Arsenal eliminated from the Europa League as Olympiacos win 2-1
So much was expected from the team that Mikel Arteta put out but sadly, there was very little from them in the first 45 minutes, in fact, neither team showed much in the first period.
The fact that both teams registered just one shot apiece in the first half tells you all you needed to know, to say there was a lack of urgency is an understatement.
Arsenal’s passing was poor, judgement on the ball was poor, in particular from Nicolas Pepe who was very frustrating, one minute he is going on dazzling runs but absolutely nothing at the end.
Alexandre Lacazette did grab a goal but it was rightfully ruled offside, Shkodran Mustafi was immense, again, Bukayo Saka was impressive to some degree and Mesut Ozil did try to get things going but overall, the first half was one to forget.
Hopefully, the second half would be better.
Well, that was soon a no from Arsenal, they never started brightly and kind of just picked up from where the left off in the first half, it was just far too casual.
It had to happen, didn’t it? Olympiacos took the lead and wiped out the away goal advantage on the 53rd minute when Pape Abou Cisse, left to his own devices, scored with a header from a corner.
Now, it was truly game on and the last thing Arsenal could afford now was another goal conceded.
Olympiacos was growing in confidence but Arsenal still had control of possession, the problem was there was still no urgency. Dani Ceballos for example when he got the ball was looking for runs and movement from the forwards, there was none.
Arsenal needed a hero, a game-changer but at this point, it was hard to see who that would be.
Pepe tried but got nowhere and Lacazette had a good chance but came up short, a pattern was starting to develop here. But Arsenal was starting to lay siege to the Olympiacos goal.
Mustafi, of course, made a crucial last-ditch interception to deny Olympiacos who showed they were still very much in the game and dangerous on the counter.
The game limped to the inevitable extra time and truth be told, Olympiacos did look as likely to score as Arsenal did.
At least with extra time it gave Arteta the opportunity to read the riot act because someone needed to, this was not the best 90 minutes from the home side in quite a while and that is saying something.
The first period of extra time was more of the same, Arsenal had the majority of possession but created no real clear cut chances while Olympiacos continued to look very dangerous when they had the opportunity to go forward and probably had the best chance.
The highlight of the first period of extra time was probably Mustafi getting a standing ovation when he went off injured to be replaced by Sokratis.
The second period of extra time finally brought Arsenal their hero and it was obvious who it would be, Mr Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
It was a beautiful scissor kick inside the Olympiacos penalty area and the celebrations, especially from Arteta was a wonderful sight.
The question now was, would Arsenal hold out?
The answer was no as Olympiacos scored the all-important second goal and drew level.
Aubameyang had a golden opportunity to send Arsenal through in injury time but he shot wide and Arsenal was out.
It was like watching Wenger’s tiki-taka again. Our four attackers slept in the first half and Ozil/ Luiz were supposed to man-mark the free Cisse
Arteta seemed to know that most of his players were not in the mood tonight and chose to strengthen the defense with Torreira/ Willock because of that. Arsenal will never win a major trophy with some divas in their squad
What is wrong with you , that was boring side ways and back ward football game. Where we just ran out of ideas and gas. How can you compare this to wenger’s tiki-taka???
Wenger’s tiki-taka also produced non-stop merry-go-round passes as what they did at the game
Wenger’s tiki-taka was going forward not backward like Arteta’s boring football.
Don’t you remember the trashing at Anfield and the 8-2 defeat against Man United?
Or the disappointing result against the ten-men Atletico Madrid at EL semifinal?
That Wenger’s team is devoid of creativity
A shame that when you mention Pepe’s dead right leg amd poor decision making you’re usually picked apart for it when it’s the hard truth. For some players who don’t really use their weak foot well it is a limiting factor on their game. A shame we made an expensive mistake
72 M for a one-legged winger who is rarely able to go to the byline and cannot cut inside to shoot with his favorite foot either
His attacking stats in EPL are actually not bad, but his penetration is almost non-existent
Overall he is not as bad as Crespo, Mutu, Shevchenko and Torres at Chelsea, who cost Abramovich much more money
Stats don’t tell the whole story. It’s all about how it’s interpreted. I have no agenda against Pepe but it’s just that for a player who was bought for such a high amount I expected massive improvement but I guess it’s down to his quality and jot his fault. His overall game just isn’t good enough and to me he is never going to be worth €80m. It’s easy to hide behind stats but it’s your actual game that will tell the tale in the end.
