It was a first half that Arsenal will want to forget pretty quickly. Apart from a few decent moments, mainly through Alexis and Ozil, the Gunners were comprehensively outplayed in the first 45 minutes. Coquelin did a good job of containing Fellaini but we lost most of the individual battles as well as the overall tactical one.
Whether it was down to work rate, loss of confidence or whatever, the only good thing you could say at halftime was that we were only one goal behind. I think Monreal was to blame, for the second game in a row, trying to help our best defender Koscielny and leaving Herrera the freedom of the penalty area to slot past Ospina.
As I say it could have been a lot worse at the break. Arsenal were under siege before the break and not handling things very well.
But then Arsenal proved the old adage of football being a game of two halves. After ten minutes or so, the Gunners started to fire and were unlucky not to complete the comeback and take the points. It was a good result though so let´s not be greedy, especially as there was a slice of luck with a big deflection for Walcott´s goal.
It would have been a travesty had the Gunners lost though, and the way we played in the second half should give us the belief to win our final two games and consign the Wenger Trophy to Louis van Gaal.
Am happy
wenger is stubborn boy.
All I’m saying is: I HATE PLAY-OFFs
worrying that a united team missing several key players almost had us.
no motivation from our players.
a season later …weve moved up by one place-
for some reason second sounds so much better to me
True that, OSPINA and GIROUD cant be trusted. I dont see them making ARSENAL EPL champs next season. Poor, very Poor.
The one to blame is not them, it is Weger who assembled this team.
I always maintained that with Giroud we play one man short. Holding striker also can be achieved by Sanogo, or Welback. Let’s face it our team is not EPL or ECL contender, we lacked that killer punch in attack, and still flaws in Back Four, and god forbidden if Le Qoc is injured we are back to old days of the past with no holding midfieder. Look at all 4 top teams with atleast 3 DM, not to mention in Europe!!
I am sure the instructions were to avoid defeat which we did. I think if we really went and play we would have created more chances. I like the changes today Bellerin and Cazorla but we need a few more players to win the EPL I strongly believe 2 really really good players must come in for us to even retain 3 rd place.
Sanchez was woefull,looks like another Arsharvin on the rise. Monreal was man of match. Rating 8 Sanches big fat 0
OG going off the boil proves we need a 2nd striker at the quaity of OG or better. cavani or martinez. w/o them we def wont win EPL.
to me the striker now is the dominant need; notCDM or GK.
Quality if OG!!!!!! are you joking what Quality!!?
World class is what we need. No Benzima, Heguain, or Cavani, some thing like Dyabala to be groomed in Arsenal system.
Make money off of OG or Poldi, and buy 40 plus Mil striker.
Now we gottta be grateful to Wilshere , walcott and blackett for his goal assist
We’ve got to be grateful to Aaron Ramsey foremost, he started off well at RW (very well given he’s anything but a winger) followed up by a brilliant display back in his natural habitat while interacting with Wilshere and Walcott (both also great for their limited time).
His performance might be a little bit overshadowed by some poor to ok performances of the players around him (mostly Ozil and Santi) but he really was brilliant today.
I’d say start him back at CM and start saving Santi for the cup final. Give Ozil and Sanchez both a game of rest for Theo and Rosicky too, preferably in the WBA game after we beat Sunderland!
COYG, glory awaits!
The last 3 matches showed one thing. We still have a long way to go to become champions.
1 bellerin : young and dynamic but still need a lot of coaching. I doubt he is getting any coaching anyway He is not using his pace to get behind the defenders.
2 we need a main striker.
3 we need an hybrid DM/CM. Someone who can switch from very good defensive mode to very good attacking mode in an instant. Someone to partner coq and complement ozil (win the ball)
4 a world class defender. Mertesacker lack of pace is holding kolcieny back. Kolcieny,who has a decent attacking mind, is tied down to covering mertesacker as*
Basically, our problem lies right in our spine.
Failure to address this means that we will be playing for fourth place again.
Also we need a good goalkeeper. Don’t get me wrong Ospina is a decent keeper but he is not world class. He was very slow to react for the united goal today and this is where a world class keeper could make a difference!!
Pressing issues first. Goalie is the least of our problems. If you asked me.
Our priority should be
1) Striker : first line of defense because the opponents are scared.
2) Hybrid DM/CM
3) Centre back: metersacker is too nice ( only 2 yellows all season considering the many situations where he could have killed off opponents counter attacks ), too slow and too timid.
Nobody is arguing that we need all the players you have mentioned. I am just saying we should be getting a better goalkeeper.
As per center back we should be playing gabriel in the next two games as we have all but secured the third position and very unlikely to catch city for second. Give him a chance to before we get into the market for another center back.
I think it’d be harsh to blame that goal on ospina
Did u mean world class goalkeeper… Doesn’t conceid goal…by d way how many have u c keeping 20 clean sheet in a season
According to squaka, goals conceded per 90 minutes played in premier league
Courtois 0.89
De Gea 0.98
Hart 0.98
Ospina 0.62
Saves per 90 minutes player in premier league
Courtois 2.29
De Gea 2.17
Hart 2,28
Ospina 2.9
So, Ospina lets in less goals and makes more saves per goal conceded than the goalies for the other top four teams. If you look at the youtube video of the world cup, Ospina was outstanding. Seems to me that buying a goalkeeper to replace Ospina would be a waste of money. According to the stats we already have the best goalie. Or am I missing something.
