CL: Arsenal vs PSV Eindhoven | 14/09/04

[afrodizzy]

I still believe that PSV came with no intention to score thats why they played deep in the first half and made a half-hearted scramble towards the end. I have not started to panic yet Sol will be back in defence. Thanks Cygan for deputising!

 

[Kyla]

Well said Lewdikris. Judging by some of the responses here, one would've thought we had lost.

No, but judging from recent history we are as far away from winning the CL as we were when Parlour and Dixon were sent off in Lens in 1998. I stand to be corrected. But hey, let me jump on the "it's still 3pts against the hardest team in our group but not the competion" bandwagon and feign some sort of happiness.!

 

[champions04]

Why do we play like this in Europe but the very next week take a team apart in the PL? I just don't understand. Still even though I probably already have we shouldn't get too carried away with this crappy performance, can't get much worse can it lol.

lol, PSV are not in the champions league for no reason. And in highbury, teams that stick ten men behind the ball always stop our game. Birmingham got a draw last season from almost doing the same thing.

 

[lewdikris]

Well said Lewdikris. Judging by some of the responses here, one would've thought we had lost.

No, but judging from recent history we are as far away from winning the CL as we were when Parlour and Dixon were sent off in Lens in 1998. I stand to be corrected. But hey, let me jump on the "it's still 3pts against the hardest team in our group but not the competion" bandwagon and feign some sort of happiness.!

Or you could just get a grip.

 

[Henry's Girl]

Well said Lewdikris. Judging by some of the responses here, one would've thought we had lost.

No, but judging from recent history we are as far away from winning the CL as we were when Parlour and Dixon were sent off in Lens in 1998. I stand to be corrected. But hey, let me jump on the "it's still 3pts against the hardest team in our group but not the competion" bandwagon and feign some sort of happiness.!

We put up a great performance against them 2 seasons ago and we didnt even get close to winning the trophy. Maybe its time will crave for wins instead of world class performance (not saying we have to be boring like chelsea or liverfool)

 

[Stim]

I believe our main problem in europe is our pitch. It is too damn small, every team come's to Highbury to frustrate and it works wonders. We make full use of our ability using space, big open space for our pacey attackers to use to their full advantage. It would also explain our poor record at Highbury in Europe. Roll on Ashburton Grove.

Although the performance wasn't the best, we did what was required to win the game. We are lucky to have such an 'easy' group stage this year, we can now try and conserve some energy for the League and gain an advantage which will put us in a better position when/if we qualify for the latter stages, to take the big teams and not worry too much about fatigue because of the advantage we could have in the League. As we all know fatigue was our downfall last year.

Just some ideas. But i certainly can't wait for Ashburton Grove.

 

[patrick42uk]

our best chance is probably ashburton. we are quite poor at home in the cl, by our usual standards.

Of course this is just one game, but I'm also talking about past games, the loss to inter. beating Kiev only at the very end. Valencia, Ajax, Roma etc. These teams came and defended with men behind the ball and we found it hard to break them down.

thats exactly my point. i dont think i can brush this performance under the carpet because its not the first time we'v been quiet attacking wise in europe at home. its hard to figure out what to do to rectify that, but i hope Arsène does soon. home games are crucial to winning the cl.

reyes should give us a new dimension, but i didnt htink today was his best performance. i was really impressed with his angled runs from outwide similar to what ljungberg usually gives us and what we perharps missed on the right side today. the option of both players making runs from outwide against tight defences at home gives a bit of hope of improvement in the future.

 

[pamilih]

Was Pires's disallowed goal deservedly disallowed? Or are we getting just desserts for John's incident on the weekend?

Pires loked like he was level but it was very close so you can understand the linesman getting it wrong.

By the way i thought Paddy was one of the best performers tonight, am i the only one?

Paddy worked very hard to win back the hearts of the fans. The fans were singing his name so he must have been pleased to. All is forgiven?

 

[velimir85]

Greetings from Serbia for fellow Arsenal fans!
I'm glad for a new victory,but unfortunately i couldn't see the game (our TV broadcasted Celtic-Barcelona),so I would be glad if someoune could give me a short review of how Arsenal played.
Hope I don't interrupt the discussion ops:

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

I don't give a damn how many we score. I don't care for what type of goal it was either- scrappy, but our captiulation in the 2nd half was unbelievable- I don't believe in hanging on to wins by the skin of our teeth against third-rate opposition.

PSV is a third-rate opposition? Cmon guys!!!! You guys are crazy. Someone claims we still in the lee dixon days? Would some of you guys be whigning with a 1-0 against PSV back then?

 

[Kyla]

PSV is a third-rate opposition? Cmon guys!!!! You guys are crazy. Someone claims we still in the lee dixon days? Would some of you guys be whigning with a 1-0 against PSV back then?

In terms of European progression we still are. I can't hand on heart say we are any closer. There is still naivety in the ranks! Sorry!

 

[JazzG]

Jazz, frankly i'd expect better from you mate.

