Arsenal: Cech, Debuchy, Chambers, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Flamini, Kamara, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi, Campbell, Giroud
Subs: Macey, Monreal, Gabriel, Bielik, Bennacer, Sheaf, Walcott
Sheffield Wednesday crushed Arsenal’s Capital One Cup aspirations with a 3-0 win at Hillsborough on a torrid night for Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman saw his mix-and-match outfit lose both Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and replacement Theo Walcott to injury inside the first 15 minutes before goals from Ross Wallace and Lucas João gave the hosts a deserved first half lead. Five minutes after the break Sam Hutchinson added a scrappy third to add gloss to the result for the Championship side.
Team news
Petr Cech, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud were the only players to keep their place from Sunday’s win over Everton with Arsene Wenger, as expected, making a swathe of changes. The boss handed first team debuts to Alex Iwobi and Glen Kamara and called up fellow youngsters Matt Macey, Krystian Bielik, Ben Sheaf and Ismael Bennacer to the bench. Mathieu Flamini, hero of the last round at Sp*rs, anchored the midfield in front of Chambers and Mertesacker with Debuchy and Gibbs flanking them.
First half
It’s fair to say the opening 45 minutes were a total clusterfuck from a Gunners perspective. The game had barely begun before we were forced into two early changes. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, playing off the right wing, pulled up with a tight hamstring on four minutes and Theo Walcott, thrown on in his place, lasted only ten minutes before complaining of a calf problem.
Theo was replaced by Ismael Bennacer, the 17-year-old summer signing from Arles-Avignon, and the kid looked genuinely frightened as he took to the turf in front of a baying Hillsborough crowd.
To add insult to literal injuries we defended like absolute mugs and deservedly conceded two goals. On 27 minutes Debuchy was caught out by a lofted pass over his head and when the ball was cut back by Daniel Pudil to the edge of Gunners area Ross Wallace tucked home low past a wrong-footed Cech. Questions have to be asked of Flamini’s decision not to close down the Scot, whose finish was tidy.
Wednesday came close a couple more times, Wallace flashed a free-kick just wide and Cech tipped around the post from Lucas João. The seemingly inevitable second goal was only delayed by a matter of seconds though as the Portuguese striker rose highest in a packed box to crash home a header from the resulting short corner.
If there was a positive it was that Joel Campbell proved he could tackle, unfortunately, passing, dribbling and shooting look beyond the Costa Rican. Alex Iwobi did show quick feet on a couple of occasions and had our only shot on goal. By and large though the squad had to hang their head in shame at the break. We just didn’t look up for it and Wednesday did.
Second half
The second half started with more wretched Arsenal defending. Not for the first time a cheap free-kick was given away in the final third, this time Chambers hauling down João, and from the set piece Wednesday’s Tom Lees was left free at the back post to cushion a pass across the six-yards for Sam Hutchinson to bundle home. It may even have been Debuchy who applied the touch; we’re tempted to give it to him given how abject he was all night. Not long after he went into the book…possibly for impersonating a footballer.
On the hour mark Glen Kamara, the first ever Finn to play for Arsenal, was replaced by Bielik who was also making his first senior appearance since signing from Legia Warsaw last January. The Pole’s arrival in midfield seemed to calm us down for a while and we won a series of corners trying to work possession down the right flank.
Mertesacker had a header well saved at close range but by that point the game was long lost. We did on occasion try to keep the ball, but without anyone really attempting to run between the lines possession was all too often surrendered.
Fair play to Wednesday who showed the passion you’d expect when 35,000 locals turn up to watch you on a brisk evening. Arsenal have to regroup before a tricky trip to Swansea on Saturday. We could do with what’s left of our squad staying fit for a while. The injuries are starting to get worrying.
We’ll save the last word for the kit…when you wear black and blue, you get beaten black and blue. Unless you’re Sheffield Wednesday, apparently.
No question, that third is kit is bad luck!
But seriously, what did we learn today: That our B-Team is not good enough to beat a mid-table Championship side? Fair enough. Until next year, then.
In the mean time, hope Ox and Theo are OK.
What did we learn today? We really couldn’t care less about the Capital One Cup. I’m not even sure any Arsenal player broke a sweat really.
