For those who are new to the Emirates or do not go to games the “and Leicester” refers to a terrace chant sung to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory
“We all follow the Arsenal,
Over land and sea ….. and Leicester
We all follow the Arsenal
onnnn tooooo vic-to-ry.”
Why Leicester? Well, in the old days Filbert Street was an awful experience on a wet Wednesday evening; muddy pitch, poor facilities at the ground and very physical opposition. The club moved to the Walkers stadium in 2002 which has been re-named the King Power stadium and this is Arsenal’s first visit to the King Power (as far as I can find out!)
Until a few years ago I liked Leicester. Decent club, well run, loyal and vocal fans – then they signed Robbie Savage.
I have a mental top ten of the first people to be executed when the world finally sees sense and makes me World President. Savage has always been up there – not at the top, but always there or thereabouts.
Perhaps my affection for Leicester stems from my admiration for one of their stalwarts who became an Arsenal legend …. Mr Frank Mclintock who captained LCFC to two losing FA Cup Finals before coming to Highbury and captaining our ’70/71 Double team.
Leicester had a fantastic season in 2013/14. Winners of the Championship with 102 points! The season could hardly have gone better but now they have to find out if they can survive with the Big Boys. What do you think? They haven’t spent big just adding experience to the squad and relying upon the abilities of the team which brought them promotion.
I like the Schmeichel son. He may be a smaller version of his brilliant father but he is nonetheless an excellent keeper whose career path is interesting. I wish him well but hope he has a stinker today. We also have a chance to see another old boy in Matthew Upson (injury permitting). There were high hopes for him when he signed for AFC in 1997 (￡2m at a time when a million was big money), he struggled and was sent out on loan until finally settling at B’ham and then West Ham. Given Upson is now 35 y.o. we must hope he plays 😃
The Arsenal: A result today would see us go into the 2 week International break (FFS!) unbeaten. which for a team that has hardly got going is excellent. It would be churlish to say we are not playing well as qualification for the CL, a home PL victory and a draw away at Everton is a very positive return, but let’s be honest, we have not exactly performed to the heights we know this team can achieve.
I see the problem like many others. How does Mr Wenger want this team to play? I love to see technical players passing intricately all over the pitch but sometimes I would like to see a player put his foot through the ball. Only Flamini seems capable of doing so and for that reason I am hoping to see Podolski’s name on the team sheet. To be fair, the Ox is also a man who can get “physical” with the ball.
Why? Because when going to the Midlands it is important to have “thrust” and we have been lacking in this department so far this season. Giroud sometimes gives us a bit of power and his loss could prove costly, we must hope Mr Wenger has a contingency plan (could be a forlorn hope). Artistry is all well and good but it must lead to goals.
We have conceded three in 4 games – the defence looks solid., still a little suspect at set pieces but otherwise OK. The return of our CB pairing brings more security as Chambers, good as he is, is not at the level of Koscielny.
My Team:
Now this may be heresy but when Ramsey is playing I would rather see Ox or Podolski than Cazorla. Santi may well be a wonderful player but especially away from home I would like to see us play a stronger left sided player who is less likely to venture inside. Let Santi come on as sub and provide the type of pass he gave Ramsey last saturday. Podolski adds some strength to a small side and he scores, something we need to do more of.
Big Raddy is going to try and find foods from the region of our away games, so let us start with the humble Pork Pie. Leicester is the birthplace of the pork pie and Melton Mowbray is the zenith of art of pork pie manufacture. Apparently there are 15 Indian food manufacturers in Leicester and I could easily have chosen Red Leicester or Stilton cheese but there is something about the pork pie and the artisans of Leicester City F.C. It just fits.
If I am honest I will be disappointed should we not get at least a point today but yesterday’s results show that nothing can be taken for granted. This much I know – Leicester would be cock-a-hoop should they beat us.
COYRRG
written by Big Raddy
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
27 August 1997
Leicester City vs Arsenal
…..
(GOD) Dennis Bergkamp’s magnificent hat trick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAwNDhCNiU0
….
31 August 2014
Who’s turn?
Dennis Bergkamp (The First Touch King).
Arsenal played at the Walkers stadium on 6 December 2002 – finished 1-1. It’s the only season the stadium has been used for Premier League football until this season
A very entertaining read BR
Thanks as always.
Thanks for the pre match Big Randy.
I see you didn’t go for my mad mullahs on matchday theme instead you’ve gone for the cooked meat motif.
I’m offended ! Big Randy is Vegetarianophobic !
Thanks Raddy !.
Talking of football songs, I don’t know if it is still sung, but there was one that always confused me, the one that went…..” We hate Nottingham Forrest, we hate Liverpool too, we hate West Ham United but Arsenal we love you ! “. Now I can understand us hating Liverpool and West Ham Utd, but Nottingham Forrest !…..what ungrateful bastards we are !, they fcuking gave us our first red shirts according to most history !, plus chas lives there !, shouldn`t we like them ?.
Anyway I always sing different words to that song and it`s always of a night when my carer tucks me in with my Arsenal hot water bottle and rattle ………..” We hate Tottenham Hotspurs, we hate Tottenham too, we hate Tottenham Hotspur, but Tottenham we hate you ! “………I then proceed to stab a blow up doll dressed in a spud kit….being careful not to harm my own tackle deep inside it`s plastic rectum……die bastard die !…and then slip into a deep soothing contented sleep . hahaha
‘morning all, Well done BR, is food to become an ongoing feature of future previews? Tasty, very tasty.
