Munchen Bite Back!
Nov 4th, 2015 by 'holic
Arsenal arrived at the Allianz Arena hoping to stop a team who had averaged four goals a game at home in all competitions this season. They departed a chastened side after Europe’s best had extracted full revenge for their defeat at the Grove a fortnight ago.
The team news an hour before kick-off provided one surprise. As expected Mathieu Debuchy replaced the injured Hector Bellerin at right back, Laurent Koscielny was replaced by Gabriel, possibly a precautionary measure with the North London derby coming up. Joel Campbell retained his place after his goalscoring performance at Swansea.
The Gunners made a bright start and just 26 seconds in Olivier Giroud fired wide with our first effort. The only action Petr Cech saw in the opening five minutes was a simple catch of a hopeful cross. Alaba had their first speculative effort from thirty yards in the seventh minute, but again it was a comfortable save for Cech.
The breakthrough came in the tenth minute, and it was a horror story for the Arsenal. Gabriel moved out as a cross came into the box but timed it wrong, leaving Lewandowski free to head past a surprisingly stationary Cech, who presumably thought a flag was coming.
Arsenal immediately went down the other end and thought they had scored when Mesut Ozil converted Nacho Monreal’s cross. The referee gave it but under pressure from the Bayern defenders the fifth official on the goal-line informed the referee that Ozil had handled. The goal was rightly disallowed and to rub salt in the wound Ozil was booked.
Coman forced Cech into action twice and then the ‘keeper saved another Lewandowski header at full stretch. Wave after wave of attacks were now being launched by the impressive hosts.
Joel Campbell picked up a yellow card midway through the half, bringing a spectacular tumble out of Coman. From the free-kick Francis Coquelin produced an excellent defensive header under pressure.
Muller found the corner (sorry about that) and all but put the match out of the Gunners reach in the 29th minute with an effort that deflected in off Per Mertesacker. A minute later Cech had to be on his toes to deny Lewandowski a third.
On an increasingly rare break Alexis was bundled off the ball on the left flank. Where Campbell had been booked for a lesser challenge there wasn’t even a free-kick awarded.
With ten minutes of the half remaining Mathieu Debuchy denied Lewandowski at the expense of a corner. Shortly afterwards it was Muller’s turn to warm Cech’s palms again, twice, in two minutes. Costa got in on the act drawing another fine save from the ‘keeper. The inevitable third was only being delayed.
Alaba, the left-back, won the ball in the centre of the park and from 20 yards out blasted one into the top corner of the net. We were picking the worst possible opponents to have an off night against. The half-time whistle came to our rescue, but only temporarily.
Arsenal did try to start the second-half in more positive mode with Ozil and Sanchez looking to find us a way back into the match but Bayern defended in numbers as well as throwing bodies forward. Pep Guardiola’s response was to send Arjen Robben on for Coman and with his first touch he made it 4-0 from Alaba’s cut-back.
That prompted Arsenal’s best counter to date and Neuer had to be at his best to deny Santi Cazorla. Almost immediately the ineffective Campbell was replaced by Kieran Gibbs with Alexis switching to the right. More intricate build up orchestrated by Ozil ended up with Monreal bursting into the box but stumbling at the crucial moment.
A consolation arrived in the 69th minute, and impressive it was. Alexis launched another counter which ended with him finding Giroud in the box. The big Frenchman chested it down, swivelled, and volleyed home. Not appreciating what was little more than a flesh wound Guardiola sent on Vidal for Lewandowski.
After some spectacular interplay between Ozil, Coquelin, and Alexis ended up with the latter’s effort being blocked Coquelin stormed forward again and set up Santi for a skied effort at the near post. The momentum was clearly now with the Gunners, although at 4-1 Bayern could be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas.
With seven minutes remaining Robben found himself in behind the back line and he rounded Cech only for Debuchy to make an astonishing recovery tackle. Monreal then did similar to deny Muller.
In between, with an eye on Sunday, Arsene Wenger withdrew Giroud and sent on Alex Iwobi. In the closing minutes Calum Chambers was sent on to give Santi a rest. The substitutions turned things Bayern’s way again and Muller was allowed too much time and space to beat Cech at his near post.
