Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal
By Phil Gregory
After a controversial opening-day draw with Newcastle, Liverpool travel to the Emirates with a squad laden with fairly pricey recent signings. That stands them apart from Arsenal FC, with our biggest outlay being Gervinho at around £10m.
As Wenger argues however, the question is not money of price, but one of quality. I imagine most readers of this blog could have a good go at finding a better player than Henderson somewhere in the world for less than £20million, whilst the £9m fee paid for Charlie Adam is extortionate for a player with limited top flight experience and crucially, only one year remaining on his contract at the time. That fee implies that Charlie Adam, with a hypothetical four years on his deal is worth around £15-20m, which is clearly nonsense.
Buying clubs seem to be overpaying for players nearing the end of their contracts, with figures of £23-25m being quoted for our own Samir Nasri and United’s Ashley Young coming in at £16.5m. Absolute insanity.
Thanks to this outlay however, Liverpool are a side who many are tipping to overtake Arsenal this season. I disagree with that, and don’t even expect them to break the top four. Whilst they may have strengthened in many areas that they needed it – depth in goal, full back, creativity in the middle and options out wide – I don’t feel they have really bought the quality required to break the top four, even with Arsenal potentially shorn of two of our best players this summer. If they don’t break the top four, Dalglish could have spent all his bullets this summer unless the owners can find some cash somewhere. In the meantime, the losses will mount as Financial Fair Play looms.
Let’s move on to the tactical side of the game. Arsenal will be aware of Carroll’s aerial threat, but this can largely be negated be a high defensive line. Even if Carroll does winner headers, he’ll only be doing fairly far away from our box, and thus his goal threat will be limited to set pieces. During the Sunderland game he was fairly poor when shooting, but dominant in the air. If we can keep him away from goal we can negate the usefulness of his aerial threat, as long as we don’t give away foolish free kicks and corners. That said, the pace of Suarez will be a danger if we play a high line, leading me to suspect Dalglish may go 422, with Suarez looking to get on the ball in behind the defence.
Gervinho and Song are suspended for this game, as we all know. The injury list is growing, with Diaby and Wilshere out, as well as the newly wounded Djourou, Gibbs and Traore. Rosicky is a borderline case: he’s not injured, but touch and go, and with his injury record you can understand why the club don’t want to gamble with one of our few remaining central midfield options.
It could be an interesting bench, with Japanese youngster Miyaichi in the squad. Joel Campbell was also announced officially recently, but I’m unsure of his work permit situation. If anybody can offer any information or sources on that front, please post a comment at the end of the article.
Szcznesy
Sagna Koscielny Vermaelen Jenkinson
Frimpong
Ramsey Nasri
Walcott Van Persie Arshavin
There are a few talking points in the team that I’ve put out there. With neither of our recognised left backs available, I’m expecting Jenkinson to come in there. Ideally, you’d put Vermaelen there and bring Squillaci in at centreback but I’d much rather have Vermaelen in the middle up against Carroll. Moreover, new Liverpool signing Henderson had played wide right for Liverpool in their last Premier League game and he wouldn’t pose too much of a threat to Jenkinson going forward, so we might be able to get away with a youngster on the left.
The rest of the defensive unit then picks itself. Vermaelen and Koscielny continue at centreback, Sagna at right back and Szcznesy between the sticks. With Song suspended, Frimpong will surely come in and anchor the midfield. The next three games are huge for the youngster, with a real opportunity to seize a first eleven berth at hand. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of Emmanuel though my main impression from watching him at the Emirates Cup was that his passing and use of the ball could be better. With a weakened midfield for Arsenal, good use of the ball will be key so hopefully Frimpong can keep it tidy.
Further forward, it’s anybody’s guess who will take up the final midfield berth next to Aaron Ramsey. One option would be Henri Lansbury, who could play a hardworking, box to box role in order to allow Ramsey to go further forward. That however, would leave us with a very, very young midfield but that concern is rightly secondary in Wenger’s mind to whether they have the necessary quality to win the game. Nasri is in the squad, so could take the playmaker’s role with Aaron functioning as the slightly deeper central midfielder. The French international was lambasted by fans –myself included – during the Newcastle game so it will be interesting to see how the fans react if he is selected to start. It would be a grave mistake to boo or catcall a player performing in the Arsenal jersey, so hopefully common sense prevails in this case and we get behind all eleven Gunners on the pitch.
Further forward, Walcott plays wide right, Arshavin takes up his place on the opposite flank and Van Persie comes back in after a European suspension left him on the sidelines of our last game. With a weakened midfield, the Dutchman’s creativity could be crucial in this game.
It’s certainly a slightly makeshift line-up but at home, against a Liverpool side who had a poor pre-season and have got off to a slow start this year, we could have enough to get the win. I think it’ll be a fairly scrappy affair, and I hope we nick it 1-0. Another clean sheet? Why not.
Woolwich Arsenal 2 Liverpool 2, 100 years ago: watch a film of the match!
Fighting against the odds the Arsenal way
Know Thine Enemy – from a long weekend in the Untold Media Trenches
The harsh truths about Arsenal’s decline
Arsenal v Udinese: the Catering Report
Agreed. I think it will be an interesting game. In my opinion the main trouble we had against Udinese is that we could not keep the ball in midfield. I think this will be less of a problem against LP.
IF NASRI PLAYS DO NOT BOO HIM!!!!!!!
We are short of players, that we cannot control. If he gives us a good game we will outclass LP and get our season going and our confidence on track. If we are actually serious about winning then dont hurt our chances! So he does not want to play for us. It is just a professional decision (more money and a better squad, fine), not a personal one. Id be interested to see how everyone conducts their own professional lives. Should Gervinho be booed, same situation? He gave his all for us and we are going to get a hefty sum for him. It is childish, selfish, and extremely short sighted to boo and could turn the game negative really quickly.
Phil, dis is going to a 3 – 1 to the Arsenal in fact an own goal.
If Nasri plays, it is a chance for him and the fans to show some class. I hope he plays and helps secure points.
Agree completely with anyone booing Nasri should he play is not fit to be considered an Arsenal supporter.
I dont think I agree completely with liverpool are in worse shape than us for this game. If we get all 3 points with players available to us I think AW is a Houdini of sorts.
Both teams should be up for this game, I just hope the referee isnt a complete and utter b*ll*x like last weekend.
i dont think nasri will play
i think wenger is putting him in the team as a last resort we are wayyy short on players.
that team looks okay
jenkinson will find it hard with dawning and suarez
i just cant belive this is the team that we have and its are 3rd game.
i love wenger but even am losing faith in him
i dont understand why he didnt bring in players befor the season started
he knew that fabrigas was going to leave.
anyway lets hope we winnnnnn.
Screw nasri i would give him areally uncomfortable.afternoon on the bench bringing him on with 2 minutes to go then taking him off after a minute.
as.for the.players that want to play for arsenal with carrolls height i would be tempted to play ignasi miquel there. with tv5 at left back. or with downings tendency to play on the right then come inside the right footed jenkinson might be the better bet or how about kos at left back with ignasi partnering tv5. anyway i dont want squillaci near the pitch no matter what. i would also consider playing rvp behind bendtner in the no.10 role or arshavin behind rvp with chamberlain miyaich or lansbury taking a place on the wing. My preference
szcesney
sagna miquel vermaelen koscielny
Ramsey frimpong
walcott arshavin chamberlain
rvp
fabianski jenkinson squillaci lansbury miyaich chamakh bendtner or nasri.
0-12 to liverpool (on paper at least). They can bury 11 years of disappointment in this very game.
However in the event arsenal wins the game 1-0(that’s the only scoreline that i can think of) arsenal fans should chant “spend some MORE fuking money”.
Nasri to score the winner!
Good review Phil.
@ critic. With AW under continuous fire from the AAA and the less intelligent sections of the media, the fans should forget that disgusting chant and any variations of it. AW wants to succeed more than any of us; he will rebuild the team – but do realise we have a fantastic squad now and chanting for money to be spent is an insult to the squad.
I’m hoping Sagna plays left back as Jenkinson will be a disaster at left back…not his fault of course – but he might be quite reasonable at right back
@ Phil, I like the look of your back four and GK. Frimpong will be up to the challenge, but I think the ref will be looking to make him the fall guy in this match so he has to be careful as the ref will be looking to yellow card him early on. I haven’t seen any real cause for concern in his game and will be well supported by our back 4.
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Ramsey will have a great game (you heard it hear first) tomorrow in midfield as he seems to thrive under pressure. If Man City do not come up with the right money between now and tomorrow, I think we should play Nasri for around 60 mins and then introduce Alex OC. Regardless of Nasri’s reception at the Emirates he has millions or reasons to play his heart out.
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I wouldn’t start both Theo and Arsharvin in this particular game. So with one eye on Tuesday I would start Ryo instead of Theo as I think this will give Dalglish a major headache. In recent season’s managers have studied our players and then selected their teams accordingly. I think that we can use the unfamilarity of the players to our advantage. In a sense shock and awe. Liverpool players will have to be well drilled and organised to stop us this early in the season as the Liverpool players will have hardly any idea what the players can do.
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Arsharvin should start this one because he needs games and then be subbed for Chamakh. In fact I would be tempted to start Chamakh and then bring on Arsharvin to save his legs. With regards to Lansbury, I don’t think he will play that much unless he signs a new contract.
It would be good if the crowd got behind the team tomorrow as It will really give them a needed lift. Also if we have someone like Mike Dean reffing the game the crowd could help influence as he does not favour us even at home.
I think that anyone that has lost faith in the manager, team and club so early on in the season should just give up and do something more useful with their time as they are not tough enough to be a Gooner. Like Don McMahon’s article earlier in the week about goners tomorrow, whatever the result will be too much for them to handle.
Oh yeah, Phil I forgot to say in previous post that it’s great having you back doing these pre match reports.
Liverpool were poor last week, pumping long balls to Carroll, or crossing to Carroll, The Suarez Carroll combination will fall on the lack of mobility and intelligence from the tall one, he simply is not up to bringing much out of Suarez.
The Liverpool right back had a mare last week, if he plays again, Theo / Andre should be able to get something out of him.
Watch for Adam fading after 60 mins, particularly if we play high tempo, he looks every inch an overweight player.
However we will have to keep the ball better than Tue night, will miss Song and Gervinho and fingers crossed and good luck to for Jenkinson if he plays (an excellent crosser of the ball) and the beast that is Frimpong, I just wish his mate Jack was playing alongside, we keep the ball so much better when he is there, he has the ability to make sense from chaos with one simple pass.
I see us creating chances, will we take them? I also think we can dominate Carroll in the air with Verm, Kos and Scz
My bet is on another clean sheet and a narrow Arsenal win
Respectfully, what is insane about 16.5 million for Ashley young? Proven premier league and international player and only 25. Alex oxlaide/chamberlains free of 15 million makes young’s deal look like an absolute bargain does it not?
The first real test for Arsenal……its a home game so i hope we win
Nice summary Phil,
Sunderland certainly showed that when you play a high line and force Carroll to challenge for aerial balls around the centre circle rather than the penalty area his efficacy is drastically reduced:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/486K5y8olW70zia1D85D
This chalkboard shows that he was dominant in the air, winning 10/11 challenges last Saturday, but only two of those challenges took place inside Sunderland’s box and ultimately he was unable to complete a pass within 18yrds of goal.
TV5 is our most aggressive ball-winner at the back so I would worry about any central partnership that didn’t include him. For that reason I (like Phil) think that Arsene will keep him and Kos in the middle and ask Jenkinson to do another job at left-back – if Henderson gets the nod for ‘pool this could set up an intriguing battle (for England fans) between two young prospects.
Frimpong has seemed to bring a lot of drive and energy to our midfield in each of his two cameos so far. He, alongside Ramsey and Nasri, could give Lucas and Adams a tough time in the centre so I like our chances in that area of the pitch. The major issue would be his discipline. With Adams’ delivery and Carroll’s height we really can’t afford to give away any soft freekicks within 35 yrds of goal.
Despite criticisms of a lack of creativity I think we offer a definite goal threat going forward and am hopefully optimistic Liverpool won’t be able to keep us out. I’m particularly excited about Ryo’s potential as an impact sub, and would love to see him come on with 30mins to go and put Carragher on his arse like Thiery.
Our back five have had a good start to the season and the result could well tip on how effectively Wojciech is able to continue to command his area, along with how alive our back four are to the intelligent movement of Suarez, and the threat of long balls in behind our fullbacks.
@anuj and others,
I am no pedant but i’d like to point out that transfer season is not called silly season for nothing, the ins and outs of most transfers are kept secret by clubs, and the press don’t know as much as they claim to know, wherever we paid for AOC is pure speculation and i don’t doubt it is inflated to make precisely the same argument you make.
Nasri should play, he’s still an Arsenal player after all.
Anuj – because such a fee, when Ashley Young is in the last year of his contract values him at around £40m plus if he has four years left on his contract, which is sheer insanity. Considering the short time left on his deal, United way overpaid.
Cheers GoonerGal – I’m glad to be back. May be down to one a week from September as final year Uni commitments start to bite though.
I’m with Anuj on this one….Its only Arsenal fans that bother about the price of players..
Phil can you give me the value of Ashley young contributions in untd’s first game??
By the way FFP is a farce so the earlier Arsenal fans and Wenger get that out of their Head the better for the club…Who in his sane mind would sponsor the champions League with out Barca, madrid, untd and co???
I can’t understand why you would want the club to spend excessively on a player – surely that means they have less cash to spend on other players?
We’ll see on FFP, I have little faith in UEFA but the clubs themselves support FFP. Why would sides like Inter support FFP and then ignore it? They WANT the cost restraint.
Right Phil, if you spend 30-40 on a player, he could end up like Shevchenko or Veron. Wenger would rather buy 4 players for the same price and usually at least one of those will turn out to be as good or better than the 30 million pound player.
What rubbish- if you can’t back your judgement on buying replacements for players like Fabregas or Nasri you should not be a manager of a top football club.
This opposition to buying players only seems to apply to a certain section of Arsenal fans who seem to think its OK to sell their best players for a lot of money- but not to buy them apparently- which means you are talking about a diminishing club which sells its stars but can only buy kids and unknowns.
We will see how far this policy gets this club this year. Its not looking too good so far- but then evidence has never been top of the list of some people’s analytical criteria has it?
Ref Spin me wonders?
Just not good enuf, no two ways about it. No possession the team is too weak, Wengers day are numbered, the bead counters must be loving moneys coming in!
Crowd booing, how many dumb players do we have Frimpong another to add to that list.
Last game of season and 1st game of this season, no points registered, think how much money will Arsenal lose with the crowd and failing to make into the CL.
Injuries have exposed our lack of depth and experience.
Arshavin woeful!
Walcott Woeful! back to his awful best.
We were weak in midfeild creativly I feel, Ramsey I don’t think had his best game today, Nasri looked good in spells but the creativity of his passing wasn’t good enough, and Frimpong was good but is a defensive player, we certainly missed Wilshere. Arshavin had a very poor game I felt, infact I don’t feel confident when he starts nowadays, haven’t done for a long time, in my opinion I would rather Alex Oxlade Chamberlain given a go, RVP isn’t up to scratch yet, not sure why, but he is of course a brilliant player, but must be hard for all the foward players without decent service. That being said, the ref didn’t help us at all, I think he had a poor game which was also a damage, I think overall before the sending off we defended well, positives were young Jenkinson, Miquel, Vermaelon who had a great game, Schezney, Sagna, and Nasri did try. I’m sure we will sign at least two reinforcments which should help, I think they were coming irrespective of this result, personally I would really like to see the likes of AOC, even Lansbury or anyone when some of the first team players like Arshavin aren’t cutting it.
@goonergerry,
fernando torres, andy carol and a few other flops that have come in a blaze of publicity and promise but never quite added what they were capable of in their old clubs highlights the fact that buying the best player in a certain position based on performances for another club is not as straight forward as it would be on fantasy football (i am not accusing you of anything here). truly world class players like fabregas are as rare as hens teeth, and it is no surprise that barcelona constantly raid us for players as we are probably closest to their playing style probably across the world.
your argument, like most people critical of our acquisitions seems to ignore the fact that the money is not there to raid barcelona or milan for the players that we would like, it is not just the transfer fees but the salaries and the knock on effect on the salaries of those already at the club.
You also speak of opposition to buying players, i will be kind and assume you mean the selling clubs, because no one opposes buying players, the only complication is the mooolah.
Ronnie Brown
You got to add Walcott to that list!
Walcott was poor but as I said it must be hard for the forward players without service, Walcott excells when he’s given through balls to run on to, he wasn’t given any quality through balls, none of the offensive players made an impact cause of the poor creative passing for the midfeild, hopefully Cesc’s replacement will be a good passer also so he can slot in and add some creativity and cutting passes.
I can see why Wenger has played Nasri in the forward positions, cause he is a good finisher and runner in the box, but as of yet he isn’t a good enough creative passer. The Gervinho ban was pretty damaging, he would of been a great help today, means we wouldn’t have had to play Arshavin, and he would have been there to make runs into the box too, sometimes we were crossing but no-one was in the box really. When is Wilshere back?
Ronnie
Hope your right mate but with the Nasri deal dead in the pan Wenger wont buy a replacement, this season could yet prove to be the worst. This wednesday CL game could break Wenger!
Liverpool weren’t the best but if we fail to get 4th place because of a mediocre team like Liverpool then its a crime.
How can Alex Song think it’s acceptable to get himself suspended the way he did?
Do they not fear any sanction from AW? Do they no longer respect him?
Does AW think it’s all right for Frimpong to stand in front of a throw in and get himself a yellow card?
Do they think it’s all right to be on £50k+ a week and have the mentality of children, what do they do in training?
I am glad I no longer pay the wages of those buffoons!
Can you honestly blame Cesc or Nasri for wanting out?
I am so disappointed I can hardly speak!
The problems are there for all to see made worse by lack of discipline in certain areas and of course injuries. The Udinese game has major significance.
We cant keep blaming injuries and suspensions, A.Song was stupid last weak as well as Gervinho, Frimpong WTF does not watch these games?
Another defender gone and really we choked when down to 10, Shitpool cant believe their luck. This rebuilding will never end every season we lose a big player only for the cycle to start again.
Only one experienced player today would at least given us a point today but then again may be today will help.
I’m seriously doubting this team will make CL, at least the board can keep the FUCKING money now.
Is the Nasri deal dead confirmed? I still think Arsene will buy a midfielder, infact he has made bids of players, Lucho Gonzalez we made a bid for, there is also talk of Honda again, so I think he will buy there, also I think there will be a central defender coming in, possibly one more but from everything I’ve seen/read looks like two signings will be coming in at least. I don’t think we can judge our team collectivly on this result, the sending off was extremely impactful and the injury tied our hands a bit in terms of changes, the team we played was signifcantly weakened by injury, Wilshere to me is one of our best players, Rosisky probably would have started if fit, Gibbs would have certainly started if fit, and Traoe was out too who would have been the cover, Djoure would have been there instead of Miquel, quite a few injuires. It is a shame we couldn’t have done buisness in midfield and defense earlier but I understand these things are hard to do and we have had several bids rejected for various players, but the damaging part about that makes our squad lack in certain areas, not having a Fabregas replacement while Song, Wilshere, Diaby, Rosisky are all out is damaging, I hope we can get someone in before the Man United game or sooner unless we’re gonna blood some of these young signings (some of which I believe will be a great suprise this season if given the chance). I think Arsene is a strong charecter, I think he can get us through in CL, but I personally I would like those two reinforcements asap, particularly the creative midfeilder, then we could make use of some of our players like Gervinho and Walcott. In all honesty I think we are better than Liverpool, our team today was a shadow of what is our 1st 11.
Thought Nasri should have laid the ball off for Walcott when Nasri had taken the ball down the whole pitch, but decided to shoot wide. Also thought while Nasri was very good at times going forward, I didn’t think he defended that well. Rambo was horrible today, Arshavin doesn’t seem to have the pace at all anymore. Frimpong never should have picked up that early yellow, but he was a revelation in midfield, just needs to learn to restrain himself a bit more especially when he is on a yellow.
Even the most faithful will soon turn against Wenger. We can still have a good league season but if we would miss out on the CL and then get battered at Old Trafford, it would be hard to pick the playes up and to get the crowd behind them. It’s really worrying. Wenger has 10 days to give the supporters some hope to hold on to.
Rosicky seriously???
man is soo injury prone I’m surprised he isn’t an advert for plaster, when was the last time he played well for us and Wenger insists on keeping him only because he is cheap another Aluminia for us the crowd to endure.
Ferguson concluded all his transfer dealings 4 WEEKS ago. Done, dusted, new players practising, training, integrating!
What is so damn difficult?
No one is asking AW to spend a £100m, there are plenty of good players around the £15m mark far better than many of the average players we have currently.
@Tone
Wenger himself said it will be busy transfer window, that doesn’t mean he was lying he was talking about everyone else. Wenger did purchase some kids too crap at this moment but over time they will learn and fuck off like the rest.
I wonder what spin this site will put on this performance.
EPL FACT:-
played 2
1 point
goals -2
Doesn’t make good reading.
Ferguson has a bigger budget and more resources than us, can offer bigger wages and transfer fees. I too wish we had done buisness quicker though, cause we’re a bit toothless attacking wise currently and that isn’t like us, a lot of our flair players are out, we just need that one top quality creative midfeild and a few injuries back and then we will start scoring properly again.
Martin Keown on the BBC has said he hopes that Nasri stays, so there’s no resistance to that within the club clearly…..
But he also said that ‘if Wenger were to leave, the first thing a new manager would do would be to spend money. Which says that Wenger should spend money.’
He also said that he wanted Wenger to stay…….
@jayj
haha I am sure you are right.
However from last December we were all crying out for some re-inforcements. Had AW done so we might not have had the end of season collapse we did and would not now be scrambling for our CL spot.
AW will probably end up signing a young striker for £1m from somewhere like Costa Rica while the board trouser the rest of the cash.
@Ronnie
Man U should be bankrupt, we should be flashing the cash!
Verminator was fucking evil and put A.Caroll on his arse but he must be thinking what the fuck is happening here, nobody can blame Nasri wanting out and Cesc did his best but the team wasn’t up to it.
Every one was on about the lack of intent in the transfers and we the fans haven’t been crying out for 35million+ players, I think this could be blessing in wake of campaign.
Not only the lack of players in but the lack of discipline, this team doesn’t fucking learn just like our fucking idiot ex player Eboue.
A slap around the ear may help!
It has emerged this week we could of had X.Alonso but Wenger barked at 14 million and was only prepared to buy at 12million.
How the fuck are we going to compete!
We had Cesc for 8 years and it is a crime he never had more quality around him!
Would you rather play with Xavi, Inesta and Messi or Denilson, Diaby and Bentner!?
@jayj too right!
Alonso would have been cheap at £15m!!!
As for Eboue a bigger moron has never worn an Arsenal shirt!
This is bad beyond anything with the most expensive season ticket and day our in the EPL, the fans have a right to boo but Wenger is not helping himself. 1 defender and an established midfielder in but Wenger is going more ammunition to Anti Arsene brigade. Even Fergie get some stop gap fillers in but we always rely on the kids when the shit hits the fan.
Last season Wenger could easily of gotten Viera in just please some members.
Today with even one experienced player we would had a point but as soon as we were down to 10 everyone knew the outcome. Lack of discipline,experience have caused more concerns, why purchase youngsters and not have one experienced squad player?
Fergie for all his wrongs and spending will never allow this.
me COOLED DOWN now.
On a brighter note Frimpong looks good but needs to cool it, everyone knows Wenger is great but he needs to show more authority and our player learn for fuck sakes, A.songs,Gervinho,Frimpong aren’t helping matters.
Good young squad
Haha! Tone & Jayi, thank you so much for cheering me up. You two are comedy gold!
Gooner Gal
Glad you enjoyed today.
@jayj and Tone: Calm Down IMO. That’s all I will say.
Enjoying the performance of Szczesny, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Miquel, Frimpong helped me calm down. I believe this team has a great potential, but they also need help from experienced players. And I believe AW can see this too.
I hate to say this, but isn’t the first goal offside? The linesman didn’t raise his flag when the ball was passed to suarez.
As of the 2nd goal, I couldn’t believe my eyes to see Nasri was just jogging when he saw Meireless was unmarked. He didn’t seem to bother tracking back.
@ Jayi, just so we are clear – I am laughing at you and not with you.
Gooner Gal
Does that include the pundits as well?
were those two goals not offside??
@sad
the 2nd was not because the ball was first passed to Meireless who then passed it to Suarez. Meireless was onside. I blamed Nasri for just jogging on
@ Phil – I have to say that I wasn’t too happy to see that the line up was as you suggested and was very disappointed to see the problems I envisioned play out earlier. I do understand why they were picked, as you want your most senior squad out there for a game like this one.
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I hate seeing Nasri in midfield as it doesn’t work because he doesn’t pass the ball around. That’s why Ramsey & RVP struggled along side him today. I don’t care that he prefers midfield, I would of put him on the wings and believe or not put RVP in midfield.
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But like some have already stated, I also think that there were some great individual performances that we can build on. I am really encouraged that we still have Song, Diaby, Rosicky, Wilshere and Gevinho as options to come back into midfield. This is a marathon, not a sprint and I have seen that if we can get the team balance right, this is not a bad squad at all.
OTT: Arsene’s interview’s up on the site – http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/39134/wenger-reaction
I know everyone would have already read this but I do love listening to the man speak. Frustrating on his transfer revelations of course 🙂 but by and large its wonderful watching a football manager speak with such clarity. Every word of his is true, in that interview.
Gooner Gal, you said the right word: balance.
We didn’t play great with 3 PL debutants in our team. But as long as Frimpong was in the team the balance was good enough to get a draw against Liverpool. We had some 9 players missing today so I would have taken a draw before the game.
But when Frimpong went the balance in the team also was lost.
If we would have been on full strength I would be worried now. But if you look at the absentees I am sure that when they come back we will also be coming back.
But wouldn’t mind an extra kind of playmaker coming in
dark forces are at work.
Lines man, ref and even our inexperienced players.
Lines man love fucking us over.
Ref always take pleasure from our pain.
Inexperienced players keep costing the team.
U couldn’t script a start like this, what next a fucking air disaster or suicide bombers inside the emirates.
how the fuck is this happening to us?
@WALTER nice said,today was another shitty day but i think we did well really well. Considering what we where missing,?Walter ever since our physio left for the three Lions we have a problem for our players taking longer than they should not.
So we urgently need to solve that. So we need to move on Udenise have to be in target there is no time to sulk.
Lets go GUNNERS .
On possible people coming in/out
According to rumours (not in English media) Nasri would stay at Arsenal. (French press)
Hazard would come if we get in CL. (rumours in Belgium)
@jayj for your information this is the first time i don’t know in how many years l/verpool is kissin our butt so no worries. if you have seen d match then i expect you 2 be knowing better. Lets go to Italy and kick there butt.
kampala gun
kissing or kicking????
one thing for sure wenger and board have been slow to sign players in this window.
Cesc was going but then again Wenger could not imagined all these injuries/suspenions but why relay on Rosicky/Diaby?
What a mess. This is facking ridiculous. Utter sh*t. Incompetency of highest order. How the fack can they consider themselves top 4 contenders when THEY CAN’T EVEN BEAT DEPLETED ARSENAL BY 12 GOALS, AFTER SPENDING 50-60 MILLIONS MORE THAN US, ON THE DAY WHEN WE LOST OUR 2ND BEST DEFENDER!! HELL, THEY COULDN’T EVEN SCORED A LEGITIMATE GOAL. 2nd goal wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t conceded the 1st goal which also was debatable.
“Liverpool have new players and will take time to settle” you say? Well same can be said of arsenal.
Fack man!! I predicted 12-0 to liverpool. They are utter sh*t!!
Enough with the serious talks. Looking at the funny side of it
1)creating chances does look a concern for arsenal.
The equation used to be Arsenal = plethora of goal chances.
2) There’s something seriously wrong medical/physio team or training methods at arsenal. There’s just no other explanation of such a big injury list season after season, after moving to EMS.
critic
been wondering about the same thing, any of player picks up an injury it takes so long to recover, Diaby/RVP/Rosicky/Gibbs/Verminator/Cesc/Walcott all major players for us however always end up on injury list.
go tellem critic! go tell em all!
Today we fielded a weakened team and I agree with Gooner Gal that the balance was not quite right. But there were positives, the young players really impressed and it was great to see Verminator back to his best.
I thought the midfield was our weakest area – we normally dominate – consequently the front 3 got a poor service and the inability of the midfield to win and hold the ball put additional pressure on the back 4.
However, with players to return from injury, suspension and hopefully some new signings we will be much stronger.
Arshavin/Walcott weakest link today.
did anyone notice the media/sky pundits take on our lose?
I noticed Gary Neville seems to have a more fair perspective outlook on arsenal as opposed to Jamie Redknapp, who praised liverpool on their style and creativeness.
One has to question Wenger’s logic, why spend 12 million pounds for an 18 year old kid who probably won’t make his first appearance till the start of the Carling cup in an already depleted team, who seem to have forgotten how to play football? If chamberlain is worth 12 million pounds why wasn’t he playing today instead of those two useless excuses for wide players? It shows that Wenger has clearly lost the plot spending big on a player who will not make an immediate impact. I hope he proves me wrong and plays Theo as a cf in our next game and plays chamberlain on the right going back to a 442 formation that was always best for Arsenal, especially now that cesc has gone, it will also get the best out of arshavin and Theo as they are not wingers!. I doubt anything of the sort will happen and we can all predict what will happen against manure because im pretty sure we always look depleted in this same fixture every season- twice last year.
Thought the team performed well enough, all things considered. In fact until the Frimpong sending off we looked sure to pick up a point at least. Sometimes things just don’t go your way and today I felt the players did not deserve the defeat. Liverpool have spent plenty of money recently but once again failed to overly impress.
Results will always cloud performances and for the most part neither team looked worthy victors today.
Frimpong looks a decent player, very strong and determined for one so young but he needs to learn quickly, something I’m sure he will do.
There is absouloutly no doubt this is Arsene Wengers most difficult period but I still fully support him.
Not Liverpool’s first XI since Gerrard was missing, but nevertheless we put up a fight. Bizarrely, the kids might be a better option right now, since they are likely not to be so invested personally with Cesc, not having played with him, and just want to grab their chances. Especially having seen how Jack took his – they know it’s possible, and that if there’s an opening, they’ve got to take it.
Given what happened to Kos, I was amazed we made it through to half-time 0-0, with Miquel suddenly cast into the fray, inexperienced Jenkinson also there, and Sagna out of position. But a lot of that scoreline was down to Sir Chesney (as Alan Green has rechristened him, having asked the BBC pronunciation dept the right way to the say the “Szcz” bit). Our no1 goalie just oozes confidence, and I love him. And with Vermaelen terminating most of the Liverpool attacks with extreme prejudice, have we got the makings of a sterling defence now?
So maybe this season will turn out to be the inverse of the last one? That is, we get all the bad stuff out the way – including that freak effing first goal – in the first ten weeks, and after that, it’s onwards to victory? I wouldn’t be surprised at this point. The wheel always turns.
On his twitter Honda (the Japanese player that is) said this: Arsenal to offer to acquire the official Honda – Nikkan Sports (blog)
Now this doesn’t seem to be correct English but I got this translated from Japanese. Which I don’t speek at all.
And the same rumours came out in the media in Holland that Honda would be close to sign for Arsenal.
Oh well, we will see what we will see. It sure would bring us a free kick specialist to the emirates
The problem today wasn’t with quality or creativity in midfield. Our real issue was the fact that we struggled to play the ball out of defence, unsurprising considering the issues we faced – that Jenkinson was on his début, Sagna was on the left and TV5 had to switch sides to accommodate young Ignasi.
Rather than a desperate need to improve the quality of the side (which seems to be the script for most of the pundits and hysterical fans) I think Arsene’s main task will be to try and restore morale, in the stands certainly but also in the dressing room.
Walter is that Honda’s official Twitter?
I would really like to see Honda here, we would finally be a threat from set pieces too lol.
Addi, it is true we found it hard to play the ball out from defence, but when we did and got into more advances positions we a bit wasteful, looked a bit lost and toothless, if we had Cesc for that game I honestly think we would have pulled through a result, no-one was making any decent through balls.
Translation from Nikkan Sports:
“Arsenal has officially enquired with CSKA Moscow for buying Japanese midfielder Honda Keisuke, Russian sports website Live Sports informed on the 19th. According to the same site, Arsenal had a move for Russian midfielder Dzagoev of the same club rejected, and Arsenal moved to Honda instead. Arsenal had Cesc transfer to Barcelona and it is expected Nasri will transfer too. With an urgent need to strenghten the (attacking) midfield, Honda will cost around 13 million euro.”
@Tasos –> Finally, I found another person who watched the same game that I did last night. It was just bad luck that there were any winners last night. But there were definite signs of things to come in the future and I’m all excited about that.
Frimpong will give Song a run for his money. The writing is on the wall.
You pay 100 Mil to build/strengthen a team that looks this average against a makeshift Arsenal side?
hahahha:-
WFT
http://www.arsenalnews.co.uk/wenger-want-former-ac-milan-amp-current-real-madrid-star-on-loan-ndash-may-be-transfer-of-the-year/link/87450/
Everyone knew cesc was leaving, the alarm bells have been ringing since april with the Nasri issue.
Still we have no replacements, defense cover is light (forget the english spine bollox), Wenger hasn’t addressed these issues. We all support him but why at the start of the season with other team laying on a marker we yet to start ours?
We cant keep blind faith, we have a self sustaining model but we still don’t invest.
Arsenal have been lazy in the transfers, 1 player and 3 youths signed!
Every team has injuries but no cover like us.
Ugandan
Are you seriously arguing that spending nothing on transfers and not replacing your best players will produce a successful side? Well there is not much evidence of it so far. Torres in the hands of Wenger with Fabregas and Wilshere providing the bullets would have been worth 50 m. Torres now at Arsenal? No. At Chelsea? Don’t know- doubt it- they are a power side. As for Carroll – please explain how buying Carroll for 35m justifies spending nothing and not replacing Clichy, Fabregas and Nasri?
I never supported paying that much for Carroll- but at least Liverpool replaced a player before they sold him. Arsenal sell top players and don’t replace them.
I HAVE TO SAY- HONDA is one of my favourite platers- a great engine- starts first time! But even if it turns out like all the others-bullshit- at least its a good thought- pairing Honda and Hazard.
@Walter – a Japanese reporter asked Wenger about Honda in the pre-match press conference. The reporter asked if there was any truth to what a Russian website said about Arsenal wanting to sign Honda. Wenger denied it.
Perhaps there is no truth to the rumour then, or perhaps Wenger doesn’t want to tip his hand.
Any news on Koscielny?
Wenger has confirmed the club is not in the market to sign any players.
This is it boyz/girls, last season even Wenger admitted he should of signed at least one CB. Last season one CB away from a trophy this season with the departure of Cesc and all probability Nasri we are now at least 4 players short.
We cant hold onto our best players so which player wants to come to us? Supporting Wenger is not easy!
Remember the time Wenger said he would bring in experience to help our young defenders, in walked Silvestre WTF was he thinking and same can be said of Sol Campbell!
Jayj
Last season Wenger signed 2 defenders.
It wasn’t last season when Silvestre walked in!
two defenders yes, one was ok and will get better but the other is not part of plan this season, so thats 7-8 million lost.
wengers interview:-
on potential new signings…
We look, you know? But we try to do the right things for the Club. I think Koscielny and Vermaelen are a fantastic pair of centre backs but it’s very difficult as well because if you buy another centre back and then someone gets injured I have to buy another one. You cannot do that every time you have an injured player.
no more signings people!
Jayj
Prediction is not your strong point, particularly when your source of knowledge is the gossip column. If you make a statement based upon what youve read, make sure its fact. To say last season we were one cb away from.a title after we sign
Sorry, shit phone…
After we sign two is just stupid. Should we have a squad of at least 3 world-class players in each position? Can’t afford it, rules don’t allow it.
Stevie E
Sorry mate but even Wenger admitted he should signed another CB. Remember Verminator was out.
Cant afford it or wont spend any money R two different things. As always Wenger leaves it to the last minute.
@goonergerry,
i think you know what i mean, if you’d rather join the school of obvious fools then go ahead.
It is really getting on my nerves that some people think that they are really telling the rest of us something we don’t know. We all know we need players, the difference between us is that we believe the manager knows this too and is doing what he can to address the situation.
@Goonergerry
Honda??? Type R times are real bad at the emirates!!!
6 million a year and our manager wants to buy a honda. Then again it gets you from A to B.
Jose Manuel Jurado – watch this space.
jayj
You’re barking up the wrong tree here.
I, like many others on this site, totally support our manager Arsene Wenger, that doesn’t mean we’re in denial or oblivious to any problems regarding the team/club/management. Yes we have problems, along with almost every other club in world football.
You have made many sweeping, mostly critical generalisations about our club,manager and/or players on this post, it doesn’t help your cause(agenda) when you make such derogatory comments as;
“Last season one CB away from a trophy”
“This is bad beyond anything”
“how many dumb players do we have Frimpong another to add to that list”.
“As always Wenger leaves it to the last minute”.
“Last season Wenger could easily of gotten Viera in”
I’m not against anyone expressing their opinion and complaining, I accept certain areas in the squad need addressing but please, try to remain objective with your criticism.
Lets face it,it isn`t if Wenger goes, it`s when he goes. He continues to stumble his way through the daily routine of dragging our wonderful club into a mid table. If his antics yesterday did not confirm that he really has no idea how to turn this around, then there is no hope. How can any manager continue to claim that the likes of Walcott, Ramsey, Rosicky and Arshavin are of the quality we currently need? Arshavin and Walcott were yet again totally ineffective yesterday. Neither of them have an idea how to get past a player and Arshavin might as well have played for Pool, the number of times he gave them the ball. It is clear now that Theo just ain`t good enough, he would not get near the bench in any of our main rivals and it is clear that without Cesc or Jack alongside him, Ramsey is lost and ineffective. WE continue to miss out on quality targets because Wenger will not match the “going price” Worst example, he could have had Mata for £20/£22 million but now looks like he has lost out to Chelsea! He has brought in Gervino and already tried to change him to a wide ineffective player rather than the natural second strikers role he played for his last club. Young Jenkison has come from a first division club who rated him so highly last season, they sent him out on loan to a non league club? And finally Oxo, £12-£15 million for a lad who has only played first division football? But tell me how can Wenger justify spending this obscene amount of money on Oxo and then refuse to meet the asking price of Samba, Jagilka, Cahill, Mata Etc He really beggars belief. What a shame that when we look back at our current manager in years to come, he will only be remembered as the egotistic & dillusional man who brought our team to its knees rather than the superb tactician who gave us so many years of glory and entertainment.
ive been having a go at wenger for a while now,but the sight of him on the bench was totally shocking.for all wengers failings and stubborness over the last few seasons i wouldnt want him to get ill or have a breakdown because of the pressure hes under,afterall the guy has a wife and daughter to care for.as fans we cant do much for him as only arsene can ease the pressure hes under by signing better players thus improving results.arsenal means a lot to me but wengers physical and mental health are also important.someone needs to step and get arsene to take a look at himself and the team before its to late.god bless arsene.
i am feeling gutted and angry at thesame time.see what wenger is turning our beloved team to.see what his quality players were playing today.it was very painful but maybe the positive there is that wenger can’t bore us now with his quality song.he his enriching the board at our expense so they won’t do anything so we the fans must mount pressure until they succumb if not this might just be the begining of our end
Tasos
Fair do but we do have too many players not thinking for the team and look what happened yesterday, therefore I would say my criticism is justified.
Wenger himself admitted should he have known the extent of Verminator injury then he would signed a CB – FACT!
Wenger hasn’t addressed our CM issue and looks like Nasri’s off so who is coming in? Any news, I’m a supporter.
Wenger could of gotten Viera in just to provide some inspiration but its always the cheapest option.
Then our club should set it sights lower and tell the fans the lack of money instead of hicking the price up and failing to invest it.
Wenger will let the transfer clock tick down and then state “no filled the criteria”, “just not good enough”, what you reckon on that.
and where is that idiot anne? who wrote a million words that cesc was staying? You numpity, he’s long gone and like our idiot manager needs to fuck off too. Good they got booes off the pitch
@jayj – these lot have got their head so far up wnegers rear they cant see the reality
Wasn’t this rebuilding a 5 year plan, last year Wenger stated “should it not produce a trophy then the plan is a failure”, now he said “money is not an issue should the right player come 40/50 mil is not an issue”, So what is it?
Should we fail to qualify for the CL I wonder what excuse will fill this site? Its not that bad is it!
Let get it straight Wenger has given us alot but the fans have stood by and invested as much time and even money, and whats our return? Wenger get 6 mil a year and the board members 100s of mil, but we the fans get FUCK ALL.
Mikeyb
I noticed the trend here anyone question Wenger is automatically a HATER, not me I signed the petition number 127. As a fan I have concerns.
@mikeyb
You need to learn some respect. It was AW who put us in the position you’re so afraid of losing. And Anne put a huge amount of time and energy into researching and writing her article, to call her an idiot is incredibly rude and pretty much sums up the level of comment your little pea sized brain can manage. Next I suppose you’ll be pulling up your hoodie and smashing some windows at the Ems cos youre not getting your own way. Carry on bigman, you’re real clever and tough sat in your bedroom while your mummy cooks you your dinner.
Anyone who questions Wenger is a white van man (sun reader), lets get that straight. Fuck the media, too long they’ve spouted the same shit. Yesterday was a wake up call our squad is too weak and even the neutrals looking in shake there heads in disbelief. What has happened? Who did this? Where’s the players?
Stevie E
MikeyB has made some valid points, or have we the fans got this wrong? Everyone seems to have insight except us so tell me please.
Juan Mata to chelsea – not enough world class players on the market, Arsenal so cheap this deal could of been done weeks ago. Wengers plan is to sit this season out make the board some money just like the last 6. Gervinho 10 mil took 4 weeks to complete chelsea took 5 days to get Mata. Not like we was 40 mil or so but hey Wenger knows best.
Jayj
His posts at 8.54 & 8.56 are pure insults. If you and he want to be taken seriously, that sort of speak is just gonna piss people off and invalidate any valid comment you may have made earlier. People automatically think you’re just idiots spouting the usual aaa shit and will just ignore you (as you may have noticed happening to you)
StevieE
Explain how I’ve been abusive or made any insults? Please
Jayj
HIS posts…
StevieE
pasted:-
His posts at 8.54 & 8.56 are pure insults. If you and he want to be taken seriously, that sort of speak is just gonna piss people off and invalidate any valid comment you may have made earlier. People automatically think you’re just idiots spouting the usual aaa shit and will just ignore you (as you may have noticed happening to you)
So your saying I’m just an idiot?
I wasn’t but you’re starting to act like one.
jayj
I don’t claim to know the solutions to Arsenals problems and I’m not privy to the information such as the non buying of players like Vieira, IMO such talk is purely conjecture and does little in the way of moving the debate forwards in a healthy manner. As for Nasri, who knows if he’s leaving? And yet Man City, for all their billions have failed to negotiate the speed of his arrival to their managers liking. Poof if needed that it takes two teams to agree on the sale of one player, no matter how many millions you have to spend.
However, I do agree with you that we require personnel and with the transfer window not yet closed, I’m convinced the club will do business and add the necessary players. If they fail to do so, as you yourself predict, then that situation may well become indefensible but lets not jump the gun and throw around foolish accusations before the deadline day has come and gone.
BTW The club have invested in new players this season, in fact over £20m in talent has been added to the squad so far. Your failure to acknowledge these acquisitions does little in a way of justifying your argument.
If you can remember correctly, Wenger predicted most of the transfer activity will be done at the beginning and end of the current window. Conveniently you failed to quote him on that one jayj?
Finally. Many Arsenal fans, myself included, are feeling the frustration of things at the moment. Certain sections of the media are rejoicing at our current situation, us fans adding fuel to their fire will only intensify the problems. This is a very awkward and difficult period for the club, IMO we need to stay together as supporters and unite the club. My fear is the media have their knife well and truly aimed into the back of our club and manager and will not relent until they have his head. Division amongst our own supporters will only aide their cause and the media certainly know how to make the most of it.
Divide and conquer appears to be their motto.
mickeyb, your first comment was poor and ill-informed, after that you just became abusive.
‘Arshavin and Walcott were yet again totally ineffective yesterday.’
How many days since Walcott scored the winner against Udinese? I personally thought he was our poorest player yesterday but ‘yet again’ seems a somewhat ludicrous choice of words since he had scored 1 in 2 games going into the match.
Besides, the inside forward positions are the ones Arsene has focussed on strengthening so far this summer so questioning the managers claims that Theo and Andrei are ‘of the quality we currently need’ seems pretty redundant.
‘It is clear now that Theo just ain`t good enough’
13 goals and 8 assists in all competitions last year but some random guy on the internet categorically states he ‘ain’t good enough.’ I’m sure he’s receiving his P45 as I type…
‘without Cesc or Jack alongside him, Ramsey is lost and ineffective.’
Aaron made 49/55 successful passes while playing in a midfield zone that Dalglish packed intentionally – to stop he and Nasri from playing freely – and while being virtually man-marked by Henderson.
Also, are you seriously criticising him because he wasn’t as effective as when he played alongside Cesc? Is that a capital offence in your world or something?
‘Wenger will not match the “going price”’
‘he could have had Mata for £20/£22 million’
Either you have some super secret inside sources and I’m very jealous, or you’re treating every transfer rumour you read in the Daily Fail as though it’s gospel, in which case I pity you.
‘He has brought in Gervino and already tried to change him to a wide ineffective player rather than the natural second strikers role he played for his last club.’
Watched a lot of Lille last season did you?
I’ll answer that question for you, no you didn’t. Here:
http://www.holdingmidfield.com/?p=300
In case you’d like to educate yourself.
‘Young Jenkison has come from a first division club who rated him so highly last season, they sent him out on loan to a non league club?’
Was this a question or was it simply a snide insinuation that any young player sent out on loan must be shit?
‘And finally Oxo, £12-£15 million for a lad who has only played first division football?’
More super secret info? or more guesses/assumptions based on guesses/assumptions printed in the tabloids which combine the upfront fee with every performance related add-on in the contract? You even manage to structure it into an implied criticism of the quality of a player who has never even pulled on an Arsenal shirt… good job.
‘But tell me how can Wenger justify spending this obscene amount of money on Oxo and then refuse to meet the asking price of Samba, Jagilka, Cahill, Mata Etc’
You’re the one with all the inside sources mate, surely you would be better placed to ask him that question than any of us.
‘he will only be remembered as the egotistic & dillusional man who brought our team to its knees’
Three games in and we’re already on our knees?
Tell you what, if you go down that easily you might wanna keep your nose clean. I don’t think you’d do very well in prison.
The Press always have an agenda. Always. The first is the belt notching culture where they measure their performance against how many managers get sacked. I’m not sure experienced judges would use such criteria…….
Weblogs have agendas too. The different lines taken by Arsenal blogs over what is going on in the Board Room says so. One scenario says Wenger’s spending wishes are hampered by the Board. Another says the Board wants Wenger to spend but he won’t. They can’t both be right…….
This summer’s transfer theatre is determined by one thing only: the ECL qualifier. The summer would have been very different if Arsenal had finished 3rd. That’s history, but the reality of 4th place is waiting for players until Group Stage qualification is achieved.
I would lay heavy money that the EPL fixture list was devised to maximise the ‘should Wenger be fired?’ media bandwagon….after all, the media are the most influential stakeholders in football now, aren’t they?
I would also lay heavy money that the next 12 months will see a decisive outcome to the power struggle going on inside the club.
You’ll note I’ve expressed no opinions on any of those things.
Because one thing I am learning is that there is a field of distortionists out there who have sought to misinform me and I have reached the conclusion that the only conclusion to be drawn is that they are all scheming liars until proven otherwise.