It feels good to win again
There is a simple joy that comes with watching your team win a game of football and we all got to feel that again as Arsenal posted an impressive 2-0 win over West Brom.
There is a simple joy that comes with watching your team win a game of football and we all got to feel that again as Arsenal posted an impressive 2-0 win over West Brom.
Despite a really poor run of results that peaked with abject 2-0 loss to Swansea a week ago, I felt confident going into this game that we would get the job done. I just couldn’t see how our effort and intensity would be as low as it was a week ago and given the rest afforded to a number of the first team mid-week, as well as West Brom’s poor run of form, I felt a win was on the cards.
If it wasn’t for some poor finishing — Gervinho, the excellent Jack Wilshere and Lukas Podolski can all hold their hands up here — the margin would have been greater than the two we managed. Our defence were as solid as they have been all season while the aforementioned Wilshere, as well as a rejuvinated Santi Cazorla and a commandeering Mikel Arteta ensured we held good possession throughout the ninety minutes. It wasn’t a great performance, but a good one at a time when three points was vital.
The big talking point of the game was of course the first penalty decision. I don’t really think there’s much to discuss though: Santi dived, it wasn’t a penalty and that’s life. It’s absolutely shit if you’re a West Brom supporter and I have to admit feeling a little guilty as Arteta whacked home the penalty, but that’s football. I think Santi should be suspended for a couple of games, or something similar, but only if it’s a rule applied consisently. It isn’t, so both life and football goes on.
In my opinion diving is a relatively easy thing to stamp out of the game, it’s just that the authorities are too lazy to do anything about it. All that needs to be done is to ensure the punishment for being found guilty of diving outweighs the potential reward for getting away with it. At the moment a yellow card is a risk worth taking to ensuring the brilliant goal-scoring opportunity a penalty-kick provides, and that won’t change unless something is done. I know there are cultural considerations to take into account but I think they are blown up out of proportion when looking at a solution to a quite frankly annoying part of the game.
As for Arteta’s penalty, you have to take your hats off to him. After missing late on against Fulham he had the balls to step up and got the job done. I thought he might miss, to be honest — and I thought he might miss the second too! — but he won the battle of the minds with Boaz Myhill and a comfortable win was the reward.
As a team we definitely looked fresher and the win, achieved in front of a raucous home crowd, should ease the tensions between fans and the team and, especially, the manager. We’re just two points from fourth spot now and five points from third. First and second look beyond us, unfortunately, but with Champions League qualification assured and two cup competitions to look forward to all’s not lost.
Speaking of one of those domestic cups, we face League Two team Bradford for a place in the semi-final of the Capital One Cup on Tuesday evening. It may not be the most exotic of fixtures but with a genuine chance of silverware at stake and our next game away to Reading not until Monday, I’d like to see the manager play a full-strength team. We have an opportunity to build on the confidence of Saturday and post a dominant performance against Bradford. It would send a message to the other big sides in the draw — such as Chelsea and Swansea — and keep the momentum rolling.
Great post! As sad as it may sound, I will gladly accept just champions league qualification at this point. But as you said, not all is doom and gloom as we can still make it in the Champions League! That’s the biggy right there.
my arsenal team vs bradford: szczesny, meade, verminator, per, jenksinson, arteta, coquelin, ramsey, podolski, rosicky, gervinho
I know that Arsenal have been on the wrong end of some bad decisions for a while BUT i can remember quite a lot that went for us as well, so in this sport you win some you looses some its the plain and simple fact, and until they decide to use technology this will always be the case, HUMAN ERROR.]
BUT what i can’t understand is some people trying to prove that carzola didn’t dive when its so plain to see (on other blogs)
I just hope carzola knows that he is not likely to get a next penalty for while because of his antics.
Sad thing about Cazorla is that he feigned he was in pain. Bad enough diving, but acting up just isn’t on. Then again I guess everyone else does it…. Sport…?????
Ooohh a new post? Thanks for the early Christmas present Andrew!
A win is a win. How many legitimate penalty claims have we had that had been ignored? Dont like to see players diving specially from our own but you need a bit of luck to go up the table. I dont condone it. It just takes the shine out of the performance from the team. Im sure santi got hit by a really sharp grass that caused his legs to buckle.
What impressed me the is the pressing high up the pitch. The willingness to win the ball after losing it is much better from the previous matches. I hope they continue to do that! 3 clean sheets since Szczesny came back shows his importance for our defense.
Yep the dive was embarrassing and his acting Oscar-worthy. Or at the very least, Suarezesque!
I had forgotten about the Bradford game. Would like to see a nice mix of established players with the young German kids and throw in an enigmatic Russian and our hookah-smoking Moroccan. Surely we can’t lose that…?! Anyone happen to now if they are showing it live in Oz?
So, are we feeling optimistic this week or do we need to pop some pills? It’s hard to keep up with this lot:)
It is good to see them win a game. The tempo and energy was much better. Rociski has to start if he is healthy his passing and intelligence on the ball , plus his ability to finish are sorely lacking …
Am not among thsoe taken up by the win. First it was at home and against West Bromwich a side we are expected to beat up on any day. As long as defensive midfiled role is not solved ,we shall continue struggling. Arteta is not Song and will never be.
