The Hull City Defeat: One Day Later
Arsenal (1) - (2) Hull City
Paul McShane OG (49′)
The Emirates Stadium, London
Arsene Wenger’s sobering interview after the game summed up how I felt after the match.
He was hugely disappointed with the commitment shown on the pitch, as was every Arsenal fan watching. We all hoped the Fulham game was a one off and the team would have learnt that substandard performances aren’t good enough to win games in the Premier League. But yesterday there was no desire yet again.
While it was a result that has shocked the Premier League, watching the game you knew that our lacklustre performance might cause us a problem. After all, we became unstuck at Fulham only weeks ago. All it takes is one piece of brilliance or a mistake to let the opposition back into the game and unfortunately for us both of those happened.
We saw Geovanni do it on the opening day of the season against Fulham, and he scored another fantastic strike to equalise last night. Then a mistake from William Gallas (yet again from a set-piece) gave Hull their winner.
The wonder strike coupled with amateurish defending was a trend which cursed The Emirates Stadium when we first moved in.
Teams would visit our new ground and sucker punch us with the opening goal. Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Everton, Newcastle and Hamburg all did it, thanks to a combination of poor defending and a moment of brilliance.
So you weren’t shocked when Hull scored the winner.
Maybe the players just thought it would never happen. Our record at home is fantastic so what’s the likelihood Hull could actually nick a winner?
Usually though after seeing a performance like that I would be angry, but for some strange reason I wasn’t.
Everyone point is vital if you want to win the Premier League, and maybe that’s exactly why I wasn’t too upset. Maybe I don’t truly believe we can win the league this season.
People will say that it’s just a bad day at the office but you can see performances against Fulham and Hull happening time and time again this season. Put this result in perspective - Hull are only the second team to beat us at The Emirates in 3 seasons. And apparently Hull were 20-1 to win yesterday. You couldn’t get longer odds!
The problem is we’re far too hot and cold. We put in excellent performances against teams like Blackburn, Newcastle, FC Twente and Bolton Wanderers but stutter against Fulham and Hull City.
Arsene Wenger must be completely baffled, and I feel for him.
But what’s the problem? Is it inexperience, or is it misplaced faith in players like Adebayor - who was shockingly bad yesterday. Or maybe the squad isn’t good enough. I’m sure the debate will go on for months about what’s missing from this current Arsenal side.
I think the main problem this season now is that teams will face us knowing that while they may not have the talent to compete with us, as long as they put in 100% they will have a chance of getting something. We’ve given opposing teams belief that they can take us on and that’s bad news.
All teams like Fulham and Hull City have to do is be organised, committed and take the few chances when they come along. And Arsenal just don’t have any answers to that.
The worrying thing is that if a manager like Phil Brown (no disrespect, but he is hardly hugely experience in the Premier League) can work us out and execute a game plan with Hull City then God help us all.
The only saving grace is that even with their game in hand, Arsenal will still be above United in the table. But how long is that going to last I wonder?
September 28th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Gallas should be sidelined. he is not good enough defensively. let djorou have a shot at it. i dont care if gallas scores goals. its not his job. we have enough players that can score. he is there to stop them and obviously he doesn’t know how to clear corners.
September 28th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Yes that is the apt word. The Arsenal blows hot and old. Very inconsistent. We are not turning up at important matches. Our defence is unreliable. Gallas is a decent defender and it is good for him to be to score in important matches like in Kiev. He saved our blushes there. Kolo is good as well but has dropped in form since coming back from the African Nations Cup, IMO.
September 28th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Wenger should have bought that no nonsense defender in the summer as soon as i heard he binned the idea of another top quality defender i knew our season was going to be very difficult.You simply can not be allowed to defend half heartedly in the PL and you will get punished.Carvalho/Alex/Terry top quality defenders.Ferdinand/Vidic top quality.Carragher/SKrtel/Agger top quality and never panicks under pressure like Gallas and Toure.
