Everton (away) Tuesday 13th December, 7:45

[Gunner Rob]

i am very grateful that it was my office Christmas Party last night and so was able to avoid what appears to be another feeble effort.

seen this match all too often so I done expect that I missed much

let me see was it like Swansea City at home earlier this year? (1-0 up, dominating, chance to go top of the league, they equalise, we panic, they score the winner, we wander off wondering what happened...)

Where is this special resilience that we are supposed to have this season then Theo?????

[postmanPat91]

i am very grateful that it was my office Christmas Party last night and so was able to avoid what appears to be another feeble effort.

seen this match all too often so I done expect that I missed much

let me see was it like Swansea City at home earlier this year? (1-0 up, dominating, chance to go top of the league, they equalise, we panic, they score the winner, we wander off wondering what happened...)

Where is this special resilience that we are supposed to have this season then Theo?????

That's always been Theo's problem - the braindead prick starts believing his and the team's own hype after a few decent matches. We've been riding our luck for ages now, was only a matter of time until we had our pants pulled down. Bayern in the chumps league?

Thats not Ozil's role though. We know what he is, everyone does, yet almost every team would want him.

He doesnt have an engine, as he int an athlete. He isnt a grafter, so cant 'get stuck in'. Its simple, when the team plays shit, and gets overrun and cant hold the ball, Ozil loses effect. But you know that if you get foothold in the game, he is the one who can split the defence open.

I personally get pissed when Coquelin starts trying to dink it over the backline. Because his chips are shit and never find their mark. All players have their roles, specialties and limitations. Ozil tries, but he simply cant find himself when we dont have possession.

If you want him to add that dimension to this game, you will be waiting forever.

Completely agree with Wilson re Ozil - he's not a grafter/fighter type, nor should we expect him to be. We knew exactly what kind of player we were getting when we (Gazidis ) bought him. I wouldn't even say he is one of the 'fittest' in the game (can't stand those bug eyes ) - for me the 'real' athletes in the game are the likes of Bale, Ronaldo, Cavani etc... Ozil just isn't in that bracket. That's why he's shitting his pants when he's not backed up by the others. He hasn't got the strength, power or engine for the hard graft, and that's exactly where Cock, Xhaka and our wingers (Theo... lol ) need to step up. We also need to bear in mind he used to play alongside Ronaldo, Di Maria and co... it can't do much for his confidence when he looks up and sees Iwobi/Walcott/Ramsay ffs. The blame is yet again at Wenger's door for me.

That being said, Ozil's body language doesn't help his case - rarely any passion or desire and most of the time he looks like he doesn't give a shit/is fed up. Walking off at FT without so much of a glance towards the travelling away fans is disgusting too. Can fully understand why he pisses people off.

[northbank123]

Groundhog day lads

Speaking of which we still have trips to Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Stoke - 4 grounds where we regularly put in shambolic or underwhelming performances. Would be surprised if we win at any of them. Certainly didn't manage to improve our diabolical league win record at United despite them being all over the shop.

[rodders999]

Groundhog day lads

Speaking of which we still have trips to Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Stoke - 4 grounds where we regularly put in shambolic or underwhelming performances. Would be surprised if we win at any of them. Certainly didn't manage to improve our diabolical league win record at United despite them being all over the shop.

Saw a stat last night that said we've only played one team from the top half away from home so far - united at OT (remember that shitfest?.......despite the late redemption)

The worst is yet to come......

[Eboue-Why?]

I'm sorry but anyone blaming last night on Ozil has not got a scooby about football.

Don't embarrass yourselves lads ffs.

Mate, he's not to blame for the defeat but it was a truly spineless, pussy like avoidance to jump and save your team a point.
Unforgivable and as Rodders cannot understand the first goal Ozil's actions are leaving me seething

[OneBardGooner]

I'm sorry but anyone blaming last night on Ozil has not got a scooby about football.

Don't embarrass yourselves lads ffs.

