Arsenal are through…and that is what ultimately matters

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Arsenal through to the last 16 of the Europa League.

And shifting through the BS and disappointment of last night, being through is what is important.

It was an awful performance. A shocking defeat, against a bunch of fishermen from Sweden. On a cold night in North London, an Arsenal second string were hit cold. Two goals in 69 seconds saw a 3-0 lead from the away leg wiped out. Could it happen? Could also go out having had what seem an unassailable lead from the first leg?

Ultimately the unthinkable did not happen. Saed Kolasinac scored early in the second half to five Arsenal a 2 goal cushion and the rest of the game was played out at half pace.

Yesterday has to be up there with one of our worst defeats under Arsene Wenger. Ignore the big defeats against Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, I am talking about up there with Bradford in the League Cup.

But where as against Bradford, and Nottingham Forest earlier this year, Arsenal exited the competition after losing, yesterday we scrapped through.

This defeat, this game, will soon be forgotten about if in May Arsenal lift the Europa League. No one will care about the defeat, or the Cologne one, or the bore draws in the group stages. Winning the trophy will make up for that.

There is not much you can take out of last night, accept question the attitude of the players.

Bar 2 or 3, this was largely a second string. Still a team filled with internationals though. It is a side that should be fired up, looking to put in big performances to force their way into first team reckoning.

Not for the first time this season, the 2nd string has looked less than good enough. Just look at some of our cup results:

Nottingham Forest 4–2 Arsenal
Arsenal 1–0 Doncaster Rovers
Arsenal 2–1 Norwich City
Borisov 2–4 Arsenal
Red Star Belgrade 0–1 Arsenal
Arsenal 0–0 Red Star Belgrade
FC Köln 1–0 Arsenal
Arsenal  1–2 Östersund

Whilst not every poor performance has ended in a defeat, last minute winners against Norwich City and Red Star Belgrade did not cover up what was a poor performance.

The second string have had a dozen or so games this season to prove they are good enough. They have merely shown that they are not good enough.

What does the future hold for Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi?

Welbeck is 27 now. People still talk about his potential, but it is time to face facts and realise that he is not good enough. The same can be said for Alex Iwobi. He might be younger, but he should not have worn an Arsenal shirt as often as he has.

At the back Calum Chambers and Rob Holding have not kicked on. Both looked OK, but both suffered from being overhyped by fans after a few good performances.

Chambers was being labelled “the new Tony Adams” and Rob Holding sung about being “better than Canvarro”. Did we not learn anything from Senderos and Djoruou?

Whether it is down to coaching or both just not being top draw, the defence is a big cause for concern next season. With Per Mertesacker retiring and Laurent Koscielny having long standing injury issues, we need to go out and buy a first choice defender. Chambers and Holding are not good enough. Yet.

I could go on about who is and is not good enough, but I try and keep myself to a word limit. Jack Wilshere is another who struggled and showed why Arsenal are reluctant to offer him a new long term contract on increased terms.

It was just another game where the second string showed they were not good enough

Arsenal’s recent home form in the knockout stages can only be described as laughable:

2013 Arsenal LOSE 3-1 to Bayern Munich
2014 Arsenal LOSE 2-0 to Bayern Munich
2015 Arsenal LOSE 3-1 to Monaco
2016 Arsenal LOSE 2-0 to Barcelona
2017 Arsenal LOSE 5-1 to Bayern Munich
2018 Arsenal LOSE 2-1 Östersunds

6 in a row, against different levels of opposition, all lost.

So we lets look forward rather than backwards. Who can Arsenal face in the last 16:

AC Milan, Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid, CSKA Moscow, Dortmund, D. Kiev, Lazio, Lokomotiv Moscow, Lyon, Marseille, V. Plzen, RB Leipzig, Salzburg. Sporting and Zenit.

It has to be time for Arsene Wenger to scrap the policy of playing his second string and go all out for the cup.

Keenos

Arsenal’s forgotten game

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I have forgotten to take my season ticket to work today. Arsenal are playing tonight and it has been completely forgotten about.

With everyone looking ahead to the League Cup Final on Sunday, and the fall out from the Hector Bellerin Oxford Q&A taking up most of our thoughts at the beginning of the week, tonight’s game has taken a back seat. It has actually been forgotten about by many, including myself.

Having beaten Ostersunds so comfortably in Sweden, it means that the pressure is off tonight. The game should be a formality against the fishermen from Swden.

With Arsenal 3-0 up from the first leg, it is a game which is hard to get excited about, and this is probably why, in the grand scheme of all things Arsenal, it has been forgotten about.

Whilst it is still important to take Ostersunds seriously, they showed nothing when playing in the sub-freezing climate of Scandinavia.

The likes of David Ospina, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Saed Kolasinac, Mohamed Elneny, Riess Nelson, Joe Wilock, Danny Welbeck, Henrikh Mkhitaryan (cup tied) and Eddie Nketiah should all get a run out on tonight.

With Mesut Ozil ill (again), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, cup-tied and other senior players set to have a rest, it will very much be a similar side to that which started in the group stages of this illustrious competition.

