Arsenal

[JoeyM]

just by having 3 good defenders their thats better than what arsenal have and toure IS NOT one of the best central defenders in the premiership,his not even in the top 10

Care to name 10 better center backs?

[Rossy Boy]

he supports stuttgart what do expect

[Jonny2J]

In the Premiership, yes. And even then, it's a close run thing.Woodgate>Toure>Gallas>Terry for me like.

[stuttgart]

jonny2j woodys not the only better centre back theres plenty more

[Rossy Boy]

like?

[stuttgart]

rio ferdinand,jamie carragher for a start

want more?

[Viperized]

jonny2j woodys not the only better centre back theres plenty more
If there are plenty of better CBs (as you are suggesting) then name them. I'm waiting..

[wrigh2uk]

we really need to get a good leftback to be honest clichy isnt really the best


Give him a good run in the team and time. I think he has the ability to be just as good as Cole. But as we all know many players never reach their potential

[stuttgart]

michael dawson,ledley king

anton ferdinand,wes brown,nemanja vidic

gabby heinze

[Viperized]

rio ferdinand,jamie carragher for a start

want more?
Thats only two CBs which you think are better than Toure. I want to see a list of 10 CBs in total. Anyhow, I don't think Rio and Carragher are better than Toure.

[Jonny2J]

michael dawson,ledley kingThe same Michael Dawson who was outpaced by Shearer last season? :laugh:

[stuttgart]

still want more ?

[Rossy Boy]

ledley king acceptable but i dont know about dawson

[stuttgart]

when was he outpaced by shearer may i ask

its toure of course dawsons better

[Jonny2J]

when was he outpaced by shearer may i ask

its toure of course dawsons betterLeast season when we battered Spurs at St. James' Park.

[stuttgart]

sami hypia as well

[Rossy Boy]

i will let you lot carry on this argument im in need of some sleep

[Viperized]

Oh right. Toure is such a crap CB that he has kept Ronaldinho, Trezueguet, Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo and co quiet, right?

Clearly you are a spurs fan if you honestly believe Dawson is better than Toure.

[Rossy Boy]

unlike terry he got knocked over by ronaldinho

[JoeyM]

michael dawson,ledley king

anton ferdinand,wes brown,nemanja vidic

gabby heinze

I believe the word in German is "Urkomisch"

[stuttgart]

your bias though your going to say toures better

[Rossy Boy]

I believe the word in German is "Urkomisch"

what does that mean?

[stuttgart]

his probably just saying im wrong like all these other tossers

[JoeyM]

what does that mean?

Hilarious

his probably just saying im wrong like all these other tossers

Do your multiple bannings not point to the fact that maybe your the tosser that no one likes?

[Scarface]

anton ferdinand,wes brown,nemanja vidic

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Titus Bramble, perhaps?

his probably just saying im wrong like all these other tossers

Now, now. Calm down your emotions, Hedwiges.

[stuttgart]

nobody here likes me and i like it that way

[Viperized]

your bias though your going to say toures better
So you honestly believe Dawson is better than Toure? Blimey!
http://www.aona.co.uk/help/drugs

[AgentZero]

i just read this article on soccernet

Arsene Wenger
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has compared international managers to joy-riding car thieves.

Wenger has often expressed his frustration at seeing his players return tired or injured after international duty.

'Gerard (Houllier's) thoughts on the matter echo mine,' Wenger said. 'He thinks that what the national coaches are doing is like taking the car from his garage without even asking permission.

'They will then use the car for 10 days and abandon it in a field without any petrol left in the tank.

'We then have to recover it, but it is broken down. Then a month later they will come to take your car again, and for good measure you're expected to be nice about it.'

Wenger also complained that international managers fail to contact their club counterparts, with one notable exception.

'Sven-Goran Eriksson was the only one who used to come and talk to me regularly,' Wenger added.


it is quite an issue, but i must say the best analogy ive come across in a while

[ATH10]

I'm sorry but thats bullshit. Toure and Gallas are arguebly two of the best defenders in the Premiership. Djourou and Senderos are also two excellent young defenders easily capable of filling in against a big team, if Gallas or Toure are injured.

Chelsea:

Geremi
Ferreria
Bouladrouz
Carvalho
Terry
Cole
Bridge

Only 3 central defenders, and I don't see how their set of defenders is so much better than ours.

not by much but you have got to admit that is the best set of defenders in the premiership

[ATH10]

Woodgate>Toure>Gallas>Terry for me like.

add carragher to that

[hitmanuk3k]

How many Arsenal players were in McLarens squad for the games versus Macedonia and Croatia ?

[ATH10]

a big fat zero

[hitmanuk3k]

disgusting

and how many are in their first team squad ?

[ATH10]

off the top of my head i can only think of 2 english players in arsenal's squad walcott and hoyte

[The Stig]

arsenals defence is nowhere near as good as man utds
I take back what I said the other day with me saying you sound like a Gooner because some of the posts you made about Fabregas. Looks like your a Manc on drugs with these kind of posts.
just by having 3 good defenders their thats better than what arsenal have and toure IS NOT one of the best central defenders in the premiership,his not even in the top 10
Do you know anything about football? Toure not in the top 10? Are you fucking real? If you think Toure is not in the top 10 prem defenders I would love to see your list.

[hitmanuk3k]

disgusting i really hope we get a rule introduced in the near future

[Yossi]

Norwich have more England caps in their squad than Arsenal...

[ATH10]

I take back what I said the other day with me saying you sound like a Gooner because some of the posts you made about Fabregas. Looks like your a Manc on drugs with these kind of posts.

Do you know anything about football? Toure not in the top 10? Are you fucking real? If you think Toure is not in the top 10 prem defenders I would love to see your list.

he's done his list which most of it is a joke in the last couple of pages

Norwich have more England caps in their squad than Arsenal...

how rob green has left

[Dragonfly]

Norwich have more England caps in their squad than Arsenal...
We've got Walcott, and you've got Green. Are there any more Norwich players?

[hitmanuk3k]

yeah can we have some figures to back up that fact please yossi

robert green plays for west ham dragonfly

[Scarface]

We've got Walcott, and you've got Green. Are there any more Norwich players?

Green has left, but they've got Dion Dublin...

[Yossi]

Exactly. Dion Dublin has four caps :cool:

He isn't even good enough to play for a country like Djibouti any more though.

I would say a few sides in the lower leagues have as many or more England caps than Arsenal.

[The Stig]

he's done his list which most of it is a joke in the last couple of pages
Well, It's clear to me he is a 10 year old that has just been introduced to watching Football and he has no clue because:

1.He thinks Toure is not in the top 10 prem defenders
2.He thinks Arsenals Defence is NO WERE NEAR as good as Man Utds
3.He thinks Dawson,Wes Brown and NEMANJA VIDIC are better than Toure

To think that Vidic is better than Toure is utterly butterly completely insane when he's had what? 11 prem games.

[ATH10]

Well, It's clear to me he is a 10 year old that has just been introduced to watching Football and he has no clue because:

1.He thinks Toure is not in the top 10 prem defenders
2.He thinks Arsenals Defence is NO WERE NEAR as good as Man Utds
3.He thinks Dawson,Wes Brown and NEMANJA VIDIC are better than Toure

To think that Vidic is better than Toure is utterly butterly completely insane when he's had what? 11 prem games.

yeah most of it is bollocks but he had a point about carragher

[Dragonfly]

I would like it if we were more of an English club, but as long as we play well and win, I'm happy.

[The Stig]

yeah most of it is bollocks but he had a point about carragher
I know he has a point about good old Carra :cool: but the rest is just utter shite.

[The Stig]

hang on a minute just a thought,your a scouser where did you rob that computer from because no way can scousers afford computers,im surprised you could scrape together enough cash for elite membership
Scousers have a bad name, Quite frankly I don't give a shit, I dont go out dealing drugs or taking them and I work hard for my money and have a good job.

Hahahaha, Banned. Fucking prick.

[ATH10]

I would like it if we were more of an English club, but as long as we play well and win, I'm happy.

its good to see that you're being honest

[Nturtle]

Bugger...Ljungberg, Baptista and Eboue all injured.

[-Rafa-]

Arsenal have Newcastle's curse :shocking:

:tongue:

[Viperized]

Oh great.. :(

I hope Eboue's injury isn't serious. Hopefully he'll make a quick recovery. Not concerned about Ljungberg though, as he has been playing pretty poorly in his matches.

[vrajdeber]

We shouldn't have problems against Watford tomorow.I am only worried that i'm not be able to watch the game.

But overall we are getting stronger and stronger and stronger..............:)

[Jonny2J]

Arsenal have Newcastle's curse :shocking:

:tongue:That was all shite made up by Mr Souness i'll have you know, Roeder had just as many if not more injuries at the end of last season.

