Arsenal 2-0 Basel - Match Reaction

[Master Splinter]

We turned an 8-0 into a 2-0. :doh:

Amazing first half.

Alexis and Theo in great form.

Arsenal :bow:.

Wenger :bow:.

Federer :haha:.

[Niall_Quinn]

If we can regularly play like we did in that first half then we have a chance to do something this season. And even if we don't do something, it will still be worth watching. Second half - not so much. I think Wenger does shit just to annoy the fans or try to pretend he's on some different plane of existence where his stupid substitutions make sense. But even Wenger can't ruin that first half. Very enjoyable.

[Marc Overmars]

Another bet won on there being no goals in the 2nd half. :lol:

We played some lovely stuff tonight, could and should have scored at least 4 or 5.

Dunno what Theo has taken, he's playing like a man possessed. Good to see him play consistently well for a change.

Nice to see the Emirates buzzing again after the atrocity that was the tail end of last season.

[Xhaka Can’t]

The first half took us back 15 years.

It was that good.


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[LDG]

Joined for the second half after putting the kids to bed.

Damn it!

Magic that we're finally starting to play the football we've all been hoping for. More of the same please!

:scarf:

[I am invisible]

Lovely stuff again. Everything we do feels so urgent and purposeful at the moment, and there's still plenty of room for improvement in every area of the side - that's an encouraging, frightening thought.

I think the most immediate thing we need to work on is cutting out all the hollywood finishes until we're at least 3 or 4 up - it's been said already, but we really should have been about 8 up by half time, and I doubt that anyone would have been overly bothered if we'd eased up for the last half an hour if the score had been even half that?

Still, it's an excellent platform to build on - we're carving out clear chances almost at will, and there seems to be a genuine hunger for more.

[Letters]

Missed it. Apparently it's not the done thing to take one's wife to Venice for our anniversary and then insist on watching the football <_<. Whoop-ah!
Seen the goals. Nice. I'm fine with no goals in the second half on Saturday and today, it's nice to crush teams but realistically that rarely happens. The Invincibles team used to crush the opposition early and then take their foot off the gas, it's just not possible to play with that intensity for 90 minutes every game.
Starting to look good and build up some momentum. But early to get excited but when they click they're looking like the real deal.
:scarf:

[I am invisible]

Theo :bow:

What an absolute shame it's taken this long for the penny to drop with him about that wide attacking role!

Sanchez :bow:

Still learning the job, but... could this guy really be the world-class CF we've been after? God I hope so...

[Power n Glory]

Has to our best performance in years. We put on a show for once. A totally dominant performance and highly entertaining. The whole team seemed to find their groove and it took me back to a time where I really enjoyed watching us play. The fact we didn’t slaughter them may be a good thing. It keeps the team humble and knowing that they still have to work on their finishing.

I think the biggest change to our game is Sanchez up front. Having someone with the ability to drop deep to link up play, able to make runs beyond defenders and come out on top for one on one situations with defenders has made a huge difference. He played some sublime passes. His movement kept them guessing and his presence changes everything for our attacking players. Now they have more options. Giroud was a barrier to that. His lack of movement wouldn’t create space for others because he’d never pull defenders anywhere or leave them confused. This takes out all the rubbish about needing someone strong to hold the ball up. That sort of play makes us more static and slow. It’s good to see that we’ve stuck with Sanchez even through the tough times because we’re now seeing the potential.

Theo was an absolute beast as well. I’ve always thought he’d be better playing as a striker and still think he’s capable if we ever need him to play there. But that was one heck of a performance from him last night. It was complete. His passing was sharp and he set up some good chances, his touch was great, he was driving forward with purpose, he was defending well and putting his body on the line….heck of a performance. He’s working really well with Sanchez and long may it continue. When his backs against the wall, he usually comes out fighting and I hope he keeps a clean bill of health and nothing interrupts him this year.

