By Walter Broeckx
I usually sit in front of my laptop during the match to write my match report ‘as it happens’. As this time I was in the pub to see the match I couldn’t do it. I try to keep the same format though but I might be jumping through the match back and forward a bit as it is from the head that I write this match report.
No changes at the start of this match compared to our last match at Watford. Ospina is still out with a shoulder injury so Macey was on the bench for this match. The team that started was: Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Walcott.
On the beach: Macey, Gibbs, Debuchy, Chambers, Arteta, Giroud, Oxlade-Chamberlain
Bayern immediately tried to apply a lot of high pressure on Arsenal. Certainly after some 5 minutes they went over to their usual dominant display. Arsenal not with their usual fluent passing and too many balls didn’t reach a team mate. It was clearly visible that this Bayern team is one if not the best team in Europe or even in the world for the moment. Their technical level is very high and they can run… oh my dear they can run….
Cech with an excellent stop early in the match to deny an early Bayern Munich goal. Özil at the other end with a free shooting chance but his right footed shot was stopped by Neuer and Walcott couldn’t bring the rebound back in front of goal to a team mate. Bayern then again with a dominant part of the match with lots of possession. Arsenal trying to keep them away from their goal but Cech had to be alert (and was) on a few shots and crosses. Bellerin having a difficult start against Costa, on of the players in form from Bayern Munich. But this is where experience matters as I had the impression that Per tried to be as close to Hector as possible. Lewandowski very lively early on in the match and being a real trouble maker in front of our goal but nothing between the posts as a result.
Gradually after long spells of possession from Bayern Munich Arsenal managed to become more dangerous themselves. One attack leading to Monreal being on the overlap on the left hand side, a perfect cross to Walcott unmarked in the middle, a header that should have beaten any keeper in the world apart from the two on the field… and Neuer with an amazing save clawing the ball away on the goal line. I think everyone, including our players thought that this would have been in.
Walcott now causing more problems for Bayern but a next shot was too tame and another one went wide. At the other end the Bayern possession became more and more sterile and no real penetration that lead to difficult saves for Cech. A shot from outside the penalty area was punched away. Bellerin slowly growing in the match after a difficult start and Costa drifting all over the field and causing problems with his speed and skill. Meanwhile almost no real fouls apart from the ordinary trips and some pulls and pushes. Nice to see two teams trying to play football and not to kick the shit out of each other.
Alexis with a few bad moments when he first gave the ball away deep in our own half (the jet lag still in his body?). Maybe he was confused with Vidal playing for Bayern and thinking he should give the ball to his Chili team mate? And just before half time Alexis commits a handball in the own Arsenal penalty area. I must admit it was so ludicrous that I think it even stunned the ref and that he forgot to blow his whistle. That was a bad mistake from the ref as it was a deliberate handball and we would have no arguments if he had given a penalty. But luckily he didn’t and we could go in at half time with the score of 0-0 with probably the best chance of the half for Arsenal.
The start of the second half was again Bayern with lots of possession and Arsenal being compact and defending against a dominant Bayern team. Despite all their dominance the Arsenal defence was great and all Bayern could do was shoot from distance. Sometimes the shot was close but if it was between the posts Cech was there to stop the ball. Arsenal didn’t came out of their half for long spells with Bayern passing the ball around but when they came near the penalty area they couldn’t find a real opening. Great work from our defenders and midfielders to stop Bayern from getting really dangerous. Ramsey then suddenly pulling his hamstring when he was just trying to close down a Bayern player. He had to come off and The Ox came on. A big blow for Aaron.
Lewandowski then suddenly with a great chance when Arsenal lost the ball at the half way line and some players out of position. But Koscielny closed him down at the last moment but the Polish striker could get a shot on target but Cech with what we can call the save of the match from an Arsenal point of view punched it over the crossbar.
A bit later Giroud came on for Theo in minute 74. Giroud winning a free kick halfway the Bayern Munich half was his first contribution. Santi behind the ball delivering the ball. Koscielny and a defender jumping up, Neuer coming out and completely missing the ball…that fell on the forehead of Giroud and the ball hobbled over the goal line! GOAL!!! 1-0 to The Arsenal in minute 77. What an entrance for Olivier Giroud!
Holding on now as the message. Could we do it? Bellerin with an amazing sprint winning a corner and Giroud almost doubling the lead with a free header after that corner but he was leaning backwards too much to put enough power on the ball and Neuer could easily gather the ball. At the other end our defenders were resolute and didn’t give much away. Gibbs entering the field for an exhausted Alexis.
But we know Bayern always score in every match since the dinosaurs have been whipped off the earth so they probably would still score. Lewandowski suddenly with some space in front of Koscielny but then I had the impression that the Bayern striker anticipated Kos to commit a foul on him and when Kos used his head and didn’t make a foul the ball was running away from Lewandowski and in the end he committed a foul on Koscielny who had gained control of the ball.
