Starting XI: Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Cazorla, Ozil, Alexis, Sanogo
Subs: Martinez, Chambers, Rosicky, Campbell, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Podolski
__
Arsenal could only secure a 1-1 draw against promoted Leicester City as Arsene Wenger’s men produced another disjointed performance.
Alexis Sanchez put the Gunners in front on 20 minutes with his second goal in a week before the hosts hit back immediately through Leonardo Ulloa. The second half was an end-to-end affair but despite dominating possession the visitors couldn’t find a winner.
Pre-game
Rotation was the name of the game for Arsene Wenger with injury-prone duo Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain dropping to the bench after their midweek exploits against Besiktas. Aaron Ramsey, suspended on Wednesday in Europe, returned to the starting line-up in front of Mathieu Flamini. Alexis shifted to the right flank with Yaya Sanogo handed the responsibility of leading the attack in the absence of Olivier Giroud.
First half
The opening ten minutes were tight and tense and lacked any real quality from either side. Leicester attempted a couple of raids down their right flank while the Gunners worked the ball back and forward without really penetrating in the final third.
Aaron Ramsey’s deflected long-range shot was the best either side had to offer before a 12th minute clash of heads between Laurent Koscielny and Jeff Schlupp led to the Frenchman receiving length treatment. Looking somewhat dazed he was sent down the tunnel for a few staples looking as Mathieu Flamini temporarily filled in alongside Per Mertesacker.
Riyad Mahrez’s daisy cutter skipped past Szczesny’s right post as Leicester looked to capitalise on their man advantage before Koscielny, sporting a weird blue bandage, returned to the action.
Having looked pretty toothless for 20 minutes, the Gunners then scored with their first meaningful attack. Debuchy and Ramsey worked the ball off the right flank to Cazorla who was hovering on the edge of the box. Assessing his options the Spaniard dinked a ball over the Leicester defence in search of Sanogo, who, unable to make up his mind whether to shoot or pass, did neither. It worked perfectly. The French striker’s miss-kick ricocheted off Kasper Schmeichel who could do nothing as Alexis smashed home the rebound from close range. His second poacher’s goal in two games. (1-0)
Arsenal should have taken the game by the scruff of the neck at that point, but instead conceded an equaliser inside two minutes. The home side worked the ball behind Mertesacker and Debuchy for Schlupp who whipped in a wicked cross for Argentine Leonardo Ulloa to bullet a header past Szczesny. It was actually very similar to the goal Gilberto scored for Arsenal on our last visit to Leicester in 2003. (1-1)
Laurent Koscielny, caught for the goal, was soon subbed off in favour of Calum Chambers. Fingers may well be pointed at the boss for not making that decision sooner, especially with new head injury rules in place this season.
After a manic five minutes the pace slowed down. Sanogo and Alexis both had shots deflected for corners, Ozil hit the wall with a free-kick and Leicester, unsurprisingly, continued to fling high balls into the Arsenal box hoping for more success in the air. The Gunners dealt with the threat with varying degrees of calm but in possession couldn’t find a way of getting behind the Leicester defence.
Second half
Four minutes into the second half the Gunners should have had a penalty when Cazorla’s ankle was clearly clipped just yards from referee Anthony Taylor. The Spaniard could do nothing but laugh when his appeal was dismissed.
A lively presence in the middle Cazorla moments later fired wide after a cute pass by Alexis and set up Ramsey with another lofted ball that the Welshman could only head straight at Schmeichel.
The game became much more stretched and at the other end Ulloa squandered a fine chance to put Leicester ahead finding the side netting with Chambers left on his arse and Szczesny beaten.
Caught offside on a couple of occasions Sanogo finally timed a run behind the Leicester defence following a fine burst by Monreal but the striker’s shot was closed down at close quarters by Schmeichel. Not long after he headed over a Cazorla cross after climbing well inside the six-yard box. His frustration at his own profligacy was clear for all to see.
