Game Over

I honestly thought we were the better team, I think we blew the title last week but it doesn't bother me. I'm confident this is our year in Europe, I can just feel it, if not, who cares? We've got time on our side, and next year, I guarentee we'll be even better. Up The Arse!

You just had more up front today Merlin. Drogba was very strong for you, and your lino played his part too ..... lol ..... I'm not bitter, honest guv!!!

Luckys has a point, although I agree that we've blown it, anything can happen in football. A month ago, we were 5 points clear at the top, now, we're sitting in 3rd, 6 points off the pace. Why can't it change again?

I've been over and made my points, raaid, I need you to back me up, not getting the loving support you said your members would give!

we have seen stranger things happen in this league Rocky. i believe in Arsene, and if he believes we can still win it, then we will..

This article is a disgrace..if the chavs are back in the race then I don't understand how we are out of it..especially as we still have to play united and they have to go to the bridge...this defeatism with a smile is sickening

Have to disagree with you here Rocky. Although our title hopes look bleak, and I'm as gutted as anyone out there, its still too early to give up in this manner.

R7, don't really understand why you're getting stick for telling the truth. Chelski & Man Utd are better than us & thats why both are above us. Luckys_10, Wenger also said that the world would see how good we are today, but it didn't happen. The squad is too small with very few quality players as back-up, but I doubt that will ever change because Wenger doesn't like big squads, it means we have to be extremely lucky with injuries to really challenge until the end.

the lads made every gooner on this planet proud today with their performance. besides long balls to drogba, chelsea really did not trouble us. and had the officials not made a mistake for the equaliser for the second straight season in this fixture, we would have gone on to score a second and win this one, and then yu and everyone else would go on n lavish praise on Arsene and the lads. it's a very fine line we're walking on..

this weeks 20 questions............. 1.when will you win something, hahaha 2. why is it you are having such an excellent season, 3, lou am i really that stupid to mug you off before the season is over, 3. has arsene wan ker gon mental thinking he is still in the race, 3. who are the statistically more attractive side spurs or arsenal, 4. why is sagna such a mop head, you muggy bast ards

I'll second BITC's thoughts...LOL Luckys-10!!

And I am sick of the young inexperienced players excuse. You have these players because you want to, Arsenal has enough money to buy most players in the world.

that was never a penalty kevin, how many times do yu want to argue over it? and secondly it's not an excuse that our players are inexperienced compared to chelsea and united. it's a fact, but in no way im saying it is a reason for us not doing well lately. i was only pointing out to AG that this is the only difference between us and Chelsea n United, there is no difference of quality between the teams..

luckys_10, your view is completely distorted. Just because I'm not one of the 'Wenger Knows' brigade & I don't kiss LD's a*** I must be wrong. Well judging by LD's logic from last week Chelski's goal couldn't have been offside because players are allowed to stand where they want on the pitch & the bloke was onside by the time he touched the ball. You follow Wenger's words blindly & without thought, but you can never answer criticism about him, instead all you do is come back with statements I've heard a thousand times from your fellow 'Arsene Knows' bandits, about me always being negative. Try reading some of the other vital sites when they post anti Arsenal articles & you'll see if I'm around I always go over & defend the club, Wenger, players etc, etc, etc. However this is an Arsenal site & if I feel like having a moan I will, Arsene has screwed this season up in 3 competitions so far & if we fail to win a trophy then its entirely down to him. If you believe we have 25 quality players then I don't think there's much hope for you in all honesty!!

It was a clear penalty on kalou. Almunia kept you in the game several times. Drogba's shot that almost set a hat-trick, it wasn't a long ball. Ballack in the first half had two clear chances, none of them came from long balls. Kalou had a clear chance, it wasn't from a long ball either. Drogba had a clear chance, that wasn't a long ball, just a long assistance.

Wenger may have made a few mistakes in his time at my club, but the good that he has done for my club is way more than what any other manager has done here or at any other club. but people like yu with a stupid mentality will never understand that, so there is really no point in telling yu anything, yu just have an agenda against Wenger and his supporters which is why yu do not mind the club doing badly just so that yu can see Wenger failing which is sick..

