Arsene Wenger hailed Arsenal’s fighting spirit after watching his side rescue a point against Everton with two goals in the final seven minutes.
The Gunners were poor in the first half and trailed by two goals at the break as Seamus Coleman and Steven Naismith took advantage of sloppy defending and poor officiating respectively.
Despite looking toothless for much of the second 45 minutes the visitors sprung into life after Aaron Ramsey’s close range finish and dominated the final seven minutes before Olivier Giroud’s fine header snatched an unlikely draw.
Speaking to media after the game, the boss was keen to accentuate the positives from a rollercoaster afternoon on Merseyside.
“We have a great response with complete desire to come back and the spirit was fantastic.
“In the end we got back to 2-2 and we got a strong point but a deserved one if you look at the chances we had, especially in the second half. We came back very late but our spirit got us a point.
“It shows the belief and the resilience is there. The second goal was offside but we took it on the chin and came back.
“When we got beaten 3-0 here it could have been many more. That was quite a flattering score on the day but today I believe we deserved the point we earned and for us to come back from 2-0 down against a team who is good on the counter attack shows that the belief and resilience is there.
“Having said that the second goal was offside and there was a foul before, just before half-time, so it was difficult to swallow. But we took it on the chin and came back in the way we did.”
The boss also took the time to talk about Alexis Sanchez’s performance after the Chilean was substituted at half-time after a tough 45 minutes trying to lead the Gunners attack.
Eager to play down any long term concerns about the Chilean’s quality, he added: “At the moment he is not completely ready physically but I don’t worry about him.
“He knows that he’s not at his best physically and once he’s at his best physically, the confidence will come back. It’s all linked together. It’s always difficult to know why the confidence is not at his best. I believe it’s mainly physical.”
Come on Arsene, buy that defensive mid and the striker and we’ll win this league. These next 9 days are huge!
I thought Sanchez was actually our most positive player in the first half. He’s just not on the same wavelength as his team mates yet.
It was quite obvious he wanted Ox, Ozil and Ramsey to close down the defenders in packs behind him but it was also clear that they’d been specifically told to hold their positions in case of an Everton counterattack.
It ended up being an neither here nor there with our tactics and Sanchez must have been extremely frustrated at the top.
Lol..almost word for word what I was thinking..though I did notice Wenger getting up close to halftime and urging the team to press a lttle more urgently..
First half reminds me of why many Gooners are clamoring for a big midfield ‘destroyer’, someone who can mop up when our attack breaks down and we lose the ball.
Maintaining team shape seems to inhibit our free flowing game to our detriment. Of course these are early days, but you can’t help but worry that unless we find the right balance between attack and defense, bigger teams than Everton willl simply destroy us again.
And that track back and tackle he did was awesome.
Alexis has a great work rate and I’m excited to see how he develops over the season.
Awesome awesome awesome. Took quite a bit out of him. If this guy can get even more spirited when he gets even more fit, that could be something that one can actually be quite excited about. There were soh many great signs to see. Campbell put in a absolute screamer of a cross to Giroud. The applause from Giroud was highly encouraging, as he was the same guy to have criticized Campbell for not tucking the ball into a channel Giroud thought was on. To have played Sanches on his own, and still come away with a respectable result quite… Read more »
agree, he was working so hard…i felt sorry for him he was begging players to help him chase down others…..but his work rate is unreal, even saved us once went all the way back to right back to defend. the problem is this 4-1-4-1, its not a formation that suites are players, there is no with, the wingers end up playing like midfielders….its like we are playing 5-4-1, we need to go back to our 4-2-1-3……that formation last year done us well, i have no idea why wenger is changing it when we won more games then ever before with… Read more »
I think a DM/CM is most important someone tall, powerful and quick.
should be able to play football also
Me personally, I think he needs to bulk up a bit, I think he weighs about 69kg which is very lightweight but I’m confident he’ll get stronger. I already love his workrate and how he directed everyone to press up the pitch, shows he wants the ball, also helped out Debuchy a bit. He’ll be great for us.
Good three points today considering where we were at half time, Giroud did fantastic…. fuck the haters. Also Ozil through the middle in future please
Erm…
three points? did we win?