Right on, so spend your money in 3 areas:
1. World class Striker 40+
2. DM to ensure Le Qoc is covered in defensive games, and injury situations.
3. CB, tall, yet fast as replacement for Mert. By the way thanks Mert for all the good services given us for the past several years. He helped us a lot.
Those stats are so stupid its not funny no where in that assessment or stats did we saw games played. Ospina started the season in January can we all just stop but our head in the sand and admit we need a few players. I get it we will not by a keeper but in my opinión I dont think he is the Man to take us to another level neither is giroud.
Ospina did get a hand to the shot, and TBH it looked to be more Monreals fault as he was trying to help out Kos with Fellaini, but Kos had already go him him covered. Think Kos was annoyed with Monreal.
This game also showed that we should not be playing Ramsey on the wing. He always tends to drift into the center and we lose our width and also gave us a glimpse of how good Ramsey can be playing through the middle. His pass for the equalizer was amazing and also slipped in a couple of good passes apart from that.
And Walcott showed the difference an out and out winger can make. Since moment he came on he was trying to get in behind the united defence.
I don’t understand why giroud is to blame? He missed two half chances,they were not even clear cut chances. Overall I’m happy with a point, we only need to win one of our remaining two matches to secure 3rd spot. We were lucky to get away with a decent point. Happy with the direct qualification to UCL, that’s all that matters at the end of the day.
We are not blaming him but for us to move to the next level, we need a substantial upgrade. Not welbeck, podolski or sonogo.
Giroud is playing at the limit of his ability already.
You want to win the league, your main man need to be a 30 league goals per season man who bring the best out of the people around him.
Example was SUAREZ WHO MADE LIVERPOOL LOOK LIKE BARCELONA LAST SEASON.
The ideal striker would be a combination of Giroud (hold up play, aerial ability) and Walcott (speed) plus someone who can hit the back of the net. Not sure what is up with Alexis, he has been under par for the past 3 games – is he injured?
He’s not injured. That’s just Alexis.
alexis carried us for 1st Half. OG carried us for 2nd half of season. now they’re both tired or off-form. we need more players at their level. but i’d settle just for a cold-blooded clinical striker like martinez or cavani. if wenger doesnt get a “WC” striker, we wont win epl next season.
but then again looking at giroud said 14goals in 19 games had he plYed 38 he would have got 27 goals this season .
The problem is having a completely different striker Pacey,dribbler great in tight spaces
Lacazette
Alcacer
…
At the end oe the day a fair result.Wenger pls don’t let walcott.No one has any answer to his trickery and pace.Come on Arsenal at least secure third position!
Walcott has pace but zero trickery
Those who thumbed me down please explain what kind of trickery does Walcott have? Ashley young today is an example of pace + trickery. When was the last time u saw walcott beat his man with something else other than pace?
I remember Walcott making a vEry similar run and with end product coming from the left last season and it was a very good goal
How did we play so woefully today?…. I cried the whole time
lol 95 mins of crying?
hope u saved that water, can bathe in those tears when we left fa cup
Ouch! Muff…. Call it a saLine bath… gonna plasmolyse. L()L
Did. U know how many matches Chelsea have play like this… And here in this forum…. Many people r commending Chelsea… In d sense that ,they know how to get win or draw ugly
This was a game of two halves. Neither side really deserved all 3 points. On our part there was a lot of sloppy passing, but to get a draw at OT playing as poorly as we did in the first is a positive sign I guess. Still much room for improvement, but with 3rd place all but secured, and 2nd already pretty much confirmed prior to our game, we had our minds set for the final. We need to retain that to show that we have some bottle.
I’m hoping this is the last of the Ramsey on the wing experimentation, and whilst it worked against poorer sides, it clearly doesn’t do the job against better teams. I wont slate Giroud, Ozil or Per, because most of our team didnt impress if I’m honest. Next season will be the be all end all for Arsene, thats for certain.
We need a striker n deploy wingers as well…t beats my understanding y giroud couldn’t covert at least one chance 2kill off the game!
Relieved, but very disappointed.
Very important point, and a good second half
So not disappointed at all 🙂
This is he worst iv seen arsenal play in a long time. 1st time we deserved to lose against MU and got lucky to draw. Usual Wenger doings.
1. Always pick the same squad, does not think about changing players tactically to suit a game. Sanchez has been pointless for a while now. Got a few lucky goals.
Give him the bench and let him watch a bit. Can never fault his effort tho
2. Late subs, was silly taking of Bellarin
Wel never win the league with these kinda mistakes. And still not happy with our keepers.
Buy Cech and Muller. And get a new coaching staff.
I agree, very important point but more importantly, only one point for manu, not three for them and none for us.
Wenger Plan B and C is same as Plan A.
