No Defence
Mar 2nd, 2016 by 'holic
An injury to Laurent Koscielny spared Arsene Wenger one decision and Per Mertesacker returned to partner Gabriel at the back. On the right side he opted to recall Joel Campbell, and Olivier Giroud reclaimed the central striking role. Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott found themselves on the bench.
As early as the third minute Alexis teed up Giroud for an effort that was blocked by Williams. A couple of minutes later the Frenchman was through again but unable to get a shot away before he was closed down. A third opportunity fell his way but he produced a tame finish from Hector Bellerin’s cut-back.
A fast start continued and Campbell combined with Mesut Ozil to set up Alexis, but he cannot buy any luck at the moment and saw his fine drive bounce off the far post and into the hands of former Gunner Lukasz Fabianski.
In the fifteenth minute the early pressure paid dividends. Francis Coquelin and Alexis combined to give Campbell the chance to finish with a sliding left-footed half-volley. It was astonishing in it’s execution and fully justified his recall.
Arsenal 1-0 Swansea City
The Gunners were denied twice in quick succession midway through the half. Ozil’s effort was blocked but fell for Bellerin who saw his thundering shot saved at the second attempt by Fabianski.ย At the other end the Gunners survived a warning salvo when Fer whipped a drive just above bar height.
Campbell, Arsenal’s metronome in the opening half, tried an ambitious volley which deflected off a defender to Fabianski. Then just past the half hour mark a shocker. Ozil appeared to be fouled in the centre-circle, the ball fell to Cork who played Routledge in between the central defenders to pass the ball into the corner of the net. With their second attempt they were level.
Arsenal 1-1 Swansea City
Campbell again opened up the Swansea back line and gave Bellerin the chance to drill the ball across, only for a defender to clear at the near post. Aaron Ramsey crossed for Mertesacker to head the ball down to Giroud, and the out of luck Frenchman volleyed a ferocious effort straight onto the crossbar.
The whistle ended a half in which we had not got what some very inventive football should have earned us. Bad luck? Bad finishing? A little bit of both probably. News that West Ham were ahead at half-time got the second biggest cheer of the night to date.
Swansea made a substitution at the start of the second-half, bringing on Sigurdsson for Ki. Campbell and Bellerin combined down the right again but the latter’s cross was behind everybody. The visitors responded in like, with Kingsley the unlucky would-be provider.
Ozil chased a long clearance into the box but had a swing and a miss with his normally reliable left peg. That same magical left foot curled in a corner, Gabriel appeared to be wrestled to ground, and Alexis blasted his effort just the wrong side of the far post. One feels it will take just one goal to open the floodgates for him again. That goal didn’t arrive when Ozil played a tempting ball just in front of the Chilean.
The skipper did well to block Gomis as Swansea finally applied some pressure of their own. That was the precursor for the very surprising replacement of Campbell by Danny Welbeck. A furious crowd booed an apparently absurd decision to replace the Gunners best player on the night.
The boos erupted again when Sigurdsson missed a golden opportunity to give the visitors the lead. Arsenal tried to fashion a response. Ozil was brought down on the edge of the box and Alexis saw his free-kick deflect onto the crossbar. On such fine margins are points won and lost.
There followed another moment when Arsenal shot themselves in the foot. Gabriel conceded a needless free-kick in the left-back berth and Sigurdsson’s delivery was bundled over the line by Williams as Cech flapped at it with his fists. ย Arsenal’s response, sending on the out of form Walcott for the out of form Alexis.
Arsenal 1-2 Swansea City
Ten minutes from time Giroud provided the opportunity for Nacho Monreal to have a pop, but he fired over. A silent crowd were pondering the full effect of this impending defeat.
Fabianski comfortably punched a cross clear before Walcott could get to it, and when he could moments later Fabianski clutched it comfortably. Ramsey was denied a penalty when Routledge tangled legs with him in the box. Welbeck headed Walcott’s chip wide of the far post. The points were surrendered.
There is no point in me, or anyone, attempting to put a gloss on what was the latest in a string of below-par performances by Arsenal this year. Champions don’t lose successive matches at the pointed end of the season. We have too many players out of form, and again legitimate questions will be raised about why we have so little cover for them. Those questions will have to wait for now, along with the biggest one of all.
Arsene, and Arsenal, have ten matches left to develop a backbone and rescue what they can from the wreckage of their title challenge. Defeats for Tottenham and Manchester City have left the door ajar, but it is Leicester who tonight look like slamming it shut in the other clubs faces.
192 Responses to “No Defence”
It can only get better from here.
Or worse.
Just got to hope and pray some of the luck that’s deserted us re appears on Saturday ! He really needs to add a body to our midfield it’s a joke how open it is and has been for ages, Thought this side had more about them than previous ones but obviously not.
4? No?
very very frustrating H
I fear we are in real trouble,bereft of confidence,form and luck.
And just to put the cherry on the cake,Cech has done his hamstring whilst running back from the Corner he went up for.!!
Strange season all ’round.Beat Middlesex and who knows?
Mark my words,we will sink like titanic and lose the 4th place trophy.
Can’t wait to find out what the war chest is tomorrow – Was 75million after United so I’m going ยฃ150 million after tonight ๐
What a very fine summary and set of conclusions. Top bloggin’ (without the G).
If we can’t beat Swansea at home in these circumstances, we don’t deserve anything much. But football’s a funny old game and it’s not over yet. ๐
I don’t think that’s really playing in the Number 17 shirt. Sweeper has snuck in there and Sanchez is still in Chile recovering from his hammy. Nah, Sweeper would have scored from that free kick!
Ah, Danish, you’re here – we lost did we?
The Arsenal defensive midfield were a disgrace tonight,no tackle in them whatsoever like the games at Pool,Manure,Barca etc.
The real shame is the excitement that is extinguished every single season at this stage when GOONERS dare to believe…… So much faith and protection shown by the manager yet so much under achievement delivered by the players. Doesn’t help when the best players get substituted. In Wenger we??????
Thanks Holic, feels like a watershed post tonight which offers no attempt at optimism or mediation.
Mind you, none of the top 4 teams won this week, so it’s pretty much as you were. Leicester must be also kicking themselves for dropping points yesterday. Ditto Spurs today.
Saturday is even more huge now. Win and we’re back in the mix, lose and the title is Spurs’ to lose. I would undoubtedly take a draw and so would most other Gooners I wager…
I’ll take a win BoB.
@9/BtM: Like a swiss clock, lol
Looks like we were fortunate to be isolated in Florida with no TV access or no stream. Geez; just gotta keep the faith, baby, keep the faith. In this season who the hell knows what can happen?
Some time ago, I opined that “as Santi goes, so goes the Arsenal.” Wish that that wasn’t so true.
Joel really impressed today he kept running at the defenders which Theo for time he has been in football doesnโt have a clue about using your pace to your advantage in the same way.
We did look out of options when things got tough and that is a worry for Saturday it has to be said! Ramsey yet again doing his circles in the middle of the park, Sanchez is dead for form but then again no one offers anything better in front of him so perhaps that is why heโs so ineffective.
Not sure what will happen between now and the end of the seasonโฆfingers crossed lady luck will be on our side on come the weekend!
Cazorla’s injury is costing us so much. We miss the player and even more so the formation. We were playing with 3 midfielders in front of Ozil and 2 forwards, now all the forwards play too deep with Alexis the most obvious symptom. Time to introduce our Egyptian wonder alongside Coq and Ramsey?
During after match interview the boss says Cech is out Sunday.
It’s injuries, refs, poor substition, bad luck & on & on we go. Some would say what it the bottom line with all this, I say in the last 8 league games, we have managed to get 9 points out of a possible of 24. Numbers are what they are, period.
Thanks BtM.
I see a number of people lost their streams tonight. Sadly mine worked perfectly all game ๐
Matt
Spot on we miss Cazorla the little man’s trickery and vision that is exactly it!
Holic
So did mine but the other half started watching a stream for the last 10 minutes it was not welcomed but I kept quiet anyhow ๐
To think that we were making fun of Manu, they are 4pts behind us. Go figure.. Fucking bottlers. Can’t even get a point at home to a relegation team and we really think this team can win the PL? Please.
Fine report Guvna.
Your stream must have been a lot better than mine as I didn’t see any of the goals. Probably just as well.
I can’t see this amoebic dysintrestedry developing a backbone by Saturday. It takes millennia.
I fear a train wreck.
Then again, we are at our most unpredictable when we are written off. We couldn’t, could we?
@ATG: indeed Campbell was very good. I thought Coq did well but there’s so much we can expect from only 2 players to stabilize the midfield, even more so with Alexis and Ozil giving the ball away as frequently as they’ve been doing lately.
Coq-Elneny-Ramsey against Spurs, please Arsene?
He won’t drop Ozil and it looks like Alexis will be played until his knees fall off as well.
