Senegal's Arsenal Thread 2012/2013 : featuring positive negativity

[Jisntdaman]

Talksport commentator practically crying at the injustice today when Santi dived.

Glad we got the second goal, so not all the talk is about the dive.

[ReggaeBwoy]

Talksport commentator practically crying at the injustice today when Santi dived.

Glad we got the second goal, so not all the talk is about the dive.

The second penalty was controversial as well so you are wrong I am afraid.

[Eugster]

The Mirrors match report said 'the Baggies never recovered from the sense of injustice'.

[Ayub95]

Penalties were a stroke of luck (which never happens) but the performance was fantastic. Looked liked they played for AW today. Glad to know the Arteta-Wilshere-Cazorla midfield actually clicked like we all expected it too. Finishing only negative.

[Eugster]

Hopefully we keep pressing teams like we did today. Winning the ball high up the pitch can make all the difference in chance creation.

[Rhino]

My nephew loved the match, and the stadium. Arsenal, and Wilshere in particular, were fantastic and should have won by another couple of goals. Both penalties looked dives at the match, but we're about to get a closer look on MotD to see if they were as clear-cut as they looked at the time.

Doing a stadium tour tomorrow.

[Eugster]

You can add Santi to your 'Diving **** List', not The Ox though.

Is your nephew an Arsenal fan?

[Rhino]

You can add Santi to your 'Diving **** List', not The Ox though.Is your nephew an Arsenal fan?

Yeah, his dad's a big Arsenal fan and it's rubbed off on him. Dad lives in America now, so it was up to me to take him to a game, and he was absolutely made up. Love myself a trip to the Emirates, too.

[ajw10]

Rosenborg can be added to your diving list. Chamberlain clearly did not dive

Who said the midfield 3 cannot work? Still think the same now?

[SteveUK]

Pleased with the win, and performance was good, couldnt care less how we get the points or how we get the goals, aslong as we get em:o, theres been times for every team where we/they should of had penalties given but not got them, and as they say it usually balances out over the season.

[SJ234]

Rosenborg can be added to your diving list. Chamberlain clearly did not dive

Who said the midfield 3 cannot work? Still think the same now?

Yeah I said it; I wait for it to work consistently but that move between the 3 of them was jizz worthy tbh .

[eldeniro]

Hmm, that first angle changes my opinion a bit

When was the last time a player of ours blatantly dived for a peno? Eduardo? I still think he was hard done by too, contact on his right leg.

Drown yourself.

You even provided footage of him diving ffs

[chrismungo]

Hmm, that first angle changes my opinion a bit

When was the last time a player of ours blatantly dived for a peno? Eduardo? I still think he was hard done by too, contact on his right leg.

Where is the contact?

[SteveUK]

The only contact in that was the brush of Boruc's thigh on eduardos heel which was minimal, was a dive, we won, i laughed, celtic went home.

[chris79]

Hmm..no talk of who the new Arsenal's manager's going to be? (just saw fist post on the previous page)

I admit not following WBA too closely, but they looked really poor today plus they learned no lessons from our games vs Everton and Swansea, did not press us high and generally were too cautious. So I wouldn't say this game proves anything in terms of us being back to our normal form, apart from the fact that some players surely looked better after some rest.

I can perfectly understand if WBA fans were upset after this, even though it was clear which team was better for entire 90 minutes.

We will be playing better sooner or later, as has been said by a lot of people here. The problem is, when and if it is a case of tactics and team selection how quickly Wenger will make the adjustments. I know he will but the thing is for it not to be too late. Cazorla being tried on the wing for a couple of minutes may be a sign he realizes we may need to change the mid 3 setup or at least have more options.

Just 2 of the teams above us (apart from the top 3 ofc) are likely to be any problem in the long run, no disrespect to the likes of WBA or West Ham), so it is really down to us to be in the top 4.

Boruc there, totally forgot about it Such a shame he didn't make his funny 'L'* gesture after this late, mistimed and completely unnecessary challenge that gave Eduardo a good reason to fall and claim a penalty.

*Legia Warsaw

[bergkamp]

It was just good to see us playing again. Haven't seen it for a long time. You can talk about the 'classic' Arsenal faults, not defending so well, not liking the physical game, having no plan B etc, (this wan't the case today) but at the least you expect Arsenal to have good possession, pass-move, and create chances, we haven't seen that lately and it was very strange to watch.