In a way, I think we did.
So many people waiting to pounce. Now, for the time-being anyway, politely, but firmly, unpounced.
Not a great result, but one hell of a good one.
Took two away from them -who battled us for 4th last season- and got one for us, so indeed it is in a way 3pts.
I’d certainly prefer a real 3 points, mind you.
If we’re going to take anything from this performance (first half in particular) it’s that we’re a work in progress. Playing the pacey Alexis up front instead of the strong Giroud means a pretty drastic change in style. Yet I don’t think our attacking play was all bad. We played some slick passes, we got into some good positions and we almost got through on a few occasions. The problem was the final ball. We seemed too desperate to find it, instead of being a bit more patient. Defensively I thought we were unlucky. That cross from Barry was excellent,… Read more »
Agree with you about the 1st goal conceded. It was a perfect cross from Barry, and Ozil did lose the runner…but I honestly can’t see too many players stopping that run.. Where I think better defence could possibly have averted that goal was before Barry even made the pass..there was not an Arsenal player within10 yards of him when he received the ball..and he then was able to calmly trap it, tee himself up, then make a perfect cross to the onrushing Coleman..a good goal to be sure, but preventable had any Arsenal player bothered to get closer to the… Read more »
Is it just me or does anyone else think that Ozil’s defensive chasing back is often half hearted and therefore useless?
It’s like he’s just going through the motions and has no intention of really catching the guy he’s running after. He’s always a few yards behind running at the same pace.
Contrast that with Alexis who you can see is always really giving it his all.
watch him bust a gut trying to get back for their second
Also take into account that Alexis is two to three weeks into this season ahead of Ozil who’s just gotten back. Ozil giving us a whole game is actually quite impressive. I thought that this was quite amazing.
We lost Ramsy and in steps Ozil?
Along with two really hungry South American youngsters. When last have we seen that at the Arsenal? Two really hungry South Americans, and not the dancing samba smiley faced types either.
Ozil is smacking his lips at the prospects of getting his shop set up. I m sooooh looking forward to that Basiktas game.
Erm, who is the 2nd South American? Campbell is Costa Rican.
Remember, we had to adapt our playing style pretty drastically two years ago, when Giroud arrived and a certain Dutchman walked out on us, leaving us with a completely different style of striker to get used to. The team managed pretty well, and in a season when Theo was top scorer with 21 goals (14 in the league), the HFB was not far behind with 17 (11). I’m sure the team will find ways of accomodating and making the most of Alexis’ skills, as I’m also sure he will become more familiar with the style of the team. I remember… Read more »
Please strengthen Arsene. I for one am not panicking. Il reserve judgement for a few weeks when we should all be fully fit. Good point today boys, just keep pluggin away
My favourite moment of the game: the Everton fans sarcastically cheering at Ramsey’s cross and Giroud thumping it in seconds later 😀
Does anyone else think Victor Wanyama would really improve us?
Yes would be a decent signing, physical, tall, awareness in the tackle. Everything arteta doesnt do. Which means hes not known keeping possession and turning defense into attack so it would not be an upgrade but I would welcome him. Can play cb too.
I wouldn’t think so, no.
I dont know what all the downvotes are for. Wanyama would be a good signing. He’s comfortable on the ball and likes to sit deep. He’s more of a DM mindset than Khedira(box-to-box) is. Whether we’re interested/ Koeman would sell him is a totally different story/
FM tells me he would, MOTD tells me he wouldn’t
To be fair, Steven N’Zonzi was pretty beast as a DM on my FM13 Arsenal team…
Lay off them Saints already. BTW, he is OK but not really at the upper echelon of DM that we should be looking for.
no
Points mean prizes. Well done boys!
Although Wenger was pleased with Girouds performance; I don’t think his misses will of gone unnoticed – a world class striker could of got a hat-trick with that second half. I’m a fan of the arsecast extra and wouldn’t wish an injury on a player in the hope of the possibility of a transfer. I am also a big fan of Giroud (his link up play is great and he puts it in the back of the net on a fairly regular basis), but I really think we need a top striker if we want to win the PL. I… Read more »
I watched Real Madrid match yesterday. The so called world class players missed at least 5 clear cut chances. People should understand that even world class striker misses the chances in matches.