He is the most frustrating player to watch ever. First he stands on the ball too long n destroys the rhythm of passing…slows down the game to snail pace. Then he will either fall down or loose the ball trying to go pass player or at best will pass it back. Even when he is able to go past a player he will go back n try the same think again….he has the skills but not the brain of footballer. Reason you dribble past a player is so you have one less obstacle in attack not to keep doing it again n again with out any out come….cut to the left then back to right then back to left then back to right ..by the time he is ready to shoot or pass everyone loose their interest. That’s why great players like Ronaldo, Messi, Zidane, figo were great because they know when to keep the ball m when to release it. They do these things to produce end result not for show off.
Ozil man-mark a 6ft 6inch giant centre half?????
As little as you know about football PAL is summed up right there in that comment. Do you honestly believe Ozil was ordered to do this during training this week? Get yourself a life PAL because you need to get out in the real world. Things happen out there. Three are things that do not include sitting in your bedroom waiting for a headline from JA and racing to put out the first post. Try it some day PAL
Well be back for Europa next season all being well we finish top8.
See you next year
We will be lucky if we can get an EL ticket
Didn’t see the game, PEA tried his best for this team.
We have no game this weekend, so Arteta trusted his senior players, and they failed.
It’s good they’re kicked out, now everyone fights till the death to make sure we don’t drop more league points.
Eventually if we drop league points and fail to make UCL with City out.
Then Arsenal ain’t worth being in Europe at all
Its funny because this was already coming. Realistically speaking there was no way Arsenal were going to win the UEL. That’s wishful thinking because I believe we would be trashed against proper opposition.
Hopefully this result is an eye opener to those who think some players should be kept because they’ve improved under Arteta.
Yea, I saw that also… Right when Inter came in, I knew we ain’t winning this.
This cup is going to Milan. Eventually we would’ve faced them and they’ve been doing so well.
I really don’t feel the meltdown y’all feeling right now because I never invested my time and attention into this Europa league.
Let’s see what happens from here.
Even without Inter I don’t think we’d win it. There are teams in the competition that would give us a run for our money and probably knock is out. Btw I’m not so sure Inter would win because I watch them too and they are kind of bottlers tbh.
This isn’t really a meltdown for me. It’s just what was to be expected at a certain point though it has come a bit earlier than I expected
You are dreaming and miles away from reality. Look at the league table and then there is no surety that City will be penalised with point deduction. If you still think we will finish in top 5 then what can I say ….you need a reality check. We were awful n Olympiacos deserve to go through.
Theres no surety City would be dropped, but what happens when they get dropped??…
Until then if you really think the boys shouldn’t do all that they can to secure top 5 then you need a bigger reality check
The usual suspects are back in action.
The question, though, is why didn’t Martinelli start or come on earlier?
I agree I was screaming for Martinelli 70th mnt it was his kind of game MA should use him for games where the opposition park the bus Martinelli is a quick thinker he don’t wast time with the ball
Because Arteta doesn’t have the balls to bench some senior attackers, especially after they won against Everton
Joe willock knackered 5 mins after coming on in the 84 minute🤪🤪,the wrestler 😵😵
Funny how we were told several players improved under Arteta. If anything it’s Arteta that has improved the team using tactics to cover up for their weaknesses. That can only get you so far. These lot are the same old. I don’t even want to single out players by my goodness its difficult not to. So people here still think Pepe is worth €80m?? I’m guessing he’ll come good next season? Xhaka and the like are not how enough for this club. Hopefully they keep playing average to decent so that we can get a good fee for them in the summer
👏👏👏
We were still in caretaker management when the draw was made for this stage of the comp. All that Arteta did was make it less certain that we’d be knocked out. Even when Ljung was in charge, Liege had a chance of knocking us out at GS
No imagination or movement of the ball tonight!
