Theo Walcott’s second half strike wasn’t enough for Arsenal as Arsene Wenger’s side went down 2-1 to Chelsea following a disastrous first half showing. An early Juan Mata strike and a Frank Lampard penalty did the damage as the Gunners toiled in the January snow in West London. While there was plenty of heart on show after the break, for all the possession it was profligacy in front of goal that proved costly.
It was the same starting line-up that beat Swansea in midweek albeit with a weaker bench with both Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski missing through illness. For their part Chelsea left Ba and Terry on the bench with Torres leading the line.
Chelsea certainly started brighter but it was Arsenal who had the first clear-cut chance after only four minutes. Cazorla found Walcott who quickly slipped in Giroud. Bearing down on goal having beaten the offside trap the Frenchman looked a good bet to score but arrowed wide in haste.
The miss was to prove very costly. A minute later we went behind.
Ramires studded Coquelin’s ankle in the midfield, the ball fell to Ivanovic who lofted a diagonal ball to Mata. The Spaniard controlled beautifully and slapped a finish high past Szczesny despite pressure from Diaby. 1-0.
On the touchline Wenger quite rightly went mental about the fact that no foul was given in the build-up.
Eager to keep up the tempo after the restart Cazorla, who initially struggled on the left of midfield, produced a good save from Cech. Not to be outdone Eden Hazard wriggled through our defence forcing Szczesny to palm his shot over the bar. It was an action-packed first ten minutes.
The longer the game went on the more Arsenal struggled under Chelsea pressure. Defensively we looked shaky with the trickery and dribbling of Blues trio Mata, Hazard and Oscar testing the discipline of our back four.
In midfield Ramires had Diaby in his pocket. Twice he got the better of the Frenchman inside 30 seconds, the latter eventually to a scramble in the box which saw Szczesny in a second phase of play trip the Brazilian. The Chelsea man definitely left his leg hanging to ensure he went down, but with contact made the referee was always going to give the penalty. A yellow card was produced for the Pole, Lampard stepped up and calmly slotted home to make it 2-0.
By this point we were all over the shop, wildly hacking the ball clear in an attempt to clear the lines only for Chelsea’s defence to gang up on Giroud and push forward again.
In the final third the best we offered were awful crosses from Sagna and Gibbs while Walcott put three consecutive corners into Cech’s hands. As you might expect, feeding the Chelsea goalkeeper only served to provide the home side with a platform to launch more quick attacks.
We needed to press in midfield but for all Jack Wilshere’s anxious and angry pleading with his teammates there was little reaction. Coquelin, Diaby and Sagna were the worst offenders, each lackadaisical both in and out of possession.
Although Wilshere started to impose himself on the game his moments of quality were met with no end product. A dinked ball to Giroud wasn’t brought under control and Walcott was twice offside from incisive through balls.
Were it not for wild finishing from Ramires and Torres we could well have been further behind before the break. Just to sum up a horrible half for Arsenal, nice work by Coquelin in injury-time was rewarded with another offside flag for Walcott. Our new £100,000 a week man did that annoying shoulder shrug thing he does.
Wenger sent the side out early after half-time, presumably thinking five minutes in the freezing snow was the best possible team talk.
It nearly proved dividends. A foul by Cole on Walcott on 47 minutes gave Wilshere the chance to loft a ball into the box. When it dropped at Mertesacker’s feet the German composed himself but could only hit his shot straight at Cech. A sign of more positive things to come?
For once Walcott beat the offside trap from a Cazorla pass, but bearing down on goal he too could only shoot directly at the Chelsea keeper. We were going for it at least.
Further pressure came from a Giroud header from a clipped Gibbs cross; a poor effort in truth, but at least he managed to get in the position.
Finally just before the hour mark Walcott timed a run correctly latched onto a Cazorla through ball and slotted past Cech. It was a goal which we deserved and another very tidy finish from a player improving in one-on-one situations. 2-1.
Coquelin, who was lying on the turf as we scored, was immediately replaced by Aaron Ramsey, while Walcott also required treatment before the restart.We nearly grabbed a quick equaliser after a fine break involving Gibbs, Cazorla, Ramsey and Wilshere released Theo again. This time he cut in from the right only to scuff his effort wide.
Chelsea looked very anxious, perhaps mindful of the two goal lead they let slip against Southampton on Wednesday, as we continued to up the tempo. More good work by Walcott drew another foul from Cole on the edge of the box. Cazorla took charge but his curling effort was blocked by the wall.
