Arsene Wenger spoke to BT Sport (great tv coverage today, you utter bellends!) after the 2-2 draw at Sp*rs. Here’s what he had to say.
On the significance of the draw…
I believe we’ve shown great spirit in all the game. I’m proud of the spirit the players have shown and the response, even 2-1 down with ten men away from home. We’ve managed to come back to at least take a point. We have big regrets because it looked like we were completely in control when we went down to ten men. That’s the regret of the day. Overall it’s difficult to take.
On Coquelin’s red card…
We told him at half time, because he had a yellow already. I think Dier deserves a second yellow as well and that could have changed the game. Overall, we have to look at ourselves on that.
On his players responding to criticism that they lack character…
Personally, I never questioned the character of this team. But when you don’t win the games you have to accept that [criticism] and respond on the pitch. That’s the only thing you can do. I think we did that in a very convincing way.
On what the result means for the title race…
I don’t know. We have just to win our games again. We lost two games and got a draw today, that could [always] happen against Tottenham. We want to come back and win our games.
On individual performances…
I think we have seen up front that Welbeck and Sanchez were much stronger today. At the back we were composed, Ospina did well. In midfield we all did well. Elneny did well for a first game. He did alright.
Really poor tackle. But on the positive side Sanchez looked better.
Le Coq was getting in touch with his inner Flamini on that tackle. Has not been the same since he came back from that knee injury.
Inner Flamini?……LOL
To be fair to him, he was having a good game before then.
Not only that, if you look at the tackle again he nearly got his toes to the ball but Kane lifted it a bit so Coq wouldn’t get it but yeah, poor decision to go to ground in any case.
Even Flamini doesn’t do something like that, to be fair to him.
One of the most brainless things I can remember seeing an Arsenal player doing.
haha
Yeah Flamini usually aims his boots at their badge, not their feet
I presume you’ve never seen Flaminni play then?
Yeah Flamini is more a two footed off the ground tackle type of player
Disagree!
Took a couple games to get going, but was a shining light in the dismal display against Swansea and was quality today before the stupid red.
Speaking of Sanchez he made the world see the type of cunt Lamela is.
Thought he was gonna go the full Paul Alcock!!!
What a nob end, can’t expect any better from that scum……
Yep Alexis definitely more on it today.
Hopefully the goal will be the spark he needs.
Who was that cunt who got him booked??
Arsenal are serial chokers. In a big match it’s a certainty that Arsenal will either, get a red card. Concede a penalty or throw away a lead.
I beleive Coquelin thinks these days that he has arrived. His behaviour these days stinks. He is constantly throwing tantrums each time the ref gives a free kick against him. Instead of keeping quit and walk away, he starts challenging the ref. I wonder who he thinks he is. This also come to my point of blaming Wenger. Why can’t he speak to him, does it mean he doesn’t see the problem or the fool doesnt listen to him? He nearly cost us the game yesterday.
…
a game of such fine margins. for once, i am absolutely livid at coquelin’s decision making.. we were comfortably on top at the start of the 2nd half and then Coquelin went and did that.. absolutely ridiculous decision.
on a brighter note, atleast we didnt lose.. i am hoping that wenger continues to play 2 holders in the middle, till Santi is back. Also i hope the goal kicks Alexis back to life..
And Ospina, was the MOTM.. some brilliant saves 🙂
Good saves from Ospina but his distribution was piss poor this afternoon!
Why the downvotes, even Welbeck threw his arms up in frustration because Ospina’s kick couldn’t get to him?! Look at his performance video. His kicks have always been his weak point. Last year he could barely get the ball across halfway! I’m a big fan of his but kicking never was his strong point.
i concur BT were utter bells today
Only today?!
today they were the biggest hatters. the hate i could feel all morning was strong. you could hear the silence when we scored that it totally went against their script for the day and the excitement in their voices when the spuds scored. not only did it cut out at a vital moment but they had that idiot piers morgan giving us all a bad name. getting canceled when contracts done
Thank god he’s finally seen how ineffective Walcott is. However, Arsene really needs to prepare his team better should we go down to ten men, this has happenned against Chelsea and countless other teams. Fair enough if we concede goals late on after being down to 10 men for 30 mins + but to concede two goals right after going down to 10 men is just lack of organisation and poor preparation.
