Arsenal dropped further points in the league today after a 2-1 defeat to Man United at the Emirates today.
Arsene Wenger gave a start to youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and he was involved right from the start, crossing low only for United to hack clear.
We started quite brightly, lots of possession, but failed to create anything of note. A couple of shots from distance squirted wide without troubling the keeper.
As the half went on though, United got back into it more, exposing us down the channels and taking advantage of the fact Arsenal are playing centre-halves at full back. While Vermaelen struggled on the left, Nani gave Djourou a torrid time.
You do have to question why he wasn’t given more protection when it was so obvious but perhaps the combination of the raw Ox and unaware Walcott switching sides played a part.
But the goal was coming. Evra exposed poor defending from Song to set up Nani whose shot was saved at the near post by Szczesny, while Ryan Giggs got in on the other side, forcing the keeper to save well again.
United took the lead in the 44th minute. As we struggled to clear our lines though, Nani played Giggs down the right, Djourou was slow to get out and his attempt to block the cross was poor. The ball found its way to the back post where Antonio Valencia had evaded Thomas Vermaelen to head home from close range.
You have to say United deserved the lead and such was Djourou’s strife he was replaced at half-time by Nico Yennaris.
And certainly Arsenal were better in the second half, more direct, more threatening, and we should have been level but for an astonishing Robin van Persie miss. Chris Smalling slipped, Rosicky took it on into the box, squared for RVP who cut inside the defender but from 8 yards out he blasted it wide. A truly incredible miss from a player you’d put your house on scoring from there.
A few moments later Aaron Ramsey got into the United box and lashed a shot just over the bar. It was certainly better from Arsenal and when Oxlade-Chamberlain fizzed a shot just wide there were real signs of encouragement for us.
And it was no surprise that he was involved in the goal. It came after Welbeck was beautifully tackled in the box by Koscielny, we broke upfield, it came to Oxlade-Chamberlain who played a fantastic reverse pass to Robin van Persie whose first time shot went in at the far post. 1-1.
While United were threatening we definitely had some momentum which was then killed outright by Arsene Wenger’s decision to take off Oxlade-Chamberlain and put on Andrei Arshavin. Boos rang out, directed at the manager and the Russian, while the youngter got great applause when his name was announced.
TV footage showed Robin van Persie expressing his dismay at the change while sections of the crowd sang ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ at Arsene Wenger. Sub and reaction clip.
It was inexplicable, Oxlade-Chamberlain was our best player, and the decision was made even most costly when Valencia ran too easily past Arshavin and into our box to set up Welbeck for the United winner.
Update: it is explicable – he was suffering from cramps. Which makes more sense than Wenger just deciding to take off our best player.
Throwing on Park for his first Premier League appearance surprisingly didn’t have much of an effect and in the end United held on for their three points.
Boos rang out again at the end, and it’s impossible to look past the change that Arsene made which cost us at least a point in this game.
I do wonder if we’ve witnessed a moment that might well be remembered as definitive, Arsene lost sections of the fanbase today. It was sad to see but not hard to understand.
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IMPORTANT: I realise this is a very frustrating defeat but please make sure you think before you comment.
Any mindless abuse, in any direction, will be deleted. Have a bit of common sense, please. Thanks.
I shall not be going to grandpa wim s 91 st birthday party, I will be following master bates advice and drinking and wanking myself to sleep
in arsene we rust
How much does Walcott want a week?
He even has the nerve to feign some sort of injury that
looked like he was dead.
Time he grew up and took responsibility for his current useless
performances.
Haha your spot on RG what boxer gets knocked out and gets back up to fight Walcott is a joke,this is the same player holding the club to ransom because he has one year left on his contract, it’s gone that fucking bad even the misses is asking questions about subs, arshavin does not give a fuck, forget about Liverpool and barcelona goals, done fuck all else, hopefully today is better and redknapp gets bum raped in holloway nick,PS anyone notice that fucking lesbein na£si going to kiss the city badge after the goal what a prick
Frustrating to say the least but the 7 year trophy drought and the worst team in 30 years and constant slagging off of a new player each week is getting a bit old. We are not a great squad. Last week, people said Rosicky was the worst player, this week it’s Djourou…A few weeks ago Djourou was the most improved player. The substitution was baffling to say the least but Arshavin was ready to come on before the goal and they just held off for a minute and brought him on anyway. There’s no blind optimism on my part, I’m… Read more »
Sorry, AR, but you just don’t get it. I, too, am an older Arsenal fan. I’ve been going to Highbury since 1978. We are not the club that we were back then, nor is the game the one we once knew. In the old days almost any decent side could win the top division (the old First Division), now only a select few can – and we are one of them. Arsene Wenger is actually a victim of his own success. By taking us so far, and by establishing us as one of the biggest and best supported clubs in… Read more »
@AR I completely agree with you that some of us had maybe taken the past decade+ of Arsene-induced success for granted–and YES, consistently playing in the CL is an achievement itself, if given the choice Wenger and any sensible managers would take a Top 4 spot over meaningless cups just to end our so-called “drought” of 7(?) years. But the source of our frustration is not simply due to heightened expectations, but the nature of how we fail to make something out of a “team with potential” over and over again. Remember that season when Gallas and Vermaelen were both… Read more »
Matt,
I wish I could give you a thousand thumbs up for that comment.
