Well it seems as if Kos is struggling to make the PSG game tomorrow night although others wear a face mask so won’t that help…..?
If he does miss the game are we doomed..? I think not, Kos is our mainstay at present in the back four but we have others who can step up and take command of the defence. I like the was Mustafi talks to those around him and tries to lead, we have lacked that for several years. He for me had a solid game on Sat, granted nothing spectacular but for a debut he showed enough that he’s a proper defender and once settled in is only going to get way better and of course once he gets used to his team mates then we will see the back four hopefully working better and better as a unit. The PSG game should suit Mustafi and if Kos misses out it’s a game for Holding to come into and hopefully enjoy. It’s a big step up for the young man but he has also showed he has the potential to be a very very good centre back, if those around him talk him through the game and the defence gets the cover and support from midfield then we have the basis to build upon and get a decent result against PSG. I’ve always looked at them as a team that can leak goals… yes a little like us granted, if we control the midfield we can control the game. The issue for me is do Theo and Ox get back and offer enough cover to our fullbacks, for me no they don’t. Do we play them both tomorrow night, i wouldn’t. We need to be competitive in midfield as said and we need the wide men putting in a shift which we normally get from Iwobi and Alexis, does Arsene play Perez and Alexis wide with Giroud through the middle, do we go with Xhaka and Elneny holding with Ozil pulling the strings…?
If we are to get anything out of the game tomorrow night I think we need to move the ball way quicker than what we did on Sat against Southampton. We need to zip the ball from defence to attack way quicker but on Saturday that wasn’t evident at all and only when Alexis and Giroud came on did the tempo increase. We are at our best when we play with tempo and movement at a higher pace. We also need to use the wings more which is why Theo and Ox are so frustrating and problematic, for such quick players neither really give us a direct threat. We’ve been saying it for a while now but reality is neither look like they offer us much at all in the final 3rd of the pitch. At best Ox is an impact sub and despite Theo looking as if he is putting in more effort so far this season he still flatters to deceive. When Iwobi plays he looks to get down the line and he also looks to have a go at the full back which creates problems for the defending side and of course creates space and opportunities for us, something we need to do way more of. Pace and width always creates problems for a defending side and for me it’s one of our biggest problems. It’s lacking badly and due to that it’s one of the reasons we are lacking tempo and directness in our play. Resolve that and we’ll look a completely different side but will we…..
Petr Cech says we are not quite there yet well lets hope tomorrow night we are because if we are then we can most definitely get a result in Paris.
Have a good day.
I’m trying to have a good day, but you whinging poms are making it bloody hard lol
Morning all.
Ah stop ya moaning you old tart… pick the ball and chain up and stop dragging it around….!
Hiya Wath, nice post.
Theo is trying hard, but he needs to lift his quality as well as his work rate.
Is he capable?
Probably not but let’s hope he does.
Hahahahahaha.
Maybe some of our players should do that lol
Santi is nowhere near his best, nor Ozil.
Mesuts first touch in that game was woeful, for him.
Plenty of improvement is required, but we do have plenty in the tank.
If cavani starts then mustafi willl excel…if jese then it may be different.
Emeryville’s team were a bit flat against st etiene.
Og12 vs marquinhos will be interesting.
Morning again
Thing is Scott Mesut and Santi get the ball and Theo and Ox and standing still…. the options are severely less when the movement in front of you is zero, only movement I saw Sat was from Perez.. Theo gets the ball in space instead of getting at the defended he’s looking to get rid of the ball asap…! Ox strolls around does te odd good thing once in a while but for the most part is a passenger, neither are good enough and both on the pitch at once are a complete nightmare..!
Ts, are you seeking Andy Pandy or maybe it’s Capt Scarlett..?
Good post btw Wath.
Scott I think Sanchez has a decent chance against Ben Arfa and meunier(spelling)
Theo vs kurzawa will be different if Theo starts.
Ts, I’d not have Ox or Theo anywhere near the side tomorrow night…! Alexis, Iwobi and Giroud to start and bring Perez on with 20 to go, or would you start Perez and the european game may suit him better and allow him to settle easier unlike the hustle and bustle of the prem lge……
Ozil is to slow on the ball and needs to much time to make a pass…he is just not suited for a fast paced game and most times is reluctant to shoot and take responsibility.
Afternoon All
Ozil 2 yards upstairs..Boss
Good post Wath but though i agree with you about quicker movement of the ball,especially on the counter attack, i just seem to see us play the same way week in and week out.Maybe others see it differently.
my fear is that we might play to get a draw and that is not playing to Wenger’s ideal way of playing,we have never parked the bus very well as we don’t have a bus.
Kos is the lynchpin and when you see how many formations he has to play with,often with youngsters he is doing his job and keeping an eye out on another defender whoever that maybe.
I think he will be a big miss if he can’t play but then again mustafi is unknown to me yet he might adapt better playing a European side.
As far as The ox and Walcott, we seem to keep buying the wrong players from Southampton 😉 i wouldn’t have either in my team,which shows that in reality we don’t have such a strong squad or at least one that can interchange and still be threatening.
I think it’s a hard task tomorrow but who knows ?
Finaly critisize when justified is fine and adoration is even better.But I say again being realistic is not being negative. I actually hope every season that it wil be our season to win the PL and possibly the amount of long term injuries is the biggest factor that we fall away especially thee past two seasons and last Summer by only buying Cech,
I am with you Wath re Ox and Theo…
Both completely shot and out of ideas.how lucky are they to have made a career out of ‘potential ‘ and no consistent end product.
Thanks Wath !……………….seems from your notes we have plenty of variations which is good !……..but still lack the Aguero/Suarez/Griezman etc` element which will be our downfall over the season, we cant have another record breaking season of Ozil chances being made and not converted !.
Wrong or right, my main priority is always the league and am never really bothered by the CL….especially the group stages…..I get more excited by the FA Cup and League Cup, one`s we have a more realistic chance of winning !. So in a curious way I`m never stressed before CL games and can relax. So in my relaxed state I expect a hard fought close game with us winning 5-0 !
Question Scott ?…………………an Aussie (not yourself) who keeps coming back with negativity !….would they be known as a Doomerang ? 🙂
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2914/champions-league/2016/09/12/27422782/champions-league-ambition-europa-league-market-zlatan-less?ICID=HP_HN_HP_RI_0_3
Interesting article
Lucian, it’s often said the best players always have time on the ball.
That explains Ozil in a nutshell.
Sorry you don’t see that, as you’re missing one hell of a show.
LC, the only negative Aussies are ex-pat poms 🙂
Reading through some of the comments
yesterday…..
Has anybody seen Perez play through the middle(up tops)
I had a look around at some of the highlights from his
games..must have missed him playing through the
middle.
If we want him to score goals and from what I’ve seen
He looks best playing on the right and cutting in.
Fred Perez has never been an out and out no. 9
Who`s Fred Perez ? 😆
Jack,Walnut and Oxo
Is it all three have missed the boat?
We have Jack holding onto the ball
to long and drawing 50/50’s, then you get
him going into tackles like his life depended
on it.
We have Oxo always looking to beat 3/4 player’s
or trying to place the ball with power in the top
corner.
The we have Walnut,speedy gonzalas
winger/striker/midfielder his best postition
know one know’s?
When I watch these three play,
it seems like these lads are trying to make up
lost time.
Everything is in a panic with these three.
Yer thats what I thought Ts.
Kelsey, that’s my whole point mate, we are predictable and slow in build up due to zero tempo movement and pace in our game…. we have 2 wide men (Theo and Ox) who do not work the channels nor do they make the right runs into space, when they on the ball they do not attack and run at the defenders but far to often merely want to offload the ball as soon as possible. When we have pace out wide and players who make themselves available for a pass ten the midfield has options, when those options are not there we revert to back sideways and tippy tappy
Fred, all three may have one footballing brain between them but as individuals they are lacking, Jack for me if he thinks more will maybe come right but the other two i’d of got shot of long ago.
Thing is do you really need a brain to play the simple game of football ?…………………….It`s not Rocket Salad is it !
So where`s Rico ?……..on holiday ?
Afternoon to the House.
Wath you cannot keep a good man down.
Kossy with swollen face and stud marks as well was in training this morning and it looks like he will make it.
Some old man named Pires was also training this morning, Id love to see him sort our midfield out.
Freddie Lundberg was coaching our U19 squad, and I gather he could be working with them tomorrow.
I hope we don’t have this same scenario with Perez as with Walcott.is he a winger or is he a centre forward, though having said that they true traditional centre forwards hardly exist anymore with attackers inter weaving their positions all the time. Diego Costa is as near as you can get to a CF.
Buon pomeriggio Lovelies and Hunkies.
Mates…..what would you say if during the first 14 games we had those results…..
3-0, 2-2, 2-2, 1-1, 4-0,4-1, 0-0, 2-0, 1-0, 0-5, 3-6, 1-2, 1-0, 2-2.
That would make it P14, W 6, D 5, L3, F 26, A 21 Pts 23
Any comments….positive or negatives???
Perez is not the same as Theo……Perez was schooled in Spain. Theo was schooled by English coaches.
With PErez the problem is not that of not being skilful enough. With PErez its a question of time and understanding with his team mates.
With Theo the problem was the coaching he received between the age of 12-17. Make or break years in tactics and game reading. Which Theo lacks as he does not have a football brain. Theo is a player…..not a footballer
A couple of hammerings in amongst a few good wins there Dev, so what year was that then…?