We need to win games now. I can’t believe we are still in it. And the elneny coquelin partnership is working really well. Ramsey on the right was excellent (apart from some moments) . I just love the formation wenger went with today. I hope he goes with it until the end of the season. Even though we still lack creativity in the middle of the park, I think its possible to say that we are finally stable down that front with coquelin and elneny.
coyg! we still can pull it of!!
I agree. Welbeck was good. Still not a striker, see that chance he did not take in the first half, faffing . They were reeling after the first goal.
Was pretty shit I thought. There was no cover on the right at all. Danny Rose was always free, please just play Campbell instead of Ramsey. He’s shit, seriously shit.
Hope we don’t let a draw against the fucking spuds paper over the gaping cracks. That was a shocking first half, no idea how we came out of it 1 nil up.
Agree about Rambo despite the goal.
Still we looked a lot more solid with Elneny and Coq in central midfield. Mental tackle though
Ramsey more dangerous to opposition and less of a liability to us out wide.
Hate to be the bitcher here but sending off was harsh too. Dyer was a clear cut case of sending off. But again its life. Coq was naive and what a skilled camel Kane is!
By ‘skilled camel’ do you mean ‘open mouthed cunt’?
The sending off wasn’t harsh, Coq’s yellow was a softie. If you wanted Dyer gone for the shirt tug then Hector should’ve gone too. With his pace, for the life of me, I don’t understand his reasoning to pull. He always does it and gets away with it most of the time until it will cost him. Needs to work on that for me. Otherwise fair play to Oliver apart from not giving that prick Lamela a yellow just for his stupid hairstyle 😀
It’s hard to avoid the feeling that the referees in England look out for the English players. If Coquelin was English and Dier was French, who gets the red card?
If we play like this….
But more than anything, I hope wenger selects on merit from here on. Elnenny not Flamini. Please no Walcott, and make Ramsey play on the right, or Campbell.
Get serious, we fought them to a standstill, there’s still a chance.
Good game for a derby….. le coq that was just stupid.
Unbelievable decision to attemp that tackle from coq. He has been around long to show more footballing sense than that. I have a feeling Sanchez is about to rediscover his mojo. He hit the post and bar the other night got the assist scored today and almost got assist with lovely ball for Ramsey. He didn’t look happy at the end stomped off pitch hopefully told coq what a cunt he was
I will not criticise individuals, and I know its a point that feels like a win, but once again Arsenal have not won a must win season ender !!
Has happened too many times over the years.
Will those thumbing down this post, above please also remind of the great wins Arsenal have had in crucial games towards the of the season in the league, that have helped propel Arsenal towards the league title, in the recent past.
Elneny in the middle from now on at least until Cazorla returns. Ramsey is disciplined enough for central midfield. Put him out wide and he scores, coincidence? Coquelin was a stupid Coq today but he only misses the Hull replay on Tuesday which he may have been rested for anyway. Our midfield looks a lot more balanced with him and Elneny in the centre.
Im amazed at his restraint with coquelin. Ild be going fucking mental as manager and team mate
The Coq will get whacked plenty, I’m sure.
Coq should kbow that he let the team down today. Now what we expected from him
are people on here still seriously talking about the title? WAKE UP! we are now in a fight to stay in the top four. FFS.
Man City 2 points behind us now with a game in hand.
Agreed, we can’t just go out and win it, not from here. But Leicester, Sp*rs and Citeh can lose it.
If we can take heart from today and pick up some points, (ok, a *load* of points) from here on in, we can still be there to pick up the pieces. Who knows?
The pundits have been saying “no one seems to want to win the title this season”. Let’s show them.
I still believe…. 27 points – take 25 and the title is ours
Easier said than done, considering we have 2 wins from last 9 league games.
Let me have a go at being deluded….
If we beat Barca 3-0 then we are through.
You can give Sky all the abuse in the world but I’ve never seen that happen before. 2-2 in the last minute with Spurs on the attack and their coverage cuts off. Pay €21 a month for about 6 hours of football and that happens. Shocking stuff and then when you get back we have to listen to McMannaman and Hoddle. Christ!!!
