CL: Rosenborg vs Arsenal | 29/09/04

[brady]

Yes, Rosenberg played well. Direct attacking play. Good pressing on the opposing players. Now, what kind of style of play is that? Seen that before? :evil:

Why, yes, it's the typical English style of play and well-executed by Rosenberg. A style still used in the EPL although not often and not as well-executed. It's still a style of play that Arsenal are familiar with and have played enough against.

Some of the balls being lost were were due to Rosenberg's pressing and good coverage but there was a good number of them that were due to Arsenal's players being sloppy. The positioning and defensive coverage by the Arsenal central midfield was at times non-existent.

Absolutely correct. And for those of you who say vieira etc were crap, you either have not played football before or you are sadly deluded. nobody played great but no one was crap either. it was one of those games where wrong choices were made in certain situations, such as shooting or passing, and rosenborg played well and rode their luck with richochets but remember we got lucky with a scramble for our goal too. we did not play well as a team except for the first 10 minutes and maybe the last 15. i will say though that we should work out how to deal with such tactics because other teams will learn from this.

 

[champions04]

Don't know why but I'm still angry, not as much as yesterday but I'm still pissed. Although Edu headed out some balls from RBK's corner. He is rubbish at tracking players. Wayne Bridge's winner came because edu didn't track him down, Scholes scored in the FA cup because Edu didn't track him down and RBK's goal came because Edu was jogging back. I don't know if it was his lack of match fitness but Cesc would have been better playing beside vieira.

 

[DB10]

From a norwegian (pool fan), talking about Rosenborg.......

Re: Arsenal in trouble in Norway...

They play good vs both bad and good teams, I guess.. They have qualified for CL about every year the last 10 years (last year they didn't, but they were really close of beating Deportivo). They have beaten Milan, Real Madrid and Dortmund. Why this success with limited players available?
1)They have had a manager/coach very alike Shankley. Nils A. Eggen. He was linked with Liverpool some years ago, and I would love to see him here. He has built a strong fundament of moral, tactics and teamplay in Rosenborg. He quitted 2-3 years ago.
2) They have a vision that says "People are coming to our games to get entertained. This is what we are gonna do". They have almost never played a defensive game. Not even in Europe. That's maybe why they struggle so much away from home, but it's also why they beat Dortmun 4 or 5-1 away a couple of years ago.
3) Team play. They have a core of players that have been there since God created the earth..And they have played more CL matches than a Liverpool player can only dream of. They are the ones that teach the new players how to play as a team. And everyone knows how Rosenborg play. Fast, direct football, using the width of the field. I think it's a bit similar to the way Benitez played at Valencia. And they play zonal marking..
4) Humbleness. They still have their "headquarter" in a little wooden building, that is open for everyone. It's a gathering point for old and new players and staff and others.


Arsenal are not very impressive in defence..

-end of match 1-1. Could/should have been more goals to both teams. Arsenal were is a strong team, because I've seen just as big teams struggle more at Lerkendal.

Rosenborg are not as easy as you think....... i think we did well to get 4 points away from home...

 

[Spike]

That match was soo fustrating!!! :x

 

[7CHP]

I'm more than aware of the fact that Rosenborg has been an ever present force in the CL, just read back to page 2 and 3 of this post, but THIS version of Rosenborg, with this coach, these players and this form, Arsenal should really have capitalized, and rævvapult them, really hard. (Rævvapult=soundly beaten).

It just looked like some of our players did not bother to even try. It was as though they were thinking "man, its chilly, I should be home in London, who will be pre-so-dent, those waffles looked really nice*".

Jermaine Pennant, Francesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Robin van Persie, do you guys want to play? With just one of them, who does not give a rats arse to whom they're playing, Arsenal would have been more lively, more spunky, and, lets face it, more Arsenal than what was performed out there last night.

(*-Rosenborg are widely known for eating lots of waffles at their headquarter, which, as stated earlier, is a wooden temporarily placed hut)

[ps, dont get me wrong, 4 points, leading the group - fantastic! - the single game, which ment a lot to me as a Norwegian Gooner, crap]

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah yeah, but thats not the point.

