Tag: Champions League

Adebayor’s Champions League hunger + Dynamo Kiev vs. Arsenal squad

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League

Adebayor has been talking to Arsenal.com about winning the Champions League and the Dynamo game, it makes very interesting reading.

I’ve emphasised the diffculties of playing in the Ukraine, and Ade picks up on this too:

“We know that playing in Ukraine is going to be very difficult especially because their players are playing in front of their fans and will be doing everything to win the game. But we are Arsenal. We just have to believe in ourselves and, if we can, play our football. If we can stay patient, score the goals then, in the end, we’ll win the game.”

I think we need to get into the game early and really hit Kiev hard in attack. If we aren’t concentrating properly they could punish us early-on.

Ade says he has hunger to win the CL, maybe more than his team-mates, because he was cup-tied in 2006 when reached the final.

“I couldn’t play back then because I was cup-tied and in my head it was difficult.”

“I think I’m not the only one. Cesc lost in the Final aswell and Kolo lost in the Final aswell so to be honest I think all these players would like to win it in their career.”

One very important point, we are playing 3 diffcult away games in one week – we have stumbled with this in the past – last year’s loss to Middlesbrough for example. Ade has the right attitude:

“We’ve won at Blackburn so we have to play away again.”

“We are just taking game after game. We go to Kiev. Let’s win that game then we can talk easily about the game at Bolton.

Click here for the full article.

Arsene Wenger named the squad flying out to Kiev yesterday, Nasri and Silvestre were still missing, although Clichy and Eboue are both going after passing fitness tests.

Click here for the BBC match preview page

Expect a fairly standard 4-4-2 line-up, Ade and RVP upfront, with Eboue playing central midfield possibly, to beef things up (whether he will be effective remains to be seen) either that or he will play on the wing instead of Walcott.

Wenger may opt for a 4-5-1 if he thinks it will be tough out there. Ade will be on his own up front, Van Persie on the left of midfield.

Click here for Dynamo Kiev coach Yury Semin’s comments and here for Wenger’s thoughts.

Here’s to a successful game.

Enjoyed this post? Then subscribe to our mailing list by clicking here!

Wenger looks ahead to the Kiev match, is one point enough?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League

Arsene Wenger has commented on how tough the tie will be in Kiev. We’ve played in the Ukraine three times, and lost everytime. I mentioned our poor record in Eastern Europe earlier today, and Wenger knows it won’t be easy.

He’s played it down, saying a point will be a good start for him:

“It is a tough place for us to go,”“It is maybe a little bit better for us to play earlier but I am convinced it will still be a massive challenge. We’ll go there and try to win the game but even if we take a point then for me it will be a good start.

“Dynamo Kyiv knocked out Spartak Moscow 4-1, 4-1 [in each leg of their qualifying game]. When you know Spartak Moscow and how strong the Russian League is at the moment that means it is a tough draw. I saw the first game at Spartak Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv were really impressive.

“Our group has four teams who are all used to playing in the Champions League – Fenerbache, Porto, Dynamo and us. Anyone can take points off anyone that’s why for me it’s very important we start well in this game.”

We do have a particuarly tough group, the away games will be crucial, because ties in the Ukraine and Turkey are notoriously difficult – last year Chelsea lost 2-1 to Fenerbahce in the Quarter-Finals there. Porto are also a quality side, all of these teams have Champions League quality.

In the Sun he said:

“For me, Dynamo Kiev is a bit of an unknown quantity,”

“They look like they always have the best players around their region, so it really depends on the quality of the generation they have at the moment.

“But they can be a very dangerous side. We know that because we played them when they had Shevchenko, Rebrov and Luzhny and they were a very, very difficult side.”

This is true. I don’t think Dynamo’s current crop will be as good as that team, but they are still the best Ukrainian team, and they will make life very hard for us out there.

Of course we will go for the win, but Arsene is talking it down in order not to raise expectations.

Do you think he’s right, is one point a good start?

Dynamo Kiev’s game plan for Wednesday

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League5 Comments

Yesterday at the Valery Lobanovsky Stadium Dynamo Kiev manager Yury Semin spoke about our upcoming Champions League fixture in Kiev, and revealed some of his thoughts on Arsenal and his tactics.

He has been watching the team closely in the run up to the fixture and had this to say about us:

“Arsene Wenger’s side play an easy natural game, and enjoy their football,”

“They have many young and talented footballers, all very technically gifted.”

He was impressed by the 4-0 win at Blackburn,

“The game was totally in Arsenal’s control,”

“Despite the four goals scored they had many other chances. Arsenal’s victory was absolutely the fair result.”