But he may play Ramsey on the right again with Elneny in the middle with Coquelin?
I’m getting slightly confused. For ages now there are those that have slaughtered me for my views on our transfer policy. Spending money doesn’t guarantee anything? The squad is good enough. Now I’m told that others are catching up because they have more money to spend in the transfer market.
Nice report H. I’m not sure I can even be bothered to watch the MOTD highlights. Don’t really see why I should put myself through that.
It’s a funny old game. Get a result against the Spuds and all of a sudden world domination will be back on.
Enjoy your evening boys and girls. Drinks on the bar for everyone. By thunder we are going to need it.
Jack Daniels here. It’s that bad.
This is exactly what gest me most, those missed opportunities!
I wouldn’t play Ramsey on the right. He might, I wouldn’t.
bath
Just finishing the last red here Jack can wait for weekend ๐
Jack Daniels? You’re excommunicated, Gentleman of Bath!
๐ ๐
We do well with Ramsey on the right, Cynic, particularly with Santi and Coq in the middle. How long did you say it is before Mr Cazorla is back?
@Cynic: 3 midfield players, whoever they are. We’ve tried every single combination of 2 midfielders out of Ramsey/Cazorla/Flamini/Coq and none of them worked.
Steve T
You are a fine member of this establishment just as well and I hear your voice i feel the the same as a matter of fact. I remember the day you came to Reading when all the birds decided to shit my car only! Straight to car after the game jobby with a banana smile on my face!
We looked very lost at stages where we should have used our experience for the gain those hoofing balls forward what the hell was that about? Looked like a cry for desperation and I’m sorry to say this but Gabby is not a premier league defender! For now anyhow he looks lost….
This brings me yet again to the same conclusion, we looked in mo mans land, no game plan, no one to fall on, no player taking any responsibility it was strange and it was unlike the Arsenal of old. Even the tippy tappy didn’t work nothing worked it was yet again the same repeat of Sundays performance!
Apart from Joel Campbell that is ๐
2017 BtM
Cech is OUT for Saturday by the way. Just to cheer you all up.
This time next Tuesday the season could be over.
Or we could be back in the thick of the title race and in last 8 of the FA Cup. REAL last chance saloon now not the media one.
Cannot say I am full of confidence tbh.
Fuck’s sake..
Cech got injured running back after going up for the corner. You couldn’t make it up.
By the way, according to Wenger we let the first goal in because we all stopped as we thought it was a foul on Ozil.
School kids are told to play to the whistle.
Professionals, some of them on 100 grand and more a week, stopped playing.
Like Monsieur Wenger, I have every faith in Ospina, Cynic. (Would I lie to you?)
I have more faith in Ospina than I would have had in Fag-end Ches.
It’s the other ten bellends who worry me. ๐
I don’t think it really matters who we play on Saturday, as long as the 11 doesn’t include Walcott, it’s 11 men trying to prove themselves. Hopefully we will get more luck with our goal efforts than tonight and a better rub of the green with the officials’ decisions.
BtM, the Jack Daniels was part of my sackcloth and ashes regimen in response to our result.
I’ve heard enough excuses for one night, Bath.
๐
It is amusing that Walcott continues to be the butt of the angst when that team tonight were losing to Swansea’s second string before he came on.
There are equally terrible performers in this team. You know .. ones who actually played and were shit.
Giroud, Sanchez, Ramsey, Gabriel (who was atrocious again) to name just four.
The angst and focus on the Where’s Wally character derives from more than tonight, Cynic.
Yes, I know. But it’s just funny that of all the players to dig out, it’s him again.
In other news, genius from the manager who took Campbell off to put Welbeck up against their “young left back”. So why did Welbeck play mostly on OUR left then?
http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article7483757.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/PAY-Arsenal-v-Swansea-City.jpg
I went to the game and the atmosphere at the end was part poisonous, part resigned to our fate. My impressions on the game were that the team is very low on confidence and I’m not sure that Wenger knows how to lift them or change them tactically.
Campbell was very tired but scarcely deserved being subbed particularly when Giroud was playing so badly . He was very down as he went off and who can blame the lad. Ozil worked his socks off. His touch was occasionally lacking but Giroud never made a decent run all night and Welbeck did more in a third of the time on the pitch than HFB. Sanchez is woefully out of form but I agree with Holic that a change in fortune may reignite him.
If Koscielny is out on Saturday with Ospina behind them we could be in for an awful afternoon. Gabriel is very raw and Ramsey is bereft of vision in midfield. He was very poor indeed tonight. That is said without enmity but also in a sense of bafflement as to why Elneny has not got a better chance.
We miss Santi terribly , we get too many injuries and too many players find their recovery goes wrong . We are too narrow and try to thread the ball through the eye of a needle but the biggest problem is that we really do lack leadership on the pitch. We seem to lack it off the pitch at the moment but there really are no Adams/ Vieira/ Mclintock/ Brady characters in this team.
Having endured that and discussed it in the tube queue with the world and his wife there clearly is a strong feeling that Wenger has to use the time honoured phrase taken the club as far as he can. I still have a naive belief that he can revive things but he really has a big job on his hands to get the 4th place trophy. This team is playing so poorly that we must be vulnerable to being overtaken by United, West Ham, Everton and even Chelsea. It’s a huge test of Wenger’s ability to help the team recover although no game provides a bigger incentive than Saturday’s .
I must be mad but I enjoyed the game, we’re just a really good striker away from being top of the table.
Having watched us over the years, I’m used to a similar story. ๐
We’ve been spoilt, and the reality of good players not being supermen 100% of the time seems to escape some people. Giroud excluded tonight, thought he was poor, not putting enough effort in.
I can take losing but not by a team that doesn’t put effort in.
The missus tells me their second goal was offside? Anyone confirm that?
Amazing how scoring a goal will colour opinions. I thought JC did briliantly to hook one in today, but how that made his overall performance as good as many claim beats me. I would always play even an out-of-form Theo ahead of him on the wing, so took a very close not of JC today, and up until the goal he was constantly running into blind alleys or simply giving the ball away or, at best, turning it backwards in order to find a colleague. He should have been replaced at HT, imo.
I find it equally laughable how our dour performances are now all the fault of Santi for getting injured. Good job Jack isn’t considered good enough to have let us down so badly, aye.
This team has zero killer instinct, no proper onfield captain, and clearly needs a better motivator than whoever gives the team talks before the game and at HT. I’m assuming this must be AW, in which case he needs to think about finding someone better qualified in this area. And a few areas on the field – CD, DMF and striker/CF for starters.
Reus and Hummels please. Before they reach retirement age.
Oskar
Yes Mark, I thought there was a question mark about their second, but no replay was clear. But no question about their first I think. For mine Mesut was leaning back into the defender trying to take his position. Yes the defender had his hands on him, but he had every right to stand his ground. Why we stopped playing when Mesut went to ground is as inexplicable as why we stopped when one of theirs went to ground in the second half … bloody amateurism.
Oskar
The old adage about derbies is that ‘form goes out of the window in a derby… ‘
Well we could certainly do with that on Saturday. Infact it is just the sort of game that is needed perhaps for these players bereft of confidence to just forget tactics, techniques etc etc and just bloody go for it for 90 minutes…
Chambers please. Gabriel is out of his depth or his head is still back in Brazil.
@Oskar: I didn’t know that jujitsu is now officially authorized during games: http://arsenalist.com/f/2015-16/arsenal-vs-swansea/swansea-equalize-1-1-incl-non-call-on-ozil.html
“I find it equally laughable how our dour performances are now all the fault of Santi for getting injured”
You’re the one constantly looking for faults and excuses. What was said is that we lost our way since Cazorla’s injury, it’s not to blame Cazorla nor to find “excuses”, just a simple observation. We’ve been scraping by for a while and that’s no enough to get the result when things go against us.
Now the point I was making is that since then our shape does not look right. 2 midfielders and 4 attack-minded players do not make for a good balance. The midfield is impotent and the forward 4 have to drop too deep to compensate. I believe this is one if not the main reason for our performance drop and also why so many players underperform including the most expensive ones.
55 comments, and not one demands Wenger’s sacking.
I suppose this is testament to ‘Holic and his way of reason over knee-jerk reaction.
Cynic @42 highlights a very important point and possibly some learning for all of us. Is bellend one word or two? Is it bellend or is it bell end? I have wondered for ages and despite many years of toil and searching I am yet to find anyone who can give me the definitive answer. I don’t know if there is anyone out there who can finally put this saga to bed so we can all move on with some degree of authority.
I love you all.
Have to agree with Matt regarding the midfield… Our best spells this season were when Coq-Santi played in the middle of the park and Rambo wide. Arsene has always preferred a technical player on the wing whenever there is a high risk- high reward player like Sanchez on the opposite wing. Sanchez was playing well at the time and Ramsey was creating the overloads in midfield by drifting in from the wide right position and as a result we weren’t vulnerable to losing possession in dangerous areas of the midfield.
