Was that Monaco loss planned?

Morning all.

Having finally seen a bit of that match, it wasn’t good was it so it’s no surprise that comments from Arsenal fans and critics suggest we were awful.  In fact I haven’t read anything positive about our performance – other than the classy strike by Alex Oxlade-chamberlain.

Was the loss planned?

It’s all well and good the media hyping the fixture up to be easy for us but in truth, Monaco are a club who have spent mega bucks to get where they are and as we all knew before the game, they don’t concede goals for fun in this competition. But they don’t score many either, yet we conceded three and with ease. Up front, we missed chances which you have to be honest, would normally be buried into the back of the net.

We could quite easily go to France for the return leg and score three goals but we won’t, just like we didn’t in Germany 2013, despite having chances to do so and that wasn’t the only time we fell one goal short away from home in order to progress…

As Wath said yesterday, it’s back to fighting for top four and like last season, the FA Cup and I wonder if that was the plan before we kicked a ball last night. Lets be honest, we don’t have a squad which is capable of winning the Champions League whilst competing on a domestic level and we’ve been saying that for years and maybe Arsene Wenger knows that too so what’s the point in carrying the campaign on any further as to do so would put our fourth place trophy in jeopardy, just as it will our FA Cup defence, should we get passed Utd.

Maybe my theory is all pie in the sky, but the last sixteen knock-out stage seems to repeat itself year in, year out doesn’t it…

Next up is Everton on Sunday and Romelu Lukaku looks likely to miss that match having picked up an injury last night and with the neighbours and Liverpool both exiting Europe last night, their focus will now be on a cup and a Champions League spot.

“It’s our aim to respond we are on a strong run in the league and have to respond in a strong way on Sunday. I expect a strong reaction because it’s a difficult competitions. we are back in the top three and have the chance to stabilise our position and we want to take it.” – Arsene Wenger.

We just have to make sure we stay in the top four, get that 3rd place and I bet we don’t see a repeat of Wednesday’s performance for a while, certainly not at The Emirates….

That’s it for Friday, have a good day all.

133 thoughts on “Was that Monaco loss planned?

  1. babakrdaemi says:

    The last few times we got beat by better sides. Except Milan. We should have beat them, but like yesterday, we underestimated the side and suffered the consequences. I would like to think we respond well.

    However, I fear we’ll respond cautiously and draw.

  2. Judge me in May says:

    Morning all,
    Good you feeling better rico,
    arsenal and healthy don’t come in the same sentence right now.. lol..
    Ozil imo has been a disappointment so far.
    He showed glimpses of absolute quality now and then, but over all contribution has been poor.
    Ok he had a poor game against Monaco, and his attitude and body language stunk the Emirates, why wenger insisted on keeping him on!?
    Problem with wenger as we all know hasn’t learned anything when comes to gung Ho football.. How many times it happened? Too many imo..
    You can’t play a high line with mertasacker in defense, everybody knows that except dear arsene.
    If you use 3 playmakers with similar creative style in your midfield, and use your full backs as wingers to provide you with width, you’d need 2 defensive midfielder to cover up the space they leave behind, otherwise your centre backs are exposed to counter attack.
    And if one of them is as slow as slug, it’s just suicidal..
    I have not managed fuck all of games, but I can see what’s wrong with wenger stubbornness

    C&P from previous post comments..lol..

  3. tsgh says:

    Lol Lucas…

    Calm down mate…

    I think those who underestimated Monaco are sections of fans and the so called experts who know jack all about football outside RM, Barca and the EPL.

    AW said before the game it was 50-50 because he knew how Monaco played.
    The fact is if we had won a few tackles in midfield and OG12 had scored first it would have been a different outcome.

    JM and I commented about Monaco before the Emirates cup and after the draw and mentioned they will be stronger than we would be led to believe…

    For about 4 weeks now my opinion has always been that our midfield without TR07 would be out thought by Monaco’s midfield 3.

    Those who know anything about Monaco will tell you that they were missing arguably their best midfielder in Toulalon.

    Fabinho is a RB who was utilised as a DM and he taught our midfield a lesson by simply being tactically aware. he did not need to make tackles or take 3 touches before making a pass…

    We dont need a 6’2 DM what we need is brains and some athleticism.

