1. Home
  2. Online Exclusive

Architects of our own downfall

Reflections on the second leg v Barca

9 March, 2011 9:00 21 comments
Architects of our own downfall

Cesc: Worst ever touch in a red shirt

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GOONER

In another world, The Arse could be kings. Alas, in this world, we keep building up our hopes at The Grove, and then conspire to destroy them.

Instead of winning our group games, we let it slip. The away games at Braga and Shakhtar saw totally the wrong team selections with the introduction of the usual suspects. Time and time again, this motley crew persistently demonstrate that they just can’t do the business. These were the same two teams that we thumped eleven goals past at home earlier in the season. Losing these two away legs was where the damage was done. We consequently failed to win our group and got paired with Barcelona whilst Shakhtar played and beat Roma.

As runners-up in our group, we even lost the right to play our last 16 home leg second. Nevertheless we all made a huge noise and waved our free red and white flags when Barcelona came to town and sucked in two late goals in what has been dubbed the greatest five minutes ever at Ashburton.

In last night’s return leg, the actions of our two men who we were sweating on for fitness, both played a huge part in our demise. The actions of both Cesc and Percy must have made them as totally gutted as the rest of us. Both these players are total geniuses and we are honoured to see them in action week in and week out. The fact that yet another awful ref saw fit to play five minutes of time added on at the end of the first half provided Cesc with enough time for his worst ever touch in a red shirt. A few minutes into the second half saw Percy’s departure for shooting at goal a whole second after the whistle had been blown. This is exactly the same trick that the likes of Blackburn and Bolton get away with every time with the score at 0-0 whenever they visit The Grove.

Nearing the end of the game, whilst Barca were playing keep-ball, we had just one chance to score the goal which would have taken us through. Jack, who had yet another outstanding match for us, provided the opportunity for Barry who was in loads of space. Please, Barry, for the first time in your life, produce a decent first touch and make yourself the same hero that you say you are. We were off our feet in anticipation. And we all know what happened next. Barry’s first touch was as woeful as it has been all season.

Despite being poor second-bests on the night, that was our big chance. Yet again, we fluffed it. It marked the exact moment when our ticket to Europe expired. We were architects of our own downfall.

NEW! Subscribe to our weekly Gooner Fanzine newsletter for all the latest news, views, and videos from the intelligent voice of Arsenal supporters since 1987.

Please note that we will not share your email address with any 3rd parties.

Article Rating

Leave a comment

Sign-in with your Online Gooner forum login to add your comment. If you do not have a login register here.

21
comments

  1. GaryFootscrayAustralia

    Mar 10, 2011, 5:23 #3067

    Sorry Mandy, but I think you're wrong....surely you meant Eddie McGoldrick?

  2. Bergy

    Mar 10, 2011, 1:16 #3063

    Guy please, stop talking about what ifs and buts, over the two legs were TOTALLY outplayed, embarassingly at times. And some say we and Barca are the two most entertaining attacking sides in Europe? I'd be ashamed to mentioned in the same breath. I'm sure some La Liga sides would have given them better games than we did. we are only good against teams that let us have the ball, which is most teams. Against a team that starves us of the ball, we are clueless. That's why we are the easiest opponents Braca could have hoped for. Teams that know how to defend, like the Italians or even Chelsea, they would have less joy with. Forget making excuses, we were utterly outclassed and deserved to be eliminated. How can Wenger say that "I am convinced we would have won the game if Van Persie stayed on?" Only the deluded would believe that. Had Barca been less charitable on goal, it would have been a landslide. If we had won the tie, it would have been one of the worse injustices in the history of football. 2 wheels are off, 2 to go..

  3. Mandy Dodd

    Mar 09, 2011, 23:54 #3062

    That is just the issue Dandy - who would replace him - and do as good a job on an Arsenal managers budget? The few teams who in recent years have been consistantly more successful have spent a fortune. One has been bankrolled, the other pays £80m a year in interest payments. Lets face it - this board are more likely to appoint an O'Leary than Jose or Pepe. Wenger has suggested - I think Stankovic.. as his replacement one day? Some think Owen Coyle could do the job - I have my doubts. Some Arsenal fans should be very careful what they wish for. The current board run the club as a business, hence the disposal of Dein who was prone to act more in the capacity of a fan, as he was and is. I defy anyone to do what Wenger has done with his constraints. I personally hope Wenger stays for a long time - but accept maybe his coaching set up may need a revamp.

