Match Reaction vs Chelsea

[Marc Overmars]

Shit game. Plenty of bluster but we were snuffed out by this average Chelsea side as usual.

2 points from 9 against teams around us, a poor return.

We can regain top spot before the year is out but 6 points from West Ham and Newcastle are essential, given Liverpool play Chelsea and City

[Master Splinter]

Terrible game, terrible performance.

Mourinho and Dean played it perfectly and Wenger and the team played into their hands.

Have to get maximum points from the next few games.

[Darknight02]

Terrible game. Of that there is no doubt.

Difficult conditions.

After two losses and a defense, which was starting to once again resemble that fragile nature of seasons gone, regardless of a win, the first job in my opinion was to not lose the game. That we’ve accomplished.

Second job was to try and not concede any goals and once again provide the resemblance of having a strong defense especially to the rest of the league.

We’ve accomplished both those jobs.

It was disappointing not to win that game of course.

I cannot for a second understand how any fan on here cannot see that Chelsea should have had not one but two red cards and whatever you say, it was a penalty on Theo. Regardless of whether he was not going to score from that position, it was a penalty as it was a clear foul by the Chelsea player.

We’ve had terrible decisions against us this season at home and that was yet another one. Add that against the decisions against us at City and you’d hope that this spell of bad luck would even itself out and bring us good fortune and good luck in the New Year.

People should not forget we are equal on points in the Premier League and have now played United and City away.

The fixtures from now until February are a must win now. To establish another cushion and possibly a lead before that monstrous set of fixtures that will come in February/March which will decide the destination of the Premier League title.

A draw is not the most terrible result. Chelsea still have to play City and Liverpool still have to play City.

What lessons to learn from this result?

Giroud is great at his link up play but Wenger must see that he expounds a huge amount of energy with his hold up play and he is just does not have the freshness anymore. A new striker in January is a must.

Diego Costa is available for 32 million pounds – break the bank and get him. Suarez is a pipe-dream now and Costa is a livewire who will add to the side. I sincerely hope Wenger realizes that this is a big chance to capitalize and build on a decent start to the season and probably represents our best chance for silverware.

Lets keep some perspective. We didn’t lose and we didn’t concede. Yes we dropped two points but we are still in this race. The January transfer window cannot open soon enough. And it is the business we do in January that will decide our fate.

Matches between the top teams rarely decide titles. Imperative not to lose.

This side should be able to beat about 15 of the 20 teams in this league. It is these games that will decide the title.

[Penguin]

2 points from 9 against teams around us, a poor return.

3pts against Liverpool? :sarcy:

[Ollie the Optimist]

mourinho and mike dean are cunts of the highest order.


we were poor but it was better not to lose then to try to win and lose like the dortmund home game. shows we have learnt from those mistakes. i don't understand the no subs either. shocking from wenger.

overall in perspective we are second on goal difference. 1 point above city, 2 ahead of chelsea. after villa, who would have thought that? plenty of time to get back to top, esp looking at liver pools next two games. city and chelsea. poor performance, but overall a good point

[Marc Overmars]

3pts against Liverpool? :sarcy:

Meant the run we've just had. Everton, City and Chelsea.

[Power n Glory]

Terrible performance but happy with the point!

Giroud getting injured wouldn't be a disaster....there I said it. :run:

[Ollie the Optimist]

mourinho also had no intention of winning that game. the time wasting, the fouling, the diving and the subbing off a striker for a defender. no one will mention that though, we were poor but its difficult to beat a side that has no intention of winning.

[Burley Gooner]

Giroud should've put the chance that he sliced, away. I world class striker would've scored that.

[Marc Overmars]

mourinho also had no intention of winning that game. the time wasting, the fouling, the diving and the subbing off a striker for a defender. no one will mention that though, we were poor but its difficult to beat a side that has no intention of winning.

Didn't look like we had the nerve to go and win it either in fairness.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Didn't look like we had the nerve to go and win it either in fairness.

hmm true, id say we gave a bit of go compared to chelsea. after conceding 8 in our last two games, I'm glad we kept a clean sheet but mourinho iddnt want to win that game at all. he did the same at united when they played.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Awful game. A real stinker. Great advert for the Premier League. :whistle:

WUMger might have been thinking that he didn't bring on Cazorla and Poldi as they will start against West Ham but to not offer even one subsitution? Very odd.

[Power n Glory]

Giroud is great at his link up play but Wenger must see that he expounds a huge amount of energy with his hold up play and he is just does not have the freshness anymore.

That's not true. He's not good at the link up play. Not at the moment anyway. Nobody is getting any chances whilst he's outside the box.

[Burley Gooner]

We need to kick on now and win our next two games. Wenger needs to buy a striker in January, one that is clinical in front of goal. We're traditionally finish strongly in the second half of the season, long may this continue.

[JonasTC]

Im fucking pissed... Im not a fan of Giroud anymore, the guy will never be a top striker. We're the only top team in europe that doesnt have a top striker, even Bendtner could have got 7 goals in 15 games for this team. He might be amazing at the link up play, but we already got 6+ players that are amazing at that, all we need is a guy who can atleast hit the goal when he gets a huge chance.

Mike FUCKING Dean. It has to end, we cant keep getting these clearly corrupt refs doing their best job to make Arsenal lose. Seriously they're not even trying to hide it, Chelsea should have got 2-3 reds and a bunch of yellows. Instead Arsenal the least stoke-playing team in the league gets more yellow than the team trying their best to look like Stoke.

[Özim]

This was a must win game for me if we were serious about the title, as usual though we blow it against the better sides and offer nothing going forward. As MO pointed out a while back we have another really tough run later on in the season where we meet a lot of the top sides again, fully expect us to come unstuck in those just as we always do.

In conclusion, it's a fight for 4th for the 9th year running.

[Ollie the Optimist]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcMuCQaCQAEuNPy.jpg

how have these two tackles not received a red card yet jack gets banned for a middle finger? we have had edurardo, ramsey and diaby break legs because of these, we don't need anymore

[Burley Gooner]

Im fucking pissed... Im not a fan of Giroud anymore, the guy will never be a top striker. We're the only top team in europe that doesnt have a top striker, even Bendtner could have got 7 goals in 15 games for this team. He might be amazing at the link up play, but we already got 6+ players that are amazing at that, all we need is a guy who can atleast hit the goal when he gets a huge chance.

Mike FUCKING Dean. It has to end, we cant keep getting these clearly corrupt refs doing their best job to make Arsenal lose. Seriously they're not even trying to hide it, Chelsea should have got 2-3 reds and a bunch of yellows. Instead Arsenal the least stoke-playing team in the league gets more yellow than the team trying their best to look like Stoke.

I totally agree, Giroud will not win Arsenal the title. The January transfer window will make of break our season.

Mike Dean is a bell end.

[Ollie the Optimist]

This was a must win game for me if we were serious about the title, as usual though we blow it against the better sides and offer nothing going forward. As MO pointed out a while back we have another really tough run later on in the season where we meet a lot of the top sides again, fully expect us to come unstuck in those just as we always do.

In conclusion, it's a fight for the 9th year running.

your critiscms of arsenal tonight should be the exact same for chelsa then given they offered nothing going forward either. poor result but its christmas and we are second on goal difference and you are moaning. you won't ever be happy will you?

our next league games should be all winnable while the top sides play each other, we can hopefully build a good lead before the next tough run.

[Niall_Quinn]

A game all about mike dean. He was the standout performer and had total influence over the result. The two teams? Chavs desperately negative, us desperately sloppy again, especially in front of goal. Poor day for Giroud, Ramsey and Walcott.

[Marc Overmars]

hmm true, id say we gave a bit of go compared to chelsea. after conceding 8 in our last two games, I'm glad we kept a clean sheet but mourinho iddnt want to win that game at all. he did the same at united when they played.

I agree, that's what you expect from Mourinho.

