Arsenal 3 - 1 Stoke City: Opposite day

That was a strange game.

It would be fair to say that Arsenal were far from their sparkling best. After we took the lead early on through Ramsey, the game went a bit flat. There wasn't much in the way of goalscoring chances from either side and while you could say that Stoke weren't troubling is, it's always a dangerous position to be in, given how quickly a game can turn. With that in mind, Stoke's equaliser wasn't all that surprising. It's happened often enough to us in the past.

Back then, though, we would have spent a lot of the remainder of the game chasing a winner and didn't always get it. Nowadays, we react a lot better to these sorts of circumstances and seem to have developed the ability to score ugly. Mertesacker's header from an Özil corner put us back in front in the first half and, all going well, we actually wouldn't need to expend ourselves in the second half searching for another goal.

Rather unbelievably, Stoke had more possession than us in the second half, but while the commentators seemed to think that indicated they were on top, the reality was they had a faux-domination. Stoke didn't force Arsenal back into their to defend and see out the game; Arsenal chose to play that way. This team is prepared to stand off more often and I don't believe it to be a reflection of an inability to keep possession and dominate teams, but rather a sign that this team is comfortable seeing out games in that way now and are confident they'll succeed by doing so.

You also have to consider the fact that the team that started today was the same team that played a difficult game in Marseille just three days ago. The only change was a forced one. Arsenal's injury problems made it difficult for us to rotate one or two players, and bringing on Monreal to play left wing and a rusty Miyaichi is hardly going to enable you to put the other team on the back foot.

So while the performance wasn't one of a team in form playing at home with £40mil worth of creative talent against a mid-table side, I am still encouraged that we have a pragmatic side now. We maybe didn't have the energy to keep going forward and creating chances, so we didn't try. Instead, we focused our energy in making sure the scoreline stayed in our favour. I'm also a believer that a good side can find ways of scoring when things aren't going their way or their primary offensive plans aren't working out, and we did that. All of our goals came from set-pieces, against a side that have frequently troubled us from dead-ball situations.

The more we win, the more confident we'll get and I think that once we get Cazorla, Chamberlain and Podolski back form injury, we'll start seeing more attractive and enterprising football from Arsenal.

Winning this way is absolutely fine, though.

These are the types of wins Arsenal haven't been able to get in the longest time... not at your best and still win.

Problem is the midfield btw. Wilshere and Flamini need to do a better job of managing flow and crowding the ball. Ramsey has been very good.

A good professional performance, we looked off the pace once we went upfront but that's understandable considering we played a tough champions league game on Wednesday. We can't always be at our best every week so sometimes we have to win these games in a proper pub team fashion.

Gnabry did some good things, show some good touches, Strength and linked up well with Sagna and Ozil. He also did some bad things, giving the ball away cheaply, ball hogging and getting caught in possession but overall it was a decent performance.

Great summary Jay

performance as expected given fatigue

exactly this is the difference
even in days like this jaded FC can get soild result

unlike last season

Giroud 4/13 Duels thought he did better than that
his work rate deserves praise
he shows confidence when taking the chance on own when could play a teammate through

you know what i really loved

Arsenal let Stoke have the ball, and I did not even feel threatened...

on Stoke Citeh forums

http://oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/thread/220275/ramsey-classless-prick

Idiots, calling Ramsey classles prick for scoring them,,

The biggest shock for me was that his finger didn't snap in two when he blew on it.

Deserves all he gets at the brit if he can dish it out, class-less and went out of his way to do that

This people make Millwall look good

3 points,top of the league,comfortable win in which we showed grit and steel. What more could you ask?  

Big win, and yes it was a strange game. The end result matters, glad to see Arteta back.

Ryo had 20 minutes

I'm replying to your comment aleumdance, I can't quote you sinnce your quote has links and I'm a freshmen here


Stoke fans are scum, apparently its Ramsey's fault that Shawcross can't tackle and likes to break players legs. I loved his shhh celebration to the inbred Stoke fans, it was brilliant.




Not the best performance but I can't complain about us winning and getting another 3 points. I just think we need to be more ruthless and finish games off and not let teams back in, if we can do that then who knows what we can achieve this season.

We will have a negative phase in the season at some point. Maybe in November when we have our hard run of fixture. It's important we have a big gap from our position till 5th. Like 5-7 points difference so if we slip up. We don't go right outside the top 4. Atm it's very tight.

Not a fantastic performance but it was nice to see us score from set pieces which we haven't done so far this season. We can't expect a fluid attacking performance with so many injured players who contribute in that style, in these situations we need to win ugly and I'm glad we can win ugly unlike the last few years.

