Arsenal

[Baring]

Jordi Alba is such a cheating pussy. He should get banned for falling to the ground like that.

 

It's a guarantee Giroud would have got a red if it was the other way around. (head thrust) 

[neoELITE]

Welbeck looked good when he came on. Cmon Gunners, that's a reason to be cheerful. Barcelona were always going to win, they're too good. There aren't many teams in history that would beat them. Over two legs, Bayern and Real have a chance but other than that?

[mop]

26 minutes ago, Rev said:

If Flamini plays on Saturday I'm buying a season ticket so I can burn it.

 

I hope he plays Saturday then he'll be too tired for the actual game on Sunday.

[The Fox]

On 2/23/2016 at 9:51 PM, Rev said:

 

I've got literally no problem with the first one we conceded, ditto the chances at the end of the first half. That's what happens when you play Barcelona, you need luck even if you're Bayern or one of the Madrids.

 

Giving a penalty away like that is just an embarrassment. 

 

First goal was stupid. Per too high up and it's an appalling decision from Coquelin to try and play back to the defence when we were actually in a promising attacking position. He also doesn't put any pressure on Neymar which contributes to Per getting caught out.

[Gabe]

There's certainly no shame in losing to that Barcelona side and the difference in class was clear to see, but you have to be disappointed in the way you threw it away. That said, you felt Barca could have stepped up a few more gears if needed, they certainly weren't near their best.

[hmm]

The really outrageous thing was that Arsenal's pressing was high and aggressive - and good - for most of the match but Barcelona just didn't give a fuck. The number of times they played it out from in or around their area was absurd and you never once thought they might actually screw it up. Has there ever been another team with all 11 players as comfortable on the ball, regardless of how little time and space they have?

[Gabe]

Funny you should say that, because I was also watching on with awe how often they played intricate little passes in and just outside their area, whilst being pressed. Rarely was a long aimless ball punted upfield. It was very impressive.

[Silent Runner]

Solid banter from Twitters 'who to follow' alg this morning. 

 

[The Fox]

I'm feeling fairly chilled about it this morning. We held our own for the most part but against sides of that calibre a) you have to take your chances, which we didn't, and b) any silly mistakes will be punished, and ours were. Per was great for 70 mins but then made two very costly errors.

 

The good: I thought both our full backs were really good, especially Bellerin. Ramsey was excellent in the first half but faded a bit after the first goal. Welbeck looked really sharp when he came on -- it's a real shame we couldn't get him on at 0-0. If he's fit enough I think he should probably start up front on Sunday.

 

The not-so-good: Coquelin still doesn't look fully fit to me though, his athleticism isn't quite there and he was getting bypassed so easily at times. His decision making was also pretty poor - he kept stepping out to press at silly times, and was partly at fault for the first goal. That Ramsey was generally the more effective presence in defence was a bit of a worry. Hopefully his sharpness will return quickly. Also even by Walcott's standards, that was an incredibly uninvolved substitute performance. Oh and the Flamini sub was preposterous. If Coquelin had to come off fine, but then put Chambers on. At least he can actually play football. It is completely baffling that Flamini is apparently ahead of Elneny/Chambers in the pecking order, and I can only assume it's just based on seniority.

 

The really outrageous thing was that Arsenal's pressing was high and aggressive - and good - for most of the match but Barcelona just didn't give a fuck. The number of times they played it out from in or around their area was absurd and you never once thought they might actually screw it up. Has there ever been another team with all 11 players as comfortable on the ball, regardless of how little time and space they have?

 

Yep I thought by our standards we pressed pretty effectively. I've seen a few "HUUR DUUR WHY ARSENAL STOP PRESSING AT 0-0???" comments this morning but honestly, what are you gonna do when you're facing a side than can do stuff like this?

 

http://www.snappytv.com/snaps/this-is-how-you-play-out-from-the-back-about-live-arsenal-v-barcelona-on-bt-sport-europe_nn

[Rev]

No-one looked fit for any of our last 3 games, not just Coquelin. Sanchez is a million miles off the pace, Ozil is lagging, Giroud and Walcott are both acting like they've not been on a football pitch since the mid 1990s. Injury explains it for most of them, but it's basically Bellerin+Monreal Vs. Opposition. It's really bad.

