EPL| West Brom v Arsenal, 06/10, 4pm, SS1

[SomGooner]

If they'd lost to Manure we would've beaten them as well but winning at Old Traford in the manner which they did boosted their confidence ten folds. Is anybody else tired of all these mugs scoring their first goal against us? I've lost count of how many times I've seen guys score their first goals against us from Shrek, Neil Mellor (Remember that winning goal at Anfield), Keiran Clark (Twice in one game), Yacob and few others I've forgotten about.

 

[WengerFaithful]

Defo a good point earned yesterday. West Brom where very bright and very dynamic and looked very dangerous when running at us. We looked very tired it has to be said - the interchanging of positions was non existent until Rosicky came on even then it was poor. I did say after a great performance that their was a fear of lull one and I was right (Yes yes Kudos here ha ha).

Overall I would say this result was more about a very good performance from West Brom then us being that poor but more tired (Result of a small 1st team squad at present).

 

[SomGooner]

Sounds like many of us on here have underestimated this current Baggies who have improved a lot especially at the front. We were missing some important members of our team who would've given us that little bit of extra quality we needed to nick the points so let's not be too hard on them. @ fabo Chelsea were underwhelming and very lucky to come away with the three points and City are inconsistent so I wouldn't worry about them just yet as I can see both of them dropping points.

 

[goonerwarsh]

I thought it was a good point overall. Not the easiest place to go and we've been relying on a small bunch of players for quite a while now. Throughout the season there are always going to be games where the players are tired, particularly when we're playing in the Champions League as well. That was the case yesterday and in games like that just make sure you don't lose.

We never really got going. I would have preferred if Wenger would have gone with Gnabry as we had zero pace, all ball players and no runners in the team. I really don't like it when we go out like that - we always look unbalanced. Still saying that, it worked against Napoli so who am I to say anything. It just seems a waste to have Özil in your side and no one threatening to go in behind their defence for him to feed.

Overall, we go into the international break top of the league, with the unbeaten run in tact and having built a great foundation to build upon for the rest of the season and a chance to get some first team players back. Happy days

 

[Chappers]

Worrying signs I think, as Chelsea and City are beginning to roll now. We've had a good start to the season but even if you take Özil out of the squad, most would have predicted 15+ pts from this set of games before the season started and it should have been achievable.

WBA were gone in the final 20 minutes but I didn't see enough purpose from us to go on and win the game. Many players underperformed.

Injuries in combination with a full schedule taking it's toll I believe. The Villa result is the only truly bad result so far IMO and the imbalance out wide finally caught up to us last night. We should take heart that we've managed to take points during this incredible run with all of our most dangerous players from last season out (several at the same time) at one point or other. That is the true proof that Arsenal is a better team than last season.

Our season may depend upon if Giroud can become a top striker or not and that will remain the number one question mark if we can go on to win the league this season. I think attitude and quality-wise we are set otherwise but strikers win the close games and Giroud is a bit too hit and miss to fill me with complete confidence.

I love the bloke though and if he can continue the way he has and be a bit more clutch against the top teams (unlike last season) then we don't have to fear anyone IMO.

 

[23AndreyArshavin]

The standard of refereeing in this league is an embarrassment. Second time this season a referee has cost us points.

 

[celestis]

The standard of refereeing in this league is an embarrassment. Second time this season a referee has cost us points.

Yeah I agree and it's not only our games. Referee interpretations differ from game to game.don't these clowns meet week to week?

And they still can't find uniformity?

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

The standard of refereeing in this league is an embarrassment. Second time this season a referee has cost us points.

Yes it is, and there are absolutely no signs of improvement, in recent seasons. Especially last season stood out as a poor one, it seems it's being continued.

 

[23AndreyArshavin]

Overall our performance was poor, I think Wenger got the team wrong, I understand Flamini/Arteta duo did well mid week against Napoli, but Europe/Premier League is completely different and the Flamini/Ramsey partnership was doing great so I don't understand why he stuck both Wilshere and Ramsey on the wings when Gnabry did perfectly fine the week before at Swansea.

Come the end of the season I think we'll look back at this as a good point, I don't think Chelsea/United/City or Liverpool are guaranteed to take maximum points from WBA

Gibbs has improved immensely defending but in the final 3rd he needs to work on his final ball, and there is nobody better than Monreal to teach him (Who almost always picks the correct ball).

