Loss Champions League Round of 16: FC Porto 1 - 0 Arsenal | Wednesday 21st February | KO: 20:00 GMT | TNT Sports

Prediction

Porto 0-2 Arsenal

 

[lomekian]

They also lost 1-5 at home to Liverpool. Pedigree is bunk. When you play Sunderland now you're playing a championship team, not a team that won several league titles. This Porto team has got nothing on the team that won European Cups, they are also-rans good enough to get into the CL (not difficult in Portugal) and make it to the ko stage where they are ko'd regularly at the first hurdle.

Sorry, this is not a big team. We didn't register a single shot on target for the first team in two years. That's not because they were so good, it's because we were so bad. We've played many better teams that Porto on the last two years.

Read the totality of what I wrote. THe point isn't that they are elite. The point is that they play in the Champions League every year, nearly always qaulify from their group, and beat at least one club bigger and more successful than them almost every season, even when they have their worst seasons in Europe, and 3 of the last 5 years they've been knocked out by teams that got to the final. This means that although they aren't great, they really know how to play in Europe, and are used to winning against big teams in one off games.

And pedigree does matter. Otherwise, why do Real Madrid excel in Europe every year despite fluctuating domestic form? Why did it take 100 point man City signing a cyborg to win it, previously bottling it against trash? Why couldn't PSG do anything in the tournament despite being stacked with superstars and frequently ahead in ties late on? Why in the last 35 years have there been only 3 new winners despite all the oil and oligarch cash, and even those took years in the tournament to get close to winning?

Its the same domestically. Why do Sp**s never win anything despite being on almost an equal footing resource wise with us and Liverpool?

 

[MikeVinna]

You could see from the start that we weren’t on it when Rice got that yellow. Charity FC back at it. Deserved nothing from that game but should have drawn it. Pretty brain dead from Martinelli with that pass at the end to give the ball away. Likely had a late winner on his mind, which he got. Thought Gabi was very bad in particular throughout the match but I gues the same can be said for many players.

The real problem is tactically we had nothing in our locker to open them up. Our set pieces and corners were atrocious as well.

 

[jones]

seeing @jones talking about squad cost

I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory especially when English clubs are involved, too many instances where you can see continental clubs doing well with comparatively little while English clubs blow a small country's GDP on a bunch of cloggers who can't trap a ball.

Normally I'd say that's not us but yesterday we were beyond awful. You could actually say Porto proved the opposite of squad cost as they deserved the win.

 

[berric]

CL knockout is a different breed. You need to grab your chances on the counter and be ruthless, as often it's fine margins and experience that makes a difference.

The xG/total control crap does not "even out" over a season, one more game like last night and we're bust.

Arteta is too Pep-like to see this. That's why Pep only one this comp with two of the best squads ever assembled while Klopp e.g. went to multiple European finals with underdog teams.

 

[Kobi]

Why, when they are playing a high line with loads space behind and a fourty one year old defender did we not play one ball over the top?
All we had to do was get Trossard to stand on the right back and spam balls over the top to Martinelli in that space between him and Pepe.
It reminded me of that game at Villa where it took us an eternity to work out that Martinelli was clean through every time, admittedly he wasted every one of them but nonetheless.
We just played exactly the same as we did against Palace, West Ham and Burnley’s low block when there is no space, it was all behind them.

 

[jones]

Always much better defensively than you'd expect.

How is it possible for something to always be better than you expect?

We're a joke in Europe. Under Wenger I'd be confident we could batter these guys at home but with Arteta's KO record on top of our own pathetic pedigree I'm not holding my breath.

 

[HattoriHanzo]

All that stuff happened decades ago and have nothing to do with the current Porto and Arsenal teams.
Arsenal has built one of the most expensive squads in Europe, Porto sells their best players every year and their current best player is a GK. It should be a comfortable win over 2 legs, hope the boys pull their **** together at the carpet.

In theory you are correct.
But theory and reality aren't always the same.
You should read what lomekian wrote in his last post, he explained it perfectly.

What Porto has and what Arsenal lacks is experience in CL and mentality to win when it matters (what we saw yesterday, they scored in 94th minute to win).

 

[jones]

Think we should throw the return leg, just field Nwaneri and some otherkids give them a run out. Even if we go through, first serious team we're facing will abuse us and destroy our confidence for the usual 4-5 weeks.

