Slavia Prague VS Arsenal FC | Wed, Nov7th, 7.45pm | ERS

[Nyingmeh]

awful game to watch

 

[Zico]

It would be crucial to get Fabregas & co. rested but I'm having second thoughts after looking at first-placed and second-placed teams in the groups right now.

1st: Porto, Chelsea, R. Madrid, Milan, Barca, Man Utd, Inter and us.

2nd: Marseille, Rosenborg, Shakhtar, Lazio, Roma, Rangers, Fenerbahce, Sevilla.

Enough said.

Air, you've hit the nail on the head. I do not want to face Madrid, Milan, Barca or Inter and stand a good chance of being knocked out of Europe in February. By playing the sort of team he did yesterday, Wenger did not give this issue the respect it deserves. We also needed to win so that we could save some of our starters for the last two games when the real fixture crunch starts.

Biggie pointed out balance issues in the team. My gripes were:
1) Play 3 strikers, but play 2 of them as wingers, where they are clearly not as effective as they are down the middle. Play a rookie down the middle, essentially on his own.

2) Not have a creative spark in midfield. This team needed Hleb or Fabregas. Biggie mentioned Merida. He is young, but at least he is known for creative ability. Last night's team was never going to create chances from midfield.

3) We should always go for victory! After drawing two big games, we needed to push for a win to ensure we inculcate a culture of winning. I don't want an unbeaten record that is 30% draws. We need to get used to the importance of playing at the highest level and torturing our opponents.

 

[Druid]

It would be crucial to get Fabregas & co. rested but I'm having second thoughts after looking at first-placed and second-placed teams in the groups right now.

1st: Porto, Chelsea, R. Madrid, Milan, Barca, Man Utd, Inter and us.

2nd: Marseille, Rosenborg, Shakhtar, Lazio, Roma, Rangers, Fenerbahce, Sevilla.

Enough said.

Air, you've hit the nail on the head. I do not want to face Madrid, Milan, Barca or Inter and stand a good chance of being knocked out of Europe in February. By playing the sort of team he did yesterday, Wenger did not give this issue the respect it deserves. We also needed to win so that we could save some of our starters for the last two games when the real fixture crunch starts.

Biggie pointed out balance issues in the team. My gripes were:
1) Play 3 strikers, but play 2 of them as wingers, where they are clearly not as effective as they are down the middle. Play a rookie down the middle, essentially on his own.

2) Not have a creative spark in midfield. This team needed Hleb or Fabregas. Biggie mentioned Merida. He is young, but at least he is known for creative ability. Last night's team was never going to create chances from midfield.

3) We should always go for victory! After drawing two big games, we needed to push for a win to ensure we enculcate a culture of winning. I don't want an unbeaten record that is 30% draws. We need to get used to the importance of playing at the highest level and torturing our opponents.

obviously i would prefer us to top the group so that we do not have to face the likes of real madrid or inter.. but our first team came out of 2 draining draws with man utd and liverpool so by playing them in poor conditions like this, there is no guarantee we would win either due to their fatigue.

imo it's not a disaster if we finish second and face the top teams. the season before last we were fantastic when it came to facing the top teams: real madrid, juventus, and barca(which we should have won).. whereas we stuttered when it came to facing the likes of PSV last season, and villarreal before last.. the lads will be more pumped up for the matches and if we win the CL facing these top teams no one can complain we didn't deserve it.

 

[EMIR8_SOLDIER]

AW comments on the game

"The young players could play in Seville. To finish first is important. You play a team that is second and the second game is at home, so it is a double advantage. I have not looked at the groups; it is a bit early to speculate who we might play."

I fear that the boss is thinking with his heart over his head on this one. Undoubtedly missed a trick last night. 'Rotating' per se is fine, but the balance of the team should not be affected as a consequence.

Yesterday's line-up was terribly lop-sided. I honestly think he would have been better off giving Merida a go in the role he played Diaby. We lacked creative isntinct but then again it's not really the fault of those who played - it's just that we were not playing a poor Sheffield United here and I think it would have made more sense resting 1 of Cesc or Hleb, not both.

Winning the group is a must. Fergie tried to be clever and did the same sort of thing a couple of years ago. Job not done yet in my book - qualification from the group we had was surely the minimum to be expected.

