Shame he smashed the bar with that wonderful effort last week. Would have been two hattricks in two games. His goals today were sensational!

Very true ... he certainly can't be accused of hiding ; which is more than I can say about Walcott .

I am totally mystified by this guy , early season promise totally evaporated he almost seems to put himself in wrong positions to avoid getting the ball .

He said he wanted to play as a central striker ... he should be the one running in for that Özil tap in .

Even more bewildering when he has the perfect role model alongside in Sanchez , workrate . movement , hunger ....

I don't think it is simply about the money. He wants to have some silverwear in the cabinet. Some of his team mates do not seem as motivated. I thought that the lack of celebration from other members of the team is a worrying sign about team unity. If I found out that Alexis had given some of them a serve about their lack of chasing and endeavour I would not be shocked.

Can someone please explain if Theo is a twin and one of them played a couple of early games and now the lazy Theo is back. Just on consistency he is not worthy of a spot in the team. If someone told me he had spent the night before the game on the rum with Kiwipete then I could accept his performance.

Westham were terrible but Alexis and Monreal were brilliant. Ox made a number of errors but he never stopped trying unlike a few others. he also seems to get on well with Alexis.

I hope that as soon as Wenger has eaten his granola and fresh fruit this morning, he gets on the phone and arranges an emergency board meeting to discuss how they are going to get Sanchez to sign a contract extension. Unlike Alan Shearer's hesitation, Alexis is world class and I can't think of a better reason to use the resources generated by our move from Highbury if it's not to be to retain players such as him.

Missed the game and only just caught the extended highlights. Most enjoyable. That hat trick finish from Sanchez, sitting the gk down then lifting it over him was a thing of such beauty. Good to see ox and Özil on the scoresheet as well, we can't leave it all to Sanchez.

Ageuro and Fernandinho both suspended for our game vs city is good news.

I wonder if having Gabriel at right back gives Monreal more licence to get forward. When he plays with bellerin Monreal stays back more to ensure there is a back 3. With Gabriel as a less ambitious right back it could be monreal's turn to attack. Didn't see the game so don't know if this is what happened but Monreal seemed to be involved in a fair bit of the highlights

Morning Rich. The thing is, Monreal has played loads of great games when Bellerin was the other full back, so I remain to be convinced his fine match yesterday can be explained by Gabriel being the right back. Perhaps it was no more than a return to what became his normal form over last season and the season before. I sometimes wonder if we try to grasp at explanations with little foundation. So far this season Monreal hasn't been as good. But if his return to form yesterday was because of Gabriel, why was he also so good previously when the more attacking Bellerin was the right back?

Morning, I also think Monreal is a fine player, very reliable but hasn't quite been at his best so far this season, but my point was more a speculative one about how the teams more attacking full back may be on our left rather than right side with Gabriel in. Just interested to see if that balance changes until bellerin is back.

The team rested against Southampton were all restored for this match. Jenkinson apparently taken out of the spotlight and replaced at right back by Gabriel who this week had, had his own nightmares to contend with.

How refreshing it was to see Arsenal play and dominate most of a game of football. Right from the off it was clear Arsenal were winning this match. I reckon the players could have taken their feet off the pedal, put the handbrake on, played with less intensity, feel exhausted from previous matches, played Sanchez strapped in a wheelchair and we'd still have won. The most one-sided Arsenal v West Ham match since I saw Arsenal beat them 6-1 at Highbury in 1976 with Brian Kidd scoring a hat-trick Alan Ball grabbing two and the legendary George Armstrong getting the other.

OK! West Ham had injuries, but that's something Arsenal have had to put up with for years. I could not believe the amount of times Arsenal attacked down the left and crosses from Oxo and Nacho were put into the box and we could not finish. I thought some of the balls were placed into the right areas and yet Sanchez, Theo and our midfielders were simply not gambling and expecting the ball put on a plate to them towards the edge of the box.

A few minutes spell of West Ham pressure saw the first shot of the match in anger came from Lanzini as Čech saved at the near post. Then West Ham's make shift defence lost the ball under pressure from Coquelin (who I thought was superb) the ball run to Sanchez who cleverly knocked the ball past the West Ham defender and squared to Özil for a simple tap in 1-0 Arsenal. The beauty of closing down your opponents and not letting them play.

The rest of the half was all about Arsenal not having composure going forward and wasting chances with poor final balls. The half ended 1-0. I have mentioned it before, I'm not sure what the half time team talk is all about in the dressing room but like Sunderland away Arsenal came out half-a-sleep. West Ham started to rally, the crowd grew in voice and you could almost feel a typical Arsenal coming up.

Arsenal then brought on Ramsey and were back to their full compliment of eleven players. Then after more chances at being wasteful and not being composed enough in front of goal, a pass from Mustafi was pinged into Sanchez who with his magnetic feet, controlled the ball, turned, beat two players and rifled the ball into the net with an authority that he made his mind up it was going to be goal.  I do love it when a player finishes with purpose.

