Liverpool 0 - 2 Arsenal: What's happening to our Arsenal?!

Works for me

Great composure from the lads today. All over the pitch there was a good understand, leadership and a desire to win personal battles. A few minor hiccups couldn't have gone a miss as this is Arsenal we're talking about.

Diaby was a problem this afternoon. However, we've seen similar things like this in the past. Thus it's important he continues in this manner. As for Giroud, I'm not worried. It's early doors and he's filling some big boots. However, I've noticed on the 2 occasion he's nearly scored (Sunderland & Liverpool) that his technique for striking a ball is strange. It's as if he stabs at it, as opposed to wrapping his foot around it and 'lacing' it.

Sina wrote:7 – Shots taken by Olivier Giroud so far this season
7.6 – Shots per goal by Olivier Giroud for Montpelier last season

patience

Needs one more shot

I think the signing of Jenkinson was quite understandable. Eboue - after that regrettable Liverpool penalty incident in 2010/11 - and his lack of game time, had to move on. The club needed an understudy to Sagna, and Jenkinson was choosen because:

a) He is young/inexperienced, so can't moan much about not playing
b) Fits the English player rule for Champions League
c) Was cheap
d) Is an Arsenal fan ( )
e) Has potential

I'm not a big fan of him either if I'm being honest, however today he did play really well, albeit after a shaky start, which is understandable.

As for Koscielny-Mertesacker argument, it's a tricky one. As so often happens in these situations, one of them will get injured or suspended, allowing the other to play on/come in. Hopefully that doesn't happen of course, but I've seen it happen so many times with us and other teams.

I would play with Mertesacker-Vermaelen until it goes wrong, if it does go wrong. Against Southampton, Lambert's aerial presence could suit Mertesacker's game more anyhow.

Dennis Bergkamp - He went 6 games without scoring and was labelled a flop. He then scored his first goals in a brace against Southampton in Mid-September 1995.

Thierry Henry - He went 8 games without scoring and was being criticized left and right. He then scored against Southampton in Mid-September 1999.

Olivier Giroud has gone 3 games without scoring and is being called Chamakh 2.0 and useless. Arsenal's next match is against Southampton in Mid-September...

Exactly! Yet these lazy journalist, knowing the history of previous players, want to start passing judgement after 3 games. *yawn*

Great performance by the Gunners. So happy to see Arsenal finally score and win the match. I love the way Arsenal defended in this match. Glad to See Diaby getting back to his old form and i hope he can stat fit and continue this form. Arteta was everywhere and protected back four really well. Cazorla is class and so is Podolski. Giroud will get his goal and I am not worried about him.

Mannone made some decent saves but he was uncomfortable in air. Whenever he got pressed he lost the ball and that worries me. Hope chezny is back for the match against saints.

SUPERCARTTS wrote:Exactly! Yet these lazy journalist, knowing the history of previous players, want to start passing judgement after 3 games. *yawn*

It's not necessarily just the biased pundits and journalists but also the plastic fans.

These are the same sycophantic ass kissers who will praise him and call him our RVP replacement when he shines.


On another note, did anyone see the way Gibbs threw a b-tch fit after Giroud missed his shot? He screamed at him and gave him a little shove. A little unnecessary from someone who's new to the league and team. That ball was never gonna make it to Gibbs anyway

The important thing for a striker looking for goals is the fact that he's getting into the position to score. Giroud, in the games he's played in so far, has continually got into positions where he can get shots on goal. He's moved well into one-on-one positions and has gotten on the end of a couple of corners.

As long as he continues to do that, the goals will come. It's not like he's doing what Torres was doing a year ago and not getting involved at all. I believe that once he gets that first one out of the way, the pressure will ease a bit and he'll continue where he left off with Montpellier last season.

MJGunner wrote:

SUPERCARTTS wrote:Exactly! Yet these lazy journalist, knowing the history of previous players, want to start passing judgement after 3 games. *yawn*

It's not necessarily just the biased pundits and journalists but also the plastic fans.

These are the same sycophantic ass kissers who will praise him and call him our RVP replacement when he shines.

To be fair.. I haven't heard anyone pass judgement or declared Giroud a flop as yet

I think the general consensus on him has been sensible.. That he shows promise (as GoonerJay states above) by getting into good positions, is getting involved, but just doesn't look like he know's where the goal is at this stage.

As long as he keep's getting himself into good position's he should find the net. The confidence will then grow and we should start to see how good he really can be in the EPL. We need someone with a good strike rate to make good use of that service he should receive this season from our midfield.

Forgive me if I have missed journo's or fans hanging him out to dry but I just haven't seen anything like that yet.

Giroud looks like he is putting too much pressure on himself.

Samuelj29060 wrote:I think the signing of Jenkinson was quite understandable. Eboue - after that regrettable Liverpool penalty incident in 2010/11 - and his lack of game time, had to move on. The club needed an understudy to Sagna, and Jenkinson was choosen because:

a) He is young/inexperienced, so can't moan much about not playing
b) Fits the English player rule for Champions League
c) Was cheap
d) Is an Arsenal fan ( )
e) Has potential

I'm not a big fan of him either if I'm being honest, however today he did play really well, albeit after a shaky start, which is understandable.

