W.B.A. vs Arsenal | EPL | 03/03/09 | 19:45 | ATVO

[Unforgiven]

I think Arshavin supporting Bendtner worked really well. It ment that there were enough bodies upfront, and we had the strength and pace to make problems. RVP usually falls back into the midfield too much which I think would have made problems for us scoring yesturday. I am glad we rested him anyway.

 

[Clrnc]

:? Hmm...I still think central defenders should be judged on clean sheets (at least, more than on victories in which we conceded).

A) It was a joke about stats.

B) Our defence should be judged on performance. Just because we'd a clean sheet against Fulham doesn't mean the defence were any less s**t.

A) I know, Gallas was never the reason for it. His absense made our defence more shaky

B) Gallas was good against Fulham tbh.

 

[banduan]

I missed this match!

I saw the goal clips though... West Brom are dire! All the goals except the 1st should have been taken care off. Bendy's first was either scuffed and luckily gone in or outrageously well taken.

 

[Gooner_Stu]

Listening to Dowie on SSN just isnt the same as watching it, and i completly forgot about the highlihts :sad:. But we won, and its nice to have that feeling back, but the important thing is to build on that and win the next game (and so on, and so forth) which isnt something we've done this year.

Hopefully Citeh can do a job on Villa tonight.

 

[Anzac]

Well I've just watched the 1st half & all I can say is I'm pleased we scored & I'll take the 3 points thank you to the WBA defence. IMO we looked as dire in the 1st half as any other of late. Yet again our passing & decision making was poor, as was our positioning in attack & defence.

I didn't like our shape at all. AA looked like he was playing the advanced role while Bendtner played the link. Eboue & Nasri swapped flanks, & I know our pattern is for the wide men to come inside but Eboue is playing far too freely across the pitch. Not so long ago I used the word cowardly to describe his game, and today I saw nothing to change that view - he shied away from the ball every time it was kicked at him by the opposition including in the wall - he's not prepared to put his body on the line. He is an embarasment to the shirt he wears & I continue to be appalled that such a player can keep the likes of Vela, Ramsey, Wilshere, Merida etc off the pitch.

Speaking of the wide men coming infield - the issue I have with this is when they do so before they get the ball as it's ineffective. This then results in the strikers going wide to provide width, or the defence plays the ball into the space on the flanks for the forwards to chase. End result being that our gaols scorers are out wide with the ball, and we have midfielders around the area.

Our CMs still looked like they were playing a staggered formation with Song ahead of Denilson, and we were pushing ahead of the ball too quickly. Several times in defence our forwards got back deeper & quicker than our midfield. Song in particular wanted to get forward as much as possible but with little end result, and often lost possession taking too long on the ball. We had little hustle from midfield in any regard.

No doubt that the performances improved in the 2nd half, as the match was ours to lose by that time, but I saw nothing to suggest that we played any better than we have been doing, and nothing to suggest our form has turned. Too many of the same issues persist in our play, both individually and as a team.

 

[True Gooner]

We were extremely poor in the first half i thought. There were alot of grumbles before Touré scored, and i could have seen there being quite a number of boo's. Good atmosphere all in all from our lot.

And it ended with choruses of "There's only one Arsène Wenger"

 

[run]

The final thing I'll say about the match:

None of our goals were that special, but they were special for us.

When was the last time one of our guys played a dangerous ball on goal through a crowded box? When did you last feel we were dangerous from a set piece (I thought Arshavin's cross was wicked)? And when did you last see a striker take a long pass and smash it home?

Very nice to see.

 

[run]

I think Arshavin supporting Bendtner worked really well. It ment that there were enough bodies upfront, and we had the strength and pace to make problems. RVP usually falls back into the midfield too much which I think would have made problems for us scoring yesturday. I am glad we rested him anyway.

I thought Arshavin looked good in that 2nd striker role too...and I think (given the way Arsène like to play) that he might press RVP for his place when everyone is healthy. As if that will ever happen.

But imagine if we had Rosicky back; I could easily see a front five of Nasri, Cesc, Rosicky, Arshavin and Ade.

Wenger can't get enough playmakers.

 

[James]

We were extremely poor in the first half i thought. There were alot of grumbles before Touré scored, and i could have seen there being quite a number of boo's. Good atmosphere all in all from our lot.

And it ended with choruses of "There's only one Arsène Wenger"

Thought that at the time. Fickle bunch us football fans.

 

[qs]

B) Gallas was good against Fulham tbh.

Good compared to me I'd say yes. Good by top 4 EPL standards, far from it.

 

[qs]

We were extremely poor in the first half i thought. There were alot of grumbles before Touré scored, and i could have seen there being quite a number of boo's. Good atmosphere all in all from our lot.

And it ended with choruses of "There's only one Arsène Wenger"

Thought that at the time. Fickle bunch us football fans.

Or not cos its been sang by Arsenal fans at games all season. This board isn't representative of the majority of fans.

 

[A_Gooner_Matata]

We were extremely poor in the first half i thought. There were alot of grumbles before Touré scored, and i could have seen there being quite a number of boo's. Good atmosphere all in all from our lot.

And it ended with choruses of "There's only one Arsène Wenger"

Fickle bastards...warms my heart though...

 

[Viking]

I'm pretty sure I heard 'Super, super Nick' during the match as well.

 

[A_Gooner_Matata]

I'm pretty sure I heard 'Super, super Nick' during the match as well.

And it was loud. Doubt our away support has ever had too many issues with Nik though (except for Burnley away).

 

[James]

Or not cause its been sang by Arsenal fans at games all season. This board isn't representative of the majority of fans.

Fact is, there was alot of moaning about the performance on the stands. Some of the things you hear regarding the players - that the manager picks - is absurd. It still doesn't stop some singing that song though. Meh, whatever, you are right in some regard, but i'm sure alot of those singing that also booed at full time against Fulham. Not saying i wouldn't have done. Fact is, we all have short fuses now thanks to Arsène.

I'm pretty sure I heard 'Super, super Nick' during the match as well.

It was the loudest song all night. Was sang quite a few times as well. "Eeee-man-well E-boooo-waaay" to the tune of Seven Nation Army also got another airing.