As we expected Newcastle set themselves up to try and frustrate Arsenal and try and hit us on the break and they managed to hold us off until Alexis Sanchez challenged for the ball in the Magpies box and the headed clearance fell sweetly onto Ozil’s left boot who sent a perfectly weighted volley into the top of the net. Sanchez had looked as bad as usual up to that point.
Not 5 minutes later Bellerin could have made it two but he can’t control his volley like Ozil!Even Xhaka got in on the act with a long range shot but it sneaked past the post. Arsenal looked fully in control at that point and it looked like it was just a matter of time beforre we doubled our lead but Newcastle finally gave Cech something to do, with a searching ball into the box. Iwobi is also looking flat and his passes are rarely reaching their target. Lacazette got the ball on the edge of the box and was dragged down, but with no whistle the Frenchman jumped back uup, nutmegged the defender and only another Magpies defender rushing in stopped him getting a shot off.
Newcastle had no choicew but to go for an equaliser and they are giving the Gunners loads of space to counter attack. Ozil and Lacazette got a lovely one-two but Ozil waits too long to shoot and went too far down to the line. Next up was Iwobi, who copied Laca and nutmegged his defender but went too far when he could have passed…
Arsenal looked comfortable going towards the break but Newcastle forced yet another corner and Monreal went down with a clash of heads but got up okay after a minute and we all limped into half time. The only surprise is that Arsenal haven’t scored more…..
We started the second half on the front foot again and a few minutes in Laca ficked on a ball straight to Alexis in the box but he took to long (again)bto get his shot off and the block was easy. And again Wilshere got a great ball to Alexis but the Chilean dithered and it ended up with Iwobi, whose control seems to have gone walkabout. Wilshere is definitely getting into foward positions a lot more at the start of this half.
Lacazette tried a solo effort but yanked it over the bar, but then Newcastle had two cgood hances in quick succession, one was skied but Cech got down well for the second one. It is not looking so one sided at this point….
on the hour marl Lacazette wasvleft one on one and it would have been a beautiful chip to put us two up but it sailed over the bar again. We really needed to put the game to bed with Newcastle looking more dangerous in this half…
Iwobi got another good chance but instead of shooting tried to walk it into the net again but got nowhere near testing the keeper. It is starting to look like Wenger’s thought that the strikers are just toooo desperate to score at the moment and we could have a hairy last 20 minutes if they don’t calm down soon.
This is when Wenger makes his subs and (of course) Olivier Giroud comes on for Lacazette, who is not very happy about it, and Iwobi is finally taken off. Maybe Welbeck can control the ball better…..
Arsenal suddenly look more lively and are going for a second. Yet again Wilshere gets a lovely pass with a free shot at goal but he shoots straight at the keeper. He really needs to stop trying too hard like the rest of our strikers. Another chance to put the game to bed goes begging.
Giroud has only been on for 5 mins when he gets a big knee in his side and lays down just a little too long for my liking and the referee has to stop the game. Straight away Newcastle are driving forward again and a good shot luckily gets deflected away for a corner by Koscielny and there are still another nervy 10 minutes to endure. How many chances have we created again with no end product?
Newcastle looking more likely to score now and a free header goes over Cech’s bar to everyones relief. The whistle can’t come quick enough for Arsene Wenger now. They say attack is the best form of defence and Arsenal are trying to get in the Newcastle half, and Wenger slows it down on the 88th minute by bringing on Coquelin for Alexis. Another blank game for Alexis goes by…
In extra time Xhaka gives away the ball and ywet again earns himself a pointless yellow card as he tried to make amends, but Arsenal are still looking goal shy and hardly looked impressive against a team that are in the relegation zone and can’t buy an away win!
I am now worried about Klopp’s Liverpool coming to visit next week, but look on the bright side we are back into the Top Four with Burnley drawing and the Spuds about to play at Man City….
Admin
Monreal and Maitland-Niles played very well. The rest are okay, no one was outstanding.
Can’t wait to see the transfer drama in January.
think you could add ozil, looked under control whole match,
If Ozil was controlling the match, we could say the same for Wilshere, Xhaka and Sanchez. Now I’m waiting to see the (hopefully) more exciting game, Manchester City vs Tottenham.
Wanna see how Guardiola outsmarts his opponents again with his football philosophy.
It is my hope that Xhaka is sold and that players are not played out of position.I just still cannot see Monreal as a CB.It always feels like there’lll be that game where he’d be so poor due to his bad positional sense.The guy is not a CB and will never be one.If Monreal is starting over Chambers and Holding then that’s worrying.
