He’s useless. He didn’t do anything that had a direct effect on this game, but constantly let Fellaini get away with his usual cheating play (diving and fouling in equal measure).
To be fair, I thought with the amount of fouls Coquelin made (and some of them were “fouls”) he might get a yellow, so he was kind of equally useless to both teams today.
Nohe didn’t affect game, he didn’t do much wrong perhaps a bit kinder to them regarding free-kicks , but nothing dramatic. Still the man Is a cunt … we have history so off course I gave my thumbs up to the strangulation.
So many commentators have been sceptical of keepers this season.It almost seems that if they don’t save a goal bound shot they could possibly have done better.
Ospina should not be blamed for the Manure goal….it was shocking defending to allow such a clear chance
Ospina should be protecting his near post either that or be close enough to get a firm hand on it…. I’m calling things as they are now. He is good. It stops there. He had one or 2 saves to make today and he failed with one.
Vs swansea he had one save to make. We all know how that went.
The ball was on the left so ospina moves to the right side of goal. Hector gets schooled and the cross comes in. All the defenders collapse on fellani. Ospina is now moving laterally to cover where the ball is going. And it falls to a United player who is not marked for a shot from six yards out. How the hell is ospina supposed to stop that. A keeper gets beat near post when the ball is on the near post as is the keeper and an opposition player scores between the post and keeper. It’s not when the… Read more »
I disagree. If Szczesny made the error, he’d be absolutely crucified. I feel like Ospina’s somehow managed to avoid criticism on a few occasions this season. To be honest, Shez had one or two bad games, made a stupid mistake in a shower, and has since then been told he’s absolute rubbish, which I completely disagree with. Just because he’s lost his place doesn’t mean Shez suddenly hasn’t “lived up to his potential” or that he’s hopeless. Regardless, Ospina should have made a better attempt with the save.
Yes! He is very average people refuse to see it. I just feel a game is coming where he will be thoroughly exposed and help Wenger make an obvious decision (buy Cech) I just hope its not either of our remaining 3 games for the season.
Kafka
9 years ago
Another point to finish the league on a relative high. Retaining the cup would make this a good season.
I quite like that we can field an unchanged team for 6 games in a row, but feel some players are getting stale. Wouldn’t mind seeing Cazorla, Alexis, Coquelin, perhaps even Giroud, Özil and Ospina given a rest in midweek.
Give Szczesny, Gibbs, Flamini, Rosicky, Wilshere, Walcott (and Welbeck if he’s fit) a good run out. Won’t do any of them any harm.
I’ve thought since his first season that Cazorla can’t play 2 games in a week, so I’d like to see Ramsey start in the middle on Wednesday, with Theo out wide.
Would be nice to see Rosicky in some capacity as well – I think he’ll probably start on Sunday if 3rd is secured, especially if he’s going to leave (I don’t want him to though 🙁 ).
it was poor . the goal was lucky . we never pressed them to win the ball . and when we got the ball we didn’t pass it quickly enough to cause them problems . just say it as it is ! we were outplayed and out passed for 80% of the game .
Ozil had a bad game too, I can’t believe how many times he allowed 2-3 united players to swarm him and bowl him over. Must have happened 5 or 6 times. Ozil, Sanchez and Santi had an off day and it really impacted our play for 70% of the game.
We played well for 10 mins in the first half and then probably the last 25 minuets in the 2nd half. Not good enough but still enough to deserve a point. They hardly had us wobbling did they?
Which ten minutes were those? We didn’t seem to be able to hold onto the ball for more than 10 seconds, and not a single shot on goal. What about our world class striker? He had a great game didn’t he?
If you look at the chances across the whole game, it was even stevens. 1-1 definitely a fair result, and all the commentators I’ve watched have said the same.
The reason they dominated the first half was their heavy pressing game in numbers. I thought to myself that it couldn’t survive the whole game, and Wenger made mention of it in his post-match too.
A draw away to a top-4 side is a classic Mourinho-type result, and while I can’t stand the bloke, let’s do this kind of result more often.
The difference is Whorinho draws to clinch titles. We lose and draw and drop from second to third. Barely progress when you consider that Liverpool has regressed and Utd is still shit
Kafka
9 years ago
Still missing that cutting edge in the final third.
Alexis gave the ball away. A lot. That’s something you have to take with the package, and it didn’t create any heart attack moments, so…
Jarsenal89
9 years ago
Playing awful for 60mins away from home against a top 4 team and still coming away with a point which was minimum we needed. Wouldn’t have done that a few years back.
Edu's Braces
9 years ago
Arsenal not doing things the hard way (having to win the last two games), something doesnt add up here.
#COYG
Gandalf
9 years ago
Bonus rating 11/10 for Ramsey ending herrera’s career:
I’d have taken a 1:1 draw at half time We looked lethargic and slow It doesn’t matter how it went in We got a deserved draw based on second half game Ramsey was excellent in the middle, Jack was fast Coquelin showed his limitations, can’t pass from the back, needs to improve Kos was superb , as normal Monreal is my player if the season ( yep I know everyone will shout Alexis ) Let’s move on P:S No matter what the circumstance Arseblog will never feel love for Ospina Yet he’ll make concessions for Bellerin being roasted again and… Read more »
Unayvee
9 years ago
All this talk of Brian McDermott being at the Lyon game today… I’d like to think someone like Lacazette could be our spark in games like this.