As for Coaching staaff, I think Steve is motionless the whole game, maybe he knows how stubburn Wenger is !!!
I agree taking off Bellering was a crucial mistake, and the second one was even worse, Coq as RB. lickily Wenger fix that by bringing Falmini!!!
If we never had that mediocre striker upfront e we wuld of been more threatning actually have shots on goal and actually finish some chances and allow ozil and ramsey to flourish with rheir passing ability
he is so average not good enough
we replaced arteta average for coquelin and our team excelled
replace average giroud for a decent pacey striker and watch our team tjrn phenomenal and actually entertaining .. wvery 1 will play better like ramsey and ozil
Stop blaming Giroud, we all know his limitations….In the first half Ozil messed up a chance to shoot, he passed on the responsibility to by passing that ball in an impossible position and the chance went begging.
You can blame and criticize Ozil for once you know, he is not superman.
smh..
And how many bunnies does OG miss EVERY EFFIN SEASON.
Your blind hatred for Ozil is well documented and quite tiresome, how about holding Mr. Giroud to the same lofty standards?
i believe ozil create a few killer passes during 1st half so i dunno the need to scapegoating him. giroud and sanchez for me are the guilty offenders for today with their repeated blundering.
Amigo, I feel we could have won, if not for Wenger’s predictability: the same team, late substitutions.
What if we lose our next two matches, are we still going to be second? 😛
I feel like giving ur bald head a hard knock.
Hahahaha am a young blackman 😛 i don’t have bald
Hates this match like fcuk
Ssssshhhh… I hate the matCh (ok with the draw), but, FFS, can’t hate fck.
We were flat today, but i will take the draw!
Awful awful performance.
Why don’t we bash Arsene together? Relief Guaranteed.
Or Giroud, Ozil or Mertesacker. pick your poison.
There was about 20 commenters ready to slate Walcott as soon as he stepped on the pitch. But guess they can’t now… Bummer
I’ll take the point as long as we are above manure! Coyg!
We let them bully us all through the game, if not, we could have nicked a win. Second half was better.
Now, we can be sure of making third.
Manure to play in the play-offs, possibly losing to a decent side, MAYBE!
“Wenger Cup”.. hahaha.. nice !!
START WALCOTT AGAINST SUNDERLAND!
We looked like attacking when he came on.
So we lost the Wenger Cup? I’m gutted.
I’ll take the draw though. Fck it…
3rd place and Fa cup
It’s a step in the right direction.
We really should have won though, Shrek was out, man u are poor, they just have the best keeper in the world.
We didin’t press, lazy passes, Ozil, Alexis missing.
Monreal probably best Arsenal player for me, been really impressed by him of late.
Chin up guy’s we got a point (Mike Dean ref)
we are 13 points behind league leaders…
thats not much in the way of progression..
just want wenger to buy what we need an be a bit more flexible with his tactics
Gutted we’re not getting second. We were never goin to catch Chelsea, so to me finishing second would’ve been as big as winning the FA Cup. It would’ve given us real momentum for a title challenge next season. Hope Southampton beat City, but of course that’s not going to happen.
Sh*t MU got more two matches to play and I got less two matches to watch. (Qualifies)
Wenger needs to start walcott and wishere for the remaining two games and rest Ozil, ramsey, cazorla, giroud monreal, le-coq and Alexis for aston villa.
Would have like to see thomas rosicky come on though!
notes that I made today:
1. Giroud had 3 chances, all missed. A top-class striker would have scored at least one of them!
2. The RW and LW is for wingers not for Midfielders!!
3. Especially against big teams it’s either Özil or Cazorla for me and Ramsey next to Coquelin
4. In the 89 minute when Alexis had a chance, there were 6 players in and around the box and we gave United the chance to hit us on the break, how pathetic is that, especially when a draw was enough
5. Mertesacker shouldn’t be 1st choice
6. Overall the players have a motivation problem!!!
1. Gets slated when he’s poor, he’s a hero when inform
2. we could with a player like pedro
5.Agreed, but i think this is his last season, he’ll be sub, rotated with Chambers and Gabriel.
6. we need a leader Like Tony, or Patrick
I expect people here to now understand d need for a top class goalie. Ospina got his hand on d ball but cudnt save. Utd conceded after de gea went out. Joe hart made exceptional saves against Swansea today and kept Dem in d game.
Alexis was poor today and so was giroud in d first half. MOTM koscielny.
You act like De Gea never concedes goals – Everton put 3 past him earlier this year.
I’m sick of people not giving Ospina the credit he deserves. MU’s goal was based off an uncontested cross and an unmark player. All odds were against him. And if you think about it, most of our goals that Ospina has concedes this season have been scored this way.
More to add: Ospina has never made a careless mistake in goal and we all can name someone who has. Also, I believe Ospina has only let 2 or more goals in a single game once this season (Monaco). Our winning streak wouldn’t have been there without him. I don’t know what Ospina needs to do to get the appreciation he deserves.
I think today proves that Giroud will never be the world class striker we need to challenge for the title. Fair enough, I have raised my hands up and said he has done fantastically over a stretch 3-4 months since January. However, we cannot have a striker that only shows up only for a few months in a season. He has done well for a 10m signing, but some of the misses today were reminiscent of the striker that has many countless sitters on many occasions. I dont think there’s any room for debate that an upgrade to Giroud is necessary to challenge for the title.
No I think someone like Falco would be much better. Sorry but OG was twice as dangerous as Alexis today.
Alexis was not the striker and was also given special attention by man united. Any team worth its salt can easily mark giroud out of a game with 1 defender.
The 3 upfront are all attackers. The responsibility to attack lies with all three and with OG playing with his back to goal also Ramsey Santi Ozil all should be able to get their chances as well. Stop comparing OG to players that run behind all game. With Theo and Alexis we should have that option.
Whats the point of looking dangerous if you cant finish your chances? Lets be honest the fans here are only defending giroud cos we got lucky equalizer through a deflection. If we had lost the game like vs monaco, ppl will be baying for his blood for missing the chances he had in the game. I’m fairly certain aguero, costa, sturridge and the falcao of old would have finished at least one of the chances giroud had today.
No the fans here see someone who came back after missing 3 months with a broken foot and a 3 match suspension and won points for Arsenal as a two headed attack with Alexis. Where was the 3rd attacker’s contribution or where was Ozil or Santi’s contribution to the goal talley. That if you ask me has been the part of the attack that has been missing.
Sry but I have a very italian way of looking at strikers. Capello used to say he doesnt care about the flicks and tricks of his strikers (zlatan interview). End of the day they must score goals.
Same for me. I dont give a hoot how many miles giroud ran, how many corners he defended, how many passes or dribbles he made. As a striker, I am only concerned about how many goals or assist he had in the game.
Football is a result business. I rather take a scrappy 1 nil win than settle for a draw playing pretty football. Similarly, I dont care about any fanciful stuff giroud does. I rather he do nothing for the whole game but comes up with the winning goal.
Hey Tubby thanks for the honesty at least I know where you are coming from. I feel that the way the game is played now to have someone that can battle and get on the end of a cross or a corner is a great weapon to have. I really do think at 17 goals now with the 3 match ban and 3 months with a broken foot he may have had another 8 goals or so.
Most of the players are coasting, now that a top 4 finish is in place. It’s human nature. Don’t get hurt before the big game on the 30th.
Let man u have the headache of finishing 4th and into the playoffs!
We soooo need to be more clinical upfront. Not slating Giroud only, even thought he missed a fair share of chances, but I don’t think any team can win the league by having 5-10 chances and scoring once. We need to make the most of 1-3 chances, more lethally! Especially if you’re up against the big guns like ManUtd today.
On the bright side, I liked Wilshere, Ramsey today. Wilshere is looking sharper than before, I like that in him. Walcott’s movement wasn’t that bad either. Cazorla and Sanchez both look very jaded. Rest maybe?
And lastly, it frustrated me how ManUtd players just glided past our players into pockets of space today. Why can’t our players do that? Why do we have to pass, pass, and pass to the back of the net? Some people need to take up responsibility in good positioning. Admit it, the ManUtda players were very well positioned today.
Horrible tempo at the first half. Better at the second half. Need to be more consistent if we are to put good fights. Anyways, content with the performance. Hope we seal 4rd place at least right now. COYG.
Haha, mean’t 3rd place guys. Sorry, don’t want the play-offs again!
Excellent point!! Since Chelsea and their billion in debt won the title the past weeks have all been about the jockeying for position. Nice to see someone run with ball in the midfield. Jack does it so well! Super Tom does it as well. Santi just can’t provide that run through the middle that makes us dangerous. Not really Ozil’s game either.
2 points clear and a game in hand should do the trick.
Giroud is a very good St, but he’s not world class….MIA for 3 straight games isn’t good enough, and Ozil’s reaction when he slid a cute ball through only to see Giroud was static said it all. Coquelin was ineffective and gave dangerous fouls away, teams seem to have him sussed out as he kept getting dragged out of position.
All in all the point was very much welcomed, but as an attacking force we just don’t come across as cohesive at all (we’ve scored 100+ this season but you wouldn’t know how from today). 3rd nailed, but 2nd was lost. Cup final looming, let’s defend the cup…..progress?? Not sure about that. Business as usual in many respects, we’re just benefitting from Suarez-less Liverpool from last year in reality.
“teams seemed to have sussed him out”… not sure where you got that from because this is the first match that he has been less effective. Cazorla was much poorer than him today.
No it’s the first match after the unbeaten run ended. He had several sub-par matches during but nobody batted an eye cos we were winning, typically glossing over such things. It’s games like this one that prove he’s not at the elite level a title winning team needs from it’s deepest midfielder.
People are so loathe to criticise him since he came back and obviously stabilised the team, but he’s not above anything….he has his limitations and we need to upgrade in the summer as you would with any position on the pitch.
Are you for real? Giroud was never going to get that pass, that pass was never on, it was Ozil’s fault, Giroud took the defender away and the space opened up nicely for Ozil to have a shot, but as always he passed on the responsibility and messed up that move.
