Match Reaction vs Burnley (away).

[McNamara That Ghost...]

What a win, well deserved.

Oh the fallout in the media is going to be funny.

[Alpha]

Well deserved win . Really hard work. Well done boys.

[milla]

Stuff of champions :trophy:

[Globalgunner]

"Same old Arsenal, always winning"
Jammiest of jammy wins
We were shit but got lucky, Fools who do the same thing over and over again and sometimes get a result.

[Niall_Quinn]

Very fortunate not to lose that one by two or three goals. An absolutely hopeless, momentum annihilating non-performance presided over by the most overhyped manager in world football.

False Dawn :bow:

Gutted that the team couldn't just go out and deliver some more football today. I'd rather see nothing at all than be teased by a couple of good performances a season.

[hobson's choice]

3 points, all that matters

[Power n Glory]

We had luck on our side. 3 points. Zero intensity from the players but Burnley were well organised and had everyone at the back and staying disciplined.

[Kano]

Well deserved win and three points for the old goat on his anniversary game.

[Power n Glory]

'We lacked sharpness'. :lol:

[Power n Glory]

'Played with the handbrake' :lol: Wengerism's. Every interview he says the same when we look slow.

[Marc Overmars]

Pub special :bow:

[Goonermerree]

Koscielny's arm :bow:

[Goonermerree]

'We were a little bit jaded' Why???? Change the record.

[Niall_Quinn]

'We were a little bit jaded' Why???? Change the record.

Wenger has never felt the need to explain the reasons behind his lame excuses.

[Master Splinter]

Beautiful to see all the rival fans and commentators and pundits crying.

WUMger delivers a great WUM on his anniversary.

[Power n Glory]

Stats say Sanchez created 8 chances. Certainly didn't look like it. Nothing like our last game against Basel.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

http://2.1m.yt/icHevU4.gif

:cloud9:

[RomfordPele]

http://2.1m.yt/icHevU4.gif

:cloud9:

Ox had totally fucked that up. Another one that shouldn't be near our first team.

[Munchies]

Terrible performance, just lucky we didn't lose.

Wenger can never motivate players on 'milestone' games :lol:

[dostoy]

To win a tough away game when not playing well is what top teams do.

Happy with the win but must play much better next time.

[Coney]

http://2.1m.yt/icHevU4.gif

:cloud9:

Perfect - shows that it was not handball. It did indeed hit his arm but it was not intentional. It is only handball if it is deliberate. If only the commentators and pundits understood the basic rules of football instead of talking the crap - lets see what they say on MOTD tonight. I bet they call it handball.

Having said that, it was offside and should not have stood! :d

[Goonermerree]

Ox had totally fucked that up. Another one that shouldn't be near our first team.

Ox is in the England squad

[Kano]

He'll fit in perfectly.

[AFC Leveller]

Loved the way we win in the end. 3 massive points and it keeps us on a winning run and another clean sheet as well.

[Letters]

Beautiful to see all the rival fans and commentators and pundits crying.

WUMger delivers a great WUM on his anniversary.
Some of our 'fans' seem to be crying too. A win's a win, every title win ever has had a sprinkling of pub team wins.

[Globalgunner]

Some of our 'fans' seem to be crying too. A win's a win, every title win ever has had a sprinkling of pub team wins.

Moaning about other people moanimg is still moaning

[Niall_Quinn]

Moaning about other people moanimg is still moaning

I think stirring shit is more important than avoiding rank hypocrisy. Besides, if you don't start trouble then how can you ride in on a high horse to ask for calm?

[Niall_Quinn]

The morning after, I suppose what people have been saying is true. 3 points and nobody will remember the performance.

That said, I WILL remember the performance against the chavs, just as I remember the performance against Utd. You know - THAT performance, not the other one. The performance worth remembering. And when we rightly praise Wenger for the early years it's telling how fans recall the incredible football we used to play before they mention titles.

Yes 3 points. But what a shame we have to forget about the performance. Would be so much better if we had the points AND the point.

[LDG]

Watched the whole match until five mins to go as had to go pick the missus up <_<

Had it on the car radio and ended up waking both kids up in the back with a massive "YEAAAAAHHHHHHHHHAAAAHHHHHHRRRGHGHG" :lol:

What a shit match, but sometimes it's nice to pub one up.

Also nice to here the pundit on five live saying "I'm absolutely gutted...". Nice and impartial. Well mate, stick that right up your arse.

