Arsenal: Martinez, Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis, Welbeck
Subs: Macey, Gibbs, Bellerin, Rosicky, Podolski, Sanogo, Giroud
—
Arsenal won their third game in a row with a very late 1-0 win over Southampton at the Emirates this evening.
Arsene Wenger made one change from the team that beat West Brom on Saturday recalling Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in place of Olivier Giroud, while Nacho Monreal was passed fit to start at left-back.
It meant Danny Welbeck returned to duty in the centre with Alexis on the left, while Santi Cazorla continued in the number 10 role that suited him so well at the Hawthorns. And the little Spaniard created the first chance of the game in the 8th minute, feeding Welbeck in the left-hand channel but the striker’s shot looked like it was taken by a one-legged llama and it went well wide.
At the other end Graziano Pelle had a great opportunity to put the visitors ahead but from just 10 yards he smashed the ball over the bar like a hippo on PCP who had just been told his wife put a winning lottery ticket in the wash. Yes, a hippo with pants who needs to wash his clothes. You should have seen the shot.
The two big chances were at odds with the rest of the game which was pretty even in that not much happened at either end. Cazorla got booted in the nuts by Wanyama, but there were signs of life when a 26th minute Oxlade-Chamberlain effort was well saved by Forster after good work around the box by Cazorla and Welbeck.
The Saints were forced into a change when Jack Cork couldn’t run off an ankle injury and was replaced by I don’t have time to look up his first name Yoshida. Welbeck tried a back-heel which deflected wide off a Southampton player but Andre Marriner gave a goal kick as he confused the ball with a small yellow creature named Melvin who lives inside his head.
Arsenal came close to scoring just before the break when a Danny Welbeck header from a Cazorla free kick deflected towards goal but just as it looked like it was going to fly in under the bar, Forster stuck out a hand to make a superb save. It ensured the deadlock remained unbroken at half-time.
The second half began with Aaron Ramsey clubbing a 30 yard shot high and wide – what’s known in the business as a Seth Rogen – before a Koscielny block denied Pelle at the back post following a short corner routine from Koeman’s side.
There was some more danger from Southampton when they broke quicky after an Arsenal attack broke down, only for Shane Long to boot the ball miles over the bar when he had Pelle unmarked in the box.
Both teams played a game of who can smash the ball over stuff as high as possible with Cazorla and Ramsey taking it in turns to mash the ball into the stands. Arsene Wenger made his first change of the night on 65 minutes with Giroud replacing Oxlade-Chamberlain. The decision was met with some boos, whereas I just had some booze.
The Frenchman made an immediate impact through, shooting well at Forster after a good ball from Alexis, before setting up Welbeck for a great chance but again the keeper made a save. It was a quite brilliant one in fairness to him, but that’s not to say I haven’t grown to despise him over the course of the game, the good at his job cunny.
In his desperation for a goal, the Arsenal manager remembered he had a player called ‘Bookas Bodolski or something’ so he chucked him on in place of Danny Welbeck with 8 minutes to go. The visitors lost Alderweireld to a hamstring injury shortly afterwards which meant they had to play the final few minutes with 10 men having used all their subs.
The Saints again had Forster to thank for keeping the scores level in the 87th minute. Podolski played a brilliant diagonal cross, Giroud’s header was looping into the top corner but the keeper got a hand to it, making an amazing save.
However, the Gunners were ahead moments later. There were big shouts for handball and a penalty which the referee ignored. Aaron Ramsey kept the ball alive, drilled in a low cross and Alexis poached the goal to make it 1-0.
Giroud and Ramsey combined well in injury time only for Forster to make yet another save, Podolski drilled a shot across the face of goal, but in the end Arsenal saw it out, kept a third successive clean sheet and got a third win in a row under their belts.
Hurrah!
Martínez is quite a decent goalie. And Pellé was completely invisible. Improvement.
It would be so harsh to drop him after 3 straight clean sheets. How much of that is down to return to koscielny will be analysed by the like of 7am kickoff, but Martinez has been excellent. Commanding in the air, when he comes far from his goal he actually gets the ball. When was the lat time a keeper of ours came out for it didn’t flap at it like a headless chicken. I felt very assured by Martinez today. We have another top talent on our hands.
