We were hoping for an easy game last week against Southampton, but Arsenal were undone by a lack of any cohesive defenders. But we were able to breath a little bit more easily this week back at home again, and although the Clarets gave as good as they got in the first 15 minutes, the Ozil effect came into play. He made some space in the box and crossed it perfectly into the path of Kolasinac who picked out Aubameyang in the middle rather than blast one himself. Excellent move by the Gunners and we could all relax a little now we had the lead. Could we actually be leading a League game at half-time for once?
The game then went into a lull as Burnley refused to concede another and they started to fight a lot more for the ball, and the legs of the Arsenal players, and anything else they could kick within range. It started off with a wrestling match between Barnes and Sokratis and then all the other players joined in. Barnes got a yellow, and it didn’t take long for Sokratis to join him as the feud continued. This is the Burnley we know and love! Unbelievably we got another defensive injury as Monreal went off shaking his head and Lichtsteiner came on, and we finally made it to the break with our first lead of the season.
The physical battle continued in the second half but Arsenal fans fears were put to rest when Aubameyang doubled our lead after just three minutes, but if anything it just made Burnley even more aggressive. The yellow cards were flying about with both sides getting stuck in, and Torreira was introduced with half an hour to go, but suddenly Burnley got one back through that man Barnes after a game of snooker in the Arsenal box, and now we have another fight on our hands.
Arsenal try holding onto the ball for awhile, but when Lacazette gets replaced by Iwobi, the Frenchman is not at all happy and lets his manager know it. We really just need to keep calm and hold onto this lead. Iwobi gets involved in a forward move and nearly gets Auba up for his hat-trick, but time is very slowly ticking away.
Burnley keep attacking but Arsenal break away, and with Ozil failing to control the ball in the Burnley box suddenly it falls to Iwobi, who makes no mistake and puts it away for his first goal of the season.
So Arsenal finally lead a game at half time, and Aubameyang is now the leader in the race for the Golden Boot! Not to mention that my tip for the day was a 3-1 win to the Arsenal!
Come on You Gunners!!
Great vision by Ozil on the two goals and another excellent cross by Kolasinac in the first half. Aubameyang did his duty well by scoring two goals
Glad to see 4-1-2-1-2 worked nicely at home, instead of using 4-2-3-1 again. But I hope they would use 3-4-1-2 in the next away match
The 2nd was an intended shot not an intended assist.The ball hit the defender’s leg.
Kev, do you honestly believe that Ozil would have taken a shot with such little power? Watch the postioning of his body and where he was looking; yes it took a slight deflection, but that was a pass by Ozil looking for Iwobi.
Not an assist in any way.Please I’d advise you to look at the initial direction of the when it left Ozil’s leg then you’d see what I mean.Ozil is good at assists and I believe he has the quality to play such a pass to Iwobi but it wasn’t intended at all.
Özil was scoring and not assisting.The direction he was facing was an intended shot to score.
Never a shot
Confirmed as an assist.
Yeah and IWOBI showed great composure to finish superbly.
Yeah it was a fantastic finish from I-WOE-BEE (Now called WOE for short).That goal will win him Goal of the Month on MOTD,Footballer of the Year,The next World Cup,The Monaco Grand Prix,Hickstead Showjumping,Wimbledon Men’s Final (Singles And Doubles),The Boat Race,Tour de France,The next Ashes series,The World Triathlon,World Snooker Title,AND The next Strictly Come Dancing.
FFS pal-Take your Todger out of your hand,put it away,and realise that WOE is never going to be good enough for Arsenal.
PS-Don’t forget to wash your hands
Phil, I prefer the BEE, or B for short , As in B class, whereas most PREM players are expected to be A class. But WOE will also do nicely. The more these Nigerians “wet their pants” over this WOE Bgone player and post their pathetic rubbish, the more I and you too it seems, will continue telling the truth about this mediocre player. You would think some of those guys have never ever seen any top Nigerian player ever before , so star struck are they by this mediocre player. I only mention his Nigerian fans as it is almost always just Nigerians who are in love with him. For nationalist reasons too it seems to me , whereas most sensible fans couldnt give a damn whether a player comes from England, Singapore, Nigeria, Australia or the Moon. ALL we care about is his playing ability! Or in his case his lack of it!
Phil, I guess that answers my question to youabout him in a previous post as far as your concerned!!!
Had any thoughts regarding Unai though?
Jon, one day it will sink in about a players ability over wherever he comes from, hope you and I will still be around to see it old friend!!
Pretty juvenile comments about Iwobi, he’s not my favourite either but grow up eh.
I agree, extremely juvenile.
You toxic ”Don” J. Fox, and a sadist.
Why do not let people who want enjoy the good moment. Why must a player that was bad a day before should not enjoy his good moment, and if some fans feel like sharing the moment what is wrong with that, why fixated about what others comment, and feel.
Feel or don’t feel, that is your choice. Make your comments straight without always looking for a company you frequently refer, OR do you need tutorials ? A fan should express his feelings, and his perception on whatever in the game. I am a Nigerian, I mentioned that before.
Man, it is live and let live!!!!!!!!!
Got that!
It’s mostly because he tries to stay on a certain good side regarding a small minority in here, very small. When they don’t see eye to eye on something, it’s all ..I usually agree with most of what you say, I commend your realistic outlook, but on this one, however, I would have to differ slightly. Apologies.
