Reading v Arsenal - FA Cup Semi-Final

[Skinner]

Chalobah needs to settle at one club

 

[Womble98]

Why did Mackie go to his left?!

 

[GodsGift]

What a shit run from Mackie, and then he had the gall to complain.

Is Hector always this good? He's been fantastic.

 

[BCFC Jordan]

Waiting for the Sanchez/Walcott/Mertesacker late winner.

 

[Bottega Don]

What a howler

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

ha ha

 

[GodsGift]

What a way to lose it.

 

[Matt_]

Up the Arse!

 

[EvertonPaul]

Arsenal Villa final, who'd have thought it

 

[GodsGift]

Much like last year against Wigan, Arsenal are very fortunate to find themselves in the final. Wenger got it wrong tactically playing through the middle as that just played into Reading's hands, and I'm not sure what the thinking was behind playing Welbeck instead of Giroud. Reading really were superb though, Williams and Hector especially.

Oh well, Arsenal beating Gerrard in his last game for Liverpool would be amusing as would thrashing Tim Sherwood in the final.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Don't have a clue what the pundits are waffling about. Reading showed very little quality and don't deserve much credit. They fought hard, but a pub team would do that for you.

 

[GodsGift]

You do talk some shite EG.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

You think they showed quality? They could barely string half a dozen passes together before the ball was lumped up the flanks or else straight out of play.

 

[G-Dragon]

Lucky win for Arsenal.

 

[Mustard]

You think they showed quality? They could barely string half a dozen passes together before the ball was lumped up the flanks or else straight out of play.

According to Jason Roberts Reading dominated Arsenal in the first half...

I don't think we were good but I don't think Reading deserved to win either, we certainly had the better posession and chances. Reading lacked quality in the final third, defended well though. You know there is double standards in commentary when Shearer chastised Szczesny for not doing better, and then was almost in tears when Federici made a far worse mistake. A bit of balance would be nice but the win was worth the sour look on his face alone.

 

[GodsGift]

You think they showed quality? They could barely string half a dozen passes together before the ball was lumped up the flanks or else straight out of play.

Well you probably think the only way to show quality is to have a 95%+ pass completion rate. You don't think Hector and Williams winning almost every 50/50 showed quality? Or limiting Arsenal to only one or two genuine chances? Giving the likes of Ozil, Cazorla, Sanchez and Welbeck no time on the ball? Dominating the vast majority of the second half against a side who are likely to finish second in the Premier League? It was a lot more than just the usual lower league "effort" and "determination" and all those other insulting clichés.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

They were well organized and physical and managed to hold out against a poor Arsenal showing, but they offered next to no quality on the ball at all. We shouldn't be lauding this kind of huff and puff bollocks. 28% possession is comical stuff.

 

[Grecian O'Grecian]

Did anyone get the impression that Shearer really doesn't like Arsenal?

Anyway, Reading worked hard but Arsenal were the better side.

 

[GodsGift]

28% possession is comical stuff.

Like Chelsea then?

 

[SALTIRE]

Lucky win for Arsenal.

Aye they fluked it in the end yet again. Mind you SC will say they played like the great Real Madrid team of the Fifties today, he's so biased its untrue.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Like Chelsea then?

Yep.

 

[Madejski]

Very proud of the players for that performance, gave a top team who are in great form a very tough game. Amazing that after predicting a heavy 3 or 4 goal loss that I am disappointed by losing to a goal in extra time.

No blame on Federici for me, he was having a great game up until then, with one great save late in normal time taking us there. If he wasn't already going to win our Player of the Season I think he's a certainty to now.

Felt we were very harsh to go in at Half Time 1-0 down, there were very few chances in the game first half from either team and pretty much the only time in open play we let Arsenal have some space, they exploited it.

Second half after riding some early Arsenal pressure (probably their best period of the game) we then had a bit of a go for 10-15 minutes and got the equaliser. That woke up Arsenal again and then the last 20 minutes of the game, and subsequent extra time, with our players struggling for fitness after a tough day it was just a case of trying to last out until penalties. Didn't quite work out, but we definitely gave the Arsenal players a good game.