Despite the three points I still do not think the squad assembled by arsene is good enough to take on the Man u/city or even chelsea. The defence crumbles when under pressure, the midfield of lightweights who cant shirk tackles and less said about the forward line the better. Gervino is rubbish, podolski is a plodder and giroud will never be a rvp. So I still believe gunners to finish without trophy (I dont count capital cup a trophy) for another year.
Well we haven’t wasted any time getting behind to Bradford.
We SHOULD be able to come back for the team is a very strong one.
But…
Just can’t see Gervinho doing anything, think I would rather have Chamakh on
20 minutes remaining and nothing seems to go our way. We just can’t score a goal despite a very strong side playing a championship team. Only a moment of magic by faking a penalty can help
Guys we are facing an embarrassing defeat in our eyes again.
Cant c u loosing, no no no no way
No no mo no no no nooooooooo way
5 minutes 2 go. Shammmmmmbbbbbooooo
C boys, told u all so, no way
Relieved with an equaliser from the captain.Nevertheless we are just hanging on!!
‘
Ice, say it again please
We are likely to go in for nerve breaking penalties.uhhg!!
How about a little… Just a little positive thinking
I can’t believe what am seeing Absolutely shocking, what a strong team we put and we can’t even beat Bradford
regardless of the result this is just unacceptable
Shambo’s post about Gervinho playing while Rosicky (who was hauled off at half-time at Olympiakos) was not made to play a significant part is the main issue here.
We won, good, but? We celebrate winning with two penalties, but, this still means we are tactically bereft and still very predictable. It also means we still cannot score.
Our best midfield in a 4-3-3 is Cazorla, Rosicky and Wilshere/Arteta. But, if Cazorla is deployed as a right or left wing forward, then the later three can take care of the midfield. The other front two are undoubtedly Podolski and Walcott. This is our best team for now.
Oh no shammmmmmbbooooo
Nooooooooooooo shambbbbnnnooooooo no no no no no nnnnnnoooooo
Well, Wenger set us up to lose today yet again. What happened to Rosicky starting? Why does Ramsey have to start these matches?
We played very well, but like I always say “Wenger is tactically naive’. This game should have been done and dusted by 1st half of extra time, talkless of letting the game reach penalties(a big gamble).
Wenger has to learn to start with his strongest team(and stop experimenting) and kill off the games he wants to win FIRST before any other thing. It is so unprofessional for a coach to keep on doing this year in year out. This is a real embarassment to the likes of Cazorla etc, the champs league team would’ve certainly done better
Im fuckingggggggg shattered. Pls get rid of dat man Wenger.
Headlines,it feels bad to lose again
Don’t blame da players play da manager
Wenger 8-2 wasn’t enough 4 him 2 b sack. Now can’t win again 2nd league team 65th below us,he just like taking arsenal down da toilet,wenger there da door,go threw it and don’t let it slam behind u!
He’s lost the fans and probably the dressing room and almost certainly Walcott as a result. It’s time but who can replace him?? It’s not that easy. I’d love to see Pep in there but he’ll want investment. If Wenger’s lack of investment is down to the board, the new manager won’t have any money either.
I don’t think Wenger deserves to go in disgrace which is what this is. He still wants to bring Henry back shortly and apparently make a few inquiries in the Jan window. I don’t know, I’m at a loss. I don’t think we can be any lower as a club. We’ve got the players in Podolski and Walcott to win games but he refuses to put them up front together. In fact neither play as a forward. Criminal. It’s just poor organisational management.
Jm never talking bout arsenal or arsene again.. Cant take it any more. Bye all, off to Upton park 4ever. Shamachk, ,,,,, cant even spell da f ing name
Davem and u dont think Wenger should not go. Eas money but wont invest in a diff type of player. Can u hear me out there, if so say yes Ice we can. E needs 2 go cause e wont LEARN. Out out out. Im off
Wenger…….. Iys not through lack of quality, da players gave everything & showed spirit. Its all very hard 2 take. Dats English cup football
My first comment was supposed to be comment #3. Tis good to see Wilshere perform wonderfully in DM.
@davem – Wonderful comment…. “I don’t think Wenger deserves to go in disgrace which is what this is. I don’t think we can be any lower as a club. We’ve got the players in Podolski and Walcott to win games but he refuses to put them up front together. In fact neither play as a forward. Criminal. It’s just poor organisational management.”
Did you notice the midfield was dynamic when Cazorla and Rosicky were interchanging? But every other person refused to get involved, rather they WAITED for through balls to the flanks. This is the period others should make runs into the box while the striker runs out(for either a pass to him or a through ball to the runners-in), the flanks occupied by only the full backs while the defenders stay with their strikers(and foul immediately a ball is looped over).
This is what i’ve been complaining about since, not the fact that we play beautifully, but the fact that we are not ruthless anymore. Now, we needed our full squad and more than 80 mins of football to score against such inferior opposition.
We had FABs and Nasri, but there was no striker then. When they left VP entered superlative form, but only Song was left in midfield. It cracked, the MIDFIELD cracked, but Wenger refused to fix it (buy or have ready adequate replacements) and everyone started saying our defense was bad, etc.
Mertesacker has not changed in the way he plays till today, neither has Vermaelen. Our main problem is experiments, Wenger experiments a lot. Did we see Coquelin today? If he had started that boy from the beginning of the season, he would have gained a lot of confidence by now. But no, continue relying on the disastrous Ramsey from last season(4-0 to Milan).
Like davem also acknowledged, Walcott is our best bet for a CF position(I dont know why Podolski does not start in CF for us either). It baffles me why the experimenting or favouritism is still so severe after the lessons of last season. My God, I forgot we never learn. How on earth does Gervinho take the CF position while Podolski is in the same team? What sort of sick coach is that? Right now, Roberto Di Matteo, anyone with a simple brain can coach this same team to winning this league. We CERTAINLY have the talent to do it, but we have a coach who seems to pity the opposition. We have a coach who seems to want to make the match look even or make it look as if we have worked very hard for the win. This is pure bullshit cos I would like us to be more direct, but unpredictable with our tactics. Right now, we are as predictable as the rising sun. How many times have I said Cazorla was the best shooter in Spain from outside the box, but in Arsenal we dont let him shoot. We dont play to the strengths of our best players except he is a striker. We are rudderless on the pitch and a lack of change of tactics midway into the half means we do not train on tactics. We just train possession unlike “I need you to be here when so-so guy is there” ect.
Let this guy go and stop bothering if Guardiola is gonna need money. Pep or RDM can still win the league with this same set of guys, i know they are very thorough tactically.
We needed penalties to win an ordinary West Brom and “All hail Wenger”. Shame on you guys.
http://www.goal.com/en-my/news/3890/england/2012/12/05/3578246/former-arsenal-midfielder-stewart-robson-i-would-have-sacked
Ice, gunnerboss, kel…..
Iv finally cracked it, the reason Wenger constantly buys and fields these Gervinhos and Chamakhs….some member of the playing staff has a big bonus in his contract if we win a trophy and prudent economist Mr Wenger has decided theres no way the club will pay a bonus like this it could send us down the leeds road!!!!Im not fear mongering Im being straight up, that man Wenger knows his stuff when it comes to being frugal. As soon as this unnamed player is gone..(theo walcott) then will Wenger start signing quality again and playing suitable formations for different tactical eventualities.
I see it so clearly now it never was Le Profs fault it was all in the clubs interest to continue to bomb time and again.
Well in Arsene I trust and I cant wait for Walcott to be gone and for him to tell Gervinho to stop pretending to be dreadful now and play football for real.
IN ARSENE AND IVAN I TRUST!
That is where I disagree with people like Gunnerboss. Wenger IMO should go because of the decisions He has made for the last 7 years.
These players are not good enough whether they are coached by pep or we will struggle to win.
Our wingbacks are mediocre , no defensive midfielders, mediocre forward line compare to Man U or city’s
My lost of confidence in Wenger was cemented when he brought players Sylvestre ,squillacci or Chamakh
Ramsey was absolutely shameful yet again. Please Wenger ship him off in January. Ox was terrible too. I challenge you to find one useful thing he did since he came on besides netting the penalty.
@Gunner boss, i have read the link and feel there is nothing new the former player has analysed.Its the obvious order of the day with Wenger.
I dont know why he can’t gracefully resign.We the fans have failed to play our part. At the moment i wouldn’t mind finishing out of the top four But as long as Wenger is not the coach any more. He has no tactical acumen or game plan at all.To me Vermalen looks the most rubbish un inspiring captain to grace Arsenal of recent. Sorry to him that his tenure was during the diminishing returns of a senile coach like Wenger who seems to know of any better life out of the Emirates.What annoys me most is that he has never shown his tactical prowess at all that even young managers like Dimateo could do the unthinkable and win the Champions league something that has eluded and given Wenger nightmares to even think about.I have now just started hating the man because he surely doesn’t know what he is doing ,doesnt know the history and passion of arsenal and doesn’t think arsenal has a name to protect. I still think he continues to get it wrong without Song’s replacement. Even if he bought players in January without a defensive midfielder he will have solved nothing at all. I ACTUALLY THINK STEVE BOULD COULD WIN THE UCL with this squad if given chance. why not if RDM did it.ALL WE NEED IS CHANGE AND OUR FORTUNE WILL RETURN IMMEDIATELY. Most of our players are by all standards good apart from a few but Wenger doesn’t know that. HE MUST GO. STOP WATCHING THOSE MATCHES WITH HIKED TICKETS just to watch a rubbish of a game with a mad coach.
.. and then you feel the same like before …
the picture represents Arsenals position I fear , they’re not on ‘eye high’
I’m not capable of analysing the problems, I just feel football and it’s a lot of frustration with the Arsenal
Andy wat sort of message does it send 2 other big clubs
@Gunfest – Believe me sincerely, I think you are wrong here this once. When RDM took over, he fielded who he felt was necessary tactically and they won. Are you trying to tell me we CANNOT field an 11+3 good substitutes capable of winning this league? I sincerely doubt that.
First of all, the back four has NO PROBLEMS. Our back four has NEVER had problems, the problem lies in the one who sees us concede in the same manner game after game after game, BUT NEVER tries to correct it in training. Rather, he continues more vigorously on previous training and the result is that we keep conceding the very same way every time.