Arsenal trying to counter when possible. Özil working his socks off to keep the ball out. Ref let a few fouls on him go. No Turkish love from the referee for the Turkish German. 4 minutes of extra time. And then the moment of Hector ….. I am going to use a picture of him intercepting the ball that I found on the internet.
Minute 93 he saw a pass that he could intercept. Started his own run at full speed in his own half got first to the ball, took on another defender and ran past him as if he wasn’t there, looked up saw Özil in the middle of the Bayern Munich goal and delivered an inch perfect pass to the Arsenal maestro. Özil had a shot and Neuer seemed again to make the impossible save but the ball had gone clearly over the line and luckily the Turkish 5th referee had seen it go in and immediately pointed this at the ref and pointed to the middle and the ref gave the goal. GOAL!!! 2-0 to the Arsenal after 94 minutes.
Credit for this goal should go for 95% to Hector Bellerin. Who had a difficult start to this match but as were used to by now he is a player who can lift himself to greater heights. Another angle from where he came and look at the time….
The ref made an end to the match shortly after the restart. Arsenal had done the unthinkable and beaten the best team in the world. Luck played a part for sure at times but it was a disciplined performance from the whole team that dug in when needed and was resilient in the battle to keep Bayern away from what they always do: score goals.
What a win!
great win yesterday. if we can beat both the minnows we needn’t look over our shoulder any more
I couldn’t watch the match. I only checked twice, once around the 66th minutes and after the end of the match. What a surprise to see the score line. Kudos to the entire team. Now we can focus is Everton.
Ive always been of the thought that having Giroud and Walcott in the squad give the team different options, they are two totally different players each bring different problems for defenses, each contributing in their own way, both have their individual qualities. It should never be one over the other as some (so called) pundits and fans have called for. both are worthy of their place. and if Giroud starts ahead of Walcott or vice versa fans should realize its for tactical reason… lets not forget, Walcott was having similar affect on games when he was coming off the bench for Giroud… sick of the lengthy discussions about who’s better than who… niether…. both are good at what they do!
Very accurate account of the events on the field Walter!
To be honest – I was realistic, feared the worst and hoped for the best; so glad the latter was the outcome!
This Bayern team is top notch, and as you say, they are a clean and fair side (no dirty kicking etc..).
The return match will be a real challenge, and with their class act DIVER who may have returned by then – we could see another dimension in Munich.
COYG onto Everton and the PL!
I would award the MOTM (Men of the Match) to our back five. They were magnificent in all they did.
Against a better side on the night in all respects, Bayern could have expected a comfortable win. Despite 70% possession throughout, their final ball, time and time again, was blocked or diverted by the untiring efforts of our defence.
This clearly gave hope to our forward players that counter attacks might be the best way of success and so it turned out.
The win has now opened up the Group. Wins against Olympiakos and Zagreb will give us at least second place and entry into the KO stages. We are once again masters of our own destiny. 😉
Good review Walter . I think the team played to a plan and stuck to it . While there were a few dangerous moments from them , we snuffed it out well. A few times when we broke out in speed , it looked like that we could score .
The defence was compact and kept its shape. Other than Alexis’ wrong passes in our half and a few moves going into a dead alley , I don’t think we did too much wrong.
Great win and hopefully an impetus to move further in the competition .
Go Gunners !
Funny how so much of the press cannot praise Arsenal, but resort to resurrecting the stupid criticism of our manager for his team selection in the previous game.
So, in case you missed it, we beat Bayern Munich 2-0. Our crap striker scored one. Our over-rated and lazy record signing scored another. Our feeble defence kept a clean sheet. Our tactically clueless manager made a decisive substitution with 15 mins left.
All that must mean that this Bayern outfit can’t be any good at football
Great performance,great result.Kudos to our boys.Now arsenal has humbled two of the best teams in Europe,first manu and now bayern.That means we can beat anybody.COUG
We win matches we are not supposed to win, apart from the outrageous number of passes (a characteristic of any pep side) i did’nt perceive any real threat from bayern, goes a long way to show how strong (or weak) the bundesliga is. Kudos to the team though, 150% concentration levels throughout the game, i’m sure the chelsea game would have ended this way if not for the ineptitude of the match official (he isnt worthy of being called a ref). And to those who say we are not mentally fit to play top teams, y’all need to get ya cranium checked.
A great game and a great win against one of the top 3 teams in Europe, and the atmosphere was electric.
My MOTM was Coquelin, who sat in front of the back five, tackled and blocked off passes. Bayern had more possession but were restricted to mostly shots from outside the area.
The game reminded me of Man City away last season. Full marks to AW for the tactics and the whole team for fighting for every ball, but keeping their structure.
Two downsides – Alexis looked to be not 100% fit due to the groin/hip problem, and we’ll lose Ramsey for some weeks.
But in the end a great European night
COYG
Thanks Walter.
Does anyone see tactical similarities and gameplay comparable to Ars v Barca 2010/11?
I heard that Alan Shearer said Cech’s performance last night underlined AM’s mistake in not picking him against Olympiakos.
So Al, could you remind us of your managerial record!!
