Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

cson

Not a disaster, just the big games catching up with us. Very flat out there today. It's not as if we were played off the park, we had our chances too and probably were good enough value for a point I thought. Sagna was excellent, really need to sign him up for another couple of years.

Hopefully we can have a quiet International break, recharge the batteries and come back fresh for Soton with Poldi/Walcott/Chamberlain being eased back into it.

Really do need to give ourselves another decent option striker wise in January, Bendtner coming on is a disaster for all concerned. Shout out to Vermaelen too, who I thought was decent considering he hasn't played regularly in about 8 months. Did miss Per's organisation at times though. We're better when he's there.

.jacksparrow.

Soups123 wrote: »

And united are always champions they are one if the strongest clubs in the last ten years so our lose ratio will be higher.

We didn't bottle today we lost by a set piece

Well our loose ratio isn't acceptable.

tayto lover

Soups123 wrote: »

And united are always champions they are one if the strongest clubs in the last ten years so our lose ratio will be higher.

We didn't bottle today we lost by a set piece

We lost nearly all the 50/50's and nearly all the aerial challenges. We just don't seem to perform against United. Never saw our passing as bad.

Pepe LeFrits

tayto lover wrote: »

It's nearly always happening against United. We always seem to lack bottle against them.

While it pisses us off, United is only 2 games in a campaign.

Marty McFly

Really think Gnabry should have started today and should be getting more game time he offers us something we have been lacking a lot with all our injuries.

That replay of Bendtner screaming like it was someone else's fault he didn't stretch to connect with that ball was laughable.
All he needed was arsenes zip to get a touch on that

UnknownSpecies

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

While it pisses us off, United is only 2 games in a campaign.

Can't underestimate the effect those 2 games have on the team's mentality though. No matter what sort of form United are in, we seem to do very poorly against them. Let's hope they bounce back from this and shrug it off as a bad day at the office. A win at Southampton and we're back on track.

Soups123

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Well our loose ratio isn't acceptable.

It never is but it won't decide our season

farna_boy

It actually looked like we had been out on the beer last night. We frequently struggled to make even the simplest of passes and it didn't look like we were concentrating at all. We didn't deserve anything out of that game (not that I'm sure Utd deserved anything either).

We started off far too defensively, possibly a symptom of playing Flamini and Arteta. I don't think anyone put in a whole lot of effort today either, except maybe Sagna and Gibbs.

Bendtner should never play for the club again, especially after what he said during the week, I actually can't believe Wenger played him. Cazorla didn't turn up today either, in fact I'm struggling to think of the last game where he actually contributed never mind the last time he had a good game.

Gnabry and Wilshere should have been on much earlier as well. Both of them did well when they came on and I would have thought Monreal should have come on as well.

Alfred Borden

werent great today, United werent either but were better and deserved the three points. Their main players turned up and ours really didnt, Santi was awful and hopefully when Podli is back he may raise his level knowing he will lose his place if he doesnt. Ozil was anonymous again, while Ramsey needs to be deployed in a central position with Walcott on the right. Still top and with a good few players back after the break, we can really build on, a point would have been brilliant today but i expected defeat.

brianregan09

I said to a mate earlier today i'd be proper gutted if we lost today, But after that ...I'm not worried in the slighest we matched them all over the pitch while playing badly, So all in all I think yes its a defeat but also I think its a defeat with a paper thin squad and a virus too running around the squad...oh and the biggest plus...We're still top by 2 points

ironkiwi

Another hugely frustrating result in OT. First of all Verm had a solid game so no excuses that we were missing Mert. Thought Flamini and Arteta played well enough but Ramsey, Cazorla and Ozil were poor. Giroud really isn't getting the service he should be getting from the creativity we should be providing him with our quality midfield. He has been feeding off scraps at best in the last two games. Thinking of that Utd team today I'm so mad we could not outsmart a team with the likes of Cleverley, Carrick, Jones, Smalling wnd Valencia all decent players but nothing special. Only one way to put this behind us is to learn from it and get another run going.

