By Walter Broeckx
Sorry for the delay but as I had to be in the TV studios with our supporters club I couldn’t get to a computer earlier.
Lots of doubts before the match about the fitness of Alexis. But he started. So was he fit? Probably yes in the way that Alexis always is fit as long as he has two legs. But was he at the top of his game? That was something that we had to wait.
Missing right flank player (don’t dare to call him right back) Bellerin was a big blow. His replacement was Jenkinson. Defensive no problem but how much would we miss the attacking force from Bellerin? Another thing we had to find out during the match.
Elneny started next to Coquelin in midfield and also Ramsey with his first start since the opening match of the season. As far as I can remember anyway.
This gave us the following starting team: Cech, Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Elneny, Özil, Ramsey, Alexis, Walcott.
On the beach we had : Ospina, Gabriel, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Xhaka, Giroud, Iwobi.
The match had an even start with both teams trying to get an attack starting but you could see some cautious play from both teams. Mata curled a free kick wide from the goal being the first real goal attempt. Arsenaly replying with Walcott on the flank but no Arsenal at the end of his cross. A bit later Arsenal threw a ball in the box and a header from Walcott brought the ball to Alexis who from a close angle completely misdirected his header. That was the first real chance of the match.
Alexis committing a foul that got him booked for a tackle from behind. No problem for me. Darmian bringing Walcott down a bit later when Theo was at full speed and again the yellow card came out. The match now being completely locked as both teams building in a lot of safety. Arsenal with lots of the ball but no penetration. Manchester United leaning back and trying to hit Arsenal on the counter but not much coming from it.
A bit of controversy then? Why not. Darmian already on a yellow coming in with his studs and catching Jenkinson on the shin. A second yellow card should have been produced and even the case for a straight red card could be made but ref Marriner being very, very mild for the Mancester United defender.
Valencia playing the ball through the legs of Monreal and then both went down in the penalty area. Maybe Marriner still had the Darmian incident in the back of his head and waved any claim away. Valencia was maybe a bit impeded by the outstretched hand of Monreal but I don’t know why then he would throw his legs behind as if he had been kicked on the legs. Maybe he tried too hard to impress the ref a foul was made. So both teams had their benefit of the doubt of a controversial referee decision.
Not much goal mouth incidents till Mata had a shot that was palmed away by Cech for a corner. And a bit later Martial had a shot that also was parried well by Cech. Arsenal most of the ball but we missed the attacking force of Bellerin on our right flank and were too predictable because of this.
I don’t know what was in the half time tea in the Arsenal dressing room but I wouldn’t be surprised if it contained some sleeping pills. This was by far the sloppiest start I have seen from Arsenal this season. Apart maybe from the Liverpool match. Manchester United pressed more and it needed some brave defending from Jenkinson, Kos and Mustafi. Manchester United claiming a penalty when the ball bounced off the private parts of Mustafi against his hand. Some half hearted protests from some United players but I think even they knew it was not a penalty.
But Arsenal on the back foot and not being able to put some passes together. Alexis was nearly invisible and one can wonder if the Uruguay match and jetlag was talking its toll. Rooney came on for United and that brought a bit more pressure on the Arsenal defenders. You could feel a goal coming for United. And it came when a ball was cut back from the right flank and Mata was on hand to push the ball past Cech. 1-0 after 70 minutes.
On came Giroud for Elneny. (Live from the TV studio: Marcel (board member Arsenal Belgium) : Giroud will score in the last minute of the match) and a bit later Chaka came on for Coquelin. Ramsey dropping deeper in midfield. And a final substitution saw Jenkinson taken off and The Ox came on. Wenger va banque one could say. 3 defenders and the rest attacking players for the final 7 minutes + added on time.
In between Rojo headed wide after a cross from their left flank. Well wide in fact. Manchester United now retracted around their penalty area and wanted Arsenal to run in to the red wall. Arsenal attacked but seemed toothless as during most of the match. Mourinho already counting his chickens and looking gloating in the direction of the Arsenal bench.
The Ox on the right flank, a Sunderland movement (remember our opening goal over there), going past the Manchester left back (wasn’t it Rashford???) and then throwing the ball in front of the goal. Koscielny couldn’t reach it but there came Nananananaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Giroud. Jumping up as if he was going to break the world record long jump and high jump at the same time, rising above everyone else and as soon as his head reached the ball it was headed over the goal line in such force that De Gea could only move his arms around a bit with no chance of stopping that. GOAL !!!!!!!! 1-1 after 89 minutes. (Live from the TV studio: just as our treasurer predicted it would happen!!!!)
What followed was 4 minutes of extra time with lots of nerves, some yellow cards for dissent as Rooney seemed very unhappy with the way it went. Don’t worry Wayne, we have known this feeling a few times at Old Trafford when you maybe don’t get what you deserved.
