Swansea away.

As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
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1989
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by 1989 »

You have to love this boy:

Image

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augie
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by augie »

Didn't see or hear any of the game yesterday so my only info on the game comes from what I read on here last night and this morning. From what I am reading it seems that it was another déjà vu day at the office for modern day AFC but that two late goals got us out of jail. Ordinarily getting 3pts when playing badly is like a badge of honour but unfortunately this team invariably plays bad and loses as often as it plays badly and wins :(

Funny team selection yesterday - you would think that wenker would either pick the same team as bayern game (with exception of Monreal for Gibbs who who be tired after a spell out) or you would think that he might return chesney and tv5 to starting line up but to make changes and still leave them on the line is sending them a very strong message imo. By all accounts the object of Steve o's obsession (diaby) had another 'mare although his favourite centre forward was similarly shite too :lol: :lol:

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highburyJD
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by highburyJD »

I'm the opposite of Augie - I did see the game but haven't read this thread
(just imagining a world where my only source of Arseinfo was this forum - would be horrific
Augs just to be clear, we won, never looked like conceding, dominated possession at possibly the hardest place in the league to do that, stay in touch for our 'virtual trophy', are pretty safe from relegation and things went well
I think it's important people who miss the games consider multiple media sources for their info...
there'll be a spate of Gooners under buses if they believed everything they read here!)

The game started with a lot in common with the Bayern performance - good front foot defending but a failure to retain posession. Even though Swansea dominated the ball in the first 10/15 we had the best chances
both Ox: early from the left cutting inside/bumbling past Rangel,
the other central, time a nice swerving hit from range after a Cazorla dribble
both shots clipped he top of the bar
early on I thought Ox looked a real threat out there
but as the game went on seemed he had to come inside in search for the ball
I think it was possibly Laudrup rejigged something rather than a Wenger choice
but as Ox got narrower Nacho was, in an attacking sense, in the game more - obviously that got us our first goal

Michu had a couple of shots (one was ruled offside) but we limited their threat very well
don't remember Flappy ever looking troubled, as the 1st half progressed Tets and Santi started to dominate
and we were the team calmly keeping the ball.
Diaby had a frustrating time, almost Hleb-like: his first touch normally made him space
he would shift the ball in directions the opposition didn't expect
I kept thinking his transitions looked dangerous and capable of opening Swansea up
but his refusal to move the ball early, and poor passing when he did, made any positives redundant
it was an, ultimately futile, glimpse of the good things he must do it training
and a real game illustration of those skills not being properly applied to a match

good first half - after HT Nacho and Jenks pushed on more and more,
Rambo and Gervinho came on,
picture wasn't the greatest in the pub I watched it in - couldn't always tell who was Tets and who was Rambo
Laudrup also made his team progressively more attacking, defenders got forward
he subbed a solid midfielder (Ki or DeGuz cant remember) for a third creative player: Routledge,
Hernandez and Dyer had created flashes of danger but we had dominated the ball sufficiently they struggled to make their mark
in tactical terms Wenger definitely won - that formation change for Swansea didn't work
they were pushed forward, Giroud created a nice counter by feeding fresh-legged Rambo
Rambo shifted the ball inside for unmarked also fresh Gervinho (maybe a bit behind him)
who slotted past Vorm (maybe saveable) killing the game

Laudrup then bought on another striker - also failed to work,
we kept the ball nicely and took a deserved three points

again strategic and tactical dominance from our manager against a good opponent
again excellent front foot full team defending gave us a clean sheet and
again we won 2-0 away

hope we have as many déjà vu days like this as possible...

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RocastleRock
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by RocastleRock »

Lads you would have been proud. Got corporate tickets for this one through work me and a mate, went mental when we scored! upset afew welsh furr coats let me tell ya.

The filthy looks we got were priceless!!

:barscarf:

Bumped into one of the Gooner sellers on the way out, way after the game.. Not quite sure what he was doing there that late.

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northbank123
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by northbank123 »

Depends what you mean by "dominating possession" JD when you say it's one of the hardest places to do it? If you're talking purely about stats then we only had 52%. If you're talking about having far more of the ball in better areas etc (which we did) then I don't think Swansea is one of the hardest places to do that - I rarely see them 'dominate' decent-good sides at home, they just do like they did yesterday which is pass it round the back for ages and then hack it clear anywhere when closed down well.

Agree that it was a good performance defensively and at the end of the day 2-0 is a very good result and it wasn't really unmerited. Just very worrying that despite having by far the better of the game we looked sterile for most of the game and in the absence of Wilshere it was only when Santi beat one or two men and cut the ball back brilliantly that we scored.

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highburyJD
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by highburyJD »

northbank123 wrote:Depends what you mean by "dominating possession" JD when you say it's one of the hardest places to do it? If you're talking purely about stats then we only had 52%.
after 20 mins they 68%
guess the big swing for last 3/4s made it feel even more pronounced

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begeegs
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by begeegs »

augie wrote:Didn't see or hear any of the game yesterday so my only info on the game comes from what I read on here last night and this morning. From what I am reading it seems that it was another déjà vu day at the office for modern day AFC but that two late goals got us out of jail. Ordinarily getting 3pts when playing badly is like a badge of honour but unfortunately this team invariably plays bad and loses as often as it plays badly and wins :(

Funny team selection yesterday - you would think that wenker would either pick the same team as bayern game (with exception of Monreal for Gibbs who who be tired after a spell out) or you would think that he might return chesney and tv5 to starting line up but to make changes and still leave them on the line is sending them a very strong message imo. By all accounts the object of Steve o's obsession (diaby) had another 'mare although his favourite centre forward was similarly shite too :lol: :lol:
Augie - it was a stingy performance from us. Some of it was from the Bayern game, but we weren't consistent in the pressing element, but maybe that is as good as we will get with that. Overall, we gave them one chance and Michu missed by about 2-3 feet. Had it been on target, it would have scored as it wrong footed Fabianski.

