As the debate over his substitition rages ever on, like a gigantic bellowing bull with a thistle in his testicles, the young man at the centre of it all wants to take the positives from his full Premier League debut yesterday.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain impressed everyone with his attacking play and wants to keep his place in the first team. He’ll have done his chances of that no harm with a fine assist for Robin van Persie and some excellent play on both flanks, but he knows there’s still work to do.
Overall I was happy with my performance and happy to contribute to Robin’s goal,” he told Arsenal Player. “It was positive for me and mentally it puts you in a good position.
“That can always change in football though – you can have one good game and the next game is a bad one. You’ve got to deal with the highs and the lows. It was a nice performance from me and I’ve got to make sure I keep my place now.”
“Having the boss’ trust is a positive for me. I’ve got to make sure I repay that with my performances, working hard in training and when I’m on the pitch.”
And on the manager’s decision to replace him with Andrei Arshavin, The Ox displayed a common sense attitude which will serve him well during his Arsenal career.
“It’s the boss’ decision at the end of the day,” he said. “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.”
There was certainly plenty to be encouraged about regarding his performance, although it’s still obvious that areas of his game will need work but they should develop with more time on the pitch.
Perhaps, when discussing him, the focus should be on the positive things he did and not the furore over his substitution, a decision in which he played no part.
Spot on attitude!!
“Perhaps, when discussing him, the focus should be on the positive things he did and not the furore over his substitution, a decision in which he played no part.” Cue the sack Arsene posts. But Alex did really well and it’s really delightful. All game I was counting on him to come good with all his great dribbles and that lovely directness, glad he did provide. I don’t know about you, but Arsene putting on Arshavin for AOC is stupid in hindsight, but I don’t quite understand how 1 substitution can condemn a manager to the depths of opinion hell.… Read more »
I find these Ox tales super!
Ahem…
So did he say he had fatigue/cramp? Because if he didn’t…………… then the Arsenal should fire the PR personel.
The lad is going to be a great for The Arsenal. You can’t help wonder if we had used him as a sub against Wolves or Fulham at home he might have made a difference. I remember AW using Walcott as an impact sub in his first season and frequently it worked.
maybe we should have continued to use walcott as an impact sub haha
He should start the next few games as he is more consistent,sharper and better all round definsively and as an attacking threat then any wingers currently available to us.
I do think it was a mistake to have taken him off, but he’s 18, and remaining to play him when he was struggling with muscle tightness and risk an injury at his age is a risk, if he’d of torn a muscle maybe we would be looking at this the other way. It’s how woeful arshavin is that’s the problem.
Great point (no sarcasm), but for me there’s a bigger question to ask of Wenger than Arshavin:
Why pick Arshavin over Benayoun? Arsenal’s wingers and full-backs are pacy and like to surge forward, so why put an off-form attacking midfielder whose natural position is not really on the wings and who can’t defend that well? Benayoun is hard-working and defends better than Arshavin. If he said he just took a gamble, then that was an incredibly odds-y gamble.
Arshavin can be a bit of a lazy git on the pitch but wenger hasn’t done him any favours, playing him wide left and using him as a sub so much. he’s a no.10 and a starter and needs to play with runners around him doing the legwork. he could give the team 30 assists and 15 goals a season if we used him right. it’s not very egalitarian to say that one player should be let off from doing defensive work, but arshavin has the talent to make magic in the final third if his team plays for him.… Read more »
Arsene is still one of the best managers in the world and I’d rather he were at arsenal than anywhere else.
oh and remember who shelled out 12million for chamberlain in the first place. Arsene knows. lets support him.
I love the man to bits, but lets be honest here.
Hes fantastic in the scouting department in unearthing those rare gems that come of value.
Tactically? meh
Why has Djourou started as RB in so many games? The reserves are called the reserves for a reason….
Actually Phaniman, starting Djourou was a strategic decision. Replacing him with Yennaris was the tactical decision and it was a successful one. The problem is that he essentially had a choice between the experienced Djourou and the untried Yennaris, and he chose the percentage play. As it turns out his choice didn’t work out, but he dealt with that successfully by making a tactical change. In hindsight there were probably one or two games where he could have blooded Yennaris before the Man Utd match, but he “had’ been getting the results with Djourou in that position. After all, it’s… Read more »
Gotta hold my hands up and say last summer I thought it was ridiculous spending £12 m on a teenager considering our other shortfalls & player exits but he s been amazing, in the grand scheme of things maybe yesterday can be a turning point in our season, it’s time to get some players back and dare I say it bring in a top signing to lift everyone- come on you reds!