I remember when Anelka was striking for us, almost the whole team would pretend to be on the backfoot, but Bergkamp will be waiting to receive the ball to release Anelka on a murderous counter attack each time. I want that same Arsenal back. Are you saying if we play that tactic, we would have no one in the team to strike? If Podolski cannot run onto such balls, then Walcott would have no problems doing that. Are you saying if Arshavin or Rosicky cannot release the striker on an inch perfect through ball, that Cazorla would not be able to do it? What else remains if this aspect is settled? The rest is very easy, but first things first…..ALL THE BALLS FROM MIDFIELD GO TO CAZORLA. This is just the simple tactic here. You foul him, we get free kicks. We get free kicks, we mount pressure and with pressure comes confidence, with confidence, you can do anything on that pitch.
Now, let me use yesterdays game as an example.
Do you notice that the midfield was doing fine until he pulled out Coquelin for Chamakh? Not that I have anything against this, it would have still had the same effect with any other midfielder4CF substitution. So, we lost the midfield momentarily until he made the double substitutions. That little time inbetween substitutions was valuable cos he seemed to want to win it, so why hesitate to make the double substitution first?
But, first of all, I would’ve started Rosicky. Giving Ramsey game time at the expense of Rosicky or Arshavin or the Ox when you want to win does not make any sense at all.
Secondly, Podolski would have been my CF, since Walcott is unavailable. Do you know what difference this would have made?
Infact, we are way much much better than we are organised to play. A Rosicky and Cazorla combo is a dream for the AM position, if we let Wilshere play as a DM and Arteta as a CM just in front of him, then we have only two spots upfront to worry about. One would undoubtedly be taken by Podolski, while a support striker or L/R winger takes the other. If you can fill in the blanks, you know we have real quality. Cazorla does fine playing on either wing, so if Walcott were to be the support striker or R winger, I would let Rosicky be the more central AM, while Cazorla would shift a little to the left(cos he is very comfortable with both feet).
You can see we have real quaility already, but Wenger sticks to Giroud(not that i have anything against him) for CF to suicidal effect. Reason is we do all the playing, but we go forward and waste it time after time after time. No rewards for their toil, do you now how demoralizing this could be?
For example, RDM analysed that majority of the goals scored by Torres in Liverpool was by through-balls or long-balls from the deep(eg Xabi Alonso). He found out he has no such players with that technique in his current squad and decided to try some other tactic. They were impatient especially cos Torres was the sacrifice and sacked the man.
SO, WHY CANT THIS MAN JUST DO THE RIGHT THING FOR ONCE? Afterall, no one will sack him.
http://www.goal.com/en-my/news/3957/league-cup/2012/12/12/3596731/bradford-defeat-the-lowest-moment-of-wengers-fading-arsenal
Simply devastating
How true is this?
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/arsenal-tracking-celta-vigo-star-iago-aspas-3686371
This would be an excellent signing for 8mil. He is a bit VP-like with uncanny finishing ability. Would Wenger play to this guys strengths if we get him is another cup of tea entirely?
@Gunnerboss , you and I will agree to disagree on this point. IMO no coach could win the EPL with these players.
Comparing with Chelsea last year is interesting, RDM might not have a lot of talent , but he had a tough minded group of players with a never die attitude. We do not have a player like Drogba to play route 1 football as they did to win the CL.
you guys think think this is bad, hold onto your seats , you ent see nothing yet
its going to get worst for sure.
two things are going to come out of this mess, its either wenger destroys Arsenal or Arsenal destroys wenger
too much lies.
Indeed Kel , I agree ! By the time Wenger leaves or is fired Arsenal will be in shambles!
To think it all seemed so promising with the three new players and Steve Bould in the beginning of the season. Sigh.
Guys, the time has come. Arsene Wenger will be leaving anytime now. Lets take a few moments to remember his past achievements for us. Although I fully agree he has to go, it is still a very sad sight for he is forever a legend at the club. Thanks Wenger, we will never forget you.
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/arsenal-players-want-wenger-abandon-pretty-football-3690461#.UMmPOeThoe8
http://www.skysports.com/skysportsnews/story/0,28679,19494_8328434,00.html
Finally, someone with the blinkers off
The Capital One Cup loss to Bradford is certainly one of the lowest points as a Gooner in the last few years which has been full of far too many lows.
While you still have to play the game on the pitch and not on paper (cliches are such because they are true) and while I give Bradford great credit for taking what I assume is still a prized scalp in football, there is just no excuse or explanation for this result from our players or manager.
I hear one of the Bradford lads earns 200 quid a week? Compare that to the weekly wages of any of our players who could not or would not show up to play.
We’ve spent near $40 million on three players in recent years when you add up Nasri, Arshavin and Gervinho. One left as a hated a mercernary, the other is a zombie who is going through the motions of imitating a live footballer and and the other is a headless chicken who is all motion but no results.
We have come to a strange, sad point in our once storied history and no amount of money or new signings in January will turn around 2012-2013 for us IF the existing players and management don’t somehow get on the page.
Do you remember the young Elvis Presley? The cat who could sing anything from gospel to rockabilly to country to blues and who purred with silky menace as someone truly revolutionary and dangerous and conquered the world? Do you remember Viera, Pires, Bergkamp and Henry?