September 28th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
We should “rent or loan” a decent central defender, i don’t trust Silveststre to do the job. I am at a loss why AW bought him, unfit, in the first place. And we have another crocked defender in Bischoff! I know it is still early days in the premeirship but like they say, the beginning of the season may shape the season. If we are faltering at home now and away at Fulham, what are our chances when we meet any of the “big three”? I am bitterly disappointed and i am still smarting from that unfortunate defeat. Disgraceful performance if i am asked.
September 28th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
The worrying thing is that if a manager like Phil Brown (no disrespect, but he is hardly hugely experience in the Premier League) can work us out a
nd execute a game plan with Hull City then God help us all
with comments like this and still under mining the lower less experienced clubs arsenal wont change .with players like fabrigas whos worth more than the hull city club, i would expect 110% every week.
arsenal are easy to predict,they dont like a side that attacks and its taken little hull city prove that,now little phil brown has shown the premier league top boys how to do it i predict more misery for them.
i have to say how bad your fans are also leaving 25 mins before full time and booing off your side when you have such a fantastic home record
hope were given a bit more respect back at the kc stadium
September 28th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
William Gallas isn’t the answer. Kolo is suffering from his dodgy defending and it’s effecting the team as a whole. I thought with Gallas having the armband last season that he’d be offloaded somewhere else in the summer (a la Henry & Vieira) but unfortunately it didn’t happen!
It was interesting to note in Wenger’s interview that he didn’t actually say ‘we didn’t have any desire’ just that Hull were ‘more committed’. If I was Wenger I’d give the players a right bollocking like they deserve but that’s not Wenger’s style.
It looks like his pampering of the players is coming back and smacking him right in the face.
September 28th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Carlos - not sure whether you were deliberately trying to listen out for boos after the game but they were a vast minority, as most of the fans at the end were too busy clapping your team off the pitch. Maybe thats not the respect you expect?!?
As for the loss, the reason, even given the lack of desire, was the same as it always is - we don’t take enough of our chances. We can’t keeping having that many chances and only taking one or none - it has haunted us in big games and now its costing us in this.
I long for Eduardo to return or for Adebayor to at least try to take one from every three chances because until then, I just see a repeating pattern,
September 28th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I said it last season and I will carry on saying it this season, whilst Gallas is in Arsenal’s team we will win nothing. He is not strong enough and seems to be bullied by the strikers all the time, and until ‘the prof’ realises this you can say goodbye to any trophies, virtually every goal this season against us he seems to appear on the scene to late, come on prof. be brave and drop the man he is not good enought to play in a side that are looking to win major trophies.
September 28th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
True ade was crap as ever.
Gallas dont think it was his fault if you see it again toure has cousin touch tight and then lets him go. Zonal marking for f sake is letting us down gallas didnt have a chance, cos when he looked, he thought toure had him then he moves in to his area and then he had no chance.
Gallas for all his critics leads the line was pushing up even before half time trying to get goals running on to there area.
just have 2 put it down to a freak result we’ll have to put it down 2 least we are only 2 points of top and have played more games away than chel’s
though they have played manu
Anyway lets all laugh at spurs!
September 28th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Lads - usual suspects like ade and gallas appear to be bearing the brunt…but what about the 8 wasted opprtunities between rvp and theo - these were the main culprist against a spirited Hull team.
Also diid anyone notice the number of late challenges which went unpunished.
keep the faith lads - dont forget the only reasons chelsea and manu are above us is the sheer amount of millions they have thrown at their team.
l
September 28th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
This time last season we were going like gangbusters. Our first loss was in December. I remember that Fabregas was hot. He had scored several goals some of which where lost distance efforts. Diaby and Rosicky also got their share. Something is missing besides Hleb and Flamini. The midfield doesn’t have the control it needs. Cesc seems strangely quiet and Denilson is not a good substitute for Flamini.