  4. Wavy says:

    Morning Rico, hope you’re feeling better, we’re not! Wednesday night still rankles and will do for a while, I think.
    Arsenal’s ambition? Or rather theSyrup’s ambition!
    Strikes me that every team claims to have pretentious of grandeur re the EPL. Chavs and Shitty, to win it, regularly. These days manure, us, dippers to finish 3 rd or 4th. The pretenders spuds, to the rugger players, Europa cup would be a great achievement. The rest, survival!
    I look at Newcastle huge team in the north east, almost as big as Sunderland! Ambitions, only one, to keep raking in loads of tv rich cash and surviving through mediocrity of both players, performance and success!
    Compare their most pragmatic situation and their greedy self interested owner who is only in the ‘game’ for the cash he can personally screw out of the football club, and then consider our own safer, but still precarious situation. The owner bought the club as a potential cash cow, knowing that he, personally would earn mega bucks from tv deals and distribution rights if he was patient enough. He has been and the £3.m he removed from the coffers this year is nothing to what he and little ol, boy Josh will spirit away with in the future. His only ambition is stay in the top 4 cream the TV companies and UEFA for CL cash and carry on ranching!
    The two clubs have limited aims and objectives and realise their place in the league table pecking order. They both may well think about progressing up the slippery pole, but not if its going to cost mega bucks in new ‘software’! (Players and staff).
    Whilst so ever long this seeming lack of ambition and contended ness to remain where they are, Arsenal will never win the EPL again and neither will Newcastle. Nor any other team apart from those that have thrown oil wells at their clubs or fired them up with Russian gasometers!

    It’s all huff and puff from the manager but no substance and ‘overall I feel zer iss no liklyhood off improofment, now or effer’
    Judge the club in May, yeh, sure will. 4th will bea great achievement………again!
    School Report. Satisfactory lack of progress in all departments leaving the top prizes to go elsewhere. More ambition required, urgently. They have the ability but lack motivation and inspiration from above!
    And so on and so forth……. The whole club and its satisfaction in mediocrity saddens me, as it must every other Arsenal supporter in the land.

  5. rico says:

    Thanks Judge..

    Re Ozil, it was just a couple of matches ago many here, including me were talking about how happy Ozil looked whilst playing recently – I just think he oozes class but is one of though ‘luxury’ players who when others around him are up for a game, shows how good he is…

  6. tsgh says:

    Agree Judge…
    But I must admit Ozil is Ozil and that is why he was sold.
    I keep on asking why Arsenal fans are so happy when we buy other clubs reject and then we end up complaining they are not good enough…

    Apart from SC19, MA08 or possibly Alexis every player we have bought in the last 7 years has always been that he was unwanted or the club needed the cash like in OG12’s case.
    The way we compete on the transfer market is a clear indication of how we fight as a club…

    Cabaye should have been bought last summer but as always we walk away like a shy boy scared to ask a girl out… we need to grow a pair imo…

  7. begeegs says:

    Lets be honest, we don’t have a manager capable who is capable of winning the Champions League whilst competing on a domestic level with a squad that is more than capable of doing so.

    Fixed that for ya

  8. tsgh says:

    Agreed totally Rico re Ozil…

    We have too many luxury players as we all say on here daily. when they are good they are world class but when things get difficult heads drop…

  9. scottfromoz says:

    Blaming Ozil?
    Sorry…..it shows a lack of football knowledge.
    The man is what he is….a world class player at best and someone who must be used the right way,
    If he’s good enough for Real, he is good enough for us.
    It’s obvious that his style of play requires players running into space so he can do his thing and find them with a killer pass.
    When our guys stand still, as they did v Monaco, he cannot show his best.
    He ran more than ANY Arsenal player so proved his isn’t lazy, but those around him who did nothing cop no criticism…can an the explain that??
    Oh that’s right, they didn’t cost big money.
    Wake up and watch football.
    Ozil is too bloody good for most of our guys…especially when they pass and stand still.
    When we lose, some of the comments and exhales are absolutely astounding.

  10. Lee says:

    We can talk about adding this player and that player BUT the problem is the manager, I really think his days are numbered. Weds night was totally unacceptable and Wenger/Bould just sat there motionless….a bit like our CF!
    The whole club needs a shake up from the top down but we’ll scrape 4th and the syrup will be happy….we’re mediocre like all his other franchises!
    Big game on Sunday, time for these players to show some bollocks!!