The 21-year-old didn’t last much longer being replaced by Lukas Podolski. As part of a double substitution in the 75 minute Santi Cazorla also made way with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain charged with energising the attack. Moments after the switch Mesut Ozil went down with an ankle injury, he had no choice but to continue, and substitute Ox also seemed to take a knock.
Following their exertions in midweek the Gunners looked leggy going into the final ten minutes and it was Leicester substitute Jamie Vardy who nearly took advantage. After exposing Flamini and Chambers the striker burst into the box to force a fine save from Szczesny. The Pole picked up a booking in injury-time as Leicester continued to pressure but their own shooting was as bad as ours.
A point on the road isn’t to be sniffed at, but against this level of opposition it feels like points dropped. We remain unbeaten and sit in seventh but five points from a possible nine suggests we’ve got to improve after the Interlull. All eyes now turn to the transfer window which closes tomorrow at 11pm…
Well, that was fucking awful.
I wonder will Arsene regret not subbing Kos for chambers when he got knocked, maybe would not have conceded…
What kind of fucking name is Schlupp anyway
Schlupp schlepped his way down the wing and schlipped a pass inside to……………some schitt.
Sanogo should not be starting games this season. This is not a comment on his age or his potential, but he is currently no good enough to be getting into a side with title aspirations.
The logic has to be – Giroud is injured, so second best striker has to start – i.e. Sanchez. If the boss thinks that Sanchez upfront is not a legitimate tactical option against a newly promoted side then, objectively, we NEED another striker.
Arsene, meet coffee.
I wonder if Arsene will regret not buying a striker…
Can’t blame Sanogo alone for this performance, which was poor all around (Ramsey, for example), but my goodness, he offered nothing and didn’t take his chances. We need better.
How Arsene can say we’re overstocked with strikers and then start Sanogo is beyond me.
Remy would have been better than Sanogo today. Podolski came on Fresh and Sanchez was still pressing higher than him. Poldi Looked disinterested, with one foot out the door.
Sometimes i wish the manager would just say we aren’t going to sign anyone, and its because he’s the boss and he doesn’t want anyone else. Instead he gives weak reasons that will blatantly wind up fans.
“Too many strikers”? give me a break
If I was Poldi, i will be disinterested as S**T, after scoring abt 15goals last season, went on to win d world cup, then being made to sit on d bench for a Sanogoal. keep up d good work Arsene, and pls we dont need another striker, especially when we have Sanogoal!!!!!
not sure if serious…..
@ Dracular – What we are doing is employing Poldi in the same position he played in the WC because it worked for Germany; on the bench
Yaya Sanogo rarely looks like a professional footballer. I can’t believe the club actually PAYS him a wage to play. It’s as if AW was making his team selection this morning, and when he noticed he had a big Giroud shaped hole up front, asked the other players if they knew of anyone who wanted to join for a kick about. When the answer was “no”, he promptly recruited Sanogo from a local pub team. He offers us absolutely NOTHING going forward, and absolutely NOTHING up front. His control was dismal, as was his passing, timing and shooting. And don’t… Read more »
Ummmm – I said all this last season and got smacked about by most on here. Always said he may very well turn out to be ‘it’, but not yet, not now, and certainly not for a title aspiring club.
Want to keep him? – loan him and sign another striker.
I hear Cavani is striking well these days behind Ihbra hat-tricks 😉
Ye, Wenger allways talk about all the strikers we have available (Poldi, Campbell, Sanchez, Sanogo, Walcott etc, yet last season he played Giroud ragged with game after game, and this season when the need arises, his go to man is a youngster so far off premier league level it is not even funny. Sanogo was also tye main sub for Giroud last half of last season. So clearly he does not think any of the other options that we have up top is good enough to play that role. One might wonder why he includes them at all when he… Read more »
The sad thing is not we drew against a team we should be winning, no that feels like déjà vu. The sad thing is that on a day the best striker we had on is a boy who wouldn’t start for even a mid table team, Our manager insists that he has enough strikers to compete for the championship and while he is at it Chelsea with prolly the best striker in the league goes out to buy another striker and not just anyone but rather a proven premier league goal scorer and one who literally begged for an opportunity… Read more »
You know plenty…the club owners are the ones who refuse to question Wenger.
