I am sorely tempted to eschew any text here and just post the poo emoji 400 times.
After starting quite well, we went behind to Wolves, then conceded twice more before half-time, because we have TOO MANY CRUMBLERS – ©gunnerblog on the Arsecast Extra.
This is a tough team to watch because it all feels so inevitable, and tonight was another one of those away games in which all our shortcomings were exposed.
Read the Wolves 3-1 Arsenal match report and see the goals here
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Ratings
The ratings are now hidden by default until you vote, but if you just want to view the ratings and the comments, flick the switch at the top above Bernd Leno. Also, give the ratings a few seconds to load.
Oh dear
oh dear oh dear
Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
Oh dearie me.
Surely from you it should be “Oh crumbs, oh carrots”?
Whilst I do like apple crumble, I dont like fooball crumblers
This Arsenal crumble tastes rancid. However the Utd crumble is most delicious.
Utter dross!!! Thanks to Man City we have a chance but shame we have the early kick-off on Sunday – would like to know the ManUre v Chav result before deciding whether we bother at Leicester, but we go first unfortunately!!!
Dude… We lost to each team around Leicester.
If we had the facility to predict a rating before kick-off we would have the most accurate like for like ratings in the league. It’s the predictability of this team that makes it so hard to care.
I had a funny feeling before that match as i played ping-pong earlier with a similiar result , damn it 🙁
You played ping pong with a wolf?
With a Wanderer.
I think it’s time for a squad rebuild
#unleashsuarez
Really?
Vardy, Mathew Upson, Demba Ba, Ryan Babel, Chris Smalling, Fellani IN
Can I hit the Panic button now?
Oh wait …… Looks like I was pressing it all along
Only highlight was Nketiah putting that wolves fella on his arse
Everyone keeps talking about the defence but we must be the most backpassing team in the league when we reach the opposition box. It was so fitting that their third goal was a backwards pass from Xhaka. And on 50 minutes, we get a good free-kick in a good position, Ozil decides not to put in the cross, plays it to Xhaka, we pass it a bit sideways and backward till we put it out for a throw. You can’t put real value on it but how many points we’ve dropped because of the sideways and backward triangles around the… Read more »
Missing Rambo quite a bit too.
I was text commentating for my brother and sent him that instance almost word for word when Ozil took that free kick. I was incensed at the lack of urgency or ideas. Shocking.
Watched the last 15 mins of both halves with Utd-City.
City plays almost the exact same way as us, just 3 times faster and with more intensity.
And still being 2-0 up, they were going at it like hungry…wolves. exacly what we should have been doing.
Exactly this. What’s the difference. With us, it will always breakdown. We don’t have players as technical as City’s. They are faster. overall have better touches. More intensity. Less mistakes all round. Why would we keep trying to play this football, without the players to suit it. I understand they get better the more they do it. And at home, they ve done okay. But come on this is crunch time. Last 4 games with CHampions League slipping away, away from home in a tough game. More direct maybe?! SIGH
Spot on my friend..We’ve lost that killer instinct..but nobody else has the title “Invincible’s” and I cannot see a return to those days until the powers at the top stop buying foreign players and nurture the British kids, they know how to fight.
Those notable British kids like Henry, Viera and Bergkamp.
In other words, if we had good players we’d be a better team. If only our owner cared.
The squad needs to be rebuilt still – hopefully we sneak our way into the CL to somehow aid in that. Bellerin, Leno, Holding, Torreira & Laca/Aba all should be mainstays next year (Holding maybe excepted). Every other position should be up for strengthening as too many players simply aren’t getting the job done on a consistent basis/ are starting to get old (Monreal/Kos).
Have really lost interest in this team. Another great game from captain Ozil I see lads
Time for this walking turd earning £350,000 per week to be ousted.
Use the money to fund our NHS instead 😉
We don’t even have a bus to park
Ozil is a pathetic weakling; will struggle physically in some women football league
Will be the first name on my summer cull.
Can always count on planks like you and the one above to cheer me up a bit and add some perspective even after such a horrible defeat. Fat chance I know, but don’t go changing.
Let’s just give the kids the chance they deserve next year
I hope so too.