Vermaelen had Szczesny and Sagna to thank for denying Torres after being caught by the Spaniard’s pace twice in two minutes as the game entered the final third. With limited options on the bench Andrei Arshavin was introduced for the tiring Diaby while Ba replaced Torres. It was obvious as we entered the last ten minutes that our energy levels were depleted; the game a much slower affair than it had been at the start of the half.
Chelsea should have sealed the win when Ba skipped past Szczesny and rolled the ball goalwards only for Vermaelen to miraculously block the ball. It was a massive let off.
The Belgian then hit a low drive from a free-kick just past the post and Giroud tried his luck from 30-yards just before we entered injury-time. There were as many as five corners during the five minutes added on but despite Walcott and Giroud coming close we just couldn’t muster the equaliser.
It was a fine showing in the second period, but as with the game against City last weekend, you just can’t afford to give opponents two goal leads. We lose again and sit sixth in the table six points off the Champions League pace. Granted we have three home games in the Premier League coming up but we’re really struggling for momentum now.
Ugh
Another clueless performance, play like pensioners in the 1st half, then give it a go in the 2nd.
Wenger, your motivational skills are useless, your tactics are useless, you are useless.
Just shut up balls. Go fuck yourself.
either way you look at it, this comment doesn’t make sense.
Just fuck off balls you spud. Your game is on pretty soon. You and your fucking sugar daddy owner Levy pricing everyone out, Dempsey Sigurdsson Holtby Dembele fucking 4 players vying for 1 spot in the team. If we start our decline into Liverpoolesque mediocrity this year then it will be due in no small part to sugar daddy clubs like you. Go establish your own fucking league you spud, where you can play in Moscow and Las Vegas in front of millionaires. You fucking spuds are a disgrace and don’t belong in English football.
Balls we played considerably average.
Silly goals. One from diaby losing possesion in the centre of the pack….alittle ways down the line. A penalty, the other poor referee from the always controversial atkinson.
Question?. We come alive in the second half. City now chelsea. Are we banned from playing good football in 1st half or what?
Surely his motivational skills are brilliant if he can rouse them for the second half.
He obviously can get them to produce better second halfs but why can’t he get them to start like that.
What did you watch. We played very well in the second half, and had the best chance of the first until we were left reeling by two shit refereeing decisions. Clearly the referee had an agenda, we in no way deserved to lose.
Must say good doctor the game lasts 90 mins not 45. They should be pumped up and raring to go from the start. That first half was abysmal standing off players and allowing them to pick there passes. Thats four matches straight now where we’ve been stale in the first half. ARRGGGHHHH
Wengers pregame talks and preparations leaves a lot of questions to be answered. We are never fully prepared for games like this and we keep giving goals away. We cant have two full backs on the opposition half when we have the ball on our own with just two error prone central defenders left. Look at how Chelsea closed us down in our own half. They had scouted us and prepared accordingly and we had no answer other than to give the ball away. Wenger needs to sort the defence and set pieces, I doubt that he can but he… Read more »
Well diaby had a shocker! Our movement off the ball in the first half was terrible, we spent the first half bar the first 5-10 minutes chasing the ball. Coquelin, Gibbs and Vermaelen were very good however. Tonight.showed us that we definitely need to invest in another strike option to give Giroud competition, although we were forced into playing him considering losing podolski and ox before the match. Also, why can’t we show the desire to win the ball and move forward from the get go? It shouldn’t take a half time rouse up to fire the boys up… Ramires… Read more »
AA you fat useless overpaid waste of space.AW why did you put him on.He doesn’t give a toss and he is the 2nd highest paid player in the club.
The first half was unbelievable Sagna was as bad as any player I have ever seen
apart from AA.
Coquelin played well
Dont expect anything from AA when the manager had himself given up on him, but that shows what how weak our squad is and nothings been done to fix it.
And first off idioticity doesnt make up for early 2nd of grit and setermintaion. You can lift your game in second half and go for a win but make sure even if how lame you wanna perform in first half dont concede.
Coquelin is a wee bit rush and for a DM you just gotta keep a cool head. Protect your cbs, do not take the beyond risky pass, dribble just enough and not too.much, coz at the end of the day one miscalculation could very well mean a goal in the other direction. As seen today.
I rate him though, wonderful talent.
When AA waddled on, I thought it was Andre Previn. We might have been better off if it had been.
Where on earth is Rosicky?
Arshavin is say joke Wenger plays with us just to piss us
He’s not fit mate.
Our midfield is done. Look at Cazorla. His legs are shot, he’s getting totally burnt out (it’s already happened to Arteta); Diaby is half-fit and an awkward tackle away from retirement; Coquelin and Ramsey are raw; Rosicky’s never around; Wilshere is having to do it all on his own, and can’t keep it up for long.
