Arsenal: Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs, Flamini, Cazorla, Rosicky, Alexis, Giroud, Welbeck
Subs: Ospina, Chambers, Bellerin, Coquelin, Walcott, Podolski, Campbell
—
Arsenal took three points against QPR at the Emirates this evening, but the 2-1 win came with 10 men as Olivier Giroud’s 2nd half red card saw the Gunners hanging on for dear life at the end.
There were two changes from the team which drew with Liverpool last Sunday as Nacho Monreal came into the back four in place of Calum Chambers, while Tomas Rosicky started his first Premier League game of the season in midfield after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain missed out with injury.
The visitors have the worst away record in the league this season, so it was no surpirse when the Gunners dominated from early on. After efforts from Cazorla and Alexis, Arsenal were awarded a 9th minute penalty when the Chilean was felled by Armand Traore.
Oddly, rather than Santi Cazorla who has scored two spot-kicks recently, Alexis himself took it but saw his weak effort easily saved by Rob Green. It was a tired attempt from the former Barcelona man and a glorious chance for Arsenal to take some of the early pressure off.
Arsene Wenger’s side stayed on top of the game with most of the possession but last-gasp tackling from QPR prevented the creation of anything clear cut. Olivier Giroud had a a 25th minute pop from distance but it was always going too high, before Alexis followed suit with a lasher over the top.
Giroud tested Green with a fine free kick, the QPR keeper making a good save and the Frenchman again showed himself to be the biggest threat with another shot that deflected away off Rio Ferdinand for a corner. From the resulting set-piece Mathieu Debuchy headed over.
Arsenal were utterly dominant and eventually the goal they deserved came in the 38th minute. The Gunners worked the ball from right to left, Kieran Gibbs cross found Alexis unmarked in the box and he headed his 15th goal of the season into an empty net with Green scrambling to get across. 1-0.
The West Londoners attempted to hit back straight away when a Caulker header skidded not far wide of Wojciech Szczesny’s far post, but Arsenal took the one goal lead into the break without any further danger.
There were no changes from either side at half-time and it was more of the same. Debuchy fizzed in a low cross which just evaded Alexis, but the game changed in the 54th minute when Giroud was sent off for a coming together with Nedum Onuoha.
There was a push from the QPR man as the HFB was going through on goal but in full view of the referee he raced back and put his head towards the head of the opponent who went down as if he’d been poleaxed. Despite the overreaction, it left the referee with no choice but to issue a straight red card, which means a three game ban for the Frenchman at the busiest time of the year. Ultimately it was completely unnecessary from Giroud, regardless of how Onuoha acted.
The visitors made two changes almost straight away with Junior Hoilett replacing Armand Traore while Karl Henry was removed to make way for Leroy Fer. With an extra man Arsenal found themselves under some pressure for the first time with Hoilett curling a shot over, but in the 65th minute the lead was doubled.
A brilliant Alexis run from midfield brought him to the the edge of the box, he rolled it across to the onrushing Tomas Rosicky who side-footed home to make it 2-0.
Krancjar shot wide as Rangers looked to respond, Isla curled a weak attempt which was easy for Szczesny, before Hoilett picked up a yellow card for hauling down a goalbound Debuchy. Cazorla floated the free kick just over the bar as Redknapp made his final change bringing on Bobby Zamora on for Jordan Mutch.
Debuchy set up Alexis inside the area but his curled finish was high and wide, and the Chilean turned provider when he fed Danny Welbeck whose deflected effort was saved by Green. It looked as if Arsenal might extend the lead further but that didn’t take into account referee Martin Atkinson who awarded QPR a 78th minute penalty.
Hoilett went over the tackle of Debuchy in the box, Atkinson ignored the fact the Frenchman got a touch of the ball and pointed to the spot. Charlie Austin stepped up and slammed it home to make it 2-1.
Arsene Wenger brought on Calum Chambers for the impressive Rosicky, moving Debuchy to centre-half as he looked to see out the game. There were some moments of real pressure as the Hoops used the width of the pitch to press home their man advantage.
Krancjar shot over the bar just before Arsenal brought on Francis Coquelin for Danny Welbeck in the 88th minute. A Hoilett shot deflected off Flamini for a corner which almost brought an equaliser. Isla’s flicked header was blocked close to the goal line by Flamini.
