Tottenham vs Arsenal | Wed 14 Apr. 20:00 | SS1/2

[Anzac]

Wenger tends to think about what a player can do on the pitch according to the image he's built up of them in his mind, rather than what they've done in that match.

It's based upon their potential & his faith that they'll realise that potential.

 

[Freagle]

I didn't want to post yesterday, otherwise it would have been full of Almunia you dip ****!

My thoughts of the game:

* Almunia - I have always thought he is the goalkeeper who dreams about making an outstanding save rather than just keeping the ball out of the net the simple way. He deserves an oscar yesterday and I can certainly vouch for him. With the corner, he punched the ball and just to make it look like a superb save, and ended up gifting the ball to the super lucky roseshite. If he didn't 'act' he could have had the time to come back in goal set up his position and had time for drink tea before the shot.

* How the hell can Van Persie play better than players who played almost every game? Absolute legend.

* Clichy and Campbell are the only two players who showed passion, love and determination. We don't have players like them and that is why we suffer.

* Tactically we were spot on. We could of won the match by 3 goals, but unfortunately our players love to delay the ball and Diaby just slowed our attack more than 6 times.

 

[regele]

Wenger tends to think about what a player can do on the pitch according to the image he's built up of them in his mind, rather than what they've done in that match.

My view is pretty much on the same line, but rather that he gives them a chance to make up for a bad performance(or show what he knows they're capable of showing), but you could clearly see after 10 minutes of the second half that there wasn't any improvement over what he showed in the first, so why keep him on?

 

[sabret00the]

Wenger tends to think about what a player can do on the pitch according to the image he's built up of them in his mind, rather than what they've done in that match.

It's based upon their potential & his faith that they'll realise that potential.

But in order to succeed with a youth policy, you need to know when to give up on players and move on.

 

[sabret00the]

* Tactically we were spot on. We could of won the match by 3 goals, but unfortunately our players love to delay the ball and Diaby just slowed our attack more than 6 times.

How so? We were toothless as ****.

 

[Anzac]

Wenger tends to think about what a player can do on the pitch according to the image he's built up of them in his mind, rather than what they've done in that match.

It's based upon their potential & his faith that they'll realise that potential.

But in order to succeed with a youth policy, you need to know when to give up on players and move on.

I hope you know you won't get any arguement on that from me. :wink:

 

[SA Gunner]

Wenger said a few things in his post-match interview that is at least somewhat encouraging:

1. He said our defending for their first goal was not good enough for a team competing for the championship. That means he should buy a CB this summer.

2. He said we lacked quality in the final third. That means he should buy a goalscoring striker.

3. He felt that we had loads of inefficient possession. So he should strengthen midfield.

Sadly, he didn't say anything about goalkeepers.

We need to be realistic folks. Chamakh is probably the only signing we will see this year. I dont see Wenger adding to any other area in our squad.

We have been here before, and heard this before. Its now a question about how long Arsène can keep the masses thinking that numbers are coming in.

We have a second Groundhog day.

 

[sabret00the]

Diaby i can cut him some slack because he has (overall this season) been good.

Myth, he had a run of decent games.

 

[kel varnsen]

Haven't seen the full match - only a few moments whilst getting ready for work - don't really think that I either want or need to watch it from what I did see.

Saw their 2nd goal & thought WTF where is the marking & where was TV - and then realised we were in trouble.

god knows what sagna is doing at the second goal. he's 5 yards behind the rest of our defenders, playing bale onside. at first, i thought silvestre should share some of the blame, but i think silvestre actually knows bale is behind him(quick reaction when the pass is made). he just assumes that bale is offside. maybe he should have noticed sagna cluelessly wandering around behind him, but the goal is clearly sagna's fault. horrendous defending.

 

[Anzac]

god knows what sagna is doing at the second goal. he's 5 yards behind the rest of our defenders, playing bale onside. at first, i thought silvestre should share some of the blame, but i think silvestre actually knows bale is behind him(quick reaction when the pass is made). he just assumes that bale is offside. maybe he should have noticed sagna cluelessly wandering around behind him, but the goal is clearly sagna's fault. horrendous defending.