5-1 was a fair reflection of this game, and a last gasp win for Olympiakos in Greece made an awful night worse for the Gunners. Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say fair play to the opposition. Bayern are some team. Arsenal face a huge last matchday in Greece, assuming they beat Zagreb at home.
85 Responses to “Munchen Bite Back!”
Oh well. Never mind. On to the spuds.
sigh. mullered. it’s our brains who were munched, damn it.
‘holic, how you can produce such a balanced story within 10 minutes of the finish…amazing.
At least I can just hit the delete button when I get home???
Evening H.
Up for a few scoops at the weekend?
Fair report ‘Holic. November is off to a bad start, hopefully the sting will do wonder for our game against Spurs, that’s the only positive I can think of.
@Steve T: With Theo, Bellerin and Ramsey or Ox there’s no way Bayern would have been able to press so high and the game would have been more balanced.
Top work, ‘Holic.
Arsenal seems to do everything the hard way — and we are staring down the hard way in spades. Yet somehow…
@Steve: Watch this http://arsenalist.com/f/2015-16/bayern-munich-vs-arsenal/goal-olivier-giroud-4-1-great-chest-control-and-scissor-kick.html and then delete the recording. Or keep it as a punishment threat for your kids 😉
Evening all.
Yes Steve, I’ll be there! 🙂
‘Holic, that last day in Piraeus could be a moot point, if Bayern and Olympiakos decide to do a Germany-Austria 1982 World Cup “gentlemen’s agreement” and draw. Both go through, with Bayern in first with their head to head win vs. the Greeks.
Steve T
From the last drinks
You have a point but one could say from the first leg we had Bellerin, Kos, Ramsey and Walcott missing .
We had no pace or quality on the break. It’s partly a slightly substandard squad but it’s mainly that we have a ridiculous number of injuries. A guy said to me today, ‘ You can’t use injuries as an excuse, you need to do something about it’
And he’s right. The resting of two defenders with slight injuries today and the substitutions at the end showed this is a lower priority but if we land in the Europa he will need about three more squad players unless we decide to bow out as we did at Wednesday last week
If there is any hope Bayern still need to beat Olympiakos for us…
Matt. Thank you for 6. I agree at 5 to a certain degree. I think out of that quartet only 2 would have started but again it shows the depth of the squad.
Don’t get me started on pace and width again??????
🙂
TTG. I agree with all of that. Perhaps the squad depth means we feel the loss of key players even more.
We have to hope that Bayern do the same to Olympiakos. I certainly don’t want to finish 3rd.
I know it was circumstances but if the young players weren’t “ready for this level” at Sheffield Wednesday, and we end up taking them to Munich…
Thought we were thoroughly abject from front to back. Please throw the next two games and concentrate on the league and winning a third consecutive FA Cup.
If we do end up in the Europa League, use the U21 squad.
Great report, Holic. Super poor defensive performance. Bellerin, Ramsey and Kos were all badly missed. Add these three back and perm the requisite number from Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Gabriel, Chambers, Wilshere, OX, Walcott, Wellbeck on the bench and there’s little wrong with the squad. I’d be interested to see who else in Europe would win in Munich missing nine key players.
BTM.
Blinkers To Manual???
See you on Sunday.
Did I see it was your birthday Arthur? I hope, Arsenal aside, it was great one. How’s the lad?
Bayern will beat Olympiakos. They are tied on points so won’t be interested in drawing and they are way better than them. We need to beat Zagreb and then win by two goals in Athens. That’s definitely possible if we have a team left
BTM,
Nobody would give Munich a game with nine players missing. I still think the squad needs improving because three or four of them are never going to be fit.
Not sure how much quality is available in January . It’s all. Dry well saying Welbeck, Wilshere and Rosicky are like new signings but they will be out again in February
TTG, if Bayern draw with Olympiakos they are through and only need to beat Zagreb to be top of the group. I hate conspiracy theories, but stranger things have happened.
