‘Superior’ Arsenal just made a mistake (again!)

Once again Arsenal dominated possession and passed the ball around blah blah blah, and still ended up on the losing side again. But in the FA Cup it was our first defeat in three years so you could say by the law of averages, that we had to lose at some point!

Arsene Wenger felt that Arsenal were the better team as usual, but Watford fought bravely and made us pay for our mistakes. Le Prof said after the game: “Our long, long run has come to an end in a very sad way because I don’t think that we deserved to lose. We have to look at ourselves for the first goal. The second goal was a fantastic shot. I felt that it was a real cup game where they defended very well and took their chances on the break, the few chances they had. As long as we didn’t score the first goal they kept their belief. They were physically very strong but we had enough chances to win the game.

“We knew that (they would be strong) before the game. We had enough technical superiority to win the game and to score goals. It was down to not making a mistake and keeping it 0-0 until the last 20 minutes. If we would have done that then we might have won the game. Unfortunately we made one. It is sad. We’ve come out of a very long run in the FA Cup. The FA Cup is the FA Cup, you cannot guarantee you will win it.”

When the media suggested that it could be a lack of confidence, Wenger flatly denied it. “This had nothing to do with confidence. Of course there is confidence in the team. The recent results haven’t shown that but we’ve played against good teams and the recent results were 2-2 at Tottenham with 10 men and a 4-0 win at Hull. I don’t see why we shouldn’t have any confidence.”

Just like against Barcelona, Arsenal were defensively good in the first half, but mistakes crept in after the break. “In the second half our discipline went a little bit defensively and we were caught on it.” Wenger added. “The first goal we couldn’t clear the header and after that we were caught. The second goal was a great goal from them, it was a great shot. You can’t do a lot about it.

“I believe that we gave very few chances away but unfortunately we paid for everything we gave away. It is very sad at the moment to realise no matter what happens, we pay for every chance we give away.”

That’s the story of Arsenal’s season so far. We always seem to be the better team on paper, but a couple of mistakes and we are under pressure again. Wenger made three subs all at once to try and turn the game, but it ended up just a little too late. “I wanted to give a bit more penetration because I felt that we were lacking a bit and were passing a bit sideways. We lacked penetration and an incisive game. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to make a substitution before they scored the second goal. I wanted to do it at 1-0 but then they broke and it was 2-0. It was much more difficult.

“I don’t think we suffered a lot defensively. Watford are a team who are good on the break. They depend on Ighalo and Deeney and they are a handful to cope with. They were good and the rest work very hard. Overall we didn’t give many chances away in that game.”

It looks like Wenger wants to forget about this game quickly and try to prepare for the next two tough fixtures. “We want to now focus on the Champions League and then we go to Everton and that schedule is very tight,” he said. “It is very difficult playing on Sunday afternoon, Wednesday night and then Saturday morning. It is important that we respond very quickly.

“We play a big game and players want to play in the big games. When you have a big game in front of you, you want to prepare well and show how good you are. I think that is natural.”

“So is he going to take his best team to Barcelona? “We want to make the impossible possible. Barcelona are a very, very strong side and it’s very important that we go there, focus and show a good response.”

I don’t think we can afford to make too many mistakes in Barcelona if we are being punished for every single one…..

Tags Barcelona Watford Wenger

35 Comments

    1. the word “Superior” , does not tend to geL well with Arsenal

      .

      There’s nothing superior nor is there anything special bout this team and its manager… Mediocrity rules this fortress!

    2. at the end of yesterday, Guedioura’s thunderbolt was the deciding factor

      Not only did it make the difference, it also made the HeadLines…

  1. we are gonna score two but they will hit us with twelve.
    6 goals by messi and hattricks by suarez and neymar.
    Supporters will not attend arsenal games till the end of the season.
    But if they insist on going.
    Lukaku will score 4 this weekend.

      1. I am a huge messi fan and I would like to see him being the 6 time ballon dor champion.
        I also want to see him outscore ronaldo at the uefa.
        I hate seeing suarez stealing messis show.
        I always want to see messi at being the pivot of goals at barcelona.
        Let s watch magic and grown up men being taught how to play football at the camp nou

          1. What I gather is that they aren’t even supporters, Gunners ones that is. That’s what we get for when we play the most attractive football in England. He is on the other post saying Wenger out, yet he wants Messi to tear us a new one. And Goonerlad, a supporter cant watch as a neutral so either your joking, or your not really a supporter.

