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

[Anzac]

I'm not disputing the result or our 2nd half performance, just saying that only tells part of the story & that we still have some ways to go to get ourselves sorted & playing well at a consistant level. IMO we are still behind the levels of performance we played at the start of last season, let alone the consistancy.

 

[regele]

Why? The comparison is based on a improvement, not a deterioration. You said it yourself. It's obvious to anyone that we didn't play our best football in the first half but a game lasts ninety minutes (unless it's Juventus playing; in their case it's more like 96 minutes. 98 if they're a goal down). The points are counted when the final whistle is blown and not a second before that. Everyone celebrates the mental strength of United when they make a great comeback against Villa. I don't see the difference, really. Today was a massive win, extremely important both for our position in the table and for the confidence in the team. The football was also very easy on the eye for about 45 minutes. If we can't appreciate the present then what's the point of watching football at all?

Precisely, everyone seems to forget how many times we turned games around last season and that like now, we were asleep at the kickoff, we also held the record for most goals scored in the last 10 minutes of the game, lots of which were winners; there was a large part of last season when we grinded out results in similar fashion to Villareal. The last time we came out of the blocks running was the invincibles time, now you get the odd game when the game is settled in the first half but it's the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Rohit]

We consistantly fail to impose ourselves on the game from the start - so much for all AW's belief...............the team doesn't respond until he has to hold their hands again at half time!

What a joke! There are other threads in which you can post this nonsense if you just want to criticize Wenger at every given opportunity.

Wenger believes in their ability, we are on a good run, the team is coming good, there is marked improvement in some players which to the shock and horror for some would have been impossible, may be every one thought players were in th twilight of their career.

If anything this run which might amount to nothing in the end has shown that his belief his justified.

You don't watch Man Utd do you? I have seen more tepid first halfs from them this season than i have seen from any other team.

 

[kamikaze80]

anzac, you cant expect any team to be consistently excellent every match. even the invincibles had off nights. it doesnt take away from the shortcomings in our squad, but maybe your expectations are a bit high.

 

[progman07]

anzac, you cant expect any team to be consistently excellent every match. even the invincibles had off nights. it doesnt take away from the shortcomings in our squad, but maybe your expectations are a bit high.

But this time the 2/3 of our season consists of off-nights... there is a difference between occasional off-nights and permanent bad performances.

 

[TomasCR]

Then all the credit to our players. Having 2/3 of all our games "off-nights" and yet managed to be on 4th spot is certainly not the simplest thing to do.

 

[progman07]

Then all the credit to our players. Having 2/3 of all our games "off-nights" and yet managed to be on 4th spot is certainly not the simplest thing to do.

Maybe because even at the off-nights we are capable of getting points? But certainly we didn't have too many good games this season before Arshavin arrived. And the number 2/3 might be exaggerating. :roll:

 

[True Gooner]

anzac, you cant expect any team to be consistently excellent every match. even the invincibles had off nights. it doesnt take away from the shortcomings in our squad, but maybe your expectations are a bit high.

But this time the 2/3 of our season consists of off-nights... there is a difference between occasional off-nights and permanent bad performances.

Maybe so, but I still think Anzac's expectations are ridiculously high. Oh and we're in a pretty good run of form since mid-feb despite our injuries so I don't see any 'permanent bad performances'

The bottom line is that we scored 4 goals, away from home at a ground where we have always found it hard to impose ourselves, after a tough away fixture in the CL and we did it with half our back line injured (+ 1 injury to an already weak CB position in the middle of the the game/ not to mention the fact that our goalkeeper and strikers are still missing)

 

[RobinVanPersie]

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.

Ah that´s good news. Thanks! Funny that the rule is so different in Holland. You get a suspension here at the 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and then after every yellow card that you get. I like the English rule more

 

[Anzac]

Precisely, everyone seems to forget how many times we turned games around last season and that like now, we were asleep at the kickoff, we also held the record for most goals scored in the last 10 minutes of the game, lots of which were winners; there was a large part of last season when we grinded out results in similar fashion to Villareal. The last time we came out of the blocks running was the invincibles time, now you get the odd game when the game is settled in the first half but it's the exception rather than the rule.

That's called making life hard for yourself. Why do you think Cesc & Co were burnt out in the run home?

 

[Anzac]

We consistantly fail to impose ourselves on the game from the start - so much for all AW's belief...............the team doesn't respond until he has to hold their hands again at half time!

What a joke! There are other threads in which you can post this nonsense if you just want to criticize Wenger at every given opportunity.

Wenger believes in their ability, we are on a good run, the team is coming good, there is marked improvement in some players which to the shock and horror for some would have been impossible, may be every one thought players were in th twilight of their career.

