I agree with the assessment about Sagna. I can't remember the last time I've seen him get out-played, out-muscled and out-paced by a defender so decisively. Vermaelan and Santos pushing up so damn far leaves a huge gap for counters and with who to fill that gap? Djourou? Jesus. It's evident we miss Koscielny's poise in the back. If the news about Arteta is true, that is very discouraging as far as our prospect's against Chelsea. Also, is it just me or has Gervinho been.... well.... kinda rubbish since his return from ACN? Theo is, well, Theo. If he can get behind defenders, he can be lethal. If teams get a lead and park the bus in the box, he's utterly worthless. The Chelsea game is it in my opinion. Not to be overly dramatic but, if we win that, we'll stay in the top 4. If we lose, it could all crumble.
Was it Song that gave away that lazy, stupid header to set up the break for the first goal? And then instead of closing down and trying to win it back, just lazily jogged along side until the through ball was played? I meant to go back and watch it, but I never did. I was pissed at the time though. Stupid, lazy play.
It probably was Song. He was poor in possession, and getting back on D. Definitely not up to his normal quality standards.
I was wondering if anyone else noticed that. That should've been an easy grab for him. My mouth dropped when he flubbed it.
during this last patch where his scoring has died down, van persie was almost always accompanied by 2-4 defenders when attacking the box which means it requires perfect delivery and perfect finish to get a goal - something he's fell just short of (with the exception of the vermaelen goal-line clearance). today, as far as i can tell, he was generally accompanied by 4 or 5 wigan defenders in the box.
Coquelin could be back soon. He could be useful in spot duty. We are not in great shape, but we get Kos back next game. The best thing working in our favor might be the spotty form of Spurs and Chelsea. I know Chelsea are riding high after their big FA Cup win, but they are approximately 2 days away from crashing back down to reality in a big way. If Newcastle and/or Tottenham slip up at all, then we don't need to be perfect.
you say that when we spanked them 4:0 at their place? be serious. they had 2 flukey goals and their keeper made some great saves early on. nothing more.
neither goal was flukey. and I say that because he continuously gets results against Arsenal with this piss poor team. He is the first guy to negate our attacking right side all season. The guy does good, props to him. Im not afraid to say he has it for Wenger.
agreed. the break for the first goal started as FOUR versus ONE, so even if arteta was meant to be there or not is immaterial. the first 10 minutes were a total disgrace. sagna had a mare, as did ramsey, as did djourou. in fact i'm struggling to think of an arsenal player apart from rosicky who had a game than was anything more than average.
I have a ton of respect for Martinez keeping Wigan in the Prem and outplaying bigger sides, so I can't begrudge him a win. Plus, we were horrible. For how useless Ramsey was out there, Djourou is by far and away the worst. I would feel much better with good ol' Cygan out there. At least he could read the game. Djourou is an imbecile and oafish. He could've starred in "I Am Sam."
I wonder if Miquel will pass JDJ next season. He has looked reasonably good in the limited games I've seen, when not asked to play fullback.
As bad as the Gunners were, Wigan was outstanding and this loss doesn't anger me as much as the others. Martinez is a class manager and has consistently made miracles to keep an underdog like Wigan in the top flight. I hope they stay up and Martinez is young and he will get his chance at a top club. In fact, when Wenger is eventually no longer the manager, Martinez is the one guy that I definitely wouldn't mind strolling the touch line for the Gunners.
the only thing that really upset me about today's match was how we got away from our game in the late stages when usually we do well in that regard. I had little faith with 10 minutes to go that we would score because of how we were approaching the situation. Instead of calm, we looked desperate.
******** Wigan. Sorry, but they are a shit club with no support, and i would love to see them go down. 200 away fans at a game? That's pathetic. Well done to Martinez, but remember, the club he left before is sitting in 12th right now, 4 points behind Liverpool (with a game in hand). So really, is he that good?
You must consider how long after he left until Swansea finally made it (3 years). 1. Most of their key players joined the club after Martinez was gone. 2. Swansea City has more cash to use than Wigan. 3. They only got to the Premiership when they added more talent and found a good manager in Rodgers. There was Paulo Sousa who was there for a year between Martinez and Rodgers. If Martinez was still the manager at Swansea with this crop of players, I believe he would get them into the top flight. 4. Swansea are much better in terms of talent than during Martinez's stint yet Martinez and Rodgers have similar winning percentages. So, yes I think he is that good not everyone can be in the position he's in and keep them up with quite frankly an average side. He gives them belief and they do believe in them. He really can get the team to punch above their weight as we have seen today and last week. That is (or at least should be) the true measuring stick for a manager. How much can he get out of his players. He can do a fair amount with little. Considering the small fanbase that the club commands, he deserves all of the praise he gets.
Swansea has more cash than Wigan? They've been in the Premier League since 2005! He is trailing 2 out of 3 promotion clubs at this point! Anyway, yeah, brilliant manager. I guess the whoever is managing Norwich must be the best manager ever. FFS
I wonder how we set players up psychologically for games and also generally for the season, because the number of times we've lost to teams around the bottom of the table because we've been complacent is getting ridiculous. Time after time we get beaten by teams simply because we dont match them for effort and desire, and last night was the same. Unlike other teams who look better than they are because of our poor performance, Wigan played some really good football, both with the ball and without it, but had we shown the same commitment we showed against ManC for example, we should have won it. I honestly dont know if there could have been a bigger warning sign before that game that Wigan wouldnt be a pushover and yet we managed to ignore it. Honestly, if we cant spot a potential problem game like that and crank up our focus on it, then how will we ever succeed? It also shows a worrying reliance on Arteta. At the beginning of the season there were voices asking 'yeah, but what does he actually DO ?' I think thats been well and truely answered now. Here's hoping that the players think saturday is a big game worth working for
I'm not too disappointed in this result. Sure, losing sucks and all, but I thought Wigan played a fine game, showed they belong to an extent with their consecutive wins over Man Utd and us, and of course, we followed up the loss to QPR with our stunning victory over Spurs. If we can put Chelsea to bed next week and firmly in 5th, well, this loss will be forgotten quickly. We did seem a little complacent, though, and that is inexcusable. Wigan just beat Man Utd for crying out loud and several of guys just looked jaded. When it comes time to do a review of the season, the title for me will be "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back". But like I said, a win over Chelsea, and all will be forgotten....