And they came bottom of the group lol
Never hear them banging on about that one anymore, yeh well my memory serves me quite well your cheesy mancs
Nah seriously, you only hear managers say stuff like that when theyre in the driving seat, has rafa been saying it this year
If man u was in liverpools position they wouldnt be as arrogant saying we want to finish top spot
The fact is everyone does so its nothing new to me

 

[Clrnc]

not going to criticisie any players in this boring game. conditions were tough and they were young. an away CL game is never easy for those young starters and a makeshift team can't gel, so i think its ok.

walcott and clichy keeps trying but sometimes i think they are abit too fast and keeps running into players. all the others were quite mediorcre too.

diarra had a good game. what a player

 

[rednwhitearmy]

It would be crucial to get Fabregas & co. rested but I'm having second thoughts after looking at first-placed and second-placed teams in the groups right now.

1st: Porto, Chelsea, R. Madrid, Milan, Barca, Man Utd, Inter and us.

2nd: Marseille, Rosenborg, Shakhtar, Lazio, Roma, Rangers, Fenerbahce, Sevilla.

Enough said.

Air, you've hit the nail on the head. I do not want to face Madrid, Milan, Barca or Inter and stand a good chance of being knocked out of Europe in February. By playing the sort of team he did yesterday, Wenger did not give this issue the respect it deserves. We also needed to win so that we could save some of our starters for the last two games when the real fixture crunch starts.

Biggie pointed out balance issues in the team. My gripes were:
1) Play 3 strikers, but play 2 of them as wingers, where they are clearly not as effective as they are down the middle. Play a rookie down the middle, essentially on his own.

2) Not have a creative spark in midfield. This team needed Hleb or Fabregas. Biggie mentioned Merida. He is young, but at least he is known for creative ability. Last night's team was never going to create chances from midfield.

3) We should always go for victory! After drawing two big games, we needed to push for a win to ensure we enculcate a culture of winning. I don't want an unbeaten record that is 30% draws. We need to get used to the importance of playing at the highest level and torturing our opponents.

A scary thought - but in all seriousness - who is going to beat us to first place in the group? Sevilla? the team we beat 3-0. No need to worry - another draw and a win should win the group. Cesc needs to be rested - and Denilson and Hleb should be in. With Walcott as the strike force with Eduardo.

 

[Zico]

Why can't the team we beat 3-0 at home beat us away if we can't even get a chance until the 85th minute away to the team we punished 7-0 at home? 1st place is not yet guaranteed.

Contrast our rotation policy with Manchester United's. Yesterday United brought in Nani (who is going to be better than Christiano) and Pique. Pique was later substituted for another youngster who got about 20 solid minutes. Rotation is good, but Ferguson triumphs in my books by choosing to keep a core of players from his previous game and drafting in one or two marginal players where feasible.

I honestly do not think that Denilson or Diaby learn much from playing with each other in central midfield. The lesson would be a lot more useful if they were next to a master like Hleb or Fabregas or seasoned pro like Rosicky. Rotation works best with small changes that bring marginal players gradually into the system, ensuring the team goes for victory while also grooming future stars.

 

[marco]

I honestly cant believe some of the nonsense on here..

i was delighted fabregas toure and hleb didnt play..they all needed a decent break..

its was a horrible game in horrible wet conditions and we got a draw..- fantastic and a draw in sevile and we effectively top the group..wonderful.


as for a slump..we need a reality check.. its nice being where we are i.e top of both groups but lets not get too carried away...

an injury to fabregas and an injury to gallas in january and we will look a completely different team..

 

[Tony Montana]

slump

Lol. One bad game come on man!

3 draws. We should have won at least one of those. I take it as a slump because we've stepped up a lot this season.

It is actually 2 draws in a row, but we have drawn 3 out of 4 of our last games. But of course we played Liverpool away and Man Utd at home, so you look at it relatively. Just because we did not win 6-0 today doesnt mean we are suddenly in decline.

You cant play pretty football and score 3 every week, nor will we get the headlines every week. Which can be good in a way, allows us to not get too carried away and focus on the tasks and challenges ahead.

Also, this a Champions League match away from home in parts of Europe where we struggle to win traditionally, plus the fact we played practically a second team. Its one thing beating Sheifled Utd away 3-0 with your second team and its another doing to same when your in the CL away from home.

That is quite an interesting response given that you said you were disappointed that didn't get four points from the Liverpool and Manure games.

I wasn't expecting a 6-0 thrashing. Rather, i expected a win. Sure, you can't win every time but I hope we are not going through a patch of games where we'll struggle to beat the opposition. I'm worried by our lack of fire power at the moment. Next game is Reading. I hope that can be an easy win.

