Les Miserables
Jul 10th, 2016 by 'holic
So it all boiled down to three questions tonight. Would Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud crown a fine tournament with victory in the Euro2016 Final? Would home advantage be decisive against a team containing no Arsenal players – yet. Finally did the plague of moths in the stadium come from Arsene’s wallet? (Sorry, low-hanging fruit, and all that.) I know you have probably heard that dozens of times now, but remember it was written at twenty to eight!
It was Portugal who had the first clear opportunity, however, when Nani was put clear by a simple long ball down the middle. He rushed his effort though and cleared the bar by some way with just Lloris to beat. A couple of minutes later the lively Griezmann sliced one wide of the near post as France sought a response.
In the tenth minute Pepe slipped as he attempted to bring the ball clear and a quick cross found Griezmann who brought a fine save out of Rui Patricio. The resulting corner saw Giroud head straight at the Portuguese goalkeeper.
Those keen to see Ronaldo end the match in tears almost got their wish after just seventeen minutes. He hadn’t shaken off a knee knock after a challenge with Dimitri Payet but a desperate Portuguese medical team tried strapping his knee together and sent him moving gingerly back into the fray. It would prove to be a temporary repair.
As the midway point of the half Sissoko ran half the length of the pitch and saw a fierce drive deflected for what would prove to be a fruitless corner. Ronaldo again hit the turf and his race was run. Portugal sent on Quaresma for their talisman.
The surprisingly impressive Sissoko found himself on the left hand side of the box and drew another decent save from Rui Patricio with twelve minutes left of the half. Mark Clattenburg then produced his first yellow card of the night when Soares slammed his knee into Payet’s back in a nasty aerial assault, possibly revenge for the Ronaldo incident.
Fonte and Giroud traded headed attempts at opposite ends. The Southampton man comfortably cleared the French crossbar and Giroud at least brought a save, albeit an easy one, from Rui Patricio. That summed up the first-half. Neither side had lifted the crowd.
The opening of the second-half was no more of a spectacle than what had gone before. In an attempt to change things Payet was hauled off to be replaced by Coman as the hour mark approached. Immediately the substitute put Griezmann in for an off-target effort on goal. A couple of minutes later Mario’s cynical hack on Giroud in the French half drew a second yellow from Clattenburg, having a good night to that point.
The 66th minute saw the miss of the match when Coman’s cross found Griezmann in front of goal but he didn’t get over the ball and headed it over the bar. A quarter of an hour of normal time remained when Coman put Giroud through but Rui Patricio produced a wonderful save to deny him. The substitute and Sissoko were definitely having the biggest influence on the match.
Giroud’s miss would sadly be his last as Gignac (Big Mac) was sent on for him, and Portugal sent on Eder for Sanches. Within seconds Nani’s mis-hit cross caused Lloris to panic far more than it should. Sissoko, unrecognisable from the player who has stunk the place out at Newcastle, stung the palms of Rui Patricio as the end of normal time loomed. In the second of three added minutes Big Mac set himself up to be the hero of the night, but typically on this night his scuffed effort bounced back into play off the near post. Into an extra thirty minutes nobody wanted we went.
Guerreiro drew the first yellow of extra time for a foul on, yes, Sissoko, after an offside Pepe had worried the home support with a header that went close. Matuidi got the first French card when Eder went over his arched back. Carvalho’s professional foul drew just a yellow when he flattened Coman.
Portugal threatened when Eder’s header from a corner saw Loris parry nervously away in front of his goal and the third phase of the game drew to a close with a penalty shoot-out just fifteen minutes away.
The inevitable Clattenburg cock-up arrived with twelve minutes remaining. Koscielny was booked when Eder handled the ball on the edge of the French area. I’ll give you a clue, Blind Pew, Laurent is white! The free-kick clattered the French bar and shortly after Eder smashed one in at Lloris’ near post. France were ten minutes from a cruel defeat, but one that would be largely self-inflicted. France were about to bring N’Golo Kante on but too late they changed their mind and Anthony Martial was sent on.
Pogba was next into the book as France battled desperately to salvage something from the wreckage. Both sides were running on empty and a tournament that flattered to deceive drew to something of a disappointing close.
Congratulations should be due to a Portugal who won at the host country, some consolation for when Greece denied them the trophy at home. We now need Kos and Giroud to get a break, recharge their batteries, and come back determined to seek more success at club level.
Au revoir.
26 Responses to “Les Miserables”
Kapow!
UEFA have been tom toming about the 24 team format having been a big success – well this is what happens when you allow a team that comes third in its group to qualify.
Greece were defensive in 2004 buy they didn’t have the Ronaldos, Nanis and Renatos in their team. Portugal have been supremely boring and it’s a shame that it had to turn out this way in the end for France. And Clatternberg once showed his penchant for unnecessary limelight with that stupid booking for Koscielny. Perhaps he would have chased Eder closer and not let him shoot had he not been booked.
Spuds it up..Lloris did.
Although that was a really superb strike by the striker that almost never scores.!
Clatterer almost handed it to Portugal earlier with that yellow on Kos. He must be color-blind!
Roniedo going off was the ominous sign… they clamped up after that and absorbed the french onslaught. Moaninho would have been proud of the effort.
Les Miserables indeed.. but without any redemption for the french.
Hope Kos is allright. Rest well ..need everyone back soon enough!
😀
Excellent summary Guvna.
I wanted Ronaldo to get beaten, not to be carried off and while it is hard not to think of anything he is involved in as a production focused solely around him I thought he did the team proud in extra time.
There are some seriously useful player in the Portugal side. The goalie is very solid, Guerrero is an excellent left back,Pepe( when he plays football ) is a superb defender and I was very impressed with the positional sense of Carvalho.
But overall it was a tournament where defences outshone attacks, flair was strictly rationed and I found my mind wandering from most of the games. Not a great advert for the beautiful game and here we at on July 10th with two of our players completing next season. Now pack in the telly work Arsene and get some quality in!
That was an Arsenal performance from France
A year where Leicester won the league,
Where Portugal won the Euros (without Ronaldo),
And where the small teams likes Iceland, Wales and Albania won the hearts of many.
Respect for Mr John Giles esq. A footballer, a pundit, and a man who ultimately, called it as it is. That’s all a viewer could ever hope to with for.
Leicester Portugal Iceland Wales Albania
Who’s next, Andorra?
This to me is one of the worst Euros ever…. please revert it to a sixteen team tournament… rubbish
I never touched his knee, honest! I was aiming for his mouth to shut him up.
For a fundamentally good ref it’s amazing how often Clatters gets one completely wrong. And while the resulting free juuuuust missed, the ball pretty much stayed with Portugal until they did score, so that original error may well have decided the game.
That and the Tottenham keeper letting in the goal of course. 😉
What was Pogba doing playing central defence most of the game? I kept think Sissoko was him.
@ SanAntonioGunner from previous drinks
My observation on your unhappiness was based on more than your dissatisfaction with the transfer activity over the last two or three years but, since you ask ..
I was very happy that we bought Mesut Ozil in 2013 – I know he divides opinion but in mine he was and is a world class addition to the club.
Similarly, I was very happy when we bought Alexis Sanchez in 2014 – his first season was better than his second but, again, he was and is a world class addition to our club. Hopefully his third season will be his best yet.
I wasn’t thrilled with the addition of Petr Cech in 2015 but am happy to admit that he has probably done better than I thought he might.
I believe that Elneny will turn out to be a very shrewd buy.
So, generally speaking, I’m fairly positive about our transfer purchases in the last two or three years. I’m hopeful that we can add another top class centre back and maybe a striker this Summer but won’t self-harm if we manage neither.
I’m also happy that we’re playing in a wonderful stadium and that our style of football is usually positive and easy on the eye.
I’m grateful that we’ve recently won two FA Cups and that we finished second last season whilst accepting that just maybe we could have done that bit better.
Having grown up on the North Bank during the 60’s and 70’s I am able to share with you, in comparison, that watching the Arse in recent times has not really been so bad.
UTA.
Best moth joke I have heard all month. Where is Trev anyway? I would have expected several dozen moth puns by now.
The Arsenal players played better than the Tottenham players. Far, far better. Just sayin’
And lost.
Very Arsenal 😉
Clattenberg was very Clatterish with his decision to book the wrong man.
Ronaldo’s men went on to take the lead minutes later. Oh well such is life.
So no new striker for the Arsenal this summer? Hmm? 😉
Can’t deny that, Cynic. Ah well, except for Nani the current and ex-Man United players (Ronaldo, Evra, Martial, De Gea, etc.) either lost or got injured. Not sure Moaninho was even attending the tournament, unless a little known Portuguese TV network found him less appalling than the rest of us.
@ Noosa Gooner
I can tell you have a lot of free time on your hands. I am not going to be going back and forth with you. I see that you only cherry picked the good things that all Arsenal fans would have loved for the past 2-3 years that has happened to our club. So your rose tinted glass forgot all those shit that took place that maybe if we have done things a little bit better we might have been champions by now. Like I said in my previous post that was a stupid question to ask because you don’t know me like that. Unlike you, with all our resources I believe we can do better especially when it comes to transfers and that was what I was talking about. Now if you want to go back and start digging all my previous post, go ahead and please also check other posts from other drinkers and tell me if others have not complained once or twice about our transfer dealings in the past 2-3 seasons..
*politics*
David Cameron calls a referendum on the EU, loses, quits rather than negotiate our departure.
Boris Johnson leads the Leave campaign with Michael Gove, wins, but doesn’t run for leader to implement Brexit.
Gove doesn’t quit but people hate Pob-like back stabbers, so he’s not around to implement Brexit either.
Andrea Leadsom, a leading figure in Leave, somehow manages to find herself in a head to head with Theresa May but quits, possibly because someone said she looked like John Hurt in drag. Or it might have been because she thinks giving birth makes her special. I’m not quite sure, but she won’t be implementing Brexit either.
That referendum. More fucking trouble than it was worth really.
Meantime, Corbyn is still in place but is being attacked by an Eagle.
This is the country that gave Parliamentary democracy to the world (so we keep being told) now with politicians who run at the first sign of trouble, or stick around when they’re not wanted, like dog shit in the rippled sole of a plimsoll.
Football content – air.
Spurs are trying to sign Geordie Winegums from Newcastle? Hahahaha
A tournament which ideally should have been won by either Germany or Wales for they played the better football than others. Football never works like that and hence an average Portuguese team beats a french team which could not score and did not look like. Raphael Guerrero and Renato Sanchez were excellent for the winners whereas kos and sissoko di their best for the french. Alas the 100 million man Pogba looked clueless.
The pre season starts in 10 days and we still do not have a clue who our striker will be. A bad pre season always sets a bad precedent and with tired minds and bodies, Arsene need to bring in fresh blood at the earliest.
Amounts touted are ridiculous and i dont know who will we buy. A striker and a cb are mandatory whereas reports indicate we still trying for a midfielder( turan latest name). At times i wonder if Xhaka will be the only buy and i dread what that may mean.
Rest for the euro warriors but for the rest, time to raise their games and be counted.
Cynic
The politics in your country is going a fair way to eclipse the stupidity, xenophobia, violence and prejudice that has taken over mine. That you all have effectively shifted the spotlight off the lunacy that is a US presidential election year and country racked by gun-toting nut jobs…well, I have to say thanks – much obliged. Fear not, however, as we will still out-krazy you this year.
Nice link in the last round of drinks, TTG. Makes you think: buying/selling and all that is a lot more complicated than the average football fan perceives. But still…where the hell is that new striker, Arsene?!?! 🙂
Our politics gets worse.
We will have a new PM on Wednesday with no personal mandate, and whose policies, already deviating from the Tory manifesto as she is abandoning the commitment to balance the books by 2020, have not been given legitimacy in an election.
We have a Labour Party that is so riddled with hard left tossers, thanks to a ridiculous leadership electoral system that allows anyone with £3 to vote, that it cannot get rid of a leader 80% of his MPs want to dump.
We have a so-called third party with a handful of MPs, which has a leader who is a devout Christian who cannot even say whether he thinks gay sex is a sin or not, prepared to stand on a platform of returning to the EU. Which would be fine, but as a “new” member that would mean committing to the Euro and the Shengen Zone. Twats.
Our fourth party is UKIP, which is so split that its sole MP has been prevented from standing to replace Farage by a rule change today that means you have to be a member for five years to stand for election as leader. This also discounts Suzanne Evans, who wrote their manifesto last year, and was also suspended from the party for six months for daring to look like a half credible politician and therefore a threat to Nutty Nigel.
We’re fucked in England.
Alex Manninger having a trial with Liverpool?
…so I guess there’s no forthcoming disclosure of the UAPs then..
well ..could we at least have a disclosure of who the additional forward and centre half/midfielder will be?
Hurry up Arsene!
🙂
Book review time. Sorry my sweaty cousins 🙂 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>