Arsenal went into half-time with a 1-0 lead and were playing very well, but just ten minutes into the second half Francis Coquelin decided to execute a crazy challenge on Harry Kane and got a second yellow to add to his first half caution. Within another 10 minutes Arsenal were 2-1 behind!
Arsene Wenger revealed that he had spoken to Francis at half-time. “We have big regrets because we were in complete control before we went down to 10 men,” Wenger said. “It’s difficult to take.
“We told Coquelin at half time [to be careful] because he had a yellow already. It was a mistake and he knows that but he wanted to do well.
“But I think Dier deserved a second yellow as well. That could have changed the game, but overall we have to look at ourselves.”
This raises a few questions. Firstly, if Wenger was worried about Coquelin being hot-headed again, why did he not substitute him? Could it be that Wenger didn’t think that Flamini could do as good a job as the younger Frenchman?
Of course this will also then bring up the question of why Wenger didn’t bring in a much better DM either in the summer or winter transfer windows? When Coquelin got injured earlier in the season we were left toothless in midfield, and now in situations like this we needed an equal player to cover when Coquelin gets carded. Now, even worse, he won’t be able to play in our next game either!
Why Oh Why didn’t you listen Francis?
he was great until that sending off. we all saw it like…no coq …no….stop running haha please..arghhhh noooooooo
an btw with city winning an payets last gasp winner, we gonna have to fight to stay in top 4…
the gap has gone.
off topic…when did mario suarez join watford…lol…i missed that
I think it goes to show that at some point all DM’s can’t help but see red.
As for 4th place, sadly we have been dragged back into the pack.I had said only a few matches ago to some mates that the top 4 were sorted, but even Liverpool can start getting back in touch if they win there 2 outstanding games. ManCity could leapfrog us if they win the outstanding game, and as you say the draw has benefited ManU and West Ham. .
Naive and reckless from Coquelin, but hopefully a lesson learnt. Shame also as the Coquelin, Elneny partnership looked good. Hopefully we’ll get a result against Hull and then crack on.
I know it’s not acceptable here to remain optimistic, but I still think this season it is anyone’s title. IF we can go on a proper run now (and aside from a couple of away fixtures in the pl that’s possible) we can still do this. All the teams vying for the title or even the top 4 have got a few real banana skins to navigate.
Nothing is certain and the run in always creates pressures and surprise results as teams feel the pressure, take on relegation threatened clubs, those fighting for Europe or the top. I will remain an optimist till it simply ain’t possible.
haha I think we r now finding everything in wenger decision cmone thats coqs blunder he has cost us the three points today like how the lads fought great spirit sadly we had to settle for a draw
@khangunners….sorry m8, not quite understanding. Are you saying coqs sending off was Wengers fault or Coquelins?
hehe this china phone doesn’t put my thoughts well bro…its obviously coqs error there was no need of such a challenge coz it wasn’t in a dangerous area he was so far out I was mood down when I saw that tackle thought there we go again fuc coz in midfield we were bossing the game I think the manager needs to shout at him…what is becoming alarming and I will blame the coaching stuff we r really getting silly redcards I.e chelsea gem mertesecker okay he was beaten but should’ve let costa one on one we had higher chances of coming back when 11 today out of the blues an irrational challenge thisnhas to be sorted its becoming alarming
if you could use a period (full stop), i could maybe understand what u said.
He didn’t pull the trigger today, but you can see Welbeck is more effective in CF than Giroud. More composed on the ball as well. Should have kept him on.
Sanchez celebration of his goal can only mean three things
1) He wanted that goal so much
2) How he wanted so much to get one over the spuds
3) How tired he felt seeing arsenal Lose these days
in the hearts of many is the prayer for a Leicester Loss tonight…
.
It remains to be seen if the prayer’s answered!
I liked how our midfield was rock solid elneny and coq partnership was aws9me,,another positive sanchez scored ,hoping now we can gather some much needed momentum coyg!!