He also mentioned Adebayor, and it sounds like Dynamo will give Ade a rough time:

“We knew very well prior to this, the capabilities of the Arsenal forward,”

“But we will not be putting a man-marker on him. Adebayor plays all over the pitch, and in every zone there will be one of our players to meet him.”

It looks like Dynamo have been watching us closely and know that the only way to stop us is to press us all over the pitch.

Semin will have seen how we exploited the open spaces against Blackburn, and he will be working with the players to stifle our tactics.

Expect Dynamo to be defensive, it’s not going to be easy, we’re playing away and that is always very difficult especially in the Ukraine and Russia. Many European teams fail out East and we have before – Spartak Moscow a few years ago for example.

Wenger will have been studying Dynamo with his staff, and I hope that they can work out a way to get us into the game, otherwise we may be in for 90 minutes of frustration.

FC Twente 0-2 Arsenal: Video Highlights

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League

Arsenal won 2-0 last night against Steve McLaren’s team in the Champions League qualifier 1st leg. We didn’t play fantastically, but a young team managed to get a result, which is good. 2-0 is a good away win, and puts us in a great position.

Here are the highlights:

Video – The moment when Fabregas became a great player

On By jamesgillespIn Champions League6 Comments

28/03/2006

Cesc scores vs. Juventus at Highbury – Arsenal win two nil in the Champions League QF 1st leg.

This was when he showed his greatness on the world stage.

Wenger thinks we can win it all next season!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

Wenger has been quoted in the Daily Express. saying he thinks Arsenal can win silverware next season

“I think we can win everything. We are very, very close,”

“Now that the Champions League final has become an FA Cup final the team who is very strong in England has a good chance to win the European Cup. The Premier League title goes down to one game, won or lost.”

“I believe overall quality, going forward, we were the best team in the League. However, Arsenal conceded 10 more goals than the others and that made the difference.

“It’s very difficult to take a perspective in what people expected from us at the start of the season, and the fact we are disappointed for not winning the championship.

“We have done beyond expectation, but, as well, we are disappointed beyond expectation as we have not won the championship. But we feel we are very, very close.”

I’ve said before on this blog that we were amazing going forward this season, it was just defensive frailties that let us down. That was what cost us everything in the end.

Wenger should look at signing someone to bolster the defence before he goes for players like Nasri or Ben Arfa, as tantalising as Gooners do find them.

Wenger remphasizes what Pat Rice said a few days ago, last season we exceeded expectations and next season we will be back better and stronger.

Why Arsenal Stumbled This Season

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal5 Comments

The season that started so brightly for Wenger and his young squad ultimately ended in tears. Literally in tears, shed by Gallas on the St. Andrews pitch if you take the results at face value. Unbeaten at the beginning of 2007-08, when and why did Arsenal fade away?

Firstly the goal difference of each match shows a very real drop in league form after the 26th game of the season. The run until then had been near perfect. The first major blip you see for games 10 and 11 was the 2-2 at home to Manchester United and then 1-1 with Liverpool away.

Analysis of Arsenal\'s League Results

Graphs courtesy of Arsenal Stats Centre

The first League loss at Middlesbrough actually came after a 3-1 loss in the Champions League dead rubber at Sevilla away. The Arsenal beat Aston Villa away 2-1, drew at Newcastle 1-1, before succuming to Middlesbrough 2-1 away too.

In retrospect this looks like four fatiguing away games slowly taking their toll. But the team still bounced back. Arsenal lost 1st place on Game 29. Game 30 came against Chelsea where Arsenal slipped further behind.


Arsenal\'s League Positions

A bit of nifty work on Excel highlights the point where the form turned bad. Games where Arsenal scored first are highlighed, because the pattern is fascinating.

The Point Where Arsenal\'s Season Went Wrong

Ananlysis Of The Matches Where It Went Wrong

The first bad result is in the FA Cup at Old Trafford, where a weakened side lost heavily. The Arsenal then lost top spot after drawing at Wigan, having surrendered a five point lead to United at this point.

The Champions League results against AC Milan were a bit of a blip. The players were possibly more focused on these big games than those against teams like Wigan and Middlesbrough.

After Sagna’s injury at Chelsea the team surrendered a lead and then conceded two at Bolton, and this pattern continues, as Arsenal lost their leads in the the next four games. This shows just how fragile the team was, the defence especially brittle.

At home Arsenal only drew during this period, but only scored first there in the two games at Liverpool, the rest all required equalisers.

The terrible run highlighted can be summed up in the fact that in 13 games Arsenal went out of all three major competitions. The confidence of the young squad was affected, but in some ways this was not a collapse. The results don’t show the full picture.

The problems can be simplified into four categories:

Defensive Errors

A key point in the awful form, conceding too many in the last few games. All the goals from Liverpool and Manchester United in the last four games were preventable, stemming from a lack of concentration. I suspect some of it has to do with confidence but concentration is needed.

Squad Depth

The thin squad provided little cover for wingers and few experienced defenders or strikers. Arsenal were predicted to struggle at the beginning of the season so the good form was surprising. The team performed well until the Spring, and showed potential, but it is a common for small squads to fail through the Spring. Here, fatigue showed through in the last month resulting in costly mistakes. The team requires signings of one or two key experienced players who can bolster the squad, maybe three if you count the ‘keeper.

Injuries

This follows on from the last point. Wenger lost an in form Van Persie early in the season, then Fabregas too, whilst in form. Fabregas hardly scored after the injury, and definitely suffered from a break in playing time. Rosicky was key on the wing for the large part of the season, was also injured.

The mother of them all was the horrific leg break Eduardo suffered. Undoubtedly this had a negative psychological impact, as well as ruling out a key striker, who Wenger said, “would be like a new signing”  in the new year.

In terms of defence, the team lost experienced Toure, although Senderos filled in admirably. Then Sagna was also injured, which exposed our defensive problems further whilst desperate measures were taken, playing Toure out of position.

Key decisions

More controversial is the point that key decisions went against the team. This cannot be an excuse for failure, but it does provide some context to compare to the psychological state of the side. At Birmingham, a last minute debatable penalty was given, resulting in two points dropped after a terrible game. Again, against Liverpool in the Champions League arguably Toure did not foul Babel, but a penalty was given seconds after Walcott’s run put Adebayor through for a goal to put Arsenal in front.

I am not slating the players, Wenger, or the club. Almost every player invested a huge amount of effort this season. Wenger was right at the beginning of the season when he said the team could achieve great things. They have played fantastic football regularly this year, and mounted a title challenge.

The side needs to aim as high as possible. They now sit, only four points behind Chelsea after their 1-1 with Wigan. Once the season is over Wenger needs to focus on strengthening the squad and maintaining the quality within the side. The key to success is stability in the team and in management.

There Are Some Positives? Wenger, Adebayor, Toure

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal1 Comment

Morning all,

Thursday, and I’m still really pissed off about the Liverpool result, and the way that wonder run from Walcott counted for nothing!

Clichy thought it was ridiculous..

I guess that’s just football. The reaction has been a little extreme from some fans.

There’s no way Wenger should go, and the players we have are very good, we just need a few more, that’s all.

I’ve read a lot about people calling for Wenger’s head, saying we should get rid of the team etc etc etc, what a load of crap.

Look, at the beginning of the season we were all saying that following from last year this year would probably be similar, the final phase of the ‘transition’. It’s been better than we would have hoped then, just not as good as it was looking a few weeks ago!

Lets look at it this way:

  1. The team has performed amazingly and we have been much more successful than many critics suspected.
  2. We are only 6 points behind Man Utd in the League so maybe we should push on and try and be optimistic!
  3. We know we are good enough to challenge for everything next year.

Wenger:

“We cannot lose our belief now – let’s not forget we played a very good game at Anfield. And if there is a lesson, it must be that we have to concentrate to the very end.”

Good words Arsene. We did play well, and the players know that, but I think they are probably pretty down right now.

Adebayor knows Wenger can put them on the right track:

“He has more experience than anyone here, and he knows the words to use so that we can come back on the pitch, be more successful and want it more.

Toure:

“We still have the chance for the Premier League and we will try to take it. We know it is not over – we just have to look at the next game and try to win.”

Exactly Kolo!

Injury News

Flamini is probably going to miss the Man U game after the ankle injury he picked up, but I don’t think it’s serious.

Arsenal Out Of The Champions League and Highlights

On By jamesgillespIn Champions League3 Comments

Two injust decisions cost Arsenal a place in the Semis. First Kuyt’s blatant foul on Hleb in the 1st Leg – Definitely a penalty –  not given.

In the 2nd Leg after a wonderful Arsenal goal – Arsenal had just pulled back to 3-3 on agg. (in front on away goals) Toure brushes Babel in front of the Kop, given! Liverpool go on to win the game. The highlights: click here

Match Report:

Liverpool

Hyypia 30
Torres 69
Gerrard 86 (pen)
Babel 90

 5-3 agg.

4-2
(1-1)

 Arsenal

Diaby 13
Adebayor 84

We started the match very well, good passing play really put Liverpool on the back foot. We had a few close chances where Liverpool managed to escape.

