Gunners Have Us In Two Minds
Jan 4th, 2017 by 'holic
The Arsenal recalled Skhodran Mustafi, Francis Coquelin, and Aaron Ramsey to the starting eleven at Bournemouth. Gabriel, Lucas, and the absent Mohamed Elneny made way. In the opening minutes Alex Iwobi was on the right flank enabling Ramsey to operate behind Olivier Giroud. They would rotate as the match developed.
We made a bright enough start but it proved to be something of a false dawn. The first half turned into a nightmare. As both managers pointed out afterwards Bournemouth, with an extra day to recover from their last fixture, ripped into the visitors who without doubt were not at the same level.
We survived the first scream from the hosts for a penalty when Michael Oliver rightly saw Cech’s superb save from the tumbling Wilson. Referees are a hot topic right now but I’ll say again, Oliver is the pick of a poor group and showed it last night.
We fell behind when Hector Bellerin got sucked in from his wing and Ramsey, momentarily the right-sided midfielder, failed to cover. Daniels took advantage of oceans of space and a poor attempt to hold him up by Bellerin before finding the gap that Cech invariably leaves at his near post.
Bournemouth 1-0 Arsenal
One became two when Xhaka got suckered into a rash challenge in the box on Fraser. The Bournemouth man was looking for contact and made sure he drew the foul but was heading away from goal.
Wilson rolled his spot-kick barely left of centre. Will any goalkeeper just stand up to the kick given how many are now hit so close to the centre of the goal?
Bournemouth 2-0 Arsenal
Six minutes later Coquelin was seated holding his hamstring and was unable to continue. Arsenal were forced into a reshuffle that the manager may well have been thinking about anyway. Ramsey dropped in alongside Xhaka and substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain went to the right flank.
Thirteen minutes after the break all seemed lost as Fraser was allowed to shove Bellerin to the floor and cut in to nutmeg Cech for a third. It felt like the season was caving in on us just as it had along the road at Southampton a year ago.
Bournemouth 3-0 Arsenal
I have said before that this squad has something about it that we have lacked for some years. I’m loathe to call it Arsene’s fabled ‘mental strength’, but that surely is what it is. What followed was testament to that.
Arsene made his final two changes sending on Lucas for Iwobi, who cannot last ninety minutes even if he only plays once a week, and Gabriel for Laurent Koscielny. The skipper looked barely able to walk, let alone run.
We scored what appeared to be a consolation goal when Alexis, by far our most mobile threat to this point, dived to head home Olivier Giroud’s set-up at the far post.
Bournemouth 3-1 Arsenal
With a quarter of an hour to go we were back in the contest when Lucas hit a sensational left foot volley from another Giroud assist to reduce the deficit to one. Surely we couldn’t?
Bournemouth 3-2 Arsenal
Eight minutes from time the scales were tipped in the Arsenal’s favour when the Cherries skipper Francis lunged in at Ramsey. Mercifully the Welshman’s leg wasn’t planted so he was able to ride the assault, but Oliver correctly showed the assailant the red card.
At that moment it felt we would surely grab at least a point, and we did when Giroud capped his magnificent second-half performance by heading home a Xhaka cross two minutes into injury time.
Bournemouth 3-3 Arsenal
With the benefit of hindsight it is easy to be critical of the overall performance and full of praise for the spirited fightback. I have no doubt the Arsenal of recent years would have been well and truly beaten here. That we got a point is praiseworthy.
That we lost two though is equally undeniable. Our performance for seventy minutes was frustrating to say the least. Individuals were called out on social media. One in particular. Some should think back to the shift Bellerin put in on Sunday before rounding on him little more than 48 hours later.
Then there is the nagging doubt about Alexis. He is our metronome, his enthusiasm for the game and his efforts so appreciated. So why does he spend so much time berating those around him? And why snub the very supporters he praised in the press recently at the end of the match, not for the first time?
Why does it feel this morning as though only Arsenal could leave one with such conflicting thoughts and emotions.
Football, eh?
76 Responses to “Gunners Have Us In Two Minds”
Who didn’t need a drink last night?
Bournemouth appealing the red card but they have no chance, it was a scissor tackle.
