Once upon a time, There lived in Stoke town a mad scientist called Pewlease. One day while tinkering around with his time machine experiments, he accidentally opened up a time portal. He stepped through it and found himself at a Neanderthal bonfire party; and in no time he became the best of chums with the lot, it just came naturally to him. He then bought them over to his place back through the portal, because there was an unfortunate lack of cheap beer in the prehistoric times. But then something went wrong and the time portal collapsed, and the neanderthals… Read more »
What people must realize is Britannia is a very tough place to come to. Even more so for a club like Arsenal. Today The Orcs made 13 tackles, 65 long balls, 0 through balls and countless fouls. Teams like Chelsea & Manure have lost at the Britannia this season.
Fortunately for you there are no more Neanderthals today, else they might have sied you for defamation of character in comparing them to Stoke players.
I hear what you’re saying, but if a team really wants to win a title, then getting three points at that sinkhole is exactly the kind of performance required, thuggery or not.
I couldn’t care less about rival teams’ results at that place, only ours.
jason
10 years ago
We just aint good enough.. no time for blaming the referee when we had the invincible squad we went unbeaten for 49 games referee decisions didnt matter cause we had so much quality it didnt matter what the referee did..
We havent lost the league to Stoke we never do well against them we lost the league to poor peformances against Man U and Liverpool… I will also ad none of the big teams have done well against Stoke..
The referee decision of the penalty might have been generous to Stoke, but you can’t say with certainty that it wasn’t a penalty. Not giving it would have been generous to us IMO, so one side’s fans would have said it was wrong, no matter what the referee gave, so can’t really complain there.
As for the other stuff, absolutely ridiculous! Stoke should have gotten plenty more yellows, and Adam should have been sent off! Hope the FA takes serious action, but then again, some part of me hopes he gets away with it, so he can destroy Chelsea/Tottenham.
We’ve dropped too many points to win the title now, who knows we may beat city and chelsea but it’s extremely unlikely. We’ve got a long way to go in the Fa cup and a trophy won’t be forthcoming unless the players really show determination. It comes back to same thing. Talk is cheap, performance and wins and points are everything.
FA cup is our best chance if we win the FA cup and still give the league a good go and finish on more points than last season thats a good season… thats improvement and thats a good foundation to build on for next season
AFCEdwards
10 years ago
How has Podolski been given a 4? He was terrible, did nothing to help defend and did nothing to help Giroud out.
The problems seems to be that he just doesn’t know how to play in our system. Whenever he’s played so far this season he’s looked lost and hasn’t seemed to know where to run. Today was the worst I’ve seen him on this count – he spent most of the time standing inside the centre circle, about 3 feet away from Jack, while there was acres of space out on the left. It really stumped me.
Thank heavens someone can see those acres of space…while Podolski stands so close to Jack. This guy is average period. Way over rated. It has nothing to do with our system or not. He is not good enough. Him and Giroud wouldn’t even get into Newcastle’s team.
Bad day at the office really, never got going. Stoke really are a filthy bunch of twats, but that doesn’t excuse us from playing so poorly. Still lots to play for though, have to get behind the lads for the run in. And for those questioning Arteta’s inclusion ahead of Flamini, do me a favour, Mikel has been exceptional for us. Amazing how quickly people seem to forget the red card Flamini picked up against Southampton, where he wasn’t even provoked, who knows what he could’ve done today.
YES! I like Flamini, but for me, Arteta’s still first choice. And you definitely don’t use Flamini against a team like Stoke, where he’s liable to get carded.
Flamini is better than Arteta against runners – the only runner Stoke has got looks like he was born as an albino malnutritioned Diaby clone that doesn’t know what it means when the Referee blows the whistle for free kick.
maddolove
10 years ago
Strange days
It’s battle stations for 3rd place with Liverpool
Game on
Uhh, no, third. You don’t compete to come fourth with a team that are in the top four. It can be assumed that City will win at least one of their games in hand leaving Liverpool in third and us fourth. Why on Earth would we then compete to come fourth? Prat.
Mooo
10 years ago
Chamberlain should start every game from now on.
Ger
10 years ago
If we don’t regroup and go on a winning streak, we will be fighting for 4th place again.
I have learned in business that target setting dictates that you aim the highest you possibly can, and that means the title because it is still within our grasp. If you aim low, you are more likely to miss our target. If Liverpool are being touted as possible champions then I do not see why we are not, seeing as we are level on points to Liverpool and only 4 points off the top spot with 30 points still up for grabs. We have the capability of going on an unbeaten run, especially with Kallstrom and Ramsey coming back soon.… Read more »
Bunburyist
10 years ago
Most people shitting on Giroud today, but Wilshere was the worst Arsenal player on the pitch today.
I have to conclude that the we are the only club that believe in miracles. Expecting any other outcome after the January transfer window inaction is truly wonderful. We are not just believers but hard-core believers bearing in mind this has been happening for years. Wait a minute – what does that make Wenger? Please feel free to comment.
