A night of intense frustration as we dropped 2 points at home against Southampton. We had 21 shots, 20 from inside their area, and missed some gilt-edged chances to score.
Here’s how the players rated.
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Friday, December 20, 2024
A night of intense frustration as we dropped 2 points at home against Southampton. We had 21 shots, 20 from inside their area, and missed some gilt-edged chances to score.
Here’s how the players rated.
Bald Ref + Bald AR = Not a chance/10
Theo Walcott is awful. He’s a liability that not even Leicester (who are better than Arsenal for some fucking insane reason) would field. Please, Theo, don’t fucking sign da ting and just leave.
Victoria Concordia Crescit you mug. Your performance as a supporter is seriously lacking so why don’t you fuck off.
Ever thought that it might be because his manager starts playing him up front, he does really well, then shunts him to the left wing where he’s NEVER played cos he didn’t buy (or develop) enough cover then tells him to play on the right, after having declared “Theo is now a striker”….If you’re the Third Pleb, o wonder what the first two are like
1/10 for Theo. It might be a bit harsh since he didn’t start the game, but he did NOTHING after coming on – besides fucking up that double chance of course. And it wasn’t only tonight, in recent games he has contributed with absolutely nothing. Not scoring goals, not using the ball well, not defending. And this guy is now virtually on the same pay as Mesut and Alexis – our two most decisive players. When Poldi was around, he was criticised for not contributing with anything on the field besides scoring goals. But at least he fucking scored on… Read more »
Slightly off-topic but Forster had a stormer against us again – yes we were pretty toothless and some of our efforts flattered his keeping ability but he looks a really solid choice at no. 1 for the Saints, based on the admittedly few times i’ve seen him play.
Theo was terrible again, agreed. Flamsey doesn’t work blatantly. Özil should be scoring those. But this form is temporary. We can’t really dip much more than this, and I am still convinced that sp*rs will drop off, Leicester will too, and our form will improve with a little tinkering and regained sharpness.
A few takes on the match: 1. It is unfair to just blame Theo – true, he was poor and missed a glorious chance (or two) but so did half the team. Just blaming him deflects attention, scapegoating him. The one to blame for the team not getting the win is AW – his lack of imagination, his lack of guts and common sense. 2. Having fully watched the match, I feel, purely, in the context of this match, that Wenger’s in-game management was poor. Samples: -> After an hour or so, he removes Campbell and brings on Theo. Anybody… Read more »
Nobody can be arsed to read something this long in the comments section.
It’s 2016. We have pictures of cats, EVERYWHERE.
You lost me at Joel Campbell at right back.
Oof. Bellerin may not have had one of his top matches, but he saved us from two 1v1’s with the keeper in the second half by streaking across to take the ball. One would have been 2 v Cech.
That’s worth a goal in my book, and most likely a point on the day.
Good point . I certainly trusted Lukas with a chance .
I’d swap Theo for podolski right now
Depressing result to wake up to in Singapore. Let’s hope we can turn things around soon …
Cohesion = 10!!!!!!.
Not that I think this is wholly controversial, but are we levelling too much criticism on Flamini and Ramsey? Both are international players with 150+ caps each at this level and the idea that they wouldn’t simply be able to work within an organised system (or that this is “just one of those things”) seems too simplistic. Why doesn’t this link back to a fundamental coaching principle whereby each of them is given too much autonomy and freedom without sufficient organisation? Surely this is something Arsene should have addressed either through manipulation of the shape or through stern instruction to… Read more »
Yes, give walcott a chance to find his form….in a loan spell at charlton athletic.
Or similarly, we could reinstall the faith we initially had in him which led us to thump Manchester United 3-0 – a period of time in which Ozil, Walcott and Alexis thrived. I’m not saying he’s not remotely culpable for some mistakes in the past few matches but it goes much deeper than that. To some degree this relates to how we’ve been using him, the instructions/directives he’s been given and the system we play. We can either do what we initially planned on doing this season (as pre-season and the early stages suggest) and reinstall him upfront or we… Read more »
This is a hypothetical question, but how many touches, how much defending, and how many shots would you expect Alexis to get in 36 minutes of football against a team that was already tiring?