  11. Spectrum says:

    “……We just have to make sure we stay in the top four, get that 3rd place….”

    This, we are told, is what we must strive so hard to achieve from one year to the next. Top four. Champions League qualification. What the hell for ? What is the point ? We struggle and toil all through each season to attain that coveted top four holy grail, just to have a repeat of the previous farce. It’s an endless treadmill of underachievement. Then you see by performances like this, what a complete waste of time and effort it is. Sixteen consecutive seasons we’ve QUALIFIED, and sixteen seasons we’ve never won it. This shameful fiasco is a fifth successive elimination from the Champions League last-16 stage. With a tactically inept manager who shows no involvement or leadership on the touchline ( instead he sits in his seat all match, with his head in his hands ), who can’t motivate his players to perform when required, and a plain refusal to recognise his mistakes and rectify them, it’s no wonder we play so abysmally. This team is as weak and fragile mentally, as its manager. Or should that be MISmanager ?

    This is the reward for offering Wenger a new contract. A shameful decision, that demonstrates that as long as we qualify ( and the revenue keeps rolling in ) actually WINNING the competition is merely secondary to that objective.

    Wenger says he loves the club. If he really loved it, he’d want the best for it. And it’s best that he admits he’s past it, and resigns. But he’s too arrogant and pig headed to do so. Two more years of frustration and – failure. From the aptly named specialist IN failure.

  12. tsgh says:

    Scott-

    he is class but speak to Bremen fans or even RM fans and they all dejected his attitude. It was only the top players who appreciated him…
    Even his German national team fans boo him.RM fans use to boo him too on the odd games he was that poor. its his body language. No football fan can question his talent imho..

    when Ozil was signed I said fans would turn on him within 2 months because of his lethargic appearance… I got slated for saying that

  13. rico says:

    Ts, isn’t that the same for most clubs though? The entire transfer window is driven by money and possibly half the players who switch clubs, wouldn’t do so if it wasn’t about money, either for the player or the selling club…

  14. tsgh says:

    ha ha Rico. Kev and Wath don’t rate Pogba.
    Snap, rates him highly though…

    I think that £40m can be spent else where… i.e Vidal.
    A midfield or AR16 and Vidal will be too much for any team.

    Definitely not Khedira. Sami is another lazy sod who performs well when the big TV cameras are around… Luca silva came from Brazil and walked in to the RM team, Kroos a no.10 has been playing the DM role whilst Sami warms the bench…

    AW should have bought Jedinak for £10m used him for 2 years. He is what we need but fans don’t rate him so…

  15. Judge me in May says:

    I didn’t say Ozil is garbish, I said his contribution to the team has been poor, I know he is class, but so far he hasn’t set the place alight has he?
    It’s either change the other personels or the style of play… or maybe both to get the best out if Ozil.. so back to you arsene..

  16. scottfromoz says:

    Ginge, the very best players love him but our guys don’t appreciate Or utilise him.
    I’ll say it again…I’ve said it for 3-4 years and nobody has disagreed with me…..when we have movement off the ball, we play well.
    When we have little movement off the ball, we are shit.
    Everyone can stick tactics.
    Stop blaming selections.
    Tell me I am wrong on this single point!!
    We move, we win.
    We stand still, we lose.
    Its simple.
    None of us have a clue when or where our guys will fire up and I don’t believe anyone knows.
    I don’t know the answer, but I GUARANTEE that’s the problem.

  17. rico says:

    Trouble is Lee, there is no sign of him departing, or Kroenke sacking him so imo, we have to sign a midfielder at least in the summer…

  18. scottfromoz says:

    Rico, the you must be wrong as well bahahahahahana
    The guys pure, utter class.
    I’ll ask this of those criticising him……how would he have gone with Dennis, Thierry, Bobby, Freddie etc etc etc??

  19. tsgh says:

    Rico. I get your point re window being about money.
    But as an example; We failed to get Morgan when the player wanted to join us and southampton needed a push to make the saints fans believe their hands were forced.

    AW wanted Morgan but we went in when they already had the cash from the dippers and then they sold us Chambers when Clyne was a far better RB.
    No disrespect to chambers but as someone who loves Aw I get pissed off when he loads the guns for the media and hisalters to fire him with…

    I would have bought Clyne and kept CJ25 and bought Abbendour.

