Scum|Away|PL|10th Feb|12:30

[RobG]

I know Lacazette missed those chances and Miktyryan, struggled and Xaxha is far from everybody's cup of tea. But I really feel that they are decent players, who could show far better under a different Manager - and when coached better.

The problem is less our players - although I fully take the point that the squad needs a through overhaul with several out and at least five or six 'in' - but the system itself.

Wenger used to take unknowns and good prospects and make them very good and sometimes excellent. Now it's a form of reverse alchemy, where even decent players have the belief hollowed out of them and they become footballing Zombies. This season is a right off. We've got to hope that the real change comes in May.

[Arsenal Till I Die]

Right...

To start with, we set up wrong. Why on earth two attacking midfielders were playing as wingers is beyond me. Mkhitaryan is NOT a winger. He had a shocker today, I don't believe he is ''shit'' or that the ''real Mkhitaryan'' is showing today because we all know that he is capable of better performances. Let's show the guy some respect, he got three assists last week. He had a fucking nightmare but let's not be too fickle. He isn't a winger. Ozil, again not a winger but is technically similar to a winger than what we currently have, and has played there for us countless times.

We should have set up the way we did against Everton. Mkhitaryan behind Aubameyang, Ozil out wide with, unfortunately, Iwobi on the other side. Iwobi offers nothing but he is the closest natural winger we have in the squad and, at the very least, caused the Spurs defence a bit of trouble with pace and draw them out of positions.

We essentially played like Stoke, with ten behind the ball and looking to play on the counter. The set up was all wrong as we allowed them to play the game they wanted to with an aim of just trying to compact them. We didn't play football, we didn't play our game and ultimately we essentially beat ourselves by playing the way we did.

A lot of our issues, other than the lack of coaching and defence, stem from the fact we lack a link between the defence and the attack. None of our midfielders have the ability to connect the back and the front together, especially through the middle of the park. Wilshere isn't that type of midfielder, Xhaxa doesn't know what type footballer he is and El Neney is a defensive midfielder. Ramsey, when he plays, is Mr Sideways and doesn't offer that link-up play either. 95% of our attacking threat comes from the wing play and we seem to fail to dominate centrally. Until we remedy the lack of link-up play between the back and the front then we will struggle to get the very best out of Aubameyang and Lacazette. Our current system doesn't play to their strengths, they play to Giroud's strengths. It's no good having technical forwards and, in Aumbameyang's case, an extremely pacy forward if we're going to continue to play as if Giroud is up front.

Bellerin was our best player today, followed by Wilshere. Those two can hold their heads up today. Aubameyang wasn't given a chance at all (he wasn't offside) but I don't doubt that if he was given the chances Lacazette had then we would have come away with a point. Aubameyang scores one of the two chances Lacazette got. No doubt.

Koscielny needs to go now. He's not interested, he's not got the legs anymore and it's time to let him go. Mustafi's energy is fine but the man is like Bambi on ice for the most part and he is always giving away clumsy freekicks which put us in danger. Let's also not forget that his defensive qualities are lacking. Two new CB's are a requirement for the summer. Not one, TWO. Cech's coco the bloody clown act he does with Mustafi has to stop. I sincerly hope this is Cech's last ever season as our number one.

Now, Lacazette. A striker I rate as a potentially deadly forward. What the actual fuck? A £50m striker HAS to score the chances he had today. A £50m striker HAS to put in more effort than he does. A £50m forward CANNOT stand in an offside position to fix his socks in a big game. The potential is there but his attitude is non-existent. This is his BIG chance and he is blowing it. What was it? Nine games without a goal before he scored at Palace? Hasn't scored since? Not good enough. I understand he is suffering from a lack of confidence but you need to show hunger and fight to win your place back. Considering it's a World Cup year.

agree with most of above but this comment.on Iwobi is ridiculous.."at the very least, caused the Spurs defence a bit of trouble with pace and draw them out of positions"

Can you explain what the fuck this headless chicken actually brings to the team?...runs around like he has a dildo up his arse, hes totally panic striken when he gets the ball and inevitably gives it away......generally hate player stats but would like to see how many lost possessions and mis placed passes this piece of shite (with a bad attitude to boot) has actually incurred

He is total fucking shite.....cant tackle, shit passer, very limited goal return....what does he fucking do???

I agree that that Iwobi is about as good as Stephen Hawkin, however, he is better off the ball than he is with the ball. He can, and has done previously, made some good and potentially dangerous runs which look promising but, as well well know, the moment he gets the ball then it's already gone tits up.

Had Iwobi started then he could have, based on his off the ball runs, drawn their centre back or full back towards him more.

