Last night’s draw with 0-0 has provoked plenty of reaction in the papers, blogs and beyond. Here’s a look at some of it.
Arsène Wenger’s side had the better of the chances and it was unfortunate for them that Olivier Giroud had at least four presentable opportunities without being able to hit the target once. At the final whistle there was booing for the team in second. Not the loudest boos that have been heard here, by any measure. Yet boos, nonetheless. – Daniel Taylor, Guardian.
A draw didn’t help us return to the top of the league, but when you consider a stabilising result was of paramount importance to us, it’s far from appalling. A loss could have had significant repercussions. I’m not one to dwell on the performance and react with hyperbolic fury, nor do I agree with the select few that chose to boo the team at the final whistle. That doesn’t help anything. Whilst we still have a fighting chance, supporting is what we should focus on. – The Armchair Gooner.
There were similarities here to the last time Arsenal needed to recover from a dreadful defeat. They played Chelsea at home immediately after the embarrassment of losing 6-3 at Manchester City, and although a goalless draw against José Mourinho’s side was hardly the end of the world, it felt like an opportunity lost. Another home clean sheet for Arsenal (that’s 11 from 12 games at the Emirates) but their lack of a deadly finisher is costing them. – Amy Lawrence, Guardian.
The most open title chase in many a year is taking shape and we are not out of it, by any stretch of the imagination. It is, however, hard to remind yourself of that having secured just one point out of six against the most vulnerable reigning champions ever. If we miss out by two or three points in May we will remember these two games I fancy. – Goonerholic.
To the surprise of none of their supporters, Arsenal again paid the price for not buying another centre-forward in the January window. t Arsenal miss the pace of Theo Walcott, that ability to race in behind defences. Aaron Ramsey’s dynamism and goal threat were also missed. – Henry Winter, Telegraph.
It’s not all doom and gloom. The table makes it clear: we’re still in the race. I’m not going to prematurely mourn the title. However, I’m inconsolably sad that Arsenal will go through the 2013/14 season having failed to beat the worst United team in decades. We’ve missed the party. – Gunnerblog.
Follow the links for more post-game reading.
Disclaimer: Arseblog News is not responsible for the content of other sites or any of the stuff they might say in the bits that we haven’t picked out that you might not agree with.
Why do idiots have to boo. I was there and thought we played well. Saying that giroud was v innefective yet again. Shouldve bought a striker Arsene.
I disagree – yes, we held them at arms length defensively (thanks to yet another world-class save from SCSZ), but our passing was just off. Don’t see how we played well tonight against a relatively poor united side – failing to create more than a few chances and repeatedly giving the ball away in midfield. Just didn’t look like a title-winning side last night. But still a lot of games to improve and take the trophy…
Giroud is not the problem, our attack has suffered due to absence of our 2 next best goal scorers, Ramsey and Walcott. We never sufficiently replaced them, no need to replace Giroud.
At the moment Bayern should be licking their lips, but I think if we retreat into our defensive shell from now we will be able to stay in the tie with them.
Booing is uncontrollable in such a frustrating night. we should have won and were the players abit more willing to bust a neck or two we would have had knicked this one. Fans probably boo for a thirty second stint then quickly come back to their senses…just sort of letting loose their tight arses after a mixed 90 mins.
May I suggest you see a doctor if you’re suffering from uncontrollable booing?
How do you “Sort” of let loose and what anyway…
Fans were pissed off, so was I and am sure as were the players..
(but also the fact that they get paid to play and we pay to see them play factors in as well)
All im trying to say is that booing from fans is an impulse not something pre-meditated.
Fans were dissapointed at that moment hence boos
Who’s the idiot?
The booing was solely for the fact that in the last minutes and in injury time we had settled for a draw. I was there, I didn’t boo and have never void Arsenal, but that was the frustration for those that did. Don’t listen to how prats in the papers spin it.
