Its true what you say Kieran about not losing without conceding, however had we scored one of the many chances when we were 1-0 up against Hull there would never have been any pressure on the defence. So i still think it was the fault of crap finishing, but of course a clean sheet is always good!

< ![CDATA[

And overall this starts to tell us where the problem is. Converting those shots into goals. It’s not a midfield thing, nor is it a defensive thing. It is simply converting those shots into goals. It is, don’t do a Hleb, do a Henry.

Of course its an issue with the defence. How many chances did Hull have and how many chances did they score?

Its all good and well suggesting the forwards should convert more chances (and yes they should, Adebayor in particular has hurt us with his wastfulness) but the defence should not concede soft goals. Yes the header from the corner was expertly taken, but why did Gallas and Adebayor stand and admire him rather than jumping with him and making the chance more difficult?

Gallas was at fault at Fulham and again on Saturday. Regardless of the strikers you can’t lose games if you don’t concede goals.]]>

]]> http://worldofarsenal.co.uk/2008/09/29/media-reaction-to-the-defeat/#comment-809 Dan Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:54:07 +0000 http://devday.wordpress.com/?p=578#comment-809 Yeah Raval that was clear without the stats. You can see it with your own eyes watching a match that we are penetrating defences and overall having plenty of chances (generally close to the goal, i suspect man city had a fair amount of long rangers) It boils down to Adebeyour and RVP not hitting the back of the net. Although our midfield are prone to missing guilt edged oppertunities as well. Like i said already, Eduardo will fix this. Possibly Vela in the future as well.

Yeah Raval that was clear without the stats. You can see it with your own eyes watching a match that we are penetrating defences and overall having plenty of chances (generally close to the goal, i suspect man city had a fair amount of long rangers) It boils down to Adebeyour and RVP not hitting the back of the net. Although our midfield are prone to missing guilt edged oppertunities as well. Like i said already, Eduardo will fix this. Possibly Vela in the future as well.

]]> http://worldofarsenal.co.uk/2008/09/29/media-reaction-to-the-defeat/#comment-806 ManUtd Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:48:33 +0000 http://devday.wordpress.com/?p=578#comment-806 I'm a Man Utd fan but I want to talk about Hull, Yes I'm laughing at Arsenal but once all the laughing has died down I'm thinking about Phil Brown. Now we all reckoned because of the way Allardyce took Bolton in the top-10 in the Premier League consistently that we thought he was a world-class manager. Even Big Sam seemed to get it in his head with his Allardici comment. But after his Newcastle debacle we're a bit confused. Indeed the thing that marked him out at Bolton was his brilliance when it came to bringing players to the club. At Newcastle his signings were terrible. He bought Smith for about £6m which says it all. So what happened at Bolton then? Whom was responsible for this golden period. Step forward Phil Brown! When I saw the buys he was making for Hull this summer it did start me wondering if he was the brains behind Bolton. I started telling people to watch out for Hull and do not predict them to finish bottom as I believed if any promoted teams were going to stay up it would be Hull. Everyone laughed at me but now with the season underway I'm more convinced than ever that Phil Brown is a footballing genius. Hull fans should be very very proud and grateful they have a very talented manager. My big fear for Hull fans is that if someone like Ramos is sacked at Spurs then Brown may be lured away by a club like that. Certainly if I was a chairman looking for a manager, Brown would be my first port of call. As someone mentioned in the mailbox earlier, Hull are definitely my 2nd team now. Which is funny because Bolton when they had Okocha, Djorkaeff, Campo and Tofting and legends like that certainly used to be. Again the common factor is Phil Brown.

I’m a Man Utd fan but I want to talk about Hull, Yes I’m laughing at Arsenal but once all the laughing has died down I’m thinking about Phil Brown. Now we all reckoned because of the way Allardyce took Bolton in the top-10 in the Premier League consistently that we thought he was a world-class manager. Even Big Sam seemed to get it in his head with his Allardici comment. But after his Newcastle debacle we’re a bit confused. Indeed the thing that marked him out at Bolton was his brilliance when it came to bringing players to the club. At Newcastle his signings were terrible. He bought Smith for about £6m which says it all. So what happened at Bolton then? Whom was responsible for this golden period. Step forward Phil Brown! When I saw the buys he was making for Hull this summer it did start me wondering if he was the brains behind Bolton. I started telling people to watch out for Hull and do not predict them to finish bottom as I believed if any promoted teams were going to stay up it would be Hull. Everyone laughed at me but now with the season underway I’m more convinced than ever that Phil Brown is a footballing genius. Hull fans should be very very proud and grateful they have a very talented manager. My big fear for Hull fans is that if someone like Ramos is sacked at Spurs then Brown may be lured away by a club like that. Certainly if I was a chairman looking for a manager, Brown would be my first port of call. As someone mentioned in the mailbox earlier, Hull are definitely my 2nd team now. Which is funny because Bolton when they had Okocha, Djorkaeff, Campo and Tofting and legends like that certainly used to be. Again the common factor is Phil Brown.

]]> http://worldofarsenal.co.uk/2008/09/29/media-reaction-to-the-defeat/#comment-805 Raval Pekamon Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:31:17 +0000 http://devday.wordpress.com/?p=578#comment-805 <![CDATA[That scoreline is the number of shots each side had. To give you an idea of where that stands in the scheme of things here’s some other weekend scores based on goal attempts Wigan 10, Manchester Arab 11 Stoke 5 CSKA Fulham 14 Manchester B 32 Bolton 10 Aston V 12, Sunderland 9 Portsmouth 9 Tiny Totts 15 Everton 4, Liverpool Insolvency 11 Which tells us that mostly the team with the most goal attempts wins the game, and that in terms of goal attempts Arsenal were only beaten by an extraordinary high score from Manchester B - a score so high I really wonder if the stats are right. (certainly if these stats, which come from the Guardian are right, the most extraordinary thing is that Manchester B only got two goals). But I want to make a broader point - which is that if we had got a tiny number of shots then clearly we would simply be not working as an attacking forward moving team. But we didn’t. If you look at the same stats for the Fulham defeat the result was Fulham 5 Arsenal 15 And overall this starts to tell us where the problem is. Converting those shots into goals. It’s not a midfield thing, nor is it a defensive thing. It is simply converting those shots into goals. It is, don’t do a Hleb, do a Henry.]]>

< ![CDATA[That scoreline is the number of shots each side had. To give you an idea of where that stands in the scheme of things here’s some other weekend scores based on goal attempts

Wigan 10, Manchester Arab 11

Stoke 5 CSKA Fulham 14

Manchester B 32 Bolton 10

Aston V 12, Sunderland 9

Portsmouth 9 Tiny Totts 15

Everton 4, Liverpool Insolvency 11

Which tells us that mostly the team with the most goal attempts wins the game, and that in terms of goal attempts Arsenal were only beaten by an extraordinary high score from Manchester B - a score so high I really wonder if the stats are right. (certainly if these stats, which come from the Guardian are right, the most extraordinary thing is that Manchester B only got two goals).

But I want to make a broader point - which is that if we had got a tiny number of shots then clearly we would simply be not working as an attacking forward moving team. But we didn’t.

If you look at the same stats for the Fulham defeat the result was

Fulham 5 Arsenal 15

And overall this starts to tell us where the problem is. Converting those shots into goals. It’s not a midfield thing, nor is it a defensive thing. It is simply converting those shots into goals. It is, don’t do a Hleb, do a Henry.]]>

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