Having said that would Bayern worry about meeting us in the Final after tonight? They should, but they won’t. They will beat Olympiakos.
Some team indeed, ‘holic, even without Ribery and Goetze and with Vidal and Robben just subbing.
We’re still looking for a world class CD pairing or DMF, if we want to take that next step up. And a world class playmaker would be useful. As would a world class striker. Or just an empty physio room? Rambo, Belle, Theo, Jack and Ox all might have made a difference, although probably not enough to rescue our mediocre defence.
Ho hum. Let’s hope we can take it out on the LW Filth at the weekend.
Oskar
Did we even draw a single game playing with that eyesore of a third kit? Can the insouciant telepathic pass-and-move football be at all played when your mate is wearing that thing? 🙂
Why couldn’t we simply wear the second kit today?
Hope Alexis is not nursing any small niggles etc. Looks a bit off the pace.
To progress in the deeper rounds of CL — SF and beyond — let alone win it while fighting for the PL we will need a much fitter squad where the second-choice players for each position would be able to rotate without any significant drop in collective performance. We cannot be losing at home to Olympiacos just because 3-4 current bench members started the game.
Arsene always has built great first elevens but maybe not so much great rotating large squads. The dilemma is without rotation — and avoiding injuries related to over playing and burn-out — fighting for CL and PL together would be impossible. If we are to take a serious aim for CL we will probably need to be more ruthless regarding replacing the talented but highly injury prone players with more physically robust pros, and making sure we can manage a rotation policy that doesn’t rust the ones who are not starting every weekend.
PL has become an extraordinarily difficult league where any weekend anything even marginally less than your best may cost you points.
well having had to give up at half time (other commitments) the score could well of been 5 at the half thank god for Chech class signing that man bring on the PL
@21 DF: We could start this winter and next summer by replacing Arteta, Flamini, Rosicky, Campbell and Debuchy with better/fitter/younger players.
I’d rather we lose with players like Jenko and Gnabry on the right if that means they’ll learn from it and better themselves at Arsenal.
All good here Guvna it was a very pleasant evening apart from that score line ouch 🙂 I certainly ate too much sushi but I love the stuff!
Lad is doing great thanks for asking, if only he did as much as he talks he he.
Right calling it a night cant get any Wisniowka down me as working in the morning!
Night all
Top man, Arthur 🙂
who said Arthur ?
don’t mind if I do
did
always do
should do less
FUCK OFF
cheering ?
yup
cheering with a smiling halo face
aaaaaaahhhhhh
cheerio
predict this ya cartooning phloofelschneckers !
that said
predict
it tried to say
Product
BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OzpXuRCBgsM
ArSeHOle
and that’s how velcro was invented
Didn’t see the game, just the highlights so I value your overview, Guvna.
Oh well, I hoped we could steal something but in truth, it looked less and less likely as the crocks stacked up.
Time to call a miracle worker to the infirmary. Where is DB10 when you need him?
Cold shower in order.
Focus on the filth.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkC_leNM7M
Holic
I agree with you. But Bayern are German . They won’t worry about us. They might worry more about the Greeks. They will win 3-0. We will beat Zagreb 2-0. We then gave to win by two goals in Athens. We will win 3-0.
There- sorted. These tablets I am taking are brilliant
i said one and 1/2 m’lud
*accepts no responsibility*
Even if Bayern coast for 90 minutes against Olympiakos, they will give them a pounding I think. Even their second 11, playing for a place in the starting line up, will have far too much for the Greeks.
A bigger question is whether Arsenal can beat Zagreb at home – and the biggest of all is whether we can win by two goals, or win by scoring three or more, in Greece.
It all depends on who is available after injury. If we are having to field the likes of Gibbs, Debuchy, Campbell and Iwobi it’s probably game over. If we get Ramsey, Bellerin, Walcott and The Ox back we have a fighting chance of qualification which is amazing given we have accumulated just 3 points from 4 games – our worst ever start to a Champions League group.
My 8 year old daughter was allowed to sit up and watch the game with me last night as a special treat.
