Match Preview

Fitness concerns for Ozil, Podolski & Mertesacker. Bellerin Debut Day?

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

Arsene Wenger:

The World Cup final in Rio was July 13. They came back on the August 11. That means I gave them one month of holiday.

It was important for me that they would recover. They have been training for one month and haven’t reached 100 per cent physically yet but they’re close.

What? How can they not be 100% fit by now?

The injury curse continues and we were in Germany waiting to face Borussia Dortmund with a very depleted squad. A squad which was already lacking.

Mathieu Debuchy is out as we know, Calum Chambers is also a doubt with his chances rated as 50/50 as he’s suffering with tonsillitis. Nacho Monreal has stayed in London as he has a back injury.

Kieran Gibbs will naturally slot in at left back but what happens on the right is anyone’s guess but Arsene Wenger has been bigging up Hector Bellerin:

He’s a boy with personality, who isn’t fazed by the pressure.

That’s a very important quality when you’re a young boy playing at a big club. His transition game is fantastic. He’s very quick and his final ball is good as well. He lacks a bit of experience as a defender, but he’s very dangerous going forward.

Despite the injuries, the manager remains upbeat about tonight:

We had a very physical game against Man City on Saturday so it will be tough for us. But we have recovered well and sometimes in the second game you can be even stronger.

Dortmund have their own injury concerns with Mats Hummels, Nuri Şahin, İlkay Gündoğan, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Oliver Kirc, Ji Dong-won and, Marco Reus all likely to miss tonight’s match.

Jergen Klopp thinks we are a much better and stronger side than we were last season:

Arsenal have new players in their squad and the last time we played them they had players with injuries like Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.

Now they have new players like Alexis Sanchez. Olivier Giroud can’t play but when you look at their squad they have a lot of alternatives. Arsenal played very defensively here last year. But you have to say that our Champions League fixtures is starting against a great team.

Arsenal are a very hard opponent and I think they did a great job on transfers over the summer. Now their squad has great stability and they’re actually able to play the type of football that Arsene Wenger wants to see.

All I can add to that is I hope we all see the kind of football we all want to see. Players creating and taking chances should they fall our way, a strong defensive midfield and of course a much better defensive performance than we witnessed on Saturday.

Apart from the two errors against City, at times we absolutely battered them and had we taken our early chances, we would have. If we can get an early control of the game, there is no reason why we can’t repeat that level of performance.

Good luck tonight boys, all injuries considered, this is a night which should go our way if Arsene Wenger get’s it right and the players all work hard!

And if Bellerin does start at right back, for goodness sake give him a bit of protection…

That’s it for today…..

 

rico

330 thoughts on “Fitness concerns for Ozil, Podolski & Mertesacker. Bellerin Debut Day?”

  3. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Dortmund have their own injury concerns with Mats Hummels, Nuri Şahin, İlkay Gündoğan, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Oliver Kirc, Ji Dong-won and, Marco Reus all likely to miss tonight’s match.

    Holy Lord……can they field a team at all. that is quite a long injury list.

    the best football is played when you score the largest amount possible of goals and concede none. Its the end which is important. Not the fancy stuff of the means and no end product.

    Good post Rico. But we will await today’s final whistle to tell you whether its a great post or not 😉

  5. TONYBEE (@TBINJ) says:

    We should win my main concern is not buying cover cb in the transfer window very risky hope that dont haunt us be4 the next window

  7. rico says:

    Ha ha Devil. Fingers crossed..

    I don’t think we’ll get a better chance to win there, certainly better than last time we played there and we won that one too… 😉

  8. Wath says:

    Amazing how two weeks after the transfer window Wenger admits to wanting and needing a Vieira/Petit type physical talented midfielder…! Not buying a makeshift I agree with but you cannot tell me there isn’t someone out there who would of improved us in the middle…?

  11. Hell Raising Devil says:

    AW had a player in the Petit/Vieira mould. He had Song. the problem was that the latter was often caught in the middle of who he is that he developed a very problematic Split Personality mode. And ultimately ended up being worse than a headless chicken. lol

  12. Tai Emeka Obasi says:

    Morning All,

    Nice post rico.

    I haven’t watched Dortmund this season but understanding Klopp and his pressing game, any 11 players on the pitch will stretch whatever line-up we present…in this case, not even much.

    I’ll gladly accept a draw without further injuries.

  13. snaparse says:

    hi Rico nice post and I’m loving the new site……I really enjoyed our match against city and I can see why we need to use two hard working cm as opposed to ozil in the cam role like we all know arteta and especially flamini can’t do the defensive work alone as the both has weaknesses so using two hard working(yes wilshere played with his heart out against man city and I want to believe he can continue doing that) is a good idea…..contrary to what many pundits are saying I don’t think ozil played that bad but I do think he can and should play better we really are getting thin in defence but we are showing good signs and we have varieties to our game as opposed to last season I think with arteta coming back we can have control of the ball more especially with a lead….I’m expecting us to build on our performance on Saturday and put on a really too shift coyg

  14. rico says:

    Song Devil…. Song?? lol

    Thanks Tai.

    Three points tonight, it has to be surely because by the time all their players come back and come to The Emirates, they’ll be strong..

