Match Reaction v Sunderland

[Cripps_orig]

Wilshere injured, Jenkinson sent off, Kos injured.

Shit performance but we won. Stuff of champions

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Kos was taken ill apparently so he should be back for Blackeye.

Arsenal. :bow:

Back to winning with ten men.

It's on!

[Marc Overmars]

Good win, didn't expect the 3 points as Sunderland are one of the top pub teams in the business and we're normally shite after an international week.

On we go.

[Joker]

The 2nd half turned into a real pub team match but we held on well.

Really poor from Jenkinson though, once you're on a yellow you can't tackle like that. Nevertheless, the defence held up well, especially Sagna and Chesney who were very good.

[LDG]

Top result.

Hope jack's alright.

MON :haha:

[Dennis Bendtner]

Should have been game over in the first half. Maybe the best half of football we've had this season. Wenger ought to have been vindicated for not throwing a defender on straight after the red card, but the finishing remained so wasteful (on that note, Ramsey was very good too, playing most of the second half at right-back). Eventually the expected pub game dealing with balls chucked into the mixer but there was some great defending. Sagna's best game for ages out of position. Nervy as hell in that period.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Should have won by more and Wumger should let Bould tear Giroud a new arsehole for that last effort

But good battling win. . .Sagna was great, best game for a long time :signdating:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Monreal. :bow:

Didn't have that good a game but yet to concede a goal.

[BOBN]

Jenkinson proved yet again hes a liability and nowhere near. Wouldnt get a game at any other side in the league.

[topgun]

Always happy when we beat a bunch of thugs,should have out of sight we the amount of chances we had.:oldboy:

[fakeyank]

Any news on Wilshere? :pray:

[Master Splinter]

Probably the best football we've played all season. Even with 10 men.

Giroud, Theo, Sir Jack, Cazorla and Arteta were triffic in the first half. Really wasteful all round though. Should have been 0-3 at the very least in the first half.

The game became mental after Wilshere and GHELkers went off, but we still played some lovely, incisive football and should have killed the game off about five times.

The second half defensive displays from Sagna, Szczesny, Giroud, Ramsey and the cynical stuff from Mickey Tets were brilliant. Mertesacker looks like he's getting his form back too.

Sunderland were genuinely as bad as Stoke today and Taylor was actively condoning their tactics while booking Arsenal for first fouls as usual. A truly terrible display of refereeing.

Arsenal :bow:.

Grit :bow:.

Determination :bow:.

Football :bow:.

MON :haha:.

[Cripps_orig]

Any news on Wilshere? :pray:

Out for the season

[Ollie the Optimist]

that performance by the referee was an absoulte joke. he just let them kick the shit out of us time and time again and nothing. it was quite clear after jack performance in the first half that MON said to his team at half time to kick the hsit out of him and get him off the pitch. fucking ****s.


great defensive display, everyone was solid. sagna was supberb, so was chesney. but my MOTM was ramsey. was everywhere, even played at right back and did great. great performance against those cheating thugish ****s.

[Dennis Bendtner]

Wenger says Wilshere "can't walk properly now" but should only be out for 4/5 days.

Yeah, Wenger using 'should' tends to be ominous.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Wenger says Wilshere "can't walk properly now" but should only be out for 4/5 days.

Yeah, Wenger using 'should' tends to be ominous.

when you have a ref doing nothing, and 50 minutes of team using the tatic of kick the shit out of wilshere, id be surprised if he could walk

[Joker]

that performance by the referee was an absoulte joke. he just let them kick the shit out of us time and time again and nothing. it was quite clear after jack performance in the first half that MON said to his team at half time to kick the hsit out of him and get him off the pitch. fucking ****s.


great defensive display, everyone was solid. sagna was supberb, so was chesney. but my MOTM was ramsey. was everywhere, even played at right back and did great. great performance against those cheating thugish ****s.

Sunderland weren't that thuggish. They have a fair number of cloggers yes, but there was only one bad tackle which was by Larrson, and IMO close to a red. Wilshere will be fouled, his style of play will invite challenges and we can't expect opposition to just back off and let us run through them.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wheelchair doesn't need to play against Blackeye so no harm done, hopefully.

[Cripps_orig]

MOTD worth watching?

Was the goal any good or a pub team effort?

[Master Splinter]

Arsenal.com ‏@Arsenal


Wenger on Sagna: Yes, he was outstanding. Will he play there again? This is not the time to speculate.


Wenger on the defence: I told you we had two players in every position. With Sagna and Ramsey coming into the defence, maybe we have now have three in every position!


Wenger on Wilshere: We will not put a timeline on it. Two to three days, I believe.


Wenger on Sunderland's approach: There is nothing wrong with their approach today. They played exceptional rugby.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Sunderland weren't that thuggish. They have a fair number of cloggers yes, but there was only one bad tackle which was by Larrson, and IMO close to a red. Wilshere will be fouled, his style of play will invite challenges and we can't expect opposition to just back off and let us run through them.


yeah apart from teh elbow by cattermole on cazorla, the two footed late lunge on ramsey in the first minute, the rugby tackles and shirt pulling whenever we were about to break, the dives, the climbing all over our defence

yeah apart from that, not thuggish at all.

[Niall_Quinn]

That ref was absolutely atrocious. What a ****.

Haven't seen the game yet, will catch up with it on Footie First tonight.

[Syn]

Wenger on the defence: I told you we had two players in every position. With Sagna and Ramsey coming into the defence, maybe we have now have three in every position!

That's the best one. He will probably say that.

Also, Sagna :bow: Szczesny :bow: - absolutely brilliant.

Midfield created about 700 chances. We should keep this selection of Cazorla playing on the left, Wilshere no.10 and Ramsey and Arteta at CM. They were all very good.

Walcott and Giroud have to do a lot better in front of goal. Missed far too many chances today. I still can't work out why Podolski's on the bench. I can understand wanting to keep Walcott on the right - he's always a threat but Podolski is probably the in-form player and any of the chances that Walcott and Giroud had fall to him and he's more likely to stick them away. It's the second game in a row Podolski was benched. Hope he starts the main games against Blackburn and Bayern.

[Master Splinter]

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/300304008675987456/photo/1

:bow: :bow:

:loveblush:

[Xhaka Can’t]

Sunderland weren't that thuggish. They have a fair number of cloggers yes, but there was only one bad tackle which was by Larrson, and IMO close to a red. Wilshere will be fouled, his style of play will invite challenges and we can't expect opposition to just back off and let us run through them.

But you should expect a ref to deal with that.

[Marc Overmars]

Wheelchair must be the most fouled player in the league. He's so nippy and always manages to nick the ball away in time before he gets tackled, but that usually ends up in him being clattered because of his ability. Players like him need protecting.

[milla]

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/300304008675987456/photo/1

:bow: :bow:

:loveblush:

I'll marry him. :coffee:

[GP]

http://www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/scaled/486x310/feb_13/zp_22_Sunderland_v_1816.jpg

[Injury Time]

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/300304008675987456/photo/1

:bow: :bow:

:loveblush:
Virtual kicking ftw
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd3r9t_robert-pires-thierry-henry-cocking_sport#.URa2V2tYCSM

[Özim]

You'd think people were being maimed on the a regular basis the way people go on about the way other teams play, 20 years ago players use to get up dust themselves off and get on with it, nowadays it's a cardinal sin to tackle and give the opposition players a hard time apparently.

I'd personally prefer if we showed our teeth a bit more and put in a few crunching tackles, we use to and it worked very well and teams feared us a lot more than they do now where our players roll around and fall over at the mere sight of a tackle.

Football is a physical sport.

[Ollie the Optimist]

You'd think people were being maimed on the a regular basis the way people go on about the way other teams play, 20 years ago players use to get up dust themselves off and get on with it, nowadays it's a cardinal sin to tackle and give the opposition players a hard time apparently.

I'd personally prefer if we showed our teeth a bit more and put in a few crunching tackles, we use to and it worked very well and teams feared us a lot more than they do now where our players roll around and fall over at the mere sight of a tackle.

Football is a physical sport.


Hard but fair tackles are fine. Elbows in the head, two footed lunges after play is played, stamping on ankles are not. But of course you have to moan about something don't you

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Wheelchair must be the most fouled player in the league. He's so nippy and always manages to nick the ball away in time before he gets tackled, but that usually ends up in him being clattered because of his ability. Players like him need protecting.

According to whoscored.com [essentially just opta] he's 4th, though I don't know if that includes today's games.

Sorry. That sounded even more boring than I thought it would be.

[Özim]

Hard but fair tackles are fine. Elbows in the head, two footed lunges after play is played, stamping on ankles are not. But of course you have to moan about something don't you
Moaning? I'm not moaning just making an obsvervation, every week we seem to get threads like this about how other teams are roughing us up...it was a lot worse 15 years ago.

I wonder if it's because we're such soft touches as a team that the contrast is much greater than it once was. Once upon a time our disciplinary record was awful and we put in hard tackles left right and centre, I liked it personally.

[Cripps_orig]

Just seen the highlights.

No complaints with the sending off. Great finish by Santi. Sir Ches with some great saves.

[Cripps_orig]

Arsène Wenger spoke to the media after the Sunderland game. Here is a transcript of his press conference:

on the win…
It was tight in the end. It was a game with a high level of intensity where we showed brilliance going forward, but unfortunately we couldn’t score the second goal. We had to show another side in the second half, especially being down to 10 men in the last 20 minutes. We needed to be resilient, committed and deal with everything. I think it was a typical Premier League game with top quality on both sides.

on character…
I believe we have been quite consistent away from home since the start of the season. You saw today that the team is up for a fight. Without that, we wouldn’at have got the three points today.

on Szczesny…
He was excellent today. I believe the defence was excellent, when you think that Sagna was told 15 minutes before the start that he would play centre back. I believe he dealt with what he faced in an excellent way. He and Mertesacker were excellent.

on Koscielny’s injury…
It’s a calf problem. We think it’s a question of days [until he returns] because he had a positive scan. He [came off for France] at half time [on Wednesday] and we decided to give him a trial in the warm up. He was not good enough. I don’t think it’s long-term.

on WIlshere’s knock…
It was a big kick on the thigh. He couldn’t walk. He doesn’t walk properly now. I hope it’s four or five days [until he’s back].

on tackles…
I was a bit frustrated because I thought Jack didn’t get the free kicks he deserved. The referee let two or three things go that I thought were a foul on Jack.

on if Sunderland singled out Wilshere…
No. When you have the midfield we have with Cazorla, Wilshere, Arteta and Ramsey, they want to stop us from playing and combining so they get close to us.

on if he wanted more protection from the referee…
I just want the referee to give a foul when it’s a foul. I don’t want any special protection. The referee is not a bodyguard. We just want him to give a foul when it’s a foul.

on having to win…
We were under pressure to win today. We could not afford to drop points, I said that after the Chelsea game. We are in a situation where we cannot drop points anymore. No matter where we play, we need the three points.

on Cazorla’s performance…
Top, top class. When you think that this guy is not a regular in the Spanish national team, it shows you how good they are. I think he had an outstanding performance today.

on disappointment at not being more than one goal up after an hour…
Today we lacked efficiency in our finishing and we didn’t finish what we created. We create and that’s positive. Sometimes it’s like that. If you look at our games, we score five, seven, and suddenly sometimes we don’t score. The team is still learning and developing and needs to be a bit more efficient.


What was wrong with Verm?

[selassie]

Really pleased with the win and the performance to an extent. First Half, that's the best I've seen from Arsenal in a long long time. The way we fluidly knocked the ball around and created openings was very pleasing to see, Jack and Santi were both running the show.

Second half was more backs to wall, especially after Jenks got sent off. We defended very very well though and Chesney pulled off some blinding saves.

Whilst I still maintain Top 4 is still out of our reach, results like today will give the boys belief that are keeping the pressure on the Scum & Chelsea.

