Dortmund Home Game

[Step]

Thought we were well off the pace tonite and gave them to much respect.

Lack of pace did it for me and the solid platform of Flamini was sorely missed.

He is vital to our success this season.

Still fancy us to get at least a point from Napoli and win our last home game and that should be enough.

[Brady's left peg]

wenger word on the defeat that sums it up...'naive'.....agree on that....

i don't think he meant he was 'naive' though.....which is the sad truth.

AW just thought we could turn up and play again, rely on our 'super quality' and play our own game...

footballs gone beyond that. in about 2002 i think.

Agree with this 100%.

See the same old people popped out of the woodwork tonight waiting for this result to crop up so they could spout their usual tripe.
Marginally losing a game against a top class side after being caught chasing the game; no shame in that. Albeit neither team were great tonight and both created very little. Now asking a lot to see us qualify from the group but it should show whether we are up to the challenge and warrant being labelled a top class side. Only time will tell...

And with good reason, we are still tactically inept!
None as blind as those that cannot see...

[the jaybo]

Thought we were well off the pace tonite and gave them to much respect.

Lack of pace did it for me and the solid platform of Flamini was sorely missed.

He is vital to our success this season.

Still fancy us to get at least a point from Napoli and win our last home game and that should be enough.

Far too much, most notably in the first 30 mins, It was as if we were afraid to play our natural game. Disappointing to see especially after starting so well in our previous game against Napoli. Btw how dire was the atmosphere? Our home support is embarrassing and considering the magnitude of fixture I at least expected a few to be up for it.

[donaldo]

Dortmund were too streetwise for us.They stiffled Ozil and it was only when Cazorala came on did we look dangerous

Rambo had his first bad game of the season but there was no one to step up to the plate.We created very little.I just dont get Rosicky.Why didnt Cazorla start

And we missed Flamini big style

Wenger says we were naive but its down to him surely.Its going to be tough to get through now

[QuartzGooner]

We played possession football, but crucially not at speed, so it lacked cutting edge.

Starting line up respectable on paper but lacked both width and pace.
As game progressed I said to all around me that I wanted to see Gnabry come off bench for his pace and power, instead he was brought on with two minutes left?

Defence seemed to be set out to shackle Lewandowski.
Worked for most part, right up to that second goal when entire right side of defence was mysteriously sucked into a hyperspace vortex for five seconds!

We missed Flamini in the middle giving us momentum, and missed Theo out wide for his pace.
Dortmund very well organised, denied us space, cut out passes.

Reus is very good.

[Herd]

What I simply fail to understand is why with 10 mins to go Wenger was screaming up at the touchline for us to go for it !
A draw was good for us and not for them ,we mugged ourselves off getting caught on the break .......................again !

[markyp]

What I simply fail to understand is why with 10 mins to go Wenger was screaming up at the touchline for us to go for it !
A draw was good for us and not for them ,we mugged ourselves off getting caught on the break .......................again !

I thought this too,we were below par for most of it,got ourselves back into it too just throw it away,with how average we had played a draw would have been a decent result,i thought we were grown up enough to not get caught with a sucker punch but the old problems are still there

[DB10GOONER]

Cannot believe anyone is slating Arteta for last night. Arteta did a good job, nothing spectacular, but ran and covered when needed and tackled when needed. He gave the CH's alot of cover. Let's not forget Flamoney didn't play because he injured himself stupidly lunging in head first for a nothing ball when the team were in no danger. Don't get me wrong, I think Flamoney has been pretty good since he came back, but he is somewhere in the middle of Alex Mong at one end of the DM spectrum with the Hollywood lunges and only reacting to things and Arteta at the other end with a more measured approach, anticipating and directing play. For me Arteta is the better DM as he anticipates alot more and positions himself better (reminds me a bit of Gilberto in his prime) with mostly no need to react and lunge in. I still think Flamoney will cost us big time at some point with his rashness and poor decision making. Just a feeling...

As for the game itself. We were unlucky to lose to a very very good Dortmund side. They were very clever and nullified Ozil and Ramsey. Still we could have won it and were unlucky to get hit so late on, so no major disaster. We were punished by a better team for two silly mistakes; Rambo overelaborating on the edge of a crowded box defined a pretty poor performance from him which saw him slipping back to the old backheels, poor passing and getting caught in posession thing. I'll put it down to an off night and hope that's all it was. The difference in his play when he just keeps it simple. And Gibbs was caught standing flat and unable to decide which of two players to go with. Ultimately he chose the right one, but WAAAAYYY too late. It was a terrible bit of defending. He had the CH's behind him, the midfielders inside him, he should have done his basic job as a LB and gone with the runner outside.

Thought Giroud was brilliant. Nothing world class but he fought and scrapped for everything and again linked up well. How he hasn't punched out both Gibbs and Sagna for their appallingly shit crossing is beyond me. We have a guy that can win in the air and these pair of idiots cannot lift it past the first defender 99 times out of 100. They are the two worst crossers of the ball in the history of world football. Sagna managed one decent cross last night. One. Gibbs, none. Abysmal. Why the fuck don't they stay back after training for an hour each day and just whip in a couple hundred crosses?

