Arsenal: Cech, Mustafi, Monreal, Kolasinac, Bellerin, Xhaka, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Welbeck, Lacazette
Subs: Ospina, Mertesacker, Coquelin, Elneny, Iwobi, Walcott, Giroud
__
Stoke debutant Jese Rodriguez scored 90 seconds into the second half to condemn Arsenal to their first defeat of the new campaign.
The Gunners dominated the match for large periods but were poor in and around the box and ultimately paid for their poor defending.
They might have had a penalty in the first half when Bellerin was taken out and Lacazette had a goal harshly ruled out for offside inside the final 20 minutes but it wasn’t to be on a frustrating afternoon in a notoriously difficult fixture.
First half
The first chance fell to the home side as new boy Jese evaded a ridiculous Mustafi lunge before testing Cech at close quarters.
Slick passing between Bellerin and Lacazette was a regular feature of the opening stages as the Gunners looked to create space behind the Stoke defence. On the right, Oxlade-Chamberlain was more direct, choosing to take on defenders at pace with varying degrees of success.
Our first real chance came on 16 minutes when Ramsey raced onto a dinked ball from Lacazette and squeezed a shot at Butland.
The Arsenal pressure kept mounting and two further cute passes over the top created chances for Welbeck, who shot straight at the keeper, and Bellerin who went down under pressure from Zouma. Replays showed it probably should have been a penalty, so a big f*ck you to ref Andre Mariner.
The action swung back and forth. Jese’s break, aided by some pathetic Arsenal tackling, created a chance for Choupo-Moting whose shot was tame. Ramsey’s volley at the back post after a brilliant free-kick by Chamberlain was saved by Butland. Shawcross then squandered a fine opportunity by heading over Cech’s bar.
For all the huff and puff neither side looked particularly decisive in the final third, not helped by torrential rain putting a literal dampener on the action.
Second half
While Arsenal continued their sloppiness after the break, Stoke were more lively and inside 90 seconds they capitalised on a poor pass by Xhaka to produce a goal-scoring attack. New boy Jese darted out of midfield played a one-two with substitute Berahino and fired low on the angle past Cech. (1-0)
With a lead to defend, Stoke sat back and soaked up Arsenal’s possession.Arsenal focused their attention on attacking down the left flank trying to get in behind Diouf and Zouma.
It was easier said than done, however, when they did find space they squandered their chances. Bellerin’s right foot shot forced Butland into a bumbling save, Welbeck’s header came off his shoulder and went over and Ramsey couldn’t get enough purchase on a Mustafi pull-back.
On the break, Stoke looked dangerous. Cech had to tip over a diving header by Berahino and the Gunners were lucky when Choupo-Moting could only hit the side netting.
Kolasinac made way for Giroud on 65 minutes and his first pass of the game fed Welbeck who should have scored. Butland, not for the first time, was quick off his line. The Arsenal pressure kept building. Ozil had Butland scurrying across his goal with two efforts.
On 72 minutes Arsenal finally put the ball in the back of the net and it was a decisive lashed finish by Lacazette. He looked level with his marker but the linesman flagged him off. No goal. Not long after our record-signing was taken off along with Xhaka. The final roll of the dice saw Iwobi and Walcott thrown on in their place.
Andre Mariner’s ineptitude continued to be a talking point as he failed to give a foul on Chamberlain and then left himself open to criticism when Mustafi subsequently went straight through Pieters (in typical Mustafi style) on the edge of the Arsenal box. Play continued despite Mark Hughes going ballistic.
Arsenal completely dominated possession by Stoke’s rear-guard effort was impressively resolute. In the fourth minute of injury time Giroud had a chance to snatch an equaliser but his header from Monreal’s cross skidded wide.
New season, same as the old season.
but our manager already said that no team will go unbeaten
well he made sure arsenal do fulfill his prophecy.
We always seem so quick to the bads things, but always ever so slow to do the good.
Bellerin is one of the most overrated players in the team. Just another Walcott. All pace, No end product
Would have helped if he was played in his rightful position on the right instead of the left.
yes, i thought he was massively wasted on the left side and the inistance on playing him and Ox messed up the team and its balance. One has to be on bench….
Do you think he’s playing both Ox and Hector at the moment to persuade Ox he will get playing time and encourage him, to sign? But he may stop it after the window closes?
Like when he played Walcott as a striker when he was wantaway.
He’s a right back, end product is not really his problem. Walcott scored 19 goals last season too.
Wenger was right, we were not going to go undefeated this season. Arsene knows!
AOC was utterly incompetent. Kolasinac should fill his position.
Can’t believe Bellerin was shunted out left just to accommodate the Ox. Next game: Bellerin on the right, Kolasinac on the left, Ox on the bench, please. Better yet, if Chelsea could find it in their hearts to pay us 35m actual pounds for Ox…
Oh, and Welbzzzzzzzzzz…no thanks.
And Costa in exchange.