Agree 100% and couldn’t have said it better.
Cheers, mate.
@Matt:
My words exactly. You were just quicker to respond. Spot on mate. And to be honest, I think that is what most Arsenal fans think.
Matt- you’re spot on…I wasn’t defending Wenger or claiming that because there have been bad times in the past, it’s alright to do badly now. All I was trying to allude to was that we’ve never been a side that always comes close to winning the league despite the success of the late 90s and then the invincibles. We’ve always had success in patches and had many lean years as well. For the younger fans who are terrified of this so called mediocrity it’s not the end of the world. Doesn’t mean that we should be satisfied with just being… Read more »
All you guys want to buy buy!! But where is the money, what ever they show year after year are just superfical profits which we can’t spend. In additions this salary structure is hinderance to get quality players even if you have money.
Lying just to cover up a manager’s bad decison is a horrible thing to resort to. Please stop lying to the fans. Read alex chamberlains post match interview and it’s clear that this was not a forced change
It’s Monday morning and time to reflect. Yesterday was not good but if we had beaten Swansea and Fulham (which we should have done) I don’t think some of the comments would have been so harsh. 4th place is still very much in our own hands with chelski, Spuds and manks shitty to visit us. We do have some of our best players returning. The time to really reflect on where do we go is after the last match. Support the team Through thick and thin I have since 1960 and it has been a lot worse than this.I had… Read more »
I hate to say it, but I told you so this man has lost it, and all is keeping him is to collect his 7 Mil a year.
In Arsene We Don’t Trust.
Arsene has got an average squad, and as such is struggling to win matches, how much responsibility can he take for having a team that just isn’t good enough? You can’t blame him for taking Alex off today because the lad had cramp, therefore Arsene had to put his best option (Arshavin) on. Fundamentally Arsene is getting it in the neck, when it’s the directors to blame, it’s their shoddy management of the club that led to us making 5 signings on deadline day, most of them mediocre ones. On top of that we pay the highest ticket prices in… Read more »
who would have thought that wenger would start alex chamberlain
it turned out to be great gamble,though walcott was ineffective .
and arshavin DID track back to defend during that goal
mertesacker,koscielny were great today
back the players !!!
i hope we add a striker effective enough to complement rvp
stop moaning !!!
#gooner till i die
Szec Sagna, verm, kos, Gibbs Song Ox. Jack Arteta/Ramsay gervinho Van persie You have to admit that would be a great squad if we could ever get it out on the pitch, was so excited that the ox played well and I actually enjoyed the defeat because of his involvement. I want to be excited watching arsenal again, clear out the dead wood please and get some more exciting kids like ox and coq and frimpong out there that are exciting. I still think we can make top 4 and if we jump on wenger he will call last straw… Read more »
If Alex indeed had cramp why did he say this in his post match interview? “It’s the boss’ decision at the end of the day,” added Oxlade-Chamberlain. “He is the boss and he’s a top quality manager, you’ve seen how many years he’s been at Arsenal and all the great decisions he’s made, so whatever the decision is I will respect him. “It’s always nice when the fans are on your side, you’ve just got to keep going out there each week and try to please them and do as well as you can for the team and the manager.”… Read more »
@Iffy
It’s quite possible that Wenger was wary of injury, that he could see Alex starting to move a bit more tentatively etc.
Wenger wouldn’t have taken Alex off for no good reason as you seem to think, he’s one of the best football managers in the world, and he could see that Alex was our best winger on the park. Therefore why would he have taken Ox off, unless he was injured? For kicks? For a laugh?
You’re speaking nonsense.
well done ox for such a positive attacking display.
Walcott is half the player Chamberlain is, I lost count of how many times I said “fuck yeah Ox” while watching the game, by far our best player. Although I thought Rosicky, Song, and Kos played well. Vermaelen does not contribute much at left back and Yanaris should have started.
We deserved to lose. United were very professional and we were outplayed.
We were outplayed yes. But were they more professional? Ha.
In Arsene We Trust
Thats the spirit
At the best of times that would be an inane, pointless, unimaginative comment at best. At this present time, in this context, it is pathetic. You don’t speak for me, I don’t blindly ‘trust’ in Arsene any more, and no right minded, free-thinking fan will do either.
Trust is earned – and he earned it. It is also lost, and I think he had already lost is already with some, and has lost it with many more this season. Terribly sad, and heartbreaking – but it needs addressing.