Disappointing to say the least. The worst part was such a lack of drive and enthusiasm to go for the 2nd goal in the last 20 or 15 minutes. Nobody wanted it. The final attack of the game summed it up. I think it was Ox driving into the box and nobody even bothering to make a run to try and get the win. Podolski was thoroughly unenthused. On the bright side Ozil was defending plenty and Alexis is full of energy. I also liked Sanogo, he can do mostly what Giroud can do, plus makes more runs. I know… Read more »
There is no promise in Sanogo, promis is when you watch young strikers like morata, lukaku and even akpom but not Sanogo. He has been raw talent since he arrived last year and now chelsea has signed Remy SMH!!!
Agree about Sanogo’s promise, but surely the problem here is that, once again, Wenger sees high-stakes games as a training ground for young and undeveloped players. Sanogo needs to develop elsewhere, not in PL or CL games for Arsenal.
funny thing is,
like we have seen it with most of the young player we develop…….soon as they become world class, they want to leave.
it is not even worth us wasting and risking so much….so to develop single players.
did ozil, and alexi come to arsenal to help sanago develop?
alexi is watching the Liverpool game and seeing them spending 120m and question himself.
let alone wenger seems to want to destroy ozils carer and make him a winger.
its just fustrating.
Sanogo got talent, but not at the level we need. Lukaku is the same age as Sanogo and a beast of a player allready. Drmic is the same age as Sanogo and was the 3rd highest scoring striker in Bundesliga last season only behind Lewandowski and Mandzukic.
And if we buy young talents, that is the kind of talent we need to look for with our ambition to compete with the best.. Sanogo has got half a season for Arsenal infront of one of the best playmaking midfields in Europe, and got 0 goals to show for it.
Just woeful. I think the Koscielnly substitution hindered the possibility to substitute Ozil when he got clattered. Wilshere would probably have gotten the nod.
That, however, doesn’t justify the late substitutions. The retention of the ball on and in the penalty box was just atrocious. I couldn’t care less if we had 80% possession of the ball over the whole match.
Sanogo shouldn’t get too much stick, it’s not his fault that we need to balance the experience and youthful talent, and at the moment we haven’t got a experienced striker.
And it’s always awful that’s the sad thing. This slow possession game is terrible, football has moved on and it’s all about exploiting quick transitions now. Wenger has been stagnating for years and we all know it. If he wasn’t so stubborn and proud he’d acknowledge this and work to improve ( he had 3 months he should have used to improve himself as a manager) It’s easy to defend against our slow play, easy to counter against our slow play and it makes all our players look so average. It’s been this way for years, 1 FA Cup doesn’t… Read more »
Agreed 100%. Our system is dire, boring and predictable. We have class players, but blunted because of our non-tactics.
Totally agree. Wenger is now holding this club back. It’s SOO frustrating being an Arsenal fan. We all know, other managers all know, the press all know. Wenger knows, but is too stubborn to admit. He will not be sacked, which makes it even more painful being a fan. (And I’ve supported Arsenal for nearly 40 years, before you accuse me of being a ‘johnny come lately’.)
I couldn’t have said it better than you did. All true Arsenal fans should feel the same and call it like it is. There is no desire to win. The manager appears to be bereft of any idea how to manage a lackadaisical game or the team as a whole. He seems rather happy to toy with the emotions of fans so it seems. I am very sad to say the least.
Agree with all this. Why do we always make average teams look so good? But for two last gasp goals this season we’d be level on points with ManUre. Probably won’t be long before we are. We need to change the system. It’s dull, predictable and easy to play against.
Soooooooo frustrating.
I don’t think we’ve played well in any single game this season. Not even in patches. Worrying stuff.
We could have Falcao and Carvalho and with Wenger’s tippy tappy tactics, we’d still have drawn this game.