Nobody was good but you’re right. You only have to look at the emergence of Rambo this season to see how Wilshere’s fortunes can change. In regards to Giroud, we can talk about hold up play til the cows come home but I don’t think he is good enough to be the focal point of our attack. He can’t find the scoring positions to be in and when he does he’s not clinical enough to finish them.
Giroud is NOT good enough to be an Arsenal player. Looking at the strikers we have had in the past 2 decades, would Giroud match any of them? I doubt he would even make the bench during their times at our club.
Wilshere needs to get off his arse and chase the ball down rather than laying down on the ground, complaining to the referee and throwing a tantrum like a spoilt child. He needs a kick up the arse. I know he will come good sooner or later as he has shown us that he can play brilliant football, but he needs to grow up a bit and stop whining.
Maniac
10 years ago
The entire team bar Ox completely lacked energy (or any necessity for that matter) to get forward. This is one of those matches that are best forgotten.
That attitude is one of the sole reasons why we haven’t won anything for so long. We lose matches like this every season when it matters, so why not actually find out why and what went wrong rather than forgetting about it?
I dunno mate this is one of those disasters on the scale of Hiroshima that can never be forgotten as a reminder to all never to go back to these depths.
marcogooner
10 years ago
Seriously terrible performance against the worst technical team in existence. Just have to say Kieran Gibbs average, bog standard performances go unnoticed far too often. He can’t fucking cross and its fucking shit. Monreal is shitter than shit so don’t want him there but seriously, is it just me that notices that cuz he needs to learn how to cross and take on his man with any real conviction. Sanogo is the worst technical player I’ve seen at arsenal and the ox needs to start more especially on the right, why did the boss drop him anyway, was the best… Read more »
I’d almost guess that Gibbs was not fully fit to play today, it was a matter of who was more fit between himself and Monreal given the shit situation we had at LB…just like I’m guessing that Ramsey was not fully fit when he was brought back and subsequently aggravated his injury again in training.
Should have played Verm then. The decision to leave out Ox and Flame was terrible, and Wenger was far too late on making changes for players who played terribly.
Ridiculous. Suggesting to play Verm when he’s only back after a longer spell out than Gibbs and in his less preferred position.
David
10 years ago
not sure I would have started Podolski. I think we could have played faster on the wings from the beginning to try and stretch the game open a little bit. No one wanted to beat anybody one-on-one out there. Sanago’s late chance was poor; the Chamberlain pass that fell to Giroud’s right foot was also a poor miss.
RVP (or another more clinical striker) will be in order next year. I like Giroud, but he looks knackered.
afolabi ademakinwa
10 years ago
Giroud is not good enough for our club.It out of our hands now try concentrate on the fa cup now
Penguin
10 years ago
Simply Insipid. Really tired of our seasons petering out like this. I hate to use a pundits’ clichéd phrase but we really don’t have a plan B when we’re getting fucked in midfield.
Shotformeat
10 years ago
One of the main differences from last season has been having a Flamini, this game seemed made for him – a whole Charlie Adam to aim his bark at?! – and yet he find himself on the bench.
Don’t understand Wenger sometimes. Easy to get annoyed at little things in retrospect, but that one seemed strange to me from the start. Looks like Ox has to start every game from now on for sure, starting with Everton bright and early on Saturday!
MTZ
10 years ago
Winning is a team effort, and today every offensive player on the pitch were poor. It’s as simple as that really. We still lack depth, and we’re too rigid in terms of tactics. When you play away against Stoke, you have to be able to counter attack fast, and you need to be able to use the space behind the defenders. They’re slow, but strong (and they couldn’t care less if they step on someone). We seemed to be doing neither. Instead, we kept running straight into them, as if that was ever going to work. Wenger’s brilliant at a… Read more »
devil's advocate
10 years ago
Not the way we would have ideally chosen to go into the next run of games…
racosin
10 years ago
I hate this..hate this..really really really hate this. They take us on ride for a whole f***ing season..make us believe, hope and dream and kill it all with slow chinese style torture. As much as my paranoid brain thinks our brilliant season is falling apart, i want it all to change. Bring on everton, bayern, totters, chelski and mancity…after this set of games we will realistically know whether my paranoid brain is right or not. Till then…comeon gunners you can most certainly do better than this!
Momo (@MuhamLAD)
10 years ago
Was expecting Giroud to be on a wheelchair by the end of that match
There’s no point. Fans pour praises on players after a good win/performance (see last week), and this week AW gets most of the heat. It’s his fault in my opinion, but the vitriol people are aiming at him… You’d think there weren’t 11 players on at least £50k a week, on the pitch….
Managers get little praise in good times, and a tonne of the flack in bad. That’s just how fans are, and why it would be bad/incite a mini-revolution if we could vote on manager ratings haha
Alex
10 years ago
We can’t put it all down to him, but on days like this (there are many of them) you have to ask what the point is in Podolski. Is he really as slow as he seems? And how is he going to use that left foot of his if he doesn’t even try to find space?
We end up with this bloke hanging around the left flank; not tricky enough to beat a man, not creative enough to thread passes and not sharp enough to make runs off-the-ball and stretch the defence.
He is average & borders on useless! You have said nothing wrong my brother! You are spot on!
Özil is a goooooner
10 years ago
Dissapointing, but let’s push on. Of the competitions we’re still involved in, the FA Cup and the League are still there for the taking.
ArseRob
10 years ago
Three weeks ago would have been inconceivable we would be facing a battle for fourth place, but hard to argue that’s what it has come to. Yes, injuries have hurt, but that’s the nature of the beast. Striker notwithstanding, there is more than enough talent in the squad to grind out results. Hard to look at the team sheets and square that with the result. Something is missing, too many players a step slow….Poldi, Giroud, Santi….and Jack, sadly, has done nothing to earn his starting place, careless with the ball, uncommitted in his tackling. Liverpool put 5 past Stoke and… Read more »
VCC
10 years ago
As much as I hate Mourinho, he is spot on with his analysis of Arsenal “Specialists in Failure!”
What kind of arsenal fan says that?!
fuck off!
quoting that arrogant little manipulative SHIT. eugh
Aedan
10 years ago
At risk of sounding like a 14 year old fifa player, what we need now is some real pace to our game. Of course it doesn’t help that Walcott (our fastest player) and Ramsey (our ‘driving player) have been injured, but we still have players with speed in the team (Gnabry, Ox, Oezil and Sanogo are no snails either) and what is inexcusable is Arsene’s reluctance to give us any kind of plan B on the pitch. When Wengerball doesn’t seem to be happening, what else can we do? Look at Liverpool: shit team, shit manager but about to over… Read more »
deluded if you think pool is shit.none of our striker would get in their side, our midfied has dozen of similar player who like to pass pass pass. pool maybe dont have the quality of our player but right now they much better team and well balanced squad .
Daft Aider
10 years ago
A good enough striker would have papered over the cracks in the team, as much as I like Giroud he won’t win you a title as a clubs first choice striker
GuyFawkes
10 years ago
It’s so sad because Cazorla should’ve played in Podolski and with that left foot through on goal I’d only see one outcome and things could’ve been so different. Key decision making screw-up by Cazorla.
And Wilshere, plays 10 shit games and 1 good. Can’t wait for Ramsey to be back. Wilshere has a LOOOOOOOOOONG way to go before being called a good player. Just not good enough to play regularly in a title winning team tbh. Too many give aways, doesn’t tackle, too many going no wheres.
Does Wilshere have one eye on his world cup place?
Needs to stop believing his hype and put in top level performances over multiple games. I’m still not sure what he gives us ………. No pace, poor in the tackle, limited passing range but he does release the ball late and draws fouls which means he’s the only footballer I know with a cauliflower arse.
Lol, “Cazorla in Podolski” would be just an awesome player. I imagine Cazorla’s foot up Poldi’s arse, what a wonderful creature on the football pitch, certainly more effective than Poldi himself. To say Poldi is average is wrong though. He ain’t average, but the problem is that his mind is on other things and he aint the most ambitious lad. Me tink he plays best when there is no competions for his position and when he is sure he is a “prince” at the club. Fact is, he does not suit Arsenal. To say Wilshere plays well 1 outa 10… Read more »
Tommy Gunner
10 years ago
Kos certainly does have an almost Richard Dunne-esque ability to get red cards, score own goals and give away penalties!
Probably because he’s the quick defender of the pair. Merte is all about positioning but if anything goes wrong – and it frequently does on the left – it’s Kos who has to rush in and save us. No surprise it doesn’t always come off. Maybe he’s reckless by nature as well and still a bit inexperienced but a lot of the problem is to do with the type and amount of work that he does.
Neil
10 years ago
Our crossing was abysmal today. I lost count how many went weakly into the keepers hands.
We kept tyring to score the Norwich/Sunderland goal.
Here’s a tip. Great as those goals were, they were against two really poor sides at The Emirates. Teams that kind of gave up.
It won’t work against big teams and not even against a focused defence like Stoke’s.
FFS vary the attacks. And if you do cross it, make sure you have at least four players in the box.
Bah. I’m really pissed off. Hansen will be bashing himself off like a monkey.
Mani
10 years ago
gonna sleep. Wake me up when March ends!
Dick Law
10 years ago
Is wilshere really that good or he needs more time????
Mr Blogg’s rating are usually spot on, but Santi was shite today. Love the lil’ dude, but he was poor today. Wilshere was bloody terrible. Giroud may be tired from dodging flying crockery it seems.
Still…COYG (trying not to cry).
James
10 years ago
Here comes the downfall which was always enviable after January by not giving the squad a boost.
