Match Reaction vs Southampton (home, league).

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Stuff of champions I say.

Alexis. :bow:

[Marc Overmars]

Yay

[Niall_Quinn]

Poo. It's painful watching it.

[Maestro]

another bullshit performance

thank you sanchez, and just fuck off already wenger

[Letters]

3 points off the third place trophy.
Progress :bow:
Wenger :bow:



:run:

[Master Splinter]

Fully deserved win against a very good team. Forster made five saves, ranging from good to great.

Giroud completely changed our attacking play. Everything clicked when he came on. He hit the thunderbolt shot, set up Welbeck, had the looping header, set up the goal and then set up Ramsey straight after. Superb display from Bif.

Brilliant from Forster too tbf.

Three clean sheets in a row :bow:.

Sanchez :bow:.

Wenger's subs :bow:.

Arsenal :bow:.

[rodders]

This team under the present Manager are a million miles from winning the title next year or in the foreseeable future.

[Niall_Quinn]

Savage is such a cunt. He's having a fit in the BT studio trying to claim Cazorla should have been sent off. He didn't mention that if Santi had to go, then so did about 13 Soton players. No mention of Wanyama breaking the world record for fouls.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

I'll take it at this stage but our inability to put games to bed early on is very troubling.

[adzzzbatch]

Yay. Meh.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

We were shocking.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Koscielny makes an enormous difference! Up the arse!

[Munchies]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqW25y0TxvE

What a special player :bow:

[Munchies]

Mesut O was at the game


Victory! Today was all about the result and we did it. So important!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B39l0zpCEAEACQr.jpg:large

[fakeyank]

Doesnt matter if he is sitting up in the stands or on the pitch, he is always a passenger watching the game go by. Hopefully he stays there!

[Bumble]

a win is a win but my god that was dull and thankfully they had to play the last ten minutes + with ten players of which the missing one was a defender playing in midfield.

We have finally found a role for Giroud as an impact player. Still think Welbeck and Sanchez work well together, Kos was excellent. But our midfield is garbage. None are playing well.

[Niall_Quinn]

Nobody has bothered with the MotM thread this season. That's because it's always the same player. These sort of performances are killing any passion and enthusiasm for the club and football in general. Would love them to give us just one decent performance for a xmas present.

[Letters]

Only saw the highlights but looked like a decent enough performance which, but for an outstanding display by Forster, would have been a more convincing win. We left it late but got there in the end.
Hopefully we can start to build up a bit of momentum now.

[AFC Leveller]

Savage is such a cunt. He's having a fit in the BT studio trying to claim Cazorla should have been sent off. He didn't mention that if Santi had to go, then so did about 13 Soton players. No mention of Wanyama breaking the world record for fouls.

It was a similar story, the thug gets booked in the 88th minute after murdering half of our team.

Saints pressed us and really tested us in ever department, i was really impresed with them. Davis ran the midfield but i thought Clyne just shat on our wide players all night and noone went near him when he attacked.

Giroud again gave us something different and whim coming on was the turning point. His lay off for Welbeck was so good. Ramsey and Flamini were totally dominated by Wanyama.

[selassie]

As painful as it was we got there in the end. First time we beat a side in the top half of the table too.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Mesut O was at the game


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B39l0zpCEAEACQr.jpg:large

Tartan blanket? What an old woman

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

As painful as it was we got there in the end. First time we beat a side in the top half of the table too.

It's all relative, we beat Aston Villa when they were in the top half of the table

Beating top sides means beating Chelsea (not since 2011), Man United (not since 2011) and Man City (not since 2012)

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Doesnt matter if he is sitting up in the stands or on the pitch, he is always a passenger watching the game go by. Hopefully he stays there!

:lol:

[selassie]

It's all relative, we beat Aston Villa when they were in the top half of the table

Beating top sides means beating Chelsea (not since 2011), Man United (not since 2011) and Man City (not since 2012)

Yeah that's true.

Honestly...I don't see us beating Chelsea, Man United or Man City any time soon...it's a mental block.

I am not overly confident of us getting anything out of the Liverpool game either in a few weeks either.

[Globalgunner]

Yeah that's true.

Honestly...I don't see us beating Chelsea, Man United or Man City any time soon...it's a mental block.

I am not overly confident of us getting anything out of the Liverpool game either in a few weeks either.

The thing that you have to wonder is: Why with different players over several seasons, the mental block remains. Is it something in the water there at the training ground?

[fakeyank]

The thing that you have to wonder is: Why with different players over several seasons, the mental block remains. Is it something in the water there at the training ground?

No, its because of the manager. He cannot rally his players even if his life depended on it. And on top of it, we do not have a captain on/off the pitch who can do it either.

[Letters]

No, its because of the manager. He cannot rally his players even if his life depended on it. And on top of it, we do not have a captain on/off the pitch who can do it either.

Wenger's successful sides had a strong captain, Adams then Vieira. We've not had one since. No way are we slipping from 3-0 up vs Anderlecht to draw with a proper captain. There's no-one out there rallying them when things start going wrong. I don't see that as the manager's role, that's where a strong captain steps in but we don't have one.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

:lol: There it is, take the blame away from wenger again. But yes you want wenger out don't you :haha:

[fakeyank]

Wenger's successful sides had a strong captain, Adams then Vieira. We've not had one since. No way are we slipping from 3-0 up vs Anderlecht to draw with a proper captain. There's no-one out there rallying them when things start going wrong. I don't see that as the manager's role, that's where a strong captain steps in but we don't have one.

The manager brought in the players who are not good leaders OR did the players decide to become captains themselves? Wasnt it the manager who shipped our experienced players by the dozens when we went on a toddler shopping spree? Anyone above 30 got the boot when you needed their experience to win things. The manager knows that if he brings in a strong winning personality captain within his ranks, he will have conflicts with his tippy tappy philosophy, so he brings in as many 'Yes' men as possible.

He has 'yes' men around him everywhere- in the board (if he has no ideas, we shut up) and beside him as coach. Zero accountability!

[Letters]

:lol: There it is, take the blame away from wenger again. But yes you want wenger out don't you :haha:

Sorry, I really should spell things out for the hard of thinking...
It is not Wenger's job to gee the players up while they're out on the pitch, IMO that's the captain's job.
But, of course, it's Wenger's job to make sure we have a captain who can do that.

[Letters]

The manager brought in the players who are not good leaders

The strange thing is of late we have had a few players who seemed like better candidates, several of our players have been captains of their respective national team. But none of them ever got made Arsenal captain :doh:

[WMUG]

The strange thing is of late we have had a few players who seemed like better candidates, several of our players have been captains of their respective national team. But none of them ever got made Arsenal captain :doh:

Who do you mean?

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Nobody has bothered with the MotM thread this season. That's because it's always the same player. These sort of performances are killing any passion and enthusiasm for the club and football in general. Would love them to give us just one decent performance for a xmas present.
I remember when SWP was MOTM for City every week. So much so their fans renamed it, Shaun of the match.... Seems a lifetime ago now...

a win is a win but my god that was dull and thankfully they had to play the last ten minutes + with ten players of which the missing one was a defender playing in midfield.

We have finally found a role for Giroud as an impact player. Still think Welbeck and Sanchez work well together, Kos was excellent. But our midfield is garbage. None are playing well.

Call me soft in my old age but I didn't think it was that dull and I have to admit that often when people are bemoaning how bad we are to watch I often can't see it.

Just how god Kos was and how much he has settled the backline down has been really understated in general. And with how Giroud has looked since he has been back Welbeck has to do far more to justify starting ahead of him imo.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Also I don't think we really do have a mental block against the best teams. It is just a combination of being an inferior team, less prepared, more tactically naive and so on.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Sorry, I really should spell things out for the hard of thinking...
It is not Wenger's job to gee the players up while they're out on the pitch, IMO that's the captain's job.
But, of course, it's Wenger's job to make sure we have a captain who can do that.

If you think one player will sort out our problems, you're a bigger idiot than I thought you were.

[Xhaka Can’t]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUxyg_DFMfM

[Niall_Quinn]

I loved it when I first heard it but then it got a bit monotonous on repeat listening. Ultimately there's not enough depth in there for me. Then again, I've been a bit spoiled since I discovered this. I rate this as probably the best sound effects video of modern time, possibly of all time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbDFAaPfl28

[Letters]

If you think one player will sort out our problems, you're a bigger idiot than I thought you were.
I don't think it's actually possible for you to be a bigger idiot than I think you are :)
And once again, Stupidus Maximus, you resort to lying about other people's opinions because you're too dense to understand them.
Obviously it wouldn't sort out all our problems but a strong captain would obviously help. We haven't had one since Vieira.

[Letters]

Who do you mean?
I know Ramsey was Wales captain. I think there were a couple of others a few years ago who were captains of their national teams.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

I don't think it's actually possible for you to be a bigger idiot than I think you are :)
And once again, Stupidus Maximus, you resort to lying about other people's opinions because you're too dense to understand them.
Obviously it wouldn't sort out all our problems but a strong captain would obviously help. We haven't had one since Vieira.

