Fa cup Arsenal – Hull: a nice performance

By Walter Broeckx

For the replay of the FA cup final of 2014 we saw the next team from Arsenal at the start Ospina, Bellerin, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Rosicky, Cazorla, Walcott, Campbell, Alexis. As substitutes we had Martinez, Debuchy, Koscielny, Zelalem, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Maitland-Niles, Akpom.

So a lot of changes compared to the Southampton match. Chambers to come in at centre back and Monreal replacing Gibbs at left back. Bellerin replaces Debuchy on the right back position. Koscielny, and Debuchy  sitting on the bench.

Up front we see the first start for Walcott in just one year and Campbell comes on for Oxlade-Chamberlain who sits on the bench.

The first big chance was for Arsenal. Campbell coming in from the left a one-two with Alexis which put him through on goal but his shot was saved by Harper the Hull keeper.  That would have been the ideal start but alas.  Coquelin then with a bad tackle on Quinn. Ref not giving a card was unbelievable.

The next goal chance was when Walcott gave the ball to Alexis whose shot was firstly blocked and then he lobbed the rebound over. After a good action on the right flank from Bellerin had to concede a corner from his sharp cross. Alexis to take it and Per Mertesacker headed the ball in the net from within 5 meters. Who said we can’t score from a corner? 1-0 to the Arsenal after 20 minutes.

Rosicky then with a great run releasing Alexis who went past the keeper but his shot was saved on the line. And from the from the resulting corner Arsenal nearly score again but the ball bounces against the keeper his leg and goes out. And a few minutes later a nice one-two between Walcott and Cazorla but Theo shooting straight at the keeper.

Ospina with his first stop on the line just before the half hour mark. But he had claimed a few crosses till then and did that very assured.  Arsenal controlling the ball and the match and Hull not really coming out at Arsenal.  In the first minute of stoppage time a deserved yellow card for McShane from Hull as he came in dangerous on Monreal. The free kick resulted in nothing so at half time it was 1-0 for Arsenal but it should have been more.

Alexis with a first shot after the interval but there was not enough speed on the ball so the keeper could smother it.  The ref now calling a foul each time an Arsenal player comes near a Hull player in the first 15 minutes of the second half.  Arsenal leaning back most of the time and let Hull have the ball. Leaving us with a rather uneventful first 15 minutes in the second half.

Suddenly a chance for Campbell to have a shot from just on the edge of the penalty area but the shot goes wide. And a few minutes later Arsenal again with a double chance. First Hull can clear the ball but Arsenal recover and then Cazorla puts Theo clean through but he puts the ball wide.   But Theo slowly started to get involved in the game by now after being rather silent.

Arsenal have more of the ball now and Cazorla again with a superb pass to Theo but again his control lets him down. He is still very rusty and is chasing the cobwebs as he said himself. Another chance for Arsenal but the keeper denies Alexis and can clear in corner.  Theo Walcott goes off and Chamberlain comes on with some 15 minutes to go.

Almost immediately a goal for Chamberlain but the cross from Alexis was just too much behind his body to convert it .   But it was just a matter of time before Arsenal would score their second goal. Cazorla to Alexis with his back to the goal right at the penalty area, a nice turn and a low shot in the bottom corner and it was 2-0 to the Arsenal after 82 minutes.

Alexis was then replaced and Chuba Akpom came on.  Chamberlain then on an exciting run but brought down and the yellow card came out for Hull defender Davies.  Arsenal very well in control but Chamberlain having a shot from distance was maybe not the best option. Seeing him hobbling a bit after that was also not what I like to see.  And Chamberlain clearly was very annoyed by what he felt. Coquelin finally got a card for a completely rubbish tackle. He should cut out on these.

And in the 88th minute Ospina even had to make stop. His first in the second half?  Chamberlain then had to come off with what looked like a knee injury. And seconds later Hull had a shot that went over.

In the last minute Campbell came off and Maitland Niles came on.  Campbell had worked his socks off and I liked his hard defensive work. Now if only his finishing would improve a bit that would really be nice.

Arsenal completely dominated the match. Rosicky and Cazorla pulling the strings in midfield. Alexis making the difference finally. Campbell with a hard working performance.  And once Theo will get back to match fitness he will score the goals. It will come.  And Per Mertesacker scoring from a header. Well that was a nice performance overall.

 

 

68 Replies to “Fa cup Arsenal – Hull: a nice performance”

  1. Thanks Walter,fair points on the Coq tackles, he was lucky with the first one especially.
    Even Poldi wishing us the best today on twitter!
    COYG!

  2. Per Mertesacker playing and scoring in his 150th match for Arsenal. Nice! BFG!!!

  3. I was nominally making game notes on the Transfers and Hull thread. The only point which people have talked about in the past, was an incident at 50 minutes, when according to one description, a Hull player was kicked directly in the Achilles tendon with the toe of the shoe.

    http://untold-arsenal.com/archives/40077#comment-827131

    If a manager was to accept physio input about removing a player from play (not involving a head injury), this would be one for me. I would suspect this player will be sensitive to an Achilles injury over the next couple of weeks. It would have been best to get him off the field and into rehab or something.

  4. Thanks for the report Walter. Coq definetly needs to cut back on wild tackles because as we know refs will use that against us for sure. However, he has proven to add much needed tenacity and fiercness, which I dearly love. He was good vs. Shampton (where most of the team were not so physically dedicated I’m afraid) and today he won all of his tackles, and did not make a wrong pass if I’m correct.

    He just might have earned himself an upgrade in the pecking order – methings I prefer him to Flam at this moment… Anyway, having a choice is always much better !

    COYG.

  5. An enjoyable match and a good write up Walter.

    I was a bit concerned by the injury to the Ox, and seeing the cynical tackle on him by Davis it is little wonder we have so many long term injuries.

    On the positive, it was good to see Theo on the pitch and while not yet close to his best it is another step to his full return.

    It was also good to see young Bellerin playing well and Niles and Chuba get some minutes.
    Campbell showed some nice touches and movement, but the more senior Rosicky and Cazorla really ran the midfield, with Coquelin showing a lot of promise in the DM role, despite some wild tackles. As for Sanchez – brilliant!!

  6. We were good today but not great. Thought we were slow again in the build up, passing to slowly thus allowing Hull to press us high up and a couple of times, we even passed to the keeper from the half way line. We got away with it today but against a top class team, we will get punished for our slow build up play.

    On the plus side, we we did speed the ball up, I thought we were first class and teams far better than Hull would struggle against us and I am relishing the day we have: Alexis, Ozil, Giroud, Theo, Welbeck and The Ox all fit. That will be a terrifying attack, add to that Santi and Rosicky and woah mama.

    Still think we need a Gilberto type but Coq did a good job, stupid two footer not withstanding.

  7. Have been quite impressed with coq, yes he has to watch the tackles, and make his passing more consistent, but enjoy his tenacity, and you see he thinks about the game. Maybe he has been reading the media and aaa sites about the beast of a MF? Think he would benefit alongside Arteta for a few games, but looks like one worth sticking with. Is Carvalho really that much better than him…..I have hardly seen him?

  8. Nice to see Theo, Ospina and Cambell get a run. Once again peace, quiet and sanity prevail on UA

  9. Not a bad performance – pretty solid at the back. It was not outstanding but enough to get us through. Had to laugh at the commentators constant reminders that Hull were not at full strength and suffering from a injury crisis… dear oh dear you would have thought we had our first 11 out.

    Walcott looked quite dangerous at times – getting in 3 times with runs that should really have resulted in goals. He will get his finishing back in time, but has to be pleased that the pace to get into the positions is still there.

    The Chamberlain injury looked a bit ominous – hopefully not a long lay off, but it would not surprise me in the least with our injury record.

  10. Walter, as I know English is not your first language, may I commend you on your headline. ‘Nice’ is a word that all English schoolchildren are told to generally avoid, as it is viewed as being rather meaningless. However, it’s original meaning was to describe precision or something done with rare élan, as in ‘nicely done’. So kudos Walter for the headline!

  11. Well done Arsenal! Good performance, Hull never got a sniff. Coq was magnificent, not just with his tackling but ball distribution too. Sanchez, what can I say. Whenever he’s on the pitch it’s like we’re playing with 12 men, he puts in a shift worthy of two players! Good performances all round, thought Campbell was full of running and worked hard defensively too. Nice of Poldi to wish the team well, that guy is a class act. COYG!!!

  12. The injury from Chamberlain was clearly from the foul on him. And then if he really would be seriously injured people will blame Wenger….

  13. The Guardian has a nickname for Alexis: Bionic Mosquito.

    A twit from Ozil (Arsenal.com):
    > The title holder has done its duty: next round!

  14. It’s amazing how people will blame Wenger for injuries when they see our players getting nobbled every day on the pitch. Of our long term absentees this season, I think only Koscielny’s injury was not a direct result of a terrible tackle, the rest were. If The Ox is out let’s hope everyone will remember that he took a whack to the knee in this match. And not question our training methods, diet, or whatever else.

  15. I continue to be amazed over the speed and running of Rosicky.
    At an alleged 34 (which I refuse to believe) his obvious enthusiasm is a joy to watch.
    Extend his contract, Arsene. 😉

  16. Wait,

    “Thought we were slow again in the build up, passing to slowly…”

    But,

    “On the plus side, we we did speed the ball up,…..”

    Just when I thought I’ve seen it all!

  17. Nicky, I am referring to my ‘amazing’, in my 8:16 post, not yours. Lest it led to a bit of confusion 🙂

  18. Wengerson, it was a typo, we were slow but when we did speed it up, we were good.

    Now, if all you want to do, is try and bully and throw AAA type insults. I will respectfully ask you not to reply to any of my posts and I will gladly ignore you.

  19. Come on guys, no aaaaa in sight so far lets keep it happy. No need to pick on each other.

  20. walter while it was a foul on The Ox, I don’t think it was a nasty one meant to cause injury.

  21. I don’t think many players are out to injure another player. (Apart from a few idiots) But most injuries are a result from kicks….

  22. I don’t follow the other blogs, I may occassionally search them for data. But, I believe Caught Offside had a couple of headlines which irked me today. I think Tony has mentioned them for WAG stuff.

    As far as I know, Podolski was loaned. They are saying he was sold. The Arsenal.com pages, haven’t been updated.

    Second, they were insisting before this game started today, that not winning the FA Cup this year would be a failure. With winning this game today, to win the FA Cup means to defeat another 5 teams. Which with bad luck, could mean another 9 games (7 games? are there replays at the semi-final?).

    I’m still looking for news on Oxlade-Chamberlain.

  23. Happy New Year to all UA faithfuls. Thanks Walter for this report. I agree with your assessment of Coq’s performance.
    Theo’s taking right steps in right direction. Though the commentator on SuperSport was more interested in how ‘it’ didn’t happen for Theo in 2014 because he drew blank. The clown forgot to tell us he injured throughout the year. So much for fair reportage.

  24. From Arsenal.com:

    > on Alexis almost being superhuman…
    >> … when the players are confident it’s important to keep them going, especially when they have that physical potential. He recovers very quickly and we’ll see. At the moment he doesn’t look in our tests like he has any fatigue problem.

    Flamini was out for today.

    > on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain…
    >> It’s just a knock, he should be alright.

  25. I just hope we can keep Alexis, today I saw him urging the team to press high up and get frustrated when we didn’t.

  26. Happy New Year to all UA faithfuls. Thanks Walter for this report. I agree with your assessment of Coq’s performance.
    Theo’s taking right steps in right direction. Though the commentator on SuperSport was more interested in how ‘it’ didn’t happen for Theo in 2014 because he drew blank. The clown forgot to tell us he injured throughout the year. So much for fair reportage.
    I hope the Ox is ok.

  27. Al

    There are different levels of football bias when rooting for one’s club.

    Put me in a room with Mike T , a well known supporter of Chelsea, and no doubt he would point out my pro Arsenal bias.

    You, however , are on a different level all together.
    Calling Coquelin’s tackling in this game as ” magnificent ” , takes a really special person.
    He could’ve easill been given two red cards for his tackles today by a different ref.

    Also , would you care to give us the fouls and offenders that caused the latest injuries for Ramsey, Rosicky, Ospina,Gnabry,Arteta, Sanogo and Flamini.
    I’m sure you have that information handy since making the statement ;

    “All the other injuries ( except Koscielny)were results of bad tackles”

  28. Piss off Mr half-a-brain, I only engage individuals with fully functioning faculties of the mind.

    I’ve nothing against people of different intellects, but I am also aware that I have a right to choose who I give/don’t give an audience. And, in this instance, I choose to exercise that right/choice.

  29. Al
    Choosing whom you engage is absolutely your right and no one should ever get upset when turned down for a debate, but pulling statistics out of your ass and calling them facts is not, Genius 🙂

  30. When I clearly said “of our long term absentees…” I expected anyone with half a brain to realise that I wasn’t referring to all injuries suffered by our players. But then again….

  31. Al
    I’m so sorry then ,but my less than half of brain must’ve missed what a long term injury was according to you.

    I thought Ospina and Gnabry would’ve qualified for sure, but I guess not.

  32. Al
    You mugged yourself off trying to be clever and put Will down. Feel the shame sir, it’s yours.

  33. Some of coquelins tackling needs reining in, and yes he needs to be careful especially with the refs we sometimes get and perhaps a bit of guidance from a senior pro ie Arteta, but thought he did put in a good performance in breaking up their play, and good energy levels. Distribution at times looked good but inconsistent. But think enthusiasm played a part here, he could be a good player.
    As for the causes of injuries, not sure what happened to Gnabry, almost a news blackout? I am sure they have good reasons, but this is a strange one. Knee injury I think? Judging by the time out, a cruciate, but why haven’t they said so or have I just missed something?
    Just hope Ox ok, wenger seems,to think he will be

  34. Mandy
    I too was impressed with Coquelin’s play today. I think Arsenal might have something there.

  35. Hope so Tom. Would be good to get a player who has come through the ranks, have read things to the effect that he is highly thought of and has a great attitude, and in addition, he plays where we need help.

  36. The Ox’s injury was just a clash of knees . They hurt like hell but usually unless there is a twist a bit of ice and a hot bath sorts them out .I don’t think it was malicious.

  37. Thank you Porter, it leaves a nice let-in for me.

    Just a clash of knees. It depends entirely on specifically how they collided, if there is a problem. But it is certainly possible that there isn’t a problem. And as I haven’t seen the collision, I will ignore the potential of being malicious.

    Tom. You and I have agreed to disagree on some soft tissue injuries. At about 50 minutes, one description of the event has Sanchez accidentally kicking Quinn in the Achilles tendon. I remarked above, that Bruce should have pulled Quinn off the field, as if the description of the event I seen (the toe of Alexis’ boot impacted the Achilles tendon of Quinn), there could easily be a LOT of compressed tendon at some point. It is possible that there is little compression, but there was stretching and breaking of blood vessels. It depends on the angle of contact.

    Would you agree that a physio on the bench observing that “collision” (I am speaking as a physicist in that choice of words), might have grave concerns about the Achilles being damaged in compression (between the shoe and bone), probably should ask the manager to substitute the athlete so that if nothing else, the impact can be accessed properly? Because if the tendon was damaged in compression, it leaves the athlete (Quinn) open to a torn Achilles tendon over the next 2-6 weeks. If that were to happen, the cause of the injury is (likely) that particular kick, and not whatever happened in practice or a game that caused the tendon to stretch or tear.

  38. Gord

    ‘Would you agree that a physio on the bench observing that “collision” (I am speaking as a physicist in that choice of words), might have grave concerns about the Achilles being damaged in compression (between the shoe and bone), probably should ask the manager to substitute the athlete so that if nothing else, the impact can be accessed properly? Because if the tendon was damaged in compression, it leaves the athlete (Quinn) open to a torn Achilles tendon over the next 2-6 weeks. If that were to happen, the cause of the injury is (likely) that particular kick, and not whatever happened in practice or a game that caused the tendon to stretch or tear.’

    Physios , as well as managers do get anxious every time a player goes down in pain from a challenge, but in that particular incident, Stephen Quinn got up rather quickly and even ran after Alexis to pat him on the back as if to say ;” I’m OK , how about you?” Which I thought was a rare example of an opposing player not milking a situation when fouled by an Arsenal player. Fair play to Quinn on that play and especially on one involving Coquelin’s challange, which I though was a very bad one.

    But back to your question, if Quinn were to develope a tendinitis or worse,
    a tear of said Achilles in the next week or so( that’s about how long any soreness from the kick should subside), then yes , I would agree you might consider that particular kick as a primary reason for his injury.

    Having said that, I don’t remember ever a player getting a tendinitis or an Achilies tear from a kick. It doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen but rather that it rarely does ,if ever.

    As for substituting a player to assess his fitness when the player says he’s fine, that rarely ever happens. We had Koscielny on the floor for ten minutes with a concussion and he stayed on. We had Ozil twice with a knee knock staying longer than he should’ve , making it worse because he wanted to continue.

    The statistics are clear on Achilies injuries. A profesional footballer has about 24% chance of injuring his Achilies during his profesional career. This number increases to low thirties for basketball and handball players, higher still for tennis players, and goes up to 50% for runners and even higher for sprinters in particular.
    Al this suggests that it’s the sprints and sudden changes of direction which are the main culprit in Achilies tear and tendinitis.

  39. Fine, Quinn got up after the collision, and felt nothing was wrong. I will agree that how you describe things, shows neither player had ill feelings for the other. I didn’t see it, I don’t know what the collision was like. I just know that one description, made me think that Quinn could have damaged his achilles. Maybe you only seen it once, and don’t remember. That is fine.

    I don’t think teams or players have ever tracked this kind of thing. It wouldn’t surprise me if they hadn’t, or if they do, that they (teams) wouldn’t admit it. I don’t think it was you, but someone said that teams tended to assign injuries in practice, to the last game played.

    I can see tendonitis coming from a collision where the tendon gets compressed between a shoe and bone, and when the shoe is “just” trying to stretch the tendon. I think the compression version has a much larger probability of resulting in an achilles strain (2nd or 3rd) than the stretch situation.

    At the present time, the only players would get substituted from reasons similar to this, are people suspected of brain injuries. People on Untold had been asking about other injuries.

    Thanks for replying.

  40. Like most true fans , I too am happy with this superb win. No evidence of being soft , slow or sloppy .
    We speeded up when we needed to ,and slowed the game down to frustrate them. For the most part we were first to the first ball ,and first to the second balls , too .
    A goal from Theo would really have been a bonus ,but his pace and positioning was good enoughfor his first start.
    Le Coq was very efficient ,other than for those reckless tackles and the keeper was very good and assured at the crosses .
    WOO HOO , HOO !

  41. Well written Walter.

    “If we’re going to be honest Arsenal deserved to win…”The disappointing thing for me is that the first goal is the first we’ve conceded from a corner this season. Mertesacker is huge…I know most teams get injuries but we can’t carry six or seven missing – that’s what we were doing today. We were down to the bare bones but there are no excuses, the better team won.” Steve Bruce 🙂

  42. Quinn was just a fraction quicker to the ball than Alexis and thus Alexis ended up on his foot. I thought the contact was more on the upper side of the foot if I remember it correct, not really the achilles. But that could have been wrong as I was multitasking at the moment it happened writing down the article above using the little stoppage.

    I did however noticed Quinn tapping Alexis on the back. I think Quinn knew that it was no mal intentions from Alexis just the defender being first to the ball.

  43. One sligth remark however. And I think I remember saying this last year also. Why on earth do the director show so many images of managers standing in their area watching THE BALL IN PLAY???? I love Wenger but I really don’t put on my TV to see Wenger standing on the touchline. I put on my TV to watch the ball moving on the field.

  44. A beautiful speech by Sundar Pichai – an IIT-MIT Alumnus and Global Head Google Chrome:

    The cockroach theory for self development?

    At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.
    She started screaming out of fear.

    With a panic stricken face and trembling voice,she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

    Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.

    The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but …it landed on another lady in the group.

    Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

    The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.

    In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

    The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.

    When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

    Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach
    responsible for their histrionic behavior?

    If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

    He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

    It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

    I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

    It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

    More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

    Lessons learnt from the story:

    I understood, I should not react in life.

    I should always respond.

    The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

    Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of.
    A beautiful way to understand…………LIFE.

    A person who is happy is not because everything is right in his life .
    He is happy because his attitude towards everything in his life is RIGHT ..!

  45. As the debate for contact / non-contact injuries surmounts .. here is something from the most scientific league in the world – the NFL.

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2089798-how-and-why-minimal-or-non-contact-injuries-occur-in-nfl-workouts

    I am sure this does not end the debate, but rather gives some new perspective (hint: even “non contact” injuries are sometimes the result of contact; however [and that’s my own conclusion which is not found in this article] those injuries are not directly attributable to the “refs bias” problem).

  46. Always difficult to try and have a conversation with tools. Since when did the two names Ospina and Gnabry represent Ramsey, Arteta, Flamini, etc etc? Coz I also saw those names in that list. As for Gnabry he’s been out since last April, and I clearly said this season, can’t remember how he got injured though. Ospina might have been injured during or after a game, can’t recall that for sure, but that’s about it.

    To the second tool where did I try to put Will down???? SMH.

  47. “Calling Coquelin’s tackling in this game as ” magnificent ” , takes a really special person.“

    “I too was impressed with Coquelin’s play today. I think Arsenal might have something there.”

    The above quotes came from the same person. The same person who thinks Flamini, Welbeck, Ramsey,etc have been out long term. Now how does that work?

  48. I thought Coquelin’s contract ends in June, someone needs to extend it. I would like us to persvere with the current team until the Summer, then we offload Arteta and Flamini and promote Hayden. They can play with Coquelin.

  49. i thought the first through pass to Campbell was provided by Rosicky and not Alexis. Is it me or just that i find only Rosicky looking for a Cesc like defense splitting pass to our front men. We are yet to see how Ozil will do with Alexis, Walcott and Welbeck pace. There is no excuse this season if we don’t see that defense splitting through balls to our front men this season.

  50. Hats off to Alexis. He gets kicked, pushed, hugged, bugged, booked & choked yet he smiles like the world is roses & honey. If all were like him we would not be able to admire his greatness. I hope he is resilient & does not get injured (he’s managed to evade injury so far) because he is a joy to watch. A hard working honest talented footballer that is worth paying money to see.

    We love you Alexis keep playing the beautiful game.

  51. “I too was impressed with Coquelin’s play today. I think Arsenal might have something there.”

    Very simple Al.

    Coquelin showed good energy , range , and above avarege game reading abilities. His passing was a bit off , perhaps he tried to transition from defense to offense a bit too quickly so his body position wasn’t perfect while passing the ball.
    Tackling however was the weakest part of his game. He made one solid sliding tackle in the middle of the park, but a couple of reckless challenges which easily could’ve seen him sent off.

    If Quinn was an Arsenal player and Coquelin played for Hull , I’m sure you would’ve called for Coquelin’s head on the stick and described his challenges as assault ,and not magnificent.

    Overall, I was impressed with his play.
    I know this is a concept that is foreign to braini people such as yourself but some of us ‘half a brain tools ‘ like myself can still look at complex situations and make some form of unbiased analysis based on observations.

  52. Just watching the highlights and if you look back at when Alexis got a shot blocked on the line you should keep an eye on Alexis and his reaction. He actually gave a thumbs up to the Hull defender who made that great (football point of view – not Arsenal point of view) block on the goal line.
    Can you believe that? A striker acknowledging a great football move from an opponent! I think such a gesture sums up what a real football animal Alexis is and that he surely is a great person and has a good character.

  53. nice game, but it was easy i must say. still concerned about Alexis. as for his sporting display towards the defender, it must be applauded. i did not see it but will try to watch it again.

  54. Santi was excellent in his role. Coq was good for his second time in the midfield defence. His two footed lunge was timed & in the same direction as his opponent so was not dangerous but the perception the crow had was that of the commentator. It is not against the Laws to go two footed for a ball unless it is risking injury to an opponent. Coquelin will improve on his play in that position when he gets more experience.

    I must say I got taken in by the crow as he seemed to be fair but when watching the game again he does seem to be related to Bruce & took advantage of some contact to point toward the Arsenal goal.

  55. @ Walter – that’s the sign of a great, great sports personality. The only one I know to do that is Gigi Buffon. Everytime a striker almost gets a goal he goes out and hi-fives them, saying – nice try (or something else in Italian).

  56. @TommieGun

    I don’t know if I subscribe to the NFL being profoundly scientific, if nothing else the CFL should be equally scientific. But both games are very much driven on set plays. Every player plans for about 10 yards of movement once the ball is put into play. Which probably makes for a game more capable of being analysed. Open field play is more like an infinite number of possibilities.

    Most people when they think of the knee, think of a hinge, like what is holding a door to its frame. Biology never produced something which looks like a pin, and consequently the actual action of the knee is considerably more complex than a hinge joint. And if you look at braces for the knee, the cheap ones have a single hinge on either side, and really don’t work well.

    The picture of the knee in the article is old, it does not include that new ligament usually found in the vicinity of the 2 collateral ligaments. Nor does the discussion mention this new ligament. I agree that it may only require small motions in unusual directions to put the ACL into danger. That many of the situations where the ACL is placed in hazard revolve around pushes more from behind than the side is old news. As far as I know, that is why the tackling from behind law was put into football (soccer), and that was quite a while ago. Of course, the PGMO may not believe that rule was instituted from a good reason, and hence may feel free to ignore it. But in these pushes or tackles from behind, it is common to find the hip in flexion, which is one of the contributing factors in placing the ACL at risk.

    On a professionally managed field, I don’t think hyperextension is much of a problem. Where it becomes a problem, is with community fields and park open spaces. A person runs, thinking the ground is flat, when in fact they are about to plant their foot in a depression. The extra time allow the leg to straighten all the way, or even to start hyperextending, before the foot makes contact. When the foot does make contact, the ground contact forces impose more hyperextension, and damage can occur. Some people are predisposed to this kind of injury. In ballet, it is apparently thought to be a good thing that the knee can hyyperextend. I have hyperextended a knee, and it is because I can hyperextend my knees like the ballet people.

    I don’t know, the article doesn’t really touch it, but it may be that most of us just run incorrectly. It may be that the heel is never supposed to contact the ground in running.

    The achilles discussion feels clumsy and incomplete. The achilles connects to calcaneous (the heel bone) in a similar way the partellar tendon connects to the tibia (shin bone). The achilles runs about half way up the calf, and it is near the end of the achilles where gastrocnemius joins the achilles. The other end of gastrocnemius is on the other side of the knee, it connects to the femur (thigh bone). When the knee is flexed, gastrocnemius is inefficient at generating force (although it is often one of the highest fraction fast twitch muscles in the body). Not far from the hell, the achilles begins to be connected to another muscle called soleus, which is connected on the lower side of the knee (tibia), and hence is largely unrelated to whether the kneee is flexed or not.

    Not having sufficient flexibility is a common problem leading to achilles problems. A common exercise I seen in the martial arts, was to stand on one leg, with the ball of one foot on the edge of a stair, and then let the heel drop to stretch both muscles, and then contract both muscles to lift he heel up. That is the minimum load that particular exercise is useful with. If you want to generate large forces, you need to work with higher loads, such as chaining a 45 pound plate or two to the waist and doing that exercise.

    There are also machines which allow for heel lifts, where the knee is bent (flexed). And those are working soleus. If we think that from our knees down is maybe 10% of our body mass, the minimum working weight for that exercise should be something like 90% of body mass. As those machines often involve pivot points are varying leverage, calculating the actual weight to use is a little involved, and you probably should use a tape measure to make measurements and a pen/paper.

    Someone was worried about knee on knee contact (such as the Ox suffered, apparently). The picture of the knee shoes how exposed the MCL, LCL and patellar tendon are. We all know the patella (knee cap) is exposed. Those 3 ligament/tendons can suffer compression injuries in contact, and it is possible to split a knee cap in a collision. But, there are lots of ways knees can collide, and not damage any of those 4 things.

  57. Between Tom and Walter’s descriptions of the Alexis/Quinn incident, I will stop on that incident. It seems more likely the medja person had LSD in their tea. Or maybe it was magic mushrooms?

  58. Tom
    Seeing as you won’t go away, I’m forced to respond to you directly. This is what I said;

    “Coq was magnificent, not just with his tackling but ball distribution too”

    Please note that I’m not saying his tackling alone was magnificent, but his all round play.

    This is how you responded;
    “Calling Coquelin’s tackling in this game as ” magnificent ” , takes a really special person.“

    See how you (deliberately perhaps?) misquote someone or take what they say out of context, to make your own point? I’ve accused you of this before; taking snippets out of what somebody will have said, and distorting the context. You do it here again. Anyone reading your line would think I’d been on a rooftop hailing Coquelin’s tackling as the best I’d ever seen.

    You then go on to say, much later and in a conversation with someone else, how impressed you were yourself by his overall play and think Arsenal might have ‘something there’, yet you say it takes really someone special to think Coquelin was magnificent. Your comment might have made more sense if your opinion of his play had been that he was absolute rubbish, completely opposite to mine. But they’re not, we were both impressed, just a difference in description. I’ve stopped trying to figure you out (imo you’re two faced), but sure there are many here that are baffled by your posts or still trying to understand you.

  59. I’m a Canadian. I no longer follow hockey. But as I write this, the World Junior Hockey Championships Gold Medal game is playing, Canda versus Russsia.

    My feelings about the Russian team (without having read anything about their trip to the final), is that Putin would have talked to them before the game. I can easily see him offering things like companies to these young men, if they win. I don’t see him threatening to send them to jail or to kill them if they don’t win. But I think that is far away for Russia at the moment, especially for countries putting sanctions on Russia, which Canada is.

    Ice hockey allows more contact than football. But Canada in ice-hockey is like England in football, except perhaps more so. IAAHF (?) referees typically call Canada a lot in international ice-hockey. Since these World Juniors are in Canada, I am guessing most of the officials are North American. And Canada is fouling the Russians a lot. And it isn’t being called. The officials are trying to dictate who wins the game. This isn’t supposeded to be how a competition works. But the history of Canada versus Russia at the Junior or Professional level is littered with games decided by what the referees allow.

    Sure, I’ll be happy if the Canadian Juniors win. I would be happier if they could do it without cheating.

  60. @ Gord thanks for the very extensive and researched reply – always a pleasure to learn new things.

    What’s your take, however, on one of the conclusions in that article I provided, which state that soft tissue damage can occur when a player is touched in the upper body while running in another direction? To me it actually supports our claim that some of the bad muscular injuries to our players are a result of a foul (could be a push to the back for instance) – which means that it does not have to be a kick in the knee, to damage the knee ligaments.

  61. The research was in large part done quite a while ago, back when I was more involved in athletic first aid. It would be nice to learn of a follow up article, introducing this new ligament which wasn’t discussed in the article you referred to.

    I would agree that a push high up on the body, could lead to the ACL injury, I suspect the push would need to be from behind (we don’t see it coming). I think that we may instinctively do the right things, if we see a collision coming head on. But, there isn’t a hope in a referee analyzing a push in real-time and realizing that the push in question is or isn’t destined to cause ACL problems. And players doing the pushing would never learn what is and what isn’t an “acceptable” push (as no push is acceptable in the laws).

    In terms of a kick from behind, it was my impression that it wasn’t a kick in the knee, but rather a kick a little below the knee that was the problem.

    I still think the solution, is to have the referees realize that they are overseeing the health and safety of the players, and that they should not be grading events in play and only calling fouls for some grade, yellows for another grade, and so on. One would hope that includes the grade of, “0 points if an Arsenal player is on the receiving end”.

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