Agreed. But that couldn’t (reasonably) have gone any worse. Very thin in attack now if Walcott’s knock was serious.
I’d rather eat my own head than see us play that badly again this season.
Ultimately, a really shit one tonight. I know that its only the Capitol One Cup, but still, we shouldn’t be getting beaten inside 20 minutes by a Championship side like that. I know that if you look back at the last 4 games, you’d pick this one to lose if you had a choice, but that was still a painful watch. We had a lot fringe players on the pitch tonight, and they should take a long hard look at themselves after that performance. They should of been chomping at the bit to prove to Arsene that they should be… Read more »
If anything happens to Bellerin or Monreal we’re screwed
I’m glad we are out we don’t need more game around November and December for this cup, especially picking up unnecessary injuries.
The game was quite physical. The ref failed to protect our players. I hope other teams dont use this as a blueprint to come at us.
They already do…
What did we learn? Mostly that we should have strengthened the forward positions in the summer…. but then again we should have known that already. Wenger’s procrastination in the transfer market will once again derail our season.
SpectacuSHIT
I was paying ~16GBP each month to able to see league cup games, at least now I can cancel. I’m happy I won’t have to watch that particular “team” play again this year. I only hope the injuries and the loss don’t affect our league form.
Whoever thought of that kit should be shot 6 times and then stabbed in the eye
Blogs, you seem to have learnt the trade well from…Mourinho, using the kit to distract attention!
Well played! Wenger would do well to add you to his staff.
You put chamberlain in,injury puts him out
Walcott comes on and his calf gives out
That’s what the league cups all about
Whoa the hokey cokey
Whoa the cokey cokey
Whoa the hokey cokey
Didn’t bend knees,calf stretch now we’re out out out!
Not to bothered,we got bigger fish to fry and we were practically playing our third team in places. The injury pile up is a bit of a worry now though.
Ho hum! Onwards and upwards.
COYG!
I’m 99% sure that no team could be expected
to play well wearing a kit that minging
it looks like the cover to a Dulux paint catalog
I don’t give a f*ck about the defeat but I do about the injuries. Seriously, we should’ve just thrown the kids out there.
would have played the Ox too to try to get him some momentum but wouldn’t have brought Walcott in after the Ox got injured. That wasn’t very clever in my opinion. Some chances for Campbell in the next weeks to show that he got Arsenal quality, thought he wasn’t that bad today. But let’s hope The and Alex will come back as soon as possible.
But walcott didn’t play the last game, he was rested fir and ready if he played i’m sure that wenger would not bring him on, as for ox i agree he needed a game time and momentum to go on but unfortunately this injuries happens I hope that are minor injuries. and ox and walcott war far from overloaded we games, so i don’t blame wenger.
I didn’t said that Walcott was overplayed but as you said those injuries can happen so I wouldn’t have taken the risk in a competition nobody really cares about.
Wenger comment after the game:
“I have to manage the workload of the players and at the end of the day I still think I brought too many experienced players here. We lost two players. Once I lost two players, I had Gabriel and Monreal and I did not bring them on as we could not afford to lose any more players.
It sounds a bit like he is blaming himself for that decision.
Seriously. Ramsey is out and we play our best 1st team option there. He gets injured. WHY?!
Then we throw Theo down the hole behind him.
Thank fuck we didn’t play Ozil, Santi, Caz, Monreal, or Bellerin
Looks like Campbell is going to get some first team action. Too bad it doesn’t look like he’s up to it.
Our B team on paper kicks ass. On the pitch not so much.
That is far from our B team they were more reserve team our B team if fit would be opsina , debuchy, chambers gabriel or per not sure , gibbs , ox,arteta flamini, rosciky, cambell, welbeck , wilshere , not the kids this was more our C team. we will have for the FA cup our true B team and would be a much different story then this meaningless cup. no worries.
In fact the attacking half was at least part D team due to players on loan & in U17 world cup
i.e: Crowley, Akpom, Hayden, Zelalem, Maitland-Niles, Toral, Gnabry, The Jeff,
Let’s face it – we didn’t really care did we ?
Although one point is worth making – Joel Campbell was – I think – the guy we sacrificed Nasri and Cesc for three years back. Dick – the Head – went all round Costa Rica to get him, whilst the others walked out the front door with Wenger assuring us all that we ‘could not be a big club if they left’ !!
