Lucas Perez has TB. {Get well soon, Lucas, and may Ganpati bless you and your loved

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

ones for that CL hat-trick.}

Thinking about it, his signing is when we could see Arsene was starting to lose the plot. He wanted to buy Vardy for 20m but the coont said no.

So we thought Vardy only came good at 27. Perez is 27, and has had a great season after being crap for the rest of his career. And I can get him for 20 million. He must be the Spanish Vardy.

Gave him one EPL start. Did nothing. And that was that. Only used in the B team.

Given how frugal he used to be, it was a sign that he was losing it.

[WES]

ones for that CL hat-trick.}

Thinking about it, his signing is when we could see Arsene was starting to lose the plot. He wanted to buy Vardy for 20m but the coont said no.

So we thought Vardy only came good at 27. Perez is 27, and has had a great season after being crap for the rest of his career. And I can get him for 20 million. He must be the Spanish Vardy.

Gave him one EPL start. Did nothing. And that was that. Only used in the B team.

Given how frugal he used to be, it was a sign that he was losing it.

Jaysus GG, I had forgotten all about him, I try to put those Arsenal years out of my mind

It's an interesting point though about when you realised that Wenger had lost it and was no longer the answer. Not sure there was a watershed moment for me. It was the depression of watching the same pattern every year, the same hopes, the same approach, the same failures year after year after year.

Mind you, I do seem to recall thinking the failure to replace Almunia one year was the last straw

[Peter]

Jaysus GG, I had forgotten all about him, I try to put those Arsenal years out of my mind

It's an interesting point though about when you realised that Wenger had lost it and was no longer the answer. Not sure there was a watershed moment for me. It was the depression of watching the same pattern every year, the same hopes, the same approach, the same failures year after year after year.

Mind you, I do seem to recall thinking the failure to replace Almunia one year was the last straw

Mustafi. I know Wenger was never really the best judge of a defender but **** me, that guy was utterly useless.

For me it wasn't really players as much as tactics. Wenger's approach was beautiful but the game moved on and he didn't keep up. We were just too easy to play against, and too easy to get at.

[IUFG]

Mind you, I do seem to recall thinking the failure to replace Almunia one year was the last straw

the failure to replace Almunia.

the failure to replace Almunia?

that cvnt played 109 times for The Arsenal. 108 times too many.

Well and truly Wenger's biggest blindspot. Thank **** that WBA game happened.

[Luis Anaconda]

the failure to replace Almunia.

the failure to replace Almunia?

that cvnt played 109 times for The Arsenal. 108 times too many.

Well and truly Wenger's biggest blindspot. Thank **** that WBA game happened.

You spelt 109 wrong

[IUFG]

You spelt 109 wrong

I'm a fair man, la. One game to show that he should never darken the goals again.

I'll leave this here.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...premier-league

Arsenal will go into the Champions League game in Belgrade tomorrow trying to convince themselves that their shambles of a performance against a well‑organised, disciplined though hardly awesome West Bromwich Albion side on Saturday was just a bad dream. Having been debagged by the Baggies they will try not to be taken apart by Partizan, but until or unless Ars?ne Wenger addresses his most pressing problem in the January transfer window, the nightmare will recur.

"It's a mystery to me," Wenger said after Arsenal lost 3-2 to Albion, who were leading 3-0 before Samir Nasri twice took advantage of a tiring defence in the final 15 minutes. "Today in our performance something was not right. It is unexplainable how flat the whole thing looked for the whole game. I did not recognise my team today."

More than a few among a crowd of 60,000 would have been happy to enlighten him, for they recognised exactly what was wrong, starting with the goalkeeper. Manuel Almunia's loved ones must regularly give thanks that he did not decide to take up bullfighting rather than football, that the horns upon which he regularly finds himself are of a dilemma rather than a hunk of bad‑tempered beef.

Almunia's day began well with a sharp save from Chris Brunt's penalty, albeit one which he recklessly gave away by bringing down Peter Odemwingie, West Bromwich's quick-witted, nimble-footed import from Lokomotiv Moscow, then deteriorated rapidly thereafter. Two elementary errors enabled Albion to put the contest virtually beyond Arsenal's reach after Odemwingie had given them the lead early in the second half.

