Arsenal: Szczesny, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Alexis, Cazorla, Welbeck
Subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Flamini, Rosicky, Podolski, Walcott, Sanogo
—
Arsenal blew a chance to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League, letting slip a 3-0 lead against Anderlecht at the Emirates this evening.
Arsene Wenger made just one change from the team which beat Burnley at the weekend, recalling Aaron Ramsey to midfield at the expense of Mathieu Flamini. Otherwise the team remained the same.
The Gunners began strongly with lots of the ball but Calum Chambers had to be alert to block a shot in his own area after Alexis had ceded possession in midfield just beforehand. And for all the ball the home side were nearly behind when the Belgians broke upfield and a shot deflected one way with Szczesny going the other – thankfully the ball skidded just wide of the post.
At the other end Aaron Ramsey saw a close range shot deflected over the bar before Szczesny was forced into an excellent point blank save from Kljestan to keep the scores level. In midfield, Aaron Ramsey’s tendency to over-complicate things gifted the ball to the visitors more than once.
IN the 22nd minute Arsenal hit the woodwork. Oxlade-Chamberlain played Chambers down the right, he crossed to Alexis who took the ball in his stride inside the box, feigned to shoot, stepped outside and smashed the ball off the outside of the post.
It was unlucky but the Chilean was involved in the move which brought about the opening goal three minutes later. He fed Welbeck in the box and his run was obstructed as he ran onto the ball. The referee had no compunction pointing to the spot and from the 12 yard mark Mikel Arteta calmly chipped the ball home for his first goal of the season. 1-0.
The lead was doubled moments later and once more Alexis was involved. It was his steaming run which won a free kick just outside the Anderlecht box. The free kick hit the wall, it rebounded back to Arsenal’s man of the moment who smashed it on the volley through a clutch of players and into the bottom corner before the keeper could react. 2-0.
Calum Chambers showed his defensive awareness, blocking away another dangerous Anderlecht effort inside the Arsenal box, while Szczesny had to show good hands to claim a low cross from the left hand side. Better choices in the final third might have brought further joy before the end of the half, but a two goal lead at the end of the first 45 was more than deserved – despite their moments which troubled us.
The vistitors made a half-time change, bringing on Kawaya for Conté, but it was Arsenal who picked up where they left off. Good play between Alexis and Cazorla almost set-up Welbeck, and from the rebound Gibbs unselfishly fed Oxlade-Chamberlain whose shot was well blocked inside the area.
After good work from Ramsey the Ox lofted a cross for Welbeck which just too high for the striker to make good enough contact with the header. But soon the England man got the goal his performance deserve. An Alexis tackle won the ball deep in the Anderlecht half, Oxlade-Chamberlain picked it up, drove towards goal down the inside left channel and side-footed powerfully to the far corner to make it 3-0.
However, the Belgian side got one back just a couple of minutes later, although they were fortunate. Having worked the ball out to our right hand side, the cross came in to van den Borre who was standing at least a yard offside but none of the many officials on the pitch could spot that and the goal stood. 3-1.
The concession was compounded by the loss of Arteta who looked to pick up a hamstring strain and he was replaced by Mathieu Flamini. Danny Welbeck looked to restore the three goal lead with a header from a corner which forced Proto into a save, but Anderlecht were given a lifeline when Nacho Monreal was penalised, rather harshly, for an alleged foul on Mitrovic in the area and the second penalty of the night was awarded. Anthony van den Borre stepped up for his second goal of the night and it was 3-2 in the 72nd minute.
Cazorla saw a shot saved as he drove towards goal, Szczesny made a good save from a Tielemans free kick, and as Anderlecht pushed on for the equaliser Arsene Wenger made his final changes with Podolski and Rosicky replacing Oxlade-Chamberlain and Welbeck.
Acheampong flashed a shot over the bar, Ramsey smashed a free kick miles over the bar at the other end, but Arsenal were punished in the last minute of normal time. Anderlecht worked it down the right hand side, put in a good cross which Mitrovic steamed on to and headed down inside the near post with no chance for the keeper. 3-3.
