Here are a few AAers’ comments after the game ………………….
LB said
I think I would describe that as the perfectly executed plan.
Who would have thought that Wenger would have started with a 4.2.4 line up? The idea was clearly to go at them, all guns blazing, get ahead and by doing so would force them onto us, before bringing Walcott on in the latter stages to run riot with his pace. And that is exactly what happened.
If Boro were hoping for a lift from Wenger opting to field a weaker team they were disappointed.
Welbeck, Giroud, Ozil and Sanchez up front, wow that is some front line.
Gabriel didn’t have that much to do but there were some very encouraging signs. His professional foul was a South American master class.
https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/567228008227160064
stevepalmer1 said
I felt we gave a good account of ourselves, pretty on the eye, plenty of possession with some nice quick passing. I would like to see us making challenges earlier on forward running attackers as i feel we open up and give them chances but apart from that not bad at all.
My MOTM would have been Gibbs the lad ran up and down all game and made his self a nuisance but also did his defensive work well. Very happy with that effort but have to say expected more goals but 2 goals is still blinding. Don’t want to leave Chambers out another fine days work son.
Gooner In Exile said
Gibbs had a very positive game obviously showing he wants his shirt back.
But I think I loved watching the front three of Ozil, Santi and Alexis, they were walking into little spaces and making gorgeous passing. Past their way out of the press with ease.
Also has anyone noticed the skill Welly uses quite a lot, where he kind of allows the player to commit a sliding tackle before he touches the ball and he kind of picks it up with his trailing leg, it’s very effective and useful because he seems to break away more often than not using it.
Let’s not forget this was Boro and we are going to face better less gappy buses than this in the remainder of the league campaign.
Ratings
Szczesny 8 – Not much to do – Great having him as second choice keeper!
Chambers 8 – Hungry and competent without being tested too much
Koscielny 9 – Needed a rest and got one by cruising through the game
Gabriel 8 – Fitted in straightaway. Took one for the team in the right area of the field
Gibbs 9 – Excellent throughout
Flamini 8 – Very effective against limited opposition
Cazorla 9 – His performance was as tall as his hair
Ozil 9 – A world class player able to show it against a disappointing ‘Boro
Welbeck 8 – Just finding his form again. Could have a great end of season
Sanchez 9 – Love the man almost as much as he loves playing
Giroud 9 – Two crackers. The first a team goal, the second opportunist
Cobbled together by chas
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Great to see The Peach before the game, even if it was only briefly.
Your presence certainly got JC over the Ken Friar in double quick time!
Lovely load of old cobblers Chas, well done.
It was interesting to listen to the two numpties, Townsend and MacManaman, criticising Ozil before the game for not being able to “take a game by the scruff of it’s neck” and”not imposing himself on games”.
What a load of old bollocks.
So much of what Mesut does, he makes look really easy, his positioning, ball control and vision are all superb, but in the eyes of so much of the media he needs to take on the qualites of bums like Savage and Barton and “get stuck in”.
For me he’s a joy to watch, for defenders he’s a nightmare to play against, what more could you want in a player?
On a side issue, I was really pleased when ITV sacked Townsend and equally horrified to find that BT Sport had signed him up.
The Pundit Line up from Hell:- Owen, Savage and Townsend.
I still can’t knock him off the ball……
The Arsenal History link in here is superb.
You can view the programme from the day by clicking on the cover.
10.22 in spam
How are England ever going to win a tournament when you get pundits suggesting the way to deal with gifted football players like Ozil and Carzola is to kick them.
Thanks for the load of cobblers chas. I didn’t see a lot of the game except the brief highlights on MOTD.
Obviously a great composed performance, but again I can’t help thinking that we should have added to our goal tally in the 2nd half – failure to do that nearly cost us dear against Leicester.
Hi Mike, I’m with you all the way on your @ 10:29
Tremendous cobbling.
In a game where every player performed admirably it is difficult to highlight just one but I would like to commend Chambers. Not only lively in his attacking play, his heading ability at the centre of defence is Sagna-esque.
Rasp. You are a hard man to please!!