Campbell did a decent job on the right wing during the Christmas period and later. But the attacking edge seemed to be deserting us and we were struggling to score goals. Wenger therefore ditched the safer option of Campbell and went for the more adventurous albeit higher risk Ox – who justified his decision with a crucial goal at Bournemouth. But the same bravado has proved costly against Barca and the Mancs… Campbell’s return to the lineup yesterday immediately made us better at retaining the ball and playing quick one-twos and give and goes around the box which is our predominant style of attacking build up play. But the Ramsey-Coq combo still seems incompatible in the centre of the park and Wenger has the difficult task of deciding whether to stick with the same or give Elneny his first start in such a massive game with Coq along side him and Rambo playing wide right. That would also mean Campbell missing out which is difficult to fathom given his creditable performance last night.
Another dilemma facing the manager is Alexis Sanchez. He is bang out of form. But the thing about world class players is that they are always a 15-20 minute spell away from good form. He almost scored with that fantastic free kick last night. Assuming that Alexis won’t be dropped to the bench on Saturday – Wenger should start with Welbeck up front and Campbell wide. Alexis has always played well whenever we have pacy striker upfront who runs in behind when Sanchez is combating two or three opposition players on the left wing. Welbeck has had his best games for us upfront dove tailing well with Alexis on the left (remember a good champions league hat-trick from Welbeck). Also Welbeck is our only striker with any sort of confidence in front of goal at the moment and it would make sense to start him upfront.
With Cech and Kos missing, the midfield will need to be extra vigilant to protect the back five. Fascinating game in prospect…
I mean, I know the Latin for Harry Redknapp was bellendus maximus but again, I’ve never been sure of the correct spelling????
The season is far from over.
Citeh lost, and weโll remain at least one point ahead of them, whatever happens to their game in hand. That lot down the road lost today โ hence we can draw level at second place, if this weekend we do what weโve done to that shower of shite for the last 20 years.
Leicester? Iโm going to be frank and say that I have been supporting them throughout the season โ and will continue to do so. However, if we somehow manage to play to our full potential and go on a proper run, Iโm positive that they can be caught.
One thing is for sure, the boys are in serious trouble. For months now I have noticed a tendency to impatience in building up our attacks from the back. Somewhat inevitably then we struggle to create clear-cut chances โ at anything resembling a satisfactory rate โ for our forwards, leading to a shortage of goals, and ultimately a loss of confidence.
I certainly donโt expect the manager to perform miracles in this regard, in the short term at least. We should note that, excluding Cazorla, this is more or less our first eleven โ these players are more than good enough to sort this out by themselves.
OTD
Two points.No one is blaming Santi, we are bemoaning his absence. He was key to us controlling games. Ramsey wanted to play centrally but is not good enough to do so.
And Campbell produced more effort last night than Theo has all season . Campbell is not as talented as Theo at his best but he’s not a bottler in physical situations, he tackles back better and at the moment he gets more goals. As someone who goes every week, the ire of the fans , player wise is primarily directed at Theo and Giroud. The guys behind me and one of my best friends went to Manchester and we’re all incandescent at Theo’s lack of effort last Sunday.Despite some great ( and illusory) moments the reality has dawned that Theo and Ox are just the sort of players that encapsulate the inconsistency that dogs this very frustrating side.
On Saturday they are playing the most vital Derby for years. Would you bet on Theo in a game like that ? We are already down to the bare bones again.
My team would be
Ospina
Bellerin Mert Gabriel Monreal
Elneny Coquelin
Campbell Ozil Sanchez
Welbeck
I won’t be entering into the usual speculation about the score on Friday At the moment I’d say we will lose about 4-0 .
Bellend if you’re English, Steve T, or bell-end if you want to appear hyphenetically superior when you’re just being one. Bell end is a village in Worcestershire.
Oskar
Nor am I blaming Santi, TTG, I was being ironic.
As you say, JC is not as talented as Theo at his best, and, yes, I would play Theo at RW on Saturday as the least of several evil options we have for the position. No he hasn’t been playing well, but neither has he been playing in his best position (RW) for more than five minutes at a time. In an ideal world we’d have a proper winger (let’s buy Moura or Mahrez) leaving Theo in his best position (on the bench as a late sub).
And if he’s not motivated to terrorise the spuds defence in his first Prem game against then since being carried off on a stretcher two years ago, he never will be.
Just stop playing him at CF ahere he has no business.
Oskar
Apart from JC you’re team looks inevitable, TTG, although I’d prefer Nacho to Gabriel with Gibbs at LB, and I’d also have Rambo alongside El Niรฑo in place of Coq, but neither is going to happen.
Oskar
‘you’re’?? Wtf??? your team, TTG.
O
Ttg, that is exactly the starting 11, I would like to see on Sunday, considering all the injuries. But I am sure he will find a way to incorporate Ramsey somewhere in there. I’ve heard that Cech place is available after he pulled his hamstring.
As for Theo vs Campbell “debate”, there are some numbers provided from Tim in his “by the numbers” column, so I will just paste them here.
63 โ Minutes played by Joel Campbell
131 โ Minutes played by Theo Walcott in the last three matches (Swans, ManU, Barca)
56 โ Touches by Joel Campbell today
34 โ Touches by Walcott in the last three matches
33 โ Passes by Joel Campbell today
21 โ Passes by Theo Walcott in the last three matches
18 โ Passes by Joel Campbell in the Swansea final third todayโฆ
4 โ Successful dribbles by Joel Campbell today (of 5, led all players)
0 โ Successful dribbles by Theo Walcott in the last three matches
3 โ Shots by Joel Campbell today
1 โ Shots by Theo Walcott in the last three matches (today was his first shot since Hull)
2 โ Chances created by Joel Campbell today
1 โ Chances created by Theo Walcott in the last three matches (also today)
1 โ Goal scored by Joel Campbell today
0 โ Goals scored by Theo Walcott in the last three games
it is an interesting read indeed, although I am not sure it shows something we didn’t know before. At least the most of us. It shows the truth. And the truth is that Walcott is not even a footballer.
I mean, we can argue for Ramsey, is he good or not, does he deserve to be in this team or not, etc. But Ramsey for all his weaknesses and limitations-football wise, at least tries very hard, and that is why he deserves a debate.
Walcott on other hand, just doesn’t. He can hope for Arsene to stay at Arsenal long, because any other manager would’ve send him to some Championship team on loan, maybe paying half of his wages. That is of course until the moment that Championship manager realizes that paying 70k a week for a player that is a bench warmer at best, is to much.
So the new manager, would sell him to some Chinese team, hoping that they don’t watch Premier League in China that much, but they have somehow heard of Walcott the football player. If they can pay all that money for Jackson Martinez, we could get at least half of that for Theo.
It is indisputable that Theo Walcott has shown in the past that he is a far better player than current form suggests and also far more capable than Joel Campbell of scoring and making goals.
It is also indisputable that you pick the players in form, and last night should have earned Joel Campbell the right wing slot on Saturday.
It is also indisputable that Theo Walcott should have a bloody good look at himself and ask some hard questions, the first of which should be, “I am a far better player than Joel Campbell. How have I let him push me aside when it comes to picking a side?”
That Theo probably won’t ask that question and appears to be happy just to have a career as a footballer is what’s wrong with him, but what’s wrong with this club is that he’s allowed to have that attitude and so many others are also apparently allowed to cruise as well.
We need a change of culture at this club and we’ll only get it with a change of manager.
In other comforting thoughts for a Thursday….
Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Do you think that perhaps Real Madrid and Barcelona knew exactly what they were doing when they sold them?
Tough to swallow indeed as Arsene has pointed out but we’ve been here before and I’m tired of repeating myself all time and don’t want to sound like some chronic whiner.
I was surprised at the Alexis sub for Theo wtf was he thinking? IF you’re 1:2 down and you have 10-20 min to go why not take a defender off and pile up the pressure even more? We all heard the boos when Joel was taken off and I disagree that Theo is more skilful player than Joel sorry I just don’t see it.
My team for Saturday would be:
Ospina
Bellerin, BFG, Chambers, Monreal
Joel, Coq, Ramsey, Alexis
Ozil
Wellbeck
His thinking initially was Welbeck vs Young Left Back would be a better matchup and he was wrong, so I suppose he then thought Welbeck should play left or Theo should play left because (let’s face it) Alexis has been playing like a man with no legs lately.
So he was wrong x2
The change to make was Giroud off for Theo at 1-1 with the game stretched and not to wait until we’re losing and there’s no space again. Shift Danny into the middle and use the wide open spaces that were there at 1-1
But he waited.
So he fucked it up totally. Basically.
@68 Cynic
the same Barsa that let Eto’o plus a significant sum of money towards Inter for Ibra, back in the day? Eto’o was instrumental in Inter’s CL winning team.
