By Walter Broeckx
Over the years being an Arsenal supporter makes you sometimes suffer. We all know and can remember some painful defeats over the years. They were painful to watch and then you know the maybe even more painful moment after the match.
When all the FM, Fifa20XX experts come out showing how they all know better than the rest and how they predicted it all long time ago and that we should spend the money. On my question who we should have brought in I didn’t get much response. One suggested Konstantinos Mitroglou who went to Fulham this transfer window and has set the PL on fire. You missed that headline? So did I. I think he hasn’t played for Fulham yet.
For the rest nobody moved. The only team that did make a move was Chelsea. They bought back a player they let go a while back for an amazing amount of money. And than selling one of their best players to a team that they wanted to take points from the teams that they are competing with for the title. No way Chelsea would have sold Mata to Arsenal. Not even if we would have given double the money MU paid.
Point is that unless you were willing to pay Özil money on an injured, PL untested young player there was not much going on in the transfer window. And none of the players that moved would have made any difference in us conceding two goals from set pieces in the first 10 minutes.
Pointing at players or the manager is useless at times like this. I find it strange but I do have to repeat it because otherwise you would have thought that we were just above the relegation zone in the PL by the reaction of some: but we do are second in the league table, sandwiched between two teams that have spend, spend, spend, spend, spend money the last years.
But the most important moment is how does a team react to such a bad performance? We have had a few of them. One at the hands of our next opponent. In the most terrible circumstances. Cesc and Nasri just forcing their way out leaving the team on their back. Arsenal playing CL qualifiers before this causing a few injuries. A wafer thin squad getting a big beating that was followed by us buying some of the players we still have on our books. Like Mertesacker and Arteta.
The way we reacted to that defeat was rather mixed. Our new players didn’t settle quick and it was a bumpy ride at first. But at the end of that season we finished in 3rd place. It was a roller coaster ride of a season. But finishing in front of Chelsea and our neighbours sure was a good thing.
Last season and now it gets more interesting we didn’t have such big losses. But we had some painful memories. Losing to Bayern Munich at home was given their achievements not that surprising maybe. But in the same period losing to Tottenham was seemingly ending our season and our hopes of getting in to CL places. Like the manager of them said: “Arsenal were definitely in a negative spiral now”.
That was the first time when all seemed lost. After that the team pulled themselves together and that was in fact our last defeat of the season. We went to Munich and pulled off the unseen: winning at their ground and not allowing them to score a goal. We even could have put them out of the CL if we would have scored our last minute chance in extra time. So the reaction of the team was immense.
But this time we had 3 really bad experiences. Our opening day defeat. At the hands of Taylor and Villa. But the team reacted in a perfect way. In the next 9 matches in the PL we didn’t lose a game. We had 8 wins and one draw in those games. We got 25 points out of a possible 27. So the team reacted in an amazing way.
Our next painful moment came at the Etihad. Losing 6-3 wasn’t nice. The team would crack was the prediction. And then the team again got back on their feet and started with a new run. A run that lasted 8 matches without defeat. 6 wins and two draws we got after losing to City. Getting us 20 points out of a possible 24.
So twice we had a big set back before with high losses or unexpected losses. And twice the team came back and performed in a great way.
So now we faced our third crisis this season. Crisis for the faint hearted of course. Why don’t we trust the players and the team that has on each occasion in the past showed that when they had a big set back they always responded in the right way?
The players have been there before. And each time they came out battling and performing better. Do you think they will not try to do this again? Of course they will try to overcome this. Just as they did before when it went wrong.
I know the performance was bad but I also know that we only have seen such a performance 2-3 times this season. And each team has their bad days. Even City had their bad days. Even Chelsea had their bad days. We are not different and no team can avoid bad days.
But then comes the most important part. Then it is important to react in the right way. Not by pointing fingers. But by showing our love and our support. Just as we did after the 8-2. Just as we did after the 1-3. Just as we did after the 6-3. Just as we do now after the 5-1.
These players can bounce back. They have proven it before. Let this be our wake up call for the rest of the season. And let us react in the right way by starting a new run of going undefeated. Till the end of the season? Who knows?
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I haven’t seen Wenger so critical of his players so openly. Hope this is omen for others and good signs for Arsenal. This team has responded well to setbacks this season.
Hi,
First time commenter here. Couldn’t agree more with being objective to this defeat, it was horrible but is gone now and like you say its how you bounce back that now counts and the team have shown the ability to do that when faced with these type of setbacks so far this season.