Arsenal were left stunned and with no chance of coming back. Anderlecht might view it as some kind of revenge for what happened in Belgium, but the Gunners will know they’ve blown a big chance to qualify for the knock-out stages.
Now they have to pick themselves up ahead of a trip to Swansea on Sunday.
Some great play up front but really sloppy at the back today. We really should have shut the game down in the second half rather than trying rapid attacks and handing possession straight back to Anderlecht, and I literally cannot believe we blew a three goal lead against an energetic but very average side. It went from ecstacy to despair and ultimately disappointment. Let’s just hope we sort the defence out before Sunday because otherwise Swansea will tear us apart.
Losing a 3 goal lead to a bunch of kids from a shit league.
Taking many games to rebuild our fragile confidence, when other big teams bounce back from a defeat in the next game.
We have no mental strength and never will have under Wenger…. Whatever shit he comes out with about being mentally strong.
Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. It’s sooooo frustrating.
This it’s the first time I have utterly agreed with every word Merse has said when slagging off Wenger.
Clueless!
We were clearly under th kosh after they pulled one back yet Wenger stubbornly stuck to his pre-planned subs who were totally the wrong options for that moment in the game.
Truly awful to watch mainly because you could see the car crash unfolding in front of you.
I’m surprised that most people are surprised/angry. This season was a write-off as soon as the transfer window closed… and I’m here to tell you it’s not going to get better. If we get top 4 we should consider ourselves very lucky. Wenger is wasting talents like Ozil and Sanchez the same way he did with Cesc and RvP, by not building a competitive squad around them – we’re constantly 2 good players away from being a great team. But the most frustrating part for me is there’s barely any rotation to the squad, thus running our best and most… Read more »
Over the two games we have proven to be on par with Anderlecht. But im pretty sure our Wage bill is like 20 times higher. Time to sell some dead weight and invest in some proper top shelf players who can take us to the next level.
Knocked out by Bayern in the last 16 and another scrap for 4th it is.
We played great till Arteta went off. Fucking Ramsey doesn’t do his fucking bloody defensive duties. Somehow Flamini + Ramsey never seems to work. Sad to say, but the praise has gone to Ramsey’s head and he’s playing bullshit football. Central midfield was completely ceded to Anderlecht after the 60th minute because bloody Jesus was too busy brushing his hair. Aaron Ramsey needs to get back to basics and start making more tackles, tracking back, doing the dirty defensive work, and playing for the team. He is no longer the superstar of this team. He needs to swallow his pride,… Read more »
ramsey is playing poorly again…so up and down so quickly, he’s confusing everybody. is he really really good or you know, really shite? Can he both?
wouldn’t go far as to say he cost us the game. don’t think you can blame one player fro throwing away 3 goals, but if you could it would be Mertesacker who was the most culpable. needs to get over his world cup hangover already. it’s over now he plays for Arsenal so he should just get on with it.
Do I have a petty agenda against Ramsey that is seething under the surface? Maybe. I just dislike the blokes attitudes to the goals that aren’t scored by him. It’s like he feels personally insulted that it wasn’t glorious Jesus Christ that didn’t save the day. If you don’t believe me, just watch his body lamguage when we score: 8/ 10 times he frowns like a prince who has been denied his birthright. His work rate has down, and he spends half the time in the box trying to score. FOR FUCK’S SAKE, RAMSEY IS A FUCKING CENTRAL MIDFIELDER NOT… Read more »
I’m a moderate cynic, but I noticed the same thing share the same view about Ramsey.
Subs fucked us
bottled it
Yep noticed when ox scored
Actually noticed that when Chamber scored against Burnley last weekend
Deffo some odd Ramsey phobia, but at least you can sense it! Well done and all the best with your recovery 🙂
Thank you sir. It’s a seasonal, chronic affliction. I hope there is a cure around the corner.