H – If the manager was thinking about a reshuffle before Coq got injured, we’d have had to wait until the 70th minute, as usual 😉
Also, was Kos subbed with a hammy? Before he went off I noticed one of our taller players holding the back of his thigh but couldn’t see the number, nor recognise him as he was too far away from the action.
This hamstring issue needs drastic action to solve. If it’s a fault with the training get people in who can trash the entire process and find out what the trouble is. If the trouble is a human being… well cheerio.
Great report Holic I sense your ambivalence about things last night . I share it completely . I do take friendly issue with a number of points Chris raised in the last drinks so I have annotated my comments here
Just as well I wasn’t watching live or I might have been quite rude.
Some points in retrospect:
1. AW outtacticked by Howe, who had a very fair audition for the former’s job.- it was less a case of tactics than exploiting our tiredness as Cluve pointed out
2. Sanchez’s petulance is becoming a bore. Yes, Alexis, we know you’ve played with much better at Camp Nou. Yes, it’s not the same without your German playmate. But no, you can’t always be centre of attention in the middle, OG at CF and you on the wing (where you were at Barca) gives us better balance.- Alexis is a bit of a diva at times but in a competitive not a selfish way. I thought he lifted the side by his personal example
3. Can’t blame the ref, the only thing I could criticise Oliver for was the red card. Yellow would have been more appropriate. No Belle wasn’t pushed, he just wasn’t strong enough.- I thought the ball was not in playing distance when Bellerin was shoved but I may be biased! I think Red was tte right colour . That could have been a leg- breaker. Only Rojo could have got away with it !
4. Nice goal by Lucas, but there were several times when he was too slow to be as dangerous as Theo would have been. But he certainly gets the RW start for me ahead of Iwobes, Ox and Ranbo. Although playing Belle at RW with Debauchery at RB is still an option I would like to see tried sometime.- sorry Lucas was one of the main reasons we got back in the game. Give me his power in that situation every time. It didn’t seem a night for Theo to me.
5. Rambo has to be the best option currently fit enough to fill Mesut’s 10 spot.
6. Too little too late. The idea we were handicapped by 24 less hours rest hardly stands up when we can finish that strongly. Stamina wasn’t the problem, starting was. And starting is when you’re at your strongest surely.- couldn’t agree less with you Chrus. Clive points out the stats from the weekend. The effort put in at the end was exceptional and does the team great credit. They were fitter than Bournemouth but much less sharp at the start.
nice one ‘hol
cheers
.
what a carry on
clive’s last line summed it up for me
Your 3 makes no sense TTG.
You think Oliver was wrong for the red card and it was a yellow, but the red card was the right colour?
Also the stuff about Giroud having a great game that I’m seeing all over the place this morning is weird to me.
On the face of it, two assists and a goal is great stuff, but one of those assists came when he failed to head a ball and it fluked to Alexis off his back, so for me that doesn’t count as an assist.
The second assist was fine, the header for the goal looked more like another failed attempt at a firm header that skimmed off his nut to me as well, but that would be being picky.
No, what gets at me is that in the first half, he was up to his old and tired routine of moaning about every physical contact he had and he looked like he really didn’t want to be there.
Can’t understand how he got MoM over Alexis, who was all over that game from first to last.
Still never mind 🙂
We under estimated Bournemouth and thought that turning up was all that was required to win the match. We got a rude awakening.
Bournemouth wanted it more as they were quicker, committed and won most fifty fifty balls and did not allow our players to settle. Credit to them that they played an open game (unlike most teams which park the bus) and created a number of chances.
Theo is a fair weather player and I guess one would take Perez when I am in a fight. Perez made a big difference yesterday and could improve considerably if given enough time on the pitch.
What would we do without Sanchez. I wish the others had the same winning mentality.
Ox had a good game and is another who deserves more playing time.
The push on Bellerin was a definite foul as it was more shoulder to back and definitely not shoulder to shoulder. In my view it was a replica of Xhaka’s foul which led to their penalty.
We need to be more organised in defence and their first goal showed how indisciplined we are. Bellerin had a torrid time yesterday and he was partly responsible for two of their goals.
Having said all that, I applaud the team for the way they fought back.
Would prefer Chelsea to win tonight and every set back for Totts and Manure would support our mission of a top four finish. I don’t think we are in the race for the league title any more.
Arsenal were poor until the game was nearly lost and offered an untenable performance if they wish to be title contenders.
