Arsenal snatched all three points from a resilient Southampton side today, with us needing to three goals to secure all three points.
Our side started the game out of sorts, and we were duly punished just after 15 minutes of play, although had Shkodran Mustafi had done his job properly we wouldn’t have fallen behind.
The defender allowed a cross to come across into the nine-yard box, and Shane Long pounced on the ball to knock it past both him and Cech, and you can understand the goalkeepers frustrations with his most experienced defender on the pitch.
Luckily enough that goal woke up the rest of the team, and we began to control the game and started to show our class, and not before long we found ourselves level. Thierry Drogba AKA Danny Welbeck supplied Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with a neat chipped ball for him to toe poke past the defender, and bounce just over the goalkeeper’s outstretching leg and into the net.
We continued our dominance throughout the remainder of the half, and completed the turnaround through a sublime bit of close ball control from Danny Welbeck, although what looked like a perfect finish turned out to be a deflected effort, which left the opposing shot-stopper with no chance of saving.
We started the second half confidently, and forced McCarthur into a few saves including some sublime efforts by Granit Xhaka from distance, but failed to build on our goals from the first half.
We were soon punished for our failure to put the game to bed, and once again a goal for our opponents had to get our team going again. Cedric Soares found Charlie Austin inside the box to smash it past Cech, leaving us just over 15 minutes to get the three points our performance has deserved.
Thankfully Danny Welbeck didn’t come here to disappoint, and he gave us the lead once again with 10 minutes to play, but the excitement wasn’t over yet…
Southampton brought the fight to the Emirates today, and that told as Jack Stephens got himself sent off after over-reacting to a shirt pull by future Arsenal captain Jack Wilshere, who was in turn booked also. This interaction spilled into a mass altercation with a number of players making their presence felt, but Mohamed Elneny somehow finds himself sent off for the mad fracas, supposedly for raising his hand at Soares…
That scuffle did slow the advances of our rivals, and the match did succumb to a 3-2 defeat for the Saints, but I feel we could have given ourselves an easier match had we kept our concentration throughout the 90 minutes.
Was Elneny’s red card warranted? Did we deserve a more comfortable result? Was the win needed to keep our run of positive results going ahead of Thursday night?
Pat J
Only saw half of the match, the last forty minutes
Welbeck missed a sitter, but redeemed himself with a powerful header, from Iwobi’s great assist. These two players showed what they can do with their statures and strengths, if given more game time and support from the fans
Chambers is still slow, but he is stronger in the air than both Koscielny and Mustafi, due to his height advantage. Elneny put good pressures on the opponents
Agree
Some fans on here are quike to kill players after their first Bad game.Iwobi has been terrible this season but he ils still young ….Ozil and Auba wernt that at his age
Would much prefer holding and chambers play together … not sure what’s the deal with Mustafi..
We can’t have any good ones in the reserve or youth team so 2 CB ‘ s or one really great one who is a leader to bring up the others with him
That was tense! Wth was Mustafi doing!
I’m not Iwobi’s or Welbz’s biggest fan… just thankful for what they did to win us the 3 points!
My heart rate is just going back to normal now ?
Iwobi played key part, and two assists in all 3 goals.
Haters take a week off. ??
About time… I hope he keeps it up
first week off all season
??
My god … the guy was hopeless … give it up and let him go to Charltin which his level .. I want an arsenal team that can win stuff .. period
this is why they stick around. Welbeck and Iwobi have been horrible for the entire season but one game towards end of season somehow erases how terrible they have been. Glad to see them doing well but to act like they are great players is ridiculous. Iwobi is at least young but need to improve MASSIVELY to have any chance at Arsenal. Welbeck is just not good, don’t know how else to cut it. These are just two of our underperformers, so they shouldnt be singled out, and sometimes they unfairly are I’ll admit. We’ve all seen the poor seasons Mustafi, Bellerin, Xhaka have had as well.
I think we need a good coach who knows how to develop this young players. When they started they were all very promising; Iwobi has stagnated as well as other young players in the club. We need a new coach with fresh ideas.
Well said. Too many young promising players have stagnated under Arsene.
Youngsters get a better chance at Arsenal, we bring more through than any of our rivals. You have a selected memory if you believe youngsters fair better under a different coach, that’s why Barcelona youngsters come over here because of the money, and they choose us because they know they’ll get a fair crack compared to our competitors. So I’d have to disagree. When they come onto the next stage, it is the stage after that they can become stunted. Ramsey’s age or slightly younger, Wilshere’s, Xhaka, Coquelin, just under those ages, when you need them to mature. But it’s not all on Wenger, some things on a pitch you need to learn because a coach will not or cannot teach it. The tricks, buying advantages, learning from mistakes you’ve made. Wenger is to blame too, he is too fair and he gives too much freedom which opens us up to any team with a good game plan. Ramsey looks like he could be making strides, we also sold allot of players and brought in some experienced players.
