We had Ramsey then. As Dixon rightly pointed out, he is the only midfielder with the balls to make runs into the box. Everyone else is happy passing back and forth at the edge of the box. Everything is too cute. Wasn't surprised by Dixon's story about 10 passes in a row equaling a goal in practice. We've played that way too much for years now. I'm sick of it.
i agree, a Podolski-Giroud combination would have made us more threatening against this United side, especially with both Ferdinand and Vidic on the pitch LOL. wenger is a great coach but he seriously has no clue how to handle a big game this season. Very frustrating stuff to see and an advantage for any other coach since our game - ball possession with 5 midfielders + Giroud - becomes very predictable.
Still you. He gave a great effort but didn't have the legs to make anything happen. Plus I feel like you are an Ozil fanboy for no particular reason. I want Arsenal to win, with or without your boy.
For Real I want my counter attacking effective Arsenal back from days of yore. TIKI TAKA crap has to go
I think some of the backlash is a bit harsh. It wasn't THAT bad of a performance. We easily out shot them and had the game under control for the most part. We definitely lacked a cutting edge in the final third, but then we were also close on a few occasions (the Giroud header, the Giroud near post run, a couple Santi shots). I am a little frustrated with Wenger's stubbornness though. His faith in his players and his system is one of his strong points because he doesn't waver prematurely, but it's also a weakness because he gets locked into pre-set ideas without adjusting. His subs always seem to come really late and he doesn't seem to make enough of them. I also don't know about the tactic of using central midfielders like Rosicky and Wilshere in wing positions. It seems to me it would make much more sense to have players there who represent more of a goal threat. But of course the only guy who really fits that description is Podolski and he's not a Wenger style player. If we had a winger in the mold of C Ronaldo (obviously we're not getting the man himself) who could chip in with 10-15 goals from a wide position and pose a real danger from the perimeter, I think it would help unlock the middle. Right now teams now they just need to clog up the center and hope we don't find those 1-2 magic moments that we need to score every game.
tbh, I can see us losing points to Stoke. Some rotation is required too, some of these players are just exhausted (Ozil) or in very bad shape (Cazorla, Nacho, Arteta)
wenger sounds very dejected...almost apologetic in tone. that body language at the start of the post-match interview wasn't very confidence inspiring...not facing, glancing sideways to speak etc. picked up a bit by the end though.
On a more positive note, i was impressed with Gibbs today, more than i ever have been before. Szcyscsycsny as well.
Thank goodness, cause we have looked like shit against title contenders. We need Rambo and Flamini back, we are running out options and very predictable.
Obviously Wenger didn't learn from a couple of years ago when he lost his only proven striker (RvP) and the team limped to 4th. Dear god this frustrates me.
With his resistance to change he is holding himself back and holding back the team. It's the same old shit again and again, and he can't or won't seek change.
Indeed it was. It's also an example of why some of us will be happy enough to see the back of Arsene Wenger even if we win the League this year (and I at least am still entertaining hope of that happening). We're paying 8MM GBP/year for that? As dull a game as that was in parts it was definitely one that should have been won. Ozil put in a great performance, Cazorla and Rosicky showed a lot of energy and desire. In the aftermath of the Liverpool game, I give quite a bit of credit to them. Unfortunately Arteta, JFW, and Giroud had nothing left in the tank. It's bad enough that we didn't address any of those positions in January. It's absolutely disgraceful that he didn't make any adjustments during the game itself. We had Ox, Bendtner, Gnabry, why the fcuk aren't we using them? Gnabry didn't even make the bench, is there some injury we didn't know about? Who the fcuk is Yaya Sanogo, is he really going to make his Arsenal debut as a sub in a 0-0 League game against United?
Well, the positive note is that we're one off the top (even if we assume City beats Norwich). It could be worse, but this just seemed like a spineless performance from a team crying out for some kind of inspiration.