COYG
First and foremost, let’s thank God for this our much desired victory over the all powerful Bayern Munich team. From the indication of his performance, Sanchez who put us in trouble but his trouble was ignored, need to be rested for the Everton game. He’s fatigued and needs a good rest. He could start the Everton game on the bench. But who takes his starting position? Oxchambo? Yes, Oxchambo. And who takeover the right wing position in place of the hamstrung Ramsey? Alex Iwobi? Yes, why not? The Boss to start Olivier Giroud for the Everton game? No! Leave him as the super Sub until situation warranted he starts. No need to tinker with Arsenal strikers starts as that starting application data is running fine. If it’s’ tampered, it may run slow. Walcott starts, if he scores, fine. If he doesn’t score, no problem. Giroud comes on to add to Walcott’s goal or add to any Gunner’s goal or score an opening or the winning goal for Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League, UCL and others.
John
Spot on. And Iain Wright had the audacity to call Wenger stupid had he not fielded Cech yesterday. Rio and Ballack disagreed with him though, saying a manager can make a decision based on several factors which may not be so obvious to everyone else. What a pillock.
A lot of people, pundits/media etc seem unable to praise us, despite pre-game predictions along the following lines:
Lewandowski will isolate Mertesacker and expose his pace
Mertesacker is going to get exposed
Muller is much better than Ozil and will score
Bayern are the best team in the World
Bayern will win by at least two but it could be a massacre
Bellerins inexperience will be exposed
Wenger will go gung ho as Arsenal can only play one way
Ozil will probably go missing
Alan Brazilm said he flicked through the channels but from what he saw bayern schooled us! The fact we let them have possession in areas where they couldnt hurt us, defended the lines and broke at pace seesm lost on these ‘pundits’. No wonder they never got offered jobs in managment!
The problem is, when you make these statements after the game you look a bit stupid. So to save face, instead of holding hands up, its much easier to go on the attack. So it is ‘Bayern were unlucky, we only won because of Cech and why didnt Cech play against Olypiacos’.
I think Wenger deserves credit for many things and a helluva lot more respect.Certainly, this idea that Ospina is a Sunday Park goalkeeper is ridiculous. He had a strong season last time out and I didnt see anyone complaining before the Olympiacos game or when he was retained ahead of Chezzer. He is an International keeper. Yes he made a mistake but Petr Cech made two howlers against West Ham. Look at Nueuer last night. Goalkeepers make mistakes. Its easy to be an expert in hindisght, after a mistake.
Remember the clamour for the DM – on and on it went. The basis for this was that as Le Coq played on loan in the Championship and cost nothing, he can’t be very good and we must spend £25 or £30m to get better. Wenger knew best. He decided to have faith in Coquelin, give the lad confidence and he looks every bit a £30m player himself. Kondogbia is being benched and Schneiderlein is looking nothing more than average. Did Wenger get lucky? Perhaps. But he bought Coquelin to the club, he kept him on loan instead of selling him and he bought him back and played him in that position. Wenger deserves credit for this.
Bellerin is another. A player given a chance due to injuries and my god has he taken it. But yet again, Wenger has given a young player his chance and worked with him to improve his game. Other teams may have gone out and spent big money for a full back and Bellerin would still be playing youth football.
As I said before, we arent a cheque book club we are one that gives players a chance. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing a young player come into the first team. Fans of all clubs feel the same, look at the Kane chants the Spurs fans sing. Only the WOB’s and Fantasy Football Fans have a problem with this – because it undermines them.
I often scratch my head and wonder why Wenger is judged based on what someone who has never been a football manager would do. An office worker, a marketing man or some journalist telling Wenger they can do his job better than he already does it.
I know Jambug will smile but I did it again. I read what the WOB’s were saying after the game. Well it appears we are riding our luck. Watford should have been two nil up last week and last night we owed our win to Peter Cech, a handball goal and an eagle eyed assistant who guessed the ball had crossed the line. I laughed. Wenger is being judged by some of the biggest idiots on the planet. Thats why I have no time for the WOB’s. As for the ten year repetition and this plethera of money tress that adorn Highbury Fields, you can only smile. These guys probably leave their teeth under the pillow and a saucer of milk out at Christmas!
Meanwhile, I am smiling and enjoying one of the great wins against a team most people think are the best in Europe. That’s what true supporters do, isnt it?
A very fine write up Walter and a good record of an excellent performance by the team. The team is now showing the benefit of AW’s careful building over the last few years – a really class outfit.
Lets hope the players can recover quickly to face the PGMO and Everton on Saturday!!
Any update on Ramsey?
I should have mentioned in my article how high I rate Bellerin since I saw him play in the Uefa Youth league 2 seasons ago and completely dominated the proceedings till he suffered a minor injury and had to be taken off. 😉 Oh F*ck I feel it coming and I promised myself never to fall in love with another player again…. Hector, don’t you dare to break my heart… ever …
proudkev
Well said.
“I know Jambug will smile but I did it again.”