In midweek we can afford to rest a few players and concentrate for our next PL match.

back to the top of the table after few years..
and United got thrashed to make the day better.. only negative Spuds managed to steal a late winner...

decent professional performance.. we were nowhere near our best but this was enough to get the result.. Stoke has changed a bit.. but their players still show the harsh physical side with nonsense tackles and rugby play, which is the only thing they know.. we didnt dominate the game like against Sunderland.. and all our goals came from set pieces which is a surprise.. we missed Walcott which slowed our counters and the options up front.. Giroud was the only option who was busy fighting with the CB to hold the ball.. happy to see Gnabry getting a start.. initially he didnt look confident.. he tried more to drift in and stay back than going wide upfront.. Ramsey had a great match and it looks like nothing can keep him away from the scoresheet.. Ozil too had a decent match.. his set piece delivery was good and he picked up all 3 assists.. great home debut for the assist master.. Wilshere was going tic for toe against orcs and could have injured many a time.. his passing was not upto the mark at times.. Flamini had a great match and looks like he is improving more i watch.. not a surprise that we are not missing Arteta with him.. defence was good and withstood a physical task.. but Stoke could not create much opertunities to trouble us much.. Metskr had good moments but was bullied or lost the track easily at times which could have been costly.. Kos covered quite a few times for Met.. Gibbs and Sagna had good matches too.. great to see Sagnas celebration..
Sczeny - 7
Sagna - 7
Metskr - 6
Kos - 7
Gibbs - 6.5
Flamini - 7
Ramsey - 7
Ozil - 7
Wilshere - 6.5
Gnabry - 6
Giroud - 6

Not the best performance, but a win nevertheless. Flamini was amazing. Delighted with Szczesny turn-around, seems fully focused. Midfield is just perfect right now too.

Szczesny 7; Sagna 7.5 Mertesacker 7 Koscielny 7 Gibbs 7; Flamini 8 Ramsey 7.5; Gnabry 7 Ozil 7.5 Wilshere 7.5; Giroud 7

Wenger on team v West Brom: "I will rotate. Wilshere won't play. Bendtner could start. We have big games after (Swansea & Napoli)."

think verm will play

It's a bit hard to predict who will play on Wednesday since our injuries make it hard for us to rotate, but a few players really could do with a break ahead of Swansea and Napoli.

I think we'll see:


The likes of Hayden, Bellerin, Frimpong, Olsson and Akpom on the bench, though I wouldn't be surprised if Frimpong started in place of Flamini.

Might go out of the COC. Specially if WBA fields their strongest team as they can since they are obviously not in the CL.

Our B team could have been much stronger had Ox/Podolski/Cazorla/Diaby been fit. Now it's more talent than experience

Let's see though

Will be a proper cup tie, lets just hope the likes of Arteta, Flamini and Koscielny can guide the the young lads.

GoonerJay29 wrote:It's a bit hard to predict who will play on Wednesday since our injuries make it hard for us to rotate, but a few players really could do with a break ahead of Swansea and Napoli.

I think we'll see:

Viviano

Jenkinson - Mert/Koscielny - Vermaelen - Monreal

Flamini - Arteta

Gnabry - Eisfeld - Miyaichi

Bendtner

The likes of Hayden, Bellerin, Frimpong, Olsson and Akpom on the bench, though I wouldn't be surprised if Frimpong started in place of Flamini.  

that front line is wayyyyyyyyy toooo weak, no way we can face westbrom away with that. walcott will play imo since he didnt play today.

but Wenger said his injury is a mystery  

GoonerJay29 wrote:It's a bit hard to predict who will play on Wednesday since our injuries make it hard for us to rotate, but a few players really could do with a break ahead of Swansea and Napoli.

I think we'll see:

Viviano

Jenkinson - Mert/Koscielny - Vermaelen - Monreal

Flamini - Arteta

walcott -ozil- Miyaichi

Bendtner

The likes of Hayden, Bellerin, Frimpong, Olsson and Akpom on the bench, though I wouldn't be surprised if Frimpong started in place of Flamini.  

i think ozil will play aswell so he can gain more unity with the team. Think we will see this. ^ this is as much as we can possibly rotate, and might be enougth to scrap through westbrom. This cup is important to us this season guys, and wenger knows it imo.

Viviano ? what happened to Fabianski..? he didnt make the bench today.. and any news on Rosicky.. he is neither on the long term list nor any news about his return..

Can't see why Ozil would start on Wednesday, I think he will be rested ahead of the game against Swansea on Saturday. It will be a younger side for sure but I get the vibe that Wenger isn't too bothered if we don't make it through, he'll see the league as winnable and he'll prioritise the FA Cup and Champions League.

EL Patron wrote:A good professional performance, we looked off the pace once we went upfront but that's understandable considering we played a tough champions league game on Wednesday. We can't always be at our best every week so sometimes we have to win these games in a proper pub team fashion.

Gnabry did some good things, show some good touches, Strength and linked up well with Sagna and Ozil. He also did some bad things, giving the ball away cheaply, ball hogging and getting caught in possession but overall it was a decent performance.

I think the misplaced passes were to be expected as he's still young. I was rather disappointed he didn't take more responsibility. Mayb he was instructed to by the coaches, but I feel he should have taken players on more, which is his natural game. He looked for the safer option, which was to pass, rather than bringing his creativity to the fore. I've seen clips of him when he does attack. Still raw but this was the stage to test himself.
I feel Ryo should have rather started. He's as quick as Walcott if not quicker and more inclined to take opposition on. He could have been used to pin the Stoke FB with some through balls