:lol: Don't try that bullshit with me.

A strong captain apparently prevents us from shipping goals, from having no tactics, from defensive fuck ups. You are a tool.

[Letters]

A strong captain apparently prevents us from shipping goals, from having no tactics, from defensive fuck ups.
Nope. Didn't say any of that :)

[sibreen]

I thought we played ok this game - and against Dortmund and West Brom.
Much better than at the start of the season.

[Niall_Quinn]

I thought we played ok this game - and against Dortmund and West Brom.
Much better than at the start of the season.

We're the second most boring team in world football, after the chavs. The only thing we excel at is frustrating the fuck out of increasingly disillusioned and disinterested fans. We need to change everything about the way we approach and play games. Then we might be playing okay, but as it stands there's nothing to commend this string of soul crushing non-performances.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Nope. Didn't say any of that :)


Wenger's successful sides had a strong captain, Adams then Vieira. We've not had one since. No way are we slipping from 3-0 up vs Anderlecht to draw with a proper captain. There's no-one out there rallying them when things start going wrong. I don't see that as the manager's role, that's where a strong captain steps in but we don't have one.

Let me guess, you meant something else now?

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Nope. Didn't say any of that :)


Wenger's successful sides had a strong captain, Adams then Vieira. We've not had one since. No way are we slipping from 3-0 up vs Anderlecht to draw with a proper captain. There's no-one out there rallying them when things start going wrong. I don't see that as the manager's role, that's where a strong captain steps in but we don't have one.

Let me guess, you meant something else now?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

We're the second most boring team in world football, after the chavs. The only thing we excel at is frustrating the fuck out of increasingly disillusioned and disinterested fans. We need to change everything about the way we approach and play games. Then we might be playing okay, but as it stands there's nothing to commend this string of soul crushing non-performances.

The problem is we do not have the bodies in central midfield to make the style of play that we want to and should play tenable, our slight and slow players in the middle of the park get outmuscled and overrun and negates our opportunity for quick counter thrusts

[Niall_Quinn]

The problem is we do not have the bodies in central midfield to make the style of play that we want to and should play tenable, our slight and slow players in the middle of the park get outmuscled and overrun and negates our opportunity for quick counter thrusts

We have excellent players that should be able to adapt to multiple roles and systems. But they don't have discipline and they are given far too much freedom on the pitch. That's down to one man. What this season is reinforcing for me is that a decade ago we had even bigger legends playing for this club than we've given credit. These guys were not only superb footballers but they must have been super intelligent and super disciplined to work around Wenger's lunacy. Even those players didn't go on and win in Europe which is a scandal because we easily had the best team on the planet at one stage. It really doesn't matter who Wenger buys if he's not going to get over himself and start applying the basics to the way we approach opponents and matches.

[WMUG]

I know Ramsey was Wales captain. I think there were a couple of others a few years ago who were captains of their national teams.

Do you think Ramsey would be the best captain since Vieira though?

[Letters]

Do you think Ramsey would be the best captain since Vieira though?

Not sure about that but he'd have been better than Vermaelan who couldn't even get in the side last year.

[Özim]

Ramsey was such a good captain they took the captaincy off him.

As for leaders, we don't have any and haven't had any for years, some people tried to convince themselves certain players we had were leaders but they weren't.

Wenger doesn't really see the importance of leadership on the pitch, come to think of it he doesn't see the importance of a lot of things on the pitch, like tactics, discipline etc etc.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Mertesacker is the closest thing we have to a leader.

Very experienced too. No brainer IMO.

[Letters]

There is a depressing lack of options in our squad.
I did consider Wilshere as he's one of the few players who I feel 'gets' what playing for Arsenal is about, but he's too erratic both in terms of performance and temperament.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

We have excellent players that should be able to adapt to multiple roles and systems. But they don't have discipline and they are given far too much freedom on the pitch. That's down to one man. What this season is reinforcing for me is that a decade ago we had even bigger legends playing for this club than we've given credit. These guys were not only superb footballers but they must have been super intelligent and super disciplined to work around Wenger's lunacy. Even those players didn't go on and win in Europe which is a scandal because we easily had the best team on the planet at one stage. It really doesn't matter who Wenger buys if he's not going to get over himself and start applying the basics to the way we approach opponents and matches.

