Giroud has been terrible in the past three games. I think his fitness is not so great for this time of the season.
I'm back bitches. I go to a match and we win. I said Swansea was just a blip. On the performance, not impressed with Giroud, and our corners were abysmal. Aside from that, we should have won by far more than just the 1, we didn't play too badly.
Poor performance, good (and immensely necessary) result. When Arsenal do it they're terrible, when Man Utd do it, it's the stuff of champions. With other results going Arsenals way, it bodes well. They need a week to clear their heads and focus on Spurs. Win that game & confidence will skyrocket. The impetus is there to go on a run now, it's up to the Players & Manager to make it happen. 3rd is a realistic possibility, but the next 2 games are absolutely vital. Can we get the Spurs match thread up real soon please? We should be getting excited already!!
Actually I didn't think it was that bad, shots 24-5 , on target 14-3! Let's face it, any sensible journalist or any other team, we would have been considered to have out-classed Villa completely and dominated the game. Somehow because Aston Villa scored a goal, where they didn't get in behind the defence, on one of only about 3 decent chances the whole game, apparently our defence was shambles. Our goalkeeper got deceived on the flight of one shot and apparently is now a terrible goalkeeper. Sorry but I have to say that a lot of my fellow Arsenal fans often appear to not be able to see the obvious. We crushed them. This was not a bad performance in any way shape or form. How can you hold a team to 5 (five!) shots and then have your defense labelled as suspect! Sorry, but that is ****ing ridiculous! I realize we have to face a lot of crap in the papers and on the TV that keeps spouting this nonsense and labelling it as "Expert Analysis" but really, if the Arsenal defense was bad against Aston Villa the Manchester United defense has been non-league standard all year!
True about the performance, but if they had been more clinical in those counter attacks, we wouldn't be talking about good performances right now. Also Szczesny "getting deceived on the flight of one shot" is an error that compounds many other recent mistakes. I was Szczesny's biggest supporter until recently, but bad performances don't lie.
I will do it by today or tomorrow. Also, some news on that game. Mark Clattenberg is the ref, well at least it's not Mike Dean, I suppose.
You know my feelings on Mike Dean! I sort of agreed with your post on the cup results being the real disappointment of the season, but my disappointment is tinged with that uneasy feeling that something is rotten with the whole Mike Dean deal. I won't go on, but am I the only one that looks at his refereeing stats against us and just can't believe that there isn't some kind of investigation done? Or is it that if he really was bias, and had got away with it for so long, it would just be too terrible a scandal for everyone to even contemplate?
Good news about Clattenberg being ref. Whenever he does a high profile Spurs game, they always seem to lose.
Hope you replace the one started by the spud. The history section going on about our move North, dodgy entry to the 1st division, hints of corruption etc is not needed and will only cause arguments if it remains.
Agreed. Even though it was an interesting history leason, it is irrelavent to the up coming game between us two. How about editing the unsavoury bits out?
We need a Match Thread!! I'd play Merts if Ade is likely to start. Not sure if I'd want Kos or Verm alongside him, but Verm will get the nod. If Sagna is back he'll have a job against Bale, and his experience could prove vital. Jenkinson is faster, but also prone to rash challenges. I'd play Diaby and Arteta in the middle - the team needs some defensive stability, and it frees Wilshere up. The major issue then is Diaby has been very off-form recently. That questions what to do with Podolski if Cazorla plays? Solving this problem, I'd play Theo through the middle as the Spurs defense isn't very fast at all, and it will make them sit deep. Put Cazorla out on the right, and Pod on the left, but allow (and instruct) the front 3 to interchange positions regularly to keep the Spurs defense guessing. Pod should have the advantage over the RB, and Cazorla over the LB, as I don't really rate the Spurs FB's this season (though Walker is improving). So... Chesney Sagna Merts Verm Monreal Arteta Diaby Wilshere Cazorla Theo Pod Would be my choice.