Ozil has to take more responsibility, he gets in good goal scoring positions but does not have the confidence to shoot, that all..
And the other pass to Giroud, how the fck did you expect Giroud to score with that pass, it was so behind him he had to compromise to even have a chance to shoot. Ozil played that pass behind Giroud..
Giroud is not world class we all know that but stop blaming him for Ozil’s bad passes today..
smh
Yea Ozil needs to take it upon himself more, I’ve said the same thing in the past given his talent. But…the ball I’m talking about was a moment of magic by him to dupe the defender and slide in the ST, unfortunately for him that ST was Giroud who had not anticipation that his playmaker was able to do such a thing and in the end the ball looked stupid. That’s on Giroud.
Watch it again and see the space OZIL created for Giroud and how a ST on his toes would have been slipped inside Rojo and 1on1 with the GK. That’s the difference in Giroud and a world class ST, nothing to do with Ozil. Also, I never commented on 2nd Girouds effort you mentioned so I din’t expect anything from it as you suggest.
We urgently need a world class striker or a decent striker who can score the simplest of goals…
Perfect … We got an undeserved result which should guarantee third but exposes just how far off we are from serious contenders … Own goal and the player that made difference was wilshere not Walcott .. Composure on ball moves it forward and goes past players ..and I guess an assist technically… What we learnt Ramsey can’t be our attacking option Giroud is not a big game player …. Sanchez has lost touch ( though still works his socks off) mert has to become second string (if he stays ) need a dominant DM still and a quality left back and an aguerro type attacking option .,. Then we can begin to hope
what happened to you in your childhood to make you so bitter?
thats uhh just your opinion man….but seriously what little planet are you festering on to wonder why a bit of realism constitutes bitterness…
right… every pessimist on this website says they are a “realist”. Not sure how ignoring the good and embellishing the bad is realism.
Ok the bad ..we were awful for 60 mins and fortunate to be just one down and the good …we took a point from being decent for 30 mins all but securing third place … As for realism it’s simple … There is no way a real arsenal fan could watch that performance and be confident that we will be challenging for title in 12 months time … So if that is what we want the realist fan asks what needs to change…and if we rule out the first best option…which as a realist I do…to get rid of wenger…then in our second best world it’s a matter of where we need to strengthen … Sadly at the point realism breaks down because in the absence of first best option we are in the fantasy world of the cheese eating surrender monkey where 11 yr olds are zee future of zee club
Would take a draw after that shit performance. Blackett was sent to assist us so let us thank him. We were going no where but like in FA cup game , football god decided to show some mercy on us. Takes de gea out and also send an inexperienced LB.
But as usual fans here will be in denial and say we outplayed MU and deserved to win. I dont care what anyone says we are miles away from winning title. MU with better players and no injuries would have thrashed us. Thanks to valencia who cant cross a ball and also thanks to wenger to show some balls and bring Walcott on.
Beside young I don’t see any MU players are good, we make them look good especially 1st half.
A draw, we above manure, and no goal for RVP against us! Im happy! Coyg!
Manure is so damn poor and they gave us a good run for this pathetic point. Just imagine us playing against the likes of Barcelona.
Ramsey man of the match, still needs to learn to release the ball faster. The counter in the end could have ended up with a goal. But he was to selfish and got cought from the defence. Wilsher and Giroud where waiting. Big head moment from him, not the first time.
Ashley Young worldclass performance. We allowed him way to much space. Bellerin and Monreal tend to wait for their attackers to make their move so they can react and then win the ball. But Ashley is a player who needs only a little bit space to cross the ball, something he is very good at.
I am not happy at all. Even if we would win this game i doubt that i would be happy so much i got pis$ed from this game. Have a good day you all.
1* I still stand on my point,benching a natural winger and playing a midfielder there to satiate your big ego is stupidity. Ramsey couldn’t track back to assist Bellerin.. he played well when he went to the midfield.
2* Giroud lost us two points.
3*Feeling relaxed but disappointed
4* Happy we aint facing playoffs
am starting to feel Henry is right on comment about Giroud.
We need a fast and deadly striker.
COYG…Happy in the end
Is wenger intimidated by Ozil that he is scared to Sub him?.. He is the only player that is never substituted no matter what…
But I think we need to drop one of Cazorla or Ozil and play Ramsey or Wilshere in midfield.. With those 2 in the team we look so fast, quick and seem more dangerous..
And for Sanchez, I keep saying he has got to improve on his weaknesses, that’s his poor passing and link up.. And he over dwells on the ball and kills off out attacks so many time..
We need our midfielders to take more shots in and around the area too..
Small things like that cmake a big difference.
Walcott claiming the goal! I’m embarrassed
For him. Thierry was like WTF!
Anyhow. Edging nearer to not having to qualify for our short stint in the UCL!
Please I need an answer to this questions
Why is walcot not starting our games
Why does wenger love Ranmsey so much?
Why is Rosicky treated with such contempt?
Why is wenger so stubborn?
Must Ramsey,carzola and ozil play together?