It’ll be useful lesson for Francis for the future. I was scared City was going to run away with a 5-1 or 6-1 result after that win. At the end a 2-2 was probably the best we could have had in the circumstances. Cheers 🙂
*Spurs
If Leicester win this evening it’s all over even if we win the next 9 games.
Just realized City have a game in hand and two points behind…Still skeptical that it’s over for us am still hopeful but 7points behind all hope is out the window
City back in the mix. Top 4 could be tricky!
Hold on to your hats..
Leicester up 1 nil 🙂 48 mins
Still time for Watford and our hope.
Don’t know how a smiley face got in there. NOT happy!
Leicester are the arsenal we want to be. Oh for a drink water and kante midfield
Observations today elenneny seemed soft and not wanting to get involved today on a positive pleasantly surprised with Ospina.
I thought Elneney was ok, especially starting an EPL game for the first time in this fixture. He wasn’t great but made a few incisive passes (the type Ramsey has been giving away). Having said that the biggest bonus from playing Elneney was getting Ramsey back on the right, he works so well with Bellerin.
Pleasantly surprised? Have you forgotten his last season heroics so soon? :/
Well it was nice to see the players fighting for it, this is the kind of performance we don’t see often enough. Given Spurs have a harder run in than us I am still confident we will get to celebrate St Totteringhams Day, but it will be scant consolation for what should have been. Leicester pretty much need a meltdown from here as they have a great run in, their next 7 games are all straightforward games on paper. I think it could be all over before they even play away at United and Chelsea.
Coq’s stupidity today was just so bloody frustrating, after being under the cosh for most of the first half were were well in control, all he had to do was shadow Kane down the wing.
Why the hell did it take so long to try someone else in the middle and put Ramsey back on the wing?
Oh. I am watching the Watford v Leicester game and Mahrez just pulled up sharply clutching his calf. Is there yet another twist in this race yet?
I thought Igalho and deeney would give leicester hell today. Once again Mahrez to the rescue and off they go 8 points clear. We’ve won 1 out of 11, as well as we played today why couldn’t wenger get that sort of performance out of his players? I honestly think he’s done, that sanchez goal might’ve just saved his season though.
everytime we think the damn professeur is done, some player comes thru and he sneaks thru for another year, another 8M. but hopefully this time he’s really going to go. delusional man.
Leicester winning kills hope for Arsenal. At the end of the day now it looks like 2 dropped points. It a shame Ranieri who has no business to be even competing for a title is going to win it while Arsenal are just celebrating mediocrity of drawing spurs and showing commitment against Barca
wenger had a chance in summer : we finished 3rd last year. did he do everything he possibly could to bolster our team? to fill in the gaps? NO! he is guilty of abdicating his responsibility by not doing everything he could to buy a WC striker and a backup for coq (instead he offered flam and arteta another year – my god!).
then when coq got injured, we lost a bunch of points and here we are.
one mistake too many by the prof.
i hope we win FA and that getting 3 in a row is reason enuf for the buffoon to leave. he has tainted his legacy by being delusional and thinking he could win PL with the squad he has now – they are close, but short 2 players. and he failed to address those shortcomings and we have paid.
i am glad Leicester will win it, this is sport you are in it to win, not to earn paycheck, i am telling you guys, more pressure we apply on team, they will preform better, they always do, now 4th place is in danger, you will see a lot more urgency, i cant wait day to see Wenger leaving.
Ranieri has done a great job with this Leciester team but every time they win he has this f**king smug look or smirk on his face while trying to play innocent and so far we’re the only ones capable of wiping that look off his face this season. Great season or not it’s Leciester for crying out loud, LECIESTER!!!
Why are fans celebrating Leciester like they’re doing us a favor or because of the season they’re having? Jesus am I the only 1 that’s annoyed by this? Hearing too much if we don’t win it I hope Leciester does and not Spurs. SERIOUSLY! If Leciester wins the league we should be ashamed and that will go down as the biggest failure in our history especially with how the other tops teams have been performing.
