By Walter Broeckx
Now let us for the sake of it pretend that time travelling exists and is possible. So if you are with me let us start travelling back to Wednesday’s match at Nou Camp.
And let us have a look at the statistics as they are shown on some websites. Like the Uefa website. On their website they give the following stats:
| Barcelona | Shots | Arsenal |
| 17 | Total shots | 20 |
| 8 | On Target | 4 |
| 5 | Off target | 8 |
| 4 | Blocked | 7 |
| 0 | Against woodwork | 1 |
| Extra Untold stat | ||
| 0 | Denied penalty | 1 |
Now ever since the day that we were drawn against Barcelona was their anyone who would have predicted that Arsenal at Nou Camp would have more shots than the best team in Europe/World/Universe ? Anyone? Make yourself known and please if possible show us where you did post this. I bet nobody and not even me could and would have dared to predict that.
Before you now go to the comment section to say you don’t get a prize for that… I do know this and it is needless to write it down as I have done so. Thank you.
Now I have checked the stats of Barcelona and on average they allow nine shots at their goal in Nou Camp. Yesterday Arsenal had the double of what they allow. That is something to do.
But that is not really the main point that I want to make. No, I want to make another point. About the team that played. And for this you need to step in the time machine. Fasten your seatbelts and let us first stop in September.
Who was Elneny? A completely unknown player for most of us. Including myself. I’m not a specialist in Swiss or Egyptian football so I didn’t know him. I’ve no problem to admit this.
Who was Iwobi? Ah, that might give another answer for those who follow the youth teams a bit and I do take some interest in them and try to follow them when I can and whenever they play nearby or when their matches (Uefa Youth league) is shown on the internet.
Iwobi was a youth player in September. Playing in the Uefa Youth league matches at the time. Scoring two goals against Bayern Munich. He then was promoted to the first team a bit later and started training with them and even started in the League cup match at Sheffield Wednesday.
And gradually he came a bit more to the foreground in FA cup matches. And each time he showed that he was a very promising player.
And then suddenly yesterday evening the team sheet came out: BOOM BANG BOOM…. Iwobi in the starting line-up. Making his debut in the CL. At Nou Camp! Against the best team in Europe/world….
And then we have Flamini. One of the favourite scapegoats at Arsenal and therefor a player I like. No need to tell me he is probably one of the least skilful players in the team. But you can put him anywhere and he will do his best and will make his shirt wet. Isn’t that what we demand of every player? But yet when we have such a player he is ridiculed….
Getting back in the time machine and look at that surprising starting line-up at Nou Camp. Against the best team in the world: Flamini- Elneny – Iwobi.
Seven months ago if I had said that this would be the starting line up in midfield you would have laughed it off. You would have said: no way. Impossible. But it wasn’t. It was reality. Well as far as I know in the time zone I find myself in.
And yet with three of those very unlikely to start, ever player in this game matched Barcelona and even overtook them with shots on goal. And should have had a penalty.
It is more or less a fact that if Cazorla and Ramsey had been fit they never would have played at all. Iwobi even might have been sitting at home. Elneny might have been sitting in Basel and Flamini would have been haunted out by the boo boys.
And yet our backup midfield produced a performance that is not that easy to do. Getting your team to having more shots than the best team in Europe/world/Un….
Well keeping mind that we played a backup midfield against them and then looking at those stats… this makes me feel proud. Very proud indeed.
It shows that Elneny is slowly growing and establishing himself in the team. What a runner and not just a runner but also one that can play some football. And he likes to shoot from every angle and yesterday scored a lovely goal. Let’s hope he can show a few how it should be done.
Because this shows that this young lad Iwobi surely has what it takes to become a big player for Arsenal. In fact each time he played he shown promise but to do it at Nou Camp in your first ever appearance in the CL…. It takes some doing.
At the end of the day the MSN combination proved too good to contain. But the stats show that our overall football was as dangerous as their football. At Nou Camp. The only thing that wasn’t up to the standard required was the shooting itself. We could and should have done better. We have four players (Alexis-Giroud-Theo-Welbeck) who can score around 15 goals in a season. But apart from the much maligned Giroud they didn’t deliver so far.
