Thursday, March 28, 2024

Report: Watford 2-1 Arsenal (inc goal)

Arsenal: Cech, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Bellerin, Xhaka, Elneny, Kolasinac, Welbeck, Iwobi, Lacazette

Subs: Ospina, Holding, Coquelin, Wilshere, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud

Arsenal’s return to Premier League action was a disappointing one after two second half goals gave Watford a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road this evening.

Arsene Wenger recalled skipper Per Mertesacker to replace the injured Shkodran Mustafi, while training injuries meant no Aaron Ramsey or Alexis Sanchez. Mesut Ozil had to be content with a place on the bench.

The early stages of the game saw both teams sussing each other out, with the home side deploying three at the back to match Arsenal’s formation.

A lovely Xhaka pass to Kolasinac gave the Bosnian a chance to cross for Lacazette, but his effort was well blocked by the defender. The Gunners began to dominate possession, but found the hosts well organised.

At the other end a powerful cross gave Pereyra a close range chance with a header but he couldn’t find the target, and the both sides looked cautious and a bit sluggish.

Great tracking from Bellerin helped snuff out a very positive Richarlison run, before Elneny tried his luck from distance, firing not too far over the bar as the game reached the half-hour mark.

Some invention from Lacazette created some space for Welbeck in the box but he was well tackled before he could shoot. That was followed by a nice move involving Bellerin and the French striker, but again a Watford defender was alert and cleared the danger as Welbeck looked to shoot.

A bright turn in the box from Iwobi wasn’t matched by the cross, Elneny’s final ball was poor after Arsenal found space on the edge of the box.

It took a set-piece to break the deadlock five minutes before the break. Xhaka’s inswinging corner was met by a thumping Per Mertesacker header, and on his first Premier League start for over a year, the skipper put the Gunners ahead. 1-0.

That seemed to energise Arsenal. Xhaka forced Gomes into a good save after a Welbeck pass, and the England then set up Bellerin whose left-footed effort curled just wide. Xhaka had another go, but again Gomes was equal to it, and a late free kick opportunity was wasted with a poor delivery just before the break.

There were no changes at half-time from either manager, and Monreal got a good foot in as Richarlison drove towards our box, before the Brazilian forward found some space and curled a shot not far wide of Petr Cech’s far post.

Poor decision making from Lacazette made what was a promising counter-attack easy for Watford to defend, and there were shouts for a penalty when Welbeck drove into the box but the referee played on, giving the defender the benefit of the doubt.

Arsenal were forced into a 60th minute change after Welbeck picked up an injury and was replaced by Mesut Ozil, while Watford brought on Troy Deeney for Gray and Mariappa for Carrillo.

The German’s creativity was obvious immediately, creating a chance for Iwobi which produced an outstanding save from Gomes as he tipped the ball around the post.

Olivier Giroud came on in place of Lacazette in the 68th minute as the home side put on some pressure as they looked for an equaliser, but Arsenal should have doubled the lead when Iwobi set up Ozil with just the keeper to beat but his finish was tame and Gomes saved.

The miss was made more costly seconds later when Richarlison took a dive in the box under pressure from Bellerin and the referee pointed to the spot. Deeney stepped up and equalised with 18 minutes to go. 1-1.

Richarlison slammed a shot into the side-netting as Watford’s tails were up, and the Hornets kept possession well for long periods after their goal. Capoue came on for Peyrera as the game entered the final 10 minutes, the former Sp*rs man was the width of a post away from putting his side in front with a deflected shot that had Cech going the other way.

Jack Wilshere looked as if he was going to replace Alex Iwobi with just over five minutes to go, but an injury to Koscielny saw the England international sit back down and Rob Holding was introduced instead. Arsenal could have gone to a back four and still brought the more attacking option on.

Carillo fizzed a shot over the bar from just outside the box, and a wonderful Monreal pass to Bellerin brought about a late corner which was cleared to the veteran defender who smashed a shot over the bar from 30 yards.

There were four minutes of injury time signalled but it was Arsenal doing most of the defending rather than putting pressure on at the other end. And we paid the price when a shot deflected off Mertesacker and fell into the path of Tom Cleverly who smashed the ball home from close range.

