CL: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal | 17/09/08

[General]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

To be fair, it’s understandable if the ref thought it was a penalty. The guy stuck himself between the ball and Sagna and looked like he had the advantage if any ball was to come in. Sagna being the warrior that he is stayed tight and paid the price. Any infringement should’ve gone the other way. Fact is Clichy and Gallas should’ve prevented the cross from coming in.

 

[Macho]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

The only thing Sagna did wrong was position himself on the wrong side of the defender. That was actually a clever penalty to get.
The ref was totally rubbish though, I dunno what he was playing at. First half we played 44 mins and towards the end after all the time wasting we got 3 mins injury time- and we only played 2 mins.

 

[General]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

quote="Anzac"][/quote]

I thought Song did pretty well, a couple fo bad passes aside he did his job and made a big difference. You could see how much we missed him asfter he was taken off.[/quote]

I’m not sure we missed him when he went off. Song played a role that became largely redundant as the game went on and it surprised me how long Wenger left it before changing things. Creatively, Kyiv were very average and apart from a few pot shots, they never looked like they had the cutting edge.

 

[N!]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

Not terribley surpised at the draw. To be fair we never looked like scoring from what i saw. We played too flat, with too little creativity and too little energy.

The penalty was cheap to give away, i would have thought that a defender of Sagna's calibre would have known better than to be put in such a position.. but then again, our defense isn't known for it's intelligence.

Overall a pretty poor game.

edit: Was it just me or does Bangoura look WAY too feminine? I swear to God that he was wearing blusher.

Oh I get it, it's Sagna's fault the guy grabbed him and pulled him to the floor...

It's Sagna's fault that he let himself get in that sort of position. Any sort of nudge from Sagna in that sort of situation and the guy's going to go down. And be fair, Sagna did have his hands all over him too. Like Alan Smith said yesterday, it was six of one, half a dozen of the other.

 

[Webdesignlab]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

Hopefully we'll win our home games and get a win in Portugal or Turkey but if we don't take our chances we could once again finish second and have to get to the final the hard way.

What other way is there for Arsenal? Bound to happen.

 

[Webdesignlab]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

Oh yeah I don't like that away kit ... looks like a training match kit. Come to think of it some of them played a little like it was a training match.

It's all the kits fault.

 

[USArsenal]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

i actually like the away kit..

 

[giuliob]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

What Kiev had for such a mediocre team that Arsenal didn't have was fire, passion...It helped that they were playing at home, but still...For parts of the game, Arsenal played with cool and composure, but with absolutely no sense of urgency, no sharp passing, no Cesc.. And Wenger set the team up for an ordinary performance, getting the game day tactics wrong, weird pregame comments..The team mirrored the coach...He said post game that the team lacked "a little killer instinct"...They better find it soon...

The away kit is pretty cool...Think it's one of the smartest around...And Ade's behavior before the start of the second half had me smiling...The original cheerleader, relaxing the players...

 

[James]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

Oh yeah I don't like that away kit ... looks like a training match kit. Come to think of it some of them played a little like it was a training match.

It's all the kits fault.

It's the best kit nike have produced.

 

[AFCG7]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

We cant really complain.. had enough chances in the first half to take a lead, after which the game should have been comfortable for us. Adebayor needs to stop missing these easy chances..on a positive side for him at least he wasnt offside that much.

 

[Webdesignlab]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

Oh yeah I don't like that away kit ... looks like a training match kit. Come to think of it some of them played a little like it was a training match.

It's all the kits fault.

It's the best kit nike have produced.

Looks like a Wolves cast off, but with you and USArsenal ... that's 2 sales.

 

[arsenalfc0719]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

Oh yeah I don't like that away kit ... looks like a training match kit. Come to think of it some of them played a little like it was a training match.

It's all the kits fault.

I'm not liking it too much either. Its better than the home kit though. Why are we the only team who's kits look like training one's?

Whats worse is the socks though, in both the home and away kit, that big red line in the middle of the socks looks awful.

 

[James]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

Looks like a Wolves cast off, but with you and USArsenal ... that's 2 sales.

The only difference being Wolves play in gold and black, and this shirt is yellow and blue?

 

[vanPersie]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

I’m not sure we missed him when he went off. Song played a role that became largely redundant as the game went on and it surprised me how long Wenger left it before changing things. Creatively, Kyiv were very average and apart from a few pot shots, they never looked like they had the cutting edge.

Kyiv walked into all sorts of space in the middle when Song went off. He battled well and put in good non-nonsense tackles all night, also dropping back into defense when needed (particularly Toure bursting forward) - something Flamini used to do, but we havent seen from anyone this season. Acouple of mis-hit passes, but this was his first match of the season really. I really want to see a Cesc-Song pairing on Saturday.

