Arsene Wenger was expecting Arsenal to face a really tough test tonight against a Hull City side that had won their last two Premier League matches, including one over our top four rivals Liverpool. But although they started well, things just did not go their way and against a rampant Arsenal they paid the price.
The first half was pretty cagey for a while with a real battle in midfield and you could say that Hull should have been ahead after a great cross from the left found Aluko but the striker got his free header all wrong and Mertesacker cleared.
Arsenal were playing pretty well and creating good opportunities but we needed the fortune of a big deflection on an Alexis free kick to take the lead. The Chilean won it and struck it well though so I am taking nothing away from him.
The same can be said for Ramsey and our second as the Welshman did well to get himself into the box and shoot. It may have been heading in anyway but another big deflection gave Harper no chance of saving it. Hull had another good chance but again they spurned it and the Gunners were in the mood to punish and there was no need of a deflection as a brilliant Ramsey through ball found Alexis and he rounded the keeper and finished with style. 3-0 at the break.
The game was all but over and when Arsenal began the second half with calm confidence and produced some of the best slick and incisive football you are likely to see anywhere, it could have been a disaster for Hull but all the luck they were missing in the first half came back with interest.
How Arsenal did not score again I do´t know, but the ref missed a handball denying Wilshere´s goal bound effort certainly helped. Their goal also came with a big help from the ref who missed a blatant foul on Koscielny in the build up.
But Arsenal won and the way we played should have the players buzzing with confidence and ready to secure second place.
Happy St. Totteringham’s day.
mesut ozil: I BELIEVE
I still think Ramsey is not a RW and should not play there.
I was impressed by wilshere,if he can produce like this he has a future at Arsenal.
This Ramsey playing as “RW” is a real hoot. Some of you guys are transfixed on labels and I’d swear this is the first time you had watched Arsenal in 20 years. We do not employ traditional wingers. When was the last time you saw us with a player stationed up and down the white paint looking to skin the full back get to the bye-line and whip in a cross? It is not mandatory to have Stanley Matthews clone in every set up. You see a name on the match formation graphic occupying a space either left or right of centre and he automatically assumes the “winger” tag. If you had chance to look at the heat map for the game you wouldn’t be able to say what position/role AR had been assigned – he played fairly narrow when going forward and would only go out wide to drag an opposition player or to block the opposing FB. We generally get our width from our full-backs overlapping – Hector was the closest we had to a RW. No RW would have been in position to score the goal he did – nor to thread the through ball for Alexis’s goal. 4 wins and a draw, 2 goals and 3 assists – jeez, you want to change that so the player has the correct label/tag to satisfy your desire for order and structure. Has anyone given second thought to a system with Bellerin and Walcott on the right? Frankly, at the moment that is something I don’t fancy. Walcott was always effectively our second striker and came inside nearly all the time – things have moved on and we have some bloke called Alexis who presently performs this role. We look solid and it has been a long, long time since I have felt this way, the team has balance. My guess is that Walcott will only be seen in the foreseeable future if Debuchy returns to RB and/or Alexis gets injured. Lord knows what happens when Ox is fit again and Gnabry has a “Bellerin breakthrough season”.
I only care about results so if this set up make us win so fine but i am pretty sure that it cannot work against all team.another thing is that we have real wingers fit in welbek and walcot and i m sure that they would be more effective than ramsey in this role.let s not forget that wenger has a tendancy to impose his favourites in any set up.i have no any hope of pl for next year.maureeno will run away again with it due to the tactics and formation of wenger.
I think the “Wenger favs” conspiracy theory died some time ago now. And a fully fit and in form Ramsey would get a starting place in any PL team in my opinion – even Chelsea (push Cesc up field behind Costa and AR sitting behind with Matic – he would be the closest Mourinho could get to a Lampard replacement).
about motha-flipping time, Muff
Once again, great Cock show.
Hardly falls.
Very firm and precise.
Calm and composed.
You guys still think we don’t need a better striker???
After that game we need a striker,and a defender all other places are solid.Why waist money on a dm when other places need sorting Monreal is first class but we need a L back to take over as next year being 30 he like rosicky will need back up and Gibbs is not that CB
HeLLo K.C stadium………. We got what we wanted (3pts)….. But i wanted that 5 goaLs so badly….. I Knw why!