“If Leciester wins the league we should be ashamed” why should we be ashamed? are you playing? are you manager? Wenger should be ashamed, what Leicester is doing, is amazing, we should have done that ages ago, but you know the reason why we coulndt, we built stadium, we were in debt, we couldnt spend
At the end of the 2013-14 season Arsenal held 40% of the leagues finances. Are you not even aware of our current cash reserves? Doesn’t sound like a debt ridden club to me. By that what you’re saying we shouldn’t have been able to spend £40M+ on Özil in 2013 or £30M+ on Alexis in 2014. I stand by my opinion on we should be ashamed if Leciester wins it as I support Arsenal and Arsenal only. Feel free to disagree but I want the best for my club and we HAVE the means to be the best if not close.
i was sarcastic about debt, but i understand your anger, i was in your state 2 seasons ago, so its normal for me, and we will never be the best with Wenger and suits upstairs, reality
Lol it’s all good. Just want the best for the club that’s all.
With Leicester winning again and our shocking form, it’s virtually a battle for fourth now, rather than a title challenge.
Positives from today were:
1) A great point considering how long we were a man less, hopefully that gives our confidence a boost.
2) Hopefully Sanchez and Ramsey can kick on now after finally scoring again.
3) As unlikely as it is, I hope Wenger noticed how much better we looked in central midfield without Ramsey. Yes, the first 30/35 minutes were a bit shaky, but pretty good after that, especially considering Elneny has barely played.
4) Long-term, Welbeck isn’t the answer to our striker woes (he has a very poor scoring record every season), but must start every game upfront for me. He offers pace, power, and works so hard for the team. He won’t score many, but he will cause a lot more problems for defences, unlike Giroud and Walcott.
its sad that between 3 striker choices, none strikes fear into the opposition: welbeck, walcott and giroud.
maybe time to try sanchez at CF?
wingers can be some combination of ramsey, joel, welbeck.
theo and ox should be sold. sad.
If Wenger had knowledge to win EPL again he would do it, if we fans had passion like Barca fans have, we would turn this club upside down, vanish Kroenke and Gazidis from our club, and start with ambition to be the best club, not to finish 4th and balance books FFS
Ya can’t take off every player that’s on a yellow! Especially at HT, when it’s such a pivotal player in such a big game! It’s easy to say with hindsight but I can only imagine AW didn’t expect Le Coq to get sent off and almost cost us the game!
We all wanted and still want another DM to back up Coq but if he had stayed focused we would have probably won the game and rid out in to the sunset with all 3 points.
I just had a silly thought. I’ve heard quite a handful of players all over Europe say that they dream of playing for Arsenal or are Arsenal fans. Now here’s the thought, I’m sure at least 1 person in a good position has heard these players profess their love for us so why don’t we task scouts to watch these individuals especially if the play in positions we need to fill or improve. I can think of a few players out there that have said this that I have personally took the time to watch at least a full game where they feature and they are worthy on donning the shirt. Maybe I’m wrong but players like these wouldn’t focus on wages but more so representing with pride.
because wenger is a tool, thats why he doesnt get them.
either they profess love for AFC and he’ll interview them and remind them what a great club and he’ll assume they’ll want to kiss his a** and they’ll get put off.
or they’ll be world-class and profess love for AFC but demand world-class salary etc: and wenger will hum and haw and by that time some other team will have picked them up.
Goodluck to Leicester City, just like us, they deserve all that they get!
Even though there’s still 9 games to go and anything can happen, it’s going to take a miracle and a half for us to win the premier league.
Our realistic battle for now, is to remain in the top 4, as Man City are favourites to leap frog us with their game in hand,
we also have Utd and West Ham breathing down our necks!
its not going to be easy, as we still have to play West Ham and City away.
The positive’s from today’s game is thatThe Spuds couldn’t beat a 10 men Arsenal and this result has dented their confidence, as even Harry Kane stated that the draw felt like a lost for them.
The negatives are that we could have beat the Spuds today, And once again it was Wenger’s slow reactions and non- reactions that failed the day!
