All Things Possible On Matchday Six
Dec 10th, 2013 by 'holic
Twelve points out of fifteen and we still are not assured of emerging from the final group stage match in the top two places. Astonishing though that is it surely means we go to Napoli and start the strongest team we have available to us on Wednesday night.
Quite what that strongest team looks like I am not sure too many people would know, especially in midfield where we have simply too many players in good form for the number of starting berths. Smoke and mirrors were employed by Arsene in his press conference prior to the match.
“When you play so many games, sometimes in one game you have a feeling the legs are a bit tired, but sometimes the game after they surprise you again and everybody has recovered. At the moment we have a stable squad. In some positions I rotate more than others where the stability is important. Overall we have no major signs of fatigue medically.”
Perfectly clear then. We may rotate because sometimes players get tired but right now they are not!
Only a defensive catastrophe will stop us progressing and when Arsene talks of stability you can be sure the spine of the side will be retained. That means Wojciech Szczesny behind Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker at the back. Perm any two from Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta , and Aaron Ramsey holding. Not forgetting Olivier Giroud at the head of affairs. Away from home against a team that has to attack I would also include Theo Walcott before working out the rest of the equations.
Napoli will surely not be brushed aside as comprehensively as they were at the Grove. Clearly the managers have a healthy respect for each other, with Arsene talking of Rafa Benitez as “a very intelligent manager, so I know he will prepare his team well.” In reponse Benitez acknowledges “This could be the year they win the Premier League. For me, Wenger is the best coach in the Premier League and knows what his team must do.”
The ‘holic pound is seeking some small return. Fancy Theo to score at anytime? Me too. Check the price comparison sites to get 100/30. I may even have a back up few coppers on penalty taker Mikel Arteta at sevens.
Take care those of you who are out there and hopefully you will be rewarded with another memorable night on our annual European tour.
Have a good one ‘holics.
284 Responses to “All Things Possible On Matchday Six”
Just a fat spanish waiter……
Indeed z 😉
Vieira and Keane programme on ITV4 in ten minutes. A must watch…
manuel hopefully will play havoc with his already poor defense.
now to read your no-doubt fine post, ‘holic!
Yep, I would start Theo as well H.
A number of our players looked tired on Sunday I thought, Ramsey especially.
Would pair Arteta and Flamini personally.
Win or draw and we top the group. Easy Peasy 😉
We can beat Benitez, FACT!!!
Let’s give Rambo a rest please, Theo and Little Mozart to start, 1 nil to the good guys 🙂
A fine post indeed, ‘Holic. Having missed out, even on an almost trophy, I took the time to read it.
I believe absolutely that we must start the strongest team available tomorrow night. Whilst this isn’t a “must-win” match in terms of progress in the Champs League, and even though there is no guarantee of an easier match in the next round if we finish top of the group (leave alone the chance of an “easy” match), we need to try to do that because it’s what big teams do – they enter competitions and then they try to win them. It’s as simple as that in my opinion. Any poor result risks denting the team’s confidence and the consequences would likely be worse than the potential gain from resting players.
I’m sure Arsène is relishing having this kind of decision to make again after a few years of relative famine.
I hope that fans in Italy have a wonderful day with a good game and great result to finish it off. I remain confident that whatever team AW puts out will give of their best.
COYG
Nice post Holic.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s match, it will be nice to enjoy as I’ll effectively be done with everything important at Uni for the term by then 🙂
Not to forget King Henry being in the studio for tomorrow’s game! Will have to tune in an hour and 45 mins before kick-off instead of my usual 5 mins 😉
Which studio Wind ?
Heh @ Trev….
But you spelt FAKHT wrong 😉
Great post Holic!
Btw, did you all hear that there is a Clause in Cazorla’s contract that says he is allowed to miss Boxing Day fixtures?
It’s called the Santi Clause.
Holic, 2nd paragraph, first sentence. You read my mind 😉 With Zico @ #4.
However big tomorrow night is it can’t compare with Tottenham v Anzhi on Thursday. That’s what it’s all about.( Deep Deep irony)
It is bound to be tense but the key is not to concede early and put the pressure increasingly on them so they overcommit . They concede more goals than a lot of the top Italian sides and I agree with Holic that Theo’s pace will be a major issue for them on the break.
1-1 would do very nicely
H2H,
I tried spelling it like that but it made a horrible mess all over my screen. 😉
@15,
Napoli conceded three at the weekend. 3-3 draw, I believe.
On fire cannons! A draw and top the group will do me. We deserve to have a crack at the quarters this year
Not sure if it works the same in Europe but over here 100 to 30 is the same as 10 to 3. 😉 Come on Theo!
Works the same everywhere, 8ball – you lose !
All I know is if Arsenal play like they did against Everton ie threading a ball through a ten man defence,they could lose.Naploli could launch a fast counter and the gunners could be a goal down.While trying to go for the equaliser,gaps could appear.
Soon it will be 2-0 and before you know it Napoli have got another goal. This the worst scenario that could unfold .
The gunners like to play intricate possession football. How did Stoke beat Chelsea? They went direct and the goals they scored were gems.
