Match Reaction: Watford 1 Arsenal 3

[Kano]

Was always a gimme.

[Master Splinter]

Xhaka was excellent. Alexis frustrating but very effective today. Ozil slotted slickly back in. Holding looks like a £55m player.

Thugford got back into it when all the Arsenal players literally went to sleep.

Wenger :bow:.

[Marc Overmars]

Up and running.

Good stuff.

[fakeyank]

Championship winning form

[The Emirates Gallactico]

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

Ty :haha:

[Niall_Quinn]

Even Chris Wenger doesn't like the negative tactics. But that doesn't stop him ploughing into full on delusion mode at the end.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7SCY-8aEF0

[Kano]

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

Ty :haha:
Lesbians are usually cool to watch.

But not these three cunts.

[Chippy]

Even Chris Wenger doesn't like the negative tactics. But that doesn't stop him ploughing into full on delusion mode at the end.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7SCY-8aEF0

Lol! The guy standing behind them looked on edge, I though the was going to kick off :wwf:

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

DT showing what a bell end he is, he doesn't seem to think that you can be happy with the result and performance whilst still not being pleased with the manager and the club. Why go to every game, if you just want to wallow in misery.

[Chippy]

Xhaka was excellent. Alexis frustrating but very effective today. Ozil slotted slickly back in. Holding looks like a £55m player.

Thugford got back into it when all the Arsenal players literally went to sleep.

Wenger :bow:.
Will Holding be dropped now Mustafi is here? I would leave him in the team, Mustafi should earn his place.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I was by the pool and only noticed the bar was showing the game once the second half started.

Me :pal:

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Will Holding be dropped now Mustafi is here? I would leave him in the team, Mustafi should earn his place.

Wenger ain't paying 35 mill for a bench warmer. He'll be in eventually even if Holding merits staying in.

[Chippy]

Wenger ain't paying 35 mill for a bench warmer. He'll be in eventually even if Holding merits staying in.

Guess you are right. However, at the moment, Holding looks like a real good buy for 2m.

[Niall_Quinn]

DT showing what a bell end he is, he doesn't seem to think that you can be happy with the result and performance whilst still not being pleased with the manager and the club. Why go to every game, if you just want to wallow in misery.

I saw that and to some extent I agree. I have the same problem. I can see all the glaring issues at the club and know that 3 points against Watford means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I can see the horrible hole in the defence that never get corrected. I can see where the play breaks down and who it breaks down around. I have to sit through Wenger's one man mission to stamp out enjoyment wherever he finds it. And it's fucking irritating, because when you saw in glimpses what this team might be able to do you it just reinforces the self inflicted disadvantage we impose on ourselves by having Wenger at the helm.

Then I think, well hell, what does it matter? This guy masquerading as a football manager, thee players, the club. They are so detached from my reality that it's pretty damn stupid to be getting wound up about anything they say or do. Utterly pointless.

So in between I settle on hoping for entertainment when I watch the games. And there was some of that yesterday, so that's good. There could have been more, but Wenger annihilated it as he always does. The temptation to then get angry flares up again, followed by the who cares routine...

[Niall_Quinn]

Will Holding be dropped now Mustafi is here? I would leave him in the team, Mustafi should earn his place.

That would mean dropping Kos, or leaving a 35mill defender on the bench.

[Kano]

DT showing what a bell end he is, he doesn't seem to think that you can be happy with the result and performance whilst still not being pleased with the manager and the club. Why go to every game, if you just want to wallow in misery.

Because he's an attention seeking cunt.

[Maestro]

Good result yesterday and some good play. Really hoping Sanchez or Perez up front can somehow work for us, so we never get to see Giroud as our no1 striker.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Will Holding be dropped now Mustafi is here? I would leave him in the team, Mustafi should earn his place.

Our GK options in goal are as strong as they have been in years.

Our defensive options in defence are as strong as they have been in years.

Our Midfield options in midfield as strong as they have been in years.

I am actually feeling much more positive. The manager is fatally flawed but at least we don't have to have quite so much incessant naval gazing and pondering about signing several players we desperately need.

I think in spite of all our options Cazorla should definitely play most guys and I absolutely loved his inch perfect sliding tackle in the first half. :d

[Özim]

Expected a victory here so no real surprise, Watford aren't much kop. Bigger tests to come.

[Letters]

It is a game we should be winning but it's nice to see things clicking in the first half and us not pub-teaming a win.
But yes, bigger tests to come.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

We performed better than Chelsea against Watford who pubbed to a late 2 - 1 win courtesy of Costa who really should have been sent off and who (along with City and United) everyone is salivating over. It's nothing to sniff at.

We've got our issues, namely due to tactics and management but when we click we definitely have the potential to challenge for the league. We just need to ensure that it happens every game and we don't get repeats of the Liverpool game.

[Özim]

We performed better than Chelsea against Watford who pubbed to a late 2 - 1 win courtesy of Costa who really should have been sent off and who (along with City and United) everyone is salivating over. It's nothing to sniff at.