[Scarface]

Bugger...Ljungberg, Baptista and Eboue all injured.

I'm not too concerned about Ljungberg and Baptista missing a couple of games, but losing Eboue for 3-4 weeks is a big blow.

[Nturtle]

We shouldn't have problems against Watford tomorow.I am only worried that i'm not be able to watch the game.

But overall we are getting stronger and stronger and stronger..............:)

Watford seem to be a good team...so it's not that straighforward. Hopefully our quality will show through today. Clichy I hear is back in the side already...but not Senderos. That must mean Hoyte is going right...and potentially Djourou Toure or Gallas Toure if Gallas is ok.

Eboue is the biggest blow for sure...but it would be nice for Baptista to make his impact on the EPL game. Reyes has fit into Real Madrid very well, taking Beckham's place...is that saying Arsenal have more quality...or Baptista still needs to show his stuff? Heh... Well, let's see what qualities Hoyte has then...and this is his final test of whether he is good enough for Arsenal I feel. Having said that...is Lauren ok yet or not? I don't think so right? Too bad Gilbert is out on loan...would love to have seen him play again - he did great as LB in the Carling Cup last year.

EDIT - Clichy is set to be substitute only...so...Gallas, Djourou, Toure, Hoyte maybe...

EDIT #2 - Theo is set to start according to the Sun/Arseblogger

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2006470796,00.html

[Viperized]

Starting line-up:

............Lehmann

Hoyte...Toure...Djourou...Gall as

Walcott..Cesc..Gilberto...Rosi cky

.......Adebayor...Henry....... .....

Van Persie, despite scoring twice in his last game with Arsenal as well as scoring for Holland, is benched yet again. What the hell does he have to do to stay on the team? He is in much better form than Adebayor and RvP is still dropped, unless Wenger is planning to give RvP the full 90 against CSKA Moscow. That seems unlikely though, as Van Persie is always subbed off at the 70th minute and rarely starts despite playing well. I have a feeling Van Persie may be sold in a year or two as he isn't starting games. :(

[Nturtle]

Starting line-up:

............Lehmann

Hoyte...Toure...Djourou...Gall as

Walcott..Cesc..Gilberto...Rosi cky

.......Adebayor...Henry....... .....

Van Persie, despite scoring twice in his last game with Arsenal as well as scoring for Holland, is benched yet again. What the hell does he have to do to stay on the team? He is in much better form than Adebayor and RvP is still dropped, unless Wenger is planning to give RvP the full 90 against CSKA Moscow. That seems unlikely though, as Van Persie is always subbed off at the 70th minute and rarely starts despite playing well. I have a feeling Van Persie may be sold in a year or two as he isn't starting games. :(

Mmmm..don't worry too much Viperized...I feel VP will start the CSKA match...he's really quite good at the away games in Europe I feel...remember...Champions league is also a target...hence it makes sense for Adebayour to be on after international exertions by VP & Co...

2-0 up...hope we can add to this in the second half. :D

[Barry]

Van Persie's on top form, it's useless to leave him on the bench. So far he's been responsible for all our goals, some 4 goals, and the others he assisted. MVP, no pun intended.

[Nturtle]

Van Persie's on top form, it's useless to leave him on the bench. So far he's been responsible for all our goals, some 4 goals, and the others he assisted. MVP, no pun intended.


LOL...I agree....but Henry seems to have been the man today...getting back into top gear he is. Now with a full team at the back (soon)...we should have a good squad with which Arsene can play with.

3-0...done...good result. :cool:

[Scarface]

Yes, good win. :)

1st & 2nd goals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF0yYO95UUA)

1st Half Highlights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3IWdieOejs)

[wrigh2uk]

^ Cheers for that Reyes

[Canadian, Eh?]

Very good win, Rosicky and Hleb proved very good together as usual.

Toure ran the show pretty much, along with Henry.

[Viperized]

Both Rosicky and Henry shone, and were the ones who really caught my eye. Fabregas also showed a nice range of passing and linked up well with Rosicky, and Toure produced a typically good performance.

3-0 is a great result.

A win against Reading should put us back into title contention!

[ATH10]

Both Rosicky and Henry shone, and were the ones who really caught my eye. Fabregas also showed a nice range of passing and linked up well with Rosicky, and Toure produced a typically good performance.

3-0 is a great result.

A win against Reading should put us back into title contention!

i think you're already in contention and you've got a game in hand

[Nturtle]

Yes, good win. :)

1st & 2nd goals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF0yYO95UUA)

1st Half Highlights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3IWdieOejs)

Thanks reyes...this is the third guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enlyla5sit8&NR

[Joel Rojo]

I _really_ liked most of the team. Fabregas, Touré, Henry, Rosicky, Hleb and Walcott were really good, and Gallas and Gilberto were quite solid too.

Djourou I found a disgrace, nearly causing two own goals. Hoyte was not as lost as when he covered for LB, but I still dont rate him much.

And, I hated Adebarndoor as much as anyone, but I think he started instead of RVP because Wenger has faith in him, and feeling confident about the game wanted to give him more minutes.

I just wish I had as much faith in him as Wenger does. I'd rather see Carlos Vela or this young portuguese dude rather than Adebayor...

[Tigermen]

I _really_ liked most of the team. Fabregas, Touré, Henry, Rosicky, Hleb and Walcott were really good, and Gallas and Gilberto were quite solid too.

Djourou I found a disgrace, nearly causing two own goals. Hoyte was not as lost as when he covered for LB, but I still dont rate him much.

And, I hated Adebarndoor as much as anyone, but I think he started instead of RVP because Wenger has faith in him, and feeling confident about the game wanted to give him more minutes.

I just wish I had as much faith in him as Wenger does. I'd rather see Carlos Vela or this young portuguese dude rather than Adebayor...

All due respect mate, but I think that's a silly thing to say, especially given the fact that Adebayor scored and was involved in both the other goals yesterday. I know he can be frustrating but he can also be an absolute handful as well, and the more he plays the more consistent (hopefully) he'll become. To say you'd want RVP to start ahead of him is fair enough but to say you'd rather see two kids who've never even played a top-flight game between them over him is bordering on insane.

[JoeyM]

Adebayor gets WAY too much stick, he's missed a few sitters in the past, but I don't see why everyone has some agenda against him. He was quite good yesterday. He just needs to learn that there are 9 other players to pass to and not Henry.

[Rossy Boy]

i dont really like adebayor that much but i think he can be a good player at times and i agree about him getting alot of stick.

[kallum]

Another good win for the Gunners! Get in!

As for the above discussion, Adebayor is worhhy of playinf for us regularly, without a doubt. He gives us something different, and I think his apparent unpredicabilty is a quality to have in our team. We should be very pleased with what a versatile, varying attacking array of players we have.

As for our defense, we were a little dodgy yesterday, and we must rid that out of our system before we play any teams that will actually take their chances.

CSKA next isn't it?

Let's shit all over Abramobitch.:w00t

[Viperized]

Adebayor is a good squad player and is the type of player who will change lost balls, working his arse of, causing a hassle to defenders.

Just because he isn't flashy like Van Persie doesn't mean he is good. Ade gave Rio and Brown a hard time, and I'm pretty happy with his progress this season although I have given him stick last season. I know, I know -- in the other page I was mad for Wenger not picking Van Persie, but thats because Robin was in much better form and on a goalscoring hot streak.

[Canadian, Eh?]

Another difference between the two is Adebayor likes to get into the box and get his nose dirty, unlike Van Persie who is happy sitting around 30 yards out so that he keeps his hair perfect.

[Joel Rojo]

Still for his goal, Hleb was there to just as easily push the ball in as he did. Henry did most of the work for that goal and, as has been said, he misses too many sitters, and I feel he generally underdelivers too frequently.

On the subject of the youngsters, what I meant is that I gather that Adebayor gets so many games because Wenger has faith in him actually living up to his potential one of this days, but many of us would rather see some other player trying to adjust to the team.

I did _not_ mean that the youngsters are better players at this point than he is.

[Nturtle]

Adebayor gets WAY too much stick, he's missed a few sitters in the past, but I don't see why everyone has some agenda against him. He was quite good yesterday. He just needs to learn that there are 9 other players to pass to and not Henry.

Great comment about passing there JoeyM!!! HA!

Well, in all honesty the team should be glad that we now have many options, and not just one Henry. Case point - vs. Man U - we did alright pretty much all round (except for defense in some cases) and Adebayour did work very hard to get that goal (with a little help from Cesc). We shouldn't be too critical - remember - we are playing for ALL the cup competitions, Champs league and premiership...and you need some sort of rotation and game time for different combinations. Maybe not as presciptive as Benetez's rotation policy...but Arsene knows... :cool:

[ATH10]

Starting line-up:

............Lehmann

Hoyte...Toure...Djourou...Gall as

Walcott..Cesc..Gilberto...Rosi cky

.......Adebayor...Henry....... .....