Thanx Rick, A kick in the head never stopped a decent defender from playing, look at TA, even a lap post didn’t stop him playing…. lol
Problem these days they all 2 molly coddled…!
answer the question Wath…..what would you say to the first 14 results like that??? would you accept it??
Not really no…… cos to lose 5-0 and 6-3 in the league ain’t very good is it…. Now you’re gonna tell me it was a year we won the league lol
See that’s accepting only part of the picture if that’s the case it would also depend who stuffed us 5-0 and 6-3 as well…! As said based on 14 games alone and NOT 38/40 or 42 it’s not acceptable when getting those 2 drubbings..!
that is why I said a win is 3 pts…..because this year we have won 2 drawn 1 and that means 7 points. Had we won 1 and drawn 3 we would have just 6 pts.. That is why I find it irritating that people are getting negative so early in the season…….as we know that many teams are slow starters and it takes time to gel.
If we had been playing brilliantly people would still say that we would not keep up playing so well and that results would tail off from February onwards and we choke.
That is why a win is a win……however we played. its still 3 pts. winning 10-0 or 1-0 is still 3 pts while getting stuffed 10-0 or 1-0 is still 1 loss. you don’t win points by playing brilliantly…..you only win points by scoring 1 more than the opposition. we did that in the last two games.
we have never played with the full first 11 yet this year…..so we have to take that into consideration.
the most important thing is that we grind out results and score 1 more than the opposition.
Thing is Dev seems you’re also missing the point of the negativity, It’s not so much the results more the way in which we have played which is in a large part no different to the last few years…. Noone on here has moaned at the new players we all know they take time to settle in and thats to be expected but the way we have played has left a lot to be desired…! As for losing 10-0 or 1-0 I seem to remember you having a hissy fit at the 8-2 and 6-1 6-0 etc etc so saying 10 is the same as one is taking the whole result way out of context to the normal fan who can relate losing a close fought game compared to being totally over run outplayed and humiliated
I am putting them in context of 3 pts Wath….10-0 or 1-0.
yes I throw a hissy fit at those results….simply for feelings’ sake…..but in terms of points its either 3 points won or 3 points lost. even a 5-5 draw is the same as 0-0…..only 1 point achieved.
two weeks Dev and we get to see how we deal with the Chavs…. that for me will tell us a lot of things..!
Yes but as you well know Dev football is all about feelings as well as points…! when we have played 10/12 games we can evaluate the points won and lots and we’ll all know if this side had the bottle to really grind out results or if a few were pure luck.
if we keep grinding out results the performance wont matter. at the end of the day its the result which is on record not the performance.
Results are always what matters it’s what makes up the league but you also cannot bemoan fans asking why the football is boring and drab with such talented players in the team/squad…!
Fans pay a lot of money these days and want to be “entertained” the Clubs call us customers now so from that point of view it’s not just about results, it will always be a point of contention as to when is a win an entertaining game or not but from the comments i’ve seen the ones aimed at our style of play as being no different from the last few years are very valid in my opinion. If this year we manage to grind out way more wins maybe that opinion will change or be balanced by the fact we win an extra 5 games or more than previously but only time will tell
no I cannot bemoan them but its still early in the season and that means that physically the other teams are in good condition and therefore they will compete on the same physical level. the league is won by grinding out results…….as I said yesterday the other teams want to win as much as we do, try all tricks as much as we do, want the ball as much as we do. So both us and the other teams try to stop any fluidity in team passing. That means that pretty play is not on show. that is why its still early in the season.
With regards Ox and Theo as I said above….they were coached by british coaches and there is a lack of good qualified coaches (at A Uefa level) between the age of 12 and 16….which is the golden age of tactical learning. theo and Ox do not have a tactical brain and often don’t read the game….Perez was reading the game but service was not coming as there was a big gap between midfield and attack. The team was too stretched and Perez was often isolated.
As you and I know Dev, you cannot teach a footballing brain you got one or you don’t Theo aint got one and Ox maybe have a little one but most of the time it’s sleeping….!
Agree with tacxtics from the opposing side ad thats a given but whats not a given is the lethargic way we play and you can tell from the first 30 seconds if we in the mood to bing the ball about and get at the opposition or if we in tippy tappy mode, half the time the opposition don’t have to make it hard for us we do that to ourselves… all about that desire to play at tempo and that on Sat wasn’t there in my mind..!
What is it now ?……………….kids being trained at clubs from what 7/8/9 ?…………..there`s probably kids out there at 10 years old who are tactically more aware than me when I was 15/16 !………..Ox and Theo have been drilled from an early age and should know it all !.
At the end of the day it will be down to the best players winning stuff and if they are athlete`s as well then who ever has these are going to win the trophies !.
That my friends will more than likely happen at a club who has the most money, a club who spend the most money and for that you need an owner who will do just that and with a manager who has identified the positions that need addressing !……………..we have neither the owner or the manager !……………the big 3 ( you know who I mean) have both and we all realistically know that one of them will win the league !……………the rest are as my friend Kelsey would probably say are 2nd tier clubs in this one division, there`s them and the rest, but expect the scum and hammers to join them somewhere down the line !
Kroenke Out !.
If we got 23 points out of a possible 42 points after 14 games I would say is a poor return but again just look at the results against the other top teams be it top 4,5 or 6
I am fed up with these thrashing we keep getting year after year and even this season at 4-1 down at Home I thought (as many others did) that it wasn’t going to end thee.
I don’t like it when one is called negative because the team and manager aren’t playing to their full potential.
We are top or near the top of the second tier in the PL and based on the policy of the board and Wenger , I doubt it will change.
Which other manager would keep Walcott after 11 years and pay him 110K a week.AW often puts loyalty before form and wants players who can play in various positions not their optimum position,where they play best.
Look at The Euros and the majority of ou players seemed to play better for their respective countries than they did for us and that even includes Giroud,who is by know means a finished article and never will be.he has his uses in the team but never an instinctive goal scorer but maybe a combination with Perez might work.
Sanchez is wasted as a lone striker, but that I will be told that others needed to be rested after The Euros yet he went to S.America and most of the other players that play for other teans in the PL seemed to get their players back far quicker.
Support always, frustrated far more frequently and let’s see if we can really be consistent and kick on.I have my doubts but would be delighted to be proved wrong.
One day we might find out who or what is the stumbling block,AW or Kroenke or both.oh if only Dein was still around.
Hi All:
Just a layman who thinks that the world revolves around sports, and not the other way around. NFL, NBA, football, NHL, etc, etc. When life is $h%t is because Arsenal, Knicks, Giants or the Mets are $h%t. So there have been many $h%tty days. As someone said here before , I think it was Adam, I don’t care what any other team does, I just care about ARSENAL – I agree 100%. We are all fan and granted we are offering opinions and points of view; but come-on when you start comparing Perez with Theo, IMHO, that means you don’t even watch the games but just want to comment. I agreed with Ts that Perez is not a pure #9, but he’s so intelligent as a footballer that he ends up in the #9 most of the time. The intelligent footballer understands that is not where you start but how you end, after movement: Suarez, Messi, Aguero, De Buryne, Costa, Mueller, Ratakic, Ozil, Lowendowski, Vidal, young Yaya, Marcghisio, Xabi, just to name but a few. Is an insult to compare Perez to Theo. Perez, atm, is the closest we have to a #9 in the squad.
Re; Wath 4:35, I really don’t think it is about entertainment value. 90% of Arsenal fans want to win the EPL, forget about the style of play. I think Devil is right, it is about 3 points. I think what the fans are complaining about is playing the way we are playing now will not get us enough 3 points. It been so long that the trophy is more important to us than the entertainment value. Devils points is that as long as we are accumulating the 3 points people need to relax – and I agreed. (apologies for been long).
Great comment Obi………………………but then I saw ………”young Yaya”……………….please say you mean the Toure one ! 😆
The results I wrote in my post are Manchester united’s first 14 results from season 1996/97 when they finished as champions. Yes it is a poor return regarding points and I recall them playing poorly as well…..but still they finished as champs.
Cockie……in Spain/ Italy/ France and Germany….up till the age of 11 the boys learn technique with the ball and basic elementary tactics. Between the age of 12 to 16 the boys are taught tactics….and in these countries each club must have A licensed coaches from the age of 9 up. And each coach has a maximum of 14 boys in each group.
Yes they are taught tactics while in England coaching is lacking. Comparing the amount of A licenced coaches in Spain….over 11k to England….less than 2k one can see why English players lack in certain aspects and get found out at top level.
Theo, when at Southampton, went only through one tactic……they put him up front, then the whole team defends and find Theo with a long pass who goes on a run with his blistering pace to score. That is the tactics Theo was exposed to. That is why Capello found it impossible to teach him the tactic of staying out wide. And at 27 he still does the same mistake.
Look how much these bastards are making !………………….not even in the CL, but they still spend big !………………I wonder how much Wenger would have spent had he not been in the CL ?…………………..we all know he would have made an excuse !
We are a business and I`ve always been under the impression that you had to speculate to accumulate !…………………speculate in top players = win trophies = accumulate more money to buy even better top players = more trophies……………….them bastards have been doing it for years, very simple formula and I`m just a Van Driver ! hahaha
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/709873/Manchester-united-news-financial-report-transfers-Ed-Woodward-Schweinsteiger-title
Thank you Dev` for the info`.
