Match Reaction v Man City

[Cripps_orig]

We lost but what a game

[hobson's choice]

Good effort today, like how the defense is looking, just need that playmaker in the midfield.

[hobson's choice]

Gervinho and especially Theo had poor games, same with Ramsey.

[RomfordPele]

94 mins 0.000001 secs Dowd blows up. Think we know who he wanted to win.

That said, well played Arsenal. Apart from Fatso, who just needs to leave now, I can't fault the players.

And well-played City too - just a shame a few of their players spent most of the match trying to get ours sent off. There's a touch of the Barcas about them.

[Özim]

Very good game, good going forward let down at the back by the usual suspects in the end though.

Good effort in a game we were always going to lose, we may well end up paying for that poor start to the season.

[Niall_Quinn]

Weak bench.

[Cripps_orig]

Gervinho and especially Theo had poor games, same with Ramsey.We need a playmaker as you said and hopefully Ramsey is benched

2 wide boys were poor today as well, i agree

[Master Splinter]

Good game.

Very little in it. RVP, Ramsey, Arshavin all had chances to score.

Midfield played well. Szczesny excellent as usual. Defence had a few poor moments, but considering we have no full-backs, we have done well. Gervinho was sloppy at times, but also a constant threat. Only Theo had a poor game really.

Just need to bounce back against Villa.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Very good game, good going forward let down at the back by the usual suspects in the end though.

Good effort in a game we were always going to lose, we may well end up paying for that poor start to the season.

I don't think you can really say that about the start of the season. The start is largely irrelevant now, given we are, what three points behind Chelsea? And still above Liverpool.

On the game though, dissapointing to lose, as ever. Citeh played well though, we didn't create a huge amount but what we did create probably should've resulted in a goal. Just hope they don't let their heads drop now, against Villa.

[Grebbo]

Walcott annoyed at being subbed :haha:

Another woeful performance from him.

Having Arshavin and Chamakh as game chasers says it all.

The squad is threadbare of genuine quality but overflowing with average.

[Cripps_orig]

We did show some toughness out there. Now we need to show it again and not do a usual Wenger thing and let a bad result effect our season.

City probably just about edged it imo but we'll take this cunts at home easily imo. All depends on the away form if we're finishing 4th

[BOBN]

Good effort today, like how the defense is looking, just need that playmaker in the midfield.

Yep, today proved that ramsey is just not good enough right now.

Get gotze.

[milla]

Pat Rice: 20 minutes to go, 1-0 down. What should we do boss?

Wenger: Bring Arshavin and Chamakh in.


Me: :faint: :fury:

- Wenger has to sort out his bench players, get the dead wood out and replace with able bodies.
- We need one more attacking midfield. Right now Song is the only creative hub in midfield, Ramsey is hit and miss, Arteta is aevrage at best.
- Fuk that fat fuk, send him to fekin Siberia.

:coffee:

[Marc Overmars]

Very tight game and you cannot fault the effort we put in. I don't think we created enough whereas City will probably feel as though they should have made the most of a couple chances they missed.

We lost away to the best side in the league, who have won every home game, I don't think there's any point in getting down about this one.

Take it on the chin and move on. The games are coming thick and fast and we need a good response against Villa.

[hobson's choice]

Thought Miguel had a good performance at the back, and also made some good passes.

[Syn]

Unlucky the lads. Proud of the team - keep the same fighting mentality and effort we’ve shown recently and I’ll be happy.

Disappointing result but I can’t fault the players.

[AKBapologist]

Cahill and Parker are must gets this winter.

[Arsenal Royal]

Our RB was our biggest problem IMO. We were a liability there today and need Sagna back asap!

[Özim]

I don't think you can really say that about the start of the season. The start is largely irrelevant now, given we are, what three points behind Chelsea? And still above Liverpool.

On the game though, dissapointing to lose, as ever. Citeh played well though, we didn't create a huge amount but what we did create probably should've resulted in a goal. Just hope they don't let their heads drop now, against Villa.
I don't think you can say it's irrelevant, had we started better we'd be much better placed as it is we have a big battle for 4th place.

[AKBapologist]

Also Chesney, he's shit, sell him.

[Özim]

Also Chesney, he's shit, sell him.
Don't you have anything better to do?

[Cripps_orig]

Kos for their goal was awful and he was pretty shite throughout.

