***Official Match Thread - Arsenal Away***

[Kiss_The_Goat]

I only saw the last 20 minutes after getting in from work so is it just me or do you think Bellers looked totally disinterested?.

come on mate, you cant tell something like that from 20 mins. For me he was as up for it as ever and got stuck in. Shame he has to play out of position.

One thing you can never say about Bellers is that he's disinterested. I think it'd be almost impossible for him!

[carl_feedthegoat]

I only saw the last 20 minutes after getting in from work so is it just me or do you think Bellers looked totally disinterested?.

Bellers is also doing my nut in...he,s playing crap lately and is in overdrive with his whinging.....I read that, before the derby he had a big barny with the hierarchy as he wanted an advance on his wages...(yes it was tabloid shite..but could be true)..apparently he went radio rental at Marwood.

I dont know if it,s true or not..but whats true is he,s palying shite lately.

[Nick]

Bellers was up for it, nearly twated one of there players. He just didnt have a good game again. Its odd going from 14 goals in 3 games to every one of our forward players having two bad games....

[Kiss_The_Goat]

I only saw the last 20 minutes after getting in from work so is it just me or do you think Bellers looked totally disinterested?.

Bellers is also doing my nut in...he,s playing crap lately and is in overdrive with his whinging.....I read that, before the derby he had a big barny with the hierarchy as he wanted an advance on his wages...(yes it was tabloid shite..but could be true)..apparently he went radio rental at Marwood.

I dont know if it,s true or not..but whats true is he,s palying shite lately.

Yeh, he played poorly today. But to be honest, the front line all did. Johnson, Bellers, Ade and Tevez were all off. Sloppy passing, running into trouble, choosing the wrong option, shit final ball, time and time again. It fucked our plan really because we clearly set out to soak up pressure and hit them on the break and use our pace against their back line, but we kept playing shit passes which fucked it all up.

[Lees Alter Ego]

I only saw the last 20 minutes after getting in from work so is it just me or do you think Bellers looked totally disinterested?.

Bellers is also doing my nut in...he,s playing crap lately and is in overdrive with his whinging.....I read that, before the derby he had a big barny with the hierarchy as he wanted an advance on his wages...(yes it was tabloid shite..but could be true)..apparently he went radio rental at Marwood.

I dont know if it,s true or not..but whats true is he,s palying shite lately.

Well it was also resported that because of these supposed barnys that hes on his way with Ashley Young is coming in. Like you say though cant believe a word of it. For me hes just out of position. not only playing in midfield but also on the left. As a stiker its bound to piss you off in the end!

[Ted Hughes]

I only saw the last 20 minutes after getting in from work so is it just me or do you think Bellers looked totally disinterested?.

Bellers is also doing my nut in...he,s playing crap lately and is in overdrive with his whinging.....I read that, before the derby he had a big barny with the hierarchy as he wanted an advance on his wages...(yes it was tabloid shite..but could be true)..apparently he went radio rental at Marwood.

I dont know if it,s true or not..but whats true is he,s palying shite lately.

Yeh, he played poorly today. But to be honest, the front line all did. Johnson, Bellers, Ade and Tevez were all off. Sloppy passing, running into trouble, choosing the wrong option, shit final ball, time and time again. It fucked our plan really because we clearly set out to soak up pressure and hit them on the break and use our pace against their back line, but we kept playing shit passes which fucked it all up.

They did play poorly & could have sprung the Arsenal defence better but the 1st half tactics were so fucking mind numbingly dour, with everyone so deep, it's hard to suddenly change into Barcelona & start springing forward when you play half the game as Bolton. I think Mancini wanted them to get forward 2nd half but he'd already sowed the seeds of negativity into the performance with the 1st half & they couldn't fully change.

Just trying to be too clever all the time imo with players who haven't been together that long & still aren't gelled as a team. The only time we look any good is when he leaves them to get on with playing football.

[Beefymcfc]

For those that are disappointed with a point, would you have taken one at the start of the season? Arsenal are, sorry were still in the race for the title after all.

But we're not at the start of the season. Before today, we were playing an Arsenal side with, realistically, nothing to play for. An injury ravaged Arsenal side at that.

So, what you are saying is that we should've gone all out for a win at their ground, even though they have only lost 2 games all season and they were still in with a chance of making of making first and losing 3rd?