Then, replies to some fan who might be in high spirits, might be a kid for all we know. Something along the lines ..not too different from – Stop posting trash, are you an idiot, don’t even argue with me because you will regret it, I am too smart and I will run circles around you.
And I’m like, is this the same fellow that shouts from the rooftops, that he isn’t a racist, even though no-one said that he was. Is this the same guy that preaches about fairness, trying to keep things real and all that. Picking and choosing different tones to speak with people who you don’t agree with, that ain’t realistic man, that’s some unreal s**t, for reals.
@jon fox For someone at your age, I would have expected a much more mature reaction towards such overwhelmed comments about players like Iwobi who in your opinion are underperforming. For example, I’m greek and I could also go on saying that Sokratis is our best defender or that Mavropanos is the next Van Djik and so on, but I can say that the first one is very clumsy and a mobile red card due to his antics against players and refs and the second one a false alarm. Had Mike Dean been the ref today, he would have probably sent Sokratis off with a second yellow for his overreacting, or for that cheeky elbow… So just let everyone express themselves the way they want and have respect for others’ opinions. It’s much better on this site in comparison with the comments on Arsenal’s Facebook or Twitter account by the way, so just let it be…
I was merely pointing out to Nigerians(in the main)who for nationalist “pride” reasons -as they clearly see it- seem to worship a very ordinary and rather underwhelming , though personally likeable, young man and see him as a sort of Messiah and hype any little bit of talent (which he does have, though in small doses) as if he is Henry or Bergkamp. I do not like or admire overt nationalism- as distinct from patriotism, something quite different – nor do I appreciate sily overhype and think it harms our club. THAT my less than deep thinking friend, is WHY I wrote this post. Try looking into things more deeply as to motive -or even enquire first as to why it was thus written – if you will, before criticising something done for sensible and liberal reasons.
Jon Fox, Iwobi may be over hyped, yes, but what about English players, apart from Kane, no other English player is on a world class level, none, but the way the media talk about them at times can be annoying
Imagine Rashford being nominated for golden boy last year, what nonsense, cos he’s English? How good is he that he’ll be nominated for the youngest player below 19 years then? Another player is dier, how better is he than Nigeria’s ndidi, last season, ndidi made most successful tackles but how much are we hearing about it, if twas an English player now… I can go on and on Stones, whose last great season was at everton, even our own holding, there was a time there was an article about him being ready for England’s first team or not and some people were like he’s not good enough yet, they were painting it like its takes so much to be a starter for England, I was saying it that there’s nothing special about England’s entire first team that one needs to be world class to make but unfortunately, the media doesn’t think so
@Jon Fox sometimes by talking harshly about others or speaking your mind without softening your words, you make it impossible for those who read your comments to read between the lines and understand your inner thoughts and intentions. I don’t like the overhyping of certain players or performances either, which are mostly driven by arsenal.com and its media team, but I think that in this site the average fan has a good idea of what is really going on with our team and I would rather concentrate on exchanging thoughts with them. Happy Christmas days and we meet again after the Brighton game.
You are far from objective in expressing your thoughts and opinions. You need not be derogatory before you can express yourself. That said, like it or not, everyone has his bad and good moments. Live in each moment. Nationalistic or not don’t get insultive in expressing your opinions.
I am Nigerian but I hate seeing Iwobi play for us (Arsenal ), he’s a liability.
so when next you talk do not generalize.
Geo_Gooner. I would, with great respect point out to you this simple truth: I said that most of the people who hype and idoloise Iwobi are Nigerians. i did NOT SAY – which is a key distinction – that most Nigerians hype and idolise IWOBI. I am sure you are perfectly capable of seeing this key difference in those two totally different thoughts, if you try harder than you have up til now. Care to comment please and say that you now see my point? I have the utmost respect for Nigeria. I do NOT have the utmost respect for SOME silly self hyped Nigerians. i AM SURE YOU WILL SEE THIS POINT. IT REALLY IS NOT DIFFICULT.
@Phil
I feel you man… ✌✌
it was a pass. simple, there was no way to shoot like that if you are not doing tap-in.
Clear assist, no sentiment.
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Great win today, Arsenal showed character.
OMG ??? I thought my eyes were deceiving me Th14 hahaha! He took it well, I was glad, so we got our 2 goal cushion back.
Kolasinac was MOTM…. boy how I’ve missed him
He might of scored but the 15 mins he was on he was awful .that dribble that set kolasnic up was amazing and his 2 over hit passes but yea he scored so he’s now one of Arsenal’s best players
Not in my eyes he’s not Xxnofx…. I don’t mind who scores… it could have been Gunnersaurus… just as long as that ball crossed the line & we got all 3 points!!
Aimed at Th 14 sue and his endless love affair with iwobi .i agree it was a good win and made my hangover just that little bit better
Ha ok!! I should have guessed that!
@Sue
I’m glad you enjoyed that one ?
@Xxnofx
Geez man! Give it a break… Iwobi scored the goal that secured all 3 points, what’s awful in that?
No auba scored the goal that secured the 3 points maybe you didn’t see that we was winning 2-1 ,so no he didn’t secure the win ,maybe I’ll give it a break when you do to ,telling us he should start as a number 10 ??♂️ SMFH
Iwobi changed the game from a contest – to a no contest. We might have still won this game 2 – 1, but it’s never going to be proven, because Iwobi took it out of Burnley’s and our defender’s hands.
