West Bromwich Albion 1 - 1 Arsenal: Below-par Arsenal come away with decent point

Well yes he has struggled a bit but at the end of the day the team was good enough to win that game but they just couldn't match the intensity they had against Napoli and that's down partly to tiredness but also credit to Steve Clark for the way he set up WBA by limiting the effectiveness of our midfield. We need some players back from injury though because our bench was looking pretty weak, I mean you're in trouble when you're pushing for the victory and you bring on Bendtner! I think Walcott would've had a field day yesterday.

The signing of Ozil has really glossed over how thin our squad is, we have no width out left and didn't have any width out today, athough someone like Gnarby should of played. I tink Giroud was tired as well and probably needed a rest, but no way was Bendtner going to start, especially with that disgraceful haircut. Get a grip mate.


I really do hope we sign a striker and word is we might get Benzema for around 17 mill which would be a decent signing.

I like his hair cut actually mate!!

He's far from the perfect replacement, Benzema would be a good signing for us, we'll struggle as this season goes on though with the squad we have, we'll be knackered by Christmas..

"I like his hair cut actually mate!! "

Yeah, I knew you would.  

I think it makes him look super sophisticated and stuff like that which is important for the modern day footballer!

We needed proper wingers in this game, good news though cazorla and walcott back after the internationals, and if it was not of Rosicky we would have lost the game imo.

Once Rosicky entered the game there was a lot of fluidity in the passing. It nice to have such a great player off the bench.

Szczesny, Koscielny and Flamini were amazing.  

Yep, those guys have been faultless all season, one of the main reasons we've been so solid at the back.

I agree about Rosicky too, our tempo increased quite dramatically when he came on and he seemed to help us gel a bit.

I am worried about Rosicky going to international duty, he is just like RVP after every national game comes back injured for us.

Reason Gnabry didn't start was because of no Sagna. Jenkinson was pretty poor and both Sessegnon and Berahino tormented him and he needed Ramsey to help him on the defensive side. Gnabry wouldn't have provided the same cover.

It was one of those 'handbrake' performances really.

sometimes i just wonder whether Jenkinson will actually cement his place for future or turnout to be our own Oshea/Brown as utility man anywhere across

but then again we are always there to be proven wrong in many cases

still too young for a defender
Lets see.....

Sina wrote:sometimes i just wonder whether Jenkinson will actually cement his place for future or turnout to be our own Oshea/Brown as utility man anywhere across

but then again we are always there to be proven wrong in many cases

still too young for a defender
Lets see.....

Utility player i think. He will be with us for a long time but will never be a starter.

http://i.minus.com/iNI6BIMbp37fh.gif

Referee was terrible, should have had two penalties, but more than that it just seemed like throughout the match he was consistently giving west brom unbelievably soft free kicks, but when jack got utterly clattered twice in the penalty area he does nothing? there were some ridiculous double standards, like the guy said the Free kick he gave at the end for a "push" by wilshere was a farce, and earlier in the game he gave nothing when a west brom player barged wilshere over off the ball. Double standards couldn't have been more blatant.

Don't know if he was corrupt like this guy claimed, might have just been a "homer" (ie intimidated by the home crowd so he didn't want to upset them)

I would bet everything I love that Koscielny would concede a penalty, get red carded and suspended for three games for such a tackle. I'd expect some consistency from the refs, at the very least.

With the Czechs' hopes of qualification for World Cup 2014 all but over, interim boss Josef Pesice has agreed to allow Rosicky some time to recuperate.

"Arsenal have asked us to excuse him for health reasons, so we have called up Borek Dockal," the stand-in coach told the press.

National team director and former Liverpool star Vladimir Smicer explained: "Tomas wasn't completely fit after the [West Brom] game. Arsene Wenger got in touch with me and we agreed not to take Tomas to the qualifiers."


Great news. 

Arsene called so Pesice wouldn't have dared say no

I think the referee was pretty crap going both ways, he did fail to award them anything for Gibb's push in (on the edge of?) the penalty area.

RealGunner wrote:http://i.minus.com/iNI6BIMbp37fh.gif

You have to admit, the keeper did very well there, Giroud's touches were not that poor and most keepers would of went down much ealier but Myhill stayed on his feet and did brilliantly.


Regarding the ref, he was pretty bad but I don't think there was any serious penalty shouts, I think at the end of the day a draw was a fair result.

beatrixasdfghjk. wrote:I think the referee was pretty crap going both ways, he did fail to award them anything for Gibb's push in (on the edge of?) the penalty area.

was that when gibbs jumped and someone randomly fell over?

Aussie_Gunner wrote:

RealGunner wrote:http://i.minus.com/iNI6BIMbp37fh.gif

Regarding the ref, he was pretty bad but I don't think there was any serious penalty shouts, I think at the end of the day a draw was a fair result.

No there were 2, the first on wilshere was a disgusting tackle, the fact that wilshere shot a fraction before it happened means absolutely nothing. The second (again on wilshere) steamed right through wilshere to get the ball (in a second stage), again that's a foul, its really pretty simple even though many fans are in la la land with their own interpretations of what should/shouldn't be fouls.

I thought we should've definitely have had one penalty given even if the ref wanted to be lenient towards West Brom, they both looked stone wall to me but what can you do? We had the chances to wrap it up and so did they, we cancelled each other out but still sit top of the league so happy days!

yes.. Girouds touch was not poor.. but he could have tried to lob over the keeper than trying to round him.. Myhill did very good there..
it is clear that both tackles on Wilshere were penalties...

I honestly don't think those two tackles on Wilshere were penalties... Two good decisions by the ref. Though he still was awful.

El Gunner wrote:I honestly don't think those two tackles on Wilshere were penalties... Two good decisions by the ref. Though he still was awful.

If you go through a player and get the ball anywhere else on the pitch, it's an immediate free kick and yellow card. Wasn't a tackle from behind an immediate red card during the 2006 World Cup?

El Gunner wrote:I honestly don't think those two tackles on Wilshere were penalties... Two good decisions by the ref. Though he still was awful.

The second challenge on Jack in the box was a penalty, he takes Jack’s leg first and then the ball. The ref was shit and most calls went against us.

Lee Mason is a bias jackass. If any of our players made a challenge like that for sure it would have been a penalty. Some of the penalties have given away are softer than that challenge.