By Walter Broeckx
No changes in the starting line up for Arsenal compared to our last match against West Ham United. On the bench we had a change with Coquelin returning in the place of Iwobi who had played with the U23.
Arsenal team : Martinez, Bellerin, Mustafi, Gabriel, Monreal, Elneny, Xhaka, Walcott, Ozil, Alexis, Welbeck
On the beach: Macey, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Coquelin, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud.
Elneny with the first shot between the posts after some 8 minutes but Hennesey with the save. Arsenal having most of the ball and Crystal Palace trying to play on the break. Welbeck with a turn that almost got him goal sight but a defender could clear for a corner. 0-0 after 15 minutes.
Crystal Palace then get the advantage when Benteke jumped in the back of Xhaka the ball, the ball came in front of Zaha who slipped but that was enough to bring the ball in front of Townsend who could score from close range. 1-0 for Palace after 18 minutes.
Arsenal try to reply but a shot from Alexis is stopped by the keeper. Mustafi then gets a yellow card for his second foul, he had been warned the first time. Alexis then with a shot that went wide at the far post. Palace with all their players around their penalty area and Arsenal not finding much openings now. Palace trying to be dangerous on free kicks but Mustafi can clear. Still 1-0 after 30 minutes.
Özil with a low cross but the shot from Alexis is blocked by a defender. Mustafi with a long leg after a push from Benteke but Martinez first on the ball. A low cross from Bellerin is cleared and then a cross from Özil is also cleared for a corner. The next corner takes a deflection but Palace can clear. Arsenal needing to much time for their passing. Arsenal losing the ball and Benteke with shooting chance but Martinez with a save for a corner. Welbeck with a shot from a difficult angle but it went wide. Xhaka with a corner and a header from Gabriel but in the end a photographers save from the keeper. 1-0 after 45 minutes.
A free kick from Özil finds no Arsenal player and goes wide of the far post in the opening minute. Palace with cross to Benteke on the turn but Bellerin can put a foot between the shot. From the corner that was half cleared Benteke thought he had scored but he was well offside when he put the ball over the line. Martinez with a good catch after a header after a Palace corner. Alexis being punished for jumping in the back of a Palace defender while Benteke has been doing this all match with no fouls being called. Arsenal the pushing Palace in their penalty area but the defenders are in the majority and can clear. Alexis with a cross to Bellerin but he misses his volley. After 59 minutes Ramsey and Giroud come on in the place of Elneny and Welbeck who had been invisible mostly. Still 1-0 behind after 60 minutes.
Zaha then with a cross to Cabaye who half falling had a shot that looped over Martinez. 2-0 after 63 minutes. Sakho embracing Giroud on a cross but nothing given. Townsend then goes down at the other end with him putting his foot against the keeper who didn’t put his arms out but of course the ref gives the penalty at this end. Milivojevic accepts the gift from the ref and makes it 3-0 after 68 minutes.
The ox enters the field in the place of the invisible Walcott. Bellerin with a lob over Hennesey but a Palace defender clears off the line. Arsenal still 3-0 behind after 75 minutes.
Bellerin with a low cross but again no Arsenal player at the end of it. But the third penalty goal had cut off the little believe that was left in the team. The Arsenal away supporters not giving the ball back also not really helpful. If the supporters don’t believe anymore, then why would the players?
Poor passing, no speed and tempo, too much dribbling in blind alleys. Too many players were invisible for most of the match and then you get such results. Yes the 3rd goal was a gift from the ref but otherwise I fear that we would just have lost with 2-0. Palace wanted it more than Arsenal.
Oh how I hate it when I see in match previews all that talk of “we haven’t lost against them for centuries” then you know the defeat is on the cards. So it proved to be.
If anyone feels this man deserves another contract, they need their heads examined. Player looking back to their usual selves of giving nothing and the manager looked even more clueless. Another game on Monday next week when all our rivals will have won and the pressure will be too much. Au revoir mademoiselle
depressing evening
Second best all over the pitch , This squad has these games in them , the trouble is that we are seeing them more often.
For years is been said that Le Prof know nothing about tactics and now is found.
The individuals that he accumulated are suited more to long ball system.
He has no one absolutely no one able to play in that midfield.The £35 million man is just another Denilson.One touch and side way pass.Yet Le Prof believes that there are midfielders able to play tiki taka.
Wenger just do the reasonable thing and disappear …please.
