Yeah, credit to him for staying on his feet and getting the shot off. Tried to go with power when he really didn't need to.
Arsenal 2014-2015: Ugh. Your banter stinks.
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Well, Arsenal started playing better in the final 20 minutes, but overall it's really a poor team effort so far. Ozil has been strong, Alexis scored but hasn't done much else, Coquelin has been solid, but just about everyone else has been a grade or two below par.
Playing anything less than your strongest side in a semifinal is stupid, no matter the competition.
Walcott getting to run against guys who have already played 100 minutes? It's Theo's time to shine.
A win is a win.
Mesut Ozil:
Mesut Ozil:
- 136 touches (team high)
- 90% passing success
- 9 key passes, 2 assists
And yet... he still did nothing.SoxFanInCali said:
If someone comes calling with 25m or something in the summer, TAAAAAAKE ITTTTTTTT
It was good to see them pull out a game that the players really weren't at their best. Wenger took a risk starting Welbeck and it didn't pay off. There were plenty of chances to put the game away. The team is going to have to be a lot sharper against Chelsea.
No shit.
No shit.
Yeah, I was just coming to link to that article as well. I'm not sure what I think about its thesis, but it's certainly worth reading.
Yes, it's overwritten - doesn't make its central thesis any less interesting, in my humble opinion.
Also just read an interesting article by The Secret Footballer linked in the comments below that piece:
http://www.thesecretfootballer.com/articles/the-secret-footballer/23352/something-fishy-about-arsene-wengers-red-herrings/
Also just read an interesting article by The Secret Footballer linked in the comments below that piece:
http://www.thesecretfootballer.com/articles/the-secret-footballer/23352/something-fishy-about-arsene-wengers-red-herrings/
The words "Kroenke", "Dein", "Gazidis", "Fiszman" & "Board" do not appear even once in that trash bag puff piece.
Garbage journalism divorced from reality entirely.
Garbage journalism divorced from reality entirely.
BFG has a sprained ankle so Gabriel will start. Against Hazard and the like, I feel like Gabriel is the better choice anyway. I don't expect the lineup to be otherwise changed from the normal league run.
The Guardian had a good run down of the Arsenal-Chelsea "rivalry."
The Guardian had a good run down of the Arsenal-Chelsea "rivalry."
Gabriel probably is the better choice with the prospect of Chelsea sitting back playing for a draw and trying to hit on the counter. Pace to get back could prove very important.
One of the big squad choices that I think Wenger is going to have to make is the experienced Debuchy or the quick and in form Bellerin. I may err towards Debuchy but the squad has played very well with Hector in there. The Hazard match up would be very difficult, but Bellerin's pace and ability to recover may be a nod in his favor. Overall, I think that the defensive strategy will have to be to prevent Hazard from getting on the ball. That's on the right back and Coquelin to shield and the midfield, probably Santi and Ramsey, to pressure the guys who would be making that pass (Cesc and Oscar, probably) else where.
Really interested to see how this match is officiated. If the yellows are lighter, I can see Arsenal causing more problems, given the assumption that Arsenal will see more of the ball. Chelsea will have to ease off the pressure and playing the Mourinho style of breaking up play.
Really interested to see how this match is officiated. If the yellows are lighter, I can see Arsenal causing more problems, given the assumption that Arsenal will see more of the ball. Chelsea will have to ease off the pressure and playing the Mourinho style of breaking up play.
Is it safe to go to Arsenal-Chelsea tomorrow? I'll be in London, and just thought I should try to buy or scalp a ticket. Thoughts? Advice?
It should be fine from a safety perspective provided you're not sitting in the North bank with a chelsea scarf on, but getting a ticket from a broker will be expensive and difficult by now.
No reason for the ref to award a foul for Courtois losing the ball when he hits the ground. Terrible call.
"What do you think about the Boring, boring Chelsea chants?"
"10 years without a league title. Thats boring."
OH SNAP JOSE
"10 years without a league title. Thats boring."
OH SNAP JOSE
I have to say...I loved those three yellow cards Arsenal took in the last ten minutes. That sort of pragmatism won't go amiss next year.
I've been waiting to post about this game to let my hatred towards Chelsea and Mourinho boil over a little bit.
It seemed to be a pretty even game and deserved to be a draw. Chelsea definitely had a couple legitimate penalty claims. Arsenal had at least one. I thought that Oliver did not have his strongest game. The fact that Ivanovic did not see yellow until circa the 80th minute was a joke. Coquelin got a yellow for a Hazard dive. I had no problems with and liked the late professional fouls that Arsenal took to break up the Chelsea attack. Overall, the difference between this game and the Liverpool game was the finishing. Arsenal finished beautifully against the Scousers and couldn't find the barn let alone try to hit it against Chelsea. Chelsea's defending certainly contributed to that and credit to Terry for a masterful performance.