Games are won lost or drawn based on 90 minutes and based on our overall effort we were lucky to get a point.
Things in football change fast as we all know, one week you’re flying the other sack the manager and sell half of your squad agenda is on the cards.
I’m trying to be as positive as I can be here, however you just can’t play like this for 70 minutes and expect to win games. For a club with such vast experience and a coach who has been at this club and the league for so many years this is no blip if you ask me. So why did it take us 70 minutes to have a shot on goal? Did the players receive instructions from their mentor to go easy on themselves?
There was a moment in the game when we went two nil down with Alexis throwing his hands down and arguing with Ramsey, his body language wasn’t good at the time. What makes Alexis special is that he is a workhorse he doesn’t give up and will leave his heart out every time.
There was also another moment in the game when we scored the equaliser and we almost conceded straight away. Our defence was in no man’s land, OG was doing CB duties and that was really worrying because we looked so fragile again. Great come back but two points lost for lack of game plan and discipline.
It wasn’t a case of stamina because we had plenty of that we just didn’t apply it in a correct manner at the start of the match. Let’s hope Chelski will go on a bad run soon because there is still hope and hope dies last.
BTW. Great report Holic.
Excellent summary, maestro. A very praiseworthy point.
@ ksn-8, I don’t think we were ever in the title race. This is what we do year after year for the past 12 seasons. We have had good teams that could have won the league in the past seasons. The main problem is our mentality and to some extents injuries. We will always be fighting for top 4 until that winning mentality changes. Alexi has a winning mentality because he has won stuff. After the equalizer, Giroud took forever to get back, you could see other team members telling his ass to get back, game is not won yet and who knows we could have won the damn game. I couldn’t care less who wins tonight..
‘Holic, concur completely with your point on the saving of penalty kicks. Saw somewhere that, statistically, you’re probably better off NOT starting a dive in either direction, rather hold your ground and react to the kick, which gives you a much better chance of dealing with the kicks that are not far from the middle. Had Cech done that on Wilson’s shoddy effort, meat and drink.
Cynic
Try to keep up?
I’ve copied Chris’s observations.
He thought it was a yellow.
I thought it was a Red given current refereeing standards
Watched the match with a fellow Arsenal supporting mate who has gone ‘dry’ for January.
He had downed two big glasses of leftover Xmas Port by the end.
Think that sums supporting us up of late…
You could try using italic tags for the quoted bits in future 😉
Easy to do with no spaces.
Shite. and then
FFS
Work it out yourself lol
I haven’t seen the match. I congratulate all who have posted in the drinks for their success in spotting things that confirm their own opinions. Those who I agree with are perfectly correct.
Move along please, there’ll be another league match along the weekend after next.
COYG
Alexis for all his petulance is our best player by a country mile. He wants to win and he will do all he can to do it. His attitude was summed up when he, ox and Monreal wanted Giroud to rush back to the centre than celebrate after the 3rd goal. Give him whatever he wants for apart from Suarez there is no one like him. I do think he will not stay.
70 minutes we were poor and i told in the earlier drinks that ramsey will start if he is fit. I cannot understand what he does on the pitch and defies logic as to how he can play the way he wants for 90 minutes. Arsene is accountable for the team selection and it was poorly done by including Aaron and excluding Lucas.
Xhaka had a stinker. He just seems too slow for the league and that is not a testament to his talent. He is talented but the premier league’s pace is tough for him to fathom.
Our full backs were appalling. Monreal needs immediate replacement and it is definitely not gibbs. Hector had a shocker and he should not play a couple of games. He needs rest and a kick in the backside.
Agreed 48 hours is too less for recovery but then most others also played. We just are leaderless and we continue to flounder against teams who press and play at a higher tempo.
Lastly, thank you Giroud for all what you did but that one moment in the end where you were practicing your scorpion kick was unnecessary and stupid. You should have got back for the restart for we had a game to win. This is the attitude that is missing and hence we cannot win anything.
Excellent report Guvna.
I missed the entire match but saw all the goals this afternoon and you have filled the gaps nicely (somewhat better than Aaron Ramsey did) and added some sage observations.
