LC | West Brom v Arsenal | 25-Sep-2013 | 20:00 PM

[arsmile]

our penalty tactics were clearly very different
we were going for 'hit the goal and make the keeper save it'
they were going for 'get it as close to the angle as possible'

I was impressed that bendtner just survived the 120 after so long without any football. got a nice assist- ballsed up one chance but then theo drops about 7 of them a match when he is match fit. no complaints.

was a nice finish from elsfield...thought ryo and gnabry struggled.

continually impressed with akpom...promising first sighting of hayden but he seems a little reckless for CM.

Bellerin was mega impressive when he came on. Sured up the midfield- got some shots away, was a strong runner, very solid- covered well for vermaelen when he was doing his trademark which I had missed a bit. Particularly given he was out of position.

that's mental strength innit?...we wouldn't have won that if our first team wasn't in the form it is in. And this will go back into the feedback loop of niceness and momentum which will influence the first 11 at the weekend. Lovely.

 

[Yaya]

Bellerin is very impressive RB, very good going forward and with an incredible stamina but he's weak defensively
Bellerin was a RM at Barca but our coaching staff converted him into a RB like Gibbs.

He was a RB at Barcelona and has played there before he came to this club.

I am pretty sure he was RM but since you made me look it up

Arsenal Sign Barcelona Winger Bellerin

Arsenal have agreed to sign Barcelona Cadete B winger Héctor Bellerin, according to Sky Sports. The Spanish Under 16 international follows fellow La Masia product Jon Toral to North London.

Bellerin turned down a new contract last month, following a series of disagreements with coaching staff. Chelsea and Manchester United were both initially keen, but Arsenal moved quickly to secure his services. A compensation package of around €400,000 is said to have been agreed.

The pacy wide-man joins central midfielder Jon Toral in switching from Barcelona to Arsenal this summer, in a deal worth €350,000. All in all, around €1 million will eventually change hands.

Héctor and Jon both sign three-year-deals with the option for a further two years.

<a class="postlink" href="http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2011/05/arsenal-sign-barcelona-winger-bellerin/#.UkO1SYZmhL" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2011/05/arse ... UkO1SYZmhL</a>

Well, according to few sources such as ESPN.(<a class="postlink" href="http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/931725/barcelona's-hector-bellerin-explains-reasons-for-joining-arsenal?cc=5739" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/93172 ... al?cc=5739</a>) Bellerin has played at right back for Barcelona. If you watch this game you should be able to see Hector Bellerin playing in that right back position for Barcelona, wearing the no2 shirt.(<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTipLaH-4dM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTipLaH-4dM</a>)

 

[redanddread]

Rested our first team and still won. Well done.

Yup, only 2 member of the 1st team against Stoke played-Per & Gnabry. Regardless of how they played, which wasn't badly just a bit ineffective, to go away from home with a team containing 5 youth players and beat an established Premier League team is no mean feat.

 

[MaestroCesc]

Great win since we were pretty much playing our reserves, still not sure how we won that though, how did Rosenberg not score?

1st half was one of the worst I have ever seen, which I guess you would expect for a completely changed team of young players. I was disappointed with Gnabry, I thought he would really have a good game but most of his attacking play was poor, he was much better v Stoke. I disagree with some of you saying he lacked effort, I thought he covered alot of ground.

Ryo was pretty disappointing too, but his situation is completely different to Gnabry. He is still making his way back from pretty being injured for the whole of last season, so its probably best to reserve judgement for him although he looked a bit out of his depth.

Akpom and Bellerin looked very good, however it was when both teams were very tired so I would read too much into it.

Olsson's penalty was the turning point, if he had missed I dont think Dawson would have gone for the corner as much.

 

[Uncle Mike]

As I said before, I couldn't give a toss about the LC, and this hasn't changed, even though I was impressed to have seen us knocking a PL side out. The game was poor though and I'm sure Chelsea will knock us out if Wenger plays the same eleven again (which he won't), but nonetheless it's been a good experience for the younger players.

This is exactly how I feel. Always glad to see us win as I want Arsenal to win every game played, and it was fantastic for the young players to get that result, but I would not have lost any sleep over going out. Still won't next round.

I agree as well. To me, the only value that winning the League Cup would have is that it would shut up the schmucks who say, "Arsenal haven't won a trophy in X years."

They'd then have to say, "Arsenal haven't won a major trophy in X years." Then, if they're Tottenham fans, we'll ask them how long it's been since they won a major trophy.

I was a bit occupied during the game, and couldn't pull myself away to come on here, but I can guess what it was like:

"West Brom are dominating us... "

"Wenger trusted the kids again, his tactics are ****, he should have spent a gazillion pounds on a striker."

"**** you, Wenger, **** off!"

"Damn it, Bendtner!" (Okay, I said that a few times myself.)

"This game is dire, our defence is **** and the Baggies will score soon."

"EISFELD!"

"****! Oh, that's it, the Baggies will get another right away and we'll lose, because our defence is ****, Wenger should have bought English defenders insead of wasting all that money on a funny-looking midfielder."

"If this game goes to extra time, we will lose."

"If this game goes to penalties, we will lose."

"Flappyhandski to stop penalties? **** it, we've lost."

"Gnabry missed! We've lost! ****ing Wenger, why did you play him?"

"This win means nothing, Wenger's stupid tactics were brutally exposed, he has to go."

"****, we have to play Chelsea in the next round? We'll lose for sure, Wenger will start the kids and Mourinho will start his starting XI and we'll get raped."

I'm glad I wasn't on here.

 

[Uncle Mike]

Jenks still looks fresh and busting a gut to get back, that's nice to see.

This is the Philadelphia fan philosophy: You are a player for our team, and we want you to succeed. But we will forgive you if you don't, if you show us that you're trying your hardest.

