Morning all.
So many and I mean so many chances and we didn’t take them.
1-0 down after the players jog back to defend like it was a training session!
1-1 and a simply stunning goal from Jack Wilshere.
2-1 up after an even more stunning goal by Alexis.
2-1 up and we couldn’t defend a bread and butter set-piece from a corner.
2-2 and game over, another draw at The Emirates…..
The lows as usual sit with our defending. The first highlighted the weakness in our midfield and apart from Flamini, there was no-one and yes, I know we were pressing forward but come on, show a bit more determination to get back and had certain players done so, that goal would not have gone in. And if Aguero been marked properly in the box, he wouldn’t have scored but our man let him get on the wrong side….
Another low, the bloody post which got in the way of Danny Welbecks early chance. It looked destined to find the back of the net. He should have buried that chance…..
Another low was their second goal! Who the heck was marking their goal scorer? No-one, absolutely no-one and it was shocking defending!
The highs were of course our goals which were both finishing at the highest level.
The unacceptable is the performance of Mark Clattenburg. He allowed far too many fouls and nasty game playing to go unpunished and on another day, perhaps two City players could have seen red.
All that said, I thought that was one of our better performances and certainly for Jack Wilshere who truly deserved his man of the match award….
Sadly, our defensive frailties in the squad have been exposed as Mathieu Debuchy picked up what looked like a nasty injury. We are now down to the bare bones and one more injury will see us calling for Isaac Hayden..
Mind you, he looked good the other night, as did Bellerin……
Any regrets about the summer transfer window Arsene?
He sure should have!!
Over to you all…..
Morning Rico and all. Seems odd that Pellegrini is moaning about the illegality of our goals when you consider what Fernadinho, Kompany and Milner were up to yesterday. Put simply, Clattenberg is the sort of ref who gets players injured. His failure to stamp on Fernandinho as hard as he was stamping on Jack was the reason the game looked like it did. Every time he wanted to ‘have a word’ he called Kompany over, presumably to translate. After Fenandinho’s first foray into Jack from the back he warned him but then failed to punish him after the next three similar incidents. Similarly Milner who left his mark on Debuchy and never even got a foul against him. As for Kompany, who spent his time tugging the shirt of any Arsenal player who was near him and Clattenberg just ignored it. Well, he gets away with it week in week out, so no surprise there,
If the ref had booked Fernadinho and Milner for their fouls as he should have then the outcome could have been different with City down to 10 men. As for the goals we conceded? There really is no point in picking over them because we will continue to concede them as we have done for over a decade now. Wenger simply doesn’t believe in defenders defending. Nothing new there.
Morning Adam..
Totally agree re Clattenburg. It seems quite early on that the FA want City to defend their title….
Spot on re the defending….
Thought Jack had a really good game yesterday, and Alexis….
What’s happened to Ramsey though, hope his game comes back quickly..
100% Adam , The Arsenal merry go round is in full swing. Some things improve and as they do other bits go backward but one thing remains constant :- We can’t defend corners and free kicks swung in from wide.
My son came out with another gem yesterday following his comment on marking space. If you were a fringe player and wanted to break into the first team , why would you not spend extra hours at the training ground taking free kicks , getting yourself to the level of a Beckham and make it impossible to be dropped from the team.After all the number of league and cup titles that went to Old Toilet because of their tactic of dropping like stones on the edge of the box to accommodate first Cantona then Beckham and lastly Ronaldo’s ability to hit the target from anywhere 30 yards out. He is getting remarkably and possibly deceptively perceptive.
Hi Rico. I don’t know what has happened to Ramsey but I hope it’s just a temporary loss of form. Before the game I hoped that a good performance against the PL Champions would help us raise our game because we have been poor so far this season. I think it did that. Looks to me as if our failures in the TW are well on the way to biting unfortunately. Flamini is far too erratic and flaky to hold while Jack and Ramsey do their thing.
Good point Potter, we either seem to be great at defending and our attacking games, or vice-versa – why we can’t bring both together is beyond me…
Agree again Adam.
I read a headline on NN this morning suggesting Hayden should be drafted into the first team and play DM which was his original position.
After thinking about that for a while, it doesn’t seem such a bad idea. He’s very strong for his age and confident.
Rico and Adam… City fans don’t share your views. They feel the ref was on our side. One even called Jack and Alexis divers. They say Bt sports were biased towards us… Totally the opposite of what Arsenal fans think. It largely shows we fans are largely subjective in our opinions or City fans are idiots..
