The Gunners are left frustrated as Benitez’s game-plan worked to perfection. The Scousers nicked an away goal at the Grove and then soaked up the Arsenal onslaught to earn a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Champions League Quarter-Final.
After an relatively uneventful first twenty minutes, Arsenal began to exert themselves on the match. That pressure resulted in the first goal coming in the 24th minute, a smashed header off the head of Emmanuel Adebayor.
The joy was short-lived however, as it took only two minutes for Liverpool to reply. Steven Gerrard’s whipped in cross tapped in by Dirk Kuyt to make it 1-1 after 26 minutes.
The score remained tied at halftime, and when the teams took the pitch after the interval, Robin van Persie had been replaced by Theo Walcott. It turns out that the Dutchman suffered a thigh injury. It’s been an absolute nightmare of season for Robin. Let’s hope it’s more of a precautionary measure by Wenger than an actual injury. While Walcott did provide a bit of a spark (He had an excellent shot skip past the post), he was not alone in his profligacy in front of goal.
Chance after chance came to the Gunners, and nothing was done with them. It was like watching last year’s side at points. Meanwhile, Liverpool defended in numbers, knowing that they’d done their job.
The match was not without controversy. Around the hour mark, Alex Hleb was brought down in the Liverpool penalty area, but the ref decided against the Gunners. Replays showed that it was a clear penalty, but you can’t pit your hopes on a penalty. You need to score when the chances are presented, and on the night, the Gunners managed to only convert one of those chances.
So, it’s on to Anfield, and a match I’ll be attending in person. I’ve never seen the Arsenal lose in person, so I’m feeling quite confident. All we have to do is score once and keep a clean sheet, or match Liverpool goal for goal, and we’re through.
Before that though, there’s a league match at home against these same Scousers. I’ll be at that game too, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. Kickoff is at 7:45 AM ET, and the match will be broadcast live here in the US on Setanta USA.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Alright Mike! Bring us some good luck in the next two… we know we can play them off the park, now let’s just get some goals to go with it.
I just hope we don’t run into superstar Liverpool defender Niklas Bendtner again… that kid has some real promise.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
personally i feel for nic, it was his badluck. dont think he had much time
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:28 pm
am worried abt the psycological and physical effect this would have on the league game..
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Wow Mike, you get to see two huge games. Hopefully you can bring your unbeaten streak for those two games. Ofcourse, you know that you have to replicate exactly everything you have done for the previous arsenal games.
Did you shave before the game? Which pint did you have and from where?, etc.. So if you follow all those tried and true steps, then things will be good
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I’m with Sachin… don’t mess with mojo.
Also, I feel badly for Nik as well… but wtf was he doing?
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I wanna reply to a danny post of “luck” on the previous thread:
NO, our failure of our entire history for not able to winning the CL was down merely down to bad luck. At times, we weren’t probably just not good enough winning it.
But I do firmly believe in one element - to win a CUP compeition, regardless if it’s Champions League or Carling Cup, you do need some LUCK to winning it.
And to Stag, when i pointed out this LUCK factor, i weren’t looking for excuse. As i said earlier, some of our own championship winning years we had our own share of LUCK as well.
but football to me, is very much like LIFE itself. Because of too many intanglible factors in the game. And LUCK is surely one of them. This is something nobody can deny.
sometimes luck is on ur side, like Nipuna pointed out right after the Bolton match, we had some luck as well in that game, notably Cesc’s winner.
but there are some games the lady luck was clearly not on our side. tonight was one of them. when Hleb’s penalty got denied, and when Bendtner accidential stopped Cesc’s shot, how many of you at that point started having this feeling - that nah, we are never going to win this game? I honestly did.
If we had created zero chance in the first 89th minute, I would still have believed we could win it. cos u never know in football. but when incidents like those happened, you kinda knew it’s not going to be ur day.
all the tactical talks to me is HINDSIGHT. for example, when Arsenal drew 0-0 at home to AC, and beaten them 2-0 away with 6 minutes left, how many of u had given credit to AW for being TACTICAL SPOTTED ON, and got exactly what we wanted with our BRILLIANT GAME PLAN?
If Wenger is tactical naive that even after a win over AC Milan he didn’t get the credit for his tactical ability, yet a draw against Liverpool all the credit were being thrown to Liverpool’s manager??
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I wrote on Monday that van Persie would pick up an injury. He played 75 minutes against Chelsea, then 90 for Holland, then 90 minutes on Saturday, then he started tonight. It was too much too fast for someone just back from a long term injury.
With our injuries, we don’t have enough to make it over the finish line strong. Our guys looked dead on their feet while Liverpool looked fresh with some very intelligent substitutions. We’ve lost van Persie again. Diaby is suspended for the next three league games. If Fabregas picks up another yellow card in the next two league games, he’ll be suspended for two matches. Adebayor and Hleb look completely beat from the long season.
Wenger’s got no choice but to freshen it up and play some of the reserves or we’ll probably pick up more injuries. This is where I agreed with what Benitez did early in the season by keeping players fresh so they wouldn’t be tired in March, April, and May (like we are). He rotated a bit too much but we look a lot more tired than the other big four teams. I hope for the best but it’s not looking too good.
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
yeah ade and hleb have looked knackered for a while
and the injuries have taken their toll, we need a deeper squad no doubt, it sadly doesnt seem to be wengers way
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Andez, I appreciate your passion but you think too much like a fan while other posters think like a player or a coach. For a player in a cup competition, it’s all about winning. Nobody cares if you play well if you’re holding up that trophy at the end of it all. Tactics are designed to give you the best chance to get the desired result.
Without throwing too much forward, Gerrard found an opportunity to pose a real threat and he did just that. Liverpool came to get an away goal and did exactly that. Were they lucky not to concede more? Of course they were. But like I said, it’s all about doing what’s required to hold that trophy up in May.
It aint over ’til the fat lady sings. She ain’t due to perform until next month but that big bitch is warming up. We need to do what’s required to make sure she’s singing our song. In 2001 we played Liverpool off the park in the FA Cup final but they held up the trophy. In the 2005 FA Cup final, Man Utd. played us off the park but we held up the trophy in the end. It’s all about winning. I just hope we have enough in the tank to make it over the finish line.
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Yeah Josh, i think like a fan, because I am a fan!
i can see one positive from this result - when we go there the 2nd leg, our mission once again will be straightforward - to score a goal. we score one goal it will cancel out everything. there will be no caught in two mind.
for some reasons, i believe this Arsenal side is better with their back against the wall. we don’t need to worry about them scoring ONCE. even if they do, we still need to score ONE goal at least to get us back into the tie.
important thing is for us to take our 2nd half performance over to Anfield. If we continue to play the way we play the 2nd half today, Liverpool would need more than luck to hold out.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Andez, I agree that if we play as well, we can get a result. My major concern is over the fitness of our players. We’ve got some guys out there who’ve played an awful lot of soccer this season and they’re quite a bit jaded. With that, they’ve still got to play as Wenger seems to have little confidence in the guys he’s called on to be our reserves for this season.
BTW, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but I’m an Arsenal fan too.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:29 pm
http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/SVLRM1646V3WXHJT
Are they not paying refs enough these days?
Probably not, because he was so busy looking at his colon as his head was up his ass instead of looking at a clear penalty. Must not be able to afford a colonoscopy.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
i agree josh. some of our players are looking a bit jaded. in particular Hleb and Adebayor. if i were AW, i would give Theo a run of games in the league at least. i understand his decision to start Eboue because of the priority to not to concede a home goal in this CL tie, but Theo been looking very sharp lately. and he will only improve with a run of games. since the league seems like out of our reach, AW could throw caution out of window. just to play Theo, let him show what he got.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:31 pm
GIven the way this team operates, we will go a goal down at Anfield and be seemingly on our way out, then turn on the booster jets and grab two goals in the last 10 minutes.
