PSG H Big lugs Semi final first leg Tues 29th April KO 8pm

[Ray C]

Bottled it. Outclassed. Party should help in return leg but they'll do us.

[Sid33]

We're not turning this around, Arteta is the ultimate "nearly man"
You can't win leagues or cups without a striker!
I know he'll get another season at least, so just be prepared for more disappointment!

[Perryashburtongroves]

We're not turning this around, Arteta is the ultimate "nearly man"
You can't win leagues or cups without a striker!
I know he'll get another season at least, so just be prepared for more disappointment!

Cue the 2008-15sh stories about how we've got a huge summer of signings coming up and that we're definitely going to get our business done early. Then nothing or more midfielders. By August we'll be hearing all about how we're "Very close" to everything coming together and how we don't need to change too much. Then we'll be off the pace 10 games into the season and all the excuses will start again about injuries and transfer fees and contracts and other clubs. Always a manager and two-three players away from actually doing something.

[Red Army 2]

we havnt really got the team to win this competition, Gabrielle and Partey missing and we suffer

Parteys booking has cost us dear, dont get me wrong i dont rate the guy but he does make the midfield more solid

Arteta again found wanting, team came out way to cautious, we should have gone for them from the off also should have brought on Nwaneri earlier

Possible if we can get an early goal we have an outside chance but reality says we are out

[rodders999]

We're not turning this around, Arteta is the ultimate "nearly man"
You can't win leagues or cups without a striker!
I know he'll get another season at least, so just be prepared for more disappointment!

And that’s ultimately it. Unless someone was prepared to stand up and grab this by the balls like Freddie did in 2002, then the lack of fire power is what I felt would ultimately cost us our chance of winning this competition (just as it has in the league the last 2 seasons).

Semi finals are usually tight affairs, decided by the fine margins. You don’t necessarily have to be at your swashbuckling best to make the final but you need to make the big moments count and you need the 50/50 incidents to go your way. The millimetres Merino was offside could ultimately prove fatal in this tie as could the huge Martinelli miss.

We’re by far the weakest of the 4 remaining teams when it comes to firepower - Lewandowski, Martinez or Dembele would have all burst the net if presented with that Martinelli chance. Havertz is still our top scorer despite not having played since January for fuck sake

So in the absence of that we needed a Freddie but instead we got 11 players who collectively shit the bed and froze on the big occasion.

So while losing the game/tie isn’t the biggest surprise to me, the no show is what will be the biggest disappointment.

[Red Army 2]

We're not turning this around, Arteta is the ultimate "nearly man"
You can't win leagues or cups without a striker!
I know he'll get another season at least, so just be prepared for more disappointment!

And that’s ultimately it. Unless someone was prepared to stand up and grab this by the balls like Freddie did in 2002, then the lack of fire power is what I felt would ultimately cost us our chance of winning this competition (just as it has in the league the last 2 seasons).

Semi finals are usually tight affairs, decided by the fine margins. You don’t necessarily have to be at your swashbuckling best to make the final but you need to make the big moments count and you need the 50/50 incidents to go your way. The millimetres Merino was offside could ultimately prove fatal in this tie as could the huge Martinelli miss.

We’re by far the weakest of the 4 remaining teams when it comes to firepower - Lewandowski, Martinez or Dembele would have all burst the net if presented with that Martinelli chance. Havertz is still our top scorer despite not having played since January for fuck sake

So in the absence of that we needed a Freddie but instead we got 11 players who collectively shit the bed and froze on the big occasion.

So while losing the game/tie isn’t the biggest surprise to me, the no show is what will be the biggest disappointment.

Trouble is we are going round in circles...we all know for years now ( or should do) We need a fucking proper striker vital in games like this.....the world and his fuckin wife knows it, but vanity project stubborn manager will not accept it (and while hes at it get a proper midfield partner for Rice)

[augie]

I said after the madrid game that the biggest thing was us not bottling it more than anything else cos we have a habit of bottling games - last night we returned to type and just shit the bed. Our players would run up to their players under the guise of actually pressing them, but when our players actually got there they just stood off them and didnt put them under any real pressure.

I think saliba is an excellent defnder and one of the best in the world at the mo, but as a footballer he is a bit shit - watching him and raya fanny about with the ball wrecked my fcuking head cos it just invited pressure on us, and yet raya kept passing it to him. Psg defenders were more willing to launch the ball long when we closed them down than we were cos we wanted to do this beautiful play out from the back bollocks - sometimes you just have to put it long and turn them around and press them back instead of inviting them onto us.

Anyone else see the absolute irony of all this hope being put on the return of partey ? This is a guy that most of us want gone in the summer, and he is meant to be the saviour ??