Pls get us either Higuain or j.Martinez and a DMF. I don’t really care about a goalie
Am not happy @ all,wenger is so frustrating
Walcott tore his ACL, he’s an important player for us and there is no point risking agitating the injury playing large portions of games. ACL injuries are notoriously hard to recover from and easily recurred.
Probably because Ramsey’s a good player who has been scoring and assisting frequently?? Creating chances as well.
Rosicky’s on his way out. Needs to be playing week in/week out
No. But they’d been playing exceptionally well together until recently.
Higuain has one goal in his last five matches. Giroud doesn’t score in three and it’s back to we need a new striker…..
For those saying MU were poor, lol ten what does that make us look. Any tom dick and harry will say we were outplayed by them but needed a lucky deflection and injury to equalise. Let us start giving credit to other teams and start appreciating that we have to improve.
If Rooney had played we would have lost.
What can I say about wenger guys?
This team is good enough vut wenger somehow manages to fail.not. A wilshere fan buh he made me carzola look so average as he starts our attacks rapidly while carzola tends to turn and dribble too much.we should have won this match
things to consider today
positives
1) couldn’t believe my eyes when arsene actually correctly subbed players ESPECIALLY IN THE 70TH minute
2) Ozil has come leaps and bounds and is looking like the player we need him to be, showing some great strength and bullying players off the ball
3) we honestly have a fantastic bench especially when most players are fit
4) jacks cameo was outstanding and walcotts was a little rusty but not too bad
negatives
1) Giroud is a very good player and i stand by that BUT ine thing at arsenal we need is a world class finisher with a good first touch and that is something giroud cannot offer and unfortunately that’s cost us 2 points today and in all honesty a shot at the title this season
2) pressing is still a weak point for us, there’s just no urgency against the big teams and thats a bit concerning as a pattern
3) we really need another player like le coq who’s larger and more intimidating, just to get the team fired up
all in all I’m very glad we didn’t lose and I tink as henry said, 3-4 players is what is stnding between us being very good and world class
Point two especially. They choked us and didn’t allow us any freedom or rhythm. The pressing and intensity United played with was far above our own
All giroud has is his first touch.
Buh overall I will be glad if we win the FA cup and avoid fourth,ManU may not qualify for UCL afterall
Wanted to see Rosicky today ozil should have been subbed off
And then sanchez kills our attacks most times buh I don’t wanna blam him much.
Awful and confusing first half performance but I’ll gratefully take a point away at mu. Br good to lut my head on the pillow tonight with a little pride intact and the knowledge mu are still below us in the table. Not quite sure why people are saying third is ours and guaranteed! Mu win against hull and we lose our last two games we finish 4th by one point. Highly unlikely I know but lets not forget sunderland are scrapping for survival and will likely set up defensively on wed for a point and we all know how well drilled pullis’ s teams are! Even if we collect just one point we have 3rd on gd. Hopefully we can get it done on wed and play with the shackles off agaibst wb like we did against hull. Shame city found some good form at the end of the season as 2nd sounds great. Agree with comments above that our spine needs some upgrading.
Based on this performance alone. Cazorla loses his place for Ramsey vs Sunderland. Walcott plays on the RW. Wasnt too impressed by Coquelin today but if it’s him or Flamini, I don’t care what form Coquelin is in, he’s playing. I would also look at Giroud, but since Welbeck is injured I don’t think he can be replaced. Ozil was ok today. Alexis was ok too. Neither were brilliant.
Initially I didn’t think Ospina was to blame for the goal, and it isn’t all his fault but having watched it again, he still should have done better. After two goalkeeping errors in the past two games, is playing Szczesny an option too?
The ideal striker would be a combination of Giroud (hold up play, aerial ability) and Walcott (speed) plus someone who can hit the back of the net. Not sure what is up with Alexis, he has been under par for the past 3 games – is he injured?
@gmv8
AFOBE…
Neither was a goalkeeper “error” in my opinion, especially not the one today; Gomis had a free header with no pressure and aimed it perfectly (maybe could have saved but no an error). Herrera had a free shot at goal with no pressure and very close, the only way he was not scoring was if he shot it straight at Ospina or missed.
Remember Cazorla’s shot in the FA Cup game that De Gea saved? From around 7 yards out drilled to the bottom corner. De Gea was able to get down and save it. That’s what a world class keeper can do. We aren’t going to get De Gea or anyone of his quality, but for me I’d like us to send Szczesny on loan, sign Casillas as No. 1 and keep Ospina as No. 2. People say Casillas isn’t as good anymore and he’s not, but if he’s still good enough to play for Real Madrid in the CL, he’s good enough for Arsenal. If Szczesny improves on loan and shows he can be a reliable first choice keeper then he can come back, if not, we can sell him.
Ospina concedes less goals per 90 minutes played than ge De Gea, see my post above for the details
If third place is wrapped up on Wednesday than would like to see. Szczesny play on weekend to build his confidence ahead of the FA Cup Final.
– Passing was horrendous in the 1st half
– Sanchez has been giving the ball away a lot lately
– Giroud undergoing a goal drought.