We have got to learn a) to keep things tight at the back
b) get clinical in front of goal.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Thankfully the times we serve up rubbish in the name of tactics are few and far between. Football has two objectives, to win and to entertain.
If I had a choice between Benitez or Wenger as the manager of my club it’s a no-brainer.
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=522275&root=uefachampionsleague&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1&cc=5901
DOOM AND GLOOM MERCHANTS ABOUND!
I wonder why the same is not written about Chelsea. They have spent millions again and capitulated in Turkey. The insiders argument is crap! We were denied by a blatant penalty and deserve to be 2-1 up. Yes we struggled to created chances and are looking less and less creative. But in a game/competition where every card, every tackle, and every decision count heavily, the ref really blew it…RATHER he blew nothing when he should have blown his whistle that cunt!
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
i never thought i would say this but walcott will probably be the key since RvP has got himself knackered again.
he pretty much is the only “x-factor” in the whole team. if he can score just four important goals spread out over the season he will pretty much have paid in full his transfer fees.
on a lighter note, arsenal should seriously hustle for a mid-season break! we would probably benefit the most from it.
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
while the first 25 mins of the game were played at a BPL pace, i think the pool inevitably reverted to their european experience after their equalizer and finished the job at hand. the problem is that it seems we cannot keep a clean sheet at all!!! wtf, mate! they scored from their first chance, just like so many others have done against us this year. after that they didnt really need to go forward, just to not concede another, good job done for them as this is a results oriented business, especially at this time of the year, period.
having said that, i do think that we deserved to win at least 2-1, and while danny is right in saying that a penalty is not a goal, there is no better chance to score a goal than from the spot and it stinks when you don’t even get the chance to do that.
1-1 is not the worst result either. we are at halftime now, and i strongly believe arsenal can go to anfield and score a couple of goals, especially if we get an early one and they have to come out at us. and i dont think our guys will be bothered by the kop at all, if anything it may propel us to victory. remember these guys went to the san siro, possibly the only tougher place on an european night, and got the job done. they will have the confidence to go up north and get the result.
now on to saturday when only 3 points will do, not only for the league but also for the second leg, our guys will like to prove they deserved victory today by winning saturday!
go gunners!
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:42 pm
The way some are talking you’d think Liverpool had won and booked their passage through to the next round. Hopefully much munching on humble pie if that doesn’t eventuate. Or maybe Liverpool will be quickly consigned to the ‘not very good’ basket along with that other piece of cannon fodder going by the name AC Milan.
I know what your saying about football being “a results oriented business” Fesoco, but that’s only part of the truth…..just ask Mourinho……last heard whining about the praise still heaped on a certain Monsieur Wenger.
It’s also an entertainment business. The true greats mix winning with style. Sure everyone ekks out results from time to time, but when it’s your MO…….
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:07 pm
The alleged penalty was NOT all that clear cut.
and…
Liverpool have won NOTHING.
Its 1-1 for fecks sake.
We are not in a bad position after the 1st leg. I’d prefer to be in Liverpool’s… they have a slight advantage, but that can mean nothing with one bounce of the ball or one ref’s poor decision or non-decision.
We have everything to play for … we’ll be just fine for the next 2 matches.
Now, after that against United at OT?? Well, we could be sitting ducks for that!
But… one game at a time… just worry about the next one.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I think we’re still well and truly in it Stag. I still can’t predict how it will go, we’re too uncertain for that, and with the injury to RvP……our options just took another big hit. Not that RvP made a particular impact but every game was a game closer to him finding fitness and form.
Someone predicted 3 draws…..perhaps, but I think whatever the case it could be 3 squeaky bum games.
I see Vidic was injured for ManU and Fergie is very worried. He’s a wiley ole customer and knows the value of his senior players and that the margin between hot form and slip-up can be closer than you think.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
The tie is not over by a long shot. If you take away Liverpool’s away goal and Adebayor’s goal this was almost a repeat performance of the Milan match when we couldn’t score. Everyone wrote off our chances then and people are writing us off again…if anything this will only help the team.
The pressure is on Liverpool now ….not on Arsenal ….one early goal at Anfield could turn things our way. I actually prefer us playing the second leg away. I think the one advantage Arsenal have is that they play similarly whether home or away. We definetly won’t go out there to defend….Liverpool did that and got 1 goal….i have the feeling that we are in for a high scoring draw at Liverpool which should ultimately see us through.
My only concern is how Wenger is going to approach the league game on Saturday…..to much of pressure there could wreck our chances in the second leg. Rafa on the other hand will definetly rotate…probably the majority of his squad.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:55 pm
As an earlier poster hinted, “Luck is is not everything, but it sure helps”. We were unlucky not to score at least 4 goals. The penalty not given, Bendtner’s superb defensive display for Liverpool and Eboue’s feeble attempt in front of the goal could and should have gone in. Luck did not create these clear chances, skill and good football did. The Reds were lucky they did not concede more than 1 goal.
The Football Gods were not with us today but who knows what will happen in the return, maybe the Gods will smile on us then. I thought we played well throughout the game, especially in the second half, and had many other decent chances which we unable to capitalize on.
The equalizer came on a series of defensive lapses by Flamini. In trying to clear the ball he hit it directly at a Liverpool player (Gerrard I think) and instead of tracking behind Toure who was defending the infamous and normally predictable Gerrard fake left, spin right and shoot, he was late in arriving to block the cross. We always seem to give away perfectly innocuous goals by poor defending and really need to shore up that area.
With RVP injured again and a number of players on the brink of suspension we will need some miracles to win the Cl. Arsene should take his squad to Mt. Olympus, pray to the Gods and offer Eboue as a human sacrifice. Maybe only then will the Gods repent and bless us with victory.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:03 pm
I also could not understand bringing in Walcott after the intermission and playing him on the left. Walcott has never had a good game on the left this season. Hleib should have moved to the left with Theo slotting in behind Ade as the second strikers. When Theo moved to the right after Eboue’s substitution he immediately started to create problems.
Not that this cost us the game, but I sometimes disagree heartily with Arsene’s use of players in positions to which they are not suited.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:22 pm
“Arsene should take his squad to Mt. Olympus, pray to the Gods and offer Eboue as a human sacrifice. Maybe only then will the Gods repent and bless us with victory.”
I like that. Got a hunch Eboue may rather opt for the excursion to Tibet.
I wondered if Gerard would have had so much room if Sagna had been there. But I agree, we had our chances, just too few decent finishers in this side. Once again without Adebayor’s goal where would we be???
Hleb had a funny game, someone suggested he is getting tired. I reckon that may be right, along with Adebayor he has been the most present of the front 4. When he struggles he increasingly infuriates - more miracle passes that aren’t, always reverting to his turn-on-a-sixpense routine without seeing obvious effective passes, getting caught in possession.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 pm
After Arsenal scored, Andy Gray immediately said that Arsenal ARE NOT capable of shutting shop. Bang, three minutes later, Liverpool score. After Liverpool scored, Andy Gray said Liverpool ARE capable of shutting shop and so they did.
Of course, they were lucky. Like Andez, I too believe that luck plays a BIG part in Cup runs. But I also believe that Euro runs are totally based on strong defenses. Arsenal don’t have one and that reduces our chances greatly. Only Barca have won as an attacking team in recent years. Same year, Arsenal went to the final on the basis of 4 goals in 6 games, but all clean sheets. Our great win against Milan was based on two clean sheets. Says it all, doesn’t it?