Spot on Luckys..it's so finely balanced and can change again very quickly..the decisions against birmingham, boro and today were a disgrace and it's these small things that make all the difference ..but you won't hear anyone in the press speaking about it..

If I wanted people to kiss my a*** I would come here & write similar stuff to you, people having a go at me really doesn't worry me at all. I come here when the team is doing well but you wouldn't know that because your opinion is based on what LD & Co tell you to believe, not on what you read. I think most people on here understand what I'm saying regardless of whether they agree or not, however I can't help it that you cannot understand simple english which isn't in text message form!!

Bestaa luck beating ManUtd, please do that for the both of us!! Feckin Poo can't do anything right!! =@

Once again, it's gone past beliving in the team and now has to be about beliving other teams will slip up severely. I'm not willing to get my hopes up when it's highly unlikey it will happen. As said in the article I'm extremley proud of what the boys have done this season considering what has happened over the last 12 months.

this season i have never ever seen yu here whenever the team has done well, the only times yu are here is when yu feel like moaning and having a go at Arsene and the team. and besides your pointless argument and baseless opinions are really not worth my time and this is the last time i'm ever going to reply to any of your posts..

No doubt your hero will be back to post tonight or tomorrow so you'll have another opinion to believe is your own!! What a wonderful life to have!!

Anon 1, 'Wenger Knows' how predictable boring!! Yawn!!

that luckys_10 what a waste of space, YOU LOST GET OVER IT AND STOP MAKING EXCUSES.if if if, thats all you got, all your ifs didnt happen, chelsea won, and what did arscum do that deserved them the game, we contained you easily enough, ashburton gooner has it right and like adebayor butting bendtner your in fighting with your own!! since manure beat you in the fa cup you hit the wall and the league table on the right shows the right kind of reading! you may have beat an ageing milan but the rest has been a joy to watch!!!

bad patch...money..money... the manger's clueless..how insightful..people who think the title's over are probably the same lot who would have left early at Anfield 89'..

That's a little over dramatic isn't it AG? Why did you feel the need to publically ask how to delete your account? If you don't wanna come here, then don't, it's a simple, personal choice.

R7, How else can I ask but publically??

are we actually meant to care whether or not you have deleted your account??....i would say your knee jerk reaction is more indicative of a lack of maturity than my approach...were you born in 1999?..if you were then i could perhaps understand your criticisms of wenger

chelsea being 1 point clear is a virtual irrelevance when you consider that we have a superior goal difference and the fact that they simply won't win all their remaining games...clearly we have to beat them at old trafford and if they draw at chelsea it will go to the last day and anything can happen..they nearly drew at derby for ****s sake, u saying they can't draw a few gmes?...the only question is whether we can pick ourselves up and win our remaining gmes..

Plus, Utd have only slipped up in 8 of their 31 games, why makes you think they will slip up in 3 of 7? (which still leaves us needing to win all of our remaining games.)

Anon 1, seriously your not worth anymore of my time!! Your posts are boring & I can actually see why people like you are so hated throughout the other vital sites!!

i'm hated..really?...for supporting and believing in my team??..have you not deleted your account yet??...Rocky...if united still didn't have to play us and chelsea it would be different..all i'm saying is if the chavs are suddenly back in the race, why are we out of it?

AG - you claim that Wenger is unable to move us on which was by and large the general opinion of the football pundits this season. In fact the general consensus was that we would decline further. This season we have moved on. Maybe not enough to win a trophy but we are still competing and we have and will perform better this season than last with a team that still has plenty of development potential. There may well come a time when Wenger has done all he can but there is no real evidence of that yet.

You should all calm down...If someone just supports the Arsenal because we were winning things and now we dont seem to he should no longer support Arsenal.

for some cheering up, I recommend Death Note(it's an anime).

united still have to play villa at home, chelsea away, bburn away, boro away, wigan away, west ham at home in between 2 games against Roma...and ofcourse they still have to play us..considerring that this is a side that have lost 4 times this season, are you really telling me they won't drop points or atleast enough points to take it to the last day...i still believe that if we win our remaining gmes we will win the title...