Van Persie, despite scoring twice in his last game with Arsenal as well as scoring for Holland, is benched yet again. What the hell does he have to do to stay on the team? He is in much better form than Adebayor and RvP is still dropped, unless Wenger is planning to give RvP the full 90 against CSKA Moscow. That seems unlikely though, as Van Persie is always subbed off at the 70th minute and rarely starts despite playing well. I have a feeling Van Persie may be sold in a year or two as he isn't starting games. :(

he's probably resting RVP after playing twice for holland

[Nturtle]

CSKA will be interesting...they look like a strong team...and they did get the UEFA cup before in 2005...so not bad. Will be a big challenge in freezing conditions...I hope the young guns are up for it!

Come on Gunners...lets keep the challenge strong!

[Viperized]

Fucking hell. 1-0 CSKA.

We got fucking robbed by a cunt ref.

[The Stig]

Fucking hell. 1-0 CSKA.

We got fucking robbed by a cunt ref.
I know mate it's fucking shocking but I have to say I watched the whole game and as a neutral it was so entertaining end to end stuff. :laugh: did anyone see Lehmann push one of their players over when he came up for a corner?

[Viperized]

Yes some of them may be harsh, but thats how I saw it.

Lehmann 5.5
Couldn't do nothing about Carvalho's free kick but his ball kicking was questionable.

Hoyte 3
I just don't know what to say... does he offer much? Not good enough for Arsenal. He is wank.

Toure 8
Immense. What would we do without him? He was everywhere and contributed both in attack and defence. He was easily our best player.

Djourou 5.5
Looked shaky at times put some great last ditch blocks and tackles.

Gallas 5.5
Although he put in some great tackles, he lost the ball in dangerous areas a couple of times.

Hleb 4
Poor performance. Numerous number of inaccurate passes.

Cesc 5.5
Lost the ball 5 million times in the first half. Improved as the game went on though

Gilberto 4
Although he put in some impressive tackles and won the ball quite often, his passing is abysmal and could've cost us.

Rosicky 7
Bright in attack, caused problems.

Van Persie 3
Absolutely awful. Shit left winger. He contributed nothing and should've created two openings, but fucked up. Why do we continue to play 451? He has no position there. Don't say he plays there for Holland -- 433 right forward is a different position to a left midfielder in 451.

Henry 3.5
99% of the times he had his back to the goal. His first touch was poor at times and generally did nothing. Why do we continue to play 451? Henry is NOT a lone striker/target man, and never will be.

Walcott --
No Impact.

Clichy 6.5
A very impressive attacking display.

Adebayor 5.9
Okay.

[Rossy Boy]

Yes some of them may be harsh, but thats how I saw it.

Lehmann 5.5
Couldn't do nothing about Carvalho's free kick but his ball kicking was questionable.

Hoyte 3
I just don't know what to say... does he offer much? Not good enough for Arsenal. He is wank.

Toure 8
Immense. What would we do without him? He was everywhere and contributed both in attack and defence. He was easily our best player.

Djourou 5.5
Looked shaky at times put some great last ditch blocks and tackles.

Gallas 5.5
Although he put in some great tackles, he lost the ball in dangerous areas a couple of times.

Hleb 4
Poor performance. Numerous number of inaccurate passes.

Cesc 5.5
Lost the ball 5 million times in the first half. Improved as the game went on though

Gilberto 4
Although he put in some impressive tackles and won the ball quite often, his passing is abysmal and could've cost us.

Rosicky 7
Bright in attack, caused problems.

Van Persie 3
Absolutely awful. Shit left winger. He contributed nothing and should've created two openings, but fucked up. Why do we continue to play 451? He has no position there. Don't say he plays there for Holland -- 433 right forward is a different position to a left midfielder in 451.

Henry 3.5
99% of the times he had his back to the goal. His first touch was poor at times and generally did nothing. Why do we continue to play 451? Henry is NOT a lone striker/target man, and never will be.

Walcott --
No Impact.

Clichy 6.5
A very impressive attacking display.

Adebayor 5.9
Okay.


i total agree with them ratings we were shocking

[DARK JAK]

Agree with Viperized. Hleb pissed me off by far the most. I have a feeling that he'll be the next Reyes in terms of not being able to cope with being an Arsenal player. I thought that we should have learned from the first half that passing the ball into there box just wasn't going to work, we needed to show more variation and I felt that not having Eboue in the side cut our width down by a lot.

[Rossy Boy]

i didnt see why he didnt take of hleb off

[DARK JAK]

i didnt see why he didnt take of hleb off

I couldn't fucking believe it when Wenger took Rosicky off, when it was clear Hleb was taking the piss.:realmad:

[Rossy Boy]

yeh i totally agree with you

[Canadian, Eh?]

We lost the game that was that....I don't see why Hleb is all of a sudden the scapegoat. Or passing was off, there was a sequence in the second half where we gave away like 5 straight balls in our own end...

But on to Reading.

[Viperized]

Agree with Viperized. Hleb pissed me off by far the most. I have a feeling that he'll be the next Reyes in terms of not being able to cope with being an Arsenal player. I thought that we should have learned from the first half that passing the ball into there box just wasn't going to work, we needed to show more variation and I felt that not having Eboue in the side cut our width down by a lot.
Haha.

Hleb is a fantastic player and has been one of our best attacking players this season. He was only terrible yesterday.

The only two players who played well were Toure and Rosicky. Everyone else was average or way below average.

[DARK JAK]

Haha.

Hleb is a fantastic player and has been one of our best attacking players this season. He was only terrible yesterday.

The only two players who played well were Toure and Rosicky. Everyone else was average or way below average.

Don't get me wrong Hleb has great ability, but I don't think he believes it himself. He lacks the confidence to take on players like he used to have. Yoiu have to say that his passing is awful.

[Dragonfly]

I think the whole midfield, apart from Fabregas, was pretty poor. We kept giving the ball away. If it wasn't for our defense, we could have gotten thrashed.

Also, I think Henry seemed a bit half-hearted or lazy.

[Nturtle]

i didnt see why he didnt take of hleb off

Yeah...Rosicky performed much better. Hleb needs good pitches to dribble well....it just wasn't suited to him.

Fabregas sucked for the majority of the game...and only returned to his normal standard at the end of the match.

VP tried to do something different...as he didn't have much support from Henry...and who knows...1-1 would have been perfect...but for the crap ref. :realmad:

[Jsmno27]

Hleb is good in pes5 n in real life dats show how highly rated he is.

n also he got Pace Skill a ok cross n also very good dribbling 4 example van persie goal against charlton and he set up the goal. hleb is 1 of my favourite playas is arsenal.

2 shut up all d critics go on google video some other video site n type in hleb dats should shut u critics up

Hleb live on 2 big in arsenal not fail

[CaptainCabinet]

Hleb is good in pes5 n in real life dats show how highly rated he is.

n also he got Pace Skill a ok cross n also very good dribbling 4 example van persie goal against charlton and he set up the goal. hleb is 1 of my favourite playas is arsenal.

2 shut up all d critics go on google video some other video site n type in hleb dats should shut u critics up

Hleb live on 2 big in arsenal not fail

1. Highly rated does not mean good. Does over-rated mean anything to you?

2. Hleb didn't set up VP's goal did he? I could have sworn it was your Right-Back.

3. Any video site will only show his best bits, not the places in which he fails.

4. Grammar and correct spelling cost nothing, try to use them.

[Viperized]

I think the whole midfield, apart from Fabregas, was pretty poor. We kept giving the ball away. If it wasn't for our defense, we could have gotten thrashed.

Also, I think Henry seemed a bit half-hearted or lazy.
Fabregas was absolutely awful.

It was his worst game in an Arsenal shirt, as were Hleb and Gilberto too. Rosicky was the second best player in the team, after Toure. Did you even watch the same game as me? You always appear to come out with wacky suggestions :P

Our defence was pretty shit mate, especially Hoyte. Toure was the only one doing well. Djourou and Gallas put a couple of good tackles, but they lost the ball in dangerous areas a couple of times.

Van Persie and Henry were both bollocks though. Van Persie's decision making was atrocious. But the lack of service from our poor midfield didn't help. Hleb was continously passing the ball to the CSKA left centre-back. Fabregas was continously losing the ball, and Gilberto was continously misplacing passes. Rosicky was the only player who kept the ball well.

