Match Reaction Villa v ARSENAL - Sat 20th Sep 15:00

[Master Splinter]

Squawka Football
‏@Squawka

Arsenal completed 741 passes against Aston Villa today, the most by any Premier League side over the last 2 seasons.

560 in our own half tbf.

[Syn]

I don't think this was one of them: https://vine.co/v/OWYV9t6LpFt

[Master Splinter]

Ramsey is genuinely a pub-teamer at the moment.

[Syn]

Time for a visit to the barbers for a 1 all over.

[Syn]

Btw that was actually an accurate pass, but Mertesacker was too slow to reach it.

[Globalgunner]

At one point Merts must have spent like 5 minutes playing from within 10m of the Villa half such was the rancid quality of the Villa performance. Missed opportunity to put a half dozen goals past their sorry team.

[WMUG]

For 5 minutes we got the ball and played it FORWARD at pace, we had runners, we had men getting into the box - like any normal team plays. We overwhelmed them and bagged 3 goals. For the rest of the time we did that thing we do. Yes 3 points, yes a win, no, anything but a good performance. We will average, average, average, average out to a 4th place finish again and it's highly possible we won't get a cumulative 90 mins entertainment over the course of the entire season. We got the points but ultimately football is pointless when it is played like this.

I agree I'd have preferred a more entertaining match, but taking your foot off the gas when 3-0 up is a way to minimise injury risk, and we certainly don't need any more of those.

Yes, you can argue that that's a symptom of the failure to get more defenders in and yadda yadda, but still. Today, it was probably the smart thing to do, even if it wasn't the most entertaining.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

yay

[I am invisible]

Didn't we do the same thing all the time back in the double-winning / Invincibles days? Go 3 or 4 up inside 10 minutes and then take it easy for the rest of the game, when we were all hoping for a 20 goal mailing?

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Attacking directly with pace and quick movement creates goals, ehhhhh? Who would have thought, Arsene?

Decentish performance and took our chances and saw out the game with minimal effort. Most teams will struggle at Villa Park as they're a good team this year so you've got to be pleased with that.

Ozil and Welbeck linked up fantastically - what a ball in behind for the first goal. I'm going to scream if Wenger decides to put Ozil out wide now.

Also, what's up with Alexis? Hope it's nothing serious.