PL: Middlesbrough vs Arsenal | 10/09/05

[1970*Gooner]

We should of won in the first 20 mins with reyes off like a rocket but no...and we lost...abit of a piss poor preformance in the second half...nice goal by reyes though.

Just shows how much we rely on titi. as good as reyes is he just didn't finish in the first 20 mins. And i think were missing viera. It feels like there is no midfield prescence and just a whole load of strikers.

Its like we lack that killer instinct we must finish teams off when we have the chance. Playing like this is going to have a psychological effect on us and other teams, they are now seeing us as a pushover, if they can harass us off the ball we are well and truly f***ed. Teams are seeing us as human now so they don't fear us, we need a midfield general as none of the players we have can do the job, we are getting slaughtered in midfield they are playing like a load of fanny's. :x

 

[celestis]

In a strange way I am sort of glad that Thierry is injured this wednesday , we have thrown this squad into the deep end it is time for to start swimming or sink . They have to stop looking to Thierry and pining for Viera and realise they have a golden oppurtunity to shine in a club like Arsenal. They have to realise that no one is coming to their rescue and stop looking at each other and start making things for themselves . Those that do will go progress and do great things those that don't should be sold.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

i must have been watching a different game cos I think we played very well especially inthe beginning. I mean had we won this game by 3-0 playing the same way..people here would be raving about US. Now you want to point fingers on the midfield and defense. It wasn't about lack of Vieira today or Henry. We created enough chances to win the game. Simple as that. We just missed them!!!

And of course their first goal was a fluke..a bad turn worked well for Yakubu. But the game should have been over and done with had we taken our chances. I think bergkamp played well, so did almost everyone else..if you can look beyond the individual errors. It was a good game..that we should have won..not because of the talent we have but because of how we played!!!!

Sh* happens!!! No need to analyze any deeper!!!

 

[sabret00the]

We lacked leadership and in regards to Dennis, yeah he was a great midfielder but we needed a second striker on the pitch.

 

[Gunner8]

We played well in the first 25 minutes and then...nothing.
Hleb was the only one to pull the ball upfront, he's a good dribbler but nobody move around him, he always had to pass the ball back to Gilberto...
We need a striker and a Football Rules Book for Wenger.He might not know that he's authorized to make subs before the 70th minute!

 

[hellolo]

i think you all underestimated boro a bit tho

one thing that concerns me is that the players seem to lack belief in themselves

 

[IBL]

after watching the extended highlights the second goal was without a doubt Cygans fault. I'm not the kind of person to get on his back unfairly and use him as a scapegoat, but he was clearly in the wrong. First of all he should have been better with headering the long ball, he headed it straight back into play to Yakubu. Then secondly he gets stuck in no-mans land, not high enough to play Maccarone offside and not deep enough to do something about the strikers run. Also for the first goal I think he could have reacted a little quicker to help Toure.

Reyes played really well and took the fight to Boro. Could have scored a hat-trick on a better day. I thought Hleb had a good game, on a luckier day he could have had 4 assists: when Reyes hit the post came from a Hleb pullback, Hleb put Cole through who could have done better, he could have won us a penalty, and RvP flicked a Hleb through ball for Reyes to score.

Our two central midfielders were anonymous, absolutely no creativity or leadership. Hleb, Bergkamp and Pires kept coming into midfield to make things happen. Fabregas came on on at least put himself about a lot more and showed some determination.

First 20 mins we played some really good stuff, we were unlucky to go a goal down against the run of play. After the second goal we were completely gone, had we not conceded that poor second goal we could have got a result. I hope thats Cygans last game for a long time now, Sol should be back and will be a big boost.

 

[gun4glory]

You can never shut the true optimist up.

Now Amen to that Canuck...
OK not the best start to the season... 2 back 2 back away defeats... fine a terrible start to the season... but Man Utd had that start last season and they finished up in contention for second place (which in my opinion is all wats up for grabs this season, chelsea are simply too strong and very damn lucky)...
so accept that we wont win the league this season or mabe even next season specially when we don't win those must-winners against boro etc... but u never know... maybe chelsea f*ck up and we hit form... u really never know in soccer specially english soccer... the past week has been full of upsets... england 0 1 N Ireland, slovakia 2 - 0germany, man utd 1- 1 man city, and of course us vs boro... none of these were really expected... and its still or 4th game of the season stil 34 games and 102 points to win... you realy never know... so keep your heads held high and support the club u love... and if it isnt arsenal now that they're losing a few games... THEN F*CK OFF!!!!!
btw... i've always had this gut feeling even before the season started that we will pull a liverpool and finish like 3rd or 4th... i'd rather win the CL this season than the league because then we would have won EVERYTHING at highbury...

 

[Anonymous]

Hurrah, here starts the days where we target 2nd place and hope that Chelsea slip up.

Excellent.

That's not exactly bubbling with optimism is it?
That's not even realistic.
That's defeatist.
--

Wonder when Flamini will be sold? ops:

And.. I agree. Davids would have been a great signing. On a free for fluck sake. I'm not actually into this thing about sacking wenger.. I just don't really see why, but.. if he doesnt address Arsenal's shortcomings in the Jan window, then I will change my mind.

If the stadium would have such a detrimental effect on the team, then it has to be questioned if it would actually be a good idea, despite the positive's it may bring.

It's sunday, time to take stock.. Boro played within themselves, Arsenal played poorly, bad, bad result. Possibly league losing defeat, but Arsenal can play better.