Just being honest Amos.

Amos, I know what you're saying, logic also tells me so. The reported row between Liverpool and Benitez over some high-cost purchase (presumably Mascherano) was evident. But if someone like DIC who have all the money in Dubai take over the club, I don't know. But then I don't know what the club would be like, either. ManU are interesting, I don't know how they keep that going but apparently some of their own supporters are worried about the risk involved in all that debt, especially in view of a credit scare going on. You may be right, if we came through the past 5 years while building the Emirates, things will only likely get better for us. Tbh I'm even all for those Brazil matches there lol. Realistically, also with the TV money going up, the clubs below us, e.g. Everton or Portsmouth, are getting better warchests year on year as well. Not to mention some owners like Villa's. I don't know competition's getting more intense and in general I cannot see the player prices coming down.

so lou will i still have egg on my face at the end of the season when you win the premier league?

PG has hit the nail right on the head .... Damn Adebayor and his stupid haircut!!! I pray to god that I am wrong about this, but deep down I know I'm right. But those writing us off as a club alltogether are in for a rude awakening. Make no mistake, we have the foundations for an awesome team, and Arsene Wenger IS that man to carry us forward.

This is my first time posting and i would like to commend those who are keeping the Faith alive. Its true we are behind, so it more probable that we will not win the league but being positive is the best route to take until/if it is mathematically impossible for us to win. Rock7 and PUREGOLD i have been an admirer of ur writings but am somewhat confused by ur current stance. PUREGOLD u say save us and Chelsea beating Man U, u cannot see them loosing two matches, well arent these two matches that u can see Man U loosing if any?. look Man U are not on any kind of form save Ronaldo and i believe these are two teams that seem to shut him up, no? I have said this on other blogs, if Man U have already won the league then why should we play these remaining matches? are u guys saying that these remaining games will have no bearing on the outcome of the league? im sure u cannot answer yes - that means that things can change, COME ON!. Faith that u can see is no faith at all, u have to believe when it looks impossible that faith. Yes it will take Man U to loose, so what! that can and will happen! God Bless ya! Maaaaan, i gotta believe until its over!

1. Man U do not need to lose 3 matches - lose 1 and draw 2 will give us the chance to overcome the current deficit (is this possible? Yes, but it's a do-and-die at OT) 2. Man U have Ronaldo, Chelsea have Drogba, unfortunately we lost dudu (sorry, Ade is far too inconsistent for my liking), but does that means all is lost? NO, we have to rely on our collective team effort - i.e. Fab, Flamini, Hleb and co had to start another run they had that brought us the lead in the 1st place 4. Is the title race over/belong to man U already? NO, as long as it is mathematically possible, there is still HOPE .....BUT , (1) to (4) count for nothing if we dun start to win games ourselves,. Therefore, let our feet do the talking and when we start putting on a go run, we can start casting our eyes on the title again

I have read all these posts and frankly i don't care about all the predictions and counter-predictions. I just want us to regroup and win our next game. We are 6 points away and if we can get back to within 3 points of the leader (United or Chelsea) just before game 38 then we have a chance.

Wenge should possibly help the youngsters and relieve some of the pressure by buying more proven players. For exemple, Who is the backup to Clichy? A promising but not ready Traore. Our first team is knackered. Even Cesc is looking weary. Having great youngsters is good but if you don't win they will get snapped up by the likes of real madrid or barca in search for trophies. I don't think Wenger has got the balance right. Who will replace Edu next season? Promising Vela. They need to be given time to mature without the pressure of having to deliver week in week out. See how Ferguson is dealing with Nani and Anderson... regular minutes here and there...

