Looking at things from an Arsenal point of view I definitely agree with Arsene Wenger’s suggestion that the penalty awarded against the Gunners today was a soft one and that Moussa Dembele was looking for it when he ran into the box and into three Arsenal players that he was never going to get past.
At the same time, however, I can see why the referee Mark Clattenburg gave the spot kick to Tottenham because Laurent Koscielny did waft a leg and he did not make any contact with the ball. He did make contact with the player though and Dembele was happy to hit the turf and delighted to win his side an unlikely route back into the game.
And that is what Wenger was questioning with his post match comments on the Sky Sports website, saying that contact is not necessarily a foul and from many incidents we see every week in the Premier League the Frenchman does have a point.
He said, “I think the penalty was harsh because from where I sit it looked harsh. It didn’t look dangerous to score and it didn’t look a foul from outside.
“After, speaking to some referees they could give it or not give it. Personally as the manager of Arsenal Football Club, I prefer not to give it.”
What I did not like was how quick the ref was to point to the spot as he may have decided the contact was minimal if he had thought about it. It is especially annoying when you see that Vertonghen is allowed to grab and hold the shirt of Alexis Sanchez in the box and not be penalised but what can you do?
The painful fact is that Arsenal were bel;ow par today and the boss accepted that. He put it down to nerves and I agree that we looked a bit cautious and more afraid to concede than determined to score and by p[laying like that I feel that we have missed a trick and let our north London rivals off lightly.
What did you guys make of the derby draw today?
Bob.
let us be brutally honest.We are not winning the league.
Look at how fluid chelsea and liverpool attacks are.
Tottenham were the better team today despite missing alli and alderwierld and we could have lost badly.
I dont know how we will respond given manure have won big today
We suffered today because Walcott and Sanchez were not at their best. When they’re on top form, we score goals. Many goals. For the next games, I’ll drop Iwobi and play the OX on the left. I think the lad might have played one game too many already.
Isnt that where we have fallen down before. depending on the form of a single player, only for them to get injured
I can’t believe you ll drop Iwobi for Ox after watching how useless Ox was today.. that guy is the definition of inconsistency
At least the OX can defend???
what are you even saying? iwobi was the only one creating chances today and also defending, why are u been bias here, why not say to drop Walcott that did nothing today instead if iwobi that was running front and back?
LoL
Ozil is a top player, but I feel his lack of a right foot limits his passing range greatly. This makes him to take one or two touches more, where a single right footed pass would have been more appropriate. Who else feels the same?
I feel the same as well. But same goes for Sanchez as well..
and Monreal, Walcott, Xhaka, so many players that are stuck in using only one foot have let us down, not only Ozil
The penalty call was spot on. Stop making excuses AW. Stupid foul by Koscielny, nothing more.
Looking at how Chelsea and Liverpool are dismantling teams, I’m full of envy to be honest. They make it look so easy. It might be safe to say we won’t be winning the league on GD..
It’s the same old, same old, isn’t it? Not a great transfer window, we fluff our lines to go top when presented with the opportunities as always, the same old players that rarely perform are given chance after chance, and the poor results in the big games.
Of course I’m not saying it’s all doom and gloom because of this one result, because I think we have performed extremely well since that opening day defeat, resulting in a long unbeaten run in all competitions. I’ve also noticed a difference in Arsenal this season, we look a lot more resilient for once. I am not a fan of Wenger at all, and I’m not bashing him for the sake of it, as he deserves a lot of credit for the season so far, but it’s hard to forget about the past.
I personally feel that the transfer window will cost us. Wenger barely strengthened the forward positions, and this baffles me, as he’s a manager who relies so heavily on an attacking philosophy. I cannot understand why he’s so reluctant to really strengthen the front line? Yet again, we’re having to live in hope that the likes of Walcott, the Ox, and Giroud, start performing consistently. I’m a huge fan of Iwobi, but he’s still finding his feet, not a lot should be expected from him. Perez has barely done anything with his career, so that’s another one we’re hoping that comes good. Alexis was proven quality, and look at the positive impact he’s had. Why can’t we sign more ready made players, that can start delivering the goods from day one? We certainly have the money!
This is the strongest squad we’ve had in a long time, and there is the chance we could be successful this season, but I just get the feeling we’ve got too much resting on attacking players with potential, and not enough on players with actual quality. That could be what costs us in the end.
we were a better team when we had the likes of fabregas nasri and vanpersie playing for us.
Defensively was where we were poor.
