Arsenal 2-0 West Ham Utd (15/12/21)

[TokyoVibe]

I actually thought the ref wasn’t going to give the pen initially, but he seemed to think again when lacazette was rolling around ‘in pain’. Arsenal have become such a pathetic club.
We were awful and not really up for it. Feels like we are also being found a bit at the moment and clubs have figured out how to play us now. We don’t seem very capable of dealing with the high press well at all.

Most of the team were quite poor but Lanzini was pretty awful, Antonio misplaced crosses and passes all game.

Declan seemed to want to push the team on abut Dawson seemed to be the only person to really put themselves about.

[Diogenes]

Both Rice and Moyes nailed it for me in their post match interviews. No delusions there thankfully.

[Up the Junction]

Both Rice and Moyes nailed it for me in their post match interviews. No delusions there thankfully.

In what sense?

One said the referee was probably right to award a penalty while the other implied he'd been biased against us all night.

[smuts]

Apart from a few knob head comments that OV was actually pretty fair. :shock:

Good to see a few calling out Arteta for his antics pushing injured players back onto the pitch.

[61dicksey]

Our best spell in the game was just before the pen and red.

We were actually starting to apply a little pressure.

our best spell of the game was when we were down to 10 players ( or 8 or 9 ) .

[Samba]

Right, it's the cold light of day now and I've had a chance to sober up and calm down. A few points:

After last night, it's made me admit to myself:
Don't expect us to win a cup or finish in the top 6 again, this season.
It's the hope that kills.. so I feel better already.

[Diogenes]

In what sense?

One said the referee was probably right to award a penalty while the other implied he'd been biased against us all night.

I wasn't specifically referring to the penalty or sending off, more to their reflection on our performance as a whole:

Rice: "Not good enough tonight," he opined. "Nowhere near the level that's required to be a top four team.

"You can't come to Arsenal and let them impose themselves on you like we did tonight. We just made bad decisions across the pitch, really.

"We were giving the ball away cheaply, taking too many touches and not putting the ball in the box. We were soft and all round, we were off it.

Moyes: "I didn't think much of our performance generally although I thought Arsenal played well with good intensity," he mused. "We weren't quite able to deal with it at the start or in the second half, but we showed a lot of resilience to hang in and be right in there".

"A couple of really poor bits of play led to the goals, poor defending on both occasions. We gave the ball away for the second goal when we were a little bit in the ascendancy even with 10 men. We were trying to hang in so that was the most disappointing aspect of the second half."

"I didn't think we played the ball through and forward as well as we have done in other games," he complained. "But I felt that when Michail did get it, his retention levels weren't as good as they should have been."

As for the penalty, I don't think Moyes said it was right to give a penalty, rather he seemed more upset with Coufal and thought he gave the referee an 'option' to give it whereas Rice was critical of the Referees performance all game, which I agree with.

[Vic_Watson]

As for the penalty, I don't think Moyes said it was right to give a penalty, rather he seemed more upset with Coufal and thought he gave the referee an 'option' to give it...

Correct. Criticised Vlad for messing the tackle up. Was pretty much out of control by time he clattered Lacazette.

[The Sherriff]

We've been punching well above our weight for too long now. Last night was a case of reality bites.

We have an ageing, unbalanced squad that is very light in key areas. Inevitable that we were going to get injuries at some point. We've looked leggy for weeks now, we dont have the depth that allows us to rest players or mix it up from the bench.

Dont be too harsh on the playing squad or manager, they are spent and have given us an awful lot over the last 18months.

You simply cant go into season with one striker, defies belief and at any level its unacceptable ... but for a multi million pound business, its shameful.

Yes I'm disappointed with the defeat, Arsenal the better team, not surpirsed or angry except for the scandalous officiating.

As with most things that go pear shaped at the club, blame lies solely with our vile owners.

[Doc H Ball]

Some thoughts about Arsenal.

They were far more aggressive and determined than I’ve seen for many years. We normally get beat by their better skill, but last night we were outfought.

I also thought their crowd, in general, was better than before at the Effeminates. A bit of grief does wonders for a crowd.

All that said, their entitled posh fans are the worst of the lot. Born and bent to rule.

Romford had it right about 1919 casting them in its shadow forever.

[Kermit]

We've been punching well above our weight for too long now. Last night was a case of reality bites.

We have an ageing, unbalanced squad that is very light in key areas. Inevitable that we were going to get injuries at some point. We've looked leggy for weeks now, we dont have the depth that allows us to rest players or mix it up from the bench.

Dont be too harsh on the playing squad or manager, they are spent and have given us an awful lot over the last 18months.