Cheroo
10 years ago
as usual, when the games mean something Arsenal fold like a wet paper bag. Won 2 out of our last 8. Gone from 1st to possibly 4th after today. Mental strength! Wenger is a loser
Angolan Girl Who Loves The Gunner
10 years ago
I don’t want to give up on the tittle just yet.Yes we were poor, but stoke at the britannia its a hard place to go and play (Chelshit lost there, man u too and man shitty drew). I remember last year we were 7 points behind sp*rs and in the last day of the season we got the fourth place and qualified for uefa champions league.Yes Chelsea or man city are not sp*rs, and usually this is the time that Arsenal falls but i believe we can still win the league.Its not over yet!Come on fellow arsenal fans believe …Keep… Read more »
emir of emirates
10 years ago
Next match please!!
Stone
10 years ago
With Walcott out, Chamberlain should be an automatic starter. Even if Walcott was playing, Alex should be starting in midfield instead of Jack. We need our Aaron so badly
Ryan tan
10 years ago
Its time for wenger to see why a pacy player is important in a game.We need a pacy striker like henry or even theo.I dont understand the lone striker thing.Its bad enough that u make it easier for defenders to focus on one striker only,but u cant count on midfielders to score goals.theres a reason why strikers are strikers.they are suppose to be the one scoring the goals.and look at the starting 11 today.none of them have pace in thier pocket.and then look what happen when u bring on ox.it somewhat changed the game for us a little.gnabry shld have… Read more »
useroz
10 years ago
Why is Arsene Wenger not on the rating list? After all, Wenger put the team on the field and supposedly coached the players on how to play Stoke…no? Why did Wenger put such a ‘slow’ team against Stoke is beyond belief. Ox, Flamini would have I think made the 1st half less stagnant… And if that didn’t work, Gnabry could come on in the 2nd half to relief Rosicky or Podolski. And the fact that we relied on a Ligue 2 (and not even top ones there) striker to rescue us was pathetic. We are Arsenal not WBA or Cardiff… Read more »
Shubham
10 years ago
Arsenal weren’t up for it and that is the disappointing part. I don’t mind a battling defeat but the way we played today showed no evidence of hunger. The annual fourth place fight begins now. Everything will be hunky dory once we achieve that. Shame on the millionaire players who can’t be arsed. FA cup the only hope now. God bless the club.
There are so many comments. I tried to read through all the comments. What most people seem to forget is that every time we ‘rest’ for long in between games, the first match is always a disaster. Most players seem to switch off both mentally and physically. Regaining them is usually a gradual process. So my verdict is Wenger took a stupid decision. If he wants players to rest, he should rest them by rotation
Iceman
10 years ago
This was fricking Stoke City. We should have been up for this! If not for Ramsey than for that terrible Fanzine shit they pulled regarding him. I m not one to chastise our players too much but I think it’s time we give Jack a breather. He’s had far too many below par performances lately. He tries hard but it’s not working out. Plus if he doesn’t put tackles in and make an effort to intercept, its extra pressure on his midfield partner. I think Arsene got the selection wrong for this one. I think he should have started Flamini.… Read more »
lollo
10 years ago
i keep hammering the point week after week about our lack of a plan b ! it was obvious after 30 minutes we were unlikely to score , but we keep doggidly to the same system week in week out regardless of the score or situation . thats down to a one trick pony of a manager who`s blinkered into believing everything will work out ok
sam
10 years ago
“Days like today are the perfect illustration of why Arsene Wenger has chosen to keep him sidelined” Exactly. I love Podolski as a player, but I absolutely hate it when people say he should start every game/start ahead of Giroud. “He loves the club, he was brilliant against West Ham, he scored a brace against Coventry, he has more goals than no. of appearances blahblah…” But just like Rosicky, people need to start looking beyond the stats to judge Podolski’s performances. Yes, “He did nothing wrong” today, but that’s because he was hardly in the game. Podolski has the really… Read more »
Neil
10 years ago
Liverpool 2-0 up now.
It’s pouring down diarrhea today on our hopes.
Arseblood
10 years ago
No surprise really, is it?
Just waiting for the inevitable collapse. Walcott and Ramsey out and not replaced in the window meant we were not winning the league….
But we could have, if Wenger wasn’t such a total tit.
That’s it for years now…
All the top sides will buy big in the summer and we’ll be fucked for another generation.
Wankers.
El_Santi
10 years ago
Sadly Arsenal are a mediocre team that had been over-performing for the most part this season, and with Liverpool already 2-0 up at Southampton, we are staring at the dreadful abyss of the scrap for 4th place. You can’t blame the lads for trying, putting an effort at Stoke, and getting the sh!t kicked out of them for the entire game. But we are really lacking quality in the squad. An honest reflection… how many gooners would have a starting place at the top clubs in Europe (i.e. Barca, Real, Bayern, ect)? Maybe 2 or 3 at most, and all… Read more »
Zook
10 years ago
Poldy was horrid. He looks the slowest player or the pitch and I think Szcz has better footwork. Looks even more one footed this season than last. Looks down the entire time he plays. Just not right for games where we don’t have all the possession. Much would have rather seen Oxlade out there, don’t know why the Professor still babies him, I man he’s an OX.
richardanus
10 years ago
As some wag once put it “Wilshere will be playing for West Ham or QPR in 2 seasons time”.
