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Spurs v Arsenal review – Fabulous Flamini fires Gunners through

For people expecting a fierce local derby it was a slow and tentative start from both sides and that probably suited Arsenal better after two defeats in a row. No one could have predicted that this game would belong to Mathieu Flamini though, but I will say that I had called for him to start and give the Gunners some steel.

I certainly did not expect him to score two great goals mind. Just as the game was getting a bit more interesting he struck the opener, making a great instinctive run of a striker and lifting it over Vorm after the Spurs keeper could only Parry a fierce shot from the Ox.

That did wake the spuds up though and they pressed us and Arsenal had to defend hard and pick up a few bookings as well. After the break it was all Tottenham and we were really struggling so it was no big surprise that they drew level, even though it was unlucky with Chambers deflecting a cross past Ospina.

Arsenal were flat but the arrival of Alexis Sanchez for Campbell gave us energy and all of a sudden we were back in the game and creating chances. The Chilean was involved in our second but all the credit has to go to Flamini for his peach of a volleyed finish.

There was still a fair bit of time but Arsenal defended well and kept the ball much better than before. Ramsey was great and it was an encouraging game all round but the night belongs to the forgotten Gunner. Take a bow Mathieu Flamini.

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78 Comments

        1. Credit where it’s due, everything Flamini touched came off tonight. But looking at the bigger picture I can’t be too inspired by how we narrowly edged a garbage Spurs team. They were making progress not too long ago but that Spurs outfit were absolute muck.

          Focusing on the Arsenal: Giroud looks lost, Ox has no end product, and Rambo shouldn’t make the 11. Tip my cap to Gibbs, Chambers, and Ospina who were all nice and solid, also good seeing Debuchy recover from a terrible first half to find his feet in the second. We’re through, danger averted.

          1. But also look at the fact that we made 10 changes to the side so we weren’t exactly going to be at our free flowing best. But I agree Ramsey was poor, Ox was so-so and I can only put so much blame on giroud cause he’s a ST who thrives on service and today he had 0. But he definitely could’ve done some things better

            1. O and Campbell wasn’t great going forward granted he didn’t get the ball in too many dangerous positions but he put in a real shift in there were numerous times he ran the entire length of the pitch covering for debuchy

            2. No thanks, I’m pretty sick of hearing excuses for why we aren’t playing well or why we lose matches. It’s not that we lacked fluidity, we lacked pretty much anything which has been the case several times this season already.

              Grateful we edged the scum, but that’s about all the positivity I can draw from the game along with some solid defensive performances…..which tells its own story. We’re renowned for attacking flair yet Giroud, Ox, Campbell, Rambo were among the worst players on the pitch with only Campbell having cause for being so peripheral. Effort and drive should be a given, the quality was severely lacking from all quarters in attack and that’s a major concern.

                1. Chelsea got Stoke. Shawcross was at least remorseful and cried after breaking Ramsey’s leg. Hope he does the same to Costa and we can all laugh.

            3. The second Sanchez came on we looked dangerous. We created chances. Giroud almost found the net. We have no back up to Sanchez and Le Coq. Two of our best currently. I’m surprised we held them back with Mert, Chambers, and Gibbs. Gibbs could be so great but he gets out of position and never seems sure of what he’s supposed to do? Flamini fighting for a spot. Love it.

          2. “Ox has no end product”, very true. Does something very nice then sh*ts on it.

            Giroud??? Honestly, frustration is not something anybody can easily handle, but he should rested. There’s something I saw in his eyes and I immediately felt pity for him. He’s not good enof, but he also seems emotionally and psychologically down.

    3. Congratulations to Flamini, take a bow sir.

      Somewhere the grass is blue, the sky is green, and pigs are flying.

      Flamini > Giroud.

    7. I remember all the Arsenal experts WEEPING, SCREAMING, failing themselves that Flamini should be gone.
      The same shrimp sized penes are here now claiming they are his biggest supporters.

      Damn !

      1. Lol when 4th place junkies start turning to flamini as their new supplier!!!! Stick to the wenger juice it’s more reliable for what you need

  2. IF this was destiny’s only reason that Flamini did not leave us during the summer then i am more than happy. 😀
    For me has done it more than enough for this season with just these 2 goals. 😛

    Wenger in press conference- Flamini is the secret striker i have been hiding. 😀

      1. I think Flamini was occupying the attacking midfielder position on both the goals. Was it by chance or a strategy ? Who knows. 😀

  4. The FLame tutoring Giroud how to do it in front of goaL
    .

    .

    .

    While himself (the fLame) is a defensive disaster waiting to happen!

    .

    .
    Tnx 4 the goaLs !

    .

    (Btw….the ref was careful not to hurt the Arsenal L()L )

  8. Super result. Very suprised with Flamini but respect were it is due, did a job when was needed if that is his contribution for the season then more than happy he stayed. Brilliant for the fans this evening

  9. good win against our bitter rivals and well done to the flame!!! my word what a volley for the 2nd that ball had hang time.

    And you fans are pathetic you lot know who you are.

  10. we love you arsenal, we do
    we love you arsenal, we do
    we love you arsenal, we do
    OOOOOO ARSENAL WE LOVE YOU

  11. unexpected man of the match with 2 fantastic goals……… Trust me , those goals were world-class…… But the same can’t be said of the scorer! L()L

  12. The OX should start games TW should start games and O G should be sold to division 1 team just crap. The game was crap yeah we won but it’s just not Arsenal is it. AW needs to buy in Jan and big coz top 4 will be very hard. Ozil looks like a player that wants to go. End of the game he just walked of with a face like thunder.

