Match Reaction: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Letters I think you're the only one who thinks we performed well against West Ham, we didn't seriously test Adrian until we were 2-0 down

Palace we were good going forward but shocking when out of position

Liverpool the first half we were utter drivel, second half Liverpool didn't press home their advantage and we controlled the game

Newcastle we did miss Ozil, but also we were reluctant to run with the ball to draw fouls and open up space.

[Dein-machine]

our performances would improve with a leader in midfield pushing the team forward & a clinical finisher who has movement upfront. But Wenger chooses to stick with players who will not improve our performances. He doesn't know who to play upfront, how can that be when he's had so long to address it.

[Letters]

Letters I think you're the only one who thinks we performed well against West Ham, we didn't seriously test Adrian until we were 2-0 down

Palace we were good going forward but shocking when out of position

Liverpool the first half we were utter drivel, second half Liverpool didn't press home their advantage and we controlled the game

Newcastle we did miss Ozil, but also we were reluctant to run with the ball to draw fouls and open up space.

I didn't think we were that good against West Ham, but we weren't that bad either. I've been travelling a lot over the last 2 weeks and missed the other games so can't really comment but 2 wins and a draw is decent enough so while it's not the stellar start we'd have hoped for, we're holding our own so far.

People are so negative on here these days I suspect even if we had won all 4 games some would be saying we'll only collapse at the business end of the season (with some justification, I suppose, but last season in particular gives me more hope we can stand up and be counted when it matters).

[Munchies]

Monk IN

Wenger OUT

[Power n Glory]

Yes, and as I said I'm concerned about the performance. But looking around, only City have had a good run at the start of this season. Our results have been fine, our performances poor but I don't believe we're suddenly a poor team.
It's nonsense to write off our chances after 4 games, especially when from last year's top 4 only City are doing better than us. Utd have the same points, Chelsea have fewer and a worse goal difference. Those are the teams we should be competing with so it's perfectly valid to look at how they're doing in comparison to us (although after 4 games any comparisons are less meaningful, let's see where we all are at Christmas and then Easter). Had we lost all 4 games we'd be 12 points behind already and I'd agree that even this early we could pretty much write off our chances, but we haven't.

We're not suddenly a poor team but we're not looking like contenders either. That's the point. What our rivals do isn't important because the struggles they're having now I suspect will be ironed out over the course of the season. With us, we've had problems for years with teams that defend deep and also we've got another important player out injured. It's not looking good for our title hopes and we need to sharpen up quickly.

[Power n Glory]

I didn't think we were that good against West Ham, but we weren't that bad either. I've been travelling a lot over the last 2 weeks and missed the other games so can't really comment but 2 wins and a draw is decent enough so while it's not the stellar start we'd have hoped for, we're holding our own so far.

People are so negative on here these days I suspect even if we had won all 4 games some would be saying we'll only collapse at the business end of the season (with some justification, I suppose, but last season in particular gives me more hope we can stand up and be counted when it matters).

Based on what? Are you looking at the title or 4th place?

[Letters]

Based on what? Are you looking at the title or 4th place?

I'm looking at the games in Manchester, particularly the Utd quarter final which is the exact sort of game we've fallen apart in. And the final was a very comfortable win - it should be against Villa but we nearly made a hash of the previous year final against weak opposition. We showed we can win under pressure. You win the title in the last 10 games, not the first 10. What we can't do this year is start so poorly we're out of it before we get going. So far, despite some patchy performances, our results have been fine, good enough to keep us in touch and right now that's the most important thing.

[Power n Glory]

I'm looking at the games in Manchester, particularly the Utd quarter final which is the exact sort of game we've fallen apart in. And the final was a very comfortable win - it should be against Villa but we nearly made a hash of the previous year final against weak opposition. We showed we can win under pressure. You win the title in the last 10 games, not the first 10. What we can't do this year is start so poorly we're out of it before we get going. So far, despite some patchy performances, our results have been fine, good enough to keep us in touch and right now that's the most important thing.

That's the cup run. What about the league? You say you don't win the title in the first 10 games but you were pretty vocal about our slow start costing us and we're off to a slow start. If you look at our performances you can see we're not in the best of shape and it's not good looking at big games against Utd and City. What about the loses to teams like Swansea, Stoke, Spurs and Southampton? Drawing against Leicester City and Hull? Besides not being able to beat Utd or Chelsea in the league last year, we only took 1 point from both games against Spurs and 0 points from both games against Swansea. We still make a hash of things against smaller teams and it's the park the bus teams we just can't seem to break down.

[Ernesto]

"Who knows?" Surely you can't be serious? The point is - we do know. We have a decade to use as a measure and we also have a decade of the chavs to consider. Yes they have started badly but are you seriously telling me you don't know whether they will be competing for the title? If that's what you are saying then it's just wilful ignorance. Same applies when predicting what we'll do. We know. We can delude ourselves if we want but it won't change a thing.

How many seasons are you going to need before you can spot the blatant pattern?

I think that's a very good post.

It comes as no surprise that the last time we won our opening two games in a premier league season was the last time we finished in the top two. Moreover, the last time we started as Man City did was in the Invincible season.

Start as you mean to go on. While a four to six game winning streak isn't beyond the realms of expectation for this side, I dread to think how far off the top we'll be when we get a run like that together.

[Letters]

That's the cup run. What about the league?

I'm not convinced it matters what competition it's in. Pressure is pressure, and the City game was in the league.
And last year when we got going we got as many points as Chelsea, not over a short run but over 26 games in the league
And we had that run of 9 wins in a row. After our start though we'd made it impossible to compete. Are we off to a slow start this year? City are sweeping all before them thus far but of the other teams who you may considers contenders our start is the same or better than all of them. You can cherry pick bad results from last year, I can cherry pick good ones. End of the day all we have to do this year, for now, is stay in touch. Last year we sorted ourselves out but it was too late. This year the performances may have been poor but the results have been good enough to keep us in contention. I agree we need to pick up but if Chelsea are contenders after their bad start then we surely are - as much as anyone can be considered a contender or not after 4 games.

Would you consider us contenders had we won all 4 games or would you just think we'll mess it up anyway?
If we're there or thereabouts with 10 games to go then we have a chance.