I know they have been injured for a big part and suffered after coming back to deliver. But if they could have delivered as they can do we should have scored many more goals…and would have won more matches.
But the stats show and my eyes showed that we carved out enough chances to at least draw and even win this match and that is what makes me feel positive. Our overall play is in fact good enough. It is just the finishing that is letting us down for the moment. The moment that will return we could be unstoppable for most teams.
The only advice I can give to the players is to relax a bit more in front of goal. I see too many tensed efforts where not proper contact is made with the ball. Too much tension in the muscles I think. Just relax and don’t think of missing, think of scoring.
But the best thing about yesterday was the way Iwobi impressed on the big stage. Just keep on working my friend. Keep both feet on the ground and you might have a brilliant career in front of you.
———————
- Danny Karbassiyoon answers Untold readers’ questions on being a scout for Arsenal
- Fifa is a victim and other funny things
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A good positive review
Stats are wonderful and as you list our available strike force one can only conclude that the quality there is not good enough. We can accept that injury plays a part but when it comes to facts although you claim each of the four capable of scoring 15 goals a season the facts are that throughout their careers none of them have. Giroud is closest at 14.9 , Alexis at 12.4 , however Walcott at 5.4 and Welbeck at 5’0 shows the need for a goalscoring predator. We don’t have one but were we to have one, in front of our midfield a top class forward should have a field day.
My advice would to keep the faith , keep on trying and doing your best for the club and the manager . We are staunchly behind you and will forever support you . Now and always .
And fuck ‘ them’ ! They don’t count .
Walter,
Your righteous tribute to Flamini says it all.
One of the failings of some at the Ems is the continual need for a scapegoat. Someone on whom to direct criticism whenever things go wrong.
If Arsenal won the EPL without losing a single game, these nitpickers would find something to complain about. (probably the absence of a certain type of coffee).
No-one is greater than Flamini for effort when wearing the shirt.
Well said.
Iwobi is definetly going to be a top player, his control and touch is excellent.
Elneny was signed by Wenger but because he was not on the WOB’s shopping list, he gets a rough ride. Thats how they roll.
During the first ten minutes of the game against Barcelona, Elneny was getting some ridiculus abuse. He wasnt the only one but he seemed to get more of it. Obviously it all went a bit quiet when he scored. After the game after his perfromance there was not a murmour.
It remins me of the way some of the past players still get ridiculed. Players like Denilson, probably the most regular target. Yet if these players are as bad as they think, how did we finish third in the PL on a 14th best budget?
This means:
1. The abusers are not a very good judge of player
2. Arsene Wenger created a miracle with such poor players.
The problem is, neither Answer will be very convenient. The fact both are true is not something they would consider, despite being the case.
Nice try but your rose tinted spectacles really do need cleaning. The positives you are so desperate to find in a 3-1 defeat are worthless as you completely fail to take into account the little matter of Barcelona being 2-0 up from the first leg and 95% of the way through to the next round. Do you really think we would have had more shots on goal if the game had started with the aggregate scores level or, if by some miracle, we had kicked off with a lead from the first leg? We were second best for the vast majority of the 180 minutes of this tie which certainly is nothing to be ashamed of. However reality means it also ain’t going to make us European Champions
Re Iwobi, I saw him a lot in youth and reserve level and I really thought he wasn’t part of the future and couldn’t see how he would develop. There is nothing I like more than being proved wrong. I think he looks like a fantastic prospect. Just goes to show how a guy who has watched 40 odd years of football but never worked within a club can be so, so wring. Now I am not trying to deny there ae issues at our club, but perhaps some of the naysayers might take a little time to reflect on their own experiences in this light and take the time to consider before spouting views.
I keep saying this team is capable of so much.
For some reason our finishing has become poor. I know they work on that in training, are we being too impatient and expect improvement? I do not think so, especially when we have such a good provider in Ozil.
Most times i keep thinking while watching us play, that we are playing at 3/4 flame for some reason and find myself turning up some imaginary control with my hand. 🙂
Excellent article Walter! I agree that the effort and opportunities have been there, but unfortunately the finishing has been missing.
I also read in an article by Mike Goodman that Arsenal’s 46 goals in the league is 13 lower than the expected tally of 59, with Ramsey, Walcott, and Sanchez in the Top 10 for goals below their expected return in the league (the article itself is not worth reading, it’s just another article blaming Wenger for everything).
