Norwich 1 - 0 Some team playing in red and white that was apparently Arsenal FC

Let's start by stating the complete obvious: for whatever reason, tonight, Arsenal did not show up. The performance was woeful on every level.

Why that was the case, I have no idea. The first thing people will point out is the international break. Arsenal have nearly every player away playing for their countries while Norwich only had two. But then Chelsea were in the same situation yet managed to beat Spurs 4-2 away from home. Manchester United is another and they also won 4-2. Manchester City won 2-1 despite being down to ten men for a significant portion of the match.

So why is it that we seem to be the only ones that suffer from this lethargy after international breaks? Our players don't travel further than everyone else's, and they don't play more minutes. It completely baffles me why we always, without fail, look a side who has energy or motivation to win after international breaks.

Is it simply that the players can't motivate themselves to play Norwich after playing some big countries during the break? I only say this because there is a history of us playing these smaller teams in the league and looking completely shite.

Whatever the issue is, it's completely inexcusable. You don't turn up at these places and expect a result without any effort. You can't play like that and expect to get away with it.

This was one of the easiest games we've had after a relatively difficult start to the season but like always we've cocked it up. Now the QPR game next week looks far from a routine win. If anything, it's looking a daunting prospect now.

These are the sorts of performances and results that just make you question everything about the side and there are some facts that must be acknowledged, even if we don't want to. Some of these are going to sound like knee-jerks, hell some probably are, but quite frankly I don't feel up to being positive right now.

• This is fourth worst start to a league campaign. Ever.
  
  
• We only have 12 points out of a possible 24 and are already 10 points behind Chelsea.
  
  
• Gervinho is utter garbage on the flank.
  
  
• Ramsey is showing little signs of improvement from last season. He's only looked good playing in a position he's rarely played in before.
  
  
• Podolski fades out of games far too much.
  
  
• Giroud is supposed to be good in the air but can't seem to win a header or hold off a defender.
  
  
• Mannone is no more than an average keeper and I can't wait until Szczesny comes back, even if Szczesny looks no better at times.
  
  
• We haven't kept a clean sheet in 8 games. This was also the fourth time in a row we've gone 1-0 down.
  
  
• There was no point of Jack Wilshere being on the bench tonight.
  
  
• We are only two points better now than we were at this stage last season. At this point last season, we had pretty much lost all hope.
  
  
• Szczesny, Fabianski, Diaby, Rosicky, Walcott and now Chamberlain are all injured and it's only October.

I can only hope now that this result is quickly forgotten and the team returns to the expected standards in midweek against Schalke (who, incidentally, won away to rivals and German Champions Dortmund today) and then at home to QPR on Saturday. After that, we go away to Manchester United.

The signs of an Arsenal breakdown are there: injuries piling up, players underperforming, over-relying on one player, a terrible performance and result... fingers crossed this is just a blip, eh?

Worst performance in the near past.. Cant take any positives from this game...
Cant understand how all switched off at the same time..
This is not only about this match.. it is a summary of the negatives of our game this season..
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We never looked like scoring.. Whats happening ? Our beautiful possession football is lost.. We cant hold possession even against smaller teams.. No play through the centre.. and forced to play on the flanks.. its not our strength.. none knows to play a cross ? These days most of our goals are scored through counters.. we create very few chances and these are wasted by Gervinho and Giroud.. I prefer those Cesc-Nasri days when we used to dominate possession and create chances in bundles, eventhough we didnt win anything..

We cant keep the ball underpressure and ends up backpassing it to the goalie... Arteta is too deep, Ramsey was anonymous, and Podolski, Giroud and Gervinho give away possession too easily.. none to help Cazorla to keep the ball.. the only solution i see is Diaby, but he is never available..

about defence.. has the Bould effect weaned off ? Centrebacks are looking poor.. very poor in the air.. Soft goals are leaking in the last few games.. There was no chance that we could have scored today, but we could have avoided that goal.. Mannone could have done better..

had a chance to watch all our rivals winning.. now forget about the table..

Mannone - 5 didnt have much to do.. could have pushed the ball wide than trying to catch it and spill it..
Jenkinson - 6 decent game
Metskr - 5 ball watching when Mannone spilled it.. he fails to close in on players allowing to take easy shots which got us into trouble on a couple of occasions...
Vermelen - 5 poor performance
Santos - 6 expected to put some decent crosses.. not tested much defensively..
Arteta - 6 forced to play too deep to influence the game
Cazorla - 6 Tried hard but received poor support from his team mates..
Ramsey - 4 he is back trying his backheels.. terrible
Gervinho - 5 cant tolerate the frustration he gives us for his occasional goal.. kick him out..
Podolski - 5 not at all impressive.. offers nothing in the midfield..
Giroud - 5 good hold up play, but poor possession skills and interlinking with the midfield..

Terrible day... Good Night..

That was pure fecking dirt.

I don't even know where to begin...

Awful performance, never looked like scoring during the all game.

