Morning all.
What a frustrating match that was, yet so typical of Arsenal.
Something like 90% possession, 5000 attempts on goal with just a few on target and those were saved by a goalkeeper who had the game of his life. Same old passing in and around the box when in plenty of space to shoot and trying to shoot when a Hull City player was in the way. Credit to young Iwobi who did take a couple of chances when he could but sadly both went just wide.
Same old Mike Dean too, cheating little squirt. A definite handball in the Hull City box, a stonewall penalty said everyone including Phil Brown, Hull’s old manager and we know he’s not overly keen on Arsenal or Arsene Wenger. No-one knows if we’d have scored from the spot had the penalty been awarded and knowing our luck, their keeper would have saved it just like he did everything else which looked goal bound.
We’ve seen it all before though re possession yet no goals. We just seem to lack that killer instinct up front but a bit of credit has to go to Hull who closed us down quickly and defended in numbers from the off. Campbell was unlucky to see the big keeper get his fingertips to a super free-kick. Welbeck, Walcott, Ollie and Iwobi all saw chances go begging or saved by yet another keeper who despite being unable to get a start in the league, played out of his skin. Mind you, apart from 2/3 great saves, the best perhaps from Welbeck, the Arsenal players made his day easy.
Yesterday was so typical of Arsenal against a side which defends for their life and it’s frustrating. Not even the substitutes could make a difference, in fact Alexis looks right out of form as his shots on goal were high and wide. Oxlade-Chamberlain had a good chance to win the game at the death but when it looked easier to score, he scuffed his shot wide.
As the boys huffed and puffed their way through to the final whistle, just before the end Aluko picked up a hit and hope ball from Huddlestonne and I thought we were going to dealt a sucker blow. Thankfully, Aluko’s shot was was as bad as most of ours had been allowing Ospina to save with ease.
The last thing either Hull or Arsenal needed was a replay but that’s just what we got and to be honest, Arsenal only have themselves to blame.
Barcelona up next, that should be interesting. I bet they’re quaking in their boots….
Great post, Rico.
Morning all.
Morning
I think you’re a bit harsh there…Arsenal did all they could. The keeper will never play that well again.
Elneny looked ok Rico, but this is Arsenal. Is this really the kind of signing we need? Plays very square, looks not to make a mistake rather than open the opposition up, a decent player but so “Wenger”. Would he get into any other top team in the world?
A classic case of the downgrading of expectations for me. More relevant though are Ox and Theo who were both shocking again yesterday. Ox in particular cut a frustrated figure on the pitch. Too lax in his passing generally. Big, big questions over both of them.
if Wenger would spend some of the £120,000,000 we have in the bank on a world class centre forward instead of this shit mend and make do policy he has we would win games like this. There are no players out there that are better then what we have he keeps saying…. mean while we have Giroud, Arteta, Flamini, et al in the squad – and when he does finally buy its £5,000,000 nobody that cant get in the first team…..??? and people wonder why patience is running out with him !!!
Adam, he needs time to find his feet.
Next season will show us what he has to offer….let’s hope it’s not too late 🙂
Olson, on paper, we had more than enough to see Hull off.
Too many complacent players is the problem, and I’ve a feeling that wouldn’t change no matter how much was spent.
Harsh Doc? How?
I’m not really sure, yes the keeper made a few really good saves but other than the Welbeck one and the Campbell free-kick, our shooting was quite average I thought.
Adam – just judging him for how he played, and I thought he did well. Whether he’d get into any other top club, I don’t know but it’s kind of irrelevant really as he’s at Arsenal. I now what you are saying and of course, me like others would have loved to have seen world class midfielder signed but this is Arsenal under Arsene Wenger and Arsenal under Stan Kroenke… imo.
Exceptions haven’t lowered for me, just the realism that nothing will change at the club until changes at the top take place…
Having seen the highlights, and remember, the BBC are not pro-Arsenal in any way, I gotta say that the Meyler foul on Chambers looked a nailed on pen to me.
