UCL - AC Milan Vs Arsenal 19:45 15/02/12 ITV1

[ebouenolike]

Agree with Outlaw - the difference between our offensive thread when we have Rosicky or Ox on is phenomenal.

That being said, if all the bottling members of the team put in similar performances we probably still would've been crushed.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

Absolutely dumbfounded that Rosicky was named Arsenal's MOTM on Arsenal.com

Incredible.

 

[fabo]

Sounds good in theory, I fail to see Ox significantly changing what happened out there. He would have either been forced too deep or starved of enough possession in good areas I think.

The team was an absolute mess from top to bottom, disgraceful stuff from the lot of them bar RVP, Thierry, and maybe Koscielny and Gibbs(well, letting him off slightly because of the lack of game-time). Too much talk from alot of these ***** but failing to back it up on the field.

 

[ebouenolike]

Absolutely dumbfounded that Rosicky was named Arsenal's MOTM on Arsenal.com

Incredible.

 

[RUS arsenal]

Absolutely dumbfounded that Rosicky was named Arsenal's MOTM on Arsenal.com

Incredible.

He seemed to be the only one in the last 30 minutes of the game who made efforts to close down players and win 50/50 challenges so I guess in that sense he was MOTM? Personally I wouldn't name anybody a MOTM, they didn't deserve it.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Absolutely dumbfounded that Rosicky was named Arsenal's MOTM on Arsenal.com

Incredible.

Well, that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about our performance there.
Spares you watching the Highlights, if you missed it.

 

[HollandGooner]

I have been a little bit cooler right now.
But to be honest this was really really bad. this was amateurish stuff all over the pitch.
Players who earn about 50k/pw well i would strip them off a week loan, if we are doing that kind of stuff on our work we would get fired.

 

[TheArsenalis]

Rosicky doesnt deserve defense so this isnt a defense, but of all the CM we have he is the only one who attemp intricacy, the only who continuosly pass forward and try to penetrate, but its only momentarily then completely faded out, the others just pass the ball into safe space, arteta included. I have absolutely no rating for our midfield, song when the going gets tough will push forward and provide 1 or 2 quality passes but thats, I read on here comparison between arteta and alonso but #really? He is a.good player and.probably best midfielder but not a patch on alonso.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Arteta's more versatile than Alonso, but he's nowhere near as good as him.

 

[Anzac]

Question - whilst I'm aware that neither Chamakh or Park tavelled with the team to Milan,
what of Yossi, AA & Ox?

Many have said that Ox should have started ahead of Rosicky on the flanks,
whilst others have argued that Rosicky provides better defensive cover in front of Gibbs than Ox (or AA for that matter),
but no one has mentioned Benayoun who IMO was one of our better performers in the 1st leg A v Dortmund re his tireless running & covering.

That would then have allowed Rosicky to play AMC with Rambo an option off the bench along with the likes of AA etc.

 

[fabo]

Wow, Henry's face was a picture after the Zlatan pen went in.....

He wanted to strangle Szczesny at that moment. Tbf it wasn't a great pen. RVP just had his face in his hands.

 

[Armor for Sleep]

I watched most of the game again and we weren't actually that bad in the first 30 minutes. It just collapsed after that though. Very disappointed in Vermaelen. Hopefully he just needs a bit of time to get used to playing at CB again because he was as poor as i've ever seen him.

 

[Anzac]

Wow, Henry's face was a picture after the Zlatan pen went in.....

He wanted to strangle Szczesny at that moment. Tbf it wasn't a great pen. RVP just had his face in his hands.

TBF Szczesny didn't make the foul on Zlatan in the area for the pen,
and at 0-3 with 10 mins to play the damage had already been done me thinks. :wink:

 

[ricky1985]

Wow, Henry's face was a picture after the Zlatan pen went in.....

He wanted to strangle Szczesny at that moment. Tbf it wasn't a great pen. RVP just had his face in his hands.

Szczesny had a big part to play in the first goal we conceded, but the only reason he got anywhere near that penalty is because he was about 10 foot off his line.

 

[fabo]

Szczesny was poor all night really, he's playing like De Gea in the last 2 months. Been a mixed season from him so far I think.

 

[ricky1985]

His form has definitely dipped in the last month or so, but he hasn't been that bad either.

He wasn't bad all night in Milan, though. He had **** all to do. He couldn't get near any of the goals, although he undoubtedly helped cause the first one, but his kicking was reliable enough when the ball was played back to him.

The team need to get their act together though, before you can really say it's on him. No 'keeper would look good in this team right now, he's far too exposed.

 

[fabo]

He kicks like a school-girl I think.... Biggest problem for me is his lack of anticipation when coming out(and other times he's too eager to come early, basically poor decision-making). If the defender is holding off a striker with the ball running towards our goal, he's obviously waiting for the keeper to kill the situation, Szczesny is creating unnecessary danger by not coming, happened at least twice the other night, maybe more times too.

His shot-stopping is very good though, and he's confident and self-critical so there's a top keeper in there no doubt, not there yet though. I'd expect a notable improvement next season. I'd love to have an able deputy in that area, a veteran who is fairly reliable so we can make changes when Szczesny's form does dip.

 

[ModelGooner]

I'd love to have an able deputy in that area, a veteran who is fairly reliable so we can make changes when Szczesny's form does dip.

In a nutshell, that is probably the biggest cancer this club has seen in the last 5 years.

Good competition brings out the best in players. Lack of it, brings out the worst.

 

[ibby]

I'm really not buying into this 'lack of motivation' theory.

As a manager you could face this problem, if you and your team keep on winning trophies. This is not the case at Arsenal. All the time our players are talking about ending the trophy drought. This is all about the team's quality and the cautious approach. You are motivated even when you play 5 v 5 street football with your friends, you want to win even if there's nothing at stake, no money, no big tournament, it's just the pleasure/pride to win.

I agree that it's the manager role to keep the players on their feet and tell them or yell al them (if it's necessary) at half-time after a disjointed first-half.

But the reason why you yelling at a certain player is because he has been poor, which means he doesn't have the quality to perform in that match/at the respective club or he has an off day (it happens) and you bring on a substitution for the second-half. But if that footballer keeps playing like a shipwreck constantly, it's either a quality problem, fatigue etc. I doesn't have anything to do with lack of motivation or desire to win. Everybody wants to win, everybody wants a gold medal.

Today's game totally nullifies this post.