Arsenal v Aston Villa Post-Match thread

[Damo70]

The mumbling one mused

I am looking for anybody who can improve the side

Fu**ing you off would be a good start

When I heard that quote from him that was exactly what I said. Well, not exactly. I was a lot more repetitive and less straight to the point than you. It was a sort of rant/ramble.

[Toronto Villa]

How this man is still in a job beggars belief. But he'll be here tomorrow and the day after I imagine

[tomd2103]

I don't know where we go from that really.  Someone said in earlier post that Arsenal are a top, top side, but they're not really are they?  They are currently fifth and will likely finish fourth, yet both times we have played them this season, we have made them look like absolute world beaters.  That is probably due to having a manager who is totally inept and tactically clueless. 

I wonder if Tom Fox enjoyed his return to Arsenal today?  If a few of his ex-colleagues had a post game laugh at his expense this afternoon, then he might have an inkling how we feel after performances like that.       

[PaulWinch again]

How this man is still in a job beggars belief. But he'll be here tomorrow and the day after I imagine

Yep it's an absolute disgrace.

[tomd2103]

How this man is still in a job beggars belief. But he'll be here tomorrow and the day after I imagine

I am beginning to wonder if it is just stubbornness on the part of Lerner and Fox now and they would rather see us relegated than have to admit they were wrong. 

[Tuscans]

Was that it, was that the post match interview?

[London Villan]

In what way is Lerner thinking any of this is "fun" is it some sort of perverse S&M type fetish he has?

[ChicagoLion]

They looked like they expected to get beat, I thought Gil was the only player who looked up for it.

It is pretty obvious that the motivation has gone.

Hull City is our cup final, loose that and I think we are done.

[pooligan]

Sixteen goals in the two villa games i have been following over the weekend , it is just a pity  thirteen were in the villa net

[brontebilly]

Sanchez - that was one of the most inept performances from a professional footballer I've ever witnessed. Completely out of his depth.

Lambert - I never thought I'd see the day where we had a manager worse than Billy McNeil. Today's selection, formation & tactics couldn't have been better suited in favour of the opponents if he tried. To compound this, his inability to see the changes needed, let alone make them, shows how out of his depth he is.

Lambert should have been sacked the morning after we lost to Bradford. The fact that he remains in place, two years later, to set record after record for incompetence is shameful & an embarrassment.

Agreed on Lambert's tactics today. Not the day for a high line and yet again he was proven hopeless when it came to changing it. We were crying out for subs when Arsenal went 2-0 up just to kill a bit of their momentum but he delayed again. Playing Gabby up top with Benteke is a proven waste of time too yet he persists trying it.

Some crazy individual errors for the goals and tactically we were a rabble. Okore primarily for the first, Richardson lost the ball for the second but ffs we shouldnt have our two full backs pushing on at the same time, Hutton nowhere to be seen. Guzan utterly abysmal conceding that penalty. Our midfield was humiliated today. Sanchez gave away the ball constantly but Delph and Cleverley offered nothing in terms of protection for the back four either. Benteke actually improved a bit in the second half but still nowhere near good enough and should be dropped for Chelsea.

A very bad day out and worryingly a number of players seemed to give up after Arsenal's third goal. Thought Okore and Hutton particularly had nightmares at the back while this wasnt the game for dropping Cissokho. We dominated possession for long periods ironically enough but Gil is the only one who tries to play a direct ball. Cleverley in particular seems to be keen on getting his passing stats up but passing the ball back five yards every time brings us nowhere.

Thought Arsenal were outstanding in possession today. Their movement off the ball was superb and destroyed us between the line of our midfield and defence. Think they will get back into the title race to be honest.

Vlaar if fit is likely to come back in the next day and you would think Cissokho will be back also. Definitely need our midfield to sit a lot deeper. The alternatives to dropping Sanchez arent great but certainly Cleverley shouldnt be on. Bacuna covered Hutton well in the cup game and would bring him back in to a midfield three. Would start Gabby if nothing else to give Benteke a long overdue kick up the arse. His lack of movement in the first half was unacceptable.

--------------Guzan
Hutton, Vlaar, Clark, Cissokho
-----Bacuna, Sanchez, Delph
---------Gil, Gabby, Sinclair

[ciggiesnbeer]

god DAMMIT I am tired of losing.

[Chris Harte]

I am beginning to wonder if it is just stubbornness on the part of Lerner and Fox now and they would rather see us relegated than have to admit they were wrong. 

That wouldn't surprise me to be honest. The whole McClesh appointment smaked to me of Lerner showing the fan base that he was in charge, even if the appointment was daft.

I couldn't understand why, when Lambert made the first substitutions, Sanchez wasn't one of them. His pass completion rate must've been less than 30%.

[Tuscans]

I guess I'm all for Lambert going but I'm dead scared in who the fool at the top would bring in.

[pauliewalnuts]

I remember there was a spell of a few years, in the MON era, where Bolton Wanderers came here any played a high defensive line every time, and every time, our pace up front meant we demolished them without even breaking sweat.

That's pretty much what we did today. The bad bit, I mean, the Bolton bit, obviously

[PaulWinch again]

I guess I'm all for Lambert going but I'm dead scared in who the fool at the top would bring in.

That's the beauty though, no one could do any worse.