The whole BT Sport things is a fiasco. I’m sure I am like many. I have Sky but can’t warrant getting BT Sports as well. My Sky package – which I got mainly for sports – is now so expensive that I can’t justify it anymore now because theres so many things that aren’t on it and I will be junking it at the end of the season. So, in the name of competition – which was meant to drive prices down for consumers – you either have to pay out twice to get what you were getting on one… Read more »
I get BT Sport free as I have BT broadband I then pay £6.99 on Now TV for each Sky Arsenal match…cheaper than getting Sky Sports…
in SA we have dstv which shows all EPL games plus rugby cricket etc for R700 pm or £30. its still too expensive considering the minimal wage is around £200 pm.
Coq you were really stupid today.
On the plus side, I think we were much better today and we should keep playing Ramsey on the Right hand side.
I liked the fact that Arsene did take some risks and it worked really well.
I know it’s a long shot now but I hope we can turn it around from here.
COYG
Never give up!
We should be thankful for the point and not so much focus on an individual’s mistake I am sure coq feels like sh#t already. Games like this we don’t know how they would go.let’s just we start winning again soon
At least we didn’t get beat by that dross, feared the worst after the sending off, so we dent their title aspirations so can’t complain!!! Still think its time for Wenger to retire!!!
Listen for me if we in case win the title from here,Arsene has to stay and develop this team,because to win this title from here we need some real mental steel.This season for me for sure is Arsene’s penultimate test. Then again after the first half we really were dominating those ass wipes like we were at home..and then after the red card to see Wenger’s face on the T.V I was thinking…How unlucky he has become and We the club in general have become was pain stacking to say the least. To pull a point off from there was… Read more »
Gabriel is getting better.
That’s not really very difficult, he could hardly get any worse?
I wondered if he’s learned any more English?
Loved Michael Oliver getting Per to come to speak to Gabriel. What – in German??!
Spurs didn’t look that impressive to me. Great goal from Kane but Merts lack of focus and no one pressing Kane made it easier.
Apart from our wobble in the 10 mins after the sending off I thought we were totally dominant. Even with 10 men.
Leicester were a far more difficult opposition. I really think Leicester could actually do this but performances like today from Arsenal mean we are still in it IMO. Elneny in the middle and Ramsey out right absolutely HAS to be the way forward from now on.
We had this game, had coquelin not been that stupid. The tackle was absolutely reckless.
The final third wasn’t abysmal and I like welebecks work rate. He was isolated in the front on a couple of occasions but a 10 man draw feels fine.
The league looks far away, but at least we prevented the Sp*rs from going to the top.
Good game, Ramsey was more useful on the flank.
Gabriel needs more work and Ospina proved to be world class.
Welebeck +1
next week some other asshole player will conspire to throw points away and then moan at the end of the season that they want to leave and win things. In this together, cunts.
Coquelin behaved like a Tottenham Cock head today! A complete Coq-Up that denied us 3 points. His wages this week should be docked to serve as a deterrent to the other players to take the remaining 9 games seriously and play like Title contenders. Mistakes would no longer be condoned. Anything can happen before the end of 9 games. We have being in Leciester’s position so many times and ended up not winning the league. If the players are determined and put in more effort we could win our remaining games. Its not impossible.
I liked the way boss run the show today..always on the line ..did not make panic change after the send off…his changes were all positive. ..went for the result till the last second…and was transmitted to the players too.
Good day in the office for the boss.
There comes a time when a team will have to step up and play for their coach,today was the day. They knew losing that game even with ten men was just not an option. They played their hearts out to save Wenger from the magnitude of pressure that will descend on him if they had lost. A lost today and they knew that would have been a downward spiral for most of them. That is what we expect to see from them week in week out. If we don’t win the league, it must not be because of a lack… Read more »
We were lucky to have escaped with a draw. The boys were casual in the first half. I don’t expect much from Arsenal as long as Wenger remains manager & he continue with his strange transfer policy
Coq needs a kick in the hole for that. We were in no trouble prior to his sending off. Good result from where we were. Spurs best team since 61 are only 3 points ahead and they are fuckin shit. Great to see Alexis back in the goals.
