Arsene Wenger kept his players locked in the Arsenal dressing room for a post-match showdown after the 2-1 defeat to Man Utd on Saturday.
We’re told the manager and players engaged in intense discussions about how the Gunners slumped to yet another defeat against the former Champions, and with just 8 points from the last 21 available the overall form of the side was another issue on the agenda.
And afterwards, the Arsenal manager admitted he was angry at the result because he felt his team ‘deserved’ more.
“I wasn’t angry with the players – I have a lot of respect for the energy they put in the game and the spirit they show,” he said.
“I’m just angry because the players do not get rewarded and our fans do not get rewarded for the result that was just there for the taking today. We have suffered against United before but we cannot say that we suffered against them today.
“If you look at the number of games recently, the number of shots our opponent has and the number of goals we concede, that is quite a continuity at the moment.”
We assume by ‘continuity’ he means ‘problem’. The manager’s frustration was echoed by skipper Mikel Arteta who felt Arsenal’s performance was worthy of more.
“I think we played our best game of the season, in terms of what we demand from ourselves with the quality of our attack, how early we won the ball back, how consistent we were throughout the game, the number of chances we created, and all that considering the opposition we were playing against.
“I can’t believe it and think it is a shame, not fair for the players and the fans. It is very frustrating. We need to analyse why those things are happening and also we need to be sure that a lot of the things we are doing are right.
“We can’t now completely change our game because we haven’t won. As the manager said a few weeks ago, we are doing 99 per cent of the things right and every time that we make a little mistake it seems to cost us a point or a defeat. It’s always something so we need to bounce back.
“We have another massive game against Dortmund on Wednesday – let’s go for it.”
The manager told them they are doing 99 per cent of the things right. Great
where do they get these numbers from. I would say its languishing at 75% of the time they do things right. Now we arrive at the point where they’ve given up talking about the attitude and starting telling everyone how unlucky they are.
I think they’re doing 99% of things right 75% of the time.
Good one Arseblog
Like weather forecast, 90% right 10% of the times
I 75% agree with that
Still means though we should be having a 74.25 success rate
Nice maths
Doing right 75% of those things that does not include putting the ball in the back of the opposition’s net (not our own).
25% not doing it right includes not scoring and conceding (without even a shot on target)
75% of the time works every time.
Actually that’s Colt 45%, which is actually 8%.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHtT0x6_MDM
99 percent things right, 75 percent of the time, in patches
I’m not allowed to swear, sensible rule by Arseblog, so I’ll say this nicely. Jack Wilshere will forever be defined by THAT miss the way Nicklas Bendtner is defined by THAT miss against Barcelona. Danny Welbeck will forever be THAT unreliable guy who cannot score at important times in important games. Arsene Wenger is THAT manager who does not demand accountability from players that he gives authority and privileges.
50% of statistics are made up… 99% of time…
THAT post was ludicrous
Of course you’re allowed swear.
Yeah, cause missing in a game against united, in the first half of a league season that promises nothing at this point, is identical to missing in a champions league knockout game.
Arseblog-mania will forever be defined by THAT dumb-as-fuck post.
If wilshere scores we still end up messing up on defense. I mean if 11 teenagers from Belgium can storm back down by three what makes anyone think United wouldn’t have come back as our defense invented yet another new way to collapse.
I need a heat map of such percentages plus a key pass chart for these interviews.. I’m lost with out these figures
This single minded determination to play short passing, possession dominating football naturally causes the opposition to switch on defensively, defending in numbers behind the ball. We coax the opposition to park the bus, causing us to chip away for 90 mins trying to pick and ever more resolute lock. This whole approach is hugely dependent on us getting the first goal, preferably as early as possible. The wastefulness we displayed on Saturday was what cost us the game. That on top of that, we don’t have the required DM with the energy, awareness and discipline to snuff out anything and… Read more »
It’s not so much that they don’t do much right, but more that what they get wrong they get fantastically, heroically, spectacularly wrong. Honestly, I have never known an individual, team or object that could so consistently and so gloriously snatch defeat from the jaws of victory than the mighty Arsenal. I really have lost confidence in Arsene to turn this around, and I have the awful suspicion that the players are starting to as well, if they haven’t already.
Completely agree with Mongolian Gooner. It’s obvious what needs to be done but AW can’t seem to see it and talks about being unlucky. You make your luck. We didn’t put away the early chances and we paid for it. We will always be vulnerable to the counter when we chase a goal high up the pitch like headless chickens. It’s not just about the shaky back four, it’s about the way the team defend as a whole. And please Arteta, don’t talk about it not being “fair” You sound like a wimpy kid who had his sweets nicked.