A very, very, very mediocre performance last night. If it wasn't for Toure we would've conceded 3 goals in total.

The ref is a cunt too. He should've given CSKA the corner instead of a freekick - he played the advantage for a while, and CSKA took a shot but Lehmann parries it out for a corner. Instead, that cunt gives them a fucking free kick. Also Henry did not commit a damn handball. The ref cost us the game.

[Canadian, Eh?]

2. Hleb didn't set up VP's goal did he? I could have sworn it was your Right-Back.

He set up Van Persie's first goal, Eboue set up the second.

[CaptainCabinet]

He set up Van Persie's first goal, Eboue set up the second.

Ahh right ok, I assumed that when Van Persie's goal was mentioned he'd be talking about the second, my bad. The other points still stand though.

[Viperized]

1. Highly rated does not mean good. Does over-rated mean anything to you?
Hleb is not overated. If anything, I would say he is underated. For and odd reason, every non-Arsenal fan thinks he is completely shit. Ask any German fan about Hleb whilst he was playing for Stuttgart. I'm pretty sure most of them would agree he was an excellent player for them.

He has played very well this season, bar yesterdays shocker.

[Rossy Boy]

he can be a good player when he has his mind on the game unlike last night:angry:

[Canadian, Eh?]

Everyone has their off games.

Hleb is the hard working type of midfielder. He has been great for us all year, I only see this as a tiny blip.

Would be nice to see him shoot more....

[Rossy Boy]

yeh he hardly shoots

[Viperized]

Everyone has their off games.

Hleb is the hard working type of midfielder. He has been great for us all year, I only see this as a tiny blip.

Would be nice to see him shoot more....
The hard working type of midfielder is Ljungberg.

Hleb is a creative attacking midfielder, but yes, he has good work rate too. Hleb will always try to pass the ball forward. He will rarely pass the ball backwards. Thats what I love about him - he is adventerous.

[CaptainCabinet]

Hleb is not overated. If anything, I would say he is underated. For and odd reason, every non-Arsenal fan thinks he is completely shit. Ask any German fan about Hleb whilst he was playing for Stuttgart. I'm pretty sure most of them would agree he was an excellent player for them.

He has played very well this season, bar yesterdays shocker.

I never said he was. I for one think he is a very good player. I was simply saying that Highly Rated does not mean a player is good as a lot of players are over-rated, Helb however is not one of these :).

[Canadian, Eh?]

The hard working type of midfielder is Ljungberg.

Hleb is a creative attacking midfielder, but yes, he has good work rate too. Hleb will always try to pass the ball forward. He will rarely pass the ball backwards. Thats what I love about him - he is adventerous.

Ljungberg is the injury prone midfielder ;)

I enjoy Hleb a ton. He seems to receive a ton of flack, don't get quite why. It was exciting watching him and Rosicky linkup over the weekend. A good future along with Theo.

[Rossy Boy]

we have a very exciting midfield altogether i think

[Viperized]

Yes, it is. It is defintely the most creative midfield in the Premiership.

Rosicky Gilberto Fabregas Hleb

[Rossy Boy]

yep, will eboue be fit for sunday?

[martin_cranie]

I believe he's out for the rest of the month. Fingers crossed we get him back sooner though.

[Rossy Boy]

yeh we need him, he creates lots of chances, thats what we needed last night

[A.Hleb=Shit]

Yeah i hope he returns as well

[Rossy Boy]

ok then

[Viperized]

Yeah i hope he returns as well
Hleb = shit?

:rolleyes:

[Rossy Boy]

Hleb = shit?

:rolleyes:

:laugh:

[Jonny2J]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6066414.stm

Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has signed a new eight-year contract.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger revealed last month that the 19-year-old had agreed a long-term deal and he has now committed to Arsenal until 2014.

"I am so happy here and I am delighted to have signed this new contract," the Spanish international told the Arsenal club website.

"I wanted to pay back the club, especially Arsene Wenger for the support and faith he has shown in me."

He added: "What is important now is for the team to realise its potential and win trophies. That is our main aim, that is my aim as well."

Real Madrid had expressed an interest in signing the midfielder during the summer, but Fabregas made it clear he was happy in London.

The teenager, who played for Spain at the World Cup in the summer, joined Arsenal from the youth ranks at Barcelona in July 2003.

[CaptainCabinet]

8 Years?! Jesus. Good for the Gooners though.

[Viperized]

Yes thats fantastic news.

[Rossy Boy]

yes great news just made my day even better;)

[A.Hleb=Shit]

hleb is shit

[CaptainCabinet]

hleb is shit

Yes, yes he is. I am sure you could fill in for him week after week.:ninja:.

Tell me something, have you ever actually watched Arsenal play? Or any game that Hleb has ever played in?

[A.Hleb=Shit]

yes i have and why do people always call him helb its hleb h..l..e..b

[A.Hleb=Shit]

and im going off this site now so theres no point talking to me

[Cannon ball]

Good, we will all miss your wisdom.

[ATH10]

and im going off this site now so theres no point talking to me

that's very sad news

[Rossy Boy]

and im going off this site now so theres no point talking to me

:shocking::crymore:

[Nturtle]

Eboue back will certainly help...but Hoyte didn't do too badly...just that Hleb and co didn't pass to him on the overlap...

[Dragonfly]

yes i have and why do people always call him helb its hleb h..l..e..b

Who calls him Helb?

[ATH10]

Who calls him Helb?

no one

[Ronaldo_is_fat]

Heck, Hleb is not that bad as people thinks. I thought he was alright in the first half but faded in the second half. He is just not dynamic enough in attacks and falls back too far often.

[crazy47]

im a big Arsenal fan and i want to know why you love or support Arsenal.

[Barry]

I support them as far as the Premier League goes, I do not follow them intensely or know how many sister Hleb has. But, what attracts me is the amount of exciting players of the years, and the great football they are capable of.

[Joel Rojo]

I once wrote a really long post about this in spanish, at some other place. Some of the points were:


Their dinamic, attractive football.
Their emphasis in promoting young players, they have a very large number of players who are at the most 24 years old, such as:
-Clichy
-Senderos
-Eboué
-Fabregas
-Touré
-Flamini
-Adebayor
-Walcott
-S. Larsson
-The new portuguese dude whose name I keep forgetting
-Fran Merida
-Carlos Vela
-Diaby
-Djorou
-Lupoli

And some others that I must have forgotten. Admittedly some of those are on loan, but most of those players are first team, and the others are intended to be at some point.

And then there are the 25 year old players, who are still young, such as Hleb, Touré, Julio Baptista, and i dont know who else.
Arsene Wenger. I do think the guy fucks up from time to time, but he's a very mature, person who mostly only talks when he has to, and usually to say the correct stuff. I also really like how he deploys the team, and his general attitude.
Transfer policy. Arsenal usually do not splash big with big name players, instead trying to develop talent and/or spending smartly. 24 millions for Kolo Touré at Chelsea?, Arsenal tries to do better with transfers such as:

-Ashley Cole - 100k. Then selling him for a profit AND getting Gallas.
-Robin van Persie - 3m.
-Henry - 10.5m - For a player who is 4 times top scorer, and was way underappreciated.
-Touré - 150k
-Eboué - 1.5m
-Vieira - 4.5m, then, when he didnt deliver the goods anymore, sold for 13.5m.
-Fabregas - Snatched for pretty much nothing. Lets even say a couple millions. Still a bargain.
-Bergkamp - 7.5m.

And so on. There HAS been mistakes, but for the most, Im pretty happy with the results. My figures may be wrong because of my memory and because I mess up my dollars, pounds and euros (cut me some slack, Im from Mexico and often find it hard to find reliable, explicit information).

Dennis Bergkamp. I mean, he just retired, but he's EASILY my favorite player ever, and I just felt like mentioning him. Because, you know, the Iceman.

The experience of seeing the team develop, individually and as a whole. With so many youngsters and great players, playing such great football, you often can mark where a particular player started fulfilling his potential, making an impact, when some become a partnership instead of just teammates. And, we still have players who fade away at the club, right now it might be Ljungberg, but its ok, they delivered more than enough. It's great than most of the time, we see these players going up, and the team too, instead of buying huge name players who mostly go downwards from there.

Individual players. Henry, Rosicky, Touré, Fabregas, and others are a joy to watch.


I don't want to make this any longer, but for me, it wasn't even a choice to root for Arsenal, it just happened because I believed so much in what the club did. Not because of the glory because, honestly, I didn't know much about that, but because of football, of attitude (throw me in the face Pires's diving, Arsenal is still a club where players actually PLAY FOOTBALL, and good one, instead of butchering players and staying behind the ball at all times).

[tomo1811]

Theyre alrite i suppose

[Scarface]

Good post, Joel.

