City / Citeh Drinking and match thread

[spike241]

Not that it really matters but Jenkinson wasn't free. The fee was ~£1M apparently

[SteveO 35]

Reading some stats from yesterdays match and last season match away at city.

2011-passes MC=319 Arsenal=377
2012-passes MC=343, 24 more passes, Arsenal=561, 184 more passes than last season and 218 more than city in the same match

and another thing

Pantilimon=£3 million
Kolarov=£17 million
Mattija Nastasic=£12 million
Rodwell=£15 million
Barry=£12 million
Tevez=£25.5 million
Balotel=£24.5 million

Man city bench worth £109 million

Tevez=£25.5 m
Baloteli=£24.5 m
Dzeko=£27 m
Aguero=£38 m

£115 million up against

Mannone £350,000
Jenkinson Free
Per M £10m
Kos £10m
Gibbs free

Which just goes to show you doesn't it.........................













....that we overpaid for Mannone by about £349,000

[stg]

When you look deeper into the stats you can see he's sitting and holding as a DM. Which may explain why we didn't see Arteta as we're used to

You are correct and it depends on who the other midfield player is with Arteta, if like Sunday it is Diaby you will see Arteta sitting further back(watch the l'poo game as well) but if it is Coquelin he will be the one pushing forward more(Southampton). When it is with Ramsey or Wilshere I would imagine it will be a more flexible partnership.

Arsenal now seem to have a balance in midfield that can be changed depending on who they are playing, how the match is going and I hope injury's. Officially Arsenal have 9 midfield players 7 of them will be used as a combination for the two central pairing and I see them splint into groups:-

Frimpong & Coquelin defensive
Diaby & Rosicky attacking
Arteta, Ramsey & Wilshere both attacking and defensive

Arteta will be the linchpin in all this as he seems the most reliable to hold the position he is meant to play(not like Song wandering forward). I just hope if injury does hit that Ramsey can sit and hold like Arteta does when needed.

[flash gunner]

Reading some stats from yesterdays match and last season match away at city.

2011-passes MC=319 Arsenal=377
2012-passes MC=343, 24 more passes, Arsenal=561, 184 more passes than last season and 218 more than city in the same match

and another thing

Pantilimon=£3 million
Kolarov=£17 million
Mattija Nastasic=£12 million
Rodwell=£15 million
Barry=£12 million
Tevez=£25.5 million
Balotel=£24.5 million

Man city bench worth £109 million

Tevez=£25.5 m
Baloteli=£24.5 m
Dzeko=£27 m
Aguero=£38 m

£115 million up against

Mannone £350,000
Jenkinson Free
Per M £10m
Kos £10m
Gibbs free

Which just goes to show you doesn't it.........................













....that we overpaid for Mannone by about £349,000

[stg]

Not that it really matters but Jenkinson wasn't free. The fee was ~£1M apparently

yes seems to be some dispute about that but in the grand scheme of things up against City £1m here nor there will make a difference not.

On that subject reading some papers saying Cazorla cost Arsenal £20 m while others quote £12.5m now that's a big swing in opinion

[northbank123]

Many may not share my opinion but I thought Arteta had a pretty poor game today, according to his standards. I won't be too much on his back since he's been nothing but outstanding since the begining of the season. But today he was a bit below. Quite a few misplaced passes, sometimes caught out of position. Doesn't really sound like him. I guess it was a one off. Diaby as well. At some moment I thought he was reverting to his old self when he started turning on himself too much, staying on the ball for too long, and in the end getting caught in dangerous positions. (I even think one of his lost ball almost ended up in a goal for Shitty in the second half) Gervinho.... Well... All has been said already. Eboué never left. He just put a wig on.

Interesting how people have different perceptions on what they see or in some case what they choose to see.

Ignoring the point whether Arteta overall had a poor game or not but regarding the "misplaced passes".....Arteta was the the most successful passer of the game. (100/106) 94%.

Infact the top 5 passers were all Arsenal players in order: Arteta, Ramsey, Cazorla Gibbs & Diaby. The first Citeh player was Yaya who was 7th, after Jenko, with 55/63 passes on 87%

Didn't think he had a poor game overall, but there were a few times when he perhaps uncharacteristically gave the ball away.

Everybody knows stats can be manipulated, like how all United fans pointed towards Scholes having 97% pass rate or whatever in his return against City in the FA Cup last year as evidence that he was running the game, even though it was absolutely obvious to anybody watching the game that he had a stinker, his few misplaced passes cost the team a goal and were lucky not to do so on other occasions, and the vast majority of those passes were 5-yard backward passes because City were out on their feet having had 10-men for most of the game and couldn't pressure the ball.

Are you DB10?

Back to Mikel, 6 misplaced passes out of 106 can't be classed as a poor pass rate.
Fair enough overall he may have been poor but I didn't see that. He may have lost the ball in possession or positional bad but unfortunately when the question is "Mis-placed passes" the stats can't lie.