Ostersunds should be comfortable. Get an early goal and it is done. It is probably done already. The Ostersunds players have the game of their life. A match against a big team from London, England. They will be star struck.

Cruise through tonight and it is onto the last 16, where we could face the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Lyon, AC Milan, sporting Lisbon and Marseille.

The draw is on for the round of 16 will be held on Friday 23rd February. After which we can start looking forward to the League Cup proper.

Up The Arsenal

Keenos

Why are Arsenal fans boycotting a final?

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I have always found the concept of boycotting Arsenal odd. And I have found the need to tell everyone that one is boycotting even order. Borderline attention seeking.

You see, Arsenal is a love. Till death do us part. Through thick and thin. The sign of a real fan is those that stick with the club during the bad times, and then can reap the reward in the good.

Manchester City fans are a perfect example of this. They stuck with their side through multiple relegation’s down to League One. They were still getting 30,000+ gates in the 3rd tier of English football.

When they were going to away game in the late 90s to backwater towns like Gillingham in the then Division 2, getting back to the Premier League was a dream. Winning the Premier League the impossible dream. But 13 years after relegation, their fans were rewarded with AGUUUUUERO.

OK, it might not be a Leicester City story, as Manchester City were pumped with dodgy Thai money before the oilmen came in, but who can begrudge the fans who stuck with the club when they were visiting a dump like Luton for a 1-1 draw?

Their loyalty has been rewarded, and I am sure they are every bit frustrated about  the new (mostly foreign) fans who have attached themselves to the club since their success as Arsenal and other clubs are.

I have heard Arsenal fans in the past talk about boycotting “until Wenger leaves”. They do it in almost a boastful way. As if they are saying I am such a great Arsenal fan, that I am sacrificing going as a form of protest. Almost acting like by choosing not to go, they are a superior fan.

Many of those who have boycotted did not previously go regularly anyway, or have moved away from the London (or now have other responsibilities like children). Their boycott is not real. It is an excuse for no longer going. They would not go regardless of the state of Arsenal.

One chap I know who boycotted broke the boycott when he got free tickets at club level. Odd fella.

Another announced on social media at the beginning of the season that he “would not step foot in the Emirates again whilst Arsene Wenger is in charge”. He has been to more games this season then he has in his life.

I remember a fixture against Norwich a few years ago. A fans group attempted to organise a boycott, alongside a protest at Bear’s roundabout. A few fans who do not go to games turned up for the protest. Fair enough. But they then bought tickets to watch the game, taking advantage of their fellow protesters boycotting. All a little bit confusing.

Lets be honest, unless a boycott happens en masse, it is meaningless. And even if it happened en masse, the club would still have 44,000 fans worth of season ticket money for that game, and the remaining tickets on sale would still be sold on the general market. The club would not really care if a single person announces “I am boycotting.”

This brings me onto an articles I read by Layth Yousif in the Islington Gazette.

I have read the article a few times and I just do not get it.

Here we have someone who is a season ticket holder, who has been following the club for some years, making the decision not to go to the final. And whilst he attempts to justify the decision, I just do not understand it.

Football is about the moments, the memories, the success. The 3 FA Cup wins in recent years have been brilliant. Not just for the trophy won, but the day out. The early meets with your mates. Breakfast at Breakout. Beers at the Swan. Train journey up. The football. The Blue Check. Train journey back. More beers in Islington. Then home to bed.

The football is just a 2 hour part of a much bigger, much longer day. I remember looking round in the Famous Cock after the victory against Hull City. It as about 11pm. We were broken men. The day had taken its toll. Lads were falling asleep. It was time to go home. This is the reason we go to football. To have a cracking day out with mates old and new.

To deny yourself going to a final, whether it be FA Cup, League Cup or Europa League, is denying yourself the chance of a day out with your mates. A boozy day out. Hopefully a win. But if not, surrounded by people to drown your sorrows with.

If you are not at the game, and boycotting it, what are you doing instead? Gong round Westfields with the misses? Sitting in the Angel with your pint of cheap ale? Feeling sorry for yourself, playing Akon’s Lonely over and over in your head?

No thanks, it is not for me.

Regardless what you think of Arsenal at the minute, of Arsene Wenger, of Stan Kroenke, we have a final to play on Sunday. And the thing with finals is you never know when your next one might be.

For fans to think the League Cup is below Arsenal. Well that is just elitist. It is snobbery. It is BS.

Look at the likes of Aston Villa and Everton. These are big clubs. They have not won trophies for decades. Liverpool have not won a trophy since 2012. Tottenham since 2008. Newcastle for what has to be nearly half a century.

Those turning their nose up at the League Cup, it is just wrong. The next final might be a decade away. The next trophy 2 decades away. You never know what will happen in football. No club has a right to win things.

I always think those who declare that they are not going on Sunday have probably spent a decade moaning that Wenger has disrespected the cups. Yet what are they doing by not going?

To boycott, and almost be proud that you are boycotting, could be something you end up regretting.

https://twitter.com/NorthBankJay/status/966068924130496512

Personally, I am already buzzing for Sunday.

Keenos