Of course with Arsenal playing at home in the Premier League today, the fans will want all three points. And the fact that it is an Everton side that has struggled in the league this season will only increase expectations.
Add to that the need for the Gunners to quickly put the Monaco nightmare behind us and the fact that the race for the top four is tougher and tighter than ever and you have a recipe for Arsenal to go on the attack right? Wrong, in my opinion anyway.
I am not saying we should park the bus or anything like that. We should try to win the game of course but we must be clever and I think the team´s focus should be getting the defensive side right. If we do that then Arsenal will have a great platform to build on and will probably win the game.
Let´s face it Gooners, a 0-0 draw would not be the end of the world and it would steady the ship. Pushing forward too much and getting hit on the break would bring Wednesday crashing back into the minds of the players and the fans and we do not want that.
Arsene Wenger has been speaking to Arsenal Player this week and has put the emphasis on things like discipline, focus and managing games better, not the strikers missing chances.
The manager said, “When things go everybody wants to put it right but then you lose the team discipline. We knew before the game that this was a [tie] which lasts 180 minutes and if it goes wrong in a part of it, you still have to keep your discipline and that’s where it went wrong.
“We will analyse it in an objective way and respond as a team. The only way for success is to respond to disappointment as a team, work for each other and fight for each other in the next game. We are not out of it – people forget that. We have to play well in the next game.”
And that has to start from the back. Clean sheet coming up?
LVG wasn’t wrong when he said that all he was short of was a 20 goal striker. The point I’m making is that if you put your chances away that is your best defence. Monaco had 4 shots and scored with 3 how many shooting opportunities did we have 7?8?9? The type of football we play we must have better goal scoring players.Be they wingers,MF,s or out and out strikers.That way you are defending from the front as well as the back.
2 points today against Everton is the order of the day then you can go into work head held high.
No matter how many goals you score, if your defences has diarrhoea, those goals won’t matter because the opposition can equalise and even outscore and win.
@kickassfan………on point bro……. Talking abt the Anderlecht and Swansea debacle
and they think focusing on defence alone would save our day? ………. I hate our shitty a*s tiki-taka style of play…….i really do hate it (even tho its sometimes productive)……. Westham vs crystal palace yesterday……who didn’t enjoy an entertaining encounter of two lesser teams?….when it comes to us, its always BORING!!!!!!!!!!
As the big lebowski said …. “Say what you like about tiki taka football at least it’s an ethos dude” but it’s not what we play anyway… We don’t have an ethos anymore just wenger’s endless hope for 4th place …. It’s destroying this club …. To the point where nil nil at home against the toffees is seen as being a good result …. Can’t thing of a single better reason for giving wenger the boot than that
`Focus on defence`? What defence? It`s a bloody shambles. Unstable, disorganized, un coordinated, slow, indecisive and lead by a snail. Since where did Arsenal `park the bus`?
I hear they`re considering renaming Emirates Stadium (just a buzz!), Emirates Infirmary?
As for Diaby getting a new contract? He`s had more welfare than a bus load of illegal immigrants.
@KissAssFan
Yu’ve just confirmed my point thank you.
Scoring more than the opposition is the best defence.
A bit hard to focus on defence when you have a defender that is scared of the ball!!!!!!!
I would love to see Mertesacker, Giroud and maybe Ozil benched for Gabriel and Welbeck as Carzola plays no.10 and Walcott starts.. but we all know Wenger, he listens to no one. Last season had he signed a top striker in january we would be defending champions, everybody was saying it but Wenger ignored. Now it is evident that Per Martesacker shouldn’t play against fast opponents as we will get punished, maybe he will ignore..hopefully he wont!
Am not slating Giroud, he is a good striker, BUT not good enough to be Arsenal no.1 striker, we need someone of Aguero’s or Costa’s Calibre: fast and lethal. The reason he was was taken off against Monaco was his body language..nobody expects him to score every chance but clear public frustration with himself makes him even miss the next chance; he needs to keep his cool
As for Diaby getting a new contract, I sincerely feel for him but it is all rumours; but again Wenger is an autocrat..he do as he pleases: he has a blank cheque when it comes to such matters at Emirates. We’ve had the likes of Bendtner and Park who simply drew wages week in and week out without playing.
My preffered line up today:
Sczezney
Bellerin – Koscielny – Gabriel – Gibbs
Coquelin – Ox
Walcott – Carzola – Sanchez
Welbeck
I know Wenger favors Ozil and he will definately start though, so I hope Walcott will not be benched for a fourth straight match
Agree with your selections,but Monreal over Gibbs. Gibbs is not as defensive as Monreal and Monreal passes the ball better,Gibbs passes the ball back to Koshy to many times so why recieve it in the first place he has no confident in passing forward a good back up but may need a LB in summer CB
Who isn’t fast compared to Mertesacker. How much longer can Wenger ignore that this guy is destroying our team. Why buy a new C.B. and then not play him. Is Wenger stubborn or just mad. When fans were pleading for him to buy a new C.B. and a C.D.M. what did he do, he gave Arteta a new contract and made the sloth Captain. Can you work him out?
Giroud is a 20+ goals per season striker, even when injured for half of it.
Breaking News: Pogba dismisses transfer rumours regarding Arsenal, the ex-Man Utd player said, “No player of my skill level and calibre would join a team who has Abou in the ranks and we hear Abou is signing a new deal too. We know we’ll never get a game because Arsene will always pick Abou!!!!!!.”
Whatever the source of the quote; must be high on sth! Forget Pogba, Wenger will never buy him.