By any chance, was there a match this season, when we missed a golden opportunity, which you later cussed and rued heavily.
It is what it is, an important goal towards the match points. No more, no less.
Sue, I strongly suspect sarcasm in the post of Xxnofx. Actually I don’t suspect it , I reecognise it. These “wet their pants over Iwobi” types are becoming more and more tedious. Mind you , Elneny was so thoroughly useless as usual , that even I WAS HOPING IWOBI WOULD COME ON. HE IS AT LEAST BETTER THAN IWOBI; IN THE SAME WAYTHAT BEING 19TH IS BETTER THAN BEING 20TH!
Ha yes Jon, I should have known!
Yes Elneny wasn’t the greatest…. he must run miles, but with nothing at the end of it!!
Let us face facts Sue, Elneny was bought BECAUSE he was CHEAP and for no other reason. For £5 Million or peanuts in todays PREM. Bless him ; he tries. It is not his fault that he is useless!
Lets give him some love, people, we were all fearing that some stupid error or ref decision might ruin the day for us. Aubameyang should loan Iwobi his Batman! suit for the next few days
Now we need to beat Brighton and we’ll be back on track. Aubameyang leading the charts – Arsenal back to winning ways – And the monkey’s off our back – It’s a good start to the weekend.
??? that’d be hilarious seeing him wearing that!
Sue,did you see that weak , mentally unstable player who doesn’t run, doesn’t commit to tackles and isn’t liked by the other players?
Ozil was magnificient today, he never stopped running, created for the front two and CAPTAINED the team to a well deserved victory. Hope you are wearing our exclusive T shirt from Phil!?!?!?
As I said the other day, his footballing brain is way ahead of anyone else at the club and Emery must find a way to build the team around him in every match.
Kolasinac was a force to be reckoned with and his cross was perfection. He gets better with every game and, if he can stay injury free, will be a great asset for us.
As was Elneny’s pass out of defence for the second goal by the way and I view him as a real squad player who is able to do the job his manager askd him to do.
Lich was adequate today when he came on, but how we didn’t clear the ball for their goal I will never know!
Iwobo? fifteen minutes of zero to hero and back again…still believe Unai MIGHT just sort him out though.
I wonder if any of the Ozil knockers noticed how the players celebrated with him after each goal? They see him as an integral part of this team if they were anything to go by.
O.T. Brighton had a player sent off today, so he will miss our game…what a shame.
Haha Ken I did indeed… he was brilliant! How we’ve missed him! I also agree about Kolasinac, he was awesome & I’m glad he got MOTM.. he is such a beast, no one messes with him!
I’ve worn the t shirt out ?
I do wonder if we’ll ever have a clean sheet again!! I have to give Sokratis a shout, he was also brilliant today
Yes Lewis Dunk will miss Wednesday.. pity it wasn’t Glenn Murray ?
Sue calm down! Its only Burnley after Leicester city, by his wage he should have won us the Europa last year.Check what he will do next weekend.And if Ozil was great today and applying the same logic to iwobi, he should be named a gunners legend
I want to enjoy our win… So let me be!!
My God Ken, If you thought Ozil “magnificent”, then you and I were watching different sports , let alone different games. I saw what I always see when he plays; a refusal to use his body to shield the ball and a penchant for giving up when tackled or harried. Plus the occasional gem of a pass. LIKE THE ASSIST FOR THE ASSIST FOR THE FIRST GOAL. And THAT does NOT add up to value for his huge and silly wage. I am totally clear he just does not care enough to deserve to wear our shirt. I am certain that Emery and the regime will find a way to get him gone, either in JAN OR
NEXT SUMMER. Even if it means we have to still pay a portion of his ridiculously given salary to his new club. I don’t like to argue further with you as we share so many life values and I deeply respect you as a man but I could NOT let your”magnificent” pass by , unchallenged. If he was “magnificent”, what adjectives would you have used for Henry or Bergkamp I wonder!
That’s the Ozil I saw as well. Two moments of brilliance in between some pretty anonymous play. He only started pressing in the last ten minutes. He is what he is though and I get why some like him but calling him ‘magnificent” and “never stopped running” rings as true as saying Iwobi scored a stunner. On Iwobi, not his best performance but Arsenal didn’t start pressing high enough up the pitch until he came on. Just saying…
Thank you for your realistic comments. It is reassuring to know that I am not alone-as it sometimes feels like on here- in being able to clearly see the truth and to state it, admittedly forcefully(since that has becoine necessary, due to the regular overhyped comments of those folk who confuse a talented but lazy and mostly non productive player with the true greats of our past like Vierra, Henry, Bergkamp. I state these comments to these Ozil hypers to try to show them how MUCH damage it does to our shared beloved club , by them thinking Ozil’s standard of play is SPECIAL (and worthy of an obscene salary that harms our financial prospects in strengthening our team in various areas). It clearly is not!
Jon, debating with you is a pleasure BECAUSE we know each other’s life values!!!
I thought Ozil was magnificient today for one very special reson.
He was left out, ignored, injured, transfer listed, finished, take any of these as they were all used in the media, on just arsenal and by the general public to describe the mans situation.
He was publically questioned by Emery regarding his attitude and was left out of games and even the squad.
WHAT DID HE DO TODAY?
