I wasn't going off on him. Just a little early to start talking about shocking this and awful that. There are things between the two extremes.
Shoulda taken this more seriously. If we play anything like that next week we will take a hiding. Don't want to be starting the Season on a negative run of results.
You're acting like we rolled over and died. Monaco edged the first half, we edged the 2nd half and barring a moment of refereeing ineptitude we'd have had a pen and probably drawn. City lost to Olympiakos and Chelsea lost 3-0 to Bremen. Pre-season is really there just to gain match fitness and sharpness. This is a glorified friendly and I expect a sharper performance next week as some of the less match sharp players get in the groove.
I didn't watch the game, but have seen comments regarding Arteta, which isn't a surprise, I thought he was very slow in our first game, and that's going to be a persistent problem with him considering his age etc, we really need a new DMF for our midfield, Arteta is simply not going to cut it, especially in the big games, and the reason why we didn't win the league last year was because we failed miserably in the big games, we're not going to be winning any league titles unless we manage results against the big teams, simple as that. Wenger's got to sort that position out, it's so clear we need that area to be strengthened.
Also Martin Atkinson please log in to view this image How this fool and his linesman are top flight professionals is beyond me.
Went to the game. Wilshere very disappointing. Debuchy looked good. Monreal was far too narrow too often so the left side was extremely open. Ramsey tired, not sure why Giroud went off as it meant Sanchez played too long and was knackered by the end. Far too static toward the end of the game. Yesterday was great, Chambers & Campbell in particular looked very good. Today was very disappointing with a lot of the "big guns" failing to impress.
There was absolutely NO energy of effort from several team members (Arteta, Carzorla, Monreal, Giroud..) I think a nonchalant attitude to this games is counter proactive. We had the opportunity to win a trophy this weekend. Which would give us good confidence going in to next weeks Community Shield. The point I'm trying to make is it felt like the team and the manager have underplayed how potentially important these games can be. What we really don't want to happen is we loose the Emirates Cup and the Community Shield thus pretty much destroying any good momentum we had built up on the back of our FA CUP win. Winning breeds more success. Its just basic sports psychology.
You know what's more important? Having fit players. Which is the only purpose these games have. The players know it, the manager know it, and the fans ... well, they should know it, but if they all did then we wouldn't need posts like this one.
I went to the game too and your assessment is pretty spot on. Most of the senior players apart from Kos, Ramsey and OXO looked so so. I was particularly disappointed with Cazorla. I'm not sure if its match fitness or he's starting to struggle now, but he is doesn't seem to be playing at the same level as when he first started with us. Wilshere also struggled. I think an OXO, Campbell and Sanchez front three would have been interesting. But Sanchez pulled off some scintillating moves though, mmmmm.
I'm concerned about Wilshere too, I think he's a way off being anywhere near his best. He's got bags of natural talent and is a top quality player, but I don't think he's ready to be relied on for a whole season. Arteta and Flamini can do a job, but I'd really like to see another top quality signing for that position so that we can boss the midfield and allow Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott and Cazorla to attack without getting turned around on the break like we did last season. Some of our heaviest defeats were because that position was a weakness.