Gard to know if this comment was ernest, the thumbs up or down rating provides a pretty good barameter of the public opinion on this board. I thought removing the Ox was stupid, but if he was suffering cramps…
Just a few thoughts I heard Arsene the other day talking about how you can’t buy a player every time your player gets injured, and that’s true, but why can’t you then have a decent substitution? And maybe I’m wrong but I don’t remember Wengers earlier teams regularly having half of the first team injured… It’s either because he does’t rotate enough or players are simply fragile, I can’t tell. I don’t think we played worse today than we did at Swansea, but with this defeat coming after shameless defeats against Fulham and Swansea it’s easy to understand why people… Read more »
well said.on a personal level, i cant help but my mind goes back to that night when we played santos against olympiakos in the last CL group stage game. what if miquel had played there.what if…two words that we have come to live with over the past years.
Obviously going to be commented on a lot but I’m am absolutely flabbergasted at that decision, by far our most effective player, and to leave Walcott who had absolutely no impact (apart from the ground)
Why are you shocked? the sub is the less of my concerned. He thinks Almunia was a good keeper for 3 years is more shocking. He thinks Silvster and Squiliaci top top signign and gave them 2 years contract when they are over 30, while the idiot refused to give our GREAT BOBBY and BERGKAMP more then one year. What a way to treat our GREATS by this control freak. The mother of all shocks is to think he is paid 7 mil to win the league and all he is worried about the crisis in Europe next would be… Read more »
It’s amazing how hurtful and spiteful some people are……I bet you cursed Pires Freddie Tony Viera Charle Ian Lee Ray Edu Lauren Wiltord Petit Samson Armstrong Cesc Henry Gilberto Edurado Dennis when they played…..Arsene problem is that he is not Harry…. almost every Englishman likes him. Arsenal board of diectors should consider recruiting Terry Venebles/Jose/Owen/Bould/etc. They would win every games they would spend £100m on players and within a year we would all be Martha Reeves…. dancing in the streets . MY ARSE.. I was there for Billy Wright..
Red and White; Ok lets start the assuming game. I bet you are the type of person that still have the posters of Le cunt and Adywhore in your room and feel warm inside like a little virgin every time you see them play for City or the Spuds, because they once played for us and scored few goals. Get your head our of the Bank Manager arse and look around, football have moved on and left our Bank Manager Control Freak behind, just like once great manager King Kenny at Liverpool left behind. He doesn’t mind to sell with… Read more »
Cygan’s Left Foot January 23, 2012 at 9:46 am Thank you for your submission in response to my observation. Yes football has moved on, and not played on FIFA 12. I mentioned the names in my submission because I wanted to address the fact that even with great players there are always the naysayers and negative fan base. If Henry had scored one goal, he was a W***ker because he should have scored two. If Theo makes a bad pass… oh Messi would never do this. If RVP miss a clear open goal… oh he is shit. On a final… Read more »
”You have an 18-year-old kid making his first Premier League start and a player who’s captain of his country and they are querying the substitution? Let’s be serious.” Apparently Arshavin is good enough to play for Arsenal based solely on the fact that he captains Russia. Do yo need any further proof that AW is past his time?
It’s pathetic the excuse he gave for changing Ox (after the fact). The guy never seemed to be struggling with cramps. It’s completely BS on AW’s behalf but he had to come up with an excuse after the change that was booed by the fans, cmoe back to haunt him
I am not I’m am
I agree. Pull your head out of your arse Wenger and bring back Amaury Bischoff!
But first, a statue…
@Highberry. Just like Cyganleftfoot I’m not shocked. What I am shocked at however is how all of us seems to forget that our coach does this everytime: subbing the wrong player or outrightly refusing to play them. Let me take you down memory lane, sorry if my history isnt accurate but the points sure are. 4years ago or thereabout we were having a pathetic season, then on the 31st of January came a certain Andre Arshavin, the first 20games or so that he played Arsenal didn’t loose a game. League was almost out of our hands but there was FA… Read more »
Personally I don’t think the sub had a bearing on the end result.It was a poor sub but not a game changer.More worried about Robin’s reaction though.
Robin was probably thinking here’s someone to take a serious load off my back, and you’re replacing him with a guy who will put the weight of the universe on my shoulders.
I seriously wouldn’t blame Robin at all if he decided not to sign a new contract, based on today’s result and performance. but surely Ox-Cham has to play more now and link up with RVP. As for Walcott…..sigh…I don’t fucking know.
the fans at emirates were right to speak their mind and so was RVP for his reaction to the substitution.i wouldn’t blame our captian if he decides to call it quits.i would rather keep cesc,rvp etc rather than having one stubborn dickhead calling the shots.sorry arsene for all the respect i had and have for you i think it’lls soon be time up for you if you continue to do what you are doing.
RVP as good as gone.
The best thing to do is to get this man out of our club as soon as and build a team around Szcz, Kos, Verm, Le Cuq, Jack, Ramsey and the OX. that is 7 potential world class players.
Lets not allowed this MAD man destroy them and make great players like Fab and RVP wins nothing while he is banking 7 million a year, lets go and get Joachim Löw he is retiring from international football after the Euro, he plays attractive football and not scared to play a young team.
