How on earth do you recover from losing disastrously at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League whilst also handing to your bete noir the advantage psychologically they crave? Well for a start you get to your second successive Champions League Semi-Final, that’s what you do and meanwhile you double down on repairing your confidence.
Listening to Declan Rice after the game being interviewed on the pitch and negotiating some fairly regular and achingly dumb questions I was heartened to hear his responses and the resolve in his voice. So maybe the fightback does start here and now.
The crowd at yesterday’s tie vs Sporting was noticeably different from the agitated PL crowd we’d heard last weekend. This crowd stayed with the team and the team responded, but no not like they’d responded earlier in the season when everyone was fresher but they responded all the same.
Both teams tested each other out during those early exchanges but there was more of a zip about the Gunners. Arteta had brought both Mosquera and Hincapie into the back-four and both of them gave resolute performances. Eze began in midfield and generally brought his A- game with him, linking play and trying to progress the ball. The rest of the starting XI mirrored the previous match as Sporting looked to emulate the boys from Boscombe.
Around 13 minutes we had a scare when Hincapie inadvertently caught a Sporting player in the box but after a VAR check it was waved away probably because of the play acting of the lad from Lisbon. All the same I’d seen lesser challenges penalised so we rode our luck there. With 20 minutes on the clock I was alarmed to see the ball still being passed back to Raya too often again as the team continued to exhibit its lack of confidence. Madueke, who was creating and wasting in equal measures created a chance for Gyokeres but our top scorer screwed his shot high and wide, he should have done better.
Sporting were continuing where they had left off in Lisbon as in between some slick build up play they never lost their knack for the cynical foul stifling any Arsenal creativity, the French referee was as inconsistent as the German we had in the 1st leg.
With 27 minutes gone the Sporting goalkeeper had had a fairly uneventful evening then on 29 a smart pass by Eze via Zubimendi almost found Gyokeres but he got his feet mixed up and the chance was blocked.
With no shots on target by either side and Sporting showing more invention the crowd got agitated especially when Raya had another brain fart on 40 minutes, these are becoming a bit too frequent for my sanity. On 43 Sporting had possibly their best chance of the game when following some incisive passing they opened up the Arsenal back-four and a spectacular first time shot from the right of the penalty area saw the low shot fizz past Raya and fortunately for us hit the far post and stayed out. That jangled the nerves but Eze hit back as he created some space and stuck a rising drive that flew over the bar seconds before the break.
Half-Time 0-0
Sporting came out after the oranges looking to take the game to Arsenal, which suited us and the game opened up, slightly. On 49 Eze again found himself some space but he fired wide. On 56 Madueke again drove at his opposite number swerving past him and hit over a cross that eventually found it way to Martinelli who should have hit the target but he wastefully thrashed his shot over the bar. Gabby had done some sterling work defensively in the game but at the sharp end he was just as careless as ever.
Following that chance Arteta made his first change and took off the ineffective Gyokeres and on came Havertz and from then on the midfield and attack suddenly began to find some rhythm and connection. I don’t want to bash Viktor but maybe at this stage of the season we need a centre forward who retains possession and links up the play?
On 63 minutes Madueke was clattered yet again and after treatment needed to be replaced so on came Max Dowman. Max gave the Madueke assailants some interesting exposure to his wonderful and varied talents which, Heaven be praised, saw the Sporting left-back, he of the endless foul, finally given a yellow card. The referee also booked Arteta because he was complaining too much about the officials poor decision making, so no, it’s not just our lot…
65 minutes and Mosquera in chasing down the Sporting left-winger, brushed the Lisbon man on his back and of course he sprawled into the box, VAR waved it away but my heart was in my mouth. Arteta took off Eze and Martinelli for Jesus and Trossard on 79 minutes as we looked to game manage the last 10+ minutes. On 84 a dipping Dowman corner evaded everyone but Trossard could only hit the post with his header at the far stick, an on form Leo scores that!
Jesus had put in some hard graft when he came on playing a type of false 9, No.10 role, his link up play with Leo and Kai gave us the control we needed as the clock ran down. On 85 he won a corner after a smart spin and run at goal, then 4 added minutes went up and the Gunners negotiated it without too many hairy moments despite some desperate late attempts by Sporting, who I’m not 100% but I don’t think they had a shot on target.
We now face a double header with Atletico Madrid and their crazy manager, the 1st leg in Madrid will be 90 minutes of gamesmanship, play-acting and all the best cheating you could ever wish for from Argentina, so I hope we have a strong referee otherwise El Loco will referee it for him…
We March On….
By Kev
Nice one Kev, thanks.
Morning to you and all.
I liked what Rice said after the game. Basically, f-you, we don’t give a toss what you say and write..
Certainly not on FIRE as per Arteta’s statement before the match.
Now’ the time has come to get back to playing positive football with goals or MC and AM will leave us standing out in the cold!
Winning football, however that might come, will do for me Laura.
hi Rico. Can you delete my first comment please. As it included some comments which I copied my mistake. Thanks
Good morning Rico and all
A down to earth report Kev. Even better than the game itself.
Yesterday was drab. Like watfching paint dry. Its true we have unavailable players however its not an excuse. The first 11 yesterday have all played much better at a certain stage this season.
