Champions League : Roma vs Arsenal, Second Leg. 11/03/09

[Double_H]

Going through this thread, can I just say that I found it very hard to believe that immediately after the game, some of us/you managed to come with comments like "I´m dissapointed with how this or that player played" and so on. That´s for real? I mean, who gives a f****g damn?

f****g hell, came to have a good fun, but as soon as I saw this complaining-no-matter-how-it-ended, I had to leave it, unbelievable.

some of the posters here loves to say " i told you so"

no matter what a player do they wont give him credit

 

[TomasCR]

That´s not what pisses me off, I´ve already got used to that, credit, no credit. The thing is, everyone had written us off before the season has started, then the lads give absolutely everything, play 120 minutes and those, who never took a penalty before take it very well and yet, you can see someone complaing about something. It makes you think if some actually wait for the likes of Denilson and Nasri to have a bad game, know it sounds strange but still...

But yeah, that´s what is A-M sometimes like, will have to give it a break for a while I suppose. Come on Arsenal!

 

[IBL]

WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

dont laugh but I fell asleep during the first half of extra time I was that tired. When I woke I scrambled to see the result and checked online BBC on my phone, was ecstatic to see that we'd won...put a smile on me all day at work.

Too happy to analyse the match, we got through and thats all that counts. With Cesc and Ade to return and the returning of Walcott and Eduardo we'll at least have a better shot in the next round.....here's hoping for a favourable draw!

 

[Clrnc]

I have just rewatched the whole penalty shootout and analysed every take. Every of Roma's penalty scored was unsavable. They were truly practicing penalties or just had composure. Almunia did superbly to almost save 2.(Riise Pizzaro). The funny thing is I didn't realise Almunia went Baptista to scare and taunt him, then shouted "YOU AREN"T GOING TO BEAT ME." Baptista duly slammed the ball in emphatically and gave him a stare. But at the end of the match during celebrations Baptista went over and Almunia cleared things up with him. Nice to see Baptista still missing us alot

Almunia also went to Totti to taunt him but failed, and tried to played mindgames with every single Roma taker. Our penalties were very very poor, almost every single one in the middle. Diaby, Toure and Denilson one was the poorer of the lot but Doni is the worst keeper on earth. Toure went such a long way back and then jump and ran to the ball like it was his enemy. I was so scared he was going to blast over yesterday.

And yesterday atmosphere seems like the final. Well at least we had a true 135 mins rehearsal there.

 

[patrick42uk]

Theo is filling out. Looks so much bigger now compared to last season. Seems only a matter of time before we see him up top.

 

[ricky1985]

Yeah, I thought that too. Theo really does look a big buggar with his shirt off.

Did anyone else notice Van Persie saying over and over 'wait, wait' to Almunia before the start of the shoot-out? Obviously meaning don't dive before they kick it and make it easy for them. Al certainly seemed to follow Robin's advice.

What I took from yesterday was just how incredibly different our team looks and fuctions without Arshavin and Eduardo in the team.

Eboue, Denilson, and Bendtner shouldn't have been playing yesterday. They simply aren't good enough atm. I suppose there's a few you could say that about at the moment though.

 

[kamikaze80]

anyone else feel Almuina was a disgrace the way he acted in the penalty shootout? NOT something i want Arsenal to be associated with

if your talking about him not looking on when we were taking our penalties, I agree with you about that.

he's obviously talking about almunia talking **** to the roma players before they took their penners. yea, i'd be pretty annoyed if the opposing keeper did that to our players. suppose i'd rather he didn't do that.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

I think it was more of a tease between him and Baptista to be honest. If I remember correctly they were very close during his time in London.

 

[True Gooner]

If Lehmann baited Baptista before his penalty no one would have found it offensive/wrong.

"Aww..Mad Jens at it again, isn't he an annoying ****?" *hearty chuckle*

Seriously, absolutely nothing wrong with what Almunia did there, I'm just disappointed he didn't do more to put Roma off their penalties.

 

[Anzac]

Just read an article on f365 giving AW a serve re his tactics or lack thereof during thegame. They said we surprised Roma with the 4231 in the 1st leg, but then repeated the tactic & the 2nd & Roma were ready for it - isolated RVP up front & crowded out Nasri on the middle = no flow in the attack & no opportunities up front. They then concluded that it was appalling that AW didn't do anything about it & that tactics are his major weakness.

 

[Raider]

A Tree is judged by the quality of its fruit.

and our's is nowhere near are tasty as it should be.