After being given the captains armband ( mentally weak etc!!) he proceeded to supply our forwards with the kind of defence splitting passes that helped create all three goals… he was involved with his teammates in all the celebrations and had his name chanted by the crowd for his performance.
He covered every inch of the grass and never gave up running for the team.
I said he was “magnificient today” Jon and wasn’t thinking about Thierry or Dennis who didn’t play (more’s the pity!).
To come back today after all that’s been thrown at him,shows, in my opinion, the complete opposite of your view of him as a weak, uncommitted, unstable and overpaid mercenary.
Maybe I should have used the word brilliant, as he certainly put two fingers up at those who doubt his commitment and ability to our club.
Good on him I say Ken!
Ken, I too thought he had a great game and he is the only player we have that can open defences, the haters will never see it as they don’t want to see it, rather sad really. I really hope he stays and think he probably will.
+1 Cheers mate, I tend to agree with the most of your comments regarding Özil, well Iwobi too, although sometimes you tend to overreact! ?
Anyway, Özil was once again very lively against a small team and his contribution to our first goal was the reason why he is still wearing an Arsenal shirt. Despite the fact that Burnley was playing very physical he managed to impose his playing style and distribute the passes needed going forward, he has definitely improved in this area. I hope Emery finds the key in Özil’s enigma, cause when he is motivated and in good spirits he can be word class and above everyone else in this squad.
Ken, Thank you for your detailed reply. I would respectfully refer you to my post above this one in reply to Trudeau, who was supporting that first post of mine. It explains my position fully concerning the OZIL overhype , as I see it. Ozil is clearly a sensitive and liberally minded human being which I much admire , as I do with all SUCH humans . But as an Arsenal player -something far less important in the grand scheme of things, despite all our obsessions who are on here – I totally disagree that he is earning his corn. Moreover , and far more to the point, I am convinced that Emery thinks as I do and though he played yesterday and was captain, I also know that Emery, as a pragmatist,will never do a Mourinho, and leave a player out who is useful in certain games, even if not worth keeping long term as a key and best paid team member. I truly believe Emery is planning , with the regime above him, to move OZIL on, possibly in an exchange deal , ASAP. Even if it MAY entail us continuing to pay a part of his salary once he goes, for a while anyway. Above all, Emery has shown many times already that he has NO favourite players here. You either shape up or ship out. I am convinced the latter will happen to Ozil and sooner than most think.
you are an idiot!
I am tired of your rhetoric.
there are maybe 4-5 footballers that can see that pass let alone make it
maybe you should listen to the commentary. It may give you some perspective.
without Ozil today this match could have gone either way
For me Arsenals best player today has been Sokratis.We would’ve lost this match easily had he not started.He made a lot of interceptions and is by far Arsenal.What I can’t fathom is how our defence looks so open even when the team doesn’t threaten us.We made this nothing game something.Another thing I must say is AMN is a complete waste at RB and this utility man thing must stop.Today like the past few weeks Guendouzi offered nothing at CM but he’ll still probably start next week over AMN who has the physical attributes and ability to complement Torreira in a two man midfield.Saw people say he isnt good enough for Arsenal and I’m so ashamed based on the reasons they gave.Ozil provided a fantastic pre assist today but still has those lapses in concentration causing him to lose the ball when easily challenged.He also did very well at times with his passing but what I want him to do is try to dominate the ball more and dictate things more.A game which should’ve been easy for us but all in all a good win.
I reckon he’s our best CB…. I really like him & his no nonsense defending
??
@Kev
Relax Kev. What you want is a perfect game and there will never be a perfect game. No way you will go 90 minutes in the premier league without your defence being tested. The difference usually lies with who takes their chances and who wastes them.
I do not want a perfect game.I want reduced mistakes and high concentration in defense.Even the commentators rightfully and truly said in the 1st half that even though we were dominating Burnley our defence looked so open and they had a chance against us.Lo and behold we saw what happened in the 2nd half.We would’ve lost this match surely had Sokratis mot been around today.When I say this I also consider our opponent’s quality and looking how bad Burnley is I was not impressed at times by how easily they were creating chances without doing much whereas we have to always carve something out.
You’re right there Kev. Against spurs burnley didn’t have a single shot on target.
Shall we even remind ourselves where they sit on the table?
I know it is your opinion but stop bitching. We win and that is what is most important. Like someone rightfully said you can’t have perfect game in epl. Against this same team, spurs scored one goal and in the dying minute. This same team was all over Pool before Sallah came to rescue. That is how it is and that how it will be. You can’t expect other teams not to give a fight.
?
You called it right kev. Without Sokratis we would have lost today. He was immense and only he, and Auba and and Leno, who actually had not much to save as it was a poor and scrappy game, played to the standard we should regularly aspire too. I thought Ozil his usual self; too frail and easily knocked off the ball, lazy but with the occasional gem of a pass. For my money he produces nowhere near enough to justify keeping him and his club damaging salary. I am 100% certain that he will not be here next season. I have put a substantial bet on that fact and know I WILL WIN THE MONEY. Once again he let us down today despite the wilful blindness of those fans who refuse to see his deep faults.
No plaudits for Kolasinac then Jon?
Are you really saying that Ozil only produced an occasional gem of a pass?
Did you notice just how LUCKY Socratis was to still be on the pitch and how he so easily could have given a penalty away? I won’t be in the least surprised if both he and Mustafi are banned for another five yellow cards before the season ends.