Tactically I thought we set up really well. After initially fearing only going 4 in midfield against Arsenal we defended superbly with all of the back four pulling their weight. We were largely playing 6-2-2, giving no room in defence, even pushing a high line so that the Arsenal midfield had less room. With the two up top on the counter which almost worked several times. I was slightly surprised how much Arsenal were playing into our hands though. Not attacking with any real pace, not using the wings, sitting fairly high themselves which with Mertesacker's pace is risky.

Referees didn't have the best game either. The Debuchy's handballs would have been a very very harsh penalty, but it's not like they haven't been given for blocking a cross into the box. There were several obviously onside calls judged as offside. The worse one being only five minutes in where Jamie Mackie would have had a clear 1 on 1 with Szczesny.

But anyway, best cup run in our history. Great moment to see. Hopefully don't have to wait 88 years to get this point again!

 

[Madejski]

Is Hector always this good? He's been fantastic.

He is very inconsistent but in general quality. He'll have 2 games where he looks Prem quality and then follow it up by making mistakes that non-league players can avoid.

Possibly the shining light of our season (other than the cup run). Hopefully we can keep him a few more years and build around him before he's off to the Prem.

You think they showed quality? They could barely string half a dozen passes together before the ball was lumped up the flanks or else straight out of play.

I take it you don't watch much Championship/lower league football then. About as typical a style as you are going to get from a team 19th in the Championship. Thought we showed decent amounts of quality too. It was our final ball that less us down big time, has done all season. Was surprised we scored and created so much in this game, more than our average Championship game.

When playing Arsenal you need to get physical, give them little space, and attack quickly. It was clear tactically this was what was planned, may have looked like aimless ball over the top but it was probably our best chance of getting through the game.

According to Jason Roberts Reading dominated Arsenal in the first half...

Ex-player bias.. I've just started going through the BBC show and Ian Wright has shown plenty too in Arsenal's favour.. Basically saying we should just be happy we made it this far to our cup final. About as arrogant as the rest of Arsenal's fans. Not surprised Roberts said something like that if Wright continued in that vain the rest of the game.

 

[thespus]

Ozil's assist for the 1st was excellent. Federici did very well to stop the Gabriel header, but has to be disappointed. Reading made it very difficult, but Arsenal are now favourites to win a 2nd trophy (and the Community Shield!) in 2 years. Imagine telling someone in 2012 that this would happen.

 

[Avatar]

Reading played very well, I disagree they didn't show any quality, their strikers let them down, they could have scored 3 or 4. We had our chances too, twice hitting the post and some very good saves from Federici. It was a bit baffling in terms of team selection, with Wenger opting to reward players who played well against United rather than picking the qualities that would have hurt reading. Had Theo been in the positions that Rambo was in, we would have scored more. Theo's runs in behind are deadly when we have a lot of the ball.

I am just glad we're in the Final, but it was not a great performance.

Negatives:
- Sczeszney is not going to be a top goalkeeper. He is too inconsistent, he nearly gifted a goal with a bad short pass and he is at fault for the goal. I love the bloke, but he isn't good enough for a team that wants to win the title. May be time for him to move on.
- Probably the worst i've seen Cazorla play in a long time, he was totally invisible and looks like he needs a rest.
- We looked out of ideas for the second time since Burnley. We were lucky to score the winner.

But there were some positives.
- Gabriel is an absolute diamond in the rough. I have never seen a centerhalf from south america fit in so perfectly so quickly. He was unlucky not to score and was generally very good bar a single mistake when he was isolated late on.
- Theo looked good when he came on, he looks to be improving on his decision making, not trying to dribble every time he gets the ball. He was playing a solid tactical game and created some good chances.

 

[The Southbank]

Terrific day, probably shouldn't have gone so heavy on the beers, can't remember large portions of the match. It was a long day!

Do remember the goal, though. Nearly broke my back celebrating it...

Anyway, a great display by the boys.

 

[SC49]

Just the 11 chances created from Ozil yesterday, which is the most in the history of the FA Cup. He's also won all 9 of the FA Cup games he's been involved in, that statistic will look crazy good if we retain the FA Cup.

I know we weren't too impressive yesterday but most of our good moments were produced by either Ozil or Sanchez, and that's why you pay the big money on big players. We would have lost that game two years ago.

I already touched on it before kick-off and I don't want to moan too much because we're through to the final but our team selection yesterday was fucking terrible, and the substitutions weren't much better either. Debuchy and Gibbs were awful, and even though the the ball took a slight deflection, Szczesny really should have stopped that shot from going in.