Arsenal can only have themselves to blame for wasting chances, and what was a dreadful second half performance. Watford go above us and into fourth place.

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Gio

We are so fucking shit. After Watford scored the equaliser there was only one team that was going to win that, we couldn’t even keep the ball, let alone create chances.

Fucking shambles of a team. Arsene can’t change shit. This is boring as hell now.

Cygan\'s Magical Left foot

Two more seasons of this under this has been manager.

Arsène IS the problem

goongot

Did u watch the movie source-code? Where the protagonist goes through same situation again and again before he finally get’s it right? This is arsenal’s reality now? atleast we didn’t to crystal palace!! but challenge accepted.

Sean O

The only difference is that clearly Arsene’s never going to get it right.

Faisal Narrage

I’m beginning to accept that us fans have a lot to blame now. Quite frankly, I’m sick of tired of people flip flopping. A couple of results and any mention of Wenger Out or gets voted down to oblivion. Everyone starts to believe and jumps on the Wenger bandwagon, even though our underlying performances are still the same. We all know after a couple of wins soon, it will be back to not saying anything negative of Wenger until the next loss. The fans being unable to stick to a choice is just as boring as Arsenal itself. I’m Wenger… Read more »

ronaldo

lol, you are so right, fans on here just cant make up there own minds, if one or two people thumbs up then they vote thumbs up, and if one or two vote thumbs down then they thumbs down, lol they just go with the flow instead of making up there own minds, so it don’t matter if you are right or wrong you will either get thumbs up or down

Yeabex

Neither goal should have stood, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that we invited pressure on ourselves by bringing on Holding instead of going for it. I’m truly finished with Ozil and I’d happily sell him for £15m in January. That money may mean nothing in today’s market but I figure we could buy a bunch of insane 16-year-olds.

lee dicks on

All I can say is Ozil you absolute twat.

Deano

Lee dicks on – Ah we must have lost, he gave him the ? and missed. Get over yourself, apart from a set piece witch the big man got on the end of, we created a big bag full of fuck all. That was during the first hour that he wasn’t on the field.

lessthanthesumoftheirparts

Deano. No he is supposed to be one of the best players in the world and wants 250k a week. That is serious. From a similar position to de bruyn last week who buried vs chelsea – today his miss changed the game. Not ruthless and not clinical enough, That’s the difference at the highest level.

Deano

Lessthanthesumoftheirpants – ?? the game never turned, there wasn’t even a game (as we were shite for 90mins) until a dive, he’ll get two matches we lose three points.

lee dicks on

Arsenal were dominant for the first hour – Bellerin also had a good chance. When a 1v1 to go 2-0 up with 20mins left falls to your best player, you expect him to take it. End of.

PFo

Of course if he had scored we would likely have won, but the same could be said for any number of chances in any number of games (e.g. Iwobi and Bellerin’s earlier chances in this game). It was a great chance but hardly a tap-in. Chances like that get missed by good players all the time. But more to the point, it didn’t “change the game” in the sense that we were playing great before that moment and awful afterwards. We were pretty mediocre for 90 minutes, and fairly fortunate to be in front to begin with. Plus Ozil created… Read more »

I AM ARSENAL

These are the excuses that keep us where we are…It was a shocking miss from a player who is believed to be ‘world class”…Even worse when it went to him i had no confidence he would finish it..He is and has been notoriously poor infront of goal.
Watford are decent and they were set up defensively and then went for it…We were worse going forward in the last 30min with Ozil and Watford being more open.

SimSimma

Doesn’t matter how awful we were before Ozil came on, the fact is that he is supposed to be a game changer – given the price we paid for him and the reputation that he somehow has. But it clear that he is not any sort of game changer except if you count making things worse. He’s lazy (or way too relax), slow, weak in his tackles, and just not a good return on investment. Must be sold.

Jimbo Jones

It’s the hope that kills you! Fuck I’m so bored of this.

cygan\'sbaldspot

Well Jimbo, if you had hope going into this then you’re just a more optimistic guy than me, and most of us!