One major positive for me was the way we started the game. Need to continue like that.
Alexis what a player
Morning all.
Think the obvious thing to say is that they are the first two points dropped due to our transfer window failings that have been well documented!
Secondly, the furore about the non-penalty! It was clear that Navas handled the ball first- free-kick to us. end of discussion!!! Even if he hadn’t Jack’s arm was by his side and he was looking the other way when the ball hit it. Can’t be;ieve the amount of ex-players including Ian wright saying it was a clear pen!
Morning all,
one of Flamini’s worst games yesterday. Bloke was shocking, he loves the floor too much he doesn’t like to stay on his feet. He’s so busy barking orders at everyone he forgets his own job. Ozil looked flat again.
Jack and Sanchez were amazing. Welbeck looked dangerous and it won’t be long before he gets on the score sheet.
Slightly disappointed we couldn’t get the win but a point will have to do given the chances they had at the end.
From the first 4 games we can’t really make too much judgement. A win against Crystal palace a must, last year we lost to everton and drew to city so a slight upgrade there. Only real disappointment was Leicester, who to be honest seem to be giving everyone a good game.
4 games in, 2 of last seasons top 5 played and the only team we seem to be losing sight of is Chelsea. No one other than them has had a great start and they will drop points. We look as though we’re beginning to gel so i’m not feeling too bad after the first 4.
Jeff, they need to take their specs off… 😉
Rico,don’t blame the team for our bad defending, blame the formation. it’s an attacking formation to me and Flamini got isolated most times even our fullbacks push up front. I blame Flamini for the first goal,he failed to mark Aguero and our zonal marking system of defending set-pieces for the second.
We need more tall players please.
It seems Wenger had an eye on Tuesday. I hope he rotates. Wilshere played really well. It seems Shad’s magic is at work. He looked a lot fitter and stronger. Wenger said he’s just at 95% now
Morning all,
Well someone from the u/21 will have to be on the bench as a defender.
Perhaps Ramsey needs to go back to the double pivot until he getd his form back. I still feel he’s trying too hard.
Oh!!! Morning All.
sorry,I forgot 😀
Bob, that was my view re the penalty to, the first handball was Navas, whistle should have blown and no further play involving Jack should even be discussed by the pundits…
Nickie, agree re Jack and Alexis. If the entire team had the worked ethic they had yesterday, things could have been so different..
Ozil – well, what a strange situation…
Xr’s – I agree that marking space is pointless and why something isn’t don’t to change that beggars belief.
Height? Diaby should be back soon… lol
Bradster – Bellerin and Hayden is my guess… Just hope Coquelin isn’t asked to play right back.
Gud morning HH
The game was really tough, we attacked well had so many chances buh scored only 2 goals.. Danny’s time will come soon i have faith in him.. Now my problem is that, the formation Wenger is using does it really help the team performance especially Özil….?
Nickie… Spot on re the penalty. Vancent Kompany reckons this is the strongest Arsenal team he has faced. If only Wenger added a dm and Cb???
The sooner we ditch this 4-1-4-1 formation and go back to 4-2-3-1 the better, and the sooner we will see Ramsey and Ozil perform well. Its crazy that we have gone to this new formation to help make us better defensively when it has left us unable to keep a clean sheet.
The new formation is helping Jack Wilshere get in the team, but at the cost of Ozil and Rambo performing, yesterday on many occasions when Ozil had the ball in central areas and running towards goal he ended up having his path blocked by Jack or Rambo runs, madness, and how often did Jack and Rambo basically take up the same area of the field, it was so silly to see them make two or three yard passes to other only cos they were both far too close to other.
Ramsey and Wilshere are both smart players and there is no reason that with work they can not form the 2 in a 4-2-3-1 formation, would it be any worse than having Flamini in the team like now, would it make us any less good defensively.
Exactly Eduardo
McR – I don’t think AW has a scooby do what to do with Ozil but it seems everyone bar him can see something isn’t quite right.
I guess the problem is he has so many midfielders he’s trying to make them fit in ‘somewhere’….
Jeff, if only eh!
Hi guys, just dropping in very quickly today.
On the whole, on the balance of things Im not too disappointed. There were large periods where we completely outplayed them. I was surprised, optimistic and really positive. I actually think we played well, and scored some great goals.
But yes, some things let us down. If we were going to concede, it was always likely to be from a break or set piece.. in this game both.
