I’m sure we would all have taken a point. We were very poor at the back. Kos is struggling. Why Nacho starts in the middle of a four I will never know. AMN looks a prospect but I’m far from convinced he’s a left back. Why was the Tank not playing? A great bit of business for a change and now can’t get a game???? I would love to know why.
The first half was just poor and we could easily have been more than 1 down. The second half we played with far more intensity.
Özil outstanding in the second half. LJW MOTM again in my opinion. The one real driving force all game.
Danny The Prolific and Rusty were late additions to the field of play and had no time to fuck it up even more.
We are really struggling at the back. I can’t help but think the constant changes in formation and personnel really does not help. I also think criticism of Cech for the third is slightly harsh. He was let down massively by those in front of him and I thought unlucky with the save.
Your last paragraph sums it up H. Neither side anywhere good enough to even think about a title challenge.
Merry Christmas one and all.
If we don’t sign a proper defensive midfielder in the January transfer window, we will suffer badly for the rest of the season. Or how about actually playing AMN there and Monreal or Kolasinac at left back.
Koscielny needs to be rested. It must be hard work defending behind that midfield. He has played too many games back to back and he was clearly at fault for their equalizer. If we believe that Chambers and Holding are the future, they need to be given chances now. Maybe not together as a pair but in partnership with Mustafi or Koscielny. Monreal at left back dove tails beautifully with Sanchez and is our best wide player by a country mile. Sanchez is in woeful form but our right back situation hasn’t exactly helped him out. Bellerin produced an assist today but he still looks out of form. Time to give Debuchy a game in the premier league. Ozil had a few of his shoulder shrug moments in the first half but everything good we did through out the game came through him. He and Lacazette were the only two players who looked like World Class players for us followed closely by Jack.
Arsenal play well when they dominate the midfield. The midfield is a conundrum that the manager has not been able to solve ever since Cazorla got injured. We have got good individual players in Wilshere, Ramsey and Xhaka but none of those combine well together. Coquelin and Elneny seem to be out of favor with the manager and if we’re not going to play them, it might be worth moving at least one of them on and buy a proper holding midfielder to play alongside Xhaka or Ramsey or Jack. Until we buy that player though I would like to see Ainsley Maitland Niles being given a chance there. Elneny is not a very inventive midfielder but having seen him play at the centre of a back in defense in the Europa league earlier, he does come across as a player who can become a reliable holding player who just sits back and shields the centre backs especially in games such as this one. But we have never seen him play that role unfortunately. We played really well against United after shifting to a back four mid game and Ramsey played a huge part in that. His injury has coincided rather unfortunately with our shift to a back four and his energy, pressing and late runs make a huge difference in tough games. Until he comes back the midfield riddle is even more complicated. Also getting a midfielder in January would mean we can focus completely on getting a replacement for Sanchez and/or Ozil in the summer.
Liverpool once again demonstrated why Klopp would have been an almost seamless successor to Wenger!!
Merry Christmas to everyone in the bar…
Just arrived back and it’s hard to make sense of a game like that. Nobody on our team was consistently good but Ozil, AMN , Wilshere and Cech has very decent perfotmamces. Ozil lifted the team but in the first half we were outclassed and outmanoeuvred. Xhaka was pretty poor overall and underlined the need for a proper defensive midfielder who can stop teams breaking on us and pulling us to
pieces.
Mustafi stabilised the defence a bit but I think Kos needs surgery soon and really struggled tonight.
I can’t be disappointed with the result but it’s given me no more belief that we are on the right lines or that we can get lose to the CL. I think United , Chelsea and Liverpool are all better than us
A prudent summary ‘h! ?
Arsene Wenger’s post-match interview:
“I don’t know what you mean by park the bus – we defended well but with that quality they could always score.” ?
So, “we defended well”, apparently?! ?
This really is the kind of bull? talk that’s now espoused by him which makes more and more of us whom “still” attend regularly on a home match-day, now deeply believe that our glorious club will never ever again mount a sustained challenge under this particular head-coach’s and man-manager’s modus operandi. ?
He’s either deluded, or he is intentionally misleading long-standing and die-hard Gooners?! I really don’t know now which is worse?! ?
AFCOF! ?
I am tired.
Dan. Don’t think those were his comments in Sky.
