A crushing loss

At the final whistle, as cameras panned around to each of the Arsenal players, you could see that Aubameyang was distraught. He’d missed the open shot which would have put us through to the next round in the Europa League.

I felt the same. I sat at my desk at work and stared at the screen. We knew this was coming: we had been riding our luck for a while, letting teams have too many golden chances, not creating enough, not controlling the ball, not winning the ball back enough. I think if we are all honest, this loss had an air of inevitability about it.

So, I’m not blaming Auba. Yeah, he missed a sitter but his incredible bicycle kick got us back into the game. And he worked his socks off for 120 minutes. Big players miss big chances.

The problem is that the entire team is a mess and that’s down to the coach and manager. Pepe and Ozil clearly do not like each other. Pepe ignored nearly every run in behind by Ozil and Ozil threw his hands up in exasperation more and more as the game went on.

And while Pepe put on a dribbling clinic, sometimes beating four opponents in one possession, his brilliant moves were invariably snuffed out by the opponent or his own atrocious passing on the day. Yes, he won 12/16 dribbles, but he also had the worst pass completion of any Arsenal outfield player and only created 1 shot for teammates in 120 minutes. There’s a brilliant player in there but in this match he looked like the round peg in the square hole.

And Ceballos was back to being Ceballos. With zero key passes in 72 minutes, Arsenal had just 6 shots while he was dictating the tempo. Torreira came on, created two chances for his teammates and despite seemingly just passing sideways the entire time Arsenal opened Olympiakos up and created their best chances of the game.

Of course that could be harsh on Ceb. Maybe the game plan was to sit back for 80 minutes and knick it in the 113th minute?

I’m being a bit cheeky but it is a big question about this Arsenal side: what are we as a team? Why didn’t we go out there with a 1-0 lead in the away match and just take the game to them? Why not rip their throats out in the first 45 minutes? We were the home side and yet we were playing slow, cagey football.

Perhaps fatigue? We did play 4 matches in 11 days. But then we seemed to find plenty of energy at the end of the game. Maybe the manager could have rotated? Or maybe he’s hamstrung by the squad that we have purchased? There don’t seem to be many choices for left back, right back has just one player that the manager is ready to pick, and even the guys we purchased in January to play center back and right back aren’t ready.

These are all just questions but I think they are also answers. We know the team is poorly constructed. We have known that for years. That’s the fault of the bosses at the top. And we fans can sit here and squabble over lineups and whatnot but let’s also face the fact that Arsenal just allowed Olympiakos to take a corner and walk up and nod the ball into the back of the net, twice. That’s down to the coach.

I’m not Arteta out (not even remotely) but I will admit that this loss burst the bubble a bit. Maybe I was irrationally excited by Arteta, maybe I thought he could do more with this team than he can, I don’t know. I just know that there’s a lot more work here than most of us even expected.

And I also have to wonder about the future of a lot of these players. Arsenal are out of Europe and it looks like we have very little chance of finishing top four. And to be frank, if we continue along our current statistical path (in terms of offense/defense) I feel like we have a good chance of missing out on Europa League as well. I wonder if we could keep Aubameyang in that situation? I wonder if we can keep him in almost any situation?

And that makes me very worried for next season. Arsenal need to rebuild but I shudder to think what that rebuild will look like without Aubamyeang.

Qq

29 comments

  1. I think this is great. With no Europa League to worry about and with Portsmouth no doubt knocking our fragile side out of the F.A. Cup will can focus and concentrate on being a a true Kroenke team and finish just in the top ten, I’ll say 8th.

    We haven’t been able to defend properly since Tony Adams’ statue went up. Do I sound bitterly saracastic? I can’t feel any else after throwing away last 16 at home, except anger. Lots of anger still this morning. I hope Arteta can eventually sort us out of course, but this was huge and inexplicable step backwards.

  2. I wasn’t angry, upset or even disappointed. In fact I slept like the dead. There are so many failings within the organisation that is Arsenal I began to stop caring as much some time ago. Something along the lines off only worry about the things you can change.

    I didn’t expect us to go far this season in the EL or any competition. Oly are a decent side, they showed their game-plan, drilling and over two legs a draw or a last minute winner for either side would have been a fair result. Our pace (lack of) and passing inaccuracy last night were as poor as anything I can recall of an Arsenal team.

    Look, for all the puff PR coming from the club and Arteta we haven’t been playing well. Against Newcastle it was a great win but the first half we deserved to be 1-0 possibly 2-0 down. We’d have really struggled to come back against their deep block. On another day we draw or lose that game.