No, Falcao would have put away the chances.
No, Falcao in a Wenger shirt, would look clueless as well.
We’re really looking a pale shadow of the team this time last year. It’s not the personnel, it’s the lack of sharpness — somehow we’re just not on each others’ wavelength like we were last season. And yet there was so much promise for this season, so much hope and optimism after the Cup win, the signing of Alexis, and all the noises about how good the team spirit is. But it just ain’t working somehow. TBH, I woulddn’t point the finger at anyone in particular, nor at the fact that we’re currently missing three very important players in Walcott,… Read more »
We could easily have lost today.
That was fucking pathetic. Buy a striker Wenger, or leave.
Seriously?!?!
I agree that we need another, but this performance lacked so many other things! We could have had Falcao or Cavani up there, but we still wouldn’t have won the game, as long as our team performance is that shitty.
Have to disagree. It’s not about Falcao or Cavani, but a clinical striker up front would have made all the difference today. Hell we would probably have won even with Giroud up there. After all what we lacked most today was the finishing, the end product.
We need something at every position right up the spine, a CF, a better creative mid, a DM and a centerback (if only for depth when Kos gets injured, like, you know today). I like Sanchez but he’s not a CF and he gives the ball away a ton. We could have had who has maybe been the best playmaking mid in the Prem so far the year for the price of a cheap-ass buyback clause and we passed. And I love Flamini but we need an upgrade over him (and Arteta). Everything we haven’t done for the last two-plus… Read more »
Shitty the champions lost to Stoke. Just saying
A top striker would help, but I agree there’s a far larger problem here than just that. And I think Wenger is the root of it. It’s gotten to the point where every Arsenal fan has that day when it just clicks and you think ‘ Jaysus, Wenger’s not very good anymore is he? I’m not kidding myself anymore f*ck this’ Any Arsenal fan who hasn’t gone through this yet will soon enough. It never changes and it’s a bit depressing
I went through this years ago. The problem is that no one in the organization is willing to stand up to him and force him to change his ways. Having such an uninterested owner doesn’t help either.
Koscielny – well, hopefully thats the last we’ve seen of him for a long time.
Sanogo – He’s still got time to develop a new profession, like mechanic or a dentist. Just look at Venga, the economist turned football mangaahh.
Ozil – should you have gone on to become a footballer, you couldn’t have gone much wrong by just being invisible.
Ramsey – back to his good old shit days all over again. Jesus
That’s welsh Jesus to you
@New Shuttle
Obvious troll is obvious . . .
I love Arsene’s reluctance to make subs…
Plan A doesn’t work ? Let’s try Plan A some more then.
Or Podolski. Which is Plan No-Fucking-Clue.
Yeah, poldi was pony
And when he makes one it’s the wrong one. It boggles my mind that he has taken off Cazorla instead of Özil. Also Ramsey should been taken off at half time. His decision making is poor, every pass must be damn fancy flick, playing it simple is too easy for him it seems.
I love it when it works, but there’s a fine line between remaining calm, and negligence. Wenger needs to sort it out because it gets right on my tits on days like today.
Agree, where’s Rozza been this season? The one midfielder we have who can quicken things up and make a difference.
Wenger out!!!
When Yaya scores we riot!
Ramsey should have squared the ball instead of trying to score himself. Would have been a tap in for Sanogo.
I don’t know man. Seeing some of Sanogo’s touches, he might have hit it over the crossbar.
would you have passed to him after seeing his previous (lack of) goal scoring ?
I reckon he’ll be an absolute beast one day but he’s not there now, and its unfair to put him there as an excuse not to buy.
When Wenger says ‘I bought Sanchez to play as a striker’, does he mean a wide forward who will frequently play like Gervinho?
Gervinho ? Haha I hope not !
Gervinho scored for Roma on their first game, back playing for his old manager and he is doing just fine
and its unfair to put him there as an excuse not to buy…….