I don’t know but the speed of attack is a vital ingredient in soccer today. BM are the best in this respect. I know they have lost but rest assured,their top place aint at stake.You will see a different BN the next round.
Washed I am envying those vongole but are they clams or mussels?? Always thought they were clams even if I like mussels better. Especially with some vino bianco and pasta. 🙂
But a Rafa team has never come back from being 3 nil down in a European game?
….oh.
I’ll get my coat.
What happens if we score a goal or two but loose?
I mean do the normal away goals thing apply if it ends up like 3-1 to Napoli, God forbid and do we top the group on an away goal?
Please assume I am thick, if anyone hadn’t sussed it before.
Beware Spanish managers bearing compliments… just win (or draw) the next match.
Well done CoR…he’s making a list, he’s checking it twice…
BMBD
Double Canister
It is very complicated. If the points are level the results between the clubs concerned are taken into account. Points between them are level but we know Napoli need a three goal winning margin to get a better result against us and therefore 3-1 would see us going through as would 4-2. Every goal we score means they need to get three more than us.
Philippe Auclair thinks Marseille are up for it against Dortmund who have lots of injuries and predicts an upset. That would save us a lot of nervous moments.
bt8b, vongole are clams. cozze are mussels. i’ve had delicious pasta al cozze having picked the cozze off of beautiful cornish rocks east of marazion, in the misty rain. cooked by an italian man, father of my wife’s friend with whom we were staying, in a refurbished barn in goldsithney. very, very memorable…
26 TTG
Cheers, ones on me!
Domestic brands only, not the top shelf stuff.
27 Scruz
Yes, but have you ever watched C-beams glitter in in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate?
@29: All those moments, and more, will be lost for all time…like tears, in the rain
Scruz I cannot top that but I did gather some excellent mussels at a Santa Barbara beach previous to the 1969 oil spill. 🙂
cor knows @30, dc@29.
bt8b, yum. i’ve partaken of some other natural ingestibles on beaches in santa barbara, from time to time. 🙂
As a bitter, sad and lonely old bastard, can I ask everyone to spell ‘lose’ as follows -LOSE. As in “You lose, Napoli”.
LOOSE spells,well, loose! As in “the rope was loose”.
Its not all that hard really.
Ingestables? That sounds like something from my past, but I can’t quite remember why. 😉
Napoli v. Arsenal is on FoxSports1. If I remember correctly what Dr. Faustus said, that means I might be able to watch my first Champions League game of the season.
Three cheers for Mack Brown who will reportedly step down as head coach of the Texas Longhorns later this week. Thanks for the championship in 2005…I’ll always remember being in the Fox and the Hound for the winning drive.
It was time for you to go, but I appreciate the good times. Hook ’em.
BMBD
Assuming Dortmund beat Marseille they will qualify. Napoli will have to beat us by 3 goals to ensure they are in and we are out. That being the case there is no way they will be relying on counter-attacks. It will be attack, attack, attack until they have that three goal margin.
That’s why we should field our best defensive side – Merts/Kos and Flam/Mikel – with our most likely counter-attackers – Theo/TR7 – ready to convert defence-splitting work from Özilla into opportunities for themselves and OG. While Rambo has been great coming from deep I prefer Mikel when defending is more important.
And we will still have him and Santi on the bench if things go wrong. Can’t see that happening though, we should score at least as many as they do … counter-attacking.
Öskar
*’him’ being Rambo.
Öskar
I’ll take a guess and go with Jenks, BFG, Koz, Nacho, Arteta, Flam, Cazorla, Ozil, Rosicky, Giroud.
Cheers Holic! Quietly confident it will be Service! later on tonight.
Esso
I did pass on your best wishes and thanks for PHW to Sir Chips. He seemed quite chuffed. I think the public role of Chairman at a Premier League club makes you feel a bit vulnerable. He certainly gave that impression.
For what it is worth he seemed a very nice fella. Bit disappointed I wasn’t invited into the Director’s Box though!
I love the coast between Salerno and Sorrento. If you haven’t been there I would recommend it BUT my Italian tour guide told me Naples is the most dangerous city for visitors in Itsly- and that was without a vital football match on. I do hope all our fans keep safe and the Italian police do a good job. I always get the impression they resent policing English fans
It was clams in the Vongole.I thought that clams was american for mussels and when I saw and ate thought that it was a different variety.
TTG .It does not feel dangerous but I am deliberately avoiding a bar crawl for those reasons and trying to behave like a normal tourist.There were incidents when Marseilles visited them which were apparently provoked by Marseilles fans hoisting Sampdoria flags who are Naples hated rivals.
Thanks for the post ‘Holic.
Way out of the blogging loop here, for which I apologise, so I have only just caught up with the various drinks. To set your mind at rest – the burger was something which Andy Lowe (the Scottish chap who was treating me to the ticket) had bought for my pal Hiba after the match, but she left before it arrived (very sensibly I might add) so it was left in the middle of the table :-). He even emailed me about it on the Monday. So ‘Holic, you are right, you didn’t order it, and it wasn’t yours.
Back to the more pertinent – here’s to qualification tonight, and even more importantly all our fans getting home safe.
What Oskar said @37.
COYG
Poppet,
You have now stretched the imagination too far with this continuing burger saga.
