No Ramsey in the team and Bellerin not at right back, that were the most noticable changes before kickoff. Wilshere came in the team for Ramsey and Chambers playing at right back.
Arsenal XI: Cech, Chambers, Mustafi, Koscielny, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Wilshere, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Iwobi, Aubameyang
Bench: Ospina, Bellerin, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Welbeck, Nketiah
Iwobi with a blocked effort and then Özil with a shot that went over in the opening minutes from Arsenal. Brighton getting a corner. Cech can’t get to the ball and the ball falls in the midle and Brighton score from 5 meters out. After a good start again the first shot from the opposition goes in. 1-0 behind after 6 minutes. And Cech again not looking very well. Arsenal shocked and Brighton feel the confidence of the Arsenal players slipping again and try to add a second goal. Cech this time with a good save. Arsenal then trying to control the match again but too slow to break up the packed Brighton defence. 1-0 after 15 minutes.
Iwobi losing the ball brings another chance for Brighton. Luckily for us Cech stops the low shot with his foot. When Brighton win a corner they look dangerous each time. Arsenal attacking more going backwards than forwards and when we pass forward the pass is not precise enough. The Arsenal players looking slow on their legs compared to the Brighton players. Koscielny giving the ball away cheaply and the cross finds Murray who heads it in under the hand of Cech who again looks weak. 2-0 after 26 minutes. Did we really have to get rid of Sczczesny for Chech? Kolasinac then goes in the book for dissent when Brighton gets a free kick.
Arsenal playing in a harmless way putting themselves under pressure by playing the ball around in a slow way around their own penalty area and give it away more than once. Arsenal players mostly ball looking, not ball attacking. Wilshere goes in the book for a late challenge. Izqueirdo being given offside but Cech had managed to turn the ball out this time. 67 % possession for Arsenal but zero result so far. Should have said it earlier. Kolasinac on the left and his cross is half cleared and Iwobi picks up the ball to Xhaka whose low cross finds Aubameyang who side foots it in the goal. 2-1 after 42 minutes.
A corner finds Koscielny but his header hits the post. Unlucky…..We go in at half time 2-1 down.
A back pass from Mustafi that is underhit almost gives a chance to Brighton but Cech first on the ball. Arsenal trying to go forward but just a low shot from Mkhitaryan to show in the opening minutes. Xhaka gets a yellow card for a foul on Bong. A weak shot with his left foot from Iwobi doens’t really trouble the keeper. A shot from Özil does but he saves for a corner. Özil then finds Aubameyang who rounds the keeper but his cross is cut out by a few defenders. Still 2-1 after 60 minutes.
Arsenal with another chance after some good advantage from the ref but the low cross is cleared in front of Aubameyang. The defender getting his yellow card later. The match is then stopped for a long period when a Brighton player clashes with the shoulder of Kolasinac and has to come off. Brighton players surrounding the ref to get Kolasinac send off but this was just a collision of a player being a bit shorter than Kolasinac the tank.
After 73 minutes Iwobi comes off and Welbeck enters the field. Murray gets a yellow card for a late challenge on Wilshere. After 81 minutes Bellerin and Nketiah enter the field for Chambers and Mkhitaryan. A Brighton goal is correctly disallowed for offside. Kolasinac with a cross but the header from Nketiah is too soft to bring real danger. For some reason refs in England want the ball completely in the quarter circle for a corner…. it has to touch the line in projection but it will take seconds of the clock I do admit. A shot from Aubameyan ends right in the arms of the keeper.
Too slow, too much ball watching, and players who are clearly afraid of making mistakes and thus making mistakes.
We have to drink the poisoned chalice to the bottom it seems. (Don’t know if this idiom gets the message through, it does in my language)
Anyone have a positive for this game? Could do with one as this was a total disgrace.
No positive from me.
Another awful performance to add to so many awful performances this season.
The way they are playing at present I can’t see them beating an egg let alone any other team.
untenable
It’s like the players are too scared to loosen up and do their own thing.
If the coaches are responsible for this shambles, then they all need to leave now!
Put Pires and Merts in charge till the end of the season, then start a new era.
There is one potential positive outcome from the game
How do we even start the process of fixing this disaster? Whoever (hopefully) replaces Wenger this summer is going to have his work cut out for him.
