Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta have reacted the 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Wilshere on Dortmund
“They are a good team. They came here and they showed that. They moved the ball around well, they are difficult to break down, but we had our chances – Santi hit the bar and we had a few more. They hit us on the break and they nicked a goal, but it was a good goal and we’ll bounce back.”
On Group F
“Very tight, very interesting. Napoli won tonight, which makes it even more interesting. We’re all on six heading into the last three games, so it’s all to play for and we know what we have to do now.”
On his ankle injury
“I’m alright. I just jarred my ankle. I have done it before and it’s painful for the first minutes or so, then you can run it off and I’m alright at the minute.”
Arteta on the game
“I think we played some really good stuff and we were unlucky to concede the goal when I thought we were playing the better football.”
And their winner
“I think we gave the ball away at the edge of the box and we know they are a very good side on the counter attack. I think we kept them really quiet but obviously they got that chance and they scored.”
On Arsenal’s performance
“We did the hardest bit to score just before half-time and I thought that we had control of the game and were creating the better chances, we just got caught on the counter attack.”
And the chances of progress
“It’s going to be tough. We knew that it was probably the toughest group in the Champions League, we don’t think any different now. We are still capable of going through but we are disappointed to lose the game.”
We lost trying to play the Arsenal way and going after the win…can’t really single out anyone for Lewandowski’s goal
If only we had walcott to capitalise on Dortmund’s awful defensive display
how one of the hottest properties in European football ran 40 yards into the box with no one tracking him was upsetting. tired legs. santi back will help, rosicky looks strong and capable, we need theo and podolski back to give us option at games like chelsea in the cup and palace this weekend. good to see gnabry back.
Sagna was caught badly out of position but he can’t take full blame as he was helping to spearhead the attack on the other end. I don’t know where our midfielders were, someone really should’ve tracked back.
agreed. the full backs need help from our wingers and having all of them injured definitely hurts.
i think were more than capable of a win away at their place, especially with flamini, their first goal would probably not have happened with him on the pitch, just hope it dosn’t break ramsey’s confidence, but somebody needs to say i never want to see any of you ever trying to do this, in this position ever, back to keeper, any simple open pass, or hit it long without delay. playing wilshere on the right is a disaster, love him and ramsey too but they can’t play wide, we have to pick the best team, so much better once… Read more »
BVB were always gonna hurt you if given a chance and we gave them 2 and they took them. I thought otherwise we had a good game; maybe Wenger should have made some subs sooner than the 86th minute; Cazorla came in at about 56′ and gave us an impetus; just feel Gnabry should’ve been a given a run-in a little early too………well you know what they say about hindsight being the only perfect science 😀
So frustrating to concede after having dominated the previous half an hour. Still, not the end of the world, just need to make sure we tear the Germans a new one in the away game. Something which we have a history of doing…
Dortmund away is going to be a tough fixture… Revenge will be sweet though…
Was always going to be a tight group, but this is what top level European football is all about.
If you want easy games in Europe, then I suggest you go and support Sheriff.
If we can beat Bayern 2-0 in Munich, then we’re capable of beating Dortmund away too.
Sorry shuggietodd, you can thumb me down if you want, but I’m kinda fed up about this. We were decent, but not that great in Munich back then. Normally, Bayern should have won this match quite comfortably. They wasted quite a lot of chances and were slacking off due to first leg victory, which could have backfired in the end, true. But Bayern is still one or maybe two leagues above us. I see them often enough. This was more of a fluke. Doesn’t change the fact that we are capable to get something out of the Dortmund away match.… Read more »
You are right but we have to be positive. You English is very good, better than any of us lots German.
The blogger just before the match wrote something about ” teams having that day in front if the goal…….”
Jinxed!!!!
Curse of the blogger
Games like this make you realise how key Flamini has become. I can’t help but think his defensive discipline might have prevented that counter.
Oh well it’s one defeat. We’ll dust ourselves off and go again. OOH TO BE A GOONER.
Oh yeah. I still hate Sp*rs.
I dont know why people made a huge deal out this lost, Arsenal weren’t outplayed or beat up in this game, Dormund won it with a lucky sucker punch when we were trying to win the game! … the world isn’t ending and football gives us a rematch in 2 weeks… Let’s focus on the next game and come on Gunners!!!!!
Chilax Ya’aLL.. We know the arsenal way, we play our best football in europe away from home, don’t be surprise if it ends 3-nil at signal indunga park (whatever the s*hit name of that stadium) i feel very comfortable when we play away from home and i think the players feel the same, at home we are expected to dominate games no matter the opponent and i think it labours the team, but away from home we feel very free to let our opponent have all the possession then hit themon the counter or from set plays(bayern last season, marseille… Read more »
If we want to actually win the Champions League, we need to be able to compete with teams like the ones in our group.
Getting pussy teams in the group stages (like in the past) has been completely pointless, in that we end up getting fucked by the top teams in the second round.
I am actually glad we have a fucker of a group.
I think the criticism of the Arsenal tactics and display is harsh. BVB played the first 60 mins at an amazing tempo but were showing genuine signs of fatigue. We had matched them and started to get on top and remember, these are one of the best teams in the ECL. An Arsenal team of a couple of seasons back would have folded but we had hung on in there and started to turn the tide. The game was there to be won and we were pressing them back, looking for the 3 points that would have been a great… Read more »
This defeat is not necessarily a huge blow, its just a setback which will further strengthen the wisdom and experience of this special group of players. The best thing is this was supposed to be the toughest test we face, and were OK if not great. I think we dont need to fear the chelseas and machesters as we know we have a great team and can beat anyone. We did switch to 2nd gear in the last 30 mins of the game and nearly scored.. A draw would have been a fair result but m sure we can beat… Read more »
Glad for Giroud to score as well- he was kept out by an amazing save against West Brom, he had two assists against Norwich but didn’t score himself… glad he got on the end of a bit ofg a defensive screw-up and absolutely banged one in. Will do his confidence the world of good.
Ps. loved the long throw with Giroud and Bendtner in the box… the mythical Plan b! 😀
Mind you my dear! There are no *Pussy-Teams* in the champions league, its a league made for champions and you don’t call champions pussy-teams do you?
To me the sheer pace which are the ox and Walcott is what is clearly missing from the team, can’t have two unconventional wingers it needs to be balanced so hopefully they return soon and there are no more setbacks
I thought getting the equaliser (great goal by Giroud btw), would mean we could get ahead in 2nd half and go on and win. However BVB are a very well disciplined side and were great at tacking too and kept it up the whole game. We may have lost but we know we can compete with the best and I’m sure it’s given the players a shot in the arm for the games coming up. I think we’ll do better away from home too though as the pressure will be on BVB & Napoli to come and attack us as… Read more »
I am glad we lost, in a way. The CL is losing its glamour with as Hutch says, a bunch of pussy clubs making up the numbers. Look at last year, we struggled in the league but cleared the CL hurdle relatively easy because, dare we say, the quality in the CL group was inferior to the EPL. What we have, over here at the group of death are quarter-finals quality right off the bat. Even OM is no pussy club; they are probably the toughest pussy club you can find, and we have them scratching and clawing away at… Read more »
we need more attacking options. A world class winger is a must!
Walcott, Ryo, The OX, Gnabry and Podolski are attacking midfielders….take your pick
they are not world class
I was disappointed that Ozil didn’t get shifted to the right sooner. That was when he finally began to have an impact. And while I’m eager for Theo and Ox and Poldi to return, those who insist we needed a traditional winger only have to watch mins 55-80 where Santi (no traditional winger) and Ozil are outside. We were very dangerous on each side, just couldn’t find the final ball. And though he’s had a great season, Sagna was disappointing. He had the one “assist” from a very dangerous ball in, but he mis-hit far too many and (like Gnabry… Read more »
But when Sagna overlapped no one covered him. Wingers understand they need to get back. Strikers and advanced mids don’t always do this. Think that the combination of the lack of wingers and Flamini’s absence hurt.
Forget about walcott, flamini or some player that we will sign in football manager. The current squad must accept their mistake and learn from it.
BD are last year finalist, you cannot face big team with sloopy pass and overconfident dribbling. First and second goal are the prove that small detail cost both team. BD fix it, while us get naif.
On the positive thing.. now we know that our midfield have some weakness and the welsh jesus still in human mode.
Really sorry for arsene, not a happy bday
We played great, but they played smarter.
It’s hard to watch the boys jogging it back as Dortmund break. They just look tired, too tired to realize the danger. In the end there were four Dortmund guys in our box, three of us, but only one man was actually marked. Who was supposed to be covering for Sagna?
I think for this match, the players are somehow too confident and played too much fancy passes.
There are times that a simple pass or through pass would suffice but they chose to backheel etc.
Just my 2 cents.
Wenger must take part of the blame as well. It was a bit rich for him to say we were “naive” in pressing too much for the second goal, leaving us vulnerable to the late sucker-punch. He is the manager! He should have realized that winning wasn’t worth the risk and issued instructions, or made substitutions, to shut up shop. He needs a bit of Mourinho adaptability. I’m not saying we categorically dampen our attacking instincts. Just be prudent sometimes.