23 shots, 10 on target and a GK playing the best game of his 36 y.o. life indicates that they tried to score more.
Morning Raddy, as I said, I didn’t see detailed highlights….. but we must always strive to do better 😆
I hate to say this …. I’m not sure I should ….. but maybe I will …… or perhaps not ….. oh go on then, you’ve all persuaded me ………. could it be that the injuries to Jack and Aaron have actually helped the team selection process?
Lovely cobblers chas 🙂
Raddy
I got it wrong about the keeper yesterday.. Boro’s 1st choice is a 36 year old. ( I read it on another blog) The chap playing was 26 y.o. spanish guy I think.
I don’t think Middleborough really had their heart in the game, perhaps their motivation is more for promotion. That takes nothing away from our performance, which was top notch.
Rasp
I’m looking forward to Jack coming back. We can’t play that front 5 against most Prem opposition.
I’m with you there chas, but I’d quite like to see Coquelin and Arteta together in a 4:2:3:1 formation 😀
Morning all, Boy that Chas can put a post together 🙂
I always feel that after a win, supporters always come up with great comments ha ha
Having said that its also nice to see that even after a fine win people can still see where we can improve.
Wenger of course gets lots of stick as well as praise, while we keep moving towards the final the black scarfs and banners stay in the sheds, but those same people are only in disguise at the moment, The trouble for them though is they have to comment on games like yesterdays, Many will say well its only Borough what do you expect, because they have made their minds up that his time is nearly up, they have forgotten why they wanted him gone in the first place, and now we are the FA cup holders the Community shield holders in the last 8 of this years FA cup and still competing in Champions League, They must disguise themselves even more now, and long may that be the case. The usual statement of Top four is not a trophy, has some how now fallen on death ears.
Arsene Wenger it has to be said, has had us all pulling our hair out over the years, and if you are true to yourselves have all had your doubts now and again i know i have, But saying that how can you not admire a man who for all this time has lived and breathed Arsenal football club,
chas …. does that mean you’re not looking forward to Aaron returning? 😕
Rasp
If it was the Rambo of last season, I’d be wetting my pants in anticipation.
I’m not quite as keen on this season’s bearded version.
I’d imagine he’ll be out for another 6 weeks anyway if they’ve no idea what’s causing these muscular injuries.
Steve,
It’s nice to see your Arsenal bipolarity is in an upswing phase!
Am not sure Arsenal would have been 2 goals up with Jack and Aaron on pitch. Their absent (though am not happy they are out on injury) helped selection. Aaron had unnecessarily slowed down attacking pace when he tried unnecessarily trickish moves and the ball taken from him in the process. Jack hasnt been strong on the pictch and falls easily losing the ball to the opposition. It is a surprise that a smallish Carzola is more stable on the pitch. Even when he falls, he still retain possesion….Wenger now has selection challenges but, if he is in doubt as who to select he as ask the fans.
https://twitter.com/_TomByrne_/status/567297848342220800
I have just read this on AFC.com about training sessions with Gabriel who doesn’t speak any English — at all.
“Steve Bould goes through it with him with one of the Spanish boys, who then translates what it means in English so he understands when it is said to him on the pitch” Gibbs on Gabriel
Are they saying that what Steve Bould says need to be translated into English?
Can someone help because for the life of me I cannot work out what it means?
http://audio1.spanishdict.com/audio?lang=es&text=mantener-la-l%C3%ADnea-genio-brasile%C3%B1o
http://audio1.spanishdict.com/audio?lang=es&text=d%C3%A9le-un-puntapi%C3%A9-en-las-joyas-de-la-corona
Yep! that must be great for communication, Steve Bould’s words translated by a Spaniard into Portuguese.
I’m sure Paul Easter, after a few weeks into his stint at the Arsenal has progressed really well with his English. I would assume he has mastered, “yes” and “No”. He may have got a bit further with, “Please” and ” Thank You”.
