Why Arsenal fans should NOT panic after Stoke defeat

If Arsenal travel north to Anfield next weekend to play Liverpool and come away with nothing then I think we will all have good reason to feel pessimistic about the Premier League season ahead, but I also think that the defeat away to Stoke City today should not cause us to worry too much, for a few reasons.

One is that we were a bit unlucky. The Gunners scored a perfectly good goal through Lacazette and should have had at least one penalty, while on another day all those chances would have ended up with some goals. Having said that we did lack a bit of cutting edge and, more importantly, the defensive side of things was not great.

But that is another reason not to panic, strangely enough, because from next week we should be stronger back there with Koscielny’s three game ban now served. Monreal on the left is good and we have the option of Kolasinac as well, or even Mertesacker bringing his experience and presence.

We should also remember that Stoke has always been a tough trip for Arsenal and they were right at it today after losing their opening game. They are always up for a scrap with us to be fair and today was no different. We did end up matching that and dominating the game and but for a moment of switching off after the break they did not look like scoring.

Finally, on the positive side of things, Alexis Sanchez will hopefully be back to face the scousers, so do not get too down about this defeat guys. Arsenal WILL get better.

Sam P.

67 Comments

  1. I don’t think most fans are panic, because most of them know that they cannot expect too much from this season. I think most of us are just disappointed, because nothing really changes in Arsenal.

    I hope Sanchez would be back in the Liverpool match. He could give Arsenal a creative spark, hunger and tempo control from the middle of the field.

    Arsenal should have guts to bench fancy players that got robbed a lot in the first two matches. I expect Arsenal to be willing to give chance to more talented and hungrier players, such as Iwobi.

    1. I agree completely.
      I would be crazy to believe that we can win the PL
      United look like winners. They won first two matches fairly easily. And they still want Lemar or Draxler too.

      Alexis would definitely help us. Like you said. but I’m worried about our defense too.

      Also Wenger is continuing to play players our of position. He does this every season. He used to play Ozil on left, Ramsey on the right, 2 seasons ago played Walcott up front, now Monreal as CB. I’d rather Chambers play CB than Monreal.

      And I agree about benching our high paid players like Ozil, Monreal too to make them more hungry. Especially this Season because they want to play World Cup so they need matches.

      Lemar would have been fantastic because he could also play Ozil position. He is a good passer and better defender and scorer than Ozil. They would have made each other better like Lacazette and Giroud.

      Wenger should have (he still has time to do it) got a top CM like Seri, Carvalho, Goretzka, a top attacker like Lemar or Draxler and ideally a CB

      Wenger is making bad decisions tactically as well as not enough top signings as he does every summer.

    2. whenever we get a shock result like this we get on a really good run, i’m hoping for that but if this team shows up against the scousers, mane and salah will rip us a new one.

    3. Our team has no ambition and it comes from the manager. Look at tottenham and how they play, they have half the squad that we have in terms of talent. Just because the board doesn’t care about winning does not mean the manager shoulddnt care about winning. The manager and players are not forced to show no ambition and guts. It comes from the manager, the manger is comfortable in defeat and so are the players. If i was ramsey,ox,alexis I would be pushing to leave. Those players can get into top top top clubs. We are lucky to have the players that we do. i feel bad for them, they were duped by the club. They believed that arsene and arsenal had ambition to win big things. Xhaka could have gone to another big club. Kolasinac could have easily gone to city or utd. Bellerin has done his bit and will move next season to barca.. barca have taken notice of him big time and now all he has to do is be obedient and make sure he starts 80% of arsenals games.. look at klopp conte poch… even allardyce has more ambition. Allardyce is also probably leaps and bounds ahead of arsene when it comes to tactics lol nothing will change till he leaves and even post that lets just hope he doesn’t put some puppet figure who is comfy with his pay cheque and doesn’t care about winning. Of course as long as he embodies the “values and ethos” thats all matters. Hope wenger doesn’t sign someone like garde or garde himself to replace him. I say what a lot of you won’t… I know every fan feels this way.