Arteta, Flamini and Ramsey are just not the type of players to give you midfield authority. Whilst i agree that physically stronger and more athletic players would be wasted by Wengers mismanagement, I don't think a better tactical set up would necessarily improve how we play, it might make our results better as a result of utilising our players properly but we'd still look like a load of old pony in the middle of the park

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Mertesacker is the closest thing we have to a leader.

Very experienced too. No brainer IMO.

The same Mertesacker who regularly gets caught too far up field and doesn't do enough to protect less experienced centre back partners. Whilst I agree that Wenger is to blame for our apalling defensive tactics, but Mertesacker doesn't take responsibility for himself let alone others.

The fact is there isn't a leader in our squad, otherwise that player would have naturally emerged.

Wenger has destroyed the concept of leadership at Arsenal

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

There is a depressing lack of options in our squad.
I did consider Wilshere as he's one of the few players who I feel 'gets' what playing for Arsenal is about, but he's too erratic both in terms of performance and temperament.

Jack is an overrated thug who has never come close to meeting his potential, his reaction to Fellaini in the United game plus his selfish attitude on the ball suggests he is as far away from being Captain, as Ed Milliband is from being prime minister

To be honest the only player that has shown the attributes of a future captain for me is young Chambers....he tries to cover for his fellow defenders, he works hard and he makes hard but honest tackles

Lets hope he's immune to Wengeritis

[Letters]

I thought Wilshere was outstanding in the two recent games for England, his form for Arsenal has been patchy though and now he's injured of course.
He is quite the chav though, in different circumstances he'd have been on Jeremy Kyle by now.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

The same Mertesacker who regularly gets caught too far up field and doesn't do enough to protect less experienced centre back partners. Whilst I agree that Wenger is to blame for our apalling defensive tactics, but Mertesacker doesn't take responsibility for himself let alone others.

The fact is there isn't a leader in our squad, otherwise that player would have naturally emerged.

Wenger has destroyed the concept of leadership at Arsenal

Christ are you going to stop playing devil's advocate with every post nowadays, I know you're trying to be this really balanced, analytical poster but you're just arguing for arguments sake.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Christ are you going to stop playing devil's advocate with every post nowadays, I know you're trying to be this really balanced, analytical poster but you're just arguing for arguments sake.


No i just don't Mertesacker has exhibited any kind of leadership qualities this season, unless you're seeing something in him that i'm not

If i agree with someone i tend to say, but if i don't i don't....i don't see how balanced or analytical comes into it.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Let me guess

Some day you'll get it right.










































Today is not that day.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

:lol:

[adzzzbatch]

Jack is an overrated thug who has never come close to meeting his potential, his reaction to Fellaini in the United game plus his selfish attitude on the ball suggests he is as far away from being Captain, as Ed Milliband is from being prime minister

To be honest the only player that has shown the attributes of a future captain for me is young Chambers....he tries to cover for his fellow defenders, he works hard and he makes hard but honest tackles

Lets hope he's immune to Wengeritis

It worked for stevie me gerrard :lol:

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

The same Mertesacker who regularly gets caught too far up field and doesn't do enough to protect less experienced centre back partners. Whilst I agree that Wenger is to blame for our apalling defensive tactics, but Mertesacker doesn't take responsibility for himself let alone others.

The fact is there isn't a leader in our squad, otherwise that player would have naturally emerged.

Wenger has destroyed the concept of leadership at Arsenal
Totally disagree with your Mertesacker views though I can't be arsed to (wholly) go into why.....but Mertesacker's poor execution of any of his defensive duties is not him shunning his responsibility at all. In fact I think he has regularly shown responsibility on and off the field....... and in terms of character I think we are extremely lucky to have him frankly.


Jack is an overrated thug who has never come close to meeting his potential, his reaction to Fellaini in the United game plus his selfish attitude on the ball suggests he is as far away from being Captain, as Ed Milliband is from being prime minister

To be honest the only player that has shown the attributes of a future captain for me is young Chambers....he tries to cover for his fellow defenders, he works hard and he makes hard but honest tackles

Lets hope he's immune to Wengeritis

The line between good and bad is sometimes a thin one and Jack has exemplified that in a footballing sense this season and I actually believe he has been far more good than bad, but some of his other antics have overshadowed it and that has sometimes been his own fault.

He is one of the most talented English midfielders we've produced in recent times and one that has spent around half of his professional adult career on a treatment table......but that can be wilfully dismissed depending on how much he annoys you. In the first few games I stated he played well and had outplayed Ramsey (in spite of Ramsey scoring), but that was somewhat overlooked but I think that tone has been set as Ramsey hasn't played really well all season and Jack has been much better than many are willing to give him his due for.