This was always going to be a game that Arsenal simply wanted to get over and done with and move on, but we also needed to beat West Brom away to make sure that we stayed at least level on top of the Premier League and did not allow the current injury list to derail the challenge for the title.
You got the feeling early on in the match that this would not be an easy day for the Gunners, especially when our main man in midfield Francis Coquelin was forced to limp off with just 12 minutes gone after hurting his knee in a challenge.
Arsene Wenger replaced him with Mikel Arteta but you could see straight away that the Spaniard did not have the same presence and bite. Having said that Arsenal were good value for the lead we took in the 28th minute. Referee Clattenburg gave us a rare free kick, Ozil whipped it in and Giroud got his head to it.
The home side had offered very little going forward but were handed the chance to equalise with a poor free kick decision. Replays show that Arteta won the ball and Clattenburg was mere feet away bit he got it wrong. That does not excuse the defensive weakness from us which allowed Morrison to reach the ball and finish well but it was a cruel blow.
It dod not take long for things to get worse either and the unlucky Arteta was at the heart of it again, as he was unable to do anything but direct McLane’s cut back into his own net. It could even have been a penalty as ot came off the Spaniard’s arm.
Clattenburg then complete an awful 45 minutes by producing a ridiculous yellow card for Giroud after ignoring numerous fouls on the French striker.
After Ozil hit the post shortly after Giroud was denied a good penalty shout early in the second half ot really did feel like one of those days and when Cazorla made a horrible mess of a late spot kick, it was time to accept a dreadful day in the west midlands and move on.
mikel arteta u owe us 3 points u emmett from lego movie looking douchebag-
mikel and mert its time to retire
no your wrong..they should have been gone
LAST season.
and replaced with players befitting a title challenge-thats what real ambition is.
What a load of injuries!
Most knew that it will come back and haunt us apart from Monsieur “hope & pray” Wenger. Hoping and praying for Wallcot Ox and Welbeck to come back asap…need goals & more importantly pace upfront!
Pace on the wings. OG is doing his part this season.
Ya expecting a mega bid in January from Barca Madrid PSG for him!
He scores in 7 out of 10 games so far while giving way to a player who wants his position for some reason.
sitters
I wish we played more direct today we could have used some more sitters.
but u know wenger he is stubborn.
What about Rosicky? He wanted more playing time and OBVIOUSLY he wasn’t going to get that at Arsenal. Well now he’s injured, collecting his big fat check and yet still takes a spot in the squad from someone who could actually benefit the team.
Arsenal FC, charity club!
Arteta , fLamini , mertesacker…………. Hmm……. Short of words to comment on these 3!
.
What is really wrong with this team?……and what’s wenger’s problem?
Just logged in to say ARTETA IS $%&%. If he is not picking up yellow cards/injuries i dont know what else he does
Is time for Arteta to join the coaching crew….. I will accept and take heart today was not really our day. first our engine room got injured,and then Cazorla missing PK said it all is not our day with all the misses..
ONE LOVE GUNNERS FOR LIFE
West brom earned the win gotta give it to them. Arsenal looked dreadful, everyone has a bad game at times.
Trying to understand why Arteta is captain. We could have kept Diaby instead; at least he had potential. Probably good time for Arteta to go dark and drop off grid.
Hope Coq isn’t serious injury; really made shambles of back up DM; flashbacks of CB issue last year. Wenger played with fire trusting Arteta and Flamini; hope club doesn’t get burned by it.
Wouldn’t be Arsenal without
(1) completely avoidable injury crisis
(2) Ramsey, Wilshire, Walcott getting injured
(3) under performing back ups under perform
(4) scrap into Champions League 16
(5) not advance further in Champions League
(6) make tons of money along the way
(7) refuse to spend crying poverty and financial unfairness
(8) rinse and repeat
Avoidable injuries? Explain.
@gooner100
Finish reading the sentence, avoidable injury “crisis”. Avoiding injuries is impossible; bringing in another DM and dependable outfielder this past summer could have avoided the avoidable injury crisis.
Hope that clears it up, sorry.
Before anyone asks tired phrase of who was available, kongdogbia, schniderlin (sits on bench at man utd often). Many others but those two def better than Arteta and Flamini.
Options better than Cambell and Gibbs out of position were available too. Wenger has faith in too many players that don’t produce.