If anything this run which might amount to nothing in the end has shown that his belief his justified.
You don't watch Man Utd do you? I have seen more tepid first halfs from them this season than i have seen from any other team.

Bullsh*t!!!!

How the f*ck is it justified if it amounts to nothing???

 

[Anzac]

anzac, you cant expect any team to be consistently excellent every match. even the invincibles had off nights. it doesnt take away from the shortcomings in our squad, but maybe your expectations are a bit high.

No - I want consistancy first & foremost so as to give a genuine indication as to our capabilities - a solid base from which to build upon towards excellence. These Jeykle & Hyde halves give little to work with particularly when we repeat the performance within 4 days. You may think I'm being pedantic but IMO we will not be allowed the luxury against the top 3 or Barca.

 

[Anzac]

anzac, you cant expect any team to be consistently excellent every match. even the invincibles had off nights. it doesnt take away from the shortcomings in our squad, but maybe your expectations are a bit high.

But this time the 2/3 of our season consists of off-nights... there is a difference between occasional off-nights and permanent bad performances.

Maybe so, but I still think Anzac's expectations are ridiculously high. Oh and we're in a pretty good run of form since mid-feb despite our injuries so I don't see any 'permanent bad performances'

The bottom line is that we scored 4 goals, away from home at a ground where we have always found it hard to impose ourselves, after a tough away fixture in the CL and we did it with half our back line injured (+ 1 injury to an already weak CB position in the middle of the the game/ not to mention the fact that our goalkeeper and strikers are still missing)

Too bad it's taken until the run home then to find this so called run of form. I'm not disputing the result or the 30 odd minutes of decent football in the 2nd half - but if we were really as good as the result indicates then we wouldn't have needed to change things (formation & tactics) at half time & the subs.

 

[Anzac]

Then all the credit to our players. Having 2/3 of all our games "off-nights" and yet managed to be on 4th spot is certainly not the simplest thing to do.

And you win precisely nothing for doing so - yet even if we come up empty I fully expect to see AW go on about our tremendous growth, character & spirit, and that to have maintained / mirrored last season in maintaining CL qualification & FA Cup S/F & CL Q/F etc has been a tremendous outcome after such adversity, and that the end of season has been a great success for the club & the faith he has shown in the players.

While this is true in many respects, the problem is that we've still come up empty handed as a result of a situation he f*cked up.

 

[entropy13]

On being ‘worried’ after going a goal behind…
“Yes, I was. I felt that Wigan had a very strong and especially committed first half where they were well organised and the 50:50s were all for them. They played very strongly and I think that slowly our technique took over and we looked dangerous every time we had the ball. The fatigue crept in a little bit for Wigan and it became logical for us to come back and make the difference.

Is this really one of the reasons we actually get to come back, and that we keep up with a relatively young squad?

 

[el capitan]

Its no secret that Arsenal have a fantastically athletic side. But I'm not entirely convinced by the fatigue aspect of Wigan being a reason why we dominated the second half.

We got off to a poor start and it took us a while to find our feet. It's something we have been doing for ages in my opinion. Comes down to a lack of focus, not fatigue.

 

[Anzac]

Its no secret that Arsenal have a fantastically athletic side. But I'm not entirely convinced by the fatigue aspect of Wigan being a reason why we dominated the second half.

We got off to a poor start and it took us a while to find our feet. It's something we have been doing for ages in my opinion. Comes down to a lack of focus, not fatigue.

IMO it's as much to do with having so many developing players starting, AND AW getting his formation & tactics WRONG, and being unable to get the team focused for the start of the match. He's told them too many times that he believes in them & now the players believe that if they go through the motions it will happen for them - they seem to have no real desire or effort until given a reality check on the pitch & by AW at half time.

 

[hackajack]

That game was all about resting players (check) and getting a result (check).

 

[Anzac]

That game was all about resting players (check) and getting a result (check).

Perhaps so, then why didn't we see the likes of Eboue as RM & Theo/Vela up front - are they (Vela & Eboue) injured? Why did Cesc start & Ade & RVP not - Cesc has the same game time as Ade as they returned the same time, and RVP hasn't played since he picked up a knock in the international break?

......and in regard to the formation & tactics the rest of the season was what?????

 

[kamikaze80]

anzac, you cant expect any team to be consistently excellent every match. even the invincibles had off nights. it doesnt take away from the shortcomings in our squad, but maybe your expectations are a bit high.

But this time the 2/3 of our season consists of off-nights... there is a difference between occasional off-nights and permanent bad performances.

i know and i agree, but we won 4-1.