Smiling? Grimacing more like. I don’t know how you do it.
I have enough trouble just listening to the idiotic pundits. Never listened to a word pre match but thought I’d try to brave some post match idiocy as I thought, hell, nothing can upset me after this.
Well, they was idiotic, but they haven’t upset me as much as usual because….well you know.
This is the sort of ignorant crap I heard,
Rio Ferninand, and others talking about our defence and how we defended.
They where making like this is the first time we’d ever defended well. “If they can learn from this” WTF
We have the best defence in the PL this season and over the last year.
“This is how they have to play against the top sides in Europe”
We know. Our record against top sides in Europe, including against Pep, is not bad. As somebody pointed out (sorry cant remember who) we don’t have to put up with PGMOL tilting the pitch in Europe.
Our record against the ‘minnows’ of Europe isn’t bad either.
Our issue has been the middle tier sides. Why? I don’t know. Being naïve? Subconsciously taken the foot off the peddle? Whatever, our issue, relatively speaking, is not against the elite in Europe
So again they are talking garbage.
The same, oh so predictable crap about Ospina.
You cover that very well above without me going over it again.
But I save my worst disgust for Wright. The Odious, disgraceful, Wright.
Making like he’s happy but doing nothing but moan about all the above as well as jumping on the season ticket band wagon.
When asked about the Bayern fans 5 minute protest and the fact that they apparently got a round of applause as they walked in, this is what he had to say:
“It is something that is a contentious issue down there, especially with what they’ve been serving up in the last few years.”
WTF
What an absolute piece of **** that man is. I wouldn’t P*** on him if he was on fire.
Arsenal have no hope do you really think they can beat them?
Juventus away (Paul Vaessen) 1st home defeat in European competition
Liverpool away winning the league
Real Madrid away 1st English club to win there
Barcelona home little J Wilshere superb
Bayern Munich home we just beat the best team on the planet
Etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc
When will the dick head media ever understand Arsenal or realise our history shows we have never done anything the easy way!!!!
We have twice won the league away to the totts won it at Anfield won it at Old Trafford who else has achieved this I love it just love it when we shut the mouths of these fuc**ng morons
I don’t even want to hear any praise from them I don’t need it I feel good enough inside
Thank you again Arsenal for making me feel like this
@proudkev
October 21, 2015 at 10:50 am
Very well put!
I think when you respect teams, you make less mistakes, that’s what happened yesterday. We respected them and we won. We disrespected WHU and we lost.
@Walter
There was a penalty shout for Bayern? I missed that or perhaps my brain has just decided to dismiss it 🙂
Still can barely believe the interception by Bellerin. Looking at the pictures, I wonder what makes him think he even has a chance to intercept the pass.
jambug.
Ian Wright is bitter. When Wenger arrived he was 33 and Wenger knew he was past it. He replaced him with a 17 year old whom he bought for just £500,000. That is not good for the ego of a player that was quite rightly one of our top dogs. But Wenger was right. Anelka helped us win the double in tandem with Dennis Begrgkamp and Wright was moved onto West Ham. A sad end maybe and no doubt a huge knock to the ego but Wenger did what was best for the team.
His spell at coach of MK Dons didn’t exactly go well.
In 2012 Ian Wright went on air and labelled Arsenal fans as ‘deluded’ if we still supported Arsene Wenger as manager. Deluded. Yet in 2014 he’s praising Wenger. He just flip flops around playing to whichever crowd he thinks he needs to. When the WOB chorus was loud he was up their leading it, like a conductor. He is another that seems to believe we have harvested a forest of money trees in Highbury Fields. Look, he’s not very bright I know but he needs to stop tarnishing his legacy.
It is shame becaue Wrighty should be a legend. I used to love him but I really cannot stand him now, some of the things he says are just out of order. You cant go around insulting fans who once used to support you and buy your shirt. Such a shame.
proudkev,
I love you man!
Great post!
On Ian Wright, I have learnt a long time ago to separate my affection and respect for our past players with the words that come out of their mouth after retirement. Our foreign ex-players are great ambassadors of the club but the English ones are typically British (euphemism for arrogantly stupid).
Thierry Henry, while not British (and therefore not stupid) gets £millions from Sky. There is no way in hell he would be pro-Arsenal the way we all expect him to be. But he doesn’t go out of his way to be antagonistic the way Wright is. I really cannot stand that guy.
I love the look on Ballack’s face as he told Wright and Ferdinand to shut up (in a smug but more polite manner) about Wenger playing Ospina in our first 2 UCL games. None of the 2 idiots (or indeed anyone of the Captains Hindsight) ever complained or warned Wenger about playing Ospina against those 2 dread powerhouses of European football. I really don’t know why it is impossible to praise Cech for a great job without bashing Ospina and Wenger in the process.
Hey.
DID YOU KNOW?
– Arsenal Wenger is the only Manager to have beaten Pep Guardioli twice as Manager at both Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
– This is the first time Bayern have failed to score in a CL Group Match since December 2011.