First Almunia allowed a firm but stoppable shot from Gonzalo Jara, sent clear by Brunt's back heel, to skid past him at the near post. Then, having left his goal to meet another threat from Brunt, he hesitated and was stranded by a simple pass which set up Jerome Thomas for a tap-in. This was hardly Arsenal goalkeeping in the tradition of Jack Kelsey, Bob Wilson, Pat Jennings and David Seaman. More like Dan Lewis, who is best remembered for fumbling the ball over the line in the 1927 FA Cup final to hand the trophy to Cardiff City.

Wenger was not prepared to single out Almunia for criticism. "You can have question marks over many players today if you look at the performances, especially defensively. Many players made massive mistakes defensively." No argument there and Almunia could plead in mitigation that all too often he had about as much cover as Gypsy Rose Lee, though with less support from the fans. From the first minute Thomas, once a member of Arsenal's youth team, was going past Bacary Sagna as if the right‑back wasn't there – and often he was not – while on the right Brunt and Jara motored through the Place de Clichy as if the lights were stuck on green. Greater awareness from the centre-backs, S?bastien Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny, might have prevented Albion's first and third goals.

Upsets among the leading teams are not uncommon when a Champions League fixture is in the offing. On the same September weekend two seasons ago Arsenal, facing Porto three days later, lost at home to the newly promoted Hull City. This time Wenger also had the excuse of having to field a patched-up side with its fulcrum, Cesc F?bregas, among the many injuries. None of which alters the fact that unless Arsenal sign a better goalkeeper there will be more humiliations before the season is out.

Maybe some of Wenger's players took West Bromwich too lightly. After all, Arsenal had scored 16 times in three home games while Albion ha

d conceded seven in two away. Certainly they were taken unawares by the way Roberto Di Matteo's side came at them. "We pressed very high, we pressed them all over the pitch," he said. "We managed not to let them play their usual way and when we passed the ball we passed it very well and created chances ourselves."

In fact West Bromwich won at Arsenal for the first time since 1983 in much the same way Wigan recently won at Tottenham. They stifled the opposition with a five-man midfield while pushing up on the flanks at every opportunity and giving the lone striker, Odemwingie, steady support. Nasri's two, late goals, skilfully set up and taken as Albion started to wilt, offered Arsenal a great escape but any result other than a win for West Bromwich would have been a travesty. "Overall we got what we deserved," said Wenger. Arsenal are at Chelsea this Sunday..

Man of the match Jerome Thomas (West Bromwich Albion)

[Peter]

I'm a fair man, la. One game to show that he should never darken the goals again.

I'll leave this here.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...premier-league

Arsenal will go into the Champions League game in Belgrade tomorrow trying to convince themselves that their shambles of a performance against a well‑organised, disciplined though hardly awesome West Bromwich Albion side on Saturday was just a bad dream. Having been debagged by the Baggies they will try not to be taken apart by Partizan, but until or unless Ars?ne Wenger addresses his most pressing problem in the January transfer window, the nightmare will recur.

"It's a mystery to me," Wenger said after Arsenal lost 3-2 to Albion, who were leading 3-0 before Samir Nasri twice took advantage of a tiring defence in the final 15 minutes. "Today in our performance something was not right. It is unexplainable how flat the whole thing looked for the whole game. I did not recognise my team today."

More than a few among a crowd of 60,000 would have been happy to enlighten him, for they recognised exactly what was wrong, starting with the goalkeeper. Manuel Almunia's loved ones must regularly give thanks that he did not decide to take up bullfighting rather than football, that the horns upon which he regularly finds himself are of a dilemma rather than a hunk of bad‑tempered beef.

Almunia's day began well with a sharp save from Chris Brunt's penalty, albeit one which he recklessly gave away by bringing down Peter Odemwingie, West Bromwich's quick-witted, nimble-footed import from Lokomotiv Moscow, then deteriorated rapidly thereafter. Two elementary errors enabled Albion to put the contest virtually beyond Arsenal's reach after Odemwingie had given them the lead early in the second half.

First Almunia allowed a firm but stoppable shot from Gonzalo Jara, sent clear by Brunt's back heel, to skid past him at the near post. Then, having left his goal to meet another threat from Brunt, he hesitated and was stranded by a simple pass which set up Jerome Thomas for a tap-in. This was hardly Arsenal goalkeeping in the tradition of Jack Kelsey, Bob Wilson, Pat Jennings and David Seaman. More like Dan Lewis, who is best remembered for fumbling the ball over the line in the 1927 FA Cup final to hand the trophy to Cardiff City.