LC, off course I meant Sonogo…..check out his days as French U21 and at Auxurre B…… LOL. Thanks LC.
I think the negativity amongst fans,is partly down to what Kev touched on yesterday, that Wenger has lost, permanently, too many of the home and crucially away crowd, and the amchair support, for that matter, I know he,s lost me, and because they have been let down so many times, and have sat through tired, dated and shoddy performances, where players have simply not turned up or have not bothered. its just become repetitive, even soul-destroying at times.
We as fans are owed big time by this club, with this team it,s always two steps forward, 3 steps back, until we see a marked improvement in performances “which christ, should not be too difficult with the players we have at our disposal” and a steady run of consistency, will the fans feel more positive about us going forward,
but until thats seen I feel we will remain sceptical.
Been there too many times too be positive this early in the season.
DH, what exactly are we owed??
I don’t get that comment.
Nobody puts a gun to our head to make us support or watch the side.
Supporters support-always have, always will.
No matter what.
Criticism is fine, but criticism for the sake of it is just ridiculous, yet it happens too often.
4 games into the season, and I’m finding fans attitude laughable, but hardly surprising.
4 games.
Sorry, DG….
So do you not think my comment makes sense, better performances and more consistency and the fans might see something to be more positive about, reasonable comment imo,
Do you not think the travelling fans or any fan for that matter are not owed a long awaited big season from Arsene Wenger or is it too much to ask…..
It depends on your level of wanted ambition, I suppose……
Simple fact is Arsenal fans are so scarred by failure they have stopped trusting their team.
Sorry you didn,t get my comment Scott…. I,ll try harder next time!!!
So they “owe us”?
Funny how fans don’t believe we “owe them” some support for a change.
Maybe some effort is exactly what’s required lol
Staunch fans, our club has-well, I’m sure they wish they did.
Wenger spent 90 odd million.
That’s what fans called for.
Once he did that, fans then ignored that topic because it suited them to do so, and went on with his lack of tactical nous etc etc
Very little credit was given for the spending, which is what people have demanded for years.
Do you think he’s suddenly going to learn tactics???
I mean, he’s never been brilliant at tactics, so expecting a change now is ludicrous, imo.
Nothing will change on that front until he leaves, and that’s a fact, but still, 4 games in and people are complaining already.
Sorry, but plenty of fans need to take a good, hard look at themselves and give the 11 in the pitch some support.
Wouldn’t it be nice to hear the Emirates crowd for a change?
Oh, but they’ll tell us they need something to cheer about.
It’s a very one sided relationship, really.
DB your comments are on point with respect to better performance and more consistency, but in the end, the consistency of winning 3 points, like Saturday, beats better performance with no point any day. At this point, as an Arsenal fan, heck the performance. I will take an own goal win of 1-0 for the rest of the season to win the EPL trophy. Then maybe the symptoms of,
“Arsenal fans are so scarred by failure they have stopped trusting their team” will finally stop.
Obi, I go back 4-5 years ago when we constantly played attractive football, yet lost games.
Fans wanted us to learn to play ugly and win.
Now, when we do that, we need to play attractive football.
I can’t keep up 🙂
I guess people simply want us to win more consistently and that’s fair enough.
Different approaches required when playing different sides.
I think people are getting negativity and being realistic confused.
Yes it’s only 4 games in but the team seems like many before it, with a couple long overdue new faces added to the squad.
As for different approaches for different teams it’s not really Wenger’s forte is it? That’s why his time is up for me.
Hi Lee, I agree totally, but he’s in the job at present, so we can’t expect him to suddenly learn tactics, unfortunately.
At the very least, he addressed the squad depth, so should be given some credit for that, but we all know we will see more or less what we have for years, but let’s get behind the boys on the pitch.
Will Wenger be given an extension??
Who knows, but he’s given his all, leaves money in the bank and a damn good squad, so let’s hope he goes out on a high.
We shouldn’t give up on the season, yet, though, that’s all I’m saying.
Buongiorno Lovelies and Hunkies.
Scott….some people just love to bandage their head because they are afraid of breaking their skull. Or love to take medicine for fear of falling ill.
I will write the season off when we are out of the EPL running, when we are out of FA Cup, when we are out of LC.
The CL is another story…..a top 16 finish is more or less what I expect.
Lee I prefer to live in the present….here and now. The past is gone and the future is yet to come and who knows what it has in store.
If I dwell in the past and allow it to dominate my thoughts it will surely ruin the here and now situation which is that of having played 4 and won the last two games on the trot. The last goal we conceded was not through open play but a lucky freekick which hit the bar and went in via Cech’s back. Were we outplayed? No. we had a 58% possession. Where we out shot?? No, we scored 1 more than the opposition. Did we win? yes and got 3 points.
Scott said
“Wenger spent 90 odd million.
That’s what fans called for.
Once he did that, fans then ignored that topic because it suited them to do so, and went on with his lack of tactical nous etc etc”
I haven’t ignored the topic as he should have spent last Summer and we don’t know as yet if the new players will improve the team.
The problem IMO is Wenger himself and his ideas of coaching are dated and predictable even if he had bought a few more world class players it would be them not him that would make us successful and consistent through their skill and intelligence.
The only time I have ever seen him ecstatic in the last couple of seasons was at The legends Match,which tells me alot..
We are stuck with him but I keep my expectations low so everything else is a bonus.
Kelsey,
We all know he should’ve spent last season, but that’s no excuse to ignore the fact he spent up this time around, unless, of course, fans find it impossible to give credit when it’s due, as plenty do.
People can either remain negative and downtrodden, or positive and upbeat.
It’s a personal choice.
Why anyone would choose to stay negative is beyond me, but again, it’s their choice.
Devil, where there’s life, there’s hope, and after a measly 4 games, I agree, there’s plenty of life 🙂
It’s not always a positive or negative emotion.It’s looking at the all round picture and maybe I am hard to please but i have spoken to many many people that have been to both Home games and say we are not playing well and the atmosphere is getting more and more toxic.That’s a fact.
I make no bones about it I think Wenger as good as he was is past his sell by date but as long as the money keeps rolling in Kroenke is happy.
I and I am sure most of us started initially to support Arsenal simply as a football club, results were good and bad as with any club but now football is out and out business and the true fans are becoming more and more distant from the club they love.That’s not being positive or negative,it’s sad.
I don’t think AW can do anymore and he frustrates me with the way he manages and his quotes are quite bizarre changing from week to week that often extremely difficult to decipher.
Surely the dissatisfaction among supporters has nothing to do with who Arsene has or hasn’t signed. It also has nothing to do with the first 4 games. The situation has been getting worse for several seasons now and what we have seen so far is merely a continuation of last season.
Most understand that he isn’t going to change now and there probably won’t be any revolution of style or approach from him. The fact that we have hit no heights so far this season merely confirms and compounds what most people see.
The club and Arsene have set their trajectory.
Kelsey, it’s been 4 games.
4!
Seriously, give them a chance, or not, your choice, but Wenger is there at least until seasons end, so there’s not much will change as far as management is concerned.
You’re right on one thing, Stan doesn’t give a shit, as long as the money keeps rolling in.
Adam, that’s exactly my point.
Fans complaining about a lack of signings can’t complain about that any longer, so simply moved on to the next point of conjecture.
There’s always something to whinge about if people want to find it.
2 X 35 million pound signings and a new striker, all swept under the carpet almost immediately.
Anyway, enough of that from me…….everyone knows where I stand 🙂
How are we looking for PSG?
Alexis starting or not??
Scott I read an article which suggested that the team against PSG should be the following….
Cech
Bellerin, Kos, Mustafi, Nacho
Coquelin, Xhaka
Cazorla, Ozil, Alexis
Perez
The writer suggested that Cazorla begins the game on the right while Perez should be a starter as well.
What do you think??
I agree with Adam in everything he says.
Scott,if the majority shareholder doesn’t give a shit what does the immediate future hold for us.Arsenal Business foundation not football Club.
I am still looking forward to tonight’s game as long as we don’t fall out of the traps as is often the case. Who plays, I haven’t got a clue but Kos is fit.
With the best will in the world and all the hope that we do well tonight, I can not hand on heart say I am overly confident. Of course we are stronger on paper than in recent times and PSG with a new Manager involved and without Ibramovitch it all points well for us but we are Arsenal after all, masters of let down. Our latest signings and even the ones just prior are still not fully bedded in but I will be delighted to be surprised tonight!!
Kelsey, I hold Stan responsible because he refuses to take responsibility, so you’ll get no argument at all from me on that bastard.
Devil, seems a decent starting line up, but i’d have thought Giroud starts.
Actually, it’s a damn strong line up.
Who is PSG’s manager now, Kelsey??
Unai Emery,Scott.
Cheers….
Morning All
Football is a passion..with me..
The Arsenal..been a fan since I was 8.
Supported home and away never miss
a game..where ever I am.
What ever time of day.
I have to watch it live.
I call that Passion.
Positive/Negative What is that all about.
Sorry guy’s What are you lot all talking about.
Arsene spent nothing(Keeper) last season,and we
come 2nd..Positive or negative?
As for the Stan (the Syrup) Man.What passion
would he have for Soccer.
Can never understand why his name come’s up
when we talk Football.
