Arsenal Banter Archive December 12 2013

12 Dec 2013 20:11:47
I hope we get Barca and if not Bayern in the draw, why? Because either would be cracking ties and let's see how Arsenal 13/14 compared to previous seasons, bring it on says me.

Yes we did well to get out of the toughest group but yes we also threw away top spot, shame but hey ho that was then city next :-)

You have to believe we will play our best side and formation Saturday and so I have to believe a draw would be disappointing.

We are good enough to go there and win and so we should do just that.

No excuses no reasons just 3 points is what I and we should expect, the only thing to fear is us not being us on Saturday and if we are :-) :-) :-) :-) happy days

I really fancy US for 3 points and if we do play our best and win then on motd we, 'll still not win the league because it was city that were poor. Starting to get annoyed at the lack of credit that we rightfully deserve.

Football has a funny way of creating headlines - we miss out on Higuain and we draw them in the tournament

Will Ozil be re-united with his old team in a Arsenal Vs Real knock out gme?

I hope to play Barca but think we will draw Real Madrid

Would prefer Barca, Real Madrid or PSG because you know they will attack and possibly leave themselves open at the back.
Bayern and Athletico also attack but they are both more solid at the back and are not as gung-ho as the others.

12 Dec 2013 18:20:02
Is it me or does anyone else think they could play better than Jenkinson? The Lad looks so far out of his depth it's unreal, every time he gets the ball I feel he's going to lose it and he constantly runs back towards goal I just don't understand it. Feel free to slate me if you think I'm being harsh

I thought last season, if Sagna leaves, then at least we'll have a half decent replacement in Jenkinson. This season though, and although he has only played a few full games, he looks woeful.

So many mistakes, all in crucial areas. The Napoli away game for instance, he bombed forward. and looked quite menacing at times, then loses the ball so simply. With him so far up the field and no cover in our full back area, we were left desperately short, with other players having to leave their position and cover. You could get away with that against the lesser teams, but with Napoli pushing on so much and with serious intent, I cringed every time he was on the ball.

The Chelsea league cup game aswell. Basically put us out of that with his mis-placed header back to Fabianski.

We could do with some cover come January, maybe with Carl going out on loan to make way.

Then again though, he was playing non-league football just a few years ago, so perhaps we shouldn't be to harsh on the lad. He still has a lot to learn, and i'm sure in a few years time, he'll be one of the best full backs in the league. Just needs to work on his positioning and cut out the daft mistakes.

I agree. I love Jenkinson's attitude and will always support him but I don't think he's up to par at the moment. He will be in two to three years. At the moment, he lacks gametime and in turn, his confidence remains low. I see he panics on the ball and doesn't seem threatening going forward. He's probably afraid to make a mistake. We need to play him more in the Capital One Cup and FA Cup to boost his confidence.

However, at the moment, I hope we get another rightback to fill in Sagna if he leaves. My choices would be Richards, Piszczek, then Abate.

12 Dec 2013 15:22:58
1. Kos was again best player on pitch yesterday of all 22

2. Love BFG's comments about playing the best

3. Make BFG or Flam captain. Jack is too young. Rambo could be the guy but for now let him play without added pressure

4. Bring on Europe's elite. We will beat them this year.

Totally agree USG, except NO.4. i'm just not feeling that one at the moment but we have a long time until the knock-outs begin, so you never know.

12 Dec 2013 13:14:01
!
Tom Daley the british diving champion has revealed that he was shocked to find out that he has been axed by Ashley Young. Evidently Tom Daley who has been training with Ashley Young for the last couple of seasons has said that "I'm quite surprised but in all fairness there is not much else he could have learnt from me. His performances, especially round the penalty box have been exceptional."

12 Dec 2013 10:21:21
Very upsetting result. We looked terrible, enough said. Arteta in my opinion is not good enough for us anymore. He was good for a team finishing fourth year in year out but now that we are legitimately challenging I think we need to look elsewhere in January. He's too slow and his passing is so stagnant. Always going backwards or sideways. So anyway now that dortmund escaped and finished first in the group we get for the fourth year running, an extremely tricky draw(unless atletico, who are slightly worse than the other four). But if we look positively we are through at least and if you look at it from any of those first teams point of view they would be dreading being drawn arsenal out of all the second finishing teams. We are by far the best out of those lot and I think we can beat anyone at the moment. So I think with a positive holiday season and January we should go in very confident knowing we can beat anyone.

