Arsenal 2015-2016: The One That Got Away
- Thread starter blueguitar322
- Start date
Could say the same for the blown shot by Ox.
"half way to mission accomplished for Arsenal" Really? A nil-nil draw would be "mission accomplished"?
"half way to mission accomplished for Arsenal" Really? A nil-nil draw would be "mission accomplished"?
That was a beautiful set up. But, as such, it should be 1-1. Ox's missed chance was pretty bad.
Lucky there at the end but we played very well that half, with the exception of Ox, who is just freaking awful. I hope Welbeck or Campbell comes on at the half as it looked like he took a knock.
Barcelona always looked that little more likely to find an end product. Probably a deserved lead.
The tie isn't over yet, of course.
The tie isn't over yet, of course.
Must've been some strong shit you were smoking, who's your connect? PM me.
Ha. I think Arsenal's chances have actually been pretty good. I realistically didn't think they'd hold Barca scoreless, but, you know, with 20 minutes left that thought cross my mind.
Well, that's that then. What an awful foul.
I guess you can keep Messi relatively quiet for 82 minutes, but 90 minutes is tougher.
Edit: Not entirely sure what the heck I was talking about there with respect to Messi. I need a nap.
I guess you can keep Messi relatively quiet for 82 minutes, but 90 minutes is tougher.
Edit: Not entirely sure what the heck I was talking about there with respect to Messi. I need a nap.
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LOL it has to be Flamini's first involvement that leads to the penalty. 0-2 Messi. That's game and makes next week a formality.
Wenger hurt by his stubborn refusal to move on from players like Ox and Flamini. Shocking, really.
I guess there's no shame in being beaten by the best (counter)attacking trio of all time combined with the expected clumsiness of your second-string "defensive" midfielder, but this hurts.
I've really had my fill of Ox, Flamini and Ramsey. Ramsey, with his weak shit passes, was almost as infuriating as Ox's miss, which I will never forgive. Alexis and Ozil looked like shit, but I'll give them a pass. Cech, Monreal and a few others played as well as could be expected.
Also, will someone please bring the white tent for the BFG, it's time for the glue factory.
Also, will someone please bring the white tent for the BFG, it's time for the glue factory.
Pique even decided to clear his yellow card for the quarterfinals as soon as Messi got his 2nd. Clever.
I thought in the first half Alexis did great, second half he completely disappeared.
That second goal eliminated any hope for the 2nd leg. 8 goals in 5 games for Messi against Arsenal in CL.
Y'all are throwing Flamini under the bus, but Mertesacker was clearly to blame for the penalty since he short changed the back tracking Flamini with a pass in his own box. Idiotic stuff from Per.
The result was about as I expected. I got home right after the Barcelona goal, so I wasn't uplifted or anything. It seemed like a lot of things were going against Arsenal but Arsenal had held on. You give that trio chances though and they're going to win. This is one of the few games where I really felt having Ozil creates problems. You really need guys that can win balls back against Barcelona or who know how to press and get into passing lanes. It seemed like Barca had a numbers game quite often. The way they converge on the ball and make the space disappear is an underappreciated aspect of their game given how much attention the beauty of that trio gets. Arsenal really needed another cog in the midfield to win the ball back or break up Barca's attack. Arsenal plays contain defensively, i.e. getting between the man and the ball but are severely lacking on the press part. For players who know how to receive a pass and get open, they're very poor at getting into passing lanes.
Anyway, I'd say on to bigger things, but I consider the Champions League the grand daddy of them all. There are bigger priorities now, for sure, and it's time to focus on winning the league and possibly the Cup as well. United on Sunday. I hope Arsenal takes it to United.