 

[irishgoooner]

this is certainly not a slump,far from it.we,ve drawn against liverpool away,where more often than not we,re beat like last season.we drew with manure at home scoring a last minute equaliser.man utd had won there previous 12 games or something like that and are a top side so theres no shame in a 2-2 draw.the game last night we had eight changes from the weekend,so a draw was a good result.the weather was very bad and some of our younger players are inexperienced in the champions league so i think it was a good workout for them.slavia were never going to get battered again and they had their reputations to uphold.

i think the reading game will be a stern test for our guys and i feel arsenes decission to rest hleb and cesc will benifit us immencely.they can,t be expected to play all the games this season.kolo and rosicky wll also be back to full fitness and be fresh for the game on monday night.no doubt man utd will get a result from blackburn so the pressure will be on us again for the weekend.of course even though adebator travelled to prague and came on as substitute,not starting the game will also have given him a well derserved rest.

heres hoping we get back to winning ways monday night.

 

[Zico]

My biggest disappointment with yesterday's match is this: in a game where we could, to an extent, afford to take risks, we did not try out a partnership of Adebayor and Eduardo. Since van Persie's injury, we have not seen any successful continuing partnership in attack. Wenger could have played Ade for 60 minutes with Eduardo in a 4 4 2, and then brought in Bendtner or moved Theo up front to partner the Croat.

I'm not counting on van Persie to play more than his customary 25 games this season, so we need to develop another effective partnership.

If Cesc ever went through a goal drought...

 

[OneProudGooner]

I definitely had that same worry before the season started it seems that Eduardo hasn't fully adapted, we can't rely on only Van Persie this season. If we can't get someone else to supply the goals we're in trouble, December will be a testing time because we will have to rotate and we will have to rely on other players to score goals.

Adebayor and Bendtner aren't natural goalscorers and Theo is erratic.
I am worried about the wings too Rosicky can't stay fit and we're left with Eboue and Theo to fill in and Diaby is a option too. We lose a creative option.and someone who's comfortable playing there.

 

[Jkreffer]

I swear no word in football irritates me more that "rotation" right now.

 

[tam1886]

Come on, those players beat Newcastles first 11 away. Slavia are not superior to Newcastle.

People are getting carried away here. I disagreeed with certain things last night but not resting Hleb and Fab, that was definitely necessary. You want those 2 at their best the league, Wenger did the right thing by not resting them until now. We are qualified, whoever we get next isn't as important as people make out. So what if we get Real, Barca or AC in the next round, if they're that good we'll have to beat them at some stage anyway to win it. I agree that the balance was a bit off, who play Eduardo right and Diaby in the hole, utter nonsense that. MErida would've been destroyed last night. It was no time to give him a run. Hopefully the likes of Theo, Song, Diaby and Denilson will have learned from it, they gave us the Bolton treatment and thats something thats made the likes of Fab, Helb, Robin and Ade stronger hopefully it will for them too.

We're still massive favourites to finish top anyway. Beat Steau and get any result at Seville and its done.

I don't think resting those players was necessary. The next league game is on Monday, it's not as if they are only getting three days to recover.

If we had played our best team last night, perhaps with one or two changes, we would have massively increased our chances of winning. That would have put us on 12 points, meaning we'd only have to beat Steaua at home to win the group, regardless of how we do in Seville. That means we could have afforded to rest the key players at Sevilla, and the home game against Steaua if the result against Sevilla went our way. If not, bring back in Fabregas et al and beat Steaua convincingly at home. Either way, that is getting into the period where we need to rest the players. It is more important we can rest them in the tougher games ahead than it is now.


12 Mon PL(A) Reading 8pm
24 Sat PL(H) Wigan Athletic 3pm
27 Tue CL(A) Sevilla 7.45pm
1 Sat PL(A) Aston Villa 5.15pm
5 Wed PL(A) Newcastle United 7.45pm
9 Sun PL(A) Middlesbrough 1.30pm
12 Wed CL(H) Steaua Bucharest 7.45pm
16 Sun PL(H) Chelsea 4pm
18 Tue CC(A) Blackburn Rovers 8pm
22 Sat PL(H) Tottenham H. 12.45pm
26 Wed PL(A) Portsmouth 7.45pm
29 Sat PL(A) Everton 5.15pm

Thats the games and this is how I would have planned it. Things change of course.

Key players yesterday, enough rest for Reading so play them there. Then International Week. Players come back to Wigan at home, not too hard a game in comparison with others therefore opportunity to rotate slightly. Fringe players at Sevilla, hopefully getting a win. Key players in the next three fixtures all away at Villa, Newcastle and Boro, having had some rest in games before. Hopefully rest a few against Steaua who we should convincingly beat ahead of playing key players against Chelsea. CC players in CC at Blackburn, able to rest key players ahead of games against Chelsea, Sp**s and Everton.