Buy costa…its all gone to shit anyway
I’d rather stop watching than see that cheating cunt Costa I’m Our team. He won’t even return to training for the chavs, why do you want that type of player at the arsenal?
2 thumbs up
I agree with all but the last part. I have a real soft spot for the versatile Welbz. I think we forget the length of time he’s spent injure in the last couple of years. I’m still willing him to come good.
Sell Ox and try to buy Lemar. Ox doesn’t have a good football brain. He continues pushing the ball like a headless chicken while a teammate is in a very good position.
We got players who need 20 chances to put the ball at the back of the net, we was rubbish , how can we not beat stoke city and we want to win the league is a mess….
He was dynamic enough for us but I think Bellerin is better at Rback.
Ox is wasted crossing to Lacazette who will be missing against Stoke. Giroud was the player to start.
Kolasinac should be LWB. Ox can come in to add variation. He gives a lot of forward run and in many ways was more threatening than Bellerin but better question is why do we have to play kolasinac at left side of back 3 or Monreal in Cback?
100% agree…sorry should be 110%
Monreal and Kolasinac at center back, Bellerin on the left, Wellbeck squandering chanches, silent Ozil, substitution after 60th minutes. Those were the ingredients of total failures. First defeat after 2 games, well we are no where near top 4.
Can’t we just get a new manager before this season gets worse? I know we should’ve done it 1la decade ago, but better late than never.
This is 100% AW. Wrong line up, wrong motivation at half time, wrong tactics, wrong substitutions. Same old Arsenal. Fucking shit.
COYG. But we need change.
It’s so boring already
All things bother me, but one thing that bothers me the most is how most of our players never improve much, if at all after coming to Arsenal. Sanchez might have not scored as much anywhere, but he wasn’t a regular at Barca and didn’t hit his peak at Udinese. Look at anyone else. Xhaka, Elneny, Gabriel, AOC(reasonably better since mid last year but there’s a lot more potential), Theo, Wilshere, Gibbs. We need a tactician that will break things down for players, and make them work on their weaknesses. xhaka= marking, tackling, movement off the ball. Elneny= more high… Read more »
What would you have gone with?
Entirely agree – FFS it was Stoke (yes a bogey team for us that tend to trip us up…but WE KNOW THIS! It’s no secret). Why on earth can we not beat Stoke?!?!
Sorry AW, but you got it all wrong today…game #2 of the season. Dissapointing doesn’t even come close.
Hindsight there, but what would your starting 11 have been? Ox looked good when switched to right last week. I agree that Sead is not the best centre back nor Monreal, should it have been Holding and Chambers or BFG? Sead at rwb looks better than Hector on his wrong foot. We all like Ozil but know he can’t control a game. Cazorla has been there when we’ve lost at Stoke before so he’s not the answer even if back to his best. We have the usual failings of possession without threats although I’m not convinced about the offside. We… Read more »
But we’ve won 11 of our last 12 games at the end of last season. We’ll win the league with three at the back “Arsene knows”.
Arsene IS the problem?
Wenger should get sacked now. Nothing is better and the same mistakes keeps happening regardless of players.
He makes money for the Directors… Why would they want to sack him?
He’s not even making that much money any more, he has outspent both Pochettino & Klopp since they both joined
No champions league money this year
Too many players on the books who we can’t sell.
Will probably lose Ox, Ozil, Alexis, Jack etc for nothing next year & lose about 150 million in fees.
He’s not making them money anymore, Sky & BT are earning more for the club then Wenger is.
Common, at least Gabriel’s had a good day on the beach.
Just to correct you that substitution was at 66th minute, 2/3 or the game. It has to be mathematical not based on what is required by the game being played.
I agree that he should not be the manager, but a decade ago is a bit harsh. We were very unlucky not to win the league in 2007/08 (the last proper title challenge we had).
I think he is exaggerating, maybe 9 years…
I’d say 6 (it has been for me, at least). If you can’t beat Birmingham City in a final, it’s got nothing to do with not having as much money as Chelsea and Man City, which was his excuse up to that point.
if anything bellerin should have been subbed instead of kolasinac..he struggles to put passes and to cut inside as well…Bellerin has been atrocious all year long…for fuck sake that was diof there who was handling wings and kolasinac would have absolutely roasted him.
I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact the he’s playing out of position….jeez way to direct your discontent poorly
Well said!
What annoys me most nowadays is that he is just unable to win an aeriel duel – even if he is taller than Sagna was.
He seems to be lot more comfortablem recently in his hiper trendy fashion guy image, than on the field…
I’d be interested to know Bellerin’s crosses to goals ratio… From what I see, he always seems to cross the ball aimlessly without ever trying to pick anyone out!
Agreed. Will the real Hector please come back.
Two more seasons then FA cup win and his apologist here from bolg owner to cheerleaders would say, Arsene deserves 3 more years, get behind the team and don’t be negative.
