I noticed that. He doesn't get forward as often as Sagna on the right, or Crumble (Gibbs) and Burger Van who normally play LB for us, but when he did go forward, it was usually worthwhile.
The officiating was terrible today. I said at half time that the ref was letting obvious fouls go in an attepmt to make the game flow but in effect it just stops any attacking fluidity and pisses off the players. Which today resulted in an almost brawl! Owen retrospectively should be banned, he threw a punch at Arteta.... Also gent - please can you stop now with the "Walcott is anonymous against teams who sit back and defend" stuff? He proved today he can put in a good performance even when he is being constantly fouled and given no protection by the officials. I thought the whole team put in a good shift today. We totally controlled the game. We dominated possesion, stayed patient and calm, which resulted in a solid back line and no panicking. We fought a very physical game and came out on top in every department! I hate the way stoke play, they foul non-stop, they act like arseholes and just hoof the ball, but today we dealt with it well and i was pleased with the result, a clean sheet and a win. Podolski and Cazorla when they came on changed it up going forward which was needed and i think Wenger brought them on at the right time, same with Ramsey. Oh and on our new signing - I thought Monreal had a solid debut. He was positionaly very aware, quick to his man and hoofed it when it needed it. He also had some lovely passing with Podolski when he came on. If he keeps playing like that he could be a real quality addition to our squad. Thumbs up from me!
Monreal was good, Walcott and Arteta stood out. Even Diaby looked good and didnt go up dead ends every time he got the ball. I know a lot of you wont like it but I still think Giroud isnt good enough despite his 5 goals last week. Today he just didnt have that urgency to get to the ball firstand didnt do enough for me.
And what exactly was he supposed to do with it. There was only Giroud in the box and he wasnt exactly busting a gut to get on the end of it.
I think Giroud had alot to contend with in two big strong CB's and in the first half he linked play very well - he seemed to be tired in the second half and not get into it as much. Also as i mentioned at half time, his movement was good but because the stoke defence was so packed he needed someone from midfield making runs into the box to free up some space.
Good stuff. Monreal performed how I expected him to by the sounds of it. The guy is super consistent and just does his job, no messing about. Like Sagna at his best.
So you thought Theo's crossing was good? I'm one of Theo's biggest supporters on this forum (gent knows), but I'm not blind lol.
No it wasnt, but he didnt really have a target that he could pass to. Hes one of those players who needs to clearly see his pass and hit the ball instinctively, as soon as hes looking around for a target he forgets how to kick the damn thing.
Theo put in quite a few dangerous balls today but there was no-one to get on the end of them - both giroud and oxocube had attempts from his crosses and in the second half he put a couple of inviting balls into the 6 yard box but only giroud was in the box at the time! He was good going past his man, got back straight away to defend when we lost the ball and provided a great outlet to begin our counter attacks. And took soem good corners as well. Solid performance and he did it while dealing with stoke constantly fouling him! Another point to mention - when we lost theb all the whole team closed down very well and very quickly, straight into the tackle to win the ball back - we where very good when we didn't have the ball.
Fair enough, but I thought he could have done better to pick out Giroud on quite a few occasions (like getting more height on some of those crosses).
Now we are 1 point behind Everton and Tottenham (although the spuds have a game in hand) and 5 points off Chelsea! Considering we just came through a few difficult fixtures i'd say we are in a pretty decent position! With Podolski and Cazorla rested, Monreal in the team and Diaby etc fit, i'm looking forward to the Sunderland game. Hopefully we can string together a few wins now.
Can't wait to see a replay of Michael Owen's attempted punch on Arteta. When did Owen become a hard man?
He's responding well to the thugs training regime if you ask me,also thought the Arteta tackle on him was brillant.
Diaby deserves a mention too, he worked hard, tackled, tracked back, won ball, took players on, and moved the ball forward. A good performance and he deserves it after some of the stick he's had over the last couple of years.
There is no way the ref saw it which means action can still be taken after the game. It's got to be a 3 match ban at least! I hope we ask for it to be reviewed. You can't be throwing a punch at someone for a challenge even if you feel it wasn't fair (which by the way it was). Stoke are a team who take pride in being physical and tough tackling, so to then throw a tantrum when another team does it back is just bad form.