-The new portuguese dude whose name I keep forgetting

Rui Fonte

-Ashley Cole - 100k. Then selling him for a profit AND getting Gallas.

He was a youth product, mate, so didn't cost anything.


Moved to the official Arsenal thread. There's no need for a separate thread.

[Yossi]

Kerrea Gilbert needs to grow a brain if he is to ever make it at Arsenal. About four minutes into stoppage time, both he and Paul McVeigh have a little squabble over a foul near the halfway line, and they headbutt each other and pick up red cards. Both of them need their heads banging together (again) then to think about whether it was really worth getting a three game ban.

About Gilbert's performance, he didn't stand out. I will see better this season at Carrow Road, and I will see worse, so basically he is an average Championship right back at the moment, on today's performance. He seems bloody fast though.

[Joel Rojo]

Thanks Reyes. Dumb mistake with the Cole thing, just this week I was talking about it. Has there been a topic on why do people support their team, whichever they do support? That might be interesting, I would really like to know why people support Chelsea, for example.

[Scarface]

Has there been a topic on why do people support their team, whichever they do support? That might be interesting, I would really like to know why people support Chelsea, for example.

There was, but you might want to start a new one, with your own questions etc, as this one is ancient.

http://www.pesgaming.com/showthread.php?t=18980&highlight=football+club+suppor t

[Nturtle]

Kerrea Gilbert needs to grow a brain if he is to ever make it at Arsenal. About four minutes into stoppage time, both he and Paul McVeigh have a little squabble over a foul near the halfway line, and they headbutt each other and pick up red cards. Both of them need their heads banging together (again) then to think about whether it was really worth getting a three game ban.

About Gilbert's performance, he didn't stand out. I will see better this season at Carrow Road, and I will see worse, so basically he is an average Championship right back at the moment, on today's performance. He seems bloody fast though.

That's a shame..he was doing so well last year in Carling cup etc....well...good to see him do this early on on his career...heh...:no: he'll leran...like VP

[Scarface]

The kid's only 19, and far from the finished article. I'm confident he'll make good progress over the next couple of years, and could become able backup for Eboue.

[Nturtle]

The kid's only 19, and far from the finished article. I'm confident he'll make good progress over the next couple of years, and could become able backup for Eboue.

Aboslutely...

On Arsenal.com...interesting bit about Lauren..out til 2007...but also this phrase from Arsene...

“There is no first-choice right back,” explained Wenger when the issue was put to him. “The first-choice right back is the one who plays in the next game. This team now is not dependant on one player in any position on the pitch. Everybody has tough competition to stay in the side.”

Good to see him pushing for everybody to compete...although realistically...some positions are quite stable (Henry / Gilberto / Gallas / Toure / Cesc / Lehmann...uh...rest of starting eleven...hahahah realised I was about to name the whole team bar VP/Adebayour of left back position!!!) :w00t

[Rossy Boy]

what does everyone think the score will be today?

great move by hleb

[mo sissoko]

3-1 Arsenal.There just Class

[g33k]

0-3 to Arsenal. You bastards.

[Rossy Boy]

:laugh:, you must admit we are playing excelent football:tongue:

[g33k]

Yeah I'm not watching it but by the sounds of it you are (playing excellent football). It still hurts!

[Rossy Boy]

4-0 full time, brilliant game to watch

[Scarface]

Excellent performance. Probably our best so far this season. Many great performers, but Cesc Fabregas was MOTM for me, again. Just phenomenal.

[wrigh2uk]

Great performance like Reyes said Fab was amazing. Great football to watch. Looks like we've finally hit top gear.

[Rossy Boy]

yeh Fabregas has been one of our main men this season, and i think Hleb made up for the other night he had a great game

[Dundon's]

Are we fucking savage or what?

What a team lads, we're playing the best football we ever played under Wenger simply for the fact that now days we're doing it in the champions league too.

[Billy Minof]

Reminded me of Real playing tonight the way they passed the ball around...

[Stella Artois]

You cheeky cunt Billy. You could only dream of playing how we do week in, week out.

Five points behind the dirty Mancs with a game in hand... it's looking good fella's.

I was extremely pleased with the performance for the first 70 minutes. Reading couldn't live with the pace, the movement and the ability of the players which was a pleasing site, given how hard United and Chelski had to work to get their respective rewards at Reading.

Big game soon against the Scousers, but the real test will be away to Chelsea on December 10th. If we get a result there, I fancy us to go all the way, providing we don't suffer injuries of course.

[Dundon's]

Chel$ki will drop points this season compared to the last 2, how they didn't do so already is beyond me with their long ball bullcrap.

[Jonny2J]

A celebration of Arsenal FC's tenure at the fabled Highbury stadium from 1911 to 2006. Narrated by Melvyn Bragg, this programme features exclusive interview with key players such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Cesc Fabregas, Robert Pires and manager Arsene Wenger.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/44d569

http://www.mininova.org/tor/462943:)

[Nturtle]

LOL....nice one Billy!!! Good to see Real beat Barca as well...so fair comment!

Arseanl really need to be good in front of goal...and I think they were that today. A few more chances taken...and it would be close to 6-7 goals (Hoyte, Rosicky, Hleb's passing instead of shooting)...so we have to keep shooting well.

Give Hoyte his due...some parts he really has mimicked Eboue..in getting forward...but nobody passes him the ball unfortunately. In defense...he needs to stay with his man more...and he'll be that much better. The Carling cup should be a good run out for him, Clichy and Senderos...as well as the improving Djourou.

Defense aside...the mid-field were quite inspirational...despite the defense away nature of a 4-1-4-1 formation...or 4-5-1. We played more like 4-1-5 almost at times...and it was a great display.

HOWEVER, there were moments that had Reading been more clinical...it would have been 4-2 or something...still a bit of confusion sometimes...and we were lucky to get away with it...and also to have Lehman and his quite reflexes with a good double save (well...punch and save).

Good job lads...keep it going in the cup and league!

[Nturtle]

Carling Cup squad...could be an exciting game to see a few new faces in the first team (from Arsenal.com):


Arsène Wenger has named a youthful squad for the Carling Cup clash with West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns tonight.

A few of the names called upon by the Frenchman may be unfamiliar to Gunners fans. You can find out more about each player by clicking their name below:

Manuel Almunia
Mart Poom
Philippe Senderos
Johan Djourou
Joe O’Cearuill
Matthew Connolly
Gael Clichy
Armand Traore
Mathieu Flamini
Alexandre Song
Denilson
Mark Randall
Jay Simpson
Theo Walcott
Emmanuel Adebayor
Jeremie Aliadiere

[Rossy Boy]

who do you think the starting 11 will be

[Nturtle]

Manuel Almunia
Johan Djourou
Joe O’Cearuill
Matthew Connolly
Gael Clichy
Mathieu Flamini
Denilson
Mark Randall
Theo Walcott
Emmanuel Adebayor
Jeremie Aliadiere

I think that will be it.

[Rossy Boy]

yeah that seems like a good side to send out

[ATH10]

Manuel Almunia
Johan Djourou
Joe O’Cearuill
Matthew Connolly
Gael Clichy
Mathieu Flamini
Denilson
Mark Randall
Theo Walcott
Emmanuel Adebayor
Jeremie Aliadiere

I think that will be it.

sending that team out if west brom send out their 1st team means that you've got a good chance of being beaten.

[Stella Artois]

You'll see then won't you? :)

We thrashed a full strength Everton 3-1 with a team of youngsters and we'll do West Brom tonight too.

[Joel Rojo]

I open Firefox, and my start page makes my day:

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=1/newsId=471432.html?cid=rssfeed&att=index

"Arsenal tie Touré to long-term deal

"Why would I want to leave? I love my football here, my family is settled here and the club is ambitious. It is fantastic."

Henry, Wenger, Fabregas, and now Touré. Things look good.

[Rossy Boy]

cool

[mufcsean]

Is this the first time that Denilson has played for you yet

[DARK JAK]

Is this the first time that Denilson has played for you yet

Yup

[The Stig]

cool
Christ sake is it that hard to stop spamming? I've not seen you do a post with over 20 words once.

[Karaoke29]

Christ sake is it that hard to stop spamming? I've not seen you do a post with over 20 words once.

May be "over 20 words posts" will be his future plan......:D

[DARK JAK]

Yeah i hope he returns as well

:huh:

[mufcsean]

Good result for your kids tonight and Bendtner and Larsson seem to be having a great time at birmingham

[ATH10]

Christ sake is it that hard to stop spamming? I've not seen you do a post with over 20 words once.

well rossy is a member of the spam

[The Stig]

Good result for your kids tonight and Bendtner and Larsson seem to be having a great time at birmingham
What was the score?