On the Ozil salary point, just how are you gauging his reported salary as being a “club damaging salary”.
O.T. It seems they have identified the moron who threw the bottle Jon, now let’s hope the club throw the kitchen sink at him!!
I have anwered your other post saying Ozil was “magnificent” in my typical style and would welcome your response to that Ken. Yes, Kolas was good going forward today BUT I cannot rate him defensively on his overall form. I still say we do not have a single top quality back four type defender at the club with Holding and Sokratis being easily the best of a way below par bunch. Sokratis is at least tough and determined but you are right and he is walking on thin ice with all his wrestling and his ungainly style. Effective today though and he was badly needed out there. I heard that the police has only identified an image as that “moron” left the stadium and still not arrested anyone. Not quite sorted out yet , therefore, unless you have heard something further that I HAVE MISSED, which I hope IS the case. When found, the club are bound to ban him for life. I wish he will be jailed though.
Thanks to Chelsea losing we are hanging on grimly to the top fours coattails but on this display, despite plenty of physical fight , we are miles away in overall quality from making top four in May. I love the change in desire and attitude and team spirit and think Emery amazing to have got us so many points with this lot, esp the terrible defence and all these injuries. Without REAL help from KROENKE though, which will not be happening, we are doomed never to seriously challenge for the title again in the foreseeable future. Merry Christmas and healthy and happy New Year to you Ken.
Same wishes to you and yours Jon, have a good one!!
I have answered your reply by the way.
Fantastic, so Leno was one of our better players even though he didn’t do much, I presume that was because he didn’t flap hopelessly at everything coming across the box (as he usually does) and yes he did catch a cross which was a welcome and encouraging change. At a complete loss as to why he deserves a mention and not Kolasinac and Ozil, strange view of the game.
Mwsupporter, Jon asked me if we were watching different games and I think you just proved him and I were!!
I actually watched the game again on TV and for the third goal, Ozil gave a bad pass just outside our area.
Four passes later, he was just outside Burnley’s area having run faster and further than anyone else in the team.
Just one example of this lazy player who Emery has made clear, wants him to stay at the club.
Mwsupporter, If you care to re-read my post to which you replied , I ACTUALLY SAID that Leno (and the others I mentioned)”played to the standard we should aspire to”. Thissmeans that he did nothing wrong or below his normal standard. I totally agree and said so that he had little to do. I did NOT describe him as “one of our better players”. As someone who chooses my words carefully and who understands sometimes subtle but CLEAR distinctions in phrases and meanings, I assume as here, sometimes wrongly, that others share this ability with our common language. I also find it unfair when others misquote me ,using THEIR words, rather than mine and then blame me for writing what they incorrectly perceived , rather than what I precisely did write. Care to comment further ?
I would love to comment further, as twice in the last two days you have wrongly accused me of comments that you perceive I have made in relation to posts you have made, also to otheres namely Sue, they were in fact responses to others, It appears to me that you mainly only respond and read the comments that suit you and jump to conclusions. I have re read the comments and I appear to have construed the comment ‘played to the standard we should aspire to’, to mean he was one of our better players, but I agree you didn’t ‘actually’ say those ‘exact’ words, some I would suggest would consider this to semantics but wow we’re all human. Could I suggest a little more care in relation to your statements and responses this would greatly aid sensible constructive debate. I have checked but can’t find the apology to Sue and myself in relation to your wrong accusations on our comments from yesterday, oh well I’m sure you thought you’d done it, so no worries. Must dig out my old course work from my English degree, obviously needs some rework, although you’re the first to question it, thanks for the feedback. Have a great day.
@Quantic Dream
Thank you for your answer to kev.
I know everyone is free to talk but that guy is a bit arrogant. He seems to know football from a tp z. better than the actual arsenal manager. A club should just hire his service and see what happens next.
One of the reason AMN does not play is his attitude. He is soo laid-back that he sometimes lose focus in the match. Great potential player but still need to fix that mentality.
I am so glad someone else noticed that. Sometimes I think he thinks he is too cool.
Will you keep your mouth shut now? Saying Ozil has nothing to offer the team and being okay with Mhiki and Iwobi wasting chances upon chances… You’d be stupid to say He has nothing to offer us, imagine the number of chances we created today, compared our attack to when it’s Iwobi and Mhiki.
And like I mentioned in my article, Aubameyang is useless when he plays alone without Ozilj and Lacazette. Today confirms that, I was glad to see Lacazette pissed after being subbed off. I mean it’s getting to much, you won’t Starr him and when you Start him you’ll take him off, it’s kinda annoying. I really don’t care if Ozil doesn’t perform like this every week, all I know his he brings something to the team that Mhiki and Iwobi doesn’t.
Emery sort your ish with him!!!
Everyone in this who world knows that Ozil at his best is world class and is better than Iwobi and Mkhi at his best.I do not understand those who say different.However, he hasn’t been at his best of late and due to this others had to start over him.He doesn’t play well so anytime he has a bad game his supporters pipe down arrogantly talking about why he should always start and better than Mkhi and Iwobi who are nowhere near his class at his best.I can guarantee you that when he has an average performance next week you’d shut up and some of his haters and critiques will be back.The best thing we can do is sell all three.Its only the plastic lot who change their tone week after week after week.
Ozil hasn’t been at his best because he hasn’t played. It is obvious from today’s creativity that Ozil has been missed. Lacazette’s performance has been under rated today; particularly given his superb pass to Aubameyang.