We were s**t, have been for the last three games, we are there for the taking. A big improvement is needed from everyone (apart from the defense).

I cant really think straight now, startinf to feel very drunk so whatever!

Im more pissed off at not going back to the blonde birds house after the pub and coming home to find my bird asleep.

Guess I should go to bed aswell and expect a ***** of a hangover tomorroe.

It happens sometimes, sometimes you will go through bad patches. Come on mate you have watched football long enough to know that. Just be pleased our defense has held out because I feared it wouldn't after the way we were leaking goals. Campbell's influence on our defense is so great, others have picked their game up since he came back. We do need to improve but I think with our CM pair totally changing they need a few games to settle and Vieira imo had a very good game so he is looking good. Have concerns over Edu, hope Wenger drops him. Reyes needs a rest I think, he had a fantastic start but think he might be a little tired physically and mentally hence his poor decision making.

As for your either dilemma, I think that is the alcohol talking there

Alright mate, I see what you are saying and wasnt making much sense last night, very drunk.

I dont expect us to win every game as some do and play great football because I realise that is just not possible.

Last night, City, Bolton and PSV have been games where we have not reached anywhere near our potential. We seem to have taken up a very negative attitude.

I can take us not playing well because that happens. But what I cant stand is when I see players not trying. We were not the greatest of teams in the mid eighties and early nineties, but there was never anything less than 100%. This team, brilliant though it is is missing something. They need a good kick up the arse.

But looking at the positives of last night our build up play at times was very good. Vieira, Henry and Freddie were all played in to good positions behind the defense, but elected to spass instead of shoot. Of course we had no one in the box. This is why Horseface scores so many goals in Europe and we tend to struggle at times.

Its a point away in Europe, and if we win our home games we are through. But we need a big improvement in effort from the lads. They need to realise they are not unbeatable. What ever happens we can not lose at Old Trafford.

Anyway, Cesc, VP and Dennis in for Reyes, Edu and Pires and Saturday and we will be sorted.

 

[rizan]

I know everyone is frustrated, same goes to me. And yes, Edu did some mistakes last night, but just don't forget HE was superb last season (in CL). I think, after an hour, AW should replaced Edu with Fabregas, but that didn't comes.

Next stop ? Panathanaikos....just pray we'll do better

 

[sabret00the]

my 2cents is that Edu shouldn't have got the nod ahead of Cesc, missing Dennis we needed that fluidity in the middle of the park, theirs no way Pires should've been up front no once did he look like a striker and this decision obviously shattered Reyes's confidence, for everyone saying he's not a natural striker, can you really reach that kinda decision when he's playing as a winger compared to when he was playing as a striker and banging em in? Freddie was in the right place loads of times but failed to convert, i would've liked to have seen him replaced by Pennant, bar that their was nothing else we really could've done. and if Wenger don't let RvP get a real run around then he's not gonna bang in them goals we know he can

i actually thought Reyes played decently in the second half. and also Ashley cole was immense, just proving that he's getting better and better.

lets not get it twisted, even though we never looked that great, we should've been around 10 goals up, we just failed to sink them which was no one but Pires/Wengers thought for having a winger pretending to be a striker (means he's not looking to sell pires anytime soon and wants to groom him for the Dennis role, he's not that sort of player Arsène) bar that i thought we played football good enough for the occassion, and if we had someone like Defoe or **** it even Reyes or RvP playing where Pires was we would've come out smelling of gold.

 

[Jkreffer]

Arsenal will probably (hopefully) pick it up for Charlton. Not a complete disaster last night like some are making out.
Bergkamp back in the team should steady things again. I think Pennant will start this game also.

 

[tbbosa]

Edu is **** really, let Barcelona take him fro free if they want. The guy has never been good apart from a few good perfomances ...like what..3 games in two years?

Reyes is too selfish IMHO...Henry needs a better partner..this kid needs to be benched to learn.

Pires has been off form for a while he needs to be played as dangerous subsitute and nothing more.

RVP might be mentally stronger than this Reyes lad, RVP should be used more than Reyes...Seville reaped us in this Reyes deal!!