We can’t even go all-out for the Europa league as we’re missing our 2 most expensive and arguably best players – Auba and Laca. Can’t believe we’re now duking it out with Burnley for a Europa spot next season!
@The_Ledge – We’ve either got cr@p coaches, cr@p players or a mixture of both. I think we all know the answer to this one – Clearout!
Just watching Man City play, the movement in front of the midfield is far superior to ours.
We just seem to keep passing sideways until we compress the play until all our outfield players are sucked to far forwards.
Then the break comes and we just blame the defence and Steve Bould.
at anywhere else in any job you WOULD BE FIRED
@David Sharpe,
Yes, being in the top 30% of your profession (6 out of 20) would get you fired in any job. I can’t believe 70% of the population is unemployed. Can you tell me where I can find your magical employment numbers.
cant believe your defending him,your apathy is whats wrong with arsenal,if you cant see that man and i use the term loosely should be fired then keep taking the tablets
In the match, @16:33, Chambers got upended in the box by the Brighton #3, G. Bong. Being an honest player, Chambers didn’t dive to win the penalty, instead he kept his arms strong to recover from that tackle. Should have been a penalty.
Also, in the second half, @57:45, Xhaka was subject to a leg-breaking tackle in the box by Brighton #6, D. Stephens, and had to withdraw his foot, tumbling as a result. Had he not, he would have been out on a stretcher.
I always come to this site for perspective and calmness after every defeat because the other sites are too toxic for my well being. So i ask, how do we get out of this mess.
Sorry, I live in a rational world where 70% of the population would not be fired. I can’t believe you are not taking tablets. Life is not about living in the extremes.
I chose to support the club. The club includes the manager and players. Whenever Wenger leaves, I’ll support the next manager as well, that’s what supporters do.
You on the other hand, will just be a fickle “fan”, and I use that term fan very loosely.
Hands up everyone who thinks they know how to manage a top football club when players are low on confidence cos the fans, the media and the pundits have the knives out big time………
But then all these people who are certain they can easily do AW’s job and could be earning millions a year as a football manager strangely have to go back to their minimum wage job tomorrow……….funny that!
your a twat ive supported arsenal for 51 years wenger only won trophies when it was a 2 horse race,just stop and look whats happening twat
Let’s agree to support whoever whenever they come in to replace Arsene Wenger which will happen eventually. However, at this point I think it’s reasonable to suggest that Wenger has come to the end of his usefulness to Arsenal as a manager and that we need to take a different direction if we want to compete. We were the bottom of the top four then the bottom of the top five and now six. At this rate we’ll be bottom of the top 20 if we’re not diligent enough to change with the demands of the modern game.
@david sharpe,
Thank you for your insightful comments. You are clearly the Sharpe-st tool in the shed. I bow down to your superior knowledge. I will ignore, that a supposed Arsenal supporter of 51 years somehow forgot the 18 years Arsenal didn’t win the League from 71 to 89.
Clearly your alternate reality is where I should be at where Arsenal won the league every year for 30 years until Wenger took over.
@5th Gen Gooner,
I will support whoever manages Arsenal. At this point, I see no benefit for the club, getting on the backs of the current manager or players. At this time, the best thing to do if you really want to support the club is get behind the manager and the players.
What good is calling for a mid-season change? None of the top managers are going to be available until the summer or after World Cup so you either end up with a temporary manager or one that is not that good. Most mid-season changes do not end with a positive change in results for the club. So essentially if you call for a mid-season change, you are calling for the team to get worse, not better.
Whether or not we change manager, the rest of the coaching staff should be changed.
@Jerry
I totally agree now is not the time for change but now is the time to start planning for it. We simply cannot afford another season like this one. Arsene has been a brilliant manager but like all good things… Complacency has set in and IMHO there is no more to be gained by Arsene continuing as manager of Arsenal Football club.
BTW – I’m already on record as stating Steve Bould is the real culprit right now.
Andrew.. I did ask on the last post..
What happened to Kevin Friend as the referee today?
Look we were competitive there was enjoyment watching us now it’s terrible we were sold a dream moving from Highbury well I’ve had enough of the lies tell it like it is we can’t compete anymore just be honest with the fans and our expectations will be lowered
@ David.
