Lack of focus and quality cost us in the end. by KM
Well Arsene said this is our best chance and guess what? We lost. The last two times Arsenal played Barcelona at the Emirates we managed a win and a draw. I think the players put in more commitment than I’ve seen in recent games, but eventually it wasn’t good enough.
Until the last minute of the first half we actually had the better chances, but the Ox failed to beat Ter Stegen from a few yards and that is just a replay of our story in 2016 so far. We missed a few other chances but in the second half we were outclassed.
If I have to go over the players, I thought Mesut was really determined to prove a point. Giroud also had a lot of battling spirit. The Ox was trying though it didn’t work out for him and he got injured and Cech made some incredible saves once again.
This the reality check. Honestly you don’t get a better one than this. We lost the home leg and we’re well out of the Champions league and you have to question some of Wenger’s decisions like bringing on Flamini, who cannot deal well enough with the likes of Hull, let alone Barcelona, and just for his amazing contribution of a penalty with his first kick, I think it’s high time he leaves the club.
I mean Le Coq couldn’t have had that much trouble to play 10 more minutes. Subbing Giroud was another mystery for me. Walcott’s introduction proved why he’s on the bench and Welbeck was introduced too little to late.
This game showed why English football struggles in Europe. We let our game plan break down. Slowly but surely we got more and more offensive and when the chances slipped, they punished us. In the Premier league one goal turns the mood around and in the CL with the best teams, you cannot allow that to yourself.
With the revenue the English teams get, and with the state the Premier league is in, we should be cruising it. We have the resources to buy players, that will narrow the gap between us and them. But we won’t do it. And we must change something.
Chelsea managed to eliminate Barcelona with 10 men at the Nou Camp! And they had a squad that didn’t manage the top 4 with a make-shift manager who didn’t have the experience. I guess we didn’t learn our lessons. And like each of the past 10 years, February is where crunch time comes and Arsenal fails.
If Arsene fails to deliver the league title, there can be no excuses. He simply has to go. Next up is another tough game at Old Trafford. Never mind the state of United’s squad, we’ve not won there in 10 years in the league!
Hopefully though like last time when we had a disappointment in the Champions league, we’ll take it out on United. But honestly, looking at our inability to score, it will be difficult.
Konstantin
campbell should have started that game.
Wenger pisses me off with his favouritism of players
Piers morgan gets to keep his pants upat the emirates
cuz Giroud couldn’t find the back of the net!
Ahem!
ramsey was horrible !
All season.
Just Ramsey? Ox has not had a good game in years, and he still gets to start against Barca. Barca, not Hull City. Campbell, Walcott, and Welbeck should all be ahead of him in the pecking order. And let’s look reality in the face – Sanchez needs to wake up, and fast. At the moment, he’s one of our biggest hurdles.
We have a worldclass stadium worth millions……… Yet many below average players ply their trades there
Sums up our predicaments!
#HighburyrocksEmiratessucks#
Can’t stand these champions league replays on TV……… The weekend can’t come any quicker!
Pls come quickly!
bloody hell seems everyone woke up with same anger from last night lol
dont feel so bad we stood toe to toe for 70 mins. wengers tactics made them look disorganised. our back 4 cech an le coq did us proud.
my concern is why we dont see this devotion more often from our players and why were not willing to reinforce the one or two needed to change our future.
4 days till manure !
How did they make us proud and they lost without scoring a goal…or its because you was expecting a 5nil hammering…we should jst stop participating in the ucl…nou camp i expect us to concede mo than 4goals!
it’s one thing to get ur tactics spot on
another to take ur chances….
One more to bang in the much needed goaLs
we are not exactly there yet!
I don’t think the tactics were spot on actually. While in my article I said Ozil did a good job on Busquets… It really fell away in the second half and I would edit my summary by saying that he didn’t follow through. I think AW was naive in thinking that a natural No10 could shut down one of the best holding mids – someone Pep says he would like to be like in the next life. I had suggested that Ramsey should have taken the no 10 role and sat on Busquets all day long…Ozil on the left and Sanchez on the right. El neny to play with Coq. Well who knows… In my mind that would have been a better balance and allow us far more tactical flexibility thru game. I guess AW just didn’t think El Neny was good enough. I really wonder.
