Match review

Not the best result but certainly not the worst either…..

Posted on by rico

With Saturday’s win at Stamford Bridge fresh in our minds, we were quickly back to Champions League work, opening a new month.  Our win at the Velodrome two weeks ago gave us the opportunity to effectively seal qualification to the knockout phase, provided we beat OM in the return leg last night…

In the buildup to last nights match, Arsene openly discussed rotating the squad, with Robin’s name prominent.  True to his word, our captain was named to the bench.

We lined up Szczesny, Santos, TV (Captain), Mert, Jenks, Arteta, Song, Ramsey, Gerv, Ju, and Theo.

Subs: Fab, Kos, JD, Rosicky, Benny, Robin, and Arsh.

While I completely disagree with the idea of rotating the squad with knockout qualification not yet secured, I note that the only real rotation that Arsene made was Ju for Robin.  All the other starting ten were the available first choices at their respective positions.

The question was could we afford to give our captain a rest?  The result would provide the answer…

There was always a concern that we would have a letdown following the emotional and dramatic win at Chelsea.  Marseille started the game far more adventurous than they did at home two weeks ago.  The Ayew brothers both posed early problems, with first Jordan, and then Andre having chances to score in the opening six minutes, although neither forced Szczesny to make a save…

We gradually started to impose ourselves on the match, and Ramsey, our goal scorer at the Velodrome, should have repeated the trick 20 minutes in, but he only direct Santos’ excellent cross high and wide from the far post.  The remainder of the half saw both sides attack, but neither made any quality chances, even though Madanda was much the busier keeper.  No goals at the break…

Neither Arsene nor Deschamps made any halftime changes and we immediately started wondering when we would see Robin.  Ju had not impressed during the first half, although he was certainly not the only player in red who didn’t look good.  The whole team, it must be said, looked off-key and out of sorts.

Arsene waited an hour, and then made his move, bringing our captain on for Ju.  Five minutes later, Rosicky replaced the subdued Ramsey, with Deschamps replacing Remy with Amalfitano shortly after.

Our final change came with 15 minutes remaining, with Arsh replacing Gerv, who also had a disappointing evening.  Just a couple of minutes later, the best chance of the half – if not the match – fell to Robin, when Rosicky’s through pass split the OM defence and put our captain in on goal.  He tried to chip Madanda, but didn’t get enough on it; the OM captain caught the ball, and the chance was gone…

Both sides had late spells of pressure, but neither could create any real chances and the match fizzled out to a 0-0.  OM will clearly be happier with the result, but a goal-less draw is not necessarily the worst result for us…

As we close the book on our match day four, we remain top of Group F, with eight points from four.  OM is in second place with seven from four.  Dortmund’s 1-0 over Olympiacos moves them up to third on four, and the Piraeus side brings up the rear on three.  So we are still well-positioned to go through; the key will be to beat Dortmund at home on the next match day.

If we can do that, we’ll be in the knockout stages, even a draw will just about put us through.  The goal should remain to qualify as group winners and we are still on course to do so, provided we win our remaining two games.

So while the performance this evening was certainly disappointing, the result wasn’t so bad.

As I said earlier, I thought the team was generally flat this evening.  Perhaps it’s a hang-over from Saturday, or perhaps the recent run of high-pressure, high-intensity matches is catching up with us.

Either way, we’re not the first team to give a subdued performance in a big game, and we certainly won’t be the last.   Some below-par performances are inevitable over the course of a season.  It only becomes a problem if we make such performances and results a habit…

Much of the post-match discussion centered about whether or not Arsene made a mistake by starting with Robin on the bench.  Arsene’s post-match comments suggested that he may have felt such.

Even though we did not win, I think Arsene made the right call; it’s just one of those things that didn’t work out.  Perhaps he could have brought Robin on at the half instead of for the final third but even with 30 minutes of time, our captain could not get us the three points this time.

Given Robin’s injury history (thankfully he has been fit for almost a year now), and Arsene’s admission that he needed a break, I think starting our captain on the bench with the opportunity to bring him on later, if necessary, was the right way to play this.  I would obviously have preferred a win but with the way the whole team played, there is no guarantee that things would have turned out any different if Robin had started…

At the end of the day, nobody knows for sure if things would have been different…

What we do know is that we got just a point this evening and ss long as we beat Dortmund, then come through and win our group, this match and result will soon be forgotten.  Should we fail to accomplish either of the above, however, and this result will be viewed somewhat differently.

West Brom is up next on Saturday, and I cannot think of a better team – you know, the newly promoted side that took four points from us last season – to get our form and momentum back against.

So let’s pick up where we left off at Stamford Bridge, hopefully without the goals conceded.

Written by Oliver

rico

149 thoughts on “Not the best result but certainly not the worst either…..”

