EPL – Aston Villa vs Arsenal – 7:45pm - 21/12/11

[ebouenolike]

Second Arsenal game in a row I've missed due to work - I should probably be demoted.

Was over the moon to discover via Twitter we had won - a McLeish side away will always be tricky, especially with no Jack, Song or defenders. Fantastic win.

 

[Thommybhoy]

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/sport/mcleish-hutton-was-conned-2972272.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news ... 72272.html</a>

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Fergie's fanboy can't leave it, can he?

 

[dpt49]

Fergie's fanboy can't leave it, can he?

Fergie's got quite a little gang going now.
Pulis, Alladyce and Mcleish all hanging on Fergie's coat tails like a bunch of sycophantic lap dogs.

But do you know what I like about all of them?

Nothing :wink:

 

[dave_rwr]

And that's even after Bruce's sacking.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Won't take long until Hughes is re-introduced at Blackburn.

 

[Vinci]

McLeish is such a low-life; Hutton got sent off in the 93rd minute, it didn't even matter.

Such a sore loser.

 

[dpt49]

Won't take long until Hughes is re-introduced at Blackburn.

Hughes, another manager with no redeeming features

 

[DJ_Markstar]

I'd normally take every chance I can to stick the boot in with McLeish, but in the original interview he actually blamed Hutton for the sending off - saying he should be more streetwise. And he's completely right.

 

[celestis]

Markstar is right , I don't see Mcleish said anything wrong , he just called Hutton a village idiot .

 

[arsenallegends]

Covering distance is no excuse for Ramsey. He always chases shadows, and his engine gives the impression he's pressing but he lacks positional sense and runs himself down, ending up in a lack of sharpness with the ball and ahost of misplaced passes. Amatuer stuff.

Nobody said anything about an excuse. I was just pointing out one of the most impressive parts of the game to offset a lot of the criticism he was getting.

Also, one of those "shadows" he chases would have scored a tap in if he hadn't hauled his ass all the way back to our 6-yard box on a Villa counterattack... :|

lol though it may seem like it, I wasn't at all criticizing you. Just venting out on a player who I expect more from.

 

[The Sleeper]

Ramsey is doing really well in coming back from that horrific injury. He just shouldn't be playing quite as much right now. Regarding pressing, I don't know what it is they are all supposed to be doing, i.e. what Wenger has instructed them to do, so it's hard for me to criticize individuals unless they are not putting in the effort to press (Ramsey is). What I do see is that our pressing, while it has improved, is not nearly as effective as it could be. Basically, if Ramsey is putting in lots of effort but his pressing isn't intelligent, then that's something the manager should correct. I don't think Aaron is a lad with learning difficulties or the obstinate type to keep doing as he wants regardless of what the manager says.

 

[mavelous]

What bugs me is that none of our players ever pick up opposition DMs when they are pressing. I mean, Ramsey even goes as far as pressing their CB's but he almost always misses the DM dropping in to help pass the ball out from the back. I mean, as the highest CM, your main priority should be the DM and then, if there's enough structure in our pressing, move further up to CB's. maybe it's a communication lack, where arteta doesn't prompt him to that.

 

[brady_style]

What bugs me is that none of our players ever pick up opposition DMs when they are pressing. I mean, Ramsey even goes as far as pressing their CB's but he almost always misses the DM dropping in to help pass the ball out from the back. I mean, as the highest CM, your main priority should be the DM and then, if there's enough structure in our pressing, move further up to CB's. maybe it's a communication lack, where arteta doesn't prompt him to that.

Yes, I've noticed this alot.

A good pressing game comes from the coach/ manager. It's something that has to be worked on and refined over time.
We've all heard countless of times that we don't spend a lot of time in training looking at this side of the game.