So you’re saying the game was lost in defensive midfield? Gee if only we’d known about this problem earlier and brought someone in during the last half a dozen transfer windows to fill this weak spot.
Heh… Touché sir
The way I see it, when Arteta and Ramsey play together, there seems to be a bit more stability in front of the defence because Arteta has superior passing/distribution skills; meaning he can still bail the defence out with a decent pass to take the pressure off when Ramsey has gone walkabout trying to score. Flamini on the other hand, is more combative and a better tackler, but lacks Arteta’s range and vision of what I call “defensive passing”. Because of that, when Flamini is left exposed to deal with the shit hitting the fan, he might make a good… Read more »
Yeah that’s fair. Arteta is the only player we have who can control the tempo of the game in central midfield. Rosicky does a phenomenal job of raising the tempo when he comes on, but Arteta gives us control of games that nobody else does in the squad currently. He’s like our Xabi Alonso or Andrea Pirlo (sort of).
Ramsey doesn’t give us that solidity at all. His game is clearly different, and right now him and Flamini together seems like a recipe for disaster.
I don’t think we were particularly sloppy at the back, but you’re correct when you say we should never have played the way we did once we went three goals up. We could so easily have sat back on that lead and hounded them once they reached our final third – which was what we actually did really well in the first half. But the midfield just disappeared. Ramsey knackered himself out tearing up the pitch in search of goals, meaning he had no energy for the kind of intense pressing and tackling we needed in our own half. Alexis’s… Read more »
You got exactly what you have been screaming for: Flam and Art is overkill. This is where we are. But maybe this time we are gunna stuff Barca or Bayern.
Spot on.
With the 4-4-2 type formation we seem to be adapting (fluid 4-2-2 mind you), Arteta + Flamster are needed in central midfield to hold the fort.
Aaron Ramsey is Arsenal’s version of Stewart Downing: he would prosper at a mid table side.
Wilshere is our Henderson hah.
I’m tired of blaming individual players rather than the man who keeps selecting them.
We’ve been short of CB’s since 03/04. 04/05 same problem. Per has no competition. Monreal is playing in an unfamiliar role so he’s bound to make mistakes every now again.
We’ve not had a decent DM since Gilberto. We played an entire season with one striker. And we would have done the same this year if Giroud had not suffered that injury vs Everton.
We all love the man but I don’t think he’s the man to take this club forward.
Bayern it is then…
Real or Barcelona maybe 🙂
we were probably finishing second anyway, given that Dortmund have a better goal difference and only need a draw against us. Shame to throw a match away like that though. Mertesacker making a lot of poor mistakes, Arteta going off injured messed with our balance and we kept giving them the ball. We allowed them to score 3 from crosses into the box. Imagine how many we could score against our own defence.
Our head-to-head record w/ Dortmund is considered before goal difference so that isn’t entirely right.
True, but we were going to have to beat them at home, which would have mean we split the games. At that point, I believe, goal difference comes into play. Now had we held on 3-0 and then beaten them like 6-0* at our place, we totally could have won the group.
* Sarcasm and/or fantasy.
Zero!
time to change your nickname again, ffs
i wouldn’t be suprised if we got real,bayern,barca combined. We are the ARSENAL and that’s exactly the way we always wants it
Its like we don’t want to finish top of the group, go on Dortmund, you can have it, its not we want it or anything.
Who else? You didn’t seriously expect us to actually win the group the way Dortmund are dominating?
The same team who are bottom of the Bundesliga after 10 games with 1 win…it seems our soft, exposed underbelly is softer than theirs in this competition.
I doubt they will finish at the bottom of the Bundesliga at the end of the season though. Probably finish at the top end of the table.
People here seems to think than Bundesliga is some kind of uncompetitive league, sure, Bayern is the team that probably will win it again, but beside them, the’re lot of good teams with young interesting players, so im not so surprised Dortmund is having a rough time at the moment in the bundesliga, not only they keep suffering from injury crisis as bad as ours, their main title rivals keep getting their best players, add to that the fact that Bundesliga is a, as i said, more competitive than what most people seem to think amd they dont rly have… Read more »
Totally fuckin Arsenaled that up
Great new word for the dictionary! I feel so Arsenaled right now!