Defensively we were fine but that stale performance was all too familiar and disappointing again. Hopefully we can keep knocking off the pub teams because we're probably not going to be beating many of the sides around us by the looks of it.

[Ollie the Optimist]

mourinho on the mikel tackle on arteta
they like to cry, its tradition

i hope someone hits that cunt in the face with a hammer

[Niall_Quinn]

Sky going to extraordinary lengths to excuse the chav tactics. Lets see what they say next time on of ours puts in a bad tackle. I think you can guess.

[Power n Glory]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcMuCQaCQAEuNPy.jpg

how have these two tackles not received a red card yet jack gets banned for a middle finger? we have had edurardo, ramsey and diaby break legs because of these, we don't need anymore

Nah, I don't think it was a red. I agree with Neville on that one. Glad Arteta isn't injured because it looked nasty but I wouldn't compare that to Diaby or Eduardo. Neither player had the ball. But we should have had a penalty and the ref let some silly fouls go. One on Ozil was nasty from Ivanovic.

[Burley Gooner]

A game all about mike dean. He was the standout performer and had total influence over the result. The two teams? Chavs desperately negative, us desperately sloppy again, especially in front of goal. Poor day for Giroud, Ramsey and Walcott.

Ramsey had one of those games, sloppy passing throughout. Walcott was triple teamed through a good part of the match, so was pretty much anonymous. Giroud needs to be a bit more intelligent in front of goal, and use his brain a bit more. Admittedly his all round game, holding and laying off the ball has improved but to be honest that's bread and butter for most top class strikers.

[Penguin]

It's funny how people think all of our problems would magically be solved if we sign a world class striker - they wont. Our problems run deeper than that.

I'm not overly concerned by today's result but the performance was uninspiring. We always struggle to break down organised teams because our passing is too slow and predictable. I'd be more worried if I was a Chelsea fan.

[Özim]

your critiscms of arsenal tonight should be the exact same for chelsa then given they offered nothing going forward either. poor result but its christmas and we are second on goal difference and you are moaning. you won't ever be happy will you?

our next league games should be all winnable while the top sides play each other, we can hopefully build a good lead before the next tough run.

Not really no because I don't give a sh*t about Chelsea and anyway they've won challenged for stuff in the last 9 years. In addition, they are capable of winning big games, clearly we're not.

No I'm not happy because we threw away point at Everton, got thrashed by Man City and have now dropped more points at home, that's in addition to losing top place in our CL group. When it matters we go missing, we're just too lightweight to be honest you never get the feeling we can win these matches when you watch them, maybe we lack a competitive edge.

Newcastle away is a game we could easily lose and given our form at the moment no game is a gimme.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Joint top at christmas :good:

Let's leave the criticism for the inevitable collapse in February/March.

[Ollie the Optimist]

chelsea's record against the big sides this season. played united, chelsea and spurs away. all draws and all boring games. they were lucky to beat city at home. they are shit and hardly capable of winning the big games based on this season.

everton were the best team we have played all season, its not throwing away a point, don't be stupid. man city was just awful, shocking and I'm glad we looked defensively good today. top place in the champions league is irrelevant, all sides in that draw would have been tough. funny that at christmas, the side who are top were made to look shit by us.

i never said newcastle was a 100% nailed n win, i said it should be winnable but we have to play well. second at christmas on goal difference, thats superb. you moaned we never competed when fighting for fourth, you moan when we are competing.

[JonasTC]

It's funny how people think all of our problems would magically be solved if we sign a world class striker - they wont. Our problems run deeper than that.

I'm not overly concerned by today's result but the performance was uninspiring. We always struggle to break down organised teams because our passing is too slow and predictable. I'd be more worried if I was a Chelsea fan.

With a world class striker, atleast we would have had 3 points today and still be top of the league :)

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

With a world class striker, atleast we would have had 3 points today and still be top of the league :)

And we now have 1 month to find that.

If he wants it, he'll buy one.

How much does Wenger want it ?

[Marc Overmars]

It's funny how people think all of our problems would magically be solved if we sign a world class striker - they wont. Our problems run deeper than that.


Might have been true in previous years but I do think it's a fairly obvious issue this season.

Of course there's no magic solution but we have a striker who's remit is to bring the midfield into play. You have to wonder what a more savvy and selfish striker could do with the sort of ammunition we have at our disposal.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

We need a striker that creates his own chances.

Giroud doesn't do that.

[Ollie the Optimist]

We need a striker that creates his own chances.

Giroud doesn't do that.

hmm with our midfield, our strikers shouldn't need to create chances, they should be finishing them.

however, all out bids for falcao, lewandoski and costa. one should be gettable. got to get one of those

[JonasTC]

If he could create his own chances, it would just be a bonus. Our team provides enough chances for our striker, all we need is for him to be clinical and score on them. There hasnt been one game this season, where Giroud havent been fed with a chance he should score on.

[Power n Glory]

Might have been true in previous years but I do think it's a fairly obvious issue this season.

Of course there's no magic solution but we have a striker who's remit is to bring the midfield into play. You have to wonder what a more savvy and selfish striker could do with the sort of ammunition we have at our disposal.

He had two very good chances today and three good chances against City. The first one he missed was similar to one of the chances against City.

Also, because we've been relying upon Ramsey to score goals, he's playing way too far up the pitch for some games and it's leaving us exposed. Ozil needs to sort his game out too. He's playing like a pussy. Totally anonymous.

[Özim]

chelsea's record against the big sides this season. played united, chelsea and spurs away. all draws and all boring games. they were lucky to beat city at home. they are shit and hardly capable of winning the big games based on this season.

everton were the best team we have played all season, its not throwing away a point, don't be stupid. man city was just awful, shocking and I'm glad we looked defensively good today. top place in the champions league is irrelevant, all sides in that draw would have been tough. funny that at christmas, the side who are top were made to look shit by us.

i never said newcastle was a 100% nailed n win, i said it should be winnable but we have to play well. second at christmas on goal difference, thats superb. you moaned we never competed when fighting for fourth, you moan when we are competing.

If I'm honest I just don't believe in this side, I needed to see us produce something in the last few games, something that tells me we're capable of winning the league, I haven't seen that, we're not the best team and the best team usually wins the league. Until we can show we are capable of beating the top sides, I'm never going to truly believe and will continue to see us as 2nd tier. 2 points from 9 with 2 games at home is a poor return IMO.

A striker might help but I'm not sure Wenger will spend and don't know who is available, we need someone World class who can guarantee goals.

[Ollie the Optimist]

If I'm honest I just don't believe in this side, I needed to see us produce something in the last few games, something that tells me we're capable of winning the league, I haven't seen that, we're not the best team and the best team usually wins the league.

well what have you seen that chelsea and city have convinced you they are the best sides? poor away records? playing for draws in the big games? what? they have been poor this season, thats why we are above them.

[Ollie the Optimist]

given deans performance tonight this picture has been going around. its shocking he is allowed to ref our games

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcMrrJuCEAA17Bt.jpghttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcMrrJuCEAA17Bt.jpg

[Power n Glory]

given deans performance tonight this picture has been going around. its shocking he is allowed to ref our games

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcMrrJuCEAA17Bt.jpghttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcMrrJuCEAA17Bt.jpg

That really should be looked into.

[Özim]

well what have you seen that chelsea and city have convinced you they are the best sides? poor away records? playing for draws in the big games? what? they have been poor this season, thats why we are above them.

They aren't a great side, they have been poor this season and yet are what 2 points behind us when we've had a good season thus far, they're only going to improve in reality. They were away from home at the end of the day so a draw is a better result for them.

We've got another run like this in March April and I think we'll drop points left right and centre again tbh, haven't seen anything to make me think otherwise.

[IBK]

I feel deflated after that. Been a familiar feeling this past month.

Before this season we were perennial top 4 material. I'm sorry but I see no fundamental change in this team, or the manager's tactics. We have improved defensively, no doubt. But now Ramsey's hot streak has ended and Giroud's looking fairly ordinary again, we struggle to make goalscoring opportunities. We hold an almost suicidally high line - giving inevitable opportunities to the opposition - yet at times look so easy to defend against.

