Having put in one of his worst shifts in an Arsenal shirt since moving from Ajax three years ago, Thomas Vermaelen recognises more than most that last night’s trouncing at the hands of AC Milan was not good enough.
Thanking the 5,000 strong travelling Gooners who supported the squad in the San Siro, the Belgian international made clear that he and his teammates would go out of their way to make everybody proud when the seemingly doomed second-leg kicks off at the Emirates.
“We have another game and the only thing we can do is show our pride and give 100 per cent,” Vermaelen told the Arsenal website. “That is what we have to do.
“We have to give something back to the fans who came all the way here, we disappointed them. The only thing we can do is try to get a good result in the home game.
“The fans supported us all the way to Milan and we disappointed them, which is not good. We will try to give them something back when we next play at home.
“It was not a good evening for us, they scored four times and we did not play well. It’s simple – we conceded too many chances and too many goals and it was just a bad evening.
“They played well, they were aggressive – more than us I think and you can see that from the result. It’s difficult to give an explanation so soon after the game because I am disappointed. The result was really bad.
“What happened, we have to forget now. We have to learn from it and just keep going to the next game.”
Despite needing a miracle to progress to the next round (even Arsene Wenger being forced to admit his side have only a 2% chance of qualifiying), Wojciech Szczesny insists that even with only a tiny sliver of hope he will never give up.
“It’s not impossible to come back but it’s going to be very difficult,” the Pole stressed last night.
“Milan showed how good they are tonight and it’s going to be very difficult. We showed last week against Blackburn how good we can be if we are on the front foot and if we manage to score an early goal then anything can happen.
“We have quality attacking players and we can score goals so why not? But we have to realise that it’s going to be really, really difficult.
“It was a very difficult night and it’s hard to take right now. We have to admit that Milan were the better team and they completely deserved the victory. It’s hard to take but hopefully we can pick ourselves up.
“We’re full of belief that we can still have a successful season. It’s a big blow for us tonight but I’m confident we’ll pick ourselves up and do our best in all the games we have coming up.”
I think with the size of our squad we have to write off the second leg. Concentrate all our resources on the fa cup and difficult league games coming up.
I wouldn’t mind a 2-0 win to restore the confidence, then they can concentrate on the league and Fa CUP
Except that the FA cup is this Saturday
Write the second leg off? Are you crazy? WE ARE THE ARSENAL 125 years of history and just give it up like that!!!! I am going to second leg and I will sing my heart out, lets have ago at them, lets show the whole Europe what we are all about. 5 nil is not beyond us, I know it is difficult almost impossible but I am sure 125 years of history will carry us through. Play to the boys a video of our greatest moments, record messages from our legends in video clips talking to the players, telling them… Read more »
You can’t go 4-1-4-1 against Milan. They way they play is so narrow and having just one “defensive” midfielder will make them exploit the space around him, which is kind of good and easy for them
*CLR falls over after reading CLF’s reply*…. Good night’s sleep Lefty? You make some very good points and i do like your line up. With our wider pitch, proper flanks and players with Wenger’s words from today ringing in their ears, i’d like to see a massive response. @cannonball – Having 2 DMC’s didn’t work on Wednesday against their narrow play. The pitch was atrocious on Wednesday and this was highlighted by the fact Milan play down the middle. With wide men and more space, the slow Italian game can succumb to the fast paced English game. When you need… Read more »
Sorry for the long replay but it is from the heart and I have to get out..
I’ve always trusted the team when Thomas was playing, but i’ve never seen him play as bad as yesterday, lets hope him, Thierry and Robin gave everyone a good shouting at and lets hope we can pick ourselves up for Sunderland.
Thing is, do you trust this team to respond? When have they ever shown the capacity to learn from mistakes? And I include Wenger in this.
I normally absolutely detest Richard Williams at the Guardian, but I think he was spot on: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/feb/16/arsene-wenger-arsenal-youngsters-comfort
There is no culture of accountability at Arsenal. Add to that the apparent transfer budget of Everton, a probable finish outside the top four this season (and many more to come), and things look awfully bleak.
Au revoir, Henry. Thanks for reminding us of good times gone.