I did think your headline could have been: 21st Century Schizoid Team? ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRbBorZR6VU
Pangloss
I think we need a slightly more detailed discussion of a significant match from those either there or who saw it from behind the sofa, through a haze of port or in my case through a post- New Year sickness bug. Sadly I think Clive was spot- on with his analysis of our quality. We face a titanic fight to stay in the top four this season although Arsene has the best credentials in the league for this, a position in the top four will be some achievement. If I was asked honestly I think we will be nosed out by Man Yoo and this will have big implications for Arsene’s future as he is a man with great pride and wants to feel he can continue to keep the club competitive.
I do disagree with Vinay about some aspects of the team. Bellerin is very young and his performances will fluctuate . Monreal is struggling but I feel he is still better than Gibbs. Xhaka is going to be a very good player in the EPL but needs to adjust to the pace and style of football better than he has. Certainly away from home we are getting overrun by teams with a higher tempo. But I’m also sympathetic about Ramsey who isn’t the player he was and who will have to play a pivotal role in future.
Clive also outlined the relative struggles of the team’s who played two games close together. It makes a huge difference and needs to be understood and arranged more fairly by those who do the fixtures
Is it worth mentioning that apart from Chelsea, we had the most days rest over the festive period?
According to the BBC that is.
It was a pathetic shameful gutless performance for 70 mins which for the last decade we have become used to.To comeback from 3-0 down is nothing to be proud of you dont go 3-0 down in the first place
A stone cold fact is a team who say they are challenging for the title ha 1 point out of 9 in last 3 games
No wonder Sanchez is angry do you want him to go around with a smile on his face carrying shite like Xhaka Ramsey Ox and Mustafi
He will leave and no right minded Gooner will blame him
Cynic
The issue was not the rest before, it was the gap between the last two games . In fairness to Wenger he pointed out how uneven the fixtures were when he was talking before Christmas . We won the first two games and on Sunday played quite well but the recovery time was insufficient.
I’m wondering if loaning Wilshere out makes much sense given that we are short in midfield. The loss of Cazorla at key points in the last two seasons has hit us very hard. Chelsea would be hamstrung without Hazard for a long period, Liverpool have missed Coutinho and Citeh would struggle without De Bruyne.
As Arsenal fans we sure have gotten used to making excuses for this team.. hell, the past teams from the last decade. Lets face it We don’t have a winning mentality when it comes to winning the PL title, and it wont get any easier same as winning the CL. This same argument/excuses have been made in the past. We will be making same excuses in 2018.. injuries/holiday schedule/ referees/ color of the ball shit, who knows what excuse will be next.
Cheers H!
Fuck me the defender who has yet to lose a game for AFC is shite.
Well I never.
Cynic – Indoor League;
Table Football; where the competitors turned up as full kit wankers. Priceless.
Nice one Guv! Measured and “professional” as always! Unfortunately that can’t also be said equally about some others last night I’m afraid, yet again!
Just why is a worldie like Alexis Sanchez being lambasted for wanting to win, and also wanting others to win and become as good as he is? It’s a mediocrity-mindset gone mad! Alexis clearly knows that the rest of the squad can be far better in their application as do both Ozil and Arsene Wenger too.
It’s this kind of tolerance and defending of shite performances like that again last night by some of our fans that has made us “forever also rans” for so long now. Quite Nonsensical! We are the Arsenal FFS, and not every member of any team (whether in sports or otherwise) has to like the others or be all chummy-chummy and in the same knitting-club, to make their collective successful. Unless of course we’re talking about a Primary School Football Team of 7 year olds where their mummy’s drops them off to play every week! ???
I had a DVD of Indoor League once upon a time, Esso. The darts, where Alun Evans wins and jumps in the air with a full beer gut hanging over his belt, is priceless. I think the first prize was £100 for winning that.
Hair to make even Hector Bellerin ashamed in this episode of Indoor League. The table footballers are bad, but there’s a bloke with a ginger afro in the audience at 20.07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2QRnF1KtiM
Our overseas readers are watching that video and wondering how the fuck this country ever had an Empire.
Fuck, spuds score just before half time.
Spuds are one nil up end of first half, certainly getting interesting @ TPL
KSN
Not sure if that’s a bad thing
The game at the Lane was very mundane and Chavski look ordinary so far. The goal came from the only real chance of the match
ATG
I think our tilt at winning the league is done and my worry is that we could be pipped to our traditional top four finish by Manure or spuds. A draw today would be the best result but I definitely don’t want Spurs to win today.