Any English based viewers watching that on ITV should learn to see the difference between what the commentators say and what actually happened.

We won 1-0. When you win 1-0, you are going to come under pressure - but if you still f****g win, it doesn't f****g matter.

I don't think performances like that can just be brushed aside. I thought in the 2nd half our passing was poor and communication all over the park seemed to be non existant! As a team we didn't defend well and if they had players like Robben and Kezman it might of been a different scoreline.

lol, PSV are not in the champions league for no reason. And in highbury, teams that stick ten men behind the ball always stop our game. Birmingham got a draw last season from almost doing the same thing.

They play in a ****e league that is why they are in the CL

As for Birmingham, we had won the league by then and were only worried about keeping the undefeated streak going.

They weren't playing against a better side. They were playing PSV. The above point is moot because they could very easily have raised their game had they been required.

They were playing PSV and tbh should of conceded a goal at the end, PSV ****ed up some easy chances. We just can't play so loosely in Europe, you HAVE to be solid at the back like Wenger, Ferguson, Mourinho and all other good managers say. Today we weren't and I found that very disappointing. Maybe Sol coming back might solve things because we looked really solid last time he was in our side. Cygan has done allright but maybe we miss that leader at the back in Sol.

Look at how the mancs used to deal with these kind of teams at Old Trafford, they used to hammer them silly. Think at 1-0 ahead they had to come out we should of really gone for the throat but didn't, instead we started playing defensive and let them onto us.

You're happy? I thought you were fuming? They were a little edgey at times, saying they were s**t scared and nervous as hell is a massive exaggeration.

I thought our performance was poor and we were lucky at the end not to concede, I am happy we won but very upset about our performance. I think after all these years in Europe we would of learned by now.

Then why are you ranting when we've made a good start? The performance counts for very little, it's the points that matter. Look who won the CL last season.

Maybe I'm not like you, I simply can't ignore the fact we were poor. Porto did play boring football but they never looked like conceding goals either, they were rock solid at the back and used that to get to the final. Teams couldn't break them down and never looked like they could. PSV looked like they could of scored today.

They were hardly outplayed for the whole half. PSV only started getting any decent possession after about an hour and even then Arsenal had much the better of the chances.

They controlled the game in the 2nd half and many players at this point should of raised their game but didn't.

I'll admit after the game I went abit over the top, I take my football way too seriously but still am disappointed with our poor showing. If this had been a PL game I probably wouldn't of been that bothered but I just don't know why we play like this at home in Europe.

 

[AFCG7]

Like i said after the Fulham game, no mater how great Vieira is he looks well short of match practice/fitness and shouldnt be in our starting lineup just yet.

 

[Vilas]

agreed, afcg7, though he did have some pretty good moments in there.
Let cesc have a bit more play in there, let paddy rest a bit.

 

[JazzG]

On one hand the only way he can get match fit is by playing games but today imo at times he looked seriously off the pace, nowhere near the kind of performance we have come to expect from him.

Maybe a few reserve games would do him some good.

 

[patrick42uk]

Then why are you ranting when we've made a good start? The performance counts for very little, it's the points that matter. Look who won the CL last season.

actually the performance does matter. just because porto's performances were hardworking and defensive, it doesnt make them poor. it was a choice to play with a defensive mindset, and they did it well throughout the competition. we'v made the choice to stick with our natural attacking instincts, but its been a while since we'v done that well at home in europe. we wont always get away with performances like this.

 

[hesham]

Im CONVINCED its a Psycological thing we have in Europe were we just get to Nervous and warey towards ends ion games and just let the opposition attack us..
There was a couple of times during the end when we'd win possesion and instead of five players bombing down the pitch for a counter attack like we normally do .. we hold the play up .. wat the **** was that all about!?!?!?!
We need to win these next few games comfortably so we can gain some DAM confidence in the C.L

On the bright side though last year or b4 that we would have probably drew this game or worse... Also i think edu should retain his place in squad atleat for C.L games we definitly need nmore creativeness in the C.M espesially in games like tnight

in the end 3 points.. Job done

 

[patrick42uk]

christ i'v just imagined drawing chelsea valencia or milan in the cl and playing them at home. not only would they put in a better defensive performance than psv did today with their 10 men behind the ball, they have the firepower upfront to punish any mistakes ala inter. i seriously hope we make the most of the games against relatively easy teams in rosenborg and panathanaikos to gain some self-confidence in our creativity at home.

 

[DaViEsW]

I think our problem was PSV's wall of a defense and some bad luck in the final third. Chances that we'd generally make a lot more of just didn't come off. Henry was very active but didn't have his magic touch when it came to the crunch.

I'm not worried, just a one-off. I'll look forward to caining Bolton on Saturday.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

hesham..had we pushed forward in 5s for that counter attack and lose possession only for them to equalize wouldn't u accuse Wenger of being naive??? Pls chk AC Milan's record in the CL. Its usually 1-0s all the way.

We simply can't be attacking in numbers and defending in numbers? One has to give. If you have a 1-0 lead against a descent opposition what gives?