Absolutely, unfair on Sanogo, the team and the fans…….. Why was Rozza not on the pitch, and why not play Ozil as a no 10? WTF is AW up to? Its sooooo frustrating, again.
Striker please !!!!!
Benzema? After Madrid buy Falcao?
Poor.
Referee let them walk all over us today. In saying that, we had our chances and sanogo missed every single one. Really hate the phrase ” world class” but can’t help a better striker would have won us 2 points today.
Already 4 points behind top. Bring on the break
Yet another match where the team just haven’t gelled at all and our apparent “abundance” of striker options fails to produce anything. Why Sanogo started, let alone played 75 minutes, is beyond me and the need for a proper centre-forward at the club is evident to all. Not only that but the fact that we are currently playing ALL our fit defenders (assuming Kos will in fact be out) is a serious concern. Once again we’ve reached the end of the transfer window and our need for players remains clear, but Wenger still pursues makeshift options with inexperienced players like… Read more »
Very well put, we share the same sentiments.. but you’re missing the most important issue here.
Do you know how difficult it will be to play FIFA online getting matched up against dortmund, psg and utd with this arsenal squad.
ARSENE! Y U NO FINK OF FIFA????
4 points behind and only the 105 to play for.
Shall we keep a little perspective……
Haha mate I didn’t say it was all doom and gloom because we’re 4 points behind. But we’re not showing great signs that we’ll improve and as long as we have sanogo upfront, we aren’t gonna be able to win tight games like today.
All the people hoping for giroud to be injured so we buy someone should have been careful what they wished for !!
35 games to go to find form. Exactly the same comments after Villa last year. Lots of toy s out of prams. Didnt turn out too bad in the end. I choose to judge a book when I get to the end. Not from the dust jacket. Clearly things need to improve but knee jerk reactions don’t carry much weight.
“Didnt turn out too bad in the end.” Nice to win a trophy but we were top of the table for a long time last season. The title was there for the taking. But Wenger failed to go out and shore up a couple of places in January, that after watching us fall apart for about the six previous Februaries in a row. And guess what? We fell apart in February again. We need some upgrades and replacements. Doubt any are coming through the door. So it’s not frustration after thee games so much as frustration after 7 or 8… Read more »
“Didnt turn out too bad in the end.”
If you ignore being ass-raped by the top five.
I think if you read my comment, you won’t find much knee jerk reaction at all. didn’t ask for wenger out, didn’t ask for messi and ronaldo to be signed .
all i said was that at this moment in time, Sanogo shouldn’t be leading the line at a club like arsenal. enjoy your optimism though, i wish i had it
Yeah, ok. Nothing’s ever good enough. First it was “we haven’t anything in x years”. Then it’s “The FA Cup isn’t good enough”. Right, make up your minds. Nothing’s ever good enough for some people when it’s Wenger. Us “falling apart” had nothing to do with the January window, it had to do with an unusually large number of injuries to key players. And oh yes, that’s Wenger’s fault. But he’s gone out and got Shad. Plus he’s the one who gave us the world class training and medical facilities we have. ClockEndRider is right. It’s only three games, there’s… Read more »
And “ass-raped” is no way to refer to a football match.
“Us “falling apart” had nothing to do with the January window, it had to do with an unusually large number of injuries to key players. And oh yes, that’s Wenger’s fault.” It is. There’s over-reliance on a few players in a relatively thin squad given that we’re in four tournaments leads to increase susceptibility to injury. A couple of signings in Jan could have mitigated that (hell even the guy we did sign on loan was injured so he was useless when we actually needed him). Notice how after we crash out of the Carling Cup and the Champions League… Read more »
Sorry, can’t manage it today. I can keep perspective when we drop points to better teams, but Leicester City? Of all the points available in a season its these you expect to get, because you know we’ll drop more against the top sides.
We’re in mid-table form at the start of this season, and it’s worrying. Not just the points dropped, but our overall team performances, it’s all very, very disappointing.