No one wants to remember the “other” Elvis. The fat, drugged out cabaret Las Vegas performer mumbling through “My Way” for old fans paying outrageous prices.
That’s the Arsenal we have now with Wenger as Col. Tom Parker and a bunch of out-of-sorts Elvis’ who don’t know what they’re doing.
Guys , If any of you here for one moment feel wenger will walk away you have another thing coming, If you feel the board will sack him your even more crazy, Remember the board have a new contract on the table for him and they are waiting for a good run of form to start talking about it
Under the current conditions he will surly see out his contract
He may walk when the contract end and that’s a may, the power he has @ Arsenal he will never have anywhere else in his life and people who have power never want to give it up.
The only way he can be remove now is by the Fans not going to the games and am afraid that won’t happen because for every one person who wants a change there are 2 others who want it as it is.
I meet some Arsenal supporters yesterday after the bradford game and they don’t care about the results, all they care about is the club is financially stable and that noone else can replace wenger so to me its split down the middle.
The way the team is playing now i expect one of these midtable clubs to beat us 5 nill and really show how far we’ve fallen because regardless of all the results excuses will be made.
@realistic Gooner
Stewart Robson has a vendetta against Arsenal. He was a terrific young player at one time, but he got a touch of the Diabies and was sold to West Ham. Not sure if that’s his problem, but it does effect his credibility. What he says may or may not be true, but I would take anything from him with a pinch of salt
1999.
Serie A heavyweights Juventus, due to their shortsightedness in not allowing Thierry Henry to play up front where he knew his destiny was, moved to Arsenal as a forward.
The rest is history.
2013
Premier League heavyweights Arsenal, due to their shortsightedness in not allowing Theo Walcott to play up front where he knew his destiny was, moved to Chelsea as a forward.
The rest is history.
Literally, Wenger is going to ‘out Wenger’ himself. How ironic that he had THAT vision all those years ago but now can’t see past the end of his nose.
@Davem, I think the analogy is flawed. Henry had pace combined with fantastic skill and technique. And vision. I don’t see any of those qualities in Theo I’m afraid except for the pace.
Having said that I think its worth giving him a run up front and centre because he has to be better than Gervinho!
The sad truth is our squad is half decent, one quarter average and one quarter dead wood. Until there is a serious clean out I don’t think any manager/coach would be able to do better. But Wenger is responsible for bringing them in so we are screwed! For another year at least.
I don’t mind the finishing 4th and not winning cups as long as we were competitive but we haven’t been for the last three seasons and there is no sign of improvement which is really sad. I feel sorry for Wenger as he had a great record and legacy which is getting more eroded and forgotten with each fucking miserable performance. But you do get the sense that his time has come and we need a change.
OK I am rambling now as I have had too much vino colapso.
Andrew – time for a new post!
@Terry, you and I have often disagreed, but your analysis is spot on in this post. It is not about formation or tactics, it is the lack of quality in this team compare to our main rivals.
@kel , agree , but the fans can make him leave if they turn against him at the Emirates and ask him to leave. He is stubborn , but he has pride if he feels unwanted , he would leave.
After Arsene leaves, I would still love and respect him for what he has done at Arsenal. Change is good too, it is scary at times , you are not too sure what will happen. It is true whether you are running a company, a country or a sport team.
Yes there is risk involve, but without it there is no progress.
There was risk in traveling to the moon, crossing the Atlantic for the first time, there was a risk in thinking that human beings would want to buy and own a personal device called a “computer” .
There have been a few humiliating defeats in the last few years, but none come close to Fergie taking pity on us and him saying nice things about Wenger because he is no longer a threat or a rival. Indeed ,it is time for a change because I want Fergie to fear and hate us again!
Guys, any of you know when diaby’s contract ends
am really waiting see what they do with him his injury record is worst than RVP, Jesus!!!!!!!!!
Yes, Terry’s analysis is okay. But, let us NEVER forget one thing, we played some very dangerous counter attacking football then. What is the greatest weapon to counter attack? Speed. Walcott is selling speed to Ferrari.
Henry was already a world cup winner when he came. I loved him so much at the world cup. But, his form and confidence really picked up when he came here mainly because of the regular game time. Never underestimate that. So, Walcott can be better than Henry. Game time given to useless(sorry) Gervinho and Giroud is part of the wasted years we have certainly accumulated these past three years. Ramsey and Diabys game time have most definitely accounted to more than half of the wasted years. What a waste of time and talent on the bench
@GUNNERBOSS- your blogs are very interesting,but I am not sure when you came aboard this arsenal ship with its up and downs but I am getting sick and tried of explain to your guys that oliver giroud has been fed scraps by rubbish midfielders who continue to cross the ball poorly, some time ago we didn’t have striker a becoz rvp was injured not sure what happen to chamakh must of went a.w.o.l,we had to use mini arshavin which was soften by da tall epl defenders we were desperate for a tall powerful striker by pundits and fans,now when we get that opportunity of having that sort of striker we start complaining,yes his not thierry henry wit da pace and curling da ball,but let’s rememba thierry neva blast da ball neva was in da box for corners to head and mostly score goals through his legs also was not great wit holding up da ball for others to get forward,rememba when a team closes da angles down to get da ball in the net,our number one aim is to cross and who was it to recognize for heading it wasn’t henry certainly
Why do these fools always say its sad to see wenger leave,we can’t get rid of wenger now until da end of da season,arsenal will get off da ground wit wenger!what sissy talk!!