I AM ARSENAL

Troy Deeney had more impact than Ozil.

Loose_Cannon

He’s a good player but not a real superstar, someone who can singlehandedly turn a game on its head or relied on in tough situations. Ideally I’d keep him but not at all costs and not as a guaranteed starter

Cagooner

Disagree. We created a few chances but not clinical innfinishing them.

The Loon Ranger

We looked much worse with Giroud and Özil on the pitch. Under Wenger Arsenal haven’t evolved as much as imploded. Everyone is angry after a loss like that to Watford FFS

CechMate

Are you really that blind?! How many of them had an off day today. Where was Xhaka even in 2nd half?? Iwobi was loittering around in the pitch aimlessly for a good 15mins in 2nd half, Bellerin was getting roasted by Richarlison all day long without being an attacking threat to them & missed a chance too, Sead was off colour and wasn’t a threat going forward too. We hardly had any big chances (within the 6 yard box) and they were the only team who wanted to win. If you think it’s down to one man then it is… Read more »

ronaldo

Oooo lol, the ozil fans wont like that ha ha ha

clins

spot on . watford were the only team trying to win the game after they scored the equalizer . what we need desperately is a change in mentality , arsene will never be able to pass that on to the team . if he was able to he would have done it by now.

GoonerJust

We can’t finish one on one chances vs Gomes, terrible. Same old Arsenal that loves to make opposition’s goal keeper looks like the greatest in the world.

Although that should not be a penalty, Bellerin should be liable for falling into a cheap trap very easily that costs us a penalty. After that moment, we just don’t play football anymore. Shitty defending gives us a sucker punch that gives them euphoria!

We have been Arsenaled by Watford.

Gooooooooonnnnaaaaaaaaa

This has to be Wengers last year. The whole club is in shambles, I’m so sick of hearing we’re not ready to part ways with Wenger. Everyone’s too comfortable, absolutely no defensive shape what so ever. Watching united vs Liverpool, I was so impressed by how the players were pressing, so organized and so well positioned it was impossible to break them down. We are a fucking joke! I do not get what Xhaka’s purpose is. He’s too fat to move we’re so vulnerable because of his lack of pace, and like idiots we push both our DMs and wing… Read more »

Maniac

A 90 minute snoozefest. Played the entire game trying to hold on to a lucky one goal lead that we got pretty much out of nowhere; the first proper chance of the game only came at the 63rd minute when Ozil fed Iwobi and then a few minutes later Ozil himself failed to score when it was probably easier to. Next thing you know the ref takes the bait from a clear dive and they’re level. From then on it was all downhill as we were pressed hard and again, with luck (and with Deeney looking offside), Watford scrapped it… Read more »

Gooner

Ridiculous referee.
Xhaka standing and cleaning his nose while watching 3 opposition players in his penalty box.
Wenger with his weird defensive team selection and substitutions specially not bringing on Wilshere when we needed more in the middle then in defense.
And Ozil what are you doing. :/

Jimbo Jones

It’s sad but these sort of results dont even feel like a shock anymore. It feels like about our level and those who believe otherwise are living in the past (which they probably weren’t even around to witness!) What’s annoying is that there are fans on this site who will now be after Wenger’s head but a few days ago were talking about us going for four trophies this season. Delusional. We all know the problems are, nothing will change until the fans really support the club and demand what’s best for Arsenal FC not the sycophantic worship of a… Read more »

TDog

Yup, its pretty simple really, we are just not a very good football team anymore, when we are good we are pretty good but we are never excellent anymore, a draw against Chelsea was hailed as a great performance.. I think we should get used to these results to be honest, nothing is changing for a couple of years at least

Lacapenalty

Exactly any one who has been following arsenal over the past few years would know that these kind of results are the norm and not the exception last season it was Everton at godison park, the season before it was Swansea City

Gooooonnnaaaaa

I don’t think even the most optimistic fan would have expected us to win the title this season or even challenge for it. When Arsenal play well the fans give them the utmost support. Look at the Chelsea game, it was a bloody 0-0 but because we saw our players fight we gave them so much praise. Our club is in shambles from top to bottom but unfortunately I don’t think anythings going to change as long as we have Stan Kroenke in charge, not sure if Usmonov would actually be better but Kroenke is toxic for this club. There’s… Read more »

