I was not expecting such a poor Arsenal performance as the one today against Manchester United. Way too many players had terrible games for Arsenal to have any hope of winning the game.
The main difference between the two sides I thought was that Arsenal were simply not clinical enough in front of goal.
The Gunners created chances, Arshavin had two or three in the first half, but they could not get shots on target and make Van der Sar work. United on the other hand turned their chances into goals.
As I said, I was really surprised at how many Arsenal players had off days today. Almunia, Clichy, Fabregas, the list goes on. I have never seen Clichy beaten for speed so often, as he was today.
I am really worried not about the Chelsea game next week and even the Liverpool game after that.
Arsenal have to go to Stamford Bridge and win next weekend if the Gunners are to have any chance of winning the title this year. A draw will not be good enough after drawing at Villa and losing today to Man United. Tonight I am not very confident of that.
More to follow, but what are your thoughts on the game?
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
So disapointed in todays performance. im getting tired of not being able to compete with the big boys. if this doesnt show Wenger that we need to invest in striker if we are to win anything this season then we are doomed for the future. so disapointed he chose to put denilson in midfield instead of ramsey. now we go to stamford bridge with our tails between our legs, i see another thrashing on the cards. Wenger needs to come up with a game plan against a very in form chelsea side.
Totally agree. Today showed that for all Arsenal’s goals this season, when it comes to the big games, you need a CF who can score with his one chance
alot of player had a bad day, but the biggest disgrace was Denilson, he had a hand in all three of there goals, he is not fit to wear the red and white again…..
This is the first one of these that I’ve done, and sitting here being mocked by my family for it, i’m still so annoyed from the match that I have to spout off! I have to agree. I wonder whether Denilson has signed a pre-contract with Man Ure. Will be really disappointed if AW doesn’t re-inforce at the back. centre back is an issue. Gallas, Campbell and (thank god) Silvestre are all out of contract in the summer. Send Silvestre back to Utd as I suspect they’re still paying him after his performances! Djorou’s ok but we could do with someone else.
also, get rid of Almunia! No team has won the league without a class keeper and Almunia isn’t fit to lace the gloves of Cech, Van der Saar or even Lehman (nutter that he was).
I’d say a Centre Back, Keeper, the Defensive Midfielder as Song can go missing in big matches, although he’s definitely improved. Could do with a bully of a centre forward as well.
Welcome Simon! Agree about needing strength down the middle this summer. And Almunia is not the answer. He is the weakest goalkeeper of any of the top 8 teams.
It was indeed a capitulation of monumental proportions,Gael Clichys days are numbered i don’t know what is going on with the guy but he has not had a proper game for Arsenal for well over a year.Almunia just needs to leave and never come back and a word to ARSENE: the gap between us and the top 2 is huge,we could have lost by 6 or 7 today.If you cant see that Deilson,Almunia Wallcott,Eboue and Clichy are not good enough then i would seriously consider your position as our manager.Nothing again this season.. so thank you Wenger !
Almunia-idiot, Denilson-prick, Clichy-MONSTROUS. Arsen Wenger- fuck off
how the hell could u win if u play with Denilson how how how and how. I dont agree with u about fabregas, he and arshavin did everything but it was not working, how can it work when u have an idiot keeper and a poor poor poor midfielder such as Denilson, and another f…ing idiot in the left called Clichy. his last two games were apsolutely poor perfomace, its unbelivable. From the moment i sow Denilson in the pitch i knew we are going to lose the game. Somewhere i have said if Wenger decides to play Denilson in the midle then he will do a crime against our tittle ambitions. and he did it. I do not kow what a hell he is watching in him, isnt he watchng the replay of the games?!!! I hate this guy, he is destroying our game. Almunia …. no coment….Sagna, learn to cross the ball or fuck off. Clichy, where are u Real Madrid, are u still intresting on him? Nasri, Rosicky, i hope u will know this was a poor performace from both of u. Anyway for me the tittle was over just after the game at villa park, but i still somewhere deep in my heart was a little hope, but today its OVER. U can play Denilson as much as u want mr.Wenger, it doesnt hurt anymore.
i wonder who els he could play today though, are not the rest injured or something?