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Once upon a time, There lived in Stoke town a mad scientist called Pewlease. One day while tinkering around with his time machine experiments, he accidentally opened up a time portal. He stepped through it and found himself at a Neanderthal bonfire party; and in no time he became the best of chums with the lot, it just came naturally to him. He then bought them over to his place back through the portal, because there was an unfortunate lack of cheap beer in the prehistoric times. But then something went wrong and the time portal collapsed, and the neanderthals… Read more »
What people must realize is Britannia is a very tough place to come to. Even more so for a club like Arsenal. Today The Orcs made 13 tackles, 65 long balls, 0 through balls and countless fouls. Teams like Chelsea & Manure have lost at the Britannia this season.
Fortunately for you there are no more Neanderthals today, else they might have sied you for defamation of character in comparing them to Stoke players.
@2014CHAMPIONS
I hear what you’re saying, but if a team really wants to win a title, then getting three points at that sinkhole is exactly the kind of performance required, thuggery or not.
I couldn’t care less about rival teams’ results at that place, only ours.
We just aint good enough.. no time for blaming the referee when we had the invincible squad we went unbeaten for 49 games referee decisions didnt matter cause we had so much quality it didnt matter what the referee did..
We havent lost the league to Stoke we never do well against them we lost the league to poor peformances against Man U and Liverpool… I will also ad none of the big teams have done well against Stoke..
The referee decision of the penalty might have been generous to Stoke, but you can’t say with certainty that it wasn’t a penalty. Not giving it would have been generous to us IMO, so one side’s fans would have said it was wrong, no matter what the referee gave, so can’t really complain there.
As for the other stuff, absolutely ridiculous! Stoke should have gotten plenty more yellows, and Adam should have been sent off! Hope the FA takes serious action, but then again, some part of me hopes he gets away with it, so he can destroy Chelsea/Tottenham.
We’ve dropped too many points to win the title now, who knows we may beat city and chelsea but it’s extremely unlikely. We’ve got a long way to go in the Fa cup and a trophy won’t be forthcoming unless the players really show determination. It comes back to same thing. Talk is cheap, performance and wins and points are everything.
FA cup is our best chance if we win the FA cup and still give the league a good go and finish on more points than last season thats a good season… thats improvement and thats a good foundation to build on for next season
How has Podolski been given a 4? He was terrible, did nothing to help defend and did nothing to help Giroud out.
The problems seems to be that he just doesn’t know how to play in our system. Whenever he’s played so far this season he’s looked lost and hasn’t seemed to know where to run. Today was the worst I’ve seen him on this count – he spent most of the time standing inside the centre circle, about 3 feet away from Jack, while there was acres of space out on the left. It really stumped me.
Thank heavens someone can see those acres of space…while Podolski stands so close to Jack. This guy is average period. Way over rated. It has nothing to do with our system or not. He is not good enough. Him and Giroud wouldn’t even get into Newcastle’s team.
111 caps for Germany. Average my arse.
aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Bad day at the office really, never got going. Stoke really are a filthy bunch of twats, but that doesn’t excuse us from playing so poorly. Still lots to play for though, have to get behind the lads for the run in. And for those questioning Arteta’s inclusion ahead of Flamini, do me a favour, Mikel has been exceptional for us. Amazing how quickly people seem to forget the red card Flamini picked up against Southampton, where he wasn’t even provoked, who knows what he could’ve done today.
YES! I like Flamini, but for me, Arteta’s still first choice. And you definitely don’t use Flamini against a team like Stoke, where he’s liable to get carded.
Flamini is better than Arteta against runners – the only runner Stoke has got looks like he was born as an albino malnutritioned Diaby clone that doesn’t know what it means when the Referee blows the whistle for free kick.
Strange days
It’s battle stations for 3rd place with Liverpool
Game on
4th you prat
Uhh, no, third. You don’t compete to come fourth with a team that are in the top four. It can be assumed that City will win at least one of their games in hand leaving Liverpool in third and us fourth. Why on Earth would we then compete to come fourth? Prat.
Chamberlain should start every game from now on.
If we don’t regroup and go on a winning streak, we will be fighting for 4th place again.
at this moment we should worry to finish 4th
I have learned in business that target setting dictates that you aim the highest you possibly can, and that means the title because it is still within our grasp. If you aim low, you are more likely to miss our target. If Liverpool are being touted as possible champions then I do not see why we are not, seeing as we are level on points to Liverpool and only 4 points off the top spot with 30 points still up for grabs. We have the capability of going on an unbeaten run, especially with Kallstrom and Ramsey coming back soon.… Read more »
Most people shitting on Giroud today, but Wilshere was the worst Arsenal player on the pitch today.
This is the **th time Wilshere has let us down this year. The ** means it’s in the double-digits now.
Too much Tweeting about this and that, not enough focus and maturity on the pitch.
Remind you of Frimpong anyone?
