Match Reaction: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal

[Alpha]

I thought today, ironically could have done with Ozil. The Ox was very frustrating before we went one up and I thought Coquelin still looks superb.

Thing about Walcott is you always sense he needs a few games to get into the swing of things, so when Wenger benches him, then randomly starts him, you're never really going to see the best of him straight away. I think RvP used to need several games to get into it a bit.

Cech had a cigar on and I'm happy for that to be commonplace. Our full backs are superb though I felt in games like this they should overlap the wide forwards even more.

Your post is one of the best in this match reaction . You describe exactly what happened during the game whilst others are just writing about their own frustration . well done .

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Ironically? We can't play without him.

Defence wasn't tested today. When we have been we've looked poor right across the back. When Bellerin and Monreal are in the comfort zone and can press up the field then they look good. When they are under pressure, not so good. Monreal a lot better than Bellerin defensively. I think the irony lies in the fact Monreal is slowly becoming our best defender. Bellerin has a long way to go and I think he's a midfielder rather than a defender. Bit like Gibbs.

Well people have often mooted the idea of shoehorning his best 11 into the side as a bad thing......and the fact is we should be able to beat a nervous, hyper and over reactive Newcastle with a man down with the players we had on the field.

It is more than possible that Ozil would have played today, created several golden chances, all or most of which we failed to convert. The bigger problem right now is woeful finishing right throughout the team.

[Niall_Quinn]

Well people have often mooted the idea of shoehorning his best 11 into the side as a bad thing......and the fact is we should be able to beat a nervous, hyper and over reactive Newcastle with a man down with the players we had on the field.

It is more than possible that Ozil would have played today, created several golden chances, all or most of which we failed to convert. The bigger problem right now is woeful finishing right throughout the team.

Our finishing, or lack of it, is a different and extra problem. But without Ozil we can't seem to pass. Our passing today was as bad as I have even seen it. Ramsey in particular was horrendous. I'm trying to figure out how we have managed to get a lot worse since last season with the same squad. There were times last season when we looked like a team. So far this season there hasn't been a hint of that. That's before we get to the terrible finishing and the goal ratio of 1 to every 100 chances. We need a striker, Wenger has done his £1 extra for Suarez and now his Benzema routine. Sanogo is who we actually got and Walcott and Bif could have peppered an empty net today for hours on end and not scored a goal.

Another worrying sight, Alexis is still running his guts out but he is becoming less and less effective on each outing. I think Wenger has found a way to neutralise him.

[Özim]

Pubbed a win against 10 men, we're kinda provingwhat many of us thought before the season started that we're well short of any kind of title challenge without some signings (and maybe a new manager), as I said before the season had begun we weren't good enough last season and one keeper doesn't change that, sadly we have a manager (and some fans) in total denial who thinks we can win everything under the sun.

[PGFC]

Pubbed a win against 10 men, we're kinda provingwhat many of us thought before the season started that we're well short of any kind of title challenge without some signings (and maybe a new manager), as I said before the season had begun we weren't good enough last season and one keeper doesn't change that, sadly we have a manager (and some fans) in total denial who thinks we can win everything under the sun.

Didn't watch it again eh? great work

[Özim]

Didn't watch it again eh? great work

Yeah spot on, Wenger didn't watch it.

[Letters]

Pubbed a win against 10 men, we're kinda provingwhat many of us thought before the season started that we're well short of any kind of title challenge without some signings.

But Chelsea are good enough after their results thus far?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

The thing is Letters we can't gauge how well we are doing by how other teams are doing, what matters and what only matters is how we perform. Can our defeat to West Ham be put into perspective by the hammering they have to Liverpool today? No not really the fact is for all the weird results going for the away sides, our failure to win against West Ham can only be explained by our complacency and lack of incisiveness.
The fact remains that we won all four of the fixtures we played last season and only got seven points from the same ones this season....and the dropped points result from the failure to address a pattern of failing to break teams down when playing at home.
There feeds into the bigger issue of not being clinical.

[Özim]

They won the title last season so clearly they're capable. We've not won the title in 10 years and were nowhere near winning it last season either.

Chelsea have had a terrible start, but they've proved they're capable of winning it, we were well short last season and other than a keeper little has changed so I couldn't see how we could challenge without a few more signings. Wenger has been his stubborn self and wasted the whole summer and now appears to be trying to get a bargain on the last day, hope it works out for him.

I just can't see us challenging unless Wenger pulls off a spectacular signing or two before the window closes, which seems highly improbable considering what seems to be available and the type of manager we have.

[Niall_Quinn]

But Chelsea are good enough after their results thus far?

What have the chavs got to do with it? Why mention them when we are talking about Arsenal's performances? This is how you explained away our collapse at the end of last season that saw the gypos cruise past us. The chavs had won the title then, so it was "understandable" we'd ease off (just like the gypos didn't).

Now the chavs have started badly so what does that mean? Does it make it "understandable" that we have started badly too? Again?

What about the gypos then? They have started well. What does that mean?

And Bournemouth, they are all over the place. What do their performances mean for us?