24/11/09 Arsenal vs Standard Liege 19:45 Skysports Xtra

[alboots101]

and a crap keeper.

 

[Clrnc]

I just don't understand why we played key players when we have a game against Chelsea on saturday and this is a meaningless easy win at home

this game was more vital than the chavs game.

In what way? Even a loss would have seen us through

 

[alboots101]

Finishing top...we must have learned our lesson at last.

Chavs in Nov. is nowhere near as important as finish top of your group.

 

[Clrnc]

But we can't lose that match, to get 11 points behind. It would be hard to chase even if we aren't even halfway through the season

 

[otfgoon]

Momentum is important too though, if we lost against Sunderland then drew/lost or even just conceded a few goals against Liege it wouldn't be the best way to go into the Chelsea game.

 

[alboots101]

But we can't lose that match, to get 11 points behind. It would be hard to chase even if we aren't even halfway through the season

well maybe but its way too early to tell...look i`d rather be 11 pts behind now with a chance to catch up than 11 pts behind at easter.

 

[Captain]

Obviously Gibbs' own fault, not the f*d up challenge.

This is outrageous.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Obviously Gibbs' own fault, not the f*d up challenge.

This is outrageous.

It kind of bugs me that the asshole is gonna go unpunished for that tackle. Breaking the bones of their opponents is becoming a bit of a habit for Standard players, apparently.

 

[Del Boy]

Wasn't that bad of a tackle. It is obviously going to look bad if you take a picture of the studs up after the ball.

It was probably a yellow, but it doesn't seem so bad if you watch it in normal time.

 

[Accomplished]

To be fair, it was a blocking tackle (as far as I remember, I may be wrong). I think the guy was diving slightly in front of gibbs in an attempt to stop the shot, so it's not like he just completely cleaned him out for no reason. Still annoying though, it had been coming for the last 20 minutes since they decided to kick lumps out of us.

 

[flobaba]

I wasn't at all happy with the performance yesterday. The result is all well and good, and it was achieved quite comfortably, but still the general team performance wasn't great. Too much huffing and puffing and gunghoism and still not enough control.

As a vastly superior side in all positions (even with a somewhat weakened team), I expected an entertaining and controlled performance. Something to help suppress the memories of the Sunderland game. But it was virtually a replay.i.e. Players not doing enough with their brains and relying more on pace. Not enough movement and incisiveness/invention up front. Shady defending at times. Almost everybody was just going through the motions.

I said earlier that the result was fine- we top the group and whatnot (though we'd have no excuse not to, we had one of the easiest/safest draws of all the groups IMO), but this game should have been sort of like a precursor to the one at the weekend. We had a chance to show that our result and performance against Sunderland was a minor blip caused by the Int'l break. As a coach, I'd have wanted, strike that- I'd have demanded a route. Wenger didn't look to happy with the team during the game, and with good reason.

If it was indeed any indication as to the type of game we'll play v Chelsea, and if we can't snap out of this latest state of stupor and apparent insipidness soon, I'm quite sure we won't get any points out of the game against Chelsea.

Once again- Good result, Poor performance. Doesn't inspire much confidence in me going into the Chelsea game.

 

[Captain]

Studs up with two feet off the ground is not that bad of a tackle?

Unbelievable.

 

[Del Boy]

Studs up with two feet off the ground is not that bad of a tackle?

Unbelievable.

Was a block tackle though, so it doesn't make a difference that the two feet were off the ground. They were off the ground for a reason, it wasn't a two footed lunge or anything.

Pictures are irrelevant, it is all about looking at the tackle in real time. It was a bad attempt at a block and should have been a yellow card. A red would have been a bit over the top.

 

[General]

Good post Flobaba. Some will see it as moaning session of course but they crashed our post twice and had a stonewall penalty denied despite the fact that it was utter domination on our part. We are top of the group which is a major positive but you can’t deny that there is an air of vulnerability about this team. It’s still not as compact as the 07/08 team (hoping Denilson’s return helps address some of the porosity) and you get the feeling that for every Liege there will be a Sunderland.

 

[alboots101]

Good post Flobaba. Some will see it as moaning session of course but they crashed our post twice and had a stonewall penalty denied despite the fact that it was utter domination on our part. We are top of the group which is a major positive but you can’t deny that there is an air of vulnerability about this team. It’s still not as compact as the 07/08 team (hoping Denilson’s return helps address some of the porosity) and you get the feeling that for every Liege there will be a Sunderland.

so did we.

 

[Nela]

Almost finnished rewatching the match right now.

Nasri works quite well as one of the front 3 as long as the other two are more natural striker-types who are willing to make lots of runs. He played in a very free role which suited him.

Theo's cameo was not good. He sticks out so much in our team because he simply doesn't have the vision or football inteligence of the rest of the team. Even inexperienced players like Vela and Gibbs fit into the system better. It's becoming a bit concerning IMO. He really needs to take a big step.

Fabregas put in some nice tackles in the second half.

Really sad about Gibbs. Both for him and the team. We look better going foward on the left with him than Clichy. And I was looking forward to having two good options there.

 

[Captain]

Studs up with two feet off the ground is not that bad of a tackle?

Unbelievable.

Was a block tackle though, so it doesn't make a difference that the two feet were off the ground. They were off the ground for a reason, it wasn't a two footed lunge or anything.

Pictures are irrelevant, it is all about looking at the tackle in real time. It was a bad attempt at a block and should have been a yellow card. A red would have been a bit over the top.

It's dangerous play and warrants a red card.

There is never any reason for a player to be lunging with two feet off of the ground, 'block tackle' or not.

 

[Accomplished]

Theo's cameo was not good. He sticks out so much in our team because he simply doesn't have the vision or football inteligence of the rest of the team. Even inexperienced players like Vela and Gibbs fit into the system better. It's becoming a bit concerning IMO. He really needs to take a big step.

Not really fair considering he's hardly played this season. So he's really barely had enough time to get used to this system in a playing environment. It'll also take him to time to get his sharpness and decision making back.

Theo is class, he will work in this system, he just needs time to get back into form.

 

[USArsenal]

actually just got around to watching the game.. how on earth did they not give Liege a penalty for the Gallas push?? couldn't have been more blatant a penalty.. Eboue's on the other hand, was less blatant, but i think a penno nonetheless..

 

[alboots101]

the ref just loved to play on....i like that in a ref.