By Walter Broeckx
How cruel football can be at times. When you play what is described to be the best team in the world you need to take your chances and you need some luck. Both things were lacking today.
Arsenal came out strong and apart from a shot from Kroos well saved by Szczesny it was very much Arsenal that was running the show. The Ox and Santi with some early threats toward the Bayern goal for Arsenal. This was nothing of the match one year ago.
But then things went wrong. Horribly wrong. Özil was fouled and the ref awarded a penalty and booked Boateng. Özil stepped up but his former team mate saved the penalty. In such a game you must take such chances. The wrongly awarded double yellow against Arteta was costing us dearly in this match.
Sanogo with a nice turn and a pass to The Ox who just couldn’t touch the soft back pass from Alaba and Neuer could clear. Arsenal was looking great. And then things started to fall apart in a horrible way.
The first big thing was the injury sustained by Gibbs. Not that I had any fear for Monreal who came on but this was a substitution that was never going to happen and Gibbs was doing a real great job on the left flank. At this point Arsenal had only 2 substitutions left.
The second thing that went wrong was the ref not giving Boateng a second yellow card. It would have been a card for any other player on the field but the ref clearly didn’t want to take the red card out of his pocket. That was a real game changing moment. The fact that he had a word with Boateng was an indication that he knew he should have given him a yellow.
Because hardly 7 minutes later with the first real chance for Bayern Szczesny brought Robben down some 5 meters out of his goal line. Penalty and to make things worse a red card for Szczesny. To add to this Santi Cazorla was taken off and Fabianski came on. This meant that we now had already 2 substitutions done both of them forced upon us. And making things difficult for the manager to change things around.
The lucky part was that Alaba shot the penalty wide. So both teams had a penalty missed. At that moment you knew that the match as a brilliant spectacle up to then was over. Arsenal had only one option and that was to defend the 0-0 on the score sheet.
And we did just that in the second half. Bayern with all the possession and the pressure and Arsenal defending. And I must say that we did rather well. You felt it would need something special for Bayern to score.
And well special the goal certainly was. Kroos with one of his thunder shots and nothing Fabianski could do about that. 0-1 for Bayern and still 35 minutes to go.
Bayern mounted the pressure even more but Fabianski was doing once again a great job and the whole team worked their socks off to hold on to a small defeat to leave the tie open.
It was nothing but a cruel blow when 2 minutes from the end Muller could score the second Bayern goal. My match commentator said that after all that brave defending it was a hard blow for Arsenal to concede that second goal. I think the fact that we had a free kick just seconds before and Koscielny had to run the whole length of the pitch to come back was partly to blame.
So for the third time in a row a German team came to win at our ground. Last year Bayern won 1-3. We went over there and won 0-2. Earlier this season Borussia Dortmund came to win at our ground 1-2. We went over there and won 0-1.
This time Bayern came and won 0-2. So we now will go there and at least try to play 11 v 11 for the whole 90 minutes like we did last season in the return.
For the neutral football supporters the match as a contest between two equal teams was over. If the ref would have given Boateng the second yellow card we would have seen a different match. We were as good as Bayern when with 11 on the pitch and looked sharp and dangerous.
The match turned completely after the red card. You don’t want to play with 10 men against the best team in the world. Yet it seems to be our destiny in the Champions League for a few seasons now.
Even with all things going against us (forced substitutions, missing penalty, red card given and not given) we have seen that we could have won this match if we could have stayed on the pitch with 11 players.
This is not a defeat that makes me feel down. When circumstances go against you, you can only work hard and try to do limit the damage.
The only thing I would ask now is that Özil will not be allowed to take a penalty in a match as this was his second miss this season. But well if both teams had scored from their penalty we would have the same final score as we had last year. But last year we were played off the park for most of the match. Now we were even till the sending off.
About the sending off. I don’t blame the ref for giving the red card. Those are the rules. He can only apply them. I know there is talk of not giving a red card when the ref gives a penalty in the future because when you get a penalty the attacking team still has an open chance to score a goal. A defender making a foul outside the penalty area (the professional foul as we know it) then the red card would still be given as a free kick is not a direct and open goal chance.
But as long as this instruction hasn’t been changed the ref only could send Szczesny off. And kill the match.
Thanks for the report Walter, and for being fair,in the write-up. What a real shame to see the game slip away from us.
I just hope that the lads can pick themselves up at the weeekend.
COYG!
Thanks Walter, I was at the Clock end and really couldn’t see the incident. If the decision was right I can accept it. The second yellow for Boateng though – that showed the ref to be a coward.
Read my lips: the rule for only a yellow card when a penalty is given will be changed this summer and next season we will be on the wrong end of the new rule…
Favorite this
F*ck we never would have lost this game with 11 players on the pitch for 90 minutes. I just felt it….still am sure about it…
Nice write up Walter. A disappointing result but the team have my admiration for their spirit in adversity and the way they tried to keep the tie alive.
The important thing now is to recover and regroup for Sunderland on Saturday.
Any word on Gibbs, or is it too soon for info?
And fuck the ref at Napoli for sending Arteta off for doing nothing. Arteta is our best penalty taker by a mile and I’m sure he would have scored today.
And so we will go to Bayern Munich with at surely Fabianski in goal. Just like one year ago….