Please leave the Spuds alone. They are a mid-table team and sliding downwards. Concentrate on the zombies at Chelsea.
“In Bruce We Trust!!!”________???
Lol!!! Keep trying, can’t beat the AKBz
they mean bruce banner perhaps?
they could use some gamma those hull players
Lol! Poor Bruce, just couldn’t relax that tensed butt of his.
Bruce was extremely Graceful in defeat unlike a few managers we know with their ‘
‘We had better chances than Arsenal, even a meagre 2 against 20, and we should have never lost and at least got something out of the game’. All credit to Arsenal, they are a fantastic team, THANKS BRUCE.
Yeah, he’s cool in that aspect.
I like Steve Bruce as a bloke. Hope his team stays up.
Alexis should be the Player of the year .he is different class
and again beautiful beautiful football by Arsenal football club
some of that interlinkin play between ramsey cazorla an mesut had me liftin my dinner table above my head ” we have the powerrrrrrr”
Imagine him next season when he has his first season rustiness, getting used to his team mates, moving country and adjustments to the PL out of his system. LOL. Top of my head can’t recall a PL import adjusting so totally and so quickly. People will say maybe Costa but Alexis has gone the full duration – and scored more from a wide position!! Last person to score 20+ in Arsenal first season – TH14.
He went down a bit for me, he should have passed the ball to Walcott not go for his third it’s about being a team. He has to pass a bit more, but he is fantastic but could be amazing if he just wasn’t greedy CB
Great overall performance by the gunners today! Coyg!
Awesome alexis does it again! Coyg!
I was expecting a tougher test. Good win.
It certain we ain’t playing CL play-offs next season. We have a good chance of finishing second.
Upwards! I just hope we truly build on this next season.
Even if we win our next game it’s still not “certain” we’ll be up 8 points on united
Its not certain yet, do the Math again, worst case scenario, we lose all the remaining games, Man united wins all their remaining games, we finish with 70 points, Man utd finish with 74 points
It’s certain we ain’t playing CL play-offs next season. We have a good chance of finishing second.
Upwards! I just hope we truly build on this next season.
Very very amazing style
Goodjob
Coyg!!!!!
2 great goals from alexis today, wow his workrate is just “out of this world”! Coyg!
Don’t get me wrong, we played fantastic and limited Hull to scraps, that being said there is still a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal. With the amount of chances created, we should have scored 5 or more. I know I’m being picky, Hull couldn’t punish us, but against a different team it could have been another story. Given our domination 3-1 isn’t a particular flattering scoreline. Great performance by every player our there tonight though, especially Ramsey!
i guess after 3-0 we don want any goals thats why we come down a bit
Yeah we we’re no doubt a bit less incisive in the second half, but we were also unlucky not to get what was potentially 2 penalties.
Remember we just played Chelsea last week, how badly punished were we? Why should you write hypothetically when we have concrete facts? The whole idea of scoring a hundred goals is not feasible! Remember Hull was the home team which had just defeated Liverpool. If you went gung ho against them they could hurt you. The way we approached the game was the best. I know why you wanted us to score five so that in case we tie with Man city on points we will sail through. But take heart because we have played a game less.
Alexis needs a hattrick!!!
I am glad to see Wilshere back, all those band wagon bashers that keep saying we should sell him in the summer must be nuts. They were saying the same thing about Cazorla last season.
I keep saying, Ramsey is amazing but Wilshere is more technically. Happy to have both of them in the team.
Anyways, very good game from the team, Cazorla controlled midfield, Sanchez a bull dog as always. The coq gave the ball away once but he was solid all game.
All in all the whole team was on fire..
ramsey goal + assist today, but Wilshere still better for what exactly? Meh, dont feel like arguing, but are we really about to put down Ramsey today after he had a great game, contributed to two goals?
Good!
no point in arguing with u anyway.
People who judge players based on stats shouldn’t be allowed to give their opinion.
PS: ramsey was good too, his best game of the season.
it was a pretty essential stat i mentioned. Take away Ramsey’s goal and assist, put in Wilshere’s runs that led to nothing and the game ends 1-1 and you are all on here whining and complaining about how Wenger got the lineup wrong. Nonetheless Wilshere had a good cameo, i’m not denying this.
