Match Reaction v Borussia Dortmund

[gunsofashburtongrove]

Great game and win. Up against and technical, athletic and battling team we came out with a deserving win. I saw Fergie in an interview say that to win a game you need 8 players to come good, we had 12. Gervinho's finishing and Songs conceding of the last minute goal were blips, but for the first time since 2005 we have a team which can adapt on the field ,and battle it out while having quality. Adaptability is key and we can counter attack as well as play possession, we can get the low crosses, the cute one twos as well as the through passes. Arteta was brilliant again in a game where his usual possession style was not effective, he compensated with his battling and stifling their midfield. Yossi looks much better than Arshavin, showing off his skill, and commitment, Ramsey showcased his ability to thread passes for the forwards, Mertesacker composed, Vermaelen powerful and decisive as usual. Song had a mixed game like the legs of the shorts he was wearing some of game were short and the rest brilliant. Full backs were brilliant- Santos is officially the best passing full back we have ever had. Kos though not as attacking as our regular RBs had a brilliant game defensively some great interceptions and foiling attacks from BVBs left wing as usual brilliant at reading the game. Our forwards were brilliant as usual. Now after a long time were able to counter attack with pace, adding variety and making it difficult to defend against us. Gervinho has improved the defensive side and despite his failings with finishing, is brilliant with his attacking play. Theo finally looks to have come of age, he looks good defensively but more importantly his passing has improved which aids him in playing better against teams which play behind the ball. He still lacks the classical trickery and skill of typical attacking wingers but he is effective. People say Sczecesny is a good goal keeper, i beg to differ i think we are seeing a new tactical evolution here a goal area manager. Its still early days but for the first time in along time we have a very honest team which is prepared to battle it out every game they play

[Flavs]

Playing a bit shit and winning

We won so none of the following really matters but i thought we were a bit poo last night. We looked nervy and disjointed I would like to say that's because Dortmund were closing us down so well but its not true. There was also a fair amount of falling out going on all over the pitch, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it was present the whole first half and until we got the goal. Gervinho and Santos should have come off at half time as they were dire. CB's looked solid as did Kos again though which is a positive. Another 2 goals for the Perse to make it....rumroll: 38 goals in 41 games in 2011, and remembering how wank we were for the first half of the year thats really quite astounding.

Hope the exquisitely named Sven bender gets well soon though looked quite bad when he came off and its been reported this morning he is having to have surgery to repair a badly broken jaw.

Group Winners

[server too busy!]

Also everyone seems to be forgetting but it looks like Kos is singlehandedly giving us clean sheets!

Also did anyone else think RvP was offside for the second goal?

[Flavs]

Also, Mertesacker looks a different entity in Europe to the prem so i would say its a settling in thing for him at the moment, thought aside from one scary moment right at the start they looked good last night.

[Marc Overmars]

Defensively everyone was sound. We really had to work for the result, very satisfying win against a decent side.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Also, Mertesacker looks a different entity in Europe to the prem so i would say its a settling in thing for him at the moment, thought aside from one scary moment right at the start they looked good last night.

He was always suited to the CL though, it was the prem he always needed to adapt to.

[Power n Glory]

Merts is solid in the Prem as well. Against Norwich he had that one wobble but was fine after that. I think he's made a good start and has only had really bad moments against Chelsea and Norwich and that's the key thing, just a bad moment. It's never case of him making a mistake and looking nervy for the rest of the game which is a problem we've had with many of our defenders in the past.

[Kano]

Don't forget Arteta or Ramsey only have a place in the team because of Wilshere's injury. Big decision to be made who to drop when Sir Jack is fit again.

I know he's done great over the past month, but I think maybe Ramsey should be taken out. #justsayin.

def. rotate the two, so they can both develop without being overplayed and exposed to injury. ramsey reminds me a lot of cesc in how he runs and moves the ball along, and has developed really well this season. a bit up and down in recent weeks but that's to be expected.

[Flavs]

Ramsey is the better player IMO

(I can feel a thread coming on here)

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Such a good feeling tbh, this time last season it was horrible.