See also, "Wilshere, Jack"; "Ramsey, Aaron"; "Koscielny, Laurent."

 

[Uncle Mike]

Jesus but penalty shootouts are great when you win them.

No, they're great AFTER you win them. During them, they're brutal.

But we won. Which means YAY!

 

[fabo]

The cups are disrespected alot these days, annoys the **** out of me. I'm desperate to win one of the FA Cup/League Cup this season.

But you'll hear people saying how good it is that we're knocked out of this cup or that cup so we can focus our energy on something else....usually getting 4th place. That's not how an elite club should operate.

 

[Caz19]

Love penalty shootouts. Nothing more exciting than some good old spot kicks.

 

[Floating]

The cups are disrespected alot these days, annoys the **** out of me. I'm desperate to win one of the FA Cup/League Cup this season.

But you'll hear people saying how good it is that we're knocked out of this cup or that cup so we can focus our energy on something else....usually getting 4th place. That's not how an elite club should operate.

Winning the league cup wouldn't change a thing. The likes of Swansea, Leicester, Blackburn and Middlesbrough have won it in recent years. Likewise, elite clubs like Chelsea and United have also sacrificed it by playing reserves to go after bigger targets.

Chasing a largely meaningless cup isn't ambitious, it's usually misguided and risky, especially with our thin squad.

 

[fabo]

It's not about changing anything, you play the game to win trophies. It's clearly 4th on the list but to call it meaningless makes me worry about Arsenal fans. Chelsea and United have also gone for it on another occasions, Mourinho's first year being a prime example when he put alot of emphasis on Chelsea winning their first cup under him. I'd say 8 seasons without winning anything makes the cups that little bit more important to us.

Hoping we have some senior players returning around the Chelsea game so we won't have to field a bunch of kids who won't even make it here.

 

[Vela]

Everyone should be back for the Chelsea game apart from Oxlade-Chamberlain.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Everyone should be back for the Chelsea game apart from Oxlade-Chamberlain.

And Diaby :mrgreen:.

 

[ModelGooner]

It's not about changing anything, you play the game to win trophies. It's clearly 4th on the list but to call it meaningless makes me worry about Arsenal fans. Chelsea and United have also gone for it on another occasions, Mourinho's first year being a prime example when he put alot of emphasis on Chelsea winning their first cup under him. I'd say 8 seasons without winning anything makes the cups that little bit more important to us.

Hoping we have some senior players returning around the Chelsea game so we won't have to field a bunch of kids who won't even make it here.

Completely agree, said something similar earlier in this thread.

United won only the Carling Cup in 05-06 which spurned them onto greater things in the following seasons. A trophy would finally prove to everyone that we are capable of winning.

 

[The Escaped Ape]

It's not about changing anything, you play the game to win trophies. It's clearly 4th on the list but to call it meaningless makes me worry about Arsenal fans. Chelsea and United have also gone for it on another occasions, Mourinho's first year being a prime example when he put alot of emphasis on Chelsea winning their first cup under him. I'd say 8 seasons without winning anything makes the cups that little bit more important to us.

Hoping we have some senior players returning around the Chelsea game so we won't have to field a bunch of kids who won't even make it here.

Completely agree, said something similar earlier in this thread.

United won only the Carling Cup in 05-06 which spurned them onto greater things in the following seasons. A trophy would finally prove to everyone that we are capable of winning.

This is exactly it. It changes the confidence in the team and its public profile/ability to attract players.

 

[jmsmtthw28]

Jenkinson vs WBA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97CVsIMplyk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97CVsIMplyk</a>
He's good but he not ready yet, especially going forward

 

[silent_shadow]

It's not about changing anything, you play the game to win trophies. It's clearly 4th on the list but to call it meaningless makes me worry about Arsenal fans. Chelsea and United have also gone for it on another occasions, Mourinho's first year being a prime example when he put alot of emphasis on Chelsea winning their first cup under him. I'd say 8 seasons without winning anything makes the cups that little bit more important to us.

Hoping we have some senior players returning around the Chelsea game so we won't have to field a bunch of kids who won't even make it here.

Completely agree, said something similar earlier in this thread.

United won only the Carling Cup in 05-06 which spurned them onto greater things in the following seasons. A trophy would finally prove to everyone that we are capable of winning.

As if they wouldn't have won trophies without the sodding Carling Cup the previous year.

The last four time the League Cup has been won it was the ONLY trophy the winning team achieved that year.

Look I'd love a trophy but there's been nothing to show it'll make a difference to getting other silverware. The last few teams have actually dipped in form after winning it.
And the media narrative won't change either. They'll just talk about major trophies instead and make fun of any celebrations because we never took it seriously before.

 

[tap-in]

Brum beat us and were then relegated, so lets stop this talk about winning the Cocup would lead to better things. If better things are to come, they will come regardless. Why not try to win the PL?

 

[Caz19]

Everyone should be back for the Chelsea game apart from Oxlade-Chamberlain.

That gives us a bit more leeway hopefully.

If we don't get any new injuries and all those players come back safely, we can go out with a lineup like this



Podolski
Gnabry----------Rosicky------------Walcott
Flamini---------Wilshere
Monreal---Vermaelen-Mertesacker----Jenkinson

 

[tap-in]

Everyone should be back for the Chelsea game apart from Oxlade-Chamberlain.

That gives us a bit more leeway hopefully.

If we don't get any new injuries and all those players come back safely, we can go out with a lineup like this



Podolski
Gnabry----------Rosicky------------Walcott
Flamini---------Wilshere
Monreal---Vermaelen-Mertesacker----Jenkinson

Walcott is out for 5 weeks and we play on 29th Oct!