Arsenal v Man City EPL Match Reaction

[Munchies]

Fucking hell

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Flamini excellent

Tactically woeful

[Xhaka Can’t]

The manager cost us two points today. Tbf, he nearly made it 3.

[Niall_Quinn]

Excellent from Alexis and Jack. Ref a turd. Wenger incompetent. Two points chucked down the shitter, gypos there for the taking. Won't get a better chance for 3 points against them. Roll on exact same shit from Wenger next week.

[Maestro]

:shrug:

what else is there to say, we all know what the problem is

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Will we ever beat a top team in the premier league?

[Bumble]

Thought it was a good game. We scores good goals. We could have won they could have won. We got a bit of luck they got a bit of luck.

Thought welbeck did ok to and also helped contribute to the first goal by starting the chasing down of city.

[Munchies]

Ramsey fluffed that great chance when played in by Jack , could've been 3-1 :doh:

Sanchez scored a world class goal which will now be overshadowed :(

Fucking wank defending

[Ralpheroo72]

:gp:
Excellent from Alexis and Jack. Ref a turd. Wenger incompetent. Two points chucked down the shitter, gypos there for the taking. Won't get a better chance for 3 points against them. Roll on exact same shit from Wenger next week.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

It's frustrating when you know you have players in the side that are of such genuine class.

From what i saw, Welbeck didn't have a bad game on his debut (although really should have scored)....

We have conceeded four goals from headers this season

Way i see it, Everton, Leicester and City....three points gained, six points left on the table

[Globalgunner]

New season, same as the last, and the one before. Welcome again to Wengerworld. Good news is we are just good enough for 4th, if van Gaal keeps pretending to know what he`s doing

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

How many more goals will we concede from zonal marking before changing the fucking tactic?

[Munchies]

Jack has really stepped up aswell, amazing today

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxas0PTCIAA9nGh.jpg

[Kano]

Wenger hasn't changed and winning a cup was never going to make a difference.

The defence has gone backwards.

Fourth place will be tough this season.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Will we ever beat a top team in the premier league?

I think our form against the top sides has always been patchy under Wenger, we beat them two or three times in a short period than massive barren spells.

Man United - 2011
Chelsea - 2011
Everton - 2012
Man City - 2012
Liverpool - 2013

[Newguy]

Flamini is woeful no point to him on the field

Jack is getting back to form. MOTM

Sanchez is world class.... Real world class, not Ozil world Class

Ramsey has lost something, maybe carrying an injury but if he is then he shouldn't have played, but Jack's obviously stolen his mojo lol

Defence were pedestrian... Monreal is horrible

Poor sub's from Wenger

An additional mention for Jack... Played really well and carried the midfield of Ozil and Ramsey at times.

Oh and Ozil needs to be benched

[Bumble]

So debuchy probably broke his ankle knowing our luck. And that leaves us with 5 defenders. Super.

[adzzzbatch]

6 points from 4 games. Not brilliant is it?

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Ramsey has gone back to his old self. Trying too hard and overcomplicating things.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

How many more goals will we concede from zonal marking before changing the fucking tactic?

too much is made of man vs zonal marking, we were using zonal marking last season and we hardly conceeded any goals from corners, koscielny and mertesacker were attacking every ball into the box where as they are far more passive (both off the boil massively)....and we need someone to clear the ball off the line.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

too much is made of man vs zonal marking, we were using zonal marking last season and we hardly conceeded any goals from corners, koscielny and mertesacker were attacking every ball into the box where as they are far more passive (both off the boil massively)....and we need someone to clear the ball off the line.

We had 11 players in the box.

They had 4.

They scored.

[Niall_Quinn]

Fuck of pellegrini you scummy gypo cunt. A billion quid and all you can do is tell your team to kick everything that moves. We haf panalt, no? We haf more chance, no? Wery deeficul with ref, we be cheated,I dirty stinking cunt who needs to die. And need more playa.

[Niall_Quinn]

too much is made of man vs zonal marking, we were using zonal marking last season and we hardly conceeded any goals from corners, koscielny and mertesacker were attacking every ball into the box where as they are far more passive (both off the boil massively)....and we need someone to clear the ball off the line.

Jeez,it's not them. Both are below top form right now but they are still solid enough. It's that turd monreal. We only have 3 at the back. That's always going to cause problems.

[Ernesto]

Same old crap. Seven minutes to see out a result to really get the motor running on our season. Instead, we concede late (a trait under all Wenger sides) and it leaves us with more questions than answers.

I know Ozil's playing out of position, but he can still affect the game from there. The best players do. Gerrard did it for Benitez at Liverpool a few seasons ago. Ozil isn't happy where he's playing and he's showing it with lazy, inept, ineffectual performances. This isn't a reactionary view- it's there for all the world to see. If he doesn't step up, sell him in January. If he's not part of the solution, he's part of the problem.

I don't think I can bring myself to watch this turgid crap on match of the day tonight.

[Master Splinter]

Strange game.

We battered City for a bit. Then they battered us. Then we went ahead and looked like going 3-1 up. Then City could have won it 2-3.

We attacked quite well today, but it's still not all gelling together and the final ball is woeful from nearly every player at the moment. There's promise there though and when they all play more games together and most players are fit, I'm sure it will all click.

The defence is all over the place though. Flamini offering nothing but daft fouls doesn't help either. We need to sort that out going into this tough period of games. Chambers might actually be a bit more solid than Debuchy, although I hope he's not out for long as he's been decent so far.

Sanchez and Wilshere were superb. Welbeck did pretty well and could make a real difference with his pressing. He has to take clear chances though or he'll just be a fast Giroud and not much of an upgrade.

Ozil should not be playing at the moment. I don't care about his tracking back, it's his basic play that is woeful. And he's not playing out of position. He's played many games there for Real Madrid and Germany and he's allowed the freedom of the pitch anyway. A player of his calibre should be able to make 5-yard passes and hold on to the ball anywhere.

Ramsey is still out of sorts, but still made a telling contribution. It's strange because he's had a full pre-season and looked good up until the Community Shield game. At least he's still scoring or assisting during his bad patch.

I hope he solidifies the team against Dortmund or if not, play to our strengths and attack with Ox coming in on the left.

Clattenburg is one of the better refs. Which means his level of competency was about 25% and he was the best ref we've had in about three years. He should have sent off Milner and handed out at least 3 more yellows, but he did let a few fouls go our way too.

Anyway, Wilshere is finished and Sanchez is a waste of £35 million and Kompany and Hart are the best in their position ever.

[Niall_Quinn]

Good summary, apart from the bit about not wanting to poison, skin and mince Owen.

[Xhaka Can’t]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8xMdNuD_co

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Jeez,it's not them. Both are below top form right now but they are still solid enough. It's that turd monreal. We only have 3 at the back. That's always going to cause problems.

Oh i agree it's the full backs as well, Chambers doesn't look great at set pieces but it's something he will learn and Monreal is as you put it a "turd"

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Same old crap. Seven minutes to see out a result to really get the motor running on our season. Instead, we concede late (a trait under all Wenger sides) and it leaves us with more questions than answers.

I know Ozil's playing out of position, but he can still affect the game from there. The best players do. Gerrard did it for Benitez at Liverpool a few seasons ago. Ozil isn't happy where he's playing and he's showing it with lazy, inept, ineffectual performances. This isn't a reactionary view- it's there for all the world to see. If he doesn't step up, sell him in January. If he's not part of the solution, he's part of the problem.

