Arsene Wenger says that his team allowed Man City back into the game today, but complained that both goals conceded were offside.
Leroy Sane was definitely as offside as Monreal was in the build-up to a move which saw Alex Iwobi put the ball in the net – which would have made it 2-0 just before half-time, while David Silva was yards in an offside position and made a move towards the ball as Raheem Sterling banged home the winner.
It left the Arsenal manager aggrieved, but there’s almost assuredly a measure of deflection here from Wenger, as he tries to come to terms with a terrible performance from his men today.
“We dropped a bit physically in the second half and maybe mentally as well when they equalised,” he said.
“After that we tried to come back in the last 20 minutes. We were a bit unlucky on one or two occasions but they killed the game well.
“On top of all of that we conceded two offside goals, what is very difficult to accept in a game of that stature. But as it is well-known, the referees are protected very well, and that is right, like the lions in the zoo.
“We have to live with those decisions. I want them to be very well protected, I want them to be safe.
“But if they could make the right decisions that would be even better. Safe and good decisions, even better. I do not want to make the referees the subject of the press conference.
“I just feel it’s right that they are safe and protected but if on top of that they make the good decisions, even better.
“It’s difficult to lose a game of that stature on two offside goals and I can understand City are very happy, I would be as well, but I think the goals are offside.”
As it stands, we think the two goals were offside, but that’s no excuse for how poor we were today. It’s going to give the manager something to think about ahead of the next game, against West Brom on December 26th.
Also, imagine all the lion gags we could make it City still played at Mane Road.
That still doesn’t explain bringing on Elneny when we were chasing the game and needed a goal. What does Lucas Peres need to do to get a game?
Forgot about Lucas! Looks like he is going to have to work on aspects of his game before Wenger will trust him in big games.
Well, actually keeping the ball long enough to actually create chances seemed to be the main problem. We were successfully starved to death on possesion. Elneny was the best counter we had (with Cazorla and Ramsey out).
Yeah – he clearly brought Elneny on because we literally couldn’t hold onto the ball for love nor money tonight. We had Giroud on as our main striker, so we cant cross a ball in for him to header if we can’t get the team up the pitch. I think he should of brought Elneny on earlier for Le Coq though and I would of liked to see Perez come on too but considering The Ox and Giroud have really good stats this season, it wouldnt really make sense for him to put Perez on once Giroud was on. I… Read more »
So why not bring him on in the 50th minute?
I think he should of done. He should of got Elneny on earlier because Le Coq was having a brutal game for us in midfield.
Yeah that´s a strange one. Lucas knows where the goal is. I do hope (not really) Ox was injured or I would be absolutely mental if I was him.
From the apologetic look Elneny gave him when he came on I think Ox was taken off tactically. Mind you he left the left side weak and Monreal high and dry more than once.
Hamstring injury for Ox
Football tactics is not as easy as when you want to score a goal you put an attacking player on. As the comment said above we couldn’t put 4 passes together so it makes sense to bring on your calmest passer under pressure
I wonder why Perez would go from an hat trick hero to bench warmer 2 min playing time mr wenger pls step down you are a great manager but pls step down Diego simeone
wenger said on french tv tonight that “there is a serious problem with refereeing in England”
Thing is, I completely agree with this statement, but the referees are not the reason why we lost today.
Actually, they are. We played like garbage in the 2nd half, but we lost to two offside goals.
They were marginal decisions that went against us, but the defending for both was appalling and indicative of our entire insipid performance. To blame bad refereeing for losing after such a cowardly and inept performance is laughable. It’s tiresome excuse making.
Ohhhh shattap!!!
They weren’t the only ones making poor decisions Arsene. The decision to shut up shop was also disastrous!
Can’t argue that having been up 1-0 against a depleted Man City team struggling to keep the ball out of their net lately that we certainly missed an opportunity and shot ourselves in the foot. But to be fair, Wenger has gotten plenty of stick in the past for naive tactics against teams like City for being too attacking…guess we can’t have it both ways.
Shutting up shop means playing good defensive football. We were all over the place. This wasn’t shutting up shop. This was City bringing the game to us and asking questions of us we had no idea how to answer.
Also doesn’t explain how we were completely outplayed in second half and why our fullback showed the winger inside and our keeper was beaten at near post. What do they actually do between games? I was embarrassed to watch the Everton game and this game. I would have been sacked long ago if my basic competence was so lacking.
