Arsenal v Sunderland Post Match

Alex Hadjicharalampous wrote:''And to all those that think 4th is now the holy grail, whats the point? To gain the money that we don’t spend? To attract the top players we don’t sign? Or to get through to the knock stages for a cup we can’t possibly win?''

Saw this on Arseblog and it made me sad because it's kinda true. Of course we still need to try and get 4th, but the way things are going I don't really think anything will change even if we do.

Who says 4th is the holy grail? Of course everyone involved with the club wants better than 4th.

Every club has good and bad seasons. But unless we fall below 4th, it is not a disaster, and we can always come back stronger next season.

If I'm being really critical I'd make a valid argument about how we've not only not progressed, but have declined. The slickness of passing and tempo has slowed. We're not as incisive or aggressive as we were, the movement and creativity has died off and we're not a threat to teams anymore. Then you have the midfield who over commit and the back line too high up, which leads to a lot of the stupid goals we've conceded this season.

We should have had a penalty for RVP. (another brilliant pass from Song btw).

First goal is always crucial. Milan took its toll also, and now we are getting our full backs back, we are missing Kos and Per. Hopefully Kos is back soon or we are stuffed.

We need to be better. We need 2 experienced players who are winners to help bring up the rest of the team. Podolski is 1, and he looks available and keen.

Dont care about the assumptions on who we should sign. Its just not going to happen. What a shit team we have this season, comes to the point where I just laugh when we concede goals. We're so lucky that chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle are shit as well, otherwise we would be where we deserve to be.

Fans, fans, fans. Always over-reacting after any result.

No team in the world can cope with having to shuffle the defence again and again, every week. First the full backs, then the CB's, then the injuries during games, players constantly playing out of their favoured position.

Add a little Murphy's law to that: After Milan's 5 shots on target - 4 goals, you got Sunderland's 1 shot on target - 2 goals, Webb denying us one or possibly two penalties (and one for them though) and voilà: you've got a lovely week.

Winning the CL never had much chance of happening and winning the FA Cup wasn't (and shouldn't be) our first priority.

Getting that 4th spot in the league means everything to us now, in many ways. With games out of the way and God hopefully some players coming back, we can do it.

Save your judgements for when the season's over and get behind this team. We have a season to save.

dark knight wrote:Fans, fans, fans. Always over-reacting after any result.

No team in the world can cope with having to shuffle the defence again and again, every week. First the full backs, then the CB's, then the injuries during games, players constantly playing out of their favoured position.

Add a little Murphy's law to that: After Milan's 5 shots on target - 4 goals, you got Sunderland's 1 shot on target - 2 goals, Webb denying us one or possibly two penalties (and one for them though) and voilà: you've got a lovely week.

Winning the CL never had much chance of happening and winning the FA Cup wasn't (and shouldn't be) our first priority.

Getting that 4th spot in the league means everything to us now, in many ways. With games out of the way and God hopefully some players coming back, we can do it.

Save your judgements for when the season's over and get behind this team. We have a season to save.

Yeah, it's all just happenstance, fate even; events controlled by the gods. There's no problem here, hasn't been a problem for years now, move along people...nothing to look at...
Funny how every February for the last few years you get the old "save your judgement" line trotted out. True, does no good to get down on the players/Wenger now, but doesn't seem to do any good to wait anymore either.

Ok we've been poor this last week, but come on I really believe we are the most unluckiest team in the whole wide world. We conceded :

1- a cracker from Boateng ( any team would have conceded this goal)
2- Vermaelen slips, Robinho scores
3- Soft penalty
4- Deflection and OG at Sunderland

Plus we should have had a penalty at Sunderland on RVP and arguably one too at Milan (also on RVP).

Not to mention injuries..

dark knight wrote:Fans, fans, fans. Always over-reacting after any result.

(...)

Add a little Murphy's law to that: After Milan's 5 shots on target - 4 goals, you got Sunderland's 1 shot on target - 2 goals, Webb denying us one or possibly two penalties (and one for them though) and voilà: you've got a lovely week.

(...)

Save your judgements for when the season's over and get behind this team. We have a season to save.

This is ridiculous. Fans are judging within the arc of this season and the past few years. Some express themselves poorly but anyone with a brain can see that we're not improving and won't do so with the current set-up.

