I thought we played quite well last night, especially towards the end of the first half and for large parts of the second half. Much needed win and confidence boost for our fight for 4th place, good news on the returning players too, Ramsey did well last night and Ozil is apparently back on Sunday. The squad is starting to look good again, let's hope we can keep everybody fit now!
A very poor first half but we took it to them for the 2nd. Some sublime goals. Giroud can play like a lump of shit but my my that goal was a thing of beauty. Silky touch whilst slightly off balance and bang. Through the keepers legs! Top goal. Also noticed a brief moment where we dribbled on the ball for a few seconds on the edge of the box, dished off the pass and then charged into the box. It led to nothing but that's the sort of aggression I want to see from him around the box. He'd be difficult to stop if he moved with that sort of speed all the time. The static play and trying flicks around the corner needs to be to we down.
Pod's first goal and finish was excellent and that third goal was great team play. Wenger is missing a trick by not playing him as a striker or 2nd striker. Both goals came from the same position in the box and he executed perfectly. Good to see he got his full 90 minutes too. Still not a winger by a long shot and we need to adjust his playing position because his finishing is lethal.
1st half was typical of what we have been serving up lately. Giroud playing like a non-league striker doesn't help but nobody runs beyond him - we look so flat in an attacking sense. 2nd half possibly the best football we've played for a few months. You can see what the energy & runs of Rambo does for us, we finally had someone running past their backline,off the ball. With Rambo & Ozil now available we need to use Ox in a wider Theo type role. We don't need him in the middle of the pitch, he loses possession to much in tight areas - get him out wide running at defenders. If we do this we can win all 4 games left & lift the cup.
As far as I see it we won a game we should expect to win against a side with nothing to play for.
Decent goals, Podolski clearly should be playing as he'll score goals and is our best striker no question, I pretty much expect us to win every game until the end of the season (we should based on our fixtures).
I watched the post match interview by Wenger and watched him on the touchline and 4th place means so much to him, he celebrates it like he was winning the CL or PL, he's also clearly very proud of his team, his attitude gives me the impression he's happy with his squad and that he doesn't feel it needs much in the summer.
It only takes Wenger 2-3 results to perk up and believe his team are the best thing since sliced bread, he seems to be at that stage again now and come the end of the season if we win the games we're expected to win I fully expect him to talk about our end of season unbeaten mini run and the spirit and togetherness of his team.
Last edited by Özim; 16-04-2014 at 08:51 AM.
Originally Posted by Özim
What are you saying it wasn't and that West Ham do have something to play for?
We're at home against a smaller club, West Ham are safe from relegation, please tell me which part of my statement isn't true?
It's obviously true but it's textbook Zim.
We had a tough game on Saturday which went to extra time. It was a chance to go back above Everton and put a bit of pressure on.
If we'd lost or drawn it would have been all "we bottled it" or similar.
We win so it's all dismissive.
Yes, it's a game we should have won but we did and by all accounts played well in the 2nd half. But hey, any chance to have another dig at Wenger. You were WUMming throughout the match thread, you're doing the same here.
I'm not that impressed with a result I expected us to get tbh, had we not won it yes I'd have been annoyed as I fully expected us to win this, it's the same old same old fight for 4th place which we'll invariably get, but 4th place really means little to me so it doesn't get any brownie points.
Frankly I'm pretty tired and underwhelmed by anything Wenger's team does these days, I know how this is going to go, we'll get a few results and he'll preach in the summer about how well we've done, it's all very predictable....the truth is since December we've largely been average thus a few good results at the end of the season won't change much for me.
Oh and Giroud may have scored a goal, but it really doesn't make up for the fact he's a very average player and nowhere near the 1st team, I hope he leaves in the summer, he won't of course because Wenger loves him for some odd reason, Podolski isn't perfect but at least he's a goal threat.
Last edited by Özim; 16-04-2014 at 09:08 AM.
We won the match its true but then again we should. We have won all 6 of our previous matches against the Hammers so winning was expected and also much needed, but given the current circumstances, where we are in a life or death battle with Everton for 4th. It was a good performance. We need to step up and win all our remaining games. Its not a dig at Wenger to lament the position we find ourselves in, simply a sad indictment of our policies that has brought us here.
I think the last thing any true fan would want is another season like this
Or the fact that he knows it was a must win game and it's the first game he was won outright in almost a month.
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