What an abysmal outcome. I really wanted this tournament for Arsenal, thinking it might be the best chance to win that trophy. Alas, on the heels of Arteta talking up making the Emirates a fortress for European nights the team goes out and lays an egg. Absolutely critical they don't let 1 loss turn into 2. Every match from here on out is a must win.
Incredibly bad vibes. Leaky stadium, shit ref, injuries, extra time, keeper mess-ups, losing in penalties, Fabio Viera’s facial hair, Rob Holding’s hairband, Fabio Viera in general…
Too early to give up on Vieira. I'll echo the sentiment that I hope we never see this tournament again. Everything about it is awful.
The unmarked, in the box backheel to nobody…that was an immensely hateable moment from him. Absolutely moronic
In what way? I think he had a tough call here in that we drew a CL drop down club that was juuust good enough that we probably couldn't rotate against, but because he's prioritizing the league, he tried. If you mean naive in that regard, I suppose I'd agree.
I can understand one thinking that at the beginning of the season. But please tell me you weren't thinking that this week were you??
....or John McCarthy (of LAFC, backup to Maxime Crepeau), with the way he played in the 2022 MLS Cup FINAL against Philadelphia he would've been a better choice on penalties. I hate to say it but as great as Rambo has been all season long his Achilles Heel has been on penalties, I now wonder how many subs Mikel Arteta had left in the bank because knowing Ramsdale's vulnerability of being weak on PK's I just might've rolled the dice and put in Matt Turner in the PK shootout. Every time Mikel has done this he has usually hit 7 or 11, in fact I mentioned (in fun) to the weekend supervisor (who is formerly from Vegas) here at my local Safeway here in Port Townsend the night of our mammoth comeback win against Bournemouth about how I would love to go to Vegas with Miki and sit at the craps table and have him roll the dice for me knowing how everything has been coming up roses for us in EPL play this season and that he could make a TON of $$$!!! I'd front the $$$ he'd roll the dice. ...anyhow guys, now you know why I don't subscribe to Paramount+, because it would've only been for UEL or UCL and for nothing else, the same for Peacock, only for when Arsenal are on. Other than my favorite sports teams (Arsenal, LA Kings, Seattle Mariners, LA/Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders and LA Lakers) and the news I don't watch or stream much TV, everything else is on DVD, VHS or downloaded onto MP4 files (like stolen videos downloaded or stream-captured off of the web or off of YouTube videos or most porn sites) or I just play Atari or Coleco (yes I AM THAT OLD, 57 this May 19th) and watch things on my tablet or go out for a drive, being cooped up here at Bishop Park with the majority of my neighbors being of the average age of around 65-75, gets me wound up too much.
I wanted us out of this competition it not after 120 minutes and a few knocks. Sucks but fully focused on the league now. Let’s get it
I wanted us out without wasting any important first team player minutes… Mission failed…and a new injury to our most versatile fullback, so dope. Gotta love this amazing competition and the amazing benefit it would have provided a club who is a lock for top 4.
Another silver lining: our league games can be on Saturdays, so we won't be playing after City every week.
As crap as I believe Pickford is as a goalkeeper in general, it is likely his abilities in PK situations that separates him from Ramsdale. Something to motivate Aaron, perhaps?
Tactically, Amorim outplayed Arteta in both legs. He really exploited the space left by Zinchenko and put down a blue print for every other team we face for the rest of the season. You could see Arteta telling Zinny to stay as a back 4 at one point in the second half. When he plays bad, he is really bad. That's one thing I've noticed about him, he made a couple of good defensive contributions but his decision making and passing were way off. His passing stats were down at 84%, this was his 4th lowest number of the season. Not to pick on just him it seemed everyone couldn't play a simple pass or make the right decision, it's like we were complacent at the start and then just couldn't get back into it at all. The up side is that you would expect a positive reaction now going into the rest of the league. Pray for Saliba!
You are going to love this, apparently the only player she took pictures of during the shoot out was Saka. https://www.sportbible.com/football/kim-kardashian-arsenal-sporting-europa-league-089319-20230317 There are more innocent explanations, including the fact that her son is the soccer fan.
The league was my priority, by far, but I never accepted it had to be an either/ or scenario. Other teams have recorded Doubles and Trebles, no reason Arsenal should be considered incapable here. Coming into yesterday's match many odds makers has Arsenal as the favorite to win both the Premier League and the EL. I'm not saying the team should have gone all in for it, but while the Double was still alive I wanted it, because I want to see Arsenal win trophies. Given Arsenal's reality I'm fine with them having the relaxed schedule for the league run in, and hopefully the injuries and the extra time don't compound the negatives from yesterday's loss. Make the most of the present situation. But if Arsenal wants to be among the biggest clubs they'll have to manage scenarios where they make deep cup runs. Hopefully deep enough to claim some more hardware, regardless of the level. Maybe I'm just greedy in that sense.
Got it. I think I missed a key word in your prior post. That tendancy is dogging me a bit lately in my oft-too-rushed life. I thought you said that UEL was our best chance to win "A trophy" whereas you actually said "THAT trophy". I was unnecessarily but jokingly questioning your belief in our EPL trophy chances. Carry on!
Sporting drawn with Juventus in the quarterfinals. Say what you want about prioritizing the league, that would have been a fun matchup.
I agree with you for the most. I guess I'd only add that this run has demonstrated that right now we can't make a deep run on two fronts. The squad just isn't good enough currently. It's something that will have to be addressed over the summer. I'll echo something Clive Palmer (of the AV pod) tweeted yesterday: we've sort of jogged through this tournament and Arteta attempted to straddle the line between playing a strong team but also resting key figures when possible. Credit Sporting (and especially their keeper yesterday) they showed they were just good enough that we couldn't get away with jogging/rotation. Lesson learned, as that will be the case even with most group stage matches next season.