Agree with you on Joachim Loew.
Cygan on ANY other day i’d say “calm down” ” we still have a chance” ” oh fuck off mate”
Today i just don’t know anymore, but he isn’t a mad man though that’s for sure. Gonna be a loooong second half of season for Arsene, unless………..
Don’t forget Ryo, he could turn out to be really good purchase. I’d say sell Walcott this summer, he is pants. Need midfield cover badly.
I think it did, we were getting forward and really controlling the game, loads of chances on goal and as soon as chamberlain left the field we just petered out. I feel like Wenger was trying to prove something by bringing Arshavin on, but let’s be honest, we all knew what was going to happen.
The substitution wasn’t the main reason we lost. I’d stick my neck out and say the fans killed Arshavin’s confidence today. Besides where was the defense(and Song) at the time? Wenger sums it up when he says “…….. you feel the Manchester United team is a bit more mature in every position than we are.” . Question is what is he “gunner” do about it now?
Sadly, that maturity (which by the way should be called by its proper name, i.e. incompetence) also extends to our board, our manager, our assistant manager, our medical team…. the list of “immaturity” at Arsenal could be made quite long indeed.
Nobody killed Arshavin’s confidence yesterday, it’s been dead for so long now that it’s really starting to smell funny.
Come in No 23. Your time is up.
your kidding me right? talk about not overreacting.
If you can keep denilson for 90 mins in previous matches why take off a lad who looked absolutely brilliant, worked his socks off why the hell sub him???????
I think you answered your own question there mate. sometime he just mystifies with his sub choices.
Aw’s logic – “Arshavin is the captain of Russia, Ox is 18”.
I had always questioned Arsene’s transfer policy. Rarely his tactics. Today, sadly, that line was crossed.
“I had always questioned Arsene’s transfer policy. Rarely his tactics”…
Besides yesterday, when last did Wenger make a game changing substitution? Freddy Ljungberg?
David Dein.
That bridge has been burned to the point of being unrecognizable.
David Dein bailed out, selling his shares at bazillion per cent profit years ago. Now snipes from the sidelines. Pointless comment.
I don’t think you can accuse Dein of sniping. I think he’s held his Tongue with denarius constraint for the good of the club.
Denarius?? Meant to say remarkable.
Well I just feel he was forced out, perhaps unfairly, I guess we’ll never know. However, I can’t honestly say that the team, or even the management (remember last summer), has got better since his departure – they’ve got worse. Whatever the reasons were for him going, I think it’s safe to say the he and Wenger made a great team and without Dein Wenger seems to struggle. Maybe the man sold his shares out of spite for the people who forced him out..?
Very hard to defend Wenger/his team against over the top criticism. i think wenger in now by himself…
I’m fuming. I want walcott and ramsey out. rosicky was far better than ramsey and why the fuck is ramsey so slow? why was he being schooled by a 38 year old giggs?
why did wenger take the ox off? judging by robin( who was himself culpable for that awful awful miss) reaction he isn’t going to sign a new contract. Wenger is not helping himself this season is her. WE PAY MONEY TO WATCH THESE GAMES AND THEY PERFORM LIKE THAT FOR THE 3RD GAME IN A ROW? un-fucking-believable.
Really think this is the end of Wengers support. Sad to see it happen, but that substitution was the gamechanger. Could be his last season in charge. Dissapointing day.
If we somehow end up making a statue for Theo it would be him with his arms raised and with ‘that’ look on his face
Always in the right position calling for the ball after its been played!
Fucking prick, the whole lot of them.
To be fair Theo wasn’t completely anonymous, which makes a change.
Really? I totally disagree, I can’t think of one moment where he actually had an impact on the game, his petulance
today really grated me as well
Not enough quality full stop! Forget about the defence, its threadbare but there’s not a lot we can do about that, you can’t buy an infinite number of defenders to cover injuries!
What was depressing was the lack of edge going forward! We’ve.got no excuse there! Rosicky was industrious, the ox looked sharp, good finish from vp but everyone else? Invisible!
Odd substitution for arshavin/the ox…but don’t boo arshavin, he’s an arsenal player and we should be supporting him for as long as he’s in an arsenal shirt!
I can’t agree more. Rosicky, the ox and RVP played well but all the other players were totally silent. If Rosicky can play like that in every game, I rather choose him to play behind the striker rather than Ramsey who made a decent contribution earlier in this season but seems to lost his touch. You are right about Arshavin. Today he’s the man in the middle of angry fans and it’s actually not his own decision to come and play. And once again, we missed Arteta. He’s the only one who can keep the possession for us and make… Read more »
Kos and mertersacker were good today as well, kos especially
Agree. As for “fans” they booed Eboue. I always see empty seats before match end. Proper supporters are the ones that sung at Old Trafford in August. We know as Arshavin its his last season here and while to cheer him up they boo him and his under more pressure not to make a mistake.. and he makes one! Morons. Think Rosicky played always like today whole season. Even he doesnt scored for 2 years means little as he is not a striker like chamakh. First and foremost he is to creat chances and help to defend not score. So… Read more »
I feel sorry for Arshavin though. Doesn’t deserve the stick he got today. Not sure he was completely at fault for the goal. Watch how song backs off.
