Arsenal: Cech, Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Elneny, Ozil, Ramsey, Walcott, Alexis
Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Gabriel, Xhaka, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi, Giroud
—
Arsenal produced their worst performance of the season at Old Trafford today, but salvaged a point when an 89th minute Olivier Giroud equaliser cancelled out Juan Mata’s opener.
Arsene Wenger deemed Alexis Sanchez fit enough to start after his midweek exploits in South America, plumped for Carl Jenkinson at right back, and brought Aaron Ramsey into the side on the left of midfield, with Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin in the centre.
The home side started brightly, an Herrara dive winning a free kick just outside the Arsenal box which Juan Mata curled just wide. After an Arsenal corner there was there a good chance for us to go ahead. Walcott flicked the ball on, it came to Alexis but he mistimed his header from 6 yards out.
Matteo Darmian avoided a yellow card for a cynical foul on Walcott, but Andre Marriner did pull out the yellow card for Alexis after a foul on Herrera which the Spaniard made the most of. The Italian did get booked in the 24th minute though, for another cynical trip on the England international.
There were some nice flashes of quality from both teams, one Alexis turn left Rashford looking on with dismay, but little in the way of clear cut chances for either side. Darmian was lucky to avoid a second yellow for a studs-up challenge on Jenkinson, and a clumsy looking tackle from Monreal on Valencia had United screaming for a penalty but replays showed the right-back had
The best chance of the game came in the 36th minute when Pogba fed Mata. Mustafi went to ground, the Spaniard stepped inside and hit a shot with his left foot which Cech turned around the post.
At the other end, Elneny fired over from 25 yards, before Cech was called into action again. Ramsey gave the ball away on the left, it came to Martial on the right, and his curling shot was tipped over by the Arsenal keeper. From the resulting corner he made a low save from another Martial effort, the Czech going a long way to ensuring the teams went in scoreless at the break.
Neither manager made a change ahead of the second period, and United had the first attempt when Martial fired a shot straight at Cech. Mustafi made an important block in the area, the ball rebounding onto his arm leading to shouts for a penalty but it clearly wasn’t.
There was a chance for Walcott to put in a good ball after a one-two with Alexis, but his low cross was cleared. Much like the first half, there were few chances. Mourinho made his first change in the 63rd minute, putting on Wayne Rooney on for Martial, following that with the introduction of Daley Blind for Darmian.
It brought about a period of pressure from United, winning a series of corners, and that pressure told when Mata put them ahead. Pogba found Herrera, he cut the ball back to the Spanish international who sidefooted the ball into the net. 1-0.
That prompted Arsene Wenger into his first change, bringing on Olivier Giroud for Elneny. Rojo headed wide from a Blind cross, before Granit Xhaka came on in place of Coquelin in the 80th minute. Oxlade-Chamberlain replaced Jenkinson in the 84th minute, to try and inject something into what was a toothless second half from an Arsenal point of view.
Ramsey picked up an 86th minute yellow card, and it looked as if it was going to be another one of those days at Old Trafford. However, in the 89th minute we were level. Brilliant work from Oxlade-Chamberlain to burst down the right, he crossed it to the back post and Giroud thumped home a brilliant header to equalise. 1-1.
That was enough to take a point even the most optimistic fan would struggle to say we deserved, but deserve ain’t got nothing to do with it.
In the end a good result from a hugely uninspiring performance. I can’t remember the last time we created so little in a game.
On the bright side I thought Mustafi was absolutely outstanding today. Wasn’t a ball in the air he didn’t win.
Didn’t turn up at all today. Fucks sake that was painful to watch. Credits to the subs, they bailed us out
We were terrible, got only 1 chance and BAM! Wee took away their 3 points on 89th minute. I guess that’s enough to upset Mou…
Mourinho is a cunt.
10/10 for Xhaka saving a clear boundary. That 4 could have cost us.
And that’s why we deserved it!