For the first goal on the break Flamini tracked back and took his eye off the player and onto the ball carrying player, and Aguero expertly slipped in. Merde. It wasnt the only time we were caught on the break in the game. I love Merts, and he has great positional play. But on a break he gets caught like he’s not moving.
On the second, the lead up to their corner kick actually came from a horrible horrible goal kick from Szczesny, which came straight back and led to the corner from which they scored. I remarked before the goal that that is how we put ourselves under undue pressure… and then poor marking. Our whole setup at corners is always a shambles. I hate it how we dont put a man on the inside of each post to shrink the goal. Ok it didnt help yesterday, but so often it does.
We were weak in the closing stages and lacked strength to bully them and close it out as we tired… Oh for a big strong midfielder to glue that together.
And oh, what would I give to have signed Fabregas and Costa. You know we would win with those two. And we could have had them. They are both on fire and Chelsea look worryingly powerful just because of them!
Big positives, Wilshere was excellent mostly (great goal!) and Sanchez is epic.
Also we are still undefeated, even though we languish mid-table… Im looking forward to a run of 5 straight wins. Anyone know when that starts?
Rumour is 2 months for Debuchy….
Problems will be solved on the left when we have a natural left-midfielder in the squad. ie someone like Antoine Griezmann, who is fast, runs at players, and also scores. Instead we make do with Carzola, Ozil, Podo… its not terrible, but its not so perfect or dynamic either.
roger, OC, Alexis, Walcott and even Gnabry can all play on the left of a front three….
All have pace…. There is no need to play Ozil or Santi out wide and I don’t why AW does…
I know TW and Gnabry are injured, but even if they were fit, AW wouldn’t use them on the left…
I know Rico, but none of them are natural left sided midfielders either, its not their best positions. So its just shifting others out of place. And then we will start criticising them too when they dont perform there.
Left is not a high priority problem, DM, CB is. Left is medium priority problem.
I should add that our right side is freakin awesome especially when Walcott comes back and into form.
That 4-1-4-1 formation ain’t working
DM and CH for me too Roger..
Kind of disagree agree though re Walcott, he would be the ideal player to play on the left and come in on his natural foot… But Alexis is doing really well out there right now. The right hand side should be Walcott or OC and move Ozil central…
The one thing that Man City have acquired as a result of their crazy wealth is an air of absolute entitlement to match their neighbours. I mean, how dare Arsenal score against them? There must surely be something wrong with their goals. Illegal? Yes, of course they were.now let’s get back to Manchester and assemble our automatic weapons while eating deep fried pies.
🙂 Adam..
Morning all.
Ok…firstly….Jacks goal was just sensational.
His touch to get past the defenders as as good as the finish.
A world class goal.
The strike from Alexis was also just brilliant.
Plenty of good came from that performance, and in positive at 1-0 down we’d have all taken a draw.
Still, sloppy defending got us there, great attacking got us a lead, and NO defending got us bal to level.
Shit, it can not be that hard to pick the runners up from a set play.
Zonal marking or not, that is down to the individuals.
Pick the bloody runners up…….
All in all I’m happy.
It was a much improved performance.
it seems t b d new formation in town ……Dortmund played it yesterday n even chelshit reverted t dat 4 1 4 1…n I still tink letting cesc go was a mistake
That’s pretty much it Scott…
n our defenders seem relaxed lyk no real competition over der..last season kos n mertz wer excellent cos dey had TV5 breathing down their neck n dis season dey jxt don’t tink chambers is worthy of displacing any of dem
Rico, stop agreeing………you’re slipping 🙂
The feeling here is fairly consistent…….we should have bought Fabregas…….we should have bought defenders…….a DM……..Wemger out…….
Well, I just said to them we have this squad until January, Wenger for three years, and no Fabregas, so accept it and move on.
Not that I necessarily disagree withose sentiments 🙂
Ah, but I said it all before in my post Scott, so in theory, you are agreeing with me… 😉
I still maintain a proper CDM and a CH would have made a huge difference. Going forward we are pretty good and could be a lot better if Ozil moved position…
I’m sure I emailed those thoughts to you though hahahaha
Nah, just kidding.
Ozil playing central is just a given, Rico.
Well, to most of us.
Damn, I enjoyed this match though!
Yea Rico if only
Haha Adam… But one of their fans said something that got me thinking. He said Mr Pellgrin is no match for Arsene tactically. He puts the defeat at the Etihad last season to Arsenal’s tiredness and city superior players saying city did not beat Arsenal in 2014.
