It looked as if we were going to hang on for a draw with I think we deserved, but then Marouane Fellaini’s head and David Ospina’s tiny arms saw United grab a late winner.
Read the match report and watch the goals here.
Here’s how the players rated today.
What is it with sky and xhaka? That was disgraceful at half time and then again at the end
They’re cunts.
Occam’s Razor in effect here
Aye. Redknapp has pictures. I’m sure of it.
It’s not only Sky but even some of our supporters who cannot accept the improvement he has made in recent weeks. Thought he had an excellent game today and had an assist.
On the US feed, Graeme Le Saux said something about how something was good defense by Xhaka and Lee Dixon said “that’s cause he didn’t have to tackle.” Not wholly unfair.
I hate Graeme. He sucks at commenting. Lee Dixon just clearly gives him a lot of quiet stares over the table during the match, you can hear the awkwardness.
It’s bang out of order tbh. The comments about him being captain “must be short of options” etc. I can accept criticism of players performances but Souness and Redknapp just seem to hate the guy on some personal level.
I bet it’s just the typical racism against Eastern Europeans. What can we do…
The pundits are harsh on Xhaka, he’s not that bad. But he is exactly that, not that bad, he’s not actually that good either.
May have been harsh but a lot of hometruths there. he has been a liability defensively since he signed, nothing short of disgrace at times. A couple of assists doesnt isn’t a sign that he is improving because he isn’t. How many times have we seen him do what he did today, instead of tracking pogba he stands and watches. He’s 24 years old, he’s not a kid, for 35 million he should be all singing all dancing by this stage.
Sounness was absolutely ridiculous but I don’t see the praise for him today. He plays and makes decisions very slowly and all too transparently for me, and the goal was another example of how much of liability he is in defensive situations.
Let’s ser aside the Sky c***. While he’s a food player he’s NOT the holding midfielder we need unfortunately. We need a true destroyer if we want to compete with the rest as if next year. I’m 100% sure that the new manager will bring a natural DM. Our best teams had Vieira, Petit, Gilberto…Xhaka is nowhere near them in terms of discipline.
Vieira was never a holding midfielder at Arsenal though. He was a box to box who ALWAYS worked best with a more defensive partner. Petit, Gilberto, Grimandi, Edu…even Parlour had to sit alongside him to let him run around.
Xhaka is the most limited player I can remember to have seen. Can’t run, dribble, tackle, man mark.. nothing. He is like a lighthouse. Turning from one side to other. But at least lighthouses stay on their feet and they are far away…
Know your stuff you eh? Like a few other geniuses across the internet.
You must have forgotten Theo Walcott
This is off topic but…..Unai Emery is stepping down as PSG boss at the end of the season. The timing of his and Wenger’s resignations look too coincidental.
Dont listen to those pundits from sky, they are just as terrible as espn pundits.
Heard that Mavropanos is Mislintat’s first signing. Hopefully he is going to unearth more gems that will bring the club success
Good game but we lacked that ruthlessness in both boxes to give us the edge. Wonder where I have seen that before…
Henrikh 7 > Alexis 7…
On to thursday non!
“now”
Have a really strange feeling we’ll do it Thursday. I usually fear the worst ( it’s how Arsenal have made me ) but I can’t shake the feeling we’re gonna pull it off.
Athletico 2-2 (3-3 aggregate)
My bonus rating will go to Hector for denying Alexis Shitcase regardless of the outcome. He really is improving these couple of games was very good vs Atletico as well
Yeah I upvoted Hector for that…can’t have Alexis scoring
Mavropanos……. Jeeez!!!!!! What a monster of a Centre Back he’ll turn out to be if he continues to work hard!!!! Mislintat showing just why he’s a well sought after hand in the player recruitment/talent hunting aspect of football!!!!
Calm down.
We’ve seen it before with Holding.
This United side was not even out of second gear for most parts.
Looks can be deceiving.
Not saying he did not play well and he looks potential.
But its like waxing lyrical about Elneny against a Championship side last season.
Perspective.
Guess you missed the part where I mentioned “If he continues to work hard”! No need to get ahead of yourself, the lad put in a solid performance considering it was his first game played in an environment that remains hostile for every visiting team especially the top six and was up against a bully striker with years of premier league experience, so just give him the credit he deserves and worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes! Also don’t be quick to write Rob off, don’t know about you but based on his performances when he has been played in… Read more »
“Gooch smelter” 10/10 for creativity. And, yuck. Smelted gooch
Mavropanos a future star.
Glad we didn’t take a beating and we’ll done Bellerin for a fantastic block to stop Alexis scoring. The youngsters didn’t look out of depth and I think they should continue to play and learn in our remaining league games they are a breath of fresh air and great to watch. We definitely saw a glimpse of the future today.
Mavrapanos looks big enough and strong enough and he looks calm too. He doesn’t look like a youngster. I really want to see more of him this year in the league. I can see why they changed their mind on loaning him out. I’m impressed. Oh and fuck Ashley Young. He’s an enormous cunt.
truth be told, before the game, like a lot of people, i’ve had a feeling that wenger would field a younger side, primarily of course because of our upcoming game, but also because it’s almost a meaningless tie now. because of that, i did expect us to likely lose. mind you, i take no joy in it of course. but what i really wanted, as i’ve mentioned to a friend who watched the game with me, was to see mourinho muster whatever he can, shake wenger’s hand properly, maybe have a few nice words, and to at least try to… Read more »
Well, I think it was sincerity from Ferguson. It looked sincere from Mourinho too, but I don’t believe he is capable of it.