It’s kind of crazy to think that the only season in the last couple of years where we’ve been actually really good and even won a trophy was one where we played in a system that AW really doesn’t want us to play in. It’s as if he was thinking “Nah, all this team ethic, discipline, grit and determination to get the result isn’t good enough. We’re not suffocating the opposition enough. We’re not Barcelona enough.” He then puts Ozil on the left and changes our formation. He even said it’s so that we can dominate the opposition better. WTF?… Read more »
If you believe after all this time Wenger is going to change anything you are kidding yourself.
Another two and a half years of this nonsense is on the cards until we are free.
Asking Wenger to change his tactics and approach to games is like asking a river to change course. You’re absolutely right in that we will die trying to be Barcelona. Our finishing was abysmal against United, and I’d say in terms of what’s going wrong that’s a hell of a lot more than 1% and that’s nowhere near all that is going wrong. But it’s Wenger’s job to get the best out of his players – that includes finishing! When we won the FA Cup I got into countless debates with fans who thought it was proof that Wenger should… Read more »
100% in agreement with Mongolian Gooner. We all know the problem but AW is inflexible. When your defence is this shaky you don’t bomb up the other end like headless chickens chasing an equaliser (with still more than half an hour left of the game) and leave yourself open to the counter. We see it time and time again and you would hope not to see this happen on Wednesday against Dortmund but don’t hold your breath. You make your luck and we failed to put away the many chances dished up on a plate to us in the first… Read more »
hey… I was here first!
No doppelgängers!
No you weren’t. Go check.
I absolutely agree with what you are saying about the defense not playing high enough. It has been a problem game after game this season. I also shake my head at what is Arteta thinking. “it isn’t fair” is so laughable. Football has nothing to do with if it is fair or not. What happened Saturday was no fault of anyones except for the team and Wenger using the wrong tactic and not using some of the benched players. But not fair is not the reason the team lost. Gibbs goal against us was unfortunate. But the team had more… Read more »
I love the people clamoring that a DM would have won us this game. Nothing more laughable than that. Wenger did nothing wrong, this game. Poor finishing cost us the victory. Wenger has nothing to do with that. Before people say, “He left one man at the back!!!ioneone1e111!!!” Well……we were chasing the game. Would you have not chastised him for being too conservative at that point if we had kept the back 4 solid with Arteta dropping in to provide cover almost as a 3rd CB? Give it a rest people this was the best we have played ALL season.… Read more »
You’re stupid. Chasing a game doesn’t require leaving only Monreal as the last man. And I’d argue a proper DM would’ve sniffed out the danger and stopped the ball from reaching Di Maria in the 1st place before a 2 on 1 situation developed in Uniteds favour. And this has been the story of Arsenal the last 9 years except for the last. Fucking awful defending, giving away goals cheaply, persisting on possession football and tninking we’re bloody Barcelona, and not taking our chances when it fucking matters.
My argument wasn’t that a DM would’ve won us the game. It’s in the general sense. The way we play, overloading the opponents third with minimal cover a the back, we need an almost perfect DM, with awareness, strength, engine and skill. Something like a Koscielny-Mertesacker-Ramsey hybrid, if you will. But we don’t have one, so we can’t possibly expect to consistently push this high up the pitch. I wasn’t criticizing any one single player. I’m criticizing this whole approach.
There aren’t many ‘perfect’ footballing DMs around and even less of them are available to us.
This is partly right and partly wrong. What Wenger did wrong this game is what he always does wrong – a total lack of instruction during the game. Per should not have been playing as a striker in the 65th minute when we’re 1-0 down, at least not unless one of the full backs is back covering for him. That’s just insane. When you look at the positions of the team when Rooney scores the 2nd they are nonsensical. That should not happen because the manager should be shouting at them from the touchline telling them to keep their heads.… Read more »
Basically only 2 top teams in World Football play this kind of possession football – 1. Barcelona – Barca have a rocky defence similar to Arsenal, whilst we have Welbeck they have Lionel Messi, Neymar and Bitey. Therefore their dominance gets translated into goals as evidenced by their 5-1 spanking of Sevilla. Besides Busquets is a better DM than any we have. 2. Bayern Munich – Bayern are an awesome team with the best keeper in the world, Manuel Neuer. Their defence is awesome as well with best LB/RB Lahm, one of the best LB Alaba and Boateng, Benatia, Badstuber,… Read more »
I think I’m silly!
All talk of not being clinical enough and still no place for Podolski as a sub even!
When we are chasing the game and have 10 players by the opposition to box, why not can’t one of them be Podolski?
MG, we weren’t so single-minded in our attack actually. There were some really good long balls played throughout the match. We were just left begging for more composed finishing until Giroud stepped in to show that you score by not shooting straight at the keeper. De Gea did well to close down the man on the ball but we could’ve done so much better. He’s getting a lot of credit yet you won’t find any of his saves on any keeper’s highlight reel – maybe a training video on positioning but that’s about it. Now, here’s an issue I have… Read more »
I am Tired of wilshere getting kicked all the time, may be he should start kicking people in a DM role, just saying
if he is doing everything right then why didn’t he buy a defender when he had the chance. lets just say we make the same mistakes 99% of the time.
