Wigan Vs Arsenal - Saturday 11th April, 2009 - 1500hrs

[ibby]

****.

 

[irishgunnerz]

So pleased with that result, didn't look likely for a long time. Some very poor individual performances, but some good ones also, Song, in particular was unbelievable. Credit to Gibbs, he had a hard afternoon, but showed real character, by sticking to his task, and trying to stop Valencia.

Adebayor looked fantastic when he came on, and I thought Walcott was very unfortunate to get subbed when he did.

The only negative I want to offer my opinion about is Denilson. He was hopeless, there's just no other way to put it. Utterly hopeless.

Surely there is absolutely no doubt that our best forward line consists of;

------Song---Fabregas

Walcott---Arshavin---Nasri

-----------Adebayor

Nope - disagree with that line-up = Nasri & Walcott on the bench, AA & RVP on the flanks & Eduardo up front with Ade.

RVP on the wing instead of Walcott wouldnt be as effective. Dislike him though you may, Theo terrifies opposition players, in general their full back doesnt bomb forward as he's afraid of Theo leaving him flat on his arse. Whether Theo is capable of actually doing that in every game is doubtful but the thought still lingers. Theo looked poor in first half as Fab wasnt playing in a position where he could ping passes from deep and direct play. Theos just back from injury, and grabbed equalizer today. I'm happy enough with that. If Fabs played in right position Theo will flourish.

RVP on the wing is a waste to be honest. Yes I know he's played there for Holland but thats just my point of view. Theos pce on the wing is a weapon. RVP offers more in the centre

 

[Jasard]

When we have creativity and urgency in the side we dont have to worry about our back four so much. Which was the difference in the two halves really.

Far too often we kick off a match with an almost casual style of play.

 

[Anzac]

We're on a long unbeaten run awooga. I think it's possible to now have those nerves of 'oh god, same old story - we're gonna lose' but I think the run should now allow fans to be slightly optimistic that this team is more special than we are originally giving them credit to.

not based upon the performance in the 1st half - the top3 & Barca would take us apart as easily as we did Wigan in the 2nd half today - ask Bayern.

Anzac, our first choice left back, centre back and Gk were missing. We rested two of our best strikers in RVP and Ade, and had our backup centre back stretchered off. By no means were we good in the first half but perspective never hurt anyone

Perspective would be that we have yet to put together a 90 min performance against anyone of note since we beat ManU in November - yes we've bossed Roma in the 1st leg but we couldn't get the ball in the net apart from a spot kick. We got away with it in the 1st leg A v Villareal.

RVP wasn't rested - he didn't play since the 1st international & he's been out with a knock for the last 2 matches. Yes we've got players missing & have had for most of the season - shows again that we are reliant upon being able to put our best available team on the pitch.

Yes I enjoyed the 2nd half & the win, but that doesn't mean I'm not mindful of our errors & 1st half performance against a mid table team.

 

[Anzac]

So pleased with that result, didn't look likely for a long time. Some very poor individual performances, but some good ones also, Song, in particular was unbelievable. Credit to Gibbs, he had a hard afternoon, but showed real character, by sticking to his task, and trying to stop Valencia.

Adebayor looked fantastic when he came on, and I thought Walcott was very unfortunate to get subbed when he did.

The only negative I want to offer my opinion about is Denilson. He was hopeless, there's just no other way to put it. Utterly hopeless.

Surely there is absolutely no doubt that our best forward line consists of;

------Song---Fabregas

Walcott---Arshavin---Nasri

-----------Adebayor

Nope - disagree with that line-up = Nasri & Walcott on the bench, AA & RVP on the flanks & Eduardo up front with Ade.

RVP on the wing instead of Walcott wouldnt be as effective. Dislike him though you may, Theo terrifies opposition players, in general their full back doesnt bomb forward as he's afraid of Theo leaving him flat on his arse. Whether Theo is capable of actually doing that in every game is doubtful but the thought still lingers. Theo looked poor in first half as Fab wasnt playing in a position where he could ping passes from deep and direct play. Theos just back from injury, and grabbed equalizer today. I'm happy enough with that. If Fabs played in right position Theo will flourish.