  2. What are talking about? If we play like that against Liverpool we are coming back for nothing.
    Others are making it 2 over 2 and you are trying to console me?
    The manager should take the blame. Does he think this I’d preseason? We are into competition proper. Let players be at their natural positions.
    We are in for a long season again

    1. I was expecting an impartial post coming from Sam P. sooner or later and alas I was right.

      “we were a bit unlucky”, when are going to stop counting on luck to start winning games? Plus a club of Arsenal’s stature should not be begging for luck but rather ensure their own success through efficiency of running the club from top to bottom.

      “lack a bit of cutting edge”, we either lack cutting edge or we have it, what is “a bit”? Stop trying to soften the stance of our failure and start being honest.

      “But that is another reason not to panic, strangely enough, because from next week we should be stronger back there with Koscielny’s three game ban now served. Monreal on the left is good and we have the option of Kolasinac as well, or even Mertesacker bringing his experience and presence.”. This WHOLE paragraph does not make sense to me, and the choice of opening words is so bad and has no correlation to previous paragraph. The problem is not Koscielny, it’s wrong selection of players and playing player’s out of position if you have been reading fan’s comments. With or without Koscielny, we should be playing our best players available and in their respective positions to give us a chance at fighting. Further you mention Kolasinac and Mert being available, it’s not like they weren’t available in the game against Stoke, so why weren’t Mert played and why was Kolasinac not playing in his actual position? Why are you choosing to ignore this issue?

      “They are always up for a scrap with us to be fair and today was no different.”. So what you are saying is that Arsenal have scuppered to teams like Stoke’s level scrapping at the bottom for wins? How can we accept this kind of embarrassment and shame for a club who spends so much money on players with a much bigger global brand, and fans paying so much for tickets? Can fans not demand and expect greater things given the circumstances?

      “Finally, on the positive side of things, Alexis Sanchez will hopefully be back to face the scousers”. Counting on Alexis to save us just shows our weakness and deficiency without him. If we cannot as a team beat lesser teams in the league in the absence of Alexis then we may as well admit we are not good enough to be challenging for trophies because the Premier League is long and arduous, and if you are not prepared you will find yourself dropping sure points like these.

  3. WE NEED WENGER CAM FOR 6MONTHS INSIGHT AT AFC FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY OR ELSE WE NEED TO HIRE CHEF RAMSEY TO WHATS REALLY GOIN ON IN THE ARSENAL KITCHEN

    1. I’d love that!!!! Sadly though we’ve got more chance of seeing what really goes on in North Korea.
      We’ve always been told all football matters are dealt with my Wenger and I see no reason to disbelieve that.
      I don’t see why anyone is panicking, I knew wengerout was always going to start with the first defeat of the new season because of the I’ll feeling that still exists. We were asked to get behind the manager but how can we when the same mistakes happen season after season. I hoped Wenger wouldn’t re sign, for him to leave after winning the fa cup. Its only time now till the Wenger out chants fill the away ends because this season will be predictably like every other over the last 10 or so years ie not seriously challenging for the league. The only catalyst for change there’ll be is Wenger clinging onto his job come December.

      1. I’d also love that – a “reality cam” with freedom to roam and to record everything including what goes on behind the corporate veil, telephone calls, associations, the lot would help fans to know who it is that’s sincere and credible from who seeks to pull the wool over our eyes. intrusive media would provide the means for the fans queries and concerns to be answered.

        *same thing with chef G. Ramsey he (or a comparable investigator) would go into the camp and confront every personality so as to unearth who wants the club to grow and who wants to keep us in a state of arrested development – you see what i mean, we need transparency.

    2. How can AW be complaining of having too many players as if he inherited the players from someone else. Was it not bcoz of his incompetence as a manger that the club is facing a lot of hardships. The man is clueless to say the least.

  4. What arsenal can do against a team which defends deep & keeping a back 3 against a counter attack ? even if alexis shove in 1 or 2 goals.?

    1. I guess Arsenal could do what other decent teams would do and that’s look to our manager to come up with tactics that can beat Stoke but as our manager seems as deluded as some of our fan base that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Yeah I do feel that the officials were poor and we didn’t get the decisions that on another day we might but that’s football and our manager blaming everyone but him and the team he’s put on the pitch isn’t going to solve anything

  5. arsenals philosophy-
    if you hit us 3 we hit you 4
    if you defend well.., well, we might hit when giroud comes in front & when ox gives a perfect cross.