We are top of the table lets move on from this defeat, an international break now and then lets get a good result against a very good Southampton side.

gandalf

Bam Bam Mickey wrote: »

That replay of Bendtner screaming like it was someone else's fault he didn't stretch to connect with that ball was laughable.
All he needed was arsenes zip to get a touch on that

For all his talk I would have expected him to throw himself at anything that comes into the box. He is an out and out passenger and obviously has no self respect at all. At least Andrey Arshavin was likeable despite being a passenger. They should pay off the remainder of his contract in Jan and just realise him. We could sign a block of wood in his place and it would probably score more goals and it wouldn't badmouth us in the press!

EuropeanSon

We were pretty poor. Not sure how much to read into the "virus" being talked about, but I'd certainly say our performance suffered a bit from the week's exertions. Rooney was excellent.

Disappointing goal to lose to, but overall can't complain too much about the result. No cutting edge, and Ozil/Cazorla/Ramsey/Arteta were muck.

Sagna played well, the only bright point.

Season really looks as open as it has for a long time. Utd also have had most of the tough games already, so are in a good spot. City need to find some away form if they're to get anywhere. Chelsea dropping silly points too.

We really need to be up for it next week, Southampton will be no pushovers.

Gerry91

I'm only after looking at ye're upcoming fixtures and to be fair they're very winnable

Soton are in good form but in the Emirates you're looking at what surely should be 3 pts. Then Cardiff away, not easy but winnable again. Then Hull at home, followed by Everton at home. Three home games there and a promoted team away, don't think it's unrealistic to expect at LEAST 10 pts, but 12 is def achievable. I mean win all these and suddenly today is completely forgotten. Win all these and you'll be top by 14th dec and given the random results by teams around the top, and it could well be by a decent-ish margin

Gerry91

Of course the bit I left out is ye face into some tough fixtures after that, but hey one game at a time

So'ton at home is a very achievable 3 pts. Win that and ye're top another week out. Control the controllables. Ye're the team to catch right now and ye should be aiming to keep it that way. Nothing silly, 3pts in all these winnable games is a must

cashback

farna_boy wrote: »

Cazorla didn't turn up today either, in fact I'm struggling to think of the last game where he actually contributed never mind the last time he had a good game.

OK, he had a bad game today but remember this, just last Saturday?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boaieSy412s

Don't think there should be too much doom and gloom. Remember how one sided the game at OT was last year? This wasn't good but was definitely better than that.

tayto lover

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

While it pisses us off, United is only 2 games in a campaign.

Two games we should be up for. We seem to be physically weak or afraid in these games. United only have to send out the jerseys and we're beaten.
I'm pissed off with it to be honest.

Morzadec

cson wrote: »

Not a disaster, just the big games catching up with us.

I would agree with that.

A converse view of this is that, strangely, Arsenal are closer to winning the league after this weekend than they were before it (due to Chelsea's slip up.)

This is my 'alternative' league table, based on fixture difficulty. Being on '0' means you are on course for 76 points at the end of the season:

1. Arsenal: +2.5 points
2. Liverpool -0.5 points
2. Chelsea: -0.5 points
4: United: -2 points
5: Tottenham: -2.5 points
6: Everton: -3 points
7: Man City: -3.5 points

Despite the loss Arsenal are 3 points clear in this table, whereas before this weekend they were only 2.5 points clear. (If you want to see where I came up with this alternative model, it's explained here: http://erwinmorzadec.blogspot.com.es/2013/11/how-to-get-into-top-4.html)

So all in all not a bad weekend for you, as this is a match that was always going to be difficult, and you come away from it having not lost many points from some of your main rivals, despite their much easier fixtures.

So, looking at the bigger picture, I would be happy enough with how the weekend played out from an Arsenal perspective.

fulmer1984

i think losing Rosicky and Per cost us today. that's all. the team would have been preparing for this game with those two starting. i think our balance wasn't right because of it. i dont think the team will lose too much heart from this game. still top

Normally a 1-0 loss to United wouldn't be the worst result in the world, but with them under performing this season, a draw was certainly achievable at OT.
Nothing too worrying, but the bottle factor is still an issue.

gandalf

fulmer1984 wrote: »

i think losing Rosicky and Per cost us today. that's all. the team would have been preparing for this game with those two starting. i think our balance wasn't right because of it. i dont think the team will lose too much heart from this game. still top

I'd be curious if they would release who else was suffering from this bug who actually played. Carzola was definitely off key today and I wonder was he effected by it as well.