Dennis

Hadn.t been thinking about it that way…i.m also stuck in the Arsenal stasis…but Ancelloti might be a good shout

btw

Watford was more intelligent with the ball, we suck. I’m tired of this, Arsenal’s lack of ambition as demonstrated by keeping Arsene, not even last year, but three years ago, has caused irreparable damage. I honestly don’t think Arsenal will compete at the top again, that ship has sailed.
Watching Arsenal gives me no joy, I’m done.

Jimbo Jones

The club is bigger than any manager, squad of overrated players, owner or stadium….. we could have a few years out in the wilderness before we can rebuild given the shambolic state of the club. This might joh a few memories! https://www.theguardian.com/football/that-1980s-sports-blog/2017/oct/13/watford-arsenal-league-twice-football

ronaldo

thank stan for wenger

Anonymarse

Pathetic. How can such good players play so bad?

Mein Bergkampf

You really need an answer to that?

Anonymarse

Lack of effort for me, plain and simple. Everything was half-hearted.

Gargoyle

Some people actually do. And at this point, it’s fucking ridiculous.

Ramseys backheel

Lord, please give me strength to go through this missrable shit until foreseeable future.

Swifty

Because quite clearly they are not very good players.

Anonymarse

Well no, i suppose that is what it amounts to. No shortage of talent though.

Watching Ox being shit for Liverpool instead of us makes me glad we sold him.

Stringer Bell

Wenger wanted to keep him. Along with Theo Ramsey coq and other good but not class players

Gio

No guidance on what to do. They’re expected to use their intelligence and figure it out themselves.

The days of telling players to just go out there and express themselves are over, it doesn’t work anymore.

Alexisshorts

Ozil’s failure to double the lead was costly and how. I feared it would come back to bite us in the backside and it didn’t take long. The penalty award was criminal and I hope Richarlison gets a retrospective ban but it won’t give us the much needed points. But we should’ve been able to come back from that and we were anaemic. I’m listening to Martin Keown slam Ozil and I don’t disagree with him. Lovely skills, no grit.

Anonymarse

We should be thrashing teams like Watford, it’s just not good enough

Alexisshorts

Robbie Savage is a total moron. Defending the dive by the Brazilian in his shrill screaming voice. What an annoying twat!

Lord Bendnter

For me, it is down to the manager. I don’t see us improving from last season bar a few things here and there. Either the manager can’t get his point/plan to the players or the players don’t want to listen to the manager. Either way, the only solution is WengerOut. But, alas, after the manager signed a new 2yr deal, and still a little early in the season, I choose not to resort to the whole wengerout just yet. But, post winter period, I’m quite certain the wengerout campaign will be back on track. And to be honest, sometimes I… Read more »

Lord Bendnter

*most of the times

Jimbo Jones

Spot on Lord Bendnter. It’s such a shame that it’s going to get back to the ugly scenes but it’s deserved by the club to be honest. Wenger could have walked last year and kept his dignity with a cup win that papered over the cracks. The fans would have all hailed him and he’d have a statue outside the stadium within a year.

We now have to demand he goes, I’d love to see change at board level too but that’s going to be difficult considered Kronke doesn’t seem to care either way.

Anonymarse

Ultimately it is his responsibility yes

Cagooner

It’s remained strong in my house since June.

Dennis

Who are these good players? Seriously though..are you really impressed with the names on that teamsheet??

ronaldo

who said that they were good players

Mein Bergkampf

Pfft.

Sigh.

Wenger out.

ronaldo

and stan

Don

This is a game that Arsenal didn’t deserve to win on the balance of play but one they should’ve. If Özil hadn’t bottled the chance they would’ve done. An opportunity to gain ground on Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United wasted. Fucking typical.

SeanJuba

Exactly. It’s a theme for many years that when we have the opportunity to make up ground on other teams we blow it. Time and time and fucking time again. We are going backwards. No spine. Stale. Lifeless. Mid table. Man City will tear us several new holes when we play them. We are second rate. I love my team but for fucks sake.