  6. How did I know this was Sam P without looking. More positive garbage from a teenager who loves wenger and has no real opinion

    1. ….and your opinion is what John0711? Does it extend beyond unneeded criticism and wild assumption?

      1. My opinion is simple. If a club continues to make the same mistakes and continues to lie to its fans. Those fans are allowed to voice their discontent. It’s silly to continue like Mary popins no Mayer he badly we are treated

  7. Welbeck can’t score consistently, so why did Wenger play him instead of Giroud or even Perez?………yes he works hard for the team……..but he is not doing his job………that is to score goals…….he is a bench player……….not a starter…….

    1. Absolutely! Welbeck is a likeable person who plays very hard for the team, which is all well and good, but he can very rarely finish and very often puts in a half-hearted tap, shanks it, makes a poor touch trying to set up a shot and loses the chance, or misses outright. Job 1 is to shoot with authority and challenge the keeper on as many chances as possible. He blows way too many chances, which is especially frustrating when the team has worked very hard to create those for him. From about minute 50 plus I was yelling “Welbeck out, Giroud in already!”

    2. Meanwhile, every rare instance when Lucas Perez was given a chance last season, he delivered intensity, promising crosses, and/or shots on goal with authority. And yet he sits on the bench most of the season, probably watching Welbeck and Walcott run around on field and thinking WTF? And he do we look to offload? Perez! Maddening. I hope we either keep him and play him much more regularly or let him go to a team that will appreciate him, maybe back to his home team (even if it’s a stupid football managing move for us to give up on him, he deserves to be on the field regularly).

  8. It’s only a fool that Will sell Gabriel P & keep C Chambers, the same fool that wants to sell L Perez and keep the wasteful Wellbeck.
    The same fool that will keep Giroud on the bench till 70mins and sub his record signing when he’s in need of goals.

    WengerOut

  9. not only our team have become a bunch of sissies being managed by a pu$$y… now we have to bear the pain of spuds playing some beautiful attacking game

  10. It is a time to panic, and be worried, because nothing has changed. What’s more worrying than the result, is how Wenger sets the team up. I said earlier, Wenger decided to weaken us before KO with the lineup he selected. It was asking for trouble, and it was the same against Leicester, and for so many years before that.

    We can’t win them all, and play well all the time, but the least we should expect is that Wenger would pick his strongest line-up, and have players in their natural positions. Then fans wouldn’t be so harsh on him in defeat. But Wenger almost seems to get off on trying to win the hard way, and wanting his players to be able to play in a variety positions. He’s constantly experimenting, even in tough away games like Stoke, when we have quality missing on top of that as well!

  11. Wenger is an outdated coach..He is running out of ideas to manage a morden futbal club.. He is clueless , he is used to losing;He doesn’t care abt the feelings of the loyal fans..He is self-centered…. Arsene is the only coach who believe a right-footed player can only do wen played on d left side; The only coach that things mediocres deserve to replace those who are doing well. Is a proud Dictator…

  12. I really think wenger should open his eyes. If this is how we are going to play for the rest of the season……….Odin save us then. We HAVE the players to do better. Losing in petty games against team like Stoke and you say don’t panic. How does that make us a title contender? We can’t even smell top 4 if we go on like this.

  13. Arsenal deserved the result yesterday. No gameplan other than pass pass sideways backwards then lose ball or give it away.
    Fullbacks at CB, playing bellerin on left instead of benching him, midfield was appalling, and Monreal was caught sleeping or ball watching. Was chambers available? Per can’t play because why? Mustafi not in middle of back 3 because why? Monreal taller? Stronger? More experience? Aggressive?

    Same old, wenger never change period.
    Unprepared again piss poor lineup, playing out of position.

    So everyone shut up pay the money and worship the best manager ever. Sir Alex who?

  14. Honestly, loosing to Stoke on matchday 2 is absolutely mediocre. Yes it’s still a long way to go, but only an idiot will sell Gabriel, keep chambers and not play a fit metersacker only to blame a make shift defence of two left wing backs and a young inexperienced cb playing in a back 3….