  1. rico says:

    Morning all,

    good post oliver, not much excitement to write about sadly……

    Wenger said that he had to ‘drop’ Robin as he is running on empty, well if tha t is the case, why put him on the bench? He is either fit to start or not and if it’s the latter, he should have been rested full stop, not on the bench…

    watching last night, I think they were all running on empty, the game on saturday appeared to have really taken a lot out of their legs – so not a bad bad result in the circs….

  2. goonster says:

    Robin’s been fit for almost a year! Wow, am not sure both words have ever used before. Robin and fit! Little wonder he’s tearing defenses to shred. Morning HH. Great to be alive this morning. Thank you Lord jesus.

  5. goonster says:

    Yes siree…..I actually thought we did well considering the fact that OM came to stifle us to get a point. The lads were tired who wouldn’t after that game on saturday. Am happy with the point and hey we did keep a clean sheet. Roll on saturday and west brom to the roost. COYGS.

  11. goonster says:

    Rico…..I ll say let a turd be. Don’t wake him up. This will only end in a bad way. I see a witch hunt coming and we ll be the target. Imagine if it had been robin….phewwww. God in heaven.

  12. rico says:

    But our players haven’t behaved in such a fashion, not yet and i hope they never do either… We can’t be a target if we behave…

    I hope that if there is a case to answer, he gets all that comes his way….

  13. Potter says:

    and the chelsea fans have compounded the situation apparently. could be a fight for third if it really upsets their applecart.

  14. rico says:

    Potter, i saw that too, the club are not very happy with the fans….

    They could very well self destruct, and that can only be good for us – money won’t get them out of this big hole….

  19. goonster says:

    This granero story is gathering pace people and am exited. We need spanish flair back in our bid field. No offense to arteta but granero ll be a welcome addition. Hope we get him. He’s class.

  20. rico says:

    Not sure of the contents goonster, don’t want to either but the Chav’s management aren’t happy…..

    Don’t go getting excited about the stories, you know what happened last time 😉

  23. goonster says:

    Nah rico Richard law was spotted in madrid. I think this one is done. We re just waiting for him to join in january.

  31. goonster says:

    Besides aguero said the same thing…..tevez said he’s home sick and wanted out yet he wants English stay. Utter tosh rico. Granero is on his way. We wouldn’t send Ricky law to madrid if a deal wasn’t on feasible.

  35. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Good morning!
    Yes, the result of yesterday was not desired. I anticipate that the next will be much more difficult. Dortmund play their most decisive card. It is a very dangerous team and strong. Let’s wait …
    We first but with an unfavorable combination of games, we may be past. Advantages: a) We are in advantage over Marseille, which has only one point less b) only depend on ourselves c) Financially, do not forget that with a loss, you lose the right to receive 800,000 euros and with a draw 400,000 if they win.
    Back to the League, we have to win the WBA. Nobody doubts that we need more players in January

  38. rico says:

    BD don’t travel too well do they JM, didn’t Marseille batter them in France ?

    I think Wenger will be tempted to rest one or two on saturday, I hope not too many though, we can’t take that chance…

  39. goonster says:

    No rico for the umpteenth time we wont be signing a defender. A striker maybe cause chamakh might be heading back to france.

  40. goonster says:

    He can’t afford to rest anyone on Saturday. The interllul is just around the corner.we need to hit west brom for six. Anything less I ll be disappointed.

  41. Gooner Sam says:

    Afternoon all.

    Not overly fussed by the result last night, you can’t win every game and at least we didn’t lose..

    For me the greatest need in January is a spark in midfield and a striker. I think defence is good enough to be honest…the only worry….Flappy in goal is Chezer gets injured.

    However I unfrotunately think Wenger will not buy. I wonder, if results don’t go the way we want, if the Chelsea game will be used by him to excuse nonactivity in the transfer window..?

  42. goonster says:

    You said it sam….am really worried he might use our current form as an excuse not to sign anyone in January.

  43. rico says:

    goonster – but that is in my opinion, we still need another CH, a goal scorer and a playmaker…

    But if we look at how many midfielders are in the squad, i can’t see Wenger adding another one…

  44. rico says:

    Hi Sam..

    I think he’ll buy, just one maybe two – i think he want two more on the last day but left it too late…

  45. goonster says:

    But we won’t be signing a CB. We ve got kozzer TV BFG JD Squilli ignasi and bartley. Add song to that and you ll see what I mean.

  46. rico says:

    You don’t know that for sure goonster…

    Bartley is on loan
    Squilli is on his way out
    JD should follow him
    Miquel is the only one who could be cover but is he honestly ready yet??

    We need a CH and I hope we get one….

  48. goonster says:

    Tell that to wenger rico…..I feel the same way too but am afraid we won’t be signing anyone……period. And I don’t wanna talk about this again*winks*

  49. rico says:

    Personally I believe that many fans think all is rosy after beating Chelsea, but it’s far from that imho…

    .

