Arsenal Thread

1-2 down so far. We got a real grip on the game now and can turn things around like so many times this season. If they can maintain the intensity and concentration.

I just don't know why we got so kamikaze in their first goal?! It was still 0-0, how can you get caught with your pants down like that so early in the game with everything still to play for?

Anyways, great comeback, Rosicky is like his new self, this amazing new player, and most of them got the attitude spot on. Walcott needs to get into this game and Ramsey seems clueless and out of his depth here. He's playing solely out of necessity IMO. Hopefully he can pick himself up.

Come on Arsenal! We can do it!
 
Err we were well held there. No favours from the referee, far from it. While many get penalties at will in this league, there was a clear last man foul on Walcott that would've been not only a foul but potentially a sending off.

Like I said, I don't know why Arsenal has to attack a corner with 9 players early in the first half. This is the stuff of desperation you see when we're trailing in the last 5 minutes. Their first goal came with Santos on the right back covering for Sagna and Benayoun tracking back to cover the CBs. We brought it on ourselves with a lack of caution there.

Also, in the last 10 minutes it was clear we needed more firepower/presence in the area. If trailing against Wigan isn't a time to deploy a second CF, then I don't know when it is. Seriously I don't know what has to happen for AW to play Chamakh up there with RVP behind him.
People complain about Chamakhs and Parks but they can't be evaluated. There's no goal scoring record and enough minutes played there to mount any kind of statistic.

RVP sure is great inside the box and is a great finisher. But when they park the bus like that he should have more freedom to roam just outside the box while a taller striker will remain there.
 
Very dissapointing, they underestimated Wigan, like they underestimated QPR.

Our players keep saying how they will not underestimate any team anymore as they have learned from the experiences of the past, but they just keep doing it. It is like they just say things because they think it should be said, but don't actually carry out what they are saying.

To get two goals like that in the space of minutes is just ridiculous, Wigan are a good team fighting to get out of the relegation battle with players that can hurt you and our team didn't recognise that and we paid the price.

This season is ridiculous, hopefully we can hold onto 3rd but it is going to be very hard now with Chelsea coming to us and an Away trip to Stoke, even though we are 5 (probably 2 points) ahead of Spurs, I think they will be favourites to get 3rd at this point, considering the games left for both teams. Unless the humping Chelsea gave them effects them negatively, which I hope for.
 
Don't underestimate Newcastle United. They might be the laughing third (well actually fourth)...

It seems to me that Arsenal is stronger than both Spurs and Chelsea at the moment. IMO Chelsea were really good against Spurs (i don't agree that Spurs lost because of the ref, he didn't exactly help, but Chelsea were the better team) but the fact that they also play in the CL and for the Cup might jeopardize their league campaign (and somehow, i think they have given up on going to the CL by reaching 4th place).

IMO it will go between Arsenal and Newcastle for third place. Arsenal can't afford to loose against the likes of QPR and Wigan.

Off-topic: i hope Wigan stays up...
 
Credit to Wigan and I too hope they stay up. Much better football when compared to the likes of QPR, Blackburn, Wolves, Villa, Stoke... I think teams like Wigan, Norwich and Swansea staying up with their managers will be good for the league.

I just can't agree with pundits saying Arsenal were outplayed yesterday. Fair play to Wigan, they grabbed 2 quick goals and counter-attacked for the rest of the night, without panicking too much on the ball. But Arsenal was all over them and wasted too many chances. Especially in the first half.

After Vermaelen's goal I thought it was a matter of time, but the team never cashed in those chances. Santos missed an easy poke from RVP's pass, Djourou was very unfortunate not to score, and Al Habsi made fantastic saves from Benayoun headers.

I don't think Arsenal were apathetic and they didn't underestimated Wigan too much. Arsenal worked hard during all match. But they lost their cool in the 2nd half and turned the ball over way too much.

What I really don't agree with is attacking a corner with all you've got still early in the game and allowing that sort of counter attack that originated their first goal.

Now Arteta is out for the rest of the season it seems. Watching Ramsey yesterday was painful. I know he can bounce back, pick himself up, and pull a Rosicky, but not now in the space of 5 matches. We're gonna need all the luck we can get from now on.
 
Rentboy said:
Credit to Wigan and I too hope they stay up. Much better football when compared to the likes of QPR, Blackburn, Wolves, Villa, Stoke... I think teams like Wigan, Norwich and Swansea staying up with their managers will be good for the league.

