I am perfectly willing to admit that my fears about this move were unrealized. They did have one scary shot after we went to a 5 but that was about it. It sailed <1meter wide. But simultaneously we came on strong at that time... perhaps because CSKA took more chances and neglected their defensive duties?
Loved Elneny's reaction after he made that pass to Danny for the crucial goal. He crouched down like he just bowled the ball and was waiting for a a STRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!
God that was awful wasn't it. NYRB couldn't buy a goal. Impotent. I do admit that I was worried about this before tonight's match... that both of my teams would get to the doorstep and stumble. Very, very happy that Arsenal didn't complete that negative symmetry.
I dunno, Atleti didn't seem so hot today. Maybe their not quite the scary force that we feared? And Costo pulled a hammie.
Sure, but also that CKSA team was absolutely gassed with 30 mins left to go. Like they were crouching over whenever play was stopped. Denying CSKA the half spaces didn't have a direct effect on our sudden ability to get through them on the counter with ease
The draw is tomorrow at 6am ET, which I believe is 8pm in Melbourne. So here's to @And_ROOS bringing us good luck by starting the next thread nice and early. p.s. I suspect he may have just slept through the match just completed, so we might not hear much from him until he has a chance to watch it.
I feel like they tend to match each other. When the Red Bulls are in a bad run of form, so too is Arsenal. Very glad that Arsenal did the job today.
Disagree. He's got to punch that away farther. Also Wilshere was awful. Normally, I would've been bashing the Chambers for Wilshere sub, but I was relieved when we did it.
Aaron Ramsey’s calf was stapled up at half-time of Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with CSKA. 😳 pic.twitter.com/RvJAgiP8CN— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) April 12, 2018
Agree about Cech... he needed to do better. I've been a supporter of his, but he wasn't at his best today. Agree about Wilshere. Plus he picked up a knock so I was happy for him to come off. But I wanted Iwobi on, not Chambers. I was worried we'd go all defensive and they'd score again. And they came 2ft away from doing so. In the end, I have to say that either the luck went our way or the Boss got that decision right. Since he doesn't get much love from us lately, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he deserves the credit on that one.
At full stretch, I don't see how that's physically possible. Here's correlation, just for Llama: Shot maps for both teams before and after Chambers replaced Wilshere (@StatsZone) pic.twitter.com/2gzWc4F0Sk— Lewis (@LGAmbrose) April 12, 2018
My bad. It was the second goal, I was thinking of when I said he should've punched it away farther. And having just reviewed it on arsenalist.com, I'll stick with that opinion. But yeah, the first goal, he did the best he could with a really nice save at full stretch.
As both a bowler and a PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) Tour fan, I should know that a player would go down to a knee only if he KNOWS that he threw it damn good, and in the clutch when he REALLY NEEDS IT THE MOST, usually in match-play competition and around the 7th, 8th, or 9th frame of a match, like it used to be on TV all of those glorious Saturday afternoons on ABC Television for instance, it's just a matter of pin carry after that.
I think part of the improvement wasn’t just JW going off, but Bistrovic being subbed off. I thought he was playing well and that Natcho threw their midfield off. We scored shortly after that sub by CSKA. I was puzzled happily on that one at the time.
I mainly agree with Yoss that the sub was net-positive because it took Wilshere off. Without Wilshere we lost the ball less in both defensive and attacking positions. So, replacing him with a warm body was a plus. That it was bringing on Chambers, another mediocre CB, in the 65th minute, was still not a good choice based on the match situation. It's bad process/good outcome all around. Having said that, there wasn't an obvious replacement on the bench. It's mind-boggling how thin this squad is.
Welbeck could have been Messi with the turn and Elneny did an excellent Iniesta impression. Very high quality goal.
Elneny easily the man of the match even without the two assists. You could see when he went into the back line at the start of the second half how passive we were in midfield and how much energy we lost in there. Then he went back out into midfield after they scored their second and it got better for a while, at least we kept the ball a bit and got further forward. Then he went back in again and we were all defensive a again. Finally Wenger subbed Wilshere for Chambers and Elneny went into the midfield with Chambers at the back freeing Mo up to do his best Bergkamp impressions with perfectly weighted through balls It has to be obvious now that our best midfield setup (when playing 4-2-3-1) with the players we have fit at the moment is Elneny alongside Xhaka with Ramsey in the middle of Ozil and Welbeck further forward.
It wasn't my "wish" but... BRING 'EM ON! Edit: Had I actually made a wish, it would've been to host the second leg. The fact that we're hosting Leg 1 is one of my biggest concernc TBH.