Morning all.
Well that was a very different game to our last Premier League match and to be fair, we knew it would be. Watford don’t concede many goals at home and certainly not three in one match. Not until yesterday anyway.
The home side were organised at the back, strong in midfield and up front, had their attacking players been wearing their shooting boots, the result may have been a little different. Saying that, our boys didn’t have theirs on either. There were a few dodgy moments at the back, with Merts, Cech and Koscielny fluffing their lines but the Frenchman also showed his class with a number of key clearances.
We enjoyed much of the possession but couldn’t take advantage… But that possession was causing Watford problems, not so much football wise but in their legs and as the second half played out, fatigue kicked in. I don’t know how many international players Watford have but I doubt many, if any, had played as many games recently as the likes of Ozil, Cazorla, Sanchez etc, nor travelled as many miles but as our boys soldiered on, the opposition wilted. That’s when we took advantage with three goals to secure a good away victory which keeps us two points behind City.
The first of the bunch came from Alexis Sanchez just after the hour mark – Ozil, Sanchez and Cazorla exchanged passes before Ozil was tripped in the box by Ikechi Anya. No penalty given but it mattered not as Sanchez fired home the loose ball. Perhaps Mike Jones played the advantage…. 😉
Capoue had a moan at the ref after Alexis scored, claiming he should have been awarded a penalty before we broke away. Mike Jones had made the right decision, although a yellow card for diving would have been appropriate….
Ozil was again involved in our second, the master of assists set up Ollie, who had replaced Theo Walcott just after the first goal and finally, after many chances this season, Aaron Ramsey nabbed his first in the league and our third. A scuff, a bit of a deflection helped him, but I doubt he cares one bit. Neither do I….
All in all a very good result for the team against a very strong and organised defensive Watford side..
Next up, Bayern Munich….
Happy Sunday guys and gals….
Morning all.
Top result.
I was Impressed at how well drilled and organised Watford were, and at half time I was thinking a 0-0 draw could be on the cards, but class prevailed.
We are on a roll.
Morning Rico and all. I see that Stan sported the ‘Silver Fox’ model of syrup yesterday.
I thought Cazorla was brilliant yesterday.
Morning Scott, Adam and all again…
Santi was outstanding… Even Redknapp said so… 😉
Santi is superb.
What a player he has been for us.
What do you two think of Capoue?
Bet ROI are thrilled with the play-off draw for the Euros…
Morning all, he should be “capped”…lol
Rico. I’m glad we never bought him. Big, average skill and never stops bitching.
Hi BT. Long time.:)
Brilliant win from Arsenal & yet another assist from Hector Bellerin.
Kroenke – Not a word from him at the AGM, Chips – threatening to stop the AGM & no justification for the £3m advice fee (as if Arsenal’s majority shareholder treats Arsenal like a client).
Meanwhile Wenger continues to get the blame – the press should really force words out of Kroenke and continue to question Chips as he seemed to be cracking at AGM.
Why didn’t Wenger spend? Because Kroenke wanted the money
Knee capped Bt? 😉
Adam, he certainly looked chunky… lol
Personally I have no issue with Stan taking money out of the ‘business’.
Long summer Adam and still going strong here..
Hope you and Mrs.A. are doing well.
Well he went down like he had been, Rico..
BT. Not bad. It’s been a funny old summer here. Almost moved house, then didn’t. Travelled the Astral plane though. 🙂
Chips should be replaced imo Dave, he’s not the only one either…
He sure did Bt, I thought he’d been shot in the back…
Adam, I don’t think most fan would if the club had spent a bit more in the summer…
Rico. He’s only a doddery old mouthpiece. I doubt he has any real clout. They just fuel him with claret and send him out to talk nonsense once a year.
Good Morning to The Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
Rico – Good summary of the game and a very good game so soon after an international break. Watford did well in the first half to pressure us in possession (67%) and stifle the game. However they couldn’t maintain that pressure for the whole game. You can only chase shadows for so long. Our team were patient, continued to play their game and were eventually rewarded.
All in all, a very good result against a team that don’t concede many goals at home. Team cohesion and confidence continue to grow.
Bellerin was good throughout the game, rode the sliding tackle.block just outside the Watford box well and continues to develop into a very effective and good player. I have a feeling that if we receive a good bid for Debuchy he will be sold and Jenkinson will be repatriated to challenge Hector for the right back position.
Rico. Yes, I get that but I think that was Arsene’s choice. We’ve been there before though. 🙂
I doubt he does either Adam, but like a few, he’s a waste of space on the board…
Morning Cg.. Agree on Debuchy, I think he’ll be gone in the summer if not before…
Arsene’s choice, lack of push from the board, lack of ambition by all..
It’s a vicious circle Adam…. But it all starts at the top imo…
Morning All…
Good summary Rico…
Almost every weekend of football, one of the big four drop points, especially the one playing last if first three had grabbed maximum points…yesterday, City, Man U, Chelsea had easy wins with City the only of the trio conceding a goal.
So before kick off, it pricked my mind that dear Gunners were primed to drop some points if trend was to be maintained…Watford proved they could do just that…some anxious moments in the first half even suggested strongly we could fight from behind. Especially when Aron Ramsey was getting on my nerves with those crazy flicks, losing possession carelessly and scoffing decent chances sky-high. But my country man, Odion Ighalo fluffed a chance he usually buried, thanks to good pressure from Nacho Monreal…and from then on, it became more difficult for the home side.
Bellerin is becoming the most impressive player in the Arsenal fold…of course there’s Sanchez, Ozil, Carzola, Coquelin…but at 20, the flying right back is unbelievable. If he had cost 20 million pounds, the English press would have by now taken note.
And of course, Carzola is the most underrated player in world football…it just pains me he’s already 30…he may not be very actively involved when the nucleus of this team rules Europe.
Giroud? Ever maligned, ever unappreciated…but in few minutes he’s had, he’s scored four goals…being the second highest scorer in EPL since he joined behind only Aguero.
In all, good win yesterday and gradually, AW is proving he knows more than his fans in managing his team. The fans probably didn’t see that the coming of Cech, Bellerin, Coquelin and Gabriel has vastly improved the team that won back-to-back FA Cups.
And may Sanchez’s goal rain continue till next summer.
morning all!
Debuchy is now the second choice for rigth back. This is clear. Probably he wants to play for be in France team for next year. Maybe sell on January. Jenkinson can coma back? I don’t know about his quality.
Mets will be the last season with us. Gabriel will replace him. Kos and Gabriel are our central back.
We need another one next season.
Capoue:Watford stand up when Capoue was in the pitch with strong and resistance. But he slowly the game. He is little agile. I prefer Coquelin.
Again, maybe because I’m not a shareholder but I find it ridiculous that people should question the money given to Stan Kroenke…
It is proof to the world that our club is run transparently to make business returns…his firm spent while we were navigating the later stages of stadium loan and why question harvest time? We’re not run like Chelsea where Big Daddy spends and spends…Arsenal is a business entity not a charity firm.
Afternoon, Although it could of been worse Rico, Bosnia still do have a technical squad and with players like Pjanic and Dzeko, we need to be 100%. A second leg home game a big plus.
Anyway stats getting bandied about suggesting Santi is our most important player at the moment, 90% passing accuracy yesterday, he is certainly playing he,s best football at this stage of his career. He seems to be at the centre of every Arsenal attack and dictates the play in midfield, also staying injury free has been a big benefit to his career, L,M,I,C.
Adam, i’m surprised our paths never crossed, i’ve been on that trip many times..
Nice report Rico. Glad to see we have the patience and the legs to run us full 90mins. That will give us the edge against ‘smaller’ opponents. Santi was immense, Bellerin was at it again…Another win and morale boost for Wenger and his boys.
I don’t mind either Stan being given his due, but can they be a little clear on exactly what “services”or is it “advises” that KSE are offering us?
BT. See you there at about 5 pm this afternoon?
Adam, the way the rugby is going, i might be there well before you….lol
I don’t understand rugby at all BT.
Adam, it’s not for everyone, though football would do well to adopt the use of video replays.
Morning rico and all,
A fine performance by the boys at Watford…Unfortunately I lost my wallet on train back so bitter sweet.
Flores has really drilled his team.
Hey micko, the boys did well considering the casualties they had, just run out of steam
Its down to the footballers now
Stan has about 70% of the shares and has taken £ 6 million so far.Let Usmanov have 2.5million and see if he gives it back. Then we might see where everyone stands.
Morning Rico and fellow HHers.
Morning Ts and all..
I reckon Usmanov would give the money back on the pitch….
Morning All
Morning Rico/ Ginge
More garbage in the Press I see…
Twisting comments to get a reaction and clicks…
Morning Rico, TS and all.
Morning Kev & Adam.
What have they been saying now Kev?
Benzema laughed at the suggestion that he wanted to leave Real Madrid, and frankly why would any footballer want to quit Real or Barca, if they were playing regularly…
So the wankers in the Press twist it to say that Benzema was laughing at Arsenal.
When in fact he was laughing at the ‘wankers’ themselves…
Morning Adam…
Then we get all the rubbish about Arsenal must attack Bayern…
Really???
Well what’s the alternative, staying in the dressing room?
Pillocks…
If only the know it alls were as clever as they think they are eh… Idiots!
And we have to win tomorrow if Arsene wants to progress, so we are hardly likely to sit back and defend….
Back home to blue skies and a crisp morning. No more black cabs for a while now! Good service yet again from the ever reliable London cabbie!
Oh, the press, they have our main man retiring at the end of this season now, because, wait for it, “he said so”. Yeh, right!
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!
Bayern tomorrow? Are we bothered, having started so badly in the CL? Well, yes, actually I am! Shockingly our 4 th place cup may be in danger if the English clubs perform badly again in this year’s competition, as we are in real danger of being reduced to only three participants! So the better we do the safer our fourth place will be. Not to mention a result would further boost our domestic claims on the dream of another EPL title!
Anyway…….morning all.
Just a wee question. Is anyone else experiencing difficulty when refreshing or loading the HH site? Or is it my iPad, playing up again?
Hi Wavy..
I think the problem might be the adverts, I’m considering binning them for a while to see if things improve…
If you do bin the adverts and things my end speed up again I’ll stop blaming BT and their so called “upgrade” in which our connectivity seems to have taken a dive towards the centre of the earth! Slow? I’ve seen faster sloths than our internet, as it has been over the last couple of weeks!
And how much do we pay???
Same problem with me Rico…
Re: refreshing page
Ok Wavy/Kev. I’ll take them off for a few days and see how it goes…
New post up now…