The face of Mourinho was pure gold. I think he was crying, but maybe that was my crying from laughing too hard.
Yes, we played bad. Alexis apart from some turns was completely off the boil when it came to making passes to his teammates. But even when playing bad we never gave up and got away with a golden point at Old Trafford. One of our most difficult away grounds over the years. Grab a point at Southampton and I think we will be close to a winning title race.
I’m going to watch a few replays of the face of Mourinho at the end of the match. That made the draw very sweet.
Alexis seemed like the only player in mood for a win
worst performance for El-Nenny that i can rememeber, cost us the goal, could have been more, shouldn’t have started today or at least should have been replaced at the break
Our attack was weak. We were toothless upfront.
We really need a specialist central striker.
Walter
I couldn’t help to notice your exact description of the Darmian on Jenks challange and what should’ve followed- the second yellow, or even posibly a red.
Why the ambiguity about the penalty incident then?
It was important not to lose…
Off topic,
Noticing the spuds scored 2 goals around 90th minute, one of which was a pen, got me thinking :was this win not handed to spuds:. So I went searching for a match report, only to come across football365’s match report which had an opening line as per the below;
‘Tottenham sealed a 3-2 victory in the most dramatic of fashions against West Ham, with Mike Dean playing a starring role.’
I didn’t read the rest…
Well, the result did not go the way I predicted it will for Arsenal. I had predicted a 0-3 win for Arsenal. But we’ve seen why that result didn’t happen for us. It didn’t because Arsenal did not attack very well in the game to claim this result that was on the cards for them to claim. But at any rate we got a point. Thank God! And Olivier Giroud for saving us from a repeat blushes.
Nevertheless, I give my credit to our defense-line for their almost impregnable defending, save that Mata’s like gifted free goal when our CBs were no where to be seen in their positions to block his grounder.
What has been happening to us which had made us dropped 4 points in back to back big game. At least we ought to have won one of these games to gain 2 additional points.
We played at Old Trafford against Man U almost as we played against Spurs at the Ems. We repeated the problem we had in the Spurs again in the Man U game today by allowing the opposition to pick our balls when we had it in our half or in our 18 yard area. Thereby give them the chance to be mounting continuous pressure on us. This lapse in our organizational play which had made us often losing the balls we had in our half to the opposition players in 2 games MUST come to a stop when we face PSG on Wedsdays night. So as to start correcting this lapse that has crept in into our organizational play which consequently had made us to lose our game fluency from the back before we face Bournemouth in the PL.
A tough match against the master of parking the entire fleet and the RN diving team, plus being at old toilet, a point is well deserved, especially based on how flat we were in the second half. Wenger is a tactical master and brought on exactly the pair needed to get us that point!
PSG midweek will be an interesting choice for Wenger as he needs to rest the likes of Alexis,Ozil and Monreal so my guess is that Giroud will start and Ospina will be in nets,with Jenks playing alongside Gibbs,Holding and Mustafi. Ramsey will certainly get another start and the OX will also. Iwobi will also get a start with Walcott being on the wing and LeCoq or Xhaka in midfield. My guess is that we’ll see a few youth players on the beach as well; Maitland-Niles,Martinez, with Giroud (our super sub) and Debuchy,Jeff Reine-Adelaide and El-Neny and Gabriel to round out the troops.
I wonder IF Wenger will give Mertesacker and Chuba Akpom a run-out but my gut tells me he’ll stick with players who are game fit and have played in the last month or so. We’ll see!
It is a home game so we’ll want to pick up the pace a bit and show our home fans that we can play with the big boys just like any other teams.
Thanks Walter.
Despite this being such a draw, I still want to say well done to the boys. There are no easy games in the Premier League, and playing at OT is definitely up there with the most difficult ones.
We need to find a solution to the problem created when Cazorla doesn’t play. And fast too. I wonder why Ramsey or Xhaka did not play in the CMF. Maybe Wenger was playing it safe with Xhaka’s penchant for the odd dangerous cynical foul. Nothing wrong with that. Better safe than sorry. Or Ramsey’s love for going forward too much, which would have left us exposed. But I think we lacked credible sustained service to Ozil and the strike force. That is what makes us tick, and it wasn’t there.
Aside from that, we seem to have a problem of according too much respect to either ManU or OT (or both)! It was like we had a terror of past defeats there at the back of our minds and that impeded our flow.
I still think highly of this team and the boss. Champions sometimes play badly and yet still get a result, which narrative clearly fits today’s game.
Let’s rest and get our acts together for Wednesday. Maybe that will give us another opportunity to whoop ass.
What a big ass that will be!
Once again it was proven that given the right service, Giroud will finish the job, particularly if it’s in the air.
Alexis will never be the recognised striker we need.
And Arsene was far too late in putting on the subs who, between them, got us a point.
