I know we're down a man but we look like a Championship team right now. And 2-1 because we can't ********ing clear it.
So now we have a new target? Preserve a 1-goal deficit, reveling in our single away goal? 25' to go. No problem, our awesome defense has got this!
Ramsey on for Ozil. Sadly the only thing I recall Ozil doing was a shot into the arms of the keeper a few mins ago.
78' Kola on for Auba. Who didn't really have a good game TBF. And obviously we're just trying primarily to survive and not concede again!
And there it is! 3-1 on a fast-break. They're tearing us apart. Edit: Looks like Ramsey was a little late to the defensive party.
My earlier fears have been justified. Regardless of 11 men or 10, the chances of us holding onto 1-1, or even 1-2, were slim to none. Dug ourselves a nice big hole for leg 2. Emery & the boys are gonna have to earn their pay now.
We play Sunday, and then next Thursday, and then are off till the first. Next two results are really going to affect the mood around here.
What is it with my favorite teams and dumba** defenders?! First Atlanta, now this. And to think I fell in love with the club during the days of "One nil to the Arsenal" and all that. Grrr.
Ozil completed 16/18 passes in the attacking third and 6/7 passes inside their penalty area. According to stats zone he also created one good chance. Only Mkhitaryan had better numbers in that regard. Watch the replay again. You'll notice Guendouzi pulling a Denilson from the CL many moons ago and Ramsey, in contrast, busting a gut to get back. I love the kid and think his ceiling is really high but he still switches off defensively a bit too much. And now......my watch is done.
Tell me about it. My other team is NYRB who should've had great "home climate" advantage Tuesday against Santos Laguna in the CCL, and what did they do but lose 0-2 at home! The only tiny solace I can find in our similar hiding at Rennes tonight is our little away goal that we scored. But it's probably going to be a small factor in the end. Unless Emery can pull of what Solskjaer did last night?!
Did you watch the game? I did. Sort of. While I was working. And honestly I barely noticed Ozil the whole time. I'd be curious as to what others who watched it thought. I thought he was fairly invisible, but maybe they'll say he was invisibly effective? Guendouzi had an unusually poor match I thought. He seemed all at sea, which I can't remember him being before. I wondered if he was trying to force things, wanting to impress a bit too much, on his return to France. Auba too. Do you really still think he's not in a striker's slump??
Ditto. We'll be hard-pressed to find someone to rival the hyper-efficient thread-starting skills of @yossarian. Anyone else with a bit of OCD wanna step up for Yanited?
Auba seems a fraud, basically a faster Chicharito. Needs the ball on a plate and no defender near him, and that's if he's even on sides. Xhaka was terrible. Emery took a striker off down 1 and put on another defender, and they still gave up another. Just a complete shit show.
Real hot take there. PEA has 225 goals in his career and 29 in 50 for us. He's destined to fall off quickly as he ages because of his skillset, but calling him a "fraud" is nuts.
Maybe he's just tired or having a bad spell. He started the season in much better form. I saw 2 telling TV shots of him in the last 2 matches: one when he was sitting in the goalmouth after he missed the PK at Spurs, and the other as he was sitting on the bench after being subbed out at Rennes. In both, he looked very disillusioned, dejected, detached, depressed.
I watched every minute. I thought Ozil, Torreira, and Mkhitaryan were the only players who put in decent (albeit not fantastic) performances, IMO. Who knows? He's young. It happens. My guess is he'll bounce back. Auba had a mare, but it was more related to his passing as he really only fluffed one decent chance on goal that I recall. Also, he was wrongly judged offside (IMO) when he looked to be put through by Mkhitaryan, I believe. Would've liked to have seen what he could do with a chance similar to the one he finished against Bournemouth. After we went a man down, he had to track back more and get involved in more hold up play. That's NEVER been his strength even when he's been in good run of form. If he blows some good chances this weekend without scoring I'll reconsider.
And Monreal (what he was doing attacking t that point, I have no idea), with his hands in the air appealing for a foul instead of sprinting back. That whole event was a clusterf***.