The ESPN deportes announcer said it was the most "pobre" (poor) game he had seen out of Arsenal in a long time. He was virtually apologizing to the viewers for a poor show.
Arteta is horrible, what an amateur ... We should thank the Africans for their Cup, or the superb winger would still be superb in Wenger's eyes
20 seconds left in a 1-1 draw, Gibbs slowly walks to throw the ball in and then dicks around actually getting it in. Sums up this team perfectly.
The main problem (as someone else stated) from what I'm seeing is our lack of possession. Whenever we got the ball there was maybe one or 2 passes and that was it. We played with high pace today but couldnt control the passes so at some point you have to change the game and go back to being patient and having possession. Possession helps with so many things. It helps with confidence of the team, creates spaces, and runs the other team ragged. We really failed with that today. Whenever players like Podolski,Sagna,Ox at times got the ball it was lost. Too many risky passes that all failed. Gotta be able to change the game from risky to controlled but we didnt seem to have the players for that today.
The defence in general looked shaky. Even szcency had a few moments. What we lack really is a defence general, so to speak. United have Rio and Vidic, Chelsea have Terry, even Spurs had King. We have nobody who can marshal the defence and tell people to get the ******** in shape if they mess about. We need to go back in time about 20 years, get Tony Adams and put him in the current team lol.. People talk about Bould's influence, but it's clear by the continual mistakes that he is either incompetent as a defensive coach or is not actually coaching them. IMO, it's the latter. What is pissing me off the most though is that we can beat teams, but it's our own slackness that lets teams draw or beat us. Had we been sharp enough, Sunderland, Stoke, Chelsea, Norwich, Villa, Everton, even Bradford, could all have been victories.
No one is disputing the fact he was great before. Keyword, was. He's no longer the rb that made the best 11 each year. He's done pretty poor this year and the fact that he's never put in a decent cross is annoying. He's 30, isn't he? Jenks should be getting more time since he will take over by next year anyway.
Kos has pace and good tackling. But he doesn't seem like a marshalling player to me. The last defender we had of that calibre was Sol or Gallas.
Yep. That's a team that is not shooting for first, or for winning anything, but a team that wants to take a point and get out of Dodge. Playing for fourth, as we basically have for the past 5-6 years, is catching up with us...
This was the issue today. I can't believe Wenger sent out an identical starting eleven 72 hours after the Newcastle game. It's suicidal. I know we lack depth, but come on.
we didn't even deserve that single point. very little ingenuity on show today. btw. gervinho sucks donkey balls. he's like a drunken giraffe out there.
Arsenal's confidence has been nothing shot of overflowing with 4 consecutive wins. Southampton on the other hand had drawn their last match with Stoke. Arsenal needed a win to keep their title hopes alive but Southampton thought otherwise. http://managereview.blogspot.com/2013/01/wengers-boys-disappoint-as-southampton.html
Woefully horrendous performance. Sometimes our fans can be pretty myopic. A lot of us were upset after the Swansea game, I wasn't. Swansea beat us by playing total top-drawer football for 90+ mintues. Its performances (and results) like today that are killing us. The only excuse is the conditions of the pitch. Clearly we weren't prepared for the lack of footing available and as a result were not able to explode forward or change directions well. Even so, we've seen that once or twice before and ought to figure out how to adapt by now.
13 out of 15 is not a bad haul. Forwards got no real service from the wide positions. They were clinical defensively. I think Gibbs need to overlap a little bit more but having Podolski in front precludes that. Team looked tired but we should have dug in and won. Anyway, on to the next one.
I don't see how Gibbs can be criticized at all after today. Granted he fell asleep vs Newcastle, but he was a stud today just like he's been all season. When he gets in the attack, he actually finds good positions and puts in dangerous crosses (ie. Walcotts goal vs Newcastle, Podolskis vs Reading). I think he should have shot on that last one but he's doing something that Sagna hasn't all season- contribute to the offense. His late runs have really opened up teams and his defending has gotten a lot better. The problem today was we got the ball to Sagna every single time on the right and Podolski every single time on the left, and neither of them were willing to take on their man or put in a decent cross, and even if they were, Walcotts not going to be the type of center forward where you want to send balls across to. Southampton did a good job of clogging up the space in the middle for Santi and Jack. These types of game we really need Giroud in up top with wingers and fullbacks who can beat their men on the outside... Why do you think Man Utd always cruises vs lowly teams.. they have Ashley Young and Valencia on the outside serving the ball to Rooney and RvP.
This match was summed up for me on their goal...they had 5-6 players near the box and they got a goal. We rarely got more than one player in the box on our attacks. No purpose going forward...frustrating, but a point on the road in a holiday fixture is something I guess. We need to get a nice unbeaten run going to build some momentum.
he hasn't been good for a few games now. it's worrying, considering he was (imo) the best rb in the league only a couple of seasons ago. maybe it's time for jenkinson to have a go.
Yeah it is a little worrisome, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer given his history. He's been a great player for a long time. I don't think this is physical decline given how suddenly it came on. I don't think anybody would deny that we need to see more rotation. Maybe he's just fatigued. Either way I guess it's time to see more of the Corporal.
idk, he really hasnt been up to his past standards since his return. 2 leg breaks in 8 months has to have some damage on a player, especially an all action fullback like Sagna.
Just buy a decent striker, someone with benefits. Llorente or even Benteke would be a reasonable transfer. And a winger like Arda 24m is a lot, but it's worth. With Arda - Llorente - AOC you have some Arsenal worthy footballers
This is how I feel too except I think he will recover from the injuries. I just think it's taking him a while to get back to his high, consistent level, but I have faith that he will get there.