It was backs to the wall stuff with Monreal blocking a Fer shot, Zamora going down in the box under a Gibbs challenge but this time the referee failed to point at the spot. When we did have the ball we failed to hang onto it well enough, with goal hero Alexis a bit careless on the ball, but he did win a great free kick to take some of the pressure off well into injury time.
With injury time over, QPR had a free kick 40 yards from goal, dead central but Krancjar smacked it over the bar and the final whistle went.
Three valuable points but we made it a lot harder for ourselves than we should have. Now we’ll see if that extra effort costs us at Upton Park on Sunday.
The Arse hold out for a win at last!
Wow Giroud, that was some Rooney-esque stupidity, perfect timing too. Shit.
it was stupid sure, but the reaction from Onuoha was disgusting. It is symptomatic of the weakness and banality of modern players, and no matter how much we hated cuntheads like the roy keanes and shearers, they sure brought more spirit and verve to the game.
not too stupid actually.. the qpr twat pushed him towards the rushing keeper.. giroud could have been injured seriously.. plus the referee also ignored how ferdinand held giroud’s neck.. i remember diaby being sent off agains newcastle for doing something similar to barton
That was Gervinho not Diaby but a valid point regardless.
Nope. Diaby.
Gervinho was a slap, but also to Mr. Barton. Diaby grabbed Mssr Barton by the neck and pushed him to ground after Barton put in a high two legged late tackle on Abou in pretty much his first or second match back from one of his injury layoffs. Joey deserved what he got, but not acceptable from either.
As a result I think I recall Diaby was out injured beyond the suspension from the tackle.
It was gervinho
that’s bullshit. after the injury earlier this year, it’s easy to understand his reaction – that was a nasty push. i’d rather focus on the fucking ref, if we got our penalties no such thing would happen. i don’t normally like blaming the refs, but this time it’s too fucking much. and i’d love someone from or around the club to talk it up, because we’re suffering from being viewed as a soft team all the time, losing one decision like that after another, year after year. personally, i loved Olivier’s reaction, even though i obviously don’t like the consequences.… Read more »
Relaxxxxxxxxx
Unleash the Podolski
About time!
I know many will be saying “enjoy the win!” “all that matters is we won!”
But Wenger’s absolute moralistic rejection of the concepts of “rotation” and “substitutions” will cause us to suffer soon. He’s admitted that Sanchez is in the “red zone” and has played him 90 mins every single game since- watch him get injured in the near future…
Sanchez was outstanding. We’d have lost this game without him, because quite frankly Welbeck isn’t very good and neither is Giroud. Sanchez though, is amazing. You can’t leave him out.
Yes, Sanchez is very important and should only be rested when we’re comfortably winning. I accept that. But 2 substitutions per game, each of them coming past the 85th minute? Has Wenger ever considered that some of our tepid performances or injuries have been due to fatigue from playing too many high-intensity games?
To be fair, Alexis was rested against galatasaray. His last 3 games were on the 6th,13th, and 21st of this month. I don’t think playing 90 minutes instead of 70 today is a big deal.
“You can’t leave him out”
How many times have that been said over the years, only to watch important players like Ramsey, Cesc, Van Treachery, Koscielny, and even Ozil hobble off due to over-use muscular injuries?
If we can’t win without one player, then our squad is in trouble.
Put it this way, if Wenger doesn’t rest him, then nature will find a way to make Wenger rest him.
Not to take way anything from the win though.
Exactly my point. The lack of rotation isn’t only a problem for the starting 11 though- how would it feel to be Rosicky or Podolski, and only come on at the last 5 minutes of each match, or last 90 seconds? How does that do for their motivation and their form?
It’s feel pretty good to be Rosicky today mind you.
point taken…….but surely there is nothing wrong with just enjoying the win, when we win, without the doom and gloom?
Of course, I share the happiness and relief that we won- just haven’t bothered to include it in my comments since so many others here have expressed it better!
But today was by no means perfect, and it’s also a continuation of long-term trends (eg. overreliance on Sanchez) that are less than ideal. So evaluation is needed, and IMO very urgently too, given the hectic Christmas schedule.
Nothing wrong in enjoying the win.
But when another over used player gets an injury and is out for weeks, I dont want to hear how unlucky we are for the 9th season in a row.
It IS in trouble. If we were to rest alexis, who would honestly come in and do a job??
The same people we’ll have to depend on if he gets injured.
Giroud was a complete prat. We are down to the bare bones and Sanchez is running on empty and the fool does that.
