Chelsea V Arsenal | Premier League 20/01/2013

[starmandb]

first thing i read in the papers is the headline "wenger not happy with referee". same old excuses then.

he feels we were "unlucky" because the "first goal was a set piece"....i think that in itself is a major concern. we concede 20+ set pieces a season and he still considers them to be 'unlucky' goals...how about recognising the faults and doing something to fix them.
that really is a worrying mindset.

He probably means unlucky because we should have had a free kick in the build up to their goal, they didn't score a set piece as far as i am aware unless you count the penalty . Its the same old crap defending that has cost us dear over the past few seasons, it needs to be addressed, you can't go 2-0 down and come back every time, we used to be able to but we aren't good enough anymore. Tbh i wasn't even annoyed about the result its just become expected these days, wenger may say we were unlucky and it seems like it was a close game ending 2-1 but they should have been out of sight in the first half they had that many chances. For those on about spurs over achieving and us under achieving i would have to disagree, spurs have a better overall squad than we do, sandro is out for the season but they have parker to fill in, they gave man united a good game yesterday as they had at old trafford, when was the last time we genuinely competed against man utd in a match? We have been comprehensively beaten by tham every time we have played then in recent years, we are in free fall and way off the pace, everybody better be prepared for europa league next year because thats the reality.

last season we came back from 2-0 down to beat spurs 5-2
this season we came back from 4- 0 down at reading to win 7-5
walcott scored 5 goals in those 2 games
we beat man utd 1- o at the emirates at the end of the 10/11 season
if we are in the europa league next season i will be there wanting to win it

So would I, but winning that is a poor excuse for not being able to win anything. It's like taking a step down

the champions league is the elite tournament but all this bollocks about cups not mattering is complete anathema to me as a football fan who has had some of my best days/nights in a football ground watching league and fa cups
uefa and cup winners cup
winning is a habit and a great 1 to adopt
of coarse i want us in the elite tournament but i don,t buy the media driven nonsense that it is the be all and end all
clubs playing weakened teams coz they are more worried about a balance sheet.
shit being spouted yesterday about not wanting bradford in europe because an early exit would affect our co-efficient.
please... what the f**k has the game become?
1 want to win the lot
i want everyone associated with our club to feel the same.
and as gutted as i am that bradford knocked us out i am glad that i love a game that a 4th tier team can get to a major final. long may it continue to be so

[Angelito]

^ Yeah.

Many owners pour in astronomical figures into the club and that just shows one thing: sports has no place for logic. It's the passion, the desire to win. Whoever wins, that's the team. Nothing else matters. All this non-sense "top-4 trophy" and all would be fine in businesses but in sports--winning is the only trophy.

Any Gunner would want to win the FA Cup--after spending so many seasons without any trophy. There is no compromise here. I don't think we will win the FA Cup, but that is the only realistic chance we have at glory.

[starmandb]

first thing i read in the papers is the headline "wenger not happy with referee". same old excuses then.

he feels we were "unlucky" because the "first goal was a set piece"....i think that in itself is a major concern. we concede 20+ set pieces a season and he still considers them to be 'unlucky' goals...how about recognising the faults and doing something to fix them.
that really is a worrying mindset.

He probably means unlucky because we should have had a free kick in the build up to their goal, they didn't score a set piece as far as i am aware unless you count the penalty . Its the same old crap defending that has cost us dear over the past few seasons, it needs to be addressed, you can't go 2-0 down and come back every time, we used to be able to but we aren't good enough anymore. Tbh i wasn't even annoyed about the result its just become expected these days, wenger may say we were unlucky and it seems like it was a close game ending 2-1 but they should have been out of sight in the first half they had that many chances. For those on about spurs over achieving and us under achieving i would have to disagree, spurs have a better overall squad than we do, sandro is out for the season but they have parker to fill in, they gave man united a good game yesterday as they had at old trafford, when was the last time we genuinely competed against man utd in a match? We have been comprehensively beaten by tham every time we have played then in recent years, we are in free fall and way off the pace, everybody better be prepared for europa league next year because thats the reality.

last season we came back from 2-0 down to beat spurs 5-2
this season we came back from 4- 0 down at reading to win 7-5
walcott scored 5 goals in those 2 games
we beat man utd 1- o at the emirates at the end of the 10/11 season
if we are in the europa league next season i will be there wanting to win it

....and that's the Thing Starman. You and me and EVERYONE on this site will be wanting Arsenal to win EVERY match. It is upon this passion that the board are absolutely screwing Arsenal into the ground. they know that we will still support them even if they got relegated.

THe board on the other hand have absolutely no interest in winning anything on the pitch.

Sadly, Arsene appears to have lost the passion that you, and me, and everyone on this site still have for Arsenal, football wise.

It makes me so dispirited at times.

support and love mate that will never end
but i am close as i have ever been to not renewing because the club are not matching our ambitions
never felt that the case in 43 years of going
this window is a catalyst and it really is,nt about the champs league
to that end f**k the champs league
its about being the best you can be
and i don,t believe that is the case
we have a lame duck manager who has instilled a just do enough mentality as you so succintly put on another thread
i can,t justify 1400 hard earned pounds to have the piss taken out of us
i will still go but it will be to games that you can rock up and book for without the pleasure of paying over 50 pounds for . those games will be viewed on tv with a yearning to be in there and if we tumble into the europa league i don,t see me missing any of those ties. i will be there wanting us to lift the trophy
the sad thing is i believe a rethink and we could be back on track again
but wengers refusal to take a sideways or another approach has made me remove the crackpipe that is arsenal from my lips