Giroud had 5 shots. There isn’t a striker on earth that has a 60% conversion rate.
Best in the PL January of last season was 33.3%. 1 in 3. Aguero was 21.5% . Giroud had 1 in 5 today, 20%.
His conversion rate IS low, though.
Bendtner had 25% by the way. Second best in the PL (but that was 2 goals in 8 tries). I was also shocked to see he made 8 appearances.
United look close to di maria. That would be the summers best signing. Unless we get Marco Reus. I know it wont solve our main problems but we have ZERO left wingers in the club. Especially if prince pod leaves.
Get the positions we need with Reus and the sky is the limit
Di Maria is an amazing player but for 75 million they really should be focusing on upgrading Blackett, Smalling and Jones. I can already picture Theo and Alexis licking their lips while Di Maria, Shrek and the skunk take turns to sit in Bosscielny’s pocket
Didnt see the match only the higlights but I liked the result. 2-0 down and we equalised. Add Koscielny, Gibbs and Walcott in this team and we are hard to stop from winning games. Alexis also need some time to adapt to the competition. We don’t need players except a defender to cover some depth, we need some time to have a good click in passing. I like the mentality of this team they dont like to lose and will fight for everything for not losing.
Poorly played from the team but its a draw and still underfeated, i think an upgrade on Monreal is more required.
What wrong did monreal do today?
He was fairly solid in defence and even bagged an assist
But what will we do when all the fullbacks are healthy? Side note: That day also happens to be when pigs fly out of John Terry’s ass and Andre Santos drives the speed limit.
Monreal played well.
it looks like we are still in pre-season mode.. hopefully come september we can go out in full flow.
Giroud needs to be more clinical. Always in dangerous situations but needs 4-5 chances to score 1 goal. Needs to bring it down to 2-3.
Ozil not defending for the team costs us many points. Average anonymous play from him today. Wilshere too.
Ramsey is the only forward player we can rely on to make something happen.
And Ox? Alexis? Rosicky? Campbell?
All of them can make something happen. Chin up!
People are really overrating Campbell. He’s achieved nothing yet. His first touches today were quite poor, I thought, especially in contrast to someone like Cazorla.
20% to 25% conversion rate is where all of the league’s top strikers were last year.
Mpls is right. Giroud’s conversion rate is pretty much up there, though of course we’d all love a striker who scored every chance. But people who want to find fault will never let facts get in their way.
How many “top, top” strikers have a 50% conversion rate? Hint: it’s none. How many have a 33% conversion rate? Hint: hardly any.
Problem is Arsene never looks at the opposition before he picks his team. This may of been ok in 2002 but this tactic is no good in 2014. Arsene, please look at who we are playing then train and pick the team accordingly.
Wagner Out!
Why the fuck would he be worried? Jesus the instant reactions from people. Patience my pretties. Fuck me.
If Giroud is out for Wednesday, is it Sanogo or Alexis in the middle? I think it needs to be Alexis. Pace, on the nice pitch at Emirates, is the way to beat Besiktas. Chambo can start on the right again, and if we need a goal late, bring Sanogo on (a la FA Cup Final) to work up top with Alexis.
No Arteta or Ramsey for Wednesday, either. Arsene, can we have a Little Mozart sighting, please?
Özil in the middle please. I don’t believe away to Everton in our second league match of the season was the correct time to experiment with Özil on the left and Alexis upfront.
Our players clearly had no idea what to do in that first half. Physically now most of the team should be ready but I think it’s gonna take a couple more games for the team to gel. Hopefully everything is sorted out before we play City at home.
We got a lucky draw despite the 2nd goal being offside. When are we going to stop being reactionary but rather proactive. Pull your finger out Wenger, get a beast in the midfield and a proper striker with pace, power and height. We need to stop dropping these points.