Looks like he has been working out with Mesut in the gym as well. Looked bigger than I remembered him. We all need to calm down on the “sell Jack”, “Jack is crap” etc etc and reflect how much our quality has improved if he is now the benchmark for a squad player who will have difficulty breaking in to the team. Can think of worse problems. He needs a year without injury to see what he can do. I find it amusing sometimes when we have been begging/screaming/imploring Wenger to give us some squad depth for ages – and when we eventually get some everyone has their fav who isn’t playing regularly and gives Wenger stick for it. Wilshere/Arteta/Rosicky/ Ox/Walcott/Welbeck/ Gibbs/Gabriel/Debuchy/Chambers/Flamini/Szczsney all effectively bench/fringe players atm.
lads we are blessed, think about what we watch at arsenal, the quality of the play/
beautiful football, so happy my dad was shown by his dad where football lives…arsenal fc
“So happy my dad was shown by his dad where football lives…Arsenal Fc”
Quality!! I love it, exact same scenario as myself. Good man
my dad showed me where he thought football lived but he was a tottenham supporter so i laughed at him so begains a long love of arsenal and a long rivalry with my old man
So now Cazorla isn’t good enough to win us the title? Has Carragher lost his mind???
ahh liverpool pundits.
never tire of there verbal diahorrea
Mate Carragher is such a cnut! He just cant help himself, he HAS to say at least one negative thing about us. Its getting embarrassing now! He is a failed excuse of a man in my opinion
all the things related to loserpool is deluded there manger says he saw rivaldo and ronaldo in coutinho and lambart height of delusion…..hahaha
nobody takes Carragher seriously.
And whoever handed over the brown envelope stuffed with readies to get Coutinho on the PFA shortlist needs a public flogging. Nothing against the lad, best Pool player this season but that is not saying much. He is a decent talent and prospect, but not remotely in the same class as Santi this season.
@ Jonestown
Agreed I hate that people don’t see this coutinho is a decent/average player nothing more. He honestly reminds me of Gervinho except he scores the occasional screamer
Glad to see “rambo” among the goals, and returning to his best form!
Cazorla loves playin in the deep. He really commnds that position with an authority. Though Samchez will get all the headlines, Caz is motm for me.
Impressive cameo by Wilshere. He really looked determined to prove a point.
Ramsey have been reminding me of last season for the last few matches.
And Monreal is making us forget about Gibbs completely.
Sanchez and Ozil as usual awesome.
Great performance overall.
Who would have thought it – Santi the B2B enforcer? Funny to hear Neville and Carra trying to get the words out of their throats when expressing their surprise at how he has performed there this season – I think they almost admitted they were wrong but couldn’t quite get the words out. And Neville, under some duress it must be said, complimented Ozil for his off the ball work.
Great game…
and Huddlestone almost made the own-goal of the year
I must say our defense is improving with every game, and going from strength to strength! Coyg!
The defense wasn’t great today
And thats how to start the week off. GOYG
Away win. 3 goals. Can’t complain 🙂
Swansea next.
Heads up guys!i think we have a troll on our site!
At least two but I don’t care 🙂
mertesacker is so tall yet loses so many headers :/. Besides for that, I only saw the 2nd half but we looked great in midfield. Wilshere’s return looked good too gliding past players. Cazorla and Ozil were outstanding today, and that was only the 2nd I watched. Coquelin consistently impressive as well. And of course Alexis, who somebody tried to tell me wasn’t world class yesterday -___-. Good game, lets keep the momentum going into FA cup final .
Weird watching that game – we played with all the flare and intricacy of the old arsenal but had foregone the efficiency we normally have. Hull suffered from a fatal flaw – they came at us. This is what no team ever does against Arsenal and they gave us space to pass and we capitalised. How we didn’t run away 5/6 goal winners is purely down to poor finishing and bad luck. The referee had a mare today and you barely notice because we were so dominant. Shame not to keep a clean sheet (thanks ref). Onwards and upwards now.
1 game before Utd grudge game and we need to go into that on level (or better) points then City and know we have to keep winning. No slip ups!
Sorry but I would have Alexis over Hazard every single time. Not only does he do everything Hazard does (and better) the lad doesn’t even take penalties like Hazard does. His stats are ridiculous
I think hazard has 5 (?) goals from penalties!
