MATCHWATCH : Arsenal (a) sponsored by Davy Crockett

[PistolPete]

Such a disappointing game...

Negatives:

Evans- We need to work out how he fits in.
Kelly- Tough game but gave the ball away too often
GMac- What has happened to him?
Blackett: Sorry, but he's neither a centre back nor a full back- don't trust him

Positives:

Samuel: Pushed around the pitch but looked the part
Moore: Cocky and strong, good performance
Watson: Not out of place
Kelly: Wanted the ball- if it were not for Arsenal he's actually a good player!

Manager:

Gravenberch: Not a right back, not a footballer?
Positions: Who was the striker, Samuel or Harriot?!

Big shame we didn't go for it, Arsenal are class; there's not a player They used tonight we wouldn't want...but if there ever was a chance...

[bcubed]

If there ever was a chance I suspect it was when we were 4-0 up!

[mambo3]

Arsenal weakened team better than Reading weakened team shocker.

Especially as Stam has absolutely no interest in ever going for it, instead making us weaker with his subs

There's an argument for that with Gravenberch and maybe Quinn. But Kermie for Harriott was actually a good move imo. Quinn was debateable. Gravenberch was odd, but looked like it was intended to push Obita on by going three at the back... didn't really work for some reason.

I think there's also an element that Stam knew the game was lost and didn't want to waste any of Swift's energy.


I thought we played well. Some silly giveaways and not enough upfront, but we certainly didn't embarrass ourselves.

Al-Habsi - blinding save from that header and at least a couple of other good ones. A couple of gift passes, but meh.
Watson - accomplished performance because he didn't look out of place at all
Obita - some of our more dangerous shots and some decent balls in, struggled against Ox
Moore - great anticipation for a goal line clearance and decent otherwise, excellent cynical foul late on.
Blackett - didn't look out of place.
Kelly - some gifts to the opposition, but looked very assured, needed to calm down on the shooting though
JVDB - I really like him.
Evans - decent, would have liked to see him move to receive the ball a bit more positively.
McCleary - mixed, lots of effort, good tracking back but had at least three great opportunities to do some damage and wasted all of them poorly.
Harriott - largely anonymous, wasn't surprised to see him subbed. Some decent moments
Samuel - poor first half, much better when Kermie came on and he wasn't running the front alone, but not fab. Definitely worth a few late subs to try to win games. He's got something.

Kermorgant - competed well once he came on, couple of decent half efforts.
Gravenberch - beast, didn't really add a lot though
Quinn - one terrible pass, one v good interception, bit meh...

Biggest positives:
Kelly, definitely looks capable of mixing it up in the Championship, though not first team regular material quite yet. Good for subs and a few starts to begin moving to the next level that's required.
Watson, I'd happily see him take over from Gunter - now, later in the season or next year, whatever. He's certainly more positive and less dithery.

Ian - So are you saying Samuel had a bad game then. Your 3 posts seem to confirm this. I was at the game and
Thought he was our most dangerous player. He defineatly had a better game then Kelly and Watson and if I
Remember rightly he barely lost the ball in possession and dribbled passed 4 defenders on one occasion Not bad for a player who's Warmed the subs bench and has hardly played. Maybe you didn't notice as you was busy stuffing your face with Food......etc

[Platypuss]

Aren't you Samuel's dad though?

[NewCorkSeth]

Especially as Stam has absolutely no interest in ever going for it, instead making us weaker with his subs

There's an argument for that with Gravenberch and maybe Quinn. But Kermie for Harriott was actually a good move imo. Quinn was debateable. Gravenberch was odd, but looked like it was intended to push Obita on by going three at the back... didn't really work for some reason.

I think there's also an element that Stam knew the game was lost and didn't want to waste any of Swift's energy.


I thought we played well. Some silly giveaways and not enough upfront, but we certainly didn't embarrass ourselves.

Al-Habsi - blinding save from that header and at least a couple of other good ones. A couple of gift passes, but meh.
Watson - accomplished performance because he didn't look out of place at all
Obita - some of our more dangerous shots and some decent balls in, struggled against Ox
Moore - great anticipation for a goal line clearance and decent otherwise, excellent cynical foul late on.
Blackett - didn't look out of place.
Kelly - some gifts to the opposition, but looked very assured, needed to calm down on the shooting though
JVDB - I really like him.
Evans - decent, would have liked to see him move to receive the ball a bit more positively.
McCleary - mixed, lots of effort, good tracking back but had at least three great opportunities to do some damage and wasted all of them poorly.
Harriott - largely anonymous, wasn't surprised to see him subbed. Some decent moments
Samuel - poor first half, much better when Kermie came on and he wasn't running the front alone, but not fab. Definitely worth a few late subs to try to win games. He's got something.

Kermorgant - competed well once he came on, couple of decent half efforts.
Gravenberch - beast, didn't really add a lot though
Quinn - one terrible pass, one v good interception, bit meh...

Biggest positives:
Kelly, definitely looks capable of mixing it up in the Championship, though not first team regular material quite yet. Good for subs and a few starts to begin moving to the next level that's required.
Watson, I'd happily see him take over from Gunter - now, later in the season or next year, whatever. He's certainly more positive and less dithery.

Ian - So are you saying Samuel had a bad game then. Your 3 posts seem to confirm this. I was at the game and
Thought he was our most dangerous player. He defineatly had a better game then Kelly and Watson and if I
Remember rightly he barely lost the ball in possession and dribbled passed 4 defenders on one occasion Not bad for a player who's Warmed the subs bench and has hardly played. Maybe you didn't notice as you was busy stuffing your face with Food......etc

Hes clearly saying he was too isolated to make an impact and Kermie has been doing a better job when played in the same role (what a surprise) To be fair to Ian he said long before the substitution what was needed up front and Stam clearly agreed.