TTG, Chelsea have looked ordinary so far but I hope they find the goal/s needed for a draw.
KSN
Football is a funny old game don’t forget that and if we want to finish above Spuds we need to start showing it on the pitch!
Moses takes a fall every time he gets in the box. About time he got a card.
Spurs are 2 up now. Don’t know if I should be happy or not. Two of my most hated team..
ATG, we need to start showing it on the pitch but we could slip up for once and if we do I don’t want Spurs to qualify at our cost; however, football is a funny old game as you said and I hope we win the league this year.
Spurs now 2-0 up.
I might not be much of a judge but Matic, Alonso, Cahill and Kante ( tonight) have been bang average. The Totts have beasted them in midfield with Wanyama and Dembele ( now Winks) . Wanyama looks just the sort of signing we could have done with and Xhaka could partner him rather than play a holding role which in the PL doesn’t sit very naturally
If Spurs being above us will not wake our players up the I don’t know what will. ?
Hate to say it, but those Lillywhite Cunts are now more feckin’ well organised and dynamic defensively as a whole team unit under Pochettino. When leading, they don’t deck-chair it and let up too on the attacking gas like we feckin’ do! Spud Wankers!
Anyway, one shall settle for that scoreline after yesterday’s farce at Bournemouth. What an even more massive two points dropped that that looks like now!
Silver lining No. 1:
No overall record of 14-in-a-row-league-wins for the Bus Stop at our expense! Welcome back to defeat-ville again in North London Antonio Conte!
Silver-lining No. 2:
The inevitable St Totteringham’s Day is always there in the back pocket; as sure as night follows day!
The really telling thing is that these are two virtually first choice teams with full benches .
We have out Mertesacker, Gibbs, Cazorla, Welbeck, Walcott, Coquelin, Ozil – possibly I’ve forgotten others. That’s a massive issue with the number of games we play
Would love to know what Siren song Arsene sang to Alexis,to convince him to join us .
He could have gone to other top clubs in Europe,yet chose us.
Was it the promise of building a Title winning side around him,bringing in other high quality big name signings to complement him and Mesut. ??
Yet here we are 3 yrs later,with just a couple of FA Cups to show for it,and hardly a Title challenge in sight.
Which begs the question,why on earth would he sign a new contract with his best years still in front of him.
I think this summer is the key,if we don’t make a statement and bring in at least 2 top notch technical game changers,to show we are serious,then he won’t sign.
Unless of course we pay him the silly money his Agent is apparently asking,and he is happy to play with the mediocrity that currently permeates through this Arsenal squad.
@44–
We can bring in Messi and Ronaldo and we still won’t win the damn league.
Goonersince54,
Alexis Sanchez is waiting to see who’ll be in charge of “coach and team tactics” after July! Does he still want Arsene Wenger to remain in charge of that? Well, that’s something that we’re sure to get the answer to by that time too! Compelling! ?
Still 18 games to go — 54 points to play for. You have to go back to 2004/05 for 95 points to have won the league. High 80s has been the champions’ haul in recent years. Still game on.
ATG @41 and Ned @47 know a thing or two and have a bit of the mettle I like to see in teammates.
Bath knows.
Sanchez is our best player, no doubt about that, but in my opinion his attitude has affected his play in recent matches. Too often he is trying to go it alone rather than involve teammates he clearly no longer trusts. Maybe that will change when Mesut returns, but his disenchantment could also suggest he is thinking about his future.
I don’t expect him to leave us in January, but it could take a miracle or two to persuade him to stay in the summer. Several quality signings in addition to a hefty pay rise might do it, but the sort of pay being mooted is unrealistic at the Arsenal and maybe we’d be better off cashing him in and signing the likes of Reus and Forsberg. We could get the pair for what Sanchez brings in and their combined salaries would be a lot less than Sanchez’s agent is asking.
Sits back and awaits accusations of heresy…
“Spurs being above us”, ATG, is a direct result of them winning games that several here have openly hoped to see them win. That’s my idea of heresy, btw. Anyone thinking that way has abrogated their right to be considered a real gooner, imo.
Random thoughts:-
Bayonne @13 – I agree. The number of crap penalties taken that could be saved by a reaction rather than anticipation is staggering.
