Arsenal managed to come away from Molineux with all three points, but it was a far from comfortable game for the Gunners. Wolves have proved extremely hard to beat and they certainly made Arsenal work hard. They had more possession, more attempts, more shots on target but they couldn’t get past our rugged defence even when we were ridiculously reduced to ten men 20 minutes from the end.
It was no surprise that our manager was pleased after the game, but we simply can’t ignore that we have now had 4 red cards in just six games. “I’m extremely proud of them, but we have to stop doing that.” Arteta told Arsenal.com. “We’ve played four of the last six games with 10 men and to win football matches in this league is very, very difficult and with 10 men it’s almost impossible. If we want to have any chance of getting to the objectives that we want, we have to continue to play the 16 games with 11 players.
“Well, we had periods where we gave some sloppy balls away that lost us some control, but our structure was good and our intention was the right one and the quality that we showed, but we had to finish the actions better and we didn’t. At 1-0 the game is always open and then we know what happened in the last 20 minutes.”
So we are now just one point behind West Ham with two games in hand and suddenly Fourth Place is now ours to lose. There will be many more rollercoater games before the end of the season, but yet again Arteta has one player less to choose from when we face Brentford next week…
Give credit to Mikel, he has turned around the defence. We are tougher now to play against, we no longer surrender to the opposition. Just that Laca spoils the party, tice in a row missing sitters. Chuck the fella out.
Yet we might not have scored at all without him. Agree we need to replace him, but credit where it’s due – he makes a difference more often than not
Says who? What do you think would have happened if martinelli or esr was in that position?
Laca was awesome yesterday, soldier. Worked so hard and his energy and closing down gave the Watford players a headache and our lads a proper example of how to press not just for show but to actually get the ball. Compared to Eddie who was only on for a bit but seemed more or less pointless. Not on the defenders shoulders, not running into spaces, not pressing with intensity, not holding up play.
Laca is a gem and deserves to be treasured.
I would love to know what was said in the tactical discussion with Arteta.
The miss hurt, not because it was a sitter, but because he deserved it. I’m an optimist though so applaud the positioning, timing, the run, the first touch, just the finish was the shame. Still the keeper didn’t make it easy and keep in mind by that point I bet Laca had already done some serious work and would be fatigued no doubt. Probably down to 60% energy levels.
you lost me at “awesome”, but it all made perfect sense shortly thereafter when I realized you thought we were playing Watford(lol)
4th is possible but will require Arsenal to amass 70-72 points.
Away
Spurs Westham Chelsea, Southampton Palace Villa Watford Newcastle 14 points
Home games. Brentford Brighton Leeds Everton Wolves Leicester Man U and Liverpool. 19 points.
Total 72 points.
Just been watching the match again. Credit to the whole team for defending so well with 10 men. Does anyone really believe Kane Vardy Sarah etc etc would have been sent off for GM’s fouls. Never in your life. Refereeing is completely inconsistent.
Salah…
Laca could have easily converted that chance but I feel he was reluctant to furge ahead because I thought he felt he was offside. Just my opinion.
While the result was good the performance of the team was not. The problem of fluidity in midfield was plain to see. If the manager can’t improve this after over two years then I fear getting into Europe will be short-lived as Arteta has loads to learn. In fact his record has been abysmal. I don’t enjoy performances like this where the ambition is to settle for 1-0 long before the sending off.