A “Scottish chap who was treating you to a ticket” – come on !! 😉
A draw and no injuries, that’ll do and that’s “all” we need to top the group and go into Saturday’s early K.O. in decent spirits.
Somehow, I think it may play out a little differently….
COYRRRs!
Unbeaten?
Thank you Poppet. I was as baffled as anyone that food had been purchased by me on a matchday 😉
I look forward to the apologies 🙂
Hahaha Trev – yes indeed, and in fact you are right – it was his company :-D.
No apology here – when I looked you were going in head first direct toward the burger…..
Steve T will confirm. 🙂
ttg@26: we all assume that Marseille will have nothing on Dortmund, and while I personally think Dortmund will win I have to say I wouldn’t be too surprised if Marseille nicked a point in that game. As you say, Dortmund have a few injuries (aren’t both their central defenders out, for example?) and Marseille have got nothing to lose while the pressure on Dortmund is enormous, failure to qualify would be a massive failure for them. Again, I do think Dortmund will win but stranger things have certainly happened.
As for our game, it’s all very simple – stay focused and we will get at least one point. I don’t mean to say that Napoli is a bad side at all, but we are better than them.
Heh, Zico – I remember that bit – it was when my shoes took a particularly sparkling beer shower ;-).
🙁 oops
Heh – it’s been all of us – and on this occasion it saved me a few bob on a shoeshine kit, so I should be thanking you ;-).
Re: washed @43. 🙂
Poppet. Did anyone check to see if the burger had an implanted listening device? Government agents are everywhere you know. 😉
I wouldn’t worry about H, just wait till Poppet meets the Reverend Al. 😉
@58. Hahahaha :-D. I wonder if they are enjoyed listening to Wind’s digestive tract ;-).
Superfluous “are” there, apologies.
Zico, I have no plans to meet the Maker just yet ;-).
So, a Scot bought a ticket for someone else and the burger was not the Holic’s???
Alright, tickets for the Cardiff game on January 1st are fixed!
Anybody around who wants to share a beer and / or a burger with me & my management? 😉
Something like that Lars, wonders will never cease … :-).
Think it’s set up for Theo. There is going to be space as Napoli press for the goals needed. Theo is ideal to exploit this. Will be interesting to see an Italian team try and change it’s mindset and go all out attack. Think we’ll win and top the group
http://www.notanotherarsnalblog.wordpress.com
It’ll be interesting but I’ll be surprised if Theo starts.
One one hand, I can see the logic in relation to the pace he offers from a counter attacking perspective.
But I think Wenger will opt for the more conservative approach in choosing players that have served well so far this season and have the work rate to press and defend. Thats not really Theo’s game, and so far this season, apart from being injured, he’s been playing poorly from an attacking perspective by comparison to his form last season. This is a game of enormous magnitude and I feel Wenger will want 11 form players on the field.
@TTG Thanks for that Squire. Nice one.
Scottish Burgermeisters? I didn’t know I was in the company of such an exotic breed.
They obviously made that table with 3 legs! ( I got your back H) 😉
As for the game, we will score and they might too, but not 3 more than us. I actually fancy a 3-1 win for the yellow and blues.
Enjoy the game all.
Thanks Norcal,
Handy to have a rear gunner 😉
Thanks Poppet, the great ‘holic burger mystery has finally been solved. 🙂
Been having a very busy week, me. Can’t wait for the game tonight. Hopefully the boys can do the business and come home unscathed.
A bit worried about the safety of our fans over there. Here’s hoping for a rewarding performance for the them.
COYG!
@68
3-1?
What happened to “clean sheet NorCal”? 😉
H2H,
Heh. I’m not at the game and I’m working so no “live” viewing for me. So…. 3-1. But I wouldn’t mind a clean sheet!
Cheers
Clean sheets and rear gunners! Whatever next?
Bring on the football!
COYG
Woo, work over.
Pre match ritual ahoy.
That’ll be a mineral water…….
Er, no.
COYRRRs.
Poppet,
Your stories get more and more preposterous.
Not only are we supposed to believe you were given a free ticket by a Scotsman – now we are asked to imagine Holic wasting beer on your shoes !!! 😉
New BBM channel on all things arsenal… I do try to connect to pilgrims at the grove :-). Search Arsenal FC News/Thoughts. Channel PIN: C002D7A85.
Hope we play the counter attack football today. I trust the defence even if Vermaelen starts. No Hamsik today. Shut out Higuain, shut out that attack (well partially). We’re gonna win. We top the group. We play Olympiacos and head into the quarter finals to beat athletico. This season is gonna be so epic I can literally taste it…and its not the beer speaking. I just had my first pint.
I understand people who say Benitez will send out his team to attack from the kick-off but I think he is too sly a coach to do that. I think he will tell them to contain us first, finish the 1st-half with a clean sheet and if they nick a goal they will start the 2nd-half patiently too then bombard us in the closing stages of the game.
I like permutations.
Good evening hölics & hölices & all lovers of Guinness.
Cool clear preview Guvnor, a very cautious one. I would also want to see Theo start alongside Nacho man & TR7.
