Arsenal v Swansea

See? I don't know why we were all so worried!

GIBBS!

Just keep hold of the bloody ball now.....

Steve Dawson wrote:See? I don't know why we were all so worried!

Worried...me....worried.....lol

fucking hell learn to defend

There you go...fucking inability to keep hold of the god dam ball for 5 fucking minutes when it matters.....

Under Wenger we will never defend properly.

We showed a lot of ermm.... heart and just much more effort and instinctive one-touch play to get back into the game.

Come on someone smash this in...

ffs kos good save vorm

our midfield is so static at times

replay it is

Replay it is.....

brighton away awaits the winner of the replay

another potential banana skin right there should we make it through...

which game isn't considered a banana skin these days?

true. it's sad, really...

If only we could play like we do after we concede from the start, high tempo, quick passing, playing with urgency. If we start like that, get a goal or 2 and then slow the game down we would win much more games.

Well I'd take that all things considered as it was a good turnaround and they were some lovely finishes from Podolski and Gibbs especially. We managed to create a few chances today which makes a nice change but our defending really does make me weep. No one was surprised when they equalised almost immediately. Swansea rested more players than us and yet they were equal with our first XI and that has to concern the management, surely.

And when you look at our fixture list, our performances and our squad as it stands it's kinda hard to feel very confident going into this month.

I think we have to accept that this squad simply lacks quality compared to the top sides in the league. Swansea made more changes than us and did not look over matched. Our defending as a team is shocking particularly our midfield cover for the back 4. Michu's goal was a prime example with a hashed clearance and there was no midfielder apart from michu leaving mert exposed. I don't really know what to expect from this season anymore. I think top four is going to be a struggle but can't really blame the players for that when they just aren't good enough. Can we sign players who can make a difference in January? I just don't know. Will it actually make a difference or are there more deep rooted problems within the club? I suppose we will find out in May

I think that tactically we're a shambles as well. That 4-3-3 doesn't work without total commitment to hard work and discipline. To take just one example, on the TV they were obviously pointing out that Keiran Gibbs was dashing out too often and leaving that side of defence exposed but a) at other sides coaches would probably have helped him more or indeed senior players and b) he has too many choices to make because the midfield cover is as thin as it ever has been at Arsenal.

Theo Walcott.

I prefer him being confident and trying to take responsibility over the little boy who went hiding way too often. Everyone is happy about his goals. But he thinks he's Thierry Henry and his arrogance and selfishness imo is shining through. I've noticed it since the Coventry COC game but felt I was being too harsh or nitpicking. But the way he just left the right hand side completely open today because he wants to drift all over the place and take every set piece or go for dribbles when there's players open; it's hurting us.

Personally, I hope he signs because I don't want to lose him for free and nor can we afford to lose another first teamer, especially one who scores goals and whose performances should only be getting better. And he's not a bad player. But the fact we've been reduced to telling Theo to 'sign da ting' and possibly making him our highest paid player in the whole squad speaks volumes about the way our standards have dropped.

And just want to say I'm glad Podolski showed his worth. He is way too up and down, extremely too there's no real middle ground, but he's our most important and best finisher in the squad.

He's not feasting in the League Cup or scoring the 'icing on the cake' goals in the 5-2's/6-1's or consolation goals in defeat. His goals are quite often the first or 2nd goal and they are usually his only shots on goal in the game. The problem is he doesn't get in front of goal enough.

His goals this season:

First in 2-0 win vs Liverpool
2nd in 6-1 win vs Southampton
Equaliser in 2-1 win vs Montpellier
Put us 2-1 up in a 3-1 win vs Olympiakos
Put us 2-0 up in 3-3 draw vs Fulham
Put us 2-1 up in the 5-2 vs Tottenham
2nd in 2-0 win vs Montpellier
1st goal in 5-2 win vs Reading
Put us 3-2 up in the 7-3 vs Newcastle
... and today

Mario Leontiou wrote:Theo Walcott.

I prefer him being confident and trying to take responsibility over the little boy who went hiding way too often. Everyone is happy about his goals. But he thinks he's Thierry Henry and his arrogance and selfishness imo is shining through. I've noticed it since the Coventry COC game but felt I was being too harsh or nitpicking. But the way he just left the right hand side completely open today because he wants to drift all over the place and take every set piece or go for dribbles when there's players open; it's hurting us.

Personally, I hope he signs because I don't want to lose him for free and nor can we afford to lose another first teamer, especially one who scores goals and whose performances should only be getting better. And he's not a bad player. But the fact we've been reduced to telling Theo to 'sign da ting' and possibly making him our highest paid player in the whole squad speaks volumes about the way our standards have dropped.

beat me to it, i was just gonna say the same thing about theo. it's ridiculous how he behaves like he fuckin owns the place, yet completely disregarded his responisbilites and left sagna to cover 2 positions at the same time for most of the game. i do agree that he's not a bad player and that losing him would be anything but ideal, but i don't want his indecisiveness to affect our transfer business (heh). if he wanted to stay he would've signed by now, so i'd rather we spent money on a suitable replacement right now and let him rot on the bench for the remainder of the season. too drastic?

Elisabeth Studentschnig wrote:

beat me to it, i was just gonna say the same thing about theo. it's ridiculous how he behaves like he fuckin owns the place, yet completely disregarded his responisbilites and left sagna to cover 2 positions at the same time for most of the game. i do agree that he's not a bad player and that losing him would be anything but ideal, but i don't want his indecisiveness to affect our transfer business (heh). if he wanted to stay he would've signed by now, so i'd rather we spent money on a suitable replacement right now and let him rot on the bench for the remainder of the season. too drastic?

Well it's worrying that we're still talking about looking to tie down current players before looking outside for reinforcements because we need to add on top of what we have whether we keep Theo or not! And his position, forward/wide areas, is one of the key areas we need strengthening. We have so many tough games this month and the later we leave it the less chance we have of bringing anyone in for those games. But I think we already know what's going to happen...

And I also doubt he will sign. All this 'he wants to play up front' is just an excuse. He wants to get very highly paid first and foremost. Very annoying how we've come to this again.

The issue isn't with Theo leaving, it is with the complete lack of faith in signing a decent replacement. This has been the problem for a long time, we've needed to add to the squad and instead we have only replaced and in many cases with worse players.

There is a dearth of quality in the squad to such an extent that I can't actually say I would be majorly annoyed/worried if we sold anyone in that squad (like I was when we lost Cesc and RVP etc)