I just can't agree with pundits saying Arsenal were outplayed yesterday. Fair play to Wigan, they grabbed 2 quick goals and counter-attacked for the rest of the night, without panicking too much on the ball. But Arsenal was all over them and wasted too many chances. Especially in the first half.

After Vermaelen's goal I thought it was a matter of time, but the team never cashed in those chances. Santos missed an easy poke from RVP's pass, Djourou was very unfortunate not to score, and Al Habsi made fantastic saves from Benayoun headers.

I don't think Arsenal were apathetic and they didn't underestimated Wigan too much. Arsenal worked hard during all match. But they lost their cool in the 2nd half and turned the ball over way too much.

What I really don't agree with is attacking a corner with all you've got still early in the game and allowing that sort of counter attack that originated their first goal.

Now Arteta is out for the rest of the season it seems. Watching Ramsey yesterday was painful. I know he can bounce back, pick himself up, and pull a Rosicky, but not now in the space of 5 matches. We're gonna need all the luck we can get from now on.
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Pundits always talk like that when we lose, most of the time we lose we have better possession, chances, shots on goal etc (except for teams like BArcelona ;)) ). Just we are undone by our defensive weakness or mistake and then the other team defends well. Which means that they 'out played' us. In a way it is true as they outplayed us as they won....but that is not the sense of the word most people use.

The fact that we had all of those men in the box and gifted Wigan that counter attack (It was a great counter don't get me wrong, but it should never have been that easy) shows that we underestimated them. If the team didn't underestimate them, then we would have been a bit more cautious from the start. But no we went all guns blazing and left ourselves wide open.
 
BobbyBox said:
Pundits always talk like that when we lose, most of the time we lose we have better possession, chances, shots on goal etc (except for teams like BArcelona ;)) ). Just we are undone by our defensive weakness or mistake and then the other team defends well. Which means that they 'out played' us. In a way it is true as they outplayed us as they won....but that is not the sense of the word most people use.

The fact that we had all of those men in the box and gifted Wigan that counter attack (It was a great counter don't get me wrong, but it should never have been that easy) shows that we underestimated them. If the team didn't underestimate them, then we would have been a bit more cautious from the start. But no we went all guns blazing and left ourselves wide open.
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Yeah, you could say they underestimated them a bit in terms of getting exposed at the back. Then we were stunned by 2 quick goals in succession. But at least it wasn't that kind of complacency that sees the team pass the ball around without much urgency. It was more the other way around, reckless attacking and we got caught with our pants down.

Yes Arteta is injured and Wenger said post-match it is a serious ankle injury. It would be great to count on him for the last couple of matches but I think it's unlikely. Wilshere is not making his comeback this season either. So once again we're short on midfield.

The injury update news say that Diaby and Coquelin are both coming back this week:
http://www.arsenal.com/team-news#

Given Ramsey's form, I think it would be better not to play him for the most part. Diaby doesn't inspire any hope in me. But you know what would be great? To see Coquelin have a run of games in his original position (CM). He's talented, energetic and has the right attitude and confidence.

Another option is playing The Ox as a midfielder. He played great against Milan, not so good yesterday. He would be a makeshift midfielder, of course, but I like the way he drives forward with the ball. He's a good option to have, but of course he has to mature a lot still, especially to play improvised on midfield.

Then there is Benayoun, who can play as a midfielder too. Again, not ideal, but the experience is there.
 
Rentboy said:
Yeah, you could say they underestimated them a bit in terms of getting exposed at the back. Then we were stunned by 2 quick goals in succession. But at least it wasn't that kind of complacency that sees the team pass the ball around without much urgency. It was more the other way around, reckless attacking and we got caught with our pants down.

Yes Arteta is injured and Wenger said post-match it is a serious ankle injury. It would be great to count on him for the last couple of matches but I think it's unlikely. Wilshere is not making his comeback this season either. So once again we're short on midfield.

The injury update news say that Diaby and Coquelin are both coming back this week:
http://www.arsenal.com/team-news#

Given Ramsey's form, I think it would be better not to play him for the most part. Diaby doesn't inspire any hope in me. But you know what would be great? To see Coquelin have a run of games in his original position (CM). He's talented, energetic and has the right attitude and confidence.

Another option is playing The Ox as a midfielder. He played great against Milan, not so good yesterday. He would be a makeshift midfielder, of course, but I like the way he drives forward with the ball. He's a good option to have, but of course he has to mature a lot still, especially to play improvised on midfield.