Overall it was a heck of a performance. Something has clicked with this team and I now have hope.

[Gooner23]

Lets not get carried away, we've had good runs of form before and seen it all peter out in familiar fashion.

I agree there are some good signs though. I certainly think its our strongest squad for some time, and with Theo and Iwobi performing well on the wings it allows Sanchez the freedom to play up front.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Great performance and 10 - 0 wouldn't have done us justice, such was the relentlessness of our attacking performance. God knows how it was only 2 - 0. Hopefully Alexis and the others have got their bad misses out of their system for the season in this game.

I do worry about Alexis though, not about the missed chances, but just the sheer energy he puts into every game. Always chasing, harrying, putting in 110% effort into the game ........ just hope he doesn't get burned out before the end of the season. I know he's a player that wants to play every game but we have to manage him carefully. At the moment he's playing like a 70 million striker and we can't afford to lose that for a large chunk of the season.


By the way, did anyone check out ArsenalFanTV after the game? The big Gorilla DT got into some fight with some AKB supporter who called him out, essentially saying it should be "DT out and not Wenger out". :lol:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHFLaQ9PWzk&spfreload=1

AKB guy who called him out (can only link one video per post): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4XbC32XFe8


Mr Bludfam also got into the action in a later video.

Fucking idiots. We put in the performance of the seasons and those morans are fighting among themselves with their silly AKB vs WOB shit. :doh:

[Niall_Quinn]

Haven't watched AFTV for 2 weeks, probably because the football was worth watching.

However, here's this cock that caused the problems. Tbf, if you met this cock it'd be hard not to punch the cunt's lights out.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4XbC32XFe8

The challenge is to be competing on all fronts come May. If we are doing that then the debate is over - although it still doesn't excuse Wenger for such a mediocre tenure over the last 12 years. But that can be corrected by doing the business this season. We've been here before though and it is way too early to start celebrating. Based on past history there's far more chance of us collapsing than pressing on and getting back to the sort of football we expect at this club. YES - we expect it because of Wenger, that's true. He's created the standard, but it also falls to him to maintain the standard and he has not done that. His failures can't be excused by his past successes, not after such an extended period. So these cocks coming out and pretending all is well again are jumping the gun. We wait and we see. We've been here many, many times before. Right now we are playing well enough to suggest that maybe, maybe things can be different this season. But even then, how many times have we said that.

Cautious optimism, not premature gloating. That's what's required now. Actually extremely cautious optimism. Two games needs to become ten games and then a season. Let's see. And hopefully mega tossers like the one in the video above will shut the fuck up with their garbage about who is allowed to be a fan and what opinions people are allowed to have. First time I have seen this prick on AFTV. Let's look out for him at the next away game, him being such a big fan and all.

[Niall_Quinn]

Why are so many fans saying Alexis had a bad game? WTF? He was MOTM by a mile. Are they judging everything on whether he sticks the ball in the net? What about all the other stuff? The passing. The relentless energy? The blistering pace and directness? The way he hustles and harried all night long up top? It was a great performance and the goals would have been icing. They didn't come, but it's crazy to say that means he had a bad game.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Great performance and 10 - 0 wouldn't have done us justice, such was the relentlessness of our attacking performance. God knows how it was only 2 - 0. Hopefully Alexis and the others have got their bad misses out of their system for the season in this game.

I do worry about Alexis though, not about the missed chances, but just the sheer energy he puts into every game. Always chasing, harrying, putting in 110% effort into the game ........ just hope he doesn't get burned out before the end of the season. I know he's a player that wants to play every game but we have to manage him carefully. At the moment he's playing like a 70 million striker and we can't afford to lose that for a large chunk of the season.


By the way, did anyone check out ArsenalFanTV after the game? The big Gorilla DT got into some fight with some AKB supporter who called him out, essentially saying it should be "DT out and not Wenger out". :lol:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHFLaQ9PWzk&spfreload=1

AKB guy who called him out (can only link one video per post): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4XbC32XFe8


Mr Bludfam also got into the action in a later video.