We've spent #42m on one player, yet as we have posted all the usual results/performances against the top teams over the past month, we have looked desperately short of a match winner.

We need a real step change if we are to win things, not gradual improvement, because I see all of the traditional top teams in this league being noteably stronger during the second half of this season, yet alone next season. I'm afraid we are not seeing a step change - and all those who questioned our credentials despite our good start are being proved right.

[Letters]

It's funny how people think all of our problems would magically be solved if we sign a world class striker - they wont. Our problems run deeper than that.

I'm not overly concerned by today's result but the performance was uninspiring. We always struggle to break down organised teams because our passing is too slow and predictable. I'd be more worried if I was a Chelsea fan.
Tonight was never going to be a goal-fest, we made few chances against a well organised Chelsea side.
Giroud had a good chance and put it wide. Someone like RvP, Aguero or Suarez is scoring that and that's the difference in games like that. I like Giroud but he's not at the level of a player who can lead the line in a title winning side.

I'm pretty fed up about tonight's result. If you'd given me joint top at Christmas at the start of the season I'd have bitten your arm off but from where we were a few games ago it seems disappointing. We have to win the next few games now to stay in the race.

[IBK]

If I'm honest I just don't believe in this side, I needed to see us produce something in the last few games, something that tells me we're capable of winning the league, I haven't seen that, we're not the best team and the best team usually wins the league. Until we can show we are capable of beating the top sides, I'm never going to truly believe and will continue to see us as 2nd tier. 2 points from 9 with 2 games at home is a poor return IMO.

A striker might help but I'm not sure Wenger will spend and don't know who is available, we need someone World class who can guarantee goals.

Agreed.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Sorry for being pedantic.

If we are joint top, then Liverpool were joint champions.

[Ollie the Optimist]

That really should be looked into.

in the current match fixing climate, i need a lot of convincing that he isn't a corrupt cunt

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

hmm with our midfield, our strikers shouldn't need to create chances, they should be finishing them.

however, all out bids for falcao, lewandoski and costa. one should be gettable. got to get one of those

Sometimes Giroud is way too deep. When he gets the ball, he can't create his own chances. Someone pacey would turn and run at defenders, hence create his own chances. That's what I meant.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Sorry for being pedantic.

If we are joint top, then Liverpool were joint champions.

I can go along with that.

[Ollie the Optimist]

for the last 8 years we've all moaned about fighting for fourth every year, we get to one season where we sign a genuine world class player, get to christmas level on points with first place and still people moan? do you not enjoy football at all?

[JonasTC]

To look at the positive side tho, we have just had a horrible December. In other years that have meant that we have had to fight back from 7-8th spot, if we "fight back" this year it could mean that we end up as champions.

[Power n Glory]

I feel deflated after that. Been a familiar feeling this past month.

Before this season we were perennial top 4 material. I'm sorry but I see no fundamental change in this team, or the manager's tactics. We have improved defensively, no doubt. But now Ramsey's hot streak has ended and Giroud's looking fairly ordinary again, we struggle to make goalscoring opportunities. We hold an almost suicidally high line - giving inevitable opportunities to the opposition - yet at times look so easy to defend against.

We've spent #42m on one player, yet as we have posted all the usual results/performances against the top teams over the past month, we have looked desperately short of a match winner.

We need a real step change if we are to win things, not gradual improvement, because I see all of the traditional top teams in this league being noteably stronger during the second half of this season, yet alone next season. I'm afraid we are not seeing a step change - and all those who questioned our credentials despite our good start are being proved right.

Ozil hasn't shown up for the big games and it's really disappointing.

[Ollie the Optimist]

They aren't a great side, they have been poor this season and yet are what 2 points behind us when we've had a good season thus far, they're only going to improve in reality. They were away from home at the end of the day so a draw is a better result for them.

We've got another run like this in March April and I think we'll drop points left right and centre again tbh, haven't seen anything to make me think otherwise.


why is it that chelsea will improve in your mind but we won't? thats just stupid logic. what happens if we pull off another ozil?

[Letters]

If I'm honest I just don't believe in this side, I needed to see us produce something in the last few games, something that tells me we're capable of winning the league, I haven't seen that, we're not the best team and the best team usually wins the league. Until we can show we are capable of beating the top sides, I'm never going to truly believe and will continue to see us as 2nd tier. 2 points from 9 with 2 games at home is a poor return IMO.

A striker might help but I'm not sure Wenger will spend and don't know who is available, we need someone World class who can guarantee goals.
Whilst I agree with a lot of that did you think before the season started that we'd be level on points with the league leaders at Christmas? I bloody didn't. We won't win the league. Tonight confirmed that for me. I'm disappointed because although I never thought we would win it, it's still a kick in the pants when it's confirmed. But I have seen improvement this season, the important thing is we have to build on that, otherwise it'll be Groundhog Day again.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I can go along with that.

:lol:

[JonasTC]

People need to stop bashing Özil, he's doing exactly the same thing as he did in Real Madrid, only difference is that our players doesnt score on the easy chances he gives them.

[LDG]

Horrendous conditions tbf.

Thought we could have moved the ball quicker at times, and it's pointless having walcott if we're never going to play the quick ball in behind.

Far too predictable.

Thought Chelsea were shit too mind.

[selassie]

I thought we were pretty brutal TBH and this team looks nowhere near good enough or any closer to beating any of its rivals, as in Chelsea, Man City etc.

We lacked imagination, got a lot of the basics wrong and pretty much just huffed and puffed our way to a draw. Our passing was off, at times lacked discipline and in general just looked the least likely of the sides to win.

What concerns me more than anything is this team seems to have gone back to the Arsenal of last season prior to our decent run, I don't know if it's because we are playing decent opposotion but we just look so toothless.

Upfront isn't our only issue either, we are beginning to see problems in Central Midfield again. Moreover Ozil who is suppose to be our star man has been absolutely woeful in the games against City and Chelsea, weak, immobile and afraid to make decisions.

Forget the title, we have a huge battle on our hands to finish top 4 IMHO, it's getting that tight.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Whilst I agree with a lot of that did you think before the season started that we'd be level on points with the league leaders at Christmas? I bloody didn't. We won't win the league. Tonight confirmed that for me. I'm disappointed because although I never thought we would win it, it's still a kick in the pants when it's confirmed. But I have seen improvement this season, the important thing is we have to build on that, otherwise it'll be Groundhog Day again.

Wrong.

If we sign a top top striker in the ilk of Costa, we can win the league.

[Power n Glory]

People need to stop bashing Özil, he's doing exactly the same thing as he did in Real Madrid, only difference is that our players doesnt score on the easy chances he gives them.

It's not good enough and he's not going to get a free pass. The midfield were pretty poor and he contributed to the poor play.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

People need to stop bashing Özil, he's doing exactly the same thing as he did in Real Madrid, only difference is that our players doesnt score on the easy chances he gives them.

Brilliant post.

[selassie]

People need to stop bashing Özil, he's doing exactly the same thing as he did in Real Madrid, only difference is that our players doesnt score on the easy chances he gives them.

It's not about bashing him, it's about expecting more from a 40million pound player, that's what he cost Jonas.

Look...I like Ozil as a player, once he settles into the team/league I think he'll be great but I haven't liked his performances in the big games this season. I'm not expecting him to juggle the ball from the halfway line and walk it in but I expect him to contribute more. I don't like the way he pulls out of challenges either.

[BOBN]

One of you Giroud lovers needs to come in here and tell me if youre sticking with this "superb season" madness.

Now we arent top we can stop pretending this is the best Arsenal side since 05. An argument could be made that this is closer to the worst than the best. Ok its solid but I see no stars. No world class talent. All other Wenger sides have had that.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Now we arent top we can stop pretending this is the best Arsenal side since 05. An argument could be made that this is closer to the worst than the best. Ok its solid but I see no stars. No world class talent. All other Wenger sides have had that.


:haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha:

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Diego Costa has the best conversion rate in European football (39%). Suarez on 30%.

Costa haters :haha:

[BOBN]

People need to stop bashing Özil, he's doing exactly the same thing as he did in Real Madrid, only difference is that our players doesnt score on the easy chances he gives them.
Stop it. Nevermind all his comically bad mishaps in the match. That penalty moment where he played that sloppy square ball to Walcott was the moment that confirmed hes not the one. A top player doesnt pass there, he takes responsibility. A top top player bends it into the top corner.

[Ollie the Optimist]

please continue. this is top comedy posting :haha:

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Liverpool will lose to City.

They'll at max draw to Chelsea.

We can easily beat West Ham and Newcastle.

We go into the new year top.

Gloom gone.

Relax, we got dis'.

[Power n Glory]

Stop it. Nevermind all his comically bad mishaps in the match. That penalty moment where he played that sloppy square ball to Walcott was the moment that confirmed hes not the one. A top player doesnt pass there, he takes responsibility. A top top player bends it into the top corner.

Even Neville said he should have had a go and you want your top players taking more responsibility.

[Power n Glory]

Liverpool will lose to City.

They'll at max draw to Chelsea.

We can easily beat West Ham and Newcastle.

We go into the new year top.

Gloom gone.

Relax, we got dis'.

Yeah, I think we're still in this race. Just need to performer better than this over the coming days and when we have our next run of big games.

[Marc Overmars]

It's not good enough and he's not going to get a free pass. The midfield were pretty poor and he contributed to the poor play.

I've realised it's not Mesut Arshavin we have, it's Mesut Hleb.

[Zerlathon]

Yeah, I think we're still in this race. Just need to performer better than this over the coming days and when we have our next run of big games.

Agreed, I fail to see why people are starting to crack just because we are no longer on top (just on GD I must add). I fancy our chances of getting another 6 points from the next 2 matches with Liverpool likely to drop some (ideally a draw from both).

We seem to be pretty good at beating the "non-contenders", which is what we should be doing if we are to be in there for the Title.

[Bumble]

Chelsea came to play for a draw and did it well although we should have had a penalty. Chelsea are poor though they have worse striker problems than we do.

Giroud missed another couple good chances. He suits the system but is not a goal scorer.

We are joint top with Liverpool which would have been good odds at start of season. They have Chelsea and city coming up so we need to make most of it but Newcastle are a good side so point there not bad result. We have to beat west ham they are struggling and don't score.

[GP]

Mourinho is a douche nozzle.

[Niall_Quinn]

chelsea's record against the big sides this season. played united, chelsea and spurs away. all draws and all boring games. they were lucky to beat city at home. they are shit and hardly capable of winning the big games based on this season.

everton were the best team we have played all season, its not throwing away a point, don't be stupid. man city was just awful, shocking and I'm glad we looked defensively good today. top place in the champions league is irrelevant, all sides in that draw would have been tough. funny that at christmas, the side who are top were made to look shit by us.

i never said newcastle was a 100% nailed n win, i said it should be winnable but we have to play well. second at christmas on goal difference, thats superb. you moaned we never competed when fighting for fourth, you moan when we are competing.

Nah, it's all about momentum. The silly points dropped at home vs Everton started the ball rolling, downhill. And that's how momentum works, in both directions. Beat Everton, finish top of the CL group, I guarantee we'd have given city a tougher test. Even a draw there and we would have faced the chavs brimming with confidence rather than being so nervous of a loss we might as well have worn turtle shells rather than a kit. 2 from 9 and a throwaway CL performance and we are second in the PL, second in the CL when we were top in both and had it all in our own hands.

First to second is not a positive direction whichever way you sell it - many said we were top based on an easy schedule. I wouldn't say they have been proved right because we have been on the end of some shocking refereeing recently, but it certainly has given plenty of ammo to our doubters and rivals.

The dropped points at Everton made what happened next almost inevitable. We have bitter experience of what happens when we throw away games like that. Same with putting out weak sides in minor cup competitions, a loss is a loss. You can't gain confidence from a loss.

We had to make the games against city and the boring chavs LESS important, instead we made them vital. 7 minutes more concentration vs Everton and we'd be top today, by a bigger marging that 2 points I think because I believe we'd have done better in subsequent games.

You can't fuck with momentum and confidence, once ot's going in the wrong direction it's hard to turn around. Time for Wenger to earn his money now.

[Niall_Quinn]

He had two very good chances today and three good chances against City. The first one he missed was similar to one of the chances against City.

Also, because we've been relying upon Ramsey to score goals, he's playing way too far up the pitch for some games and it's leaving us exposed. Ozil needs to sort his game out too. He's playing like a pussy. Totally anonymous.

Ozil anonymous? Eh?

He's been competent at worst. He hasn't done a Ronaldo or Messi, true enough. If that's what you mean by being anonymous then give him some time to settle in a new country and a new league.

[hobson's choice]

This midfield continues to frustrate, we keep saying we need a striker, but whats the point of a striker, if no one is creating anything for them.

And can Rosicky stop fucking making so many shit passes, he can be such an annoying player, gets in great position, only to fuck it up, with one of his usual shit passes.

[Niall_Quinn]

Sorry for being pedantic.

If we are joint top, then Liverpool were joint champions.

That's right, joint top nothing. We're second. We were first and now we're second. But with Dean today I guess a 0-0 was a bit of a miracle result, just shows how horribly negative the chavs were. Also, Suarez can't keep up that strike rate and as soon as he stops pool start plummeting. They are a one man team, like we were with the Dutch Iscariot. Doesn't work. Fails in the end.

[Niall_Quinn]

This midfield continues to frustrate, we keep saying we need a striker, but whats the point of a striker, if no one is creating anything for them.

And can Rosicky stop fucking making so many shit passes, he can be such an annoying player, gets in great position, only to fuck it up, with one of his usual shit passes.

They were all doing it tonight, not just Rosicky. At least he moves the ball forward, that's such a bonus. Forward is where the opposition goal is.

[hobson's choice]

They were all doing it tonight, not just Rosicky. At least he moves the ball forward, that's such a bonus. Forward is where the opposition goal is.

They've been doing it all season, our midfield really haven't played that well in an attacking sense.

It's nice that he moves the ball forward, but whats the point, if he ends giving the ball away, like he always does. Trying to force a pass, that's not there, or just making a shit pass. His end product is very poor.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I would seriously love to know just what the fuck wenger was doing tonight.

Why were no subs made?? It's fucking unfathomable.

If he's have made some changes, Carzola and pods, we might have had a chance of winning the game.

I just cannot understand it :shrug:

Even when the SS guy questioned him about it he had to think a short time for some shit explanation 'errrrr, ummmm, well eerrrrr' Really arsene?!?

I know we've gotta play on Thursday but FFS. Giving pods 10 mins or so wouldn't have fucking hurt.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Why were people calling for Podolski? The guy hasn't played since August. He would have been unfit and sluggish, just like Giroud.

Cazorla maybe but for weeks we've been saying he's been out of form.

What we should have done was make Walcott hog the touchline more to stretch their defence so we could get in behind. Theo was way too central tonight, most of the time he was only 6 foot away from Giroud when we were attacking. He gave us no width when he's the only wide player we really have.

Clearly a tactic but it was the wrong one.

[BOBN]

This midfield continues to frustrate, we keep saying we need a striker, but whats the point of a striker, if no one is creating anything for them.

This gentleman is correct. Frankly its a pretty overrated collection of players our midfield.

Cazorla - Thought he was good, but hes been laughable this season
Wilshere - Nothing player
Ramsey - Are we still pretending he has a shout at player of the season?
Ozil - One of the bottle, not the special one
Arteta - Mediocre
Flamini - Worker
Rosicky - Meh

Its too much to fix. Wenger just needs to go and find a top striker to paper over it all. The man needs his Drogba.