[Seaman's Ponytail]

I wonder if it's because we're such soft touches as a team that the contrast is much greater than it once was.
Last season, the season before, heck, a month ago i'd have agreed with you hands down. But the last two weeks have somehow given me hope. To handle Stoke the way we did then today, down to 10 men, we actually showed some real testies. Yeah maybe it's yet another false dawn but for today i'm soaking it up :)
Other than the finishing today's performance was outstanding. Great to see Ches making some brilliant saves, when he matures as a keeper (prob in 5-7 years time) and learns to command his box, he will be a world best.Awesome performances from Merts and Sagna in the middle of defence and, although Big Sexy was fairly average in his finishing, the work that guy does for the team is phenomenal. Worked his ass off and some of his defensive clearances were utterly crucial. Hell even Diaby made a couple of outstanding clearances today and Ramsay was almost ok!

In summary
Ches, Merts, Sagna, Giroud :bow:
Clean sheets :bow:
Defensive steel :bow:
(For today) Arsenal :bow:

[Letters]

Whilst I still maintain Top 4 is still out of our reach
Well, obviously it isn't. But the game at WHL is very important this year. Lose that and it's gone, a point keeps us in it, a win gives us a great chance.
I fear a loss but reckon we might get a point. Can't see us winning there.

Very important win yesterday. Could and should have been out of sight but were a bit wasteful in front of goal. Can't argue with the sending off, 2 silly fouls. After that it was backs against the wall a bit and we did well to hang on. Chesney did well.

It will be nice to have a break from the PL next weekend.

[GP]

Can't argue with the sending off, 2 silly fouls.

Yeah, but it's a little bit galling given the fouls Sunderland constantly got away with. They kicked us from pillar to post and our players were booked for pretty much every challenge.

[Marc Overmars]

We closed a bigger gap on Spurs last year so there's no reason why we can't do it once more. The only difference this time though is that Chelsea are involved in the mix and aren't slumming it in 6th. It's probably the hardest task we've had to get in the top 4 because at least 3 of the sides are quite evenly matched. I'm not overly concerned about Everton but they've still been fairly consistent. 4 sides fighting for 2 spots, it'll go to the wire.

[Niall_Quinn]

Only major worry here was Wilshere being so keen to come off. Smart move but I wonder if he's overly nervous about injuries? Or maybe Wenger told him to come off at the first sign of trouble. It was just odd to see him calling for the sub.

Other than that he was several levels above Cazorla who was several levels above anyone else on the pitch in terms of pure talent. The difference in our play when Jack was on the pitch and when he left to be replaced by Diaby was crazy. Diaby didn't even play as badly as usual and seemed a bit more positive but our reliance on Wilshere in the season run-in is becoming total. He makes everything else tick.

Giroud put in another shift but he's not a great striker, just average. Jenks looked rusty and the two tackles warranted the two yellows, although it's a shame he didn't have a free pass to kick people like the Sunderland lads had. Anyone know where you can buy one of those passes? Because it would be useful I think. Some shocking refereeing decisions that not only kept the mackems in this but also conspired to give them an edge. Tragic and clueless ref, I think he's too incompetent to be corrupt.

Walcott horrendous again though he almost popped up with one of those goals that keeps his reputation afloat. Maybe it was a one-off but Sagna seems better at CB than RB. Plus we're not handicapped by his attacking play when he's in the centre. It was a pleasant change to see the team dig in when they went a man down and even better to watch they way they reacted when the final whistle went. Looks like there's some genuine spirit starting to develop as opposed to the imaginary stuff Wenger keeps talking about.

Monreal is starting to look like an Arsenal defender after a bright start. Beaten too easily by the cheat he was up against and he's even started to leave big gaps. It's not too late to tell him to stay at home for training and rely on what he learned elsewhere.

[Syn]

"I just want the referee to give a foul when it's a foul. I don't want any special protection," added Wenger.
"The referee is not a bodyguard, he is just a referee and you want him just to give a foul when it's a foul."

What an unreasonable whiny French bastard!

[Cripps_orig]

Watched Football First

Mert is back. After a poor game v Liverpool, he played well today and didn't let that poor performance affect him.

Ramsey looked better than usual. Did a job at right back as well.

Cazorla scored a great goal

Sir Jack ran the show. That is some player we have there. Needs to add goals and he'll be spoken in the same level as the best.