Cech again at his near post and distribution still poor. He still makes some terrific saves but personally I’d give Ospina a run – his CL form has been excellent.
I just don’t see where or how Ramsey fits in this team anymore.
Bellerin needs to re-focus on his defensive duties and positioning rather than relying simply on his pace to get out of trouble.
Excellent report Holic – hit the right tone and all the key issues.
UTA.
In my limited knowledge of football, I would think that Perez starts ahead of Iwobi & that in a game in which Ozil is not playing, you would have Ramsey play the #10 role.
Top 4 is not looking promising this year. There are a couple of coaching insights that I have noticed in the last 10 days:
Did anyone notice how quickly Man U made substitutions once they went down to Middlesb….? Decisive if you ask me.
In my opinion Spurs won tonight/last night, because of coaching. I would also say Man City won their last game because of coaching. Are we staffed appropriately at our coaching level to make such a difference? I doubt it.
The teams that have won vs Man U, Man City & Chelsea seem to have all deployed a pressing & 3 CBs + 2 wing backs + playing wide in attack, in their game plan. I wonder if we will ever see that anytime soon at our beloved team.
Of course we could always threaten to sell Sanchez’s contract to the Chinese if he doesn’t get reasonable in negotiations. We could probably get £150m for him at the inflated rates they’ve been offering.
So OG didn’t dash back for the kick-off after scoring. Big deal. Who does? The ref adds on time wasted anyway.
A goal, two assists and a motm performance just isn’t enough for some people.
Time added on for time wasting always annoys me. I reckon that if the team doing the time wasting is trailing at the 90-minute mark then the time they have wasted shouldn’t be added on. Time should only be added for injuries, substitutes etc as usual.
…and if the non-offending team is trailing, obviously.
*that last should be …and for time-wasting if the non-offending team is trailing, obviously.
Fine repot H. I wonder if it would have been the same if your computer had been up and running and would have been completed just after the final whistle? It appears that BTM is easily pleased?
Re the match itself there is little to add. For 70 minutes we were shocking. Yet again we had created very little. We had 4 shots on target all night and 3 of them were goals.
All three goals conceded were poor. Hector was asleep for the first. Xhaka made yet another one of his poor decisions for the penalty. He has great potential but does need to sort out this part of his game.
There are differing views re the third. Was it or wasn’t it a foul? Whatever the answer is, Hector should have dealt with it. He was favourite to get there first and should not allow the opportunity to exist. By his standards he was poor. However, he is one of very few in the squad that has genuine quality and one that could become world class.
If we have genuine aspirations to challenge for the title then this is 2 points dropped. No matter how spirited the last 20 minutes were, this was not a good day at the office.
Some great posts above but I must say that I’m very much with Clive when it comes to Alexis. He is one of only a very few players that we have of genuine quality. He is our stand out player at the moment. I have said for many years now our lack of investment is what will always haunt us. This has gone back for many years now. There is still a vast majority that lambast RVP at every available opportunity. The situation with Alexis could become very similar. His next contract may well be his last really big one. If he decided he wanted to leave then he would have the pick of several clubs that are bigger than us, and have a lot more ambition. I genuinely hope he stays but would not be surprised for one second if he is not here next season.
We are a business and a business that is happy with the money that top 4 brings in. Our ambitions do not stretch beyond that. Anything more than that is a bonus.
Perez,Koscielny , Sanchez and Cech are going to miss Saturday( Perez is injured) , Santi has had a setback and Coquelin will be out for four weeks. See my earlier note on the others.Compare that with our rivals in the title race.
It’s ridiculous and incredibly frustrating
We will struggle to get through at Preston
Our team looks like
Ospina
Bellerin Holding Gabriel Monreal
Xhaka Ramsey
Ox Iwobi Jeff
Giroud
Martinez, Maitland- Niles, BFG, Bielik, Willock, Akpom, Sheaf
Walcott should be back at the weekend I would have thought?
*Sits quietly waiting for some good news.*
TTG@61: If that team you lay out can’t beat PNE then we are in a lot worse shape than we think.
Does anyone actually remember the last time that we had a player out with a long term injury that DIDN’T suffer a setback in their recovery???
Surely loads of next best things available for the weekend? Remember, it’s the way forward.
