Arsene Wenger has praised goalscorer Alexis, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny after the late 1-0 win over Southampton this evening.
Speaking after the game he praised the contribution of all three players as the team ground out their third successive win. Heres what he had to say:
On Alexis
“He was one of the players who had to dig in today but he still has such a desire to fight, which is why he always finds something special to get the goal. It’s difficult to find examples of people who have settled so quickly.
“My memory is not perfect but quicker, you cannot. We are in December and he arrived in July – when you look at the number of goals and the impact he has on the team, it’s fabulous.”
On Giroud
“His physical presence made a difference. He worked very hard and we have a very good preparation system. Everytime the players come back we get them to a point where they are basically ready but, having said that, he played 70 minutes on Saturday and 25 today. He was a bit jaded today.”
On Koscielny
“Laurent Koscielny was absolutely outstanding today and he contributes to stabilise our defence. We missed him for nearly two months and it’s important.”
The boss also paid tribute to his team’s desire to keep going and get the three points, saying, “It was difficult for us to keep going from the start of the game because we’ve given a lot against Dortmund and on Saturday – today was the third game in seven days. You could see that we had to dig deep.
“We played against a good team who are very well organised and play very quick on the counter-attack. For us it was important not to be exposed on the counter-attack and to keep a clean sheet.
“We had to be patient and wait for our chances and you could see in the last 20 minutes that they started to suffer a little bit physically and that we created openings.”
It might not have been perfect but it’s another little step forward and another result that had to achieved. Now to rest up and prepare for a trip to Stoke on Saturday.
Rather than digging deep all the time, how about rotating a player or two once in a while?
Also, I’d like to say: na, nananana, Giroud!
The question is, who’s up for rotation against Southampton – a top team? – Martinez couldn’t be switched out – Gibbs was rested with an injury but we had no CB/RB options for rotation – Flamini and Ramsey were the obvious choices in the middle, with Oxlade already playing – Up front: you’re not going to switch out our best player (Alexis) and Welbeck scored last week so they deserve to play. Ox made a real impact when he came on last week, so it made sense to play him and put Danny/Alexis central. Podolski is clearly not going to… Read more »
Ramsey
It might look more obvious when he fucks up because he’s always trying and never hiding. But credit where due, he had a big part in the win and it was his never-give-up quality that put him in the position to dig out that cut back and grab the assist for the winner 😉
His defensive work was solid and he was where he was supposed to be rather than a few matches where he had decided to play striker for a bit. A few stray passes but several gunners did today.
Ramsey should be rotated out of the squad because he is not fit to play in the red and white of the ARSENAL. He is a mid table player at best not only can he not pass the ball but he makes other player’s first touch look bad because it drills the ball at them. we have no chance of winning the title in the next 3 years with players like that in the team and starting before everyone else.
Idiot
Mid table player!? Behave yourself!
Just my opinion – use the bench strength more during the game. Like Giroud was brought on, sub one of Ramsey or even Carroll (not for the last 5 or 6 mins). As we are in the busy festive period, Rosicky needs some game time to be an useful alternative.
On current form I think Rosicky should get a run out over Ramsey. Then again Wenger has never been one to dent a players confidence by taking him out of the team when he’s off form (except Podolski). Otherwise i totally agree.
Ramsey contributes more defensively. i think that’s the only thing keeping him in the starting 11. If diaby was fit, i think ramsey would be benched once in a while.
Unfortunatly we are not in a position to rest players. Chelsea dont….. soo…..
Ooooooh! It is a torture to wait till last minute….but I will take it every time! 1-0 to the Arsenal… sounds very good indeed!!! coyg
1-0 We’ll take a few more of those if we’re honest!
Where art thou, Tomas Rosicky?
I too want to know where Tomas Rosicky has been exiled to, but “where art thou” or the line from Shakespeare: “wherefore art thou” actually means “why” not “where”.
http://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/wherefore
There is only one- Arsene Wenger
Very true. He seems the only one who doesn’t know.
Arsene went all a bit Yoda for a moment there…
“My memory is not perfect but quicker, you cannot.”
Yeah.
Yeah
Thank god for sanchez . That game had 0-0 written all over it
Liking Martinez in goal too . I think we should stick with him . He commands his area and his distribution is good.
Super solid teenager- very simple and strait forward style of play, but that one time he came 18 yards and pinched the floater had me terrified, but it worked out just fine.
