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