The boring bunch at the back pick themselves, I can’t really be bothered with the bits in the middle so I’ll just say Alexis and Podolski up front.
Other than that, I think we have enough to see off The Foxes, an early goal would be good, followed by another just before half-time and a third just after the restart.
I only went to Filbert Street once, it must have been back in the sixties, I can’t honestly remember much about the game, not even the result. But the beer was good, must have been before the Breathalyser was introduced. 😀
We have porked pie in the packed lunch, too.
Cheers, BR. 🙂
It really is a must win game today what with the chavs spawning a win, the oilers losing and the red mancs getting a well-earned point. The 3 points could be so valuable at the end of the season. 🙂
Try to enjoy every second because it’s not until Saturday week that we get any more Arse.
Good one, Raddy,
But did you know that Stilton (the village for which the cheese is named) is in Cambridgeshire, and is not one of the counties that stilton can be made. Weird?
Tricky game today, and chickens have not yet hatched, or come home to roost for that matter. 🙂
Can’t figure out why, if the rumours are true, Mr Wenger has waited until the penultimate day of the Transfer Window, and after Chelsea have almost completed a deal before he bestirs himself and makes a late and probably fruitless effort to buy Remy.
Weird No.2?
Well done BR
Keeping the food theme going… 🙂 Can’t remember the last time I had a pork pie?
I’ve got a feeling Sanchez will be rested on the bench today, he gave his all on Wednesday night… poor bugger must be well cream crackered.
Usual standard Raddy, well done. Prawn Madras Curry for me with sagalo and garlic nan every time.
Arsenal have officially stated just now that they are not persuing any interest at all in Remy.
Do you still get a free packet of Walkers crisps with your programme.
I once went to Filthy Stereet, 100 miles from Hendon door to door,did it in 80 minutes.
2-1 to the good boys.It won’t be fluent but an improvement IMO.
great read as always, Raddy.
Sainsbury’s used to do an awesome pork pie variety pack…2 with pickle, 2 with mustard seed (the best ones) and 2 regular. Withdrawn purely because I loved them. As they do with everything else I like. Robinson’s grape and melon juice you say? So good you go through a bottle a day? Well…we can’t be having that, Rhyle…
Cheers Raddy
Yes, I have a soft spot for Leicster to. My God Brother lives up there and I watched them play many times.
For some reason I could not help but patronise them, dont know why? its just me I guess.
Everytime they scored I would cheer with the rest of em, but shout things like “Great Leicster, for a small provincial club, your doing fantastic” or “Excellent Steve Walsh, for a guy thats not good enough for a big club your more than good enough for us”
This would confuse there supporters. Leaving them unsure as to wether they should give me a kicking or call a psychiatrist.
i predict a 3-0 to us today. An excellent result for our title charge and a great result result for a small backwater club like Leicster, so good times all round.
Seems people are getting a bit obsessed with food on here.Has anay one ever noticed that people who tend to complain there skint generally tend to be fat bastards?
i have a cousin thats so fat he has to wear two pears of trousers, yet he always complains that been so skint, when he finishes a loaf of bread, for desert, he has to eat the cellaphane wrapping.
There must be a lot of calories in that wrapping
Leicester fan in PEACE!
Really looking forward to the game today as this is why you want promotion isn’t it! Could be anything from 1-1 to 6-0 to you, just don’t know. Whilst we certainly can’t yet play like an Arsenal side who are for me one of our best footballing sides as opposed to pure power play, I think that you’ll find that under Pearson, we are a team that will try to have a go rather than just try and shut up shop as it were. Have a great day up here and I hope that whatever the score we become one of the teams you hope will stay up due to respect for the kind of football we try to play!
Excellent comment, Chris
I hope you stay up already.
The premiership needs supporters and clubs like yours.
Blimey
They have just shown Stan getting off the bus in Leicester on Sky Sports. What on earth is he doing up there?
Must be in the UK to oversee the intended spending spree tomorrow.
Three players at least.
Afternoon all
Good stuff going on at the shit-hole lol
Who are we linked with today? Same old same old or anyone new?
It’s just so scary leaving it to the last day, after all we qualified for the Champs Lge on Wednesday!!!
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger insists striker Joel Campbell, 22, will not be leaving the club on loan again after spending last season at Olympiakos. Reports have suggested interest from AC Milan, but Wenger is adamant he will be staying put:
We have had a lot of offers for Joel and have turned them all down. There are plenty of clubs – I don’t know exactly how many because once I said to my assistants, ‘He will not go out on loan’, if somebody calls them they don’t even tell me anymore because, when I say no, it’s no.
Hernandez ?
Stan on a bus 🙂
Sanchez and Sanogo both start.Ox on the bench
#Arsenal team to play Leicester City: Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Cazorla, Ozil, Alexis, Sanogo
#Arsenal subs: Martinez, Chambers, Rosicky, Campbell, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Podolski #LCFCvAFC
Leicester playing 2 up top which is good to see, although Nugent will probably drop onto Flamini without the ball.
Wonder if Cazorla or Özil will play central. I hope it’s Özil. Debuchy will have his work cut out today with Shlupp, who is a bit clumsy but pretty quick. Should be a great game if both teams go for it.
Wilshere dropped. Didn’t see that happening, nor Sanogo starting.