Diaby got his goal after 13 minutes, he took one touch on Hleb’s pass down the side of the penalty area and then placed the ball between Reina and the near post, Reina got a slight touch but it was in.

I thought then that we could do this and by all means we could have.

We then dominated the match, until the 30th minute when Liverpool got a corner, Senderos lost Hyypia who headered towards the post, over Fabregas’ head.

Liverpool back in it.

10 minutes Flamini went off after a knock to the ankle, on came Gilberto, I wasn’t thinking positivily about this! It looks worrying.

Anyway 1st half ended 1-1, Liverpool started the second half closing every ball down, not giving us any time to settle on the ball.

Then a lull in Liverpool’s play and we were attacking, a long ball forward by them was flicked on by Crouch to Torres, who turned and shot from just inside the corner of the penalty area, his shot went into the opposite top corner. Senderos shouldn’t have given him the room.

2-1 Liverpool (3-2 agg.)

Minutes later an attacking change. Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie on. Abou Diaby and Emmanuel Eboue off.

Adebayor came close later, put through by a pass by Hleb, which had slipped trough the Liverpool back line. It caught him by suprise and he sliced it wide. Horrible to watch this missed chance.

Then with just a few minutes to go Theo sets off on a wonderful run. In my head all I could hear was “its up for grabs nowwww!!” as he skipped past four Liverpool players, ran the length of the field before squaring the ball for Adebayor to slot home. Ecstasy!

Then the worst thing that could have happened did…

Within 90 seconds Toure had a penalty harshly awarded against him as Babel fell in the area.

Gerrard slots it away and I know there’s no way back, our moment of magic was over. Theo’s wonderful assist cancelled out.

We pushed forward trying for an 3rd, at a free kick we left it exposed at the back, Ryan Babel broke, held off Cesc’s challenge and put the ball past Manuel.

Game over.

It was sad to see, we had come so close, but victory was snatched away from us. Even Gerrard admitted afterwards that Liverpool were ‘passed off the park’ by Arsenal, and hinted that they were lucky to win.

If it hadn’t been for the penalty I’m so sure we would have won, but it sums up our season, defensive errors have cost us everything this year.

It was commented here on my preview about the line up, and it didn’t work for us.

  • Top marks for Walcott, Adebayor, Hleb
  • Diaby, good, Flamini, good, Clichy good.
  • Fabregas looked tired.
  • Almunia performed pretty good, went the right way for the penalty, the goals weren’t his fault.
  • Eboue proved that he can’t play in the final 3rd of the field, he is not a right winger
  • Van Persie looked lost.
  • Toure has made a few mistakes but was alright.
  • Senderos was also ok, but at fault occasionally.
  • Gilberto was variable as well, sometimes good touches, sometimes poor.

Click here for Wenger’s comments:

“I felt the game was over at 2-2. Then there was a dodgy penalty and we started to lose concentration.”

World of Arsenal is devasted too – click here..

Manchester United on Sunday at Old Trafford.

Arsenal Vs. Liverpool Champions League. Match 3 of 3

On By jamesgillespIn Champions League3 Comments

So you all must be getting a bit bored with Liverpool.

I am.

Wenger Benitez, Head to head Part III

Wenger and Benitez Head To Head Part III. Arguably the most important tie of the three too!

CL Quarter Final First Leg 1-1.

Second Leg = Anfield:

We need to win, I don’t want to hype it up too much but this is our best chance of silverware this season and Wenger knows it.

He fielded a weakened team presumably because he wanted to be fresh for this game. Although interestingly did not rest Cesc or the Flamster who really need a break.

I would like to see us go for this line up:

Almunia

Toure Gallas Senderos Clichy

Walcott Cesc Flamini Diaby

Hleb

Adebayor

UPDATE 16:04: I reckon Robin Van Persie will start, after being rested and being included in the squad, Wenger may push Hleb back to midfield instead of Diaby and put RVP upfront.

I think having 5 in midfield with Hleb pushing forward into the hole has given us some good performances in Europe and an attack-minded bench would give us extra options should we need a late goal.

I expect Arsene to go with Eboue on the right possibly though, given recent patterns.

RvP is in the squad, so will probably be on the bench.

Arsene’s Pre-Match comments here:

“We did have a dip recently. But football is strange. Defeat is not unthinkable; you have to accept you might lose. But what is important is that you believe you can win. We have the belief that we can win anywhere in the world. And if I didn’t believe we could win the Champions League, I wouldn’t be here.”

It’s good to hear that Wenger has that belief and I think we all do. We have the ability to go through to the Semis but we need to actually make it happen on the pitch and at Anfield that is easier said than done.

Lets go Gunners.