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Blaming chesser on the goal is silly,when it hits Djourou it takes a wicked spin and dips right infront of him,those situations is pure flukes.
Reviews
Written by Mean Lean on Monday, 09 May 2011 12:25
Arsenal really need to quit the Jekyll and Hyde impersonations, we really have watched that film far too many times this season. Last weekend the flowers were budding, the sun was shining, I found a crisp twenty pound note floating gently towards me but yesterday the rain thundered down, the wind slapping the cold rain against my face and in all the commotion I lost my wallet filled with the last stash of cash I had tucked away under my bed for erm, a rainy day.
It was one of those afternoon's at the Britannia stadium where not much went right for us and everything that could go wrong, quite frankly went wrong.
I thought we had started the game well enough, kept the ball well and our football was played at a decent enough pace but in the final third the players lacked that creativity that little bit of imagination around the penalty box.
Stoke defended very well but we still managed to fashion some chances but our players all developed the smash it over the bar syndrome.
Ramsey chipped in Van Persie early on and he fired over the crossbar. Walcott and Koscielny also produced carbon copy moments at other points during the game.
The possession stats had flashed up on screen and we were into the 70's but we still hadn't tested their keeper and that was a problem. The only bonus to the possession was that Stoke could not put us under any significant pressure until Arshavin had pushed Pennant by the corner flag and the former Arsenal winger went down easily.
A soft free kick but an even softer goal was scored when Pennants floated cross missed every Arsenal player and all Jones had to do was chest it over the line. If the Arsenal players had closed their eyes and guessed when to jump then surely they couldn't have done much worse than what actually happened on that set piece.
Van Persie missed his header at the near post whilst Johan Djourou lost his man, an occurrence that has happened far too often in recent weeks.
That statistic about 57% of Arsenal's goals conceded coming from set pieces continues to ring around Arsenal supporters heads. You look back to games like Tottenham at the Emirates, Wigan away and West Brom at the Hawthorns. The opposition were able to score without any pressure being put on the opposing player. It is little wonder that teams are now happy to sit back and wait for set pieces to come their way.
It went from bad to worse in a matter of minutes when Jermaine Pennant was allowed time and space to head towards the Arsenal goal, his drive was deflected off the leg of Johan Djourou and over Wojciech Szczesny into the Arsenal goal. Looking back at the goal and perhaps the keeper could have done better with the shot but Pennant certainly shouldn't have been allowed that amount of time to run and shoot.
Arsene changed things at half time adding some extra presence in the final third with both Bendtner and Chamakh while replacing Ramsey and Arshavin. It gave us some extra options in attack but we didn't have enough drive to make it count. Only Jack Wilshere and Robin Van Persie had any purpose in their play and that has to be the biggest concern about yesterday's result.
In true Arsenal fashion we managed to snatch a late goal ten minutes from time that may have allowed us to push on for a last gasp equaliser. Van Persie swerved past one defender and unleashed a right footed shot underneath Begovic.
Just as I started to believe that the come back was on and the rest of the game would be played inside the Stoke City penalty area, Stoke scored. Seconds after we had pulled a goal back, the game was over. kamikaze defending from our defenders which allowed Walters to lash in from close range.
Losing that goal was worse than the previous two goals. Having just worked our way back into the game we gave away yet another stupid goal and that angered me.
That was that, Stoke City deserved their victory and Arsene was left to pick up the pieces that his players threw to the floor.
Conclusion
Most of the players just did not turn up and that is disheartening especially against a team like Stoke City with the history of last season.
As has been the case in the last few weeks we had another midfield performance with no ends. Our defence was far too easily penetrated while our attacks lacked any real penetration.
Clearly we are not as perfect as our result against Manchester United last weekend yet not as awful as our display yesterday. The manager was very frank in his post match interview about his players and I think there is little doubt that changes will be forthcoming this summer.
That was simply not good enough a performance for Arsenal FC.