Sorry to remind you of that fact. Feel free to cry and thumb it down. Still this was all pointless so it doesn’t matter.
What the fuck are you talking about?
To be fair I only gave you a thumbs up for Dick the head. Nasri seriously what a waste of space polishing his medals that other players have won for him. The other could never forgive him for going to play for that prick.
In what sense do you get a League Title Winners Medal ‘other players have won for you’ ? Do you suppose Arsenal players of 1998 or 2002 or 2004 look at their medals and say ‘Wow DB 10 won that for me I did nothing. But I’ll take it anyway’. Do you – or does anyone – really think that ? As for Cesc, he has an EPL winners medal ; and one or is it two from Barca. Nasri has two at City ; as does Cliche. Are we really supposed to denounce their judgement ? Oh yes and… Read more »
The fat wanker has spent most of the time sat on the bench so yes other people won medals for him! Plus he never shuts the fuck up slagging us off. Oh yeah his national FORMER team mates don’t like the wanker either. Cesc as I’ve stated gone to play for the biggest wanker in football, don’t really true fully think anyone really begrudged his Barca move. Although he could have dealt with it better. RVP won that title for them pretty much off his own back. Could have possibly done that for us that season. Not to be I… Read more »
Cesc is reaping what he’s sown now though.
You’re right ! It was somebody else’s fault.
It was the Managers fault. Because he picks and coaches the players, decides the team and decides the tactics ; he decides the transfer policy such as it is. The players don’t do that. They play. He – Wenger – manages.
So you’re right. The fact that we couldn’t get the mentioned players to win the EPL – when they are plainly capable of so doing, because they have moved elsewhere to do just that – was indeed ‘somebody else’s fault’.
Commentators talking like we even remotely cared about this game. If Arsene was given the opportunity to not have to play it and simpy forfeit, I’m sure he would have taken it. We were only ever there because we wanted to stick it to the Sp*rs last round.
Only surprises were the inclusion of Cech and the Walcott substitution as I thought both were unnecessary and at least one could prove costly. Otherwise the evening progressed pretty much as expected.
At one point the guy said “Arsenal, who beat Bayern a week ago, are struggling against the championship side”, and even the snobby me had to chuckle.
Oh yeah. I remember that. I immediately felt like slapping him hard with a shark fin on his nose!
I cant bring myself to imagine what he will say next week should we beat Bayern. I guess something like, God damn Bayern. How can they lost to a team who lost to a championship side last week. or worse
Oh well, the Arsenal Youth Showcase Cup ends a little early this season. I am perfectly okay that Wenger threw this one to be honest.
Could certainly have done without those two massive injuries.
That’s a grand name.
But sad as I respect Diaby so for his character, strength, and beauteous skill.
Debuchy and Chambers WTF.
AW almost seemed to be smiling at the end.
Yeah must admit Chambers is becoming a real concern the promising talented lad of the beginning of last season seems to be disappearing. Debuchy whining about being on the verge of leaving if he didn’t regular football. On his last few performances then I foresee his transfer request at the beginning of the next window.
I think Chambers needs to be loaned out to get his groove back. I know Southampton were interested this year or last year. He needs game time, but he’s really not going to get too many looks with Mert, Kos, and Gab playing well. Why wasn’t Mert in his usual right CB position?
Legend says that Giroud was on the pitch for 90 minutes of that game
And he left the pitch without injury. Mission accomplished.
He wasn’t injured, which is the main thing
Yeah for a guy who usually works so hard reckon he may have handed a holiday slip in this morning.
So I suppose it’s only fair to do the positives first: -Cech, Mertesacker, Giroud and Gibbs were all fine. -Bielik and Bennacer looked to have some promise. …aaaand the negatives: -Injuries -Chambers looks like he’s fallen into an Oxlade-Chamberlain sized pit of self-doubt. He just doesn’t look switched on, maybe it’s a Southampton thing. -Flamini, Debuchy and Campbell. I don’t think the latter two should play for us again. Not just because of the performance today but their play for a while now has been of a dire standard. Campbell hasn’t done a single thing in an Arsenal shirt, and… Read more »
Some positives, Bielik came on and impressed with his neat passing where Kamara was hiding from the ball. Campbell was a big big disappointment, not enough pace to press or get past the defenders. Sadly, I feel like he will be shipped out on loan and won’t get another chance unless Ox is really injured. Hope Ox and Theo were precautionary substitutions. I’d have loved to see Maitland-Niles and the Jeff but even they are frying bigger fish somewhere else.