Who would you like to see as a replacement?
Maybe that’s it, we need to no longer demand success and accept mid-table mediocrity??? Hurts to accept doesn’t it but let’s face it, with the current setup should we expect anything more? There’s certainly no signs of this changing anytime soon and our own manager has stated that we are getting worse.
ancelotti we need someone strong we need to admit times move on he was once the best now it’s over
It’s absolutely too late to do anything about it at this time, so the best bet will be to struggle along until the season finishes and then make wholesale changes to the management, coaching & players. This is the worst Arsenal team I’ve seen since late George Graham period. There is not one world class player in out squad and City have probably five. The Invincible’s had at least five and any team with title winning aspirations should have at least four. Our money has been spent on average to poor players at the best.
@5th Gen,
I agree about planning for the future, but the club is already doing that by getting things in place behind the scenes who will sign the next manager (Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanlehhi).
@Knobby, due to injury Kevin Friend was switched to 4th official I believe.
Ancellotti..
Wasn’t he sacked by Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for not being good enough even though they were the richest clubs in their respective leagues.
At Arsenal he would have far greater financial restrictions.
Let’s make that late Terry Neil period, because Graham at least had a terrific defence.
it’s over, it really is.
Boy all gloom and doom from our fabulous supporters! The ship isn’t sinking but we are going through heavy seas….our team needs us now and our support for them to regain confidence.All you moaners and whiners, pessimists and cry-babies have rarely if ever come on here when we were doing well but now you crawl out from under your rock and snipe away. We don’t need this as a team or as a supporter…..stay faithful to the Arsenal, they’ll right the ship and get back on course, one way or the other.
@knobby,
Attwell was originally listed as fourth official and Friend as referee, they swapped roles and I can’t see any reason listed why – maybe a slight muscle pull or something.
David Sharpe
“……we were sold a dream moving from Highbury well I’ve had enough of the lies”
It wasn’t lies. Things changed.
When we moved from Highbury we were always told the Club would be run on a self sustaining model. That is still the case.
How is it a lie?
At the time of the move there was no sign of the Billionaire investors that were to arrive on the scene. I don’t think anyone could of predicted that.
How is that a lie?
At the time of the move it would of been envisaged that, yes it would, for a few years, be difficult to keep pace with United, (after all the main reason for the stadium move was to enable us to do that on a more level playing field financially), but we should comfortably manage to stay at least top 3 or 2 and possibly, if United slipped up, a title challenge. But when RA arrived at Chelsea, and then the Arabs at City, that made that much more difficult.
At the time of the move it was understood that it would put significant financial constraints on the transfer budget, but due to a global recession that period was greatly extended. I don’t think anyone could of predicted that.
Even the originally hoped for benefits of vastly increased match day revenue has been severely diminished, as other income streams, such as mega sponsorship deals and even more so the TV money, have increased way beyond what could of been foreseen.
If you cannot see the massive changes that occurred in the football landscape between the day the new stadium ‘Dream’ was envisaged, and the time it was actually built, then you must be walking with your eyes closed.
Now, having said all that I concede that for most of the time Arsenal underplayed the impact the building of the Stadium would have, especially as things just kept getting tougher and tougher.
But what were they supposed to say? They needed to sell tickets. That is a harsh reality of economics. If, as you seem to be suggesting, they had come out and said:
‘this was always going to be tough, really tough to remain competitive, and now we have Chelsea and City to factor in it’s going to be nigh on impossible, not just for now, but maybe for as much as 10 years.’
Honestly, how do you think that would of played out? Do you REALLY think that’s how it works ?
So no, we wasn’t sold a dream and then lied to, we was sold a dream that was blown away in a Global recession, a tidal wave of Oil, and an explosion of TV and sponsorship money, none of which I contest any of us could of foreseen, the day the ‘dream’ was dreamt.
And if you even suggest it should of been then you my friend must be ‘rolling in it’.
So this request of yours:
“……we can’t compete anymore just be honest with the fans and our expectations will be lowered”
sounds extremely ill conceived, and if you truly believe actually coming out and saying that is in anyway possible then you really do not live in the real World.
I accept, and agree with our self sustaining modal.