– Arsenal have the best defensive record in the Premier League since the start of the 2014 season to now.
– Arsenal have more PL points than any other team since Jan 1st 2015
– Last season David Ospina had a clean sheet rating of 44.4%. Courtois was 40.6%. Joe Hart 36%.
DID YOU ALSO KNOW?
Wenger doesnt do tactics
Per Mertesacker is too slow and past it
Ospina is a clown
Arsenal cant defend
Arsenal cant beat big teams
Al/John
“Spot on. And Iain Wright had the audacity to call Wenger stupid had he not fielded Cech yesterday. Rio and Ballack disagreed with him though, saying a manager can make a decision based on several factors which may not be so obvious to everyone else”
Spot on both of you.
To be fair Rio wasn’t too bad but he wasn’t great either, but Ballack was pretty fair, as was Owen Hargreaves.
It did make me laugh when Olivier scored. Hargreaves on the first replay suggested it could of been handball. The commentator lapped it up. But on the second replay he said ‘No, that’s hit him on the head’.
The disappoint in the commentators voice was palpable.
But I thought Hargreaves was pretty good.
It comes to something when the fairest, most balanced comments come from foreigners who played for Chelsea and Man Utd respectively, whilst your own ‘legend’ does nothing but bitch.
Wright is an embarrassing joke.
Another post in moderation. Oh well.
In the mean time.
Al/John/proudkev/Bootoomee
Great posts
The Arsenal team did us all proud last night; and was the ‘stadium Wenger’ rocking? An awesome result, good for self confidence and belief in our ability to take on all comers.
Did someone catch Jose claiming that the referee in their match against Dinamo Kiev was ‘weak and naive’? Does’t Arsene own the copyright to those remarks? Was it Jose’s roundabout manner of testing UEFA’s reaction to those same words used by Arsene to describe Dean’s performance against his team some weeks back? Clever chap, never fails to throw barbs at a fellow who obviously seems to be way ahead of him in coaching terms and decency. My suspicion is that some fella (he cant talk back to) in Chelsea FC has been giving him grief on how Arsene is so much a better choice if they had their way!
Bootoomee
Thanks for the ‘Love’ mate. Mind you I seem to be collecting a fair few dislikes along the way too which is good. I just wish they would leave a comment saying why they disagree/dislike, so I can address my inaccuracies and scold myself.
You said: “I really don’t know why it is impossible to praise Cech for a great job without bashing Ospina and Wenger in the process”
I do. The WOB has a fairly simple mind which is very easy to read. To me the acronym WOB is more accurately applied thus: “Where’s Our Brain”.
Quick joke: Two Lesbians sharing a nice warm bath together. One says to the other: “Where’s the soap”. The other replies, smiling: “Yes, it does doesn’t it”
According to Talksport Jose is ‘frustrated’ with the Referee.
He’s not whinging at all then?
He’s not making excuses at all then?
Nope, he’s just frustrated.
And then they ask:
Will Chelsea ever get another penalty?
Well we can only hope not.
It begs the question why Talksport wasn’t asking why Chelsea did get so MANY penalties over the previous 10 years.
But of course it wouldn’t do to suggest Joses nothing but a whinger would it, because as we all know, it’s only Wenger that ever whinges.
And it certainly wouldn’t do to suggest that, given the amount of penalties Chelsea where getting, that perhaps things might just be evening themselves out a bit?
Or that perhaps if so many of those penalties weren’t won by his players diving, referees wouldn’t be so reluctant to give them now.
But Talksport doesn’t do criticising Chelsea or Jose does it.
Well lets be honest, with all the time they spend on slaughtering all things Arsenal they don’t have the time do they.
I think Hargreaves is pretty decent.
Worst I can say about him is that he can be a bit irritating, maybe slightly…dorky. I’m not even sure about any of that,though- lots of it could be more down to me than him. Basically we’re not used to hearing different voices, literally and in the other sense, with our commentary.
His love for Bayern is pretty clear, and occasionally a bit much, but he remains fair. Most importantly, I think he’s someone with a genuine love for football and some real football intelligence and insight to go with it. So, especially in light of what we typically have to put up with, I suppose I’m a Hargreaves fan.
Just a shame that, as I predicted, the guy on the BT roster who I’d love to hear more of, Richard Hughes, who was fantastic in commentating on our Emirates cup games- original, humorous, excellent football insight and knowledge, great enthusiasm, and, yes, extremely positive about Arsenal (to me, entirely fairly)- is not allowed anywhere near British games let alone our games.
Why could we not have one voice, saying those positive things, even if his bosses believed he is, well, wrong, totally wrong? You’d think it would be a welcome thing for them, something to generate talk and prove they have a good spread of personality and opinion on their roster. But no, they go with a set of people with remarkably similar ways and views.
I have little doubt he’d get a shot if he did all his other games exactly the same way, but said the same old things with the same pronounced negativity about us. Even Hargreaves might be on dangerous ground if last night was an audition. I’m not sure he was anything like negative enough about us.