They want what’s best for Arsene not arsenal, their love for the has been is incurable.
Arsene IS the problem.
6 years and counting.
Wenger Out
who had 2nd game of the season in the sweepstake?
Probably everyone
When he passes Sir Alex’s record. And that’s 5 more years.
Early days and we look like we are fighting for Fourth.
Until lacazette finds his feet all our goal threat is either on the bench or out injured(Sanchez)
We knew we were fighting for 4th before the season started to be fair….
Sigh….
We’re not fighting for fourth. We won’t have anything to do with the top six this year.
Go home Cumberbatch, you’ve clearly had enough
Pretty sure he has, cracking goal and should have stood!
Don’t you mean ‘injured’?
Now a full week of frustration. Which may even extend next week
The amount of wenger out comments on here is embarrassing. 2nd game in and you lot are all doing the media proud. Why not direct frustration at how shit the referee was today. Is every disappointing result from now on going to be like this?
We’ll finish 10th with this sort of negativity
Good God man you are so deluded. The referee isn’t responsible for our strikers unable to hit a barn door. The ref isn’t responsible for playing 5 players out of position. The ref isn’t responsible for our dour sideways passing.
It has nothing to do with the second game of the season, we have been a mess and in decline for years but fans like you who are sheep & blindly follow this manager are damaging our chances of real change.
Mariner was poor yes so was the linesman who somehow saw that Laccazette had a nose hair in an offside position in real time ! However Wenger picked the team with a defence that had only one recognised central defender despite having other options there he also plate all but Mustafi put of position! His subs came too late as usual and putting Walcott on against a packed defence is worse than doing nothing! Laccazette was starved of service and Welbeck kept getting in his way just to fluff his lines! We have so far only BOUGHT one player despite… Read more »
I’m actually considering a complete football media blackout. You know, watch the game with the volume down and stop reading anything relating to it. At least that way you can remain balanced and not get bogged down by all the Doomsday arse holes.
Apparently it’s now 8 years since Arsenal won the first 2 games of the season. Collectively as a club, we can’t say “things are changing” when each & every season they stay exactly the same…Seriously 8 years 🙁
Can this season end already?oh wait????
Welcome back, Arsenal!
Unfortunately Stoke weren’t on their holidays this game.
Well that was shite. The Stoke fans are a real set of tossers aren’t they.
To be honest I’d be basking in the glory if I were them. Thing is stoke raise their game against all top oppositions at their ground. The time wasting, 10 men behind the ball, pressing solidly and a niggling foul here and there, yet only Arsene can’t figure out how to play against. You don’t see conte, Jose or pochettino getting found out now and then.
I don’t have a problem with the basking in glory. It’s the booing Ramsey for having his leg broken, whistling to have the ball kicked out when a player is clearly play acting and trying to pressure the ref into making the wrong decisions.
Don’t blame Stoke fans.
Getting a win at home against us is the highlight of their season. They won’t be winning anything better.
let’s focus on not killing careers….winning games can come later
I know a man whose career I’d like to kill in an instant…
Is it Andre Marriner? He was class today
Here we go again. Another shambolic defensive display today but little to show for it going forward. Wouldn’t you know it that Arsenal hadn’t won their first two games of the season in eight years! Many of us said from when the teams were announced that Wenger picked it wrong, and boy were we proven right. Chamberlain, who was hopeless, shouldn’t have been starting, with Bellerin then playing out of position at left wing back, all while the best left back in the Bundesliga last season is forced to play centre half. Add to that the bizarre decision to leave… Read more »
Well, we’ve got Wenger as a manager, did you expect better? He has lost it a long long time ago
Agreed. Obviously you play a left back at left back and a right back at right back, with central defenders in the middle. Is that so fucking hard Arsene?
So fucking frustrating.
I think he wanted to correctly reap the benefit of Ox crossing from the right but then he elects not to have Giroud in the middle.
Bullseye ?
Ox is seriously horrendous this match. Just play Bellerin back to his right wing back already.
The Ox and Ozil were our two best players today.
Bellerin is good at defending but offensively he is so limited compared to the Ox.
Just a little stat.:
In the last two games Chamberlain had 15 successful dribbles while Bellerin had 1.
(Neymar had 5.6 per game last season)
No they weren’t. Not that anyone had a good game.
Chamberlain can dribble as much as he likes but the ball almost always ends up over the line or given away to opposition. He was useless today and the sooner he is sold the better.
That’s nice but what he does after those dribbles is the problem. It’s like opening a champagne bottle beautifully and then pouring it down the drain.
Yes but Chamberlain’s ‘successful’ dribbles produce fuck all. It’s all very well quoting stats but it’d be a lot more constructive if you understood the game of football. None of them, keeper apart, came out of today’s game with much credit. All a bit depressing really.
I think they tried. More than the rest. It doesn’t mean they were brilliant or something, but did more than anybody else.
As far as tackles, interceptions, key passes and pass accuracy concern – they lead the team today.