[Niall_Quinn]

This gentleman is correct. Frankly its a pretty overrated collection of players our midfield.

Cazorla - Thought he was good, but hes been laughable this season
Wilshere - Nothing player
Ramsey - Are we still pretending he has a shout at player of the season?
Ozil - One of the bottle, not the special one
Arteta - Mediocre
Flamini - Worker
Rosicky - Meh

Its too much to fix. Wenger just needs to go and find a top striker to paper over it all. The man needs his Drogba.

I have to agree, we are absolute shit. In fact I don't know why we even bother supporting the club. All our players are crap, our manager is crap, I hate those blue bits on the kit, they are crap. And the most laughable thing of all is we're second in the table and through to the next round of the CL. It's all bad.

[JonasTC]

I have to agree, we are absolute shit. In fact I don't know why we even bother supporting the club. All our players are crap, our manager is crap, I hate those blue bits on the kit, they are crap. And the most laughable thing of all is we're second in the table and through to the next round of the CL. It's all bad.

:haha:

Seriously i dont get some of these people either, if we're really so bad, shouldnt we be super happy that we're 2nd with a big chance of being #1 by new years and being in the next round of the CHL?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I'm not getting too overwrought with this result though it's never good to cede top, we didn't allow ourselves to go mental in the last ten minutes to risk it all and lose it like against Dortmund, which nobody would be giving Wenger thanks to, if we did. Really the onus should have been on Chelsea, being the ones behind us but Mourinho gonna Mourinho.

I just hope that this lack of wins doesn't seep in to the game against West Ham, although they are very poor really so it shouldn't.

Also, I do think we are good enough to win the league and that's not just on potential ability, that's also based on there being no discerning between the title race and a Top 4 Trophy place right now.

[BOBN]

And the most laughable thing of all is we're second in the table and through to the next round of the CL. It's all bad.
Second :lol: Same script, but just changed one word huh. Forget about this "1st", "2nd" comfort blanket, do you know how many teams have been first and second at this time of year? Liverpool now...I remember fookin Leeds being top at xmas in recent times. Any fooker can be top at xmas in this league.

Anyway im not saying anything new, everybody knows we need a top striker asap. We need attackers who are about goals and about winning. Ramsey proved he doesnt care about winning when he put the ball out of play when Ramires was down, Ozil squaring the ball to Walcott proves hes soft as baby shyt and not a game-changer even in his own mind. These need a ruthless forward to look up to.

[hobson's choice]

I have to agree, we are absolute shit. In fact I don't know why we even bother supporting the club. All our players are crap, our manager is crap, I hate those blue bits on the kit, they are crap. And the most laughable thing of all is we're second in the table and through to the next round of the CL. It's all bad.


No one is saying this team is shit, but they simply haven't created many chances. That midfield going forward, hasn't been consistently good this season.

[AFC Leveller]

You could say we'd have lost this game a year or two ago but we managed to get a point. You can also say we cannot the big games for toffee and should have beaten this robust but very average Chelsea side. Sunderland and Stoke both beat them at home because they actually attacked them and showed no fear. We looked frightened and too nervous to go forward knowing we can be hit on the counter attack.

The defence were solid and error free (nice changce from previous games against those cunts) but the midfield were shocking and so was Giroud. Arteta was left with no options time and again and kep passing it to the back 4 everytime. Where was the movement? creativity? Theo kept runing away from the ball and when he did ask for it to feet, he was robbed easily. Ozil for me was subdue and timid again in a big game. He is our best player in terms of talent but for me he'll never the player to take control of the game and dominate the opposition.

We all know that Giroud isnt clinical and will watse chances so nothing new there but i just think he can sometimes complain too much and get in a bad mood if the ref doesnt give him a free kick. he should stop moaning and work on battering his CB.

Liverpool cannot possibly win both of their next two games so we really should reclaim top spot. West ham away i think we can get a result there but its the bar codes away where i think we'll need to be at our best because they are probably the form team right now (have beaten Man ure, Spuds and Chelsea in the last 8 games).

[Letters]

Wrong.

If we sign a top top striker in the ilk of Costa, we can win the league.
I agree, but I don't think we will do that. Hope I'm wrong.

[Letters]

I would seriously love to know just what the fuck wenger was doing tonight.

Why were no subs made?? It's fucking unfathomable.

If he's have made some changes, Carzola and pods, we might have had a chance of winning the game.

I just cannot understand it :shrug:

Even when the SS guy questioned him about it he had to think a short time for some shit explanation 'errrrr, ummmm, well eerrrrr' Really arsene?!?

I know we've gotta play on Thursday but FFS. Giving pods 10 mins or so wouldn't have fucking hurt.

Yeah, that was a weird one. We've got Carzola and Podolski sitting on the bench, a few fresh legs would have given us a better chance.

[Letters]

No one is saying this team is shit, but they simply haven't created many chances. That midfield going forward, hasn't been consistently good this season.
You're never going to put a load of goals past a well organised Chelsea defence and team who have come for a draw.
We created a couple of pretty clear chances but we don't have a striker clinical enough to finish them. We need someone who can take the one chance in a big game like that, get one and we're winning the league.

[Letters]

The dropped points at Everton made what happened next almost inevitable. We have bitter experience of what happens when we throw away games like that.
You keep saying things like this as if we had a God-given right to win that game. They've only lost once all season, that was away at City where...well, we know how good City are at home. They're only 2 points away from us for a reason. I am disappointed we didn't win it after our late goal was cancelled out but Everton are a tough side to beat this year, they're not going to lose many games.

We've had a tough run of games and not come through it that well, we've got a few games now we 'should' win and so far this year we have been winning those. Keep doing that and we'll be up there come May.

[Power n Glory]

You keep saying things like this as if we had a God-given right to win that game. They've only lost once all season, that was away at City where...well, we know how good City are at home. They're only 2 points away from us for a reason. I am disappointed we didn't win it after our late goal was cancelled out but Everton are a tough side to beat this year, they're not going to lose many games.

We've had a tough run of games and not come through it that well, we've got a few games now we 'should' win and so far this year we have been winning those. Keep doing that and we'll be up there come May.

I get what NQ is saying with that result. It's where momentum was lost. The team is weak mentally and we carried this disappointment to the next run of games. We haven't played the same since. I give credit for Everton with the way they played but I was also impressed by the way fought there way back into the game after being dominated. That fight has disappeared since and it looks like we're in that cycle where we can't recover quick enough. We've had tough games but it will be criminal if we continue on like this.

[AFC Leveller]

i think AW didnt want to change anything because we looked to have contained Chelsea and had a nice shape to us. It was a case of keeping what we have and definitely a lesson learnt from the Dortmund game.

[Power n Glory]

There is a good article in the Bleacher report linking his tactics to that Dortmund game. He didn't know whether to stick or twist! He just froze. I think making no decision at all is really bad and he needs to work on his tactics. He didn't have to make a blunder like when taking off Flamini for Gnarby but you just never know what Wenger is thinking when it comes to subs.

[selassie]

i think AW didnt want to change anything because we looked to have contained Chelsea and had a nice shape to us. It was a case of keeping what we have and definitely a lesson learnt from the Dortmund game.

TBF I felt we finished the game strongly, it was our best period. We didn't have them on the ropes but we were certainly the stronger team.

I would rather a point than nothing so it's not all bad.

As crazy as this might sound I think we have a better chance of beating Chelsea at SB as they will no doubt play a more open/expansive game.

[AFC Leveller]

Agree re winning away fromh home.

[Power n Glory]

This midfield continues to frustrate, we keep saying we need a striker, but whats the point of a striker, if no one is creating anything for them.

And can Rosicky stop fucking making so many shit passes, he can be such an annoying player, gets in great position, only to fuck it up, with one of his usual shit passes.

If you think Rosicky was bad you must be livid with Ramsey. Check the comparison.