Add that to Djorou being shite and Theo having a poor game then our right side was pretty shit today

RB needed in January for sure or for Sagna to get fit and stay fit asap cos Jenkinson is just as shite as Djo or Kos

[fari]

Unlucky the lads. Proud of the team - keep the same fighting mentality and effort we’ve shown recently and I’ll be happy.

Disappointing result but I can’t fault the players.

agreed. they left it on the field today. proud of every one of them.

[fakeyank]

Very proud of the boys. Good effort! Our bench is fucking useless though (other than AOC i.e. if he was even on the bench). Who do we have? Arshavin, Chakma, Mannone.. fuck! I feel like throwing up!

[Cripps_orig]

Oh and Dowd, worst ref in the business?

How was that not a penalty?

[Joker]

Our squad is too thin, which forces us to bring on turds like Chamakh and Arshavin, while they can bring on De Jong, Milner and Dzeko. Those two offer us nothing at the moment, and the fact that they're ahead of Benayoun and Park speaks volumes about how lacking we are in terms of strength in depth.

And I don't know what Oxlade has to do to get into the first team. Walcott and Gervinho are playing very poorly at the moment, and both could be benched.

However, we shouldn't be surprised that this has happened. In the Summer, everyone was saying we needed to supplement the squad with real quality, but Wenger decided to simply add a few journeymen footballers.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Dont get the Gerv haters on GW. . .he still needs to sort out his decidion making but he has so much running in him he is a real threat. . . .the guy on the other side should take note

Thought we did well, gutted we lost because we should have got at least a point. . .Dowd fucked us with the PK!
We look half ok at the back but need that centre mid sorted. . .Jack will be welcome back. . .Jan is important in more ways than one. . .today showed we are a couple of players short but not as far back as some make out. . .the heart is stronger than I have seen for a long while

I am being very serious Henry loan would not be such a stupid move either. . .I mean I know who I would prefer to bring on instead of the waste of spaces Arshavin and Cham. . .both Must Go

[Joker]

Don't you have anything better to do?

He's a Wenger apologist, so he'll defend the Lord no matter how many mistakes he makes.

[milla]

Not sure why the OC wasn't even on the bench. He gave Zabaleta a torrid time in the CC. Theo was shite. We gave it everything but just wouldn't go in.

Arshavin and Chamakh meant we were playing with 9 men near the end but almost got an equaliser. Not sure what Park, Benayoun or even Rosicky have to do to get ahead of these two useless fucks in the substitute pecking order.

This has always been an issue with Wenger. He is so persistant, always picking the same players regardless of their form. Mind you, if Arshavin is black, fans would have boo him months ago. At least Eboue gave 110%, Arshavin is not motivated and lazy!!

:coffee:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I don't think you can say it's irrelevant, had we started better we'd be much better placed as it is we have a big battle for 4th place.

Every side can say that. If Liverpool hadn't dropped stupid points at home, they'd be above us. The point is, that in spite of that start we're in the position where we still have the ability to get where we probably anticipated us being. If we were say, still nine points adrift - which given the start we had you wouldn't be surprised if we were. But we aren't.

[Marc Overmars]

I thought we paid the price for having no full backs available.

I thought we'd manage to contain them and we did for a while, but as soon as they started finding gaps our defence was stretched all over the place. Positioning was terrible for most of the 2nd half.

Absolutely cursed with injuries.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Our squad is too thin, which forces us to bring on turds like Chamakh and Arshavin, while they can bring on De Jong, Milner and Dzeko. Those two offer us nothing at the moment, and the fact that they're ahead of Benayoun and Park speaks volumes about how lacking we are in terms of strength in depth.

And I don't know what Oxlade has to do to get into the first team. Walcott and Gervinho are playing very poorly at the moment, and both could be benched.

However, we shouldn't be surprised that this has happened. In the Summer, everyone was saying we needed to supplement the squad with real quality, but Wenger decided to simply add a few journeymen footballers.

Comparing our squad's quality to Citeh's is a bit silly. We aren't going to have one better than them. It's true that we could have better options, I won't argue with that but using Citeh as some kind of example of where we're going wrong is wholly unfair.

[Cripps_orig]

I thought we paid the price for having no full backs available.

I thought we'd manage to contain them and we did for a while, but as soon as they started finding gaps our defence was stretched all over the place. Positioning was terrible for most of the 2nd half.

