CL: Porto vs Arsenal | 06/12/06

[sabret00the]

Anybody who thought we were going to go all out and attack in a match where both teams were looking for a draw needs thier head checked.

You cannot please some on this forum.

Can you imagine the outcry if we lost the match 4-3 in an attacking affair?

Well done to the players and Arsène for sticking to the task - QUALIFICATION.

Bit sick of the hypocrites calling Arsène a hypocrite for doing his job.

the day a result equates to a performance i know i'll have started supporting chelski, until then, i'm a gooner and performances matter.

If that is the case then you won't refer to Chelsea's ability to win while not playing well as something we need to learn from. If Chelsea had played this way and drew.and we played an exciting game and lost, the critics will point to how important it is to get the results regardless of performance. We cant keep shifting the goal posts. If we were able to get the results while playing poorly that is a + because I am damn sure sometime in the past you have complimented a team that was able to achieve that. So since you are a true gunner why is it you think your team doesn't deserve the same compliment? Give the kids a pat in the back..they did what they had to do.

there's a big different between grinding out results and not even attempting to win a game.

 

[Gurgen]

Mbaki again defending Wenger, no surprises there.

Tell me mate, has he ever made a wrong decision in his career?

 

[Jameel46]

who cares? we're through as group winners (which we deserve) you can't argue with that, so there's no point criticising that

 

[kel varnsen]

Yeah and we've been unlucky on many occasions this year - even with all the possession and chances and we didnt get the right result.

completely irrelevant.

We've hit posts too Kel, and created much more than most of our opposition - yet we came away empty. That's football and congratulations for working out that luck plays a part in matches.

nonsical once again. you make no sense whatosever now scorpion. my argument was that wenger got the tactics, the mentality and the team selection wrong. as the performance showed and porto hit the post twice. we could have very well lost last night. are you trying to say that wenger based his game plan on 'luck'? because, you're rambling now. maybe you should stick to making up bullshit stories about the inner workings at arsenal football club...

My point is - stop all this higher than thou bullshlt about tactics and 'performances' because it would have meant nothing today if we played exactly how you think we should have played and STILL lost 1- nil.

you just don't get it. the probability of losing is far greater if you play too deep and have to defend for the full 90 mins, than if you have a more balanced approach to the match. try to create a few chances of your own, play a bit higher up the pitch.

If you couldnt see the writting on the wall about this match two weeks ago then your not as clued in as you think (or like others to think) you are.

again, nonsical and irrelevant.

 

[Sammer]

Mbaki again defending Wenger, no surprises there.

Tell me mate, has he ever made a wrong decision in his career?

I am usually defending Wenger too, but yesterday was too much for me. Porto should have scored, and we could have never counted on Hamburg winning or drawing their tie.

In this case, we would have lookekd like complete idiots and rightly so. Why Wenger did not take Flamini or Ljungberg off for RvP is beyond me.

It all worked out, but this draw (especially as along as Porto attacked) was based on thin ice.

 

[Mostarac]

Thats incredibly arrogant. Do you not realise how hard it is to get a win at Park Head?
Not only that but Celtic play exactly the kind of football that we dont do well against. You think its cold and rough at the Reebok well it'd be twice as cold and twice as tough at Park Head.
Then we'd be coming back toi the Grove needing 1 or possibly 2 goals.

No its not arrogant, its just that I have some faith in my team and our strenghts. I have seen enough of this Celtic team before and now during Strachan to know that if some really good teams come up there to play real football, Celtic will have big problems(Bayern got a draw there in 2003/2004, Barcelona won 3-1 there and Milan got a draw in 2004/2005). And, it seems that you have not read what some have already written about this before in this thread, in such a match Celtic would surely have to go out all attack to win this match, which would leave some room for us on our fastbreaks, if you think that saying that we could destroy them on fastbreaks is being arrogant, so be it, could not care less.

 

[Clrnc]

c'mon. we should stop whining here. whats important is we go through. are you guys taking this performance seriously? from my opinion, this match have draw written all over it since match day 5. a draw suits both teams, so why not both fight for a draw.

this performance is complete irrelevant to our season. i am sure we can do better and this type of draw mentality is on purpose and that we have a important match on sunday which we cant afford to lose. so the players didnt want to be injured.

man utd lost to celtic too when they had chelsea at the weekend.