I am not too confident of the return leg. Of course, there is all to play, but we have a lot riding on the league game on Sat, while Liverpool don’t. We will be totally burned out by Tue, while Rafa will ensure his players are totally fresh. Plus, we have ManU the following weekend.
Injuries are totally ruining our season. It’s high time Arsene started planning for life without RvP and Rosicky. No point in depending on them when they can’t be on the pitch long enough. Need two more attacking options, not including Vela.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Had a looksee at RvP’s and Rosicky’s appearance record this year and last just to make sure I’m not over-reacting to their apparent fragility……sadly we’re not.
Player…..% 2007/8…..% 2006/7
RvP…………..33%…………47%
Rosicky……..40%…………49%
The % only count EPL/CL/FAC not LC
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:42 pm
This excerpt from an article posted by someone actually sums it up quite well -
“Many a neutral will have some sympathy for the demise of the youthful team whose dream of fantasy football threatened to take them all the way to the ultimate prizes in this game, but reality is biting Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger where it hurts and he has no more rabbits to pull out of his hat.”
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Walcott is definitely wasted on the left. He should played in the middle or on the right.
Hleb is more effective in the middle, but I don’t go by this theory that he gets us many penalties. How can has he won us this season? I don’t count the one at Bolton because he just pushed the ball away from the lunging defender. Seem to remember only one against ManCity early in the season.
But he is burned out too. We seriously need some competition for players so that everyone is on their toes and we don’t get burned out. And I don’t mean Eboue.
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 am
I don’t know if Diaby was available for this game or not, but it would be nice to give him a chance on the right to see whether he could provide a better goalscoring and attacking option to Eboue. Not saying we should sell Eboue, but he just is clueless around the goal and could easily have pegged in 4 or 5 this season with the amount of clear cut goal opportunities he has been blessed with.
I can understand not starting Theo because with him and Hleib on the wings together we lose something defensively. Deeply worried about our starting lineup this weekend against the Reds in the EPL clash because we have very few fit quality players for rotation. If we field our strongest team we will be tired for the return leg and if we field a weak team and get blasted off the map we will be psychologically mush. It’s good that Arsene gets the big bucks to make those decisions. In other words, based on our injuries and lack of squad quality Arsene is faced with the famous “Conundrum”. Better him than me.
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:35 am
Im proud of the way the team played yesterday good perfomance just that it wsa 1-1 dont forget liverpool will line up in the same way at anfield im confident that we can hammer them there because its simple they donot have enough quality to win against anyone in the top 4.. Ask them to try beat chelsea now they will get hammered becasue no one plays defensive football and wins .. Flukes are a part of life they had one lightning doesnt strike twice..
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:15 am
I’d like to be optimistic but for me the tie is over and Arsenal are out. Arsenal looked tired in the last 10 minutes last night, they cannot rotate and the players coming in aren’t up to the job. God knows what sort of team Wenger will put out on Saturday, either he concedes the title by resting half the team or he plays full strength and knackers the players even more.
Arsenal are more likely to wilt at Anfield, and besides the players aren’t good enough - in fact it wouldn’t surprise me if we lost 3-0/4-0. You can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of home games Liverpool have lost in the last 3 years. In my opinion, it will require a truly monumental effort to win the second leg - and physically I don’t see how we’re going to pull off such a monumental effort. We just have to pray Liverpool defend like retards again on a set piece and the back four have a blinding game for once.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:28 am
If our players aren’t good enough, Liverpool’s are? If so, why would they wanna spend the entire game sitting in their own half defending against us?
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:56 am
Honestly, I can’t believe you’re this blind. Take the blinkers off just for one second. Understand tactics Andez. Liverpool will do whatever they have to do to get the job done, they don’t care if it’s not attacking, they don’t care if the other team has 70% of the ball - all they care about is getting an away goal and keeping Arsenal down to as few chances as possible. That’s exactly what they did, so you think they rode their luck once or twice, big deal - so did Arsenal at Bolton when Fabregas pass/shot went in. If you want to win a football match you have to create clear cut chances and take them, not pray for penalties.
Chelsea won a title playing like Liverpool did last night, defending for 80 minutes then attacking when they needed a goal. It was painstaking to watch how easy it was for Liverpool to run up the pitch, get their goal then revert to type. If they didn’t score it when they did they would have gone for it at another point in the game. They didn’t attack because they didn’t need to. Personally I feel it’s even more painstaking to watch supporters consider it all down to luck and fail to look at their own team’s obvious flaws.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:21 am
i don’t understand what had tactics gotta do with the gerrard goal… or for that matter with the adebayor goal.. or with rooney’s goal to make it 2-0 last night..
we played almost constant attack throughout the match… liverpool were also always sitting on back… both before and after their goal…
in the end its the men on the field who with their creativity, their instincts, vision and mental strenth win the match… a manager can only make sure that the set of players sent on the field gel together… esp in arsenal’s case…
benitez was lucky to save his blushes… our team would have frightened him and surely he would have had a sleepless night…
i think we have a very acceptable situation in the tie… 1-1 means one +ve thing :
that we have conceeded only one away goal.. .very satisfying considering our fragile defense..
jus hope that the set of ties one after the other do not make us predictable… for pool it dosen’t matter.. .
felt really proud of our players today … HOORAH..!!
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 am
Analysing the game as a singular event I thought Arsenal played well and once again proved to Liverpool that we are the superior team when most of the key players on either side are fit. You can garner from the comments of Reina and Kuyt that they realised Arsenal were the better side and although Liverpool intended to sit deep and contain, it is now apparent to them that playing this Arsenal side away was a more daunting task than Inter Milan or Barcelona in the Nou Camp. In those games, Liverpool looked very comfortable. Against us, they were struggling big time and if we didn’t have that clown Eboue contaminating our team we would have broke them. As it was, we were one game-breaker(rosicky) away from breaking their will.
What was disconcerting was the manner in which our game petered out towards the end. We looked absolutely knackered. Not just slight fatigue, I mean straight out emaciated. Like weight-drained boxers hanging on in the championships rounds. Liverpool could have easily scored a goal or two in the last ten minutes if they weren’t so reluctant to commit players forward. We just seemed to give up and Clichy and Toure in particular seemed to have physical and mental breakdowns. It reminded me of collapse against Chelsea in 2003/2004.
It was in that last ten minutes that my anger in regards to Wenger’s refusal to strengthen the squad came to the fore. I mean, how many seasons have to go by before Wenger realises you need a deep squad to survive these trilogy events in early spring? Year after year we seem to hit the wall in these periods and year after Wenger’s eyes seem to glaze over and he goes into self-denial mode.
Who can we possibly play on Saturday that will eek out a result against Liverpool? I dread to think who we will have to wheel out. As for next week, I feel a fresh Arsenal are good enough to do the job but I just feel Liverpool will be physically stronger and be able to impose themselves on this tired team of ours. It took an Arsenal side at their best fend them off back in October and I feel this time, with our heavy legs, we will struggle to track runners from midfield and also make them pay on the counter with the sort of incisiveness needed.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:32 am
There’s nothing blind in what Andez is saying, it just happens to be a differing opinion to your own Danny.
If it’s as clear cut as you say and Liverpool are so much superior to us then why didn’t they score another 1 or 2 goals and put the tie to bed? Or do they specialise in serving up a performance resembling a crock of sh*t to their worldwide support base? It wasn’t like they just played more defensively, they withdrew everyone except for Torres.