…and yet, Wenger will not bolster the midfield.
Not any other position, it seems.
[sobbing]
*Nor
He’s not fit mate.
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Neither is Diaby, but Wenger seems content to play him three matches in a row. Bizarre. I lost count of how many times Diaby lost possession today.
Rosicky on crutches might have been the better option today.
Vote Yes for “Venger OUT”
And who in exactly? My vote is NO unless you can identify a realistic and better replacement.
Fuck off you trol !
Your ugly “Planet of the apes” game is on (has nothing to do with color of the skin just ugly cunt faces all over).
He must stay because according to 90% of the deluded fans on this blog he can do no wrong, let him stay and continue to destroy the legacy he has built because obviously there’s no one else on the planet that could possibly do better. You keep making excuses, trying to blame everyone else but the constantly poor performances of the team and the obvious weakness of the manager, no one is to blame but them. Fact. RvP clearly made the correct decision to leave, whatever you think of him he saw the rot and got out. Making excuses for… Read more »
Seriously, who will you get in to control our club? We evidently have an owner who has no interest in seriously investing in the club and whether you like it or not, Wenger can’t sign anybody until he a) sells someone else or b) frees up the wage bill by letting fringe players leave on loans/free transfers. It’s all well and good blaming the manager because yes, the buck does fall with him, but you people need to see that those who support Wenger aren’t blind to our decline because trust me, we’re not, but we’re just realistic in that… Read more »
I can’t see how anyone can thumbs down Kops last comment. Fair as it gets.
I think the majority of us Gooners really appreciate Giroud’s presence, attitude and work rate, and the fact that he’s provided some excellent assists. But – he really needs to take golden chances when they’re presented to him. That miss early on was unforgivable.
presence, attitude and work rate, and
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face
heh, yes that beautiful face!
I thought Giroud was poor today–didn’t hold up the ball at all, didn’t bring others into play.
Sick to my stomach, I wonder how Arsene sleeps at night .
Well must say a truck load of beer might help me sleep tonight.
He probably won’t sleep a wink. He’s the most competitive guy in the whole club.
After all that time unable to make the bench and piling on the pounds, Arshavin is like a new signing.
What is Giroud thinking, trying a shot on goal from 40+ yards out when we’re a goal down and 2 minutes of normal time left? Either he’s a moron, or he doesn’t give a sh1t; or both.
Attempting a shot on goal when we’re down one, with 2 minutes left? What would you rather do, pass it around at the back?
He thought he’d catch chech by surprise. But it wasn’t a good idea.
Atkinson 2 – 1 Arsenal.
Gutted.
Surprised that people are voting this down. No doubt Atkinson was a big part of Chelsea winning this match.
Absolute Bollox. Was he responsible for that first half display. Of course not. Stop looking for excuses week after fucking week. We where totally shit, as bad as it gets first half and that wasn’t down to the ref.
Totally agree he’s a cunt gave us fuck all
Disagree with you there Voldemort. We were shell shocked at the first goal and they scored a second before we recovered from it, from then on it was always going to be a one way street in terms of domination. Both goals were end products of horrible refereeing decisions. Good second half, but the subs bench was lacking. I suppose risking Diaby for the rest of the season of this one match would be a bit much, but we needed a good substitute and AA wasn’t it. All this result did was confirm that wee need more good solid squad… Read more »
Yes but he played a huge part in the goals no?. Last time I checked games are won on who has the most goals.
Atkinson 2- arsenal 1. First half we were indeed poor though, we seem to not give a fuck in the 1st half then 2nd half we throw in plenty of fucks. Clear in the city game and now this. Fuck!
Just as the ref’s performance doesn’t let us off, our shite performance shouldn’t let the ref off. The first goal shouldn’t have stood and there were multiple decisions that went their way that could have gone either.
That said, this whole coming out half asleep in the first half thing has to fucking stop. We were quality in the second half and our pathetic showing in the first really let us down.
@Voldermort: When you get 2 decisions that lead to a goal, and you find yourself 2-0 under from goals which never should have counted, you think it is easy to be top motivated?
Ok it’s totally down to the ref then, but how many times do we go behind before we start to play. It’s just to simplistic to blame the ref for a performance as bad as that first half. Sagna was as bad as it gets, giroud was awful as was cazorla and one or two others.
Arsene will blame the ref and point to the second half performance as a reason that we do not need to buy when the truth is this squad is so lacking in depth and goals its painfully obvious to all..
“Ok it’s totally down to the ref the…”
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Who’s saying that? I believe the consensus is that Arsenal were poor, but that the ref also played a part in the result.