Anyway thankfully we hung on to win against the mighty Qpr. Hanging on against a team who haven’t taken a point away all season.
Enjoy the win..
Seriously..
It hasn’t even been an hour..
Alright there was some stuff that went bad like Giroud getting a red, but take some time and enjoy the win! If you’re not going enjoy wins what exactly will you enjoy?
Seems like on Arseblog lately that any sort of criticism after a win is unacceptable, while all sorts of irrational criticism after a defeat is acceptable. Standards here are becoming more and more like Le Grove?
We ‘rested’ him versus Gala away, then he had a lovely one week of rest.So the argument of Wenger overplaying him and running him into the ground is not entirely true. The Alexis being “in the red zone” statement was also made before Wenger gave him that short break.
Perhaps we just get tired of insufferable mopes. We watch the games. We get it. We talk about the problems all the time. I just don’t understand the need to be ‘that guy’ when we win.
I think the reaction (at least as I see it), comes from the feeling that when in this Yo-Yo season things go badly, it is unremitting doom and gloom, shorn of any positives. When we do well it is about finding the cloud around the silver lining of the win. What does annoy me is the negativity. When you get a comment of:”We won but…..” And then a list of complaints, its almost not worth saying the first bit If the same people were posting: “We lost, but….” On the bad days, there might not be the same reaction. Then… Read more »
Gutted Giroud got himself sent off as the only 2 horse race we are likely to be involved in is between Giroud and Wellshite.
37 thumbs down for a perfectly reasonable comment? We nearly didn’t hold on today because the substitutions just invited QPR to pressure us and leaving the team with no out ball whatsoever. It is obviously a shame to leave out your best player but with Walcott, Podolski and Campbell on the bench, we wern’t exactly short of options and at home against at team that has lost 9 straight away from home, a perfect chance to rotate and give some players a chance to get match fit was missed.
how did you get downvoted
Rubbish! Every team have their talisman. Ours is Sanchez. You play your talisman unless there is absolutely good reason not to such as injury or where the game is not critical. Can you imagine Barca resting Messi or Real resting Ronaldo just for the fun of it. If Wenger benched Sanchez and we went on to lose a critical game, blokes like you would come out guns blazing.
Thats bollocks, he normally only plays 85! As for “rotation” how do you rotate if they are all fucking injured?
The standard of refereeing in this league gets worse and worse by the minute.
We got the result and that’s all that matters . COYG
The one thing that will never cease to amaze me is the abysmal standard of BPL officiating.
I have been saying for years now that we need to be seriously considering importing foreign reffing talent. No refs are perfect by the PL’s ref pool is getting worse and worse every year and becoming frankly embarassing. These days the commentators say what a good game the ref had when he only makes one major game-changing mistake per game. It’s a sad day.
At this moment you are a stupid fucking cunt Giroud.
no need for that ‘fucking cunt’, I agree with you though. It was unbelievable to see that kind of behaviour from one of our players.
Great to secure the three points but Giroud’s red card means we can’t rotate our attack as we should for the rest of the Christmas period. Hold on tight, gooners!
As if Wenger was going to rotate in the first place, haha. Welbeck, Giroud and Sanchez every game throughout Christmas until one gets a severe injury. And Poldi on for the final 90 seconds of each match just to take the piss and demotivate him.
Oh just fuck off Arsenal. We should have won that game in the first half. And bloody hell what was Giroud doing. And has the ref gone blind, how on earth is that a penalty. Crazy refereeing. Crazy game. Mad that we had to work for that win. They are the worst team we’ve played all season. We should have hammered them, not won by the skin of our teeth. Just ridiculous . Arsenal are absolutely bonkers.
Footnote: I adore Tomas Rosicky and I’ve missed him.
Loved his celebration too.
I love rozza too guy just oozes passion and I think he’ll show wenger what he can do on a sidenite does anyone feel like he’s face has aged more since his demotion to he bench ?
Unnecessary energy wated because of a Headless French Bloke, if it wasn’t for the old Spud geezer’s team being complete shite it woulda been Pool game all over again…. Thank you Lil Mozart and 2-man Alexis for your contribution .
wasted energy*****
Thought santi was amazing again today!
Alexis Sanchez 2-QPR 1. What a player!
See I don’t mind giving credit to Alexis because he deserves every bit of it, but this is just downright insulting to players like Rosicky and Cazorla who were quite simply brilliant today.
it’s not insulting players but take alexis out of this team and we don’t win that game and many others and if the season continue this way and next year too , he will leave like so many others… facts are there for you to admit : one missed penalty, one goal and one assist and what an assist!
That was not an “assist”. He totally manufactured that goal. Well finished Mozart though.
Players like Santi get endless praise from Arsenal fans, while Flamini gets slaughtered for failing to break up opposition attacks. It’s blind, naive and unfair. Cazorla’s close control and ability to pass are obvious. But without the ball, he’s absolutely useless. He never wins a tackle, never cuts out a pass and is slow to track back. Not to mention his movement is almost non-existent. He’s basically, the archetypal Wenger purchase and the reason we continue to be woeful at defending.
Swear to Baby Jesus this season is going to take years off my life.
@ A Yank
lol…….i am with you on this one my friend
After having a go with hookers before matches, HBF now bangs another kind of whore on the pitch, who goes down just as easily.
rosicky..what a guy…looking forward to seeing him destroy spuds again when we next play them
Thankful for the 3 points and effort by the boys……not so much for Giroud and his idiocy. A 3 match ban right when needed to give Alexis etc etc a rest and try to rotate. Selfish, stupid, disappointing.
Is there a referee worth shit left in this league anymore? Doesn’t appear to be….
nc.
we got the ‘Road Runner’ coming back and also Chambo’s injury isn’t serious so he will be back too. don’t forget ‘Rocket Man’ Poldi and Sanogo/Campbell if needed. waiting for that Alexis-Welbeck-Theo combination.
The only person more stupid than Giroud was referee. Failed to give two clear penalties to us and then gives them a dodgy one. Tarore should have 5 yellows. Handballs, late challenges, he had the lot.. Why weren’t Ferdinand sent off for raising his hands as well. Referee was clueless.
3 points and good performances from rosicky, Alexis and santi. But the apathy from wenger during games is really disturbing. Why on Earth has Wenger stopped making subs until the 85th minute – we have a game in two days ffs?? Why does he insist on not playing podolski – even when Alexis and wellbeck are exhausted? Really feel sorry for him. And I think I know part of the reason, we have so few players available… Wenger does not seem to try’s his squad which will of course affect some players confidence, when they’re asked to play. The game… Read more »
Because alexis made the second goal with 10 men down ? Maybe because we were in trouble with a man down and the only player that could do something with man down was alexis, which he did and assist the second goal. If you blame someone blame Giroud that was unacceptable what he did, he didn’t just put us in trouble fighting for our lives to won the 3 points, he ruined our game plan and substitutions for some players they needed the most to get 20-25 minutes rest, I’m sure we would saw walcott and podolski for welbz and… Read more »
I’m not criticising Alexis and certainly not defending giroud. I agree Sanchez was mom. But that’s not an excuse for not giving other striking options some time to play – podolski for welbz? Or Walcott to take advantage on the counter?
We cannot imo afford to be that dependent on 1 guy – Alexis – and then not rest him at all.
Are you mad ? we were a man down, and he was the only one that he was everywhere and causing problems non-stop for qpr defense with a men down, if he was subbed second goal dose not happen, is giroud fault that alexis didn’t get deserved rest.
Let’s get one thing straight: 2nd goal was in the 65th min. I would have made the subs in the 70th – and most of my mad friends consider me relatively normal. So let’s calm a bit down.
We never know what would happen because we never try.
I agree with @ Danish_Goon on this one.. Welbeck left Manchester United because he did not want to play on the wing, and now we have done the same thing. Rather rotate between Welbeck and Giroud, and let Podolski, Rosicky, Campbell get the chance more regularly. Podolski deserves a chance to play. I honestly wish the lad a move in January. He is a top lad and his career should not be destroyed like this. I would prefer if Wenger would give him a chance, but since he has shown that he does not intend to do so I think… Read more »
Let me tell you things that would happen if Maureeno was in charge of Arsenal
*my soul would die and refuse to ressurect
*John Terry the cunt would be in the home dressing room of emirates. God forbid
*Arsenal would re-sign Lord bendtner, Chu Park, Squilaini, Cygan, Senderoes on long term contracts
*Emirates pitch turf would looked like my grandpa’s face
*Sanchez would become the ball boy
*Arseblog would shift to Mars. permanently. Unconfirmed
*I would change my hobbies to swimming with sharks
we are idiots
Giroud had a moment of madness for sure, the rest of the team needs to be given credit when they deserve it. 🙂
Rozza ♥ . I am genuinely surprised at the kind of refereeing we are witnessing in the premier league though. Ferdinand wasn’t shown a second yellow when he, ideally, should have seen a straight red. And how the hell was a penalty given against us when Debuchy won the ball is beyond me. I understand when people say that we shouldn’t moan against the referee’s decisions and should do enough to win the games regardless but this just put unnecessary pressure on us for the last 15 minutes and had we conceded a late second, the crowd would be booing… Read more »
Lol, Giroud’s red card was spot on. It is red card without any doubts. We had stuff that easily could have been turned against us as well. So at the end of the day I’d say that the refereeing became quite fair. Considering that both teams had referee errors against them.
