Today is the view from the stand by Passenal.
Just back from the game and despite the result I’m not downbeat at all! It was a fantastic game of football for the first 30 minutes between two teams who wanted to play the game the way it’s meant to be played. And we were great when we had 11 players on the pitch. Once the referee decided to hand the initiative to Bayern we did well to keep the score down. I was hoping we could keep it to one goal as I would have been more optimistic of getting through the second game; now I’m more hopeful than expectant. Bayern are sustained by a lot of hype – they did not overawe us even when they had the extra man advantage. I think it was mental and physical exhaustion at the end that let them in for the second goal. Still, it’s not over until it’s over.
It’s a shame we didn’t score from our penalty as that could have changed the dynamic considerably and without the benefit of a hundred replays from every angle I still cannot understand why Woj was sent off? Robben did not have the ball under control it was a pass into the area and the goal keeper had as much right to go for it as the player. Robben made a meal of it and the crowd let him know it. It put him off his game too as I lost count of the balls he kicked into touch after that, each one getting a louder and louder cheer. I don’t know if it came across on TV, but the crowd, certainly in the North Bank, were fantastic tonight. I’ve never heard it so loud! As for the Bayern fans – they were silent for the first 45 – I think our team had them worried. We only heard or saw them after their team scored a goal. And that fat arsed goal keeper of their’s is another cheater making a meal out of a challenge from Sanogo to get him booked.
Ozil’s penalty was weak and I guess being up against his international team mate put him off. No doubt he’s being slammed all over Twitter, but these things happen. That was certainly the moment that we missed Arteta’s cool head. Sanogo continues to impress and showed that his performance against Liverpool was not a one-off. The only downside is that we’ve lost Gibbs and possibly the Ox to injury.
Positively Arsenal 
morning all.
i was disappointed with the result because after five minutes into the game, i realised that bayern were not as good as we were made to believe.
it was a pen but not a red or yellow. are keepers not allowed to tackle in their box? it was a 50-50 ball, roben wanted the pen more than the ball but szcz was absolutely going for the ball inside his box. if it was an outfield player, red may be ok, but a goal keeper doing his legitimate job in his box, is not a red for me. how is penalty not a clear goal scoring oppurtunity?
all in all, we did well. kos my motm along with flamini.
if we want or need to add any more german to this team, i like us to get kroos. we need that kind of missile from the midfield.
will ramsey be back for the second leg? any news about gibbs? i’m sure ox is alright. he is not injured.
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most fans were blaming monreal yesterday, yet they are the one responsible for his predicament. they have given the public the impression that he is not a solid right back. and hence bayern saw him as the weak link. send all ball toward him and try to get in from his side. i doubt gibbs will do any better if he was faced with such. yet the goals we conceded were not from his flank.
the same way we are making the world to believe that szcz is inconsistent and irrational.
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Before the match much was made of the fact that it was a game over 180 minutes, so it was a shame that to all intents and purposes we were only in the contest for 35 of those minutes, or at least until Gibbs was injured. But for that brief period we looked very good indeed and seemed nicely balanced. Wilshere did well, Gibbs looked a handful, Ozil seemed everywhere, Oxlade was dynamic and the surprise package, Sanogo was proving a real threat. What a shame about the penalty, but even more what a shame about the injury, which really threw us out of our stride pattern. With the rules as they stand Goalkeepers really can’t compete one on one with a striker through on goal (but that is perhaps made up for with the uber-protection they get when competing for high balls), so there was a sickening inevitability about the card. And that reminded me of the moment in De Caprio’s Titanic when the ship’s architect is consulted shortly after the iceberg moment, and starkly reveals that holed below the waterline like that the end is inevitable, no matter what heroics are performed. The manager’s response was immediate, and although it wasn’t quite women and children first to the lifeboats, it was no great surprise to see Cazorla sacrificed. Impressive rear-guard though we fought, it was only a matter of time before we conceded, and I was left applauding our spirit, feeling proud of the support (which sounded fantastic on the TV) and gloriously horrified when Kos decided to ride into the valley of death minutes before the close when 0-1 looked an achievable result. C’est magnifique mais c’est pas la guerre, Arsene might have thought and so it proved. All to play for next time, but there will be some tired bodies and disappointed spirits around the camp today – and heaven knows what the players are feeling.