Edzo

Second rate is so true. It’s a failure to realize times have changed. You can only win if you spend and spend.

lee dicks on

Continuing to bring Lacazette off at 65 minutes when he was by far the best player on the pitch is driving me up the fucking wall.

PFo

This. There was zero point to bringing Giroud on. It was an incredibly conservative move (“the other team is going more route one so we might as well just sit back and hoof it up to Olivier”), as was choosing to bring Holding on instead of Wilshere: we’re drawing to Watford (WATFORD!) and Arsene is more afraid of losing than of dropping the two points. We got what we deserved for those cowardly subs. Ozil will be the scapegoat for missing a very good chance, which is ridiculous: the team was incredibly insipid for 90 minutes (we didn’t deserve to… Read more »

I AM ARSENAL

He should have scored..but as usual he bottled it. He’s world class and asking for 200,000…Put the ball in what is basically an open goal and finish the fucking game.

PFo

It wasn’t “basically an open goal.” The keeper came out, narrowing the angle–say what you will about Gomes’s many weaknesses, but in case you haven’t noticed, he’s a good shot-stopper. Ozil was outside the penalty spot when he shot. It wasn’t a tap in. It was a good chance that he missed. Nothing more, nothing less.

Stringer Bell

PFo, I could not agree more. I find it astonishing that some scapegoat Ozil. We created so little in the game and the first half was insipid.

BromleyGooner

In addition to his dreadful miss, once he came on for Welbeck we completely stopped pressing them high up the pitch as he has nowhere near Welbeck’s commitment and work rate.

caligunner

You are right because maybe they are totally different players. Welbeck is good at what he does but we were bad in the first half creating and taking advantage of how horrible Watford was.

Cagooner

And Ozil is good for nothing right now. He can fuck off.

PFo

They brought Troy Deeney on and had a go at us, winning the ball much further up the pitch. And they “won” a non-existent penalty. It’s not like we had some amazing defensive gameplan that completely collapsed when Welbz went off.

Cagooner

Bullshit. He is supposedly franchise player who can make a difference. He won World Cup. He gets paid more than the others. He should bring excellence and make a difference. If he doesn’t he should put some fuckin effort in. Standing still for there winner. He can go now.

ronaldo

same old story stan

Maniac

No ideas, no movement, uninspired and pathetic.

The Limp Bar

We can talk about the dive, but at the end of the day we just showed no killer instinct or true desire. In many ways though Ozil lost us this game. He missed a complete sitter, then before the winner completely chickened out of a header, the ball still came to him anyway but it bounced off him because he wasn’t look him. He is so cowardly it verges on unforgivable. For someone who is supposed to be a world class athlete it simply is not good enough.

caligunner

Ozil lost the game here? 1v11 right?

The Limp Bar

We were shite today. No doubt. When you play in big games, or if you want to win games when you play shite (like you have to to win a title) you have to a) minimise silly mistakes and b) take your chance when it comes. Ozil is plainly guilty of missing a massive chance, but yeah anyone can miss a chance. But no-one who has ever played football at any level can look at what he did for the second goal and say that is acceptable. Even at the crap level I played at in my life we would… Read more »

Adam

I hate this football club

ronaldo

fuck off then

bob davis

Shit that was bad. Just wished we could take our chances.

Bellerin and Ozil should have put their chances away.

I think when we took the lead we just got complacent. Either that or the players are tired. Penalty was soft for me.

clins

i dont think if they were tired or not , but theres a very good chance that arsene will blame this on the tiredness after the international break and probably the referee

PFo

We weren’t any good before we took the lead, so complacence can’t be entirely to blame.

Gooner

We never got complacent. Our goal was literally our first shot in 40 minutes. We were bad from the start and it wasn’t helped with the substitutions. We needed grit and speed and for that we had Wilshere, Coq and Walcott on the bench but we went for Ozil, Giroud and Holding.

caligunner

So Wilshere comes on for Kos, they score the goal and its, What is AW doing replacing Kos with a Jack instead of Rob?