The three may have stood out but in days like this, everyone put in a shift. Ramsey, for example, was at the right place at the right time to keep the ball. Monreal fought hard (Welbeck alai dropping to help) to keep their right wing quiet. Betrand had only one cross all game thanks to Chambers being at the top of his game. Like the Musketeers would say: “all for one and one for all” Next up Stoke. Get 3 points there and the team will be geared for a run. Come on guys you can do it. A compact… Read more »
“Everytime the players come back we get them to a point where they are basically ready” Er well that’s good to know then. They’re basically ready. But not like, you know, really ready. “We’re kind of just rushing them back a little bit, because, well, we don’t have a fucking choice, because, well, you know, we don’t have the players we need, because you know, well, we didn’t get our cheque book out when we needed to, because there wasn’t the quality in the market, and you need the quality, but now we have nobody so we just bring the… Read more »
Physically fit is not equivalent to match fit, especially not fit to start and play 90 minutes every 3 days 😉
You’d know he was talking about match fitness when players are coming back from injuries if you had any sense.
I do realise that. But there are plenty of chances to train hard and get to a point you’re more ready to come back – just was making the point (apparently not well received) that we have more incentive to rush players back due to lack of squad depth).
More to the point, our current lack of depth is largely down to the 7 first-teamers currently out injured.
Rushing a player back is just about the best way to put him back on that list. Its even less sensible when Giroud is in one of the few positions where we still have cover left fit.
Koscielny is the best centre back in world football, you can say Kompany, Thiago Silva or whoever else you like. They do not compare to the level that man consistently plays at.
Last season “Koscielny and Mertesacker have finally formed a good partnership”
Season prior “Koscielny and Vermaelen look like they’ve finally got a partnership going”. Shortly after, Verm got injured, but it’s so easy to play alongside that man!!!!
Best centre back in world football, no doubt for me.
Yeah… no.
I love him to bits, but he’s not quite THAT good. He’s certainly top 10 for me, if that’s any consolation.
Name a centre back who’s been consistently better than him? We had the joint best defence in the prem last year so he’s even getting stats to prove it. (I know that’s a team effort but I just wanted to strengthen my point haha)
I’ve also just read that Santi recently described Laurent as “World Class”, the man knows his stuff!
Can’t reply to your latest comment but: I’m just going to assume giving your vast knowledge of Chiellini, Benatia and Boetang that you watch every single game they play, or there abouts. I’m really glad you’ve decided to give me a constructive, well-informed answer. I never previously realised that Benatia is over-hyped – in your opinion – and Boetang is a clown. Maybe you’ve formed this opinion from their recent CL games? Unfortunately for you, Bayern Munich lead the Bundesliga. They have conceded THREE goals in THIRTEEN matches this season. I think we can conclusively say they have the best… Read more »
Ah shat ap!
I’m not sure I watch enough of any other team to give you an accurate description of who’s more consistent than him but I’d happily concede that at least Ramos, Silva, Chiellini, Boetang and Benatia are probably better defenders. Hummels is certainly close, as is Kompany who’s been superior to my mind whenever we’ve played him. Even with that joint top defence, Mertesacker get’s a lot of the plaudits… Plus, Koscielny’s given away more penalties than any other player since he arrived in the EPL. I’m not saying Koscielny’s poor – see my previous comment – but he’s hardly infallible,… Read more »
I think you should start watching Chiellini, Benatia and Boateng a bit more if you think they’re better defenders than him?! Barzagli is a much better player than Chiellini for a start, Boateng is a clown and Benatia is massively over-hyped in my opinion. Pepe is also a better centre back than Ramos, he’s only started becoming a true centre back within the past couple of seasons he struggled a lot when he got moved there. Hummels travels too far forward in a game and loses his position far too often for me. Kompany is a great player, no doubting… Read more »
And also it’s hard to judge whether Silva is still at it, as he’s ALWAYS blighted by injury!
It’s from having seen them enough to judge. Benatia was from Serie A, where he was hardly tested, but fair play to him moved out and is now in a strong Bayern team like you’re suggesting. Benatia’s only played 5 games this year. Bayern also have the best Goalkeeper the world has seen for a very long time inbetween their sticks and a manager who’s only lost 7 times (I think) in his professional career as a manager. Boateng has proved on more than enough occasions he has a mistake in him. Yes Real Madrid are on fire at the… Read more »
Boateng a clown???? did you watch the world cup? have you been watching the buli or did you just come with this assesment based on his mistake against city??