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Yay! Great report, Passenal. A potentially great European night of football ruined. I was frustrated but relatively upbeat until you told me we may have lost Oxo as well as Gibbs.
“Ozil’s penalty was weak and I guess being up against his international team mate put him off.”
Totally. And they are friends as well, according to the Arsenal Player commentators. We have to get behind him now, show him lots of love.
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@layksite
February 20, 2014 at 8:39 am
Great comments
Ramsey’s return date is 22nd March but I am secretly hoping for a miraculous early recovery from the Ram Raider.
And may I say how impressed I am with Sanogo? That’s a real player we’ve got there.
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After the adrenaline ebbs away, there will be a lot of tired bodies, physically and mentally, after such a bitter defeat. I fear for us on Saturday vs a resurgent Sunderland. It will take a herculean job from a plainly disappointed Wenger to get the team ready. But there were several positives we can take from the game especially our outstanding display in the first 30 minutes and our resilience after being reduced to 10 men. Time for that famous “mental strength”. from both the players and supporters.
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Thanks Pass -I really like the “Just back from the game ….” tag !!
I thought we played a very very good Bayern side but for the opening twenty minutes they were rocking on their heels – they are not used to be attacked like that. Dante and Boateng do not strike me as much better than most centre back we come across in the PL each week and neither is a patch on Kosc or Per. That weakness at the centre of their defence gives us a keyhole of opportunity in the second leg.
I thought the red card was probably harsh but yet again you have a player, in this case Robben, rolling round on the floor exaggerating the contact. Absolutely no doubt it was a penalty but purrrrrlease Arjen why do you find in almost impossible not to cheat ? Pathetic. And the Alaba penalty miss ? Justice I say.
While I think Robben’s behaviour in the penalty was despicable his performance in the second half got stronger and stronger. We knew what he was going to do, cut inside from the right, but could we do much about it ? I certainly cannot criticise Nacho or Mesut or Mathieu for their efforts to contain the bald little Dutch bastard but he really was good.
The second goal was so disappointing. All that hard work and we have a free kick that just conceivably might let us back in if we bring everyone up, or we could just take it into the corner and waste a little bit more time before the final whistle.
Instead a quick, weak free kick, Bayern break and Muller strikes – a naive end to a performance of great tenacity on our part.
No reason to be too downcast though – we lost a hard fought game, with ten men for the most part, to the best team in Europe. You think any other club in England would have done better ? I don’t.
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Yes, we did have them worried, it was obvious. I really could not see us losing 11 v 11. The team looked really up for it. A shame that the game was spoiled by the red.
Layksite, not sure if you were responding to my post about Wojo? If that’s the case, I’m not blaming him but saying that it was not as much as a goal threat as it seemed, Wenger said as much. Just like a player sometimes rushes a shot when they have more time.
Blessings!
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And the atmosphere sounded and looked superb last night – I was fed up at 7.45 with myself for not taking a ticket – you will be unsurprised to hear that no Sky commentator even mentioned it.
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did wenger say ox was injured? whats all this rumour of injury? i dont think he was injured. rosicky was rested againt liverpool so that he might play yesterday. so it was logical that our only sub left has to go to him and i guess wenger didnt want to sub ozil off because of what the media will say after the missed pen which may have a negative impact on the confidence of ozil and can as well affect his arsenal career. wenger was looking at the bigger picture but the fans ( myself inclusive) were looking for immediate action. this same thing affected arshavin and gervinho, i wish we still have gerv with us last night. i miss ramsey so much now thanks to wenger who stood by him in his time of struggle.
that said, we must not lose focus which is both domestic titles. we all know that bayern will be a tough ask before and champions league is not the main target. let just get the 3 point on saturday.
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Have to say I have always been a huge admirer of Passenal’s post-match comments, generally written immediately after the game, hitting all the right buttons, accurately and fairly.
I say give Passenal the post-match Post contract!
