Arsenal 2 - West Bromwich Albion 0

Date:	Thursday 21st April 2016
Competition:	Barclays Premier League
Arsenal: 6.8
WBA: 3.9	(4-3-3) Foster 4.3, Dawson 5.1, McAuley 5.4, Evans 4.4, Chester 3.7 (Olsson, 46 6.1), Fletcher 4.4, Sandro 4.4 (Rondón, 46 5.1), Yacob 5.1, Sessegnon 4.8, Berahino 3.5, McClean 3.3 (Gardner, 65 4.9) Unused subs: Myhill, Anichebe, McManaman, Leko Manager: Tony Pulis 2.9
Referee:	Jon Moss (West Yorkshire) 4.6
Attendance:	59,568 Home Fans 3.8 Away Fans 5.1

Brendan Clegg:

Another very depressing performance.

Einstein said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And we tried again playing a right footed championship level centre half at left back. We tried again playing 3 holding midfielders through the middle. We tried again hoofing the ball up to an isolated lone forward. We even continued playing a championship left winger who has been totally found out.

Was anyone surprised at the outcome?

Yes, this was Arsenal and yes they have enormous resources and should beat us every week. Why then have so many other sides been successful against them? I'm expecting us to go and beat Arsenal but I do expect us to go there, give them a game, put them under pressure and be competative.

The first half was a total write-off. Tactically we poor. The selections meant we again had now balance from deep on the left, no quality wide left and no real nous or attacking threat through midfield and it has to be said that too many individuals played like it was a friendly - deliberately or not. Arsenal strolled through it without changing gear.

Second half at least Rondon, Gardner and Olsson had a go although, as the mics picked up from the Pulis shouts, our ONLY tactic was hit it quick, long and early. This left us with no chance.

I'm sure TP will mention the chance off the bar, the sitter that came to Rondon late and the other marginal things but it totally misrepresents the game. We were garbage.

No Poc on the bench - look how many games we've won this season with a centre back at left back compared to when we've had a left footer there. We haven't won since Man Utd when Poc got the assist and has since been totally bombed out. Prior to that it was Palace with Brunt there when we were 3-0 up until he went off. It isn't rocket science.

With Mozza still totally AWOL (anyone know why?) if we go with 5 in the middle we know that Fletcher (despite his effort) hasn't got the legs or threat to play the supporting role. We didn't manage to win a game with him in this position - even against lower league opposition. The nearest player we seem to have to Mozza in the excruciatingly limited times we've seen him is Pritchard. Not even on the bench!

Final thought - I thought the ref was crap and biased again. Arsenal seemed to get every decision for 60 minutes, not just the fouls but the ridiculous advantages, foot highs etc and the Sanchex mis-control which was a a penalty; if you have the ball whacked at you from 2 yards away then it's accidental but if you miscontrol the ball onto your arm and it stops you losing the ball that is a free kick anywhere else on the pitch. Then he seemed to try and compensate for this by being leniant on us.

Foster - 5 First poor game since his return. Slow for the 1st, poor positionally for the 2nd, saved an embarassment that slipped through his legs. Might as well have an off day when everyone else does.
Dawson - 6 contender for MoM given he and Sess linked up well on the odd occasion when we didn't just smash it forward. Our best outlet.
McAuley - 6 Battled all game, not great but never game up.
Evans - 5 One of our players on cruise mode for the 2nd game running. Not terrible but not 100% at it - has he got one mind on the Euros now we are safe? Better at left back tonight.
Chester - 5 Not his fault he was at left back but gave us nothing that side on the ball and seemed to lean out of the way in the wall for the 2nd.
Sess - 6 Our only player capable of holding it but the service was rubbish. Tracked Monreal OK.
Yac - 5 First half wasn't great as he and Sandro are too similar and careless challenge (even though I think he nicked the ball) in a crazy position for the 2nd. Battled well 2nd half.
Fletch - 5 Kept going and tried to play it at times but they were too quick for him all over the pitch. Better deeper.
Sandro - 6 Apart from the first goal I actually thought he was our best midfielder 1st half although he often had no option to release to.
'Howling Mad' McClean - 4 Gave it his all but offered nothing and set plays were terrible.
Saido - 4 Ponderous, tried to do too much with the ball and didn't work hard enough without it.

Rondon - 6 Ran his legs off and fought for eveything but lived on terribel service. At least got us pressing high up the pitch.
Olsson - 6 Gave it some spirit. If you look at our wins and clean sheets this year you'd be surprised how often he features. Never lets us down for commitment and fight - possibly worth a recall if we can get players around him who take pressure off him on the ball.
Gardner - 6 Kept it simpler than McClean so we kept the ball better and his set plays were better. Was never going to change the game at 2-0 down though - why didn't he give Leko or Macca a run instead?

Keith Pincher:

This was every bit as embarrassing as Brendan suggests. Passing just seems to be the hardest skill. We treat the ball as though it's been impregnated with smallpox virus so we don't want it and when we get it we're far too considerate to pass it on to our teammates, preferring to give it to the boys on the other team. Berahino seemed more aware of the possibility of infection than most and adopted all sorts of contortions to try to get out of the way or make sure a Gunner was in the way.

But most embarrassing was Pulis's post match interview. He was obviously embarrassed too at the weakness of his excuse and kept his head bowed to avoid eye contact and delivered it with the sort of reluctance that you might have when you confess to forgetting you left a Porsche at the airport or that your phone has the ability to text from your pocket.

It seems, according to him, that we're not used to playing on Thursdays and he had no idea how to prepare properly. Do you want me to type that again or will you just go back and re-read it yourself? Yup. That's what he said. Lord help us.

Cannock Steve:

utter rubbish again after Saturdays fare. Just cannot see us picking up another point this season at this rate. I genuinely hope our players are in 'on the beach' mode and this isn't the best we can offer because its terrible to watch/endure/put up with. Our current form really demonstrates the amount of rebuilding work required in the summer and maybe Pulis is looking towards Peace in the stands. Think we have reached a cross roads where we either kick on or stick as we are, if we stick and don't invest immense amounts of money to improve the squad with exciting players then I can see gates dropping dramatically, Testing Peace does really care about 5000 empty seats or reduced season ticket sales when he has 100+ million coming in from sky. probably not and that's what worries me. I can see more teams adopting a similar style (? if you can call it that) of play to us next season such is the fear of defeat and relegation that hangs over clubs of our size.