Burnley vs Arsenal, 1-1: Full time thoughts, analysis and player ratings
The Game
We’re 100% back in the title race of course but problems are still there and they may come back to haunt us, starting from Wednesday.
That’s what I said on Sunday.
“Don’t be so pessimistic” yelled some.
“We win and you focus on problems!”, yelled others.
“Go support Chelsea or Spurs”, some wanted to say. No-one said so but I love that hilarious line so much and I need something to cheer me up after this game.
Anyway. There’s no need to be an expert of the game to understand that if you prefer to focus on the positives and neglect the negatives of the side, these will come back to haunt us sooner than you expect.
Some of the decisions taken by Wenger today leave a lot to be desired. Theo Walcott and Eduardo are two players who look like they need months to get back to their ideal fitness level after injuries and Mikael Silvestre and Manuel Almunia are, as always, a bomb ready to cause severe damage.
But oh well, maybe we should be all smiles because we did better than ManUtd here or think of Sunday when we will probably win easily against Hull City and our poor form on the road will be forgotten again, right?
In the meantime, with this, we lost seven points which we shouldn’t have lost away from home after the draw against West Ham and defeat at Sunderland.
Match Video Highlights
Match video highlights are available in the Videos section of our website. If not there yet, rest assured they will be up in a matter of hours.
Player Ratings
Almunia: 3 – No comment.
Silvestre: 4 – Two told me the same thing before the game: Eagles will be a tough client for Silvestre if he plays. Well he played and we all saw the result.
Gallas: 6 – Very uncomfortable night for the Frenchman and I was incredibly disappointed to see him first miss that glorious chance and then not track back in the end.
Vermaelen: 5 – This will go down as his worst performance in an Arsenal jersey. He looked sluggish from the start and the challenge to concede a penalty was very poor. He did raise his level after the mistake and pushed forward in search of a goal, but this left big gaps at the back and we were lucky not to concede on the counter.
Sagna: 6 – Provided very little when going forward tonight, though was solid as always at the back.
Diaby: 6 – Considering he’s back from injury, I think he had a pretty good game. When he means business he can cause damage with the ball in his feet.
Song: 6,5 – Another solid game in midfield for Alex, who also saw plenty of the ball near the Burnley penalty area and not to blame if he doesn’t know what to do when in that position, it’s not his job to cut the defense.
Fabregas: 8 – Please, don’t say he’s the reason we didn’t win the game. I understand he was phenomenal in the 40 minutes he played but this is Arsenal and they are Burnley, we can’t make up excuses.
Nasri: 6 – Tried hard to get involved and like Sunday, shifted onto the right a number of times. But not enough.
Walcott: 3 – Poor Theo. I feel for him. He clearly is not ready to play back-to-back games, just as I said in the preview. So many misplaced passes, so many selfish moments.
Arshavin: 6,5 – Even when everything seemed to be going wrong up there, he still made himself available and did incredibly well with his first touch and shielding of the ball. Unlucky not to score when he hit the post.
(Subs)
Eduardo: 3 – So slow, so disappointing and like Theo, he needs months to get back to where he was before the injury. Hoping he can.
Ramsey: 5 – No one could replace Fabregas today and after a very good start, Aaron seemed lost in midfield and failed to provide the same service provided in Greece.
![[Video] Blackburn vs Arsenal highlights: Big win as we go second in the table!](http://www.thegunninghawk.com/wp-content/themes/arthemia-premium/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/video.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1)
I watched the game on my laptop, so I’m not challanging anybody’s oprnion. To me we had two penalties waved off by the referee in the first 25 minutes. I also so many illegal challenges go unpunished by the ref. If I’m right, then please don’t tell me :”But this is a contact game.” I’m just saying the challenges were illegal and not just old fashioned fair body checks.
And the Burnley captain was angry at the ref for the few fouls that he did call. Arsenal got discouraged and accepted the bullying since the only authority on the field “So that it was all good”.Genesis 1:10.
I don’t think I can really disagree with your ratings much though I would like to, you might even have been generous with Silvestre and did Eduardo do anything good after he came on? Give credit to Burnley though, they were really up for it though perhaps if we could have got a second early on it might have dampened their spirits. Song was perhaps a little guilty of looking for killer balls after Cesc went off but better that than slowly moving to the opposition box and passing it from side to side. I sing the praises of Ramsey to my friends but I am beginning to entertain the doubt that at this early point in his career, he is a flat track bully and only looks really good when the pressure is off. I’m traveling to England for the Hull game so I’m sure I’ll be in a better mood then, just a little flat at the moment.
Believe me Jim, I want to take nothing away from Burnley. Their boss said they will play football and football they did play, no park the bus, no physical game.
Yes, we should have gone 2-0 maybe 3-0 up in the first 20 minutes, but what happened after we failed to score? I’m still trying to understand what happened.
I mean today we didn’t take our chances and failed to win. Against West Ham we did take our chances, yet still failed to win. Against Sunderland we didn’t score and lost. Our away form needs to be addressed, before it’s too late.
the truth is this we are a 1 dimensional team in other words only play football 1 way and hope to win 1 way which is passing and beautiful football and if we cant get that we wont win the game, we cant win ugly or win playing bad and if we do its luck, the win against liverpool was luck it wasn’t because of what arsene said because after the boys came out they straight away started loosing the ball again, liverpool sat back and thats why they lost! we poor yesterday face it, we cant break teams down face it! especially when we have people like theo walcott playing, please other than pace what else does he bring to the team and still he takes the place for vela, merida, wilshere who are all better than him by far, a headless chicken poor 1st touch, poor vision, poor team work, and does not know what to do same with almunia i dont care ive kept this in me for so long i cant keep no longer how many times from goal kick did he give the ball away either for a throw in or to nobody, and his judging is terrible thank god fletcher was off side otherwise we would’ve lost that game due to almunia, the ball was right in front of him why didnt he stretch his arms out i want fabianski in now alongside vela and out go almunia and theo for MONTHS! NO IFS NO BUTS BUT WELL DONE BURNLEY!
Really have to disagree with so much of the analysis. Goals change games and we saw our goal do just that and then not take our chances when they were presented – including Arshavin hitting the post and Nasri side netting.
Where I agree fully was Theo and Almunia – they are disasters waiting to happen. As for Silvestre, one comment – isn’t Clichy supposed to be fit and playing by now?