    Against Oly in the first leg we contained them well but were fairly impotent. Up to the 80th minute a draw looked the likely and deserved result.

    Against Everton a great result but a lucky result. Bettered in the shots against category (9:16) and XG (1.35:1.79). But for Everton’s poor finishing we lose that game. And for anyone claiming it was due to tiredness, in the first 20 minutes of that game there were 9 duels (Everton won 8). Conceding goals in the opening and closing minutes of the first half are signs of a side which hasn’t been well drilled.

    We have a rookie coach learning the ropes. We’ve conceded 4 goals from set pieces at home in the last 2 games (a massive regression compared to the previous manager). That’s a coaching problem to rectify. We consistently start games slowly and give up big opportunities for the opposition to score in the opening minutes of a game. That’s a coaching problem to rectify.

    Last night was an equal failing of the players and the coaching team. But we’re stuck with Arteta and we’ll continue to watch him learn ‘on the job’. This is the real test. Can he keep the players believing in him and his methods? We’ve seen many times in previous seasons that losing early in European competition has a hugely negative effect for quite some time afterwards. I hope our season doesn’t completely collapse after the disappointment of last night.

  3. So we’re not even a Top 16 Europa team. That’s sobering.

    One of our urgent tasks is getting Nico Pepe to shoot and cross with his chocolate leg, his right, which he uses only to run. There was a move late in regular time when he had 3 or 4 chances to shoot with his right, but simply would/could not do so.

    I had to leave to go somewhere before extra time on a long drive, with no radio coverage of the game where I was. And I have to say that when I reached where I got and checked the result, I was not surprised at all.

    They were better and (crucially) hungrier. First to every loose ball. On the winning goal, Mesut and Martinelli did not cover themselves in glory shutting down the player wide right.

  4. Don’t ever underestimate Arsenal’s chokebility factor.

    They did it under Wenger , then Emery, and now they’ve done it under Arteta.
    What was Arsenal’s worst performance last season in the EL knock out stages?
    The Chelsea final.
    Was it because Chelsea were so good that day, or season?
    Or was it because our season was on the line in regards to the CL birth- something everyone at the club constantly talked about as no one priority.
    The league was gone then as it is now, so this game had the same pressure factor as the Chelsea final and we froze again but this time against a $80m club without a single player Arsenal fans might even consider an upgrade on what we have.

  5. The games leading up to the Chelsea final weren’t as crucial because we were still alive for CL birth in the Prem, and Arsenal performed well in those btw.

  6. This is wild speculation on my part but I do wonder if the Kroenkes will re-evaluate their investment in AFC this Summer. Only recently our revenues were fourth largest in the EPL. ‘Pool and Spurs have grown significantly in the past two years and we are now way behind them both.

    Last season EL participation was worth roughly £40m revenue. This season that figure is closer to £15m. If we end the season in our current position in the EPL plus reduced live game TV coverage will also net lower incomes than last season.

    The implications on our key commercial deals is harder to figure as the details aren’t publicly available but surely we’re going to take a hit and possibly risk losing some of them if we fail to qualify for CL. We’ve been under performing in this area and getting worse relative to our immediate rivals.

    All told we will have in fairly short order slipped from 4th to 6th revenue rankings wise; we declared a loss of circa £30m for the year ending May 2019 (first loss since Kroenke owned shares), and revenues this year will be considerably less. Which means some VERY significant surgery is required to the wage bill.

    Begs the question from an absent owners perspective, why bother anymore?

    1. You do make an interesting argument. If he could get out say, 150% of the value he currently holds (say $3.5bn), I wonder if he would sell?

      He won’t bankroll losses and I wonder how we will do once the austerity measures are enacted? I don’t know, man.

  7. meh, i’m a bit more even-keeled about going out of this competition. my attitude has always been that i don’t care much about cup competitions. luck plays too big a role. the best team seldom wins a cup. i care more about winning the league because the best team always wins the league. however, in a cup, one bad play can end your competition. i care that my team is among the best in the world, not a europa league participant.

    i understand the significance or arsenal going out of this cup is that they need to find a way back into the champions league. well, it’s simple now. arsenal need to have a brilliant close to the season. they have 33 points to play for in matches that include liverpool, man city, leicester city, and tottenham. if they want to be in the champions league, here’s their chance to earn their way. if they can’t, then they don’t deserve it. i totally believe arsenal can finish in the top 4. will they? arteta oversaw a similar end of a season for arsenal about 6 or so years ago. we’ll see if he can do it again.