I have to conclude that the we are the only club that believe in miracles. Expecting any other outcome after the January transfer window inaction is truly wonderful. We are not just believers but hard-core believers bearing in mind this has been happening for years. Wait a minute – what does that make Wenger? Please feel free to comment.
Someone who does the same things time after time, expecting different results
Nobody was good but you’re right. You only have to look at the emergence of Rambo this season to see how Wilshere’s fortunes can change. In regards to Giroud, we can talk about hold up play til the cows come home but I don’t think he is good enough to be the focal point of our attack. He can’t find the scoring positions to be in and when he does he’s not clinical enough to finish them.
Giroud is NOT good enough to be an Arsenal player. Looking at the strikers we have had in the past 2 decades, would Giroud match any of them? I doubt he would even make the bench during their times at our club.
Wilshere needs to get off his arse and chase the ball down rather than laying down on the ground, complaining to the referee and throwing a tantrum like a spoilt child. He needs a kick up the arse. I know he will come good sooner or later as he has shown us that he can play brilliant football, but he needs to grow up a bit and stop whining.
The entire team bar Ox completely lacked energy (or any necessity for that matter) to get forward. This is one of those matches that are best forgotten.
That attitude is one of the sole reasons why we haven’t won anything for so long. We lose matches like this every season when it matters, so why not actually find out why and what went wrong rather than forgetting about it?
How many times have I seen that recently?
I dunno mate this is one of those disasters on the scale of Hiroshima that can never be forgotten as a reminder to all never to go back to these depths.
Seriously terrible performance against the worst technical team in existence. Just have to say Kieran Gibbs average, bog standard performances go unnoticed far too often. He can’t fucking cross and its fucking shit. Monreal is shitter than shit so don’t want him there but seriously, is it just me that notices that cuz he needs to learn how to cross and take on his man with any real conviction. Sanogo is the worst technical player I’ve seen at arsenal and the ox needs to start more especially on the right, why did the boss drop him anyway, was the best… Read more »
I’d almost guess that Gibbs was not fully fit to play today, it was a matter of who was more fit between himself and Monreal given the shit situation we had at LB…just like I’m guessing that Ramsey was not fully fit when he was brought back and subsequently aggravated his injury again in training.
Should have played Verm then. The decision to leave out Ox and Flame was terrible, and Wenger was far too late on making changes for players who played terribly.
Ridiculous. Suggesting to play Verm when he’s only back after a longer spell out than Gibbs and in his less preferred position.
not sure I would have started Podolski. I think we could have played faster on the wings from the beginning to try and stretch the game open a little bit. No one wanted to beat anybody one-on-one out there. Sanago’s late chance was poor; the Chamberlain pass that fell to Giroud’s right foot was also a poor miss.
RVP (or another more clinical striker) will be in order next year. I like Giroud, but he looks knackered.
Giroud is not good enough for our club.It out of our hands now try concentrate on the fa cup now
Simply Insipid. Really tired of our seasons petering out like this. I hate to use a pundits’ clichéd phrase but we really don’t have a plan B when we’re getting fucked in midfield.
One of the main differences from last season has been having a Flamini, this game seemed made for him – a whole Charlie Adam to aim his bark at?! – and yet he find himself on the bench.
Don’t understand Wenger sometimes. Easy to get annoyed at little things in retrospect, but that one seemed strange to me from the start. Looks like Ox has to start every game from now on for sure, starting with Everton bright and early on Saturday!
Winning is a team effort, and today every offensive player on the pitch were poor. It’s as simple as that really. We still lack depth, and we’re too rigid in terms of tactics. When you play away against Stoke, you have to be able to counter attack fast, and you need to be able to use the space behind the defenders. They’re slow, but strong (and they couldn’t care less if they step on someone). We seemed to be doing neither. Instead, we kept running straight into them, as if that was ever going to work. Wenger’s brilliant at a… Read more »
Not the way we would have ideally chosen to go into the next run of games…
I hate this..hate this..really really really hate this. They take us on ride for a whole f***ing season..make us believe, hope and dream and kill it all with slow chinese style torture. As much as my paranoid brain thinks our brilliant season is falling apart, i want it all to change. Bring on everton, bayern, totters, chelski and mancity…after this set of games we will realistically know whether my paranoid brain is right or not. Till then…comeon gunners you can most certainly do better than this!
Was expecting Giroud to be on a wheelchair by the end of that match
At least a wheelchair would make him more mobile.
When are we going to see ratings for the mangers performance in this section?
There’s no point. Fans pour praises on players after a good win/performance (see last week), and this week AW gets most of the heat. It’s his fault in my opinion, but the vitriol people are aiming at him… You’d think there weren’t 11 players on at least £50k a week, on the pitch….
Managers get little praise in good times, and a tonne of the flack in bad. That’s just how fans are, and why it would be bad/incite a mini-revolution if we could vote on manager ratings haha
We can’t put it all down to him, but on days like this (there are many of them) you have to ask what the point is in Podolski. Is he really as slow as he seems? And how is he going to use that left foot of his if he doesn’t even try to find space?
