Arsenal Banter Archive October 20 2014

20 Oct 2014 22:08:55
Im trying to find positives believe it or not. i'm not changing my opinion on the way we are performing and all the other stuff, but apart from the top two everyone else is struggling too. That's it that my positive. Not a lot and not a revelation or an excuse for us but at the mo its the best I can do.

20 Oct 2014 22:46:16
Agree Steve,
The reason I can't feel positive at the moment is

A) we are a massive 11 points behind Chelsea.

B) we are playing crap.

I've got another one Steve!
We're the only 3/4 place contenders who have already played both the top two already, I think

The gap between top 2 and the rest will be huge. Manu play chelsea and city next. Two losses I think there for manu

20 Oct 2014 15:46:40
Just watched the post match interview again. Wow does he squirm to try and get around difficult questions.

Fair play to the female journalist putting exactly what needs to be said directly to him. Not her fault he's failing at the job he's paid to do.

I agree Ulster. Wenger never seems to respond directly to questions when results don't go our way

The only thing worse than watching an Arsenal draw/loss is watching Wenger's post match interview

Because he never tells the truth

Its going to be a long uncomfortable and very sad 2 years and 30 games as Arsene has to side step avoid and try to embarrassingly to defend his actions to commentators and journalists who will not let go of a man in serious decline.
Its very sad ending to a Arsenal career that went on to long, its like a once great player who plays on to long

He came across a complete tool. Everything she asked was fair. He should apologise.

20 Oct 2014 15:31:55
Just a comment about Big Per. I think to say he's been awful is not fair on him. There are three defensive problems at Arsenal:

1. Zonal marking. Any player without pace would struggle in such a system

2. Lack of an effective DMF. If he had a good midfield General in front of him (and Kos), with whom our CBs forge a good understanding with, they would not be as exposed as much as they are

3. Our Fullbacks simultaneously overlap too often. Coupled with 1 and 2 above, the situation will always somehow blow up in our faces

When per plays you have to play for him in a way. Drop off to help him. If he had pace he'd be one of the worlds best. Shame

20 Oct 2014 11:02:32
Pers hs been terrible this season their 2nd goal is excatly the problem we have defending set pieces and crosses, not attacking the ball or getting tight enough to the attacker, in all honesty do you think Kompany or even J Terry would have been beaten to that ball?

We are a shambles and anyone here that believes differently are wearing the rose tinted glasses.

The reason we are not much further down the table is due to other teams inconsistencies.

Paper over cracks damage limitations is all I believe we can achieve this season now. Many millions spent and as already mentioned going backwards.

We'll get away with this sesson because like you say other teams have problems too.
utd need another window at least perhaps two but next season it will normal service resumed with us looking up the table at them constantly.
Liverpool are still adjusting to life without Louie but either with or without BR in charge will be much better next season.
Martinez is an excellent modern manger with modern tactics that will have Everton looking very very good next season.
spurs if they stick with this manager then next season he will begin to show his quality with his team, he's taken on the worse job in football but he's no mug.
Us? Will Arsene all of a sudden address all he has refused to address for so long now next season? If so why? What's going to bring about this sudden dramatic change in a man who for so long has been so single minded? What's going to make Arsene finally see what every pundit has screamed for years?
Yup next season is a big worry already imo

Per has been poor this season without a doubt. Hulls 2nd he had Hernandez in sight, he never got away from him. I just think he anticipated what was about to play out wrong, stepped off him and the poor decision cost us. Abel H is a big powerful striker and in the air would pose a problem for even the best of the best defenders to be fair.

Even without the injuries what is concerning is there must be such a lack of competition for his cb berth.

Players in poor form like he is won't even be dropped due to the lack of quality behind him. That can't be good for motivation. A guaranteed start no matter how you perform

It's worrying

20 Oct 2014 09:18:11
We need 31 points from the next 11 games to match where we were at the half way mark last season.
We have spent 90 million in the summer yet not addressed our biggest problem areas in any way shape or form.
No players available? that's not true.
We could have got players who would have improved us but just not the ones we wanted.
Sometimes in life you can't always have what you want and you have to take what you need rather than go without completely.
90 million and going backwards, some mangers who have only been in their job five minutes would be under immense pressure if they made such glaringly obvious naive mistakes let alone one who's had years to plan ahead.
Its not a case of not liking or not appreciating all Arsene has done for us its about the present and the future and having little confidence in his ability to to cope with either

Sorry we spent £70 mil not the £90 I put above.
Apologies

20 Oct 2014 22:50:44
I wish we did spend £90m mate.

£70m plus an extra £20m on a decent DM.

Would have made all the difference to our season.

