Arsenal v AC Milan – At home, on our pitch, playing our game. Why Not?
At home, on our pitch, playing our game. Why not?
Seriously why not? Well, you don’t have to answer that for me because I know why not. AC Milan are playing incredible football domestically and on the continent. They took it to a team that never even got off the airplane in Italy. They are one of the four teams I could see winning the whole tournament (next to Barcelona, Madrid and Bayern.)
If we are honest we acknowledge we got spanked. If I am honest, I know that the fight back will be hard. But not impossible. Unlike other teams in recent Arsenal memory, this team comes back from losing positions. They’ve done it more times this season than in any other. The last two weeks should show you that. On the Emirates pitch they have scored 12 goals in their last two matches. In one of them they were down 2-0 in the first 30 minutes.
At the San Siro the Italians used their shoddy pitch to their advantage to take away the superior skill and speed of the English side. Wenger, in his pre-game presser didn’t mince words – “you can tell Milan that tomorrow we will play on a football pitch, a real football pitch.” The better pitch will allow Arsenal to play their game and use their speed advantage. It is that speed and the goal deficit (as well as some untimely short-term injuries) that is forcing Wenger to re-think his formation and who he starts.
In the same press conference Wenger hinted at the possibility of starting 4 forwards – Gervinho, Van Persie, Walcott and Oxlade Chamberlain. That would amount to Wenger throwing all caution out the door and just going for it. I feel like he is probably thinking – if we are going to go out let’s go out giving it everything we’ve got.
And maybe there is something to that. Of course there is a lot of well-found skepticism that Arsenal can achieve a turnaround. The thing about this Arsenal squad is – that when the weight of the world is off their shoulders, they rise to the occasion.
In the most recent memory, Arsenal were not the favourites to do anything against their North London rivals. In the build up to the match the focus was on a power shift in London. There was also a lot of harping on about the loss to Milan and a whole slew of other negative press. Well, we all know what happened don’t we? Arsenal came in with a North London derby for the ages. Even down 2-0 it wasn’t as if they looked out of the match. The goals came from a fluke deflection and a Gareth Bale audition for the Barcelona’s diving squad. From there on in it was all Arsenal. They were relentless on that pitch and scored five goals and looked good for another 2 at least.
Of course Milan are not Spurs. And in the Champion’s League, all it takes it is an away goal. So not only would Arsenal need to be impressive offensively they’d need to be impressive defensively. And while they’ve not been outstanding, the Emirates has been a fortress of success for the Gunners. They’ve been prolific scoring and they’ve held opponents to less than 1 goal per game (0.7). They will need to be damn near impregnable to get anything from this match.
The point is, that the players can now play freely because no one expects anything from them. Not the press, not the pundits and not a lot of fans. Hopefully, they can approach this match with a sense of abandon. Looking for something but not harping on it if they get nothing.
As a fan I go into this match not expecting much and I feel an ability to just sit back and enjoy it. If we come out this with something – more’s the better. If this is another epic European night in the making I will literally not sleep for days. But if the inevitable falls upon us then I won’t get that frustration that has been known to swell up from time to time. No, I will be ready for us to get some rest and get ready for our league run in with Newcastle on Monday.
It’s disappointing where we find ourselves. But I love this team. As do all supporters and no matter our feelings right now, I might suggest you just sit back without any preconceived notions of the outcome and just enjoy the match. If you can’t well – I understand that too.
With all that in mind, I keep a flicker of hope and just say to myself – At home, on our pitch, playing our game. Why not?
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Robin van Persie. Robin Van Priceless, Robin Volley’s Perfectly or whatever he simply is the best forward in the game right now. He really does score when he wants to. Without so much as a sniff in the entire Liverpool match the two chances he was presented with – he buried.
Milan: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I’m fairly confident we’ll keep possession well and run the midfield, so I’m not overly concerned with the likes of Boateng. Ibrahimovic though, will be a worry – he’s the only player on their side who can make something out of nothing. We never know which Ibra will show up, we could be lucky and find the completely disinterested one tomorrow. However, one half-chance could easily be turned into a goal, so Vermaelen and Koscielny need to be on their A-game.