– Ramsey the only player showing drive and hunger in recent games.
I’d say 3rd place is sure but i don’t even know anymore. Its not impossible to lose to either Sunderland or West Brom (or both) at home
@mickthegooner. Agree with all you said, based on how girouds played last few games I’d bring in Akpom and have giroud on the bench.
I think some of our fans are either so full of hate for some individual players or they are very unrealistic. How many clear chances did Giroud miss if we are honest? I believe none; those two attempts were his own effort which could not be given chance to materialise. Some of you are the people who cause Wenger to play to the gallery and make wrong decisions. You always hype Cazorla and berate others even when you know that he usually doesn’t score. If Wenger had removed Giroud and Coquelin today like he did last time we were going to lose the game. I am glad this time round he followed the advice of some of us and removed Cazorla and Bellerin who had shown signs of being incapable to cope with the pace of the game any more. It is the retention of Coquelin and Giroud that helped us to keep Man U in their half as they were blocked and they knew of an aerial threat if they ventured forward. This is what a wise manager does. You don’t have to substitute players basing on positiions but on what you wish to achieve. Hence you can remove a striker and substitute him with a defender if your interest is to defend your advantage and vice versa. Like I stated last time Giroud and Coquelin are our anchormen. Hence it is foolhardy to just remove them unless you are already secure. Even when Giroud doesn’t score he is useful for us in many other ways. The same can be said of Coquelin. Removal of Cazorla and Ozil will not affect the team when we are looking to scrape past the opposition or get an equaliser because they are not known to be raw fighters.
I stop reading when you said “You always hype Cazorla”, common @davidrusa, Cazorla is one of the most underrated players at Arsenal, he was forced to play out wide and then deep at the midfield just for not being a 42m player, he was the best player 2yrs ago, and would have continued the same way if not for Ozil signing …
The Swansea loss at home killed our chances of 2nd place. Now we need to either win both games and City lose or win both matches and score lots of goals with City draw
I just don’t get some of the comments…!!!
Some fans here are always talking about “this player” or “that player” not being good enough to play for Arsenal…!!
I mean could you explain?
What are the standards? (keeping in mind obviously that we are not “a top club” because top clubs win major trophies on a regular basis, which we don’t and top club at least challenge for leagues and trophies on a regular basis, which we don’t).
I am an Arsenal fan and I am not making us to be the “shit” because we are FAR FROM it, way far from it.
This club has not objectives. For every season we started, aims and goals are dictated as we go along and after few games we already know were we stand…
I don’t about you, but I would love to be in a stadium in Munich, Moscow, Paris or where ever cheering for my team in the CL final after we clinched the domestic league…!
A fact is clear and undoubtable, this club will NEVER win the league again with Arsene Wenger (as for the CL we are just 5 years behind the major teams who challenge regularly). He does not have the “courage” (forget about the skills, it has been established long time ago, he has very little) nor the roughness (killing instinct), to take that next glorious step.
He is just a suit who make sure that we are, each season, financially secured (thanks for that, but thanks to the fans paying a ridiculous ticket price and greatly doing their share when it comes to financial sustainability…) and who clearly does not believe we can win the league (whatever he says or said is a circus).
THE UNSUNG HEROES ARE THE FANS, and as we are getting closer to the end of the season, I would like to “take off my hat” to them because, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST. You know very well that you deserved better, but it does not stop you from supporting the team despite the constant disappointment.
YOU ARE JUST GREAT AND MAY BE THE BEST FANS IN WORLD FOOTBALL (and I am not saying that because I am an Arsenal fans ) 🙂
I just don’t get some of the comments…!!!
Some fans here are always talking about “this player” or “that player” not being good enough to play for Arsenal…!!
I mean could you explain?
What are the standards? (keeping in mind obviously that we are not “a top club” because top clubs win major trophies on a regular basis, which we don’t and top club at least challenge for leagues and trophies on a regular basis, which we don’t).
I am an Arsenal fan and I am not making us to be the “sh*t” because we are FAR FROM it, way far from it.
This club has not objectives. For every season we started, aims and goals are dictated as we go along and after few games we already know were we stand…
I don’t about you, but I would love to be cheering for my team in the CL final after we clinched the domestic league…!
A fact is clear and undoubtable, this club will NEVER win the league again with Arsene Wenger (as for the CL we are just 5 years behind the major teams who challenge regularly). He does not have the “courage” (forget about the skills, it has been established long time ago, he has very little) nor the roughness (killing instinct), to take that next glorious step.
He is just a suit who make sure that we are, each season, financially secured (thanks for that, but thanks to the fans paying a ridiculous ticket price and greatly doing their share when it comes to financial sustainability…) and who clearly does not believe we can win the league (whatever he says or said is a circus).
THE UNSUNG HEROES ARE THE FANS, and as we are getting closer to the end of the season, I would like to “take off my hat” to them because, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST. You know very well that you deserved better, but it does not stop you from supporting the team despite the constant disappointment.