I said this before, but I’m fully for Project Youth 2.0.
We don’t have the money for the heavy investment for a top squad, and may not even get the CL money required. Without that, I don’t really want to watch this squad struggling every season for 4th.
Project Youth at least gives me something to long forward to over 5-10 years. I can get attached to the likes of Eddie, Nelson, Smith-Rowe, Nketiah, Mavros, Saka, Beilik, Willock, etc. and enjoy their development, rather than watching also-rans struggling to make top 4.
That’s not a story I’m interested in.
Agree completely. I love The club but I can’t say I really love any of our players.
I love Kos, but he is getting zero help.
I love Kos, but he did not play well. I love Monreal too, but he was awful. I like Leno okay, but he was even worse than Monreal–two very bad goals conceded. The criticism of Ozil is mostly silly scapegoating.
I feel this is the heart speaking over the head. The problem with “Project Youth” is that there probably won’t be enough quality from our academy alone to sustain a top 4 side. And while we linger in the Europa netherealm, our best youngsters will get picked off by the big beasts. At best we’ll effectively become a worse version of Ajax. A better strategy imo will be to improve our scouting and try and nick the VVDs, the Kantes, the Tielmanns, the Manes before they come to the league. It’s more risky than the Liverpool/Chelsea model of letting them… Read more »
“Heart speaking over the head” Not really. And even if, that’s not even a bad thing. Football is also a game of the heart as long as the head. “That there won’t be enough youth to sustain a top 4 side”, look around mate, the current squad isn’t even a top 4 side. That’s why I said Project Youth IF it’s a choice of being also-rans with a sub-bar old squad not good enough for top 4 anyways. Basically if we’re going to be out of the top 4 for the next few years as it seems, then I can… Read more »
Let’s all blame Özil now. I just don’t get it. Is he supposed to magically spout wings and carry the ball to their goal and score? What the hell is he supposed to do if his midfield colleagues are incompetent? Apparently, Laca didn’t “get service from his teammates,” and Ozil had “almost zero impact.” If the others refuse to do their part, why put it on Ozil? Were there just Ozil and Laca on the pitch? Our midfield is not coherent at all. Ozil actually did not have an impact; but that’s because in a team of 11, you need… Read more »
Pile of petulant shit robbing us of £350000 per week. Sell him to china where he can double his oncome
People have moaned about the leech Kroenke taking 3m per year but this leech takes 18m a year
What game where you watching..’big’ players spur their teams on and lead the charge..Ozil? Just a chicken..and to cap it all..he slows our every attack by trying to ensure the defender moves first (and when they do he has no stamina to complete the dribble)..the guys earns 350k a week..dont think it’s too much we demand more from him
Hey, do you mind if I call you dick? Dick.
Sure blame Ozil since Mustafi didn’t play.
Surely you must be joking. Finding a midfielder that scores 6 goals and 3 assists in 35 games for less than £350k a week? All you gotta do is look across the pitch tonight and find one.
ruben navas
They’re clueless nutsacks, the lot of them.
Laca is a forward, so is reliant on service. Ozil is a playmaker, who should provide that service. They have different roles, so are judged differently. Alternatives? How about someone like: Diogo Jota who joined Wolves for around 12Mil and is outperforming Ozil week in week out (not just tonight), Ryan Fraser 7 goals 12 assists in an average Bournemouth side. Miss his creativity? Bellerin has more assists than him this season and Mkhi has more goals. He’s contributing very little. Our captain, best paid and arguably most talented player is supposed to make a difference when things aren’t going… Read more »
We wouldn’t get jota for that price though as our owner isn’t a major share holder of medes’ agency. Wolves is a very murky story.
I guess I disagree with the player rating. Those who played against Palace looked gassed. Others like Micki looked light weight. Lacazette doesn’t offer much as a lone striker against a team who are set up to counter-attack. Ozil was involved but there was little movement up front and it all became predictable. Now I see us having the same trouble against Leicester. The result is not surprising but what irks me more is the set-up against Palace at home and I blame the manager for that. Why oh why did he play Jenkinson and Elneny/ Guendouzi. We should have… Read more »
We missed Aubameyang and Ramsey.