The last time Ozil was this influential in a match was against Leicester (22 oct). Eddie how can you say you don’t care if it takes another 2 months for us see this level of performance from Ozil again?
TH14, you and I know that’s an exaggeration, 2 months is dirt talk… Are you counting the whole time and 5 matches he missed as part of the 2 months orvwhat are you doing?
Great play from Ozil and everyone in general today! It must be noted for the anti-Arsenal conspiracy guys that we benefited from a dubious Iwobi goal that looked to have found him offside..at least it looked that way to me.
Yes not bad at all QD… back to winning ways!
Back to winning ways! Now hopefully we dutifully collect 3 more points versus Brighton as Liverpool will be a difficult game.
Good game, too much better before monreals injury and the change of line up…xhaka has defenetly play as cm…i think emery was wrong taking laca out…i think it should be ozil and not laca….
Like i said before, what kolasinic gives us going foward its too much important to us
Just wish Auba had got a hat trick… although he’s top scorer now ?
Sue have you seen a coolest speaker like Bacary Sagna? And he looks quite handsome too. And Iwobi gave you a special Xmas gift ?. I was just happy to see Ozil back doing what he knows how to do best.
No Pat! Yes I was very happy with that Christmas gift ?
So was I Pat! Ozil along with Kolasinac had a great game today! Very happy with the 3 points ?
What a cameo from Özil! He certainly earned his wages today! He was our driving force today with excellent runs from Kolasinac, important inerceptions from Sokratis and nice finishing from Auba. Laca didn’t have such chances to show himself, but he also tried a lot. Iwobi’s goal was indeed just a bit offside, but a few whistles went before that against us. Overall a convincing display with all our injury crisis at the moment, I just hope Monreal’s injury is not serious, cause he gives us stability at CB. Let’s see if Özil keeps his place for the next match…
Only a fraction off… but what the hell hey! Thought the ref was a bit dodgy once again… but that’s just the norm now I guess!
They were a dirty bunch… So glad we won, after the week we’ve had!!
Yeah, Harvey Barnes is a lucky boy to stay on and to score. I don’t feel bad at all scoring a very slightly offside goal.
*Ashley
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got outa jail 2day never looked in control at any time,ps alan “interesting”smith lets b haven you
At times he really does my head in… sometimes would rather listen to Get Neville & that’s saying something!!!
Gary!!
he always subbing lacazette. he is very agile and today he made him piss off and broke his confifdence
Lacazette’s confidence seems to drop quickly, as long as he is not scoring goals. He may be best pals with Auba but he is a professional and gets sad when he is not on the score sheet. The same goes with Özil and I think Emery did right tonight to let the captain play the full 90′ today, cause he definitely earned that today. Laca was a bit out of shorts today, also because of not being the one to score despite playing as our ST.
@ArsehalGR
Lacazette confidence never dropped. He just did not have some clear chances yet, that s all
Okay game. Ozil did well, Auba took his chances, Sokratis was tough at the back, Kolasinac was the game changer out wide and is MOTM for me though. But getting worried with all our defensive injuries how we’ll deal with Liverpool. Shouldn’t Mavropanos have been back by now?
Surprised Laca came off, would have taken Ozil off instead.
Maybe Laca and Ramsey start next game?
Otherwise 3 points for us, Papa the enforcer and Kola giving us grit and Steel, and Ozil creating again. Everything else is secondary to the win.
Time to move Monreal and Kos elsewhere. Think next year Holding and Sokratis start at CB.
Has Chambers been playing as DM? IMHO always saw him as DM, and great rotation with Torreria; move Elneny on.
I’d keep monreal on. He’s the best fullback we have at the club still and unless we find somebody better in the market I’d give him a one year extension. Injuries have messed Monreal up a bit this season, but he’s easily the most consistent player we have, next to Torreira now.
I just don’t understand how people think Monreal should be the one getting sold, when we find ourselves in a position, where even clumsy Mustafi is being missed! We surely need defensive reinforcements in the upcoming windows, especially at CB and RB.
Admin this is Iwobi’s second goal this season not his first.he scored against Chelsea.
MOTM is between Sokratis and Kolasinach the Thank. back to winning ways.
Putting Elneni in front of the defenders is a good call.
loved what Ozil does but for next five/six games he will be deactivated….
Lacca contributed immensely but being substituted during boxing day is preserving energy.be disciplined and after three days play your part.
7 days left for a real test of Arsenal against liv.
Sokratis MOTM
It was not fluid at times but then again it was also difficult when we loss another defender during the game. Torriera intro helped.
Iwobi scored but struggled to get in the game once on.
Impressed with Guendouzi not shying away with the physicality of Burnley.
Niles did well in his first home start
Ozil jogged his way to closing down, can’t recall a tackle by him but the build up assist for the first goal was impressive and also offers hope in attack for auba and laca.
Kosalniac I thought was good along with xhaka.
Most impressive sight was at full time when the players continued to discussed the game amongst themselves and exchanged ideas and thoughts.
Can’t fault the players for passion, even of the squad is paper thin atm.
Let’s now see if Leicester can get something at Chelsea and Everton sign off at home with a win before Xmas
Important we won and now back in contention for top 4! Will settle for 4 points in the next 2! Brighton away next that is gonna be a bruising affair! Must rest Torreira for it we can’t have him missing Liverpool away under any circumstances ? now I’m gonna put up my Christmas tree before Cardiff beat utd! ?
