Morning Gooners,
Are we really good enough to win the Premier League, that is the question we should be asking.
High hopes were held by many after the first half a dozen games, but Chelsea’s game at home and Norwich away has brought ourselves to the point of double guessing ourselves but before we start hanging the blame on individuals we have to have a reality check.
Internationals always see to throw up complications and in our case we had 15 players involved with international call up, Norwich had just 2.
When you consider the travelling our players have to do, to different parts of the world, playing different systems and being managed by different managers, coming home and then slotting back into club team football is always going to be difficult.
Yes we expect to beat teams like Norwich whether we are home or away but Norwich were up for this match!
Before kick off they had only 3 points on the board and they must have been dreading coming up against us, a team of talented players and their record against us is not good in fact its terrible.Β They knew we would have majority possession and we could seriously hurt them. They would have been told to shoot on sight, raise their work rate and defend in numbers, breaking away when ever they could.
In reality they did what was expected of them and Norwich fans would have felt a big weight had been lifted off of them after Saturday and they should be proud.
What about us?
Arsene Wenger was livid after this game, after having most of the possession we fall foul to an easy goal, a flash shot from outside of the box which swerved viciously and bounced just before it reachedΒ Mannone,Β making it difficult to handle. All credit toΒ Mannone,Β he watched the ball but in flight it turned at the last-minute and all he could do was to parry the ball out only for it to find the waiting Holt who was left unmarked to drive the ball in what looked an open goal.
Supporters can criticise MannoneΒ for not keeping the ball in his grasp but he was not at fault for this goal. Before the shot, we had three defenders that could and should have closed the player down but we decided to go on the back foot and give him time to take his shot and that was the mistake we made.
Overall, our defending this season is far better than the last few, but we still have moments when our decision-making is wrong and this was one of those occasions.
Norwich, while under a lot of pressure, managed do something that we find increasingly difficult to do and that is break away quickly when the opportunity presents itself and they were prepared to shoot on sight Β and on Saturday, that came off for them.
We however, seem to be more focussed on keeping possession. We pass the ball around nicely but sadly, during one spell of twenty odd passes, fifteen of them went backwards or sideways. We have taken the surprise out of our game. Teams look like they are defending in numbers against us but that is only because we give them time to regroup and get back and defend. We seem to lack the belief that we can attack at pace and make that final shot count .
We are beginning to look like a team that is frightened to go forward, as soon as we gain possession we look backwards or sideways to pass the ball and for every forward pass, there are many more which go sideways or backwards and that is our undoing. Players like Gervinho, who plays at times like the ball is stuck to his foot, will undoubtedly keep the ball until he is surrounded by defenders. Then he passes backwards and by doing so, he slows our attack again. He is in all fairness a gifted player but he holds the ball too long but he needs to start releasing the ball a lot earlier..
Many a time from an advance position on the edge of the oppositions box we pass all the way back to our goalkeeper that is a no no. This should never be the case from that position but we seem frightened to take the shot when it presents itself so we opt for another pass.
Breakaway chances are exactly that, breakaway fast forward passes with forwards busting a gut to get in the box, strikers who are racing to score and catching the opposing side out.Β We find it very hard to make 3 passes forward and our players have some how become accustomed to looking backwards instead of forwards and until this trend stops we will struggle to score goals.
Giroud is our centre forward his confidence is at an all time low he looks lost in front of goal, so much that he never seems to be up front when he’s needed. He drops back, and at times when we are attacking we have no centre forward, in fact we seldom have a forward in the box because we pass the ball backwards instead of being direct.
We are still having trouble defending corners and dead ball kicks as we adopt zonal marking instead of man to man marking.Β For those who are not sure what zonal marking is, it’s when you spread your defenders out and give them zones to defend which should in theory cover all bases, but when opposing players rush forward we do not defend well. This way of defending has to change, zonal marking is fine for forwards coming back to help out but for seasoned defenders we have to go back to player to player marking .
Watch defending in any other team and you will see defenders grappling with attackers arms around them not even watching the ball coming in from a corner, they watch only the player they are marking and the aim is to make sure that that player does not get the ball.
Do you like me wonder why we never seem to get many penalty decisions compared to other teams?
When you look to see how many men we have in the opposing box it becomes clear that we do not get in the positions to compete for ball in the danger area and if you’re not there you can’t complain.
Giroud and Podolski are not small players they are rugged men that can mix it with the best but can we cross balls into the box and give them the chance to compete for headers on corners, no.
Vermaelen and Mertesacker will come up but can we get a cross into the danger areas, no.
We are missing out on good opportunities to score and until Wenger changes things, we will continue to do so.
I personally see a problem with our goalkeeping situation, although the keepers when fit try their best, we remain very weak in this area. Regardless of who we field in goal, they need protecting, Β our defence needs to be more solid, our forwards need to start defending from the front, our midfield needs to be stronger and more disciplined too and of course ourΒ defenceΒ needs to be sharper and start closing down players a lot quicker.
Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff have got some work to do to get us back into the Premier League race, we are 10 points adrift of the leaders and if we continue in this vein, that gap will get bigger and bigger. We have the players and we have the talent but we need change in the system as this one we have is just not working.
Arsene it’s up to you and your merry men to sort this out.
You don’t have long either, otherwise this current system will get out of hand.
Written by Steve Palmer.
Thats shud nt be in our minds,chealsea ,man unt,man city & others had also their players on international duty.STOP OVERELYING ON SANTI ALONE,SIGN A REAL CENTER FOWARD,INTRODUCE WILSHERE SOONEST POSIBLE,SIGN A REAL DEEENSIVE MID PLAYER,SIGN A NEW KEEPER & GIVE WALCOT A NEW DEAL.with that we wil be able to reduce the ten point gap to 0.
Morning Rico and all. As to the first question you ask Steve, the answer is no, we are not good enough to win the PL in my opinion.
Morning all….
And it’s a big fat no from me too Steve, not all the time we lack a ‘proper’ goal keeper, another solid defender, a proper defensive midfielder and a goal machine.
Of course, Frimpong could turn out to be the DM, but if he is not going to be played then sign Capoue or someone similar.
Β£7 million would get Ba in January, PL ready, and he knows where the net it.
And yes, I agree, stop playing this mamby pamby tippy bloomin tappy football going sideways and backwards all the time. It’s boring, tedious and totally ineffective.
When Denilson played that way, he got shredded.
Oh, and good post Steve π
Morning all….well shouted Simon! I agree with what you say 100%!!! π
Simon, do you have to, I still have a headache π
But yes, every other team had internationals away on duty, didn’t stop them from winning……
Why are people using International games as excuses??? Last saturday , our players were really , and i mean REALLY poor with few exceptions like carl jenkinson.
Giroud low on confidence? He was the hero of France just a few days earlier. I’m hoping not, but perhaps he is yet another mediocre player.
Morning Lee…
Good post Steve, I agree with all the points you raised. Whilst Norwich deserve some credit for their win and fair play to them, they worked hard all over the pitch. I just hate the idea and the excuse that they were more up for it than we were. The question is why ?! Effort and work rate is the one thing that any team has control of regardless of form. So being outplayed well sometimes that will happen and you just have to congratulate the opposition in that case. But to be outworked, for me there is no excuse, if you are outworked then I think that shows either a lack of physical sharpness or mental apptitude, which is even more galling when all we hear is about our supposed physical power and zee mental strength.
Unfortunately, this looks like previous seasons, where the first 11 is quality and a match for anyone, but where any changes to that seem to effect us massively more than the squads of the other top teams.
I do however hope I am wrong.
I agree, we are just not good enough. How many more seasons will pass us by without signing a goalkeeper. Manone, fabianski and almunia before would not have got a game with any other PL team. Yet at Arsenal they start.
We still have no plan B, we could even change the way we played against Norwich, Last season there was a reliance on RVP, the season before Fabs and this year if Santi is not firing then we have little impact.
Nothing changes, top 4 if lucky and Sczezeny gets fit and improves his concentration.
morning all…good post steve…my question is why do we always have to get to this point…for the past 5/6 seasons we always have something like this happen to us.
Morning all…
Good post SP1 btw.
There are no answers to the questions you asked Steve imo. if we can be gifted with a trophy all this shackles will be loosened.$hitty, manure are also not happy with their defence and goalkeeping situation. Manure fans complain about how week their midfield is but they have goals in the team, which is something we lack.We have scored the least goals at this stage in the EPL since 1988. We have conceded the same amount of goals as the chavs – 6 so we have moved forward in that area imho.
The issue as you rightly pointed out is due to the lack of speed in our build up play. I have mentioned this several times now as I think the whole team is obsessed with keeping the teams’ shape. At the moment we are like the Everton team post February where we are discipline but not efficient.
Hopefully when JW10 and TR07 come back it will give us a different dimension of having a CM/AM who can play long passes when needed.
DG10 mentioned our corner kick conversion rate which is 0% at the moment. What is the point of having our 2 CD up front when we never score from corners?
I don’t agree re Giroud either MW, I don’t think his confidence is low…
Rico I agree on Ba. there is no excuse for AW not to sign a striker especially BA as AW said 2 years ago that he was interested in him. Senegal is disqualified for next years AFCON so he would not be going away in January
@TSGH 10:15 ….. so so on point.
Perhaps another interesting question is one that a fellow Arsenal supporter, who has proved annoyingly prophetic in the accuracy of his predictions, asked me several seasons ago. He said “Do you think Arsenal will ever win the PL or the CL under Arsene Wenger?” A simple enough question, but one that is quite thought provoking.
Welcome to those just joining HH this morning.