We've got our issues, namely due to tactics and management but when we click we definitely have the potential to challenge for the league. We just need to ensure that it happens every game and we don't get repeats of the Liverpool game.

We lost to Liverpool who lost to Burnley does that make Burnley better than us?

How other teams perform doesn't matter, different day different players/performance/result etc, the facts are we're 5 points behind, I'd prefer to be in their position and so far they've done better.

I don't think we'll challenge we don't have enough quality up front, whilst it was good to sign a forward, Perez wasn't the goalscorer we were looking for in all probability.

[Power n Glory]

We performed better than Chelsea against Watford who pubbed to a late 2 - 1 win courtesy of Costa who really should have been sent off and who (along with City and United) everyone is salivating over. It's nothing to sniff at.

We've got our issues, namely due to tactics and management but when we click we definitely have the potential to challenge for the league. We just need to ensure that it happens every game and we don't get repeats of the Liverpool game.

As Zim said, different teams and tactics play a part on the final result. Conte and Watford's new coach, Mazzarri, have history together in Series A. That probably played a part in how the teams were set up.

We'll see if Mazzarri learns how to set his team up against us in the future.

[Power n Glory]

We lost to Liverpool who lost to Burnley does that make Burnley better than us?

How other teams perform doesn't matter, different day different players/performance/result etc, the facts are we're 5 points behind, I'd prefer to be in their position and so far they've done better.

I don't think we'll challenge we don't have enough quality up front, whilst it was good to sign a forward, Perez wasn't the goalscorer we were looking for in all probability.

I'm prepared to give Perez a chance. Even if we had signed Lacazette, I wouldn't have put us down as title contenders. I don't think we have it in us to mount a challenge.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I'm pretty confident we will actually challenge. Don't think we'll win it but challenge.....yes.

[fakeyank]

I'm pretty confident we will actually challenge. Don't think we'll win it but challenge till February.....yes.

Fixed it for you.

[AFC Leveller]

Fixed it for you.

Agree.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

We shall see...

[fakeyank]

Been seeing it for 10 years. Nothing has happened this season to make me think anything has changed for a different outcome.

[selassie]

We lost to Liverpool who lost to Burnley does that make Burnley better than us?

How other teams perform doesn't matter, different day different players/performance/result etc, the facts are we're 5 points behind, I'd prefer to be in their position and so far they've done better.

I don't think we'll challenge we don't have enough quality up front, whilst it was good to sign a forward, Perez wasn't the goalscorer we were looking for in all probability.

Agreed, I still think we're not solid enough at the back, we gave Watford plenty of chances to get back into the game in the second half on Saturday, a better team may have punished us.

For every Watford there is a Liverpool, we are still way too inconsistent to be a true title challenger and a large part of that is down to how we are setup IMO.

[Gooner23]

I think we'll finish 10-20 points off the pace this season, even with the signings.

I just hope we play some more attractive football and we're not in too much of a mess when (hopefully) Wenger steps down.

[Özim]

Can't see us challenging this season, the Manchester sides are better equipped both with top forwards up front, then there's Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea, I'm not sure where we'll finish in the mix with them, Liverpool put us to the sword but then lost the following week, but they have potential, Spurs we know about from last season and Chelsea are an unknown quantity but have a lot of quality.

[Kano]

Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea are all just as likely to finish below us as they are to finish above. They aren't known quantities. Actually no, the Spuds will finish below us. That's what they do.

Not going to cream myself over Pep and Maureen, as the twats on Sky and BT already are. Amazingly short memories after the start of last season. Looks good for them so far but we'll see.

[Letters]

Spuds gotta spud :lol:
I think the Manchester sides will finish above us, not too worried about the rest but there are quite a few sides in contention this year.

[Özim]

We've already shown time and time and time again we don't have the stomach for the fight, nothing has changed really, yes we've signed a few but none are players who have won and are leaders.

Up front was the real void for us (though we also needed to sure up the defence) and I still see that as a problem, Perez might be useful but I can't see him being an Aguero or RVP and scoring 30 odd goals for us, equally I don't see our midfield scoring lots with several players getting 10-15 goals.

[Letters]

We've got a tough run in so even if we are in the mix near the end I doubt we'll prevail.

[Kano]

We've already shown time and time and time again we don't have the stomach for the fight, nothing has changed really, yes we've signed a few but none are players who have won and are leaders.

Up front was the real void for us (though we also needed to sure up the defence) and I still see that as a problem, Perez might be useful but I can't see him being an Aguero or RVP and scoring 30 odd goals for us, equally I don't see our midfield scoring lots with several players getting 10-15 goals.

You ideally need a 25 goal PL striker, goals from midfield and a reliable back up striker. Aguero almost finished top scorer last season yet Citeh finished below us and that wasn't entirely down to their shabby defence either. We don't have that striker and going on recent history, we don't have high scorers from midfield, so 3/4 is looking our best bet.

[Marc Overmars]

Not concerned about the top 4, I'm sure we'll be in the mix but I don't really care whether we make it or not. With the money flooding in to the league I don't think CL football is a prerequisite now for signing decent players. For us at least, it's been a struggle to sign top players anyway and we've been in the bloody competition for almost 20 years!

