Arsenal in crisis

[Whitechapel]

There's no doubt Cech is a step ahead of Butland. A step is being fucking generous to the Stoke man. But we're not talking about the better keeper, we're talking about who's had the better season so far. As I said your reasoning using stats means a guy who you didn't even list should be ahead of the lot. I think just because Cech has come in and made a difference to Arsenal in some peoples minds (yes, I solely mean Arsenal fans really) think that equates to him having been better than everyone else in his position. Like I said if your argument is based around stats, your man isn't on top, if we're basing it on games you've watched, you'll have a heavy bias I imagine. And if we're just cherry picking whatever stat you want to suit your argument then we can say Gomez is on top cos he's the only one apart from the injured Courtois to save a penalty this season.
I don't disagree massively with your statement btw, just enough to have a rant!

No absolutely, rant away my friend. It's unavoidable that I'll be at least a little bias, however my main argument (stats aside) is that he's the reason our defence has improved massively. You can see the players at the back are confident in his skills and he distributes well and dictates the play from the back, when to play it out quickly and when to hang on and slow the game a bit. Butland is turning out to be a fantastic keeper, one that should have had a chance as a number 1 a year or so back. For the good of the national team I hope he keeps on improving as Hart needs some healthy competition.

 

[merseyboyred]

Has your defence improved *that* much? You ended last season conceding the 3rd fewest goals in the league.

 

[Whitechapel]

Has your defence improved *that* much? You ended last season conceding the 3rd fewest goals in the league.

Valid point, the defence wasn't all that bad last season. Ospina played fairly well. A good way to see the difference (fair or not on the amount of games?) is this season, when Ospina has played we've been shaky at the back and lost to teams we should have at least got a point from in Europe. Cech returns and we beat Bayern. How much of a difference is made is hard to really pinpoint, but I sweat less when Cech is in command at the back. His experience is priceless too, a proven winner with Chelsea.

 

[thespus]

I think De Gea deserves mention despite not playing in the first few games. The Southampton match in particular strikes me as one where hes rescued three points. Butland and Cech have also been excellent.

 

[G.B]

Cech has made a massive difference. You could see there was no confidence in Chesney from the defence, and for good reason... he's wank. Butland for me so far though, he's been outsanding.

 

[thespus]

Has your defence improved *that* much? You ended last season conceding the 3rd fewest goals in the league.

Cech has made a massive difference. You could see there was no conficdence is Chesney from the defence, and for good reason... he's wank. Butland for me so far though, he's been outsanding.

We are conceding nearly identical chances per game, but on pace to concede 27-28 goals in 38 games compared to our 36 conceded last season. Even an in incremental improvement of 4-5 goals can be the difference between winning the title and continuing with the "same old Arsenal" narrative. Ospina did well last season, but he's a shot-stopper and nothing more. Cech sweeps up behind and claims crosses- two areas where we've struggled in recent seasons.

If I was voting for a League XI so far, I would still choose Butland or De Gea because there is a higher correlation between their form and their side's points totals due to sub-standard attacking quality.

 

[Avatar]

Yeah fair enough. Not much between Butlands season and cechs. DeGea as well. Gomes deserves a shout, but since he looks like a goblin he Won't get shite

 

[smat]

Wenger: I am a facilitator of what is beautiful in man.

Fans: GET A STRIKER YOU c***

 

[Stevencc]

Forget Arsenal being in crisis. Big Weng™ has taken up modelling. Is he going through a personal crisis?

That last one has the hint of a potential suicide attempt about it. Don't do it Big Weng™.

 

[smat]

"Little bit lonely physically."

 

[Whitechapel]

Forget Arsenal being in crisis. Big Weng™ has taken up modelling. Is he going through a personal crisis?

That last one has the hint of a potential suicide attempt about it. Don't do it Big Weng™.

The man's on the market again, what a way to announce it. What a guy.

 

[Pagnell]

 

[Avatar]

Taking the handbrake off your Tinder pics.