Yeah, Mayler got a touch on the ball, but only after he’d kicked Chambers out of the way…
Chambers isn’t a diver, but it kinda makes you understand just why players exaggerate in these situations, because our referees are so useless in spotting the foul, or as in Mike Deans case too cowardly or maybe too corrupt…
Ok, you could say that we shouldn’t have to rely on a penalty, but why not?
It’s part of the game and if Arsenal go 1-0 it’s a ‘different’ game, Hull get off of their bus and Arsenal win probably 3-0 and job done.
Not replay…
I really do not want to see that ugly little turd, Mike Dean, again this season…
He is a serial cheat…
He gives us decisions that are safe and don’t effect the game.
But fails to give us the decisions we deserve, that’ll benefit us.
What are the stats?
3 or was it it 5 penalties awarded to Arsenal in 57 fcuking games…
Work it out guys, he’s a creep and a serial cheat…
Orson, I kind of agree with Scott in we had enough out there yesterday to win but some of these players just aren’t giving enough, instead they are too happy to sit and take their wages, then off home without a care….
Scott, I don’t think, regarding some of our players, like many on view yesterday, that it was a case of complacency.
No I think that it’s more a case of competence…
I bet he does the NLD Kev…
Rico, That being the case we need to upgrade them to people with better attitudes and as a minimum the same skill set but (obviously) preferably better skills sets too. In order to do that you need to spend money. If you want to compete with CITY, UTD, CHELSEA, BARCA, BAYERN, etc etc then it needs to be big money and buying the best, what use is a 5 million pound player that cant get into your first team? How is that helping us improve or compete?
Listen, Ive always been a Wenger fan, but someone has to force his hand and change this stupid penny pinching policy and BUY WHAT WE NEED TO WIN.
Rico, unfortunately he probably will, because however he referees us, and whatever decisions he gives, or doesn’t give, to fcuking us up, he has arch Arsenal-hater Mike Riley behind him. And nothing will change at the PGMOL, until that bent bastard is out the door…
Orson, I think their attitude comes from above. I still believe a stronger and more disciplined manager would get more from the squad we have than AW is doing..
Of course I agree re the spending and imo AW should be spending more, but I also think Kroenke has his part to play in things, a big part….
Spot on Kev…
I hate the fact that we are ALWAYS 2 players short of what we need to get over the line. How long has is been like this? What drives me round the bend about it particularly now is WE HAVE THE MONEY TO RESOLVE IT and we are still in the same boat as the last 10 years.
If we had gone big in the summer on a top centre forward and a top defensive player we would be 9 points clear now. But no, we try the mend and make do policy YET AGAIN. and we all know whats going to happen. Out of the CL in this round, Fall away in the league (the best ever chance of winning it with everyone else being so weak) and we may squeek teh FA Cup – but after collapsing in the other two I doubt we will have the heart in that.
Arsenal fell back to 4th position in the league a few weeks ago. That happened on GroundHog day. you couldnt write it !!! We are going to have another year of exactly the same ….. and I for one arent prepared to face more of the same if that happens again this year. I will be firmly in the WENGER OUT crowd for next year. Ill have a heavy heart about it, but be there i will.
Bleugh we have another 90mins and travel to the KC cause our players were scared to shoot. They passed to death!
Tw touches on the ball were horrible. Flanini surges foward knowing he’ll have zilch contribution in attack. The disinterest in Ox and Sanchez coming on was worrying.
Rico. I see it as entirely relevant myself because it tells me where we are at. But, we all have different ideas where that is it seems.
The whole thing is just incredibly tedious now I think but let’s see how we do on Tuesday and in the return fixture. There’s always hope. 🙂
Good Morning Lovelies and Hunkies.
Orson, just a small observation…….in case you have not noticed…..City, Chavs and United have spent more than us and lie below us in the league. And neither City, Chavs and United have a player who has scored more than Ollie. And with the exception of City, both Chavs and Manure have scored less than us.
And just remember…..yesterday it was the 2nd string which was playing not the full first team, out of which only Kos and Per were playing.