I would be happy to concede that Hazard is a better technical player than Alexis – but even if Alexis was miles away from Hazard in terms of ability I would take Alexis every day till the end of time for his warrior spirit and attitude. Also less cynical and cutesy. Alexis also has a far superior sense of balance.
People it seems like we will be getting 2 players we wish for in the summer.and finally i cant wait for ozil to destroy teams next season
Who was calling for wilshere to be sold?!
its like people forgot how talented wilshere is.
On a side note, Sanchez was brilliant today.
7 takeaways from this game.
1. Chelsea is a cut above
2 Arsenal clear 2nd.
3. Bad start very costly.
4. We got lucky with Coquelin
5. Arsenal 1st X1 is very good
6. Cull 10 deadwood and retain only the very best 22.
7. A DM and another quality striker and we are good to go.
Disagree with points 1 and 7. Don’t care what anyone says Chelsea are not a cut above us. Your point number 3 is the only difference between us winning the league and not winning. Chelsea are worthy winners but I wont ever accept Chelsea are much better then us. They never have been and never will be. Just wait until it starts to go pear shaped with Chelsea/Mourinhio
I thought Neville’s and Carra’s circle jerking over Mourinho and Chelski was a tad over-board. The rest of the league could be in trouble, Jose to establish a “dynasty” this time around etc. I would wager a hefty bet that Sky Sport executives have instructed their pundits to try and rebutt the media noise last week with accusations of Chelsea being boring etc. They are after all the “flagship” team for the PL and maybe Sky getting a bit queezy for having just stumped up £5.4B to promote and televise Chelski for the next 5 years.
For the 1st time at arsenal ozil may get a pre-season plus two world class signings
How did you get 1 and 2 from this game? Chelsea struggled against Crystal Palace and went away 1-0 at home to a team playing for nothing which could have swung the other way had 2 decisions been made correctly by the referee. Chelsea weren’t even in this game and you are saying they are better than us. Very silly. Points are points though – across the whole season Chelsea HAVE been the best, but your points are ridiculous about this game.
4 – we did get lucky with Coq. Your point? A player we invested in came good at the right time for us. Not exactly a negative against us – now Wenger sees the importance he might buy another like minded player as cover/challenge/options.
5 – We can agree! Still areas for improvement
6 – 22 is not a full squad with our injury issues. We’ve had as many as 12 first team players out at one time so 22 is not enough. 10 deadwood is probably extreme. Ryo, Campbell, Podolski, Sanogo, Flamini, Arteta, Hayden, Jenkinson, Theo, Wilshere…I’m assuming they are your deadwoods? Theo and Jack shouldn’t be sold, and no reason not to loan at least Jenk and Hayden out. Arteta has no reason to be chucked out on his heels so already 5 of your 10 aren’t what are considered deadwood at all.
7 – completely opposite to the point you just made, if you think 10 squad players are deadwood surely we need to replace those squad players as well (at least some) to retain a SQUAD. That would mean more then 2 signings.
The only thing we can agree on really is number 5…and this is also the only thing we could take away from this game.
I just had the one takeaway and compliments to the chef
Literally only point 5 is relevant for what you could’ve learned this game David…
Point 6.. You honestly have no idea of squad building. Axe this player, axe that. You would’ve put Coqeulin, Monreal and Bellerin in the supposed ‘deadwood’ list last season so just stop it!! it’s seriously a joke.
harsh reality is chelsea are a cut above, dont know why people are denying that. Better than us in Europe and EPL at the moment. Just at the moment though. We should be trying to achieve the goals they are (trophywise, screw their bus parking) and not settling for 2nd place. Agree with everything you said davidnz, and to point 7 I would add a GK still.
are u a chelshit fans pretending to be a gooner?
and how are chelsea better than us in europe when they were deservedly knocked out in the R16 as well by 10 men psg at home!
Get Lacazette upfront and see for yourself how we will win the league next season!
Cazorla and Ozil = Chef Raekwon and Ghostface
I think the reason why Ramsey is playing out wide is bec Wenger wants to make some room for Wilsher. And by playing Ramsey outwide, a player who is very much into going forward and playing wannabe striker, i can see him start next year there a lot. I do personally dont like this thought, but i know Wenger way to good, to know that he is thinking about this.