Well, two wrongs don’t make a right.
And if you are talking about the overall impact of the poor refereeing on the game, then, had Ferdinand been sent off at the same time as Giroud for grabbing his neck, we would have easily won this game instead of having to put in such a shift to hold out for a narrow victory.
He also missed a stonewall penalty for them that would have made it 2-2 but you’re not complaining about that are you
What about kicking Mertesacker you cunt?
Well, if the penalty is never given against Debuchy, the last 20 minutes unfold differently. The other incident where Atkinson might have more legitimately given a pen never happens.
Beyond that, though, the officiating in the league is just fucking atrocious. And while we squeaked one out today, we’ve been on the business end of more bad decisions than good ones this season.
I am not saying he had a good game. I was just saying that it is not like he had it on his agenda to give QPR the edge over us, as some fans would suggest. He had shocking decisions against both teams. For instance I think it was gibbs or debuchy or someone that pretty much missed the ball and took one of their players down during the last minutes of the game. That should have been a penalty. I am simply saying that both teams had decisions against them today.
And both sets of fans would agree that Atkinson had a shitty game 🙂
fucking hell Giroud.. That was classless as fuck.. Great win from the boys but seriously that kind of mindlessingly stupid behaviour is just unacceptable if you wear an arsenal shirt. Now you are suspended for 3 fucking matches with all of our injuries around we would have needed you more than ever.
I am disappointed with Giroud, stable performance from the rest of the team. Giroud would have costed us points against a better opposition.
Pathetic. What is wrong with the mentality at this club? I hope to god that somebody with balls takes Giroud to one side and kicks the shit out him. This should have been the easiest 3 points so far and we nearly fucked it up. AGAIN. Alexis bailed us out AGAIN. What is wrong with Walcott? He should have played today to rest Welbeck who was crap AGAIN. Good to see Rosicky back, he played his socks off, but will probably be dropped against West Ham. Where is the rotation? We are going to get another key player injured if… Read more »
Almost the best lineup attack wise we put out this season.
Hope we stick with it for the next matches.
Giroud is suspended mate
We can’t due to Headless French Blockhead getting sent off.
3 game ban –
1) West Ham(A)
2) Southampton(A)
3) Hull City(H) FA Cup
Disappointed in Giroud. Gave the defender a perfect invitation for that kind of play acting. He went down like a stack of bricks, but you’ve got to expect it.
Anyway, great performance from the lads. Good job holding out the game!
COYG and come on Rosicky!
Atkinson is a tosser.
Actually he is a blind, fucking cunt tosser!
Cunt tossing. Really hope this makes the 2016 Olympics.
Alexis always amazes me with his tireless devotion to the cause. Sometimes he hangs onto the ball a little too long, often when he’s standing still with it, but he’s such a great player and there’ll be many more goals to come from him both this season and in the future Rosicky has so much talent and it was great to see him back and playing so well. Cazorla also played really well and Mertesacker and Debuchy had good games, although Debuchy was unlucky with the pelanty decision. We had periods of serious domination and should perhaps have scored more,… Read more »
I love it (not really, I am a little annoyed and disgusted) when people put anything down to the pitch—goals scored or not scored, defeats or victories, and so on. Its just ridiculous. I did not see the pitch saving any goals today, never have, probably never will. Red mist Giroud. Poor poor timing. West Ham might have been a good moment for 4-4-2. Welbeck is not the same level or quality or fight or ball holding capacity (yet to see him win one long ball and lay it off to a team mate). Anybody beginning to realize we have… Read more »
Well if you are a fan of kafka literature then I understand perfectly why you are negative on a day like this. 🙂 Jokeing aside.
I rate Welbeck and Gibbs quite highly, they are not at all bad players.. Their best years are still ahead of them. We have a decent team, we would be competing with a DM and a CB. You look like ya need to take a few beers m8..