I’d also like to sress on the fact that most of our players are good with the exception of a few very bad ones.The problem is they’re playing with the ”Wenger mentality”.Give this same team to another coach and see the transformation.
I wanted Xhaka to get a red then and not a yellow so at least we wouldn’t see him for three games, useless piece of ****
Xhaka was okay. Please be fair and do not be easily incited by the media.
Yes he was ‘ok’ today but I use my eyes not the media and he has been **** for most of the season.
Hahaha ok for today?This simply shows we’ve become under achievers.If I knew that Xhaka would be the one playing week in week out in our midfieId, I would’ve have advised Wenger to stick with Squillaci and put him in the midfield.
Can Xhaka even defend to save his own life??Well you all know the answer to that.
he was okay? are you watching the same match, he gave up the ball over & over, and at critical times in places he should have easily made good passes…
Haha he”s a fraud Mr Xhaka.. If he costs 35m then I myself wouldn’t cost anything less than 2m…
Extra 33m for the passing lol
doesnt feel like a win. huddersfield though wow
That Wilshere-Xhaka midfield ??. Jack is playing like Santi. Good in tight spaces and doesn’t give away the ball needlessly. Xhaka missed place 2 passes when put under pressure but it was a a better overall performance. We struggled a bit without Lacazette and Iwobi but 3 points so I’m happy.
Wilshere’s ball control is still below Cazorla’s level, but he played with high spirit.
I think that was the limit of Wilshere’s skills and he is good as a squad rotation player. But Arsenal definitely need a more skillful and more creative central midfielder if they want to be in better position in the next season.
now who pays money to watch this crap surely
Best players of the day.
Maitland Niles MOM.
Hector Bellerin
Xhaka
Wilshere.
Worst player of the day
Ozil. (Only good thing he did is score d goal, other then that all bullshit)
Alexis
Iwobi
Lacazet.
Than***
so you say wilshere and xhaka were good?
You must have been watching this match from a different dimension
the wilshere lovers are now facing the cruel reality.
The man is awful.
Just has his off days where he plays well
Wow we look proper shoddy at the moment. Apart from Özil getting that brilliant goal.
Where has our cutting edge gone?
We looked very vunerable against a very poor Newcastle side….?
A Win is a win!! Continue Mr wenger, please continue this magnificent, dynamic way of playing. Brilliant team with an outstanding manager. Can’t wait for you to sign a new contract.. just wonderful. Everything is going according to plan, please guys, don’t complain because we won, that is what the AKBs and their manager would want, before we are labelled as ingrates. Sigh ?
Lol.
why is haka playing every game i don’t rate him he keeps giving the ball away or passes sideways or backwards the he commits too many fouls. We should get rid and get cavahlo instead who is a class player.
Ia a few words playing to nothing……..
We started brightly enough but fell into a pattern of wastefulness.
Ozil was easily man of the match for me, he had a very good game, but unfortunately Lacazette and Alexis could not take advantage of it.
Iwobi could be dangerous except I have a niece who shoots harder and more accurate than he does.
Bellerin looked better, took players on and made dangerous runs, but his passing was very sloppy. He had two AFC players in the box to aim for mid way through second half, and only one Newc player, guess what, Bellerin passes it straight to the Newc player.
Dreadful stuff at times, which brings me to Xhaka, does he want to cause us harm or is that he just doesn’t give a s&&t. I thought Ive seen some daft players in my time, we have a few of our own still, but Xhaka takes the bloody piss man.
I predicted 1-1 at the beginning.
It almost was.
Painful to watch. Same mistakes, same poor decisions, same overplaying, same ‘getting in each other ways’. I’m actually starting to life. Why doesn’t Wenger learn?
Also, if Wenger starts Xhaka in the next game, I will end my meaningless life.
he will wenger+xhaka =brokeback mountain lol
Goodbye cruel world.
Wenger, I just can’t take anymore.
These players are showing that they are a midtable side.
I hope liverpool who will have less rest and play two conscecutive away games rip this team to shreds so that the harsh reality can creep into the deluded ones amd silent stan starts losing money
I know we are an average team at best and I want Wenger out really bad but we can’t be hoping our team lose.
Can you stop wanting Arsenal to lose please…..
i learnt somewhere that for some things to get better they have to get worse.
If a cycle continues repeating itself then change will not occur.
change is compulsory for arsenal
really?
lacazette useless
Sanchez terrible
Ozil exasperating
Iwobi inept
Xhaka hopeless
Wilshere clueless
Maitland niles able
monreal horrid
Koscienly out of touch
Bellerin below standards
In fairness to some of the players they are made to look bad by Wengers tactics and his inability to motivate. Under a decent manager some of them would look a lot better.