Bellerin really looks weak and slow since his long injury lay off and luiz at fault for both goals failing to close the gap and was static for first goal and second could have got his head on it but ducked away through fear of an own goal maybe?
Even after auba scored I felt wed still go out as it was one of those nights for sure!! I swear we play worse at home as the Emirates is too much like the library again…..
Bellerin didn’t deserve to replace the in-form Maitland-Niles at that time
Both Luiz and Ozil didn’t man-mark Cisse for the first goal. But Luiz was standing in front of Leno to protect him, so someone else must have marked Cisse
Nonetheless, Luiz is too erratic to be the main CB and we have got many CBs who can demote him
Agree gotanidea. AMN was doing well at RB finally and he got benched for Bellerin, who is not a good player, let’s just say it how it is. And the loss of pace means he cannot recover when he inevitably loses possession. Yet another position that needs to be addressed. And I would not be opposed to seeing AMN back in the side because he’s not a bad player. Luiz was simply a bad buy. And he’s still our best CB…
The issue was there was just no movement off the ball by the front 3 or wing backs when we’re in possession.
It was like watching zombies.
Bring on Martinelli and wilock and that changed.
Am hell angry right now…let just stop playing Auba on d wing PUT him in d middle for Christ sake…while lac needs to sit on d bench he is not himself at all
Disgusting….what a shame.Arrogant attitude,sideway and backway passing,waiting for the 90 minutes to end…Emery was a God in these kind of games,Arteta is nothing.What’s left?Nothing,empty handed again.The biggest problem of Arteta is his “ play-safe” mentality,the man man is not talking any risk,all need to be safe(and boring).Sideway passing….anyone remember “ the player” Arteta?He was absolutely the same-playing safe,boring,extra caution,sideway and backway passes,nothing spectacular,boring as hell-he is the same as coach-why he spent so much time next to Guardiola?For what?He learned nothing.
Please tell me that you are not wanting Dick bl**dy Emery back at Arsenal?
Would you really have written this drivel if Auba had not unfortunately missed his chance at the end of the game? Probably not.
Useless team.
I knew they were going to bottle it.
Never Arteta’s fault apatt from starting Lacazette.
Last season Arsenal were able to obtain good convincing wins away against Sevilla and Napoli and finish the job at home under Emery. Olympiakos are not as strong as these clubs, yet Arsenal failed to advance after a 1-0 win away. They appeared complacent and thought the job was done. Arteta must be discusted with the way that many players let him down.
It is time that people stop blaming head coaches at the Arsenal and accept that the current squad is not good enough, committed enough and tough enough to take this Club back where it should be. Over to you Stan Kroenke and the Board.
Good talk . laca is the main problem upfront
@kev
I applaud arteta for finding tactics to protect our back line as hes generally stopped the rot and bought time on the coaching field and towards another transfer window.
I wont have a bad word said about MA hes doing the right things slowly but surely but tonight we looked tired and lacking belief, the old arsenal who do was back for all to see.
He improved the team but that could only get us so far. I can’t stress enough how bad our team actually is. Remember class will always find a way to show itself no matter the form. Believe me when I tell you we are lucky to have him a cisxh. This season could’ve worse than what we are witnessing
Agree Kieron. The onus was on our attackers to produce goal and create chances. Massive fail on their part. It shouldn’t have even gone to extra time. There was enough control of the game in 1st half to at least go into the break 1-0. Instead, our attackers put on a massive stinker. I will only say that Arteta needs to learn that Lacazette cannot be relied upon and cannot start.
What was Leno thinking? Again Luiz and papa in defence won’t work am left thinking ‘what if’ the youngsters played they have been performing well in these competition.lf what I thought was our best line up out there dumps us out of the Europa my optimism on top 4 are minimal now
I thought our defence was sorted!!! Bloody hell if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry!!
All we had to do was hang on a few minutes and couldn’t even do that!!
No excuses tonight, we played our best possible 11 and they all had a mare… and relied on Auba, once again!! Think we’re gonna have a huge job on our hands getting him to sign now!! Bloody pissed off……
First thing I said when the Olympiacos goal went in.
Same story all season we don’t play great but our frontline get a goal but it’s all in vein as the defence crumbles.
