yep, end of the day, it didnt matter.. i guess that is what you are getting at. the CC team would of done the same, or better. that is my point.
Typical in many ways. Showing up to watch the game, I was immediately disoriented because there was this team in red with no sponsor that was bossing possession. Turns out that was not the team I was supposed to be rooting for. Regardless of what AZ was supposed to be, judging from the way they played THIS game, its hard to say they didn't deserve a point. Not the end of the world though, got a road point, but conceding like that ... (head shake) is disappointing.
of course, but thats because this is a one off for them and they would be hungrier... although thats the one thing I was upset with Wenger about... I wanted to see Vela and Ramsey on earlier
I agree with your first point Phishy...this game was there for the taking which would have made the remaining games virtually a formality. This possibly could have been the most boring game I have seen in a couple of years. The result is fine (I guess). It doesn't hurt us, but the performance was not fine. We didn't create much at all today and did not move the ball fast enough. Actually, despite the goal (which was a gimmee from their defender) and one chance from RvP, I don't know that we created anything. It was a far stretch from the team that had been creating double digit chances and had averaged three goals per game. Oh well. I guess it was an off night. That doesn't mean I have to like it or look over it. On a side note, I thought TV, Gallas, and Clichy had a good game. The Dembele vs Clichy match-up was the most exciting thing about the whole game unfortunately.
Just finished watching the replay. 1) Passes and imagination were quite poor. The only time we looked really good was the goal, IMO. Hate to see Rosicky out of this one. This is the type of team he'd literally pick apart. The passing just wasn't there. 2) Defense was solid and AZ never really had a chance in our 1/3rd. Quite disappointed in the last minute goal and the fact they scored on their only shot on target. 3) All in all, we've taken 7 of 9 points and that alone is often enough to qualify for the 2nd round. We still have 2 home matches. We'll be OK. At this time, getting points in the league is much more important. 4) I am so happy that I'm an Arsenal fan and not a 'pool fan. Christ.
We didn't play well. We deserved to win though..that was heartbreaking. I thought they had no chance to draw us. Seeing Barca, Liverpool & Inter also have poor outings makes me feel a little better. BTW, how many times did they back-pass to their homeless looking keeper? Had to be over 15-20 times...
Neither team deserved to win, but AZ truly were horrible. I can't even imagine how boring a Olympiacos vs AZ Alkmaar game must be. I am sure Mannone must be happy. He escapes with another game in which he essentiallty was asked to make one save in the entire game. Pretty easy living.
That's what it looked like for most of the game, didn't it? Certainly not one of the great Arsenal performances, but it didn't particularly look like we were trying to hard. We were coasting towards the three points, and I'm not terribly surprised they found an equalizer.
AZ parked the bus but what would you do given the differences in quality! If they would've played attacking football Arsenal would've slaughtered them.
Well a disappointing result but it was clear that the team wasn't terribly interested in the match. They ball watched most of the matched as AZ bounced the ball around their back 9 players with nary an effort towards goal. Arsenal started the match happy to get a draw and that's what we got. I would very surprised if we haven't sealed the top spot by the end of the Liege match.
AZ dominated the game against Olympiakos and deserved to win (in Greece). One good cross from Olympiakos' only good player that day gave them the lucky win. Maybe because they had nobody to pass the ball to? I think you are forgetting that Arsenal have one of the best strike forces in the world, so why would they want to run into a counter attack or even give them the ball? By the way, that "homeless looking" keeper of AZ is Argentina's number one goalie To be honest, 1-1 is a really bad result against this AZ side. They are doing horrible in the Dutch league (lost at home against very mediocre sides), and their owner's bank went bankrupt after a huge scandal just one day before this game which prompted the owner to also quit AZ, which sucks for AZ because he's the reason they even won the league in the first place (money). Some players also had money on that bank so who knows what was happening their heads? So all in all it was a very chaotic and bad week for AZ and they were already in very bad form compared to last season, so this should have been a piece of cake for Arsenal.
I think they only played with one striker, but I don't think they really parked the bus - at least not like we see in the league at times. There just didn't seemed to be a no sense of urgency from either team. I expected a little more from the home team with the crowd behind them, and I expected more from Arsenal given how the players have been playing lately. Oh well. Anyway, most of my posts last night were after watching the game / drinking at the bar. I was in a bad mood and the alcohol didn't help. I'm over the game already. I wish the team had played better, but it's not the end of the world. At least we got to see Vela play.
Here is the official Arsenal iReport I filmed for CNN's World Sport. Take a look, let me know what you boys think! Thanks to everyone who commented on the last one! cheers http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-344125
The only thing more frustrating than the game was being stuck on the train back to Amsterdam for 2+ hours because someone jumped in front of the train..
Yeah...quite ugly..had to wait 2+ hours for CSI Amsterdam to do their thing before we could move onto the station...