You simply cant go into season with one striker, defies belief and at any level its unacceptable ... but for a multi million pound business, its shameful.

Yes I'm disappointed with the defeat, Arsenal the better team, not surpirsed or angry except for the scandalous officiating.

As with most things that go pear shaped at the club, blame lies solely with our vile owners.

Agree with everything you've said there. I want to see some of the more prmising kids give a run when injuries strike. Surely it has to be better for us to have a look at Longelo, for example, instead of wheeling out Masuaku, who everyone including the manager, knows isn't a defender. Similarly now Coufal faces a one game suspension play Ashby, rather than wondering if Fredericks is going to be fit. If we don't put the kids in against top opposition how can we really assess whether or not they have what it takes.?

[Doc H Ball]

Must be said that Lacazette was excellent. One of the best performances against us I’ve seen this season.

[roblo]

We've been punching well above our weight for too long now. Last night was a case of reality bites.

We have an ageing, unbalanced squad that is very light in key areas. Inevitable that we were going to get injuries at some point. We've looked leggy for weeks now, we dont have the depth that allows us to rest players or mix it up from the bench.

Dont be too harsh on the playing squad or manager, they are spent and have given us an awful lot over the last 18months.

You simply cant go into season with one striker, defies belief and at any level its unacceptable ... but for a multi million pound business, its shameful.

Yes I'm disappointed with the defeat, Arsenal the better team, not surpirsed or angry except for the scandalous officiating.

As with most things that go pear shaped at the club, blame lies solely with our vile owners.

This is absolutely bang on. We have a mid-table squad with a world class midfielder and have been overachieving for a while.

[Samba]

Fair comments on here.

[jastons]

Must be said that Lacazette was excellent. One of the best performances against us I’ve seen this season.

Exactly what we are crying out for

[irving boleyn]

I don't see it quite like that,roblo...

We have been able for 12 months now to field an eleven with 7 or 8 defenders/midfielders who can live with the top six. A lot of goals and assists have been from them. Sods law all our injuries have been to these mainstays.

Our forwards have been distinctly average for all that time, the amount of possession they get not being reflected by a resulting pass or shot of sufficient quality.

That solid base having been decimated the service to the forwards is diminished resulting in less good possession and less opportunities.

I don't see an easy answer.

Apart from cover at the back we need 2 or 3 classy forwards to maintain our high profile.We wont get all that in a Winter window.

[e-20]

In the coolness of day things do get a lot clearer. Having been existing on cloud 9 for so long it’s easy for realities to become distorted but realities they are. We are a team that has performed top six for ages but in reality we are one that at their best and most confident can just about hit top 4 for a bit when performing above the sum of its parts but the true sum of the parts is anywhere really between 6th to 12th depending on togetherness and self belief and mental/physical tiredness. The difficult bit is improving the team beyond that as even the big boys discover when they fall below the top 4 standard. The true measure is that both Arsenal and Spurs who are or inevitably will be on games played are/were both considered crisis clubs. All relative I guess but patience will be required that’s a certainty.

[Morocco Mole]

I’ve had the hump about it all day but we’ve got to remember that we’re missing 3 of first choice back 4.

Klopp was more or less asking to cancel the whole season when Van Dyke got injured.

We’ve still got to play them at our place. It’s still in our hands.

[bubbles1966]

I’ve had the hump about it all day but we’ve got to remember that we’re missing 3 of first choice back 4.

Klopp was more or less asking to cancel the whole season when Van Dyke got injured.

We’ve still got to play them at our place. It’s still in our hands.

We were still in the game with a few minutes to go, in spite of ten men, in spite of fielding a reserve defence (Coufal was benched until a game or two ago) and in spite of our centre forward having one of the most horrendous runs of form imaginable.

For all that - 0-40, just a lot of huff'n'puff.

They won it 40-60.

We came into the game 60-70 and Taylor blunted it.

I finally sat through the last 20 today. Thought we looked decent with 10, better with Bowen up front leading something resembling a press and they had some wobbly moments with back passes from Gabriel and Tomiyasu.

Shame we conceded the second on the counter, but it felt like it was a cup final for one of the teams - and it wasn't us.

They played as well as they can with their first team, we were off it with a reserve back line, who nevertheless did pretty well

[Tipsextra]

Must be said that Lacazette was excellent. One of the best performances against us I’ve seen this season.

True, He did everything we need Antonio to do. He moved himself away from the centre backs to free spaces in between them and Rice/Soucek to make himself available. He destroyed us.

Antonio used to do the same but nowadays he tend to back into the centre backs instead and almost always lose the ball. It was no surprise he did better when moved to the wing and started bullying the weaker players.