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1190190/LiveStatistics/England-Premier-League-2017-2018-Stoke-Arsenal
Bellerin cannot do what he needs to do on the left because he can’t go around people or cross strongly enough on his left peg. Not his fault. He is an amazing RB, why play him at LB when there are two exceptional LBs literally on the field?!
Good point. But what’s your excuse for him when he plays on the right. NEVER goes outside his man and puts in a good cross. Agreed Ox gets it wrong often, but he gets it right so many more times that Hector.
Lacazette coming off drove me up the fucking wall.
Nothing to do with failing to prepare, I’m afraid. The same mistakes happen at different points of the season, depending on when we play particular teams. If we played a load of dross the first 5 games we’d probably win all 5 and loads of people would be creaming their pants saying we’re going to win the league. It was like when everybody said Mustafi was so great because we hadn’t lost a game whilst he was playing, conveniently overlooking that the only games against anyone any good in that period were Spurs and Man U, who were both playing… Read more »
What dross? There’s no dross in the leauge anymore. If you don’t come prepared you get bitchslapped on the balls as we got. Simple.
Can’t disagree with any of that. The starting back three, when you have Mertersacker on the bench and Chambers and Holding sitting at home is mind boggling. I can understand taking Holding out of the firing line (although I say get straight back in the saddle) Honestly play people in their fucking positions!!!! Square pegs, round holes AGAIN. Chamberlain is not a left wing back, nor Bellerin. Kolasinac will never be a centre back..Monreal does a job there but not both together. Honestly we start with three and end up with a thrown together back four for the second week,… Read more »
Absolute shambles in defence. We let one of our better centre-backs leave for a measly fee while we play two full backs in the centre of our defence. Disgraceful.
To be fair, Gabriel couldn’t have played. Mertesacker, Holding and Chambers could’ve though!
Agreed.
If anything Metersecker (like Giroud) is tailored for this sort of contest.
That said of course, the goal came from the ground off of Monreal being too loose on Jesse.
Even Mustafi in the middle with Holding right of back 3 would have been a better solution.
Is it just me that thought Mustafi was shit on the goal as well? Why didn’t he just go to his man?
Hard to argue with much of that. Although defensively it was fine, but another Xhaka give away and then him needlessly overly agressively trying to get the ball back exposed us for the goal (although credit to stoke that was nice passing). Xhaka really needs to eliminate that from his game that is 2 maybe 3 goals in first two games directly from a Xhaka give away… But our width was pretty average – Bellerin (rant: how can the fucking commentators get Jese’s name right – “hae-say” after 1 week; and still f*ck up Bellerin – “Bey-yer-rin” after 5years –… Read more »
Completely agree on Xacha point. He gave the ball away in bad situations 3 or 4 times in first half before getting punished in second. He’s a good player, but needs to eliminate that to be great.
HAHAHAHAHA it just gets funnier year by year, AFC’s a lost cause. Wenger is fooling everyone. We all know Welbeck, Giroud and Walcott can’t play top level football. It is clear as day, they possess low technique and football intelligence. Half of the first team would struggle for a spot in any top teams. Think Giroud wouldn’t leave if he could find a better team ? NONE interested !!
Oh do fuck off.
This reads like a Trump tweet.
oh my god ?same old…welbeck is worth keeping only because he is gng to score against manu and jose…to be honest ozil,xhaka,bellerin were fucking horrendous…and wenger pls play players in position for fuck sake.and why send walcott ? might just as play with 10 men.
No way they should have lost that game today. Welbeck had chance after chance to either pass or shoot, and always took the wrong option.
Talk about Giroud plan B, why is Welbeck starting?
The best combination is Giroud and Lacazette.
Welbeck lacks anticipation and is poor finishing.
Problem is that when they both play, Lacazette gets shunted out wide, instead of playing them both up front with Ozil behind.
Well we can single out individuals of course but for me the blame is squarely on the boss and that fucking ridiculous line up he selected. Absolutely insane, amateur champman stuff.
I literally thought they would be better with 10 after Walcott came in. Giroud brought something to the pitch but Iwobi and Walcott just got got in the way! And what the hell was Mustafi doing trying to lob balls over the top and put in crosses?!
Ah. I was wondering what took the first defeat of the season so long. There it is.
At least it is out of the way now
Roll on second defeat
tough day at the office. some important calls went against us which could have changed the game. i must say though, if there is still an offer of 35m for chamberlain, take it!
Yes, the ox debate is over. For me at least.
Ox £35 m scouting report:
1. Press ahead as fast as possible and charge like a bull down the right.
2. Make sure there are no players around to pass to.
3. Keep touch on ball two lengths ahead on the dribble at full speed.
5. Second defender trap. Toe poke the ball away.
6. Begin counter-attack.
7. Rinse. Repeat.
**Followed by hands on hips, look in the sky, and shout at accursed football God’s.
Sell em all. Especially Wenger.