Never said a truer word!
You are right … Bellerin mustafi and xhaka have to be moved on as well … The thing is that if wenger stays none if this happens and it will be Groundhog Day 2019 … And 15 years since last title closing in on the worst run in the clubs history … And people still believe he is the man for the job … Unbelievable
Does anyone see some similarity between Iwoby and RVP? Seriosly his play with the ball brings some memories…
The game was quite entertaining, but as an Arsenal fan one just can’t ignore the fact that cannot defend and keep an organised shape from the front, off the ball.
Although I don’t like Wenger, I hope he will have a talk with Wilshere, since I suppose he’s against such ugly behaviour on the field. Wilshere’s Stoke like behaviour was not at all appreciated by me and in my opinion it goes against Arsenal values.
I think this problem with Wilshere will be out of our hair and another club’s instead, by next season. I HAD THOUGHT HE HAD FINALLY GROWN UP. CLEARLY NOT THOUGH!
his had realy poor few games apart from one or two great passes in the box but I’m realy desapointed in him lately with his ball hugging which results to loosing the ball almost everytime
We really have a problem with defending.mustafi making silly mistakes.
delighted for welbeck to get a brace very good squad player.
pierre emerick aubameyang seems to find a way to score in every game.what a striker.
Mustafi £35M LMAO! Anyways, great resilience and performance from the boys I wish they’d done this earlier in the league when it mattered. At least no more backwards pass El Neny for the next 3 games.
Mustafi was a part of the almost relegated and bottom-table Valencia (at that time), so his silly mistakes were no surprise for me. Maybe Valencia’s poor position at that time was partly because his silly mistakes
Since he left, Valencia become sturdier in defending, thanks to Gabriel Paulista, Arsenal’s ex-CB. Arsenal should be more careful before recruiting new players next time, as we don’t want another Mustafi, Xhaka, etc
He is very aggressive and has a good anticipation, but in my opinion his playing style is too much similar to Koscielny’s. If Arsenal can find a taller, calmer, bigger and more experienced defender to complement him, I am sure he can be much better than this
That first goal the opposition was a mistake by Cech. The ball dropped in the 6 area box and that goal keeper area. He hesitated. As much as i think Mustafi should have done something but its Cech’s mistake. He wanted to go for the ball but was slow to move out.
Positives: Aubameyang scoring, Welbeck and Iwobi getting goals and assists (am i dreaming?), Cech looking good again, Nelson looked pretty decent
Negatives: Mustafi is very unconvincing, we look very vulnerable on counters against a relegation side, Wilshere continues to play horribly and the fans cheer on his ridiculous antics.
Passable performance, but wasnt our strongest lineup. Welbz still needs to be off as soon as possible, and couldn’t care less about wilshere either. Unconvincing squad players, but at least Welbeck stays focused and has a positive attitude. Wilshere doesnt back up all that bark. Short cameo he gives the ball away a dozen times. This is a guy who wants 100k per week from the club. I’ll end on a positive and say Aubameyang is looking to be an absolute hit. When you sign world class players this is what happens. So happy to have him!
When I saw the team sheet , I said that we had only one TOP CLASS player in the start eleven. Desoite Welbecks positive game, I still believe that. Welcome Auba and have you got ten brothers by any chance, most of them defenders?
Aubameyang…what a player ?
Right again Sue, don’t know why Wenger took him off,he can’t play on Thursday and the man’s a goal machine. maybe 6 goals in 7 games is not enough for Wenger.
Exactly Kenny…. was surprised he was subbed. So glad we got him!
Chelsea dropped 2 more points, lovely jubbly!!
Laca has only had 1 and a bit games since comeback so made sense to give him 20 mins and give fresh legs to team. Auba gave a lot
Elneny’s red was correct as he hit the player on his head. However, Wilshere also should’ve been given a red card when Stephens was given a red card.
All he done was pulled him back, foul yes but it wasn’t even a card offense in my opinion. By the law the red card was due, but I would have gave their man a yellow because of what the points meant for that club, I’d let that slide and warn him that the next color will be red. Elneny’s was a complete joke, only doing what you see done inside the penalty box every week.