Campbell worked hard but his crosses were awful!
He does work hard, and that’s why I feel sorry for him.
Does anyone else think it’s due to lack of match fitness and not ability? There were moments there that looked good. Like when he chased the ball down in their corner and gained possession only to waste it by a wide cross that went to goal kick. Excellent run, shit cross. Maybe more time on the pitch would see to him not wasting crosses like that in the future.
It feels like he’s really struggling to do even that. I mean, match sharpness gives you maybe 20-25% more? In terms of effort he seems like he is at 100%. I could be wrong, but I feel Match sharpness wouldn’t make him a solid addition for the first team. Now having said that, I think if he tries to play like Ramsey did (dribble more than try to beat the full back with pace, and defend and press) on the right wing, he may prove to be a decent option. Also, I feel that while its sad that he couldn’t… Read more »
His dribbling, passing, and shooting were awful as well.
At least Giroud didn’t get injured. No Theo,Rambo ,Ox, Jack or Rosicky so who plays right v Swansea? Please don’t anyone suggest Bellerin with Debuchy full back !
Bellerin to play both right back and right wing at the same time? He practically does that already anyway.
Flamini centre, Ozil or Santi shifts out wide 🙁
Blogs please make the player rating be a torture special.. It sure was torture for us watching the game. I pity the travelling away fans.
On a side note I hope the injuries are not serious
One of the weaknesses to Arsenes managerial style, is that the second string never perform. The stage is set for them to deliver and prove why they should be in the 1st team but very rarely capitalise and deliver on the opportunity. I mean take a random example, (not that I’m picking on him) like Gibbs, this is his chance to prove why he should be starting over Montreal, he can’t exactly complain about fatigue, but instead of playing his heart out he hides. – I don’t know if this is down to poor man management, but I’ve always felt… Read more »
And just how is Arsene to blame for that? If Gibbs hides instead of playing his heart out, surely that is down to Gibbs, and not Arsene?
I used Gibbs as an example, and yes if you look at it on a case by case basis you could question the players. But if you look at the collective over the last few years, you have to question why so many of wengers second string players fail to perform when called on.
Don’t agree. What about Bellerin and Coquelin. They showed why they should be in the team
We lose a meaningless game and it’s “Wenger out again”…oh dear God!
Well there’s 3 more excuses never to wear that kit again…
Chambers is a very poor player. As much as I wish the kid would come good. He is worse than stepanovs.
When you are having to sub the sub off 20 mins into the game the writing is pretty much on the wall.
i’d really hate it when debuchy comes out and complains about his lack of playing time
Well that was fucking shit!
if ox’s injury is long term,, i would like to iwobi down the right wing..
Heh at first I was a little angry but who can really prepare for two injuries like that so early. I do give lot of credit to relegation team supporters because if that’s performances they have to look forward to god help them.
I did learn one thing today though, campbell may not be able to cross in a ball to save his life but at least he can fill in at right back when hector gets injured whilst Debuchy takes notes.
Well at least Loic Remy didn’t follow instructions and scored an equalizer for Chelsea at the 91st minute.
You dick!
It’s all good, they played another 30 minutes, got their hopes up, and then Hazard missed another penalty to send them out. Even worse than our loss, because it took them another 30 minutes to get theirs. All is right again in the world.
Brought to us by Mourinho – Specialist In Failure (hons)
Yep, that’s what I’m talking about.
Not too worried by the result. Bielik is definitely going to be a major player in time to come, seems to have a touch of Diaby in his game the way he glides around intelligently.
My concern is that experienced players like Debuchy went missing. And if I may ask; what exactly is the point of Campbell?
Both of them have hardly played. They are bound to be rusty as fuck. When Debuchy came to us he was solid. It’s only due to injury that he fell from his position. I would love to see him play for us again like he did when he first arrived.
