Porto pump holes A Champs last 16 Weds 21st Feb KO 8pm

[sk-gtfo]

It's like 2006-2016 all over again.. top 4 trophy (0.01% chance of winning PL), through the borefest CL group stage, then out in the early KO rounds, rinse and repeat for a decade, KSE happy with the CL money, be grateful you're in it from everyone else.

Arteta's woeful euro record to continue.. a covid fa cup 4 yrs ago and a 2nd place finish, long way to go before he can be called a top manager.

We best not be knackered for the fat Saudi slags either, it will be on him, 1 entirely predictable sub, a few more may have killed the game and we'd have got away with 0-0 and have fresher squad for Saturday.

[Redarmy]

I would say they are a better bet to come on in the closing stages of a Champions league match to see it out than need to blood Walters / Nwaneri / Myles-Skelley cos we have no other option ( Cedric )

I'm worried about the decisions that Arteta will make when these blokes are fit, especially Jesus and Zinchenko. I perfectly understand that we shouldn't be getting carried away with the recent results, even though you can only beat what's in front of you, but what Arteta should definitely be taking from the last couple of games is how much more solid and effective the structure of the team looks by playing a conventional back four and no inverted bollocks.

Every player in the side, including Trossard and Kiwior, has done enough to earn the right to start the next game. Kiwior might well wobble if put under pressure, but we'll see. Unfortunately, I think that Arteta will have Jesus and Zinchenko straight back in the side as soon as they're fit.

Problem is Arteta is so desperate to be seen as a genius influential game changing manager he thinks in his head that he invented the inverted full back horseshit and will stick with it even while it proves him wrong game after game.

Any coincidence we've looked more solid defensively and more cohesive as a unit since we dropped the inverted cuntology? Can Arteta see that? I agree with you and really doubt it to be honest. He has an ego the size of a whale's cock.

We haven’t stopped the inverting, White was doing it from the right hand side v Burnley and I think West ham too, it’s just that he does it in a much more unobtrusive fashion than Zinchencko did, as White realises his limitations, and is there as an option to support Saka and ballon d’or candidate Odegaard rather than attempt to be the star of the show that Zinchencko tries to be.
I also have not seen White be half way in the opposition half on the wrong side to his position (yet) and then get caught out !

I wouldn't call what White does being fully inverted. He is more disciplined. Zinchenko plays fully inverted to the absolute detriment of our left side and the broader team.

It's not having Zinchenko inverted that has contributed to the improvement because we are not offering teams an easy out down our left to both relieve pressure and start breakaway attacks.

your right DB...White gets forward when he can to support, but there is cover at the back...zinchenko strays for ages out of postion and leaves massive gap at left back position

[Redarmy]

Sickening result ......

That said they played out their game plan exactly....referee helped out enormously to break up the game with around 36 free kicks...their diving and feinging injury at every oportunity...and their fouling and holding at corners

Rice getting booked played on his mind but he did well...still dont rate raya...havertz? dont even go there


Even if we score an early goal at the emirates they wont change their style

Any 5 yard passing tippy tappy style will play right into their hands....basically its going to be a very difficult second leg tie

[OneBardGooner]

Hugely disappointing game by Arteta and Players, I know a different Game Plan and Tactics were called for but we just seemed to be moving through treacle the whole game with our minds already on the game against the Fat Geordies.
Porto did what they do best: Dived Dived and Dived and of course the Ref Bought it and Booked & Carded Rice within minutes which set the president for the remainder of the game. Porto slowed the game, the Ref slowed the game and with havertz making it seem like we only had 10 men on the pitch we were really up against it.
It was a very good goal and if it had been one of ours scoring it, we would be heaping praise on the player. Raya could & should have done better ... for me he is still the lesser out of him and Rambo.
Don't be surprised if they adopt a very different approach in the 2nd leg at ours...Yes, they'll come to defend / park the bus, But they will try and hit us on the break...So we will have to be On It from the first whistle and hope we get a referee who isn't Whistle Happy. I just hope this hasn't taken away the momentum we were feeling when the Fat Geordies come to ours, they will also have some of their key players back and be fresher.

