Having started brightly with a lovely 5th minute goal from Theo Walcott, Arsenal got worse and worse as the game went on. By the time it had finished there was no appreciable way of measuring how bad it was. Gutless and lacking the required effort, the 2-1 defeat was no less than we deserved.
Here’s how the players rated today.
Was positive before the game. But then this from the team: Soft, scared, nervous, unfocused.
Very disappointing. We miss the leadership from Mustafi.
It´s so sad to see Arsenal do this year after year.
We’ve delayed novembers shit form and just plonked it in December .
To even suggest that Mustafi would’ve made a difference is ludicrous.. He has been as error prone since he’s come since anyone else.. we’ve conceded goals through out the season, stupid goals, when he was there.. we continued to fight back and fight back and win it… our luck ran it and it was always going to at some point.. Gabriel didn’t do anything different to what Mustafi would’ve done
Hard not to conclude this was a collective choke in a big game. Our midfield – in particular were woeful!
I think the Ox is just firmly in the category of players that cannot be relied upon anymore. It’s a bummer, because he does seem to have great potential, but if we’re going to be serious, we can’t keep going into seasons relying upon players that are so unreliable. If Iwobi hadn’t stepped up where would we be? We’d have had to keep playing Alexis from the left. I hope he and Welbeck clear their injury hurdles in the New Year, but if Draxler is available for a reasonable amount we need to make an offer if we’re serious about… Read more »
I’d also clarify that Welbeck is maybe my favorite player at the moment. But if we’re not going to be ruthless there, why bother paying Ozil and Alexis big money. We need to get serious in every area or else why bother?
You’re suggesting we overspend on a player who has scored a whopping total of zero goals in all competitions this season?
We do need more creativity and drive to our team sometimes, but Draxler isn’t the answer. That lengthy injury a couple of years back seriously stunted his development and he’s been inconsistent ever since, one good performance for three or four bad/indifferent ones etc. He also most certainly won’t be available for a reasonable amount.
Overspend? It very clearly says “for a reasonable amount” so don’t set up a straw man here. He’s forcing his way out. If he could arrive for a decent amount less than the 30m in the papers we should go get him. But beyond that, Draxler wasn’t the point; he’s just someone who we might be interested in, and who might be attainable in the January window. We aren’t going to be able to replace Cazorla in January, so we’re going to have to make do elsewhere. And then hopefully throw truckloads of money at Verratti.
If we plan to park the bus and not attack in all big games away from home then what’s the point of starting ozil? Take both our games in Manchester this season as an example we have just tried to defend for majority of the game and after falling behind have actually tried to attack. So isn’t an elneny or a lucas a better option than ozil? Both provide more defensively and lucas can give pace on the counter. The ease with which we scored our goal I thought if we really go for it this half we can go… Read more »
Ozil did not seem his usual quality – most everyone didn’t for that matter – but unfortunately it is an observable trait that as far as our movement fluidity and creativity goes we lose our shit when Ozil’s not on the pitch. Even when he doesn’t have a dominant or even good game, he makes our movement and flow better. And he still had some of our highest passing stats.
that’s about it then …goodnight Irene
To be fair to Giroud & Elneny, they were subbed on far too late for them to make any difference to a side that had already thrown in the towel. I wish Wenger would be willing to make changes earlier – especially in matches like this – where it’s obvious the starting 11 are not firing on all cylinders.
He can’t do it, he physically can’t make early changes, it’s always the same.
Walcott out, Wenger out, Ozil out, cech out,.
Draxler in, Eddie Howe in, isco in, ospina win.
No matter I get lot of downvotes, we need this to happen for Arsenal to win.
This was a dumb comment on the other thread too.
On a different note, what does Perez have to do to get a start? Apparently a hat-trick is not enough!
I love Arsenal but my god do they frustrate me. Every year it’s the same thing you just know it’s coming. You have rival fans take the piss out of you because they know Arsenal wil bottle it. And constantly I’m defending them but deep down you know it’s true.
I feel like I’ve seen this before.
I didn’t give anyone above a 3 today..I don’t know if cech hasn’t practiced his long kicks but more than half of them were nowhere near our players. Mesut was anonymous through the whole game and our midfield was bypassed more often than not. It seemed we showed up for a sunday park kickabout with the amount of passion and aggression we had. It’s like we forgot how to play football at times, as if we haven’t been playing the same way for the past 20 years. I could go on for hours tbh but im going to leave it… Read more »
Surprised by Arseblog’s rating for Xhaka. Apart from Ozil (obviously) thought he was worst. We had ready made replacement in Elneny who should have come on much earlier. Iwobi should no have started as he is a liability and now we are stuck with him. This is not the first time a sub has come on and pulled something. Why does this only happen at Arsenal?