As a decent sign of progress though that’s twice we’ve stumped them away from home. Right fucking up them, bloody thundercunts. The times are changing.
bystander
9 years ago
I love the Coq. He’s teriffic at what he does, an inspiration to all talented young players who haven’t “made it” at 20/21, and more than worth his new contract. This game was an excellent illustration, though, of why we still need to buy a new player in that position, not necessarily an “upgrade” but someone who offers different qualities, can play instead of the Coq or alongside him. Think of Coquelin as a (much) better version of Flamini– an excellent player to have in the squad, often a starter, and versatile but essentially defensive. What we need, then, is a… Read more »
You guys need to wait one more week to go crazy with your Shneiderlin thing. Many fans saw Kondogbia play only during our two Monaco games. Can Coquelin have one bad game in five months ?
Bellerin's cockney accent
9 years ago
Bonus rating: 10/10 for the Dutch Skunk now cunt. He came on, shot and into orbit it went.
that was beautiful karma … we were average to bad in first half but showed guts and quality in the second and could have got all 3 … bring on Sunderland
MT
9 years ago
Again Ospina should do better. Maybe not his fault directly but he should save it! Szcz did save those and you can say anything you want but he is world class keeper with some mental problems which can be fixed. He saved us this year many times and I feel Ospina cost us more points this season. And Giroud is again the worst striker or what. Unfortunately he slipped when was the most important not to but you can blame him there for a missed sitter… The second chance it was more tougher since he was not in good position… Read more »
Don’t agree Ramsey was our best player, as I felt his drifting inside and lack of pace behind contributed to our poor first half. He was also jogging back as Belerin got beaten by Young for their goal, something had Walcott done he’d have been crucified for al la Almunia/Ospina in goal
Clock-End Mike
9 years ago
Shows what rubbish Man Utd are this year when we can get a draw at OT with only 3 players scoring no better than 7*, and 5 players (Ospina, Bellerin, Cazorla, Alexis and Giroud) on 5* or less. We should have won this if we’d played as we were a couple of weeks ago.
Still, as everyone is saying, it’s good enough to make 3rd place reasonably safe, but I was hoping for 2nd until we lost to the Welsh. We’ve hit a sticky patch, which I wasn’t expecting.
Phil Neville thinks United who are behind us can challenge for the title. We of course have no chance.
Shows what mugs the press really are.
ClockEndRider
9 years ago
Struggling to understand the Ospina issue. The fact is that a very good player had enough time to order a pint, go for a piss, come back, drink the pint, read the paper and still select his spot before shooting. Blaming the keeper for not saving that is really rather missing the point.
And calling it “being beaten at the near post” is off the point too. Fact is that Fellaini is the main goal threat on a cross, and after being beaten by Gomis, you could see Monreal clearly trying to block Fellaini’s headed effort – it was almost carbon copy.
The disappointment for me was that when Cazorla got into exactly the same position later on, he mishit his effort. Cazorla the mystery man – imagine if his shooting was as good as his dribbling and passing…
You are right but even then, I think it’s not unfair to expect that a very good goalkeeper could also have the time to just put his hand on the ball. He could’ve had the drinking cycle after that.
Goonerestgooner
9 years ago
Bonus rating: cunt/10 for the Dutch Skunk.
Wolf Gang
9 years ago
Play Rosicky ffs! Santi´s legs seem knackered, a rest would have done both the team and him well. The first half was perfect for Rosicky to shine in, we would have been able to control the game with Mozart on the pitch.
Rather Ramsey should have started in the middle and Theo on the right. Ramsey is a bit slow to stretch their fullbacks and to force them back. Theo’s devastating pace alongside Bellerin would have pegged Crapchester Utd back. But they pushed up and pressed higher up the pitch.
Dan D
9 years ago
Positive – we got the bare minimum that we needed. Overall – pretty uninspiring stuff. We were awful first half but better team 2nd. I would like to see us take some good form into the cup final however, so would like to see a step-up for final 2 games. But is the cup final the issue? Nobody wants to get injured a week or 2 before the big game… But as I said, overall a decent enough point, although do feel we made UTD look better than they are first half. We blew runners up Monday but 3rd looking… Read more »
Chris66
9 years ago
Ozil really is the “emperors new clothes” of this team. What you think you see is a player ducking out of every challenge and losing every physical battle, but what you are really seeing apparently is someone who is doing such sublime things that most of us mere mortals just don’t have the “football intelligence” to see. Oh for those simple days of yore when Bergkamp actually did impact big games in a way that we football morons could actually appreciate.
In fairness to the author, I am a confirmed fan of Ozil but I was thoroughly sick of the sight of him getting outmuscled in every challenge before falling to the ground and raising us hands to the skies in plaintiff sup.ication to some higher power. A thoroughly poor performance.
OOzil
9 years ago
if only we could combine ospina and sczc into one super keeper who is calm and pulls of great saves. both have things missing in them. sczc seems to pull off the tougher saves. ospina seems to get most of the shots right at him. tough to pick between the two currently.
Gooner Inside the Beltway
9 years ago
While certainly an ok result, not exactly the “response” anyone was hoping for following loss at home v Swansea, nor vaunted “statement” game like earlier at Etihad. First half was painful, made worse by leaving Herrera unmarked at the far post. Understand the disappointment that Hector couldn’t block the cross, but second time in a week that Nacho not there to head one away (and the unfailing energetic Alexis was tracking back half-heartedly as well). And can we please consider this the end of the “playing Rambo out of position” era? Healthy AOC would have made so much difference today… Read more »
Moral high ground
9 years ago
Sanchez used to play with messi. They never had a telepathic link because Sanchez is all brute force and isn’t interested in linking up. He is just a brutal effective weapon. Ozil on other hand goes up gears if we buy some good players in the summer. And Rambo deserves better than wide right in front 3. Bench cazorla and move Rambo back, ye gods..,.
Why is it the case that we need to buy more players for the sake of Ozil’s performance to improve and “go up a gear”? Shouldn’t he be doing that now?
I don’t tell my boss to constantly hire more staff to “get the best out of me”.
An Ox-sized Coq
9 years ago
I don’t blame Ospina for letting that goal in because Herrera was unmarked, but to not even touch the ball as it goes in does point out that his reflexes aren’t as sharp.
Gooner from Pretoria(Cap city)
9 years ago
Giroud should have been subbed really missed Danny today…Man of the match is Ramsey…
Ospina
9 years ago
“Didn’t have much to do really, but if Almunia had been beaten at his near post like that he’d have been crucified.”
And if Szczesny was the goalkeeper, you would have got Szczesny a 6+ and told us the lie that no keeper in the world would have saved that shot.
Please stop the anti-Ospina-agenda. Szczesny is not a better keeper just because you like him better.
Seems like with Theo scoring today, Arseblog wasn’t able to carry their anti-Walcott agenda today, so decided to put extra effort into the anti-ospina campaign.
Bellerin got beaten 4 times by Young, including the cross for the goal – unacceptable at the top level.
At least Bellerin usually provides an attacking threat to compensate for his lack of experience, and that simply wasn’t happening, which is why Wenger yanked him off.
Agree there, it wasn’t Bellerin’s day at the back or going forward, and there’s certainly a slight issue with his defensive footwork when he’s one-on-one out wide.
Could have done without the mental image of Wenger yanking him off though.
Which game were you watching? Monreal was one of our best performers yet again
Charvakan
9 years ago
Hugely gratifying turnaround after a very bad first half. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cazorla play so poorly. Giroud had a lot to deal with and still won his share of headers, and worked himself into a few chances. Ozil looks like a guy who’s trying to decide if he did the right thing by coming to Arsenal; it’s not the commitment I want to see from our classiest talent, especially in a game in which Cazorla and Alexis were not effective. Kos and Per were wonderful; Bellerin looked outmatched for once. Ramsey is looking like his old (good)… Read more »
Alexstratz
9 years ago
The difference, compared to last time, was Welbeck’s goal.
Gus Caesar
9 years ago
Tired performance and we really only turned it on for 5 minutes before their goal in the first half and then for the last 25-30 minutes. Not a game or a performance that will live long in the memory but we still got a big point and that’s exactly what we’ve wanted for years – the best teams get points when they play badly and we need to learn to do it more often. I don’t understand the negativity on here, we royally shafted Man Utd’s realistic hopes of finishing 4th and RvP barely had a touch. Personally I’m delighted.
Penis
9 years ago
I like the look of Wilshere
Got a bit of zip to his stride and pass
Did A Dizzle On It
9 years ago
Beating them would have doomed them to fourth for sure and at home.
A little revenge for stopping that invincibles run.
Alex
9 years ago
A scoring draw at Old Trafford? BOOM!
You take that, you take that all day long people, no matter if we could have done better.
I’m in NY (state, not city) and a good proportion of the attending locals were disappointed to witness our 2nd half resurgency. Imagine how Wayne Rooney felt upstairs…now be happy and enjoy your week.
He puts it into row Z!
9 years ago
To be fair, each team took the best of the other flaws and scored on each half. Neither teams were sharp enough to make the game special than it was on paper.
Perhaps Wenger knew CL qualification was on the priority than the game itself. A point seems adequate.
Van Gal making a speech after the game though… Pathetic
The speech was fantastic, as he began it he paused whilst ‘United’ fans were singing….then realised it was the Gooners singing about Wembley
North Devon Gooner
9 years ago
what is our problem? How often do we get the chance to play against a united side as bad as that. As soon as we sat back against this united team i knew we were in trouble, in the big games we need somebody like the little Mozart to push us on but we were no where near it today, we let a bad side play and it was embarrassing. When will we show what a good team we are? this was are opportunity and yet again we let the fans down.
GunFor1
9 years ago
Alexis, please pass the ball sooner, instead of trying a difficult pass or trying to beat several players when a simple pass is available.
Nominally he will get away with it with his graft in hunting it back but he looks a bit tired now.
Ditto Santi who’s passing was far off his best.