 

[thespus]

The accompanying L'equipe interview with the great man is brilliant. He has critics, but it's hard to deny he's a fascinating human being.

http://news.arseblog.com/2015/11/arsene-wengers-full-interview-with-lequipe-sport-and-style/

 

[Avatar]

The accompanying L'equipe interview with the great man is brilliant. He has critics, but it's hard to deny he's a fascinating human being.

http://news.arseblog.com/2015/11/arsene-wengers-full-interview-with-lequipe-sport-and-style/

"There is only one way to live with the idea of death, it is to try and transform the present into art."

That about sums it all up. One of the greats. There will never be another.

 

[G-Dragon]

"There is only one way to live with the idea of death, it is to try and transform the present into art."

That about sums it all up. One of the greats. There will never be another.

Cringe!

 

[Jarv]

Forget Arsenal being in crisis. Big Weng™ has taken up modelling. Is he going through a personal crisis?

That last one has the hint of a potential suicide attempt about it. Don't do it Big Weng™.

Picture 1: when you finally send that text to that striker you fancy telling them you love them
Picture 2: No reply after an hour
Picture 3: No reply after 2 hours
Picture 4: No reply after 3 hours

 

[Avatar]

My favorite so far was, "When you need to buy a striker but there's a sale at Calvin Klein."

 

[smat]

:jones:

 

[Whitechapel]

smat could you update the crisis level please.

 

[Whitechapel]

 

[smat]

Sorry, yes.

CRISIS MODE INITIATED

To be honest, Sunday did feel different, like some kind of breaking point. The same things are going wrong time and time and time again, and even the most optimistic of Gooner (me, usually) can't blame it on anything except the manager any more. Part of me thinks it's just one result and that the reaction has been ludicrously overblown, but another part of me thinks no, it's not just one result. It's the tediously familiar manner of that result.

Things will look either a lot worse or a lot better at the end of tonight. Let's see how the team reacts. The Old Trafford debacle could look like a storm in a teacup or the beginning of the end.

 

[shane]

Sorry, yes.

CRISIS MODE INITIATED

To be honest, Sunday did feel different, like some kind of breaking point. The same things are going wrong time and time and time again, and even the most optimistic of Gooner (me, usually) can't blame it on anything except the manager any more. Part of me thinks it's just one result and that the reaction has been ludicrously overblown, but another part of me thinks no, it's not just one result. It's the tediously familiar manner of that result.

Things will look either a lot worse or a lot better at the end of tonight. Let's see how the team reacts. The Old Trafford debacle could look like a storm in a teacup or the beginning of the end.

The OT result wasn't actually that bad. The performance, however, was up there with the worst I've ever seen under Wenger. It looked as though no one gave a shit.

Ramsey and Sanchez's form seems to have fallen off a cliff and Theo looked terrible.

 

[Stevencc]

And to top it all off this is a season where United are shit, City are shit, Chelsea are shit and Arsenal have recently begun to spend money and sign the world class players they wanted (Sanchez, Ozil), fixed a few problem areas (signed a top keeper in Cech, strengthened the defence and got another holding midfielder in) and the result is either Spurs or Leicester are going to win the bloody league!

 

[smat]

The OT result wasn't actually that bad. The performance, however, was up there with the worst I've ever seen under Wenger. It looked as though no one gave a shit.

Ramsey and Sanchez's form seems to have fallen off a cliff and Theo looked terrible.

The team selection was where it went wrong. I think Koscielny and Gabriel are too similar and haven't played enough games together to be entrusted in such a massive match, particularly when the selection of Alexis and Walcott on the flanks give the fullbacks zero protection whatsoever. The team was too unbalanced, too attacking for a game like this. I think Wenger assumed United's team was too weak to do anything but try to hold out, but United's midfield was the strongest part of their line-up. The lack of Cazorla, Wilshere and Rosicky means we have no-one who can control the game in the middle, and we just kept giving away the ball. I love Ramsey but he is not good enough technically to help us keep possession like Cazorla does. Walcott is just in very poor form and was a danger to his own team. The end result was that it was very easy for United to put pressure on our defence, and the defence that was selected wasn't fit for the challenge. It was a rash gamble to take when a more conservative approach could have brought us three points.

Stevencc I still don't think Man City are out of it.

 

[Renegade]

You left out Liverpool Steven.

