Tag Archives: Manchester City

Drained from Munich, but we go again tomorrow!!!

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I am a little bit slow of mind this morning. A European trip will do that to you.

Four flights, all of which were delayed, about 10 hours sleep over 3 days and countless steins of beer later, I am back in England with a cup of coffee. I am getting too old for these trips.

There is the old saying “do not let the 90 minutes ruin a great day at the football”, and that is certainly the case for European away games. When you are spending £500+ on a couple of nights away for The Arsenal, you naturally become “less bothered” by the football.

That does not mean I do not care. It just means that I am not going to let the game ruin what was a great few days in Munich.

As I have said before, if you want a guaranteed happy ending, go to Thailand.

Winning the league, and winning the Champions League, is not easy. Some online commentators would make it seem like it is the easiest ever, and that Arsenal season would have been a failure if we finish 2nd and have been knocked out by Bayern Munich in the QF of the Champions League.

For years, all we wanted was to compete. And for the second season in a row we have competed with Manchester City (and Liverpool). Yes, we might come up short. But is it failure to finish behind Manchester City with their state funded spending?

Man City spend around £150m more on wages than us. They spend on average more than £100k a week per player than us which will naturally mean that they can recruit better players, and have more squad depth. It is no shame to finish below them.

If they win the league, they would have won 6 of the last 7 Premier League titles, and became the first team to win 4 English league titles in a row in the history of the game.

Jurgen Klopp will leave England with just a single league title during that period. I do not think anyone would label his time in this country as a failure. It just shows how hard it is finish above the Manchester City sportswashing jaganaught.

And likewise, was anyone really expecting us to win the Champions League in our first appearance since 2016?

It took Manchester City to appoint Pep, give him billions of pounds to spend (on transfer fees and salaries) and 7-years for him to finally win them a Champions League. If it was that easy, they would have won it a lot earlier during Pep’s reign!

To compete for the title, finishing 2nd or 3rd (although the season is not yet over), whilst making the quarter final of the Champions League is a solid season and backs up last years improvement. We just now need to keep building.

Following the Munich defeat, I heard people saying we need to make wholesale changes. I tried to ignore those demanding Mikel Arteta get sacked or that the Kroenke’s to invest more money in, but they can be a noisy moany bunch.

We are 2 points behind Manchester City in the league, and it was the mighty Bayern Munich who beat us – and it is not the poor Bayern side some are making out. They are 2nd in the Bundesliga behind a superb Leverkusen side! We are not a team that needs wholesale changes.

What we need is a summer like last season – 3 quality players to come in that improve the top end of the squad, pushes players “down one in the peaking order” and with those at the bottom leaving.

For me that is buying a new striker, new winger and new midfielder. And departing would be Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey.

The 3 new players would easily replace the 5 mentioned above (considering how little play time they get) and would improve both our starting XI and overall squad depth.

I excluded David Raya from the equation as that deal is done.

You would be surprised if those 3 new signings cost much less than £150m. Add in Raya and a 2nd choice keeper and that will be close to £200m spent again. It is what is needed. Add in the returning Jurrien Timber and we would have moved our squad forward again.

But spending the £200m will not guarantee us the league title or Champions League, more will it mean Arteta would be a failure if we do not win either of the big two.

Liverpool have been doing this sort of spending (adjusted for inflation) throughout Jurgen Klopp’s reign and have just one of each. For every pound Arsenal or Liverpool spend, Manchester City can spend £2 (without taking account what may or may not be put into offshore bank accounts!).

Football is not easy. If you are of the thought that “anything but winning is failure” then you are in for a tough ride for your life. You can not live by thinking that unless you achieve more than anyone else you have failed.