IMO it’s more about keeping faith in under performing players than being cheap with cash.
Rather see Chambers or Gabriel at DM then Flamini. Perhaps different formation altogether.
Well have to say Flamini did well, and Gibbs don’t know how he even gets on the bench. We are all in the opinion that Mertisacker Arteta should be gone. Sanches put the stories that he is tired to bed, Campbell is not a Walcott. We need Vardy go get him Wenger and a left back + a runner from mid field like Rosciky who can pass and is better than Gazola . We will always lose games like this when the bench for Subs is so weak even, Debuchey would have been a better choice than Arteta it’s undermining the players out there bringing old and un fit players in. We will finish in top 4 again as we just aren’t a strong squad. We need to rethink this beautiful game Wenger likes to be seen, that’s ok when playing against the same opponents. But as soon as we come up to a more basic type team who are stronger and bigger we fail. That’s why you need to have a squad that you can change with stronger players when the time comes. You have to play to how the other team plays you. CB
This is what happens when expectations dont meet reality.
The expectations are that we can go win the league.
The reality is that we are not and have not been good enough.
Not strengthening an obviously (12 points off) weak team is ALL Wenger’s fault.
Fracking Vidal was available, Draxler was available, just these two players would have made a difference in our season. Instead of those two we had Arteta and Campbell today.
You play with mediocre players and expect 1st class results. It aint gonna happen.
I’m happy that we lost, hopefully Wenger clearly sees how crap his bench players are and how important it is to have a top quality DM. FFS WHICH TOP TEAM RELIES ON ARTETA AND CAMPBELL TO CHALLENGE FOR TITLES, WHICH TEAM ???!
*grabs microphone
….
I’LL TELL YOU WHICH TEAM…ARSENAL YEAHH
CAN I GET A WOOP WOOP….ANYONE?!!!
WOOP WOOP we’re as good as POOP POOP
Little real logic in that and all the evidence contradicts what you say…constantly blaming Wenger is just bs.
Leicester are top – they’re not a world class team with a squad that many of the top teams would want??!!
Chelsea were the team that was 12 points ahead of us, yet they’re a distance behind us??!!
It’s simply a bad performance from a squad once again decimated by injuries….
yes we have a lot of injuries that is why Arteta and Campbell are playing. But if we had other quality players that we had signed during the summer than Arteta and Campbell would not have been playing today and maybe Vidal and Draxler would be. That is real logic.
Sure, and if Wilshire, Welbeck, Theo, the Ox, Ramsay and now Coquelin were fit, they wouldn’t be playing either….
Vidal is better in the middle of the park then the whole lot of them, and Draxler is an upgrade to Welbeck (whom Wenger knew was gone for half theseason) and Ox
And all these players are actually hurt – thus quality in depth was needed.
we got what we deserved!……………….. Good 4 all of us……….especially the wenger flagbearers
Not sure what part of that was good for any gooner. I guess this week you’re not a wenger fan…lets see where you are in the weeks ahead eh??? Apologies if you’re a clinically diagnosed schizophrenic.
oh well……… Say what u will…… I commend the boys when they do well and yea i Criticize em when they are utter ****…… Call me Fairweather, call me Mr Moonshine……i dnlt think i’d care much….. But the deluded ones are those who see the flaws and pretend never to see em or just bottle it up…. The truth needs to be told nomatter how bitter!
….sure and ‘the truth’ is our first team is once again decimated by injuries.
when things go bad we look awful. Haven’t seen us play this bad for a very long time. Sanchez and Ozil did great aside from that we were shambolic. We seriously need reinforcements Wenger!
The referee was great. We were fortunate to get that penalty.
whats the point have two clearly top notch players surrounded by mediocrity
sanchez delivering balls to the box for joel campbell? f right off
Campbell, Arteta, Flamini and Rosicky should’ve been gone by last season. We would have had enough room for two top quality attackers and a back-up DM. I think next season Welbeck should be sold and Giroud and Walcott demoted to the bench becuause neither of them are reliable CFs. Then we can get first choice striker like Aubameyang.
4th again
whats that dorothy?? yes, yes….
theres NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Hahaha
These are the type of games a title challenger should win. Smh.