He did partially explain. “After that we tried to come back in the last twenty minutes”… he means just after they went in front. Before that obviously content with hanging on for a draw.
Is this is a drop Cech and Monreal moment?
Worst performance I’ve ever seen. Worse than some of those massive defeats we had.
First is offside but you can´t blame the ref for that one. The second is not offside and we didn’t drop “a bit physically in the second half and maybe mentally”. We hit a brickwall and played like morons but you can hardly say it´s a surprise or that it hasn’t happened before.
The question is why it keeps happeing?
Second was offside as well. But still, we played like shit, didn’t deserve to take anything from the game.
No it wasnt. Keeper has a clear view Silva is not interfering.
The rule is if the player attempts to play the ball from an offside position then he is offside. Quite simply, Silva was offside. Has nothing to do with unsighting Cech. That interpretation of the law is used when a player stands in an offside position during a free kick and tries to distract or obstruct the keeper on purpose.
“The law states that players in an offside position, when the ball is touched or played by a teammate, may not become actively involved in the play.” From the rulebook. So basically you believe Silva was just running after the ball. Yet he kicked at the ball and the end of his foot was within two yards of the shot. The reason Cech was beaten near post was because he was watching the run of Silva and it caused him to lean away from his post more because of it. Moreover, Cech, one of the ultimate sportsman in the game… Read more »
That’s right! Don’t let facts get in the way of your opinions!
Wenger deserves his criticism at times, but he put out a team good enough to win today and the players can only look at themselves. You could say a manager should get his players up for this game but any player that isnt up for this game already is not in the mindset you should be to play for arsenal. Look at alexis, he is the same going into every game regardless of his position or opposition. Wenger has little effect on how he plays. He put together a team that showed they can put in a challenge, spent the… Read more »
When AW was questioned about losing a lead twice in a row – he started to talk about the many games we played…
However he played our 3 best players 8! times in a row (Koscielny, Özil, Sanchez)
They could have played 2160 minutes maximum since the game against United and the played 2110. So they were on the pitch in 97 percent of the maximum game-time – while Giroud, Perez, Elneny were warming the bech…
He gave a generic excuse to answer the question. We play the same amount of games as everybody else at our level and all top players play most of the games. This should not be an excuse for a top athlete to perform badly. Or a manager to be considered incompetent for playing his best players in games where he wanted to win. You can’t tell me ozil played shit because he was too tired.
To be honest: we played the same amount of games as City or the Spuds, but Chelsea (and Liverpool) played six tough matches less than us in 4 months (not to mention traveling). I think it does count. And as far as City, United, the Spuds concern – we are still in the fight. As far as Özil concern – I mostly agree. But I think we are not Barca at it’s best – so against a top quality side like City to give our best or give only 80-85% can easily make the difference. (and it is true in… Read more »
Agreed, seems to be the problem with Ozil he needs service the same way Sanchez does, if he can’t be found he becomes redundant to the team and will drift out of the game. I think he should do more to get himself involved. Like someone said the other day commentating the best player for finding Ozil in space was Carzola. Still no excuses.
City scored he first goal and everyone’s heads dropped. That unfortunately is a problem for this team. It’s as if it comes as a total shock that they can not deal with it. Ridiculous. No one out there attempting to lift up their teammates. Disgraceful.
Get fat Sam in before Watford nab him.
Imagine Ozils face when Sam says ‘I want you to oof it up to the big man (Walcott) and Ozzlie I want you t’run channels – and by the way call me Allardici, it sounds more sofiecated!’
I love Arsene, but I get a bit fed up when he bangs on about referees decisions going against us. It happens to all teams. We have definitely benefited from some wrong decisions as times. I haven’t seen much of this ‘mental strength’ that he often refers to in the last two games. This is already starting to feel like the last ten seasons.
If you had listened to the pre-match press conference, Wenger had suggested bringing in video review. This is not the first time he spoke about it. Anybody in his position would be upset over the offside goals and by the same token any manager would be happy to have a decision go in his favour. Arsene is not a sore loser like Mourinho. Win or Lose…Arsene is a class act and a real football person.
Ozil is week and always look tired, and he wants a pay rise! Poor very poor, I would sell him!
Learn basic English grammar and spelling.
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.
Eddie Howe? Howe? Eddie Howe?
Wow good thing we’ve got the Arsenal fan brain trust on here tonight to guide us back to winning ways!
