UCL - Olympiacos Vs Arsenal |6 Dec 2011@1945

[Tourbillion]

Agreed with ebouenolike.

 

[Jury]

Yep, but I wonder how long it'll take for the penny to drop? It took long enough for Wenger to accept Failmunia, Bendtner and Denilson were turd.

 

[SomGooner]

The most embarrassing Arsenal performance for quite some time. I cannot believe we have Arshavin, Chamakh and Squillaci on our payroll!!! Disgusting.

 

[Beksl]

I couldn't watch the game and reading some of the posts here I'm glad I didn't.

Chamakh is finished here, we knew that long before today's game.

It's a shame Santos got injured, I don't know what Wenger was thinking, the blame is on him and I expect him to take full responsibility, awful man management.

 

[redanddread]

Just watched the game on delay. Keystone Cops sums it up. The "team" (if that's what you could call them) played as if they hadn't played together before which I guess they hadn't. However, saying that I think some people, and hopefully including Arsène Wenger, saw that some players are just not good enough to wear The Arsenal shirt.

1. Mannone
2. Arshavin
3. Chamakh
4. Squillaci

Honorable mention also goes to:

1. Fabianski - he looked well shaky before he went off injured
2. Benayoun - who did his headless chicken bit for most of the 1st half
3. Djourou - who looks calamitous at the best of times

Our defense today reminded me of recent Arsenal teams where we had a real laughing stock of a back 5.

Rosicky was just back from injury so I won't criticize him too much.

Frimpong needs to sort out his close control and passing.

Not really too many positives from this game tbh.

We are ****ED if we lose Szczesny!!!

In summation:

1. Arsène BUY A BACKUP Goalkeeper!
2. Sell Arshavin and a few of the others ASAP!!

 

[MDGoonah41]

didnt see the match. result looks ugly, as does the santos injury.

did see benayoun's goal. was awesome.

 

[David Smith]

I think we underestimated them. Should've predicted this beforehand. But they fought for the chance to progress whilst we were safe, you knew they'd give a committed performance (a cup final performance) and we'd never have won with an inexperienced side, little to no chance. This, coupled with the hostile atmosphere made the game tense, one that had no meaning to us. This lead to an overall very sloppy performance and unwanted injuries.

 

[mo50]

Honestly, after years of watching the likes of Almunia and Fabianski make error after error in goal, I have to say Mannone's today easily makes the top 3, and is a strong contender for the worst I've seen. I nearly died of laughter when I saw the goal.

 

[David Smith]

Mannone hadn't played a competitive game for Arsenal prior to this match for 2 years, I'd say he should be let off the hook for that.

 

[redanddread]

Mannone hadn't played a competitive game for Arsenal prior to this match for 2 years, I'd say he should be let off the hook for that.

He looked hopeless. I am sure he was nervous but that was really too much. He ain't Arsenal 1st team material!

 

[mo50]

The guy has no career here anyway and the game was a meaningless one, but any GK, let alone one employed by one of the biggest clubs in the world, simply cannot make such a mistake. I can't even call it a schoolboy error or an amateurish mistake, he didn't use his hands when it was the easier option.

 

[David Smith]

Some of the best goalkeepers in the world have made mistakes like that (or worse) when they were young. You shouldn't be too critical on one bad game. Mannone showed his bravery, I applaud him for that.

 

[ebouenolike]

He's a professional goalkeeper for Arsenal 'David Smith' - he definitely should not be let off for that howler. He's also played football in the last two years, that is no excuse.

 

[kofigunner]

Wenger's been desparately trying to spark Shava and Chamakh into regaining some of the kind of form they've shown in the past. Sadly it hasn't quite worked. Then there's the Santos gamble that misfired. I think that's the real negative from this game. I don't think the team as a whole will be vastly troubled by this, given the team we put out. The team is mature enough to ignore such(almost expected) setbacks.

 

[kenkbc2]

The Boss was in a Catch-22 situation here, its like "damned if you do, damned if you don't" with regards to the team he put out.

So, he gambled on TV and Santos, we lost and one of them got injured. We may as well thank our lucky stars that it was not TV and that Gibbs is almost fit enough to start..

On a side not, if this match doesn't convince Arsène that he needs to ship out the deadwood that is Arshavin, Chamakh & Squillaci, I don't know what else will.

Now, for the knock-out stage draw..

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

on injuries to Lukasz Fabianski and Andre Santos...
Fabianski felt a deep cut on the knee and Santos suffered a bad ankle injury. He looks like he will be out for a while. We have Gibbs coming back in two to three weeks. Hopefully Santos will not be too long but, for Saturday against Everton, he looks to be short. We have as well Vermaelen who can play in his position.

Wenger was utterly wrong to start Santos, and I'm just thankfull Verms didn't get injured, because that'd mean no LB at all. Terrible, terrible decision.
We have four injured FBs now and none looks to come back within the next couple of days. That's simply horrible.

And I agree with many on here, Chamakh and Arshavin should be sold immediately. What a waste of wages.

 

[VancouverCanuck]

I know everyone is very disappointed with last night's performance, myself included. But let's put this in perspective, we fielded two of what I consider to be our strongest XI in an away CL match against an opposition who has everything to play for. Had it been Manure or Chelsea in similar situation, I am sure they would struggle as well.

That said, buy we must in January.

 

[ibby]

The Boss was in a Catch-22 situation here, its like "damned if you do, damned if you don't" with regards to the team he put out.

So, he gambled on TV and Santos, we lost and one of them got injured. We may as well thank our lucky stars that it was not TV and that Gibbs is almost fit enough to start.

Eh? What catch-22 situation? And there is no "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. Meaningless game that has no significance whatsoever.

 

[Big Poppa]

I'm very concerned about the lack of quality in our goalkeeping department. Sczeszny is still a young guy learning the game, yet is by far our best GK and we are heavily reliant on him staying fit.

Chamakh and Arshavin seem to have gone off the boil, and the last time I saw Djourou play that badly, he was alongside - yep, Squillaci. Our first team is definitely capable of doing well this season but yet again is our lack of quality throughout the squad in key areas that is likely to hurt us most.

 

[kenkbc2]

The Boss was in a Catch-22 situation here, its like "damned if you do, damned if you don't" with regards to the team he put out.

So, he gambled on TV and Santos, we lost and one of them got injured. We may as well thank our lucky stars that it was not TV and that Gibbs is almost fit enough to start.

Eh? What catch-22 situation? And there is no "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. Meaningless game that has no significance whatsoever.

Here's the scenario... with TV & Squillaci, we conceded 3 goals.

Now imagine JD/Miquel & Squillaci in the CB position, with whoever else that is available at RB. I'm pretty sure a lot of people here would be taking a swipe at the team selection as well if we got hammered by a 5 or 6 goal margin. Not to mention the demoralizing factor for the youngsters who were out on the field, put out to be slaughtered by a determined and well drilled Olympiacos side.