Eagles run into the box between Silverstre and Nasri was some of the only poor defending we had. I genuinely thought Vermie and Gallas did a very good job – what did Burnley have 5 shots to our 15 (I haven’t seen the match stats yet). Generally I did not feel threatened at all – other than by the referee giving the English favorite sons some home team cooking.
Song I thought was absolutely terrific in the role he is out there to play – he bodied up in the midfield time after time and at times when he couldn’t get the job done physically he must have poked the ball away into our possession half a dozen times. The only problem with Song was that with Cesc off, his role had to – by necessity – incorporate more creating of the play, a role that is difficult to accomplish from his natural holding mid.
Our problem continues to be the style of play is dependent on the quality of an RVP, Cesc, AA and an in-form Nasri / Rosicky as well as both outside backs really creating defensive problems on the flanks such that when we are missing 3/5ths of that formula, the style of play is no longer as effective. So we need to start crossing flighted balls (to our rather vertically challenged strike force) – as opposed to our trademark off-center channel penetration and then on the ground across the face of goal. And as teams back further and further in we absolutely need to be setting up for more shooting from distance instead of trying to force the pass into an area with 7 defenders compressing the space.
I Trust Arsene realizes he is but one injury away (AA) from having to fight for 6th place. That said, get a healthy eboue, clichy and bendtner back in the side and we can at least regain some level of quality that will allow our football to result in goals.
Oh mate, I feel threatened and very much in the last part of the game. Burnley twice caught us on the back foot but luckily they failed to take advantage of the gaps we left at the back. I insist on saying that who we really are missing is Bendtner. We are doing well in passing the ball, reaching the wing but then what? We cannot cross as there is no tall figure to meet it.
We can do more by fizzing the ball across their area. Diagonal dribbles into their area and cut back? Keep defenders guessing rather than making it too easy for them?
Moans and groans at every mistake at the Emirates don’t help either as these boys seem so scared to commit an error, that they fail to express themselves (like attempting to beat a player, threading a firm thru’ pass or showing for the ball when under pressure).
Lacklustre performance from some of the boys.
Diaby was very solid defensively for us – deserves better than the points you gave him; I noticed he did not try to venture too far forward; He may have been instructed to sit back.
Nasri and Walcot (as optimistic as I may be about the future of this kid, he really does not deserve to be a starter at this stage in his career) lacked a cutting edge up-front. A lot to do with their choices on and off the ball.
Silvestre’s lack of pace was exposed with such regularity that he started sitting sooo far off their winger.
Ramsey was so lost in the middle that Song, late on in the game, had to play the role of creative midfielder along with his defensive role. Two great balls to Eduardo and consitently looking for a penetrating pass was proof of this. Song deserves a higher rating.
Arshavin worked as hard as his sore foot permitted.
Eduardo couldn’t have picked the worst possible moment to be out of form. Think he’s also been affected with all that biased ‘DIVING’ hoopla at the start of the season (look at the 60-40 ball in his favour against Jenson).
….onto the next battle we go. Bring on the Yorkshire Tigers. We’ll have to make a great breakfast out of ‘em.
Fans should help make the Emirates a fortress.
c’mon Arsenal!
no man. watch nasri’s game, sure he maybe should’ve taken more upon himself. but the players in the team around him didn’t create anything.
SONG. i bet a lot of people say he played a great game. he played good, i’ll give him that. BUT, this year he’s trying to be the “throughball” man. last year he went to much side to side. now he wont even. nasri never got the ball in the midfield. walcott was pathetic, but nasri was not. he was just misused or unused
eduardo looked like a slug. for that matter at times so did arshavin
the problem was overall the team was way to lazy with passes. it was ugly. that game was ugly
Ever since RVP went down we have really seemed out of sync, very little collectively creativity that we saw so much early on in the season. Today there were was so little movement off of the ball in the 2nd half and players constantly holding the ball and not going anywhere looking for others to move. I really can’t say anyone played particularly well, even Cesc before he went off (just didn’t look like himself). Silvestre was the disaster I knew he’d be (can’t believe we have lost three left backs and just getting the only other player that can play there back from injury – Eboue) and gave up some great scoring chances throughout the game by lack of pace, lack of technique and lack of positioning.
Poor Walcott, looked horrible out there. The one thing about Theo being out there is that we really lack ball movement on that side of the field. He holds onto to the ball too long or loses possession plus he doesn’t come inside enough opening up the width for Sagna. I forgot he was even out there in the first half, hardly saw the ball. I think once Cesc went out and it was obvious Ramsey wasn’t creating much I would have dropped Arshavin back to the middle or brought Nasri in and put Ramsey out wide for a bit. They have more experience and have both played there and done well there.
Very disappointing match, this is not like the matches last season when we created tons of great chances, but just couldn’t get through a packed in defense in all those ties we had, but rather an uninspired and lazy performance overall on offense and defense.
Well Chris,it is too late…
We were lucky today… I guess you need that sometimes…
I think and I strongly stress the fact that Walcott and Edouardo should be waved of the first team and get some games with the reserve… they are just unfit and useless…
I watched the game on a spanish website and the commentator was wondering where was Walcott during the all game until he was replaced…!!! (and that’s 3 millions a year for a player who does bring nothing to the table).
Again,Wenger should give Mannone his chance because Alumnia is a nightmare… Every time the ball was coming into the box my heart felt like going out of my chest… He is (I think) one of the worse goalkeeper of the league and it is unacceptable for a top side like Arsenal (if we want to stay a top side that is!).
The count is now up to 9… That’s 9 injured players(Fabregas got a knock and should be out for one or 2 games)…
Talking about recruitment in January,Wenger said and I quote “I am waiting for players to come back”… Seriously, the man lost it !! The touch, the famous touch that made him so successful is gone….
I am scared,because I am no longer surprise by Arsenal results and, as a matter of fact, I expect us to struggle at and for every game… That’s just sad because it should be the opposite!
Finally, are we getting some trophies this season? I can surely say, no way in heaven or hell (wherever you want to be!)…. That’s just impossible and I hope the supporters and Arsenal fans have already understood that and are just hoping for a top 4 finish… That is the best we can do.
Please quit all the ‘lost it non-sense’.
That’s some serious disrespect to a man we regard very highly at this club.
Surely you can put an arguement across without INSULTING the manager.
You’re scared because the matches are now unpredictable.
It’s obvious wenger is more interested in proving his point than winning. He hasn’t lost ‘it’, he just doesn’t know what ‘it’ is anymore. As long as the club finish top four, no changes.
Herbert i 100% agree with you,it will be naive to expect the current Arsenal squad to win a trophies.Iam suprised that wenger still believes the current crop of players can win trophies,that he is waiting for those injured to return before deciding who to buy.what happens in January when Song goes to ACN?Do we have defenders who can replace Gallas and Vemalleen if they get injured.Do you expect to win trophies if we cant determine our first choice goal keeper?iam a diehard Gooner because of the brand of football Arsenal plays,but i dont expect trophies if we,re still depending on individual players to save us.
My view is that if Arsenal team had a blend of players of Shay Given Hangeland ,Vermaleen,Gallas,Song,Felipo melo Asharvin,RVP,Fabregas,Rosicky,Nasri,Clichy and Sant cruz qualities then Chelsea and Man-u would be bothered but right now the team is not balanced.Arsenal fans prepare to live with inconsistent Gunners peformance.
Virtually all the comments seem gloomy. Arsenal is a disaster waiting to happen, because the manager is so stubborn he does not believe in reinforcements because this will kill the kids, what a w……….r.
There is no way we can win the league (as Arsene Wenger believes) when physically we are so weak. Any little excursion and they fall like nine pins never to be seen again until the next season. Where are the phycically tough Vieras, Laurens and Henrys ?
I have said this many times, this manager has lost it big time
*sigh* is all i have to say!
After this match, there is only one thing I want to say … it’s a disgrace to see Theo and Eduardo. Theo probably missed one of the most important and a very easy chance to score before being substituted, and in most of the match, he was anonymous. And he is still so arrogant to pass the ball to others who can probably do 100 times better than him. Now, talking about Eduardo, I don’t find anything to talk. In his current form, so slow and so poor touch, I doubt he will get chance even in some team in the Championship, and if he is going to be our striker, then we should start talking for the the next season. I didn’t understand, why Arsene didn’t stick to the plan of keeping Arshavin at the center, and replacing Theo with Vela to the left, and switching Nasri to the right. I honestly do not understand what he is seeing in Eduardo, which the rest of the world cannot. He should even struggle to be in the first 11 for the reserves, let alone in premier league team … I do not remember when did I last talked so many bad things about an Arsenal player … I feel bad to do it, but can’t help. Please offload the junks Arsene, and give us some peace, or they are going to infect and frustrate the others very soon.
I am still believing Wenger sees what we did today, make the amends, we keep up the hope, and do good again.
Wenger looked disgusted with the performances.
New striker in January or not, we’ll stil need our current front crop to produce. We’ve lacked ideas up-front. Nasri, Walcot, Eduardo, Vela…….
No real surprise there as these individuals missed pre-season.
It’ll take ‘em a while to adjust; here’s hoping they do so sooner than later.
We do have to show them more support during games as it’ll help quicken the process.
I also want to do that, and have been doing this always Anon … that is always support the team …. but I was so down today that it was difficult for me not to say anything against Eduardo or Walcott. I am fine with the others. Everyone gets their on-off periods. But, with Eduardo, I am expecting anything from him, and I feel disturbed when Walcott comes in front to talk as a regular first team player (someone in this forum pointed out this last week), since there are still so many things for him to prove.
I agree with you.
I think Walcot needs to earn his current status in the club.
He seems to be regarded so highly on the back of a promise; kinda like handing out an “I owe you”.
As a fact, ‘not playing’, Carlos Vela, played, his ‘best game’ of the season, after the downform showed bt Eduardo and Walcott
All I can is that I would expect to see more from the player who is the reason why Adebayor was not replaced by Wenger.
AW The fans have been telling you this from last season
We need a world class goalkeeper, midfielder and striker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LISTEN TO THE FANS, gutted we drew this game to their credit burnley played very well
Almunia is and was diabolical, silvestre just awful how could AW even give him the captains armband when fabregas went off, think we are being a little harsh on Theo he has only played a few games and so has eduardo they need some time and we all know they are quality
On a good note I NEVER thought I would say this but Diaby played well he really got stuck in
Dropped points but hey all could change in a few weeks, we have been so so unlucky with injuries but then again AW needs to buy players to cope with this, we need some fresh blood to lift the team
Are we really being harsh on Theo or Eduardo …. I do not agree …. I am seeing Eduardo for many matches now in this season, and I have to say, he is very very slow to move and react, and horrible first touch. Don’t take me wrong, but I am serious when I am saying that it’s time for him to hang up the boots, or go to some second division team if he still wants to play. And, Theo??? well, yes, he may need a few more matches, but that should not be at the cost of the EPL matches. Wenger should better make his experiments for the reserves team.
I disagree totally wth your comment Pavel everyone has different opinions, eduardo is an international and has a fantastic scoring record, he hasnt really had a run of many games or is that just my imagination? Same as Theo walcott hasnt had many games he is one of our most exciting prospects and he is english we have hardly any english players n our team and he is young, do you expect him to be a world class player overnight?
Silvester is 2 old 2 play football, he was so poor thro out- aside d cross 2 Arshavin- we would’ve played beta as 10men without him. But i believe d worst player 2day was Walcott, y ponder on a loan deal 4 Wilshere when he’s by far beta than Walflop.
Watchin him play ahead of Vela is painful cos he was beta 2yrs ago (or we were toleratin a kid then) n hasn’t added anything 2 wat he was then.
I just hope sentiment isn’t a part 4 he’s selection. Player should fight 2 b part of Arsenal 1st 11 n not by default( just like Ade when he was here). Wenger shld drop Walcott till he earns it or change profession(100m) Eboue would’ve done beta but y did he not replace Silvestre with Eboue when we needed 2 attack.
I don’t k if everybody scores hat trick each b/w now n jan let buy Dzeko or collect Andriano 2 provide option(damn risk) we collected injured Bischoff, a wooden Silvestre n paid their bills( we’ve nothing 2 loose ) rather than suffer when d transfer window closes. RVP WON’T B BACK SOON and Bendtnar isn’t worth hopin on.
No need for the names.
It’ll be wrong not to play those players.
I do believe they should be made to fight for their place in the first team.
We’ll get neither Dzeko (Wolfsburg will only let him go for an extortionate amount as they’re still in Europe) nor Adriano (not good enough).
Believe it or not Bendtner has been an influential player for us this term.
well let me say something to some fans that after every win even lucky wins such as the last one,they started to speach about how a good team we have and how we that do not rate our team as they do,should go to support spuds.listen carefuly, arsenal fc will never win anything more than fa cup maybe, as long as they keep some players in they 11 first team.lets start, almunia, denilson (belive me this player would have not played in any better team then bolton)diaby,walcott(i hate to say this but he has lost everything even his run is not as it was before,i think his problem is that he is thinking he is our great player he is a star of england when he actualy not a better player then me,it means he is nearly nothing)eduardo,plz wenger can’t you see he can not play for arsenal anymore,he is scared to play football.these players can not give us any trophy for as long as they play in our first team.oh i forget one,rosicky plz go away before i will start to forget the days when u where brelliant for us.these are the players that only wenger’s arsenal will give them the opurtunity to play in a big team’s first 11.SORY FOR MY ENGLISH.
I agree …. spot on …. as I already said the same things about Walcott and Eduardo, the first one is too arrogant to take everything granted, and the second one should hang up his boots now.
How do you know Walcot’s arrogant?
By arrogance, I meant his attitude of taking the fact granted that he has established himself as a first team player. You should always be competing with others do be a first team player for a team like Arsenal, and when that part is missing – I call it arrogance.
AW dis patch work we need trophy n not excuses… Y win l’pool only 2 throw it away here. Already AA claims 2 play with pains wat happen if it worsen. Pls sign someone early enough b4 start r usual fight 4 our adopted trophy 4th place.
im here just for calling against Almunia(1.5/10) ,he is so horrible ,we need Mannonea to b number 1 gk,sagna cant even deliver a nice cross ,i think Eboue will b much better on the right side than sagna(3/10),Gallas(5/10) panics a lot when he feels a pressure from any striker and just give a way the ball so cheap,Wallco(3/10)t still not giving his best and i believe on him and hope he will get on the right truck,Ramsey (2.5/10),this kid we heard mister wenger talking a lot a bout his skills and his bright future but i dont see any promises frankly,Eduardo(1/10),he is the poorest striker in Arsenal history with no doudts,he is very slow,sluggish,short,and really ,really horrible.i still blame wenger for not signing any striker after the departure of that asshole( adebaywhore)
i agree with you i think mannone would do it great better than almunia and fabianski
Its hard to say we realy have two sides. We aren’t as lethal as we were earlier in the year, the loss of van persie, bent 52 and clichy + lack of fitness to returning players. Until we sort out these problems we aren’t going to be conisitently applying pressure to the top of the table. We probably need to sell one or two players and bring in a few more. The fixture list doesn’t help but we need to strengthen today was just abysmal.
i didnt see the game,although went through it on the radio. ps as soon as i heard the refs name i thought that we`ll never win that game.mike dean. he is the one that gave a pen to diverooney when he waved away the arsh one. beside something is definetly wrong with the league and its program they seem to deside ho to give the title to b4 the start
`J` says, and I agree,” we need a world class goalkeeper, midfielder and striker”
Blind Freddie can see that. There will be nothing to celebrate come April I assure you, if we make the top four a sigh of relief is all we`ll get.
There may be no world class players, not cup tied and at the right price Mr. Wenger but there has been. So, we have to play out the season with what we have.
It is very hard not to be critical and I certainly dont enjoy it but this is not Arsenal anymore it more resembles Heinz 57 with no disrespect to Mr. Heinz. There was a time not so long ago when we could rely on the lads to give us the result we expected and we had pride in saying so out loud, that time has sadly pased.
Time to modify our thinking and spend a few bob.
Isnt it gutting that we let someone like Shay Given just fly past us without even having a sniff
After reading this I couldn’t agree more to what is being said. Almunia and Silvestre imploded in the back and we were lucky to only get away with the draw. I always believed that Almunia would just “do”. Never really a quality keeper that would keep us safe but someone that we can just stick between the posts. Apparently that has changed drastically ever since Mannone came into the picture. We need a quality keeper. We can also argue that not playing Silvestre was a benefactor to why we were winning. Silvestre is way past his prime and needs to get out of Arsenal. We don’t need to pick up Man U trash and recycle. For Theo, I feel quite bad. I’m not sure what it is with him if it is match fitness or some other thing. He couldn’t find space and couldn’t use space when he got it. Eduardo really lacking these days. He’s become so wasteful of good opportunities and kills the play in general. We need our first team players back and really hope that Fabregas isn’t out for long.
ok Vela dint play , Mr Wenger if you dont need him sell it to another football team. ps
again i ask why is theo starting.. i swear i get it he is fast but no talent..
how many more undeserved starts is AW going to give him just because he will make a play with his speed once in a while and because he is english.
Its not infuriating that we lost. Its dissapointing, and emberrasing.
we need to buy 3 players
CB- that ajax kid looks good and has height
dmf- yaya would be great if it werent for the cup
Gk- ochoa would be a good improvement and he wouldnt cost much
fact is its not that we need new strikers we have enough as it is, injuries aside
bendter can play
arshavin can play
persie can play
vela is a great sub lad needs more strength
heck even nasri can play as a striker
We were defeated from wining all seem like they were sleeping and not there or an added bit of a comedy a disaster but we came out with a point its the reality
Hope gas is all right
We seem to have lost imagination and convection from lack of confidence and fitness we need to breed in new enforcements to protect our team re igniting the magic and their spirits i am becoming to believe they cant do it on their own
I thought at first we won the match but that disallowed goal and the penalty and lack of imagination up front we really are lucky we came out with a point thank you god
As today draws to a close we look forward and continue our fight pick on our confidence and imagination and injured and try hard to fight another day and survive
If ochoa ever game to arsenal that would be grand lol
if ochoa ever left mexico that would be super duper grand!
I agree. Ochoa would be great at Arsenal. We could probably get him for less 10 million, and if we off load Almunia, the hit to Arsenals bank account would be even less.
We already have keepers at Arsenal.
They’re just not number one.
Fabianski, Szchezny….