But at the same time I can understand elements of the negativity, unfortunately it just gets magnified and looks a bit knee jerk. However you can appreciate the sentiment, as I am guessing it is based on the manner of the defeat – occasional thrashings have been a bit too common in recent years, when compared to years gone by and no one can take any solace from defeats like that. I think the other dark cloud on the season is linked to the difficulty of the upcoming fixtures and the constant failure of this team in those big games, which mean that they can come with an air of negativity at the seemingly predictable nature of these games. I am guilty of it myself – I look at how Chelsea are currently playing, I look at that fixture in March and my gut feeling is that I can’t see us scoring in that game. But I always pray that I am wrong. I am obviously guilty of that but I only react to reality as opposed to negatively predicting what will happen as opposed to what actually ends up happening, but equally I can relate to that and even find myself looking over our shoulders at Liverpool and Spurs, which is a shuddering thought but possibly another example of where some of the negativity comes from and in some instances that is just people venting fear of what could happen in a disastrous scenario. But as you seem to comment fear and loathing of the as yet unknown is quite depressing, so I admire the positive air on your site.
But what we are looking for from the team is to show that ability to bounce back again on Wednesday and start to show desire and application in those “big games” and force results and prove everyone wrong.
COYG
Cheers
Seems to me like you’re making a lot of excuses for Arsenal and Wenger.
A quick look at your point about who moved. Mata – we don’t really need another creative attacking midfielder. That is most definitely not where we are lacking. With Cazorla, Ozil, Wilshere, Ox, and more, all able to take those positions. Not to mention Gnabry stepping up and Ramsey hopefully returning in the not too distant future. So that one is a moot point – we would not have been interested in Mata.
Chelsea being the main team that made a move. Well yes. They identified that they relied heavily on Ramires and that if something happened to him then Chelsea’s set-up would be hugely impacted. As a result they went out and spent money on a player that would be able to support the team and allow Chelsea to rotate to avoid injuries. Incidentally, while Matic has ‘returned’ to Chelsea, let’s not pretend he’s a blooded Premiership footballer. He played a grand total of two games for Chelsea in his last spell with them. But he’s come in, given at least one MOTM performance and has made a big impact on the team – to suggest players from foreign leagues can’t come in and do that is daft.
Obviously the jury is still out on Mitroglou, but I’m not sure why you’ve focused solely on these players? Premiership teams had their most expensive January ever and there are examples all over the league of teams identifying weaknesses and bolstering their squad. Cardiff, Palace and Hull are just three teams off the top of my head who made signings that have already made a big impact for them – some blooded Premiership players, others not (Ince and Zaha?!).
Did Arsene Wenger go out and say ‘we’re light up front and need someone to support Giroud and allow rotation’? If he did it’s not obvious from our transfer activity. There’s still no additions up front. He’s still barely starting Bendtner and Park has not featured all season despite being on the bench several times (thank god). To suggest that our only option is to spend “Ozil money on injured, untested players’ is ridiculous. On that basis we’d have no foreigners in the league at all. There are players that could have come in, we simply chose not to spend the money required to get them to move in January. We’ll see if that comes back to bite us in the coming weeks/months. And whether we’ll be able to get them for the money we’d like to pay for them in the summer (or whether the competition from other teams will mean they’re the same or more expensive then).
And why would those sorts of signings not prevent goals from set pieces? Different players do different things, particularly when they’re new to a team. Clearly the well drilled Arsenal defence needed something different on Saturday!
About the only intelligent position here is what the reaction will be over the next few weeks. Let’s hope it’s a positive one but for all your examples of positive ones I could point to some pathetic ones. Saturday highlighted the drawbacks of the paper thin squad you referenced above, not to mention further tactical issues around Wenger’s management.
I strongly believe a high quality signing in January would have lifted the team in the same way Ozil did in the summer and injected enthusiasm, quality and adrenalin into the squad but the club bottled it and loaned an ageing midfielder with a broken back and no Premiership experience because we ran out of time!
Yes the players are definitely good enough to beat Manu. I mean nearly everyone has this season. It’s whether we get our tactics right. Playing a high line against Pool was a bizarre idea when you’re up against Suarez and co. I really hope we go with Gibbs over Monreal because the latter is not playing well. If we can nullify Rooney and RVP we should win this but it seems inevitable that one of those two score when they play us. A win is essential, a draw is not good enough with Pool now breathing down our necks. It would be such a fillip for the team if they beat Manu by three or four goals.
I too would have liked the addition of a new striker in January, but it was not to be.
We do not know the reason but Arsene has always said that it needs the agreement of at least three sides in order to effect a transfer.
It may well be that total agreement to the signing we wanted was just not possible within the time available.
If the club really are to be castigated for lack of a striker, mention last summer rather than Jan, as pointed out, there was absolutely nothing in Jan worthy of handing a three year plus contract to. We may well have tried loan players as reports suggest, but seems that klose tello and morata not available
This team will bounce back
Just listen to the media, a week ago City were unstoppable. Now the media claims City can’t play as a team. The media point out that Arsenal will be de-railed by our fixtures and that Mourinho had everything sussed from the off.
Follow the dumb media you foolish simpletons!!!
Talking about failure to sign a striker in January, what exactly has that got to do with that 18 minutes horror show at Anfield? I know we all love talking about adding strikers but we did not lose 5-1 at Anfield because of Giroud. Our midfield broke down and the rampaging attack of Suarez/Sturridge/Sterling overrun our defence. That was what I saw.
I have minimal tactical football knowledge so I won’t pretend to know the details of what went wrong or how to prevent it in future but I am confident that those who are experts in this respect and whose job it is to analyse and proffer solutions are already busy doing just that.
The fact that anyone would be bringing up lack of striker signing as a reason for the Anfield debacle tells me that they are just using the opportunity of the result to beat up the club and particularly the manager over their personal pet peeves.
Let it be noted that Man City have now gone over 180 minutes without a goal. Maybe Pellegrini should be blamed for not bringing in a striker in January? That was a tongue in cheek comment in case anyone misses it. Not scoring over 180 minutes is a not goal scoring crisis. If Man City are not in goal scoring crisis after scoring ZERO goals in 180 minutes, Arsenal cannot be after scoring 3 in the same period.
I am not against signing strikers; I just consider it lazy scapegoating to blame lack of strikers for everything that goes wrong with the club.
This was not kind of defeat where you pick one spot in team and say “ok it was all there, if we bought xy this would not happen”.
Lets admit, “Bould improved defense” have most to be blamed for. I recon all screamed for attacker and that only attacker can keep us in fight for crown.
What we could see against Liverpool wouldn’t change even if we bought Mesi and Ronaldo. After 20 minutes were 4 down, and no one could fix it (maybe Dowd). At Saturday we missed 11 players, and you must admit, even in best scenario purchasing 11 starters is not possible. So lets leave it aside, and hope team will get stronger from this.
Many times Arsene said, “this team have character”, and I don’t have single reason not to believe to Wenger. Lets stick behind boys and give them support, its long long way to May.
I have never heard any other supporters ask for managers head after spending most of season on top, and worse top 3 (except some fellow Gooners).
dan,
I love your comment. Made me chuckle. Thanks!
Armin,
Two very similar comments in 1 minute. I wish Untold has “like” button 🙂
@bootame
I agree with you I miss it too 🙂
Per said “We wont let it happen again”. Whom will you believe if not BFG?
After reading all the comments the last two days something very strange caught my eye. How come when the Arsenal don’t win there is a lot more people coming over here and spewing their bullshit about Wenger, The players, The tactics and everything else under the sun. These assholes are no where to be found when things are going our way. The difference in the amount of comments is disturbingly disproportionate. The comments roughly should be the same amount if we win, lose, or draw. My theory is that there are a far fewer amount of these negative assholes than there really are. Maybe a lot of these idiots have multiple sobriquets and different e-mail accounts. An more naive person than myself could think that there are more AAA’s than true Arsenal supporters. If elections can be rigged and ballot boxes stuffed, Why not the comments section of these website. You Motherfucking Negative Assholes ain’t fooling this True-blue, Red blooded, American Gunner. UP THE ARSENAL.
Walter
While I agree with the premise of your article , I find many contradictions in it as well.
Let’s begin with Wenger’s transfer policy and for those who don’t know me , let me state that I support mr.Wenger and I want him to sign the contract extension for as much money as possible and if he ends up gettin payed more than any other manager in the world, I’ll be happy for him and never use it against him .
For all the Arsenal riches and scouting networks , there surely must’ve been better options for strenghtening than a player with a broken back who even when healthy, wouldn’t have kicked the ball in anger for over four months.
Asking fans ,who we should have gotten in January while making fun of them for putting forth names of potential acquisitions other times seems disingenuous .
Chelsea’s TW dealings were of the highest order. Identifying a weakness and going about fixing it , is something Arsenal should do more of if they are serious about competing and wining at the highest level.
Paying some 21Million for a player capable of neutralizing and outplaying Yaya Toure on his PL debut no less, isn’t “amazing money” these days regardless what Chelsea sold Matic for two years ago and it’s been done before.
Borusia Dortmund let go of Marco Reus on a free only to buy him back later for some 17.1Million Euro and I don’t think anyone can accuse Dortmund of being reckless with money or having a sugar daddy.
I can only ask , would Arsenal have done that? I doubt it.
Now on to the Liverpool debacle.
Some of the harshes criticism after the game came from Arsenal players themselves . Quotes like “fucking embarrassment ” and a “car crash” making the rounds . I don’t think Szczesny or Arteta can be classified as AAA.
The fact Arsenal were top of the league and not in the relegation battle is what makes this “performance” worse not better.
Also comparing this defeat to others doesn’t hold water either .
There were mitigating circumstances in other big defeats . I can’t think of any this time around .
On to the good news. Arsenal are only one point off the leaders and play Man U who are having their own crisis. They have Rooney and RVP back but struggling for form so this might be a good time to play them .
Let’s see what we are made of.
Tom,
yes Matic had a great debut. Let us see if he keeps on performing on this level. Even Chamakh was on fire in his first months at Arsenal. Till he got killed by RVP and some private live disturbances. Would you buy him back now?
I would like to point at the fact that Reus was let go as a youth player and that Matic was let go when being 21 years. I think Reus was 16-17 years old when being released by Dortmund. So not really the same I would say.
What was the same that it took them around 4 years to change their mind.
You could argue that we could have bought a replacement for Walcott. Problem is that I do not know any player like him in the world that could do the job like he did. Maybe that is because I don’t know enough footballers. 😉 Now if we can believe German media reports Arsenal tried to get Draxler. Draxler himself wanted to come. Schalke said no. But as said he also couldn’t have played yet for Arsenal. And spending 40M on an injured player is not the same as spending nothing on an injured player.
Surely there would have been others that we could have bought. But the most important player we miss apart from Walcott is Ramsey. He was going to come back against Southampton when he got a relapse. With only days to go this was a big blow I think.
Wenger is not a doctor so when the doctors tell him Ramsey is back for Southampton then I don’t see the need to buy a player to replace him at all.
I think if Flamini wouldn’t have gotten a red card in that match we might even got nobody in at all. A short term loan till the end of the season was the wisest thing to do to cover just in case.
I wonder what would have happened if Wenger would have said no to the deal because of Kallstrom being injured…. the internet would have exploded 😉
Before you read this comment, please know that I am 100% aware of what Mertesacker brings to the team and that he has been a major player in our recent upturn in defensive form.When Mertesacker plays, it means the team has to play to his strengths. The midfield has to track back because he can’t cope with players running at him or in behind him. As a result when we lose the ball we drop off and get back into a good shape. If we try to press high up the pitch and Mertesacker becomes isolated, he can’t cope with pace in the same way Vermaelen and Koscielny can. It’s not his game. We drop back and make sure there isn’t as much space in behind. This way Mertesacker’s organisational skills and reading of the game come to the fore. He excels when we play this way.But if we played Vermaelen instead, he is far more mobile, and can cover ground rather than being rigid in his positioning. This makes the players’ positions more interchangeable, allowing us to play a pressing game. I think playing high pressure football is what we should do against the bigger teams, because it allows us to get on the front foot. It’s all very well getting everyone back and defending as a team, but this approach gives our opponents time on the ball. We know teams like Crystal Palace won’t be able to make the most of this time, but if we’re playing Bayern Munich they have so much potency that they will almost certainly find a way through.What I’m suggesting is that we should continue with Mertescielny in the majority of games against teams that don’t have such creativity and pace. But in the bigger games – which we really, really need to improve in – we change our style to a high energy, high pressing game, bring in Vermaelen for Mertesacker, and impose ourselves on the game for the 90 minutes, rather than dropping off. We simply don’t win these big games, and I’m desperate to see us change that.I’d also suggest we find places for Rosicky, Ramsey and Flamini in these games. If those three had played against Liverpool we’d have worked an awful lot harder, which is what we need to do. Ozil, Cazorla, Arteta and Wilshere are all talented players and they all work for the team. But they just don’t have the grit of Rosicky and Flamini, or the engine of Ramsey.Finally I’m not just saying “hur dur Mertesacker’s shit cos we lost to Liverpool”. I’ve been wanting to post this for ages. We NEED to do something to win these big games or it will come back to bite us in the arse. And frankly I’d rather the Arse were the ones doing the biting.
Walter
I’m happy for Chamakh as equally as I’m happy for Gervinho or any other ex gooner doing well but I wouldn’t want either one of them back .
Arsenal have certain standards they should keep at all cost and Chamakh or Gervinho fail to meet them I’m afraid.
I’m talking about their hair of course 🙂
Same over here Tom.
I also want them to do well. Well not all of them… (evil face for the $$$$$-traitors)
Rob
I’m afraid it’s not as simple as deciding to play high pressing game from one opponent to the next.
High pressing high tempo game is a philosophy that needs to be put into habit during relentless and endless practice sessions. It takes some teams months and years to implement it and requires the whole team to move up and down the pitch in unison and tight formations .
The system requires athleticism and stamina from all players involved and ability to play different positions on the field.
It’s easier for a high pressing team to chose to set up deep when needed rather than for a team that play positional passing game like Arsenal to start pressing high up the pitch.
Walter
I purposely didn’t include Van Pur$ie in my comment as I don’t consider him an ex gooner but rather an ex player who’s legacy will be as a footnote at both clubs instead of an Arsenal legend.
I believe the players are men enough to own up at their failings and short comings and will ‘girdle their loins’ and buck up and do the needful on Wednesday .
Very bad mistakes were made ;accept that shit happens , learn from them and try to move on.
Up the Gunners !
You have to get hurt, that’s how you learn. The strongest people out there; the ones who laugh the hardest with a genuine smile, those are the ones who have fought the hardest battles.
Because they’ve decided that they’re not going to let anything hold them down, their showing the world who’s boss.
From Life goes on .
Always listen to your heart because even though it’s on your left side, it’s always right
There’s a time in life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus solely on the good. After all life is too short to be anything but happy.
So , thank you , AKBs and fuck you AAAAs!That felt good!
Goodnight , guys !
@Rob
Sorry mate you lost me. As far as I could see we had a collective off day as simple as that. Last calendar year we got more points than any other team so there can not be too much wrong. Its easy to come out with all this analytical bollocks when we lose, where were you before the match, didn’t see you making any predictions of impending doom then. I prefer to leave the tactical side of things to the people with their coaching badges employed by the club and whom have got us to our current excellent position, I am sure they are more than aware of the things you are talking about.
Mertesacker ‘can’t cope with players running at him or in behind him.’ Makes him sound pretty well useless in any situation if he can’t handle opponents in front or behind him. The Germany manager wouldn’t agree, he’s awarded him 95 caps some of which would have been against the best teams and players in the world.
‘I’d also suggest we find places for Rosicky, Ramsey and Flamini in these games.’ Ramsey and Flamini were both unavailable through injury and suspension.
And how can you possibly include Wilshere in the your ‘no grit’ list? He was one player against the scousers who gave everything and he has ‘grit’ in abundance, some would say too much at times.
let me tell you.this is going to be our happiest season ever.its always sweet to win something when every tom and dick has writyen you off.
Arsenal for life
Mick,
Preach on bro. I have given up on those giving unsolicited ‘analytical’ bullshit. All of a sudden every person with access to the Internet knows more about Arsenal than Arsene Wenger.
It was a shitty day for the team and a wonderful one for Liverpool. It happens. Those who have brought us to where we are today will analyse the problems and come up with solutions. Those analysing on the Internet are just pissing in the wind. Even if their analysis and finger-pointing is correct, what good does it do for Untold readers other than to depress the level of support which the team needs now more than ever.
I don’t think the problem lies with getting this or that player at all.
We, to me, have lost a little something somewhere along the line. Our team is good, when we are on fire like Pool were, but when not, this is where tactics are really needed, tactical decisions that upset the opponent’s drive, however briefly are much needed.
//
Many of us like to review the game and see where we went wrong, and then (at least i do) compare it with Arsenal Player’s analysis, which is quite good and unbiased(future Arsenal Media TV?). For the younger ones who do this, it may be a path to their chosen career, so i just cannot internalise why some can’t take the analysis. There is no point hiding from it, and it should not make one more depressed, in fact it should give more ability to see where the team can change and improve more.
I suppose though, that’s the beauty of life, multiplicity of opinions.
//
So PLEASE let us just dump(peacefully) on the doom and gloomers, and not on the “analysts”.
Arsenal for ever.
Para,
I want to agree with you but the analyses always end with finger-pointing. I don’t know what good that does to anybody especially as those who could use it are highly unlikely to come here for such information.
The team had a poor game is enough analysis from a fan’s point of view in my opinion. The game has come and gone. Onward to Wednesday. Enough of the unsolicited analyses.
I don’t know if there is nay regular reader of Mark Holmes’ Monday Moan on TeamTalk.com. I happen to be big fan even though I don’t always agree with him. I respect his intellectual honesty.
His post on the Anfield game is so great that I have to link to it for all to see. BTW, he supports Stoke City.
Here it is is the link: http://www.teamtalk.com/news/24685/9160165/Monday-Moan-Moyes-and-Mel-wrong-men
For those who might not want to leave Untold, here it is:
Arsenal critics need to stay silent
It is another repeat of something I have written before, but the ‘I told you so’ comments that followed Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool were quite infuriating.
Yes, they were awful on the day and yes, their refusal/failure to sufficiently add to their squad in January could cost them a shot at the title, but they have still proven every single one of their doubters wrong this season.
Regardless of what happens in the final 13 games, to have stayed in the top two for as long as they have is a great achievement, a huge improvement on what has happened before, and an extremely positive sign for the future.
Furthermore, although they have a remarkably tough set of fixtures over the next few weeks, there is nothing whatsoever to suggest the wheels will suddenly fall off for them because of one defeat. After all, the last time their critics said ‘I told you so’, after the 6-3 defeat at Manchester City, the Gunners went on to go 10 games unbeaten.
Talking of City, why are their slip-ups not met with as such glee? Because they were most people’s tips to win the league, perhaps? While a first defeat in 11 for Arsenal is the sign a crisis, one point from two games for City is simply a blip.
The likelihood is that Manuel Pellegrini’s side will finish above Arsenal this season but, please, spare us the ‘told you so’s’.
@Para
I don’t mind listening to the 10% or so experts who gives me an interesting breakdown on what has happened or is likely to happen in a game. Much as it goes against the grain I enjoy listening to Gary Neville because he explains things that the layman such as myself wouldn’t know. What I do not like is the 90% of the rest, and in this I include the majority of the ‘professional’ pundits and media (Michael Owen, Robson, Piers Morgan etc), as well as the keyboard experts such as the likes of Rob (February 10, 2014 at 1:57 pm). Rob, if you have your top level coaching badges I apologise and will treat your comments with a little (but only a little!) more respect. I am an old bugger (70) and in the good old days it was just accepted that teams occasionally had off days, lapses in form, now we get this constant ‘picking over the bones’ and apportioning blame and I’m sorry but it does my head in.
@Bootoomee
Thanks for that link, he sums it up nicely, makes a change coming from an ‘outsider’. I am afraid his comments will fall mainly on stony ground though.
Sorry Walter off topic been listening to the radio in the car and heard Yaya Toure is NOT going to be charged with violent conduct after being seen kicking a Norwich player in the back while he was on the floor . A three man independent panel could not agree it was voilent conduct so you get a two match ban for a one finger salute deliberately kick an opponent no problem fairness is all Arsenal supporters want could you imagine if it was an Arsenal player
Powers to be seem to want Man City to be EPL Champs
@STEVE VALLINS
Toure got away with an over the top challenge on Giroud when we played them last year. What a lucky boy!
@ Mick
These disciplenary decisions will have massive effect on how the final table will end up could MC cope without Toure
No NO NO! Man City fans said it themselves that they get nothing from the refs, the PGMOL and the FA.
Apart from some offside decisions every now and then but hen still only with a margin of 2 meters so no big deal…
If anyone could get me a link to the action of Toure as I haven’t recorded MOTD as I preferred to record something for my wife…
In regards with the referee reviews:
Over the last two seasons I can remember having written or seen written by one of the reviewers that Yaya Toure should have been sent off on a few occasions. As if the refs are afraid of him…. strange now this again.
I still remember after reading it a few times that I wrote down: Is Touré untouchable for the refs?
and after the Arsenal match and a not given red card now this… it sure seems that he really is untouchable
@bootoome
Behave. U are such a twit, Who are you to dictate what I should say and spare you the “told you so’s”.
You reap what you sow and you have sowed a hell of a lot of aggressive, arrogant, self-pitying rhetoric.
You hate to be challenged and go silent when someone challenges you to answer questions.
Are you sure you really support Arsenal? YOU ARE A WIND UP MERCHANT. and a TROLL>
@Mick
I don’t listen to them(media pundits) anymore, that is why i do listen to Arsenal player assessment, which i think is quite Ok. I like to test my knowledge of football and am mostly pleasantly surprised to pick out most key points. It’s all part of being a supporter or fan to me. I do this also when we have won, as how the players develop and play is very important for me.
I am also an old bugger, 10 years behind you.
AND OZIL has gone missing. Again.
He is as much Arsenal as Frank Stapelton is now, i.e. it was a good honeymoon now he wants to putt from the rough away from the EM’s.
WASTE OF TALENT
WASTE OF MONEY
WASTE OF SPIRIT
SAD.
Pierce Holt,
Are you okay? What’s biting you?
You need to seek psychiatric help as you post like a lunatic.
Pierce really needs a scape goat.
Giroud, Wenger, Özil, the taxman, the PM, the Queen, the president of the USA, just anyone is good enough as long as he can be linked with Arsenal and a bad result.
Typical banal retorts from Bootoomee & Wally.
TONY would never degrade a comment.
Dare I suggest that the truth hurts so much that you are no countering the truth with offensive pranks.
I am so looking fwd to your views on Wednesday if it ends in tears for us; I am sure you will waffle with your black coffee and croissants and montelimar nougat.
Wax lyrical all you like. I love my club. But I do not blanket accept BS.
DO THE RIGHT THING FIRST THEN WORRY ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES.
OZIL PINES FOR THE MED……not London Colney. He is NOT in love with AFC. and teh way he plays show’s that. Take your rose tinted googles off.
Pierce Holt,
“I am so looking fwd to your views on Wednesday if it ends in tears for us”
I was right, you are mentally ill.
Bootoomee,
7amkickoff pointed judiciously that Ozil and Arteta did not get enough help time and time again. We were disjointed, but the Boss and Bouldie should have a good plan for manure; knowing Moyes will mix it up a bit, but still rely on countless crosses, my expectation is that our coaching staff will have some proactive adjustments to deal with that, and possibly a surprise or two.
COYG
Did someone say he’s a has been ?
The Brothel Trip
An elderly man goes into a brothel and tells the madam he would like a young girl for the night. Surprised, she looks at the ancient man and asks how old he is.
‘I’m 90 years old,’ he says.
’90?’ replies the woman. ‘Don’t you realize you’ve had it?’
‘Oh, sorry,’ says the old man. ‘How much do I owe you?’
Always feeling down , testy , bitchy , running down others and generally miserable ?
Then you’re in luck ,read –
The Science Behind a Happy Relationship.
http://www.ba-bamail.com/Content.aspx?emailid=8300&memberid=763708#.Uvm2Fvu6ETE
http://arseblog.com/
For those who do like analysis of the Liverpool game I enjoyed the Tactics Column on Arseblog.
I wanted to believe that this season would be different, and as a supporter, dared to hope. Arsenal still have a chance of the title and I would not write them off just yet. However, they need to take seven points from the games against Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, at the same time as continuing with the consistency they have shown against sides they are expected to beat. Trips to White Hart Lane and Goodison Park might need to produce away wins as well. Arsenal certainly can’t afford to drop many points, because I don’t think Chelsea will. City’s draw at Norwich gives some hope, and Liverpool cannot be completely discounted given they are still to entertain both City and Chelsea at home.I fully understand people wanting to write this season’s team off after such a heavy and humiliating defeat and the truth is I suspect it won’t be long before I join them. However, they have time to recover, so final judgment is delayed here, at least until Wednesday’s game is done and dusted. Now that is a genuine must win affair…
@Rob
‘Arsenal certainly can’t afford to drop many points, because I don’t think Chelsea will.’
W Brom 1/Chelsea 1… well what do you know. Any more gems of wisdom!
Mick,
Invincibility of our title rivals is assumed despite lack of evidence to support the notion while Arsenal’s credentials get repeatedly questioned despite all the evidences backing them.