    Our strongest possible line up this season

    Czech

    Mustafi kos Montreal

    Ox elneny xhaka kolasinac

    Ozil (i’ll prefer iwobi tho )
    Lacazette Alexis

    Not bad

  15. Sick of hearing about hard working players … We have loads of average hard working players .. They don’t win you anything … We lack quality across the team which is why we are unlikely to finish in top 4 without big purchases in next 10 days … Turns out seri was not good enough for our hapless midfield but good enough for barca .. Wenger is an arrogant mediocre manager which is where we are heading as a team

  16. This should have been the team away.

    ——————-Cech
    ———Holding–Mert–Mustafi
    Oxlade—-Elneny—-Xhaka—-Kolasinac
    ———–Ozil————-Ramsey
    —————–Lacazette

    Or even consider Chambers if fit, had a look at Monreal or Beilik too in training. Tod Ramsey to sit in between Elneny-Xhaka when without the ball, and Ozil to look for balls over the top for Lacazette. Played counter attacking football for the most part. Brought Giroud on for the second half with Lacazette replacing either of Ozil-Ramsey. Then Welbeck and Iwobi having fresh legs and speed to inject into the game when teams tire. That game should have been much more comfortable. Stoke looked ripe for the taking.

  17. I was happy after we won the first match because we won it. I didn’t complain much but Wenger did not learn from it. He played Monreal as CB AGAIN even though he was very poor in first match. We have Chambers in the meantime who specializes as CB. Ideally we need to sign one more top CB for a 3 man defense though imo.

    I’m not surprised at all that Wenger is making the same mistakes he makes every season. If he doesn’t change his tactics and doesn’t sign any top players TOP 4 will be our only goal this season

    1. When I saw Monreal as central again this week it really soured my mood right there even before the game started. I’m Arsenal all the way but DAMN it’s frustrating to see the same type of idiot-level decisions being made match to match, year to year.

  18. Arsenal Fans really believed Wenger was going to change this season but Mr Wenger is the Mr Bean of the Premiership he will never change he is clueless about what going on around him.
    It is time to Panic because nothing has Changed Wenger is finished buying in the transfer market and if the some fans think the return of Joel Campbell will save Arsenal they are as deluded as Mr Wenger. WENGER MUST GO IF ARSENAL ARE TO MOVE FORWARD HE IS HOLDING THIS GREAT CLUB BACK.

  19. Ok did not want to comment yesterday because I would have used indecent languages, ok let us look at some points.

    One, the defense, i do not know what promises have been made to Bellerin or Ox, but obviously, it is not to the benefit of the team. which has become more unbalanced.

    Two, Ozil and Ramsay situation, create an unbalance situation in the midfield

    Three, Xhaka position for general play has to be adjusted in order to combat counterattacks.

    Four, welbeck finishing was terrible.

    Things wenger can do

    One, sit either bellerin or ox on their ass, because this is not an individual thing but a team thing, let the @#$%^& LWBs play LWB (Monreal or Kolasinac)

    Two, let Ozil mature on the bench and give Iwobi a chance to develop into a proper 10 or allow ramsay to play that role, with ozil and ramsay on we tend to be one man short and are susceptible to counter attacks.

    Three, Xhaka has to aware of counters and position must be in front of the defensive line so as to make up for his lack of mobility or play Coquelin just for his defensive work.

    Four, Welbeck, ooo in truth the score line should have been 4-1 for arsenal, but due to atrocious finishing from welbeck we lost, Welbeck have everything to be a super striker except that one true quality the “killer instinct”, but all i can say more practise one day he will become good

    1. Excellent ruelando, agree on all points! I was looking forward to watching the Stoke match on DVR having avoided spoiler sources for a couple days during a busy weekend (not easy to do!). What do I see when I sit down to watch? Welbeck starting, Monreal as the middle CB, and Bellerin at LWB! My reaction was pretty much “oh f*** I thought we had a chance to win this one, but we’ve already screwed it up!” Then Welbeck muffs like 4-5 chances and is still in the game until what 70mins or so?! Promising crosses are going into the box with no one doing anything about it! From about 55 mins I’m wondering where the heck is Giroud already? Add in 4-5 questionable calls/no calls by the referee and assistant, one negating a beautiful finish from Lacazette and you have one very frustrating game on all counts. The good news – Welbeck usually can’t finish but it seems like Lacazette definitely can! We just have to get him more involved with more quality chances early on.