One of the problems was the old habit of taking the ball to the edge of the box and trying to walk it in has reappeared. Passing it to Ade when he was covered by three defenders wasn’t going to work either. Hleb may be gone but the same over passing and hesitation to shoot at the smallest opportunity still remains. And how many crosses have to be made to result in a goal? I lost count of the balls that came over from corners or open play that were completely wasted.
September 28th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Almunia, like any other top keeper must learn how to leave his line in order to come and claim the ball from corner kicks. Others do it, so why not him. VDS and Chec and Lehman are known examples!!! Its shame that we have conceeded 4 goals in the league and three of these goals are from corner kicks! Its like previously falling from a spot before and allowing oneself to fall and fall again from the same spot any other day. We need to wake up now if we must salvage anything from our efforts this season!!!!!!!!!
September 28th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
The Phrase “little Hull City” says it all you underestimated us before the game the pundits, the fans and most of all your team did. we worked hard, played as a team but also we attacked when we could and played 3 forwards, we could have easily been lambs to the slaughter, but Brownie was brave and we won, not all about arsenal having an off day, give some credit to The Tigers. Maybe our first season in the top flight but were not here just make the numbers up, don’t get like those arrogant manc fans
September 28th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Having read with interest many gunners fans opinions of yesterday’s game, I’m surprised at how many of you think your team was lacklustre. Come on, you battered us for the majority of the game and it was, in the end, down to the following reasons why you lost: during the game - Gallas hitting the bar, Boaz making a quality save from Fabregas, Fabregas scuffing the ball wide, Gallas losing track of Cousin, Geo scoring what could possibly be ‘the’ goal of the season, our manager’s gameplan and tactics; and outside of the game, your team’s insistence at wanting to walk the ball into the net and passing the opposition off the park, and an over-confidence that every game will bring victory.
Following your recent run of results, I was half expecting us to get a good going over, a draw at best.
To quote “The worrying thing is that if a manager like Phil Brown (no disrespect, but he is hardly hugely experience in the Premier League) can work us out and execute a game plan with Hull City then God help us all.”, you’re obviously unaware of the fact that he was Sam Allardyce’s right hand man at Bolton for a number of years and although it seems he may lack that managerial experience, he has certainly been a contributing source of grief for Arsenal over the past few seasons. He has been a coach of good pedigree and reputation, to the point where we have benefited from the likes of Jay Jay Okocha joining the club and helping the development of the players we already have.
We can lose games stupidly too from time to time (5-0 against Wigan this season, 5-2 against Ipswich and 5-1 against Colchester in the 2006-07 season) but, apart from these results, we have been carrying an upward momentum ever since we moved to our ‘new’ stadium, and as you well know winning breeds confidence (however, we’re little old Hull and over-confidence is something we’ve never been used to, just ask Donny fans) and this is something that Phil Brown has continued to nuture while he has been manager, he has certainly made us a tougher team to beat and with the flair that’s been added recently a team that can score goals from nothing situations.
There’s a possibility that we might just slip away this season and fall back into obscurity, then again with the start we’ve had, we could go on and emulate the likes of Middlesbrough, Bolton, Sunderland and Reading who’ve come up from the Championship and spent more than one season rubbing shoulders with the elite. Unbeaten away from home for the first three games for a team promoted from the Championship must now prove that we’re a team heading in the right direction.
One great element to our win yesterday was that Boaz Myhill, Andy Dawson and Ian Ashbee played for us in our 2003/04 season in League Two, the basement division, and have been part of the Hull’s rise through the leagues and proved they can handle the rigours of the Premiership. How many teams in the Premiership can claim they’ve picked talent from the lower leagues before looking abroad? Theo Walcott is probably an exception to the rule, but even in his days at Southampton, in games against Hull we kept him under wraps.
Football these days has become consumed by wealth and greed, and a top-class league that has become staid to the point where you’ll always know who the top 5 teams at the end of the season are going to be. How boring is that? I’m glad that Hull have been to the Emirates and got ‘the’ shock result of the season but I think that Arsenal will get over it and will still be up there come the end of the season. You certainly have strength in depth, highlighted by the youngsters who played against Sheffield Utd. I’d love to have players of Vela, Wilshere and Bendtner’s quality in our team.