I'm not happy that we didn't win in respect of the league and Spurs, but am very happy to go to the Emirates (where we've not won since when (?) and only drawn on a couple of occasions in 20 years) and come away with a point, with a more attacking team in the second half.

[Ted Hughes]

For those that are disappointed with a point, would you have taken one at the start of the season? Arsenal are, sorry were still in the race for the title after all.

But we're not at the start of the season. Before today, we were playing an Arsenal side with, realistically, nothing to play for. An injury ravaged Arsenal side at that.

So, what you are saying is that we should've gone all out for a win at their ground, even though they have only lost 2 games all season and they were still in with a chance of making of making first and losing 3rd?

I'm not happy that we didn't win in respect of the league and Spurs, but am very happy to go to the Emirates (where we've not won since when (?) and only drawn on a couple of occasions in 20 years) and come away with a point, with a more attacking team in the second half.

Arsenal were nowhere near it today mate. Nor were they v Barca or Spurs. They're struggling. If it had been a real in form Arsenal side then a point, however earned, would be good but that wasn't a great side we were playing against today & that should have been obvious to the manager 10 minutes in.

How do you think the result would have gone if Wenger had Adebayor, Tevez, Bellamy, Johnson, SWP, RSC to pick from & we had Silvestre playing Centre Half & our only decent striker coming back from a long term injury?

[carl_feedthegoat]

For those that are disappointed with a point, would you have taken one at the start of the season? Arsenal are, sorry were still in the race for the title after all.

But we're not at the start of the season. Before today, we were playing an Arsenal side with, realistically, nothing to play for. An injury ravaged Arsenal side at that.

So, what you are saying is that we should've gone all out for a win at their ground, even though they have only lost 2 games all season and they were still in with a chance of making of making first and losing 3rd?

I'm not happy that we didn't win in respect of the league and Spurs, but am very happy to go to the Emirates (where we've not won since when (?) and only drawn on a couple of occasions in 20 years) and come away with a point, with a more attacking team in the second half.

Yes mate....IMO a point or a loss was the same to me whereas 3 points was fucking huge.
I think this was not a game where being cautious was the way to go.

I think we had 3 shots at goal all game.......shocking stats imo mate.

[KinkyKinkladze]

For those that are disappointed with a point, would you have taken one at the start of the season? Arsenal are, sorry were still in the race for the title after all.

But we're not at the start of the season. Before today, we were playing an Arsenal side with, realistically, nothing to play for. An injury ravaged Arsenal side at that.

So, what you are saying is that we should've gone all out for a win at their ground, even though they have only lost 2 games all season and they were still in with a chance of making of making first and losing 3rd?

I'm not happy that we didn't win in respect of the league and Spurs, but am very happy to go to the Emirates (where we've not won since when (?) and only drawn on a couple of occasions in 20 years) and come away with a point, with a more attacking team in the second half.

Considering we've dominated them on 2 previous occasions this season, when things mattered for them, yes, yes I do think we should've gone all out at the Emirates.

I fail to see the logic in going to an away game without the intention of winning.

[Ted Hughes]

Those who say a point is useful; it's only useful if Spurs fuck up. They probably won't apart from v us, in which case the point is irrelevent anyway. A win however would have put them under pressure.

It was one of those occasions where the real qualities of a team & manager show through. We didn't have any.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

A point away at Arsenal is always a good point. 3 would have meant a draw would have possibly been enough against Spurs but it's do or die now for 3 games. And I feel the same as I have for many many weeks.If we play to our potential and take it to the opposition we can do it.

But if we play like we have done against Everton (a),Portsmouth (h) Hull(a),Bolton(h),Stoke(h),LPool(h),Sunderland(a),Everton(h),Wigan(h),Scum(h),Arse(a) we won't get those 3 wins. I could include Chelsea where we were dire for 40 minutes but fatre the freak equaliser we battered them. I know we won a few of those home games but my comment is if we play poorly like we did in those games against Villa and Spurs we will not win because they are much better than Pompey,Notlob and Wigan.

[Beefymcfc]

Good to see that there is some debate, and I for one was not happy with the first half tactics. However, the second half was totally different and the introduction of Ade was a god send, allowing us to get forward and force the game.

What I find weird is, like last week, that many people now think it a norm to play and beat these teams. What exactly have we done to give us the right to believe we are better than these teams. Whether under-par or not, these teams are where they are because they have played well and earnt the right to be classed as part of 'The Top 4'. We on the other hand have spent a few hundered million and have earnt the right to be classed as the 'Richest Club in the World', which is not quite the same.