Projected Lineups:
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Song, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Gervinho, Van Persie
Milan: Abbiatti; Abate, Mexes, Thiago Silva, Antonini; Nocerino, Van Bommel, Emanuelson; Aquilani; Ibrahimovic, Robinho
Injuries and Suspensions:
Diaby (hamstring) Frimpong (knee) Wilshere (ankle) Santos (ankle) Mertesacker (ankle) Arteta (back) Benayoun (groin)
Leading Scorers (UCL):
Arsenal: Robin Van Persie (4)
Milan: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (5)
Last Meeting (UCL):
Arsenal: 0
Milan: 4
Domestic Form (last 5)
Arsenal: WWWWD
Milan: WDWWL
Head to Head Tournament Stats:
|
Arsenal |
Milan |
|
| Goals Scored |
7 |
15 |
| Attempts on Target |
32 |
39 |
| Attempts off Target |
15 |
51 |
| Corners |
32 |
29 |
| Offsides |
20 |
27 |
| Fouls Committed |
80 |
104 |
| Yellow Cards |
14 |
12 |
| Red Cards |
0 |
1 |
Match Official:
Referee: Damir Skomina
Assistant referees Primož Arhar Marko Stančin
Additional assistant referees Matej Jug Slavko Vinčić
Fourth official Mitja Žganec
Broadcast Information:
US: Fox Soccer Channel 2:30PM EST
UK: SkySports 2 1945 GMT
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 3
Milan: 0
MORE FOR THE ARSENE WENGER PRESS CONFERENCE:
“We will have, of course, our drive forward,” he said. “The best way is to ignore the first game and do what we did against Tottenham. We were 2-0 down and we just kept going because we wanted to win the game. That is what we want to do again tomorrow.
“We can score goals, in the last two home games we scored 12. So we know we can score goals. That is the target tomorrow.
“The target is also to find a good balance between attacking and defending because our double target is not to concede as well.
“But I know my players well, I know they have been hurt by the first result and I know they have their pride. They will come out tomorrow and give a performance.
“There is a real possibility that we can go through, of course. Football is football, you know? We lost 4-0 at Milan but they had five shots on target and we had 55 [per cent of the] possession when we did not play well at all.
“Two things that can change: if they can score four then we can as well, why not? We will try. We know we can put a better performance in and you can tell Milan that tomorrow we will play on a football pitch, a real football pitch.”
21 comments
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Both Bild and the Daily Mail are saying that Arsenal and Cologne have agreed to a fee of 10.9 million pounds for Podolski
Its also flashing on the Barcelona v Leverkeusen match.
The Bild Story is here – http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/podolski/transfer-zu-arsenal-london-perfekt-23041792.bild.html
The Mail story is here –
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2111725/Arsenal-Cologne-agree-Lukas-Podolski-deal.html
@DaAdminGooner, still have no idea how this is legal with the window closed in January…
but hopefully, he can avoid any injuries…. that’s the last thing we’d need.
@stag133,
Why should it be illegal. Everybody in Cologne knew he was
unhappy and if the management agreed that he can negotiate
with other clubs than there is no violation.
The Club has to agree wether the window is open or not.
@stag133,
Transfer deals can be negotiated between teams at any time. What can’t happen is the actual transfer taking place – so we can sign someone Feb 1. But unless they are a FA the player can’t move until the next window. All Arsenal have done here is get their man NOW. There is no speculation it’s done.
Watch Charlie Nicholas’ reaction to the game –
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid761333525001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAAnV5Z0~,xyoxShbYDLGSh2yu4XruBQh1N8XmHpc9&bctid=1492871034001
Great Game tonight. The Boys put up a great fight and just ran out of gas at the End.
All you Wenger haters can’t accept the fact that Arsenal is making business decisions when it comes to salary demands and transfere fees. Keep in mind that Arsenal will never go belly up under Wenger. If City or Chelsea would loose their Sugar Dadys they would go Leeds on their Fans in a heartbeat.
If you look at the current squad they need upgrades at CB and AM. I think the offer they made to Dortmund (60 million Euro for Goetze and Hummels)would have solved these issues but Dortmund does not need the money and it seems like they running away with the league tile this year and already investet 13 million pound in Reuss so they shure as hell won’t break their squad up just as they set themselfes up to be a german powerhouse for the next decade.
The main thing thoug for Arsenal is to finally invest in Players with great medical historys and some decent 12-18 Subs to keep the risk of injurie as low as possilble.