Grasping at straws. First too close to call. Second debatable. Easy for him to blame the ref than look at himself and his team
We were clueless yet again
Well, but he WAS offside for the first. We can accept that it’s a tough job to be a referee and understand why he got it wrong, but the first goal was objectively illegal.
We have been living a dream on account of a performance Vs City. We have faced Spuds, United, PSG, Everton, Liverpool, Leicester and dinot turn up. Just because we were “close” and “within range” of title contenders, our flaws were to a very big extent remained well covered. It doesnt take a genious to figure out that Coq / Xhaka was not working. Xhaka is a magnificent passer of the ball when he has a decent time on the ball. When team press hard, he finds it difficult. This is just one problem. But when you also couple the fact… Read more »
It doesn’t take a genius to spell ‘genius’.
English might not be everyone’s first language. If it gives you pleasure to pick up on these little things then crack on champ, you no 1
Thank you. You are a genius 🙂
I’m not so disappointed with the loss. But what I’m disappointed by, what I see unacceptable, is the attitude of our players in the second half especially. Oh boy our psychologist has a huge job in front of him. You could see players absolutely devoid of any confidence in that second half. Its not about world class signings, it’s about attitude.
Their attitude was questionable, but when nothing’s coming off, you are bound to lose your head. They kept at it in the first half and we could barely reach the final third. The problem was in the way the team was set up (isn’t it always). Ozil was slacking because he was frustrated and he was frustrated because City barely left him any space to operate. I thought things were going to change in the second half as there were clearly tactical problems that Wenger would look to amend. Things changed … for the worse. Fast forward some 30 minutes… Read more »
Away with your thoughtful and nuanced comments!
Why is this problem perculiar to Arsenal,is it not the job of the manager to get his players focused and concentrated on the game?
Leicester showed that hunger desire last season, that absolute I dont give a who u are I’m gonna win this attitude. Our players lacked that. And the midfield, well, absolutely in shambles. I would be so pissed at my players as a manager. It’s not about the loss today, it’s about the attitude.
People, when will it hit you all? Isn’t it obvious by now? We can never win anything under Arsene. The guy is past it. He is so predictable down to team selection, tactics and subs. He needs to go. Either he goes or he takes us down with him.
Talking about referee is Bullshit
At the moment;
Wenger lack confidence,
The Team lack confidence also..Wenger tactical game plan on depending and hit M-city on counter attack was wrong.. What kind of game are they playing to make us afraid of not playing possession game? Are they Barcelona?
I am afraid, I am lacking confidence in the Team and the manager.. As simple as that!
There’s not much the bloke can say that’s going to make anyone feel any better about the result. He’s clearly really pissed off about the result just watch the BBC interview, he’ll know that they didn’t perform (twice now) and that this is a serious dent to the title challenge. The questions remain of course, where is the mental strength? Why did we hardly attack the their goal? Why couldn’t we string a few bloody passes together ? sure sit on your lead but don’t allow a team that loves possession and plays best when that’s the case to do… Read more »
How about have a pop at your own players for an embarrassing performance? Wake them up maybe? If it was individual mistakes which cost us goals you’d say fine – one of those things. but the lack of desire and aggression was incredible, for a team with what Wenger says has great character , and wants to win the league ? With that attitude ? Wow. When are we going to show some bollocks and fight? I saw one big tackle all game from Koscielny. You win your battles and tackles and you open up opportunities. Instead I saw xhaka… Read more »
Also don’t agree with Wenger about the Total control he had mentioned in the first half.. Total negative!
Cazorla out with no viable backup… No one to take control of the midfield, no one to start a meaningful attack, no one to control the pace of the game… What happens next is still unclear, but last games reveal this weakness which is easy to play against and easy to brake apart. I’ve said it before, got so many thumbs down. I’ll said it before and will say it again: NO Cazorla, NO win!
p.s. I vaguely remember we got some bloke named Lucas Peres, anyone knows where he at?!? Because Wenger sure enough doesn’t have a damn clue…
Guys..let’s face it.. WENGER IS DONE. Simple as that. We had 2 tests last month against a weak spurs team and an out of form manure, we failed. This month against 2 out of form teams in Everton and city, we failed again.
This team is mentally weak and a bit overrated. Wenger will never win the epl again. The sooner we accept this, the better.
Fairly extensive replay analysis on the coverage I was watching and neither goal seemed off-side to me (or the commentators). A bit of a Mourinho style deflection from Wenger! Real problem seemed to be that our entire midfield – and especially Özil – were AWOL for much of the game.