I’d agree with that. Also worth noting that ‘We love you Arsenal’ was sung with relative gusto by the majority of remaining fans as the players trudged off the pitch about a minute later.
i love how the commentators, and radio news to day are citing arsenals inability to beat ‘a 7th palce team’ as the proof they are not really title contenders. God forbid someone should write out Chelsea’s results against west ham and west brom and cities defeat to chelsea and draw with norwich all in the last three games, on a piece of paper and smash it into their faces for analysis. they really cherry pick the facts to drag arsenal down in a more of misery. and they’ve been at it for years. wankers. incidentally i agree with gunnerblog most… Read more »
I disagree, the boos were for Arsene Wenger not the players. Fans are sick and tired of him fucking up all the big games because his tactics stink and he refuses to spend to strengthen the squad when it’s obvious there are weaknesses and there’s shitloads of money in the bank.
Wenger never learns, the fans have less patience than ever. 2nd means nothing because we’ve seen it all before and it’s unraveling again in front of our eyes.
at first i had the impulse to respond constructively, but on the second though go fuck youself.
sick and tired of such supporters.
Agreed that the booing was for the lack of ambition in the final two minutes rather than the whole game but it doesn’t excuse it. Fans have a responsibility to think about how there actions translate to the players and there performance didn’t merit that, especially in the context of the season we’re having/
Couldn’t have agreed more with the bloke in front of me who spun round and told two teenagers next to me exactly what he thought of them booing the team as the final whistle went to go one point off top. They proper shit themselves!
Hate to say it but Henry Winter is spot on there with both points. If Wenger feels that Podolski, Sanogo and Bendtner are good enough competition for Giroud then why were none of them coming on with 20 minutes left when he was so clearly off the pace?
also the fact that during the last 2-3 minutes, Arteta, BFG and co. were just passing the ball within themselves ,
then Per started shouting at Arteta, Arteta started flapping his arms and a manure(no upper-case for them) player snatched the ball from one of our players..
that to me showed the mentality we came to the game with…not good…
I was at the match. We were right behind the team. The reason for the boos is because in the last few minutes we stopped playing, Arteta and co kept pointing at other players to knock it back to the keeper. The crowd got frustrated that we never played till the final whistle.
Giroud misses chances which can make a difference in the title race. He missed a glorious one against chelsea and now against MU. And then we have a striker who has scored 46 intl goals for a team which qualifies to semis of WC. every time. Wenger is sometimes too stubborn which is costing us.
Walcott i believe was Wengers plan B now we just knock it around without no real conviction. with Walcott it meant teams have to be on alert everytime because he’s the one we release with one single killer pass instead of 30 pointless passes around the box and before you know it Arteta has the ball back in his own half because Ozil looked for an outlet and found no one.
This has made us less effective its hurting our title chances.
I realy think wenger is afraid to spend money and buy world class players beacuse he is afraid we might not win a trophy with the stars we buy then every body will now point to him as spending in vain which is something he hates. Simply put, wenger is afraid of spending without success
Wenger has more brains than Tottenham. He doesn’t buy players like Capoue, Soldado etc.
Spot on. If he spends he can’t fall back on the same old excuses, so he doesn’t spend. Everything is centered around himself even if it weakens his chances of achieving whatever he wants to achieve.
My hat’s off to James from Gunnerblog. Couldn’t agree more.
Why didnt wenger by another striker ? Everyone knew this from as far bk as summer , hes basicaly had 2 windows and failed to strengthen the team in the atea we need it most. fuckin lyability these days
Really disappointed with last night but what was really evident was how much we missed Walcott. No one to stretch the defence or to run onto a ball over the top. I thought Ozil played well last night, there just isn’t the quality around him to get the best out if him. One worrying point is Wilshere. The ankle injuries have really taken a toll and if Ramsey was fit I think Jack would be on the bench.
Any stat savy followers like to do an interesting table for us?