If he is really astute with languages he could have progressed to,
” Whats your name?” and “I like you!”. and perhaps the big Coq has told him how to say, ” Shut the fuck up”. And Giroud has obviously coached him how to fall on the turf with his hand in the air shouting, “Ref… foul… penalty”
But I’m sure if in training Steve Bould shouts at him with his Stokie midlands accent, “Get the fuck forward and put ya fuckin hand up fer offside”….. he won’t understand a fucking thing 🙂
I see Aston Villa’s new manager said of his decision to join the Premiership strugglers “it’s a no brainer”. Should suit young Tim Sherwood down to the ground then. 😀
It must be a frigging nightmare trying to coach a Premier League side these days, with so many foreign players. Yesterday, we had a Pole, three English (one with a broad Mancunian accent), three Frenchies, one German, one Tcheque, two spanish and a Chili Con Carni. Add into that melting pot a French manager who is very close to being German and a assistant manager from Stoke…. how can a Brazilian get to learn good English 🙂
Welcome to the Ukraine 🙂
A comprehensive result.
boro didn’t offer much offensively. They looked a bit like we did last we did v tot. But still. And Gabriel looked comfortable, good professional foul. He will enable us to change the way we play as well.
We’re looking better and better. I still think we’re a team for next year at the moment but with more bodies back you can move the pieces around and there’s no drop in quality is there.
What i particularly like is that we’re not playing tiki-tak as much. We still have the possession but looking to make more penetration and not trying to walk it in. We’re playing quicker and a bit more direct.
And we have options on the bench that can change the way we play the game.
Keep pushing.
I thought it was interesting that AW said Paul Eater was his first signing without any English. Most of the foreign buys have interpreters when speaking.
I suspect AW was fibbing and really saying Paul is thick
lovely format, Chas. 🙂 thank you. It provides a range of considered opinion from the seasoned AAers to come to the fore, but also the view of the “cobbler” composer Chas to come in through the choice of comments. 🙂
I did not get to watch the game, but happy with the result, and eagerly following the comments. 🙂
Keep em coming, please. 🙂
For those that are exiled, like myself, and cannot get clips from the BBC. 😛
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoehGNjgN-Q
lovely stuff, NorthBank. 🙂
An English lesson for Paul Easter… or as Raddy says, Paul Eater 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9HNXVZ2-mw
Mike @ 10:29. Top comment. 🙂
I can’t believe it, I have only just got the Paul Easter joke. Doh!
I blame BR for throwing me off the sent by calling him Paul Eater.
A good win against a limited side.
I am not sure if we were really set-up as a 4-4-2 but if we were, this was great news.
Positive points:
– Santi’s work rate is much better this year. He is a much better player and he has improved his engine and workload while being better at distributing and dribbling;
– Giroud is in form;
– Gibbs is hungry;
– Ozil and Sanchez are really finding right passes at the moment;
– Paulista had a good intro do English football and he showed hunger as well (loved his frustration towards the end);
Negative points:
– Kos looks like he needs a breather
– Walcott was wasteful
We re through and let us hope that we can keep our trophy.
So at the end of the 1935 season, Arsenal won the league and Tottenham got relegated……….happy days.
We didn’t set up as a 4.4.2, we set up as a 4.2.4, unusual but true.
This is Paul’s mum. Her name is Juanita.
I have just noticed an Arsenal site called:
“The Hot Stepanovs.”
The name made me laugh, some competition to “Gingers for Limpar”.
Evening all,
People seem surprised at the way the Arsenal players have started to play, Lets face it we have been very spasmodic if thats the word a good couple of games followed by some absolute crap, But what we all have to remember is what we have said for years it takes time for players to gel.
Looking at the comings and goings other the last few seasons, Back line midfield and forward line we have had a few new faces and among that lot we have had some exeptional talent who have played in foreign leagues or our reserves.
Remember that it takes time to gel and with the size of the squad we have to pick from, it will still be a while before they gel properly, Language as well hinders a bit different religions and custome also need to be understood.
Multi culture takes time, but we are definitely getting there, i see players coming out blowing kisses other’s crossing themselves some holding their arms out, Now me being thick i am not sure if this is religious or because they are superstitious but i dont care as long as they all come together in the end.