Another awful game compared to the teams we used to watch
Mustafi absolutely ? we criticise holding and chambers but we need to take into account they play with mustafi
Iwobi
Welbeck ok as 3 rd choice
Xhaka
Not good enough
No wonder there are still so many empty seats
There were many empty seats because negativity spreads very fast, which means our personal attacks on Wenger were successful
Our harsh critics and words would give a strong message to Wenger and the board. If he doesn’t leave before the next season, he is completely deluded
Gotanidea
I’m so pleased people are seeing sense
Yes , It HAS worked . It will keep on occurring til the decision – which , personally, I believe they have already taken, to sack him at seasons end – is publicly announced. If they had the sense they clearly do NOT have, they would have announced it years ago and we would not be also rans with NO DEFENCE AT ALL, RIGHT NOW!
Exciting finish to a low quality match. Pros were Welbeck, Chambers and Auba. Cech also did well. Cons were the rest of the so called “defence” esp the must be got rid off ASAP MUSTAFI . How this misfit gets anywhere near an Arsenal side is a mystery and major managerial mistake. Other cons were the “crab”, Elneny who had more touches than anyone else BUT who could not find even one forward penetrative pass. Just a second rate fill in player and another in the Mustafi mould to be sold ASAP. OTHER PROS WERE THE HALF EMPTY STADIUM, which will remain so til “you know who” is sacked. I mean actually publicly announced, since I believe the decision has already been taken (and the absent fans not giving the club their attendance have been a massive factor, so well done all you absentees!) It is good to see the much unloved and unlovable Mark Hughes probably taking a side down. Even better to see his old team Stoke also almost certainly going down with Saints and WBA.
I’m sure you don’t want to see the Saints go down Jon. Nice southern club with a decent stadium and you have to feel sorry for their fans with so many of their players being sold, although like you , I’ve got no love for Mark Hughes Also Pat J, how long you been watching the game? Sure it’s a just a slip, but no such thing as the nine yard box mate.
Kenny , Up to this last two seasons I have admired Saints, BUT a club that consistently sells it’s top players every year is cheating it’s fans and now it looks as though the club will pay the price for their folly. Though I do feel sorry for those fans, of course.This and last season they have been a boring and woeful side. Fancy playing Long up front when they have Austin on the bench. That sums them up. So , now I feel they deserve to go down and that they will. I can think of another, far more famous club, that has been cheating it’s fans for a full decade but going down would be the best way to get rid of the foul owner they have and force him to sell. Who CAN I be talking about!
Honestly I don’t want Southampton to relegate,I really like them.I want “Stoke city”and Swansea to join West Brom in the championship.
Well, it is possibly it COULD happen as you want. Looking at remaining fixtures of all bottom clubs though, it looks bleak for the current bottom three.
Yes Jon I agree, I couldn’t believe Hughes started Long in front of Austin, four games on the trot Austin’s scored against us and he starts Long. Soon as he came on my mate said to me, “he’ll score against us”, and a minute later he did.
The main problem as usual was our centre backs who are bang average at best.Elneny,Iwobi and Welbeck all played well as did Xhaka in the first half.There are a number of teams in the EPL who are worse than Southhamton and I hope they stay up.Their wing backs and goalkeeper are very decent and would be good additions to our squad.I,m afraid Wilsh ere is not the player he promised to be and is not a future captain of Arsenal.
I looked up “average” in my dictionary, after reading your post. Too long to include it all but “medium” and “ordinary” were prominent among them. I really don’t think average is a good description now , do you? Even at their best! Perhaps I should look up ” dreadful”. To have ANY average CB’s at our club would be a great boost. Wenger has imported all the appalling ones who ever played, esp in France but also some from Germany, over the years. With the exception of Koscielny who was even “very good” in days of yore. You are also correct about Wilshere. Time to get rid IMHO.
Apart from anything mentioned already, biggest concern is our lack of flair and creativity. Everyone seem so shy snd afraid to express themselves.
Agree big time.
What else can we expect when we have a manager who plays such as Elneny, Xhaka and Iwobi in midfield positions? Elneny has the flair of a blind and backward tortoise. Xkaka is about as mobile as a tortoise and Iwobi has the football IQ of a tortoise.
Bit unfair on the tortoise community!!!
Agreed. Rather a lot unfair , actually!
Just finished watching the game on catch up. What the fukc has happened to my Arsenal? If not for Cech we would have been absolutely stuffed. If I see another game with so many square, sideways or back passes I am going to screeeeeeeeaaaaam!
It’s all Elneny does, pass the ball backwards & sideways. If he’s not in the squad, we won’t see such.
Bellerin takes the ball forward and then STOPS every time no matter what the circumstance. He has no interest in taking on defenders. His pace is a waste. I actually thought Debuchy looked much better in his few appearances early in the season.
I am so disappointed in Bellerin’s development. He is not progressing. He is regressing.