Campbell might come good with more games, who knows. I’m less interested in him though.
I think Campbell will come good at about the same time as Nelson gets his eye back.
That was terrible and showed that our squad really isn’t as strong as people might think, no one came out of that with any credit.
Flamini was particularly bad as we had absolutely no control in midfield what so ever, heaven forbid we have to play him against a team in the premier league.
Really disappointing night for our reserve back 4, it has really left me wondering whether we have the strength in depth required to win the title. At this moment I’m really hoping we don’t need Debuchy or Chambers for any length of time.
Campbell just isn’t good enough – tried hard though, got to give him that.
I think Campbell is a tidy player with decent technique and a solid work ethic but he hasn’t got anything that he really excells at. I had high hopes for him but he’s a championship/mid table player at best.
Perhaps now people will realize that Joel Campbell was a massive mistake right from the beginning. The only reason he’s still with the club is that he had one and a half good games at the World Cup a year and a half ago. He really is rubbish. The sooner he is gone the better. Honestly, I’d rather have Sanogo than him, because at least Sanogo looks like he has some potential. Campbell looks like he peaked two season ago.
Campbell may have to play right side v Swansea with all the injuries. With our proper back 4 playing plus Coq, Santi, Ozil, Alexis and Giroud he may not look too bad as long as he tucks in and allows Bellerin to scorch past him and then supports him when Montero has it. Fingers crossed time….
I feel sorry for him, but sadly I can’t see him progressing into anything at Arsenal. Would be best for both parties if he were sold to somewhere where he can enjoy regular football. We should also bring Serge back for that right hand side as Poo-lis obviously is unable to nurture young talent- he’d probably get more game time here as well, judging the way our injuries are going…
any news on injuries?
After beating Utd and Bayern you don’t want to be too critical but players out there who know they are second choice really didn’t apply themselves properly. Gibbs has regressed in the last 18 months and Debuchy’s attitude is terrible, he doesn’t want to be there and can’t be arsed, he can fuck right off in January. BUT, to go into a season expecting anything from Flamini, Arteta & Rosicky is criminal and unless they were player coach roles they should have been jettisoned. Our players are very injury prone and we should have purchased another midfielder in the summer.… Read more »
Absolutely shocking…But i find myself not really caring. The goodwill Flamini built up with his his spuds performance evaporated tonight..Simply not good enough and completely past what made him valuable when he has never been talented to begin with. I worry for Chambers, there is a player somewhere in there but everytime he plays it coincides with conceding the type of goals we did today. Debuchy is not good enough and i think he is finished..Unlucky with injuries etc but he should be moved along with Hectors emergence..Jenko would be a better 2nd option because he has time to improve.… Read more »
Just seen wengers press conference the questions to him and his response seems rehearsed almost as if someones helping out behind the scenes…this seems to happen lots when before he would put himself under pressure by being too honest…could this be part of the mythical service provided by KSE for 3mil a year?!
*conspiracy theory alert!*
Maybe KSE created a fake Arsene Wenger they trundle out on days like this when Arsene can’t be fucked to show up himself. That might be worth the 3 million.
lol you hit the nail on the head mate the whole team must have been cloned by KSE so we have an excuse to drop out of the Micky Mouse Cup and focus on champs league. Hah
Lets hope those were Theo and Ox clones
Not the end of the world. The injuries and the circumstances of the game being right before a crucial away trip to Swansea where we normally struggle followed by a do or die champions league game in Munich meant that getting a result tonight was always going to be difficult given the team we were basically forced to play. Let’s hope to fuck that the injuries to Theo and the Ox aren’t too serious and that they’re back to full fitness ASAP. We may be out of the Mickey Mouse cup but i have no doubt that we’ll bounce back… Read more »
Tonight there were a few players who were given a chance to prove themselves and completely wasted it: * Campbell – I know he has a few fans here, but look… I’m not saying the guy is totally shit or anything but… actually I take that back. It’s exactly what I’m going to say. He’s shit. For club and country. If he stepped up tonight the score would probably be the same, but with the whole team playing below par he stood out as a leader in how to be completely shit at football. * Chambers – Disappointing but I’m… Read more »
It’s games like this that bring all the keyboard warriors out on Twitter on the likes. Actually read some tweets where arsenal fans were wishing injuries on their own players… What kind of scumbag…. Keep it classy folks. Shit about Theo and Ox but overall, not worried about the result.
