Arsene Wenger has had a bit of a balancing act to perform as he prepares Arsenal for the first step in the defence of our FA cup trophy. We all know that the Premier League is a big priority but we also must pay due respect to the cup that has been so good to the Gunners down the years.
Despite his comments earlier in the week, Sam Allardyce has not started a bunch of kids and apart from a few players like Jermain Defoe, has named as strong a Sunderland side as possible. But it does not look as though the prof fell for his rival’s mind games.
Cech
Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs
Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chambers, Campbell
Walcott, Giroud, Iwobi
Subs: Macey, Debuchy, Arteta, Ramsey, Monreal, Reine-Adelaide, Willock.
The big surprise for me is that there is no David Ospina, even on the bench, so I assume the Columbian keeper has a problem. I also expected Debuchy to get a rare start as Bellerin has been looking in need of a rest but I think this proves how seriously Wenger is treating the FA cup.
It looks like Joel Campbell will play the number 10 role and it will be very interesting to see hoe he does and how the Ox performs in central midfield. If they do well then Arsenal will win but I feel we could be in for a rough ride. COYG
Ospina has a groin problem apparently
Dumb old man, why not rest key players for Pool
Needed a CAM atleast for creating chances … Ramsey or Jeff should be there instead of Iwobi
Ox is prone to mistakes, we don’t need that in centre
its like ospina is also cursed like wilshere with injuries….
would have loved to see jeff start
2-0 arsenal COYG !!!
winning the premier league, not easy. defending OUR FA cup, obvious COYG!!!!!!!
It was obvious that Fat Sam was bluffing,
Wenger kept us guessing and in the end it’s good to see that he has put out a strong team.
The last time I remember the Ox starting in middle, he scored two goals, I have a feeling that he will score today!
I’m surprised that Iwobi has started ahead of Jeff Adelaide,
What with all the hype about jeff lately.
Come on you Gunners!
Wrapp this up before half time.
With Arsenal you never know, we might win a injury time winner
In the last few games we started really slow and it will catch up with us very soon again just like the Southampton game.
Arsenal 0-2 Sunderland
Just sell ox to Chelsea.
Injury prone
Cant pass
Cant score
Cant assist
Cant cross
Gives opponents goals
Defensive liability
He can run but thats it, seems no brainer to me.
Throw in Diaby 2.0 to sweaten deal.
And then we will all celebrate that day if he develops into a top class player with Chelsea…
Have some patience, he still has a long way to go.
The midfield holds the most interest for me. Can Chambers follow up his promising debut at Dm?Is Ox really a box2box CM and if Campbell shows something as CAM then it makes him more valuable given the amount of minutes Ozil has played.
Don’t worry we have Bosscielny and Gabriel to cover out
It will be Interesting to see how Iwobi plays. I am a bit surprised that Adelaide isn’t playing but our lineup looks pretty strong
Was looking fwd to Theos pace & movement in middle…instead got the flicks & header merchant upfront again!
OX is not worth to be call an arsenal player
Lol told u, 0-2
there is no quality in this team
….even less in your repetitive, negative, usually inaccurate commentary.
Is Koscielny drunk?
Sunderland scored !
Tbh I don’t care if we get knocked out, this cup is a joke.
PL is what we want, will gladly make the sacrifice.
Mate…….. Give us all peace
Lol ‘this cup is a joke’…are you 5 years old?
WTF are Gibbs and Boss doing?
kos has struggled defensively for a few matches…
Why is Arteta on the bench?
Rather have a young gun
Very disappointed in the team selection. Not good .
Campbell
Theo assist
Iwobi pre assist, he playing well.
Hope Iwobi keeps it up whole game
Iwobi best player on the pitch so far
weve been playing badly for a while so a smack in the face is just what we need.
nice finish by campbell definitely should be starting ahead of ox and walcott in current squad
Better than OX yes, but Theo is much more of a threat than both, for me I will chose Theo.
Hed be unplayable if born with a soccer brain
Ox as well
Goal coyg
Iwobi playing like Sanchez tbh.
Impressed with his short performance.
nice goal joel, i am enjoying what i see w iwobi, team looks rested, fast line up,
Very disappointed in the team selection. Not good . Well done Campbell.
It looks as if Koss wanted the day off!
Wtf! Is going on here? ?
This is what happens when theres cut backs in training and too much resting going on.
