Morning all.
2-0 up and Arsenal royally cocked things up. An early goal from Saka set us up nicely, a second from Hincapie, his first for the club, looked like that was enough to take the points but what followed was awful on the eye. Instead of controlling the game, Mikel Arteta’s players went to pieces.
After the game, Arteta said he was extremely disappointed with the result, disappointed how the game ended and disappointed with the second half performance. We only had ourselves to blame he added and yes, he’s right, that’s not the way a title chasing club should be playing.
Since the turn of the year, Arsenal have been poor in my opinion and I don’t just mean the results although had we ground out victories whilst playing badly, perhaps the players could be forgiven somewhat but no, we have drawn 4, lost 1 and won 3. I’m pretty sure many clubs would be content with that but when the aim is to win the league, it’s simply not good enough.
Great goal from our defender…
I don’t understand why it’s become a bit of a habit to drop off in January/February each year. We cannot blame injuries, lack of squad depth or not having a proper striker. Not this time. Our squad is probably the deepest and most balanced in the league and last night in particular, we were up against a club who had earned just 9 points so far this season. This should have been our night to put pressure on Man City but no, we kicked ourselves in the proverbial teeth.
The cockup between Raya and Gabriel for Wolves equaliser is something seldom seen. Actually I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. Gabriel had that ball cleared had Raya not intervened. Equally, Raya might have caught it but ultimately, between the two of them they made a right old mess of the situation.
With a 2-0 lead and Arsenal playing poorly in the second half, I wondered why Norgaard wasn’t brought on to steady things. To sit in front of our defence and marshall the troops as he did for so many years for Brentford. We had the goals, we had the points if we controlled the game but we didn’t. Hindsight is easy of course but a manager should be able to something so simple. What did Arteta do? Bring on attacking players and a defender, the latter after 93 minutes..
I’m not for one minute suggesting we should have dropped deep and defend, just get more control of a game. Eze and Jesus were never going to do that.
The crazy thing is, I wasn’t surprised to see Wolves equalise because such a scenario has played out before and I’m pretty sure it will do again. Especially if this group of players and Arteta cannot manage a game better.
That’s the best I can manage…
Morning Rico and all, nice write up. Not sure if the players thought it was job done at 2 nil up or not, but the players and Arteta need to do some soul searching and regroup very quickly
Here we go again and unacceptable! Year in , year out, they always manage to mess it up. I believe we are all now thinking the same thing – 2nd again! because they do not know how to handle pressure, which is very poor considering their experiences, poor tactics, sloppy and not playing together as a team.
If MC now win all their remaining games Arsenal will lose the title and it will be all their fault – the players, Arteta and the Coaching Team.
Three times they have been given a life line which gave them a 9 nine point lead and what do they do – squander it with poor play one match after another.
They were dreadful last night, except Saka and Rice, and were very lucky not to lose. What a joke and also embarrassing giving away a 2-0 lead against the bottom team!
Sunday. Tottenham must be relishing this poor play and probably can’t wait to play us.
Arsenal are also having a laugh and being greedy by putting up our Season Ticket costs next season by 3.7% when they can’t even win a big prize for your their fans! Where and why are we paying this extra money for?!, because the team we have at the moment don’t deserve anymore monies!
Sloppy, poor and embarrassing.
No title once again!
No excuses. They were embarrassing last night!
Sloppy, poor and embarrassing.
Thanks Arsenal. 2nd again?!!
Morning Geoff, all.
If Arsenal thought it was job done at 2-0 then they don’t deserve to win anything. Yes we had the goals which was perfect but the game management was dreadful.
I don’t think the title race is over yet, but we’re certainly not looking like a club capable of winning it.
The whole game was managed and played poorly!
Rico they are not capable of winning it. They do not know how to keep the momentum going. Watching them sometimes is embarrassing as they play like the U10s! Don’t know what to do with the ball!
It will be a miracle if they turn this situation around by winning all their games and beating MC at the Eithad!!
No Rico, its not hindsight or whatever.
Arteta should not be dissappointed. He should be livid. Had that happened to SAF or Mourinho they would be throwing boots or reading the riot act. Arteta was too composed during his interview. Had it been SAF he would be glaring and not say anything.
Arteta knows something that we dont….and that is between players. Its not tiredness. Its not not injuries. Its attitude. Attidude is fickle. Camaraderie is fickle. Common sense would have said to play Eze in the 10 position. Not Saka. Common sense would have played Saka on the right. Martinelli on the left. Then introduce Martinelli and Madueke. Why experiment with Saka in the 10 in an EPL game?? Even though its against the bottom team. He has a game against the giants of Mansfield to experiment. But not now, so late in the season.