Rosicky
Passing - 45/53 - 85%

Ramsey
Passing 55/75 - 73%

That's really poor from Ramsey and he didn't win any of his tackles yesterday. He's pushing forward way too much and only completing 50% of his passes in the final third. It leaves us open to counter attacks. We were lucky because Chelsea are really poor on that side.

Another note....Giroud's hold up play needs work.

Passing - 20/31 - 65%

There was a great opportunity to break on Chelsea with Theo bombing down the right. A pass played into his path with have set him off but a missed controlled ball by Giroud meant the move slowed down completely and we lost the opportunity.

Speaking of Theo.....

Passing - 11/18 - 61%

That is pathetic. There is no way he should be playing on the flanks. He's contributing very little to our build up play.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

i think AW didnt want to change anything because we looked to have contained Chelsea and had a nice shape to us. It was a case of keeping what we have and definitely a lesson learnt from the Dortmund game.

Exactly. There was no need to make subs because we were on top of the game in the latter stages. What we needed was a striker that could bury Giroud's chances, and Podolski would not have buried those because he is completely unfit and sluggish.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Sluggish due to his comeback from injury by the way. When he's completely fit he's definitely more pacey than Giroud so may have buried them.

[Letters]

Even if not fully match fit after a long lay off he must have been in training for a while to make the bench.
He's surely fit enough for 10 minutes, otherwise he shouldn't have been on the bench.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Maybe against a lesser team but in a match like that? If he came on with Cazorla and we let in a goal you'd have said 'he should have kept it how it was, it was keeping them out'. We had chances to win it but not the striker to finish them off. Simple.

[Letters]

If he's not fit enough to come on and do a job then he shouldn't be on the bench. :shrug:
I thought it was strange Wenger didn't bring on some fresh legs but maybe he was learning lessons from Dortmund when we went for it too much and ended up getting caught.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I'm delighted Vermaelen deputised well and looked really up for it. I thought Gibbs and Sagna were sensible and I actually thought Arteta and Rosicky were very good last night. I think that is particularly pertinent as there is a school of people that would absolutely insist that this was the sort of game Flamini should play rather than Arteta. Rambo obviously didn't have one of his best games and Ozil managed to have nice touches without actually really threatening.

I was a little perplexed when Ozil played that ball to Giroud rather than shoot, I must admit. He does that quite often and I think Wenger needs to encourage him to evolve his game from Real. It might have worked when he had Cronaldo, a player without a limitation, but he just doesn't have a player with that same skill set around him now. He needs to take more responsibility and frankly he is talented enough to do so, but he will work it out in time. Yaya Toure also took on whole lot more when he came from Barca to City and look at what a good player most people now realise he is.

Walcott was poor and should have been playing higher up with someone coming in field to cover for him, when it was obvious that he was getting double teamed frequently. Cazorla is really the guy you want with the ball if anyone is to be double/triple teamed.

I thought it was right he didn't start but it was strange Podolski didn't come on. He has been behind the scenes training for quite some time now which should have at least sharpened his instruments for a short cameo...... especially with his shooting power and technique and his tendency to go wide. Wenger is well known to make subs based on fitness/energy levels, which is why not making a single sub is almost unheard of from any manger let alone him. The performance was not that of a well rested sprightly team, bursting with creative ideas, so it would seem strange in the context of the game.

The ball was slipping about the place and the conditions were quick, yet we were really reluctant to try and catch the keeper off guard or just chance it from distance to then follow up a potential rebound. Chelsea did try their chances but fortunately Szczesny's handling is amazing which is a point he will get little credit for but really should.

I didn't think the game was quite the 'will we take the league or not' match it was billed as, and we can take a few positives from getting a point.

[IBK]

I thought we were pretty brutal TBH and this team looks nowhere near good enough or any closer to beating any of its rivals, as in Chelsea, Man City etc.

We lacked imagination, got a lot of the basics wrong and pretty much just huffed and puffed our way to a draw. Our passing was off, at times lacked discipline and in general just looked the least likely of the sides to win.

What concerns me more than anything is this team seems to have gone back to the Arsenal of last season prior to our decent run, I don't know if it's because we are playing decent opposotion but we just look so toothless.

Upfront isn't our only issue either, we are beginning to see problems in Central Midfield again. Moreover Ozil who is suppose to be our star man has been absolutely woeful in the games against City and Chelsea, weak, immobile and afraid to make decisions.

Forget the title, we have a huge battle on our hands to finish top 4 IMHO, it's getting that tight.

I hate that the warm feeling of a month or so has leached away - but it has. Citeh; the Chavs, even Manure will get better - and Liverpool seem to be moving through the gears and have the best striker in the league. Before the season began you'd have said we'd be fighting for fourth - even with our record in 2013. Nothing we've seen so far this season suggests any different. Ozil's underwhelmed hugely, for me.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

There were a couple of occasions when Walcott and Ramsey played perfectly good balls in the final third but the wet surface meant the ball just skidded away out of touch. It might not have skewed the passing stats greatly, but these things can sometimes thwart the likelihood of an early goal until players start compensating a little better for the surface they're playing on.

[BOBN]

I was a little perplexed when Ozil played that ball to Giroud rather than shoot, I must admit. He does that quite often and I think Wenger needs to encourage him to evolve his game from Real. It might have worked when he had Cronaldo, a player without a limitation, but he just doesn't have a player with that same skill set around him now. He needs to take more responsibility and frankly he is talented enough to do so, but he will work it out in time. Yaya Toure also took on whole lot more when he came from Barca to City and look at what a good player most people now realise he is.

Great points and a great comparison. Things change when you become a £30m+ player. Yaya embraced that, Ozil needs to too, if he can.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I think Ozil was used to releasing people from a much deeper position at Real, who worked a lot on the counter attack. He's not going to get to do that too much here though, especially if there is a lack of runners beyond the lines early on.

In fairness though, Chelsea did sit back when they didn't have the ball and just organised themselves in a compact unit. Arteta had a surprising amount of space to manoeuvre in for a big game and I don't think he gave the ball away often if at all.

[Power n Glory]

I think Ozil was used to releasing people from a much deeper position at Real, who worked a lot on the counter attack. He's not going to get to do that too much here though, especially if there is a lack of runners beyond the lines early on.

In fairness though, Chelsea did sit back when they didn't have the ball and just organised themselves in a compact unit. Arteta had a surprising amount of space to manoeuvre in for a big game and I don't think he gave the ball away often if at all.

Arteta made the most passes. 92% 89/97. He did well.

[Alpha]

It is really hard to have a good opinion in this world of football full of hypocrites and emotional people . Had chelsea had a penalty turned down , we could have heard people saying : " Arsenal were lucky to escape another blunder " or : " Arsenal saved by referee blind eye " ..etc..

No matter how the game was played , Wenger was robbed of a famous victory over Mourinho . A penalty is a penalty . Which was very obvious even an amateur referee could have given it . Even though some excuses say Walcott tried to "exaggerate " .
A penalty is not given or turned down because a player has " exaggerated " A penalty is given when there is a foul in box . When there is a contact between a defending player and an attacking player , it is a penalty . If Walcott had clipped Willian , it could have been a free kick to Chelsea even if Willian had " exaggerated " So how come in reverse situation nothing is given ?
Arsenal players did not do themselves any favour by missing the few chances they created but the penalty was more than enough to win the game . Chelsea is a strong team. So they did not need any referee help to have a result but surprisingly , on this occasion , they needed it . what a shame .

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

I hate that the warm feeling of a month or so has leached away - but it has. Citeh; the Chavs, even Manure will get better - and Liverpool seem to be moving through the gears and have the best striker in the league. Before the season began you'd have said we'd be fighting for fourth - even with our record in 2013. Nothing we've seen so far this season suggests any different. Ozil's underwhelmed hugely, for me.

Or you can look at it another way. We came through our tough run of fixtures and are sitting joint top. Now the 'easy' run of fixtures will come up, hopefully we can push on back to winning ways.