Ok. The dust has settled for me. What is clear now is that it wasn’t the Arshavin for AOC sub that had the impact, it was ferguson’s reaction (shifting Valencia back, instructing Park to drag vermaelen inside) that turned the game. Wenger has been repeatedly out thought by red nose in recent years. A little embarrassing for wenger now…
Park always has a good game against us. Cheeky little scamp
Arseblog,I kept hearing in the pubs and at the ground yesterday that the ticket prices could be going up again- have you heard anything or was it just pub talk?
I wouldn’t mind paying if we were actually winning things
Great summer buy. If you remember at the time,so many were calling it a nothing signing. But he has been a breath of fresh air amidst the bad results and tabloid negativity this season. would be great to see him start against AC Milan.Maybe along with some of the ten players I can see on my Arsenal injury app =-). Sczcz seems to have quit Twitter too,in some sort of pronouncement of a new professionalism.We could do with a couple of clean sheets in the coming games,so everything that helps towards it is welcome on that front. the young lad… Read more »
it’s the OX’s first game starting and I thought he was brilliant. look forward to seeing more of him in the future. I believe he’s already better than Walcott and hopefully he’ll prove me right in the years and seasons to come. Meanwhile, i think the fans had better get behind AW…I’ve read the stuff about how we’re so unhappy with him but the reality is that we aren’t going to sack him and he’s not going to leave unless he feels doing a worse job than somebody else might. I don’t think we’ve reached that stage so forget about… Read more »
I was equally annoyed by the decision to remove him yesterday. I get the logic, but it would have been fine if we were 2-1 up or it was the 85th minute. It was badly timed. However its just a mistake from Wenger and he has admitted his error, which is a positive. In hindsight, Ramsey should have come off and Arshavin deployed in the whole, Walcott (as inferior as he looked to AOC) was getting some joy, AOC was running things, Ramsey looked a little off the pace towards the end and Arshavin could have exploited that space better… Read more »
Oh and we all need to have a little perspective and applaud Wenger for starting him, we’ve all been slating his lack of 1st team games and Wenger put him in against United, we could all be sitting here today saying ‘why did he start Arshavin’. We didn’t lose the game cos he went off and we had a better chance in the game because he was there. So Wenger got something right.
Once again, Arseblogger’s article today is spot on. Yesterday’s game was a watershed for Arsene Wenger and the club. It was the game in which even Wenger’s most ardent fans finally realised that he has completely lost the plot. That substitution was the most brainless, illogical, cretinous, moronic, idiotic, thoughtless, irresponsible, self-defeating and baffling that I have ever seen in thirty-four years of supporting our great club. After the game, the Frenchman blatantly lied to the media by telling them that the Ox had “cramps”. But Alex was perfectly fit and more or less said so on Match of the… Read more »
I agree. The fact that he doesn’t realize it’s a poor sub is the problem. He holds on to players like Rosicky and Arshavin as if 2-3 years of mediocre football wasn’t enough to prove that they just ‘don’t have it’. With Djourou off the game was back on and we were pressing them hard. He destroyed the hope and momentum with the sub. I still can’t believe it – and clearly he’s lying. He’s gotten worse about blaming refs and everybody but himself recently. How many more poor finishes and thrown away chances can we take? It’s not as… Read more »
Any yet again, Fatgooner demonstrates why he ought to be Arsenal manager instead of the “brainless, illogical, cretinous, moronic, idiotic, thoughtless, irresponsible, self-defeating and baffling” Arsene Wenger. I look forward to years of trophy-laden success under Fatgooner, footballing genius that he is. One word of advice, though, FG, and that’d be to try and lay off the insults a bit, otherwise you’ll end up on FA charges all the time and if you get a ban who knows what’ll happen to the club we all love? But in the meanwhile thanks for speaking on behalf of everyone, the world is… Read more »
Oh, dear, Sammy! I suppose that you’ll be supporting Wenger even if he takes us down.
People like you are just sad.