Sad. Glad I read your review anyway, Walter. It’s better to read a review even of a sad result like this from someone who really loves Arsenal. I won’t be reading about it in the paper tomorrow.
Possesion Palace 28% Arsenal 72%
Fouls Palace 11 Arsenal 10
Once again, we see the same trend. But what is the most intriguing is when you actually watch who made those Palace fouls
– Benteke 3 fouls
– Zaha 3 fouls
– Townsend 2 fouls
– Puncheon 1 foul
– Cabaye 1 foul
– Sakho 1 foul
So basically, 9 out of 11 fouls were made by the 4 offensive players. And at the same time, despite the fact that Palace spend most of the match defending in his own half, the 7 defensive players only made 2 fouls.
Very poor. Think there is something very wrong at the moment, Wenger may have to step outside his comfort zone to deal with it should he stay.
Not even really recognisable as a Wenger team…..used to some pretty poor defending, but countered by dynamic, thrilling attack play, we are not doing the latter so often these days, and appear very to organise against.
A lot of work to be done
Spot on Mandy, agree totally
3-0 to palace, the records will show.
Clear foul by Benteke in the lead up to the first. Carragher at half time on sky laughably blames it on Gabriel for looking at Benteke before the ball arrives…
Second half, Sanchez touches, not even a nudge, the left back from a goalkeeper clearance. Foul, Crystal Palace…
It’s a disgrace.
They get a goal on the break and then that ‘penalty’.
I’m getting sky sports for basically free at the moment with my subscription and am thinking of ringing up and cancelling.
Beware the Man utd who need european qualification for their sponsorship deal. Watch this space
Arsenal didn’t even have a shot on target in the 2nd half, how’s that down to the ref ? No goals, no bottle, no Champions League next season …. disaster.
foul on Gabriel before first goal ignored
foul on Giroud in penalty area before third goal ignored
Townsend dive ignored
not much else to say
Vince – how many fouls did you see that Zaha made that were not called?
The same goes for almost the whole Palace team.
This is a corrupt piece of officiating that has just taken another step for the media & the corrupt.betting lot.
I was so sure that this game was going to be gifted that I took 12/1 for Crystal Palace to beat Arsenal. Not a lot of joy there but hey I made a few quid.
Well, we should have had two penalties and Palace a player sent off, but even so we did not look great throughout. Zaha was taking the piss out of Alexis near the end and out of our defense for most of the match. He himself was fouled four times in less than ten seconds right at the start and they still couldn’t stop him.
It’s going to be a struggle to make the CL places now, so we have to win the FA cup instead to qualify.
And it’s why the referees are content to act this way with Arsenal. No critism o decisions against. I’m sorry, but when will Arsenal fans realise. Sky don’t want us to win. And until they do, we won’t.
Mandy do you really think wenger can step outside the comfort zone? If you belive that then you are very naive.
The FA Cup does fuck all for the CL. Leon learn about the game, it’s all written in the cow pats.
Leon, no team looks great throughout
some get help from refs in those cases
Arsenal doesn’t
Menace, yeah the Europa cup
@ Fransicos, clueless? and which club do you manage? Is it the moaning club? Fans like you are a disgrace, quick to attack the team when lose but never congratulate when win. Change? It’s time for you to change club.
Arsenal Board need to sort out the contract situations with players and staff, it seem to be affecting the team.
I would like to see the Arsenal players be more physical in matches and stop getting bullied off the ball, it seem the players are worried about getting injured.
Come on Arsenal you are better than this way better.
OlegYch
I was being kind. We didn’t look great at all.Even so should have got two penalties. 2-2 would have been a fair result
Theo was honest enough to say that Palace wanted it more …
But it’s worrying WHY they wanted it more ….
Did Palace wanted it more, or were they allowed by the referee to put more intensity than Arsenal?
Leon, points lost due to ref
Arsenal need to get more physical. That is the biggest problem… They are not allowed to.
OlegYch
Yes, like I said 2-2. Can’t say it any clearer.
I love listening to Jamie Carragher running Arsenal down, all the years of jealousy of Arsenal being superior to the dippers in his every screech.
Carragher – is an absolute numpty. He is singing from the Sky hymn sheet. Wenger must stay. He has built a club that needs to show how to overcome corruption in the game. He has done it before with the undefeated games.