Personally, I’d rather we were a team that could get points regardless of the officiating, which we used to do…many, many years ago. This is one of the poorest Arsenal teams in recent history, and Wenger continues to refuse to strengthen it.
It’s all very depressing.
I think you need to read my post in the context of the my original. I was being slightly sarcastic mate. And I agree with you this is one the poorest teams we have had in years and more worrying is that wenger says it the strongest squad he’s ever had. Baffling and fucking scary.
You cant blame the ref for our first half. Sure he sucked big time but we were lucky to only be 2-0 down. It should have been 4-0 in the arse or 4-1 if Giroud did what he is paid for.
Yes the first goal was a disgrace. Terrible from the official. Penalties like that are being given all the time though players delibrately kicking prone legs then throwing themselves to the ground. All the way through the first half we didnt put any pressure on the man on the ball.
Look, we deserved to go into the break probably one goal down. Maybe even two goals, considering how terrible our play was. But really, neither of the goals that DID happen should have happened. If Torres et. al had scored two legitimate goals (like the opportunities they wasted later in the half), I don’t think it there could be an argument, but the fact is that the referee ignored 1) Coq getting stamped on and 2) The fact that Szczesny’s challenge missed and Ramires could have played around it rather than running straight into it. And Chelsea missed their later… Read more »
Please , it’s that sort of deluded thinking that we are where we are.
Chelsea 2 – 0 Arsenal . And it hurts.
*2-1
We’re consistent in losing against our main rivals. Another serious blow in the quest for CL place and that’s a serious issue for Arsenal!
Yeah, I bet it is really easy to stay motivated when you get 2 goals in the face which never should have counted at all.
I am not saying that this Arsenal side is perfect or complete, not at all, but Atkinson made it really difficult for us to play our game. I have lost count over how many fouls Ramires made without getting a card. That is just ridicolous.
It’s a bit of both to be honest. First goal should never have been because of Ramires’ clear foul on Coq, second goal was a complete dive by Ramires as Neville pointed out at half time. However, I have to say that even so, we were shambolic in the first half, and blaming the referee is just papering over the cracks. The problems at this football club run far deeper than a couple of dodgy refereeing decisions.
pass was a stray anyhow. poor touch and had to stretch to make a pass that was poor. get a grip and stop complaining about ref
AFC:
Chelski, Chitty and Manure are not our main rivals, not anymore. Spuds, Everton, WBA and Swansea are our main rivals at the moment. One point against the top three says it all really.
True. Atkinson scored both goals
Don’t blame it on the sunshine,
don’t blame it on the moonlight,
don’t blame it on the good times,
blame it on Eboué.
no penis dont blame anyone
Yes AA is a cunt but where were we in the 1st half???
Fuckn nowhere!
We started not strong enough, like against City.
Sagna is totally out of form. Diaby not ready. Cazorla nowhere to be seen…
Walcott had 3 corner kicks given away, and we had 3 good chances from the free kicks but we don t have a man to do them.
2nd half was our best perfomance for long… but we didn t score more then 1 goal.
3 points lost again. 1 out of 9.
Jesus!
Why the fuck can’t we start actually playing until the 45th minute?
Handbrake?
mental block inspired by THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!
Giroud can’t hit a barn door with a banjo it’s not even funny. Once again theo giving giroud a lesson in finishing.
It’s become evident we need another striker.
Dear Mr Wenger,
In future, please give your half time team talk before the start of the match.
arsenal team:
1st half -WTF! speechless, wondering why?
2nd half-WTF! even more speechless and wondering, why now? why not before
I can’t even begin to fathom, where the fuck this team draws inspiration from and why and how and when.
Arrrrrrrrrghhhhh!
I would have expected more active coaching from Wenger in that first half, some shouting at the touchline wouldn’t have been out of order.
“..some shouting at the touchline wouldn’t have been out of order.”
Really? I thought that the touchline did its job quite well.
The second half was the minimum we should expect from an arsenal side there was no excuse for the first. And that’s why we lost.
Agreed, but even with a good performance like in the 2nd half we’re not in the position to beat Chelsea.
Fuck. This. Shit
The Brits looked impressive. I love Giroud but he’s is nowhere near clinical enough. Defense still flimsy against the big boys. Sagna had an off days, he’s still a fantastic RB. It takes us 45 minutes every game to start playing football.
Sagna has had a lot of off days lately. He should have been subbed after 45.
the sight of cazorla hugging Mata at the end of the game like nothing is wrong sums it up for me. the players are prepared to work hard, but if they don’t win, its no big deal. they will still earn their thousands and thousands of pounds a week. sickens me really. mentallity has got to change.