[ATH10]

What was the score?

2-0 to arsenal

[Tigermen]

Just thought you guys might be interested to hear that apparently Alex Song was immense last night and man of the match. The amount of stick the lad gets considering he's never looked any worse than Gilberto is astounding and I hope and pray that he continues to improve and shoves it in all your faces. In a nice way of course.

EDIT: Here's yesterday's goals. http://youtube.com/watch?v=nILM7VfN64U

[Nturtle]

HA! I too read that tigermen....interesting...too bad Song doesn't display that in the league when he has come on...or in the games I have seen anyway!!

[Tigermen]

HA! I too read that tigermen....interesting...too bad Song doesn't display that in the league when he has come on...or in the games I have seen anyway!!

Well my man let's not forget the lad's only 19, so there's plenty of time for him to improve. I agree he didnt exactly set the world on fire the few times he played last year but I still think the amount of stick he gets is really harsh and unjustified.

[Nturtle]

Well...as I said...not seen enough to criticise or applaud!

BTW...I didn't know Traore was a striker! HA! I thought he was a left back! See here:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Report/0,,1930828,00.html

Anybody know who captained the side for the cup?

[ATH10]

Well...as I said...not seen enough to criticise or applaud!

BTW...I didn't know Traore was a striker! HA! I thought he was a left back! See here:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Report/0,,1930828,00.html

Anybody know who captained the side for the cup?

looking at the side as a guess i would say senderos

[Nturtle]

looking at the side as a guess i would say senderos

Pretty good guess....but would be nice to know! HA! :cool: Hopefully Aliadiere gets a good chance now that Ade is injured....

[ATH10]

Pretty good guess....but would be nice to know! HA! :cool: Hopefully Aliadiere gets a good chance now that Ade is injured....

adebayor being injured would only mean that aliadiere would only be on the bench as adebayor isn't a regular starter

[Scarface]

cool

Don't spam like that again.

Well...as I said...not seen enough to criticise or applaud!

BTW...I didn't know Traore was a striker! HA! I thought he was a left back! See here:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Report/0,,1930828,00.html

Anybody know who captained the side for the cup?

Manuel Almunia.

I was very pleased to see Jeremie Aliadiere put in a strong showing. I've always hoped he'd stay injury free and get a proper run in the first team.

Good news on Kolo, although not a surprise. He's clearly Arsenal through and through, and I can't see anything stopping him from becoming an Arsenal legend and, possibly, captain.

[Tigermen]

Well...as I said...not seen enough to criticise or applaud!

BTW...I didn't know Traore was a striker! HA! I thought he was a left back! See here:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Report/0,,1930828,00.html

Anybody know who captained the side for the cup?

Traore is a left-back mate. I'd imagine he came on for Adebayor, and and went to left back with clichy moving to left wing (where Walcott was playing) nd Walcott going up front. The Guardian is wrong calling him a striker.

[Nturtle]

Thanks for the responses to clarify guys. Indeed....Traore is a left back...just amusing to see him described as a striker!

Good to see Almunia seemingly do ok and lead the team out...he played well apparently and didn't fumble etc...heh....

I think Aliadiere might get a few chances to start some games...with so many coming up in the next few weeks...some rotation will help keep everyone fresh.

[Stella Artois]

Tigermen, I completely agree, the abuse he gets from certain people is a joke.

Anyway, good victory for the lads, lest we forget that West Brom had won 4 on the trot and are one of the favourites to go up. Just a shame we got Everton away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRbqVdCjkEA for the highlights.

I still find it hard to believe we beat a team full of decent players and possible favourites to go up with a side whose senior outfield player was 23....unbelievable.

[ATH10]

what team do you think wenger will put out at goodison?

[Scarface]

what team do you think wenger will put out at goodison?

Pretty much the same team, depending on injuries.

It will be a big ask for them to get a win away at Everton, but it should be a good game.

Arsenal FC have been dealt a blow with the news that right-back Lauren will be sidelined for at least another two months because of an ongoing knee problem.

Justin Hoyte is doing a decent job filling in, but let's hope Eboue makes a quick recovery, as we miss his rampaging runs down the right.

[kallum]

Agh, bad news about Lauren...I was just wondering when he'd be back a minute or two ago.

Everton's gunna be tough boys, lets brace ourselves for a tough game.
We must score first to win that I think, because they'll want to nick one and hold the pressure for 89 minutes.

If we get the first, they'll have no choice but to attack and we'll take them from there.

C'mon the boys!

[Nturtle]

I think Hoyte's problem...is that nobody really seems to trust him enough to pass to him as he overlaps. Hleb DOES do that with Eboue....maybe it will take some time. Interesting to see Connolly on the right out of position - he's supposed to be a decent centre back...just that we've got lots of potentials with Djourou, Senderos etc...

Yeah...agree with Stella....amazing that we had about 7 teenagers starting in the Carling Cup game!

[BlueScouse]

Can't believe we got a draw against you lot today! No way in hell did we deserve to get a point this afternoon, never seen such a one sided game in all my life.

[kallum]

Can't believe we got a draw against you lot today! No way in hell did we deserve to get a point this afternoon, never seen such a one sided game in all my life.

Oh beleive me mate, it always happens when we play teams like you.

That wasn't a patronising comment by the way, I'm just on about your team and how they play, like physical. Not a bad thing mind. :happy:

I myself would have took the draw today, as I'm never confident when playing North West teams.

Ah well, CSKA next? Bring it on, those bitches are going down. MOTD now, :) Although I'm getting ready to watch a Rooney-rimming show.:mellow:

[Viperized]

No, its just that teams like Everton park every single one of their players in their penalty box. Everton only had two fucking shots on goals whilst we had at least 25 attempts! We have all the possesion in the world yet we don't punish teams accordingly. Oh well, credit to Everton for sticking to their gameplan i.e. playing with no attacking instinct. Arteta is a damn good player and is probably one of the best midfielders in the Premiership. Tim Cahill is the opposite though. The twat was pretending to be injured, wasting at least five minutes.

I'm not going to watch MoTD. That show is a disgrace and is clearly anti-Arsenal. Just watch Hansen slate Arsenal. Shearer is a moron who clearly states the obvious and Lawro is just a plonker. Goals on Sunday is where the real stuff is at.

[Jake Small]

Can you really slate a team for playing this way while you sit and support a team with 5 times their talent? You want them to attack so that you can win more easily. Agree it does make for less than enjoyable games :\

[Viperized]

Now where on earth have I slated them? I was merely pointing out teams such as Everton (who use 451) only sit back at Ashburton Grove. Anyhow, Everton have enough attacking talent if you ask me to play a less defensive game. Examples of good attacking players they have are Johnson, Arteta, Cahill and more..

[Nturtle]

Everton did well..and were lucky...we could have done with the 1-0 win a few penalties (yeah...that's pushing it)...but Cahill deserves his poacher tag...for a midfielder that's damned good!! Tim Howard in goal was dominant...and Arsenal ran out of ideas in the last third...Everton are a hard-working team...and tough to grind down.

Ahh well...another 2 dropped points...bugger.

[Scarface]

Can't believe we got a draw against you lot today! No way in hell did we deserve to get a point this afternoon, never seen such a one sided game in all my life.

It's an all too familiar case, with us. We won't win the title again, until we learn to be more clinical and take maximum points from these games we dominate.

Arsene Wenger and some of the players really need to stop complaining about negative tactics being employed against us. The more it's mentioned, the more it will be used against us, and we should have learnt how to deal with it by now. We need to start looking at ourselves and realising, the past 2 or 3 seasons, we've dropped far too many points through being wasteful in games we should be winning comfortably.

I'm not going to watch MoTD. That show is a disgrace and is clearly anti-Arsenal. Goals on Sunday is where the real stuff is at.

I've not watched MOTD for the past 2 years for that reason. I'd rather download the highlights, or watch Goals On Sunday, than listen to Alan Hansen (in particular, can't stand the smug cunt), Mark Lawrensen, Ian Wright and other tossers talk bollocks.

[mufcsean]

On paper if i didnt know the score i would of thought arsenal hammered them about 6-0, you had way more possesion about 20 corners, a hell of a lot more shots, really unlucky today but what a goal by RVP

[Viperized]

It's an all too familiar case, with us. We won't win the title again, until we learn to be more clinical and take maximum points from these games we dominate.

Arsene Wenger and some of the players really need to stop complaining about negative tactics being employed against us. The more it's mentioned, the more it will be used against us, and we should have learnt how to deal with it by now. We need to start looking at ourselves and realising, the past 2 or 3 seasons, we've dropped far too many points through being wasteful in games we should be winning comfortably.
A few seasons ago we could kill a team in the first 20 minutes of a match. Now we just seem to dally around with the ball, doing nothing.