Did he pick names out of a hat to pick the team?
We have 3 left backs, play one of them at left back you absolute senile imbecile.
Andre Marriner you are shit, what’s fucking new
Ergh. This is a shit Stoke side, they will be fighting relegation all season. It’s just so easy to run in front of our defenders too beat them too a cross. That Jesé is about Stokes only quality player, and Zouma.
Shouldn’t have taken off Lacazette for Walcott who wasn’t in the box for that Giroud knock down late on. Feel his goal should have stood as well. Wasn’t off side.
All good teams are built on defense look at all the top teams. If we never sort this out we can’t move forward. Frustrating.
Manager got exactly what he deserved. It’s not pre-season anymore, so make a hard choice between Ox and Bellerin and put out a proper line-up. Oh, and if you’re gonna make substitutions, then perhaps give them some thought rather than throw them on for the sake of it and screw up our fluency for twenty fucking minutes.
While it was great to beat Leceister- we aren’t exactly off to a great start defensively. We’re conceding so many cheap goals.
Let’s face it, that Leicester win was desperation too.
I totally agree, we are a shambles defensively. Seriously, how on earth can he not fix the blindingly obvious. We could have messi and ronaldo and we would still get turned over. Our tactics are border line insanity, when big fat walrus sam allerdice tells the world how to beat us and yet we continue to abandon the idea of defending, it is enough to make you kick your cat so hard in the arse that he becomes a slipper. I don’t know. This for another two years at least…yay!
Hopeless defensively. Monreal can’t do everything, Mustafi thinking he’s the long ball specialist and the Bunsesliga TOTS left back is now playing centre-back. That in addition to playing Bellerin on the wrong side and AOC as a makeshift wing-back. Not exactly a surprise we conceded such a cheap goal. Koscielny’s return from suspension couldn’t come sooner.
Ok we understand the selection problem but seriously face the fact – the defense was absolutely fine today. The goal is 100% on Xhaka. Cheap give away then needlessly press opening a massive hole in front of the defense instead he should have been disciplined after the give-away and held his position. It was the width using a RB that can’t cross or turn people with his left foot as LB and a RW that is an average crosser at RB that killed our width (although the Ox was ok today, just not brilliant). While I agree with the selection… Read more »
So 3 defenders against 2 attackers and it’s because the midfielder lost the ball in the middle of the pitch? Yes, Xhaka made a bad mistake to chase the pass and is at fault, but the defence should still be able to deal with it. Mustafi doesn’t close the man with the ball and Monreal doesn’t go with his man. Then Cech gets beaten from a tight angle.
That finish is world class and Jese’s run is world class, the slight hesitation from beradinho then pass from is brilliant as it draws in Monreal stopping him from dropping off and takes him off balance. If we scored that goal everyone would be saying OOOFFFFF!! What a cracking goal. There were two clear mistakes on the goal. The Xhaka give-away and the Xhaka close down to open a massive hole in the most dangerous place on the pitch. Xhaka needs to be WAY more disciplined if he is playing the DM role otherwise we need le Coq or Elneny… Read more »
Xhaka was poor. He was too far up field and he didn’t help on the counter attack. Say what you will about Stoke, but Berahino and Jess link up was pretty good football.
I wouldn’t go so far as to use the word “good”. I completely agree Xhaka has been crap in possession the past two weeks. I thought he turned the corner last March, but he seems to have reverted.
Its not that he is bad in possession, every player gives the ball away (although he has to be a little more careful at times). Its what you do after that. If you give it away and you are the last line before the defence you get back into position and cover the “hole” between mid and defence you don’t running out to make ammends for your error…DISCIPLINE. Something Elneny and LeCoq never get credit for, but what makes them very useful players. Xhaka is far more gifted than either, but he needs to realise the position he is playing… Read more »
It just seems to me that Wenger is trying to shoehorn Kolosniac, the Ox and Bellerin into the team. I think we need to be playing K at left back as playing him at center back nullifies his attacking ability. That means that Wenger will have to bench either the Ox or Bellerin and it just seems to me that he’s trying to avoid that.
Totally agree. Wenger is incapable of making hard choices anymore. He views the players as his kids more than footballers & these decisions are killing us in games.
Same shit different season
It was coming but i didnt think it was against the orcs.
REALLY hope this is Wenger’s last season. +10 years of the same should fed up even the most fervent of supporters. Tried to be positive after Leicester’s win which was actually a poor performance in midfield and defense, but today we didn’t score 3 or 4 goals to save a match….
wenger out bus has passed unfortunately..it’s travelling in a comet which will comeback again in like 15 months..You can advance book it though.
sorry but welbeck just not good enough. squad player at best
Let the race for fifth begin!
Well done Arsene, you’ve changed nothing. No teeth at all in that game. Predictable as always and Giroud should be on from the start at a game like Stoke away FFS. Hard to blame wantaway players under this “stewardship” of our club
Thought things were gonna be different this season. Should known it was a pipe dream.