:scarf:

[Letters]

Yes 3 points. But what a shame we have to forget about the performance. Would be so much better if we had the points AND the point.

Presume that last word should be performance. And yes, of course. But no team plays like we did against Chelsea every game, sometimes it's not happening and you have to dig in and get the result. Didn't see it but by all accounts we got out of jail yesterday but we got the result. Obviously if we keep playing like that then that we'll get nowhere but we've shown glimpses of what this team can do so let's hope we can get back to that level.

[Niall_Quinn]

Presume that last word should be performance. And yes, of course. But no team plays like we did against Chelsea every game, sometimes it's not happening and you have to dig in and get the result. Didn't see it but by all accounts we got out of jail yesterday but we got the result. Obviously if we keep playing like that then that we'll get nowhere but we've shown glimpses of what this team can do so let's hope we can get back to that level.

No, I didn't mean performance, I meant point. The point of football for me is to be entertained. If that doesn't happen then the points don't mean shit. Parading around with a trophy at the end of a season where you provided zero entertainment, for example the last chav title, comes with little merit. Which great teams do we remember? The great Brazilians? The Argentinians. France at their peak? Greece? All winners, but which is the odd one out? All winners but there's a lot more to it than that if you are going to stay true to the point of the game. Winning at all costs is not sport. Ask Ben Johnson. We win in the right spirit of the event or it's a shallow win at best.

We were teased by witnessing a flashback to the great Arsenal football of a decade ago and it was marvellous to see. But in the end a tease because if we intended to get back to what we have always done best under Wenger then we'd have approached this latest game with the same energy and ambition as the last two. But we didn't. We reverted to the bare minimum required to win. The spirit was missing. The purpose was gone. The whole point of the sport was missing. We were chavs for the day and I'll never be happy about that, 3 points or otherwise.

I don't expect us to hit the heights every match, that's unreasonable. But I don't expect us to plunge from the heights to the lowest of depths in the space of a few days. That shows there are still major problems at the club, the sort of problems that mean not only will we fail to be entertained for the majority of this season (like so many seasons before) but ultimately it will mean we won't compete either. Same old, same old and it all comes down to the conservatism of one man. He knows how to get us top 4 season after season. That's the one trick in his bag and it's old now.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I can't think of a single team in English football history that won the league title by entertaining in every single game...it's not always possible.


Whilst i totally appreciate where you are coming from, and do broadly agree....i've always felt that playing at home it is incumbent on the team to give the crowd value for money...i think away from home the priority is more to grind out the points where necessary.

I think for instance as a fan if you've travelled 200 miles to some godforsaken back water, i think you are going to feel more disappointed if your team has provided the footballing equivalent of cirque de soleil and ended up losing rather than an industrial three points. Ideally you would like both, but given the choice winning is the most important.

Really yesterday as much as i hate to say it, we would have benefited from having Giroud and Ramsey in the team.....whilst neither have the ability to play in the big games, both are the type of players to pop up with a goal in a fixture like this.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Most worrying yesterday was Iwobi showing signs of having Wengeritis

If it continues he might be forced to leave or it could have terminal effect on his career

[Marc Overmars]

Not everyone is going to bend over for us and there will be plenty of other teams like Burnley who make it a slog.

[Niall_Quinn]

If these dour, negative performances are the exception rather than the rule then I have no problem with that. As you say, the expectation to play well for every game in a season is unrealistic. But what I can't take, and what we've been getting for the last few seasons, is a serving of shite on a regular basis. Yes we've ground out wins and we always accumulate enough points to secure that coveted top four spot. But if all we get in terms of entertainment over the course of a season is a handful of games with the rest of it being eyeball torture then that's not acceptable at all. That's where the English game has gone and to much the same extent the European game. Expansive attacking football has gone out of style and now we have whole tournaments such as the Euros where teams are quite prepared to bore their way to "glory". There are hints this might be changing in the PL, or at least the trend is going into a slow reverse and thank fuck for that. Who could have watched another season as bland as the last few we've had to endure.

My main concern is the immense gap between us playing well and then one of our shitty performances. How can we be so good one moment and abject the next? It highlights something beyond simple form. There's a method behind this bland shit we resort to, something negative and unwanted. And for all our negativity and ponderous plodding yesterday, what did it get us? We were lucky not to lose that game. Better strikers would have done us in. If we were gaining something other than the top four trophy (which surely we all loathe by this late stage?) or it made us more secure at the back then maybe you can accept it. But that's not the case. Attack has always been our best form of defence. We just aren't very good at being Stoke and his amazing that Wenger hasn't grasped this yet given the number of points we've stupidly dropped when sitting back on our heels.

Anyway, if this game was a blip then no problems. But what are the chances we're back to normality now with another false dawn behind us? Time will tell but the question is how much more time does this manager need to stick a decent team together and build some momentum and confidence? He's had years.

[Niall_Quinn]

Most worrying yesterday was Iwobi showing signs of having Wengeritis

If it continues he might be forced to leave or it could have terminal effect on his career

That was again down to the stupidity of the tactics. When you are up against a defensive team then the last thing you do is slow it down. Well not quite the last thing. Stupidly forcing everything into a congested centre is the final straw. You up the tempo against teams like that. Shake them out of their patterns. Stretch them all over the place. Test their discipline relentlessly. It was all too comfortable for Burnley yesterday because we played it the way that suited them. And that left Iwobi having to make things happen by himself. I commented on it yesterday, stop trying to ask a young kid to be Ozil just because he's had a few good games. He's a very good player but if Wenger continues to waste him in this manner then he'll go the way of all the other good players we've had here recently. Notice also that Theo's progression was sharply halted and he because ineffective too. Again, the stupidity of playing to the opponent's strengths rather than forcing the flow of the game ourselves. That's when our players do best, when their superior technical ability is used at a high tempo. But play it static with these players facing a massed rank of defenders and it becomes a slog. Alexis too. Because fuck all was happening behind him he had to resort to coming deep. Waste of time. Xhaka. He was winding me up with his short little taps sideways and backwards. Where did all the decisive forward passing vanish to? Surely the player himself didn't decide he'd change his game in such a negative manner? I just don't know what possesses the manager to sit there and watch these types of performances unfold without doing something about it.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I think what essentially has to change is that players need to just get themselves into the box, where at the moment we have too many players who want to play hot potato with the ball outside the box.

In this game it would have been better as you say to have employed Iwobi and Sanchez as traditional wingers but instead of constantly putting in crosses to no one (don't think either are exceptional ball crossers anyway) get the ball in behind the full backs and encourage Walcott, Ozil, Cazorla to push up so there is a chance one of them can be found by playing the ball across the goal and creating chaos in the penalty area, eight times out of ten the last ditch tackle or the hurried clearance will prevail but it's about playing the averages and having people in there to stick a boot on the ball in the direction of goal.

[Power n Glory]

We used the same tactics that beat Chelsa and Basel. Iwobi has been finding his way into the middle all season and you only have to compare the 2nd goal against Chelsea as an example. I saw us attempt the same overload towards the left of the pitch with Theo and Bellerin staying to the wide right but nothing came of the moves. Sanchez has always dropped deep for the ball and that's what gives space to Theo to drop into that space. Against Burnley it wasn't working because the defence weren't shifting out of their space and we lacked the same intensity to our game. It's the tempo and intensity that was missing. Complacency. It's always been our problem. 2nd half we tried to up the pace but after 20 minutes or so you could see the mistakes creeping in and frustration. Xhaka made a few long ball attempts that didn't pan out, Iwobi with that woeful shot, Ozil blasted the ball into...I think he was trying to cross it....it just wasn't happening for us.

This is where it would help if the coach could step in and give a little more advise rather than just saying to pass the ball quicker. Or have a Plan B! It's the same old story. We'll struggle against teams that park the bus if well organised and we're slightly jaded and not at our best.

[Niall_Quinn]

That was yet another difference, the lack of players in the box. It was very noticeable in the two games leading up to Burnley how quickly we were getting players into the danger zone. And we can say that Burnley were more defensive but Basle were pretty defensive too and they are a much better team than Burnley. On Sunday we had Iwobi, Bellerin and Monreal having to hold the ball rather than play it because no fucker was anywhere near the danger zone. Yet again, can that be the players making a conscious decision to do the exact opposite? Wenger really does waltz through the raindrops after these kinds of performances. A few mutterings about handbrakes and little bit lacking sharpness and that's it, he's off the hook and all the emphasis is on the players. Somebody should ask him, WHY did they lack little bit sharpness? Why did they go from a high energy, high tempo style to a slow plod? Are they not fit enough for the demands at the top of the game? And if so, why not? Then man should start taking more responsibility for these non-performances.

[Niall_Quinn]

We used the same tactics that beat Chelsa and Basel. Iwobi has been finding his way into the middle all season and you only have to compare the 2nd goal against Chelsea as an example. I saw us attempt the same overload towards the left of the pitch with Theo and Bellerin staying to the wide right but nothing came of the moves. Sanchez has always dropped deep for the ball and that's what gives space to Theo to drop into that space. Against Burnley it wasn't working because the defence weren't shifting out of their space and we lacked the same intensity to our game. It's the tempo and intensity that was missing. Complacency. It's always been our problem. 2nd half we tried to up the pace but after 20 minutes or so you could see the mistakes creeping in and frustration. Xhaka made a few long ball attempts that didn't pan out, Iwobi with that woeful shot, Ozil blasted the ball into...I think he was trying to cross it....it just wasn't happening for us.

This is where it would help if the coach could step in and give a little more advise rather than just saying to pass the ball quicker. Or have a Plan B! It's the same old story. We'll struggle against teams that park the bus if well organised and we're slightly jaded and not at our best.

CLEARLY we didn't use the same tactics. I have no idea why you would say that when it was blatantly self evident we used entirely different tactics. Tempo and intensity are part and parcel of the tactics, so how can you say the tactics were the same and then say certain elements of the tactics were missing? We also didn't press the ball like we did in the previous two matches. Probably because Wenger just doesn't respect the opponent and doesn't feel the same amount of effort needs to be applied against what he considers to be inferior opponents. He got a lucky 3 points as an ill deserved reward for his lack of preparation and his typical lack of respect.

[Power n Glory]

When Wenger was asked if he thought we played at the wrong tempo and too slow, he said yes. The usual Wengerism's about lacking sharpness, handbrakes, heavy legs and looking jaded came out. That should at least give you a clue, especially since we tried to play faster in the second half but showed down again after 20 minutes.

He picked the same team for a reason but the intensity wasn't there. That's something he has to demand from the players and that's his main fault. Too soft on the players and should have been off his line demanding better from his players.

As said last week, that second goal against Chelsea doesn't happen if we don't put in the effort. The expense of passes with Iwobi and Ozil was in a congested area and could have been played wide much earlier.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

i don't think the tactics were that different, it's just the same tactics are going to have different effects against different teams. Burnley sat back a lot more than Basel or Chelsea and therefore it was more difficult to dispossess them higher up the pitch.

The only difference i saw was against Basel for instance, Ozil especially was going further wide to try and feed the ball across goal in the second half but as per usual there wasn't enough Arsenal presence in the box to provide a consistent threat doing so.

Outside the Box our play was compressed against Burnley and even when we did win the ball high up we did not have the runners to take the ball wide and come inside again.

Intensity is a reaction, if you have a side that is going to compete for the ball all over the park than you will nip in quickly to win the ball back and drive forward, if it sits back and you have the whole team playing behind the ball.....it slows down the tempo because you are more likely to slow it down looking to keep possession and probe to find an opening.


It defeats the fallacy that there is a one size fits all approach to playing football, there really isn't. Wenger's current favourite XI will do well in terms of a high octane encounter in terms of quick tempo....but when you have a team that will look to soak up and break....the same passes and the same runs are likely to find their way to an opposition player. The skill therefore is to find a method to unlock the defence....when a team sits as deep as Burnley does it can be vulnerable to giving away free kicks in dangerous areas, vulnerable to shots from outside the box and aerial deliveries.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Was travelling to the airport (to pick up someone) so had to listen to most of it on the radio (had to rely on my phone for the last ten minutes). It seemed that we huffed and puffed but struggled to break down a well organised and drilled Burnley, who I suspect will take points from a lot of teams at home if they play like that.

Worryingly, Ozil had another poor game. That's a few already this season where he hasn't looked as sharp as he should.

Agree with the comment about Giroud and Ramsey possibly helping us yesterday. It's games like this where you need a plan B, when Giroud's battering ram qualities and Rambo's directness would come in useful.

Glad that Ox's shot cannoned into Kos and then in because by the looks of it, it seemed that his initial shot was going high and wide. :lol: It would have done his already fragile confidence little good if he missed a glorious chance from two yards out in the last second to win the game for us.