Ozil is not really playing as a midfielder these days, but as a withdrawn forward. Therein lies the problem with Wenger’s current tactical setup: we frequently get overrun in central midfield against quality opposition. This is not Ozil’s fault but Arsene’s. We should play 4-3-3.
First goal was slightly off albeit easy to say with slow motion replay. Second was in that grey area. But the best teams make their own luck.
Here in NZ we blamed some of our past world cup failures on ref’s decisions. But basically we weren’t strong or good enough. Funny how with a different mentality and quality ref’s decisions seem to have fallen off the radar as A major factor for the all blacks…
Fuck me. We don’t even have injuries to blame our collapse now either, and please don’t give me the Mustafi excuse, we have enough cover in that position. The players simply aren’t performing as well as they can. Is the manager to blame? Possibly. Are most of the players to blame? Probably. What can we do to solve this? Fuck me if I know. It’s just that time that comes in every season where being an Arsenal fan sucks balls and you start having an internal debate about whether following football gives you more pleasure than pain or vice versa,… Read more »
I dearly love Mr Wenger for all he’s done for AFC for 20 years but we definitely won’t win the league with him in charge. His teams no longer have the required chutzpah and he’s too loyal to underperforming players. We really need a change.
Its so tiring listening to Wenger blaming the refs after a loss… let mou and other cunts do that.
We were just NOT nearly good enough today. End of story!
The buck stops with the players this time. Doing great in first half then crumbled as soon as City score and went awol most of second half. Where is the desire to win ?
City goals were offside. But we should have defended the lead or at least kept the draw. Especially after Everton which was the real tragic result for me. It is typical Arsenal. And it is even harder to swallow when you watch Chelsea play boring football and keep churning out 1-0 wins. I think the league is beyond us now.
The first half was a total master class. U doomsday cunts can fuck off! We were robbed of 4 points through bad referring, it makes a massive difference.
Ignoring the offside on the City equaliser, it illustrated just how pitiful our defending and organisation is. Why is Cech launching it every time he gets the ball? The front line are all about 5’6″. For a team that should be good at passing, it seems almost impossible to keep possession.
The majority of Cech’s kicks today were just awful. Either too short, or too wide, or straight at opponents. I suspect launching it was part of our game plan but the quality was below par.
Yes totally baffling as to why Cech was consistently hoofing the ball up the field and inevitably giving away possession. Clueless
Wenger may have a valid point, though it is largely irrelevant. We got what the supine performance deserved. For every dodgy decision that goes against you, there will be as many that go for you – but no-one mentions those! Usual Arsenal – get close to challenging seriously, injury to a couple of key players, wheels fall off.
What no tweets from the players or selfies from the changing room? They (including Wenger) should be apologising and paying back the travel and ticket costs to the away fans.
Leicester didn’t have world-class players, but they had a manager who made the team work hard! Attitude of the players, can only be attributed to the manager. Arsene doesn’t look bothered relaxing on the bench whilst loosing, he needed/needs to get animated, reminding his players throughout the 90 mins what is expected (Guardiola was!). If the players don’t see the manager getting passionate, why would they. So many games now I see Alexis urging his team mates to press, make runs etc, but they just can’t be bothered. Wenger out, Diego Simeone in, and let all the players know there… Read more »
Steve Bould is really not the best person to coach the defenders. He is clueless.
Supporting arsenal is like having a child on meth. You love them no matter what but they let you down again and again
I cant believe Bravo wasn’t tested after the goal. What on earth is this passive state of mind we have? take a lead…. sit back from 5 minutes onwards. what kind of game plan is that ?
A cry of a sinking man. He has run out of ideas.
Well, I don’t mind if my comment is not published due to criticism. I’m personally disappointed in Arsene Wenger. The last two premiership games of Arsenal show that Arsene lacks technical coaching ability .in game against Everton, when you see that a prayer is not playing well yet you leave such a player especially Ozil played woefully for 90minutes and likewise against Manu City today. When Wenger sees Arsenal was not in possession of ball, he should have remove the flop prayers like Ozil and others yet he removed iwobi and introduced Chamberlain and late removed Chamberlain and introduced Eleny.… Read more »
My problem with Wenger is doing the same thing every game. Bringing on substitutes late even when we need them badly and starting the same way all time which frustrate players on bench and over work a few.