Arsenal Vs Liverpool | Premiership 17/04/2011

[ProudGooner]

Its always the referee's fault.

Lucas was clever but Eboue was stupid.

The problem is we panicked as we always do. There is only one team on this planet capable of drawing a game when 1-0 up in the 98th minute.

The reality is we are mentally weak and choke at every occassion. After seeing this over and over again if you are not convinced of this fact then you never will be. We had maybe 1 minute to defend but we panicked. Look at the defending after we scored.

How the hell can you say Eboue was stupid? He didn't "Move into" Lucas, "challenge Lucas" or w/e you wanna call it.

He was trying to go around him; Lucas pushed into him & went to ground...

What about that, don't you get? 0_o

He was stupid because he fell for it. Was there any need to be on Lucas's heels? The ball was going away from goal, just be behind him but why the f**k was he sprinting behind him so fast that if Lucas had stopped he would have bundled him over??

The answer to that is panic. Our defending in those last few minutes was nothing but pure panic.

To me the Liverpool game summed up our season perfectly. Pass, Pass, Miss, Miss, Miss get a penalty, score then panic in defense concede a stupid free kick then concede a stupid penalty, choke and draw a winning game. Throw in the mix some incompetancy from the ref. I can bring up another 10 matches where this has been the story and in the end this has cost us the title, carling cup, FA Cup and any silverware.

We are not mentally tough, lack experience and most bizzarrely we lack hunger. That is the bottom line.

[ProudGooner]

I can understand being mentally tough, I can accept we lack experience to a certain extent but to lack hunger??? I cannot accept that nor do i understand it. Look at united, they have won tonns of trophies but it doesnt seem to diminish their hunger whereas our players just seem to lack hunger despite winning nothing for over half a decade.

If we are a small club that doesnt have the god given right to win everything or anything then why do we have the god given right to charge the most expensive ticket prices in the universe? Yes even more expensive than Barca tickets.

[shamrock11]

you know after having a think about it,it looked like there might be Arséne time for once,but yet again it turned into Fergie time

[Leody]

you know after having a think about it,it looked like there might be Arséne time for once,but yet again it turned into Fergie time

I honestly think 8min wasn't enough after the amount of time Caragher and Carroll used up with those two injuries... made no difference though. But 10 plus was probably needed.

[shamrock11]

Really?I counted 6 mins for Carragher and 1.5 for Carroll,with subs 9 would've been enough Imo,but 12 were played

[Arsenal Tone]

There's always an excuse, the ref, the pitch, the opponents tactics, the schedule, at one point it was even the fans fault! This excuse culture breeds complacency as the players never have to publicly face up to their mistakes.

I was listening to Wenger on SSN earlier and couldn't stop myself from shouting 'stop moaning and sort your f£&@ing team out' at the television!

[Libertine]

Thought we played ok but again we lacked some sort of spark.

I thought Van Persie's goal had given us a "get out of jail" card.
But i had forgotten the rule about never underestimating Eboue's stupidity.

We seem to have spent all season finding new ways to not win games.

[Gunflash]

Thought we played ok but again we lacked some sort of spark.

I thought Van Persie's goal had given us a "get out of jail" card.
But i had forgotten the rule about never underestimating Eboue's stupidity.

We seem to have spent all season finding new ways to not win games.

I'm waiting for 3-0 up with two minutes of injury time left and drawing 3-3.

[Libertine]

I'm waiting for 3-0 up with two minutes of injury time left and drawing 3-3.

They've pencilled that in for Sunday.

[Reverend Gooner]

We are mentally challenged, mentally insufficient in so many ways and a laughing stock to those who love to see us fail. We are the Jimmy White of football, can look brilliant and knows how to get the fans hopes up but knows how to throw it away. I missed the game yesterday but was following it on text and when I saw a long gap in text after the RVP penalty I knew we had conceded, that is the birthmark of this team, to throw it away.

I wasn't angry or upset, just a head shake and a smile at how much we like to be ourselves. We do well overall I think but the way we do it is ridiculous. I think 2nd/3rd in the league and good spells in all competitions is really good but the way we throw it away for ourselves is unique and not just a run of the mill thing for those who don't quite make it. We have psychological issues but at least they don't stop us challenging, we are still in a position most clubs would love to be in.