Guys we need to grow a pair of balls,there is life after wenger it might not seem rosy at first but things can’t be bad
as its seem now we all need to touch da water to get to da other side of da land when there is no other way to get there!
Has wenger came out and said I feel so sorry for fans to pay high ticket prices to watch shit players play my bad decision making on and off da pitch and arrogant ways,lies,don’t care attitude,NO becoz thats da bastard that he is!
When is it da last time we felt like a side that wouldn’t have faults like mans and barcs when taking on da middle and bottom teams until these years without these household names leaving realizing wenger has no interest in winning with changing tactics and taking things seriously
@Terry&Gunnerfest.. Its not about the tactics but the quality. I personally disagree and think the tactical incompetence exhibited by Wenger and being one dimensional explains his failure to win any thing in the last 8 years.I feel he can be a super coach for Barcelona who know of nothing other than attacking due to their superior quality.Wenger is so irritating that he never positively experiments. RDM took Chelsea to the UCL finals using literally everything in their power. What did Wenger do the last time arsenal played at the UCL finals against Barca. Absolute rubbish and no game plan. For crying out loud even Mighty Ferguson and Man United two seasons ago with the likes of Nasri,Fab,V.persie was always cautious playing counter attacking football both at Emirates and O.T. Fergie does his home work and gives teams repect. A stupid Wenger will never do that. All he knows is passing the ball.We loose games due to the stupidity of the Manager. Believe me that squad has enough quality to compete in the top four. I have seen a good Manchester city side being dominated throughtout by teams like swansea but after 90 minutes they get three points. Steve Bould will do the job well if given the chance and his body language shows he is dominated by Wenger in all decision making which are 95 percent wrong. We need our team back and i hope P.S.G come calling for him to go. We are tired of RUBBISH on the pitch.
@12thMan – I’ve tried to dissuade people from disliking Arshavin all to no avail. I remember he scored four against Liverpool. You don’t score 4 for Arsenal playing for Arsenal unless you are gifted with accuracy.
Some people also disliked Song because they felt he was going forwards too much last season. Did we not have a coach last season? How many games did Song repeatedly go forward? Did we have a coach during all those games?
Now back to Arshavin. Do you know that he was Russia’s MVP during EURO 2008? Where was he played? Where is Arshavin naturally suited? Whenever we complain, this is what I see. Someone played out of position to reduce his efficiency.
Did we watch the last EUROs also? He was devastating. Point is this guy can do better for us. We(Wenger) are not utilizing him efficiently. Gervinho as CF ring a bell?
WENGER MUST GO.I JUST CAN’T LISTEN TO ANYTHING FROM HIM. GUYZ IS PEP .G.COMMING??
@Terry
mate, my analogy is not flawed. Henry took 8 games to notch his first goal for us and in that time people were asking if he was the right kind of player up front for us. I think Walcott needs some solid game time up front without being dropped or pushed out wide again. Walcott CAN finish, but we have only seen him do this briefly cos of the madness of playing him out wide when he can’t cross for a toffee. I’ll say this, no single defender in the Prem wants to see Walcott as the CF.
I have read a lot comparison between Henry and Walcott.
This is purely insane talk , Henry was the most technically gifted player of his generation aside from Zidane!
Walcott ‘s technical ability is average at best , his link-up play poor. How many times have we watched him run straight into a defender because because he had no clue what to do.
Walcott is a good finisher and could become a very good one if he is consistent .
To end all this madness , I wish Wenger would play him at CF for a couple games.
Do you know any of the top 4 team that would play him as a CF ? None ! I don’t think he could crack the first 11 of any of them.
Theo has pace and good finishing, he has been been at Arsenal for many years… To fair his skills have improved ball control and passing. He is a good asset for us .
Walcott’s insistence in playing CF or else , tell us more about the lack of quality and the sad state of affairs at Arsenal than Theo’s ambition…believe me he would not demand of Fergie or Mancini to play CF!
Monday da 17th,as much as i want beloved arsenal too win my hatred 4 wenger overwhelm me becoz I don’t see y somebody who upsets just about everyone can patch it with a reading win and everything is just rosy and da wenger philosophy is safe until another defeat comes about, reading did make a fight out of it against manu so it will not be a walk in the park,I serious don’t like this that wenger can hold da club hostage for us to feel guilty and support them which is our duty,hope da black scarfs and wenger out campaign are all warm up this one!
however good or bad the game is the hands of a team coach. Wenger could not compete with the modern football and it affects a few bad games this year, which resulted in empty title. however arsenal is not a small team which is sad as the other team is always striving to avoid relegation, the arsenal is a great team that has a name in the world, with huge assets, many fans around the world, and the arsenal also did little to pay transfer in recent years. much more competitive squad arsenal Wenger unfortunately only poor in giving tactics, also less able to increase mentality of players, and also did not want to risk buying a sloppy player, but players like that are typical of the mentality of steel players. Wenger obtaining and maintaining the ability of good players but often injured, it’s very harmful. despite it all arsenal boards are also guilty of not understanding the football, and how could not love arsenal,and let arsenal with such deplorable conditions. thanks for his memory was invincible and all of Wenger, but I have to say .. Wenger’s time away from the arsenal. do or do nothing .. in order to achieve success we have to go through the misery. so enough misery and we have to recruit a new coach next season, and hopefully not pep, because it will make the game very boring. somehow also a football team without a title is not football ..
