Match Reaction vs Ludogorets (away).

[Marc Overmars]

I imagine Iwobi will be back in for Sunday. Barring injuries I think our first 11 picks itself this season.

[Ralpheroo72]

Ozil's form at club level now is amazing. 3 points tonight, when all looked lost after 15 minutes. Nice job.

[Marc Overmars]

Spuds then United to come now.

Nice to head into these big games in a rich vein of form for once.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Spuds then United to come now.

Nice to head into these big games in a rich vein of form for once.

Hmmm that comes with a big fat caveat

Has our form really been that good, or have we just been beating teams we should be beating

Since the internationals we have had possibly the easiest games we are going to play all season, and yet we didn't even win all of them, it also contained an unnecessary massive struggle against both Swansea and Ludogorets last night

Frankly the only big win we've got this season is against Chelsea and they were awful, I think unless we play far better than we have all season, I expect Spurs to win comfortably.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Our defending has really been careless this season

Some of the goals we've conceded are just embarassing

Our attacking fluidity has I admit improved, but this only appears to happen in spells and often we are doing pass, pass, pass, sideways pass, backwards pass

Even our own players get sick of it, into the second half Koscielny just drove forward with the ball and that run created our first shot on goal for about ten minutes.

[Power n Glory]

I’ll check the highlights later tonight. Sounds like a shit game with a sublime finish. The midfield having no control over the game is a worry because it’s a combination that should have that balance of defence, distribution and creativity. Giroud up front starting games doesn’t work. Wenger needs to learn this lesson quickly. 3 goals in 2 games should be enough for any striker to get back into the first team but not if it stifles the rest of the team. This is exactly where we went wrong last season when Walcott got injured. We don’t need a striker that can hold up the ball. We need mobility and pace.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Again I hate to have to underline this again, this is a Bulgarian team. Our main striker could be Corky from Life Goes on (not Wayne Rooney who looks like Corky from life goes on) and we should still find a way to win.

Their defence was more porous than a Chinese girls face.

[Power n Glory]

Again I hate to have to underline this again, this is a Bulgarian team. Our main striker could be Corky from Life Goes on (not Wayne Rooney who looks like Corky from life goes on) and we should still find a way to win.

Their defence was more porous than a Chinese girls face.

Kind of underpins how wrong we've got things in that case. Not sure if all can be put down to Giroud and his style, have to watch the game, but it says a lot that we struggled.

[Gooner23]

To be fair I don't think having Ramsey and Sanchez on the wings helps much either, both like to come inside and congest the middle. There is a really nice balance with Walcott and Iwobi on the flanks.

Giroud still has an important role to play, he is a good alternative to Sanchez and a proven goalscorer. I really don't know where I stand on Ramsey though, I don't think he merits all of the criticism he gets but I also cant see an obvious position for him. Perhaps to be used as a back up for Ozil in his new more attacking role, making runs in behind the striker (Sanchez or Giroud). Yet Wenger often seems to want to crowbar him into the starting line up, even if to the detriment of the balance of the side.

[Niall_Quinn]

Our defending has really been careless this season

Some of the goals we've conceded are just embarassing

Our attacking fluidity has I admit improved, but this only appears to happen in spells and often we are doing pass, pass, pass, sideways pass, backwards pass

Even our own players get sick of it, into the second half Koscielny just drove forward with the ball and that run created our first shot on goal for about ten minutes.

Wenger tried to play it safe last night. We were all wondering if he'd rest players or go full strength, because those were the two logical options. Of course this is Wenger so he outfoxed us again by pulling a turd from his bag of shit that nobody had considered. Don't rest the key men (which I agree with), instead fuck with their positions, rip the pace out of the team, and install a lamppost up top. Then tippety tap it all night long and wait for a breakthrough against a team he underestimated as usual. A piece of Ozil magic makes it look like it worked, if you only focus on the scoreline. 9 times out 10 that last goal is never going to happen like that. Brilliant goal, brilliant individual skill, but that's what Wenger left us relying on in order to stay in front of PSG.

If he wanted to rest Iwobi then why put him on the plane at all? The guy rested by flying to Bulgaria and back. Fucking stupid. Either rest him or don't.

Now we all have to wait to see if the managerial maestro we are blessed with finds a way to work Giroud into his plans for Sunday. A little bit of panic and a run to safety is what we need for our first real test in weeks. Play it safe. Rely on the defence he plainly doesn't bother working with to keep it tight and see if we can nick a 1-0. That should work.

Wenger IS the handbrake. Whenever we start to get some momentum he does something incredibly stupid. He should stay at home for November and let the lads get on with it. Huge month that will properly test our title credentials and I believe we have the players that can meet the test. But the manager. Damn. He's a hell of a hurdle to have to keep jumping over.