Frankly I was disappointed with the booing of Ox. I pointedly clapped him. Most of the boos were from morons but there was a lot of changing positions by fans during this game. At 3-2 some were in ecstasy after booing the team off at half time
I don’t know what people in the bar felt during the game but if you don’t believe Ozil is a great player and if you feel he goes missing in all big games you weren’t looking against Spurs, United and tonight. He works so hard but he needs movement ahead of him. Sanchez was piss- poor tonight and keeps losing the ball. Interestingly if you taped the game watch how many players congratulated him after his goal……….0!
The crowd have turned on him but given the attitude of a lot of Gooners nowadays that’s hardly surprising . He does leave a lot to be desired but I’ve never booed an Arsenal player during a match
Steve T,
I didn’t see the interview live (I was on my way back home from the Grove with my wee boy) but here’s the link to the text for ya:
http://www.skysports.com/share/11181625
I’ll watch try and watch it all back again tomorrow from mae recording after I’m all done with mae last bit of Xmas shopping! ??????
TTG. Ozil is world class. I have mentioned several times about the quality he has to aim for in France by of him. We have been pedestrian on many an occasion during his tenure. Compare that to those that he had in front of him at Madrid. You might notice just a slight difference in quality.
I have never understood those who have constantly slaughtered him and for any number of reasons. My view has always been that they just don’t understand the game.
TTG,
You’re spot on regarding Ozil! He’s irreplaceable! And with the right players and team strategy around him, he’s a par with both De Bruyne and David Silva. He’s a genius! End of! ?
Terrible decision making again – I
can’t understand it all. Why oh why.
An experienced player – but I still
decided that drinking all night
with mates until the 5AM kick off
was the best approach ?
As for the game……
We crammed all of the good and
bad about the current team into
the 90 minutes.
I stumbled to the balcony for a
disconsolate smoke at 2-0 down,
came back and we’re level.
Thanks for the report GH – you’re
conclusion is spot on I think.
‘your conclusion’ obviously.
As one of Ozil’s long-standing critics let me say that I agree with you, TTG and Steve, that he is definitely a world class player … on his day. It’s the other days I complain about, the days he goes missing when his skills might have salvaged a point if not a win. And for every one of his world class days we have had two or three of the missing days, consistently over the past several seasons.
I agree, he’s a joy to watch when performing. But you have to average out his performances over all of them, not just the good ones, and on that basis he’s been an average to good performer for us during his Grove holiday, and that I suggest is not good enough.
As for Spurs, Manure and tonight, TTG, you don’t think it has something to do with showcasing his skills during his final weeks with us? I sure as heck do.
My emotions were all over the place during this match:
0-1: WTF are we doing but we can still get three points
Halftime: should be 0-3 but we still have a chance
0-2: shit, I’d bite my hand off for a draw at this point (sadly)
1-2: back hoping for three points, can we score another before they do?
2-2: we are rolling, let’s get another, can’t stop us now
3-2: wow, amazing, but there are more goals in this match, put on an additional DM please, chances all over the pitch
3-3: fuckity fuck 5 defenders no one near the goal scorer wtf
Full time: we blew it, wait, maybe we were lucky to get a point
Still shaking my head trying to make heads or tails of this match
The joy of being an Arsenal supporter…..
Chris. I came to the conclusion some time ago that we obviously watch totally different games.
Chris,
I think you may be surprised that these may not be his final weeks with us. And should we not praise him for his attitude as we criticise Sanchez in his final weeks with us? Arsenal fans like to have it both ways. I understand that if the money is right Ozil may well sign.
Steve T and Dapper Dan are spot on . Lacazette is a big improvement on what we had upfront but the current Sanchez and Iwobi don’t give us many options and Giroud is too static to suit Ozil’s game. That’s why he stands out for Germany . I’ve watched him very closely recently and his eye for a pass is quite brilliant . But you have to give him the positions to pass to.
We were completely over run for 55 mins, it was embarrassing to watch.
The son and 3 grandchildren of the guy I sat next to left at half time , they couldn’t stand it any more!
Yes we scored 3 goals and were actually in front and had we kept up that tempo we might have score again but having found ourselves in front relaxed and gave back the initiative to the Pool . However we are the Arsenal and we all knew deep down that it was an illusion and we eventually managed to escape with a lucky point.
The midfield were chasing shadows for much of the game. Boy do we need a world class defensive MF to shore up our leaky defence.