As for the unlucky argument, that's just silly. We were thoroughly outplayed in two matches. Never mind how many shots they had. This is irrelevant.

The thing is you make your luck....and you cast your own problems....

You could add that the 1st from milan-keeper could have done better
If our defence was more switched on robinho would not have scored
If we were more sharper we would not have conceded a pen
Deflection and goal for players not clearing the ball nor stopping it on its travel

We have a fair share of injuries yes.....but at the end of the day,

Defenders should defend....
Keepers should save
And sometimes shit happens .

Michael Foster wrote:The thing is you make your luck....and you cast your own problems....

You could add that the 1st from milan-keeper could have done better
If our defence was more switched on robinho would not have scored
If we were more sharper we would not have conceded a pen
Deflection and goal for players not clearing the ball nor stopping it on its travel

We have a fair share of injuries yes.....but at the end of the day,

Defenders should defend....
Keepers should save
And sometimes shit happens .

If we'd gone to Milan with a realistic game plan,
If we'd studied the opposition, working out how they were likely to play us,
If we had a better defence and a defensive coach to help us improve,
If our players weren't the only ones in the league who slip at decisive moments (longer studs Thomas?)
If the players on the edge of our squad like Djourou and Eboue didn't completely waste away when they're only infrequently called upon,


etc. etc.

^ exactly....just could not be bothered to type it all out....

We have serious problems going on at the grove...

It's been on the cards for a while.

It's just this year our quality is lower than before.

I don't even believe that all the injuries are just down to 'bad luck'.

A change has to take place.

[quote="John Foxall"]

dark knight wrote:Fans, fans, fans. Always over-reacting after any result.

This is ridiculous. Fans are judging within the arc of this season and the past few years. Some express themselves poorly but anyone with a brain can see that we're not improving and won't do so with the current set-up.

As for the unlucky argument, that's just silly. We were thoroughly outplayed in two matches. Never mind how many shots they had. This is irrelevant.

John, I don't think we were "outplayed" by Sunderland. Of course, it depends on what your definition of "outplayed" is. I'm not defending the manager or the players like they have no part of the blame. But our form before those two games was 3-1-0 in the last four. We beat Sunderland at their ground when they had 6-1-1 in the league before that. We had one (very) bad game in Milan and unfortunately for us, all things went against us in the FA Cup game.

So what do we do now?? Give up? Throw the rest of our season away?? No. After the game is before the (next) game. We're fourth as we speak and we have a very tough schedule ahead of us to keep that. It's hard being a fan and it's even harder being an Arsenal fan these days but now's the time to back this team.

[quote="dark knight"]

John Foxall wrote:

dark knight wrote:Fans, fans, fans. Always over-reacting after any result.

This is ridiculous. Fans are judging within the arc of this season and the past few years. Some express themselves poorly but anyone with a brain can see that we're not improving and won't do so with the current set-up.

As for the unlucky argument, that's just silly. We were thoroughly outplayed in two matches. Never mind how many shots they had. This is irrelevant.

John, I don't think we were "outplayed" by Sunderland. Of course, it depends on what your definition of "outplayed" is. I'm not defending the manager or the players like they have no part of the blame. But our form before those two games was 3-1-0 in the last four. We beat Sunderland at their ground when they had 6-1-1 in the league before that. We had one (very) bad game in Milan and unfortunately for us, all things went against us in the FA Cup game.

So what do we do now?? Give up? Throw the rest of our season away?? No. After the game is before the (next) game. We're fourth as we speak and we have a very tough schedule ahead of us to keep that. It's hard being a fan and it's even harder being an Arsenal fan these days but now's the time to back this team.

It's not a question of not backing the team. I always support the team and the manager, it's not heresy to state your doubts about the manager though.

I don't think it's up for debate that we were thoroughly outplayed by Sunderland. We barely had a shot on goal, they beat us to the ball so many times in open play. We couldn't work out how to play them - we were ineffectual and imprecise in possession. They were ferocious in their commitment and looked even more determined than last weekend. Sure, we were 'tired' but aren't we always?

I'm not suggesting we give up. We do have something to play for but it's hard to believe this side have much more in them this season. I'd love to be proved wrong but I'm not convinced. It only gets tougher from here till the end of the season.