Didn't see the replay but the commentary team said it was Eboue playing him on side.

And yet again nothing verbal from AL...........

 

[Kraig]

had some time to digest the game before coming on here, otherwise i would have just had a major rant.

Big Sol was brilliant last night, the passion the guy has for Arsenal is a joy to behold!

RVP has clearly been the missing piece of our puzzle. Sure, players like Cesc, Shavva etc are important, but i dont think any of us truely realised how good RVP is. In 25 minutes, he showed us what 5 months without him have done to us.

Special mention to Denilson who has stepped up considerably of late. He was always (and deservedly) getting stick from us gooners, its only fair to give him praise when he performs well.

Nasri was ok but offered us very little in the way of forward thinking.

Onto the bad...

I have to start with the worst player on the pitch for both teams last night, and that was unfortunately Abou Diaby. Whats happened to him in these last 3 games? Found wanting is an understatement! Holds onto the ball for far too long, seems unwilling to pass to a team mate in a better position, and then when he does pass its either the wrong ball or just awfully placed and ends up back with the oppo!?! This was the sort of form that made most of us want to see him sold, and despite his run in the middle of the season, hes clearly showing he doesnt have the consistency to play week in, week out, although he isnt the only culprit of this.

Enough has been said about Average Al. I posted a list of the 1st choice keepers of every premiership team on here, and most came to the conclusion that he would be in at least the top 3 worst keepers in the league. For a team fighting for the championship and CL, its just not good enough. This NEEDS to be priority one in the summer for Arsène.

Other especially poor performances last night from Rosicky (when did he forget how to pass and shoot?) and Tweety (SHOCKZOR11!!!1)

Finally, for me, this is THE biggest improvement i want to see from us. We need to bring in defensive coaches. Guys who KNOW how to get the best out of players when they need to stand up and be counted. All too often this season, our naivity at the back and through the midfield has cost us countless goals, and not even just against the great sides.

Arsenal Football Club used to be renowned for a great defensive line, with attacking flair ahead of it. The structure of our great sides showed other teams thats "We can score more than you whenever we want, but you aint getting at our goal anytime soon just incase". There was a killer instinct in the side, and more importantly, there were players who had the passion, determination and drive to suceed at the highest levels of the game without it seeming like a chore.

Last night, bar a very select few, it was like alot of our team didnt quite understand the importance of this fixture. For me, this is THE biggest set of games of the year. I hate Mannure, I hate Chavski, but my pure hatred of that bunch of scummers down the road is unbridaled in every sense of the word! Our players need to understand this! They need to look at our supporters, eye to eye, and be able to say "We will fight for you", and my biggest worry is that currently, those players in our squad are few and far between.

Cheers for reading.

 

[Big Poppa]

I've had some time to think about this, again but I am still of the opinion that yesterday was an underserved defeat. We made one horrendous defensive mistake, and concede to a once in a lifetime strike. Apart from that, Sp**s posed no threat. On the other hand, their defence put in a game of the season performance and their goalie saved their asses when we did breach it.

Call me defeatist if you want but the moment we lost the title was when we conceded that last minute equaliser at Birmingham. We do not have a squad that can survive these injuries, setbacks and put in the same level of performance. The biggest area of weakness is the lack of depth beyond van Persie upfront and the lack of cover for Vermaelen, Gallas and Song.

These are areas where you cannot compromise on quality. We have not lost against a team outside of the top 5, and that tells me that we have the needed consistency but just lack that final bit of decisive quality to finish teams off. We need to keep everyone together and add a pinch of worldy experience. We are a very good team, but unfortunately we are still just short of what is needed to be and beat the best.

 

[lagos]

I've had some time to think about this, again but I am still of the opinion that yesterday was an underserved defeat. We made one horrendous defensive mistake, and concede to a once in a lifetime strike. Apart from that, Sp**s posed no threat. On the other hand, their defence put in a game of the season performance and their goalie saved their asses when we did breach it.

Call me defeatist if you want but the moment we lost the title was when we conceded that last minute equaliser at Birmingham. We do not have a squad that can survive these injuries, setbacks and put in the same level of performance. The biggest area of weakness is the lack of depth beyond van Persie upfront and the lack of cover for Vermaelen, Gallas and Song.