I stand with you all on that Iwobi is shite. He actually made me miss Walcott today.

[Redarmy]

Right...

To start with, we set up wrong. Why on earth two attacking midfielders were playing as wingers is beyond me. Mkhitaryan is NOT a winger. He had a shocker today, I don't believe he is ''shit'' or that the ''real Mkhitaryan'' is showing today because we all know that he is capable of better performances. Let's show the guy some respect, he got three assists last week. He had a fucking nightmare but let's not be too fickle. He isn't a winger. Ozil, again not a winger but is technically similar to a winger than what we currently have, and has played there for us countless times.

We should have set up the way we did against Everton. Mkhitaryan behind Aubameyang, Ozil out wide with, unfortunately, Iwobi on the other side. Iwobi offers nothing but he is the closest natural winger we have in the squad and, at the very least, caused the Spurs defence a bit of trouble with pace and draw them out of positions.

We essentially played like Stoke, with ten behind the ball and looking to play on the counter. The set up was all wrong as we allowed them to play the game they wanted to with an aim of just trying to compact them. We didn't play football, we didn't play our game and ultimately we essentially beat ourselves by playing the way we did.

A lot of our issues, other than the lack of coaching and defence, stem from the fact we lack a link between the defence and the attack. None of our midfielders have the ability to connect the back and the front together, especially through the middle of the park. Wilshere isn't that type of midfielder, Xhaxa doesn't know what type footballer he is and El Neney is a defensive midfielder. Ramsey, when he plays, is Mr Sideways and doesn't offer that link-up play either. 95% of our attacking threat comes from the wing play and we seem to fail to dominate centrally. Until we remedy the lack of link-up play between the back and the front then we will struggle to get the very best out of Aubameyang and Lacazette. Our current system doesn't play to their strengths, they play to Giroud's strengths. It's no good having technical forwards and, in Aumbameyang's case, an extremely pacy forward if we're going to continue to play as if Giroud is up front.

Bellerin was our best player today, followed by Wilshere. Those two can hold their heads up today. Aubameyang wasn't given a chance at all (he wasn't offside) but I don't doubt that if he was given the chances Lacazette had then we would have come away with a point. Aubameyang scores one of the two chances Lacazette got. No doubt.

Koscielny needs to go now. He's not interested, he's not got the legs anymore and it's time to let him go. Mustafi's energy is fine but the man is like Bambi on ice for the most part and he is always giving away clumsy freekicks which put us in danger. Let's also not forget that his defensive qualities are lacking. Two new CB's are a requirement for the summer. Not one, TWO. Cech's coco the bloody clown act he does with Mustafi has to stop. I sincerly hope this is Cech's last ever season as our number one.

Now, Lacazette. A striker I rate as a potentially deadly forward. What the actual fuck? A £50m striker HAS to score the chances he had today. A £50m striker HAS to put in more effort than he does. A £50m forward CANNOT stand in an offside position to fix his socks in a big game. The potential is there but his attitude is non-existent. This is his BIG chance and he is blowing it. What was it? Nine games without a goal before he scored at Palace? Hasn't scored since? Not good enough. I understand he is suffering from a lack of confidence but you need to show hunger and fight to win your place back. Considering it's a World Cup year.

agree with most of above but this comment.on Iwobi is ridiculous.."at the very least, caused the Spurs defence a bit of trouble with pace and draw them out of positions"

Can you explain what the fuck this headless chicken actually brings to the team?...runs around like he has a dildo up his arse, hes totally panic striken when he gets the ball and inevitably gives it away......generally hate player stats but would like to see how many lost possessions and mis placed passes this piece of shite (with a bad attitude to boot) has actually incurred

He is total fucking shite.....cant tackle, shit passer, very limited goal return....what does he fucking do???

I agree that that Iwobi is about as good as Stephen Hawkin, however, he is better off the ball than he is with the ball. He can, and has done previously, made some good and potentially dangerous runs which look promising but, as well well know, the moment he gets the ball then it's already gone tits up.

Had Iwobi started then he could have, based on his off the ball runs, drawn their centre back or full back towards him more.

I stand with you all on that Iwobi is shite. He actually made me miss Walcott today.

Ok thinking about it add Elneny to that as well...

He created no chances, took no shots, completed no tackles and managed no interceptions. So what exactly was he on the pitch to do?

If posters on here think Elneny and Iwobi should play for the Arsenal....what hope have we got...I fucking give up ...

[Perryashburtongroves]

I know Lacazette missed those chances and Miktyryan, struggled and Xaxha is far from everybody's cup of tea. But I really feel that they are decent players, who could show far better under a different Manager - and when coached better.