Interesting
(GK)Szczesny, (RB)Debuchy, (CB-R)Mertesacker, (CB-L)Koscielny, (LB)Monreal, (CM)Flamini, (CM)Ramsey, (AM/WG/HS)Cazorla, (AM/WG/HS)Ozil, (AM/WG/HS)Alexis, (CF)Sanogo
Should be a 4-2-(3)-1 in any case. The (3) behind the CF are dynamic roles, though I will hope for Alexis to play closer to Sanogo as our main 2nd striker.
If it had been Wilshere starting (in CM) with Ramsey, we would be lining up in a conservative 4-1-4-1, with Flamini in DM.
=============
Stan getting off the bus / on the bus.
If rumours were believed that we are negotiating with Gestifute/Jorge Mendes for William Carvalho or/and Falcao, our club could probably need the approval & signatures of our board members (Stan, Ivan, Sir Chips etc) to release substantial transfer funds to go through with the deal(s).
Gestifute/Jorge Mendes has already racked in plenty (£Millions) in agent/agency fees this transfer window through the transfers of their clients.
(e.g. James Rodriguez, Angel di Maria, Diego Costa, Eliaquim Mangala, Carlos Vela, Ezequiel Garay, Nani, Giovani dos Santos, Andre Gomes, Bruno Alves, Rafael Marquez, Bebe etc)
And hope Ozil isn’t playing on the left wing. He is wasted out there
Blimey, chock a block midfield!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ramsey, Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez. OMG.
Afternoon all, good one Raddy apart from the food. Can’t talk about politics sex or religion, should be food as well, Mrs watches every food cooking programes she can drives me nuts.
Let’s see if Sanogo can play with Sanchez got a feeling Campbell will be on second half
I know both Cazorla and Ozil can play inside, but I don’t really get why Santi is preferred there right now, as he’s the better flank player and Ozil is the better central player.
Hope Kos is coming back…..
Back with a swimming cap……
YESSSSSSSSSS
no fooking hesitation! Bang!!! in the net 🙂 🙂
Get in
Sanchez !!!!
That’s the combination play between CF(Sanogo) & HS/2nd striker(Alexis) I am hoping for.
Sanogo (assist) + Alexis (goal).
Bolloxxxxxxx
Bum
Great play by Schlupp, Kos doesn’t look right.
Pisspoor keeping Kos on after a bad head injury. It cost us a goal and could have been serious for Kos
I wouldn’t criticise that decision, if the player says he’s good to go and the doc can see he’s no concussed, keeping him on to see if he can get going again is fair enough. Just our bad luck that it didn’t work out.
Sclupp looks a good player as does Ulloa.
We look very open considering how many midfielders are playing
Agreed Raddy, Debuchy probably needs to stay at home a bit more.
Players should not be allowed to be brave after a clash of heads. Koscielny was obviously injured quite badly.
26. Fair point
Peaches, I do disagree with that – we don’t know how badly he was hurt, or more accurately how badly he thought he was hurt and how badly he appeared to the physio and the doctor to be hurt. If there’s a concussion, that’s different but if not, some injuries dissipate after a bit of play. Seems reasonable to me to listen to the player in that situation and see how it goes. Otherwise we’d be using up valuable substitutions too easily. Would be different if we could rotate from the bench.
Are you a doctor now Mr 26 May 😉
Leicester aren’t afraid are they, they break with pace and purpose. Their supporter’s must be loving this.
We didn’t create much and I remain unconvinced by Sanogo.
Cannot see the point of playing Cazorla & Ozil, neither is having much influence
Well, now that you ask, peaches…. 🙂
But seriously, my point is the opposite – none of us knew what to make of Kos’s injury at that point, so I don’t see how we can second-guess the people who had both the information or the expertise.
Anyway, an interesting half of footy. Am not that impressed with our midfield performance – we ought to be dominating there and yet the Foxes have done as well as we have there. And they’ve been a hell of a lot sharper up front.
Sanchez has done pretty well but there’s been a mixture of good and sloppy play from many of the others. Have to be better that in the second half.
BR
Is that a you can’t see the point of playing Cazorla and Ozil in place of Wilshere or is that a cannot see the point of playing Cazorla and Ozil full stop?
I’m with you, Peaches.
It did not take a doctor to see the effect of that head injury on Kos.
He should never have been allowed back on.
Rambo looks rusty………
Probably go on to score the winner. lol
Love that Sanchez is popping up all over place but does that mean that others don’t push themselves into the play. Looks like everyone is waiting for Sanchez to include them …….
……. except Sanogo 😳
LB. Nothing to do with JW more about having some “thrust”. I would definitely have started Podolski on the left and let Ozil play central but I am not one of the world’s best managers.
We are very open to the counter – worrying. But as has been said an entertaining half.
Sanogo is a bad immitation of Giroud, at best he is a nuisance.
This is a newly promoted side with pace on the wings and our defence is all at sea.
Why oh why is Ozil on the wing again.Even Ramsey can’t get in the game.
Sanchez is class but we really quite a few players short.
You can’t keep experimenting even after only a few games.
the Ox has to come on.
Not sure if Kos should have come back on.he wached the player behind him yet just didn’t jump. Hard decision to call if he should have come back on.
If we don’t change personal and tactics we will be hard pressed to win this. On the whole disappointing first half
The midfield is as open as ever, with Leics being given the run of the pitch there.
The result is never ending crosses almost as they want.
And …… I cannot believe that Campbell is being ignored in favour of Sanogo.