If you could come up with a better manager I’d certainly have a think about it. Just because I’m not foaming at the mouth as if Saddamm Hussein has risen from the grave and raped my sister whilst wearing a sp*rs replica shirt, it doesn’t mean I’m not frustrated at this season or indeed the last few. Equally I’m conscious of the fact that AW is the game’s most successful manager – apart from Demento, that is, the fucking red-nosed Weegie. So unless we can be very confident that whoever is lined up to manage the Arsenal is a better… Read more »
The fact picking a better manager I don’t think is the real concern as unless you was watching J league football not many people would have known who Wenger was when he came to the club. But some people who I think would be good candidates to replace Wenger are Frank Rijkaard, Joachim Low who has built an excellent young German team so easily fits into the Arsenal policy. Slaven Bilic or Dragen Stoijkovic I think any of these could easily take the helm.
And yet again, Sam Nelson shows us all what a prick he can be by assuming he speaks for everyone. There were a lot of people at the emirates last night who made it pretty loud and clear that agree with what fatgooner just said. Just because you, Sam Nelson, are comfortable going along for the slide to mid table, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to. Open your eyes and stop being such a sarcastic twit mate. Wengers been stealing us down a dangerous path for to long now. It’s time for a change. Low, hiddink or the… Read more »
stop being such a hater. Imagine this situation
Arsene Wenger is manager of Chelsea. Andre Villas Boas is manager of Arsenal. Arsenal have a torrid start to the season and are 17th.
Would you back AVB to drag arsenal out of it?
Things could be worse than what they are now. we still have champs league atm and we still are in contention for the 4th spot.
Don’t forget the FA Cup.Our best chance of a trophy.
Clearly FG is being pretty extreme, but I would really like to be a fly on the wall for the team-talks. I’m not dismissing (or getting into) that we always have loads of injuries, but there must be a reason for our now regular malaise after one or two disappointing results. All of the players speak highly of Wenger as a great manager (which of course he is), but when it comes to instilling some backbone or getting the team motivated we seem to be seriously lacking something. It often seems like only the youngsters are up for it because… Read more »
Nobody’s talking about Walcott and Ramsey who continue to underwhelm. Walcott never really has hit his stride, but it’s clear Ramsey has lost something. He just looks desperate on the ball and makes poor decisions. Really missed Arteta/Fabregas style decisions in the middle – far too many back passes and sideways passing. Very slow on the counter, it’s really starting to not look like Arsenal anymore.
Ramsey is just hitting a poor run of form, I wouldn’t get too dramatic and write off the young lad in what is his first full season after his horrendous injury. He’s being asked to do Cescs role without any help or rest. All players form goes up and down but it doesn’t mean we have to consider them either world class or total crap from one week to the next. If we take a step back and assess players with a little perspective we are less likely to look foolish when we are proved wrong. Imagine what people would… Read more »
Gervinho-arteta-wilshere-AOC + RVP = deadly!!
It’s so funny how things can change, when Arsene signed this kid and called him super-signing, people were calling for Arsene to be sacked for signing a kid, now AOC is the man of the moment. We shld just thank God we did not lose him to Rivals like Rooney only to come back and torment us. Arsenal will make top 4, I’m sure. Spurs and Chelsea are on the way down
well, I can’t be sure we’ll make top 4. But i certainly hope so
I have to say that AOC has the ability to brush off defenders physically, something which Theo lacks. I remember a chance from last night where AOC did a couple of stepovers & dribbled past that idiot Evra and setup a chance for Theo who blazed it over everyone else and it wasn’t even over the post. I don’t expect Theo to start dribbling or anything but is it too much to ask him to actually shoot on target so that he can make the keeper work? If you can’t dribble,at least keep the finishing in place. Although this didn’t… Read more »
Just wanna say well played OXOhhh really well played. Will wanna see that fighting attitude of yours spread throughout the team.
Sorry about the double post but there is one thing I absolutely abhor from our players . When its a throw for us especially in our own half of the pitch, I don’t see any Arsenal player stepping up to receive the throw confidently. I can understand a player not having any confidence in his ball control in a tight situation but they could at least try lumping it ahead rather than give the ball away with a bad header. We also take too much time on throws in our own half.
yeah I hate that! and it happens every fucking time! it’s unbelievable really
True they can be deadly if played at same time and are fit. The problem isn’t so Much with our 1st choice 11 it’s the lack of quality back up. No team keeps the same 11 1st choice players. It’s a squad game now and matter how you dress it up the arsenal of today is lacking. Now is that down to wenger or the board or combination of both? Who knows but without doubt this squad as it stands Is just not good enough. And unless the problem is addressed we will be in decline. And the further we… Read more »
Looking on the bright side – ‘Arry is in court on tax dodging charges. Watch Sp*rs drop like a stone (sorry, Fatgooner, that’ll make you sad, you like how the Lillywhites roll, don’t you?) – Defoe, 92nd minute, inches wide, hahahahaha – the Ox! He battered Evra early doors, superb. Looks like a good buy (sorry FG, he was bought by the idiot you want out of the club, the idiot you want out who started him yesterday, go figure) – FA Cup glory beckons. – Milan! Not Milan Mandaric – who is in court with ‘Arry, as it happens.… Read more »
Need more alcohol.
