Sometimes a 2-2 draw feels like a win (vs Everton), sometimes a 2-2 draw feels frustrating (vs Man City) and sometimes a 2-2 draw, like today vs Hull, feels like you’ve just downed a pint of your own diarrhoea out of a cup made of burnt hair.
So what did Arsene Wenger make of his side’s latest ‘Desmond’? Well, unsurprisingly, he wasn’t best pleased with his side’s performance, the referee, Hull’s timewasting or indeed, the result.
“It was a disappointing afternoon because we got a point but we had 80 per cent possession,” he told his post-game press conference.
“It is a very disappointing result. We were unlucky with the referee on the first goal but on the second goal we can only blame ourselves.
“We came out of the dressing room with a lack of focus and gave them the lead straight away. It was difficult. I cannot fault the effort or the heart that we had in the game. The defensive concentration was missing on the second goal and when you make it difficult at that level you cannot give the goals away like that.”
Conceding twice from two shots on goal shouldn’t – given the regularity with which we repeat the feat – really surprise supporters these days. But that doesn’t make it feel any less like a kick in the gonads from a size 12 steel-capped Dr Martens boot.
Weirdly though, despite the fact Arsenal were abject for most of the game, the boss reckoned we weren’t actually that bad.
“If you watch the game again you will be surprised that we played better than the result indicates. Even in the last five minutes we had three clear-cut chances on goal. It’s difficult when we play against teams who are physically stronger and organised.
“It was 10 against 10 in one half and that’s always difficult. This was the kind of game where we couldn’t afford to concede another goal when we came out at 1-1. We know that – we have enough experience to know that and we cannot give a goal away like we did.
“They had two shots on goal in the whole game. At Chelsea we had three shots on goal in the whole game. We conceded two goals. It’s difficult to score three goals against any team in the world.”
The boss concluded by admitting that an 11 point gap on Chelsea is obviously something to worry about. Given our title hopes are in the toilet and it’s not even October, he’s not wrong.
“Of course [it’s a concern]. I cannot say it’s not a concern, it’s a big concern because the other teams have won their games and we haven’t. I cannot say it’s not a big concern.”
FFS
As much as I love u Wenger, d results of present times are d rewards of ur stubbornness from d past. Waiting to see if you’ve learnt anything in January.
Seriously, how hard is it to spell “the” and “you”?
“ur”? Wasn’t that a city in Babylon?
As other have recently posted, it’s the fucking sameness that kills me, this could have been any game from the last 5 years. Last year was exceptional because we seemed to pull it off against all the “small” teams, at the time I worried we were just getting lucky -now it looks like that was the case. We are worse this year and every draw, every loss, will dig away at the teams confidence. As others are posting, and do so after every disappointing result, it all rests at Wenger’s feet. I don’t think he knows how to build a… Read more »
Despite everyone’s (mine included) dark concerns over the current state of affairs over at the Emirates, I cannot help but feel that this opening season is remarkably like our recent 2012-13 season. A few new names, and somehow a distinct lack of understanding between our existing players, and a penchant for not scoring. Although that season was equally frustrating in its own right, my current frustration is compounded equivalent to the amount of money we have spent in comparison to 2012-2013. Why is it that our players truly seem to enjoy rolling the ball to the opposition in the final… Read more »
That FA cup was just paper to the cracks.
can we Lament on a lack of a Centre Back Singning
I dunno…Per does an excellent rendition of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ after a couple of pints.
LOL followed u just for that one
It’s frustrating again that Wenger appears to be lying. We were linked incredibly heavily with Manolas as I’m sure you all remember – how can he claim we couldn’t find somebody? We fucking found him, we just played brinkmanship with the money and he went to a better offer. Now the guy is a revelation in Italy.
The blame for the mess we’re in lies fairly and squarely at AW’s door. You can’t moan, on the one hand, about the negative impact that the world cup has on team preparation, and then try and impose a new system which ends up negating the qualities that players can bring, to the point that no one seems to have a fuckin clue where they should be at any given point. And as shit as that cunt of a ref was today, there isn’t an excuse for not having enough not to beat fuckin Hull at home. Get back to… Read more »
Piss poor..the blame rests with the manager
And do we ever practice in game management?
Days were we’d regularly train 10 v 11, as it was inevitable we’d have a man sent off every other game. So we became experts at winning with a man down.
These days, the only ones that seem surprised when we concede are the players. And game in game out, it totally knocks them out of their stride and they can’t recover.
Surely they must talk about this sort of shit and work to manage it better?
was asking for a center back and defensive midfielder too much to ask for as they are the cheapest positions to buy for???