Benitez is a wily customer for sure, but his side is limited and has been for 4 years despite spending copious amounts. Winning the cups has provided a stay of execution but for how long? They aren’t a good side and given the quality of ManU and Chelsea and the development of Arsenal he may be better to head back to Spain.
Anything can happen in this tie.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:43 am
I would never rule out anything in football. I don’t know how many games Liverpool have lost in the last three years at Anfiled but I know they lost two games to us last season there. I think they lost in Europe at home this season as well. If we go there and score a goal, they’ve got to score too. If we score two then they’ve got to score three. This tie is far from over.
As for the league, I mentioned the other day that I saw Vidic hurt his knee and thought straight away ACL. He came down just like Pires did in 2002 against Newcastle. We’ll find out today if he’s done it in. If he has then Man Utd are going to miss him big. That could mean Wes Brown trying to cope with Aliadiere. Boro can get a result there and the race could suddenly become very interesting as we could be within three points of them. I’m not writing off the league yet either.
Hey Yardy, #30, I don’t know why Diaby didn’t play last night either. He definitely won’t be available for Saturday so it would have made sense for him to play some part. Maybe Wenger was still upset at him getting himself sent off last game. A major factor is Rosicky is the only player in the team who didn’t have a legit backup. His backups were RvP and Dudu, who are slow strikers. Wrong answer, and we know Diaby isn’t the answer either. Like I said in the summer, I wanted to keep Aliadiere just for that reason.
Hleb is better in a position where he can run at people. When he gets the ball in the box, he’s a scary proposition for any defense. With his guile and quickness, he’s very tough to defend against. He showed his quality at the end of last season and beginning of this season (including preseason) when Ade was injured an RvP was the lone striker. I remember a number of the Ajax players and the coach declaring that was too good for them to cope with in that position. Even the Fulham boss had to retract comments about accusing Hleb of diving saying he was too good for their defenders. He’s a handfull up there.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:43 am
Well reasoned piece Mazza, I saw the level of tiredness too nearing the end, did you notice your man Adebayor scored in the 1st half
I agree that the squad was light from the start, and a January signing would have been a Godsend, but in partial mitigation to Wenger in January he didn’t know that Eduardo would be chopped, and probably had an expectation that RvP and Rosicky would return sooner and contribute meaningfully. But yes we were light and he’s playing a high-risk strategy.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:49 am
JD and Mazza, you are both fans of Rosicky. Do you think he can stand the rigours of the EPL?
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:06 am
I don’t think Rosicky can stand the rigours of tieing his shoe laces nevermind the EPL. Seriously, the guy is finished and we have to sell him or get a player to rival him. But Wenger doesn’t work like that so he will only buy a player if he lets Rosicky go.
As for Wenger anticipating Rosicky returning, you have to wonder what rationale Wenger was using there. A quick look at his medical records would have sufficed. I sometimes think Wenger spends too much time drinking French wine in his Hertfordshire mansion getting delusions of grandeur about his squad. Bit of a dreamer is Arsene. Although it’s that mentality that enables us to have players like Hleb so I can live with it.
As for Adebayor, I seem to remember the ball ricocheting of his head or something and flying in the net. In all seriousness, it was nice header and he did okayish in all round play, although there was still a few frustrating slips and fumbles. Infact there was quite alot of slips all round from our team.
Ade would have been a very good option to come on late on in the game when we were tiring but he scored early doors so no complaints.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:26 am
Kiwi, I didn’t say Liverpool were better than us - they clearly weren’t and this is where you, and Andez, are completely missing the point. The point is that the better footballing team does not always win, especially when the opposition is capable of tactical nullification. You seem to live in a fantasy world where two teams have to come out and play great, flowing football and the best team wins. Arsenal play like that, which is half their problem in these situations because unlike Liverpool they don’t know any other way to play.
Liverpool did what they had to do to get a draw, that’s all they wanted and all they came for - a goal scoring draw. Now they are confident of finishing the job at Anfield,. and with their record why shouldn’t they be confident? With Arsenal it’s all about win every match, they still don’t know how to play badly and win.
Tactical managers like Benitez can see the bigger picture, they have more patience and know how to pick apart a teams weaknesses, beat a superior team. They don’t give a rat’s arse how they achieve it either.
Of course Liverpool will have wanted a second goal but they did not require a second goal. If they chase a second they might concede, what’s the point? This is where Arsenal fall down year after year, they’re incapable of playing with a tactical brain. They go 1-0 up and self destruct instead of sitting on the game for 10 minutes and demorolising the opposition.
Liverpool did what practically every other team does when they come to the Emirates, play 4-5-1, stick 10 men behind the ball and hope to capitalise on Arsenal’s dodgy defence. Does every team that plays like that at the Emirates play like that at home? No, Why are you surprised at this result? It’s only your anger and frustration that leads you to call Liverpool lucky, where was Arsenal’s “luck” when they played exactly the same way 2 years ago to get to the final?
I have to agree with Mazza, the team looks knackered, which is hardly surprising. Chasing the game at Anfield will be difficult and tiring. There is no strength in depth. God knows how they will find the physical strength to win at Anfield, they’re far more likely to concede a goal on the half hour and just collapse.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:49 am
Boys and girls, can you say Nacer Barazite? Can you use the word Nacer in a sentence? I can:
Nacer Barazite needs to play on the left this weekend.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:05 am
Danny I’ve understood the point you were making since you first started expressing it in the last thread. The thing is I didn’t agree with aspects of what you said and duly responded.
You obviously admire Benitez ‘tactical’ approach, hence your dismissive comments toward Wenger’s Arsenal, perhaps Liverpool or Chelsea are a better fit for you as a club to follow? And that’s not said in a snide way.
Conversely I’ve observed a lot of maturing happening over the last 2-3 years with this team in Europe. I place a lot of this on the influence that Fabregas has on the team. He has brought a more measured possession game as opposed to the rat-a-tat-tat style of Vieira. We aren’t there yet, but the upside potential in this team is huge.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:12 am
I hate to say this and I would love it if I am wrong, but I think we’ve blown it. At 1-0, we were in total control. Alas, that lasted only 3 min. Even at 2-1, we could feel confident. At 1-1, it’s a very tough task. We have three very difficult games coming up.
Tell me, if you were Wenger and have RvP and Rosicky out and the whole team burned out, what would you do? Play to win on Sat or Tue? Both, I don’t think it’s possible.
If we go all steam on Sat and win, we will be totally screwed on Tue. If we rest players on Sat and go full steam on Tue, there is still no guarantee we will win. We didn’t win back in Oct, did we?
Of course, we are capable of scoring 1 goal at Anfield. But are we capable of a clean sheet? No way, says the recent results. That means scoring at least twice. Hmm, that’s easier said than done.
Me, I will just go all out on Sat and win that game. After that, whatever happens, happens. Like JD said, if Vidic is injured, there is still hope.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:17 am
I am not convinced that the change in our style to slow buildup play is helping us in Europe. For me, tactics in Europe essentially comes down to shutting up shop. That’s what Liverpool are good at doing with skill and luck. That’s what the Italians have been good at for so long. No wonder only defensive teams have won it in recent seasons (except Barca). Our own run in 2006 was based on defensive solidity. It’s also why ManU are doing well this season and have failed in the recent past. It’s also why Chelsea keep reaching the semis. Everything simply points in that single direction.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:24 am
With every passing game, Senderos + Gallas looks stronger and Toure looks worse (even at RB). What has happened to King Kolo?