She asked to got to bed at half time.
Sometimes kids are the best critics.
If Bayern had not been doing it to Arsenal I would have enjoyed that – great football – deadly, deadly finishing – I remember them wiping the floor with Barcelona 4-0 a couple of seasons back, 7-0 on aggregate in the end. How I laaarfed then.
Mooving on quickly.
Time to mash spuds with massive hooves to prepare a spuds compote mixture with mud and cow piss.
I didn’t watch the match , didn’t hear , don’t suffer
There is no sense of sadness or disappointment after the game. It was expected, there is no 2 ways about it, they are better in europe and definitely joint favourites along with barca to win the trophy.
Worry was the way we conceded the goals. Except for the 5th mueller goal, the rest 4 were defensive mistakes and that is worrying. Gabriel missing the elementary off side line, Debuchy appallingly poor clearance leading it to Mueller’s shot. Robben’s goal exposing the shocking positioning of Per and Debuchy and the Alaba goal wherein Santi waited for a foul to be given than clearing the ball. It just shows that at the top, the smallest mistakes gets punished.
I wonder if Debuchy can ever be the player he was before his injuries. Per against pacey teams will be found out. If not for Cech, this could have been a tennis scoreline and more.
Can the players recover mentally and physically by sunday? I believe mentally they will for i sense this group believing this is their best chance to win the league or else it wont happen again any time soon.
So pull up those socks boys, we have a derby to win against a team who seem to be defensively sound, time to break that myth.
The only good thing about a game like that is it should be a reality check to everyone in our club to realise how hard you have to work if you want to compete with the elite.
I didn’t think our defence played that badly – maybe we should have stopped 1 or 2 of their goals – but it felt like Wenger’s criticism was more to avoid having to admit we were beaten by a better team .
Which begs the question just why are Bayern a level above us and can we hope to close the gap?
Yes Bayern’s budget is higher than ours, but the gap is only equivalent to Arsenal vs say a team like Inter Milan , and I don’t feel our financial superiority has put us a level above them in the same way BM feels superior to us.
(And also we don’t have the same inferiority complex vs Man U who have a higher revenue than BM..)
according to Forbes:
ave. revenue for last 5 years-
Man U. $543m
BM $510m
Arsenal $385m
Inter $251m
So absolute income is only a partial answer.
Maybe BM have just invested more wisely ?
It’s tempting to say that its partly down to their having a coincidence of strong players coming through together, but their long term performance level suggests its something more .
I know we were unlucky to have so many injuries but thats a chronic problem of our’s and I’m not sure that was the reason on this occasion.
Comparing Wenger to Guardiola, I know most independant judges think BM have the better coach, but I don’t feel there’s much to choose between them .
Any thoughts?
24 hrs gone by,and only 44 posts after an absolute hammering in Munich.
In the old days it would have been 244 with all comers having their 2 bobsworth on what went wrong.
Where has everyone gone. ?
Posts of remarkable brevity from some,and nothing at all from other long time Holics.
It’s as if the Bar has given up,and thrown the towel in.
Perhaps they are right.
It’s too painful an experience to revisit, so keep your head down till Saturday,and then get revved up again for the Sabbath derby against our best pals.
After all,it is only the CL,and as the players seem to have approached it this season in such a cavalier,lackadaisical fashion,why should we care.
Incidentally,my Nephew spent 12 hrs getting to Munich by car,after his flight was cancelled due to fog.
Along with a lot of other travelling Gooners who got to Munich whatever way they could,i rather think that injuries notwithstanding, they were entitled to the same level of commitment from the players on the pitch.
I can accept defeat when beaten by a better side as Bayern clearly were,but for me, our lot, who in Per’s words in his after match interview said ” lacked courage “, didn’t show enough pride in the shirt.
Good calls, Clive.
The bar is missing some old stagers.
The team were beaten in their own heads from the start.
The travelling fans deserved better.
Let’s beat the filth on Sunday and put the world to rights.
Evening Clive et al. There are so many other vehicles of communication these days Clive. Blog comments generally seem to have dipped everywhere. Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and the like are drawing opinion away.