20 Oct 2014 07:02:06
I am and all ways will be a major fan of Wenger the way he has transformed the club is a leagacy that will last a very very long time
But having said that I do feel that it is time for a new manager to be bought in. The last year and a bit we have spent almost 100 million on attacking players ( ozil Sanchez and DW ) players that were desperately needed due to a major shortage of other options in those positions
But at the same time we are struggling with a major shortage of options in defence ( CB RB and LB ) and are only 2 options for DM are both on a downward slope due to age and need replaced
While I accept that the last transfer window DM and CB where very hard to get ( we aren't the only club that couldn't get what we wanted ) the need for new players in these positions has been apperant for a while
As a club we have been poor in planning for the future on the pitch and that is why we are in this position now. Tactically the team play in an attractive attacking style but some of the players we have are not suited to the style due to age ( artea flamini ) physical incapacblitys ( JW Per ) or being played out of position ( ozil ) all this is down to Wenger
I think the way we play tactically could be a major success if we had the squad to play that way week in week out but right now we don't and to get to the point where we could would require another 4-5 signings
And much as it pains me to say it I no longer feel that Wenger can be relied on to make those signings

20 Oct 2014 03:58:02
How not to lose to arsenal.

Sit deep, a bank of four behind a bank of five with one quick bloke on halfway line

Arsenal only play one way - short passing through the middle. As long as the space is closed down they won't create a thing

Eventually they'll get frustrated and a fullback will overcommit and the ball will go loose. At this point hit the ball long and high up the pitch.

Mertesacker will be on halfway line as Arsenal ALWAYS playthe high line, despite Mertesacker being totally ill fitted to this style of defending. Itll be a race between him and the striker.

Striker will get the ball. Midfield floods forward, we get an overlap and a chance is created.

This is guaranteed to happen at least three or four times a game.

Mourinho and fergie worked this out years ago. Now everyone has figured it out.

We are so easy for crap players and teams to play against its a joke

You're right AG that we have key weaknesses that teams manipulate, but the problems this season have been more complex than that. Look at the key goals we've conceded - they come from a few different situations.

I've noticed 3 major ones:

1. Full-backs fly forward and don't recover when other team counter attacks. One of our CB's goes over to meet their player on the wing and huge holes emerge in our defence, which another player can exploit. Naismith goal vs Everton, Aguero goal vs City, etc

2. Players very easily muscle through the centre of our defence with no challenge from CB's or DM. Immobile Dortmund goal, Spurs goal (flamini muscled off ball), Hazard for Chelsea penalty, Diame for Hull (in spite of foul, I can't help but feel we should not have let him through).

3. Perhaps most worrying, opposition players have found huge gaps where they are completely unmarked in our area. Particularly from set pieces, getting headers. Hangeland for Palace, Coleman for Everton, Ulloa for Leicester, Demichelis for City, Hernandez for Hull. I think this is the most basic but has lost us the most points. It is also worth mentioning that, as with the 2nd problem, Koscielny has been as much to blame as Mertesacker - look for example at Ulloa's goal.

I don't think this is necessarily to do with teams setting up defensively against us. Or our passing game. Those issues are more to do with goalscoring - at the end of the day, our attacking has been a bit sub-par this season but not our main problem. We got 2 goals against Hull, that should be enough to beat them. We got 2 goals away to Everton and home to City- we could well have won if it weren't for stupid defensive errors (in those cases we conceded completely unmarked goals in the box).

It's the basic errors that are costing us. I don't know what to put it down to - even Koscielny has made big mistakes. It looks like basic lack of organisation and focus at key moments.

Excellent post.
Also other teams try to stop us with a lot of rough house treatment. When have you ever seen an Arsenal player rough up an opposition.
JW has tried but ends up injured. And Flaminni is nothing short of a headless chicken but better than Arteta

Great posts both of you, fair honest and 100% accurate

19 Oct 2014 23:07:14
Ozil

Games lost are irrelevant if you keep drawing.

So you would be happy with 0 defeats and 8 draws?

You have to convert the games you draw into wins

If you think Chelsea will lose 4 games or even draw 4 and lose 1 whilst we win 5 on the spin?? then you must know something we don't.

We are a million miles off the pace, alarmingly so to be honest

20 Oct 2014 03:47:59
The games we've won.
Managerless ten man palace
A poor villa side decimated through illness t
Then we have
Unconvincing draws at home to a good side (city)
A mediocre side (spurs)
A poor side (hull)
A humiliating defeat to dorund who were missing three of their best players
A 2-0 defeat to chelsea which was the easiest 90mims of football chelsea will play all season

Ive seen enough to tell me we are winning nothing this season and I predict a thirty point spread between us and first. Wr fail against the poor teams, we fail against average teams, we fail against anyone with a plan
We have played poorly in every game