You’re slacking John! My tree has been up since mid November ?? yes I’m hoping for a Neil Warnock tactical masterclass
Haha yeah I wouldn’t even have bothered Sue but my daughter thinks I’m a Scrooge so getting with the theme ? hopefully Sue it would be nice staying 11 points clear ?
Better late than never John hey?!
Haha as the saying goes yes ? city 3-1 down chavs 1-0 down its looking like a good day Sue ?
I wanted City to win though John, as Liverpool are 4 points clear now ? but very happy with the chavs losing ?
Don’t worry about the pool Sue we’ll bring them back down to earth next week Unai will have something up his sleeve ??
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Where are all the Ozil out and iwobi as 10
I still think our biggest problem is Emery him self great win boys
This manager is breaking people’s confidence and throwing them all over the place
Auba MOTM
Oh ffs Palace are winning
Did you want a city win Sue ?
Yes… Ever since I picked Ederson for my dream team he’s been crap… I’ve jinxed it big time
Those 3 goals wouldn’t have helped, better luck next time Sue ?
It is evident that we need a better box-box midfielder than the likes of Ramsey for us to dominate games and have most of our attacks thro the centre. A player in the mould of Carzola who can protect the wall, move the ball with good movement, drible, spray passes, start good counters would suit us. How can we always try to move the ball thro the wings without proper wingers?
Abdoulaye Doucouré is the answer bro and sell elneny and also sign hector herrera as a replacement for ramsey on free as he is out of contract with porto at the end of the season
yessss chelsea drop lovely three points
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When is tomorrow??
Chelsea beaten.. over to Everton tomorrow make it a great weekend ?
Well, I didn’t win the super6, didn’t even come anywhere at all close. How about you guys, any of you come close to the jackpot.
Some strange results, glad Che lost, but I don’t want Liv to win the league, like Sue I’d rather we have one outstanding team. Liv already look very good, what will they be like, if Europe’s top talent begin to dream of a Liv move.
Me! I won it ? haha not even in the ball park! Liverpool won’t win the league they haven’t hit a bad patch yet which they’re due we’ll put the unbeaten run to an end on the 29th providing Torreira doesn’t pick up a booking at Brighton
I hope you’re right mate.
You had me scrambling for the keyboard there for a minute, was about to give you a big, X-Factor, hard luck story.
I actually think we’re better suited playing the big teams Chelsea and City aside! We know we must go there and bet at our absolute best, I really think we can win Liverpool aren’t unbeatable that’s gonna proved sooner or later! Haha I can barely get a 4 team accumulator mate too hard to call ?
Like some of us have been saying since Emery was appointed, play Ozil in Home game against midtable and bottom teams. But against the Top 6 home and away then Ozil has got to accept to work hard like all his other teammates. Even some Away games against some gritty and grafty tough midtable clubs then Emery also has to be cautious trusting Ozil in them sort of games.
Are you ever happy when we win????
The good news: three points, a lot of effort by nearly all our players, Sokratos ‘s best Arsenal game so far and without which I think we would have lost or drawn. Auba still a top poacher. The bad news: team looks shapeless , patched up, physically exhausted with no regular midfield quality and still a hopeless defence full of misfits, half fit players and players having to be used out of position. What dwarfs all these problems by a million miles is that we have an owner who could cure all these things in a few months, if only he cared for the club. Worst news of all though is he DOESN’T! WEEP!
Jon, well said and spot on.
Sokratis my man of the match.
Captain Ozil, the new super hero.
Xhaka made some lovely passes.
Auba, super hero.
Tough game today. Great win and good effort by the team. Let’s keep it going
Kev your worries concerning our alarming defending are completely justified.Basically we were all over the place and against speedier and more mobile forwards than Burnley possess we could have shed a handful of goals..Socratis who at least matched the opposition physically was fortunate not to be sent off along with the very aggressive Barnes.Our lack of height and speed at the back is evident to all and the sooner we acquire a top class centre back the better.The injury to Monreal is concerning and could result in Xhaka being deployed at the back yet again when we really need him and Torreria in midfield .All in all the result was better than the performance but with Chelsea losing it turned out to be not a bad afternoon.
Oh Grandad, How I love your regular sensible, and never hyped posts. I agree with every word of this post and rarely dissent overmuch from anything you write.
I never complain when we win. That’s all I want.
Good to see City losing lol
Fantastic day
The next two fixtures will be tougher though
26th Away Brighton
29th Away Liverpool
Just 3 days rest!
Will be especially brutal on our defence but we can handle it
COYG
Oh and Chelsea losing helped us too
well done to Leicester and Crystal palace
My observations: If we had Sokratis and Mustafi in our last EPL match, we should be on 40 points now. That was a match we should have won by the standard we have been given by Unai, because I have sat down to do a critical analysis of his system which has given me a clue as to what his goals are for this season: to win against the mid table teams, the ones at the bottom, and most importantly, to avoid giving three points to the supposedly big teams. He was able to do that as soon as the boys started taking his ideas on board until that calamitous sort of defending by Kosienly cost us our unbeaten run.
Barnes, today, typified the type of a match Diego Costa would have given us if he was still plating in the EPL. And if Kosienly, don’t mind me misspelling his name, was the one that marked Barnes, he would have caved in like he did most of the time against Costa. Anyway, I do not squarely put the blame on him; he was taught to be soft by Mr Wenger.