The problem is less our players - although I fully take the point that the squad needs a through overhaul with several out and at least five or six 'in' - but the system itself.

Wenger used to take unknowns and good prospects and make them very good and sometimes excellent. Now it's a form of reverse alchemy, where even decent players have the belief hollowed out of them and they become footballing Zombies. This season is a right off. We've got to hope that the real change comes in May.

I agree that any manager other than Wanker would get more out of those players but they are still average players who aren't good enough. They are typical Wanker players though, average, relatively inexpensive and the shitty options when better ones were available.

[xisstential]

I know Lacazette missed those chances and Miktyryan, struggled and Xaxha is far from everybody's cup of tea. But I really feel that they are decent players, who could show far better under a different Manager - and when coached better.

The problem is less our players - although I fully take the point that the squad needs a through overhaul with several out and at least five or six 'in' - but the system itself.

Wenger used to take unknowns and good prospects and make them very good and sometimes excellent. Now it's a form of reverse alchemy, where even decent players have the belief hollowed out of them and they become footballing Zombies. This season is a right off. We've got to hope that the real change comes in May.

I'm sorry but Xhaka is dreadful, one of our worst players, and that is really saying something considering the plethora to choose from. His positional play and his total disregard for approaching danger beggars belief. If you want a perfect example find a clip of Swansea's equaliser. Ozil loses the ball, sits on his arse, hands in the air, Xhaka loitering on the edge ofour box, you see him look directly at Clucas who is running free, he then turns his back, the ball gets laid off to Clucas who then runs past Xhaka who doesn't even attempt to try stop him (kinda difficult because by this stage he had turned his back on him), and slots home..... And he does it time & time again...it's not like he's always unaware of the danger, there are times he just chooses to ignore it.... He is an awful player........ so therefore a Wenger favourite and one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Sick of Wenger, sick of the players, sick of the club. I wish he would just BUGGER off!!

[northbank123]

Name me one mitigating feature about Xhaka.

Every fucking game he’s started.

[Redarmy]

Right...

To start with, we set up wrong. Why on earth two attacking midfielders were playing as wingers is beyond me. Mkhitaryan is NOT a winger. He had a shocker today, I don't believe he is ''shit'' or that the ''real Mkhitaryan'' is showing today because we all know that he is capable of better performances. Let's show the guy some respect, he got three assists last week. He had a fucking nightmare but let's not be too fickle. He isn't a winger. Ozil, again not a winger but is technically similar to a winger than what we currently have, and has played there for us countless times.

We should have set up the way we did against Everton. Mkhitaryan behind Aubameyang, Ozil out wide with, unfortunately, Iwobi on the other side. Iwobi offers nothing but he is the closest natural winger we have in the squad and, at the very least, caused the Spurs defence a bit of trouble with pace and draw them out of positions.

We essentially played like Stoke, with ten behind the ball and looking to play on the counter. The set up was all wrong as we allowed them to play the game they wanted to with an aim of just trying to compact them. We didn't play football, we didn't play our game and ultimately we essentially beat ourselves by playing the way we did.

A lot of our issues, other than the lack of coaching and defence, stem from the fact we lack a link between the defence and the attack. None of our midfielders have the ability to connect the back and the front together, especially through the middle of the park. Wilshere isn't that type of midfielder, Xhaxa doesn't know what type footballer he is and El Neney is a defensive midfielder. Ramsey, when he plays, is Mr Sideways and doesn't offer that link-up play either. 95% of our attacking threat comes from the wing play and we seem to fail to dominate centrally. Until we remedy the lack of link-up play between the back and the front then we will struggle to get the very best out of Aubameyang and Lacazette. Our current system doesn't play to their strengths, they play to Giroud's strengths. It's no good having technical forwards and, in Aumbameyang's case, an extremely pacy forward if we're going to continue to play as if Giroud is up front.

Bellerin was our best player today, followed by Wilshere. Those two can hold their heads up today. Aubameyang wasn't given a chance at all (he wasn't offside) but I don't doubt that if he was given the chances Lacazette had then we would have come away with a point. Aubameyang scores one of the two chances Lacazette got. No doubt.

Koscielny needs to go now. He's not interested, he's not got the legs anymore and it's time to let him go. Mustafi's energy is fine but the man is like Bambi on ice for the most part and he is always giving away clumsy freekicks which put us in danger. Let's also not forget that his defensive qualities are lacking. Two new CB's are a requirement for the summer. Not one, TWO. Cech's coco the bloody clown act he does with Mustafi has to stop. I sincerly hope this is Cech's last ever season as our number one.