YOU ARE JUST GREAT AND MAY BE THE BEST FANS IN WORLD FOOTBALL (and I am not saying that because I am an Arsenal fans ) 🙂
sign of a good team, you go to Old Trafford, you are flat and out played, you can’t let em win, and you walk out w a draw… good result, our squad look tired, subs worked,
If you look at our goal difference between Man City and Chelsea again it is clear to see we need a world class striker. I am grateful for what Giroud has done but if we don’t get one we will not win the EPL next season.
Games are won by team play not one striker. Didn’t Liverpool have Suarez last season? Doesn’t Man city have Aguero and Man U Van Persie, Rooney and Falcao? What didn’t they win the league? In any case goals are shared among different players not one individual. Other than La Ligua there is nowhere else you find an individual who scores over 40 goals a season. So one striker no matter how good cannot win a trophy without the collective support of others. Now coming to the issue of Giroud this is a man who was out for three months this season with injury. How then could he have been expected to score more goals? It is okay to strengthen our squad but games are won across the board not only by strikers.
A well deserved point and we finish above Man United (and Spuds) once again. United, City and Liverpool will definitely strengthen and I think Wenger should too. My only worry is he is so stubborn, predictable. Today if Walcott and Wilshere came on earlier we would have won it. Let him buy a top striker and I will be happier!
i have was not impress with our play, i think sanchez has been very static and too easily marked, he did not interchange position with Ramsay or Giroud at no time, seemed to have also lost some pace, which is fundamental in beating a team like united.
i would also like to ask wenger stop wasting players in particular positions, ramsay, wilshere, ozil, and cazola playing wide leaves us with an unbalance team, these are central players, so play them where they are best suited. There is enough games for them all to get a go once they are fit
If we want to win EPL next season, we simply cant lose any game against big teams, something like chelsea did, and i think Jackson Martinez would be amazing for Arsenal, same size as OG but much quicker and has more ability in his legs !!!
I said Martinez last summer and I am sticking with it. Martinez with Sanchez, Ozil, and Theo has got to be a winning formula. I can only think of one better and that is if we get a great left winger.
I think next game Ramsey needs to play in Cazorlas position, Cazorla was poor in few games, he should be rested, Walcott should start instead of him, maybe even Ozil switch for Wilshere, Wilshere played very well, many people critisize him, but only OX and him has that ability to go through players and drive our team forward .
We will never win the league under Wenger & we’re so far from challenging Chelsea. But oh well 2 more years of Wenger’s mediocrity.
Wenger made it clear… He will not recruit another striker (Giroud, Walcott, Sanogo and Welbeck are “more than enough quality”… Those are his words… Obvious delusion… Welbeck and Sanogo are inexistent and obsolete … ! But Hey, since winning trophies is not a priority I guess they will do).
Wenger also said that we will not recruit another defender.
Jenkinson might be loaned again and we “have enough CB” (again his own words).
Well, you can judge by yourself (unless you consider Mertesacker being an asset).
Wenger will bring another offensive midfielder (like we don’t have enough already).
The crucial DM position now courageously filled by Coquelin seems to have become a resolve issue. Well until Coquelin gets injured (because he will) and we will be f*cked again…!! But wait, what am I talking about? Wenger did extend Arteta contract… We should be then fine…
You can turn it around in every direction you wish and look deeply into the squad and even hope of next season, it is just not near enough to win major trophies… Just fact!
Added to the presence of Arsene Wenger who has been outcoached and outmanaged by every promising and “old school” managers around….!!
Just no f*cking chance, none !@
Wenger has never given away who he’s after you think he’s looking left but he’s looking right.
Too true and very sad … And it’s not even about breaking the bank a powerful quality left back …. A powerful DM and a real strike threat to match Sanchez would give us a fighting chance .. Some good left backs in serie a but attacking option more difficult if gotze available I think he could become a Henry type or go fr reus
Bell gab kos xxx
Kondogbia wilshere
Ozil cazorla
Sanchez xxx
We have the quality we just need to rotate players more and invest in some physicality with good feet, kondogbia in mf and a cb in the sol campbell mould. Our side needs a little more grit/controlled aggression, maybe we should buy cattermole! Anyone see wes morgan yesterday not saying hes good for us but what a beast!
New manager thats our first signing。
Wenger needs to sign 2/3 great players in the summer to safe his career. He was left a great back four that won us trophies and they have never been replaced.
Barca just won their 7th LA liga title in 10 years. God some teams are blessed!!!!
And thats what you get when you buy world class players. You increase your fan base, sell more merchandise and get bigger sponsorship deals which pays for the outlay.
we still need the spine for next season….
both Chelsea and Utd have already begin spending and strengthening…
Dybala joins Juventus….
whats Wenger being doing….
His got the invincibles it’s a shame we didn’t build on it. One more season Wenger if you don’t delivery far well and adure.
If the truth was known Jose wanted to be invincible this season. There is only one club that is invincible and that the red and white of London. GOYG
PS lets get behind our team next season. With faith you can move mountains. Lets win the EPL, UCL and the FA cup. GOYG I know you can do it.
Goodnight all and I hope you have a brilliant week.