I too thought Kos and Mustafi played very well and Jenkinson held his own although we really missed Bellerin today until Ox gave us width and energy down the flank. I like Elneny a lot but he was poor today and looked overwhelmed or intimidated by the magnitude of the game. In fact, I was surprised Xhaka did not start besides Le Coq but none of us know what is happening in training so perhaps there is a reason. This was a scrappy yet flat display but Arsenal have once again shown true grit and got something out of nothing… Read more »
I think you’re maybe a bit harsh on Elneny. I’d agree he turned the ball over a bit more often that we’ve come to expect from him but I think he may have suffered from how static the rest of the team was, leaving him with few options in possession.
Now I do have to say I was ready to turn it off seeing Ox come on instead of Iwobi, so that shows what I know.
Felt Wenger got the selection wrong. Giroud was fit and rested, but he opted for an over worked Sanchez and we barely had any shots on target. He sacrificed Iwobi to put Ramsey in the wrong wing, and Monreal was over exposed. This is a game we could have won, but given the selection, a point is not too shabby.
I couldn’t agree more. Would have been an excellent post game question! We deserve to know …
And another good Ox performance. Everyone on this blog keeps missing that. He delivered a fine cross for Giroud’s goal.
amen
Is it me or are sky a bunch of fuck wits spent the whole debate talking about a nonexistent penalty and didn’t bother with a stonewall sending off for a 2nd yellow card.
I have the game taped and was going to watch after work, then I accidentally saw the score online because I have no self control.
Should I sill watch later, or spare myself? Is the equalizer worth the wait?
Are you a fan? If so watch it.
Did anybody notice how once again Ozil was missing for most of the game???
Giroud saved us. We always struggle against these lot. As the match progressed you could see Manure taking the lead. We looked well off the pace. How Matteo didn’t get a second yellow for putting the studs in on Jenkinson I’ll never know! Still after that performance that’s 1 point gained and Maureen will well gutted. That’ll feel like a loss for them!
On some days, I hate Wenger so much I can’t describe. He would do the world a great favour by dumping his Pareto substitution approach. The match was crying for Giroud and Xhaka from the 55th minute.
If you ever ‘hate Wenger so much you can’t describe’ then go support another team. If you have critical thoughts about his substitutions, then share them.
Although it should be noted that his substitutions saved us a point today. So maybe have a little faith, even if he didn’t bring them on when you (or I) might have liked.
My friend, he doesn’t know what he is doing. If someone told you that you are a failure and you continue to put up a failure performance, you are then a proper failure. I expected the team to play with a different mindset today but they didn’t. It is always the usual performance with Wenger. People like you think when one critisises our play, then the person is not a fan. I expected a whole lot from the team today but wasn’t surprise about the performance.
Come one, brother, a little too aggressive, isn’t it? People have the right to even dislike their Prime Ministers and Presidents, I am only disliking the manager of the team I love, and that too on just some days.
By the way, I am a hardcore Wenger fanboy; he is my idol. I have his posters in my room but that doesn’t mean I can’t dislike him sometimes. When you love someone too much, you reserve the right to hate sometimes too.
If you mean you were frustrated with him, then fair enough. Hating him is a different thing. We hate Mourinho. We love Wenger, even when he plays Ramsey on the left.
Absolutely fucking right. I was hating Wenger today. He just sat there looking clueless while his team were getting outplayed. Games like this at the big boys show why the title won’t be coming this season.
Not so sure about crying for Xhaka as Elneny and Coquelin were doing good work. But Giroud was definitely needed as we were not getting near their goal. And an easy way to get the ball to the goal is by crossing, OG would do the rest.
Nothing against Elneny and Coq but neither of them were able to move the ball forward for us and there were too many sideways passes. Xhaka might have his own drawbacks but he does try moving the ball forward quite aggressively. He tries long balls and high balls. That’s why I was waiting for him to come along with Giroud. It’s good to see though, that no one is arguing against Giroud here today. I think it has become quite clear now what he brings to the team.
Not saying that you are incorrect but did you notice where the more advanced players were when they had the ball. Honestly it was Ramsey and Sanchez that seem to come for it.