I don't think I can bring myself to watch this turgid crap on match of the day tonight.

Last season we only ended up dropping points from winning positions on three ocassions in 38 games

[Marc Overmars]

Didn't see the game.

Invincibles MKII this season tbf, though with a million draws this time.

[BOBN]

Same old crap. Seven minutes to see out a result to really get the motor running on our season. Instead, we concede late (a trait under all Wenger sides) and it leaves us with more questions than answers.

I know Ozil's playing out of position, but he can still affect the game from there. The best players do. Gerrard did it for Benitez at Liverpool a few seasons ago. Ozil isn't happy where he's playing and he's showing it with lazy, inept, ineffectual performances. This isn't a reactionary view- it's there for all the world to see. If he doesn't step up, sell him in January. If he's not part of the solution, he's part of the problem.

I don't think I can bring myself to watch this turgid crap on match of the day tonight.
How much would he fetch? 20 million?

We'll need to keep just to save face.

For now hes Wengers Fernando Torres.

[Syn]

Great game to watch. Shame we couldn't hold on but Man City deserved at least a point from this so not feeling too bad about it. Anyone will do well to stay with Man City this season. Can only hope that their concentration drops like that Stoke game. If everyone plays to their abilities, Man City walk this league by 10 points. Only if the Costa-Fabregas partnership can continue for the 38 games can I see them being challenged.

Lovely game from Wilshere.

[WMUG]

God you lot are miserable bastards.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

God you lot are miserable bastards.

against man city, man united and chelsea including today and the previous two seasons we have been in a winning position twice in thirteen games....it's fair to say disappointment is apt.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Probably been in a losing position by the end of a game a lot more though.

[selassie]

A draw was probably a fair result in the end. It was pretty much tit for tat though we got very lucky at the end.

WTF has happened with our defence? Jesus we look so dodgy back there this season.

Still some positives to take, Jack was great, as was Alexis, we still look disjointed though and Ramsey and Ozil still haven't turned up this season.

We have the look of a team fighting for a top 4 position, our title credentials are nowhere to be seen at the moment.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Because we generally play like relegation fodder against these teams. Today we had City for the taking and we blew it. 1 point and 1 defender gone. And it wasn't Monreal. Today has pretty much been a disaster given the lack of options left in defense.

[sibreen]

Good game to watch, this. 2-2 was a fair result. Both our goals were sweet. Pity we couldn't kill them off. Played Everton away and Man City and still unbeaten. Not a terrible start to the season by any means.

[WMUG]

Jeez,it's not them. Both are below top form right now but they are still solid enough. It's that turd monreal. We only have 3 at the back. That's always going to cause problems.

It was Özil that let him go though.

http://gfycat.com/OblongThoroughHamadryas

[Letters]

Because we generally play like relegation fodder against these teams.

That is definitely not how we played today.

[Niall_Quinn]

It was Özil that let him go though.

http://gfycat.com/OblongThoroughHamadryas

Which is 100% Wenger's fault. But even so, having one member of the back four standing around with a perplexed look on his face while the game buzzes around him, that's never useful.

Most irritating game since the last one we played. We had the three points there but the manager is a massive bottle job who thinks you can win a title by statistics alone.

[Niall_Quinn]

That is definitely not how we played today.

Wenger is lucky Alexis and Jack were up for this or his dumbarse "tactics" and crybaby formation would have got another pasting. I hate to see things go to waste and Wenger is wasting this team.

[WMUG]

Which is 100% Wenger's fault.
Mm, that's true.


But even so, having one member of the back four standing around with a perplexed look on his face while the game buzzes around him, that's never useful.


I thought Monreal had made a solid start to the season personally :shrug:

[Niall_Quinn]

Mm, that's true.

Any manager who gives a player like Ozil a defensive responsibility is taking the piss. Ozil doesn't play the left for us, he covers the left. Different thing, then stick Monreal behind him and fuck me :doh:


I thought Monreal had made a solid start to the season personally :shrug:

Yeah as a winger and he can even defend against opponents who can't run faster than an OAP.

What this performance told us more than anything today is Wenger is going for 4th again. If you won't take a few risks to get a key win on your own patch that can generate vital momentum then fuck it, the game's up anyway.

[Syn]

You're such a vagina sometimes. You have to appreciate a good quality game when you see it otherwise what's the point of watching football? We didn't play badly, we played well - as did Man City, and it was a great game to watch with some fantastic individual performances from both sides and great goals. Sanchez and Wilshere for us, and Aguero, Silva and Fernandinho for them. I was far more pissed off about the Leicester result or even the Crystal Palace performance (despite the win). Today wasn't bad even if we didn't get the win.

[Xhaka Can’t]

That is definitely not how we played today.
That is one fine piece of selecting from a quote and completely altering the context.

When did you start your apprenticeship at the Daily Mail?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

it's interesting that we bemoan our defence, but looking at the league....no-one seems to be defending that well at the moment.

[Niall_Quinn]

You're such a vagina sometimes. You have to appreciate a good quality game when you see it otherwise what's the point of watching football? We didn't play badly, we played well - as did Man City, and it was a great game to watch with some fantastic individual performances from both sides and great goals. Sanchez and Wilshere for us, and Aguero, Silva and Fernandinho for them. I was far more pissed off about the Leicester result or even the Crystal Palace performance (despite the win). Today wasn't bad even if we didn't get the win.

In an alternate universe where we are really going for the title, that game today could have been the decider. How often has 1 point made the difference? If we were away then I could understand the negative approach. But at home, against a weakened opponent, we dropped vital points today. We had the players to get those points, but not the manager.

[Power n Glory]

The two hardest working players were rewarded for their efforts with fantastic goals. Jack Wilshere had a point to prove and it was a fantastic goal. Played some brilliant passes and should have had more than one assist. Sanchez is a true World Class player that has it all. He works, he battles, he can dribble, shoots....most exciting player we've signed since Arshavin. Really impressed with him so far and he doesn't hide from the big occasions.

Which brings me on to Ozil....he's the opposite of Sanchez. He hides, he doesn't work hard enough and showed zero quality in that game. He should be benched for the Champs League game. Cazorla should be starting ahead of him. He's been a flop. Ramsey had another off game. Wayward passing and wasn't working hard enough in the middle. He needs to rediscover his form. Missed his chance to score a goal. Welbeck.....besides the chance he missed, their isn't much else to say about his performance, which worries me. It's early days for him so he'll need some time to adapt but I wouldn't be surprised if Wenger took this opportunity to start Sanogo, I bloody hope not! Flamini was awful. Ball watching for the first goal, can't pass, has no power...poor. Kos and Merts weren't switched on....the whole defence weren't. Monreal......

We were looking flat and defeated before Jack's goal as if we were waiting for them to score. We weren't pressing and just stood off them. I have no idea what's happened to our defence. It was a poor 2nd goal to concede but at least we didn't lose the game. On to the next game. The result and the performance from Sanchez and Wilshere are the positives but we need to get back to solid defending.

[Letters]

That is one fine piece of selecting from a quote and completely altering the context.

When did you start your apprenticeship at the Daily Mail?

You said we generally play like relegation fodder. Not a selective quote, it was a complete sentence in your post. If you didn't mean today then I don't understand why you posted that in a match reaction thread to the game.

We didn't play poorly today. It was disappointing to get our noses in front and then drop points but overall I was encouraged by the performance. I was far more concerned with the performance at Leicester where we did look like a mid-table side, today was much better.