I’m going for a 1-2 to the good guys. Goat fries together with a pint on me B-)
Just heard that they were selling flares outside the ground! Stay save you travelling Gooners.
My team for tonight:
TPIG
Cpl Jenks BFG Kos Nacho
The Flamster Arteta
Feo Ozil TR7
HFB
Santi, Rambo and Jack could do with a rest, let’s hope we don’t need them!
We need to score early to settle my nerves. Off to open a bottle of red.
As always COYRs
Napoli:
Rafael; Maggio, Fernandez, Albiol, Armero; Dzemaili, Behrami; Callejon, Pandev, Mertens; Higuain
No Reina and Hamsik as expected.
Mertens, Callehon and Magio is what frightens me.
So much pace on the wings. Lets hope that our fullbacks are fully concentrated and our midfielders do their defensive duties.
Some noises that City game will be postponed on Sunday, only a rumor though.
Arsenal:
Szczesny, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Arteta, Rosicky, Cazorla, Ozil, Giroud
No nonsence team from Arsene there. However no Monreal is a surprise, for me at least.
No postponement of City – it was an under 19 game.
Just dropping in to say that between City having rested half their team last night, the extra day’s rest they will have and their current home form, I think that a draw on Saturday would be a fantastic result. We can then focus on beating the Chavs at our place.
Ahead of that – finish the job tonight and come home safe those who are there.
COYG
Btw – like the strong team for this evening.
We can probably afford to lose at City and it won’t be a disaster. Get ourselves in bother in Naples and it’s a different story, could find ourselves playing on Spursday nights. No one wants that.
Bang up for this one.
Fully agree N7.
Tonight’s game is the one that matters. Anything from City will be a bonus.
Holic @ 50, sorry for the accusations, both in the drinks and on Twitter 😉
Poppet @ 60, heh! 😆
Datsyuk @ 63, I’ll be there, and I presume Trev will be also as a Season Ticket Holder, don’t know about the turn out from the regulars because its New Year’s Day…
Don’t know if any of you just saw Thierry and the Boss conversing live on Sky Sports 2, and initially in French before they switched to English 😛 Thierry still calls Wenger “Coach” 🙂
Strong first Xi, with more a defencive minded midfield with Flamteta in there. Good call.
No surprises with the team. Good defensive set up but without blunting our counter-attacking prowess. Maybe the thinking with Theo remaining on the bench is concern at the defensive cover for The Corporal, although I think Flimflam will help with this. We have held our ground against better attacks than Napoli, so hopeful of a 2-0 win!
Saturday against City is another day – concentration, intelligence and vigour this evening will give the good guys Top of the Group success.
Wenger isn’t starting Theo at all since he returned- even against Hull. I thought he might be a real weapon tonight. Maybe from the bench?
Theo is better from the bench when legs are tiring, although I wouldn’t be surprised if he started against Citeh as they play a ridiculously high line.
No probs with the team sheet, even though I wished for Nacho.
COYGs
Surprised at the team after Dr Faustus’ and my efforts the other day.
Maybe AW hasn’t had time to read the blog.
We win the group – no problems.
I’ll have the Ajax game on the box tonight, but have already got a stream for the match.
Enjoy the game all!!!
COYGUNNERS!!
Agree on Feo. From the bench when napoli’s legs are heavy.
Wheew .. just back from warm and sunny 85 degree Miami to a frigid, snowy East. I was “stuck” in the tropical weather 4 days, dont ya know.
Not long to go….
Team sheet looks very strong indeed!
Come on Arsenal!!!
Locked out of the house but managed to find the house keys just minutes before kickoff. Good omen?
Home kit – good omen.
COYG!
Hungarian ref.
8 ball very good omen 🙂
excellent night in napoli. let’s hope arsenal make like vesuvius and bury them…
anyone know who’s on the bench? jack, theo, nacho, ? did serge make it?
Hi holics. Good luck Arsenal!!!
Wasn’t the fellow who sent RVP off at the camp nou Hungarian?
Come on you Rip Roaring Never Boring Gooners!
not so sure about the tonsorial choices of the fsw.
off we go… come on, lads, let’s get at them early and often.
dortmund 1 up. just saw gala beat juve, the old lady’s out of the cl…
Come on lads!
nice foot, per.
Poor Juve. Poor us too, we need to wake up!
No more empty feeling please. I want to be fulfilled.
napoli playing completely juiced up. watch for them to fade as the game progresses. our boys playing very measured ball, though it’s got an extra bounce in it tonight, and it’s not sticking to feet.
Per to the rescue again. More than a quarter of the game gone and we haven’t taken one shot yet. 🙁
How us that not a fucking yellow???????
Good save by their keeper, OG almost!
anyone have a decentish stream? i can’t find anything but stop start stuff. most of the ones on the wiz are now deleted.
scruz
http://www.footballstreaming.info/streams/todays-links/
Scruz
I have a perfect acestream but looks like it’s several minutes behind
cheers, arthur, got one from there!
man, they are fouling the hell out of us. come on ref, let’s see some yellows for repeat offenders.
This ref is terrible!
They go in with really hard tackles and we touch he gives em a fould what a hansen!
Thats his 5th foul!
finally. about freaking time!
Finally the foul bullshit is finished.