Budge up, budge, up, sorry late, excuse me, budge up, can I squeeze in?
Heard first half on radio. Sounded very exciting.
Come on you Gunnnnners
Clear penalty. Once again Taylor doesn’t see it
Plenty of room for you Micky
Thank the sweet Lord Jesus for that miss, we were absolutely carved open there.
Oooh that was too close for comfort but TPIG was out quickly
I think Sanogo is in the team simply because his main position is ST. Not sure what he’s bringing to the side that makes him good enough to be our main striker for the next 4 months.
As for this game, if Leicester are going to drop so deep then why not shoot or get the ball wide and cross it! Instead of tippy tappy and lofted passes.
The Ox for Ozil some time soon?
He’s had a couple of moments today, but overall Ramsey has been poor today.
If Wenger will just take anyone who’s big and will play ST then might aswell get Nikola Zigic!
Get Ramsey and Sanogo off and play Podolski upfront and Wilshere through the middle.
Why not the usual 20 mins? Not much time for Ox and Pod
Thank goodness Cazorla is off, as well as Sanogo.
More importantly the Ox and Poldi are on.
I know there’s some tiredness after the Besiktas game, but some of this passing is so sloppy.
Down to 10 men?
Özil looks injured. Oh dear.
So pedestrian and poor. Players passing the ball at such a slow tempo you’d think we were 3-0 up.
What happened to Mesut?
Yup, Redders, for now. Hopefully Ozil will get back on…..
Why does Sanogo even start for us. Highlights how desperately we need a striker. Compare Sanogo to our top 4 rivals’ strikerS.
Back on thank god!
I’m not going to say Sanogo is top quality, he isn’t, but his movement today was (once again) really good, but (once again) his finishing was poor. Worth remembering that he got an assist in the first half too.
Great save from Chezzer
Adrian,
Never mind the top 4, how many PL sides would he get in?
I’m not going to hammer him, and no doubt he will be a decent player, but right now he should be nowhere near our starting 11.
Sometimes, it’s so frustrating to watch Arsenal……..
While there is time left there is hope, (altho that works both ways, I suppose) but AW’s arrogance in saying he cannot find better players than some of those he already has is simply not credible.
We have made enough chances for someone like Diego Costa to have scored a double hat-trick. And as for the midfield????
But he has assured us he will be vigilant until 11 p.m. tomorrow.
What did Chezzer do to deserve a yellow card.
Grumpy? Yes!
Well done, the Foxes, so much energy and focus in their game. But we’re the authors of our loss of two points really – so many missed passes, and a really poor game from the midfield. Oh well.
Starting 11, tactics, substitution and the timing of subs were all wrong today.
We looked less and less likely to score as the game went on. Ozil has to stop playing on the wing, Sanogo shouldn’t start period, and The Ox clearly needs to play more. Campbell must be wondering what he has to do to get some game time as well.
Strange that in a game where we had 70 p.c. of posession TPIG was my MotM
He did his job, Raddy, so who can gainsay you? 🙂
A tough watch, but after a few weeks packed with competitive fixtures, I can’t complain. A few of the lads looked shattered and the break can’t come quick enough.
As regards the transfer window, Wenger must see that Sanogo is just not ready. I believe in giving youngsters a chance, but they have to show progress, and in such an important role, they need goals in them. Sanogo hasn’t shown anything so far that makes me believe he’s good enough to be our main striker for 4 months. Even if Wenger likes him, he must see its a massive risk.
Problem now though is who do we use instead?
Well, that was a tired and disjointed second half performance.
Really don’t like Mesut and Santi in the same side, as I’d like more power down both flanks with one of those orchestrating from the middle, but hey ho.
Important thing from Chapter 1 of the season was to qualify for the CL, not lose, get some points on the board and bed Sanchez, Debs and Chambers in, so overall, job done.
Really hope we add one high calibre attacker at the very least, and everyone is injured for the internationals 🙂
That was a pathetic performance by Arsenal. They outfought and outmuscled us all over the pitch. I can’t understand why Ozil stayed on the pitch, he was having a nightmare.
We persisted with the tippy tappy stuff which never looked like being effective, we are still very predictable and one dimensional in our play. We need to start recruiting a different type of player starting with Carvalho.
My aspirations for the team are, in descending order of likelihood.
A) To be competitive in every competition we are in,
B) To win one of the Cups.
C) To win the Premiership.
So far this season we have not played badly, but we have not played well either. So will my aspirations be met?
Trying to be realistic in assessing the other teams I have seen so far, makes me think it is going to be very difficult for us this season, without Wenger buying a better CF and a strong, physical and pacey DMF – a bit like those fellows Ulloa and Schlupp — there are some good guys out there Arsene.
I am not a happy bunny.
If we are serious about a title challenge this performance was awful
.
Leicester deserved at least a draw.
I honestly can’t pick a player who stood out for us.
Now it looks like we have three more potential injuries to Kos,Ozil and The Ox
If we continue to play Ozil we might as well cash in on him.
Why did AW wait so long to make subs.
As for Podolski,he might as well have not been on the pitch.
None of the midfield played well though we had a few good counter attacks which as usual amounted to nothing.
Never mind that Everton only drew with Leicester we should put promoted teams away.
3 games in and we really haven’t played anything like our potential.
How Wenger can say he has so many options as strikers,is incredible.
Santi didn’t play any worse than the other midfielders yet raised his eyebrows when subbed.