Then there is Benayoun, who can play as a midfielder too. Again, not ideal, but the experience is there.
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It would be good to see the Coq, but he will take a few games to get match fit and there are only a few left.

The other options you mentioned in The Ox and Benayoun will hopefully be enough upto the end of the season.

I hope we come back against Chelsea like we did against Man City :))
 
Diaby back, that is a disaster on top of Arteta's injury...
IMO Arteta is Arsenal's best transfer of the last few years. Great and very usefull player.
 
Arteta is very underrated, but I think he's been great. Not only because of the spotlights moments such as the winner against City, but he works really hard for the team in many ways. He keeps the midfield ticking and provides very decent defensive help for Song.

Diaby is a big gamble. Even when AW says he's ready, it's as if he's never fit for a comeback. Just like what happened at Anfield, he was subbed after 20 minutes or so.
He can do his hamstring at any given time, even trying to reach for cereals on the supermarket shelf.

The Coq is a very promising player and he's got better chances than Diaby to come back from injury in time.
But realistically we can expect to see more of him next season. Hopefully all of us will see the Coq explode! :LOL:
 
BobbyBox said:
Diaby will do a Rosicky :)).....hopefully.
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Don't count on it. Not that i have something against Diaby (he is brilliant now and then, but he is also regularly really bad), but what happened with Rosicky is something that seldom happens...very weird.

But nevertheless i'm glad it happened to him, he is such a joy to watch...great player.
 
The one time Diaby has been in the team regularly he has done quite well and showed alot of promise.

The inbetween games where he has played and then been injured, played and been injured, I don't like to judge him too much on them, as a player coming back from injury needs a good few games to get back into playing. He hasn't had that for a couple of seasons now.

I want him to play at least 10 games in a row and then for people to judge him and hopefully he is good and shows why Wenger has stuck with him.

But obviously it can go the other way aswell.

With Rosicky he was already a proven player before his injury troubles, Diaby is not and is still quite young, so hopefully he can come back from his injury crisis.

We will wait and see, maybe he will come back for one game and be injured again, I hope for his sake that doesn't happen, imagine how soul destroying it is to work so hard to get fit, be really excited after a season or so injured to come back and then be injured in 20 mins. You need to be mentally strong to keep coming back like that and keep going.

So hopefully this experience has made him mature alot more as most of his problems from what I can remember were from him being young and naive and a bit egotistical and having a good game and thinking he was great and then not performing properly in the next game or not giving enough effort.

So hopefully with his troubles it has made him a stronger person that appreciates playing the game and gives his all in the games.

We will see :))
 
spot on bob, once those niggling injuries suffice we saw Robin, Rosicky n what other players w/ "R" to rise to fulfill there purpose for the cause.

I saw us from 17th spot into 3rd spot and we didn`t do it w/ kidz ! That is why I`m most looking forward to see (future buys). Anyhow , any news on the board leaving and who is coming in ?
 
Just saw the match against Chelsea. Not the best Arsenal match this season.
Arsenal were rather lucky to have a draw, Sagna made two penalty fouls in the first half, maybe Arsenal should have got one in the second half (but less clear that Sagna's fouls).

This is a point won for Arsenal.

I have a feeling Newcastle will play CL next year...i think both Spurs and Chelsea will end after Newcastle.
 
No Arsenal wasn't great, but I just can't see how Arsenal was lucky today. Hit the post, hit the crossbar. Chelsea defended with 9 men behind the ball for most of the match. In the 2nd half they completely gave up attacking.

Didn't see any penalties today. But if any, the biggest claim would be for Arsenal, Cahill on Van Persie.

What I saw today was one team wanting to play football despite so many injuries, while the other team came to play for a draw with a mixed squad (but Chelsea's bench is stronger than most teams anyway). They got what they wanted. Di Matteo's interview further stresses this.

The way I see it, Chelsea got a lucky draw. They have been defending much better under Di Matteo (either his merit or a boycott to AVB) and if Barcelona couldn't score past them, it's a great feat. But the truth is that it's not only down to good defending. Chelsea are riding Lady Luck all the way. Barcelona and Arsenal have hit their woodwork twice in each match.

This doesn't go on forever and I suspect the end of the line for this will come at the Nou Camp.

As for the Prem race for CL, this draw was not so bad for Arsenal. Chelsea are direct rivals for a place, and overall we won it at theirs and drew at home. 4 points for us, 1 for them overall.
 