Come on Dutch, get yer priories straight The Arsenal go before everything no matter how lame,conceded and peevish our manger is.
Goal! Podolski. (what I tell ya?)
Finally, a SANE Wenger
The team has huge huge potential. Anyone silly enough to understand and harness this CANNOT wait two seasons before winning a title.
Dissappointment yet again with the timing of the subs and the way the subs were used. I think Rosicky should’ve started or at least come on early (64min) and/or probably Gervinho for Chamberlain. Then, any other person could come on later. Henry used to play full 90. Why stress Podolski today?
Did we see Henry on the pitch today? Well, if he is played there regularly, then he can be better than Henry.
Cazorla unleashed with ç
Don’t you love supporting this club? It’s all gloom and doom and wrist slashing one week and the next week you’re face down in a bucket of coke and you’re swinging from the chandeliers again!
And then Kel will come on and tell us that it is only Reading who are shit and our defence is still crap, Wenger is an idiot and around we go again and you’re back into what passes for Arsenal reality!
It was nice to see some fluid attacking again (I know it was only Reading), Cazorla took his goals well and looked like the Cazorla of a month or two ago (I know it was only Reading) and Wilshire and Arteta finally looked like they worked out they were on the same team and passed the ball to each other (I know it was only Reading!). Not convinced by Walcott but Podolski looked sharp and scored a great goal.
The less said about the defending the better though. I thought we were nailed on to keep a clean sheet but no, they manage to fuck up and gift a couple of goals. Someone should tell them there is still a week to Christmas.
Speaking of which, merry Christmas to you all. I am away for a month camping in this great southern land of ours and will be not able to watch football again until late January. I wonder if Andrew will get a new post in before then!
@ Terry
Hope you enjoy your camping.
Arsenal mush which every team in the EPL is as SH*T as Reading!!!!
But honestly how could i take this win serious???? Reading where rubbish THEY gave Arsenal soooooooo!!!!!! much room it ent funny
I now pick reading to get relegated for sure just i as i picked blackburn last season.
Arsenal are too easy to beat, reading did not do their home work,
All you have to do is to mark the fullbacks mark arteta and let the centerbacks bring the ball and were dead.
BUT a win is a win and wenger says Arsenal silenced the critiques
every time he opens his mouth after a win we loose the next game, can’t this man just shutup and do some coaching.
There is surely nothing to read into the reading win.Conceeding 2 goals showed how rubbish we are.But i loved Podolski and Walcotts pereformances.Only 10 consecutive wins in the league will bring back our confidence.
We’ll be MORE rubbish after we sell Theo next week
@Terry – That’s why i mentioned already ,this season will be a roller coaster.
I would personally like walcott to stay and hope board or manager takes care of it ,as this lad has shown clinical finishing this season , which is lacking in our current squad .
Glad to see the fluid passing again and players working their socks off when they misplaced their pass rather than stranded complaining.
But still i don’t think they got their act together and will be punished from better teams.In Rosicky and Wilshere we have players who can inspire the team and other players should follow them.
We can have a better season if manager focuses on winning games by focusing on teams strength or tactics , rather than his experimentation or training players for future or disturbing players mentality by playing them in different positions or favoring players with game time.
Hope the manager days are counted , if he is not ready to take a lesson.
I still believe players have the potential to excel , but with lack of game time together and time for adaptation to the league they still are not at their best.
Interesting , Wenger should continue with theses players for a few games and see by January if we improve.
Tactically, WEnger’s approach to the games , or coaching have not change for 15 years .
What I hold against him, he has been a terrible judge of talent in the last 7 years and transfer policies shocking.
Basically handing the title to Manu by selling them RVP is criminal, I would take less money for him , but not sell him to our rivals!!!
@Gunfest it’s not Wenger’s fault that RVP wanted to leave, you can’t stop a player who want’s to change , it was ungrateful from RVP, he was injured for a long time, got his wages all time long, played one excellent season and left, he could have shown more appreciation for the believe in him
@billi , it was not Wenger ‘s fault that RVP wanted to leave? I beg to differ
1- if he had shown RVP that he had ambition to win and he would bring in for example Carzola , I believe RVP would have stayed. Wenger waited until it was clear that RVP that was resigning then went to Giroud ,Podolski and Carzola.
2-he DID not have to sell him to Manu. I would have sold him to Italy , Spain even for less money.
Selling him to Manure was criminal in my opinion.
@gunfest and billi, I’ve collected many great Arsenal shirts over the years. It’s a collection that I’m very proud of. Adams, Wright, Merson, Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira, Pires, Freddie, Fabregas (including my prized Rocastle shirt) and including RVP. And you had to have been a legend for me to have a name on the back. NOT Cole or Nasri for example. However my RVP shirt is the only one that I’ll NEVER wear again. It sticks in my gut that he went to Man U. Ok so Nasri and Cole went for the money and the glory too, however it’s a transfer to Man U that is the worst. Only because over the last 20 years it has been Man U that we have had the biggest battles with. Man City and Chelsea are still new money for me and I don’t really care about those fixtures as much as Man U.