 

[Whitechapel]

Liverpool aren't having a bad season, they're having a season which is to be expected really. Not under performing, or over performing, just coasting.

 

[JimJams]

When people talk about some sort of mental block with Arsenal I actually think a large part of it is arrogance.
It seems to me that the manager, the players and to an extent the fans are always looking at the big ties against the big sides and disregarding the others as though they're an automatic 3 points/win. The game at OT would usually be seen as a big tie, but due to Utds injuries and lack of names in the team as well as players out of position in key areas, I think Arsenal took it for granted that they were going to win the game comfortably with the only question being by how many. They won the first fixture in the first 20 minutes, and this looked like a worse team this time round so it's a shoe-in.
I also don't think Wenger does his homework on sides that he expects to beat. For me that's why Arsenal went out of the CL to Monaco last season. Surprised in the first leg, took them seriously in the 2nd, won but not enough. Same goes for the group stage this. Underestimate Zagreb and Olympiakos and only think about how to beat Bayern, and as such very nearly fuck yourself over.
Before Christmas, Southampton were on a terrible run, I think again they've gone there thinking it'd be an easy game and were still on a high after beating Man City and that they'd just need to turn up.
When you look at the fact that Arsenal have generally had the better of it against the top sides in the league and have faltered to sides in the bottom half, I can't see what else it would be. Yeah there's been a large amount of injuries but even with those I don't think Arsenal have fielded weak sides against the teams they've lost or drawn to.
I think in some ways it would do wonders for Arsenal if Spurs went top of the table, as they can do tonight. I still think that Leicester are seen as placeholders that will definitely fall away at some point and can be leapfrogged. That's what people thought about our top 4 prospects and now that mentality has changed, I don't think it's changed for our title hopes. But if Spurs were on top, I think Arsenal might not take top spot slipping up as much of a given as it is now. It might give them more desire to go out an hammer teams.

 

[G-Dragon]

Sanchez looks like a one season wonder.

 

[Whitechapel]

When people talk about some sort of mental block with Arsenal I actually think a large part of it is arrogance.
It seems to me that the manager, the players and to an extent the fans are always looking at the big ties against the big sides and disregarding the others as though they're an automatic 3 points/win. The game at OT would usually be seen as a big tie, but due to Utds injuries and lack of names in the team as well as players out of position in key areas, I think Arsenal took it for granted that they were going to win the game comfortably with the only question being by how many. They won the first fixture in the first 20 minutes, and this looked like a worse team this time round so it's a shoe-in.
I also don't think Wenger does his homework on sides that he expects to beat. For me that's why Arsenal went out of the CL to Monaco last season. Surprised in the first leg, took them seriously in the 2nd, won but not enough. Same goes for the group stage this. Underestimate Zagreb and Olympiakos and only think about how to beat Bayern, and as such very nearly fuck yourself over.
Before Christmas, Southampton were on a terrible run, I think again they've gone there thinking it'd be an easy game and were still on a high after beating Man City and that they'd just need to turn up.
When you look at the fact that Arsenal have generally had the better of it against the top sides in the league and have faltered to sides in the bottom half, I can't see what else it would be. Yeah there's been a large amount of injuries but even with those I don't think Arsenal have fielded weak sides against the teams they've lost or drawn to.
I think in some ways it would do wonders for Arsenal if Spurs went top of the table, as they can do tonight. I still think that Leicester are seen as placeholders that will definitely fall away at some point and can be leapfrogged. That's what people thought about our top 4 prospects and now that mentality has changed, I don't think it's changed for our title hopes. But if Spurs were on top, I think Arsenal might not take top spot slipping up as much of a given as it is now. It might give them more desire to go out an hammer teams.

I agree with a lot of this. You just get a feeling they walk out on to the pitch and expect to win, which is massively disrespectful to other teams, and also very dangerous considering how much the standard has improved in the League.

We also seem to very rarely take into account how the other team will set up, and Wenger will just set us up how we like to play rather than how we should.

If Spurs win the league, I'm going to live in solitude in Tibet and become a monk. I'll return only when we have enough swagger to win a game where we go out expecting to win.