What is it about playing Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup? Arsenal, the 14-time FA Cup winner, played miserably on Sunday and have been knockout of the world’s oldest football cup competition by a team that is 9th in the Championship. For only the second time in 26 straight years, the Gunners have failed to advance beyond the third round of the FA Cup. Both of those defeats were to Nottingham Forest.
I’m not sure what it was going into this match, however, I just had that gut feeling that we would not play well and could possibly get beat. Well, that gut feeling came to pass, and Arsenal will not be moving forward in this important cup competition.
To sum it up, the Gunners had 67% of the possession, yet managed ZERO shots on target. That’s ZERO, NOTTA, NIL! Yes, you have to give a lot of credit to Nottingham Forest and their manager, Steve Cooper, for the way the hosts played. They frustrated Arsenal in the final third, keeping their goalkeeper at arms length from any and all potential Arsenal scoring threats.
Mikel Arteta told Arsenal.com after the match, “We needed more drive, more hunger to win at any cost in every single action. We were not there at any level today. It’s really hurting. To go out of the FA Cup today is a big blow. We were not good enough and we have to apologize for it.”
For me, the Arsenal man of the match was Bernd Leno. The seldom used goalkeeper kept the Gunners in the game with two big saves. Beyond that, our squad was outplayed end-to-end for most of the match.
It is so disappointing to see our club get beat, and I don’t necessarily mean by the score, I mean by how they played in the match. It’s almost as if they just expected to show-up, suit-up, warm-up and then win without a lot of effort.
I hope Sunday’s defeat at Nottingham Forest will serve as a wake-up call, especially for our young players. Victories have to be earned and fought for the entire 90 minutes. Yes, it’s always embarrassing for a big club to lose a match to a lower league team, however, it’s more embarrassing to lose the way the Gunners lost on Sunday.
Next up, a trip to Anfield and a Carabao Cup semifinal, followed by a league trip to Tottenham, and then the 2nd leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal at the Emirates. Things will not get easier. I’m not saying the season is on the line, but let’s not let it get to that point with any more performances like we witnessed on Sunday.
No cheers today.
Gunner1953
Gabriel Jesus has been assessed and it has been confirmed the striker has a left knee ACL injury that will require surgery. 
David Ornstein is reporting Arsenal will be unlikely to sign Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic.
According to World of Arsenal, the Gunners are expected to sign Real Sociedad Martin Zubimendi at the end of this season for around $61.2-million (USD).
Msg to Arteta.
Stop playing silly buggers with the formation. Stick to 4 4 2 or 4 4 1 1.
You are confusing the team, upsetting the balance and reserves have no idea why, what etc. They are used to training for a certain formation and the you change it.
I can forsee many more losses due to your stupid formation changes.
We are an attacking team yet you constantly pick a defensive setup. Liverpool and man city (above us on ladder) both play with 3 attackers. You play with one!!
Get your act together or you will soon be manager of Accrington and Stanley.