As much as I’m gravely concerned at the state of our season, I don’t know that you best motivate people by telling them that they’re a pack of useless cuntbutlers who would need to be twice as good as they are now before they can even see rock bottom looming _above_ their heads.
Not sure I’d be sugar-coating things with talk of “99%” either, mind you…
If they’re playing the way the manager has instructed them to play 99% of the time yet are still crap, maybe the manager should consider it’s the style of play that’s at fault?
I’m fairly sure that leaving too many players up the pitch with 25 minutes to go constitutes a little bit more than 1% of the things we’re doing. So frustrating.
Meh! Show me. Don’t tell me
Let’s go for it and mess up as usual.
“If you look at the number of games recently, the number of shots our opponent has and the number of goals we concede, that is quite a continuity at the moment.”
At the moment? Opponents scoring against the run of play, often with their first attack or shot on target, has been our main problem for years now. And still nothing is done about it. You’ll have to excuse my cynicism, but given the longstanding nature of this problem, I very much doubt it will ever be solved during Wenger’s tenure. Such a pity too 🙁
I don’t this happened. Podolski didn’t tweet about it! #hashtag #
” As the manager said a few weeks ago, we are doing 99 per cent of the things right”
He seriously said this? thats unbelievable.
Tell me something new..this is the story of last 5-6 years..fed up of this shit.
No comment
And yet you did…
oh. no more comment after this til when I begin seeing better things to comment about
I thought yesterday we actually played really well, except for when we conceded the own goal, and when we got into the opposition 18 yard box. We’re not far off gelling, and I can’t wait until it happens.
The way we dominated a team which had Rooney, Di Maria, and the Dutch Skunk was quite encouraging, but it is hard to look at the positives when you don’t convert performances into results. For me United played at the standards you would expect from a relegation battling side. Losing to shockingly shit teams while dominating the game is what we do best I suppose…
If only games were won and lost on something other than conceding more goals than you scored.
Ah, optimism. I remember optimism.
I dont.
We are playing Arsenal today we will sit deep soak up pressure wait for their fullbacks to bomb on then smash them on the counter attack.
Thats every bodys tactics against an out of date system
My 3 year old nephew will be able to grow up, go through school college and uni, start managing a sunday league side, work his way up through the footballing ladder, get all his coaching badges, become a premier league manager & play against Arsenal with Wenger in charge and still be able to beat Arsenal using those exact tactics listed above
i doubt if their tactics were based around us being clean through on several occasions and hitting the ball at their goalie or creating fantastic openings and shooting instead of passing to a man in the open. If that was the case LVG is a sooth-sayer not a tactician.
The tactics are decided by Wenger. He shd blame himself and nobody,including Bould.This naïve manager is a most out of touch manager who has no balance between attack and defence.The red face said he missed playing Arsenal because he knew how they played and he would invariably win. The stats prove it. If the fm plays a hdl you can expect Klopp to play ahit and score. That could be the final nail in the coffin.As it is the fm is living on borrowed time.His luck could soon run if he doesn’t return to winning ways.To do that he has… Read more »
Soccer?
The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford “-er” abbreviation of the word “association”. It was then changed to football but a number of countries still use the word soccer.
Soccer… That’s what we generally refer to it here in Canada. Confusing as hell. But what isn’t these days, eh?
Scott
Canada, eh?
Arsenal F.C.
Remind me what the ‘F’ stands for?
We were called Royal Arsenal, then renamed Woolwich Arsenal until 1913, then changed our name to just Arsenal in 1914. The word football wasn’t properly introduced and used until the 70’s, so the ‘F’ was commonly used well after the word soccer was introduced.
It’s a big, wide, world out there.
How many times have Szczesny saved a shot that wasn’t hit straight at him?
Blame the goalkeeper for our naive system/players giving away clear as daylight goalscoring chances?
I am of the opinion that Courtois is by far the best keeper in the EPL, but Szczesny was excellent last season – collecting the Golden Glove award for most clean sheets (if you forgot already!)
Just because our defence gives away clear chances doesn’t mean it’s ok for Szczesny to concede every one of those times. It’s just that I feel the rest of the team are criticized so much and Szczesny is given such an easy time.
I have to look back to the crystal palace( away) game last year to see a match in which Szczesny had an impact in.
He isn’t playing last season though, he’s playing this season. Last season is last season.
As soon as Ospina is fit, he should get a run. Chez is too prone to making the wrong decision at crucial times. Maybe real competition from one of the WC’s best performers will sharpen up his thought processes. Ospina is the real deal.