The result was about as I expected. I got home right after the Barcelona goal, so I wasn't uplifted or anything. It seemed like a lot of things were going against Arsenal but Arsenal had held on. You give that trio chances though and they're going to win. This is one of the few games where I really felt having Ozil creates problems. You really need guys that can win balls back against Barcelona or who know how to press and get into passing lanes. It seemed like Barca had a numbers game quite often. The way they converge on the ball and make the space disappear is an underappreciated aspect of their game given how much attention the beauty of that trio gets. Arsenal really needed another cog in the midfield to win the ball back or break up Barca's attack. Arsenal plays contain defensively, i.e. getting between the man and the ball but are severely lacking on the press part. For players who know how to receive a pass and get open, they're very poor at getting into passing lanes.
Anyway, I'd say on to bigger things, but I consider the Champions League the grand daddy of them all. There are bigger priorities now, for sure, and it's time to focus on winning the league and possibly the Cup as well. United on Sunday. I hope Arsenal takes it to United.
This is quite the reaction to losing to by far the world's best team headed by possibly the greatest player in soccer history in his prime.
Honestly, this result is about what I expected and is probably indicative of the team's true level of talent. Arsenal are good, or even very good, by English standards, but they are significantly worse than Barca. Arsenal are 260 ELO points lower rated than Barca. The EPL equivalent would be Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal, and a close game through 70 minutes followed by an Arsenal breakthrough is probably how the average game vs Palace would go.
Except Flamini. You're completely and totally correct about Flamini.
Yeah, a full-strength Arsenal is a match for any team in the PL, but Barcelona is just on another planet from every other team save (at most) two. I think any goal besides winning by two @BCN is fairly achievable still.
He's totally correct about Ox and Ramsey too as they both played like utter dogshit. How many times did Arsenal start to break and Ramsey just passed it into a Barca defender, like 5-6 times?
Take a step back from the ledge, guys. Have a sleep and think about some of these appraisals in the morning. Having a bad game against Barcelona FC doesn't make you a crappy player overnight. (Flamini was there already, btw.)
Are we shitting on Flamini to shit on Flamini or what? Cuz again, the penalty was Per's fault. Flamini just isn't a good player and bringing him in is on the manager. If he wanted to take Coquelin off, I would have been more in favor of bringing in Campbell. Probably would have allowed just as many goals.
Mertesacker made a horrible clearance, but of the two bad plays, Flamini's was worse to me -- he missed the ball by three feet and kicked an oncoming player right across the shins. He was woefully out of position too -- he was in no man's land with his back to the most dangerous attacking side in football, and basically allowed Messi to cross the ball to himself. What was he even doing there? There were three players back against two attackers, and he turns his back on Messi after Messi crosses it over his head -- heck, part of the reason Mertesacker whiffed was probably because he couldn't understand why his own teammate was running straight toward him.
Or Elneny. You know, the DM we bought in January.
Flamini was supposed to have been made redundant with this but here we are.
I fully expect Arsene will offer him a new contract in the summer because I live in Hell.
Flamini was supposed to have been made redundant with this but here we are.
I fully expect Arsene will offer him a new contract in the summer because I live in Hell.
Definitely Per's fault. I have to disagree with DDB. What kind of touch is that in his own penalty area when he's under no pressure? Way too cute.
Also, the first goal was Barcelona at their direct, counterattacking best. I'm going through the replay and it's like falling dominos which Arsenal player was out of position to cover space or catch up to the pace of the ball and players. From Bellerin's cross, the ball doesn't hit the ground and it's to Neymar with Per "on" him. His first touch is actually quite poor, pushing it back towards an oncoming Coquelin, but he's so quick in recovering, turning, and pushing ahead just enough to feed a outbound cutting Suarez. And the fatal move: When Per slides with futility to break up that pass, Coquelin slacks (I'm sure he's beat but if he stays with Neymar there then Monreal does't need to cover) and Neymar sprints past midfield to receive the one touch back from Suarez. (Actually, even if Per doesn't slide, he's not keeping up.) And the rest is too easy.
But check out Belllerin. He sprints all the way fucking back from his intercepted cross and almost gets to Neymar before his assist. Amazing.
Seriously, watch it a few times. Where do you see the hinge point?
Neymar's heavy first touch looks like it actually freezes a couple of Arsenal players causing them to relax for a beat and then leaving them flat footed when he turns on a dime.
The part of that play that's most amazing in an amazing sequence though may very well be Messi's touch. Cech diagnoses Suarez's cross quickly and manages to get across and make himself big. Most players hit it first time and at least give Cech a shot at a save but Messi makes him look foolish. If he's just a little heavy on that touch he potentially blows a great chance but it was perfect.
The part of that play that's most amazing in an amazing sequence though may very well be Messi's touch. Cech diagnoses Suarez's cross quickly and manages to get across and make himself big. Most players hit it first time and at least give Cech a shot at a save but Messi makes him look foolish. If he's just a little heavy on that touch he potentially blows a great chance but it was perfect.
Definitely. It's an example of Messi's greatness, in that he reads and reacts so quickly with such skill as to make it seem instinctual. Maybe this is self-evident, but I don't think he would've taken that touch had Cech not emerged, because his game is based on reading body movements. So in the moment he receives the ball, he immediately reads the situation, sees Cech commit, and makes the perfect touch with control.
Oh, this is the Arsenal thread. I heard Wenger always rated him.
Oh, this is the Arsenal thread. I heard Wenger always rated him.
Flamini was backing away from Per. When Per made that pass, Flamini was caught on his heels. You don't make that pass. Never ever.
That's a mistake that's punished like that only by...Barcelona. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and call them your daddies.
Mertesacker's positioning is the biggest problem for me. He's in no-mans-land, 15 yards into the opposition half, not marking anyone. Not a good spot for a CB lacking pace to be in.
Also, after Neymar plays the pass to Suarez Neymar takes off on a dead sprint. Coquelin, standing right next to him, jogs slowly. In the space of two seconds they go from being 1 yard apart to 20. With the CB out of position, the DM has to retreat. Coquelin is not as fast as Neymar and probably could not have caught him, but if Coquelin sprints back he might be in position to mark Messi or at least limit the angles for the pass to Messi.
What's going on with the Hull replay? It's Wednesday -- actually almost close of business in England -- and they still can't get a replay date? Kind of tells you something is broken with the system. I read that Tuesday and Wednesday of the week after the derby are out because the FA cannot schedule a game to coincide with the Champions League. So, the options are Monday, March 7 (two days after Arsenal's weekend game) or playing on the weekend of the sixth round proper, which is kind of unfair to Hull and makes things worse.
There's no Champions League the week of Tue 3/1 - Wed 3/2. Couldn't the PL push the midweek Swansea game Arsenal has on 3/2? Arsenal has no midweek fixtures after the 3/16 second leg with Barcelona (unless they somehow - no, I won't even say it). Put Swansea out there, to Wed 3/23 or 3/30 or something, and move Hull up to 3/2.
Yeah, I don't know why that's not on the table, but apparently it never has been. I guess part of the equation is that the Championship is also very congested, and they play more mid-week games. Since you have to assume that Hull might win, and might need free midweek games in the future if they replay Watford and/or make the semis, then I think that week is problematic. (Why it would be more problematic to move their mid-week game next week but not the week after, I really cannot say -- in the end I suspect it has to do with money and televsion.)
So, it looks like it will be Tuesday, March 7. It appears there were heavy negotiations with UEFA for special dispensation, notwithstanding the clash against the two Champions League games that same evening. The FA agreed to start early -- at 7:00 London time (45 minutes before the CL games), which should leave the second half of the CL game without a TV conflict in England, unless of course the FA replay goes to extra time.
In the end, it appears Arsenal got its way, and the FA went to bat for them against UEFA to avoid requiring a game 48 hours after the NLD. Apparently, Barca was in the recent past given dispensation to play a game during the CL and so that precedent was used.
In the end, it appears Arsenal got its way, and the FA went to bat for them against UEFA to avoid requiring a game 48 hours after the NLD. Apparently, Barca was in the recent past given dispensation to play a game during the CL and so that precedent was used.