We are over-reliant going forward on a small group of players performing every game (Ade, Cesc, Hleb, RvP, Rosicky). When they are tired or unfit, who's the back up? Chelsea brought on Anelka and when you bring a player of his class on you know what you will get. We bring Walcott on and hope fo one of his good days. MU can rotate Rooney/Tevez/Ronaldo/Nani/Anderson/Giggs/Scholes and keep the same rythm. We can't afford to leave Cesc out. Simple as that.

that was my point, Gael-Force. We can't control what Man U or Chelsea would fare, what we can do is to focus and try to win each of our remaining matches...if we manage to do so and still end up 2nd or 3rd, so be it, at least we have accounted for ourselves. But if it lead us to the title, then let's enjoy an unexpected twist to the plot

This has gone on for quite some time. If Wenger really thinks the CL is more important than the PL then let him go for it (and lose it... again) He's the one in charge of the club, not us. If he really wants to personally deflate the team then there is nothing we can do. Sorry fellas but I can't see how we could win away at United. Rosicky is always injured, RvP only half-fit at best and Ade thinking himself as invincible. We can't win ****. My prediction for now may well be a 1st/2nd finish in the PL and maybe a quarter-final or final place berth in the CL. No more. Just too dissapointed...

I get you PG and i share your views but i think football is unpredictable. It's advantage United no question but one game at a time. Any team can slip up even if it looks like United are taking care of business. Let's imagine United lose their next game... what are we going to do? throw into the towel? Let's refocus and play our games and see what happens. In any case we need that second place.

Man Utd need to slip up- Yes. But we need to start winning. I was optimistic until the match got over and it's commendable that some of you still keep faith. Some of us are just negative nancies and i sure hope we have eggs on our faces come May. The squad is just tired and Im starting to believe that Wenger made a mistake. All that keeps me going is thinking about our squad in a few years time. We may have blown it and thats just football. im sure the lads will be distraught even more than us but they'll only become better. Cheer up Gooners, we have a bright future ahead of us.

Prits is absolutely right. We all need to forget every thing else, the single most important thing that we need to do as a Club, players and fans is focus on the Bolton game. If we don't win that, everything else is irrelevant. In the context of progressing in the Champions League and finishing at least second (guaranteed Champs Lge spot without qualifying round), we just need a win for our confidence and belief.

Whatever Pure****e, but you'll still win ---k-all this season end of story.

And as for YOU Aggressive S*H*I*T*E why don't you go back to your lowly excuse for a stadium and think about returning once you've got enought points (40) to avoid being relegated or threatened by Sunderland which beat you on the first day of the season. I've really forgotten when WE passed that mark. Can somebody tell me?

hahahahahahha aggressive, how mature of you, didn't realise thats what they teach in kindergarten these days, judging by your grammer, maybe you don't even attend and your one of those pikey fans that supports spurs :)

something is wrong with these comments because the only way Man U and Chelsea could get in front was by our team dropping points, therefore making dropping points a part of the game. We dropped all these points which no one thought we would and please do not tell me that u guys thought we would draw 4 and loose 1! The the funy thing is if u guys are to be believed, there is no way we should have dropped points at this point of the season if no one else can (11). I dont know but i cant take this throw in the towel attitude and thats what it is, no matter how practical u think u are being. WE MUST STAND IN FAITH UNTIL THE MATTER IS PROVED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER! now exactly how is this supposed to make the team feel. Look i am no fool and i know it is clearly not probable but throwing up our hand with a chance still to win is rediculous, so much that a Spurs fan can say that. If ur enemy can say u have a chance why the hell should you say no! God Bless!

Title challenge is over, realistically. Man Ure are too strong, no one is going to overhaul them. Traditionally they always finish the season strongly (as do we, usually we are crap in the first third of the season, funny it's been the other way round). I think we have to accept that we need more strength and depth in the squad. Yes we have 25 players but a lot of them have not progressed in the way thery should have. We have very few viable options in some positions. Adebayor looks knackered, as do Cesc and Hleb. However, whilst this is our worst run for years we should take comfort in the fact that we have had a superb season, all in all, and surprised many people who thought we would never be a top side again. To the Spuds on here giving it large (not all of them, some reasoned comments here) - at least we were in it. When you are challenging for the BIG prizes there is always a greater risk of failure. Of course you will never know this cos you never challenge for the league. So mug off, come back when you actually do finish above us as threatened every season ("Next year!" they cry. "Next year!" Dream on). To the Chelski fans gloating - weren't you the ones chanting "you don't know what you're doing" at *your own manager* yesterday? Must be nice to be so fickle. Glory hound t w a t baskets.

