Two wins in a row, and infact this now makes 5 wins in the last 6 matches following the hard fought win against
Brilliant result for the Arsenal in a potentially tricky match away from home today against Marseille.
Top of our CL group now, so 3 points out of remaining qualification matches and we should be through. Great composure by Ramsey, and reasonable defensive performance (bar some shocking handballs which we somehow got away with).
Good spells of possession but plenty of our now all too familiar defensive frailties on show too (particularly in the first half).
Seeing Gervinio shot well wide after some majestic Robin Van Persie setup play, it was difficult to see us take the lead.
But, coming out to the second half 1-0 down we showed tremendous spirit and although Ramsey had a poor game overall (losing possession in some dangerous moments) he did put his goal away with great composure.
For me Coquelin had an outstanding game – and fully justified his place in the starting 11.
As if a loss against Spurs was not bad enough, how awful to see Bacary Sagna go out on a stretcher – with such a lack of concentration across our defence (costing us time after time) Sagna is a shinning light.
What lies ahead without Sagna AND Vermaelen… I dread to think.
That makes 3 wins in a row now across the Champions League, Premier League and the Carling Cup. Much better!
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain showed what he is capable of against Shrewsbury, and really cemented that with another brilliant performance and goal against Olympiakos.
It should have been 3-0 were it not for Marouane Chamakh proving wasteful – and that made for an unnecessarily nervy finish to the game. Their goal highlighted (yet again) our defensive lapses, but Song at the back looked an absolute rock.
Chamakh needs an important goal for his confidence – and fast. As a mate mentioned to me, otherwise he is destined to be another Bendtner!
Never have I seen an Arsenal team so over charged. The first half was an absolute disgrace.
Our best (and most experienced) player Van Persie missed a shambolic penalty kick at 1-0 down – clearly lacking in confidence by our current situation, adding to our misery and probably doing wonders for the new Manc goalies confidence. Without doubt, this was the turning point of a torrid afternoon.
Szczesny was fantastic again and kept the scoreline to what it was – but how damaging must it be to have such a great game and still see there is almost no chance of a result with the calibre of your fellow teammates (well, just ask the likes of Nasri).
Paul Merson was spot on – our team was sent out with no hope.
Terribley upsetting to see Ashley Young doing so well as a new signing against us – the team he supports.
BUT hang on – if he had openly said he supports Arsenal, surely there was an opportunity to sign him when he decided to leave Aston Villa? I cant really blame him (or united for signing him).
Our second half performance was full of courage and admirable – but still nowhere near papering over the gaping holes. There were at least 3 players from the starting 11 not good enough to be playing for us, and a totally inadequate bench.
Yes we had injuries, but nothing new there. How long does it take to learn we may have an injury hit squad? 6 years and counting it seems.
I love Arsene, but ultimately I love Arsenal more.
With the clock ticking… PLEASE Arsene, no more talk – time for action, or I can see your time running out.
This match looked like it was going to be a 0-0 which would have been disappointing in itself.
But for the comedy of errors our defenders played well with Miguel looking a quality addition to the first team.
The worst thing was, after going 1-0 we had nobody exceptional to come on.
Overall, a red card, a loss, another defensive injury – it couldn’t have been any worse.
A win and a clean sheet to take to Italy is overall a good result. Two clean sheets in a row is another thing to be positive about – largely thanks to Szczesny producing some wonderful saves.
Good to see Theo take his chance so early on (4 mins), but he is still not quite the all rounder he can be, proving wasteful on other occasions in the match.
Gervinho looked quick, as did Frimpong. With Gibbs and Djourou both taken out of the match withHamstring injuries Jenkinson came on and looked a bag of nerves. Lets hope it was just early jitters, but i’m not convinced.
We have signed the 19 year old striker Joel Campbell from Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa.
Arsene is adamant he is in no hurry to bring new players in.
“Do we want to buy? I don’t know because at the moment we have too big a squad, we have too many players,” he stated.
I believe this is a smokescreen and believe he really knows our squad lacks depth. But stating this publicly on the verge of Fabregas (and potentially Nasri) going – is near suicidal. He must know this will incite even the most patient of fans.
Can cover over this with another majestic hidden gem…? We have had our chance to bring in the big names and it hasn’t happened yet.
They will be no push over, their last match was a 0-0 draw with AC Milan, but at least they sold their best player Alexis Sánchez to Barcelona!
