My thoughts on the weekend/our game

Could have posted in an existing thread but its fun to be an attention seeking whore for a while.

Well, it was the first game of the season, and you could tell. After the pre-season we had I still don't expect all of our players to be razor sharp yet. In fact, a lot of teams over the weekend looked like they were still finding their feet. Bar the Bolton game, there wasn't many goals about. Teams were cautious.

The only team which looked quite sharp was Sunderland, but that's to be expected. Despite their signings, they only had a few debutants on in the Liverpool game, and they were experienced Premier League players. I do think the sharpness of the other teams will have caught up by next week though, so we should see a lot more competitive games at higher intensity across the board.

Cabaye in his very first EPL game against one of the top sides in Europe was understandably not looking at his very best. Still great, but just missing that edge I think he has inside him. We saw glimmers of it during the match when he almost got that goal. With his first EPL game under his belt, and a reduced difficulty in midfield (Arsenal compared to Sunderland) I expect a pivotal performance next week. He should also now have a better idea of what to expect from Tiote, so we may see more working together. They're a top, top class CM pairing in the making, I'm tellin' ya.

Ba didn't look great, but we know he has the goals in him. Perhaps he just isn't feeling 100% fit yet. To get the best out of him I think we need to take control of midfield and find him a much better partner than ****ing Ameobi. Arsenal's midfield strength meant that we couldn't deliver much up to Ba, and Ameobi basically offered nothing. I expect better things next week.

Obertan, not too sure to be honest. My stream went off shortly after he came on. I heard he was good though. How were the end products?

Ryan Taylor looked better than I expected, but that may be down to Jonas. He tracked back a lot and as a result offered little in attack. We badly need a left back for Sunderland though. Hopefully we'll get Pieters in and hopefully he'll be at least decent.

Now next week, unfortunately I think we need to play Ameobi, so I don't think it's a game to test new striking partnerships just yet. Perhaps at half time we can bring on Obertan or Marveaux. I'd also give Sammy Ameobi a run out. Let's see what HE has against the mackems.


For the mackem game I'm predicting a draw or narrow win. Some people seem to forget that we've just got quite a comfortable draw against a very strong side like Arsenal. Bar the goal-line clearance, Krul didn't really have to do a great deal. The defence was solid against a Arshavin, RVP and Gervinho attack force. If our defence is the same as it was during the weekend, I think Sunderland will find it very difficult to break through. Let's just hope the attack has something in the tank this time.

THAT IS ALL. So yeah, how was Obertan?

 

Obertan has to be one of the fastest players in the league. The lad is like lightning. He put cabaye through with a lovely little flick. I think with time he could develope into a very decent player for us.

 

Obertan showed some nice touches, the guy is so quick it's unreal!
I'm ****ting myself for next week but that's just the way I always am for the derbys.

 

Obertan was really productive and showed some very good touches. Great pass into the box for Cabaye to run onto.

Chased a lot up front and even covered both wings at one point as Jonas was tracking back for Raylor.

For £3 million; albeit only from a partial game, but he looks a decent acquisition and does give added pace in attack.

 

was pleasantly surprised by obertan, i think if pardew has a bit more time to work out how to fit him into the team he could be a bargain. The only times i saw him play for manure he couldn't keep the ball at his feet and was terrible.

 

Agree with everything that has been said about Obertan.

Ryan Taylor did ok as LB.

Saylor and Collo were excellent.

Strikers not going there as most of us know we need quality striker quickly.

 

Raylor did well but I have a feeling that without Jonas helping out; he's have had a torrid time.

 

Why didn't you post this in an existing thread?

Was Ba injured when he came off? I was disappointed that we brought Lovenhands on, could've experimented a bit more with Sammi, but 0-0 is a great result.

 

i thought obertan looked good when he actually got the ball but as i said when we signed him he can drift through the game and he did a bit. great when he had the ball mind. i think we need to play it in to him more but that will come with time. to get the best out of him we're going to need to keep him involved.

he's ****ing seriously lightning quick though when he chased a ball that was going out he had given there player about a 4yrd start and still got there first.

 

Jonas looked lost without Jose. Here's hoping when we get a decent LB in he will forge the understanding he had with Jose.

Jose doesnt look good in red.

 

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Lovenkrands was saying goodbye

 

Obertan was pretty impressive when he came on, he has to start on Saturday. Raylor looked poor and it was clear he was out of position but thankfully we weren't punished too much, largely thanks to the brilliant defensive work by Jonas on the left wing. Cabaye looked assured in possession but like a young boy lost when l'Arse had the ball. Tiote had a poor game by his standards, giving the ball away a lot. Simpson and Krul were both solid, as were Coloccini and my MoM Saylor. Barton was average, poor passing which is unlike him, stupid to get involved but good work in getting that cheat sent off Shola looked like Shola and Ba looked like Shola pissed. I can see us struggling against 5under1and as they looked decent against the bin dippers though in all honesty they were lucky to get a point (as were we.) Hopefully our new players will pick it up and we'll have our new LB/ST by then, would snatch your hand off if offered a draw now.

 

I actually thought Raylor did ok. He and Simpson were good on the cover, and Raylor had a tricky player on his hands in Gervino. He'll rip some full backs a new one this season. Jonas was outstanding helping out. To be hoenst it was one of the most selfless displays I've seen by a winger. Obertan was seriously quick, but what really impressed me was how sure his touch was. I had an impression of him being quick in a Bellion type way i.e. couldn't trap a bag of cement. Far from it and he will be useful at 3m. The strikers have been discussed at length and there is not a lot to add, they were awful. Colo is top class and Taylor looks ready to come on a bundle. Tiote had an off day and looked short of fitness as you'd expect. Cabaye looked lost at sea chasing shadows first half but what I found encouraging was he slowly got the pace of the game and started to pick up some nice positions, making useful runs forward. I thought Barton was absolutely outstanding. He looked really sharp and put some serious graft in. He needs to come off set pieces though, as they were rubbish.

 

Yeah, going to reiterate what everybody else is saying about Obertan, he looked insanely quick, skillful and very willing to show off all he can do. He needs to start in the derby.

 

Barton did have an off day with his set pieces. At one point I thought he was using Geremi's tactics of concussing the first defender.

I wondered why Cabaye hadn't taken a few so there was some variance to confuse the Arsenal defence who have struggled in the past on crosses into the box.

 

Agree with pretty much everything said here, and Obertan was a pleasant surprise - so quick it's scary and a nice touch to set up Cabaye. He started in the free role but that was a waste of time as Shola didnt win a header all game, so we pushed him out wide after a while. Didnt see enough of the ball and we didnt utilise his pace that well (through balls, flick ons etc).

I thought Raylor might have actually been better than Simpson (how much of that was down to Jonas I dont know though).

 

I wish you hadn't said that. I feel terrible now, like he's dying. What is it? Aids? It's Aids isn't it?

 

At least after half time when Barton had fired all the first half ones into the first defender! As you say I had a horrible flashback to Geremi! At least Pardew showed some awareness of it when he mentioned it post match as his big frustration. Arsenal are vulnerable as we all know but we never got the chance to exploit it. (much to my frsutration as I had Taylor 1-0! Every corner I was thinking "this is the one Stevo, go on son")

 

aye bartons deliveries were nothing short of scandalous. we had cabaye and Raylor on the pitch at the time and i was just thinking joey you're clearly having an off day on the set piece front give one of the other lads a go. Although Raylor did plough one into the wall when he had a crack...