Or the same Real Madrid that sold Schneider to Inter as well, or Robben to Bayern, helping both of them big to became European Champions?
Not sure that Alexis and Ozil are the reason of this poor form at all. It is up to the manager to try and find a system that suits the two best talents in the team.
Painful, painful times.
We had a decent first half hour, but as soon as we shipped you could see the confidence drain right out of us. I’m honestly not sure right now whether it’s cause for optimism or alarm that we still have over a quarter of the season still to play, because the team looks badly out of sorts.
Not sure there’s any point in everyone rushing to their favourite scapegoats this morning – everyone is off form right now, virtually without exception.
Just got to hope we find a bit of steel from somewhere and buck our ideas up, because there’s still a long way to go.
Beyond the above, good to see a quality write up from the gaffer in difficult circumstances, and most of the regulars responding in a sensible, balanced manner.
@Cynic – both the players you mention should have done more for us last night, but one of them is last season’s player of the year by a country mile, and the other is about to break the Premier League assists record, even if you decide you don’t want to count half of them. They’re having a poor month between them, but I’m still glad we have them on the books.
Oh, and I agree with Steve: in the past injuries, lack of money and the refs have been legitimate excuses to one degree or another. None of those apply right now. With these players, in these circumstances, we should be performing better than we are.
Onwards and upwards.
COYG
Good stuff above.
Last night was a disgraceful capitulation after their second.
Who carries most of the responsibility for the current mess?
Time waits for no man.
It was just a ponder.
Such as, “Is this the real Alexis and the one we had last year was last year’s Jamie Vardy?”
Just thoughts.
Lurky
Great post.
Just one point. The game is on Saturday! ?
We are 6 points off the top with 30 points to play for.
It is true that we are playing like zombies and the last two performances have plumbed new depths. The NLD on Saturday is a scary prospect but exactly the right challenge for these players to look at themselves and find the inner strength to recapture their potential.
Now is not the time to throw the toys out of the pram. Wait and see what happens on Saturday. That will be a better indication of where we will end up this season.
Either way, I sense that there will have to be changes in the way this club is run if we are to make any progress on our ‘also ran’ status.
Sadly, very sadly Pochettino will get ( the never- injured) Kane to run between Gabriel and the BFG on Saturday . Their movement really worries me as does their much more efficient midfield and their much better defence. Don’t get me started on the keepers!
I would bite your hand off for a draw but we won’t get near it unfortunately. It will be a Saturday lunchtime ( our bogey time) to dread. I’ve never looked forward to a Derby less.
With Moshiri buying 49.9% of Everton.. the league is only going to become more competitive.
Top 4 is not a sure thing (as sure as it ever was anyway..) anymore.
I see changes in the horizon.
As for this season.. get on with it and bury the spuds!!
Up The Arse!
๐
Dear Holic/Guvnor. I apologise for my rare drinks and outbursts. But I just wonder, your’s is a great website, very user friendly. Avoids all that twitter tweeter twattle and Facebook too…no tricky log ins and passwords. Great layout, good and consistent content. Maybe it appeals, as it does to me as bit of a technobe, to that older generation including Stan, Ivan and Arsene too !? Who knows, maybe it’s Stan’s first go-to for keeping in touch? “Jeez those Brits love their little pubs and that Holic guy, what a great forum. His guys in there have drinks instead of comments – it’s just so neat. And they love Arsene and Arsenal no matter what happens”. We’re losing our club here Holic. How far are we from the great days and nights ? Fairs Cup Final ’70, Cup Final and Double ’71, ’79 Wembley, ’89 Anfield and yes of course certain AW nights and days too (we will never forget him for 96-05). There’s nothing left, no passion, no excitement, no surprises. Our sons (all of us who have them I daresay) look at us as with a combination of disbelief and disenchantment. They’re losing interest in what the old man passed on and what they themselves loved for so long. I’ll cherish the pilgramages with my boys to London for ever but the last two seasons they haven’t even enquired about it. The youngest was genuinely upset at the poisonous atmosphere inside the Ems and that was well before this current, worst-ever period of under-achievement (depsite this extraordinary alignment of the stars in our favour). Please, please, please, please join the call for change, in earnest. You may have more influence than you think.
@scgooner
Maybe your sons would be keener to visit the Arsenal if their Dad wasn’t online after every defeat calling for organised revolt against “the regime” and openly hoping we lose games? Just a hunch, but I suspect you’re not much fun to sit next to on match days. A poisonous atmosphere indeed.
For what it’s worth, we may very well be approaching the end of the Wenger era. Clearly, there’s a desire for change amongst much of the support, there are some genuinely attractive looking alternatives out there just now (which hasn’t always been the case in the past), and it may be that if the manager ends the season having blown the title race and clutching a third FA cup then that will be deemed a sensible moment to make the change.
I have no idea if the above will happen, but my profound hope is that between now and the point of Arsene’s departure – be it next week, next month or next year, the support behaves itself in a way that doesn’t cause it to look back in shame further down the line.
I think Holic is currently walking the line absolutely spot on in that regard – and if we’re talking about examples for our sons, he’s the one I’d point to in terms of how to support your team.
Just a few thoughts.
COYG
I can assure you I’m a lot more fun than you N7..and that’s not just a hunch. I’ll ignore the “openly hoping we lose games”. You’re an idiot to keep repeating that. I see you are “clutching” again, clutching again to the idea and straw of your beloved FA Cup. Nobody cares about the FA Cup, especially if we only beat Hull and Villa in the process. The FA Cup mattered when we got up at 9 am and watched the matchday coverage all day, that trophy was almost as important as the Division One title. The European Cup Winners Cup meant something too, just a notch down from European Cup, quite unlike the Thursday Cup nowadays. You know all this. Anyway, clutch away, because the other 5 top teams in the hat (unlike previous years) would all smash us on this form. Hell, we won’t get by Hull away. We are relegation form and you want to bite the lip, show the stiff upper lip and “mustn’t grumble” attitude that I’d say Stan absolutely adores in his engish “fans”. But at least you’ve come around finally, you no longer predit we will win the League and you are also now in effect (politely) calling for his departure. But you’re probably only doing that because, in your cunning, you know that unless there is genuine outrage and revolt, it will NEVER, EVER happen. COYG indeed.
Hmmmm… I’m getting a strong feeling it’s probably not the Arsenal your lads are trying to avoid.
Good luck with your revolution.
Good Luck with your League and Cup Double. Great joke, LoL, sorry, you are super fun after all.
I cant explain why such a great bunch of players have forgotten how to make a 10 yard pass. Ramsey covers more ground than anyone because he spends so much time trying to win the ball back he just lost !!!!
What has happened to him ? Grioud has gone back to statue mode ! Walcott after 10 years still runs down blind alleys with no clue what to do. The OX made great progression and is now going backwards. Alexis is a man bereft of any confidence and it seems to be infectious.
WTF is going on, the amount of times this season the footballing gods have open the door for us and we have slammed it in our own faces.
Wenger clearly seems set on the now traditional Arsenal implosion regarding the PL.
I now have lost faith in Wenger and this is not about last night but when a manager claims the Arsenal fans are too emotional, it smacks of someone who isn’t in touch with the club and its fans. Lets be truthful the fans are the club, we were here before you and will be here long after you Mr Wenger, however we don’t pick up ยฃ8,500,000 a year to come fourth and yes that is on the cards again you all know it.
Group stages and then Tuesday and Wednesday nights off again. We had more points at this stage last season and how is this progression.
The stadium is built and paid for, money in the bank. Fans bled dry while being told we have to go through this faze to grow in the future. We all brought into the dream, every fan did.
This is the dream finish fourth hope for a cup and you fans can just shut up we don’t care as brand Arsenal is now worth more.
Not happy at all !!!!
I LOVE the FA Cup! Two great Wembley outings with Holic, Bath, Steve and Co. Absolutely magic. Hope we do the hat trick this year for our third. And Stan will get to sit beside Willie again.
“Arsene Wenger’s magic, he wears a hat-trick hat” I can hear Steve singing it now ๐
71@83,
Sad to say it,but you’ve nailed it – I used to dread the day he left but now id see it as a much needed fresh start, Just hope he can go out with his head held high rather than on the back of protests etc He should have gone after beating Hull and left on a high but it seems more and more likely it will be a messy divorce,
Can someone please help me? What player(s) can we credit AW for developing them in the last 5 years? I realize players also have a responsibility to improve themselves, but so does the manager. What has the boss done to improve Theo/Ox/Chambers? I would like to think that the manager has an added responsibility to maximize the performance of his players/employers.
One more thing to think about. Santi is 31 years old. Knowing how much we think we miss him now, what is being done to find a replacement for him in the next 2 seasons or so? The team needs to find another Spanish player as a replacement for him (just look at Silva, Mata & Santi).
Hey fans, be civil and nice to each other.
Out of luck, out of form and also, on last night’s performance out of steam.