Maybe when the teams we are playing look at us as a draw, then we are getting somewhere, but until then, a draw away from home at the Emirates (How many years was it again?) is a good result.

[KinkyKinkladze]

Good to see that there is some debate, and I for one was not happy with the first half tactics. However, the second half was totally different and the introduction of Ade was a god send, allowing us to get forward and force the game.

What I find weird is, like last week, that many people now think it a norm to play and beat these teams. What exactly have we done to give us the right to believe we are better than these teams. Whether under-par or not, these teams are where they are because they have played well and earnt the right to be classed as part of 'The Top 4'. We on the other hand have spent a few hundered million and have earnt the right to be classed as the 'Richest Club in the World', which is not quite the same.

Maybe when the teams we are playing look at us as a draw, then we are getting somewhere, but until then, a draw away from home at the Emirates (How many years was it again?) is a good result.

I don't think it's the norm to play and beat these teams. I do think we've progressed to the point of being able to give them a decent game though.

But we didn't do that today. We turned up and parked the bus. If it were Bolton/Wigan/Stoke/etc who went there today and played like that, people would rightfully be moaning about the lack of competitivity between the teams. For them, it would've been a good draw. For us, it's 2 points lost.

We've made our job so bloody hard for ourselves now. With Spuds pulling wins against Arsenal and Chelsea from the depths of their anuses, they're now the inform team. They could afford that slip up today. We couldn't last week. Today was a day to make up for it. We didn't do that. Hence my dissapointment.

[Nick]

Good to see that there is some debate, and I for one was not happy with the first half tactics. However, the second half was totally different and the introduction of Ade was a god send, allowing us to get forward and force the game.

What I find weird is, like last week, that many people now think it a norm to play and beat these teams. What exactly have we done to give us the right to believe we are better than these teams. Whether under-par or not, these teams are where they are because they have played well and earnt the right to be classed as part of 'The Top 4'. We on the other hand have spent a few hundered million and have earnt the right to be classed as the 'Richest Club in the World', which is not quite the same.

Maybe when the teams we are playing look at us as a draw, then we are getting somewhere, but until then, a draw away from home at the Emirates (How many years was it again?) is a good result.

I don't think it's the norm to play and beat these teams. I do think we've progressed to the point of being able to give them a decent game though.

But we didn't do that today. We turned up and parked the bus. If it were Bolton/Wigan/Stoke/etc who went there today and played like that, people would rightfully be moaning about the lack of competitivity between the teams. For them, it would've been a good draw. For us, it's 2 points lost.

We've made our job so bloody hard for ourselves now. With Spuds pulling wins against Arsenal and Chelsea from the depths of their anuses, they're now the inform team. They could afford that slip up today. We couldn't last week. Today was a day to make up for it. We didn't do that. Hence my dissapointment.

Agree with this. Two sides to the debate. We have not won away at arsenal since 1975! and used to get battered there with pires and henry. So a point is a good result. On the other hand, we have hammered them twice already this season. And with the scum, the deby is a totally different ball game. We have beat them many times with abysmal players. We now have quality and there even more shit scared than before. So IMO if we went at them, ruffled a few feathers we would have won. Some blues are just seeing us go backwards in terms of are approch vs. the top 4. We have beaten chelsea twice and arsenal twice and are used to beating the scum at home.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Good to see that there is some debate, and I for one was not happy with the first half tactics. However, the second half was totally different and the introduction of Ade was a god send, allowing us to get forward and force the game.

[highlight]What I find weird is, like last week, that many people now think it a norm to play and beat these teams. What exactly have we done to give us the right to believe we are better than these teams. Whether under-par or not, these teams are where they are because they have played well and earnt the right to be classed as part of 'The Top 4'. We on the other hand have spent a few hundered million and have earnt the right to be classed as the 'Richest Club in the World', which is not quite the same.[/highlight]
Maybe when the teams we are playing look at us as a draw, then we are getting somewhere, but until then, a draw away from home at the Emirates (How many years was it again?) is a good result.

Right on the money.

[Ted Hughes]

Good to see that there is some debate, and I for one was not happy with the first half tactics. However, the second half was totally different and the introduction of Ade was a god send, allowing us to get forward and force the game.

