Had to go Xmas shopping with the missus this afternoon so missed the game. Who were the stand out performers? Was there more effort put in and did we start with intent?
Farkin' Hell that sucks. I missed the game, but at least I was out doing something fun . . . Keen to know how we performed to, looking forward to MOTD
Tell me about it. She bought more for herself than for other people. Seats or benches should be dotted around women's retail shops so all of the husbands and boyfriends can congregate somewhere instead of standing around feeling like a plum. I'd watch MOTD, but they'll probably dedicate a whole section to Santi's apparent dive.
the most positive thing about the performance was the level of effort. HIGH I was impressed with the closing down and not giving west brom any time on the ball. GOOD Some worrying aspects. A lot of chances , Excellent chances , were totally wasted. Not clinical enough , against better teams we would not get so many chances so we had better improve on taking the ones we get. Lets not miss the fact that both goals came from penalties . Not one from open play . Good effort but need to sharpen up still .
You're dead right about having a 'bloke zone' somebody should design a space with big sofa's, FIFA and cold beers. MEN ONLY
As previously stated the midfield 3 were outstanding at closing down and moving the ball quickly in offense, Jack especially. Defense was mostly solid, but they were only dangerous from a handful of set pieces. Giroud worked hard without getting a clear chance. Oxo and Gervinho worked the wings well and had their defence scared. Gervinho should have had a hat-trick though, his finishing was very poor. Cazorla and Wilshere should also have scored. The 1st pen was a blatant dive. The 2nd there was probably a foul in the build-up. They had a very good shout for a pen as well, but it was a foul on Merts, so he got that one right. On paper both our goals were dodgy, but overall we well deserved the win. My ratings: Ches - 8 Sagna - 7 Merts - 7 Verm - 7 Gibbs - 8 Arteta - 9 Jack - 10 Santi - 8 / 9 Ox - 7 Gerv - 8 (overall but purely based on finishing 2 and that's generous) Giroud - 7
Cheers man Glad to hear that we're working hard and closing down - that's exactly what we've been calling for the team to do. Let's hope this is the start of us turning a corner this season . . .
It was a good game, we looked far better in attack than in previous games. The most impressive thing about the performance was our pressing game, in our previous games we've given the opposition too much time on the ball, this time we hassled them every time they had the ball, which caused them problems and didn't let them play. The negative for me, would have to be Giroud, we're in December now, and for me has to be showing much more than he has been so far. He's gone quite anonymous ever since his good turn of form in mid-November, we need our strikers to be banging in the goals for us, so the guy's got to step his game up and do better.
Who misses an Arsenal game to go surf boarding?!!!!!!!! You must never miss an Arsenal game, the only valid excuse is if you're getting married (even then you should check the date), having a baby, or you got shot in the ass and need to go the hospital.
Giroud was one of the few players who was never given a clear chance today. Some of Oxo's passes to him were awful, but he worked his socks off and made space for others. Worked tirelessly alone up-front and had a very good game.
I didn't see how he was today, but I think he's doing alright so far this season. His work rate is good, he links up the play really well and he's started to score some goals.
I was going to comment that we need a striker who scores, not simply one who works his socks off, Giroud's main point for Arsenal is to score, he could be anonymous in all games for all I care, as long as he scores in those games, which is what you'd want from your striker.
He's scored 7 goals in 14 starts + 8 sub appearances. Compared to: Podolski 7 goals in 19 +1 Theo 10 in 8 + 9 Gerv 5 in 13 + 4 Santi 4 in 21 Be interesting to see how Thierry or Bergkamp did in their 1st 14 games.....
Theo's been injured most of the time. Giroud has scored 7 in 25 appearances, but in the last 4 league games, he should've done better, and should be scoring in at least 2-3 of those games, he is our main striker after all. Also how many of Giroud's goals have come in the league? Which is where we really need him to be scoring for us. He's only scored 4 goals from 15 league appearances, sorry, but we need MUCH BETTER THAN THAT, we sold our best striker, and one of the best strikers in the world, and 4 goals in return in the league is not really a proper or adequate replacement. I like Giroud, all I'm saying is he needs to step his game up.
My stats are from Arsenal.com. I'd like to think they are correct, especially as they have just updated it to being 15 + 8. A goal every other game he starts. Any striker coming from abroad needs time to settle. Henry scored 7 goals in all competitions before 1st Jan. He turned out relatively OK didn't he? Although if you were watching him then you would probably be doubting he'd be any good. Believe me at this stage he wasn't. I'm not saying you're wrong, but give him time. He may be another Henry, or he may be another Chamack. So far though, I like him.
I'm glade we have Giroud in the squad he's hardworking, great in the air and seems like a good lad. However he is nowhere near sharp enough around the box. He's a 15-18 goal a season man. A really top striker would score 25+ with our current midfield and I still think its essential Wenger adds another striker this January. Was great to watch Jack Wilshere today, he's starting to look like his old self. Give him another month and he'll be a massive player for us.
Good post. I tend to agree. I reckon he's just about a 20 goal a season man. There is no doubt that we need a top notch striker, but as a 2nd choice, he's better than what we had last year or the last few years (Park, Chamack, Bendtner).
