Bolton Wanderers vs. Arsenal - Saturday - March 29 - 3 p.m

[Don Pacifico]

I can assure you all that Wenger is aware of our squads limitations and they will be addressed for the simple reason that we did try to sign two wingers last summer but the deals failed for a couple of reasons.

Our summer movement would have been: Sagna, Diarra, Winger A, Winger B and Eduardo which by anyones standards would have been a sweet bit of business; although I am not sure we would have signed both wingers, I think it was a choice of one or the other.

Now, what you have to remember is that we don't just sign any player; once targets are identified they are followed for a good amount of time and deals are struck at the right time, for the right fee.

The nature of our scouting means that sometimes we don't have a second option if we don't get what we want, but that in itself can also be a bonus as it means that we almost always sign players of the quality needed (not including starlets as that is more difficult).

The youths that will be graduating into the senior squad next season are also a cut above what we have been producing down the years. Merida especially is just about the best youngster I have ever seen.

There is always unseen work going on at the club in relation to new recruits and it is difficult for fans to accept that when our neighbours are making open bids of £20M+ and it appears that we are doing nothing.

We had a closed doors friendly with the Ivory Coast a few months back for instance that didn't go as well as planned because the quality wasn't there but that's just an example of things that you don't hear about.

In all seriousness, I think the future (both long and short term) is very good but we'll see.

Good post by the way. Have only just read it now. It is always nice to have a different perspective on our situation.

 

[awooga83]

There's no 'point' to understand.

QFT thats what I don't get all the yes I see where he is coming from, really I don't because otherwise I wouldn't support Arsenal I never want us to lose so there can be no common ground.

But this is a different mindset.

You want us to win every game. This is, as logic (and history) would suggest an 'irrational' desire for teams do not win every game. Please believe me when I say I am not trying to criticise this point of view for I also want us to win every game. But I understand where Endris is coming from.

Endris on the other hand takes the point of view that a team will win and lose. He can accept a loss if it leads to a win in the future. Therefore if our point of view is more in the short-run, then his is more in the long-run.

Whereas also you are in agreement with the management at our club, Endris clearly is not, which is more likely to influence his opinion on this matter.

I accept that we won't win all games I think I have been around long enough to realise that things are far from perfect. But does that mean I go into any game no matter how long since we last lost thinking, you know what I hope we lose it will be good for the team. No and Endris has in the past said I hope Arsenal mess up so I can laugh at them that doesn't appear to have a benefit for Arsenal.

I want us to win and learn while we are winning as well and its not as if we have never had a setback with this team so they will have learnt alot before today. As a fan I rarely will think in terms of football results rationally so I will never want us to lose and any proper fan of a club would do the same otherwise you don't care about the club.

 

[Don Pacifico]

There's no 'point' to understand.

QFT thats what I don't get all the yes I see where he is coming from, really I don't because otherwise I wouldn't support Arsenal I never want us to lose so there can be no common ground.

But this is a different mindset.

You want us to win every game. This is, as logic (and history) would suggest an 'irrational' desire for teams do not win every game. Please believe me when I say I am not trying to criticise this point of view for I also want us to win every game. But I understand where Endris is coming from.

Endris on the other hand takes the point of view that a team will win and lose. He can accept a loss if it leads to a win in the future. Therefore if our point of view is more in the short-run, then his is more in the long-run.

Whereas also you are in agreement with the management at our club, Endris clearly is not, which is more likely to influence his opinion on this matter.

I accept that we won't win all games I think I have been around long enough to realise that things are far from perfect. But does that mean I go into any game no matter how long since we last lost thinking, you know what I hope we lose it will be good for the team. No and Endris has in the past said I hope Arsenal mess up so I can laugh at them that doesn't appear to have a benefit for Arsenal.

I want us to win and learn while we are winning as well and its not as if we have never had a setback with this team so they will have learnt alot before today. As a fan I rarely will think in terms of football results rationally so I will never want us to lose and any proper fan of a club would do the same otherwise you don't care about the club.

Was not aware of that bit. It does seem slightly questionable. :?

I know where you're coming from because that is also my mindset. But then I don't think there is an issue with the management. I feel our club is moving in the right direction.

On the other hand, I did not think that the England national team were moving in the right direction and I will be honest and say there was a part of me that was pleased we lost to Croatia because I felt we needed to learn from our mistakes. In this case we would scrape into big tournaments continuously when it was obvious there were major flaws with the setup. The fact that we were qualifying for these tournaments was papering over the cracks that existed.

I was still unhappy with the loss against Croatia but I felt that in the long-term it was the best result.

 

[Arsenal_FAN1983]

There is no guarantee that if we lost we would improve in the future. No one can guarantee that, and it is not worth the risk. We have to fight to win the title, no1 has it easy. I am of the mindset that as long as there is a slight chance to win something, do your upmost best to try to win it.