Poor old Alexis cannot buy a goal at the moment. When his shot hit the post and the ball then lobbed perfectly into Flappy’s arms, it seemed to sum up everything that is going wrong at the moment. Or at least so I thought until Cech did his hamstring on the way back from an at-the-death corner (would he really put helmet to ball?). Surreal.
Top stuff N7 a dring of your choice is on the bar! ๐
http://www.90min.com/posts/3001429-alexis-sanchez-admits-arsenal-lack-self-belief-in-premier-league-title-race?old_domain=ftbpro.com/&utm_source=app&utm_medium=share
dring=drink of course
sc
No need to call people names if you ask me especially in this fine establishment you have your view N7 has his nothing to add here.
Lets judge Wenger at the end of the season there is nothing we can do now and it wont help matters in anyway we need to get behind our Club and our Team despite the shortcomings. The season aint over yet so chill out and hopefully just hopefully we will be champions at the end of this crazy season.
Scgooner – I hope you have heard the old saying ‘Form is temporary – Class is permanent…’
I have absolutely no issue with you wanting Arsene out. But with 10 very important league games to go where the team can do with every bit of the support – your idea of ‘revolt’ is a ridiculous one. I am sure you realize that if Arsene were to go at the end of the season, the next incumbent would benefit with the team finishing as high as possible. Now if every blog started ‘Arsene Out’ campaigns from now until the end of the campaign – one can imagine the already poisonous atmosphere turning even more vicious. It is not the most difficult thing to do to support the team fully until the end of the season – especially because they need it more right now. We must also not forget that Arsene has managed the club with tremendous grace and dignity for all these years – the least the fans can do is not behave in a manner that wouldn’t befit the stature and class of this historic club.
Mahatma Gandhi memorably said – “Its a mystery to me how people can respect themselves when they humiliate other humans…”
And I completely disagree with you when you say ‘nobody cares about the FA Cup…’ The last two FA cup victories brought me tremendous joy and the last time I checked – the open top bus parade after the Cup win was lapped up overwhelmingly by the Arsenal supporters. I am sure the FA Cup meant a lot to each one of them…
FA cup was and is a fantastic competition!
Still have clippings of our most recent wins.. we do miss Wilshere and Santi.
Never did get the idea of throwing in the towel in the middle of a season, especially when we can still mathematically win more than one trophy. But I may be in the minority, however, I have no apologies to give for it.
Someone posted this : http://imgur.com/gallery/ozR7n
Up The Arse!
How many of us truly believed we will win the game after they scored? no, not the second goal, the equalizer i meant. The moment they scored we all knew we were done. Throughout the season we have never looked like recovering from such positions and yesterday was no different.
Arsene Wenger is an institution. A genius who made our club better, far better but then everyone has an expiry date and sadly it is now for the great man.
We will lose saturday, makes no difference to me for the season is over. We have had seasons wherein we had 7 points of the first 7 games yet it did not hurt as much as this one. A league trophy gift wrapped to us and yet we decline it, we are not meant to be. Go on Leicester, go on spurs go on whoever, i am just tired, emotionally drained.
Vinay
I can take ‘ go on Leicester ‘ but please don’t wish Spurs well. It would be awful if they won it. You are an Arsenal fan remember.
BB and Designer Gooner
Couldn’t agree with you more about the FA Cup. I’ve been lucky enough to go to the last two finals and they were wonderful days out. I can imagine how excited all the other clubs in it would be to win it. It would spawn a series of videos at White Hart Lane. Winning it three years in a row would at least be a very special achievement.
Reading some of the stuff today saddens me. The emotional exhaustion level of fans nowadays is pretty pathetic. I travel. Ack sometimes on the train with a motormouth who lives down on the South coast. He goes to about half the games and when he doesn’t he is on to Talk Shite at the first opportunity. He was on last night sharing his agony with the world. We really can do without fans like that .
Vinay, you are clearly more than emotionally drained, you are clinically depressed and suffering from dangerous delusions. You urgently need help!!
No Gooner ever says, “Go on Sp*rs!” unless he has completely lost his marbles.
GET HELP NOW, PAL!
Fans of every other club and pundits who belittle Arsenal’s last two FA Cup wins as ‘only the FA Cup’ would take a different stance if their club were to win the thing. Just watch them if we fail to do the unique treble since the 19th century.
Some valid points above. Thanks for the engagement. Note ; I only strike back at N7 because he aggresses me, consistently. I make no apology for taking that rather personally and describing it as idiotic. We live in interesting times and football is certainly relatively unimportant in comparison to many issues gripping Europe and the world. But the harder and less interesting real life gets for ordinary people, the more important old institutions and symbols of community and hope become. Look around you at Elections around Europe where people are standing up to Germany, Brussels and enforced austerity. In the UK, your Referendum on Brexit, regardless of how it’s come about, is a sensible self-examination. At a corporate level, big businesses in sectors like Energy and Financial Services are subject to scrutiny like never before, ultimately driven by public opinion and experience on the ground. It is our job as citizens to question and to challenge that which is wrong (and we all agree our club has got it ALL wrong right now). Sometimes we may even cause short term pain and uncertainty but does that mean it’s not right to stand up and point to the exploitation and fraud in our midst, whatever form that may take ? Go with your gut and shout out, you’ll feel better, honest !
Robbie Savage is a โฆ..
Launches horizontally from the half way line in a Superman dive to head the ball into the net from the edge of the box.
NBN @88,
….(would he really put helmet to ball?) Hee! Hee! Hee! ๐
Almost “helmet to ball” for the ton! Damn you bath! ๐
Or were you wearing a helmet???
@scgooner
It’s an under-performing football club, not a banana republic. Stop being so dramatic.
Also: I’m not being aggressive with you, I’m simply disagreeing.
I know you don’t like it that I constantly remind you that you’ve previously expressed a desire that Arsenal lose an important cup match, but I do think it’s important context when you’re in here complaining about the toxic atmosphere at the club.
I’ve not idea why you don’t just admit that you said it (instead of the regular denials until the direct quote gets brought out), and that it was stupid and doesn’t reflect your feelings – it would do you much greater credit. We’ve all said daft things; I once suggested we should sign Fellaini.
Believe it or not, I would love the atmosphere in here to be pleasanter and less heightened. But that means an environment where we can hold opinions of the manager that sit somewhere between “he’s the greatest and he should stay until the Sun goes supernova” and “he’s an evil man who is deliberately running the club into the ground and only guerila action can remove him”.
It also means an environment where the more vocal critics stay and chat after wins as well as defeats, and where not everything boils down to the same old tired propaganda war.
COYG (ho ho ho)
I set it up for a spectacular dismantling of Robbie Savage and the chance is missed. Very Giroud-like.
Sorry guys it is just the emotional state of mind that made me say let them win or else screw them. I am just so down and out that it makes feel the world is one miserable place or even the gods are conspiring against The Arsenal. All throughout this many years of watching i have never seen us struggle so much to score. Everything pass to Ozil, ask him to create some magic and then even if he does, no end result.
I am a big ramsey fan but enough is enough, this i think i am zidane attitude will not work. His gung ho approach is costing us dear. His best season was when he kept things simple and clear, now he is so confused as to what he is doing on the pitch. Theo, well never mind, can a chinese club buy him??? 10 years and still no substance, no thank you.
Now to the elephant in the room, Arsene great Wenger, who will tell him its time? Is it time?? well i believe it is.
The only way I could ever “go on Speurs” is if I had dysentery.
What on EARTH were you thinking posting that, Vinay?
The added e was a typo as it gives their a touch of class and that’s obviously wrong.
FUCKS SAKE – their NAME.
It’s not easy typing without any brains, people. Try not to follow my lead.
Heh @ Cynic.
Should there have been an apostrophe in FUCKS?
This season would end fantastic for me if we win the EPL and the FA Cup. It would still be a great ending if we were to win the FA Cup and Spuds did not win anything. Can’t stand Spuddies (or Liverpool for the same reason) winning anything and having to put up with all the crap from the media.
Technically, yes – but I believe it’s colloquially popular to leave out the apostrophe for emphasis.
Listen carefully double O N7 or put another way ; WATCH MY LIPS – I repeat I did indeed want Arsenal to lose the FA Cup in 2014 so Wenger would walk. Guilty as charged, however much it hurt me to say it at the time. Just why that would make me want Arsenal to lose every one of a hundred odd games since is a bit strange but u can make that leap if u wish. I kinda get where you’d come from with that, altho coming back to it every time I say Hi, well that’s a bit weird. You also ignore my original context (4th and no FA Cup bests 5th and FA Cup). But as before I grant you your Daily Mail editorial licence. So go copy and pasting yet again, be my guest. AW’s own words recently confirmed that I was correct, he would have gone and you and I would now be holding hands, skipping along together happily thru Holicland as we CRUISED to the 2015/16 Prem and we could be bantering and joshing about the final winning margin and how many cups we’d win – ah sure go on, I’ll throw in an FA Cup for you while you’re at it. We’re all friends when we’re at the top. The real top that is, not Wenger’s “top”. There, is that better N7ZZZZ, is that a bit more light hearted for you ? No point being passionate and dramatic about one’s Football Club is there ? Oh yuk, how wishy washy of me, I’ver suddenly come over all Wengeresque, all Walcotty and even a bit Ramseyish. COYG
@scgooner
Are you having some sort of breakdown?
Long day yesterday. Long week actually, and now coming up for air. Saw the scoreline at the end of my meeting and could not believe it.
True, the squad has shown no ambition, no fight, and no heart…like a pack of over-paid, namby-pambies. Its goddamn embarrassing. And they should all be ashamed of themselves – manager, players, assistants … ALL of them. There is no way the crap that this club has been playing can continue.
Cech is superior to Ospina in every way, but, Ospina is not a bad keeper. Kos is more troubling.
However, I am firmly with BTM: there are a fair few matches left and things may well improve. Perhaps its wishful thinking, but I still want to believe that this team can get it together and start winning games.
Cynic @105
You confuse scoring the ton with uttering abuse. Two entirely different activities if the former is achieved deliberately.
The answer to the question you posed @99 is:
brainless, classless, Welsh pillock!
How he has managed to appear on both the BBC and BT Sport is one of the great mysteries of our time. It is also a major indictment of both our football watching society at large and the TV executives and programme producers involved.
Satisfied?
Scgooner @117,
Wenger might have gone if we had not won the FA Cup in 2014, but that would not necessarily mean that we would be winning the league this year. We could have been worse off, if Liverpool, Manure experiences are anything to go by. Whether AW has taken the club as far as he could and should, therefore, be replaced is a debate that can wait till the end of the season. Till then, supporting our team is all that matters.
If there’s one topic on which we can surely all agree, it’s that Robbie Savage is a world class cockspanner.
I’d have been satisfied with the word cunt, bath.
Cynic,
I was retying my boots as you slid the ball across the goal.
Robbie Savage is….
Possibly the least talented person ever to appear on primetime sports TV
Definitely one of the most cynical players in the history of the Premier League
A tosspot of the lowest order
Completely worthless
Welsh..
Apologies for the earlier missed opportunity
Haha, first time you’ve made me laugh or smile N7. Kudos. All the same……. Go do one. I admitted what I said. Your only confession and slight misreading of the situation was apparently some coveting of one Marouane Fellaini ! (I’d fuxking take him by the way….a bit of bulk and steel in DM). Congrats on your perfect punditry over the last couple of years. U should have taken over from Nev. Regards, A Gooner who cares.
Spot on ksn @118
Guys,guys….has waiting till the end of the season before piping up properly worked any other year in the last 5 or 6 ? Final contribution, lest like Vinay I get too wound up and N7 ends up making his first correct prediction ever, ie, my breakdown.
ScGooner
No true Arsenal supporter ever wants them to lose a game. I estimated the other day that I had supported Arsenal through around 3500 Arsenal matches. It may be more than that . Every first team game since 1958. I have never wanted them to lose even for a fleeting milli- second and I cannot understand any so- called Arsenal fan who does. It’s not in a fan’s DNA to want their team to lose …and to lose a Cup Final….never ever.
This myth that as soon as Wenger leaves we will surge to loads of trophies , dominate Europe and assemble at great cost a team of superstars is utter fantasy. Firstly which manager can guarantee that in a League like the EPL or in a Europe with so many mega- clubs?
By all means make the case for Wenger to leave but believe me this club has benefited manifold times more from Wenger staying than if he had left.
If he walked out of the door tonight he would be offered top jobs all over the world at international and club level.
We will probably replace him with someone like Ronald Koeman or Sampaoli, maybe with Henry as assistant. I wonder how long the merchants of change will give that manager? Wenger did the double in his first full season.
By all means assess whether Wenger now is diminished from Wenger then but please show a great and loyal man respect and imagine that your choice has to outperform him immediately . And please never wish this side to lose…to anybody.
Nicely put TTG. As I said it hurt me at the time in 2014 and I even jumped up and down when Ramsey scored but I quickly felt uneasy and I remain happy with my assessment of what it meant going forward. Nor was I anything but happy for the fans and locals who enjoyed breaking the 10 year hoodoo. That’s fine. But lifetime ban now for me from supporting the club as a result ? Not a real fan ? Nah mate. Not avin’ it. Adios.
Anyone, anywhere, anytime of any description who wants Arsenal to lose any game, is a cunt.
Done with this place.
Arsene Wenger is like a cat with 9 lives, he’s been in much more perilous situations than the current one and always got Arsenal out of it. It would be wise to wait and see how the season pans out before passing judgment.
That said City looks even worse than us and West Ham are brimming with confidence at the moment so while the moaning about Wenger and Arsenal intensifies, we may end up being the only side of the so-called top 4 (top 5 if we include Liverpool) to actually qualify for the CL. The moaners may not care but the business owner will certainly look at the risk-reward ratio in a totally different light.
And frankly it would serve the City owners right for undermining their manager so disrespectfully if Guardiola had to compete in the Europa League next season…
Ha ha @ Esso but you are correct my man!
@TTG: Your team exhibits the same flaws than all the teams we’ve played since Santi’s injury. The forwards will have to drop to help the midfield and it makes them impotent.
Ospina
Bellerin – Mertesacker – Chambers – Monreal
Ramsey – Elneny – Coq
Ozil
Giroud – Sanchez
That way Ozil, Giroud and Sanchez keep threatening and Rambo and Elneny are free to rampage forward without leaving holes.
Oh and like Koscielny, Gabriel is not at his best out of position. Mertesacker and Chambers have a good partnership we should capitalize on.
Wanting us to lose .. just so that we can get rid of the manager? In the hope that the new manager will be better?
What are we? ManU??!!
Bollocks to that !!
๐
@Scgooner: “he would have gone and you and I would now be holding hands, skipping along together happily thru Holicland as we CRUISED to the 2015/16 Prem and we could be bantering and joshing about the final winning margin and how many cups weโd win”
Yes. Or we could be like Chelsea, Liverpool, Manure and City out of the top 4 or close to. Now take a pen and make your case to Kroenke, I’m sure he will be easily persuaded.
Good points Matt.
I like Chambers recently and can forgive his OG at the Lane before ( on the basis of that game we would play Flamini.) It makes sense to bolster midfield but Ramsey loses the ball so much. On the plus side he has scored at the Lane and puts in a shift. But I see your logic and would accept that team.
But I’m still pessimistic
Only 3500 TTG ?
My Dad took me to my first game in ’54.
On the North Bank he stood,with little me sitting on the barrier in front of him.
My one and only contribution to the proceedings,was to pee down the back of the coat of the guy standing in front of us.!!
I was only 4 at the time,and as the Old fella was wont to tell it
ad infinitum down the years,my ‘ inadvertent excitement ‘ cost him a shilling for the cleaning of the bloke’s coat.!!
Cannot understand all the rage and despair in the bar over a couple of setbacks.
I think we are all a bit spoilt with Arsene’s consistent over achievement in keeping us in the top 4 for 20 yrs.
I have said it before,but with basically the same squad as last year,plus a new keeper,how did anyone expect us to do any better than last season.
We are in our perennial battle for a top 4 spot,as we have been in the past 10 yrs.
Nothing more,nothing less.
The fact that it is Leicester/Spurs above us is neither here not there.
We are always going to lose 7 – 10 games a season,which is never good enough to win a Title,but gets us in the CL.
The fact that we all want more from our Club is natural.
The fact that we cannot achieve it,is down to the Management.
Wonderful, wonderful perspective @134 GS54. Almost Zen-like.
A bottle of Saki on the bar for you and all who appreciate your contribution.
“The fact that we cannot achieve it,is down to the Management.”
Same everywhere. then, except there’s only one champion…
One thing that this season has proved is the whole we can’t compete with the the manu’s/chelshit/Mancity’s cash. At the end of the day you need players with heart and passion not just skills. If we don’t win the league whic is becoming likely as every game passes. I rather Leicester win it than fucking spur. Can’t even imagine what life would be?
@ Scgooner, I feel your frustration but wanting to lose the FA cup would not have solved anything in regards to Wenger leaving. We did lose a cup final before then,remember the Carling cup final. I feel even Wenger himself knows that his time is coming to an end. and that’s why am so pissed he didn’t do enough in the transfer window, also his players are really fucking up right now.
One more thing, we need to stop talking about these other big 4 club and comparing their season to ours. We have not won the damn league in 12 yrs. Chelsea won it last year, city the year before and Manu before them. If Chelsea was in the title race, no way they would have lost two matches the manner we have done in our last two games. Desire/passion/ guts/leaders we don’t have any of these presently in the team.