But man, fuck the chavs.
It seemed to be a pretty even game and deserved to be a draw. Chelsea definitely had a couple legitimate penalty claims. Arsenal had at least one. I thought that Oliver did not have his strongest game. The fact that Ivanovic did not see yellow until circa the 80th minute was a joke. Coquelin got a yellow for a Hazard dive. I had no problems with and liked the late professional fouls that Arsenal took to break up the Chelsea attack. Overall, the difference between this game and the Liverpool game was the finishing. Arsenal finished beautifully against the Scousers and couldn't find the barn let alone try to hit it against Chelsea. Chelsea's defending certainly contributed to that and credit to Terry for a masterful performance.
But man, fuck the chavs.
On the plus side, the top four trophy could be officially locked up on Monday, if Tottenham and Liverpool drop any points and Arsenal wins.
Dominant away performance against a team fighting to stay up. We were a bit lucky on the first two goals but we could have scored on 4-5 other occasions, including one incredibly blatant hand ball to deny Wilshere a goal, so I think three goals (and three points) were fully deserved.
-Third place is essentially locked up. Even if we lose at Old Trafford, we're still two points and substantial goal differential ahead of United with a game in hand. And our other three matches are all at the Emirates.
-Wilshere looked pretty good after coming on. I don't see him breaking into the starting lineup anytime soon but a healthy Wilshere can be our most important midfield sub/rotational player.
-On the other hand, this might be one of the last matches we see Theo Walcott in an Arsenal shirt. Getting only five minutes when he's the only attacking sub in a relatively unimportant game like this is just further evidence that Wenger doesn't really rate him and is ready to cut him loose.
-Third place is essentially locked up. Even if we lose at Old Trafford, we're still two points and substantial goal differential ahead of United with a game in hand. And our other three matches are all at the Emirates.
-Wilshere looked pretty good after coming on. I don't see him breaking into the starting lineup anytime soon but a healthy Wilshere can be our most important midfield sub/rotational player.
-On the other hand, this might be one of the last matches we see Theo Walcott in an Arsenal shirt. Getting only five minutes when he's the only attacking sub in a relatively unimportant game like this is just further evidence that Wenger doesn't really rate him and is ready to cut him loose.
Three other notes:
-We've only cleared 80 points in the Premiership on four occasions and have a chance to do that this season with a strong finish (need 10 points from four matches).
-We've also only scored 80 goals in the Premiership three times and have an outside chance at that number (need 14 more in four matches).
-If we win our four remaining matches, we will finish with 49 points from the second half of the season. I am not 100% sure but I believe that would tie Chelsea's 04-05 team for the most points ever collected in half a Premier League season.
No title but its amazing to be talking about these potential milestones, especially after our start to the year. Let's finish strong.
-We've only cleared 80 points in the Premiership on four occasions and have a chance to do that this season with a strong finish (need 10 points from four matches).
-We've also only scored 80 goals in the Premiership three times and have an outside chance at that number (need 14 more in four matches).
-If we win our four remaining matches, we will finish with 49 points from the second half of the season. I am not 100% sure but I believe that would tie Chelsea's 04-05 team for the most points ever collected in half a Premier League season.
No title but its amazing to be talking about these potential milestones, especially after our start to the year. Let's finish strong.
Do we think there's any chance Petr Cech comes to Arsenal this summer?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/08/jose-mourinho-peter-cech-premier-league-chelsea
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/08/jose-mourinho-peter-cech-premier-league-chelsea
No, I don't think Mourinho sells to Arsenal and he will have offers from Italy.ConigliarosPotential said:
I was in the North Bank, unusually quiet crowd until the hour mark when Arsenal hit fifth gear.
We were definitely a bit shit in the first half, but we really piled on pressure for about half an hour until Swansea counter attacked (the only one of theirs I can remember during that whole stretch) and Gomis bloody scored.
Sanchez and Giroud had some poor games by their standards this year, that lack of a sharp edge didn't help at all. Bellerin was awful, really struggling to offer anything going forward and it's notable Arsenal played a lot of balls down the left, they didn't have any more confidence in him than he had in himself.
Thought Theo and Wilshere looked OK when they came on - my mate picked one of Giroud's first half efforts as Arsenal's best chance but that plumb rebound Theo got was the one for me. Just unfortunate that he hit it right at Fabianski and had two defenders on his back so zero chance of hitting it anywhere else.