Eze reallyis slowly making the role his own. He does have a natural ability to find those pockets of space, making him difficult to track. As long as he stays fit, his sharpness will return with consistent minutes. During certain times he drifted out of games and became almost invisible, but that unpredictability also makes him hard to pick up. Sometimes he just jogs around or even walk as he point fingers to show others how they are supposed to mark, and without the ball he does not do the spadework required to help others.
Up front, we were poor last night and lacked any real cutting edge. Viktor Gyökeres had a couple of chances he should’ve done better with, and although Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus used their experience to disrupt play and manage the tempo, they offered little threat in the final third.
Another thing is that far-post ball which was causing Arsenal real problems again yesterday very similar to how Bournemouth scored. Some of the attacking department are not tracking runners, and it’s becoming a recurring issue now. They got away with it yesterday thanks to the post, but they’re too compact and need to be picking up those arriving late in support.
Morning Devil, there’s certainly room for much improvement. Stopping all this passing back to Raya would be a good start. Goodness knows what’s got in to him.
Thought Gyokeres was really poor over the two legs too, perhaps the fact it was Sporting got to him.
can you delete my first comment Rico please? Because in it there is something I may have copied by mistake. Dont know how it got there.
No probs Devil.
Nice report Kev, cheers.
We created enough chances to win the game by a distance, sadly, Eze, Madueke, Zubimendi, Gyokeres and Martinelli all had attempts that were either blocked or missed the target altogether.
In front of goal, cooler heads rather than fire would be more profitable.
Arteta needs to take an anger management course his antics and anxiety on the touchline seep into the players on the pitch, which only serves to heighten their own angst.
Just cool it Mikel.
Whilst I was on holiday a mate of mine had my tickets for the last two games , his comment on Bournemouth was “crap” Last night before kick off he messaged me saying ” Hope it’s better this time “. However this morning I woke to a text saying ” Absolute shit ” and despite Arteta’s protestations this appears to be the thoughts of the crowd in the stadium and the wider world outside .
Can anyone actually say that they are enjoying watching this Arsenal side. ? I can’t . My son and I sat in silence apart from when the mistakes were made , as Devil said players drifting misplacing passes , not tracking back and as for Raya it’s becoming a regular occurrence . He is a great shot stopper , so was Ramsdale but he got his spot because he was supposed to be better at distribution so what’s happened ?
I appreciate that we are missing Saka and as we are so right handed that’s our usual outball but he can see the whole pitch so playing a ball to a player coming back to the edge of the area with two men behind him is suicidal or trying to thread a pass through two players is madness.
Sometimes it’s to Saliba who has no room to turn and gets the ball straight back again , as a player that played to a reasonable standard it’s infuriating.
Throw ins take forever because there is little or no movement everybody just runs to a place gets marked and stands still. It seems that they are all waiting for someone else to take responsibility . Is it because Arteta is dictating so much that they no longer think for themselves.
When he came in as manager a wave of fresh air blew across the club , but now I am beginning to wonder if he has the ability to take us any further.
It’s almost like the second coming of Wenger, great at the beginning but as time went on staleness took over/.
Afternoon Gooners, thanks Rico, Dev and Cicero, I guess we’re at that stage of the season where the result is simply the all important, over and above the performance and entertainment. Give me a boring draw on Sunday and won’t complain!
I thought that Trossard showed some welcoming small signs of recovering his level again, a Leo who can find those vital goals out of nothing would be just what we need at this time of the campaign. Everybody needs to come to the party right now.
I doubt that we’re going to see unfortunately Bakayo Saka or Calafiori or Timber back in the starting XI this Sunday so what we had on show yesterday is what we’ve got to go with for the visit to Wastelands. Havertz I suspect will have a major role to play possibly from the start? Maybe one or two of the injured trio will make the bench?
Hopefully the casual arrogance of Guardiola’s team and his coaching staff will imbue the Cittie players with an over-confidence and will work in our favour? Nobody after all will give us much of a chance or any chance at all for that matter at their oil based stadium so the only way is up for us in that scenario.
Interesting to see Harrison Dudziak on the bench yesterday, he’s just recovered from an injury that cut-short his January loan spell so it’s interesting that the 20 year old had caught the managers eye in training with many other youth options available. What that means for his Arsenal future is in the hands of the injury gods but maybe there is a chink of positive light for Harrison?
Rico you posted that Rice said “. Basically, f-you, we don’t give a toss what you say and write.”
Do you believe that he really meant it ? It was only a few weeks ago that there was a reported confrontation between him and members of our training group . It was covered up but does the resentment still linger ?
Has the management lost the players ? Because outside looking in it looks like his ranting is rubbing them up the wrong way.
Players will often tell you what they think about team mates by their interactions with them and by the confidence they have in them, going long to a centre forward who it seems is unable to win hardly any possession and even if they do to retain it can erode your confidence in them as you know that the ball is coming straight back at you. So you fiddle about at the back trying to open up some passing lanes into midfield but also risk losing possession in an area you really don’t want to.
The same applies to our right winger who currently has a habit of running the ball out of play or dribbling into traffic and being dispossessed. Havertz I felt gave us some control up front, bringing Eze, Trossard and latterly Jesus into the game, allowing our defence time to breath and our midfield some space to press forward. Saka would do the same for us on the right wing, his ball security is far and away superior to Madueke and especially at this stage of the season where you need to retain possession, save energy and keep control.
As for entertainment, well if you want entertainment get a Netflix package. 😁