Been waiting for this game for a long time and we played exactly how I thought we would. Gutless, no urgency and scared to impose our game. How can this team not beat a fucking awful United side? I’m thinking of the fans who travelled and for us at home, they gave us nothing. Absolutely awful choice starting Elneny, he is too safe. Ramsey decision baffling too, those two just pass from side to side and destroy our fluency. I know there are delusional people on here who will say Jenkinson is a good player but he is shit and… Read more »
Don’t be a bitch about it, Doom Merchant. You behave like everything belongs to you, and can’t even appreciate a good draw for what it is. That was a tough game, and everybody knew that Mourinho was about to get 120% out of his players for this one. He can do that because he doesn’t have to worry about tuesday/wednesday football, and they will probably tank their next game because they won’t be able to maintain their concentration levels. Oh well.
As of you, you are scum. Criticising our team, my team like that… Fuck off to United forum.
Why are you calling me scum for voicing my opinion? That’s mildly inappropriate for a sports discussion. You are proving my point, all the while being a good example of a member of the ostrich castrato brigade. You can’t handle a different opinion to yours.
I enjoy your name Yaya
Once you put your opinion in a public forum it is there for evaluation and open to criticism. You deserve to voice your opinion. and it is my right to say your opinion is fucking shit.
I am not talking about the user with the name TR7 > CR7, as such username grants eternal respect and infallible righteousness about all things footbal and beyond.
ALL HAIL TR7
Thanks so much.
You can disagree with his opinion all you want, but calling someone ‘scum’ is not acceptable.
Read our comment policy, if you can’t abide by those rules, then please let me know and I’ll make it easy for you – http://news.arseblog.com/comment-policy/
Yes..Santi is our most important player. I knew the it was over when he got injured last season. Only difference this season is we have better players to somehow survive. But nobody close to his unique abilities. Still happy we came out with a point considering how bad our performance was!
This is shit, that is shit. rah rah rah. get some perspective mate.
It’s not really gutless. Just a poor balance to the side. Not enough creativity and fluidity, Ramsey obviously not a left sided player. Heads up though, a point gained
If it’s obvious (which it is), why can’t a man paid 6 million pounds a year (I’m Wenger in, by the way) see it????????????????????? His team selection was atrocious, and his refusal to make a sub until after we had let United dominate us for 20 minutes of the second half and score a goal was baffling.
Team selection was hardly atrocious. Do you not recall the hammerings we’ve received at OT ? The last thing our team needed is a 3 or 4 nil pasting by an average Utd side who did that to Leicester.
One or two players could’ve been tweaked, and yes game management during the game could’ve been better. Giroud and Xhaka probably should’ve started second half.
That’s the winners mentality JB. Set up worrying about getting hammered by an average team. God help us.
Two key decisions, two mistakes: Ramsey shouldn’t have started (certainly not on the left) and Xhaka should have started over Elneny (or even Coquelin). Maybe “atrocious” is harsh, but I think it was poor, and very much compounded by the refusal to change it until too late.
Phew!!
Thank you Giroud
And Cech in the first half
We were disappointing and didn’t deserve any more. I don’t know why we didn’t come to fired up to beat them, we had some fresh legs on the pitch.
Happy with the point but thought we could have threatened them a lot more.
Great Giroud goal, he is more athletic than I thought! Should he have started so we had more goal threat and Alexis on the left?
And not a hair out of place.
Good result, shit performance
well that was dross..then Giroud just nuts it and walks away like hes on the catwalk. classic! thank god Wenger didnt have to shake that vile prick’s hand after a loss. they needed to win more then us..they didn’t, i’ll take it. Onwards and upwards!
That will do, under the circumstances.
Exactly ! I’d have taken that – a 1 – 1 draw – with a vengeance, if offered. The fact that we were awaful in the second half makes it all the more satisfying. A very good point.
That performance was just like every other performance at OT or Stamford bridge. If anything, that worries me about the future.
Quality goal by Giroud but that was possibly the worst performance I’ve seen from is this season. So I suppose I’m relieved, disappointed, worried and confused all at the same time.
We were shit as fuck, and they still couldn’t beat us at home. Lick my arsehole Mourinho, you fucking megacunt of astronomical cuntish proportions.
He’s crowing in his post-match interview about how “phenomenal” his side were. That inverted arsehole on legs literally said “they gave us no opportunity to win”.
Olivier Giroud says you and your half a billion pound anti-football team should sit the fuck down.