  20. True, there is no reason to panic. Everything is very stable.
    Arsenal is standing absolutely still with an outdated manager, and other teams are steadily improving.
    No change in the situation to be expected, so don’t panic.

  21. I don’t think Alexis situation was handled properly. AW admitted his contract situation costed the team last season, likewise contract for key players can be disruptive. If he is so adamant on leaving, he shouldn’t stick around. AW knew and should have learnt his lesson from Le Sulk.

  22. “Why Arsenal fans should not panic after_________ defeat”
    Yesterday it was Stoke
    Then it will be Liverpool
    And so on ?

  23. Can Arsenal fans blow Wenger and Kroken out or even push them make big changing for challenge title ?I think we can ,but we have never acted .What will happen if nobody come to stadium ? Believe me, they will have to change if we really act . Otherwise, we will receive more pain from Mr Wenger . Gunners ! Be united and act !!!

  24. Hello members.I stand to be corrected but from what I’ve realised with Wenger is that he seems out-dated and his reasoning is not helping the club at all.I’ve just watched the game between Chelsea and Spurs and what I’ve seen in the midfield between the two teams is a clear indication that Arsenal will still struggle this season.All the top four teams have atleast two bullies in the midfield.

  25. the only reason i didnt panic is because i already know we will finish mid table..so why panic? performance was rubbish! master of slowing the game down, master of passing sideways and backwards. tactic was rubbish every year –>#wengerout . we can buy all the best defence in the world and still concede silly goals. –>#stevebouldout

    1. Wenger is able to confuse a word class player until he flops with his change of position.His tactics are out dated

  26. That’s the worrying thing though, our inability to put those chances away when we are on top. We’ve seen it too many times, a sort of lackadasical approach and not being ruthless enough in front of goal, and then if you concede a stupid goal , that’s it game over. It happens with us time and time again.

  27. This is football. Bad things happen sometimes, last week everyone was saying how bad Chelsea had become, this week they say they are title Contenders.
    Next three games, Liverpool bounermouth and Chelsea, we can win all three to make a statement.

    1. Indeed; statement being pigs fly, Elvis is still alive, and wenger apologizes to fans for lineup mistakes.

      More likely we lose to liverfool, beat up a sorry Bournemouth, and then get beaten handily by Chelsea.

      The only guarantee from those 3 games is wenger
      1. Blaming ref at some point
      2. Blaming lack of cohesion or “fluidity” the new keyword
      3. Fans lack of support
      4. Crying about money spent by Chelsea
      5. Saying something about Jose and buying titles, as if it counts any less

    2. Yes, Tat, we could win all three to make a statement, the problem is losing 2 out of 3 would also make a statement whether we like it or not.

      In fact, the statement Wenger made over the whole of last season is a bit louder than any statement winning the next three games would make IMO.

      1. In fact, if Wenger wants to make a real statement he should announce the signing of Lemar or Draxler and Seri.

  28. Pls. Is it only me notice that Walcott should go to another team or retires from football now? Then pls can we bid for messi because the guy is suffering seriously now in Barcelona. They have turned him to Rambo in the nou camp who must fight the battle all alone.

  29. There is no reason to panic. Our squad is average, our manager is outdated and there is no passion from board or players. Why panic when the equation adds up to the correct result?

  30. No need to panic at all!!
    Let us spend some money and hope for the best

    Jack Butland
    Hector Bellerin
    Shkodran Mustafi
    Laurent Koscielny (C)
    Daniele Rugani
    Sead Kolasinac
    Julian Draxler
    Granit Xhaka
    Leon Goretzka
    Alexis Sanchez
    Alexandre Lacazette

    Petr Cech
    Nacho Monreal
    Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
    Aaron Ramsey
    Mesut Ozil
    Theo Wallcot
    Olivier Giroud

    David Ospina
    Rob Holding
    Per Mertesacker
    Calum Chambers
    Francis Coquelin
    Jack Wilshire
    Alex Iwobi
    Danny Welbeck

    Solid 26 man Squad – GK=3, Def=9, Mid=8, Att= 6
    11 homegrown and 1 u21
    the average age being 26, so a good blend of youth and experience

    Getting rid of the deadwood, with the money already spent to have this squad would mean a net spend of 95million which is easily attenable

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