I’d say Le Tissier is pretty under-used by Sky for the same reason. They can’t bring themselves to dislike such a decent guy and great player, but he just isn’t negative enough to get in the studio for the big games.
Still warms my heart to think of what happened when a panel, who were up to their familiar, snide massively disrespectful treatment of Wenger on BT, stupidly hadn’t counted on how Liam Brady, who was sat there with them, would react.
He shot them down utterly and not one of them had a thing to say for themselves ,where seconds before they had casually been ready to ripping into Wenger and writing him off completely. Making it clear they were either talking shite or are ball-less wimps who won’t stick with their arguments, their truths, should a decent opponent be present.
Rich
Re Richard Hughes.
Myself and Mrs J said exactly the same about him.
We’d never heard him, or of him before.
After the match we said, “Well, we’ll never see him again”
And so it has proved.
RE Liam Brady.
I’ve heard that story before but have never seen it.
Yes he (Ospina) made a mistake but Petr Cech made two howlers against West Ham. Look at Nueuer last night. Goalkeepers make mistakes. Its easy to be an expert in hindisght, after a mistake”.
Proudkev
I respect your opinions but on this one, I disagree.
Sure , maybe it’s just semantics but to call getting beat directly from a corner a “mistake”, while getting beat coming for a cross a ” howler”, shows that maybe you have an agenda.
A simple fact is , no keeper in any top European division got beat directly from a corner this season, especially in a ” must win game”, while keepers across all divisions concede from crosses and free kicks by not getting to the ball every week.
As to your latter post regarding the” thumbs down ” you have been getting, you might want to know that they aren’t from me.
As a matter of fact I have never used this feature ( never will) and I’m a strong believer in responding directly to any post I feel strongly enough about , whether I agree or disagree with it.
I would much rather have someone like Bill from Manhattan tell me what an Mothereffing idiot I was and gave reasons why, then a silent thumbs up or down.
For those old enough to remember. This performance was the greatest rope-a-dope tactical win since Muhammad Ali v George Foreman in the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle”.
@Walter,
Excellent write up and summary of the game! Bellerin with a great response in the second half!
Love watching the responses of some “so called” Arsenal supporters.
“After the United win, United did not play to their usual standards, which is why Arsenal won”
After the Bayern Munich win yesterday, “Bayern Munich did not play to their usual standards, which is why Arsenal won.”
Too bad they can never say, “Arsenal won the game because they had better tactics!”
I hope this team continues to prove all their doubters wrong!
Tom
“I respect your opinions but on this one, I disagree.Sure , maybe it’s just semantics but to call getting beat directly from a corner a “mistake”, while getting beat coming for a cross a ” howler”, shows that maybe you have an agenda”
Tom. The point I am making is that nobody could possibly know Ospina was going to make that mistake. Ospina played well for us last season and in fact had a 44% return on clean sheets better than anyone else. When Cech came in it was decided he would be number two and Cezzer was offloaded. He also has 50 International caps, this sint some raw kid. As a number two he needs games. If you cannot trust your number two, then there is no point having a second keeper. Pitching him in against Olypiacos at home should not have been a problem, it isnt as if he was thrown in against Bayern. I honestly dont understand the problem mate. We can all play the hindsight card.
Jambug
Might’ve been me talking about Liam Brady on here before. Have looked for a clip of it but no success.
Have you seen the Media/Chelsea’s latest nonsense over the Mourinho fine? Mail running a story, picked up elsewhere, that the guy on the panel who decided is is a known Arsenal fan (the proof offered is that Ferguson accused him of that crime years ago).
Pretty sickening, but I only mention it in relation to my post from yesterday. When the will is there, they dig and they dig, they search for any connections, true or false, to support their aims.
When the will isn’t there, they have zero interest in ‘irregularities’ , like The Mason/Jones appointments.
As I said, in the event of corruption being the explanation for the inexplicable things we have seen this last decade, and that corruption being exposed, they will quickly run stories about these irregularities and bad practices which have been in front of their face all along and, really, impossible to miss.
Tom
Sorry, regarding the language of howelers etc. I will rephrase that to:
Ospina made a mistake from a corner, Cech made two mistakes against West Ham and Neuer made a mistake for the first goal yesterday. I should have stuck to the word mistake. All three goalkeepers made mistakes. I wonder if Guardiola will be blamed for the one Neuer made?
YOU SAID: “A simple fact is, no keeper in any top European division got beat directly from a corner this season, especially in a ” must win game”, while keepers across all divisions concede from crosses and free kicks by not getting to the ball every week”
That statement seems like made up bollocks to me.
A mistake is a mistake. Based on the Olympiacos game, you have decided that the mistake Ospina made was not a mistake any other goalkeeper would make. Are you saying that it was a known fact that Ospina cannot save inswinging corners? In which case, Wenger knew he would mnake this error? Do other managers know what you know?
Have you informed the Colombian Manager of your research and the coaches at Arsenal? I only ask because I cant see why any Manager would put a goalkeeper in goal who is suspect at corners, as you know he is.