 

[GoodOldArsenal]

Boring game to watch, but we're through so I can't complain. Wenger even admitted that we didn't go forward enough.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6210644.stm

Time to focus on the Premiership.

 

[cubbz_th14]

what was important was we got through, its of no use going on about how we could have or should have got the job done. Porto's record at home against British clubs speaks for itself - considering that we did fairly well to draw with a young team. As for claims that we did not even attempt to win the game, I feel, are bit of an exaggeration as we clearly pushed forward on occasions with two-three good balls where we should the intent to score, however, Porto, were brilliantly organised and mistakes could have cost us. At the end of the day, I am just glad that last night's boring game did not turn out to be a bad result. Cant wait for the draw to come out next Friday.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

again, nonsical and irrelevant.

is that even a word?

I do agree though, Wenger blatantly set up for the draw, once again that we got it was down to luck more than judgement. But I'll take it.

 

[qs]

Thats incredibly arrogant. Do you not realise how hard it is to get a win at Park Head?
Not only that but Celtic play exactly the kind of football that we dont do well against. You think its cold and rough at the Reebok well it'd be twice as cold and twice as tough at Park Head.
Then we'd be coming back toi the Grove needing 1 or possibly 2 goals.

No its not arrogant, its just that I have some faith in my team and our strenghts. I have seen enough of this Celtic team before and now during Strachan to know that if some really good teams come up there to play real football, Celtic will have big problems(Bayern got a draw there in 2003/2004, Barcelona won 3-1 there and Milan got a draw in 2004/2005). And, it seems that you have not read what some have already written about this before in this thread, in such a match Celtic would surely have to go out all attack to win this match, which would leave some room for us on our fastbreaks, if you think that saying that we could destroy them on fastbreaks is being arrogant, so be it, could not care less.

Ive read it but its was wrong when they wrote it and its wrong now that you're repeating it. What on earth gives you the idea that Celtic would have to pour forward and leave themselves open to beat us?

No one does that. Bolton didnt, Fulham didnt, City didnt. They all came away with 3 points. Celtic would play a defensive game and try to get a goal with a long ball or a set piece. Celtic are well used to playing liek that and theyre quite good at it. In case you havent noticed we arent that good at countering such tactics.

 

[Mostarac]

Ive read it but its was wrong when they wrote it and its wrong now that you're repeating it. What on earth gives you the idea that Celtic would have to pour forward and leave themselves open to beat us?
No one does that. Bolton didnt, Fulham didnt, City didnt. They all came away with 3 points. Celtic would play a defensive game and try to get a goal with a long ball or a set piece. Celtic are well used to playing liek that and theyre quite good at it. In case you havent noticed we arent that good at countering such tactics.

Really? What if Celtic do not get a goal while playing defensive, do you think they would risk going goalless into the return match in London when they are so **** playing away in Europe? Even little Artmedia ****ed them over with 5-0 at home, says it all really. This is a knockout stage of the tournament, thats what would seperate a match with Celtic from a normal league match away to Bolton for example, Bolton have nothing to lose while playing defensive and above all physical football against us, they have other matches in the league coming up to repair things with, while if Celtic play 0-0 at home to us, they know they would most likely lose big in London. I actually hope Celtic get us or another big European team, then we would see how good Celtic are at playing defensive and slow football at home as they have done that against other European teams before and only got goalless draws and even lost before. Until then, its nothing more for me to discuss really.

 

[qs]

Saying "what if they dont get a goal" is idiotic. What if anyone doesnt get a goal. They dont win do they. Absolutely pointless thing to say.

Celtic will not go for an all out attack against anyone in the home leg of their CL tie, doesnt matter who they get.

They'll try to stop their opposition playing in both games and they'll hope they can get lucky.

Im not saying Celtic will beat awhoever they get, they arent close to having the quality of any of the teams that topped their groups. They are however very capable of an upset and are one of the very few teams we could draw who would sit with 10 men behind the ball. I hate to keep repeating myself, especially when its to state the obvious but thats not the kind of tie that would suit us.

 

[Alfonso]

Celtic will be the 2nd easiest draw we could get( PSV being the first).Lille, beleive it or not, are a tricky little team.In CL football quality will always win. And we have more quality than Celtic. Away, i agree, it will be a tough game. But realstically we can get a 0-0 or a 1-1, and prob beat them 2-0 at home. I would be more worried if we got Inter, Roma, Barca, Real than Celtic.