I'm unclear why people are blaming Wenger. It was a good game which could have gone either way, Ramsey finishes that chance when Wilshere put him through (difficult chance to be fair, but he's capable) then I reckon we'd have won it. Conversely City had chances to win it. The post was hit 3 times, once by us and twice by them. There are such fine lines in football, you can't generally blame one person for a result, unless you get a real thumping I guess.

[Letters]

You're such a vagina sometimes. You have to appreciate a good quality game when you see it otherwise what's the point of watching football? We didn't play badly, we played well - as did Man City, and it was a great game to watch with some fantastic individual performances from both sides and great goals. Sanchez and Wilshere for us, and Aguero, Silva and Fernandinho for them. I was far more pissed off about the Leicester result or even the Crystal Palace performance (despite the win). Today wasn't bad even if we didn't get the win.

That :good:

[Xhaka Can’t]

You said we generally play like relegation fodder. Not a selective quote, it was a complete sentence in your post. If you didn't mean today then I don't understand why you posted that in a match reaction thread to the game.

We didn't play poorly today. It was disappointing to get our noses in front and then drop points but overall I was encouraged by the performance. I was far more concerned with the performance at Leicester where we did look like a mid-table side, today was much better.

I'm unclear why people are blaming Wenger. It was a good game which could have gone either way, Ramsey finishes that chance when Wilshere put him through (difficult chance to be fair, but he's capable) then I reckon we'd have won it. Conversely City had chances to win it. The post was hit 3 times, once by us and twice by them. There are such fine lines in football, you can't generally blame one person for a result, unless you get a real thumping I guess.
The rest of the post talks of today. Save confusion and quote the whole post. You took the totality of what I said and twisted it by quoting one sentence.

[Letters]

The rest of the post talks of today. Save confusion and quote the whole post. You took the totality of what I said and twisted it by quoting one sentence.

Fine. I was just making the point that I thought today was a good performance and I don't understand (although I guess I should have got used to it by now) the negativity.

[Syn]

In an alternate universe where we are really going for the title, that game today could have been the decider. How often has 1 point made the difference? If we were away then I could understand the negative approach. But at home, against a weakened opponent, we dropped vital points today. We had the players to get those points, but not the manager.

We didn't set out to get a point. I thought we got the balance right. A bigger push and rather than us getting the winner, Man City would've been far more likely to pick us off on the counter. Thinking of the home game against Dortmund last year where the team seemed to get carried away.

[GP]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxbmK9QCYAAPqSM.jpg

Gibbs :bow:

[Niall_Quinn]

Which brings me on to Ozil....he's the opposite of Sanchez. He hides, he doesn't work hard enough and showed zero quality in that game. He should be benched for the Champs League game. Cazorla should be starting ahead of him. He's been a flop. Ramsey had another off game. Wayward passing and wasn't working hard enough in the middle. He needs to rediscover his form. Missed his chance to score a goal. Welbeck.....besides the chance he missed, their isn't much else to say about his performance, which worries me. It's early days for him so he'll need some time to adapt but I wouldn't be surprised if Wenger took this opportunity to start Sanogo, I bloody hope not

Don't agree with any of that. Ozil is getting caned because he's not playing like Ronaldo, not because he's playing badly. People are judging by expectation rather than performances. He gave the ball away a few times, which is rare for him, but so did other players, particularly Ramsey. But he'll still provide at least a couple of incisive passes a game and they often make a difference. Playing him on the left is a criminal waste and that's down to the manager. Expecting him to cover back is just dumb, that's not his game. Stick him in the Silva role and you have twice the result. Welbeck was a good presence up front, much more mobile than Giroud, hassled their defenders, stole the ball back a few times and wasn't afraid to take responsibility. Was an inch away from a dream start. Media will be all over it like they were about his cross that was perfectly good but Sterling gave up on. They'll ignore the fact with his chance today he was sharp, got into the position and looked plenty composed to me given he didn't lash at it. When Wenger says he'll improve him it makes me shiver. Probably end up with another back to goal flickmeister.

[Niall_Quinn]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxbmK9QCYAAPqSM.jpg

Gibbs :bow:

Which one?

[Niall_Quinn]

Fine. I was just making the point that I thought today was a good performance and I don't understand (although I guess I should have got used to it by now) the negativity.

It's simple enough. We had the tools to beat them today but the manager blunted them with his negative team selection, crappy tactics and laughable substitutions. These are the games we HAVE to win. Massive victory for the gypos today, they'll take an away point against a rival any day. Defeat for us. We had something to prove but all we proved is the manager will hide when the tough games arrive.

[Niall_Quinn]

We didn't set out to get a point. I thought we got the balance right. A bigger push and rather than us getting the winner, Man City would've been far more likely to pick us off on the counter. Thinking of the home game against Dortmund last year where the team seemed to get carried away.

They exploited the glaringly obvious weak point for the first goal. Wenger has seen this for months and done nothing about it. The for the second goal watch Monreal again. It's all very well blaming the guys who actually tried to prevent the goal, yes they failed but they tried. Reality is they were a man short, Monreal was as perplexed as usual, standing around watching. A defence is a unit, take out one of the parts and all the parts fail. Now we have lost Debuchy, I bet this turd gets a run of games on the right so he can carry on destroying cohesion in the defence. Wenger will see it and do nothing. He's even got him pegged as cover for CB. What sort of a joke is that?

Playing Flamini meant we set out not to get beaten. I can even accept that in some ways, after the hidings we got last year. But when he saw the gypos were light in midfield, were playing Silva behind the striker and particularly when he saw the first 15 mins he could have adapted to take advantage. But he didn't. He never does. It gets wildly frustrating.

End of the day, two home points dropped. Manager at fault.

[Letters]

It's simple enough. We had the tools to beat them today but the manager blunted them with his negative team selection, crappy tactics and laughable substitutions. These are the games we HAVE to win. Massive victory for the gypos today, they'll take an away point against a rival any day. Defeat for us. We had something to prove but all we proved is the manager will hide when the tough games arrive.
I've made the point above about fine lines. We could have won today, we could have lost. A draw was probably about right on the day.
If you get a thumping then you can think about where it all went wrong, with a game which could have gone either way and where one or two incidents could have gone a different way and produced a different result it doesn't make sense to over-analyze everything like the press do and declare so definitively that so-and-so got it wrong.

Good performance. OKish result but could have been better, could have been worse.

[Power n Glory]

Don't agree with any of that. Ozil is getting caned because he's not playing like Ronaldo, not because he's playing badly. People are judging by expectation rather than performances. He gave the ball away a few times, which is rare for him, but so did other players, particularly Ramsey. But he'll still provide at least a couple of incisive passes a game and they often make a difference. Playing him on the left is a criminal waste and that's down to the manager. Expecting him to cover back is just dumb, that's not his game. Stick him in the Silva role and you have twice the result. Welbeck was a good presence up front, much more mobile than Giroud, hassled their defenders, stole the ball back a few times and wasn't afraid to take responsibility. Was an inch away from a dream start. Media will be all over it like they were about his cross that was perfectly good but Sterling gave up on. They'll ignore the fact with his chance today he was sharp, got into the position and looked plenty composed to me given he didn't lash at it. When Wenger says he'll improve him it makes me shiver. Probably end up with another back to goal flickmeister.

Ozil is caned because he's playing shite! He was just as bad in the middle , where he often drifts out wide anyway.

Did you see those poor efforts on goal that went well wide? Yes, I expect better from a professional. He had no influence on that game and the one or two incisive passes he makes just isn't enough to warrant a starting place. He's lost his place in the number 10 role for a reason. If Jack keeps playing like that and if Ramsey gets his game together, where will Ozil play? He needs to step his game up. Damn right I'm expecting more from him.

[Letters]

I think it's too harsh to say he's playing shite but he's not playing like a £40m player.
We have high expectations of him - rightly so - and he's not living up to them. Not consistently enough.

[Power n Glory]

It's simple enough. We had the tools to beat them today but the manager blunted them with his negative team selection, crappy tactics and laughable substitutions. These are the games we HAVE to win. Massive victory for the gypos today, they'll take an away point against a rival any day. Defeat for us. We had something to prove but all we proved is the manager will hide when the tough games arrive.

If Wenger played Arteta and Flamini, that would equate to negative tactics. We went out to attack and played a strong squad. There isn't much he could have done except start Arteta and Gibbs but they're coming back from injury. Playing Ozil out wide is the only eye raiser, but who do we leave out if he starts?

[Niall_Quinn]

He'll play in behind Welbeck - obviously, and rotate the role with Santi. Absolute no brainer. Any other manager would be doing it. This business about who will go where, the team picks itself, no difficulties at all when injury, suspension and cups/ CL are factored in. It's just that Wenger then goes and messes it all around and makes it complicated. Also never forget that Jack is shit, a flop, failed, useless, has been and we should sell him. Or maybe not now that he's started to play well again having come back from a year out. Same with Ozil, just because the media says so doesn't make it so.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I thought Flamini was poor for both goals and I'd happily replace him in the side for Rosicky.

Glad to see Wilshere making progress which imo he has been doing all season so far. His right foot is arguably his biggest weakness so good to see him finish with aplomb on it. Welbeck did well but really should have scored. Chipping a ball accurately between two goal posts is a skill all pro's should be able to execute most of the time. From forwards to goalkeepers. Scholes' comment was annoying but true.

Sanchez was great, although he does tend to hold on to it a little too long at times. Monreal looks like he is running through water whenever he has to defend.

I actually didn't think Ozil was too bad today.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

In isolation, a draw to the current champions and arguably the favourites for the league isn't a bad result.

However it's disappointing because of certain factors exclusive to us:

- Yet more dropped points this season especially coming off the poor Leicester result. Six points lost is a lot after four games.
- Yet another failure to dispatch a big team. A worrying trend coming of the back of last seasons results against them.
- Another poor performance defensively. We've shipped far too many goals so far.

There's a long way to go but with Chelsea in the form their in, Man City with their squad depth and United throwing millions to reclaim former glories, it is quite worrying. Top four could be challenging let alone the title.

Really thought City were there for the taking and with some better tactical organisation and defensive maturity we could have done them today.

Annoyed with the DM situation as well. Everyone knew that we needed better than Flamini and Arteta at the start of the window yet we've ended up stuck with these two. To be fair I can understand Wenger's logic that with the number of replacements already brought in that adding more would disrupt the squad but I think it's cost us this season so far. Flamini just isn't good enough - someone needs to be brought in this winter.

Tl;dr - We need to start a run of wins urgently.

[Niall_Quinn]

I actually didn't think Ozil was too bad today.

He wasn't. But there's a plot line to maintain and ratings depend on it. Also now that Jack isn't a shit loser any more and has become the new Jack Wilshere overnight, Ozil will have to carry an even bigger burden in the media.

Flamini is for Stoke and Hull to save Arteta getting beaten up, proper player required for technical games.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Oh yes...and even though Ramsey missed that sitter, his run was amazing. You could clip it and use it as a textbook, perfect example of how to make a run beyond a back line. Beautiful to watch....even if not the finish! If his form doesn't pick up....just play him CF.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I do find the wilful and constant dismissal of Wilshere on here annoying and slightly strange but he doesn't always help matters with comments or getting caught smoking etc.

I'll be delighted for him to ram it down peoples throats though.

[Power n Glory]

I think it's too harsh to say he's playing shite but he's not playing like a £40m player.
We have high expectations of him - rightly so - and he's not living up to them. Not consistently enough.

Forget the price tag. I remember Nasri having similar performances and I was just as critical and he's a much cheaper player. He hasn't had enough influence in big games like this and it's not good enough. A few safe and accurate passes isn't enough, especially when we lose so much defensively when he's on the pitch. You need to be a beast on attack if your not going to defend.

[Master Splinter]

Ozil at the moment is playing almost as incompetently as Arshavin at his worst. It's as simple as that. Basic passes going astray, terrible touches, pushed off the ball. No-one here is talking about his defensive duties. His basic game isn't even there.

You're wrong here N_Q. If he pasted 'Monreal' on the back of his shirt, you'd instantly notice every one of his many current deficiencies.

And I'm obviously the prototypical, knee-jerking, Daily Mail-endorsing, Ozil-hating bastard, aren't I?

[Power n Glory]

He'll play in behind Welbeck - obviously, and rotate the role with Santi. Absolute no brainer. Any other manager would be doing it. This business about who will go where, the team picks itself, no difficulties at all when injury, suspension and cups/ CL are factored in. It's just that Wenger then goes and messes it all around and makes it complicated. Also never forget that Jack is shit, a flop, failed, useless, has been and we should sell him. Or maybe not now that he's started to play well again having come back from a year out. Same with Ozil, just because the media says so doesn't make it so.

If he played behind Welbeck today, Wilshere wouldn't have been starting and he was on his A game today.

[Master Splinter]

Annoyed with the DM situation as well. Everyone knew that we needed better than Flamini and Arteta at the start of the window yet we've ended up stuck with these two. To be fair I can understand Wenger's logic that with the number of replacements already brought in that adding more would disrupt the squad but I think it's cost us this season so far. Flamini just isn't good enough - someone needs to be brought in this winter.



If we're not going to get that big, black, powerful, nasty DM, then we should at least be playing a footballer there. Flamini offers nothing. And Arteta is often too limited to contribute either way. By playing someone like Rosicky there, it would improve our fluency tenfold and it wouldn't make any difference defensively either. The improvement to our midfield control and attacking play would make up for any possible defensive deficiencies anyway.

Wenger's inflexibility in these situations is his worst trait. He simply must stick with Arteta or Flamini.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

On the man to man vs zonal....I was once an avid man to man fan but over the years the evidence has been inconclusive. All I remain concerned about is that regardless of the system, two players (preferably the full backs) are on the post....and I mean ON it, or at least close enough to touch the post with a part of your anatomy whatever that may be. If you are not that close to it, you are making some kind of disparate wall on the goal line which is futile, or just getting in the way of the goal keeper whilst opponents are running around unmarked.

Flamini did not start on the post for the second goal and Sneezy started far too forward. The result was both of them back peddling before the ball had even begun to be directed goalwards and neither of their execution in stopping it being effective enough.

At least 2 goals this season have been conceded simply because we haven't taken the cover on the posts seriously enough. For all the psychoanalysis about why we have not gelled that is one relatively easy thing to correct imo.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I am disappointed by the context of the result, i think after dropping points against both Everton and Leicester i think we needed to win today, six points between us and Chelsea is a massive gulf to have after just four games.