Urgh, will it ever work for us. I spose Hull wanted revenge for the cup final but after Flamini was so good against Chelsea he kinda killed us here; why not clear it for gods sake. I mean there was a point in the first half where we were hammering them so bad Hull actually stopped playing and the frustrating thing is we let them back into the game. No words for the Ref btw, complete amateur. It feels incredibly unfair but I still feel there’s too much quality in this side once theo and ramsey are back for us… Read more »
An average height left back at centre half who doesn’t know how to play there and isn’t good in the air.
It’s painful to watch.
Monreal had a decent game. Mertesacker was far worse and he’s well above average height..
He can’t jump for shit. And strikers shrug him off as if he isn’t there. He seems a decent tackler and his positioning is good, but I would never play him against a decent striker. He just seems inferior. As much as I hate to point that out.
Which is exactly why we didn’t need a back up for Per, we needed someone to compete with him & rotate in certain matches. It’s exactly what Loew did in the WC, played Per against certain teams & didn’t against others. Something like that will never happen tho bc that involves actual tactics from Wenger & adapting to our opposition on a game-by-game basis. Per is a great backup or rotational starter for a title-aspiring side & someone I love having here but no way is he an answer to the CB issue……especially getting older.
The sad thing is this is not one off. Take Chelsea they couldn’t focus for 90 minutes. Wenger it may be time to change tack and drill this into the numb skulls of the players that habitually commit turn overs to the opponents or in the case of BFG he was on snooze” . It also reflects the laughable approach to teams the players feel they are better than. We are becoming a reactive club, we wait for things to happen in the transfer market then scramble for the crumbs, in games we should kill off or win easily we… Read more »
I want 11 Alexis Sanchez to start the next game.
I can’t fault you for your wish on the basis of Alexis’ work rate..but then consider our side playing like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv0IWN1GCSo
😉
Absolutely hate to say this but I don’t think he’ll stick around for long. He’s clearly a class above the rest, and probably deserves a bit more too. This is the thing with signing top players. You need to make sure you build the team accordingly, and not just make emergency deadline day signings.
Nothing will change until we get rid of Wenger.
He should have left at the end of last season now we have three more years of this shit.
Wenger is a dictator, with total control of the club’s affairs. He is not a manager, he is like a Lord Protector or something akin to that. The club is so precious to him, he is afraid to give it to someone else in case they convert to a 4-4-2 system, overnight with the prospect of upsetting his little prodigies. Until he calls it a day Arsenal will cause 75% of fans heartache and anger every game with his outmoded tactics, 70 minute substitions and blind insistence on playing like the Barcelona team of a few years back. Lets face… Read more »
If Everton, Spu*s and Liverpool, who have arguably played even worse than us, can hit form eventually, why can’t we?
Because we are always injured.
So Mr. Wenger, we didn’t need Fabregas? You lost your grip on reality years ago when you persisted with third-raters like Ebou, Denilson, Djourou etc for season after season. The Directors are happy for you to balance the books with Champions League football. Clueless again today. Wenger you must fall on your swi4d.
Flamini yet again. The sad bit was it was Diami who was ours for the taking the past three years.
Nobody wants Diame. what we want (and need) is a defense that won’t let people just run to our goal.
The thing is wenger has played 8 games with 8 different player forMartion I think none of player has played regular…
Terrible result.
I’d like to see a stats piece on how many shots it takes opponents to score against us compared with the rest of the league. Feels like we concede from almost every shot, whereas even top class strikers convert maybe 25% of their shots.
I can’t take Wenger any more. He’s made this club great and then absolutely ruined us. Anyone want a season ticket?
If we finish top 4 I’ll eat my hat.
Wenger’s past it. Should have left on a high note at the end of last season with the cup final win.
He can’t complain about most of is. It’s his job to motivate the players, it’s his job to get the tactics right and make sure the players know what to do, and it was his job in the summer to buy the centre-half and defensive midfielder that this squad direly needs. But he’s failed on all these fronts.
Spot on, with that !
Sometimes i wonder if we assume our opponent defenders to be bunch of dead woods where we can just walk the ball into the net. if u cant beat hull at home, how do you expect to beat the chavs away?
Hard enough to concentrate just watching this shit, can’t blame the players for having lapses.
Well at least he gave reality a passing kiss by admitting Chelski’s 22 point from 24 is a concern when set against our 11 from 24. And another plus :- he managed to avoid the customary crap about’ mental strength’ and ‘playing with the hand break on’. What is more dispiriting is that the clocks haven’t gone back yet and the 4th place Cup is already this League Campaign’s BIG ‘Ask’. The LC has gone. The CL is like Maralyn Monroe’s tits – an unattainable fantasy. That leaves the FA Cup. Lightening is unlikely to strike twice in successive years… Read more »
Arsenal will improve once this man has left.
If people don’t think there is a manager who do better than 11 points from 24 then they should go and follow rugby union.
