Match reaction Newcastlel V Arsenal 21-Mar-!5

[Globalgunner]

Not happy. WTF was that in the 2nd half

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Well done. I am sure there will be all this nonsense about Newcastle's hunger, power and desire in the second half but they no more deserved a draw here than we did to go through against Monaco.

Four behind Chelsea. :popcorn:

[adzzzbatch]

Pretty terrible second half from us, with an equally terrible ref performance to match.

[Marc Overmars]

6 straight wins. Not often that happens so well done lads.

Titles coming home.

[fakeyank]

Horrible performance but important win in terms of 4th place trophy. Welbeck made some good runs but was Welshit for the most part.

[Globalgunner]

Shyte 2nd half. Who was managing the team in the 2nd half. Sado Masochist?

[Niall_Quinn]

If that's the new standard for reffing a game then fine, let's have at it. But next time out brushing somebody with a feather will be a foul and a card.

Bif MOTM - 2 goals despite being beaten with bricks, bats and chains for 90 mins.

WUMger - idiotic with the subs. Yes, he got the result but only because we were playing a team that had nothing in their locker once they'd rolled out their repertoire of fouls. I hope he doesn't get encouragement from shit defensive non-tactics like that because we're fucked against a better side if he does.

[Niall_Quinn]

Well done. I am sure there will be all this nonsense about Newcastle's hunger, power and desire in the second half but they no more deserved a draw here than we did to go through against Monaco.

Four behind Chelsea. :popcorn:

Will be 7 when aazzzzahhhh gets 50 FKs for not being touched.

[Globalgunner]

Bad as the ref was he wasn't biased. I know of at least 6 refs who would have given Newcastle that bogus pen.

[BOBN]

I guess thats what a second half without Ozil looks like.

Sanchez finished.

[Power n Glory]

Good first half. Should have scored more. Bif is on fire. Wobbly second half. I can understand a more cautious approach but Wenger needs to learn how to get more out of his bench so we can sucker punch an attacking team when on the back foot.

We got away with it. Ramsey, Welbeck and Chambers need to sort their game out. Ospina is really taking his opportunity. Monreal should also keep his place. Coquelin made a couple of errors in the 2nd half but also made some important tackles. Vital player to the midfield. 3 points!

[Niall_Quinn]

Bad as the ref was he wasn't biased. I know of at least 6 refs who would have given Newcastle that bogus pen.

Not directly biased. But if you set aside the rules it can still be biased if one team is there to play football while the other is there for a punch up. Definite advantage to the Geordies in that game because of the lack of intervention. Most of their possession came from thumping one of our lot to get the ball in the first place.

[Niall_Quinn]

Looks like Theo is done here then, unless he's being saved for something super special.

[Master Splinter]

We should have killed the game off, but I'm not going to criticise Wenger and the players when systematic fouling, wrestling, scything, dragon-kicking, elbowing and a sprinkling of diving was allowed to take place with impunity by a disgusting ref. It's beyond ridiculous.

If there is a campaign against anyone, it's against Arsenal. Who apparently can't handle the rough stuff, despite numerous referees, managers and players failing in their savage pre-ordained thuggery against them. We should publish an Article on the website highlighting how we are the recipients of an endless barrage of violence which goes unpunished, yet are penalised when we have the temerity to commit a foul ourselves. Soft girly sissies Arsenal. It's a campaign.


Anyway, judging from the 45 minutes that resembled a game, we should have won 0-4. Coquelin superb again and good finishing from Giroud. Welbeck, Ramsey and Sanchez did some good things and then did some daft things. Need to simplify their games and they'll be much more effective.

A miraculous 3 points in the circumstances.

[Niall_Quinn]

Yep, got to give the players credit for putting up with that relentless shit, most of which happened under the nose of that incompetent pillock supposedly reffing the game. Hope we haven't picked up any serious injuries.

So then, who's up next to elbow Coq in the nose and get away with it? Ask Paddy Power?

[Globalgunner]

A lot of disappointed pundits licking their lips in glee at another Arsenal dont like it "oop norf"!.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

A lot of disappointed pundits licking their lips in glee at another Arsenal dont like it "oop norf"!.

Despite the fact that we haven't lost up north this season?. Three wins and two draws from our five visits to the north west and north east.

[Globalgunner]

Despite the fact that we haven't lost up north this season?. Three wins and two draws from our five visits to the north west and north east.

There you go again using facts. Never let facts get in the way of a good story

[Marc Overmars]

I don't think we've consistently come unstuck "up north" for about 8 years.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I make it the fifth league game this season where we've scored two goals and then been pegged back, the circumstances are all quite different. Against Newcastle and Leicester we were pushed back and couldn't get into our stride (didnt help that Wenger made pussy substitutions) but against West Ham, Palace and QPR we've been guilty of not taking our chances and putting the game to bed.
Statistically we have an 80% chance of winning a game if we score two goals, but would be nice to kill off teams (25 goals in 16 away games tells its own story as to why we haven't challenged for the title).

[Globalgunner]

I don't think we've consistently come unstuck "up north" for about 8 years.

Isn't Stoke "up north"

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I don't think we've consistently come unstuck "up north" for about 8 years.