And again how we miss Walcott in such a match. I think if Walcott would have been on the field he would have taken Sanogo off and put Walcott up front to chase some long balls. Ah well…
Walter,
I dont want to challenge you cause I know you are the ref here, but have some questions, as I said on the other article:
Robbin wasnt controlling the ball, plus he didnt have a good chance of scoring, the ball was already going out, is this still a yellow?
thanks in advance.
I Agree Walter. The red card is harsh and the rules need amending for the spirit of the game but the ref was given little choice.
I thought Arsenal were deserving of praise for their efforts both before and after the sending off. When you play the top top teams the margins are small and the details will have a bigger impact on the outcome.
Bayern are a top top team who may well win this competition again this season but I feel even with Guardiola in charge they’re still more workmanlike than stylish.
Sorry, in my upper post should be: ” is this still a red?”
God give me strength,the denial some people will show.We were trounced and Pep showed Wenger a tactical masterclass.
Thanks for the write up Walter. With Arsenal, when it rains, it pours. Circumstances went against us, but we still showed spirit.
You never know what will happen in Germany. With nothing to lose, we just may get a result, but it will be hard, especially without theo and Ramsey.
If we go out , there is the domestic competitions to throw everything into.
To do better in the CL, we need to stop making things so hard for us, top the group next time, and get a bit of momentum, instead of our usual habit of drawing the winners in the first knockout round. Ok easier said than done with the group we had and a bent ref in Naples. And hopefully next year, maybe less injuries to key players, though with eleven on the pitch, we seemed to be matching them to the teams credit.
Danish Gooner, or whoever you are, if pep had demonstrated a tactical masterclass, they would have scored ten with their possession and our players tiredness, they had some serious problems breaking down our ten men for most of the game.
Danish Gooner,
You are so right. They were killing us and we were barely in the game before the sending off. Don’t mind Walter, he is ‘deluded’ unlike ‘realistic’ Gooners like yourself.
Guardiola is just a lucky baster
He could be defeated and go back to Germany with his tail between his legs, he could never dominated Arsenal with eleven players on the field
Yassin
yes because that doesn’t really matter. Would Robben have a chance if he wasn’t tripped by Szczesny? Of course we never know but the ref thought so.
The laws say: “denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a
penalty kick”
To be fair when looking at the ref I saw this little script running through his brains:
“Foul, penalty. Ok Fuck I have to send him off. F*ck I should have given Boateng his second yellow. But I have no other choice this time. ”
I know that if Neuer would have committed that foul I would have been furious if he wouldn’t have been sent off.
Next Sperez and Danish Gooner will say that it was Wenger his fault for the red card on Szczesny….
It was like supporting Tom Conlon, fighting with dislocated arm
Painfully proud
How come Le Boss took the OX off and kept Ozil on?
Gnabry instead of Rosicky….
But hindsight is 2020.
Will we learn from this? Will we?
Walter, if Robben’s was an obvious goal scoring opportunity then so was Ozil’s. He was set to take a shot if not tripped when checking inside the way he did. He would have had a clear unimpeded site of goal (apart from goalkeeper)from a few meters distance.
Well, perhaps we’ll have some more of the injured back for the return leg? Rumours of Ramsey and Vermaelen are starting to appears.
But, I suspect we will be inundated with negatives for a few days, so I will go back to work to return Saturday.
—-
Some were calling for Brickfields.
Q: What do you call a person or persons that are yelling out, “N”, “N”, “N”, …
A: N-chanting
Here’s hoping the game against Sunderland is N-chanting.
COYG!
Knives are out for Wenger on Talksport. Totally different reaction from their sympathetic analysis of the Man City result last night. One of the pricks, Andy Goldstein said he has to agree with Mourinho, Wengers a failure.
It is like the old man and the sea
Watching Arsene Wenger
I love him so much, he is so upset to night and that hurts me more than defeat itself
Like I said some will blame Wenger for the missed penalty, the sending off, the flooding.. oh no we had that already done a few days ago I think…
Very proud of the team today; atmosphere was fantastic.
Wenger knows.
Knives certainly out, back page of daily mirror
https://mobile.twitter.com/DarrenArsenal1/status/436270847666688000/photo/1
Hope John cross resigns in protest.
The media seem especially vitriolic this year, , that’s what happens with how well the team have done this year, and the knowledge they will be even better the next. Almost as if they are desperate to back Liverpool and the spuds or something?
Maybe the media scent blood with wenger not having signed a new contract?
I think you are right Mandy, a few weeks ago the media were starting to mellow a little bit, not because of any sort of genuine recognition or appreciation of our good form, but to cover their backs and not look too stupid in the event of us winning the league. Now they perceive there could be a lessening of our chances they are back on track and any way they can help accelerate our eagerly awaited downfall by excessive negative and insulting coverage they will grasp greedily like pigs at a trough. I am sorry any pigs who may be reading this, I did not mean to insult you.
A terrible disappointment, but much to admire in the team’s display. No surprise at media reactions, in comparison to their approach to Man City.
We showed for the first 20 minutes that we can match Bayern and with better luck might have been ahead. Last year’s experience suggests that we have all to play for in second leg.
We are still better than Chelsea, Man Utd who had easy groups.
COYG always!