Today was much improved. Only one game, but back on the right tracks.

incidentally, heard a few pundits, when talking about where we need to strengthen, mention a new Goalkeeper along with the more obvious areas. This and the apparent Reina interest raises the question, Most Arsenal fans are happy with and rate Szchesny right? I know I am.

[ArsenalFan7]

Yes I rate Woj and would only happily see him replaced by someone like Lloris, bit late though now. Reina would be a waste of money and I would be unhappy if he were to join, the risk is not worth it for a player who can't stand out as a top performer for the Liverpool side. Reina is definitely not significantly better than Woj and at £10-20million and the added bonus of hindering Woj's development I'm not seeing a whole lot of attraction.

I want to see us sign a top striker, the difference it would make would be vital, had we had someone out there who could get it in the net we would have had at least 2 goals from open play.

[ajw10]

I like Woj, but I think he needs competition. Honestly think Reina would be a top signing.

[Suggy33]

Cazorla's dive justice for this one:

http://videa.hu/videok/emberek-vlogok/sunwebr13luk-eu9U14WyfOJhZ5FK

[bergkamp]

The competition thing is a point of course, always good to have top competition, I'm not sure Reina would come to be number 2. But anyway, for me Woj is the man. I just think hes got it, he can become a top top keeper.

[Carmi88]

Reina is past it, makes far too many mistakes. We don't need another Almunia

[Chr1s Lawson]

Chamberlain didn't dive, he fouled someone prior to being fouled himself.

[ArsenalFan7]

How much competition do you need though when you've got one of the leagues best backups in Fabianski and one of the best 3rd choices in Mannone. Not to mention the other goalkeepers we have.

I think GK is by far the position that would frustrate me most if we added to.

[georginho_juventusygr]

Cazorla didn't dive. He was slightly hit on the knee. It was just a touch, a minimal contact, but he made the most of it.

[Sy13]

L'Equipe reporting we are close to agreeing terms with Huntelaar.

[Rigga89]

I see that we're being linked today with West Ham's Diame. A confirmed buyout clause of £3.5m and he has the same agent as Demba Ba, which could simplify such a deal.

I was really pleased to see Cazorla play out wide for a few minutes. I'd been saying for a while on twitter that I would be interested to see how he played on the left; partly because Gervinho hasn't impressed me and Podolski has been inconsistent on that flank, but also because it frees up a midfield position for someone with a little more physical presence (Diaby when fit, or similar new signing).

[Retro]

Cazorla didn't dive. He was slightly hit on the knee. It was just a touch, a minimal contact, but he made the most of it.

It was a dive ffs.

[SJ234]

It was a dive. I prefer it if our players don't dive but ultimately I am not going to complain and expect them to not do it when everyone else is. They shouldn't be banned for it either imo as it is no worse than any other cheating in the game.

Gervinho had a mixed game yesterday he was a constant threat but also useless in front of goal. Hunterlaar isn't what we need imo. Good goalscorer but he is just that.

Demba Ba's knee would clearly implode upon signing a contract with us. Diame if cheap would add strength to our midfield when needed.

[Chr1s Lawson]

What we need is an RVP, that failing a Cavani or a Falcao, the only 2 of the class we need whom I believe to be at smaller clubs than us. But their next step will surely be to a club that is much better than us!

[SJ234]

If we can't get a world class player, which we probably can't, we should bring in a very good one as an option if Giroud isn't playing well

[Guest]

Cazorla didn't dive. He was slightly hit on the knee. It was just a touch, a minimal contact, but he made the most of it.

Is this a wind up?

[stotty1982]

What we need is an RVP, that failing a Cavani or a Falcao, the only 2 of the class we need whom I believe to be at smaller clubs than us. But their next step will surely be to a club that is much better than us!

athletico are not a smaller club than arsenal.

[SJ234]

athletico are not a smaller club than arsenal.

Yes they are. They maybe performing better than us but they are a smaller club. How do you evaluate size of a football club?

[stotty1982]

Yes they are. They maybe performing better than us but they are a smaller club. How do you evaluate size of a football club?

by the fact that they win trophies.

[SJ234]

by the fact that they win trophies.

So Birmingham City are bigger than Arsenal since they have won a trophy more recently? Most ridiculous measure of a size of a club which is intrinsically a measure of their reputation.