I have no confidence in this manager or who jellyfish football team…
Look at what a young manager like Koeman have done with the saints. Give him the resourses and players of Arsenal and we will be contenders on all fronts. Keep Wenger and get dragged further and further away from the top.
By the way; What do people on here think RVP, Falcao, Di Maria and Rooney will do with this joke of a defence and organisation? Nother 8 in the arse?
“We came out of the dressing room with a lack of focus and gave them the lead straight away.”
Leaving the dressing room with a lack of focus? Well whose fault is that then?
Arsenal fans think Jose Mourinho is the antichrist – the ultimate enemy of Arsenal and all it stands for. I don’t The truth is that Mr Mourinho is absolutely spot on about Arsenal and most particularly about Arsene Wenger. Thats what gets up people’s noses. Arsenal fans argue that black is white when it comes to Arsene Wenger. The truth is this is just another bad result to add to the countless one before that. The simple and frighteningly obvious fact is that Arsene Wenger is NOT up to leading Arsenal to real success. Exactly how much more evidence do… Read more »
So, the FA Cup wasn’t real? Shit I should stop smoking so much pot…
Says the man who sets up the team…….
Hard enough to concentrate just watching this shite, can’t blame the players for having lapses.
I’m pretty sure it’s October though
I think Mourinho is the antichrist because he is a nasty little prick who has no class, regardless of me supporting Arsenal.Sure he is good at what he does but that doesnt mean he isnt a total and complete shitcunt
Flamini the terrible
once again with a terrific assist for Diame, yet he is the ‘DM”?? laughable.
It was obviously a foul, nothing else
Yep. all this typically British “you-can’t-blame-the-ref-it’s-up-to-the-team-to-win-anyway” bollocks is just that. Bollocks. If the ref makes the right call on the OBVIOUS foul on Flamini Arsenal go on to win the game 3-0 95% of the time and everybody here is cheering what a genius Wenger is.
Arsenal didn’t play well but they would have won the game with a ref who wasn’t pants-on-head.
Let’s watch Diame push past Kompany, Fernando and Toure to burst into the box shall we?
Not as easy a task as Flamini, Monreal and Per, who for all his strengths, is a beanpole.
Our team is just predictable. They know game after game we play the same system and formation. We just don’t have the bite in the team to take a game by the scruff of the neck and impose ourselves. If you can be solid defensively, take the game to the opponent and fight for 90mins. Just we lack the defensive part and unfortunately the blame lies with Arsene. And tbh im fed up of sticking up for him to fellow gooners.
Am i the only one that think Wenger’s excuses are getting somewhat hollow? First he blame the World Cup for our performances as if we are the only team whom had players involved in the world cup. Then its injuries, or the referee, or lack of concentration, or mid week game making players tired and so on. Now I like Wenger alot, but please stop making ridicoulous excuses everytime we fail and take some facking responsibility for once. It is getting old. Im in no way on the Wenger out wagon, but I just resent individuals incapable of taking critisizm… Read more »
To bad no one has the power or balls to tell him.
Comment:watching arsenal play today is like watching TOM win JERRY
unfortunately i think we’re more tom than jerry in that analogy
Wenger’s statement on “If you watch the game again you will be surprised that we played better than the result indicates. Even in the last five minutes we had three clear-cut chances on goal. It’s difficult when we play against teams who are physically stronger and organised”. It comes across to me as if he is satisfied with today’s performance. If you look at the game today we were really pathetic at the back. Be it the first goal and or the second goal it was only defensive errors. In the first goal flamini was still in a good position… Read more »
Did he really say: “It’s difficult when we play against teams who are physically stronger and organised.” Is this a surprise that we play against strong and organised sides in the EPL? Also, did he mean physically stronger than us, or that they are stronger than let’s say Salford City FC? If it’s the first then dear me, who’s fault is that?
Personally believe szczensy needs to be dropped… Starting to feel every shot put against him becoms a goal these days.. Ospina needs a crack when fit
All we needed was a dm and a cb to be genuine title contenders…but what did wenger do?? nothing.
We had a really genuine shot at winning thee title this season; but wenger blew it on the 2nd of september.
I wonder what excuse the “wenger knows best” brigade will come up with now….
P.s i hope it’s clearly obvious why we need a proper dm in this team now….i don’t think diame would’ve powered through 4 people if we had a REAL dm playing.
Mr. Wenger, It is time to face reality and concede that you will not or cannot help Arsenal to win the Premiership again, and the current Arsenal team is just not good enough to win the champions league. Therefore, if you are not able to win any of these titles. It is time to go into the board room and balance the books and give the management of the team to someone who can win those prized trophies for the club.
Our situation will remain the same if this man is still our coach. We need total change. Please Mr Wenger go. Enough! Of excuses all the time.