I have not got a clue, I think I’d strugle to set a quota for those. By the same notion I would consider it unfair to compare him to the unusually robust (and driven) Alexis – nobody in our team compares. Similarly, I think mostly all of us now agree that he’s strictly a centre-forward these days and his defensive role is therefore strictly limited. Alexis probably isn’t a fair comparison. However, I would highlight that when playing Walcott has the second highest impact within the squad (to Ozil) on our goal difference and therefore our ability to win games.… Read more »
Chris, I was with you right up to the point about Theo As Striker ( TAS ) ! His movement is poor and he always wants the ball to feet. Unless we plays balls for him to run onto then he is as useful as a not very useful thing, when played as a main striker ahead of Giroud. Our main problem today was not enough shots or headers that were on target had any power. Aside from a couple at the begininng and end of the second half, as far as I could see from where I was sat… Read more »
Squandering one on one vs goal keeper repeatedly is not an attribute of a good center forward in a team with tittle aspiration
Wenger might not be a tactical genius, but lets not talk shit. Its not his fault that flamini AT THIS STAGE of his career struggles to make simple passes.
I’m so fucking frustrated. Where was Elneny? Where the fuck was Theo? Why can’t someone just stick the fucking ball in the net?
To be fair, I don’t think Ozil could have done much more with his chances – both had to be taken very quickly, almost instinctively, and were only denied by great saves.
Anyone know how Mertesacker was available today on the bench given he received a straight red v Chelsea. Surely that is 3 games i.e. Miss burnley, saints and Bournemouth???
I think your find only 3 match ban for violent conduct.
I understand the decision to play Flamini because it was the safe bet to play the current CM partnership against a team like Southampton. But from now on, ffs, get Elneny prepared and get that Coq in shape so we can play them in midfield and move Ramsey to the right. Who knows, maybe the new boy can bring a bit of positive creative chaos.
All agreed except that Ramsey on the right exposes Bellerin and on tonight’s performance he looked tired and exposed enough as it is. When Ramsey played ( or decided not to play ) on the right teams targetted us down there. Liverpool at home particularly, so much so that Özil, Carzorla and Coq and a couple of others had no outlet as Bellerin was the only player on the flank and being 2 on 1 against him, couldn’t be risked if Liverpool nicked the ball and broke free down our right. Consequently the ball was recycled into a congested area… Read more »
Flaming, Theo, Rosicky – goodbye this summer please. Surplus to requirements and Taking up places.
I would have preferred seeing Iwobi in place of Walcott
Disappointing result. But there are plenty of games to go. We need to make sure we support the team at every game and give them every chance of climbing back up that table. COYG
Does Theo Walcott actually play football anymore or is he just someone who talks a good game in the papers ?
it sounds harsh but of late, the London Evening Standard had him talking of settling scores against both Chelsea and again tonight against Southampton.
It is all very well to tell people what you are going to do or need to do but then not to do it, again ? It’s a team game and it is not all his fault but he sure didn’t do an awful lot to turn things around in either game.
Walcott wow I thought he would build from his Welcomed new tracking back but he has absolute donkey in the other side of the pitch.
He should have scored with arguably our best chance of the match but decides to pass it instead of smash it past the beast that is Frazier Forster no less.
Theo is interested only when it is to sign a new contact.
We should start another contract negotiation saga with Walcott. He’ll go on a goal scoring spree and we’ll win every match until the end of the season. Perfect plan.
Correct, he’s a plastic personality with no passion or heart unless it’s contract renewal time
I mean God’s sake if your form is bad the least you can do is put a shift in to help the team
I agree with other comments about Ramsey. He has gone all Hollywood and has no tactical sense, and badly affects our shape. He needs to get back to a simple game or go back on the wing, having Coquelin next to him won’t make a blind bit of difference
I beg to differ re the Ramsey-Hollywood antics assertion based on recent performaces. Distribution-wise he’s slow. Recently I’ve found him to be too conscious of misplacing passes often favouring safety over creativity (maybe he reads arseblog)… What made Cazorla brilliant in that deep position were his fast incisive balls to mount our attack. We had no issues with the many interceptions they yielded, because great reward often requires high risk. Flamini’s limitations have forced a stifled Ramsey to play too deep where his risky forays into the box would have been useful these past few games… Though Coquelin will help… Read more »
Theo is one helluva lucky boy. He got the hype as a 16 year old with his World Cup call up. He has been overrated. Has his good days but no way consistent enough. We need a great striker and we won’t win the league without one.
I was going to say Theo should improve on his what he is good at, but I don’t really know what Theo is good at apart from speed, he has no composure, he can’t hold or Sheld the ball, he has the worst first touch under pressure, his work rate Was last rated during the Man City game. AW should start thinking about cutting his wages I don’t see a period where we can say Theo is at his peek With the way Alexis Sanchez was able go past Wanyama most if the time would you have switched him to… Read more »
Absolutely devasted. If we win the title after a miracle this season, I will think back to today because I really think we lost our change today with another draw. Max point now is 87, so I really do not think we can miss more than 5-6 points in the last 14 matches to win it. And that will be very very hard with performances like this. Walcott is so so poor these days, Iwobi and Chambo miles better. Iwobi best for me, and why Gnabry is not in the team is a huge question for me. Flamini and Ramsey… Read more »
I’d pay to hear Arsene’s thinking on signing a player who not only isn’t good enough to start ahead of Flamini, but cannot make the bench when the league was undeniably ”in our hands”. Baffling stuff, from a great man.
Flamini is 30% of the midfield problem. The other 70% I honestly think is Ramsey. Ramsey is 30 meters from Flamini when we are building from the back, yes Flamini doesn’t play the longer passes but I would think that this has been pointed out to Ramsey by now. How we sometimes can work around it is to use our fullbacks but today, they had a soton player on them in a flash so they had to pass backwards (Bellerin mainly). We hardly ever got beyond their two CDMs who I think did a wonderful job today, granted Mason the… Read more »
Ramsey needs to be dropped asap. I think wenger will when he can. Remember first game of season peeps when he gave him a start in the middle alongside coq and put santi out wide. That’s right you got it, he changed it at halftime, something I can’t recall him ever doing. He knows Ramsey is not good enough to play there, he doesn’t have the intelligence I’m afraid. He can’t recycle ball, doesn’t play as partnership and most times needs far too much time to play. The hype is slowly wilting. Reality can be painful.
Ramsey will not look out of place in a West Brom side. He is that average. All he does is aimlessly run about the pitch misplacing passes and trying things he doesnt have the skill set to do!
It’s this time of the season again.. The dip after January, we’ve got to break the hex of this month and the next. I’m on the fence and starting to lose balance backwards. I hope the team can push me over to the right side with the next crucial games…
Theo is rank average and should be off loaded in the summer.
Campbell was playing well, why pull him off for walcott who’s work rate is a joke, Wenger loss the game with his stupid substitutions.
Campbell was absolute poo, he was even worse than Walcott. I would have made the change at half time, except I would have brought Oxlade-Chamberlain on instead of Walcott. Walcott’s had a poor month, and Ox was at least improving the last couple of matches, so I think he would have been the better choice.
I agree aswell Campbell was awful tonight kept giving the ball away and never once passed it forward always went side-ways or backwards. would have still kept him on instead of Theo. If anything would have subbed him for the OX would have atleast gave us some urgency in our attack. Why flamini starts I don’t know. An half fit coquelin could do a better job. Ozil playing with a bunch of retards….10 chances created and can’t even convert 1 rubbish!! And Wenger if Elneny isn’t PL ready why buy a player like that.
I don’t know why this thread as turned into a discussion about Flamini and Ramsey, what cost us the game tonight was missed chances, something neither Flamini nor Ramsey did, Ozil missed two great chances, Alexis missed two good chances, Kos missed a sitter, Theo missed a good chance, Joel missed a good chance, and Giroud missed a chance. other than our missed chances, the main topic that should be discussed was the totally awful performance by Mason, he should have just worn the Southampton kit and been done with it. How did Wanyama, Romeu & Ward-Prowse all escape without… Read more »
Spot on. Yes, Ramsey and Walcott were both poor, but Mason was an absolute wankstain tonight.
It would have been good if more of our attempts on target had had more oomph behing them.
There were some very tame shots and headers, Forster was good but I thought he didn’t have to work too hard for a lot of the saves.
It’s all very well blaming the ref, and yes he was shit, but the bottom line is we dominated most of the game and had the chances to win it but we fell short. We just don’t have what it takes to get results when it’s crunch time. Leicester aren’t faltering and now Sp*rs have overtaken us. I think we will get top four as usual but our title challenge has slipped away since Christmas. I’ll hold out hope til the end, but on recent performances I can’t say we deserve the title. Fair fucks to Leicester, if it has… Read more »
So, Southampton players stopped our players taking free kicks – just kick the ball against one of them. Instant booking and they won’t do it again. I seem to remember Cesc doing this a few times – we could use a few players with some ‘cleverness’ in their game.
One word: PHYSICAL Apart from Walcott who was really bad tonight ( I would have preferred OX) the other players weren’t so bad. Their goal keeper is a monster. Again until Arsenal addresses the physical aspect of our game, this will be the result with most physical teams, Chelsea, Stoke, Southampton… Remember the days when it was Bolton?… When we play against a very physical midfield we tend to fall apart. Mark my words we may not win Barca but we will play a much better game against them just because they are not a physical side. Teams that know… Read more »
It’s CA-ZOR-LA.