Boateng has been VERY solid for the last year or so. Kos might be better, but he’s def not a “clown”
Best cb in the world
1. Silva
2.Hummels
3. Ramos
4. Bosscienly
5. Benatia(VERY underrated imho)
Boateng? think of his blunder at Man City in the CL….
His constant blunders*
Radio Guy: “Frank from Vienna, you’re on the line”
Frank from Vienna: “Im thinking of a number between 3 and 29”
Radio Guy: “Boateng?”
Frank from Vienna: “Bingo”
Radio Guy: “Thanks for playing”
He’s definitely the best in the league, but he’s slighty behind thiago silva, hummels, ramos and maybe benatia.
Top 5 in the world.
Giroud is a classy forward. His link up play in an around the box is unparalleled, it’s clear what we were missing without him. He and kos the boss are certainly my favourite players at our club (though that chilean bloke does give them a close run for their money!)
They are MEN, big units with no fucks given. its lovely to have them back. They bully the opposition
It was interesting to compare Wanyama bullying our players early on — (although kneeing Santi in the Cazorlas was well beyond the pale), and his inability to deal with Giroud when he came on.
Giroud is a threat just by standing there, and you can see straight away how the team gravitates around him — we’ve got back the guy in the middle the rest can play around.
I enjoyed our performance against a tough and battle savvy Southampton tonight. Watched with a neutral who thought both teams contributed to a great game. I couldn’t agree more. (three clean sheets! Fuck yeah!)
It’s a good job we won today, because Wenger will play Sanchez until he gets injured.
I don’t think he’s had a rest in 2 months. This is why we always get injuries.
Saying that, don’t want to be totally negative, we battered Saints second half… Giroud was excellent, made a huge difference.
Please give Alexis a rest on weekend.
I Like Martinez in goal – he came AND CLAIMED everything.
stoke without alexis gives me little shivers….
Good point about resting Alexis, Strevs. He’ll be on the bench against Stoke if he doesn’t start. I do wonder what AW sees in training that convinces him that Rosicky can’t play for Arsenal anymore. If Theo can get game fit, he can provide a potent offensive threat, and Alexis can be rotated out when he’s showing signs of wear.
Koscielny and Giroud have got something in common which is very valuable to the team : they’re team players. They make efforts for the team. They’re not selfish. It’s not about their ego. They have gone from the French third division the English premier league because they are smart players and hard workers. Not born talented or discovered at a young age (Laurent is not a Varane and Giroud is not a Benzema), but they are hard workers. Remember how Laurent wanted to lift the FA cup with Per ? Team player. Did you see how Olivier went to congratulate… Read more »
Yeah I liked that moment when Ollie celebrated with him.
On the other hand, Aaron looked very downbeat in his post match interview. Not sure why because he had a reasonable game I hear?
I think his dip in form has a bit of a grip on him.
Either that or being married :0
I don’t want to sound like I’m bitching. It was an overall good performance but apart from the players, did anyone else notice how bad the refereeing was? I mean first there was that corner which was a goal kick and before that it was offside. Secondly, how many fouls does Wanyama commit before he got a yellow card? Like 702? And then those silly free kicks and that he just gifted Southampton.
The independent online , just gave flamini a rating of 3/10. Sons of bitches . I thought he played well tonight . I thought the only players who were a little off tonight were ramsey and the ox . But rambo got an assist at least . Three wins in a row , 3 clean sheets . Our young keeper has not put a foot wrong , I’d be slightly annoyed to see him dropped now. Koscielny is immense , such a good defender . We were a bit flat tonight , better second half , but it’s a good… Read more »
Flamini was an “invisible wall” today a la gilberto.
Same with martinez.
Both were impressive.
It’s a little early to be handing Martinez the #1 jersey. He has done very well, but I would have expected Szczesny to keep those clean sheets against WBA and Southampton too. This spell in goal will do wonders for his confidence and keep our #1 on his toes–and Ospina off the game day roster when he gets off the training table. I was regretting the loss of Mannone and Fabianski, but so far Martinez inspires more faith than Fab ever did.
I agree. Szczensy is better and more experienced at the moment.