We end up with this bloke hanging around the left flank; not tricky enough to beat a man, not creative enough to thread passes and not sharp enough to make runs off-the-ball and stretch the defence.
Hope that’s not too harsh—just need to vent!
He is average & borders on useless! You have said nothing wrong my brother! You are spot on!
Dissapointing, but let’s push on. Of the competitions we’re still involved in, the FA Cup and the League are still there for the taking.
Three weeks ago would have been inconceivable we would be facing a battle for fourth place, but hard to argue that’s what it has come to. Yes, injuries have hurt, but that’s the nature of the beast. Striker notwithstanding, there is more than enough talent in the squad to grind out results. Hard to look at the team sheets and square that with the result. Something is missing, too many players a step slow….Poldi, Giroud, Santi….and Jack, sadly, has done nothing to earn his starting place, careless with the ball, uncommitted in his tackling. Liverpool put 5 past Stoke and… Read more »
As much as I hate Mourinho, he is spot on with his analysis of Arsenal “Specialists in Failure!”
It’s a sad day when the the English media is able to indulge an idiot enough for him to influence people’s opinions.
Fuck Mourinho. It may be a prerogative of Arsenal fans to criticize the manager, but I’ll be damned if we should be quoting the MOUth that roared.
What kind of arsenal fan says that?!
fuck off!
quoting that arrogant little manipulative SHIT. eugh
At risk of sounding like a 14 year old fifa player, what we need now is some real pace to our game. Of course it doesn’t help that Walcott (our fastest player) and Ramsey (our ‘driving player) have been injured, but we still have players with speed in the team (Gnabry, Ox, Oezil and Sanogo are no snails either) and what is inexcusable is Arsene’s reluctance to give us any kind of plan B on the pitch. When Wengerball doesn’t seem to be happening, what else can we do? Look at Liverpool: shit team, shit manager but about to over… Read more »
Liverpool are not a shit team.
They have the best strike force in the premier league & also some good midfielders & defenders.
deluded if you think pool is shit.none of our striker would get in their side, our midfied has dozen of similar player who like to pass pass pass. pool maybe dont have the quality of our player but right now they much better team and well balanced squad .
A good enough striker would have papered over the cracks in the team, as much as I like Giroud he won’t win you a title as a clubs first choice striker
It’s so sad because Cazorla should’ve played in Podolski and with that left foot through on goal I’d only see one outcome and things could’ve been so different. Key decision making screw-up by Cazorla.
And Wilshere, plays 10 shit games and 1 good. Can’t wait for Ramsey to be back. Wilshere has a LOOOOOOOOOONG way to go before being called a good player. Just not good enough to play regularly in a title winning team tbh. Too many give aways, doesn’t tackle, too many going no wheres.
Does Wilshere have one eye on his world cup place?
Needs to stop believing his hype and put in top level performances over multiple games. I’m still not sure what he gives us ………. No pace, poor in the tackle, limited passing range but he does release the ball late and draws fouls which means he’s the only footballer I know with a cauliflower arse.
Other than that, I love him.
Oh how we miss Rambo
Lol, “Cazorla in Podolski” would be just an awesome player. I imagine Cazorla’s foot up Poldi’s arse, what a wonderful creature on the football pitch, certainly more effective than Poldi himself. To say Poldi is average is wrong though. He ain’t average, but the problem is that his mind is on other things and he aint the most ambitious lad. Me tink he plays best when there is no competions for his position and when he is sure he is a “prince” at the club. Fact is, he does not suit Arsenal. To say Wilshere plays well 1 outa 10… Read more »
Kos certainly does have an almost Richard Dunne-esque ability to get red cards, score own goals and give away penalties!
Probably because he’s the quick defender of the pair. Merte is all about positioning but if anything goes wrong – and it frequently does on the left – it’s Kos who has to rush in and save us. No surprise it doesn’t always come off. Maybe he’s reckless by nature as well and still a bit inexperienced but a lot of the problem is to do with the type and amount of work that he does.
Our crossing was abysmal today. I lost count how many went weakly into the keepers hands.
We kept tyring to score the Norwich/Sunderland goal.
Here’s a tip. Great as those goals were, they were against two really poor sides at The Emirates. Teams that kind of gave up.
It won’t work against big teams and not even against a focused defence like Stoke’s.
FFS vary the attacks. And if you do cross it, make sure you have at least four players in the box.
Bah. I’m really pissed off. Hansen will be bashing himself off like a monkey.
gonna sleep. Wake me up when March ends!
Is wilshere really that good or he needs more time????
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/bayerns-secret-weapon-how-thiago-has-overtaken-wilshere-player-his-generation
at least we are not fulham
Mr Blogg’s rating are usually spot on, but Santi was shite today. Love the lil’ dude, but he was poor today. Wilshere was bloody terrible. Giroud may be tired from dodging flying crockery it seems.
Still…COYG (trying not to cry).