I agree with if its not broken don’t fix it but I feel some of the team look long in the leg and Wenger is slightly guilty of not freshening it up.
He put on Walcott and Jack late on for both Swansea and United. In truth, maybe one of them should be starting the game.
Rosicky is also available.
Nordin
9 years ago
Dont blame Ospina…the goal is not his fault. It was a wellhit volley from 5 metres out from a cross from the other side of the goal. I dont think that there would be even a few goalkeepers that can save that.
Ozil created two good chances for Giroud and he missed them. What can you say if Ozil is not frustrated? A better striker would have finished those. Sanchez was one selfish player. In a few times, he could have.passed and created a goal chqmce for his teammates…but he didnt bother!!
Getso gunner
9 years ago
Glad we came back with a point
Mark
9 years ago
Pretty much have guaranteed 3rd place with a point in our last two matches so as long as we didn’t let Man U win we are in great shape. Hopefully Wenger will give Rosicky a start in one of these last games and let him get his send off. Giroud looks a bit worn down and could use a break for a match to get ready for the FA Cup Final.
NYCgun
9 years ago
I know you all don’t get the sh*t NBC commentary we get here. But bonus rating:
Arlo White = -5.5 stars for every chubby he gets when that scrub Ashley Young touches the ball.
DB10**
9 years ago
bring out the poo meter. every one was a bit shit. exept ramsey.
cazorla and ozil was the worst for me. both already seem like they are planning their holidays.
and giroud is doing nothing to prove henry wrong about his no confidence vote.
no way this team can take on the big boys without some minor tweaking.
probably I’m making too much of this as we seem to have third pretty much assured and players could’nt be bothered.
might lose some prize money finishing third instead of second.
MrBigStuff
9 years ago
Ever since Ospina was preferred over Szczesny Arseblog has always gone on an anti-Ospina agenda and would always exaggerate and highlight why it’s Ospina’s fault each time we concede a goal. Fact is that Sczesny was dropped because he failed to prove he should be #1. Like one commenter stated, just because this site is biased towards Szcezeny doesn’t mean he’s the better Keeper. Enough with the anti-Ospina agenda. I no longer think highly of this site anymore ever since I’ve noticed a pattern where they’ll fail to criticize certain players who show a lack of form just because they… Read more »
You do have a history of favouritism in this place. Most of the readers can attest to that, which says something doesn’t it?
Recently, we’ve had the likes of Ospina, Coquelin, Theo especially in recent times, and a few others always getting it and their flaws highlighted (there’s been a strong anti-Theo campaign since he signed his last contract). Whilst the likes of Welbeck, Giroud, Chez and Sanchez get away.
TH9
9 years ago
Ozil was our best player last time we were at Old Trafford to be fair. Thought him and Ramsey shared a half each as our best player, both were quite poor in the other.
Thing with Walcott is, he was there. On the right hand side, willing to run at people and get into dangerous areas. He’s not brilliant at it, but he’s the best we’ve currently got. If or when he goes, we need to add real quality to make up that 3 with Alexis and Ozil. We missed Walcott’s goals from previous seasons.
Indian Gunner
9 years ago
Please stop demonizing Ospina. Last game against Swansea too, he was blamed in your blog. I don’t know if he is better or worse than Szczeny, but it is not fair to blame him for the goals. The fact remains that we haven’t seen enough of him and we easily forget that this is his first season in England. I’m sure he will be better next season.
Roitenak
9 years ago
What a poor game we had, but we managed to get a point that keeps ManU at good distance.
It felt like players went under some intense training in preparation to the Final…
Bernie
9 years ago
Arseblog is $hite now. Absolutely no objectivity!!!
I’m not certain where this complaint is coming from (unless you’re being ironic and forgot to use the irony font). I neither expect, nor want, objectivity on an Arsenal site.
J-Law's Vibrator
9 years ago
Morning Arseblog, Did you know that your voting interface uses a very peculiar rounding system? Seriously, check it out! Leave your cursor on the middle of a star for a few seconds, it will come up with the exact value of your rating choice to around 15 decimal places. 6.6… rounds to 7 stars; 6.4… rounds to 6.5 stars; but, here’s the kicker: 6.1 also rounds to 6.5 stars! This could be bad news! Allow me to explain. The stars we see are always rounded up – a click on “5.4” will give 5.5 stars, a click on “5.6” will… Read more »
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Hoping someone strangles Mike Dean. What an absolute cunt.
I didn’t even see the ref as a factor all game. Did I miss something?
Some Gooners have an obsession about Mike Dean.He is not a bad ref and certainally a lot worse around
He’s useless. He didn’t do anything that had a direct effect on this game, but constantly let Fellaini get away with his usual cheating play (diving and fouling in equal measure).
To be fair, I thought with the amount of fouls Coquelin made (and some of them were “fouls”) he might get a yellow, so he was kind of equally useless to both teams today.
Given the quality of officiating these day, I’d say this is about as good a referee as one could hope for–one blind in both eyes.
But he does look like a cringy bald vulture and walks around like one too.
Yup. Can’t stand him. Utter c**t and hugely overrated. Plays to the crowd(s) far too much and all.
Can’t stand him! Arrrghhh!!! Phew, better now.
Nohe didn’t affect game, he didn’t do much wrong perhaps a bit kinder to them regarding free-kicks , but nothing dramatic. Still the man Is a cunt … we have history so off course I gave my thumbs up to the strangulation.
There was that corner where giroud’s shirt was pulled all the way up to his arms…
I thought he did well not to be overly important in the game. Made the right calls.
Home town ref. Provided that the’home’ is Old Trafford, and the town is ‘Manchester’
Bonus ratings says it all about that game.
So many commentators have been sceptical of keepers this season.It almost seems that if they don’t save a goal bound shot they could possibly have done better.
Ospina should not be blamed for the Manure goal….it was shocking defending to allow such a clear chance
I don’t think Ospina’s amazing but I agree that it wasn’t a save you’d expect a keeper to make.
No Arsenal fan is going to mention how Valdes could’ve saved our goal (I was glad when De Gea came off injured – Valdes is guff if you ask me).
In what way, shape or form is that a reply to DanJGooner’s comment?
Agreed, Ramsey has a superb engine.
Ospina should be protecting his near post either that or be close enough to get a firm hand on it…. I’m calling things as they are now. He is good. It stops there. He had one or 2 saves to make today and he failed with one.
Vs swansea he had one save to make. We all know how that went.
Giroud is bad too.
The ball was on the left so ospina moves to the right side of goal. Hector gets schooled and the cross comes in. All the defenders collapse on fellani. Ospina is now moving laterally to cover where the ball is going. And it falls to a United player who is not marked for a shot from six yards out. How the hell is ospina supposed to stop that. A keeper gets beat near post when the ball is on the near post as is the keeper and an opposition player scores between the post and keeper. It’s not when the… Read more »
I disagree. If Szczesny made the error, he’d be absolutely crucified. I feel like Ospina’s somehow managed to avoid criticism on a few occasions this season. To be honest, Shez had one or two bad games, made a stupid mistake in a shower, and has since then been told he’s absolute rubbish, which I completely disagree with. Just because he’s lost his place doesn’t mean Shez suddenly hasn’t “lived up to his potential” or that he’s hopeless. Regardless, Ospina should have made a better attempt with the save.
Yes! He is very average people refuse to see it. I just feel a game is coming where he will be thoroughly exposed and help Wenger make an obvious decision (buy Cech) I just hope its not either of our remaining 3 games for the season.
Another point to finish the league on a relative high. Retaining the cup would make this a good season.
I quite like that we can field an unchanged team for 6 games in a row, but feel some players are getting stale. Wouldn’t mind seeing Cazorla, Alexis, Coquelin, perhaps even Giroud, Özil and Ospina given a rest in midweek.
Give Szczesny, Gibbs, Flamini, Rosicky, Wilshere, Walcott (and Welbeck if he’s fit) a good run out. Won’t do any of them any harm.
More than likely stick with the same team for Sunderland get the points then rest several players at the weekend.
I’ve thought since his first season that Cazorla can’t play 2 games in a week, so I’d like to see Ramsey start in the middle on Wednesday, with Theo out wide.
Would be nice to see Rosicky in some capacity as well – I think he’ll probably start on Sunday if 3rd is secured, especially if he’s going to leave (I don’t want him to though 🙁 ).
We’ll seriously lack creativity in a game with only Ozil. Either Wilshere or Cazorla has to accompany him to open up spaces.
Definitely want to see Little Mozart before the end of the season!
it was poor . the goal was lucky . we never pressed them to win the ball . and when we got the ball we didn’t pass it quickly enough to cause them problems . just say it as it is ! we were outplayed and out passed for 80% of the game .
I agree. And Sanchez was shocking. Ramsey was a bright spot in an otherwise terrible performance.
Anyway, upward and onward.
Cazorla couldn’t pass to save his life today. I kept waiting for him to grow into the game before he all together dissapeared from it. Sanchez too.
Rest them 2 with Theo and santi worthy replacements.
Ozil had a bad game too, I can’t believe how many times he allowed 2-3 united players to swarm him and bowl him over. Must have happened 5 or 6 times. Ozil, Sanchez and Santi had an off day and it really impacted our play for 70% of the game.
We played well for 10 mins in the first half and then probably the last 25 minuets in the 2nd half. Not good enough but still enough to deserve a point. They hardly had us wobbling did they?
Which ten minutes were those? We didn’t seem to be able to hold onto the ball for more than 10 seconds, and not a single shot on goal. What about our world class striker? He had a great game didn’t he?
Thumbs down for speaking the truth 😉
The 10 minutes immediately before they scored. Not sure what relevance your other comments have to my comment.
If you look at the chances across the whole game, it was even stevens. 1-1 definitely a fair result, and all the commentators I’ve watched have said the same.
The reason they dominated the first half was their heavy pressing game in numbers. I thought to myself that it couldn’t survive the whole game, and Wenger made mention of it in his post-match too.
A draw away to a top-4 side is a classic Mourinho-type result, and while I can’t stand the bloke, let’s do this kind of result more often.