What I find weird is, like last week, that many people now think it a norm to play and beat these teams. What exactly have we done to give us the right to believe we are better than these teams. Whether under-par or not, these teams are where they are because they have played well and earnt the right to be classed as part of 'The Top 4'. We on the other hand have spent a few hundered million and have earnt the right to be classed as the 'Richest Club in the World', which is not quite the same.

Maybe when the teams we are playing look at us as a draw, then we are getting somewhere, but until then, a draw away from home at the Emirates (How many years was it again?) is a good result.

We have already beaten 'these teams' on plenty of occasions in recent times. Both versions of Arsenal that we played earlier in the season were playing & passing the ball much better than the current team. I've been told we're a much better side now under this bloke than we were then. If that's true, why can't we muster one decent shot on goal? are tactics & defence all that matters?

We've beaten better Utd sides than this one with idiot managers & teams full of no marks. When they turn up with three 97 year old has beens, several crap signings & a half fit Rooney, after a string of bad results, why shouldn't we expect to beat them? Surely even if we do lose, both those teams should be put under severe pressure to earn their victories? It was like a training game for Arsenal today & we barely had a shot v the rags. They had a much tougher time early season at their own ground.

The secret of the best teams in sport is that they're not scared of losing. We're learning to worry about it above all else. It's not right imo.

[Kiss_The_Goat]

Good to see that there is some debate, and I for one was not happy with the first half tactics. However, the second half was totally different and the introduction of Ade was a god send, allowing us to get forward and force the game.

What I find weird is, like last week, that many people now think it a norm to play and beat these teams. What exactly have we done to give us the right to believe we are better than these teams. Whether under-par or not, these teams are where they are because they have played well and earnt the right to be classed as part of 'The Top 4'. We on the other hand have spent a few hundered million and have earnt the right to be classed as the 'Richest Club in the World', which is not quite the same.

Maybe when the teams we are playing look at us as a draw, then we are getting somewhere, but until then, a draw away from home at the Emirates (How many years was it again?) is a good result.

We have already beaten 'these teams' on plenty of occasions in recent times. Both versions of Arsenal that we played earlier in the season were playing & passing the ball much better than the current team. I've been told we're a much better side now under this bloke than we were then. If that's true, why can't we muster one decent shot on goal? are tactics & defence all that matters?

We've beaten better Utd sides than this one with idiot managers & teams full of no marks. When they turn up with three 97 year old has beens, several crap signings & a half fit Rooney, after a string of bad results, why shouldn't we expect to beat them? Surely even if we do lose, both those teams should be put under severe pressure to earn their victories? It was like a training game for Arsenal today & we barely had a shot v the rags. They had a much tougher time early season at their own ground.

The secret of the best teams in sport is that they're not scared of losing. We're learning to worry about it above all else. It's not right imo.

As was mentioned earlier, I think that was more to do with bad personal performances from our attacking players than the tactics. Our tactics were set out to soak up sustained periods of pressure (something you'd expect away at Arsenal) and to hit them with our pace on the break. Unfortunately we had players who kept hitting poor passes or choosing the wrong option when Arsenals play broke down, and Tevez who for whatever reason was really out of sorts today.

[Ted Hughes]

Good to see that there is some debate, and I for one was not happy with the first half tactics. However, the second half was totally different and the introduction of Ade was a god send, allowing us to get forward and force the game.

What I find weird is, like last week, that many people now think it a norm to play and beat these teams. What exactly have we done to give us the right to believe we are better than these teams. Whether under-par or not, these teams are where they are because they have played well and earnt the right to be classed as part of 'The Top 4'. We on the other hand have spent a few hundered million and have earnt the right to be classed as the 'Richest Club in the World', which is not quite the same.

Maybe when the teams we are playing look at us as a draw, then we are getting somewhere, but until then, a draw away from home at the Emirates (How many years was it again?) is a good result.

We have already beaten 'these teams' on plenty of occasions in recent times. Both versions of Arsenal that we played earlier in the season were playing & passing the ball much better than the current team. I've been told we're a much better side now under this bloke than we were then. If that's true, why can't we muster one decent shot on goal? are tactics & defence all that matters?