One down going out there is far from a disaster and we dont need to go gung ho - it will require a change in attitude and a serious upgrade in work ethic and application, but it is still in melting pot imo

Martinelli getting slated for that "miss" before ht is very harsh imo - if that is the other end and raya makes that save we are all praising him to the hilt, and I thought that save and the one from trossard were top drawer from donnaruma. The pulling out of 50/50 tackles by martinelli was what really fcuked me off about him last night, but I dont see that shot as a miss from him

Btw, in my opinion our priority in the upcoming transfer window has changed for me - it is now FAR more important that ohdeargod gets moved on than it is buying a quality striker, and that's how much of a liability that cowardly c.unt is

[BFG4]

In more than 5 years of managing us, Arteta has the most predictable attacking approach. Everything is predicated on Saka or Martinelli stretching the defence and as good as Saka is when ever he gets doubled up, he looks really limited. As for Martinelli, he is consistently inconsistent
Any proper manager with this approach would know that plan B is to have a quality CF but Arteta has been a disgrace in the way he has ignored the position. Tactically predictable teams rarely win anything significant and the ones that do, tend to have several world class players, we simply don't. Imagine trying to win anything with Odegaard as you're captain, the guy is a complete and utter coward and only because we have some of the most delusional fans around, is he in any way rated highly.

[OneBardGooner]

4 reasons we lost last night:

Arteta doesn't have a Scooby about in-game tactics and making changes to accommodate the opposition's tactics.

If we wanted to Win we HADTO start like PSG did ... Out of the Gates raring to go at Full Pace on the same way we did against Mudrid ; because whoever scored first could then dictate play

As much as it pains me to admit it Partey was a Huge miss, with him defending the midfield and back-line it allows Decca's to do what he does so well Drive Forward and so Drive the team forward, with 8 being his best position and role.


And the Final Nail in the Coffin was this Cūnt turning up to watch the game (with his Daughter) and sit there smirking as the Smug Cūnt he is....He is a fucking "Jinx" and should be banned from ever watching us live...Ceeeeeuuuuuunnnnttt!

[xgtdec]

4 reasons we lost last night:

Arteta doesn't have a Scooby about in-game tactics and making changes to accommodate the opposition's tactics.

If we wanted to Win we HADTO start like PSG did ... Out of the Gates raring to go at Full Pace on the same way we did against Mudrid ; because whoever scored first could then dictate play

As much as it pains me to admit it Partey was a Huge miss, with him defending the midfield and back-line it allows Decca's to do what he does so well Drive Forward and so Drive the team forward, with 8 being his best position and role.


And the Final Nail in the Coffin was this Cūnt turning up to watch the game (with his Daughter) and sit there smirking as the Smug Cūnt he is....He is a fucking "Jinx" and should be banned from ever watching us live...Ceeeeeuuuuuunnnnttt!

If she can rap i'd probobly give it a go......anyway

The sight of le fraud years later still envelops me in a rage the same as it did at the time, he's a cún-t of the highest order and remains unaccountable for his actions in being the main contributor to the destruction of our club. If i was in charge at that club he'd never set foot in it unless he paid for a ticket so he could feel a little like the thousands he fucking cheated out of ticket money for years playing utter shite that he'd signed to stroke his precious ego.......CCCCCúúúúúúNNNNNtttttttt

[Retro Gunner]

Perry made a point earlier in this thread and it was as clear under Wenger as it is under Mkll, that to play the tika taka, Barcelona 2008 style football, you need players that are the calibre of Barcelona 2008. We are nowhere near that level, so while we might roll the lesser sides over, as soon as we come up against the big boys, the wheels come off.

All that happens, just like last night, is that we end up playing sideways and backwards. When Barca were tippy tapping it around, it was with an end in sight and there was movement ahead and most of the play was forward. With us, we'll have the ball in an advanced midfield position, or out on the wings and it too often ends up back with the centre half or even Raya. Just like Wenger, Arteta is fully invested in this possession football notion, even though the majority of that possession is meaningless and just for possessions sake, with no outcome.

Still, the biggest crime of the lot is the failure over he last 3 years to buy at least one quality CF. I said on here at the start of this season that failing to buy a striker and committing to the Havertz vanity project would be the rock on which Arteta foundered. Unless we somehow turn it around next week and go on to win the CL (I can't see either, let alone both happening), then it's another failed season and the lack of a CF will be a huge part of the reason. If that's how it turns out, then after 5 1/2 years and going backwards, Arteta should be gone. We all know that won't happen.

[Gunner Rob]

I think I’m now at the point where I want Arteta gone even if we win the champions league.

It’s dull football, and ultimately he never wins anything with it.

For some reason a lot of the fanbase seem to like him, so I think whatever happens we are stuck with him

[IW8Goalmachine]

Martin Ødegaard vs PSG

• 0.08 Expected Assists
• 0/3 crosses arrived
• 0/0 long balls
• 0 shots on target
• 0 shots off target
• 5/6 dribbles failed
• 14 times possession lost
• 6/8 ground duels lost

[xgtdec]

Martin Ødegaard vs PSG

• 0.08 Expected Assists
• 0/3 crosses arrived
• 0/0 long balls
• 0 shots on target
• 0 shots off target
• 5/6 dribbles failed
• 14 times possession lost
• 6/8 ground duels lost

And thats a good day, it can and often is worse

[Retro Gunner]

Martin Ødegaard vs PSG

• 0.08 Expected Assists
• 0/3 crosses arrived
• 0/0 long balls
• 0 shots on target
• 0 shots off target
• 5/6 dribbles failed
• 14 times possession lost
• 6/8 ground duels lost

And thats a good day, it can and often is worse

Do you mind, that's our captain you're talking about.