My faith in Arsene has been pretty unshakeable until today. If The Ox was needing substitution for physical reasons, that’s one thing. To replace him with Arshavin is simply maddening.
Arsene knows?
I was Already beginning to think Wenger had lost the knack, but wasn’t wholly convinced. However, Wenger has, rather thoughtfully, made it easy for me to make up my mind. He pulled the rug out from under his own club today. What did AOC have to do to stay on? The flip side to that, what does Walcott have to do to get taken OFF? Poor show arsene. Time to leave.
Let’s wait for Wenger to explain the decision first before going all Dooomy on him.
He just say “We need to focus more” like he always does after a loss.
Why bother?
Isn’t 7 years of his embarrassing excuses of his stupid decisions enough for you?
Should I go on about those silly excuses???
CLF at what point did you want to see Wenger go? When we didn’t win the Champions League?
And now it’s “We played our game but weren’t rewarded”.
Another meaningless sound-bite.
@Ebouefan. Not interested. I already know the lie before he spits it – Ox had cramp. I’m amazed how he lies for 7years and keeps a straight face. He must be Devil’s own cousin. Thank God nobody is telling us to fuck-off today…AKB’s on the increase.
Still reeling in shock, not at the result but why bring off the OX instead of Theo?! Was literally stunned.
Probably a fair result, was a good second half to watch though, if we were going to win it we would’ve done by the 80th minute. If it weren’t for that ludicrous effort to hold Valencia up by Arshavin, we’d have had a point.
Oh well small margins as they say.
Shamefull. not sure what else you can say. Apart from kos, tv the bfg and maybe even rosicky and obviously the ox the rest was a joke rvp wasn’t all bad but had almost no service. and the substitution just about sums us up. Clueless totally fucking clueless. An average side with to many average players with a board and manager that seems to accept it.
Season ticket for the last 27 years and fucked if I’m gonna keep paying the wages for some of these shit cunts. It’s a scandal what’s happening to our club.
Disheartening to see the boos AA23 got when he came on. Support the players on the pitch at least for God’s sake. Booing players won’t help team. Hope to see some reasoned reactions here
booing player is for him to get lost! so arsene knows that he wants to move, and only he ll do the transfer
as if a substitution or a transfer was in the fans’ hands. booing a player only adds to his low confidence, which doesn’t really help in the final part of a game when he’s brought on, does it
It doesn’t matter if you boo him or not. He has been crap for ages now. Time to say “bye-bye”.
He was shite before he was booed, he is still shite after being booed.
No, AA has got to leave the club. The reactions made that more than clear. Try to think realistically, is he going to add something to our game?
But who wants to buy a player that has been booed by his own club fans?
And to add to that: who would want to JOIN a club that boos their own players.
I disagree. Arsenal FC fans are known for their great support and commitment. Booing at Arsenal is very rare (who has ever been booed? AA, maybe the Squid?). Just have a look at other (top)clubs around Europe. And in this case, it’s rather the sub as such that was the straw to break the camel’s back, not AA himself.
Also, “despite” being a fan you always have the right to express your opinion. Otherwise, we’ll be on thin ice here…
Real Madrid fans are famous for booing their players, even when the team wins. Funny how players all clamour to go there.
The fans did not lose this game. They shouted their disapproval and demonstrated passion; what’s wrong with that?
Yeah I don’t think we should ever boo one of our players that come on. One might make the case for that being the reason he lapsed for Utd’s 2nd..? We can’t disprove it had an effect, so therefore its best to refrain. In this instance we cannot be held accountable for negatively influencing a player’s confidence/state of mind/concentration/ability. Really, ire should be directed at Wenger.
Arshavin has “lapsed” MANY times in the past few seasons. Our edge is always blunted when he comes on. He normally turns and starts strolling back when the ball he has just, lost bulges the back of our net. Send him out on loan, free transfer, whatever, please get rid of him.
The booing he gets is for good reason.
We were booing Wenger, not Arshavin!
I think we were booing both. The announcer said AOc’s name and there are cheers, Arshavin’s name and resounding boos
All right, it needs to be said. It’s been said in the past, but now there can be no doubt: it’s time for Arsene Wenger to get the gold watch. When Wenger replaced Chamberlain (who was having a hell of a game) with that lazy-assed Russian I realized that Wenger has gone senile. Talking on FOX Sports after the game, Piers Morgan (not one of my favorite TV personalities) said that decision showed Wenger has lost the thread of the game. It’s sad, really, for Wenger was once a brilliant, innovative manager, but he has lost the thread, and I… Read more »
Are you really going to believe Piers Morgan. I know he is supposedly one of us but from what he says on Twitter I dont see any sense in that man.