Absolutely cursed with injuries.This

Lack of a full back lost us the goal today.

[hobson's choice]

Was disappointed with Gervinho today, played hard and all, but he looked like he was scared when he had a one on one with Toure and Richards

[Joker]

Comparing our squad's quality to Citeh's is a bit silly. We aren't going to have one better than them. It's true that we could have better options, I won't argue with that but using Citeh as some kind of example of where we're going wrong is wholly unfair.

Fair enough, but as you also say the gap could have been smaller between the benches if we were a bit bolder and decided to spent a bit more to get higher quality players in.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fair enough, but as you also say the gap could have been smaller between the benches if we were a bit bolder and decided to spent a bit more to get higher quality players in.

I don't disagree with that.

[Marc Overmars]

I'm just happy we made a real go of it. Far too often in the past we've just looked powderpuff away to a rival and slumped to a typical defeat. City know they were in a game and you can tell how much it meant to them to get the points.

Biggest thing for us is to bounce back ASAP and not get down about this.

[AKBapologist]

To be perfectly honest, city where shit today compared to the best teams in the world. A better forward line would have dominated city's back line. Given how poor they were keeping posesion or controlling the tempo of the game, it's only a matter of time before they get found out this season. Mancini is a shocking manager.

[Master Splinter]

I think Wenger should be involving Ju and AOC more, but having four full-backs, Wilshere and Diaby out severely hampers our options.

As ever, injuries are our main problem.

The fact that a small group of players has performed consistently and has had to put up with constant changes at the back deserves praise.

There's very little to complain about today.

If we don't respond in the next few games, then a volcano of vitriolic criticism would be understandable. At the moment, it seems unjustified and petty.

[Dennis Bendtner]

I thought we were containing them effectively until half-time. The lack of natural full-backs wasn't hampering us greatly, other than in the final third.

It went downhill when Miquel came on. I'm not sure why the back four was shuffled so much. Koscielny was doing well in the first half, but had a shocker at right-back in the second. Indecision was quite likely after they all changed position. We see enough of that from game to game, let alone half to half.

[Cripps_orig]

on a tight game...
I think it was a game that could have gone both ways. It was very intense with both teams going for it and I feel as well that we were a bit unlucky. Their keeper had a good game and we were a bit unlucky with the fact that we had to reshuffle completely at the back in a position where we are already short - we paid too much for that.

Overall I did feel at half-time that we would win the game if we stayed stable at the back. We lacked a bit of accuracy with our final ball in the final third as well because we had a few opportunities where we didn't pass the ball well. But overall we had a very positive performance, great spirit, quality, but we lacked a little bit of what is vital in the big games.

on resources...
I must say we have four full backs out and the first injury we get in the game is a full back. It's not only down to resources, you cannot buy 17 full backs anyway. That is why I think we were a bit unlucky today.

on penalty claims against Richards...
Yes [I thought it was a penalty]. Honestly I haven't seen it but Van Persie is adamant it was a 100 per cent penalty.

on Van Persie's offside 'goal'...
I haven't seen it again but we know that these decisions can turn the game and they didn't go for us today. We were unlucky with the decisions but we have to take it on the chin.

on the title race...
Unfortunately for us it was a game that we couldn't afford to lose because it puts us too much [behind Man City]. If we had won the game we would have come back to six points and with players coming back like our full backs and Wilshere and Diaby - we will have a better squad in the second half of the season. At the moment we are too far behind.

on Chamakh and Arshavin...
You can only try and they tried. They had chances, I think Arshavin had two good chances, Chamakh had very little time to have an impact on the game. We played at the end with four strikers, Ramsey and Arteta in midfield, so you know that when you lose the ball you could be in trouble every time. But we still had the chances to score. Even Vermaelen, at the end, I thought the ball was in when he hit it twice, the free kick first and then the one he hit outside the box.

on closing the gap on City...
It will be difficult to close the gap but we will try. This is a game we couldn't afford to lose and that's why it's very difficult to take. On the other hand we will continue to fight, there is a lot of positives. The team has made a lot of progress since August and they can be proud of it. The team has a fantastic spirit, we have shown that again today, and let's hope we can continue our progress and get closer to City.

on encouraging signs...
It is encouraging but at the moment we need encouragement and points, and we got only encouragement.

on the transfer window...
We hope to have Wilshere and Diaby back so in midfield we have the numbers required. But at the moment we are short at the back and if Gervinho and Chamakh go to the Africa Cup of Nations we are short up front more than midfield.

on Djourou's injury...
It is a groin problem. Usually that is 21 days.