Auba was distraught at the end felt so sorry for him.
Auba was distraught because he missed the chance at the end to put us through. Imagine if it had been Mustafa who made a cock up to knock us out everybody on here would have gone ballistic slagging him off yet no-one here is slagging Auba off…double standards eh !!
👍
I did too, NMC.
Well I thought it was strong enough to put us through…. and MA obviously did too.
Said it since we came back from break not to get carried away by a couple good results. Ozil, Pepe, Laca, Xhaka ALL reverted back to the crap players we are used to and have been watching ALL SEASON. They are not good enough. Simple as that. Doesn’t matter how you slice it! I dont care about any of the stats you can pull out of thin air for them, they are lacking players and cannot get us where we need to go. As for Arteta, needs to drop Lacazette for good and I have no idea why he didn’t trust in Martinelli… He is also not getting Arsenal to move the ball quickly enough. This has been a problem for us since AW’s final years. I am convinced it is personell to a degree.
Beyond furious !
Threw it away !
Let’s be honest, M A put out a side that most of us would not have argued against getting the job done (baring Martinelli perhaps).
It pains me to say, deep down many of us must know we are flogging a dead horse with this squad.
Laca needs bench n start martinelli with Auba central.
Pepe needs to learn to shhot with his right foot, always cutting inside, it is so obvious for defences.
Mustafi was immense though and I thought Toreira was good when he came on.
Hope Mustafi not injured
Pepe couldn’t even cut inside and shoot with his left leg properly
Arteta should have shown him some videos about how Sanchez did it consistently at Arsenal
he’s ridicuously left footed. I’m 99% there with just calling him a Gervinho 2.0. I’m not seeing the ability in his decision making, which was the main problem with Gervinho as well. Nothing but pretty dribblers.
I wish I’d watched the bloody darts instead to see my man Price thrash Peter Wright 7-1 👌
How is Lacazette still playing for Arsenal? Can anyone explain to me please?
Well that puts a whole new slant on our season. The truth is players again, the same players let us down, Ozil, abysmal, Bellerin abysmal, Lacca abysmal and the fact Arteta relying on the “experienced” members of the team and not changing thing soon enough when it was obviously going wrong is telling. The football was with the exception of pepe and saka, negative. First shot on target was late on in the second half. The reliance on Ozil is baffling in the extreme, the guy is master of the non event. This was a poor performance a poor team effort and a disaster for our season. The experienced players have let us down again and the judgement to rely on certain players was/is wrong and damaging.
Thank you Reggie. You have been level-headed about the level of these players throughout our “winning streak”. They will let us down at the end of the day and are not good enough for where we need to be going. And we need to address Bellerin’s bad performances as well. Totally different player since coming back from injury and has clearly lost pace which was the only thing that made him a decent defender. His play out wide is horrible. AMN can at least put in a meaty cross. We need to get real about the level of quality we have. Maybe Ozil and Laca used to be big name players but they are nothing now. I really hope we rely on our youth players over the ones that CONSISTENTLY let us down.
RSH, xhaka didn’t have a bad game overall but the first half, he was awful and set the tone by constantly giving the ball away with nothing balls and negative slow release. Ozil just floats around, flicking a ball here and there and does really nothing at all. Bellerin looks like a little boy, not a man and has no strength or speed. I couldn’t understand the tactics tonight of sitting of and not forcing our game.
Yup. My problem with Xhaka is mainly how slow he is to pass the ball. Every time he just insists on mulitple, languid touches. And when he does try a quick pass it doesn’t even come off. Just not Arsenal quality! I think I’ve said all there is to ever say about Mesut so I’ll leave that there lol. Bellerin is really no better than he was a few years ago, meaning he is not a very good player. I think Arteta is letting his personal feelings cloud his judgement with selecting him (i think one season they played together?). Bellerin is not up for it and we need a solution at RB and I dont think we have a permanent one anywhere in the squad. So many problems to figure out… Glad people are remembering that we’ve been bad all season. Didn’t mind the positivity while it lasted, but ppl were seriously happy with Xhaka, Mustafi (who was good today but is still a screwup), Ozil, Pepe as players.