Honestly DB I do wonder if you were really present when GG was gaffer. Not for a second is anyone blaming him for the defeat, but of course you have to pass a lot of the blame onto hi for the second goal. We just cannot afford to have total passengers in the team and so often is he a total passenger, the reason why koeman, pulis and hughes so often frustrate us is that they have a team on the same level who all have jobs to do when the opposition have the ball, they all have a position to take up and know where every other player on their team will be. This is why they are able to make the pitch so small and make us play these silly little passes with no room in behind.
When they have the ball they can cut us open with one quick pass and that is because we have no idea to the defend as a team, yes individuals can defend but as a team we don't have the discipline, there are players who don't know where they should be or at least don't give a shit. "It's not my job" is a shitty excuse and it just would not fly under Graham, Ferguson or Clough. You can't win a title by having prima donnas in the team who won't take responsibility and I'm actually sick of the desperate excuses AKBs and the like make for ozil, it absolutely reakes of arrogance to think you don't need a full team to defend.

And btw to the bloke who says ozil is not an athlete- fucking hell that is just beautiful the bloke is one of the most fit players in the world, i can guarantee you he has huge stamina and is more than capable of putting in a tackle and tracking back a little bit. He is not made of glass

We simply won't get close to the title until we have some discipline in the team. End of.

No we won't get near the title whilst Wenker is in charge - he truly is an embarrassment.

[falkirk goon]

Have just seen the after match interviews on motd le bumhole making a bumhole of himself yet again Good to see Koeman making him look like a proper fanny le bumhole really is a facking embarrassment

[Bradywasking]

Have just seen the after match interviews on motd le bumhole making a bumhole of himself yet again Good to see Koeman making him look like a proper fanny le bumhole really is a facking embarrassment

I suggested on Twitter yesterday that Koeman is the manager that Arsenal should have targeted to replace Wenger.. First response I got was " two wins in twelve games.. You would be calling for him to be sacked by now FFS" I replied that with Arsenal's resources Koeman would be better than Wenger.. Next reply " would Koeman have kept them in the Champions League from 2006 to 2014 with no resources? " That is the problem, perceived success rather than genuine success..

[DB10GOONER]

I'm sorry but anyone blaming last night on Ozil has not got a scooby about football.

Don't embarrass yourselves lads ffs.

Honestly DB I do wonder if you were really present when GG was gaffer. Not for a second is anyone blaming him for the defeat, but of course you have to pass a lot of the blame onto hi for the second goal. We just cannot afford to have total passengers in the team and so often is he a total passenger, the reason why koeman, pulis and hughes so often frustrate us is that they have a team on the same level who all have jobs to do when the opposition have the ball, they all have a position to take up and know where every other player on their team will be. This is why they are able to make the pitch so small and make us play these silly little passes with no room in behind.
When they have the ball they can cut us open with one quick pass and that is because we have no idea to the defend as a team, yes individuals can defend but as a team we don't have the discipline, there are players who don't know where they should be or at least don't give a shit. "It's not my job" is a shitty excuse and it just would not fly under Graham, Ferguson or Clough. You can't win a title by having prima donnas in the team who won't take responsibility and I'm actually sick of the desperate excuses AKBs and the like make for ozil, it absolutely reakes of arrogance to think you don't need a full team to defend.

And btw to the bloke who says ozil is not an athlete- fucking hell that is just beautiful the bloke is one of the most fit players in the world, i can guarantee you he has huge stamina and is more than capable of putting in a tackle and tracking back a little bit. He is not made of glass

We simply won't get close to the title until we have some discipline in the team. End of.

Don't be silly, mate. I was there for GG and Steve Burtenshaw and Don Howe and Terry Neill and Bertie Mee before him.

There is a reason this forum is starting to get a reputation for hysterical flip flopping. When Ozil shows his class it's "give Ozil the money!! Ozil is a genius!". When we get beaten by a team that scraps it out and our defending is suspect it swings instantly to "Ozil is a lightweight, Ozil is shit, Ozil doesn't run around enough".

Ozil is a top class creator, an attacking forward player. A player that can create a winner out of nothing but his own vision and technical ability. A player like that is carried by a team defensively - just like Overmars was, like Bergkamp was, like Henry was, and if you want to talk about who was there for the GG years, then like Wrighty was too. You could count the amount of defensive clearances any of those players made in their entire careers on one hand.

We had Kos, Gab, Xhaka, Coq, Nacho, Bellerin and Cech in that box defending, all players that are either defenders or have defensive ability in their game.