Good point. I don’t think there was anyone fully fit who was sitting on the bench that could have played
we must have a kid in the youth/reserve team better than denilson ffs!!!
How you rate your squad, is how you play against your competition, and if the top four are our competition we are still left wanting. We are still the same three players away from becoming top class. With the money and no competition in the transfer market, we will sit on our morals for another year and rely on a patchwork side week to week. Arshavin, a great player mind you who sits out of position week in and week out is not going to save us. Wenger, thinks Bentner the most unproven striker in club history is going to step in and command goals is just ignorance. But if you ask Bentner he will tell you laundry list of great Arsenal appearances from the past and can probably look in the future and tell you about the golden boots he will win. Walcott played 30 minutes tonight, so I guess he will be out for another 2 months. Gail Clichy had his ass handed to him for a second game in a row. And now to our great tender between the posts, the sultan of swat, 4 inch vertical leap of death, the noodle body super models dream of, the command skills of a great French military tactician, oh and might I add great hair!!
It just hurts bad. We seem not to have any answers on th final third, while being woeful i9n the midle of the park, where we cannot keep hold of the ball. What kills me is that ManU are just not that superior, yet they do the basics right.. keeping it tight in the middle, using their flanks well (where was Clichy?? Left in the dust) and using Ronnie through the middle. How many times did we lob the ball into the box, almost knowing for certain that it was not going to have any effect.
class will always tell – Theo championship player at best – same Denilson we need 2 out field players who can give us the extra 20% every game to compete in Prem – injuries are just an excuse – ask Chelsea and Man U.
Sorry Arsene.
Not clinical enough in front of goal??? Do me a favour. We were shit all over the pitch. The biggest problem is that we don’t know how to defend to save our lives. Wenger is defensively and tactically inept. End of story. It was an inevitable wmbarrassment waiting to happen. We are going to get raped by Drogba and then bitch slapped for good measure I’m not even going to watch. Arsene Wenger we thank you for everything that you have done but the time has come to admit that you have taken us as far as we can go. Almunia, Eboue, Denilson, Diaby, Walcott, Bendtner – you’re not good enough. The difference between us and Man Utd/Chelsea is that we don’t know how to nullify a team’s strengths and exploit a team’s weaknesses. They do. Which is why when it comes to the best we lose and they win. Period. Title winners – what a joke! We’ll be lucky to finish forth. End of, goodnight. Aurevoir.
Almunia should be shot at dawn for palming into his own net! He looked frightened to death the whole match. This simply confirms my view that he is not worthy of the shirt. What does AW see in him. We are used to having world class goalies – he is mediocre at best! Please never again let him wear the captain’s armband. He should be ashamed of himself. Denilson was invisible and lightweight. Arshavin was trying to be a superstar and didn’t pass when should have. Fabregas was mugged by Utd who rightly thought if they stop him, they stop Arsenal. Arsene Wenger is too stubborn to change things around until it’s too late. I’m one of his biggest fans, but he must mend his ways, buy some players or perhaps it’s time to go!
almunia did look frightened. n not just for this match, for the past 3 matches! everytime the camera pans to his face, he has a deer-in-headlights look about him. it worries me as if i remember correctly, keepers should be at their most commanding when the goal is being attacked. they should have a “f***-you” attitude about them, but almunia has a “holy shit, what am i doing here?” face.
i have seen him being better than this – he looks distracted, indecisive and slow now. i wonder if there’s something going on in his personal life that’s affecting his performances.
as for denilson….i don’t know. his progressed seems to have stalled of late. he did make some important interceptions and tackles, but in defence, you’re judged by your mistakes and he was involved in two mistakes.
