By Walter Broeckx
Arsenal made a lot of changes,for this match. Most noticeable one was was the first start of Welbeck in 10 months. Ospina started in goal and Cech was given the weekend off as Macey was the keeper on the bench.
Team that started: Ospina, Chambers, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Flamini, Elneny, Campbell, Iwobi, Welbeck, Walcott
On the beach: Macey, Bellerin, Monreal, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain,Alexis, Giroud.
Bruce with a hand after a corner but Dean found it not worthy for a penalty after some 7 minutes. Walcott with a good move on the right and a good cross but Welbeck headed straight at the Hull keeper. Arsenal with most of the ball and a few chances and Hull defending was the picture of the first 15 minutes. Still 0-0.
Chambers with a good pass to Welbeck but the keeper could stop his low shot and Hull could clear for a corner. From the resulting corner again a good chance but the left footed effort from Iwobi curled at the wrong side of the post. Handball against Flamini… oh well. Handballs can only be made by Arsenal players it seems based on the last matches. Chambers with a ball to Walcott an excellent turn and shot but again the keeper with a good reflex. Maguire with a dive to win a penalty at the other end and Dean giving him a yellow card. Wow….Still 0-0 after 30 minutes.
Maloney putting Walcott down to prevent a quick attack and another booking. Koscielny with a clearing header after a free kick was the first real threat from Hull. Walcott end seconds later Welbeck stopped by the last defender with a good block. Welbeck going down in the penalty area but nothing given by Dean and that was correct. He was already going down before the contact. Koscielny with a foul stopping a promising attack and he also goes in the book. A bit of confusion in the penalty area after the free kick but Arsenal can clear. The score was 0-0 after 45 minutes.
Gibbs with an excellent infiltration on the left a cut back but the shot from Walcott was saved by the keeper. A defender having taken the steam out of the shot to help the keeper. Chambers going down in the penalty area no foul for Dean, Elneny with the recovery to Iwobi whose shot was deflected wide. Replay showed a clear penalty foul on Chambers at the start. Another foul on Welbeck this time. Free kcik from Campbell finger tips from the keeper turns it against the post and the rebound is fired over by Flamini. Then Chambers goes in the book for a holding offence. Some pressure from Arsenal but still no goals after 60 minutes.
Another save from the Hull keeper after a shot from Welbeck. Arsenal really pressing Hull back in and around their own penalty area. All 11 Hull players around their own penalty area. After 66 minutes Campbell comes off and Giroud comes on. Welbeck also goes off and Alexis comes in his place. Giroud with a good action but again the keeper with an equally good save on the low shot. Hull with a rare counter after 71 minutes but the shot goes in the side net. After 72 minutes the Ox comes on for Iwobi. One Alex for another. Still 0-0 after 75 minutes.
A cross from Chambers and a defender can clear just in front of Giroud. Alexis can’t get his shot between the posts after having some room for a shot. Giroud with a header but the keeper first on the ball. A first real chance for Hull after 85 minutes on a counter but Ospina could save the shot. It was offside by the way but not given. Giroud lays it off to The Ox but he misses the goal. Bruce picking up a yellow card for a tackle on The Ox. 4 minutes of extra time.
Free kick to Alexis but again a good save from the keeper. Almost an own goal from the corner. Arsenal with a real scrimmage in the last seconds but the header from the Ox ends up in the arms of the best man on the pitch: the Hull keeper. Hull hang on to a replay. Not what we wanted but it is better to be in the cup than being out of it.
Final score Arsenal 0 – Hull keeper 0 and Dancing Dean…. well again he refused to give us the penalty(ies) we deserved. Nothing new under the sun.
What we have to do to earn a penalty???
Irrespective of the ref’s failure to give Arsenal a penalty,Arsenal under Wenger are becoming too predictable.Thats why it so easy play the gunners. Let the gunners have 90% possession and let them pass pass ahundred times and hit on the break.How to win the epl with this predictable pattern.
So don’t be surprised they lose the replay . The way Arsenal play reminds me of the times they play MU and Chelsea.Wenger lost repeatedly to Mourino and rf.
And yet Wenger shows little sign of change short of being fired.
Anyone who complains after that performance doesnt know football very well. Can anyone remember a top championship side beeing this outplayed. On any other day we would have won by 4 or 5! About us beeing too predictable ??? How on earth are we predictable when we create 8-9 clear cut chances against a team that parks 2 busses in front of goal ? I really liked the performances of Elneny, Welbeck, Iwobi and Chambers today. And of course their keeper is MOM by far…
Wolfgang shut the fuck up.
Hull played lark the bus, the stream I was watching (US one) had the commentary saying any team would struggle to find space when all 11 players are in their own half. Dean missed two penalties at least. And their keeper made 3 or 4 world class saves. We hit a post. On any other day this could easily have been a 5 nil win.
People fail to put things in perspective, had Dean given the pen then this could easily have been a basketball score. Perspective, people. Don’t rush to blame the players.
Find it nuts that so many are calling today terrible,etc. Surely the main way to judge performance is chances created vs chances conceded; after that, if necessary, scrutinise what you did with those chances,i.e. finishing.
I’m seeing people say we played terribly tho, worst they’ve seen in blah, etc. That is nuts and if there are people who genuinely believe we were terrible there, they worry me to say the least.
As for the pen calls, I’m currently looking into possible explanations of moving from 31-13 ( in the five years of 2004-5 to 2008-9) to 22-31 (-9) in the next five years (9-10 to 13-14). Chelsea were 43-16 (+27) in that latter period.
Bad luck, a significantly worse team, or maybe refs who find it a lot harder to bring themselves to give us a pen than they do our opponents?
Even Welbeck’s- no way a pen- was basically a Vardy.
Park the bus, not lark..
Edda,
Your post echoes mine! We seem to have watched the same match 🙂 unlike others who are jumping to slate the team. I’ve seen Barca have possession stats like 72% and 24 shots on target, with the match finishing 0-0. Hull had no intentions to attack at all, their first shot on target was around 86 minutes or so, tells you all you need to know. Anyway, I don’t know why I’m trying to convince anyone what I saw when they want to see something else. I’m not disappointed by the teams performance today, not at all.
Ditto Rich 🙂
Careful Wolfgang, first rule of this site is to always blame the ref, second rule- see first rule.
I thought we played well. Didn’t convert our chances. Of course Dean was blinking when the ball hit/was hit by the Hull defender. Yes, it adds an extra match to our schedule but it won’t affect our next couple of games and in truth we will play a similar group for the replay so we’ll be OK. As for the replay…they can only dodge so many bullets and Dean won’t be there.
Tipster I think the first rule is try not to be a dick…
missing our creatives today, Ozil, Caz, Rosicky Jack make a big a difference to the way we play, and against stubborn defences.
Alexis not quite back.
A replay is a pain, but also a chance to get players up to speed.
I just noticed I forgot to copy my last line in the article: ” and Dancing Dean…. well again he refused to give us the penalty(ies) we deserved. Nothing new under the sun.”
@Tipster
The only rule is make your arguments rational and substantiate them where possible. What this site doesn’t encourage is stupid opinions which fly totally in the face of the facts. Try again mate
Hey Tipster,
Thought I’d do you a favour and get you an authentic troll name…I went to Troll name generator and chose: Wanjin for you! Do you like???:) It could be spelled:
WaHHH jin
or perhaps Wah(with a silent NK) Jin….
Your choice! 🙂
I love fantasy worlds!!!
@Wolfgang
Have u watched our game against Man U home, Man city home and away(last year),Bayern, B’ful counter attacking football.
We just need to find our scoring boot. We are creating many chances,sooner or later we will score.
A game we dominated from start to finish. At no time were we remotely in danger of conceding a goal. Hull had a keeper who played out of his skin and normally had nine or ten players in or near their penalty area. Very difficult to create clear chances as we all knew that penalties would never be given in the Hull area.
I’m not sure what some idiots saw it was pretty one way traffic!
At some point twenty, thirty years from now, the Hull goalkeeper will be back at the Emirates with his family, but instead of people thinking he’s telling a tall one when he describes all the saves he made, they’ll check it out on the DVD.
A great goalkeeping performance from Eldin Jacupovic. The Cup maybe throws up a performance like that every year or so. The lads had to deal with it today.
Thank goodness they got the replay. This team are the Cup Holders and they showed it. If they are serious about winning the trophy three times in succession, every game might be as monumental.
Ob1977, looks like you’ve broke your first rule. Not for the first time I suspect.
GGG, you can have that, suits you better.?
@goomermikey
“The only rule is make your arguments rational and substantiate them where possible. What this site doesn’t encourage is stupid opinions which fly totally in the face of the facts. Try again mate”
Then what are you doing here? Dope
The boys played their best, it just didn’t work out. We’re still in the Cup, just made things a bit more difficult for ourselves… But then again, that’s how Arsenal usually do it!
Win, Lose or Draw… Arsenal Till I Die!
So what is exactly your point Tipster? Internet police or so?
Surely the main way to judge performance is chances created vs chances conceded; after that, if necessary, scrutinise what you did with those chances,i.e. finishing.
And that’s our problem Rich “” finishing “” . We make so many chances but don’t convert enough. We are 9 goals behind spurs in the league and that could prove to be critical in the end.
Disappointing result considering the possession plus shots but we are seriously lacking in front of goal.
Some of our decision making in the final third is poor without Ozil.
Hopefully the players can start converting our chances because we are making things tough on ourselves.
A replay at Hull we could really do without.
NEWS FLASH:
This is not the end of the world!
Get over it.
quite right Sammy , but that’s no reason not to debate the why’s and wherefores .
Hull City Tigers and their manager – Steve Bruce have had their glory today at the Ems by holding the mighty Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Ems against all the bookmakers odds. The Gunners had lacked the final killer instincts in the final 3rd today to kill off some the stubborn Tigers in their defense-line.
However, Hull will erroneously be fancing their chances in the replay by coming out to attack the Gunners to score. And that their coming out to attack the Gunners will be their undoing in the replay as the Gunners will certainly pounced on them, pound them and hammer them resoundingly by 0-4 away win this time around.
The team played well, but just couldn’t get passed the brick wall. The Hull GK played great with some brilliant saves.
The replay is not ideal, but looking at the schedule ahead, the game most likely to be rescheduled is the midweek game against Swansea, which would allow Arsenal to play a similar squad to gain experience and match fitness, while allowing the regulars to rest between United and Tottenham.
The squad just has to pick themselves up and get ready to put on some work on Tuesday.
The hull bus was blocking the goal. Did anyone notice the BT commentary repeating the Koishenly challenge should been a 2nd yellow, Robbie Savage what a fucking cunt
Wolfgang take Tipster out for a kariworst. He needs to be entertained. 😀
looking forward to replay
we have too much quality in this team to just seat on the bench
Yes Hull did park 2 buses, and their goalie was MOTM. But our approach play in the 1st half was too slow. We picked up the pace in the 2nd half and created some clear chances, but too often we seemed to try and walk the ball which was easier to defend.
For me Walcott too often tries to sidefoot the ball in – he had a clear goal opportunity in the 2nd half. Occasionally I wish he would put his laces through the ball to power past the keeper.
But the first team do need a rest, and people like Elneny, Iwobi, Campbell, Welbeck and Chambers need to get game time so it’s sometimes difficult for them to gel together.
All of them have good potential so depending on the date of the replay, they have another chance to beat Hull, as we did in the away game last season
COYG
I don’t understand some people, we have depth, so why not use the players. All due respect the FA cup is not the CL! Hull as crap as they were, we have bigger fish to fry.
Our expectations are much higher now, doesn’t’t mean we have to win it, but, we are challenging.
Just back from the game – we noticed Dancing Dean from our place in the East Stand.
Lots of empty places in the stands – I think a lot of season ticket holders just felt that they didnt want to watch the reserves. But Mo looked very solid to me, a clear first teamer, and a great back up to Coquelin.
Weather was awful, got soaked walking back to Archway.
Sounds like good news with Elneny looking good.
Chambers is starting to make some nice progress as well. And Iwobi. With the fixtures coming up, these, and others need games, and to be ready to step in …..fixtures including lots of away games in hostile places, with I would guess, special referees including the Dele Alli protection society, injuries are a distinct possibility. This replay isn’t the catastrophe some are portraying it.
But we do have to improve on the finishing…..any chance of borrowing Poldi for a few games?
Walter
As a referee; exactly how many penalty(ies) would you have awarded us if you were in charge of the game? “Replay showed a clear penalty foul on Chambers…” Except anything but clear, of all people you ought to know that officials DO NOT have the advantage of replays.
And when Maguire dives it’s ok to book him, but when Danny does the same it’s not. Where’s the difference?
Everyone is aware of the obsession to crucify Mike Dean, but I think he did a pretty good job today. I can’t see us being robbed in any sense.
But I have my reservations about the initial line-up. From the start we didn’t know how to penetrate. More or less we seemed to HOPE that Theo or maybe Joel would end up doing something magic to see us through, but it wasn’t to be.
Knowing Steve Bruce’s priority is to get back to the EPL we COULD have fielded a strong enough starting eleven to settle things early on against his makeshift starters. But then again we’re dreaming of knocking out Barca, realistic or not.
Anyway, a replay at KC Stadium is a fixture that should have been avoided.
Elneny moved steadily throughout the game and looked the best of our midfield looking receiving and passing accurately. His movement was economical and he reminded me a little of Gilberto , nothing spectacular but quite efficient. Hard to make a full and final judgement because of the opposition and their not very adventurous play but he linked defence and attack, first impressions are good.
Dieter,
I have been pleading for the use of video assistance for a lot of years now. It could have been useful again.
When I saw the Chambers incident I thought immediately: this is a clear penalty. Player going through Chambers to win the ball= foul. Replay confirmed it.
So bring on the bloody video ref.
Danny not booking was indeed ok because there was contact between the defenders and Welbeck as for McGuire no contact at all. There is the difference. And contact doesn’t say that it is a foul. I think Dean did well to not blow for a penalty for that.
If you consider not giving (again for the umpteenth time) one and even two penalties to Arsenal not robbing us… ok that is your opinion which I don’t share.
For me it is clear once again that Dean will do all he can to avoid to give us a debatable decision in our favour. And as lots of refs make all kinds of debatable decisions all the time it is really strange that we never benefit from a ‘mistake’ from Dean. Not even close to starting to even out
Arsenal didn’t do too much wrong today, and a bit of luck could have seen 4 or 5 goals. If they had scored one then Hull would have had to actually try and score which would have lead to even more chances. The replay is not all bad news, more first team experience for Elneny, Campbell, Iwobi, plus Welbeck and Walcott need match time. Ospina I am sure wants a run out. The only issue is really Kos and Mert who could probably do with a rest.
Dieter
‘From the start we didn’t know how to penetrate.’
That statement doesn’t tally with the facts. If our penetration was so poor how did we manage over twenty attempts on goal?
It was poor finishing and good goalkeeping that prevented us from scoring, not lack of penetration.
If we had been awarded the penalty in the 9th minute and assuming we would have scored from it the game would have been more open and we probably would have gone on to win comfortably.
With a much changed team we played relatively well and by comparison with the Hull Bus Co aided by the anti-ref we were by far the better team.,
Thanks to the mis-application (or non application) of the rules we have the pain of a replay – but at least the PGMO anti-ref could not completely screw us!
But full marks to the team for effort!
Obviously if a team parked their whole stadium in their half and defend like their life depends on it, surely it’s difficult to play fast attacking football. Now those that say the ref didn’t play a part in the result, they probably read the updates on the Internet and didn’t watch the match. Had a penalty was given for the handball and most likely we would have scored, Hull wouldn’t be parking their stadium, and the game would be more open and the result would changed. I’m not saying it’s all the refs fault but they did play a large part in the result.
However, I do agree that some of our players need train on their goal shooting as the finishing was rushed due to so many defenders in the box.
I thought that the boys all played well .With a bit of luck , and a penalty or two we could have walked this ! Their keeper had a great game , and to their credit they mostly played fair other than a few dramatic dives !
Mike Dean not always being being Mike Dean must have confused our players , too !
A man visits a mental hospital. He sees a patient with torn clothes and unkempt hair shouting ” Laila, Laila “.
He asks the assistant about the reason for his behavior.
The Asst says that the patient used to love a girl called Laila but couldn’t marry her. So he became mad.
The man visits next ward. There also he sees another patient with torn clothes and unkempt hair shouting “Laila , Laila “.
The man looks again at the assistant who says, “This one….. married Laila !”
Smarty-pants aren’t born .., they are made ….
http://www.gocomics.com/soup-to-nutz/2014/11/24?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=socialmarketing&utm_content=thingsyoucanthankyoursisterfor-blog&utm_campaign=blogging
Quotes from the BBC website from Steve Bruce on replays in the FA Cup:
“It’s ridiculous the number of games we have got coming up,” said Bruce.
“Why can’t we just go to penalties? Why do we have to have a replay?”
Bruce, whose side currently top the Championship, believes it is also unfair on fans, adding: “Supporters have to find the money to support their team.”
Here’s a thought Steve; how about you send a team out that doesn’t park 11 players within the width of your own 18 yard box, as that way you might have an outside chance of scoring a goal yourself.
Otherwise the FA Cup will be reduced to being winnable by ambitionless, talentless sides and nobody will watch….
LOL funny those quotes from Bruce. Maybe trying to win yourself by actually playing football that would reduce the chance of a replay very much. It is is own tactics that has lead to this extra match.
@ClockEndRider and Walter
Yes very comical man that Bruce; his tactics were so obvious – him and his bunch of un-imaginative lot holding out for a draw! which is revealing to his plan at Hull for the replay…Go to penalties and hope to get through. Real football ehhh!!
Having said that; I would also expect our Arsenal to be much more defensive against Barcelona come Tuesday evening, but certainly not un-imaginative/adventurous, and don’t except Mr Wenger to be complaining about the extra games either 🙂
Observations:
1. We created a lot of opportunities
2. Bruce told his players to line up in front of their goal so they looked like him
3. We missed Mesut
4. Mike Dean is still a big twat!
And our finishing was shocking….
I don’t agree that we were slow in the first half. We seemed to me to be mounting attacks pretty well all the time. Unlucky, lads – next time!
I still dont know why some keepers seem to have the game of their lives when they face us. Maybe we are victims of the so called wengerball which can be scarily effective in dispatching any team when employed successfully.
As much as the media sometimes berate and downplay us, deep down they know the kind of damage this team can wrought. Heck even most opposing managers seem to appreciate that threat.
Who knows, but i think most teams dread playing us. It’s only logical that this ‘fear’ so to speak makes a shed keener, determined, more decisive…they basically subconsciously raise their performance. The prospect of facing a major threat in life normally makes loads of adrenaline course your veins…that flight vs fight thingy, so they fight like helll!
Could I say tht another positive in this match is that teams are actually beginning to fear us…soton, The League leaders, chelsea,… they know. And this doom n gloom before the barca match is unwarranted, we can beat those prima donnas, all we need is tht same old ruthless wengerball. Correctly executed, it almost always triumphs over the boring tikitaka
Walter
Thanks for replying. But I think that if the Chambers incident were at the other end “it was nowhere near a penalty”.
I don’t think we were worthy of winning with a soft penalty like that. Mike Dean or not.
And yes, dislike me for being honest. I’m obliged.
dieter 3 penalties. 20 odd shots on goal against a parked bus. What is your point exactly?
Do we expect Hull to play a open game and make it easy, we had 20 shots, what does that tell you…
dieter, Chambers incident was a ‘stone-wall’ penalty.
The others could be argued about, but irrespective of which end it happened (for or against us) it was a penalty.
Tipster, Are you suggesting that because they’re so good that RM, Barca and Bayern never get a draw….
No, but the liikelihood is they would have beaten Hull yesterday. Especially with their strikers.
Norman 14 – excellent comment. Tipster your commet was as expected -couldn’t finish a melted ice cream.
Hi there Menace, should we park the bus on Tuesday?
Tipster
So your point is that if we’d had some of the best and most expensive players in the world we’d have beaten Hull.
These same players who the moneybags clubs Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City could easily afford but haven’t got.
And still you can only say “likelihood”.
The “likelihood” is we would have beaten Hull easily if every refereeing decision had been given fairly.
Could be argued that had our finishing been of a similar standard to that of the most expensive players in the world , we would not have needed to rely on penalties.
I love the way that as soon as criticism of our players is raised a comment regarding expensive signings is made. There of course is no reason for that to be the case. Many examples of players coming from lower leagues and scoring are on record, in fact our 2nd highest was one.