Well that cunt he get his taste of his own medicine, how many times we played good at home and we were better side missing chances and the cunt with the bus tactic taking a draw or win from us. Take that .
Giroud should now starting games he deserve it, he is scoring goals and needs one chance per game as statistic states he scored last 8 goals with the first chance he had. When he drops the form we can easily switch alexis up front.
We were awful. The match was awful. Coquelin and Ramsey were awful. We got lucky. Nothing more to say really.
Coquelin awful? The fuck? Him, Mustafi, Koscielny probably the only ones who turned up today.
Best players were Mustafi, Elneny and a one-legged Alexis.
I like Elneny but he was poor, especially in the second half. Decision to start him in such a big game, ahead of Xhaka, who had had a good game against Tottenham, was baffling.
We couldn’t have controlled the first half without him. But when we needed to be more adventurous at the start of the second half he wasn’t athletic or sharp enough.
We controlled the first half??!? Interesting definition of “control” you’re using there.
Does “to the extent we controlled the first half” sound better? We were ahead in possession at the half and ended up with 55%. At Old Trafford where we normally average 40%!
So yes, without Elneny as a stabiliser I have no doubt that Ramsey and Walcott’s abysmal ball-retention would have cost us all 3 points today. That’s the reason he was selected. Not baffling at all really.
Except Xhaka can retain the ball just as well, and played well last week in a game he started, whereas Elneny has only started a couple of prem games this season and was thrown in for one of the highest pressure games of the season. I’m happy to agree with you about Ramsey and Walcott’s abysmal ball-retention, mind.
Coquelin surely made the most tackles and interceptions in the team today? Don’t see how you can compare his performance to Ramsey and to be honest I thought elneny looked likely to be dispossesed every time
Coqelin was our best player. Mustafi and koz were as good as they had to be, thankfully neither made an error
No way Coquelin was the best player. Elneny and Coquelin were both poor. I guess AW thought it would bring MF solidity. Coquelin might make tackles but he is often passed around (as in their goal).
Coquelin’s main job seemed to be to man mark Pogba out of the game and he did that but not a whole lot else aside from a number of errant passes. To me, Elneny looked to be very assured and composed. Was able to win back and retain possession in the midfield when needed, but lacked for a quality partner.
Coquelin and Elneny together with LK & SM were our best players on the pitch today. Everybody else were poor and offered little to nothing. Jenkinson though an Arsenal fan is at best our third choice right back but will give him some credit as, though poor he at least slowed down their offense with little nudges of the ball.
Creativity from Ozil Ramsey non existent, not even a shot and back tracking….
Thank the Lord for Last Season’s Top Scorer OG!!! Big up yourself. Thank you Ox for realizing crossing to OG actually makes sense!!
Coquelin and Elneny together with LK & SM were our best players on the pitch today. Everybody else were poor and offered little to nothing. Jenkinson though an Arsenal fan is at best our third choice right back but will give him some credit as, though poor he at least slowed down their offense with little nudges of the ball.
Creativity from Ozil Ramsey non-existent, not even a shot and back tracking….
Thank the Lord for Last Season’s Top Scorer OG!!! Big up yourself. Thank you Ox for realizing crossing to OG actually makes sense!!
We set up to draw, and we got a draw. Don’t get this wrong. A point against United, away at Old Trafford, against Mourinho, starting at 12:30pm is a good point. If we want to complain, we should complain about last match day’s draw where we even scored first at home against Sp*rs.
Decent point but that performance is still enough to put me on a downer…
Thanks Giroud for removing that smug smile from Maureen face
I don’t get Wenger’s love affair with Ramsey. He has been abject.
The only reason I can think of is that wenger wanted to offer our full backs more protection with Ramsey. Unfortunately he wasn’t that great defending and was really poor going forward. Right now, he doesn’t deserve to start over iwobi nor ox
I would have preferred Giroud instead, with Alexis on the left, but I wonder if maybe Wenger was worried about Alexis’s hamstring and how much it might be tested with additional tracking back required playing on the left. I like Ramsey, but I’m frustrated with him and for him right now. In some ways it’s like the team moved on without him with him out for quite a while there to start the season, and now he doesn’t know how to fit in with what was working well (and it’s not the same anyway with Santi out), and Wenger doesn’t… Read more »
True. The moment I saw his name on the teamsheet, I felt we were going to be poor. He just doesn’t cut on the wings. We need to play with players at their right positions. This force fitting can never be good for the team.
Honestly, I have been wondering.
I really really want Ramsey to turn into a top player for us but I can’t see it happening. It doesn’t help that he’s not played in his preferred position. However, our play just gets slowed down when he’s on the ball. Sometimes his “Hollywood” passes annoy me.
Thank Giroud. Manager bottled it with selection of Ramsey on left wing. It showed fear and the team then demonstrated it. Ramsey was very poor. We don’t create with him in team. Can anyone remember last good game he had for us.
2014
Let’s not forget the Ox. He’s received some very well deserved criticism this season but he absolutely invented that goal. Look at the situation when he got the ball. It’s not remotely any kind of opportunity. Giroud stuck it away well, and frankly I’d like to see him get a bit more game time from the start as the attack looks consistently better for me with him up top and Alexis on the left, even if the results don’t reflect it. But Ox deserves the lion’s share of the credit for that goal. Superb wing play and what a delivery,… Read more »
Called it when I saw the line up. Ramsey is a terrible footballer. The sooner we sell him the better.
I don’t think he’s a terrible footballer but I do think he’s done absolutely nothing to deserve the start today, especially in an unfamiliar position, and it certainly hurt our fluency. In indifferent form, Ramsey is probably one of the most frustrating players in the world. With Theo and Ramsey on the pitch together, we have too many runners and not enough skillful ball-players (and I think Theo played ok today, for the record). For that reason, Iwobi should have started, despite his recent slight dip in form, and he certainly should have come on early in the second half… Read more »
That’s harsh. He’s clearly not a terrible footballer. But it’s also been clear for at least a year now that he doesn’t fit this team.
not necessarily a terrible footballer but poor on the wing especially the left as he does not offer that guile and movement when on the ball. Unlike Iwobi who consistently becomes offensive on receiving the ball and ending up in those pockets of space!!
Rambo is not a terrible footballer. In fact, he is very good but he is not a left winger. I believe the Prof played him because he was more concerned about defense than attack. Ramsey would defend and slug it out in midfield where as Iwobi would not. The team selected was about not losing rather than winning. For that objective they did fine. I still think Arsenal need to work out a system where they can dominate midfield.I am not sure anyone knows what is the best formation and personnel to do that.
Now that was a tough game. You could see United were fired up, and we struggled. Still, tactical genious from Wenger? Ox at right back and assist for the draw!
Ox at right back is basically Bellerin. Shows how much we missed him. I think we will continue to struggle until he comes back.
I am not sure I am seeing the genius. Valencia was torching us all day so Wenger decides in the last 10 minutes to roll the dice, copy Mourinho and try that too. What would’ve been more tactical genius would’ve been to have countered their substitutions with substitutions of our own BEFORE they scored. We had tired legs and were on the back foot for about 10 minutes. They had fresh legs and a goal looked inevitable. Wenger just left them out there and did nothing until he was forced to so something. Some terrible performances by the players, but… Read more »
Completely agree, except I’d say we were on the back foot pretty much from the beginning of the second half (or really, from the start of the game, though both teams were poor in the first half), so that’s 20 minutes rather than 10. We couldn’t string three passes together. There was no shape or cohesion to the midfield. That Wenger didn’t move quickly to do something to change the flow of the game is either negligence or incompetence, or both. I love AW, but this was the worst performance from him in a long time (probably since the last… Read more »
Brandon are you mad ? Valencia is playing RB 4 years now and he is RB it its the same if you say cazrola is AM and not CM and he is playing there 3-4 years , wenger could easily change walcott and put the ox or iwobi, but he made a brilliant choice as jenkions didn’t offer anything in the attack, and in the last minutes united defending their lead, blind marking walcott, and OX new he had advantage on rashford and he take it. If jenkinson stayed there is no goal, both rashdord and blind would stayed marking… Read more »
It would have helped if those subs had been 15 minutes earlier, you could see the energy draining out of the players, and Elneny was good, Ramsey should have gone off instead.
I like Elneny, but I thought he was getting overrun in that second half. Physically, he’s often a notch below the pace and physicality of the PL, and he passes the ball backwards too often as a result, not wanting to cough it up, and not having confidence in his ability to shield it from the pressure and play through the lines (unlike some people, I don’t think he’s too conservative overall, in fact I think he’s got a great range of passing and can play it quickly (unlike Ramsey), but when he’s under pressure and he’s not getting enough… Read more »
Absolutely gutted by our performance today, but on the bright side whatever makes maureen unhappy makes me so happy! Onwards and upwards lads 😀
What is this? A point at Old Trafford? Have the stars aligned? Is hell freezing over? No, it cannot be. Because Ramsey was still terrible.
We had to go behind to start playing!
It was a new one from Wenger to bring on Ox at right back. The subs combined to score.
Relief.
Couldn’t believe it took wenger so long to make a change though. We’d be beaten to ever ball and had no ability to keep hold of the ball for 65 minutes before their goal. The changes needed to be made 10-15 minutes earlier. But still, a draw. Relief.
If we put in a good performance against PSG then that will do a lot to raise my spirits, but in all honesty the equaliser doesn’t make up for what went before. Nice result given the circumstances, but does very little to give me faith in this side going forward in the season. Same old mental frailty at OT, and no closer to knowing what our best line-up is. Come on boys, let’s really go for it on Wednesday!
I think we have a pretty good idea what our best lineup is, i.e. the one against Chelsea (barring a debate about whether Coq or Xhaka should start). The problem is Cazorla and Bellerin are out, and Iwobi is tired/a little out of form (and Wenger only needs the tiniest excuse to shoehorn Ramsey back into the side!!!!).
That selection does not work. We sat back but didn’t offer any threat the other way. Ramsey should not play anywhere but CM and even then I’m not sure he deserves to start. If we had attacked them it would have been a very different game as they are vulnerable. But we sat back and did nothing until we were 1-0 down. V disappointing. The one time we used the width of the pitch we scored. Here’s hoping we can pick it up for PSG.
I’ll take it anyway we can get it but was falling asleep by the end of that.
Sanchez was so deep in the first half. There were consistently 5-6 Arsenal players further forward all through build up play and making no effort to get back forward. I know he likes to come looking for the ball but having someone there when a quick play is on is something Giroud offers us
Horrible performance. Wenger got it wrong again. Time and time again he gets it tactically wrong in the big games. Ramsey is lost in this team and should not be selected. A point is good, but I always think we never threaten in these type of games
We were pretty toothless against Spurs and I don’t think Ramsey started in that match. I think we are too narrow when attacking, united just shut the midfield and we couldn’t get into the space between midfield and defence. Missed Bellerin. A good point but a pretty average performance sure.
Yes we were poor against Spurs, but
a) Not that poor!!
b) Spurs are excellent defensively (and sneaky foulers), whereas this United team are extremely vulnerable defensively, as we proved at the end
c) We could be poor against Spurs AND it could still be the case that Ramsey hurt us today (which he did).
After the Euros, I was actually very excited about Ramsay. But Its clear he’ll never thrive when out on the wing. Perhaps we may see the best of him if he starts as a 10 in the fa cup. Overall though, got to be somewhat content with a point from such little creativity
You were excited because he played well against a shit Slovakia and Russia
Sometimes I feel that Ramsey doesn’t fit our team’s style. Ramsey is Wales’ second option only behind Bale and I think he is the kind of player who needs a lot of the ball to be effective, and needs to be the main playmaker. But he isn’t going to be that guy for us because ozil is better. He just doesn’t seem to fit anywhere but wenger is forcing him to play a role that doesn’t suit him. Which results in poor performance
Yes you are spot on. I think the only way to fit him would be to play a 3-man midfield with 1 DM and 2 CM. But then there is no place for Ozil as no10..
For me, Giroud has earned a start in the next few games.
Aaaaaaaaand give it till next week. Headlines: “Giroud Holding back Arsenal” “Giroud not world class” “blah blah”
What more does the world need to see from Giroud?