Bring on Coq? are you kidding? I like him but he isn’t giving us anything when the team was struggling to create chances.

Walcott? I can’t even bother with this lol

GunneRon

The midfielders coming back from international duty in midweek were clearly out of breath towards the end. That’s when the manager should have brought on Jack to shore up the midfield. Instead he sends on Ozil who is not exactly the type of player you’d want to bring on against a strong physical side. Granted the penalty was a disgraceful dive, but as the game wore on, We got overrun in the midfield and in the end, the result seemed inevitable…. Now just when you thought we had turned a corner after that fighting draw against chelsea, the team turns… Read more »

caligunner

Unfortunately in your narrative Ozil came on for Welbeck who got hurt.

Shitbird

What a fucking shit show. 90 minutes of your life that you will never get back.

Watford looking good for fourth.

Crash Fistfight

That’s generally how time works, to be fair.

Swifty

Total and utter mindless shite. Absolutely nothing but runny shite.

Damobot

Saw that coming!! Why the fuck did he not see that coming half time and changed things around. A team full of dead weights, what did he expect.

Mootilated

Ah. I love it.

I took a shit that was more creative than our performance today but that’s no surprise considering the average players we had on the field.

JAL

No-one really expected 6 pts from Brighton and Watford did they?

Swifty

I think you’ve just summed up pretty much everything that is wrong with this club.

baddab

Fully expected this. Atleast I can watch the rest of the season without getting disappointed.

It’s far less crushing than the annual christmas meltdown

Cagooner

Don’t wait until January, sell that worthless fucker Ozil now. Watch him do nothing for their second goal. Wenger can fuck off too. He’s a worthless idiot. No lag at anymore. We have no leadership, spirit or organization on or off the field.

Our squad with Marco Silva as coach would challenge for title.

Cagooner

* legacy, not lag

Vic Akers\' shorts

This genuinely might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever read.

Flashmob

After their equalizer:

Posession:
Wat.:54% Ars.: 46%

Shots:
Wat.:8 Ars.: 2

ArseTickler

Fuck this ref!

ZenithReptile

God this is so boring now

Andy

Time Welbeck left we became mediocre. Ozil is total sh*t. He should not wear this jersey again.

Cagooner

And watch that cunt turn it on for Germany in Russia.

Stringer Bell

Are you people fucking mental. He put one on s plate for iwobi within a min with our first decent pass of the game, he then should have scored granted but was there and then team panicked when they scored and went to pieces and you are blamed. You are probably happy with the first half creativity because the players run about a lot. ??

ronaldo

think you just answered your own question

PFo

What’s with all of this calling ONE OF OUR OWN PLAYERS a c*nt, and similar abusive language?? Some people need to get a grip.

Personally I can’t stand Theo Walcott’s football “contribution,” but I’ve never called him, and never been tempted to call him, a c*nt or anything similar. If it must be used, that kind of language should be saved for Mourinho, Terry, RvP, and the like.

Cagooner

You’re right. My bad. Frustration after the game. But other than that word, I stand by the comment.

Faisal Narrage

Tbh I really wouldn’t put RvP in that bracket.

Like, he only saw what many fans refused to see them even though it’s obvious now; that Wenger is past it and we had no hope of winning the league under him.

ronaldo

if someone wants to call someone a cunt then its up to them, if you don’t like it then don’t come on here

PFo

If you honestly think we were anything but mediocre before Welbeck’s injury, then you must’ve been watching a different game than I was.

caligunner

We were mediocre for the whole game. Are you kidding. We couldn’t take advantage of Watford horrible play in the first 60m of the game. It wasn’t until Ozil came on that we started opening up Watford.

Hi-brid

Well, that’s fucking ruined a perfectly good evening. Cunt of a referee.

Cagooner

Bad penalty call, but other than that he was ok. We should have had game wrapped up by then.

Hi-brid

The bad penalty call changed the result. I wouldn’t have minded that much that we were shit as long as we had won and I think we would have without that blatant piece of cheating being rewarded.

ronaldo

why are you blaming the ref, when it was arsenal,s fault

PeteyB

Thanks Arsenal, you ruined my birthday.

