Arsenal Shoot Themselves In The Foot As We Have To Face Real, Barca, Athletico, PSG or Bayern

Napoli (2) – (0) Arsenal
The Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Champions League Group Stage

In the end, Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat against Napoli means that because of Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 win against Marseille, they finish second in the group.

Which now means we could play teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain.

Arsenal played like a team that only needed a draw and that is always a dangerous game. Obviously, Arsenal didn’t need to make any unnecessary risks but from the outset it was clear we didn’t want to concede three goals and by full time that didn’t happen – but we conceded two.

The first half was timid and both sides went through the motions. Napoli’s game-plan was to keep it 0-0 and try and score in the second half, while Arsenal just didn’t want to concede. Unfortunately while Napoli raised their urgency in the second half we were still trying to see the game out and on 73 minutes we conceded to a well-taken Gonzalo Higuain goal.

As soon as the second half kicked off however, Napoli were at the races but we needed something to lift the side and for me that should have been Theo Walcott. As Napoli pushed forward, we were camped inside our own half and had no outlet or way to relieve the pressure. Napoli were so high up the pitch that it was perfect for Theo to exploit with his pace.

But as it stood, Arsene made no changes and the inevitable happened. Napoli scored and with the result in Marseille being 1-1, Napoli rested on their laurels and sat on a one goal lead. With 4 minutes of normal time left, news came through that Dortmund scored and Napoli almost responded immediately, scoring a second through Callejon.

The worrying thing was that when Napoli went for it they scored. We defended well at times but as Per Mertesacker said at full time, it’s hard to perform when mentally you’re only at 90%. Arsenal were more than capable of getting a draw in Naples but they were too negative. Once the game kicked off, Napoli knew they were against a side content on defending and knew we wouldn’t offer an attacking threat. The approach was counter-productive and now we sit in 2nd place in a group we really should have won.

There is no way that we can get an “easy” game in the knockout stages now we’ve finished second in the group, and whichever side we draw, it is going to be one hell of a challenge.

 

11 thoughts on “Arsenal Shoot Themselves In The Foot As We Have To Face Real, Barca, Athletico, PSG or Bayern

  1. Arsenal’s display will give credit to pundits who refuse to see the team as capable of winning the Premier League this season despite their leadership. It was a stupid display and a clear revelation of non-arrivals of some players in the team. To Wenger who called Aaron Ramsey a ‘Messi’, Ramsey is not yet. The guy needs more tutorials on when to do ‘cat-walk; an when NOT to. He is responsible for the second goal.

     
  2. Does it matter whether we are first or second seeing that all teams in that group are top class only that OL failed to perform. If we have fired all cylinder, got injuries and physically drained you would have still abused the manager. Please leave the team alone. Have we not beaten the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus and Milan before. Can’t you read the game plan? It was to eliminate one English club for an Italian 2nd and that was why it was easy to red carded both OL and Arsenal players for offences that could have been overlooked, but the plan failed. Please leave the manager alone afterall Chelsea even though first in the weak group got beaten by Basel home and away and City was also second in a group of only two good teams. Arsenal had tried so leave the club alone.

     
  3. This is terribly stupid! I always claimed i never criticize ballers or management but right now i gotta say Wenger is selfishly DUMB! playin with his retarded homeboy striker despite knowin he is not better than nothing in the pitch. Bedntner needs to be tried a bit 4 God’s sake! We lack attack and that’s our only problem!

     
  4. God 4bid,if WENGER loose against MC & CHLS in d next matches,people would put d blame on him,dat he would av told d boys not 2 play wt full strenght against NAPOLI. D boys play according 2 d directive 4rm d coach.

     
  5. I’m not sure why both Wenger & Benitez didn’t do the simple maths formulas for the qualification scenarios and conveyed that to their teams: neither team played 100% to the end and both paid the price.

     
  6. Terrible performances in the last two matches–Everton and Naples. This is dangerous and could lead to loss of confidence. Wenger must find a way to change the situation quickly. Two more shows like this against Man C and Chelsea and Arsenal,s title aspirations will be in tatters. He needs at the worst to draw those two matches to give his men some long term title hopes.
    Peter ARIGBE

     
  7. Wenger again proves that he has is not good tactically when it comes to important games. The best form if defense is offence. I am concerned he has now installed that negative way of playing on the team for the game against Citeh.

     
  8. I’m lost for words to describe Arsenal’s arrogant display with the midfield playing at half pace. With the exception of the back four, the rest just didn’t turn up. When it was very obvious that the team needed the pace of Walcott to counter Napoli’s attack, Wenger didn’t think it was necessary. Another arrogant action. Arsenal was playing not to lose from the start of the game. Having the entire midfield malfunctioning, we could already see the writing on the wall. Arsenal was hoping for the 11 men Dortmund to fail to score against the 10 men Marseille and giving Napoli a 1-0 win would have ensured that Napoli would be able to squeeze through at the expense of Dortmund. However, it didn’t happen the way Arsenal had hope. Dortmund scored towards the end of the game and suddenly Arsenal realised that they were then in 2nd place behind Dortmund and thus would not be seeded in the knockout stage. The way they played, it appeared Wenger seemed to be contented just to go through to the knockout round and didn’t seemed to care if we could have finished top of the group and avoid the big clubs. Very frustrating indeed to see the type of attitude being displayed by Wenger and his team.

     
  9. Arsene is the cause of our second place in champion league,wot is he leaving arteta for wen he knew we re playing with referee who we alway lost whenever he ref our match?why dont the stupid man substitute ramsey 4 arteta instead of cazola,i think that man need to be examine,God wil punish him come january, he didnt buy good striker.infact jekinson shld be sent out of arsenal square.poor,poor arsenal players with the stupid displaye of today.

     

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