We are still playing with the style AW introduced. Pass, pass, pass, pass yaaaawwnnnnn. We dont play direct football. We are defending a corner, wham bhamm six seconds later we score and the ball has taken just three to four passes from our penalty area to the back of their net. A style rething should be on the cards.
And well done to write such a match report under such circumstances. It is appreciated Rico. you did a wonderful job.
Hincapie’s goal was a great one. His run was similar to the one Henry scored against Leeds in the FA Cup when he came back on loan. Even the assists were similar. When I saw the move I almost expected the commentator to say ‘Song, Henry, goal!!’
streamff.com/v/bf26730c
People can blame Arteta all the time but he’s not the one making mistake after mistake on the pitch. It’s experienced well paid professionals. They need to man up and take responsibility. Do they even want it?
Tottenham’s injury and suspension news ahead of Arsenal:
Injuries:
Wilson Odobert – ACL, out for the season
James Maddison – ACL, unlikely before summer
Rodrigo Bentancur – Hamstring, expected May 2
Mohammed Kudus – Thigh, expected April 11
Ben Davies – Ankle, expected April 11
Lucas Bergvall – Ankle, expected April 11
Destiny Udogie – Thigh, expected March 15
Dejan Kulusevski – Knee, no return date
Kevin Danso – Foot, expected March 15
Major doubts:
Richarlison – Thigh, possible return Feb 22 vs Arsenal
Pedro Porro – Calf, possible return Feb 22 vs Arsenal
Suspended:
Cristian Romero – Serving ban, back March 15
Spurs are seriously stretched going into the North London Derby.
If we dont beat that lot we dont deserve to win the EPL
Laura, it certainly looks that way. I suggested a few weeks ago that a psychologist would do no harm, I stand by that.
Devil, I portion some blame on Arteta because he should keep his players focussed and grounded. His game management last night was woeful imo. But the mistakes on the pitch, that’s down to the players.
If there’s an opportunity to cock things up, we are very good at taking it.
We sure are…
We have been here before. That is why most of us are afraid of history repeating itself. But remember, NOTHING is won in February. NOTHING is lost either.
The battle at Wolves may have slipped from our grasp.
But the war for the title? That is still very much alive.
It’s not so much about last night for me, but the last 7 weeks.
Afternoon Rico/all
Not an easy report to write. I think we all felt angry,what made it worse was a Wolves equaliser felt inevitable.
We shouldn’t even have been looking to protect the lead,we should have been out of sight,but when we did why not bring on Norgaard and keep hold of the ball,bringing on a defender never seems to work for us.
Also near the end Martinelli was struggling with a knock,we left him on the pitch when we had a substitute spare,it’s easy in hindsight but it made no sense at the time.
On to Spurs Sunday,in my Opinion Saka should go back wide right,if available Havertz and Odegaard must play. Motivation should be no problem.
Afternoon Limey. The news was positive about Havertz and Odegaard yesterday so I hope they are fully fit on Sunday. Especially Havertz. Agree, the NLD should be motivation enough, we need a response and fast.
Hi Rico, I hope you’re well. I wasn’t surprised either when their equaliser went in. After scoring so early on I honestly thought we’d get a few more at least, but no, we went all defensive and made them look really good.
What the hell is wrong with them all? It’s the same every season! Showed more fight after the final whistle than during the whole 90. Fair play to Wolves though, I had a funny feeling it wouldn’t be plain sailing, look at the reverse fixture – they won the game for us.
Now wouldn’t it be typical of us to go and smash the spuds then go down without a whimper against the chavs?! I’m dreading our fixtures now and firmly believe City are in the driving seat. Thanks a lot Arsenal 😣
I couldn’t discern any purpose in bringing Jesus on that close to full-time. I can only think that we are in some way hoping that he will do something to enhance his value in the transfer market when we hope to sell him in the summer. Good luck with that!!
Hi Sue, I am thanks and hope you are too.
Couldn’t agree more. Same old Arsenal, go into a new year and we crumble.
Jesus is a mystery and he really sums this Arsenal up. Brilliant one minute, terrible the next.
As Sue suggested, only after the final whistle did we see a bit of second half spirit.
It amazes me how one week the majority of them are brilliant, the next they’re terrible. And what’s happened to Eze? Bar a handful of games he’s a shadow of the player we saw at Palace
Eze was sidelined after the Villa game. I think he’s a great player but as others have mentioned, struggles against a defensive setup. Our style of play doesn’t complement his game imo, we play too slow.