Sound comments, other than referencing that complete irrelevance Piers Morgan. He truly is a cunt.
Why is Piers Morgan a cunt?
Is it because he has an opinion that differs with yours?
C’mon! Get over it!
No, I welcome any opinion, whether it matches my own or not. Piers Morgan is just one of life’s ginormous, complete and utter cunts. It’s been confirmed independently by scientists.
@Rich. C’mon, were a ‘cultured’ football club. All can have an opinion.
Whether Piers is a cunt or not is pure conjecture and irrelevant to the real meaning of this site.
I can’t stand the guy either to be honest but that does not mean he is a cunt.
😉
@MJB – OK – you think Piers Morgan is not a cunt, and I think he is. I can live with that. My original point was that I agreed with the thrust of CAGooner’s post, other than giving any credence to Piers Morgan’s opinion on football. He has no more right to comment on Arsenal than you or I, and is only paid by Fox in the USA to be a football pundit (!) because he has attained some kind of celebrity. His opinion is not credible. It’s like David Hasselhoff on Match of the Day in the UK (which… Read more »
#Copenhagen #NeverForget
Think Arteta had been missed. Not good enough to make the top 4 if it stays like this. Still have trust in Arsene.
Obviously subbing Ox was a poor decision, that is plain for anyone to see. What really killed us was individual mistakes at the back and in front of goal. I think it would be too reactive to lay blame for the loss squarely on the sub.
I really want to know what was in Wenger’s mind behind the decision to take out the most and probably the only effective player we have on the pitch. The Ox is really good today and I’m worried with RVP reaction. Seems like he already made his decision. Totally the manager’s fault.
The OX was probably tired. It was his first ever Premier League start and against Manchester United. That would kill me.
Djourou is fast becoming Squllaci mark 2. That pikey Nani skinned him every time he wanted to, that’s if he was even near enough to his RB position to need to be beaten. I too voiced disappointment at Chamberlain coming off, but if Wenger changing for arshavin killed the momentum then all the boos directed at Arshavin before he kicked a ball made it worse – his body language dropped right away.. Productive support those that booed – I’m sure it was a big help exactly when it was needed. Arsene did himself no favours today, injuries or not.. It’s… Read more »
Anyone who’s bashing JD should keep in mind that he’s been played out of position for the past games, it’s so demanding that even the Verminator couldn’t be too effective, with our luck we should be glad that he’s fit and can fill the RB role… otherwise it’s Kos to the right and Squidlaci back in the middle
Not an excuse. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Yennaris a midfielder by trade? He instantly looked more assured, with better positional sense than Djourou.
I usually dislike players being singled out too much for negative remarks, but just think- this guy is a millionaire several times over from playing at Arsenal as a professional footballer, and yet he doesn’t even know what area of the pitch to look after as a right back. I don’t think there’s much to defend there.
Totally agree.JD has been forced to play out of position
and it showed.
What is Walcotts excuse.I am sure he has one because
recently everyone is to blame except him
Nani owned Clichy, a proper fullback, last year too. He’s a very, very dangerous winger when he wants to be. Obviously, Djourou quite simply didn’t had the legs to keep up with him, which isn’t surprising considering he’s a centre-back (cf. Mertesacker).
That substitution and RVPs reaction was very telling today… I’ve kept my confidence with Wenger up till this point, but now I’m not so sure…
Me too.
My confidence regarding the management is slowly “Leaving the building”.
I feel we really need some creative presence in the centre of the park, Ramsey is not quite up to it, we can’t get Sagna back quick enough and koscielny is now probably our best centre back(never loses a one on one). Other than that it’s scary that all our hopes are pinned on an 18 year old .
Or on a 34 year old for that matter……….
Was the 72. Minute a 20 million moment…?
Let’s be honest, we never stood a chance to take anything from this game.
Ups for the Ox, Kos, Rosicky.
Sick of it.
Its disappointing result but to be honest we don’t have a fucking good players besides three or four first team players…we are going through very big change and know I totally given up on fourth. Look at our bench players! We really need six or seven great and proven internationals for next season. If chelase slips along the way, we might maybe sneak in to champions league spot otherwise we bound to finish 5th. Glad fox showed the game live here in US tho. ..Good marketing for arsenal. I’m not gonna take away anything from how the team played today… Read more »
i’m all for keeping diaby if he can stay fit. he’ll be better than ramsey anyway. I do also hope one day ramsey proves me very wrong and he becomes a quality midfielder. presently he is just not good enough.
We are paying him to PLAY not to watch all the matches. I’m not blaming him and I know he is a good player but why should we pay a guy who obviously cannot be used?
i think Ramsey’s good and will be great for us. He’s just tired right now. Ramsey and Song have to play every game because of the dearth of talent of our second string midfield. If Jack and Diaby were healthy, Ramsey would get more rest and would be more effective.