 

[qs]

Davids would have been a terrible signing, he's been carded in nearly every game he's played and his impacts not been what Id call earth shattering. Id rather let Flamini make a mistake or 2 and learn from it than bring in a has been who's well past his best and has huge chance of being sent off every game.

Cygans not up to it, nice guy, alot of heart but Im afraid he just isnt good enough, watching him turn as macaroni went past him was painful. Ive seen ships turn faster. Senderos would have stopped that goal, thats clear as day. The sooner Sols back the better.

All my hopes of glory now lie in Sol coming back and giving it the season of his life. If he shuts up the defense we cold still win the league, but as we all know our success is walking a tight rope of fitness for our key players.

 

[MK5]

A couple of points,


Reyes needs to improve his finishing. He's creating chance after chance but just putting 1 out 4 or 5 in the back of the net ain't good enough. I think it's all in his head though, He just doesn't seem to believe he'll score sometimes. Looks like he just shoots and hope for the best.

Something that got to me during the second half yesterday was, why on earth didn't we use the flanks? I know it's pretty pointless at Highbury but at a pitch the size of Riverside Stadium there's plenty of space for Cole, Lauren and the wingers to attack on. I know crosses is against Wengers policy but with all the free space on the flanks yesterday we could just have used them as a way of getting into the box without crossing the ball.

 

[Zico]

I read somewhere this week that the new stadium will allow us to survive financially in years that we are not playing Champions League. The way the season is unfolding, we may put that theory to the test sooner rather than later. Chelsea, Manchester, Tottenham, Liverpool could claim the 4 places.

As for Wenger, he's obviously saving for Ashburton era. He'll probably want to buy a couple of stars to add to his nucleus of Fabregas, Cole and others. Only problem with that approach is that based on our play so far this year, which top player would want to join us?

Is Wenger untouchable?

 

[Mark]

That's my worry, quincy. Will the likes of Henry want to stick around and wait? I have my doubts. Vieira already got out, and now Henry is stalling over his new deal. Can't say I blame them to be honest. This is a dangerous game Wenger is playing, and it's a real shame that our last year at Highbury has to be one of transition rather than ending with some glory.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

There was one comedy moment yesterday, for anyone who watched Prem Plus and stayed with it after the game. The presenter, Marcus Buckland, said something like "So Arsenal have lost two of their first four games, for the first time since 1994. I don't need to remind you who the manager was then." Cut to George Graham who looked like he was about to choke! He looked furious but got his revenge about two minutes later calling Marcus "Martin".

 

[air]

I couldn't read through all the complaints. Here's the stuff I came up with.

Sigun posted:

VP should have been on 15mins ago...wenger always waits were not creating anything.....

This is true. Then again Wenger has chosen a starting eleven and has put his faith in them and putting your trust in someone can produce good results.

Sigun posted:

SEND THE f****g BALL IN!!! why pass in the box and get caught out! all the time.

singooner posted:

and we still have no plan b.

The_Gooner_04 posted:

Why do we always have to pass it in the net

Because it's the way Arsenal play. This is what we practice in training and it's what we do best. If Arsenal play this game to the best of their ability, they will beat anyone.

naveen posted:

pires should be sacked. he has been s**t all the games he has played.

Rocafella posted:

If in January we don't sign anyone then Wenger truly is too confident in the players ability.

Putting your trust in someone to do the job often produces good results. If Pires is "sacked" everyone in the team will know that when they lose it for a while, or a long time, their career will be over. Not good.

schwarz posted:

With that second goal, also came............... THE END OF AN ERA. Yes, here we come 'George Graham Days'.

Sure you're allowed to post your opinion but I might also add that your post was a stupid one.


Recently I've become very annoyed with this forum and I don't really feel like browsing through it anymore.

 

[raphael_as]

There was one comedy moment yesterday

Damn - and I thought you were going to say Riley not giving that penalty for Xavier's ice hockey style body-check on Hleb.

 

[qs]

I read somewhere this week that the new stadium will allow us to survive financially in years that we are not playing Champions League. The way the season is unfolding, we may put that theory to the test sooner rather than later. Chelsea, Manchester, Tottenham, Liverpool could claim the 4 places.

Are you mad or what? Liverpool are terrible, jesus you think we have problems, they'd give their right eye for a RVP or a Reyes. Sp**s will fall apart eventually, maybe not as badly as usual but they wont finish above us. Our CL place is not under threat. You do realise we've only played 4 games right? Didnt you see United at the start of last season? Worse than us now, Rio came back(like Sol will) and they hit form again. Dont be fretting about the CL spot, its not a worry.

 

[Mr. Hotshot]

Mike Riley screwed Arsenal again

For a referee who favours Man Utd over the years, he alongside Cygan should be blamed for our loss

 

[MikeBart19]

For f*cks sake he had a lapse of concentration and player Maccarone onside and then was too slow to close him down.. :roll:

I thought he wasn't judged to be offside because it looked like Toure slid in and kicked the ball from under Yakubu's feet. And unfortunately it went to Maccarone. Will have to watch the highlights some time, im not totally sure though..

 

[asajoseph]

Apart from the goal, Cygan indeed did have a decent game in my oppinion - his defending, particularly from set pieces, was very good. Unfortunately, and this has hampered him throughout his career with us, he just cocks up far, far too often. He's a very lumbering guy, everything he does looks very laboured. His coordination doesn't seem to be that great for a professional footballer, it has to be said. Unfortunately, despite the fact that for 89 minutes a game he plays well, a top class club cannot carry a player, particularly a CB, who makes mistakes so regularly. And that's the problem with Cygan, even if he's fine for 95% of the match.