there was a corner where theo had a free header and what he did with his head was so pathetic, i don’t understand how he can look at other people and call himself a professional. the ball shaved the side of his head in his lame attempt. he looked afraid of attacking it – why? is he protecting that pretty face? or is he afraid heading might make him less intelligent than he already is? this is what i’m really pissed off about. as much as the team had an off-day, everyone worked their socks off to make things right. everyone tried, shot when there was a shot on (albeit off-target), and here comes mr 60k plus nike endorsements, suddenly in an open position from a corner with a free header and he lets it go?
lots had off days and it was, let’s be honest, men against boys. the better team on the day won.
we are playing for 4th spot. again.
maybe we should have taken the two domestic cup competitions a bit more seriously as they were our best chances of winning something. but somethings never change.
new player(s) tomorrow ? i doubt it very much.
there is always tomorrow!!!!!
PS Our next goalie is playing for Brentford at the moment!!!
Why the hell we are talking about tomorrow???????? This is insane. We did not learn from how Chelsea humbled us, and now MU for the second time!!! Just Fuck it.
Fabregas, Arshavin, Fabregas, Song, Vermalen – did what they could
Almunia, Denilson – you guys just SUCK big time! As always.
All the rest – just Fuck off, and take Wenger with you!
totally agree
Wenger is living in cloud cuckoo land if he thinks we are near to challenging for the Title. Once again it was men against boys. We don’t have one good keeper at the club, Clichy and Denilson are second rate and its a disgrace we have’nt bought anyone in the transfer window. Im afraid Fabregas will be off in the summer as he aint gonna win a thing with us. Tick tock tick tock Mr Wenger.
The game should have been won in the first20 mins of the match but arshavins selfshiness and denilson poor passes cost us the game and we need a proper striker…
we arsenal fans should not feel too down. if u look back at last season when man u won the title, they lost against liverpool(home and away),lost against arsenal and drew at their home, drew against chelsea away and beat them at old trafford. they still went on to win the league. this shows that winning the league is not dependant on winning or losing against the top teams. its all about being consistent. hopefully we can get a miracle 6 points against chelsea and the scousers.
I just have to say the refusal from wenger to buy a clinical striker this month could really cost us dearly. If we had a clinical striker today given the chances we created the game could have been the other way round.
yes i agree. if we can get 6 points from chelsea and liverpool, it’ll be ok. but i’d be happy with one from stamford bridge. so, i’m expecting a 5 point tally from these 4 matches. it’s not all gloom really, but….a lot more can be done.
What manager has 30 million to spend on players and doesn’t spend it. Mr wenger u have to carry your responsabilities for this painful defeat. Alot of fans have been telling that u need to enforce the squad and u come up with the excuse that u couldnt find the right players. This is nonsense. No team would come from 11 points behind to catch up and then surrender it back again; because come next sunday evening we might find ourselves in that position again. I am still hoping for a miracle last minute signing and a miracle next sunday; because at this point that is what we can all hope for. One last thing ,we cannot sustain a fight without a striker who is on a long term injury. If robin vp returns in march, it will probably be too late.
AW should be porn show manager while Almunia should be his mean actor. Denilson, Clichy and Nicklas are up coming actors. After Silvestre drop from the industry. A foooooool @ 40 is a fooooool for ever, sorry Arsenal fans Wenger have lied back in Nov./Dec. That in Jan a new CF will be coming. But he thought we have a fish brain like his
its VERY easy to be so pessimistic!
i whole hartedly agree with the analisys on denilson and almunia! not only poor performances but poor players too! i dont mind having denilson in the mix to play against the bottom 10 teams in the league but almunia should be flocked ASAP! play fabianski against chelsea he really is the short term answer! however clichy is off form and does NOT deserve to be hounded like he is…hes a great player and has just come back from a long lay off to play against villa and united..not easy!! sagna…great defender…SHIT crosser! the whole game i was shouting at the team to NOT pass it to him when he makes those bombarding run..but to use him to pull away evra or park! eboue (slip aside) had a pretty good game and he CAN cross but cant defend (we really need to have a mixture of those two)! diaby IS a good player and we badly needed him to be fit for this game and if not at least to come back against chelsea! im still wondering why ramsey was not instead of denilson..he brings SO much more in the final third than denilson but unfortunately doesnt look like he can play with fabregas!