We have to make the Champions league this year to resign RVP with the additions of Wilshere (who hopefully will brought along extremely slow)Podolski (who carrys an entire Team on his back this year as a left midfielder/Winger) and two Call ups from the Reserve hopefully Afobe is worth all the buzz he created we are one big signing away from seriously compting for silverware (Podolski shoudn’t cost all that much because he is unhappy with management and cologne is just 4 points clear of relegation if they are relegated then he as an auto fee cluase for about 8 million pounds so every gooner should bet pray do everything for some bad karma.)
@Ty, yes, surely, Wenger is saving us all from Arsenal going “belly up”… I mean I know make the MOST PROFIT every season, but the real reason we sell our best players every few years, is so we don’t go belly up like United, Liverpool, City, Chelsea, Barca, Madrid… and the rest.
He’s SAVING us.
Got it.
didn’t get to watch live… that work thing got in the way… but a valiant effort goes begging…
I guess that makes it even more frustrating … year after year…. opportunities present themselves, and because we subtract key elements of the team, and don’t replace them… we FAIL.
I’d say we were a key player or two away today… as usual.
Not sure how RVP missed that chance from 6 yards away, but he’s magic, not perfect…
unfortunately, Wenger will take this to the bank, as proof that he’s right and smarter than everyone else… and just keep on keeping on…
once again, what might have been.
Good to see the players into the match, and playing with some pride.
That’s the plus… that’s the positive…
Lovely to see Fred and Kiwi around these parts….we DID lose (the tie) after all, so Wenger-bashing is in order. Kiwi maybe takes a more positive approach, but I have a soft spot in my heart for California Fred (when are you coming to the mountains? we finally got a bit of snow, etc., etc.), especially as I just had a lovely conversation with an old friend from Buffalo….
Of course, I think both old-guarders are a little on the harsh side and I think some of the blame should be seen as structural and maybe not all should be placed at the feet of the manager….(Maybe the players could’ve done a bit more in the away leg, for example….) European Club football is in flux and maybe the frugal approach has a chance, esp. if the fear of our own Ruso-Soviet Oligarch waiting to flood us with funds is lurking….
For me, we’re more than a sub or two away from anything meaningful. That’s not to say that 50 million pound Torres or 35 million pound Carroll wouldn’t have been nice options off the bench…. Hell, 17 million pound Arshavin or a fit Benayoun or Ramsey or Arteta or Demba Ba might’ve helped. The players are not ALL bad (apologies to Stag….), and when the pressure’s off and the schedule suits us, the likes of Sneezy and Ox-Cham look damn good, or at least not bad for their age (or even Gibbs…Kos, is still shit, don’t let the goal fool you)…. RVP (sorry Kiwi) worked his ass off and tired badly (as did everybody else) and this, along with Ox’s injury (rather than a “spooking” over their half time tea), seems the biggest factor….Remember, we needed two goals to avoid an extra half hour….. Despite the Captain’s failings today, I say we catch Spurs for third and “show him the money” (no transfer fee needed). Of course, we’ll prolly need to do the same for Feo, to a much lesser extent, but we can afford to do so, (I fear)…. Poldoski as a legitimate back-up or late game super-sub? Well, I’ll wait for the Euros before I weigh in on that….
Fred makes a strong point about replacing Arshavin in January. (With whom, exactly? And, again, I’d argue that Torres and Carroll along with Arsh himself, could be seen in a cautionary light….) It may be hollow, but this squad, right now, looks ready to fight and maybe losing the lazy Russian was essential. Mistakes have been (and will continue to be) made and there are numerous twists and turns to come this season, but (until the severity of everybody’s injuries are reported) I like our chances. Longer term, because the heart of the team was gutted last summer, we NEED to find some players already playing well but with years ahead to replace CESCnasri (emphasis intended). Internal solutions (Wilshere, Ryo, Diaby) are tempting, but I wonder…..
If anything, I think the manager might perhaps come in for a bit of praise (at season’s end….) if this cobbled group of too young and too old and perpetually injured players can do the deed and finish equal or above where they did a year ago…. If they can (and like I say, it’s no done deal) tonight’s attempt to at least bring the mountain into view, if not climb it, will be something. The landscape has changed….Like Fred notes, the “national” clubs (of the debtor nations….) like Berlusconi’s Milan are “not all that” and they might need an Abramovich/Sheik Mansour bailout if they want to keep plugging along. (And things are all topsy-turvy in woeful England, as well….) But one of them will lift the big-eared trophy this season (one of the Spanish giants I would guess). Still, I think there’s at least a tiny chance that some of our boys saw their frailties and maybe will feel sufficient desire to overcome our thin squad (and, of course, our idiot manager….) and claim another go round next season…..