Personally I believe its the 451 formation which is limiting our play. It does not bring the best out of Van Persie, and it does not bring the best out of Henry. Those two players were born in 442. Henry is far more effective in 442 and playing him as a lone striker is a waste of talent. This is the same with Van Persie - he has been bollocks at left wing in every game. If he is going to continue playing him on the wings, he should at least put him on the right, where here is able to cut in and smash some shots on goal.

With 442 there is more movement and would help create space imo. Our players could play it perfectly. Is 451 our new formation? I fucking hope not. 442 has always been the way to go, and is still the way to go. Maybe it works in the Champions League as we are given more space, but in the Premiership, our players are not designed for 451. You cannot simply play 451 with a team of attacking midfielders on the wings (Rosicky, Hleb). We would need a real winger, such as Ribery or someone like Walcott who could at least give us width. Without width, teams just park buses infront of goal. We have the biggest pitch in the Premiership yet we do not use it to our advantage when things go wrong - if teams congest the middle of the park, then we should attack from the wings.

I really miss Eboue. He was the only player who gave us genuine width. Hopefully Clichy will start the next game as he'll offer more in attack than Gallas.

We always seem to concede at set-pieces. Our marking is always poor. I think we need Senderos back..

[ATH10]

Oh beleive me mate, it always happens when we play teams like you.

That wasn't a patronising comment by the way, I'm just on about your team and how they play, like physical. Not a bad thing mind. :happy:

I myself would have took the draw today, as I'm never confident when playing North West teams.

Ah well, CSKA next? Bring it on, those bitches are going down. MOTD now, :) Although I'm getting ready to watch a Rooney-rimming show.:mellow:

Not the most optimistic are you settling for a draw at home when you're in form.

[ATH10]

Another case of sour grapes from arsene wenger complaining about everton's tactics i thought david moyes got his tactic's spot on.

[BlueScouse]

Considering 6 of our starting 11 where suffering from symptoms of the virus that has circulated through Bellefield in recent weeks, i am delighted with a point from yesterdays game. The game was so painful to watch from an Evertonians point of view as you just sensed a goal would eventually come from an Arsenal player. Tim Howard has been fuckin' sensational for us this season......really hope Man Utd sell him to us when the season finishes.

[Scarface]

A few seasons ago we could kill a team in the first 20 minutes of a match. Now we just seem to dally around with the ball, doing nothing.

It's sad, but true. The days of us being 3-0 up within half an hour are a distant memory now.

Back then, Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp and the like, didn't need to be asked twice to stick the ball in the back of the net when a chance arose, but Alexander Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie (not quite to the same extent, but he is too hesitant, too often) and others do. That's one of the problems.

I really miss Eboue. He was the only player who gave us genuine width.

The sooner he returns, the better. I think the past few games have proven what an important part of the team he has now become.

[kallum]

Not the most optimistic are you settling for a draw at home when you're in form.

Ahem.

If read my post, you'd see why. I wasnt that optimistic as these teams play defensive football and we've saw how Arsenal have found it tricky against teams doing this, both home and away with Villa and City.

Now post something fucking useful. Gimp.

[Stella Artois]

He's shown himself to be a complete and utter spastic, just ignore the cunt in future.

CSKA tomorrow and yet again I have to work, so I'll miss the game. I'm feeling a sickie coming on if I'm honest as I desperately want to watch this game as we need the three points.

[fluke88]

Am i the only one counting down the days until the man himself Lauren returns then?

[Viperized]

You are not alone.

[The Stig]

No, its just that teams like Everton park every single one of their players in their penalty box. Everton only had two fucking shots on goals whilst we had at least 25 attempts! We have all the possesion in the world yet we don't punish teams accordingly. Oh well, credit to Everton for sticking to their gameplan i.e. playing with no attacking instinct. Arteta is a damn good player and is probably one of the best midfielders in the Premiership. Tim Cahill is the opposite though. The twat was pretending to be injured, wasting at least five minutes.

I'm not going to watch MoTD. That show is a disgrace and is clearly anti-Arsenal. Just watch Hansen slate Arsenal. Shearer is a moron who clearly states the obvious and Lawro is just a plonker. Goals on Sunday is where the real stuff is at.
He is a good player yeah him and Alonso where playing together when they were kids and they used to be neighbours. I think they still are in Liverpool. Btw did you see him jump on Gallas' back haha what was the man thinking?

[Scarface]

Fucking pathetic. This wastefulness has gone on for far too long. We should have won by at least 3 or 4 clear goals, having created the chances we did. Forget the Lehmann incident and all the other controversy, being wasteful cost us the European Cup (what better chances do we want to have than Thierry Henry being clean through on 2 or 3 occasions?), and what have we done about it? Fuck all.

I'm not only frustrated about tonight, we have been like this since the opening game in the group. We should be home and dry already, but now we have FC Porto on our ass, and are going to go right down to the wire.

[Rossy Boy]

That was shocking :shocking::shocking:

[ibz]

i really hope AW is whoopin someone's ass right now !!!

[Rossy Boy]

it wasnt entirly their fault they were playing good football but it just didnt pay off, still cant get over Rosicky hitting it straight at the keeper though

[ibz]

whos fault is it then?!
plz dont tell me it's luck cause it's not the first time this happens something's wrong ...

[Scarface]

We've been playing some excellent football, but that's one of the most disappointing aspects. We're playing really well - some of the best football i've seen from any team this season - yet still aren't taking our chances, and are dropping too many points.

Even in the away leg in Russia, when we were outplayed, we had 3 or 4 guilt-edge chances, that need to be taken at this level. After our achievements in Europe last season, it's easy to forget how wasteful we were, even then. We should have pulverised Real Madrid, but only won 1-0 on aggregate, and it was a similar case with Juventus over 2 legs, and Villarreal at home.

[mufcsean]

Some terrible misses tonight by Rosicky and Fabregas but at least you got a better result than us

[Jonny2J]

Done me out of a lot of money tonight. :(

[Ronaldo_is_fat]

From the highlights, we are playing extremely well at creating chances but fail to put the ball behind the net. It is fustrating on how the results do not reflect on the way we play. Henry, our main threat infront of goal has gone down the hill this season. He is becoming static and immobile just like Ronaldinho. IMO, we need Walcott more than Hleb as he is faster and provides us mobility. We need to player like him to trouble a deep lying defense other than Hleb who keeps cuting the ball backward.

[Stella Artois]

Meh, at the end of the day, we'll go through, so no worries there. Yes it's frustrating to see us draw yet another game we should have won (other than the reverse fixture of this match we should have won every game this season), but that's life.

[Barry]

Frustrating game.

CSKA was defending very good, and their keeper is topclass. But seriously, how can you support such a team? I suspected the away-stand to be full of minimalists and morally depraved mid-life yuppies.....terrible. 3 defenders on paper, great, but then came 5 incredibly defensive midfielders.

Dudu was exactly like his name, Carvalho was moaning at him constantly despite him doing absolutely shit as well, both unable to give a decent pass to Vagner Love.

As for Arsenal, it was frustrating at least. The combinations were great at times, with Rosicky and Fabregas showing what pure footballers they are. It seemed though that they were lacking a target man, someone to break open the game.

[Stella Artois]

The only thing we lack was the ability to put the ball into the net mate. We had chances that even Emile Heskey would have scored.

Main thing for me is that we'll qualify as I see us beating Hamburg and I can't see us losing to Porto - although if we do, it certainly won't be by 3.

The quality of the football is out of this world, so there's no need to panic yet. Still I suppose it is slightly annoying to only draw with those commie bastards.

[fluke88]

:laugh: @ Rosicky and Fabregas :laugh:

Bloody hell they were terrible misses.

[Barry]

The only thing we lack was the ability to put the ball into the net mate. We had chances that even Emile Heskey would have scored.

Main thing for me is that we'll qualify as I see us beating Hamburg and I can't see us losing to Porto - although if we do, it certainly won't be by 3.

The quality of the football is out of this world, so there's no need to panic yet. Still I suppose it is slightly annoying to only draw with those commie bastards.


Hamburg and Porto should be no real problems, they are not half as defensive as CSKA, and despite VD Vaart returning they still need more time to recuperate from the awful streak of games they had.

[Nturtle]

Looking forward to the next matches...and to get stuck in and score a few more to get ahead on goal difference. I can see Porto win against CSKA....leapfrogging Arsenal and CSKA potentially if we don't get a result in Hamburg!

[ATH10]

Dissapointing result for arsenal but cska could have even won the game with vagner love's chance.