Must admit, our goal keeping department looks promising for the first time in a while.
Media outlets are completely clueless.
Farcical.
Agree about Flamini. In that role its often a bad thing if you do notice him. In the same way Arteta doesn’t appear to have contributed until you see he has put in more passes, with a higher accuracy than anyone on the pitch.
Yay. No FFS
Emi manages to kick the ball properly. It’s quite nice to not worry that out keeper clearing a back pass may knock it to the first available attacker
Stupid Fans Flamini had 93% passing completion and 6 intercepts. We dominated much of midfield yet they’d rather harp on about some physically imposing DM like err Wanyama or Melo or Mvila or Gustavo or Capoue or Carvalho etc The issue is not in DM. the issue has been at Cback in absence of Koscielny which is why it is imperative IMO we first and foremost get a very good Cback who can rotate through Meterscielny and eventually replace one of them. Someone preferably 23-25 with some height (6’3 and over will be preferable) Giroud has more impact than Podolski… Read more »
but… but… but… Wenger doesn’t do defense, or tactics, and hates to spend money.
I know it has to be true, because the media told me 🙂
Even last night you could hear them adapting so they can keep having a dig — now the: ‘its only one trophy in 10 years’ line to replace the old one. The ‘haven’t beaten anyone above them in the league’ dig disappeared after the game (after all its only Southampton; not a big team).
We HAVE won one trophy in 10 years. We have failed to beat big teams(southampton is not a big team).
3 wins doesn’t change that overnight.
But when things look like they just might be in the early stages of mending, sometimes having a dig is just having a dig for the sake of having a dig. I like to hope and think positively, and get a bit buzzing about a positive turn of play and results. And really, if gooners having a dig feel free to do so unsolicited on just about every blog post, they should expect some unsolicited disagreement from fellow gooners who, you know, disagree. I for one get just disgusted when any of our squad gets booed. Even after a shit… Read more »
We beat Southampton.
This is a team that was until recently flying.
We beat Dortmund. This was a team some would say was good in Europe.
Flamini just went full Arteta for our last two match. I think he made a bigger contribution to these two clean sheets than people realise
Tomas Rosicky needs a game time! He is finally fit and only sit on the bench. Sadly he must go in January..
First of, that we are arguing how Kos is the best is a testament to the man, wenger and scouting system. Secondly, if you watch player interviews of strikers you’d know which defender most strikers hate playing against. How many worldclass talent has he put in his pocket … Messi, suarez etc. And what I like about him is that his biggest weakness is when playing physically stronger attackers he adjusts his game while still retaining his core elements. Finally, epl is the best measure of how good a defender is. A defender meets all sorts of tactics from Stoke… Read more »
Three clean sheets?…….three wins on the trot?………i’ll take it any day, and dont care if the wins were ugly or not……who gives a fuck?
I guess if you want rotation in the squad, you’ll have to wait for Ozil, Theo, and Debuchy to be fit. I’d love to know what’s going on with Theo, as he was on his way back, then nothing. I got bashed here for saying no-way will he be ready in September after an ACL tear, my guess was a full year before he sees the field. But it appears he was not ready to be brought back in, and hopefully has not had too serious a setback. I’d love to see Rosicky get some time though, especially since Santi… Read more »
Yes but where is Ozil? And what is his injury status, no news for sometime now. Does anyone know?
The word from the club was a ‘small groin’ issue with Theo. I think they said it happened on England duty.
As much as I like Rosicky, he’s not likely to improve on Santi’s shooting / goalscoring. Not really what he’s known for. He’s scored a few beauties at the right time and against the right opposition though!
I’m sick of reading on here that Podolski is lazy and is a liability for us defensively. He’s the best goalscorer we’ve got. When he’s on, you feel we will score. None of our other strikers give us as much threat (Alexis is not a striker). I think he and Giroud relieved some of the pressure on Alexis and that he enjoyed combining with the 2 of them. I don’t know what he’s done to piss off Wenger but it’s high time he got more game time. We might not then be scratching around for a late goal to win… Read more »
edit: meant to say he only gets 10 mins at most so it’s utter nonsense that he’s a “defensive liability”.
I watched the ESPN commentary yesterday, and obviously none of the watched the game- labeling it “boring” I believe that often people right articles off of stats, rather than the flow of the game- none of which was “boring.”
Thanks Olivier!