WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM TONIGHT?

Post by **I Hate Hleb** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:21 pm

WELL, ANOTHER BELOW AVERAGE PERFORMANCE WITH AN UNDER-STRENGTH TEAM, AGAINST A REALLY SHIT SIDE. SO WHAT DID WE LEARN? HERE IS MY OPINION:

PLUSSES:

RVP IS BACK!!

WE RESTED SOME OF THE FIRST ELEVEN

BENDTNER PLAYED WELL AND SHOWED COMPOSURE WHEN TAKING HIS GOAL

DIABY SCORED A GOOD GOAL AND WAS BUSY FIRST HALF - ALTHOUGH HE DOES STILL TEND TO HANG ON TO THE BALL TOO LONG

WE WON - BUT MAINLY BECAUSE STEAU WERE REALLY POOR OPPOSITION

NOW TO THE NEGATIVES, AND AT THE RISK OF SOUNDING LIKE A POOR-MAN'S AUGIE, THERE WERE MANY:

MINUS:

CONFIRMATION THAT DENILSON IS NO CESC

SONG STILL ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH IN MIDFIELD; HE HASN'T IMPROVED HIS FIRST TOUCH; HE STILL GIVES AWAY UNNECESSARY FREE-KICKS ALA GILBERTO; DOESN'T POSSESS THE PACE AND ISN'T A GOOD ENOUGH PASSER TO PLAY IN ARSENAL'S NORMAL EFFICIENT MANNER

SENDEROS WAS AGAIN SLUGGISH AND RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSING HIS MAN FOR THEIR GOAL. AFRAID HE JUST ISN'T TOP CLASS AND WE REALLY DO NEED QUALITY COVER IN THAT POSITION (AND I DON'T MEAN ALEX SONG!!!).

ALTHOUGH HE PLAYED WELL IN THE FIRST HALF, THEO IS NOT THE INSTINCTIVE STRIKER AND FINISHER THAT WENGER, ALAN SMITH AND OTHER ANALYSTS KEEP SAYING HE IS; YES HE CAN AND SHOULD IMPROVE, BUT HE'S NOT READY TO PLAY IN THAT POSITION FOR BIG MATCHES NOW.

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, EDUARDO IS STRUGGLING. HE HASN'T GOT THE PACE OR SKILL TO BEAT DEFENDERS AND DOESN'T GET IN THE BOX ENOUGH TO SHOW US HIS SUPPOSED GOAL-SCORER'S INSTINCTS. TAKEN ALONG WITH THEO'S FAULTS, IT AGAIN STRENGTHENS THE CASE OF THOSE CALLING FOR ANOTHER TOP STRIKER TO BE BOUGHT

TRAORE IS STILL STRUGGLING WITH THE DEFENSIVE SIDE OF HIS GAME AND IT'S ONLY HIS OUTSTANDING PACE THAT SOMETIMES HELPS HIM OUT WHEN POSITIONALLY HE HAS BEEN CAUGHT. LIKE THEO, HE SHOULD IMPROVE WITH EXPERIENCE BUT MUST CONCENTRATE MORE ON LEARNING HOW TO DEFEND!

ONCE WE GOT THE EARLY GOAL WE DROPPED IN INTENSITY AND STOPPED TRYING TO CLOSE DOWN THE OPPOSITION EARLY, LIKE WE TRADITIONALLY DO AT HOME. ALL IN ALL, IT CONFIRMED TO ME THAT UNLESS WE ARE LUCKY WITH INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS, OUR SQUAD JUST ISN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO REALLY CHALLENGE CONVINCING - UNLESS WE ARE EXTREMELY LUCKY.

THERE IS SO MUCH MORE I COULD WRITE AFTER THIS EVENING'S GAME, BUT I'D LIKE OTHERS' OPINIONS. AM I BEING TOO HARSH OR IS THE CRITICISM SPOT ON?

Magic Hat · Post by **Magic Hat** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:30 pm

We dominated the first half and should have been 3-0 up, even when we got lazy we seemed comfortable in the second half till they got a goal.