Aden, the break is no excuse in my opinion, we were not the only side who had players away on duty. Although many of ours travelled, not all played…
is BA truly the answer?
Tsgh, we’d have to quick and we’d have to be in the top 4 in january to get Ba, otherwise the dippers will get him…
good news is that due to the injury to Ox and TW14, Gnabry can have some cameos. He is the 2nd best in our squad at driving at opponents apart from Diaby when fit.
Why is it that it is only at arsenal that players say they want to play in a different position?Ox has lost his mojo, as has Gerv because they sem to dislike playing on the wings. We all know Poldi is rubbish on the left wing but AW can not be bothered playing him in the hole. SC19 should be playing on the wings full stop!
I think they would under Guardiola Adam.
Adam – if he continues the way he is now, then my answer is no. If he changes his ways, then who knows…
But, I don’t see him ever changing his ways. Different players, same old tactics regardless of who we face…
I reckon so bondex.
Tsgh – that is because AW mucks around with them. He needs a winger so what does he do? He signs a striker and plays him on the wing.
Nik, Theo, Vela, Arshavin etc etc…
Need a winger, sign a bloomin winger.
Bondex,
On the evidence of yesterday’s performance against Sunderland…emphatically no!. He won almost nothing in the air, looked a bit short on pace and lacked invention. Oh! and didn’t he score an own goal, we’ve got Koscielny to do that.
Good morning all.
Morning all,
Are we good enough to win the league….no.
Are we good enough to finish top 4 …..yes.
There you have it, it’s a vicious circle.
We’ve slipped back to our old ways, leaking goals, conceding first in the last 4 league games now, winning 1, drawing 1 and losing 2, we can’t keep coming from behind, we’re making a rod for our own backs.
Bondex- no player is the answer imho. AW allowed the no trophy run to 3 years longer than it should have. There is a blanket of negativity around the team which can be removed only by winning a trophy. We had an opportunity to win the CL in 2008 but Aw stauck to that stupid principle of playing youngster and an unfit superstar because the player asks to play.
Because the ‘lack of trophy clock’ is ticking every single game has become a title decider. It should not be the case at all.
The question is can we afford to do a liverpool and put everything on 2 trophies and compromise on top 4 or do we want our cake and eat it too.
Barca and Real went through the same issues in the 90’s and early 2000’s.
Tsgh, I thought you wrote Gnabry is good at diving then π
SteveyP, thanks for explaining zonal marking, it’s the off-side rule I don’t understand.
Good Morning my Esteemed Fellow Gunners.
Yesterday I refrained from commenting on the game. I was still under the effects of Saturday’s dismal showing. So the less said in the heat of the moment the better.
I saw the whole game. And to be honest I was not happy with what I saw. Like many of you all I suppose.
What was evident from the first ten minutes was that this AFC team is Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde personified. Brilliant one game, awful the next. And it is this inconsistency and lack of ruthlessness which will give an answer to Steve Palmer’s question of whether we are good enough to win the league. The answer is a resounding NO. You only have to look at the rates of the bookmakers to see how incredibly inconsistent AFC are. You never know where the team is standing.
The team’s tactical mentality was that of a rabbit in the headlights. It was a frozen mentality. Each player was neither mentally alert or technically sharp. Yes we had our players out for the international week, but so did Shitty and the Chavs and Manure. They all won.
No player can be singled out for criticism. Sorry folks but blaming this player or that player shows a nose length sighted mentality. Cant see beyond the tip of one’s nose for that. There were many reasons for last saturday’s debacle that it is difficult to put a finger on just one. It was more the sum total in a comedy of errors then just one fleeting moment which was the undoing of a whole game.
Too many crab like passes, sideways and backwards and rarely forwards. The direct running and vertical passes could be counted on one hand. True we had lots of possession, but possession stats do not win you games.
It was true that we had Gibbs out while Santos took his place. And that is one of the main problems we had on Saturday. While both are known to be left backs the truth is that both are totally different and bring different contributions to the team. While Santos prefers to cut inside when he is around the attacking third and this means that either Gervinho or Poldi have to keep out on the wing, Gibbs prefers to hug the touchline and whip in crosses and stretch the defence himself. This allows Poldi or Gerv to stay inside where they can do more damage. And this was one of the major reasons we could not score on Saturday. Both Poldi and Gerv were like the aforementioned bunny in the headlights. They were caught between two stools about where they should have been. Headless chicken Gervinho? Bang on mate. Little boy lost Poldi? True.
The only one stretching the defence was Jenks and he was getting in good positions to make good crosses. Or did he? A cross is a quality cross only if it leads to something. However Stone was feeling on top of the world catching his crosses thankfully and comfortably fully aware that no AFC forward was there to pressure him. At one point Jenks gave three consecutive crosses which were cleanly collected by Stone.
Both Arteta and Cazorla were trying their damned hardest by they failed to combine together with Ramsey. Was it their fault? Not 100% theirs. Norwich did their bit. Their tactic was to keep them the furthest apart as possible and cut off their line of communication. Whenever AFC had the ball on the sides of the pitch there was only one player pressurizing the AC players. However whenever AFC players had the ball around the penalty area it was one man pressurizing the player with the ball forcing him to look at the ball and not head up, while two or three or four were marking the passing options tightly. So whenever AFC players attempted a rare direct pass it was immediately nullified.
Good analysis of the Norwich goal Sir SP. However many failed to mention why Holt was not marked tightly near the six yard box and was allowed to stay in the channel between the defenders unmarked………and with his favoured turning side having an area of two meters in which he could turn easily. There was no one breathing on his neck.
I thought that like at WH being 1-0 down would galvanise the team. It did not. And we cannot expect to go 1-0 down in every game and come back again time and time again.
And please cut off the crap that we have a crap team. None of those were singing the same thing when we were winning. I am not saying that we have a great team. We do not and on the last showing we never will. However please be aware that Arsenal were not playing against dummies or statues. They were playing against a team who wanted to win more than AFC wanted. They worked their socks off and achieved what many thought they would not. They were humble and not arrogant unlike some who expect to win every game 10-0.
Why? Because we are Arsenal??
Morning Micko & JW
I didn’t know that about Ba and yesterday…
Top 4, on Saturdays display, I’d say that will be tough. If our noisy neighbours carry on the way they are going and we don’t improve, I can see the dreaded situation taking place….
@JW exactly my point.. he is a really good striker no doubt but he has his off days too.
Why did Red McPurpleNose buy ‘you know who’ when he could have gone for someone like Jolevic,Rodriquez or LLorente. The answer is that for certain positions you can not afford to have a bedding in period.
There will never be a new TH14 we should move on. We just need 4/5 players who can alternatively score 10 goals. That is what wins you a trophy not a one man team.
I will even take Bent and Ba because they are used to the EPL. Why take Huntellar when it will take him weeks to get used to the EPL?
I am not anti-foriegners by the way…
Micko, don’t lose heart on that, I don’t think most linesmen/referees know the offside rule either
tsGH,
Truly top class players fit in and don’t need a bedding in period, it’s the mediocre ones who need time to settle.
Ba is not an improvement on what we have. If we are looking to get a world class striker then we will not find him in Newcastle sorry guys.
Falcao would be awesome but we wont get him because you see that would kill Giraud and Forhead.
We are regressing to the same old same old, loosing to bottom clubs while choking when we play the top clubs, if people want change then it has to start at the top.
diving…:D
A diver is what we need at the moment. Since TW14 admitted to diving we have not won a penalty at home.
tsGH…………a diver???? do we need a diver?
Good Lord. We are really clutching at straws to even thing that we need a good diver to get a penalty.
We need a fecking good players who can score at will. TH14 was not a diver but used to stay on his feet to score.
JW I disagree @ 10:51. Silva was average in his first season so was Yaya. Even King Henry needed time so did Bobby…
Hazard has gone quiet in the last 2 games. He did not even start for Belgium.
Oversees players either start well and disappear a la Chamakh or Cisse, Muchu or start slow and fire later like Yaya Toure and DB10 did.
I could have sworn it was Ruddy devil π π
Morning to you, don’t think anyone blamed any one player to be honest devil, they were all very average and looked to be totally disinterested.
Mannone was particularly awful though imho….
Dev I was kidding there on divers… π
π Tsgh, I know what you mean by that comment, not a cheat like Suarez, but a player who drives into the box and goes over when he is clipped rather than stay on his feet….
Good post Steve and I think we all have concerns in a similar vein. For me there are 3 main factors to why Saturday happened as it did.
First we are a decent striker short in the squad, someone who can finish. I felt this right at the start of the season and is why I felt Owen would have been a good stop gap solution in the squad for this season and that we should also buy in January. Whether Owen would have done the job on a couple of occasions, who knows but I think we mostly all agree that we need another striker in Jan. I really believe we will have a new striker in January and there are 2-3 options available. My strongest feeling is he fancies Adrian Lopez. I don’t really know whether he is the right option as he currently struggles with game time at athletico where the excellent Falcao is first choice. If we get him I hope it is because AW knows this player is far superior than just being a back-up and that he is just unlucky with the current system being employed there. If we get him and he looks decent but not great and the other options look like they would have been superior then it will smack of AW looking at the price rather than the quality again. This could be a dangerous road for him as I think this will test the fans patience to the limit. Be careful what you decide in January Arsene, and for what reason. Even if we are 1 striker short at present I still think we have the players that should not allow Saturday to happen so I will not place it quite so high on my list of why it did happen.
Secondly is the fatigue from international week. It is a genuine reason in my books when you compare how many of our players were traveling compared to theirs. The only problem is that Chelsea, Utd and Citeh all had the same issues and all came up with the goods. In Citeh’s case it was more impressive how they dug deep with 10 men against an in form West Brom side. This then dilutes the argument of fatigue for us. I have wondered if it is more to do with AW still sticking to his beatiful passing possession game and that this becomes say 20% less effective when players are fatigued. Are the other managers more pragmatic and accept that certain games may not be as pretty but they can be effective in a different way when players are slightly less sharp. Is this the famous stubbornness to the system and a lack of that plan B that means fatigue from midweek games affects Arsenal more than other top teams.
That leads on to my third reason and the one I feel is most dominant for Saturday and unfortunately does lay the blame more solely on AW. I am mostly an AW supporter but still feel he is constantly making the same mistakes. Steve I feel all your points, including passing backwards, not getting enough players in the box, Giroud holding the ball too long and at times coming deep so we have no-one in the CF position, can be explained by AW not being willing to change and adapt styles and systems when his favoured one is not working. An analysis of Saturday could look at many tactical areas but in short I felt that Norwich set up with a system of one striker and to pack the midfield. The 2 things that I noticed this did was that both Podolski and Gervinho rarely got in as second striker support of Giroud, and that Cazorla seemed to be forced to play very deep and didn’t get in close enough to Giroud and the other 2. Think of the Liverpool game when Cazorla mainly stayed higher and was always an outlet to move us quickly into attack. In this game it left Giroud isolated so that the lack of players working off him meant he either held it too long or passed backwards, and can also explain why he felt the desperate need to drop deep at times. I can’t lay much blame with Giroud here as I felt the system didn’t work for him.
The thing is we saw this last year also in some games, when Gervinho and Walcott from wide and Ramsey from deeper didn’t get in to support RVP, and in some games even he looked isolated. This has to go down as AW being too rigid and not learning from previous experiences despite the fact he often says there is not much anyone can teach him about the game. There are times when our favoured 4-3-3 looks fluid and incisive and there are times when it looks more like a stagnant 4-5-1. For me a good manager knows how to change this within the game when it is not working and not just plough on ahead stubbornly. You will often see Mourinho make a change in the first half if he feels that his chosen system is not working. AW will only change (tactically, not for injury) from 65 mins onwards regardless of whether we are looking good or bad. When he makes the changes he doesn’t really change the system and more just puts a different player into the same set-up. Does this show a tactical limitation in our esteemed manager that I find hard to readily admit? It hurts to say it but there are times when I feel that Mourinho would have turned a game in our favour that AW didn’t just because Mourinho is less rigid in his thinking.
When the 4-3-3 system isn’t working it screams out for having 2 central strikers to work off each other and support each other. For me you would either have to switch to 4-4-2 or 3-5-2. I know this will be controversial but IMO the 3-5-2 would suit us better and could have addressed all the bad issues on Saturday. You get your 2 strikers but still match them with 5 across midfield. If he had taken off Gervinho and put on Koscielny then Podolski can drop centrally in behind Giroud as support. He therefore wouldn’t be isolated and this should also hopefully allow Cazorla to get higher up towards Podolski giving us a central line of attack with no gaping holes. If Podolski was not fit then Arshavin could play as the number 10. My problem is that IMO AW’s rigidness with tactics, systems and how to use his subs most effectively hurts us at times, but more worrying is I don’t believe for one minute that he will change in this. He says he self reflects but I do often doubt that he does this effectively and I do think there is an “I know best” ego that holds him back. The problem is that titles are won and lost on those fine details.
TT so you want to buy Falcao at 45 million and pay him a minimum of 5 million a year at 100k a week min. That makes it 65 million over 4 years. What happens if he gets injured based on our lack? Sugar daddy needed…
Please…
The fact that everyone was disinterested contributed mostly to our defeat.
But that begs the question…………why?
Arent they aware that we need to work hard to win?
The problem we are facing is players being played out of position… Podolski, Gerviniho, Arshavin, Theo… they are all not wingers… they are either srtikers or they play just behind the striker… wingers cross the ball they dribble into the oppositions defence.. when strikers and mids are made to play on the wing they cannot do that and they end up playing the ball back this slows are game down. Players like ramsay are not ready for our first team they are too hesitant to play through balls look at players like tarrabt.. they suit us more than players like ramsay.. Wilsahre looked good when he played with cecs and nasri besides him… he played more like artetas role we need someone who can connect attack and defence more like diaby.. ramsay just cant play that role.. wilshare has never played that… rosicky is more like santi and coquellen is a def mid same can be said about frimpong… cant understand how wenger was banking on diaby to be fit all season… coz now that he is injured we have no back up for him and i doubt there are many players around who can play like him…. remember its not his size but his style that we miss players who play similar to diaby inesta in the spanish 3 man midfield… yaya in the man city midfield… these guys dribbled past mids and create space for the team they change defence to attack in a flash of a second.
GoonerB…………When the 4-3-3 system isnβt working it screams out for having 2 central strikers to work off each other and support each other. For me you would either have to switch to 4-4-2 or 3-5-2. I know this will be controversial but IMO the 3-5-2 would suit us better and could have addressed all the bad issues on Saturday.
A top comment
Mind you………..we were playing too much narrow and in any case with Jenks and santos all attacking we were playing 2-5-3.
But balls over and behind the defence were missing all the time.
Yikes Rico…………….a long post by Steve, another by me and another by GoonerB all in the same day. You really are a lucky girl.
π
Great comment Gb, you should have emailed that for a post…
Why devil, they are there for everyone to read π
Goonerb I can’t agree more. AW needs to be pragmatic most times.
You dont always need a F-18 to do a job when you can use a tankbuster A-10. π
If you compare the best managers win ratio AW is only 4% behind RedNose but that 4-5% is the difference between winning in the quarters of a tournament that we can win or losing.
Talking of international sand fatique, AW must have been concerned about that as we flew to Norwich instead of go by train. But what did he do, he selected the players who had played the most during the international.
as I mentioned yesterday chelsea and Man $hitty may have appeared fresher because Mata did not play during the break. Cazorla played 90 minutes in Belarus and the last 20 minutes against france. TV4 and BFG played 2 90 minute games. How many minutes did Cahill and rio play during the break? I am not making an excuse for the team but all i am saying is that AW claims he has a large number of players but is scared to play players outside the first 15/16 players.
Poldi has been injured and was not deemed fit by Germany to play but we played him to worsen the injury. it makes no scene at all.
Tsgh, probably went up there in kev’s private jet.
The interlull is ot an excuse,but it is a factor.
If it wasn’t,then why does everyone complain about it?
Ok,it offers up nothing,but if there is no damage caused,then what is the problem?
I just saw highlights of the West Ham game….Yossis exuberance and enthusiasm would have been great for us on the weekend.
Great post Steve,but the swerve and dipping ball theory…..naaaahhhh,just can not be true π
Thanks Rico. I thought about it last night in terms of e-mailing my thoughts but assumed you would already have a post lined up talking about Saturday. I was aware that I wanted to vent my spleen to a level where it should have been a post. I was away most of yesterday and by the time I got on their were about 244 comments and people had switched to talking about Cornish Pasties so I thought it wasn’t the right time for a full on tactical sermon. I do like Cornish pasties though! the next time I am thinking of going into frenzied overdrive I will e-mail it to you.
Morning all. Great post Steve. If we play like that again, there is no way we will win anything. At all. I really don’t see the point in continuing to play Gervinho. He offers absolutely nothing. People go on about his pace. He doesn’t even really have that. IO know he’s scored a few goals this year (one from about a centimetre out, and another a badly scuffed shot that the keeper should have saved) but he’s really not good enough for a starting role. Nor is Mannone, but due to AW’s farcical GK policy (or lack of, maybe) there is no-one else remotely good enough that can play ahead of him. It’s amazing that we STILL cannot get a cross into the box. Doesn’t matter who plays on the wings, we cannot do it. The only plus is, that when Little Jack comes back, either Rambo or Gervinho will have to give way. We need to fuck this system off, and get 2 strikers up, at least one of which staying in his proper position.
Rant over.
Rocky,on Gervinho,why the hell doesn’t he REALLY use is weapons….pace and dribbling…and take players on in the box??
He seems to take them on outside it,but props and pauses when in the box.
If he would just cut loose,he would just about earn a penalty every game.
He has improved on last season in general,but he was awful this week.
One other thought, which I am sure many of you consider, is that the term coach and manager seem to be interchangeable at times when talking about the guy at the top. Can they be considered different though, even when referring to the same person. AW, Mourinho and Ferguson are all coaches in the week and managers on match day. I consider AW to be one of the best, if not the best, in coaching and nurturing players through the week on the training ground. I have, however, questioned that when it comes to match day management, whether he drops more significantly below many others in his abilities.
i think over praisin and hyping of mr.wenger is our problem in arsenal. converting of players 4rm one position to another when u have d resources to buy isnt a nice and wise idea, arsene knows he needs cdm and a real goal poacher, bt he enjoys d illution of bringin players of no real quality to turn thm to stars, which has not been working e.g chamack, squalachi,, vella, delnison, and now Giroud. if hs bend in buyin low, there good player in other clubs in epl causing us avoc, if these players in such clubs can be performing at that level, i know for sure they would improve under him if given a chance at arsenal.
If manure can win with de gea, we can win with any of our keepers!
I know Scott. It’s so infuriating it’s unbelievable. We all know he can dribble. It won’t take much to win a pen, but he shits himself everytime he gets in that position, checks, and plays it back. Rarely does he get it to the byline and get it across (he managed to do it twice on Saturday I think…. Once successfully).