RVP on the wing is a waste to be honest. Yes I know he's played there for Holland but thats just my point of view. Theos pce on the wing is a weapon. RVP offers more in the centre

I'd play Theo if I was playing a 4 man midfield with the wide men coming from the MR/L areas, but I'd use RVP if the wide men were coming from the AMR/L areas. Theo needs space to move & RVP doesn't like too much distance on the flanks. IMO RVP would thrive with the new freedom across the AM line, as opposed to the more rigid 2nd striker role.

 

[patrick42uk]

Was something wrong with Wigan's pitch? I'v never seen so many underhit passes from an Arsenal team.

 

[irishgunnerz]

Perspective would be that we have yet to put together a 90 min performance against anyone of note since we beat ManU in November - yes we've bossed Roma in the 1st leg but we couldn't get the ball in the net apart from a spot kick. We got away with it in the 1st leg A v Villareal.

RVP wasn't rested - he didn't play since the 1st international & he's been out with a knock for the last 2 matches. Yes we've got players missing & have had for most of the season - shows again that we are reliant upon being able to put our best available team on the pitch.

Yes I enjoyed the 2nd half & the win, but that doesn't mean I'm not mindful of our errors & 1st half performance against a mid table team.

Some players? We had half a team missing Anzac and still ground out a win away from home after going behind. Say what you will but it comes across that you are actively looking for problems while ignoring the good. We're what? 18 League games unbeaten and coming into form at a stage of the season when trophies are won.

Youre going on far too much about 90 minute performance. Weve dominated teams in the past for 90 minutes and drew or last games...then gazed in jealousy as Chelsea or United play well for 20-30 minutes and get a result. We're finally going that. You dont get extra points for dominating a team for 90 minutes you know

 

[Anzac]

Was something wrong with Wigan's pitch? I'v never seen so many underhit passes from an Arsenal team.

I mentioned it earlier - it's a bit longer than our billiard table.......and it appears 'slower' / 'heavier'.........

 

[el capitan]

i thought cards reset after a certain date, or i'm confusing that with something else.

You're thinking of the cards issued by the Police, not the ones issued by a referee.

 

[DC Gunner]

DC, if you are using Arshavin (who is in a much different role) as an argument against Denilson, then I could use Arshavin as an argument against any other player in the team based on an assist basis as he probably has more assists than anybody else, and if he didn't, I could use an assist per match ratio and completely overwhelm an argument. It wouldn't make any sense in doing so because one is not going to replace the other. We can easily play both on the pitch so why is a comparison needed.

Adebayor scores more goals than Arshavin, does that mean I can use that as a valid reason to poke holes in Arshavin's game? Of course not.

Nope, that is not what I am doing !

What I am doing is saying that quality is quality, and it shows itself regardless of age or getting acclimated, hope that makes sense.

 

[Anzac]

Perspective would be that we have yet to put together a 90 min performance against anyone of note since we beat ManU in November - yes we've bossed Roma in the 1st leg but we couldn't get the ball in the net apart from a spot kick. We got away with it in the 1st leg A v Villareal.

RVP wasn't rested - he didn't play since the 1st international & he's been out with a knock for the last 2 matches. Yes we've got players missing & have had for most of the season - shows again that we are reliant upon being able to put our best available team on the pitch.

Yes I enjoyed the 2nd half & the win, but that doesn't mean I'm not mindful of our errors & 1st half performance against a mid table team.

Some players? We had half a team missing Anzac and still ground out a win away from home after going behind. Say what you will but it comes across that you are actively looking for problems while ignoring the good. We're what? 18 League games unbeaten and coming into form at a stage of the season when trophies are won.

Youre going on far too much about 90 minute performance. Weve dominated teams in the past for 90 minutes and drew or last games...then gazed in jealousy as Chelsea or United play well for 20-30 minutes and get a result. We're finally going that. You dont get extra points for dominating a team for 90 minutes you know

I won't trust that we've got it right or something substantial until I see a comprehensive 90 minute performance against a top side, or a very clinical performance against a defensive side that have parked the bus.