I’m not too worried about our starting XI; it’s the rest of the first team and the lack of desire to change (why is Almunia still on the team?) that scares me.
awful performance and I can’t even begin to defend. who does this team think they are/ they can’t even pass properly anymore. being poor defensively is one thing but they were awful in the final third, except for chamberlain who mysteriously got subbed? is that the message arsene wants to send? that if you perform like arshavin, walcott and ramsey it’s ok, you’ll stay on the pitch but if you actually put in a good performance and do well then you’ll be out. what the fuck kind of decision is that. I’m sorry i’m hating on this team right now… Read more »
I didn’t really feel like commenting but I just have to.
YET AGAIN we go lacking.
Perhaps ” we need to focus more” or “learn from our mistakes”.
Totally gutted really, what else can I say?
I think we did ourselves no favours in the first half with our slow build up play and didn’t attack quickly enough from the outset. Theo’s distribution was utter shocking and I think our biggest problem in the 2nd half is that our strength in depth just isn’t there on the bench to make a real impact with substitutions Arshavin with his experience you would think could come on and add something we would have done a lot better if we actually bought Grandpa Wim (the bloke on robins shirt) actually on instead of him.
FOR SURE. if a 38 year old giggs is quicker than an 21 yr old ramsey then I’m sure that even a 91 year old grandpa wim will be quicker than him. Ramsey’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t even have a half decent shot in him. they always fly wide or they’re scuffed. just awful.
Actually i wasn’t slating Ramsey so where you got that one from I do not know. But its pretty clear for all and sundry to see that Ramsey is burned out by having very little rotational options for him in the middle of the park. Also the way you’ve harped on about Ramsey in previous comments you clearly have a huge issue with him. People need to remember he’s 21 and he has a lot of developing still to do and will contribute so much in the future he’s not a rubbish player because if he was Man United wouldn’t… Read more »
Why is everyone complaining about Ramsey’s lack of foot speed? Not everyone is as fast as a guy Walcott, nor must they be in order to play effectively. Is Arteta faster than Ramsey?
Bitter defeat…
Can’t understand why wenger put off our best player, who had the momentum today totally on his side! If he wants to bring on arshavin, then rather for ramsey or walcott, who both hadn’t their best day…
And djourou just isn’t good enough, especially as right back, should’ve played yennaris from the start…
Yet again we loose due to lack of options on the bench we do not want to spend so here we are and why o why did Arsene take Ox off he could have given him 5 more mins.
On the brighter side TOTTENHAM you are the North London rejects and you will never ever be as big as us.
Absolutley shocking managerial decisions there! he takes off arguably our best player and to top it off puts on park, who hasn’t played a single minute of league football and who is below chamakh in the pecking order and who wenger never even gave a run out over christmas. I have faith in wenger but my patience is wearing very thin my pedigree chums. And also walcott is a useless cunt. Not a happy gooner at all.
Oh and evra… YOUR’E A CUNT!
I think you did not watch the match. It was arshavin who came in for Ox. Park came in for ramsey getting to the end of the game. Arshavin , the most expensive player on the arsenal side was the worst player. Buying expensive does not solve the problem get rid of him and can have benayoun, park or ox play. Today proved that arsenal cannot play 442 as they tried in the first half
Hello everyone There are days like today when all I want to do is drink a bottle of red wine, have a bath and sleep until the morning. But alas I will not. It was a bad first half, the quality from Theo was absent, and they targeted JD, which I would have done, because he was a weak link. But in my opinion there were three Arsenal players on that pitch today who wanted to play for Arsenal. They were Per, Kosser and The Ox. Everyone else was a low grade supporting cast to include Arsene making the wrong… Read more »
I like the spirit. In the first half OX was not that effective because he was not running at the Manu guys so i was asking for his sub but he pickup in the second we we reverted to the 4-3-3 and I dont think i am a fun of expensive players like Arshavin. I wish Eboue was around he would have be the most utility player with all the back gone. OX and Theo have not played upfront and that showed today. I beleive Ox would come good in the next game and Wenger will not make this mistake… Read more »
Is that you Arsene? worried to lose your 7 mil a year? Don’t worry the Yank blood sucker won’t suck you as long as you make him money, every body is happy :))))).
A lot has been said, but nothing on Mike Dean, who I think had a brilliant game.
he was ok. not like he didn’t have poor decision but atleast he didn’t get a crucial decision wrong
You sure u watched to the end? Evra should have had a red based on the song and ramsey yellows
I also completely agree with those showing concern at how Andrei was greeted on to the pitch. Fine, show dismay at the ox being taken off (after all he was our most dangerous player). But to give one of our own players who is already short on confidence a hostile reception like that is TOTALLY counter productive. Unfortunately, it doesn’t surprise me any more to see Arsenal fans behaving this way…
For those who can’t understand the substitution, read the report. AOC was cramping up.
Makes more sense than him just taking off our best player to put on a player he knows is performing badly.
Very true, but then why not bring Yossi?