I don't agree that the side put out today was a negative one, i think Wenger has the failing of playing what he thinks is his best players rather than playing a side best placed to beat a particular opponent. Playing Ozil left was a big factor, but the fact remains that the guy is either lazy or seriously lacking in confidence. I don't think it helps to shoe horn him in on the left just so everything fits into your desired formation, but where as Cazorla i do literally believe cannot play wide left i think Ozil has it in him to do that, i think there is something lack in him in terms of either drive or confidence. It's not like he's performing well for Germany and it's just Wenger's obstinancy that is failing to get the best out of him....there's something not right in the mind of the player.

Monreal is just someone who cannot be trusted against the big sides, he has neither the pace or the skill to do anything to aid us against quick opponents....


There have been a lot of changes across the back four in such a short space of time, so instead of the settled solidity we had last season we have very disjointed performances....had this game been played at the same time last season we would have gone on to win all three points....i'm sure of it.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

On the man to man vs zonal....I was once an avid man to man fan but over the years the evidence has been inconclusive. All I remain concerned about is that regardless of the system, two players (preferably the full backs) are on the post....and I mean ON it, or at least close enough to touch the post with a part of your anatomy whatever that may be. If you are not that close to it, you are making some kind of disparate wall on the goal line which is futile, or just getting in the way of the goal keeper whilst opponents are running around unmarked.


At least 2 goals this season have been conceded simply because we haven't taken the cover on the posts seriously enough. For all the psychoanalysis about why we have not gelled that is one relatively easy thing to correct imo.

I agree, i also think we are too passive and ball watching on crosses and set pieces....we need to be attacking the ball more, the full backs need to be staying back and preventing crosses from coming in, and one of ramsey and wilshere near the clear the ball to prevent the second ball from coming in.

[Power n Glory]

I agree, i also think we are too passive and ball watching on crosses and set pieces....we need to be attacking the ball more, the full backs need to be staying back and preventing crosses from coming in, and one of ramsey and wilshere near the clear the ball to prevent the second ball from coming in.

In general, I think we're too passive and ball watch even in normal play. I don't get why we allow teams to have so much space when defending deep. When we don't pressure the ball carrier, we're at their mercy and just have to hope they don't deliver the right pass. It's really bad. Sanchez is the only guy that really puts pressure on defenders and it's probably because he's so used to playing with Barca.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I didn't have too much trouble with Wenger's line up though I'd agree Ozil is not best used on the left. No point in even looking at the gap between us and the chavs. We will never win the league because we will never score the most goals. To win the league that is pretty much what you have to do these days, so dilly dallying with our forward options for years on end equates to not seriously being prepared for winning a league.

It is sickening to see Costa do even better than I anticipated too and at the behest of Fabregas and Mourinho to induce the vomit even further. 7 goals in 4 games. I would act surprised by his flurry of goals but we were here discussing his goal tally being level with Conaldo & Messi last season so I'm not sure there can be too much alarm that he has scored with regularity so far.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

In general, I think we're too passive and ball watch even in normal play. I don't get why we allow teams to have so much space when defending deep. When we don't pressure the ball carrier, we're at their mercy and just have to hope they don't deliver the right pass. It's really bad. Sanchez is the only guy that really puts pressure on defenders and it's probably because he's so used to playing with Barca.


I usually try to avoid using basketball to convey a point but I will this time (the urge is always there for me). :d

I think you basically have to play a man to man / zonal composite.... or a half court/pitch press. When the opposition enter your half you then squeeze the space because your lines never get too far from each other and the space is easily recovered.

If you do that right the way across the pitch before they eneter your half you drag your formation and lines too far apart and the opposition finds space between your lines. It is also more tiring!

That said, when Sanchez closes down 2-3 of the closest team mates to him need to follow suit lest we render his efforts null and void....but he will need to do it selectively as we don't employ the same system as Barca. He can do all the tracking back he likes though!

[Power n Glory]

I usually try to avoid using basketball to convey a point but I will this time (the urge is always there for me). :d

I think you basically have to play a man to man / zonal composite.... or a half court/pitch press. When the opposition enter your half you then squeeze the space because your lines never get too far from each other and the space is easily recovered.

If you do that right the way across the pitch before they eneter your half you drag your formation and lines too far apart and the opposition finds space between your lines. It is also more tiring!

That said, when Sanchez closes down 2-3 of the closest team mates to him need to follow suit lest we render his efforts null and void....but he will need to do it selectively as we don't employ the same system as Barca. He can do all the tracking back he likes though!

:lol: I'm all for that analogy. Funny enough, that's what I was thinking during our game. It looks like a half court press instead of full court but we don't actually put pressure on our opponents even when they're in our half. They're given just as much as space in our own half. We just allowed them to pick out passes and they were uncontested by our players. Not even an attempt to throw the passer off with a challenge or make the angle more difficult. I'm talking key passes here where their midfield is looking to put a striker through on goal. Hardly any pressure. It's all on the defenders to try and stop or mark the runner.

[cheesy bites]

Ozil should be benched. If he plays as shit as he has been recently for the rest of the year, serious consideration is needed to whether he should stay at the club. Not saying sell him in Jan or next summer. But he doesn't fit. At all.

Sanchez was sex on legs today, he was electric. Wilshere was stunning. Debuchy had a great game. Welbz was very very promising. Fair result in the end.

[GP]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxcMBwUCAAA8DAr.jpg

[Syn]

Showing off. Absolutely no need for all that, just stay trim and get to level 15 on the bleep test. Everything else is overkill.

[Fist of Lehmann]

Fuck off Pellegrini.

That is all.

[fakeyank]

Fuck off Ozil.

That is all.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Demichelis with a free header in the box :haha:

Still can't get over it.

[Munchies]

Fuck off Ozil.

That is all.

I've tried defending him but he looks pretty useless at the moment.

Ramsey has looked pretty poor in his last few games aswell.

[Letters]

Yes, Ozil is getting harder and harder to defend.
Obviously he's not as bad as the 'haters' make out but he's not looked like a £40m signing.
There have been flashes of brilliance from him but he's not consistent.

[Power n Glory]

Take this £40m out of the equation. I wouldn't be happy with that level of performance from Cazorla, Ox, Walcott...it seems like exceptions are being made because of his price tag.

[Letters]

I see it the other way around. I think people are expecting more of him because of the price tag. He wouldn't be getting this level of criticism or scrutiny (especially from the media) otherwise.

[AFC Leveller]

Ozil has been one of our worst players since March. He looks lazy, lethargic and nothing like his old self. Yes he is playing out of position but his performances for the last 5 or 6 months have been way below par and he should be benched.


WTF is Wenger doing playing him out wide? we have Podolski, Ox, Santi and Sanchez who can all play wide and play well but this weird frenchman keeps holding us bakc with his crappy selections and tactics.

Jack was terrific, Sanchez too and Welbeck looks quality.

[Power n Glory]

It's not the price tag, it's the position he plays and the level we expect at Arsenal.

He's an attacking midfield player that isn't having a major impact on the way we play. He's hardly ever had a game like we saw from Wilshere today even when playing in his favoured number 10 position. We've seen Cazorla really flourish when playing the number 10 and looking dangerous. We seen the damage Cesc does....Ozil hasn't come close to replicating that level in his favoured position. Napoli is probably the closest it gets.

We've seen the very best playing the number 10 from Bergkamp to Cesc. Ozil could have been signed for £16m and that wouldn't change how I view his performances. It's just not what I'm used to seeing from attacking midfield players.

[Power n Glory]

I see it the other way around. I think people are expecting more of him because of the price tag. He wouldn't be getting this level of criticism or scrutiny (especially from the media) otherwise.