However, I can’t really see where my next legend shirt is coming from. This current crop is just not up there enough. Additionally, I just don’t want to give my money to the Arsenal coffers at the moment. Not until they start realising what the fans are going through. Not until Arsenal start to attract world class players again. I’m literally going to buy a non-official shirt and leave it blank. I hate doing that cos the name always makes a shirt. A shirt is just a shirt. The player’s name date stamps the shirt.
Hmmm, not happy
What the hell is Arsenal doing !!!!!!
If these wages are true, How the hill does Ox get £60 000, so far I’v not seeing anything from him to even begin to talk top class he just looks a very average player to me, Jack isn’t that bad BUT again what has he done to justify £80 000
Why are we putting ourselves in these positions?????
Yes!!! i agree with renewing their contracts, i have no qualms with that BUT we’re paying them too much money.
It appears that we haven’t learnt anything because if they flop how do we sell????
and based on the past there is a BIG possibility they will.
This club continues to gift wrap money to these players when they haven’t done too much, Tell me what have they done?? Have they been good week in week out??
have we been winning things???
This is one of the main reasons our wage bill is so high and its not justified
English players have a big flop history At Arsenal, i don’t have to name BUT wenger has totally lost it.
OX= Average
Ramsey= no comment
Jenks= average
Wilshire=above average BUT noway in hell worth £80 000 a week YET
By the way chelsea BEAT the living daylights out of leeds, a real professional job, no excuses
@davem, I hate manure with a passion and you are right Ashley Cole is a defender not impact player and Nasri was overrated . RVP , that’s painful !
@kel, that is exactly the main issue, the mismanagement of Arsenal. High wages for average players, too many players who have no business wearing an Arsenal jersey collecting these types of money.
The best of all our thrifty manager earns over 7.5 mil pounds per year. He is one the top 5 earning managers in the world imagine that…
ARSENAL VS BAYERN MUNICH. Guys we are already out of Europe even before we start. No dreams or miracles whatsoever.
The salaries da players r reported 2 h commanding r greatuly blown out of proportion. Its spun by da media, I ave inside contact, so dont waste yr energy windind yr self up mate. Focus on da goings on with Usmanov and da board shutting im out. Wat do u fink @shambo. E said Wenger was wrong 2 let RVP go.
@shambo its 7pm in da eve & ralksport radio r talking bout Usmanov wanting 2 b allowed 2 take ovr & stare da club in a dif direct’n but b ing shut out. Wenger will never leave AFC.
My main problem is his substitutions. He seems to have a fair understanding of who should be picked for the first eleven.
Secondly, we should be more professional with our concentration levels. We shouldn’t/cannot afford flicks and silly tricks when we are 2-0 up first half. Dribbles are okay, but to try something you are not sincerely sure of the outcome especially against another top team means stupidity.
If we could be getting punished for that by smaller teams, i dont see how we will escape from such mistakes by a bigger team.
Bayern, bayern, bayern……Well, I’m optimistic about this one. Cheers to a quarter final qualification.
My main problem is his substitutions. He seems to have a fair understanding of who should be picked for the first eleven.
Secondly, we should be more professional with our concentration levels. We shouldn’t/cannot afford flicks and silly tricks when we are 2-0 up first half. Dribbles are okay, but to try something you are not sincerely sure of the outcome especially against another top team means stupidity.
If we could be getting punished for that by smaller teams, i dont see how we will escape from such mistakes by a bigger team.
Bayern, bayern, bayern……Well, I’m optimistic about this one. Cheers to a quarter final qualification then
@Gunfest o.k., I can understand that, but I don’t know if Wenger really can influence where a Player goes
It makes me laugh when u boys keep going on bout players leaving jus 4 da money shit, cause most/all players who join AFC r rewarded wid a larger package than their previous club. Do they all come just 4 da money? I would say more so in da last 5 years cause AFC have wan Jack shit of late. Most Asnl players leave aftr they r financially secure and then want cups & silverware so they go to clubs that try more than AFC to obtain them. So pls change yr tune.
Jonny Evans signed a new deal with MU and its worth about 50k
Ferguson says he has improved.
I only hope that rumors of Jack, Ox and gibbs 0n 80, 60, 60 per week respectively are rumors, because if that’s true then GOD help us
Mu have better players than we do on lesser wages, so how do we come up with these wages for very average players.
By the way the MAU fans think he should be on 20 so GOD knows what he was on before.
wenger take heed…
@kel
Unites wage bill is significantly higher than Arsenals. If we lost a player like Wilshire you would be the first to complain
3 points,3rd place and a clean sheet.
Well it’s an improvement but you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t do back-flips yet.
This is evolving collection of players of various calibres under fragile and peevish management.
This is NOT yet a team.
As I av said da team r always capable of putting a run 2gether & with da last few teams played I expect nothing less. Its still disappointing when AFC struggle against teams like Wigan who r @ da foot of da table. Da run will come 2 an end when stronger teams r played. Hopefully im proved wrong. AFC’s wages r not as high as people say, its hipe because Arsene runs a very tight ship.
Whats occuring with this site, it’s about time for some fresh talking topic.