Ozil and Sanchez just walked off the pitch with heads hung low.
On the bright side we have a day to get it right and hopefully pull out anyone even if it’s a cut finger,from the internationals.
play Ozil on the wing,I meant.
Lets face it, we were pretty shit. We should be beating teams like Leicester.
The way I saw it, Arsenes lighweight passaholics got roughed up a bit and failed to get the three points.
Its no use blaming individual players, its Arsenes philosophy and the buck stops with him.
From what ive seen so far, we will fall short of a genuine Title challange, but obviously ime hoping as the season goes on we will go up a few gears.
Micky,
The second half you described as tired and disjointed was better than the first half sadly.
Miquel on his way to Norwich. Surely we will see a defender coming in at least tomorrow?
Ouch, that’s a fairly gloomy outlook.
I do agree that Mesut is a waste on the wing (as is Santi) but one quality signing could dramatically alter the dynamics of this side.
Crikey,
The end is nigh — Terry and his thirty goats are on the blink, too. 🙂
The day of the diddy men is surely over?
Ouch RA 🙂
Think I might go and dig out some brambles for an hour 🙂
Hope Chas and Ant got plenty of ubiquitous fluids in them 🙂
Biggest Ouch is two long weeks ahead of us 😦
have you seen the post game interview with Wenger? Why was he smiling so broadly??? We drew against a far lesser team, Loic Remy is gone to Chelsea and the window closes tomorrow?? Has he gone mad or has he a surprise for us??
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to BBC Sport: “It was tough, Leicester played very well and defended with a lot of heart.
“Our attackers did well but on the other hand they were not fantastic they didn’t score. We are active in the window, we are working hard to find a solution.
“We try very hard. Nobody can ever predict what can happen in the last 24 hours. But if we had to buy a player every time you didn’t win a game it would be too easy. In the Premier League out is difficult to win games. That is the way it is.”
There you are Evonne, he has gone mad 🙂
We are very active (in the Transfer Window) says Arsene, but he also implied that buying someone every time you lose a game is not the right solution.
The usual mixed messages.
Active? With less than 48 hours to go? Hmm.
Sounds to me that Wenger wants a striker, but just can’t see anyone he likes out there. If he’s looking for world class then they are all at top clubs these days and difficult to get.
Having said that, he’s had ages to sort it out and still not got one. He’s going to have to take a punt at some stage to take us to the next level.
Why not accept that Leicester played very well especially in defence?
As we know it is difficult to break down an organised, discplined 9 man in their own third defence. Today we did not have the pace or guile.
Away at Everton and the midweek game took their toll as we were sluggish particularly in the final 10 mins.
Thanks for the pre-match BR
I thought we were pretty poor today and Leicester possibly deserved all three points.
Sanogo may turn out to be a top player (I remember Anelka looking all at sea in his early games for us before he started tearing it up) but there were a couple of opportunities that fell to him that, if they’d fallen to one of our rivals’ top strikers – Aguero, Costa, Sturridge, BSR – would almost certainly have resulted in at least one more goal for us. It’s time to send him on loan.
I’m sure we’ll hit our stride in time but, as others have said, it’s hard to see us keeping pace with the likes of the Chavs and the Manc Oilers without a couple of real upgrades.
We will know very soon, playing City and Chelsea, wether we have the neccesary ingredients to chalange for the title
Can a team playing passaholic football with small nimble players all over the midfield finnish above the likes of City and Chelsea?
Its easy to criticise after a poor performance, when next week the same style of play and personell can pull off a great result
But I repeat, we are going found out very soon wether its capable of sustaining a title challange
IMO it’s not the players but the system.
AW will never change.
Our midfield has been more or less stiffled in every game this season, we don’t have width nor a real poacher in front of goal, but AW says we are spoilt for choice.
I’m eating one of Wengers post-match Pork Pies
Raddy,
No one has denied that Leics played well, but that misses the point,
We had some 70% of the possession, and altho not playing well we made some good attacking opportunities as far as the penalty area, and failed to make the most of them.
Why? Read the above comments including your own, in which you awarded our GK the MotM award we need a different type of DFM and at least one striker in the same class as the opposition leaders.
So you are saying that it is the players Kelsey?
— “we don’t have width nor a real poacher in front of goal,”
You are making mixed messages — like Wenger.
Finally. It is early days to feel more than a bit disappointed, and things can and no doubt will look up.
But the problem, as I see it, is that if you start a Grand Prix motor race with only 3 wheels, it is unlikely you will win, unless all the other cars break down.
In the Premiership, if you start without a top goal scorer and/or a better DFM, you are unlikely to win anything either, unless the referees are worse to every other team than they are at the moment! 😉
No I didn’t RA it’s the system, playing players out of position. and AW doesn’t even know his best options, that in turn confuses the players.Look how we were cut open several times today, did we ever really look like scoring after the first goal.
Poor show by all concerned
Anyway,goodnight one and all 🙂
I still dont think Wenger has ever sorted out the left side of our attack since Pires left and we changed formation. We’ve tried loads of different players in Hleb, Arshavin, Gervinho and Cazorla, but it’s still never quite looked right.
It was interesting to see Sanchez out there quite a lot today because I think it could work with him left, Walcott right and Giroud (or an upgrade) in the middle. Maybe then Özil will get to play 10 and we can stop f*cking about with him on the wing.
I get you now, Kelsey. I suppose that Ozil could be a case in point.