Also, it's accepted there weren't many good performances out there. Monreal, Kos and Merts, Ramsey, Flamini...they weren't at the races today. But one mention of Ozil and we get more people flying to his defence as if we're not seeing something.

[Munchies]

If I'm honest I really wouldn't mind taking a hit on Ozil and getting in that long coveted CDM.

Rosicky has to start playing some games too

If we were to sell Ozil, I think we could get around £30m from a PSG

[Marc Overmars]

Also, it's accepted there weren't many good performances out there. Monreal, Kos and Merts, Ramsey, Flamini...they weren't at the races today. But one mention of Ozil and we get more people flying to his defence as if we're not seeing something.

Agreed. He is obviously very talented but has shown himself to be a passenger more times than he has an effective player for this team.

I'm not sure he's even reached Hleb's level for us yet, he had a similar role and style of play but he managed to manifest that more in the team he played in.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

In general, I think we're too passive and ball watch even in normal play. I don't get why we allow teams to have so much space when defending deep. When we don't pressure the ball carrier, we're at their mercy and just have to hope they don't deliver the right pass. It's really bad. Sanchez is the only guy that really puts pressure on defenders and it's probably because he's so used to playing with Barca.

No i agree, we don't close down and press enough...i am not even sure it's part of a tactical game plan i think too many of our players are not disciplined enough when not in posession.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Jose must be pissing himself seeing novice Wenger rot Ozil on the left when he managed to turn him into the best number 10 in the world.

[Power n Glory]

No i agree, we don't close down and press enough...i am not even sure it's part of a tactical game plan i think too many of our players are not disciplined enough when not in posession.

They're not at the races. We had the same tactics last season, defend deep, zonal marking on corners but I
don't think the concentration is there.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Agreed. He is obviously very talented but has shown himself to be a passenger more times than he has an effective player for this team.

I'm not sure he's even reached Hleb's level for us yet, he had a similar role and style of play but he managed to manifest that more in the team he played in.

Well i think because he's our maquis signing in terms of transfer expenditure it's hard to accept that so many of his performances are so poor. The brass tax is that for a player of his reputation he hasn't come close to stamping his authority on the big games the way he should. I don't actually blame Wenger for this either, the guy is just lazy....you can tell he has it in his locker to eviscerate teams with the range and quality of his passing but he shirks away from the responsibility.
I don't believe it's because our style of play doesn't suit him either, i don't think Real Madrid under Mourinho were set up that differently from how we are.
On the flip side there is a tendency for the media to be overly critical of him, his performances were constantly panned in the World Cup when actually aside from Algeria (and no German player particurlarly performed well in that game) i thought he had a good tournament. I think the expectation though is that he should be the star performer in that side, but considering Germany have so many star performers he is not going to stand out like he might have done four years ago.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

They're not at the races. We had the same tactics last season, defend deep, zonal marking on corners but I
don't think the concentration is there.

True but i don't think playing that deep suits us, we didn't score anywhere near as many goals as liverpool or city and i don't think it was purely because they had better attacking options...it was because we used to defend deep and then play in front of teams rather than winning the ball in the middle of the park and going for the jugular.

[Power n Glory]

True but i don't think playing that deep suits us, we didn't score anywhere near as many goals as liverpool or city and i don't think it was purely because they had better attacking options...it was because we used to defend deep and then play in front of teams rather than winning the ball in the middle of the park and going for the jugular.

Yeah, we're not trying hard enough to win the ball back in our half. The counter would be deadly with the pace we have in our squad. I wouldn't recommend us trying a highline pressing game. We never keep up the energy levels from game to game.

[Xhaka Can’t]

If I'm honest I really wouldn't mind taking a hit on Ozil and getting in that long coveted CDM.

Rosicky has to start playing some games too

If we were to sell Ozil, I think we could get around £30m from a PSG
This.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

If I'm honest I really wouldn't mind taking a hit on Ozil and getting in that long coveted CDM.

Rosicky has to start playing some games too

If we were to sell Ozil, I think we could get around £30m from a PSG

Still think it's too early. Unlike say a Torres, he hasn't really been hampered by injuries nor does his game rely on pace. It seems to be more confidence issues which I'm hoping can be rectified soon. You usually don't lose that amount of class at that age.

Though to be brutally honest, if offered now it would be enormously hard to resist the Fabregas/Ozil swap that could have happened at the start of the summer.

[GP]

Fuck Fabregas. The cunt didn't even want to be here.

[Slacker]

Zonal marking - everyone else's zonal marking seems to work better than ours. The basic principle from most teams seems to be the GK and two CD's zonally mark and the rest of the guys are told where to be. As soon as it's in the air the one whose zone it's heading for is making the call.

In our zonal marking system Merts and Kos don't seem to command their zones, it seems to fall to Ches, who's still learning, while the senior players seem to be stuck in concrete. Probably held back by sneaky forwards but you would think they're savvy enough to get into the zone where the ball is going. Arsenal struggle to make a pretty basic concept work when quality teams and pubbers likewise seem to have no trouble.

Ozil - he will come good when we sell him. We would have won the game yesterday with Cesc in his place.

Misplaced balls - Ozil, Ramsey and Sanchez yesterday could have cost us the game and one from Ches cost us the win. The corner we conceded from came about after Ches played a shorter goal kick obviously intended for one of our guys straight down the throat of a City player putting us immediately on the back foot when he could have just booted long where Welbz and Sanchez would have put their guys under pressure. Chambers had to concede the corner and I bet I wasn't the only one who knew what was coming next. Ches mate, cut that shit out of your game until you've learnt how to do it properly.

I know we're meant to be cutting the tippy tappy out but yesterday our guys were too far apart and that's why the balls weren't hitting their targets. It also seems to affect Ozil and Ramsey who don't seem to have adjusted to it yet, but Jack looks well suited to it already.

Flamini - not sure what he could have done about the equaliser. If Ches had left it he would have made the clearance. Thought he had a tidy game for the first hour but should have come off because he was knackered and a borderline liability beyond 70 mins.

Wenger - agree with pretty much everyone here. His decision making is baffling and it's costing us, plus everyone except him it seems knows what he should be doing.

[Niall_Quinn]

Absolutely fuck Fabregas and his Barca DNA and his Arsenal forever, now I play for the chavs bullshit. Alexis doesn't look like a mercenary to me. Ramsey doesn't look like a mercenary to me. Neither does Jack, or Kos, or Merts or you can go on naming names. We're starting to get an Arsenal team together, not a temporary car park for mercenaries. I'd rather be us than Utd any day. What's happening at Utd is genuinely sad. van Twat has already done more damage than Moyes.

As for Ozil, like Arteta, most of hat he does is simply ignored while every mistake he makes is blow up x10. He was just as good as Ramsey yesterday, which means he was average but a far way from being poor.

The whole problem right now is Wenger. As always, square pegs in round holes. The refusal to have a variety of strategies to counter different opponents. The belief that in a league that has a primary focus of destroying football you can create this perfect machine that outplays everything in front of it. The signing of Welbeck could change things. When Walcott comes back we'll have everything we need to go back to being a pacey counterattacking team. That's where Ozil will shine, and Cazorla and Ramsey and Jack and all those players who are currently standing on each others toes tapping the ball 2 yards.