We should focus all of our resources on the league, battering the Lutons and Sheffields of this world is more for us. PL might be Ekstraklasa level these days but a lot of money for winning it, we can then trick/bribe more good players into coming and maybe challenge in the CL in 6-8 years.

 

[lomekian]

Really hard to see how we go deep in this competition even if we win the return leg.

Think we need some next level jam with the draws.

Yeah. People always forget how different it is playing in Europe. Better opposition managers, teams who rest players in previous league games, all the dirty tricks we don't see here, refs who (for better or worse) take a totally different approach to English refs, travel etc

Nearly every team who has been out of the Champions League for a while struggles a bit when they first get back in.

 

[lomekian]

Spent the whole day yesterday getting battered by Arteta sexuals telling me how sh!t Arsène was in Europe. Then after the game how we shouldn't underestimate just how good Porto are.

Meh, Arsène only really underachieved in Europe early on when we were amazing domestically. Which sort of just reiterates that Champion's League football is hard and you need some luck - the best ever Arsenal team, under its best manager since the 1930s got killed by Wayne Bridge...

 

[Trilly]

I honestly thought we were the 3rd best team in the CL this season until yesterday

We should be…

Still expect us to go through but the manner of how we do it will show us if we really are third favourites.

Maybe yday was just a blip for an inexperienced team.

 

[Sapient Hawk]

The second tie at the Emirates will undoubtedly be one of the most frustrating matches. Their gamesmanship, diving, playacting, delaying, feigning injuries and whatnot will be at extremes.

We need to score an early goal and even that won't stop them for playing only for penalties.

If we play with the same intencity that overwhelmed Liverpool; I doubt Porto can survive.

We need to put them to the sword from the whistle & not stop until we're at least 4 goals up.

 

[A_G]

 

[lomekian]

CL knockout is a different breed. You need to grab your chances on the counter and be ruthless, as often it's fine margins and experience that makes a difference.

The xG/total control crap does not "even out" over a season, one more game like last night and we're bust.

Arteta is too Pep-like to see this. That's why Pep only one this comp with two of the best squads ever assembled while Klopp e.g. went to multiple European finals with underdog teams.

It also shows quite clearly where future recruitment is still needed. Whether up front or out wide we desperately need another player of the requisite quality who can stretch the opposition. At present if Martinelli has an off day, we really lack in that department. Saka can do it a bit, but is best in a different role. Jesus and Zinny were big misses, as both are much better fits for this kind of game.

Also shows the value of an Osihmen type striker - someone who can occupy multiple defenders.

 

[GLITCH]

Experience definitely matters in this competition. Even that young Ajax team that got to the semi-final had experience. This team needs to learn not to panic when the pressure is on. Play with fear again in the second leg and it's curtains.

 

[remains]

Really felt like Groundhog Day yesterday. The return leg will be tough as well and I worry for us if we don’t score early. We’ll probably also concede some freak goal like we usually do in European knockouts.

 

[OnlyOne]

Why the **** is the return leg in March?

 

[Makingtrax]

I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory especially when English clubs are involved, too many instances where you can see continental clubs doing well with comparatively little while English clubs blow a small country's GDP on a bunch of cloggers who can't trap a ball.

Normally I'd say that's not us but yesterday we were beyond awful. You could actually say Porto proved the opposite of squad cost as they deserved the win.

Theory?? Ffs.I was praising you, you gimp. And now you've gone and dumped a Drippin clone load of bs on me. You deserve an Abou 'War and Peace' novel in reply to that sh!t but I can't be arsed.

 

[A_G]

Why the **** is the return leg in March?

It’s always like this in the R16, three week gap between games. In Europa it’s only a week apart because there’s an extra knockout round.

 

[Riou]

Blame Arteta, blame the players... think we are missing the issue here.

We have the thread maker version of Harry Kane, ffs!

It's all good putting a ton past crap teams like Burnley and West Ham when the pressure isn't really on yet, of course he turns up then...where is he when it's do or die in the cup v Liverpool, where was he in this game last night..not surprised we lost both.

If we don't beat Porto in the return leg, then those bottler accusations will just get louder and louder (especially from me!)

Massive game for my boy @Oxeki that, a lot on the line for him...let's see if he can do it