Braga away

[Naki_Gooner]

Watched the game this morning, still stunned from the weekend so this defeat while unacceptable is water off a ducks back

[SteveO 35]

I have to say, I'm stunned

Am I imagining it, or did we have total control of the group having played 3, won 3 - and then, bizarrely, gave away control of the group by fielding heavily weakened teams for the 2 most difficult games (Shakthar and Braga away) and ended up losing 2 on the bounce??

That's football suicide, isn't it? and now we're staring down the barrel of possibly facing Barca, Bayern, Inter or Real Madrid in the 2nd round!

Seriously Arsene.... what. the. fuck?!

It certainly is, which is what amazed me on here when I got a backlash from more than a fair few after the Shakhtar game. Threads such as "why do we always jump on them after one defeat" and endless comments about "doesn't matter we'll still win the group".

I said it then, and I'll say it again, that team selection in the Ukraine was reckless bordering on the arrogant. Lets not forget we went into that match on the back of 5 straight wins (since Chelsea) during which we had conceded 2 goals. So what does he do - takes out some of the top performers (who clearly needed a rest being so far into the season - 3rd November FFS ) and throw the likes of Eastmond to the wolves.

Result - lose the group, set up a knife-edge game in Braga in between two really tough games against Spurs and Villa, and now what should have been a walk in the park against Partizan will suddenly be a nailbiter. And for those arrogant enough to believe we'll coast through that one, when was the last time we breezed through a pressure match ? And weren't we also supposed to breeze past WBA, West Ham and Newcastle at home. With our defence frankly anything is possible at the monent

The fact is Wenger broke a winning run with a misplaced selection (all of the injured / rested players returning to produce a pathetic display against Newcastle).

Before Shakhtar away it was played 5, won 5, scored 15 conceded 2

Since then Played 5, won 2, lost 3, scored 6, conceded 7


Arsene knows..........precisely how to disrupt a winning run and just when we had seemed to recover from Chelsea away send us two steps further backwards.

Still it doesn't matter because "we'll still qualify won't we"

[flash gunner]

Just heard Wenger saying it was all Bragas fault we lost "they didnt come out to play but just wanted to defend and counter attack us"

How dare they come up with a way of beating the mighty Arsenal

Its called tactics Arsene many teams alter things to suit then oppo try it sometime you silly old fucker

[DB10GOONER]

Just heard Wenger saying it was all Bragas fault we lost "they didnt come out to play but just wanted to defend and counter attack us"

How dare they come up with a way of beating the mighty Arsenal

Its called tactics Arsene many teams alter things to suit then oppo try it sometime you silly old fucker

He really should just stop talking.

[REB]

Just heard Wenger saying it was all Bragas fault we lost "they didnt come out to play but just wanted to defend and counter attack us"

How dare they come up with a way of beating the mighty Arsenal

Its called tactics Arsene many teams alter things to suit then oppo try it sometime you silly old fucker

sad isnt it

[Percy Dalton]

No doubt it was his wife's fault he had an affair!

"My wife would not treat me correctly and rap Jay-Zee tunes to me and this is not correct. All women should respect that their husbands needs for urban gangster rap at certain times.

For this reason I feel I needed the brap-brap bigging it up that my mistress provides"

[Gunnersaurus]

Last night was suicide as if we qualify we are as good as out.

All this resting bollocks is killing the season, why not just play the strongest team and try to win games early then rest key players?

[Henry Norris 1913]

Just heard Wenger saying it was all Bragas fault we lost "they didnt come out to play but just wanted to defend and counter attack us"

How dare they come up with a way of beating the mighty Arsenal

Its called tactics Arsene many teams alter things to suit then oppo try it sometime you silly old fucker

no wonder his players have lost respect for him

tell it like it is wenger- they were shit

[Gooner_Sam]

Dreadful performance, Braga got their tactics spot on! We never really looked a threat with Bendtner on at all.. Kept moving outto the wing instead of staying the box.. (where he is bloody supposed to be! Ffs )

Defending is just.. There is no word to describe how bad it is, I don't think Squilacci is the answer at all, he's there to make up the numbers. In my opinion..

Wish I was flying home today.. Stupid strike

[A dallying Gus Caesar]

Another great night for our boys. Looks like its Real or Barca for us. I won't be watching that mullering.

I also wish to concur with an earlier poster who said that he thought we would not make top four. I totally agree with him. We are a club in decline under the current status quo. Something has to change, and quick.

[tel]

Just heard Wenger saying it was all Bragas fault we lost "they didnt come out to play but just wanted to defend and counter attack us"

How dare they come up with a way of beating the mighty Arsenal

Its called tactics Arsene many teams alter things to suit then oppo try it sometime you silly old fucker

Depressingly Correct. It's always someone elses fault. He's like a crap 3rd world dictator, next he'll be talking about the mother of all battles.

[Bradywasking]

Ref was a homer last night and the penalty decision was a disgrace..BUT if the penalty was awarded and we scored it couldn't paper over the cracks of an awfully frustrating performance.
Too many players not up for it or not good enough for it.I actually thought Djourou was our best player, first goal excepted. Nick Bendtnar is not an Arsenal player, he is not good enough, everyone knows this except himself and the manager. He turns up in areas of the pitch where he shouldn't be, but put him in the box for corners free kicks or even open play he turns into a statue. He gives the corner/free taker or whoever is crossing the ball no options at all.
Cesc is as frustrating as anyone recently, First half against Spuds he was excellent, thought he was back to his best. He was good at Everton but in the other games he was average, a non Arsenal supporting friend asked me why a player of his talent seems intent on getting a red card. Which was true against West Ham, Newcastle and Wolves..maybe there was a Barca game he wanted to get to. Sadly I see in Cesc the same arrogance and attitude that blighted TH14's last season with us.
On Cesc the manager said he would consult with medical staff about his inclusion last night. As said before if in doubt he shouldn't have traveled in the first place. The manager leaves a lot to be desired..the excuses are going on too long and are too repetitive . The spin about our "desire and belief" are wearing thin. It was bad enough when no other clubs could touch us in the top 4..now it's an insult when there are clubs like Tottenham catching up. And Tottenham are not as good as the media would have us believe, so where does that leave us.
Im living in a country that has gone broke and our so called leaders are still putting a spin on it and blaming just about everything or everyone the can. I am supporting a football club (since1972) that is in the same position.

[Magic Hat]

Just heard Wenger saying it was all Bragas fault we lost "they didnt come out to play but just wanted to defend and counter attack us"

How dare they come up with a way of beating the mighty Arsenal

Its called tactics Arsene many teams alter things to suit then oppo try it sometime you silly old fucker

You mean defenders aren't made to stand aside and allow players to run onto long balls?

Nothing Braga did wrong, Wenger should have at least had the dignity to praise Braga for putting in a disciplined defensive performance and for constantly trying to counter

[mikeyb772001]

For the first time ever, I actually laughed at us loosing. It was in a sick way funny to see us go 2.0 down to a pile of shite team and then see Wenger blame it on everything he could think of. The man really does not look or sound right, he is a wreck. Sadly we have to wait for him to finally realise he is wrong about everything and this my friends will never happen. Wenger will be talking his shit way into his 90,s!!!
I don’t care about the Champions league as I don’t want us to qualify. The longer we carry on reaching the final stages and finishing 4th the more the board and wenger have hot tub nights with denilson and the rest of the kids.
I hate everything about Wenger I don’t remember what he did for us, just what he is doing to us. This is our team and there is no place for sentiment when it comes to Arsenal football club.

[donaldo]

I don’t care about the Champions league as I don’t want us to qualify. The longer we carry on reaching the final stages and finishing 4th the more the board and wenger have hot tub nights with denilson and the rest of the kids.

And as long as 60,000 fans turn up every week paying up to £100 a ticket and sheepishly sitting there letting Wenger and the players off the hook nothing will ever change.Remember that march by RedAction in support of Wenger.How dumb does that look now.