Seems to me that Wenger is so good at the boardroom and so bad in the dressing room that his role needs to be re-evaluated. At the moment, Wenger and Gazidis would swap positions and we wouldn’t even notice. Isn’t it time to re-assess his role in the team? He seems to be moving backwards every season. No, it was not the money. Period
One month ago, if I was allowed to ask one question to an Arsenal insider: (somewhat cynically) “Do you even practice taking corner kicks in training?”
Today, if allowed to ask one question to an Arsenal insider: (no cynicism whatsoever) “Do you ever practice trying to kick a ball, into the back of a net?”
Less of meetings, more of training and drills, please.
to be fair, I think you jinxed us with that username
FFS this season I was hoping to keep my username unchanged until early April at least.
Come on everyone, it’s fine. That was the best performance of the season. Even if the opposition didnt actually need to have a shot on target to take the lead.
I’m afraid. Very afraid.
Unbelievable. It was so fucked up it was actually funny.
After they scored stats popper up on the TV:
SHOTS ON TARGET…
Arsenal – 8
Man Utd – 0
I would seriously consider playing Podolski, simply because he is an absolute killer in front of goal ! Yes i know about his lack of defensive responsibilities but frankly, i don’t think we can be any worse right now !
AW: Guys we are playing the exact same line up and same players every match. Let’s keep doing this but a bit better so we can start winning games! Poldi: boss I’m desperate to get out there & score some goals. I’m the best finisher in the squad & we are struggling to score TR7: it’s true he is. Hey maybe we can try something different or maybe drop out of form players & give some a rest too AW: Now that’s some of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard. Clearly neither of you have heard the old saying ‘if… Read more »
seriously? that’s how it goes in your head? i’m really sorry, for all the appropriate cyncism on this page some ppl have quite a naive view of managing a football team. and then he said and then AW said…. we should’ve, we would’ve…. look at us just complaining and winging. I wish I wouldn’t read any more about that mysterious DM and the super-dooper AW-replacement and the CB we never bought and Kroenke and self-destruct and myMesut and wellbeck and willshere… I’m tired of all the negativity, though I share some of it; but let’s try to move on. next… Read more »
I await the result of the showdown when Dortmund visits
I have the answer for you Mikel.
Take a look at Utd’s second goal and analyze that. Again.
Everyone up, one man back, a quick counter, a 2-on-1 sink in. Simples.
It’s almost as if as a team, you don’t learn or something. But I could be wrong.
Surely they must watch post game videos and analyse them? Or maybe NOT!
Obviously we’ll never hear from the players as to what they said – if anything. But it’s self evident that Wenger has lost the dressing room. Just obvious. He can’t inspire the players to believe in themselves. He doesn’t do tactics other than setting them up to play the slow paced, possession football we do. Even that Utd defence could see it coming and -Giroud aside – see us off. Wenger’s ‘in game’ management is pathetic. Compare him whinging at the fourth official and wrestling with his stupid puffer coat, to the likes of Simone or Mourhino. There is no… Read more »
Absolutely ridiculous.
And why don’t you explain what is so ridiculous about it? What good is 4th place for us? When we get in the Champions League are we in it to win it? If we are not, what the fuck are we doing there every year? We obviously don’t want to win the tournament because if we did, we would be resolving deep lying issues – lack of cover in key positions – last year it was in strike, this year, it’s in defence and midfield, poor tactical set up, poor finishing. Arsene Wenger is too passive a manager – players… Read more »
Being in the CL is key to attracting A-list players. Alexis or Mesut would never sign for a club that doesn’t qualify for the CL. Simply wouldn’t happen.
So explain how Utd managed to sign Di Maria and Falcao?
I think the rather large weekly cheques might have something to do with it.
Mac’s comment below says it. But there’s the wider point, that is the long term reputation of the Club. Few think Utd are on a permanent downward spiral. They might be. But most – including players – look beyond the moment. Utd are still a decent bet. Moreover Liverpool – title-less for more than 20 years are still held in some respect. But even there the lustre is fading. And this is the point about Arsenal. 1 trophy in 10 years. No title since 2004 and no European trophy since 1994. How much longer is our ‘lustre’ going to hold,… Read more »
I hear the points, and get it, but just how long are you all prepared to be stuck mid-table or worse? Dropped from CL, lose $20 mil. = cutbacks in player purchases because management will go into damage control. Chuck Wenger. Now no CL, not competitive for the league, and no manager the entire soccer world sees as someone beneficial to some of the brightest young talent, attracting them despite no title for 10 years. That puts us in Spuds territory. THAT is a hole. It could be -and is- said just as much that finishing mid-table and chucking AW… Read more »
I very much doubt Wenger has not lost the dressing and it is certainly not ‘self-evident’ or ‘obvious’. What good is 4th place? Well by almost any measure I can come up with 4th is about as good as we can expect from Arsenal with the funds they have. We are in the champions league to win, but like the league it is unlikely that we will, we need a lot of luck to do so but we sure as hell should try every year. Where you have got the information that Steve Bould is or isn’t working on defensive… Read more »
Almost any Manager – at least short term – would be “better” than Wenger , in as far as he would get more from the same group of players, before any additions or subtractions are taken into account. Wenger has most emphatically lost the dressing room, in as much as the players no longer believe him, or are motivated by him. And the results prove it. As does the ‘on pitch body language’. Compare the current lot to the Adams / Viera group and my point is proven. That lot crossed broken glass for a win. This lot fold in… Read more »
A pragmatist?