Me? I just need another coffee and another nights sleep. Then it is off to Wolves tomorrow with no trains back…

Keenos

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal 2 – 2 Bayern Munich

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Arsenal (1) 2 Bayern Munich (2) 2
Champions League Quarter Final First Leg
Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU
Tuesday, 9th April 2024. Kick-off time: 8.00pm

(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakob Kiwior; Martin Ødegaard (c), (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale; Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Karl Hein, Oleksandr Zinchenko

Scorers: Bukayo Saka (12 mins), Leandro Trossard (76 mins)
Yellow Cards: Thomas Partey
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 59%

Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Assistant Referees: Mahbod Beigi (Sweden), Andreas Söderqvist (Sweden)
Fourth Official: Adam Ladebäck (Sweden)
UEFA Referee Observer: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
UEFA VAR Team in Geneva: VAR Pol van Boekel (Netherlands); AVAR Dennis Higler (Netherlands)

Attendance: c.60,000

Tonight, we are hoping to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in fifteen years, and so far the team news is good with no new injuries reported. Bayern Munich are a formidable European opponent, as we have seen to our cost in the past, but this evening’s match here at the Emirates is one of our most important matches for quite a few years now, and nothing else but a victory will do.

An incredible cacophony of sound, a wall of sound if you will, greeted the players as they walked onto the pitch tonight.

The visitors kicked off this quarter-final game and immediately both teams sprung into action. Of course, both Eric Dier and Harry Kane received boos and jeers as soon as they touched the ball, but that was only to be expected.

There was an early touch for former Gunner Serge Gnabry, but we were playing patiently from the back but veteran Bayern goalie Manuel Neuer has had nothing to do so soon in the game.

Bukayo Saka neatly robbed Alphonso Davies and slotted it neatly to our captain. Martin Ødegaard was not able to do much with it when the ball came to him on the edge of the penalty area, so he squared it for Gabriel Martinelli who was in a little more space, from which he whacked a superb effort just wide of Manuel Neuer’s far post.

On the twelfth minute, we took the lead when Ben White passed the ball to Bukayo Saka, whose left-footed shot from the right side of the penalty area flew past Manuel Neuer and ended up in the bottom left-hand corner of the net. A great start!

We almost grabbed a second goal a couple of minutes later when an extremely weak header from Serge Gnabry fell for Kai Havertz who played the ball through to Ben White with only Manuel Neuer to beat, but he shot the ball straight at the goalie, who saved it easily.

The visitors drew level when Serge Gnabry ran onto a ball from Leon Goretzka and he coolly put the ball through David Raya’s legs for the equaliser. Just afterwards, a Declan Rice cross met the head of Jakob Kiwior, whose weak header easily found the open arms of Manuel Neuer.

A Bukayo Saka corner found both Jakob Kiwior and Ben White, but the Bayern goalie pounced dramatically on the ball to claim it. On the half hour, Leroy Sane was brought down by William Saliba in the penalty area; referee Glenn Nyberg gave the penalty and Harry Kane (who else?) scored for the visitors.

A few minutes later, Leroy Sane ran through the middle of the pitch, and just as he was going to pull the trigger, Ben White made a world-class tackle to deny him a goalscoring chance.

With three minutes left of the first half, Martin Ødegaard won a corner, and Bukayo Saka got the ball to the back post this time with a decent delivery which Kai Havertz met first, before referee Glenn Nyberg spotted a push in the back on Harry Kane from Kai Havertz and awarded a free-kick to the visitors.

The half-time whistle was blown a little while later and we went into the break two-one down.

We started the second half well, and with Mikel Arteta replacing Jakob Kiwior with Oleksandr Zinchenko, we could hopefully see more action in the midfield areas now.

A lovely ball from William Saliba found Kai Havertz, who got towards the byline and looked up for Gabriel Martinelli running in at the back post, but Joshua Kimmich was there first, who headed it back neatly to Manuel Neuer.

We were awarded a free-kick in which Declan Rice hit the ball over the crossbar, and as both teams were trying desperately to find a way through these tight defences, Harry Kane received a well deserved yellow card for putting an elbow into Gabriel’s jaw.

The corresponding free-kick was cleared by the Bayern defence, and a couple of minutes later, Bukayo Saka was brutally brought down by Konrad Laimer and unfortunately the following free-kick was chipped into nowhere by our captain.

The visitors were absorbing pressure and were devastating on the break; somehow we have to gain control of this game. Kai Havertz went down in the Bayern penalty area, but our calls for a penalty were denied by the referee, and then Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus replaced Gabriel Martinelli and Jorginho in an effort to grab that all-important goal.