Name me one Celtic player that would get in Arsenal's side? Name me one world class player they have? I dont see any.

Anyway, this discussion is immaterial. Lets wait for the draw next week and then analyse the situation.

 

[qs]

Celtic will be the 2nd easiest draw we could get( PSV being the first).Lille, beleive it or not, are a tricky little team.In CL football quality will always win. And we have more quality than Celtic. Away, i agree, it will be a tough game. But realstically we can get a 0-0 or a 1-1, and prob beat them 2-0 at home. I would be more worried if we got Inter, Roma, Barca, Real than Celtic.

Name me one Celtic player that would get in Arsenal's side? Name me one world class player they have? I dont see any.

Anyway, this discussion is immaterial. Lets wait for the draw next week and then analyse the situation.

Name a Bolton, City or Fulham player?

Id much rather draw Lille, they were very lucky to qualify. Celtic qualified with a game to spare.

 

[Alfonso]

Name a Bolton, City or Fulham player?

Anelka, Micah Richards, and Boa Morte :wink:

P.S:Celtic were very lucky to beat Man Utd at home.

 

[kel varnsen]

Boring game to watch, but we're through so I can't complain. Wenger even admitted that we didn't go forward enough.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6210644.stm

Time to focus on the Premiership.

wenger has lost every ounce of credibility he once had. no one can take him seriously after all his ridiculous post game comments lately. take eboue, for instance, yesterday, how many times did he actually cross the midfield line? once or twice? clearly a direct result of wenger instructing him to stay back and don't go forward.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

there's a big different between grinding out results and not even attempting to win a game.

Do you read your stuff before you post mate? If we were supposed to get a draw..and we manage to do that without playing well, is that not "grinding our a result". The result for our case was a DRAW.

Those blaming Wenger are missing the picture. Any f* coach would have taken a more conservative approach to this game. That is just common sense..even i would have done that with my U13 year old team. But our team is very very very YOUNG. Therefore they cant execute as well as other experienced teams would when playing a conservative game. Its really all about experience..when to go when to stay put when NOT to dribble at the back. Those decisions just don't come from the coach. That is part of the execution of the game plan..and our kids don't do that very well yet. I saw Wenger enought times ushering them to push forward..and even the veterans..Gilbertor/Lehman were doing the same. But don't blame the kids if they hesitate. Take Eboue for instance..I was very O.K with him staying put..cos his runs though amazing usually leave gaps at the back and Porto were going that side most of the time. So if you have a beef with Wenger for having a conservative approach to the game..then u are in lalaland when it comes to football. Now if your beef is the players didn't balance the conservative approach well, you do have a valid point but for that i ask you to consider their age of our players. They are not experienced enough to get the balance right.

 

[the dawn raids]

If you couldnt see the writting on the wall about this match two weeks ago then your not as clued in as you think (or like others to think) you are.

exactly. i was no fan of seeing it when the team sheet came out; was pissed off in fact with a few of the inclusions. but how anyone can be so overly shocked at the tactics is beyond me, considering the way weve been playing and who we have at the weekend.

and this whole 'wenger losing credibility' talk is total crap. hes not a politician; he doesnt need overwhelming public support for all of his decisions. and i highlly doubt he gives a **** if you like it or not when he ends up getting the result he was after.

were through. were top of the group. get over it. weve got bigger fish to fry at the weekend and for the next few months.

 

[famous no 10]

Boring game to watch, but we're through so I can't complain. Wenger even admitted that we didn't go forward enough.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6210644.stm

Time to focus on the Premiership.

wenger has lost every ounce of credibility he once had. no one can take him seriously after all his ridiculous post game comments lately. take eboue, for instance, yesterday, how many times did he actually cross the midfield line? once or twice? clearly a direct result of wenger instructing him to stay back and don't go forward.

After calming down seeing that incredible show of banality I've started to see the bigger picture...we're through as group winners, so it worked.

I'm actually happy we can play both ways if we want to, and get results like that if we need them, in the end it's about getting the club through, if we want to go out in a blaze of failure we can leave it until the next round at least.

Boring Arsenal?After 10 seasons of stunning football, I hardly think so...and anyone calling Wenger a hypocrite is missing the point altogether, what manager worth anything would reveal his tactics before such an important match?