Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 this weekend in an impressive and dominant display, but can they continue that form in order to keep the White Hart Lane supporters quiet?
The Gunners dominated Spurs from start to finish in the North London Derby on Saturday afternoon, dispelling many people’s claims that there is a distinct power shift in our region, but we have put a spanner in the works of the pundits who have supported those thoughts.
Hector Bellerin claims we have shut our noisy neighbours up with our display, which has closed us to within a point of our rivals.
“There’s always a lot of talk but I think it was one of those games where we showed what we could do. We shut some mouth as well,” he said.
“There are people who talk a lot and now, after watching that game at home, they’ll be thinking that these guys have a chance.”
He then moved to praise the performance of his under-fire team-mate Mesut Ozil, who was key in putting the sword to our rivals this weekend.
He continued: “Mesut is someone who gets a lot of criticism, but the players who are around him are very happy to have him and play with him. He makes things very easy for us.”
The Spaniard was then asked if he believed his side could build on the display going forward, he responded: “That’s what we’re trying to do.
“Sometimes, for different reasons, we haven’t been able to do it, but this is how we set the bar and show what potential we have.
“That’s what we’ve got to work hard to do every single week, week in, week out.”
Does Ozil deserve extra praise following the criticism he regularly receives? Can we build on our performance and keep our dominance over Tottenham?
Pat J
To keep the performance on is not the problem, but let us pray that Daddy Wenger keeps the starting IX.
Trouble is that Daddy acts and behaves, this last decade, like great grandaddy! Old , forgetful confused and senile.
U can imagine, even this selection would have beaten. Man City two weeks ago
I don’t know why it is difficult for us to repeat this performance every time! We usually have this top performance maybe once every season and that is where ends. Am truly frustrated! Some times we play so badly it is difficult to understand why! We will see what happens from here on!
It’s difficult for Arsenal to perform at their top level when they have their own fans turning on them and booing their top players. The media script which everyone follows is that Ozil is “languid.”
What these morons don’t realize is that Ozil making things look effortless with his abundance of skill is not actually the same as not making effort. But it’s not something these clueless twats can understand.
Ozil is an absolutely top quality player with the respect of every top professional around him. But the media and negative fans seem intent on criticizing him no matter what he does. If he leaves the squad it won’t be because he doesn’t enjoy playing with the rest of the squad Wenger has assembled, it’ll be because the fans and parasites in the media drive him away.
You’ve got it spot on, some people need to understand the meaning of the word supporter. Time to get behind the club.
100% Agree Stephan. He’s not even lazy, he’s just an attack minded player. As of 11th Nov he had the highest sprint stats in the league and is always up there in terms of distance covered and sprints in the arsenal team. You might say that De Bruyne is better – but he is one of (maybe the) best in the world at the moment i
n his position.
It’s not a coincidence that he kills it for Germany every time, and when we play well as a team he is usually MOM. It’s when we have shocking team performance that people single him out…
I agree with you about the media bias against Arsenal but I disagree about the inconsistency of Ozil. Brilliant on his day but many times doesn’t work hard enough, languid or not. Kanu was a bit of an Ozil type, Silky and languid but puts way more effort. The issue is not Ozil’s languid style but many times he doesn’t do basic defensive duties required of every player no matter what position they play. There is always this myth of a “Defensive Midfield Destroyer” who does every tackle while others make play. No matter what you are as a defensive midfielder, if the opposition goes two against one on you, there is little you can do. This is where Ozil frustrates and should improve. Many a time he doesn’t run back and fall into space leaving the other midfielders outnumbered. It is not always you defend by tackling, at times, your mere presence can prevent or delay a dangerous pass. Ozil has to learn to fall back in shape when we are not with the ball. A lot of times I have seen him walk/jug back when the opposition is running towards our goal leaving us outnumbered. For instance, in the build up to City’s first goal, Ozil could have made it a little more difficult for Debruyne if he had run into the space ahead of Debryune but he was standing flat. Ozil is a brilliant player but he doesn’t do enough of his defensive work (every player has to defend to varying degrees same way defenders also contribute goals and assists).
@admin
Sven Mislintat – ‘diamond eye’
is now our head of recruitment- we need a profile- sounds promising 🙂
Ideally, it would be nice to see the same or as near as, XI players that played against Spurs on Saturday, play week in week out. With the extra caveat thrown in : that they have the same application, aptitude, attitude, resilience and collective methodology and approach to the game as they did at the weekend.
The only thing that might thwart those ideals would be injuries and suspension etc but all the other qualities despite having players missing, should always be in existence no matter who’s in the team and regardless of who we’re playing.
The majority of the first XI aren’t all going to be injured or suspended within the same time frame. So the interim players will have to be selected carefully and be instructed exactly as to what’s required and how to attain that within the team collective.
We do have players that can step into the breach quite easily. Jack Wilshere, given how the entire team played yesterday, and how he’s gradually coming along, would’ve revelled in Saturdays game. And although I’m not a big fan of Giroud on his current form and the way he plays with back to goal, trying to bring the ball down and do a trick, never in the bloody box. I think even he, with the right force of instruction of playing for the team in team mode rather than Giroud mode could also keep Arsenal ticking over, if used in an interim capacity behind Sanchez, Ozil and Lacazette (the three ZZZ’s).
Generally, given the mood we were yesterday and the application and professionalism we showed we could’ve quite easily turned over Stoke, Liverpool, Watford and more than likely got something from the City game, in the weeks previous.
If the manager now thinks that he’s put paid to his detractors by pulling off a feat against Spurs, and surrounds himself in the comforts of that one performance and goes back to the “business as usual” approach like at Watford and Stoke, and………some of the players also take that view. Then we’ll definitely encounter more stupid and unnecessary upsets for the remainder of this season.
But if he and the players wise up and now take the realisation of “Ahhh, this is how we do it approach a la Spurs” then there’s absolutely nothing to stop us from giving whoever’s at the top of the tree (City at the present) a good run for their money and for Arsenal to be “the team” on the ascendancy !
I agree wholeheartedly! The supporters, the manager and the team have now seen how the Arsenal can perform, when the right players are selected and they play to their potential. All Arsenal supporters want is that the players play for the shirt, earn their wages and are consistent.