 

[General]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

We could wear jock straps for all I care, as long we're doing the business on the pitch.

 

[the dawn raids]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

I’m not sure we missed him when he went off. Song played a role that became largely redundant as the game went on and it surprised me how long Wenger left it before changing things. Creatively, Kyiv were very average and apart from a few pot shots, they never looked like they had the cutting edge.

and why do you think that was? even when song did give the ball away he tracked back well and broke up the attacks. our midfield passing wasnt very sharp, but we certainly were not getting overran by any means. redundant or not, it was very obvious we missed song when he went off; broke up attacks very well and distributed the ball decently, although admittedly to less effect than hes capable of.

anyway, harsh penalty, but that counting harshly against you is the risk you take when you dont convert your chances.

and once again immediately after we score, the opposition marches downfield and treatens our goal. weve got to learn to come out sharp after scoring, its a lesson we never ever seem to learn.

 

[Clrnc]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

Oh yeah I don't like that away kit ... looks like a training match kit. Come to think of it some of them played a little like it was a training match.

It's all the kits fault.

I'm not liking it too much either. Its better than the home kit though. Why are we the only team who's kits look like training one's?

Whats worse is the socks though, in both the home and away kit, that big red line in the middle of the socks looks awful.

I don't like the away kit too. Home kit is fine and I pretty much love it. Already bought it and looks nice when I wears it

 

[General]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

I’m not sure we missed him when he went off. Song played a role that became largely redundant as the game went on and it surprised me how long Wenger left it before changing things. Creatively, Kyiv were very average and apart from a few pot shots, they never looked like they had the cutting edge.

and why do you think that was? even when song did give the ball away he tracked back well and broke up the attacks. our midfield passing wasnt very sharp, but we certainly were not getting overran by any means. redundant or not, it was very obvious we missed song when he went off; broke up attacks very well and distributed the ball decently, although admittedly to less effect than hes capable of.

anyway, harsh penalty, but that counting harshly against you is the risk you take when you dont convert your chances.

and once again immediately after we score, the opposition marches downfield and treatens our goal. weve got to learn to come out sharp after scoring, its a lesson we never ever seem to learn.

If you insist. From what I saw, he was giving away fouls in dangerous areas and his passing was much woeful than Denilson’s. He is clearly not as mobile as Flamini and his naivety shone through in terms of positional awareness, launching forward and leaving big gaps for Kyiv to exploit. I admit be brought physical presence but he also has a habit of fouling in the wrong areas of the pitch (you simply cannot win every ball) and is by no means a clean tackler.

I know the yardstick when it comes to a defensive midfielder and Song didn’t even come close last night.

We were playing a team that hadn’t won in Europe for 4 years for crying out loud not the Harlem Globetrotters. This was elucidated by their average creativity and it increasingly became obvious as the game went on that our five man midfield was unnecessary. Had we two competent centre backs, may be Wenger wouldn’t have felt the need to bring in an extra man for protection but even so; we were fully capable of winning this game with a conventional 4 man midfield. The formation set the tone for a restrained performance and we struggled for fluency throughout the game and pushed Cesc (arguably one of the best at the dictating the tempo of a game) onto the fringes. The only positive for me is that we would’ve conserved ample energy for Bolton.

Kyiv are championship standard at best and this will become clearer when we spank them at the Emirates with a straight forward 4-4-2 without the need for a sitting DM (or whatever role Song was meant to be playing yesterday). Like someone said, Wenger’s pre-match assertions on the threat posed they posed inevitably translated into a cagey performance on the pitch.

 

[the dawn raids]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

he away gave more fouls than he needed to yes. but there was only 1 that was in a threatening position; the rest werent even in the final third. and any gaps that kiev tried to exploit he quickly closed down; many of those gaps werent even of his doing anyway. they were from clichy and gallas bombing forward and losing posession. i know it wasnt his best game but to say he was that far off from giving a competent performance is wide of the mark by some stretch. he didnt choose the starting XI or the formation and did what he needed to. i just have a hard time believing theres anyone who doesnt recognize we missed his presence when he went off.

 

[Anzac]

Re: UEFA Champions League: Dynamo Kyiv v Arsenal| 17-09-08 19:45

quote="Anzac"]

I thought Song did pretty well, a couple fo bad passes aside he did his job and made a big difference. You could see how much we missed him asfter he was taken off.[/quote]

I’m not sure we missed him when he went off. Song played a role that became largely redundant as the game went on and it surprised me how long Wenger left it before changing things. Creatively, Kyiv were very average and apart from a few pot shots, they never looked like they had the cutting edge.[/quote]

Actually that's qs you're quoting not me...........