Norwich Post Match

start the bitchin'....

What a load of fucking shite.

3 goals from 4 shots on target.

nothing but: FUCK!!

Fuck that referee for not giving the penalty at the end. Why the fuck would RVP go down after getting on the wrong side of the defender and having a simple tap in? Piss off. I'd rather not talk about the rest of the game, I think I might kill someone.

this team knows one thing for sure: to build up the expectations and then crashing them down to the ground

On the bright side, we should be favorites for Europa next season.

Sami Rockfeller wrote:On the bright side, we should be favorites for Europa next season.

Yeah, so were City and United.

I switched the TV off before the lap of appreciation. Can anyone tell me what it was like? Hostile? Did the crowd show respect to Pat Rice? Final goodbyes to RVP?

I've seen this coming. We've played really poor over the last couple of months and for an hour today we were pathetic. Performance was riddled with mistakes and it same old same old with us. No steel and the mentality needs to be right all over the pitch. Gibbs was abysmal today as was vermaelen ( I've said that too many time this season for my liking) and szcezny.

Our midfielders, defensively, weren't good enough and ultimately our sloppiness in such a vital game could have cost us a champions league place. Van persie is in a different class and I certainly would hold any grudges at the end of the season if he decides it's time for him to move on.

We werent helped by how poor the ref was today but he made terrible calls both ways. No good enough all round, unfortunately.

It was said in the match thread, 3 points from a possible 12. Is it squad depth? Are they exhausted? Is Arteta's injury that significant? What is it?

Dan Hakim wrote:It was said in the match thread, 3 points from a possible 12. Is it squad depth? Are they exhausted? Is Arteta's injury that significant? What is it?

I say tired, the lack of an incisive attacking central mid hurt us as the season went along. We missed Arteta's presence in the last few weeks. Too reliant on RVP - We addressed that with Podolski, but will RVP be here next year? Tactics-same lack of defensive solidity for many yrs.
Glad to see RVP scored a brace on his last game at The Emirates..

Unbelievable from Arsenal. You would think that with our destiny in our own hands, we will turn up for this game and put in a worthy performance. Benyayoun's early goal could have set the tone for the rest of the game but instead we allowed Norwich, who have nothing to to play for, to play us off our own pitch.

They outworked and outplayed us the entire game just doing simple things. They closed us down when we had the ball, and when they did win it, they either exploited us down the flanks or sent long balls up to Holt. We had no response for their tactics and our midfield was totally non-existent. None of our midfield trio looked to drop back and defend with any real purpose which is why Norwich kept hitting us on the counter. Song is no longer a defensive midfielder and without Arteta, our midfield just doesn't tick. We can't keep the ball, and do not provide cover for our defenders. It's been that way since Wigan and frankly, it's frustrating to watch.

Second half, we played a little better but we were still susceptible to a Norwich counter. When we finally managed to overturn the deficit, in typical Arsenal fashion, we lost our lead within five minutes. All we had to do was slow down the tempo of the game for the remaining ten minutes and three points would have been ours, but this team cannot defend as a unit. People will complain about the penalty that was not given to RVP at the end but Gervinho was offside and he definitely interfered with play. Also, Norwich should have had one in the first half. Now, we have to sit and pray that both Spurs and Newcastle don't take advantage of our slip up. Otherwise, no champions league next year and today would probably have been RVP's last game at the Emirates.

Sagna broken fibula, misses Euros. Same leg as at Tottenham. He was kicked on the leg and played on with it

Not glad that one of our players has a broken bone, but I'm glad that he'll have a good rest over the summer.

We badly missed Arteta. After our first goal which came nice and early, instead of dominating possession and playing calmly we gave Norwich all the possession in the world. We couldn't string two passes together, which is what Arteta does usually and after our third, our passing percentage dropped to 62% FFS. They scored from their first shot on target, surprise surprise. Song and Ramsey did not shield the back four, Vermaelen and Gibbs were not good, and Szczesny was utter garbage. Just when you expect him to come out and get the ball for their third goal, he sits there expecting the player to miss his chance. Gervinho was horrible in the first half, good in the second. RvP, despite his brace, missed four sitters? Chamakh was good when he came on, and The Ox needs to learn how to pass the ball sometimes.
Anyway, hopefully Man City beat the shit out of Newcastle and Tottenham not win (the second one unlikely) and we should hope that Chelsea don't win the CL. Oh boy, how tough it is to be a Gooner.