Edit - Watched the Sky post match punditery. Ox completely missed it and instead it was Kos who hit the ball first onto his hand and into the goal (hence it wasn't offside). :lol:

[Power n Glory]

Was travelling to the airport (to pick up someone) so had to listen to most of it on the radio (had to rely on my phone for the last ten minutes). It seemed that we huffed and puffed but struggled to break down a well organised and drilled Burnley, who I suspect will take points from a lot of teams at home if they play like that.

Worryingly, Ozil had another poor game. That's a few already this season where he hasn't looked as sharp as he should.

Agree with the comment about Giroud and Ramsey possibly helping us yesterday. It's games like this where you need a plan B, when Giroud's battering ram qualities and Rambo's directness would come in useful.

Glad that Ox's shot cannoned into Kos and then in because by the looks of it, it seemed that his initial shot was going high and wide. :lol: It would have done his already fragile confidence little good if he missed a glorious chance from two yards out in the last second to win the game for us.

Edit - Watched the Sky post match punditery. Ox completely missed it and instead it was Kos who hit the ball first onto his hand and into the goal (hence it wasn't offside). :lol:

Giroud and Ramsey would have been good options from the bench. Ozil created one chance very late in the game and hasn't made and assist yet. It's in these sort of games I get frustrated with his style of play. He'd have benefited if Giroud were on the pitch because he was going wide more and trying play crosses in.

Also, what the heck happened to Xhaka having a shot on goal? Even if we can't open a team up in their penalty box and don't know why we weren't trying to create a little space on the edge of the box for someone to have a shot. That's what I'd call a tactical decision. We already know Wenger doesn't like players going for glory. We saw the woeful shot from Iwobi that went wide but we saw how pissed off that made Wenger. :lol: The fact that it went so wide probably wasn't the issue, he was probably pissed off more because Iwobi could have passed the ball.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

As someone who can stand neither Giroud or Ramsey, the first thing i said to my brother by text yesterday after the game was that we could have done with one or either of them either starting or as a bench option yesterday.

[Niall_Quinn]

i don't think the tactics were that different, it's just the same tactics are going to have different effects against different teams. Burnley sat back a lot more than Basel or Chelsea and therefore it was more difficult to dispossess them higher up the pitch.

The only difference i saw was against Basel for instance, Ozil especially was going further wide to try and feed the ball across goal in the second half but as per usual there wasn't enough Arsenal presence in the box to provide a consistent threat doing so.

Outside the Box our play was compressed against Burnley and even when we did win the ball high up we did not have the runners to take the ball wide and come inside again.

Intensity is a reaction, if you have a side that is going to compete for the ball all over the park than you will nip in quickly to win the ball back and drive forward, if it sits back and you have the whole team playing behind the ball.....it slows down the tempo because you are more likely to slow it down looking to keep possession and probe to find an opening.


It defeats the fallacy that there is a one size fits all approach to playing football, there really isn't. Wenger's current favourite XI will do well in terms of a high octane encounter in terms of quick tempo....but when you have a team that will look to soak up and break....the same passes and the same runs are likely to find their way to an opposition player. The skill therefore is to find a method to unlock the defence....when a team sits as deep as Burnley does it can be vulnerable to giving away free kicks in dangerous areas, vulnerable to shots from outside the box and aerial deliveries.

And yet strangely, when Alexis introduced his own one man pressing game, we were immediately dangerous.

The debate here seems to fall into one of two camps. Either Wenger is telling the players what he wants but they aren't delivering, or he's telling them what he wants and they are delivering precisely as instructed. Then you stack the answer up against the style over several seasons. If you take the first position then it seems the players ignore Wenger most of the time. If you take the latter position then it seems Wenger is a negative manager. I have no problem deciding which is which. I doubt a control freak would put up with being disobeyed with such frequency.

If I had to guess, he's on another one of his bizarre energy conservation exercises. I think he believes it is possible to tune things down for what he considers to be inferior opponents or less important games. I believe the season is one big pot of averages to him and he values these averages over the momentum that can be gained from one game building on the next. We've seen this with his cup selections. We might be on a great run then he goes and changes the team and we get a right hiding. After that the form goes into the shitter because the confidence generated by momentum is lost.

Several players said the same thing during the Invincible season. They didn't feel like they'd lose, they always thought they'd find a way to win. That confidence was palpable every time the team stepped on the pitch and it used to crush the opposition too on occasion - we often won the game in the tunnel before a ball was kicked. None of this exists at Arsenal any more.