That whole bit in red is wrong about Ferguson and GG and everyone defending to win things - Van Longface never defended, they tried to stop Scholes from defending he was so bad at it, Wrighty didn't defend, Smudger never defended, Merson never defended... even during Wenger's successful years Henry never defended worth a fuck, ditto Overmars and Bergkamp and Anelka. Because they didn't need to. The manager, whether it was GG Rednose or Wenger, had set the team up properly and had good defenders in place, not just everyone standing around not knowing what to do because of this obsession with shit zonal marking - and if you look at it, we are still using zonal marking in everything but name.

Ozil is not Robbie fucking Savage. He is also not Patrick Vieira. I have no problem whatsoever if he doesn't defend enough, his job is to create up the other end of the pitch. We have enough defenders. We need a manager that can utilise them properly.

[arseofacrow]

Ozil can be shit and be a genius as well. He can play brilliantly and be annoyingly ineffective. He can just be human and miss an easy chance or not pick someone up from a corner. It's all nuance.

[Redarmy]

Everton away....Seamus Coleman, Ashley Fucking Williams and some Aston Villa reject, managed to fuck us out of the game...does not bode well

[Clash]

Everton away....Seamus Coleman, Ashley Fucking Williams and some Aston Villa reject, managed to fuck us out of the game...does not bode well

Yeah all journeyman players but sometimes that's all they need to be to get a result against Arsenal. Twice in this calendar year Ashley Fucking Williams has scored a winner against us in a 2-1 defeat when we led 1-0.

Desire is a crucial ingredient in football that is often overlooked in the modern game where people like to talk about systems and technical quality. And too often in recent years our players haven't matched the desire of the opposition. One of the things that really pisses me off about the excuses made for Wenger with all this financial restrictions bollocks is that the one area we have come up short most often is the part that cost no money at all

[DB10GOONER]

Everton away....Seamus Coleman, Ashley Fucking Williams and some Aston Villa reject, managed to fuck us out of the game...does not bode well

Yeah all journeyman players but sometimes that's all they need to be to get a result against Arsenal. Twice in this calendar year Ashley Fucking Williams has scored a winner against us in a 2-1 defeat when we led 1-0.

Desire is a crucial ingredient in football that is often overlooked in the modern game where people like to talk about systems and technical quality. And too often in recent years our players haven't matched the desire of the opposition. One of the things that really pisses me off about the excuses made for Wenger with all this financial restrictions bollocks is that the one area we have come up short most often is the part that cost no money at all

Agreed. There is very little guts or heart in our team. You need at least a core of the side to be die-hard fight to the death type players with the desire and hunger to win at all costs. Look back at our successful teams; all had in them characters like Adams, Parlour, Vieira, Sol, Wrighty, McLintock, Armstrong, etc etc - the list is huge.

[augie]

Everton away....Seamus Coleman, Ashley Fucking Williams and some Aston Villa reject, managed to fuck us out of the game...does not bode well

Yeah all journeyman players but sometimes that's all they need to be to get a result against Arsenal. Twice in this calendar year Ashley Fucking Williams has scored a winner against us in a 2-1 defeat when we led 1-0.

Desire is a crucial ingredient in football that is often overlooked in the modern game where people like to talk about systems and technical quality. And too often in recent years our players haven't matched the desire of the opposition. One of the things that really pisses me off about the excuses made for Wenger with all this financial restrictions bollocks is that the one area we have come up short most often is the part that cost no money at all

Do not agree with calling coleman a journeyman - he is a very good right back and would get into most teams in the league

[SPARKSY]

Groundhog day lads

Speaking of which we still have trips to Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Stoke - 4 grounds where we regularly put in shambolic or underwhelming performances. Would be surprised if we win at any of them. Certainly didn't manage to improve our diabolical league win record at United despite them being all over the shop.

Saw a stat last night that said we've only played one team from the top half away from home so far - united at OT (remember that shitfest?.......despite the late redemption)

The worst is yet to come......

That's what worries me. I just don't see many, if any wins from those games. The season is playing out as always, we beat the lower half teams and all in the garden is rosy.
Come up against the top half teams and