    I am sure the news will come out that we asked for Kramer on loan soon… a world cup winner on loan?

  20. Judge me in May says:

    Tsgh you know your football and you always say this player play best with that player, or that player make this player looks good, what would you have as your best arsenal line up from our current lot in so called big games?
    No Arteta please… lol..

  21. Brian Price says:

    Ozil’s problem on Wednesday was that Welbeck spent all the time inside getting in Ozil’s way instead of on the right wing where he should have been. This meant that the defence could compress to the left and leave no room. If we had had Theo on the right – even if he did nothing with the ball – the defence would have stretched out more (un-compressed) leaving more space for our little through balls and more room for Ozil, Santi and Alexis to run into, they couldent because Welbeck was alerady there and was marked. After ten minutes the whole pub I was in could see we were crying out to switch to the right but there was no-one there. I don’t know why the bench couldn’t .
    We need a manager who can set up a team shape and stick to it.

    Brian

  22. allezkev says:

    Morning All

    Morning Rico, a controversial post… 😉

    So, it was all a carefully crafted cunning plan….

    Gotta say, if it was a plan, then it was a superbly executed plan.
    The players and management should be congratulated on how well they carried out this plan…

    It was, in essence, an exceedingly good plan…

    😀

  23. tsgh says:

    SA JM and I always say Ozil, SC19, JW will never work in games that matter.

    When we beat a poor AV with Ozil and Sc19 we believe they work well together.

    I think it must have been Kel who said we miss Ramsey the most in big games…

    Almost all our players like to play with the game in front of them…

    Apart from the first 5 minutes of the game and when Theo came on we hardly went behind their back line…

    Alexis although he is world class holds on to the ball too long and so allows well driled teams to reforma nd regroup defensively.

    The reason pep bought him but failed to play him as he affected barca’s. Again Alexs plays better when our lil Mozart plays.

  24. rico says:

    Vidal is getting on a bit though Ts and with his injury history he’d be a huge risk imo…

    Judge, I’d say it’s personnel around him, he needs runners, movement and players on his wave length – it’s almost like having Dennis back in the team but without the great players Dennis had around him, things wont work..

  25. Lee says:

    The repetition is so boring at Arsenal, we never seem to learn. We seem to choke on the big stage…… we beat citeh convincingly and then play like dogshit. Is Kroenke tearing Wenger a new arse? Nope, just continue the top 4 good work my man.

  26. tsgh says:

    Judge- I wouldn’t say I know my football… I just cheat by having access to official stats most fans dont have access to. lol

    I wrote a post in the summer voicing my views on us buying Debuchy…if you can recall.

    I also said that Per will be found out this season.

    In our current squad I rate only per, Bellerin, Serge, MA08, TR07, Ozil, Monreal, Kosser, Sanchez
    Theo and Ox are not tactical enough to be relied upon. They are luxury players imho…

    My starting line-up will be;
    1. Ospina/Martinez
    Rb. Belerin Cb. Kosser Cb. xxx Lb Gibbs I have not added Gabriel or Per because it depends on opposition

    Midfield: Ramsey, Monreal, Sc19/Sege

    Foward: Serge/Akpom, Alexis/OG12, Ozil

  27. rico says:

    Ts, do you recall my post about ‘forget Chambers, get Clyne’? 🙂

    Re Morgan, did he really want to move to us, or was that just paper talk, and those papers said it was Totts he wanted to join to stick with Pochetino (spelling).

  28. tsgh says:

    Lee- so true re Ozil and Sanchez but if you look deeper and go back in history Sanchez does not score goals between January and March.

    For his last 4 seasons he has scored less than 15 goals around that time. 4 of those goals came last season at Barca in his best ever goals tally

  29. tsgh says:

    Scott- I have nothing against Chambers. he will be a fine player
    But he is for the future imo..

    We both love and respect AW, we also talked in London before the FA cup win and we said AW should either move on after the win or use this to really push on…

    Maybe love is blind as Micko says but to me AW does not deserve what we gets but he is not helping himself with some very poor decisions.
    He is in his 60’s and deserves to think about now for once imho…

  30. Judge me in May says:

    Rico I agree with re personnel change..
    However I think if our current lot got the right instructions from the coaches Ozil wouldn’t look as ineffective.. as said stay wide and create space etc.
    Tsgh so you play monreal as a defensive midfielder, I don’t think he is a good passer of the ball, and he seems to panic when he is on one to one situation imo..
    I would play serge before Walcot myself, but his fitness issues is big hurdle
    Ox is not good in central midfield, and I don’t know why wenger keep experimenting with him out there.. He is a bloody good winger and he should stick to that imo..
    Paulista couldn’t do much worse than mertasacker, so why not.. lol

  31. rico says:

    Good job Ts, it will be March 🙂

    It is old when crocked… lol But, if we signed him for a sensible fee and didn’t pay him a huge salary, he’d sure make a difference to our midfield, but my fear is he’d take over from Diaby…

  32. tsgh says:

    Judge- I rate Paulista but I hope he does not turn out to be like TV and Kosser combination.

    He prefers to play on the lhs of central defence albeit he played on the rhs against M’boro…

    I would have preferred AW giving Olsson a chance and taken Kroos on but its all in the past.

    We need another Rosicky going forward. Our team lacks tactica players imo…

    Monreal played DM for Villareal sometimes ahead of Sc19

  33. rico says:

    Judge, to be fair, they probably do get told that but it seems our wingers all want to play central and that’s possibly the problem.

    Scott, it’s not the losing, its how we lose….

  34. tsgh says:

    On a serious note though I am not sure of Vidal injury concerns. He had an injury last summer but it was not a cruciate so he should be fine… he still runs 10km minimum each game…

    Khedira is the injury case… reason I was against his proposed signing… and he is over rated too…

  35. scottfromoz says:

    Hiya Ginge, I’ll always say Wenger should have quit on a high after the Cup.
    He left himself in a corner, and that’s on him, and I’ll still criticise him when I think it’s deserved, but we were very sharp at the start v. Monaco then Most players bludged.
    I know plenty believe it’s Wengers job to motivate them but really, why should professional players need motivating?
    I don’t get that.

  36. scottfromoz says:

    Rico, I agree.
    How we lose is disgusting.
    That’s why I think we need guys like Henri who will give their all for the cause…..I know you agree with me on that one 🙂

  37. rico says:

    Perhaps LvG will go back for Vidal again…

    Just can’t see AW going for a Dm who will be 28 years old and with not sell on value.. 😉

  38. allezkev says:

    Wenger is going to have to do some soul-searching before he names his team this Sunday…

    He could, quite easily, drop about six or seven players from the XI he fielded last Wednesday….

    Rosicky must be due a game?
    Walcott given a start perhaps?
    Monreal restored to the back-four?
    Gabriel in for either BFG or Koz?
    Chambers back in again?

    JM, I will give it bit of thought before giving you my line-up, I know how excited you get over it… 🙂

  39. frednerk says:

    Most seem to think that its what we do on the ball,
    that is the problem.
    Against Monaco we created plenty of clear cut chances.
    Easy draw Monaco weak team……..concede 3
    Easy draw Anderlect weak team…..concede 3
    Watched Monaco plenty of times..2nd tier ..for me

    Real have world class players working up and down,
    and the current favorites for the champs-league.

    If you know your football and watch our games,
    just look what we do when we don’t have the ball.
    I like Ozil class act,watch his reactions after
    losing the ball,
    That has nothing to do with other players.
    Just my humble opinion.

  40. rico says:

    You have a point Fred re Ozil when he looses the ball, he needs to start fighting to win it back, but he’s just not that kind of player…

    Walcott is the same which is just why we can’t afford to play them both in the ‘big’ games..

  41. Lee says:

    Rico I remember you banging on about Clyne.. and thought you were mental (not seeing much of him) however since then I’ve clocked him a few times…..he’d be a great addition but on paper all of our defenders are fucking good, they seem to switch off at crucial moments or not gel 100% of the time. It’s boring and loads on here have mentioned it but we have no real leaders on the field…..

  42. Wath says:

    Spot on re no leaders Lee, Also Chambers played RB for the Saints but is he really a RB, I see him as more of a CB..! Def not quick enough to be a RB but he is young and learning and I like the boy a lot.