Agree with those who question Xhaka’s rating of 5. I had him a 3/4
Yep, Xhaka and Ozil were the worst
I am sorry but along with Ozil, Xhaka was the most invisible (Nacho was at least noticeable albeit in a bad way) man on the team today and in no way deserves a 5. He did not make a tackle it seemed all game and played like a deer lost in the headlights. I know that given his price tag and our collective hopes for an impact player, some of us continue to see more positives than others in his play but Granit was plodding and sterile for most of the game. To be sure, everyone played poorly and the… Read more »
I actually thought Xhaka was more invisible than Conquelin a d left him way too much to do on his own afraid to put tackle in it looked like and even got Elneny booked because he couldn’t handle a pass under no significant pressure. Poorer of the 2 anchor midfielders in my opinion.
Blogs I know how much you love Granit Xhaka. But please try to be objective. He was awful against Everton and was even more awful today. Definitely much worse that Coquelin in both games, as much as Coquelin didn’t have the best of games.
Ozil was our worst player. Awful. xhaka was terrible but you know it’s gonna be a bad day when even Kos and Bellerin are having shockers.
This is the worst week of football since our collapse last April.
I don’t feel that Xhaka is up for the pace of PL. He seems slow and not confident, afraid to tackle and out of position, at least in yesterday Match. For person of physique it is a shame to see a performance from him.
Lets move on. Maybe try one the academy prospect alongside le Coq
Exactly! Even city identified it. Pass it to a player near ozil. Run a little. Pass it to a player near xhaka. And distribute as you like. Both will not tackle. Do whatever you want to do. This hurts man!
Oh dear it’s groundhog season again!
We all know the common thread behind our constant bottling, such a shame, this is now a quality squad
that was UNACCEPTABLE from ozil
Really hope I wake up tomorrow morning to discover that the whole squad have come down with a (24 hour) stomach virus and that this was the reason for their listless play today. Either that or we’re going to have to face some hard truths about the character of the team.
With arsenal its always the hope that kills you… so being out of the running before Christmas is early but not welcome. Two from ud, spuds, Liverpool and utd to complete the top four
No idea what Perez has to do to get on the pitch?! I think the substitution of Elneny instead of Perez was a weird one. I like Elneny but if your chasing an equaliser he isn’t who I’d bring on. Having three strikers on the pitch would have made much more sense!
Same script, different season.
I think Cech, for one, needs a rest. And probably everyone else, come to think of it…
Meanwhile Ronaldo (at 31), scores a hat trick in a world final, or some shit like that, races over to the corner flag and does an expansive “you are all in my debt because of my genius” type celebration.
What a day………..Im off to the jacks again.
Wow! Even from Rome Shezny gets better ratings than our actual players
I will prolly got a lot of downvotes for that but I don’t care. Ozil is the perfect player for teams which always play on the offensive. We could see it in Arsenal shirt, too, he is a beast of a midfielder who can pass a ball through in half a ball’s space if there is any. He was the perfect player for a dominant Madrid in the La Liga, he could be a perfect player for a Bayern or a Guardiola team; in matches we dominate, he is a perfect player for us. But hell, in matches like that… Read more »
That’s basically the definition of a luxury player…
The sad part is I was waiting for us to bounce back after the Everton game and prove once and for all we are able to fight with the “big boys”. And now I am sitting here and hoping for another FA cup. I know the season isn’t over but Chelsea seems like clear favorites and how sad is that after we pissed on them earlier this season. Also Petr Cech, I love you to bits but how can you have played 400 games in the Premier League and not be able to do a proper kick.. At least 10… Read more »
I actually think this was a particularly bad day for Cech. Will be interesting to see his numbers over time actually because I think he’s a huge upgrade over what Szczesny used to produce (not sure about Ospina). We may also need to see how he ranks compared to other GKs in the league.
I’m surprised everyone thinks cech is world class. Plain as day that his distribution is terrible. Pass completion is around 25%. Chelsea never played much of a possession game so it was always overlooked. Stats back it up, nowhere as good as ospina.