PLAYER RATINGS UP


LIBERTINE: If you read this can you tell me when was the last time we won a trophy not playing 4-4-2 or a very close variant?

[Libertine]

LIBERTINE: If you read this can you tell me when was the last time we won a trophy not playing 4-4-2 or a very close variant?

League title in 1953
The game was still played more like Herbert Chapman's WM formation in those days.

[StLGooner]

We are mentally challenged, mentally insufficient in so many ways and a laughing stock to those who love to see us fail. We are the Jimmy White of football, can look brilliant and knows how to get the fans hopes up but knows how to throw it away. I missed the game yesterday but was following it on text and when I saw a long gap in text after the RVP penalty I knew we had conceded, that is the birthmark of this team, to throw it away.

I wasn't angry or upset, just a head shake and a smile at how much we like to be ourselves. We do well overall I think but the way we do it is ridiculous. I think 2nd/3rd in the league and good spells in all competitions is really good but the way we throw it away for ourselves is unique and not just a run of the mill thing for those who don't quite make it. We have psychological issues but at least they don't stop us challenging, we are still in a position most clubs would love to be in.


PLAYER RATINGS UP


LIBERTINE: If you read this can you tell me when was the last time we won a trophy not playing 4-4-2 or a very close variant?

Very good point Rev, and this is where the divide between some of our own supporters are. You have one side, who want half the team replaced along with Wenger and are livid right now and think we're doomed. Then you have the cooler heads who are still equally frustrated, but realize that it is still a good thing to be challenging each and every year, and also realize that we do pretty darn well even with the big spenders City and Chelsea on our heels each season now. Life could be worse for Arsenal. Its just the way we throw away our chances that has some in an uproar about the state of the club right now, and you know what I understand that, it doesn't make them bad supporters, or it doesn't make them wrong, its just that they deal with it in a different way.

[Reverend Gooner]

LIBERTINE: If you read this can you tell me when was the last time we won a trophy not playing 4-4-2 or a very close variant?

League title in 1953
The game was still played more like Herbert Chapman's WM formation in those days.

Cheers Libs. maybe we should go back to our premier formation, 4-42 isn't a dead formation after all.


Chvint: Very true and I understand it as well. The way we collapse and throw it away in terms of individual games and the bigger picture isn't normal. There is a genuine mental defect in our team and I can see why our "almost making it" again and again doesn't seem good enough even though at face value it is achievement.

[Leody]

Very true and I understand it as well. The way we collapse and throw it away in terms of individual games and the bigger picture isn't normal. There is a genuine mental defect in our team and I can see why our "almost making it" again and again doesn't seem good enough even though at face value it is achievement.

We're the man who's on the 18th green in the last round of the Open with a 6 stroke lead and a 4ft putt... who goes on to 7 putt and lose. And then we run around saying, well finishing 2nd is an accomplishment and it's an improvement over last year when I 9 putt that same green to give away the title.



(perhaps 7 putting from 4ft was a tad extreme, but the point remains)

[Reverend Gooner]

Very true and I understand it as well. The way we collapse and throw it away in terms of individual games and the bigger picture isn't normal. There is a genuine mental defect in our team and I can see why our "almost making it" again and again doesn't seem good enough even though at face value it is achievement.

We're the man who's on the 18th green in the last round of the Open with a 6 stroke lead and a 4ft putt... who goes on to 7 putt and lose. And then we run around saying, well finishing 2nd is an accomplishment and it's an improvement over last year when I 9 putt that same green to give away the title.



(perhaps 7 putting from 4ft was a tad extreme, but the point remains)

I can see that on the individual game basis but not the league table basis. How many weeks have we been top of the league in the last 5 years? We have been well in front and looking like winning in many games but having a big lead in the table and letting is slip is something we have only done once. That is why second is an accomplishment (among other reasons) when we don't spend much time above there and haven't finished there in many years. We do make sure we impress enough to look like a team which can win it before our collapse though, we know how to be in the mix and make people say "Is this Arsenal's year?"

We manage to establish a status quo of winning football leading to strong progression in all competitions and then brush that status quo away at the key moments and win nothing. It is hard to establish that status quo and it stands to reason that if you are capable of building it then you should be capable of bringing something home but we just cannot do it.