Thought Song didn't do badly but his touch was poor and he didn't do enough, some decent passing aside. I thought Senderos was good, got in many times to make a tackle or clear the lines, as for the goal, it was 3 against two and Traore should have done a lot better, think a little hard to blame our Swiss defender.

Post by **I Hate Hleb** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:37 pm

IT WAS HIS MAN!!!

TRAORE ALREADY HAD SOMEONE AT THE FAR POST THAT HE WAS MARKING YET SENDEROS JUST TRIED TO PASS THE GOAL-SCORER ON TO HIM RATHER THAN STICKING WITH THE GUY.

AS FOR HIM DOING WELL, FECK ME, THE WAY STEAU PLAYED IN THE FIRST HALF I COULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF OUR CENTRE BACKS - AND I'M 44 AND UNFIT!! THE SECOND THEY STARTED PUTTING SOME PRESSURE ON, WE LOOKED VERY VULNERABLE, AND THAT WAS MAINLY DUE TO PHIL AND TRAORE.

I'VE SAID IT BEFORE, I LIKE BIG PHIL AND WANT HIM TO MAKE IT AT ARSENAL, BUT HE JUST HAS TOO MANY WEAKNESSES IN HIS GAME TO PLAY FOR A TOP CLUB THAT IS SERIOUS ABOUT WINNING THINGS.

YES WE DOMINATED THE FIRST HALF, YET HAD ONLY TWO SHOTS ON TARGET. PART OF THE REASON FOR THAT DOMINATION WAS THAT STEAU ARE REALL, REALLY SHIT!!

augie · Post by **augie** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:58 pm

Have only seen first 15 mins yet due to work but what I really need to know is :

(a) will jens hold his place for sunday(please god) ?

(b) Have any of the others(mainly diaby,theo,bedtner or denilson) done
enough to start sunday ?

Should we get the hard draw many of us are expecting now then wenger will have to have them firing on all cylinders or take the flak for another last 16 exit. I think we'll see the return of PV4 again in next round - we wont get porto cos liverpoo came 2nd and will always get the easier draw

Post by **I Hate Hleb** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:23 pm

A) NO

B) NO - ALTHOUGH BENDTNER DID PLAY WELL, ARSENE WILL START WITH ADE AND RVP UP FRONT.

BY THE WAY AUGIE, LIVERPOOL CAN'T GET PORTO BECAUSE THEY WERE IN THE SAME QUALIFYING GROUP.

THEY HAVE THE SAME OPTIONS AS US, APART FROM SEVILLE INSTEAD OF PORTO.

augie · Post by **augie** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:35 pm

Doh

Thats the 2nd fcuk up I've made on this forum lately. A lot on my mind is my only excuse especially the return of judas on sunday

green gooner · Post by **green gooner** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:37 pm

We learned for sure that it is a great relief to have Rockin' Robin back, he was a class act for sure

We learned Theo should play on the wing instead of Eboue but i also doubt he is a natural striker

And we already knew that Phil is crap as again he was at fault for a goal

I even shouted at him that he was losing his man

I am still going to beat the drum for Eduardo so you lot lay off him OK

Magic Hat · Post by **Magic Hat** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:37 am

Which of the two men was Phil's? The one behind him who scored or the one in front of Phil? First half, yes Steua were not impressive but whenever they did get forward, Phil was there to deal with it. Second half, one missed header aside which he recovered from, the danger was from the flanks (Traore and Eboue mostly), Big Phil putting in a couple of good tackles and interceptions when the ball was down the centre.

Yes IHH, our finishing really really was awful and Walcott's lack of cutting edge, it is nice that he can dribble into the box but be great if his cross or shot found the intended target once. Something that did worry me is we hit in decent corners that had the keeper flapping at the far post but only once did we have a player making a run there.

donaldo · Post by **donaldo** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:35 am

Lehmann wont play on sunday last night was just a token gesture by Wenger.
The pluses were RVP who must start on sunday,Bendtner and Theo in the first half,but he has got to learn to finsh better
On the down side Denilson was poor again,Song who will never ever be good enough and Traore.