His distribution was horrid today. I gave him a 4
I don’t think Chelsea won’t lose 9 points. The problem is I doubt this Arsenal can gain those 9 points. Sp*rs away, Chelsea away, ManU, Stoke away, So’ton away, Liverpool away – that’s what we’ve got coming in the 2nd half of the season. I would say in my opinion we better fight for the FA Cup and go as far as possible in the Champions League.
Those two competitions represent our best shot at silverware this season. And if we continue to play this way, then I’m afraid. Where is the fight? Show some fight and lose the game is better than not coming to the party all. I’m putting the blame squarely on the ‘front 6’ offering little or no protection for the back 4. Walcott and Iwobi just seem to run back for the sake of doing so (not sure AOC does anything more), Ozil doesn’t even bother. Sanchez looks like the only player that cares but he gives the ball away quite often… Read more »
Interesting point about the tactical fouling that would be helpful at times. I wonder if, for a player like Xhaka (who didn’t seem like he wanted to tackle yesterday) whether he’s getting messages from the manager telling him not to be reckless and getting confused? For example, you had Arsene saying (to paraphrase) “he’ll learn from his mistake” and not challenging that ludicrous red card decision against Swansea. Is that making him not want to tackle as much? He was diving in like a lunatic against Everton – did he get told not to do so and decided not to… Read more »
It’s only mid season. Stick behind the team. Arsene/Arsenal will spank them at home. ?
Deja vu, all over again Yogi Berra said. I don’t cared how skilled Ozil is, he’s a coward and a liability when we have to turn up and fight. Hides when the going gets tough. Character counts and has been Arsenals biggest problem since the Invincibles. Hate to say it but it’s the truth. You think Klopp would put up with this? I can accept losing when we leave it all out there, but that was pitiful.
Not sure what an animated ? has to do with our season!
Please Arsene. Rotate the fucking squad snd keep everyone fresh and hungry. I don’t want to see the exact same team start the next game. Iwobi for Ox is not enough. Wholesale changes for next game please!
That was embarrassing today… If i wasn’t an Arsenal fan I’d make a fortune betting against this team….its so obviously when they are going to blow it…
We were pressed in possession on the edge of our box for most of the second half and fear of loosing the ball so close to our goal made us panic and 9 times out 10 simply gave the ball away trying to pass it out. You’ll recall Santi twinkle toeing his way out of this time and time again a couple of years ago and how we missed that today. I didn’t know why we couldn’t shift the play up field 20 yards or so by pushing our back line up? This would have meant their press couldn’t have… Read more »
The players are gassed. AW doesn’t rotate properly (or at all, really). And he has zero tactics. We were dominated in the midfield and how did the manager respond. Not at all. Not at all. Ozil has dead legs, and Coq is the least skilled non-defender on the pitch for either team. So we were ripe for the domination. A better tactician subs Ozil off at the half (or the 30 min mark… and I say this an an avowed Ozil fan) and puts Ramsey (or Iwobs) in the 10 spot. AW seems to think the purpose of a deep… Read more »
On the other hand Conte never rotates and is oh 9 points clear. It’s got nothing to do with rotation it’s to do with being a bunch of pansies. Ozil should never play again, can’t stand the bloke, great player but such a fanny. Also if wenger decides that everything goes out long from the back then put FUCKING Giroud on man for fucks sake. I can see that from here and I don’t get paid 8 million. Ozil should have been subbed the first time the ball goes in the air anywhere near him and he ducks out of… Read more »
It feels like the problem with this team is that these performances are too deeply ingrained, they’ve become part of our very fabric. I love Wenger and don’t want him out, but I wish we could just travel to an alternate universe for a week or so where this team exists with a different manager, just to see what it’s like
Much I as love Wenger and the job he has done in AFC, his recent teams lack character. Wenger’s mentality, signings(except sanchez)and game plan has been and is just good enough for 4th place. This team lacks the ability to play physical and, or high intensity game and that is why they fade away in star matches.If Wenger wants to stay and win the EPL he should begin to look at attributes other than only technique. We need players with domineering attributes. He needs a number 10 who have the stamina and trickery to control the game and take away… Read more »
Is everyone only rating the 2nd half (which was – yes – awful)? Because even though the first half might have been rather defensive for our squad I think they did pretty good. Very disciplined defensive movement of the team as a whole and good intensity. City was always pressing high, trying to put us under pressure but they looked rather baffled for most of that half because they couldn’t find a way between the lines. And then the 2nd half was obviously a total disaster… But c’mon Koscielny still deserves more than a 4,5 with 10/10 clearances (6/6 headed… Read more »
Seems to be the same thing in all the games we have lost. Good first half and bad second. We totally dominated Liverpool first half then injuries individual errors and melted second half. Everton is still fresh in the brain so no explanation needed.