The thing is, when it was looking like we were REALLY never going to score (I think that realisation finally hit home after about 75 minutes), who else thought about the dross we have on the bench, and thought…. That’s that then. No was are we going to get anything out of this….
Micko – I am hearing Kev is a man of great all round capabilities. π
I think the issue is Boro Primorac. He is like the Rothchilds you can not get rid of them. π
On a serious note, Boro is the one who sits in the stands to gain a higher perspective of things. He periodically fail to see what a mere supported can see from his sitting room. If things needs changing and he is not able to point them out then AW or Boro have to go!
Good post SteveP
I will say a big FAT NO to the question. What we need is a change of mentality in the squad. I thought this team was different but I was wrong. We thought we could just show up and swagger in the 3pts. It happened against Chelsea and now Norwich. I believe Giroud is not ready for this season. He’s got those runs and movement but that’s not enough, what we need now is a fox in the box, a goal poacher who can score out of nothing or when the team is playing badly, a Falcao( i guess we can’t afford him) who sniffs the net from a distance. We could have made the greedy badger to see out his contract and losing him on a free but I guess it’s too late now.
Have we ever thought about this, if Cazorla/areta gets injured do we have a capable replacement? If Cazorla is not playing well do we have someone who could assist in the creative department? Will Wilshere be able to attain match fitness quickly enough to aid Cazorla after 14months out?
One thing about this team is our build up play is too slow. Teams that sit deep with 2 banks of four becomes difficult to break down because we dont move the ball (forward) quickly enough when the opportunity presents itself for us to counter instead we move sideways and backwards.
I guess Theo is leaving in Jan as nothing has being heard about his contract situation during the interlull.
Watched Adrian Lopez for Athletico Madrid yesterday, He doesn’t seem to be the solution to our problem except we are getting him in place of Walcott.
Thanks GoonerB, sadly, I don’t think it will be too long before you feel that way…
The bench and the interlull are intertwined…..they both expose our lack of depth.
Morning rocky, spot on with your opening comment…
Morning Rico.
Thig is, how many of the people that went away on international duty played, and / or played the full match? (I actually don’t know the answer, so it’s a genuine question, not a smart-arsed comment!!)
Emma, I agree, I don’t think Lopez is what’s needed. And let’s face it, if Giroud isn’t ready for this season, what’s to say Lopez will be? I do feel sorry for Giroud. This current system is of no benefit to him whatsoever. He gets such little service, and when he does, there’s no-one around to bring into play.
Everton U21 vs Arsenal U21 12.00
https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/260330184337653760
Hi emma – i’m sounding like a broken old record again but i’ve been saying all along we are one injury away from deep doo, whether that be Arteta or Santi, worse still if they are both out.
Jack has a long way to go yet, Diaby can’t be relied on and it seems Rosicky is on a ‘return next’ week injury, unfortunately that week never comes…
You only need to see Girouds goal V Spain to see how we are letting him down,or at least,wasting his talents.
We bought him,so why not use him?
I don’t think many did rocky. I will check as afc.com list them…
Emma you are spot on about lopez. If we are going to buy from Spain I will go for Isco from Malaga. A poor mans Hazard if you like. π
Rocky- the number of our players who played during the internationals is a factor. It was made worse by AW failing to play players who are fresher and make changes earlier. I know he brought on the Ox in the 65th minute but the team set up did not change. Why didn’t he go 3-5-2 like he did against WHu to use the flanks more.
Would we have lost had we played at home? I doubt that. Would manure have won with their shaky defence at the Gaelic football stadium against Poo-lis. Never because Manure record at that stadium is worse than ours.
If that’s the case, the Interlull simply cannot be used as an excuse (and I don’t think it can be anyway). It’s no different from a Champs league match in midweek and a prem match on the weekend. Some may say that the Champs league has more intensity that International matches these days, so it’s even LESS of an excuse!
Scott – Spot on. Totally wasting the guys talents. The boy can obviously play. Shame we are currently unable to help him.
tsGH – You are right about Isco. We missed a chance to get him on a cheap during the summer when malaga were desperately in financial waters. He is the one that is making Malaga tick now.
First timer and an ardent reader of this blog.
Don’t u guyz think it is high time we let AW go,his decision is affectin the success of this team.Come May 2013 when we finish 4th as usuall,he will tell the season is not a disaster but a failure and we have been qualifying for CL for the past 16 years another trophyless season.”IT IS WRITTEN CLEARLY ON THE WALL WE CANNOT WIN ANYTHING WITH AW”
tsGh – How many of City/United/Chelsea’s players played in the internationals and then played again at the weekend? Quite a few I’d imagine. I may be wrong. Or is it just our players are weaker that theirs? I really cannot see how it cvan be used as an excuse. How many of Real Madrid and Barca’s players played in internationals last week? As far as I am aware they both managed to win at the weekend…. So did City. So did Man u. As did Chelsea.
Surely. A squad with proper depth and motivation is what we are missing. Can Arsene really drive these players onwards and away from Norwich type performances? Let’s not forget that nothing that happened this weekend is new. It’s all been trundling on for some time now.
Citeh can field Definitely 2,possibly 3 competitive starting sides.
We could manage one and a half,maybe.
Scott re Giroud it is very true.
Some will say the greedy muck scores whilst OG12 does not but how many chances are we creating.
We are blaming Goalies and Gev but the issue is we are creating 57% less chances this season. Our goal record is the worse since 1988.
I know Arsenal fans love Cazorla and I am going to make myself unpopular but to be honest with you imho he adds nothing because he is a winger converted to play as a No.10. 2 assists in this arsenal team as the creative midfield? please…
Player Team Assists
1 Eden Hazard Chelsea 5
Juan Mata Chelsea 5
3 Wayne Rooney Manchester United 4
Adam Lallana Southampton 4
5 Jobi McAnuff Reading 3
Wayne Routledge Swansea City 3
Robin Van Persie Manchester United 3
Steven Pienaar Everton 3
Jonathan De Guzman Swansea City 3
Carlos Tevez Manchester City 3
Bryan Ruiz Fulham 3
12 Shaun Maloney Wigan Athletic 2
Kevin Nolan West Ham United 2
John Arne Riise Fulham 2
Jermain Defoe Tottenham Hotspur 2
Leighton Baines Everton 2
Aaron Lennon Tottenham Hotspur 2
–Lukas Podolski Arsenal 2—
–Santi Cazorla Arsenal 2—
Antonio Valencia Manchester United 2
Mousa Dembele Tottenham Hotspur 2
Nathan Dyer Swansea City 2
Peter Odemwingie West Bromwich Albion 2
Arouna KonΓ© Wigan Athletic 2
Ricardo Vaz Te West Ham United 2
Luis SuΓ‘rez Liverpool 2
Shane Long West Bromwich Albion 2
Chamberlain, nearly full game against San Marino and 20 mins against Poland
Kos β 90 mins in second game, featured in first then injured for Norwich
Giroud β 5 mins in second game & ‘featured’ in first
Merts β played 90 mins in both fixtures for Germany
Podolski β 30 mins in first game, 5 mins in second game
Santi β 65 mins in first game, full game (ish) in second.
Thomas Vermaelen 90 mins first game, and played nearly all second fixture.
Aaron Ramsey, played in first, suspended for second
Gervinho started Ivory Coast’s abandoned African Cup of Nations qualifier against Senegal.
Thing is Adam, when the 4 of us were talking about our form last Wednesday, Lee (I think) said that he couldn’t see anyone beating us away from home this year, and I thought it was a bang-on assessment. We looked so strong before Saturday. Showed a fighting spirit and a tougness that was borne out of a new-found togetherness. Then the abomination of what was Norwich away happened and shat all over that theory. We are the same accident waiting to happen as we have been for years.
Rock – I will come back with the figure soon. remember Silva did not play last weekend because of injury and he played the same amount of minutes as SC19. SC19 has played more minutes than Mata, Hazard and Silva. He played 90 minutes in september in South america too.
We rely on the same players until they are worn out. That explains our injuries. Only 6% of our injuries are a result of physical contact.
Sorrt Ts – Just because he doesn’t get loads of assists, doesn’t mean he contributes nothing. I find that pretty ridiculous. How about a pass that leads to a final ball from someone else? Have there been many of those? I personally think he offers plenty. So basically you are saying Jobi Mcanuff is a better player for his team?
Rico SC19 played full 90 minutes in the first match π
Iker Casillas,
Jordi Alba,
Sergio Ramos (RaΓΊl Albiol, 70),
Γlvaro Arbeloa,
Sergio Busquets,
Francesc FΓ‘bregas,
David Silva (AndrΓ©s Iniesta, 56),
Xabi Alonso,
Santiago Cazorla,
Xavi (David Villa, 76),
Pedro
Rocky,i reckon we should at least see how the side responds to the crap they served up on the weekend.
They have shown enough quality so far to deserve that chance.
How they respond will tell us more than anything about where we are headed,i reckon.
Thanks Rico. So that can’t be the reason Podolski was garbage on Saturday…. Nor Rambo. Nor Gerv. Merts played ok and wasn’t at fault for the goal. He actually snuffed out a hell of a lot. Kos wouldn’t have played anyway.
Maybe Scott. Although if they lose again, it’ll nothing short of catastrauphic.
Rocky, I agree that Giroud could easily end up taking flak for problems not of his making. I think Giroud is a useful player and despite not hitting the back of the net regularly I have been impressed by his ability to bring team mates into attacking moves. The problem on Saturday was that no-one got close enough to him to work off him.
I know Rico has echoed my thoughts before that you could play Giroud with another striker. It is interesting that Giroud often looks good when he plays slightly deeper, potentially bucking the trend that the big lad should always lead the line with someone else behind him. His goal against West Ham showed this when he received the ball deeper and picked the right pass to Podolski running at pace down the left. Giroud then showed his strikers instincts and bust a gut to get into the danger area anticipating the ball coming in.
Lets say we were to give Walcott his chance through the middle and in some games we play both him and Giroud as 2 central strikers. It doesn’t have to be set in stone which one plays higher up and which one deeper, and could tactically vary according to the situation. For instance if the opposition play a deep line with less space to exploit behind you could push Giroud onto the last defender where he would be more dangerous and less reliant on pace. Walcott (with his improving strike rate and finishing ability) could play behind and try and latch onto anything that Giroud can set up for him. If the opposition want to play a high line then you have Walcott on the last defender and allow Giroud to drop off and secure ball and possession and try and feed the ball into the space behind for Walcott to get one on one with the keeper, as happened in the West Ham game. Just food for thought but trying these options out must surely be better than plodding on in games where a certain system is failing. I agree with all that we are still short and need other additions, particularly up front, but I also don’t think we use what we have effectively enough.
We need to win and fast!!
Getting back on track quickly will be a massive help.
Rocky. Did Lee say that? I can’t remember myself. I have been very wary of this squad since the transfer window closed. If you make the same mistake a couple of times then that’s bad enough but motivating young millionaires seems to be a huge problem for Wenger. For me the whole club is making the same mistakes year after year and that is why we have been going backwards for ages. Wenger has enormous power within the club and there is nobody who can say to him that our goalkeeping situation is nothing less than a scandal. Which PL club has worse keepers than us? Or ask the question that I have been asking on here for months. Who will score the goals? We have an enormous wage bill, truly enormous. We are drowning in deadwood players that Wenger persisted with until they had no value and we are paying them fortunes. Yes Mannone was guilty of a silly error on Saturday and yes, Gervinho is a flake who should never have been bought. But there are a few others like that too. When you lose a game like we did against Norwich, people start to look at these things but, for me, they have always been there. We beat a poor Liverpool team and got a draw against a Man City team we should have beaten and would have if we had a quality striker and them we beat West Ham away and people say we could win the PL?
tsGH – 3-5-2 system will be very effective especially against teams sitting deep with a bank of 2. This will enable us to effectively make use of the wings and 2 attackers just like we did against W.ham as u rightly pointed out. We played this system in Norwich but in the last 10mins. Mertesacker was thrown forward but it was too late
I think it’s too early to start judging by the number of assist at this stage of the season. Lets wait until the season ends.
Rocky – he is meant to be playing in the Cesc position. At the moment he is not providing assists. But he slows our game down. I am not saying he is a bad player. In fact he is a very good player. The issue is AW is playing him in the wrong position. He even said he thought he was going to play on the wings when he was bought.
AW even said playing Poldi on the left is a waste of talent. His own words not mine but what is AW doing? Poldi should be playing behind the striker based on the goal at Liverpool and Montpellier where he is at his best.
Hazard wants to play as the AM but he is played on the wings why? because he will slow things down playing through the middle as he does for Belgium.He even said in the summer than his choice of the team he will play in England will depend on where he plays ie as a No.10.
Like I said my comment will make me unpopular but that is my view.
Looks like Messi and Higuain (both played for Argentina a few days earlier in Chile) weren’t affected by their international match (AND long flight….) It really doesn’t wash with me. It can’t be blamed. We were playing Norwich for god’s sake. Norwich.
Notice our captain has nothing to say about Saturday, it’s Arteta again….
I agree totally about Poldi being a waste of time on the wing. The guy’s a finisher. Get him up front and e will be devastating. I love the way he is often seen defending in our own box. But I want to see him up front a whole lot more. Put him there, and Cazorla will be the attacking midfielder you crave.
Arteta is our captain Rico. Worst kept secret in football! Even Cazorla said so! Vermaelen doesn’t seem to have the impact on players Arteta does.
rocky, absolutely no excuse, Merts was one of our better players imho too…
When we bought Podolski,i honestly thought he would turn into the striker we all wanted,the Podolski i have watched and liked.
As Rosky says,he is a finisher,and our most clinical at that.
Get him in closer to goal.
Mannone is a serious liability. He pushes virtually every shot he saves straight back out. Against West Ham a few years ago he even pushed a shot that was going wide back into the 6 yard box enabling them to score and come back from 2 down! He obviously can’t be doing it in training but under pressure he reverts to bad habits. With regard to the rest of the team I’m afraid Ramsey is just too slow of thought and body and we have the same problem as last year when Jack was out, with nobody to drive forward from midfield when we break up an attack. Last season it was TR7 who fulfilled that role eventually. This year it has been Diaby so far. And as for Geronimo – the term two left feet was invented for him!
If Podolski was injured why not give Arshavin a run out and play him behind Giroud. You could also then play Cazorla deeper for this game but still centrally. In other games santi can play higher up the pitch centrally again. AA has interestingly looked good IMO when played in the number 10 role this season but has hardly been utilised. An unpredictable attacking player with equally good stats in assists and goals could change a game where we are lacking an attacking threat. Now if I could only recall a game where that may have been the case!!
never rely on afc.com Tsgh π
Gb, you know I agree with you there, give it a go, it may just work. It certainly isn’t at the moment….
Bob, I agree he is a liability. He totally fell apart after that cock-up (and it WAS a cock-up). Yes, it swerved a bit, but he could have still pushed it away. Quality keepers would have had it in their mind where they were in the goal, and what they needed to do to get it to safety (almost in the same way snooker players are thinking multiple shots ahead of their current shot). It looked as though all Mannone was thinking about was how to save it. A bit later on, when the ball was running to the bye-line, and he cane across, he faffed about, stayed on his feet and let their guy not only get to the ball, but pull it across goal! Unacceptable.
Welcome to those just joining, good to see you here, all comments will go straight up now…
rocky, i think so too, and i also think TV could be the next ‘big’ player to depart, after Theo of course π
There is a reason,of course,that Vito is our 3rd choice keeper though..
Can anyone name the 3rd ranker for any other club??
Are they any good?
Yes,we need another keeper in,we all know that,but i still can’t see the point in crucifying him.
Rico,TV only recently extended…what makes you say he will go?
Rocky- http://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/team-news/2011/august/international-departures
Out of their players on saturday only 3 played on the tuesday night. Aguero did not start
I agree it is not an excuse however it is a factor, because we do not rotate enough correctly. Sometimes the extra 5% from every player could make you win. Imagine if every player had played like Jenkinson on saturday.
Again my comments on our injury record. Nasri was injured every january when he was with us but was not injured last season why?
There are always exceptions like Messi but he is 25, he could be finished by 27 like Van Basten.
Bj, totally agree re Mannone, he should never be playing but, to be fair its not his fault, blame the man who signed and plays him. I love Ches, but he’s not ready to be number 1 yet either….
I know what you mean Scott, and I know it’s not totally Vito’s fault he’s in the team. I know he’s our 3rd keeper. But surely the gk coaches should be drumming it into them that you need to get the ball away if you parry it. And if not, then a shake up in the coach position should be immediate, as that’s standard coaching in my opinion.
Just a hunch Scott….
Tsgh….it is hard to get injured sitting on the bench π
Splinters in the arse don’t count as an injurt eh Scott?!
Rocky,it is funny…Vito has flaws and big ones,Szczesny lacks experience,and Fabianski,who is definitely the most talented,has absolutely no confidence in himself.
The only thing that will definitely change is Szczesny will get experience.
Rico. I agree with TV.
Or bed sores Rocky??
Theo is next in line to go,isn’t he??
Vermaelen will stay…at least for another few seasons….unless the captains curse strikes again lol.
True Scott. True. (lacks quality too…..!! But I’m not getting into that debate again!!)
At least his contract extension will mean we get a good price Adam..
Scott, I did say after Theo…
The way TV is playing, we wouldn’t miss him would we, especially if we got Sakho or Mbiwa
Rocky…………as I explained earlier. Podolski had to stay outside on the wing since we were missing Gibbs. Santos prefers to cut inside and that meant that either Podolski or Gerv when the latter was on the left had to stay outside. Neither Poldi nor Gerv should have stayed outside to stretch the defence. Santos should have done that ………which is what Gibbs does effectively.
When Gibbs stays on the flank, Poldi/Gerv attack near the CF meaning that two centrebacks have to mark them instead of two centrebacks marking one lone CF (Giroud)
That tactical change was screaming its way all through the Television screen………and yet no one did anything about it.
I agree Rico. The captaincy doesn’t seem to sit well with him and form has deserted him. He looks panicky these days. Perhaps all the summer transfer speculation got to him?
Sorry Rico….i missed that part!!
The more you think about it,the more you realise nearly all of our players are very hot and cold,form wise.
Who over the last 12 months has been consistent……Arteta is the only one i can think of.
Thing is though Dev, with or without Gibbs, as long as Giroud plays, Podolski is lobbed out on the wings. He needs to be central at all times. That doesn’t mean I don’t want Giroud in the team, as I think hey work pretty well together and have the potential to be a great strike force.
Firstly i commend Steve for having the strength to write.
My experience was worse in the sense that i didn’t check the scores but waited till match of the day then the shock.
I should have known when none of my football friends called, i thought they were busy.
How Giroud didt transfer his goal scoring for France to us is beyond me .
I believe fatigue played its part it is just to show that our team was thin.Many of the players should have been rested.
Arshavin should have started (although rubbish) , Charmak should have started, Podolski should have been benched and Carzola rested till second half.
