Match Reaction vs Mongs

[Power n Glory]

Aye - we haven't counter attacked effectively for years.

Didn't Pod score a really good counter attacking goal against Liverpool? We've done a lot of counter attacks this season but it's in spurts. Depends on the opposition and our personnel.

[Munchies]

It would be a perfect season given our aspirations these days. But we all know the FA Cup is a long shot - given our history in big games. Our nickname should be the paper tigers!

Oh no doubting that, as soon as we meet City, we're fucked !

[Ernesto]

Our inability to counter attack is down to team selection and it's not philosophical. We have a very organic style and We very leaves a lot of the decision making down to the players. That's why he's never barking orders from the touch line. Overall, we like quick passing football an; I can't imagine Wenger saying anything to discourage that.

Hmm, to some extent, I agree. Wenger hasn't signed the likes of Rosicky and Ozil to pull play back. However, for every Ramsey and Rosicky and direct, attacking play, there's an Arteta and a Wilshere. I wouldn't trust either of these in a 3-on-2 counter-attacking scénario.

[IBK]

Didn't Pod score a really good counter attacking goal against Liverpool? We've done a lot of counter attacks this season but it's in spurts. Depends on the opposition and our personnel.

We haven't based our game on counter attacking for years. Not to say we can't do so on occasion, as your example shows. But our default style is possession football, not counter attacking.

[Power n Glory]

We haven't based our game on counter attacking for years. Not to say we can't do so on occasion, as your example shows. But our default style is possession football, not counter attacking.

It's all about circumstances. If we play a team that can dominate possession, we'll defend in numbers and look to hit them on the break. Against teams that sit deep and play more defensive, we naturally dominate possession. When we lacked cohesion in the middle earlier in the season, we looked to hit teams in the break more because we couldn't string together quick intricate passing.

[Xhaka Can’t]

We haven't based our game on counter attacking for years. Not to say we can't do so on occasion, as your example shows. But our default style is possession football, not counter attacking.

I think we saw more of the game based around a counter-attacking philosophy towards the start of the season, when we had more success. That approach seems to have fizzled away completely into the nothingness we see today. By today, I mean recently. I didn't watch the match today and have no intention of doing so - not even highlights.

Though if someone wants to post a gif of the pel incident, I wouldn't mind looking at that.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

There's nothing inherently wrong with 'posession' football, it's at it most effective with quick interchanging passes and off the ball movement but none of that was in evidence today and that's part of the reason why it was a dreadful performance.

Counter-attacking still has to be coached effectively, it doesn't automatically garner you any more points, hence why we've been so close for most of the season against teams that employ it far more often than we do.

I said that it doesn't matter how you lose against teams (if it's a hammering or a close one) if it can be forgotten about but based on the apparent tentativeness since, it's looking like everybody is afraid to possibly vacate space behind them by running forward. That didn't matter for Ramsey because he covered all the ground anyway and probably why we're missing him so much.

[IBK]

I think we saw more of the game based around a counter-attacking philosophy towards the start of the season, when we had more success. That approach seems to have fizzled away completely into the nothingness we see today. By today, I mean recently. I didn't watch the match today and have no intention of doing so - not even highlights.

Though if someone wants to post a gif of the pel incident, I wouldn't mind looking at that.

For us, counter-attacking has been the exception rather than the rule for years. Difficult to argue against that. TBH.

[Power n Glory]

There's nothing inherently wrong with 'posession' football, it's at it most effective with quick interchanging passes and off the ball movement but none of that was in evidence today and that's part of the reason why it was a dreadful performance.

Counter-attacking still has to be coached effectively, it doesn't automatically garner you any more points, hence why we've been so close for most of the season against teams that employ it far more often than we do.

I said that it doesn't matter how you lose against teams (if it's a hammering or a close one) if it can be forgotten about but based on the apparent tentativeness since, it's looking like everybody is afraid to possibly vacate space behind them by running forward. That didn't matter for Ramsey because he covered all the ground anyway and probably why we're missing him so much.

I agree with that. We'll always suffer if we look lifeless and not on our toes. When we were winning 'ugly' earlier in the season and we looked a million miles away from the flashy old Arsenal, Wenger did say the fluidity would come back but we have a solid defensive foundation and that's enough to build off. He was confident we'd find our rhythm and we have to an extent. But you get games like this where we just don't seem to be at the races which is a complete contrast to our game against Sunderland.

I've heard Wenger talk in the past about being patient when searching for a goal, not making mistakes and a goal will come but I think that's where we can also go wrong and get these flat lifeless performances. Maybe it's overconfidence and we think and opportunity will present itself if we stay patient, pass and try to tire out the opposition. Yet to see the game but I doubt I'm in for a major shock. We've seen these sort of performances before.

[saintnickle]

Don't blame Giroud and Sanogo.

One of them has led the line all season without support and the other won a competition to play for us when he should be on his rounds as a postie.

WUMger has to accept responsibility for this one.

We have giroud and sanogo upfront , not a problem with them two.What i do think is criminal tho is having giroud and sanogo up front with 70 million still lying in the bank and having any aspirations on winning the league .That is the problem . Anyone who can defend wenger and his last 2 transfer windows are utterly blind.