Wenger was not prepared to single out Almunia for criticism. "You can have question marks over many players today if you look at the performances, especially defensively. Many players made massive mistakes defensively." No argument there and Almunia could plead in mitigation that all too often he had about as much cover as Gypsy Rose Lee, though with less support from the fans. From the first minute Thomas, once a member of Arsenal's youth team, was going past Bacary Sagna as if the right‑back wasn't there – and often he was not – while on the right Brunt and Jara motored through the Place de Clichy as if the lights were stuck on green. Greater awareness from the centre-backs, S?bastien Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny, might have prevented Albion's first and third goals.

Upsets among the leading teams are not uncommon when a Champions League fixture is in the offing. On the same September weekend two seasons ago Arsenal, facing Porto three days later, lost at home to the newly promoted Hull City. This time Wenger also had the excuse of having to field a patched-up side with its fulcrum, Cesc F?bregas, among the many injuries. None of which alters the fact that unless Arsenal sign a better goalkeeper there will be more humiliations before the season is out.

Maybe some of Wenger's players took West Bromwich too lightly. After all, Arsenal had scored 16 times in three home games while Albion ha

d conceded seven in two away. Certainly they were taken unawares by the way Roberto Di Matteo's side came at them. "We pressed very high, we pressed them all over the pitch," he said. "We managed not to let them play their usual way and when we passed the ball we passed it very well and created chances ourselves."

In fact West Bromwich won at Arsenal for the first time since 1983 in much the same way Wigan recently won at Tottenham. They stifled the opposition with a five-man midfield while pushing up on the flanks at every opportunity and giving the lone striker, Odemwingie, steady support. Nasri's two, late goals, skilfully set up and taken as Albion started to wilt, offered Arsenal a great escape but any result other than a win for West Bromwich would have been a travesty. "Overall we got what we deserved," said Wenger. Arsenal are at Chelsea this Sunday..

Man of the match Jerome Thomas (West Bromwich Albion)

Funny that they criticise him for conceding at his near post and then in the same paragraph mention Bob Wilson, best remembered by the younger amongst us for being beaten at his near post in a cup final......

Almunia wasn't great but he wasn't as bad a people liked to claim.

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

Jaysus GG, I had forgotten all about him, I try to put those Arsenal years out of my mind

It's an interesting point though about when you realised that Wenger had lost it and was no longer the answer. Not sure there was a watershed moment for me. It was the depression of watching the same pattern every year, the same hopes, the same approach, the same failures year after year after year.

Mind you, I do seem to recall thinking the failure to replace Almunia one year was the last straw

In GK terms, once we'd got my beloved Sir Chez after the Almunia years, it was ditching him for the Chav reject just for smoking a fag after a defeat. TA got banged up for drink driving and he wasn't forced out.

The one that did my brother's head in was when, with all our midget no.10s, Mascherano at DM would be perfect but AW refused as he only wanted to pay 12 mil, not the 13m the Scousers wanted.

His final year, after all the frugality was mad, too. 50m on Laca when he was no upgrade on Olly G. Could have sold Alexis for 55m but didn't then swapped him for Mhikky in winter when he bought Auba.

Had he cashed in on Alexis, the fans would have moaned. But then, we could have spent that 55m on Auba in the winter, kept Olly G who was a much better plan B and would still have had the 50m we saved by not buying Laca to buy a top drawer winger who'd be happy to play with Ozil and Auba.

But those years you want to forget did have the JW Norwich goal. And most clubs would have been happy with regular CL footy, a few FA cups and goals like that won.

[PSRB]

Funny that they criticise him for conceding at his near post and then in the same paragraph mention Bob Wilson, best remembered by the younger amongst us for being beaten at his near post in a cup final......

Almunia wasn't great but he wasn't as bad a people liked to claim.

The near post thing is one of those football cliches that really annoy me.

You could easily flip it and say he got beaten at the far post because he had the near post too well covered. Very rarely do keepers get beaten at the near post by some scuffed crap shot, it's almost always a perfectly timed and well hit strike that's past the keeper before he can do anything.

[Luis Anaconda]

The near post thing is one of those football cliches that really annoy me.

You could easily flip it and say he got beaten at the far post because he had the near post too well covered. Very rarely do keepers get beaten at the near post by some scuffed crap shot, it's almost always a perfectly timed and well hit strike that's past the keeper before he can do anything.

Oh - thank you. This is exactly my point of view.

Although I do remember chuckling when Neuer got criticised in the German press when Poldi scored for us at the Allianz - a shot hit so hard it Neuer got in the way he would have ended up in a different time zone