Thanks for reading

Bit harsh, I wouldn't say he isn't good enough but the team have out grown him and moved on. nevertheless I would still like to keep him but me used slightly less frequently as I agree I doesn't really add anything to the team anymore and he gets caught out a lot

{Ed039's Note - Am I not getting this ..... want to use him less frequently, doesnt really add anything and gets caught out ... but you think he is good enough?? I personally think he is still a cracking player but the post was a contradiction on itself)

Atletico are the dark horses, they are the team we don't want, I would like to see us draw Barca, their best days are behind them, ours are in front.

Just my opinion, Arteta still a good player, in fact his stats when he sits in front of the back 4 are better than Flamini's.
Flamini, very good player who is more verbal and reads the game better than Arteta. Yes I know, the 2 sentences kind of contradict each other.
IMO, both terrific players when they play on their own in front of the back 4, put them together as defensive Midfielders, even allowing them to rotate going forward, and there's a problem, not sure why, but they don't go together.
Just my opinion and if you don't agree feel free to jump off a cliff (lol, joking btw)

Flamini and Arteta are too similar they play the same roll we were lacking a true box to box player last night! I would have played Rosicky as the box to box player and started with Walcott or Gnabry on the wing! At the moment Rambo is our only box to box as Diaby is a constant walking injury! We need a Gundagon or someone similar to challenge Rambo.

12 Dec 2013 08:02:49
Guys let's take a little perspective for a minute. We are all dissapointed in the result, but the negatives are really out of rationale.

I mentioned this in a previous post, but against Milan a few years ago, after the first leg, the whle world did not give us a chance of qualifying, then came the second leg and we missed progressing by one goal! Last year, lose 3-1 to Bayern in the first leg, no chance of qualifying. Well, we all know how the second leg went. 2-0 in the Allianz! Heck even this week, City beat Bayern with an understrength team.

The point i'm trying to make is, that our boys had it in their heads that qualification was pretty nailed on, same as Milan and Bayern did against us. I agree our attack was pretty poor, but honestly if qualification was riding on that game I would have bet on us winning for sure. i'm not sayng I agree with the way the team played, our whether I think the tactics were right, but I do understand why the team underperformed.

Now, the knockout draw. Yeah the teams we can draw are worldly, and yeah our chances or elimination have increased by not winning the group. However, I WANT to play the big teams. that's why we are in the champions league isn't it? I would hate to win the champions league by avoiding the 'bigger' teams, as this gives our enemies a stick to beat us with. If we are going to win it, let's beat the best! We should fear know one.
With our season so far, I would hope that Barca, Real and Bayern are gutted we finished second. I would bet they see us as a big threat!

Peace out you handsome Goons!

From a very very handsome goon to another, fair post Boogz, I like the cut of your cloth and you are indeed correct my friend.

Totally agree with you Boogz.

Back in August many were saying (pundits, etc), that we'd be lucky to get out of this group- well guess what? We have and with some good results/performances a long the way.

last night wasn't too great and it was frustrating, but in some ways it was a difficult situation psychologically- just avoid losing by 3 goals and you're through. and that's how it looked to me.

We're through to the next round and let's see what happens (many clubs/fans would swap places in a heart beat, believe me)

Let's move on.

Tough tests a head and the team needs our continued support.

COYG!

Should have rested Giroud he looks h*cked!

12 Dec 2013 06:41:03
I hope Arsene injects some pace in the game on the weekend. We looked too "harmless" in the counter attack yesterday

If we turn up as our self's we will be great if we have more respect for city than we do our self's, we could make spurs look good.

I am enjoying this season more than for years we are on OUR way back to the top and must respect all opponents in all games but never more than we do our selfs.

12 Dec 2013 06:12:16
I meant to add in my earlier post. Once again Kos played out of his skin. I don't know about Giroud but we definitely need a back up for Kos too. We would be lost without him this season. A real match winning player.

Totally agree Gold, he was like a very bright fairy on top of a poorly decorated christmas tree.
what? i'm just trying to get in the xmas mood lol

{Ed039's Note - I thought you were talking about playing the christmas tree formation)

Lol nah Ed039,
just the christmas tree in my front room lol

12 Dec 2013 00:14:49
Have to say, normally I always look at the positives but today turned out to be more negative then positive.
I'm so sure we would've gotten a result had we played in a more attack minded way.
Oh well you win some, you lose some. Roll on the next round, looking forward to it.
Also got to be said, the napoli fans were amazing the atmosphere was buzzing throughout.
It shows how far we have come this season when finishing 2nd only on goal difference to the Finalists is a underachievement. Really haven't got a clue who the easiest opposition will be next round, but isn't that what the champions leagu is all about.
If I had to choose i'd probably go for psg or Barcelona. Let's see what happens. Next up Man City

Good post Waq mate