#TJ;
Agree with you 100%. Why Wenger still prefers Flamini over El Neny is beyond me.
Flamini replaced Le Coq, when he was doing fine, and the first thing his boot touched was Mesi’s shin!!!!! and Penalty!!!! what a master stroke by clueless manager.
Besides Wenger always used this excuse, that we buy a player if he is proven to be better than what we got!!! looks like he lied again because still in his French mind, El Neny is not better than what we got.
Also worth mentioning that 20% possession against Barcelona is not something to be proud of like one AKB puts it. Jose Mourinho, managed to stop them with 10 man.
Wenger’s time is over, and 4th place trophy is all we can hope for.
He has to go, 11 years become 15 years and still no change.
oh! And i forgot………get ur tactics spot on and ruin it by ur subs!
@Muff. Yep we went toe to toe
with the best team on the planet
for 3/4 of the game them boom
boom they delivered two knock
out punches.
To be fair I thought the tactics were spot on.
We parked the big red bus brilliantly
and then hit them on the counter.
Naymar did not score nor did Suarez.
It took the Ballon d’or to beat us.
If we had Messi he would have scored our
half chances and we would have won.
So we do need Sanchez Wellbeck Walcott
Giroud and Ramsey to start scoring again.
Overall I was thrilled with our performance and
bodes well for the EPL FA Cup double.
have to face that our team are unbalanced.
two or three critical areas are lacking…an the rest of the team have to pay for that.
sadly this has happenend for more than a decade
Mind you if Messi had not
scored that first goal we
could be saying how
over rated they are.
In fact David NZ….it took a lapse in our control and discipline. There was absolutely no reason for our defensive line to be so high and flat in that attacking move. I think it’s a bit rich for Per to say we didn’t take our chances… He sets the defensive line and it was poor judgement on his part…. And he is culpable for the penalty too. I tell you when Ozil when nuts about them scoring… He was pointedly asking Per the question…in a game like this… Defensive organisation and setting the lines requires 100% concentration and this was his responsibility. As the captain I would have liked him to stand up after the game and say… Mea Culpa… But instead he talks about not taking chances. Per will not be in a leadership role next year.
So what were u wishing? the game to end at the 70th minute and be very proud of the players? we lost, nothing to be proud of tht
We are on course for qualification and participation in the Next 2016/2017 champions League edition
18 times in a Row……
Oh! Arsenal, why don’t u take ur chances?……give these 18-19 good chances to a club with ambition and see how far they go
but we just go there to participate and grace the tournament with Very Little to show for
the R16 accident…..our major bump every given year
when do we overcome all this…..when the hair on all our heads turn grey?
Patience pays off!….no doubt, but boy! It only works when u put in all the hardwork and resources…… That’s when a reward comes
is this a bridge too far for Arsenal???
Good not agree more with this article.
Let’s face it, we have not looked good for a while now and definitely since the beginning of the year.
Anyone here things this has to do with injuries? Anyone here thinks Wilshire or Carzorla will solve our scoring problems?
I hope Giroud will be benched for a while. We need speed up front and he was awful yesterday even in his distribution.
When Welbeck came on we felt more dangerous and we all know he is not a natural goal scorer but lets give him a run of games as striker and find a natural finisher this summer.
On current form any trophy looks out of reach.
Wenger called us naive. Has he ever done so before? Is it me? or doeshe says that after many defeats? Is he conceding he can not fix this naivety?
Nope!……… But he once used that word “weak and naive” and directed at mike dean
now me think….he thinks….Team Arsenal are Like mike dean
Flamini for Coquelin that was a genius masterstroke frm Wenger hehe and Ramsey…i once said that Ramsey lacks discipline at the middle of the park bt sm said that in bg games he is disciplined,really? But am jst anothr frustratd fan…evn 2yrz frm nw we will be talking about the same issues jst lyk 2yrz ago! WENGER FOR PRESIDENT!
Welbeck for Giroud and Campbell for Ox against Manure on sunday
Ox failed to beat a keeper who was already on the floor, Giroud passing to empty spaces
Alright I’m calm now.
I feel like yesterday beforehand we would have no chance beating Barcelona. After 5 minutes into the game I realized if could be possible because the players seemed up for it. Wasn’t long when we got the best chance of the half which OX fluffed. I am sorry but just absolutely cannot miss chances like that in the Champions League knock outs. Why? Because against teams like Barca, Bayern etc. you don’t get many chances. 1 or 2 and that’s it.
