Morning all.
On a dark winters evening, or rather night in Greece, a full stadium was in the mood, vocally. The home team started better, or we started slowly, take your pick. Either way, conceding an early goal looked on the cards. It never came.
Mikel Arteta had said before kick off that he didn’t need to rest his players after the break they’ve just enjoyed so it was a bit of a surprise to me to see Kolasinac, Cabellos and Pepe on the bench, especially after the way the last two had played at the weekend. There was return for Sokratis though in a defence which included all three senior central defenders for the first time under Arteta I believe. Matteo Guendouzi also returned from the naughty corner, if of course he was ever in it in the first place.
I suggested yesterday that a fast start with an early goal would have been the perfect way to silence the lively home fans. Not a hope in heck really because it was Olympiacos who started on the front foot. Two opportunities quickly came their way, the first saved by Leno, the second headed over the bar. In similar fashion to the Newcastle game, we improved as the game went on. Not much I hasten to add but at least we were creating some opportunities of our own. Not that we could take them. They tried, we tried, neither could break the deadlock.
Mikel Arteta made his changes in the second half and that’s when we finally broke them down. A move down the left, or rather a long ball from Mustafi which looked as if it might be just a tad too heavy but Aubameyang had other ideas and kept in in. Brilliantly I hasten to add. He passed to Saka and our young ‘fill in’ left back whipped in a wonderful cross along the ground to Lacazette who perfectly positioned. This time the Frenchman didn’t miss. Shortly after, he really should have doubled his tally for the night. Either side of the keeper and he would have…
I suppose there are two ways of looking at last nights match overall. Be disappointed with the performance, reflect on the opportunities to score which we missed and be grumpy about it, or look at the bigger picture knowing that Olympiacos need to score at least two goals at The Emirates in order to knock us out. We’d won in a really hostile stadium against a team who don’t have a habit of losing at home this season and yet again, we’d kept another clean sheet.
Of course it wasn’t perfect. There were plenty of stray passes being played, too many fouls, too much play acting after being fouled, Xhaka picking up a silly and totally unnecessary booking and one or two players holding onto the ball too long instead of moving the ball forward to a teammate.
Despite all of that, we’ve become more dogged, Luiz looks like the leader we’ve been waiting for, Ceballos made us tick a little better after coming on, Leno was in good form and Lacazette scored another goal. Saka, well, he was all right again….
And we won, let’s not forget that…
Morning Rico and all.
For years people complained that we played beautiful football yet didn’t get the result.
In Greece, we played ugly football to an extent, yet got a great result.
These games are all about the result.
We all wondered whether Arteta could set up a side to grind out a result in such games and he did.
Will Arsenal fans ever be happy?
Probably not hahahaha
Good morning Rico, I was out yesterday evening and didn’t get home until about half ten when I started watching the recording. After about twenty minutes I was tempted to switch off and go to bed, but being the masochist that I am, I stuck it out and was quite pleased that I did.
I thought we coped well with the hostile atmosphere and the sneaky little kicks and nudges from the Olympiacos players, and slowly took control.
There were one or two dicey moments but overall our defending was pretty good and I think we well deserved the win.
Three clean sheets on the trot now, when did that last happen?
One-nil to The Arsenal, I’m happy to settle for that.
Morning Rico. We played as well as we could I suppose and our defence held strong, which is quite something in itself. There was very little creativity in midfield so it was no surprise that the play was disjointed and not very easy on the eye. Mikel must have real concerns about the Auba/Laca thing up front. Very little happening there and it took Saka to open them up. Auba looks disinterested to me and Laca isn’t far behind. I guess it’s all giving Arteta clues as to the direction he wants to take the team next season and the players he will keep.
Adam, I’ve thought for a while Auba and Laca want out and to be honest, I’d let them go, cash in and re-invest in one world
Class striker.
We have Martinelli and Nketiah so imo, we only need one to replace the two.
Morning Scott, Cicero, Adam, all.
I’m really pleased about the way we worked hard to grind out a result. Sometimes, the style is less important imo and last night was one of those occasions.
I’ve said before and stick by my opinion that for Arsenal to really move forward, the egos need to be sold. Auba, Lacazette and Ozil all think they’re better than the club in my opinion and I’d take the money for them.
Compare them to what Luiz is now doing. I’ve been seriously impressed with the way Luiz has changed under Arteta.
Morning Rico…. nice read 👍 Well, we got a result… it wasn’t pretty (or as entertaining as Eastenders was 😜) but a win is what we wanted… and yet another clean sheet – wow!! For one minute I thought it was going to be the only goalless game of the night, but luckily Laca had other ideas! All set up for an exciting game next week.
Saw a clip of Wrighty there… bless him!
Morning Sue, thanks.
Substance over style is sometimes the best way to get a result. If we played like that every week there’d be cause for concern but I reckon we’re heading in the right direction.
Rico, come on…
The day we signed Arteta was the day we started moving forward hahahaha
The day we sacked Emery Scott….
Actually, it was the day the club parted ways with Arsene Wenger, days which were still trying to recover from imo.
Hi everyone, thanks Rico.