Behrami the worst offender.
Arsenal playing simple smart away football
Come on Flamster!
well played, matty.
they’re still diving at the slightest touch.
oooh, chezz. not sure about that decision.
Scruz I dont think he had much choice
man, kozzer is good. that was just brilliant at the back.
and now another yellow for a cynical foul by dzemaili.
Nice play n run by Kos!
maybe not, atg, but it was dicey.
Napoli bad mannered!
how was that not a foul on flamini?
Gibbs once again too easy to go round
wtf, Woj?!
oooh, again, chezza. play it safe, lad.
Kos and Flamster! Arteta wrestling them in the there too!
rough half. still, i can’t see napoli getting three in the second half. did they even have a shot on goal?
Dangerous game for injuries now for arsenal.
Seems Napoli have no plan other than get into our ankles
marseille now drawing dortmund!
chezza just showing everyone how useless higuain is.
good refereeing – two of theirs booked, none of ours.
only question is which malt to celebrate with.
or maybe just a large cooking brandy 🙂
Not bad, not bad at all.
which malt? how about irish, dk?
i think kozzer is motm again. absolutely imperious at the back. that interception in the box/dink the napoli player/run to midfield was brilliant.
Did you see Thierry’s total disdain for Redknapp’s comments about Chezza?
Theo for TR7 around 70 mins? Jack for Arteta then too and, as long as we’re not chasing the game, Bendy, Bendy, Bendy for Ollie G.
scruz – I have a Bowmore and an Ileach.
Don’t know irish so much.
Redknapp’s a twit.
I got a great stream, but it’s on a bit of a delay, so enjoy 2nd half ‘holics.
See you on the other side……
COME ON YOU REDZZZZZZZZ
i think that was terry’s disdain for redknapp and his entire lineage.
go for the bowmore, dk.
Rafa conversation at half must have been something like…
“Well done lads I had nothin so just keep kickin”
I’ve been very impressed by Thierry and Patrick over the last 24 hours. Their footballing brains are as sharp as ever, but their silver tongues have replaced their golden boots. Quality, interesting, informed commentary.
Come on Arsenal!
Marseille down to ten men though!
Napoli look like Martin O’Neill’s Leicester City.
Do those Neapolitans really pay to watch that every week ? No wonder the place is empty.
They should have had 4 yellow cards by now.
Arsene, please grab Sir Chesny by the ears and tell him if he doesn’t stop attempting one stupid clearance per game that you will complete his own Neapolitan by topping him off with his own nuts ! 😉
Jenks having a great game.
ozil got the bend wrong on that one.
best passing move we’ve made all game ends with a row z ball from rozza.
Another 10 mins off this and would think Napoli will stop chasing arsenal shadows and ankles all I’ve the park
nice save woj. great covering d koz.
OMG, Woj! Whew.
Still can’t believe higuain went to this side
Napoli are gonna throw everything at us now, look how high up their full backs are playing.
Time for Theo soon me thinks.
Gibbs side left open once again
Scary moements!
*moments
Very soft yello for arteta
giroud tracks back to his defensive 3d, wins the ball, then a throw in. man, he’s a hard worker.
We are looking shaky at the back ,Napoli in full flight We could use some fresh legs.
We need to play some keep ball in their half
aaron in for santi.
Sikky yellow Giroud, refs a c u next…
ramsey on for santi
You are too quick scruz
another nice little save for woj.
got a good stream thanks to arthur, aussie.
I got the match live on ESPN in aud and I still can’t keep up
heh, higuain blazes over under pressure from kozzer.
it’s the time lag down under, aus 🙂
Nice work from Woj!
there goes our clean sheet.
Oh no higuain scores
Shyte!
Devastating strike.
it’s nacho time!
SHIT
off comes rozza. nick a goal and keep top of the group.
chezza. heh.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh fuck!
Arteta red
arteta sent off for a foul he hasn’t been calling all game. bullshit
fucking lame-ass ref.
When it rains, it pours. Arteta out on 2nd yellow 🙁
What a cunt ref.
Ridiculous red
Ref is a fucking joke!
napoli played that way most of the first hour, and he took forever to pull out the cards. arteta plays two fouls, maybe three, and he’s gone.
C’mon boys keep up their end and just hold the ball
Shit right across our goalmouth
Squeaky….
We are 12 points Napoli 12
Ramsey and Napoli prick pushing and both yello
Stupid fucking REF
this ref really is out his depth.
if there are more than 4 minutes of added time i’ll be screaming.
Marseille game could change everything and knock dortmund out
right now, if things ended like this, aus, arsenal top the group and napoli second. dortmund go to europa (i think) and marseille go home.
Dortmund have scored
Dortmund 2:1 up
now dortmund and arsenal through, dortmund topping the table. 2-1 v. marseilles.
Napoli must come.
We must equalise
COYR’s
Things changing quick from down under now scruz.
Our inter web thing is winding up with the sun coming up
The group of death – wow
3 mins extra time
lol, aus. all the dew is now dried off your interweb.
Fuck sake!
Oh no goal to napoli
ugh, another cockup at the back.
Honestly…. keep my trap shut.
Finished thank fuck for that
game over? we’re through.