If wenger pays it any attention at all, he can use it to create a siege mentality, hopefully joined by proper fans with half a brain cell who can see what is going on. If wenger is a specialist in failure, doesn’t say a lot for most of the rest of the managers in the league.
John cross is on twitter dissociating himself from the headline, hope he leaves that crap paper.
My previous comment regarding pigs referred to the porcine variety, not policemen, just to be clear.
I wanted to know if Mandzukic wasn’t offside on the sending off incident as he blocked Koscielny from challenging Robben. Please watch again Walter and tell us!
That headline is an absolute disgrace. Gutter press, more lick sewer press. Arsenal should ban Mirror journalists from their press briefings. Can we all email the club urging them to do so?
Correction … ‘more like sewer press’.
It’s a disappointing loss, especially given the circumstances. But, look at the positives, we were equal to the best team in Europe for the first part of the game, we withstood their pressure for most of the game, with all the wear after a tough match only a few days before, and we still have 90 minutes left to take our chances and turn the result around. And, if we are to go out, it will be a glorious exit, and it will only clear out the schedule and allow us to focus on the internal competitions. But, every match is winnable, and I’m looking forward to the second leg in Munich. Always keep the hope alive!
I really hope thats the last straw and the club takes action this time around re the rag mirror. Enough is enough ban them from Emirates indefinitely and then follow up with the sun.
@Mick where can i do that? We could also start a petition to get them banned
I think this mandatory red card (whether the offense occurs inside or outside the box) has increased cheating in the game, as strikers can be taught to always make it seem like they were through on goal by simply kicking it forward at the last minute. Barca are masters at it, and Robben too. Rule has ruined many any more matches than it has helped.
The light weight media were always going to go on the attack win, lose or draw; this loss is just a convenient cover for their hate campaign.
Andy Goldstein an example of the type of spineless yes man paid to parrot opinions not necessarily his own that work for Talk Sh*te.
@Mahdain
You can try ask@arsenal.co.uk, that is the address I will be using, marking it for the attention of the press officer. I have used it before and it should reach the relevant person within the club.
Its ok, everyone. We can only get better and we can only learn from mistakes to get better at this level. I think Ozil got the biggest lesson of them all by running the show in the beginning, did an outrageous skill to win a penalty, missed it with a poor kick, played without confidence for the rest of the game and Flamini’s roasting put the cherry on top of all that. A harsh way on character building. Cant wait to watch him next season. However, generally really feel for the team yesterday despite some tireless running and defensive display. Never thought they would lose the match after watching first half. Wenger was spot on when he said they should be up by 3-0 in 15 mins. Brave and well motivated to stand up to the best team in the world. Should have buried our chances when as it came. Football results often comes down to small details as the football gods didnt favour us last night. Stunning goal from Kroos and poaching lesson from Muller. A moment of rooneyness in Robben too. As much as Bayern was the best team we played against this season, we definitely were the toughest they faced all season. Hope Arsene get some useful purchase to help this team out next season. Lets give it all in the return leg. I will never stop supporting you fellas. Go gunners!
Count me in Forian would quite like to crush some snakes beneath my feet.
totally agree on the situation with Boateng. Should have been a second yellow. I do not understand how that tackle escaped a booking and subsequent sending off. One that occasion the ref did not want to take his red card out, but couldn’t wait to send Szczesny off. Contrary to Redknapps view I do NOT believe that Robben had clear control of the ball – it was running very wide. The ref could easily have judged that it was not a clear goal scoring opportunity and given a yellow – but did not seem to want to consider his options as he had done with Boateng. Its the same story with English teams in the CL. Red cards to the letter of the law, but the same letter of the law is NOT applied to all teams. Go figure.
Anyway, real shame, because the opening 20 minutes showed just how we CAN play when we go for it and are not afraid. I really feel that had Ozil scored we would have buried the tie tonight. It had that kind of feeling – like we were on fire. Ozil’s miss really deflated the team. Felt sorry for him because the press will now continue their persecution of him (totally unfairly when you consider he is statistically the second most creative player in the PL and in his first season too!)
l Thought it was a really positive night. Sanogo looks really good, really really good. Ox is better than Ryan Giggs. He can play midfield or terrorize on the wing. And he scores goals. Ozil is finding his mojo. The rest of the team played with courage and defended excellently. 3-I to Arsenal in Munich?
The Denying an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity rule was written with outfield players in mind taking out an attacking player going on goal. It wasn’t meant to send off a goalkeeper every time he makes a foul in the penalty area.
I agree with Wenger in that if the keeper’s foul is an honest attempt to play the ball and it is not an egregious, reckless, or intentional foul then he should not be shown the red card.