Once again, no Vela. What is Wenger thinking? He seems to have all the patience in the world for Theo and Eduardo, but pulls the plug on Vela after one below par game. How is he suppose to build confidence and get sharper in front of goal when he plays one game and then is not even brought in as a sub in the next couple matches. And Almunia again? He’s just terrible and serious liability between the posts. I’d rather take my chances with the longer keepers we have.
what is wrong with AW??? vela in the bench again???, he should replace walcot with him in the second half after his lousy game of the first half.
come on, burnley ?? you gotta be kidding, we are so much talented, but i see no passion, what we need i don’t know and apparently neither AW
SAMIR NASRI DESERVE 8 FABER GAS DESPITE SCORING A GOAL HE WANTSALL THE PASSES FOR HIM SELF AND HE WANTS TO SCORE ALL THE GOALS AND IN THE PROSESS HE LOST THE OLD FABERGAS WE KNOW.
Pipl,
Dont you understand that with this squad, Arsenal are not TITLE CONTENDERS. It is an average team that has an arrogant manager, a financial machine, a second Ajax….etc
What we win, we win by luck, or due to outstanding skill of particular players, not of the whole team.
Lets wait next season, shall we? )
we still have some chance, it’s just the first half of the season and we are third
Very true Oswa 32 we have a chance am saying no more slip ups n January quality kèeper and Striker thats wats up
Not with this squad man, if we want to see smth. in January, AW should buy:
- CD
- CF
- MD
And all of three should be physically strong, not additional kids to the squad.
Cheers
I think we need to focus on suggestions on how to make this team tick, rather than calling for multiple re-enforcements. We have a large squad; to get players in, we have to off load and I don’t believe we need to do that.
No, we should off-load, start with the board.
(Lets wait next season, shall we? )
Next season Villa, Spurs and Mancity will improve because they will spend. Chelsea and Manu will also spend as they did not this season. Arsenal will not spend, but we may lose a top player as ussual every season: 2009 (Ade and Toure), 2008 (Flamini, Hleb), 2007 (Henry), 2006 (Reyes, Cole), 2005 (Viera). When we lose these players we do not replace them adequately because the attitude of the manager is that replacements are already in the squad or give a youngstrer the chance. For instance, if Fabregas goes in the summer (if he doesnt it will definitely be Arshavin), Fabregas’ replacement is already Ramsey, none of the £40 milliion will be spent! and even if some do get spent it will be on a £10 million midget who will get injured at the slightest touch. This manager has overstayed his welcome.
AW has taken the maximum from the players.there is no way that denilson,diabi,eduardo, eboye and walcott if he keep playing shit, will get better in the future,no chance wenger and u have to know thet.keep these players as second choises if u love them so much but please do not tell me they will bring us the title back.one more thing about theo, last year i was screaming and debating with my friends about his talent and how he will be a great player for arsenal and england,but watching him playing in the last games, was something terible, i can not explane to my self what a hell is going wrong with him.THEO U HAVE LET ME DOWN MATE,JUST SHOW ME I AM WRONG AND DO IT AT SUNDAY OR GO PLAY SOMEWHERE WHEN U CAN BE A STAR EVEN WHEN U PLAY SHIT, IN ARSENAL U HAVE TO PERFORM WELL VERY WELL TO BE A STAR,TILL NOW U ARE A STAR ONLY IN UR HEAD,(THATS WHY U DO NOT PLAY AS IN THE PAST) U WILL UNDERSTAND THAT AND VERY SOON U WILL ASK UR SELF WHERE DID THE APLAUSES AND MY NAME SCREAMING BY THE FANS HAS GONNE.
Lets be honest..we were lucky to come off with a point..true 25 mins..and beyond that was total disaster..!!
Almunia – he in my openion is the worst keeper ever to have taken up the arsenal jersey..his confidence is at an all time low and he is just like a disaster about to happen..no communication with his back line..wont come out to claim balls and was once at the brink of having a spat from gallas..and what was he doing when fletcher netted only to be disallowed due to offise..the ball went through under his hands..he is scary to say the list..
Sagna – crossing is suppose to be one of the strong points of a wing back..look at cashly!! his delivery into the box is poor..and his present form is no better..i would start eboue any day before him on present form..
Silvestre – credit where it is due..i thought he did a really wonderful job in the cup tie against ManC but then he is no left back and it was evident..was caught out of position too often..
Nasri- the english gme is more than slick flicks and tricks..switches off too often..hardly any defence splitting pass from the frenchman..hardly convincing..
Walcott- what has happened to the kid..he is going no where if he plays like this..forget South Africa..lennon is any day better than hm on current form..face it!! poor first touch..poor intelligence on the ball ..feel sorry for him!!
Eduardo – clearly suffering in his mind from his broken leg trauma..wont just go for one on ones..had atleast 2 chances to win it for us..sad..!! and a poor first touch..he is a poor mans version of RVP..!!
wenger- what the hell..how can some one be so nieve!! accept the face, not all of your young lads will make the cut..cause they are not good anough for a club like arsenal..not even denilson..!! reinforcement is required..atleast gt guys who cares for the badge…get Viera back if none else..why not yaya toure..he wants to move..and we need his versitility.. dont tell me that you dont want to block songs progress by doing tht..you might be a fatherly figure to these kids and want to give them the best but arsenal is no academy..they have to step up or else move on…get a decent strong striker..some one like Dzeko or Gignac..bendtner will develop that dosent mean that we will wait for ages..you have money wenger..spend the money you got from ManC..else we are going down..Villa, Spuds and Mancare catching up and how fast!!
Chris, you are so generous to give your time to rate this game, i mean except the usual top gunner, Alex. I wonder what the problem is. It is so natural i think if i somehow feel my trust on Wenger degrading.After all, he is human and like any human he is susceptible to make mistakes. Hope this time, his mistakes wont cost us another year with empty trophy, and for those paying to watch the game from the stadium, empty pocket with no opportunity cost to compensate for it.
Wenger degrading? no
I believe these players perform very well in training.
They are failing to translate that form in games.
These players are paid to perform in games, by the looks of things they are not earning it, and the manager is ultimately responsible, he should spend to bring in what is needed.
Chris, maybe if you discussed at least a LITTLE of the positives of Sundays game, instead of dedicating the entire piece to the negatives bar the passing comment of “the second half was better” and putting the win solely down to good fortune, people would not take you as such a pessimist. Constructive criticism is important, very interesting to read and without it any blog would be worthless but by completely ignoring any good points (and there were a few), you fail to be fair and balanced.