We were in such a good flow until Edu got injured. It reminds me of whe we lost our unbeaten record at OT or the time when Rooner scored a last minute goal for Everton. We went into a slump both times. How strange! We seem unable to forget and start afresh.

strength through adversity and all that...it seems to desert us,at the crucial times. its true we havnt recovered from eduardos unfortunate incident,its a shame sooo many other fans feel that is something of amusement to them.it doesnt matter whos your manager or what players you have got in your team,if you keep getting long term injuries,or players getting injured during the game,and terrible decisions going against you,then your team will struggle.

And the sight of that arrogant, smug U4L coming on here saying that Arsenal are the "most hated" club in the country is pretty hilarious---everyone knows the most hated team in England is Manchester United. They even have a name for it: ABU! (Anybody but United). So the title goes back to MU---and the English league returns to its incredibly predictable, boring self by becoming, once again, a league dominated by one club. It is the ambition of Man United and their fans for England to become a one-club league like France, apparently. I had issues with Mourinho but I understood why he was so welcomed. Anything to break the domination of the league by MU and Arsenal. Why have a season-long contest at all, why not just give the trophy to MU in August and have done with it.

Jaelle - I think you summary is spot on. I am so despondent, mostly because my expectation level had been set so high by our performances that I at least expected us to be fighting Man Utd for the title to the last day. You could see just how disappointed Arsene was in his interview after. Arsene's strategy is to go with a young squad (not just first team) and it hasn't worked - for now.

Yeah I agree, Jaelle summed it up nicely. That's what I thought about the game too. We looked much better than the recent games. Created much better chances with RvP back and the other guys more motivated (still think they're tired or short of ideas though). Just that it's not enough for someone as strong as Chelsea. Let's face it, we didn't lose on individual quality or mental strength, it's the depth of the squad that's costing us. They could afford to have a top striker like Anelka come off the bench and shoot wide. And ManU only sent on Tevez and Nani in the 2nd half (granted, against 10 men). We had Bendtner and Theo who've got bags of talent but are just not experienced enough to regularly make impact, especially facing someone like Chelsea. That's what we're talking about.

jaelle, i have to disagree with united being the most hated club in the country i have an english bar in bareclona, and our customers are all english (mainly weekend stag groups from all over the uk), and i have to say from what we have coing in arsenal are the most hated club in england, its mainly due to wenger being a bad loser, but i think it was man utd that were the most hated up until that game you played at old trafford when keown did a dracula impression on the full time wistle, you guys are way worse, ferguson would never come out with a qoute saying the only way to stop utd is to kick utd, wengers a moaning idiot

jaelle, female, brazilian and living in NYC.... my god my dreams have been answered, well one of them, the other two included a champions league cup and spurs being relegated, can't have everything I suppose !

Pure(unt, we've got no chance of being relegated, And You are without a doubt the most Hated club on the planet. stukazufuss, who must be your twin, or mrs. no one is more arrogant than wenger, and his little boys at Arsenal, pardon the pun.

^ well said. Tough loss for Arsenal, was hoping they'd pull it out but Drogba had a fantastic game.