Nothing hugely to add to your words Pass other than to say I think BM were genuinely taken aback by our start and Robben was panicked into going for a penalty that was scarcely, if at all, merited. That the spot-kick was subsequently missed was largely down to the North Bank, I’m sure(!). What an odious creep Robben is – just when you thought it would be impossible to out-Suarez LIverpool’s Prince of Diving up crops this pathetic excuse of a footballer, obliged to exit the field with one arm on a non-existent hurty shoulder. He really was not up to much after that incident so maybe he does have a concience though I personally doubt it.
Shotta – I’m pretty sure we have the squad to handle Sunderland; not an easy game (none of them are) but not one to lose too much sleep over, I’d say.
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Good write up, Passenal.
I was surprised we were awarded a penalty, not because it wasn’t a pen, but because – even in Europe, as we’ve seen for many years, the same ‘foul or not/punishment or not’ on an Arsenal player applies – as in the Prem. I was foolish enough to believe the ref would play it fairly. Fool, me. (Braga, Barca and countless others. I’ve yet to watch a second time in order to count up the ‘mistakes’).
Let’s not forget that Arteta was banned for a ghost-foul booking.
Without looking at any newspapers (apart from seeing a photo of the Mirror’s disgusting back page headline), or seeing any post-match discussion, I went to bed knowing the meedja are continuing the shit-stirring.
Was it Neville I heard saying that WS1 ‘went through Robben’s shin/reckless’? Was he watching the same replay as me? Haven’t I heard GN and everybody else dismiss Arsenal’s penalty claims – constantly – no matter what has occurred?
Still, I’m not down. I just hate knowing that there’s this constant thing to do down The Arsenal, by any means necessary.
I imagine the brilliant title of this article is the complete antithesis of that which appears everywhere else.
It’s OK. We’re OK. (Actually, we’re better, much better, than OK). We’ll continue to get robbed but we’ll still come through.
I love Arsenal. COYG.
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Lovely stuff Passenal,with you & Anicoll we’re blessed with the 2 best match writer uppers around-got to be completely honest I’m lower than a snakes belly this morning-we don’t seem to have any luck in this competition do we ? Bringing in Jenko,TR7,Giroud,Podolski,Arteta and Santi on Saturday will see us plenty fresh enough for the Mackens. By the way,how good was Jack last night?
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Yes, Mel, you’re right, Anicoll’s write ups are all top-notch too – I don’t know why but yesterday’s from Passenal hit a particular chord for some reason. And yes, great and pertinent title, George.
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is there any better defender than koscielny? even when he put up an average performance, he is still better than most others. i’ve heard and read many people arguing about vermaelen in DM but the one player i’m sure will play that position without stress is kos. if i was the manager, i would have tried it already.
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Jack showed not just quality on the ball last night Mel but he was disciplined – it would have been oh so easy for him to have been provoked and boiled over. When he had the ball he rarely wasted it, his tackling was crisp and he stayed on his feet. A very mature performance under the most testing of conditions !
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Terrific experience for the youngsters, especially Jack, Kieran, Ox and Sir Ches.
Would imagine we will be right up there as the team to avoid in next season’s competition.
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we never get fair treatment from refs. if they give our opponents a yellow, they will give us a yellow the next time we commit a foul deserving or not. if it is red, they do the same. last night when we got and lost our pen, i told my friend that the ref will return the favour despite us losing the pen. by the time he gave them the pen, my friend just looked at me and smiled.
but when a decision is given against us, the favour is not returned. for instance, boateng should have got a second yellow yesterday. same against liverpool, gerrard should have been sent off and a pen given to us for a leg breaking tackle on santi.
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Jack and Flamini better step as penalty takers in Munich. In fact I think we may need 5 volunteers 😉
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dc
flamini, yes. jack, no. except you want him to dribble the ball into the net. ox should be a good option though.
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wenger mentioned sagna among the three penalty takers on pitch last night. the last time we had a pen shootout against roma, he took the best penalty. although he was not among the first five selected. i wont be suprise if bac is also a good goalkeeper.
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It’s an interesting proposition, that of playing TV or LK at def. midfield. It’s one I’ve always thought of and desired. However, I think I heard – long ago, that TV doesn’t want that role. I only heard that – I’ve no idea if it’s true, or if Arsene would want that, and I assure you; I’ve NO inside knowledge, apart from my own innate “knowings”, which in turn have nothing to do with running a football club (or even my life, haha).
I also read a rumour that Vertongen wouldn’t come to Arsenal as he didn’t wanna play DM, which also could be complete bollocks. But ‘to be fair’ (why?), I’ve not been all that impressed with Vertongen. I’ve seen him given the runaround far more frequently than our own Mert-4. Maybe that’s cos S***s generally – are shite. (To be fair).
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i can not agree with the narrative that the red card ruined the game…the game was ruined way before and i think you all know when….. lets not hide behind our fingers… those familiar with sports know the importance of momentum and how much it counts and how psychology can switch from heavens to hell. our players were absolutely flying till that point. he owes us big time.
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Who owes us ? Ozil ? If so he owes me fuck all.
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… the arsenal us …the club the manager his teammates and the fans …
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i dont mean he owes us money …ha… but he has to put that right in whichever future occasion arises where something as big is at stake.
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He owes us nothing, any more than any of them do. But Hunter is right to identify the momentum changing moment, which was a great shame. But Ozil was playing brilliantly before that moment, and he tried his socks off going forward after that – just as Monreal tried ever so hard when he was thrust suddenly into the fray.
The only thing that genuinely surprises me (and by now it shouldn’t) is the panning in the press, given I thought we performed so much better than city had the night before. They really hate us, don’t they? Bui not, it would seem, as much as some of the so called fans on twitter, who surely have to be Tottenham sleepers.
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Excellent write up Passenal!
Here’s a typical quote from that other site which confirms that my home is here:
“Not too bothered by the result. A fighting defeat shouldn’t do the team much harm. We are not equipped to win the thing anyway”
Why are we not equipped to win “the thing”? With eleven v eleven I think we would have won the game. And if this is the best team in the world, we could win the entire “thing”
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I finally saw that back page headline in the Mirror. One should not be surprised by that. The red top press is a disgusting manifestation of our time. There is a headline in today’s Financial Times:
“Blair offered advice to Brooks and Murdochs over hacking, court told”
These people were (perhaps still are) ruling the world. They are feel untouchable (perhaps they still are) and they only care about their own power and wealth. Anything to sell newspapers. In that context, the dispicable Mirror headline in mild in comparison.
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Mel: “Bringing in Jenko,TR7,Giroud,Podolski,Arteta and Santi on Saturday will see us plenty fresh enough for the Mackens. By the way,how good was Jack last night?”
My thoughts exactly. I think Wenger took out Santi early in order to rest Ozil on Saturday. Perhaps he’ll be on the bench, but he will not play a full ninety. Ditto for Jack, Sagna, Flamini and the Ox. The two I’m worried about are Per and Laurent. Those two need a rest soon.
“Arsenal v Bayern Munich: sublime Bayern expose premier league elite’s limitations.”
“Manchester City v Barcelona: Lionel Messi and Co show true class in Champions League win at Etihad Stadium.”
Same newspaper, same score line, same caliber of team and we get the more negative headline.
Like I said yesterday, we’ve dug ourselves out of deeper holes. There’s no reason whey we can’t score two goals in Munich and even up this tie.
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My thoughts exactly. I think Wenger took out Santi early in order to rest Ozil on Saturday
cazorla is 29 and has had ankle operation …ozil is 24 and had missed the penalty….wenger believes in redemption …
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Ozil missed a penalty. It’s not like he stabbed Ignasi Miquel to death.
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Wenger also believes in planning ahead for a tough game on Saturday.
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Ozil missed a penalty. It’s not like he stabbed Ignasi Miquel to death.
he killed the squad’s spirits and momentum and then even pulled a strop cause mathieu asked him politely to consider his teammates monreal and kons who had to deal with lahm and robben and kroos curving us constantly on the right hand side
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Wenger also believes in planning ahead for a tough game on Saturday.
so you dont believe wenger also left him there to show us what he’s made of .. (?)
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Disappointed yes, worried no. Munich are a very good side, just in case anyone forgot that side of the equation. But we had them, we had the measure of them, and knew with certainty prior to our missed penalty, and tentatively after until the sending off, that they were beatable. Not much to say about the sending off. It was “arguable”, since it was unclear whether Robben could retrieve the ball at all and the contact was not malicious, but unsure what Chewie might otherwise have done except go for the ball at all costs, in a split second decision he could have no idea where the ball might go. The inclusion of Sanogo was an act of both courage and genius, as was the line-up.