So what’s with these French guys and their headbutts? Zidane cost France the world cup and Giroud almost cost us today.
I can’t speak for Zidane, but I have it on good authority that Giroud’s headbutt was part of an ancient ritual to grant him the powers of Zidane. At least, it better be, it was fucking idiotic otherwise.
Giroud must be feeling very relieved.
He’ll be missed for the next three games, would like to see Podolski given some game time.
Abmysal refereeing. Don’t know how Ferdinand stayed on the pitch….I thought throttling an opponent was against the rules…
And Giroud was silly to overreact like that. But Ferdinand shouldn’t have grabbed him around the neck like that afterwards, the past-it tit.
hung on for a deserved win. Well done boys
Pheww!!,,,,,,
my thoughts on the match:
pundits can say whatever they want, 3 points is 3 points……well done lads!
Alexis….what a player!
i cant believe that moment of madness from HFB….shocking!
Flamini is beginning to get the hang of these DM thing….for me, he played very well
I am quite happy with the win, although arsene had to flash his coq in order to secure the point, in a game we totally dominated, even when down to ten men…..the 3 points is what matters and hopefully things should get better from now
Cannot understand all this negativity.
We won with a man down. Hell, we even scored a goal and could have scored more had the referee not given that sham of a penalty to QPR.
And given the circumstances, I think AW got the substitutions spot on.
i would accept if we were a man down deservedly with bad tackle or a bad foul for a second yellow, but red for the stupidest thing you can do is not unacceptable
i meant acceptable. sorry
Also, surprised noone’s mentioned the foul on Mertesacker. Thought that was a certain pen but Atkinson’s a pleb, so no.
That was not an “assist”. He totally manufactured that goal. Well finished Mozart though.
Not sure who Poldi has to fuck to get some game time, but if Wenger doesn’t rotate(against a weak-ish team) now WTF is the point of having a squad?
Fuck me, why does every game result in us bemoaning the referee. He got one decision wrong against us but also failed to give a nailed on penalty to them when Gibbs poleaxed Zamora. As for Giroud, he should be fined 3 weeks wages. What a nob! It was a tiny little nudge for fucks sake. Also not understanding all the love for Sanchez, I’d like to see some stats on failed dribbles and failed passes because he did both numerous times. Also took the penalty of Santi and then missed. He did 2 good things which to be fair… Read more »
Few things..
– few players wearing half sleeves and few others wearing full sleeves..has the tradition of captain choosing the kit been dumped..
– so many empty seats, is this the price increase backlash , or people just did not bother to turn up.
If so looks like the club is targeting the right kind of fans then…lots of cash but lot less enthusiasm.
– one point when asked if Arsene will change his mind, Keown in the commentry said that will be a first !….anyone surprised
Performance wise..meh..nothing new to add.
Si if we don’t lose somebody to injury we lose somebody on straight red for three games…
Debuchy and Flaminj just roll up their long sleeves so their forearms get some air, is all. Don’t think the tradition has been abandoned…
all the players were wearing long sleeves, some just rolled it up like Debuchy.
Correct you are sir, had a look again..
hmm actually 59947 out of 60361 seats were occupied on the day so i’m not sure what you’re on about here.
A seat sold is not the same as a seat occupied.
This is a long-standing gripe on the attendance stats and why the figures you quote were once booed in the ground and now are no longer announced.
what he said..
I see. Thanks for the info.
Jesus Christ. I HOPE these chest pains I’m having is because of the dodge chicken I just ate.
Don’t go to A/E theirs a long wait!
Great to have rosicky back such an intelligent player
A wins a win. That ref was dreadful
That was nerve racking as only we can manage!
What on earth was Giroud thinking, quite obviously not.
Good hold out for the win but again sitting too deep (albeit slightly justifiable with dismissal of player)
Rosicky, I’ve forgotten we have him. Who said we do not have strength in depth? (at least in midfield despite a litany of injuries)
We have strength in depth in the midfield, but it is not always the manager uses it to the benefit of the team.
Exhilarating first half, fantastic to watch and the midfield energy was a joy after the insipid performance at Liverpool. Refereeing decisions cut both ways (Ferdinand and hoilett (?) both could/should have got second yellows; Gibbs could have given a penner
We had to dig in in the last minutes, but in the end a win. If the team keeps the togetherness, and there are no reasons to suppose otherwise, we’ll go through this period and we’ll get satisfactions in the second part of the season. Next two games are important to establish ourselves where we should be in the table (at least). And maybe Theo, who has scored only in the very first game of 2014, is going to have a chance to score also in the very last!