I think that was a perfect summation of the game Rico.
I too am so impressed with Luiz now, he really is a leader and Captain material.
I don’t agree that Olympiacos were dirty and targeting Guendouzi. There were no nasty tackles on purpose, and although he had a good game. He is such a drama queen.
Aubameyang didn’t really put a shift in, but when he changed positions was much better.
Mustafi keeps impressing me, he had one dodgy moment but recovered well.
All said, Great result though!
Thanks Mike. Agree, there was one tackle which caught Guendozi (apt spelling I thought) in the foot but otherwise, I just thought Olympiacos were just tough.
Also, I think the days of calling the opposition dirty should be put on hold because we’re dishing it out now too.
Afternoon Rico, thanks for the post.
Excuse me while I sort out Scott.
‘Mikel Arteta is better than George Graham, or he will be?’
Now that’s a big big statement Digger.
George Graham won two League Championships.
His 2nd championship team won the league losing only one game, better than any other Arsenal manager save Wenger in 2004.
He won a trophy in his first season, no other Arsenal manager has done that.
He won two cup finals in the same season, no other Arsenal manager has done that.
He is one of only two Arsenal managers to win a european trophy.
The other is Bertie Mee.
Terry Neill, Stewart Houston, Arsene Wenger twice and Unai Emery all lost in finals.
His championship team of of 1991 had the best defensive record of any previous or following Arsenal title winning team.
His defence was the basis of all of Arsene Wenger’s early success at Arsenal.
He managed Arsenal in 5 cup finals, losing only one, the best ratio of any Arsenal manager before or since.
Now if Arteta can better that Scott, then he’ll have a statue outside the Emirates one day.
Don’t diss Stroller… 😉
Kev, time will tell 🙂
Judge me in May 🤔
Hahahaha Kev.
It’s impossible to compare managers from different eras as the landscape in English football has changed so much.
Money has made a huge difference, unfortunately.
It’s twenty years to the day since George Graham was sacked by Arsenal for accepting £400,000 in bungs.
No other Arsenal manager can match that stat. 😉
Afternoon Kev. Agree, far far too early to be making bold statements about Arteta. Positive or negative. Time will only tell us how successful he will be. Or not as might be the case.
I think it’s more than 20 years, but good point Cicero.
Not that it tarnishes the good times for me, Anfield 89, Copenhagen 94, Wembley 87, knocking Liverpool off of their perch, the best Arsenal team i’d seen up till then.
Yes Folks, lets not get ahead of ourselves.
I like Arteta, he’s made a difference already to the team, but a lot can happen in a very short space of time.
Pre season I thought Emery had cracked it. That went horribly wrong and I was pleased to see the back of him.
We should see where we are in a couple of years time before we start Lording it up.
Any more news on Saka anyone? Last I heard he was leaving it up to his agent and parents ?????
Slip of the finger there, it’s twenty-five years.
Nice one Rico.
I`m proud the way Arsenal stood their ground against the hoards of Greek fanatics baying for our blood as though Mikel had invented an unbrakeable ceramic plate!………………………
Had the Greeks overcome us and demanded who of Arsenal had invented the unbreakeable ceramic plate , I`m sure every Arsenal player would have stood up one by one and said……………….”I`m SpArtetacus!”
Talking of hunky gladaitor types, I was walked in to the gym earlier where all the young guys were pumping iron and flexing their muscles, so I greeted them with ……………” Evening guys, looking good, training for an audition for this summer Love Island !”………………..”Yes, it would be great to go on Love Island and pull some gorgeous women one replied”…………………………I replied…..”No, you missunderstand me, I was talking about myself !” 😆
I’m beginning to think it’s all bo**ox Mike. Lol
“Talking of hunky gladiator types” 😆😆👍
Just imagine earning 30k a week at 18, assuming Saka does sign…. crazy money ain’t it?!
Did you finally watch a game then Lc?
Rico……………..Haven`t watched a game live since we were last on Amazon as I dont have BT or Sky Sports packages and only have Amazon because one of my daughters gave us her pass word!
I`m just a poor van driver with one income as wife hasn`t worked for years( not counting domestic goddess stuff ) so cant afford Sky and BT luxuries!………………………….can you hear the sound of sympathetic violins playing in the back ground ? hahaha
Ah, ok Lc. Just assumed you’d watched after your last comment and this love in for Arteta which you have.
Hope it is all Bo**ox Rico !
Sue , imagine earning 3 grand a week at 15 !!! That’s what he’s been on since signing. Ridiculous money for kicking a ball.
Player agents and family will ruin more football careers than injury!!!!
All I know is Mike, I’m in the wrong job!!
Read a good point about a new contract for Saka on another Arsenal blog, the bar was raised the day Chelsea awarded Callum Hudson-Odoi a five year £120k a week contract.Crazy money but good luck with getting him(his agent) to agree to £30k.
Limey, clubs doing things like that is what’s ruining it for others. I’m all for a wage cap, especially for the younger players until they reach 21. But, if Chelsea fail to secure top four, they will soon find themselves in a difficult situation where like us, big salaries are causing problems.
New post up now