Szczesny (5)
Sagna (6)
Koscielny (6)
Djourou (4)
Gibbs (4.5)
Song (5)
Ramsey (6)
Wilshere (7)
Walcott (5)
Van Persie (6)
Arshavin (5)
Please note that ratings are only my interpretations of the game and that others will have differing opinions
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09-May-2011 13:34 | | dkgoonerYes - all in all, pretty dire.
But I think you're a bit generous in your ratings to Gibbs and Walcott, ML.
They were both total shite.
Neither of them are consistently convincing for me. Was it Darren Anderton who said Walcott doen't have a football brain? Just because he's an ex-Spud, doesn't make him wrong.
I don't think it's a case of just needing tweaking here and there. We need a blood transfusion and I don't think we're going to get it. As I said elsewhere, AW has next season - no trophy (and I don't regard the CC as a trophy) and Kroenke will say thanks for the memories. If he doesn't act before then.
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09-May-2011 13:36 | | Kenny - Defending set pieces.Youre jokingPass Pass Pass Lose the ball,Pass Pass Pass lose the ball again repeat for a 100 times a game. The reason we concede 56% of our goals from set pieces is we dont practice defending them in training.Two weeks ago we conceded 2 goals from set pieces and yesterday nothing had changed.First Stoke free kick....GOAL.Defending is not a priority for Wenger.If it was we would have a defensive coach.Its so bloody simple except for Arsene Dont Know of course
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09-May-2011 13:41 | | KennyIt was Waddle.And he was right.Walcott has played well in 5 games this season the rest he has been shite.All he has is pace nothing else
Gibbs makes Clichy look good which he isnt.He looks like a rabbit trapped in the headlights when he is picked for the first team.Get Baines in from Everton and surprise surprise he can cross a ball
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09-May-2011 14:29 | | dxtagger - The Smarter team won
Why is everyone blaming the players for the loss? Did it ever occur to you guys that Stoke city deserve some credit? As a gunner, i was disappointed by the team effort, but we all knew that was coming for the past month. Its only 2 games till the end of the season, the players just want to ride it out.
Credit stoke for showing up like they did.
First, I havent seen a team that did their pre-game homework like that since newcastle (at emirates). They knew arsenal inside and out before coming into this game. First, Arsenal are a midfield team, if you take out the midfield, then you take out their threat. Also, if you bully in the midfield, its likely to get waved on than if it were in the box. So thats what they did, they bullied in the midfield, and closed our players down. Anything wrong with that? I dont think so. People will argue that its anti-football, i saw So What?!?! This is a team that's going into the greatest moment in their history, The FA cup final. They need a win for the moral boost, and they got it. Our midfielders did not help out by careless passes and losing the ball half of the time, but it just goes to show how much more clever they are.
Also, stoke played to their strength. It has been called anti-football, but if your team is consisting of 6'5 plus players, I would take the ball from my defense, and lob it over the midfield, and aim right for their 18 yd box. It bypasses the midfield (which is arsenal's strength), it gets the ball to players like jerome pennant and kenwyne jones (who gets 85% of his aerial balls), and quite frankly, we dont have to work that hard.
There are definitely lots of other positives to their game, but these were the stand out moments in their game.
I only point those out to show where arsenal need beefing.
I NEVER name players I want in the team, but i will always list characteristics.
We all know that arsenal has always been bullied on the field, so its about time we buy or develop bigger midfielders. Chelsea have essien, Utd have Giggs, City have viera/toure. if teams are going to bully us, its time for us to bully back. or at least push back and resist. A huge chunk of the Arsenal world will disagree with me, but Diaby is supposed to be that guy for us. He has shown moments in his game where we see him charging at defense, pushing back opposing strikers, and even bullying on the field. Unfortunately, his rise has been hampered by injuries.
Arsenal need a player that can change the game. i dont mean an impact player like paul scholes, but a player than can hit the reset button and say, "what we are doing is not working, and here's what we need to do now, and why its going to work".