Even if Norwich scored in the first half , bringing our best players in second half would have ignited fire into their belly i believe we would have won.
When i saw Arteta dashing forward twice in 3 minutes i knew they were all struggling.
By the way is it me or is Vermalen overrated ?
Vermaelen isn’t overrated,i reckon he is just out of form SD.
He isn’t alone though.
Ha ha scott on sitting on the bench… : D
I am trying to find a reason why we always fall short post February.
Another point which needs to be addressed is why AW is still doing TF1 job during the international break. shouldn’t he be recharging and preparing for the next game? It really pisses me off watching him on french Tv whilst other top managers are relaxing at home
SD – Vermaelen and Koscielny have both been shadows of themselves from last year. Pretty worrying really.
Maybe AA should have been given a shot…. Certainly looked as though he was interested when he came on. I think he’ll start on Wednesday. Ox, Theo and Gibbs are all out already…. There’s a couple that may need a rest.
Really,he should be working with the younger guys in the squad during the interlull breaks.
Get these kids up to speed so they are good enough to play top team football.
Chamakh, on the other hand, should NEVER start for us again. Ever.
SD. Chamakh? Surely you jest.
TV plays better than Kompany for Belgium though. As Rico said yesterday, TV and Kozzers performances have dipped is it due to Bould’s arrival? Not blaming Bould here please. But it seems they have lost what mate both of them tick due to the over-obsession with team structure etc…
Rocky,a little harsh on Kozzer,i reckon.
Each season,he has improved leaps and bounds as the season progressed…..he thrives on game time.
Wenger is French to the core he cant help it but go to France at every opportunity.
Off to bed….have a good day guys.
Scott, don’t get me wrong, I love Kozzer. I think he was our best player last year. But he’s not been good so far this season. He’ll turn it around. But up until now…. not good at all.
TsGH. This team structure you talk about. It has passed me by. Our CHs are seldom in the CH position and our strikers are not often in the box. Where is the obsession with team structure? I don’t see it.
night Scott.
Adam , i only mentioned Charmakh to just fill the void till Podoslki and Giroud will be introduced in second half.
They all looked like they got to Norwich 30 minutes before kick off.I wouldn’t be surprised if that were be true.
Exactly Scott. He is a Nike Air ambassador too plus TV pundit for Al-Jazeera plus part-time technical director for PSG in addition to consultant with TF1.
His links with PSG could not even ensurethat we sold PV to them instead of RedNose.
Chamakh is another waste of space collecting Β£50k a week and contributing zero. And we are one of the richest clubs in the world. Go figure.
SD – Vermalean overrated? lol
Dont know where it all began but after Vermalaen returned from that injury that kept him on the sideline for almost an entire season 2 seasons ago he has not being what he used to be. Hope that wont be applicable to Wilshere.
Reckon you could be right Adam, is he not captain of Belgium as well…
Hi SD…
Must go off for a couple of hours, Fido needs her walk…. Later folks.. Night scott
Adam about team structure.. apart from TV in the Greek and Montpellier matches when has he ventured forward?
I am talking about the fact that instead of players making challenges they rather make 2 banks of 4 instead. The goal against the greeks was an example. Did you see the BFG i/v before the Norwich match he said Bould is obsessed with team structure. His words not mind.
Its not a bad thing just that there needs to be a compromise.
By Rob Kelly
Thomas Vermaelen believes Steve Bouldβs meticulous methods will help Arsenal improve this season.
The 49-year-old was named as ArsΓ¨ne Wengerβs assistant manager this summer following the retirement of the long-serving Pat Rice.
Vermaelen enjoyed his time with Rice and he says that Bould has already made a positive impact on the training pitch.
βSteve is really good to work with, especially for defenders as he has been a defender himself,β the Belgian told Arsenal Player.
βHe knows what it is all about and gives us a lot of tips. He works a lot on the shape of the team and that is very important, so I am very happy he came to work with the first team.
βHe is very focused on details. A lot of players, because we are getting older, we know how to play. But he looks at details and the shape of your body and to be honest I am learning a lot from him.β
Vermaelen is pleased with the squad’s preparations, and says they know which areas must be improved on this season.
βWe have to get the shape of the team right,β he said. βWe have been working on it throughout pre-season and we are focusing on that.
βI think having your shape right is one of the most important things in football, whether you have the ball or don’t have the ball. We are working really hard on that and Steve does the job really well.β
Could you see Ferguson, the best manager of the last 20 years putting up with Chamakh and the usual suspects? He buys dross too but outs them as soon as possible. He also squeezes performances out of lesser players.
TsGH. He might well be obsessed with details but I don’t see any real improvements. Defenders should first and foremost defend.
Adam – He still puts up with Anderson……
Not that often Rocky. And if a bid came in he’d be gone. If you analyse Man Utd’s team, player by player next to ours it is interesting. But, as far as sending a team out with a winning attitude he leaves Wenger for dead.
Adam you are right about the McPurpleNose. π
On the team structure… the reason why strikers do not stay in the box etc is because the balls are not getting to them.
Arsenal use to be known for interchanging players positions especially the front 3.How many times have we seen that since the Saints match? Poldi is always on the left and Ox/TW14/Gev is always on the RHS.
The times we have done that we have scored goals. Montpellier 2nd goal and WHU first goals
Rocky and Nani too.and Berbatov for 2 years after his first season.
Owen…. Evans…. Fletcher….
It’s not rocket science is it… we STILL need a backbone! Keeper, DM and an out and out goal scorer.Unless this is addressed we will continue to blow hot and cold.Still anyways at least it’s cheap to go and watch them…..
Nani has destroyed us on more than one occassion. But we of course have Gervinho. As for Berbatov? I have always liked him. I hate Fergie. I think he is a dog, but he is a far, far better manager than Wenger will ever be. Much more demanding of his players.
That’s my point Rocky. Yes, Evans isn’t a great player but Fergie sends him out to win and he is a better defender than TV at the moment. Owen was never fit but some still say we should have bought him. Fletcher too is not great but he has done a good job for them where we persevered with Denilson and now Ramsay.
I agree Adam on RedNose being better.
Can you ever see AW telling a black player on TV he was going to be punished for not supporting his brother in the anti-race campaign?
PurpleNose sees certain matches as a must win, so his players ensure they are at their best psycologically. AW see matches as we are going to win by just turning up.This filters down to the whole team.
I love AW but he has become like a military dictator in their later years when they feel they have become untouchable.
Fergie knows he can be sacked whenever the board want to whilst Aw will leave when he wants to.
Off for a while. Fun but frustrating chatting today.
Arsenal u-21’s 2-1 up with JW10 playing
JW played 74 minutes. serge also played. frimpong too.
I think JW10 may feature on wednesday
Apologies JW10 is still on. Eisfield is a finisher and a half
Wenger said he would have put JW on if circumstances were different on Saturday. I can see him playing some role midweek providing we’re not getting spanked!
yes he did. what about Yennaris and Frimpong?
Sagna is playing too. He will be good for QPR or the manures
Rather keep Jenks over Sagna at the mo to be honest! Don’t see why Yennaris can’t get a game against QPR if Santi needs a rest. Play Arteta in Santi’s place and try Frimmy or Yennaris at DM.
Not sure wishere will feature on wednesday as he is about to complete the entire game against Everton U2. He might feature as a sub against QPR on saturday
Same here really. We need SC19 for the man u match.So trying either Dench or Yennaris beside Arteta will be good. Le Coq and ramsey need to have a hard look at themselves.
FT: EvertonU2 1 1-2 ArsenalU21
Wilshere, Sagna and Frimpong completed 90mins
Rambo does. Never hit the same heights he was showing promise of reaching when he was brutally assaulted.
Eisfield seems to be good but can not ever play a full 90 minute…
Didn’t realise it was Le Prof’s birthday today! Must be gutted with the performance his team dished up for him as a gift on Saturday!
Hi all. Let me dare to say that a performance such as Saturday’s might actually be the making of this team. One thing that is obvious about this team is that there is no true elder statesman who is willing to take responsibility for the performance of the team. Even when great players are new to a team, they will often defer to more established players to be the catalyst when a change is necessary in a game. The problem with arsenal is that there are no full blooded, seasoned gunners in the squad… Or at least in positions that can change a game, or who are capable of doing this. So as a result, everyone defers to everyone else and in the end nothing is done.
When a performance like this comes along with a team like arsenal, there are two possible reactions. Players who were previously tentative in their approach may seize the opportunity to step into a role of more responsibility and infl uence, or they
May shrug away from the responsibility and sink deeper into to their specific role. (This has happened with arsenal before).
The true indication of the ability of this team will be in our very next game. Although we hope that players will step forward, it has to be a collective realization. When someone steps forward, everyone else has to follow suit. A proper chemistry has to be built and players need to develop greater understanding of each other and of themselves. May i dare to say that too much mutual respect might be a bad thing. Playing as a team is a necessity, but individuality must have its place.
His pay packet will help him get over it….
Ahh, there is that Lee, you’re right. Plus the fat envelope from his many media commitments.
https://twitter.com/fizzer18/status/260374926391910400
Lee. How can you be so cynical? π
The Eisfeld boy can’t stop scoring for the reserves. How long until he gets into the team?
Will, he’ll probably come in, get played to death, and be injured for 2 years as a result.
Stole my thunder Rocky! π
Moi, Adam??
Bayern are rumoured to be interested in Guadiola. Its funny how even the Bavarians are not interested in Wenger this time round.They have been tracking wenger since 1987 and each time the make an offer for him he has turn them down. The last time being 2009.
There lack of trophies clock is about to click on to 3 years if they are not lucky this year. They have not won their league since the 2007/2008 season.
