After a terrible start I thought we kept the ball reasonably well and looked dangerous at times. Defensively solid after the first 30 seconds, suppose we have to stop conceding such early goals but in general the defence is starting to look solid, Turner being back is a big influence I think. Vaughan kept the ball very well again and although I was suprised to see Gardner dropped I though colback did very well in his place, Sessegnon did very well leading the line on his own but I think now he needs Ji up front with him, I thought he looked bright and took his disallowed goal very well, time to give him a start? Feeling positive looking forward to Bolton next week, play that well and we'll get something there, great mental strength again from the lads to come back after a nightmare start, haway the lads
We were totally handicapped by the manager. Never had a chance of a good result today. A 1 goal defeat is probably the best we could hope for
apone, shut up you mug, we were well in the game until we were beaten by a free kick, terrible management eh? moron
sorry like, but I think we all know we were handicapped. At 4-4-2 with Wickham and Ji we were better and went foward...so don't be calling people mugs!
I'm not denying the players who played did ok. My opinion is the manager handicapped us by the team he put out. Don't be so quick to criticise posts and resort to name calling, it's a game of opinions and mine is that our manager is clueless.
whatever the formation, i wasnt expecting anything from this game. RVP won the game for Arsenal, he was the difference otherwise we played well imo
Why do you persist in calling genuine contributers to your articles nasty names, makes you look a **** sir
"Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes." - Clough
Well I saw a game where we sat back, hoofed the ball forward and easily gave away possession. As for what Apone saw, we only played well when we ran at everything and hussled our way back into it. Why oh why did it take a goal in the last 10 minutes to play like we mean it? In the game I saw we were utter ****e.
they never want to win under Bruce, that is the problem. I said he cannot make changes in midfield because they were all on the pitch!, he brings Whickam on when we stopped playing in the second half, and takes Sessegnon off! instead off cattermole. Martin o neil where are you?.
Excellent response without lowering yourself well done. A quote from a manager who was renowned for recognising where his teams were short and did everything in his power to fill any gaps in his teams. (Including breaking transfer records to do it!) He knew how to play even mediocre players in their best positions. He was also very verbal when players didn't do as he had told them too.
When we kept the ball down we proved we could play, Mig looked shakey and his positioning and kicking was off. Vaughan proved that he should start every game keeping it simple and accurate. I just don't get why he took Sess and Larson off, they were our biggest threat and yet he persisted with El when he was the most wastefull of all our team. By the way Catts should of scored no matter what anyone says he should of put the ball and the keeper in the back of the net. Overall we looked better when we went at them and we have to start playing before we concede. I too wasn't expecting anything from this game and think Bruce has got two or three games to save his job.
Im one of the most patient people going and ive been calling for Bruce to have more time given the circumstances etc. however im becoming more and more dissolutioned with the negative formations/team selections. I can almost hear Stev Bruce's conference regarding battled back well, resilient in defence, created chances however at the end of the day we come away with nothing. Im sick of performances that can be masked and excused away with we were unlucky, didnt take our chances, the ref did this etc. Im getting more and more frustrated and the patience i have left is wearing thin, minimum of 4points from our next 2games or this will be one BIB who is a BOB convert.
It was always going to be a difficult game, anyone who expected anything more than a draw has probably been covered off in Bruce's "fans expectations" comments. Arsenal are very much a team in a false position, have brought in quality players to compliment the proven players they already have and all have something to prove. How many of you expected a drubbing after Van Persies opening goal - it is a positive that we did not capitulate, indeed equalised, had some good chances and had to be undone by an unstoppable free kick. Arsenal are a big team(Arshavin omitted) and there height and physical presence ran the midfield - as it would against the majority of teams at home, they had a good game. I'm saddened to see armchair critics resort to the "4 out of 21" argument, this type of statistic is like a lamp post to a drunk, as much for leaning against as illumination, it is an irrelevance as some of those games were last season and conveniently exclude the good run we had before Christmas - the one stat that matters is that last season we finished 10th, the one before that was 13th(an improvement) I don't contribute on here much anymore as the negativity that seems to have become a hallmark of some of our supporters is tedious, it was commented on today on Sky - not in a good way either - ridiculous is the word that was used to describe the criticism of Bruce, these are professional sports journalists - they don't know it all, however they can be a bit more subjective than you (or I). One thing would say is that I hope that Short does not focus too much in the business side - like developing the asian market -and lose track of the footballing issues - mush in the same way Murray was distracted by the AoL.