It is not much better than the cheery, naive, “its gonna be all good just wait and see!!!” blogs that are out there.
Regarding your ratings today, I agree 100%. They’re spot on.
Thing is Eduardo was actually better at the start of the season than he is now, and seems to have sumped after his more recent injury. Eventually one of Vela, Walcott or Eduardo will improve, but when is anybodies guess and right now it is hurting us. How good they will actually be is also the other unknown. The scariest thing is that even when Bendtner gets back, he will have missed so much playing time he will need a good month or two to regain full ftiness.
Almunia’s is in the same boat as those I mentioned. His from will imrpove, but who knows when, and will he ever be good enough (I dont think so).
As for the game, I could accept one half of well below par performance at Anfield, but 70 minutes of crapness at Burnley was too much. No matter how good theyre home form is this season, they are still Burnley and we should have done far, far better.
Yes mate, maybe you’re right but can’t you see how appropriate your first and last paragraphs are?
After Sunday, no, I didn’t feel like pinpointing the positives, for the very simple reason that I know that focusing on the positives after lucky or not-so-convincing wins is something I read over and over again last season. Even when we clearly had no more chance of winning the title, the “optimistic” kept on going how, well, just as you said, its “gonna be all good just wait and see!!!”.
In your conclusion, when you say this was Burnley we were playing against, in a way you’re saying that after Liverpool, the players had to sit down and talk to try and understand what went wrong in those first 45 minutes at Anfield rather than celebrating the win. And blogs, ironically, are very similar. I am not pessimistic, I am realistic and realistic I was after Liverpool when I wrote that if Sunday’s problems are not addressed, on Wednesday we may slip.
Believe me beatup, I would be driven crazy if I had to care about what people think of my post-match articles. I know that many look at me as a pessimistic figure in the Arsenal blogosphere but you know what? On Sunday, hundreds of comments were from people asking me why I’m not happy for the 2nd half, why I prefer to focus on the first half.
Maybe Burnley provided the answer.
I agree with BeatUp.
You were overtly persimistic and that does not make for a constructive crticism.
Good to keep a balanced head on the proceedings.
Chris you are SPOT on mate, keep it real, we have enough supporters thinking everything is fine while wenger happily goes on with this madness, in the end it will do us no good.
This is not journalism or a phd research where we have to balance our comments for the sake of objectivity (heck! most journalists do not even follow there creed).
Everyone that has a passion for Arsenal, whether they are fans, players or shareholders should see where the problems are with this manager, and address them. You cannot write in a balanced way when year in year out the same problems about Arsenal football club are never addressed. Until these problems are addressed we will not be happy. Central to this is the managers reluctance to spend, because he does not want to kill the kids, and the board seeing the lack of spending as a means of saving money at Arsenal. Monsiur Wenger has become a spin doctor for the board, that he takes most Arsenal fans for a ride, by making us believe we can win the premiership with some of the rubbish players that play for us week in and week out.
The people holding this current side from oblivion are the 2 centre backs, Song, Arshavin, RVP (now gone for the rest of the season) and Fabregas. What happened to the other 5 players ? yet this man is only thinking of buying a striker come January ! and yet he is not even sure if he should !
Objectivity is what sperates good writing from bad, no matter what purpose the writing is for – newspaper article/thesis/blog.
As I said, a wholely pessimistic piece is not much better than a wholely naive, positive piece.
As for Wenger, I feel he has earned the right to experiment with his little project. It was him who made our club one of the biggest clubs in Europe and put it in such a good financial positition. Not the board, not one sugar daddy owner, it was Wenger.
Thats why I am being patient.
So long as we continue to pay off the stadium, breed young talent and maintain a top four finish I am happy. You can blame Wenger for being a dreamer, or looking too far into the future, but what he is doing is to the benefit of Arsenal Football Club.
I look at Lioverpool and see what many of what our fans are asking for. New owners, new manager, big name players. Well sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. When it doesnt it can fail horribly, but you already know of Newcastle and Leeds. If Liverpool miss out on a top four they could be in the same boat as them.
Tottenham and Aston Villa have new owners and are spending big but they are still no where. Man City will probably be up there but how many multi billionaire investors are out there? Chelsea did well for a couple of seasons but are really not much better than us.
And NONE of these clubs have a stadium to pay off!!!
Wengers five year project is coming to an end after this season. He earned the right for his project, it very almost worked, and may well have if it weren’t for an epic run of injuries. Im glad he tried TBH. It has made us strong financially and the future looks very bright.
But now the Highbury square project is starting to take off. We are stronger financially and the five years is up. I would expect a couple of new signings in June. Not crazy shit like Villa, but two or three quality signings.
Lets wait and see.
I didnt mention the positives of the Burnley game because I dont blog, and try to keep my posts as short as possible (admitedly with little success). For 20 minutes there though we were playing the kind of football that almost makes my nature hard… It was a joy to watch.
For me, even a great football team – the best – will play well and poorly during the same season, even the same match. Its just natural for that to happen. I dont expect any team to perform well every game, and hence when Arsenal play poorly or slip up on occasion I dont get too upset.
Basically mine and your bars are set at a different level.
I feel for a blogger to be truly balanced, they shouldn’t focus ONLY on either side. It is possible to write a critical article of a teams performance, but also mention what went right.
I realise you have been doing this for a while, and are tired of the dissapointment. But personaly I feel that shouldn’t be an excuse for not telling the whole story.
I agree with most of your analysis!!
However lets stay possitive and try to get behind the team!!!
Imagine if all the season ticket holders only look at the negatives as you do…..
It will create an edgy atmosphere and it will add pressure to the team, especially at those games where we do not get that early goal!!
And by the way your analysis on the liverpool game was very inapropriate (not pessimistic)!!!
It is like you are on a crusade against someone (Mr Wenger perhaps?).
STOP DIVIDING THE FANS
A true fan is a fan that gets behind the team whatever happens and only lets rip at the end of a season and not slate his team during the season with every chance he gets.
Think about it you are even worse than the press.( atleast they only slate us when we lose. You do it win or lose)
“Imagine if all the season ticket holders only look at the negatives as you do…..”
In that case, maybe we wouldn’t have gone trophyless for four straight seasons.