Well there was last season where we did the quadruple (or the merseyside and manchester doubles) Everton, Liverpool, City and United.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Isn't Stoke "up north"

If you want to be pedantic Spurs is up north

[LDG]

Isn't Stoke "up north"

No, Stoke is in the shadow to the east, just beyond Minas Tirith

[AFC Leveller]

Despite the fact that we haven't lost up north this season?. Three wins and two draws from our five visits to the north west and north east.

won at sunderland, newcastle, city, man ure, so thats 4 wins.

[Kano]

Whether we like it or not Wenger will remain in charge next season so positives still have to be found. With that in mind, I thought we defended well particularly in the last 20, most of the players were running on empty but protected the goal well. It was a hard test, passed well. The more this team understand how to do that for the times it will be needed in crunch matches, the better they'll get at it. And they seem to be on the right curve at least. They still need to work on passing well when under heavy pressure though.

[Letters]

Our last 19 games in all competitions we've won 16 and lost 3. I don't think it's that hard to find positives in how things are going.
Before that run we were 6th, 12 points away from City in 2nd place. Now we're in 3rd just a point away from them.
We're out of the CL but we've got to the FA Cup semi-final, beating Utd in their own back yard along the way.

Anyway, today was another important win.

[GP]

http://i.imgur.com/a0RZDu3.jpg

[Özil's Panoramic View]

No, Stoke is in the shadow to the east, just beyond Minas Tirith

:haha:

:gp:

[AFC Leveller]

Our last 19 games in all competitions we've won 16 and lost 3. I don't think it's that hard to find positives in how things are going.
Before that run we were 6th, 12 points away from City in 2nd place. Now we're in 3rd just a point away from them.
We're out of the CL but we've got to the FA Cup semi-final, beating Utd in their own back yard along the way.

Anyway, today was another important win.

There has improvement and if we can end it with a trophy and a 3rd place finish then nobody should really question whether AW deserves another year.

Last season we conceded 15 goals and against City, Pool, man ure and Everton and picked up zero points. this season we have picked up 2 wins and 2 draws and conceded 3, so there is obvious improvement.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

won at sunderland, newcastle, city, man ure, so thats 4 wins.

was referring to the league

[AFC Leveller]

was referring to the league

Yeah i know but just wanted to point out that we have been better up north this season.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Yeah i know but just wanted to point out that we have been better up north this season.

I can't remember the last time we won every game we played in the month of March, I think it was 2005 but not sure.

[Dein-machine]

I make it the fifth league game this season where we've scored two goals and then been pegged back, the circumstances are all quite different. Against Newcastle and Leicester we were pushed back and couldn't get into our stride (didnt help that Wenger made pussy substitutions) but against West Ham, Palace and QPR we've been guilty of not taking our chances and putting the game to bed.
Statistically we have an 80% chance of winning a game if we score two goals, but would be nice to kill off teams (25 goals in 16 away games tells its own story as to why we haven't challenged for the title).

we've also done it in cup games. Seems going 2 nil up is not good for us, far better to leave it 0-0 & pub a late winner. As you say this is happening too often, god only knows what Wenger says to the team at half time. On Saturday we have them on the ropes after 45 mins, their players are already on the beach with nothing to play for, get a third & Newcastle would have gone into damage limitation mode. Because the're not very good, we could score a couple more if they park the bus.
But it has to be Wenger advising caution & asking us to play more defensively which simply doesn't suit us. The problem is, he's getting away with it due to the poor opposition. Saturdays game plus QPR & Palace could easily have resulted in dropped points after taking a 2 goal lead.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

It is a somewhat endless argument as you could make the same debate for games we drew like against Liverpool, which was a game we really should have won and almost did.

[Seymour Butts]

How did Gabriel play on Sat? What's the general opinion? I have heard he looks pretty good

[Globalgunner]

How did Gabriel play on Sat? What's the general opinion? I have heard he looks pretty good

He did well. He has been selected for the Brazil squad I hear, so we will maybe see him play against Sanchez. At least he doesn't have the agility of a Hippo, like some.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

He did well. He has been selected for the Brazil squad I hear, so we will maybe see him play against Sanchez. At least he doesn't have the agility of a Hippo, like some.

Oh good two players we need to rest playing a pointless money spinning friendly

Wish we could put a block on our players playing for their national sides. Hate international breaks anyway, I care about the England side about as much as I care about the Arsenal women's team (it's not a lot).

[The Emirates Gallactico]

How did Gabriel play on Sat? What's the general opinion? I have heard he looks pretty good


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAv2X-3CHbU


Generally quite well.

Made a lot of good interceptions and tackles and covered well for Chambers (who again was caught out a few times).

Still probably needs a bit more time to adjust to the physicality of the league but I really like him. Looks like he's got the right mentality to succeed; seems eager to learn and given his background, seems really appreciative of the chance to play for a big club.

Mind you our whole defence has looked kind of good since Coquelin came into the team. Amazing what having a competent DM in front of you does for your confidence and form .

[Dein-machine]

It is a somewhat endless argument as you could make the same debate for games we drew like against Liverpool, which was a game we really should have won and almost did.

Liverpool got the draw as they had more quality than recent opposition. It is not an endless argument, it can't be any clearer - go for it like we did against Monaco, play quick decisive football which will beat most opponents by 2 or 3 goals. Sit back on 1 or 2 goals leads & we will drop points, especially against better teams. Last 3 away games have resulted in 9 points, winning by one goals after we take a commanding lead. Could so easily have been 3 points or less. Most likely would have been against stronger opposition.