Orson again…..top defensive player???? cant you read the league table????
Only the spuddies have conceded less than Arsenal.
That means we have the 2nd best defence in the league.
Orson, do you have to keep shouting? We can read small print.. lol
Adam, I knew where we were at long before Elneny arrived… 😉 😉
I believe you Rico 🙂
I understand your frustration Orson. We had Ox, Theo, Sanchez and Giroud on yesterday.
Number of clean sheets for each team in the upper positions after 26 games…..
Southampton13
Man utd 12
Arsenal 12
City 11
Tottenham 9
Leicester 8
And you say we need better defensive players.
lol
If Gabriel was not injured and if we had another RB I can safely say that it would have been a total of 11 players changed.
Ideally we would have two top players for every position…….but what would you do with those who are not playing??? And i can assure you that if we had two top players for every positions people like Orson would still complain that we need better players when the going gets tough.
But do we have two players for each position going forward Devil?
Think we lack another like Ozil, someone who can just make something happen…
Harsh on Orson Devil, just like all, he’s entitled to have an opinion…..
I do not feel I am being harsh Rico….I am just posting stats which back my arguments.
If Orson’s arguments have even an ounce of credibility he would not resort to typing in block capitals and not resort to slagging players. yes he has a right to an opinion but first he should check his facts.
Yes I would like Arsenal to be on the same level as Barcelona or Bayern…..but also acknowledge that even with a different manager that is impossible for now. We have a sound base to move on from (financial structure) but its not easy as saying ABC. its not as if you are playing Soccer Manager or Fifa Manager or whatever that game is called.
Imo, people just jump on the bandwagon and just fire left right and centre.
the only flaw I think AW has is that players like Debuchy were not properly replaced when they left, plus players like Diaby, TR07 (I love that player as you know), MA, MF should have been moved on and replaced.
And i feel that Elneny (stats prove me right) was not a cheap option even though he did not cost 25mill like Krychowiak. He is a good sound player who will prove to be a steal at his price.
Well, suggesting he’d never be happy regardless of who the club signed seemed harsh to me Devil.
We are all guilty of criticising many of the players after most matches, so perhaps we too will never be happy regardless of the squad AW builds….
I like Elneny too Devil, not sure what stats you have on him though, he’s only played twice… 😉
Some people are never happy unless we win every match 10-0 (in which case its not a match) plus some people never consider that the opposing team plays as well.
Yes I was frustrated yesterday…. But for heavens sake….we are still in two cups and the league.
We were not knocked out.
The amount of ground covered, the amount of successful passes, the shooting attempts, tackles made. Yes all in two games…..I cannot judge him on stats for games during which he did not play. Maybe next time I will check the temperature he leaves behind to check the amount of heat his ass leaves on the chair. Lol
It’s not about that though Devil, certainly not for me.
I never expect us to win every game but having a good go at who we play matters most. The way the manager approaches it, the way he gets the players to approach the game too but all we see is tippy tappy passing in and around the box and no-one seems to be able to do anything about it..
This result, the need for repetition, may be the key point to have some success this season: in the FA Cup and the league (because there is another game and another week with 2 games).
It was time to change the rules of the competition and be all decided in the 1st game.
I’d say two games is too early to judge him, but for his and Arsenal’s sake, I really hope he proves himself to be a £5 million gem…
Ironically Jm, AW is against such a change…
Rico….I agree with you when you say that the players do not give their all……you are right 1,000,000%. But not with Orson when he said that we have Giroud. One….he is topscorer, two….team play revolves around him, three…..the system needs a big player as a foil up front.
Plus the last few games Sanchez has had a stinker…..but no…..he does not get flack. Instead he is still getting top wages.
Its two weights two measures by people like Orson which irritate me.
Oh and by the way…..Ozil may have been playing good football this season…..but he had stinkers as well.
Every one has stinkers……its that for some its right to slag them off while for others its wrong.
For heaven’s sake……11 players on the pitch are equal.
You never know Rico. I thought Orson spoke from the heart and I respect that.
Afternoon, maybe majority of our players are simply not as good as we talk them up or believe them to be, we continue to fall short and will continue to, IMO, we keep talking about the potential of a lot our players but thats all it is. too many players have not progressed or continue to frustrate, with the exception of maybe 3 players,we can not call any else world class, therefore maybe we are at our true level, when we get the boot early from the champions league or continually come 3rd or 4th in the league, maybe thats all we deserve with the players we have.
Majority of the players AW brought in are from the 10 million bracket to the maybe 15,18 million bracket and they continue to play like 10 to 15 million pound players, what do we expect.
Devil – But it’s all about personal opinion – I don’t agree with a few things said on here and on other forums but we all see what we see……
It’s no different when you start wanting to swap Ox, Jack and any other player for Barkley and Stones. Some might agree with you, some might not….
So did I Adam. Loudly too sometimes.. 😉
Dublin, I honestly don’t believe it’s the players not being good enough, not all anyway and the reason i say that is because we’ve seen flashes of brilliance from the likes of Ox, Walcott, Jack etc etc – but for some reason, they don’t perform at the top of their game week in week out and I truly that’s down to stuff away from the pitch…
Are we starting to hear the Arsene out brigade restarting their war cries….again? This time round perhaps we should refer to it as WEXIT! ?
They did everything they could yesterday but score! Some was wayward shooting, some was just over ambitious, some was plain useless and or poor control, but most sorry 9of the on target shots were either saved or collected by a goalkeeper who had a worldy. Just like Robert Green et al.
Doesn’t help a lot as we still only drew which is ultimately down to poor finishing, obviously, but it’s not the bloody manager’s fault, he didn’t make them miss etc. It was more down to that fickle friend bad luck!
Afternoon all. Warm and windy here, most in February like.
Maybe so Rico, for me, I just feel maybe we talk them up to much at times, what they originally cost us, is about the level their playing at. just goes to show how ordinary we can be when our world class stars are not on song.
Our big guns ain,t firing at the most important point in the season and it is a big big worry
Giroud especially, Sanchez, Theo all pretty much out form. Heaven help us.
You old cynic Wavy… 😉
Dublin, agree to an extent too, especially after a victory… lol I’d love to see what a different manager would do with a few though and if he couldn’t, I suspect he wouldn’t dream of giving them a new contract…
Just think the whole set up is a bit too lacklustre…
We know that, with our top players on the pitch and the right attitude, we are a force. We saw that against the Manchester clubs and BM. But without the right motivation and without more experienced and intelligent players on the pitch, we struggle over the course of a season. The problem for me is that we have been like this for years now and when Arsene eventually does leave it will be a major part of his legacy. It all seems evident with the benefit of hindsight though but his shortcomings in the market and decision to persevere with certain players, however laudable his loyalty is, has ensured that we are also-rans and for a club this big and charging top prices, that is nowhere at all.
I don’t want to tempt fate, but a home draw vs Reading, in the 6th Round would do for me…
And if I was really greedy, the Chavs & City and the Spuds & Palace all drawing their 5th Round ties…
The amount we are missing in front of goal is unbelievable, but it,s a common occurance now, missed chances don,t win you cups and leagues, the side-passing, passing backwards, pointless one twos on the wing, AW,s lack of abilty to change play. I read earlier when was the last time he played 2 strikers through the middle, point is sometimes you need to change tactics, but the old dinosaur refuses to. his stubborness and his never ending belief that his way is the only way to play is pathetic, maybe the players are just bored with his tactics and fall asleep.
I think it,s time with Giroud off form, for Welbeck to now take his chance, lets see exactly what he can bring to the team. It,s he,s big chance IMO.
This is not the same old Arsenal but to be more accurate, this is the same Pre-Ozil Arsenal which was trophyless for 9 years. In fact Ozil (if he’s on the pitch) has drastically changed the way Arsenal play in the past 2 years. Arsenal has played the game with less possession, more counter attack, less shoot but more clinical in the final third which has won us 2 trophy in 2 years. When our real creator who can make difference with his vision wasn’t playing, what has happened yesterday didn’t surprised me.
I don’t think that the our passing of the ball is any problem at all we have had over 20 shots at goal in most games with 50% or more of those hitting the target. The game against soton and yesterday’s game against hull were examples of this. We always create an abundance of chances most of which are clear cut and based on that our tactics are great. We have been hurt by poor finishing in some cases and keepers having worldies against us as well.
With regards to tactics. Our best showings of our brand of football came when all were fit and firing like the games against Leicester and Man U early in the season. We also showed our ability to change tact and be efficient at counter attacking against the bigger teams as our showings against Bayern and Man City clearly exhibited.
When Alexis and santi were both fit and wenger could play his two first choice men – Ramsey and Alexis – on the wing (with Ramsey coming in and overloading the midfield or combining well with hector on the wing) we showed how we could effectively change our entire set up by just switching between theo and Olivier up front and the whole team was well drilled to perform when this change was made. In fact during this season and the last the tactics of wenger have been praised by Koeman, van gaal and ancelotti more than once, but it’s not just tactics that win football games.
Here’s a good statistical analysis of how it’s not just been the same old arsenal – especially this season. In fact it’s really been a revolution to a more progressive and dominant side (or maybe one could call it an attempted regression to the days of Bergkamp and Henry) :
http://2plus2equals11.com/2016/02/06/not-quite-the-same-old-arsenal/
Oh and also – wenger has attempted a 4-4-2 in the last 2 FA cup games.
Also, I honestly cannot understand people bad mouthing the signing of Elneny. A top class established international player at just 23 years old with champions league and Europa league experience. Put in superb performances against the premier league sides he faced and has the best midfield engine in Europe (better than matic and matuidi) according to the stats from his last champions league stint with Basel as well as a fantastic attitude and a hunger to improve and succeed.
He’s always been solid defensively and this season with Basel, he’s added goals and assists to his game. Plus he was an integral part of Basel’s championship winning teams for the past few seasons so he brings winning experience. To clarify – he cost 7.3m and now apparently that transfer fee makes him rubbish. Chelsea bought Matic for around 1.5m, but then they too seem to have that “cheap is shite” mentality and so they sold him and had to buy him back for around 25m. What great business that was, right? When is Wenger going to learn to be like that, right?
The only worthy and available alternatives (that I know of) to Elneny would have been either Schneiderlin or Ngolo Kante. The signing of the latter would have probably been met with much scorn and derision by some supporters along with many pundits complaining about how he is such a cheap, typical Wenger buy, from a small French club. But he has been a revelation for Leicester this season and he only cost around 5m himself, but hey, that 5mil quality player is not good enough for arsenal right.
Elneny has all of his qualities and more as stated above but comes from a team of champions – which believe it or not, is a real difference making factor. It affects ambition, as no player who is used to winning wants to lower their expectations. Just look at the determination of Ozil, Sanchez and Cech who since joining, have no other ambition but winning (although Sanchez also pines for a commemorative tattoo apparently). Elneny himself has already stayed that he wants to win the treble.
It’s Elneny or nobody for me – he’s great already and set to get even better.
Chavs, Soton and now Hull. Haven’t we learnt how to play against teams that park the bus and refuse to come out and play. Arsene never tweaks.
Totts out then, West Ham know how to beat a Championship side convincingly and all square in West London…
Afternoon folks….
Virg – don’t think anyone is badmouthing Elneny, just saying he’s a typical AW signing. Cheap and cheerful. I actually like him and reckon he’ll be good but it’s very early days imo…
Chavs 3-1 up…
That’s that then, let’s hope we don’t get the Chavs…
If we draw them at the Ems, we can beat them….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3457019/Arsenal-star-Alexis-Sanchez-insists-no-regrets-leaving-Barcelona-gears-face-old-club.html
I know AW answer but was the some in others countries and they were changing.
Alexis (and Arsenal…) are paying for the fact that it has not had the complete holiday.
After injury and prolonged stoppage, lost the rhythm.
Giroud out of form????
They will give the right answer next Tuesday. However, will be always the game in Barcelona.
I think the priority is the League, but in theory, our set of fixtures are more difficult then the others contenders.
Next match, is again the vital importance.
“The draw for the quarter-final of the FA Cup will take place on Sunday at 6.15pm (UK time) and will be shown live on BBC1 in the UK.
Arsenal and Hull City have been awarded ball number 7 after their goalless draw at Emirates Stadium on Saturday”.
I wish we’d forget the CL for this season, perhaps AW will after Tuesday…
We will get Watford away I feel
Crystal Palace away for us or Hull I reckon….
What prize do I get for guessing we will get Watford??? 😛
Watford at home…
Home devil
I preferred away. Teams will not park the bus at their own backyard.
Everton get Chavs at home, another tough one going out. We just have to make sure we beat Hull….
I think Watford will go for it, IF it’s us who face them…
We will beat Hull at their own backyard Rico. They will not park the bus but will attack us leaving their keeper exposed much more. I think AW will go with the same team he played yesterday but if Gabriel is fit he will play instead of Kos.
Not always Devil, I’m sure we’ve been away to clubs who defend first and foremost a number of times…
What AW needs to do is find a way around such tactics…
He’s not achieved that in all the time we’ve had him. Old dog / new tricks.
Evening, good draw if we get over the Hull hurdle first. Thats us told Virg, I agree re Elneny, will come good no doubt, impossible to judge 2 games in.
You say when we,ve had a fully fit squad, we,ve been impressive, at times i agree, but fact is, it is rare we do have fully fit squads, and when we struggle in games, I find we just keep to the script and just change like for likeness, imo
In my eyes at times we can be so predictible, teams just know how to set up against us. we almost become delayed, lethargic and tend to overplay certain situations.
On the striker issue, maybe, some games he could start with 2 central strikers, revert to a 4-4-2, to which won him 3 titles, I think Theo and Giroud or Welbeck could be used in 2 striker system have Coq for anchor; we have Ozil as our 10, and the other two midfield positions can be filled by any of our offense players.
On whether we are better this season, through the fact that we are playing more progressive and dominant football, as you put it, it remains to be seen imo, on where we end up come May.
I know, so I expect little different Potter. But it’s the only way we’ll beat the parked bus.. Or not!
I’m not really sure how people can question the tactics of the Hull game.
We had a shit load of chances.
Bad tactics would mean few chances, surely.
Because they weren’t put away means we suddenly blame the tactics??
When players stuff relatively easy shots, and a keeper has a game of a lifetime, that’s not down to tactics at all.
Blame Wenger for the complacent attitude, lack of players…..anything else, but in this instant, not tactics.
The slow build up is something we often endure but how many players on the pitch yesterday are capable of a defence splitting pass?
Campbell…and he made a few.
Who else, though??
I said yesterday, I’d have preferred an all out attack with out very best 11, but still, we should have had enough.
Dublin, that’s what happens when a manager stands still…. If he’d have moved with the times, so would have Arsenal…
I blame tactics. The constant extra pass, shooting when being closed down, not shooting when in acres of space… Whose idea is that I wonder?
Their keeper was good, he made 3 quality saves but after that, we made him look good imo…
I don,t to an extent blame yesterday on tactics, sure they didn,t help, but I mean in general, a lot of games I,v watched this season were crying out for a young fresh, motivated man with new ideas, to do something clever and audacious instead we get to the 70th and the like for like changes happen. to which sometimes they work, he,s just to settled in his ways, for me,it comes with age.
Apparently the F.A cup is fixed, a lot of fuming tweets on social media, hilarious !!
If we beat Hull and Watford, then we wouldn’t have had to leave London for the FA Cup this season. interesting fact.
A lot is being said about todays game between City and Chelsea and the death of the F.A cup, I think they have a point. today just proved it is not taken as serious as it once was.
And the answer could well be to give the 4th place spot to the F.A cup winners.
Iwobi was nearly that guy. Just imagine what we’d all be talking about today had his two chances gone in. And they were close… I reckon he’s going to be good…
Sunday night is Vera night so catch up tomorrow guys…
Night all…
Catch up soon, Rico
Arsenal never left London in 1950 and 2014 when winning the FACup.
Unfortunately the replay in Hull has buggered that this season…
I’ll back you up on that Kev, we never left the CAPITAL !
she wore have produced some interesting stats :- := http://shewore.com/2016/02/21/what-is-w … y-arsenal/
point taken Kev. Lol
Suarez has scored more goals than the Arsenal’s combined total (in the PL) in 2015/16 season…………. #justsaying.
Happy Birthday John Radford!
Morning Brudder. Do you reckon we need another striker then?
From JB’s site:
Mathieu Debuchy played 82 minutes of Bordeaux’s goalless draw with Nice before suffering a hamstring injury that caused him to be withdrawn.
Wellington was an un-used substitute as Bolton Wanderers drew 1-1 with Queens Park Rangers.
Gedion Zelalem was an un-used substitute as Rangers beat Queen of the South 1-0.
Emiliano Martinez was an un-used substitute as Wolverhampton Wanderers lost 1-0 to Huddersfield Town.
Yaya Sanogo missed Charlton Athletic’s 3-0 defeat to Fulham with a back injury.
Loans going well then… 😉
Morning all..
Brudder let’s start with a new manger first….
Then we need a CB, DM,AM, RW and a Striker for starters.
It’s easy to score in Spain isn’t it? 😉
Morning Rico. Unless the Barca goalkeeper has a blinder, yes, it’s easy to score over there. 🙂
Probably as easy as scoring against a Championship side…..
Brudder. You are forgetting that Steve Bruce is a tactical genius.
The wonky-nosed Mrs Doubtfire tactician………. yeah I forgot about his Cruyff-esque game changing techniques!
Morning Adam. Not what I meant really. Other than three good sides, the rest are just making up the numbers aren’t they? lol
Rico. I watched a very sloppy Barcelona for a while the other night playing against Las Palmas (I think) from the Canary Islands. They had left a few top players out but they were disinterested I thought. Then yesterday I saw RM playing a lesser team. They were given a goal (Ronaldo) that was clearly offside, missed a penalty and then apparently conceded. I missed the latter action.
I also watched PSG against Chelsea and wondered that, if you only play a handful of really competitive games a year as they do, does it blunt you a bit. At least the PL is competitive most weeks.
I imagine Barca will be up for it tomorrow though.
Adam, that’s my point really. It’s hardly a testing league and the little I’ve seen, it’s not as physical as the PL either. I doubt Messi would like to be on the end of some of the stuff Alexis suffers each week and not just him either..
As for tomorrow, couldn’t agree more, they’ll be right up for it. Just hope our lot are too otherwise we’ll take a thumping…
I see AW believes we’ll never have a better chance of beating Barca.
Rico. I think he says that every time we play them. In that sense he’s right of course. You’ll never have a better chance of beating them until you play them. 🙂
🙂 Adam, but this time it’s different… lol
New post up now..
Guys, just checked back in and saw I’ve taken a bit of stick re my comments.
Top defensive player. Yes our defence has been good, but that record would have been a lot better but for the wobble when lost Le Coq and didn’t have a top defensive player to replace him with. Something we all predicted would happen if he got injured.
As for the CF issue and Olli scoring a few. We have missed more clear cut opportunities that any other team in the League- 67 I think with the next nearest being in the 40s. A top CF would be banging them in with chances we create. I could score what Olli has done with Ozil et all setting me up every 16 seconds !
And within 10 mins of the Barca game starting Oli misses exactly the sort of chance that top draw centre forwards bury…..
And there we have it. Flamini gives away a stupid Pen. The top draw defenciveplayer I spoke of that we don’t have when LE Coq is absent….. This is what happens when you don’t have him.
Like I said, always 2 players short of being able to compete …. Wengers mend and make do EXPOSED yet again. Spend some fucking money you tight pr£&k