Sub Coquelin at Half-time, Replace him Chambers/ Flamini.
Or worse ways, wenger should of made quick subs as soon as Coquelin got sent off! And change the formation to a more defencive one, as we were still winning 1 nil at the time.
I would have brought on Chambers, Monreal and Campbell.
And took off Ramsey, Ozil and Welbeck.
And switched the formation to a 4-4-1.
——————- Ospina
Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal
Campbell, Elneny, Chambers, Gibbs
———————- Sanchez
Wenger was too slow to react and I’m sure that we would have won if wenger would have had a clue whilst we were still winning 1 nil, after the sending off of Coquelin.
My main problem i have with arsenal is not being trophyless. It was never a big concerne for me, bec before anything else i like football and then arsenal, and Arsenal was always known for playing some really good football. Every non arsenal fan i meet in my life supportet arsenal in england, and where always srry for us when we where short in winning somethin mayor. but today things have changed a lot.
I dont want trophys and play in a way which is disgusting. what is arsenal all about today? we are a team who plays defense the moment we score a goal. we rely on luck alone to get the points in, but luck comes and goes, its like b…t.
We dont play good football, we are not entertaining anyone, and we dont deserve to win anything. Think about this, L. City are the Arsenal of yesterday, and the whole world want to see them succeed. Even i if not for Arsenal.
This confuses me, mind boggling stuff.
leicester’s beauty of game is nowhere near where we used to be. but unlike u, i do want us to win trophies and so do a lot of fans and while we were playing beautiful offense, we often neglected defense and suffered tremendously and came up a bit short . so in last 2 seasons wenger started being a bit more pragmatic, paying a bit more attention to defending. and our beauty suffered. but it suffered most when we lost rvp and fabregas. sanchez/ozil give us some beauty, but giroud very very infrequently gives us beauty. and worse, in the last 10-15 games, we cant even defend and we let in plenty versus pool, soton, manu and swansea. but today i saw a glimmer of hope. and we always do well when the PL is for all intents and purposes out of reach. it reduces pressure on our players and they play better.
FQ sending off is an excuse for AW to use. Why can’t he see Arsenal need to move on now and it’s not with him in charge. I still think AS and Ozill will leave. I don’t even look like we can hold on to our 4th place cup lol it’s madness. The changers in the 2nd half just messed with my mind. The sqd needs changing so much with 5 new players in the summer and get rid of 10. Get a number 2 to take over from AW and one that can say to him no let’s try this. TH ? Might be the man but I’m just not going to buy tops and kits for my kids or pay to watch anymore until he fu–s off
its interesting that versus swansea, when ppl started leaving the stadium, thats when alarm bells went off in the directors heads “you mean: they might stop paying us our precious money???”. unfortunately, only when there is threat of money, thats when directors will do something.
I hbe to say gibbs performance was superb today he really stepped up feared it might be another cameo from him but he was solid
I think elnenyh was good it was nce seeing our midfield pair so huge spurs found it very hard to play there game and penetrate the midfield …also elneny won most ariel duals I just remember smiling as we were winning alll the ball in midfield…what made my day merte dribbling skills haha today he passed like 3 guys
wenger’s thinking process:
“elneny played well in midfield” -> I must never start him there again.
TBH I didn’t think the first offence was worthy of a yellow. He was doing the best he could to stay on his feet whilst three spud b’stds around him were intent on knocking him to the ground. Maybe he could of done more to keep his arms away from the ball as he plummeted to the ground, but the referee should’ve blown for a foul on him way before that.
Liked Michael Oliver as a ref before this game, but thinking of renaming him Mr Spud Head now.
dunno. handballing in midfield is not too smart. we had plenty of other defenders behind. but at least coq’s mistakes are due to playing 110% heart.
what i cant bear to see is the insouciant walcott as he just trots around , with the mandatory 2-3 offsides per game, and the 2 shots straight at goalie. i waited so long for walcott to come back from injury , i just dont understand what it will take to make him put is heart into it.