Sanchez was at it again eight minutes later with a twenty yard half volley that was placed just out of reach of Randolph. West Ham then got a soft free and Payet's superb shot hit the bar and who else would be there to stick the ball into the net from the rebound with his head but Carroll. This bloke is simply a head, the rest of him is pointless.

Oxo was up next planting a cracking shot from all of 25/30 yards in to make it 4-1 (I though Oxo also looked good and should be given a longer run the team). Two minutes later Oxo set Sanchez free and though offside the play was allowed to continue, the West Ham defender was beat, Sanchez bored down on goal, did a step over, sat the keeper on the seat of his pants before chipping the ball into the net for 5-1. This season we have seen two goals from Özil and Sanchez that have been world class.

Many of the West Ham faithful had, long  enough since left and swaths of white seats reflected their displeasure. I do tend to feel a bit sorry for West Ham fans the move has hit them hard. It's not a football stadium. The Arsenal fans chanting is "is this the Emirates" saying loudly what modern football has become.

Gabriel played well at right back. Koscielny is simply superb and though not yet there with Adams and O'Leary in the legend stakes the bloke is a proper defender. His partnership with Mustafi is looking very good. At the back of them we have a superb keeper in Čech, the man is the epitome of cool. Xhaka should start from now on as his partnership with Coquelin suits out style of play. Özil was simply Özil.

I still have my doubts though about Arsenal. We turned up for about seventy minutes of yesterdays match, yet when we play like that at Everton and City, I'll really start to believe we have moved on.

How nice to be able to feel really good about a win. It would not be to outlandish to say it could have been 10-1.

Not sure where this was aired but enjoying it, god Arsenals kit was just horrible..

http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016 ... s-1992-93/

Should we start thinking of Sanchez in the same breath we utter Pires and Overmars?

Hoping the football gods smile on us in the last match of the group stages.

I remember that 6-1 with a Kidd hat-trick. I thought yesterday was Arsenal's second best performance of the season, despite as you rightly pointed out the slow start to the second half. But the main reason I'm putting it second was that the Chelsea win was against a far better team, and although they were dreadful on the day maybe part of the reason for that was us being so good. I'm not so confident that the same thing applies to West Ham's performance. They were rubbish, but the league table suggests they often are. I think they'll have a bit too much to go down, but if I was a West Ham fan I would be feeling concerned.

You're right about the stadium, but as they were given it for the cost of a bag of crisps I guess long-term the move may work out to their advantage. There are things about it that make it obvious West Ham play there, but not an awful lot. Why don't they slap a bit of claret and blue paint on it, or make the seats claret and blue? If they're worried about the cost, perhaps West Ham should put the packet of crisps it cost them to move there into the equation? I was in the last but one row of the upper tier, and boy was it a long way from the pitch. I had more chance of being an eye-witness to a crime committed in Japan, where I've never been, than seeing the numbers on players' backs.

In terms of talent then he's absolutely up there, if not better. But, in years to come when Arsenal fans talk about their best ever players they will be linked to trophy winning players.

Sanchez's goals to games record is 1 in 2 which is fantastic and probably up there behind only henry and wright. Stunning player who we must do everything to keep.

Never thought I'd be mentioning a player in the same breath as Pires. That said, for now I assume he's enjoying his football. He's starting, he's playing well and he's in a big club in a big city. Eventually, he'll want trophies. Nasri, van Persie, Clichy, and a few others left for trophies. We don't look like it, the back to back FA cups notwithstanding not too long ago. To be fair, its much tougher now to win the title, maybe the most difficult time in recent years or not so recent years. We don't buy like we want to win the title.

If Liverpool and Man Utd drop points (hopefully both lose but if only one can lose I'll take MU). Love seeing Mourinho suffer. His stock has dropped so much.

Why does Robbie interview the same guys over and over? Isn't ArsenalFanTV? Id love to hear from others. Average blokes as you all say. Maybe even a forumite or two (the ones I like of course...haha).

...okay, my mistake. I saw on my youtube feed other fans. There are 2 or 3 he always talks to though.

Bournemouth 2 mins away from getting 3 points against Liverpool

Jack's cherries

Liverpool lose at Bournemouth having led 3-1 with 15 minutes to go. City defend like clowns and completely lose their discipline. Maybe Guardiola and Klopp aren't the tactical geniuses they are made out to be.

and a better team than Man City could have torn Chelsea apart. We get our chance in a couple of weeks.............

What a great Christmas we could have

I like Michael Oliver but if you see Rojo's two footed tackle you'll wonder why it was only a yellow.

Agree, and our much-criticised 3-1 win over the Cherries doesn't look so bad after that.

Let's hope the Toffees emulate the Cherries and make it a really sweet Sunday afternoon

Hoho Fellaini comes on and after a few minutes gives away a penalty 1-1.................