It’s ok. Traffic is only important to those who look to profit from their efforts. This is a labour of love, so I am quite happy it is not as volatile an organ as some others.
I hope you are well sir. If the Ramblers reform for a reunion I would love to turn out! 😉
Evening all.
Good stuff Clive. I think it is more a resigned apathy. Certainly is for me. The Bayern games sum it all up very well. As much as we are capable of a result like the one at home, we are equally as capable of putting in a display like that. There have been so many one offs it’s just, oh well.
I returned home from work late last night intent on at least watching the highlights that I had recorded. In the end I hit the delete button, grabbed a beer and put my headphones on.
There was a post some weeks back that spoke about consistency. Something we need to achieve on a regular basis.
Our champions league qualification rests on a knife edge. But if we go out then it won’t be down to last night’s performance. It will be down to two very poor performances against Zagreb and Olympiakos. Those who are quoting injuries as an excuse may do well to review the sides for those two games. When we had lots more available we decided to “rest” several of them? The fact is we should be sitting second on 9 points knowing that 1 more point should be more than enough to see us safely through. The fact that we are far from that has little to do with last night.
That, may account for my resigned apathy.
Evening H
All well this end,trust you and yours are as well.
If the Ramblers had fronted up against Bayern on Wed night,we would probably have lost about 45 nil.!!
But i can promise you that come the final whistle, there would have been plenty of sick/sorry and battered Munich players,that probably wouldn’t be playing again this side of Christmas. !!
I hear what you say about other mediums,i wasn’t having a pop at the Bar patrons per se,just the acceptance of a humiliating defeat with so little comment.
Steve T’s comments confirm my suspicions.
SteveT nails the fragility in this team. The talent is there, but not the consistent belief that it can impose itself game in, game out. As to Clive’s excellent post, here at Castle Ned there was a prematch feeling that this wasn’t a game that we were going to win, and thus in some way to lose by four was no more disheartening than to lose by one (and when we start to ship goals, we tend to ship a lot). Had you offered before the group stage started that we would split the points with Bayern, I think most would have taken it in a heart beat. To SteveT’s point, again, we are where we are not because of last night.
Clive@49: I doubt the Ramblers would have lost 45-0. The ref would have had to abandon the game long before because Bayern wouldn’t have been able to field the requisite number of players needed for the game to continue.
“most independant judges think BM have the better coach” you reckon PT? (#44)
On balance I reckon AW has the better football brain while Pep has always had the better players, so I’d always give it to Le Prof.
And while Pep’s Bayern players may have the edge it’s not by a huge margin … they’re stronger in defence and up front, while we have the better midfield. On our best days (and with a full squad to choose from) we can match them, as we have proved. But when guts are needed a gulf seems to develop which is strongly in their favour.
Is there something missing in AW’s motivational abilities? I sometimes wonder, but only those in the sheds can really know.
Oskar
Ned knows 🙂
TTG @35. Pass Clive some of those tablets. He’s found a way to turn the LACK of people complaining into a negative!
I reckon anyone who wants to kickoff after their side loses hard away at Bayern better be a Barca fan. Cos Bayern are a bit good like.
And although I thought our defending was poor I thought the team stuck together on the night and didn’t fall apart like old teams would have- they simply had too many lapses of concentration and badly judged moments that got punished. But it never looked to me like they gave up or didn’t care.
We won’t be able to gain or lose any Premier league points playing Brian Munching. And I still think the league should be our main aim.
Lets just beat the enemy on Sunday.
It is now fairly clear that the EPL as they call it here in the USA, might be beloved of advertisers and Sky, BT etc, but the top teams are falling seriously behind the elite if Europe. About seven years ago we were the elite of Europe. That’s depressing on one level. I don’t like seeing Arsenal humiliated even by a team as good as Bayern.
A lot of pride will be restored if we can beat the scum on Sunday. There’s not much between the teams but we have extra class although we tend to run that class into the ground.But we’ve been better than the Spuds consistently for thirty years and they are no benchmark now.
