By Walter Broeckx
A big surprise when the team news came out. Per Mertesacker was ill and so Calum Chambers came in his place. And to make things worse Koscielny has a back injury and thus Gabriel took his place.
So it was Santi Cazorla who captained the team. And Giroud made his 100th league appearance for Arsenal in this match.
Team that started: Cech, Bellerin, Chambers, Gabriel, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud.
The subs : Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott.
Liverpool with the brighter start and within 2 minutes Coutinho rattled the cross bar. At the other end Monreal with a good cross but the header from Alexis went over. Alexis with the next chance when Skrtel left the ball in the Liverpool penalty area under pressure from Özil but he couldn’t wrap his foot around the ball.
Then an Arsenal goal is disallowed for offside when Santi Cazorla found Ramsey who put it away. Replay shows that Ramsey was level. Arsenal being robbed and another offside decision going Liverpools way. Chambers then with a bad pass at the back direct at Coutinho but Coquelin with a great interception to prevent a Liverpool goal. Liverpool with a better spell then for a few minutes with again a few misplaced passes at the back by Arsenal players. And another chance for Liverpool after a bad pass at the back but Cech could stop the effort from Milner. Some uncertainty at the back in the Arsenal team visible during the first 25 minutes.
After a spell where we had to defend a lot we slowly came back out and tried to attack the Liverpool goal but Gabriel had to be quick to stop a counter attack from Liverpool that wasn’t ruled offside. It wasn’t offside but so wasn’t Ramsey. The match being very open but no real goal chances at the moment for either team some 15 to 10 minutes before half time.
And again Arsenal losing the ball in front of their goal leading to a big chance but Cech with a great save to stop Benteke. And Cech again after the resulting corner with a great stop. The Arsenal defenders really giving Liverpool too many chances for nothing. Lucky Coquelin, Gabriel and Cech being awake. Really some nerves at the back with some Arsenal players. And a minute before half time Arsenal having luck on their side when Coutinho has a shot that Cech can pary on to the post. Arsenal slightly lucky to go in at half time with the 0-0 result.
We almost shot ourselves in the foot on too many occassions with sloppy passes at the back and with nervous defending. Cech showing great class with a couple of vital saves to keep us level.
Both teams continue in open play but apart from Mignolet having to punch a cross away no goal keeper really in action in the first 5 minutes. Alexis on the right with a cross to Giroud but his shot is blocked by a defender. Arsenal now better and more attacking pushing Liverpool back but the shot from Giroud from outside the penalty area goes wide. Mignolet gets a warning but no card for time wasting. A good combination from Arsenal ends with a shot from Alexis that hits the post. Skrtel gets a card for pushing down Alexis on the flank. Arsenal pressing forward but a few shots in succession blocked by defenders. Ramsey with a pass to Giroud but he just couldn’t reach the ball. Gabriel then gets booked for holding Benteke on the turn. And Can for choping down Ramsey.
And again a good combination but Giroud cannot find the cross of Monreal. And a minute later Giroud on the turn but ompletely misses his shot and Mignolet can save the shot. Ramsey with a curling shot but Mignolet saves the goal bound effort. After 72 minutes Giroud is taken off and Walcott enters the field. Gomes gets a yellow card for tripping Ramsey when a promising attack could been the result.
Oxlade-Chamberlain prepares himself to come on but before that Cech had to make a save on a shot from Coutinho. Coquelin then goes off and the Ox comes on. Mignolet with some trouble to stop a shot from Ramsey that took as light deflection. The Ox with strong run and his cross is almost put in his own net by Skrtel. The shot from the Ox after the corner goes wide. Mignoet gets a yellow card for time wasting. Gabriel with a great interception in extra time when Liverpool was on a counter after Alexis gave the ball away. Mignolet with a great save on a low shot from the Ox. And from the resulting cross Gabriel heads over with Mignolet being nowhere.
So the match ends at 0-0. Arsenal struggled in the first half but the second half we pinned Liverpool back and had enough chances to score. Our defenders in the second half did a great job after their abysmal first half display. Nerves having settled down I think. Giroud had one of those days where you felt he wouldn’t score no matter what. Newcastle is warned.
We had enough chances in the second half to win the match. But of course we are left to wonder how the match would have gone if the assistant wouldn’t have helped Liverpool after 10 minutes with making a real bad decision. It was a simple decision to make but it seems that referees in Liverpool matches have some trouble in understanding the basid offside rules. And as against Bournemouth the decisions went in favour of Liverpool. Not that I put this down at the ref his feet but it sure is strange to see that the assistants mess up so badly when Liverpool is involved. And the error today had nothing to do with the new guidelines. Ramsey was onside and that was it.
Arsenal are now level with the team that was predicted to win the league on 4 points. City took the best start of all the teams but the league is still long.
Currently in Florida nervous as usual as with all the games I can’t watch, how were we?
Shite with sprinkles!
Listening to sky makes me sick. We was robbed, nothing else to discuss here.
5th Gen Gooner:
Glad someone else saw that. Not enough sprinkles of brilliance.
Reading the posts, 2nd half we were good.
Aha that’s the difference between what’s fair and what should have happened.
As we took a beating but came out 2nd half better we should have probably won given psychological blow Liverpool felt after not scoring a few…
Offside?
http://gfycat.com/SeriousInsecureAustralianfurseal#
Nah.
But overall they were better than us. They were more better than us first half than we were to them second if that makes any sense.
The thing is, we werent out played in the first half, their chances. Were for mistakes we created.
Second half we did out play them.
When we a problem in our defense from the beginning of the season, the last thing you want is to have your first team CBs. out.
What a difference would the goal have made???? We started well apart from the first chance for Liverpool. And I think the reason we started to play bad in the first half was because of the team getting nervous from the mistakes at the back.
Great reaction in the second half from the whole team.
Disappointing not to win, but some perspective needed. Ramsey’s goal which was wrongly disallowed would have transformed the game. Defence was clearly nervous during first half, but Chambers and especially Gabriel grew better as the game went on. Coquelin was superb throughout and Ozil very influential in second half.
Not the worst refereeing we have seen, but still pretty bad. Apparently fouls against Giroud don’t count. Two penalty claims in second half ignored by ref and Sky commentators.
Plenty to be encouraged about in second half performance.
Agree Yassin, apart from the first chance all their chances were gifts from Arsenal making mistakes
Terrible management I’m afraid. 5 out of last 6 at home we have not scored and still he persists with Ramsey out wide. It really is ok to critique our manager.
Well, how many teams could have coped with losing their main center backs – not too many!
First half we were very nervous at the back (I was pretty nervous watching), by the second halfthe defence had settled down and the team started playing well in consequence.
Giroud seemed to be fouled frequently – but that is allowed by the PGMO – just the norm.
A hard fought match and in such a tight match the mistake by the officials has cost us. On the positive, there were some very encouraging performances and once we settled we played some excellent football – unfortunately once the Dippers realised they were being outplayed they resorted to bus parking and the quick break.
Am I the only one to think that Lovren shove on Giroud was a blatant penalty (and so red card as he clearly denied a goal scoring opportunity).
The worst thing about it is that if Giroud chose to throw himself to the ground under that shove instead of trying to score, the penalty might have been given. Just shows how much things are wrong in referring this days…
Walter
Pretty fair assessment apart from how ” simple” the off side ruling was.
If being on side by 2 inches of Skrtil’s right cheek is what you call a simple call, then I’m surprised we haven’t seen you representing Belgium at a World Cup or Euros.
This is not a personal attack on you btw , but rather to point out that to make that call 10 out of 10 times correctly is the most difficult refereeing decision in all of the sports.
That’s why linesmen get one or two of them wrong every week.
Rooney against New Castle United on Saturday for example.
This off course doesn’t make anyone feel better. We should’ve won the game . Simple as that.
Cech easily the man of the match. Poor substitutions by Arsene.
What’s the point of bringing Walcott on in 72 minute when by that time Liverpool were parking the bus and he was forced to play with his back to goal, which is not his strength.
Ox should’ve been on much earlier because he is the real danger man for Arsenal in these situations.
Walter, why no mention of the penalty we should have had in the second half when Lucas lunged in and planted his boot on the top of Girouds foot.
I’ve just had it with Sky. Utter pricks. Seriously debating about cancelling my sky now.
Tom
Re the offside goal.
I disagree, the call was straightforward for a supposedly top linesman, the Liverpool player was between him and Giroud, he couldn’t have seen Giroud till the ball was on it’s way and Giroud has breached the Liverpool back line. It was an honest mistake, but not really acceptable in 2015. These ridiculous wrong calls will continue until the powers that be get their heads out of the sand and embrace the technology which will ensure the correct decisions are reached.
Omsin
Agree, did they even watch the second half. Henry, great player, piss poor pundit. Mind you they did agree we should have had the penalty (Lucas on Giroud).
Tom
The point is that the continued refusal of the PGMO to introduce technology allows the officials to continue to make errors of this type.
It is strange that the Dippers benefit yet again…..
Osmin
Who are you debating it with?
I’ve never had Sky (or any other subscription). Why would I when I can stream all sport free and watch TV shows & films on Popcorn Time.
Mick Bjtgooner
Yes, technology is the only answer, but the game is governed by dinosaurs.
This type of marginal off side decision is the equivalent of judging fault starts in Olimpic sprint with a naked eye Mick. Not very simple.
Let’s add it up – goal wrongly ruled out for offside, two penalties denied to Giroud.
Sanchez still not quite got his shooting boots on.
Denied our two usual central defenders, denied goals, we still got a draw. Chambers was nervous in the first half but settled down well in the second. Cech played a blinder.
A draw is annoying when we could have had three points. But where is the RATIONAL reason to slag off the manager and the team as some contributors are repeatedly doing?
A fair result would have been 1-0 to Arsenal after a perfectly good goal was disallowed. When the goal was scored I knew instantly it was onside which makes me wonder why the linesman didn’t. Certainly Liverpool have now picked up 3 points from 2 bad offside calls. They should be on 4 points now not 7 and Arsenal on 6 not 4. That is a 5 point swing between 2 clubs in just 2 weeks based on 2 bad calls. Shows the power of the officials.
Still ,haing said all that, yet again an Arsenal side went onto the pitch and proceeded to play quite ridiculous and brainless football. The defending so bad you would not see it in run of the mill schoolboy game, the midfield wasteful and easily dispossessed and the forwards lacklustre in front of goal. That was the first half at least. The players should be suitable embarrassed after that first half.
Still, the second half was much better but it is becoming increasingly clear that we are too easy to shut out. We do create chances against well organised teams but they tend to be half chances. The one or two clear cut ones are invariably missed due to poor finishing. Giroud was guilty again today – no surprise there. What is worrying is how poorly Alexis has started the season after his extended holiday. He still runs around a lot but his play lacks any cutting edge and his finishing has been woeful. One hopes he gets into his stride quickly. At the moment he probably is not worth a place in the team but he is worth persisting with because on form he is a special player.
Bottom line is – we need a strikre. Badly. Let’s hope the evidence of this game gives Wenger the nudge to go and buy a top striker. If he decides against it, I believe like many others we have almost no chance of winning the league.
Ok Liverpool hit the bar/post twice, Sanchez hit the post once and we had the ball in the net but that was disallowed. So where exactly did Liverpool’s performance warrant comments such as they’ll be kicking themselves for not taking all 3 points? If anything we had more chances, Mignolet rescued them a few times, skirtl nearly diverted the ox’s cross into his own net, and we should have had a penalty at least. Liverpool virtually parked the bus in the second half. Apart from the few poor clearances in the first half, which Liverpool nearly capitalised on on each occasion, what else did they really do? Even if we want to argue that it was a game of two halves, we outplayed and dominated them virtually the whole of the second half, and by a mile; way more than their 20-25 spell in the first half when they played better than us.
If they’d won this that’d have been down to gifts from us which we were, at some point in the first half, appearing so desperate to give. Sky pundits are clowns, unfortunately Thierry has allowed himself to stoop to that level. Can anyone imagine the noise had that disallowed goal been scored by Liverpool.
Just read the transcript of Cech’s post match press conference. What an intelligent and sensible man! It sounds as if he is relishing his new job too which is good news for us.
Brenda is saying that Ramseys goal was offside and correctly disallowed, his reasoning for why it was correct….
“The player was offside by the thickness of his shirt”
I am lost for words that a manager can come out with that.
Pat 11:39
Hear hear.
I’m baffled by the criticism the team is getting. Yes we had a spell when things weren’t going so well in the first half, but is it any wonder when one looks at the circumstances; both center backs replaced by two people who have never played together and not one game between them this season? But what a reaction the team gave in the second half. For me that was the positive to take out of this game. I don’t think I’ve seen us outplay any team like that in a while. Given what went on in the first half isn’t that remarkable?
And like you say, it’s not like we didn’t score; we DID so we were not wasteful, but because of an official who was half awake we have to keep putting up with stupid comments such as we still haven’t scored at home blah blah blah…. The criticism is unjustified in this case. It just goes to show there are people always ready and waiting for the slightest slip, to stick the knife in.
Pat
If we are going to to look for penalty shouts I’m afraid you need to look at both ends of the pitch ( Gabriel bear hug on Benteke) , otherwise you are no better than Rodgers who just like his former master Mourinho is full of it and never conceded anything yet.
As for criticizing the manager , I though there wasn’t much of that on here.
If I really wanted to have a go at Arsene, I would ask why not put Liverpool’s 18 year old left back , who’s really a central defender,under immediate pressure from the off.
I mean , it’s not like we have the league’s most dangerous winger in Ox who could expose him. Instead we set up like most knew we would and gave the young Gomez as comfortable start as he could ever wish for.
Jeez, I might be in trouble here given how near a fit Jayram’s assessment is to my own. (no offence, but we often see things very differently, especially on a few key matters)
My only surprise with the offside was that it was even a close call. I felt so sure in real time that the run was timed perfectly and was onside.
At the time, I was mentally preparing to come on here and ask how often it is that a big team doesn’t get those vital calls in their favour, especially at home. Tiny bit inconvenient,then, to remember that Utd- Utd!- had a similar one go against them this week. All the same, the point does still stand : in any top league, the top teams get more than their fair share of those calls, especially at home, and we truly don’t.
I think I’d prefer that to be the result of actual corruption or visceral dislike, one of which i believe has to explain men like Riley and Atkinson, rather than what I feel it’s more likely to be in most cases : something deep in the minds of these officials makes them feel pressure to give things for other top teams; a very close call comes along and whereas the instinct at Anfield or Old Trafford or the Bridge is to give it in favour of the home team, that isn’t there for us and something closer to the opposite is instead.
Neil Warnock of all people came up with a sound theory about big team bias ; humans are psychologically adapted to go with what causes them the least stress : displeasing Ferguson at old Trafford, for example, guaranteed you both immediate and much longer lasting stress; pleasing him next to none. You need a very well trained mind to overcome your natural desire to choose the much less stressful option.
Think it’s a long weird, story how a big club can come to miss out on those big club home advantages from officials and, more troublingly, near enough shift them onto whoever we play. Think it’s a true one, though.
Tom
You mention the Gabriel bear hug on Benteke but not the numerous ones (just about every corner and set piece) by the serial all in wrestler Skirtl on Giroud. It seems you are no better than Rodgers either.
I was at the game & saw some fcuking awful officiating. The off side rule is not understood and the assistants are either wrong or cheating. How Oliver can miss fouls on Giroud is also mind blowing. The bastard chats with Mignolet for time wasting & cards him later!!! what the fcuk is that matter with these PGMO cretins.
They have no shame & do it on camera because the cameras are as corrupt as they are.
The game in England is corrupt & there is nothing being done to eradicate the cheating.
I was not sure about the goal but there were 2 off sides not called in the North Bank end. One almost ended up in our net were it not for Chec.
Arsenal were poor in the first half on the right side of defence because they were trying to pass their way out while being pressured. There was no captaincy controlling or correcting the defence. This was resolved in the second half.
The poor officiating was also to blame as Liverpool were time wasting from the start. Officials do not need to converse with professionals about time wasting. PGMO are outside the Laws & are abusing their position.
It is easy for the likes of JayRam to spend Arsenal money. I bet he doesn’t spend his own money as easily as he would Arsenals.
I thought Ramsey was arrogant in his play & did not have hunger like Coquelin. He needs to be left out of a couple of games and made to watch from high up in the stands so that he gets an idea of where he should be & what movement to expect from his team mates. His flicks & back heels should only appear after we have scored 4 unanswered goals.
The offside rule, while seemingly straightforward, is in actual fact one of the most complicated in the LAWS. Reading it will give one the impression that it is very basic and logical but once you’re an assistant, you quickly learn that your 180o field of vision is really stretched and that, as I am sure Walter will agree, it becomes very challenging indeed to see the pass being made AND the 2-3-4-5 players in a line (or one player slightly ahead of the defensive line) as the case may be. When Is a player in an offside position and WHEN can he be given offside? The recent clarifications in the LAWS are supposed to assist the linesmen to make that call. Was Ramsey offside? It appeared to me that he was almost perfectly aligned with the fullback, but the linesman may have see him as being a few inches ahead…..so he MUST signal offside. NO referee I know will overrule his assistant so offside it is. Watching on TV or a video can NEVER equal the view the assistant has…..and they do get it wrong on rare occasion.
Just wait this team will click, bang it will be awesome.
dan:
I really hope so.
Maybe we did not have enough pre-season games to get match fit. Did not AW say less pre-season games for Arsenal now? And we should get some more difficult top teams for pre-season games too. All in all i am disappointed with the team. I know this team has much more than that.
Now onto Gabriel and Chambers. Do they not get games in the reserves team plays? This is how they are to get match fitness, not in a 1st team game. (Per and Kos injured? Hmmm). Obviously they did not and we see the result of that. That said they did play better after a while and i can see that they will become as awesome as the 1st paring too with a few more reserve games.
Many excuses again for Arsenal, and we need to work on “the excuses” and bring more determination and game plans into games. Football is changed so much that you cannot just go on the pitch and play football without having some sort of idea of the other team, as this pool team was a “new” team never played against.
After 50 mins it was clear we needed some thing more in the Arsenal team, OX should have come on(not at 80 mins) with his injection of speed attack. Wallcott was non existent in this game, but i knew that he would before he was subbed on at 70. Is this the Arsenal number? 70 mins is not a law at Arsenal is it? This i never inner stand.
Still, maybe this is what is needed to highlight our deficiencies early in the season and get them fixed.
All in all, a pretty lax start to the season with our frailties well exposed, frailties i thought we had gotten the handle on. I am disappointed at the slow start of the team.
We should not be in this position, especially as we do not have the excuse of many injuries like in other times.
Come On Ye Gunners, COME ON.
Got to love BBC…really!!! “Cech earns Arsenal a Point” !!!
Amazing!!
I would have had another headline altogether; PGMOB earn Liverpool 4 points in 2 Games!!
Our passing in the first half left much to be desired…and Chambers had a shocker first half.
In this period in the first half – it was our errors in not holding/passing the ball correctly that actually Liverpoo had the best chances.
In the second half, Liverpoo PARKED THE BUS!
Apo
True true that. Rodgers did a mourinho but no mention of that. So Cech is supposed to have earned us a point against a Liverpool who we bossed 79%-21% possession for a sustained spell in the second? Makes one worder which world some people live in.
The main story here should be about the disallowed goal for us. We heard a lot more about Bournemouth’s disallowed goal, yet that one was slightly debatable as there was a hint of a foul in it (not saying it wasn’t legit but at least you could somewhat understand why someone might want to argue against it) But in our case our goal was 100% legit, pool didn’t score, so should be linesman robs Arsenal 2 points.
This shouldn’t be about a misplaced pass or two from chambers and co, nothing came out it, it should be about the disallowed goal. The media is just trying to divert attention from the real issue here but unfortunately some of our own fall for it hook line and sinker.
Menace
Actually the referees can chat with the players about time wasting ( and any other issues ). They call the offending player & captain together and sort it out. I’ve seen it happen when one team is rotationally fouling.
Thank you Al.
Allowing that goal in that period of the game…would have change the dynamics of Liverpoo – we can not be certain of course, but we have been around football enough years to have witnessed the change in a team who concedes when they were just busy closing down spaces!!!
Conceding would have meant that they would need to stop that plan of space closing, and try and control the game with possession and going forward in numbers – something that Liverpoo never intended to do (Rogers said they wouldn’t need to).
Conclusion: PGMOB helped Liverpoo in a major way to have their game plan executed till the end!
Its all about video technology – then no one can have any issues!
Menace,totally agree with you on ramsey.arrogance or inadequate concentration is the call.
Only positive is he has energy to always mark.
Like him much but will be glad to see him benched for now
I really miss wilshere-unlucky lad.
Another point that the media FAIL to point out; is how EFFICIENT we were when we were all – bar one (keeper) – in Liverpoos half (second half particularly) and not once did a counter attack come off!!!
We halted and regained the ball well inside their half for second and third phase!!!
For long periods in the second half – Liverpoo couldn’t get out of their penalty area let alone get in our half; we just couldn’t finish off a few opportunities – because in actual fact Mignolet head a blinder too!!! Perhaps he earned Liverpoo a point? 🙂
Linesman secured Liverpool’s point!
For what it’s worth, my opinion on Chambers is that he wasn’t a complete disaster and needs to be in the match day squad regularly.
Tony Adams had these problems early on and look how he turned out.
If tennis was officiated like football the match umpire would be more famous than Federer.
Football sold like EastEnders.
Wenger has put a good squad together and they’re buckling down for a season that goes on until the end of May. Put it this way – if you conceived a child this week it would be born when the season ended.
The game as a sporting contest played in front of millions was wrecked when Ramsey’s excellent goal was disallowed. Something was put into the game and ran it.
I dont think Rambo should be the fall guy here. There were misplaced passes by Santi in more dangerous areas of the pitch. This was the problem of the team as a whole.
Even though not at our best, we pegged them back in the second half. Better second half from Chambers, and the rest. So lots of positives here. And amazing support at the ground. I could here it on TV, despite their attempts to lower the stadium noise…..
Apo Armani
the injustice was so obvious that even Owen said that Liverpool got away with it on two occasions in two matches. Over the course of three rounds liverpool gained an unfair seven point advantage over us.
Twice in two games Liverpool helped by wrong offside decisions. It all evens out so we are told. Let us see.but if there is an agenda to help pool , it could end up at utds cost and not ours
I thought we did OK in defence, bearing in mind we were without the most experienced 50% of the back four.. There were scares of course, by the players on the field as well as to supporters in the stands. But a goal was not conceded.
What is more concerning is our failure, consistently, to break down an opposition defence which parks the proverbial ‘bus. Whether we abandon our long-held policy of a high line defence to encourage teams to come out and play, I do not know.
What can’t continue is this inability to penetrate and finish in the final third. Possession alone is not enough. 😉
nicky
I think the fact that most of our attacking threat comes down the middle does, to some extent, rely on our inability to dominate in the air. We seem less inclined to put in a cross. So the most obvious route is down the middle. Last night the pitch was a little on the slower side so Liverpool got the time to hack it clear.
Very pleased to hear about the amazing support in the ground. It shows that the griping and negativity prevalent in the media and on web sites was not reflected among the people who were actually at the match and saw in real time what was happening.
“Those who judge will never understand, and those who understand will never judge.”
— Wilson Kanadi
An old man saw a scorpion drowning and decided to pull it out from the water. He calmly extended his hand to reach the creature. When he did, the scorpion stung him. With the effect of the pain, the old man let go the creature and it fell back into the water. The man realizing that the scorpion was drowning again, got back and tried to rescue it but then again it stung him. He let go of it again.
A young boy standing by, approached the old man and said, “Excuse me Sir, you are going to hurt yourself trying to save the evil-vicious creature, why do you insist? Don’t you realize that each time you try to help the scorpion, it stings you?”
The man replied, “The nature of the scorpion is to sting and mine is to help. My nature will not change in helping the scorpion.”
So the man thought for a while and used a leaf from a nearby tree and pulled the scorpion out from the water and saved it’s life.
MORAL LESSON:
Do not change your nature. If someone hurts you, just take precautions. Some pursue happiness while others create it. Let your conscience be your guide in whatever you do.
It was a very tight game. For me, Cech showed he was worth the purchase . Gabriel and Chambers showed why we didn’t need new CB signings and Coq was terrific again. If we play like this all season; cut off our defensive errors (i.e. gifting the ball to the opponent in vulnerable defensive areas) and find our scoring boots, we shall be ok.
For those who want to sign a striker: Who is available at an acceptable (and affordable) cost who would improve the team. I want names and prices.
For those who would have started Ox and/or Theo, who would you drop and what formation would you play?
Fed up with vague moaning. Need specifics – and also need preferred selections BEFORE the game in future. If you want to be taken seriously, put your head on the block.
For my part, this is what I would do for Newcastle:
Bring back Kos if fit for Chambers. If neither Kos nor Mert is fit then bring in Debuchy at centre back alongside Kos. Keep Gabriel, at Mert’s expense if necessary.
Drop Ramsey in favour of Ox. Leave Giroud in team ahead of Walcott.
Giroud offers aerial strength, particularly important defensively, and also holds the ball up well. It was noticeable that we lost momentum when the change was made last night.
OMGArsenal – the offside rule is not difficult to officiate. The Officials make it more than it is. The assistant must flag if a player does not have more than 2 defenders between him & the goal line, providing the ball has bee played forward & is within playing distance of the player. The referee will decide if it is or isn’t off side. The assistant only assists with location of player at time the ball was passed forward. The referee does the decision making. Assistants who decide anything other than location of player in an off side decision are complicating their role. The flag must be seen more often than it is now. Players who move onside after the forward pass must be flagged. There is one referee & two assistants, if there are three referees, there would be three whistles!!
Any assistant that thinks otherwise is not aware of his job. It is the same for any offence. The assistant flags the offence & the referee has final say.
The Ramsey goal was not off side. The assistant was wrong – not for the only time either.
Sorry, rephrasing centre back partnerships. Dependent on availablility, select in following sequence of priority:
1. Koscielny
2. Gabriel
3. Mertesacker
4. Debuchy
5. Monreal
6. Chambers.
Why didn’t you not mention when Lucas(?) chopped Giroud in the penalty area arriving late for a challenge.So typical Olivier, no penalty.
He did not give another when Giroud was pushed in the back by Lovren when he was ready to shoot, so really weak effort came from this
He did not give another one for Liverppol Belnteke being held by Gabriel.
Piss poor!
He don’t have the balls to call penalty, but he was good in calling the fouls elsewhere. Really strange.
Rooney was offside, but Ramsey was not.
Where is the video ref, PGMOL bastards?
I lost some sleep that night from rethinking all this over and over again
Arsenal shooting was abysmal, once again.
Para you ask :- Now onto Gabriel and Chambers. Do they not get games in the reserves team plays?
Answer no , there is no competitive reserve league for the fringe players to iron out their play . Reserve leagues cost money to run and the prem is all about making it , not spending it. Were there a decent standard reserve league the problems of loaning players with the wage savings and other concerns would change. In the south there was the Football Combination and the Central league further north these were replaced by the FA Premier Reserve League but teams disbanded their reserves because they made little money from it.Or in fact lost money , I believe the first team to pull out and start it’s demise was Tottenham Hotspur. Obviously Levy couldn’t justify the expense.
Arsenal don’t shoot – the philosophy is to pass it into the net. I do not agree with soft approach to goal. I want to see the net bulge. There is technique in manipulating a ball in the air – it is science. The simple shot at goal does not need technique but accuracy is demanded when players get paid fortunes to play.
It is time we played a game of fines for players that miss the goal. It might embarrass them into practice.
omgarsenal
Very good post regarding the offside rule. Not at all surprised the legendary Menace disagreed, though. As if Ramsey was yards onside.
But why is it that whenever Walcott comes on it’s automatically Giroud who has to go off? Because of this we completely lost any kind of aerial threat in the attack, which was not too clever against a parked bus.
thats it Sky sports gone for good. Cant stand it any more….
Giroud made his 100th league appearance for Arsenal in this match! Time goes fast – https://sporticos.com/en-gb/p/906-olivier-giroud