So, one of the things I hate about not watching a match live is that it isn't really possible to hold a tit-for-tat discussion about it afterwards. This happened to me today. By the time you've watched the match, everyone has moved on. So, I thought that perhaps I could use the forum to get some more interaction.
Obviously, most of my comments will be about Arsenal as I am an Arsenal supporter but I will note the few things I've seen from the Lilly Whites.

1] Let me get this out of the way now, because I know it will be thrown back into my face later: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WAS THAT WE TOOK ALL 3 POINTS FROM THIS MATCH. I'm ecstatic about that. Not only because it is a NLD but because of the significance it may have at the end of the season.

2] Overall, baring our CB's and one or 2 of our players, i thought Arsenal were quite poor today. We started out very very well and really should have put the game to bed in the 1st 20-30 minutes. But for some reason, a malaise overtook the team and we retreated further and further into our half, had little possession, and offered less and less attacking threat. The fact that this continued and was even worse after the halftime is a bad indictment on the Boss. I mean, if it was planned (which I find hard to believe) then it was a poor strategy as we gave them far too much time on the ball and opportunities that they were luckily unable to convert. If it was not planned but was a reaction to our early goal, then that's even worse as it's a manager's job to adjust the tactics of the match when things aren't working well. This brings me to my next point...

3]SUBSTITUTIONS. A real source of constant frustration and bewilderment to many Arsenal fans is Wenger's rigid substitution practices. Why do we have to wait EVERY TIME until the 70+' of the match before we can make a substitution when we are playing like garbage since the beginning of the 2nd half? It's mindboggling. Why not take off our worst/least effectual players instead of one's who are actually contributing something to the match? See specifics below...

4]PLAYERS: OMG, Giroud had an absolute mare of a game! It was absolutely unbearable to watch. He couldn't act as a target man hold the ball, kept giving away possession, was unable to take on anyone 1v1, and simply never looked like having the pace to get onto any good passes. He was woeful, yet he stayed on the entire match. It was as if we played with 10 men. That's how bad he was.
Arteta tried his very best, as he always does, but sadly his age has really started to show this season as he cannot catch up with anyone who moves past him in midfield and this puts a lot of pressure on our backline. Moreover, his seeming inability to ever pass the ball forward further lessens his impact in midfield. Playing him as the holding defensive midfielder is never an option for me and I hate it when Wenger does that. In other words, either he plays plays a non-holding role or shares it with Flamini. Lastly, I thought Cazorla had one of his worst games for us today. Was invisible for much of the match and when he did have the ball took the wrong option or gave away possession.
In contrast, a player that stood out for me today was Podolski. I thought he was very intelligent, tracked back well, and really put in an admirable performance. The OX was also birlliant again but his impact lessened the farther and farther he had to sit back. And, Rosicky... that goal! I love that little bundle of energy.

5]TOTTENHAM: I thought Tottenham were also poor today but in different ways. They were often very sloppy and they were absolutely woeful up front (possibly as bad as we were). Adebayor did very well and was always a nuisance but our CBs gave him nothing. Not sure what Townsend offered either. I know Sherwood only gave Soldado like 10 mins to do something but I'm not sure I even saw him touch the ball once. I thought Rose had a decent game though. Overall, I'd say Spurs played the better football today but that's hardly high praise as it essentially equivalent to a Dwarf winning a height contest with Midgets.

6] TAKE-AWAY POINTS: I think Arsenal played well below their capabilities today and I think they had a lot more to offer but that is a worrying sign that we didn't show it. If we had played this poorly against a side in better form (viz Chelsea, 'Pool, City) we could've been destroyed. As it happened, Spurs were simply not good enough to beat us when we were poor which doesn't say much for them. The positives is that Arsenal can be happy with winning a hatrick of NLDs this year without conceeding a single goal and our defensive strength is reassuring. Spurs can be happy that they gave Arsenal a game and really have nothing to lose from now until the end of the season so they can give it a real go.

Thank you for reading. I welcome any comments, counter-arguments, criticisms, or nods of agreement :)

Sorry Foota, I didn't watch the match. However, my input on this would be:

1. Arsenal did amazing to punish Spurs for sleeping at the start. Arsene Wenger must push the players harder, a succesful team is never satisified with any result, whether it be 1-0, or 6-0.

2. From what I understand, it was a pretty lethargic, lackluster second half (correct me if I'm wrong), looking at the stats, through the entire match arsenal had only one shot on target, which was the goal. From a team containing creative players like Arteta, Cazorla, and Rosicky, you would expect them to create chances.

3. You were complaining about Arteta speed, which is a blow defensively, but if a player is smarter in the head, he won't need to use his speed to take the ball away. The Ox is extremely fast, and although he can't do everything himself, he must prioritize between attacking and defending. Arteta was never really a box to box midfielder. He needs to be more of a holding mid. Some of the best midfielders in the EPL, Lampard, Scholes, and Gerrard, were never known for speed.

4. Every point is crucial, ecspecially now. There is no room for error. I whole-heartedly agree with you on that. Congrats on the win.