I wonder what goes on in the dressing room before kick-off, we do not seem prepared for the off these days and there is no one leading the side on the pitch. Arsene needs to go and soon,his odd selections and his equally odd post match interviews make you question his reasoning.
See some of you at Palace on Thursday providing our travel plans work out.
COYR
I thought Ozil was utter dogshit last night then he had a spell of about ten minutes, which included a goal, that wiped everyone’s minds and he’s suddenly had a great game.
He gave the ball away almost as often as Sanchez, even after his little spell of being half decent.
There is no doubt he is a good player but he’s far from world class because he doesn’t do it often enough, nor does he sustain it during a game enough for me.
Bergkamp, Henry, Pires were all world class. Ozil is nowhere near their level.
I’m becoming very repetitive in my concern over Wenger but games like yesterday show how far behind the curve his coaching and team set-up have become. Liverpool’s movement and pace reminded me of our 2007/ 8 team with Rosicky, Hleb and Fabregas in their pomp . Salah and Firmino are real talents as is Coutinho but they are let down by those further back especially a shaky keeper. Their defence would be so much more effective with a top keeper.
We are mired in this situation where we won’t improve substantially while Wenger is there. He isn’t adventurous enough to invest the sums needed to improve the team and we may haemorrhage our best talents, aware that we are now a Europa League not a Champions League side.
I remain sceptical that Kroenke cares enough to see us spend the sums we need to, to step up to challenge , but Gazidis is showing that he does have ambition with the recent appointments . Those guys haven’t come to involve themselves in a European makeweight but it is still odd to me that we are constructing the club around Wenger instead of biting the bullet and changing the full set -up.
Those around me at the ground were saying last night that this is his last season . I don’t subscribe to that view and I wouldn’t rule out a further contract. Wenger seems genuinely to be unaware of his ebbing powers . Whilst I admire his spirit it’s now harming the club. Nevertheless in the last few weeks we’ve seen three stunning matches at the Grove. Sadly we’ve only won one of them .
Cynic
You’re wrong- in his position you need players around you to step up. He wasn’t dogshit in the first half and he inspired our revival in the second. It’s a bit of a pointless debate because if you don’t get him after the last few weeks you never will
Gosh. So much angst on here. An amazing game, see sawing around, from two brilliant but flawed teams. I walked out with a smile on my face and it seemed to me that so did everybody else around me.
Perspective my friends. Perspective.
Ozil is the World Class Conductor of our Orchestra. Just like Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva are co-Conductors for Cit$h’s Philharmonic.
If any member of any Orchestra anywhere is wilfully inconsistent within their performance on a given night, then what can the Conductor do about that? That mediocre Cunt should be made to practice harder after hours, or they just feck off and join a “tribute pub band”! With all of this said of course, it might just be the Director(s) of the Philharmonia that are the real obstructive Cunts to the Orchestras greatness?! The Cunts at the top of the tree who can’t hear how shit the tune that’s being played by some of those whom are wilfully inconsistent yet remain their “favourites” within the wind, string, and percussion sections. In that scenario, the said Maestro Conductor, always leaves and he never ever had a shortage of willing suitors to accommodate his/her baton’s genius. Many a Philharmonia that awaits greatness via the facilitation of a truly World Class Conductor, are more and more a plenty nowadays! It’s a Maestro’s market, and he/she can choose to be where the feck they want to be. ?
From my perspective we blew the
PL by early November C100 ?
It’s driving me to drink. Although
when win it drives me to drink too.
The only hope for my liver is a long
run of draws.
We’ve needed a top class midfield general for more than 10 years now. Several years ago we sent Le Coq to Charlton on loan. Why? Because we payed him so much we couldn’t even give him away. When the next Arsenal “3 weeks” injury crisis hit he was thrown back into the starting 11. After a few tackles and playing just in France ntbof the back 4 many elevated back to a next best thing status. I said back then thatvall he did was highlight what we were actually missing.
Cynic. You make an interesting point about Özil but I can’t agree. I also think there needs to be a degree of perspective. When you talk about the likes of Bergkamp, Henry and Pires you also need to add the other world class talent that we had in that era. It’s a lot easier to play in a side like that, that also contains a world class keeper and defence. In front of that you can add the likes of Paddy, Manu, Gilberto etc. Then add the other supporting cast. It must be much easier to show me in a side like me that? I would also suggest that with such talent that anyone having an off day is easier to tolerate and not as noticeable. If Ozil does not play well then the limited talent around him makes it stand out a lot more than it would had he played back in that team.
