Ballmouth (A) 25/11 @ 13:30

[Ray C]

Lucky Arsenal again. If we could learn to keep our heads OVER the ball when we shoot we may not have needed the luck. We roll on with another 3 points and we'll play a lot better than this at sometime during the year and get flogged 1-0. Scum to come, can't wait!.

[SydneyGooner]

Eddie Howe has to be given consideration as one of the best managers in the game right now. That story is just remarkable.

[1989]

He's a legend. Best English manager about by a country mile as well.

[DB10GOONER]

Comedy Iwobi was fucking utter utter fucking garbage. Trotted about contributing fuck all, lost possession continuously, and almost every stupid slow motion step over ended with fuck all end product beyond turning round and passing it back to the wing back. He did one thing right - the ball in behind their defence that led to our 2nd goal but let's not go all wet schoolgirl with a wide-on here ffs there was a 20 metre gap between their defenders. He could have driven a bus into that gap. A good pass with good weight but nothing more.

Similarly Mickey Tarragon was total dogshit. He offers nothing his shooting passing and ball retention are that bad. I agree with augie 100% at least though he tried to be disciplined and keep shape and get back when they hit us on the counter whereas the fat fucking useless Comedy Iwobi didn't bother his fat fucking hole. A basic tenet of football is if you are having a mare at least do the basic things right and at least Mickey Tarragon tried to do that.

I thought Boomerang and Torriera were both very poor particularly in the first half. Torreira was just pissing possession away often under no pressure. Xhaka is Xhaka a moron with no brain but the odd great free kick.

Interesting that again without Ozil on the pitch we created nearly nothing from midfield. But then maybe Dick dropped him to let him know who the boss is after his strop at being subbed. If Dick did that then fair fucks to him. No player is bigger than the team. Hopefully lesson learned for Ozil but we have no real creative force in midfield without him. Certainly Mickey Tarragon and Comedy Iwobi and the Welsh Messi-Lite will never fill that role.

Defensively we are a mess still. Mustafalaugh is a walking car crash. Sokratis looks to wrestle too often and is a red waiting to happen. Bellend needs to Jack in the football and fuck off with his cute little ponytail and be a model or whatever the fuck he is into. Holding is the conundrum to me. Sometimes he looks really decent other times he looks useless. We need a really good defensive coach in there.

Leno did well and pulled off a couple of decent saves thank fuck.

It's a decent away win compared to the loss there last season but I really fear better teams are going to punish our defence and that might break the frail confidence Dick has built.

[DB10GOONER]

Eddie Howe has to be given consideration as one of the best managers in the game right now. That story is just remarkable.

Post a link or a credit to the writer of that piece or I have to delete it mate.

[rodders999]

Your star player on 350 grand a week can’t be trusted away at Bournemouth because the game was deemed too physical for him despite Bournemouth not being a physical side and there not being a single tackle worthy of the name in the game.

That is a massive issue you got on your hands there.

[augie]

Your star player on 350 grand a week can’t be trusted away at Bournemouth because the game was deemed too physical for him despite Bournemouth not being a physical side and there not being a single tackle worthy of the name in the game.

That is a massive issue you got on your hands there.

I dont think that it was a physiciality issue per se, I think that it was more an expected lack of space in the area's that ozil likes - tbf to emery I think that he was bang on with that call, cos their pitch seems to be quite small and congested all the time, and it would not have suited ozil one jot imo.

[rodders999]

Your star player on 350 grand a week can’t be trusted away at Bournemouth because the game was deemed too physical for him despite Bournemouth not being a physical side and there not being a single tackle worthy of the name in the game.

That is a massive issue you got on your hands there.

I dont think that it was a physiciality issue per se, I think that it was more an expected lack of space in the area's that ozil likes - tbf to emery I think that he was bang on with that call, cos their pitch seems to be quite small and congested all the time, and it would not have suited ozil one jot imo.

But Emery specifically mentioned the physical aspect of the game when asked why Ozil didn't play -

We thought how we can be better in the match today which is very demanding with the physicality and the intensity

Anyway it doesn't matter, if it's too physical you can't play him, not enough space you can't play him - we've often spoke here about whether you can play him away to the big teams because he doesn't show up.

So when can you play him? And why have we a player on 350 grand a week that can only play under the prefect conditions? I'm calling him Goldilocks from now on - the porridge can't be too hot and it can't be too cold - it has to be just right.

We can ill afford that kind of luxury.

[Henry Norris 1913]

leno has already saved us more points than helmet has in his whole 3 seasons at the club

[StanKroenke'sWig]

Scrappy but 3 points and seventeen games without a loss.

Very tough place to go and win the days down Bournemouth, so very pleased to get a win down there.

