Match Reaction vs Marseille (home).

[Power n Glory]

It looks like Wilshere is getting back to his best. Besides the very good goals, he's not losing the ball as much which is a good sign. Good to see he's able to play on the right if need be.

[Power n Glory]

That was basically a training match until Valbuena and Thauvin came on.

I don't want to excuse the sloppy passes, the poor final balls/finishing and the continued presence of Mesut Arshavin, but sometimes an opponent is so poor and I suppose it devolves into something as odd as that.

It should really have been 5-0 at the very least though. Maybe it's not so important at this CL stage, but squandering the chance to boost the goal difference could be costly in the League. For all the progress the team has made over the last year, not killing teams off and hammering home our superiority is still a problem. It's unprofessional to just loiter around when you should be taking advantange of any situation.

Despite the underwhelmingness of it all, Ramsey, Wilshere, Giroud and the defence again were really good. Szczesny is so impressive at the moment and he will only get better. Maybe it's too early to say it definitively, but seeing Wilshere getting in to goal-scoring Ramsey-esque positions shows that it could be about to all click together for him too. Not that there was ever any doubt that he would regain his form again, but his actions in the final third are much improved.

Ramsey is just ridiculous now. He seems to pull out new tricks every game and they're all coming off. He's the centre of the team in every way currently. Giroud an absolute physical fulcrum. Sagna is probably playing the best football of his life. Sign him up FFS. And it's almost as enjoyable watching Koscielny and BFG nicking the ball off strikers and intercepting everything as it is seeing a triangle special outside the box.

With the team performing well, Ozil's lacklustre attitude and failure to even execute the basics can be somewhat overlooked, but if it continues it's a worry. He did improve slightly in the second half though.

Anyway, Arsenal .

I wouldn’t get drawn into that talk of killing teams off. The ITV pundits were pissing me off with all that talk. Nothing wrong with a comfortable victory and we’re not there to put on a spectacle for the pundits that continue to write us off. We were defensively solid and they keep overlooking that. Even if we put 5 or 6 past them they’d still have doubts about our chances winning anything so they can piss off. I thought it was an entertaining game.

[Darknight02]

Completely agree.

I thought it was a professional performance and we did exactly what was required without having to expend excessive amounts of energy or risk injury.

Ozil - I can understand why everyone is concerned but he can produce a match-winning moment of quality in every game at any second and he's worth carrying for that reason. He had a poor game yesterday but he laid on an assist, could have scored a penalty, could have scored another with a lovely run and control for a shot that was saved, and could have scored if his touch hadn't left him after another great run. He also links our play and rarely loses the ball no matter how difficult it appears to conjure a pass.

One concern is that I genuinely think he's tired mentally and physically in terms of games played. And he's also adapting to a new league, a much more energetic and demanding league. I do hope Wenger does manage to rest him to give his some recovery.

Thrilled to see the job that Ramsey and Rosicky are doing. Ramsey has become the beating heart of the side. I've never seen him pull off the amount of tricks he has started to pull in the past month. Norwich, Southampton, Marseille. Fantastic skills all coming out. He played all over the park yesterday - as a defensive midfielder, as an attacking midfielder, as a playmaker in the number 10 role and as a winger. And he looks equally comfortable in all positions. Around the box he produced some lovely skills including winning a penalty. He made so many dinked Bergkamp-esque passes including two from which Ozil should really have scored. And he orchestrated the second goal finding Ozil in space. What a player.

Rosicky - I've elaborated on in another thread.

The defence is rock solid and Sir Ches is starting to dominate and impose his presence on games with his aura. Glad to see how well Monreal performed and to know we have solid back up available when required.

Giroud is the concern. Even yesterday we weren't able to substitute him and I really hope it doesn't take a toll on him in terms of injury.

All things otherwise considered, we need to keep going. The league isn't won against the big teams. Its won against the minor teams as it gives you leeway against the big guns. Onwards to Cardiff and another win. Come on you Gooners!

[Letters]

It's nice to be confident going in to games like this and to enjoy watching them play again. Whatever happens this season it's going to be mostly enjoyable and we're miles ahead of where we were last year.

Not an outstanding display but good enough, I always felt we were playing within ourselves and could have stepped it up if need be. We got a bit sloppy at 2-0 and Chesney had to make a couple of good saves. Overall though, job done. On we go.

Slight concern about Özil, after a storming start to his Arsenal career he's gone off the boil a bit. Struggling to adjust to the pace of the English league, maybe? First half last night he was poor - summed up by his lack-lustre penalty. Never understand why players do the two step run up thing, they generally have it saved. He was much better 2nd half and pleased he set up the 2nd goal as he needs a bit of confidence.

Good to see Wilshere playing so well too. Even I got a bit caught up in the media storm recently and started to doubt his ability but last night he reminded me what he's capable of.

[Marc Overmars]

Wenget has rotated Cazorla and Wheelchair but seems to be flogging Mesut Arshavin to death, probably giving him a crash course so he can adapt to intensity required over here. Good chance to give him a rest next week against Hull next week though if we wanted to.

I think the Christmas schedule may come as a bit of a shock to Mesut, so he needs to be managed well IMO.

[Syn]

Agreed Moe. Will be the first time in a while there won't be a winter break for Ozil. I'd say Wenger will manage his fitness well but his track record isn't great on that front. That said, he hasn't really had a squad for a while where he starts with good players in every position and can still throw Walcott, Cazorla and Arteta on from the bench. Wenger did also say he will be forced to rotate until the Napoli game.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Someone made a brilliant point on twitter earlier.

Walcott, Cazorla and Arteta came on for Ozil, Rosicky and Wilshere.

That's quality subs coming on. And we still have Podolski and Chamberlain to come back too.

We finally have squad depth.

This is exciting.

[Letters]

Yeah. I noticed that. I'm a bit concerned about our squad depth up front but otherwise we have it in spades.

[Fist of Lehmann]

Sloppy performance against a side that could barely muster a single fuck to give.
With the obvious exception of Bendtner I thought we lacked focus, we were not conscientious in our work.

Good win though, goal difference not an issue as it's only head-to-heads that count. That said, scoring is still good for morale so we should had buried them.

Plus we're pretty much through. Can't see any team putting 3 past this defence while keeping us out. Sorry Rafa. Is Facht.

[Niall_Quinn]

Not so fast with the celebrations, seems things at the club are falling apart fast. Here's what the Daily Mail managed to pick as a headline from a night of European football:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...r-unhappy.html

Quality journalism.