Spot on mate
I think its ok, they are friends. and it was after the game got over we shouldnt really bother and act so “cheap”. And yes they are paid to play for 90 minutes not to have discipline class after the match.
Could not agree more with you.
Cazorla and Mata are great friends and compatriots, so it was natural for them to hug each other.
thats for them to do in their own time mate, not when he is playing for Arsenal.
I bet we will hear the same old shit about the handbrake or the ref. blame yourself wenger. the fact that we had to rely on Arshavin today shows how desperate we are for a few trasnfers
Totally agree mate I’m still fucking struggling to understand something… Since august. Outbound strikers vela/rvp/bendtner/park/chamkh/Campbell.
Strikers brought in: giroud.
Am I missing something?
He performed well during the match and whatever he does after is of no concern to any of us.
you don’t understand do you? I am only saying it is a reflection of how players think. I am 100% sure if man utd had had such a woeful performance, man utd players would not be hugging opposition players. they would be running off in shame
He didn’t perform well during the match. In the 1st half he drifted in far too much and with Gibbs sitting deep with Hazard, we didn’t have any ‘outlet’ on the left. The number of times Jack looked left because right and forward were blocked but no one was there, was shocking. 2nd half gibbs came up a bit which gave an option but Cazorla was still far too central.
Having said that, it’s clear he really needs a break. He’ll be injured soon if he doesn’t get one and when he’s fit, he’s world class.
I agree mate im not going to pick on Santi though. Its been galling me for some time screw the buddy buddy shit. All pally pally in the tunnel before games start loves and cuddles after the match. We are to bloody nice when you have to shake hands with them before the match give them some grief tell them were going to smash them up.
I love santi. but yeah too friendly with opposition. Arsenal ( the players employer) comes first
I feel criticism like these just show how desperate we’ve become as fans. Do you think at the end of a Man U vs Chelsea game any of their fans would make a big deal of Rafael and Ramires hugging? Arsenal fans are scratching around for an excuse for “what’s wrong with this team” as if the team all of a sudden went into decline. But any one who has been watching for over 8 years would have seen this decline slowly growing, and realize that while discouraging, the occasional hug between opposing players is really nothing. In fact if… Read more »
As usual we start playing after first half.
It’s agonizing isn’t it? You do feel that if they had played with the same tempo and commitment in the first half we would have been able to get something out of this game. The only conclusion you can make is that this team is just too inconsistent, on an individual (Giroud was realy poor today) as well as a collective (no cohesion in pressing, organization in the first half today) level.
Aye, i wonder sometimes what they do before kick off, it was the same against Man U away.
I love giroud but please wenger…the only way he is “similar” with ba is if similar means “complete opposite” in french….
I agree I love girouds work rate, the thing is quality defenders look like they are just untroubled by anything he does. Hard worker, but not the main striker of arsenal football club.
Giroud is a really good striker, not sure though if he is “top top quality”. To me, he seems to lack this little something to turn a game around. And very often (especially when the game is quick), it’s suboptimal decision making.
Lets be honest Ba would have a better option than Giroud!
But we need another striker it’s too obvious! we are a goal down with 20mins to go & we have no super sub striker to bring on!!!
It’s baffling.
We have another striker his name is podoslki he will be LANS when he come back from illness. FFS
It is great that we have Giroud but he is not top top player. Now we need at least one CF for the competition.
More thumbs down than up on this comment? Who on earth believes that Giroud is similar to Ba? They look nothing alike and play nothing alike. Ba is no Drogba, but he’s good on his feet, in the air, and is a great poacher. As an Arsenal fan I would love Giroud to become more like Ba! Right now, I wouldn’t say they’re similar though.
Great second half, but the first half was really bad…
Disgusting Chelski supporters, silent cunts..
proud of the boys in the 2nd half. we deserved a draw
The quality of this team is so fucking worrying, noone seems to know their roll in any aspect of the game. Our offence is shite our defense is a shambles, noone has any clue who should be taking set pieces… And on top of that they all look scared shitless whenever we play a half decent team.
Fucking do your job Wenger. The game has evolved and you are not evolving with it.
Was it first four corners cech just breezed into the box untroubled and caught the ball? The set pieces both ways in defense and attack is really poor. Can anyone remember the last time sagna got his cross past the first man? I say jenkinson deserves a run.
Agree sanga looks fucked and has had a run of bad games, jerks was doing great before sanga came back and he’s proberly the best crosser of the ball in the squad
I would bench Sagna. When a good proven player is playing like that it is a sign of future injury or something more serious. 🙁
Goontang not just cech caught the corners easy into his arms because he caught them that easy they made super counter attacks from our corners and cech playing the ball right away
Sagna looks to me like a player running his contract down.