We all new the money was in Arsene’s pocket
But it took two years to burn a Hole.
Didn’t it.
Morning All once again
Fred, Stans name comes up because he is the cancer at the club.
Expecting the crowd at the Emirates to morph into a hot bed of rabid support is never going to happen. The people that go are just not that way inclined, the larger percentage want the team to win but they are not vocal people ,some that are there are too pissed to actually understand what they are watching and for the rest it’s a day out’s entertainment.
I used to say that the 30 odd thousand Highbury crowd were lost in the new sized crowd but now I think that number has probably dwindled by more than half. You do hear chants starting but usually by a disparate group of a couple of dozen or so and near half time it’s drowned out by the noise of feet shuffling up the steps to get in the queue for an alcoholic top up and near the end the rush to get to the tube before the rest.
Society has changed and in London and Islington in particular it has become the stamping ground of the luvvie , it’s more Eddie Izzard than Henry Cooper. Remember part of the deal for the new stadium is that a percentage of the new seats ( season tickets ) had to be sold to local people or at least those that had moved into the area to replace the indigenous ones that are now living in the home counties, Essex or even as in my case even further from London as the glitteratti moved in and pushed property prices out of our reach.
Groups of mates that used to go and make noise are a thing of the past. The stadium is a modern day amphitheatre. I often question myself as to why I still go ? I suppose it’s because it’s nice to go back to my roots and the club is in my blood , there’s also a kind of bloody mindedness to want to be there when this empire falls and the club gets a chance to remanifest itself.
Potter, I have to say, I’ve got quite a few home game regulars as friends on FB, and your comment hit home……they all seem to gather around, get pissed before a balls even kicked, and celebrate afterwards with more grog win, lose or draw like it doesn’t really matter.
Scott no way in a million years
The Syrup would listen to what
us gooner’s think or say.
The Hiil-Woods were called the
bank of England from Threadneddle St.
I can tell you for a fact we could get
60.000 in the old ground.
The three day week prooved that.
Hand on heart..Do you think Stan
told Arsene to get.Mustifa,Granite and Perez.
Nah, Stan doesn’t give a shit, Fred.
Arsenal FC are nothing to him….
Morning all,
I worry that Giroud gets frozen out like Chamach and is so rusty when we need him to fire.
I also don’t understand why we cross when all the little strikers are on and tap tap and through balls when Giroud is on.
We also look dangerous when the full backs over lap but lately they are not making those runs.
Potter. Agreed.
As he is known as Silent Stan how can any of us know what he thinks about the club? Arsenal are just about unique in the football world in having a manager who is all-powerful. Kroenke most likely realises this and for the time being lets him get on with it, confident in the PL’s continuing earning potential. He saw the opportunity and bought in. Who could blame him? He is a businessman after all. The issue is caught up and symptomatic of the changing face of football that we are witnessing right now. As more and more of the bigger European clubs are being bought by ultra-rich businessmen or corporations the manager’s job will change in its definition and responsibilities and the turnover will increase I would think.
Those of us who grew up with the club as part of our social heritage are beginning to understand that this is not ‘our’ Arsenal and certainly not the club of our youth. Times have changed. You take the TV money but you have to bow to their whims.
All Wenger really needs to do is to win and play exciting football. But to do that he might have to reinvent himself and modify his ethos. Sounds easy doesn’t it? 🙂
Let’s be honest you can dress football up
in any language that suits.
But it all boils down to whats on the
pitch to the diehards.
Stan has never pretended to be anything he’s not, that’s for sure, but whoever brought him to the club ought to be condemned.
It was a very shortsighted call.
As with Wenger, we have him, we can’t move him so we watch and hope the boys fire up.
Adam, there isn’t much at all in this world that even closely resembles the time of our youth, and I dare say very little has improved since that time.
5 years ago, I was happy to live in this home for the rest of my life.
Now, I want out of this area.
Change is inevitable, but again, often not for the better.
It’s sad.
Good Afternoon All…
I share most of the feelings expressed by Adam, Fred and Potter even though I am an occasional visitor to Ashburton Grove these days…
Maybe it’s an age thing, but the changing face of football doesn’t get the juices flowing like it used to…
Winning the FACup was a big deal when I was a teenager, even the League Cup. But European football has made those domestic competitions almost irrelevant in these days of financial obsession in the game…
It’s all about money, that’s why finishing in the top four is considered a trophy, and not just by Wenger, he was simply the first to publicly articulate that fact…
Kev, in Oz 20-30 years ago, we all knew who won the FA cup, but few knew who won the League.
It was that one game of the season we saw live, and it was huge.
When I was younger, I’d think nothing of getting on a football special, from Euston or Kings Cross, and go on a train journey up to some Godforsaken northern shithole, be marched to the stadium by the local rozzers, be abused by northern morons for a couple of hours in some crappy stadium that was falling down, watch some shit Arsenal team lose, then get chased back to the railway station by some northern pack of dogs looking for a punch up.
But I loved it, proper football…
Now it’s all been sanitised, fit for family viewing on TV and despite all the hype, it comes across to me as bland…
Scott, when do you sleep Digger? ?
Rarely, and for short periods lol
It’s only 9.22pm.
Usually around 10.30-11 I head off, then wake up at 5.
I’m in that routine and I hate it!!!!
If I go to bed earlier, I wake up earlier.
Ps, that’s a great post on the past, mate.
Way of life at the time , Kev. Northbank Saturday with about 15 of us , Sunday morning football with the same group , then playing got in the way of Saturday matches every week but midweeks always there.It’s hard to recognise the way match days are now , and although I am glad the bottle , brick and walking stick has gone the way of the red and white ambulance . I kind of miss the noise it made in t ground.
t ground , gone all northern for a minute.
Potter…… oooh aaaah ecky thump….
Ee bye gum lad…
You can’t beat a loaf of hovis…….
you cant beat a glass of vino rosso Wath. anything else can be beaten
Merely you’re opinion Dev, taste buds are as personal as our first choice 11 Arsenal team lol
Let’s conduct an opinion poll worldwide Wath…..and see how many people have heard of red wine…and tasted it against how many people have heard anything about the loaf of hovis…let alone taste it. 😛
What about Newcastle Brown?
Devil, red wine is a bit of a broad field. We all have our favourites be it a particular grape variety or from a particular area. Red wine vinegar is not a nice aperitif but Mouton Rothschild can usually be reliably nectaries have!
Whereas all Hovis is brown and often tastes like cardboard but it is universally available throughout the United Kingdom.
I ramble……….!
Dev, I hate hovis…. #just saying…..
Wavy, Newc brown… yuk yuk yuk lol
Hovis tastes like cardboard and has the texture of sawdust . Other than that it’s fine.
This is for those hoping that SK will fire AW. An interesting discussion this morning on “Mike and Mike”, an American talk sports show on ESPN. The LA Rams, owned by SK, lost yesterday 28-0. The discussion was why the Rams coach, Jeff Fisher, has not been fired? He only has won 43% of his games, never made the playoff as the Rams coach, has never been over .500 for 6 seasons, in a league that fires an average of 7 coaches a year, yet he still has a job.
Well then, if compared to AW, at least he wins the 4th place trophy yearly. Against that backdrop, we are stuck with AW, fellas.
Obi, there is no doubt in my mind what so ever Wenger will be with us for at least another 2 seasons after this current one..!
oh dear 😉
He covers the prerequisites of the owner kelsey simple as that so why would they change him…?
They to scared to change whilst every thing is rosy…! The pounds are still coming in so all is good.
If I am wrong please correct me but many think the stadium is payed for yet my understanding is that we have to pay 20/25 million a year until 2031 as special interest rates were formulated at the beginning of what amounts to be a mortgage.
If we were to pay the debt off early there are penalties which increases the amount owed.
We take about 3 million gate receipts every Home gme but the corporate business is vital and takes a big chunk of the gate revenue therefore forth is a trophy to the money men as long as we are near or there about.
This goes back to my earlier point about fans and clubs distencing themselves from one another.It’s business first and foremost and I see Kroenke as the biggest problem as he personally doesn’t want to speculate with his own money to accumulate better players and hopefully trophies.
Whoever replaces Wenger will have the same restrictions or Wenger and Gazidis have been lieing all along
This time last season we’d lost our opening game at home, were sitting pretty in 6th place after 4 games and knew the best we could hope for was a top 4 spot, it’s gonna be another action replay this season.
You can always tell a French man but you can’t tell him much !
Pessimism or realism.
Kelsey, the stadium debt is most definitely not paid off at all, there are huge penalties for early payments and although the interest at the time was a good deal the clauses that were put in place not to be able to renegotiate or pay off early are now a hindrance and yes i believe the whole debt is structured over 25yrs…!
I’m with Micko, even though he’s ruined the whole humpty dumpty thing for me…..!
By the way, Ts has been AWOL ever since you brought it up mate…..
Anyone else watching the u-19s? Live on BT. I’ve lasted 20 minutes and had to switch over. Still 0-0 but we are clueless. Not one player showing anything.
Forgot to say we have also missed 2 clear chances. Willock one on one and Malen 7 yards out?
BOB ESSEXHAVEJUST gained promotion as div 2 champs
MALAN HAS JUST MISSED NO 3
Wath, the only conspiracy I know is since man walked on the moon it’s never stopped raining in Ireland, that might just get tsgh back on side again !