Here comes the downfall which was always enviable after January by not giving the squad a boost.
as usual, when the games mean something Arsenal fold like a wet paper bag. Won 2 out of our last 8. Gone from 1st to possibly 4th after today. Mental strength! Wenger is a loser
I don’t want to give up on the tittle just yet.Yes we were poor, but stoke at the britannia its a hard place to go and play (Chelshit lost there, man u too and man shitty drew). I remember last year we were 7 points behind sp*rs and in the last day of the season we got the fourth place and qualified for uefa champions league.Yes Chelsea or man city are not sp*rs, and usually this is the time that Arsenal falls but i believe we can still win the league.Its not over yet!Come on fellow arsenal fans believe …Keep… Read more »
Next match please!!
With Walcott out, Chamberlain should be an automatic starter. Even if Walcott was playing, Alex should be starting in midfield instead of Jack. We need our Aaron so badly
Its time for wenger to see why a pacy player is important in a game.We need a pacy striker like henry or even theo.I dont understand the lone striker thing.Its bad enough that u make it easier for defenders to focus on one striker only,but u cant count on midfielders to score goals.theres a reason why strikers are strikers.they are suppose to be the one scoring the goals.and look at the starting 11 today.none of them have pace in thier pocket.and then look what happen when u bring on ox.it somewhat changed the game for us a little.gnabry shld have… Read more »
Why is Arsene Wenger not on the rating list? After all, Wenger put the team on the field and supposedly coached the players on how to play Stoke…no? Why did Wenger put such a ‘slow’ team against Stoke is beyond belief. Ox, Flamini would have I think made the 1st half less stagnant… And if that didn’t work, Gnabry could come on in the 2nd half to relief Rosicky or Podolski. And the fact that we relied on a Ligue 2 (and not even top ones there) striker to rescue us was pathetic. We are Arsenal not WBA or Cardiff… Read more »
Arsenal weren’t up for it and that is the disappointing part. I don’t mind a battling defeat but the way we played today showed no evidence of hunger. The annual fourth place fight begins now. Everything will be hunky dory once we achieve that. Shame on the millionaire players who can’t be arsed. FA cup the only hope now. God bless the club.
There are so many comments. I tried to read through all the comments. What most people seem to forget is that every time we ‘rest’ for long in between games, the first match is always a disaster. Most players seem to switch off both mentally and physically. Regaining them is usually a gradual process. So my verdict is Wenger took a stupid decision. If he wants players to rest, he should rest them by rotation
This was fricking Stoke City. We should have been up for this! If not for Ramsey than for that terrible Fanzine shit they pulled regarding him. I m not one to chastise our players too much but I think it’s time we give Jack a breather. He’s had far too many below par performances lately. He tries hard but it’s not working out. Plus if he doesn’t put tackles in and make an effort to intercept, its extra pressure on his midfield partner. I think Arsene got the selection wrong for this one. I think he should have started Flamini.… Read more »
i keep hammering the point week after week about our lack of a plan b ! it was obvious after 30 minutes we were unlikely to score , but we keep doggidly to the same system week in week out regardless of the score or situation . thats down to a one trick pony of a manager who`s blinkered into believing everything will work out ok
“Days like today are the perfect illustration of why Arsene Wenger has chosen to keep him sidelined” Exactly. I love Podolski as a player, but I absolutely hate it when people say he should start every game/start ahead of Giroud. “He loves the club, he was brilliant against West Ham, he scored a brace against Coventry, he has more goals than no. of appearances blahblah…” But just like Rosicky, people need to start looking beyond the stats to judge Podolski’s performances. Yes, “He did nothing wrong” today, but that’s because he was hardly in the game. Podolski has the really… Read more »
Liverpool 2-0 up now.
It’s pouring down diarrhea today on our hopes.
No surprise really, is it?
Just waiting for the inevitable collapse. Walcott and Ramsey out and not replaced in the window meant we were not winning the league….
But we could have, if Wenger wasn’t such a total tit.
That’s it for years now…
All the top sides will buy big in the summer and we’ll be fucked for another generation.
Wankers.
Sadly Arsenal are a mediocre team that had been over-performing for the most part this season, and with Liverpool already 2-0 up at Southampton, we are staring at the dreadful abyss of the scrap for 4th place. You can’t blame the lads for trying, putting an effort at Stoke, and getting the sh!t kicked out of them for the entire game. But we are really lacking quality in the squad. An honest reflection… how many gooners would have a starting place at the top clubs in Europe (i.e. Barca, Real, Bayern, ect)? Maybe 2 or 3 at most, and all… Read more »
Poldy was horrid. He looks the slowest player or the pitch and I think Szcz has better footwork. Looks even more one footed this season than last. Looks down the entire time he plays. Just not right for games where we don’t have all the possession. Much would have rather seen Oxlade out there, don’t know why the Professor still babies him, I man he’s an OX.
As some wag once put it “Wilshere will be playing for West Ham or QPR in 2 seasons time”.
Pissed off 🙁