Cesc should play more often...and Freddie's finishing is overall horibble, Angulo and Trabelsi were needed at arsenal to help in CL.

i don't want to see Edu again!!!

I did not ****in sleep the whole of last night!!!! :x ...am so pissed!!

 

[RocktheCasbah]

Edu is s**t really, let Barcelona take him fro free if they want. The guy has never been good apart from a few good perfomances ...like what..3 games in two years?

Reyes is too selfish IMHO...Henry needs a better partner..this kid needs to be benched to learn.

Pires has been off form for a while he needs to be played as dangerous subsitute and nothing more.

RVP might be mentally stronger than this Reyes lad, RVP should be used more than Reyes...Seville reaped us in this Reyes deal!!

Cesc should play more often...and Freddie's finishing is overall horibble, Angulo and Trabelsi were needed at arsenal to help in CL.

i don't want to see Edu again!!!

I did not f*n sleep the whole of last night!!!! :x ...am so pissed!!

Sevilla "reaped" us? I presume you mean "raped" us in the Reyes deal? So Madrid and Chelsea and Arsenal, having watched him 40 times, were after a dud were they? Were you saying that when Reyes won the POTM award for August and scored 6 goals in 6 games?
I doubt it somehow.
He shot on two ocassions when he should have passed, so? Vieira passed when he should have shot, as did Freddie. Is that any better? Not really. Not when you don't score it ain't.

The rest of it, I generally agree with. Edu needs shooting, Cesc should be starting.Not sure about benching Pires though, he should be played where he's best, left wing. Put Jose up front when Dennis ain't available.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

i'm not saying we're better off with cesc, but just look at the teams's performances after vieira has come back into the team. we're playing mediocre football; it's not flowing. i don't know if this is due to the fact that vieira has replaced cesc; but i do know that vieira has been absolutely crap so far.

i'm beginning to wonder if we'd been better off selling vieira this summer; i hope he proves me wrong..

btw, campbell was once again disappointing. he needs match practice; i think cygan is a better option right now...

Blatantly, you haven't got a clue. Vieira was immense yesterday, in the second half. He was the only person completing passes, making tackles and generally forcing the game. He has played, what is it, four games for us since his return from injury? You can't expect him to be at his usual dominant standard immediately. But he was yesterday.

As for Campbell being disappointing.... what one poor clearance? Yeah, drop him put Cygan in for the season and then we'll see what happens eh?

 

[invisibleman18]

this has gone over the top now. i first logged on with the same intention of having a big moan and i did for my first couple of posts. but then i sat back and had a think. is the result disappointing? yes. is it a disaster? no. rosenborg are not the easy beats that we all thought they should have been. they are unbeaten at home in this competition for 3 years. now surely we are the fans to acknowledge an unbeaten run as a great achievement aren't we?
yes we did have a disappointing result but we didn't lose. we are top of the group. 4 points from the first 6 is better than 1 from the first 9 isn't it. we got through last season in a much much harder group after an awful start. we should get through this group, then when its knockout its a lottery, any team can win, depends on the draw, the ref, weather, form, fitness, luck ............

as for players, it seems reyes could do with a couple of games rest and maybe pires. i would like to see fabregas starting again. i thought he deserved to stay in the side when vieira came back. he is the type of creative player we could really use in the middle. as for replacing reyes or pires, i think van persie must be close to getting his chance and id like to see pennant have a chance aswell. its not all doom and gloom. we are top of PL and our CL group and we have enough quality players to do a bit of team rotation.
as i said earlier, if a bad patch is a couple of draws and a couple of tight 1 goal wins, then id happily accept that as my bad run. wouldnt you all?

 

[Mark]

Lack of effort or interest from players probably annoys me most and it does tend to happen with this side, which is such a shame because they are such a talented group of players. I agree that Reyes, Edu and Pires should be benched for our next game. I have a feeling it won't happen though. At least, not all three.

 

[bobbypires]

Lack of killer instinct.

After a comfortable first half, we allowed Rosenborg to be a different team in the second one. I thought we were playing against a mid-table English team.

Reyes' 1st half and Edu's whole match were really poor. We're gonna miss Gilberto. But Freddie is coming again. Good performances in last matches.