Good news Rick. The pessimist in me thought they might mess it up!
Thanks Wath
Obi,
have you got a link to Mike and Mike as some of us in the UK,me actually ,don’t understand bits like he hasn’t been over .500 for 6 years
Arsene Wenger”s stubborness is officially now a mental illness. After all that happened lqst year Ospina is back in goal. Mental!!!!
Didn”t even notice that Xakha is not playing either WTF?
Bob you are joking right??
Team news.I am shocked(Walcott has a knee problem)
Arsenal Ospina, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Cazorla, Coquelin, Iwobi, Ozil, Ox, Alexis
Subs Cech, Holding, Gibbs, Xhaka, Elneny, Lucas, Giroud
Cech is fit but dropped.
Kelsey, bizarre team selection to me, don’t want to negative but….. ?
Most important player on the pitch and he plays our 2nd string keeper….. I give up….
Ain’t the league cup to give Ospina a run about…?
Bob, he’s driving me mental I know that….!
Rotation right? Le Coq / Xhaka / Elneny ? Er no, play Le Coq until injured or knackered. Then do same to Xhaka. Strange…..
Arsene just said we have two world class keeper’s
Lets hope this one can catch more than a cold.
Kelsey, I will try and find it. It is also podcast on the net and I believe in the apple/ play stores. But basically they play 16 games in the NFL and for 6 years he has never won more than 8 games. I believe his best year was 7 wins 9 losess. Ouch. On an off year, a team may get in the playoffs with 9 or 10 wins, but usually 11+ wins gets you in.
The faith Wenger shows in players is unbelievable, it’s about time some these lot repaid his faith in them!
The Ox I’m looking at you closely tonight!!
Well we love breaking records, perhaps we’re trying to make it easier to lose our unbeaten record in France.
What the he’ll is Mustafi complaining about?? He’s your man.
What a fucking start
How fecking easy was that?
What the hell??? you don’t give their forward a yard start and expect him not to score.
Emery has loaded his team tonight with defensive midfielder…
Is it because he fears us or he is just sticking to his script?
That free kick was total shit….
Dear oh mustafi.
Poor poor…
No surprise here bearing in mind how easily Southampton opened this midfield up
Might as well take Coq off, nothing is coming through the middle. Killing our flanks
Our defence is a shambles as per usual. Just waiting for number two to go in.Great preperation and team selection by AW
Are we really surprised they taking the piss…? This is blatant Wenger giving it I’ll show you all who’s boss and will pick who I want… No Arsene, Ospina is not world class in a fuckin month of Sundays….. unbelievable….!
TS a manager changing his team to suit the opposition??? That’ll never catch on will it??
Sadly Ospina isn’t to blame for them doubling up on the flanks and fast asleep at the back
Ain’t watching this shit, may as well watch a decent film…. night all…!
Bob, good job we bought Elneny and Xhaka then!
3 cheers to Essex, Irani Silverwood and Tendo. Even we couldn’t mess this one up!
Did we really go 42 seconds without conceding…….credit to Arsene.
So what has Giroud done wrong? Surely Wenger is not going to persist with make shift strikers.
Aw showing his arrogance again in Europe and getting exposed.Our midfielder without tactical nous as always…
Lee no excuse but only AW will go with le coq vs Matuidi and verrati away from home.
After 25 years playing up if he can’t go into the first UCL game with a more compact line up then he deserves all he gets…
Brad, fastest goal conceded by an Arsenal team in Europe, you can tick that one off your list lol !
How the feck is Coq bookef. Two seconds earlier their players boot was head high and nothing given
Lol, I’d prefer we were breaking the right kind of records
Micko you know mustafi cost a bit more than stepanovs? Show some respect…
After the first eleven that Wenger chose today leaving Xhaka, Elneny, Perez on the bench and make Sanchez a striker. Wow Wenger truly is delusional I don’t care who says what. Arsenal are so lethargic and only Wenger knows. Wenger has lost it other managers buy players and use them he buys them for the bench.
Is it only me? I’m so frustrated I’m actually going insane due to Arsenal I can’t take it and I love watching em play but it’s disappointing all the time
Wow Ox. Open your eyes when you pass
Absolute pants!
At least we can admit Catania misses chances too. (^^)
Need Gibbs on for iwobi to shut down Aurier. This is like amateur hr..
Cavani too 🙂
Cavani
Must be so shit to cross and see two 5 footers in red surrounded by blue giants
Monreal is not being covered when he overlaps…
I can’t believe no one on the pitch is capable of reading what is going on.those overpaid players do not need a manager to tell them!
I still can’t get over the team selection
Don’t even think this lot are that great apart from their athletisism. We are not even average though
No tactical nous!Sanchez is a tad over rated and likes playing like he is in a one man team.
Weren’t we linked to Aurier? Add him to the list…..
Should be 3 down!
Lost him again Mustafi
What happened to number 1 rule of CB? Watch your man not the ball.
Ozil coming deeper and deeper.
We are being out thought and over run.
2 goals after break.come on boys!
Mustafi playing them onside and then appealing for offside. Three times now!
This game is far from over. another half time left. And its only 0-1. could have been more but its still 0-1. So I hope we go out with a different mindset now…..and AW makes the right substitutions
Outplayed in every department… absolutely abysmal.
But sure silly old bollocks will do nothing until 62mins or we go 2-0 down..
It’ll be bold to see Wenger make a half time substitution. I doubt he has the balls still to do it.
Devil do you have faith in him to do that? He’s got a PHD in stubborness which is why he thinks a midfield that Southampton owned could cope with this lot!
My first change would be to get,the Ox off. He thinks the ball is as hot as the sun. As soon he gets it the ball is gone….anywhere! Hopeless, just hopeless!
I could add more, but it’s all been said earlier. Surely we can’t all be wrong? What is Wenger on? It’s certainly not reality pills, is it? I think he may be living in an alternative,universe, that may go some,way to explaining the team he has put out tonight. Not the,right personnel at all, not at all!
Wavy we need big characters and players with legs. Xhaka and Elneny would have been a start! Santi should be nowhere near this game
I’m doing it my way, I’ll back Ospina & the Ox plus I’ll turn Sanchez into a Suarez- esque striker…..
No shot on target.
I am surprised AW did not 2nd guess how Emery will play after he rested most of today’s starters against St Etienne.
Plus coq,ozil we sc19 vs psg’s midfield 3…
Ox should have been shipped out 2 summers ago imho.. complete lack of football sense.
Sadly the gaps are there. Just need meaningful runs, ball control and looking up. Simple effing junior stuff. So frustrating
Good point Bobj
True Devil, it’s far from over, all we need to do now is get a shot on target lol.
Wath, don’t think we didn’t see you sneaking out btw.
Was that a shot?
Good play Monreal.
Micko are you watching on sentence Ireland?
Setanta?
Just turned on for the second half….where is our midfield??
Morning all.
10 more minutes until a change
They’re killing us on our left flank Scott
Ozil and Sanchez are supposed to be our stars but they have been toilet
Scott it’s like Swiss cheese.
Does Wenger appreciate how to win football matches. You have to score goals
tsgh, no matey, some Swedish channel.
Ox off, furrow ploughed, another unsuccessful night for him.
Giroud on watch and see how all our crosses will now come in on the ground. 62nd minute! Who’d have,thought it?
Og12 goal please
Now we have Giroud on we don’t cross. Pass it in front of the bus.
Why the negative comments on Ospina, guys?
It ain’t his fault he was chosen!
Ospina, good job again
Stops the long shots too.
He’s underrated, Bradster…..
Get the fuck in!!!
Sanchezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Scott he’s kept us in the game, been superb so far!
Sanchez
I agree. My problem with selection was Sanchez as striker
Lee, what about THAT save??
Incredible.
Ospina what a game he is having!
Keeper is the last position I worry about, as we have two absolute rippers.
Shows you what I know I would of gone with Cech!!
Walcott, did someone say he was injured?
Well that’s a turn up…. ?
So would I, Lee lol.
I’m not playing smart after the event, but this guys just a sensational back up.
Fucking idiot!
Again. Such an idiot.
All I saw was Giroud stand still and the PSG guy run into him…….what happened after that??
Guys, what did Giroud do??
Can’t call him an idiot unless we know what he did.
Lucky night…
Take the 1-1, forget it and move on….
We ain’t winning this competition anyway, Wenger doesn’t have it in him to do it…
Ginge, it was tactical brilliance that got us the result 🙂
Verratti was late on Giroud and he caught his leg. Then Ollie appeared to push away (not roughly but a normal push) and since both had been booked and both received a yellow card again they were off.
Over reaction from the ref then, Devil??
Ref had it in for Giroud. Gave everything against him even when he was being fouled. Nonsense red card just like Zagreb last year
it was not a shove of Di Canio proportions….it was a normal shove you usually give every now and then…..yes even your missus when she is standing in your way…..Verratti did a late tackle and he was booked for it and Ollie just remonstrated a little back…..if that was a yellow card offence(Ollie) I don’t know how many games end 11v11.
The ref is another year tool…
Oh well, we have Sanchez as striker lol
its just a normal shove like telling him to fuck off. Bob said it properly….Ref had it in for Giroud. GAve everything against him.
Cant call him an idiot for that shove. I would have punched him a la Paul Davis on Cotteril.
On the bright side I did think Ollie had a good 20 minutes for a change !
It’s a grea result, and that’s group games are about so onwards and upwards.
Later, guys…
Just seen the Giroud ‘assault’ on Veratti….
All I can say is that the referee is a total wanker, but that’s normal in the CL…
We’ll a few more tossers like him before we exit the competition at our usual first knock-out stage…
It’s the same ref, showed the same attitude to Giroud. Got a soft yellow, knew anything would be an excuse to send him off, still does it anyway. That’s not smart at all.
Kosser world class defender?
Reminded me of this geezer
who played for the Blind Beggers.
No one has questioned his positioning.
Funny old game.
As it is both games finished 1-1. So its a matter of how many points are collected at Basle and how many goals are pumped in Ludogretz goal.
AW can play with formations and players now…a luxury he did not have a few years ago.
Good subs tonight.
And honestly…..those who say that Ospina is not up to standard should have their eyes tested.
Year: uefa
Scott…AW tactics is now the defacto comment…
Don’t think anyone said Ospina was not up to standard only that it was a very strange decision to pick him ahead of Cech…….Arsene loves walking the tight-rope !
Maybe AW promised Ospina CL football that’s the reason Ospina stayed. Because honestly most of us thought he was gone in the summer. And Ospina for his country has been superb even without regular football.
Up to standard… define up to standard…. I say Ospina is not world class Dev, sorry mate you may think so but I don’t, not in a month of sundays… he is a good shop stopper but never controls his box, thankfully tonight he didn’t have any crosses to grab but I’ll go get my eyes tested none the less…!
Well! well well well, I didn’t see that coming! Wenger? The master tactician gets his,team a draw. His dynamic instructions, gesticulations and astute substitutions have surely pulled this result of the fires of Hades for the magnificant gunners! What a team, what a manager, what a,result.
A truly wonderful,performance from the team at the Paris stadium of dreams. Oh, and God bless Cavani, truly a gift from the footballing gods for the opposition!
Wenger the lucky magician! I’ll take a lucky manager despite despite one dimensional attitude to tactics and his one eyed view of his favourite small boys and his total intransigence when it comes to team selection. But what do we know? We’ve not been ‘in football’ for the last 50 years.
Roll on the next ga,e,so we can suffer the same warm feelings of satisfaction watching our team perform miracles with conductor Wenger at the helm. I just can’t wait…..satisfaction guaranteed.
Dream over, time for bed!
Please, tell to AW: play with Sanchez (or TW) the supposed center forward, did not win a game or we scored a goal!
Tell AW, which makes the lifting of the games so come and what is the balance!
We have 3 + 1 players to play that position (Giroud, Perez, Akpom + Wellbeck). If one those not play, we play with 10 in the pitch even all them are play very well.
This is due to the players collide in positions never know where they are and are “always thinking” who is the teammate there.
Wath, how was Brokeback Mountain ?
First game in and we should be showing the rest of the group we mean business…..talk about making life hard for ourselves, it has to be said it’s good to see Arsene persevering with the Sanchez experiment lol.
It’s was a great Micko, I needed the hankies………..
Micko, Arsene knows best! Sanchez is the new Aguero, that’s what the wise old geezer believes and who are we to question his visionary wisdom?
30years in the management game he’s seen it all, he’s done it all and he knows it all! The man is without doubt the omniscient second coming of the footballing messiah. Only question remains, who was the first footballing messiah??
Wavy, it’s common knowledge he got his coaching badges while still in the womb……show some respect man !
Nite Gooners.
Anyone blaming Giroud for the send off, please watch..
https://www.facebook.com/BestArsenalMoments/videos/1028387043945247/
Ps….first contact was NOT initiated by Giroud as a different angle does show.
Jeez, Seriously that link put up, clearly shows initial contact was made by Giroud, He clearly blocked the player from his run with a deliberate arm.
Dev it seems like your morphin into Scott more and more, each time I read the comments on here, I t,s like I,m witnessing the early blossoming seeds of a Bro-mance,
As much as I think Cech should,ve started, I do rate Ospina, so I,m not surprised he had a good game, but boy, Didn,t he need to, Its definitely been a season of great escapes so far, Can’t believe we’ve come away with a draw, considering we were shit again, I’ll take it. It is a valuable point.
My concern besides all mentioned about selection and tactics are that they can’t even do the basics. So many times poor ball control, poor first touch, panicking on the ball, not looking up before they pass, ball watching and poor crossing (granted they’re aiming for one 5 foot man).
Come on these are professional footballers and internationals Surely they should know their trade.
Pre match we were told that PSG weren’t in the greatest of form and yet they are a formidable team that sliced through our defence and could easily have scored four and Ospina had a fine game.
We showed more guts in the second half and Iwobi on the right seemed to give us more dimension for the lacklusre Ox. We got lucky considering how many chances we had and that point may prove the difference to winning the group or not, but we are miles behind in every department to many European teams of which PSG are not regarded as in the elite.
Why didn’t Granit start and again whichever way you look at it we were playing catch up all night long Outclassed yet managd a draw.School report “Must do better”
The reason I blame Giroud is because he’s been booked and surely can see the ref has it in for him, why get embroiled in a spat with Veratti in stoppage time? It’s fucking stupid imho and now he misses our next game….. A repeat of last season!
Bring on a striker and Xhaka, Sanchez moves to his preferred position then we score a goal…..
Buongiorno lovelies and hunkies.
Still complaining.? We got a draw against a pot 1 seeded team. Which is funded by a billionaire. And had more quoted players than us.
We asked for depth….we have it.
We asked for rotation… AW does it.
And yet….still complaints are heard. Were we lucky? Compared to how many times we were unlucky in the past its only fair.
We prayed for a team which grinds out results even when playing badly….and when we do so people still complain.
You won’t find me complaining at all everything is just tickety-boo at Arsenal and the quadruple is still on!
Morning All
What about when granite came on
What position did he take up.
never seen him on the right before.
Hope we hav’nt used up all the luck
last two games.
Fred are you saying Wenger was playing a player out of position? Perish the though…
Everyone seems happy with Kosser’s
defending last night.
We used to call players who played
like that Sight-see’s or Red rover’s.
Mustafacrapper look’s a defender
can see danger try’s to organise
What we keep seeing time again is
defenders crossing over both right
footers.
No right footed player can feel comfy
om his left.
Yes the positives are that we caught PSG on a bad night and Ospina made some crucial saves. PSG are not amongst the elie in Europe.Wenger doesn’t know his best team and is approahing senility and Giroud is an idiot.Thank God for Sanchez yet again despite being bruised and battered. We got lucky and not many that saw the game would argue with that.
Despite who plays our defence is carved open in every game this season which tells me we have the players but the coaching system is outdated as is the manager.
Many years ago when GG went to leeds
he came back to Highbury.
Arther Graham was one of the wingers
not sure the other anyway
second half Graham swiches the two wingers
Winterburn/Dixon got roasted
Graham knew Dixon never trapped medicine ball
in training and winterburn turned left on every street
Lee
It drive’s me insane knowing
Bouldy can see it.
We know he cares more about his pension now.
At least that’s clear.
Kosser was lacklustre last night and he failed to cover monreal on many occasions when monreal bombed forward.communication between le coq and santi seems to be none existent as well….
I think Ramsey will walk into the team ago.i would like to see xhaka an santi pairing.
Morning all. I watched the game last night and thought we were bloody awful. Lucky to get a draw.
Morning Adam.Agreed..but it feels good to get lucky for a change.
Psg has struggled with goals under Emery albeit 5 or 6 games into the season and so we have a chance at home if we do not go in clumsy and naive
Glad you could see that Ts
Santi 1st half..He should have been
nicked Under the trades discription act
as posing as a player.
Morning TS. I know what you mean. PSG are a strange team but I do like Verratti. Hard to see any future for Ox though.
Still, a point away there must be considered a good result.
There seems to be a worrying drift about the team/club…
It worries me that we could end on a Celticesque type thrashing.
I can’t shake this feeling that some team is gonna take its chances and we’re going to be given a hiding…
Wath didn’t you say yesterday that you thought that Wenger is gonna get two more years, well I ain’t sure mate, there seems a bit of a malaise going around the club, or that’s what it seems from the outside, as if the staff at the club are waiting for somebody ‘up high’ to make a bloody decision.
Uncertainty seems to be a theme at Arsenal atm…
Morning All
Morning all !
I like it that we are back to the days of …Lucky Old Arsenal !…………………..not only are we winning games with incredible luck, but we are also drawing games against the wealthiest clubs in the world when we play shit !. hahaha
Fuck trying to out spend these trophy buyers, we are getting there with the ingredients of shit and luck !………….I have a source at London Colney who confirms we have a warehouse there filled to the brink with genuine Irish Four leaf clovers, a warehouse full of Rabbits Foot`s and a warehouse full of black cats !………and best of all in the last minutes of the transfer window we signed a witch doctor and some crazy old heather selling Romanian gypsy woman !
Sorry !………..aparrantly it`s Vlad Dragomir`s mum !
I think we should all feel positive considering he gambled with the keepers and therefore new something we didn’t, left our two recognised strikers on the bench,another clever move and he knew Cavani scores one in 6 sitters.Brilliant tactical thinking and of course the bruised and battered Sanchez would save the day.That takes some planning.
Morning all.