Bad luck is one thing but Injuries in key positions to key players is what will cost us this season as far as a title challenge is concerned because it exposes us for the lack of depth in the squad. Because of that results like this occur because there is no way of changing the game plan with subs because the quality isn’t available.
Wenger’s choice of bringing on Fartbetter costs us the game!
Surely Flamini was the better option,
In the end it was a wasted sub on top of a total balls up!
As for Campbell ? hopefully he will be off to Turkey in January, thats if they still want him.
Jeff was on the bench, not doubt he would have done a better job than joel shambles!
Hopefully all the stubborn wenger lovers will start seeing sense now….. We won’t win the league without upgrading our squad!… ffs!!
?-” but who will we sign, there isn’t anyone available”
?-” your nan and her pet gold fish son, that’s who”
The fact that Arteta and Flamini were the only options in that position shows the lack of depth we have. Wenger cost us this and many other games like this because of his summer transfer business. No depth, means lack of quality, no plan b, no game changers and ultimately failure.
funny that the only player we wanted rested was the only man with the energy on the pitch…….duracell ruLes
he will leave by next year
if we dont sustain real threat in the big trophies
everyone else does
@muffdiver…………..and he (sanchez)will have my mandate to move on if we dn’t make any statement of intent …….. Can’t have him go thru such mental torture at Arsenal….he’s WC and needs to work with his kind… Not carry on the weight of these lazy fetuses on his poor shoulders
Arteta is a fault for this simple.. Ozil tried his best, Sanchez keeps holding on to ball for too long.. Gibbs is over rated, he’s of no use, i said it earlier Adelaide over Gibbs..he made no impact in the game.
Arteta hasnt played for a while, Flamini shouldve been the one to come in for Coq.
I pray Coq isnt very bad.
Bottom line: Arsene wenger is to blame
Get Krychowiak and pay £42. Mil for Aubmeyang in January baby please
I totally agree with you Babyplease, I second your opinion we must get krychowiak and aubameyang in January transfer window… Then we may have a realistic chance for title.. No cover for CDM an RW will cost us like today..
Arteta what a player! Comes on from the bench, makes 3 back passes before committing 3 individual mistakes which result in 2 conceded goals, limps off after playing 35 minutes to waste our second sub, all this for a CDM with zero tackles won to his name! Give this man a new contract!
he literally pulled off espionage of the highest order
not seen ish like that since jason bourne
Sighs…..smh.
This was a winnable game. Thankfully, I don’t have any blind faith/exaggerated hopes for the EPL title.
Any comments on Giroud scoring? 🙂
As Murphy said when you think it’s bad enough you have to wait. It gets even worse. What a $hitty game. I don’t want to comment on how the guys played because I will probably thrash them all. Moving on. I am so pi$$ed. Luckily I am flying to Sydney and leave all this behind.
lucky u . i have nowhere to run to.
facing my anger head on
time to punch the nearest kangaroo i see in london
Australia? Lucky bastard. I also lost few hundred Euros because Southampton couldn’t score a single goal at home. What a terrible day.
Arteta was brought on to give west brom the 3points, he did it and was subbed off. Whoever thinks we can win the league with players like mert and campbell must be living in disneyland. Such players don’t deserve to be putting on the arsenal shirt
No such thing as bad luck, West brom also hit the bar.Just why did arteta come in ahead of a fitter,faster and better Flamini??
Once again, we underestimated another team and got punished for it.No excuses
Because of Wenger’s favouritism, it’s what has cost us so many games for as long as I can remember. If Wenger didn’t favour players we would’ve had reliable players, not mediocrity like Campbell and Arteta.
Oooooh you’re moaning now! ???
? ? ? ? ?
Haha yes, believe it or not I’m not a Wenger bumlicker, I will give credit where it’s due and criticism where it’s necessary
I don’t want to see Campbell in an Arsenal shirt ever again..never liked him one bit..he has zero attacking threat..ZERO !!!
Hope y’all now believe me when i say Carzola’s aging……… And that he needs replacement!
@SA
Yet, he rips it up when he’s playing for Spain…
not tryna say Carzola’s bada ctually, i meant to say “succession” not “replacement”……. Someone who could slowly Ooze him out of the 1st team.
both we don’t believe you. he is hustling out of form. can anyone tell me what satchel is made of he looks like he was resting for a month while the others were playing 3 times a week. we don’t deserve satchel and ozil. they are too good for this team.
yes we don’t believe you. you don’t know what the ##ck u are talkin about. when we were good he is the reason. he is just out of form. can anyone tell me what sanchz is made of? he looks like he was resting for a month while the others were playing 3 times a week. this team don’t deserve sanchez and ozil. they are too good for it.