It was important to put in another good performance on Sunday for so many reasons. And the 3 points really won't matter in the end because if we keep on spurning opportunities to change the character of this team and then build on it we won't get enough of those 3 points over the course of the season anyway. We'll lose stupid games and crash at the major hurdles, as usual. But what we will do, with our law of averages approach, is secure that envied (not) 4th place title. Pure speculation on my part but it remains evident that there something badly wrong at this club and it stems from the manager and his negativity.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I think the point i made was that largely Wenger doesn't adjust his tactics depending on which team he is playing, because most of the time there isn't a pre-prepared tactical plan.

I don't think there was any change in emphasis between Chelsea/Basel and Burnley....any difference in performance came from a) a reluctance to rotate the squad and b) that you cannot play the same way against chelsea that you can against burnley.

Games like Burnley we need to work on attacking set pieces, long range shooting, having players in the box to be in position to pounce on fortunate ricochets or a ball that the goalkeeper has spilled, getting in behind the defence from the flanks.

Where as games against the top sides you work on winning midfield battles, pace, stretching the play etc

[LDG]

I think the point i made was that largely Wenger doesn't adjust his tactics depending on which team he is playing, because most of the time there isn't a pre-prepared tactical plan.

I don't think there was any change in emphasis between Chelsea/Basel and Burnley....any difference in performance came from a) a reluctance to rotate the squad and b) that you cannot play the same way against chelsea that you can against burnley.

Games like Burnley we need to work on attacking set pieces, long range shooting, having players in the box to be in position to pounce on fortunate ricochets or a ball that the goalkeeper has spilled, getting in behind the defence from the flanks.

Where as games against the top sides you work on winning midfield battles, pace, stretching the play etc

Remember those games in the league winning seasons, where we couldn't break down teams, and ended up relying on a Ljungberg run.

Same shit.

Problem is, more teams these days know exactly how to play us. But Wenget doesn't change anything.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Remember those games in the league winning seasons, where we couldn't break down teams, and ended up relying on a Ljungberg run.

Same shit.

Problem is, more teams these days know exactly how to play us. But Wenget doesn't change anything.


Even in the unbeaten season we had games where we failed to make the break through

Portsmouth, Birmingham and Fulham at home were those type of games, in the Fulham game i remember we had a lot of shots on goal but they were all straight at Van der Saar.

few games in the unbeaten season where we couldn't see games out

Bolton, Leicester, Manchester United, Spurs and Everton - every one of those games we conceded equalising goals in the last ten minutes of the game (and in case of leicester and spurs in injury time)

Where i think we have actually improved since then is that against most sides we are able to hold onto a lead.....where we have drastically declined is the ability to break teams down or come from behind.

Not many games where we won for instance where we weren't leading going into the last 20 minutes.

[alexander]

We have really improved of late, played really well and won. Yesterday we played poorly and won. Thats what a title winning team do. I remember the 97/98 title winning season, we drew loads of games early in that season, but not losing was the important thing.
Considering how we started the season, and how others flew out of the blocks and left us behind, we are now right back up there in the mix, and thats through us doing well and winning rather than others falling to pieces, and although yesterday was a bad day in the office, we have to admit the last few weeks have been a marked improvement right trough the team.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I'm happy with the result and I'm glad we kept playing right up until the last second to achieve it. It makes the international break much more bearable.

As for the performance, I thought Burnley played a blinder. They were well organised and played the percentages well when it came to taking the limited attacking chances they had while maximising the opportunity when it presented itself.

This is a good win.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Not sure if it was his worst......but I just thought Ozil was particularly bad in this game..........

He was really annoying me!

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Re: Sherbert's comments from the previous page on tactics, tempo and breaking down oppositions, I strongly agree!

[Kano]

This is what it's all about

https://mobile.twitter.com/Serowka11/status/782977027066437633/video/1

[Power n Glory]

Not sure if it was his worst......but I just thought Ozil was particularly bad in this game..........

He was really annoying me!

:lol: Probably not his worst game but he rarely has a really poor game to be honest. He was just ineffective and that's my main gripe with him when it comes to these sort of occasions. When teams park the bus like that and he's racked up over 30 passes in the final third, I don't think he'll find he'll find that killer ball to win us the game unless it's a cross from a set piece or out wide.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

If the play is compressed in the middle than he's going to be useless, what i think he's capable of doing is finding players on the flanks to stretch the defence

That said, no it shouldn't be necessary to have him in the side to beat Burnley.