I think that should read ‘Arsened’ it up. When I seen the blanket over his legs I seen it all. Time to pick up the pension Arsey
fucked right off
Different year, different players, same old story. Wenger Out.
Different referees, same bribery.
Nothing to do with the ref. Exactly the same old mental fragility (except Alexis!!) and poor game management. Embarrassing…
their first goal was a clearly offside, i will give that…but isnt a damn excuse, we were poor as we’ve been this season…I dont remember ONE game which i felt we dominated…perhpaps against burnley and galatasaray…but come on…rly? burnley?
oh nvm, almost forgot we also almost screw up that one too agaisnt galatasaray
I don’t think it was. The Anderlecht player slid in to make the pass. His foot was level with the goal scorer when the pass was made. Quite excellent refereeing, if you ask me.
Well, aside from one offside goal and one penalty that wasn’t. The game ought to have ended 3-1. You can complain that the team didn’t win despite two unfairly awarded goals but you can’t act like 2 unfairly awarded goals didn’t change the game, because they clearly did.
Absolutely. We gave up a 3-0 game at home to a Belgium side.
Wenger has been out of ideas and inspiration for a long time.
Same old FA cup
Same old European football
Same old stadium
Same old new players any manager could have brought in
Same old consistency, solidity of getting behind the team
Same old constructive criticism
Personally I think these austere years in the wider world have made us all somewhat bitter and nasty. While a decadent consumerism (albeit indulged in clubs too) leads to a belief in the answer being something new.
Wow.
Well that was awful.
Wtf did just happen?
We got “Anderlucked” this time…
more like anderfked
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKING FUCK FUCK.
That is all.
I’m going to bed. Fuck.
You are lucky you can go to bed.I have another 90 mins train ride home from The Emirates to contemplate that result.
🙁 oh dear.
Fuck.
we’re a possession based team, yet at 3-2 instead of keeping the ball and making them work for it, we turned into stoke and just bombed it up to their centrebacks.
what’s wenger telling his players from the sidelines?
nothing i assume, just sitting there watching us screw up again
Nothing. Wenger sits there and let’s them “serve the game” and “work out solutions for themselves” and “focus on our quality and spirit” and not what is happening in the game itself. his biggest strength? He trusts his players. His biggest weakness? He trusts his players. Vieira said that so it must be true.
Wenger doesn’t have anything more to add to this Arsenal side. He needs to go.
3-0 up.
Arseblog was probably like: Ok smooth win coming, don’t have to add much to this report.
3-1 No
3-2 It can’t be..
3-3 *erase everything and weep*
LOL
Poor Blogs…
Ridiculous.
Oh dear! I feel sorry for Alexis.
we dont deserve such a beast of a player…at least we dont deserve him as we’re playing right now…
Football is so competitive now it’s no longer time for Wenger to keep fathering players. Most managers lay off underperforming players and replace them with better ones. But Arsene will keep Sanogo,flamini and Arteta. Don’t get me wrong Arteta has been playing well but his constant injuries from no obvious incident and at his age is a sign that he needs to be laid off. But Wenger offers him 2 years extension .
I
I actually liked the fact Arteta got 2 years extension…what i dislike is that is to be our first choice DM, he can be an awesome cover and rly good at mentoring young gooners, but as of now (not cuz his skill set cuz he has some skills) due to his injury problems, he isnt fit to be our first choice dm…
Okay… Am not pissed… Buh how the hell did Ramsey finish this game on the pitch?
Huh?! Wenger!
That’s what we are going to get until Koschinely is back. We don’t look confident at the back.
Both the wide players and Ramsey always looked out of position when they attacked. Wonder too much freedom was granted to too many players and at the end cost us big time.
Arsene Wenger is like David Moyes. His true skill as a manager will only be revealed when he leaves.
ho yea we can see that the awesome Van gaal after spending 100M+ doing worst than Moyes
Or how Roberto Martinez upped up the level on Everton after Moyes went out..just saying
What the fucking fuck just happened?
petition to ship off Flamini to Siberia .
Anyways what a goal from Alexis and Ox.
Uh. Yeah. But it means fuck all when you throw it all away.
When they scored to make it 3-1 I just knew they’d get at least a point. Since about ’07 this is who we are and this is what we do.
I was at Wigan when we lost 3-2 in the last eleven minutes, so Arsenal’s ability to throw away a comprehensive lead, or indeed to capitulate in the first twenty minutes, no longer surprises me. I completely shared your sentiments after their first goal; I was explaining to my girlfriend why 3-1 up is nothing when Arsenal are in one of their moods, and as I did their second went in as if to prove my point. I gave up after that and went back to marking my pupils’ homework and sluggin’ down beer. More fun than listening to our… Read more »
God, I’ll never forget that match. It’s the archetype post-Invincibles Arsenal match. We were the first side ever to lose when leading 2-0 at home after 80th in the Premier League era.
I’m not a ‘Wenger out’ guy, but the movie’s ending doesn’t seem to change. And he’s the director every time.
Completely wrong. We were away that match. And did you not see what Kanu did to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge?
Not completely wrong.
Yes, the game was away. My mistake. But Kanu’s first goal was in 70-something minute. I’m sticking by the stat that we were the first team to lose when leading 2-0 after the 80th.
Similar conversation here.. 3-0 up my Mrs says can’t we turn this of now, you know who’s gonna win.
Was it not 4 nil up at Newcastle, and blew it 2nd half few yrs ago?
You could just sense the comeback was on, especially with Arteta going off.
What a joke we are atm….3-0 up, and then this? and then people still think we will win EPL (let alone UCL) like this?…on the bright side we will probably end 2nd in the group, as we’re used by now so….continuity is good isnt it?
Classic meltdown by Arsenal. Fuck this.
Flamini is so bad that he makes Amaury Bischoff look good
It happens. but the collapse (that’s what it was) defensively was disturbing. Very brittle. Could be made up if we had been more clinical with the chances.
that’s what you get when you sign welbeck mate. useless
shut up! Welbeck was one of our 3 best players you fool. alexis oxlade. and wenger takes 2 of them off. i dont know what hes doing anymore
I think he’s responding to the point that we’re not clinical with chances and that Welbeck is notably guilty of this.
One goal in his last 6 games for us now. He’s our striker, he needs to show more desire to score.
yeah we could have signed falcao instead…
and paid his £350,000-a-week wages? I don’t think so..
Arsenal are the trolls of football.
Cheating fucking french referee. There was no way 1st goal was not offside. What was the fucking official doing behind the goal? Having a wank?
Same old shit then, their first goal was offside but no excuse for the rest.
Another meltdown, another second place, another exit in the next round!
Oh and Danny can’t fault your effort but it’s time to stop the talking of how happy you are to get a chance in the middle and start putting the ball in the net …
Wow that was bad. We imploded in a way only we seem capable of. Speaking of bad, what’s the point of having a decent squad if we refuse to rotate?
How poorly does Cazorla have to play before he is dropped?
Still can’t believe what just happen,shit defending,even a conference team will do better.The guys should bury their head in shame.no excuse for this.
Is it not in szczenys job description to make saves ?. Just seems to me that every shot on target is a goal.
I think he made one save against Burnley, other than that, he’s basically been a decoration in goal this season.
He’s totally exposed every time. They’re not peppering our goal from range and he’s letting them in. They’re well inside the box, nobody saves those as much you’re expecting him to.
cant wait until Ospina is recovered…at worst ospina can do, he at least wont be (hopefully) another stick between the sticks..
Think he’s out until like mid-January. How did he even get hurt? He didn’t do it playing.
I think was against galatasaray…he already was injured when we signed him so maybe just make the injury worst or something
He has been fine, didn’t have much chance with the goals. Collected everything well and tidied up what came his way. Not his fault we didn’t win
i think his positioning is off. probably has something to do with having nacho as a cb. theres no continuity. i don’t think he’s sure when he needs to leave his line. that will hurt us this weekend if he gets it wrong. not his fault we didn’t win. i blame the children. they’re always on about something.
Fucking pathetic. Deservedly booed off. Embarrassing. Couldn’t care less about the CL anyway. We have no chance of winning it. None. Zero. Might as well get knocked out as standard in the next round and focus on the domestic cups.
cup
I think Sanchez will want out unless the manager gets replaced by none other than the klop
The same Klopp who is mamaging a CL side that has not won it’s last 7 league games as is now second to last in the league?
the same Klopp that has managed a team with lower budget than ours, got Dortmund to the UCL final, has won some trophies the last year. Yeah, I’d take him despite of the form Dortmund has now, at least he would offer something different other than “pass the ball around, mental strenght, screw up games we should have keep a 3-4 goals lead”
Honestly, even if we had made a slew of signings and were playing much better than we are now, we have no chance in CL. Without a a mega rich sugar daddy, we cannot compete with the sheer quality that teams like Real, Barca, Bayern and PSG can buy. Real just laid waste to Barca, and are ripping everyone else to shreds. No matter how much we wish we could, CL glory is out of reach for us in the current state of world football. It’s a nice distraction during the midweek but i personally feel our league performance is… Read more »
And i’d take a guy that got to UCL final, has won domestic cups in a regular basis the last years and has been there the last years. Arent us the ones who says “form is temporaly, class is permanent”? but only aply to us right? Im not saying it has to be him, or not saying it has to be without wenger, but changes needs to be done. Also, as the team is playing right now, im doubting we will playing CL next season as well, so…do bad in CL, Do bad on EPL…did bad in capital one cup…damn… Read more »
Agreed. But Wenger’s last league title was with the Invincibles. Did anyone expect 10 years without a title after a season like that? Just goes to show that past performance is not indicative of future performance. I agree with you on principal though but i don’t trust a manager that can lose 6 games in a row with names like Reus, Hummels, Gundogan, Bender etc on the team sheet. Its too many to be bad luck or a bad run of form seems to me. Just like Van Gaal. He was hyped to the skies during the world cup, but… Read more »
@ Bullet in the Chambers it seems you forget that Dortmund has been having troubles with injuries as well, Subotic, Schmelzer, piszczek, Gundogan, Bender, Reus, Blaszczykowskim has been coping with injuries for some time now, and persons like Reus, Gundogan and Bender have been coming back from long injuries recently. Also to add, I think Martinez is a good coach, but i’m afraid if we go for a rather “unknown” coach, we would suffer what Utd Suffered last season with Moyes. Also i never really rated Van Gaal so im not surprised he is doing so bad atm, so better… Read more »
Well, Klopp’s not coming to Arsenal, but you’re right. Why would Alexis want to work for this piss-poor manager? I wouldn’t blame him one bit for leaving.
nacho Monreal is our Central Defender !!! Wengers stubbornness at the transfer market really be held accountable for …Idiotic !!
i cant even get pissed off about our results anymore. i will back our team and wenger to the death but something has to change.
and before anyone says anything; yes i am aware that our backline is depleted. my answer to that is, maybe we shouldve brought some back up defenders during the window.
If you’re backing Wenger and the team, what the f**k is going to change? This blind and irrational devotion to the manager is really getting on my tits. These shitty results are expected because of Wenger.
And while we’re at it, who do you think is to blame for us not having defensive cover?
Since when is a three-goal cushion not enough? I’ve had it with the inconsistency of this squad. They keep finding new ways to draw a match. I just don’t know anymore when a win or a run of good games is just a mask of either too many errors or bad tactics. I thought the beginning of the 2011-2012 season was bad, but this is worse. We’ve just won the FA Cup and I actually thought those 128 days top of the league last season wasn’t without a reason. Disgruntled. Disgraceful performance. The first half can fuck right off if… Read more »
Yes their first goal was a joke, but once it in you immediately sensed this game wasn’t over. We lack any sense of how to control a game. We’ll pour forward recklessly at times and sometimes reap the benefit, but we cannot stamp authority on a game at any stage. Ideally you shut up shop when you concede like that but we’re literally incapable of doing that. Arteta is the only one capable of introducing any control and he’s injured again ffs..
I told my friend we were leaving too many gaps even in the first half but the organization completely went when arteta went off. Poor.
That last 30 minutes was the worst I have seen this season.
Ramsey had a shocker, trying too hard it seems.
To show off and be famous. I’m a little sick of his bullshit. others have said more now, but I said this at the start of the season (early games before he was injured) and got temporarily moderated and thumbed down.
What a disaster this defence is. Let’s hope the next manager builds from the back. The current one sure as hell knows nothing about tactics and defending or maybe he just don’t give a fuck. Wenger out.
Seems to be two ways to go here: we either need fundamental change or we put our collective blinders on with our heads in the sand with the belief that this manager will take us to the next level.
Well he might have already taken us to that next level, but I assume you weren’t talking about a level down.
A festering bag of old gnu jizz indeed!
Unfortunately predictable, it’s happened too many times for it to a surprise. Something is fundamentally wrong
Not mine but I always remember this when shit like this happens
Arsenal (verb).
1. To start with promise but mess up when it really matters.
“I was going to win the league, but I pulled an Arsenal”
When will we ever learn. Not sure if the team as a whole are stupid or we have a manager that just doesn’t have a clue.
But 5 men in attack with 90 mins on the clock and boom 3 fucking all.
Joke tactics. Where the fuck is the leadership in this team because it’s definitely not coming from the manager as we have been making the same mistakes for years.
The ghost of Cheick Tiote. Woooooooooooo.
Terrible substitutions, terrible defending, Ramsey terrible, Cazorla terrible, Flamini terrible. They could have scored before we did. 3-0 flattered us and they played far better than us in the second half. Wenger brought on slower players when we were being pressurised. I am so furious. I’m blaming Wenger entirely, setting this team up, not reacting to their pressure, leaving Ramsey and Cazorla on and taking faster harder workers off. Fucking shite
I’m frustrated too, but you can’t say the substitutions were clearly in error. Podolski for Welbz was a good idea, I thought. Tends more towards possession than fast break; and Rosicky is not a “slower player.” Wenger wanted experience on the pitch to see the match out; can’t blame him for that. A season ago he would have brought on Monreal/Gibbs to play at midfield and see it out. No options for that this time. That squad should have been able to pull it together and see the match out. Ramsey suffered, but whom would you have Wenger bring on?… Read more »
Yeah, but this is Anderlecht not a top team and they had a massively young team and they did us tactically. Are you suggesting that 27-28 year olds are so naive as to be outdone by a team nearly filled with 20 year olds. I mean they had a 17 year old in there. How is this team going to cope tactically against better teams. Lets see what happens at Swansea, see if Wenger can galvanize them. My guess is not and we’ll begin to see players get injured or sulk again.
What a load of nonsense. Those excuses have been made. Every year. Wenger out.
Clearly offside
Can anyone be really that surprised?
These type of results happen so frequently its almost easy to see them coming. Everybody on cloud nine at the weekend now slating the team. It’s been the same mistakes for ages, with a few results papering over the cracks. Probably will still get second, but won’t stand a chance in knockout rounds with defending like we’ve seen this season. Very much a case of same old Arsenal.
The silver lining is that the knockout stages take place after the January window. So we can actually get cover… just in time to still get eliminated by Barca, Bayern or Madrid.
Extremely disappointed.
Flamini is a complete idiot.
We could’ve bagged it. So annoying