  15. snaparse says:

    very true tai klopp has his team playing with spirit and fight regardless of opponent I expect a tough match but I can see us snatching a win

  16. snaparse says:

    the only player that is close to petit in the currently IMO is Sergio in barca I think pogba can be as good as Vieira but he would have to improve the defensive side of his game people always remember Vieira for his forward plays and all but he was a very very good defender as well he was just a very complete player

  17. tsgh says:

    Morning Rico, excellent post.

    imo only Jakub Błaszczykowsk, Reus and Hummels would have featured if they were fit…

    Gundogan is their Abou Diaby… I doubt they even consider him a player now. 🙂 I think Jojic is proving to be one of the best CM in europe at the moment…

    Kagawa has come in for Sahin as the no.10 and pushed M’karayan to the wings.

  18. tsgh says:

    Kagawa assisted and scored in his first game back for the BVB.. I expect Arteta and AR16 to handle them…

    I hope AW goes for the double pivot this time..

    Klopp has reverted back from 4-1-4-1 to 4-2-3-1… without Reus.

    If you dont have natural wingers there is no point forcing 4-1-4-1 as many have said…

  19. kene says:

    I would rest Ramsey, put Poldi on the left, Sanchez on the right and Welbeck in cf with Ozil in no.10.(4- 2 -3 -1). Rosicky for Poldi if the left is not flowing….

  22. rico says:

    Wojciech Szczesny says the Arsenal squad are working hard on improving the way they defend set pieces.

    Arsène Wenger’s side have conceded twice from corners in the opening month of the season, with Martin Demichelis’ late header giving Manchester City a point at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

    Szczesny is disappointed with that statistic but insists the team are determined to put it right.

    “We do realise that set pieces have been a weakness for us recently,” he said. “We’ve conceded [a couple] of goals already and it’s very early in the season.

    “We did very well last season on set pieces and we’re a bit disappointed. We’ve been working on it in training so hopefully we’ll put that right on Tuesday.”

  24. snaparse says:

    but reus himself isn’t a natural winger ts infact I would say only blachykowsi and maybe Kevin are natural wingers in the bvb team……IMO 4-1-4-1 works when the 2cms are really good and if wilshere can play as he did against city then it should work with Sanchez acting as our reus the problem is finding a place for ozil imo

  25. Hell Raising Devil says:

    aye Rico. Song was so good that Barca could not sell him due to his high release clause. You had better accept the fact that however good Messi is at the end of the day he would find buyers. His release clause is not out of reach.

    But Song’s release clause was so out of reach that no buyer could be found even after Barca begged all and sundry to get his high wages off their accounts.

    Barca realised that the fact that they had bought two players in one was not going to work with a player whose split personality was dividing the team and affecting those around him. So reluctantly they had to place him on the list.

    WHU plunged head first into the pool.

    Now we will see if Song will manage to influence Jenks and turn him to believe that he is Cafu and Dunga personified.

  29. tsgh says:

    True Snap, but like Schurle, Reus has played on the wings for a very long time and does it well imo…

    I think Grosskreutz will cause us loads of problems if he is used on the lhs like he was used against SC Freisburg last weekend… he and the young LB Durm combine well…

    I think Gibbs if he manages to play 90 minutes will keep Henrik M’Karayan quiet

  32. kene says:

    If we see Bellerin in right back I believe Debuchy will work hard to take back his position. Welbeck should score to boost his confidence. Ozil simply needs 60% performance to bring him back to form! My fear in the midfield is Arteta. Can he stop Dortmund’s counter attacks?

  35. tsgh says:

    Kene- if we keep possession well then Kehl who is even slower than Arteta will be made to sweat it out…

    When they beat us last October Lewandowski and Reus were the one’s who caused us the problems.

    Adrian Ramos is no Lew… maybe P.E.A who was a sub last weekend will come in and play the false 9 to try to expose Per…

    I think JW vs Jojic will be a worry depending on which JW turns up if he were to start. Kagawa vs Arteta will be more than good in our favour.

    Ideally we want TR07 to start as BVB players get all emotional when they see the mozart. lol

    If Aw was tactical enough he will play Ox or Alexis on the lhs to expose Schmelzer…

  38. Xr!s says:

    Tuesday? I don’t think Dortmund are good on set-plays. so using today as a case study for an improvement on set-piece defending is really not assuring.

    I’m more confident of we getting a win than a draw. Both teams are struggling for form but I think we are better. If we defend well,players play with their hearts,then 3 points should be ours.

    I pray we have no new injuries. Still no official word on Debuchy 🙁

  48. rico says:

    Jenks? Crikey, West Ham soon got his injury sorted out, he’d be nowhere near a return if he was still with us…

    Thanks Ben..

  49. snaparse says:

    it is a money sport ts plus he feels at home in Paris can’t really fault him but he would be a fantastic addition wasn’t there a rumour that we bid for him on deadline day?

  51. Joaquim Moreira says:

    jenkinson was played last nigth, replace someone. He was recovered from an injury (I think).
    Song also came as a sub last night.
    Two strong (in muscle sense) teams last night. Difficult for a soft team like Arsenal.
    I wrote before the season we need a central back and a full back. We didn’t replace Jenkinson and Vermaelen.
    Unfortunatelly, this Arsenal squad, will bring me a lot of sadness and “bitter mouth”.