Yeh but AW as we know is very particular about bringing in players... Jenkinson just seems to be an exception to the rule.

I'll have to pull you up on the Uefa Homegrown Player rule though as that has nothing to do with nationality, its about being trained by the club as a youth (under 21).

To your other points;

a) You can apply that to any young player we could have signed who suits our style of play
b) Already covered
c) 1mil.. That sounds like a reasonable market value for him at the time. We've gotten better young foreign players for 5 figure sums many times before...
d) no comment lol
e) See my response to point a)..

I might have to eat my words - maybe he will become an awesome player and I'm wrong, I just don't think he suits our style. It is nice to see we are looking for a bit of grit in our defense as he is a good tackler.. but as an Arsenal full back you really need to be able to offer a lot more as an attacking option. I don't think he's rubbish...I just don't think he fit's the bill, thats all.

Its still very early days in his career. Two years back, he was at Charton. Throwing him into the deep on his debut did not help. Then he spent a chunk injured with a back problem.

Just give him time. By the time Sagna retires (I can't see Sagna swapping us for another club but lets not go there), I am sure he would develop into something more substantial. I am not too worried about him.

I am not comfortable playing Coquelin or Yennaris out of their natural positions in midfield, just to plug them into RB. Lets give the young lad some time, he has the passion and the maturity to put in serious efforts. I am sure he will come good.

Peccadillo wrote:

Samuelj29060 wrote:I think the signing of Jenkinson was quite understandable. Eboue - after that regrettable Liverpool penalty incident in 2010/11 - and his lack of game time, had to move on. The club needed an understudy to Sagna, and Jenkinson was choosen because:

a) He is young/inexperienced, so can't moan much about not playing
b) Fits the English player rule for Champions League
c) Was cheap
d) Is an Arsenal fan ( )
e) Has potential

I'm not a big fan of him either if I'm being honest, however today he did play really well, albeit after a shaky start, which is understandable.

Yeh but AW as we know is very particular about bringing in players... Jenkinson just seems to be an exception to the rule.

I'll have to pull you up on the Uefa Homegrown Player rule though as that has nothing to do with nationality, its about being trained by the club as a youth (under 21).

To your other points;

a) You can apply that to any young player we could have signed who suits our style of play
b) Already covered
c) 1mil.. That sounds like a reasonable market value for him at the time. We've gotten better young foreign players for 5 figure sums many times before...
d) no comment lol
e) See my response to point a)..

I might have to eat my words - maybe he will become an awesome player and I'm wrong, I just don't think he suits our style. It is nice to see we are looking for a bit of grit in our defense as he is a good tackler.. but as an Arsenal full back you really need to be able to offer a lot more as an attacking option. I don't think he's rubbish...I just don't think he fit's the bill, thats all.

If you sign someone like Van der Wiel, Azpilicueta or Debuchy then you have a huge problem as you have 2 top-class right-backs who expect to play, which whilst creating good competition, can create disharmony. It's difficult to have 2 players of possible world class ability in one position and keep them both happy.

We have one of the best right-backs in Europe in Sagna, no need to bring in such huge class as his deputy.

If you look at United when they had Gary Neville, Real Madrid with Arbeloa, Barcelona with Alves, Inter with Maicon, big clubs with highly-regarded first-choice full-backs rarely have 2 of the same calibre.

MJGunner wrote:Dennis Bergkamp - He went 6 games without scoring and was labelled a flop. He then scored his first goals in a brace against Southampton in Mid-September 1995.

Thierry Henry - He went 8 games without scoring and was being criticized left and right. He then scored against Southampton in Mid-September 1999.

Olivier Giroud has gone 3 games without scoring and is being called Chamakh 2.0 and useless. Arsenal's next match is against Southampton in Mid-September...

I feel for Saints already

Samuelj29060 wrote:

Peccadillo wrote:

Samuelj29060 wrote:I think the signing of Jenkinson was quite understandable. Eboue - after that regrettable Liverpool penalty incident in 2010/11 - and his lack of game time, had to move on. The club needed an understudy to Sagna, and Jenkinson was choosen because:

a) He is young/inexperienced, so can't moan much about not playing
b) Fits the English player rule for Champions League
c) Was cheap
d) Is an Arsenal fan ( )
e) Has potential

I'm not a big fan of him either if I'm being honest, however today he did play really well, albeit after a shaky start, which is understandable.

Yeh but AW as we know is very particular about bringing in players... Jenkinson just seems to be an exception to the rule.

I'll have to pull you up on the Uefa Homegrown Player rule though as that has nothing to do with nationality, its about being trained by the club as a youth (under 21).

To your other points;

a) You can apply that to any young player we could have signed who suits our style of play
b) Already covered
c) 1mil.. That sounds like a reasonable market value for him at the time. We've gotten better young foreign players for 5 figure sums many times before...
d) no comment lol
e) See my response to point a)..