Thank you Clive. My evening has consisted of listening to the Doors. I’m going nowhere near Twatter yet. Still on my first bottle of malt!
Three words to describe GS54’s post at 134.
@134, Sweeper, lovely recollection and rock solid perspective. I was with you all the way right up until the very last line. By ‘management’ I’m thinking you mean Stan and you’re laying the blame squarely on his desk (right alongside the box where he keeps his back-up rug ๐ ).
Arsene gambled pretty big with his pre-season assumption that the MF squad would be adequate. Arteta, Flamini, Rosicky, Santi; Ramsey, Ozil, JW, Coquelin, Ox and Iwobi looked like a talented blend of experience and youth (even without a direct replacement for Diaby). At the time I thought the gamble was worthwhile, although I thought Schneiderlin would have been a good add.
The gamble hasn’t paid off. Predictably, in retrospect, the perenially wounded JW and Rosicky have logged less than 90 minutes between them. Ageing Arteta has joined them in the forever sick bay. Injuries to Coq and Santi have neutered a highly effective duo for half the season and Ox too has suffered from a toxic mix of injury and poor form. So, Ramsey, Ozil, Flamini have all played more than they should have. They’ve done well, but have also ‘creaked’ (R & O, flickering on red; Flamini flickering past his sell-by date). Elneny is being readied for next season and like Iwobi and Chambers, will benefit from playing rather than really contributing to winning the league this year.
So the MF is creaking its way to the finishing line with little likelihood of refreshment and it’s no surprise that our defense and creativity have plummeted. I think there was money available for a really strong addition in the summer. I think the gamble has cost us. ๐
As if to rub salt into the wounds, Sky are showing their profile of Tony Adams for the umpteenth time, and an excellent programme it is.
Can we have Tony Adams back just to pin some of the faint hearts currently in our squad to the wall please? Preferably before Saturday.
In all probability we will finish above the Chavs, $iteh, Manure and Poo in the Prem this year (some by quite a margin). Who would have believed that pre-season? Who would have bet on it with anything but extreme optimism?
The weirdest season I can remember frankly, and not over yet. We can still win it. We can still finish 6th. And neither would surprise me.
But if nothing else, surely the thought of the neighbours winning it has to galvanise even the most out-of-form gunner (of which we have many) into some semblance of normalcy … starting with Saturday please. Put the spuds back in their box, humiliate them, turn their dream to a nightmare, make ’em want to crawl away and hide, just fucking DO them and get this thing back on track.
Oskar
@SAG/138: “we need to stop talking about these other big 4 club and comparing their season to ours”
Why? Is it because they all do worse than us despite following the moaners’ “infallible recipe for success” to a T so better not mention there is no magic solution in real-life?
We win nothing => We won’t win anything with Wenger. Wenger out.
Win win the FA cup => We won’t win the league with Wenger. Wenger out.
If we win the league it’ll be: We won’t win the CL with Wenger. Wenger out.
Like a swiss clock.
@Oskar/143: Exactly! Winning away against the swampers would be the first step to redemption. Given our current morale and form it’s not a given so I hope they’ll focus first on foremost on not losing it.
And while we angst and furcht like so many Kafkas and Kierkegaards imagine how supporters of the Chavs, $iteh, Manure and Poo must be feeling, all of them looking up at us (and others).
Oskar
United fans I know are very optimistic for the rest of the season. Chelsea fans the same. Liverpool fans are reasonably happy as they have got rid of a manager who was taking them nowhere and they’re looking forward. City fans are looking forward to next season and have a trophy in the cabinet (even if it is a small one).
Us?
Well there’s always next season.
With the same manager.
@Matt/144 I don’t understand your point. Yes they are all having a bad season and that’s why we are even close to the top, if not we would be somewhere around 6th-8th place right about now. They all have won it in recent memory and that’s a fact. They all wont be this bad next season that’s for sure. I never said anything about Wenger out or FA cup wins, so I don’t know what you are talking about although 20 years in a job in this day and age is pretty good. That’s neither my call or yours.
We’re still in the three biggest trophies available to us, if only for a week or two, or maybe not…
Who of the aforementioned are?
He is Mr. Arsenal and I am guessing he will leave when he wants to. I don’t even think this board knows what to do without Wenger, and that’s even more scarier. God Help us.
Only ever posted on here once before and it was a while ago in defence of our manager, can’t remember my moniker or e-mail at the time but I read regularly. I have been a wenger defender and remain so. I admit my faith is wavering after the past few results. What do we do as gooners who love our club? Despite our opinions on how we go forward, if we want our beloved club to achieve anything we have to get behind the boys and show them our love. All the negativity breeds, I watch posts on Facebook, Twitter etc and I feel sad. The boos in the stadium, come on lads, we’re Arsenal! I’m sure I said it before but I remember times before wenger and Georgie, it was rough. Mid table at best. My message is that I love Arsenal and everything about it, good, bad or indifferent. Protest is fine but it seems we are so up and down, win a couple and we’re the nuts loose a couple sack the manager. Just re-read everything and I realise I’m not sure on my opion on the manager but what I am sure about is that I love Arsenal and I hate any negative talk about our club. Come on you gunners! As much as I doubt the result at the weekend keep the faith we are gonna do them cunts and remind them who the fuck runs north London.
“But the harder and less interesting real life gets for ordinary people, the more important old institutions and symbols of community and hope become” – Scgooner (#98)
Historically life has got easier and more engaging for most people, Scg. PM Macmillan once famously assured us we’d “never had it so good”, and frankly nor had we, or have we had it so good since.
Whether the good old days of Arsenal were better days is conjectural at best, unless you mean the first half of AW’s reign which aren’t remotely ‘old days’ to many here, they’re current and the balance of the reign is without doubt the best the club has ever known regardless.
The problem with the good old days is usually a poor memory.
Oskar
Even my non league club has gone and done a Wenger. Had a brief exchange with a board member today who threw his hands up in horror at the idea that we might actually bring in someone who could increase the playing budget. “I will never bring in someone who wants to put money into the club”
WTF?
@Oskar: I look at their boards from time to time. It’s almost only plastics on the Chavs and Manure boards, everything is owed to them and the boards are full of vile bile (the pro/anti Mourinho drama was brutal and Van Gaal is vilified non stop) and totally unrealistic claims (whichever top player of the moment will evidently opt to play for Chelsea/Manure in the Europa cup over any other club, he’s not coming only because the incompetent deciders at the club did not snap their fingers in time etc).
Citeh and Pool are different, not enough plastics have joined the Citeh ranks yet so most of their supporters have known worse days. As for Pool they were out of the top 4 for most of last decade leading many plastics to greener pastures. As a result the boards are more sensible and people there have longer term perspective. Also Liverpool fans can’t realistically wish for a better manager than Klopp and their team is more or less where Rodgers left them so expectations are kept in check. They’re the most positive of the top 5, even if no closer to CL than under Rodgers.
Also Chelsea/Manure fans are very prone to the “get the star of the moment” syndrome. Pocchetini, Mahrez, Vardy, Payet all topping wishlists.
BTM
I cannot tell a lie,i was including Arsene in my reference to Management.
In the sense that i feel he is too nice,like a father figure to some of the players,he keeps giving them just one more season to prove him right,that they can succeed at the highest level.
So in the summer yet again,he puts his faith in Theo/Ox/Ollie up front,complemented by Alexis,to do the business.
Yet again the first 3 flatter to deceive,and the last had no pre season,was rushed back too early,and is now burnt out.
A more ruthless Manger would have accepted the evidence of his own eyes,that Theo whilst he may have grown up physically from the boy who arrived at the Club,has never grown up mentally.
The Ox whilst younger,has still got the mentality of a 5 yr old,rushing hither and thither with no discernible destination in sight.
As for Ollie,he will score some goals for us,but he still misses far more than he should,and is what he always has been,a back up striker to a king pin.
As of Wed night,we have scored just 19 goals at home in the league this season.
I cannot remember [ i am sure Ned will tell us ] the last time we hit March with such a low total at home.
If Arsene is going to continue on,then he has to put his hands up and accept that if he wants to seriously challenge for the Title/CL before he retires,that he has to get the Butchers knife out,along with his Cleaver and Bone Saw,take some of his favorite sons into the Abattoir, and get some serious blood on his hands in the Summer,regardless of what happens in the remaining games this season.
Clive@134: Rock solid, as ever.
Well worth remembering that we weren’t always at top table as we have been in AW’s 20 years.
To put the accomplishment of never finishing outside the top four for two decades into a historical perspective, in all the years of the 1950s that Clive was watching the Arsenal, he would have seen just two top four finishes; in the 1960s, it was just one. Our average position over that time was ninth.
Clive@156. 2008-09. 18 goals from first 14 home games. Since then we have typically been at around 30 at the same point of the season.