Diaby was decent at times, but he does slow play down too much. Great dribbler, but too indecisive on the ball. Once Rambo came on, we were quicker with the passing. Gervinho had a very good cameo as well. Os played well. Theo was pretty anonymous. The defense was good again. I still would like us to buy that proper defensive midfielder now.

Overall, I was happy with the performance. We had the better chances and deserved to win.

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g88ner
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by g88ner »

highburyJD wrote:I'm the opposite of Augie - I did see the game but haven't read this thread
(just imagining a world where my only source of Arseinfo was this forum - would be horrific
:suicide: :lol:
highburyJD wrote: Augs just to be clear, we won, never looked like conceding, dominated possession at possibly the hardest place in the league to do that, stay in touch for our 'virtual trophy', are pretty safe from relegation and things went well
I think it's important people who miss the games consider multiple media sources for their info...
there'll be a spate of Gooners under buses if they believed everything they read here!)
Michu has a very presentable chance! - he swiveled and dragged it wide, but it really should have nestled in the corner. Fabianski was rooted to the spot, so if he had kept it between the posts (which a guy of his quality probably should have) then it was a certain goal.

I also thought Rangel had a decent chance when they carved us open following a superb passing move.

We were let off the hook with those chances, but yes, after that we gained far more control of the game and - for me - there was only one team looking likely to win it, and that was Arsenal. That said, it was far from looking certain that we would make the breakthrough, as despite our possession, we rarely threatened their goal. After we scored, it became easier to look for a second, as you'd expect.

Huge win and it's almost as if they've finally cottoned on to the benefit of working hard and defending as a team. :? - still a lack of quality, but that can't be addressed until the summer, so lets hope this lot can drag us over the virtual trophy line! :barscarf:

Rosie_titters
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by Rosie_titters »

1989 wrote:You have to love this boy:

Image

yeah, i hope this lad develops in to a top right back, and become an Arsenal Ledge, you could see after the Bayern game how much it meant to him, and he look emotionally upset

Top lad, we could do with another 8 or 9 of him at the club, who plays for the shirt

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highburyJD
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by highburyJD »

g88ner wrote:
highburyJD wrote:never looked like conceding
Michu has a very presentable chance! - he swiveled and dragged it wide, but it really should have nestled in the corner. Fabianski was rooted to the spot, so if he had kept it between the posts (which a guy of his quality probably should have) then it was a certain goal.

I also thought Rangel had a decent chance when they carved us open following a superb passing move.
they did have those two chances, I just never felt they would score
also felt sure Gervinho would miss... and Downing v Sperz...
the 'feeling' thing obviously isn't exactly 100%
but you know what I mean,
when the Swans got their two late goals at the Grove none of us were exactly surprised
it had been in the post

LDB
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by LDB »

Really good performance. The kind of solid display that I've been craving from an Arsenal team for quite some time.

Cazorla our stand out performer but honorable mentions for pretty much the whole team apart from Walcott and Giroud who I thought were poor. Jenkinson is such an athlete, if he can stop his habit of playing in-field passes in dangerous areas then he's well on his way to being one of the most reliable right backs in the league. Typical Diaby performance, beat players with an outrageous piece of skill and then give the ball away.

Isn't it funny how Mertesacker is suddenly not such a donkey when we actually take a team approach to defending and not leave him stranded trying to defend the half way line?

Good to go into an interlull with 3 big points :barscarf:

officepest
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by officepest »

LDB wrote:Really good performance. The kind of solid display that I've been craving from an Arsenal team for quite some time.

Cazorla our stand out performer but honorable mentions for pretty much the whole team apart from Walcott and Giroud who I thought were poor. Jenkinson is such an athlete, if he can stop his habit of playing in-field passes in dangerous areas then he's well on his way to being one of the most reliable right backs in the league. Typical Diaby performance, beat players with an outrageous piece of skill and then give the ball away.

Isn't it funny how Mertesacker is suddenly not such a donkey when we actually take a team approach to defending and not leave him stranded trying to defend the half way line?

Good to go into an interlull with 3 big points :barscarf:
Agree with this, he has his faults but reads the game & distributes well. It'll all come crashing down at some point but IF they were properly coached there is the making of an OK defence at the club.

We are not the Netherlands circa '74 and cannot play total football so I would love to see how good we could be with proper coaching staff undertaking position-specific drills with the players.

Won't happen though.

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Eboue-Why?
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by Eboue-Why? »

Rosie_titters wrote:
1989 wrote:You have to love this boy:

Image

yeah, i hope this lad develops in to a top right back, and become an Arsenal Ledge, you could see after the Bayern game how much it meant to him, and he look emotionally upset

Top lad, we could do with another 8 or 9 of him at the club, who plays for the shirt
Arsenal through and through. Imagine how he'll feel when we get a song going for him :barscarf:

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highburyJD
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by highburyJD »

so true - we need a good one for Corporal Jenks
be nice if it was something relatively original.

hearing some great songs from the Barmy Army in NewZealand
(aware of the irony that I'm basically suggesting nicking cricket songs whilst asking for originality...)

clockender1
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Re: Swansea away.

Post by clockender1 »

Not at all original but - we love you jenko cos you've got spiky hair, we love you jenko cos you're everywhere and you're Arsenal through and through. .... Is at least a stop gap...

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