Fucking idiots. We put in the performance of the seasons and those morans are fighting among themselves with their silly AKB vs WOB shit. :doh:

Even though I think DT is a dickhead, I can't disagree with what he said here

You can want Wenger out and enjoy it when we play good football and get good results under Wenger.

[AFC Leveller]

Why are so many fans saying Alexis had a bad game? WTF? He was MOTM by a mile. Are they judging everything on whether he sticks the ball in the net? What about all the other stuff? The passing. The relentless energy? The blistering pace and directness? The way he hustles and harried all night long up top? It was a great performance and the goals would have been icing. They didn't come, but it's crazy to say that means he had a bad game.

Agree. He is not a goal scorer only, he is an all round world class player and does so much more than scoring. He is the type of player to have a great game even w/out the goals. He set up two goals, went close a coupe of times and ran them raged all night.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Even though I think DT is a dickhead, I can't disagree with what he said here

You can want Wenger out and enjoy it when we play good football and get good results under Wenger.

Oh I agree with that and generally I don't have a problem with his views, though his "holier than thou attitude" and his aggressiveness are annoying.

That being said he's a complete hypocrite. Talking about how people should have respect for the views of others, yet I'm certain I've seen video of him after a bad defeat ridiculing Wenger supporters and saying their deluded and what not. :lol:

[fakeyank]

Lets not get carried away, we've had good runs of form before and seen it all peter out in familiar fashion.

I agree there are some good signs though. I certainly think its our strongest squad for some time, and with Theo and Iwobi performing well on the wings it allows Sanchez the freedom to play up front.

:gp:

Let's not get carried away. We almost always put some sort of unbeaten run every season to raise everybody's hopes and then the wheels come off after one or two bad performances. November, December and Feb are few of the months where the wheels usually come off our season. Based on our past, I am finding it hard to be optimistic. However having said that, we did look unplayable in the last 2 games.

Please let this continue! :pray:

[selassie]

I really like what I'm seeing at the moment, we are playing at a really high level and there seems to be genuine chemistry both technically and tactically between the first XI.

We've been here before but things are looking good for us at the moment.

[Kano]

Great performance and 10 - 0 wouldn't have done us justice, such was the relentlessness of our attacking performance. God knows how it was only 2 - 0. Hopefully Alexis and the others have got their bad misses out of their system for the season in this game.

I do worry about Alexis though, not about the missed chances, but just the sheer energy he puts into every game. Always chasing, harrying, putting in 110% effort into the game ........ just hope he doesn't get burned out before the end of the season. I know he's a player that wants to play every game but we have to manage him carefully. At the moment he's playing like a 70 million striker and we can't afford to lose that for a large chunk of the season.


By the way, did anyone check out ArsenalFanTV after the game? The big Gorilla DT got into some fight with some AKB supporter who called him out, essentially saying it should be "DT out and not Wenger out". :lol:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHFLaQ9PWzk&spfreload=1

AKB guy who called him out (can only link one video per post): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4XbC32XFe8


Mr Bludfam also got into the action in a later video.

Fucking idiots. We put in the performance of the seasons and those morans are fighting among themselves with their silly AKB vs WOB shit. :doh:

Just attention seeking dickheads, the lot of em. Their opinion has to be heard on camera and overpower everyone else's. Anyone that goes on there is an absolute bellend.

[Power n Glory]

Rob's trying to heal the rift. It's bad situation. It's embarrassing. Heck of a performance and just an all round entertaining game to watch but they can't walk back to the station and just enjoy it. It's not even the sort of game where we played shit but got the 3 points. It was an enjoyable game to watch and that was purely down to our performance. Basel were shut out for the majority of the game.