We would have easilu brushed this tottenham side away 3 0
Why so much negativity? What are we like 20 points behind Liverpool or what? Common guys it’s just 2 point. And mind you this same spurs trash city not long ago at home and arsenal trashed Chelsea not long ago..there is no home match in epl, the team that’s turns out on the day wins it’s as simple as that..I for one saw some positive today u thought xhaka played well today considering that coquelin didn’t come out of the dressing room for the second half.. sachez played his heart out today even Ozil.. and I thought giroud was the only decent sub we have..and for all monreal doubters he shut you guys up..wenger is over playing iwobi the lad needs a breather to avoid injury..am disappointed in ox because each time he is been giving a chance he flops but too early..the international break couldn’t have come at a better time..I felt we tired in the second half maybe traveling and the nature of our win in midweek cos we gave so much for that game..
But all in all its not the end of the world…
Coyg
Right bro. Win, everybody is praising blah blah. A draw or worse a defeat, the blah blah blah becomes bigger.
we played well overall today but we lacked control of the midfield.
Iwobi and Ozil could have really scored when they had their chance
Alexis is dropping too deep
we need to learn to kill games off or retain possession immediately we score to at least put the pressure on the opponent, it happened after we scored 2 against Swansea, against Sunderland after one, etc
Our goal shpuld not have stood by the way
It’s frustrating but what’s done is done, I would not read into this game too much. we played a team who defended well and got lucky….that is all, they got lucky. Yes we expect more, but to those saying we cant win the league based on 1 one game, I laugh. There was a time when a lot of people were saying only city were the only contestors. what I’m quite convinced of though is: If cazorla was in the center today we would have registered more than one own goal.
The game was poor and AW assesement was apot on. We vneed to rally behind our team. Everyine knows this season wont be easy so negative vibes wont help. What i think need improvement is midfield. Absence of santi is evident but who among the many playere can take over from Santi. Xhaxa,ramsey,cog,rlneny all are almost the samr. Please dont tell me Jack is the furture. We need a maestro in that Mid asap, otherwise we shall labor valot. All in all we r 2points adrift, and we dint lose. Lets focus ahead niw lads
..but Wilshere is the heir to Cazorla and u don’t just sign players, so what happens if we sign say a Verratti?
Ramsey,Xhaka,Elneny are pushed further down the pecking order and might not get gametime.
Wilshere is heir to Cazorla and until then Xhaka or Ramsey can fill in for Santi when injured.
I wonder why Wenger will drop Elneny that has been consistent so far for Xhaka
Elneny mr. running around doing side passes? only one pass of his was a forward one and led to one of the cutest goals by Ozil. apart from that the guy just waves his hair all over the pitch chasing shadows
i wish that I would not be negative. sorry to say but we have no players and worthy to be champions. and what about the manager. the same pattern of play and always choosing the wrong players – gooner for ever
Excuses after excuses. At no point did spurs look threatened. We have fallen back to 4th and with other teams around us finding form we look not so good. Now the Manchester United game has become a must win. They will be up for it and we should not underestimate them.
and now wait for posts saying how Arsenal likes 4th spot
3 games without a win against spuds at emirates….embarrassing
I’m sure it’s not wenger’s fault
Nothing has changed as much as would like to think so. We will be lucky to finish in the top 4.
We are not capable mentally of operating with the killer instinct of a title contender. As soon as we can take 1st place or put a serious dent on the title aspirations of Spurs we fail to show up with our A game.
Be prepared, for another disappointment against Man U.
Also, I think we could have done with resting Sanchez this past CL game. He looks tired.
Haven’t commented here for ages, but here I am, wenger was wrong, it was a very soft penalty, but, a penalty nonetheless. Boss made a mistake, everybody does, so what. A draw against spuds doesn’t mean we are a bad team. Each and every team makes their fair share of mistakes. that the doesn’t mean we’ve bottled it. R you’d hi in for d tv hiding did tu I thi o hd d door rishi yeh o orkut duo r k. That’s what fickle fans are saying. Chelsea this Liverpool that blah blah blah blah, enough.
Here we go. I said the day will come when the moaners will overweight the others. Game against the best defense in the league. Meanwhile Liverpool is thrashing the Watford powerhouse and all is shiny on the Merseyside. We thrashed Chelsea but that doesn’t count somehow. Nice consistency but I am not here to judge. I am just enjoying the rants.
I think we missed cazorla in the middle of the park today
Yes, we lost Cazorla for this game badly and got dominated in the middle by Spurs consequently. As to me, no proper plan was made for this crucial derby match. We could have won it simply if we did so. The penalty given was a joke.