I’m not “crusading” against anyone, I’m just realistic. If you’re one of those who “gets behind the team” no matter what even when they don’t show heart and fighting spirit, then no wonder you want to look at the positives after witnessing what I did this season, away from home.
Finally, let me say something on the “You do it win or lose”. Imagine you’re in an airport and a suicide bomber gets in, triggers the bomb but luckily it doesn’t explode. Would you spend your time thanking the Lord for being so lucky to still be alive or you question the security, wondering why on earth that individual was allowed to get freely in the airport and that the next time it happens you may not be so lucky?
People determined enough to set off explosions in public will do so regardless….
well my friend i am not a liverpool fan to sing for them even when they get beaten 6-3 at their home, ok? i am a gooner who want the best for the Arsenal FC, who want the glory days when everybody was scared from us. i just can not belive denilson and co will bring us any tittle any CL cup, this is the truth mate and we just want to know what is going wrong and which is the problem here- we don’t have money and we have to play for the 4 th place or the problem is the strategy of the youth players that wenger doesn’t want to fail ? if the problem has to be with money then please let that russian billionaire to take over the club and lets get some money from him. now u will say he will put us in a dangerous situation with many debt etc, but i am a fan and i don’t wanna know about these problems i just have seen that till now nothing has happened to man united and cheski, yes in fact something has happened, man united won the tittle for the 3rd time in a row.
Unlucky game arsenal just played against a team who have a immense home record .We have gained 4 points out of 2 away games. Looking at our away form this is not the worst
Chelsea look terrible just about ganing 3 pts from portsmouth when they did not look like threatning at all. at that was are home (There dropping points as fast as almunia dropping his form)).
If arsenal win there game in hand then they will only be 2 pts behind manu and 5 against chelsea while playing the hardest fixtures ( we ahve played the most away games)
So we are i na very strong postition especially with A.f.c for chelsea and our players ganing expierence with probz another striker comin in ,..
If wenger does’t make some changes or transfers I can say that this season will be a season of recovering the players…the injured ones,the out-of-form ones and more chances for the young ones…I think he already realized that and he will not make those changes…I’m afraid that from this moment we should expect the worse…I don’t believe some of them will recover
I think that one of the reasons we struggle is because we don’t play with the same team..We are forced to improvise in every game and rotate.The only advantage from man utd and chelsea for being in front right now is because they play with the same eleven from a long time and they know each other perfectly.We sold a lot of good players, changed a hole midfield,we changed the striker and yet we didn’t managed to find a balance.
How come so many injuries?? Do we have good medical staff ?? I refuse to believe that so many injuries are from bad luck..Come on..more than half a team and this is going from more than last season… I don’t know what’ happening but things look very bad right now and even worse later..I’m very dissapointed and frustrated because we started the season so well…
There are so many things to fix… I just hope wenger realize those things one day…
Since cesc is out walcott and eduardo are out of form maybe jack and vela will start on sunday…
yes, why the hell there is only arsenal that after every game, i swear, every game we lost one or two players. can u imagine any game with our stronge team in the pitch? i can’t.wenger has to explain if the problem is with the players or medical staff.
I totally agree with your comments Pavel…
The fact is that there is no competitions for first team place at Arsenal… And it is a dangerous fact,because they get comfortable (ex: Walcott) and they do not produce…
Some fans here are surprise with the harshness toward Walcott, Edouardo or Diaby…
I mean, Walcott and Edouardo just signed long term contracts! Why is that???
Walcott has not achieved or showed if he is worth the 12 millions of his transfer (what a joke!) and Edouardo is obviously not going to find his form again (we might get sparkles of brightness like Walcott but that’s about it)….
Song,our best player (Fabregas would not be able to do what he does if he did not have an excellent defensive mid behind him), will be gone in January! What happens after that? Ohhh yes,Denilson and Diaby can fill the position (like some comments I have red)! Please don’t make me laugh,I am serious….!!!
AW is waiting for Bendtner to be fit,why? Bendtner is not the solution to the problems (I think he is a Coca Cola championship level player,personnally)…
We have commented a lot about the subject of recruitment, he might bring someone and be a flop ,but the fact is that we do not have leaders or strong personalities in the squad… As an example,someone like Walcott,Diaby,Denilson,Edouardo and Alumnia would have not even dream of playing in the Arsenal team of 5 years ago.
Alumnia is not in his comfort zone and it shows… Mannone should be first choice (italy always produce great keeper)…
What are the solutions? Well I have few ideas,but there is no point because AW has set his mind on the fantasy that he can win trophies with a bunch of kids… Well not in this world…
Absolutely agree. It drives me nuts when i see AW saying he has full confidence in Almunia. What a joke!
I believe the following players contribute to Arsenal’s weak performance lately:
Denilson, Rocisky, Eduardo – I don’t think they will ever improve
Walcott, Bentner, Vela need to be in reserves team. They are not ready for the first team spot.
Nasri – Not used to the pace of English championship, although had enough time to adapt.
Diaby – will probably get better.
i disagree with you there mate
bendter and vela would make great subs
walcott would be lucky to start at the reserves
belive me bendnder will be a very good player cos he fights for the club and for the starting 11 in every game even when he is not good at least he gives everything in the pitch, and i have to admire he is the only young player in our club that has improved.
chris, welldone for the good job on this site and the fans comments too. how i wish the manager,his crew and the players read these comments once in a while.keep up the good job.gooners 4 lyf!!
These comment’s are really a disgrace
denilson, walcot amd bendther are so young they have 5-6 years to improve!
No player’s are consistent at that age this is why wenger is playing to improve them.
Look at song his is spectacular right now compared to last year
I can only agree with almunia as he is really low on confidence right at this time
Arsenal are in a v ery strong position playing a majority of away games and only 5pts behind chelsea if we win our game in hand and btw chelsea played united and liverpool at home if not they could of dropped 3pts.
Wait till we buy maybe one more replacement for rvp and our players gain more expeirence this year i think we are 100 percent still in the title race.
There seems to be a general consensus that Almunia isn’t up to the required standard at the moment. He actually had a pretty decent season in 08-09, but I agree that this year he hasn’t inspired any confidence at all. My feeling is that Wenger would have liked to have blooded Fabianski already, but his injury at the start of the season meant that Mannone filled in when Almunia was out.