  43. allezkev says:

    Monaco had two defensively minded ‘wardrobes’ in front of their back-four…

    We had one, and then took him off…

    Coincidence or what???

  44. allezkev says:

    The guy who scored Monacos first goal, had acres of space and nobody closed him down….

    Criticise BFG, criticise Ospina, but there are eleven players in a team and they are all entitled to share in the defensive work…

    From what I read Koscielny didn’t have a good game either, but nobody is digging him out…
    Gibbs was poor also…

  45. allezkev says:

    I actually think that Wenger has to bite the bullet and go out and sign a top top quality goalkeeper in the summer….

    Szczesny has had his chances but flunked it…
    Ospina, after a good start, is looking dodgy….

  46. Wavy says:

    Le Coq was hooked I think because they didn’t want him sent off by the 70th minute he was smashed, knackered and jakes! He made one very crude challenge, high and from behind the player, he could and probably should have been booked for it, he wasn’t but his timing seemed to have gone, so rather than risking him or even trusting him not to do it again, bad I’ll timed tackle that is, the bench reached out to him and snuggled him down!! Bless!

    A shame that his work rate and effort wasn’t to be seen much amongst the other members of the team! Anyway it is what it was!

  47. Lee says:

    I witnessed the Arsenal malfunction on weds night, first hand….not good at all! What’s all the Chez shite that’s floating about? Playing crossbar challenge at half time, fucking joke if true! It’s all too easy at Arsenal, it all starts from the top and rolls down hill imho.

  48. tsgh says:

    Wavy- Fabinho who played holding midfield for them is a RB by trade and had not played DM for them.
    Kondogbia is 22 y.o and played his 5th ever UCL game on Wednesday night..
    Only Moutinho is a seasoned pro with more than 20 UCL games as has Berbaatov.
    They caused us no problems on the wings at all. Like the 6 goals we conceded against the chavs last season all the goals we conceded came from a midfielder losing the ball or going missing…

    I beg to differ if Le Coq put in the shift folks believe; before he went off he had ran less than 7.2 km which was below Monaco’s average midfielders….
    One of the stats site will post some stats comparing DM contributions since January next month and you will be amazed how short change we have been by AW in that department…

  49. Micko says:

    Hi rico, glad your feeling a lickle bit better, there were a few of us reaching for the sick bucket Wednesday nite.

    Knowing our luck they’ll make us play the 2nd leg on a bumpy pitch on top of a car park, everyone’s got it in for us.

    Scott, stop getting your knickers in a twist, Ozil had a shit game like most of the team Wednesday, watch the game again and see how many times players made runs only for him to give the ball away especially 1st half ! A nite to forget all round.

  50. rico says:

    Hi Micko, thanks.. The only bonus for me on Wednesday was not suffering that rubbish, but it caught up with me later the next day and wish I hadn’t bothered….

  51. Micko says:

    When the draw was made we were all delighted with it but I’m beginning to think most teams see us as the dream draw now !
    Are we gonna go to Monaco, score 3 and not concede, not a hope in hell.

  52. scottfromoz says:

    Morning all.
    Micko, I never suggested he played well, just that the criticism on him was very harsh.
    He covered more ground than any player in our side, yet was labelled lazy.
    Ok, let’s say we accept that point, how lazy were the rest lol.
    Shocking performance all round, no question.

  53. Wavy says:

    What the stats don’t say is that Ozil kept running away! And Le Coq’s distance was restricted as as he only ran from sideline to sideline like a bobbin in a loom

  54. Wavy says:

    What the stats don’t say is that Ozil kept running away! And Le Coq’s distance was restricted as as he only ran from sideline to sideline like a bobbin in a loom

  55. Spectrum says:

    Rico – You said you binned my catchphrase. But perhaps you and allezkev can tell me what about that phrase is any different now, to when I was last on this site ? By declaring that phrase “boring”, you’re conceding that the whole situation at Arsenal is boring and unproductive. And you’re both happy for another two years of it ? Looking forward to next year’s Champions League campaign only to experience another debacle like Anderlecht and Monaco ? Where’s the pride in your club, that you’re settling for this crap ?

  56. Spectrum says:

    Hmmm. Twelve and a half hours, and no reply yet. Okay, I’ll come back here in exactly a year’s time and we’ll see what’s changed. By then you might find the term “stagnate” less boring than “rust”…..

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