“If you are 3-0 up and you get back to 3-3, you always get the same. I have managed 2,000 games and I can anticipate a little bit what people. It is so predictable. I personally think regardless of the score you have to play the right way.”
The right way? Meaning throw everyone forward and say BONZAIIIII
Wow. Sounds like Rob has been reading up on the David Levy school of Football Directing. Sorry, you’re expecting a suspension of disbelief I’m unwilling to leap across. Almost any manager would be better, eh? Tall words. Very tall. Almost any would get more out of the players despite Wenger getting consistently into UCL with some squads that had no business being there? And, I’m sorry, but I must be direct. There has been no group before or since the Adams/Viera invincibles anywhere in the EPL that has compared. So that statement bears no place in reality. If you’re expecting… Read more »
Psychological error- I slipped Adams into the invincibles because he should have been a part of it.
The team that AW keeps putting put clearly isn’t good enough. The only desire I’ve seen this season is from Alexis (because he’s new and has something to prove) and Chambers (because he young, new and has something to prove). What worries me is that Ozil showed that desire for a handful of games and then went off the boil – could this happen to Alexis? It seems to be a trait with new signings as the moment. P.s. vote this up if you were one of the ones wanting a new central defender/DM signed up in the summer and… Read more »
I forgot to add – why the hell aren’t Poldi and Campbell being given game time? And what’s happened to Gnabry? Questions really should be asked.
Gnabry is just coming back from just as long of an injury layoff as Theo. Knee. It just wasn’t talked about much for some reason I can’t understand.
And the Poldi questions have been discussed at some length. Poldi doesn’t defend. And he’s probably ticked off AW now, which any manager would do something to clip.
It’s called reality.
Yawn, the same PR bullshit being spun. Nothing will change under Wenger, we all know this. We, the fans, are funding what is ostensibly a vanity project for him. I am not saying sack him now, but at the end of the season, if he has failed, he has to go. Or we will continue to stagnate.
“Nothing will change under Wenger, he never spends any money” – Buys two of the best midfielders in the world. “I meant, nothing will change under Wenger because he never adapts the way we play” – Wins the FA cup and leads the league with a defense first approach. Almost won the champions league with a defense first approach. “No no no, I meant nothing will change under Wenger because he….. he can’t get the best out of the players” – Has never ever finished below any team that has spent less than him. “But… but.. I don’t understand. Arsenal… Read more »
Have you been taking lessons from the Wenger school of PR? Talk about putting a spin on things. ““Nothing will change under Wenger, he never spends any money” – Buys two of the best midfielders in the world” Ozil was a lucky signing and came after we got hammered by Villa and fans were calling for his head. Sanchez was a good signing, true, but what about the obvious defensive frailties we had before the start of the season? He knew Koscielny was injured, and if he didn’t, he is negligent and that is a sackable offence itself. Even so,… Read more »
Ozil was a lucky signing that we only bought because we lost to Villa? Any evidence? Any at all?
The likelihood that Wenger will spend that amount of money on a player just because he got booed after the first game of the season is just crazy.
Do you know when it was known that Koscielny was going to be out?
We should have got rid of Mertesacker ages ago. Brilliant….
Last season the all knowing Mourinho lost to Basel (twice), Newcastle, Stoke, Sunderland (twice), Crystal Palace, Aston Villa,
Ozil was a lucky last day signing and only became available as a result of Real buying Bale. This is known. The other thing is the Arsenal hierarchy saw the unrest amongst the Arsenal fans. This is also well known. They knew they had to do something after the first day loss at Villa. Koscielny has an achilles problem. If the manager doesn’t know about a chronic injury, he is obviously negligent. Sackable offence. Especially looking at the fact that even with Koscielny, Wenger came out and knew we needed at least one more defender and a DM. The fact… Read more »
.. Surely the solution to the ‘Wenger dilemma’ is obvious.
Sack him to disprove the theory that he is under no pressure to perform.
Then rehire him to disprove the theory that there is no one of his calibre available.
