Match Day Arsenal v Watford - FA Cup Quarter-Final

[Whitechapel]

MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head

• Arsenal have won four of their five previous FA Cup meetings with Watford, including a 4-2 third-round win en route to lifting the trophy in 2002.
• Watford's sole FA Cup win over the Gunners was a 3-1 quarter-final triumph in 1987.
• Watford have never beaten Arsenal since the Premier League era began.
• The Gunners won October's Premier League meeting 3-0 at Vicarage Road.

Arsenal

• Arsenal have won the FA Cup a record 12 times.
• If they win the cup this season they will join Wanderers (1876-78) and Blackburn (1884-86) in winning the trophy for three successive years.
• Arsenal have won 15 consecutive rounds of the FA Cup. The post-war record is 16, which the Gunners hold (2002-2004).
• Arsene Wenger's side haven't lost three home games in a row in all competitions since November 2002.

Watford

• Watford have won each of their three FA Cup matches this season by 1-0.
• The Hornets have lost seven of their last 11 league matches (W2, D2).
• Quique Sanchez's side have not scored in three games. Their last goal was an own goal, in their FA Cup victory over Leeds in the last round.
• Watford are appearing in their first quarter-final since 2006-07, when they eventually lost 4-1 to Manchester United in the semi-finals.

 

[smat]

Not to be all negative, but this is our only chance of avoiding a completely disastrous week. We'll get spanked in the CL and then be knackered enough to lose the bafflingly scheduled 12.45 at Everton, so we'll need the FA Cup to save our season imo. Should be a close game, really hope we don't need another replay to win it.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Gabriel extremely fortunate there! Stonewall Red Card. Andre Mariner didnt even give a foul!

 

[JimJams]

Incredible reffing.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Ighalo! 1-0 Hornets!!

 

[DarkSithLord]

Fuck me. Absolute rocket from Guedioura! 2-0!!

 

[JimJams]

Well at least Arsenal can focus on the league now....

 

[Bilo]

really hope we don't need another replay to win it.

Would you take a replay now then mate?

 

[DarkSithLord]

Welbeck pulls one back. 3 minutes left plus added time. The first goal Watford have conceded in this years FA Cup.

 

[DarkSithLord]

WHAT A MISS FROM WELBECK!

 

[DarkSithLord]

Its all over! Congrats Watford!

 

[Blitzballer]

LOL

 

[JimJams]

Wenger makes his changes too late.

 

[G-Dragon]

hahahahahhaha where are all the arsenal fans? Bottlers.
Said Sanchez will be one season wonder, proved right again.

 

[TractorBoys]

Yeah, wish the changes came sooner, was a really enjoyable last 10 minutes.

 

[GodsGift]

Are there any Arsenal fans left who still think Wenger is the man to take the club forward?

 

[Mustard]

Once again the players should hang their heads in shame. Dreadful finishing, dreadful defending, got what they deserved. You don't get to start playing in the 85th minute. This team just doesn't have the discipline required to be a top team.

 

[Mustard]

Wenger makes his changes too late.

God forbid he'd ever make a substitution before the 70th minute.

 

[Christian Slater]

There's got to be a few that put Watford, Everton and West Ham on an accie. They'll be in for a strenuous couple of hours.

 

[Storzy]

Pathetic.

The players lacked any composure, but it's a disappointing team selection from Wenger. I like Joel Campbell as a squad player but he's a Costa Rican James Milner. No need to be playing him in a team with two DMs. Add in Giroud upfront and we have zero chances to get in behind an actually create any meaningful opportunities.

If Wenger wants Giroud to play upfront, then he needs someone on the pitch to get beyond him and that means STARTING Walcott on the right. Intead he waits untill Watford have the game won and are sitting on the edge of their area to throw on some movement.

The players aren't doing the manager many favours at the moment but ultimately he's the one that needs to realise we going into games looking clueless. Ozil aside we don't look like creating anything.

 

[JimJams]

Campbell has been a much better attacking threat than any of Walcott, Ox or Ramsey in that position when he's played. A few times he made good runs, most notably the one where he knocked it over as he was on the stretch from the ball from Ozil. I'm not having any Milner comparisons there!

 

[Christian Slater]

Arsenal's collapses are quite spectacular. United are that guy being swept out to sea with his head bobbing above water enough to get a few breaths in but his fate is coming. Arsenal just dive in with lead boots on.

 

[Storzy]

Campbell has been a much better attacking threat than any of Walcott, Ox or Ramsey in that position when he's played. A few times he made good runs, most notably the one where he knocked it over as he was on the stretch from the ball from Ozil. I'm not having any Milner comparisons there!

By most notably you mean the only time? Campbell has done well and Wenger wants him on the right then he needs Welbeck through the middle.

We need someone to CONSISTANTLY get in behind the opposition defence. That's not Campbell. It's Walcott on the right or Welbeck upfront.