Also does anyone honestly believe the attendance was 59,700. there were tons of empty seats at the Grove last night.

Charlie! Charlie! · Post by **Charlie! Charlie!** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:41 am

donaldo wrote:Lehmann wont play on sunday last night was just a token gesture by Wenger.
The pluses were RVP who must start on sunday,Bendtner and Theo in the first half,but he has got to learn to finsh better
On the down side Denilson was poor again,Song who will never ever be good enough and Traore.

Also does anyone honestly believe the attendance was 59,700. there were tons of empty seats at the Grove last night.

Great point re the attendance - was is shown as sold out?

Charlie! Charlie! · Post by **Charlie! Charlie!** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:43 am

big writing - whats going on!

aw · Post by aw » Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:14 am

Jens will play against Chavs!!

Robsy · Post by **Robsy** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:43 am

The biggest worry from last nights game was the fact that for the fourth game in a row we had a very poor 2nd half. Over the course of the four games our 2nd half performances have suffered from a combination of losing our concentration and heavy legs. We simply can't do that this Sunday or we'll get cut to shreds.

Also, I've now decided big-Phil has to be replaced. He is not good enough and won't be an adequate replacement for Toure in January. I use to like him and tell people to give him a chance, but I think he's had his chance and he was pants last night and last Sunday. If we want to be top-two this season we need a better back-up at centre-back.

As for the attendance: isn't it an open secret that its total b*llsh*t?

Finally, it will be nice to have a good atmosphere again on Sunday, with lots of singing for the WHOLE of the match!

Red Gunner · Post by **Red Gunner** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:04 pm

I went to the match, was sitting in one of the furthest rows on the upper tier. I think we started great as Theo had a couple of chances before Diaby scored. I thought that was going to be a thrashing but we slowed down a bit and only got one more goal from Bendtner before halftime. In the second half, we didnâ€™t play that well, they scored and got a few offside decisions. My thoughts on players:

Jens Lehmann â€“ didnâ€™t look convincing, although did alright but his reflexes for the Steauaâ€™s were bad. I remember a risky shimmy against a Steaua player, which was good

Bacary Sagna â€“ not much to do, was good at going up front and solid at the back

Philippe Senderos â€“ he was alright, always booted out the ball and didnâ€™t pass much

William Gallas â€“ was comfortable, didnâ€™t make many runs up front

Armand Traore â€“ I noticed that he is very good on overlapping; he has all the potential but needs to work on his defending and crossing

Theo Walcott â€“ started brilliantly and good have got two goals. Went a bit quiet in the second but so did the rest of the team

Denilson â€“ didnâ€™t do anything special

Alexandre Song â€“ is he Wengerâ€™s adopted son or something? I and many other fans will agree that he doesnâ€™t look Arsenalâ€™s class. Looks like a tramp

Abou Diaby â€“ one of our best players; scored the first goal and was our strongest player in midfield

Robin van Persie â€“ he got the biggest cheers when his name was introduced. He looked very good and dangerous; played an hour and I think he will start against Chelsea

Nicklas Bendtner â€“ I wasnâ€™t that impressed with him as I thought he could do more but he had a good game

I noticed the attendance as well, I saw a lot of empty seats and I was surprised when it was announced that the attendance was 59,786. I am sure that it was not the truth unless they counted all the squads, coaches, securities, officials and staff

EdgeOfTown · Post by **EdgeOfTown** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:53 pm

Charlie! Charlie! wrote:
donaldo wrote:Lehmann wont play on sunday last night was just a token gesture by Wenger.
The pluses were RVP who must start on sunday,Bendtner and Theo in the first half,but he has got to learn to finsh better
On the down side Denilson was poor again,Song who will never ever be good enough and Traore.

Also does anyone honestly believe the attendance was 59,700. there were tons of empty seats at the Grove last night.

Great point re the attendance - was is shown as sold out?

it goes on tickets sold.
If a season ticket holder doesn't show, it doesn't mean the ticket wasn't sold..
Atmosphere was pretty terrible on the whole last night, hopefully it was just the singing minority who stayed away, obviously will be much better on Sunday.