PL: Arsenal vs Middlesbrough | 09/09/06

[lutaayam]

Actually we're doomed unless we change our tactics

 

[RocktheCasbah]

I don't think so, I think we'll be doomed if our finishing doesn't improve. I bet Boro couldn't believe their luck that they made it to half time 1-0 up, we slaughtered them. And whilst I accept that it's no good slaughtering a team if you don't pop your chances in, you can't blame tactics for that.

 

[cesc18]

I don't think so, I think we'll be doomed if our finishing doesn't improve. I bet Boro couldn't believe their luck that they made it to half time 1-0 up, we slaughtered them. And whilst I accept that it's no good slaughtering a team if you don't pop your chances in, you can't blame tactics for that.

arsenal boro
21 Goal Attempts 1
13 On Target 1
8 Off Target 0
0 Hit Woodwork 0
0 Offsides 1
15 Corners 0
5 Fouls 1

those stats are staggering
we r not playing badly at all
but we arent converting our chances
maybe hamburg and manu could mark the turnaround
two big games we ll be up for it

 

[asajoseph]

We aren't really creating great chances to be honest - for me, it's the speed of our play, that's allowing other teams to pack the penalty area, and making it incredibly difficult to play a useful final ball.

 

[cesc18]

We aren't really creating great chances to be honest - for me, it's the speed of our play, that's allowing other teams to pack the penalty area, and making it incredibly difficult to play a useful final ball.

a lot of the time the team spent passing the ball form left to right back and forth just outside the area over and over repeatedly
so id agree when you say speed was missing and hence didnt give us clear cut chances

 

[asajoseph]

passing the ball around the back is fine - it draws the other team out, and has worked for us in the past. Doing it on the edge of the area just makes it more and more difficult to score against a team setting out to frustrate.

 

[cesc18]

passing the ball around the back is fine - it draws the other team out, and has worked for us in the past. Doing it on the edge of the area just makes it more and more difficult to score against a team setting out to frustrate.

and makes it frustrating if you are an arsenal fan watching
dont know about you
but i cannot believe people are slating hleb for yesterday
agreed his decision making on shoot or pass isnt the best
but i thought he was one of our better players yesterday

 

[IBL]

How I yearn for an Ian Wright style striker right now, someone whose first instinct is to find the back of the net the quickest way possible, not fussed about scoring a 'pretty' goal. The amount of chances we've created in the last few games is hugely encouraging but our inability to finish them is definitely cause for concern. Of all the talented stikers we have it's almost beyond belief that we can't seem to score in open play.

Also our play from set pieces, we must have had 30-40 corners in our first two home league games and probably around 15 set pieces around the area, why is that we're so poor at converting these? We're definitely missing a trick here, if we could add this to our armoury then thats another barrell load of goals. I can't imagine that we work on set pieces on training that much which is unfortunate (if it is the case).

Lets see how our form fairs in the CL, a strong showing is required here

 

[jjmcjohnson]

Clearly we must blame the match announcer since he was the guy most at fault! To play our Wengerball we need to move the ball quickly and counter, and the match announcer never ceased to remind everyone of the dire tube situation! I mean this is serious stuff folks. Clearly you could see on our players faces that they too were contemplating how to circumvent the Waterloo! But alas, it came at the cost of vital match concentration which is what caused Fabs too give the ball away and which distracted Hleb from shooting!

Idiot

 

[asajoseph]

Clearly we must blame the match announcer since he was the guy most at fault! To play our Wengerball we need to move the ball quickly and counter, and the match announcer never ceased to remind everyone of the dire tube situation! I mean this is serious stuff folks. Clearly you could see on our players faces that they too were contemplating how to circumvent the Waterloo! But alas, it came at the cost of vital match concentration which is what caused Fabs too give the ball away and which distracted Hleb from shooting!

Idiot

Do you ever get the feeling that you're missing the point?

 

[celestis]

We aren't really creating great chances to be honest - for me, it's the speed of our play, that's allowing other teams to pack the penalty area, and making it incredibly difficult to play a useful final ball.

Yup your'e right , the ball is not coming in quickly enough unfortunately. The full backs and the wingers are not combining down the wing. Instead Hleb Fab and RVP are getting into each others way.

 

[hellolo]

funny how RvP hsan't contribuetd as much as Reyes has done in his time at arsenal yet we hurl abuse at one,
I think we could have used Reyes for this match, whether up front or on the wing
And whenever fit, Rosicky must 100% of the time start in front of ljungberg

 

[Arsenal_Soldier]

It's very intersting that we got no offisides, we never got behind the Boro' defense, we played in front of them, and with defenders lacking pace such as Woodgate, this is comfortable for them. I thought we lacked a player like Overmars yesterday, someone carrying a goalthreat from the midfield.