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:31 am
I was a little pessimistic after the match, but then when I think about the game at Anfield (or, for that matter, when I think about any game Arsenal plays) it’s hard to imagine they won’t score at least one goal, in which case Liverpool would have to score two to win it outright, which is a fairly tall order. So I think there’s reason for a very cautious optimism.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:32 am
On the subject of centre backs, Gallas was head and shoulders the best one on the pitch. He was a big reason in our success with dealing with the Gerrard/Torres combo. Love the way the commentators ignored his interventions all night. Doesn’t quite fit in with the Gallas-is-a-nutcase theory they are trying to perpetuate in the media.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 am
If we got this far without RvP and Rosicky, imagine how much better we could have been with both (and Eduardo) fit for the last quarter?
Yes, it was a huge risk to gamble on their fitness and as Kiwi pointed out, Wenger took the gamble and failed. Now, if he takes the same gamble again next year, one will seriously start questioning if “Arsene knows”.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:42 am
I don’t think Gallas is getting anywhere near enough credit for his display last night. I would rate it a 9/10. Torres did nothing all night.
My take? I don’t buy Rafa being this tactical genius. Liverpool played their usual game, but Arsenal had enough chances to win it. We were unlucky, but more importantly, I think injuries have killed us and we are looking tired. With another quality option in the team I think we would have won it. A couple of new faces and keep the rest of the squad together, and we will be challenging even better next season.
And Stag, call it what you like, it was a penalty. I was screaming at the game, and when I got home I screamed all over again.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:22 am
@Kiwi: Yeah, I’m really gonna switch clubs after +25 years supporting Arsenal. Just because I support Arsenal doesn’t mean I cannot admire other players and managers. Again, I am not some sheep that praises the team no matter what; I try to maintain a balanced opinion, devoid of prejudice either for or against. It seems some are incapable of understanding or even respecting that stance.
Benitez is not a tactical genius - who said he was? Another fairytale comment - but he knows how to prey on other teams’ deficiences. Liverpool are confident defensively - the prime attribute for winning the Champions League - and they have the experience and courage having already reached two finals. His players believe they can win it, Arsenal’s don’t really. As Gordon Strachan said on Sky last night - Arsenal are too often all mouth.
I for one have been getting pretty bored recently by Arsenal players coming out with pre-match with comments about how they’re going to do this and that, comments that haven’t been backed up by performances in the last 2 months. They need to show some humility and not buy into the hype about their so-called great passing football. Really, it’s not that great at the moment, and I would prefer if they could just get the basics right, like defending properly.
Still, I certainly don’t forget that the team is relatively young with no players that have experience of winning a major trophy except Gallas, and Toure of course, but he simply doesn’t have the calmness you would expect from someone who has won what he has, which has been one of the most disappointing aspects of this season He’s a player we should be able to rely on now, but we can’t.
As far as I’m concerned, we’re probably out of it now - but there have been some daft results this season, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for another one next Tuesday. Just as only fools predicted 3-0 Arsenal prior to last night, by the same token it would be unwise to predict we are completely dead and buried.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:23 am
Just watched the Bendtner incident replay. No way Bendtner is offside., Hyppia is right on the goal line. And Bendtner should have got out of the way. He should have just jumped. That was very clumsy of him. Worse than Adebayor does.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 am
Say what you will…but i think this team will come away with a win at Anfield next week.
At 1-1 it does look like Liverpool have a slight advantage..but as someone said earlier..it is just 1 away goal. I would have been concerned if Arsenal were the cautious type of team creating very few chances and scoring. We play an attacking game full of chances..it’s another matter that we don’t score off many of them..but the key is we create chances….and that’s where we should be confident of going through.
I know everyone is saying that the team was tired etc etc ….but look at every game in the last couple of seasons where in we had our backs to the wall against supposedly “tactically” superior opponents and managers…we came through every time. The matches we have lost out on are the one’s against lesser teams where the focus is not quite there. I’m sure that will be rectified next season.
But …i’m have a feeling we will go through the next round….we will concede goals again but we will score as well.
Cheers,
Wayne
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:55 am
rocka, for YOU it was a clear cut penalty… not in reality… not for a neutral or Liverpool supporter… take of the Arsenal red tinted glasses…. just once in a while.
I yelled PENALTY too. But after watching the replay repeatedly, it was NOT clear cut in my eyes.
Nobody is saying Liverpool are superior.
You don’t HAVE to be superior to advance in a Cup competition. You DO have to be superior to win the league… over that long haul, the best team wins.
Chelsea are down to an INFERIOR team.
We can advance. The tie is NOT OVER… and we have NOT BLOWN IT.
We have ONE game at Anfield for the right to advance to the semi’s.
To say its over or we blew it is INSANITY.
So we can’t go there and win the match? or even draw 1-1 and win on PKs?
Please.
Thats crazy talk. We can definitely win at Anfield. Liverpool aren’t that special. It won’t be easy, but neither was Milan… and we don’t seem to do things the easy way.
I’m OPTIMISTIC of our chances next week in the CL.
I don’t care if RVP is out. He’s done ZERO since he’s been back.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:36 am
Almunia has signed a long term extension to his contract. That settles the GK debate.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 am
Mascherano is banned for Sat’s game and I’m sure Rafa will rest a few players. I say, let’s play our best and win that game.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 am
Got this on one of the forums - Luck beats Tactics.
“When Arsenal fluked the 2005 FA Cup final against ManYoo I never hailed Arsene as a ‘tactical genius’. It was pure and utter luck. Nothing more, nothing less.
When Arsenal scraped the Champions league semi-final away to Villareal after Riquelme missed a penalty, again, I did not hail this as ‘tactical genius’. It was sheer and utter luck.
There appears to be a fixed mind-set up in Liverpool however, whereby every fortuitous victory or positive result appears to come by design, rather than through accident. After Liverpool beat Arsenal in the 2001 FA Cup final, having been outplayed to a comical level throughout, many Liverpool fans I know hailed the ‘tactical mastery’ of Houllier.”
Obviously, by an Arsenal fan, but some valid points.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:46 am
we need to go ALL OUT on saturday…….first team, 110% determination…..forget about the CL for now. when we get the 3 points then we can concentrate on the CL match with whatever we have left in the tank.
for saturday i want to see:
toure - gallas - senderos - clichy
denilson - flamini - fabregas - hleb
walcott - adebayor
bench: lehmann, hoyte, song, eboue, bendtner
denilson NEEDS to start on the right. he is a very good passer of the ball and is definitely a greater goal threat than eboue and even hleb.
our defenders dont need rest, although maybe clichy should get a one match break though traore seems like a disaster-choice. hoyte on the left?
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 am
Liverpool are resilient and patient. You have to respect that. They go to Chelsea and seem to rather good job of containing Drogba on a regular basis -which is something way beyond us- so we have to accept they are a good defensive side with quality at the sharp end.
However they do rely on large slices of luck to achieve the success they have in the champions league. The one season that luck appeared to desert them was 2006 when they were sent out on their ear by the not-do-mighty Benfica. So I don’t really have any great apprehensions about next week if we are healthy. As always, it will come down to taking chances and being composed defensively.
Denilson was injured against Colorado Rapids. Either that or he is not in Wenger’s plans.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 am
Denilson was not even on the bench for the CL game. Looks like he is still injured.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:18 am
If a team wins or gets a good result by merely sitting back and attempting to stop their opponents from playing, the team’s defensive tactics are praised. For a majority of the Roma game, Man Utd just sat back and allowed Roma to attack. Roma had enough chances to win that game but failed to take them. Between the two Man Utd goals, I think Ronaldo was the only player who along up field for most of the time. After the game, Fergie was calling it a glorious night. In the 1999 CL final, Bayern dominated ManU but collapsed with two late goals. The win was considered great and the luck Man U got was not mentioned anywhere.