  4. Dandy

    Mar 09, 2011, 21:02 #3061

    Genuine question guys, if AW left who would replace him? It always occurs to me that there really isn't anyone else. I can't see Gudroila or anyone else coming in. Maybe Owen Coyle? Your thoughts on this much appreciated!

  5. Mandy Dodd

    Mar 09, 2011, 20:40 #3060

    Great threads on the usual suspects. I blame Denilson for last night

  6. johnnyh

    Mar 09, 2011, 20:38 #3059

    spot on mark.he thinks tactics are sweets.the fact that the top 4 qualify for the champions league has saved his bacon for years. some of his transfers have been truly awful.players like luzhny,stepanovs,kaba diawara,nelson vivas and rami shabaan wouldnt have got in our pub team.

  7. ando

    Mar 09, 2011, 20:38 #3058

    2 points why did we leave higbury? the team have not progressed since??? Does AW really believe that diaby, rosicky et all are winners/world beaters?? time to clear out the driftwood and admit failure, certainly time to stop bullshitting the fans

  8. mark

    Mar 09, 2011, 20:15 #3057

    guys i am teling you, wenger benefitted from the squad and momentum he inherited from george graham and from the input and passion of David Dein. left on his own to make decisions and start from scratch he wouldnt know a good goalkeeper of defender or captain if they fell on him

  9. johnnyh

    Mar 09, 2011, 19:55 #3056

    totally agree. the defeat against braga was a shocking lack of professionalism. that was the night we should have sealed the group therefore ensuring we avoided the best team in the competition barcelona until at least the quarter final where we would have had a fit walcott,song,fabregas and van persie in our side.

  10. mick brad

    Mar 09, 2011, 19:26 #3052

    its nothing to do with bad luck, referee or dodgy burger seller, fact is wenger has run his course and should have left 3 seasons ago, I dont buy this crap about the arsenal philosophy as we used to play a great counter attacking game with solid back 5, and break out players ie. henry, pires etc. the thing is the EPL does not suit playing barca type football, btw thats bullshit, as they havent been playing that way for that long, and whose to say it will last, as you wont necessarily develop more players who can press and keep the ball the way they currently do, so do me a favour wenger and fuck off with all this bullshit, dont try and kid us that these players are good enough, cos they quite clearly aint!, mental strength my arse, get a grip and get a pattern of play, strategy and organisation

  11. Vince

    Mar 09, 2011, 18:07 #3049

    I agree, so much is good about Arsenal yet we seem to have a self destruct button, and bad luck- that has been a been a pattern for a number of years now especially in the big games, is it luck, poor discipline or are we still short of a couple of players, Wenger not always making the right selections or a combination of all of those? difficult to say but it is proving really really frustrating. I think we have also had some poor (or biased?) referees which have not helped. We also need to move some players on in the summer, whilst the likes of Nasri, Wilshire are outstanding we have a few who are not getting any better and perhaps we need some fresh faces, but we all know that Arsenal do not do much in the transfer market so I have doubts on that front. My hope is that we field our strongest team on Sunday and come back more determined.

  12. ian mccarthy

    Mar 09, 2011, 15:14 #3044

    totally agree with post no. 3363 no name, so many fans were saying to me in 2007 'watch us in 3 years.' Well look at majority of young players then, most have moved on and weren't good enough. But Seb Larsson has a winners medal and Hleb would have if not injured. Pity they had to go to Brum to win.

  13. Bob Bayliss

    Mar 09, 2011, 13:01 #3035

    When we played Barcelona in the Champions' League Final, we went a man down very early on in the game. Up until that point we had given as good as we got, and for the rest of the game even though we were generally on the back foot we still created some great chances which Thierry and Freddie squandered, as well as scoring. Last night? Well, we were at 11 men for more than half the match, during which time we were never at the races, barely getting out of our own half. After going down to 10 men we were completely overrun. We had no shots and never looked like scoring, even the Bendtner moment at the end never actually became a chance. The goal we 'scored' was literally scored for us. Are Barcelona a better team than they were five years ago? Possibly, but they were damn good then. Inter Milan found a way past them after they mullered us last season. The only possible conclusion is man-for-man we are nowhere near as good as the class of 06 - Clichy is no Cole - Rosicky no Pires - Diaby (or even Song, if fit) no Gilberto, etc. etc. Jack Wilshere, of course, is the exception - he can be proud of his contribution. By 2006, of course, we were already in the early stages of decline - comparisons with the 'invincibles' squad with the likes of Sol, Freddie and Dennis still at their peaks would be even more embarrassing. But this benchmark is in itself enough of an indictment of the man and his methods.

