Arsenal went down to a rampant Sp*rs side 2-0 at White Hart Lane this afternoon. It was as dismal a derby display as I’ve seen in modern times, and we got what we deserved from the game.
Which was nothing. Here are how the players rated.
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Sunday, December 22, 2024
I hate to use the old cliche, but we never looked ‘up’ for this. Sp*rs had so many more chances. What is the point of playing Giroud and not putting in any crosses? Welbeck should have started, we needed his pace and running. To be fair, this result was not a massive surprise. But it’s hard to see us get dominated by them lot. Oh well, they can celebrate all they want. They aren’t winning anything this season and we’ve got our beautiful history to laud over them. I am just hoping for a lot more next season. Bring on… Read more »
I see way to many 4s and 5s. At the end of the day, this was an average Spurs performance that won’t make it into their top 10 of the season and they still beat us at a stroll. The fact that we held on until halftime is an illusion as they missed 2 basically open goals.
No one except Cech deserves a passing grade.
They definitely played better today but those two “basically open goals” they missed came about as the result of two very lucky deflections going straight to their players.
Yes. They were very lucky to beat us by only 2 goals- what?
No, they were very lucky because they were handed two golden chances on a platter. The fact that they were unable to convert them is irrelevant.
Think of it this way. If, for example, one of their players had dived in the box and won a penalty that they had then failed to convert, I’d say that they were very lucky to win the penalty rather than unlucky not to convert it.
That save from Vertonghen’s shot.. unbelievable!!!
I agree.. If they had scored their 100% chances and if Petr didnt so so well yesterdays scoreline would have been 6-0. Sad to say it but Wenger needs to go, and based om what we saw yesterday half the f*ck*ng team needs to be sold* and replaced.
*/Lets face it, we will have to give some of them away, cuz they are not very good… Or the Arsene way, send them out on loans until their contract expire getting nothing for the players..
History means nothing buddy, they have something good now, as opposed to our steaming pile of shit that continues to be served week in week out.. and 2 more years of it as our manager has no touch with reality.
Why play two left backs again? Why does Ramsey always hold on to the ball for too long? Why with 20 mins to go 2-0 down are we still passing backwards and to the keeper? Why bring on Bellerin and Walcott when you know they don’t change the game? Why does Wenger make so many decisions that don’t make sense??
1 – Because we were playing 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 in the last 2 games. Bagged 2 critical wins, one against Man City. Would it make sense to you to change the winning formation or to start a 21-year-old center back in one of the most important matches of the season? I’d have trusted Holding but I understand how the manager thought. 2, 3 – No passing options. Spurs is an extremely physical team and we are no where near their levels. They always win 1-on-1 and usually had double, sometimes triple our attacking people in their final third. Just look… Read more »
That is the issue isn’t it??!! Who do u bring on to change a game? I mean Welbeck is a runner but doesn’t score – I remember his Man U days and I used to taunt my Man U buddy that I feel relaxed whenever Welbz got the ball, as he wouldn’t finish 8 out of 10 times and he hasn’t improved yet. Walcott is a poacher stands there waiting for something to be served to pounce on it, same with OG, AS is trying too hard to make things happen by himself instead of bringing his team into play.… Read more »
Can we not get a rating for those stewards who rugby tackled the obnoxious sp*rs fan who decided to try and gob off at Mesut? Best tackle on a white shirt all game.
Please can we dump these overpaid, overhyped, underworked players. Too many of them are incapable of playing a fast attacking game with the ball or working hard & defending well without the ball.
If Arsene really believes this squad of very average, very lazy players are good enough then he’s lost the plot.
Please can we get you to meet Messi so we could sign you?
So I guess not many of us watched Zelig.
He lost the plot 13 years ago ! The blind deluding the blind for so long.
So tragic to see a great club (club not wenger) being led down the drain. Thought when Gazidis I presume got the 3 Dutch coaches in to oversee the youth academy, things were looking up, but Wengers still hanging on pinching a living + his what 10mill a year.
Pinching a living is harsh. Whatever things Wenger can be accused of, poor tactics, being too trusting in under performing players, an inability to change games with substitutions and not addressing defensive issues, a lack of effort is not one of them. It’s not a lack of effort or application that’s the root cause of our malaise, it’s a lack of ability.