This concept of sitting back and just trying to get an away goal does work in Europe where away goals mean so much. It does take some effort to get a team organized to prevent the opponent from playing but year after year the kudos that Rafa gets for this style is getting tiring. With the players that he has at his disposal, he can forge a better style. Yet, in Europe, he keeps using this because he gets results. Ofcourse, the wrong tactics he went with in the 2005 Euro final was exposed after 45 minutes. But then Gerrard & co. dragged Liverpool back, suddenly Rafa was a genius, again.
Besides some of the Italian teams, today a majority of teams with lesser skills use this tactic of sitting back, being organized, holding firm and getting something on the counter. I think of Greece in Euro 2004. I don’t think there was a single player in that team who could dribble past one opposing player, yet they held firm.
Ofcourse, I still remember that this was the tactic that George Graham used in how Arsenal got by Parma in that 1994 Cup Winners Cup final. But Arsenal have evolved from that, yet there are plenty of other teams who now fall back on tactics. Liverpool were an exciting attacking team in the 80’s yet Rafa has taken them back. Still, if he wins games, he will continue to be a hero.
So hoping that Arsenal win on Sat, get an early goal at Anfield and knock the genius Rafa’s team out.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:21 am
can’t type..meant that ronaldo was alone…or i could say, he played along with nobody..
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=489814&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=%27Amazing%27+Merida+seals+new+deal+at+Arsenal
Fran Merida has also signed a new deal.
Wenger is signing up all the youngsters. Diaby and Denilson were already done in the season. I think Song was signed on a long term contract. That leaves only Djourou?
Is this a bad sign for the summer?
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:57 am
Often am amazed at some of Wenger’s comments:
‘It is difficult to understand how we did not win the game, because we had a lot of possession and a lot of chances,”
‘If you look at our amount of possession compared to Liverpool, it is frightening that we could only come out of it with a 1-1.
Yes it is indeed difficult to understand and even frightening, no dispute there. But this is not the first time this has happenned against an opponent for Arsenal. The 2001 F.A Cup final was a perfect example of where Arsenal dominated Liverpool yet wasted chances, tried to score that perfect goal, taking that extra touch to maybe walk the ball in the net, only to lose to two late goals.
Although, early on this season there were signs that some of those problems of translating chances into goals were gone, but those problems have materialized again in the last few weeks.
If the team is tired, then how will the players cope with just a 2 day break before the Sat game, then have to make do with yet another 2 day break before the 2nd leg? The problem is Arsenal need a win on Sat and who can they rest and still go for a win? Would be nice if Rafa puts out a team with some unknown players but can’t see that happenning. He might rest Gerrard and/or Kuyt. Maybe Torres. Although, I think Liverpool’s win against Everton last weekend gave them some breathing room for 4th place, so they won’t be crushed it they lost on sat. They might go for another draw, which would mean that it would be up to Arsenal to find a way to score a goal or two & not give up a silly one (no more own goals or deflections, please).
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Stage, couldn’t resist mate, but I think you and the Liverpool fans are the only ones who don’t think it was a pen:
Referee365 from Football 365: http://www.football365.com/referee365/0,17033,8747_3380374,00.html
“It was a staggeringly bad decision. He couldn’t complain about the angle, or the speed at which it happened. His positioning was impeccable.”
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Benitez can call on Pennant, Lucas, Benayoun, Riise, Voronin and Crouch.
Who can Arsenal call on? Hoyte, Traore, Walcott, Gilberto, Bendtner.
Slight disparity there. Liverpool obviously have much more strength in depth - it doesn’t bode well at all for either game.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
to be honest it would have been awesome if we had the options of merida, vela and even gibbs on the bench right now. sadly, all we have got is eboue.
so wenger had decided to stick with almunia, merida, vela, song……and recently diaby and denilson signed long term contracts.
i am not sold on almunia, but nothing one can do.
i dont know about diaby, but denilson is very decent on the right. i am a fan of Song, so no problem with that.
as for merida, vela as options on the wings….fine! BUT we still need at least ONE more reyes type player in there. am sure wenger can find one like that for 10 million or less!
i also hopes he shocks us and brings in one CB.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:12 pm
we should SURELY were our “barca” jersey for the liverpool away game.
we have never lost or drawn in it….in the 4 or 5 times we have worn it so far.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Anyone else think we need backup for fullbacks more than backup for CBs?
Gallas, Toure + Senderos is a more than decent combination when all are playing well. But Hoyte and Traore are dismal backup for Sagna and Clichy. We have got absolutely hammered when they started important games (WHL and OT).
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
“we should SURELY were our “barca” jersey for the liverpool away game.
we have never lost or drawn in it….in the 4 or 5 times we have worn it so far.”
Apart from wearing it and getting tonked in Seville.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
……..and drawing in Prague.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:16 pm
You have to be pretty desperate when you believe your only hope of success is down to the shirt a team is wearing. Only slightly more absurd than calling for Merida, Vela or Gibbs - what have they ever done in English football? This is pure fantasy - why not ring my mum up and ask if she fancies a game?
Hoyte and Traore are bad enough, this isn’t conference football, it’s Champions League/Prem. If any of those players showed up we’d be doomed with a capital D. We’re probably doomed as it is - this squad is as thin as Victoria Beckham on hunger strike.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:47 pm
There was no tactical genius on Rafa’s part. His team had a v. specific brief and they stuck to it - keep it tight and nick a goal if you can.
Yes, they rode their luck a bit, but apart from Ade’s free header, they never let us get a genuinely clear sight of goal. Even Cesc’s “save it like Bendtner” shot came out of a bit of a scramble.
What is hard to take is how we let Gerrard waltz through, on a rebound, so soon after taking the lead.
We were a bit unlucky, but it’s not the key reason we failed to win. Once again, we had lots of possession without finding a way through. Once again, we didn’t look physically strong enough to force the game our way.
What is missing? Well, a hard-charging midfielder like Gerrard wouldn’t go amiss. Flamini’s a worker, but he can’t bulldoze a 10-men defence. United have Renaldo, who’s a moaning diva, but he still knows when to go ‘rugby league’ and launch aggressive driving runs.
We keep trying to play our way to victory. Against a packed defence, we need more bite, more battling spirit.
I watched over some of our early season victories stored on my big Tivo hard drive and it was revealing how many goals game from tackling and harrying the opposition in their own half. We took the game to them, pressuring and unsettling them.
The problem at the Emirates is we often have too much room to build our attacks - you can see nearly every pass coming. We’re no longer quick enough to bamboozle these packed defences. We did have our long-ball flirtation, which worked for a while. But everyone’s got wise to that too.
Our slide-rule pass system isn’t inherently flawed, but it only works when everyone is sparkling fit and full of running.
I forget who talks here about winning teams having a Big Moment player, like Henry against L’pool in 2004. But I agree more and more We don’t have one single soloist, who looks to seize his moment. VanP has done it (like that last-minute scorcher against S’hampton), but he’s still rusty and auditioning along with Rosicky for the role of Mr. Glass in Unbreakable.
Theo is starting to show signs of this. If Ade is really out with an ankle sprain, why not start Theo in the middle on Saturday? Bendtner, if we’re honest, should really be having another loan spell somewhere. His arrogance isn’t helping him jell with the team.