The red was always comibg with Coquelin, but to not completely capitulate in that fifteen minute onslaught was great. I felt Wenger should have bulwarked the right dlank with Campbell for Ozil. There goals came from the exposed right flank… but aside from that i cant fault the players. Coquelin looked devastated, and given hes one of several players in tuat team that looks up for abattle every game its not hard to go easy on him there. I think the title is over. Its time to focus on the FA Cup and just put everything into finishing above them.… Read more »
Gibbs and Debuchy. Huge contrast in mentality. Bar a few stray passes it looked like he was the Club’s starting full back. He has barely had a sniff in thanks to Nacho’s performances but he hasn’t complained once. Good on the lad and fair play to him for trying to go Messi on us before that Sp*rs twat handled!
THe title is no way over, we can still do it.
I had my heart in my mouth when he got the yellow..I was thinking to myself it should have been him..Damn it!
shouldn’t*
Elneny impressed .
Agreed. He played solid, not flash. Hope we see more starts for him there.
I know it will be very hard, depending on the result of Leicester today, but we can’t blame the players for lacking character if we also give up on the title. City have done it before… twice! And against better teams mind you (United, Liverpool). It will be hard but I want to continue to believe.
The idiot almost cost us three points
Coq didn’t listen.
Ospina MOTM.
Utter act of idiocy from Coquelin. We were comfortable and then all over the place. That’s the difference between winning the league or not. And what was per doing for the 2nd? But fair play, we gathered our heads and looked the better team last 20 mins, thoroughly deserving our point. We showed balls today and they have shown in the last week that they can’t handle the pressure. As proud as I am of our response I actually think it feels like 2 points dropped. But at 2-1 done with 30 mins to go and 10 men they should… Read more »
Off topic lads but Martinez stock at Everton has seriously dropped. I have said before luakaku is a man to get. A proper front man. We good even off hire a couple of our lot in exchange they love a wide mm an up there.
SCREWED BY OUR OWN COQ! Teenager error. He would probably have walked straight past the showers and into a taxi after that. Such a costly leave of sense. When will our club ever learn maturity. However, I still rate the guy and his commitment and potential should see him still well supported after today. So, we have a irrational Coq, who doesn’t. Fortunately for us, and at long last, his teammates found a testicle to go with it and grabbed a vital equaliser for a point, which crucially too, stole two points back from a club founded on being Cocks!… Read more »
Coquelin’s sending off was the result of a stupid fucking decision he should never have made, but you could see Kane left his legs trailing, knowing he’d draw the foul and get Coq sent off. Looked like he could have easily hopped the challenge. But, like I said, Coquelin should never have put himself into the position to let Kane make that cynical move.
It’s very difficult to make a point once your Coq has got over-excited, well done lads!
even the most experienced Coq ejaculates prematurely every now and then.
and I am out the door.
So pleased that we showed some fight today. Down to 10 I was expecting a complete collapse but we showed something today we have been sadly lacking over the last month, the desire to win and we nearly pulled it off. As long as Arsene is our manager, we will never again win the really big trophies that we all crave, the PL and CL. His time is up, he’s had an excellent run but now in his late 60’s it time for him to hang up his training kit and get out his slippers and let a young hungry… Read more »
Oh how sorely do we miss cazorla. Tired of seeing our right back getting ball in our half who is eventually forced to go back to cech coz there is no one in midfield to release some pressure off of him. Santi does that so well with his neat turns and accurate passing!
We need a new manager ?
Two of stupidest yellows you’ll ever see. And, like others, I rate Coquelin highly. Thought Oliver was good, again, but even he, in my eyes, was too inconsistent in dishing out the cards. No way Spuds should have finished 11 either. At the very least another 2-3 yellows.
So now the title push is almost definitely out of the Gunners hands so to speak … real pity but i guess after all these years Arsene himself forgot / lost the real drive about how to get there to the top… all this talk about mental strenght being just the cover for sth actually the opposite … at least we know they’re quite able in fighting for the top 4 spot when the going gets tough -though with a form like this who knows ? strange times ahead
So do we play Flamini next to El Neny against Hull?
Should we? Dunno. Will we? Probably.
Well as I grow older sometimes I tell my Coq to get up or stay up but,