I accept, that whilst others are sponsored to the tune of a Billion pounds, by mega rich owners, we are very unlikely to win the PL.
Personally I have seen and accepted the reality of the situation for years.
If you need, or needed, Arsenal FC to spell it out for you then thinking about it I really do doubt that you are actually ‘rolling in it’.
If this is the performance we put in after a no holes barrel team meeting, we might as well pack it in.
Interesting couple of comments.David Pleat, who is a big AW fan, said , he did not see Wenger out of his dugout for 40 mins and also Ozil should be subbed at half time.He puts it in for Germany, but was walking around.David Seaman, who clearly supports AW, said it was very unfair for Wenger to take all the blame.
I am a big supporter of AW, however, please finish at the end of the season.I hate to see the media, say and write the awful things about him.You watch bloody Cricket in South Africa and some tosser shows a AW out poster up.
On a better note, we at least showed more intent than Chelsea.Had to laugh, when Conte said his team were the have nots playing against the have’s, meaning MONEY.
Finally, the Premiership have got what it deserves, a league with no competition.Brilliant.
Your an idiot I don’t care about all that crap I care about arsenal if your prepared to put up with this rubbish and quote Google get a life I’m an arsenal supporter the dame mistakes repeated over and over and over is good enough for you not me the real problem lies with Wenger employer he is happy with the job he is doing and the fans suffer
We don’t need debate we need heart we need fight
@David Sharpe,
You should try engaging in a debate instead of just relying on name calling. If you have to rely on name calling, you’ve already lost the debate.
David Sharpe
I’m an idiot and write that.
Oh dear.
Corr:
I’m and idiot and you write that.
Oh dear.
David Sharpe
I see you’ve called someone a ‘twat’ and me and ‘Idiot’.
Now I don’t really have that much of a problem with a bit of name calling, as long as you are addressing the points being made.
But you are not.
Just name calling is uncalled for.
You know what you can all go forth and multiply I’m done
What a sad individual you are.
We’re I’m from we settle this like men come to deptford I’ll kick 7 bells out of any of you sad pathetic losers
Are you for real ?
David, this is not Swearing fan TV channel. Certainly not when you are new to this site
Lol, apparently he is. Thanks David, I thought you would never be done. You know civilized people try to talk things out and have a conversation/debate, you know use their brains.
But thanks for making it clear that your thought process is similar to cave men. Just a suggestion, but maybe you should look at Stoke, they show that heart and fight you like, you know roughing them up like men and all.
So only civilized people can support arsenal? Don’t worry your time is up we will get change from top to bottom just wait and see
Come to 16 Shearwater court and call me un civilized and I’ll punch you in the throat
And the last three digits on the back of the card…
Lol, thanks for the offer and making my point for me.
You should read my post again to understand what civilized people do. It’s literally the 3rd sentence. If you want to have an honest debate/conversation, respond with some valid arguments.
If you want to continue being some kind of internet tough guy, that’s your choice, but not going to waste my time. Thanks for the laugh.
Don’t wanna talk wanna punch someone anyone of you will do you have my address bring it
We did all these impressive people like David not so sharpe come from? Everyone has ups and downs surely it won’t help if you stamp on people’s heads and say hey stay positive could be worse!
Fine David, you want to punch someone in the face. Go to 114 Amersham Vale which is only 2 miles away. Go inside and say you want to punch someone in the face. I’m sure someone can put you where you belong.
Your use of Google maps very impressive
Ok massive over reaction but im not gonna let my club die im gonna march protest boycott whatever it takes but im not gonna debate that time has gone
Seems the urge to ‘punch someone in the throat’ is playing second fiddle to the urge to keep tapping away on his keyboard now he knows where to go.
Rather makes a mockery of “Don’t wanna talk, wanna punch someone, anyone of you will do” doesn’t it.
Lol, thank you, you are much sharper than your prior posts indicated.
Yes, I get it you’re upset, all Arsenal supporters are with this year, but it’s still important for perspective. The best thing a supporter can do to help turn around the club’s fortunes is support the club (manager and players).
Turning on parts of the club and just following the media’s narrative will not help the club this season. Support the club fully and at the end of the season, the club will reassess.