And we were thinking about title.

Fight for the 4th place just got harder.

DISCLAIMER: First person to put all blame on Mertesacker for the goal will go into my block list with immediate effect.

Collective failure. No tempo. Not one bright spot.

Injuries piling up.

Welcome to a new season for Arsenal. Welcome to the race for the 4th place trophy yet again.

djoe26 wrote:And we were thinking about title.

, too many average players in this team to think about the title

srigooner wrote:DISCLAIMER: First person to put all blame on Mertesacker for the goal will go into my block list with immediate effect.

Collective failure. No tempo. Not one bright spot.

Injuries piling up.

Welcome to a new season for Arsenal. Welcome to the race for the 4th place trophy yet again.

who is blaming Mertesacker for the goal ??, it was Vito fault...he *bleep* palmed it in the box

Oh lets also take a moment to thank the wonderful round of International football.

@Jay - I don't understand how you find the motivation to write about shite like this in post-match. I am tempted to turn off right now.

gunnerlistick wrote:

srigooner wrote:DISCLAIMER: First person to put all blame on Mertesacker for the goal will go into my block list with immediate effect.

who is blaming Mertesacker for the goal ??, it was Vito fault...he *bleep* palmed it in the box

I wrote that for a very specific reason.

That was fecking pathetic. I actually found myself yelling at my TV every time people fecked up; suffice to say, my throat is quite sore. It felt like a Jedi master was in the crowd making the ball fall just wrong every time, giving a freak Norwich goal, making Vermaelen pull a Terry slip, and pulling the ball away every time Gervinho or Giroud tried to swing their legs. Damn Jedis...seriously though, even Cazorla was bad today, like wtf?

Perfect title, can't remember the last time we were so terrible at basically everything.

There are games when we aren't clinical enough,when our defense let's us down,when a player's mistake costs us points, but this was just unbearable.

Even though there are players who defied the meaning of being useless and actually became even worse, there wasn't a single person who upped his game and said, we're gonna win this fecking game no matter what.

I'm not even mad, just completely disappointed in this team.

The way we played we did not deserve anything, I wont blame Vito for the loss I blame the entire team for being shit. How the *bleep* we dont score against one of the worst teams in EPL? this team has allowed 17 goals this season. Liverpool raped at home.

We need a striker, and Arshivan was ok, he should get more minutes.

We should have lost this game 3-0. Be thankful that Holt tried a unsuccessful chip. And the other shot wide before HT. Maybe 4-0, if Hoolahan and Bennet had a better understanding in that counter in the second half.

This was worse than the chelsea game

Whole team was shit apart from Jenkinson n Arteta. Wtf was that seriously ? I dont get how we keep gifting sides like norwich 3 points

We should be winning these games

Our under21 would have done better job or even 11 traveling fans. 90min of nothing.

I was going to play snooker with a friend but the place was closed, so went to watch this game at a bar instead. Mannone and Santos were at fault for the goal: bad initial save and Santos was the only one playing Holt onside.

In attack you guys just didn't gel.

Done with the first post/rant.

srigooner wrote:Oh lets also take a moment to thank the wonderful round of International football.

@Jay - I don't understand how you find the motivation to write about shite like this in post-match. I am tempted to turn off right now.

It may just be me, but after games like this I feel a bit better once I get a few things off my chest. Writing these post-match threads allows me to put my thoughts on paper and see things with a bit more clarity so I won't have to dwell on it later.

Afterwards, I tend to distance myself from football for a bit and try and take my mind off of things for a while. I'm actually off to play FIFA now.

Is the attacking trio of Giroud,Gervinho and Poldi really good enough ??

GoonerJay29 wrote:Done with the first post/rant.

srigooner wrote:Oh lets also take a moment to thank the wonderful round of International football.

@Jay - I don't understand how you find the motivation to write about shite like this in post-match. I am tempted to turn off right now.

It may just be me, but after games like this I feel a bit better once I get a few things off my chest. Writing these post-match threads allows me to put my thoughts on paper and see things with a bit more clarity so I won't have to dwell on it later.

Afterwards, I tend to distance myself from football for a bit and try and take my mind off of things for a while. I'm actually off to play FIFA now.

Exactly.. i too feel a bit relieved by expressing my feelings and frustration...

It's a very good trio when it all comes together but each of them have their own outstanding issues that's just holding back whatever potential they have.

Giroud has good movement and can finish, but struggles without service and isn't particularly great on the ball.

Podolski is a hard worker, strong, relatively quick and clinical in front of goal, but fades from games all too often.

Gervinho is tricky, pacey, has good movement and can beat people for fun. Yet, he can't pass or cross and isn't a threat at all if you isolate him.

We're probably going to get a lot of inconsistent games; games where they look brilliant and games where they look highly dysfunctional.

I dun even understand what they were playing in this match.

Even dun know where is the point to improve.

It's just not like what a professional football team should play

100% Disappointed

Cant wait for Wilshere to bring the PASSION back to this team.