Arsenal dodged a Barcelona style bullet! by D.N.
Arsene Wenger really got away with one in the home game against Southampton, although the Arsenal players on the pitch were to blame for our struggles as much as the manager. The team selection definitely put us in a tough situation but there was enough quality on the pitch and the players have to take responsibility as well.
I get that the internationals and the upcoming Champions League game at PSG is important but the priority is still to win the Premier League right? And after our poor start to the season and with Chelsea, Man City and United all on perfect starts, could we really afford to take chances?
In top leagues like the EPL you can always get beat if you slack off and that is just what we did. Barcelona did the same thing against just promoted Alaves tonight, with lots of key players like Messi, Suarez and Iniesta left out. And the players that did play seemed to be going through the motions like us but they got punished with a shocking loss at home.
It might not be such a shock for us to lose at home to Southampton but it would have done some serious damage to our season. Shane Long had a great chance to regain the lead in the second half and on almost any other day would have gave his side the win.
We were so lucky to get that late penalty. It was soft and there had been a clear foul by Monreal in the build up. We have had plenty of bad luck but Wenger and the players need to see that Barca game and realise how lucky they were today. Then make sure it does not happen again.
Maybe it will turn out to be a perfect wake up call but I have my doubts. What do you think?
Barcelona defeat to Alaves Highlights…..
How is getting held with an obvious shirt pull ( almost twisted his shirt off) and then when getting up to retrieve the ball tripped by the defender a soft call?
@Jim,
Technically, that was a foul, and deserved to be a penalty.
But to be fair, we have seen Refs wave off such claims a million times before.
We however, have been unlucky many times, and need all the luck we can get.
pls ask them why they keep saying its soft..may b it is because GIROUD stood his ground.
Am so surprised that when we are lucky some fans don’t seem to be happy.
Yes, we are Arsenal and we should play our trademark fluent football. But sometimes am happy when mother luck remembers us. In the years that a certain manager that was humbled yesterday at at home at Manchester, I did not fancy their football nor their fans too, but the fans we always quick to remind us that they know how to win (mostly against us).
Arsenal Should know how to win in all circumstances, even in their off day.
I took the three points wholeheartedly. Then on Tuesday, I will watch the real Arsenal.
we should thank the referees for saving our dire performances
We were very lucky indeed. Long missing his chances and a disputable penalty. We did not create any clear cut chances. But I will take the 3 points. Every team will have such days and come away with 3 points.
Between its really frustrating to watch when Ozil plays like he did yesterday. He looked like he would rather be anywhere than on that pitch!!
We were lucky, and I take being lucky over being good any game if we win.
Having said that, we lack spirit and leadership IMO. We have a strong squad with not very many injuries yet the team we put out starts slow whilst trailing the league by 5 points or 8 at the time of the game. That to me is inexcusable. As I wrote elsewhere, look at how City started under Pep against Man U and compare that to how we started against Southampton. It seems to me Wenger has difficulty motivating his team and preparing them for games like these. It is not enough to say “we can’t drop points”. At home and against lesser teams on paper, we should be on top of them from the get go and not let up until we have put them away. We drop points because we give teams a chance the get comfortable and confidence.
people who think we ought to win every game 4-0,playing fluent attacking football are im sorry deluded,it,s been 4 games,yesterday was the first game back from the break,we lost the first game,drew the second ,won the last 2 what does that say to you?be fair and give the team/manager a chance,i reckon some fans are so blinded by their anger towards wenger that there is no satisfying them no matter what!
@tissiam
Well said Gooner.
Some people are so myopic in their bias. Trying to pawn it off as being “realistic”.
Tone down guys. We see things differently . personally I would HV prefered a better performance even with the same scoreline but hey a win is a win