A rubber match isn’t, as the casual reader might suppose, an extremely poorly designed item for lighting one’s pipe. It is in fact (according to Wiktionary) “A sporting event at the end of a series in which the opponents are tied in terms of events won and lost.”
Hence we have the term ‘dead rubber’ coined to indicate the antithesis of this phenomenon. This, many would argue, is the appropriate term to apply to tonight’s fixture between Bayern Munich and Arsenal.
With the first half of the tie so effectively settled in favour of the German side there appears little point in getting overly excited about the return leg. It’s an argument with which it’s difficult to argue. Especially when one factors in the awful run of form Arsenal is trying its best to overcome.
I’m not going to attempt to sugar coat it, the side is shorn of confidence, making poor decisions all over the pitch and playing as if they expect to lose. It is never a particularly edifying sight watching your favourite team struggling like this, and I’m not interested in any of the excuses I’m sure are being bandied around.
The current malaise is almost certainly temporary, the players are not suddenly incapable merely because collectively they cannot find their feet. The amount of poor decisions on the pitch against Liverpool had me shaking my head and tutting in a manner seldom seen in Wesley Avenue on a match day. I know this comes as a shock to you, but yes, even the most positive among us is capable of sighing heavily from time to time.
I think what upset me most was not so much the hurried wayward passing as the amount of times the poorly executed pass was played directly into the danger zone, precisely where Liverpool would have wanted it, usually to a man heavily marked or on the back foot and without support. This was as much the fault of the players off the ball not moving to decent positions as it was the hapless attempts to find them with a bad pass.
Taken together it added up to a shaky, panicked display from a bunch of bewildered sportsmen struggling to understand why that which they usually find comes as second nature was suddenly so difficult.
How can the squad possibly do the improbable against one of the best teams in Europe? How indeed. Perhaps it would be more realistic to hope they begin to turn the tide. Put in a more coherent display, gradually turn the ship around and get themselves in the frame of mind to make a decent fist of the run in and the remaining FA Cup fixtures.
I had a sense that this was the plan at Anfield. Sit back and defend, draw if necessary but hope to hit on the break. Build a run of unbeaten results to get the engine running smoothly again. That would have made sense but of course team sport is a capricious beast and one cannot always steer it the way one might hope. The opposition, for example, will have a part to play in proceedings.
So what is left? Well, might I suggest that perhaps the only thing left tonight is the only thing that ever really mattered anyway? A game of football. An hour and a half of entertainment for the devotee both in the stadium and on the couch. Strip away the hyperbole and false analogies with armed conflict, remove the ridiculous media fuelled scandal and razzmatazz and what you have left is a football match.
Dead rubber or not if you are genuinely a fan of the sport you ought to able to enjoy the contest, the individual moments of improvisation and skill and the occasion itself. If not, if the match in and of itself isn’t enough for you and results are really all that matters then the final league table is widely published every May, you could spare yourself the weekly anguish and just glance at that.
Positively Arsenal 
Giroud really should have scored that
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bayern have goal rightly ruled out for offside
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More schoolboy defending from the Germans – pathetic
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Polar opposite of the first half against Liverpool ,
Arsenal under Wenger have been very much a rhythm team , which loses it’s fluidity and connectivity with a gap of more than 8 days. In addition of not having a great deal of confidence.
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Very good stuff from Arsenal.
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What the fuck is that about – penalty – yellow – ok – RED ?
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of course that is a penalty to bayern
now he has sent off koscienly, what the fuck, he gave a yellow then changed it to a red on the word of the bollock behind the goal
1-1
the whole fucking game is corrupt.
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Not suprised he sent off an Arsenal player at the first opportunity
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Yet again, a game involving Arsenal has been severely influenced by an inept, or perhaps cheating ref.
We sometimes shoot ourselves in the foot,,but the decisions this team have faced this season have been outrageous.
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Giroud has been a bit off tonight, should bring on lucas
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Time to dig in
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Well, what should we expect. Are we so clumsy, so often? I cannot believe this. We are so sinned against so often that I’m reaching the conclusion that there is no point hoping that we can win anything. I wish I had the time and patience to go back and view so many such instances of unfair decisions against Arsenal. Really, what is the point? I cannot fucking believe it.
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I suspect Kozzer got a yellow for the penalty (Lewandowski dived) and he may have had another yellow for saying something to the plank behind the goal.
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Totally ruined the game – still no repays or explanation- the dickheads on BT as dumbfounded as I am
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Robben makes it 2-1, self inflicted
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I hear the Sanchez hate mob revving up
Still not seen the sending off
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anicol it seems the official behind the goal reminded the ref that it was a goal scoring chance so he had to give a red. that rule was changed in the BPL, but not in cl.
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I’m done with it to be honest. It’s all a joke.
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seriously was the penalty a dive by lew, or am I looking at it too much from an arsenal viewpoint
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So the referee didn’t see the original office then eddy – I have it perfectly
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71 minutes
Ramsey off, Coquelin on
giroud off, Ozil on
Alexis off, Lucas on
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Eddie,
Look at my 9:02 — you are not alone.
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no anicol, the ref thought it only worth a yellow, but official behind the goal told him it had to be a red as goal scoring chance(no longer a rule in BPL), also a red cos kos did not attempt to play the ball(which is also the rule in the BPL).
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lew hits the post
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fouls on arsenal players being let go all night
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3-1, costa with a curler into the corner
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xhaka booked for a late tackle in the build up to that goal
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Maybe these officials are big fans of the premiership and think the worst of us because of what they see and hear happening? Just a thought.