I hate to be a downer, but you could see the difference between the way we played and the way Chelski played. I think gunnerblog said on twitter that every single Chelski pass was with a purpose, while we were just passing for the sake of passing.
THIS IS TRUE SO FUCKING TRUE. BAYERN ARE MASTERS AT THIS BUT I SEE CHELSEA ARE TRYING TO DO THE SAME.
Awful stupidity from Giroud, put us under big pressure in this game and the next 3 he misses. Still, I’ve seen footballers do that forehead to forehead shouty thing a thousand times and the other player doesn’t usually flop over for a red card.
Who goes CF now? Welbeck with Podolski left? Straight swap for Sanogo? Some tough away fixtures next.
Love how we manage to make something so comfortable so painfully dangerous on my health. Wenger must challenge ourselves on how to make it hardest as possible. Giroud madness has made it hard for is no against West Ham as we looked knackered at the end. Will take the 3 points anyway with open arms & fingers crossed for Sunday. Have a great night all
I think Welbeck played well. Sanchez never dished the ball in the (estimate) 6 chances he had to do so- let’s say three of those were justified- welbeck can’t be said to have played poorly if the man carrying the ball, never gave it up in the final third. I would imagine that if he had dished the ball once or twice, creating an actual reason for the defenders to be drawn away rather than fly papering Sanchez there could have been another goal in the game for Sanchez or Welbeck or (giroud). That being said Welbeck’s performance was not… Read more »
Glad for the win, and to see Rosicky back in. But even though Giroud is not a player that sees a lot of red cards, the histrionics he performs every time he gets fouled or misses a chance make a red card seem both inevitable and utterly disappointing. We needed him for West Ham. He has to be tougher mentally and be able to recover from disappointment during the game.
I realize I contradicted myself- Welbeck didn’t get service and should have tried harder in the final third- but he has an excellent work rate that was overshadowed by Sanchez.
I am actually disappointed with Welbeck. He needs to score more goals (regardless of which position he is asked to play in). Work rate is good but end product is what we need from him.
If he doesn’t start scoring then LVG will be saying ‘I told you so’ at the end of the season.
Welbeck is a nice guy, and I like to see him wear our colours. But I always thought that his quality and productivity are average, not really what is needed in a big club. I’m afraid I was right.
He’s still got plenty of time to prove you wrong… here’s hoping.
Because we care what that decrepit, fuckwitted, Beavis and Butt-Head lookalike cünt thinks
Thought Rosicky and Santi were right on each others wavelength.
My take on the game.
1. Rosicky is like a new signing
2. Alexis is better than I thought. It will be difficult to bench him on sunday. He is the most dangerous player and is a must if fit.
3. Monreal is better than an average CB.
4. Carzola is close to his best again
5. Calum needs a real rest…his confidence is shot.
6. Giroud should know better than that…disgusting.
7. Arsenal’s attacking play is just breathtaking atimes. It will get better as others come back from injury.
it was fucking QPR we were playing…
What’s your point? Why do we even bother to have player ratings then since it’s only QPR?
I agree with everything but… Monreal is now better than an average center half because of one game? Sounds like Wenger logic.
The stick Monreal got was after one game too. He’s played well there in many games including Dortmund at home.
An average CB is a player like Squillacci, Sylvestre (the Arsenal version), Cygan or even Senderos and Djourou?
while I agree Monreal has done well,
i would call the defenders you have named way below average, certainly not average.
All Aboard……the Arsene Wenger butt kissing train is leaving the station, all aboard brown noses!
It’s a win – lighten up. We WILL get stronger as players return (that’s always assuming the other half of the squad doesn’t get injured!).
3 points, and a win with 10 men for most of the 2nd half is a good result.
It seems that the team is slowly showing a bit of resolve, and seeing out games.
QPR did have us pinned back in the last 10 minutes, but we held on in the end.
The red card was silly, but I thought the red should have done something about ferdinand, grabbing Giroud around the back of the neck. Surely that was raising hands????
Maybe Giroud should have collapsed like Onuha, then Ferdinand would have got a reluctant telling off by that mug Atkinson.
Thank you Alexis the Sanchez:)
Thanks Rosicky:)
Thanks Giroud, thanks a lot:(