These last two seasons are the first time the club has spent around 100 million in back to back seasons. Compare that to the other clubs:
1) Manchester City: over 360 million spent in the same time. Over 100 million in 4 out of the last 5 seasons (One season was 80 million)
2) Chelsea- spent over 100 million in 5 of the last 6 seasons
3) United- spent over 100 million in 3 out of the last 5 seasons
Arsenal is catching up and putting people in the place (Sven and Raul) to catch up on transfers. This winter was the start of the player clearout which shows the manager and board are trying to up the quality of the clubs. Of course, there are going to be growing pains.
David Sharpe
“….im not gonna debate that time has gone”
Fair enough if that’s how you feel, but wouldn’t it of been better if you went on a march and withdrew your patronage of Arsenal FC, rather than come on to a ‘debating’ forum such as this ?
To everyone who has suffered abuse on Untold of late, my apologies. Because I am in Australia I am unable to be attentive to the site in real time as I try to be normally – not least because events such as the Brighton game finished at around 2am here.
I am trying to deal with the abuse as best I can and hope you can stay with Untold during the interim.
Meanwhile to all the various people who accuse me of having banned them, in most cases you have not been banned. Rather you are breaking the basic rules of the blog which have been clearly laid out on this site for about eight years.
Anyway, hope you find something of interesting in my next piece which has been written while Europe sleeps and will be published as Europe awakes.
Oh just one other thing. Nitram, to take your point back a stage further … the notion of Arsenal as a self-sustaining club was at the heart of the takeover in 1910 by Henry Norris and was very much a centrepiece of his thinking when the club moved to Highbury in 1913. It took longer to achieve than he planned (a little thing called the First World War got in the way) but he delivered on that, and that was the model thereafter. Anyone knocking the idea of a self-sustaining club is knocking over 100 years of club tradition, history, and belief.
Tony.. That has been the best night I have seen on here. David was the funniest thing ever..
Thank you so much.
You enjoy your break.
Regards K
Hope youre having fun Tony, no need to address the “I broke my leg” in actuality I only grazed it people.
The leader of the post wenger era and obvious front runner for the manager job after Arsene has finally emerged.
David Sharpe step forward and accept your destiny.
We’d be unbeatable –
‘Pep, I’ll punch your throat out if you dare beat us again.’
‘Jose. Step outside and we’ll sort this out like men’
Or maybe not, might be a mad thought but maybe Mons. Wenger might just know more about football than your average Neanderthal.
I suggest we look to Milan and maybe as a token of atonement our ridiculously highly paid superstars might have the decency to hand their wages back this week.
Arsene still knows best !!!
The loss of Rosicky and then Caz has been a bodyblow. No wit at speed. No suddden sharp acceleration opening up the pitch and a defence forced to chase the movement.Instead this monumentally slow build-up, the runs made already anticpated and covered, defenders waiting for the pass that has already been signalled, every player known inside out.
The players cannot enhance each other because they cannot change tempo. God knows what they can do. You don’t find players like Rosicky & Caz easily, and should anyone be found who can turn a game inside out, big money talks. So a tough season.
The positives – more fight today and, it would always take the rest of the season for the changes to gel.
Ok everyday is not a Sunday, one month ago the wheather was fine in UK as of now its snowing heavily so its also snowing heavily at the Arsenal but the storm will calm down. Those who cant stand the smoke get out of the kitchen.
I’ve been watching football for decades, especially top European leagues.
I have never seen a case when WHOLE team underperforms for a longer period and the manager stays in the saddle after that. It’s unfair but when you can’t get a clean sheet in the league for over two months, when you have twice as many defeats as you have victories in the opening two months of the year, when you have only a remote chance for a trophy in a European competition, there is only one solution and it’s to replace the manager with a new face, a new brush that is usually a successful short-term solution.
There are not too many available top managers out there though – none of Thomas Tuchel (who is not in good relations with Sven Mislintat), Guus Hiddink (who might be waiting for Chelsea to call him again), Luis Enrique (who has failed to apply his Barcelona idea at Roma) and Carlo Ancelotti (who was sacked by Bayern last autumn) wouldn’t arrive as a 100% certain success. Arsenal are right now on a lower position than Bruce Rioch had left it (we finished 5th back then due to inferior goal-difference to Aston Villa) with a chance to drop even further down if Burnley, a club that operates on a laughable budget comparing to ours, get a few good result and our slump continues.