  54. Hell Raising Devil says:

    JM….we have cover at RB. We had Debuchy and Bellerin. Chambers can cover there as well. Now if Debuchy got injured and Chambers is sick then we can do nothing.

    The only problems were not getting a good CB and a DM.

    But not at RB

    both FB positions are covered adequately.

    Debuchy, Bellerin on the right
    Gibbs, Monreal on the left

    Chambers can play RB and CB.

    As I said………the problem lies in DM and CB. but not on the flanks.

  55. allezkev says:

    Coach, when Bellerin made his 1st team debut, did not Wenger play him in midfield and if I recall he had a pretty good game…

    If Chambers is 50:50 then I wouldn’t risk him, we might need him at Villa this weekend.
    Nope, I’d go with Bellerin, I reckon he’ll do ok…

    Maybe Rosicky into midfield would be a plan?
    Tomas can put his foot in and defend when need be…
    We may need that quality for long periods this evening…

  56. Sukky says:

    Blah Blah Blah…..let me tell you how this will go,Wenger will get his tactics and team selection wrong again and here we go complaining about how close we were but we lost or drew again.Trust me am done expecting any good from Wenger.

  57. Hell Raising Devil says:

    we are talking and discussing Sukky. we are not blah blahing as you seem to make out.

    Can you tell me the lotto winning numbers mate, seeing that you know how the future will pan out with regards AFC?

  63. rico says:

    Me too Devil. Really hope he shows he’s good enough, would be a huge boost to the squad.

    And boy do we need it….

  64. Wavy says:

    Bought some sauerkraut today to go with my frankfurters. Then I thought again and settled for gammon and pineapple instead! You know you’ve got to keep it English!
    If you lose I’ll asks acre the sauerkraut and mutilate the frankfurters!

    COYRRGS

    One nil to the Arsenal!

  66. Nashua gunner says:

    Good Evening All.. Interesting and excellent post.

    What we need right now is SAND-CHASE, in every position.

  68. arsenal11730 says:

    Rico the new site looks nice.
    I also want to congratulate you on the expanded audience – Well Deserved. Best Gooner Blog in my opinion.
    Quick note on Saturdays game – Fernandinho showed us what a real DM does. He constantly broke up our play either tackling or fouling.
    I feel we can leave Germany with 3 points. Would love to see TR07 play but seems as AW is not keen on him. Good luck to Bellerin – Go on my son have a good game.
    I LOVE AS17 – The way he hustles, never gives up is amazing, and should be highly applauded.
    Come on You Reds
    Cheers

  71. rico says:

    Thanks A117, very kind of you…

    Re Tomas, he played twice and for 90 mins for his country and all the time he does that, his Arsenal career will suffer… I think that’s why he didn’t feature on Saturday – perhaps tonight he will have a part to play….

  72. Tai Emeka Obasi says:

    Long time Ts…how you going?

    Still praying for a draw. Any thing extra on the positive scale is still gladly welcome.

    I’m still an AKB but Wenger has the capability to send his strongest apostle to the shrink. Every time I see Sanchez operating from the right I usually wonder…aren’t we assuming that the Chilean would shift to the left side of attack on Walcott’s return? So, why isn’t AS17 getting used to his permanent position straightaway? Isn’t the Ox good enough to play for Walcott on the right while TW14 worked to come back to the team? Why wait till Theo comes back then Sanchez starts learning to get accustomed to Gibbs/Monreal?

    Can somebody tell me what fibre Wenger is really made of?

  74. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I would really love to see Bellerin and TR07 combo on the right and Gibbs and Sanchez combo on the left.

    Does that mean that I would drop Ozil?? yes. Then he will come on later in the game. However I would play Arteta, Jack and Cazorla in the middle.

    That would mean introducing Aaron and Mesut around the 60th minute. Nice subs to have coming on.

  75. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Hell, no. Last season we missed a central back. We need four. We had Djourou but hen he was definetely on loan. Debuchy replace Sagna. Vermaelen could play in central and left back (and is not an adaptation). We need this, because in three games, Gibbs plays one. So, last year, 2 rb,2Lb and 3 Cd. We missed one cental back since last season. Chambers is a utility defender. Can play in diferente positions. But we need 2 RB. Ok, Bellerin is the new Rb. So we need a CB.
    The real problem is we have many players for some positions and we haven’t enought for others positions.

  76. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Szczesny, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta; Sanchez, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil e Welbeck.
    Subs: Ospina, Chambers, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Podolski e Campbell

  85. Rick says:

    Like the new set up Rico now that I have found the comments.
    Dissapointed I was not in the position to post comments on yesterdays excellient post .
    Delighted to see so many in Haydens corner and I hope it will not be very long before we see him in the squad.( Against Soton next week).

    Looking forward to a good win tonight and a good game for Bellerin.

  86. tsgh says:

    AW has made the right decision on Hector… Kevin Grosskreutz and Mkhitaryan on the rhs..

    I am surprised Klopp has opted for 2 upfront today with Immobile and Aubameyang. unless PEA will play on the rhs with Mkhitaryan behind Ciro…

  87. tsgh says:

    Bellerin deserves it… Drum vs Hector will be exciting in a moment me think..

    both young and eager to bomb forward…

  91. rico says:

    Bt, thanks re the post. Like you, i wish Hector all the very best….

