As usual Arsenal made the fans suffer in the first half against a team they should have beaten easily, but of course this was an FA Cup tie which we know regularly produces giant-killing performances from Lower League sides, and Arsene Wenger thinks that although he wasn’t happy with his own team’s performance, Preston deserve to be congratulated for making the Gunners work extremely hard to get into the draw for the Fourth Round.
“I think since the start of the season we had many, many, many comebacks and many goals in the final minutes.” Le Prof said. “I would first like to congratulate Preston for the quality of their game, especially in the first half where we were outpaced and they played with desire, enthusiasm and quality and they gave us many problems. Full commitment for 90 minutes – it was a great cup tie and we needed to dig deep to win the game today. Second half it was all us, but they continued to defend well and we needed to be patient and create something special – we did that in the end. But it was a very good cup tie today.”
Arsenal were deservedly losing at half-time and of course Wenger was angry with his players during the break. “Yes. We are top level Premier League and we were dominated in the first half. Preston had chances you know and I believe we were just not at the pace of the game or the pace that the game demanded. Of course, I didn’t want to go home and be out of the FA Cup tonight.
But he could not help admire Preston’s qualities, and he listed what impressed him most about Simon Grayson’s side. “I would say their organisation, the speed of their transitions when they won the ball. Every time, we were in trouble. Overall, their intelligence, I think they played in a very intelligent way. They are a good side you know and honestly, I was really impressed by them today.”
The question is; Were Preston impressive? Or were Arsenal just rubbish?
Admin
what bayern will do to this team.
Only god knows.
If we start like this against Swansea, one of our boogie teams, we have to forget about 3 points.
As long as we finish like today, I really don’t care.
We did the most important thing which is winning.
Stop the negativity FFS!
Or better still go and support the sugardaddy’s club
Another way at looking at yesterday’s result is that PNE lost rather than we won. A huge underrated factor in why they lost the game is the fact that the opposition became tired in the latter stages of the game and they did not capitalise when they were on top.
Here are some of the reasons to be cheerful from yesterday’s dreadful performance:
1. We are through to the next round of the FA cup.
2. Key players were rested.
3. Welbeck got a brief trot out (and looked good).
4. The whole squad now has a week’s rest.
5. No new injuries (apart from Gabriel’s stitches to his cheek).
6. Perez, Giroud and Welbeck’s performance will provide Wenger with a new good headache when considering future teams.
7. The midfield pairing of Ramsey and Xhaka has been given time to bed in.
8. Ramsey scored a goal which in turn should boost his confidence.
9. The team once again proved to be resilient in coming back from a losing position.
10. Fans now know that Ospina is preferred to Cech in this competition.
I think Ospina should play in the league games now.
Ramsey and Xhaka were dog poor in midfield.
Perez & Gerioud played their part but defence and up to the afore mentioned players were very, very poor.
The goals were good in a slightly better 2nd half.
We have lost all the points we can afford to loose in this quest for the premiership so fielding our best players is a priority from now on in. 70% of those player on the pitch last nite are not up to it. What the Preston game showed was that the players that make up the panel are not good enough. Their arrogance striding around the field was demeaning to us the supporters. This arrogance, in my opinion, has filtered down from thon incapable manager we have.
Wenger said:
– “Yes. We are top level Premier League and we were dominated in the first half.”
I think top level Premiere League should not play like that and should not be dominated by a Championship division team?
– “Overall, their intelligence, I think they played in a very intelligent way.”
If a lower division team can play in a “very intelligent” way, why can’t Arsenal play intelligently? After all, we have only one manager in the last twenty years. Surely a manager that has that kind of time would be able to set a strong foundation for his team? If he cannot enforce that Barca’s tiki-taka football to his players, he had better try other styles that may be more suitable for his current players. Like Leicester City’s and Atletico Madrid’s counter attack style, for eaxmple.
Other managers like Ranieri, Ancelotti and Mourinho can get prestigious titles in a very short time, so I hope Wenger can also do it, in this season or in the next season.
I think the most revealing thing to come out of the post match interviews was the admission from Giroud and Ramsey that they were ‘surprised’ by PNE quality and level of commitment! I think that every man and his dog should have known that this to them was like a cup final and they would give their all. This mindset speaks volumes about the behind the scenes preparation the team underwent. Yesterday was almost an embarrassing upset but we dodged the bullet. We’ll move on from this but will lessons be learnt?
@citrenoogeht
The flipside to that is, if we were to lose to a lower league table team or a lower league team, the team gets slated because we’re supposedly superior to them because of our standing in the EPL…
Make up your dang mind…
The problem is that Arsenal have been playing the same way for the last 18 years and believe it or believe it not other teams have copped on to it. Closing down play quickly has and does put Arsenal under pressure. Arsenal are to much one direction.
@BUR
Barcelona has been playing the “same way” for even longer. And no matter how much teams have “copped on”, they still manage to overcome them and win.
Our main problem is the lack of fight in our players to overcome the pressure and battle on through it…
No harm to you my friend I think you are a bit deluded to compare Arsenal players to those of Barcelona.
How many league, Spanish cups and champions league trophies have they won compare to us. The results speak for themselves.
@Bur
They say “reading is fundamental”. But I think”comprehension” is key, though…Next time, try understanding what it is you’re replying to before you reply…
I wasn’t really too surprised in all honesty. I expected a tough game. We were away from home against a dogged side, I was surprised that they passed the ball really well. On top of this we had players without much experience, we had partnerships which have not had the time together. I expected us to look a little uneven at times. I was hoping that our individual quality would shine, also that we’d make some chances for Giroud and Perez to win us the game.