Arsenal away Thursday 8th January at 8pm

[kingfunk]

1st half we played a back 5 for the best part with Frimpong stood next to Bradley & Gakpo was next to Macca so we only had Wirtz & Dom as outlets which I imagine was Arnes tactics but 2nd half Cody was invisible. We should have given Rio the last 10 mins at least to run at a tiring defence.

That’s my only complaint from tonight tbh, seemed so obvious.

[Irishnev]

Slot saying the Bradley injury is bad

[Catrin]

Is Rio very fast? We could have done with an outlet other than Frimpong at times.

[baitman]

Is Rio very fast? We could have done with an outlet other than Frimpong at times.

He seems fast, but hard to tell with too much standing still and faking a move, a couple of step overs and then just beefed off the ball...

He needs to keep some momentum.

[Charly]

Is Rio very fast? We could have done with an outlet other than Frimpong at times.

We didnt really create an awful lot, but we only had one outlet and are pretty predicable. Its easy to dominate the ball if you are not going to try and get it into the box. We played with a 6 man midfield.

But a 0-0 draw away at Arsenal is a good result.

Not sure how we build on this with the personnel we have. One win and two defeats is worth three draws. We need to be a bit riskier going forward.

Would have preferred Gakpo in the middle as at least he carries a goal threat.

[Buzzo]

Gyokeres is ****ing **** - an absolute cart horse

He is isn’t he. He’s like the anti-Halaand, does **** all, and isnt there to tuck away every chance that comes his way. They don’t play to his strengths at all tho.

[SB]

Declan Rice is the one bloke in that side I’d want to inflict pain upon. He’s always at the front of every skirmish & in the face of refs at every opportunity.

[Sus]

Declan Rice is the one bloke in that side I’d want to inflict pain upon. He’s always at the front of every skirmish & in the face of refs at every opportunity.

also is an Irishman who plays for England - surely that's a cardinal sin

[S-RED]

Declan Rice is the one bloke in that side I’d want to inflict pain upon. He’s always at the front of every skirmish & in the face of refs at every opportunity.

Yeah he is Arteta's chief cunt, altough Trossard, Gabriel, aren't far behind

[badpiggy]

They're pretty much a complete bunch of ******s of the cry-bully type.

[Doc_Piptorious]

also is an Irishman who plays for England - surely that's a cardinal sin

He's not though.

He has grandparents from Cork, but he was born in England to English born parents.

[memzey]

This was a pleasant surprise. The performance as well as the result. I fully expected a proper tonking last night so coming away with a deserved point was great. It looked to me like the players were just more focussed and up for the fight than they have been in other recent games. Bizarrely, we also seemed to be more willing to take risks in certain situations, even though we were up against a higher quality opponent, than during most recent games. I'm not sure what to put it down to or even whether it bodes ill or well.

[Doc_Piptorious]

This was a pleasant surprise. The performance as well as the result. I fully expected a proper tonking last night so coming away with a deserved point was great. It looked to me like the players were just more focussed and up for the fight than they have been in other recent games. Bizarrely, we also seemed to be more willing to take risks in certain situations, even though we were up against a higher quality opponent, than during most recent games. I'm not sure what to put it down to or even whether it bodes ill or well.

This season that has generally been when we have gotten results and/or put in a good hard working performance. Against Man City being the noticeable exception.


Arsenal X 2
Real Madrid
Aston Villa
Newcastle away
Atletico Madrid
Inter Milan away


Now some of that will be down to some of those teams coming at us, some will be us raising our own game, but a few of those teams use **** house tactics (albeit married to some real quality running through their teams) which suggests some of our results against so called lesser teams may be at least partly down to being out done on the mentality side of things on the pitch.

[memzey]

You may be right but I think we need to own our problems and look for the answers from within. Regardless of injuries we can put out a team of 11 capable of beating just about anyone at any time. In the tougher games against the higher quality opponents we seem to find our focus, belief and a sense of purpose that gets us through. This is clearly missing in games against the lesser lights such as Leeds, Sunderland and Fulham. I don't know whether the knowledge that the squad still has "it" should leave me feeling encouraged or concerned, as the question obviously arises "why don't we show up in that fashion every week"?

[badpiggy]

I think the successful result was down to us treating it like a home game by silencing the crowd