[Letters]

We closed a bigger gap on Spurs last year so there's no reason why we can't do it once more. The only difference this time though is that Chelsea are involved in the mix and aren't slumming it in 6th. It's probably the hardest task we've had to get in the top 4 because at least 3 of the sides are quite evenly matched. I'm not overly concerned about Everton but they've still been fairly consistent. 4 sides fighting for 2 spots, it'll go to the wire.
Very hard to call this year. It's 2 from 4, I think Chelsea will be 3rd so that makes it 1 from 3 and I'm not sure Everton have the staying power which leaves us and Spurs.
Lose at WHL and it's going to be tricky to catch them but never underestimate Spurs' ability to implode.
When Arsenal implode it tends to be when in sight of a trophy, when they're behind and pushing for top 4 we seem to be better.
It will be close this year, probably go down the last day.

[Letters]

Watched Football First

Mert is back. After a poor game v Liverpool, he played well today and didn't let that poor performance affect him.

Ramsey looked better than usual. Did a job at right back as well.

Cazorla scored a great goal

Sir Jack ran the show. That is some player we have there. Needs to add goals and he'll be spoken in the same level as the best.

Removed all the WUMming - this is what was left.
Stop all the point scoring and general being a dick.

[Dennis Bendtner]

:haha:

Cripps' essay :rose:

[Cripps_orig]

:haha:

Cripps' essay :rose:

Ive still got it tbh. I'd repost it but seems like Letters is in one of his picking on Cripps moods and anything I say might be a bannable offence.

[Niall_Quinn]

Removed all the WUMming - this is what was left.
Stop all the point scoring and general being a dick.

Shit! You changed his post? If that's where we're going then no point posting here at all because who knows what's been edited and to what degree?

[Dennis Bendtner]

Walcott is world class

:scarf:

[Niall_Quinn]

:scarf:

Damn! I'm having a shocker! N_Q :rose:

[fakeyank]

Removed all the WUMming - this is what was left.
Stop all the point scoring and general being a dick.

Might as well have deleted his entire post rather than cherry pick stuff and put out there as his..

[Letters]

Shit! You changed his post? If that's where we're going then no point posting here at all because who knows what's been edited and to what degree?
Yeah. Apart from the fact that I said I'd edited it...

[Cripps_orig]

Might as well have deleted his entire post rather than cherry pick stuff and put out there as his..

Pretty much. Some of the stuff deleted wasn't even wumming. Like the Jenkinson comment. And praising Theo for getting another assist and having a good game as said by pundits. Neither was the comment about mental strength a WUM but just the truth unless Letters thinks we have mental strength.

[Cripps_orig]

I see my other post has been deleted as well. No answer to it. Not that I was expecting one

[Niall_Quinn]

Yeah. Apart from the fact that I said I'd edited it...

But you haven't said what was edited. As far as we know it's an entirely different post we're seeing. Agree with Fakeyank - leave it or delete it, but to change it without indicating what has been changed - that means it's now your post, not the original posters. So change it to your name as well and that makes it clearer for everyone.

[Niall_Quinn]

Besides, what's this incredible aversion to WUMming on this forum all about. 99.3% of fans' banter is wind up. Are we really shooting for a debating club here or is it still a fan forum?

[Niall_Quinn]

Walcott was excellent again, as indicated by the pundits.

[Niall_Quinn]

Walcott was excellent again, as indicated by the pundits.

Disagree. He spent most of the match running into opponents, misplacing passes, missing the target. He did a couple of decent things but the rest was amateur hour. The pundits get excited by his pace and seem to overlook his very serious shortcomings as a footballer. Jack and Cazorla need more consistency ahead of them if we are to put these teams like Sunderland away early. Theo costs us in this respect.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

:lol: mods.

awful sods.

[milla]

Wumger lost his plot on GW. :coffee:

[Power n Glory]

Might as well have deleted his entire post rather than cherry pick stuff and put out there as his..

I've seen worse but the mods haven't done anything about it. Cripps and Zimm are probably the two under the most scrutiny on here. It's pretty bad.

[Joker]

I've seen worse but the mods haven't done anything about it. Cripps and Zimm are probably the two under the most scrutiny on here. It's pretty bad.