  50. Micko says:

    Afternoon all,

    Boring, boring arsenal.

    Only highlight for me was seeing TV5 back where he belongs last night, it was like he had never been away.

  53. Micko says:

    Keown wasn’t very impressed with santos last night either, said something like he had no awareness defensively, no rhythm to his game, kept getting caught out up field and too often jogged back and it looked like he had lead in his boots, but other than that I think he thought he done ok.

  54. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Santos is playing like in Brazil. The full backs are wingers and they have 3 central backs. They protect the midfield. Is chamack leaves we need a central forward, more 2 midfield players and left back. Don’t forget Fripong and Chamack will be in the African cup on January

  55. rico says:

    Gibbs and Santos both like to attack too much and when they do they do seem to spot danger and get their butts back where they should be….

    They should learn from Sagna

    Keown as usual, is spot on….

  56. allezkev says:

    Another Star Spangled post from Oliver
    Afternoon Gooners/Rico.
    I agree with Oliver, Wenger made a wise choice in resting him. Robin is too valuable an asset to take a chance with. Wenger needs to protect him so we can hopefully get a full season out of him.
    And importantly that he’s still fit and flying over the last 6 to 8 weeks of the season.

  58. Micko says:

    You thinking about april/may already kev, wenger will hopefully remedy the situation in january if he has any sense, take some pressure off our captain.

  59. allezkev says:

    I suppose that Wenger, will make a decision on a new striker if he allows Chamakh to leave in January.
    What about a straight swap?
    Chamakh to Paris SG in exchange for Gameiro..?!
    Midfied looks well-stocked.
    Diaby has picked up another strain, but one day, long into the future, he will return.
    As it stands we have Arteta, Ramsey, Frim, Coq, Song, Rosicky, Wilshere, Benayoun, Arshavin and, sometime, into the dark distant future, Diaby.
    10 midfielders is quite a lot of midfielders.

  60. allezkev says:

    Yeah Mick, i make you right.
    Ferguson rotates pre-Christmas so that his best players are still fresh post-Christmas, when the prizes are decided.

  61. rico says:

    Hi AK, but why put him on the bench I ask, if needs a rest then rest him, don’t bring him on at all – coming from the bench when in need of a rest is the prime time to pick up an injury….

  62. rico says:

    AK, he’ll be gone for a month in any case for the ACON, then come back injured no doubt or ‘tired’….

  63. allezkev says:

    Yeah, i see what you mean Rico. But imagine if we’d gone a goal down and RVP hadn’t been on the bench. Wenger would have got crucified.

  66. rico says:

    AK – that’s what happens when you only have one quality on form striker….

    Imagine if had got injured, Wenger would have got a lot more stick 😉

    Gervinho, I forgot he is off to the ACON 🙁

  67. Micko says:

    Kev, i wouldn’t go near gameiro, I think its time we bid for an established striker, some-one who will challenge rvp for a place in the team, its always good to have healthy competition and we don’t have it up top, I would have loved some-one like benzema last summer, sure he would cost a few quid but quality always does, you get what you pay for.
    I’m not saying benzema would have come but we should be looking at players of his calibre imo.

  70. rico says:

    Bloody heck, ‘Arry has had heart surgery….. Hope he gets well soon….

    Redkapp was admitted to hospital on Tuesday night and underwent minor heart surgery on Wednesday.

    “The club can report that earlier today Harry successfully had two stents inserted to unblock coronary arteries,” reads a statement on Spurs’ official website.

    “He is in excellent spirits and due to be discharged from hospital in the next 48 hours.”

  71. allezkev says:

    Evening Gooners.
    Evening Rico.
    Mick, i would have loved Benzema. I was banging on about him all summer, but Gameiro is also a very good striker. He’s more of a Wiltord type.
    Rico, hopefully Oxo & Ryo be be integrated enough to see us over the period the ACON is on while Gerv is away.

  72. allezkev says:

    I know what you mean about ‘one quality striker’.
    Maybe Wenger thought that Chamakh would find his mojo again?
    Also he may have hoped to get a work permit for Campbell?

  77. allezkev says:

    Have WordPress done a bit of work on the website..?
    It seems that all those stupid icons that kept keeping on creeping up into the comment box, have gone, hooray.

  79. stevepalmer1 says:

    Evening all,
    Nice one Oliver.
    I am of the opinion that if you rest a player, he doesn’t play, if Wenger had intended to play Robin at all he should have started and been taken off when and if we went in front, The whole team had an off night . our passing was like schoolboys and our left back was making problems for his defence. this is not the first time he has been caught out, if he wants to be a winger wait untill Gibbs returns , this man is not an athlete so if he is fielded at left back make sure he stays there

  80. rico says:

    Evening Steve – that is exactly what my views are too about Robin…. Either start with a proper pre match warm up or don’t be part at all – any player ‘Running on Empty’ as Wenger says, should not feature, period…..