Listen baby please
I blame Wenger more than Arteta. Should have let go of Flamini and Arteta and got Kondogbia, Schneiderlin or Krychowiak. He should have foreseen the possibility of Coquelin getting injured
Those players won’t come to arsenal to sit on the bench.
Who says they would be sitting on the bench? That is just a naive assumption. Maybe they would have dislodged Le Coq or Cazorla, or we would actually have been able to rotate fresh players.
I still blame Arsene. We really should have quality backup in a position like DM.
I have always said that I would love our players to stop talking, they rarely win after too much talk.
wenger has no excuses regarding injuries . he should have bought reinforcements.
weve said this since dinosaurs rode jetskis into work
like who?
hahahaha muff……… I was ere in the Jurassic era and i rode one called “shadow”
6 big injuries: Ramsay, OX, Walcott, Welbeck, Wilshere and now Coq. That’s impossible!!! unheard of in any other major sports to have that many first team players out at the same time and expect win ANYTHING. End of story!
Herrera, SHaw, Carrick, Fellaini, Valencia, Rooney, Martial.. Now thats 7 big injuries to our rival and yet they are not moaning.
On August I said we need schneiderlin as coquelin wont be enough and I am unfortunately proven right big time. Areteta and Flamini wont even be in the first team squad for many top clubs, but off course here we have.
The headline is pure banter.
Remember the famous quote?
“We could not better players to improve the team”
Remove 7 players from that arsenal team and the rest are garbage.
Yes remove the 7 and what you have falls into the following categories.
1 kindergartens who will not male the grade
2 geriatrics who are spent
3 NO SWEARING
4 perpetual medical patients
West brom were attacking and we had nothing upfront to counterattack with.
Arsene-al Wenger hospital
1. Funny that we score off a set piece but during open play balls are never lobbed in the box again until it’s too late.
2. Have the players that score goals for you always take your pk’s. If Santi was off, Arteta would have taken that pk if he was in at the time.
Arteta taking and failing that penalty would’ve been an icing on cake. Maybe even injured himself in the process. Today he wasn’t a player, he was a total clown.
Embarassing. Arteta should be nowhere near this team. Wenger needs to learn to read games, Arteta is NOT a valid replacement for Coquelin in a game like that. Im vaguely certain Arteta came off because he knew he was poor not injured.
One word for todays performance “mediocre”!
@Greg
Below mediocre…We were our own worst enemy today.
2nd half was okay besides for the horrible finishing. I honestly dont care about Santi’s miss considering he was one of the better players today. The fact we let in bad goals and have no CDM replacement is down to management. The season is gone yet again because Wenger is horrible in the transfer market. I always say this yet people ignore it and think we are going to win title. Its impossible if you are not ruthless in transfer windows.
There are So many crap players at arsenal these days. Mert can’t run to save his life and yet he’s our captain. Wenger really messed up in the transfer window now we have deadwoods everywhere
Heres an idea why play Arteta at all ffs, liability has been his whole Arsenal career… Sorry was and never has been good enough!
another few, why the f#$k is he captain? Why was he on before flamini? And why is he still at the club?
All on Wenger. Now a few for him!
Why all the injuries? Please bloody explain as ur the main man here. Is it ur methods or them articficial pitches we train on that everyone has an opinion on atm?
Why not sign one outfield player? Finished 15points r so behind Chelsea and u thought what exactly esp giving city/utd spending?? Deluded man is an understatemnt! Gibbs is a LB why play him there?? Ffs we have a young player in Adelide there im sure he has abit more flair than gibbs/campbell?? Alex Awobi also?? Players need to step up or leave because we are not going to win anything this season with these problems! I got slated before about saying this but changes r needed behind the scenes!!
Jesus christ call Hayden back if its that bad, rather him than Arteta or flamini tbh (just caus he worth loads still doesnt make him a better player)
Tbf I think Wenger is grooming him to be a future manager, he’s been on the bench for more than a year but hasn’t been sold, surely there must be a reason. The manager even complemented his football intelligence and stated how he could be a good manager in the future.