When you look deeper into the stats you can see he's sitting and holding as a DM. Which may explain why we didn't see Arteta as we're used to

As I said above I don't reckon he was poor overall by any means, I don't think that's an accusation you could level at any of our midfielders that game given how we fucking bossed it in the middle. I was just making an observation that there were a few occasions where he gave the ball away needlessly which is so unlike him.

I actually really like him in a deeper position, so refreshing to see someone there who relies on guile, experience, discipline and reading of the game rather than running round aimlessly. I thought he was absolutely immense at Anfield in particular, and I think you have to give him a lot of credit for not letting Silva come and play in what was an enormous gap between our defence and midfield last season. Frankly it's scary that he hasn't got a cap for Spain and that Cazorla has struggled to nail down a regular place, they would probably be first names on the teamsheet if they were English. I imagine Arteta could actually play for England if he wanted by virtue of the residency rule?

[Block_5_Gooner]

Many may not share my opinion but I thought Arteta had a pretty poor game today, according to his standards. I won't be too much on his back since he's been nothing but outstanding since the begining of the season. But today he was a bit below. Quite a few misplaced passes, sometimes caught out of position. Doesn't really sound like him. I guess it was a one off. Diaby as well. At some moment I thought he was reverting to his old self when he started turning on himself too much, staying on the ball for too long, and in the end getting caught in dangerous positions. (I even think one of his lost ball almost ended up in a goal for Shitty in the second half) Gervinho.... Well... All has been said already. Eboué never left. He just put a wig on.

Interesting how people have different perceptions on what they see or in some case what they choose to see.

Ignoring the point whether Arteta overall had a poor game or not but regarding the "misplaced passes".....Arteta was the the most successful passer of the game. (100/106) 94%.

Infact the top 5 passers were all Arsenal players in order: Arteta, Ramsey, Cazorla Gibbs & Diaby. The first Citeh player was Yaya who was 7th, after Jenko, with 55/63 passes on 87%

Didn't think he had a poor game overall, but there were a few times when he perhaps uncharacteristically gave the ball away.

Everybody knows stats can be manipulated, like how all United fans pointed towards Scholes having 97% pass rate or whatever in his return against City in the FA Cup last year as evidence that he was running the game, even though it was absolutely obvious to anybody watching the game that he had a stinker, his few misplaced passes cost the team a goal and were lucky not to do so on other occasions, and the vast majority of those passes were 5-yard backward passes because City were out on their feet having had 10-men for most of the game and couldn't pressure the ball.

Are you DB10?

Back to Mikel, 6 misplaced passes out of 106 can't be classed as a poor pass rate.
Fair enough overall he may have been poor but I didn't see that. He may have lost the ball in possession or positional bad but unfortunately when the question is "Mis-placed passes" the stats can't lie.

When you look deeper into the stats you can see he's sitting and holding as a DM. Which may explain why we didn't see Arteta as we're used to

As I said above I don't reckon he was poor overall by any means, I don't think that's an accusation you could level at any of our midfielders that game given how we fucking bossed it in the middle. I was just making an observation that there were a few occasions where he gave the ball away needlessly which is so unlike him.

I actually really like him in a deeper position, so refreshing to see someone there who relies on guile, experience, discipline and reading of the game rather than running round aimlessly. I thought he was absolutely immense at Anfield in particular, and I think you have to give him a lot of credit for not letting Silva come and play in what was an enormous gap between our defence and midfield last season. Frankly it's scary that he hasn't got a cap for Spain and that Cazorla has struggled to nail down a regular place, they would probably be first names on the teamsheet if they were English. I imagine Arteta could actually play for England if he wanted by virtue of the residency rule?

Yeah 6 times out of 100!

[Block_5_Gooner]

When you look deeper into the stats you can see he's sitting and holding as a DM. Which may explain why we didn't see Arteta as we're used to

You are correct and it depends on who the other midfield player is with Arteta, if like Sunday it is Diaby you will see Arteta sitting further back(watch the l'poo game as well) but if it is Coquelin he will be the one pushing forward more(Southampton). When it is with Ramsey or Wilshere I would imagine it will be a more flexible partnership.

Arsenal now seem to have a balance in midfield that can be changed depending on who they are playing, how the match is going and I hope injury's. Officially Arsenal have 9 midfield players 7 of them will be used as a combination for the two central pairing and I see them splint into groups:-

Frimpong & Coquelin defensive
Diaby & Rosicky attacking
Arteta, Ramsey & Wilshere both attacking and defensive

Arteta will be the linchpin in all this as he seems the most reliable to hold the position he is meant to play(not like Song wandering forward). I just hope if injury does hit that Ramsey can sit and hold like Arteta does when needed.

Yep - When you analyse both his overall positioning and his passes he wasn't as attacking as we've previously seen him

Maybe I should try and upload the visual diagram that shows his positioning? Basically he was mainly in and around the centre circle.
This may give you a bit of a better picture...
Passes in the attacking 3rd 17/20
Backpasses 1
Short passes 96/102, Long 4/4 (106)
Foward 47/53, Backward 31/31, Square 22/22 (106)

He left the attacking responsibilities to others. Also used as a pivot when switching play.

