There comes a point in a game when players and fans alike know if this will be their day or not. The majority of the Arsenal fans and staff went into the BvB Stadium knowing that on paper, this will be the most testing of the away fixtures in the group stages.
It is difficult to not envy the atmosphere the 80,000 Dortmund fans created on Tuesday night. This is a crowd that can equal intimidating match atmospheres witnessed in Turkey and even released a video to welcome the Arsenal to Westfalenstadion. Any team travelling into Dotmund’s arena could almost liken the surrounding to walking into a dragon’s lair.
When Neven Subotic found the ball at his feet 6 yards from goal and shaped up to shoot, it was as if time almost stood still for a moment as everyone watched in anticipation. It was like witnessing a ‘Matrix’ movie when the evil Agent Smith fires his weapons while you witness the ripple effect of every bullet in slow motion fly towards Mr. Anderson who in turn dodges the attacks and appears unscathed, much to the shock and dismay of the villain.
The hero in Dortmund was the young Polish Keeper Wojiech Szczesny who rather than dodge the shot threw himself on the way and emerged from the crowd of players with the ball safely in his grasp. It was a moment that hinted Arsenal will not leave north-west Germany empty handed, least not without a fight!
Jurgen Klopp, the man in charge of ‘The Borussians’ has been tipped to become one of the best managers of his generation. Wenger’s pre-match praise for Klopp had hints of jealousy towards a man who at the age of 44 has put together a fantastic team that ran away with the Bundesliga title last season. This is a team that was playing with utmost confidence and flair.
If there is a manager in Europe that does not envy some of the players at Klopp’s disposal, they would be lying. The centre back pairing of Subotic and Hummels is solid and Mario Gotze showed why Arsenal were ready to spend €40m for his services at the age of 19. Unfortunately for Arsenal, Gotze’s parents had decided he was too young to leave Dortmund.
Both sides missed key players in the tie. Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios and Arsenal’s midfielder Jack Wilshere and defender Vermaelenwere both nursing injuries. And despite the missing players, the quality of the game did not fall. Chances were created by both sides but it was a case of being clinical and when Kehl was dispossessed in his own half by van Persie, the Dutchman finished off the move with a sublime shot past the Dortmund keeper Weidenfeller to give Arsenal the lead.
It took a wonder goal on the 88th minute for Dortmund to salvage a point at home but at the final whistle, the air punch celebration from Wenger in the stands told its own story. Arsenal know at home they can play a more attacking game in the return fixture at home and it was crucial to avoid going home empty handed against such a tough opposition.
The Gunners performed well despite the sickening ban posed on the manager. Wenger, who had to stay behind after final whistle in case he ran to the touchline to give game-changing tactics to his team, was marshalled away by 2 UEFA prison guards. You can almost the match the scene to a serial killer on death row being taken to meet his family for the last time as Wenger was finally allowed to meet his players. No action has yet been taken against Bulgaria for the racist chants towards England’s players but UEFA seem to have got their priorities right by imposing Wenger’s touchline ban.
Manager for the day Pat Rice said there was a “buzz” in the dressing room after the uncertainty in recent times. There is now a sense of unity within the squad. Van Persie is proving to be a real leader on and off the pitch, while Koscielny and Song looked very assured alongside Sagna who has become an ever present in the current squad.
Despite losing the creativity of Fabregas and Nasri, the performance in Dortmund was a message that this team Arsenal was ready to fight tooth and nail to be counted. They are keen to silence the doubters, but more importantly they are working together as a unit for a common purpose rather than the individual glory some players were seeking last season.
Undoubtedly, the Gunners still need a very creative player in January, perhaps in the stature of Hazard or Gotze. For the moment however, Arsenal look to have hit the ground running.
Showing posts with label laurent koscielny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laurent koscielny. Show all posts
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Ref is to Blame for Arsenal Win
It was music to the ears to hear the doubters’ fall of their armchairs when the final whistle blew at an exuberant and deafening Emirates stadium on Wednesday night.
As the Arsenal fans and players celebrated away, certain sections of those that whole heartedly knew about this, “battering” that Arsenal were due, worked well into the night to compile the excuses for Barcelona.