No disrespect but no more contract extention for arteta please!!!!!!
your a year late pal
We beat ourselves today…WB were just there to capitalize on it.
We lost a game we could have very easily drawn and should have, we are missing 3-4 big players who are nearly returning relax arsenal fans its not Doomsday. It’s ridiculous how childish some arsenal fans are 3 weeks ago Wengerwas god after bbeating Bayernand guiding A to top of the table now ye are calling for his head appalling really.
If Coquelin is out for a while this could really turn ugly. Fans were divided about signing more attackers or defenders but almost unanimous that Wenger needed to find another DM. Can’t blame Wenger for our lack of attacking options given the ridiculous number of injuries but no DM? That’s on him.
We are back where we love to be. At 4th
Out Best season in many years but still behind city utd and LIECESTER! Lost 5 points in the last 2 games. Mertesacker is a liability and the commentator was repeatedly pointing out how he is constantly getting away with poor play.
Ozil and sanchez played well. Now on to zagreb on Tuesday. Hope to see Ramsey back. Our right hand side is paralysed without him ox and walcott.
Arteta was not injured. He came off because he knows he is more ASS than Nicki Minaj’s butt.
thats alotta ass
he wasted our second sub
Would be great if Klopp’s team upset Man City.
whether klopp is capable of upsetting pellegrini’s men is of no use at the moment………. There’s no advantage to take from it……… The albions fed us exactly what we deserved!
There was no bad luck except with regard to Coquelin’s injury. The rest was the manager’s fault. It is criminal to love individual players more than the team. There is no reason why Arteta should continue to play for Arsenal when every time he plays he costs us games! Let him be released in January and a serious HM bought. Arteta is directly responsible for both goals! What worse damage could he have caused us? His fellow countryman Cazorla conspired to ensure we would not equalise. I have always argued that Cazorla is not a player to entrust with anything to do with urgency let alone scoring goals. This is just a play boy who passes the ball around with no effect. When did he last score for Arsenal? We had people who can score goals: Giroud, Alexis, Monreal, Ozil. Why then entrust the penalty to someone who has not scored since the season begun? I have seen Giroud take penalties. He is really effective. In many teams it is the strikers who take penalties not play boys like Cazorla. This is a lesson learnt. Let Arteta be allowed to sit on the bench until January or the season’s end Diaby-style and then be released. Cazorla should be relieved of free kicks, corners and penalties so that he can concentrate on passing the ball around.
I dont want to see players such as Mertesacker, Arteta, Debuchy, Campbell, Flamini & Rosicky wearing the arsenal shirt next season for obvious reasons. P.S I will give Wilshire one more season to prove he can play at least 40 games a season with little injuries here and there.
wenger’s sturborness! yes we are paying for it.
You are way down the pecking order with Alexis/Ramsey/Ox/ Welbeck ahead of you. You get a golden opportunity to level the score and earn us a point(btw a point wouldve still being unacceptable but better than a loss) and you blow it. Thanks Joel Campbell! The way Le Prof reacted after that miss Im sure he wont be giving you no more than a handful of chances when our injured wingers return.
Look arsenal has one main problem … It’s wenger … He will never bring a title back to the emirates …every year for last 5 years have heard the same excuses from the 4th place junkies it’s actually sad and when they bring in the numbers it becomes pathetic …. Is there a risk if he leaves of course but top teams take the risk …
Best thing about your comment is we have ever had it at the Emirates!!
Agree on the wenger leaving
Bad ref? No. Bad Wenger. Once again poor transfer window costs us a title race. Let’s back it in boys. Season over, 4th place again. Fun while it lasted. And, no I’m not overreacting. If you think Flamini or Arteta can replace Coquelin you need to see a doctor. Game over.
@RSH
I think in this match, it was all down to bad team selection…
Can Coquelin be replaced by Arteta or Flamini? that has nothing to do with bad team selection. It’s got to do with a bad transfer window.
Well that was a bad day at the office, we played well for the most part but the finishing was pretty dreadful. I see people slagging off most of the players but most of the team played well. The problems were where we are forced to use 3rd or 4th choice players. Gibbs was out of his depth on the wing but considering how awful Campbell has been I would have started him too. Obviously losing Le Coq is massive, and as we all expected Arteta is just not up to the task of replacing him, leaving only Flamini. Thankfully we have a reasonably easy run of games so we should be able to win but it’s hard to believe we can sustain our challenge with so many injury prone players and a lack of decent back up at LB and DM.