bendtner should have started….dont get me wrong hes not that good of a striker but at least he gives us sthn up front when the ball is hofted to him! there was noone in the box except arshavin and he cant win a header to save his life! despite the poor performance tonight i will end with saying that we could have won given luck on our side..we had plenty of chances and on another day they would have ended up in the back of the net!
Manuel ‘coco’ Almunia… The bloke’s a clown! all he needs is a red nose and oversized shoes!
As for Denilson! watched Rooney run past him for 2nd goal and wasnt even in the same postcode when he tried to tackle Nani for the first!
can see the headlines tomorrow will be a repeat of an old one for Wayne… ‘Rooneys good time Nani’ …think about it…you know what i mean! ha!
I want to add how painful it is for all the arsenal fans to see such things. Mr wenger you either get it right or resign. It is incredible; u just say that the players did not play well today. I think u need to rethink what u have to say. ADMIT U DIDNT PLAY THE RIGHT FORMATION.
Guys lets be honest with each other.There are four players who deserve to wear the arsenal shirt and the rest are ssshhhit.Fabragas,Gallas,Vermaleen and SONG.Forget the little selfish russian who had 3 clear chances to pass the ball and its in.He diddn’t do it.he wants to score and that is our problem.what about denilson,what a useless piece of sshitt.Clinchy should leave come summer period. Almunia is the biggest Goat i have ever seen on the pitch.Nasri was out of form and so was Rosicky, at least they tried.Walcot has no boots.Nikki- you would think he was wearing women’s boots that stopped him from running.What a mess for you Wenger.Yu are responsible for this disapponting defeat.I’m fade up.If i were Fabulous i would be taking the first plane 2mr morning to Bacelona.There is no point wasting yr talent playing with the most horrible football palyers ever lived.
awful, awful… and i am not one of these supporters who enjoys turning on his own team but ffs!
denilson is absolutely rubbish. he is the only person not to develop his game. i dont really see what he brings to the team? ideas anyone?
we lack height, strength and no world class striker besides rvp. eduardo could get there but prob not this season. bendtner? dont make me laugh! and wenger banging on about he cant find anyone better than the players we have in our squad. delusional!
transfer day ends tomorrow… i will not hold my breath
We are in dead trouble. If AW buys all the players we are supposed to need, next summer, what happens to the tots who await promotion to the first team squad? They will leave for advancement in football elsewhere. The whole strategy of the Club will be bound to change, AW will depart and a new man will take for ever to reconstruct a new regime and playing system. My conclusion is that we are stuck (for some time) with the present set-up whether we like it or not and we might as well accept it and display Patience and Fortitude. We have no other choice.
Not sure of I totally agree Nicky. Adding some 3-4 players with quality and experience this summer does not mean that his strategy of youth is wrong. Just means that it is being updated
yeah i think not 3-4, maybe 1-2 players. especially upfront as i don’t think arsenal has any strikers coming up other than bendtner, so that won’t stop anyone from developing.
It all comes down to accountability. No-one seems to be taking any, it’s all “if this” and “if that”. The simple fact is when Manu threatened they were imposing and it always felt like a goal was coming. When we “attack” there is no killer instinct and we rely on a flash of brilliance rather than a tried system. I just can’t fathom how Mr Wenger who apparantly is such an astute student of the game continues to condone crosses into the shortest attacking line since Willy Wonker sent out the first Oompa Loompa 11, I mean what’s the f ing point in that!