I might have to eat my words - maybe he will become an awesome player and I'm wrong, I just don't think he suits our style. It is nice to see we are looking for a bit of grit in our defense as he is a good tackler.. but as an Arsenal full back you really need to be able to offer a lot more as an attacking option. I don't think he's rubbish...I just don't think he fit's the bill, thats all.

If you sign someone like Van der Wiel, Azpilicueta or Debuchy then you have a huge problem as you have 2 top-class right-backs who expect to play, which whilst creating good competition, can create disharmony. It's difficult to have 2 players of possible world class ability in one position and keep them both happy.

We have one of the best right-backs in Europe in Sagna, no need to bring in such huge class as his deputy.

If you look at United when they had Gary Neville, Real Madrid with Arbeloa, Barcelona with Alves, Inter with Maicon, big clubs with highly-regarded first-choice full-backs rarely have 2 of the same calibre.

Agree, never said we should sign a WC player or someone at Sagna's level... Just saying he's not a player that is conducive with our style. See Clichy as back up to Ca$hley back in the day.. like for like.

I guess it is true however that he is just a fringe player after all and as sri points out I can't fault him for effort and commitment. He just better not keep giving me heart attacks with those passes while Sagna is out.

I think Diaby deserves most of the applause from that game, more so than the scorers and the defense. We actually saw the player all the French managers have been adamant to put in their team the moment he is available. I will be the first to admit that my heart was in my mouth a couple of times when he was closed down by 2 - 3 players and it looked like he would lose the ball, especially when it was near our box, but he did very well. Now we just have to hope that he stays fit and if he puts in even half of the performance he put today on a consistent basis, I think Wenger should never ever again be doubted on transfers again (Park, Jeffers and Wright are all minor exceptions.)

Now, with the defense. I dont meant to be a stick in the mud, but I do think we were quite lucky defensively. Dont get me wrong, our defending has improved, any donkey can see that, but you also have to see the times Liverpool opened us up in the first half before they decided to put on a headless chicken act. Remember, this is a Liverpool team that bar Suarez (that also is 50 - 50) and Allen, they are adapting to a very different style, compared to what they have been doing for a considerable amount of time. Possession football isnt something that can be implemented straight away, not like other football styles. They werent up to scratch, you can see that clearly, yet they were able to control the game for a good amount of time and on another day, Suarez would have put atleast one of this shots away and Sterling would have gotten a penalty. (Btw, Mert was very very lucky that his shove on Suarez was not picked up by Webb.) So, I feel it is fair (though slightly critical) that our defense isnt as great as we think and we will face alot more problems when facing a team with chemistry ala Manchester or even a bogey team like Newcastle or Everton.

Also, other than a couple of moments, I think Jenk did very well and I feel given a few years, this guy will come out good. He has Sagna as his mentor ffs and we all know Sagna cant really do no wrong.

And when it comes to Giroud, you can see how frustrated he is getting at missing chances/ not getting proper chances. Also, the full backs and wingers arent doing him any favours by sending crosses with the target as the clock on top of the stadium instead of Giroud. Yes, I know he is tall, but some of the crosses were absolutely ridiculous. I think we are all rooting for him to score, if anything, I dont think any of us will truly be happy with the scorers as long as Giroud doesnt have his name on there, I know I wouldnt be.

Overall, good performance, but I think we can really see how good the team is after we have faced Manchester City.

It was a very good performance, from Cazorla and Podolski especially. They are developing an excellent understanding. Giroud needs to step it up though. Chanakh has shown he's not good enough and Podolski is frankly way too small to be played as a CF in a formation with wingers, so Giroud is your only hope. Unless Poldi plays as basically a false 9, but I doubt Wenger would do that.

Our style of play demands high technique and good passing..
So i will always prefer Kos who has good speed and is comfortable in possession and passing..
Jenkinson was just kicking the wall out when he was pressed.. I think it shows his lack of confidence.. Once he gets more games and he can certainly improve his passing.. He will be a starter soon..
Yeah.. I feel sad for Giroud as he is very disappointed with himself for missing those chances.. Just want the team and the fans to get behind him.. Also we didnt put any good crosses for him.. Our wingers and fullbacks are poor crossers (may be except Santos) which doesnt help him.. So we have to cross more to make use of his potential and he will start scoring goals soon...

Ever since Gibbs met me, he's improved dramatically........

He's back

Just for tonight lol. WiFi is hard to come by after all in this country I'll be back full time by Sunday

Cyprus

Lex

Tremendous performance, Anfield starting to feel like home, love going to that place.

Not once this season have I felt nervous in terms of our defending, they aren't panicing like previous seasons, where Clichy and the like would brain freeze.

For me the most important moment of the game and arguably our season is the commitment shown. Vermaelen's recovery of Mannone's spill was that moment, he wanted it more than Suarez and Gerrard, beyond outstanding.

Only worry for me is the back up GK, Mannone and Fabianski are good shot stoppers, but really struggle in keeping and catching. Hopefully Szczensy is back soon.

Shades of '04 in that performance no messing around, if we get to Jan in and around the top, get Llorente and we'll be laughing.

Lex wrote:Ever since Gibbs met me, he's improved dramatically........