Dortmund top the group again! I know we are through but come on where was Walcott tonight????
Fuck me, that was too close.
We’re through but I think we fucked up tonight.
Scrappy uninteresting game but job well done overall by arsene and the squad.
Now rest for city.
That’s just fucking embarassing.
We’re thru but without any honor at all.
i’m a sad gooner atm. not exactly the type of game i wanted to see from the lads, regardless of the result. i guess we’re in ok shape for city, but…
Through, but it is Barca, one of the Madrids, Bayern or PSG in the next round. Hardly a cakewalk.
Bayern, Barcelona, Atletico, PSG or Real.
Marvelous. Just fuckin’ marvelous.
Oh and chin the fuck up. There’s always saturday.
We played well in the first half and could have done more for my liking, me thinks we went there for a draw and that is a little embarrassing!
Job done but again we let Dortmund take the first spot.
What a terrible game, what happened to our swagger and belief?
I honestly think this was one of those games where Arsene does himself no favours as his tactics proved utterly inept in a game we simply needed to not lose.
Who else saw Artetas red coming?
Why on earth take Walcott if he had no intention of playing him, its this sort of tactical mistake that has derailed us in seasons gone by and I really hope that is not the case this time.
Just an awful game to watch.
If we are to win this CUP we have beat one of those teams at some point!
COME ON ARSENAL!
Job done, just barely…
We set up not to concede but conceded 2 anyway.
Meh, a game to forget so let’s look forward to the weekend 8)
I’m also wondering about the lack of Walcott.
Wish AW had seen my team selection – far too negative a game plan.
Now we have a VERY difficult match in the last 16.
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Bayern
Atletico
PSG
Between the devil and the deepblue sea.
Homer knows.
We didn’t rest players, played very apathetically, got Arteta banned for a game, and progress second in group.
The boys need to right the ship…and fast.
At the moment, the mercenaries must be licking their lips for Sunday. Come on Arsenal.
BMBD
A very tired and frankly rather insipid performance from our lads. Some excellent individual performances but several players went missing and our second half performance was as poor as I can remember recently. Arteta was very naive to make the challenge he did and we are now second in the group and will probably get a very hard game .Noli were very ordinary although they improved in the second half. I think Per suggested we had a very negative mindset.
You could divide our team into those who played well
Mertesacker
Koscielny
Gibbs
Flamini
Giroud
And those who didn’t
Rosicky
Cazorla
Arteta
Ozil
Jerks was exposed a bit but did his best and Ches had some nutty moments . Thought Theo would have exposed them at the back as they pushed up.
I do hope we get our heads right for Saturday. Our fortnight of tough challenges has not started at all well with two flat performances
Don’t get me wrong. Thrilled we got out of the group o’ death. Thrilled. Good work and all that but here we are 2nd, again. And looking at a shit draw in the next round, again.
This is supposed to be our best side in near a decade and we got pasted by Napoli 2-0. Five minutes probably and one goal from being dumped. Worrying. And I’d say Dortmund or Fener or Gala’s grounds in Turkey (not to be confused with ground turkey) are probably as bad if not worse than Napoli … tougher, if you will.
There, just cheered myself up with bad t[T]urkey puns.
Cheers all. City next!
Lone star
Were playing on Saturday!
Gotta beat the best to claim you’re the best though!
Let’s do whoever we get in the next round.
UTA
Arthur 231 – looked very much like that from here.
No real push forward or conviction in attack tonight and that never seems to work for us when we sit back.
That second goal was ridiculous.
No challenge on the Napoli player, Szczesny off his line but nowhere near the ball – all that hard work almost thrown away.
I hope there was a good reason to go through with that substitution right after the first goal, and also not to play Theo today.
Otherwise I might (privately) wish for Wenger to be …. banned from all good things in life for a few hours…
I’m fuming.
237 thunder – not sure I would have Gibbs in good group.
Simply does not defend.
I thought we looked extreamly vulnrable on the flanks.
Barca, I can smell it.
We’ve said all this for the last four years when we’ve blown it in the group stages . It was unnecessary here because Napoli were very average although Benitez made intelligent adjustments.
Higuain’s goal was great finishing about the only thing he did all night.
Arteta was perhaps unlucky but is also looking a bit off the pace for my liking.
We really lacked pace going forward
Thank fuck we were playing a Rafa team. Obviously Rafa and Pelligrini wasn’t paying attention in school during statistics.
Strange re Theo, but hey ho. Got to get the boys rested and prepared for a big challenge at Shitty on Saturday.
Good thing I vented on Twitter before I came here 🙂
Oh well – if we do get knocked out in the last 16, at least we’ll be able to concentrate on the league.
Good point – Ramsey got a bit of a rest.
Didn’t think Özil was so bad – did a lot of chasing back.
The main problem seemed to be the defensive mind-set. Instead of going for getting a goal, we sat back – apart from the Flamster. Even when we got a free kick in their half, there was a lack of commitment. And that must be because of the game plan they’d had instilled in them. Always very difficult when you “just” need the draw.
I may be alone in this but I actually don’t care when we get a horrendous second round draw in this competition .
So, we get Bayern…
We either somehow beat them, in which case we get a huge lift and can start to believe we might go all the way.
Or we go out, in which case we focus on the league.
If we’re going out I’d rather go out early.
The second half performance probably our worst in this season. There was a tactical ambiguity that impacted the players. The first half was regular matured played as we have come to expect this season, but in the second half I felt we lost concentration and shape and no one stood up to help Jenk who was having a horrid time once Insigne was introduced.
Also whenever we had the ball we tried to play just too cute instead of being patient. There needs to be a fine balance between fast counter attack and simple patient possession and we made tactical mistake on maintaining that balance.
And I think Gioud has picked up something, he was not at all walking fluently towards the end. Hopefully nothing more than a cramp.
I had Theo in my time but I guess Arsene was worried about defensive weakness down the right.
I will take Atletico. Sharp team but pockets of weakness we can expose, with not this type of insipid performance of course.
Positives we are through and Urm 🙂
Fuck me not one easier game to hope for in the draw Spose you’d want PSG then Athletico followed by Barca then Madrid but I’ve a bad feeling we will get the hardest in Bayern seems to be how it goes for us in Europe these past few years !!
Also I’ll join the rest of you in wondering where Walcott was he should have been on after 60 minutes his pace would have at the very least pushed their defence back, No way would the full back have attacked at will with him in behind,
All said and done those games are never the easiest just look back at recent history to see what happens to sides when they can get beat and still go through, The players just have a different mindset to normal.
On to City – Up The Arse !!
Aussie
Fair point I think Nacho is a better defender but I thought Kieran stuck to his task reasonably well. Neither full back got much help from his wide man
Well Lurky@246 – you’ve got a 20% chance of being right so if you can get more than 4-1, go for it.
We’ll know on Monday by 13.00 CET.
TTG @ 237 — I like Jenks but today I think he was too afraid to make mistakes and had no tactical experience or the intelligence to handle Armero-Insigne and was dragged all over the place. Things he needs to learn pronto to contribute in a real top team that we want to be.
What I’m slightly peeved about is the difference in the performance levels over the two halves.
The first half was a professional away performance.
The second was not.
Very frustrating to have led the ‘group of death’ from the start and then blow it with a below par performance in the last game.
We need a pacey forward to have an alternative for Giroud – he’s a great worker but his lack of pace was evident today. That said, he didn’t get the service he usually gets.
I just hope we don’t go to Manchester and try the same sort of tactics, because we’ll get slaughtered. We should be trying to win every game. There seems to be an element of fear creeping in, despite all this talk about not fearing anyone.
@256.
I’m a big fan too, but his inexperience did indeed shine through today.
Doctor F
You are certainly right to point out his vulnerability.i fear that we struggle without Sagna and Jenks may not be quite there. I think several posters have pointed out the folly of not playing Walcott to keep Armero deeper to counter his pace. Bit of a poser for Wenger to decide whether we can give Jenks the time he needs to develop even if he is capable of developing.
Dkg@259
Amen brother !! Maybe that’s Wengers plan with Walcott, Dont risk him getting injured before Jan the 1st then swap him and 35 mill for the bitey one 😉
Before we get too carried away…
The ref was a total twatbucket.
H2H
The ref was a complete CUNT! Arteta’s foul never a second yellow!
I have defended Jenks here recently and I don’t think tonight’s performance invalidates any of his qualities.
Tonight, though, he did struggle. So, some ask ‘can he play at this level?.
Impossible to decide, I think, until he has played at this level. He has gone from non-league to Charlton to Arsenal and now the Champions League in really very few games and, therefore, very little learning time. He certainly didn’t lack for effort tonight but he did struggle.
He wasn’t, though, the only one who was off the pace tonight.
I don’t understand how you all point out Jenkinson’s inexperience and/or lack of solidity but yet still wonder why Theo was not introduced to play in front of him. You all know about Theo and defending, surely? Add that to Ozil’s lack of defensive nous and you have the perfect recipe for a 5-2 Arsenal loss today which would have seen us drop to the Europa League.
Not at all happy with the final half hour. We were in total control and became too passive.
Having said that, we are through and that is the most important bit. Yes, I know: “but we will get a tougher draw!” but frankly I am quite tired of that. If we don’t think we can beat Barca in the last-16, then why should we be able to beat them in the last-8? Or the semis or the final? Have we allowed ourselves to become so defensive and on the back foot that we give up without even trying? And does anyone really think a tie vs Zenith or Galatasaray or Schalke etc would be so much easier that we could somehow conserve any significant amount energy against any of them? Hell no. There are better or worse teams left in the knock-out stage, but none are so poor that we can win at anything less than 100%.
So I say bring on who the fuck ever we get. People said we had no chance in this group. People said Bayern would dick us over totally in both legs. People said we were finished and had no chance of a top four finish the last two seasons. They were all wrong.
We are the Arsenal. Don’t ever forget that.
Agreed on Jenks, Trev.
And Lars knows!
H2H – bit harsh – the sending off was questionable but Arteta was just as much at fault for the unnecessary challenge from behind. Otherwise, I don’t think the ref was so bad.
Probably best not to post any more tonight from my point of view – feeling a bit depressed about that second half – I opted for the cooking brandy in the end – dulls the pain.