[Letters]

We almost always put some sort of unbeaten run every season to raise everybody's hopes and then the wheels come off after one or two bad performances. November, December and Feb are few of the months where the wheels usually come off our season. Based on our past, I am finding it hard to be optimistic. However having said that, we did look unplayable in the last 2 games.

Please let this continue! :pray:
It's not just the results though, it's the manner of them. The way we dismantled Chelsea was like the good old days. But yes, it's only 2 games - the results before that were not so convincing. Keep playing like that though and it could be a very enjoyable season.

[Niall_Quinn]

Just attention seeking dickheads, the lot of em. Their opinion has to be heard on camera and overpower everyone else's. Anyone that goes on there is an absolute bellend.

They are also fans who attend every game, home and away. So in fact more than just attention seeking dickheads and given their commitment to the club they have every right to have an opinion, on AFTV or off it. They express their opinions on YouTube instead of, for example, here on GW. Their medium is different, their audience is larger, but fundamentally they are doing the same thing as you are doing here.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Why are so many fans saying Alexis had a bad game? WTF? He was MOTM by a mile. Are they judging everything on whether he sticks the ball in the net? What about all the other stuff? The passing. The relentless energy? The blistering pace and directness? The way he hustles and harried all night long up top? It was a great performance and the goals would have been icing. They didn't come, but it's crazy to say that means he had a bad game.I don't think he was MOTM by a mile but I otherwise agree.... even though That chance he missed was horrendous.

[Power n Glory]

I don't think he was MOTM by a mile but I otherwise agree.... even though That chance he missed was horrendous.

We both know if a certain player were to miss those chances he wouldn't be getting that sort of praise. :lol:

[Niall_Quinn]

We both know if a certain player were to miss those chances he wouldn't be getting that sort of praise. :lol:

That's because Alexis has a close on 1 goal every 2 games scoring ratio and works his bollocks off for the team every time he steps on the pitch. Theo has been here 10 years and has delivery virtually nothing in that time. There's no comparison between the players in terms of output and therefore one will get a pass for the odd miss whereas the other will get slaughtered for a typical miss. It's great that Theo is finally starting to string a few games together, but let's not pretend all the other stuff no longer exists.

[Power n Glory]

That's because Alexis has a close on 1 goal every 2 games scoring ratio and works his bollocks off for the team every time he steps on the pitch. Theo has been here 10 years and has delivery virtually nothing in that time. There's no comparison between the players in terms of output and therefore one will get a pass for the odd miss whereas the other will get slaughtered for a typical miss. It's great that Theo is finally starting to string a few games together, but let's not pretend all the other stuff no longer exists.

That’s where we have a different opinion. The last time Theo was close to this form was back in 2012/13 season scoring 21 goals and he started the next season well but picked up that injury against Spurs. So we know he’s capable of that sort of form. But it’s been a struggle since. But bear in mind he done his cruciate ligament and sat out most of 2013/14 season and the most of 2014/15. But even there he played well in the FA Cup final.

But if you can agree that our best performances last season were against Man Utd, Leicester and Bayern, I’m not sure how and why Theo’s performance is always erased from existence.

As I’ve seen with Alexis up front, a lot of people were saying he couldn’t play there after 2 or 3 games. Now look. Theo went through something similar and probably around the same time last year but picked up an injury in the league cup around late October. If we were to experience the same injury problem with him this year, I’m sure what he’s done in recent games will be forgotten again. Momentum going into games is important but we need a strong squad all round and I think we’re in serious trouble if Alexis or Walcott pick up injury around this time. I hope we manage their fitness properly this year. Now that it looks like we have our first team settled, we need to find a way to rest key players without distributing the flow and also bringing players from off the bench into the fold so they’re not ice cold when called upon.

[Ernesto]

Has anyone read the i this morning?

There's an entry from Niall_Quinn in the fan matrix section.

GW :bow:

[Letters]

Did it just say "Wenger Out"?

[Ernesto]

I'm trying to upload the picture I took of it off my phone. Technology is my bete noir :(