It is wonderful how Sky orchestrate their agenda to remove an uncorruptable manager. They need to be able to control this vast pot of money. It can be seen by the speed of Sams re-employment.
Yes, another shocking ref performance, but as the club clearly are willing to accept it…..possibly unique amongst their peers, sadly, it isn’t going to change any time soon.
Think Mike Riley is just trying to outlast Wenger
This perpetual state of limbo that the management have allowed to fester over not just Wenger but also players contracts is causing a lack of fight from the team – they are all uncertain and lacking in confidence and belief. If you want to blame refs for all Arsenal’s woes then fine, that’s your prerogative, but the whole team, set-up and spirit around the club is flawed at the moment. Something has to change ….
Menace, I think something will stop the corruption, either an intrepid journalist, Interpol, or a disgruntled insider. But not sure Wenger can take it on any more, not without damaging his health, and the confidence of his players.
The result leaves Arsenal seven points off fourth place Manchester City. There might be a game or two in hand on other sides but it appears this side doesn’t have the bottle for a fight and Champions League football, whatever that is worth in financial terms, is a pipe dream.
Right now, we’re a really bad team. If we’re a team at all. We’re not so sure.
Oh Feck! It’s all round to Mrs Browns. Nothing better to bring some cheer.
Vince
It’s not unusual for a team’s forwards to have a high foul rate when they press in the opposition’s half.
Spurs probably have the highest, although I’ve not checked to verify it.
I don’t think there is a lot wrong, just a little tweak back to the last few seasons set up.
We had more creation with a midfielder playing wide left or right be it Cazorla or Ramsey on the right. With Walcott, Sanchez and Welbeck we lack the creativity and passing fluidity.
Ozil cannot create on his own, he gets marked out of the game.
We have copied Barca with three forwards and it hasn’t worked.
@JamesO, agree but I want to see the team intimidate the opponents more, do to them what they do to us, whether win or lose, because it’s embarrassing to see our players getting knocked off the ball or falling over so easily. Anyway it’s just my opinion, let hope the team bounce back to winning ways.
tactically out-fought by the biggest crook in english football embarrassing
Although VAR would probably have got the Palace penalty ruled out, I’m not sure if our two claims would have been given. Does it look for penalties or other fouls that get missed in open play?
If so we’d have been a good position for at least a draw.
Not meaning to have a go. Sometimes i wish too that we could challenge the referees more with there decision making. Copying the fouls that the opposition are making. Immediately. Then getting a english/british captain to talk them through there decision making. Not sure whether this is possible any more though. I really am fed up. Just want a level playing field.
Referee or not , we were run ragged by a team with half the skill set of ours. Martinez didn’t deserve 3 , but apart from Monreal who fought Zaha all the way he had little protection . Defensively our midfield is non competitive , it works forward but not back. We require a major clear out and the shots of Gazidis looking so glum but not surprised suggests that at least he knows it.
Leon, that’s exactly why VAR won’t work it still leaves the decision to the ref to be corrupt, he can choose to blow his whistle and see the outcome of VOR… Or just simply ignore it.
A goal cannot be given if the ref blows for offside before the ball hits the net.
“It’s not unusual for a team’s forwards to have a high foul rate when they press in the opposition’s half.”
That could be a valid point, however I don’t see any credible explanation to justify the fact that a group of defensive players that spend most of the game defending in his own half would end up conceding only 2 fouls (and I am counting Cabaye as a defending player although he is more a box-to-box player). Even with world class defenders (and Palace has none) and a perfect tactical organization, that is just impossible.
porter, is Chelsea midfield non competitive? should Abramovich clear out the team after they lost to crystal palace?
Our team were not run ragged. They had over 70 per cent possession for the majority of the game. They tried to come back from a manufactured goal. Could have and maybe should have had a penalty for a diving save from Sahko. Conceceded a second (lucky enough) goal. A 1 in a hundred chance. Then a ridiculous penalty dive from Saha seals it.
Do not follow the Sky narrative. Pls.
It was also noticeable that Sky Sports failed to find a Arsene out banner after the game tonight..just a A5 piece of paper.
The officiating in this match by the match officials has obviously helped Crystal Palace to beat Arsenal this night. But even then, at one nil down in the game, the Gunners should have sensed what the match referee is about to cook in the game and gives it to Arsenal to eat as he allowed obvious fouls against Arsenal by Palace to go unwhistled in the build ups to their goals. The Gunners ought to have resorted to a mass denfensive game and park the bus, then counterattack through long balls to Welbeck, Wakcott or Sanchez to try to score. But do Arsenal have a plan B when faced with danger of losing a match especially at away?
And secondly, when I saw Le Prof’s starting XI for this match. I became skeptical.
Just look at the starting Gunners I started for this match on this site last Saturday and compare them with those whi Le Prof had started today. Wouldn’t my starters have performed better than the ones he had started for this match and probably win the match?
My starts:
Martinez
Bellerin Gabriel Mustafi Monreal
Coquelin Xhaka
Walcott Ozil Sanchez
Giroud.
One or two starting Gunners could make a huge difference in the game for Arsenal if they were started. But I think the absence of Koscielny at the heart of the Arsenal defense-line contributed to the disjointed defensive performance by the Gunners this night.
Nevertheless, our hopes to see our darling Arsenal FC qualify for the Ucl next season are not yet lost but it’s looking to be on the edge of the cliff and might fall down crashing if Arsenal don’t move back from that edge of the cliff immediately by starting to win all their remaining 8 games including their big games at home against their arch CL spot rivals Man Utd and away to their North London rivals Tottenham Hs. If Arsenal can do this, I think they may undo the two Manchester clubs for a Ucl ticket next season.
Samuel, we’ve seen various starting elevens and none of them can beat a starting fourteen
simple math, mate
When PALACE fans chant “We want you to stay”, you know time is up.
Sadly, we’re probably getting 2 more years of this
A tweet that sums it all up brilliantly.
https://twitter.com/LayEgg_B4_Wkt/status/851537251431587842
Don’t know what joy the WengerIn camp gets by watching Wenger destroy his legacy like this.
He needs to leave, for Arsenal’s sake sure, but he needs to go for his own sake above all. He is becoming a joke now. Palace fans were singing Wenger please stay at one point in the game.
Anyway I just thought I will get these two bits in, before all the clamouring for Wenger to sign a new contract anyway, starts in the comments.
And to be fair, I don’t understand point of those who still want Wenger to stay, unless thier point is- Why destroy the club slowly. Just give Wenger 2 more years and destroy it in one swift go.
Wenger being given another contract = nuclear winter for Arsenal.
Ridiculous…
@Leon.
One thing I haven known is, does winning the FA Cup qualifies Arsenal for the Ucl next season? Sorry, you seemed to have said so in your comment
Seems some have to find another hobby for the next 2 years. Wenger sign dat ting..hashtag and all that..
I don’t think the lack of extending the contract deals of some Gunners by Arsenal is responsible for our game lose away to C Palace this night as none of the first team Gunners contract deals will run out this summer but until the next one if not extended. And there is still sufficient time for Arsenal and players to extend their contract deals. I think aided by the match referee, Arsenal had a bad day at the office.
Some guys here are so blinded are expecting this team to overcome the Spuds and Manure …..Are you watching that the team is completely disconnected and manager only tactic is Tiki Taka.
When Feo is captain what does Sanchez and Ozil make of it ?
Just think about it …..
If there is someone with a little bit decency on him in that club should pull aside Le Prof and tell him to let it go is not the right man anymore.
Why they are humiliating this old man ?
It is a serious question one need to answer.
I did believe in AW.Not anymore.He cannot motivate the team.Same old, same old.Why does he continually do this to himself.He is becoming a laughing stock and I am saddened for him.We do have too many light weight players and not enough bottle.Too many little injuries.What team has their 2 main keepers injured.Kos continues to get injured during a match.Chamberlain wants to be elsewhere and the idea you are going to keep Sanchez and Ozil no chance.A total clear out please, including the backroom staff.
Who believes this will change next season?.
Turn that on it’s head, are Ozil, Sanchez and Chamberlain hungry enough knowing there is a double your wages deal on the table?
What is referee thing you saying guys ?
It is a pussy team out there and it is not the first time…
Everton
Liverpool
Watford
Are you for real ??
Samuel Akinsola Adebosin
No I got that wrong (as Menace so sweetly pointed out). It’s the other lesser Europa League if we win the FA cup.
Samuel Akinsola Adebosin
And speaking of which; winning the FA cup is just about the only Wenger can save his season (& maybe even his career) now.
….only way
JamesO it was Townsend , good observation. Oleg : As I said we look good enough going forward hence the possesion stats but defensively we were beaten to the punch all over the pitch. As for Chelsea if they had made a habit of losing matches then there might be case for your comment to hold water. This season that has not been the case they have lost 4 times we have done it 8 . Comparing our result with them is like looking at apples and oranges and it’s not taking into account the manner of the way we lost at both west Brom and now Palace.
Have not renewed my membership to the club and no subscription for the TV companies. Will not give Arsenal one penny at the moment. So disappointing to see the way we are. At least when the side have not been good in the past, we tried. This side just crumble. Followed Arsenal for nearly 50 years but probably should not have over the past 10 years.
porter, well you _are_ comparing our results
but it seems you can’t look beyond the position in league table
true, the manner of the way we lost to CP and the way they lost is wildly different – CP scored two illegal goals against us and we were denied a penalty
for a more direct comparison you might take a look at the way Chelsea scored first goal against us, and the way they injured Bellerin in the process
Not sure of your point. Does it matter who ‘won’ the penalty.
What you have to ask yourself is?
Why was nothing said about the dive.
“it looked like a penalty in real time”…
So bring in retrospective punishment then you cheats..
Knobby, i think it worth reminding that ‘looked like’ doesn’t cut it according to the laws of the game
the ref has to react only to what he/she has actually seen and is 100% sure
Sadly, without Ozil or Sanchez, Palace probably would have had the better eleven on paper today. Too many years of buying good, but not great players is finally taking its toll.
Tiki Taka.?
Anyone thinks that Arsenal STILL play “Tiki Taka” football is deluded.
Arsenal has become a below average team with no tactical strategies that even the up and coming teams are finding it easy to beat.
Arsenal has not improved since 5-7 seasons ago and it is getting worse(er 🙂 ).
Moment, if you have followed Arsenal for 50 years as you say, then you will have witnessed the battles to avoid relegation in the last two years of Mee’s reign, the 7 consecutive defeats of Terry Neil’s time and so on. In what possible way is this season worse?
My take: WE WERE POOR. Granted that the ref showed bias to Crystal Palace but we were still poor. Our body language did not show that we were up for the game; there simply was no fight, no passion, no willingness to go for the win. This is what hurts. I am not convinced that CP have the quality to beat this team irrespective of whether or not the ref is against the Arsenal but it happened because the team did not show enough grit, physically or mentally to go for the win. Sadly, we are seeing this happen too much nowadays and it needs to be stopped. For those who heap all the blame on the ref and ignore our failures, do remember that life is often not fair and often times, things do not always go the way we want them to, but you don’t just lie down and die do you? No man, you fight your way through. You hustle. You break through. That’s the attitude of winners.
Thanks Mandy. That is the problem. We no longer have the clinical strikers who can capitalise on the 64% ball possession.
The players in our squad are simply NOT good enough.
We had two very good players in Ozil and Sanchez. The rest of the team is just average or poor.
When other top teams are buying top quality strikers, we are buying Welbeck. Man United was right in getting rid of Welbeck because they judged that he is a good boy, works hard but he simply scores too few goals – Welbeck is simply not good enough to be the striker in a Top 4 team.
My biggest fear is that this bunch of average players is going to get Wenger “fired” or Wenger will just walk away.
What a sad way to end a glorious Arsenal career for Wenger.
I still believe that with better players Wenger can win big trophies for Arsenal. But Arsene Wenger and the Board need to start buying the top players and top strikers that a club of the calibre of Arsenal requires. We need players with the talent level of Dennis, Thierry, Pires or similar.
We have the richest shareholders in football (after only Man City and PSG) so these shareholders need to dip into their pockets from time to time and invest in the club.
The fallacy of the “Self-sustaining model” is simply a trick of saying the fans pay the most expensive tickets but the SHAREHOLDERS PAY NOTHING. In fact, the main shareholder actually TAKES the occasional £2 million or £3 million per year from the club.
It’s really crazy. Abramovitch pays money into Chelsea. The City shareholder pays money into Man City. But Stan Kroenke actually takes money out of Arsenal.
Arsenal definitely needs change.
* Change of financial strategy.
* Change of players.
* Change of board.
* And possibly (with regret) a change of manager.
We need to change a minimum of two of the above four options.
Carragher raised an interesting comparison between how the players “chucked it” under Mourinho and now Wenger. Yes, Wenger has declined over the last few years, and yes, Wenger should not sign a contract.
The difference between the two managers is:
– Mourinho is a cunt. He deliberately sets out to wind up opposition players and managers (sometimes to the point where he directly insults them and their families), and rarely gives chance for youth players to break through. All the decisions he makes are for his own benefit of winning trophies and being admired.
– Wenger is a gentleman. Yes, he can be a sore loser and hit out under times of stress, but none of that is deliberate like it is with Mourinho. He constantly gives every chance he possibly can to youth players. Every decision he makes (apart from his own contract maybe!) is what he thinks is beneficial for the club.
The look on Carragher’s face at the beginning says it all. He looks like he feels sick, and he’s not even an Arsenal fan. I think he feels Wenger does not deserve his players to be “chucking it” while he is manager. He’s one of the main reasons they are paid so well despite being mediocre for the most part.
So, We have no fight, no passion, no commitment, no drive, no bottle, no this, no that, no….
Well, says the ‘fans’ who have had none of the above since december. You’ve bottled it long before the team did.
Even from my point of view watching that game was awkward.
The majority of your players are full and current internationals yet yesterday they looked anything but. They looked like rabbits caught in the headlights , they were so scared of making mistakes they kept making mistakes.
After the game Sam Alladyce explained their game plan and in truth it was very interesting. Alladyce is far from everyone’s cup to tea but he knows how to set up a team and following on from their game against us where it proved so effective to hit Benteke early and feed of the second ball I was really surprised you left yourselves so open to that tactic
Oliver wasn’t great yesterday , nor was he really that bad, the vast majority of errors made on that pitch were made by your players some of the missed passes were akin to park football that wasn’t because of Oliver it was more about confidence .
CL qualification is far from gone but somehow someone is going to have get your players chins off the ground.
Before anyone points the finger at our performances last season I would fully agree that they were terrible but the same mistakes, the same lack of confidence was only halted when a certain action took place and as you heard last night and indeed at SB a week or two ago very few supporters of other clubs want a managerial change at Arsenal. Make of that what you will
Interesting reading this debate. A number of Untold regulars point out the refereeing errors and bias – fouls by the opponent allowed, ‘fouls’ by our players punished, penalties for us not given, ‘penalties’ for the opponent given.
Then someone must have tipped the Arsene haters the wink because then we get a stream of Arsene hating from a variety of names, some never seen before by me at least.
The corrupt beat the incorruptible. That is the moral message of this match and sadly of so much in this world. The fight goes on.
Some years back, the 6-nil match at the bitch, fourth official spotted chamberlain foul but sakho’s yesterday and rashford last season were ignored!
Bacelona make a UEFA staged comeback history against PSG, but the world has forget the way Baca got victory, only echoeing Neymar wizardry at achieving the feat! Simply put, Arsene andArsenal have taken up a challenge against the devil and sadly they cannot won!
the organisation fighting arsenal has systematically and gradually removed all the shield and the club is now on her knees!
the manager was deceived to stay beyond his time, stopping him from winning trophies at all cost by using referees to stop any league challenge before April and dashed him top four finish to claim it all even out!
the players were destroyed by not allowed to reach their potentials through allowed injuries, unjustified cards, and no protection from opponents thuggery! Hazard is not better than sanchez but for their clubs! Hazard is allowed to get stronger daily the way ronaldo was protected at man utd but sanchez and ozil are tamed by referees cheat of allowing unpunished thuggery on them! Touch hazard you are penalized, kick ozil and butcher sanchez, you are great! What a game, what a rule!
the fans base destroyed as the press and pundits are seriously trumpeting the club’s woes while rubbishing any achievement of the club!
from trophiless years to will never win the league again! From ordinary FA cups to will never won a CL!
we clamour for a viera like forgeting even if viera reincarnate, he will never have any impact under this wenger must go or arsenal must down campaign we are witnessing!
the world politics is on play at arsenal, if vardy, simpson, and drinkwater can be supported to win the league! Stagemanaged!!!
Dele Ali, harry kane and their likes are enjoying media, pundits and referees blessings, their confidence grows!
our players are not the shit they looklike currently, they are just bunch suffering from taking up a challenge too much for them to tackle!
For some years, i have been sorry for our players! They never benefitted any favour and yet their rights on the pitch were taking away! They battled against the unknown and live on a cloudy hope!
the way forward now is a mystery, wenger will surely go but WILL OUR ENEMY BACK OFF?
THEY HELLBENT ON DESTROYING ALL HE STAND FOR AND IT PAINS SEEING HIM IN AGONY OF THE SUCCESS HE BUILT!
I HAVE LEARNT A LESSON..
Another match tilted by the bandit in black – aiding the bandits from Palace.
Once again we conceded an early sucker punch goal, albeit with a permitted foul in the build up.
Having noted that, we did not play well – too slowly, no transition and fumbling in front of goal – not good enough.
As for Townsend – a lovely diver in the best tradition of the worst of the Spuds.
Another painful one in this difficult, troubling time.
We continue with our approach, which is the approach of only Barca and ,to an extent, Bayern, PSG and City : you drop deep, and we’ll commit numbers, including full backs, and try break you down.
We don’t have as much quality as Barca or Bayern, our league is very different, and our players get nothing like the protection theirs do from refs. They have officials who generally look after them and their skills exceptionally well; we have officials who blatantly side with the teams who use aggression and foul play as a major part of their game plan to stop us.
Add to this the unrest and uncertainty, a key man absent all year, the current problems with confidence…it adds up to a lot of trouble.
Most teams who find themselves in a bad patch attempt to work their way through it by playing more defensively with extra aggression, or, in effect, doubling down on their existing style. As virtually every prem team is now a defend-and-counter operation, it doesn’t require any drastic change.
We seem alarmingly incapable at this time of tweaking things to give us more defensive solidity and a platform to rebuild from there.
I suspect the calculation is that any change to offer significantly more defensive cover is seen as too big an operation and a risk at this stage. It would mean dropping at least a couple of big players, admitting temporary defeat about the ways we have stuck to, and asking the team to adapt to something new and unfamiliar during a difficult period of immense pressure where every point matters.
So we’ve stuck with our approach despite mounting evidence it isn’t working well at present. Teams feel they have a great chance if they get numbers back to defend, work their socks off ,fair and foul, to hassle and harry us, and then commit some numbers forward on breakaways.
Inconvenient fact –
I agree with so much in your post, and like you I feel sorry for our players – and our manager.
Inconvenient Fact
True.
Our options seems to be : get down and dirty and with the programme; see if we can become skilled in the arts over the years and if we can gain entry to the club by aping their ways. With enough commitment we should get there, but it will take time and require a radically different off-field approach as well as on. If we play exactly as cynically as the rest, and engage directly and confrontationally with any hypocrisy about this fact, eventually, after a manager or two has been chewed up in the effort, treating us differently might become unsustainable.
Or, Find 150 million from somewhere for Wenger or someone else this summer, and see if he can pull off a few superb signings.
Or continue much as we are, with Wenger or someone with a similar approach (I’m not sure who that would be. Every last appointment i can think of would surely bring a steep jump in cynicism), knowing our treatment from refs and media will continue, under Wenger at least, in exactly the same extremely damaging fashion.
As much as I agree with Inconvenient fact. I still feel there are players in the squad who can stand up and fight. I’ll wait for the end of season, and see if i was right about them. Wont name them now.
inconvenient fact, well said
as for Wenger leaving, i wouldn’t be so sure
if he was a lesser man like me he’d leave some seven years ago, when riley took over
nothing changed since then, except we are now financially in a position to compete with rich clubs
There is a solution. Get ‘arry in under Wenger. He is one of theirs. He will be allowed some leeway. He will be allowed to open up & pick on the PGMOL just a little bit. It might work & the can of worms might start to wriggle in the open.
Menace
If we really want to floor pgmol and damn the costs to our soul we should go for one G Neville.
In all seriousness, whoever succeeds Wenger and whenever that is should initially benefit from Pgmol toning things down.
They’ll want to get a handle on the new landscape and might even find it convenient for burying their handiwork if there is an initial uplift post-Wenger.
As for a solid tactical move against them for the next appointment, British should have some big advantages, especially if that person has established credibility, some longevity in game, and an aptitude for manipulating the press.
Nobody realistic ticks all those boxes. Eddie Howe is about halfway there.
If you’re talking foreign, you’d ideally want a big name for credibility, and again someone to take fight to press and use any means to do so. Good English pretty much essential. Nobody realistic particularly fits the bill. Anclleloti would have to really like London and put working there above other considerations. No chance.
Sadly, because i can’t stand him, Koeman is about the most pragmatic choice available. he’s well liked by our press, and if Pgmol were to keep up their campaign he would rail against it passionately. Quite likely the press would turn on him but it would damage them and pgmol and make it harder to keep doing what they currently do.
Depending on how much money Everton intend to spend, Koeman might not be tempted at present.
All this assumes that it is an inevitability the next man will be more cynical (i think that’s guaranteed), and that the club are in no doubt finding the closest match to Wenger and carrying on playing nice and honest, as we do now, is barely an option.
On the second point, I’m not sure at all. Don’t know him well but from glimpses Dortmund’s manager might be someone they see as similar to Wenger and therefore a good choice. If he is a nice guy or they manage to find in the football world some other nice guy, I think that would be a bad move on our part. Pgmol would quickly realise the floor is open for them to treat him the same as Wenger.
Stumbled upon this site and most amused by the “ref was against us” comments. We were outfought and outplayed by the 16th-placed team last night and some people are blaming the ref! Really?
This performance is in a long-line of away performances were we fail to turn up. The lack of organisation, coherence and fight is there for everyone to see – but in truth, we are just further on down the downwards trajectory we have been travelling for a number of years.
It is good to see that same people are finally waking up out the actual truth, but our continual hammerings have nothing to do with refereeing.
So the only answer is to go over to the dark side. That’s sad. Better to pursue the right course, in my opinion. Of course, I don’t own the club. A very rich and undoubtedly ruthless businessman does.
When we used to win titles (or even challenge for them) we managed to combine a bit of grunt, physicality and speed with sublime football, think Viera, Petit, Freddie, Lauren, Keown, Adams, etc., even Dennis would give some out.
Now we just pass the ball about slowly and lack physical bite
Yes the DEVILS would anything they have to suck our blood out,just wondering why??? We need David Dein back at-least he knew how to get around things but on the current campaign we have no breather and the only thing they want is for us to hang. How are we going to go around it??They have already gotten to our fans we need something as soon as possible. I know Wengers knows but he wont talk at the moment,the way he talked to the forth official he was telling him, what did i do to pay me in such a currency?Waiting eagerly for Arsene Wegers Book my mysteries at arsenal.
And I was amused by the fact that having stumbled upon the site you haven’t been looking at what it is and what it has done. Take a look at the research.
i loved the brainwashed arsenal fans telling us daily that THE Arsenal of viera and co. has fight in them BUT I WONDER HOW THEY LOST THE FAMOUS GAME 50!
SIMPLY PUT, THERE IS HARDLY A TEAM THAT CAN SURVIVE THIS WAR OF BIAS WE ARE FACING CURRENTLY!
THE FACT OF THIS CLAIM IS IN THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS THAT HAVE GRACED OUR CLUB SINCE 2005 TILL DATE, YET WE ARE AT THESE SORRY STATE!
at the beginning of these season, with a stable team which came 2nd last season, more experienced team acquisition of battle ready no nonsense xhaka, the reliable german mustafi and lucas perez, the team looked ready for challenge and chelsea was beaten 3-0 to strengthen our belief!
Then came everton and man city game and here we are!
In last night game , the best way an attacking team can win is by forcing the defending team to make mistakes and concede penalties and free kicks at dangerous places which arsenal managed to do but the referee denied them the chance of coming back in the game through penalties.
had those penalties given, and dive was not awarded to palace as a pen, surely the match would not be lost as confidence would have been boosted and palace forced to come out to play.
agree with untold or not, it is a fact that a troubled team like this current arsenal cannot be coherent, organised and consistent like bayern simply because they are handicapped artificially by a power beyond them to play with freedom!
how i wished our fans make the official realized they are cheating us. as they did against westham despite the match been won.
we as fans should realized that bacelona grew with confidence to beat psg when they realized they are the favoured ones while psg lost simply because their confidence was being tsken away from them and they panicked to defeat.
it is not rosy for arsenalnow but we can save our club from total collapse.
LET SIMPLY SUPPORT AND ENJOY WHERE IT ENDS FOR SURELY THE TRIAL WILL SOON BE OVER
inconvenient fact – truly class & beautifully put.
Exactly,
Early season the same team destroyed Chelsea. And were in the hunt till Man City and Everton game. After that all hell broke loose. What happened and how?
The ‘fans’ who should’ve supported the team demoralized the team. And since then, the team has lacked the confidence to play the ARSENAL brand of football. The fans accuse the team of bottling, but they themselves bottled it….