The tempo of our game is also a concern, the urgency we play with when we go 1-0 down needs to be maintained for atleast the first hour or so. We desperately need a good result in Germany, just to get the confidence back into our play, hopefully, Hamburg playing their football will play into our hands.

 

[IBL]

funny how RvP hsan't contribuetd as much as Reyes has done in his time at arsenal yet we hurl abuse at one,

Like I mentioned before, he appears to be one of these players above criticism, but in fairness to him yesterday he wasnt the worst player, everyone looked well below par.

 

[Big Poppa]

Sometimes I feel as though there's a little bit of naivity in our play. We try and penetrate the defence far too soon through the middle instead of using all the width of the pitch, keeping the ball in our defensive third, being patient and calmly pulling the opposition out of position.

The way to deal with a defence that likes to sit very deep is to play that little bit deeper yourself. Keep the full-backs on each touch line, engage them in play. Invite the opposition to come out a little bit, don't sit on the edge of their box from the get-go because you ain't getting through!

Small things that come with experience I think, and a bit more playing time together. Is it partly a tactical thing? Maybe so, let's be honest Wenger is no tactical genius. He'll never change his tactical approach during a game, even when the current one is failing to reap dividends. Boro went down to ten men, we equalised. Why not go 3 at the back with Gallas, Toure, Djourou - push Eboue up to the right wing, Ljungberg to the left and go 3 in the middle with Gilberto, Rosicky and Cesc. Expand the play, that's the best way to kill ten men. We should know this better than anybody after that night in Paris.

Only subs that were needed were Baptista and Rosicky for Hleb and van Persie. Boro played the last 25 minutes with just Viduka up and everybody else behind the ball.

They had **** full-backs and yet we rarely took advantage of that, apart from when Eboue won the penalty because Downing had to cover for one of them. Honestly, why Walcott was left out of the squad altogether has me perplexed - unless he was injured. Has he has that bit of fearlessness to go at a player and commit them - he is the one genuinely direct player we have!

 

[I love Pascal Cygan.]

Honestly, why Walcott was left out of the squad altogether has me perplexed - unless he was injured. Has he has that bit of fearlessness to go at a player and commit them - he is the one genuinely direct player we have!

QFT.

 

[Big Poppa]

It's very intersting that we got no offisides, we never got behind the Boro' defense, we played in front of them, and with defenders lacking pace such as Woodgate, this is comfortable for them. I thought we lacked a player like Overmars yesterday, someone carrying a goalthreat from the midfield.

The tempo of our game is also a concern, the urgency we play with when we go 1-0 down needs to be maintained for atleast the first hour or so. We desperately need a good result in Germany, just to get the confidence back into our play, hopefully, Hamburg playing their football will play into our hands.

Excellent point. I can't recall a one-on-one situation we've created thus far at the Grove. I remember when we played Chelsea at Highbury last year, Robben was the danger man, but he got caught offside 3 or 4 times before eventually getting through. You knew it was only a matter of time.

I think Robin in particularly needs to adapt his game when playing upfront. His movement is very linear, he needs to make a few more diagonal runs like he did in Zagreb - this is partly down to timing, and partly down to the issue of width again. There is little space for these runs to be made at the moment because we're not stretching the opposition enough by utilising that wide threat and holding the flanks.

Clichy's return cannot come soon enough because I feel we need more balance. Gallas did great but like the boss said is not entirely comfortable out there yet and is always looking to come inside on his right foot. Hell, I'd even play Traore out there right now! Can't be much worse than Hoyte, and would give that much needed dimension that the loss of 3 left footers on deadline day took away.

 

[jjmcjohnson]

Clearly we must blame the match announcer since he was the guy most at fault! To play our Wengerball we need to move the ball quickly and counter, and the match announcer never ceased to remind everyone of the dire tube situation! I mean this is serious stuff folks. Clearly you could see on our players faces that they too were contemplating how to circumvent the Waterloo! But alas, it came at the cost of vital match concentration which is what caused Fabs too give the ball away and which distracted Hleb from shooting!

Idiot

Do you ever get the feeling that you're missing the point?

What point? The attempted joke? It was pathetic

 

[Big Poppa]

COMPLETELY off-topic, but I've only just seen the goal Theo scored for the Under-21s in midweek. **** ME!!!! That was some Roberto Baggio ****!

Now I'm even more angry he was left out the squad! :evil:

 

[biglunn]

Big Poppa... you make a lot of sense in your appraisal of the situation with Arsenal.

We need to use the width. When everything is coming thru the middle, all the opposition have to do is to stand up in front of their goal. Frankly, Arsenal look stupid trying to go thru there - its like watching them going in to a brick wall everytime.

Now, when Cole-Pires-Henry all teamed up on the left side of the pitch, they were getting behind opposition defences. And with this, they were stretching opposition defences creating spaces. And thats when we would kill the opposition.

Strange as it may sound, I feel having Walcott and and Persie out wide is not at bad idea.