It’s unbelievable how we can get run all over by a team like wolves. I think one of the main lacks tonight was the strikers and midfielders not really working to create space for passes. More often than not they’d be stationary next to an opposition player. Really frustrating to watch, especially when they get to half way line and have to go backwards again. I also think sometimes we’re a bit too keen to go backwards. A bit too much emphasis on retaining the ball in training perhaps? Even when there was an obvious path forward, sometimes they were… Read more »
The red side of Manchester seems to have the same problem. Gutless overpaid undermotivated players and embarrassingly easy to beat.
We need a deeper, better squad. This is what happens when you don’t have one. It’s frustrating, but fatigue is real. Arsenal played April 11, 15, 18, 21 and today. Wolves played April 13, 20, and today. We played like garbage but fatigue was a factor. We just don’t have the squad depth to sustain a top 4 challenge and also a deep run in the Europa when we lose Holding, Bellerin and Welbeck for many months. The road woes are also real– too many rattlers and crumblers on the squad. Moving some of them on and replacing them with… Read more »
Or better management of the squad at this time of the year — Emery should have take the Palace game in the first half with an attacking lineup of experienced players, and then eased in some subs to close it out and give some guys a rest. He could have played this one, then, quite conservatively — sit back and defend, frustrating a Wolves team who glory in the counterattack — and perhaps gotten a point. We should be sitting with 4 points of 6, not 0.
Since 30th March weekend Wolves have played 6 games to our 7. They lost at Burnley, Watford and Southampton and drew with Brighton. Their team cost tuppence compared to ours and we have a myriad of coaches, trainers and fitness experts.
Sorry. I can’t accept fatigue as the difference. Wolves fans probably annoyed that they can stuff us and Manure but lose to lesser teams. We are Wolves?
It’s like Arsenal is fighting to finish out of the top 4.
Monreal – I like the guay, one of our best players in the past years, but he can’t cope with the pace and intensity of the game anymore. Maybe in a 3 atb formation with proper cover and less demand in terms of physicality.
Mikhi – maybe the worst swap deal ever? So frustrating, 1 good game to 20 shit ones. And Alexis managed to be even worse in manure (haha).
Iwobi – please less tricks, pannas, ball rolls and more end product.
Too many build up players, not enough players that get the end of it. Take auba (and ramsey to an extent) out and laca is the only one that fit that profile. We used to have Alexis and theo that could scores a lot of goals from the wings, now we got zero players like them. All in all maybe our team is just shit and we are actually overachieving.
Instead of a rating, I’ve decided to call them descriptive cunts… Lacazette: Lacascoring cunt Ozil: Overpaid, gimmick shot cunt Iwobi: Non-finishing cunt Mkhitarayan: Useless cunt. I mean, next match play his stupid Mikhi doll instead. Same effort and will only cost is £24.95 to acquire. Xhaka: Wall-ducking, slow as a dump truck cunt Torreira: Short cunt Monreal: Has-been cunt Koscielny: Wore out cunt Sokratis: Greek statue cunt Maitland Niles: Care-free, cunt Leno: Flappy handed cunt Subs: Kolasinac: Poor crossing cunt Guendouzi: Sideshow Bob imposter cunt Nkeitah: MOTM I’m not calling him a cunt. He’s the only one that brought his… Read more »
Sure it’s easy, and probably fairly accurate, to blame Leno for today, but what about the rest of the team? We sat and watched an Arsenal attack with all the penetrative might of a geriatric Eunuch get rebuffed with minimal effort by Wolves for 70+ minutes. Our greatest threat came from a 19 year old making his 6th PL appearance who decided he might try running past players instead of into or away from them. It’s not a shocking result, it’s just such a dejecting performance that it saps one’s hopes. We’ve been here before though and Emery managed to… Read more »
Oh, it’s not only Mustafi?
Underrated comment!
Vitriol towards him signifies so much of our forced positivity and subsequent blaming of one person to find a way to maintain that false positivity. This attitude of sliding things under the carpet eventually leads to a complete and sudden breakdown. There has to be a word in psychology for it I can’t remember!
wait, is this 3 losses in 4 pl games?