A wing wizard he is not. 🙂
I just had a sobering thought, if Exile gets his swingometer out now we’ll see something quite upsetting.
After 3 games we’re already a point down. 😕
Evening all, fine PM Raddy.
Leicester executed a good game plan, and could have one. We tried the familiar route but no success.
Koscielny should not have continued but that is players responsibility and for the player to be honest with himself, his teammates and most importantly his manager.
If Chambers was on the pitch we don’t concede….simple.
I like Koscielny I like his courage but sometimes it’s better for the team if you sit down. Maybe it’s because Chambers has been so good that Koscielny decided to play on, he has deputised more than adequately for both BFG and Kozzer that they are in a mindset of “don’t give him a chance”. Let’s be honest they all know Arsene will promote over regular first teamers if the deputy does a better job or even no worse a job. Afterall it’s how Koz took Verms shirt.
Then we have other issues, the midfield link up was non existent, I put this down to the absence of Jack.
On Wednesday he helped Flamini take the ball out from the back and brought others into the game, Aaron plays higher up the pitch and with no Arteta to distribute we struggled to get good build up.
That we were left so open was the fault of a very attacking front 5, this 4-1-4-1 only works if at least one of the 4 wants to drop to help Flamini.
Silent Stan had the benefit of watching this in person, and, if he has any sense, must know that he needs to break out his checkbook.
The side is looking increasingly fragile physically — no power whatsoever. And to go into a match with only one defender on the bench is simply wrongheaded in a league like the EPL. While the need for an experienced striker is clear, to these eyes there’s more pressing concerns in DM and CB.
FGG
“I still dont think Wenger has ever sorted out the left side of our attack since Pires left and we changed formation. We’ve tried loads of different players in Hleb, Arshavin, Gervinho and Cazorla”
Harsh, I feel, you forgot Bendtner and Chamakh 🙂
Bayonne hi
I’d say that if we had 70% odd of possession, then sticking it in the net is the problem.
Here’s my thinking
Less than £30m spent tomorrow, any player less than 6ft, or any forward who can’t sprint at 20mph in thick mud, then we Wenger Out
Wadya reckon? 🙂
Look lads,
I apologize for being in such a good mood at the end of the game, but I’d had a great days’ surfing and the effect hadn’t worn off.
I have time to come down, and am now ready for a real rant 🙂
Come on out you wimps
We really need to see some young talent breaking through into the first 11 in the next few years. It seems ages since we’ve had a real talent come through, and it’s a shame to see players like Miquel, Eisfeld, Afobe and Aneke just not quite reaching the desired level.
We have some promising youngsters at the moment like Bellerin, Gnabry, Zelalem and Akpom, and we don’t want the same happening to this group. Its about time some of them stepped up.
The other reason we need youngsters is to stop us having to buy 4 or 5 players every window. We are in need of a CB yet Miquel is leaving, we are crying out for a ST yet Afobe hasn’t really pushed on, we all want a HM yet Frimpong made a mess of things. The youngsters know they are at a good club to get opportunities, so it’s about time some of them took advantage and stepped up.
No No No FGG
Total waste of time the whole youth system. Fire the lot of them, and spend the loot on established quality
GIE
The Koscielny staying on to avoid Chambers taking his place is a bit, how can I put it “Out There”
But your Arteta/Wilshere theory makes a lot of sense.
Yes yes yes Micky!
I would love us to buy top quality all over the field, but I think the reality is we still need youngsters, otherwise we are just selling our souls like City and Chelsea have.
Having said that, certain youngsters don’t always take advantage of their opportunities, which is very frustrating. Sanogo needs to go back a step I think before he can progress. Loan or U21 is his level right now.
You’re no fun FGG
Sensible, maybe 🙂
It’s all business when it comes to Arsenal, Micky.
Unless I’ve been drinking…!
Real Madrid 2-0 up, now 4-2 down to Real Sociedad! Vela just scored with a decent close range finish.
Benzema not working out for Madrid, Sanogo not doing it for us. Last day swap deal!? 😉
That pink Madrid kit is a shocker. Some of the pretty boys like Ronaldo and Ramos will love it, but I’m pretty sure it’s the only reason Khedira doesn’t want to stay there!
Sorry, knot ear again.
Lovely PM as always, Raddy. 🙂 That is about the most positive thing I can say at the moment.
Now, I will say no more. 🙂
LB I think competition for places will reduce our injuries, well the minor niggles etc. Miss a couple of games lose your place. And let’s be honest Chambers has looked the real deal, the way he walked around a defender on the six yard box will be seen by some to be careless or risky, I see it as playing without fear a key ingredient of Wengerball.
I think in all this talk and watching out first games we have all forgotten Theo, add him into the mix on the left or right and we start to look more threatening going forward.
Don’t get me wrong I would like to see someone who can stand in for Giroud for the rest of the season, as a broken leg will take a while to recover from.
As for Remy story today do you know what his release fee was? Well according to this mornings reports £8.5m and Chavs activated it yesterday, QPR wanted more and so they said Arsenal had also activated the release clause, Chavs added £2m to their offer. Nothing official from Arsenal, but Chavs were forced to raise their offer for a player who in then or too distant past failed a medical at Liverpool…..do we really want the club to gamble on the fitness of a signing? Remember the shit the club got for Kalstrom?
Bony would be on my list, but so would Dyer and Routledge from Swansea. All fine players, Dyer has been consistently good every season in the PL, Routledge impressed at Palace before a big money move to Liverpool too early.