An amazing stat they also ignore is that in the league, Arsenal has not been awarded a penalty in 2016 (in fact last penalty awarded for Arsenal was 13th December 2015). The team that creates the most chances with an expected goals per game of 2.04 (only team above 2), has NOT BEEN awarded a penalty in OVER 3 MONTHS (2 total for the season)!
Since the last time that Arsenal got a penalty:
1) Leicester has been awarded 5 penalties (no penalties against)
2) Tottenham has been awarded 4 penalties (no penalties against)
3) Man City have been awarded 3 penalties
So in the LAST 3 MONTHS, Leicester, Tottenham, and Man City have been award MORE penalties than Arsenal has received in the WHOLE SEASON.
But sure, the refs have not influenced the league results and it’s all Wenger’s fault.
I said it the other day.
You shove that Barcelona front three into any team and watch what happens. They may be European champions and have some great players but what makes them different is that front three. Any team would be pleased to have one of those but they have all 3. Totally different level.
The fact of the matter is, despite a lot of the doom merchants having a fun day out, Arsenal matched Barcelona in chances. We had no Santi, Jack, Ramsey and had Iwobi playing. He didnt look out of place and credit needs to be recognised. Same with Elneny. Not a bad player, despite the abuse the WOB’s were disracefully dishing out.
As far as the first match was concerned, we more than matched them too but for a bloody naive mistake.
Our big prpoblem has been our finishing. It really has been poor this season. Sanchez misssed what by his standards was a sitter Wednesday and he’s really been a different player in respect of his finishing from what we know he is capable of.
I thought Iwobi and Elneny were excellent on Wednesday and Iwobi does look like he has the talent and temperament to be a top player. Im not a Flamini fan, despite his tenacity he’s a liability. We did indeed have plenty of chances and should have done a lot better especially in the first 20 mins. If we had of scored we might have put them under more pressure, although they looked to me as though they had another couple of gears spare. Proudkev; were you at the Barca game ? I wasnt and couldnt identify whether there was any abuse of Elneny or if there was how do you know it was WObs ? Did you ask them ? It seems stretching it a bit to start making claims that a group of fans abuse a player who has played about 3 games for the club. These sorts of unsubstantiated comments unnecessarily fuel splits in the fan base.
Hi Walter, You are its seems an extremely intelligent guy who is a dreamer.
With reference to Flamini after 1 minute of being on in the 1st leg of the Barca tie he pretty much destroyed any chance we had of getting through with a ridiculous challenge for the penalty they converted. We could have played all night at Nou Camp and not beat them as they were under little pressure. As soon as we scored they upped the tempo. Do not imagine we will win anything significant with the board of directors we have.
To gamble the huge amount of money necessary to take us up to the next level is too much of a risk. The odd domestic cup is in our locker and this season with so many top English teams in disarray was our time to win the league. It is now likely that a team of honest triers with 2-3 excellent players who don`t get injured and a myopic manager who the players adore and would run through brick walls for will win it.
I say good luck to them from a supporter of over 60 years of a team of spoilt overpaid players who are not as good as they think they are.
I expect more from my 4 season tickets at £2000 a head….Am I expecting too much?
A nice article and it really brings out something about AFC that most fans have refused to see for now. The truth is that we have a good team which creates chances and can have a good run if we have the final wlement which produces a champion; luck. The only problem I have with articles on this site is that they tend to defend Wenger so much that they ignore or neglect to mention things that are needed in the team. I know you reiterated this yesterday that this site was established to support Arsene Wenger but I think to go about it in an unbalanced way is nothing short of apotheosis. If the truth is to be told, OG is not a striker that can deliver a treble to us even if he gets the whole luck in this world but Wenger is a coach who can. We need a better centre forward. s for Flamini, what you said is worrisome to me. I thought players are selected based on quality first before other factors. I personally think Flamini has lost the quality one should have in order to qualify as an Arsenal player. On the whole, I agree with you that our players lack the composure in front of goal for now but it will return. Keep this site going cos some of us really enjoy reading the pists here. By the way, you didn’t answer the question which a reader asked yesterday. Will you shut this site as soon as Wenger departs?
Tyona, I think that last question has been answered more than a few times. No we will support the club as we do now.
Tyona Yarkwan
I think Untold will continue to support whoever the new manager is when the day arrives that Arsene calls it a day. Thats only my view of course but I think you will find that is just the attitude some of us take.
Will the WOB blogs like LG shut down when Wenger leaves?
There definitely seems to be a very unhealthy obsession wirh Wenger over there. I doubt they will stop, they will still be on the backs of the board and the players. Its the way some people behave, each to their own.
People naturally gravitate to sites, blogs and journalists that embrace their own feelings and way of behaving.
If we had won that match 1-0 and showed the heart and spirit that we did it would not have been enough for some. Their hatred of the manager and some players blind them and to pick on Elnery who has only had a short number of games under his belt and who looks good really says it all for me
Is it any wonder that the players are tense? Who could blame them when they face this abuse now each week.
I thought the team played well and just imagine if instead of all the hatred and vile abuse that has been spewed that it was turned to supporting this team and manager what a difference it could really make, that’s the sad part of this all.
Bard
“I wasnt and couldnt identify whether there was any abuse of Elneny or if there was how do you know it was WObs ? Did you ask them ? It seems stretching it a bit to start making claims that a group of fans abuse a player who has played about 3 games for the club”.
Thats funny Bard, those guys were on his back the first game. I know it is hard to beleive but remember Wenger bought him. He only cost £5m. None of this sits well with that lot.
If you want to know what they say about our club visit their blogs.
Here are some quotes during the Barca game lifted from a well known WOB blog:
“That Elneny chance………. Questions need to be asked of this manager”
“That Elneny is the player that Wenger waited 12 months to sign… and wasted the summer transfer window for. Super super quality isn’t he?”
“Wow Elneny is terrible, the new Denilson. That’s what 5 million gets you these days”
“Elneny is utter shite”
Recent comments include:
“Who would buy a crap player like Elneny? Saw Wenker coming.”
“COME ON EVERTON!!! FINISH HIM!!! FATALITY!!!”
“Winner of Europa gets an extra spot in the CL. Too bad. Would be too funny if wenger lost his 4th place trophy to winner of the Europa”.
These guys are straight out of the lunatic asylum.
Linda.
Agree, very well put.
Watched a few minutes of a la liga programme yesterday profiling Barca’s weekend game. Was 30 secs to a minute of that front three scoring goals.
Few things stood out- serious calmness in front of goal from Neymar in particular, Suarez banging them in from all angles, normally right into the corner of the goal, and Messi being Messi, meaning he takes perfect touches to set himself for the shot, has enormous composure to react to however the keeper positions himself right till the last fraction of a second, then his actual finishes when he can either blast accurately, normally into the corner, or as with the goal against us, he has an endless amount of variations on the dink, all done with supreme control.
We know they are the very best, but it really emphasized how out of sorts we are at finishing right now.
It seems like a hope-for-the best job when a chance opens up and I feel like I can relate, from my own days, to the stresses and difficulty levels of trying to score a bit more than I should be able to. Occasionally I would be in the zone and it would happen effortlessly. Too often it was the other way where scoring seems a hard thing to accomplish.
Quite instructive that Elneny’s brilliant strike felt a little bit alien on the day. That’s a big positive. He was billed as possessing a great strike, and that was certainly one. Maybe he can carry it on and inspire the other lads while he’s at it. I feel like Iwobi has a good goal in him one day soon if he keeps getting minutes.
Meanwhile, another reason to regret Wilshere’s injury. His shooting was utterly sensational at the end of last year.
Flamini was the bee’s knee’s when he scored two at Spurs.
Has AW made mistakes? Of course he has but what he brought to this club and English football far outweighs those mistakes. He is a human being with all those emotions that goes with that but he never tries to let his guard down and show just how much the name calling and filth that has been thrown at him must hurt.
Have people ever stopped to think just how much this must effect his daughter. If my father was getting all this thrown at him I know how I would feel. I would be livid and thinking to myself what a bunch of ungrateful ingrates’ these people really are. He has given them 20 years of his life and stood by this club no matter what, give them PL titles an unbeaten season, FA cups, CL that was vital for the money that the club needed and helped build a beautiful new stadium to be proud of and yet it’s still not enough.
If I was his daughter I would tell him that no matter what he may do will never be enough and that he should go because they don’t deserve him and never will. I would want him to go to another club and should he go to Germany come back someday to the Ems in the CL and beat the hell out of the club that treated him so bad.
If AW daughter ever said that to her father I would never ever blame her.
His family must be feeling this after seeing how some of this fan base and club, former players, media treat him and who can blame them.
You never know what you have lost till its gone and what we lose may someday come back to hunt us.
Jesus christ proudkev, are those quotes real? I just really don’t understand how people can be like that towards their own team and manager. It’s not as if all the shit we get from the media, pundits and referees isn’t enough, but we even have to deal with a our own fans, who act as if they are from an opposing team; although clearly all these things are linked. At times, it really does completely ruin this game. Can’t even find a safe haven, within our own fans.
One persons excuse for all the negativity was this; “when you remain positive with this club it hurts even more to see them fail every year”. So two consecutive FA cups hurts this “fan” apparently.
@ Linda – I was having a chat today with a supposed Arsenal fan and asked him what he hoped to achieve from all the negativity and abuse. His answer is as follows;
“the “negative effect” we are having on the club is 100% wanted and thank God for DT and his wenger out banner, the more negative PR wenger gets the more likely his fraudulent arse is going to resign”
So basically, they genuinely want Arsenal to do poorly and loose matches. I guess this is either purely an ego thing, in that, they want their years of whinging, moaning abuse to appear validated and to have been proved right all along; or they are genuinely naive and/stupid enough to think that they can force Wenger out the club and then suddenly Arsenal will be winning PL and CL trophies every single year. Although this year, the PL isn’t even enough, as the league has turned completely shit apparently (around about the same time, it looked like Arsenal might win it, funnily enough).
Well said Walter. That game, to me, displayed what a great tactician Wenger is. In terms of tactics he got them spot on, outdid Enrique by a mile. Yes Barcelona won eventually but only because of the strikers they have. As you mention Walter, who would have thought a midfield comprising of Flamini, Elneny And Iwobi would shut out Iniesta and co? But all match the famed Barcelona midfield failed to make any penetrative attacks and they resorted to over the top balls to cause any damage, simply because the firepower they have upfront is unparalleled. Meanwhile our midfield was finding space to exploit and only poor finishing meant we could not score than once (don’t want to put too much focus on ref but we could have had a penalty, it was difficult to spot so e can let him off, although I’d like to believe had it been Messi at the other end he’d have given it 🙂 ) Wenger clearly got the best from the limited resources he had.
If people refuse to give Wenger any credit after that game then they never will, they clearly have a problem with the man himself, rather than his tactical nous, as they would like you believe. With regards to the calmness displayed by the Barca trio it’s because they know if they miss they have their mates who will make up for that miss. That’s why they try things, some of them audacious ( Neymar brought the ball under control with his instep, his leg behind the other, while Suarez attempted an audacious volley which went in). The point is if you know you’ll only get one chance you won’t do such things, because if you fail to pull such a move off then your teammates will not be happy with you. But when you know you’ve 2 other guys who will put any half chance away you relax and you can try the impossible.
Not really surprised Elneny scored; in all the matches he had appeared in he had chances that didn’t come off for him. So it was only a matter of time before he found the target. In my view he us the type of high-scoring midfielder in the ballack mould. Playing every game he can get you around 10 goals or more every season. I hear he is also a dead ball specialist and was designated free kick and corner kick taker for Basel. So more to come from this guy, watch this space.
Slightly OT:
MSN= deadly finishing on the pitch, lightning fast tax evasion off the pitch.
According espnfc, in federal court in Rio de Janeiro Friday, “Neymar found guilty of tax fraud for failure to report earnings from his contracts with Santos, Barcelona, and Nike, and ordered him to pay 188.8 million Brazilian reals (€45.9m) in fines and back-taxes.”
And now you know how all 3 strikers ended up in Barcelona! (confirmed by 2/3 of the MSN combo)
Well put, Linda. Wenger sacrificed personal glory for the club; he could have gone to Madrid when they came calling but he’s a man of honour and he stayed. Part of me thinks the people who don’t like him are partly jealous of his unquestionable integrity. They deserve a scumbag like mourinho, who would no doubt jumped ship and went with the highest bidder during the lean years.
@ AI – Well don’t forget; Wenger doesn’t do tactics! I remember a game we lost against Man City a few years ago and the pundits were absolutely blasting Wenger for sticking with his attacking football. They implied it was because he just simply couldn’t do tactics (as if his team talks and training sessions, consist solely of him just saying “right then team, just attack”). I think it was Neville that dubbed him as being naive, arrogant and completely disrespecting Man City. Of course, if it were any other team, they would have been complimented for “giving it a right go and not just sitting back”. In fact, i’m certain i distinctly remember the very same Neville saying exactly that when a “lesser” team were playing one of the top four.
It’s these arsehole pundits that are causing discontent towards the team, among certain Arsenal fans. It’s no coincidence that we have some of most whiny, spoiled and self-entitled fans in the PL.
Jammy J
Totally agree with you.
Whatever he may do will never be enough, the most selfish ungrateful fans in the PL.
Fans, media, pmgo, pundits and not nearly enough support from the board.
How he has stayed this long and remained his own man is wonderful to see but even the strongest would be feeling it now and it’s so very sad to watch and I’m livid at times to be honest at the total injustice of it all.
Al
Right with you on that one. I doubt they would know what integrity meant because they don’t have any.
This is a great article. Thanks, Walter.
We certainly live in a strange world where people can say they support a team and then write the kind of abuse quoted above. I suppose they get together with their friends, either in the web sites or in the pub, and wind each other up.
Pathetic, really.
I went on Wednesday and got soaked. It really is a poor ground for the club, netting in front of the visiting fans so hard to see plus about 5 miles up. We need to do the same to opponents at the Emirates, stick them up high. Getting out was also a bit of a nightmare one exit for the thousands of us then balaclava clad police waiting, which would be something the club needs at the sh*thole of the Lane, loads of police vans and cars too.
Most supporters that I chatted with were positive about the club and know what the boss has done. It doesn’t mean that who would be next was talked about, but no dissent like those Arsenalfan tv idiots. Tomorrow is now huge, must start scoring from all the chances we create, and preferably early too. Up the Arsenal
Old man – yes you are.
Walter, you missed another stat. Possession. We had around 38% possession of the ball. And created more chances.
And then proceeded to miss them. Talk all you want about Elneny and Iwobi as time will tell on them. It may have run out for some of our non striking forwards.
@Linda,
I hope your 6.39 will be read, digested and taken to heart by those who, although they call themselves followers of our great Club, they shame its good name and history.
The families of ALL sportsmen and women who are unfairly pilloried, are so often forgotten and you are right to draw attention to this.
Walter, you’re being a little unfair to Flamini by saying he’s not skilful. I don’t know what his numbers are like this season but historically he’s a very good passer with excellent stats. The problem as he gets older is that the strong (but not especially fast) motor is now showing it’s age and he doesn’t cover the same ground as he did. That results in him having the same problem Monreal did when he first joined us, in that he had problems in transition from attack to defence and finally got to the ball too late or exhausted which resulted in some poor tackles. At heart Flamini is a B2B player and although he’s being asked to play as a pure DM (which he’s better at than he’s given credit for), he lets his heart rule occasionally which causes this problem and often ends up badly for us. I expect Hayden to replace him next season.
Sorry I should have added that he’s not creative but he is skilful.
Old Man, have a look around at other clubs and you’ll see that many players have given away penalties within seconds of coming onto the pitch. Gerrard and Lampard spring immediately to mind. I certainly remember Schweinsteiger doing it (I think against Werder Bremen) a few years back. That’s part of the problem bringing on subs, that they need a few minutes to get the speed of the game.
Totally agreed Nicky,
No one should have to put up this this moronic behaviour no matter what the sport. Those people go out to try to give it their best and family members are there supporting them and then they have to sit and listen to the awful abuse their loved ones have to take.
If they only stopped and thought how they would feel if it was their father, brother, mother sister.
I really think these people don’t have the brains to think about that but that is really sadly no surprise at all.