Fernandez had a great game - Swansea were really good at getting two bodies on any through ball into the box. Fabianski was the star of course, some smug numbnuts on my train home suggested the shots were easy as they were all at him (this guy also picked Abou Diaby as Arsenal's worst midfield signing ever, so that should tell you something). Well, they were all at him because he was perfectly positioned and there's no doubt his experience at the club helped him - he knows every outfield player bar Alexis like the back of his hand.
Swansea are a proper good side as well, and I think 2nd is still up for grabs as City go there next week.
23 shots to eight, officially 9 shots on target (I heard 15 by one source). You could do worse.
We were definitely a bit shit in the first half, but we really piled on pressure for about half an hour until Swansea counter attacked (the only one of theirs I can remember during that whole stretch) and Gomis bloody scored.
Sanchez and Giroud had some poor games by their standards this year, that lack of a sharp edge didn't help at all. Bellerin was awful, really struggling to offer anything going forward and it's notable Arsenal played a lot of balls down the left, they didn't have any more confidence in him than he had in himself.
Thought Theo and Wilshere looked OK when they came on - my mate picked one of Giroud's first half efforts as Arsenal's best chance but that plumb rebound Theo got was the one for me. Just unfortunate that he hit it right at Fabianski and had two defenders on his back so zero chance of hitting it anywhere else.
Fernandez had a great game - Swansea were really good at getting two bodies on any through ball into the box. Fabianski was the star of course, some smug numbnuts on my train home suggested the shots were easy as they were all at him (this guy also picked Abou Diaby as Arsenal's worst midfield signing ever, so that should tell you something). Well, they were all at him because he was perfectly positioned and there's no doubt his experience at the club helped him - he knows every outfield player bar Alexis like the back of his hand.
Swansea are a proper good side as well, and I think 2nd is still up for grabs as City go there next week.
23 shots to eight, officially 9 shots on target (I heard 15 by one source). You could do worse.
I didn't see any of this one although it looks like we were poor and outplayed, especially in the first half. In the end, 1-1 is a great result there. We have all but locked but 3rd place and won't have to worry about that awful CL qualifying round in August
United were strong early and earned their goal. Arsenal were the better side in the 2nd after the subs and de Gea's injury. The draw was kind of a reasonable result and one that suits Arsenal for sure. It wasn't as dire as you suggest. It will be really nice not having to deal with the CL qualifying nonsense.Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
When Walcott and Wilshere subbed in for Bellerin and Cazorla, Coquelin moved to RB (interesting) and Ramsey moved inside, which, not surprisingly, allowed for a more offensive and laterally balanced midfield. It seemed Cazorla was succumbing to United's pressure and there just wasn't enough support in the center for Özil to press forward when he received the ball in United's half. Alexis, from what I saw, had a poor game (predictably cutting inside, dribbling into traffic without support). Young as LW outplayed him for sure.
Pretty harsh to give an OG to Blackett for that deflection.
Pretty harsh to give an OG to Blackett for that deflection.
Can someone give me a short resume on Serge Gnabry´s season/future?
I checked his season biography on arsenal.com and it basically said he was out for the entire season due to injury.
What kind of injuries had he? Does he have a realistic chance for 1st team action in next season? What is his best position (it homepage says he "can play anywhere in the front three")?
Thanks!
I checked his season biography on arsenal.com and it basically said he was out for the entire season due to injury.
What kind of injuries had he? Does he have a realistic chance for 1st team action in next season? What is his best position (it homepage says he "can play anywhere in the front three")?
Thanks!
I'm going to the Arsenal/Sunderland match at the Emirates on Wednesday. Any of you Arsenal types have any suggestions about places to hit before or after?
Piebury Corner gets rave reviews from all the brits I follow on twitterVORP Speed said:
I'm sure Bonger can help further than that though.
Young was probably the MotM for me. He was dangerous the entire match and I thought that Bellerin did a poor job of defending him. He's right footed and likes to cut in and cross the ball. May be you should for him to his left, to the by line. May be you should be playing him on his right foot. Allowing Young to cut in as much as he did allowed him to be a very influential player.deconstruction said:
Cazorla to me was the key man to Arsenal not really getting set in this game. His passing was uncharacteristically poor. It was one of the main reasons that Arsenal couldn't retain possession (United's pressing was excellent as well). The result was somewhat snatch and grab for me. Arsenal were quite poor and it was actually one of the worse performances I've seen (I've missed some of the worse results that have come mid-week this year).
Hopefully, they can lock up that third spot on Wednesday and next Sunday is a relaxing kick about.
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