All of a sudden, it seemed as though everyone in the world was either a Barcelona or an Arsenal fan. There were many that completely refused to give Arsenal and any of the players credit for the win, instead focusing on how the referee “helped” us. None of them even managed to spell referee after Dowd’s performance at St. James’ Park or Howard Webb at the Theatre of Scums. All of a sudden, it was the “referee that won Arsenal the game” because the Arsenal are never allowed to be credited with a hard fought victory. It’s difficult to understand what allegiance these people suddenly have towards Barcelona.
I don’t doubt that Messi’s goal was wrongly deemed offside. Nor do I deny that they kept the ball for the majority of the 90 minutes. Isn’t that a tune we have heard before? An accusation levelled at us several times when we played Chavski or Manure? Last season, we completely played the Chavs and Manure off the park both home and away but lost both games. This season, the game at the Bridge was one of the most one sided football matches Arsenal played in and yet our team was accused of the “tippy tappy football with no end product”.
So where have those critics gone now? Why are they now changing tact to claim that the team that kept possession the most should have won? The claims of “handball” against Djorou and Arshavin were sickening. I have watched the whole game twice now and looked at the claims countless times and at no point can you ever even claim them as handballs.
Our performance was solid to say the very least. Spuds manager Twitchy claimed we were playing “suicide football” in the first half and surprising as it is, he was right to an extent. It was a bit of suicide football but Barca are not used to teams playing a high defensive line against them. They are used to the opposition defending deep and being able to pass around the box to eventually one-two their way through. Wenger however, gave them a different challenge to deal with on Wednesday night.
As I mentioned, we played a very high line against them. This meant that for Barcelona to find an opening, they would have to pick out an eye of the needle pass or a chip that would allow Villa or Messi to beat the offside trap and latch on to the ball. Any time Messi, Alves or Villa attempted any dribbles, they would get over crowded and shut down – lesson learnt from last season.
There was another problem Wenger threw at them to deal with. Unlike the tactical advice which pundits were suggesting (best way to beat them is letting Barcelona have the ball and defend deep, Arsenal pressed every Barcelona player at every opportunity, forcing them to play their passes quickly. Every pass that was played in our half was hunted down by an Arsenal player. To be able to play a defence unlocking pass, space and timing are key factors, neither of which was in Barca’s favour.
They did twice, manage to find the killer pass in that first half when Villa scored and Messi (for every man and his dog thinking he scored) missed the one on one. It’s fair to say they were wasteful and Arsenal are more than aware of the whole “not taking your chances” situation.
I was surprised to see the way Barca set out for the second half. They looked leggy and tired; Messi seemed uninterested at times, Xavi looked as though he is more interested in proving to the world that Barca players can pass the ball to each other rather than posing a threat and the rest all looked like they ran a marathon. Whether this is due to the pressing in the first half they are not used to, or a lack of squad rotation from Guardiola or even a combination of both, it was certainly a factor that played a part in our victory. We started to see more of the ball and created some openings.
While Guardiola surprisingly went for the “hold on to the lead” approach with his substitutions that Barca are not used to, Wenger made a change that left many rather baffled. Song was taken off to avoid the team being reduced to 10. I expected Denilson to replace him and instead, Arshavin came on which proved to be a masterstroke. Alves now had some pace to deal with that would test his non-existent defensive skills. Nasri was moved more central with Bendtner coming on for Walcott on the right.
Van Persie’s goal was fantastic to say the least. Most critics decided to point to Valdes’ inability to do simple goalkeeping, from which it is clear that they haven’t seen much of Barcelona in the past. Clichy’s pass over the top was immaculate and Van Persie looked up to find the angle and unleashed a shot that beat Valdes at the near post.
The celebration was rather like a Mexican wave at the ground. I was sitting at the clock end corner and all those sitting near me were wondering why the North Bank are continuing to celebrate Van Persie ruffle the side netting. After a while it registered that he scored and the celebration was immense from the fans while Van Persie even got a rare bear hug from Wenger.
