Hector Bellerin has apologised to the Arsenal fans after the Gunners endured their worst ever defeat at the Emirates courtesy of a second 5-1 humbling at the hands of Bayern Munich.
The 10-2 aggregate loss, the worst ever sustained by the club in Europe, sees Arsene Wenger’s men exit the Champions League at the first knockout stage for the seventh year in a row.
After the game a clearly dejected Bellerin admitted he was sad to see the stadium nearly empty with ten minutes remaining.
“I’m really hurt…seeing the fans leaving the stadium so early,” he told BT Sport.
“At the end of the day we play for them and we want them to be happy and we want them to be behind us. It hurts to see them leave so early.
“We just need to make them happy with the rest of our season. We know we have the capacity and potential to do well, the players, everything.
“We just need to think about every game the same way we started today because when we play that kind of football we can be up there.
“I just want to say sorry to the fans because we need to do better than that.”
Yes. Hector needs to take a long hard look at himself…….
And realise the long hair has got to go.
That face rug is in much more need of an urgent final solution than the hair.
On a more serious note what Wenger needs to apologise for is making this club lose its spine. No one was surprised by the scoreline, it was expected, and frankly par for the course. It was actually Arsenal having a decent 1st half that surprised everyone. Says it all, doesn’t it! Also I have read a lot about how Arsenal were great & ref ruined it. What game were you watching. Its just an illusion. Arsenal looked good only because Bayern were taking it easy, what with a 5-1 lead and all. They knew Arsenal were not going to challenge… Read more »
Yeah mate I agree. I was at the game and Munich did not take us seriously at all. Even when we scored and the crowd really started to get amped up and get behind the team – the Munich players didn’t change their approach, they were still nonchalantly passing the ball around, and putting in tackles when they had to. We were never even close to them over both games, at all. And they knew that. Koscielny staying on the pitch or not wouldn’t of made the slightest bit of difference – we still would of lost both matches, maybe… Read more »
I was digging it early on, but I’m pretty convinced that our slump in performances coincided with that hairband. Trim please, Hector.
Interestingly a number of non Gooners still admire AFC as a club on SM. We have never had the money that buys titles like Chelski and Citeh but have always been around the top of the league and qualifying for the last 16 in Europe. Ok our exits have been disappointing but fans of most clubs would die for what we have.I have been a supporter for 55 years and have seen some real poor times even though we were always in the top league (plus some great times 1970/71 double,Fairs Cup win etc). I do not get the vitriol… Read more »
Y wud any team want two decades of not winning the Champs League and 12 years of not winning the PL. They already have that!
Fans need to realise that finishing in the top 4 without really challenging for the league is not a trophy. Its actually no better than finishing 17th. You get to stay in the league the next season, thats all.
Well said. I’ve not been supporting arsenal anywhere near as long (due to age!) but a quick look at our history tells you we’re not a perennially successful club. Quite where this fucking entitled attitude comes from I don’t know, new age of football I guess. I do think Wenger should walk this year but not because I demand a league or cl win, rather I simply think things have gone stale and we have a better chance of achieving those objectives with a new approach.
Spot on Runcorn but a change is due.
Runcorn Gooner, thank you for making a comment with some logic and perspective. There seems to be a sense of entitlement for Arsenal fans that breeds so much hate and negativity but the media are to blame also. The media has a huge effect on the Arsenal fans’ opinions as they constantly reiterate the point of “not having a leader” or “lacking bottle or fight”, look across North London and you don’t see the same hate directed at them. They bottle it every bloody season! Admittedly, we have fallen below par where we could be but Arsene has brought on… Read more »
Respectable argument. I have nothing but respect for Wenger but I am deeply concerned where the club is heading. Regardless whether he leaves today, end of season or in another 2 seasons. It seems like we have absolutely zero succession planning. Both Wenger and the board are to blame here. Does the board/owner expect Wenger to stay on and protect his investment forever? At the expense of Wenger’s legacy? Is there no urgency to rock the boat because we’re still racking in the cash? Is our priorities set to play safe and keep challenging for top 4? Or is it… Read more »
who cares bout his bloody hair its bout how he playes aint it , is he a hairdresser or footballer
Thank you sir.. Perfect attitude to have after that shambles ?