If you want to criticize Giroud, please don’t criticize his footballing.
Seriously. Time and time again our attack looks more potent with him as a central pivot. We’ve been scraping wins with the Iwobi Alexis Theo combination but I just don’t see how anyone thinks we are better at breaking down defenses than we are with Alexis Giroud Theo/Iwobi.
I know he’s not perfect, and there are valid criticisms of him to be made, but for me his harshest critics- the ones that think he’s useless and want rid- just aren’t watching closely enough.
Pls tell me what are the benefit of having Elneny on the field. What i saw was a player who disrupt our flow of counter attack and a too slow midfielder in defensive play. All in all a one touch too many of a player. Personally, today was a tactical failure from Wenger.
One shot on target, one goal.
Efficient.
It was a fucking pathetic performance. Is there any slower we could pass the ball about? Year after year we send teams to these games to sit there waiting to get beat. This United team is a joke and we made them look like one of Ferguson’s. Great to piss Mourinho off but it doesn’t fill me with much confidence for challenging for the title
Cech – chocolate
Jenks – shit
Kos – chocolate
Mustafi – chocolate
Monreal – shit
Eleney – shit in combo with Coq
Coq – chocolate but shit with Eleney
Ozil – usually chocolate shit today
Ramsey – extra shit when on wing
Walcott – shit
Sanchez – very deep but still chocolate
Giroud- hot chocolate
‘I believe in miracles,
Since you came along,
You sexy thing!’
Can someone check if Wenger has got Ramsey in his will? No matter what Ramsey does, Wenger seems to love him. We were playing so well with front three of Iwobi, Alexis and Walcott so why change to accommodate Ramsey
Ramsey shouldn’t play there, end of.
Ramsey shouldn’t play, end of.
Even in our wins the we haven’t performed at a really high level except for the Chelsea game in the PL. The good thing is that in previous seasons we were losing these matches, now we’re either winning or drawing which is quite positive.
Now we need to improve a bit and bring the injured players back(Perez, Bellerin, Cazorla)
Really poor performance going forward, no guts at all. Nobody prepared to drive the midfield against a bang average utd side. Selection mistakes from Wenger- Giroud should be starting games like this away from home, Xhaka instead of Ramsey.
On the plus side Koscielny and Mustafi looked solid again.
Lucky point.
I must say this is one of the few times I’m relieved after a draw. Probably because of the performance and the fact that we are still in the race after two draws. Looking our fixtures ahead, we are more than capable of catching Pool, City and Chelsea by Christmas. Provided that we don’t play like today ever again.
Not sure if anyone already commented on this, but in my opinion Özil deserved to be substituted. That’s just not enough from him, he may be the best 10 in the world, he may be a genius with the ball and I also think he is one of our most important players who should of course get a new contract as soon as possible, but even he has to know that it’s not okay to play shit like this. I’m deeply disappointed with his effort today. I won’t say it was just about him, and I’m also somehow okay with… Read more »
I’m not saying he was great (though he had some lovely touches when on the ball, just didn’t get it near enough), because he wasn’t, but maybe that has more to do with the incredibly disjointed build up play behind him???
He’ll always have his moments and lovely touches and I understand that Wenger kept him ingame because he just needs one of these moments. And I also agree that the build up play behind him played a big part in his effort, but remember this scene when someone crossed the ball over to the left side late in the game and he slowed it down until 3 players were around him and he just gave away the ball. And the big problem I had with this scene was his behaviour after loosing the ball. He did absolutely nothing to get… Read more »
It looked like we were set up to keep a clean sheet and to hit them on the counter. Didn’t really work out as our passing was too slow and we were too narrow. Don’t think it was down to the first eleven, we were just missing Bellerin on the right to provide width. Good subs from Wenger, just a bit late maybe as you could see United taking controStill feels almost like a victory, a point at old Trafford is a positive result, as they played one of their best matches being forced to start Rashford instead of zlatan… Read more »
Well that was a depressing, dour and very negative performance. If only we would gone with the mindset of let’s give these a right royal spanking, but no went for the draw and managed to find a way of getting it.
The bright side Moroniho, heading for outright failure!