 

[Double_H]

Just read an article on f365 giving AW a serve re his tactics or lack thereof during thegame. They said we surprised Roma with the 4231 in the 1st leg, but then repeated the tactic & the 2nd & Roma were ready for it - isolated RVP up front & crowded out Nasri on the middle = no flow in the attack & no opportunities up front. They then concluded that it was appalling that AW didn't do anything about it & that tactics are his major weakness.

sometimes i dont know where they get writers like that

the first game we Wanted to win in any way . and rome wanted a draw

2nd game they scored an early go and then played exactly like the first game
the deference is that we were afraid to attack with more numbers and throw the match away
we had more of the ball like 65% we had more shots on goal and we missed to easy chances

 

[AnthonyG]

A Tree is judged by the quality of its fruit.

and our's is nowhere near are tasty as it should be.

Plenty of quality trees bear no fruit or, even, "fruit" that is inedible but still serves a meaningful purpose. The willow to whit.

 

[Rain Dance]

A Tree is judged by the quality of its fruit.

and our's is nowhere near are tasty as it should be.

May I remind you of a small history of ours

FA Cup 2005.... penalty shoot out win
first shot from Arsenal player : RvP's FK in extra time second half

That fruit was sweet............... not because the trophy, but cause we won against all odds

Let's give the team credits where its due

 

[Jameel46]

think the worrying thing was that 3 of our defenders were at fault for the goal. God knows what Toure & Gallas were doing and Clichy left Juan with all the space in the world.

 

[Jameel46]

A Tree is judged by the quality of its fruit.

and our's is nowhere near are tasty as it should be.

May I remind you of a small history of ours

FA Cup 2005.... penalty shoot out win
first shot from Arsenal player : RvP's FK in extra time second half

That fruit was sweet............... not because the trophy, but cause we won against all odds

Let's give the team credits where its due

yeah but at the same time we knew that we didn't deserve the Cup as we sucked against Man Utd in the final, and us unlike many other fans accpet that and don't really claim that as a great achievement.

 

[alboots101]

really Jameel...i still rip my mate about....best football...could`nt beat us on an off day...made it even better for me.

 

[Anzac]

Just read an article on f365 giving AW a serve re his tactics or lack thereof during thegame. They said we surprised Roma with the 4231 in the 1st leg, but then repeated the tactic & the 2nd & Roma were ready for it - isolated RVP up front & crowded out Nasri on the middle = no flow in the attack & no opportunities up front. They then concluded that it was appalling that AW didn't do anything about it & that tactics are his major weakness.

sometimes i dont know where they get writers like that

the first game we Wanted to win in any way . and rome wanted a draw

2nd game they scored an early go and then played exactly like the first game
the deference is that we were afraid to attack with more numbers and throw the match away
we had more of the ball like 65% we had more shots on goal and we missed to easy chances

Thing is though is the writer 'wrong' in the summation of the tactics employed - did they crowd Nasri & thus isolate RVP? Did AW try anything different apart from the usual substitutions - i.e. did he persist with the established tactics & just change players?

It's not about attacking with more numbers - for me that's on a par with relying upon our best players to make the system work. It's about doing something different with the assets you have:
* move Nasri to the flank & play 2 strikers with Bendtner up front with RVP (442), direct balls to the wide men & whip in an early cross to use Bendtner in the air to knock the ball down;
* drop Nasri into a 3 man midfield (4321) & have him take the ball forward;
* change to a 4312 with Nik & RVP up front, Nasri in the hole & drop Eboue into a 3 man midfield;
* go to a flat 451 & play Nik as target to hold the ball & have 4 players breaking forward from midfield plus the 2 FBs;
* step up the pace of the ball transition;
* play Nik as target in any formation & by-pass the midfield in the ball transition all together, but have then breaking forward off him.

Anything other than persisting with the same old same old.........IMO the best way to beat a defensive tactic is pace & movement - not more numbers (unless you are already playing anything less than 2 in attack.

 

[graham_ka]

TBH... for a piece of the game, I can't remember if it was the first half or second, Wenger had RVP playing LW while Bendtner played up top.

I dont know if this is to any of you guys help up there tactics wise. Just remember this came to mind when watching the game.

 

[Anzac]

TBH... for a piece of the game, I can't remember if it was the first half or second, Wenger had RVP playing LW while Bendtner played up top.

I dont know if this is to any of you guys help up there tactics wise. Just remember this came to mind when watching the game.

Bendtner is better on the flanks than RVP, so that was an exercise in futility........... :roll: