Arsenal v Stoke

If Henry was on a hat-trick would he have let Wrighty take a penalty?

 

Seeing as they never played together then probably not

 

[emoji23]

 

He was born to play football and that is what counts.

 

I was at the game today (Club Level ). Atmosphere wasn't great, but I guess that's to be expected from disillusioned fans.

For 70 minutes, we did not perform well at all. Our passing was not just slow, it was sloppy. No-one seemed willing to shoot. There was no urgency or impetus to really drive forward. We were seriously lacking width, partly because Ozil kept coming on the inside and Welbeck was not moving at all. No-one else was moving around to create space, especially as Stoke were congesting the middle of the park and dropped very deep whenever we had the ball in their half.

Ramsey played well in patches, however, the fans (myself included) were getting frustrated with how many touches he was taking and how long it took him to play the ball.
Wilshere was okay. Yet I'm struggling to see what he's done to justify a bumper new contract. He made a few good darting runs and quick turns, but I found him quite ineffective overall. His reading of the game wasn't good at all and he lost the ball when we had built up some promising moves. Maybe not a popular opinion on here. But I wouldn't be too downbeat were he to leave the club in the Summer. Don't think he's done enough to warrant one.

Elneny was average. He is useful at closing players down and recycling possession. When it comes to dominating a midfield and showing strength to win the ball back, this is an area where he (and the team) is lacking. Got outmuscled on numerous occasions. Not necessarily his fault, as he's not that type of player, but it does highlight one glaring weakness we have.

The gap between him, who presumably was our defensive-minded midfielder, and Ramsey/Wilshere was vast.
Stoke broke through the centre quite a lot because Ramsey and Wilshere weren't disciplined enough. Whenever we lost the ball, they were too high up the pitch.

I felt bad for Bellerin because he had no support. In the first half, they were targetting his side of the pitch when attacking because Ozil didn't drop back to defend. Whenever he went forward, he had very few options as well.

Likewise with Monreal, who was trying to offer some width. But Welbeck was not making the right runs and kept wanting the ball to feet, only to then lose it constantly.

On the plus side, Aubameyang did very well, considering he had to feed off scraps. Two very well taken goals. Nice bit of sportsmanship to let Laca take the second penalty.
Mustafi had a commanding game. Chambers was solid.
Lacazette was excellent when he came on. Showed nice footwork, skill and running in behind. Looks like a man reborn.

Overall, a very good result and one that wasn't expected given the opening 70 minutes. Great confidence-booster ahead of Thursday's big clash.

 

As for the two penalty incidents. When I first saw them in real time, both of them looked like stonewall penalties.

Having seen the replays, the first one we were a bit fortunate with. The second one was clear as day, though. I'm not sure what Lambert's on about when he said "It was soft". If that had been given for his team, he'd be whistling a different tune.

 

Sounds harsh but I am actually disappointed we offered him a new deal.

I dont think he would get near United, Chelsea, Spurs or City's squads.

Works hard, has a good attitude but he's not technically good enough for the TOP level. He's the kind of player I would expect to see at a Southampton/Everton sized Club. But then maybe that shows where the Clubs ambitions lie these days. (not very high)

 

I hear that the Stoke fans behaved impeccably as usual towards Ramsey

 

They had to take this last chance to get all the chants out before playing in the championship next year.

 

Sweeet, Stoke getting relegated, I think it's going to happen.

 

Actually, that was one point I was going to make.

I don't actually care if the first penalty wasn't a penalty or not. I don't care if the officials gave us a lucky decision or even if we cheated.

If it means punishing them to eternal damnation (relegation), I couldn't give a flying fack how we beat them. So long as we are hammering more nails into the coffin .

For too long, their agricultural brand of football, neanderthal players, toxic fans and dull as dishwater managers have been stinking up the league. It is about time they went down. I think a lot of clubs would be thrilled to see the back of them.

And I, for one, cannot wait.

Awful club. Need to be sent back to the Stone Age, which is where they belong.

 

Sentiments expressed very nicely on behalf of quite a few of us, I suspect.

 

It takes a special kind of ****er to be anti Ramsey cos he refused to accept an apology while laying in a hospital after receiving emergency surgery from the man who actually snapped his bone in half.

If takes a specia kind of **** to keep it going for almost a decade.

Nasty club (apart from crouch...yeah I know you lot don't like him) who will not be missed if they go down.

Can imagine us screwing up our part in their relegation though