Don’t get me started on fucking Ramsey today.
We just did mourinho on mourinho! Poor performance but one chance and one shot has won us a point 😀
So many times we’ve played games where we are playing better than the other team, usually at home, and have more chances but can’t put them away, and end up letting the other team score the late equalizer on their only shot on goal of the game.
That always feels horrible, and we just did that to ManUre and Mourinho. Eat it, Jose!
Definitely were fortunate to earn a point. The key to shutting down our attack seems to be pressing us high as Tottenham and Liverpool have done in the past with fairly good success. Was surprised Cech kept trying to play out short instead of trying to go long more often. Jenkinson wasn’t awful, but certainly was not effective in the attack. Looks to lack confidence with the ball and the team looked to lack confidence in him as he hardly touched the ball. We already have Walcott who gets so few touches on the left and adding Jenkinson there really… Read more »
A big game for arsenal fc with man. U players pressing on the attack but their goal and valencia was the teams best point apart from this mustafi gd in the air and nice goal giroud
Of course I’m glad we got a point but no point trying to sugar coat a turd. We were shit and got away with that. And yes I get it that we kept going till the end, or rather the only worthwhile thing we did the whole game got us a goal but I am actually disappointed with the performance. But praise for Ox and Giroud. Giroud does score in big games as proven again and Ox has now done that a couple of times this season so improvement crossing wise it would appear. Yep I get that before the… Read more »
Exactly! Bottled it and outplayed by an average team.
Don’t agree. Think they played probably their best match this season as they were forced to start Rashford as a striker. Zlatan has been poor and Rashford offers them a lot more mobility and they were able to press us high which caused us a lot of problems.
Personally for me we made them look good.
The way we played a decent team would have murdered us. They’re OK but that’s it, will struggle to make top 4.
Disgusting performance. Sorry that was pathetic.
Its like the father who runs the kids football team and always plays his son even though he’s not good enough
Playing Ramsey today on the left today was bordering on stupidity, when iwobis link up play with Sanchez and ozil has been a feature of our performances this season
I do like Ramsey but he was way off the pace. And agree re the position.
Ramsey’s best position is the central stacking midfield role he was so effective in 3 seasons ago.
We accommodate him in our team now because we have Ozil but we are effectively playing him out of position more often than not.
We accommodate him if we play him in his position as well. He has no positional awareness and has done nothing to warrant a place in the starting eleven. He shouldn’t be playing full stop.
Disagree. Looked handy enough for Wales in the euros playing his favourite role and nobody complained about him 2013/2014 playing that role when Ozil tended to play wide left.
Admittedly he hasn’t played well this season but he’s not a wide player. That’s the bottom line of it.
He looked handy in the euros playing championship teams at best.
Alexis hugging Giroud like a giant fucking teddy bear after scoring ….enough to make my weekend !
We did not turn up for the game today despite what Wenger made us to believe during the week. The draw masked the team weakness today. I may annoy some of brothers/sisters fans today by saying that Wenger is actually the “failure” they said he is. He had no plan in beating the fuckers today. As usual, he sat there like a stamp he is. Very disappointing… I keep saying this, why does he play Ramsay all the time? What does that guy brings to Arsenal? The boys were weak. We all expected a very good reaction and believe from… Read more »
We all wanted a win today, but the point is still a good one. The team didn’t click, they were not sharp, but this is a game we would have lost last year, so there is some improvement. We can pick apart the manager’s lineup all day long, but hopefully he takes away from it that Ramsey cannot be a wide player; all his talents and purpose are lost out wide. With the same starting 11, Ozil would perhaps have been more successful on the left with his silky moves on the touchline. Wenger will figure out the balance, and… Read more »
We were much much worse today mate, just one on target? LOL
The bad news is draws mean the likes of Pool and Chelsea (with no Europe) pull away when they really shouldn’t. And while Wenger might figure the balance out, why does it take a man being paid his salary so long to find a team with balance? It’s like as soon as Cazorla gets injured, we’re completely rudderless, despite having four other very good central midfielders to forge a partnership out of (plus Wilshere let go on loan). Ultimately Wenger must take blame for us being so dependent on Santi.