Just watched last nights match, bloomin heck we were lucky. Completely outclassed really.
Thank goodness for Sanchez! Stunning finish.
Wenger is so out of his depth tactically in Europe.
Cant wait for the Hulll game to see which plan the master tactician Arsene uses !………………………….Plan A Game : We are lucky to win 3 points. Plan B Game : We are shit and get 3 points and if being lucky and shit fail we can always resort to Plan C Game of playing great football and winning !
PS………………………….anyone old enough on here to have seen a Plan C Game ? 🙂
Personally I reckon we will play shit again and in a tight game win luckily 5-0 !.
Fred… politician have gotten away with far worst than Arsenal did last night. 😉
Listen guys. I know we did not play well and a lot needs to be taken care of. But were we that bad?? statistically …….regards possession it was 51%PSG and 49% us. Shots on target PSG had 4 we had 3. Off target they had 8 we had 7.
So we were not far behind. I saw the same game as you did and while I acknowledge we need to improve there were some positives as well. How many times have we played brilliantly and the opposition were shit but we ended playing against the keeper who had the game of his life? How many times have the opposition’s keeper ended up MOTM?
DG, if you’d seen the other camera angle, you’d have also seen Giroud merely held his ground, and the PSG ran into him.
Now, of course, if someone was running at you, I’m sure you’d put an arm up to brace yourself,!
The rest speaks for itself.
If you want to compare people, then please, compare Devil to me and vice versa anytime, as it could be worse-I could agree with you on every topic.
Seems it’s you turn at the baton lol.
Be original, at least!!
Good Morning, everyone else.
Evening Dinkum. I find it crazy when I see that we have seen the same match…..yest I just said that Ollie was not to blame for the sending off. and even if he did shove him it did not warrant those theatrics. Verratti should thank his lucky stars that it was Ollie and not Roy Keane….otherwise he would have ended up with a broken leg in the 90th minute of the game like he did with Haaland.
Hiya a Devil,
Giroud stood his ground, raised the arm to brace for impact, the PSG guy runs straight at him and the rest, we see on that clip.
Of course, as DG now picks apart everything I post, he sees it differently, which is funny, as he hasn’t seen anything lol.
People are kidding themselves.
Anyway, on the performance, I onoy saw the second half and damn, we were wide open in midfield.
Still, it’s a ripper result, but as we know, that’s not enough….though, if we played pretty and lost, we’d be asking why we aren’t scraping out results.
I have a constant headache lol
I fed up with being negative all the time, so I’m gonna try an alternative slant…
Ferguson, towards the end of his tenure, used to rest and rotate many of his main players in the early weeks/months of the season, safe in the knowledge that when it counted, during Feb/Mar/Apl, his main players would be fitter and fresher than the opposition. And in most cases it worked and he was hailed as a genius…
Could Wenger, with our awful injury record in mind, be doing likewise?
just a question…..what would you all have said if Iwobi scored the winner and made it 2-1??
The fact remains that to win a game it does not count how beautifully you played….but how many goals you have scored more than the opposition.
Be honest…..1-1 was damaging to whom?? to AFC or to PSG? it was more damaging to them. did we deserve it? all to his/her own opinion….but the fact remains that at the end of the day the result is 1-1.
Am I satisfied with what I saw? no for sure. is it as bad as it is made out to be??? I don’t think so.
But many people now have an axe to grind and honestly even if AW did miracles they have burnt their bridges. I doubt that we will win the EPL or the CL but even if the unthinkable happened and we won either or both…..the same people will still complain and be negative.
Onya Kev lol.
Doesn’t matter what Wenger does, some people will complain.
Devil. Spot on.
I keep saying it…..we have him as manager.
Complaining won’t change that, so why waste the effort?
Enjoy watching them play.
Kev….being negative all the time or being with negative people all the time does my head in.
But I have to correct you a bit…it was not late in his tenure that SAF rotated….he began it in 1999 when he won the treble. Mouruinho does it as well…..so why not AW??
The thing is….many blame him for lack of rotation….he does it and he cops it. Many blame him for lack of depth…..he gets it and he cops it. When we hadn’t won anything for years it was no trophy for 10 years. now that he has won back to back FA cups its no league for 12 years. I can guarantee that if, by some miracle we get both EPL and CL their next chant will be that AW has NEVER won the Littlewoods cup or whatever its called. If we manage that as well it will be that he has never learnt how to do/undo his zipper. Its against that mindset that I keep going on….that is the negativity I hate.
If Cavani played for us and missed those 4 or 5 chances there would have been uproar on here and elsewhere.
What’s the point of blogging then,Scott. You and anybody else can spin it anyway you want but we were very lucky yet the record books will state we got an Away point.
4 direct shots in 2 games one a penalty does not bode well.
AW keeps experimenting and last night wasn’t the time to do it, I would humbly suggest the training ground is the place for that.
Kelsey, the point of blogging is people offering an opinion.
My opinion is plenty do nothing but whinge, hence, the blog and debate continues!!!
Your opinion is Wenger is shit and we are crap.
So be it.
People that criticise Wenger don’t annoy me, but those who do nothing BUT criticise him piss me off.
Some will never give him credit.
Some will never criticise.
I do criticise when I thinks it’s warranted, but can you dare suggest the man never gets anything right?
Plenty carry on that way.
Kelsey…..the training ground is vastly different than the real game. You can do all the experiments you like even in a friendly……the real test is the competitive game itself.
Scott/Dev I can only speak for myself in regards of being negative, I’m certainly not digging out anyone else…
I don’t think that contributors on here are outwardly negative for the sake of it, this blog isn’t like some others…
Kev, thats a fair call, but why is it when myself and one or two others remain positive, we are laughed at?
What makes us wrong and them right?
They’re not being negative, they’re being realistic, so they say.
Well, what does that mean we “positive” people are, unrealistic?
Delusional?
It goes both ways mate….
Hark back to 2006. Lehmann sent off. Almunia comes on. He had barely played a handful of games that season. He was beaten twice in the near post.
Now we all know that Almunia, who was a top gentleman, was also a crap keeper who was thrust there by AW’s stubbornness. And we cannot blame him as he rarely played that season.
Now we have two top keepers, different in styles but still top. And AW rotates them…..and guess what??? He cops it. What would you say if with Ospina we went till the semis, then he got injured and Cech plays and we get eliminated? I hope this does not happen and we win it (miracle) but its a possibility.
You lot have to learn to trust players….especially when they do their utmost effort.
Hurry back Rico.
Hi all
Of course happy with the result but my biggest bugbear was keeping the same centre midfield pairing that Southampton had broken through so easily. Santi hasn”t got the legs to play in a two in a fast paced game. It”s two seasons and a bad injury since he had that blinder against Man City.Surely we should have been looking to keep it tight and try to draw them out. Instead our defence was square on the halfway line with acres behind them to run into. I would have played Granit, Elneny and Coq and made it ultra tight in there. Its not like those three lack any ability either.
Devil, we are bloody lucky to have two top notch keepers at the club, and Ospina needs, and deserves, his share of game time.
He is too good not to play.
Bob….its difficult to play Xhaka, Elneny and Coq in the same team….it would have to mean a change in formation….to 4-3-1-2 to accommodate Ozil. I would really love to see that….a midfield 3 with Ozil in front of them and two of Ollie, Alexis and Perez in front of them.
Yesterday should have seen a midfield of Coquelin, Xhaka and Cazorla with Ozil coming on in the 60th minute in the latter’s place. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but the thing is with yesterday’s performance we earned a draw. Three years ago, when we were playing good football but not earning anything we would have accepted that hands down. What has changed now??
With regards the team at Hull I would love to see the following……..
Cech
Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Gibbs
Xhaka, Elneny
Alexis, Aaron, Perez
Ollie
Radical you might say??? then again…they are there to play and need game time. even if we play crap and win at least they would have got game time in their pockets. Honestly I would also rest Bellerin if it was that possible.
Why’s that Adam can she play striker on Saturday……………….
Scott. I am probably coming across as negative at the moment but its pure frustration. I really think Arsene”s stubbornness and refusal to accept he could be wrong is his biggest weakness. That is the reason he played Ospina not because of any tactical insight.
Hi Bob,
You may be right on Ospina, but it’s possible he’s guaranteed the guy CL games.
We all agree Arsene is stubborn and that’s definitely his weakness, no question.
I’m not that positive on him, or his ability to change, but I do see positives in the squad.
Not too long ago, we’d have lost v PSG and probably v Soton.
We need to give them time to gel, imo.
Hopefully at Xmas, we are right in the mix and you never know what will happen after that.
We live in hope.
We are playing good football
The players look motivated. Well prepared.
Especially for big game like
CL.
We came out hungry and driven, does that sound better Scott, suit your narrative.
That link you put up clearly shows “to me” Giroud made Initial contact, and it was a reasonable call for a foul, but we are obviously poles apart in our assessment of the way we have started this season, that won,t change, so theres no point in going tit for tat with you, This is a blog site, where people have different opinions, and should be allowed to post them, without being told by yourself and Dev that they are a miserable lot, and moan just for the sake of moaning, your opinions simply differ to others, you,ve no god given right to hold the moral high-ground over anybodys posts.
You say you only saw the second half, Watch the first half and come back and say something positive about.
DG, carry on with your miserable way, and I’ll keep smiling.
There’s no point debating with the likes of you.