That’s what I’ve been saying all season.With no natural wingers we must rely on the two full backs to give us the width.Monreal consistently hits the line and he has nowhere near the pace of Bellerin.His ability to go down the line has either been coached out of him or he just doesn’t have the natural instinct anymore.And his crossing has never improved.Any decent offer in the summer and just get rid of him.His lack of improvement and progress is alarming and is down to Wenger and nobody else.
On today’s game-even the side we put out today should have been more than enough to take care of a side with relegation written all over them.Mustafi is looking a liability in every game and Xhaka will never be a dominant midfielder.As for Wilshere he looks like a player who probably found his true level at Bournemouth last season.Koliasnac is not the player he looked earlier in the season probably down to the “ Coaching” he now gets at the club.
On a positive I thought Calum Chambers did well as did Holding when he was introduced.But let’s not overlook the fact we were outplayed and second best to a next season Championship side.
A mostly second string Arsenal side (Lacazette, Ozil, Ramsey, Kocielny, Wilshere all rested with the Europa tie in hand) outplayed at home by Very decent full strength side who are unfortunately in relegation and have more to play for in other to avoid relegation.
“A very decent full strength side who are unfortunately in relegation” is what you said.Do you not think there is a reason they are where are they are in the league?Do you not believe that if you have fewer points than any other team you end up in the relegation places? Did you not see how West Ham took this “Very Decent Full Strength Side” to the cleaners last week?
As for our side-Thete is not a single player in that Squad who is not an International (accepting that Nelson and Bellerin are youth teams).We are Arsenal Football Club.We play more games per season than the likes of Southampton because we tend to have more games in cups than teams like this.Our Squad players should be good enough to come in to the side and compete with these teams do you not think?The THREE subs that come on are all International players (again accepting Holding is Youth Level).
You seem to accept the mediocrity that is now so familiar and all to common with this Manager.If you really are pleased and delighted with THAT performance against a team likely to be relegated this season(just look at their remaining fixtures) then it only shows how much higher the expectation levels are of the majority of supporters than others.YOU are quite clearly in that minority.
Wilshire is damn average how he get into the team is beyond my imagination!
ozil took germany to world cup semi when he was at iwobis age.then immediately joined real madrid.i doubt real madrid is gonna look for iwobi after this match
Neither do I Tony!
Wenger paid too much for Xhaka, Chambers and Mustafi in my opinion. Together they cost £88 million (i think).
The bad thing is that we have a budget and when we spend big money on average players we don’t end up getting top quality because we spent a lot on those positions. Also we will lose money on those players. Difficult to offload them.
Wenger makes some good signings once in a while ie. Aubameyang, Lacazette, Kolsanic, Holding, Alexis
But his bad signings outweighs his good ones and is the reason we are in the position we are today
We have a bang average defense and central midfield (except for Ozil and Mkhitaryan)
Our current squad is by far the worst in all Wengers time here. I would KEEP ONLY the following: Monreal, Ramsey, Ozil, Auba, Laca and Mkhi, plus all the true fringe players who Wenger has not yet had time to ruin: Nelson, Nketiah, AM-N etc. EVERYONE ELSE is not Arsenal quality; many of them nowhere near. The new manager will need to offload all these as quickly as he can and sensibly replace with better players, which will take two or three seasons , thanks to the rubbish Wenger has collected and overpaid over these last few years. AND OUR DEFENCE IS NOT “AVERAGE”, IT IS APPALLING!
Can’t argue with that selection Jon, and I know it’s been asked before but WTF is Bould doing to earn his money
Keeping Wrigleys employees in work ?
Wilshere shocking again!Catastrophic!Get rid of him now.Just leave,leave,leave…
Besides being a countrymen of mine i was causing a tantrum when i understood that we are after Mustafi. We have spend way to much money on him, and this comes due the fact that we were under to much pressure and panic due at that time.
There is no point in having messis up front when you have school boys denders at the back. We need to spend a lot and look for the future and fix our problems in the defense.
I am feed up with this bs. Today such things do happen during a meaningless league game tomorrow it can be a finale where we Griezman is running around. And what are we actually doing here all the time? Wallkling on ice i would say. F this. Not happy at all.
based on todays market 35m for mustafic is a fair deal
dont think he was our first choice
mustafic was a desperate signing…
paulister and bfg was injured and holding was in experience at that time
Did you guys see how Chambers chest the ball in the 44th minute.
He chest the ball and it went over him.We need serious players and not imposters like him.Holding seems more composed with the ball than Chambers by far
Man!! i don’t know what we’ll do to fix our deffence, every time any team crosses our half feels like the opponent is playing against a different team……PEA tho’ world beater we got in our hands. #coyg no matter what
it’s so disgraceful reading all of you all comments, please who were better performers today than Iwobi, Elneny, Auba and Cech.