Sami Rockfeller wrote:Sagna broken fibula, misses Euros. Same leg as at Tottenham. He was kicked on the leg and played on with it

Fuck

"Only Kenny (62.7%, Jaaskelainen (62.6%) and Robinson (56.3%) have a lower % of shots on target saved than Szczesny (63.3%).
Top 5 save % - Hart (77.5%), De Gea (76.4%), Stockdale (75.9%), Mignolet (73.2%), Friedel (73.2%). PL Average 68.8%"

via Orbinho

Dan Hakim wrote:It was said in the match thread, 3 points from a possible 12. Is it squad depth? Are they exhausted? Is Arteta's injury that significant? What is it?

A bit of Tim Lovejoy syndrome and a lot of no Arteta. Had we played Newcastle, Spurs, Man Utd and Man City, we'd probably have taken 9 from 12. As soon as it's 'only' a Wigan/Swansea/Norwich level team, we play terribly and lose/salvage a draw.

No Arteta is a massive issue for us. Song is either not being told to be an anchor man anymore, or he lacks any kind of discipline. Ramsey is filling in when Song goes walkabout, but he lacks the experience and form at the moment. Arteta helps to keep the shape of the midfield so we aren't left horribly exposed when Song decides he is Maradona.

Durrell wrote:
No Arteta is a massive issue for us. Song is either not being told to be an anchor man anymore, or he lacks any kind of discipline. Ramsey is filling in when Song goes walkabout, but he lacks the experience and form at the moment. Arteta helps to keep the shape of the midfield so we aren't left horribly exposed when Song decides he is Maradona.

So true about Song! But that is symptomatic about his play in general, not just this game. I think he would benefit from one real DM beside him.

To add a thought, Wengers implementation of 433 from the begining is flawed. He simply doesnt know how to get the best out of team in this formation.

on dropping two points...
It is more than frustrating because we were very poor in the first half, not switched on. The quality of our first half was absolutely not at the level we wanted in a decisive game like that. in the second half we did very well. We created at least 10 chances but again not only did we not take our chances, but on top of that we gave them a third goal in a situation that was absolutely unbelievable. In the end we got punished for our mistakes.

on conceding the third goal…
It was five or six mistakes in the same goal.

on the first half…
We have to analyse the reasons why we were not sharp enough in the first half. There is no obvious reason because we prepared normally as we always do, but maybe subconsciously [we thought] we would win it. Norwich played well, you have to give them credit.

on Arsenal's Champions League hopes…
It leaves us with one thing - it is not in our hands anymore. We have to wait for the results to see where it leaves us tomorrow night. We knew that if we didn't win today, that is what would happen.

on whether Arsenal deserve to qualify…
It depends on what you mean by 'deserve'. We have 67 points, and every year you qualify with 67 points.

on the defensive performance…
We were [too frail], of course. We lost too many challenges and it is surprising because recently we were quite good, but today I feel that defensively the whole team was very poor.

on Van Persie's penalty shout…
I don't know, we have to accept the decisions of the referee, that is the only thing I can say. Here, the whole season we have got zero penalties. It is absolutely amazing because you see other clubs who have 10 or 11.

on Aaron Ramsey…
He was unlucky with the first booking, it was a good tackle. It is part of learning your job, you have to deal with all kinds of situations and he will do that. He is very strong mentally and is going through a difficult period at the moment. But he will come off that stronger.

Missing out on the CL might not be that bad really. We just won't be playing in a competition we never seem capable of winning, or be able to attract the world class players we never sign even when we had CL football.

Alex Hadjicharalampous wrote:Missing out on the CL might not be that bad really. We just won't be playing in a competition we never seem capable of winning, or be able to attract the world class players we never sign even when we had CL football.

After all the mind the gap shit we went through it will be hard to see the scum on top of us though

Missign out on CL will set this club back immeasurably. Both financially and in the footballing sense. Literally absolute sh!t that we haven't won a game since Arteta has been injured. Luckily he scored in the last game he played and got us 3 points before we decided to implode, so there is still some hope.

Spurs missed out last season and here they are challenging strongly for it again this season. I don't see why we can't do the same should we miss out.