    And, agree re santos, he is a liabilty at the moment, he’s too heavy, too attacking without the ability to get back….. Going forward he is really good – just like Gibbs and how Traore was – we need a defending LB in the Winterburn mould….

  82. rico says:

    Is that you and me both agreeing Steve, it’s been a long time 😉 😉

    Your post is up tomorrow by the way…. The POL one 🙂

  85. Potter says:

    harry should be o.k the same operation i had in june. providing that he does what he’s told and takes a couple of weeks out. he should be all right. probably he will lose some weight , i have lost 15 kilos but i don’t recommend heart attacks as a slimming regime.

  88. rico says:

    Bloody heck Potter, that’s a bolt….

    It’s funny isn’t it, we all chat away here and on other blogs and yet, we haven’t a clue about the real things…

    Hope all things are ok with you………

  89. stevepalmer1 says:

    You take it easy Potter,
    I’ve entered Harry for the London Marathon and his rat faced son can commentate, Giggsey can look after his Mrs While ronkey looks after Mrs Twitch

  91. Potter says:

    all’s well at the moment. i actually had the heart attack just after the liverpool match last season . i blamed it on eboue

  92. allezkev says:

    Chelsea fans are going mad at the proposals to knock down Stamford Bridge and relocate to a bigger stadium.
    One fan was quoted as saying =
    ” You can’t just knock down seven years of history”
    😀

  98. Potter says:

    doing everything they tell me, i have one last appointment to keep next month on a treadmill where they will test my blood pressure under stress. the cholesterol has gone down to 4.5 but my quack wants it below 4.

  101. Potter says:

    lipitor is the statin and , clopidogrel, atenolol, ramipril, aspirin. plus a anti histamine and a tablet for a hiatus hernia not to mention the omega 3.
    i rattle when i walk.

  103. rico says:

    Potter, i’d laugh at that about Eboue – ordinarily… You just look after yourself…..
    Lipitor is in my diet too…

    Below 4, your GP is a hard task master….

  104. rico says:

    Nothing is cooked in my microwave anymore, unless I cook it….

    Steve – Wath a bit of a chef, you sure about that 😉 😉

  107. stevepalmer1 says:

    All i know rico is that everytime i put my head down on your pillow i can smell Waths Brute aftershave ha ha

  115. rico says:

    AK, I first was given simvostain (spelling) now that did give muscle ache, lipitor is miles and miles better – no aches at all for me…..

  118. allezkev says:

    Rico, they give you that because it’s cheap to produce.
    Rosuvastatin was new on the market 4 years ago, thus it was expensive and you had to ask for it.
    It’s like an episode of Doctors on here tonight.. 🙂

  123. allezkev says:

    My last bit of advice…. 😉
    If you get heartburn, due to all the drugs, in particular the aspirin. Ask your quack about Omeprazole. It lines the tummy.
    Get well soon… 😆

  127. stevepalmer1 says:

    I don’t like easing up when were on a run milk it up as much as posible, winning is good for everyone. Robins on a run putting him in cotton wool is not the thing to do. exploit him while he’s fireing he’s getting on and we should use him while he’s here. if he goes it will be to late

  129. allezkev says:

    Stevo, i can understand your point, but if he goes down with a fatigue related injury, then we’re well and truly buggered…

  132. Potter says:

    thanks for the info kev, i am not having muscular problems at the moment providing i keep things steady , next thing to get is the heart monitor . there is a formula to say when you are working at your optimum heart rate for fitness but unfortunately it doesn’t work on your brain and i have forgotten it.

  136. allezkev says:

    Potter do you mean one those things you wear on your wrist?
    I joined a gym Potter, don’t go as often as i should, but once you are recovered [ and you will ] you need to exercise the old ticker.

  137. devilgunner says:

    Headache is the least of my worries Steve. Bad back, tired legs, aching joints, stiff ankles……..

    now let’s see if I have forgotten anything.

    I will ask my wife.

  141. devilgunner says:

    oui habib. Had a great old day at work and training after. Just back. And I just cannot resist popping in albeit for a few minutes. I just miss you all and now HH is the first website I go to before everything else.

  143. allezkev says:

    Ditto DG.
    I check out LG to read the post. Also ACLF, good post but not very welcoming bloggers. Arsenal Arsenal is very good and quite friendly, but this is the best, for me…

  145. devilgunner says:

    Take care mate. You got only one life……..I will not say live it to the full, but will only say take good care of it.

    Shitty are 2-0 up.

  146. devilgunner says:

    just saw Mancini bash his head in the first half to protest about something. Funny. And now he is sporting an ice pack on his head. lol

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