HazDanz

We didn't lose to a United side that dominated us, or caused any real goal threat. A set piece and a bad day at the office for our creative mid players is all that happened.

Psychologically this isn't that big tbh.

Chelsea/city losing lets us get away with it - come back against Southampton with a win and we will keep snowballing towards Christmas.

bad2dabone

Maybe I was too harsh with the bottlers comment. I'm just disgusted as I've spent the week winding up United friends of mine. Silly me.

shano_88

Dissapointing result, though the performance was ok. United weren't great and we definitely could have got at least a point. Overall though they probably shaded it.


No need for overreaction though. All about the reaction now.

Also, a striker is a must in january, competition for places is very important and Giroud has none.

UnknownSpecies

Morzadec wrote: »

Despite the loss Arsenal are 3 points clear in this table, whereas before this weekend they were only 2.5 points clear. (If you want to see where I came up with this alternative model, it's explained here: http://erwinmorzadec.blogspot.com.es/2013/11/how-to-get-into-top-4.html)

So all in all not a bad weekend for you, as this is a match that was always going to be difficult, and you come away from it having not lost many points from some of your main rivals, despite their much easier fixtures.

So, looking at the bigger picture, I would be happy enough with how the weekend played out from an Arsenal perspective.

Only 2 points ahead of Liverpool. Another slip up and Liverpool can overtake us.

wonga77

very very disapointed with that game. I cant remember the last game where we gave possesion away so cheaply, time after time, even our most dependable passers were off form. The lack of urgency really worried me, no urgency going forward or even with 10 left there seemed to be a sense of acceptance about the result. Times are tough when Bendtner is one of the best options to bring on. We looked clueless enough when we got as far as therir box, trying to pass it into the goal, you will get that chance v the likes of norwich but it never looked likely today.
Sagna put in some great crosses though, pity we couldnt get on one of the end of them.

tayto lover

HazDanz wrote: »

We didn't lose to a United side that dominated us, or caused any real goal threat. A set piece and a bad day at the office for our creative mid players is all that happened.

Psychologically this isn't that big tbh.

Chelsea/city losing lets us get away with it - come back against Southampton with a win and we will keep snowballing towards Christmas.

Psychologically it is big. Look at our record against the big three teams. Very poor. It's time to start beating them but we really do bottle these games.

Today was the day to start taking points against a big 3 team and one which is playing poorly and we weren't up for it. Pathetic performance. No penetration at all. I hardly saw De Gea during the game.

dorgasm

dorgasm wrote: »

Only 2 points ahead of Liverpool. Another slip up and Liverpool can overtake us.

Being realistic and looking how the league is this year, that could always happen anyway, I'd rather it be Liverpool just off us though than United.
We are still in a great position and that 1-0 deafeat should be water off a ducks back for our team.

emergingstar

Jesus I can't believe lads are having a go at the team calling them bottlers

A massive week caught up with us, the same 11 playing every game cause of injuries

Yet we went to old Trafford held our own and was undone by a set piece

People forget Wednesday night and the feeling the team gave us when they log on and call the team bottlers

Fcuking ridiculous

Mr.Micro

Still ahead in the league but we need to grind out wins now and hope the others drop points. Take nothing for granted. Man Utd were poor today but we were poorer. Disappointed.

AdamD

TBF the lads are massive bottlers like






they only beat Dortmund away on Wednesday

In all seriousness though it was a very disappointing performance, but not catastrophic. Was always going to be difficult to pick up anything today with the injuries we've had and the scheduling, add in the bug going around the squad you can see why they were a bit off the pace. In spite of that there was very little in it. No doubt it will be described as a great United performance and a poor Arsenal one but neither keeper made a save, one set piece was the difference.

tayto lover

emergingstar wrote: »

Jesus I can't believe lads are having a go at the team calling them bottlers

A massive week caught up with us, the same 11 playing every game cause of injuries

Yet we went to old Trafford held our own and was undone by a set piece

People forget Wednesday night and the feeling the team gave us when they log on and call the team bottlers

Fcuking ridiculous

Did you see the game?