It’s hard to fall down one side or the other. On one hand we played brilliantly and most of the time put in a full shift but on the other we are so naive about a few desperately important things and it’s the nagging feeling that although blatantly obvious to every man and his dog , nothing will get done about them. On the way home we talked for about half an hour about the goals we scored and the players that fought and those that didn’t. The rest of the 2 or so hours was about the defending or lack of it .That really sums it up.
Cracking game for the neutral I guess Scott…
I see why We get didn’t sign fabregas….rightly or wrongly, I believe he at least had reasons.
Why he let RVP go…same applies.
Why he didn’t strengthen our defence this time……I will never know, and never defend.
That should read Wenger…..not we get!
You know my thoughts on Fabregas Scott….
And mine , And I don’t think they are the same.
When are you off to the USA Scott?
Tomorrow, Rico.
We fly out 1pm our time.
Disneyland, then Hawaii……..two weeks, no work…..it can’t be bad 🙂
I’m catching up with a local Suppoeters club for the CL game, and have a contact in Hawaii so hopefully, I can sort something when there.
I will win more matches than Wenger with †̥ђƺ team
I don’t think they are Potter.. lol
I’m sure you’ll have a great time Scott, sure hope you all do….
Off out now, later folks….
First 😀
Awww man I always pop on here when everyone is missing. What am I doing wrong? ? 🙁
Yippee yai ka yaay I nailed that sad face smiley….In your face wathy boy. Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah that deserves a drink.
Man City looked a team accustomed to winning games & trophies, Arsenal are still searching for that confident air…
At time we really had them on the rack but still lacked that cutting edge, that ruthlessness that Chelsea have. They would have won that game, no doubt at all.
Every time City attacked I felt that Arsenal looked vulnerable…
Wenger has done absolutely nothing to address our defensive fragility.
As a defensive coach, Wenger is hopeless!
Liked Welbeck, very good link up play, aggressive, strong, technical, vgd signing.
Sanchez is a wonderful footballer. He deserves to win trophies. Not sure that he’ll get what he deserves unde a manager who patently fails to learn from his repetitive mistakes.,,
Jack was brilliant. I never doubted him…
yesterday, the best player was Kos. Then Alexis. Just my opinion.
On the first goal, Flamini, not kept Aguero (which is normal, is much faster). However, once again, was a loss of the ball and the great distance that exist between lines, which enhances any counter-attack by adversaries.
The second goal, there was no labeling. I think that we delude ourselves with the result. Maybe if Debuchy had not left, the result would be another. In my opinion, Chambers did not go well in the beggining and the team take long to get used to (and we were going to lose the game).
I think without TW, perhaps betting on advanced center (now to be Welbeck or Sanogo) we must play with Podolsky (or Ox, playing more advanced. Campbell was with Costa Rica, I think). Would depth side. Be avoided that the two sides defenses go up constantly, if they wore and physically balanced is best for any counterattack.
As I have said, have three players in midfield to want to do the same thing and having to accommodate the positions than their own, does not seem a good idea.
Chelsea hasn’t a better team them us; they have the right players in the right positions, wich is completely different. When someone is injury or penalize, he can be replace without unbalance the team and lost the quality and the ambicious.
We had that ruthlessness once Kev, shame we can’t get it back but then we won’t until AW changes his transfer policy…
Afternoon folks…
from Eurosport.com
When Jose Mourinho took over at Chelsea last season, it was clear that he had identified the weaknesses in his squad early and attempted to rectify them quickly.
He made it obvious that he wanted Wayne Rooney from Manchester United to lead his attack, demonstrating his lack of confidence in Fernando Torres, and shunted Juan Mata to the substitutes bench. Torres was a favourite of the owner, Roman Abramovich, and had cost £50 million from Liverpool. Juan Mata, meanwhile had twice been player of the season at Chelsea and was highly regarded. But no matter; Mourinho had worked out where and how his squad needed improving; made his intentions clear to his club, the players and the fans; and showed that he was not prepared to carry ineffective players for longer than necessary.
As it turned out, Mourinho had a job on his hands to solve the problems as he saw them. He was unable to dislodge Wayne Rooney from Manchester United (something that most fans are probably pleased with now Diego Costa has arrived); and it also took a year to secure the signature of a great central midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, who is outperforming Mata’s efforts at Old Trafford. Nonetheless, the team now looks like Mourinho wanted it to; the “little horse” he disparaged last year is, by any measure, a raging stallion ready to go toe-to-toe with any of European football’s thoroughbreds.
What it demonstrates beautifully is that Mourinho’s ruthlessness has its advantages. At the very highest level there is rarely any point wondering if a player will suddenly regain his confidence after years of struggle, and there is little pointing wondering quite how to get the best out of number tens who need the game built around them.
There is no doubt Torres was a great striker. There is no doubt that Mata can be a very capable midfielder, it’s just that evidently there are players who can do it better, and with less compromise elsewhere.
Mourinho’s Chelsea demonstrate that better players mean better sides – something which they showed spectacularly in the 4-1 thrashing of Swansea. But they also show beautifully a lesson that is much trickier to swallow: how little worth there is in persisting with the wrong players.
That can be seen with Mata, with rumours already starting of a move to Juventus in the winter transfer window. He’s contributed goals in his brief spell at Manchester United, but little more. Rather than bringing the best out in others, he is a man who needs others to bring the best out in himself. Without talented, speedy players around him, he will always struggle.
Eden Hazard, Oscar, Costa and Fabregas are all winning games in his absence; while at United he should be concerned that Radamel Falcao, Robin van Persie and Rooney look perfectly happy with the service they’re receiving from Angel Di Maria, Adnan Januzaj and Ander Herrera.
He offers neither threatening pace nor penalty box expertise. If that’s what Louis van Gaal wants (and Shinji Kagawa’s exit to Dortmund offers evidence that it is), then there’s little he can do to keep his place. Van Gaal, like Mourinho, does not indulge players if they don’t, won’t or can’t do what he wants.
And so we come to Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck, another Van Gaal casualty.
Ozil, like Mata, can be a great midfielder, but he offers neither speed nor goals as his strongest suit, rather a kind of enigmatic guile – a quality which, once again, he put to no use whatsoever in yet another limp, disappointing display as Arsenal were held by Manchester City.
Around him, though, is Aaron Ramsey, full of running and crucial interventions, and Alexis Sanchez, a wide forward so far actually capable of goals. Ozil fails to offer the decisive contributions of either of these players.
As with Mata and Kagawa, the discussion is not so much what the player can do to adapt, but more what the manager can change to make the most of him. But with Sanchez scoring, and Ramsey getting back to his best, the question now is “why bother?”
The same, to an extent, goes for Welbeck, who is neither an out-and-out striker nor a constructive wide player; though he is worth patience due to his age.
Mata, at 25, and Ozil, 26, are no longer young. They are as good as they will ever be, in all likelihood, and unless both Arsenal and United are willing to tailor their approach to their demands, they will not justify their selection. Mourinho acted on that, Van Gaal is rumoured to be about to – but Wenger seems reluctant to.
Mourinho refuses to tolerate anything but efficiency (note his strop when Oscar attempted to score with a backheel rather than a straightforward shot), while Van Gaal famously doesn’t care about reputations – something that will be put to the test not just by Mata but also Rooney, if he continues to ruin attacks.
The question for Arsenal, then, is whether Wenger is willing to create his next great Arsenal side, or if he continues to indulge flakiness, as he has for the last decade. If Ozil keeps getting picked, then we have the answer.
Alex Netherton
The question for Arsenal will one day be, should they stand by Arsene Wenger….
That question should have been asked after the cup win. For him to leave then would have be the right time. However the Arsenal board is Conservative with a capital ” C ” and will not take a risk unless they really have to in something that they have little or no expertise in such as football. They did take a risk with the stadium but that was money and that’s right up their street.
Agree 100% – and that would have been the perfect time time for him to walk away but no, the toothless owner and board clearly believe that’s it’s better the devil you know….
Sadly, that’s clearly not the case…
I don’t have a bad word to write about our manager, other than he’s history in everything he does…
I too have a lot of time for him as a man but I think he has run his course as a manager. I am sure that a younger more dynamic manager given his resources and the players we have now would mould them into a more cohesive unit and maybe just address the glaring problems we have with missing players and formations..
Totally agree Potter. We have a very good squad, not deep, we all know that, but we have so so many great players, we should and certainly could, be playing so much better…
Good Afternoon All.
Yesterday we played well considering the referees and what looks like we’re playing with 10 men. Ozil was missing in action.
With the current system in place we can only moan; that is AW and SK.
One of them has to go before we can experience real changes in the pitch. We need a owner who love the game not just the Balance Sheet.
Trouble is Ng, both are here to stay!