I would love to see Ozil stay and I would love to see us sign the quality to play around him that I feel he deserves. Unfortunately, I’m not confident of either.
Cynic,
Look at the players around Bergkamp,
Pires and Henry.
Anyway, that may be the point that
Dan is making but just a tad shorter.
🙂
Sanchez can be easily replaced, but Ozil cannot! Give him whatever the feck he wants to re-sign (including telling him who will be taking over from Arsene next season)! ?
Oh ! And TTG too.
I’m slower than Per today
Not really the point that I was “artistically” making Osaka Matt ?
My point is this squad is good enough for this Maestro Conductor called Ozil. It’s elsewhere where the problem lies in that they’re not chastised enough for being bang average cause they’re “favourites” of the Artistic Director; namely, Monsieur Wenger!
Ozil is the World Class Conductor of our Orchestra.
lol
I’ll remember that next time he’s gone through a period of looking like he can’t be bothered and everyone, not just me, is on his back. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that everybody was.
Short memories…
It’s being so cheerful that keeps you going Cynic …:-)
Hi Dapper Dan
I’m happy to accept the artistic merit of
your point ?
To your final point in an excellent report, ‘Holic, there is cliche oft-quoted in American pro sports, “Offense wins games, defense wins championships”. Like most cliches it contains a grain but not the whole truth. Certainly, football teams don’t win titles without being rock solid at the back. We are not that at the moment.
TTG@13, SteveT@15 and DapperDan@16: Spot on about Ozil’s need for movement ahead of him. His threat lies in his ability to see a pass early and make it quickly. That is his brilliance. He has to have runners running to make best use of that.
I have enjoyed the Wenger years which have given us the privilege of watching the best players I have ever seen in the shirt, the best quality of football over several seasons and seeing us win some great trophies with panache.
However I yearn now for defensive solidity and would now gladly welcome some ‘boring, boring Arsenal’ with regular 1-0’s to the Arsenal.
Given that we will never splash the cash required to transform the team entirely I sincerely hope we are prioritising sorting out a proper defence.
I would prefer to watch us grind out 1-0 victories with an uninspiring emphasis on solidity than watch our repeated self destruction.
Finally read your excellent match report H. Merry Christmas to you too and Holics everywhere. Thanks for another year of wisdom and humour.
Chavs held to a 0-0 draw at
Everton. Some Everton bloke blazed
a point blank header over the bar
in the last few minutes unfortunately
or it could have been even better.
What Osaka Matt said at 30. Regarding the long run of draws it appears likely it could be coming on now.
What Steve T said at 31 too. What it would cost in this day and age to sign like talent might be the main difficulty unfortunately.
Motivation deficit the other thing that we might be able to address without sttaxx ocash
What to say about yesterdays display ?
If I was a Liverpool fan I would be wondering how we drew that as if it was 3-0 at half time we couldn’t complain, but at least we tried to fight back and then was let down by bad defending again or lack of.
How we made a 6-7 yard pass look difficult I don’t know, we were so bad it was laughable in a very depressing way. Some players need to find form and others need to play like it matters to them at least a bit.
Happy Christmas to you all and thank you barman for a great read all year.
Given all of the world class goalkeeping performance against us recently, one of the reasons there was a smile on my face walking back along Hornsey Road last night was the memory of Mignolet waving in Xhaka’s shot for the equaliser.
Call me a bad person but I really, really, really enjoyed that.
Still chuckling now tbf.
Btw OsakaMatt et al,
Our own Little JW10 can have no better Senior Conductor to learn from towards becoming the same World Class Creator, than Maestro Mesut! Re-sign ‘em both up ya Cunts! There’s a lovely a bubbling “master & apprentice” relationship there, and that was visible in patches last night at the Grove.
Loved it too when LJW10 told Alexis Sanchez to “pass the ball properly and to the right player at the right time, ya sulking Cunt. I’m in the last few months of me contract too, and I can feck-off just like you for bigger bucks if I wanted to as well, but at least I’m gonna try my ass of whilst I’m still here and I’m picked to play ffs!”
(NB. There may be a little bit of paraphrasing engaged in here). ?
“a little bit”
?
But the point is valid. For a player
of his ability LJW’s goals/assists
are too low and if he does take a
more attacking role in future he
will need to up his output.
Playing with Ozil can only help
although they’re little bit different
type ?
I think LJW wants to stay but
sadly I don’t share Dapper Dan
and TTG’s positive waves that
Mesut does. Hope I’m wrong.
was drunk
did we win ?
oooh
half ton
merry christmas
YA BIG GALOOTS !
??
? ? ?? ?
Nice job Maguire 2:2
Mahrez for Sanchez in January! ??
Merry Christmas glass o’ red for all who are imbibing, and drink of choice for the rest. In particular, a merry one to you, Goonerholic?
“I’ve watched him very closely recently and his eye for a pass is quite brilliant . But you have to give him the positions to pass to” -TTG #23
There’s a reason Ozil’s upped his game recently, TTG, as I have suggested previously.
What I’d like you to explain is what exactly is different to the 2015-16 season when the guys he was passing to primarily were our leading scorers that season, Alexis, Theo and OG and Mesut managed 19 assists? Compared to last season when our leading scorers were Alexis, Theo and OG and your maestro managed just 9 assists? And at the half-way point of this season he’s made 5 assists, and those in a period when he’s been upping his game to showcase his talents to potential employers?
Could it be that neither Theo or OG have been there to receive his passes for the last season and a half! I for one have lost count of the number of times Theo is being caught off-side because midfielders feeding him now have been too slow to spot his runs.
Chris,
“Form is temporary, class is permanent”. Ozil is class (the German National side and Real Madrid will attest to that) but Theo suffers from intermittent periods of “good form”. He’s frustratingly inconsistent because he’s not “man-managed” properly. I have always liked Theo because of his pace and instinctive finish (these are “God-given traits that had to be nurtured when once he came to Arsenal), but he has been let down massively in his career and talent development by one man only – i.e. Arsene Wenger. A similar disappointment that’s been witnessed (and continues to be seen) with nearly all of the other British lads that have come to London Colney hoping to become “World Beaters” like Raheem Sterling appears to be well on the way to becoming under Pep Guardiola. ??????
I have always liked Theo because of his pace and instinctive *finishing (these are “God-given *traits” that had to be nurtured when *he came to Arsenal), but he has been let down massively in his career and talent development by one man only – i.e. Arsene Wenger.
That doesn’t exactly explain why Ozil was full of assists when Theo and OG were permanent members of the team, Dan, but way down on assists when they weren’t there, which was my point. I’ve given up promoting Theo as an answer to anything, but cannot buy the “my fish god right or wrong” devotion to a player whose form too often goes missing given the world class talents we know he has, somewhere.
We should Arsene to give Eboue a coaching as he is fallen on hard fallen financial times… May you all have a good Christmas!
Murph
Please tell me we are not just judging a player like Özil, just by the number of assists? Despite the fact that he has more assists than any other play in the premier league for the period he has been at the club, I would suggest that this is an incredibly blinkered way to try and judge his talents and ability. I would suggest that you need to look a lot deeper than a few statistics.
”Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the blog,
Not a blogger was stirring,
ne’er moving his mouse
The Ozil was hung, by the chimney
with care
The Theo dissected, his faults
laid bare
The gooners were nestled agrump
in their beds
Visions of new signings a dance in
their heads
But St. Nick in his long johns and I
in my cap
Had settled it clear, Ozil is great
….. and Theo is crap
*With apologies to Mr. Moore. Any
characters named are purely a
figment of my imagination and
bear no relation to any living
person or fecal matter (that’s
for the utter dogshit post ?)
A happy Christmas to you all and
thanks Guvnor as always for a
great bar!
GH,
In the spirit of Xmas at this busy
time I’ve knocked out the preview
for you…..
Palace Away
We stank the place out last year.
Don’t do it again. Win 3-0.
The End
?
Christmas – how can it be right when the local butcher is advertising kangaroo rumps and crocodile tails instead of poultry?
Just win the next game.
UTA.
OM@62: 🙂
The seasons greetings to all in the bar, and especially, of course, the Guv’nor, from all at Castle Ned.
Happy Christmas to the Chief and all you Holics. I am spending the next two days in the company of two avid Norwich fans There had be plenty of Christmas Cheer on offer, my brother is a pessimist at the best of times and City are in a worse state than us. Cheers!