[Power n Glory]

Do we need a super player like Ozil to something that simple? It’s just a sideways pass out to an uncongested area. The majority of our players can do that if we’re playing deep in our opponents final third. It’s more dependent on our wingers staying wide and fullbacks pushing up. Plus, once it goes wide, we have the same problem of the ball having to be played back into that congested area where it’s likely to be blocked or we have nobody there to get on the end of it. Or even when we attempt to cut it back to the edge of the box, nobody shoots and the ball should be falling to the AM or CM in those moments.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Well like i just said we shouldn't need him to beat a team like Burnley, the difference is he can see a pass blindfold and it's about the weighting and timing of the pass to match the run of the player that he is unsurpassed at.

[Power n Glory]

I think the opposite. We've always struggled against these sort of teams and whilst I think our style of play has been figured out and easily nullified by such teams, I fought signing a player like Ozil would enable us to open these teams up. That's not happening and it's a worry that it's still the case even without Giroud in the squad. I think he needs to take more risks with his passing if we're going to continue playing this way.

[selassie]

I'm delighted with the result but frustrated with the performance. Saying that we've been spoilt lately, we've been playing very well. Despite that I didn't think we were that bad on Sunday, we just never really got going and kind of huffed and puffed our way through the performance. Credit to Burnley though, they were extremely difficult to break down and very well organised, I honestly can't see them losing too many games at home if they continue to perform like that.

It was a big win for us on Sunday, this season is going to be tight from start to finish and we've no room for error even if we want to finish in the top 4.

Signs are looking good though, we have a very favourable fixture list for the next month or so, it's absolutely imperative we take maximum points from these games.

[Niall_Quinn]

I think the opposite. We've always struggled against these sort of teams and whilst I think our style of play has been figured out and easily nullified by such teams, I fought signing a player like Ozil would enable us to open these teams up. That's not happening and it's a worry that it's still the case even without Giroud in the squad. I think he needs to take more risks with his passing if we're going to continue playing this way.

We could sign Messi and Ronaldo and it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. The problem is not with the players.

[Penguin]

Didn't catch the game but I'm glad we pubbed the three points. What a way to score... :lol:

[Power n Glory]

We could sign Messi and Ronaldo and it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. The problem is not with the players.

:lol: Not always. The problem with Ozil is that his only weapon is his passing and it's still not enough to unlock a defence. If he could dribble through players, shoot and was an aerial threat he'd be more difficult to stop.

[Letters]

We could sign Messi and Ronaldo and it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. The problem is not with the players.

So why berate Wenger for not signing the right players?

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

People keep saying they just sat back as if they did it all game. What they actually did was press us high up the pitch for 3/4 of the match which is what we had been doing to other teams before Coq went down. When they could smell the point and the time running out they then sat in. You could see they were trying to prevent us from dictating a rhythm via Cazorla and Xhaka from deep. We caught them out 3 or 4 times whilst they did this but failed to make the most of our quick break.

One of the biggest differences between this side and past Wenger sides is that on a day like it with opposition of this type Iwobi's woeful shot from the left or Theo's close one from the left curling towards goal would have been stuck into the top corner by Pires or Henry who scored that type of goal a million times.

I felt we should have actually shot from distance more too. When a back line is permenantely in front of a keeper he can seldom see the moment the ball is struck and may react late. I wish Czech would explain this to them! As I understand he is a keen thinker on the game.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

And Ozil was very poor. Failing to execute things he really shouldn't have failed to execute!

Doesn't help not having a striker sitting on the bench though neither!!!

[Niall_Quinn]

So why berate Wenger for not signing the right players?

What? You think we shouldn't sign players because Wenger is a clueless tactician?

[Maestro]

So why berate Wenger for not signing the right players?

Maybe, just maybe because signing the right and or top players will at least mitigate some of his weaknesses as a coach, whatever they are perceived to be .....dunno just maybe?

[Letters]

Maybe, just maybe because signing the right and or top players will at least mitigate some of his weaknesses as a coach, whatever they are perceived to be .....dunno just maybe?

NQ just said it wouldn't so why waste our money? :shrug:

[Niall_Quinn]

NQ just said it wouldn't so why waste our money? :shrug:

I said no such thing. That statement was made in the context of the discussion - tactics, whereas your contribution is entirely out of context and designed merely as a cheap shot. You do this more and more, for whatever reason.