Numbers wise we are fine in every position.

Quality wise, its another matter

[Keith]

94 mins 0.000001 secs Dowd blows up. Think we know who he wanted to win.


Wouldn't you? The amount of time he is 4th official with Wenger in his ear. I'd be blowing asap too

[Ollie the Optimist]

so proud of the team today, they gave it their all but sadly just fell short. though it didnt help having the cunt dowd reffing our match. he really is a disgrace. books kos for a tackle then i saw two city players do the same tackle and nothing happens.

defence did really well today, arteta had a storming game. think in the last 6 games, we have only conceded 3 goals. the defence has been fixed.

fat fuck and chamkah can fuck off. says it all when you bring those two on and verminator is the more likely to score

[Cripps_orig]

Koscielnys booking was a deserved one.

I dont recall any City player dragging our player down after being embarrassed by them as Kos was by Aguero

[Ollie the Optimist]

Koscielnys booking was a deserved one.

I dont recall any City player dragging our player down after being embarrassed by them as Kos was by Aguero

didnt say kos wasnt deserved but twice city players threw our players on hte floor. pretty sure richards was one of them.

[Cripps_orig]

didnt say kos wasnt deserved but twice city players threw our players on hte floor. pretty sure richards was one of them.Fair enough

Dowd is an awful ref. That is one thing we can all agree on.

[Ollie the Optimist]

apparently city gave nasri MOTM? funny didnt realise he was playing. he did fuck all

[Dennis Bendtner]

apparently city gave nasri MOTM? funny didnt realise he was playing. he did fuck all

I suppose this is why they did...

[Cripps_orig]

Kompany got the Sky motm.

Would have given it to Zabaleta tbh

[Kano]

He's a Wenger apologist, so he'll defend the Lord no matter how many mistakes he makes.

and you moan more than a woman on the rag. your predicted an absolute hammering. just like you predicted at the start of the season it would be full of the 0-0 performances against newcastle.

seriously. man city will prob win the league, you should be happy instead of trolling on internet forums pretending to be a fan of a team in some piss poor wind up.

[Syn]

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-got-encouragement-but-we-needed-points-

W (http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-got-encouragement-but-we-needed-points-)ow, expected Wenger to be more upbeat about the performance than that. Sounds gutted :lol:

Seems like he really thought we had a shot at the title if we won the game.

The full-back situation is genuinely unlucky - even by our ridiculous injury proneness - but the defence was ok, we just needed a goal. We're not going to buy anyone good in January so that depth problem will remain. Need the midfielders, Gerv and Walcott to start netting more. Ramsey, in particular, has to start sorting his feet out because he cannot keep missing the chances he has been.

The 16 games we've played this season have involved a disproportionate number of difficult away games. The teams above us - Tottenham, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea we have all played away. We'll have some very good chances to claw some points back in the second half of the season. A win against Villa would be fantastic because the next 2 are home bankers.

[Joker]

and you moan more than a woman on the rag. your predicted an absolute hammering. just like you predicted at the start of the season it would be full of the 0-0 performances against newcastle.

seriously. man city will prob win the league, you should be happy instead of trolling on internet forums pretending to be a fan of a team in some piss poor wind up.

And all you fucking do is follow me around this messageboard claiming I'm a City fan whenever I make the slightest criticism of Wenger and/or the team. If this is all it takes to be called a City fan, then this board is full of them.

I don't really give a shit if you think I'm an Arsenal fan or not, but given that I've been a member of this forum for over 5 years suggests I'm not a troll.

But hey, you keep coming out with these tiresome accusations if it makes you happy.

[Kano]

def a city fan

[Xhaka Can’t]

Cut it out please.

[Ashburton2006]

And all you fucking do is follow me around this messageboard claiming I'm a City fan whenever I make the slightest criticism of Wenger and/or the team. If this is all it takes to be called a City fan, then this board is full of them.I don't really give a shit if you think I'm an Arsenal fan or not, but given that I've been a member of this forum for over 5 years suggests I'm not a troll. But hey, you keep coming out with these tiresome accusations if it makes you happy.Don't worry joker! There are some real twats on this board who can only come up with the same bullshit! If you say anything against arsenal it means you are a spud or someting!

