I got the Messi goal, but that's all. I really don't feel bad about this one. The Gunners fashioned some excellent chances, played defense well, and generally looked as though they belonged on the same field as the world's best team. The second leg is unlikely to cause Barca any problems, but I'm sure we'll show up ready to give them all they can handle, and if there's a first half Gunners goal, it'll be game on.
OK, Per was as much at fault as Flamini for that second goal, but why did Wenger put Flamini on? Maybe Coquelin was hurt. I hope not. What a dumb goal to concede. It seems we do this a lot, digging holes too deep to climb out of.
Both sides missed some golden opportunities to score. I love Aaron Ramsey, but if he's going to play that far forward, he needs to put his shots on goal when the opportunities arise. There were too many aimless balls forward, but Barca forced that by playing so high. Once again, Alexis tried too hard on offense, but wasn't he fantastic winning the ball back? I wish he'd have taken a shot or two when he made space. Cech was great again, and Giroud did all anyone could ask. Ozil was watched very closely by the Barca midfield but still got involved. Other than a soft yellow on Monreal early, I thought the refereeing was top class. No excuses there. It was a fair result; now we have to concentrate on the next challenge.
This was such a frustrating game, in that we played toe-to-toe with them for so long (what, 70 minutes?) but in a number of seconds, had everything undone. It was like a dagger in the heart, that goal. (It even looked like that, Messi's shot, like we had been stabbed.)
ReplyDeleteI don't blame Wenger for the Coquelin sub. He must have seen something we didn't. (Plus the fact that Coq's coming off of injury, and hasn't played a single full game yet.) Also, if Per would've cleared it, it wouldn't be a talking point. Flamini wasn't warmed up and fresh more than anything, and in this instance, it cost us. *
(Then there's all this crap: http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/24/arsenal-fans-vow-to-stop-supporting-the-club-unless-mathieu-flamini-is-sold-5716105/. Imagine if Wenger had put Elneny in, and he had done the same thing; it'd be an entirely different conversation of blame.)
Ramsey worked his butt off, but had nothing to show for it (which is a shame.) Alexis isn't close to being in form yet. He's hustling, but offensively, it's just not working--he's rusty. I need to go back and watch to see if Ozil was ganged up on (Henry's advice to Barca worked?) or if he was just mentally off, and things just weren't working. But overall, I thought we played really well, up until that goal.
Something interesting I read today: that Barca played lazily on purpose for the first half. I don't know if that's true, but I was proud of how we played. Barca's one of the best teams in the world (if not the best team) and for 70 minutes, I thought we were up with them, if just for a moment. I honestly thought they were respecting us.
* I do wonder what effect data has on Wenger's decisions. I know he's more data-driven then other managers, and I know at one point all of the Arsenal players were wearing body monitors each match. I just wonder if they saw a dramatic drop-off in the movement of Coquelin, and decided be needed to be subbed for fresh legs, and chose Flamini (experience) over Elneny (youth). It's a shame the decision cost us, but honestly, what were the odds?
Yes, good points. I know I would have preferred Elneny to go in for Coquelin, but Wenger knows his players and his system better than I do.
DeleteBarca was playing it a little safe all game, I thought. They worked hard, as they always do. They probably feel a little fortunate, what with Ox's early miss, and poor finishing from Neymar and Suarez. The result was a fair one, all in all, as painful as that is to admit.