***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Not a bad result, considering the opponent (Chelsea) and the conditions (absolutely horrible), but it's a little frustrating that we had chances to win the match and didn't take them. Even so, there's not much use complaining about a draw vs. Chelsea.

[cdawg44]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Real shocked we didn't bring anyone one to try and give the team some energy. We finally had all those options on the bench with tons of creativity and still no subs. Chelsea had almost no interest to win the game after the 60th min. Real weird to see a Chelsea squad play like that.

This has been a very disappointing month for me watching this squad. 4 awful games on the trot. Ramsey keeps giving the damn ball away and puts way too much pressure on the back line to cover too. We tons of options now and may be time to start putting backsides on the bench.

P.S. - What are the latest words on the Ox and Sanogo (forgot he was even on the team) return dates? And **** Mikel for that bush league challenge on Arteta

[KG]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Not a bad result, considering the opponent (Chelsea) and the conditions (absolutely horrible), but it's a little frustrating that we had chances to win the match and didn't take them. Even so, there's not much use complaining about a draw vs. Chelsea.

What chances were those?

There was the low cross that Giroud got on the end of that Terry & Cech pushed over. Outside of that your attack didn't really threaten.

Ours didn't either but you could tell that was gonna happen when we rolled out the 4-3-3 & withdrew Hazard.


Awful awful conditions though.


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[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

What chances were those?

There was the low cross that Giroud got on the end of that Terry & Cech pushed over. Outside of that your attack didn't really threaten.

Ours didn't either but you could tell that was gonna happen when we rolled out the 4-3-3 & withdrew Hazard.


Awful awful conditions though.


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Well, there were other instances, like that ball Ramsey chipped over the Chelsea defense that Giroud found and sliced wide when he should have scored, but mostly I meant they squandered many chances to create something with piss-poor passing in the final third, especially (and surprisingly) by Ramsey. I know the conditions played a part, and I know Chelsea defended well, but it was frustrating nonetheless. And then of course there is the baffling decision by Wenger not to make any substitutions. Oh well, a point against a great Chelsea team is not bad by any means.


Moving on to today's game, Walcott was fantastic, Podolski scored in his return, and I'm really liking the depth that this team has going forward.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

I didn't get to see a second of the game, but I like what I'm reading. Walcott with two, and not only is Podolski back, but he's scoring. It's about time we take some pressure off Giroud up front.

Now let's hope for a draw between City and Liverpool.

[cdawg44]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

I didn't get to see a second of the game, but I like what I'm reading. Walcott with two, and not only is Podolski back, but he's scoring. It's about time we take some pressure off Giroud up front.

Now let's hope for a draw between City and Liverpool.

Yeah I missed it too on flight home, but good result. Heard Ramsey had another rough outing as well. Times like these make me miss Fox Soccer so you can get full replays of matches.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Yeah I missed it too on flight home, but good result. Heard Ramsey had another rough outing as well. Times like these make me miss Fox Soccer so you can get full replays of matches.

I actually thought Ramsey played quite well. He played a lovely ball to Theo in the first half that should have been put home for a goal. Problem is, he had to come off hurt and Wenger fears it might be serious. That would be bad, but thank god for finally having depth.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

I actually thought Ramsey played quite well. He played a lovely ball to Theo in the first half that should have been put home for a goal. Problem is, he had to come off hurt and Wenger fears it might be serious. That would be bad, but thank god for finally having depth.

“It looks serious. It looks like a thigh strain. I don’t know how serious the thigh strain is but the Christmas period certainly is over for him."

That is unfortunate, but at least we do have depth in the position.

And we're back on top for at least a few more days.

[jb12780]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Great comeback indeed. Podolski looked great when he came on.

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[cdawg44]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Three points at Newcastle with no Ozil. Nice! Time to get some guys some rest with Cardiff at home on New Years.

Also we don't ever need to do a five man back again. That was horrendous at the end

[NaturalSelected]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Three points at Newcastle with no Ozil. Nice! Time to get some guys some rest with Cardiff at home on New Years.

Also we don't ever need to do a five man back again. That was horrendous at the end

I didn't agree with the tactic, but the team did a great job of keeping their shape. A very, very important three points psychologically.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

I didn't agree with the tactic, but the team did a great job of keeping their shape. A very, very important three points psychologically.

Huge win, given the players injured, and this really shows to me what a different, resilient Arsenal squad this is. In prior years during our trophy drought the injuries would mount, morale would dip, and form would drop along with points, but this is a gritty side that refuses to let bad circumstances get them down. This is my favorite Arsenal squad to watch since the Invincibles.

[XXstormmXX]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

I didn't get to see a second of the game, but I like what I'm reading. Walcott with two, and not only is Podolski back, but he's scoring. It's about time we take some pressure off Giroud up front.

Now let's hope for a draw between City and Liverpool.

Let's hope Walcott is as fast as he is in FIFA 14.(99 speed)

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Saw this on reddit. Someone said they found Ozil on the shelf in the toy store.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

Huge win, given the players injured, and this really shows to me what a different, resilient Arsenal squad this is. In prior years during our trophy drought the injuries would mount, morale would dip, and form would drop along with points, but this is a gritty side that refuses to let bad circumstances get them down. This is my favorite Arsenal squad to watch since the Invincibles.

We're so much tougher mentally than in past years. We're physically tougher, as well. It started last year with the defense improving, and us not being afraid to tackle as hard as we were being tackled. I'm sure having Bould work with the team defensively helped.

Now this year we're even better in that regard, and I'm sure Flamini has helped. His presence on the field, and the mentality that he passes to other players really shows. We don't put up with the same **** that we used to. If a referee isn't going to stop bad tackles, we'll give them right back.

Which brings me to the officiating today, which was terrible. The fact that we had three yellow cards is not the issue on it's own, but when you realize that Newcastle didn't have any is when my head starts spinning. Absolutely ridiculous.

- - - - - - - - - -

Two more things after seeing analysis from the game. First, more praise for Flamini. He's the first player in a long time for us to truly protect the defenders behind him. Arteta has done a good job in that role, but Flamini is the type of player we were missing for years. Song never did it that well.

Second, we're tied with Everton for the least amount of goals conceded at 18. So happy with our defense this year. That is quite the stat for Arsenal.