Arsene should have “concentrated” on signing Fabregas. That dude is ON FIRE. An experienced WINNER. He Made Chelsea look like Arsenal for his goal today. Money has done NOTHING for us.W e’ve got gobs of money. We’ve brought in the “World Class Talent” so we’ve got the players. Y can’t We WIN?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
The sad truth is that wouldn’t have been on fire he’d have joined Arsenal. He’d be like all our other midfielders, passing endlessly around the edge of the box, while the opposition have got 11 men behind the ball.
we all know that we fucked up in the transfer window when we didn’t sign a DM and CB… But the eleven players we had today should beat Hull at home. The team lacking concentration and not being well drilled is the manager’s fault. Love Wenger, but it might be time for a new voice in the dressing room and some fresh ideas. Arsene’s totalitarian approach to club affairs needs to end. I think the club needs proper structure and a COACH who a has a narrow scope – Tactics and motivation … And simply to hand a list of… Read more »
Sack Wenger
Never thought I would say this – I’m absolutely fed up listening to this man talk. What’s the definition of insanity? Leaving this man in charge of Arsenal Football Club.
insanity
noun
the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness.
There seem to be two clear paths at this point: fundamental change or putting our collective heads in the sand, secure in the belief that the manager has it all under control and prosperity is just around the corner.
Offtopic: Today I was reading some tweets by Arsenal fans who were mocking Spurs but not like us they are improving. They are getting better game by game and even todays performance wasn’t that bad. It was miles better then ours against Chelsea and Liverpool last year and even this year Chelsea’s. So I please those fans to stop doing that. But don’t worry St Totteringham’s Day was still on my calender when I last checked it. We will mock them then but for now our performance must get better 🙂
@Zelalem Foul or not Flamini should be knocking ball out for a corner not playing a pass to szcz!!!!!
Was he even watching the same game?
Please just go with some fucking dignity. We need a new manager, new ideas and radical change. Enough of this bollox
A lot of fans have had it with Wenger but Wenger has had it with a lot of his players. If it is the case, the maybe we should grow some. Spend the f*cking cash reserves instead of keeping it for the scenario where we don’t qualify for CL. As a matter of fact we have a higher chance of missing CL if we play it safe.
Every year its the same fucking story the team is missing something in one or two positions, be it injuries or just a lack of a signing. this is every fucking year. this year it is lack of defenders and a DM, last year it was lack of a striker, the year before it was not enough creativeness in the middle of the park with santi carrying us to fourth. Every fucking year, look at a team like chelsea as much as i hate them they have gone out and bought the players that they needed quickly and yes they… Read more »
Fuck off Wenger with your lame shit. You’re sounding like a stuck record.
Forget the cries for a ‘DM’. That could wait next summer with Arteta, Flamini available not to mention Chambers, Diaby and Coquelin on periphery. What we always needed before end of summer was a Cback. I mentioned back then that we would be risking it with feet of clay if we did not replace Vermaelen. Having a back up in the position was not good enough. We need a genuine contender to Meterscielny who are both around 29-30yrs. This particularly with Chambers and Hayden under 21yrs, we preferably needed someone at 23-25yrs, some of the height of Per and some… Read more »
The problem with our team
no plan B
no steel
no *leaders* who will fight for 90 minutes
wrong tactics and formations that don’t suit us
a defence not strengthened in the summer
a club that gives their manager too much power
nothing will change whilst AW is still in charge
he has had his time of glory, should have retired after winning the FA Cup
we need new ideas and radical change throughout the setup of the club if we are ever to challenge seriously again
Actually i dont buy the we didnt need a DM, we do, but lets say we didnt.
What stopped this old deluded manager buying Lescott or even John O’Shea both 6 footers+ wit CL experience, or at worst Diame, does anyone think Diame couldnt fill in at CB in emergency rather than 5’7 Monreal, i mean things are getting scandalous at Arsenal; for the most experienced manager in the league, @8million per year?……shocking really!
The same old comments every time we don’t win.
Wengers passed it,the tactics are shit, give the job to who ever the flavour of the month is(Koeman)
Load of Wally’s.
Will come good,up the arse!
Your whats wrong with our club. He hasn’t come good for the last 10 fucking years. I think I could honestly do better and I am not been sarcastic!
You have no idea… Keyboard pundit.
If we don’t win we are shit!
Last year it was give the job to martinez this year koeman.
We have 10 first team players out injured give the boys a break,there’s 8 games gone stop panicking you big girls blouse
What’s with the name calling. If your happy with just the FA Cup once every 8 years as fans then god help us we should be challenging for everything!
We do challenge for everything
He/she called you a “big girls blouse”…….let’s all just forget how pathetic he/she is & appreciate that for a second