13 years ago. Wow. You really are reaching.
The problem is that when they try they are good enough. I remember watching us destroy Chelsea 3-0 early in the season thinking that we might actually have a shot this year. Smooth, fast, intricate play in attack and solid in defence – we looked the complete package. Even in the January transfer window I thought we had enough squad depth and quality to sustain our season’s ambitions. Watching the same players now, however, is painful. It just seems like they’ve lost the plot – low concentration, no passion, no spirit, no fight, no belief, low confidence, no consistency, …… Read more »
Maniac, you are right, I genuinely believe we have the best squad in the league. On our day, we can beat anyone, and win comfortably, and we have seen that a couple of times this season. But there lies the problem, a couple of times! The fact we cannot keep consistency is the biggest reason why we are not challenging, and must be one of, or a combination of the following: -fatigue caused by fixture pile up or no winter break -injuries, and squad rotation not allowing for fluidity -laziness incl keeping focus -poor planning and instructions for games from… Read more »
You can say that about fucking sunderland or Nicky Bendtner. But big teams and players are not something that happen once in a while. If you play good football once a mounth thats only good form. Its class if you win things consistently. Then losing a bunch each year will be bad form for a big team/player.
Except we were consistent. After 15 games and 4 months in the league, we were just 3 points behind leaders Chelsea, having been on an unbeaten run of 14 games following the opening day defeat to Liverpool. It seems some people have completely forgotten about this – it certainly was never just “good football once a month.”
These are good players. We have the material to challenge for the PL and FA Cup but they are underperforming. That’s the frustrating thing. If they truly were shite or average I could accept the crap results based on us having what we have but they aren’t. This team can and should be doing better this season.
I missed that. Just took my eyes off tv before the corner and next thing I missed our highlight of the game
Damn! I missed that!
This lot show up every August with no intention other than to coast to fourth place and no demands from owner, manager or senior players to do anything else. They’ve been caught out this year and good.
This is what Arsenal is, now: the least effort expended (in money, passion, concentration, commitment) for the barely acceptable product (plausibly “big club” commercial deals, PL broadcast revenue). It is financially efficient and dull as hell.
Poor team selection, ineffectual tactics, baffling substitutions, lack of any real drive or true competitive spirit (we never looked like getting back in the game after the second goal) – given that this was a NLD, it must rank as one of the poorest performances of the season. At least the top-four speculation can stop now. The whole club needs a massive shake-up during the summer!
Well, looking on the bright side, maybe we have got a new song out of it for a few weeks, at least,
” They didn’t do it again,
they didn’t do it again
BUT . . . . by this time next year,
they’ll have done it again . . . ”
All together now . . . 😀
Does this help ? I’m only trying to help, here . . .
Would love to see this squad coached under another more demanding and tactically aware manager because i refuse to believe that a squad as good as this looks on paper can perform so poorly week in week out. I accept that one or 2 maybe just not good enough at this level, but the whole squad ? Ramsey, walcott, giroud all need to leave but is Mustafi as bad as we think is Xhaka so poor that he can’t play at this level or is it down to the coaching and the general attitude that exists at the club. No… Read more »
Arsene’s wasted plenty of money already. Any other manager would’ve won the league with the amount of money being spent building this squad. Don’t believe me? Do the math.
Arsene – New lows/10
Just a lil thing: how could Mesut influence the game while spending it on one wing? It shows the limit of the system: separating Sanchez from Özil, isolating Mesut on the right… the guy can’t influence a game and express his quality this way.
Just a thought: maybe if he actually tried running towards the center of the pitch he would get closer to Alexis. But that’s just a wild guess.
Sorry for being sarcastic, but I’m just done with us excusing certain players over and over again.
Exactly! Certain players are allowed to get away with anything. I’m great critic of Ramsey, but yesterday he did work hard and was making himself available for a pass, but Ozil and Alexis wouldn’t pass to him.
Was Ozil supposed to help the OX out like the Chelski players do with there wing backs?
Ox needs help? For losing balls? I thought Ox was the new Arsenal God and needed nobody.
Is that the reason why Ozil never marked (or tried to mark) any Sp*r’s player near our box?