If anything, last night showed we cannot piss about against the top sides, you make a mistake and 9 times out of ten they punish you.

[goonersid]

Not too worried about last night's performance, as others have said we were unlucky to lose this one. Once again I thought we were a better side when Wilshire went off, more evidence that his "one swallow" performance against lowly Norwich does not a top player make.
Thought Kos was too honest and should have went down lack a sack of shit when he was elbowed, then I doubt the ref could have kept the red card in his pocket.
Unfortunately this result is going to make progress from this group very difficult, and I honestly think we are 3rd favourites to qualify for the knockout round, given we have to go to both Dortmund and Napoli. And whilst I don't think last nights result will impact on our league form, a group stage exit will.

[DB10GOONER]

Not too worried about last night's performance, as others have said we were unlucky to lose this one. Once again I thought we were a better side when Wilshire went off, more evidence that his "one swallow" performance against lowly Norwich does not a top player make.
Thought Kos was too honest and should have went down lack a sack of shit when he was elbowed, then I doubt the ref could have kept the red card in his pocket.
Unfortunately this result is going to make progress from this group very difficult, and I honestly think we are 3rd favourites to qualify for the knockout round, given we have to go to both Dortmund and Napoli. And whilst I don't think last nights result will impact on our league form, a group stage exit will.

As much as I don't agree with your assessment of Wilshere being vastly over rated, sid - I have to agree we were far better after he went off last night. He had very little end product and seemed to hit the ground with every challenge. I still think there is a hugely gifted footballer in there somewhere but at the moment it's all unfulfilled potential really...

[AJAAFC]

goonersid wrote:Not too worried about last night's performance, as others have said we were unlucky to lose this one. Once again I thought we were a better side when Wilshire went off, more evidence that his "one swallow" performance against lowly Norwich does not a top player make.
Thought Kos was too honest and should have went down lack a sack of shit when he was elbowed, then I doubt the ref could have kept the red card in his pocket.

I've actually noticed this in our game of late, not a bad thing at all, but we need to be more ruthless - we've had about four or five half chances for penaltys this season where we've been too honest and stayed on our feet. Two of them last night - Jack could have looked for the keeper on his one!

[Dan_85]

As others have said, I thought we showed them far too much respect, especially in the first half. We looked over-awed. Gave them as much time and space on the ball as they wanted, didn't press or close down. The total opposite of how they played. They way they pressed us when we had possession reminded me of Barca circa 2010, gave us no time to think or play, forced us into mistakes.

What annoys me is that when teams press us hard & fast like that, we still insist on attempting these ridiculous over-elaborate passing sequences and of course inevitably keep giving the ball back to them. Keep it simple ffs. Get it on the floor and play some simple balls to retain possession. And for fucks sake, help each other out. Don't stand there like a gormless fuckwit when your team-mate has 4 guys on him trying to rob the ball off him. Help him out, move into some space and give him an option. And what answers did the world coach of the decade have for such a well organised team? Bendtner and Gnabry?!

Was very disappointed with that result, was vital for us not to lose last night. A draw woulda been fine, I don't see us winning out there.

[n6gooner]

What I simply fail to understand is why with 10 mins to go Wenger was screaming up at the touchline for us to go for it !
A draw was good for us and not for them ,we mugged ourselves off getting caught on the break .......................again !

I thought this too,we were below par for most of it,got ourselves back into it too just throw it away,with how average we had played a draw would have been a decent result,i thought we were grown up enough to not get caught with a sucker punch but the old problems are still there

even at the height of his powers aw was never much of a tactician and, to date, there's no evidence that has changed. a technically superior 11 on the pitch with an imposing leader is the only way we'll progress to the next level under aw (a la invincibles)

[GranadaJoe]

If you designed a team to make us struggle it would be Dortmund. Strong and organised at the back, work hard and lightning fast on the break.
We did leave ourselves exposed at the end, which was naïve. A draw would have left us three points ahead of Dortmund and a win at home against Marseille would almost certainly have been enough.

I'm a fan of Jack, but he's been poor this season and again last night.

Arteta was woeful at the weekend but did OK last night.

Our big problem, mentioned by others, is lack of pace and width, and there's little sign of that changing.

[Sam59]

Yes, and Bendtner got 5 mins and Gnabry's sub was baffling as it wasted time in the last minute.
I don't agree with the criticism of Rosicky (thought he was our best midfielder, with Santi) or Arteta. The latter did try to keep things simple.
I thought it was sensible to go for the win, given how we were dominating 2nd half and the fixtures coming up while we still have a lot of injuries, but not at the expense of defending. Both FBs were caught way up field and we played as if we were losing by a goal in a knock out fixture with 10 mins to go, kitchen sink stuff.
Then Wenger says the team were "naive". I've got no time for Glenn Hoddle, but when he said well, why didn't Wenger try to give instructions on that from the sidelines, had to agree. No point standing there in your coat, flapping your arms.