    Don’t any headlines ‘ Silly old Hector’… 😉

  92. rico says:

    Not sure Bt, it’s on one of the Sky programmes but must be pretty recent as they are talking about Farage and the Scottish rubbish… I find it so bloomin funny….

  105. Hell Raising Devil says:

    the problem with 4-1-4-1 is that the middle four is very flat. and too often they are caught out…..we need to go to 4-2-3-1 so that space behind the midfield will be diminished.

  112. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I agree Rico. we should have been 1-0 up. but wait till he gets his bearings. He is getting in good positions and is opening up space. That is a quality which eventually translates into goal.

    Plus I like his off the ball work

  119. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Immobile has proved what a great striker he is on the road to become.

    I always liked him. Since he was 18

  123. Joaquim Moreira says:

    This is the worst Arsenal team in last 40 years!
    We play beach soccer not football
    What did Wilshere think in the goal?

  125. Bob John says:

    This is painful to watch. Ozil non existent Ramsey back to 2012 form.Sanchez can’t control it. Arteta yards too slow. what a mess

  129. emma says:

    Arsene shouldn’t deceive himself. Ozil shouldn’t be ahead of Cazorla. Well the ramsey of last season hasn’t turned up yet since the onset of this season. What is Gibbs doing so high up on the pitch when the throw in was on the right hand side. Why was arteta not on Immobile before the throwin was taking(Just a basic thing that comes in the mind of a proper DM). Lets hope for a better 2nd half

  130. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Ramsey is very poor, Ozil where is he?,Arteta very slowly (his time is passing)…and Giroud is much better then Welbeck

  132. Lewis says:

    All that money in the bank but no defencive strengthening. Fucking outrageous. 3 more years of this. Wenger doesn’t have what it take to win a major comp. I’d swap him for loop tomorrow

  135. potter says:

    Problems in every department , defence all at sea , midfield non existent and no forward penetration apart from that alls well

  136. rockyrocastle07 says:

    Evening all. Arteta is long past it. Awful. Bellerin not good enough. Merts is dogshit. Ozil anonymous!ous AGAIN. NOT 1 PLAYER is any good out there today.

  140. rico says:

    Evening Daddy, how’s things?

    But statistically Arteta is perfect! I don’t blame Bellerin as he’s been left isolated and it’s clear he’s been told to bomb forward which is hideous…

    Merts, well I have been lambasted for my comments on him…. He’s too slow!

  141. potter says:

    Bellerin is what he is a kid playing against men. Not fair to blame him the rest of them are letting him down too.

  142. Lewis says:

    We basically have one decent defender and he’s off form. You have to laugh otherwise you’d cry. They should have about 6 already.

    What’s the point in having a squad if you don’t use it you fuck tard. £8 million a year?!!!

  148. rico says:

    Arsene Wenger needs to do one of two things imo.

    Sign a coach/advisor who will give him advice on how to get the best out f the players we have.

    Or walk away gracefully, because it’s quite clear, his ideas really are ancient…

    Night all..

  157. Lewis says:

    For Saturday:

    Drop Ozil
    Drop Ramsey
    Drop Mertesacker(if chambers fit)
    I would change the whole back line other than Kos but shock horror we have no decent back up.

    Bloody embarrassing shit show.

  165. Bob John says:

    Been watching for over 45 years and that was one of the worst performances ever. Only one man responsible for not addressing the obvious issues. Embarrassing watching a 33 year old who can’t run trying to stop a tidal wave of young quick players.Fuck knows what the chavs will do to us

  166. Lewis says:

    Embarrassing.

    Most of the team looked jaded and off the pace. Probably because they hard a hard match against city at the weekend. So why not rotate the first 11 a bit?! That’s what the squad is for arsene you useless f………….

  170. AndrewH13 says:

    Just before end, BD 23 shots arsenal 3. AWFUL doesn’t describe it. After ten minutes we deserved nothing and got it. No shape, no energy, apart from Wilshire and Sanchez, little fight.

  171. Lewis says:

    If only there was an opportunity each year where we could exchange all the money we have for players that might strengthen our obvious frailties……..

  173. Lewis says:

    Fair play to Dortmund. They look a proper team. I’m off to dream that wenger walked away after the FA Cup win and we got Klopp.

  175. Joaquim Moreira says:

    conclusion: in middle of december, will be out of the CL (maybe will be at the League champions), out of title and away of the 4th place, out of the FA cup, out of the League cup.

  178. Sukky says:

    Wenger is †̥ђƺ problem of this talented squad.Just hire a young good manager like Martinez or monk,and you will see wonders

  179. Joaquim Moreira says:

    We are at the last place of our group and:
    5 games 5×90 minutes=450 minutes plus 15 minutes = 465 minutes
    We have ahead only arround 20 minutes.

  180. Sukky says:

    I used to love Wenger too but I just came to understand that he’s too rigid to lead arsenal to success in modern football.He need to get out of †̥ђƺ club with honour because fans started skipping home matches and †̥ђƺ board will be forced to sack him.He’s clueless,not what a 21st century football needs.

  181. Tai Emeka Obasi says:

    Some people get all the luck, don’t they? No one seems to remember we lost this match because Welbeck was wayward. If it was Sanogo!

    Somebody told me Welbeck was a step-up on Sanogo… i looked the other way and walked on. There was no need debating what I know too well.