I just can’t blame the manager… there were things last season I felt were Wengers fault and some of those things have improved and some haven’t, but a lot of last season also felt like players letting the manager down. They’ve shown again that mentally they’re fragile and, frankly, some of these players just aren’t actually very good. Big summer needed, whatever happens. If emery gets champions league football he’s pulled off a minor miracle as far as I’m concerned. I’m so tired of seeing certain names on the team sheet.
? ? ?
I mostly agree. Though there are some decisions from Emery that, if it were Wenger, and I hate to compare the two, he would have been lynched. I do think overall he has done ok in his first season, not amazing, and certainly not as poor as some might have you believe. That said, there are some key things this season: – defensive improvement. No, not really, statistically we are as bad defensively as expected based on goals conceded alone. Emery spoke in his first press conference about the press, stability and solid from the back. I don’t think we… Read more »
Good points you’ve mentioned there. I do feel honestly that the system and away form and defence are linked, and that Emery should improve the system to have better defensive structure and thus away results.
Another point that’s quite important is that we have suffered injuries to key players, Holding, Welbeck, Bellerin. They were doing really well and without them the squad has struggled more for rotation. The squad is thin and it shows.
Agree. I have been a bit of a fence sitter on Xhaka, but I think overall he’s not regular first team material. Keep him as squad back up, but upgrade. Same applies to Iwobi. Mhiki is another. Shows real quality at times, but far too inconsistent. Sell. Ozil? Hmmmm I will be kind and give benefit of the doubt and hope he delivers more with better quality in the team. And it goes without saying we need a high quality central defender. So in summary we need a top flight CD, a top flight CM and a top flight winger.… Read more »
Total fucken garbage. Deeney has a point….
I guess some don’t agree with his point that we seriously lack balls.
I do. Even if he’s a cunt.
Sorry can’t agree there. Obvious reasons are obvious.
I didn’t watch the game so I cannot vote, but I’d like to see the ratings. I’d consider changing the way you do things here as just means in future I’ll click somewhere else if I want to see the ratings.
“The ratings are now hidden by default until you vote, but if you just want to view the ratings and the comments, flick the switch at the top above Bernd Leno”
?
Far too generous. We were absolute shit
Gee, the mentality of our team has been so lacking for so long.
Mentality is the only thing that can explain us fucking up away from home against average teams.
It seems like our players are spoilt little cunts who can only perform (ok, apart form the odd home mishap) within the comfort of their home conditions and ground.
Maybe we should play the youth team in place of the 1st give them a chance to show them up then if we do lose then we have a good enough excuse for being so dreadful
Depressing.
Few weeks back, after our matches against top 4 teams were done I made a comment here that we have a very good chance of finishing third as our run in is much benign compared to others around us.
I have to say now that I feel like a very silly person.
I remember seeing that comment and thinking–“this is Arsenal, nothing is straight forward”
Here we are.
3 goals leaked first half with a pairing of the much vaunted Koscielny and Sokratis in a back 4.
Criticise the manager for overplaying Koscielny, criticise the manager if he rests his best players during a busy period……
Niles isn’t a right back, but it’s either try and educate him there? Or play Lichtstiner or Jenkinson?
I think playing Nile’s there is the right call.
This squad of players is weak, Ozil is finished as a player and has been for a longtime, and Mkhitaryan is frustrating at best.
I’m not sure why anyone is surprised or angry by our last two results, it’s been coming for a while, we’re really not very good.
“Ozil is finished as a player and has been for a longtime.” Good God.
I was at this game and found myself laughing aloud at our defence, utterly woeful inability to exert any pressure on Wolves’ attackers, while our front line played like strangers. Bit harsh on Iwobi, he was the only one of ours trying to make something happen.
Iwobi and Mikky are Walcott and Ox in disguise… they are all flash until the defenders push them to the endlines.
So wasteful.
Poor Laca … no service.
Not Leno’s best day … but the defending has been woeful on most of these away matches.
Absolute shite / 10. That was us tonight. I did my quads venting the anger in the gym tonight. Thanks Arsenal, as always
I can’t bear to watch anymore, they are like lambs to the slaughter, no fight, no backbone, no interest!