I observed very closely during match the startling contrast between Ozil and Gotze. They were both in Arsene wishlist for many many years. In the end, Arsene got Ozil where else Gotze opted for Bayern in a scandalous transfer. Both are the prime playmakers in their first season at their respective clubs. What I realize was not the quality or talent cause they are in my opinion almost equal but the mentality and effort put in by the opposite duos. The best definition I can give is the obvious contrast between the duos former club last season, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. Their time at those clubs had clearly define and refine the current attribute they have right now. Says a lot about the mentality and tactics at both the clubs. The fans and management are a lot different as well. Ozil still need to get rid of that superstar and exclusive way of thinking Real Madrid spoiled him with and maybe have alook and learn at the still relentless and ruthless way of play conducted by the former Dortmund prodigy. Gotze no doubt surrounded by perhaps more experienced and workaholic teammates now but still impressed with his workrate and intelligent gameplay. I have a lot of hope and respect for Ozil though but given time, he will learn to take responsibility and be a true leader in this club very soon. Vieira, Henry and Pires went through the same phrase under Arsene too. I just hope the fans will be responsible enough to know that players need the fans support and encouragement to become better players too, effort and talent perhaps not enough. On the other hand, I would prefer Arsene would have got Ozil from Dortmund instead of Madrid but its a wishful thinking now. Damn Mourinho.
I haven’t been following the news, what happened to Giroud exactly?
I don’t buy this the ref was left with no choice argument regarding Scszney sending off, how come he had a choice with Boateng? They’re just too eager to send our players off. They find it too easy to send our players off, even for the smallest misdemeanour.
Regarding the mirror vote with your wallets, just don’t buy the rag. I made that decision more than 10 years ago, and I have not bought a copy of either the sun or the mirror ever since. The sun sometimes runs a competition where you collect tokens to get a cheap holiday (which I think is a scam anyway) and the missus would ask me to buy a copy during the week this will be running but I have refused. Call me stupid or what but that’s just me, I wouldn’t even want the scumbags to ‘part-pay’ for my holiday. I don’t adopt the mentallity that what difference will I make as one person, I play my part and leave it at that.
Regarding the match I blame the officials for spoiling what promised to be a cracking match after some 30 minutes or so. The opening 20 could have seen us go 2 up or even 3 if you include the penalty. BTW, don’t think there was a lot wrong with Ozil’s penalty, he was just unlucky the keeper managed to get a strong hand to the ball while diving in wrong direction. Messi scored a similar penalty the other day, down the middle. Penalties are 50-50 anyway, as Bayern also found out. If only the overzealous ref hadn’t shown red for what was an accidental foul. I mean, did he really expect Scz to jump out of the way? I would term that an unavoidable collision, and even a yellow would have been a little harsh. Even Ballack said so, a penalty was enough punishment.
At first I thought…penalty and a red. And Reff showed just that. BUT then my observations are untrained. A top level ref should have known better.
BUT, When I watched the replay, therz no obvious goal scoring chance. How can a man 2 feet off the ground and stretching to get to the ball be in control of the ball???… Then therz an argument of reckless tackle. I dont think so. Roben had his leading leg at Szczesnys face height. Szczesny had to pull off from the challenge, which eventually resulted in him collecting Roben. Now who is more reckless…..
We Gooners should be proud of our players. I dont understand this cry now. People had already written us off. With 11 men, the way we played……..we have written ourselves back into the tie. Havent we…..
The media reaction is what we have always come to expect from them. City were completely outplayed before their player got sent off, while we dominated our match till our keeper got sent off. This is not one of the best barca sides, while we were playing the world’s best club at the moment. We played for longer with 10 than city, had two enforced subs. You’d think their reporting would try to at least reflect this. Anyone still saying there’s no media agenda against us is in denial.
Although Ozil was not himself after the penalty, he did defend all.he can when we were down to 10 v although he is terrible at that). At least we have to respect his effort. Plus any player in the world would have been the way Ozil have after wasting a penalty.
Al
Blaming referees is always the safe play for managers because they have to protect their players but private citizens like you or I should be able to state the truth as the facts dictate it.
Ozil’s pen was very poor and he’s never been a prolific penalty taker so questions have to be asked why he was the one taking it.
Arteta’s ban and Giroud’s absence offer only partial justification .
Penalties are never 50/50 . Keepers can go left , right or stay put ,so there’s about 33 % chance they will guess it correct and even then there’s no guarantee they will save it.
Ozil’s penalty probably would’ve been saved by Neuer ,had he stayed put or dived to his left , therefore that particular ball had about 66% chance of being saved , hence very poor penalty.
Szczesny was another player who let Wenger down.
He was reckless and gave up a crucial penalty and got himself sent of in an important match once again. There was no need to attack Roben as he had still planty to do after his initial touch . This has to be the weakest part of Szczesy’s game , a poor judgment when to come out and when to stay.
Wenger got his tactics spot on but his players let him down , again.
Gord @ 19th Feb.11:15pm. –
The BG was fast asleep when the calls were made for him!
Half a bottle of some fine Chardonay made sure of that!
Hope the guys get their act together for this weekend and gain points for the tilt to the title .
Get the bugle out and sound the comedic calvary charge!
PRISONS AND PRISONERS !
A Newly Wed Couple
The bride tells her husband, “Honey, you know I’m a virgin and I don’t know anything about sex. Can you explain it to me first?”
“OK, Sweetheart. Putting it simply, we will call your private place ‘the prison’ and call my private thing ‘the prisoner’. So what we do is: put the prisoner in the prison.
And then they made love for the first time.
Afterwards, the guy is lying face up on the bed, smiling with satisfaction. Nudging him, his bride giggles, “Honey the prisoner seems to have escaped.”
Turning on his side, he smiles. “Then we will have to re-imprison him.”