    If Arsenal ever repeats this tepid performance, I take a break from watching them till January!

  182. kel says:

    A Truly embarrassing performance tonight, No chance of winning the CL…. (The quicker we go out the better imo)
    I dont think we have a chance of winning the premier league imo…
    And inho Arteta, Ozil….. need benched, Surely Rosicky can play the Arteta role fs?

  186. Judge me in May says:

    Nashu I think you been harsh on the shit..
    Sanogo should not be near a football pitch..
    Wenger is so negligent its criminal..
    He got away with signing a broke back kalstrum last time..
    And what pissed me most was that he actually tried to justify that..
    The team is so unbalanced its a joke..
    Mertasacker lack of pace and coordination is embarrassing..
    Arteta is nice bloke, but terrible anchor player..
    Ozil has been shockingly poor so far..
    Ramsey back to the his old ways.. He is good but so overated imo..
    Overall doom and gloom until Wenger retires or the board fucks of..
    It’s all been said really… Millions times..
    Nice new look Rico.. Keep up the good work..
    Nite goonersk

  187. Adam says:

    Wenger has fucked up royally once again. But he is utterly safe though and will never be sacked. It is sad beyond belief really with a hint of tragedy thrown in.

  188. Wavy says:

    There is no ‘hint’ of tragedy in Wenger’s story. He has more flaws than a fifth rate diamond.
    I’ll post his defects tomorrow when I’m more ‘stable’!

  190. Lee says:

    Spineless team and a clueless manager on £8m pa!
    A competition that we will never win with Wenger at the helm.
    The bloke is washed up and a fraud….constantly making the same mistakes year after year!
    Get a dynamic hungry manager this shit has to stop!
    Nearly 3 more years of this bollocks….

  193. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Good Morning Frowning lads and lasses.

    What a shambles yesterday. Out thought, out fought and given a good run around. It could have been 4 to 6 nil

    the team was all at sea

    Early on in this post I told you Lee that Ozil should be the main man, but instead AW has shunted him to the left/right so that Jack and Aaron will be the main men.

    Cue Ian Wright who on Twitter said the same thing later on.

    I am afraid that Bellerin came up short yesterday. Granted, it was his debut and he is still young. But then so is Chambers. Same age. He was not given protection but I expected more. Hopefully he will come good.

  195. Hell Raising Devil says:

    The thing is had Welbeck converted two chances we would have drawn 2-2. We had 3 chances to score. And around 5 shots off target.

    They had what……6 chances to score and a plethora of shots off target?

  196. bradster says:

    Morning all,

    We knew Dortmund would press us like they do every time we play them.
    We knew they would be organised under Klopp like they always are.
    We knew it’s Bellarin’s first game and someone needed to help him on that flank.
    We knew we were going to struggle for pace with Arteta and Merts against their speedsters.

    So if we knew all this, why would the top top manager of the prem not know this?

  199. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I am still trying to figure out how on earth and what compelled Arteta to let go of the ball with a striker right behind him.

    The first goal should have never materialised. Had Arteta kept possession we would have gone in at half time 0-0.

  200. Adam says:

    Devil. Yes. This crap has been going on for ages now and while the board are stuck like rabbits in Wenger’s headlights, the wheels are coming off.

  201. rogerbij says:

    Oh god, I was on a flight so missed the whole thing… what am I reading? Utterly destroyed and lucky for it not to have been a mauling?
    … Ill try catch up on the HH comments to dissect this but I bet its something to do with leaving the midfield door open

  202. Sukky says:

    Can all †̥ђƺ fans just cooperate and start skipping all arsenal games?cos I can’t see Wenger going until we are in a very critical situation where †̥ђƺ board will have no choice than to fire Wenger.

  205. rico says:

    Morning all…

    The manager our club needs was at the game last night, managing the opposition.

    That has to be up there with the one of the worst performances ever, and that was against a Dortmund side with key players injured…

    What an absolute load of trash served up!!

    And there was me thinking we’d win!!

  207. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Keep on dreaming Sukky. the board will never fire AW. for every AFC fan that skips a game there are others waiting for the ticket. And if you tell me that the seats are empty let me remind you gently that that seat has already been paid. Its the season ticket holder who has not attended the match. but the money is still enjoyed by the club.

    And do you honestly think that the club feels for you??? Do you honestly think that the club gives a fuck to what you feel????

    lol

  208. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Morning boss. off for a walk with the little one who is getting bigger but will always remain the little one.

  209. rico says:

    Morning Adam.

    I was an optimist through the transfer window and yes, I thought things had changed but it was quite clear on Sept 1st at 11pm that nothing had.

    My hope then went to AW playing the team very differently but no, nothing has changed there either.

    Optimist, yes, always as that’s me, but I’m a realist to and I can see that we really are shocking but I also believe a different manager would get more from this team than Wenger is getting…

  211. Adam says:

    Devil. While I understand what you mean I think that if the match day attendances fell away and the ground was half full there would be a reaction. It would be in the headlines on a daily basis. There is a precedent at Arsenal for this too. The real tragedy is that it has to come to this but every single thing that we saw last night, every issue from the lack of pace, lack of cover in key positions, players too old etc, etc are someone’s responsibility. To my eyes we have been going down this path for quite some time and it really is time it stopped. The last transfer window was the last straw for me as it only compounded the errors made in the previous dozen.