I said a week or so ago that this end run after the international break will show us what these developing projects are made of & where they are at. IMO our unbeaten run is as reliable as ManU's clean sheet run.

I'm not convinced AW has got it sorted, and I'm more inclined to believe that it will be the status quo in the market this summer, despite what has been reportedly said by the likes of RVP & Gazidis.

I can enjoy the result, but also look to what went wrong & why so as to avoid repeating the error - otherwise it becomes a WTF moment when it goes pear shaped.

 

[irishgunnerz]

Time will tell I guess Anzac.

 

[GaelForce22]

Is van Persie suspended for the Chelsea game?

If FA Cup and Premier League count together...yes.

Sad for him. He was looking forward to play on Wembley. He can get a second chance if Arsenal reach the final.

He's not. After a certain date in the season (mid Feb I think) you need 10 yellows to get a one game suspension not 5.

 

[Anzac]

Time will tell I guess Anzac.

Yup - I'm really hoping that we come thru' this in good shape for NEXT season - as I said IMO AW isn't going to bring in any 1st team players ahead of these unless he gets a shot at 'special talents' or 1st team players depart.

Mind you I was having the same conversations in November last season when I said that there were problems while we were leading the PL.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

Perspective would be that we have yet to put together a 90 min performance against anyone of note since we beat ManU in November - yes we've bossed Roma in the 1st leg but we couldn't get the ball in the net apart from a spot kick. We got away with it in the 1st leg A v Villareal.

RVP wasn't rested - he didn't play since the 1st international & he's been out with a knock for the last 2 matches. Yes we've got players missing & have had for most of the season - shows again that we are reliant upon being able to put our best available team on the pitch.

Yes I enjoyed the 2nd half & the win, but that doesn't mean I'm not mindful of our errors & 1st half performance against a mid table team.

Some players? We had half a team missing Anzac and still ground out a win away from home after going behind. Say what you will but it comes across that you are actively looking for problems while ignoring the good. We're what? 18 League games unbeaten and coming into form at a stage of the season when trophies are won.

Youre going on far too much about 90 minute performance. Weve dominated teams in the past for 90 minutes and drew or last games...then gazed in jealousy as Chelsea or United play well for 20-30 minutes and get a result. We're finally going that. You dont get extra points for dominating a team for 90 minutes you know

I won't trust that we've got it right or something substantial until I see a comprehensive 90 minute performance against a top side, or a very clinical performance against a defensive side that have parked the bus.

I said a week or so ago that this end run after the international break will show us what these developing projects are made of & where they are at. IMO our unbeaten run is as reliable as ManU's clean sheet run.

I'm not convinced AW has got it sorted, and I'm more inclined to believe that it will be the status quo in the market this summer, despite what has been reportedly said by the likes of RVP & Gazidis.

I can enjoy the result, but also look to what went wrong & why so as to avoid repeating the error - otherwise it becomes a WTF moment when it goes pear shaped.

What does a comprehensive 90minute performance do to convince you when you lose the following game to a bottom place team? Give the team and Wenger credit when due..at the end of it the only thing you can really judge long term is 'consistency' and at this point, we have been consistent in getting favourable results. The most consistent team throughout the season usually wins the leaague, irrespective of the # of 90 minute performances they give you.

 

[qs]

Its a shame a great result against a very decent side has resulted in mostly an awful lot of moaning.

 

[USgoonergirl]

For all the people in the US who were having problems watching the match, FSC is supposed to be showing it at midnight est.

 

[Gurgen]

Its a shame a great result against a very decent side has resulted in mostly an awful lot of moaning.

It's always the same.

People would rather have a moan about Denilson than enjoy Ade's brilliant cameo for instance.

 

[patrick42uk]

We are on one hell of a run at the moment but football is cruel in that it all takes for one bad game for it to be all undone. We'v put ourselves on the cusp of an FA Cup final and a Champions league semi-final. These next 2 games are the biggest we'v had since Barca at the champions league final.

 

[Don Pacifico]

Its a shame a great result against a very decent side has resulted in mostly an awful lot of moaning.

Hehe, there's two sides to that coin though. It's either moans or ridiculous claims of being unstoppable and whatnot.