Watching Chelsea yesterday and the face of the owner when his team scored was priceless.
Rico. I hear you loud and clear. So the moaning continue.
Why do Arsenal always go for players who are deemed surplus to requirements in their previous clubs?
If things remain the same on the pitch and each transfer window, yes Ng, the moaning will no doubt continue….
Isn’t that a question any transfer could raise?
Sometimes, players want to make a move which they think is better for their career, not everyone we sign has been surplus to their previous club requirements…
Alexis
Chambers
Ozil
Debuchy
Kos
Walcott
OC
Nah, we have signed some goodies…..
Rico. When was the last time we force a club to sell by making them an offer they can’t refuse?
Point is that just by breaking the bank is no guarantee that the problems will be solved. There should be players available at a reasonable price that could do the jobs that we need doing it’s just a case of looking. As I said earlier Wenger buys players on their technical skill not whether they are actually needed. That’s why we end up with so many diminutive midfielders , no wingers , few defenders and no midfield generals. If they can’t play a succession of one two’s he don’t buy them.
Evening Rico and the House.
Enjoyed your post and your line Players jog back to defend sums is spot on.
It really annoys me when I see that and it now happens far too often.
I am really pleased for Jack, that was his best performance for a long time lets hope he can keep it up.
No idea Ng as I don’t get involved in transfers….
But I am a firm believer of not paying over the odds for any one player…..
Heaven and Earth know we need world class striker and defensive m-fielder. The owner turn deaf ears and manager turn blind eyes. Let the moaning continues. Come next year, will be the same moaning.
Who will stang up to the manager or the owner to see the reality?
Evening Rick, thanks..
Jack was back to the Jack we all now he can be… Chuffed for him too…
potter, I think AW looks but he just dill dallies and looses out…
Paying over the odds for any game changer, I’m all for it. Someone who could come in and make the difference.
Rico your 10.59 this morning suggesting Hayden as a D.m. I have always thought that C/H was his best position but I admitt I am coming round to thinking he could play there.
I am pleased that others are now seeing Hayden in the same light as I am, if he is given the chance he could solve one of our defensive problems
I’m not Ng. It’s wrong imo and as Potter says, there is no guarantee….
Rick, Hayden really impressed me against Villa. Diaby and Coquelin should have stolen the show but for me it was Hayden, Bellerin, Akpom and the other forward, Miles ‘someone…
Hayden is so so composed, just like Chambers is…. Give him a damn chance I say…
Chambers or Hayden could solve our DM issue.
Bellerin could save our right back worries right now too…
Imo of course…
X-Factor for me now so night Potter, Rick, Ng and all……
Good night Rico.
My last one for tonight.
Hayden Akpom and Bellerin are in the Team Photo for this season. Has Arsene put them in the squad without saying any thing. Night Rico
Dubuchy has posted the following on facebook.
” I have to pas a medical exam on Monday, No fracture hope to be back ASP”
Maybe not so bad as first thought.
Rick, I reckon those three will be in and around the 1st team squad on a regular basis by the seasons end….
Night All
That United side is looking worrying good.Herrera is better then Wilshere and Ramsey, Blind is better than Arteta and Flamini, Rojo is better than any of our full backs dimaria is better than Walcott and the ox and Falcao is better than Giroud I can see why they flogged Welbeck,don’t think they will miss him. We had better get used to not being in the Cl,this will be our last year IMO,and the others will get stronger as we are stuck with the past it Wenger with his second tier signings ( notable exception ALexis). And now everyone is building a stadium,but unlike US they aren’t paying for the thing themselves.Couldn’t make it up.
I do love a man with a positive outlook.
I don’t agree with all that ljb based on one game against the whipping boys of the prem.
I agree in Blind been able to do a better job than Arteta and Flamini but he’s only one man and would need the team to help defend.
I think United are very short on defenders and will be lucky this season if all stay fit. Clearly we are short there too and are always unlucky with injuries.
I see it been a 3 team scrap between Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal for those coveted 3rd and 4th spots.
Lastly, we need to go back to 4-2-3-1 formation and not try accommodate Wlishere and Ramsey at the expense of Ozil. Sadly it has to be either Ramsey or Wilshere in the box to box role/ double pivot. Ramsey’s engine wins that one over Wilshere.
Don’t think there’s much wrong with our squad, other than a DM. CDM and a manager with a different plan of action…..