Correction taken
The most depressing part of watching arsenal now for me is the overwhelming sense of exhaustion, similar to when you’ve been in love with someone for so long but only get fleeting moments of happiness sandwiched by constantly noticing their flaws, knowing deep down inside they could never change but at the same time you cant imagine life without them…SIGH
Can we finally call an end to this painful experiment with our so-called British core? I know the banter is great, but I’d rather have players that can actually play to the required standard.
walcott walcott walcott walcott….not playing like he deserves da ting he signed…
Well we were frustratingly unfortunate up front, plus great performance by forster. On the positive note, our attacking potent was clearly encouraging, just dont have the luck to get one inside their net.
What worries me is our defensive lapses, a more potent opposition’s forwards would punish us with a goal or two!
#theowalcottisnickingaliving
10 chances created by Ozil abd yet not a single goal. Ffs…
And at least 3 chances created FOR Ozil in very good positions that he could not finish….ffs
After supporting arsenal for 13 intense years,I think I will take an extended break. Arsenal is too emotionally demanding as a hobby and not rewarding as a passion.
Wait….Theo came on?
I said it last week i said it after Liverpool and again many disagreed but i said it anyway and i will say it again that was a terrible performance again we show such weakness, you can see the players looking nervous, starting off slow not enough fight…. we dont have the mentality to win the league.. we simply dont have it! Do you guys see leaders in this team? I know per wasnt playing today but hes not exactly a leader anyway… very low energy this team doesnt have the belief, the energy or the mentality to win the… Read more »
Love how Walcott thinks standing beside the full back is showing his involvement. He is a waste of space at the moment. Miss Santi badly, can we please, please lose the Ramsey and Flamini double act!
Critics always write Arsenal off as perennial bottlers and we always prove them right. When will these players prove critics wrong and reward Wenger for the faith he had in them? I swear this really hurts and I feel bad for Wenger because the players always let him down. The manager always takes the blame while the overpaid players walks free. This is frustrating to be quite honest. We the fans deserve better.
Blogs attempts to exonerate Ramseys’ dire form by blaming either Flamini or there inability to “click as a partnership’ are getting more laughable by the week.
Lets be fair Walcott always steps up when he got a contract to earn with more pay, anyone else notice that? Personally for me hes proven this season that he will never be a consistant player he just doesnt have it… i do think he tries but he simply doesnt have the mind set of a world beater…. just the way he is i suppose
We showed a great attacking potent, but unfortunate with the finishing. What worries me was several defensive blunders. Vardy, Aguero, Messi, Suarez and Neymar would have punished us for that. More worryingly, they are coming….
Agree on the need to find a way to respond to physical teams. While Coqzorla is a great partnership, we could really use a more physical pairing for those teams that want to bully us off the ball. Dare I say it, a Viera type.
How can Ramsey and Flamster get a 5? What’s the 1-10 based on? Is 5 ok? If so we clearly watched different games. They were shockingly poor and if Walcott get’s a 3 then they should get a big fucking 0. The only thing they are really good at are waving their arms.
We kept a clean sheet and had more than 10 chances on goal. They didn’t seem to give up the ball in bad areas. Why would they get less than a 5?
Just curious- we had 10 chances created by Ozil alone, and totally bossed the last 30 minutes plus. What would you rate Wanyama, a ‘destroyer’ type DM for his performance today?
I had a dream that we won 5-1, Sp*rs drew 8-8, Man City lost 4-0 and Chelscum lost 2-0. Imagine my disappointment when I woke up to check the scores (Australian problems)…
Haha I had the exact dream about Arsenal. Malaysian gooner here. Left for work all disappointed though. Gonna be a long day.
You guys still can’t see wenger is the real problem.. Oh well
You are right. He has been a great manager but now appears to be totally losing the plot. To buy a midfielder, who looks capable of slotting straight into the team, and then not play him because he needs time to “adjust to the demands of the EPL” makes no sense whatsoever. Can he not see that the team lacks any sort of leadership. Until he sees this and purchases one or two players with a bit of backbone, we will never win the title. If he can’t he should move on and make way for someone who can take… Read more »
Bit harsh on Giroud, thought he looked sharp and had the required effort and intensity throughout, unlike everyone bar Sanchez, Ozil on and off, rest were awkwardly devoid of confidence. Campbell should have stayed on, Walcott did nothing.