OK, third attempt ………… my comments keep disappearing 😦
Thank you chas for some fine cobbling.
Has anyone seen Redders around, has he disappeared completely or just got fed up with us?
Anyhoo we need posts for this week, four to take us up to our next game ………….. all offers considered. Send them to arsenalnuts@live.co.uk. Thanks
Aston Villa v West Brom
Preston or Manchester United v Arsenal
Bradford City v Reading
iverpool vs Blackburn
OK, then, come on Preston. 🙂
GN5. when are you planning your Michigan trip? 🙂
About time we gave those Northern Monkeys a good kicking.
absolutely, LB. 🙂 provided they are lucky enough not to come unstuck today. 😛
We are thinking of snow shoeing our way there……………..
good plan, GN5. We will be in the UK again during the spring break, otherwise in East Lansing until May 10. 🙂 Please let us co-ordinate. 🙂
1 nil Preston 🙂
ha ha ha ha. 🙂 now, I should try and find a stream. 🙂
Been on a beach in Mexico. Anything happening?
bum. 😦
‘Salright Arnie – it’ll be fun to knock out ManUre at Old Toilet
I do not understand this. If Rooney had not moved, the ball would have touched him. Therefore, by moving, he was interfering with the play.
very strange. 😦
agreed, Rocky. 🙂
The goal keepers decision making is altered by him standing there whether he moves or not – should have been off-side.
Dived for the penalty as well
Peaches and Arbie spot on on the offside.
If he isn’t there keeper dives…..simple.
if the keeper dives, Rooney dives as well, and it is a penalty. such is life! 😦
So it’s Utd away……… bring it on, we can do that.
MESSAGE for the Raddy
Raddy, I know someone selling a 1964 Fender Stratocaster
1700 euros negotiable… would you be interested?
If Raddy isn’t, I definitely am NB. I sold my beloved 69 strat a few years ago when I was hard up 😦
OK Rasp… I’ll leave it up to Raddy and you. I can put you in touch with the seller or negotiate for you. is that good?
Yes brilliant NB, I’m really keen but obviously Raddy had first dibs 🙂
Rasp, I’ve got a photo of it on Facebook but because it’s a private setting it won’t let me share on here. I’ve asked Remi to send me a photo.
Thanks NB, would it be OK to email you?
Of course mate… you have my e mail 🙂
Email sent
LBs question about translation following Gibbos comments misses the bigger picture:
“Steve Bould goes through it with himwith one of the Spanish boys, who then translates what it means in English so he understands when it is said to him on the pitch” Gibbs on Gabriel.
So Steve Bould coaches……..and he coaches the defenders.
Well there’s two Arsenal/Arsene internet/media truths put to bed in one innocent quote.
LB yesterday you asked if I was unimpressed with the body check, I guess it’s a cheap booking and he won’t be able to get away with many of those. All in all though he seemed to really enjoy defending, which is always good for a defender 😀
Have we signed anyone yet?
“if the keeper dives, Rooney dives as well, and it is a penalty. such is life!”
In one Arnie 🙂
Hey Exile
Do the Swinger today. Fantastic talking point.
Morning All,
Anyone seen Didit?
NB. Thanks for the offer but I don’t play electrics, I prefer the natural sounds of wood, air and good vibrations. Though if it is original that is a fair price for a vintage Fender
Wow Didit, that was bizarre!! You turn up just as I was writing my comment – must be a Pisces psychic thing
GIE. Good point about SB. Though given some of our early season defensive performances SB must be speaking some unintelligible language
https://twitter.com/7amkickoff/status/567508767311278081
Morning Big
Loved the Sanchez interview clip that Chas stuck up.
I was away with family for a few days and I banned all electronic devices, but did manage to get to a pub for the Boro game. Funnily enough, as I watched I couldn’t help thinking how Wrightyesque was Sanchez’ love of playing football.
Like IW, he knows how fortunate he is and wants to make the most of every moment.
https://twitter.com/mrheats8/status/567305514644938753
Chas ROLF
Why did Preston NE have a banner to FREE BRIAN TOYS
What did he do?