G’nite all.
It’ll all look different tomorrow.
Don’t give me that bullshit! Arteta only commited TWO fouls all game and got TWO yellow cards for each of them while a lot of Napoli players fouled their way through the evening. The ref was shit and that’s if he isn’t bent.
Agree Cent @266.
We will never know for sure, but throwing Theo on the right side along with Jenks might have been a suicide. I am with Arsene on that one.
However, what I can’t understand is this type of defensive approach from Arsene that is proven to be bad for us in recent seasons.
We are a much stronger side when attacking. Play our game like you said you will. Score early and let the opposition know that they will never come back. Scare them before they scare you.
Hope this lose doesn’t affect us psychologically as I think it will.
With all the talk about rotation and balancing of the team, I didn’t see anything balanced about that line-up. They looked ragged and exhausted. Oooh God help Wenger citeh doesn’t beat us on saturday.
So we’re runners up. Let’s all collectively forget the UCL again this year. But I sometimes get AW’s logic, to top ur group you have to be the best. The best wins the competition. What’s the point of topping if you won’t win it, yeah?. I’m still vexed tho. All roads lead to the etihad.
N.B: on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest), how stupid was Arteta today?
Glad we are through but that match was a pile of dog poo. Full stop.
Just back in. Couldn’t stand the tension and looked at the result before reading all the drinks. I notice that many of those who praised our performance in the first half and criticised the referee didn’t think that had any bearing come full time and the result.
It’s a shame we didn’t win the group, but that’s all. Arteta’s red and suspension is largely irrelevant. I seem to recall that last time we won a CL qualifying group “to assure an easier game in the first knockout round”, we were drawn against a top, top team who had sensationally come second in their group – Barcelona???
I’m very much in Lars’ camp – we’ll have to play the top teams sooner or later, so let’s concentrate on beating them when we do come up against them and not wring our hands over what might have been.
UTA
COYG
@goonerholic… I tried to comment 17times b4 it went thru. Thot you kicked me out of the bar. Phew
Arteta has to realize that this is not the premiership with English refs, where you really have to foul to get the second yellow. No benefits of the doubt with European refs.
Just a curious second half response; I thought this was going to shape up like the away BVB match, with a professional first half, and pick it up early in the second to basically kill their spirit and the game. But, not to be, I guess.
Arteta was not stupid! He is playing a bloody defensive role in the team so he is bound to foul people. Even strikers foul people. Just because a shit ref sent him off for committing just TWO fouls all game is not enough reason to say Arteta was stupid! He may not have performed to his full potential on the day but he was no where near been stupid. If Napoli had scored from that particular counter-attack many of us here would have questioned why Arteta didn’t commit the foul and take the fall.
And why the fuck should God help WENGER Citeh doesn’t beat us on saturday? So when Arsenal win it’s ‘US’ but when we lose it’s automatically ‘WENGER
‘ God should help and not US? We are a fucking TEAM and we win and lose as one!
Cheers, Lurky, hopefully we will respond well at City.
A point on the weekend would be good in the bigger picture. City are not infallible.
Jenks got valuable experience tonight. He’ll only get better.
Cheers all.
Yep chins up way to go. That was a bloody tricky game of stick or twist, clearly messed up the players’ heads, even if Coach said go out and win it. These are good experienced pros we have these days and they were playing risk averse, percentage football. It was the red that shook it up but maybe not too shabby the way we held the ball at times for 20 after that, down a key man. Second goal obviously completely irrelevant. Napoli arent shite by any means, ask Dortmund, Chelsea, City. Ramsey, JW a bit rested now too and Feo must be chomping at the bit. Given how uncomfortable the evening ended up, they learnt a valuable lesson for saturday and I think you’re going to see some very flash counter-attacking play at the Etihad.
All things considered – just how important was our win in Dortmund!!
(assuming we want to focus on the league and Europe)….
Great posts and interesting thoughts about the lack of Walcott….surely must have been to protect our right side, but for all the highs of this season thus far I really miss playing with a winger.
Good post Cent.
The team needs to learn how to control this hightempo pressing both Everton and Napoli did. In both games our _players_ were dogshit at getting the ball from the back to the attacking third and keep possession. So many wasted balls that gave them even more possession to create chances with.
If this was the Arsenal of old, both games would’ve been clear losses. In both games we defended well. Today a worldclass striker took his one and only chance, that Arteta got a bullshit second yellow, in my opinion, didn’t help. The defending wasn’t the problem, it was us getting some possession.
Many times today and against Everton we played from Özil all the way back to Szczesny who just try to get it at Giroud. He can win alot of these balls like he did today, but either he got no support or the support he got gave the ball away or repeated the circle and Giroud lost the next challenge.
But we didn’t lose alot from either game and they can only learn from this.
COYG!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
popped into a pub in Hamsptead…0-0 at a 67 mins…popped into a pub at Archway..1-0 at 79 mins…got home and it was 2-0…unbelievable! such is life…Man City and Arsenal both second in their groups, ManUtd and Chelsea both first in theirs…go figure!! guess Arsene gave them a bollocking after? anyways, onwards and upwards we gotta go…