FGG how many players should we promote from within?
Szcesny, Gibbs and Wilshere all feature in current squad and have been raised by the club.
A lot of the English players at the club are there because of the 45 minute travel rule, for the last five-ten years all PL clubs have been limited by this rule, not anymore and we should start to see an improvement in churn.
But the problem is as many commenters on this blog highlight, fans want ready made stars and have no patience for players to be blooded.
Bacca and Falcao are the two names linked with according to the gossip pages on BBC.
Bacca it is then ……
We were shit.
The pork pie was good.
See you after the madness has finished.
Have we signed anyone yet? Come on AW.
Flamini had a good game yesterday under difficult circumstances i.e. the gap between himself and the front 5. And he wasn’t carded!
Oh dear we have two match reviews I believe 🙂
Let’s have both. Always interesting to read two different viewpoints.
You won’t like mine 🙂
Not one “link” yet? 😦
From my exclusive sources, I’m hearing we’re in for Soldado on loan.
Haha.
Off really now.
kelsey. I never do 😀
Kelsey
If you have written something you should take priority. I was writing my thoughts on the match which turned into something that I thought could be used a match report if you were unable.
Don’t be concerned about me, please go ahead. I will post mine as a comment.
Kelsey, if you try and paper over the cracks, then you are right, I wont like yours !…..I want it in 3D……..Doom, Doom and Doom !. 😆
Fear not Cockie, Crystals can open a hairline crack into a canyon.
The man can find doom where others see only sunshine
And no jokes about cracks 🙂
LB
I always do a review as you know and I have no devine right and in fact some might say if they read between the lines that my thoughts are a watered down version of some of the posts found on LG but when some of the Away crowd are screaming at Wenger to spend some fecking money it is justifable that more and more and more fans are increasingly unhappy.
At least I am always polite about AW 🙂
The sale of rose tinted glasses has plumetted 🙂
Kelsey
The key question remains: “Has Arsene got a clue what he’s doing?”
🙂
Of course he has micky, that’s part of the trouble 🙂
“it is justifable that more and more and more fans are increasingly unhappy.”
Sorry Kelsey I don’t get that, only a few weeks ago we were all relatively content with the squad after we waltzed around City in the Charity Shield.
We are unbeaten in 6 competitive games, have shown some steel to hang on to games and in reality are waiting for some players to gel. Yes we haven’t been brilliant going forward but we have only been working together for three/four weeks due to WC hangover.
Yes Sanogo isn’t the answer to Giroud’s absence, but if we can’t get Falcao is there really anyone out there who is better and available. When I say better I mean better than Giroud, as signing a big money player for four months is hardly good business sense, but we do need one.
Whoever it is needs to be physically strong enough to withstand the pressure of PL defences so we need someone probably from within the PL.
I asked the other day…..RvP? Should we try that route, United need to recover some funds.
as far as I’m concerned less said about that game the better. Just one thing – last year I watched Sanogo and could see a bright future. Now I watch him and can see Adebayor. I hope it is just the physical resemblance.
Enough of football for a Monday morning. Polak is the new head of Europe!! We had a polish Pope, we have Szczesny and now a Pole is to rule Europe!! Fab 🙂
GiE,
Szscesny, Gibbs and Wilshere have all been in the squad now for about 5 years. Who has progressed in the meantime? I understand we can’t have it both ways and expect youth to come through and sign quality, but you would think someone would’ve taken their chance since then.
GiE – NO.
Has that baby arrived yet?
Giroud won’t be back till March, trust me. After an ankle op he won’t start training till Jan
Diaby will save the day 🙂
GIE did you hear the fans yesterday,I did.
FGG, LB linked to an article on Brady a few days back, it was very interesting about the progress of youth.
Let’s take Jack, the only reason he is in the first team is Denilson, had we had a better player occupying that position when he got to about 17/18 he would be with others like Afobe etc being loaned out continuously and then sold.
For a youth player to progress to the first team he needs a vacancy in his position (Bellerin right back), an opportunity to take his chance, and most of all be good enough to fit in seamlessly. They need a perfect storm.
Then you have the longevity, as you progress through the ranks you move with age groups and then you hit 21 and you are up against players who could be there for 7-10 years, so if you were a young left back the year below Gibbs you never had a chance of getting into first XI football. Eisfield has a similar problem, he is only 1-2 years younger than Jack and Aaron, what chance has he got?
The only thing I would like to see is these youngsters being squad players rather than a cheap import, would Meade be better than Monreal? Probably not, but he may not be any worse. But then Monreal isn’t good enough for most Arsenal fans, if Meade was the only cover for Gibbs the fans would be throwing pelters.
So we can’t have it both ways we either want a deep squad like Man City with like for like in every position, or we want to blood youth in which case we need to release players like Podolski, Rosicky, Santi, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Monreal etc etc.
who is Diaby?
I`d have RVP, GIE !…….definitely an upgrade on Sanogo, but then again so is Bendtner, Park, Chamakh, my nan and she was cremated about 20 years ago !.
Wow Eddie
With Poland in charge of everything, perhaps time for some payback. They should attack Germany and Russia this week while no-one’s looking 🙂
don’t you worry Micky, the idiots are poking Russia already. The hit of the summer were apple pies called Putinkie 🙂
Putinke ROLF
Do you like kabanos, evonne ? I love them.only seen them in Waitrose.