Or so I hope…..
A really compelling performance by Arsenal in the first 45 min’s. Somethings happened to Rosicky and he’s actually starting to play again after 4 years of sitting on the periphery. I guess his contract is nearly up. You gotta laugh.
The young Ox is receiving a lot of plaudits and rightly so. He looks quite a player and the opposite to Walcott. Where Walcott frustrates and flatters to deceive the Ox delivers and excites n most occasions. His drive on goal that earned the penalty was superb and intentional – absolutely fantastic stuff. Together with Wilshere he will be quite a combination.
It was a wonderful European night – the type we need – the type the Emirates stadium needs. If van Persie scored from the chance off the Milan keeper it may have happened.
But, two things also shine through. The first is seminal – we no longer expect this team to deliver this type of performance consistently and so we have to accept that surgery is needed before we challenge for anything. And the second follows, we have a lot of dross in this squad. Chamakh and Park were woeful subs when the game was there to be won. Absolutely and totally irrelevant. How long will we tolerate such a poor quality in the squad? Answer: for as long as Wenger remains.
This performance was a positive diversion from the downward trend of this season and the last six. And yet at the end of the day this is another season where the height of our ambition has been to battle for the next year’s champions league qualification. Early March and we’re out of all cups and contesting a CL place. Whoopee, are you having fun???
It says a lot about how far the Serie A has fallen that a BS team like Milan is dominating them.
This is a mediocre team that a Fabregas led team of just a couple of years ago would have eased down with no difficulties whatsoever.
But ah well, maybe that neophyte German AM, who we still haven’t seen will save us! (And get sold when he is 22).
@Fred,
I wouldn’t call that team Mediocre, Thiaggo Silva is probably the best CB in Europe in terms of form atm, Kevin Prince Boateng is a class player, Robinho is too, Pato is a talent and a half, and Zlatan is Zlatan
Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, the NEARLY men, as usual.
This result proves that the players (despite all their flaws and overall averageness) still have heart and can rouse themselves. They don’t deserve the blame they get after losses. At least not the majority blame. They get picked and have to do what they do, but they still need MANAGEMENT, coaching, tactics, support and extra firepower.
Imagine, if Wonga had got rid of Arshavin in January and REPLACED him. Maybe then we would have had that little bit extra to cross the finish line today. Getting to the QF would have gone towards paying for him. Penny wise, Pound foolish.
Instead we were reduced to the stupidity of chucking in Chamakh and Park. Two utterly pointless players that have been earning salaries since the start of the season and have hardly ever seen a match minute between them. I mean, when we are up 5-2 at home, Wenger doesn’t even bring in Park to have a 3 minute run out. He put on Gervinho.
But all of a sudden with 10 minutes left, Walcott is hurt and there is NOBODY to bring on!
Excellent squad management there.
ALSO, notice the difference between a squad going in for a half time talk with Wenger and compare that with going in to a half time talk with Allegri.
Allegri’s players were shitting themselves at half time, like a punch drunk boxer. Whatever the heck he said to them was freaking genius. Stabilized, changed defensive shape and shut Arsenal to only TWO shots in the whole second half!!!!!
On the other hand, our SOARING players go into the break to hear Wenger and BOOM we come back out with the hand brake on. Whatever the heck he said spooked them, so much so we ATTEMPTED ONLY TWO shots the ENTIRE second half!!!!
ALL HAIL THE MIGHT TACTICIAN, WENGER!
Without him Arsenal can not go on.
wow. Just saw the score. Couldn’t bring myself to wake up at 3.30am after the first leg performance. Seems like we came close??
we don’t have superior skill, so the pitch was not an issue… both teams played on it… and the beat the hell out of us on that same pitch.
Ibra is the only striker in the world approaching RVP’s form this season… he’s been fantastic… (a lot better than Eto)…
Why not… simple, they score 1 goal, we’ll need (6) to advance. Not a chance in hell. Less than 1% chance.
AC Milan will sit back, with 10 men behind the ball, soak up the pressure, let us have all the possession, and on occasion, counter attack. We’ve seen all too often what our back 4 looks like when someone counters… utter CHAOS!! All over the place.