Personally I'd like to see us start Walcott, Sanchez and Giroud in the same team. Especially in a team that is at home and been forced to play two DMs. Can any Arsenal fans confirm if we've ever started those three together?

EDIT: To be clear I don't think the above is a magic fix, because the lack of composure is a huge problem but we are struggling to create enough good opportunities for our attacks. Instead they're falling to our full backs and deeper lying midfielders too often. Therefore I think we need to focus on getting in behind the opposition defence and that means playing in a Welbeck or Walcott and have them supported by Sanchez and Ozil.

 

[smat]

This'll all seem completely fine when we beat Barcelona 3-0 in the Nou Camp.

 

[Mustard]

Are there any Arsenal fans left who still think Wenger is the man to take the club forward?

4 wins in 14 at a critical stage in the season. Players come and go, the common factor in the last 10 years of royally fucking up for a month or two every season is Wenger. Now for a lot of that time he was not given the same backing as many of his rivals, but I think this season has exposed him more than ever with Leicester and Spurs doing a better job than us on a smaller budget. He puts too much trust in the wrong players, can be naive tactically, and clearly can't motivate the players to get performances from them week in week out. We spent £10m in the summer and you can't tell me there weren't better midfielders out there than Arteta/Flamini who have spent too much time playing for us this season, or better defenders than Mertesacker, or better right wingers than whoever the fuck we try and wedge in there each game (frankly we've been lucky that Campbell has played well because Ox/Walcott have been shocking, and Ramsey is a square peg in a round hole even if it does seem to be a better position for him than CM).

When he first joined Arsenal Wenger was a pioneer in the way players lived and trained, and his ability to spot talent early was second to none (he benefitted from an extensive knowledge of the French league at a time that France's talent pool was peaking), but the rest of the league has caught up and he's lost his competitive advantage. At this point I don't think Wenger is the man we need. He's built the club to what it is now and will still be considered a legend when he leaves, without him I doubt we'd have stood a chance of competing with all the money that's in the league now, but now we are there, we have money to burn and a chance of competing for trophies, I think we need a better manager tactically who is not afraid of shaking things up a little. Something has to give now. It's the players or the manager, maybe a bit of both but only one has presided over failure after failure. We can't have another season like this, I can't see Özil or Sanchez wanting to stick around if we do and I could't blame them.

 

[GodsGift]

4 wins in 14 at a critical stage in the season. Players come and go, the common factor in the last 10 years of royally fucking up for a month or two every season is Wenger. Now for a lot of that time he was not given the same backing as many of his rivals, but I think this season has exposed him more than ever with Leicester and Spurs doing a better job than us on a smaller budget. He puts too much trust in the wrong players, can be naive tactically, and clearly can't motivate the players to get performances from them week in week out. We spent £10m in the summer and you can't tell me there weren't better midfielders out there than Arteta/Flamini who have spent too much time playing for us this season, or better defenders than Mertesacker, or better right wingers than whoever the fuck we try and wedge in there each game (frankly we've been lucky that Campbell has played well because Ox/Walcott have been shocking, and Ramsey is a square peg in a round hole even if it does seem to be a better position for him than CM).

When he first joined Arsenal Wenger was a pioneer in the way players lived and trained, and his ability to spot talent early was second to none (he benefitted from an extensive knowledge of the French league at a time that France's talent pool was peaking), but the rest of the league has caught up and he's lost his competitive advantage. At this point I don't think Wenger is the man we need. He's built the club to what it is now and will still be considered a legend when he leaves, without him I doubt we'd have stood a chance of competing with all the money that's in the league now, but now we are there, we have money to burn and a chance of competing for trophies, I think we need a better manager tactically who is not afraid of shaking things up a little. Something has to give now. It's the players or the manager, maybe a bit of both but only one has presided over failure after failure. We can't have another season like this, I can't see Özil or Sanchez wanting to stick around if we do and I could't blame them.

Spot on. Wenger was once an innovator, now he's a footballing dinosaur. Get rid.

 

[Storzy]

I agree Mustard.

However it's important to not get carried away. We need to be looking to future and whoever we get in will be a big overhaul, but it's important to not just sack him and go "okay, now who can we get in to replace him?". We need the next manager lined up and if that means waiting, then it means waiting. Last thing we want is to do a Liverpool with Hodgson or get a Moyes in.

Wenger isn't a bad manager, we'd be a lot lower down if he were. But I can't seen us winning the league with him in charge and that means we have to look elsewhere.

The question is who?

 

[Storzy]

This'll all seem completely fine when we beat Barcelona 3-0 in the Nou Camp.

Typical Arsenal would be to go out on away goals, but with that not an option I guess a 2-1 loss? With someone fluffing a sitter on the 90th min will have surfice.

 

[smat]

Typical Arsenal would be to go out on away goals, but with that not an option I guess a 2-1 loss? With someone fluffing a sitter on the 90th min will have surfice.

In all seriousness I think we're going to lose about 5-0.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

https://twitter.com/obiBona/status/709055978331893760