Rick, I didn’t know that about the 3 musketeers.. 🙂
Morning Adam, Bradster, Ljb and all…
Morning Rico. Arsene has been around a long time and we have him for up to another 3 years. He has never been interested in proper defending nor is he a student of fate. I imagine that injuries will kill our aspirations this season as they have done for the past 10 seasons. Anybody who expects him to buy the players we need hasn’t been watching closely enough. If, for imaginary instance, he concentrated solely on sorting the defence and either used Bould properly or bought in a proper defensive coach who detested conceding goals then things would look up considerably. But he won’t, just as he will continue to play Ozil out of position and refuse to buy a proper winger. If anyone calls him on it, he will get shirty. Not much changes so we have to support the team and let him get on with it.
Adam, back in the days when he signed Sol Campbell he could spot a good defender, funny how things have changed. Not knocking Merts etc, but more so the coaching, same as you.
I thought Bould had started to make an impact at one stage but it seems the schoolboy errors haven’t disappeared have they..
Such a great shame as we could be so so much better than we are are. If only……
I bet Pulis would sort our defending out.. 😉
Arsene knows…
Nowt!
Rico. They will never disappear until you have defenders who can defend. Shearer, on MOTD, picked it up straight away. If your full backs are up supporting the play like wingers and you have no defensive midfield rock then you will always be susceptible to the counter attack. If the opposition have a pact winger then you are going to be in trouble regularly. Yet, when we have a corner, for instance, we always push both CDs straight into the box leaving about an acre of space for any quick players to run into with impunity. Even from set-pieces we leave ourselves horribly exposed. Opposition managers know it, our crowd knows it. In fact everyone knows it except the one man who could actually do something about it. Why not leave extra cover in place and work on corners in training to try and expand their possibilities? George Graham’s notion that, if you don’t concede, you won’t lose games seems overly simple, naively so perhaps but how many times have we seen the breakaway goal against us when we essentially have left ourselves stretched. Too many for comfort I think. Our defending against set-pieces has been going on since Wenger’s first season.
Morning Brudder.
Adam, I have always moaned about so many players pushing up for a corner or another set piece around the area and to be honest, I don’t know why we bother because seldom do we score from them. TV used to be one of the worst…
Like most, I would loved us to have signed the two defensive players we so desperately needed in the summer, well, every summer but we didn’t. Even so, different tactics, more cautious tactics would prevent us from conceding on the break. Had just one player been around Flamini when he made his interception for their first goal on Saturday, City wouldn’t have scored but as we know, there was no-one and the ball fell kindly to them.
Their second was even more embarrassing imo, bread and butter defending required but not one man stopped that cross…. It happened last season too when Lescott was left all alone….
What I don’t understand is why we can all see it, but the coaching staff doesn’t…
Also, now we have the players like Ozil, Alexis, OC, Welbeck etc etc, does every player really need to join in when we attack, after all, it all ends up with too many players in a small area and the passing is so close, it’s easy to intercept.
I agree Rico. When we scored the second goal on Saturday everybody cheered but, once a few minutes had passed, nobody sitting near me thought we would win. Even with 15 minutes to go and playing against a very good team there was zero confidence. Everybody knew we would draw or could even lose especially as the team seemed to have run out of energy at the same time. Says it all really. And we could be having this discussion anytime over the past decade couldn’t we?
Adam, I was the opposite. I thought the second goal was the winner. Not once did I anticipate us conceding in such a fashion and we wouldn’t have if someone on the pitch had taken control of the game by the scruff of the neck.
A proper leader! But then that opens a whole new can of worms….
We wouldn’t have lost that game had we a Tony Adams or Patrick Vieira on the pitch and I don’t mean that because of how good they were as players, but as leaders…
Indeed I am sure that I have read it somewhere before . I know we sit/ stand near each other and in my area to as we got the second the consensus was at least we should get a point. When Debuchy went off it was kind of Eduardoesque the team stopped thinking and once again drifted into a semi comatose state.
I was calling years ago for leaving Walcott on the halfway line when defending corners his pace would ensure that teams could not push all their defenders into our box , now leave Sanchez up too and really give them problems.There is no point in leaving them back because they don’t do anything , in fact hardly anyone does.
I read this week that Gary Neville said that Tony Adams was the best motivating captain he played with during his England career. BTW Morning All.