Then sack him. Then rehire him. Then sack him …
Lay off that puff now mate…
I am a Singapore Gooner and have been supporting AFC for three decades now. I feel your pain guys. I did not even bother to stay up after midnight to watch the ManU game because I knew what to expect and would have been surprised if we had won. Over here I am paying the equivalent of 5 quid per game to watch it on TV but you are paying the highest in season tickets. Only when sponsors start to worry will Kronke and Gazidis do something about it and force Wenger upstairs. Until the Emirates is half empty …… Read more »
stream it online mate!
The answer is simple then, Arsene.
In January go to the Transfer Market and acquire the services of a world class Centre Back and a Defensive Midfielder, two rocks that can control the Defensive duties of the team and put confidence into the others.
Time will then heal our wounds.
Unfortunately, I don’t think buying players will solve core issues which are gross mismanagement of the players and not doing what needs to be done to win matches. If that means dropping his favourite players, so be it – Ramsey, Wilshere etc.
Why is AW going on about being rewarded? WTF?
You win games by putting the ball in the net (not your own).
The Arsenal only have them selves to blame…..yet again.
No sympathy when a team plays the same tactics game in game out and makes the same old mistakes, no matter who we are playing. Simply shocking but not surprising!!!
Even Rooney stated that The Arsenal’s ‘continue to push/attack’ leaves the defense open, weak and dead easy to exploit.
Tactically useless!!
You win games by taking a lot of shots and hoping that a few of them go in.
If it was as simple as “put the ball in the net” then the best team would win every game every time.
You can be the better team, attack better, defend better, have more chances and still lose. That happened to us on Saturday.
This team will come good. Have a bit of faith, have a bit of patience.
oh just shut up!…. I think the fans have shown years worth of patience. i used to watch arsenal’s matches where we would have 90% possession and still lose, but the football was beautiful. You just knew that if things clicked an unlucky team would be at the end of a thrashing. that’s gone.
This result is not being taken in isolation. This is something that has kept on recurring over the years and no one seems to be doing anything to fix it.
There are even more fans deluded than Wenger. If a manager abandons the blueprint that won him loads of cups ie when he was buying tall/quick/physical players, now he in his delusion wants to play the Barca way in England, where you pass, pass, pass and overpass, fine you dominate possession, but in the end overpass so much that eventually a move always breaks down, and you are countered, ans conceed, i remember SAF coming to the Emirates and in the end they defend well and score on the counter, what a useless coach not to have known how ManU… Read more »
You hope he runs the club into the ground?
I would like to be shown a club of Arsenal’s stature that get so much of shots on goal and possession and still loose like this on a regular basis.
Good teams are clinical and they know the value of getting chance and they grab those chances with all their might.
You are the guy who also comments on Untold,aren’t you? “You win games by taking a lot of shots and hoping that a few of them go in” that sounds far more stupid than “put the ball in the back of the net” .You see because the best teams generally “put the ball in the back of the net” more often. Swansea outplayed us in the last game. Didn’t it occur to you that United may have deliberately conceded us space in their half to attack on the counter?It’s called having a “plan”.We should have punished them for affording us… Read more »
‘This team will come good’ – When? This season? – Certainly not. Next season? – being very optimistic What would you define as ‘come good’ – Winning the Capital One Cup? already knocked out – Winning the FA Cup very unlikely considering we won it by the skin of our teeth last year and are not playing anywhere near the same level this year – Winning the PL? Not going to happen simply because Chelsea are so far ahead even at this early stage and are the team to beat and we cant beat them. – Winning the CL? We… Read more »
Well it’s good to see that you have a long term view of 1 season.
I wanted to wait a few days before posting a comment. It’s long ; but bare with me. On Saturday evening I was in tears I cried for two reasons 1: My best friend passed away that week, and I grieved for him; the other reason 2: I’ve watched my team in the past twenty odd years continue to struggle and suffer against Manchester United, home and away I seen us given them many gifts ( Diaby header, Almunia goalkeeper , the painful 8:2, the unsurprising 6:1, wining goals by average Man U players against the mighty Invincibles players); but… Read more »
R.I.P to Your friend. Very Nice post.
I feel for you. R.I.P to your friend and I hope you are ok. But you say “I cried because there was no one in this current team who felt my pain of 20 years, of 10 years or even 5 years ( narrowly) , throughout watching that ugly SAF face , watching Moyes face and now the Dictators face” I think you can rest assured that Jack, Kieran, Wojeich, Theo, Aaron, Carl and (most importantly) Arsene feel that pain and have been feeling it with your for a long time. I hope you enjoy the game on Wednesday and… Read more »
Sorry for your loss. Good post.
Well said mate, I’d love to see the team come good but I’m terrified it won’t. If wenger wants to restore my faith in him he must sign a world class keeper, a world class CB and a world class DM the day the transfer window opens. If he’s not going to play them he needs to let poldi, TR7 and Campbell go. He must also stop rubbing the magic lamp hoping Diaby can play a full season unhurt
You would think buying players would help wouldn’t you, but does Arsene ever buy in the right positions and does he ever use the players in their proper roles?