We didn't hold our own. We lost and had fcuk all shots at their goal. Again.
It just keeps happening against the top teams especially United who are a poor team themselves.

farna_boy

cashback wrote: »

OK, he had a bad game today but remember this, just last Saturday?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boaieSy412s

Don't think there should be too much doom and gloom. Remember how one sided the game at OT was last year? This wasn't good but was definitely better than that.

And if he hadn't scored that goal, would you have known he was playing?

AdamD

farna_boy wrote: »

And if he hadn't scored that goal, would you have known he was playing?

Yes because we have fully functioning eyesight

brianregan09

Keeps happening against the bigger teams ?? We've beat Napoli and Dortmund in the champions League we smashed Liverpool last week ,

The chelsea game i wouldn't count as its in the capitol cup and bendtner started it

emergingstar

tayto lover wrote: »

Did you see the game?

We didn't hold our own. We lost and had fcuk all shots at their goal. Again.
It just keeps happening against the top teams especially United who are a poor team themselves.

Are you telling me they played is off the park??

Get a grip man we had a really tough week and what 8 players out injured

And you wanna roll into old Trafford and turn utd over easy

We deserved a draw it didn't happen other years we would have got spanked

We have an international break get players back and we go again

It's not going to be all rosy

shano_88

tayto lover wrote: »

Did you see the game?

We didn't hold our own. We lost and had fcuk all shots at their goal. Again.
It just keeps happening against the top teams especially United who are a poor team themselves.

How many saves did sczeney have to make?

The only chance United really created from open play was Rooney in the second half that I can think of.

Quazzie

For anyone that has ever gone into work with a hangover or a cold, you know how hard it is to work at 100%. I honestly believe some of the starters today weren't 100% and this was a large contributory factor.

fulmer1984

gandalf wrote: »

I'd be curious if they would release who else was suffering from this bug who actually played. Carzola was definitely off key today and I wonder was he effected by it as well.

apparently Arteta was unwell also, i hope Ozil was as well cause he was pretty off any sort of form today

fulmer1984

bad2dabone wrote: »

Maybe I was too harsh with the bottlers comment. I'm just disgusted as I've spent the week winding up United friends of mine. Silly me.

if only you had of rang a few Arsenal players to let them know you were winding up your friends, that would have spurred them on

Morzadec

dorgasm wrote: »

Only 2 points ahead of Liverpool. Another slip up and Liverpool can overtake us.

But are you looking at Liverpool as title rivals? Are you not keeping an eye more on Chelsea and City?

HazDanz

tayto lover wrote: »

Psychologically it is big. Look at our record against the big three teams. Very poor. It's time to start beating them but we really do bottle these games.

Today was the day to start taking points against a big 3 team and one which is playing poorly and we weren't up for it. Pathetic performance. No penetration at all. I hardly saw De Gea during the game.

You could have said the same after the Bayern Munich/spurs defeats last year, that it was a psychological blow - it wasn't.

We went on to keep our consistency up after those games and I believe we will do the same again. Win against all the lower positioned teams in the league this season and we will be up there by the end.

Third hard game on the trot - beating two super teams on the way. As meat loaf says, two out of three aint bad.

Alfred Borden

said it before todays match we wont be winning the title unless more investment in january, not being negative just realistic

FearDark

This is not a good place to be after a loss.

emergingstar

I tell ya something
After today's results am watching utd up close
I'm fully convinced were bang in this title race

shano_88

emergingstar wrote: »

I tell ya something
After today's results am watching utd up close
I'm fully convinced were bang in this title race

We are in it for sure. I am worried about some players burning out but hopefully with Theo, poldi and Ox coming back more rotation can take place. Also if Giroud gets a long term injury, were ****ed.

The quality is definitely there though imo.

Marty McFly

emergingstar wrote: »

I tell ya something
After today's results am watching utd up close
I'm fully convinced were bang in this title race

That's the problem I have we are far better than this United side and we should have beaten them, they weren't great at all in fact I'd go as far to say United today were distinctly average and were there for the taking.

Now obviously the last two games, the illness and injuries took there toll today but it's still frustrating not to bang a nail in there coffin and break our hoodoo at Old Trafford.

Oranage2

First half all united, second half all us but I didn't think we threatened

emergingstar

The game came at the wrong time for us, let's see how we are after the international break with everyone back

Were 2 clear missing half of our attacking options no one mentions that