And someone even mentions Holding as a quality signing while Chambers is not -REALLY
You’all also go about overhyping Maitland Niles who has no specific ability apart from speed which comes with the age.
Please !!!
No Jokes … I’m really starting to believe we can beat Athletico Madrid, be it SemiFinal or at the final
This team now seem not to have problems creating goals but surely Athletico will punish our defense.
Newcastle will be a better test – an away match for a change and they are so resilient presently – Man City couldn’t score them and they beat Man Utd
I really hope we sort out our defensive issues in the summer. It’s been awful this season & the amount of goals we’ve conceded is embarrassing. I cannot stomach another season like this!
2 cb’s & gk is a MUST…. can’t wait till we dish out a few hammerings against Liverpool, the spuds etc… Yes it might take a while for that to happen, but it’ll be great when it does!
Whats with the hate on Elneny? That is simply his role, to connect defence and midfield, he tracks back and support the team, he defends all over the pitch. If anyone that is useless is Xhaka. Our two best MC at the moment is Ramsey/Elneny
You ask that question , and with your own profile name as WENGER! I would use your OWN name were I you; or at least one that is neutral, rather than scorned!
Arsenal sold Dubuchy and Paulista taking away experienced competition for places and the remaining defenders are not improving under the current coaching regime. In defence of Koscielny he has a chronic archilles problem and Chambers and Holding are at an age where they need intensive coaching.
I am totally disappointed with Steve Bould for his apparent lack of input into their development and the discipline, structure and techniques of defending for the team overall.
Arsene Wenger does not “do” defense. Tony Adams came into the first team 4 weeks after his 17th birthday, but was then coached by Don Howe and George Graham. Although he credits Wenger with prolonging his career due to the concentration on health issues, he claims he learnt nothing about defense. Other ex players have made similar claims.
Arsenal aren’t good enough at the moment to have the attitude that they can leak goals and then outscore the opposition.
Mustafi never blames himself.
Welbeck only scored two goals and missed an open chance.He never did anything special to grant him MOTM status.
i believe in the qualities of Arsenal second fiddle players but i didn’t see much soul in their play. I am again and always questioning the preparation and game plan from the coach. it looked like they had no clue how to play together. taking a goal early ended up beeing a good thing to wake some of our players to do more. Still amazed we somehow managed to get the 3 points.
Well said Wenger, your spot on.Why does AW not trust Chambers and Holding to play together in a back four?Because it would be an admission of failure with regard to the mediocre Mustafi.I thought Cedric and Bertram were superior to Bellerin and Kolasinac who continue to dissappoint.What do you think guys?
Yeah I’m bang on with you Grandad.Chambers again looked fairly solid and certainly did not let the side down like Mustafi AGAIN.Holding came on and did what was required from him in the centre as Chambers moved to RB.COULD Chambers and Holding really perform together as CB’s in a back four?NO and nor could anyone else without the TOP QUALITY CENTRAL DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER we have been crying out for since the departure of Gilberto.
As regards the Two Southampton full backs they defended AND attacked far better than Bellerin and Kolasinac who again continue to disappoint with their lacklustre performances.
Agree Phil, regarding the lack of a proper DM since Gilberto Silva; however refer to my post concerning lack of competition and defensive coaching.
Can’t argue with what you posted OG.We sold Gabriel as we had brought Mustafi to the club and he wasn’t deemed good enough.In hindsight that now looks a very poor decision.Im honestly of the opinion that Mustafi is a good CB.But we simply do not defend well.There is no argument with this.Why is this the case? What does Bould do.Why are ex players like Campbell and Keown not called in to work with these players.Tony Adams souls sort them out or ship them put. These players KNEW how to do what they were paid to do -DEFEND.As we haven’t got a CDM of any note there are still ways for a team to defend as a team.In 1989 George Graham had Kevin Richardson as his holding midfielder.He was COACHED into that role.He was COACHED into the team ethics and defensive tactics.He was COACHED into providing the platform to keep us solid and compact.
That’s what’s missing.Players who have been COACHED to do their jobs for the team
Koscielny is not captain material. The way they defended… I’m sure Adams n co would be ashamed to look at what happened to our once proud defensive ability.
I never rate Koscielny as world class. He would still gets been beaten by Drogba even now and was probably be a happy man to see Drogba left.
AW should bear the responsibility to oversee the deterioration to such state. We have about 6 players in the box for the 2nd goal we conceded by none looked like they know what they are doing. Wtf!