  212. rico says:

    Mertesacker is not the right player when playing against pace, neither is Arteta and they are our captain and vice captain. Says it all to me..

    I hope Bellerin doesn’t get too much stick in the blog world today, some of the passing to him was shocking and the lack of protection was embarrassing…

  213. Adam says:

    I don’t blame you for your optimism Rico. It’s a good thing. 🙂
    I think we’ve been here before haven’t we? 🙂

  215. bradster says:

    For me the two worst moments was Kosielny and Gibbs backing off immobile allowing him space and time to run, get past them, shoot and pick his spot.
    The other was Arteta skipping the ball and allowing Miteryakan to waltz straight at goal.

  216. rico says:

    Since 2007 I’d say Adam….

    But as I have said so often, all the time Kroenke sits and does nothing, I blame him a lot…..

  218. Lee says:

    Tbh we could of bought a DM and a CB in the window and it would still be the same…the problem is the manager! Not the pitch. Not the ball. Not the officials. Not the fans.

  223. Adam says:

    Rico. I make you right. This mess hasn’t just happened overnight. We know that Kroenke loves Wenger because he makes money and increases the share capital that Stan holds. If Gazidis told him that the club were falling behind the European elite and needed to look at changing the manager, surely the prospect of that would be seismic for Kroenke but could herald the far-reaching changes that the club is screaming out for.
    The worst moments for me last night were seeing Wenger watching the team and almost shrinking before the camera. He is a man out of touch and out of time. There is a sad aspect to it but the decision to offer him a new contract and for him to accept it set the club’s course and I just can’t see anything changing.

  228. rico says:

    Exactly Adam, even in the short time HH has been up and running, the same old things are being discussed after each match. The same lack of depth in the squad, playing players out of position, can’t defend set-pieces, we don’t close down, passes go wayward and we can’t take our chances… blah blah blah.

    I wish Kroenke would go and take the entire board and manager with him…

  229. rico says:

    bradster – I think we could, even with the players we have it could be done if we had a manager who would think about it…

  230. rico says:

    Was it Stoke or Sunderland who went to the Etihad and did just that, West Ham did the same against Chelsea last season, plenty of sides come to the Emirates and do it…

    Ok, they don’t always win, but they seldom lose and that is what we should have done last night.

    Wenger should have seen what was happening in the first 5/10 mins and do something about it but no, let’s just carry on regardless.

  240. frednerk says:

    Morning All,
    Nothing new,overpowered,outplayed,outscored and outfought,lack of squad options bad preparation,you name it ..we know it.
    Away from home against a side willing to roll up their sleeves,,
    Sorry wenger cannot see it..can he.
    To sell your backup centrehalf because it’s a good deal with no replacement and then blood a young kid who is at the moment more of a winger,is taking the piss out of our season ticket holders.
    Adult season ticket for the 3 top teams in Germany are around..£100..yes £100 per season.

  244. rico says:

    Wenger on defeat, defence and Wilshere
    Arsène Wenger spoke to the media after the 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday. Read a transcript of what he had to say below:
    on the defeat…

    Congratulations to Dortmund, they were the better team. We had a disappointing performance and the victory is normal. Still the paradox of the night is we had very good chances to to score first that didn’t go for us and went for them. We were caught on two counter-attacks on 45 and 48 minutes and that was very difficult.

    on Welbeck’s finishing…

    He will [finish], I don’t think we have to make a problem with that. He had a very lively first half and he couldn’t finish from his two or three good chances in the first half. We have to be patient [with him].

    on the first goal…

    We had still three against one at the back and that’s still difficult to understand how we conceded the goal. It’s true that we lost the ball 80 metres from our goal but after that I think there were enough people to stop the goal.

    on what was most disappointing about the defeat…

    They were better and stronger than us in midfield, I agree with that. But it’s very difficult on the night to go into any individual assessment of any players because as a team we were not at the requested level.
    on Wilshere…

    Jack Wilshere has turned his ankle, it’s difficult to say how bad it is because I am a bit cautious, normally it’s not very bad but because of his history I’m a bit cautious. Apart from that no player I took off was injured.

  246. Nickie says:

    Can’t remember the last time Arsenal put a smile on my face. Wenger looked ill last night, realisation he wasn’t winning anything with that team and how bad he had cocked things up in the TW. No sympathy for the man, what a pathetic showing.

    lol Fred, it’s the icing on the cake, I’d pay £1000 a year to see that second string dortmund side for a year if they play with that desire and passion. To think I was contemplating season tickets for this shite. Gutless, disorganised and hopeless which perfectly mirrors the manager.

  248. rico says:

    Not just the ST holders though, the fans who travel to the away games, those who travel abroad, those who give their time up for the club – everyone, everyone is being treated like idiots…

  249. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Rico, thanks for that, i stopped listening to AW years ago…… We got a man from here a ticket for that match, god help him….What a waste of time and money..

  252. Nickie says:

    Haha, i’m feeling a bit sick i’ve got tickets for Arsenal Vs Southampton for next tuesday. Also was 100% going to get home tickets for Hull next month but now after that performance do I want to shell 36-50 a pop knowing Hull will probably out play us lol

  253. ozgunner says:

    all week they have banged on about what they were going to do, even the media were spouting Arsenal genuine ECL contenders – really does your head in

  256. rico says:

    Bt, you and me both, the same old bollox comes out of his choppers!