That’s a better question than why did he take Ox off.
Cramping Ox better than Arsene Favourite Fat Russian.
BTW, he looked fine to me sprinting to the bench unless Arsene the bank manager want to spin his way out of this.
To be honest, the cramp story looks like spin to me.
Wenger tried to take off AOC before he set up the equaliser. Didn’t look too crampy to me. I believe Wenger decided before the match he would take off AOC and bring on Arshavin with 20 mins to go. I think many of his tactical substitutions are pre-determined – at least, that’s what it has looked like for years, they often don’t seem to be in accord with what’s happening on the pitch. This is just the worst example of what he’s been doing for years.
does arsene say that in his post match interview? he’s being the typical arsene. coy about why he made the substitution when clearly OX was outstanding until then. brrrrrrrrrrrrr…..he better start winning stuff. 7-8 years without a title is really too long.
The fact is, sadly, that many Arsenal fans do not believe Wenger’s explanation for taking off Oxlade-Chamberlain. We don’t believe he had cramp, or certainly not to an extent that it was hindering his performance.
Yet another justification for the substitution (alongside being ‘cramped’ ‘sick’ and ‘fatigued’ as he’s variously told us) was that AOC is 18 and Arshavin is the Russian captain. So the fact that AOC was playing brilliantly and Arshavin has been playing awfully for months doesn’t come into it. Wenger has just told us that he doesn’t make decisions based on performance.
I don’t buy that at all. Wenger fucked up and now he’s trying to find good enough excuses not to get completely crucified by the fans and media.
Arshavin really is useless.
I’m sorry bloggs but right up until the substitution the OX hadn’t stopped motoring down the flanks. No sign of any cramps or any other injury and in his interview afterwards, he made no mention of cramps but stated that he respects the decision AW made. That says to me AW made a serious error and now the club are trying to make excuses after hearing the reaction.
When I was a younger man I traveled a lot. One of the places I visited was Texas in the USA. In Texas they have a saying that goes something like ” carefull not to step in the bullshit”.
Wengers lost the plot!
Arsh has been useless for the last 2 yrs, yet Wenger still persists & the worst part is he came on as a sub and should be fresh, so no excuses.
Listening to Wengers post match reaction, it looks like the penny might have finally dropped.
good game, at least it was a entertaining 2nd half, and i think, if van persie had scored we would have looked a lot better the rest of the game.
BUT. Arshavin doesnt have any impact on the game, its a huuuge problem, we dont have any impact players, now that the ox is starting.
we need some more attackers! and our 4 back back!
Approximately 60,000 people booing Arshavin certainly didn’t help his confidence if you wanted him to be an “impact” sub.
It didn’t seem close to 60,000 people from where I was. That’s not fair on the rest of the fans.. It wasn’t a tiny minority either, though.
Plenty of booing regarding the substitution, but I didn’t think there was anywhere near as much for Arshavin.
“Big teams are going for it more this year”.
Is that so. So why don’t we Arsene?
also is miyaichi any good or is he just another Park? we bought hima season and a half ago and he hasn’t played a full game in arsenal shirt yet. just bloody baffling.
He just came back from injury himself.
TV5 just recovered from an injury and he was straight in. however, I do understand what your trying to say.
Vermaelan is experienced, proven, leader and plays a position we needed help in.
Miyachi is 19, not that experienced, not proven, results in the Reserve games have been average.
But Ryo is still only 19(?) years old, as compared to Park who is 26 and came from Ligue 1.
yeah, but he’s from asia, too, so they’re basically the same kind of player, you see…not
Miyachi was playing high school football 1.5 years ago, he needs time. I am hopeful, but who knows, Arsenal does not seem to have any luck. For all we know he could be another Bischoff
So was Miyaichi.
Why does no one ever spell or pronounce his name properly?
It’s really annoying. Too many thicko commentators ala Chris “pelanty” Waddle
around these days.
Mi-ya-ichi
Today hurts because it is becoming harder to overcome the obvious faults that are at the heart of this team. I now genuinely fear that we will do a Liverpool and enter a prolonged period of mediocrity emphasised by our inability to hold on to Robin and then failure to attract real experience and quality due to not playing in the champions league. Walcott and Arshavin are passengers that we just cannot afford to continually carry….reality hurts and that other team in North London are playing better football than us with players who are prepared to give 100%. Theo has… Read more »
the sad thing is that a few years back, theo was the same kind of exciting talent that everyone was looking foward to, well I was anyway. that he is first choice now doesn’t do him any good at all. I think all the media hype really hampered his development, he seems complacent to me without showing the performance to back it up. still hope, though, that he will put his money where his mouth is. maybe competing for a starting place with the ox would remind him what this is all about. at the same time, the latter probably… Read more »
Wenger: “I can understand the fans were upset about the substitution, especially when it doesn’t work. He had started to fatigue.”
Great job disguising your “fatigue”, Chambo! None of us could tell.
I think Koscielny tackled Rafael not Welbeck!