I got up this morning a bit early so i can see the Liverpool vs Manchester United game. Boy, did i regret that. There is nothing more that i hate, than seeing a United team that is playing shitty being helped by the refs and handed a victory. It's absolutely disgusting.
Luckily for me and my nerves, Mike Dean (who is also a douche bag and has ruined plenty of games) had a decent performance at our game. He could have given a few more yellow cards but after the pathetic refereeing at Anfield maybe it was better he let the game go a bit.
I feel that i am pretty honest when i give my opinion about our players and their performances each game. So i did admit that last week Gervinho played much better against Southampton than he did the previous few games. But today he was back to his usual idiotic/selfish style and i have no clue why he stayed on the field until the 89min! He, single handedly, prevented us from winning today. The ball he got from Ramsey in the 15th minute was so good that 100% of most players will at least have a shot at goal and 60% to 70% of decent forwards/wingers will score. He couldn't even control the ball to have a shot. And that's not why i am mad at him, i am sure even the greatest players have had moments where they lose control of the ball. What pisses me off is that he made so many runs and had the ball so many times, and 90% of the time all he wanted to do is dribble and try to get by people. So many fucking times! Look up and pass the ball! Look up and shoot at goal! Do whatever the fuck you want, just don't do the same stupid dribbling every single time. And when you lose the ball, which he did plenty of times, get back and defend! At times he just chills in midfield without getting back and helping people to press on the ball. At least twice, him and Ramsey ran into each other. And to top it off, after a decent move to open some space for himself, he couldn't even hit the target in the 89th min! I realize that he has speed and that makes him really dangerious when he gets space, but his brain is the size of a peanut. He either has to learn to share the ball or he should be benched and replaced with someone who is more of a team player.
Overall i thought we played a very solid game. The first half we were definitely the better team and with a bit more luck and better execution we should have been ahead instead of City. The midfield players were exceptional the first 45 min. We had a lot of possession, we were controlling the game with quick passes and good build up game. Then we conceded a silly goal. Mannone could have definitely done better but i also feel the zone marking we did on corners today left us a bit vulnerable. When you don't cover man to man, you have 5,6 guys getting a head start to run and jump which is tough to defend. Maybe a mixture between zone marking and having at least 2 or 3 of our players covering their best ball headers would be a better idea. The goal stunned us a bit and in the second half we didn't start very well. The link between the midfield and the defense was breaking down and City had a few counters where they could have done much better and maybe score again. Towards the end of the second half though, we started controlling things again and got a deserved equalizer.
Koscielny came in for Vermaelen and had a great game. Besides scoring, he was very sharp throughout the whole game and looked just like he did most of last season. It will be interesting to see if Wenger will try to give him more playing time, especially after Mertesacker had another solid game. The full backs were good again, Jenkinson had a very good game both offensively and defensively. Gibbs was less active on the wing than the last few games but that was partially due to Gervinho dribbling forever on the left and not passing the ball to anyone. Mannone had the blunder for their goal but other than that he made some great saves.
Diaby had a phenomenal first half, it seemed that he was everywhere. His technique is so good for a big guy that sometimes he gets carried away and gives away the ball at bad situations. On Tuesday against Montpellier, he slipped while dribbling in our own penalty area and we got super lucky not to get scored on. Same thing happened today in the 53rd min, when he lost the ball because of too much dribbling and City had a great chance to score a second goal. He got a bit tired in the second half and disappeared a bit but if he stays healthy he can be very dominant in midfield. Cazorla just like Diaby was awesome in the first half and then was on and off in the second. Regardless, his work rate and passes were priceless, and he was very unlucky not to score after a great shot in the 81st min. Arteta was also great today, did the majority of the dirty work in the back. Ramsey had a good game. Gave a phenomenal pass to Gervinho in the 15th min, and was involved in most of our attacks during the game. Defensively he has to do much better, a lot of times he strolls back when we lose the ball instead of quickly getting back and pressing.
Podolski didn't have a lot of chances except one in the first half, when Gervinho (shockingly) passed the ball to him around the penalty spot but unfortunately it was on his right foot and he hit the stands. The thing i like about him is that he is a very hard worker even when he doesn't get a lot of chances. He always chases people and comes back and helps defensively. I don't think Wenger should have taken him out. Talking about substitutions, The Professor waited way too long to make a change (well known fact about him). I also think he took off the wrong people. Gervinho should have been the first man to go after his clueless display and i would have taken out Ramsey instead of Diaby. To be honest even though Walcott is also clueless on the wing sometimes i would have liked to see him start instead of Gervinho today. He has the same if not better speed and unless Wenger is freezing him out because of his contract issues he should start some games. Not to mentioned he wouldn't have missed the 15th min chance Gervinho did, that's his favorite spot to score goals from.
So at the end, we will take a draw but i feel we deserved more and we are definitely capable of more. I hope Wenger learns his lesson and saves Gervinho for the games against the shitty teams because his decision making is obviously not good enough against the big boys. I would love for us to whoop Chelsea next week. C'mon You Gunners!!!!
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