[Redarmy]

Hugely disappointing game by Arteta and Players, I know a different Game Plan and Tactics were called for but we just seemed to be moving through treacle the whole game with our minds already on the game against the Fat Geordies.
Porto did what they do best: Dived Dived and Dived and of course the Ref Bought it and Booked & Carded Rice within minutes which set the president for the remainder of the game. Porto slowed the game, the Ref slowed the game and with havertz making it seem like we only had 10 men on the pitch we were really up against it.
It was a very good goal and if it had been one of ours scoring it, we would be heaping praise on the player. Raya could & should have done better ... for me he is still the lesser out of him and Rambo.
Don't be surprised if they adopt a very different approach in the 2nd leg at ours...Yes, they'll come to defend / park the bus, But they will try and hit us on the break...So we will have to be On It from the first whistle and hope we get a referee who isn't Whistle Happy. I just hope this hasn't taken away the momentum we were feeling when the Fat Geordies come to ours, they will also have some of their key players back and be fresher.

Think waiting for a mistake and hitting you on the break is all part of their plan OBG....and they are dangerous given that chance they will bury it...no doubt about that...
We also helped in the sideways possession football...needed to move it faster, get it out wide, take the defender on, and use our pace to get around the back ...never going to get through with slow sideways passing

Have to take our chance now and really go at them from the off...

[xgtdec]

"The best thing about our team was the attitude. We wanted to play. We didn’t lack aggression. Faced with such a low block and a team with no intention of playing, this is what we have to do.”

In response, Conceicao said it’s about what you do with the ball rather than how much possession you have that’s important.

On Arteta’s stance, the Porto boss said: “It’s an opinion. They wanted to play, we wanted to win."

And there in lies the difference, some managers know how to win no matter what they come up against, Legohead last night was lost and clueless once our wingers were taken out of the game.

[DB10GOONER]

"The best thing about our team was the attitude. We wanted to play. We didn’t lack aggression. Faced with such a low block and a team with no intention of playing, this is what we have to do.”

In response, Conceicao said it’s about what you do with the ball rather than how much possession you have that’s important.

On Arteta’s stance, the Porto boss said: “It’s an opinion. They wanted to play, we wanted to win."

And there in lies the difference, some managers know how to win no matter what they come up against, Legohead last night was lost and clueless once our wingers were taken out of the game.

Very telling comments. This is why I don't rate Arteta as a top manager or even near being a top manager. He is inflexible, not pragmatic, has limited in game management skills, and puts his own ego before the team's needs and requirements.

Yes, the Porto putas are a feral pack of cheating diving cùnts - but a canny manager, a George Graham, figures out how to beat them. An Arteta just goes full Wenger, closes his eyes and hopes doing the usual stuff will somehow come good in a different set of circumstances.

[LeftfootlegendGooner]

Well, that was shite wasn't it, tbf if that is the sum total of champions league football entertainment then I won't care if I never watch one again.

Honestly that was a hard watch, I'd forgotten how teams like Porto play the dark arts of sport, shocking, no wonder everyone around the world wants to watch the premier league if that's what they dish up weekl in week out.

I can't be arsed to go into the refs performance it was that inept.

I can now see why martinelli gets hooked most games before saka.

Oh well, smash the barcodes at the weekend (hopefully) and I can forget this match ever happened.

Edit

I will also add that as much as I like Trossard and predicted him to be a success at Arsenal before he ever played for us, this type of game isn't his bag, this is where Jesus would have excelled.

Tight spaces and rough tackling because he is far stronger, faster and has quicker feet, Jesus can go past defenders for fun and would have made pepe look geriatric rather than prime Tony Adams that he did last night, imo.

[BFG4]

Last night was exactly why I don't rate Arteta(and hope the likes of Barca are dumb enough to poach him). Not having a recognised striker is embarrassing at this level and then throw in the completely inconsistent Jesus when fit and championship Eddie and it's incompetence of the highest order. Again we tried playing everything through the wings last night and when that doesn't work, we are fucked. Had our arrogant excuse for a manager not spunked 65 mil on crappy Kai then we could have actually signed a decent striker but no, much more important that Arteta sees his pet project through. Getting to the stage that I'd really like to see Arteta piss off back to City and collect cones for Pep.