Remember Manninger came in, played well, kept a pile of clean sheets, won player of the month and got dropped. Wright too!
well Manninger was really decent, Wright not so i think. good keeper but not the standard of Seaman or the crazy German, though way better than Almunia or Fabianski
Well, to be fair, he only had one shot on goal to deal with today. The clean sheet really belongs to Mertesacker and Koscielny who restricted Southampton to shots from outside the box that were mostly aimed at row Z. Martinez is good at high balls, though – anything that came near him in the air ended up in his big hands.
He’s solid, no moments of madness… he could improve his distribution, but that will come in time with more maturity and experience. Ospina seems more and more like a redundant buy.
Martinez was excellent but so was the stability ahead of him in our back four again. I wouldn’t rate him over either Ospina or Sczezny just yet. Not to take anything away from his performance today, and I particularly enjoyed a long kick to Alexis that pretty much went the length of the pitch. Nice power, and Yoshida only just barely got there before Alexis.
Never been a fan of Woj. Don’t know why, always preferred Fabianski. Woj always just seems an accident waiting to happen. I’ll always support him when he’s on the teamsheet just enjoy watching some decisiveness at the GK position.
Fabianski vs Porto 🙂
accident=fabianski
Ospina is twice a better keeper Woj is. The later is such a liability and shouldn’t start games anymore. Offload him if it comes to that. Ospina and Marti!
Martinez should be keeping Szcz out on his current form. Tonight he was commanding.
Also that man Koscielny very important. Not a coincidence we look much more assured at the back.
You just wonder what could have been if we had Kos fit. We might have been, at least, 4 points better than where we are now. Not to talk of Walcott, Ozil and Debuchy… 6 more points if you ask me. Sigh!
Kos and Mertesacker just look so much better with eachother. Like one half of voltron and the other half of voltron. Or does voltron have more than two bits? I don’t know.
For once, the Gods of injury worked in our favor
Yes. And credit to manager for his substitutions. Podolski wreaked havoc. Giroud was unlucky not to score a few times. Their keeper was amazing.
Did Arsene really make some good substitutions?? Holy cow! Things are turning around eh!
Only caught the last 10 or 15 mins of the game but was great to see Podolski getting some game time.
Poldi was excellent when he came on. He wanted to score so bad..
Hope Poldi stays, is used and even improves. Nobody is talking about Skysports report that Inter is in talks for Poldi. I am surprised.
OMG we must have offered Joel Campbell as sacrifice to the injury gods. Would explain his disappearance.
If that’s the explanation, then I’m okay with it. Sorry, Costa Rica.
I think he just had fat fingers today. He reached out to tweak Ramsey’s hamstring but the screen on his new phone is too small and he ended up grabbing Alderweirald by mistake instead.
Was about to explode with rage, but then Giroud came on and we started playing well.
We went from a team with no fluidity to being an arsenal with swagger and power.
Giroud beat the absolute lard out of hard man wanayama, in doing so he freed up Cazorla, Welbeck and Sanchez .
It shows why flamini is not physically strong enough and why we need someone like khedira,
Giroud is top notch. He is our main man.
He certainly shows why pace is not the only answer. Especially with how many teams we face that simply sit back and eliminate space in behind.
That touch to Welbeck was immense. Welbeck’s shot was decent, unfortunately so was the save.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an arsenal team be as directly improved with a substitution. Pace is great when you have power and intelligent strength.
He’s not the unpredictable wrecking ball that sanogo. He is plan a.
yeah Khedira fits the bill, rarely plays 10 games in a row because of injuries (though i like the player and he would really improve us)!)
And handsomely
A much needed result but in the end a very scrappy win. I do need to get some things off my chest though: 1) In the form he’s currently in I really don’t understand why Ramsey has a given starting position every single match. He had one great touch and a few decent ones but overall incredibly average with a few wayward crosses and losses of control. 2) Giroud really needs to start. I know he’s just coming back from injury but he just gives us that extra purpose up front and his finishing is exactly what we need at… Read more »
I think Wenger continues playing Ramsey expecting him to regain the form of last year. If that happens with what Alexis is doing, we will be second in the league at the end of the season and reach CL semis.
Its a shame and a travesty that he is not competing with Cesc for the position
hope you’re joking. wenger said the cesc deal to chelsea was basically done by the time arsenal were formally notified. “he ended up where he wanted,” said le prof.
Maybe because all our midfielders are injured !? before you say rosicky, he is not a CM, i agree with everyone he need to get a game but he is not CM. If we had wilshere i’m sure wenger would replace ramsey with him in the second half. But anyway he was not having a good game same as alexis but the won us the match so stop whining, and i think the assist he made will give him confidence.
1) Who else is available at the moment who could play in his position? Rosicky must have spit in Wenger’s tea, and Chamberlain’s needed on the flank, and to rotate with Giroud apparently. Even then, Ramsey offers far more than a threat going forward and an engine. The last couple of games, his defensive contributions have been far better. He needs to stop trying a little too hard though, but otherwise, he’s playing much better than he was some games ago. And it takes a while to get into form. Look at Santi. 2) Giroud still needs to get back… Read more »
Mariner- Gibbs and Giroud… Excellent
Go wax those things on your chest will be no more
Giroud’s greatest strength is he has a really rare combination of physical power and creative passing. It’s hard to think of another striker like him. When he’s got mobile players to play off him he is top quality.
Yes but don’t forget his good looks!
Martinez has good kicking ability.
So too does Sanchez…
I like how Marti boots the ball when he is closed down. Chezzers gives us all heart problems when he dummies it
Some awkwardly taken dummies i might add. Also when it rebounds off an onrushing players and fortunately rolls out. There you will see Szczesny with a nonchalant grin as if to say “I meant to do that”
Well no you fucking didn’t!……Martinez playing like he’s seem it all. Brilliant!
Well, he has seen it all! Coming back from 4-0 down to win 7-5 is no mean feat haha.
Martinez – 3 starts – 3 clean sheets
We should keep him on for the weekend, although I suspect Wenger will bring Scz back on if he’s fit
He’s been pretty flawless, wenger has to recognise that.
Szcezny can be better but never seems as consistant.
He was pretty consistent last year, when we had a consistent back four.
And Martinez is doing well with an inconsistent back 4 🙂
Actually it’s not his shot-stopping, collection or distribution that is flawed. It’s his cockiness that sometimes leads to him trying something cheeky. If he would just hammer the ball in such situations (ideally to an Arsenal player), he’d be perfect.
been pleasantly impressed by martinez, loan to brentford anyone? forster was quality tonight though, the save from giroud was special. arsenal did well not to concede, but it was a bit of a concern that we scored only once they went to 10. still: a wins a win! COYG
Is it just me, or has Arseblog got a bit big for his boots since he cleaned the floor at the FSF awards?*
*For the love of God I am joking.
Yeah, I mean he couldn’t even look up that name I couldn’t care less about!
i thought it was one of his better match reports.
a hippo with dirty pants! what a shot that must have been. i haven’t seen it yet, but i can picture it.
It was something to behold. It’s a good thing the stadium has a back wall, or it might still be rolling down Holloway Road.
Why can’t we play like we did after the goal all the time? We always get lots of goalscoring chances straight after we score. It’d be nice if we could play that blitzkrieg style more often as we have the players.
On a side note, Giroud was excellent.
It has something to do with those other blokes who were on the pitch, not the ones in Arsenal kits, the ones chasing the Arsenal players around. No idea who they were or why they were there but I suspect they had some influence on the game.
Maybe we should pay more attention to them next time and see why they don’t just let us do what we want..
Woeful performance, outstanding result. Will take that any day.
Our finishing was for sure frustrating but not ‘woeful’. But agree that an Aguero or a Costa wouldn’t have allowed Frasier Foster to make those saves. (fuck BT Sport for going on and on about Foster’s heroics)
Job Vacancy: Arsenal FC Striker Coach (‘clinicalness’ coach)
Recently Unemployed Frenchman: Mr. Thierry Henry
Not on about the finishing, Welbeck and Giroud were both unlucky to not score. The performance was poor, our passing was wayward and watching the game I was constantly worried that they were going to catch us out on the break which was very plausible up until Alderweireld went off. Thought the game could go either way up to that point. Which is credit to Southampton whose closing down was ferocious, but yeah, I hope we can return to the standard we showed against Dortmund and WBA after this.
Interesting you felt that way. For some reason, I never felt too worried they were going to score, even though certainly had their chances. This confidence seems to come from Kos being back I think. His influence is immense. Also, I thought when we did have the ball we looked quite dangerous, but Forster was a rock back there. Seeing as we had both Giroud and Podolski to come off the bench, I felt it was just a matter of time before our goal would come. Maybe I’m crazy for having that confidence in the team, but they feel like… Read more »
just a shame that we are too far behind chelski or even man City when we really start to click (= when ozil, walcott, debuchy are back…)
Sorry folks, you can thumb me down.
But welbeck just isn’t good enough for arsenal. Compare him to the strikers of the top teams in this league and you’ll see I’m right
He’s a bit tipsy right now for some reason, but there’s quality in there. Also, if you judge every player based on current form then I guess 90% of the players we have right now are not good enough for Arsenal.
Like who? Ox has been great. Sanchez is on fire. Santi is finding form. Giroud is playing like he’s never been away. Only people letting us down are Ramsey and his ridiculous goal scoring endeavors and Welbecks woeful finishing. When you think of the chances he’s had he should be hitting double figures…
He also didn’t cost the GDP of several countries.
We will get away with his data-proven inefficiency in the EPL especially as we now create 7-8 decent scoring chances per match. Bu I fear, not against the big teams in the CL who may restrict us to max of 2 chances in 90 mins. Then we will pay the price as he is great at getting into good scoring positions but allowing the keeper make saves or shooting off-target seemingly due to slight bad luck. As a winger though, I find him impeccable. Maybe way to go.
Giroud made all the difference. Has to start against Stoke.
Agreed, hansom ollie changed the game for us
Loved the link-up play between him and Welbeck
I have a feeling we may see both Welbeck and Giroud on the weekend against Stoke. Two big tall skillful strikers, one with pace and the other doing the hold-up – just what we need against the Orcs.
very hard to watch, when was the last time we dominated a team in the premier league.
Not long ago, Manchester United.
The EPL is a tough place now, which is a great credit to the league. The shared TV money is the big winner, compared to the farce that is La Liga.
is that you Robbie?? making sense?? can’t be.
Na na na na. Jiruuuuud!!!
COYG
Phew!! Lol
Besides the assist, Ramsey was very very poor once again. Horrible refereeing and an average performance from Alexis, but how good was Giroud when he came on?! 3 points in the bag and another clean sheet. Spuds lost and Everton drew. COYG!
Ramsey got the assist and was horrible at the same time? What match were you watching?
Oh my. The amount of slack people get on here for critising players who didnt do well even though we win makes me cringe
It didn’t all come off for him in attack, but he defended well. The basics.
aside from keeping the ball alive and the assist on the only goal of the match of course..
Yeah I will take this Ramsey over the one from earlier in the season any day. He may still be shooting into the top row 3-4 times a game but at least he’s not giving the ball away in dangerous places and then not tracking back.
Let’s not compare ourselves to Everton and Spuds, please!
I didnt. I just pointed out their failings which help solidify our positition in the league
Thank god for Alexis Sanchez!Inbred cunts next up UTA
Great win. Piss poor performance. Beside the goal thought sanchez was trying hard but not much came off for him. Martinez, Kos and giroud the players to come away with gold stars tonight for me. The rest? Meh.
I think he is tired, he is playing 90 minutes every week, and we could see this evening that he is tired, yes hi is chasing and closing down every time even when he is tired, but after closing down and pressing he need that extra energy when we won the ball and he didn’t have it tonight and that’s on tiredness. I this was his worst game for arsenal and i was rambling in my mind why is wenger not changing him with rosicky or sanogo especially in the last 10 minutes when saints were 10 man, and that… Read more »
Forster was the reason we didn’t win 4-0, great chances and we fully deserved that win! Up the arse
Definitely deserved the win!
It might not have seemed it at the time (through all the tension), but watching the highlights again afterwards showed how much we dominated.
Good work chaps. Now onto St*ke.
Lucky win…if Alderweireld didn’t go off, we wouldn’t have scored.
Welbeck seriously needs to improve his finishing. for all his hustle and bustle, he needs to have an end product.
Foster was superb.
Chambers solid.
Wenger got his substitutions right.
Still not impressed with our performance today.
Dude Forster was man of the match by a mile
Yes, but did we look like scoring when it was 11 vs 11??
To me it did. Welbeck’s header in the first half for one.
But we didn’t…not until Alderweireld went off. Even bfg admitted they were unlucky to leave without a point.
Oh come off it. He was being polite. It’s him and puppy dogs, you know.
I thought it was well played, Sanchez was giving the ball away too much but nobody will remember after the goal. Ramsey was also average, what happened to him? I want last autumns Ramsey back…
good game, we could have had 3
Ramsey was defending, and of course assisting on the winner.
Sanchez had an average game save for the goal…
Welbz can learn from the King soon!
Hopefully he will!!
“If Alderweireld didn’t go off we wouldn’t have scored.” Are you serious? How can you say that like it’s a fact and expect people to take you seriously? Are you able to see possible alternate futures? Uuuuuuuggggghhhhhhh pessimism is bad enough when it’s rational.
Well maybe because for one we had a man advantage and he was having a solid game before he went off??
Don’t care if you take me or anyone take me seriously. i’ll always say it as it is.
We created multiple chances against the team with the best defensive record in the league, met a keeper in ridiculous form, and still got the win. Happy with that.
Also credit to Giroud, he changed the game.
I love Alexis
93′ fouled on the edge of the area, he is falling and is still trying to make something happen midair.
Is it too much to ask for a more clinical performance?
Happy with the points, disappointed with lack of decisions in the final third. Last 20 minutes were pretty good with Giroud and Welbeck/Poldi. It’s just that late pressing gave me a heartache because it meant either we we’re about to score or fuck it up.
Wanyama is a right cunt..
Yes he is a cunt…
Giroud made the difference !
Yet the fans booed the substitution! bonkers.
That was the away fans booing Chamberlain I reckon. Our fans should have drowned that out.
I hope they have a good think about that. But they probably won’t.
Fans were booing the fact it was Ox coming off, the moaning about Ramsey on the North bank was ridiculous but people wanted to see him pulled off. The boos turned to applause when Giroud came on.
For those of you who don’t get to go to matches, the comments section here is a pretty fair reflection of what you hear at the Emirates. There’s definitely a lack of belief in Wenger. I fucking wish everyone would shut their fucking moaning mouths and support the side. It’s the only Arsenal we have ffs
Thank you for the field report- I’m far too far away and underfunded to join you, and I’ve always wondered about that. Perhaps I really didn’t want to know, but suspected.
But it’s far from everyone! COYG!
I like that we have different types of forwards now. Welbeck was struggling with the physical side of the game, so we could bring on a big guy who made an instant impact. Meanwhile Welbeck will give us pace against high lines, which Giroud obviously lacks. And then you have a nippy midget getting into all the spaces and getting shots away.
Can we please officially make Chelsea our London rivals now? We all hate them and they are on our level. Looking at how Chelsea spanked them today makes it embarrassing to even consider Spuds our rivals. We are a solid, stylish team – today proved that. When Debuchy and Ozil return, things will get really interesting. They already are! God I love this team.
Sorry to say, but we are much the same as spurs, light years behind the other c***s
Have to agree. Chelsea goes out to do business every time they step on the pitch, have to credit them for that. Can’t stand mourinho, and personally think Hazard is vastly overrated. Plus he’s a smug little brat. But they are very, very good. And to think a former Gooner, a hero, put them over the top. By the way I’m not slagging off anyone’s handling of that situation, but he was their final piece to the proverbial puzzle.
Well when you stop taking 4th place as a “trophy” and not be satisfied with a trophy in 10 years, then sure.
Oh and when we learn how not to get hammered by big teams and win the champions league; only then can we dream of being on chelshit’s level(painful i know).
Ah, the WengerOut talking points have returned.
Enjoy the win and 3 points!
I’m happy we got the 3 points…just explaining that we’re really not on chelsea’s level.
Look, I’m 22 and I’ve been born into this whole “we hate the scum, North London is red” stuff but my teen years were when I witnessed the abramovich/mourinho partnership fucking up the premier league. Everything Chelsea stands for makes me sick and they are literally the polar opposite to our beloved Arsenal. Hero vs Villain, that’s a rivalry. I honestly will feel better if we beat Mournihos Chelsea over The shitty, smelly spuds.
Love this back to basics approach. We seem so much more solid – They hardly got a peep at goal, maybe one chance which Pelle blew. Also though Alexis saved us again, I think it was Giroud who turned the game. Another incredible cameo just like the one at Everton – Very unlucky not to score or assist. It could have been more but Forster was a beast for them.
Also it seems that when Giroud is on the pitch Rambo plays better – Picked up an assist today, and did a decent job in Midfield too.
I’d take Martinez over Szczesny any day. Sorry, but Martinez is nearly invisible … an invisible wall. He never sticks out in the game for doing something stupid. I have lost count of the amount of times Szczesny comes off his line, passes to the opposition and kicks it to the opposition. Martinez so far has done the basics right and is clean and unfussy. Him and Kos = 3 clean sheets. Keep him in the sticks. A crucial win today. I thought we deserved it. Southampton played with minimum six, usually seven, and eventually eight men behind the ball… Read more »
My take on this game
1. Martinez is a good keeper. Commands his area well.
2. The defence is getting better…never looked like conceding.
3. Giroud should start. We played better when he came on.
4. Great fighting spirit…they just refused to drop points.
5. Ramsey has simplified his game and its getting better. The goals will come. Great assist today.
6. We are missing Ozil big time.
Nervy but I was sure we will get a goal.
Number 6…nuff said.
7. Obvious statements are obvious.
Oh and congrats to martinez: 3rd clean shit in a row.
Ramsey is seriously lacking in confidence…he’s trying too hard.
Good to see le boss doing what he does best.
Wow that’s actually incredibly impressive by Martinez — I don’t think I’ve ever had a clean shit!
Lool…my bad.
*Sheet.
Very frustrating to watch but I’m glad we got the win at the end. Giroud must start from now on,
am not dissapointed as it was before but to watch a little fluidness grows is a bliss. and a bit of invincible are there; fluid passing, power movement, and tough mentality. shame we got the win once there are 10 men to play against and not to mention their great keeper. i like where this cazorla went.
Great performance Welbz might not be on Benzemas level but the talent is there and I suspect next season he will be shutting most of yall mouth’s since some are critisizing..Santi is back people.
Martinez, excellent performance.
Alexis, thank you again for picking us, and thank you for being just swell. Just thank you.
I want to send him a Christmas present
Steady performance. Alexis what a player. Giroud commanding and Poldi worked hard in his short burst. TR7 gutted for him!
Who cares about the man of the match as long as we are the team with the maximum points….. That is what I av being looking forward to since the begining of the season ‘win ugly’ COYG
Not great but 3 points.. Southampton are a decent side with a good defensive record. Despite how sub par we played we still created at least 4 or 5 golden opportunities and more than enough half chances. Welbeck again is excellent everywhere except IN the box..But with improvement in this aspect of his game he will become a very good player. Ramsey was awful again but he worked hard and battled despite being outmuscled and bullied by Wanyama at times.. Did brilliantly at the end to assist Alexis. Hopefully he can build on this. The Ox was very unlucky to… Read more »
I wrote on here after the Dortmund game and the improved defensive display that we should wait to see what happens against WBA and Soton before getting over excited and fair play to Wenger and the team, it hasn’t been pretty but I’ll take two wins and two clean sheets. The thundercunts at Stoke will be tricky but we can win there, do that and some of the feel good factor will come back and the split between the fans over Wenger may subside for a little while. Two things are essential though, keeping Kos fit until Jan and attacking… Read more »
I made the comment last week (whilst others were slagging him off) that it was good to see Giroud again with his little flicks, runs, aerial ability and he had some good attempts on goal too. Ramsey, assist aside was pretty shit, why didn’t Barcelona illegally tap him up and buy him from us for £36000000, a herd of goats and a jail term for their president? The fans made their feelings clear when The Ox was substituted, With him on and Ramsey off I am sure we would have scored earlier. It was a similar decision against Manure in… Read more »
Wenger made the right subs. If ramsey was taken off, we might have probably conceded.
Van rapist left because he wanted more money and was tired of fighting for the “4th place trophy”
If one of Ferguson’s players had responded like van Persie did that day that particular player would have had a teacup against the head and would have never played for Ferguson again.
Agreed. That fucker was one ungrateful cunt. Hate him more than cashley and adebayor.
How fucking annoying is Michael owen’s voice?
Great match report. They should really give Blogs some sort of award.
We played a good team with the best defensive record in the EPL and a beast of a goalkeeper, yet some of us still complain of the performances. I think we should be a little diplomatic in our analysis.
I’ll take the 3 points over performance anyday.
It was a laboured performance however you look at it. It took them being down to 10 men for us to score.
No need to be “diplomatic”.
also no need to be incessantly negative.
I’m always realistic…i say it as i see it.
Southampton having the best defensive record didn’t stop city from beating them 3-0.
Please support ManCheat then.
What a childish comment. As far as I have seen trev has made some positive points but balanced them with reality. We won, but didn’t play well.
I’ll support whatever team i team. My family and i are probably more of an arsenal fan than you’ll ever be.
*want.
Mertesacker had his best game this season. No surprise with the return of the Boss. Koscielny was a big factor why Southampton only really had that one chance. Very solid.
I also think the young keeper Martinez deserves a run in the side even when Woj is fit. I don’t think he is better than Woj but there certainly seems to be far less chaos back there.
Martinez was great in the last 3 games, good in the air reading the crosses very well and has a great kick too. But when he wins the ball he never trows with his hands to available players where we can start a counter attack, scez would do that every single time and we are good from transition exactly from those trows from our keeper to counter and score. But i think it’s his inexperience he don’t want to make a mistake and he is playing safe buy kicking the ball to the other end. That’s is why scez needs… Read more »
I think you should look more closely. Out of his hand Martinez’s long kicks are well measured and dangerous, his angled clearances land in the right places and his distribution out of hand today was slow because (according to the commentators) Koeman’s boys “are disciplined, keep their shape, and get back into position VERY QUICKLY” (unlike Wenger’s boys) Scznczny does start some attacks with good throws but overall i feel Scznczny’s clearances are less productive (and more dangerous) for The Arsenal and he has a higher prospect of seeing his clearance unintentionally returning back in his direction for him to… Read more »
We are back to basics. We are defending much better as a group and we just need to build on the new found defensive stability. And I’m not just talking about the back 4. To everyone’s credit, they are working very hard defensively
Almighty Alexis the Sanchez.
Let me just say this:
Thank you Alexis.
Right now it doesnt matter if we win pretty or not. What matters is the three points and being within touching distance of all those around us. That said I dont think we played that badly. Just failed to click at the crucial moments. And Giroud was wonderful tonight. I dont know about you but there seem to be something different about him since he came back. Good to see Podolski get some minutes and run around as if he’d murder the next guy who asks him about his hashtags. Now for Mordor on saturday. Cmon you Gunners! And Arsene.… Read more »
HFB got some competition, and that doesnt even count Theo yet.
Had to stream the game on my laptop, in an empty Chinese restaurant. Goodness, Michael Owen is an idiot. And this is a funny report.
The subs tonight strongly suggest that arsene will play his favourite players into the ground and even when you are having a great season you get mysteriously subbed like the ox. Ramsey will play every minute no matter how poorly he plays. The ox in and out of the team no matter how he plays as somehow not one of the chosen ones. Santi always in. Rosicky never in. Sigh. Luckily one of wengers chosen ones, giroud, looks like he is back to his best though.
Ox is attack minded. Ramsey for all his error is still stronger defensively and much more needed for the team alongside Flamini.
To me this is the point. It’s not as simple as who’s having a howler, it’s also where do they play. You pull Ramsey you have to push Ox back and then he’s not the attacking spark and he’s playing where he hasn’t played this season.
What Ramsey did seem to get right was the defensive responsibility -the basics- which are less noticeable. By the numbers will be interesting to see if this bears true.
Is Ramsey growing his beard until he scores again? If so, I fear he may be about to go a bit Gandalf.
before the goal how was THAT not a penalty? or was the ref playing advantage? never heard of that if there is a handball in the box and i would have gone mad if it stayed 0:0….