Is that the reason why Sanchez kept giving the ball away for fun? Or in a couple of occasions, Ramsey was perfectly positioned to score, but Sanchez wouldn’t pass…
It’s interesting to compare Pochetino’s spirit with Wenger’s. Increasingly i go back to the way Wenger seemed to wallow in the austerity years, always ready to cite the (relative) financial disparity between us and some of the other top four clubs as an excuse. You see none of that from sp*rs’ manager. The energy, purpose and ambition he emanates is – sorry to say so – impressive, and the comparison with our guy right now couldn’t be more stark.
Rating the players, all well and good.
But the problem is…well we all know what the problem is ; or rather who.
Do you want another two…
Or four years of this ?
Do you ?
If not sign up with the #no new contract guys and do something about it.
I have !
I know this is going to be unpopular but I wouldn’t mind if Ozil left this summer. This team needs a rebuild from the foundations. Ozil is too anonymous to build a team around which is what we have done and defensively he is a liability.
Just to be clear I am a big Ozil fan but he doesn’t suit the premier league at all.
Agree, unless we can get more out of him physically. Otherwise he’ll always struggle to impose himself in games like this
Perhaps if Mesut had some decent players around him he could do a lot better. We have Alexis, Ramsey and now Oxlade-Chamberlain coughing up the ball or passing to the opposition all the time. I’d rather sell Alexis for a small fortune, get rid of Ramsey and Walcott for whatever we could get, and buy some players who can actually control a football. Nothing will happen while Wenger is in charge, he’s too scared to sort out Alexis and he can’t see that Ramsey and Walcott are a waste of space, so we’ll just carry on like this I suppose.
Yes… perhaps if Mesut played on a team with Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo and Suarez he could do a lot better but you know what? He fucking doesn’t. And if he needs the perfect team to “perform” then he’s the one that needs to fuck off. I agree that Ramsey and Walcott are probably not good enough for a team like Arsenal. But honestly Ozil has a lot to do to prove that he is. So far he’s riding on his reputation from his former club and a high price tag. That’s it! He does well when everything is perfectly in… Read more »
That’s such a cop out though, he’s meant to be the star player. No use blaming other players when you yourself can’t make a pass or a tackle.
Can’t make a pass? Nice description of Sanchez and Ox! Spot on!
You’re forgetting that at one point in their careers these players were able to control a football perfectly well. But like everything good about the players we get, we seem to have coached it out of them.
Walcott’s never been particularly great at controlling a football.
If you offered to me De Bruyne or Eriksen for Özil, I’d trade in an instant. It’s funny how people are now done with Wenger but we keep defending the fragile and beautiful little snowflake he bought. Going on “sick” leave after Bayern, come on…
Fuck!
Well…crap Come on how can Wenger still stay? Our team was so disorganized during the game, it was painfully obvious. Look at how Sp*rs kept nicely organized at the back whenever we attacked, and compare to the crap we were doing… Each of their players knew exactly what their role was Players should be blamed too, I didn’t see as much intensity as was required, screwed up too many passes and plays. I don’t know how Wenger prepares them for these games. Is he just sending them out telling them, hey guys just go play and come back? There was… Read more »
So painfull indeed. I don’t even know what is our attacking scheme really is now.
We don’t give crosses, we don’t play through ball, are we attacking from the middle, from the side, I don’t know. Eveybody just passing the ball without clear intention.
While those Sp*rs players really play like a team that know exactly what they want to do. Ugh.
As much as it pains me to say it, those Spurs players are not crap and don’t suck.
Vertongen or Gabriel?
Wanyama or Xhaka?
Eriksson or Ozil?
Kane or Giroud?
Alli or Ramsey?
I mean, for fuck sake, based entirely on yesterday’s shit show, I’d have Son over Sanchez.
I would have started Welbeck over Giroud because of his pace and ability to create chaos – yet I don’t understand why is Giroud rated lower than Alexis or Mesut (by the readers). He didn’t play well, yet he at least made some contribution with getting the ball on the ground + some defensive work on the set pieces. Meanwhile Alexis lost possession 20-freakin-times, whilst Mesut was missing throughout the whole first 45 minutes, only to start getting more of the ball once we were 2:0 down and Spurs started sitting deep.