[football_master_94]

athletico are not a smaller club than arsenal.

They clearly are. If you're using the trophies argument, in the past decade Atléti have won less in the past decade than Arsenal (not to mention the fact that Atléti haven't won La Liga or the Copa Del Rey since 95/96)

[Rigga89]

It turns out that the story that Ba and Diame sharing an agent is false. Typical lazy journalism that a quick check on transfermarkt would have avoided. I still feel they're both good value given their release clauses.

It's also interesting to see a lot of speculation surrounding M'Biwa. He's certainly a class defender, but considering that we've just offered Djourou an extension I think it's probably the usual wild transfer speculation to get readers around this time of year.

[georginho_juventusygr]

It was a dive ffs.

It was a dive. I prefer it if our players don't dive but ultimately I am not going to complain and expect them to not do it when everyone else is. They shouldn't be banned for it either imo as it is no worse than any other cheating in the game.

Gervinho had a mixed game yesterday he was a constant threat but also useless in front of goal. Hunterlaar isn't what we need imo. Good goalscorer but he is just that.

Demba Ba's knee would clearly implode upon signing a contract with us. Diame if cheap would add strength to our midfield when needed.

Is this a wind up?

When the defender tried to kick in the end of the replay, you see his boot touched Cazorla's knee. Cazorla might feel it and decided to fall. Or it touched the sock, and Cazorla still decided to fall. In the former case, it wasn't a dive; in the latter case, it was.

[Stano84]

His boot doesn't go near Cazorla knee

[skybluedave]

When the defender tried to kick in the end of the replay, you see his boot touched Cazorla's knee. Cazorla might feel it and decided to fall. Or it touched the sock, and Cazorla still decided to fall. In the former case, it wasn't a dive; in the latter case, it was.

Just because there is contact doesn't mean it's not a dive/cheating

[georginho_juventusygr]

...

His boot doesn't go near Cazorla knee

After Cazorla feinted to the right, you see that his knee was touched by the point of the boot.

[georginho_juventusygr]

Just because there is contact doesn't mean it's not a dive/cheating

Well, fair enough.

[Rigga89]

After Cazorla feinted to the right, you see that his knee was touched by the point of the boot.

His knee? His foot is only a couple of inches off the ground and you can see his toe flick out just as his studs glance over the top of Cazorla's boot. There is the very slightest of contact to cause the boot to flick out as he clips him so it's not the case of 2 feet away like Hansen claimed on MOTD, but he made a meal of the slightest touch and dived.

[Kawee]

Why is this even an argument? There was no where near enough contact for Cazorla to fall or for it to be a foul. Cazorla conned the ref, and it worked. As far as we're concerned, we should concentrate on the positive, and that was the much improved performance by our team.

[Chr1s Lawson]

athletico are not a smaller club than arsenal.

Notice It was carefully worded with smaller, not better. I also said the the 2 strikers in question would likely join better clubs, but not necessarily bigger clubs.

[dfgrigg]

It turns out that the story that Ba and Diame sharing an agent is false. Typical lazy journalism that a quick check on transfermarkt would have avoided. I still feel they're both good value given their release clauses.

It's also interesting to see a lot of speculation surrounding M'Biwa. He's certainly a class defender, but considering that we've just offered Djourou an extension I think it's probably the usual wild transfer speculation to get readers around this time of year.

Eh? Didn't we give him a new contract back in Feb/March? I'm sure I remember general consternation/fury in last season's thread.

[el sid]

Not sure how geor can see contact with Cazorla's knee there :confused:

[gunner4eva]

its obviously a dive ffs , how can anyone look at that gif and say there is contact?

[bergkamp]

Arsenal down to 7th, possibly 8th if West Ham hold on. However 2 points of 4th spot. 2 points!!!!! 5 points off 3rd with 22 games left.

I'm not saying that 4th or 3rd is all we should want, but it puts things in perspective.

We are 28 off 1st though, or something....

[Rigga89]

Eh? Didn't we give him a new contract back in Feb/March? I'm sure I remember general consternation/fury in last season's thread.

Well yeah I suppose it's a while ago now actually, but what I meant was we're hardly going to add another CB when we already have 5 on our books and the 2nd worst of them has been awarded an extension...unless we're finally seeing the back of Squillaci