It’s great that Wenger believes in his young players so much, but once again he’s asked too much from them. We’ve hit the classic springtime make or break test, and once again it’s veering towards break.
Regardless of how this season ends, we need at least three new buys in the summer - some real tough nuts with big engines, rather than more silky, fragile artistes.
I’m hopeful we can nick a win on Saturday. I’m even hopeful we can force extra time at Anfield and go through on penalties. But it means this team have to reveal yet another side of their character - bionic powers of resurgence.
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
“There was no tactical genius on Rafa’s part.”
Who said Benitez was a tactical genius? Another of this website’s self-perpetuating myths.
It’s true that there’s no movement in this team anymore. Pass and move just isn’t happening. It’s pass and watch. That’s because the players have lost confidence in each other.
You saw that corner that Fabregas and Van Persie mucked up - said it all to me - the occasion was getting to them, that’s what you get with young players who have won sod all. Wenger needs to find a solution, or they’ll never win anything. If Arsenal got 2 reliable, experienced players, that the lads could look up to and rely on it would help a great deal - I honestly reckon the players think Gallas is an arsehole.
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
@ danny: ok, i missed a broad smiley….but u should know that was sarcasm.
as for merida/vela….its called ACCEPTANCE. wenger is the manager and you and i know those two youngsters WILL be drafted in next season. are they better than eboue…YES. at least i know merida and vela have brains anyway.
if we had both of them now in this season, maybe fabregas and hleb could rest for a match. we will probably lose or draw but at least there will be more intelligent play than having eboue in there.
if i were wenger i would go out there and get van der vaart or diego ….most likely i will act like every fan and buy a new team altogether…
unlike u, i just accept wenger’s flaws rather than MOAN and GROAN about it continuously.
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
anyone see the Bayern-Getafe UEFA Cup tie? How did they manage to get a 1-1 tie away? Defend, defend and then nick a last minute goal or they actually were in the game? I have not seen Getafe play this year but they are having quite a season under Michael Laudrup as they are in the final of the Spanish Cup as well. Although, they are still not guaranteed as being safe in the league against relegation.
At the start of the year, Bayern were expected to do a treble with no problems. They are still on course for 3 titles but in the UEFA Cup, they were lucky to get away with an away 2-2 against Aberdeen, were held by Bolton of all teams and today gave up a last minute goal.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Danny, whether i m really blinded or naive towards TACTIC or not I let others to decide.
As Josh said, I think like a fan. And I do.
You wrote that “the (our) players aren’t good enough”, and I DISAGREED. And u claimed that there’s a chance we got stuffed 3-0, 4-0 by Liverpool, that piss me off. and that’s that.
Why? so that it will match ur theory - Arsenal will never win the CL under AW?
If not, I cannot understand how ur attitude towards our League campaign and CL campaign can be so different?
believe me, those so called “game plan” Rafa been using is nothing new to me. Wasn’t it exactly the way George Graham led us to Cup Winners’ Cup title in 1994? hell, back then in the final, we had Ian Wright alongside with a few other first teamers missing, and we ended up playing some reserve kids, the likes Ian Selley only got a handful first team appearances, and taking on that mighty Parma side. Yet we beat them 1-0.
One-Nil to Arsenal. I don’t understand that (tactic)? Hell, I GREW UP watching this soft of tactic.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
The fact the squad has put us in a position to challenge for the title and through to the qtr finals of the CL suggests to me that we aren’t too far away from where we need to be.
Our challenge has faltered but that could easily have been different - 2 of those 4 draws could easily have been wins if 1 or 2 of RvP/Eduardo/Rosicky weren’t crocked. I know we can talk ‘if’s’ till the cows come home…..but applying a measure sympathy when a squad takes a big injury hit seems sensible to me. If Ronaldo, Rooney and Saha were all out the ManU machine wouldn’t look so flash.
Wenger has a major headache to resolve in the summer……RvP and Rosicky are a puzzle. Talented but fragile. Throw in the medium-term absence and long-term uncertainty over Eduardo and we are hopelessly weak up front and out wide. It’s quite frightening.
It’s bordering the absurd that we only have one goal-scoring outlet - Adebayor. It’s not an experience thing for me, it’s goalscoring. If you can’t convert your chances and half-chances then your confidence erodes and your defence starts leaking more heavily.
This is where I think Wenger needs to shoulder a level of blame - when injuries bite where are the goal scoring options?
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:19 pm
btw nobody PRAY for a penalty. But a penalty IS a penalty. If not, then why do we need referee?
It’s time ppl should stop giving EXCUSE on behave of the ref.
We accused teams for talking excuses.
but what about referee? nah, they are only human, they made mistake.
hell, i am also a human too, and all of us here are human as well. and if we made some costly mistakes as often as the football referees did in our own profession, do u think our boss would say “don’t worry son, u r only human, u made mistakes, i understand that”???
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Andez #78, I was thinking exactly the same. Of George and his ‘tactics’ and the Parma final, and I see Sachin mentioned it as well.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
The impression that I get with this team is that they are so physically weak, and naive with it, which compounds the problem. Statistically we seem to dominate possession in certain games but at the Emirates especially it seems to like we are playing against a force ten gale. It’s playing Gridiron and not being able to make more than five yards a time. It’s almost painful to watch at times as our players go through their set routines of which can appear very laboured and robotic when the team is not at 100%. Hleb epitomises this the most. He is unbelievably skillful but he plays like he has these drills ‘drilled’ into him at the cost of playing what he sees in front of him. It’s when he abandons all that mechanical play that we see the best of him. Like that amazing dribble for the penalty claim.
Although everyone raves about the pitch at the Emirates, I don’t particularly like it. I’ve heard a percentage of it is synthetic and I feel this artificial softness slows the ball down and makes it harder for us to raise the tempo. Bolton’s pitch and Tottenham’s pitch would suit us better. Last saturday at the Reebok we looked alot more threatening pinging balls around that slick but slightly harder surface that was common place a few years ago.
The naivety seems to show its face in every match. Flamini’s part in their goal last night illustrates this. The way he just brainlessly tried to run off with the ball head down and didn’t appear to notice Gerrard right next to him. It’s those sort of things that worry me with Flamini. He has improved in this department but it still shows it face against top quality midfielders. At Chelsea he was also left looking a bit gormless in the last twenty minutes when he was dispossessed constantly by the Chelsea midfield.
The real problem is this team is Eboue though. He doesn’t score and he rarely creates, directly or indirectly.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
yeah, kiwi, I mentioned the 1994 final like Andez as I can’t forget the old Arsenal way of playing.
Regarding the penalty….The first thing after the penalty was not given was how Kuyt gave the thumbs up to the ref. Interesting to see that this report says that Kuyt does know the ref. Kuyt might be right in saying that knowing the ref might not lead to decisions in his favour but I have a feeling that the ref might have gone with the instinct that Kuyt would never do such a thing and waved play on. Vialli and I think even Collina once said that even the best refs can sometimes make decisions based on a player’s past behavior. Their comments were regarding a player not getting a penalty because he dove in the past but in Kuyt’s case, the ref might have given the benefit of a doubt as he knew Kuyt in the past. Even though, nothing can be done now, still a bit frustrating to know. Arsenal will have to get on with things and not think about this.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I wonder if Song may get a start on Saturday?
Assuming RvP is out Wenger may revert to 4-5-1
Song could play the holding role and let Flam & Fab be a bit more offensive. In reailty, Flam and Fab are probably the next best goal-scoring threat to Adebayor in general play.