I hate to mention the money issue again but for what we pay we should expect a more competitive team in Europe. Sadly we have a team of great fragility both mentally and physically. Bayern fans pay much less than us to watch football and have a better side to watch.
I don’t think there’s much between Guardiola and Wenger as leaders of clubs. They are both exceptional but Wenger is more conservative. When he leaves Guardiola would be one of the few replacements likely to take the club on to a higher level but one doubts that the ambition of the Board would fire him with enthusiasm. Wenger’s replacement really is a thorny issue and will, I suspect lead to him renewing again until 2019. There does come a point where despite talent and durability you have to plan for the future and it is then we will see if this is a Board with the balls and intelligence to make sure Wenger truly does hand on a team that can overshadow his achievements. Sadly the disappearance of Wenger, Dein , Friar and Fiszman will leave or has already left a huge vacuum. I don’t see anyone on the current board remotely able to fill it.
The strange thing is, the team did exactly the opposite of what Wenger said in the press, about being disciplined in defence. When he says something, we don’t do that( it’s happened many times before though I can’t pinpoint accurately now), it’s like a crazy babel fish gets in the ears of the players and translates the opposite of what he said and controls them till the villainous idea is executed. Next time, Wenger should just talk about the weather or the economy or something, maybe that’ll work. Hope we can get back to winning ways starting this weekend. COYG!
Would have liked to see Robben’s condition after the Ramblers did their business on him. 🙂
Could it be that those people in the Twitterbox are behind the curve?
It is now fairly clear that the EPL as they call it here in the USA, might be beloved of advertisers and Sky, BT etc, but the top teams are falling seriously behind the elite if Europe. About seven years ago we were the elite of Europe.
Very few of the hugely expensive foreign players our top clubs have bought are out of the top drawer and the coaches might not be the best in the world either (I mean the ones under the manager/coach)
The managers are less a problem than the quality of the players, and they’ve cost an absolute fortune. Not even talking about ours, but look at some of the shite playing for Chelsea and United.
From our point of view I really do believe it’s down to the attitude at the club and the quality of the coaching. For the players we have, there’s no excuse for the kind of tripe we’ve served up in Europe for years, and it’s not technical deficiencies IMO. It’s all about tactics and attitude. The same slack performances in nearly every game.
So, the North London derby.
Category A, the cheapest seat my most excellent tout could find but it still costs just south of a ton. Not that I give a monkey’s chuff, having been kept from the Grove all season by a sequence of circumstances that would have tested Job on a good day. I’m delighted to have secured entry on someone else’s Red. Mention of my attempts at using the same route are best left unsaid in the interests of my own blood-pressure.
Does this game really merit Category A status?
I mean, not that they weren’t before, but Tottenham have SO been our bitches since Arsene Wenger rode into town, Magic Hat and all.
Winning the league at their ground, winning it three times, partnered with 6 big cups in comparison to their paltry pair of Diddy ones This is the league : 19 home fixtures where the Totts have won a solitary game on our manor, and that, a contest where we should have been out of sight having gone in 2 nil up at half time. Aggregate score 42-17. Those numbers sound like, I don’t know, Hull? Category A? Really?
I normally warm up for a visit to the Emirates by searching for a re-run of the best bits of the corresponding fixture from last season. I’m avoiding it this time around. I was at that one. Memories of exasperation. A frown the size of a fold in God’s pyjamas. We all saw a Spurs side who were clearly there for the taking. We never took. In fact we never looked like taking until the last 20 minutes by which time we’d given ourselves too much to do to get two goals and had to settle for a share of the points. So, time to reassert ourselves I’d say.
The one place where , without question, this game should have Category A status is in the heads of our players. Our excursion and exertions down in Bavaria are now consigned to yesterday.
I want and expect Arsenal to come haring out the traps like they did in the Man Utd game, to get in and about them and be three goals up before the lilywhite cunts have had time to scratch their arse. I want all those sorry sadsack Swamp-Dwellers in that corner to be swallowing dry clumps of fear every time we cross the half-way line. I want them to know, or rather, be reminded, that we are The Arsenal and they are the sludge on our collective shoe. We may be light on personnel but we must, we will, be heavy on intent.