[Niall_Quinn]

Our goals yesterday - pure class. Jack's was right up there with the best goals you'll see. He had complete command of the ball from start to finish, made his decision quickly and executed with total confidence. As for Alexis, he's the complete footballer. How Barca let him go is a mystery, they'll surely miss him. Their loss, our gain.

[AFC Leveller]

Alexis is pure quality, he works so hard and the way he changes direction is great to see.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

they let him go because they assumed they would be getting something better in Suarez, although i don't think they necessarily are.

[Syn]

they let him go because they assumed they would be getting something better in Suarez, although i don't think they necessarily are.

Potential 6 month bans for stabbing the referee aside Suarez is better than Sanchez in every way. But Sanchez's potential could be to become a similar player. He's entering the peak years of his career and he's in a team where he isn't forced to be the sideshow.

NQ, Ramsey has another season like last year and he's angling for a move to Barcelona/Real Madrid. He ain't English enough (in every sense of the word) to be scared to move abroad. Bale's sold him dreams. 100%. But we probably won't sell him though. Calling this now, in September 2015, NQ will call him a mercenary and wish he was dead.

As MS said regardless of position, Ozil was a right cunt yesterday. Couldn't do much right at all. I have concerns about his mentality but things can change quickly. Unfortunately I think it's clear he is not a player that inspires shit teammates or drags a team over the line, but he can join the party in a winning team. We'll be more reliant on fighting characters like Sanchez, Walcott, Wilshere and Ramsey. Probably won't be enough but hopefully we'll enjoy more games like yesterday.

[Injury Time]

Flamini was spewing at Chez post 2nd Citeh goal. Özil played for about 5-6 minutes, when he did that we scored the equaliser, he seems so scared to put a tackle in for 85 mins it's embarrassing. Monreal did okay going forwards, the goals he was exposed 2 on 1 as either (for once) Alexis didn't track back or Özil (at full slo-mo fake jog) and the rest our midfield didn't bust a gut to cover / expecting Alexis to bale then out yet again.
Alexis really is trying to organise the wingers/ forwards (especially when pressuring Hart), I worry that he'll burn out later in the season covering so much ground.

[Power n Glory]

Monreal is getting stick for the first goal and pushing up too far forward but that's a tactical issue. Wenger will have to address that in training because Debuchy was just as guilty. It just so happens they had Navas playing down our left.

I wouldn't say it was Ozil or Sanchez's fault either. I think Ozil had shifted to the right when that happened, Sanchez had gone on that driving run into the box and when City countered, Ramsey was the closet man to Navas. In fact, Navas was behind Ramsey but Rambo was ball watching and expected to ball to bobble out of play. He changed back once he saw Navas was on to it but he should have been more switched on. Same goes for Flamini.

[Injury Time]

Monreal is getting stick for the first goal and pushing up too far forward but that's a tactical issue. Wenger will have to address that in training because Debuchy was just as guilty. It just so happens they had Navas playing down our left.

I wouldn't say it was Ozil or Sanchez's fault either. I think Ozil had shifted to the right when that happened, Sanchez had gone on that driving run into the box and when City countered, Ramsey was the closet man to Navas. In fact, Navas was behind Ramsey but Rambo was ball watching and expected to ball to bobble out of play. He changed back once he saw Navas was on to it but he should have been more switched on. Same goes for Flamini.
That's exactly what I was saying, Alexis had been bailing out the midfield with his tracking back, when he doesn't it leaves us exposed as per your analysis above.
Even when the ball was being run at Casper on his side they went through him like an er Özil, followed by little to no effort to win it back/ even jog with intent near the player.

[Power n Glory]

That's exactly what I was saying, Alexis had been bailing out the midfield with his tracking back, when he doesn't it leaves us exposed as per your analysis above.
Even when the ball was being run at Casper on his side they went through him like an er Özil, followed by little to no effort to win it back/ even jog with intent near the player.

Sanchez's fitness and work ethic is something the rest of the players need to make note of. I still don't get why we're not coaching that level of pressing into the rest of the players.

[A Gunner]

Alexis is totally immense

The most hard working player I have seen ever

[Power n Glory]

Beast of a player!

[Munchies]

Alexis is becoming my favourite player

Never stops giving it his all, shame his goal has been overshadowed, what a goal!

[Chippy]

Alexis is totally immense

The most hard working player I have seen ever
He must be thinking"Why the fuck did I join Arsenal"!! Wenger is a penis for not strengthening more in the transfer window! Oh well, we will scrap for 4th and Alexis will fuck off :(

[Slacker]

I agree. When Alexis gets the ball we all expect something special. Maybe too much. He gives his all but sometimes gives the ball away and passes go astray. Clearly he's a great player but he's not turning Arsenal into champions any time soon on his own. Maybe one day we'll get there. Not sure AW knows this though...

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

yay

[Bumble]

Debuchy out for two months. So five defenders left now. Flamini to step in as full back and a CL final beckons?

United looked useful today but it was only QPR.

[Marc Overmars]

So the horrendous decision to not sign more defensive options bites us in the arse. How predictable.

A well earned :doh: for Wenget.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

I'd much rather play Bellerin there instead of Chambers. Not because I think he's the better RB, but because the last thing we need to do is play all three CB's at the same time and risk further injury.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Also a well deserved :rose: for Shad Forsythe

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I questioned and caveat-ed the selling of Vermaelen and said it should only be under the provision we sign a replacement. We failed to do so and now here we are..... 6 defenders, down to 5 and only 2 of them are actually CB's.

Bellerin needs to be hauled in asap. Not just because we are woefully short in numbers, but because he is really good.

[Injury Time]

Also a well deserved :rose: for Shad Forsythe

He's resurrected Diaby for 90 minutes, and Theo may walk again, maybe.

[Niall_Quinn]

He's resurrected Diaby for 90 minutes

Jesus Forsythe/ Shad Christ

[Letters]

So the horrendous decision to not sign more defensive options bites us in the arse. How predictable.

A well earned :doh: for Wenget.

It is ridiculous out light we are in defence but it is equally ridiculous how we KEEP ON getting these injuries. You can't pin this one of the medical staff, he's only just walked in the door. We are ridiculously unlucky sometimes :(

[Marc Overmars]

We are ridiculously unlucky sometimes :(

Even more reason to do everything we can to ensure there is adequate cover.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Quite.

[Niall_Quinn]

Monreal can simultaneously play at full back and centre back if need be, the way he rushes around like a headless chicken.

[fakeyank]

Take this £40m out of the equation. I wouldn't be happy with that level of performance from Cazorla, Ox, Walcott...it seems like exceptions are being made because of his price tag.

:gp:

He looks pedestrian at best. I would rather have Arteta instead of him... seriously!

[A Gunner]

Monreal can simultaneously play at full back and centre back if need be, the way he rushes around like a headless chicken.

There are things Monreal does quite well, it's just the way we play highlights his weakness more often than not. i.e slow reaction, slow, basically slow everything.

[Power n Glory]

I questioned and caveat-ed the selling of Vermaelen and said it should only be under the provision we sign a replacement. We failed to do so and now here we are..... 6 defenders, down to 5 and only 2 of them are actually CB's.

Bellerin needs to be hauled in asap. Not just because we are woefully short in numbers, but because he is really good.

It made no sense. I said similar when it came to selling Verm. He's cover for two positions. We weaken our position on the field and when it comes to negotiations if we were actually looking for anyone. Cubs know we need a defender so come January, if we're really desperate, we're in for an even tougher time with negotiations.