            1. We are supporters but we know when we don’t have a chance of winning a game, after 5 years of disappointment and identical seasons it should be obvious to you that we’re not going to the next round of CL, just like the games we had against Bayern, Monaco, AC Milan

      2. @ GoonerLad – you have to teach me this “watching Arsenal as a neutral”. When ever I watch Arsenal I get invested. If Barca put 6 past us there would be nothing neutral about my feelings.

        1. Well of course I will be sad but I won’t let the disappointment get to me, when you watch your team fail and repeat the same mistakes over and over again you eventually get used to it.

  2. That’s the problem with Wenger, always making the team believe they didn’t deserve to lose or that we’re always the better team. Our players need to learnt o accept defeat and the fact they were mediocre, comforting them and lying to them is why we keep repeating the same mistakes. Just look at Messi even though he knows they can dominate us and win the game at the Nou Camp with ease he refuses to take us lightly and warns his team mates that we may be able to make a comeback. He’s not doing it for mind games, he’s doing it to remind his team to never take opportunities for granted, Guardiola does the same with his squad, but what do our players and managers do ? The complete opposite, instead they talk about how they can win the game instead of how they can avoid losing it. Remember just last week Walcott and Mertesacker talking about how the goals will come ? Where are they during our most important games ? Missing as usual.

    1. Kindergarten management!

      We didn’t deserve to loose/we were unlucky/I thought we did enough to win/they had few opportunities but punished us/we have great spirit/ we had technical superiority…

      Stop deluding yourself and your team.

      You are not good enough to beat Watford let alone Barcelona.

  3. what do u mean “MISTAKE”?

    That wasn’t just a mistake….. It’s a seasonal repetitive ERROR

    u know #RinseDryRepeat#

  4. Wenger want to make the impossible possible in his dream, and he will come back and say we give it all against Barcelona but we lack character in front of goal, now we need a quick response against Everton. Forget how it happened mr Wenger, we know you very well.

  5. Reporter: Poor defending again
    Wenger: It wasn’t me
    Reporter: Poor in the final third
    Wenger: It wasn’t me
    Reporter: No pace up front
    Wenger: It wasn’t me

  6. Arsenal had a lot of
    possession and Campbell
    Chambers and Sanchez
    put in many dangerous crosses.
    But we lack a lethal finisher.

    1. Henry said that and he was attacked, even the intended target wanted apologies from him. I don’t know why they never accept its their faults, from the manager down to his beloved flops. something should change here

  7. We have been here before and we will be here again and again and again under WENGER. One manager I love and respect. I just wish he leaves end of the season. Doubtful though!

  8. I will be watching our next ucl game only because am a fan of both teams otherwise that will be my last to watch arsenal this season unless our AWOUT dream comes true so early.untill then am behind LC.

  9. On Wednesday, I’ll save myself the headache and watch Bayern v Juventus game. Afterall, I’m a neutral and that will be an interesting game after the 2 all draw in the 1st leg..

    I’m an Arsenal fan and I can’t watch an Arsenal match neutrally. I rather not watch. Oh Lawd. Sad times!

  10. correct title: “useless inferior bottlers together with their prof in failure did what they do best against watford”

  11. once again everyone is on wenger’s case…well this time around i wont blame him, even ian right said it the team he put out there today could have easily won it.
    now to the match, many of you may be blinded by wenger’s hate i too am tired of him aswell but lets call a spade a spade..the players should own up to this defeat.
    i think our problem lies with our midfield coquline has been awful since this year…flamini was doing better than him recently..and people saying bench per for gabriel hello? that guy is red card waiting to happen…that tackle on deeney wtf..and for odion goal whose fault was it? koscielny would have done better..each day i am convinced that our best cb pairing is per and koscielny.
    gibbs is either good nor bad plays one good game and plays next ten game horrible.
    chambers should play cb or cdm .against hull and he showed it..rb he is very vulnerable.
    elneny has shown he is very mobile,efficient on the ball, has an eye for a shot but he also has shown he is no dm.
    ozil was class yesterday and welbeck as well..those where the only positive.
    and ospina saw that ball all through i bet szeczsney would have kept that ball..
    all in all i will just forget this season as i know we will not win the league nor any cup this season..
    next season either sell wilshere or keep him being injured..
    ox should be loaned out to westham or southampton because his best years are ahead of him..he just need his confidence back.
    i say sell walcot already never liked him never will.
    sanchez i dont know the excuse to make for him but he needs to be on the bench to sort himself out but i doubt that will ever happen.
    campbell is turning out to be our best player soon both defencively and offencively..plays his heart out yet gets substituted and players like giroud get 90 mins all the time.
    iwobi should also be giving a chance..
    well do have a great week all the gunners around the globe cheers

  12. Well what a load of cobblers.
    Its clear to even the most myopic of Arsene Wenger fans that he has NOWHERE left to go, most fans would have swallowed the collapse of our Premier league aspirations IF we were on track to achieve the trble FA cup wins and make another page in footballing history with Arsenals name on it, however, this team we have that was handpicked by Wenger is guttless and has no spirit or drive, coupled with Wengers atrocious management style it has little chance of achieving anything in either this season or any other in the future.
    Wenger states that contention surrounding his future at the club is “pathetic” or whatever phrase he used…..this shows that he knows he’s not gonna be forced out and that winning trophies is mearly a secondary concern for him at AFC. His primary concern is keeping the board happy and ensuring that we turn a profit to line the boards pockets and his own, AT THE EXPENSE OF THE FANS.
    I have always had a healthy respect for what Wenger has done for us over the years but this run of results is too much by a long chalk and its time that his competancy and the boards ambition was called into question by any of the fan groups strong enough to make a difference, theres around 200 million comming into the club next season with the new BT sports deal and I am almost certain that this wont be spent on the players we really need nor will it be used to lower season ticket prices, so where will this money go?
    we pay silent stan 3 million here there and everywhere for what???
    “Managerial and strategy advice” what the f”ck does that really mean?
    Wenger gets paid the highest salary of any PL manager and he needs to start delivering in both player aquisition and results, yes the players are at fault but who picks the squad and who buys them in the first place? start taking responsibility Wenger or get out !!!!

    1. @ Ozzy – your last sentence would read better if it read :”start taking responsibility Wenger and get out!!!!”

  13. It’s actually a good thing we’re out of the FA cup. With the UCL potentially out of the way also, now we can focus on what we all believed was the priority this season: The EPL title.

    I continue to support the club to give a final push to that end. If we end up with nothing at the end of the season, then it would have been a season of underachievement, under-performance and utter failure. #Truth.

    If that should happen I will expect that we react like the rest of the other big teams will certainly do: Make genuine and effective changes/upgrades in preparation for next season and the seasons after. #hopingAgainstHope.

  14. whats clear to me is that the priority of the board of whome Wenger is the public face, is only to turn a large profit and not to take any risks on expensive players, plus if we did win the EPL fans would then turn thier sights on the CL which would then again set expectations and require further heavy investment in the team, this is NOT something the board wishes to get involved in, they also know that they can walk the thin line of promising everything while intentionally delevering nothing but champions league qualification and this keeps most of the fans happy especially the prawn sandwich brigade who are not really genuine football fans let alone Arsenal fans but who populate the emirates in a very large way.
    Wenger doesnt like his credentials called into question as he is delivering what HIS bosses want and that mediocrity but CL qualification with minimum spend he keeps his job the mindless mass of fans keep paying thier money and the club wins nothing!!!
    NOTHING WILL CHANGE WITH kROENKE IN CHARGE,
    there are a number of minor shareholders who could be called upon to sell thier shares to usmanov but who either dont want to or have not been approached in order to force a buyout.
    AFC is crooked as ar$eholes from the grass roots up and its now a money making machimne for the board and the gilded few at the top.
    nothing will change and thats that.

  15. An “attack first” team like Arsenal will always concede goals. The way forward is to ensure we score more goals at the other end!!!

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