I must have lost the ability to understand what makes a footballer “good” or “crap”. I may have to give up watching the game altogether.
Rosicky had a decent game yesterday; creative but safe in possession, always busy, could easily had a goal and an assist. He also had a lively cameo against Swansea that coincided with our best spell in the match.
It seems once people feel your number´s up, you may as well jack it in, because nothing some players do seems to be appreciated.
Chamberlin was an immense pleasure to watch yesterday and will add something to the squad in the next couple of years.
As for the booing I totally understand it for the level that we have seen this club raised too we have high expectations the fans have no other way to express there opinions direct to the manager or the players.
I personally feel that this could be Wenger’s last season in charge if the fans keep expressing there discontent the board will have to act especially if we don’t qualify for the champions league.
The Ox was let out of his box for a rare start and hopefully we can look forward him starting in most games from here on.
It was a shame Henry was injured, as his his ability to read the game and superb finishing touches would probably seen us secure a victory yesterday.
Full speed from here boys.
I kept my mouth shut when we signed this boy for a reason. I watched this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WljuJS-kq8&feature=related
The goal at 1:26 is fucking genius.
The substitution confused me. Not that AW put on Arshavin as such, but that he did so at the expense of The Ox. The Ox was, in my opinion, the only player who caused the United defence to take their eye off RVP. I only wished Walcott would have done the same. So why did he not take off Walcott? Beats me….. Apart from that The Ox apparently was tired and cramping. Didn’t see it myself. After the game I was watching the highlights in Norwegian terrestrial TV…… ex Saints captain and self-confessed serial-junkie come TV pundit Claus Lundekvam promised,… Read more »
I think he wants to ease Chamberlin into the league and this sub was in the gameplan from the start.
Also, there might have been an additional component of showcasing Arshavin during the trade window in hopes that someone is interested in him (and his fat wages).
has anyone else a problem with how many mInutes of added time there was? I was convinced we would’ve at least gotten 10 mins, nani was waiting for his Oscar for a good 6-7 mIns, Walcott was out cold for 2-3 mins, & took another 2-3 to be sorted out, and there were other smaller incidents, which wasted time. I am amazed I’ve not heard more about this from Wenger? Or perhaps he has an I’ve not heard about it. in a normal game there’s 3-4 mins added anyways and to see the 5 mins on the board yesterday was… Read more »
FG, in order to get a good response in this forum you must say some cheesy applause line. Something like “yeah! Chelsea and Sp*rs are going down! 4th place for Arsenal!” You know, rosy non-sensical stuff like that.
Yes, I know, Yar. But I won’t just tow the line and just spout positives – not when my team is going down the toilet because of Wenger’s mismanagement. I just don’t understand the attitude of idiots like The Only Sam is Nelson. Supporters like him would be kissing Wenger’s arse even if he took us into League Two. At the moment we are ridiculously underachieving, and something must be done about it. The future of our club depends on the appointment of a new manager. We are at the point that we were in 1995. Back then we had… Read more »
How dare some person come on here & suggest that fatgooner & his ilk are trolls, they are not. They are however, mindless cretins, who have some deluded idea they have the where with all to manage a football club of the stature of AFC. Clearly they think AW is a total liar & an incompetent fool, no doubt based on many hours playing some spurious computer game. Please guys if you have season tickets give them up if your not happy, there are many who would gladly fill your boots. Just because you purchase a ticket (or season ticket)… Read more »
Why are people cretins just because they have valid opinions and don’t want to tow the line. I remember the days when we struggled and were pretty much no better than a cup team as a club under Wenger we have come on leaps and bounds and reached heights that many people never thought we would achieve. But the reality is we are taking huge steps back it looks likely we may not even make the top 4 and if we do make it we will have a huge battle just to secure it. It’s the club that have raised… Read more »
For 121 years the fans of Arsenal went to the matches and cheered on their team. Cheered them on. All the time. Even when we were losing. Even when we were in Division Two. They are the people who made Arsenal FC what it is.