To get on the ball, one needs to give you the ball. As simple as that. But Mesut wasn’t meant to control the ball from the right wing. Rather asking Ramsey who was in the middle.
can we not talk about a top four finish again and just hope that an FAcup title will provide some respite for this disaster of a season. Don’t hold your breath on that one
If it was 6.0 you couldn’t complain. Bad team selection, why play monreal at CB and Gibbs wide?? Where was Holding? Total lack of cohesion belief balance and fight. We go from worse to abysmal. Woeful midfield. Giroud did nothing Ozil was anonymous and the others were just crap – (except for Cech). What on earth is Wenger staying another two years for? More repetitive failure?
Özil made the most passes and created the most chances… anonymous…
What? Even more than Wiltshire?
We looked like a team playing FIFA at least two levels above our ability.
I think the main takeaway for me was that we are above all a physically weak team. The scouting needs to change to get more physical players who can dominate teams. All in all it’s an end of an era. The manager needs to go and this team needs to be to ripped apart. We need to start changing the profile of players we obtain.
Spurs just seemed to be better prepared in every which way. Two examples: Blogs, you wrote that Cech’s ‘stand still’ penalty attempt showed he’s aware how every other penalty went in this season. Well. in the post match interview, Kane said that he remembered his PK in the Emirates match was down the middle, so he figured Cech would hold his ground, thus deciding to send this one to the side. That’s preparation. Second, in his post game interview, Pocchetino spoke about how they spend a lot of time on the training in their detailed preparations for each specific match.… Read more »
How is it Ozil’s fault that he can’t “control” a match when everyone he passes to just gives the ball away?
I think the ratings are a little harsh on Ramsey who didn’t do a lot offensively but was quite effective at closing off space for Spurs in midfield. This performance also showed how much of the success of the new formation was down to Chamberlain having 2 amazing performances. Without him performing today the team didn’t seem to have an outlet to break.
You would expect a world class player who is your club’s most expensive signing, to have positive influence on maybe 80% of your big games. Instead, he has pretty much zero positive influence in 80% of our big games.
Time to sell and invest to proceeds in a better player.
Yes, because when you have a team of crap players, and two (or three or four) very good players, the thing to do is to keep all the crap players and trade in the very good players in the hopes of somehow, miraculously, convincing a couple world class superstars to sign for you so they can bail out the crapness of everyone else with wonder goals on a weekly basis…makes sense to me.
It’s true… the whole Giroud/Walcott – Alexis/Ozil experiment has been a textbook example of bad team chemistry. Choose any period in the last 2-3 seasons when our play’s been great and Ozil was part of that. Leading the table until Christmas last season, smashing Utd and Chelsea in our best big game performances for years, getting through a tricky Champions League with some great football early this season. He should’ve ended with 30+ assists and last years title if his teammates had been more clinical. I understand why people want him gone but we wasted his best form because Wenger… Read more »
really well put. Not hard to see but some struggle I guess. Many buy into narrative. I was at semi final and in first half Ozil was one player bringing some composure and trying to keep the ball. Yesterday he played the perfect pass to Ramsey at nil nil. Rolled in into his path only for the hopeless Ramsey to try something spectacular and hit it with outside of boot. but hey spinner is right let’s sell the best players and build a team around the average ?
Did you ignore the part of my comment about invest the proceeds in a better player?
Or maybe a bit radical but you could keep one of your best plAyers sell the mediocre ones and invest that in buying better players to play with the Ines you already have.
Players play in systems. Their performances are not in isolation. The fact that people forget is just how poor Arsenal’s team is if you take out Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, there is not a single offensive player in the squad who would make the first team of any of the top 6. Giroud, Walcott, Iwobi, Welbeck would probably not even be automatic starters for Everton. What is worse, these players are not only unable to perform at a higher level, they are totally unable to do some of the basic things you expect from a footballer. Theo Walcott is… Read more »
Wish I could upvote this more than once. Our recruitment policy and team identity leave a lot to be desired.