Happy Holidays ‘h, ‘hs and all of yours!
Santi ?? Please bring ‘em all what they want. For Theo too ??
Merry X’mas All!
May the 1st Eleven be always available.
😀 😀 😀
Still scratching my head at Friday nights game. Lots of points dropped around us in the table on Sat/Sunday so it might be seen as a good point come the end of May. Might…. Wishing everyone a Great Christmas !
? Merry Christmas Holic and Holics everywhere.
May your Yule logs never go cold.
??????
TO HOLIC AND ALL THE HOLICS…
MAY THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS GLADDEN YOUR HEART WITH THE JOYS OF THE SEASON. MAY THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS BLESS YOU WITH GREATER STRENGTH. MAY THE PROMISE OF CHRISTMAS BRING YOU AND YOURS ENDLESS BLESSINGS.
Quite a party going on @71 I must say. Yule not regret, Bath. 🙂
Ooh look! ? Santi’s ?? only just gone and put a Panini sticker of Luis Enrique in mae tartan stocking! ?? ? Well?! Well?! ?
A very Merry Xmas to all our readers.
COYG
Morning / afternoon all,
Firstly work and then family things have taken over thus far but – I promise to back knird properly and try to add something in a while ….
* ignores bored yawns
In the meantime – a very Happy Christmas to all ???
* imagines Cynic dancing round the Christmas tree to Mesut’s Greatest Hits (Vol 10). ???
A very Merry Christmas to Holic and all holics.
A belated Merry Christmas to all Holic
I had 88 for Christmas ordered from this very website!
Hope you all had a good one!
88
now that’s a pre-order
?
What, no one in the bar at this time? Drinks are on me then! Good to see you’ve all got homes to go to. I’m in recovery mode at 6.30pm Boxing Day here. Roll on Crystal Palace and another comfortable win. Bless you one and all.
88? We were 6th that year, TTG, Pool winning Division One comfortably! That’s a DVD I can live without…
Happy Boxing Day to all.
I hope you have ample supplies of Gaviscon, Rennies and paracetamol to assuage the evils arising from yesterday’s excesses.
A Boxing Day Poem.
You sit upon the toilet
With everything prepared,
You’re feeling quite excited
Although a little scared.
The huge amount of Christmas nosh
Has turned into a log.
And now the fateful time has come
To flush it down the bog.
But now you must expel the beast
And so you start to strain.
You bite down on a piece of wood
To take away the pain.
But oh my God it’s bloody huge
It’s like you’re giving birth!
You sweat, you push, you swear, you shake
And strain for all you’re worth.
And then the magic moment comes
That fills the soul with cheer.
A turd the size of King Kong’s arm
Emerges from your rear.
Like a bomb it hits the pan
Thus lightening the mood.
And making room inside your guts
For lots more Christmas food.
Happy Boxing Day everyone.
? bath
the restorative of choice round here
brandy and baileys
the logic being – at some point
it flirted with milk
(? am on no. 2 – when in Rome an’ shit)
.
.
?steve T
.
????
.
.
.
happy continued celebrations mighty ‘holics
* imagines Cynic dancing round the Christmas tree to Mesut’s Greatest Hits (Vol 10).
It was a very short dance, I can assure you.
For those who still haven’t got it, 89 is under £7 in the Amazon sale on steam powered disc, and £9.99 on the other sort.
Happy Boxing Day all !
OsakaMatt @62. – sorry, I missed that yesterday ????
Actually, Christmas Day is fast becoming Un-Boxing Day as more and nore stuff arrives from on-line suppliers encased in cardboard.
Am I the only one who still prefers going to an actual shop and saviuring a little Christmas atmosphere ? Yep, that’s the one, where other shoppers elbow you out the way if you dare to peruse your purchase before handing over rhe readies, and then cough in your face as you turn to wish them a Merry politically correct Winter Holiday.
Maybe the keyboard bargain hunters have a point …. and time left for a pint. ?
Happy Boxing Day to everyone!
Even happier, ManUre 0 – Burnley 2 HT.
Off to play pickleball!
The long (hopefully), miserable, tortured departure of the nastiest turd from Old Toilet begins.