When Bendtner was substituted on for Theo at 1-0, I made a sarcastic comment that this substitution would win the game. I was half made to eat my words as Bendtner played an important part in the second goal which he did not get credit for. After Koscielny won the ball, he distributed it wide to Bendtner, deep inside the Arsenal half. The Dane drew 2 players towards him before passing it out to Wilshere who had some space to pick out his next pass. Wilshere found Fabregas who found Nasri in acres of space at the other end. In came Arshavin to latch on to Nasri’s pass and curl it into the goal. Oh how the Gooners celebrated that goal!
Arsenal kept solid, defended strongly and saw the game out. The Emirates was buzzing from start to finish and given the history of the teams in recent times, the celebrations were extra jubilant.
Special praises should go to Jack Wilshere and Laurent Koscielny. While the former is inexperienced at only 19, Wilshere didn’t look out of placed, nor overawed by playing up against Xavi and Iniesta. As for Koscielny, he was playing in lower French leagues only 2 years ago. He’s not the perfect defender, but he kept a check on Messi which is not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination.
The return leg will be MASSIVELY difficult. Barca have scored 19 goals in 6 knockout stage games in the past 2 seasons at Camp Nou conceding only 3 (1 to Arsenal and 2 to Lyon). Out of the 6 teams in those knock out stage games, only Chavski managed to come out with a 0-0 draw.
Despite that, as we may already know, Arsenal love these challenges. We were the first team to win at the Santiago Bernebeu, and came out with a victory against AC Milan and Inter Milan at the San Siro, while let’s not forget the hostile atmospheres of Celtic Park and the Şükrü Saracoğlu in Istanbul when we faced Celtic and Fenerbahce respectively.
Arsenal must look for the away goal and use Walcott’s pace at every opportunity while keeping it tight at the back. Barca will play with an obsessive attacking mindset and Arsenal must exploit this to hit them on the counter. To say it will be tough is an understatement, but I, like the other Gooners, will be there at the Camp Nou to lend the full support. They may have a strong attacking force, but we’ve got Cesc Fabregas!
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!
As the Arsenal fans and players celebrated away, certain sections of those that whole heartedly knew about this, “battering” that Arsenal were due, worked well into the night to compile the excuses for Barcelona.
All of a sudden, it seemed as though everyone in the world was either a Barcelona or an Arsenal fan. There were many that completely refused to give Arsenal and any of the players credit for the win, instead focusing on how the referee “helped” us. None of them even managed to spell referee after Dowd’s performance at St. James’ Park or Howard Webb at the Theatre of Scums. All of a sudden, it was the “referee that won Arsenal the game” because the Arsenal are never allowed to be credited with a hard fought victory. It’s difficult to understand what allegiance these people suddenly have towards Barcelona.
I don’t doubt that Messi’s goal was wrongly deemed offside. Nor do I deny that they kept the ball for the majority of the 90 minutes. Isn’t that a tune we have heard before? An accusation levelled at us several times when we played Chavski or Manure? Last season, we completely played the Chavs and Manure off the park both home and away but lost both games. This season, the game at the Bridge was one of the most one sided football matches Arsenal played in and yet our team was accused of the “tippy tappy football with no end product”.
So where have those critics gone now? Why are they now changing tact to claim that the team that kept possession the most should have won? The claims of “handball” against Djorou and Arshavin were sickening. I have watched the whole game twice now and looked at the claims countless times and at no point can you ever even claim them as handballs.
Our performance was solid to say the very least. Spuds manager Twitchy claimed we were playing “suicide football” in the first half and surprising as it is, he was right to an extent. It was a bit of suicide football but Barca are not used to teams playing a high defensive line against them. They are used to the opposition defending deep and being able to pass around the box to eventually one-two their way through. Wenger however, gave them a different challenge to deal with on Wednesday night.
As I mentioned, we played a very high line against them. This meant that for Barcelona to find an opening, they would have to pick out an eye of the needle pass or a chip that would allow Villa or Messi to beat the offside trap and latch on to the ball. Any time Messi, Alves or Villa attempted any dribbles, they would get over crowded and shut down – lesson learnt from last season.
There was another problem Wenger threw at them to deal with. Unlike the tactical advice which pundits were suggesting (best way to beat them is letting Barcelona have the ball and defend deep, Arsenal pressed every Barcelona player at every opportunity, forcing them to play their passes quickly. Every pass that was played in our half was hunted down by an Arsenal player. To be able to play a defence unlocking pass, space and timing are key factors, neither of which was in Barca’s favour.
They did twice, manage to find the killer pass in that first half when Villa scored and Messi (for every man and his dog thinking he scored) missed the one on one. It’s fair to say they were wasteful and Arsenal are more than aware of the whole “not taking your chances” situation.
I was surprised to see the way Barca set out for the second half. They looked leggy and tired; Messi seemed uninterested at times, Xavi looked as though he is more interested in proving to the world that Barca players can pass the ball to each other rather than posing a threat and the rest all looked like they ran a marathon. Whether this is due to the pressing in the first half they are not used to, or a lack of squad rotation from Guardiola or even a combination of both, it was certainly a factor that played a part in our victory. We started to see more of the ball and created some openings.
While Guardiola surprisingly went for the “hold on to the lead” approach with his substitutions that Barca are not used to, Wenger made a change that left many rather baffled. Song was taken off to avoid the team being reduced to 10. I expected Denilson to replace him and instead, Arshavin came on which proved to be a masterstroke. Alves now had some pace to deal with that would test his non-existent defensive skills. Nasri was moved more central with Bendtner coming on for Walcott on the right.
Van Persie’s goal was fantastic to say the least. Most critics decided to point to Valdes’ inability to do simple goalkeeping, from which it is clear that they haven’t seen much of Barcelona in the past. Clichy’s pass over the top was immaculate and Van Persie looked up to find the angle and unleashed a shot that beat Valdes at the near post.
The celebration was rather like a Mexican wave at the ground. I was sitting at the clock end corner and all those sitting near me were wondering why the North Bank are continuing to celebrate Van Persie ruffle the side netting. After a while it registered that he scored and the celebration was immense from the fans while Van Persie even got a rare bear hug from Wenger.
When Bendtner was substituted on for Theo at 1-0, I made a sarcastic comment that this substitution would win the game. I was half made to eat my words as Bendtner played an important part in the second goal which he did not get credit for. After Koscielny won the ball, he distributed it wide to Bendtner, deep inside the Arsenal half. The Dane drew 2 players towards him before passing it out to Wilshere who had some space to pick out his next pass. Wilshere found Fabregas who found Nasri in acres of space at the other end. In came Arshavin to latch on to Nasri’s pass and curl it into the goal. Oh how the Gooners celebrated that goal!
Arsenal kept solid, defended strongly and saw the game out. The Emirates was buzzing from start to finish and given the history of the teams in recent times, the celebrations were extra jubilant.
Special praises should go to Jack Wilshere and Laurent Koscielny. While the former is inexperienced at only 19, Wilshere didn’t look out of placed, nor overawed by playing up against Xavi and Iniesta. As for Koscielny, he was playing in lower French leagues only 2 years ago. He’s not the perfect defender, but he kept a check on Messi which is not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination.
The return leg will be MASSIVELY difficult. Barca have scored 19 goals in 6 knockout stage games in the past 2 seasons at Camp Nou conceding only 3 (1 to Arsenal and 2 to Lyon). Out of the 6 teams in those knock out stage games, only Chavski managed to come out with a 0-0 draw.
Despite that, as we may already know, Arsenal love these challenges. We were the first team to win at the Santiago Bernebeu, and came out with a victory against AC Milan and Inter Milan at the San Siro, while let’s not forget the hostile atmospheres of Celtic Park and the Şükrü Saracoğlu in Istanbul when we faced Celtic and Fenerbahce respectively.
Arsenal must look for the away goal and use Walcott’s pace at every opportunity while keeping it tight at the back. Barca will play with an obsessive attacking mindset and Arsenal must exploit this to hit them on the counter. To say it will be tough is an understatement, but I, like the other Gooners, will be there at the Camp Nou to lend the full support. They may have a strong attacking force, but we’ve got Cesc Fabregas!
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!
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