Three years poor fuckers my heart bleeds for them….. π
rocky 3.20, by my reckoning he’d still make it back before Diaby.
Without a doubt Micko!
How’s you Micko? Still pissed off?
ha ha ha Lee… π
with the diving dutch chav they could not still beat the chavs in the champions league…
yes, finally we won a match .
Where is Bendtner?
Afternoon guys and gals…
Lee. Give Guardiola a call will you tell him not to go to Germany just yet?
Lee, I’ve become much more desensitised to our results lately, don’t tend to get angry anymore, take it more in my stride these days.
First time in years I’ve missed the opener at home, won’t be going over for the scum either this year, lost it’s magic a bit for me.
Juve JM…
Guardiola is coming Adam, it’s a done deal. π More and more Gooners are losing interest Micko, it’s a sign of the times!
A treat for Adam. Le Squid doing his best impression of Baresi against norwich U-21’s last month.
And Jw10 comback against WBA beginning of this month
Lee, used to have 3 front row seats, my 2 mates gave theirs back this summer, matchdays aren’t the same craic anymore.
Down grading to silver next season, makes a lot more sense.
I never really liked the idea of Pep becoming our manager, funny really, I am quite warming to the idea these days. When does AW’s contract expire?
yes, it’s true. He never play
Sorry to disappoint you rico but didn’t Gazidas say AW had a job for life back in August, best stick the kettle on !
It never expires Rico. It goes on and on and on. A bit like some people really π
I’m hoping Gazidis will be gone soon Micko…..
He’s too fat JM
Hope you are not meaning me there Adam π
hi guys, when is the game tonight? i ll need me a stream people. COYGS!
Hey adam…..
Hi Goonster, there is no game tonight, we play on Wednesday in the CL. The Under 21’s played earlier and won 2-1 against Everton
oops sorry maam…thought we had a game tonight. so how re you? are you all still sore over last weekend’s game?
Not at all Rico. In my opinion you don’t go on enough. π
Hi Stan.
Yes I am Goonster, furious!
I can soon change that Adam…..
Off you go Rico……….
On second thoughts Adam….
Off for dinner…
Great comments by GoonerB earlier…
Very informative indeed.
Good to know that you are a Cornish pasty fan as well GB…
Mick my jet wouldn’t start Saturday, i had to go by coach..
Ginge, how are ya doing….
Hi Kev I am feeling worse today. Being on of the few football loving people at my place of work and an Arsenal supporter and all it was not fun but hey. I amj looking forward to one of the chavs or manure getting spanked tomorrow.
Worst still I find out the team flew to Norwich on saturday. Friends of the Earth are moaning about it…
Evening fine Gooners,
Many thanks Rico as per usual,
Couple of losses and the old cry goes out were not good enough and Wenger out. That is not the response we need, problems yes losses yes hidings no 2 one nil score lines and it seems we feel we are rubbish which were not, i said in an earlier post we will have losses we will have bad decisions 2 losses is not a disaster hurts the pride yes it does but thats gone now. Looking at the players after the game i got the impression that they were embarrased they know they under performed they know deep down that they should have done better as a unit and Wenger looked like he had been smacked with a wet kipper i like to think he laid into them after the game but he also has to look at the way we are playing, his normal bide your time concentrate and the goal will come didn’t materialise and it won’t in future unless we attack with venum. for a few seasons now i have felt that we are not getting stuck in this season with new players we are holding our own when it comes to winning the ball back in fact i like to see that but once we get possession we are not doing enough we are not quick enough, we have got the players we have the skills we are definitly defending better two losses but only 2 goals against that is not a disaster. Listening to the filths game i heard the comentator say that had Bale been playing he would have been the difference for them to get a win load of cobblers i could say if kos hadn’t been injured we wouldn’t have coceeded the goal. but that wouldn’t have changed our attacking and that is where we are struggling. Make no mistake we have the side to do well we don’t need to hear Wenger out he is the king pin you may not like him i don’t know but he is the business and he will sort this slight setback out. don’t be a gloomer. And thank you all for your comments.
Two great goals from Eisfeld….
Ginge, they didn’t use my jet, honest… π
Good Evening to you Sir Steven, a very fine post, as per usual, and a very long one…. π―
Eisfield = freddie Ljunberg mkII
Jack Wilshere creates both goals for Arsenal to give Arsene Wenger welcome boost
Jack Wilshere gave Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger some welcome news after a dissappointing weekend for the club by playing a role in both goals in an Under-21 victory over Everton today.
By Telegraph Sport
4:30PM BST 22 Oct 2012
5 Comments
Everton’s age group team took the lead through Apostolos Vellios, but two goals from Thomas Eisfeld saw Arsenal run out 2-1 winners in a competitively fought game.
Wilshere started the move for the first Arsenal goal and it was the England international’s assist that directly led to the winner.
Wilshere has been out of the Arsenal first team for 14-months with niggling ankle and knee injuries but was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Norwich City at the weekend.
After playing a full part for the reserves against Chelsea on Wednesday, today’s run out was Wilshere’s second 90 minutes in the space of a week.
Wilshere’s progress will be a huge fillip for Wenger, who admits the current league table makes for unpleasant reading after the defeat at Norwich left them 10 points behind leaders Chelsea.
I’m with you 100% on the Freddie comparisons mate…
Mind you, i wish we’d got Reus..
Kev- I wouldn’t report you for tax evasion, I promise. Just next time let the boys use your Jumbo jet for extra leg room not your citation. π
http://twitter.com/SergeGnabry/status/259340004638195713/photo/1
No sure i’d get them all in my Tiger Moth, Ginge…. π
Evening guys….
Steve, I don’t think it’s ‘Wenger out’ after one bad result, I think for some, those two words have been on the tip of the their tongue for a while now…
Reus I think we should forget about for now because he chose Dortmond over us in January and moved there this summer. Sven Bender looks good too. Gnabry looks solid and promising. The only issue is he has had injury issues on his ankles so…
A bid was also accepted for Ozil 2 years ago but he chose Real. The 10% tax in Spain at that time I guess. He looks like the perfect No.10 we need if he ever decide to move.
Evening AK, and thank you, Yes it was long i submitted it and then added to it sorry if it bored you i am not a great lover of long posts myself will try to do better π
Tiger Moth …? π
That is a super collectors item kev. I am told the waiting list is 20 years.
Hi Lady Rico or is it Duchess now?.. π
It didn’t bore me Steve (yawn) honest……
Only joking mate, top post as i have come to expect… π
Evening Ma’m
You cheeky tinker Tsgh, and you Ak π
Not sure that tax advantage is an issue anymore Ginge…
Gotze would do for me, and i’d revisit Reus in 18 months time, a la Pires…
Hi SP1, I admire you for writing such a balanced post. I love AW but I have had enough of the idleness. Its become too much of a hobby to him..
Boro has to go imo.
God knows what Ozil’s wages are now….
Evening Ricolicious.
Theres a lot of managers out there that would love the Arsenal job, Maybe there is one out there that might win us a bit of silver. Perhaps some believe Wengers been here to long maybe they believe we can do better personally i feel that would be a very dangerous road to go down but at the end of the day its only a football club ennit.
http://twitter.com/DaddyDrex3/status/260450963557609472/photo/1
Gotze has dropped down the pecking order but still better than what we have.
Re tax…Not from next March I think.Kev. That was why ‘he diving Ronaldo’ was crying afew weeks ago… π
All the players on a nice take home salary of 50k will be looking to move to the EPL for 40% instead of the 50% tax. greedy buggers them all..
Rico the boys on here said you were looking for a gamekeeper for your country estate… π
Just 70k he went for according to AW on TF1. He wanted more than that to march the tax difference then but…
Hi Ginge, thank you, i only write what i see on the box, and unlike AK who i admire for his away support, we sometimed differ with our opinions but the nature of this site is for us to vent our frustrations and our excitment as well. Believe me when i say i was gutted with our effort saturday but i know we have the talent, yes we need a few players and yes i get frustrated that we don’t just buy them but thats football and were in the mix and i don’t realy think were that far off.
Alot of ripping vermaelen and our third choice keeper. How many goals conceded. Aside from set pieces?
What will be will be I guess Steve, and there is nothing any of us can really do about it….
Until we win a trophy, I don’t see where we are going to get that ‘winning mentality’, other than signing players who know what it feels like and are hungry for more success…
Steve, it could be worse if AW goes because of the board. I dont believe another can do his job for more than 3 seasons with all the restrictions.
I just think maybe we needed a Brian Kidd type of assistant coach or even Dragan StojkoviΔ. Bould has qualities that we needed but tactically he was average at the u-18 level. Banfield is better but I am not sure how much of an input he has…
I missed that Tsgh, they are cheeky devils too, I wish I had an estate – Downton Abbey would do nicely….
I must admit Ginge i was not that keen on Bouldy but i must admit he has made a difference i don’t like to criticise a man before he has had a chance of at least a season but on the strength of what i have seen so far i believe he is the better option than Pat Rice.
Yeah we just need the first break of winning a trophy… but the board and our budget needs the champions league spot. Its a tough one.
Hi Nigel. We have conceded 6 goals. I am not worried about our defence or goalie situation yet. The problem is we are not creating chances to score goals that is the issue. Last year we were known as the come back kings if 18 comebacks but this year we have conceded more than 1 goal only 1’s, however the issue is the goals.
The point is last year when Wigan and Blackburn and Fulhambeat us at least we scored. This season we have not scored in 3 matches already compared to 6 the whole of last season
Hi Nt, it’s not conceding goals, its the way we do, usually it seems to be as a result of an individual error…
http://thefunnygooner.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/14/#respond
Worth a read…
I am no way criticizing Bould or Banfield at all. I think they have been more than great so far.. tradition and all. What I think is that Aw needed an additional tactician on his side. Why do you think munchini went for Kidd? He help RedNose win the treble.
Aw did a great job replacing Bould the last change has to be Boro Primorac I think. Everyone knows he’s the one who has a great say on tactics so when we are getting ‘bitch slapped’ by smaller teams someone has to take the blame.
And no Adams either. π
Replacing Pat Rice I meant…
The truth of the moment is that if we don’t score but we let a goal in we don’t have anything to talk about other than the goal that went in. Now we blame whoever is in goal and perhaps Manone should have held the ball perhaps he should have pushed the shot sideways but the main thing was that he stopped the shot from going in but the actual thing we should be asking was why Mertsacker didn’t get the rebound away he was a mile away from Holt why wasn’t he marking him Merts lunge was a week to late he is slow there is no doubt about that i have said in previous posts that his lack of speed will hurt us But not a mention that he was at fault.
Kev did you read the comments in the link you attached?
Some folks have no sense of humour at all…
Yeah, that first guy, what a knob…..
Well, we moan all we like, it won’t change what happened. But I bet it happens again….
I look at it this way if I had to make a choice between winning on wednesday and saturday or losing on saturday i will pick the former. Stupid I know but this lose and the way the players run of the field can only motivate them for the next 3 matches at least until we have discussions such as t his. π
COYGsss
Steve, BFG was pushing out to play Holt offside, but Santos buggered us by playing Holt on…
BFG might be a lot of things, but he isn’t Des Walker.
Nor was Adams, Bould, Linighan or Keown.
But what the above had, were two full-backs in Dixon and Nigel, who knew their job inside out…
But the shot should have been charged down anyway….
hey AK….how’s tricks?
Tsgh – I reckon that Henry will be heading our way soon to do his coaching badges….
That is why I have been going on about the concentration on team shape. The whole team were more worried about setting up in 2 banks of 4 than closing the player down. There needs to be a compromise.
Hey Stanley, how’s it hanging bruv…. π
PL over CL any day of the week for me….
He will do Rico. I think this is his last season too if I am not wrong. He is on fiiireeeee
jeez guys enough already. so we lost, big deal. let’s move on please. stop over flogging the damned thing. anyone seen DNA lately?
AK top post that, very good and the comments even better π
Hi goonster. DNA signed off here last saturday saying he was going to follow NBA. He was seething…
am good grand pa…..tsgh are you still seething? hahahaahah, hey AK how about a “calm down stan” for tsgh? hahahaahah i love you guys.
TH12, player/coach, does it for me….
Just bring him on with 15 minutes left.
He can stand on the edge of the box and boom boom boom…
I bet he comes back in Jan to say his final farewell as a player.
Then he’ll work along AW’s side for the remainder of his contract until he passes all he has too and then we have our next manager and assistant.
Bould and Henry…
hahahahahaha he ll be back….we always do. that’s why we are gooners. after that carling cup debacle i swore never to watch any arsenal game again but 3 days later i was watching us against barca. its in our DNA(excuse the pun). he ll be back.
Less of the Grand Pa, young man…. π
Calm down Ginge….. How’s that Stan? π
Who is DNA?
Cheers Stevo, your still my Hero….. π
I am ok… maybe desensitized to such defeats.
I was not disappointed by the score line but by the lack of performance. when you hear Arteta claiming they EXPECTED to win that is what pissed me off the most. I expected him to know more about this league…
The boys will put on a performance on Wednesday and it shall all be forgotten until……
How old is Pires, Rico???
Reckon we can get him back….??? π
hahahaha thanks AK…..I missed that. maybe that’s because am growing older. wow so this is what it feels like to be matured??? hmm am loving it. i just need to cut out my skirt chasing habits and i ll be good. look out world the goonster is coming out!
Ginge, that is gonna be a hard game Weds’….
Schalke are a good side.
To go to Dortmund and win 1-2 is a great result.
Let’s hope they’re knackered….
Ah, gunnerdna….
My bad AOL claim Henry signed for 4 years. Speculation . He claimed this was his last season when he was with us so I am a bit confused.
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/08/16/thierry-henry-mlss-second-highest-paid-player-at-4-5-million/
Stan, you will never grow up bruv…. π
Forever young…. just like Wath…
39 later this month Ak, 29th, but I bet he can still play a bit π
I know Kev but I am assuming we need the pointsthan them. Our record in the CL at home is excellent. only Barca and |Chavs are better
Tsgh – just as they did at Wembley against B’ham….
Pires has not played since his short stint at AV 2 years ago under Houllier
Yeah i bet he can Rico, Bobby, one of my all-time favourites…
Isn’t Freddie Ljungberg joining our coaching staff next season?
Hey of course i have…….am more calm now and i can hold my own on any discussion without smashing something…..most of all i don’t cream me pants anymore…..at least not in the open!
Stan… π
Your a nutter…. But so was Winterburn, so good company eh?
I’m offski guys, Corrie and Eastenders is lined up for me on the planner…
Catch up tomorrow, night all…..
Maybe you should goonie. the last time you did we won 7-1 π
I hope not Rico
pah WATH is an old goat…..don’t ever mention my name in the same light as his
Nite…
Ginge if we take 4 points from Schalke, then i reckon the Group is pretty much in the bag with Montpelier at home to come…
Then we can safely send the U 21’s to Greece.
Hahahahaha tsgh maybe i will…….
Night Rico
guys believe me when i say this…….we are going to be crowned champions of europe this season. watch out. you heard it here first.
I’m offski now chaps….
Goodnight Ginge, Stan, Stevo
Yeah Kev. That Montpellier win was crucial.. Affelay vs Jenks will be interesting. Huntelaar vs TV will be a treat too.
Thats me done, time for some shuteye seems like life is just sleep and work with the odd game thrown in nte nte all π
You can watch the highlights here if you want.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xuhf7i_borussia-dortmund-v-schalke-04_sport?start=11
night kev and sir sp……hey steve where is my cod at?
night steve
guess that leaves just me and you pal….so what are your thoughts on filipino chics? sassy huh?
Very sassy bruv
hahahahaah wish AGAG was here……so you in the UK too? might be over for christmas. maybe i ll pay you a visit too.
Yes in Surrey. You are dutch right?
yep one and only. the best bunch of people on earth that’s after you guys though…..
surrey huh? where is surrey? is it close to stoke city? i really wanna pay pubis a visit. i wanna see what its like to have maggot for brains.
Why cousin is married to a dutch gent they lived in Hague but moved to Antwerp. You guys seem to like foriegn ladies…
My cousin I meant..
maybe get involve in a round house brawl. break a few noses and leave their women skirtless. that ll learn them not to mess with us anymore.
Ha ha Stoke City Rugby clu… no. π
Just outside london about 30 minutes drive from Heathrow
yes we do tsgh……i love me an irish broad but so far havent seen any? could you hook me up?
I know a couple. Rico will have you for breakfast tomorrow for talking shite on her site… π
hahahaahah is she blonde? i dont like blondes though am one. i like me a brunette busty lady. hook me up brother.
‘……After you guys’… I am not English by race by the way… π
well see… come down it will be fun. What are you doing in the states
whoa…….what are you? i like meeting people from all works of life. i have a jamiacan in DNA, a nigerian in bondex and that irish twat micko. HH is a melting pot. so where are you from buddy?
its covert my man……..i cant tell ya. but AK knows he’s a creep.
My parents are Ghanaians… Dench…
are you there?
cool………the best africans are ghanians. i ve never visited your country though. would like too someday. so what the heck are you doing over there in AK’s territory?
Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst (BVD) goonie?
ha aha Goonie you crazy man.
My mom has moved back to Gh. She never liked it here really..
hahahaha who taught you dutch? can you speak dutch?
good for her…..with folks like pubis on the prowl who knows what will happen to her. even the most docile brits like emma are vicious animals. just picture fat sams face in the morning and you ll see what i mean.
guess he’s gone…….oh well am off too. gotta go grab me a few burgers. night guys i had a blast as usual. HH forever baby! whooooooooohooooooooooooooooo.
Later goonie sorry..
Good to see you lads keeping the HH flag flying…sleep is for the weak,after all π
Stanley, you really are cruising for a bruising, wait till I get my hands on you !
Micko,keep your hands above the waist though….it gets messy down there!!
Morning scott…
Morning all
Tsgh, I am used to goonster talking s***e on here π
Morning Rico π
… morning all..
Morning Tsgh….
I have to go out this morning, the new post is scheduled to go up about 9.30. If by chance it doesn’t, chat away until I get back around 11am π
Laters….
Rico did you catch the link on the schalke game I placed on here at 9:25pm. The seem like they could cause us a problem or two. This is the strongest I have seen them play this year. Affelay is enjoying playing in Germany
We will do Rico… it must be had owning a Downton Abbey size estate?… π
Tsgh….it all comes down to which Arsenal show up.
Morning all.
Very true Scott…
If they can’t bounce back after the Norwich game,then we can start pushing the panic button.
I reckon they can be forgiven one total shocker,but not two.
I agree. This is a new team that I believe is very strong. 2-3 additions will be perfect but not critical.
I never blamed any of the players but AW. I love him but I felt like he could have improved things by cutting his lose on one or 2 personnel earlier in the game.
I would have brought Djourou on and taken Rambo off to go 3-5-2 and push Santos and Jenks further wider. I guess that is why I work in the defence &aerospace industry whilst AW works as a football manger… π