Playing Man Utd at the hot bed that is OT, has invariably been a red letter day in our season and to come away with a point is more than satisfactory. 😉
Tank God November is coming to an end.so glad we have cech n kostafi.they wer my men of d match
We didn’t play well, but we got a draw and that goal deserved it. The pundits on Match of the Day would have us believe Arsenal were rubbish. No mention of Manchester United. But they were at home, didn’t score till the 68th minute, and we still drew. So how well did they play?
Arsene Wenger’s interview on Sky before the match went into the effects of players being away on international duty. He says they come back having played with a different team in a different way and also probably in need of a rest. They don’t get it and have to re-adjust to their club. So these two things have an effect. This may have been a factor in the performance of both teams today. Coming back on Thursday and having to play Saturday lunch time is not the best.
Anyway, I’m pleased with the draw in the circumstances.
OT: Doping in Sport
http://www.swimvortex.com/will-ioc-have-balls-to-bar-football-from-olympics-if-fifa-cries-foul-on-wada-plans/
As you can tell from the URL, this article is written from the swimming point of view.
In my words, the IOC and WADA are in a showdown with FIFA. As I read it, FIFA has told the IOC and WADA that it doesn’t care what rules it comes up with, they won’t be following them. The only power IOC has, is to remove football from the Olympics. I really don’t think FIFA cares whether football is in the Olympics or not, it is nothing compared to the rest of the brown paper bag that is international football.
@ Gord – 20/11/2016 at 1:15 am – Knowing what strange bedfellows make in international sports and its regulation , I wouldn’t be too surprised that some sort of compromise would be reached . With proper financial remuneration to everyone’s satisfaction , of course .
Just like in this story …
The Psychiatrist and Proctologist
Two doctors, a psychiatrist and a proctologist, opened an office in a small town and put up a sign reading: “Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones: Hysterias and Posteriors.”
The town council was not happy with the sign, so the doctors changed it to read,
“Schizoids and Hemorrhoids.”
This was not acceptable either, so in an effort to satisfy the council, they changed the sign to “Catatonics and High Colonics.”
No go.
Next, they tried, “Manic Depressives and Anal Retentives.”
Thumbs down again.
Then came “Minds and Behinds.”
Still no good.
Another attempt resulted in , “Lost Souls and Butt Holes.”
Unacceptable again!
So they tried “Analysis and Anal Cysts.”
Not a chance.
“Nuts and Butts?”
No way.
“Freaks and Cheeks?”
Still no go.
“Loons and Moons?”
Forget it.
Almost at their wit’s end, the doctors finally came up with: ” Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones, “Odds and Ends.”
Everyone loved it.
I wonder which one of those would get treat all of ‘them’ who came on here to praise the appointment of Moain’inho as the ManUre manager , as the next coming ?
Well seeing that their mouths are still firmly fixed to his arse ! And that they are still swallowing all his crap , and are still delusional ?
An interesting case that may have been already solved !
Dear Abby,
I am a crack dealer in Beaumont, Texas who has recently been diagnosed as a carrier of the HIV virus. My parents live in Fort Worth. One of my sisters lives in Pflugerville and is married to a transvestite.
My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana. They are financially dependent on my other two sisters who are prostitutes in Dallas.
I have two brothers, one is currently serving a non-parole life sentence for the murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My other brother is currently in jail awaiting charges of sexual misconduct with his three children.
I have recently become engaged to marry a former prostitute who lives in Plano. She is a part time “working girl”.
All things considered, my problem is this. I love my fiance and look forward to bringing her into the family. I certainly want to be totally open and honest with her. Should I tell her about my cousin in Longview who supports Hillary Clinton for president?
Signed: Worried about my reputation.
“So how well did they play?”
They did not play particularly well, but were considerably better than were.
If you’re only judging on the MOTD edits you’ll never get a true idea of how poor we actually were.
…better than we were
He had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
His voice had that tense, grating quality, like a first-generation thermal paper fax machine that needed a band tightened.
The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
Walter
When you do your more thorough referee review could you take another look at the Darmian yellow card foul and see if you think that Theo actually tripped and was not fouled at all.
Start to 2nd half was very reminiscent of the one against Spurs. I hoped we’d got through it unscathed when we rallied with our first attack of the half but that wasn’t the case. Add the Liverpool game and it looks like we may have a problem with that period.
9 of 12 goals conceded in 2nd half also suggests this, with 7 between 45 and 70. The big plus is that in first half play we have only conceded to two free kicks and the Swansea goal, which is an excellent record.
I’m short of ideas as to why we’d be vulnerable in this period. Anyone?
Our threat seemed to die completely and while our defensive actions from the back four and holding midfielders were sound we didn’t quite have the look nor shape of a team totally committed to defence.
Walter
Thanks. It’s not that hard to be neutral. You can if you want to. Though I disagree about Darmian as his yellow was a joke. But that’s debatable.