Our best players today were Sokratis, Kolasinac and Aubameyang. Maybe I should include Ozil for the few magical moments he had, but I can’t always wait to see him do that in every two months; that is not normal. Big players are called big players because they always do big things consistently. It is not to just do it once in a blue moon. I like his quality, no doubt; I like him as a person, this is true. But to take our dear club forward, we need him to consistently give a good performance, because his weekly wages give me the impression that he is a good player. Therefore, let him not work like an ant and eat like an elephant. That is the logic.
There are a lot of other players who I think are not good enough unless they are ready to move away from the mediocre world they are comfortably living in and accept the fact that we deserve more than that. One of them is Alex Iwobi. Even though he is from my country, I would not mind if he is moved on if he is not ready to improve. There were some signs I saw in him at the beginning of the season that made me think he can be improved just like Pep improved Sterling, but those signs seem to have evaporated.
Elneny is one of those I will ask to make way out of Arsenal the day I will see him live; his thinking is not fast. He lacks the awareness needed of a midfielder.
I think we need an attacking midfielder, a right winger, an excellent centre half, and a left back. This is because Monreal is above 30, Kolasinac cannot do it alone for the whole season. Ramsey is leaving us pretty soon, and Ozil is ones-in-a-blue moon player.
We need an entire back line of top notch defenders.
then you can have some depth with Bellerin/Moustafi/Papa off the bench and also
have younger players develop under the new group’s guidance.
MF is ok if you can add a box to box solid player to work with Toreira (Xhka off the bench)
Play Ozil/Mik as AM (also depth there) and buy a true class winger to play up with AUba/LAca
Now you have depth and a team to challenge. This makeshift bullshit of improving players that in the first place do not have the quality is for Everton and Southampton .
Pep improved Sterling because he has quality . Iwodi does not as Walcott proved that waiting for a miracle is not the best option. Let most of these players go and start building for the next 2/3 transfer windows. It may take a while and in the meantime we hope Emery can manage his players and not piss them off.
Shame on you Kingojode. Tufiakwa!
TH14, I refused to be overwhelmed by emotions and nationalism. Your type is one of the reasons our country has not developed further, because you allow people who are not good enough for a job to handle such. You put square pegs in round holes. You think you like Iwobi more than myself? No way! But if you run an organization, you should have priorities. Did you not read in my post where I said he should improve? That at least suggest that I want him to be at Arsenal, just like every other players who were raised at Arsenal. But things may not go that way all the time. You have to make decisions so that your organization does not sink before your very eyes.
Iwobi can be improved because he is young and has the talent. But he has to accept and take the decision that he needs to improve. Who would have thought that Sterling could do as much as this some seasons ago, when he was making some silly final decisions in the opponent 18 yard box? But look at how far he has come.
TH14, Biko ge nti ofuma, nwanne.
If I may respectfully say, I am so pleased to see your mature and level headed reply to your felow countryman. I am British born and bred and have little knowledge of what it means to have been born Nigerian. I wish to say that I have the utmost respect for your country and for the vast majoriy of your countrymen whether living there or abroad, I also want to say that I do not care for narrow nationalism , as totally distinct from patriotism , which is a laudable and completely different concept. That I do not rate Iwobi as a player at our necessary standard is based ONLY and ENTIRELY on HOW he plays. Further, I am sure this is the opinion of virtually all other non Nigerians on here who agree with my view of Iwobi as a moderate only player, (such as Phil,a regular on here). I consider your countryman, Th14, to be immature, not a deep thinking person at all and a reactionary. Nor is he a nice person at all in my opinion. I say this to offer my support to you and all Nigerians and also those from anywhere else in the whole world who are able to engage their brains first, before writing.
Yeah! I agree with you totally on people engaging their brain first before taking any action. By that way, one can avoid unnecessary mistakes and regrets. And notably, Albert Einstein said that the best education we can give is not how to read recite materials, but teach them critical thinking.
Wow hat off to you, sir! You said everything right, maybe we need an extra right back, after Lichtsteiner retires…Iwobi needs to find his way of playing though and stop playing THAT freely, although we do need successful one-on-one plays at the moment.
with the comments i have read after a win for arsenal.
my gawwd arsenal fans here are pathetic… everyone that had some not so nice, opinionated about an arsenal player today is the scum of the earth. Spurs fans are better than you.
Ozil is not good, iwobi not good, elneny not good. the energy you exude here is toxic and just reflect how unpleasant your life is.
Man City, Chelsea with all their world class players lost.
Get off the back of ozil and iwobi
You are a spurs fan I think; you have no place on this thread. Stop disguising. Impersonation is a crime, and it is greatly frowned at by true Arsenal fans. Go and identify with the spurs fans who you think are better than us.
Sean Dyke having a winge about the refereeing; Arsenal players dive, Long gets 2 hands in the back and no penalty, yet he didnt see the leg across from the back of Lacazette in the penalty area, Burnley havent been awarded a penalty in 61 games. How long has it been since Arsenal was awarded a penalty?
“Dyche” not Dyke!
Sean “ditch” is his name, all he does now is speak garbage. Stoke city 2.0 didn’t last long lol
Last pen we got was 2nd December, 3 weeks ago.
Fair enough Declan, I know Arsenal doesn’t get many ?