It was okay performance…. Wilshere was okay.. He need some more game time to come back his top… Xhaka was okay.. But overall it was little lethargic display… Few mis passes…. Lacazzate was poor.. Few bad controls… Missed 1 glorious chance… But he is better off the ball than Giroud who can take defenders with him which can make space for others… We need 3-4 quality players.. One CM, 2 attacking players at least…
Ozil to the rescue. Another MOTM performance. Xhaka was dreadful. Slightly better from Bellerin. Sanchez still looks like a shadow of himself. Can’t really knock anyone else. 3 points is 3 points. We’re back in 4th place, btw. Burnley couldn’t even beat BHA, and Spurs are about to drop more points.
I wonder how much we can get for Xhaka. I doubt £35 million lol.
A win is a win and always the most important thing but it was a miserable performance and Liverpool will fancy their chances I think.
Not a terrible display but hardly inspiring against a very poor Newcastle team.
January is almost here so my plea to Santa is can we have:
1 new manager who is versed in modern football and is tactically aware and can motivate players. Please can THIS manager not be given total power over all aspects of the club and be accountable for his failures.
1 new offensive coach to make us incisive when attacking
1 new defensive coach to stop the ridiculous defensive errors
1 new goalkeeper who is not as error prone
3 new defenders who can actually defend
1 defensive midfield who can track attacking midfield ad plug holes in the back
1 attacking midfield who is consistant
1 wide attacking player who has the ability to beat a player with skill
Also can we please have:
1 new CEO who can do decent commercial deals
1 new owner who cares about the club and what us to challenge in the league
I think those requests would be too much for Santa, but a good prayer anyway.
You gotta hope. Lol
It is not rocket science. Sack Wenger. Appoint Ancelloti. Sell Sanchez in January. Buy Nzonzi and Mahrez. Go back to a 442. Giroud Lacazette
Ozil Xhaka Nzonzi Mahrez
Monreal Kos Mustafi Debuchy
Ramsey, Wishere Coquelin to compete for the two CM roles.
Giroud and Lacazette can play together.
The team put in a decent performance but lacking the 2 or 3 great players who make the difference. Iwobi could become a great player if he was a bit more confident/assertive. Wilshere did fine but generally the team lack the athleticism, skill and intelligence to challenge for the title. A quick glance at where teams are now in the table is a good indication of the capabilities of each of the managers and the transfer money they have available to spend. It will be interesting to see who eventually replaces Wenger. My money is on Mert. Not my choice but just something I think will happen.
Mertesacker replaces Wenger? Bad idea.
I wanna see Arteta, because:
– He played for Arsenal for several years under Wenger, so he should know what goes wrong with Wenger’s system.
– He has been learning from Guardiola.
– He has vast experience in facing various teams in Premier League.
– He graduated from La Masia, so he could instill Barcelona’s football philosophy into Arsenal.
2nd that!
3rd that!
VVD
CARVALHO
DRAXLER
And of course a NEW FREAKING MANAGER
VVD
Good Lord, Virgil Van Djyk!!
Effing spell check
watching city play, could be wrong hut don’t think they need alexis 4 goals…
Looking good for a Spuds loss.
i am always happy w a spuds loss, should be two straight reds,
spuds being demoralized by city, wish it would go on another hour…
Never mind MOTD tpnight for the highlights
Yes Mr Shearer ?
Lol
How did Spurs keep 11 players on the pitch, Alli and Kane should have both got straight reds.
Honestly, I don’t think Xhaka is a bad player. In fact, he has the tools to be WC. I think his problem is he has absolute zero intelligence (sports-wise…and probably in real life, too) and just doesn’t think quick enough. I’ve never seen a midfielder take so long to gather himself. Lacking a football brain isn’t something you can just quickly fix in training, and it’s not fixable if he does have the IQ of a 5-yr-old. He just wanders around the pitch, mouth agape, looking clueless. He needs to go or find a warm seat on the bench.
Well done on the 3 points despite the performance, boys. Tottenham lose. Good weekend.
Today’s performance is okay just that we couldn’t score more goals, I am happy we won. The worst player today is Sanchez, he keep loosing ball in a critical places. I am thinking arsenal need a striker now, we create chances but no finisher
Said earlier that our strikers are short of confidence and this match, clearly shown this.
AW is paid millions to address all these. Sanchez looks likely to leave. I bet this affected the dressing room. Why is he even starting when it is apparent that he is not too interested at all?
I don’t think AW did enough to arrest all these. Hope he leaves soon and don’t bother to be back. He has not progressed with time and is becoming a burden.
I know people will start talking about what he had done etc. Then again, there is nothing that won’t end.