Of course that would probably be knocked of course slightly depending on injuries and suspensions but it seemed to me like the best plan for attacking the tough run of games in December, giving enough rest to the important members of our squad, and enough playing time to the fringe players.

 

[tactica442]

yarn

If I didn't know the result before hand, I would have thought the team lost in Prague.

A dull draw againt a minor like Slavia? BIIIG DEAL!. A draw in Seville and a win at home against Bucareast will stiil see Arsenal finish at the TOP of the group.

I dont want AW risking in starting Ade in this game. No point in doing that, especially when Robin is still out.

 

[qs]

Come on, those players beat Newcastles first 11 away. Slavia are not superior to Newcastle.

People are getting carried away here. I disagreeed with certain things last night but not resting Hleb and Fab, that was definitely necessary. You want those 2 at their best the league, Wenger did the right thing by not resting them until now. We are qualified, whoever we get next isn't as important as people make out. So what if we get Real, Barca or AC in the next round, if they're that good we'll have to beat them at some stage anyway to win it. I agree that the balance was a bit off, who play Eduardo right and Diaby in the hole, utter nonsense that. MErida would've been destroyed last night. It was no time to give him a run. Hopefully the likes of Theo, Song, Diaby and Denilson will have learned from it, they gave us the Bolton treatment and thats something thats made the likes of Fab, Helb, Robin and Ade stronger hopefully it will for them too.

We're still massive favourites to finish top anyway. Beat Steau and get any result at Seville and its done.

I don't think resting those players was necessary. The next league game is on Monday, it's not as if they are only getting three days to recover.

Fab and Hleb play nearly every game for us. They need a rest. As Wenger pointed out in other leagues they get a winter break, its not about Mondays match its about everything. Its about in a months time, and 2 months time, and April. Its not immediate tiredness, its long term fatigue.

If we had played our best team last night, perhaps with one or two changes, we would have massively increased our chances of winning. That would have put us on 12 points, meaning we'd only have to beat Steaua at home to win the group, regardless of how we do in Seville. That means we could have afforded to rest the key players at Sevilla, and the home game against Steaua if the result against Sevilla went our way. If not, bring back in Fabregas et al and beat Steaua convincingly at home. Either way, that is getting into the period where we need to rest the players. It is more important we can rest them in the tougher games ahead than it is now.

Why would we rest them in tougher games, we need our best players for the toughest games. Anyway you're acting like Wenger said "oh sure I'll just play Denilson even though we wont win" How many of those players last night aren't good enough, aren't ready for the EPL? Song maybe, thats about it though. Wengers played all them guys in the league before. They had enough experience to beat Slavia.

12 Mon PL(A) Reading 8pm
24 Sat PL(H) Wigan Athletic 3pm
27 Tue CL(A) Sevilla 7.45pm
1 Sat PL(A) Aston Villa 5.15pm
5 Wed PL(A) Newcastle United 7.45pm
9 Sun PL(A) Middlesbrough 1.30pm
12 Wed CL(H) Steaua Bucharest 7.45pm
16 Sun PL(H) Chelsea 4pm
18 Tue CC(A) Blackburn Rovers 8pm
22 Sat PL(H) Tottenham H. 12.45pm
26 Wed PL(A) Portsmouth 7.45pm
29 Sat PL(A) Everton 5.15pm

Thats the games and this is how I would have planned it. Things change of course.

Key players yesterday, enough rest for Reading so play them there. Then International Week. Players come back to Wigan at home, not too hard a game in comparison with others therefore opportunity to rotate slightly. Fringe players at Sevilla, hopefully getting a win. Key players in the next three fixtures all away at Villa, Newcastle and Boro, having had some rest in games before. Hopefully rest a few against Steaua who we should convincingly beat ahead of playing key players against Chelsea. CC players in CC at Blackburn, able to rest key players ahead of games against Chelsea, Sp**s and Everton.

Of course that would probably be knocked of course slightly depending on injuries and suspensions but it seemed to me like the best plan for attacking the tough run of games in December, giving enough rest to the important members of our squad, and enough playing time to the fringe players.

Now you're suggesting resting players against Wigan. Get your head screwed on mate, Wigan are better than Slavia and we need 3 points against them alot more than we needed 3 last night, in fact we didn't need 3, we needed one and we don't need anymore. We're through, and with 2 games to spare. The match was **** but I don't know what the **** you're moaning about TBH.