Al these talks about a GK, come on, we have Wojcheich, we have fabianski, we have mannone, how many GK do we need. Wojcheiech has already shown to be able to keep some points for us. The problem is the defense. With vermaelen back, i seriously think we have that fixed.
Overall, it has been a good season. Though we did not win anything, I take pride in the fact that we were able to beat Chelsea, Utd, and Barcelona this year. I am ashamed that we were never able to score 3 points against West Brom and Newcastle.
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09-May-2011 14:45 | | Mike mcd - A motto for the new arsenalMean lean.....
I see that we have a new motto.. ‘ Forward’
Surely it should have been ..’Sideways?’
Not only does this describe very accurately how the team have progressed over the last few years, but it also describes Wengers feb-may attacking strategy!!
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09-May-2011 15:35 | | Man United Killer - Wilshere???I would give Wilshere a 5,That kid needs to learn the trade.Football is not just about quality.You should learn to be a professional.He complains about every single thing.If this is not corrected we will be in danger of playng 10 men too many times than we like in the future.He really pissed me off yesterday.stupid kid!
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09-May-2011 15:56 | | KennyThat would be the same Diaby who cant string 3 games together.He's a waste of space
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09-May-2011 22:40 | | richieDKG I don't think Kroenke's a man for changing horse's mid-stream, nothing I've seen say's he's gonna start giving out ultimatums. Would any team or manager benefit from ultimatums? Not for me they wouldn't.
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09-May-2011 22:50 | | richieSeen enough of Baines to know he ain't any sort of Beckham. The only reason our full backs don't look like they can cross is that we only ever have 2 max in the box when the ball comes in. Everton crowd the box so Baines crosses into a full box and amazingly picks someone out, it ain't rocket science. Check out how many bodies we had in the box when AR scored against the Manx, for once Manuer were defending like other teams have to. Thats why were scored.
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09-May-2011 23:15 | | richieWe of all teams should know how teams maximize their strengths we did it for years by by-passing the midfield and we mugged better footballing teams one nil often enough. I don't blame Stoke playing to their strengths, and I don't think we need bigger tough guys in our midfield. Think World Cup (Germany - Spain) Germany's big physical midfield players were handed a footballing lesson by the clever little tiky - taky playing Spainish. The only problem with our own tiky-taky style possession game is (in our case) its all fore-play and no penitration. There is nothing wrong with the fast pssing game as long as its fast going forward. We've lost the fast attacking game in favour of slow possession.
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10-May-2011 08:03 | | dkgoonerShock horror - dkg agrees with MUK!
I wonder if anything will be done about it though. He seems to have the same problem off the pitch too - especially with taxi drivers.
One thing I've never understood is how Eboué has continued with his diving all these years. I'd have given him an ultimatum long ago - pack it in or you're out. Yes, I know he won us that free against Barca in the CL final but most of the time the ref just bursts out laughing and he lies there leaving us exposed. I have a lot of time for Eboué otherwise, mainly because he's such a team animal - he's at every game even when he's not on the bench and he's the first one out there celebrating goals, plus I admire the way he came back when the Emirates crowd was having a go at him. But the diving!! Why has nothing been done about that? And will it be the same with Wiltshire. I would have taken him off against Stoke instead of Song because he was right on the edge of getting a red.
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10-May-2011 21:01 | | dkgooner - Grounds for scepticismThe silly season is upon us. All these know-nothing internet blogs will be linking us with all sorts of players at outrageous prices and know-even-less nutters will come on here urging that we should buy some of these players. So just a reminder.
Edin Dzecko. Widely and wildly touted as an "Arsenal target" last summer as well as a target for every other top club in Europe. Everybody and their dog was coming on here saying we should buy him. Citeh eventually paid a ridiculous amount of money for him and he turns out to be a one-paced donkey with two left feet. Just watched him against the Spuds - absolutely useless - Nic Bendtner is Lionel Messi in comparison.