This could end 0-0… with us having 20 shots (very few clear chances)… and 70% possession.
If we overturn this 4-0 deficit, I’ll NEVER utter another negative word about Arsene Wenger EVER again…
Nice job DAG….
Unlike those who despise the manager (who will take issue, no matter what….) I like his thinking here. Ox-Cham could be the answer in the #10 spot (the Cesc role? –over Ramsey and Rosicky– Wilshere and Diaby being out for the season….)for the run-in. Or maybe, given how AW thinks, he could be the “internal” solution long term, to the tune of some 24 million pounds net profit….
Simply put, we have no chance of going through. The longer we can keep the clean sheet, the better, and if we can break down their parked bus and nick a goal (or two), while not picking up any knocks, well, it’s probably too much to wish for….(Please Van Bommel, take it easy on your countryman and our other, thin-ankled forwards, you’ve got a 4 goal lead, after all…..)
Another thing we need to work on, of course, is playing solid defense with the opponents looking to break. If our group can prevent the likes of Ibra, Robinho, KP Boateng, etc. from getting through it would be a boost for our remaining league matches where we require the full 3 points. I’ve been told that our defenders are “shit” and it’s lamentable that it’s not Schwarzer between the sticks with Samba and Cahill ahead of him, but we’ll just have to grin and bear it…..Maybe if we had those three, plus Torres and Carroll up front (and a midfield of M’Vila, Gotze and Scott Parker, while were at it) we could really go for it (I guess that would leave Clichy, on 150k/week, and Sagna at fullback)…..Damn stupid board/manager/owner/world!!!!
Ah well, this is what we’re stuck with. Personally, I like that some younger players might be getting a chance to get cohesive with the regulars. This is the final match where we can afford a bad result (since the tie has already been decided). Or can we, given that spirits are so shaky? Hopefully we don’t have to find out and some technical issues can be ironed out and our tight (threadbare?) squad can go forward without further physical and mental damage…..
A lot to hope for and we still end up as LOSERS! (But that’s where we started….) Hoping for some company in the GDC….
@HighburyTerraceSteve, Cahill (under 10 Mill), Parker (7 Mill) and Mata… and we’d have a chance of actually competing for trophies…
But that makes too much sense… they cost MONEY… and we don’t spend unless the support forces us to… and Clichy is playing extremely well for the League leaders… shocking, I know… I mean, we are much better off with the money we got, great bit of business, that.
6-1 to the Arsenal.
@stag133, Clichy starts every
third match (Kolarov has a better left footed FK than RVP
and another favorite of yours, Leighton Baines….)
Ox-Cham cost more than Parker (and might play a couple more
years than him and is playing today)…. Why does this not
please you? He cost money!!!! He must be good!!!! (oh, I
forgot, it was Arsenal that bought him, thus he must be
shit….)
And, finally, “we don’t spend unless the support forces us
to”…..
In addition to ending the phrase with a preposition, I think
you’re wrong…..We simply don’t spend big enough to please
YOU (and we won’t as long as any part of the board/manager/
owner are intact). But, given my examples: Torres, Carroll,
Cahill (16 million in the summer, remember) not to mention,
our most awesome player ever (because he cost the most, he
must be….) Arshavin….
Like Arthur told you, money isn’t everything….(but maybe
hate is)…..
At least (although you promised the opposite) it sounds like
you’re gonna watch…..
:-)
@HighburyTerraceSteve, Edit
function not working…..(if anybody can read the orange on
gray…..)
I guess I got too worked up responding to my buddy Stag….
but I failed to finish my sentence….I meant to say
something like “why should we break the bank when so many
big buys are (abject)failures…..or something…..
Apologies/lol at myself/etc. (We are soooo fucked…..)
double :-)
@HighburyTerraceSteve, yes, don’t buy anyone … because it might not work. Instead, SELL everyone of value, that way we can’t lose!!! we cash in on all the suckers trying to actually WIN trophies!
Imagine that, in this day and age, there are still teams TRYING to WIN, instead of trying to make money.
@HighburyTerraceSteve, hmmm. Soccernet and BBC must be wrong… they say that Clichy starts 2/3 of the games…. and that City has one of best defenses in the league. Damn, how do they get the facts wrong…. HTS knows!