I wasn’t convinced by Ozil out wide, though required if you put Ramsey and Wilshere in the middle of the park. I think Wenger is sensitive to the criticism coming (unfairly in my view) at Jack and so doesn’t want to drop him or move him out wide. He sees more long term benefit so sacrifices some of the short term by pushing Ozil wide where we know we won’t get as much sound defending. I think his long term decisions and man management tend to be spot on, so while it’s a bit frustrating I’m happy to give the… Read more »
Ozil through the centre is definitely the way forwards. The more of the ball he sees the better for us. May also reduce SOME of his defensive responsibilities. Thought Giroud looked a lot better today than Tuesday. Onwards and upwards. One point better off than we were last season!
I agree- Ozil is at his brilliant best when he can drift to either wing to suit the match and utilize his more highly evolved field of vision.
I thought we were fantastic from the go. We had set up to play on counter and thereby in the beginning we tried nicking the ball and go on counter. Had Ox have slightly better day, we’d have one. He could have scored the first goal. And then game might have been different. As it did not in the first half we decided to go back to our normal game and outplayed Everton in all departments.Had gods (Refs) been smiling on us we’d have scored at least 4. But in the end it was such an entertaining game. Glad to… Read more »
Of what seems to be our first-choice XI:
-Six players have missed at least one of the first three matches (Gibbs, Per, Kos, Arteta, Özil, Theo)
-Another has been subbed on twice (Giroud)
-Two more never played for Arsenal before last Saturday (MD2, Alexis)
-Giroud and Arteta could still be approved upon in the transfer window
Patience.
I hope you mean improved on*
Otherwise that sentence barely makes sense 🙂
Just as they equalized @ the end at the Emirate stadium last season.Payback’s a Bitch. *smiles*
Just a bit too much being said about our players not being physically ready. It seems a little strange that through every other top team was in the same boat, we are the only ones suffuring
We’ve had tougher and extra fixtures remember. Plus United are suffering 🙂 Oh hold on, you said top teams…
Fabregas for Ozil. I got laughed at a month ago when I said I would make that trade straight up. I would still do it now; Ozil doesn’t want anything to do with the football when he doesn’t have it. It’s kind of frustrating at times to watch.
Chambers – another strong game, but I hope KOS is ready soon so we don’t burn this kid out like we’ve done to Wilshere and others before him.
Cesc and Mesut are totally different.
Wow, somebody stated straight up in another post that Ozil gets criticized because people expect him to play an identical role to Cesc. That was spot on.
Ozil Is Not Cesc. It is time to come to personal terms with this fact.
Ramsey is far far closer to Cesc’s role than Ozil.
I guess the boss wanted to beat last week’s record for smallest EPL starting squad, so Giroud had to go. It’s amazing how good Chambers looks at this stage in his career. It’s clear that Alexis is going to be a star for us; it’s just a matter of his learning the system.
Am i the only one who REALLY wants Alex Song back? he’s available and wouldn’t cost more than 10m, + would give cover for the DM and CB (if needed) positions. I think he can be the DM that we need. Solid defensively, bigger, stronger and faster than Arteta but also has the vision and passing quality of Arteta to create and dictate from the back. Song next to Ramsey/Wilshere can give us a strong midfield. No?
Am i the only one who REALLY wants Alex Song back? ……
Yes, he’s yesterdays news, gone, an x player (parrot) leave it out mate , enough already…..
Thought wilshere played okay today. Solid enough if not spectacular. Keep it up mate. Leave off ozil ffs, first game back and at least he has purpose with the ball.
Not a big fan of the 4-3-3 we’ve been playing the last couple of games, I prefer to see a 4-2-3-1 with Alexis as a winger.
Am I the only one who thinks that, apart from his goals (which clearly are of significance), Ramsey’s general play has been very poor over the last 3 games?
A little harsh perhaps but yes he’s clearly not on top form yet
A Draw is a fair birthday present though its not cherry on top of the cake like a win
Like I said on friday… Ox and Sanchez on the flanks… Flame, Jacky and Jesus in the Middle and Giroud up-top… Simples… A Sanchez/Chambo would’ve tracked the run of Coleman properly. We all like Ozil buh defending isnt his thing. And he’s not the fastest and Martinez knows this and that is why he permited Coleman to keep pushing, because Ozil isnt quick enough to hurt them on the counter… If you noticed, most of our counters came on the right because we barely won balls back on the left… Monreal is decent, buh we really shouldnt be going through… Read more »
You’re not the only one who notices Jack’s contributions, don’t worry.