As much as Mannone had a good game against Fulham, I don’t think he is a first-team goalkeeper yet. And at the moment, neither is Almunia. However, it takes a real leap of faith to change a goalkeeper. It just isn’t something you can do gradually, or subtly. For whatever reason I don’t think Wenger is willing to draw that ‘line in the sand’ and replace Almunia with either Fabianski or another goalkeeper. The result is that the club is treading water between the sticks. And that is just not going to work.
With Eduardo, people forget that for the first few months of his debut season, Eduardo didn’t play that well at all- but he still scored goals. It was only from about January until the leg break that he made a more substantial contribution. For this reason, I think there’s still a good chance he will come back strongly. The trouble is that now even his finishing seems to be off, so he’s offering very little to the team at all.
As for Walcott… I’ve yet to see anything that suggests he is more than a good substitute. He needs an injury-free year to prove his mettle.
One year maybe two but for all i know it is not to soon at all until arsenal dominate the League.
As i say 5pts behind chelsea whilst playing the most away games not bad ey?
These comment’s are really a disgrace
denilson, walcot amd bendther are so young they have 5-6 years to improve!
Mate,
We waited for a 1-2 years to see Song become a spectacular player. Now, we need to wait for another 5-6 years to see denilson walcott and bendthner all mature. Well, that’s my point: how long should we wait?
I don’t blame kids, I just blame the club management. Arsenal is bringing up new talents for other clubs.
Fabregas 8???: Burnley tied the game bc of Fabregas. If you can go back and look at the play you’ll know why. He only played 40 minutes… ridiculous rating.
Fabregas’ importance to Arsenal, present and future, couldn’t be more clearly demonstrated than by his withdrawal from the Burnley game. Equally clear is that Ramsey isn’t nearly ready as Cesc’s replacement.
For what was a spry start to the game thanks to Cesc’s early goal and spirited play, all went downhill in his absence in second half, a harbinger of things to come if he is absent for any length of time, or should he ever leave Arsenal. Fabregas is, in a word, irreplaceable. Without him the team is a sputtering unit without spark or imagination. Whatever Ramsey’s potential, presently he’s far from a finished product, as Cesc was at that age, and whose vision and delivery are far removed from prime time. Will Cesc leave after this season? For all of Barcelona’s continued undermining, it’s unlikely if for not other reason he won’t displace Iniesta or Xavi from the line-up and would spend too much time watching from the bench. Cesc is too good, too used to playing and too used to his role as team captain to settle for a reserve role at Barcelona. No Fabregas will stay. Particularly if, after Wenger eventually retires, Pep Guardiola, succeeds Wenger at Arsenal, something entirely likely.
At present, though, based on the Burnley game, Arsenal lack the consistency, depth and grit to win the league. Indeed, based on present form they should barely make the top four, with Villa and the Spurs on Arsenal’s heels and closing. The Champion’s League outlook is not better.
According to reports, during his half time rant against Liverpool, Wenger accused his team of being unworthy to wear the Arsenal shirt. In some instances he is right. Among them:
Almunia: A good keeper must control his penalty area, inspire confidence in team mates and intimidate opponents. Almunia does none of these. Tentative, shaky, he appears a bundle of raw nerves prone regularly to grievous lapses of judgment.
Wolcott: Time and again against Burnley he misread play and his head seemed not be be into the game. Slight of build and easily separated from the ball by opponents of any size, a lack of concentration and self-confidence, a lack of desire, perhaps even lacking the necessary skill level, by any measure Wolcott does not merit starting. Perhaps Eboue is due for a run in place of Walcott?
Eduardo: for last year’s horror injury he deserves all our sympathy and admiration for his rehabilitation. Clearly though, Eduardo’s a shell and shadow of his former self. Pace, power, poaching, guile, are missing. Something’s missing and may never return. A true pity.
Hardly world beaters, Burnley pressured Arsenal’s back four throughout. The run of consecutive games are beginning to tell on Gallas and Vermaelen, with both of them looking physically and mentally exhausted, and without adequate cover/depth for either one.
Another Iron Man, Arshavin also could benefit from a rest from consecutive games. Small wonder, playing out of position and not 100% fit, too much is being placed on his shoulders/at his feet.
After years of Wenger’s parsimony, Arsenal’s glaring weakness, lack of depth, has been revealed. No January shopping spree, however unlikely, will make up for the team’s glaring positional and size deficiencies. For now, what you see is what you get which, unfortunately, isn’t nearly good enough.
It was an awful game……..even worst than Sunderland. The only think that’s left is to see how they play against Hull.
Like Arsene Wenger, I saw nothing, i heard nothing and I don’t even know the score of the Burnley, Sunderland and West Ham away games. I still think we showed our “mental strength and courage” but, what we really need to show clearly enough is the ability to score. what happened?. When will the team start scoring again?, nobody is stopping them except themselves!, even against Chelsea when everybody sang about how strong Chelsea defense was, I clearly saw at least 3 chances that Chelsea defense was beaten, at least one of them went in only for referee’s jealousy to overrule it but when will Arsenal players ever realise that if you don’t shoot, you don’t score?. Would it really hurt them if they hit from a distance?, Denilson has done it twice already and it has worked out well enough, also Arshavin, Bendtner, Fabregas & Nasri, funny enough, only one of those is injured, so we can’t blame injuries, everything happens in an Arsenal game and they open defenses more times than anybody in the premier league (and probably more than anybody in Europe) but, Why can’t they ever shoot?!. I prefer to blame Arsene Wenger, i don’t think he trains them to shoot and he does’t even train them how to take free kicks and until he does, there is no trophy for us, it’s that simple, We don’t even need to sign any new players if they will come to go through the same training, they won’t make any difference. I always agree with Arsene Wenger on everything except taking specifically born fullbacks as centre backs and thinking you can win anything if you don’t shoot from a distance and you don’t take advantage of free kicks because you simply can’t!. During that unbeaten run, I know he would hate to admit it but, It was long range efforts by Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp, Edu, Pires e.t.c that won that title and not just pretty “walking the ball into the net” techniques.
burnley i mean: burnley! i had definitely expected a better show frm the gunners
a draw against burnley! huh! this is frustratin!
but the more worryin part is we’ve got captain fab on the injury list! he’s out for 8 to 10 days only but the gunners r nuffin without him….no van persie no fabregas no bendtner…..wat a world class team we’ll have!