The difference is Whorinho draws to clinch titles. We lose and draw and drop from second to third. Barely progress when you consider that Liverpool has regressed and Utd is still shit
Still missing that cutting edge in the final third.
Alexis gave the ball away. A lot. That’s something you have to take with the package, and it didn’t create any heart attack moments, so…
Playing awful for 60mins away from home against a top 4 team and still coming away with a point which was minimum we needed. Wouldn’t have done that a few years back.
Arsenal not doing things the hard way (having to win the last two games), something doesnt add up here.
#COYG
Bonus rating 11/10 for Ramsey ending herrera’s career:
https://mobile.twitter.com/bennkingg_/status/599982846657372161
I’d have taken a 1:1 draw at half time We looked lethargic and slow It doesn’t matter how it went in We got a deserved draw based on second half game Ramsey was excellent in the middle, Jack was fast Coquelin showed his limitations, can’t pass from the back, needs to improve Kos was superb , as normal Monreal is my player if the season ( yep I know everyone will shout Alexis ) Let’s move on P:S No matter what the circumstance Arseblog will never feel love for Ospina Yet he’ll make concessions for Bellerin being roasted again and… Read more »
All this talk of Brian McDermott being at the Lyon game today… I’d like to think someone like Lacazette could be our spark in games like this.
As a decent sign of progress though that’s twice we’ve stumped them away from home. Right fucking up them, bloody thundercunts. The times are changing.
I love the Coq. He’s teriffic at what he does, an inspiration to all talented young players who haven’t “made it” at 20/21, and more than worth his new contract. This game was an excellent illustration, though, of why we still need to buy a new player in that position, not necessarily an “upgrade” but someone who offers different qualities, can play instead of the Coq or alongside him. Think of Coquelin as a (much) better version of Flamini– an excellent player to have in the squad, often a starter, and versatile but essentially defensive. What we need, then, is a… Read more »
I’ve been Coquelin’s biggest supporter here, even when he was written off by everyone.
But…I have to agree. And Schneiderlin is pretty much like a midfield Koscielny.
schneiderlin over rated.
Gonalons if you want someone like Arteta with physical strength.
You don’t get point for hipster selections you know?
Because I could one up you and mention the 6’4 16 year old in the Mongolian league that is 10 times the player Gonalons is.
You guys need to wait one more week to go crazy with your Shneiderlin thing. Many fans saw Kondogbia play only during our two Monaco games. Can Coquelin have one bad game in five months ?
Bonus rating: 10/10 for the Dutch Skunk now cunt. He came on, shot and into orbit it went.
that was beautiful karma … we were average to bad in first half but showed guts and quality in the second and could have got all 3 … bring on Sunderland
Again Ospina should do better. Maybe not his fault directly but he should save it! Szcz did save those and you can say anything you want but he is world class keeper with some mental problems which can be fixed. He saved us this year many times and I feel Ospina cost us more points this season. And Giroud is again the worst striker or what. Unfortunately he slipped when was the most important not to but you can blame him there for a missed sitter… The second chance it was more tougher since he was not in good position… Read more »
Ramsey should be “benched”?? Oh dear…
Drivel.
Get your money back off your dealer mate…
Don’t agree Ramsey was our best player, as I felt his drifting inside and lack of pace behind contributed to our poor first half. He was also jogging back as Belerin got beaten by Young for their goal, something had Walcott done he’d have been crucified for al la Almunia/Ospina in goal
Shows what rubbish Man Utd are this year when we can get a draw at OT with only 3 players scoring no better than 7*, and 5 players (Ospina, Bellerin, Cazorla, Alexis and Giroud) on 5* or less. We should have won this if we’d played as we were a couple of weeks ago.
Still, as everyone is saying, it’s good enough to make 3rd place reasonably safe, but I was hoping for 2nd until we lost to the Welsh. We’ve hit a sticky patch, which I wasn’t expecting.
Phil Neville thinks United who are behind us can challenge for the title. We of course have no chance.
Shows what mugs the press really are.
Struggling to understand the Ospina issue. The fact is that a very good player had enough time to order a pint, go for a piss, come back, drink the pint, read the paper and still select his spot before shooting. Blaming the keeper for not saving that is really rather missing the point.
And calling it “being beaten at the near post” is off the point too. Fact is that Fellaini is the main goal threat on a cross, and after being beaten by Gomis, you could see Monreal clearly trying to block Fellaini’s headed effort – it was almost carbon copy.
The disappointment for me was that when Cazorla got into exactly the same position later on, he mishit his effort. Cazorla the mystery man – imagine if his shooting was as good as his dribbling and passing…
You are right but even then, I think it’s not unfair to expect that a very good goalkeeper could also have the time to just put his hand on the ball. He could’ve had the drinking cycle after that.
Bonus rating: cunt/10 for the Dutch Skunk.
Play Rosicky ffs! Santi´s legs seem knackered, a rest would have done both the team and him well. The first half was perfect for Rosicky to shine in, we would have been able to control the game with Mozart on the pitch.
Rather Ramsey should have started in the middle and Theo on the right. Ramsey is a bit slow to stretch their fullbacks and to force them back. Theo’s devastating pace alongside Bellerin would have pegged Crapchester Utd back. But they pushed up and pressed higher up the pitch.