That is a very, very biased post rentboy...i respect your opinion but don't agree at all...Arsenal got whistled by their own fans at a certain moment. You can't say that they were playing fantastic.

And you talk about injured Arsenal players, Chelsea played with a B-team...Ashley Cole, Ivanovic, Mata, Ramirez, Lampard, were all absent...this wasn't Di Mateo's first choice.
 
gerd said:
That is a very, very biased post rentboy...i respect your opinion but don't agree at all...Arsenal got whistled by their own fans at a certain moment. You can't say that they were playing fantastic.

And you talk about injured Arsenal players, Chelsea played with a B-team...Ashley Cole, Ivanovic, Mata, Ramirez, Lampard, were all absent...this wasn't Di Mateo's first choice.
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I haven't seen the game, but I have read a couple of reviews of it and it doesn't sound like we were lucky.

There is a difference with not playing well and not deserving the points.

Cole and Mata came on later and two of our players went off injured, along with Arteta who was already out.

Just because it wasn't Chelseas full team to start with, doesn't mean they were shit and they defended (or were not trying to attack much) for most of the match.

It seems like we had the better chances (especially with the post and bar) and the other stats were pretty similar.

It is a weird one for Chelsea as they are putting all of their eggs in the champs league basket, I would have thought they would have done everything to try and get 4th or 3rd spot. Because if they don't win the champs league they wont be in it next season.

Anyway we need to play much much better in the last 3 games to keep 3rd, it is going to be very tough.
 
gerd said:
That is a very, very biased post rentboy...i respect your opinion but don't agree at all...Arsenal got whistled by their own fans at a certain moment. You can't say that they were playing fantastic.

And you talk about injured Arsenal players, Chelsea played with a B-team...Ashley Cole, Ivanovic, Mata, Ramirez, Lampard, were all absent...this wasn't Di Mateo's first choice.
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Disagree man. Chelsea b team still filled with international players. I don't know what game you watched but you do know we hit the post twice and worked cech far more then szhezney.
 
gerd said:
That is a very, very biased post rentboy...i respect your opinion but don't agree at all...Arsenal got whistled by their own fans at a certain moment. You can't say that they were playing fantastic.

And you talk about injured Arsenal players, Chelsea played with a B-team...Ashley Cole, Ivanovic, Mata, Ramirez, Lampard, were all absent...this wasn't Di Mateo's first choice.
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But I didn't say Arsenal were fantastic. The team was impatient with possession at times and no great individual displays either. But it was a cagey match, Chelsea's posture was like they were defending a 1-0 lead the whole match. In that sense, it was some sort of exercise for them against Barcelona.

Having hit the post twice I just can't feel lucky today. I think if there should be any other result than the draw, Arsenal deserved a win. As biased as it may be, the stats will suggest that too.

As for Chelsea playing with a B team, well, not really, was it? That backbone of Cech, Terry and Cahill was there. They rested their fullbacks, but on other areas the subs are almost as good as their first choices. Mata and Lampard aren't playing great lately. I would say they missed the most Drogba and Ramires.
But, like I said, Chelsea's bench is better than most teams in the Prem. They fielded their £50m striker and couldn't really trouble Sczcesny too much.

One thing I found interesting is how Chelsea was poor on set pieces. This isn't exactly Arsenal's strongest point, but today Van Persie and Koscielny were unmarked on both occasions. This was with their 1st choice CBs, so Chelsea should have done better there. They have to work on those things if they want to grind a result at the Camp Nou.
 
Mehtab said:
Was that mean't to be a sarcasm? Van Persie fall was from his own mistake.
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As he was preparing to jump for a header he had a 6'3 tall centre back giving a two-handed shove against his back. I don't see how this is a mistake by RvP?

I'm going as far as saying maybe it wasn't a penalty. It's normal contact for Premier League, even though we have been seeing the criteria being bent in favour of other teams.

As for Sagna's challenges, I didn't see anything worthy of note there. It was one against their youngster left back, which, again, normal contact for Prem standards. And the other was on Salomon Kalou, where Sagna stuck a leg out for a challenge, and Kalou had the idea to dive for a penalty 2 seconds later.

I think the referee was solid and not an issue today, and that was Mike Dean, believe it or not!
 
Tottenham lost which is good for us, but still have a resurgent Newcastle storming towards us. It is going to be an exciting 3 games to go :))
 
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