These are areas where you cannot compromise on quality. We have not lost against a team outside of the top 5, and that tells me that we have the needed consistency but just lack that final bit of decisive quality to finish teams off. We need to keep everyone together and add a pinch of worldy experience. We are a very good team, but unfortunately we are still just short of what is needed to be and beat the best.

and that my friend's is the story of last night!

 

[progman07]

Diaby wasnt as bad as some people wanna claim, he made few misstakes as there was no movement upfront and kept the ball instead of realising it.

The thing is, Diaby never picks out runners. Theo was running in, I was shouting in front of the TV to pass the ****ing ball into the channel, but he kept carrying it because he has no awareness. This is no new story, even in his great form he couldn't pick runners.

 

[sabret00the]

Special mention to Denilson who has stepped up considerably of late. He was always (and deservedly) getting stick from us gooners, its only fair to give him praise when he performs well.

Deservedly? You sure about that? After all, asajoseph is probably still ruing the fact his mother never had an abortion. Denilson's performances haven't changed much at all, his took a few games to return to form after injury, but other than that, it's simply a case that the fans are actually open to him as a player, after the Barcalona game, the ****-tinted goggles came off and people realise what he offers. Yes his game is incredibly continental and on occasion, he may not be the best option for games. But it's remained clear to see, that in a footballing sense, he puts his head down and does his job.

 

[TomasCR]

Denilson used to get stick because he lost every second "a shoulder to shoulder" challenge (or however you call it) and wasn't able to cope physically. It seems to have changed now, maybe he drinks more milk.

 

[goonerwarsh]

Denilson used to get stick because he lost every second "a shoulder to shoulder" challenge (or however you call it) and wasn't able to cope physically. It seems to have changed now, maybe he drinks more milk.

I don't think that has changed though Tomas, I still don't think he has what is needed to compete in the engine room of a Premiership team. He just isn't dynamic enough for me.

 

[Abs]

Special mention to Denilson who has stepped up considerably of late. He was always (and deservedly) getting stick from us gooners, its only fair to give him praise when he performs well.

Deservedly? You sure about that? After all, asajoseph is probably still ruing the fact his mother never had an abortion. Denilson's performances haven't changed much at all, his took a few games to return to form after injury, but other than that, it's simply a case that the fans are actually open to him as a player, after the Barcalona game, the s**t-tinted goggles came off and people realise what he offers. Yes his game is incredibly continental and on occasion, he may not be the best option for games. But it's remained clear to see, that in a footballing sense, he puts his head down and does his job.

Stop the Denilson love, he had a decent game last night, but how many interception did he do? how many tackles did he win? He didnt take many risks and just kept it simple. If everyone played like Denilson we would never score.....Im not saying he should start dribbling and all, but he rarely wins a 50/50 and win the ball back for us

 

[sabret00the]

Denilson used to get stick because he lost every second "a shoulder to shoulder" challenge (or however you call it) and wasn't able to cope physically. It seems to have changed now, maybe he drinks more milk.

That's where you're lying though Tomas. He never lost 50% of his shoulder challenges at all. In fact, he was guilty of body checking too much and as a result of a tweaked game, still tries to buy the foul/goes down too much, nothing has changed in that regards, it's just that people now understand that football isn't all about looking tough or strong, sometimes it's about the simple things you do off the ball like the pressing and interceptions, all of which Denilson has long been doing with huge success.

 

[MAK 14]

Stop the Denilson love, he had a decent game last night, but how many interception did he do? how many tackles did he win? He didnt take many risks and just kept it simple. If everyone played like Denilson we would never score.....Im not saying he should start dribbling and all, but he rarely wins a 50/50 and win the ball back for us

He made loads of interceptions and he won plenty of tackles. He was a fantastic DM last night, especially considering many people think he can't play there. He knew when to intercept, his positioning was fantastic and he even knew when he needed to concede a foul and take a yellow card in order to stop an attack. Denilson's job is to keep it simple - that's what you do at that area in the pitch. It's your duty to win the ball back and distribute it to the attackers.