So the team with AW is disappointed by the turn of events. But you, know what goes around comes around. Ask Liverpool. I am left with a feeling of “it matters but doesn’t really matter”, it’s not the crucial or pivotal moment of this team or this season.
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jack always performs better in europe on big occasion. maybe because the rules in europe favour jack’s game than in the league. he like to hold on to the ball and move with the ball which makes him to draw fouls from opposition players. unlike the league when the refs would not call those fouls and hence allow tiote and co to continue to kick him, the refs in europe apply the rules and hence players are weary of kicking him. most of the fouls against him yesterday are no foul as far as the premiership refs are concerned.
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Can’t deny it hurts.
In the first of two England Brazil friendlies last year Wilshere and Walcott ran Dante ragged. In the second Chambo announced himself to the South American football fraternity with some style.
Last night with Chambo combining with the Arsenal midfield and Sanogo, both Bayern CBs were wobbling. And in spite of all the Bayern hype it was not unexpected (see the above), it’s why many of us were looking forward to the contest.
And to be fair to the eleven on the pitch they kept going after the miss. they had the batter chances in between the two pens, and before too. If the ‘keeper had not been sent off young pep would again have paid for his own mistakes at Arsenal (this time not starting Muller).
As for the media. What they do is not hidden. Everyone knows. Anyone who has, say, read any history should be able to admit that we live in a world in which propaganda exists.
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gains
we dont have a game in midweek after sunderland. i dont see us resting players except maybe ozil. but after what happened with ozil last night, i see wenger starting him if he if fit enough. wenger always says when you have a bad game, you quickly want to play the next game so as to get the bad out of your system. we have another week to prepare for stoke and another week for everton.
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Ozil was pissed at himself. And as the temperamental player that he is, I’m sure he would have lashed out if you’d have told him his shoe laces were untied.
As far as killing the squad’s spirits? Give me a break. His wasn’t the first missed penalty in the history of football. These are professional athletes we’re talking about.
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Injury news on Gibbs is optimistic.
He is unlucky: If he’d have stayed on for the whole game I’m sure Uncle Roy would’ve noticed how well he was playing.
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gains…..stop pretending…we both know he fucked us all when he missed that…. wenger does too….of course we will defend him and be nice to him but lets not be completely oblivious as to the consequences of that pathetic penalty. he shoudl have scored that. whetehr youcost 5 pounds or 42 million pounds……nothign to do with price but seizing the momment..he didnt seize the momment….he let the momment affect him…
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“so you dont believe wenger also left him there to show us what he’s made of .. (?)”
The fact that we almost ended it 1-0, should clear up any doubts you have over Wenger’s decision to keep Ozil in the game.
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Hunter, missed penalties happen. Let’s drop it.
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i woudl laso say to his defence that you never let the one who won it to shoot it… but then pep chose a left back for robben and that was missed or at least not saved.
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I can guarantee, this isn’t what Wenger was thinking when he subbed Santi last night.
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of course missed penalties happen but ozil will need a lot more than cliches for his defence and please dont take it personal
this wasnt poor little 17 year old gibbs slipping like lets say against manchester…… or cesc doing a backheel…
van persie did to us at o.t that painfull august too…his teammates pressed for equaliser theo won penalty robin fucked it up and momentum was back at united with yuong having confidence to score from 40 yrds…..
you must have noticed how the germans slowly grew in confidence after that and how they started pushing us back in our own half…no?
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finsbury, where did you get the news on gibbs?
hunter, lets leave it at that please. i was livid too, but its a pen and messi missed one against the chavs that cost them a huge game. i know that what pained most fans is the way he takes the pen. but wenger says that is the way he takes them. maybe from now sagna should take all our penalty. if he sign the extension that is.
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Lucky Eboue never took any penalties !
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That missed penalty is nothing compared to Zidane’s headbutt and Rijkaard spitting on Rudi Voeller’s locks in Italia 90. Those two incidents were dissappointing to me. Özil’s missed penalty was not.
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