As for them, turn up, get thrashed, fuck off.
I shall be flying into North rather than West London for a change, St Christopher willing. That’s the only deviation from the norm that I am prepared to contemplate. Everything else should be business as usual. North London to be red, drinks to be black and smiles to be wide.
Category A smiles
“A frown the size of a fold in God’s pyjamas”
Heh, even the atheists like that one 🙂
Nice one Z.
Have a great weekend.
Dr. Z I hope you enjoy your excursion, as I am sure you will. 😀
Nice one Z. I can feel your desire, as they say down in Leith Walk. 🙂
Z – damn. Well said!
http://www.sportetstyle.fr/article/people/a,2327,arsene-wenger-l-humaniste.html
[Je permets aux autres d’exprimer ce qu’ils ont en eux. Je n’ai rien créé. Je suis un facilitateur de ce qu’il y a de beau en l’homme. Je me définis comme un optimiste. Mon combat perpétuel dans ce métier, c’est de sortir ce qu’il y a de beau en l’homme.]
“I help others to express what is in their essence. I have not created anything. I am facilitator of what is beautiful in in men. I consider myself to be an optimist. In this profession my perpetual struggle is to make the beautiful in men visible.”
And we love you for that, Arsene.
Salford 2 – Notts – 0.
and I am wondering why sleep won’t come.
In the Butt, Ryan.
Straight on, you cunt.
59 dr Z
champion !
@Clive: It’s not apathy. It’s boredom with the same tripe that’s served every time something doesn’t go our way. We reached round of 16th every season since 2000 then you get to read Cynic’s “there’s no excuse for the kind of tripe we’ve served up in Europe for years… The same slack performances in nearly every game”
Missing 10 players before the game? That can’t explain anything! It’s just an “excuse” according to others.
Winning the Bayern game at home? That’s down to “luck”.
And on and on and on.
Everyone is upset after such a spanking, some need to get it out. So let them.
It goes all the way. Pocchetino is doing a superb job at Tottenham, they’re undefeated in the last 10 PL games, have all their first team players available. We’re in the middle of an injury crisis, after a big spanking but somehow some feel a win is owed to them even when logic dictates a draw would be a perfectly acceptable result. And if we draw, what do we get to read? The same old negative crap again.
Repeat ad nauseam.
Long term perspective: things not so bad.
Short term perspective: a good performance this weekend puts us right where we need to be, on an even keel until we can start to get some players back. Consistency mantra in force.
absit omen…or (and)
pukeutum dominium.
*bit barren in here*
.
used to go The Arsenal ’80s
.
here fuckin brilliant
must be even brillianter
for gooners from the far flungs
never been
tollie talk
game
tollie talk
deconstruction 🙂
fuckin mighty
(i’ll try to be less annoying)
if that helps even a tiny amount
😉
anyhoo
UP THE RAMBLERS
We need a few of those Ramblers for Sunday’s game. If only to save the fit half of the team from ending up in physio.
Oskar
When I feel the urge to read something positive I parse spurs blogs:
“Adding to the sense of giddiness, Arsenal are embarking on their annual injury crisis a touch earlier than normal, and endured an absolute walloping by Bayern Munich in midweek.
However, one look at the Premier League table can restore the equilibrium — Arsenal are joint top with Manchester City, and aside from a silly defeat by West Ham and Wenger’s annual debagging by Jose Mourinho, they are looking very good indeed. They may have been embarrassed by Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup, but, typically, they got there by beating us.
This is the way with Wenger. Regardless of what he achieved with the Invincibles, the sustained Champions League football, and whatever success he brings to the club in the final few years of his tenure, he will be ultimately be credited by Gooners fans with one thing above all: He has always ensured Arsenal finish above Tottenham.
It is now 19 seasons and counting, which is an awfully long time. It is longer than Joshua Onomah has been alive, for instance. Pochettino is the 10th Spurs manager to try and find a way to get ahead of Wenger, and despite us being on our longest unbeaten run since Gareth Bale and Luka Modric were running riot in the Harry Redknapp era, we are still below bloody Arsenal in the table.