[fakeyank]

I like everything about this team- their passion, RVP as captain and quick football. I also feel AW is not coming off as a smug in his press conferences and being realistic about our chances. I do understand mistakes were made in the transfer window and before. I will direct my anger towards Arsene if he doesnt strengthen in January when it is an absolute MUST for us. I would love to ask AW why AOC is not playing.. here is a player who terrified the City defense a few weeks back and he cant come in ahead of deadwood like Arshavin and Chakma?!! What does he have to do to be playing ahead of them at least? IMO, he is better than Walcott by miles and yet not even getting off the bench!

[Marc Overmars]

Kompany is such a beast, quality defender.

For all the millions they've spent, they won't find better value than him at 6m.

[Cripps_orig]

Theo pisses on Oxface quite comfortably. Sure he was shite today but one bad game after being pretty good during our good run doesn't merit being dropped. I understand Oxface is flavor of the month and will be called for in the first team whenever we lose and that's fair enough but put him in for Gervinho instead of Theo. The world and its dog can see how RVP and Theo connect so breaking that partnership will be foolish.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I like everything about this team- their passion, RVP as captain and quick football. I also feel AW is not coming off as a smug in his press conferences and being realistic about our chances. I do understand mistakes were made in the transfer window and before. I will direct my anger towards Arsene if he doesnt strengthen in January when it is an absolute MUST for us. I would love to ask AW why AOC is not playing.. here is a player who terrified the City defense a few weeks back and he cant come in ahead of deadwood like Arshavin and Chakma?!! What does he have to do to be playing ahead of them at least? IMO, he is better than Walcott by miles and yet not even getting off the bench!

I can only imagine he is trying to keep the spotlight off him. I'm not sure I understand the point of it when a) it might benefit the team him playing and b) he's a talented English player in the English league, having the spotlight on him is something that will he have to deal with anyway.

[Marc Overmars]

I think we'll see him over Xmas anyway, well we should do.

No one is saying he's going to come in a tear it up, but I think everyone is just a little exhausted with the likes of Arshavin and Chamakh who offer fuck all to the cause. Give someone else a go and Oxo seems deserving.

[Niall_Quinn]

Fair enough

Dowd is an awful ref. That is one thing we can all agree on.

Not me today. I thought he tried to let the game go and didn't make any serious errors. RvPs was offside, Silva was onside and the ball was hit at Richards for the penalty decision, Richards had his arms by his side.

They managed to get ahead of us a few times today, we didn't manage to get on top of them, otherwise it was a very even game and on another day we could have won that. City were stretched even though they're the ones with all the resources, we had to patch together a team after yet more injuries to the defence. When we needed to bring quality off the bench we didn't have any. You have to wonder how much impact Ox might have had coming off the bench today into a game where everyone else was tiring. We got Arshavin and Chamack and the pair of them have been useless all season.

[Syn]

The 'caution' over starting Oxlade is quite clear IMO. It's about the defensive workrate. Theo and Gerv might not be as good as Oxo going forward but you can't fault their effort tracking back. Theo, in particular.

Wenger on Oxlade about a month (or slightly more) ago:

“Defending is not his preferred side but unfortunately at the top level today you have Messi doing it, Rooney, Ronaldo, Van Persie - so why should he not do it?” said the Frenchman.

“There is no other way to succeed anymore. That's why, of course, I believe he has the quality to do it. He has the physical ability and he is not scared to go into challenges. He can take a challenge.

“To add that to his game will make him stronger because he will win some balls in areas where he can be dangerous. He's a player who has an impact,” enthused Wenger.


But obviously nobody can understand why he is not at least on the bench to have 20 mins when the team is chasing a goal.

[Niall_Quinn]

I can only imagine he is trying to keep the spotlight off him. I'm not sure I understand the point of it when a) it might benefit the team him playing and b) he's a talented English player in the English league, having the spotlight on him is something that will he have to deal with anyway.

More like the board is trying to win on the performances clause - if they keep him off the field they'll get a right bargain!

[Syn]

More like the board is trying to win on the performances clause - if they keep him off the field they'll get a right bargain!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry over the fact that this theory doesn't actually sound ridiculous.

So I'll do neither.

Or both.