He is one of our most talented and stylish players in my opinion but needs sometimes to play a simpler pass instead of trickery.
What does he mean not confident, I would play Sanchez just for the super super tracking back he does
@ CG: Ramsey is not a striker or even a proper AMF,he’s a utility player that does so much ‘invisible’ work for the team he tracks down,defends,gets ball recoveries and interceptions,he is always the one runnig around pressing the opponents…he might not yet be at his optimal form but he already got 2 goals and that is with people saying he isn’t playing well,I can’t wait to see him start playing well,he will be outstanding…
Would love to see Ozil work as hard as Alexis. Almost seems like he thinks he’s too good for chasing/tackling. Think it would take him up another level, plus it wouldn’t make him seem such a luxury player that the team has to carry
ozil needs to play behind the striker.. not on the left or right. its where he is most dangerous and can dictate the game and scare the midfield more. ramsey and wilshere both cannot play in the same midfield. too many times they where too close together taking each others space. At the minute wengers starting 11 lack balance. ozil on the left was a poor decision today against the premier leagues best right back and lukaku. i felt sorry for monreal today. this game was one where a disciplined lineup was needed but again wilshere and ramsey bombed forward… Read more »
I’d be more worried about questionable tactics and inability to rectify quickly.
Alexis should not play at CF. It is a waste of his talent as he is better going at players and given liberty to roam.
we also need a CBack ASAP. As good as Chambers has been, we could do with a specialist to cover either of Koscielny or Per and afford Chambers the opportunity to play further forward.
Finally, Giroud. Not utterly useless then?
Looking at Ozil performance at world cup for his country, I will be very disappointed if I don’t see the same for Arsenal is season.
Everyone is saying that we need a cdm! we need a cdm wegner! but surely a cb is more important! Let’s be honest ramsey is going to start games that he is fit and wegner has made arteta captain and he trusts him he even said that he eventually expects arteta to sign a contract extension. I think the cdm position is a 50/50 if a good deal and a good player comes up i think wegner will sign but if he doesnt i dont think he is as worried as the rest of us are. Also on that note… Read more »
we seriously seem to be missing the pace of walcott, even with alexis and ox in the team we lack a player to the run in behind. Whilst both of these are only marginally slower than walcott neither of them offer what he does and we will be much improved when he returns. Cant wait to put out this team: Scz, Debuchy, Koscielny, Mertersacker, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Sanchez, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud Would of one with Walcott in the team today, we created lots of chances if i remember correctly nearly double that of everton just lack someone really clinical without… Read more »
i thought he worked hard by pressing players and tracking back when he made a mistake
Has anyone noticed we have pulled 4 points in the 90th minute. I seem to remember a couple of other teams (ManU/ManC) having that ability and doing quite well. I know it is early and it is only 2 games but is this a signal of things to come. play poorly but somehow at the end, find a way to get points.
Flamini makes Arteta look like Messi.
Fortunately, we don’t have Messi playing as our DM. I think our HSC* does that job far better than his dimutive countryman would. Or perhaps you actually meant litereally what you said? But even Flamini, who always looks hassled and ready for a scrap, couldn’t make Messi appear as handsome as our captain. Or maybe you’re saying that when Flamini plays, it makes you wish Arteta was playing in the attack, like Messi? Personally, I thought Flamini had a perfectly respectable game today, better than some of his team-mates; but I agree, if this is what you really mean, that… Read more »
* Handsome Spanish Captain
ps. my mistake. Of course, Messi isn’t Spanish, he just plays for a Spanish team.
I thought I was the only one who has noticed
that about Ramsey!
Arsene should play our midfielders in their best positions. Ozil should have played down the middle. He doesn’t have the pace and energy to play on the left and track back to defend..we should know this by now and play him where we’ll get the best out of him.
Same here! I am ‘high’ on spirit too!
…*gets coat*