I agree we should be playing Jenks. He may not be as good as Sagna can be[1], but we can rely on a full 90 minutes of hard graft from him.
Then again, when in this season has Sagna been as good as Sagna can be?
The thing that bothers me is that I think Wenger isn’t having any problem ‘adapting’ to the way the game has evolved. In fact, the people we have brought in during the past few transfer windows have been pretty good (with a few obvious exceptions) and the young guys coming up are well adapted to the environment. IMO, the real problem is that there’s no depth and this is causing those new players who are outstanding when at their best to be run into the ground and their quality of play drops in a corresponding manner. You can’t bring in… Read more »
Spot on mate. i think its been a trend for arsene for sometime now. Its the reason fabregas was chronically injured during his time at arsenal.
Anybody have stats on how many fouls that cunt Ramires committed. Having said that , what the fuck was that first half ?? Giroud , Diaby utter shit.
The bench was seriously exposed. Nobody who could have any sort of influence on the bench.
Indeed we had no options on the bench, our squad is so thin its silly.
There were no options from the bench because Podolski and Ox were sick. You can’t really blame Wenger for them catching the flu.
Don’t know but the cunt was’ent even booked
Ramires is a cunt, yes. But he shows that we need a cunt in midfield. Song is exactly the cunt we needed today.
Not if song didn’t want to be at AFC anymore.
Rumour is that it’s the same reason Sagna is off form.
Yes, Song was a glorious cunt who was always contributing something to the squad (opposition pass interception here; fine lob for RVP goal there, etc.). Sagna’s comment about how he “couldn’t believe we let Alex Song go” is the reason he’s not been offered a proper contract extension. And Sagna’s dismal form is 25% due to exhaustion and 75% due to fact he was only offered a “disrespectful” one-year contract extension.
Boy are we in trouble now, another big game lost. For the first time, I’m actually worried about finishing outside the top 4. I really hope Wenger doesn’t blame the ref, our players should just be ‘smarter’.
We won’t finish in top 4. I guess eventually the sale of big players caught up with us. Fuck the board eh? I guess they’ve done what they’ve believed is best for the long term. Wished they had listened to Keynes because” in the long term we’re all dead” . Poor foresight, sacrificing the now for the promise of a future. Not good enough from people paid millions and millions of pounds per year. Really. Not good enough
To be honest, I don’t see us making the champions league this season. If the spuds slump like they’ve always done for the third time, then they will be the biggest idiots. They’ve got a better manager and a stronger team this season.
But who knows, I may be wrong. The spuds will always be idiots.
We were in deep even before the start of the league. Nothing changed except we extended lot’s of players contracts. In future I trust.
Our squad just needs to be better.
Bollocks
I did score.from the wings mind you. lay me off some critics
get out
Fuck… you know when you have terrible weekend, fucked with the flu, sounding like you have shagging demons in your throat when you breathe which causes you not to sleep, and then you feel upbeat thinking about how your beloved Arsenal are playing today! And then this happens…
And then you have to listen to that cunt van persie on pre match interview saying how great it is to play with champions and he’s like that little boy in the sweet shop, I think he likes little boys the cunt
Get the team to show up for the first 45 and not just the second and we would be winning these comfortably. So frustrating seeing a performance like the second half that doesn’t win anything because we are shit for the first half and lose the game in 12 minutes
What’s going on with my Arsenal? We start almost every game horribly and expect to scrape something from the game later on.
Not acceptable.
I think it’s time Wenger admits some players just do not cut it to be in our starting 11.
We need to spend this window and the next.
Ok. but which are the players who are not good enough for us to make a strong team?
Nobody has guts to mention and when somebody says well known names lot’s of thumbs down. Iz is easy to wish to buy buy but who we shold get rid off or never to start a game?
IMO:
Replaceable – Diaby, Santos, Arshavin, Frimpong, Bendtner, Park, Vela
People who’s positions should be strengthened in – Coq, Giroud, Rosicky, Gervinho, Vermaelen.
Even AW says Diaby is the key – meaning he knows we need a strong midfielder.
Left Back, Strong Midfielder, AM/CF a must
CB, Winger – would be nice.
@us gooner, two points of interest.
1- vela hasn’t. Web an arsenal player for quite some time now, we sold him and park never really was an arsenal player so he’s not the problem.
2- please change that picture. It’s scaring the small children and the elderly.
It’s no rocket science, get in the game from the first minute and buy a fucking striker!
Maybe we can buy Torres. He looks great value….
Don’t blame the referee, despite the fact it was an awful performance.