Badaab

If its any consolation, they usually ruin mine too as it usually falls on transfer deadline day.

H2k

We didn’t deserve to win, but that game turned on what was a shocking decision for the penalty. Not that it does Arsenal any good but I hope the FA review that blatant dive like they are supposed to be doing this season. Trying to find positives from that performance. Struggling. Failing. What made that so much worse is that we had a chance to get into the top 4, gain points over Chelsea and Liverpool, catch up a few points towards United, Welbeck and Koscielny now clearly have injuries, and Giroud looked like he picked up a knock, and… Read more »

Greaves

Why did we bring Özil in this game? We all know he does not play defense, Jack would have given both the creativity and grit. Yes it was a non-penalty but we were less able to protect and hold on to the ball with him on. And to make it worse he missed a sitter…. definitely a game changer.

PFo

People will see what they want to see. I saw a team play insipid football for 90 minutes, who were absolutely ripe for the taking, it just took Watford 60 minutes to have a proper go and bring Troy Deeney on. The idea that Ozil is to blame for us being offensively flat and defensively suspect (we looked defensively ok before they brought Deeney on, because they really weren’t having a go, but with him they could be direct and aggressive) is a joke.

Jean Ralphio

Unlucky with the decision you have to say. We should have killed the game off well into the second half. We really lacked tempo in midfield. Elneny adds no energy going forward. Really missed Ramsey today. Shame because many players otherwise played well.

Assshavin

I wouldnt even say it was wengers fault today. These players…… Giroud “the super sub”. smh

Assshavin

Also seems like Bellerin has gained som muscles put ultimately made him slower. Really makes me wonder if there are anyone in the coaching team, maybe tell him to take it easy on the weights? Probably not, being english football and all, the fatter they are, the more they are loved for their heart and desire.

Jdog

Just take them all out to be shot and start again with kids. Especially Ozil and Wenger.

Gooner_Al

Fuck me we lack a lot of bottle.

Average Joe

Average… Everything about this team is average at best. It is so average that event the exceptional talents look average… So this is all normal and we should be used to that… Changed my nick, for obvious reasons.

Soffen

Arsenal think they are the best in the world, when they have won some matches. They are not. Watford wanted it more. That pisses me of. After that fucking bad “shot” by øzil i dont want to see him anymore in Arsenal. Sell him!!

Deano

Holy fuck balls, what a dreadful match. Game turned on a blatant dive, they never looked remotely interested until they got the pen. That said we just fell to pieces after it.

All in all, probably two players maybe three (jack) likely to be gone in window, and if that’s what we are left with, be ready for a very average season.

Jimbo Jones

It’s been below average for a while…. I’d say get ready for finishing 7th or 8th

Stringer Bell

I was amazed some said before kick off they were happy with team selection. It was the standard of a good West Ham team, no better. Lacazette makes fantastic runs and no one can find him, bring on Ozil who can and you take lacazette off. It’s a joke I’m afraid. When they are gonna have to chase the game and push up he puts Giroud on who is slower than xhaka, WHY. It’s just piss poor management. To many players that ain’t good enough to win leagues. Bottom line.

Cagooner

You are so right about those Laca runs. He made about 20 in first half and I think we tried to find him once. Perhaps you’re right that Ozil might find him. But he’d need to play a lot deeper to do that. All thisnof course would require some tactical thinking to figure it out and apply. We don’t have anyone at the club to do that. Or anyone that is allowed to.

John C

Thank god we don’t have the distraction of Champions League football for that all out assault on the league

Crash Fistfight

Going 1-0 up
Missing chances to make the game safe
Key players picking up injuries
A dodgy penalty against
Falling to pieces after the other team get their tails up after a flukey equaliser to lose the game

I make that Arsenal Bingo!

Do I win a prize?

lee dicks on

Congratulations, but I’m afraid we’ve run out of fourth place trophies.
You’ll have to settle for a 5th place vase.

Ozil mustache

Why can’t they just sack Wenger

ronaldo

stan loves him

Twatsloch

So we faced a weakened team with lots of injuries with a game in hand being level with Chelsea. Fourth spot was there for the taking and how was that opportunity capitalised?