AG, it's not that you make outrageous points or anything as such. You happen to make a lot of points I disagree with but your opinions are by no means ill informed. But you do yourself no favours with the tone you adopt at times, I don't understand your need to be so volatile with everybody. You have a lot to contribute simply because, as you point out, you have a different point of view from most here and that creates some worthwhile debate. But I can't comprehend this aggressive standpoint. Firstly, I don't tell anyone to believe anything, I just give my opinion, just as you give yours, I don't understand or appreciate the insinuation that I bully people into agreeing with me. I write for a fansite, I don't even run it, Paul's the editor and while he gives me a free reign, I am still at the mercy of any editrorial decisions he makes. I wouldn't overestimate my own importance, much less would I feel I had the power to indoctrinate people into adopting my viewpoints. Now, concerning the Drogba issue, yes he was offside, but I'm not going to get too het up about it, it was a mistake, it happens. We subsequently defended the situation poorly. I don't understand your rant about "LD's logic" in relation to Adebayor's offside goal last week. The source of my chargrin there was that the referee invented a non existent interpretation to the offside rule, "LD's logic" doesn't come into it, the rules of the game say if the ball is played by an opposing player, the conditions of the offside rule cease to exist. I also don't agree that AW has taken us as far as he can, the current team was constructed for the beginning of the 2005-06 season under prohibitive circumstances with the finances for the new stadium. Since that maiden voyage, the team has demonstratably made improvements every season, the average age of our current team is about 24, they are involved in their first title race and while we won't have the experience to see this one out, I have every reason to believe based on the improvements of the last three years, that they can develop further and be stronger next year. I think a little more experience wouldn't go amiss, Gilberto and Lehmann were intended to be bastions of experience, but both have lost their place in the team, which has put a huge burden on Gallas as the team's most senior player. Secondly, I think the Rosicky situation has to be considered, I think he's a great player, but if he can't produce more than half a campaign then we have to consider how useful he is to us. We certainly need quality back up on the flanks. I imagine those areas will be addressed accordingly in the summer.

5-1, do you really think I can take your little bar survey seriously, from someone who confesses that his football existence revolves entirely around hating Arsenal rather than supporting his own club? (A truly pathetic tho honest confession). Since you are personally inclined to see the entire world thru your glasses of Arsenal-hatred, your judgment is not to be taken seriously when it comes to this casual little "survey" of your bar patrons. I could do the same thing in a couple of NY bars frequented by expats from all over the world who come to watch football matches. I've met far more MU-hating fans in both bars I frequent than anything else. Your survey results are due entirely to the way you personally want them to end up rather than anything that bears any relation to reality.

5-1, I did say I respect your observation, did you read that part? Don't keep offensive if you want a normal discussion here, oh, which you don't do you? Look, I could have said "Hey as far as I saw in the most popular bars in Beijing - whose support inclindations btw are very similar to that in England and they've got many English expatriates - most fans hated ManU and Chelsea; and nobody really saw Spurs as rivals cos they're not even taken seriously as a strong team" blah blah blah. But I didn't, I chose to reason with you. I did say I respect your observation. I even said that's nice, good for you, running a bar in Spain. I was by no means invalidating anything you said. Once again (sorry to those who're tired of me being a broken record), all I'm saying is that I trust an independent nationwide survey covering 92 clubs more. Even the ManU fans put that up on their site. They don't mind, or don't care, why do you get so worked up? Chill, go and support Spurs. Hatred only drives you mad and makes you dumb.

Typo: -offensive +defensive (er, actually that might be right, but whatever, I meant to say "defensive")

lou that survey you are on about it a load of crap, because its based on club geography not hatred, and these days as we all know too many fans support teamns based on other factors like loving ronaldo, or chelsea winng so many trophies in the last 5 years, so they those fans do not live near the club therefor cant hate the same people, ie all the asians that love man utd do you really think they hate manchester city?

Good point 5-1, and yes Le'Arse is the most hated. They are mostly arrogant, like their leader and mentor Arse' Wenker. And I can't see why your bar survey should be any different from any other. It's not like it's in the Paxton road. And if i'm ever in Barca', I'll add to the comment box. LOL

ok lou ill try a different way of putting it to you, out of every world footballing nation, the english probably hate 1st the germans, and then the french, Arsenal represent france (please do not argue that we have malbranque and chimbonda) im talking about the past too, and especially given that youve had team talks in french. since there are no dominant german sides in the league we all look to the french

Has this become a feckin spuds forum or summat? Bugger off back to your own site Edy and 5-1 and stop talking *****e. You cant call us arrogant just because we are better than you ;-) As for the article, as someone said above, i haven't heard the fat lady sing yet, but its not down to us now. We had it in our hands and have only ourselves to blame. No point infighting or being melodramatic about it. Personally, we are still doing better that i thought we would this season, so its all good.