Don’t blame the players that much, although they too played like shit.
All blame must rest on Le Prof. He has the final say on who plays and where, and who we sign. He’s messed up bad, this must be his final season.
Fuck, what has he done to this club?
Where do these people keep coming from?
Why? Who’s fault is it that we lost, then? You want to blame the ref?
Sorry that wasn’t meant for you.
And they ended the winless streak at home with the win over Arsenal courtesy of a penalty resulting from a dive by Cuntirez.
I think your description of the penalty is very generous to Ramires. In fact, for all their dominance in the first half, both goals should have been disallowed
Too right. Never forget who it was who deliberately stamped on Coquelin’s foot, to gain the posession that resulted in the first goal.
We’re in desperat need of Gervinh….
Oh wait…
desperate need for him to never return
Gibbs for me was man of the match, vermaelen also was crucial defensively unfortunately both goals came from the left.
le coq was great until his injury aswell, nice to have the great young players but theres no depth to the squad at all
their left side our right side- to clarify my point
Ye because sanga looks fucked and theo doesn’t get payed enough to help him at the back
Despite the conceded goals, for the first time ever I notied Theo actually try to contribute defensively yesterday. As much as I criticize Theo for being invisible 3 matches out of 4, if out entire starting-11 had Theo’s attitude yesterday we would’ve been Chelski 5-0.
I think us arsenal fan should be supporting Manure today! We wont win the league with this squad and we’re competing for 4th spot and we would ideally want scums to lose. and lose again and then again.
Was pleased with the second half dont know why we started the game after half time.
Players Excellent today: GIBBS, COQ and Vermaelen (Just for the save.)
Are you fuckn insane or it is just you are still in love with rvp? Fuck united, I dnt care what the result of that game is. We have to fight thru on our own.
Shite first half, shite ref. ffs
We did well in the 2nd half but Chelsea are the better team, & deserved to win.
No complaints from me, squad needs improvement asap!
That was the ultimate game of two halves…
Can’t fault the effort for the second half, but we paid the price for a truly dismal, half arsed first half. We need to learn play for 90 minutes
Sick to my stomach at these Jekyll and Hyde performances
This train wreck of a season could end tomorrow and I wouldn’t bat an eye lid
Coquelin and Gibbs.. Take a bow boys absolutely gave everything and although the goals Chelsea scored were disgusting you can’t say we deserve 100% of the spoils for doing 50% of the job.
Fuck if I go home from work at lunch time I lose half a days pay.. Not good enough
Sucks …. But starting slow and giving away a goal like that is suicide
We needed more physicality in our game. With no-one of any quality to provide it.
At the very least we need to start sending messages. For instance, we should have sent Frimpong on with 5 mins to go to just “do” Ramieres. Message then sent “if you foul all game long and the ref does nothing about it, then we, The Arsenal, will”.
Sill I know, but just how I feel at the moment.
1st half was forgetful but 2nd half was much more promising and he played with more drive and yes, agression!
Diaby – problem is he has not played much football due to injuries so those stupid mistakes you eradicate from your game is not something he has been able to do through games and experience. At 26 now, can he stop the silly mistakes?
What a load of bollox, why do we give teams a two goal fucking lead and then come out and play them of the park, the ref was a cunt who gave them cunts everything, ramires dived for peno and cashley cunt cole laughed after he took a yellow for stopping sanga a clear goal chance, we need to get a goal scorer in quick and even do I liked arshavin he’s not interested and needs to go, jack walked of the pitch looking pissed off while the rest high fived and swapped tops, time to sort this mess out
Why can’t we change when something obviously isn’t working? The Coq-Diaby axis worked the other night as they were high up the pitch.
This game they sat on top of the back four and ceded space for the Chavs in the middle of the pitch.
Jack could see it and was constantly at em but why do we only change it at halftime?
We gave them our midfield by playing as a DM not-ready-Diaby and Coq who needed time to adjust. Wilshere was to much AM, so Chelsea used this space in the empty triangle very well, avoiding Wilshere and putting pressure on Diaby and Coq. And also we were not strong enough.
2nd hal Wilsher was playing more in the midfield with Cazorla more in the centar, so that worked better. Coq was more free of hard duties and that was good for him.
The game is 90 mins long, not 45 Arsene. They need a big boot up the arse. Although thats what a captain should do. Vermarlen although played okay is not vocal enough. Jacks the only one that wanted it. Why does it feel were out own enemy? Diaby mistake(looked dazed) lost poss. Then sagna out of position(again). Saying that, Chelsea played well. Ramsey had a good impact, thought Coquelin was our best player with Jack. Too many players hiding in first hald and its so frustrating too watch, if we can switch on from the off, we would be gettig… Read more »
Waiting for Arsene’s laughable excuses. I know Arsene, the snow, the bad weather conditions, but we fought hard… I give up with you.