Morning Ladies 🙂
Those ref decisions against Preston were appallingly bad. I wonder if the ref had seen the cup draw and thought Arsenal would have a greater chance of being beaten by Utd rather than Preston?
Happy Shrove Tuesday.
Love the hamster trick. Must try it
So this is what a Fender Stratocaster sounds like….. very nice
Ahoy NB
Damn it would be good to knock Utd out in front of their home crowd.
In fairness to the ref, Kevin Davies should have been sent off
I didn’t see the match micky… only what chas has posted this morning. Should Davies have been given a second yellow?
Why do guitarists make that “squeezing a large one out” face only on high notes?
The Davies incidents were well after Dowd had allowed the mancs back into the tie.
Oh, ok Chas. Simply “Minnows Out” and I agree. Really don’t want to have to beat Bradford or Reading at Wembley 🙂
In France, everything stops so you cab measure your balls 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0PhfNNZN4c
Why is anyone surprised that MU get decisions going their way. It has always been thus.
Didit. 8.05. I know but cannot tell you. IRAsp & I are members of the Guitarists Circle and like magicians some things must remain secret.
With a big allocation at the Old Cowshed, some are predicting you may be able to buy a ticket with 0 away points.
I always thought it was because those really high notes are excruciatingly painful on the ears.
Oh no Chas, don’t even think about suggesting another hugely successful AA Away Day.
Peaches, Eddie, Arnie, Transplant, Cockie, Raddy and NB all signed up for the epic Monaco Tour.
Yip, zero so far 🙂
Mmmm, could be the pain on the ears, or just tossers 🙂
That’s because you put them off saying it was a sh*thole.
The Hamster 😀
Although our family hamsters used to have a couple of games played on them…
1) on the duvet me and bro either end, hamster trampoline!
2) hamster in globe runner……spin spin spin…..dizzy hamster
3) hamster gauntlet, build a Lego maze, high sided and roofed, put hamster in and let cat look through windows and pop paw in.
ha ha micky, yea, could be an epic fail the Monaco trip 🙂
Tickets aren’t on sale here yet…. well not where I’m looking anyway?
Got any video footage, GIE?
p.s. do you think it survived? I bet they’re hardy little feckers.
That’s unfair Chas, nobody in their right mind listens to me, and anyway, The Hippy put them right on the Gucci and Prada shopping outlets
Haha, hippies at Gucci and Prada. 🙂
NB69
On Twitter it has been suggested that batches have been put up for sale.
They appear, get sold and then there’s a gap when they’re not for sale.
I’ve no idea if it’s true.
The Monaco website just says that they are unavailable at the moment and you should try again later….. perhaps they are just being sold to ST holders at the moment?
Re Monaco
It does not surprise me in the least it’s proving difficult to get tickets, as the last thing in the world they want in Monte Carlo is English football fans
There are some on here at the bottom for £3628.
http://www.ticketbis.net/monaco-v-arsenal-tickets/ev59706
You mean oiks like you micky…. the police probably still have you in their system and border control have your photo 🙂
NB. My Monegasque friend has been to the ground – the ticket office say the game is sold out.
Chas, they are more reasonable on their French site
http://www.ticketbisfr.com/billets-monaco-arsenal/ev59706?utm_source=ticketbisGB&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=IP-redirect
ah well Raddy………. shame. I was looking forward to that match.
150 min for Monaco!!!
It was 37 for Bayern
It’s the same site, NB.
The tickets at the bottom are just 4,600 Euros instead of 3,600 pounds.
That’s a ticket sales site micky… touts in other words. The actual prices begin at 45 and 65 euros
oh doh 🙂
Ok
Will try and think of something for a post. Not going to happen for this morning.
Now to tackle the email backlog 🙄
Anyway, that’s it for me… people to see, bars to visit, wine to drink and all that boring malarky. Back later to read the new post.
Morning all,
Postie, post, post, postitty post, compost, depostit, postie postie, post post required please 😀
Have I ground anyone down yet?
Old Trafford match-up…
Nice idea RC78, but you’d need to expand on it a tad 🙂
OK, you forced me into it …
….. New post ……