Martin Ødegaard slotted the ball to Gabriel Jesus, who intelligently gave the ball to Declan Rice, whose shot was disappointingly blocked by a Bayern defender.

Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus combined well before feeding Bukayo Saka out on the right wing. He put the ball into the back post for Leandro Trossard, but unfortunately he was beaten in the air by Matthijs de Ligt.

With fourteen minutes of the match remaining, we grabbed the equaliser when Martin Ødegaard flicked the ball round the corner to Bukayo Saka, who played Gabriel Jesus into the penalty area. He held onto it past a few challenges and squared it beautifully for Leandro Trossard to roll it into the far corner. What a goal!

The visitors came back at us, which was to be expected, but we managed to hold them off. After a shot by Bukayo Saka that went inches past the post, Kai Havertz was replaced by Thomas Partey for the last five minutes of this incredible match, who within no time at all received a yellow card for a tough tackle on Jumal Musiala.

We got a real let-off when Kinglsey Coman, who put the ball through David Raya’s legs and smacked it against the base of the post and back into play. During the five minutes injury time, there was controversy when Bukayo Saka ran through on goal and Manuel Neuer came out and they clashed, with the result being that our man hit the ground, and how the referee did not give us a penalty was a crime within itself. But a draw it was, and the second leg next week in Munich should be an absolute cracker!

What a match! So much to talk about, so many incidents, with the main one being the penalty that never was at the end of the match.

How the referee did not give that, was unbelievable, but we need to recover and focus on the second leg next week.

The substitutes utilised by Mikel Arteta were inspirational, and we have every chance of beating them back in Germany in the return leg. Every man played their part, every man did the best that they possibly could and a draw is absolutely no disgrace tonight. All to play for at the Allianz Arena! Well done chaps!

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners.

Our next match: Aston Villa at the Emirates on Sunday, 14th April at 2.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon

Three more in the bag as Arsenal cruise to victory

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I am getting old.

It is now Monday and I am still exhausted from Saturday. Even with the train problems (which lead me needing 5 trains and a replacement bus to get home), it was a cracking day.

What an important win that was against Brighton. And I know that will be said for every game we win between now and the end of the season, but for me the trip to Brighton and Wolves are huge.

Mikel Arteta’s 90 points is looking spot on. Liverpool will not get 15 from 15 from away trips to Fulham, Everton, West Ham Aston Villa, with a home game against Tottenham the single slice of home meat in the sandwich. I would also expect Manchester City to drop points in at least one game of the remaining 7.

That leaves us being “allowed” to lose one game. And what we need to do is make sure that defeat does not come in one of our “easier” games.

Those games I would consider easier are all the home games, and the away trips to Brighton and Wolves. We need to win every single one which would allow us to then have the defeat away to Manchester United or Tottenham.

If we dropped points against Brighton or Wolves, we would then need to go to both Manchester and Middlesex needing a win.

This season we have dropped some silly points – Fulham at home and away, West Ham at home. We can not afford to repeat any of these results.

6 wins from the last 7 games will leave us with 89 points, one short of Arteta’s magic 90. That will rely on others around us dropping points, but I just can not see either Man City or Liverpool winning 7 from 7. And fi they do, fair play. They will be worth champions.

As for the Brighton victory, I do not think we played particularly well. We were solid in defence and clinical in attack, winning 3-0 without really getting out of 2nd gear. And I guess that is the sign of a top team? Comfortably beating a decent team away without really trying. Let’s not forget Brighton had not lost at home since August!

We were also the net winners of the weekend when it came to goal difference. Another 3 in the bag extends our lead on Manchester City by one, leaving us with 11 better.

That goal difference means that we only need Manchester City to draw one of the last 7 games, and not lose one, for us to win the league (if we lose once). Now whilst an 11 difference can be quickly closed down (3 big wins), it is still a sizeable gap. Likewise the 9 on Liverpool means that if we both lose once, we will finish above them.

Tomorrow it is Munich. They have been poor in the Bundesliga but I feel that will only focus them more on the Champions League.

We just need to keep going, keep winning, and see where we end up at the end of the season.

UTA.

Keenos