I love Arsenal and our recent faith and hope in a renaissance were only ignited by ozil after the loss of fabregas and rvp–i think this is why he is so tarred and feathered by the fans. It’s a ridiculous amount of expectation and even so we’ve gotten two trophies since he came, as opposed to nine years with none. I’ve said what I had to about Arsenal fans this season already, but let’s not piss off the best player to have arrived at this club for years. It’s sad, I remember getting pretty smashed celebrating the day he was… Read more »
Don’t always jump to blame Wenger for everything . But was pulling my hair out when he decided to take xhaka off. We were creating chances at that point and all we needed was a like for like replacement upfront . Taking off xhaka lost us any bit of control we had in the game
Was pulling my hair out when he decided to play Gibbs as LWB instead of Monreal there and Holding as LCB… They were SOLID and Monreal provided attacking thread, and has gelled with Alexis the whole season.. all of a sudden he’s throwing Gibbs into the mix for no fucking reason. WHY.
Alexis And Özil should sign any contract put in front of them,no questions asked. It’s horrendous how shit they are at the moment
Yea Alexis has only scored two games running up to this like… so shit. That semi cup final winner against Man City… not worth it. I’ll drive him to across London myself!!!
Xhaka is the Besst
Holding – 10/10. Glad he gets more rest to sit on the bench again vs United while Wenger digs up a corpse to play instead just to do something against the obvious.
So 3 back thing only worked against Leicester, Middlesbrough, and team who would draw with Middlesbrough?
I told you all Wenger was past it, and have been getting thumbs down and abuse for years. Well, I was right all along.
I actually think Ramsey gets it too easily.
I’ve lost count st then number of attempted backheels he’s made all season and how rarely they come off, let alone concede possession in dangerous situations.
Yet Wenger kept him on for the whole 90mins and took off Xhaka.
No wonder he keeps doing those flick ons, when Wenger indulges in him to concede possession so stylishly.
Should try taking a selfie whilst doing it.
Get ready for another two more years of arsenal excuses.
Ramsey prime example of our failed British core strategy. Along with Theo, Gibbs & Jenks they all got wealth too quickly without achieving anything & have gone backwards. Hopefully same thing doesn’t happen to Ox, Iwobi, etc. They all need to be sold or given away to get them off the wage bill. Bellerin showing signs of same thing happening to Him. Jack’s got lots of skill & passion but is injury prone so can’t be relied on sadly. Add to this list average players like Gabriel, Elneny, wellbeck, Giroud, Chambers who aren’t good enough for a team challenging for… Read more »
In the semi last week we were dominated in the first half by City we actually went at them in the second and when Welbeck came on we had enough chances to put the game well beyond them BUT we were lucky on two occasions not to concede again.Today Wenger showed he had learned NOTHING from that he started the same team bar Holding (who was my motm that day) Giroud is too static, we concede possession in midfield by only having a two there and when you add in the poor showing of Sanchez and Ozil we had no… Read more »
Over the 47 years of following ‘The Arsenal’, cannot think of any players that are as overrated as Ramsey & Walcott. That Ladies & Gentlemen is why we are now London’s 3rd best team. No leaders, no passion, no fight, no backbone. Just a bunch of Princess Pussies. We are losing to the scum, and we deserved to. Something has to change.
Ozil didn’t show up until Welbeck came on. Chamberlain worked himself ragged. Alexis did his press high thing which works if Giroud isn’t up there. What happened to the Ox in the middle, and Alexis as the striker? Both experiments seemed to start to work and then they were abandoned. I thought Ramsey should have been doing what Santi did – get the ball to Mesut or Alexis. Is this not how this system is supposed to work? Yet most of what I saw of Ramsey was him complaining that he didn’t get the pass into the box (with his… Read more »
I think Wenger got it wrong with his selection. Personally feel we don’t have the best option up top. Giroud can be lethal and holds/protects the ball for us better than Walcott or Welbeck but this sort of mobile game (and we know Spurs will cede space and come at us) is not the best with him. Walcott is mobile but tends to not affect the game as much (unless of course he scores) OTOH Welbeck is probably the best of Walcott and Giroud but he is inefficient in front of goal at the moment and conspires to miss sitters… Read more »
Arsenal team looks like playing a preseason campain. Nobody wants to risk an injure, coz no-one knows where they’re gona be next season, and that’s logical.
I’ve never been happier to miss a game. A poor game for a mediocre season. No excuses. No solutions.
