Match Reaction vs PNE (away, Cup).

[Niall_Quinn]

NQ, explain to me how this goal involved more pace and less 'tippy tappy'?



From the build up, we were fortunate not to concede possession when Xhaka took a heavy touch and in the final third it was good work from Iwobi to keep the attack alive.

You really need that explained? And you also keep using the word pace when I already said I meant tempo.

So this video is a CLASSIC cameo of the problem. A whole bunch of aimless shite, our usual style, and then bang, bang, two passes up the flank, a ball into the danger area and Iwobi does the rest. You call that shite at the start, "build up play", I call it shite. The real build up play was when somebody had the balls to move the ball forward rather than sideways or backwards. Yes, you can lose the ball if you play it into contested spaces. And that's what Wenger fears because he hasn't got a clue how to coach the defence so loss of possession can be devastating. But you also can't threaten the opposition if you shun their goal. And that's what we do for long stretches of our matches - basically fuck around, terrified of losing the ball. Tippy tappy Arsenal style, or more like chicken's tikka - the Mr Bean version of tika taka.

[Power n Glory]

You really need that explained? And you also keep using the word pace when I already said I meant tempo.

So this video is a CLASSIC cameo of the problem. A whole bunch of aimless shite, our usual style, and then bang, bang, two passes up the flank, a ball into the danger area and Iwobi does the rest. You call that shite at the start, "build up play", I call it shite. The real build up play was when somebody had the balls to move the ball forward rather than sideways or backwards. Yes, you can lose the ball if you play it into contested spaces. And that's what Wenger fears because he hasn't got a clue how to coach the defence so loss of possession can be devastating. But you also can't threaten the opposition if you shun their goal. And that's what we do for long stretches of our matches - basically fuck around, terrified of losing the ball. Tippy tappy Arsenal style, or more like chicken's tikka - the Mr Bean version of tika taka.

Pace...tempo...it makes no difference. The tempo wasn't much different in how we started the first half.

And no, it wasn't Iwobi doing all the rest. Monreal's cross from the wing was headed out. We were fortunate that it fell to Perez who passed to Iwobi (sideways) and Iwobi's touch and control was good enough to hold off the defenders and then find Ramsey. Another sideways pass. If either of the sideways passes are unsuccessful or Iwobi loses gets bundled off the poor, you'd be complaining about the 'tippy tappy' sideways passing. It's all marginal. What made that goal was quality control, vision and passing with a bit of fortune.

[Niall_Quinn]

Pace...tempo...it makes no difference. The tempo wasn't much different in how we started the first half.

And no, it wasn't Iwobi doing all the rest. Monreal's cross from the wing was headed out. We were fortunate that it fell to Perez who passed to Iwobi (sideways) and Iwobi's touch and control was good enough to hold off the defenders and then find Ramsey. Another sideways pass. If either of the sideways passes are unsuccessful or Iwobi loses gets bundled off the poor, you'd be complaining about the 'tippy tappy' sideways passing. It's all marginal. What made that goal was quality control, vision and passing with a bit of fortune.

No - ONE sideways pass in an ATTACKING move is not TIPPY TAPPY (a perfect term for the non-football we inflict). A whole series of inane passes designed merely to keep possession and with no other purpose, that's Wengerball of the last decade. The precise opposite of Wengerball from the decade before. Why he made this obnoxious and atrocious switch only he can explain.

But if you are going to say no, we made 5 forward passes in a game so it's not tippy tappy, or no, we made 3 sideways passes so it's not attacking the of course, you win the argument through rigid usage of absolutes. However, I'm sure no Arsenal fan, except perhaps Ty or Chris Wenger, would have any trouble identifying the type of football I'm describing. And of course tempo makes all the difference. In the matches where we've sat up and been deluded into believing the old Arsenal is on the way back, high temp, forward momentum, precision passing. I think in "all" of these games (there are about five I guess, over the last few years) we had less possession than the opposition. In the vast majority of games where we've been dogshit (as in 99.5%), low tempo (to the point of fans wondering if the players give a shit), negative, fearful, loss of composure, crappy passing - cowardball. We get 70% and have 2 shots on target. Rarely anything in between.