“We can all play the hindsight card”
Proudkev,
This is Tom mate. Playing Captain Hindsight is his thing. While claiming to not be playing a game of semantics, he’ll argue till he is blue in the face that 6 is bigger than half a dozen.
If I recall correctly, Cech was in goal when the almighty Bradford City came from 2 goals down to thump Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge. Not all the 4 goals were unstoppable. Every goalkeeper have a bad day but apparently Ospina must be hanged for his along with his irresponsible manager.
Proudkev
I know what point you are making.
The point I’m making, is you play your strongest squad in a ” must win game” . Simple as that.
Fans and pundits alike can have an argument regarding what the strongest eleven is at any given time.
Is Walcott better than Giroud for example, they both have strengths and weaknesses. One can be better suited to play certain opponents than the other.
The same can be said about selecting Ox for right wing v Ramsey.
Nothing of the sort can be done in Ospina/ Cech debate.
There’s not a single attribute Ospina has that trumps that of Cech’s.
It’s really an one sentence verdict.
In a must win game, You always play your best keeper, period.
If your objective is to keep all players happy, then you will always fail.
It can’t be done, trust me on this one if nothing else.
Here’s a lesbian/gay joke , as peace offering.
An extremely religious landlord finds out he’s got two lesbians living in one of his flats, and two gay guys in another.
He immediately gives them notice.
Who will move out first?
The gay guys.
Why?
Cos they already have their shit packed.
What a fantastic win that was. And as for the pundits who still find a way to naysay the Gunners… Sure, the final scoresheet could have been different, but it could have gone both ways, you know? There was that forgotten penalty against Arsenal, but Neuer´s save nullified what would have been a goal in 99% of the games (and as for that handball, I haven´t seen one Bayern interview where they blame the ref´s decision for the defeat, interestingly. Could be because they´re classy, or cautious, or whatever, but it could also be because they´re realistic about their failings yesterday, couldn´t it?). As many of you have said, in the end the difference came down to the kind of danger created in the final third of the field, with the biggest chances firmly on the Arsenal side.
But expecting the media to acknowledge Arsenal being opportunistic and tactically efficient is a losing proposition, as one of their go-to jibes about the club is how naïve and stubbornly foolish we always are. I have to say, two particular narratives drove me to incoherent rage in the aftermath of the win (and they were not restricted to English media, sadly). First, those who insisted Arsenal ceding possession was a never-before seen miracle of unpredictably colossal proportions. The only thing you´re doing, you vacuously putrid brain maggots, is prove you don´t actually watch the games and just unthinkingly parrot whatever it is your colleagues say, because since the Manchester City game last season, it´s definitely become one of the reasons for Arsenal´s improvement against PL tenors. Which is provable. With, wait for it, FACTS.
The other stream of statements that made me grind my teeth into fine powder? The idea, condescendingly spouted by pretentious Mourinho lapdogs, that Wenger owes him his tactics and his decision to “park the bus”. No, no, no and just no. Let´s never give Wenger credit for his adaptability, ever! Just unbelievable.
There is no arguing with people who are intellectually dishonest, and alas, there are only a handful of sports journalists willing to engage in a logical manner with both reality and fans. I´m really glad for this blog and the ability to celebrate with fellow-minded people.
Heh, if AW does it he is lucky, if the Odious One does it, it’s ‘a tactical masterclass’.
Same old…
Anybody know what John Cross had to say? I used to like him, but since he got on Channel PGMOL on a Sunday morning with that little weedie fella, he’s gone sort of all establishment.
Maybe it’s these so called journalists who need to feel our wrath. Certainly after this morning’s back page headline in the Sun, they should receive a boycott like Costa Coffee did.
Also, Lineker was asking how the 5th/6th official knew the ball was over the line, even suggesting it was just a guess! What?? It was plain to see, and Mesut Ozil, probably the world’s most honest footballer knew it had crossed.
Which paper does Lineker write for again?
To my shame I have listened to a fair amount of Talk Sport today and I have not heard a single unreserved congratulatory comment from any of the presenters. There have been some halfhearted and obviously begrudged good things said but all have been interlaced with the usual caveats designed to water down our fantastic result. Even Seaman this morning joined in with comments about our so called poor defence, and Parlour couldn’t wait to introduce the ticket price protest into the discussion. That station has serious anti Arsenal issues.
proudkev,
I fully agree with your posts.
By the way, anybody here with musical talent?
I would love to adapt the “Flash Gordon” jingle and have a song for our young Hector.
Norman 14
Re John Cross
As long as 7 or 8 years ago emailed the Mirror to complain about John Cross.
In short I asked why he hated Arsenal so much.
They emailed back, effectively laughing at me saying ‘John Cross is the biggest Arsenal fan you are ever likely to meet’.
Yeah right. Who needs enemies.
He’s another Ian Wright sort. Up front all smiles and cheers when we win, but it’s all through gritted teeth, and like Ian wright last night, despite everything, just cant resist Wenger bashing.