Two years gone – publicly criticising the players – blaming the fixture list and anything else he can think of. Wait for the eyelashes to start fluttering in the direction of whoever currently has the most money – except Man City, ‘cos he ain’t getting them.
My money, were I of a gambling persuasion, would be on Paris St Germain.
Bon chance, Paris !
Bugger, Mancs now 1-2
Burnley 6th now
why should anyone be happy about that?
Made a trip to Brisbane Road today to watch Leyton Orient v Dagenham and Redbridge. It was an enjoyable afternoon and I’m please to say The the mighty O’s were triumphant victors come the final whistle.
It was interesting to see how different things were at this level compared to that wecare served up on a weekly basis. There is the obvious lack of quality but the main difference was how long the ball soent in the air. If you can’t head a ball at that level you ain’t getting much of a game.
All in all a very enjoyable afternoon. And £26 for the three of us a bargain as well.
Watched 89 tonight.
Much better than 88.
the ending is so much better
🙂
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho says the £300m he has spent on his squad so far is “not enough” after their 2-2 draw with Burnley on Tuesday.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42488421
!!!!
Sad story about Emmanuel Eboue, formerly of this parish.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/ex-arsenal-star-emmanuel-eboue-11748740
Read that story Ned, although with
no effort at all I was able to hold
back any tears for poor Maureen.
The other thing he said was Shitty
spend CF money on full backs.
It’s hard to compete but then again
we are hardly poverty stricken.
Currently, we’re 6th in a 6 horse
race. It’s only halfway of course.
Justifying Ozil and his brilliance is wasted, you either accept it or dont and for me he is world class and the best no 10 currently around, david Silva and Iniesta being the only ones who can hold their own against him. KDB is not a number 10 so he is not counted. Mesut needs to stay and we should do all to make sure he does.
About the game, we were poor, we continue to play like a mid table team and the stats suggest the same. We just do not know how to defend nor are we in any sort of positional awareness throughout the game. We used to laugh seeing comedy scenes on football pitches when every player runs towards the ball, we seem to have comedy gold seeing our defense/midfield do the same.
Arsenal need a defense revamp and it starts from GK all the way to all our defenders and definitely need a DM for we are wasting a B2B player in Xhaka who has been made to play a DM which he is poor at. Just to accomodate Ramsey/Jack we are sacrificing Granit who is always left high and dry by the one playing pivot with him. Get that damn DM now and if it means we need to change the system, so be it.
Palace offers another banana skin, start well, score quickly and we may coast, else on a cold snowy day, wait for all possession, no goals and then a sucker punch in the end. Merry Christmas guys.
Assist….
Cheers Cynic,
Rude not to ??
Hello chums, I hope you have all had the best of Christmas (or holiday) breaks. Two grand’holics and an adolescent black labrador made mine for sure. Bad form to have no Boxing Day Arse to enjoy.
Off to try and write something about tomorrow night, but bugger knows what! ?
Cheers, ‘holic ! – where’s your ‘Gooner’ gone ?
Good break here, thanks. Nerves all built up for the next Arsenal Variety Performance.
Any odds on 4-5 – to us of course.
I thought i’d scored @100 – which has mysteriously become 101 ?
Ah ! Your ‘Gooner’ is back, and in red !
There are strange things happening on this ‘ere blog…….
What’s going on? My assist was at 99, now it’s 100?
In other news, Virgil Van Dyke is going to Liverpool for a rumoured £75m, making it the most expensive transfer of VD ever. 🙂
Football deserves to die, frankly.
?
At least €ity aren’t gerring him then.
Is Squillaci doing anything these days ?
So Liverpool is now the new “Black”?! Feck off Kroenke! You should’ve let “him” go at the end of his contract last Summer! Luis Enrique! Come on man, come to London Conley already to make us “more attractive” to join once again! ??
skullduggery afoot methinks cynic !
ye’ve trev , bounding in ‘giving it all that’
‘holic with lab based ebullience
.
let it snow
let it snow
3rd one
.
.
stop chewin fellas
Strange things indeed, Cynic! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ooooh
get you
*taps tannoy*
“PRICE CHECK , VERA !”
“On a girl’s blouse”
“Size”
“BIG”
wa heyyyyy
all the ones
BRILLIANT
.
fuck the next page crosseroverers !
Liverpool have broken the bank for a defender…that could perhaps mean Coutinho on his way to Barca for a substantial amount.
*points at cynic*