re: Arsenal Football Club 2011-2012 Season Thread

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Any feelings about today's match?

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I'm thinking at best we pull out with a nervy draw. Although we have some confidence to take away from the Swansea match, I don't think we're going to see a quick turn around in ability, especially with new blood coursing through our center. Finding identity and understanding is going to take more time. I think we have the quality to hold them at bay though, being a lowly Bundesliga side and all.

A win would exceed my expectations.

I just saw this photo and couldn't resist posting it here:

I hope to whatever deity exists that this game finally showed our defensive weakness to Wenger. It's not the players, it's the system.

I'm not sure a defensive coach could fix this. We've been playing terribly for the better part of a year now, offensively and defensively. We can't score like we once did, we can't possess the ball like we once did, and we can't even execute the basics of defending. Obviously we can basically write off this season. This season is following the course of the 2008 season. In the 2007 season we had a good team full of good players who were playing very well up until the B-ham game. We lose, lose the title, lose Eduardo, lose key players and lose confidence. This loss continues into 2008. Its not until 2009 that we are playing better. I think we are following the same pattern after losing the CC final. We have to show some more moxy though, as we will continue to lose key players unless we show them we are committed to winning trophies.

Van Persie, Vermalean, and Walcott are all likely to leave next year if we don't get our act together.

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I don't know to what extent you mean.

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For the title. We probably shouldn't have expected that this year anyway.

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4th place finish? I think that's still possible. As Amigo de Dan has mentioned elsewhere, we're doing better than Liverpool was doing at this point last year, and they finished, what, 5th or 6th? We still have a cliffhanger of a chance. But , realistically I'm inclined to agree with you.

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I definitely think we can get 4th place. Possibly even 3rd. We still have good players. Our best XI, including Wilshere and Vermalean, is an extremely good team. But we seem to rely on these players more than other teams.

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I don't really see the Blackburn as being 100% symptomatic of our failings. 2 own goals? That's flukey as shite, and hasn't happened to us in over a decade.

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The awareness on the 1st own goal was LOL worthy. It's like Song, or whoever the player in front of him was, had never seen a FK in his life. If someone attacks that ball, it never hits Song on the knee. The 2nd goal was made by Djourou's terrible tackle. In that instance, it was better to just go through the player rather than allow him to get past so easily. Even staying on your feet would have been a better decision. I think those are symptomatic of the lack of awareness which continues to be a big part of our defensive failings.

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I don't think the sky is falling quite yet, but there's definitely been a cartoonish raincloud following us everywhere so far.

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Of course not. But this is our worst start ever, even shittier than that shitty 2008 season. We need Vermalean to get healthy, and then never get injured again. We've coped without Wilshere now that Arteta is playing, but he's still really important to our game.

In positives, Chamakh looked hungrier than he has in a long time, and Van Persie's cross on the third goal was simply sublime. Ramsey was a lot more active in the 1st half, and his run for the 2nd goal was extremely well-timed and intelligent. His pass was excellent as well. He seems to be playing with more power lately, which is a good thing to see, because he was a powerful player before the injury. The movement of our front three is pleasing, and we are getting better in midfield at linking the defense to attack.

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Word is the players trained some in the 4-4-2 today. Maybe its just for the Carling Cup match, but I found that rather interesting.

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I saw that. Some tactical variation would be extremely good to see. It seems like ever since we've switched to the 4-3-3 and the variations thereof we saw previously have made Wenger stubborn tactically. In contrast, our last really good team, the 2007 team, Wenger showed a lot of tactical variation. We won't be able to outpass teams this year, so hopefully we will be seeing more of new formations.

I wouldn't mind seeing us run a 4-4-2 every now and then with Chamakh and RvP up front. Seems like they could pair well.

I also hope AOC features in the Carling Cup with Chamakh. His crosses in U21 play were awesome. Could work well together if Chamakh is as aggressive as he was late at Blackburn.

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I wouldn't mind seeing us run a 4-4-2 every now and then with Chamakh and RvP up front. Seems like they could pair well.

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I'd actually like to see RvP and Chamakh work in a 4-3-3. We started the season so well last year when Chamakh was playing because he was a tireless runner. He literally ran himself into the ground every match, and I don't think he recovered physically. RvP on the wing would see more of the ball and could orchestrate more. It also would make space for Park, and keep Arshavin on the bench. Hell I wouldn't mind it if we played more 4-5-1, or a 4-4-1-1 with VP as the support striker.

I'm starting to want to see some more Chamakh also as it looks like he MIGHT be starting to come out of his funk. He also gives us a nice aerial presence with his goal against Blackburn and had a great attempt in the game prior. Would at least give us something different. As an Arsenal fan it's so shocking to see a cross actually go in the goal like the one on Saturday.