RSH, mustaffi was great today, im not knocking his commitment at all, again its his overall reliability and standard of footballer. I have never questioned mustaffis effort and commitment, like a few of our players its about their actual standard of ability.
How did you see Xhaka having a good game? His constant side and back passes or passes short or misplaced broke the flow and he again was indirectly responsible. 1st can’t head to save himself, his flick sent the ball to chase for a sitter and the 2nd…a poor backless…again. He had no vision going forward and at least Mattel will drive forward. Torreira should have started d of Xhaka and that’s my concern with arteta… a Wenger v2
Ozil actually had a reasonable game, just nil.movement up front till martinelli
Bloody spell check
@antonioro
Nothing wrong with a patient build up but we dont have the same quality players as city and no movement of the ball. Pass and move pass and move triangles it’s not rocket science.
With our best way into the champions league now gone, i reckon that means Auba leaves now.
And to be honest i’d prob let Laca leave as well.
Auba will leave because he wants better. Laca will leave because we dont even want him anymore. Let’s be real, he isn’t going to replicate his performances last season and this is probably as good as he’s going to get until he’s moved on.
The summer transfer window will be perfect if Ozil leaves
Those two strikers still can offer something, but Ozil is finished
Oh yeah- then who else do we have in the team to mark 6foot 6inch Centre Backs at corners?
Don’t tell me we’re gonna bow out of the FA cup on Monday as well??? Smh
Portsmouth aren’t what they were 10 years ago, but then again, put out this xi and they’ll start to believe 😉
I bet they’re licking their lips after watching that, S!!!
we need to build our core players
currently we do not have any
It was Leno’s mistake…instead of shooting the last ball far away,he tried something “ a la Manuel Neuer”….corner kick and goal.Thank you,Leno,try your dribbling skills before last minute next time…
Well….. that’s it….. I thought it was going to be easier, qualifying for UCL by winning the Europa. I mean, who would’ve expected us to get knocked out by Olympiakos, especially after winning the first leg away…. it’s just a shame….. stupid back passes!
I think we’ve blown our chance to qualify for next season’s UCL…… but we might still clinch that 5th spot though…. who knows.
I just hope they learn from their mistakes in this game, both the players and Arteta too. Lacazette shouldn’t be anywhere near the starting line-up, at least for now. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I wish Mustafi didn’t have to come off 😂, just sad really. Let’s hope Mari takes Luiz’s place for the rest of the season. And I don’t get why Xhaka keeps Torreira out of the team… Torreira is the better DM for God’s sake, he has always been…… and could Cedric be good enough to bench Bellerin?, or at least offer him some serious competition, I think he’s not been improving properly due that lack of competition. Anyways, I’m off to bed now…… I’ll be hoping we finish the season strong, making it to the UCL…. COYG!
No movement no pressure endless side ways and backwards obvious lack of strength and guile at the back absent midfield … Arteta hasn’t worked out a style so players resort back to safety first of last 8 years but the problem is they are error prone … Leno’s conceding corner in run up to their goal was schoolboy stuff … Still in the clutches of the greedy yank who doesn’t care a toss about the game … Won’t get in to top 6 if this continues and will struggle in fa cup …
I am not blaming MA. He inherited this team and has to so as well as he can. Bit, if this crap continues next year with the same players and issues, I will not support MA and show my faith in him. Most of this lot are just not good enough and Xhaka leads the way to the exit followed closely by Luis!!
Please am tired of hearing this crap, emery beats teams that are better than Olympiacos with lesser players(am not a fan of emery) arteta cost us this match, with his stupid selection and he’s play safe tactics.
Hmmmmm. One defeat in 10 games, suddenly the boys and coach are now scrap ! That’s football, its a game. Loosing this type of game leave a very bitter taste in ones mouth. Very hard to cope with, but let us keep faith with them, better days will come again.
Auba deserves to play in a better run club with better teamates, heck he deserves to be playing in a Liverpool jersey flanked by Salah and Mane and with the trustworthy Alisson by his side. He should take Saka and Martinelli with him as they also do not deserve to ruin their careers in a sinking ship alongside numpties.
Arteta massively let himself down by not starting a fit and energetic martinelli as well as very poor defensive preparation as evidenced by their goals from 2 corners.