    Absolutely Fred, an bloomin nightmare and people wonder why when they are interviewed after the game, the emotions are sky high…. I feel for them…

  257. rico says:

    Nickie, should be a good game but make sure you take a few tissues.. 😉

    Or borrow Wengers white handkerchief… It’s about time he got it out of his pocket and threw it at Kroenke!

  261. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Villa will be licking their lips, thinking about Saturday…..Nickie, you’ve no chance of a refund out of AW pocket, he buys suits with the pockets, sewn up….

  262. Adam says:

    Yet again the classic Wenger dilemma for the Arsenal supporter rears its head. The affection that so many felt for him, slightly invigorated after the FA Cup win, leaves some of us feeling bereft. The Cup was the ideal opportunity for him to walk away and no doubt into another job earning enormous money, but he didn’t. He loves Arsenal, of that there can be no doubt. But he is seriously past it now and has been for years. He has spread himself so thin with contracts and obligations all over the world that he really doesn’t seem to be able to see it anymore. The game has changed but he is still ploughing the same furrow. No proactivity and rewarding players with new contracts when he should be looking at their replacements. Arteta always seemed to me something of a stop gap for a couple of seasons but now he is our central midfield general despite his ageing legs and at least a season after he should have been sold off and replaced. Merts had a great last season but he was never the future in today’s high pace game. The RB slot? Sagna goes, Jenks out on loan and Debuchy in with a 19 year old as back up unless that boy is being asked to play CB, hence the decision that Bellerin was our best option. Scandalous. Flaky goalkeeper, Ozil being destroyed in front of 50,000 people every week. Cesc and Costa never even made the list of players we were interested in. The list of bad planning goes on yet we have an absolutely enormous wage bill. The football has been really poor too for quite a while. Meanwhile, our opponents are moving on and our board have left us in a seriously dangerous place through misplaced loyalty, apathy or whatever excuse you want to make for them this week. It seems to me that he lost the ability to inspire the team some time ago. Can anybody really see another top manager putting up with a performance like last night, or Leicester or Crystal Palace?

  265. goonster says:

    Lee you re a man after my heart son. Hahahahahahhaha. Come on guys. It was a game against one of Europe’s elite teams. What Were You Guys expecting?? We ll go over there and thrash them? ? Yeah right. Relax adam wenger ll come good. He is a genius remember? ? Arteta is world class. Welbeck ll come good. Arsene knows guys he knows. Lol.

  266. potter says:

    White handkerchiefs , the way Spanish supporters tell their board that they have had enough. Time for a lorry load at our place. Not going is never the answer because unlike the famous Leeds match all those years ago that bought down Billy Wright , there are so many people ( visitors ) that are infatuated with the premiership that empty seats are gobbled up in seconds now.
    Wenger said that had we not won the cup he would have walked , perhaps if enough pressure was heaped on him now , he might go at the end of the season.

  270. Wavy says:

    Wenger, Wenger, Wenger!
    Man, myth, legendary deep thinker? Etc etc.

    Definition of a tragic character:
    A person with a fatal flaw about which they can do nothing to resolve their weakness and this flaw ultimately leads to their demise, downfall and death.

    I do believe our manager has many flaws, probably none of them in particular would lead him into the starring role, but combined they are a toxic mix, combining to create a lethal outcome.
    In my view he is arrogant, stubborn, blinkered, egocentric, deaf to all advice, a control freak and now bereft of innovation.
    I’m not going to bore the blog with an examination of the weaknesses found in all these traits, except to reassertion what I said earlier, all of these things combined contrite to him as a tragic figure.

    Can he address his failings and alter his behaviour? No, he is now too old! Leopards can’t change their spots, Wenger can’t, after 30 years in the job, change the ways he does his job, neither can he generate the interest or enthusiasm to go go through the same routines day to day. He is jaded. He won’t accept help or advice and he won’t brook criticism. But still, Arsene knows best!
    Sadly, as with all messianic dictators their time comes to an end, but they cannot see the writing on the wall. So, eventually, a Brutus or Iago or whomsoever comes along an deals him a lethal blow. However, if the tragic character acts on his weakness and reassesses his situation positively he may well save his position and ensure his future well being. Will Wenger change?
    NO!
    NO!
    NO!
    We need change desperately and quickly too, otherwise we are in for the same old rubbish for the next two and a half years, at the very least!

    Rant over. Hope it makes sense. And I really hope we get a change of tactics, coaching, game preparation and success soon. And that the arrogant old man takes the advice of those around him who are in a position to cajole him into a change of direction.

  276. rico says:

    I think that’s the way forward Potter, if all Arsenal fans waved a white handkerchief around at the home games, someone will soon get the message…

  279. goonster says:

    Wenger ll probably get the board to supply them handkerchiefs rico. Lol. He is a genius. He sees what me and you won’t see. An opportunity to make a few quid . lol. Hahahahahahahahahahahahah somebody stop me.

  280. tsgh says:

    Hey Goonie…

    It a worry knowing we spent so much money this summer and effectively solved none of our issues.Arsenal have won one of their last six matches in all competitions.