So when you read all these reports about other Arsenal "targets" this summer, just smile and nod and pat the perpetrator condescendingly on the head, then sit back and wait until Wenger announces something.
But there is one thing I know for certain - Cesc may or may not go to Barca.
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11-May-2011 10:33 | | richieSpot on DKG! I also know Diaby Denilson & Rosicky are leaving with big Al, my sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, paper boy, heard it from AW's daughter so we all know it must be true.
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11-May-2011 18:39 | | dkgooner - Arsenal sign whole new team !!!I've just worked out from the players that have so far been listed as leaving/arriving, that next season there will be 11 new faces out there.
Sorry MUK - looks like AW is probably staying - maybe next year.
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11-May-2011 19:25 | | Man United Killer - Wenger :arrow:I dont mind Wenger staying if he is willing to tweak things and turn us into winners.As it stands we are losers!
He might get another year,and then another,and then another because he is saving the board money and turning us into a laughing a stock but Nothing Lasts forever.He will go..and I will have a party!
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11-May-2011 20:27 | | Man United KillerArsene should not be telling us if a player costs too much--yada yada yada.He should be telling Gazidis what a player can do for his team and 'Clown Gazidis' should be telling him wether or not the club cant afford it.He wants to take credit for building winner on cheap.what rubbish!
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12-May-2011 09:18 | | richieMuk Did you complain and say "what rubbish!" when Arsene got his 1st double for us on the cheap? No? O.K how about the second? Compared to what Taggart was spending Arsene's 2nd double team cost pocket change. O.K what about building the invinciples team? I suppose you didn't like their low price tag? Credit where its due! I love it building cheap double teams and unbeaten teams cheaply.
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12-May-2011 13:32 | | Man United KillerIt seems you have no memory my friend.I have given credit to Wenger many times for what he has done in the past.But he is paid to deliver.As it stands,he is driving the club in the reverse direction with his silly little youth project.Players are unhappy.Morale is low.His favorite 'mental strength' is non-existent.Who is he kidding?Wenger wants to build a team of kids and get credit for it.By trying to do that,he is blinkered to realities.He is obsessed with his reputation and its costing us titles.Mark my words.I said it at the start of this season.."We wont win a wooden cup with this squad"..It's full of a bunch of overrated ladies...I was watching old videos that I purchased ages ago of the likes Pires,Ljunburg,Berkamp,TH14,PV,Martin Keown and others and its shameful if you compare the the current squad.I am not saying they should be as special as the invinsibles..But at least they should show some heart.Heart is not sold on the market.Some are natural others are learned through experience.This is a squad that has won nothing...absolutely nothing..and they bottle it whenever they need to come through most.Who should be blamed for all these failures.Me?
Our good players are surrounded by absolute trash.Wenger must make changes or walk.He is not God.
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12-May-2011 13:48 | | dkgooner - I ALMOST JOINED ARSENALAs it seems to be the season for these stories, I can now reveal exclusively to Arsenal Vision readers (all 3 of you) that in the summer of 1970, I almost joined Arsenal. I'd been playing on Hackney Marshes for a couple of seasons and then I decided the time had come. The money for the move was almost in place, but then suddenly, in the last at Kempton, a three-horse race, the 3-1 on favourite Lorenzaccio came out of the stalls and the jockey, one L.Piggott, promptly fell off.
So my accumulator went down the pan and therewith my chance of joining Arsenal Supporters Club. The opportunity never came again. But for that, history could be looking very different today.
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13-May-2011 22:45 | | CHGooner - MUK to blame!MUK finally you have admitted it, it's your fault! Trying to blame the manager is a useless and futile attempt to shift the blame for our collapse (again).
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14-May-2011 08:56 | | Man United Killa - lolCHG.I like your comment.. .I know..It's entirely my fault.I pick the team...and I love to sign a lot of below par players and expect them to deliver the league.Didnt you know that?Where the heck have you been?On the planet Upsilon? I will win the league with my mentally strong team!
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