Arsenal post match thread

[deano ou812]

Did every Arsenal player go down holding his face at some point ? It felt like it.

Don't get me started on that soft cnut Giroud the number of times he went down for a big lad,nearly put my foot through the tv at one stage ..

 

[Len Rum]

We did I agree, and no doubt that everyone is blaming the defence for losing, but we used 6 attacking players tonight, and there wasn't a decent one amongst them, and they are the ones to blame for not getting at least a point. We used two fresh players second half who contributed f*ck all, and one who should have scored but is scared to shoot when through on goal.

The after match stats (which count for f*ck all if you can't score) had us better on virtually every one, and even Walcott said they were pretty much dead on their feet at the end, suffering from cramps etc, so basiclly they worked harder than we did, because I didn't see any of ours running on empty in the last 15 minutes.

MP saying we fought to the end is all fine and well, but we need to start fighting long before the last 20 minutes, and we didn't play badly overall, but we simply don't work hard enough as a team, had we done that tonight, we'd have at worst drawn the game, and with better finishing, won it.

PG won't stand for some of these players under performing, defence or attack.

I can't disagree with most of what you're saying.
BUT if a couple of incidents turn the other way KDB/ Mangala we win or draw that game and the whole narrative is different.
Arsenal were not that great or commanding in that game and we could easily have beaten them on another night.
So yes we should be doing much better but on another night we could have been second tonight and not the Arse.
Small margins. In some ways tonight I blame the attack more than the defence!

 

[cleavers]

The paucity of our attacking play. The lack of quality from our so called top players is getting seriously over looked !

Been saying it all season, football is quite a simple game, you score more than the other team and you win, tonight we had some great opportinities to score and fluffed them all, only a wonder strike from Yaya made it look reasonable, you can't go to arsenal and have 3 times the goal attempts, and nearly 3 times the possession, and still come away defeated, its very very frustrating.

Oh and f*ck off Mariner.

 

[Marvin]

I was not at all confident before the match, but in the event I thought we played well. The fact is that our players are not in the form or fitness of their lives and Arsenal are a very good team and they are playing well so we're not clearly better than Arsenal at the moment. In recent matches we have been atrocious at home to Liverpool, away to Stoke, at home to Swansea and getting a result at the Emirates seemed to be asking a lot. Tonight, though, we actually started quite cautiously but were not going to have lost the game in the first twenty minutes as against Liverpool and Stoke and so nearly so against Swansea. We didn't threaten much but they didn't threaten at all. The disturbing thing was that Sergio was not getting into the game and David's radar was rather off. What changed the game completely were two major errors that meant we never put pressure on the ball so that Walcott put in an excellent shot to score, and then Eliaquim made a gift of the ball to Arsenal in the dying seconds of the half and this lead to Giroud's goal. Two shots: two goals. We had controlled the game, but sloppiness gave us a mountain to climb. We had no choice but to abandon the caution of the first half having tossed the initiative away.

In the second half we pressed forward and looked much more open and much more likely to concede than score until we took Sergio and David off. Two undeniably and incomparably great players, but neither had had anything like a great game. With the advent of Bonie and Navs and the pushing forward of Ya Ya - why oh why do we have Ya Ya starting games even deeper than our CBs??? - we began at long last to carry a real attacking threat. Navas comes in for a great deal of criticism but this season we have always looked much more dangerous with him on the pitch. He should have shot rather than that ridiculous attempt at squaring the ball, but he did make a real contribution. Ya Ya DID run the show for the last twenty minutes and an equalise looked a real possibility. Unfortunately it didn't come.

There's no use calling for Peller's head because he doesn't ask CBs to give the ball away in dangerous areas - and he doesn't have any real options to replace Mangala with. I suspect Mangala will not be here next season because he always seems to have one clanger to drop in each game. But I did think that City looked a lot better than in recent games and are hopefully returning to fitness and form.

Good summing up. I thought the general play was OK, but Mangala keeps making mistakes. You can't do that as a central defender. I don't understand it. I've seen enough of him to see a good player. maybe it's his mentality / confidence.

 

[cleavers]

The one positive from the night was getting an hour into Aguero. In a months time we might recognise him, if he's not injured by then.

That hasn't cheered me much.

 

[BillyShears]

Been saying it all season, football is quite a simple game, you score more than the other team and you win, tonight we had some great opportinities to score and fluffed them all, only a wonder strike from Yaya made it look reasonable, you can't go to arsenal and have 3 times the goal attempts, and nearly 3 times the possession, and still come away defeated, its very very frustrating.

Oh and f*ck off Mariner.

Haven't got the heart to whinge about the ref. Not when our magicians fail to turn up.

 

[RyanP3609]

I've taken an interest in this over the last season and a half and I think we are not getting a fair crack when it comes to free kicks and cards. We seem to kop for every challenge that goes in and refs seem to look upon it as a foul, and we get the straight yellow where I've seen some opposition players time and again get the talking to!

I always look at this with our games. It's amazing, in most of the games we dominate and win we pretty much always have an equal or greater foul tally than the opposition, be it home or away. (or so I have noticed)

Today it was fouls: City - 16, Arse - 5. There's no way we fouled 3 times more than Arse. We had Silva booked for a nothing foul on Per, yet Ramsey was allowed about 2/3 fouls (mainly on Silva who gets the crap kicked out of him week in week out) and still didn't get booked, times when we tried to break also rather than with Silva which wasn't them breaking but a defender having the ball.

I'm not saying this is the reason we got beat tonight at all. But for me it plays a part in a lot of games, like today for example, Arsenal pressed and harassed our players, we give the ball away and they counter. When we pressed/harassed their players, said Arsenal player (Campbell was a fucking disgrace tonight) would flop to the ground and be given an instant freekick. Fan pressure played a huge part in tonight's game.

Although on the whole when we play badly this just adds to it, next time we play well just look at the foul count and see if it's still a high number, more often than not it is.

 

[adr2.8i]

It says it all when my 9yr old son said "dad look at the referee he's running quicker than toure". Even though yaya came alive in the last 20 going forward, he's a liability at tracking back. We are far too open when we lose the ball.
Overall I'm not too dispointed. They scored a worldie and from one of our mistakes. It's all fine margins.
Onto the next game.

 

[Marvin]

I can't disagree with most of what you're saying.
BUT if a couple of incidents turn the other way KDB/ Mangala we win or draw that game and the whole narrative is different.
Arsenal were not that great or commanding in that game and we could easily have beaten them on another night.
So yes we should be doing much better but on another night we could have been second tonight and not the Arse.
Small margins. In some ways tonight I blame the attack more than the defence!

Getting tired of excuses. So many times we've been beaten this season or drawn games we should have won. We have to make it happen. And it was almost annoying to see that last 15 minutes. What about the rest of the game? Do the players really want to win enough? Hunger was definitely an issue last season. This season Kompany looked like he was intent on making up for last season where his attitude was poor (in my opinion). Without him we have no leadership.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

Best team lost mangala and hart apart top performance