[Power n Glory]

:gp:

He looks pedestrian at best. I would rather have Arteta instead of him... seriously!

I’m wondering what he was like under Mourinho. Was he like this defensively at Real? You know how he gets when his players don’t defend properly. Or maybe it’s just the system we play. He may suit a team that’s set up more for counter attacks. He seems like a player that will flourish when the game is stretched and he has more space. Maybe playing on the wing will do him so good. Wenger did it with Ramsey and Wilshere. It may be part of his education and getting him used to working in tighter spaces.

[Syn]

vine.co/v/Oan5lK0enmj

:lol:

[LDG]

Same old really wasn't it.

We had a chance to beat our so called rivals, and we failed again.

It's always the same. We play reasonably well going forward, and get sucker-punched.

[Power n Glory]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12040/9471047/premier-league

Wenger on Jack.


You have to respond to critics when you're in a public job. You have accept criticism, go on the pitch and show you have the talent. The most important thing is to go show how good you are.

Very true. Jack took over the midfield and just played like he had a point to prove. It’s the best we can ask for. It was a fantastic goal but overall it was a much better performance from him. He’s fighting for that place in the squad.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Free header :haha:

[selassie]

I questioned and caveat-ed the selling of Vermaelen and said it should only be under the provision we sign a replacement. We failed to do so and now here we are..... 6 defenders, down to 5 and only 2 of them are actually CB's.

Bellerin needs to be hauled in asap. Not just because we are woefully short in numbers, but because he is really good.

Wenger always leave us short, he gambles on a position or two every single season. Why? I don't know...

[Chippy]

Wenger always leave us short, he gambles on a position or two every single season. Why? I don't know...
Because he is a stubborn wanker? Am I right? Am I? :)

[Özim]

Been a poor start to the season, 6 points from 4 games, equivalent to losing two games, disappointing, think we knew we we're not strong enough going into the season though so maybe it's not great surprise.

[selassie]

Because he is a stubborn wanker? Am I right? Am I? :)

:lol:

Apparently Monreal hasn't travelled to Dortmund, must be injured. We are one more injury away from a crisis in Defence.

[AFC Leveller]

Wenger always leave us short, he gambles on a position or two every single season. Why? I don't know...

Proof enough that he IS holding us back.

[fakeyank]

Proof enough that he IS holding us back.

:gp:

[Letters]

Moyes IN!

:coffee:

[fakeyank]

Moyes IN!

:coffee:

:gp:

[Syn]

http://images.dailystar-uk.co.uk/dynamic/58/281x351/276152_1.jpg

[Power n Glory]

:haha: David Moyes.

Rio's been killing him in his new book.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/11096067/Rio-Ferdinand-hits-out-at-David-Moyess-tactics-while-in-charge-of-Manchester-United.html


He wrote: “Moyes’s innovations mostly led to negativity and confusion. The biggest confusion was over how he wanted us to move the ball forward. Some players felt they kicked the ball long more than at any time in their career.

“Sometimes our main tactic was the long, high, diagonal cross. It was embarrassing. In one home game against Fulham we had 81 crosses! I was thinking, why are we doing this? Andy Carroll doesn’t play for us!

“The whole approach was alien. Other times Moyes wanted lots of passing. He’d say: 'Today I want us to have 600 passes in the game. Last week it was only 400’. Who cares? I’d rather score five goals from 10 passes.”

[Letters]

Been a poor start to the season, 6 points from 4 games, equivalent to losing two games, disappointing.
A bit although the only really poor result so far was Leicester away. A win away at Everton is #decent (yeah, Chelsea thumped them but not many teams will up there)
A draw on Saturday against the reigning champions. Well, again, it's not a terrible result. If you're really going to compete at the top level you want to be winning games like that but you definitely don't want to be losing them.
City only have 7 points, only Chelsea have gone off like a train.

[fakeyank]

A bit although the only really poor result so far was Leicester away. A win away at Everton is #decent (yeah, Chelsea thumped them but not many teams will up there)
A draw on Saturday against the reigning champions. Well, again, it's not a terrible result. If you're really going to compete at the top level you want to be winning games like that but you definitely don't want to be losing them.
City only have 7 points, only Chelsea have gone off like a train.

Did we win at Everton? :unsure:

Did I miss stoppage time?

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Neville has just absolutely murdered Chesney

And every point he made was bang on

Can't wait for Ospina to take his jersey so he can finally fuck off.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I literally wish he literally did.

[Chippy]

Did we win at Everton? :unsure:

Did I miss stoppage time?

That is what I like about this site, full of piss takers! :)

[Chippy]

Neville has just absolutely murdered Chesney

And every point he made was bang on

Can't wait for Ospina to take his jersey so he can finally fuck off.

Never rated Ches tbh. Good attitude, but will never be match winner like Spunky!

[fakeyank]

Neville has just absolutely murdered Chesney

And every point he made was bang on

Can't wait for Ospina to take his jersey so he can finally fuck off.

What did Chezza do? Thought he had a good game against city..

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

:blink:

[Letters]

Did we win at Everton? :unsure:

Did I miss stoppage time?

I tell you what, you work out the typo for yourself...

[WMUG]

What did Chezza do? Thought he had a good game against city..

Nah, he should've gone against his every natural instinct as a goalkeeper and just let a ball headed straight for the top corner go, and trust that a 5'10" guy behind him who he can't see and who can't use his hands will happen to have positioned himself in exactly the right place to clear the ball off the line.

Fucking idiot.

[Syn]

Nah, he should've gone against his every natural instinct as a goalkeeper and just let a ball headed straight for the top corner go, and trust that a 5'10" guy behind him who he can't see and who can't use his hands will happen to have positioned himself in exactly the right place to clear the ball off the line.

Fucking idiot.

:lol:

saved our bacon twice with great saves - off silva in the first half and Dzeko in stoppage time. Needs to learn how to clear the halfway line though. His kicking is ridiculously bad.

[WMUG]

Needs to learn how to clear the halfway line though. His kicking is ridiculously bad.

That is true, there were two goal kicks I can remember that dropped us in it, one in the last 10 minutes when we'd just weathered a storm and needed to get a spell of possession under our belts to wind out the clock and relieve the pressure, I think that move ended up with the equaliser. But there were mistakes further down the line from then, unfair to put the blame solely on Szcz for that.

And like you say, two magnificent saves to bail us out when we needed him.

[Ollie the Optimist]

why is szcesney coming in for criticism ? His kicking on saturday wasn't great, but he is a keeper who can make match defining saves and made quite a few last season. He also jointly won the golden glove. He's a dam good keeper.

I don't think he was at fault for the first goal, yes with the second he should have done more however his save v dzecko was outstanding. Last season, I can think of three stunning saves that turned matches. One against spurs at home in the league. Defoe takes a shot, hits koscienly, deflects towards the corner of the goal after szcesney starts to move the wrong way. Changes direction and saves it. If that had gone in, the crowd would have turned and I doubt we would have won. Another was at 1-0 v crystal palace when he saves a volley, and the other was at cardiff at 1-0, when a header came from about 2 yards out and he got down to save it. In fact, another has sprung to mind, his save in the dying minutes against van persie.

Hes bloody good keeper who didn't have the best overall game but still produced a match defining save. I don't understand why people want him dropped or say that he won't make match defining saves. He has done and will continue to do so

[Niall_Quinn]

It's Ches' turn to be slaughtered. Everyone gets a fair crack of the whip. In the next game Debuchy will be slaughtered for being anonymous.