David Sharpe, one of the things I used to love about Arsenal was an intelligent fanbase. That’s gone, and changing managers sure won’t bring it back.
“cant believe your defending him”? Why the hell not? Arsène has given us more in the last 5 seasons than some teams (not “clubs,” that term was an anachronism by the time Queen Victoria died) have given their fans in their entire histories.
“your apathy is whats wrong with arsenal”? No, it isn’t. It’s not apathy, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Cech being washed-up and Koscielny playing hurt. Quite the opposite: If anything, the negativity from you Wenger Out wretches is bringing the players down. People like YOU are the problem, not people like Jerry and myself.
“wenger only won trophies when it was a 2 horse race,just stop and look whats happening twat”? That is a lie. It was not just Arsenal and the Trafford cheats when Arsène and Sir Gumchomper went at it, and in the 4 seasons with 3 FA Cups, the League has essentially gone from a Big Four to a Big Five Plus the “Big” Spurs.
Being a fool is bad enough, but it’s forgivable. But don’t be a liar.
Have a great holiday , Tony . And don’t worry about the clowns and morons on the site – I cannot quite remember when I last had a good laugh as today !
And as usual , they probably don’t realse that they are being quite funny . That in itself is a gift of sorts !
Thanks all for making me feel better after yesterday’s disappointment .
And here is a feel good study that should cheer you up too Tony.
From – https://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm
Use It or Lose It: Dancing Makes You Smarter, Longer.
Richard Powers
There was one important exception: the only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.
Reading – 35% reduced risk of dementia
Bicycling and swimming – 0%
Doing crossword puzzles at least four days a week – 47%
Playing golf – 0%
Dancing frequently – 76%. That was the greatest risk reduction of any activity studied, cognitive or physical.
I know I am a fine one to talk after my lot turning up yesterday but settling down to an afternoon of football I didn’t fancy our chances but in truth I really thought you would get something out of your visit to the South Coast.
As I have often said I am very much an outsider looking in and I really don’t see how this ends well.
I am told that most footballers themselves know when their time is up and to be fair quite a lot of ex players who fancy becoming a manager have one go at it and that’s it after all it’s far easier and no doubt far less pressure to sit behind a camera and pontificate
There is absolutely no doubt that AW in terms of history is an iconic manager but the saddest thing is that he hasn’t it seems got anyone close to him that he can confide in or who feels confident enough to tell him that’s its time to make way. That’s what happened with Clough at Forest and in truth they still haven’t recovered from his demise
Now I am not saying there necessarily is any synergy between AFC and Forest but the fan base at Arsenal aren’t used to the new world of football coaches , a world where managers or coaches aren’t the all controlling individuals but are in reality there to do one job and that is primarily to work with and prepare the first team squad and when the inevitable happens it isn’t going to be the plain sailing that so many think will be a given when AW retires
I think we have to regroup and hopefully we can finish the season on a high.Then the club and manager can get together and decide whats best for Arsenal.
Dear Walter
Drink the poisoned chalice to the bottom – sad for us!
I suppose this proves how much confidence plays a part in football. We have not had to worry about that too much until this year. Now it is our turn to suffer.
To perform well, people either need unshakeable self belief and not many have that. Or they need to be supported. But how can those of us who support be heard through the massive howling from all sides?
It is sad when big boys want to show how tough they are because they cant kick a ball. If they could they would be earning some dosh!!
Arsenal didn’t play as badly as the result they got. There was a chance when Kos hit the post that would have made a big difference. 2 all & the game would have needed a lot more tilting than was there. Murray should have had a card early in the game but was allowed freedom to commit crime. Kola got a yellow but the Brighton & Hove voices were allowed to sing chorus after chorus in the refs ears without any punishment for improper sporting behaviour. There were many instances of commentator bullshit that was so hypocritical it would have drawn a fight with earlier matey Sharpe. The corner kick from the quadrant is a laugh a minute as is the throw from the exact spot the ball went out, and the free kick from where the foul occurred.
I’ve seen Arsenal play worse & win.