By summer it would be clear to all that we’ve become the new Southampton cos we would have to let Auba go to United and Saka to Liverpool.
Argh!!!! Noooooo!!!! 🥺
It’s funny how some keep saying its not arteta fault, I sad it in one of those threads that arteta obsession with Lacazette will cost arsenal and boom it happened in our most important game of the season. Aterta cost us this match, how can a sane coach start Lacazette ahead of aubamayang in the middle in a very important match, I will never forgive arteta for what he did today. Martineli should have come on around the 60th or 70th minutes mark, I wonder what the guy learned from Pep.
Pepe/Laca/Auba/Ozil on the same pitch scored ZERO goals. I think it is more of a simple fact 3/4ths of those players are not as good as fans think they are. We are 9th in the table for a reason and our attack completely relies on only one of them for a reason too. I agree Arteta made a mistake there but it shouldn’t have been so disastrous that that attack does not produce even one goal. Never forgiving Arteta for this is pretty extreme when he hasnt bought a single one of these players and has been a manager for 2 months. Lastly, Lacazette is garbage and I’d be happy to not see him kick a ball for us again. The same goes for Ozil who I warned ppl not to get carried away over just because he was not terrible for two straight games.
I hope that despite your disappointment that we lost tonight is that you calm down eventually. Arteta did not cost us this match on his own. The players were not up to standard and Auba’s goal was just about the only highlight. Sure, changes could have been made sooner, but there is no reason at all that the team selected shouldn’t have done better in my opinion.
Sue, i dont blame Arteta for tonight, i blame him, like Emery for his blind spot on certain players who are not worth the relia6he is giving them. Ive said, Ozil and xhaka would cost Emery his job but in a different way. In a different way, they will be Artetas downfall and for this game, they partly were but i believe on a bigger scale, they can be.
Reggie
Good points made. Tonight was the worst of displays when considering it was realistically our only route into the CL I know that you really support the youth coming through but I can only think Arteta thought experienced players would act that way and finish the job. It was a toothless display. Pepe if had two feet could have scored from inside the box and the lack of vision and urgency which only reared it’s head after 80 minutes fizzled out again in the first half of extra time. Sometimes you just know it’s not going to be your night but hopefully Arteta will learn from what was a bad evening for him (although the senior players should have been better)
I hope that Xhaka and Özil don’t bring him down
The midfield needs to go in summer plain n simple. Managers like Wenger, pep and MA need strong and technically gifted midfielders for them to make things work. This is the worst Medfield I have seen ever in 20 year history. No mobility, no vision, no forward bursts, no goals in them, most passes are back wards n side ways, can’t get out of tight situation or corners, can’t produce magical moment, can’t dictate the tempo of game n can’t win 50/50 in middle of park. What they are good for? No one knows. Ozil, Xhaka, Ceballos, Torriera n wilock need to go. Need to bring good technically gifted midfielders next season.
And physically strong👍
I think Torreira is good enough….. but the rest should be let go. The scouting team has to find a player in the mould of Cazorla, to partner Torreira, as well as a creative CAM…. I still wonder why we didn’t go for Ziyech. A world class CB, and RB will also be needed, and if Auba chooses to leave….. we might have to revamp the front line as well. I’m not sure how Pepe will perform in his second season, but I feel Lacazette’s time might be up.
Mohsan I totally agree with you 100%
MA has to take some blame. Playing Ozil for 120 mins just seems like poor management. After Auba put us back in the lead and only needed to hold on for a few mins, Ozil gave away possession with a foul and a weak pass.
Keown, the lady commentator and me were all calling for Martinelli, and he only got a few minutes.
Martinelli was an obvious sub. Arteta’s reliance on Lacazette must end. When Marti is fit, he starts!
Emery would have won this match, all we needed to do was just start Martinelli and put aubamayang upfront, for goodness sake aubamayang scored 1
10 or 11 goals last season in the europa league and our awesome coach start Lacazette, a player that can’t score an easy tap in ahead of him, we were all saying Torrera should be starting when emery was here but aterta keep benching him, we needed a goal an our best coach brought in wilock and waited till 103minutes to introduce Martineli, a player full of energy, am so angry right now, aubamayang will definitely be off by summer and arteta can use his favorite Lacazette anyhow he likes.