:haha:

[Syn]

:crying:

[Marc Overmars]

We've actually come out of today with a bit of respect from the media it seems.

[Syn]

We've actually come out of today with a respect from the media it seems.

Probably because Wenger didn't moan his tits off about the referee or the pitch.

Wenger :bow:

[Dennis Bendtner]

Our attacking subs have been predictable and ineffective for a while. It's just moved on as a ritual from chucking on Bendtner and Vela to Arshavin and Chamakh.

Where's Mr Miyagi tbf?

[Syn]

Our attacking subs have been predictable and ineffective for a while. It's just moved on as a ritual from chucking on Bendtner and Vela to Arshavin and Chamakh.

Where's Mr Miyagi tbf?

Think he died with an ankle injury a while back.

[Marc Overmars]

Probably because Wenger didn't moan his tits off about the referee or the pitch.

Wenger :bow:

All part of our transformation to a glorified pub team. They're always loved in the media.

Pub teams. :bow:

[Özim]

Dixon and co analysed the performance thought we were decent and a bit unlucky, got to agree but think Man City edged in in terms of quality...they played some greast stuff.

Our attacking was pretty decent as was our effort, Vermaelen with a couple belters late on. Gervinho was busy and did well bar a few poor decisions, Arteta was solid and unlike many I thought Ramsey was excellent. I think most of the players were excellent today though Walcott was non existent and the right side of the defence was average in the 2nd half, Dixon thinks Mertersacker has added some experience though he's not sure he's the answer.....got to agree on that....he's decent but has an error of some sort in almost every game we play, Vermaelen has been great recently and it would be good to find someone of his quality to play alongside him....like Merts, Koscielny also has an error in him.

[Cripps_orig]

Not me today. I thought he tried to let the game go and didn't make any serious errors. RvPs was offside, Silva was onside and the ball was hit at Richards for the penalty decision, Richards had his arms by his side.They managed to get ahead of us a few times today, we didn't manage to get on top of them, otherwise it was a very even game and on another day we could have won that. City were stretched even though they're the ones with all the resources, we had to patch together a team after yet more injuries to the defence. When we needed to bring quality off the bench we didn't have any. You have to wonder how much impact Ox might have had coming off the bench today into a game where everyone else was tiring. We got Arshavin and Chamack and the pair of them have been useless all season. Apart from Oxface, the bench is pretty much the best of the rest. The likes of Park etc are worse than Chamakh so makes no sense having them on the bench. Arshavin was poor tonight when he came on. Chamakh had a few minutes though in which he won the free kick that Arteta took to Vermaelen who had his shot tipped over. Best player in the world would struggle to make much impact in a game playing for only few minutes. Not worried about Chamakh. More than capable back up for RVP as we saw when RVP had his last major injury but could be the end of the road for Arshavin

[Marc Overmars]

Dixon and co analysed the performance thought we were decent and a bit unlucky, got to agree but think Man City edged in in terms of quality...they played some greast stuff.

Our attacking was pretty decent as was our effort, Vermaelen with a couple belters late on. Gervinho was busy and did well bar a few poor decisions, Arteta was solid and unlike many I thought Ramsey was excellent. I think most of the players were excellent today though Walcott was non existent and the right side of the defence was average in the 2nd half, Dixon thinks Mertersacker has added some experience though he's not sure he's the answer.....got to agree on that....he's decent but has an error of some sort in almost every game we play, Vermaelen has been great recently and it would be good to find someone of his quality to play alongside him....like Merts, Koscielny also has an error in him.

I thought City were pretty good, they reminded me of us in years gone by, moving the ball around at every opportunity, they really exploited the fact we had no natural full backs on the pitch. They're easily the best side in the league IMO, only thing that will stop them is themselves.

We certainly matched them at times but you always felt they had a little bit of extra quality.

[Ollie the Optimist]

city were good but then when you buy billions pounds worth of talent then you expect them to be. the whole team stood up to the test and although they lost, did fucking well. look at spurs or united, they were thrashed at home by city, we went to city and made them work hard. this team is improving, as i said earlier, conceded 3 goals in the last 6 games. wenger pulled it out the bag in the summer and now we need to kick. win the games that we should and then when the big boys turn up, see what happens

[Marc Overmars]

The frustrating thing is, although we're obviously a much stronger outfit these days, given the nature of the league at the moment there is every chance we may miss out on 4th. Long way to go though and we have every reason to think we can bounce back in style over the coming Xmas period.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Numbers wise we are fine in every position.