Not too sure on Ospina been world class. I feel he’s a Top class shot stopper like Schez, Fab and Mannone but all did not command their box and often suspect under the high ball.
There were no occasions yesterday testing that side of his game.
DG…~I saw the whole game….and to be fair I did say we need to improve on many issues. However the fact remains that in the second half we did that and there were moments when the team was much better.
A game is played over 90 minutes and till the ref whistles anything can happen. PSG scored after 40 seconds…..we scored in the game’s last moments…..and Iwobi could have nicked it as well….but no goals happened between the 1 st and 2nd goal so 1-1 it is….game over. finished. one point gained irrelevant how we played.
Against Southampton it was 3 points gained. end of.
At the end of the day…..every team goes out for a win or a minimum of a draw at least…..we acquired both.
Had we lost and played in the way we played I would have held my hands up and said fair play to you…..but we gained points in both games.
Would you take 1-0 against Hull with a penalty in the 92nd minute and we would have 3 more points??
I would.
Absolutely spot on dublingunner.
I haven’t blogged on here long but have blogged with Rico for 6/7 years and our opinions are qute similar.
I also don’t like the high ground taken by Scott and Dev and we are blogging generally on what we see game by game.If you two guys think everything is rosy,so be it,i don’t.
I would never say Wenger is shit or any of the players but IMO and plenty of others I feel it would be better all round in the long term if AW had left 2 years ago.He has run out of ideas,and we have an unbalanced squad age wise as well which will get worse by the end of this season and hopefully he is preparing for that and more and more pressure will be forced upon him to make sure the big guns sign extension contracts not leave “as the club lacks ambition”.
It.s the same scenario yeear after year and AW’s wisdom is now failing he is me predictable that everyone wants to play..If i am proved wrong so be it but I think this is going to be a make or break season for our manager and then one has the problem of kroenke.How ambitious is he to win trophies ?
That’s a cop out Scott to DGand again you write with an air of authority (in your mind)
Kelsey…..you can have an answer to that question simply by marching up to Kroenke and asking him how ambitious he is. Then again he might not answer.
I may sound to some Negative,Positive and
stat ignorant.
But what I see rules my opinion.
Arsene thought we played well saturday
so went again near enough.
If you were manager would you have
done nothing..before half time.
Just in case some of you have not noticed
Arsene has not got a clue really..Has he
Brought Granite on to play right side.
Just about to bring Perez on..We score
He then brings Curly locks on.
Did he somethink before we scored
or was it just we’re one down.
I would critizise God when it comes to football.
I love the wife..
But if she cooks a bad dinner..I tell her.
Next time she changes the recipe..Easy
We’re all happy.
Kelsey, how the hell do you know what’s going in my mind?
Talk about an air of authority lol.
You’re Picking and choosing which points of mine you want to argue over, whilst ignoring all else.
I’ve stated on numerous occasions we aren’t playing well, but you ignore that.
I’ve stated Wenger is tactically inept, but you ignore that,
I said I onoy watched half the CL game, and what I saw was a wide open midfield, getting torn apart but hey, I guess you missed that, as well.
If you are incapable of arguing with me based on what I actually write, that’s you’re problem!
You are one of a long of people who can’t handle it when people like me disagree, and you can’t handle when we agree, so you tell me what will make you happy!!
Reading your posts, it seems to me that nothing about Arsenal does, but again, that’s your problem, not mine.
A cop out?
Really?
Would you prefer I drag out the argument with him?
Is that what you want to read??
Best for EVERYONE if we end that, and I’ll say the same to you.
If you don’t like what I say, ignore it.
Can’t be any easier than that!!
Devil and anyone else with coaching background(or anyone interested), please take a peek and offer your thoughts….
http://www.gameplaylearn.net/the-evolution-of-teaching/
I`d like players with the courage and bravery of Fred !……………….telling his wife her cooking was shit !……….
He must have invented frying pan repellant spray !………………………or a face indestructable to a womans knuckledusters ! hahaha
Top article Scott. Incidentally that is not the first time I came across Horst Wein’s articles etc. but again its all perception. There are coaches who are good in this method and there are others who are crap. There are coaches who are very good with rigid discipline and tactics and there are others who are crap. The most imp thing is that coach and players gel.
I always used to allow a good amount of minutes per week to 4v4 with small goal posts. and believe me it always increased their technical and tactical intelligence…..whether it was coaching U14 or even coaching seniors. And they enjoyed it as well.
One of my clubs even built a 5 a side pitch with no touchlines so that the ball never went out of play in essence. It just rebounded and play continued…..you could even play a wall pass with the wall itself…..and I used this pitch just for conditioning and fitness building, physical agility and speed of thought. I used to change teams after 8 minutes as even senior players needed to recover after 10 minutes on the go all the time.
The most important thing was that everyone enjoyed it and learned.
But Horst Wein is a good coach…..one I would suggest to anyone wanting to coach kids and juniors.
I reckon we’ll underachieve like normal, all the tell tale signs are there and until Wenger goes it’ll be the same!
My rose tinted glasses were binned ages ago….
There I agree with Devil, similar to 5 a side indoor, which I still play. Good for positioning, control and triangles.
Must say that whether Arsenal win with Dogs Bollocksball or Wankball……….I will be miserable if the Spuds win or draw !……….
Love to have a pair of Rose tinted glasses and become a delusional bastard !……………where`d you bin them Lee ?
I think they’ve already been recyled Le Coq !
Hello All:
Two things. One, playing Sanchez as a striker is exposing the defence because his work in tracking back on the wings is being missed and Coq has to cover for Santi bcuz Santi doesn’t have the legs no more. So by default we have weaken 3 positions – striker, wing n dm., which is why the midfield is being carved up so easily. Is not the Defenders, they are not getting any protection, from the wing or the midfield. Hence Devils suggestion of Xhaka and Elneny would be the steal we need – both can pick a pass and cover huge spaces then use Santi as a sub for Ozil. Ramsey is not the answer, he would even make the situation worse defensively, at the rate he gives the ball away.
Second, before the game am sure that any one of us would ‘ve taken 1-1 away at PSG as a good result regardless how we played. And quite frankly if Iwobi had his shooting boots on we would’ve won. Yes we should expect more but they are getting results. Again it could’ve, should’ve, would’ve is irrelevant…it is 1-1. Yes AW is ignoring with his ways, but if he gets the results lets just rock with it. As I said yesterday Osipina for his country has been superb, so that wasn’t such a bad choice.
Wath. I’ll text Rico and check if she”s fit. 🙂
Ten minutes on the go, Dev` ?……………………….I play 5/6/7 (depending on how many turn up !) a side on Thursday nights and we dont stop for 70 mins ( that`s when the chap turns up to lock the gates )……………..and always play the wall pass !……………it`s the only bastard that`ll pass to me !.
Although haven`t played for a couple of weeks due to a “Policemans heal” (Plantar Fasciitis )………….thank god it wasn`t a Policewomans heal as that would have stopped me wearing my stilettos !.
Who`s wearing therm now then Micko ? 🙂
Cockie….you play at your own level mate……and believe me….10 minutes on the go with the ball never going out of play will have you drained……especially if you do it more than once a week.
At your level remember that the distance covered in a space of time is different than those who play week in week out……the tension increases and you have no time to dwell on the ball. Once team A scored, the ball rebounded from the net and team B launched an immediate attack and went up to the other side to score…..there are no throw ins, no corners and the only time there is a rest is when there is a freekick or penalty. Otherwise its all the time on the go.
your heart will need to rest mate…..otherwise you will end up with a heart attack.
Your lot sound a bit soft, Dev` !………..we dont have rest`s for free kicks or penaties as we dont have them !……………….it`s non stop war !……………..a couple of weeks ago someone took me and my son out with one tackle and we were all on the same team !. hahaha
Seriously though, it`s great exercise for everyone from those like me who can run for the whole 70mins to those who look like I may need to get the defibrillator out !.
If Dick Emery is out there, it was good to hear from you yesterday evening, glad that you’re ok….
I’m gonna be out your way pretty soon.
Catch up then… ?
On an all round positive note. Really like what I have seen of Rob Holding so far. Will be interesting to see him up against Nicky B next week!
On an angry note. Was anybody else pissed that Kos goal didn’t even get a mention on MOTD? Not omly that but it wasn’t even in the Goal of the Month top 8. Imagine the BBC orgasms if Rooney or Ibra had svored that goal
Fred, let me know when your missus is next making meat pie, I might drop by… ?
Bob, frankly MotD can fcuk off, we ain’t gonna be getting a fair crack on that shitty programme…
I record it, fast forward all the crap, er chat, and watch the highlight, such as they are.
Then I watch the extended highlights on Arsenalist or go on You Tube…
Shearer, Lineker & co can show me their coaching CV before I’ll listen to those failures…
Shearer – failure as a coach.
Lineker- failure as a father…
mates watch this …..and tell me if Ollie was the culprit at all…..
https://twitter.com/ParisNoLimit/status/775800914288476160/video/1
Ollie did a block on Varratti who fell to the ground and in the process kicked out at Ollie. Ollie stood up and went to ask Verratti why……while Marquinhos came from behind and pushed Ollie on Verratti who immediately fell under a sledgehammer blow from Ollie’s chest hair.
Theatrics theatrics…..Only Maruinhos and Verratti should have been sent off…..but not Ollie
New post up…..