If OX is with d ball it is 80-20 that he is going to play rubbish
Is Giroud playin?
Yeah he was the one making a run so Cambell had space in front of goal. Then not touching the shot as he would have been offside.
Looking at young players we have, we are set for a very good 7-10 years.
Ospina / Schezza
Bellerin Gabriel Chambers ???
Coq Ramsey
Ox Jack. Campbell
Welbeck
Zelalem, Iwobi, Gnabry and some young guns I have missed as I haven’t seen too many
Chech, Kos, Monreal, Ozil, Theo, Sanchez, Jenkinson and OG have a good few years still.
Are maybe short a LB, any coming through academy?
Rumours there we are in for Ben Chilwell, a Leicester City product, young prospect. He plays LB
opportunity for walcott ox giroud combo to show their quality …just not up to it
haha – so predictably pessimistic about everything AFC.
Iwobi is still playing u21 football
Arsenals best player in 1st half
Iwobi showed more in 45 minutes than OX has done in the last 45 appearances.
iwobi had a good half … needs game time
No leader among them,we are missing metersacker and flamini
Playing with 10 men…no replay need to win!
Ive seen enough of Chambers/Arteta/Flamini to unequivocally state that Arsenal will lose the EPL title and barely threaten Barcelona if Wenger AGAIN refuses to address the DM position in January.
If Wanyama/Krychowiak/Imbula are available for Gods sake spend some money and bring in quality to pair with an injured Le Coq? I know hes ahead of schedule but a serious knee injury is usually described that way for a reason.
As an Arsenal fan I’ll predictably be holding my breath.
Some of the Arsenal passing has something to be desired. Gerioud is a passenger here.
Dire miss there
iwobi had a better angle on that… campbell shoulda let him take that
chamberlin just isnt up to the level …sad as always liked him but it is clear now
Campbell trying his heart out here today. Poor refing.
Ox shuld b send on loan
giroud is a very good striker w the ball but his position off the ball is terrible, he camps behind defenders, he constantly gets caught to far behind the counter to give an outlet, once on the ball he is lethal, great ball skills, but he rarely gets the ball with advantage, take cambells cross into the box, you expect a poacher on that ball, giroud was 10 yards behind,
Arsenal trying to pass the ball through the eye of a needle. Aretta no.
we desperately need a quality attacker in this window ..walcott giroud ox wont deliver epl
nice theo shoot it right at the keeper… nice power too… what a bum
my god walcott is a hopeless finisher
Broad side of the barn Theo
Somebody put it in the net. Come on Arsenal.
finally yes!!
Nice one!,
beautyy
now that was nice
Well done Gerioud.
what a ball from bellerin ..2 assists … need to see more of that in the league…quality
this match shows the depth, maybe we win a double this year… bring in alexi, rested, feeling pretty confident this is our year
My goodness ref what are you at?
bring on adelaide for walcott at this point give the guy some time
Atkinson is such a muppet
where was this giroud in the first 70″? if he plays this agressive 70% of the match, he will score25 goals in the epl…
Where are all the negative nannys from the top of the comment section .. still moaning somewhere i suppose
Just waiting for a stray pass, missed opportunity, anything to bitch about. Honestly, I read the comments through the match too and sack-Wenger, rkw and one or two others are a disgrace to AFC. Always looking for something bad to happen. Laughable half wits.
yawn … nothing half witted about the assessment of first half performance indeed of two thirds of this game … what exactly was impressing you wenger lovers about the way walcott ox giroud took on one of the worst defences in the epl .. pray tell me … oh and please cut out the tribal loyalty bullsh@@ … u dont know me and thank god i dont know you …so just stick to the assessment
honestly, what better can u ask for, 3-1 w your bench against an epl team, top of table, one of your best players coming back off injury, ozil in pure form, these are great days to wear the shirt w pride,
14 consecutive FA cup matches without a loss, wow…
Next liverpool
Good result. Good performance and nice run outs for Reine Adelaide and Iwobi. Campbell looks to improve game by game and glad to see the Ox getting a bit more sharpness. Only three disappointing contributors, Atkinson (how did he not give Giroud a pen??), rkw (who’s evidently just a drepressed moron and sack-Wenger whose comments rival Michael Owen for rank stupidity).
my god you are a lively one today … oding on the kool aid ….