On the second half Barca played much better but I feel the Arsenal team became frustrated because we hadn’t scored yet. This lead US actually doing the attack which left us horribly exposed for a Barca counter and Messi walked the ball in. The penalty if I’m correct was also from a counter-attack, yes? I also noticed whenever we had the ball, we panicked right away. Özil was often in tons of space in the middle but instead we tried foolish long balls which were for naught.
Some selections I still think were wrong. Giroud and OX should’ve not started. Welbeck did really well when he came on and his got pace to burn. I won’t even mention the Flamini sub because it’s too an obvious mistake.
So overall for 70 minutes the performance was great, but we could’ve actually won that game. There’s so much potential in this team but we can’t finish to save our lives. That’s a HUGE problem. That’s why we are the lowest scoring team out of the top 4.
We would all love for Arsenal to spend more money, but for me that’s not our main problem. Pretty much every game I feel we can win with the talent we have, but most games i watch scratching my head. AW has lost the plot, he doesn’t play the best 11 to match certain teams and he doesn’t make proper adjustments during the games. How many times are you left wondering why he does the things he does or doesn’t do. We have incredible talent at Arsenal, but we have a blind arrogant coach that has been left behind and has honestly forgotten football basics. We need fresh thinking, new ideas and someone who’s willing to put winning as the priority.
Was Le coq injured? Why did Wenger subbed him for Flamini instead of Elneny? OX is not arsenal material so is Wlcot and Ramsey. Don’t even no why with all the goals and assists campbel have contributed for just few starts, yet Ox plays ahead of him. Is it becos of European Nations cup?
#Emmnuel;
Simple reason for all the good points you have raised. Nobody is better than a French player. Campbell, and El Neny they could be the best in the world yet he will only use them if he is forced to do so. Wenger is sick, and he will not stop this until Arsenal is destroyed.
Wow we lost to barca no one saw that coming did they, I don’t feel upset one bit at the loss just anger at certain treatment of players and the usual favouritism as always.
Plz could someone tell me why Joel Campbell has suddenly been dropped to the bench he was absolutely ideal for this game purely for his work rate alone yet Ox has suddenly overtaken him, Aaron one season f***** wonder Ramsey where do I start how on earth is this guy justifying his place on the team. His passing awful flicks and tricks attempts awful, tackling awful most selfish b****** ever seen, misses sitters regulary think his tally of goals this season is what under 10 if that? I bet fans will say “engine” lol this lad has been with arsenal for 5+ years or so now had one good season yet wenger loves him.
Why isn’t elneny being given a chance he’s looked promising, but no give the tried and tested Kung fu warrior flamini ample chances he’s paying us back well lol
Cech,ozil sanchez and probly kosc deserve better then this utter shite.
Another thing morel performances of late say last month have been wobbly to say the least is it tiredness potentially? Why not rotate him with gibbs who has improved from his recent showings just look at spurs n their rotation of full back’s has it worked? Oh wait debuchy…… chambers lol
Have a good one guys
I’m glad some of us can express their true feelings about our beloved team faith.It is nothing to do with the loss against BARCA but we ( the objective ones ) know long ago that a change is needed in our team. Yes, thanks to AW for what we achieved but it is time to get someone like SIMEONE or BIELSA OR SAMPAOLI..pressing and one touch passing mentality and most specially will get rid of the under developed british core plus deadwood and bring the 3 players we have been beging for years now WC ST, WC DM AND WC CB ( 100 millions spend max ) to added to the other 3 WC we have who I’m dreading 2 of those will want to move to a team with ambition ( i will not call them traitors ). we should have throw the 35 millions for AUBA.. 25 for carvalho and like klopp is doing got howdes or someone of that caliber then our SPINE would be perfect to compete with the likes of BARCA, BAYER AND MADRID..we do not need a bunch of galacticos just 5-6 then keep the good ones we have to a balance team..next year i fear the demons..with KLOPP..PEP..MOU..CONTE..POCHETINO..and middle table teams getting stronger..even if we win this year EPL ( being there for the taking )I STILL INSIST IN CHANGES…we are not in the elite any more..it sadness me..it hurst us because we got the finances.