And how many has Giroud scored in the last two months? Also he plays in his favourite position while walcot has never played on the left before.
Giroud is having his typical season, in fact everyone is at this point. Someone will have to have a blinder for us to win this season. Time for someone to become a genuine legend by have his name written in history.
Everybody misses sitters, Walcott gets the blame. I’m not his biggest fan but come on folks. Kos had a good game? He hasn’t had a good game in a month. He keeps making silly moves at the back (looping header to Bellerin today, some weird turn and fall vs Burnley on Saturday – both resulted in good chances for the opposition). It is frustrating to once again see the end coming too soon for our title challenge, but Walcott to blame? pheww. Özil should have had 2 or 3 in the first half. This has been the story of our… Read more »
i’m going to miss ozil when he leaves in the summer 🙁
I don’t understand why Coq started on Saturday and not tonight. This was the much more important game. Give him 45mins against Burnley as a tune up and then get him in there tonight. We had so much proof that Ram & Flam just wasn’t working, why go with it again. I am convinced Ramsey will be better alongside Coq. I’ve loads of respect for the effort Flamini puts in, but we had better options tonight. People will say it didn’t cost us as we didn’t concede and had 10 shots on target, but if you are controlling the game… Read more »
Squad rotation.
That, and if Coq had given away the ball tonight as many times as he did in the cup match we’d have been in Serious trouble. He needed a more ‘manageable’ match to help regain his match sharpness and fitness.
Coq only missed four passes, only one in the second half. Also his passing is league high with over 91% accurate.
He also had the ball taken off his feet and gave it up due to heavy first touches many more times than that, all in our half.
Those don’t show up in the passing stats.
Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a great player and passer. He’s just rusty from being out. Southampton’s press would have been a very bad match for that. Nothing against him, it’s totally the reality of the situation.
He also had the ball taken off his feet and lost it from heavy first touches many more times, all in our half. The passing stats don’t show that.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Coq is a great passer and player, he’s just rusty. Southampton’s pressing game would have been a bad place for that tonight.
That old delayed post thing. Sorry all.
I’ve had it with these asswipes of teams having their goalkeepers turn into Manuel Nueurs against Arsenal. I think our luck too isn’t doing us any favors.
7+3=10
Seems to me we have a roster to win every game. We got talent, skills, some world class players, and then….no results. If we don’t blame our players, who’s fault is it then? Coaching staff?..makes me wonder.
Santi Cazorla can’t come back soon enough. This team misses him so much. He is the ‘vibe’ of this whole Arsenal team, he makes it click. He is for us what Fabregas was for that little title winning team last season. Simple as that. We’ve struggled ever since Santi got injured. How we’ve managed to go so far without him, and still be only 5 points off the top, I can only guess.
I haven’t yelled at the TV this much since we sold Arshavin. What a frustrating couple of hours. For me, Sanchez was disruptive rather than helpful today. Thought Ozil was decent, Chech was amazing, and everyone else was off.
i rated most of the squad higher because despite my own disappointment in the draw we kept a clean sheet which is a definite improvement over recent games, and the only reason we didn’t return Southampton the favor of a 4-0 spanking was impressive goalkeeping and poor finishing and refereeing.
New TV contract $$$, small teams getting stronger, wenger still playing moneyball, 3 players in the last 3 windows, all cost < 10M, only 1 plays regularly.
Right footed Sanchez on the left, left footed Campbell on the right, both want to move inside, only width comes from our fullbacks leaving us fragile defensively when forward. Since we have no width, opposing defenses stuff the central areas in the final 3rd, makes for easy defending.
Wenger’s past it, tactics are stale and predictable. Challenging on 3 fronts?? By the end of the month, we'll be challenging for 4th…yet again.
I have never trusted Wenger after the 2013-2014 season and would rather see him leave with dignity.
But the points we lost today was not due to lack of trying.We tried a lot but were very unlucky, plus the ref was bad.
This also then puts emphasis on games we lost or drew which we would have won if we had tried.
Although I think Ramsey needs rest, he has lost it, a break will do him good. Ozil however was amazing. Theo to me looks like unhappy on the pitch, dont know why..
Walcott, Flamini and Ramsey get the abuse after this one. Does Arsene pay any attention to the fans? If he does, none of the three should start next game. Someone earlier mentioned that Ramsey wasn’t nearly as bad as some make out when we drop pts but equally he’s not as good as some make out as well when we win. I would tend to agree with that. What happend to the Walcott that was running his ass off contributing at both ends of the pitch when we took United to the sword? Does he only perform against Manchester clubs?… Read more »