UCL - Olympiacos Vs Arsenal |6 Dec 2011@1945

[Outliar]

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.

Some errors yes but Mannone's error yesterday was really really bad. Totally lost his bearings and didnt know he could have used his hands. Understandably lack of match fitness and exposure to situations but he should have been mentally prepared as he was on the bench. You don't just sit on the bench without being ready for a game.

He was terrible throughout the game too, parrying balls he could have easily caught, kicking it long when there was clearly a player available to passed to etc..

So it begs the question, what bravery did Mannone actually showed? Because blaming Squillaci for his own mistake is certainly no bravery. The defenders must be ****ting themselves for having to listen to Mannone bark orders at them when defending set pieces.

I am just basing this on yesterday's performance though.

 

[Armor for Sleep]

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.

Fabianski is a good keeper imo, particularly when given a run of games. He just panicks a bit when he gets a "one-off" game to impress. Its not a major concern for me tbh. I wouldn't mind a dependable 2nd choice though if Fabianski leaves in the summer - someone with a bit of experience.

 

[Enfield]

There was no disaster last night. We all knew, as did Wenger I'm sure, that Mannone wasn't gong to be world class, that Squid is a liability, that playing Verm and Santos was a small risk that needed to be taken. Verm isn't long back and not playing Santos would have meant Miquel next to Squid which would be unfair on everyone. We all also knew that Chamakh and Arshavin have both lost it, that Oxlade is brimming with confidence and energy and Benayoun is an excellent professional. Last night confirmed all of this, its not like we were expecting anything different from anyone

 

[Vela]

Mannone was poor last night he will go out on loan soon anyway and likely to leave the club in January or the summer anyway.

 

[Anzac]

The disaster will be if AW fails to appropriately respond in the market in Jan.

As for the match IMO AW got just about everything wrong that he could have = selections, formation, tactics & subs.

 

[error_prone]

The disaster will be if AW fails to appropriately respond in the market in Jan.

As for the match IMO AW got just about everything wrong that he could have = selections, formation, tactics & subs.

That was always his weak spot, no tactical awareness.

 

[mo50]

That was always his weak spot, no tactical awareness.

A manager with no tactical awareness doesn't win 3 league titles.

 

[halfvolley]

I cannot fathom what brought him to field Santos - a player who is already overplayed clearly in the danger zone. I have been worrying about him for weeks. What sort of a brain fart does it take to do that?

And Vermaelen, a key player for us who has recently returned from injury.

The premises for the game were:
- It means less than nothing to us
- It means ****ing EVERYTHING to Olympiakos who are bound to go out and play their asses off.

That is a high injury risk game, no doubt about it, and there was absolutely nothing at all in it for us.

I'm ****ing livid at Wenger for being so idiotic, it's inexcuseable. To recklessly jeopardise our PL campaign for what? Bragging rights?

**** off.

 

[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.

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.

That's all hypothetical. And no, no-one here would be cricitising his team selection, we're through, who cares?

 

[TheArsenalis]

Santos was on of the two we shouldnt have risk, there is no back.

 

[AFCG7]

Some of Wenger's decisions are mind-boggling, makes you want to tear your hair out.
To be honest it wouldnt matter if we had lost 5-0 as long as we kept our key players fit. As it stands we are very lucky that Vermaelen came through this game without injury. Look back at the game , the last 3 tackles made on him were atrocious , could easily have go injured.

 

[mistaT]

Playing Santos/Vermalean to me indicates Wenger is still far too concerned about developing our younger talent.

He clearly wanted a strong back 4 to ensure the midfield and forwards were given a chance to shine. Now I don't believe he did specifically to win the game, but rather to help Frimpong/Coueqlin/AOC and to a lesser extent Arshavin/Chamakh/Benayoun settle in.

Regardless Arsène once again has his priorities off, and despite our great recent form it is easy to revert to wondering if he's lost the plot.

 

[Linson]

Fabianski 1 - Nervous and crap, he continually proves why he should never wear and arsenal shirt again. Ever. Words can't describe how much I hate him, he really is one of the worst goalkeepers I've ever seen.

Djourou 4 - Poor positionally
Squillaci 4 - Actually did a couple of things right but still not good enough
Vermaelen 7 - Didn't do anything wrong and gets +1 for injuring the clown.
Santos 5 - Weak performance but still did the basics

Frimpong 5 - Naive
Coquelin 5 - Naive
Benayoun 3 - Hard to remember what he did apart from score

AOC 7 - Tried to dribble one to many times for me but that could be due to the fact that everyone around him was turd and he got fed up
Chamakh 1 - Counter-productive
Arshavin 1 - See Chamakh

Miquel 5.5 - Fine
Mannone 3 - Looked shaky and the first goal he conceded was purely baffling. However, he is young and doesn't play often enough to be criticized too harshly
Rosicky 6 - Fine

In conclusion:

Players to be sold:
Squillaci
Fabianski
Arshavin
Chamakh

These four players have consistently proven that they are simply not good enough. Frankly I'd prefer one good squad player than these tampons hanging around.

Djourou did actually show glimpses of something good last season, he is still quite young for a defender and he's playing out of position.

Mannone is the same apart from being in his position.

Frimpong and Coquelin have moments where they look pretty good but had an off day yesterday.

I, personally, wouldn't want to renew Benayouns loan.

Error_prone saying that Wenger has no tactical sense is plain ridiculous and should be taken with a large pinch of salt.


I hope tonight highlighted to Wenger that although the first XI are gelling well, the reserves are, generally, weak.

 

[Arai]

We had a new match day thread (versus Everton)....

I think it is time to lock it.... 8))