Same shit. If everyone thinks this manager has anything new up his sleeve you’re mistaken. 6th is about all well manage.
Lucky to be top 10.
Man Utd and Everton will deffo be ahead of us this season.
I am having home made chicken kebab to make me feel better.
fish and chips
Pies
Guinness
Nice, I need to figure out what to get for dinner then I’m gonna re-watch Twin Peaks before seeing the new season. That’s right, it’s already media black out time guys!
Will masturbation help make me feel better?
Worth a try
Try it Wenger style – use wrong hand and see if it works.
Sorry guys – all my fault. Shouldn’t have watched it.
Defensive starting line-up baffling.
Attacking line up too.
giroud should have started.
I think that’s the same point, in a way. Giroud would’ve helped on set-pieces, not that they scored from one.
Lacazette was invisible next to Shawcross. OG could have really opened things up. He should have started. And poor Welbs. Just not up to this level.
Suddenly Giroud is being hailed as our saviour when so many were wanting rid of him last season.
Also why does Wenger have to be so churlish with handshakes after defeats? Looks childish.
if Wenger took defending seriously we could have a decent side. Two LB’s as CB’s again??? Also constantly going down the wings and cutting back is not working, especially with Lacazette
Let’s put the guys back where they belong, ok, Arsene? Nice experiment, but the Ox’s ego is less important than winning a game. Put Bellerin on the right. Meanwhile, Monreal is a great left back. Nice left side crosses for OG and link up play with Sanchez have been a consistent part of his game. Sitting at CB is a waste of his talents and obviously out of his comfort zone.
It’s groundhog day 🙂
On a more serious note every season plays out the same, same excuses, same *we will be better next season* yawn
past caring
John Coffey sums up my mood when he said “Awful tired, boss. Dog-tired.”
Like the drink only not spelled the same. Yesssirrrumboss
We are just do shit.
Last season was his last opportunity to walk away with any dignity. 2 games and same mental frailties. So now wenger deserves everything he gets. Both barells. All that matters is that he is goes. Nothing to do with 1 premier league defeat, it’s to do with the continuing decay of our great club.
Arsene needs to go. Simple as that. From his inability to extend Ozil and Sanchez’s contracts to his inability to cast off the deadwood (Jenkinson, Debuchy, Gibbs, etc.) to his outmoded tactics on the field, it is abundantly clear that Wenger is an anachronism and must tender his resignation if he has any self-respect left.
He won’t. He’s got narcissistic personality disorder.
Deja Vu.
Lot’s of possessions, check.
Concede a stupid goal trough stupidly giving the ball away then defending stupidly, Check.
Huff and Puff and then miss a few half chances, check.
Run out of steam and gives up in the end, check.
Struggles early season and then scramble for the 4th place trophy…Check?
Which we won’t get. Then won’t be able to buy anyone cos we didn’t sell players when we had the chance. Then repeat next season, because the same manager will be in charge. I don’t get this argument of “he’s done so much for the club, so it’s wrong to want him out” (as per Blogs’ post this week). Would you want Thierry Henry to be playing for us now? No, of course not, because he’s too old and can’t do it any more – same as Arsene. Just because they were great in the past, doesn’t mean they should… Read more »
You think we’re going to be in the mix for 4th this season? You’re a more optimistic man than me.
…..Wenger signs two more years, check.
REPEAT
So,we still shouldn’t read too much into preseason right?
Ozil is untouchable. can do whatever he wants without ever getting dropped.
welbeck is not good enough for arsenal full stop.
In the space of two minutes Ozil put a beautiful waited pass to bellerin who hit it straight at keeper and then a put a wonderful cross for welbeck who missed the fucking ball and it came off his shoulder.
Stringer, Aussie is his number One fan.
I actually agree. Against Leicester he was hopeless. Today, he was involved in most things we did well (it’s not his fault every chance fell to the terrible finishers in the team).
Unfortunately the substitutions were weird and stupid. Why leave both Bellerin and Ox on? Why bring on Theo? Why take out a CM (who granted, didn’t have a great game, but you can’t blame someone for a goal because they lost the ball – it’s practically impossible to go a whole game without losing the ball at least once) so that we played 4-1-5?
It wasn’t that he lost the ball. It was that he half-assed his way forward to try and retrieve it and left a gaping hole behind him, which was exploited. The moment he left that hole, I knew we would concede.
It was Xhaka that lost the ball for the goal and the goal is on him 100% because he pressed hard after his turn over and they passed around him and into the massive hole he vacated by trying to get the ball straight back (then sadly it was really nice Stoke football for the rest of the goal). But Xhaka needs to be WAY more disciplined at DM. If you turn it over you get back into position and close the “hole” don’t go chasing things down and exposing your defense!!
1 – the whole team needs to be more disciplined. An individual error in the middle of the pitch shouldn’t allow the other team to score so easily.
