Arsenal v Aston Villa Match Thread

[Axl Rose]

Awful, largely. Lambert. Needs to, but will never, GO.
We need a rocket up our backsides, Sanchez needs to learn how to pass. Fair play to Gil for trying different things. Needs to play more central though. Credit to Weimann too, he's worked hard and was unlucky with his header. We've kept it at 1-0, that's the achievement

[Jimbo]

The club will consider a narrow defeat here a good and fair result. That's the really depressing thing.

[Marton]

Learners new business model:

1) Find cheap young unknown defenders and sign them.
2) Tell manager to banish offensive play to train the defenders for 90 mins / game.
3) Sell defenders for a huge profit when relegated.
4) Write of tax profit from sales against club devaluation .
5 ) Donate ruined club to charity for another tax cut.

[RussellC]

For all of the stick Cleverley gets, Sanchez has just turned in one of the worst 45 minutes that I've ever seen from a Villa midfielder. Slow, static and seemingly seeing an invisible player on the right-wing every 5 minutes or so. Needs to come-off for Westwood in the 2nd half.

[kippaxvilla2]

We looked okay in patches, I dread to think what we'd look like without Gil.

And that's the thing already we are becoming almost solely reliant on him.  Teams might start to double up on him soon then what do we do.

[Boz]

We looked okay in patches, I dread to think what we'd look like without Gil.

Looking better towards the end of the half, but not enough chances created again. We need a couple more Gils

[PaulWinch again]

Sanchez did have a terrible half.

[tomd2103]

I love watching Sanchez and Gil play. Both have such quality in their respective areas of the game.

Fucking Andi shoulda scored!

Sanchez is having a nightmare today.  Hopefully he will improve after the break or I'd consider replacing him with Westwood. 

Thank goodness for that whistle.  Only positives are that Gil has looked decent against good opposition and it is only 1-0.

Get Sinclair on for Cleverley.

[andyh]

Danny mills as co commentator is having a right pop at villa

So was Dixon.  Saying if you're missing chances then at least you have something to work with.  But if you're not even creating any then you have to change your style of play.  Which, mystifyingly, Lambert steadfastly refuses to do.

But we have. Lambert has been telling us for months he has us playing in a different way.
Problem is, it's producing the same fucking results.

[Nelly]

I can't blame Lerner for our style of play.

[mattjpa]

I don't ever remembering seeing a player give the ball away so much in 45mins as Sanchez. Must be 5/6 times, he needs to sort it out.

This has got an air of inevitability about it. Lambert after another 1st, never before have we gone 6 games without scoring. 45minutes pal, what u gonna do?

[Goldie.7]

Sanchez off for Westwood right now!

[CJ]

According to the stats we had 53% possession first half! I must have dozed off and missed something

[pooligan]

So yet another half  comes and goes without us scoring again ,has any manager/coach in our history ever gone so long without a goal,i certainly can not remember it this bad .

[Nelly]

I think we did have loads of the ball. A lot of it seemed to be in the Arsenal half too. We just did zilch with it. As ever.