[Nick Nack]

Well that was a total shit the bed performance. A proper Arsenal in the CL poonami.

What has irritated me the most, apart from the diving and play acting and shit referring is Diet Pep's reluctance or inability to change things up during the game.

It wasn't working down the wings for Saka and Martinelli, so do something different ffs. They had geriatric Pepe who is 41 next week and an inexperienced CB alongside him. Draw them out and play balls over the top for our players to chase down, making them turn and struggle. It's not fucking rocket science, but no, strategic genius hasn't got a clue

I'm also concerned that Diet Pep is using Ben White in his inverted role. Just fucking stop, it leaves us inbalanced, not as bad as Zinchenko, but inbalanced none the less as now Saka doesn't have BW on the overlap.

Finally, Havertz, why

[Redarmy]

Well that was a total shit the bed performance. A proper Arsenal in the CL poonami.

What has irritated me the most, apart from the diving and play acting and shit referring is Diet Pep's reluctance or inability to change things up during the game.

It wasn't working down the wings for Saka and Martinelli, so do something different ffs. They had geriatric Pepe who is 41 next week and an inexperienced CB alongside him. Draw them out and play balls over the top for our players to chase down, making them turn and struggle. It's not fucking rocket science, but no, strategic genius hasn't got a clue

I'm also concerned that Diet Pep is using Ben White in his inverted role. Just fucking stop, it leaves us inbalanced, not as bad as Zinchenko, but inbalanced none the less as now Saka doesn't have BW on the overlap.

Finally, Havertz, why

Yes mate...was amazed at half time he didnt change anything around, set up looked just same for second half....same old possession sideways 5 yard passes in front of 2 solid lines of defence...remember stupid teeth in the cup game making changes after we was all over them first half and the scouse went on to win
Must confess sort of like the guy and want him to succeed but always had my doubts about his tactical ability at the top level
Still its half time and we have 90 mins at home to put it right, i believe we will

[A11M11]

Ran before he could walk , we should have poached him with Emery and let him get a bit more experience with another manager . As proven with Sevilla , Emery knows how to win European knock out tournaments . Still would have had to clear the dressing room though.

[the playing mantis]

Just shows thr tactical ineptness of the manager and wenger.

We are a better team than Porto. There 3rd in a farmers league. Yes we are jo where near as good as 2 or 3 posters on here, 1 who should know better, think, but we should still be beating these mugs.

All due to a complete and utter inability to adjust tactics in game and react to what's going on. Wenger couldn't do it, this lightweight can't.

Why we will always fall short jo matter how much he spends.

I'm honestly not having a pop at you here per se cos I have seen a few comments on here in recent weeks suggesting various european leagues are "farmers leagues", but my response to that would be to take a step back and look at exactly how piss poor the premier league is these days. I honestly cant remember a time when so many teams were getting hammerings and this notion that english football is so competitive with no easy games is fast becoming a total myth. The gap between the haves and have nots has never been wider imo - at one stage of this season (about a month ago) manure had lost one third of all competitive games they had played this season, and yet they now sit just 5pts off top 4, and that is absolutely shocking This AFC team wouldnt keep the ball kicked out to the wenger team of the early 2000s, and GG's team would also turn them over, yet we have morons quoting stats and talking bollox about a combined front 3 negates the need for a quality number 9

Augie, the fact that Porto are shite and in a farmers league in no way detracts from the crappiness of the PL as I have stated numerous times, ourselves, scum and villa are all in false positions caused by the poor quality of the league. Ffs United are closing in on top 4 and their terrible.

However regardless of that its still a better league than the Portuguese by far and we should be beating these muppets easily despite our own limitations. That we didn't is as I state all on thr managers complete tactical ineptness and inability to change things in game and adapt.

[augie]

Agree 100% mantis