I admire your faith. Wenger has assembled a talented group of players and there is no reason why we can’t turn the season around. I agree with you about the tactics too, Arsenal played Utd off the pitch and should have comfortably won the game. Why didn’t we though? Is it tactical naivety, a mental inferiority complex…. Whatever it is, people are growing tired of watching a team that should be aspiring to win the league and CL but always ends up not quite good enough. It was clear to all a CB was needed in the summer. Many teams… Read more »
In 40 years of following The Arsenal i have never seen such a wide division between the supporters. There are those who want Wenger out and those who are sticking by him. Personally I am sat on the fence right now. This did not stop a massive row that nearly came to blows with a Wenger loyalist who told me to “f off and go support Chelsea”. My crime was to walk out in disgust when Rooney scored. I Have not walked out before or ever booed the team but I had seen enough. As a bunch of supporters the… Read more »
Reacted exactly the same as you when Rooney scored. Never left early before and have certainly never booed at the end of a game but something just clicked in me and I couldn’t hang around for the enivitable. That’s the real issue here, same things repeating themselves over and over and my logical brain snapped and had simply had enough. Surely Arsene and the players gave to wake up and smell the coffee. Our naivety is truly astounding. This squad of payers should be doing so much more, which leads me to think that currently there have to be some… Read more »
That goal by Giroud was delicious. That ‘should have been’ goal from Wilshere was excellent team play and pressing.
We were closing them down and defending well for most of the game. We were so unlucky to concede that goal and then we went suicidal. So many positives to take from this game.
I know we are angry and I know it’s hard to watch you team lose, but it’s not as bad as we are making out. It could be worse, a lot worse.
Indeed – Liverpool’s false dawn for starters. 78 points still up for grabs. Players beginning to come back. New hope. Having been a Gooner since ’71, I remember the barren years so whilst frustrating, things aren’t as bad as the 18 year title drought!
I recommended your post as I do think that there are far too many people going a bit overboard. But, I do think that if we took the Man Utd result in isolation, you are right and the way we played in the first 30 minutes or so in the first half was good to watch. But when you put it in some sort of context of the season so far, its fucking shambolic. In far too many games this season, we have looked like a team that’s being managed by a fan that has won some sort of fucking… Read more »
Correct. Taken with Swansea and Anderlecht say.
We are not performing well.
I refuse to believe that wenger told these players they were doing 99% of things right. In what universe does that calculation work out? Saturday’s performance was our best yet this season and we still managed to concede 2 goals from one shot on target. if that doesn’t scare you a bit, then you are quite strong.
For God’s sake rotate this team. your favorites aren’t delivering and you continue to stubbornly use them. change tactics. make better substitutions. For God’s sake, do something!!!
I find it incredulous that when Arsene arrived with his new ways to train diet and play we were the best in the country, despite not winning everything in sight. Now the rest of the league have caught up with our style and even moved on in terms of ability etc, Arsene hasnt even kept our game at the same level. In fact despite our sometimes breathtaking foorball weve gone backwards, certainly in defensive capabilitys Arsene is just too stubborn to admit that our tactics are bad. We play the same way every game and never adjust them to suit… Read more »
I know we’ll make top four but I think I’m just saddened by the fact that My club’s ambitions for the season will have been fulfilled. The money will roll in from the attendance and the Champions League and the board will be satisfied as usual. The one thing all fans have in common is we all want CHANGE. I dont necessarily mean the manager here. We all want to see our club challenging for the titles especially with the decline of United and Liverpool leaving a void for us to be a third competitve force in the league. Despite… Read more »
Remember the time when Arsenal could beat Man Ure? Pepperidge farm remembers!
Bounce back. Erm…
I think the team will come good this year. Looking forward to it. First half meltdown instead of post-Christmas meltdown, that’s all.
i would rather have post christmas meltdown since that would been there had been a pre christmas solidification. Now we are just left hoping that they turn things around
Let’s face the fact,everybody no where the problem lies,we are very poor at the back and mildfield,the answer is simple and straight forward,buy wold class defender and one defendive mildfielder then we wont continue to suffer.Wenger is our problem he knew exactly what he needed but he won’t just do the right thing.Wenger should stop lieing to us and do the right thing by buying players that we need.
People complaining that it’s 4th place again. Really? Are we even guaranteed to finish 4th at this rate?
After Saturday’s game we can only move on to the next one, let’s hope they respond positively against Dortmund. Let’s get behind the team!