Get out while you can Joel
Sell Joel while you can, Arsene.
Wenger was right to drop the big guns and play a few reserves. Shit performance by players who should have had a point to prove. I still can’t see the point of Campbell: why is he sucking up precious wage bill cash when he should be on loan somewhere?
Losing 3-0 to a mediocre Championship side is embarrassing.
You might be right all along mate about our lack of depth. Surely the first XI can’t be that bad tho?
We need cover for Coq. And bring back the gun loanee forwards for PL bid cover. Fuck I hate being done like a dinner. Hopefully, Swansea will see huge bounce back from us which is usual for this team … AW must be cursing starting Ox and losing Theo … silly boy
Feel sorry for the kids, looked like they wanted to play but were hung out to dry by the seniors who didn’t give a toss. Oh well, bigger fish to fry
As much as I want to say I don’t give a fuck about the Capital One Cup… I don’t give a fuck about the Capital One Cup. Living in Australia, these cup games usually are decisions for me to make.. Day off completely Late to work Record and try to get through the entire day without learning the result Watch only 1 half (either leave early and catch second, or watch first and miss second). I must admit this was only the second time I’ve ever actually seen the first half and thought.. “Yep, fuck staying back this afternoon for… Read more »
Can hardly wait til Jenks is back. After Debuchy said that shit about looking elsewhere for not getting playing time, then tanking it everytime he does get playing time, I sincerely hope he’s moved in Jan.
While this match might not mean much, I’m still worried about some of our back up players, as they really don’t seem good enough to step in if needed. Gibbs, Debuchy, Campbell, Flamini and Chambers are all first team back ups right now, and they all looked.. well, shite. When you’re in a back up position, you’re supposed to use chances like this to prove that you’re actually pushing for a spot over players like Bellerin and Monreal, but based on this performance they’re nowhere near the required quality.
Disappointing night for us Gooners, especially with Theo’s and the Ox’s injuries. But looking at the bright side, at least we made sure the spuds would not be winning this cup !
I get it was the capital one cup and we needed to rotate, I also get that we were unlucky with the injuries but unlike others on here I do give a shit. Firstly I hate losing and that’s 5 defeats in 14 games this season, and secondly I give a shit about the fans that travelled all that way to see such an embaressing display – mainly defensively. I do also worry about our first team back up defenders who played tonight. Chambers will get better as he’s still learning his trade but he has been pretty poo for… Read more »
Well that was a torrent of soft shit. On the Chambers issue, I really don’t think the kids best position is centre-half. I suggested earlier on that he should be given a go in his natural position from youth football, the one that he was captain of Southampton and England of from an early age. I think this supposed versatility is working against him in defining a role at the club. From an attacking point of view tonight, you can’t do Jack if you don’t have a number 10 in our system. And there was no Jack….or Mesut….or Santi…or Gedion…or… Read more »
Can some of the players on loan be called back into the team? If so, time to bring back Chubs, and Serge. This team is so brittle it’s hilarious.
Some excellent and salient points there Matt
I’ll start out by saying that I for one would love to win the league cup. It’s been a long time, it’d be nice to win it under Wenger & it’s a shame we’re out. Am I going to cry over it? No! Am I a little annoyed at out performance? Yes. Granted it was a bad start with the OX & Theo getting injuries, to then throw on Benny (who looked like he had just seen a spurs shirt with TERRY on the back and was about to undergo a sex change) into the already mix-mash-up of second string/reserve… Read more »
Well…was anybody following the live blog? anyone noticed how blogs jinxed Walcott when he came on by saying “That’s not good, especially when Walcott rips his toe off in about 10 minutes”…..Thank you very much blogs, and let this please be a lesson on how NOT to joke about injuries.
I don’t really have that power.
You could try testing that theory by saying something in the next few matches, like: “Giroud’s 1st goal was excellent, especially considering he will score 3 more in about 10 minutes” …..or “That brace of Ozil’s was simply superb, especially considering it was against Neuer, who is playing goal at a level comparable to a blind 3 legged wombat”.
Did we play last night?