 

[tam1886]

Fab and Hleb play nearly every game for us. They need a rest. As Wenger pointed out in other leagues they get a winter break, its not about Mondays match its about everything. Its about in a months time, and 2 months time, and April. Its not immediate tiredness, its long term fatigue.

I know, but one more game won't make a difference long term, whereas it might make a difference in the short term in qualifying first from the group. I think we could have won with them last night, then substituted them off early if all was going well. If we had won, it would have made things much easier in qualifying ahead of Sevilla.d

Why would we rest them in tougher games, we need our best players for the toughest games. Anyway you're acting like Wenger said "oh sure I'll just play Denilson even though we wont win" How many of those players last night aren't good enough, aren't ready for the EPL? Song maybe, thats about it though. Wengers played all them guys in the league before. They had enough experience to beat Slavia.

I know they have enough, and I thought they would, and I think in any other game they could. But without it sounding like and excuse, I think the conditions played a big part in the outcome of the game. I'd fully expect that team we put out to beat them most of the time, but i'd expect our first XI, minus one or two, to beat them almost all the time. It's not just about who played, but the experience of playing together. I don't think the team mentality our first XI have translates to that side we played last night, and it certainly hasn't translated enough to get them through the tough gritty games like last night with a win.

Now you're suggesting resting players against Wigan. Get your head screwed on mate, Wigan are better than Slavia and we need 3 points against them alot more than we needed 3 last night, in fact we didn't need 3, we needed one and we don't need anymore. We're through, and with 2 games to spare. The match was s**t but I don't know what the f**k you're moaning about TBH.

My head is screwed on, and even if it wasn't, i'm pretty sure i'd still be entitled to an opinion. Getting three points last night would have given us more ability to rest players in the important upcoming games in the league where we are going to need everyone fit and fresh. If you actually look at what I said, you'll see I said slight changes, implying one or two players. If we can't beat the likes of Wigan without one or two first team players then we really don't deserve to win the league anyway do we?

I don't have a problem. I never complained anywhere. I'm just stating that I think we could have made things a bit easier for ourselves in qualifying first and resting players in the upcoming games. I'm happy we've qualified.

 

[juk380x]

The first team nedded rest, and we needed a point. Both goals were acheved, I don't know what the fuss is about. It was a dull away game against a very defnsive-minded opponent, in the rain. I think the idea of putting Eduardo, Bendtner and Walcott failed, but it was worth a try. And the point made earlier - about not caring whether we finish 1st or 2nd - stands. We want to win the CL, and it doesn't matter who we play aginst in the 2nd round - we have to beat the best teams anyway. Wenger did good yesterday. Next stop - 3 points against Reading.

 

[Alfonso]

slump

Lol. One bad game come on man!

3 draws. We should have won at least one of those. I take it as a slump because we've stepped up a lot this season.

It is actually 2 draws in a row, but we have drawn 3 out of 4 of our last games. But of course we played Liverpool away and Man Utd at home, so you look at it relatively. Just because we did not win 6-0 today doesnt mean we are suddenly in decline.

You cant play pretty football and score 3 every week, nor will we get the headlines every week. Which can be good in a way, allows us to not get too carried away and focus on the tasks and challenges ahead.

Also, this a Champions League match away from home in parts of Europe where we struggle to win traditionally, plus the fact we played practically a second team. Its one thing beating Sheifled Utd away 3-0 with your second team and its another doing to same when your in the CL away from home.

That is quite an interesting response given that you said you were disappointed that didn't get four points from the Liverpool and Manure games.

I wasn't expecting a 6-0 thrashing. Rather, i expected a win. Sure, you can't win every time but I hope we are not going through a patch of games where we'll struggle to beat the opposition. I'm worried by our lack of fire power at the moment. Next game is Reading. I hope that can be an easy win.

You are right, at the time I was disapointed that we didnt get 4 points from the Liverpool Man Utd games. But overall given that we did not, it doesnt mean it equates to a slump either, which is what you asked:

"3 draws in a row, are we in a slump?".

I think your being quite fickle here or you have been very spoilt by our early season form. Just because our reserves did not score away from home, doesnt mean we will decline. If anything, the players that were rested on Wed should be fresher and hungrier for Monday's game, which will hopefully optimise our chances of winning.

 

[Anzac]

Just an aside on the progress of our team - last season's C Cup players are now being blooded in the CL - great news for our depth & flexibility for the back half of the season!!!!!!!