 

[1970*Gooner]

There is no guarantee that if we lost we would improve in the future. No one can guarantee that, and it is not worth the risk. We have to fight to win the title, no1 has it easy. I am of the mindset that as long as there is a slight chance to win something, do your upmost best to try to win it.

Quite right, give it all you got, we fought back well today even with 10 men we are not out of it yet. We were not at our best today technically but we had more fight today. Why did Diaby throw himself into that tackle today the plonker could have cost us big time. I have always had Diaby down a a reckless tackler but today he surpassed himself. I am just glad we stoped the rot, perhaps this could be the start of our charge towards better things.

 

[flobaba]

We were looking very dangerous in the first 5-10 minutes. I actually thought we was in for a 4-0, or greater, scoreline treat, and then Bolton started frustrating us with their repeated fouling and were successful at breaking up our play before we could even get going. However, apart form the impact of Theo and Ade, I can honestly say that I think we looked a bit better attacking-wise with only 10 men. Why? Simply because that's one less pass in our build up to goal, it forced us to be a bit more direct and focused on getting to the Bolton goal, player roles were better defined, more space for runs from the midfielders.

Now i'm not suggesting we go about getting red cards in every other game, but I think maybe we should reduce the number of players we have running into the opposition half/midfield, and designate a player to SIT and STAY in that holding MF role. This could IMO give us improved defensive stability and help create more spaces for our attacking game.

Or maybe i'm just still a bit tipsy..

 

[cloista]

The thing I found most promising about our attacking play today was the fact that we didn't always try to walk it in, RvP seemed to have a shoot on site policy, and it's only a matter of time before he finds his range again.

 

[ibby]

van Persie's finishing was shocking today.

 

[Captain]

You know, as bad as things were, I think that today was one of our best offensive performances in months. We had good movement and aggression but the passes weren't always perfect.

After two months of non-stop long ball to Ade it was a pleasure to see and while he may not get many plaudits for today, I think Bendtner was excellent in the way that he dovetailed with RvP. His game seems so much more natural then Ade's even though the latter is obviously a better all-round player right now.

 

[DC Gunner]

Could not watch the match or even follow it on the internet due to PC problems, just saw the highlights and recap.

seems that Ade has lost confidence since the Eduardo Injury, I don't know why !

As for diaby, poor abou, he is not malicious and did not intend to make that challenge that badly, Steinsson was too quick for him.

 

[Captain]

Tiny diaby is the real victim.

 

[AnthonyG]

As for diaby, poor abou, he is not malicious and did not intend to make that challenge that badly, Steinsson was too quick for him.

That's what they said about, oh.... I get it!

 

[Biggus]

To recap: we won 3-2 after being down 2-0 with only 10 men.

We've only got 10 men-
We've only got 10 men-
We've only got
We've only got 10 men-

Tell the truth how many of you turned it off at half time, and kicked the cat or whatever got in your way.

 

[Biggus]

The youths that will be graduating into the senior squad next season are also a cut above what we have been producing down the years. Merida especially is just about the best youngster I have ever seen.

Forget kids, they'll take years to get used to the pace of the PL, and even then it'll be hit and miss.We don't have years to win something decent. Wenger has to brush the cobwebs off his wallet this summer.

Tiny Diaby......oooops we've fallen off our high horse.

 

[Kaizenbury]

Tell the truth how many of you turned it off at half time, and kicked the cat or whatever got in your way.

I kicked my remote when Diaby got sent off. He had that resigned look on his face, and that made it worse. But, I didnt switch it off. I knew we would draw it, but the win was just wonderful. O'Brien must be feeling like ****-poo right now. All those deflections yesterday, would have made Fat Deflection very very happy.

 

[RC8]

The person I was watching the game with took off his arsenal shirt and threw it to the floor when Bolton scored the 2nd. At half time I picked it up and hanged it, kissed the scarf I have hanging next to my door, and hoped for the best.

I also said during the first half that Gallas would score from a corner. I said that Sagna and Touré had already scored from corners, and that Gallas was next to score our 3rd successive goal from a corner by a defender. When the goal went in I just stood and said: "there you go!".

People turning the game off don't deserve the joy of the comeback.

 

[Biggus]

People turning the game off don't deserve the joy of the comeback.

I couldn't even turn off the 5-1 battering from Sp**s or the 4-0 hammering from Utd. I sort of feel like I'm letting the boys down. If they have to stay to the end so should we. It's only by enduring the almost unendurable that you can fully appreciate the good times.

 

[Anzac]

I almost feel like I'm jinxing the team by watching them............I've tried to see most of the past month or so to try and support the boys during their time of need - and we draw. Made a change last night & didn't try to watch the game & we get 3 points!!!!!

 

[Biggus]

You're not allowed to watch the CL game with Liverpool Anzac.

 

[Anzac]

no - I'll be at work when we play............