I fucking give up!

SeanJuba

Sadly predictable. Once they equalised with what was an exceptionally dodgy penalty – well actually they cheated – you could smell the fear. Wenger will use the penalty as an attempted smokescreen for another abject soulless lifeless sack of mediocrity and shite.

Goontang

Saw the team line up. Didn’t expect anything from the game. Arsene has no clue

Shambles

Forget about the scoreline for a minute. It was still a very mediocre performance and its quite clear that’s our level now.

People on here praising ozil for his “professionalism”. Who in their right mind would enter a bidding war for that ozil? I’m just happy for sanchez, he’s getting off this shit train on time

Badaab

Pedestrian, abject, jaded, lazy, handbrake- take your pick. Regardless of the softness of the penalty, we never looked like we were interested in this. Disappointing result against a team we should be beating, and we picked up yet more injuries on the day- its only going to stretch our squad thinner as we head into Thursday’s game, which will only hamper our chances in the league going forward with more fatigue. We need to basically buy a whole new squad now, or resign ourselves to a 7th place finish this season. With that wonderful Kroenke ownership, I don’t see us… Read more »

Gunner Aikay

What offence did Arsenal commit that referees find it difficult to give penalty to Arsenal? If that push on Danny Welbeck wasn’t a pen how’s that dive by Richarlison a PK? It’s disgraceful the way refs seem to become incompetent only against Arsenal.

Shambles

So you are gonna conveniently forget mustafi’s foul against westbrom that wasn’t given?
These things happen to all teams during the course of a season. Nobody’s out to get us mate.

espen

Wenger needs to go at the end of the season.

Buteo

Before the end i’m afraid

Yozza

Or even better go now!

Gooner4722

Would Lacazette ever complete 90 minutes for us?
It was all downhill after those 2 terrible substitutions.

Angryadzo

Taking Laca off was a masterstroke by Wenger. Giroud is hopeless, Ozil pedestrian as always. I got up at 3am Aus time to watch that shit, I don’t even know why I bother anymore.

Rich

I said we’d never be in the title race and that would be confirmed by November at the latest.
You all told me to stop being so miserable and cheer up because we’d signed Lacazette…..
Jesus Christ you guys are either really stupid? or hopeless optimists?
Why would any of you actually think this season we’d come anywhere near to making up 20+ points?
Ozil isn’t fit to wear the shirt.
Welbeck went off and we got murdered down that side.
Up until that point we we’re handling them pretty well.

caligunner

Handling them? Just because Watford was horrible doesn’t mean it was Arsenal handling them.

aleksandr help

xhaka and elneny are the midfield equivalent of being lost at sea

BergerToe

stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before….

KwameGunner

I am.just resigned to is not challenging for the premier league under Wenger. Just waiting diverge day he buggers off. This loss was clearly coming and I heaved a sigh of relief when they scored their second. I’m tired!!

DJCL86

Interesting how the commentators were talking about the impact of Watford’s substitutions. It made me lament the terrible nature of ours. Wenger’s substitutions are SO predictable and seem to come out of some obligation as opposed to any semblance of tactics. It’s like he is playing a quick play through of football manager and default sets Giroud to replace Lacazette just after the hour. A creative midfielder on next. Then another one barring an injury. Why swap a fairly wiry, technically minded forward for a target man when protecting a one nil lead? Watford posed no threat as they were… Read more »

I AM ARSENAL

Midfield is shocking, barely help defensively and offer absolutely nothing going forward…Middle of the park is so poor…Elneny and Xhaxa are not bad players but they do nothing..Neither is strong in the tackle or particularly powerful defensively and both rarely hit the target with substance or even play any meaningful forward passes…There weaknesses are especially shown when they get pressed…Not everyone can have Santi’s feet but these two move in custard when players are in and around them. both …Struggling against Tom Fucking Cleverly Kolasinac was quiet and Bellerin the outlet was poor all game, never a pen but his… Read more »

Shark

What I find most annoying is that Watford were the side that was going for the win when it was 1-1. They played like they had bigger ambitions than us

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