Hopefully after the break we'll get Cazorla/Walcott/Sagna and Podolski back before the United game. Going to Old Trafford without being decimated by injuries for once would be nice!

 

[Jury]

Man Utd, when top in the past, always got those penalty decisions. It's what contributed to their title haul. I don't know what we have to do to earn that sort of respect from refs. Maybe Wenger should take scottish lessons.

 

[jmsmtthw28]

@theEpicGooner 58s
Correction : Reus, Sahin, Bender, Pizszceck, Kehl, Schmelzer, Gundogan & Subotic won't play against Arsenal in the UCL match.

@AFC_aks12 41m
Great news Rosicky has been allowed to skip NT duty and will spend 2 weeks at Arsenal working on his fitness

1 less player to worry about, if Gundogan and Reus are really out of the CL tie then we should be able to beat them

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Reus and Subotic being out is news to me, the rest of the bunch have been out long term anyway. There are still more than two weeks left until we'll be facing them, I wouldn't take any piece of news in regards to injuries overly serious, especially at the brink of an international break.

 

[jmsmtthw28]

Reus and Subotic being out is news to me, the rest of the bunch have been out long term anyway. There are still more than two weeks left until we'll be facing them, I wouldn't take any piece of news in regards to injuries overly serious, especially at the brink of an international break.

Reus is out with an ankle injury for 2-3 weeks not sure about Subotic.

 

[Johnny_Blaze]

One thing I noticed about the Flamini-Arteta partnership in this match was how close they were to each other throughout the game, positionally. A lot of times they looked as though they were occupying the same space, and I put that down as one reason the West Brom midfield had so much success.

 

[Floating]

The standard of refereeing in this league is an embarrassment. Second time this season a referee has cost us points.

The ref was poor all around, not just against us - he could have easily given West Brom a penalty after Koscielny barged into the back of Shane Long in stoppage time.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

According to Bild, Reus will miss two weeks, so could just be fit to face us. As I've said - what a coincidence, an injury just before the international break.

 

[Mudi]

Just made gifs of the 2 penalty situations (don't shoot me with the quality! I'm not a pro!)

<a class="postlink" href="http://oi42.tinypic.com/5eh1ew.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://oi42.tinypic.com/5eh1ew.jpg</a>

<a class="postlink" href="http://oi39.tinypic.com/f0tgzb.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://oi39.tinypic.com/f0tgzb.jpg</a>

Look at the position of the referee. 2 times a clear view and still managed to f*ck it!

The first one is stonewall penalty! Jones made his tackle, nowhere near the ball and full on the ankle of Wilshere! Just because Wilshere shooted the ball, doesn't mean it isn't a faul. I can bet you that the referee would have give it against us!

The second one is just the same as Koscielny-Agbonlahor. Mulumbu got the ball, but first the player. And the referee is 5 meters away from the challenge while the c*nt refereeing against Villa was 30 meters away!

And fùcking MOTD does only show the penalty case of Koscielny.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

It was a clear penalty for a foul on Jack, but if we look at the overall performance of the referee, we should be grateful not to have been given two against us, for a foul from Gibbs on Sessegnon in the first half, and Kos' on Long during added time.

Gibbs Sessegnon was both outside the box and not a foul, and Long is looking for that all day long. Kos has gone to challenge him physically and Long threw himself to the ground. It's hardly like Kos Threw Him On The Ground or anything, is it?

Nothing like the two challenges on Jack, one a potential ankle breaker, the other where he clearly goes through the back of Jack.

We were screwed twice.

On a side note, wasn't Mason the ref hopping around in delight when Defoe scored against us for Sp**s last season or the season before?

****

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Ah sorry, you're right Mark, it was just outside the box. Of course Sessegnon went down easily, but we've seen FKs being given for even less.

The ref you're refering to was Mike Dean I think, when Saha scored in 2012 (1-0).

 

[Dutch D]

I thought we looked a bit toothless.

Am I the only one who thought Arteta didn't add much to our play?

It sucked that Ramsey was substituted, but I'd moved Wilshere or Ramsey to his position and get in a proper winger (read: Gnabry).