The games involving us. And the same for united.
I.e United have amassed 4 points in their 2 games, villa have 3, Cardiff have zero.
Just annoyed that teams will have more points from United than we have.
I just can’t help but feel with a prolific striker(I realy don’t care if he isnt worldclass so long as he is prolific) we would be unstopable, and we realy need that pace on the left wing -kelvin mirallas? I think he will become as good as hazard if not better because he is more of a goal threat and he is way stronger, then tracking back, to be honest I don’t know a better winger who tracks back more often than mirallas. I’m just saying I would love kelvin mirallas on the left side of my attack
So to clarify, are you saying you like Kevin Mirallas?
whats wrong with that?
No, he’s saying he likes Kelvin Mirallas.
all 385 degrees of Kelvin Mirallas.
I look at this way: Our fans booed neither because they dislike our own club nor have no faith in our players. It is because we actually care so much and we want this team to do well. Sometimes it is permissible for our passion to come out that way. We can be positive all the time but we shouldn’t be. Sometimes these professionals have to know where they are, and we have to let them know that straightforward. These are not some children that need sweet talk. Not only our performance against Liverpool was simply unacceptable, this is not… Read more »
And one more thing: Wenger mentioned that we were “nervous.” Nervous?! Are you kidding me? These are experienced players who’ve been playing this game for their life at the highest level. There’s a reason why you’re paid so well. You represent the Arsenal Football Club. You should not get nervous whomever you play, whether it’s Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Man Utd. Our attitude should always be “we play to win the game, whomever we play.” I don’t care if it’s only a minute left. You trust your defensive players to do their job, be ready to run back… Read more »
spoken like a true gunner.
But surely you accept the team would be affected by the result against Liverpool. You don’t just throw that off, and as shit as United are, you know you’re facing Rooney, van Persie, Mata and desperately don’t want to lose.
They’re experienced, top level players but also human.
Mirallis bottled coming to arsenal already. He picked everton and said he wanted to play every week
I think the booing was at the manner of our mindset and how we were settling in for a draw. I think. After Sat I wanted to see a reaction from the team. I wanted to see them pressing with conviction and making runs with energy. Instead it was the frightened performance of a boxer that’s just been knocked down after round 1 and is trying to get through the fight by running around, with the occasional jab. This isn’t the mentality of champions, but I’m grateful we’re not in United’s position. We have Giroud as our one credible striker,… Read more »
You know what i really hate is the fact that Wenger is still experimenting on winning the title instead of going all out. such is underlined by placing all his hopes on giroud: staying fit or whether he can fire us to the title on his own; if he somehow stays fit. Also not replacing walcott even for a short period of time when we know how much he was important to our title chances is one of those experimenting things i am talking about.
We risk losing everything and hugely due to Wengers stubborn self.
Here is what I don’t understand…If Giroud is tired as he obviously is then why can’t either Podolski or Bendtner come in? It’s even more obvious when he just needed to make the slightest of touches but yet again was a yard off as he usually is. Wenger needs to realize that while Giroud is great at holding up play, a striker’s main job is to score goals and at the moment he is not doing that.
Podolski must be fucking crap in training. Wenger clearly does not trust him at all if he can’t even get on during last night’s game.
Post 75mins with Giroud looking knackered, Ozil, Carzola and Gibbs exchanging one-twos outside the United box why in the world will Arsene not grow some balls and make the change. Giroud was having a bad day in front of goal already, as such at that point he was not oly sufffering physically but psychologically as well. I don’t buy the notion that we don’t have better options, we had three forward players sitting on the bench who could have offered us a different approach in the box considering Utd wanted to sit back and catch us on the counter. The… Read more »
I think the fans were booing wengers lack of substitutions – should have taken Wilshire and giroud off and brought on the ox and pod or bendy!!!! We needed the points and to prove a point – we did neither!!! Perhaps rather than booing it would make more sense to chant “make a substitution”