The Arsenal Society VIII

So disappointing, the team played well and deserved a win. Yeah that is probably the worst bit of bus parking i've seen and they were very lucky to get away with it.

I can't see how it can be called the 'worst bit of bus parking' when City got a result that every other team in the division would be happy to come away with from the Emirates.

Because they were fortunate not to concede and didn't have a single chance, you really think that's the performance of a team with title aspirations? There hasn't really been a better time to come to the Emirates and have a go

If they tried to attack, they would've got bum raped.

They maybe were lucky to go away with a point, but they'd have needed a miracle to keep Arsenal from netting freely if they didn't have those 8 bodies back. They definitely made the right choice imo.

edit: There have been much better times to get a win at the Emirates. Fabianski in good form, Djourou actually making sure Arsenal have a good CB, and Nasri and Fabregas in good shape didn't make it a good time.

Possibly or possibly not, the 1st goal for them and they could have done us on the counter. A better outlet than Jo would have relieved the pressure on the defence anyway. I just think it's a bad attitude to have for any team to go into a 3 point match with no intent or hope of getting the win let alone one who are aiming for the title. Newcastle camped it up against us but they still had some form of attacking intent even if it was pumping balls to Carroll

I sorta agree but I don't think, like Mancini says, that they set-up to draw from kick-off. I think they wanted to start defensively and see how much of a threat we were, and then look to attack if they thought they could get a win.

I think we're quite predictable in that we're either excellent or rubbish. To put it another way, our inconsistency is consistent. You can usually tell in the first 5 mins whether we're going to struggle in the half because we start very slowly or whether we're on our game and the passes are quick. And from the first minute, we opened them up comfortably and Wilshere should've scored. So after that, they were bricking it and didn't fancy getting forward. They got lucky with the shots hitting the post and maybe we should've finished better (especially Wilshere, twice).

At the end of the day, it's a results business. As Mancini said, he'd rather get a point and get boo'd off than get none and get applauded for being brave. I know you're saying that they could've got more, but I highly doubt it. Things were clicking for us today -- committing one man forward means one less body back to stop Nasri and Fabregas. That gap would've been all they needed.

Toure attacks more, he has scored quite a few, Milner is meant to attack too, Jo is a striker and they started Tevez. They paid alot for those four too. Today Mancini just made everyone defend, and if their defence is so good why would they worry about getting hit on the counter. Surely they should have started Johnson

When you buy De Jong, Barry and Toure you don't need to have 6 more players defending. We did well to close City down but they didn't even try and counter attack. Johnson should have played instead of the hopeless Jo, even SWP would have been a far better outlet. Instead it was one of the biggest bus parks i've seen against Arsenal, even the weaker teams that home come to the Emirates have had a go at our suspect defence and succeeded.

I can't see how it can be called the 'worst bit of bus parking' when City got a result that every other team in the division would be happy to come away with from the Emirates.

If they tried to attack, they would've got bum raped.

They maybe were lucky to go away with a point, but they'd have needed a miracle to keep Arsenal from netting freely if they didn't have those 8 bodies back. They definitely made the right choice imo..

Disappointed by City's tactics tonight, but entirely understandable.

We were incredibly unlucky not to win that.

I won't defend Sagna's actions, but it should only have been a yellow, and nothing at all for Zabaleta.

Best players on the pitch were Song, Djourou and Yaya imo.

Sagna deserved the red. Yes, 15 years ago, that wasn't a red because it was just handbags, but going by the letter of the law, Sagna can't do that. Silly from him. Zabaleta did nothing wrong from what I could see.

When a team starts time wasting with a whole half left to go, you know you're going to be frustrated. Some of the subs, injuries and free kicks were quite extraordinary.

Johnson would've started in place of Jo though, a striker, not Milner a more defensively minded mid. You could argue given his build and physicality, Jo is a better defensive option than Johnson anyway, but that's not what you've said.

I'm very much of the "well, we [Arsenal] played an attacking strategy and were unlucky to hit the post 3 times, but well done to City they defended well and Hart played well" opinion, as you put it, but I don't agree that Mancini executed his plan that well at all, let alone brilliantly. City got a point, in the end, due to a combination of poor officiating - we should have had a pen, and luck - we really should have and easily could have put some of our chances away. Also, Tevez didn't really have a single proper chance that I can think of, so the pump it long to him strategy failed as well. Had the result remained the same but they'd looked defensively solid, I'd be wholeheartedly agreeing that it was a good, if somewhat obvious gameplan, that had been executed well and we'd witnessed a defensive masterpiece, as it stands though, I'm sure City feel lucky to have come away with the result they did, and there's a reason for that.

Not seen a replay yet, but I had a perfect view and for me it seemed a clear pen at the time, whether the decision was right or wrong it shows a lack of consistency with officiating decisions, again.

Tevez did a good job at times, but I think you're overplaying that, tbh. The reason we didn't win wasn't Tevez holding the ball up, it was that we didn't finish the clear cut chances we'd worked for ourselves. Perhaps we'd have created more had he not held it up and relieved the pressure as you say, but I don't feel he did hold it up as well as you make out and there's no guarantee we'd have finished an extra chance or two, anyway. The point I was making with Tevez was that he was up top to try a get a goal. Holding the ball up is obviously part of his job, especially in such a game, but ultimately he was there so that once their defensive unit had dispossessed us, they could hit us on the counter, find him and score. Chelsea and United have set up similarly in recent seasons, though not that defensively and they have come away with 3 points. City however, failed to create a single decent chance for Tevez throughout the game, so, imo, this part of their gameplan failed.

I think that given the circumstances they set up and played the right way. I just don't agree that it was brilliance on Mancini's behalf, the way they set up seemed fairly obvious and their execution of this set up wasn't great. If a top team with such a large defensive element completely parks the bus, yet still gets cut open a number of times, to the point of the opposition running rings around them, I don't see how their performance can be praised so highly, regardless of the score. The score wasn't a result of them controlling the game the way they wished to, it was a result of us failing to finish the clear cut chances which, by taking their defence apart, we'd managed to create.