BFG is our BFG replacement !
Parkadopolous Chu Young?
I was dissatisfied Park Ghu Young didn’t get a rating
I thought Chambers was MOTM, and it was lovely to see an Arsenal team totally outclass their opposition in terms of pace. The kids are more than alright, and I hope there’s a role for all of them next year (hopefully Osei-Tutu as well)
I love Xhaka Khan and he gives it his all
Nelson, needs to get better defensively , was like watching Theo defending . Putting extra pressure on our full back. In first half. Then He made a Disappointing pass to Miki. When we were three on three in second , half, . Think Wenger played him up against Valencia to show Nelson , what it is like yo play against powerful full back. He should have taken him on more. ( that was my view from in the stadium. ) welbeck owned Valencia when he came on. Nelson did hit a sweet goal past Cech in the warm up.he is… Read more »
Also enjoyed in second half about 75 minute when I suddenly realise alexia was playing and I had forget he was on the pitch after half time cos he did nothing ( had not drank any alcohol)
Your “more stories” tab on the right on my iPad refuses to go away when clicking on th “x” and because it takes up just less than half the width of the screen, renders your article completely unreadable.
Seriously annoying.
Will check this out, thanks
Xhaka has made an improvement in the past few weeks… Souness today was weird. But (a) he’s improving from a pretty low bar so dips in form could be very scary, we need players who when their form dips don’t cost us cards, goals etc. Xhaka’s poor is extremely poor. And (b) he plays too slowly even when he’s playing well. Of course its hard to replace Santi and his level of between the lines passing but that’s whats needed in midfield to open up other teams. There are midfielders out there who we should be looking to challenge Xhaka… Read more »
Not even really blaming him for the second goal, but have to say (sadly) that Ospina annoys me. I get tired of his continual ‘injury’ moments and pray we are looking for a new number 1 this off season.
Granit again had a solid match. An excellent effort to get the ball to Mhki for the goal. Not sure what some pundits are watching. The Swiss makes a massive difference for us because he can transition us quick and is adept passing at long range switching our focus of attack quickly. This is why he is ahead of Elneny taking nothing away from the Egytian’s improvements. He was a bit unlucky he was out jumped by Fellaini (though Ospina could have done better) but much of that was more due to us not being able to hold midfield last… Read more »
I don’t think Xhaka is bad per se but I do think he’s not suited to the DM role and would probably be much more effective as an 8. Which ever way you slice it, it was a bad mistake for the goal and it’s not exactly his first this season. Just feel that a bit further up the pitch, where he doesn’t have to be as defensively omniscient, would do him some good and let him focus on his best qualities. Also glad to see Iwobi get some praise, gets far too much stick on here for such a… Read more »
Where on earth did blogs get the idea that Bellerin “defended well” for the goal? He almost did fantastically with that block, it has to be said, but the only reason he needed to make it in the first place was because he quite woefully lost Alexis at the back post. It reminds me of how slower defenders often get praised for flashy slide tackles when caught out of position, while quicker players with better anticipation don’t have to make them because they’re in position to deal with the danger without having to slide. Usually this means that we keep… Read more »
Maitland Niles and 8?
Mental.
Some people have their favorites amplify their good points and overlook their faults.
What I like about Konstantinos is that, though he’s young and still very raw, his raw attributes is what this team has missed for so long.
A big, strong, athletically dominant CB along with a sweeper type. Gosh I’ve been so used to seeing modern Wenger types (Gallas, Verm, Kos, Gabriel, Chambers) that I’ve kinda forgotten what it’s like to have a physically imposing CB.
Now just to see what our midfield looks like with an athletic and powerful box to box CM. Maybe give Josh Da Silva a chance.
AMN played very good in CM. His positioning is well balanced between charging forward & defending. He read the game well in midfield and has eyes for chances. He can replace Xhaka.
Let’s not get too excited – Holding had Costa in his back pocket, remember. Chambers, Holding and Mav are all at approximately the same level in my mind. Chambers/Holding seem to get lumped in the same basket because they’re both English and similar ages, but they’re very different players. Chambers is more technical, but Holding is more of a bruiser – similar to Mav.
I’ve seen Holding play some fairly smooth, technical small ball. Wondering what’s keeping him out.
Tony Adams was captain at 21. He was still relatively error prone for a while but he was trusted. I can’t see a reason not to trust these three ahead of Kos and Mustafi.. I also don’t know if buying a central defense works either – Man U for all their investment still rely on smalling and jones. All our central defenders suffer from the fallout of a possession based approach that doesn’t work properly and regularly exposes them to unnecessary challenges with forwards. When your central defender is one on one with a striker, the striker will win a… Read more »
But watte player seems to be AMN. He has a distinct steeliness in his eyes. Vieiraesque.. Hope the incoming manager trusts him as much.
I’m new here, what is “that song”?
Thanks..
I mean, where else do I get this information if not an arsenal forum? Stop down voting geez!