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4-1, another self inflicted goal
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10 men behind the ball lads – it’s over
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Bellerin’s end product has been awful tonight.
and bayern go up the other end and make it 5-1 (10-2)
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anicoll5
March 7, 2017 at 9:22 pm
10 men behind the ball lads – it’s over
that should have been the ploy once it went 1-1, but as we have seen in recent years, we just will not do damage limitation, why I don’t know,
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Fair play to Bayern – 10-2 -totally focussed – looking for the next one.
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Never mind boys and girls
It’s Barcelona next season !!!
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FT: Arsenal 1-5 Bayern Munich
great first half, should probably had more than the one goal
giroud missed great chance early in second half, then what for me was soft penalty, which also seen kos sent off, and it was a complete collapse from our team. I really don’t know why with the game up they did not just shut up shot and do damage limitations.
I doubt we have ever let in 10 goals in a two legged European tie.
1-1 at half time in Munich,
1-0 at half time tonight
lose both games 5-1, sadly there is a real lack of professionalism in our team
the good points from tonight, ox, xhaka and ramsey formed a good midfield trio. we were solid at the back till we let in the first goal. We created more chances tonight than we have in any game in months.
the bad – the complete collapse
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Paddy @VieiraPaddy 2m2 minutes ago
We conceded 10 to Bayern. Koscielny conceded 1. A screamer he could do nothing about. A penalty he had to give away. He’s so important.
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Aye Aye Rio’s on – I’m off
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1-5. That’s another blow to Wenger’s legacy.
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Alonso elbow….Sutton player trying to delimb Iwobi…..CAn at Liverpool, now this ref. I do not think we are operating on a level playing field.
I have never done it, but they say being a ref is a tough job. I am sure for some unfortunate ref on Hackney marshes, it is. But that…thing out there tonite, could abuse the laws and spirit of the game , with impunity, no accountability. He doesn’t have to explain that performance. But Wenger and his team do.
That said, yet again, lose Kos, in the most unfair circumstances, and the team collapse. I hope the manager and board recognise that things need fixing, our recent performances have been unacceptable. Wenger staying is becoming an increasingly hard sell.
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I really don’t see Wenger staying on past this season. These sort of results have to hurt him badly inside,
We have 12 league games left this season, and a possible 3 FA Cup games. If Wenger is to leave this summer, I do think it might be best to announce it as soon as possible and take the chance that the players are man enough to give him the top 4 finish and cup winning send off the great man deserves
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Mandy if you think that ref was bad, we have Anthony Taylor on Saturday
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So the stonewall penalty at 1-0 not given. Imagine it scored and 2-0 up at half time. Different game. possibly the same result- maybe not. who knows, I don’t anymore. but what I do know is that we are being dismantled from outside.
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This is the only place I can be right now.
We were playing well. I really enjoyed the first half. Looked forward to the second. We showed great quality. I was convinced we could get our belief back for the remainder of the season. Alas. These boys did not do the right thing and play safe. They should have played to prevent what happened. Why didn’t they? Is this simply naivety. Is this a collection of players that are technically gifted but without the intelligence Arséne has spoilt us with till now?
I have been taken to great heights with Arséne Wenger. Nos I have fallen from that same height.
I still love the man.
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Really? Just hope Taylor hasn’t been on a stag do.
I admire Wenger, but if he can tough all this out he really is something beyond amazing. Just seems to be a complete, unrelenting, indeed increasing in magnitude shitstorm around him. He will do very well to survive this, Stan may back him, but there is his physical and mental health to consider when under such pressure with no tangible reward on the horizon. Sadly, I fear he will call it a day, he is only human
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Maybe some of it is from the outside FH….but have often. Wondered of some of this could be part of some sort of hostile takeover…..if Wenger can be forced out, some believe Syptan might call it a day, tho nothing he has done in the past would indicate that.
Another Busacca ref today
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Robbies new house
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I didn’t see the match but tracked it on twitter. Hence my comments are limited. Do people truly understand that this team is very dependent on what WWWB identified as it’s technical leader? Take Kos off, who do the players give the ball to and lead them out of trouble?
The template Arsene Wenger has established is only as viable as the quality players available. Absent the only 2 truly world class players we have and based on the data I am not surprised by tonight’s results. (PG is aware of my pre game fear.) No amount of cheerleading can replace quality players.
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Who’d ever have guessed that if we were in the lead we’d have a player sent off in dubious circumstances?
Always reassuring that these things balance out over time.
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Mandy I think Stan will still back Wenger, and do that means, regardless of how good or bad our run in is, or how many protests there may be, it will be Wenger’s decision if he will be our manager next season. Arsene clearly loves Arsenal, but I think he will feel he is not getting the best out of the team, or that they are just not listening to him anymore, and so he will leave.
Wenger would have no shortage of big money clubs in for his services, he could have the pick of PSG, Real Madrid and Barcelona. PSG would mean an almost certain title win, and later stages of CL, either of the spanish clubs would mean a 50-50 chance of a title win, and a cl, he would get a massive pay day too, do the only thing keeping him at Arsenal, is his love for the club. And its this love, that might be the biggest reason for him leaving.
if he does leave, things might not change much for Arsenal, we might not be as attacking, but for much of this season we have not been breathtaking anyway, we might still go out of cl at last 16 stage, just on a much lower scoreline, we might still go to later stages of the domestic cups. Maybe we might even drop out of cl for some time, and have the excitement of the odd season where we are good enough to fight for a top 4 finish. God knows how the board might react if we are missing out on the CL money, they might tighten the budget, or they might sanction loads of over priced average signings like Man utd, liverpool, spurs and others have been doing in recent years. We might become a real modern club, that has a new manager every couple of years, loads of ins and outs,
We might even go to another level.
we might win all the major prizes
or we might sink and be happy to win a league cup now and again.
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Disappointed to see regulars on here digging out specific players – it’s not going to happen tonight – not tonight
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