I don't think it's as clear as you that he would get to the ball without cover, and if there's a question then it's not an obvious goal scoring opportunity. And really my posts were in reference to those who think there's no question. I can understand believing the call is correct, but I can't understand the jingoistic 'if it's a pen it's a red' or 'last man' bullshit.
There is at least an argument that Robben had played the ball too far away and thus was not denied the goal scoring opportunity I think it's quite hard to tell on the replay if he would have been able to tap that in or whether it had got away from him
great effort from your team last night - you should be proud; you came out and attacked from the beginning not like the poor effort of City. I mean it by the way...
gotta say ox looked beast until the incident. i expect him to play a significant role down the home stretch and maybe work himself into the wc squad while doing so.
I think it's a penalty because he was the last man, in the box and clearly got his leg. Robben definitely has the quickness to get to that ball. I guarantee if that was Neuer doing that to Sanogo, Cazorla, Ozil, etc, you would have been livid had it not been called. By the rules of the game it was a red and a pen.
This loss shouldn't discourage the team much though, as the first 30 minutes were very even before Gibbs' injury. There is no shame in losing to Bayern, by far the most complete team in the world, the way we did last night. The Champions League was always going to be a step too far for this squad, but we still have every chance to go for the League and Cup double. We will definitely compete in Europe next season by adding two or three top signings (ST, LW, CB/RB) along with the return of key players like Ramsey and Walcott. The future is bright Gooners!
I think that had a lot to do with his frustration and a complete lost of confidence after the crucial penalty miss. Hopefully he comes back stronger from this.
The problem was the team simply played too deep, mainly to protect Mertesacker against the runs of Robben, Mandzukic, and Alaba from deep. Flamini and Wilshere had to drop deeper to protect the space in between the lines against Robben and Gotze, and Kroos was bound to find space.
I thought it was a valid penalty. Great touch by Robben to bring it down, and the reason the ball got away was from the impact of his collision with Szczesny.
Am I a false fan for not watching this? I knew the result before hand. Just a question to ask as a fan.
I always want to watch Arsenal play... I love the sport and I love Arsenal so unless I'm actually unable to I do.
given the nature of how this turned out, id say you get a pass and save yourself 60 minutes of one-way traffic. if anything, watch the first 30 to see us play some of the best stuff we have in a few weeks.
Sometimes important things like life get in the way of watching grown men play a game. Nothing wrong with skipping this match IMHO. All this real fan fake fan non-sense is tiresome. Just let people enjoy supporting a club that they love no matter where they come from.
I thought it was very telling that when Alaba missed a penalty, other players came by immediately to make sure he keeps his head up. On the other hand, Oezil was left to sulk by himself.
Not sure if true and even if confirmed, I would not read too much into it. Anyway, I am with Poldi on this and I am fully supportive of Mesut Ozil. I trust he will come good rather sooner than later. He is a Gunner and has all my support. Hope real Gunners will do the same. It is open season now and I am getting pissed at pundits and idiots in the media piling up on the dude. Lukas-Podolski.com @Podolski10 1h Thats football! Trust in Mesut, he will give it back twice in return and make all of us happy. Friends stand together. Let's go AFC!
Interesting stat, that with 3 months still remaining in the season, Ozil has already played more minutes for Arsenal this season than he did for Madrid for the entirety of last year. While his dead-ball technique is somewhat suspect, the overreaction by some who masquerade as Gunners fans is pretty sad...
@charlie15 I know you conversed on our boards pre/post match., and us vise versa here.. (Ignore the trolls) But I remember us talking about what game plan arsenal will have.. We suggested they take the game to bayern right off the bat.. My observation is this.. Did wenger look at what bvb did in the CL final? From every bayern game I have seen in this new "era". The best chances opposing teams had where when they went for the throat and tried to punch us in the mouth within the first 15-20 mins. For example: schalke, bvb, Berlin have used this tactic and were very successful in creating several clear cut chances. If it wasn't for neuers efforts and missed opportunities we would've been down 2/3 to 0 by 20 mins... I wonder if wenger looked at those games and saw his best chance to punch us in the mouth., very very interesting and good observation by arsenal staff., However as I mentioned, bayern take about 10-15 mins to go on cruise control so the first phase is the best chance to embarrass us.. Also after that first phase didn't yield success (missed chances, ozil miss) did wenger plan to revert back to counter attacking? If I read it right, basically the game plan was to sucker punch us in the mouth the first 15-20 mins, then phase 2 was to sit back and counter fast., Anyway I know TLDR, but very interesting tactical discussion
Please go back to kinder-garden and NEVER return to the boards again. Your mommy would be very upset if she knew you were using the computer again without her watching over you. Sorry to all Arsenal fans here - this guy is a complete jack-a** and should be ignored. Please do not judge the entire BM posters due to this loser. Very entertaining match until Red Card. Hope next match ends with both teams with same # of players. IMHO - Bayern got by far the toughest round of 16 match-up. Best luck this weekend.
I think if not for Gibbs' injury and the red card, the match would have been very even and there was no reason why Arsenal had to revert to purely counterattacking. I think the game would have ended around 45% possession for Arsenal.
I've been away skiing and sadly unable to watch this or Liverpool live. But I did watch Bayern last night on DVR and here are the PLUSES I took away (I don't have time to read this whole thread so forgive me if this is repetitive): * We started with HUGE belief, energy, effort... we took their oxygen away... we should do this more often, if not every match. * Koscielny was great... big saves and not a foot wrong that I saw. His only fault perhaps was when he decided late in the game to be a striker, which left Flamini to guard Muller who then scored their 2nd goal which may turn out to be crucial in this tie. * Sonogo was a big net plus... first time I've seen him play... he was very central to our first period of ascendency. * Wilshere worked his butt off, terrier-like a la Ljunberg... and didn't let his temper or frustration get it the way. * Our Defense was well-organized, and if it hadn't been for the above-mentioned wandering by Kos, our 10 men would've held the best team in Europe to 1 goal. * Home Supporters were absolutely fantastic... no Highbury Library last night! Just like my first point, they should do that every match. * Going out of the UCL (now likely) will be just what our thin squad needs to focus on the 2 domestic trophies.
agree with all but kos is solidifying himself as a premier CB and wilshere proved me wrong as i wasnt sure he was up to the task based on recent performances. i dont even blame kos for going up too high to try and get a goal...hell he prob shoulda scored off the FK just prior if only he didnt have a CB's touch in the opposing 18
Dhajj, You may have talked to someone else on the BM board, was not me. Didn't go there. Having said that, you made some valid points. However, I dont really think it was a tactical decision by Arsene to "retreat" after the opening punches and to revert back to counter attack. It is rather IMO, a combination of factors : the result of first Bayern asserting its authority and more control on the game while adjusting to Arsenal early aggression. We could not expect Arsenal to keep up this tempo for the whole 45 min. They were not playing Palace or Anderlecth, but Bayern Munich, the Europprn Champs. In addition, I genuinely believe that the missed penalty was also a let down for the team as well. Finally, the loss of Gibbs may have been the last straw in causing AFC to lose some of their early impetus having to adjust particularly on the right side (while BM was overloading that side).