In 2008-09, we eventually found our shooting boots, scoring 13 in the final five home games (and 14 in the final five away games). Overall that season we scored more away from home (37) than at home (31). Final position: fourth.
@SAG:
” thatโs why we are even close to the top, if not we would be somewhere around 6th-8th place right about now. They all wont be this bad next season thatโs for sure”. Or not.
With all the money coming in the likes of Leicester, Tottenham, West Ham, Stoke, Everton are going be more competitive rather than less. Not even talking about winning the league, qualifying for the CL is not granted to anyone next season. And this summer why would top players choose Chelsea, Manure, Liverpool over Arsenal, Tottenham or West Ham (if they clinch it) for similar wages? If anything Liverpool and Manure have perfectly proved that clawing your way back to CL spots after a drop is very very hard. Chelsea have let de Bruyne and Schurrle go to replace them with Pedro. Do you think they can attract a better replacement now?
And indeed it’s Kroenke’s call. Now if we finish qualifying for the CL when none of the other big club does, what do you think will be his conclusion? Be bold? Wenger might call it a day but with one year left on his contract it remains to be seen.
Very sensible and well argued posts tonight. You can be a Wenger sympathiser without agreeing with everything he does. After a twenty year relationship there is bound to be some friction .
When you talk about the Management at Arsenal you are talking about the personal fiefdom of Wenger. A board in thrall to him for his work in the first ten years allowed and continue to allow him massive authority. It usually saves their bacon until something goes wrong when their lack of football nous catches them out. We’ve dealt with Kroenke before. He loves Wenger and is sufficiently removed from events to allow him huge autonomy as he milks his reliable cash cow.
Both Clive and Btm point out we should have invested more in the team. Arsene is always conservative about when he buys and how much he pays for players and he got the summer transfer window wrong. We needed a striker and another top midfielder and it has cost us because of our appalling injury situation .
I saw a calculation tonight that said that if from hereon in all teams repeat last year’s results we will win the league. We are just still in it but I’m certain that will end on Saturday . Let’s pray for a miracle.
Last night would have been diabolical if Spurs and Citeh had won and if Leicester had won on Tuesday. It tells me it will get very tight and we may even see United and Chelsea rising up .
The team have stopped playing for Wenger, and at the risk of going over old ground, when it happened to Mourinho at Chelsea, he got the old tin tack, and Chelsea are now a transformed team under Hiddink. Under Usmanov, Wenger would have been sacked five or six years ago; not that i was ever a fan of his.
Not a fan of Usmanov or Wenger, Bb?
Oskar
Moaninho got the sack in 2007, Bb, but returned in 2013.
Beware what you wish for!
Oskar
‘Holic, listening to the Doors? Hopefully to “Light My Fire” and not to “The End”.
I read that Diaby has been injured in training and is out for the forseeable future further delaying his Marseille debut, poor bastard.
Oskar
season is not over yet but having said that has any other manager ever thrown so many titles away if we do not get up. and befor anyone starts I am not saying it is all down to the man in charge but the club on a whole. I would settle for three cups in a row if we do be fine with me
Clive talking all kinds of sense from where I’m sat.
While celebrating a duck…you always have to watch out for the other duck: http://i.imgur.com/YLX4jQ7.gifv
Things to remember!
๐
We have to approach tomorrow’s match with zen like calm and patience.
Whether we play Campbell or Walcott, Elneny or Coquelin and Welbeck or Giroud.. we must remember not to be too hasty in our attack lest we neglect our defence. We shall have to nullify their wingers and close them down quickly when they have the ball.
We must be able to change tactics and not be repetitive in our approach if it is not working as we have done so many times of late. They have us at a disadvantage because of the venue and are clear favourites according to most.. this is where we shall surprise them, we perform best when we have our backs against the wall.
Last but not least, it pays to remember sometimes : http://i.imgur.com/p1ePcwt.jpg
๐
@matt/159- and you are repeating my statement to make what point? What is your argument all about? I don’t get it.
Swiss Ramble published earlier this week and produced the following information.
– Arsenal’s cash balance stands at ยฃ159m, but will rise to approx. ยฃ250m by September
– ยฃ45m of the cash balance needs to be kept aside for player amortisation
– Arsenal have more cash in the bank than any other club in world football
– Stadium debt remains at ยฃ14m pa -( that was lower than I had imagined as I thought it had been securitised at about double that)
– Arsenal have the third highest net spend in the Premier League over the past three seasons
– Arsenal have the seventh highest revenue in the world, having overtaken Chelsea last season
– Arsenal enjoy the highest match day income in the world.
Not a bad situation to be in but one wonders how this wealth will be spent or if it will be spent at all.
BB
Zen like calm tends to be in short supply at the NLD, particularly in that snake pit. It will be manic tomorrow and we must start the game at a fast pace. The key is keeping a solid team shape and making the transitions are as quick and smooth as possible….oh and make sure Ospina doesn’t have too much to do. He is not Petr Cech.
The Day Before the NLD still gets the juices flowing like no other , And no matter what side of the fence you sit or the views you hold its time to give it to them utter utter Cunt Buckets – Not so sure what weve done to fuck of Lady Luck so badly recently but lets hope she comes back for a cuddle tomorrow and whilst we are at it let the players evoke the memories of past major victorys at the Shithole
Fully Up The Arse,
Cech out for 4 weeks. Not sure if that’s 4 weeks or an Arsenal 4 weeks. If it’s an Arsenal 4 weeks he will be back in November.
In other news, Eboue has signed for Sunderland. That’s them doomed.
Ospina is now set not to be Petr Cech for at least four weeks .
Who hasn’t been injured this season?
The full- backs only I believe.
@171, TTG, the very good news is that we have a beautifully managed business, operating in an expanding marketplace with massive potential and clear definition of the primary area requiring course correction – commercial/sponsorship deals to drive this third leg of the stool to the level of excellence achieved by Manure. For this Stan and the board deserve a modicum of praise for continuing the good work set in place by PHW and his partners.
The business of football at Arsenal hasn’t quite kept pace with the business of football financial management, although it’s been better than most and exceeded by very few.
There Will Be Blood in the summer, as the Sweeper predicts above. Some of it will be easy bloodletting. Will the more serious surgery take place? Will we finally get the much discussed ‘two or three’ players the squad needs to elevate it to the highest echelons? Time will tell.
In the meantime, the odds appear to be continuing to stack up against us for the next few games ๐ A good LWC thumping tomorrow will do wonders for the entire system and its collective system. Arsene, players, find it within you to believe and bring it on. Please. COYG
Your choice of the word stool BTM is quite apt.
?
Heh Steve @178 ๐
BtM, I wonder if any of the crofters in Sutherland had such pride in the business acumen and achievements of Leveson-Gower (*spits*) and Patrick Sellar (*spits*)?
Is that the Levenson-Gower that used to play centre-half for the Dons? Or his brother maybe?
You would certainly know, Steve.
๐
@Bayonne Jean 164
Maybe it was “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)”
I don’t mind Ospina. I don’t mind Cech. They’re both good goalies. International goalies.
They both make world class saves. They both make mistakes. Ospina threw one in the net. Cech’s first prem game for us was one he’d wish to forget.
I know that it has occasionally worked for other clubs, very occasionally, but I find it ridiculous when a keeper ambles up the other end for a corner and leaves his goal open – to defend his own goal at all times is his primary responsibility.
Given all the chat pre-season about Cech and his hat, would he really be up for a header? If not, what’s the point? And he got injured running back. Professional or what? Pffft.
We’ll beat Spuds 2-0 but it won’t be enough – we’re in a scrap for fourth. Que sera.
UTA.
A truely balanced report Holic. I wish you live for thousand years.
Wanting to lose a game so that Wenger leaves is disrespectful. The man has given his all to the club and cannot be accused of anything lesser. has his time come? i honestly wanted the great man to go on a high after we won the FA cup in 2014, the legacy would have been great. Even now he will be considered among the greatest ever but then every great story has an end.
No Cech is the worst thing for the game tomorrow. If we remember right the same fixture at WHL last season saw us dominate the first 20 min, score a fortuitous goal through Ozil and then see kane score 2 and lose. We just did not grab the game by the scruff of its neck and instead allowed them to sneak in back and then go on to lose the game. The script looks the same this time and it is left to our players to change it. Can they??? hope so for if they cannot turn up for this game, then lets end the season now.
We need attitude, application, controlled aggression and organisation tomorrow plus a slice of luck and a strong referee.
We have overcome tougher assignments.
COYRs
Doing so well until you mentioned the referee
Who is scheduled?
Biggest NLD since ’71. Let’s not forget we’ve already beaten them at the Lane this season, albeit in the CrapitalOneCup. COYR I’m cautiously convinced we can do this.
We are always at our most resilient when everyone (including our own) writes us off.
COYRs
Michael Oliver will be in charge tomorrow. Hope we will not be discussing the ref’s performance after the match.
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