Now, Lacazette. A striker I rate as a potentially deadly forward. What the actual fuck? A £50m striker HAS to score the chances he had today. A £50m striker HAS to put in more effort than he does. A £50m forward CANNOT stand in an offside position to fix his socks in a big game. The potential is there but his attitude is non-existent. This is his BIG chance and he is blowing it. What was it? Nine games without a goal before he scored at Palace? Hasn't scored since? Not good enough. I understand he is suffering from a lack of confidence but you need to show hunger and fight to win your place back. Considering it's a World Cup year.

agree with most of above but this comment.on Iwobi is ridiculous.."at the very least, caused the Spurs defence a bit of trouble with pace and draw them out of positions"

Can you explain what the fuck this headless chicken actually brings to the team?...runs around like he has a dildo up his arse, hes totally panic striken when he gets the ball and inevitably gives it away......generally hate player stats but would like to see how many lost possessions and mis placed passes this piece of shite (with a bad attitude to boot) has actually incurred

He is total fucking shite.....cant tackle, shit passer, very limited goal return....what does he fucking do???

I agree that that Iwobi is about as good as Stephen Hawkin, however, he is better off the ball than he is with the ball. He can, and has done previously, made some good and potentially dangerous runs which look promising but, as well well know, the moment he gets the ball then it's already gone tits up.

Had Iwobi started then he could have, based on his off the ball runs, drawn their centre back or full back towards him more.

I stand with you all on that Iwobi is shite. He actually made me miss Walcott today.

Ok thinking about it add Elneny to that as well...

He created no chances, took no shots, completed no tackles and managed no interceptions. So what exactly was he on the pitch to do?

If posters on here think Elneny and Iwobi should play for the Arsenal....what hope have we got...I fucking give up ...

Thinking about it further add Xaha to that list of players who should never wear an Arsenal shirt.....

[Arsenal Till I Die]

Name me one mitigating feature about Xhaka.

Every fucking game he’s started.

He.......erm..........

Viera was good, wasn't he?

[GoonerMuzz]

Name me one mitigating feature about Xhaka.

Every fucking game he’s started.

Umm, does staying fit count?

Admittedly in his case staying fit is actually a negative feature

[GoonerMuzz]

Said it time and again, there are some decent players in this team and some potentially great players but getting rid if Wenger is only the start of improving things, if you look at the complete squad i would reckon 10-15 of those players should not be wearing an Arsenal shirt, either because of lack of ability or in some cases lack of willpower/ambition call it whatever you like.

Our next manager will need to be a complete financial genius because i really can't see the £250M+ ever becoming available that will be required in the current pricing market to rebuild this squad

[OneBardGooner]

This guy says it all:

phpBB [video]

[OneBardGooner]

Said it time and again, there are some decent players in this team and some potentially great players but getting rid if Wenger is only the start of improving things, if you look at the complete squad i would reckon 10-15 of those players should not be wearing an Arsenal shirt, either because of lack of ability or in some cases lack of willpower/ambition call it whatever you like.

Our next manager will need to be a complete financial genius because i really can't see the £250M+ ever becoming available that will be required in the current pricing market to rebuild this squad

I would estimate more like £450 - £500 million. New Goalie, New Back Line, New Mid-field.

[SteveO 35]

Absolutely detest the Premier League now and the rest of the season can go fuck itself for all I care - only the Cup final and the Europa League left of any interest. Hope Man Ure lose tomorrow and watch Sky try and hype up the run with Man City 16 points clear

[markyp]

there are way too many knee jerk reactions to defeat,lets get this straight,they aren't all bad players,we aren't that short of being decent,personally we are in dire need of a DM,Xhaka is shit you cant escape that,iwobi is shit granted,eleneny is a plodder,cech is past it,after that a decent manager would get the rest of them organised and challenging for the honours,i firmly believe that,you cant just say we are 10 players short,thats nonsense,its no co- incidence that Gabriel was a decent player before he joined us and is now an integral part of valencias defence,that speaks volumes for how bad wengers coaching is,Squallachi (yes total pony) said it was a nightmare playing in defence for Arsenal because the midfield gave you zero preotection,even that complete tool keown said at half time that he couldn't play in that back line it would drive him up the wall.incidently our record this season without another of the crowd favourites (note the sarcasm) Mr tricks and flicks Hollywood Ramsey is awful,we are a better team with him in it

[NickF]

I know Lacazette missed those chances and Miktyryan, struggled and Xaxha is far from everybody's cup of tea. But I really feel that they are decent players, who could show far better under a different Manager - and when coached better.

Mate people have saying this for years. But the common denominator never changed. There was a fucking protest last week yet because we signed Aubameyang no one bothered.