I’ve been one of the biggest Ozil fan. In fact I almost stopped watching the games earlier this season when he was being frozen out by Emery. Since his come back to the side, I’ve been watching him every single second on the pitch to highlight good things he does but unfortunately I find more bad things than I want to acknowledge. He has no strength left in his feet or he doesn’t bother using it anymore. Will not cross, will not play a cross-field pass, will not hit it hard enough to go halfway across the field. Plays the… Read more »
This is one garbage long post only Ozil haters disguised as his ‘biggest fan’ could dream up.
No one was blameless in today’s shamble defeat but to throw Ozil under a bus in a game like today is just pure deceit.
no Mustafi to blame so blame Ozil.
Some people will refuse to see our issues and keep finding scapegoats.
when all else fails its Kroenke’s fault for being silent.
Seriously.
Ozil is consistently shit & was again today.
I’d rather allow a raw player some game time in order to improve rather than allow this arrogant, petulant person to waltz around the field.
I don’t get this “he wasn’t the only one attitude”, he is “the only one” earning such high wages, he is playing like a £35k a week player rather than a £350k a week superstar.
This. to compliment your post I would like to post a selection of hipster ozil quotes I’ve literally heard in a London gastro pub last night. “In any case I delight in watching Ozil’s niche, nuanced and stylistic play. you don’t like him I mean you don’t like football. 87% pass completion in a team which is not defensively minded” “oh did you see him control it with 1 touch on the half way line though? Worldy” “I don’t really rate him but I just don’t think we should stand for Xenophobia in 2019” “Play Ozil AWAY VS LEICESTER because… Read more »
Why do you go to London gastro pubs to watch the match with “work shy trust fund overpaid hipsters”? Do they at least pay for your beers? The least they can do while you transcribe things they have “literally” said.
As mentioned, we have issues beyond Mustafi that conveniently get ignored as some prefer to blame the scapegoat for everything. Wake Up. This team has limits because in part it has been poorly added on to by Mslintat (and Raul) Many issues have been ignored, low hanging fruit brought in to all but limit the wage bill and usher in the PANIC LOAN age. 1) Leno – Could have been more proactive coming out for the second goal. 2) AMN – Mixed. Some decent work but not focused. Missed simple traps a number of time. Seems symptomatic of the team… Read more »
Well, awfully kind to Leno. Terrible goal keeping. By the way, it looked to me like the first goal went over Koscielny, not Torreira and that no one could have done much to stop it–a brilliant free kick. Of course, don’t commit fouls there.
Just impressed you bother to do player ratings after this shit. Just paid extra to get nbc sports gold (US) to be able to watch the last two games. Jesus fuck that was stupid. Rivals being equally shit is the only chance
The thing I noticed about Nketiah (and Guendouzi to some extent) is that sluggish is so much our new norm that Eddie’s energy kind of took me by surprise. Why do Palace and Wolves tear us apart? Energy! Ozil’s not the only one – James pointed to this in his On The Whistle. All the older players are players who USED to be great – and still can be in flashes – but only to dangle some hope in front of you as they continue their inevitable and natural decline.
Emery was supposed to have done a presentation about making us more solid defensively, which hasn’t happened. He needs to get his act straight.
thanks to arsenal, i can make through any shit in my life. life-insurance to stress!
Sorry! ‘all shits’* now i feel awkward, because, there’s no need to edit a mere comment that probably nobody gives a shit LOL
Shame on you, Mustafi
I will just caveat this so you don’t get me wrong by saying I think Emery has done a decent job so far. Especially considering what he inherited and the much needed investment this squad needs. That said, he got this one terribly wrong. Starting with a back 4 away from home did not seem like the answer. Especially with the players dominating the ball or being the protagonists as he says. At the very least they should not have played so high up, when it is obvious they will be caught out of position time and time again! As… Read more »
Oh it’s only football but the Arsenal squad think they are all invincible, paid too much with little or nothing to show for it.
Guendouzi is the most crap player ever that I have seen play in Arsenal midfield….totally crap in talent, attitude and character.
struggling to see what emery has brought to the club. all the failings today are inherited from arsenal, a mentally weak team. weaklings. but can’t see any real difference from emery. I cannot imagine how they play, the team selection, would be any different if Wenger stayed.