After the second time they spent, the guy reaches for his cigarettes but the girl, thoroughly enjoying the new experience of making love, gives him a suggestive smile, “Honey, the prisoner is out again!”
The man rises to the occasion, but with the unsteady legs of a recently born foal.
Afterwards, he lays back on the bed, totally exhausted.. She nudges him and says, “Honey, the prisoner escaped again.”
Limply turning his head, He yells at her, “For ……… God’s sake, its not a life sentence, OKAY!
Referee clearly just hang strictly on rules. And I would not mind if he done it in every situation, but I am afraid he was a bit selective. Probably he decided to give Boateng second chance and not to spoil the game, but he could follow same logic with Wojciech. I know rules are strict, but they are there to protect The Game, and The Game is played not because 22 guys on pitch than because millions who watch it.
What those millions got after red card… well under average game after what was promising to be one of CL classics.
I don’t mind Mesut penalty kick, he is not the first nor the last one to miss, its game. Was he affected after it, could be, but he still gave all he could at pitch and we should stop riding pore guy. Sooner or later he ll come stronger again, and he ll show all doubters, all what he showed on beginning. So give boy a time.
Team showed great spirit and determination and deserve respect for it. From first to last minute and I really don’t like us to be compared to Citeh, as Citeh even with 11 on 11 vs Barca was a bit shaking.
The ‘red card incident’ is more than meets the eye. Firstly, there were 2 players in an offside position when the ball was played forward. One of them blocked an Arsenal player before Robben got his studs up boot to the ball.
Please review the moments leading to the chance and you will see what I am referring to.
Robben had his studs up and GK had to evade injury so he slid downwards. Assistant should flag for offside players, ref should decide if active. Neither occurred. Ref was wrong in giving red as Robben went in studs up and should have been penalised even though he got the ball.
Later in the game when Sonogo was booked for a challenge on GK, it was amazing that Ref didn’t see GK’s contact.
Some things are missed by everyone except the Ref. Some things are seen by everyone except the Ref. I was watching the game in Goa on TV without repeat facility. I am positive the Arsenal player was blocked by a Munich ‘offside’ player.
Ineptocracy –
noun
Ineptocracy – the belief that rulers should be chosen for their generally incompetent and ineffectual qualities.
(See also Blatter , Riley etc )
A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.
@14teranga you are spot on. The Assistant should have flagged and the Ref should have given offside. I saw the block in real time and was totally p^ed off that the officials didn’t.
Well it’s the morning after the night before and I am still proud of our players. I was at both games last year and will be going to Munich on 11th march for the return.
I am disappointed that Robben left his leg in and pirouetted to ‘WIN’ the penalty but if the ref thought the contact was initiated by our keeper he had to walk. I didn’t think so at the time and I still don’t. But then again we all have different opinions on the same incidents don’t we and it is the ref who decides and we have to take it.
I do think Arsene made a huge error in leaving Ozil on the pitch although I can understand why he did. Taking Cazorla off meant we were effectively down to 9 men as Ozil is not a tackler or a fighter. Arsene should have known this as all of us who go to the matches or watch on Tv know. That was the big mistake and I think that was what effectively killed the match off. I will go to Germany with my head held high and the belief that we can pull it off.
@GooneressNo1, it does feel like that at first. Be cool everyone, tomorrow is another day. A beer will work wonders.
@mickess,
You’re probably right in the assertion that it would have been better to take off Ozil than Santi. Still, consider what would have it been like for a player with Ozil’s personality to be subbed after missing a penalty. The risk for him to be affected long-term would have been much higher. I’ve seen it happening number of times in the past – leaving on the pitch a player who just had hit rock bottom is a motivator for him, and it offers him the chance to redemption, even if it’s not ideal overall. The situation is far from being ideal anyway.
Not sure that I can add anything to the debate about either the sending off or indeed the non sending off
However there are three things that struck me:
1) Arsenal, under AW, have on average had a players sent off every 9.9 games.
2) Yet another non contact injury to an Arsenal player
3) When Arsenal set up after the sending off it was clear that Ozil just does not have that discipline in his locker, his game is about something different yet, he wasn’t the player substituted late on
I saw somewhere Ozil was third in the running distance stats, so effort would appear not to be a problem. Maybe he is just not all that good at the defensive duties. In the same way Flamini is not very good at creating chances but does he get crucified for that?
Wenger out ‘supporters’ being given full air time this morning on Talkshite ably supported and encouraged by Brian Moore.
Brian Moore , the Chelsea fan. That station has an extremely high spud /Micky mouser content, that alone will ensure Arsenal do not get much of a hearing at the moment.
Wenger has many qualities, among them class and timing. But I wish he would just sign his new contract, let them throw the toys out of the pram for a week, then let them move on. Because while that is unsigned, the media are desperately hoping for the departure of a manager who denies the teams many of them support a place in the top four.
The media do not like arsenal, and even less arsene, but make no mistake, some of the reaction is down to tribal supporters in the media, and one club especially adept at using the media for their own purposes.
Not that I think wenger really gives a toss about the uk media
I heard ox had a we injury so had to come off.
Heaps proud, shit rule that needs changing could have been a spectacle. Ozil is an attacking player, not a defender its obviously their weak side, like all forwards. He did run his arsenal off, but we should have taken our chances, all season we seem to get the rough end of stick, but we always took our chances and that why we top for so long.
Anyway got to go, the mrs and 2 babies calling!
COYG forward always..!!
Watching the german feed, Beckenbauer, a pundit(and Bayern through and through), actually said, this was not an aggressive foul, should be a pen yea, but a red card no, a yellow at most. (We have seen this happen many a time). And the high light showed that Scez actually tried to pull away when he realised he was not getting the ball, so not a dangerous or intended foul in any way.
//
I still find it disgusting that football played all over the world, and billed as the top sport, can survive with all the controversy surrounding the rule set and ref decisions. On top of that, almost different rule sets for the European game and the national game, won’t surprise me that the world cup game has it’s own foibles two. But some argue that it is this that makes it what it is, but not for me and according to the outrages, not for many others, so it needs to be co-ordinated across all areas of football.
//
LAST a big big HAND for our team who had the game well under control,were MAGNIFICENT and would have won it for sure.
I am going to question Arsene Wenger here, that he should have taken Ozil off(not because he missed, that happens) instead of Carzola, but because it was obvious that he could not get back into the match after his miss.
All in all, we can now concentrate on PL for a while, but mark my words, it is really not over yet, neither for us or for city. Remember it was said here.
People talk about the risk of taking Ozil off. Bu##s###. He is a professional player and will get over it. He knows he is failing and to continue to fail is even more worse than being given a rest.
So i really do not expect to see him playing for a little while so he can get his head straight, which it obviously is not.
I also think that AW has different plans for Ozil, he is going to transform him into something else, but that will take time too.
Ozil cannot be questioned for effort, he tracks back brilliantly, but lacks the final tackle, the guarding of the ball to get a throw in , the shoulder challenge to disposes the opponent, considering all this I dont have an answer for why he was not subbed either when fab came on or when ox was given a deserved breather. The game might have been so so different if the first penalty had gone in for Ozil. ifs buts and maybes, lets play for pride at munich. we may win the match I have little hope of winning the tie especially when the match is sandwitched between everton and totenham. And by the way our run from hell part 1 has yielded 1 win , 1 draw 2 losses. Hope run from hell 2 is a lot better.
We only lost the match for one wonder strike and the players being too tired at the end.
Maybe if the almighty FA had thought about the CL matches of English clubs they might have put our match on Saturday so we could have the same rest as Bayern had. But no we had to play Sunday late and had one day less rest and then we had to play one hour with 10 against the best team in the world…
English FA ruining chances of English clubs… or maybe Arsenal is not considered as an English club by the FA?
We can take some positives from last night’s match. For the first 40 mins or so we were the equal of Bayern, or even slightly better and that was without Walcott, Ramsey or Giroud.
After Szczesny was sent off we fought very hard to stay in the tie, credit to the team for their spirit and also their defensive skill.
The important thing now is to get over the disappointment, recover from the fatigue (mental as well as physical) and prepare for Saturday.
Come on ARSENAL….
We can do it!
We will do it…..
Godspeed
@elkieno
I hope the family and new Young Gun are all doing well!
There is no way UEFA could stand arsenal beating the so called best team in the world,so they would do anything, everything not to let that happen.
Ozil, really penalties are missed but miss when you had to miss but not like that.I just wonder wot those shi hole do behind the goal can they change anything really i doubt,so its better to get rid of those spectators.
In Uganda when Arsenal wins its not news but when we lose ohh my gash its like xmas day,can you imagine when we kicked liverfall no news paper had anything about The Arsenal, but tomorrow Friday when you are an Arsenal fan don’t read any news paper as every pr…. will be talking about us.
We have a whore list called Lumansi is a pain in the ass he will never see anything good concerning The Arsenal but we are so many and we never give up.
Sunderland next, we need this more than anything else and i think Sanago is the right guy now,lets go GUNNERS
Excellent article, fair and balanced, well played Untold.
I thought we did as well as we could in the circumstances, and I’m not disappointed at all. Second leg should be a great trip, Munich is a fun place to go to a game, so lets enjoy it and see what happens.
I heaed Gary Neville say probably Wenger will sacrifice Carzola off coz of lack of his defensive abilities, and that’s what he did. He then praised Ozil towards the end of the match for his tireless backtracking to help Monreal out, something he said he’d done all match, and that’s what I saw too. But it appears we watched a different match reading some comments here. I think many are disappointed he missed the penalty, understandable but not reason to attack him. Also let’s not forget the sheer brilliance with which he got past Boateng to win that penalty. Had he not been stopped illegally by Boateng I’d like to think we would be having a different conversation here.
Regarding taking penalties, I’ll repeat it again, it’s 50-50. Keeper guesses right way and there’s a huge chance he saves it, wrong way it goes in. We have seen panenkas go in and every one applauds the taker. To me, there’s no difference to Ozil’s penalty and Alaba’s penalty, whether one tried to roll the ball into the net while the other smashed it, the result was the same. Actually, I can even go further to say of the two I prefer Ozil’s, at least it was on target so there was a 50% it could go in. With Alaba’s, well, the keeper might as well have been having banter with the crowd behind his goal, it was never going to go in in a 1000 years.
As for what the dimwits in the media are saying, we just need to dismiss that with the contempt it deserves. Again, I will refer to the commentary from the match commentators who said Arsenal had done an amazing job to contain the best club in the world for nearly an with 10 men. If anyone is not going to be happy with a performance like that then I don’t know what they’ll be happy with.
@WalterBroeckx from 10.18am
Have you lost the plot? The Ref’s decisions were the undivided factor for our demise. But that is life and football.
The discussion about the FA not considering the bigger picture for early EPL matches pre CL is one that needs to be opened up.
BUT don’t talk such drivel about the FA not considering The Arsenal an English club. What is that actually meant to mean?
You are insulting your own intelligence. And judging by the majority of your posts and articles you have interllect.
For nearly an hour** with 10 men….
I hope we get one on this website ,so that we AKBs don’t have to read the crap the AAAAs come up with.
Come on you computer savvy types ,” HELP !”
From…
http://ancienthomeofdragon.homestead.com/fun.html
Shrink answering machine
The telephone rings and an answering machine answers…
“Welcome to the psychiatric hotline.”
If you are obsessive compulsive, please press one repeatedly.
If you are co-dependant, please ask someone to press 2.
If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, 5, and 6.
If you are paranoid/delusional, we know who you are, what you want, just stay on the line so that we can trace your call.
If you are a schizophrenic, listen carefully, and a little voice will tell you which number to press.
If you are manic depressive, it doesn’t matter which number you press…no one will answer anyways.
Everyone has the power to make others happy. Some do it by entering the room, others by leaving it.
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
Albert Schweitzer
Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.
Guillaume Apollinaire
The place to be happy is here, the time to be happy is now.
Robert Ingersoll
Happiness is wanting what you have, not getting what you want.
The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except that they are so.
William Ralph Inge
On their first night together, a newlywed couple go to change. The new bride comes out of the bathroom showered and wearing a beautiful robe.
The proud husband says, “My dear, we are married now, you can open your robe.” The beautiful young woman opens her robe, and he is astonished.
“Oh, oh, aaaahhh,” he exclaims, “My God you are so beautiful, let me take your picture.
Puzzled she asks, “My picture?” He answers, “Yes my dear, so I can carry your beauty next to my heart forever”.
She smiles and he takes her picture, and then he heads into the bathroom to shower.
He comes out wearing his robe and the new wife asks, “Why do you wear a robe? We are married now.”
At that the man opens his robe and she exclaims, “oh, OH, OH MY, let me get a picture”.
He beams and asks why and she answers, “So I can get it enlarged!”
1- substitution was in a matter of seconds to get Fab in.
2- when Wenger did it, there was a possibility that Bayern would score the pen.
3- Ozil has better indivisual skills than Cazorla, so he can bw better when stuck with the ball to waste time on the pitch, if needed.
4- Ozil tried his best to defend, and 2 goals werent his mistake at all.
5- Cazorla was sick the game before, and to play all remaining time, 10 players :s
Yassin,
I agree with points 1,2,4 & 5 but the notion that Ozil is more skillful than Cazorla is debatable at best. I intend to write an article soon on the impacts of these 2 players on the Arsenal team in their first seasons.
Spoiler alert: Cazorla will come out much better than the German.
ALL U ANTI-OZIL MACHINISTS…..
The Ozil who Mourinho described as the best number 10 in the works. To quote him, “he completes your team”.
Ancelotti: “Selling Ozil was a mistake”
Ronaldo: “I’m angry with Ozil’s departure, he’s the player who best knows my movements”
Cesc: “I’m shocked Madrid let him go. He’s their second best player after Ronaldo.”
The same Ozil who has been voted German player of the year three years running.
The same player who has created more chances than anyone in Europe over the last 5 years.
In Ozil We Trust
The more I think of it the more it feels like the lost CL final in 2006. You just know that if we would have stayed on the pitch with 11 we would have probably won it….
Feel the same too Walter. The way we were opening Bayern up it’d only have been a matter of time before we scored. I think Shez only had one difficult save to make, whereas by that time Nauer had made 3 or 4 very good saves.
Two things.
1. Incredibly proud of the boys last night. Went toe to toe with the best team in the world for 40 minutes and at least deserved to be level. Then ran their guts out in the second half trying to defend and defend and defend some more. It is incredibly hard for every player to sustain their concentration levels at 100% as the fatigue gets worse and worse. In the end, we were beaten by a brilliant strike and a lapse at the death. My team. What a performance. The applause at the final whistle showed that it wasn’t just me who thought that!
2. Four times in the last five years I have had the absolute privilege of watching live my team play the current best team in the world. Apart from the first 15 mins against Barca the first time – which is the best passage of play I have ever seen from an away team in over 40 years at Arsenal – and the first half against Bayern last season, I feel we have competed really well. I will write it again – we have been hosting the BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD! Four times in five years! Not quite there yet – but we are getting closer.
As a football fan, an ex-player, a coach and an administrator I just think it is fantastic to witness football of the quality we saw in the first half last night. There are times when the sheer beauty of it transcends the experience of supporting one’s team. The best football on the entire planet yesterday was taking place on a patch of grass in North London. And Arsenal played their full part.
Pete,
and we would have played a bigger part if it wasn’t for the red card…
Gutted by the final score but as you say it proud of the team. No matter what the pundits make of it.
Walter, I couldn’t really care less about the pundits. What happened last night unfolded before my eyes and is clear. We lost, through unfortunate circumstances (it happens), but my team made me proud.
I haven’t seen too much trolling on this thread – I would hope that even those who are usually very quick to slag off the good ship Arsenal – acknowledge how well we did.
Anyone who thinks we could have/should have beaten the best team in the world with 10 men needs the expectation-management part of their brain examined! Or is just being mendacious.
The tabloids/Talksport I don’t read/listen to – but if their reported takes on the game are as portrayed then I think it tells you all you need to know.
In a way this defeat hurts more than last years.
last year Bayern was just better in the Emirates, certainly in the first half.
So when you lose to such a team there is nothing you can say about it.
But this time you just felt the team was doing the right things and would get a result until the sending off. So in a way more disappointing to take as the outcome could and should have been different if we would have had the rub of the green.
Ok time to do some confessing: despite my warning yesterday to not lose them out of sight for one split second I suspect some of you didn’t take care of my warning and went to the toilets when they scored. who was it? 😉 oh well… better take it on the chin and move on and remember that we were as good as they were until the sending off
Completely agree with you Pete. Pundits…that imfamous Daily Miror back page today has been attributed, though he denys it …to Darren Lewis, a Liverpool fan who likes writing about the Spuds
I re-watched the sending off again – painful. However, I noticed that Kos tried to move to intercept Robben but was blocked off/obstructed by the Bayern No 9 (can’t remember his name) who was still on his way back from an offside position. The obstruction took place before Robben played the ball.
Walter – did you notice this and if so any thoughts?
Walter,
So it’s you? How dare you? This loss is on you man.
I followed your warning to the letter and did not take my eyes off the game for a second. I just kept telling myself: “as long as I abide by Walter’s warning, they’ll not score”. Imagine how convinced I was of your principle when they Alaba missed their penalty? Okay, we lost ours earlier but the rule is about them not scoring not us.
Then they score and I wondered who left their seats?
Little did I know that it was you. You’ll pay for this Walter 🙂
Am gona start a new W
Am gonna start a new WOB, Walter our Brigade, man I know something went wrong, and it wasnt in the players hand…. Next game am gonna come and serve u in ur own home for the whole 90-120min, so u wont take ur eyes of the TV.
I agree with your post at 3.26pm Walter. This defeat was as hard to deal with as that CL final ( I wont watch the replay of that game anymore,as to win the CL final was my dream as an Arsenal fan,to be top of European football)because the mind is always knowing that the circumstances weren’t equal. I feel for the lads and for Wenger, as they all know how the game started last night. I hope Özil gets lots of support, Per and Poldi are really good at whipping up morale off the pitch.The whole team get on well which is important to keep up, now we are under pressure to pick up again after last night.
Perhaps the second leg might be one of those weird games, Bayern are in a cocky and comfortable position, Fwanck and Basti (!!) will be back so therefore they must win according to pundit/media/Die Bild zeitung law.
And there’s our chance- bit like at Juve in 1980 (can Paul Vassen please help from the other side, again!) or the game with Liverpool in 89( wasn’t there a weird stat with that game that we hadn’t won at Anfield since 1975?-and therefore we had no chance!!). But certainly we are expected already to lose, I’m not so sure, there was a lot of hurt pride last night and Im sure the whole team but especially the German lads will want to show the eyes of the people watching zdf that the Arsenal are a great club.I’d like to see Poldi get a run out too, show the Deutche how electric he is since hes been playing in England.
I hope the fans at the Emeroids can really get behind the team on Sat. against the Mackems, like.
COYG!! Aha and Amen.It aint over yet…
Fully agree with all the positive comments about the Arsenal performance yesterday. So sad we didn’t get a proper chance to show what we can do.
I took one look at the headlines of the sports section in the paper and did not read a single article. I know what I saw.
Another article showing perspective, and of the opinion we are in the middle of a rebuilding, but moving forward process. This guy explains it far better in his post today than I could
http://www.7amkickoff.com
Whatever you read and wherever you read it, a guy like wenger with his intelligence ,experience, ability and devotion to this club, he knows exactly what he is doing, don’t let people with agendas desperately exploiting a few bumps along the way tell you different,
WE REALLY REALLY NEED TO GET BEHIND OUR BOYS……
WE ARE AT A DEFINING MOMENT in our present and thus our future….
Arsene Wenger U R A Legend.
OZIL u r a stunning player….honoured that you chose us. We will repay that with continuing to support u.
I agree with Pierce Holt @ 3.10pm. Well put Pierce.
Nice one MANDY DODD @ 9.28 too
ps..I am new to all this
well, this was a refreshing find (via google+)!
maybe Tony can invite this author for a guest post now and again. Better perspective without the London sports “journalists” always filling the air with whingeing.
http://www.7amkickoff.com/2014/its-the-end-of-the-arsenal-as-we-know-it-and-i-feel-fine/
Very nice link guys,thanks. I think he just about squarely hit the nail on the head with his analysis.
We are not quite the finished article but are on our way towards awesome.
Am not too flustered with the CL this season ,but am hoping for a very good and sustained attempt at the EPL title.
Everything else would constitute a welcome bonus .