Only thing I ask for the coming fixtures is we play with some pride and passion. The game didn’t feel right straight from the off, whatever it was that happened to the players needs to be sorted out quickly. Wengers toughest task is really upon him now!
Unfortunately disappointed Dosent cover it, embarrassed would be a better discription. That was a shambles, no too ways about it, all we as fans can do is get behind the team that plays on Satirday and keep on supporting. We may not have the best team in the world but we do have the best fans. Thanks.
I probably would agree with you but you kind of lose the point with some atrocious spelling.
Harsh, man. The dude may be dyslexic!?
In one word.. gutted! I struggle to read anything about Arsenal today because I was so let down by last nights performance. I think Wenger got it wrong with his starting line-up/tactics and from the second the ref blew the whistle we weren’t in the game. As I’ve said numerous times before, I don’t mind losing a game but I can’t stand getting beat like that when it seems nobody was there to play. Djourou… as the commentators said last night is not good enough to play for Arsenal and we just gave him a 2 year extension. The penalty… Read more »
Djourou had his moments last year. I will still say he is good for a 4 th choice cb but such is our luck he might be playing a lot more game than a forth choice cb ever will.
We have been unlucky with ouur injuries thats not to excuse kinda performance the team put in yesterday because it was more or less the first team. But what kinda curse is this when the cb’s are doing good there’s a prob with full backs and vice versa a problem since last 5 – 6yrs.
Djourou didn’t give the penalty away, Ibra bought it with his dive. Djourou didn’t do much wrong last night tbh, we can blame just about every other player out there BUT djourou imo. His lethargic performances at the start of this and towards the end of last season were a far better indicator that he’s never going to be first choice but start comparing him to other 4th choice defenders in the top 4 (Savic/Luiz/Evans) and you start seeing that having him around isn’t so bad.
He is a flaming liability and has been poor all season. Be honest, he got his legs tangled up with Ibrahamovic and fell on him in the box! You can’t do that!
the boys need to show us a good time at the emirates against milan. If they dont there is something wrong with their pride of being a part of this club.
I was screaming and throwing around with things in front of the tv. Cause i dont think they fought for us, the fans, the club, eachother. For me thats the biggest dissapointment. You have to give 110 % to win these games, as a fan you live for these moments of pure will. But i couldnt see that will yesterday.
COYG
I nevermimd if we loose and give it a good go, last night I think we played worse than at OT. It’s frustrating as we have some great players and we know what we can do, just seems all to often that we don’t. Come on Arsenal we all love you dearly but lets sort this out
Just hoping this doesn’t cause yet another knock-on effect like last season’s Carling Cup final, which killed all confidence within the team. Yet again we are approaching perhaps our most important period of games in the season and we are receiving untimely injuries like Mertesacker, which isn’t good. As for Vermaelen’s comments…Ramsey, okay you can say he’s young he’s been played a lot, first full season back from injury etc. But Vermaelen, Arteta, Sagna, Szczesny? Uncharacteristically poor in the last game. These older, experienced players are supposed to be the spine of the team and maybe you can let the… Read more »
my mistake; by older & more experienced I wasn’t referring to Szcz here…though he does have the concentration of a keeper that belies his age. Needs to improve his kicking/distribution big time though
that’s really the only part of his game that he has trouble with it’s almost as if he’s color blind and he just kicks it directly to the wrong team every time because of it.
Hahahahaha up the spurs scared last nite boys lookrd liked babys up the spurs
Thanks Steve… please return some day soon. We already miss you.
I’d like to point out that this is not Fatgooner’s “Arsene”. He is an imposter and clearly a spud too
Oh do fuck off you fucking illiterate Tottenham cunt
Well said, and well up yours Spuds
Ignore
Even Djourou looked better than Vermaelen
“Full of belief , give 100%, we have to learn from it”. I am so sick of sound bites from this team only for it totally back fire the next game. This team lacks the one thing wenger harps on about all the time. Thats mental strength. Yesterday can’t be put down to wenger, this is a strong team on paper that for whatever reason just didn’t turn up, wenger can be blamed for many things this season like lack of signings up front, some tactical errors but yesterday was purely down to the players lack of mental strength and… Read more »
After the Utd game we did go on a bit of a decent run, so hopefully that happens again; if only to get 4th. Last night it looked like the games Arsenal play against non-league teams in cups or pre-season friendlies. Essentially a training match for Milan. 4-0 at home isn’t impossible (I mean we stuck 7 past Blackburn who are scrapping for every point they can get) and Milan will think they are through already but it is improbable. I just hope in the summer the board finally release a good amount of funds to Wenger (he bought a… Read more »
I agree with everything you’ve said, and you’ve made some good points,but saying the team has a lack of mental strength is a bit odd.
2-0 down to villa to pull it back ad keep us in the FA cup, and 1-0 down away at Sunderland to pull it back and then go into 4th.
also, take the rough with the smooth Voldermort, because im sure you didn’t wanted to give up that season ticket against Blackburn, chelsea etc.
Mental strength also means winning the easy games by staying concentrated and having the mental stamina to hold on to a game you are in control of. Something we cannot do, so yes, we lack mental strength.
Ljungberg wants to come back to play in England. A free transfer along with Pires? At least we’d have some winning experience in our squad.
Sol Campbell is also a free agent; Still better than Djourou and Squillaci? He probably could be you know…
Have you ever never stop moaning about our players… please give an indication of a season when you were happy.
a season?
or seven?
Behave yourself and do your research before talking bollocks. You have me mistaken with Cygan’s Left Foot. I use this name as I generally have the opposite opinion to CLF but then we get a good bit of banter going. Wow, because i feel Campbell was and could be a better defender than those two, i’m some how not allowed an opinion… You almsot sound like CLF and Fatgooner in that people can’t have an opinion different to yours. Also, if you look through the archives, I defend our players as I have seen what they’re capable of and our… Read more »
Maddo has a point….I personally was happy the season we almost won the league… and at the final game of the season, Nelson Vivas came on and bugged it all for the team. That was a sense final season game…By the bys where is Nelson Vivas now… is he leading a group of men.
farewell to Thierry… We will miss you..come back soon. xx
This team is certainly good at talking the talk… shame that’s all it is.
The whole game just felt weird – there’s just something about Italian football that can really screw a team up!
Remember AC Milan absolutely folded Man U up a few years ago – and nobody said that Man U side was poor!
Obviously we can’t go through but I just hope we put on a belting performance and restore some pride. Perhaps Gervinio will give us that penetrative edge that we lacked.
For the 1st time in TommyV’s Arsenal career, i actually doubted his quality, he was Denilson shocking!
Every season we have a week where our season falls apart, im dreading the game vs Sunderland at the weekend.
With no Henry, who will salvage the game for us, right now, ill take a draw and a replay at the Emirates.
Where do we go from here? only time will tell!
But its clearly not working, whatever “IT” is!!!!
There is no doubt what type of football Arsenal tries to play. When we do, we are unstopable. Unfortunatly, (as arseblog news linked to) I have to agree with Bergkamp that we do not have enough variety when it comes to players. The ones we do have that are different in the way they play are being out of position or not involved. I get that playing with 3 strikers as we do, it can be difficult to cross to them, when they have to be involved in the build up. That and taking corners is something we need to… Read more »
Maybe because man u went on to win the league that year or the year after or the year after.
N7 all due respect mate but comparing us to man u is slightly missing the point.
Maddo, who you referring to ?
All we can do is to forget about it, get our act together, and destroy Sunderland at the weekend. I can’t imagine what confidence will be like if we were to exit the FA cup as well. Return leg against Milan? Well, what to say? Of course, it IS possible, but as everyone has said, unlikely. I think if we were to focus on trying to qualify, we may get bogged down with the thought, and end up choking. Instead, let’s treat the return leg as a fresh match, throw caution to the wind, and give it our absolute all.… Read more »
It’s not going to happen Italian teams are well known for their ability to defend. Generally they dont score more than 2-3 goals since most Italian teams are tactically defensive (somehow arsenal tend to make teams look better offensively than they actually are). They have World class defenders such as Nesta and Silva, we have ….Djourou. Enough said. They might not score alot but thinking that they would concede 5? I’ll rather bet that Chamahk will score a hattrick for every game for the rest of the season I’m still a fan of AW and I dont want to see… Read more »
True enough. AC will just park the bus and it will be 90 minutes of frustration.
Still in shock at our bad it was. Not a Scooby where we go from here.
*how*
Everyone’s now gonna come out and say the same or the other not that anything wrong with it but i am still not sure if there is any more worse performance gonna come up in the remaining fixtures. The season started with 8 -2 result felt this would be the worst result, then came blackburn away, then Swansea became the worse, then bolton till yesterday which was worst i agree. But surely this has to end. Again why does this team always need a lift from their manager in every fucking game?
Disappointed….understatement alert. Disappointed would be losing by a goal or two.
How many times have we heard “We’ll learn from it and move on”. It’s boring. What do these players get paid for? They do not learn. Evident from the many embarrassments we’ve had to endure so far. And its only February.
I didn’t watch much of the first half (saw the second goal though) but from the evidence of the second half it was obvious that hardly anyone in an Arsenal shirt was really trying. I think Arteta tried to keep things moving although he was given quite a few passes in very tight spots. Henry worked hard too. We had no width in the second half because neither full back wanted to run into their half. And much as I hate to say this, TV5 was awful in both positions last night. When he was at LB he seemed to… Read more »
Sorry Vermaelen but the word you looking for is humiliated.
That is all…
funny how sczney after doing fuck all last night still believes they can score 5 and keep them out. he didn’t make a fucking save yesterday how on earth do we believe in his shit. he’s fast becoming bendtner’s modified version
there’s a difference between confidence and being a huge cunt
Never seen him play so bad
If this doesn’t free up the pockets a little in summer i dont know what will. Something has to give from the board, i cannot believe ARsene refuses to buy, there has to be reasons… I am completely exhausted this year with the arsenal and have no logic left at all to reason with. All i can say is Cmon Arsenal!! smash em at home… The rest of the year we will have to take it as it comes without expectation. The season is what it is and there is still plenty on the table, 4th place/FA cup…. All the… Read more »
I haven’t forgotten that Arsenal could play like idiots, even at the height of Wenger’s purple patch. All teams can. AFC in recent years though have begun to make a habit out of it. But I suspect, like most, the thing that got to me about last night was the sheer lack of ideas – it really did look like a bunch of amateurs out there, and not very talented ones either. I’m reluctant to believe they weren’t trying but that’s exactly what it looked like. Ultimately, neither option is acceptable. If Arsenal don’t have the talent, they need to… Read more »
What Ʈђe fuck are some fans thinking? Milan will only concede 5 if it’s a 3 against 11 match, Α̲̅πϑ which will never happen. Let’s forge ahead with Ʈђe FA cup!!! COYG we can win a trophy if we are determined. .ȋ̝̊̅̄ Bleed Red always!!!!
Oh dear Tomas, don’t think you called that one quite right. TV world: Mrs TOSIN: “Hi darling, how are you?” TOSIN: “Well sweetheart, the Arsenal got bumfucked 4-0 in Milan last night, so I guess you *could* say that the team disappointed me a little” Reality: Mrs TOSIN: “Hi darlin… oh my god what’s wrong?” TOSIN: *noises that cannot be transcribed* etc etc I mean really, what a fucking shower. It’s almost enough to convince you that they were actually *trying* to play like shite last night. But, still. We have to acknowledge that everyone can have an off day… Read more »
People are quite rightly moaning about Wenger but under this current board I don’t think it matters who’s in charge. Liverpool fans got Gillet and Hicks out of their club and until we do the same with Kronke the club will continue to stagnate. It made my blood boil watching that game last night, we have regressed so much its embarrassing yet we are the most expensive team to watch in Europe. Arsenal are having their cake and eating it. Arsenal is a business before a football and those that are using it as a cash cow need to be… Read more »
Gillett Hicks —> Fenway Sports = Frying pan —> fire
or, in our case
Kronke —> Usmanov
Kroenke owns the team, just as he owns five others, and doesn’t give a shit.
I don’t understand why Szczesny and Arteta have said that it isn’t over yet. All Milan will do in the 2nd leg is defend and then counter when our midfield pushes too far up the pitch. We struggle to score against teams like Bolton, Wolves and Fulham when they sit back, so how do they think they will score 4 goals against the current Serie A champions? We might win, it wouldnt surprise me if we did, but at the end of 90 minutes we won’t have scored 4. All they do is talk. But i don’t see anyone backing… Read more »
and if they truly think they can still win with the score at 4-0, why didnt they play like they believed they could win last night, when it was 0-0, or even at 2-0?
Giving them a head start? Maybe they think they can play like they did against Blackburn and score 7 while conceding 1, thus making it 7-5 and the greatest come back in the history of football.
I’d say it’s because they’re not really going to say to the media “well that’s it, we’re out. The fans shouldn’t bother coming to support us in the second leg”. We’ll probably win the return but maybe 1-0. 4-0 would do just to get to extra time…..
I’ll be happy with a 1-0 home win thank you. 5-0 would be better but…
Up The Arsenal!
I only have one word: time for wenger to go
we need a champion coach that can bring us to next level not a 6m mediocre coach
16 years is long enough, enough is enough
That’s 30 words
That was more than one word….
Damn it pedantic Dave!!!
That’s actually twenty eight words, 3 numbers and one letter.
and a comma
That’s right Eric. I think the best is for Wenger to be fired immediately. And I’m sure that you were saying the same thing after the 7-1 thrashing of Blackburn, or the 5-3 victory over Chelsea, or the 3-2 comeback against Villa…. Look, beyond the pro- and anti-Wenger camps, I think we can all agree that whatever happens the club needs to have a strategy and a long term plan. This goes for players as well as managers. If Wenger goes, well I guess some fans will be happy. But it should be at the end of the season, when… Read more »
I meant bitching fest. I was in no way implying anybody’s a bitch.
*Taxi!*
Fickle arsenal fans lol yes it’s true along with most clubs fans arsenals are as fickle as any, but the way we have been allowed to decline over the last 7 years from a position of almost domination is a scandal. Yes some of the fans who started following us back when wenger joined may have been spoiled but that’s besides the point. any fan has a right to express an opinion. We should not be in this position with the income we have generated from players sales and ticket prices. Support should not be taken for granted and it… Read more »
We need more south american players!!!!
Yeh thats it you’ve summed it up there. That’s exactly where we’ve been going wrong. Well done!
For racism, biting, handballs and to go AWOL?
I’m starting to realise that our team just isn’t good enough. Technically, mentally and physically. No one knows whether Wenger is to blame for this, or it’s a lack of ambition that has a waterfall effect from above.
Whatever way you see it, and who you decide to side with, or oppose, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the “lack of ambition waterfall” is getting stronger, less vaporous, and more like that cunty rain that seems to soak everything you’re wearing and make it smell like a vagina that looks like a melted cheese sandwich that’s just been opened.
You are “starting to realise our team just isn’t good enough”? Where the fuck have you been for the last half a decade??!!
Wenger could and should have played a more pragmatic strategy with steel in the midfield to defend in numbers and try and catch Milan on the break.
He probably thought that was what he had put out there but the steel turned out to be more like tin foil. Shame on you Wenger.
The CL is over for us and I think we should put the young guns on the field in the return leg and in the FA cup. The main focus should be the league and if possible chase down the chickens or at least give them a good f*****g fight for third spot to avoid that bloody qualification round to CL next season. But I am a bit torn about the CL. Maybe it would do the team good to miss out and just concentrate on the domestic competitions. We also need a big overhaul at the end of the… Read more »
Α̲̅πϑ U̶̲̥̅̊ think world class players will ¢Ø̶̷̩̥̊͡M̶̲̥̅̊ε̲̣̣̣̥ without European competition?
No but they wont come anyway,……
What are those ridiculous symbols?!? Stop them at once
If we continue to see next to zero return for the profits that the club constantly posts, then why sell RVP for anything?
I’d rather let him go for free and get another season out of him. What’s the point of getting £30m+ for him when we’ll get a replacement that cost the club <10m?
That's like saying. "Oh hey guys, does anyone want to swap my meal from The Fat Duck for your £2.99 chicken and chips from Kennedy Chicken"?
I will. Mmmmmmm chicken.
Cygan’s Right Foot how about all the positive winning the UCL?
The midfield 3 were poor, they offered no protection to the defence and bugger all in attack. Ramsey played some terrible balls, Song looked at his laid back worse, Arteta average. Bergkamp said we dont have players who will step up if things aren’t working for the big names, this team just seems to totally lack that quality. They used to rely on Henry, then Cesc now RVP.
knew we were screwed moment i saw rmsey starting. Dont have the luxury of playing both rambo n walcott. there was a huge gap between the defenders n the midfielders. arteta was poor yesterday maybe cause nobody seems to know where to be at on the field. when artetas poor, song’s poor cause he looks to others for a boost, time to bench him n bring on the coq. should’ve opted for arshavin rather thn TH especially if there was 45 mins left. just want players to go down fighting… tht being said i think the tactics played a role… Read more »
If you watch properly, Ramsey and van Persie were the only offensive players that closed down. This in turn tired him out and it was clear that by 70-75 minutes that his concentration was suffering
Right Tommy, here’s what you do to be forgiven.
First: Stop with the hand-wringing, soul-searching and apologies. We don’t give a rat’s bum about the PR, results are what counts.
Second: No waiting for the second leg to show what you can do. I want the lot of you to go into this weekend feeling *very* pissed off, channel that into a revenge-fest distilled from the most evil attitude you can muster and nail Sunderland to the fucking cross. Ideally with real nails and only choosing the really rusty ones.
Spot on teecee..
So where was the pride last night then? I think it’s all very well saying next time but the damage has now been done and unless a miracle occurs we are crashing out of Europe because of a a gutless performance last night
Hey guys, it’s not all bad.
Taco night at the ‘Fox and Hound’.
It’s the little things….
As the wife says.
Wore my Arsenal shirt to Uni today, had to deal with all the taunts. But I love this football club. And I trust the players to, maybe not classify to the next round, but at least play all of the upcoming games with a bit more spirit, energy and ambition.
I love AFC as well, unconditionally – have done since I was 7.
But if my wife showed as much enthusiasm for our marriage as some of these players do for the game, I’d be telling her we both need to see a solicitor and get a court date.
I can’t leave my club, anymore than I could kick my dog in the face. I can take loosing, I can take playing badly, I can even take seeing promising talent leave and constant restructuring due to injury.
It’s the lack of ideas and effort that kills me, time after time.
Wow. Never heard it put so well. 100% understand where you’re coming from. Except i don’t have a dog.
The only thing that can be said about this, no matter your opinions on players, the board or the manager, is that this is still Arsenal. And that’s what ultimately counts. We can’t reject what we’ve got, no matter how bad it gets, because it is still Arsenal.
Tomazz mus be remvd frm da teem, he suckzz!!…lawlz he waz terrBBLe de oder dae.
Speek properlee pleeze.
AEIOU <——- These are vowels……….
It's okay, it's okay. Come back, you don't have to be frightened. They are pretty important in the English language so you might want to face your fears and use them
This is the Bear’s take on the match last night. Arsenal was beaten before we even kicked the ball. Wenger was out foxed again by a better tactician. AC M cleverly doctored the pitch and prevented our wide men from playing. Wenger played right into their hands by announcing we were going to play attacking football. What Wenger should have done, as soon as they scored their second goal was to sure up the defense. Our lads had difficulty finding their feet, holding the ball and worse yet making accurate passes. The lads should not beat themselves up to much,… Read more »
Me yesterday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF30ZZ4Ahek
http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/arsenals-season-isnt-over-yet
just how many years have to go by before we can stop saying ” look what he`s done for arsenal ” . we`ve spent over half his reign winning jack shit ! . forest were the same over clough even though it was obvious the bloke was`nt up to the changing face of football . the game has changed over 13 years and tactics have to change with it . wenger like clough has an emotional tie with the club which is hard to remove , so he`s got to change his transfer policy and tactics or be replaced by… Read more »