You’re very wrong, l will not blame the manager for tonight loss, and l don’t like pointing towards a particular player but l will say Leno was a culprit tonight. What was he thinking, just to kick the ball out instead he took a heavy touch that led to the corner which eventually led to that dying minute goal. This is pure lack of football brain, to concede in the dying minute of such technical game. I can’t even blame Auba for miss kicking the last opportunity to equalize back. But on a general note, we need a better centre defender better than Socrates, , it is sad to say this that Mustafi would have put his head in that drop ball that led to their second goal.. Finally, we need to sell and buy in the summer, this is a shame to lose at home after having an advantage in the first leg. Too BAD
I do feel for Auba.. he must be devastated right now……
I just saw the highlights.. He nearly broke down to tears after missing that goal.
I hope he doesn’t beat himself down. He’s the only senior player who stood tall all throughout this season.
I hope he doesn’t blame himself, there’s no way he would always shoulder the problems of this club every time.
You’ll be back champ
Exactly, Eddie, poor sod. He’s carried the team so often…he was the guy you’d want the chance to fall to, as let’s be honest no one else would’ve scored it!! Pepe and Laca… sheesh!!!
Where would we be without him??!
Love him!!!
He is carrying this team and i would never knock him for failing to correct the faults that got us in that place to start with.
Nice one, Reggie.
He looked and sounded gutted on the tv interview. As if by not scoring he was to blame. He seemed really passionate about Arsenal and I hope he recovers from it all very quickly
Sue, it would have been stuff of legends though, if he had binned it.
Every team do have a player like that. Messi – barca, Ronaldo – juve, lewandoski – Bayern, son and Kane- Tottenham, salah and mane – Liverpool etc.
If he had scored the last minute chance, we Will all be happy here now. He is in the right club and the greatest club like ARSENAL. His next move away might lead to his career nosediving. Remember Harzard and Sanchez.
Last season we won against the likes of Sevilla napoli Valencia but this Season we lost against Olympiacos wow just wow good work arteta, am a very big arteta fan but he really screwed up this evening, it was obvious we needed energy and you waited till 105 minutes to introduce one of our best player this season, just wow, auba played center forward for just 12minutes and he was in better Positions than Lacazette who played majority of the match.
When are the players going to be held accountable?
Not enough of them react as Aubameyang did when he missed the final chance; he at least shows he cares.
In this game I saw the team playing in the mirror with “ the player Arteta”.Remember Arteta’s style as a player,just backward and sideway passes without creating any opportunities to attack?The same was Arsenal today.Arteta is scarred to death to play attacking football,all his life he played mediocre and “ safe” football”.He is the same today,in a coaching role…
“It is time that people stop blaming head coaches at the Arsenal and accept that the current squad is not good enough, committed enough and tough enough to take this Club back where it should be.“
BANG BLOODY ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like they say, “pride goes before a fall.”
Inter,Roma,Bayer Leverkusen,Sevilla,Manchester United,Wolfes-anyone thinking of standing any chance against those teams left in the competition?I don’t think so….
Only Inter can be regarded as serious threats on that list…… we can take on any of the rest…. could be that we were just too complacent today….. I wasn’t too enthused about Martinelli and Torreira not starting though
Remember Unai Emery?He was truly a God in this competition.Having a weaker team than Arteta’s team,reaching the final and eliminating top-top teams in the process-Sevilla,Valencia and Napoli,almost undefeated.And now….an obscure team from Greece humiliating us on our own turf…that’s the difference between a man and a boy(Unai vs Arteta)…
The real issue is yes through trying they are better, but thats what it should be. Some are new and some are recent but the senior players, they are the ones who get the team up for it.
You dont need to be cheering but just show that commanding performance. We lacked a commanding performance from every player today.
Its harsh on Arteta but he might take the chance during the summer to be ruthless.
Today was a sign for it. When we need the difference, players stand up. Sure you win 3 games in a row but in certain games you have to just stand up.