Sanchez and Ozil are worth the money and Arsenal should continue spending money where it is needed. The players we cant make, we need to buy, and the time to buy a striker is now.
Striker or fake one in Reus, Kondogbia, Gaya, and i will be a happy gunner for a long time.
Simple reason for playing Ramsay instead of Walcott… He scores goals
Higuain or Lacazette upfront for next season and we will be quite good. If we had another player today in the front three of the calibre of Sanchez we would’ve won 6,7 or 8 mayber. Giroud wasn’t up to the fast pace we were playing today, he is more suited when opposition is defending most of the game. He is still good, but we need another striker that can also get 20, 25 goals in the league, so that Giroud isn’t put on pressure. Sanchez has eased off pressure from Giroud this season, and since his return upto until 3 games ago, Giroud was playing with confidence and was inform. But he hasn’t got a goal good goal scoring opportunity for 3 games now,and thats where a different type of striker can help get us goals.
What sin did Walcott commit against Wenger? He deserved at least 20 minutes win the game won at half time. Ox is coming back and will get game time!
Gooner4G@
Dont forget kondogbia or schneiderlin!
Great game and some of the best passing game Arsenal have had this season. Ozil Cazorla and Sanchez will be huge next season!! I think Kondogbia and Lacazette will be enough to mount a serious challenge on all fronts! Reus wont happen as he is holding out for Barcelona in 2016. Anyways lets win the remaining games and finish the season on a real high!! COYG
we still need a striker…Giroud is just not good enough
Giroud’s problem is that he just isn’t consistent enough. To be fair he had one of his worst games of the season today, he was neither winning the ball, holding the ball, passing well or striking well.
He seems to do better with a longer rest, but either Walcott plays alternate weeks with him, or we get someone more consistent.
Forget that, he isn’t consistently bad every other week either, and Theo’s lacking on confidence for whatever reason.
because he doesnt get games, and he doesnt get games because he doesnt score. Stuck in a bad cycle right now and running out of time. Season is almost over
I don’t get people who say we shouldn’t use stats to judge a player, what exactly should now be used?
sympathy.
Illoris, Varane, Kondabagia, Griezmaan and Lacaette
and we are good to go for next season….
I learnt something iv been pondering about today..
Our passes aint accurate enough.
If u see d way we played in d 2nd half against Hull, we lost possession of the ball too often.
We lost them due to the passes being to fast, too slow, to long or too short..
Only Ozil gave about 100% pass accuracy.
And inspite of our midfield being star-studded it things like this that makes Bayern stand out in midfield and also Pep’s Barcelona..
We need to improve our pass accuracy.. We can do this in training but it ll be faster and better with an addition.
Now I’m not saying we should sign another AMF. What I’m saying is including this attribute in any player we consider adding to the team in positions needed.
Striker,DM,CB.
Germans and/or Spaniards can improve this part of our game.
We def get sloppy with the ball, but I think it happened in the second half because we had a 3-0 lead. And you can’t just single out Germans and Spaniards on that stat, especially when one of the best passers in the world is Argentinian.
I must admit I didn’t notice it too much today. I do know we had the best pass accuracy in the league this weekend so we can’t be too bad – especially as we do attempt more risky and intricate passes than most teams.
Weird stat I just came across. On the first day of the season we had the shortest team in the league, even with Mertesacker included. But we have the second highest success rate for aerial duels in the PL, winning 56.8%. That’s higher than Chelsea with all their ‘giants’. Stoke are top, of course. It’s in their DNA to put the ball in the air.
My only question, why is he not the player of the year? If it has to do with him not being in the EPL winning team(CHELSEA), then I certainly do feel sorry the way awards are given.
Santiago Vergini of Sunderland will win the best EPL own goal of the year
It looks like the coach told the team to relax at half time. We are number 3 due to goal difference but it looks like we were not hungry for more goals except Alexis. He can be a top goal scorer if he keeps on scoring but our players were too relaxed for my liking in the 2nd half. I saw something like 3 misplaced passes from Coquelin….It was a sign of him switching off!. We need to be more ruthless if we want to be champions next season.
Another negative…Giroud was the only useless player last time, I don’t remember him winning and ball! Where was he? Maybe TH14 is right after all.