 

11 hours ago, The Fox said:

 

First goal was stupid. Per too high up and it's an appalling decision from Coquelin to try and play back to the defence when we were actually in a promising attacking position.

 

Oh, it was stupid and entirely avoidable, but that doesn't mean it isn't inevitable. Any team that tries to attack and has a slow defender is going to open themselves up to that. Against Hull it wouldn't have been a goal, in fact against the vast majority of teams it wouldn't have been a goal. Against Barcelona you've just got to hope they miss at the end, and to be fair Cech might have got to it if he hadn't slipped.

[wev]

2 hours ago, The Fox said:

I'm feeling fairly chilled about it this morning. We held our own for the most part but against sides of that calibre a) you have to take your chances, which we didn't, and b) any silly mistakes will be punished, and ours were. Per was great for 70 mins but then made two very costly errors.

 

The good: I thought both our full backs were really good, especially Bellerin. Ramsey was excellent in the first half but faded a bit after the first goal. Welbeck looked really sharp when he came on -- it's a real shame we couldn't get him on at 0-0. If he's fit enough I think he should probably start up front on Sunday.

 

The not-so-good: Coquelin still doesn't look fully fit to me though, his athleticism isn't quite there and he was getting bypassed so easily at times. His decision making was also pretty poor - he kept stepping out to press at silly times, and was partly at fault for the first goal. That Ramsey was generally the more effective presence in defence was a bit of a worry. Hopefully his sharpness will return quickly. Also even by Walcott's standards, that was an incredibly uninvolved substitute performance. Oh and the Flamini sub was preposterous. If Coquelin had to come off fine, but then put Chambers on. At least he can actually play football. It is completely baffling that Flamini is apparently ahead of Elneny/Chambers in the pecking order, and I can only assume it's just based on seniority.

 

 

Yep I thought by our standards we pressed pretty effectively. I've seen a few "HUUR DUUR WHY ARSENAL STOP PRESSING AT 0-0???" comments this morning but honestly, what are you gonna do when you're facing a side than can do stuff like this?

 

http://www.snappytv.com/snaps/this-is-how-you-play-out-from-the-back-about-live-arsenal-v-barcelona-on-bt-sport-europe_nn

 

The little flick from Pique is just a complete and utter piss take really.

[The Fox]

RIP Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, killed by performing a textbook 'Wilshere Special'.

 

http://dailycannon.com/2016/02/oxlade-chamberlain-suffers-double-ligament-damage-report/

 

Possibly premature, but I'm not sure it's gonna happen for him at Arsenal tbh.

[Jonathan_Kerr]

I'm trying to think of a football version of that rubbish game 'marry, snog, avoid'.

 

I'm thinking Re-sign (new contract), Bench (squad player) or Sell (at end of season) and how it applies to our squad next season. I've tried to group them by position, but I've also grouped some by 'fringe-ness' 

 

(re-sign one, bench one, and sell one)

• Welbeck, Oxlaide-Chamberlain, Walcott
• Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshire 
• Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gabriel
• Giroud, Gibbs, Chambers
• Campbell, Jenkison, Iwobi

You might be able to think of better examples.

[The Fox]

Don't think there's any major surgery needed. I'd like to see Chambers given more chances at CB with a view to phasing Mertesacker out of the first XI in time, as I'm not at all convinced that Gabriel & Kos is the answer going forward.

 

Walcott has had a terrible season but to be fair the only run of starts he had was on the left. Given the right conditions he's still capable of delivering key moments of quality, often in big games. I don't think there's any chance of him leaving. I think the only departures will be Rosicky/Flamini/Arteta on expired contracts, probably Ospina, and maybe Campbell. He's exceeded expectations for sure and was very important around Christmas, but realistically he's never going to be a first choice. I think he's shown enough this season that we could get a decent fee for him, and I think if an offer does come in then he'll be off.

 

I don't think we'll sell Ox or Wilshere this summer, although Wilshere's situation is potentially about to get problematic given than his contract only runs until summer 2017. I'd imagine he'll sign a new deal imminently on the same money he's on now, with an agreement in place that we'll renegotiate on a rise if he gets fit and gets peforming.

 

Priority is the same as it was last summer for me: a passing/controlling specialist in deep midfield to replace Arteta. Coq/Flamini get bypassed almost completely in build up and it just makes no sense to deprive yourself of a man in that phase. Furthermore as we have seen, if Santi gets injured then the whole midfield kinda falls apart and we have to play this more direct football which I don't think is ideal. Cazorla is 31 now and, while Coq/Santi/Ramsey RW works fairly well, we can't have this fragility in the squad; we shouldn't be having to make big changes to the way we play based on just one or two injuries. It looks like Elneny is more one for the future (and probably in a more box-to-box role) so we need a signing there badly IMO. Offer BVB a fuck load for Weigl or something, I dunno (mind you, every cunt will want to sign him if he's up for leaving Germany, especially Pep).

[hauk]

We could do with a top class striker as well. When you look at who's at other top teams (Suarez, Higuaín, Lewandowski, Aguero etc.) we just don't have anyone like that. We're in the top 10 ten rich list, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect another signing along the lines of Ozil/Sanchez this summer in that area.

[ryodi]

As a Liverpool fan I'd be happy for you to buy Benteke off us but I think Lukaku would be a much better fit for Arsenal. He's consistently scored goals while he's been in the Premier League and has only gotten better in the last season. He's also a lot younger than the other strikers you've mentioned and doesn't suffer from as many injury problems as they do either.

[The Fox]

Lukaku has had a very good season but I think as a big guy, Giroud suits our game better.

 

Who else is out there? The striker market is still in a pretty bad way. If Aubameyang was available better/richer sides than us would want him. Ditto Dybala. I don't think it's feasible for us to get this ready-made 'world class striker' anymore unless Benzema gets off-loaded whilst avoiding jail (unlikely), or Liverpool decide they've had enough of Sturridge and our medical team miraculously resurrect him (even more unlikely).

 

That said, Auba and Dybala weren't high profile a couple of years ago, so maybe the issue is our scouting. Giroud has been here four years and despite Wenger seeming like he wants to replace him, we've never managed it in all that time, despite some young strikers having moved in that period who have gone on to improve massively.

 

Having said this, Giroud is still the only player scoring at the expected rate. Wanting a better striker is fine, but it's also true that Özil, Alexis, Cazorla, Walcott, Ox, Ramsey and Campbell have *all* underperformed in front of goal basically all season. That's at least as big a problem, and probably much more so.

[Silent Runner]

Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Walcott, Ozil, Alexis, Welbeck 

 

 

No Giroud but lots of speed. Blind and Carick starting for them. 

[Bleeders]

You lot should really win this by 3 or 4 at least. Blind and Carrick the least mobile pairing we could put up.

[Gotters]

its no excuses time today - fed up with our weak mentality

 

if we can't beat this lot today then we don't deserve the title, even a draw isn't enough.

[Gotters]

that is a crime by Monreal to miss from an assist like that from Ozil, not saying its a gimme but what a ball over the top

[Silent Runner]

Good early chance wasted there. Nacho should have smashed that early.

[Silent Runner]

Forgot Walcott was on the pitch until he lost the ball that led to that goal. 

[The Fox]

Truly great stuff from Fenton Walcott so far, the fucking pillock.

[Silent Runner]

Can't understand why he started ahead of Giroud - he's poison these days. 

[suzzopher]

Gabriel needs hauling off and never allowed near a Premier league pitch again.

[Steve007]

Out of interest, do you all still think I'm nuts for thinking we won't win the league because we are not good enough?

3 minutes ago, Silent Runner said:

Can't understand why he started ahead of Giroud - he's poison these days. 

 

Giroud has hardly been ripping up trees but I'd still pick him ahead of fucking Walcott.

[Shook]

Thank fuck, needed one before half time.

[Steve007]

Thank fuck for that.  Needed that goal before HT!

[Shook]

Snap Steve.