To sum up, the difference between you and us is that by next week, you’ll have forgotten about us, but we’ll have this result to look back on for a long long time.
Peace to all true gunners fans who follow their team through thick and thin and don’t jump on the bandwagon and lambast their players/manager because of a couple of dodgy results
Be thankful of the success you’ve had and the wonderful stadium you play in.
Come on you ‘ulllllllll….
September 28th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
The sheer disbelief that Hull could beat Arsenal yesterday was evident till the final whistle was blown, to be honest this was the felt by all, tiger fans included, but it was this disbelief that was the downfall of the mighty gunners. Where did they believe there goals were going to come from when none of the players put in the performance they are overly paid to do? Being one of the top 4 you’d expect to see some drive and determination, the title will never be yours without it. Saying that you are a fantastic team to watch when you are on form, class.
September 29th, 2008 at 12:55 am
Carlos the tiger.
Your having a laugh, how much is your club in dept for i doubt if selling Fabrigas or in fact your whole team would pay of your dept. As for Hull we are firmly in the black, so owe nothing to any bank or consortium. We have spent wisely and within our means in the transfer market. What price any of your many stars when they don’t deliver. Giovanni came on a free, so you don’t need to break the bank to find quality players. You go on as if we have no right to beat you, did you really think we were going to turn up in awe of the mighty Arsenal and hand you the 3 points. Get real!
Phil Brown has years of prem experience gained with Bolton who upset a few big guns in their time as well.
September 29th, 2008 at 4:39 am
that formal do when Fergie and Wengie were all pal-ly spoke volumes to me. In the past when Arsenal were a serious threat it was all hatred and mind games. Now that Arsenal have been neutralised with self-inflicted blows of cheapskateness and stubbornness, Fergie’s all smiles. You can bet that would not be the case with Scolari or Benitez now that they are still serious threats.
Now I here some other multi-billionaire wants to bankroll the Spuds! I’m afraid the final indignity of seeing our stubbornness lead to us no longer being the top team in North London will be too much for me ole heart to bear!
September 29th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
It’s great to see Hull fans put forward intelligent arguments forward and humility in victory. I for one wish your club all the best in the future.
It really is a massive difference to typical Manc or Sp*rs fans who all seem to be deranged idiots when they visit Arsenal websites. In fact, I got an abusive text from a friend at the weekend who supports Manchester United after the Hull City game. Yep, you guessed it, he’s from London.
I just hope you guys can do the same thing to United and Tottenham when you visit their grounds!
September 29th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Get used to it Arsene
YOU WERE MAULED BY THE TIGERS
September 29th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
i really enjoyed reading tigerpablo’s piece. as somebody else said it’s a positive vibe that’s emitted when people write with that attitude.
but Carlos the tiger really believes that Hull are the first team to have the brainwave of come to the emirates and attack us - and that that idea will now rub off on other teams in the EPL. That’s laughable mate. Hull did nothing in that game other than play really well with a collective passion that saw them winning the game. The idea that you’ve cracked some secret code by playing 3 up front and ‘attacking’ us is hilarious frankly.
Arsenal PREFER a game when attacked because it opens up the spaces that we so very much love to exploit. Hull had virtually no shots on goal for the majority of the game - an awesome long range effort from geovanni and a badly defended, well headed corner and yours was the victory.
Defensively you clogged up the box enough to scupper any arsenal player to have a decent crack at goal, and your keeper myson had the game of his life.
In conclusion, i take my hat off to Hull FC. They turned up and played their socks off and patiently waited for the moments that allowed them to win the game. But don;t get above your station, it’s pretty ugly to hear preaching from a newbie team to the EPL. I’d love to have received your ‘wise’ words after your 5-0 drubbing from wigan the other week.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:59 am
In response to ‘anewshape’ - our 5-0 drubbing by Wigan!