    1. +1

      Although, I still fancy a good cup tie. 3 FA Cups aren’t exactly something to turn your nose up at…

  8. This Arsenal team was never going to win the EL this season despite it being lauded as our ‘easiest route into the CL’. Further we quite simply don’t have a squad with the depth of quality to sustain the frequency of fixtures that continuing in the EL entails. So I am quite sanguine about the exit last night though less so about the insipid performances of the entire team bar Mustafi.

    Our exit from the EL will give Arteta more time with his players on the training pitch to drill them in set piece defending and forward movement amongst other things. He will better understand which players have the motivation and skills to play in the team he aspires to develop and perhaps the focus on climbing the Premier League places will yield fruit.

    Fourth place is only 7 points away and there are 33 points up for grabs. There are of course five teams between us and fourth but none are setting the heather on fire currently. If the team cannot be motivated to have a real go at the remaining PL fixtures then we have the wrong players and the wrong coach (we already know we have the wrong owner) and we might as well take up another sport.

    1. All very well reasoned. My only retort is that while it’s just 7 points, it’s also 5 teams above us. And I’ve seen what this kind of exit can do to a team like Arsenal. It’s almost never positive. I can’t think of a time when a terrible loss in a big competition galvanized the team to go on an incredible run and turn their season around. I’ve seen huge games, fiery games, where players get red cards do that, but never a limp loss where players just let the opponent run off them and score with ease.

      I’m also worried that Arteta might start sounding shrill. He was screaming at the players from the touch line (especially Nico) yesterday. It doesn’t take much for players to drop back into the infighting and stuff – inviting Troopz into your dressing room – to rear its ugly head.

      This is going to be a real test for this team and manager.

      1. Very fair point and that type of wobble is clearly part of our history. I’m hopeful that Arteta will stiffen their resolve in the manner he has shown himself able to do. It doesn’t help morale for the Chairman to be wringing his hands over the finances at the same time though. Fingers crossed here.

  9. This was a bad loss, but I’m not ready for existential crisis mode. I dont believe in saying things like “we were never going to…” because I think we all hoped we would win the EL. We were eliminated much sooner than we should have been and that hurts. Over two legs, we got bested by a team from Greece with some neat players but nothing special. They just did some basic stuff better than we did over 180 minutes. I get all of that, but I can’t be bothered to tear my hair out. Football is a low scoring sport where upsets are common in elimination games. It happens to everyone. I’m also one of the few who don’t think Emery was a “fraud” and I hope this game serves as a reminder that all our ills were not down to him. This has done nothing to diminish my faith in Arteta either in all honesty. I think he’s the right man for the job and he will get us there eventually.

  10. Great post Tim

    Yesterday was hugely disappointing. I did not expect us to win the EL but I thought we had a reasonable chance and I was quite confident that we were going to hit a run of good form and go deep in the competition. I am nearly 100% certain that Arteta did not put his best attacking line up on the pitch and then tell them to play cagey football and make a lot of sideways passes and avoid creating many chances. I suspect he almost certainly told them to attack and put the game away. Unfortunately that is not what happened. Arsene Wenger probably never told his team to play slow paced football without much penetration but we probably heard him say over 100 times that his team played with the hand brake on and for some reason that hand brake was on yesterday . Once the team goes on the pitch the manager can’t kick the ball or make split second decisions for his players and he does not always have control of the way the game plays out.

    We have talked about this plenty of times but I think the prevailing sentiment on this blog that the right manager can work miracles and turn average players into really good players and good players into great players is probably not realistic. Average players can be molded into a decent defensive team and Arteta has helped to improve the defense, but this is never going to be a great defensive team. Unfortunately, there is very little a manager can do if his squad does not have enough to creative talent and has almost no firepower outside of 1 player. You need really good players to be a consistently effective attacking team and other then Auba we don’t have that much talent.

  11. This was painful, but more so because of the last second nature of it, and the fact that Auba missed a winner with the final kick of the match. And I feel bad for Auba, as he’s played hard for Arsenal.
    But I don’t mind being out of EL. The chances of us winning the way we’ve been playing were not great.
    Frankly we’ll be somewhat lucky to scrape into the EL places again next year. If we can get a decent price for Auba this summer, we should probably sell him. It’s like Pool selling Coutinho or Spurs and Bale. That kind of money can do a lot of good if spent wisely. If some of it is spent ahead of time on Saka, I’m good with that.
    One big thing potentially still coming up to cheer for. If Pool gets to their May 2nd match at Arsenal still unbeaten, keeping them from matching/bettering the Invincibles record would be a big thing…