We've beaten better Utd sides than this one with idiot managers & teams full of no marks. When they turn up with three 97 year old has beens, several crap signings & a half fit Rooney, after a string of bad results, why shouldn't we expect to beat them? Surely even if we do lose, both those teams should be put under severe pressure to earn their victories? It was like a training game for Arsenal today & we barely had a shot v the rags. They had a much tougher time early season at their own ground.

The secret of the best teams in sport is that they're not scared of losing. We're learning to worry about it above all else. It's not right imo.

As was mentioned earlier, I think that was more to do with bad personal performances from our attacking players than the tactics. Our tactics were set out to soak up sustained periods of pressure (something you'd expect away at Arsenal) and to hit them with our pace on the break. Unfortunately we had players who kept hitting poor passes or choosing the wrong option when Arsenals play broke down, and Tevez who for whatever reason was really out of sorts today.

As I agreed at the time; the players could have carried out the tactics better but they're not a polished gelled team & if you fuck about too much with tactics you're likely to get it wrong. What they are is a bunch of highly capable attacking players who've caused better arsenal defences much more truoble than they did today.

I would expect sustained periods of pressure from a confident Arsenal side containig Fabregas etc. Today's side was a pale imitation & Everton, Liverpool, Villa, Spurs would have noticed after 10 mins probably beaten it.

Arsene Wenger said post match that we defended well & played for a draw. I agree & I think it's stupid.

[KinkyKinkladze]

Good to see that there is some debate, and I for one was not happy with the first half tactics. However, the second half was totally different and the introduction of Ade was a god send, allowing us to get forward and force the game.

What I find weird is, like last week, that many people now think it a norm to play and beat these teams. What exactly have we done to give us the right to believe we are better than these teams. Whether under-par or not, these teams are where they are because they have played well and earnt the right to be classed as part of 'The Top 4'. We on the other hand have spent a few hundered million and have earnt the right to be classed as the 'Richest Club in the World', which is not quite the same.

Maybe when the teams we are playing look at us as a draw, then we are getting somewhere, but until then, a draw away from home at the Emirates (How many years was it again?) is a good result.

We have already beaten 'these teams' on plenty of occasions in recent times. Both versions of Arsenal that we played earlier in the season were playing & passing the ball much better than the current team. I've been told we're a much better side now under this bloke than we were then. If that's true, why can't we muster one decent shot on goal? are tactics & defence all that matters?

We've beaten better Utd sides than this one with idiot managers & teams full of no marks. When they turn up with three 97 year old has beens, several crap signings & a half fit Rooney, after a string of bad results, why shouldn't we expect to beat them? Surely even if we do lose, both those teams should be put under severe pressure to earn their victories? It was like a training game for Arsenal today & we barely had a shot v the rags. They had a much tougher time early season at their own ground.

The secret of the best teams in sport is that they're not scared of losing. We're learning to worry about it above all else. It's not right imo.

As was mentioned earlier, I think that was more to do with bad personal performances from our attacking players than the tactics. Our tactics were set out to soak up sustained periods of pressure (something you'd expect away at Arsenal) and to hit them with our pace on the break. Unfortunately we had players who kept hitting poor passes or choosing the wrong option when Arsenals play broke down, and Tevez who for whatever reason was really out of sorts today.

I think it's less to do with the players and more to do with the system we played. How many times did we see anybody maraud forward? Over laps? Clever moves to open space? Not once.

When we were ten minutes left, there was a situation where Ade (I think) had the ball on the right hand side by their box. I waited and waited, and not a single bloody player was anywhere near their box. We had Micah coming to help Ade out for a connection, but that was it. Sure enough Ade loses the ball, Arsenal get it, the camera angle pans left to show the midfield and there everybody was, sitting deep and holding a line, awaiting an onslaught.

As for Tevez, it seemed fairly obvious from the off that he wasn't happy. Nothing in midfield because of grandad and creative Nige, so he's dropping back to his own sodding midfield to try and start something. And he did that until the 99th minute.

This isn't the first time we've all seen the squad go missing because of an overly cautious approach to the game. And when it happened previously, people rightly pointed out a lack of creativity in midfield was marginalising our forwards. However, because this has happened away at Arsenal, it seems everything changes.

You know, considering all the bullshit this board and our fans have been through over the past 18 months, all the petty squables and arguments, bannings, hiatuses, I really do wonder if some people are happy that with the massively unnecessary change in management and tactics, that these people are really pleased that we've regressed to a "park the bus at the away grounds of big teams" club.