OBVIOUSLY the writer here doesn’t have a lot of insight into this lol, YES this happened AND THEN Wenger was ALSO ordered to attend a ‘board meeting’ to discuss our WORST START in 32 years to a season, in which he had a videocall from Kroenke also, who is in the states (as usual) and from what i hear from a few shareholders/employee’s at the club itself – ‘a HEATED EXCHANGE’ of words, as Kroenke was fuming at losing to a fellow American owner
Did you hear that on Twitter?
Unbelievable that they consider this the seasons best performance. Every team knows how to score on Arsenal, a fast break when they are all pressing. They know Arsenal has no other tactics and so a fast break goal is inevitable. The worst Man United team in decades knew this and won. Welcome to mid table mediocrity
All Wenger is bothered about are numbers a statistics nothing will change. He’s to loyal to average players when we need more quality the moneys there to buy better quality someone needs to come in and buy players for Wenger. don’t go offering Arteta Rosicky new contracts get rid buy a couple of powerhouses a centre back or two maybe a new keeper everybody can see what we need but he’s a stuborn old man now who needs to move with the times its been clear for 10 years now the style we are playing is not producing what us… Read more »
England Vs Scotland – Wilshere chips in a beautiful FIRST TIME ball to Chamberlain who scores with a glancing header. Welbeck also scores from nice build up play. Just a couple days later, and in an Arsenal shirt the same players are hanging onto the ball and trying to walk in the ball into the back of the net. Why is this? What has changed in a couple days?
Comparing England v Scotland with Arsenal v Man Utd doesn’t work for me.
The Ox and Welbz both played well too.
I am not comparing the games I am comparing the players attitude to the games. Anyway, Scotland were better than Man united.
yeah. united is worse than scotland.
Where is this beautiful football, Wenger philosophy bollocks you are all on about? I haven’t seen beautiful football at the emirates for years. Passing sideways and backwards is not beautiful nor exciting. Nor is it possible with players like Sanchez, Ramsey, Wilshire, Ox in the team was they all like to drive forward. So what happens is we tip tap around, one of the guys above shows some ambition but because our build up play was so slow; A) the other team now have 11 men behind the ball B) Our players are now in very advanced positions So the… Read more »
The common denominator among the fans is wanting change. Change of manager, tactics, personnel, training and what not. Sacking Arsene in the middle of the season is not going to do anyone any good. Although I firmly believe that his position should be assessed come the end of the season. Right now things are not working for us. We can have players saying they are doing the right things 99 % of the time but our results and performances begs to differ. Personally I feel that we should try to change our system to what we had last year because… Read more »
99% of the time we are doing everything right, but the other 1% is always a goal conceded. I mourn for the days of flowing moves executed at pace (well, yeah, we see that a half dozen times each time we play, but I want to see us do it, not the opposition.). I’ll not condemn Wenger yet though. I’m still happy to sit and quietly curse his blind spots for a bit longer yet…. as long as he buys some solid (not spectacular, just solid) defenders and a DM (even Jedinak) in January. I may be a sentimental twat… Read more »
I am gutted to loose to ManU in such a way and the capitulation of the team drives me up the bloody wall. To leave us in this state with the defence is shocking.
Lets hope we can pick it up on Wednesday
Think someone on here mentioned it before but Jack gets tackled and crunched like yesterday because for some reason he like to knock the ball bout 2 yards in front of him when running in possession so he’s asking for a crunch. Why has someone not told him to keep the ball closer to his feet it’s madnesssss!
There are a few defeats as an Arsenal fan that particularly stick in the throat. so much so that it feels like you are going to ‘death by misadventure’ the fuck outta yourself. This was one of them. For the result first and foremost but also because the tide has finally, overwhelmingly turned in my mind. I maybe wrong but the way i have judged the general opinion is that we fall into 3 distinct camps. 1) wenger out 2) wenger in 3) a much less vocal centre ground group which believed that wenger is the right man but he… Read more »
My two cents here, I will try and avoid repeating myself from earlier posts, so – AW should adapt our game to oppos…..(sorry repeated earlier) – AW can be say shit, does not matter if player play shit..(sorry repeated earlier) – Try and use the full squad, better to play inform, physically fit players than so called unfit players even if they are perceived to be better…(sorry repeated earlier) – AW should start doing substitutions based on what the game needs rather than what the science says (although game/sports science has evolved a lot from the last time AW read… Read more »
AW should leave or change(however unlikely) before the earlier successes he had starts to look like a fluke..
17 consecutive years in the UCL cannot by any standard be considered a fluke.
No offense to Bouldy, but what management experience does he have?
Give an attack minded team to a defensive coach… maybe it will work but sounds a bit odd to me!
Here’s the plan lads. Finish 5th/6th in the prem and beat Chelsea in the champions league final while singing fuck off Mourinho over and over.
We then see the camera swing over to JT crying over Costa and Fabregas going 2s up on his missus.
You read it here first.