      2. ok sell him back to france.
        and lets use our warchest to get lewandowski.all of it if necessary! 5 goals in 10 minutes – that guy is a goal machine.

  13. don t underestimate a win vs spurs as a moral boost.

    one game does not define a player, but i think we over-criticize the likes of flame bc we desperately want an upgrade. he bleeds arsenal and can do a job, so get behind him or our captain as long as coq is out (yes we need another dm, but it could be worse). gave us some grit in an away game vs a determined spurs side.

    we have a B-team that is very decent, i dont mind the likes of campbell, debuchy, gibbs and ospina being our backups, they wld start at other epl teams. came there, got a win, rested players. this is what should have happened vs zagreb. really makes me happy to see some players putting in good shifts, giving wenger a head ache. also like AW team selection , especially RAMSEY THROUGH THE MIDDLE and TWO ACTUAL WINGERS.

    will do, wish i cld get get drunk , if not for work tmrw. night mates

  14. It always feels good winning a derby game. Can’t Complain. Thank You Flamini, I’ll never forget your two goals tonight in a hurry. We wanted you Out from the club but thank You for those goals.

    2. Exactly……….and Galatasaray must be thinking……. “Damn!….Look what we missed this summer”..we’d be back in january

  16. And i thought chambers played well he was our best defender by a long shot, he looks quicker and looked strong. you can see his confidence is coming back to him I hope he keeps on improving he has a bright future ahead.

    And i liked to see him step up and stop attacks before they start but the bad thing was that Mert was the guy to cover his space behind him lol. When he plays with kosc or gabriel, those step ups will be helpful like our german does.

  20. Well done Flamini MOTM. Otherwise Chamberlain was the best player on the pitch. Ramsey had one or two good through balls, but the rest of the game he was rubbish to be honest. Giroud, as inconsistent as ever. It should have been him poaching the goal, not Flamini. Debuchy was horrible first half and needs to shake off the rust. Mertesacker won some crucial air balls and was our best defender. What else can be said, we beat a first string Spurs team with our B team. LOL

    1. 100% agree. Hope people don’t blast him today because he was actually very good. And kept covering for Debuchy’s nonsense.

    2. I said the same thing a few posts up he looked REALLY good. His positioning, his turn of pace has absolutely improved, he’s strong in the tackle and Im liking what I’m seeing. Hope his improvement continues!

  22. Good for us to finally win. The team played like they were put together at the last minute, because they were. Ramsey as main creator…. no, and Arteta somehow got through the game without getting a 2nd yellow and did a bit better 2nd half. Chambers wasn’t too bad either imo and the goal resulted from Deubchy being MIA for basically the whole game, and poor communication. Gibbs was actually not bad but Monreal is still overall better. Giroud didn’t have much to do, didn’t have a clear chance either. Vorm was quick to smother his only real effort. Theo… gotta finish that one at the end if you wanna be our main striker. Overall we worked hard today and got the win so I’m happy more for the fighting spirit rather than this meaningless competition. And last but not least FLAMINI!!!

    1. @RSH
      Flame always manages to make goals that other our forwards should be making, by getting into spaces they should be…Tonight he did it twice. That says a lot about our guys upfront.

  25. LOL
    I always liked The Flame and even if deserved I kind of felt for the guy with a lot of comments against him.
    So kudos to him and showing some class.
    Two goals vs Spurs..at their backyard…priceless

  30. we are not generating goals from giroud, alexi, santi or ramsey, this spells huge problems, with some its unpopular, but giroud is now complete with 3 seasons and into his fourth, he consistent at 13 goals per season in the EPL, that is one goal per 3 matches, unless flamini scores tw o goals per match, this will never win the EPL, Giroud is what he is, he will not get better, unless we get a 20+ front man, we will not win,

  32. Next round draws

    Man City vs Crystal Palace
    Stoke vs Chelsea
    Man Utd vs Middlesbrough
    Sheffield Wednesday vs Arsenal

    So we got an easier draw while others getting a tougher draw except Man Utd maybe….

    1. Too early to compare but I for one know which striker I would have and thats not the french striker playing for us.

  34. A very important win. Nothing scintillating but a win is what is we needed.

    PS. That martial kid scored another forward like goal, man I wish we were the ne spending 36 million and took a gamble on him.

  36. I can’t believe that people are still giving Flamini grief ?
    That so called old boy could play on till his 40 lol

    Played 1 scored 2
    our best player so far,
    wenger was right we didn’t need a DM or striker ?
    we have Flaminiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ??

  38. All the flamini haters and tonight he saved our ar*e! He may be feisty and pick up a lot of cards, he may be too old, he may not have the level of play we need anymore etc but I’d still have him back up coquelin overaeteta anyday. We forget they he is the only player left from the era and team of fighters that I remember and still thonk of the real arsenal! Well done mathieu, (I obviously mean flamini not debuchy who was shocking tonight). We did learn from tonight that a number of our baxk up fringe players are simply not good enough as cover.

  40. He had a point to prove, and boy did he prove it!

    Complete contrast to Campbell, who I thought would come out in a similar frame of mind, but there wasn’t too much from him.

  41. Flamini had a great game but we should have better options as a backup to Coquelin if we’re going to be a title challenging team. We’re obviously stuck with him since we didn’t reinforce.

    I’ll cheer for him as long as he keeps wearing an Arsenal shirt but that doesn’t make my opinion change that he should’ve already been replaced.

  42. This is not the Arsenal we wanna see… A win over Spuds feels go d anyday but man, Arsenal has fallen too low & doesn’t seem to get better. Wenger needed to reinforce in d summer but the rest is history… Another wasted season. Another Wenger excuse…
    Wenger Out, Giroud Out, quality in!!!!!!

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