He won 1/1 aeriel duels
2/2 tackles
Made 3 interceptions & 2 blocks.

Committed 1 foul & was fouled 3 times.

[stg]

Were the 6 miss placed forward passes in the first or 2nd half of the match. I wonder how city's change in formation at HT affected Artetas passing as he was probably closed down quicker

[1989]

This match showed how ridiculous Wenger's claims are that this is his best squad yet. Yes, it was a very good point given City's home record, and we arguably deserved all three, and I absolutely loved seeing the whole team going mental when we scored. BUT The Invincibles would have punished such a lacklustre City performance, Vieira would have really torn their midfield apart time and time again with his ball-carrying ability and had Henry had half the opportunities Gervinho had he would have probably headed home with the matchball.

Not knocking the performance at all and this is the most positive I've felt about the team for a long long time, but The Invincibles would piss all over the current PL competition.

I seem to remember the Invincibles drawing 1-1 at Leicester. They were a great team but hardly gods.

[mcdowell42]

This match showed how ridiculous Wenger's claims are that this is his best squad yet. Yes, it was a very good point given City's home record, and we arguably deserved all three, and I absolutely loved seeing the whole team going mental when we scored. BUT The Invincibles would have punished such a lacklustre City performance, Vieira would have really torn their midfield apart time and time again with his ball-carrying ability and had Henry had half the opportunities Gervinho had he would have probably headed home with the matchball.

Not knocking the performance at all and this is the most positive I've felt about the team for a long long time, but The Invincibles would piss all over the current PL competition.

I seem to remember the Invincibles drawing 1-1 at Leicester. They were a great team but hardly gods.

I remember that my wife into labour that night even though my son didnt arrive till early the following mon morning

[1989]

We conceded in the last minute of IIRC, must of ruined what was set to be a great day for you Augie.

[mcdowell42]

The Evening Standard continued their Wenger love in yesterday. Apparently those that doubted Wenger have been silenced once and for all, and that his transfer policy has been well and truly vindicated

Yep, you heard it folks. All of us moaning about the problems of the past seven years have been well and truly proved wrong on the back of two wins and three draws before the end of September.

I'm in full agreement with Herd and the others that we should always be behind the team, but what happened to a bit of perspective in September from the goldfish brains. Just as the world won't end if we lose to Chelsea next up, if we draw or beat them neither does it prove that Wenger is the right man once and for all. Five games into the season FFS - on that basis Steve Clarke is the manager of the decade for getting West Brom into the Champions League.

How wrong was I?
Goalkeeping situation? What 'situation'? Did you not see Don Vito's imperious handling skills!

Lack of cutting edge up front in RVP's absence? What lack of cutting edge! Did you see Lionel Gervinho up front? His name even sounds Brazilian! He's the Brazilian Eboue! Even wears his shirt!

And yes we've all been proven wrong because Arsenal sit below the might West Brom and Everton in the league table!
Oh and all the meanwhile Van Persie has won Man United 6 points from games they deserved nothing in, whilst Arsenal's 'striker' have managed between all 3 of them, less goals than Ricky Lambert of Southampton.

Still. What is that 8 years without a pot? Only Arsene can 'prove people wrong' whilst sitting below West Brom in a league table

I expect to be told after we finish 4th this seaosn by Arsene and his rebel forces 'Ah see look what happened! You all claimed Arsenal would finish 15th this season and look, Arsene has OVER-ACHIEVED AGAIN'!

Was nearly sure the league was over 38 games a season but obviously not, but i do remember last season where someone posted THE SCUM would finish miles ahead of us, remind me did that actually happen

[mcdowell42]

But I’m puzzled why you think it’s a buried myth that Wenger has had funds. Surely the myth is that he hasn’t had funds? To be able to spend/waste £120m or so a year on wages must mean he’s had money. Over £50m made in profits in the transfer market since we left Highbury must also mean he has had money. Where has that money gone? The stadium debt is the myth. It is easily paying for itself with the extra revenue it generates

Wenger doesn't negotiate the wages so it isn't him spending it ,the club negotiate the player deals as they always have done ,we sell every year and do not spend more than we have received in sales its all pretty simple !

At last year's AGM, Ivan Gazidis clarified - in the presence of Arsene Wenger - that Wenger has 100% control over the wage decisions and contractual details of every single member of the playing staff.
Check for yourself.

Don't let the facts get in the way mind...

Facts Kalou did not join us

Facts spurs did not finish miles ahead of us last season

Facts Borussia Dortmund would top our CL group last season and we would finish bottom

Now which of the above happened last season answers on a postcard please


PS harry redknapp a great manager now unemployed(1 trophy in 30 yrs) harry whose spurs team finished in a CL qualifying place and still didnt qualify for the CL,and who was a sure thing for the England job and then didnt get it

Fact

[SteveO 35]

McDowell and Baba have certainly overtaken Rafa the (ex) Gaffer in the FACTS department