One point was beyond expectations. Apart from Jenkinson we were solid enough at the back. Giroud’s stunning header highlighted his supremacy in the air. And if there’s a better ball-winner around than Coquelin I’ve yet to see him.
On a sourer note Özil was nowhere. But no surprise there. This occurs far too often.
Well a disappointing display but a result that isn’t shabby an away point is always good. It leaves us unbeaten away from home a good run of games unbeaten. We seemed to struggle and I had to admit to my mate who was watching with me who is a Utd fan that we didn’t deserve that draw based on our performance. It definitely looked that without iwobi on that left wing and bellerin on the right our attacking impoteus was lost. I am struggling at the moment to see what Ramsey brings to the team and for me defensively monreal was awful. He could have easily maybe even should have had a penalty given against him even though it would have been soft. On the darmian second foul yes it was a foul and yes it could have been yellow yet I felt mariner did the right thing had a chat and told him he was lucky to be on pitch it’s easy to send a player off but in a big game like this unless it’s unavoidable then try and keep the game 11 vs 11 again my mate who was watching felt they were lucky they didn’t get a player sent off. Neville says he doesn’t see Arsenal as title challengers, but aren’t we told that the sign of a title winning team is the ability to get results even when they are not playing well.
Richard – I don’t see Gary Neville as much of a pundit, coach or manager, but then I suppose he cares as little what I think as I do about what he thinks 🙂
Wow – to read some of these comments you’d think our entire squad was crap. Yet here we are two points off the top of the table.
Pat I agree, we seem to have picked up a new anti Arsenal depressive, who since the disappearance of the Rupert, seems to have assumed the role of entertaining us (or himself) by talking out of the wrong end of his anatomy!
It was not a great performance yesterday, but at that den of iniquity, against a team guided in anti football by the Odious One and under the malign presence of the PGMO, it could never be a scintillating performance.
But, off the ball we hung in there and competed, even following their goal, we prevented them scoring a second, scored a suberb goal ourselves and defended stoutly to the end – even with the ref giving the Manures some dubious free kicks in dangerous areas.
Overall a good away point, and a good end to the day.
@Rich
I think that our second half issues are related to our midfield issue when Santi is not on the pitch. He is our Napoleon and when he is not around, we don’t have calmness to keep our heads up when the opponents put a pressure on us.
Santi wasn’t on the pitch against Liverpool and our youngsters in the defence were all over the place after Coutinho’s goal.
He wasn’t there when we played Tottenham either.
Also, Ozil has become our second striker which means he is less involved in the midfield action. Add the fact we play with two front-foot central defenders and you’ll understand why we don’t have the same shape like we had last season.
Well, it is believed that the performance did not warrant the result but then that is said to be the hallmarks of champions to get a result under whatever conditions.
One thing that is obvious however, is that Monreal is a weak link in the defence this season or perhaps he has just been found out.. Most of the goals we concede now come from that flank – PSG, Ludogorets, Swansea and yesterday. Not less than 6 goals. That knowledge seems not to be lost on the opposition as it is.
Maybe it is about time he is rested and Gibbs come in.
Well, it is believed that our performance did not warrant the result, but then, that is said to be the hallmarks of champions. To get a result under whatever conditions.
One thing that is obvious however, is that Monreal is a weak link in the defence this season or perhaps he has just been found out.. Most of the goals we concede now come from that flank – PSG, Ludogorets, Swansea and yesterday. Not less than 6 goals. That knowledge seems not to be lost on the opposition, so they try to overload that side.
Maybe it is about time he is rested for Gibbs.
I think people are quite entitled to call a poor performance for what it is regardless of our league position.
Most of the commenters here have got it spot on as they usually do.
Bjt
To borrow a line from the Rupert himself “I sussed this one out” too 🙂
Reading a few comments regarding Monreal he’s at fault for a lot of goals we concede
IMO he is doubled/tripled up against with no help and a different player in front of him
Agree. Unfair comments regarding Nacho. He didn’t turn from being one of our best perfomers last season to rubbish a few months down the line. Think many are just too quick to scapegoat without doing any analysis.
monreal weak link for arsenal against ludogorets????? when did he play???
2 games I miss and ARSENAL draw games……sure do they miss me.
Who is this mythical specialist striker? The one we miss every game, literally.
I just watched the whole replay & thought we played an excellent game under the circumstances. As usual there were a lot of contentious decisions from the blind Pigmob rep. There were several so called robust fouls by Utd. players that were ignored. Darmian should have been off as should Herera & the simulating Valencia should have got a yellow. His going down like a bitch wanting Monreals babies while the ball was off in a different direction, certainly was trying to ‘win’ a penalty. As for the pundits, I certainly balance their biased views!
Does anyone have a link to good ole Maureen face screwed up?