[Özim]

It is really hard to have a good opinion in this world of football full of hypocrites and emotional people . Had chelsea had a penalty turned down , we could have heard people saying : " Arsenal were lucky to escape another blunder " or : " Arsenal saved by referee blind eye " ..etc..

No matter how the game was played , Wenger was robbed of a famous victory over Mourinho . A penalty is a penalty . Which was very obvious even an amateur referee could have given it . Even though some excuses say Walcott tried to "exaggerate " .
A penalty is not given or turned down because a player has " exaggerated " A penalty is given when there is a foul in box . When there is a contact between a defending player and an attacking player , it is a penalty . If Walcott had clipped Willian , it could have been a free kick to Chelsea even if Willian had " exaggerated " So how come in reverse situation nothing is given ?
Arsenal players did not do themselves any favour by missing the few chances they created but the penalty was more than enough to win the game . Chelsea is a strong team. So they did not need any referee help to have a result but surprisingly , on this occasion , they needed it . what a shame .

Well no not really, even if it had been given we could have still missed it or had it saved, so he wasn't robbed at all.

Flavour of the month Costa missed on last week.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Well no not really, even if it had been given we could have still missed it or had it saved, so he wasn't robbed at all.

Flavour of the month Costa missed on last week.

chelsea should have been down to 9 men and we should have had a penalty. there is no guarantee we would score the penalty but we should have played at least half an hour against 9 men, chances are we would have scored then. its a fair assessment to say mike dean robbed AW of his greatest chance to beat mourinho by being an incompetent cheating fuck

im not saying we played well either, we didn't, we were the better side just imo but both sides were awful but if the referee actually enforced the laws of the game, we probably would have won. and also, i know we failed to break down chelsea, but why did they not fail to break us down? mourinho has gone to 3 big games this season, spurs united and us and drawn all 3 because he played for a draw in all of them. for such a great manager, thats fucking awful

[Özim]

chelsea should have been down to 9 men and we should have had a penalty. there is no guarantee we would score the penalty but we should have played at least half an hour against 9 men, chances are we would have scored then. its a fair assessment to say mike dean robbed AW of his greatest chance to beat mourinho by being an incompetent cheating fuck

im not saying we played well either, we didn't, we were the better side just imo but both sides were awful but if the referee actually enforced the laws of the game, we probably would have won. and also, i know we failed to break down chelsea, but why did they not fail to break us down? mourinho has gone to 3 big games this season, spurs united and us and drawn all 3 because he played for a draw in all of them. for such a great manager, thats fucking awful

How often do you see teams down to 9 men? We see decisions like this every day of the week (the Mikel one wasn't a red IMO I agree with Neville, when you look at the other angle), I wish people would stop whining about it (we hear this almost every week on here now) and address the bigger issue, our inability to beat the big teams.

If we'd done our job properly decisions would be irrelevant, the fact is once again we couldn't do it, this has been going on for as long as I can remember.

Also this is Mourinho's first half season back (same with Pellegrino and Moyes btw), he hasn't been in charge of the club for over a decade so it does take time to create the team in your own image.

[Marc Overmars]

Theo didn't sell it very well tbh. It was one of those where contact was made but the player didn't decide quickly enough whether to go down or try and play on as he was in a decent-ish position. In the end it looked obvious that the reaction was forced but saying that, it would have been a freekick outside the box all day long.

Refs. :lol:

[Ollie the Optimist]

How often do you see teams down to 9 men? We see decisions like this every day of the week (the Mikel one wasn't a red IMO I agree with Neville, when you look at the other angle), I wish people would stop whining about it and address the bigger issue, our inability to beat the big teams.

i don't think its whining when asking for the referee to do his job properly. every arsenal fan has pretty much said we were shit last night but the referee was just as poor. look at the city game, 2 goals incorrectly ruled out for offside. we can only do so much but if the referees fail to do theirs, then you can't do much about it.

its a clear red card, he broke artetas shin pad ffs. to break a shin pad means you have gone in with excessive force. did he get the ball? no. was he in control? no. did he use excessive force? yes. thats a red card however you look at it.

and you say our ability to beat big teams, yes so far this season its been mixed on that front. napoli, liverpool, dortmund and spurs all beaten, united, city, chelsea not beaten. mixed bag however chelsea have one win in 4 against the big teams, (unless you include bayern in the super cup in which case its one win in 5) city away record is poor this year and they have to go to the to the top 8 in the second half the season. all their home games are done by january except for chelsea. thats going to be tough.

i stand by what I've said all season, these games decide nothing. we've played city, chelsea, liverpool, united, spurs, everton so far and are above all of them bar liverpool. for a team that can't perform in big games, we have to be doing something right to be above 18 other teams on christmas day. you asked for a team that spent money, competed for trophies and didn't just think the top four is a trophy. you have that this season, why spend so much time being down about and moaning? why not just enjoy it?

[GP]

Theo didn't sell it very well tbh. It was one of those where contact was made but the player didn't decide quickly enough whether to go down or try and play on as he was in a decent-ish position. In the end it looked obvious that the reaction was forced but saying that, it would have been a freekick outside the box all day long.

Refs. :lol:

Nah, look at it again, it's not the initial contact, but he takes his leg from under him following through.

100% penalty, and Theo wasn't 'selling' anything.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

I'm happy with a point because a defeat would have killed us mentally. Last season we would have lost that 1-0.

It doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know about this season. We need a striker in January.

It's a huge month.

How much does Wenger want it?

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Nah, look at it again, it's not the initial contact, but he takes his leg from under him following through.

100% penalty, and Theo wasn't 'selling' anything.

It wasn't a natural landing. In real time it looked forced so I can understand why Mr Bean didn't give it. It was only when you slowed it down that you saw what happened and the level of contact in the tackle.

[Bumble]

It wasn't a natural landing. In real time it looked forced so I can understand why Mr Bean didn't give it. It was only when you slowed it down that you saw what happened and the level of contact in the tackle.
it was a penalty but you see worse not given and non penalties given. Still doesnt explain the lack of chances for the rest of the game.

But as you said earlier, we are still top so not all bad. I know people say Liverpool are a one man team but our dip in form seens to coincide with ramseys dip. Giroud has only scored in one in the last 10 league games I think, which is awful.

[Penguin]

I'm happy with a point because a defeat would have killed us mentally. Last season we would have lost that 1-0.

It doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know about this season. We need a striker in January.

It's a huge month.

How much does Wenger want it?
:gp:

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Now the dust has settled here are my thoughts.

- It wasn't a great performance or result, our passing game was off but bear in mind just how bad the conditions were last night. Heavy wind and torrential rain. We should have really tried to adapt our game instead of trying the intricate one two's and flicks which are difficult to pull on in normal conditions let alone the ones last night.

- In terms of league performance it's not suicide time as some of you are making out. We're still joint top FFS! And Liverpool have Man City and Chelsea to come up in their next two games, and so unless they pull of the miracolous and take 6 points from those two games provided we do our jobs we'll go back on top.

- We absoutely have to respond against West Ham. Three PL games without a win is too much for a PL title contending team.

- I love Giroud, but we certainly need someone more clinical if we're aiming to win the league. They'll be games where we'll only get one or two chances and he needs to put them away.

- Mike Dean is corrupt. How the hell Mikel remained on the pitch just baffles me but I'm certain had that been one of our players, he'd be off.




Just read Mourinho's post match comments regarding the penalty and the Mikel incident.


"They [Arsenal] like to cry - that's tradition. I prefer to say that English people - and I give one example, Frank Lampard - would never provoke a situation like that.

"Players from other countries, especially some countries, they have that in their blood.

"Foreign players are bringing lots of good things, but I prefer English blood in football and English blood in these situations is 'come on, let's go'."

Fucking troll. Hope that gets pinned up on the dressing room wall.

[Alpha]

Well no not really, even if it had been given we could have still missed it or had it saved, so he wasn't robbed at all.

Flavour of the month Costa missed on last week.

