THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread [R]

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

That's what I call an escape. That was as bad as I've seen us look in a while, but we got what we needed when we needed it.

Frimpong was a ghost for me today. Good call by AW to replace him with Rosicky.

Coquelin got abused a little bit by N'zogbia, but I guess that's forgivable given his lack of experience and the fact that he was playing out of position.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Sorry for the pessimism guys.

Am I the only one who thinks Dunne was amazing, and think that Yossi, and Tommy are two of the hardest working attacking midfielders in the prem?

Who else who is the same type of player as them can tackle as well as they do?

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Naughty Verminator.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

It's astonishing how much he's improved from last season. Completely different player.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Rosicky and Benayoun turned the game for us. They define what good squad players are.

Ramsey was very poor, but he has put in good performances. We do need an upgrade in that position, however. I'd probably rotate in the above two until Wilshere comes back or we buy some one. But Ramsey I still rate, at least as a squad player. I think he is just jaded right now.

But I dont know about Frims, to be honest. Its one thing to say he is young and inexperienced (def. true). But he doesn't have the technical quality to play for Arsenal. I wouldn't give up on him, but he is nowhere near good enough right now, and I have my doubts if he ever will be.

You could really see we missed Song today - he contributes so much to our defending and ball retention (which is, in many cases, part of defending).

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Verm was the main culprit there, his pass was underhit. Per could have tried harder though. If he had put his head, it would have force Albrighton to foul him.
A major screw up moment from 2 experienced defenders.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

koscielny is ridiculously neat and tidy. it makes no sense to me that he's had all of 3 years in top flight football (unless it is argued that it means he had less bad habits to break).

i think we'll see something similar from mertesacker next year when he has adapted to premiership pace and physicality.

i think vermaelen is a different breed. he's more the all action type (like arguing makelele versus gilberto silva) that can exhort the rest of his teammates into greater action and sense of urgency by his grit, determination and action. but, purely as a defender, he's not at all a match for koscielny (now that larry k has adapted to the pace and rigour of the premiership).

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Lol,

option a: kick in the head

option b: goal against.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

On a less relevant note how sick must Chelsea fans be feeling knowing that their captain will get a long ban, and their player has scored a really important goal for us today.

Yossi's second most important goal after the one that stopped the spuds qualifying for the champions league when a chef poisoned them.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Certainly, not the best we've looked lately however three points is three points while there have been times in the past where we've not been able to find that final breakthrough. Up The Arsenal!

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

I'm so happy we won. Wenger does a lot of great things as a manager, but there are games where he reveals himself to be an abysmal coach, and this was one of them.

Frimpong was bad. We really missed Song.

Ramsey was the weak link again. It looked like the goal against Marseille was big corner turned for him, and we got a half dozen good performances after that. But he's regressed and it hurt a lot.

I thought Walcott was our best player. Unfortunately he's not a linkup player, for the most part he needs to be on the end of smart passes from midfield. Having Frimpong and Ramsey on the pitch meant we lost effective offensive threats from those two plus Walcott and RVP. If we can't generate any fluidity from midfield, I don't know how we're supposed to score. Where was AOC? I think we need him.

I liked the subs (though AA was pretty much useless), needed to be done earlier.

With Song back from suspension we're looking at a run of games we really have to win. 4 games till United again, really need 10 points at least, hopefully 12.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

LOL.... Very well translated! Repped!

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Good job by Wigan holding L'pool to a tie (after the one against Chelsea). I hope they stay up and I like Martinez as a coach.
Newcastle lost at home and they are out of the picture as well as Liverpool.
Now we need to worry about Spurs and Chelsea. They are our main rivals for the CL spots.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Frimpong isn't good enough technically, which makes me doubt if he ever will make it at Arsenal. The defensive awareness/calmness he currently lacks can be developed, but the ability to hold the ball in tight spaces and pick out good passes is something he likely won't improve much on.

I'm higher on Ramsey than you are though. I think he's just jaded/tired right now. Not saying he's going to be a star, but he's played well enough on enough ocassions for me to think he has a future as at least a squad player.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

me, too. i'd love to see him get some starts opposite gervinho or walcott. he would be a great deal of help on whatever side the emergency fullback is on (miquel or coquelin) and walcott and gervinho could certainly use a break.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Wait, but what about the subs (see quote below) and victory? And how was Wenger responsible for Vermaelen's brain fart?

True. Song is a boss.

One bad game does not a regression make.

Koscielny contributed a lot more than Walcott did today. The reason we were under so much pressure was because our wingers (Walcott and Gervinho) did not do a whole lot defensively. I would love to see AOC instead of Arshavin, and I'll keep saying this until it happens.

I think you're being a little picky, but the complaint against Wenger putting off subs until too late is a pretty popular one, and mostly true.

City are setting the bar very high this year - top four is unbelievably competitive. I have my fingers crossed...

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

really? i wasn't all that happy with what i saw (though i missed the first 20 - including the penalty/goal).

i don't understand the deal with oxlade-chamberlain. like, i get that wenger wants to protect him and not expose him to too much too early but, if that is the case, then don't put him on the bench to take up a spot.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

I think Ramsey is a good squad player. IMHO, He could be better at Arteta's position and he could be Mikel's understudy for a year or two. However, he is just not the creative midfielder we need at his current position. We need an upgrade there badly.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Ramsey just needs a few years. He's very young.

Obviously, once we get JFW back, Aaron will probably spend a lot more time on the bench.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Ramsey pre-injury was filthy. Which gives me faith that he'll be back at that level in time, and beyond it hopefully. still a really young guy.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Its been obvious ever since he came to Arsenal that he was the best defender at Arsenal, I'd say Vermaelen is the more complete player overall, but Koscielny has all the tools, I'd dare say he is the best defender Arsene wenger ever paid money for. He Joined Arsenal before his 25th birthday but the most impressive thing about his game is his covering , most defenders don't learn this till later on,and coupled with his reading of the game, he also sees a lot more of the ball. He has definitely set the standard for future Arsenal defenders, in that Wenger now is interested only in central defenders who are very good on the ball. His situation kind of reminds me of the Marquez situation in Barca, very highly thought of ,within Barca, so much so that Marquez is often cited as the best example of a Barca defender . I thought LeCoq played well, to me, aside from the RVP and Arteta contributions, he has been the bright spot,played well in the NLD but his long range passing is something to behold, coupled with his technical ability and tackling, Song does really have someone pushing him hard.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Ramsey just needs a few years. He's very young.

Obviously, once we get JFW back, Aaron will probably spend a lot more time on the bench.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

I agree that once JW returns Ramsey will move back to the bench. However, in the meantime Ramsey has had a pretty pedestrian run of it lately and it'd be nice if AW would use the January transfer window to find some help in that position. I recognize that he is young, but whether Ramsey is getting worn out or really is nothing more then a squad player, his run of form lately hasn't been good enough.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Nobody forced him to give up being goalside.

 

Re: THE MUTHAFUCCIN Arsenal vs. Aston Villa, Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Pre/Dur/Post Match Thread

Thank god for that win. Really don't want to be playing Thursdays next season. Let's hope for a draw tomorrow ?