As for the title, I don't see anything beyond the usual half-baked challenge that ends after Christmas. I'd love to be proven wrong but I don't believe we have the will or aggression that Mourinho and Pep will undoubtedly drive home with their teams.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Not concerned about the top 4, I'm sure we'll be in the mix but I don't really care whether we make it or not. With the money flooding in to the league I don't think CL football is a prerequisite now for signing decent players. For us at least, it's been a struggle to sign top players anyway and we've been in the bloody competition for almost 20 years!

As for the title, I don't see anything beyond the usual half-baked challenge that ends after Christmas. I'd love to be proven wrong but I don't believe we have the will or aggression that Mourinho and Pep will undoubtedly drive home with their teams.


I care because i want us to play in the top European competition, the attitude well we won't win it as long as Wenger is in charge depends on him being manager after this season.....and the fan base may be mollified short term but if this season goes like every other and the crowd turns ugly will it really be worth it for the owner to risk things financially by keeping this going for another three years?

Do i think he will be manager next season? yes because he does always seem to do enough to keep his job....but there is no guarantee....the people who want Wenger to stay seem long term seem to form a very niche minority now. And no talk of contract extension on the horizon.

[selassie]

Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea are all just as likely to finish below us as they are to finish above. They aren't known quantities. Actually no, the Spuds will finish below us. That's what they do.

Not going to cream myself over Pep and Maureen, as the twats on Sky and BT already are. Amazingly short memories after the start of last season. Looks good for them so far but we'll see.

Not sure Chelsea are really an unknown quantity. They largely have the same side that won the league a few seasons back and it looks like Hazard and Costa are back to their best. Kante was also a very good signing for them and Conte is a great coach IMO.

Chelsea's main area of weakness is CB, everywhere else they have lots of quality.

I'd be surprised if we finished above them. I think the best we can hope for this season is 4th.

[Marc Overmars]

I care because i want us to play in the top European competition, the attitude well we won't win it as long as Wenger is in charge depends on him being manager after this season.....and the fan base may be mollified short term but if this season goes like every other and the crowd turns ugly will it really be worth it for the owner to risk things financially by keeping this going for another three years?

Do i think he will be manager next season? yes because he does always seem to do enough to keep his job....but there is no guarantee....the people who want Wenger to stay seem long term seem to form a very niche minority now. And no talk of contract extension on the horizon.

I think he'll get another 2-3 years as well. As you say he always does just about enough to keep his job and frankly we've left it too late to find a suitable successor because all the candidates have been snapped up by rival clubs.

Whoever succeeds Wenger, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a very left field choice that no one saw coming.

[Kano]

Not sure Chelsea are really an unknown quantity. They largely have the same side that won the league a few seasons back and it looks like Hazard and Costa are back to their best. Kante was also a very good signing for them and Conte is a great coach IMO.

Chelsea's main area of weakness is CB, everywhere else they have lots of quality.

I'd be surprised if we finished above them. I think the best we can hope for this season is 4th.

That is true but whether this side is still good enough or their squad big enough, remains to be seen. Also their manager is an unknown quantity in this league. Good start but too many judgements are passed about the PL after a few games and most of them prove to be half-baked come the mid-way point. They could finish above or below us, no real way of knowing given how far they went off the boil last season.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I think he'll get another 2-3 years as well. As you say he always does just about enough to keep his job and frankly we've left it too late to find a suitable successor because all the candidates have been snapped up by rival clubs.

Whoever succeeds Wenger, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a very left field choice that no one saw coming.

I'm not sure leaving it too late to find a successor will factor into it, if things are like they were March/April/May time I'm not convinced the board would want him to carry on, and i'm not sure he will either.

[selassie]

That is true but whether this side is still good enough or their squad big enough, remains to be seen. Also their manager is an unknown quantity in this league. Good start but too many judgements are passed about the PL after a few games and most of them prove to be half-baked come the mid-way point. They could finish above or below us, no real way of knowing given how far they went off the boil last season.

:good:

[mastermind84]

Xhaka is really a sublime player

[GP]

I think so too.

In Xhaka, Mustafi, Holding and Lucas we have strengthened right through the spine of the team.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

The collapse of last season emanated from a putrid lack of options for a period that went on far too long in MIDFIELD rather than attack. It wasn't merely down to a lack of a world class striker so, the absence of one equalling no title challenge is simplistic or at least flawed.

Vardy isn't world class, a fact Zim has stressed to us all at the minimum....most don't believe Costa, Rooney or even Kane are either.

We have a keeper as good as any and more CB's than we actually need who are a good spread of top quality, experience and budding youth. We have an abundance of quality midfield options and depth. It isn't beyond the realms of possibility that we will challenge beyond Christmas, but each to their own.

We even have more options up front.

I will add for extra 'I told you so points' that I wasn't one of the many on here who before the collapse last season (namely post City win) was swept up in the overwhelming conviction we would win the league so I am not speaking from blind optimism.