  282. goonster says:

    Morning adam….how are you doing big guy? ? Do me a favor guys. Just let it go. It don’t hurt no more. I have a mental blockage to all things arsenal now. Wenger is god. Lol. In arsene I trust.

  283. tsgh says:

    Only Arsenal will a player earning 90k a week not havehis own shin guard-
    It was unprofessional last night.. no sense of urgency from the bench or from the field…

    Ramsey’s worst pass accuracy in Arsenal shirt- 53%… even Stepanovs and Luhzny fared better. 🙂

  286. Lewis says:

    Morning all.

    Having slept on it I don’t feel any better about the shambles we saw last night. It’s an all to frequent and familiar occurrence. We are boring and one dimensional, Wenger doesn’t even have the ‘we play the best football’ tag to fall back on anymore.

    As someone has no doubt already noted, give the squad and money we had at the end of last season to any manager worth his salt and watch them build a squad much better equipped than what we have at the moment. Wenger isn’t ruthless enough and is past it at the highest level.

  289. Nickie says:

    The difference in managers, Klopp bouncing, hungry, charismatic, knows what he wants, gets a team arguably worse than ours last night playing amazing football, has plans, organised, up and coming elite manager. Wenger ill, senile, stubborn, tactically inept, clueless, disorganised, no plan, finished as an elite manager.

  290. tsgh says:

    Still no update on Debuchy’s injury… I guess he is out for ‘3 Arsenal months’ which translates to our medics have no clue…

    There must be a sperds fan amongst our backroom staff sabotaging things on the down low… 🙂

  291. goonster says:

    Where is dna when you need him? I need some Wenger jibes. Lol. COYFGS. Hahahahahahahahahahahahah. Am drunk can you tell 😀

  293. tsgh says:

    Trying to find a positive from tonight’s performance https://vine.co/v/OWWHA560AK7

    Indeed Brad… it a serious concern…

    Nickie- BVB don’t play like that all the time though which is a worry.. as a BVB fan I know they have been poor thus far until last weekend when Kagawa helped them…

    It was funny how BVb started with more defensive minded players than us last night but still outplayed us… same as FC Hollywood did and all top teams do against us…

    Also, Kehl and Sven won less tactics according to the figures but Henrik, PEA, Kevin Groskreutz hunted in packs whilst we were playing like a deer caught in a headlights of a car…

  297. tsgh says:

    Bt- the sperds man made sure I bumped into him this morning… 🙂

    Of course my reply was that I rather get thrashed by Dortmond than play on Thursday night… 🙂

  298. rico says:

    Goonster, Gdna is in the cooler for a while after being rude to Agag the other day. If he wants to come back and apologise, he can come back on….

  299. tsgh says:

    True Rico, if you consider net spend then yes you are spent on..

    Everything about the club is like a mirage it appears…

  302. Hell Raising Devil says:

    that is not what you should have told him Ginge…..that its better we get thrashed by Dortmund than play on Thursday.

    You should have told him that for this season he should always bet on less than .5 goals per game that the scum play in the CL….seeing that they are going to finish 0-0 every game that they will not play in that competition.

  306. goonster says:

    Wtf??? To agag?? Really? ?? No dude not agag. She’s sweet cuddly and mam alive hottie. What did you do?? Apologize now bro. Apologize not because you want to comment on HH but because it’s the right thing to do. Am waiting. I know you can see this. Go ahead dna make me proud 😀

  309. Lewis says:

    Wenger confirm Wilshere is injured but doesn’t know how bad it is. We can just add that to all the other things he doesn’t know about his squad then.

    I’ve managed 30000 football matches…….blah blah blah……..yawn yawn yawn……

  311. Lewis says:

    I actually read a post on Untold the other day that was saying we have a lot of strong options in defence. WTF are they smoking over there?!

  315. tsgh says:

    Bt/Dev- my sperds neighbour asked me why Dortmond with their history in the UCL should be beating us?
    I asked him what history he was referring to…he responded that they had not been in the CL for long… I asked him if he knew what the 2 stars on their shirts/jersey meant? He was like oh… 😛 so they have won the trophy 2 times? 😀

  317. goonster says:

    Lee I doubt he’s thinking much. He’s got a shiny new contract. Heck I ll pay to be in his shoes. 130k per week # whistles

  319. Lewis says:

    Been hoping for years Wenger would get it right and after the FA Cup win we all thought this was his chance to go out and build a squad capable for him to go out in a blaze of glory. But he isn’t up to it is he?! You would have to be mental to keep doing the same shit year after year.

  321. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Tell the Sperds ass hole that even Huddersfield managed to win more league championships in the 1920’s than the scum in their entire history. that should shut him up Ginge

  326. Hell Raising Devil says:

    I agree Lewis. its not that we lost. its the manner. we could have lost 4-0 and still remained with our heads held high. And lost 1-0 in shame.

    but there is one thing I am hopeful about……its early in the season and everything went bad in one game.

    the season is long.

    I care about the EPL not the CL

  327. ozgunner says:

    the board knew as much about football as i knew about brain surgery but surely now they must have some idea all these excuses and failed predictions are not setting Wenger in a good light ? The way his team plays really says all their is to say, time to catch that train Arsene, do the right thing son

  329. Nickie says:

    I feel sorry for Sanchez actually. One of the only ones who works hard. Surrounded by shit. This cannot be worse than being second fiddle to Messi.

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