Cross hates Arsenal and has done for years.
proudkev/Rich/Bootoomee
RE Tom
Why do we even get dragged in to responding to this fool. He comes here yesterday inferring all of us on Untold had been proclaiming that Ospina was better than Cech. This is what he said:
“I hate to throw any negativity into this, but if you still believe Cech isn’t our best keeper by some distance, then either you don’t know what it is you are looking at ,or your entrenched ideology prevents you from admitting it.”
It wasn’t addressed to anyone in particular so the accusation is that we are all so blind we couldn’t see Cechs quality, where on the other hand, he and he alone could see it.
I pulled him on this and I asked him:
-Why he has to make things up all the time.
-To produce one poster who had said Ospina is better than Cech.
Of course no such explanation was given and no such poster was produced.
All he did, in his usual way was try to turn it round by suggesting all he wanted to do was enjoy the win with this curt response:
“Seriously man?!?!?! 🙂
Enjoy the win , I’m out.”
Oh what fools we all are. All hail the genius that is Tom.
I cant stand the man. He needs calling out for the two faced hypocrite he is.
Mick we do not have any real allies within any part of the media. If Ray Parlour wanted to discuss ticket prices then probably it was at the behest of his producer and in reality they are too high. However I believe the last time we had good press was when we had a lady press officer whose name I cannot remember but she was often interviewed on 5 live and always gave a positive spin. Nowadays we seem to be in a shell and the stories that we would wish to see never seem to reach the light of day.
When all was said and done last night regarding the goalkeeper situation, not ONE pundit had the balls or decency to drop the fact that Ospina was injured anyway into the conversation!
Also I keep reading about this ‘must win game’ business.
I wonder can someone tell me:
What is a must win game?
What isn’t a must win game?
I mean, now we’ve beaten Bayern, and are right back in the mix with every chance of qualifying, that shows that the Olimpiacos match WASN’T a ‘must win’ match after all, and therefore Cech didn’t have to play.
Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, even I can do it 😉
And conversely if we want to win the C1C then we must beat sheff W next Tuesday, which surely means that IS a must win match, and therefore Cech must play?
It seems this ‘Must win game’ business is very subjective.
If someone can give me the definitive definition of a must win game I’d very much appreciate it.
Shearer is stirring the pot saying ‘what if AW had started Ospina against Olympiakos?’ What a muppet…I don’ blame him…he is not an Arsenal fan so he is paid to keep his name in the news. It bugs me when so called Arsenal fans cannot celebrate a win. Does this win mean that we shall qualify for the next round? No..Does this win mean that we should have won the previous two matches…No. We would have liked to have won the last game but we didn’t. Things happen in football. This backward looking logic is beyond comprehension. I hated when schoolteachers would do the same thing. You did well this test. Imagine if you had studied for the previous test what your mark would be. Well, Sir, the thing is my newborn sister was colicky and nobody in our house slept those 2 months…but don’t let silly facts, circumstances or 1 dropped ball get in the way of a good conclusion.
Jambug – what makes you think Tom is a man? He is probably a eunuch – no balls to respond 😉
So are you listening pundits, Ian Wright, Michael Owen, Shearer & you media gurus, FA & PGMO – Bayern were so good they taught us all a lesson. In fact they taught us several lessons.
Lesson 1. Wenger is a master football artist. His art appears on the grass described by his players.
Lesson 2. Ian Wright appeared to be more intelligent in the Kalahari with nothing on than in a studio with specs.
Lesson 3. Newspapers are tomorrows toilet paper.
Lesson 4. Radio pundits are less useful than yesterdays newspapers.
Lesson 5. Wengers only purchase according to you has come back to shut your stupid mouths.
Lesson 6. £64 is a fair price to pay to see the best football team in the world.
Lesson 7. Read through lessons 1 – 6 again & weep.
Lesson 8. Untold Arsenal has found some true gooners who know bad officiating is corrupt.
I have learned silence from the talkative,
toleration from the intolerant,
and kindness from the unkind;
yet,
strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.
– Khalil Gibran
@Jambug
October 21, 2015 at 6:59 pm
RE Tom
“Why do we even get dragged in to responding to this fool”
So true!
Just a compulsive argumentative individual, who habits in spinning in circles regardless of the facts presented to him whilst proving none – ever!
Second time today I find an Untold inspiration…
http://metro.co.uk/2015/10/21/arsenals-hector-bellerin-was-still-in-his-own-half-when-the-bayern-munich-pass-he-intercepted-was-played-5454395/
When others follow you, you must do something right….
and Chris, lets not forget Thiago Alcantara is no slug; he actually has pace – which got smoked by young Bellerin!!
“My boys came to the game in Manchester United tops, but they left asking for Sanchez shirts.’
Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2015/10/19/alexis-sanchez-is-so-good-hes-turned-rio-ferdinands-kids-into-arsenal-fans-5448381/#ixzz3pHqu4J5Z” – Rio Ferdinand.
Looks like he should turn to his kids for footballing guidance 😉