  12. Chris Wilder has done a wonderful job of getting the most out of limited talent at Sheffield United. Unfortunately for him the lack of attacking talent totally limits his squad’s ceiling. They have only scored 29 goals in 27 games. There is no managerial tactical solution and no amount of team spirit and hard work that can compensate a lack of attacking talent

  13. SLC_Gooner

    I understand the idea of selling Auba while we still can. However the problem he is currently scoring about 45% of our league goals and we don’t have anyone in the current squad who can make up for thelost firepower. We would have to buy a couple of quality goal scorers and those are hard to find and they are expensive. The other problem is next year will be Auba’s age 31 season and I suspect that will significantly limit the size of any transfer fees we might get.

  14. It was a disappointing game but my only quibble really is that Martinelli didn’t replace Laca much earlier. Pepe’s final ball might have been poor but he had 2 or 3 defenders round him every time he had the ball.
    In his short cameo, Martinelli pulled their defence out of shape in a way that Laca completely failed to do.
    My only criticism of Arteta is that he needs to get smarter with his subs

  15. This defeat hurt a lot, not because of the score but because of the way we conceded the 2 goals. My solace is that it would have hurt Arteta more and he will have learnt a lot from this. For me, when we signed up Arteta to manage this team, it could never have been with a short term view. When you hire experience you are entitled to hope for short term gains, but when you hire a rookie you have to be patient and accept nights like these. It will improve, he will have grown from this. He will fix this defense, if the board backs him, and we will see out games better.

    In terms of the Europa League, we could have got to the final or semis and lost like we did the last 2 years. Same difference to losing in the last 32 and same feeling. I don’t think we would have won it this year so I’m ok with being knocked out now. Not that I don’t think we are good enough, but a performance like this was bound to happen sooner or later.

    As for the players, they need to look at themselves. No use complaining about not being in the champions league or winning trophies when they themselves go out and put in limp displays when it matters.

    Auba is awesome, I truly appreciate what he has done since joining the club. But we were signing a proven goalscorer and he has done what he was signed to do. He missed that chance at the end, like Henry missed those chances in the champs league final against Barca. So when i hear people say he left to ”win the champions league” (I know he probably never said that exactly) I always think “yeah, but when it came down to it, he missed the chances in the final he did play for us”. Anyone in this current team who bemoans a lack of champions league participation or trophies is having a laugh. We have had opportunities which they haven’t taken.

  16. “Nobody will finish above us in the league. It wouldn’t surprise me if we were to go unbeaten for the whole of the season.”
    Arsene Wenger….

  17. Watching the game I saw one thing that Olympiacos were doing that made me think. They often set up their midfield defensive line, not straight across the pitch, but angled, higher on our left, deeper on our right, taking Xhaka on our left as their reference point. Kind of like this if Xhaka is the X, and Pepe is the P out on the right wing:
    _ – P
    _ –
    x ->

    Why? Because Xhaka is our main distributor and is left footed, so this formation nullifies most of his threat. Their RB covers any ball from him down the line, he can’t make the long diagonal, and if he makes a lateral pass ( ->) they are faced up towards whoever receives the ball, making through balls much harder.

    I know it’s hard to break down a well-organised team but our midfield is still very one-dimensional and predictable – Xhaka all the time – and it seems we don’t have players with the on-field wit or skill to change things up. Although as noted, Torreira did better. Arteta has a lot of coaching to do to.

    I was gutted, but I thought Olympiakos defended well, we SO NEARLY did it, and the players clearly cared, which is a massive improvement in itself. I also had no real expectation that we would go far in the Europa, we have too much work to do.

  18. Fatigue? A pretty salient factor. Arteta, quite understandably, likes to base his selection on performance and put out his best side every time. Fine, but towards the end of games, we look dead on our feet and the opposition take control. Concentration goes and then we start to panic.

    We’ve never been good at dealing with crosses. How their giant of a defender gets a completely free header is a mystery to me. Later in the game, I actually saw him being ‘marked’ by Lucas Torreira! It was almost comical. He came up to his naval!

    Sokratis is no right back. He got his positioning horribly wrong for the goal. What has happened to Bellerin? Injured? He was allegedly the fastest player at the club, And now? Carthorse slow. AMN is no right back. Not in a million years. So what do we do? We get Soares on loan, who is injured and hasn’t actually been pulling up trees at Southampton anyway. That is starting to look like a very bad error of judgement. The fact is we are very weak down the right hand side. How do you then expect to get the best out of Pepe?

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