[deanos63]

Henry thinks his god, someone needs to light a fire up his ass! Get him on the move, he should be treated like every other player, if his off form DROP HIM!

[Miggy]

Fooking hell lads, I just saw Cesc's and Rosicky's misses. Don't see 2 misses like that in one game very often.

[Rossy Boy]

please dont remind me lol

[Tigermen]

Frustrating game.

CSKA was defending very good, and their keeper is topclass. But seriously, how can you support such a team? I suspected the away-stand to be full of minimalists and morally depraved mid-life yuppies.....terrible. 3 defenders on paper, great, but then came 5 incredibly defensive midfielders.

Dudu was exactly like his name, Carvalho was moaning at him constantly despite him doing absolutely shit as well, both unable to give a decent pass to Vagner Love.

As for Arsenal, it was frustrating at least. The combinations were great at times, with Rosicky and Fabregas showing what pure footballers they are. It seemed though that they were lacking a target man, someone to break open the game.

In all fairness to CSKA, it was nowhere near as defensive a performance as I expected. I don't know whether we just had the key to the lock so to speak, but I really feared the worst before the game but as far as I'm concerned my fears were relatively unfounded. There was plenty of space for Arsenal to play in is my point; not sure whether we earned the space or whether they 'gave' it to us, but it certainly was not as negative and tight as i thought it was going to be.

[Viperized]

In the first half we played some of the best football I've seen in a long, long time. That was classic Arsenal. A pure quality attacking display and we completely ripped their defence in a few passes. However our finishing was piss poor.

We had about 25 shots on goal, virtually all possession and dominated the game start from finish. The only time when CSKA had a real sniff at goal was when Vagner Love got past Gallas.

We should have really won this match 7-0, but just like in previous games, poor finishing cost us. The amount of chances we were creating was unbelievable, yet we fuck up in front of goal. We do the hard part but miss out the easy part - putting the ball in the back of the net.

I'm not worried though as I'm 100% sure we'll beat Porto. They aren't a defensive side like CSKA.

[Ronaldo_is_fat]

I don't think we'll have problem scoring against Porto but they will definitely trouble our defense with their attacking talents.

[Dragonfly]

West Ham away. What's our chances? Are The Hammers gonna be on a roll, and is our luck going the other way?

I think we're always gonna make chances, but we really need to score. Our defence is good enough for us to a get a clean sheet, so I'm sure we'll get at least a point.

[Ronaldo_is_fat]

West Ham away. What's our chances? Are The Hammers gonna be on a roll, and is our luck going the other way?

I think we're always gonna make chances, but we really need to score. Our defence is good enough for us to a get a clean sheet, so I'm sure we'll get at least a point.

No way, that we'll be contented with only a point because we had lost enough points. We are out for revenge against them for beating us at home.

[ATH10]

In the first half we played some of the best football I've seen in a long, long time. That was classic Arsenal. A pure quality attacking display and we completely ripped their defence in a few passes. However our finishing was piss poor.

We had about 25 shots on goal, virtually all possession and dominated the game start from finish. The only time when CSKA had a real sniff at goal was when Vagner Love got past Gallas.

We should have really won this match 7-0, but just like in previous games, poor finishing cost us. The amount of chances we were creating was unbelievable, yet we fuck up in front of goal. We do the hard part but miss out the easy part - putting the ball in the back of the net.

I'm not worried though as I'm 100% sure we'll beat Porto. They aren't a defensive side like CSKA.

How can you be 100% sure that you'll win away from home in the champion's league.

[Nturtle]

How can you be 100% sure that you'll win away from home in the champion's league.

I think Viperised meant that if we play like we did against CSKA...we'll be pretty ok. :cool: Of course, nothing really is 100%...but as a fan...you've got to have SOME confidence in the team! :cool:

[Nturtle]

With Bolton, Portsmouth and Everton losing...we have a great chance to get away from the pack...Liverpool are getting some impressive vistories as well...but Man U is really going for it! Winning our games in hand still leaves us 4 points adrift...so they need to start dropping points...grrrr....

Well...better finishing from the boys...and West Ham may need to re-group...too bad Tevez is not fit...would have been interesting.

[Scarface]

I'm going to the game tomorrow (even with this damn cold :\ ), as my next door neighbour went on holiday today, so has lent me her season ticket. Hopefully we'll get an early goal, as I think that would be crucial to the outcome of this must-win game.

[Viperized]

Without a doubt West Ham will try to go for this. Man Utd and Liverpool have won their games (yesterday).

We MUST win if we want any chance in winning the title. The point gap between us and United is increasing...

[Karaoke29]

The points gap between Arsenal and ManUtd isn't that big. The difference is 10 points with Arsenal having 2 matches in hand and if Arsenal win both, so the difference will be 4 points which are nothing.

To me, I think that Arsenal can do it and win the title but Arsenal will be facing a very wild desperate competition from their direct rivals, Chelsea and ManUtd and may be Liverpool.

[martin_cranie]

We MUST win if we want any chance in winning the title. The point gap between us and United is increasing...

Incorrect.

Is it just me, or has this sort of rubbish only come along in the last few seasons?! Pretty much from the 4th game of the season onwards there were people everywhere saying 'If so-and-so don't win this one, they're out of the title race'. Absolute shit.

MoTD pundits, in all there wisdom, said this about ManYoo last season, effectively writing them off at christmas. Funny how they were still asking the same question in February.

I certainly don't mean to have a go at you Viperized, but I truely believe that Chelsea, or whoever, could be 15 points clear of everyone right now and the title race would still be very much on. It annoys the hell out of me when people spout all this shit about the title race being over when we're not even half way through the season.

[Nturtle]

I think it is just psychological. Man U or Chelsea traditionally go and get in front for long periods... Arsenal are not that good at it...but having said that...did well for a couple of years. It is just these few years that give us anxiety...and the rest of the league just struggles to keep in touch a bit more than normal.

It's not mathmatically over until the last third where you can see how many points are left...so technically Martin is right...and perhaps it is frustrating to hear it put forward. Viperised simply means it is crucial to keep in touch phycologically i feel...correct me if I'm wrong! For the team..it is now just about putting it in the net..and the sooner we do it in the match, like Reyes said...the better...otherwise our buildup is not as free flowing...look at the Reading match...we kept on going in a GOOD way...not out of frustration.

[ibz]

remember the days when we used to beat chelsea inside 20 minutes of the first half? .. Those were the days!!

The key for us was finishing the game early, when u score in the first 15minutes and have a team with a counter attacking master class like arsenal u win the premiership .. easy as that ..

[mufcsean]

Clichy is playing very well, for anybody who isn't watching it here you go, http://www.live-footy.org/sun5.11/WestHam_Arsenal.html

[CaptainCabinet]

Surely das is illegal?

[Billy Minof]

Clichy is playing very well, for anybody who isn't watching it here you go, http://www.live-footy.org/sun5.11/WestHam_Arsenal.html

Yes he is mate, good to see him back to 100%...

[mo sissoko]

Did anyone just see a coin thrown at Van Persie?

[Billy Minof]

Did anyone just see a coin thrown at Van Persie?

Wasnt me anyway dude, I am at home this week. :erm:

[mo sissoko]

It happened to Claus Jensen yesterday aswell.

[Billy Minof]

It happened to Claus Jensen yesterday aswell.

I know I saw that one, straight into the eye or just below it but very close and very lucky he was.

[CaptainCabinet]

Both in London eh? Coinkydink?

[mo sissoko]

The FA will have to start fining the clubsor someday it`s gonna end in a player being seriously injured

[Billy Minof]

Both in London eh? Coinkydink?

Well I wasnt in the vacinity. :blush:

[vanNistelrooy]

Serial coin thrower on the loose!

[mo sissoko]

Both in London eh? Coinkydink?

Oh yeah,wonder why on the same weekend aswell.

[The Stig]

Incorrect.

Is it just me, or has this sort of rubbish only come along in the last few seasons?! Pretty much from the 4th game of the season onwards there were people everywhere saying 'If so-and-so don't win this one, they're out of the title race'. Absolute shit.

MoTD pundits, in all there wisdom, said this about ManYoo last season, effectively writing them off at christmas. Funny how they were still asking the same question in February.

I certainly don't mean to have a go at you Viperized, but I truely believe that Chelsea, or whoever, could be 15 points clear of everyone right now and the title race would still be very much on. It annoys the hell out of me when people spout all this shit about the title race being over when we're not even half way through the season.
Absoloutely correct.

[Nturtle]

Damn me...this is a frustrating match again...hopefully we will have the patience to get a goal...and not let one in...

[CaptainCabinet]

Blatent pen there.

[Nturtle]

How the hell we didn't get that penalty (Spector on Hleb) I don't know...