This sustained success has added piquancy to the rivalry, making those (rare) wins against the Gooners even sweeter for Spurs fans. But if there is one thing worse than accepting that your fiercest rivals are better than you, it’s admitting that a small (and reptilian) part of you admires them for it.
It feels deeply illicit, dirty even, to say it out loud, but admit it: What Wenger has achieved has been incredible.
Just look at how hard it has been for Spurs to crack the Top Four, especially since Manchester City struck oil, yet every bloomin’ season Arsenal have found a way to do it. On top of that, they play highly attractive and technically excellent football. I need a shower, but I’ve said it. If Spurs had somehow appointed Wenger, rather than nobodies like Christian Gross, Jacques Santini and Andre Villas-Boas, would we be talking about St Woolwich’s Day, rather than St Totteringham’s Day? Like most Spurs fans, I’m firmly in the #WengerOut club — sacking him would be the craziest thing Arsenal could possibly do.
…
Arsenal are still better than us, on the field. I suspect they will win on Sunday, and I’m almost certain they will finish above us in the table. The bookies certainly think so. It will hurt like hell, as it always does.”
From: https://thespursreport.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/for-first-time-in-wenger-era-spurs-have-something-that-arsenal-lack/
So, taking all that on board @ 72, perhaps a draw might not be a perfectly acceptable result?
It’s Spurs, they expect to lose and if you look at their track record, why shouldn’t they?
A draw might not be the end of the world, but I want and expect us to win.
UTA.
Feckin italics…..
In all our previous close-miss seasons we were undone by injuries. The plague is upon us early this season, the difference will be made by us picking up points where we can. Let me remind you that the Invincibles drew against Spurs (away though). So in the grand scheme of things a draw is an acceptable result, at the moment the objective is to keep in touch with the top.
That said I tip us to edge it. Their squad showed some signs of tiredness on Thursday which is understandable given the number of young players in it and they will falter in the last part of the game. With Kos back we should be able to contain them. Hopefully Debuchy and Campbell will find it easier to showcase their talent too. Still they’re a good team and I expect them to be a tougher test than Watford and Swansea.
I don’t get the expectation part. Do you think it’s owed to us somehow? Or that in the current circumstances our team is vastly superior to theirs?
I want us to win, then it’s a football game against a good team, anything can happen.
Now I expect Real Madrid to win against Sevilla whose budget is 1/6th of Madrid’s. Not that I care about the result either way but because the probability is extremely high with Madrid on a roll so far this season.
zico@59: category A post.
Matt, nothing is owed to us.
But I expect us to win.
Just my observation on what normally happens, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by our neighbours as your post at 72 illustrates.
Do I think we are vastly superior?
Yes.
Who in their team would you swap for one of ours?
Well said, Z.
Several times, from @59 on.
See you tomorrow.
Matt
That’s a decent and rational blog which EVERY Arsenal supporter should read . If ever they are tempted to switch him for the flavour of the month they should read it again.
I will read it after every transfer window when he continually leaves me feeling he could do more. I still think he could but he gives us an enormous amount which we should appreciate.
Every Spuds fan I know prays that we sack Wenger. Who wants their prayers to be answered!?
Zico
Great point. I’d swap their fitness and conditioning coaches. They have two injuries and have played two games in four days . On the field they’ve got some useful squad players?
Bobby Campbell has died aged 78. I’m saddened by his death although his period as coach was a bit of a disaster. Respect.
Missing 10 players before the game? That can’t explain anything! It’s just an “excuse” according to others.
You can find any excuses you like, but the simple fact is we have a long long history of half hearted European performances, the same mistakes being made constantly on the pitch, regardless of personnel and have only looked like winning the Champions League once in all the times we’ve played in it.
If you’re honest, the number of great European nights has been overshadowed by the number of “What the fuck was that?” performances over the years.
Dress it up any way you like, but you know it’s true.
General reminder please to debate with respect. Thank you.
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