The ignorant twats who have taken to booing them in the last four years have NOTHING in common with the people who made The Arsenal what it is.
Having read your post, Snowytunnel, I can only assume that you are a representative of our American owner – or maybe even Mr Kroenke himself. You are probably some Yank sitting in an office block in Colorado. I am not, and never will be, a fucking “consumer”. I am a FAN – and so are 99 per cent of supporters who go to the ground every other week. And no, we can’t run a football club – but we know the difference between good football and the utter shit that we have been served up recently. We just want the… Read more »
We all want the team to be successful
it’s just that some of us think we might be more successful if we cheer our team on
others seem to think that booing them and calling the manager an idiot who deliberately throws games against our rivals is the way to go
strangely the “fans” who slag their own team, like fatgooner, then call fans who think we should actually support the team idiots and not “real” fans
real fans obviously boo their own team, I guess
it just gets odder and odder in fg world
Well Chris let me tell you why The following words are directly copied from fatgooners post. “That substitution was the most brainless, illogical, cretinous, moronic, idiotic, thoughtless, irresponsible, self-defeating and baffling” This is a series of adjectives all aimed at AW, because he made a substitution. I for one am not prepared to believe it was any of the terms FG chose to use. I was a bit baffled at the time, but if AW says he was tiring, he was sick midweek etc, then i believe him, and not subscribe to the vitriol posted. Your comments regarding “the fans… Read more »
I don’t think he meant all those things he said , he was really angry after the result ,As Eric Cartman would say “he had sand in his Vagina”
“That’s not an excuse”, as the Independent Commission said to the Suarez.
Well fatgooner let me tell you, i was born in Muswell hill, lived in MH, Hornsey (where i went to school) amongst other areas of N london & currently reside in Hertfordshire, & have been watching the Arsenal since the early 1960’s (’63 to be precise) and so i shall treat your opening words with the contempt they deserve!!! You may not consider yourself a consumer, i dont either, but guess what? we are!!, an emotional attachment does not change that very simple fact. And as final laugh, suggest you get some footage of early/mid sixties Afc if you really… Read more »
the only good thing about a cyclical fallow period is that we’ll lose the kind of “fan” that fg represents. it’ll be sad if we don’t win the league for 18 years (53-71 or 71-89, take your pick, at least we’ve never matched the 26 years of the Glazerhawks and touch wood we never will) but you’ve got to take the positives where you can when the sandwich filling is brown and smelly, hey.
Couldn’t have said it better. I still look at those red and white shirts at the start of a match and get excited because that’s my team. That’s the magic of football – the rest is just statistics.
Wow, you guys are nuts. How can you just turn a blind eye to what’s going on? You lot all sit here and try to brag about how you’ve been an arsenal supporter since 1923 or some bullshit, as if that makes you somehow better than someone who’s been supporting since 01. The thing is, in life there are facts and there are opinions. You are all entitled to an opinion, and they differ greatly, that’s fine. What you can’t argue with are the facts. The facts are these : the arsenal is one if the largest football clubs in… Read more »
Sometimes change is a good thing. We were at the crossroads as a club. He wasn’t afraid to take the first steps. HE SPENT SOME FUCKING MONEY ON OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN !!!
So we replaced cesc fabregas and the French cunt with AOC? Beh
seems as if we’re not the only ones confusing fact and opinion, but still
thanks for calling me a “prick” in teh other thread as well, frog – classy! it’s good that you can take it when somebody has a different opinion to you without resorting to personal abuse
oh, wait
Well Sam, if you don’t want to be called a prick, stop being such an arrogant, know it all prick.
Isn’t there some irony that AOC, a purchase that saw Wenger derided by fans and football pundits alike at the start of the season e.g. “Lose Cesc and buy a teenager LOL get some experience”, was replaced by an experienced player? And while we were screaming for the OX to be played the last few weeks, Wenger kept him in training, focused and working hard, and then chose ManU of all occasions to play him. And he did very well. Yes, he fucked up the sub. But we wouldn’t have even been in this situation at all if not for… Read more »
Why don’t we all be one happy Arsenal fan and see one another reasons and opinions as a kind of a solution as to how we can move the club forward. I won’t blame anyone because even some of the players saw something wrong with the game on sunday, but they can’t do shit because they are role-models but we fans will always be fans, we can’t expect everyone to just stand up and clap at every game or when a shit substitution was made, no, people have different ways of expressing their anger at people in any given situation.… Read more »