So is that the title lost already then?
This week has been appalling. Sanchez out there looking like he putting in twice the work rate of the team combined.
Fuck has Özil been up to these last two games looking like a Sunday league player smh
We have only two players on the books that can travel with the ball at their feet through the middle of the park to link midfield with the attack (a very important link inmo) and one of them is long term injured the other is on loan at Bournemouth. How very arsenal! What is the point of xhaka I don’t think he is an upgrade on anyone we already had.he is a slow holding mid that can’t tackle without fouling .
I’m begining to think ospina deserves a run of games now and Perez needs to change his name to mesut then he’ll play however bad his performances
Agree with ratings, but harsh on Coquelin, first half he impressed for sure, battled well as per usual and looked to be key to our winning position. But second half, obviously not good enough and a few simple giveaways epitomised the Arsenal performance as a whole. Massive fan of the boy, but not his worst performance, Ozil and his performances at home to Olympiakos last year have been the worst performanced I’ve seen from an Arsenal player in recent years.
Is it time to give Gibbs a run? I like Nacho, but he is more of a winger than a defender.
This would not solve all our problems, but I think Gibbs deserves a start.
A three for Ozil! He was awful, a one at best.
I’m puzzling by the curious passivity of our game in recent years. Wenger’s great claim is his style – fluid and free-flowing, yet managers like Guardiola are now playing that kind of football. It makes me wonder if a manager like Jurgen Klopp, or Thomas Tuchel at Dortmund or Ralph Hasenhüttl at Leipzig – both earmarked as future Arsenal managers, might not be better in the long term. I know Klopp is unavailable but Tuchel and Hasenhüttl are similar managers in terms of style – they emphasize getting at the opposition, high intensity, relentlessness and directness. For example, why did… Read more »
The biggest difference was Zabaleta clearly struggling, so Pep brings on Sagna and they completely destroyed us down our wings. We should have reacted the same and brought on Gibbs for Monreal.
Midfield was non-existent, as blogs said Coquelin had a dire game. I wished Elneny had started, not that this was not a collective failure, but he tries to bring stability. Though ahead in the first half, it was still poor (though well better than the second) but I thought Iwobi was decent. Agreed about Gabriel, and shows how we miss Mustafi as an outlet. Of the defenders Kos had an OK game compared with the others. All worrying as we have a busy period ahead and need to get back to controlling games and finding out ways to cope with… Read more »
Cech kicking it long every time wtf?
Unacceptable again from Ozil. Offer him no more than 200k a week. We can not afford to take passengers like him again in matches like this. He can only be trusted for home matches and easier away matches.
It was so frustrating to see a professional team unable to pass the ball to each other. Yes we will lose games but it worry me how we lose our bottle so quickly. We miss Santi in midfield and Mustafi at the back. Monreal is having a indifferent season so far, might be worth giving Gibbs some game time. As for Ozil and Sanchez, for 2/3/400k a week, you expect magic…Sanchez tries his heart out, but these are the players that at times single handily drag you from defeat. Same thing every year I’m afraid, Infeel there needs to be… Read more »
screw Ozil.
What a joke with his lack of urgency in taking the free kick in the last seconds.
The guy has natural talent to burn, but he’s arrogant and way too inconsistent
for an objective view on Ozil:
http://www.espnfc.com.au/blog/the-match/60/post/3019516/mesut-ozil-lack-of-impact-hurts-arsenal-again-as-kevin-de-bruyne-and-david-silva-inspire-manchester-city
There is an air of inevitability around it all. The quotes from the team post the first defeat against Everton and the follow-up defeat against a top-4 team. It just seems like we need to break out of Wenger’s psychological hurdle against the best teams. Personnel have changed in the first team; the Manager remains the same; and sadly, so does the bottling. That said, even during the Invincible year, the games against Man Utd were fairly tight affairs, with a 0-0 draw at OT and a 1-1 draw at Highbury (with a scorcher of a goal from Henry, Oh… Read more »