FA Cup 3rd Rnd - Arsenal v Hull, 4/1/15, 17:30, BBC 1

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

Good, solid performance. I liked how comfortable we looked when Hull had their positive spell.

Walcott being back is a huge plus. Even though his touch was loose and he missed a couple of good chances, he showed exactly why he's such a key player for us. Devastating runs in behind, when he regains fitness and sharpness we'll be a much stronger team.

Positive that we'll have Theo, Jack, Ramsey, Kos and Özil all fresh between now and the end of the season. Need to put a long run together.

 

[Jury]

Can we hope for more of this?

More of facing a severely depleted Hull side? I hope so

 

[MutableEarth]

Match was OK today. We look infinitely better as an attacking unit with pace in the side - I only wish we weren't so wasteful in front of goal.

Rosicky and Cazorla impressed me in the 1st half, and Alexis was his usual self! I liked Bellerin's appetite for the game, but at times his positioning was very Gibbs-esque - Chambers being on his side of the pitch was good because he was able to defend the wide areas better.

Walcott looked rusty as hell but was just nice to see him out there. His runs looked good and he hasn't lost his pace, but his touch and his confidence not all there yet.

Coquelin does what he says on the tin. I thought his passing wasn't as bad as they made out - he's better on the ball than Flamini is anyway, far better. It wasn't a perfect display, but we look a lot more solid defending in front of our back 4 while he is there. Just needs to be better at getting to the second ball.

Ospina looked safe. Liked his kicking aswell.

Overall, our shape was decent. I still think we are really half-assed at pressing and we're lucky Hull aren't up to much at the moment. The unit looked more stable today but that's probably because we had a much more cohesive midfield trio.

My negatives for today was the lull in tempo in the 2nd half. The missed chances aswell - we really need to be far more efficient in front of goal. My personal gripe was Akpom only getting 5 mins at the end, as per usual. If you're gonna give these guys "opportunity", give em a solid 15 mins at least.

 

[fabo]

Comfy win - we didn't play well, but this Arsenal team tends not to play that well. We're so far from the aesthetically good sides of the past but it is what it is - want to see a push towards better defensive displays in the second half of the season. Attack can only improve with players to return.

Usual suspects looked better than the rest - Sanchez, Cazorla.

 

[fabo]

Commentary was laughable too................desperate for a Hull goal. Even mentioned that the game wasn't over at 2-0 because 'Arsenal came back from 2 down in the Cup Final'.....should be sacked on the spot for rubbish like that.

Then Jimmy Bullard in the studio.

 

[redanddread]

Wenger fvcking with the zip again
<a class="postlink" href="https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/B005FE518B1163580056531099648_3911793dff8.1.5.11042460431188513340.mp4?versionId=oByjMsb9hsk61HYcWBP.ldJ_QyV2v6.P" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/B005FE ... J_QyV2v6.P</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"

WTF! Wenger out!

I thought Puma had solved that problem for him...

 

[Vinci]

Glad to have Theo back, his runs in behind is something we have really missed. He looks to have beefed-up during his injury, as well. Or it could just be the tight shirt.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Commentary was laughable too................desperate for a Hull goal. Even mentioned that the game wasn't over at 2-0 because 'Arsenal came back from 2 down in the Cup Final'.....should be sacked on the spot for rubbish like that.

Then Jimmy Bullard in the studio.

Bullard with his pseudo samurai hair and inability to button or tuck in his shirt.. Honestly who goes on live TV and lets their belly button show while sitting down.. just no.

 

[Toast]

It wasn't a good game, but it was a comfy win. Hull looked completely toothless. Did they even get a shot on target? We were pretty good in the first half, but had a very poor start to the second half. Fortunately Alexis is a one-man wrecking machine. Can't really be bothered going over individual performances. Everyone looked decent with the usual standouts. Defensively we still look caught in two minds with the front 'pressing' and the back four dropping off. There was a lot of space that Hull fortunately did not take advantage of. The biggest plus for me was having Walcott back. I've certainly missed him.

Oh, and we scored from a corner! It's like seeing a ****ing unicorn.

 

[bojed]

It wasn't a good game, but it was a comfy win. Hull looked completely toothless. Did they even get a shot on target? We were pretty good in the first half, but had a very poor start to the second half. Fortunately Alexis is a one-man wrecking machine. Can't really be bothered going over individual performances. Everyone looked decent with the usual standouts. Defensively we still look caught in two minds with the front 'pressing' and the back four dropping off. There was a lot of space that Hull fortunately did not take advantage of. The biggest plus for me was having Walcott back. I've certainly missed him.

Oh, and we scored from a corner! It's like seeing a ******* unicorn.

Nope, it's better than that.

It's like seeing a unicorn f*cking.

 

[Toast]

 

[celestis]

How good did Walcott looks though , couldn't finish for **** but it's that incredible movement .

 

[infineon]

By his standards it was a pretty poor game from Theo and he looked a bit worried all game about getting hurt. He will come good, I am sure of it but I am a bit concerned that he might not really pick up any decent form until he has had a good pre-season. What might this mean to the overall club performance for the remainder of the season?

 

[SiMamu]

How good did Walcott looks though , couldn't finish for **** but it's that incredible movement .

Yeah, his finishing and touch isn't quite there yet, but his movement and intelligence off the ball remains very much intact. Once he gets a few games under his belt and regains some more fitness and becomes more comfortable with the ball he'll start banging them in, particularly with Özil due to return this week (*touch wood*).

 

[Pies]

Not that impressive but the main objective was to get through with no replay or injuries and I think we did that.

So happy to at least see Theo put in a good shift out there. Hopefully Ox isn't injured.

Only watched the 2nd half- Coq was 50/50 for me. Some good tackles, some poor tackles, some good passes, some bad passes, some good decisions, some bad decisions. Pretty much sums up my valuation of him any time I've watched him play I think. Personally never see him being any more than a squad player with us.

We always lose a bit of a focal point and direction when we don't play with a real CF up top, went a bit that way for us at times yesterday as well. Still carved out quite a few good chances looking back at it, Theo in form would have had a couple. So dangerous making those runs from the right.

On to the next round.