Exile
If you’re still here, good luck to you and Mrs E.
Have you got the barrel of beer in as you did with George?
Last thing, is it too late to pull out of the deal if you think it’s a girl?
(yes, it’s been a long summer with my daughter 🙂 )
kels – I do:) All shops sell them now, best from Polish section in horrid Asda.
Micky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Girls are best! Just look at me 🙂 And you should see my granddaughter !
That’s much better – no footie 🙂 Our Irish is a funny fish – after a winning game she is all Arsenal, but after a bad result it is Lady Gaga and Gay Parade in Limerick 🙂
Motning all. I am ear. But I have physisomanotaditis of the fingers, so I cannot type.
New post up on GunnersoreArse…. trying not to be too negative??
Until someone puts up a post-mortem here, it’s worth a read:
No mention of food today… just food for thought 🙂
Mirning all
On grandma duties atm, back in a bit.
arnie
Does this mean we have a new CB coming in today??
Arnie
I’d imagine just typing the word physiolopandopoditis would make anyone’s fingers ache. Keep it simple I say.
That’s a fair point GiE, but I would argue that if you’re good enough then Wenger will find a space for you in his squad. It’s not like we are losing young players to other top quality sides, they end up leaving for football league clubs or poor European teams, which would suggest to me that they haven’t improved enough to a point where Wenger has to keep hold of them.
Some will slip through the net due to first team competition (Vela), but most just don’t fulfil their own potential, and the youngsters have to take some responsibility for that too.
Bloody well hope not NB. It’s goals we need.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos, I suspect.
As bad as physisomanotaditis? Well, almost anyway.
Kabanos
Well, I have learnt something new this morning. I had never heard of them but that is what we are having for dinner tonight. According to Wiki they are made from pork or turkey, Evonne which are best?
🙂 🙂 🙂
Pork, LB and you eat them cold with perhaps potato salad or latkas.
We have two posts. Pray what are we waiting for? We dont need pretty pictures, do we? Just putting LB’s and Kelsey’s reflections will do fine IMO. 🙂
Motning all,
referring to Exiles comment about wanting ready made stars to me it’s a case of having a squad where there is room for younger players to prove themselves as well as having adequate back up when your first choice(Olly) is unavailable.
Ideally Sanogo should be given Cup games and the last 15 minutes when we are coasting in a game.
So how have we found ourselves in the situation where Sanogo is our alternative to Olly this early in the season.
Wenger says we have too many strikers so why didn’t we see Campbell yesterday ? OK the Pod didn’t do a whole lot but when you see the person who started in front of you is clearly out of their depth then how motivated will you feel if you are sent on for the last 10 minutes or so ?
It’s not Sanogo’s fault he is being played when he is not ready, it’s the managers fault.
Add to that the fact we’ve known Vermaelen was leaving before the end of the last season and we STILL haven’t got a replacement then it all looks very shoddy.
Top 4 aspirations as a minimum aren’t likely if you have 6 players filling 4 positions in defence, which has actually been 5 players as Gibbs has began to do a Diaby availability wise.
Looks a proper shambles at this point.
Just heard we’re in for Falcao……
My eldest returned with his family from France on Saturday and had a three and a half delay at Calais to board the ship.
Security was extreme and eastern europeans were literally knocking on cars or trying to get into lorries in front of the police, and that was in broad day light.
Subsequently they missed the ferry and had in total to wait five hours.
It is utter chaos at the ports.
Whoops, I heard wrong.
https://twitter.com/craigvpower/status/506356767258058752
According to Sky betting thing, we’re odds on for Cavani and Carvalho
I don’t think I could be more excited 🙂
Reckon my day will be downhill from here on 😦
Morning all.A quick big thanks to Raddy for the post as I couldn’t get on yesterday. Will comment more on the new post.
Chary,
pity you couldn’t wait for my viewpoint as it fits in nicely.
Chas
You’re not going to be very helpful today, are you? 🙂
Well, news for you, it’s OUR DAY. Dreamers and speculators rule!
I’ve put LB’s up but I will try to add kelsey’s in a while ………
New Post …………………
Micky
No. 🙂
Here’s our new DM
Ah right Kelsey, I hope I haven’t pre empted you too much, oops!
And another thing, centre backs need longer to bed in than other players as the understanding with their partner takes longer to forge, so we should, have made the Vermaelen replacement the priority.
Surely we can’t be expecting a 19 year old, who mainly played at right back for his previous club, to be our first port of call when our starting centre backs aren’t available ?
That can’t be right.
I thought Chambers has always been a centre back and was just filling in at right back for Southampton?
Chary,
I totally agree about Sanogo. If Wenger decides to go with him now he could quickly turn into a Gervinho ie getting booed by his own fans. It’s far too early for him and he’s not ready. If he played the same position as Campbell (winger/forward) then he would be nowhere near the first team because Sanchez, Campbell, Podolski etc are all far better players than him, but because he’s an out and out forward, he’s getting games!
I was of the opinion that we should only buy a striker if it’s an upgrade on Giroud, but I’m starting to think someone like Bony would make a lot of sense. Yes, it would make it difficult when Giroud comes back, and we would probably still need to upgrade in future, but we have competition for places in midfield, why is it any different up front?
LB – kels is right, pork kabanos are best. They are not very good for dinner, perhaps a starter with a shot of vodka?
EVERYBLOODYBODY says we need a CF. There is only one man who seems to think differently