18 months left. They must be really concerned

No

Could the game be passing them by? According to BBC with just 9 wins out of his last 30 Premiership matches could same be said of Mourinho? A taxing question...

Chelsea next 3 PL fixtures:
West Brom h
Sunderland a
Crystal Palace a
Bournemouth h

Arsenal next 3 PL fixtures + 1 CL:
(Basel CL) a
Stoke h
Everton a
Man City a

Season defining run coming up with that gap to Chelsea now only 3 points. I'd back Chelsea to win all of those with perhaps palace away bfrom ing the hope of dropped points. These are the sorts of scenarios that lead to weakened teams being played against the likes of Basel in the last group fixture. We've got 4 games in 13 days. Babu I reckon you're set to be disappointed in that strong starting line up against Basel and you can see why. Unlikely for PSG to not win against Ludogrets and saving players the trip to Switzerland could be invaluable. Or we could lose and lose momentum with it. It's quite a tough call but I'd go with resting players. Keeping pace with Chelsea when they haven't got European competition is going to be tough. Liverpool then Leicester now Chelsea challenging in the PL with no European competition in the last 3 seasons. It feels somehow unfair on us when it just is what it is and we have to deal with it. Not sure who I'd rest but probably Alexis Özil and a CB.

I have to agree with Hoy on this one. I was surprised when Rich said in terms of talent Sanchez is "absolutely up there, if not better." In my view Sanchez gives away the ball too regularly and also perhaps too cheaply to be seen at the technical level of Pires. So I certainly wouldn't suggest he might be even better in terms of technique. I rate Sanchez as a wonderful player. But the equal or even better than Pires in terms of pure skill? I don't think so.

You are right that this season Sanchez is playing a role that Pires didn't. But even when he was playing on the left, as Pires did, I would still say he gave the ball away more. But overall, I do agree that rather than comparing them we should just enjoy the memory of a marvelous 7 in Pires, and now another current one in Sanchez (even though before this sentence I just compared them further ). Talking of 7s, that was also Brady's shirt. That really is an amazing threesome.

For me, Bergkamp's very best season was 1997/8, Arsenal's second league and FA Cup double season (Wenger's first). That's not to devalue any others. I just think it was just about his very best.

You continue to be brave omoh, especially with Sanchez's current form (and previous form now that I think of it). Not disagreeing, posing the question, but what makes Sanchez not in their category, either one, just out of curiosity and I assume others would like to know your reasons as well?

What would it take for you to put him in Bobby's level?

If we stay within 5 points after the City game, it may be as good as we can get. The holiday fixtures are always important. Lots of points dropped or gained in that time. The real push happens in the new calendar year. We would need one of our patented Arsenal title runs.

I do agree with the fact that with a run of fitness and a side more built to his strengths he can be a top quality player. That said, if he could spend more time watching the DVDs of 2013/14 and remember what he was doing, he could be that for us. for 4 months he was the best midfielder in the country by some way.

Yeah. Big Dave won 3 trophies for us and played in 3 other finals at a time when success wasn't thick on the ground. He was a home-grown gooner and played for us for nearly 20 years. More than enough to make up for a couple of odd comments when he was building a very young and exciting team at Leeds and trying to make his name - possibly with ambitions to manage the Arsenal. And leeds treated him very shabbily

That's the thing about goalscoring midfielders, Lom, they are as rare as hens teeth. Lampard being the prime example. They are forgiven almost anything when they continually score goals, especially important ones. It would be churlish to even discuss Lampard's limitations as a player when he banged in as many goals as he did for Chelsea. It was like Chelsea having another striker in their side.

If Rambo scored 15-20 goals a season, as Lampard often did, he'd be lauded as one of the great midfielders around. For that one season it looked like he was developing into exactly that. Sadly, it hasn't worked out that way. I'm actually a little surprised that the combination of Özil's precision passes and Rambo's runs into the box hasn't been a big success. If he'd ghosted into the box and grabbed a couple against Southampton no one would have even raised an eyebrow at the rest of his game.

The thing is, Rambo has actually had quite a few chances this season. Not gimmes but certainly ones which a player of a few seasons ago would have taken.[/quote]

Agree with this too. Ultimately if he was getting us 20 goals a season from midfield, he can give the ball away all he likes as long as its in the right areas. Its why I haven't given up on him, even if the current set up doesn't quite suit. But crucially in that purple half season, his passing, tackling and interceptions were also all top 5 for midfielders, so he has it in him.

But yes, his shooting boots returning would have already have seen him grab 5 or 6 this year even with limited game time.

Seems the team took your advice on board!

In true Cesc style there was a little goading and an un-spotted slap. He's always been a bit of a wind-up merchant, but you don't mind when its in your favour. Fernandinho and Aguero being suspended makes our game up there a lot more promising.

So Mr Vardy, you turn down a move from Leicester City to Arsenal? The football gods are angry. No goals in HOW LONG?