Let’s agree on one thing: Leicester were not rubbish today. They’re a very good Championship side, they’re good on the break, and they roughed us up. But I thought, putting aside their fast wingers and some neat moves in and around out box, they were agricultural: so many long balls, and lots of clever niggly little fouls, grabbing and grubbing, that the ref should have picked up on and stamped out from the start. I heard someone saying that Arsenal players aren’t robust enough against persistent tackling, and that the ref was very good at letting the play continue, but… Read more »
we made leicester look good
Why is it that after every single game we moan about the ref. We were very very poor and it wasn’t due to the ref that we failed to win. Leicester actually had two chances that they should have scored. How many times did we trouble their keeper today? was that also the ref’s fault. Was it the ref who made Wenger keep ox, Podolski, Campbell on the bench and play ozil on the wing? We did not deserve to win today and Wenger needs to get his shit together. His decision making and tactics were very poor. You look… Read more »
It was a game in which we kept the possession and they created the chances. Our chances were half hearted; they created better.
We are getting very very predictable. No creativity. And when everything is as slow as today defending against us is very easy.
Hate to say it but I liked watching Liverpool beating shit today. They have much pace, good positioning and spirit.:(
They are incredibly fun to watch! They show a dynamism that Arsenal are sorely lacking.
That wasn’t very good, was it?
Utter shit. City will destroy us again two weeks from now.
Yes it wasn’t the most heartwarming performance but we drew away at a side who gave chelsea a lot of trouble at Stamford Bridge and who managed to get a point at Everton. Meanwhile, City lost at home to Stoke so let’s have a bit of perspective. That said, a shitty performance and we need better.
Their performance yesterday supports that theory.
Guess what, they lost last season to Norwich at home. As far as I recall, they were still the champions and they still spanked us 6-3. One bad result doesn’t mean anything. Meanwhile, we’ve been playing like shit in all our games, (probably) won’t have any stirkers bar Sanogo and looks like we’ve picked some more injuries today and moreover, there’s an interlull coming and we’ve been traditionally shit after those (so shit on top of shit as it stands).
So you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not overly optimistic about our next game.
Shit game. Get Sonogo on loan, get a fucking striker. This is absurd.
*Sanogo
Whoever!
Our play got worse after Sanogo left.
Premier league contenders? You’re having a fucking laugh!
I guarantee we will be top of the league at the turn of the year, to finish as disastrously as ever and settling in for fourth place. You can call me a prophet.
Anthony Taylor, who officiated the debacle on the opening day of last season has once again shown he is a cunt.
Hate it when he officiates
Anyone know the win rate when Anthony Taylor officiates compared to say, Jon Moss?
I haven’t delved deeply into the stats but the former should be investigated for corruption- especially on his transactions with that Russian blood-money laundering vehicle popularly known as Chelsea.
It’s embarrassing for a club like Arsenal to be spearheaded by Sanogo.
its embarrassing to not be able to create clear cut chances against a newly promoted side
its more embarrassing how chelsea walked over teams we got draws with
I hate to be the one saying it, but we are NOT going to win the league by playing like that given Chelsea’s and Liverpool’s performance this week.
Chelsea have already set the mark. Nine point out of nine and the difference between their demolition of Everton and our performance there shows the gap. He’s got to sign a Centre Half after TVs departure.
I can’t see him signing a forward but we certainly need one. Or it’s the fourth placed Cup – yet again.
Ditto.
Admittedly Chelsea played a decent Everton side but I don’t think you can read too much into Liverpool’s result as Spuds are cunts and can only be trusted to regularly affirm their own shitness
People will criticise Sanogo but what is the point of Podolski
He had 13 mins only. What could he have possibly done? The changes came perhaps too late. And Sanogo doesn’t look like scoring anytime soon, does he?
My god, people! Podolski came on in the 77th minute and barely saw the ball. What the fuck do you expect him to do?
To see more of the ball 😀
You have 29 hours wenger
How anyone can possibly thumb that down is beyond me.