Wanyama was really good in that game. We could have bought him before spurs did, but we didn’t. We have good players in this arsenal team. Even the often criticised giroud is a good player. But for some years now Wenger has been shoe-horning players into systems where they don’t fit in. We will never get the best out of ozil if he continues to play ahead of weak midfield bases. Never. Thats just the kind of player he is. The reason why we still have walcott in the team is unknown to me. Over 10 years at arsenal, no… Read more »
Well…I saw that result coming from the first two minutes, especially with the way Spurs were playing. High pressure, good possession and a defined strategy. On the other side of the pitch there was a predictable Arsenal. Here in South America the comments on TV have been consistent over the recent weeks: this back 3 strategy is only covering the effectiveness problem of the team, and leave Alexis and Mesut Ozil apart. They have managed to win the recent games but in a very scrappy way, a “whatever it takes” way that is not very “arsenal” way. However the team… Read more »
I was really wondering what was going on when Gibbs started popping up on the right wing! Its at least two kinda wrongs..
They just want it more than us.
(Theo, 2017)
And Captain Fantastic hasn’t started a match since.
Why in the hell is he still playing Ramsey?
@Tfm86, I ask myself that very same question every time I see him in the team selection….. he is a liability… its an insult to Ozil amongst other things…
I prefer to look on the bright side, Yesterday I was expecting to drop three points in the standings to City and Utd.
I think Harry Kane summed it up in his interview when he said that Sp*rs wanted it more than Arsenal. I don’t think I remember ever seeing a north London derby where the Arsenal players were not really up for it and not playing with a high intensity (been supporting Arsenal for about 20 years). Even last year we were properly up for that game and fought pretty well. Forgetting about tactics, team selection, recruiting, etc if Wenger can’t get the players up for this sort of game, then we have a massive, massive problem. Further, all of the capitulations… Read more »
Relieved it was only 2-0. The problem with this team is you don’t know who will turn u … Bad or pretty fucking good. This was pretty fucking bad. Let’s hope Man Utd don’t turn up. Fuck me. Wenger out. There, I said it.
He is surely going soon, maybe after next season when World Cup managers are available? Who tho? What is up with Alexis? Jesus wept.
“Would you like a little radish on that shit sandwich?” said Arsenal FC.
“Yes I would, thank you very much,” said the Arsenal fan.
Next up, Mourinho.
If his vile mug isn’t enough to make this team win a league match then at least give us a flurry of red cards to show you care.
Sad to see Alexis losing so much possession from one game to another. His mind somewhere else now i guess.
first goal was lucky… ali pounding on the ball at the right place at the right time… i still thought we have the chance to recover till the penalty killed the game.. gab is a joke… since arsenal is in such a miserably demise right now, i would rather we miss out top 4, wrap up the fa cup and send off Wenger with a gloried farewell.. lets not forget we still got joel campbell back next season.. provided he will be kept, i thought 343 might suit him…. if ozil were to leave, i thought siggy or tadic would… Read more »
I am sick of the lot of them. It’s a collective cluster fuck of the highest order. Mediocre all round. Change, please.
If Wenger had any dignity and respect for the club ( and for his own legacy) he would now announce his resignation, that it has been a great ride but it’s time for change
I miss santi and poldi 🙁
Have we thought the two players who lost possession just happen to be the two players who try to make things happen. If players don’t make the runs, find space to make themselves available, fight to get first to the ball then the stats will always make these players look bad. The alternative would be to just give it back to the centre backs. And side side pass. There is just no fluidity to the team.
This is so obvious, yet you’re the only to nail it. When someone passes to someone, it’s not always the first players fault. And, again, atleast they’re trying a sneaky pass, instead of a safe one sideways. Ofcourse, some times we give the ball away, but chastizing players for actually TRYING to create something instead of just doing more of this inane hockey powerplay shit… I cant bear watching more players get a nice pass and run to the flank.. and there’s noone in the box. Or if there IS someone, no cross comes, and it’s passed back. We waste… Read more »
I fear that Chelsea may well humiliate us in the FA Cup Final
The winners of the Premier League have an equal balance of three S’s, or factors, going for them : stature, speed, and skill. The Arsenal of 2004 had all three qualities and firing on all cylinders for most of that year. Our back five was most imperious in stature and the other six put in a full-90 of effort, for the most part. Were we not the fastest team going forward in the transitional game and into the final 18′? And did we not have the best-skilled players in every position in the park–Giggs and maybe Scholes and Gerrard apart… Read more »
sad times