Quality wise, its another matter

To be honest Wenger gave a fair assessment, we were diddled out of a PK that they would have got had it been the other way round but thats life. . .

Wenger does however need to face reality that we need to spend in January. . .the squad needs to be stronger and I say a first team level striker should be top of the list, if we are bargain hunting then go for Henry on loan as he would be a better option than 'Cham'

[Japan Shaking All Over]

apparently city gave nasri MOTM? funny didnt realise he was playing. he did fuck all

Yeah by the sponsors of the stadium?

Wonder who they are? Defo WUMming on behalf of the Arab mafia!

[Japan Shaking All Over]

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-got-encouragement-but-we-needed-points-

W (http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-got-encouragement-but-we-needed-points-)ow, expected Wenger to be more upbeat about the performance than that. Sounds gutted :lol:

Seems like he really thought we had a shot at the title if we won the game.

The full-back situation is genuinely unlucky - even by our ridiculous injury proneness - but the defence was ok, we just needed a goal. We're not going to buy anyone good in January so that depth problem will remain. Need the midfielders, Gerv and Walcott to start netting more. Ramsey, in particular, has to start sorting his feet out because he cannot keep missing the chances he has been.

The 16 games we've played this season have involved a disproportionate number of difficult away games. The teams above us - Tottenham, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea we have all played away. We'll have some very good chances to claw some points back in the second half of the season. A win against Villa would be fantastic because the next 2 are home bankers.

True. . .we seem to have got a few difficult games out the way and should be looking to squaring thingd up when we play host to those same times.
Citeg attimes we amazingly fluid and we were caught out by their movement, but a draw would not have been totally injust. . .we need to bring the same intensity to all the games that follow. . .we are behind them but not by a million miles

[Power n Glory]

We've missed Wilshere. We're getting no joy from the middle of the park and everything depends on wing play. When up against teams with strong wing backs and tricky wingers, we're going to struggle to get our wingers into the game. Theo and Gervinho work hard on defence a tracking back but we also depend heavily on their creativity and carrying the ball forward. When teams clamp down on them, we're in trouble because Ramsey and Arteta aren't creative enough.

Ramsey has hustle and gets about the pitch, but he's sloppy sometimes and lacks the vision and skill to play that killer pass. Arteta just isn't mobile enough. His off the ball movement is slow and he struggles to find space at times. I thought Ramsey worker his socks off and was all over the pitch in the first half but all that wok rate translates to very little creatively. Song has been our best provider this season out of the middle three and I thought it was a mistake to shift him to CB. Also thought it was a mistake taking Theo off. A very quiet game for Theo but he put in a brilliant cross for Ramsey and forced a good save from Hart. He's another one of our most creative players with a good partnership with RVP. I can't see why Wenger would take him off for Arshavin at that point.

Anyway, we battled hard but I think the middle is a key area thy needs working on. For years it was our strongest area and I kept on saying we needed wingers to compliment that and stretch play, but now it seems we have the wingers but have lost the middle. :lol: Where the heck is Rosicky? is he still injured? He was having a good run of games until the international break and now he's AWOL.

[Boss]

Quite happy with the overall performance, don't think we deserved to lose. Defended pretty well despite the reshuffled side and then the injury.

Theo, Gervinho were complete garbage, Chamakh nonexistant as usual and think I've finally had it with Arshavin after that wasteful performance today.

Coin flip between Ramsey / Arteta for who Wilshere replaces, think Ramsey has a far better potential (even at the moment) but wastes his play trying silly flicks and needs to learn how to finish. Arteta is solid but nothing more than that.

Quite impressed with Vermaelen's two shots, unlucky... play him up front tbh.

[Marc Overmars]

Quite impressed with Vermaelen's two shots, unlucky... play him up front tbh.

Might as well, he's a better option than certain others.

[Flavs]

I thought we deserved a point, we surrendered possession in the first half but had the better chances and then we got a bit overran in the second half and looked like our old selves again. But if you compare it to the Old Trafford game you can see how far we have come since then.

Despite Gary Neville's endless reinforcement the referee didn't have a good game and Song and Aguero should both have walked. I also didn't think it was a classic, a lot of it was really messy and making Kompany MOTM is a disgrace when Zabaleta was the stand out.