Club should refund money to fans who went to both matches.
Just take the bribery money from the referees and linesmen
So Bayern bribed referees as the underdogs which needed a miracle to go through Arsenal? Seems logic. One year old logic.
nice idea but can’t see Kroenke doing that.. doubt he even knows what the score was tonight
See, I agree. But I also understand why they wouldn’t do that. Imagine after every loss after this, the fans just claim they should get refund.
I disagree with you. This was not just a loss. It was heart breaking to say the least. You don’t generalise a 10-2 loss. What are we turning into as a club? It just doesn’t make sense and it shows we aren’t good enough. I respect the fans who will still go to the stadium and watch Arsenal. I really do. I’ve found it difficult to watch football these past few weeks. Its very annoying. Before the Liverpool match everyone was talking about being on the front foot from the beginning. After the match, the players are saying they should… Read more »
The most ridiculous comment yet. We do not have a divine right to win or to out-perform the best sides in the world. Sometimes teams lose. Sometimes they are thrashed. Grow up and suck it up.
And when Arsenal is concerned, thrashings happen more often than not.
We don’t seem to lose 1-0, do we?
Sorry doesn’t cut it anymore. This humiliation and shame needs to end now.
Can someone ask Mertesacker whether his aim of making the fans feel proud again was achieved?
Bad ref or not no excuse to get hanmered 2-10 on aggregate.
There is something fundamentally wrong with the team.
Sorry Hector, you play for Stan. And Stan doesn’t care what the score is once the tickets are sold.
Stan is not an idiot – of course he fucking cares – if not for a love of the club then for his love of money. If we aren’t near the top of the table or in the Champions League interest amongst the fans will dwindle as will receipts from the gates, advertising and sponsorship so he will spend money to try and ensure that happens. We don’t have rich benefactors a la Chelsea or Man city and we don’t have the financial turnover of Man Utd – our spending is about right (it’s more than the Spuds or Liverpool)… Read more »
You can’t play proper association football looking like the lounge lizard from accounts!!
Kos, Monreal, Bellerin, Ox, Theo… The only starters that gave their all every second they were on the pitch. Those 5 don’t need to apologise, the rest of the team does.
Right on, and for this match I add Ramsey. He showed well.
Ramsey ran about and I recall a great turn in first half that earned free kick. Other than that I thought he was poor. Be interested to know if he created anything. I can’t remember.
The Giroud header for example
Ospina too
Theo is bloody infuriating though, performances like yesterday are just so few and far between. Should have that angry determined head on every game.
I agree with you on Theo. His performances leave a lot to be desired.
Too comfortable, all of them. I’m glad they’re happy here and they all get along really well, but they need to graft like Polish pickers in a warehouse. Get on, get out, have fun when the work is done.
From a fans perspective, what actually “really hurt” was that 1st leg performance away from home. No real game plan, some utterly inept defending, & several key players going missing, & what felt like a half assed performamce from the team & manager. Thought the game last night was far better (primarily in the first half). Sorry that the players felt “hurt” by fans leaving, but many have work to go to in the morning that pays for them to actually attend games & support the team. It wasn’t a case of the fans abandoning the team, but more a… Read more »
Arsenal can’t defend, period. I think Steve Bould needs to go :p
What’s sad is the article yesterday was BFG wanting to “make the fans proud” of the team, and then after the game it’s an apology. It sounds like when one of my kids tells me they’re sorry, and then they just do the same bad thing over again. Arsene needs to start taking toys away, I guess.
We shouldn’t have crumbled quite this bad, but this match turned very clearly on the referees and the Kos send-off from Lewandowski’s cheat dive.
The very same official that denied the clear foul on Theo in the box overturned the head ref’s yellow on Kos, and the sideline ref on the same end fucked up several offsides calls including for a goal against us.
We crumbled from there, but all was lost at the first fucked up ref decision. It was pointless from there, and credit due to the players for bothering to carry on as long as they did.
So the red card was so clearly wrong (along with a catalogue of offsides and fouls), but we obey the rules and don’t surround the referee?! I’d be all over him once I realised he was inept. What’s the worst that can happen? A fine? A yellow card? Not like you’re going to miss the quarter finals is it?
At least it would draw attention to his terrible displays.
There is nothing that can be done for the rest of the season….. The only good thing that can happen is the owners sell there stake in the club and own man utd and destroy them like they are destroying us!!
Wenger is not as big problem as the men behind him!
Empty seats might be the only “weapon” season ticket holders have at the moment… How many times do we have to endure players saying the same things over and over again? Something has to change because it’s stale waters for some time now…
Perhaps a silent protest…. aimed at Silent Stan. Sit down, don’t sing all game. Just shhhhhhhh when the other teams fans start anything.
Wouldn’t be hard at the Emirates would it?
Such a horrible game. Gush!
Arsene will probably do what george constanza did. fall out with everyone during the meeting and just walk in to the next meeting all chirpy and smiling hoping everyone forgot the incident.
I don’t know about u guys but to me its heart wrenching to see him apologise after this match, as they did give their all. They way they ran around, pushed and sliced Bayern open in first half was indeed a treat to watch. They felt let down and deflated to see their captain, the talisman, best defender penalised for no wrongdoing of his. I wouldn’t have felt bad after Liverpool game but this one, is diff and I don’t feel any anger towards them. I’ve always only wanted to see the team care, try & give their all, I’m… Read more »
It. Was. A. Foul. Please. Everyone. Stop. Saying. It. Was. Not. A. Foul. There. Was. No. Cheating.
Barely. He didn’t use his arms, or his feet, it was one player brushing against another, mr cheater dived. Perhaps a pen but NEVER a red card. Never! Ever!
Look, I was disappointed but Arsenal tinted glasses are definitely being used here.
Lewandowski got between the ball and Koscielny, there was no attempt on the ball by Koscielny and he eventually pushed the Polish striker to the ground.
The red card was not harsh because those are the rules. It was a clear goal scoring opportunity that Koscileny stopped and paid the price for. Saying otherwise is nonsense.
Wonder if you really watched the match or if you’re commenting after seeing some video footage. Lew did not ‘get in between’ Kos and the ball, he had the ball and Kos came from behind/side and true that Kos didn’t play the ball but that also meant he didn’t stick his leg out. Kos was careful not to stick his leg out yet Lew fell ‘forward’ when Kos didn’t touch him with his leg and had his arms in front of Lew, so he didn’t trip him nor push him. How would that be a foul? The guy had not… Read more »
There is no doubt the outcome of both games turned on the loss of Koscielny; the first typical example of our bad luck with injuries, the second an example of poorly judged officiating, that killed the game. The extent of both subsequent collapses though, is just unprofessional and demonstrates a fundamental in the team that can only be addressed by root and branch changes throughout the club.
…. Fundamental fragility….
I love this guy, but he just had not been the same player since his injury. He was arguably the best RB in the league at the beginning of the season. He set high standards with some scintillating displays but we haven’t seen that Hector for some time now. He’s still just a kid more or less, so time is on his side. Please finish strong my son!
If he’s your son please get him to shave and cut his hair. And clean his fucking room, it’s a disgrace. Dog won’t walk itself either.
#standards
It is bizarre that based on the half time scoreline in each leg we would be going through 2-1 on aggregate. Base it only on 2nd half scoreline and it’s 0-9! 🙁
And what does that tell you? At half time one team is instructed on how to change the game in the second half, and the other team is congratulated, given a massage and sent back out as they were.
I’ll leave you to work out which team is which.
Fair play to the lad for stepping up and giving the interview. He’s the youngest in the starting eleven and does the most difficult post game chat of the season. Says everything you need to know about our squad and leadership.
If we can press Bayern in 1st half like we did yesterday, Why cant we press other teams higher up the pitch. This is the thing which I hate about Wenger. This is the second time, we pressed higher and played so well apart from Chelsea game. Xhaka and Ramsey ran so much yesterday along with Ox making some darting runs. The team needs to learn from this and play like a team like they did yesterday and hope for the best. Surely we cant finish behind Spu*s this season.
And that counter attack <3 when Ox took the ball and ran away and Bellerin came flying through Right. Their speed was tremendous. We really have sppedy players. *Then I think of Giroud* :/
Stop dreaming, they are better than us in all departments on & off the field
Exactly this and it was the same when we beat United at the Emirates last season. It’s like we go back to the changing room after games like that and Wenger says “right lads, enough of that”, pulls out a Men In Black style device and wipes everyones memories of how we actually should approach every match. It’s bizarre and it’s holding back the potential of this group of players
I stood and stayed till the end, right next to the Bayern fans, getting spat at when we had the temerity to score. But I won’t pretend I stayed out of anything more than duty and a compulsion to witness with my own eyes how it all played out, and I don’t blame anyone who left early. Watching Arsenal these days is car crash viewing and hasn’t been fun for a long time. £65 for the privilege? No thanks. I won’t be back again this season.
The only reason for our downfall is the lack of professionalism from our players and Arsène is not acting the way he should. And he’s the first person to blame because for about two decade now he keeps bringing average players to the club without realising the damage that is doing to the Arsenal and to his reputation as well. For how long will he keep Koscielny as a main central defender while he’s not capable of leading the team at the back? We’ve got to remember how we lost a league cup against Birmingham on top of that he… Read more »
Darkest hours for sure. Monty Python said “always look on the bright sides of life”. Some of the fans here have pointed out that there were positives. I for one really enjoyed the first 50 minutes. Top quality football – no one can deny it. Then injusitice strikes – and the team crumbles. IMHO its understandable given the results and the media pressure last weeks. No game plan or not – parking the bus is simply not an option for Arsenal and that´s the reason many of us love this team and accept that when you play offensively all the… Read more »
That was absolute loads of rubbish. I hate a player that comes to tell us how determined they would be in future games. He should bloody show that I the field instead of running his mouth. I bloody do not care about his apology.Pampered kids!!!
How much more are arsenal fans ment to take , we pay our money to watch this rubbish home and away , and then we get the arsenal players saying they are sorry and they try to get better and dont like to see the fans leave early, well theres only sooo much a person can take in life, can we sleep tonite because we got lincon on sat , sorry but wenger hate to say but u got to go
Perhaps a new formation is needed. We played better with a 4-4-2, never really got going with this one.
Perhaps we need to jump on the 3-5-2 bandwagon, play 3 CBs and let Bellerin and Monreal stay further up. God knows our CBS news bolstering, maybe between three of them they can get a tackle or a header in.
If we had shut up shop when down to 10 men and not conceded everyone would have said “why not go for it?! We’re out anyway” there would have questions asked about mentality etc…. the fact is we went for it leaving 1 at the back at times… we got thumped because of that… I’m glad we went for it. Be angry about 1st leg yes… be angry about Liverpool yes… but not this.
I know I’ll get many downvotes with this, just by mentioning the spuds, but really, we are becoming what spuds are.. Bottling it at the crucial moments. We did manage to squeeze it last season (just) and finished above them, but while it might show that they are capable of learning from their mistakes and growing in confidence and self belief (as they have a good manager who actually is on a way forward instead of us being stuck with Arsene who is not improving despite himself saying and thinking he is), we are on a downward spiral. If tottenham… Read more »
And yes, referee was shit and helped the superclub yesterday, as it happens with Bayern, Barca, Real etc.. But the referee did not influence us missing good chances that we have. Actually, that moment when Giroud missed his header in the 47th minute summed him up, and all that is wrong with Arsenal for the last 4-5 years.. Giroud is a perfect epitome of Arsenal under Wenger in this time.. When we needed to show what you a re made of, we effed it up. Handsome French bloke, but no end product when it matters the most, so close, but… Read more »
My problem is of those saying that Arsenal is much better than other clubs. But am sure of one thing,those teams in quote can defend that 1-0 lead or worse a draw then walk out of the competition heads high. It’s only this “better” team that allows 10 goals in. So illogical