At the highest level you need a defence and an attack.We are after third spot now and the team we have available is no better than that.Looking on the bright side though just think of all the money we have saved not buying a striker.
i understand the anger especially after loosing against our bitter rival but u know it is this constant bashing and tearing apart of our players that makes things worse. aluminia is having a confidence problem and i am sure he wants to do well for the team but somehow he has been struggling to perform to expected level but i do not think he is a bad keeper. with a little bit of support from the fans u never know what u can arise from the inside of a man. i am sure arsenal players read blogs such as these and it must be hard for them to deal with the lack of appreciation and downgrading comments coming from the ones who are supposed to love and support them. look if we do not show that we believe in these guys even if they loose then we are as guilty as they are. in this difficult time of the season arsenal need resilient , die hard fans both during games and in these “arsenal blogs”.
well said.
although arsene does have to concede to some mistakes and maybe be more ruthless with the senior players, like how he is with the youth team. i understand he quickly rids arsenal’s youth of those whom he feels cannot progress.
Point taken, but it is also down to the players to make sure that they give 100% in every game. Not asking that they thump Man ure and chavski 4-0 at the Emirates every time, but it is the lack of hunger, steel and resilience needed that is making so many Arsenal fans bitter and sore. Look at Denilson not tracking back for Rooney’s goal. Look at that fat Rooney’s lungbursting run from his own half to want to get on to that ball from Nani and score. Look at that fatty running at our defence even when they were 3-0 up, looking for more. I hate to say it of such a dirty and foulmouthed cheat, but wayne fatty does have the hunger and fight at least that some of our players are lacking in. Fans are not asking for perfect flowing football and 4-0 wins every time, but it is at least the bare minimum that multi-millionaire footballers run themselves to the ground at home in front of fans who have been very patient over the past two seasons. Not to say a game against our arch-rivals, the old dirty cheating enemy that habitually abuses our manager and wiped the floor with us in the CL semis last season. Look at that cheat Rooney. Look at that arrogant piece of scum Evra, who so complimentarily called us “boys v men” last season even before the season was over. Look at dirty players Anderson and Gary Neville. Look at the greatest turd of all, Ronaldo, who isnt even here this season. At least you got to have the fight and anger to say that: we must not be humiliated on home ground in front of 60,000 fans once again, and if i have to bust a gut to do it, i will. it didnt happen. We lost the CL semi within 11 minutes at home last season, then were swept up and used to wipe the floor 0-3 by chavscum this season. We very nearly lost to a hopeless Liverpool at the very end of their tether before some hairdryer treatment from Arsene and a special from Arshavin brought us back into it. Did we learn from it? Don’t think so. That is why so many loyal fans are angry, and getting increasingly frustrated with the team.
At the very least, let’s have some fight and fire in the bellies for chavski next week. We may concede three or four again, but at least, put some fight in it and show that we actually care! Cesc, Vermaelen, Song, Gallas and Arshavin tried last night. the others have to show they are worthy of something too. Someone should pin Drogba’s sneering face for all the times he’s scored against us on the dressing room wall. That would work.
..and you lot call yourselves Arsenal fans ! Pathetic..I don’t know what’s worse – the loss yesterday or the crap comments here !! The team played badly yes, but best we can do is get over it and move on. Were Man U fans calling for Sir AF to be axed when they lost 3-0 to Fulham ??? I don’t think so….
My girlfriend was asking me the other day, when we were window-shopping, whether I’d like to buy an Arsenal Jersey. I told her, “I will only buy when Arsenal starts to win again. I am sick of watching boys play against men. I am sick of watching Arsenal getting walloped by teams that we should be on par with. I am sick of Arsene Wenger’s excuses, even though his top players (from Vieira, Henry, Fabregas, RVP to Arshavin) have been telling him to buy some better players to strengthen the team. I will not pay an extra dollar to Arsenal, not when the monies go to the directors/AW, but not to improve the squad.
If I am a Londoner, I would have brought a banner that says “SACK ARSENE WENGER” on a match-day.
We still have 14 games to go and there is only 5 points between us and Chelsea we can do it lets stay positive. Go on you gunners!
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