HUMILIATIONS – NUMEROUS – FOR AND AGAINST – LET’S SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT by Ken1945
The Concise Oxford Dictionary definition:
HUMILIATION = To lower or hurt the pride of –
NUMEROUS= A numerous collection, consisting of many parts.
We are always told that, from 2008 onwards, our club was subjected to numerous humiliating defeats, in the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA cup.
So I decided to challenge this statement, by going back and looking at our results in all three competitions – not only to see if there were “numerous” humiliations, but also the opposite.
Of course, it all depends on what any individual classes as “humiliating”, but it seems that anything that involved a defeat by more than four goals came under that umbrella, so that is my yardstick.
NB. I did ask the fan who keeps repeating these words for his definition of “humiliation”, but I got no response:
Champions League Record FROM 1996/97 T0 2016/17:
Played 191 – Won 96 (50%) – Drew 42 (22%) – Lost 53 (28%) – GF 311 – GA 208
So, we are looking at the 28% of lost matches, to see where the “four goal” standard takes effect.
Surprisingly, the first game we find with four goals recorded against us, was in the 99/2000 season, when Barcelona beat us at Wembley by four goals to two and the aggregate score was 3-5.
Onwards to the next season, where we actually recorded a 4-2 away win over Werder Bremen and the tie ended up 6-2 in our favour.
The following season now and in the group stages, we were beaten 4-1 away by Sparta Prague, while winning the home leg 1-0.
In 2001/02 we recorded a 4-1 home win against Bayer Leverkusen.
Fast forward to the next season and we see a 4-0 win against PSV Eindhoven, followed the next season by that magnificent 5-1 away win against Inter Milan.
2004/5 saw a 5-1 home win against Rosenburg and in 2007/8 a superb 7-0 home win against Slavia Prague…eventually losing in the QF to Liverpool 2-4 away and 1-1 at home.
In 2009/10, we recorded 4-1 and 5-0 home wins against AZ Alkmaar and FC Porto, before we lost to Barcelona in the QF by a 2-1 home win and 1-3 away loss.
In 2011/12, as we once again progressed to the K/O stages, but we lost 4-0 away and then won 3-0 at home to AC Milan.
It is not until the 14/15 season that a 4-goal number appears again, when we beat Galatasaray 4-1 at home.
The 15/16 season is where we can all say we were truly humiliated, losing 5-1 away, but winning 2-0 at home to Bayern Munich…so a 5-3 aggregate loss in total.
It is the following season, however, where the misleading quote of “numerous humiliations” is based in my opinion.
We actually recorded a 6-0 and 4-1 win against Ludogorets and FC Basil, before being totally outclassed in both home and away legs by 5-1…10-2 on aggregate – like many of you, I was there for the home leg and it was a shameful and humiliating experience – something I hope to never experience again.
So, hoping that you have followed me, I find that, using the difference of four goals, during our twenty years in the CL under AW, we have actually only suffered THREE “numerous and humiliating defeats…all of them against Bayern Munich!!!
As a percentage against the total losses suffered in the CL under AW, that works out at 5.7%…so I ask is that REALLY classed as “numerous defeats in the CL” as some fans would have us believe?
In actual fact, the humiliations we delivered to other CL teams outweigh those three we suffered and before someone says that those clubs were “small clubs” look at the names and don’t forget we DID play all the “big clubs” and still saw just three real humiliations against just one of the top clubs in the world!!!
Now, before anyone says I am defending AW, let me make it clear that is not the intention of this article… it is simply to put the record straight about our CLUB in the CL league over twenty years.
Any fan who sees the above results as a way to knock our club, either do not know the facts, doesn’t want to know them, or choose to ignore them in a way that promotes their own agendas.
Of course AW should have done better with the players he had, especially up and until the Final, where we lost with ten men against Barcelona.
George Graham has won more European titles than Arsene Wenger, who has none on his CV and it remains a mystery to me why our Invincibles lost to Chelsea in the QF and how Henry missed that chance when we were 1-0 up in the final.
I just want to set the record straight for those who have only just started to support our club and those who believe the same misinformation peddled out by others.
I intend to do the same exercise with the PL and the fa cup in the next week or so, but if anyone wants to check the facts I have used above, please refer to our official handbook 2018/19, where every single detail can be checked and crossed referenced. If I have missed a score or two out, it will be by accident I can assure you.
The articles on the PL and FA cup, will also have the facts and figures from the same source.
Just remember, next time you read that we were humiliated numerous times in the CL (let alone the PL and FA cup) it came from the same source that told us Mikel Arteta learnt what it meant to suffer humiliating defeats under Wenger….something that was disproved with just a little bit of homework.
Be as ruthless as you want in your responses, after all, it is a dull international week!!!!
ken1945