?
Just caught Arsene’s press conference. It seems our big squad is getting smaller by the minute. TTG’s line-up looks the best available with very little on the bench. Could be a very difficult evening on Saturday!
Let’s hope Mesut, Feo, Danny, Alexis and Kos are available for Swansea and we don’t incur any further casualties at Preston.
It is ironic how some fans who are so swift to throw a strop at the least setback are upset with the manner in which Alexis Sanchez has acted out exactly the same kind of strop because we didn’t win the game. He cares.
When you all become so pessimistic? people believe Manure who we are 2 points ahead can finish above us but don’t believe we can finish above Spurs and City who are only 1 point ahead? come on.
Our FA Cup record against PNE
Mar 1922: Quarter-final. Drew 1-1 at Highbury, lost the replay 2-1. Preston went on to be losing finalists against Herbert Chapman-managed Huddersfield, whose only goal was a penalty.
Feb 1938: Fifth Round. Lost 1-0 at Highbury. Preston went on to win the trophy beating Huddersfield with a penalty in the last minute of extra time in the first FA Cup final to be shown on TV.
Feb 1957: Fifth Round. Drew 3-3 at Deepdale, won the replay 2-1. We went out to WBA, 2-1, in a Sixth Round replay at Highbury.
Jan 1999: Third Round. Won 4-2 at Deepdale after being 2-0 down after 21 minutes. We went out in a Semi-final replay to Man U.
Preston have the same number of points as Fulham and one point more than Aston Villa and Birmingham. In other words not far from being in the Premier League, but we are playing an away cup tie. We should be able to beat them even with that weakened team, but to say we will beat them is quite another story. Can’t think of how many cup ties we lost to Championship (and lower than that) sides in the last few years but the list is longer than I’d like to think about. The deflationary impact on the rest of the season has been considerable with each of these defeats, and we can not afford anything other than an all-out effort this time.
Actually Bt8 while I don’t doubt your premise that it will be a hard game our Cup record is probably the best in the country over the last twenty years. We’ve had very few FA Cup defeats from lower sides. Wenger has never lost in the Third Round and I think only Blackburn as a lower league club have beaten us. I don’t really count the League Cup and we have lost to Bradford and Sheffield Wednesday
Ned and the Monks will have chapter and verse.
In my line-up above we might be able to add Welbeck on the bench and Perez could be fit.
And welcome Cohen Bramall!
Cynic @ 62
Wally update,
He has had his return pushed back a week to the 14th,as has Gibbo.
Per Mert was due back 14th,now out to the 31st.
Premier Injuries website,is the best going round.
As for our Cup tie at Preston in 1999,my Brother tells me they were managed then by one David Moyes.
Don’t think we will risk Hector on Saturday,he was clearly not fit on Tuesday,having picked up a knock against Palace.
3rd round is where you generally get the upsets,so an experienced side will be required to avoid us being one of them.
bt8b@70: In the FA Cup, at least, Wenger’s Arsenal teams have lost only once to a non-Premiership side, Blackburn Rovers in 2012-13.
Season Put out by Round
2015-16 Watford 6th
2014-15 winners
2013-14 winners
2012-13 Blackburn Rovers Last 16
2011-12 Sunderland Last 16
2010-11 Manchester United Last 16
2009-10 Stoke City 4th
2008-09 Chelsea Semi-finals
2007-08 Manchester United Last 16
2006-07 Blackburn Rovers Last 16
2005-06 Bolton Wanderers 4th
2004-05 winners
2003-04 Manchester United Semi-finals
2002-03 winners
2001-02 winners
2000-01 Liverpool Final
1999-00 Leicester City 4th
1998-99 Manchester United Semi-finals
1997-98 winners
1996-97 Leeds United 4th
The record in the League Cup is a bit spottier — Sheffield Wed, Bradford City and Burnley come to mind — but we usually play a kids-heavy team in that competition.
TTG@71: at your service…
Preview part 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Clive, the 1999 Preston cup tie also afforded a rare glimpse of Alberto Mendez, a German midfielder who managed just 11 appearances, five off the bench, in his five-year Arsenal career. Mendez was taken off in the 70th minute to be replaced by Fabian Caballero, a Argentine on loan who made three subs appearances in his Arsenal sojourn, but never started a game.