But we're top of the group. That's most important thing. And credit to Rosenborg; they haven't lost a game at home in 3 years. Maybe they can't beat the big teams, but get a draw is difficult too.

We should/could have won.

 

[Anonymous]

omg these mutha ****as r pissin me off
they ppl who we sayin how reyes was better than henry 2weeks ago are now sayin sevilla "reaped" us?
WTF??

friggin hell wake up u frigign glory hunter

 

[RocktheCasbah]

omg these mutha ****as r pissin me off
they ppl who we sayin how reyes was better than henry 2weeks ago are now sayin sevilla "reaped" us?
WTF??

friggin hell wake up u frigign glory hunter

Well said!

 

[JazzG]

Alright mate, I see what you are saying and wasnt making much sense last night, very drunk.

I dont expect us to win every game as some do and play great football because I realise that is just not possible.

Last night, City, Bolton and PSV have been games where we have not reached anywhere near our potential. We seem to have taken up a very negative attitude.

I can take us not playing well because that happens. But what I cant stand is when I see players not trying. We were not the greatest of teams in the mid eighties and early nineties, but there was never anything less than 100%. This team, brilliant though it is is missing something. They need a good kick up the arse.

But looking at the positives of last night our build up play at times was very good. Vieira, Henry and Freddie were all played in to good positions behind the defense, but elected to spass instead of shoot. Of course we had no one in the box. This is why Horseface scores so many goals in Europe and we tend to struggle at times.

Its a point away in Europe, and if we win our home games we are through. But we need a big improvement in effort from the lads. They need to realise they are not unbeatable. What ever happens we can not lose at Old Trafford.

Anyway, Cesc, VP and Dennis in for Reyes, Edu and Pires and Saturday and we will be sorted.

I agree about your point about our players not trying hard enough. I also can't stand it when that happens. I don't know what is wrong with some of them, last season when Inter hammered us 3-0 Wenger gave them a right good bollocking and Pires who had been dire was rightfully dropped, when he came back he was working his bollocks off. Think he needs to take a more tough stance against some players who continue to show little effort. Reyes tried last night but nothing went for him, that is why I am not as upset with him but some others last night just didn't bother which is really frustrating.

I also agree we can not lose to Man utd that would just be too much to take. Wenger needs to sort them out because Man utd are picking up momentum and we are losing it.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah yeah, but thats not the point.

We were s**t, have been for the last three games, we are there for the taking. A big improvement is needed from everyone (apart from the defense).

I cant really think straight now, startinf to feel very drunk so whatever!

Im more pissed off at not going back to the blonde birds house after the pub and coming home to find my bird asleep.

Guess I should go to bed aswell and expect a ***** of a hangover tomorroe.

It happens sometimes, sometimes you will go through bad patches. Come on mate you have watched football long enough to know that. Just be pleased our defense has held out because I feared it wouldn't after the way we were leaking goals. Campbell's influence on our defense is so great, others have picked their game up since he came back. We do need to improve but I think with our CM pair totally changing they need a few games to settle and Vieira imo had a very good game so he is looking good. Have concerns over Edu, hope Wenger drops him. Reyes needs a rest I think, he had a fantastic start but think he might be a little tired physically and mentally hence his poor decision making.

As for your either dilemma, I think that is the alcohol talking there

JazzG you are the second guy on this forum who says maybe Reyes needs a rest. For christ sake , the season only started and we played only approx 10 games, so why make excuses.

 

[icreaser]

pires was playing behind henry and making runs into the box and reyes on the left was trying to link up with him like he does with bergkamp but pires doesn't know how to play that position like the dutch master, it would of just been better to have pires down the left and reyes in the middle, but all in all a point away from home in the CL is a good result in my book, we all know we can play better but for gods sake this is not the end of the world, if we draw all our away games and win all our home games then i'll be over the moon, we're just going through a spell at the moment where we are being too cautious and not wanting to concede but that's just too dangerous in the cl, we'll get it right in the end, and whilst we're trying to find the right balance drawing and winning 1-0 is better than losing so please give it a rest.