Positive – we got the bare minimum that we needed. Overall – pretty uninspiring stuff. We were awful first half but better team 2nd. I would like to see us take some good form into the cup final however, so would like to see a step-up for final 2 games. But is the cup final the issue? Nobody wants to get injured a week or 2 before the big game… But as I said, overall a decent enough point, although do feel we made UTD look better than they are first half. We blew runners up Monday but 3rd looking… Read more »
Ozil really is the “emperors new clothes” of this team. What you think you see is a player ducking out of every challenge and losing every physical battle, but what you are really seeing apparently is someone who is doing such sublime things that most of us mere mortals just don’t have the “football intelligence” to see. Oh for those simple days of yore when Bergkamp actually did impact big games in a way that we football morons could actually appreciate.
In fairness to the author, I am a confirmed fan of Ozil but I was thoroughly sick of the sight of him getting outmuscled in every challenge before falling to the ground and raising us hands to the skies in plaintiff sup.ication to some higher power. A thoroughly poor performance.
if only we could combine ospina and sczc into one super keeper who is calm and pulls of great saves. both have things missing in them. sczc seems to pull off the tougher saves. ospina seems to get most of the shots right at him. tough to pick between the two currently.
While certainly an ok result, not exactly the “response” anyone was hoping for following loss at home v Swansea, nor vaunted “statement” game like earlier at Etihad. First half was painful, made worse by leaving Herrera unmarked at the far post. Understand the disappointment that Hector couldn’t block the cross, but second time in a week that Nacho not there to head one away (and the unfailing energetic Alexis was tracking back half-heartedly as well). And can we please consider this the end of the “playing Rambo out of position” era? Healthy AOC would have made so much difference today… Read more »
Sanchez used to play with messi. They never had a telepathic link because Sanchez is all brute force and isn’t interested in linking up. He is just a brutal effective weapon. Ozil on other hand goes up gears if we buy some good players in the summer. And Rambo deserves better than wide right in front 3. Bench cazorla and move Rambo back, ye gods..,.
Why is it the case that we need to buy more players for the sake of Ozil’s performance to improve and “go up a gear”? Shouldn’t he be doing that now?
I don’t tell my boss to constantly hire more staff to “get the best out of me”.
I don’t blame Ospina for letting that goal in because Herrera was unmarked, but to not even touch the ball as it goes in does point out that his reflexes aren’t as sharp.
Giroud should have been subbed really missed Danny today…Man of the match is Ramsey…
“Didn’t have much to do really, but if Almunia had been beaten at his near post like that he’d have been crucified.”
And if Szczesny was the goalkeeper, you would have got Szczesny a 6+ and told us the lie that no keeper in the world would have saved that shot.
Please stop the anti-Ospina-agenda. Szczesny is not a better keeper just because you like him better.
Seems like with Theo scoring today, Arseblog wasn’t able to carry their anti-Walcott agenda today, so decided to put extra effort into the anti-ospina campaign.
Last week Szczesny, this week Almunia.
Next week…if Rami Shaaban had been beaten at his near post like that he’d have been crucified.
Nice to remember the legends 🙂
Don’t think Belerin was worse than Monreal.
Bellerin got beaten 4 times by Young, including the cross for the goal – unacceptable at the top level.
At least Bellerin usually provides an attacking threat to compensate for his lack of experience, and that simply wasn’t happening, which is why Wenger yanked him off.
Agree there, it wasn’t Bellerin’s day at the back or going forward, and there’s certainly a slight issue with his defensive footwork when he’s one-on-one out wide.
Could have done without the mental image of Wenger yanking him off though.
Which game were you watching? Monreal was one of our best performers yet again
Hugely gratifying turnaround after a very bad first half. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cazorla play so poorly. Giroud had a lot to deal with and still won his share of headers, and worked himself into a few chances. Ozil looks like a guy who’s trying to decide if he did the right thing by coming to Arsenal; it’s not the commitment I want to see from our classiest talent, especially in a game in which Cazorla and Alexis were not effective. Kos and Per were wonderful; Bellerin looked outmatched for once. Ramsey is looking like his old (good)… Read more »
The difference, compared to last time, was Welbeck’s goal.
Tired performance and we really only turned it on for 5 minutes before their goal in the first half and then for the last 25-30 minutes. Not a game or a performance that will live long in the memory but we still got a big point and that’s exactly what we’ve wanted for years – the best teams get points when they play badly and we need to learn to do it more often. I don’t understand the negativity on here, we royally shafted Man Utd’s realistic hopes of finishing 4th and RvP barely had a touch. Personally I’m delighted.
I like the look of Wilshere
Got a bit of zip to his stride and pass
Beating them would have doomed them to fourth for sure and at home.
A little revenge for stopping that invincibles run.
A scoring draw at Old Trafford? BOOM!
You take that, you take that all day long people, no matter if we could have done better.
I’m in NY (state, not city) and a good proportion of the attending locals were disappointed to witness our 2nd half resurgency. Imagine how Wayne Rooney felt upstairs…now be happy and enjoy your week.
To be fair, each team took the best of the other flaws and scored on each half. Neither teams were sharp enough to make the game special than it was on paper.
Perhaps Wenger knew CL qualification was on the priority than the game itself. A point seems adequate.
Van Gal making a speech after the game though… Pathetic
The speech was fantastic, as he began it he paused whilst ‘United’ fans were singing….then realised it was the Gooners singing about Wembley
what is our problem? How often do we get the chance to play against a united side as bad as that. As soon as we sat back against this united team i knew we were in trouble, in the big games we need somebody like the little Mozart to push us on but we were no where near it today, we let a bad side play and it was embarrassing. When will we show what a good team we are? this was are opportunity and yet again we let the fans down.
Alexis, please pass the ball sooner, instead of trying a difficult pass or trying to beat several players when a simple pass is available.
He is very wasteful with possession.
Nominally he will get away with it with his graft in hunting it back but he looks a bit tired now.
Ditto Santi who’s passing was far off his best.
I agree with if its not broken don’t fix it but I feel some of the team look long in the leg and Wenger is slightly guilty of not freshening it up.
He put on Walcott and Jack late on for both Swansea and United. In truth, maybe one of them should be starting the game.
Rosicky is also available.
Dont blame Ospina…the goal is not his fault. It was a wellhit volley from 5 metres out from a cross from the other side of the goal. I dont think that there would be even a few goalkeepers that can save that.
Ozil created two good chances for Giroud and he missed them. What can you say if Ozil is not frustrated? A better striker would have finished those. Sanchez was one selfish player. In a few times, he could have.passed and created a goal chqmce for his teammates…but he didnt bother!!
Glad we came back with a point
Pretty much have guaranteed 3rd place with a point in our last two matches so as long as we didn’t let Man U win we are in great shape. Hopefully Wenger will give Rosicky a start in one of these last games and let him get his send off. Giroud looks a bit worn down and could use a break for a match to get ready for the FA Cup Final.
I know you all don’t get the sh*t NBC commentary we get here. But bonus rating:
Arlo White = -5.5 stars for every chubby he gets when that scrub Ashley Young touches the ball.
bring out the poo meter. every one was a bit shit. exept ramsey.
cazorla and ozil was the worst for me. both already seem like they are planning their holidays.
and giroud is doing nothing to prove henry wrong about his no confidence vote.
no way this team can take on the big boys without some minor tweaking.
probably I’m making too much of this as we seem to have third pretty much assured and players could’nt be bothered.
might lose some prize money finishing third instead of second.
Ever since Ospina was preferred over Szczesny Arseblog has always gone on an anti-Ospina agenda and would always exaggerate and highlight why it’s Ospina’s fault each time we concede a goal. Fact is that Sczesny was dropped because he failed to prove he should be #1. Like one commenter stated, just because this site is biased towards Szcezeny doesn’t mean he’s the better Keeper. Enough with the anti-Ospina agenda. I no longer think highly of this site anymore ever since I’ve noticed a pattern where they’ll fail to criticize certain players who show a lack of form just because they… Read more »
Monreal was marking Mata for the goal. Alexis allowed Herrera to run into the box without tracking him.
And nobody got castigated. These are subjective player ratings.
You do have a history of favouritism in this place. Most of the readers can attest to that, which says something doesn’t it?
Recently, we’ve had the likes of Ospina, Coquelin, Theo especially in recent times, and a few others always getting it and their flaws highlighted (there’s been a strong anti-Theo campaign since he signed his last contract). Whilst the likes of Welbeck, Giroud, Chez and Sanchez get away.
Ozil was our best player last time we were at Old Trafford to be fair. Thought him and Ramsey shared a half each as our best player, both were quite poor in the other.
Thing with Walcott is, he was there. On the right hand side, willing to run at people and get into dangerous areas. He’s not brilliant at it, but he’s the best we’ve currently got. If or when he goes, we need to add real quality to make up that 3 with Alexis and Ozil. We missed Walcott’s goals from previous seasons.
Please stop demonizing Ospina. Last game against Swansea too, he was blamed in your blog. I don’t know if he is better or worse than Szczeny, but it is not fair to blame him for the goals. The fact remains that we haven’t seen enough of him and we easily forget that this is his first season in England. I’m sure he will be better next season.
What a poor game we had, but we managed to get a point that keeps ManU at good distance.
It felt like players went under some intense training in preparation to the Final…
Arseblog is $hite now. Absolutely no objectivity!!!
I’m not certain where this complaint is coming from (unless you’re being ironic and forgot to use the irony font). I neither expect, nor want, objectivity on an Arsenal site.
Morning Arseblog, Did you know that your voting interface uses a very peculiar rounding system? Seriously, check it out! Leave your cursor on the middle of a star for a few seconds, it will come up with the exact value of your rating choice to around 15 decimal places. 6.6… rounds to 7 stars; 6.4… rounds to 6.5 stars; but, here’s the kicker: 6.1 also rounds to 6.5 stars! This could be bad news! Allow me to explain. The stars we see are always rounded up – a click on “5.4” will give 5.5 stars, a click on “5.6” will… Read more »
Thanks J-Law. I’ll run this past our developer and see what he says!