Onwards

[Perryashburtongroves]

leno has already saved us more points than helmet has in his whole 3 seasons at the club

And he doesn't look like a massive fucking twat every time he plays. I fucking can't stand Cech in fact him and Silvestre the only players I've ever truly despised whislt at the club. There have been some fucking idiots and useless crap such as Gervinho, Jimmy Carter, Eboue, Chamakh and others but it's actually annoyed the fuck out of me to see Cech and Silvestre playing for Arsenal.

[augie]

Your star player on 350 grand a week can’t be trusted away at Bournemouth because the game was deemed too physical for him despite Bournemouth not being a physical side and there not being a single tackle worthy of the name in the game.

That is a massive issue you got on your hands there.

I dont think that it was a physiciality issue per se, I think that it was more an expected lack of space in the area's that ozil likes - tbf to emery I think that he was bang on with that call, cos their pitch seems to be quite small and congested all the time, and it would not have suited ozil one jot imo.

But Emery specifically mentioned the physical aspect of the game when asked why Ozil didn't play -

We thought how we can be better in the match today which is very demanding with the physicality and the intensity

Anyway it doesn't matter, if it's too physical you can't play him, not enough space you can't play him - we've often spoke here about whether you can play him away to the big teams because he doesn't show up.

So when can you play him? And why have we a player on 350 grand a week that can only play under the prefect conditions? I'm calling him Goldilocks from now on - the porridge can't be too hot and it can't be too cold - it has to be just right.

We can ill afford that kind of luxury.

Not disagreeing with you at all rodders

Really when you step back and analyse it from a detatched perspective, it is amazing that we are as close to top 4 as we are We have a good keeper, 1 good defender (sokratis), two good midfielders (torreira and the dozi), and two hit and miss strikers (excellent on their day, but sonogo on their off days). We have holding who still hasnt convinced, three full backs who wont defend (yesterdays and monreal), xhaka who makes far too many mistakes for this level, and ozil who varies from world class (rarely) to good (sometimes) to downright awful. We are supplementing them with shit/average players (mikki, iwobi, mustafi) and players that are on their way out the door (kos, ramsey, helmet head and wellshit). Of course we have young players like maitland-niles, smith-rowe, nketieh and the returning nelson, but it might be too early to depend on them.
This team and squad still needs a serious influx of proven talent despite our results so far this season, and right now we all need to be aware of that fact

[GTG]

I honestly didn't appreciate just how tight their ground and pitch is until yesterday.... it literally felt like we were on the pitch with them.

It highlights a lack of concentration in our team when at one point Bellerin was right next to us leaving his man completely free and the guy next to me shouted "Hector mark your man ffs" and looking startled he got back into position. It literally took someone from the away end to wake him up.

I honestly didnt think we played that badly yesterday given the players we have on the pitch. We all know Mikki and Iwobi are never going to cut it at a supposed big club like ours but I thought Iwobi got into some lovely positions coming inside and he was helping to stretch Bournemouth quite a lot. I was really pissed off with his lack of effort tracking back second half though.... thats the first time under Emery i've really seen his Laziness.

It was a real struggle in the first part of the match but it seemed to be mainly due to the team getting used to the formation change weirdly, which you'd imagine was worked on all week and there was no space at all. After that I thought we got to grips with them game pretty well for the most part.

There were a few hairy moments but I thought we deserved the win.

Like everyone else I worry about us next week surely if we go back to a back 4 then Sokaratis has to replace Mustafi.

[Herd]

I have a feeling that Dick will trade Ozil and Mikki Elneny ,(Ramsey too if we can get coin before end season )at the earliest opportunity ,that is if you can get anyone to pay Ozils wages that is .

Im sure he wants Mustafi gone too and he can't be fooled with Xhaka for much longer either ,come 1st game next season I can see a whole new look to the team !

In the meantime if he gets us to 4th place he deserves a medal !

Iwobi looks like a player whose gone from prospect to has been without the interim period of being a good footballer !

Was in the Bournemouth section opposite ours ,got approached by stewards after being reported for mildly applauding when we scored but was left alone when I explained I'd watched Macdougal and Bowyer play for the cherries as a boy (true) and that I lived down the road (lie) !

The silly *word censored* who tried to get me thrown out looked a bit sheepish afterwards ,the people round me however were cool and we went to my grandads old boozer the Richmond afterwards for a few ales .I really think in todays day and age that football people have more in common with each other and left beside each other can have a laugh and watch a game supporting opposing teams .
Mixing fans seems to work ok at Fulham ,we should try it !

[Eboue-Why?]

Yep you summed it up well there Augie. I too am surprised how we’re doing so well given we’ve never been ahead at Half Time. The Liverpool game really was the only game so far where we came out of the traps well.
A win at Bournemouth is never a gimme so of course we’ll take it and move on. If we piss about again on Sunday then make no mistake The Spuds will punish us and could be out of sight within half an hour.
I’m thinking of changing my name to Xhaka-Why?