Does anyone seriously think that this squad – as it stands – can win anything ? Even top 4 is questionable without two strong additions.
You have to be demented to thumb this down. Really, morons.
For all the positivity going into the season, we haven’t had a decent game yet. At this point in time we don’t look like we can compete for the title. We need to sign players, we can’t win the title with sanogo.
The ‘Wenger’ game-plan: Pass it until you find a hole. Sad! Same old, same old. It fails more often than not. Getting the feeling that the results depend on the opposing team’s mood.
Oh it’s ok, we have Sanogo and Podolski and Campbell! What a joke
I get the meaning, but I don’t think its fair to criticize Podolski. What could he do in less than 10 minutes in the first game of his season. Given one of the chances that Sanogo got today, he would’ve converted.
He wouldn’t have got the chances, not that there were any other than the goal. He does not move.
Very poor performance. Our hopes lie on Sanogo? Really, Arsene?
You cannot play this way and expect to win the league. This needs sorting out now.
Who are we kidding? We aren’t winning the league this year. Just being realistic.
Same old same old.
Meh…
Arsene, what’s the point buying players like Ozil and Sanchez, if you decide to play a drunk daddy long legs as centre forward?
4 points behind the chavs already. Stop being stubborn and buy a striker!
You can have all the creative players in the world. If you haven’t got a striker up top that can score AND make runs to free up others, there’s no fuckin point.
Unfair to put Sanogo in this position, but we’ve left it too fuckin late to do anything now.
Cazorla can’t start the next game, we need outright pace on the wings (Campbell, Sanchez, Ox and Walcott when he is fit) not people constantly drifting in and not making runs. That is when we are at our best. That way it gives Ozil more outlets and whoever is playing as our striker isn’t burdened with all the responsibility of bringing players into the mix. Bad result, I don’t care that we were playing away but we live and learn from our mistakes COYG let’s show City what we are really made of.
Now I’m a huge fan of Ozil and completely get that a lot of what he does is too subtle for the press numpties and Jamies. But personally I thought that was far and away Ozils worst game since he came. Frankly the fact that it didn’t show when he was off injured says it all about his performance today. He’s had a year now. time to start paying back the fee.
Now stop right there. He’s been played on the left wing, and today he was on the left and the right. Those are not his positions. Even though it is his second season, he completely missed the pre-season, what with the small matter of winning the World Cup, and that definitely affects a player’s performance. Not just for fitness and sharpness, but for building that understanding on the pitch. And today he made 2 tackles and 3 interceptions, created 3 chances and had 2 shots, and an 89% passing record. Not exactly a shit match, especially when you consider that… Read more »
Painfully toothless.
Showed signs of promise but pretty poor overall. Why did Wenger say Poldi wont be playing as a striker but then played him as one? Need to do better than that if we want to win the league. Need to start playing Ozild down the middle. And Cazorla is now a shadow of his former self
The Leicester no. 7 fouled from start to finish, breaking the game up all the way through with deliberate professional fouls as well as some awful deliberate stamping. The referee managed to finally book him after 80 odd minutes. What a fucking joke of a human being Taylor is.
Poor performance all around. Ponderous in the final third with players getting in each others way. Sanogo is not good enough: AW’s faith in him is misplaced. AW substitutions were untimely with Koscielny and Sanogo/Cazorla. We keep losing ground to our rivals and weve got Man City next?
Most will say a draw is decent enough, but against a team like Leicester City we should have won. Lots of areas to improve in. Hope for better after the break.
For all those thumbing my Wenger out comment – just because he has agreed to spend on players a couple of times in the past two years doesn’t make him a good manager. He lacks creativity when, like today, we needed something different to get ahead in the game. What does he do? Nothing. He waits until the 79th minute and then brings on the Ox and Podolski. What’s the fucking point of having Joel Campbell on the bench?
That was a fucking terrible performance. We will win fuck all this hear playing like that. No more *bedding in/tired* excuses!
Chelsea put six past Everton and we limp to that …. do me a favour.