You become what you deserve. This current team is not good enough. Not good enough in a very, very average leauge.
It’s tiring being a gooner
For whatever reason…this team isn’t consistent and for us fans it’s tiring.
now we have to cheer liverpool?
The only good thing about tody was Mesut breaking his own record. U think he will stay i doubt it. Munich will come knocking im sure if this continues… only 2years at the end of the season left on contract!
not tryna say Carzola’s bada ctually, i meant to say “succession” not “replacement”……. Someone who could slowly Ooze him out of the 1st team.
This team is just fasicanting to watch at times, I have to say that 5-1 was the culprit which actually started this rot. I know what it must feel for Cazorla missing a spot kick. Arteta’s Arsenal career is over along with Debuchy. It was not about deserving it was about winning by playing bad. I have to say Sanchez should taken the spot kick. My irritation dates back to that transfer window where arsene Wenger has shown confidence in more than 5 players.
No good everyone goi g on about this player that player.simple thing we have 2 good players out on loan and why CA went out is madness. Carl at West Ham is playing good hard EPL football. We have sorry 10 players that should go in the summer but AW is stubborn. We don’t even have a captain on the field and this should be taken care of now and I would make Ozill the man with with PC as vice. I said we won’t win the EPL and we won’t and it will be very hard for 4th place and I get the feeling that Chelsea will just creep up now if anything I think they could still be there come may
Liverpool beating City 2-0
3-0
I think wenger needs to take a good hard look at himself!
He talks of Koscielny not being in the right state of mind,
I think kos is more clued up than he is!
He talks of doping in football, … but he is the biggest Dope in football …. I hope he gets a 4 year ban ?
This leauge is so damn poor, lol, that leicer city is currently leading it, loool. Well done Klopp, good manager knows how to play the game.
Lol
City 0
Liverpool 2
????
There goes another missed opportunity!
THREE NIL to Liverpool LOL
Liverpool is HAMMERING City right now, should be 5-0.
Klopp has been underwelhming thus far but man is this performance reminiscent of the Dortmund machine a few years ago.
Meanwhile @ the Emirates Wenger has decided to bring K Kalstrom back in January after his incredible international display against Denmark this past week
ooops 3-1
Some stupid comments especially last one, let’s be constructive eh?
yea he (giroud) scored……..then reverted to his legendary hold up play…….
.
Any comment on Vardy scoring? L()L
and a third truth is that we have no other DM but Le coq………
@gooner100…….and a third truth is that we have no other DM save for Le coq………
Every season it’s the same Old excuse,injuries. Yet, a cool £200m sits in the bank because apparently we can’t find any players better than arteta, Flamini, mertesacker, Campbell…
Anyways, January is fast approaching, let’s hope Kim kallstrom is available once again , and his back is ok
Just a reminder that we will not win the league. We needed improvment and nothing apart from cech
When (IF?) there are few injuries, there is nothing hugely wrong with our game day squad. We CAN compete in this league.
The problem is our long standing injury problems to key players. Either we are signing crocked players who have played too much at an early age (but show great skill) or we have a problem with our training pitches/methods as alluded to by Martin Keown recently…
Yes we could do with 1 or 2 stronger squad players, but our first team is pretty much there, it’s just we hardly play them all because of injuries!!
Sort the root problem out and we might stand a chance of competing for a whole season.
Now that would be something to see, just how good we really are at this level with a fully fit squad, or one with the usual amount of short term injuries.
What annoys me is that you wouldn’t persist with a racehorse that was clearly injury prone, so why do we persist with our lot of talented yet fragile ‘stars’??
Being an Arsenal supporter is like riding a roller coaster, eventually you get sick.
Arsenal seem to revel in making mistakes. Wenger did not sign cover for Coquelin (mistake), Arteta still club captain and rarely plays so he`s a liability (mistake), Carzola misses penalty by slipping, not the first time I might add (mistake). Sanchez needs to be told to rest, we`re not half way through the season yet and he`s over played (mistake). Unfortunately the stack of injuries has,yet again, mounted and it does affect the confidence of those players on the paddock, they must feel the God`s are against them.