So when Arsene says we will only sign players if they are quality and make us better. Is he talking about making us champions or getting us to 4th place?
I don’t even know if spending money will fix it to be honest, clearly the players have either the wrong attitude, the wrong instructions or a combination of both. If they can’t step across the white line in the first half and want to die for the club then that to me smacks of poor management. The fact that they are capable of trying only after giving teams a head start tells me that something is broken in our pre-game preparations.
why do we always tend to shoot ourselves in the foot with a fucking rocket launcher in big games? City last week, the 8-2 last season, United at home in the CL semis and now today.
If only Giroud tucked that away after 5 minutes…
Arsenal FC fucked ourselves past summer.
22nd fuckn goal I see on BBC.
Now we are enjoying bloody 24 mil !!!!!!!!!!
we dont foul people…. Thats Not the wenger way…. We play nice and be pansies for 90 mins. Pulling out of tackles, afraid to go on 50/50s, stopping when any player is faking injury, switching off at set pieces…. Yeah thats us…. Fuck….
fuck off with your name.
Man I’m really not keeping my hopes up for 4th spot. And for the first time since I can remember we are likely to finish below Sp*rs. Don’t fool ourselves, last year they only crumbled when Harry got too big for his head, and only then we barely finished 3rd. I hope we can clinch the FA cup though, and give a good run in the CL. Next year with the new commercial deals kicking in we can strengthen with new players whilst keeping the current crop together (yes, full pun intended)
If you look at the penalty, Ramires kicks the ground and trips himself up
http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/gif-szczesny-foul-on-ramires-was-it-a-penalty/
and it says a lot when we have no forward options on the bench other than Arshavin.
I know Gervinho is away and AOC and Podolski are ill, but you shouldn’t have players in the squad who don’t want to be there, how do you expect them to have an impact when they haven’t kicked a ball for months?
“we showed good spirit. I thought the first half we are a bit off physically and not up to the required technical level. We improved that in the second half. We could have won it but chelsea deserved it in the end… Yes…. Hmmm signings? No… No news at all… We have a lot of players coming back and yes we have gervinho as well.” same old arsene hahaha
arsenal its over then…
What the fuck is happening to English football, how can Ramires get given MOTM!!!
The guy out and out cheated to win the penalty for the decisive goal and Niall Quinn gives him MOTM, these actions should be isolated and ubiquitously condemned – not giving him MOTM, no fucking dignity in English football anymore!
Arshavin, a player who has not even made the bench for the most of this season is thrown in with 20 minutes to go, expected to make a difference, in a crucial game against Chelsea. Is that not enough evidence pointing towards a lack of quality throughout the whole squad? Ramsey is looking better recently, but is not an impact sub. No excuses now, show the ambition and find the “top top” quality players or this season will be without any rewards whatsoever. So frustrated
Nobody seems to regret Alex Song… I do. Without him, and especially without Fabregas and van Persie, we are not able to keep possession anymore. It was better in the second half because Chelsea did not maintain the pressure; but in the first half, we saw 38% of the ball, incredible statistic for Arsenal since the matches against Barcelona. The decline of our possession football is almost constant since Wigan: 49% against them, 44% against Newcastle, 56% against Southampton (wow!), 40% against Manchester City, 50% against Chelsea. Notable evolution in our style of play. We don’t make pressing anymore to… Read more »
I don’t regret selling Song but I do regret we did not get an experienced replacement for defensive midfield.
Song was OK not a world beater….too often last year he would try the “wonder final ball” then a simple pass was the best option. I know it worked a couple of times but he is not Cesc and meant to play that role.
Have you ever replaced like for like in the last few years, so why is it not a regret when we loose players? Fact is we lost the nucleus of our team last season and we are finding it hard to find our feet this season. It could have worked in earlier seasons but the game has become more competitive.
You say a defensive midfielders pass was not “the best option” and he gets 13 assists. How many DM’s have such stat?
Why all the thumbs down? He makes a valid point about the change in style, lack of pressing, decline in possession. However, I do feel it doesn’t take a destroyer in midfield to press efficiently.
Thanks. Yes, perhaps it is not the proper solution, but how to improve then?
Coq injury is also a blow
surely at 6.7 mil yanga-mbiwa was worth a punt? Dentral Defender and can play defensive midfield role.
we are apparently trying to hijack the deal away from newcastle.
Pay peanuts, get monkeys!
and here is gareth bale