The penalty should have been given in the first place before we assumed they would have missed it . Anyone can miss a penalty but I don't think Arsenal players have a reputation of missing too many penalties .

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I'm going to be mischievous and suggest that the scousers beating City at the Etihad would actually be a good thing. This whole invincibility thing at home City have...smashing all teams that go there is not a good thing. The sooner it goes the better. More teams will be encouraged by the prospect of going there and getting a point and City are way more likely to last the distance in the league than Liverpool are anyway. I know Liverpool have Suarez but City have Aguero and a few very good forward players to say the least.

Walcott made a meal of the challenge but it was a pen and the little twirp in the black should have given it. We should be good enough to make these things an irrelevance though and we have been good enough for that to be the case in other games this season.

I agree with Neville and subsequently Ozim. Mikel's fouls was not a red, perhaps a yellow. Looked like a 50/50 ball to me and I actually didn't think in real time Arteta was going to get there first. Maybe it's because of the laboured, lead footed way in which his running comes across sometimes.

And yes it is pedantic but I am with Steve French.....we aren't top we are second albeit by a slim margin. If the league stopped today Liverpool would be champions, but I agree that second by goal difference at Christmas is sitting pretty considering.

Also I never realised that Costa scored those 20 league goals in just one month. Sign him up, I say. :d

[Letters]

Well no not really, even if it had been given we could have still missed it or had it saved, so he wasn't robbed at all.

Flavour of the month Costa missed on last week.

http://bookriot.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/sad-eeyore.jpg

[GP]

No.

100% penalty, 100% red card.

And another for Ivanovic.

[Niall_Quinn]

Plus the Mikel red, that's 3. Dean didn't have the balls to do his job - that's the kind way to look at it.

[GP]

Dean did what he was paid to do.

Paid by a betting syndicate.

[fakeyank]

The lack of substitutions yesterday was criminal tbh... Ramsey and Rosicky were pretty shit yesterday. We should have brought on Santi at least.

Vinegar :doh:

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Plus the Mikel red, that's 3. Dean didn't have the balls to do his job - that's the kind way to look at it.

Cech should have been sent off for standing up the whole game too.

[Mr. Lahey]

It was Deans fault we only manage one shot on target, it was also the weathers fault and it was Mourino's/Chelsea's tactics fault as well... Some of the comments are embarrassing and are letting the players/manager off for that anemic performance. Biggest game of the year so far and we hardly even made an appearance in the match until the end of the game. I think given our history, that this poor run should be very worrying. We have a fight for 4th on our hands, especially if we dont address the lack of depth/quality in our squad. Top of the table was nice while it lasted, its gut check time for Wenger and this team. The next few games will certainly show if this team has learned anything from past shortcomings.

[GP]

It was Deans fault

:gp:

[fakeyank]

Just read Mourinho's post match comments regarding the penalty and the Mikel incident.



Fucking troll. Hope that gets pinned up on the dressing room wall.

I really wish that was the case but knowing Vinegar, he will post some quotes from the French Revolution about victory rather than fire up the lads with quotes from cunts like Mou.

[Niall_Quinn]

Cech should have been sent off for standing up the whole game too.

So four reds at least.

[Power n Glory]

It was Deans fault we only manage one shot on target, it was also the weathers fault and it was Mourino's/Chelsea's tactics fault as well... Some of the comments are embarrassing and are letting the players/manager off for that anemic performance. Biggest game of the year so far and we hardly even made an appearance in the match until the end of the game. I think given our history, that this poor run should be very worrying. We have a fight for 4th on our hands, especially if we dont address the lack of depth/quality in our squad. Top of the table was nice while it lasted, its gut check time for Wenger and this team. The next few games will certainly show if this team has learned anything from past shortcomings.

:gp: We had a good chance to win that game and we're not in form. We need to get it right otherwise we'll keep dropping points.

[Mr. Lahey]

we are nowhere near in form and whats making it worse is that our 1st team is knackered! I am just as frustrated with Giroud as everyone else is and dont think he is the man to lead us to the title alone. however people are getting on him forgetting he has pretty much played every minute for us this season and overall he has played very well.

Wenger owes it to this team to add someone in January. overall I am pleased with the first half of the season but our hold habits are starting to rear their ugly heads. if we can make it through the rest of the December schedule and inject some sort of quality in the window, I do believe we can still make a run of it.

[Power n Glory]

Wenger can't repeat the same mistakes as he's done in the past with this next transfer window. I'm not a fan of Giroud's and I don't think the misses are down to fatigue. He's just not clinical and hasn't scored in 9 games or something like that. When Jack scored that wonder goal and we started playing slick football again, the ruthless efficient counter attacking football went out the window. We're now back to trying to dominate possession and passing the ball in the net where earlier in the season we'd let the opposition play and then look to hit them on the break.

[Mr. Lahey]

I cant argue with much of what you said although I will say, for the amount of time we have been at the top and for what he is, the criticism of Giroud is a bit much. If we want to push on, we do need to improve on him, however to slag him off like some are (not you specifically) is silly. I am confident to say that he has put in 100% in every match, we have got some good results and you have to respect him for that. It is up to Wenger to go out and get someone who will improve us.

To your point about playing on the break, we need a ST and we need someone in the Arteta role. Yes Arteta is a tidy with the ball however he does not win the ball and drive us forward well enough, he is not mobile nor quick enough.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I don't think it's unfair to keep in mind that they were playing in some truely atrocious conditions last night also, I'm sure the ball didn't perform that well and was a little more unpredictable to utilise.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I cant argue with much of what you said although I will say, for the amount of time we have been at the top and for what he is, the criticism of Giroud is a bit much. If we want to push on, we do need to improve on him, however to slag him off like some are (not you specifically) is silly. I am confident to say that he has put in 100% in every match, we have got some good results and you have to respect him for that. It is up to Wenger to go out and get someone who will improve us.

To your point about playing on the break, we need a ST and we need someone in the Arteta role. Yes Arteta is a tidy with the ball however he does not win the ball and drive us forward well enough, he is not mobile nor quick enough.

Hear hear

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Merry Christmas to all it concerns.

I think Arteta was fine in this particular games.....in fact he was very good even, but I would agree that a long term successor should be in our midst.

It does sometimes feel like some people will do anything not to criticise the manager himself directly, including slaughtering the very players the manager himself brought in, without realising the irony. Before the season started I was very vocal in expressing my disappointment about our failure to bring in a forward. We went after Suarez, Higuain and Demba Ba. Suffice to say it was clear we were unhappy with our forward options, yet we still didn't improve them.

I argued that not only did we need a second forward but that he would ideally challenge if not take Giroud's place, not simply deputise. Some vehemently disagreed based on his effect on our game and suggested we simply needed a lieutenant. There seems to be few people of that view now. Pretty much all you hear is that we need a better forward if we're going to win this that and the other...but that was always going to be the case for me even if Giroud has deserved the credit he has got for raising his game.

I have been really impressed with his attitude too even if he does cut a sulky figure when it's not going his way.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Wenger can't repeat the same mistakes as he's done in the past with this next transfer window. I'm not a fan of Giroud's and I don't think the misses are down to fatigue. He's just not clinical and hasn't scored in 9 games or something like that. When Jack scored that wonder goal and we started playing slick football again, the ruthless efficient counter attacking football went out the window. We're now back to trying to dominate possession and passing the ball in the net where earlier in the season we'd let the opposition play and then look to hit them on the break.

Yes, he can.

He can and probably will point towards the returns of Podolski, Theo and the Ox with some justification (even if it is rather tenuous). That is why I always come back to the idea that Wenger should be thinking about January's plans and next summers plans as one. In spite of those players returning, the squad is at face value, incomplete without the presence of a top quality forward. In light of that and imo, he should be thinking about what he plans to do in the summer and seeing if he can bring it forward to January.

If we had not known how long ago our last game before Chelsea was, we'd have easily believed we only played a few days ago. That does not augur well.

[Dr Singh]

Blink check your inbox before tonight's Liverpool City game :lol: