A clearly disappointed Hector Bellerin says Arsenal left too much up for grabs after the first-leg of their Europa League semi-final, especially given Atletico Madrid’s pedigree at home.
The Gunners profligacy at the Emirates came back to haunt them in the Spanish capital as Diego Costa’s first half stoppage-time strike secured a 1-0 win for Diego Simeone’s side – enough to put Atletico into final against Marseille.
Facing the BT Sport cameras, Bellerin admitted that the players were devastated that Arsene Wenger’s 22 years at Arsenal will end without a trophy.
On the mood in the dressing room…
We’re very disappointed, very sad. It’s very hard for us to take, we need to look at the bigger picture. We knew with the result we had at home it was going to be really difficult. Atletico haven’t conceded many goals at home, we knew it was going to be really hard. We never gave up, we all tried but it wasn’t meant to be. As I said, everyone in the dressing room is really sad for the boss. We wanted to do it for him, he’s had an amazing career and we wanted to try our best for him to finish on top. That adds a bit more disappointment for us.
On it hurting even more because of Wenger’s exit…
Yeah, definitely. For me personally, he’s someone who has given me the chance to play. The way he’s been towards every single player in the dressing room, it’s something we all appreciate. We played with our heart and we really tried. It wasn’t meant to be this time.
On the club’s away form…
When you look at how Atletico have been doing at home and how they played against Barcelona and teams like [Real] Madrid, it’s very hard to blame it on our away form. We know it hasn’t been good at all this year but they are one of the strongest teams when they play on the pitch with their crowd. We need to look at the bigger picture. We played well in some stages, especially at home. When you don’t punish these teams you leave everything up for grabs away from home and it’s really difficult to do it like that.
What about us..the fans????
I hope those players are introspective today and realise how much they’ve let him down by abusing his trust and faith in them, with poor performances over the last two years especially, crescendoing in one last huge disappointment. I know Arsene has his faults, and he is more than partly to blame for our poor run of results recently. But there is stuff he can’t equate for; Bellerin’s inability to cross any sort of decent ball and the same goes for Monreal. Both of them were always going to play such a key role in last nights game. And they… Read more »
Atletico defended excellently, which made our attackers all but disappear. Bellerin did not have a bad match, in my opinion. But like Monreal on the opposite side, he found it very hard to find a teammate among towering defenders.
Also, what about themselves? They’re going to have to play Europa League again.
my Response as well was to ask ‘don’t you want to win it for yourself too? I mean, to WIN? Isn’t that why you chose the game as your life’s work?’ I understand this is all asked and taken in the context of the boss leaving, so it would be improper not to address it as such, but the missing link is the unbridled desire and expectation to win. Hopefully that is one of the things that Wenger’s departure will facilitate- a new focus for the players to want to be winners regardless of the boss, free of sentimentality. The… Read more »
It really shouldn’t hurt more because of the Wenger exit though should it! It shouldn’t make any difference, everyone should be giving absolutely everything they have to win weather it’s Wengers last chance for a trophy with us or if he still had another year left!
We’ve been shit too, divided, sniping, leaving seats empty, shit atmosphere a lot of the time even when there are asses in the seats, Wenger out planes, trains and automobiles, the arsenal fan tv self promoting hysterical bullshit…
On and on.
Nobody deserves high marks here in my opinion, including the fans.
How bout we work on supporting the team and new manager 100% next year instead of being entitled infighting self important dickheads?
This is outright the best thing I’ve read on this thread. Good one BigArse, wish I could thumb you up a million times
You’re a shit player, who doesn’t deserve to play for Arsenal. Nonsense
If he’s so shit, why do clubs that are better than us want to sign him? It can’t just be to give you an excuse to bemoan his lack of loyalty.
He showed so much promise when he emerged but as with a lot of players in the late Wenger era he’s gone backwards in his development. I still think a new coach can get much more out of him.
It has nothing to do with him being a rubbish player, because technically he is so good. He has the athleticism as well. He has every major attribute you need to be a world class footballer in any position. His issue is his attitude and commitment to wanting to be the best player he can be. And that’s not something that is just a unique struggle to him. You can the same for so many of our players. There are so many guys in that dressing room who are just coasting right now. And they have been for some time.… Read more »
The Arsenal attack produced nothing against an excellent Atletico defense, but blaming their moral is wrong. Our players tried their best, as far as I could judge. You simply don’t change to football gear and just run around a little in an European semi final.
He’s not sh**, he’s shown in previous seasons how much quality he has. But last night he was the worst player on the pitch. No defensive discipline, can’t dribble, can’t cross, always passing back and breaking up our attacking rhythm. I remember watching him play with Gnabry for our junior team years ago, we converted him from a winger to a fullback! And he used to be full of mazy dribbles and had lots of assists, even as a fullback. Where was the Bellerin in his first 2 seasons? He’s like a completely different player now, bereft of confidence and… Read more »
Precisely
Be careful when regarding players as being shit. Just cast your eyes to Liverpool and the Ox to realise what a change of environment/manager can do for a player.
Shocking season can’t wait for it to end!
Draw a line under wenger era and move on….
No player is safe in my eyes new manger & coaching staff have real mess to sort out…….
yeah, the new boss and coaching staff has got a lot of work to do, and not a lot of money to do it with
I don’t think it’s about the players. See what Klopp did with Chambo. Wenger just can’t get the best out of these young players really. It’s no disrespect, it’s just time up.
What?? Chamberlain hasnt done anything for them that he didnt do for us.
We’re going to find out when a new manager comes in. Hope he gets the best out of them. I don’t think there’s a place to hide for anyone any more at Arsenal FC. And that’s a good thing.
Who would you sell? When running through the list myself, I don’t find very many candidates. We could maybe sell Wilshire, Welbeck, Iwobi, Kolašinac, provided we could find and afford better players. But we are facing a long 18/19 season, and even if the players mentioned might not normally be in the start team, they will be good to have when the injuries come.
Can this player for once stay away from media duty after such performances !
If you can’t do it for Wenger, you couldn’t have done it for anyone.
And that, is shameful.
‘….really sad for the boss. We wanted to do it for him’ Sums up the mentality of the team. You should want to do it for yourselves! Of course everyone wants to send Arsene off on a good note but we need someone who’s going to instill some responsibility and drive into the players
I have a feeling, we as Arsenal, have a long time to get back to where we aspire to be. New manager, new players, ups and downs… At least something has changed, not the monotonous failure at every big opportunity.
Wenger should have left last season. I personally knew there would not be a fairytell ending. I knew Arsenal could not beat Athletico. This team is flawed and the sooner they announce a new Manager the better! This will end the madness we have been subjected to the last three weeks of a need for ” a good send off” .Wenger has been(really?)a good manager who has in 22 years won only 3(Yes!)trophies that matter and won nothing(0)in Europe! Great??
Gazidis and co,please announce new Manager by Monday next week.
Wenger worked so hard for the sending off he’s getting…
3?????
I’m sorry but 7 FA Cups fucking matter to me.Every other team would bite your hand off for those trophies so please shut the fuck up that they don’t matter.
is only a game. y u heff tu be mad?
Onyango, if you know so much beforehand, just go buy the lottery and Fark Off.
You could not pull a decent cross if your life depended on it mate… You should be sad because you and several others (namely Nacho) let him down!
Hollow words Hector
I really feel for Bellerin. He first burst on to the pitch with so much speed and ability it’s was fantastic to see him flying down the wing leaving experienced players in his wake. A young man highly rated with the whole world at his feet. Forward to now and its clear his development has stagnated, he’s been cought out time and again and has had a season to forget. Bellerin switching off and ending up out of position is about his own concentration levels. he isn’t the only player in this team that has that ability, we have seen… Read more »
Save it, Hector.
Spend the off season doing two things.
Cut that crap off your head and then learn to keep it up.
Keown made a very good point..Does this guy even realize he made massive basic fucking errors for their goal. and then can’t cross or pick a pass even though he gets in behind at least 7 times a game.
Exactly. You could see how angry Martin was last night. If only he was in that dressing room as a player to not only lead but hold others to account
Keown is an attention seeking cunt, insulting players isn’t punditry, it’s cuntery, and Keown has been getting away with it for too long.
There’s a lot of negativity on this website today, isn’t there? Personally, I’m not too downbeat. Yes, we’re out of a major cup and won’t be in the Champions’ League next season, but in two weeks’ time we’ll begin a new era. Yesterday’s game perfectly demonstrated just why the Board were right to finally call time on Wenger. Player for player we’re a better side than Athletico but, despite playing against 10 men for 80 minutes of the 180, they will be going to Lyon and not us. The defensive horrors that put paid to our campaign simply would not… Read more »
“Player for player we’re a better side than Athletico”
what nonsense
Yes we are. Apart from the two strikers they are not that great in quality. But they have an outstanding manager who gets the best out of what he’s got. We don’t.
You think Wilshere and Xhaka would start in their midfield? You believe that Mustafi and (a broken) Kos would displace their CBs? You think Ospina is the better keeper?
And that’s without even looking at the bench…
This guy…
Of the prominent playing squad only Ozil,auba,laca,mkhi,elneny,xhaka,should remain..all others out
Ozil is a piss-taker. Martin Keown is right: he’s taking the club for a ride.
Maybe it is because he doesn’t have players like Martin in there to kick his arse into gear. That is the fundamental problem within the club lack of leadership. There have been many floors over the last ten years of Wengers reign, but the quality of players is the one that glares the most. Martin was part of a great side Ozil is not! The only real surprise regarding Ozil is that he is still here, and before you come out with nonsense that no one else would want him, I guarantee they would. We go into a new era… Read more »
The difference is that Keown was probably the worst player in a very good side and Mesut is the best player in a very flawed side.
He’s just superb,may be needs a Fernandinho beside him
You are a piss drinker.
Jack must stay as well he’s the only one who gives a fuck about us! Ozil certainly doesn’t!
To hell with the crocodile tears. You practically gifted the goal to Diego, eagerly assisted by Ospina (who went down too early). Cry all you want, but on current form you don’t deserve to make this team, just that nobody was brought in to keep you on your toes.
The young man looks like a pimp with that ear ring. He is one baggar I would like to see go next season. He fought the hardest to brake even into the first team and lost his head.
The headline photo is pissing me off. He’s more concerned with his image than his performance, he would have left the pitch and thought ‘which earring will I wear for my interview’.
Lack of care/awareness tbh…
It’s sad that Bellerin couldn’t put in a single decent cross the entire night!!
,You where far to comfortable and sloppy Bellerin, which allowed Costa a simple run on goal which normal top players convert, and he did. I say that not in anger but in sadness, like so many other truly talented Arsenal players I see that lack of focus and warrior spirit taking form in you as well. I am sorry Wenger, but when there is a pattern like that, and it is not being addressed in so many years, something is wrong with the values & education we indoctrinate our young players with. Again not said in anger but in sadness,… Read more »
I really feel its more the Manager thats inhibiting these players than the players themselves. We’ve seen them give good performances – its just that they are so sporadic. these players aren’t bad, they need a better philosophy to follow
Guys stop being tough on the guy for the earring. He’s put it there to constantly remind himself what he needs to improve on
Telling comment from Bellerin. ‘It wasn’t meant to be’. This abrogates responsibility from the players and the manager. It didn’t happen because neither were good enough. They haven’t been for over a decade.
Players can’t beat themselves up over every loss because they’d be mental wrecks. I can’t wat for this horrible season to be over (how many years have I been saying that!) at least next season we will have a new start.
Some noise from Keown about Ozil’s effort. Frankly, I thought he put in a shift and tried but he is never the plyer who would be able to dig you out of a hole on his own. The other players around him need to share the blame too. Welbeck is poor anticipating the ball and neither him nor Lacazette took up good enough positions to receive the ball. Many times they waited for the ball to be played to them rather than take the gamble and move toward the ball like Giroud does to near post to beat the defender.… Read more »
I was just wondering when Santoro would start bringing up Mahrez again.
I would like to guage the opinion of you guys to see if you think we have bad/ low quality defenders or if you think that those same players could do well under a different manager? I genuinely believe that Chambers and Holding would be excellent if they had defensive drilling.
That’s a lovely Jonny Depp impression Hector is sporting.