Out wide I’d have Hlebie on the left and hmmmm……a toss up on the right between Eboue and Walcott. I’d go for Walcott but he seems to fade and go missing badly when he starts.
……………Adebayor
Hleb..Flam..Song..Fab..Eboue
Clichy..Senderos..Gallas..Toure
……………..Moonie
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:01 pm
“I don’t think Rafa Benitez “planned” to have his side survive a clear penalty scare. Or have we all agreed he’s that much of a tactical genius?”
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
@Andez 78: So why are you calling Liverpool lucky when they successfully employ such tactics against us? If you understand the tactic then you’ll realise that they achieved their objective, there was nothing lucky about it.
I don’t like hard luck stories. If Bendtner wasn’t an experienced striker he would have let that ball through his legs. So don’t blame Bendtner or bad luck, blame Wenger for only having Bendtner on the bench as a viable striker. As for the penalty, yes it was a penalty, but a penalty isn’t a goal is it? Plenty are missed and Reina is one of the best out there at saving them.
I just don’t see it myself, the whole thing was entirely predictable from start to finish.
I am not attacking Arsenal by the way, just explaining why and where - in my opinion - it’s going wrong. My only real grumble this season was the Man Utd 4-0 thrashing, which was a disgrace. I’ll concede Wenger has been unlucky with injuries, Rosicky and Van Persie have been out nearly all season, it’s a major blow when you have a squad as puny as ours. But Wenger really should know better - a man of his experience has to legislate for injuries a lot more effectively.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Hleb really pisses me off. He should be making those runs into the box four or five times per game. Why the hell doesn’t he?
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Defensive game plan is far more easy to execute than attacking game plan IMO.
As mentioned before, primary there are two type:
(1) CLOSE DOWN
GG employed it all the time. Push ur backline high up the pitch. And get ur forwards and midfielders got it “in ur face” of the opposition, closing every man down, not letting them having TIME to think of what to do with the ball.
And because ur back 4 pushed up as well, it actually NARROWED the playing surface. Say, if back 4 pushed up to half pitch line, setting up the offside trap, while ur midfield closing the men down, the opposition would be forced to make a quick pass with less time to think about it. So often, the back 4 trap would catch their forwards offsided because of it.
GG liked to use this because of that unqiue narrow surface of Highbury made it even more effective.
(2) SITTING DEEP
Let the opponent having the ball. Restained ur men to DIVE IN for a tackle. To CONTAIN them instead. This way, no man (on ur side) would get caught “out of position”. And u have 10 men + keeper behind the ball. It’s very difficult for opponet to penetrate ur defence with such a DEPTH.
It’s effective against good passing team like us. As a really good passing team is very difficult to employ the “close down” tactic, due to their ability to keep passing the ball even with lesser time to think about it. To force them playing long ball instead of short passing game.
This is how Liverpool played against us yesterday. And it’s a more common tactic among the contential opponents, especially the Italian sides.
So here are the GAME PLANS. Correct me if i am wrong.
Knowing that is one thing. how to break it is another.
DESTRUCTION is always far more EASIER than CONSTRUCTION. That same theory applies bloody well on football as well.
What Liverpool did last night was no difference from AC Milan did to us. It took us into the 174th minute of the tie to break them down. That’s how difficult to break that bloody defensive tactic.
Arsenal played the way it should be yesterday. We pass the ball well, controlled the game. Yeah, we couldn’t score more. But at least we didn’t settle to pump the long ball into the box. I honestly don’t know what more we can ask for. apart from better finishing maybe.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Tactially, if any mistake AW had made yesterday. Personally i felt it’s when he brought on Bendtner.
Now i m not saying Bendtner is not good enough, or Eboue having a good game.
NO. My point is, in 2nd half, when Theo was on, we temporarily shifted to 4-5-1. whether u like the formation or not is one thing, the truth is, during that period of time, we looked very dangerous going forward. with Hleb shifted to middle behind Ade. And Theo down the left.
i disagree with the theor Theo is better on the right. To me, his best position will be as a striker. Before that happen, it’s down the left. As Gallas said, that kid needs to work on his left foot.
Down the right, he only got one move, drive it down the right. he doesn’t have that ability to cut inside with his left foot. that makes him too predictable to defend against.
on the left, it gives him another option to cut inside.
And Hleb, why he didn’t dribble his way down the middle often these days? cos he been playing wide very often in recent time. And it’s not his position. He’s far more effective for him to dribble through the middle, than trying to dribble down the byline. He doesn’t have that pace to beat a full back. Beating a central half is another story.
We created some legit chances during that period.
Surely Eboue on the right was as good as useless. still why changed it when things were going well?
On come Bendtner. All a sudden Hleb and Theo back to the left and right wings respectively. The momentum lost.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:46 pm
We should have kept a clean sheet, that’s at the crux of it. 1-0 wouldn’t have been a bad result, but letting that daft goal in was the real crime. And what with the way Arsenal have been defending lately that was hardly surprising, so Wenger needs to sort that back line out somehow, because at this level the mistakes are far too frequent and too costly. If you can’t keep clean sheets in the Champions League you haven’t got a prayer.
In the second half of the season, two players have had a nightmare at the back, Clichy and Toure. Clichy is still learning, and did enough in the first half of the season to show that if he can concentrate right throughout the season he can be a fine defender, but Toure has been a huge disappointment. His inability to deal with crosses is killing us, I think he should be dropped and replaced, it’s that serious - not replaced by Senderos either. Djourou should go and Wenger should but an experienced centre-back who is good in the air to partner Gallas. You don’t need two CBs with lightning pace, just one, and Sagna and Clichy are very quick too.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Agree about the tactical change. Walcott did look more comfortable on the left. On the right he is less direct and he gets caught up nonsense passing that isn’t really his strength.
Hleb was playing better through the middle but with him it’s hard to tell. Some games he plays poor behind the main striker and he comes more into it when Wenger moves him to the left. Then some games, like last night, it’s the other way round.
I like the Hleb and Walcott combination though. The problem is Walcott is not ready to start yet. He’s only got one gear, turbo gear, and that it is not sustainable over a full game. Eboue can play a relatively steady and decent game for a longer period when he is mentally right. I remember Eboue doing quite well at Anfield earlier in the season.
I would start Walcott on Saturday though. We need to win that game without passing ourselves into submission before next tuesday and Walcott might just produce one run and cross which leads to a goal.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
A player to keep an eye on. Affelay of PSV.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Another thing abt Hleb is, i guess i need to be fair with him, he’s simply running out of gas.
remember we had played with 10 men Vs Bolton for large part of 90 mins the previous match. And if Ade also started to look jaded, let alone Hleb. he’s been playing every single game for a long period of time lately.
but there’s also another thing - i noticed Hleb seems like reacting quite badly everytime after he got knocked down by an opponent these days. and he’s usually a nice guy. Has him got fed up by the physical nature of EPL, and lack of protection from the ref? Or has that Eduardo incident played into his mind?
i am not saying these must be the cases, but I imagine if I were a player, when i saw a teammate’s leg ended up like that, the next time when i see an opening that i could dribble my way into the box, would I go for it, or would i opt for an easy way out by passing to teammates?
let’s bare in mind, Hleb’s trademark dribble into the box, few of them resulted to a goal, many of them resulted a penalty. that means - he will have to dribble through a lot of opponents with tackle flying around, and most of the time he knew that he would eventually end up got chopped down.
that takes a brave soul doing it. especially after that Eduardo incident, when he was one of them actually withnessed the incident from close range.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Zenit St Petersberg. What great football they play. Arshavin looks perfect for us.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:23 pm