Agreed, some of the Walcott bashing is clear WUMmery, yet those posts are never deleted. At times it appears that the rules change depending on the opinion being expressed.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Good match reaction guys.

[Letters]

Agreed, some of the Walcott bashing is clear WUMmery, yet those posts are never deleted. At times it appears that the rules change depending on the opinion being expressed.
If you see an example then report it.

[Master Splinter]

Walcott's smile is terrible compared to Welbeck's.

Reported.

[Niall_Quinn]

Agreed, some of the Walcott bashing is clear WUMmery, yet those posts are never deleted. At times it appears that the rules change depending on the opinion being expressed.

Joker, you placed Walcott third in your MOTM ratings. So just stop it will you? You're the biggest WUM of all. Not that I care, say what you want if the mods will let you speak freely, but take the holier than thou BS and cram it back up your arsehole.

[Cripps_orig]

If you see an example then report it.

Did someone report mine?

[Niall_Quinn]

If you see an example then report it.

Be on the lookout for threads that criticise Theo Walcott. Priority one.

[Niall_Quinn]

Did someone report mine?

Yes, I did. Reported to FBI and Interpol.

[Cripps_orig]

Female Body Investigators?

Interpol :lol: poor mans Inter Milan and Liverpool.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

:lol: match threads.

what a mess.

[selassie]

Well, obviously it isn't. But the game at WHL is very important this year. Lose that and it's gone, a point keeps us in it, a win gives us a great chance.
I fear a loss but reckon we might get a point. Can't see us winning there.

Very important win yesterday. Could and should have been out of sight but were a bit wasteful in front of goal. Can't argue with the sending off, 2 silly fouls. After that it was backs against the wall a bit and we did well to hang on. Chesney did well.

It will be nice to have a break from the PL next weekend.

Yep, the game against them at WHL will go someways to deciding it and essentially we have to WIN, even if we do win 4th place still isn't in our hands given the current points situation.

The Scum are not as flamboyant as last season, the difference with them this season is they are a lot more solid/compact and harder to beat. They also have Bale who IMHO is now one of the standout players in the League, he has the ability to get them that 4th spot on his own.

Of course the Chavs are in the race for 4th too, though we all equally have fairly similar run-ins.

This one is going to go to the wire again, last day dramas IMHO. We go to Newcastle on the last day which IMHO is a horrible fixture now they've sorted out their team.

[Cripps_orig]

When was the last time we won at WHL?

[Marc Overmars]

In the league, 07/08.

Those Cesc and Adebayor screamers. :bow:

[Letters]

When was the last time we won at WHL?
2007/8. I don't think we have to win there to give us a chance of 4th but it would make us favourites IMO.
A draw would still give us a chance I reckon, Spurs usually wobble.

[Kano]

on those two occasions we had two exceptional strikers who could win a game when we were being pretty average and that's not the case now. hopefully we do it but i can't see it.

[GP]

on those two occasions we had two exceptional strikers who could win a game when we were being pretty average and that's not the case now. hopefully we do it but i can't see it.

its funny cos theo is shit haha lol

[fakeyank]

We really need to sort out our defense before WHL.. theyll kill us with the shit we have on display. Change our backline to this:

Jenkinson Sagna Per TV5/Monreal

[selassie]

We really need to sort out our defense before WHL.. theyll kill us with the shit we have on display. Change our backline to this:

Jenkinson Sagna Per TV5/Monreal

I like Jenkinson but wouldnt trust him in a game like WHL, he's not ready for that yet...too raw.

[fakeyank]

I like Jenkinson but wouldnt trust him in a game like WHL, he's not ready for that yet...too raw.

I'd rather him there and Sagna in the middle. Kos and Vermaelen are horrible CB's and need to be shipped out. Plus Jenks is a gooner by blood and you know he will pour his soul out for the game. I'd rather have him some real gooners on the pitch against the scums than some talented fuckwits who have talent but dont know what it is to wear the team colors.

[WMUG]

Like Sagna? :sarcy:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/01/08/article-0-0CA87B3A000005DC-101_468x354.jpg