I understand your optimism Rico but in the ground I could sense the trepidation. In fact the atmosphere was a bit flat, perhaps due to the early kick-off. Most seem resigned to the utter predictability of Wenger these days. We pay our money and sit and watch, occasionally excited by the attacking play but, on Saturday, the chat all around was about the missed opportunities in the window and how impossibly lightweight we are in defence numbers-wise. You could sum it up as “We’ve seen it all before”. And in true Arsenal fashion, did Wenger make substitutions after the goal to liven us up? No. Did we fall into a more compact shape to frustrate City for the last 15 minutes? No.
Arsenal, as a club and including the supporters that attend the matches and make the atmosphere are in real need of a massive change and a complete new impetus. Until then, it’s as you were.
I know what you mean Rico…. even watching in the pub it seemed like we took the lead, were well chuffed, and then thought the job was done… we let them come back at us. And then we looked like we were surprised by that. We didnt score the goal and then raise ourselves for the fightback response that was inevitably coming. No, we half thought the job was done, and half hoped it would be enough. Leadership is vital.
A good example is the All Blacks rugby team (Im half kiwi). For decades we were known as one of, or the best team, on the planet. But also, we got a reputation for choking in the big games when the going got tough. The difference in recent years is that we dont choke anymore and close out those matches where you are in the fire. Reason? Leadership – and that is senior leadership not just one player. Building a culture of strength and focus for what to do in such situations. About planning and talking about what to do in such situations. For Arsenal, its feels like we find ourselves in these situations and respond as we go. The All Blacks plan for and even expect such a situation so when it occurs they mentally and tactically know how to respond and shift into gear.
And that’s where a leader comes in Potter re the going to sleep after the injury.. And totally agree re leaving a player like Theo on the halfway line, I too have been suggesting the same for a while, it’s the only way to keep defenders back as they know what damage he could do.
And we should be doing he same with Welbeck and or Alexis in Theo’s absence as they too are very quick…
Perhaps those fans should stop chatting Adam and start lifting the place with their cheering and support…. 😉
I’m not at all surprised Neville thinks that about Tony Adams…
I don’t think it’s entirely down to sending the CBS up at set pieces, but they do have to leave a mobile speedster on the half way line to cover any fast counter attack. If memory serves me right it was Cole, then Clichy and nowish, Gibbs, when fit. Flamini on Saturday did his best, which admittedly was not really very good or quick, or effective, whilst Monreal was chasing the whippet back, he was never even close! The goal? Flamini was just not aware of Aguero speeding past him, and even if he was he wa clearly outpaced!
Yes, we need the speedsters on the half way line while our only two tall players offer a threat in the oppositions penalty box.
The cure leave two rapid dwarves on the halfway line to cover the inevitable breaks.
Morning all and a happy Monday to all the correspondents on HH.
Rico. I will be sure to tell them that. They will be chuffed.
roger – I honestly can’t see any one player in our squad who is a true leader, not in situations like Saturday. Yes Merts and Arteta are named by their team-mates as leaders, but i don’t really see any of that going on during a game…
wavy, Flamini made the interception, got up and was back into the penalty area in good time. Imo, it was his positioning once he got there which was wrong, he allowed Aguero to get the wrong side of him..
Adam, good.. 😉
Wenger doesn’t do defending.
Even the Meerkat knows it…
Chelsea look relentless, they could have the league sewn up by February.
ManUre, flash in the pan result.
Liverpool are gonna struggle for a top four finish.
Arsenal to finish 3rd, but get beaten in all our big away games.
Wenger learns nothing, never will…
It’s all about Kroenke and his investment.
We are a cup team.
With the zonal marking. Why not put Mert as the first defender and push the line out of the 6 yard box and closer to the attackers. No guys on the post would put them offside if they try get near schezny. Surely all corners will then need to beat Mert in height and anything in the six yard distance should be Schezny’s to pluck out the air?
Is my thinking too simple here?
Kev. Did you like seeing the Meerkat? We usually see him as we walk past that house. 🙂
3rds an improvement Kev.. 😉
My position is that Wenger should be aiming to win the PL this year as he has had the money and the club has the infrastructure. If he doesn’t I doubt there will be any repercussions though. Kev is right in that it’s all about Kroenke’s investment and how much he can earn on the back of the club. Is he interested in winning the PL? I would say he is ambivalent about that. When Wenger finally leaves, he might reconsider his position if a new manager demands too much money by telling Kroenke what it will cost to have a serious tilt at the title. There lies the rub.
3rd is the new 4th!
Judge me in May! It is an improvement! Such ambition!
Heaven fore fend we’ll be contemplating winning the EPL next!
Just why a high percentage of my blame, lies with Kroenke!.
New post up now…