2 – we had 3 defenders against 2 attackers – they should be able to deal with it. Both defenders were appalling on the goal.
3 – Xhaka is not a defensive midfielder. I thought that is why we went to the back 3, i.e. so that there is an extra defender back. See point 2.
Yeah I thought Ozil was probably our best player today. Made sublime turns and passes, created so much, width and end product hurt us offensively, although so did that cu^t Mariner…3 legit pens and 1 spectacular goal all scratched off wrongly
Which is why we should just get Pastore.
He can add something different next to Granit with ability to dribble in congestion. He could replicate Xhaka’s deep passing should the Swiss get injured or have a red. He could push Ozil for a starting spot and if the German doesn’t want to extend, we have a ready replacement WITH equal experience.
We are missing something in midfield which continues to be enigmatic.
He worked harder than most of them out there and he was desperately trying to make things happen. It wasn’t his fault that nobody could put the ball in the back of the net.
Agree Danny is useless in front of goal, he had so many chances and tripped over most of them, again.
To his defense though the best chance he had when through on goal he had a defender draped over each arm literally hanging off him and of course Mariner ruled nothing because he is a spineless cu^t…so obviously a penalty, but because he shot the ref won’t make a call…pathetic
I think this season will be a transitional seasonal. Next season the league will be ours!!
not sure if serious.
Robbed by the ref on the goal and penalties. That would’ve been enough to pull out the win.
On another note Welbeck is still terrible. He has no business starting but he has twice now. Then somehow boss leaves him on for the full 90 and takes off lacazette (who had actually scored). Absolutely killed our game by takin Xhaka and Lacazette off and putting theo on. Theo and Welbeck should be league cup options to rest proper players at this point. Wengers faith in mediocre talent has come back to haunt us early this year.
To be fair, at least Welbeck got on the end of passes. Aside from the (technically, correctly) disallowed goal, Lacazette kept on getting into positions where the ball was never going to get to him.
I thought he looked quite sharp in build-up play, and I think he’s a decent player, but (if you can stomach it) watch the game again and see where he is when most chances happen. He was further back than Welbeck most of the time – was he playing as a false 9 or something?
Too early for Wenger out but that was not good. How bad was Xhaka today. We cannot compete with that midfield; Arsene has a week to do something.
How profligate can Welbeck be?
Tough season ahead if nothing is done fast!
Garbage. Xhaka giving another goal away – this time from his bad decision making. He should never have chased that pass. Ozil should have, even if it was Xhaka’s bad pass in the first place. The space Jesé ran through was the space Xhaka in which should have been. So many poor performances though. They defended very well but we didn’t ask many questions of them, especially in the second half. Very frustrating.
Absolute shit. Welbeck is not good enough and I don’t understand why Lacazette was taken off. We lack creativity. I’m worried for the season
You know! you can’t keep on defending Xhaka. You should not. He was bad in last game (2 assists don’t make up for his mistakes) and he gave it away today so many times and so carelessly. He was the only common factor in our last year’s bad phase and he has continued to be bad. And on an another note! Welbeck, a guy with 40 something goals in his entire career isn’t exactly someone who will win you the league. This is not right. Not so early in the season.
We have odd relations in midfield. There is no coplete player like Santi. Granit isn’t a tackler nor Ramsey (nor Elneny) Coquelin is but he can only play with someone who is positionally good to cover when he goes in to intercept. Granit replicates Santi’s deep passing but not his dribbling and ball retention. None of the other mids are dribbling merchants that can offer penetration up the middle through congestion. Thereby the ball predictably can only go wide side to side or over the top. If Granit (god forbid) takes a knock or a red, we are missing that… Read more »
Spot on mate
Can’t wait for Liverpool now, all sarcasm intended. Potentially two losses in a row so early in the season, because we didn’t buy adequately (imagine if we’d wrapped up either of Lemar or Draxler rather than counting on Walcott or Welbeck). Where have we heard this before? That’s right, every fucking season!
Can Draxler player centre half? He might be better at it without the (lack of) defensive coaching players receive at Arsenal.
Mate – as long as Wenger is at the helm, it doesn’t matter who he buys.
Welcome to the next level! Going to be a bore-fest this year.
The problem has never been that Wenger (or Dick Law) is poor buying in market.
The problem has always been he never buys enough.
I don’t think Lemar is in our hands.
Draxler will take a bit of moving but there is no harm trying bc we need someone to replicate Alexis “unpredictability” and we know PSG need to sell.
Its hubris to think the likes of Welbeck or Walcott are good enough.
Like a slow train wreck… Not surprised. AS I have mentioned, it is rather ridiculous to see Giroud as a “Plan B” He should have been on from the get go. Giroud starts ahead of Lacazette for France for a reason. The moment he came on, we were much sharper and at no detriment to Lacaztte staying on. IN FACT, Gourd should have played WITH Lacazette. IF the starting line up up top was questionable, so were a number of subs. Firstly why keep Welbeck on? He can’t hit the side of a barn door. He also lacks anticipation and… Read more »
Agree about Theo. Useless today as usual.
Welbz should be kept but only for squad usage (Europa etc)
Thought Monreal was partially at fault for the goal, although Stoke played it well.
What the bloody hell was up with that starting line-up with 5-6 players out of position?
Total football innit
Why oh why does Wenber always tinker with a winning formula…why does he not play Mert/holding and Mustafi ? And he then plays bellerin out of position ??? Trying to fit too many of his favorites in them what’s the point of having depth ? As soon as I saw the team I knew we’d be shit. All great sides are built on a defensive rock…. he needs to decide our wingbacks between bellerin/ox and Monreal/kolasnic simple… As for the shit referee and penalty and as for the linesman how the hell can he call offside ? And welbeck getting… Read more »
New season & same old shit. Why should anyone be surprised? Wenger is 67 and will never ever change. This isn’t a football club, it’s a vanity project for a well past it manager who cannot accept that football has moved on and it isn’t the game that he imagines. He can’t get players to sign new deals He gives average dross over the odds contracts He buys a 52 million pound striker and we still can’t score with the same old sideways passing. He can’t organise a defence. Nothing ever changes at this club, our players & staff are… Read more »
I can’t believe you have to write about this for another season. Stay strong, Blogs.
We have Mertesacker, Holding, Mustafi, Chambers available as CB’s, two left backs available and one right back.
We choose to play two left backs as CB, one central midfielder/winger as RWB and a right back as LWB.
Only at Arsenal.
We have Giroud as plan A.
But we relegate him to plan B and expect him to dig us out of a hole. Instead we keep Welbeck on who can’t hit the target at point blank.
Exactly.
Yeah we could actually play both Giroud and Lacazette from the start. Lacazette seems to be decent in tracking back too
I complained about this before the game, but just reading it again here its so frustrating I’m actually laughing to myself out loud about its stupidity. Its a joke being played on us right?!
Holding and Chambers are not the most experienced but are easily good enough to start in a back 3 over fullbacks any day of the week.
So all the promises of change turned out to be b*llsh*t. Wenger’s unwillingness to compete in the transfer market continues to cost us. Every man & his dog can see we need a top class DM & CB apart from Wenger or the board. He refuses to spend £100m on DM & CB but is willing for the club to lose £100m when Alexis, Ozil & Ox sign for our rivals next year for free. Where is the logic in that? Ozil looks like he is just running down his contract. Mustafi & Xhaki were awful too. We need serious… Read more »
For some reason I can see the comments awaiting moderation. Not for the first time.
A team full of talent with a manager that hasn’t got a clue anymore. I’m bored as fuck after two fucking games and I’m not bored because we play boring games but because I’ve seen it all before. We can even forget top six this year and Özil, Sanchez and will be gone on a free. Didn’t Wenger used to go on and on about how he had to leave the club in the best position possible… Two more years of this shit. I sad it after the first two games last year and I say it again. Sack Wenger… Read more »
Yep, I said he was being irresponsible and looking out for himself a couple of days ago and got down-voted to hell, but it’s true though, isn’t it?
Totally agree, if I could upvote this a million times I would.
Keeping faith with average players and expecting them to deliver championship winning performances week in week out in this league is sheer madness.
Arsenal have NO CHANCE winning the league. We don’t have the players, we don’t have the squad. We don’t have the mentality. If we had mourinho I reckon we could win the league. We have a 100bhp car trying to do a 0-60 in 4.0 not very likely to happen. We finished 5th last year this year might be the same. Arsenal are one of the buggest frauds. Pay the most money and receive the least amount of happiness in the premier league. I am so annoyed to Be an Arsenal fan. Rant NOT over.
Mourinho can’t do sh*t without first spending 300 million.
This squad is good enough but Wenger may have lost the plot judging by today’s starting 11.
Anybody else got irritated when seeing Walcott lightly jogg onto the field? We are shite and the answer is (still) Walcott? Seriously?
Waste of time. I said last season we should be selling him. Welbeck and Walcott are not good enough to be relied upon. We can’t afford to wait on Alexis and his abdomen now. We need to replace him because we are bleeding points with United flying. Have we not learnt that we have no leeway to shed points on a slow start? Replace Alexis now. It is the height of hubris to think Welbeck and Walcott can add something. They are secondary potential. We need to bring in a primary threat like a Draxler who can add unpredictability to… Read more »
Glad to have them out of the way. Mind numbingly boring game year in year out. Again we go and drop points there. Had a few chances and I love Danny’s work ethic, but we needed a finish today. Should have started the big men against that rabble. Big Per and Giroud should start in these games. Should have had a spot kick, shock horror not given. Chaka again mis-placed a five yard pass and again we paid the price, this time no one could pull it back. Ramsey played well, Chamberlain and Bellerin ok, and the rest seemed to… Read more »