If we want a realistic crack at the title we need a world class striker, steel in midflield and another centreback. I hope there are negotiations going on behind the scenes for AW’s sake because this is not good enough.
Leicester are a very decent side so that’s not a bad point away to them.
That said, the same deficiencies that dogged us last year look like not being addressed this year again. Toothless up front, overly elaborate around the box, weak in central midfield, and very likely to concede on the counter with offensive players relaxed about getting back.
Why did Arsene do the formality of making subs at all?
Tell me again how Sanogo is in the team for his ‘raw potential’ and his hold up play and work ethic.
The faith in Sanogo is unjustified, at least compared to the limited opportunities provided to Podolski.
Substitutions made with 10 mins left. Seriously?
2 massive points dropped.
I’m sure even Campbell would have done better than Sanogo. Why doesn’t Wenger play him?!
Anything less than 2 players before the window closes and this club will yet again prove they know how to fuck things up when it would actually be easier to do what is necessary. Sanogo will come good, but we don’t have time to let him make his mistakes. For fuck sake do you know how infuriating seeing a fucked up classless team like Chelsea just doing the right business at the right time? Why the fuck am I sitting here jealous of Chelsea!? Anyway, back under a rock until Tuesday. I can’t deal with the madness between now and… Read more »
Sanogo is like one of those wacky waving arm flailing inflatable tube men. He frustrated the hell out of me today. There is a glaring need for a striker to fill Olivier’s boots for the next few months. Yes, we have Alexis and he’s great but we can’t expect him to spearhead our attack on his own. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow but I thought Sanogo was a bit fucking shit today, to be blunt.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.roosterteeth.com/images/IModHalo430ab2da99b6a.jpg
Well at least on the bright side this game showed Wenger what he needs to do tomorrow.
i doubt he will do fuck all if he feels like being stubborn
It is crazy when you have a world class med field and the striker is sanogo, i feel sorry for the poor boy because it is clear who the fans will vent their anger on, Am sorry wenger we are ok with sanogo coming on in the last few mins of a match, or even starting him knowing there is a better striker on the bench who is coming on, but telling us he is the answer to our problem for the next 4 months is like asking me to put a loaded gun into my enemies hand, pls put… Read more »
are you some kind of mafia guy? be honest
I wish Wenger were mafiosa–to get top class players Don Arsene could make them offers they couldn’t refuse.
I told you Sanogo is not ready – where are the thumbs downers now?
It’s already too late this season :-((
Just the 35 games to go.
You’re a real one for when the chips are down.
Another inept performance. Wengers stubbornness is costing us again. We all can see we need a holding midfielder and a world class striker. Yet he persists with shite to prove a point. Sanogo is no footballer let alone a striker. We can kiss goodbye to any hopes of a title challenge this year. But as long as we finish top 4 and have a nice little cup run the board will be happy and Wenger will continue to stink the place out. What a waste of my Sunday.
And that’s the problem, there is no pressure on him because throughout the organization there is no ambition. And Kroenke is only in it for the money.
Time to spend Wenger – we are already a point down on last season!!!
This team does not look fit
What is the most appropriate english word to describe our performance?
Skidmarks.
We can just use blog’s poo-o-meter and give 10 poos
Shit on a Handbrake
Well, on the basis of our first three games we are nowhere near title-winning material. Nowhere near. Unless something really ambitious happens in the next 30 hours we are going to be also rans to the rich daddies and the hubcap thieves again.
now everyone will clamour for a striker. I wouldnt have but it looked like the ox and ozil got injured (our injury hoodoo is too damn high) so perhaps cover is needed. striker makes sense but literally noone is avaliable. remy has gone of to chelsea. anyone fancy abit of falcao or cavani (joking)
The problem is the lack of an proper striker and an defensive midfielder :P, Everyone can see that. Sanogo should be loaned out to the Championship or League 1 or whatever league he is good enough for, because he certainly isn’t a premier league player..
Potential to be a decent player but in all honesty: he is not good enough for premier league football.