  14. sparksy

    Mar 09, 2011, 12:42 #3033

    We all know where we fall down and who the usual suspects are. (Bendtner has the touch of an elephant) It's like Groundhog day. We all keep going into games hoping this is the time that we may turn the corner but its always the same outcome. For all Wengers whinging about referees (it was a pathetic decision to send off VP)he can't keep going trotting out that old story. It was also the refs fault at Newcastle and Sunderland to name but a few? The fact is we all know we are nowhere near good enough and while he's in charge and refusing to wake up and smell the coffee we aint going nowhere. His choice of player, his continuing support of players who are only fit for the championship, his team selection in ceratin games, his non tactics.............. You know and i know our stiffs will get turned over on Sat. The league?.....................Does anyone seriously think this is going to happen.We've seen it all before remember.

  15. danalovAFCXI

    Mar 09, 2011, 12:24 #3030

    spot on with the comment on the b teamers they just cant cut it. Just think in Bendtners own mind he thinks he scored that chance last night and is still the dogs dangleys. Ah well at least we went out to Barca could have been worse and we might have gone out against an English side heaping more shame on us.

  16. AugustusCaesar

    Mar 09, 2011, 12:19 #3029

    There were two stoppages for injuries (Ches and Wilshere) and all the kerfuffle with RvP and Alves - hence five minutes of injury time. The missed opportunity by Bentdner was massively disappointing wasn't it. I like most of our players, even Denilson, but Bentdner is a let-down. There was his chance to walk the walk if you like. Live up to his billing as 'the best striker in Europe' and he blew it. He can't complain about not being a regular in the team when he messes up chances like that. It really wasn't that difficult to take the first touch away from the defender and get a shot off. Useless donkey.

  17. Danish Gooner

    Mar 09, 2011, 12:06 #3027

    Winning the CL is simply beyond Arsene and this team of no-hopers.The gulf in class was huge last night so much that it was embarrassing,it was like watching a killer whale toying with a small seal....just a matter of when it it would put it to rest.Had we gone out fighting we could have held our head high but we surrendered meekly and a terrible lot of these players simply cant hack at this level.Wenger must decide if he will face 3 more painfull season of this rabble or do the honest thing and resign,i know what i prefer.

  18. Daveoo

    Mar 09, 2011, 11:58 #3025

    Look we were going into the game last night with the first leg scenario in our heads. Let them play their way for 60/70 mins tire themselves out then come on strong. unfortunately Cesc did his backheel and VP was sent off = gameplan failed. our problem is no 2nd playing style. How I wish in many games we are trailing or need to win we would just play route one for the final 10 mins but no cant do that. Barcelona are a superb side and if VP wasn't sent off it could have all been different.Yes we arent as good as Barca but no one else is. What we need is a little bit of luck oh and Vermaelen!

  19. Ffrank

    Mar 09, 2011, 11:49 #3024

    The teams that played v Shakhtar and Barga were the same shower who couldnt beat Leeds and Orient at the first time of asking and struggled to beat Huddersfield.But stiil the penny wont drop for Wenger.We have a good first 11 but we should not be going to the Camp Nou with Rosicky and Diaby in the starting line up.When is Wenger going to realise our back up players are not good enough.Wenger is under no pressure of losing his job so he is never going to change.And its getting boring to hear him coming out after every bad result and blaming the officials.Take a good look at yourself Wenger

  20. ed enough

    Mar 09, 2011, 11:13 #3019

    Good Piece...Agree with every comment....So easy to blame another shocking referee display but that would be a cop out. We are not on the same footballing planet as Barcelona and even when we had a glimmer, THE best footballer in the world..apparently...had a first touch like bambi on ice. 2 down...2 more to fuck up.

  21. Mar 09, 2011, 11:11 #3018

    The Champions League is a distant dream but I'm still very deflated. I feel as though the last 5 years have been stuck on repeat - it's like a recurring, never ending bad dream. We can blame the referee all we want but ultimately we aren't good enough. Whenever we have a big game, we fall short. We're 'nearly men' that have become accustomed to failure yet retain this absurd belief that we're 'champions in waiting' or that our 'day will come'. Sport doesn't work like that - it's about grabbing your chances with both hands because it may never come round again. We'll lose against Man Utd in the FA Cup and capitualte in the league in April. Wenger won't strengthen sufficiently in the summer and we'll start next season with the same group of players. Same old, same old.