If we need to make that step, Luiz Ceballos Ozil Laca (as much as it pains me to say it) Xhaka and Sokratis (if there was any doubt) much be at the top of that list.
If 6 is too much too soon then Ceballos Xhaka Sokratis
Who donyou think told the players to play backward and sideway passes the entire first half?Or you may think the players themselves did that?Is Arteta foult all the way,he was playing “ safe”.Arrogance…and we paid the price.
He was playing that under AW in addition to him not being a quick player. MA should start show casing what he learnt from Pep as as coach/mgr. and not what he played under Wenger. No more slow build up from back, side ways and backwards over touching the ball in your half as if you are in training and not competition and by the time they luckily gets to the opponent’s eighteen yard box theta they’ve ran out of ideas and the side ways backwards continues.
While this is not on after but the fact the crop of these players are just not good enough. Arteta initial some of them, but it is more than to the tactics. They let him down today. But I will still blame him for playing too safe. Lacazette shouldn’t have started, he should not start any until he show consistent form as a sub. Nketiah and Martinelli should play more minutes.
And Pepe? He looking like a bad investment with his meaningless dribble and many touches.
Yes as much as we laugh at Everton for taking Iwobi off our hands.. I’m beginning to think Lille are laughing just as much at us!!
Leno ruined the masterpiece of Auba.He does not know what to do with the ball at his feet,he provoke the unnecessary corner kick that eventually brought the wining goal.Arsenal can not play from the back with Leno because he was never inculcated with that technique.With Martinez that mistake for sure would not occur.
Wouldn’t have even got this far without Leno.
Leno is a far superior keeper to Martinez, who is able back up.
If there was one of our unnecessary back passes we could undo this season, it would be last nights sloppy, under hit effort from Xhaka which should never have been played back to Leno in the first place !
Yes, it was pathetic from Leno to give a corner away, but there was defending to be done after this.
We over-use the keepers feet far too much …. balls to the “modern game”. !!!!!
By the way , I am and remain a Arteta man- it’s the whole “playing out from the back” policy needs reviewing.
MA inherited some of the faults/weaknesses of Arsene Wenger: Consistently featuring some sets of obsolete players whether they are effective and performing well or not, last week that Arsenal won away in Greece did Ozil play?, if he must play in Emirates what was MA observing as good roles or contributions that kept him for so long in this match. Except a player gets injured Arteta hardly makes substitution before 70th minute and this is another inheritance from AW. The season is already over, there won’t be any trophy but let’s watch and see if he replicates Wenger’s fools paradise stand when window opens in summer. Except Tierney, Bellerin, Leno and Martinez the rest defense crew should be shipped out. Sorry if some people may not like it Rob Holdings and Mavro are injury prone even Chambers somehow who can never improve any further. For midfield except Toreirra and Ghendouzi, the likes of Ozil, Xhaka and the rest must be despatched by all means. If Auba wants to leave you better allow him, right now Laca has lost interest in Emirates so allow him also to move on. I am not angry with tonight’s result because I already knew that we are not going anywhere from the beginning, but it’s funny indeed that most of the players lacks positive attitudes, there is no sign that they have image, prestige and name to protect, they lack bite and ambition no matter how highly motivated, ooh damn it!
While we should be willing to give Arteta some time we have barely seen an improvement from a team that was so bad the only way was up anyway. Sticking with the likes of xhaka and ozil has been tried and tested and they are simply no where near good enough. Mustafi is playing better but honestly he could not have got any worse. I also dont understand what arteta is doing with pepe and torreira he gives them playing time and as soon as they start playing well he benches them.
A massive clean out this summer is key to the long awaited change of fortune
Lacazette and Bellerin are some of the worst players I’ve ever seen at this club! Sigh, the season is officially over now. In the summer we need a major clear out. Renege on the Pepè deal and send him back. Get 2 proper midfielders and switch to 4-3-3.
Laca, Belarin, Ozil and Pepe had a very poor game. What can the manager do when your senior players let you down? An overhaul is surely required in the summer. Hope we dont take Portsmouth lightly.
Until we start to play with pace and purpose again we will continue to decline, glad I gave up my season ticket when we left Highbury, a decision I’ve never regretted!
Wow that last line says it all!