Of all the teams I thought we’d get our Premiership reality check result from, Wigan was definitely nowhere near the top of my list. Arsenal, yes, Man Utd, yes, Chelsea yes… but Wigan….
It was a weird one to say the least. When I first learned of the team we were putting out for that game, it was probably of detriment that only one of our new signings would be playing - Marlon King couldn’t play as we’ve got him on loan from Wigan, Gardner/Boateng were out injured, Halmosi (despite being one of our most expensive signings) was on the bench, leaving Geovanni to complete a team made from those who got us promoted.
After Fagan missed an early opportunity for us, from here things went awry big time. Wigan’s pressure forced a corner, a lapse of concentration from Ricketts and a lack of communication between him and Myhill, Wigan scored directly from the corner. We pushed into Wigan territory in search of an equaliser but then disaster struck. Valencia’s pace took Brown completely out of the picture and he slotted home with ease - 0-2.
For the majority of last season, our centre back pairing of Turner and Brown worked. This was Brown’s first Premiership start and as much as I don’t want to single him out for criticism his lack of pace and being out of position when Valencia entered our half, he was pretty much at fault for that goal.
City carved out further chances in the first half but lacked that killer instinct in front of goal. This was to be our undoing.
The second half continued in the same vein, we created chances, lost the battle in midfield and went on to concede some sloppy goals, most notably Heskey’s which made it 0-4. Brown had a habit of heading back to the keeper in the Championship by skimming it off his head - it didn’t work this time and it fell straight to Heskey.
Zaki, who has a pretty good goalscoring record by all accounts, got his second late on, the ball crashing against the crossbar and fortuitously just going over the line before bouncing back out again. 0-5. Mauled!
Well, what positives could be drawn from this game? Although our possession wasn’t as good as Wigan’s (if I remember rightly, it was about 43%-57%), our shots on/off target was greater than theirs, it was a game we should have had at least one goal to show for our efforts. Wigan had done well against Chelsea the week before, but they certainly showed us the character and guile needed to win Premiership games.
Looking back, the result has helped us more than hindered us, we’ve got an unbeaten run going which is helping us build confidence and belief, if we had done a better job of containing Everton and not let our 2 goal lead slip we could have been joint top with Chelsea and Liverpool!! Anyway, that’s ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’ talk, I think we will need to strengthen again in January and add more strength and depth to our squad and perhaps we will do much better than the 17th place we were all hoping for at the start of the season… at least we won’t face the prospect of ‘doing a Derby’, the team which our former ‘heroic’ chairman Adam Pearson left us for (how ironic is that??).
Onwards and upwards… come on you ‘ulllll
September 30th, 2008 at 10:31 am
dear tigerted,
please fully read the article you muppet,iam a tigers fan,
and rich sorry didnt mean your fans giving us respect i meant your team mate,the general thought to me seemed even without playing well they was expecting to give us a good spanking,
anewshape ,,playing 3 up front and closing down your flanks buggered you,you didnt seem to have an answere for that,i still thought your lads played well thou,you must have had at least 70% of ball,could it have been this that stopped you playing the football you like to play rather then you not playing well ?
September 30th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
carlos. we didn’t have any flanks! Nasri was injured and no arsenal fan would call eboue a flank player )most arsenal fans wouldn’t call him any kind of player to be honest).
ok, Walcott played, but the team we fielded did lack the players that we rely on for width. but nevermind. it just amuses me that you think it’s taken the full 12 years of Wengers tenure for someone to think of that. come on mate, don’t be daft. you don’t earn a reputation like Wengers (or Arsenals) that can be undone as simply as your suggesting.
also, clichy missed almost all the weeks training after narrowly escaping a broken leg the game before and anyone who’s seen us play over the past 2 seasons will tell you that he was no where near match fit by his standards. And he normally gives us some width.