Shakhtar 2 Arsenal 1
Lets wish the defeat in Ulkraine will not demolish their momentum when they play again at home against Newcastle . It will be a different approach by Newcastle this time in PL and never expect an easy game like what they performed in Carling cup 10 days ago.
Arsenal’s best moment in Donetsk was the goal.
And Theo Walcott's best moment was the goal. And Jack Wilshere’s best moment was the goal.
After 10 minutes, Shakhtar got a corner which was cleared to Walcott midway in his own half. He passed to Jack Wilshere,who exploded and showed great sleight of foot to hit a killer ball for Walcott to zoom far beyond the defence. He took only one touch before sidefooting past the keeper from outside the box.
He sprinted sixty yards but took only one touch before scoring !!
Some ANR readers said it was more like a Michael Owen goal than a Thierry Henry goal. And it was, except that Walcott passed it into the net, like Thierry, because he saw that the keeper wasn’t set. He was 14 yards from the goalkeeper when he placed that shot past him. It worked. But Walcott will need to go closer to the keeper next time, I think.
So Arsenal went 1-0 up away from home on Matchday 4.
Theo Walcott scored his first Champions League goal and it was spectacular.
Then they lost 2-1 because Wenger was thinking about Newcastle and about having eight games in November. He had midfield injuries, so he played two kids, Craig Eastmond and Jack Wilshere in central midfield. He’d won his first three Group games, so he figured he'll win the Group anyway, even if he lost this game. Yes, Arsenal will reach the last 16 for the 11th consecutive season. They're the most consistent also-rans the competition has ever seen or ever will see.
OK, big teams are often minimalists, doing just enough. But you have to become winners before you learn how to do just enough. Over the last three decades, Liverpool, Man United and Chelsea have shown how to do just enough.
Maybe most Gooners will think the Shakhtar game was minor, insignificant and instantly forgettable.
I'd disagree. I thought what we saw on Wednesday night was a vivid indictment of Wenger’s “philosophy” and his “attacking football” and his “development” of players. Later on, we might see this as a meltdown moment, especially when we saw and heard the manager after the game. A world class actor-salesman, and a visionary club builder who has done 25 years of unique work in 14 years, Wenger is usually the most plausible TV performer of them all, but here he was diminished, weary, and very unconvincing.
And what he said was annoying.
We lost urgency after we scored.
Whose fault is that?
On crosses, nobody attacks the ball.
Whose fault is that?
He also said : We never win in the Ukraine, let’s hope we don’t come here again.
It’s beyond me. How Arsene Wenger can stand there and say what he said is beyond me. I can’t accept it and never will.
Over the 90 minutes, this was a pisspoor team performance by Arsenal : tactically inept, leaderless and clueless. You ｄ ｒｏｐped off to defend a 1-0 lead with 80 minutes to go? Are you utterly ignorant? You allowed Shakhtar to take over the game and could have been 4-1 down at half-time !
If Wenger can’t field a better-balanced pair than Wilshere and Eastmond, his squad is wrong, wrong , wrong. He tells us that Squillaci is a leader. If Squillaci is a leader, what was Tony Adams? What was Patrick Vieira?
If Eboue was a right back, Wenger would never have bought Sagna. After 28 minutes Eboue was beaten for pace by Willian, chased him, dived in from behind, missed the ball and clipped him. Jadson aimed his inswinging free-kick into the six-yard box for the big, hairy Chygrynynsky, who ran in and jumped and just missed it, and the ball flew into the net off Craig Eastmond's shoulder for 1-1. Eastmond had no chance and Fabianski had no chance either.
Gael Clichy is a speedy winger who can win the ball in his own half and sprint 50 yards with the ball and cross it into the keeper’s hands, as he did once here. Clichy is not a defender because he doesn’t think like a defender.
After 44 minutes, Arsenal were getting a hammering but the score was 1-1 and they needed half-time. But Clichy allowed Srna to rob him and fly into the box and set up Eduardo, who stroked in for 2-1. Football is about good habits. Clichy doesn’t have good habits.
The team is missing Thomas Vermaelen but the papers never tell you how much Arsenal are missing the Belgian.
He’s a leader who was captain of Ajax at 23 and he attacks crosses. Vermaelen won’t be playing on Sunday when Newcastle will be firing balls into the box for Andy Carrol and Kevin Naylor and, maybe, Shola Amoebi.
I’m pretty sure Chelsea will win at Anfield in Sunday’s 4pm Sky game. Roy Hodgson’s Fulham always gave Chelsea a game but the champions beat Spartak Moscow 4-1 without Malouda and Terry. The goal they conceded was offside.
Score in Turkey : Bursaspor 0 Manchester United 3. Overtan scored with a ferocious shot. They say he was magic at Clairefontaine when he was 12.
Milan sub Pippo Inzaghi scored two goals against Real Madrid but his second, making it 2-1, was offside and that allowed Inzaghi to overtake Gerd Muller’s record of 79 European goals.
Then Jose Mourinho’s sub Pedro Leon took a pass from Benzema in the 93rd minute and smashed it through the keeper’s legs for 2-2 in the San Siro. Real have qualified after four games.
Nov 5, 2010