Arshavin has to go simple as that, the Ox would have made more impact because at least he tries. I know its hard to come into a game that is being played at that pace when you are terribly out of form but at least fucking try for gawds sake. Say what you want about Chamakh but he does try hard when he comes on.

Be interesting to see what we can do at Villa as they were shockingly shite yesterday.

[LDG]

Gutted tbh.

Didn't think we looked out of our depth against the "best" team in the league. Fought hard, and only started coming undone when we had to swap the back line round again (for the millionth time this season).

Fuck me, I swear we don't get any luck. 5 players who have played at full back have got injured so far this year. It's beyond belief! Say what you want about Wenger, but surely this is fucking woeful luck.

Thought we suffered through Theo not being at the races. He is the one player that could have turned that for us with his pace, but was a) kept quiet by Zabaletta and b) was shit.

Thumbs up for effort. Pissed off that these cunts think themselves so bloody good. City have three / four players who are very good, but they're nothing compared to previous great teams of the PL.

A few injuries and they'll be suffering (unless of course they buy more in Jan).

Knowing Sp*rs luck, they'll get 'em at just that point in time.

Come on The Arsenal!!!

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I like everything about this team- their passion, RVP as captain and quick football. I also feel AW is not coming off as a smug in his press conferences and being realistic about our chances. I do understand mistakes were made in the transfer window and before. I will direct my anger towards Arsene if he doesnt strengthen in January when it is an absolute MUST for us. I would love to ask AW why AOC is not playing.. here is a player who terrified the City defense a few weeks back and he cant come in ahead of deadwood like Arshavin and Chakma?!! What does he have to do to be playing ahead of them at least? IMO, he is better than Walcott by miles and yet not even getting off the bench!

:gp:

Can't disagree with that one bit, we need buys in jan the game yesterday showwed us that tbh. If wenger can not see that in jan then i just don't know with him tbh.

As for the game, well done to the lads once again done us proud, most thought we get battered over there. We held our own and in the end got unlucky.

On to villa we go

[GP]

We are going to rape the living shit out of Villa.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Dixon and co analysed the performance thought we were decent and a bit unlucky, got to agree but think Man City edged in in terms of quality...they played some greast stuff. Our attacking was pretty decent as was our effort, Vermaelen with a couple belters late on. Gervinho was busy and did well bar a few poor decisions, Arteta was solid and unlike many I thought Ramsey was excellent. I think most of the players were excellent today though Walcott was non existent and the right side of the defence was average in the 2nd half, Dixon thinks Mertersacker has added some experience though he's not sure he's the answer.....got to agree on that....he's decent but has an error of some sort in almost every game we play, Vermaelen has been great recently and it would be good to find someone of his quality to play alongside him....like Merts, Koscielny also has an error in him.

Also have a twat as a ref helped them too, But then when you see what they bought off the bench and what we did you could say they edged it.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Great game to watch and we could have won it if the front 3 were more decisive. There was a few headless chicken moments when we got into the final third, 1 too many passes and no one really wanted to have a shot at times.

Ramsey pissed me off in the second half, couldnt control the ball for shit and started doing stupid fucking back heels and flicks that fucked up every single time!! FFS!!!

Walcott was shit bar 1 good shot, did fuck all else all game and then had the audacity to be annoyed when he got subbed. Twat.

Arshavin - ?

Chamakh - ???

We were crying out for AOC and Park to give RVP and Gerv some help on the attack, but for some reason Wenger thinks they still need to be taught how to kick a ball cause I cant see what other fucking reason there could be for not giving them a chance in the PL :sulk:

[Flavs]

Great game to watch and we could have won it if the front 3 were more decisive. There was a few headless chicken moments when we got into the final third, 1 too many passes and no one really wanted to have a shot at times.

Ramsey pissed me off in the second half, couldnt control the ball for shit and started doing stupid fucking back heels and flicks that fucked up every single time!! FFS!!!

Walcott was shit bar 1 good shot, did fuck all else all game and then had the audacity to be annoyed when he got subbed. Twat.

Arshavin - ?

Chamakh - ???

We were crying out for AOC and Park to give RVP and Gerv some help on the attack, but for some reason Wenger thinks they still need to be taught how to kick a ball cause I cant see what other fucking reason there could be for not giving them a chance in the PL :sulk:

Park is being trained up to play at left back tbh