What's new

Arsenal vs Tottenham: NLD Match Thread

Result?


  • Total voters
    278
  • Poll closed .

ljinko888

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2016
2,080
5,376
A large part behind success in any sport is in the mind.

Saying three points is three points is too simplistic. You can beat a top team away and lose against a bottom side at home next up. But that is looking at the worst case scenario for an excuse.

If you're good enough then it sounds easy to say the ground you are playing in shouldn't matter. But it does a lot. We're worse of at Wembley already than the whole of last season at WHL.

Crystal Palace, Burnley and Brighton will attack more at home, with their home crowd buoying them on. These teams will get the odd big win against a big team but will go away for the return game and back off.

Home sides are expected to go for it. Most Away sides in the league will be content to come away with a point. We won't be when it's against your lower sides but we shouldn't be easily satisfied to the top sides.

When you win....and win to a top team on their own turf it is more than three points. It's a statement. It puts a seed of doubt in their mind. And it boosts your confidence tenfold.

Last season Chelsea going to City and winning 3-1 was the catalyst that made them believe they're the team to beat. This season City going to Chelsea and putting in an emphatic performance was that game. They've pulled away since and look ominous.
 

SpursDave88

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
2,193
5,831
Funny you should mention Chelsea, we lost to them away, didn't we. Win for Spurs, and the point difference is only 1. And you say they won more points away vs. top 6. And we lost to them in the semi final in the FA cup, too. So yes, indeed, Chelsea's season was in fact clearly based on showing up for the big matches. Our season now, having already lost to Chelsea, United, and Arsenal, we are making it difficult for our selves. We shouldn't talk about races for the title before we are capable of showing up away in a big match and showing some sort of capability.

But Chelsea lost away at Spurs, Utd and Arsenal from memory...so they didn't exactly tear up trees in big away matches...
 

Gaz_Gammon

Well-Known Member
Apr 16, 2005
16,047
18,013
people need to have some perspective. We have some big injury/ fitness issues: Alli, Demebele and Kane did not look match fit today....Winks probably only good for 30 mins of the bench.

No Wanyama, no Toby and obviously no Lamela.

The "Lamela" not fit excuse is plain daft. A year out of playing and he hasn't been missed and will likely not get in our PL starting eleven even if he was.

Arse had their best team, fully fit, at home and two dodgy decisions.

Dodgy decisions is a piss poor excuse and i can't remember the last time we won at the Emirates, against a fully fit or not so fully fit Woolwich.

Eriksen also looked like he was feeling some fatigue after carrying Denmark to the world cup.

We have a squad to select from and Poch brought in Lloriente, if Poch sin't going to start him why buy him and send Janssen out on loan?

Let's be honest if we had our best x1 out there at normal fitness we would have seen a completely different game.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda, hindsight is a great thing.
 

Hoddle&Waddle

Well-Known Member
Nov 25, 2012
8,337
17,565
Having taken time to think about what happened heres my thoughts...

We needed a 100% fit Kane and he's still not .

We missed Winks and Dembele is clearly not fit enough.

We missed an enforcer, without Dier or Wanyama in CM we lacked a natural defensive mind.

We needed Eriksen to have a good game, nothing seemed to come off for him partly down to him and partly down to them defending well.

Our wingbacks struggled athletically to get up and down, Rose and Aurier were missed in this game imo.
 

whitesocks

The past means nothing. This is a message for life
Jan 16, 2014
4,652
5,738
If we could win the FA Cup this season, finish 4th and have a decent Champions League run (last 4 / last 8) going out after a hard fought contest, I'd take all that in a heartbeat....
Pick 1. We do not have the squad for anything more.
 

Jolmaster

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2006
1,422
1,678
Match of the day last night........Shearer does not like Spurs full stop.....even if we play well he rarely has nothing good to say. Volume muted when he’s waffling.......GIT
C O Y S !!!!!!
 

buttons

Well-Known Member
Feb 24, 2005
2,945
3,861
Only just got rid of the sads and been able to think about the game. What the fuck happened? Never seen us make so many stupid mistakes and look so knackered. Tactically it seemed like they took advantage of us playing the single CM and swamped all passing lanes from that position. They never tried to occupy the strikers centrally and looked to exploit the channels either side of the back three, who just ended up marking no one. Tactically the only thing I could see that would make difference would have been to take off a CB and put in another a midfielder early in the second half.

Yeah this. Their forwards played the game superbly in fairness playing wide of the centre backs and in behind the wing backs, i haven't seen us look that stretched in an awful long time. We should have gone to a back 4, undoubtedly. Would have been an easy switch to make just pushing Dier on into the midfield. Easy with hindsight i guess.
 

SpursDave88

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
2,193
5,831
Yeah this. Their forwards played the game superbly in fairness playing wide of the full backs and in behind the wing backs, i haven't seen us look that stretched in an awful long time. We should have gone to a back 4, undoubtedly. Would have been an easy switch to make just pushing Dier on into the midfield. Easy with hindsight i guess.

I was very surprised we didn't given that they played with a front 3.
 

1882andallthat

Well-Known Member
Feb 2, 2009
2,821
4,157
Pick 1. We do not have the squad for anything more.
Whist we should actually be trying to win all three competitions, if I were to suggest we are likely to maybe that would be too optimistic, but I do not think winning the FA Cup, finishing 3rd or 4th and getting to the last 4 or 8 of Champions League is an unrealistic goal by any means given the strength and depth of our squad, we are already in the last 16 of the Champions League, we currently sit in 4th and by the time we get to the FA cup in Jan we will have had more than enough games under our belt at Wembley to give it a good shot, the Arsenal result aside we have really good away form so there is no reason at all why we should fear 99% of the teams away in the FACup. I'm not saying we will definitely achieve all three but I don't think achieving these three objectives is beyond our capabilities and it is a realistic goal to aim for.
 

riggi

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2008
48,487
104,720
Well over it. Lost a London derby away.

I'll be gutted if we lose at home.
 

stevenurse

Palacios' neck fat
May 14, 2007
6,089
10,022
After reflecting back on the game, it just seemed we of course didn't turn up, but the fight completely went out of us after the first goal coming from an incorrect refereeing decision.

Almost like we felt sorry for ourselves and instead if rallying and showing defiance, just went into a sulk like a moody teenager.

Surprised to see Poch complaining about the ref so much after the game, although we've seen it for years from Jose/Fergie etc to deflect from the team's poor performance. In a weird way I don't mind Poch doing the same and hopefully impacting officials in the future.
 

TheChosenOne

A dislike or neg rep = fat fingers
Dec 13, 2005
47,874
49,708
After reflecting back on the game, it just seemed we of course didn't turn up, but the fight completely went out of us after the first goal coming from an incorrect refereeing decision.

Almost like we felt sorry for ourselves and instead if rallying and showing defiance, just went into a sulk like a moody teenager.

Surprised to see Poch complaining about the ref so much after the game, although we've seen it for years from Jose/Fergie etc to deflect from the team's poor performance. In a weird way I don't mind Poch doing the same and hopefully impacting officials in the future.


Just about over it now myself, the two standout decisions in my opinion are (1) The non booking of Xhaka when it was a justifiable yellow and (2) The non shirt tug FK

As you say it shouldn't have affected the team so much but somehow it did.

Xhaka would have been reined in and had to change his game, the FK swung the game for me, the 2nd goal wouldn't have happened if that FK had not been awarded as the whole game and the ensuing time frame hinged on the first decision and who knows what the outcome would gave been.

Something for MP to work on.
 
Top