Just my 2 cents. Again, I didn't watch the game, so probably half the things that I said are probably not true. LOL I feel stupid now. Anyway, I like your new profile pic btw.
Cheers!

1. i couldn't agree more abut giroud. he's lazy. makes sloppy passes. kinda useless upfront. true, i felt that we are playing with 10 players because giroud just stray along tots defensive line.

2. by playing 4-2-3-1 with these set of players are not very threatening in my opinion. giroud done nothing upfront. the absence of ramsey and flamini makes our team kept giving away possession. cazorla played a bit poor coz he's not holding the ball plus he cant dribble pass tots players.

3. if it was me, i'll play a 442 by pairing oxlade and podolski upfront.. or maybe switch giroud for podolski. oxlade take podolski position n gnabry player right wing..

those are my opinion.. thank you

Even when Arsenal are playing like garbage, this Spurs team still can't score a goal....

At this rate I don't see Lodatz coming back any time soon.

Ox should have finished that 1v1 chance against Lloris.

Yes Giroud looked highly ineffective today. Judging by this performance, I don't see why Wenger shouldn't start Sanogo against Chelsea.

Rosicky was the impact man at Bayern and today at WHL. He's been one of Arsenal's key figures this season without a doubt and he always seems to have a skip in his step. I'm really impressed with him this season.

I have to agree and say that Arsenal did play like crap today. Wenger subbed off our best attacking players of the match (Rosicky, Podolski, and Ox) and parked an absolute bus during the second half, with 5 men on the back line. I didn't like the second half one bit. That cracker from Rosicky though… Good 3 points. Now onward and upward!

I watched the game and I was impressed by arsenal for the first 20 minutes. But after that spurs had possession and did not use it. Giroud was inaffective and the only good things from arsenal were our defending and that bullet from rosicky. Good three points though

Giroud missed everything. He wasn't even good at what he's supposed to be good at, being a target man. So like you said, it was like playing with 10 men. The other thing I take from the game is that you can't keep playing the fluid possession football that's our trademark if your best and most creative midfielders keep getting injured. You could really see that we missed ozil, and that shows that he may not be very flashy but he makes a massive difference. Can't wait for rambo to come back.

Also I don't agree with you about podolski. As always, his tecnique was not on par with the other arsenal players. When we move the ball quickly, everytime it goes through podolski it slows down the play because he takes 1 touch more than the others and his pass is not good enough. And I thought he was lazy at times, when he could make a run or ask for the ball but he instead kept jogging very casually.

About substitutions. Yes we parked the bus, but what can you do when your ONLY offensive player on the bench is Sanogo ? Rosicky doesn't look like it but he is 33 and probably can't run that much during 90 min. Podolski wasn't doint his defensive duty, or poorly. Ox did look tired as well when he was subbed. So in the end, wenger brought in 2 defenders and 1 DM, but it paid off so I have no complaints. Also even if giroud was ****, he must start against chelsea. Sanogo is not yet near his level. And sometimes Giroud has good games, and when he does he is a very good striker. So I hope the chelsea game will be on of them.

TO RESUME :

Giroud was (very) bad. Cazorla was bad. Our midfield was toothless and the passing was not good enough for arsenal. It showed how much we miss Ozil, Ramsey and Wilshere. On a positive note, I LOVE koscielny and per. They are both contenders for best cbs in the EPL. And Kosc is a badass, he looks like a shark that feasts on strikers.
Super delighted about the 3 points and going 3-0 against spurs this season.

I have a ton of things to say about this game but I've just finished watching the game after coming back from a ski trip and it's 4 am here so I'm exhausted. Maybe I'll drop by tomorrow

I thought Sanogo played well against Bayern in the 1st leg up until that penalty call which is why I think he should at least be considered, but he does lack some experience. Still, to be thrown in against (arguably) the best team Europe for his second official match was a huge weight on his shoulders. This is why I think he'll be fine. But hey, Wenger will do what he feels best.

Luckily, Chelsea will be lacking Ramires and Willian.

Also, what do you think about Ox's new role in the midfield? Apparently he wanted to make the switch himself. I thought he filled those shoes nicely.

@ikoikoi when Giroud has a good game he is way better than Sanogo against bayern. Wenger has been saying for some time now that ox role in the future will be as a CM. I think he plays very well there but he still loses possession with bad passes too much for a CM. He will learn, but with our midfield I think he'll play mostly on the wing except if he becomes even better than ramsey or wilshere.

Yes, Giroud can outplay Sanogo on a good day, but those days aren't too common, these days, haha. Sanogo has pace, and he doesn't necessarily have to strike the ball, something Giroud doesn't do all that often either. We'll see come the Chelsea match. If Giroud underperforms again, I'm open to a Sanogo switch. I mean we have to make use of the guy! Giroud has to lug his oafy self around for the full 90 and it isn't looking too pretty. And the word around town is that Bendtner got into some drunken antics again, so I can't see him playing, not that I would want to this late into the season.