Match Reaction: Arsenal 3 Zagreb 0

[Seymour Butts]

If you finish in the top 2 you deserve to advance
We only have the chance to because we beat Bayern - something no-one else has done this season, in fact they've won every game but 2 this year, a recent 0-0 in the league and when we beat them. I don't think that result should be underestimated.
If we qualify we'll have deserved to.

Edit: As for Olympiacos not being all that, they've won every game this year - I guess the Greek league isn't that strong but they've not just won every league game, they've won every CL game too apart from the 2 vs Bayern who...are quite good.
A 2-0 win out there would be a pretty good result.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...last-year.html

Ozil also made kore tackles than Flamini last night!

[fakeyank]

Can somebody at the club get inside the players' heads and let them know that last night is the level of performance we need every game and in every competition? Can Wenger do that? He needs to if we are going to get anything out of this season. It's very, very frustrating when you see the team play the way they did last night. Pace, energy, determination to hustle and win the ball back, movement, players wanting the ball, accuracy with the passing, accurate crosses some decent crosses, moving the ball forwards up the pitch fast, players getting up and down the pitch to mix offensive duties with defensive.

I am more frustrated with last nights result than happy, and the above post is exactly the reason why! To me, the PL is our realistic target of a major trophy this season and we showed none of that against West Brom. Anybody who says otherwise did not watch the game against West Brom... the lethargic ball movement, lack of energy and ideas was just baffling on Saturday (especially when you consider that we were losing)! WTF happened since Saturday and why is this trend so common at Arsenal?! It happens season after season without explanation... one game we play like we could realistically beat the best teams in the world and the next we look like all we ever learnt to do was pass sideways!

I will try and not get my hopes up after such a brilliant performance yesterday.. just leads to more disappointment.

[Letters]

Do you really think that only happens to us? Maybe the issue is how often it happens, I think that's very hard to quantify objectively.

[fakeyank]

Do you really think that only happens to us? Maybe the issue is how often it happens, I think that's very hard to quantify objectively.

Should Arsenal be measuring their success based on the failures of others? I do not care that Chelsea are 15th in the table or that City got thumped by Liverpool, I care about why my club cannot put out players who play their hearts out every game. I understand defeats happen, what I will not accept is lack of effort and what happened on Saturday was just criminal. More importantly, this wasnt a 'one off' thing for us.. this happens every season.

[Letters]

Should Arsenal be measuring their success based on the failures of others?

It's a competitive sport so our success or failure is directly related to other team's successes or failures.
So yes, it's relevant.

NQ's call for the desire we showed last night in every game is commendable but anyone who has ever watched sport knows that isn't possible, physically, emotionally, whatever. No team ever plays with the same intensity every game.

So when you say why do we do what we did on Saturday, my answer is because that's how sport is and every team does it in every season. Maybe we do it too often, but we haven't so far this season, if we had we wouldn't be competing. Whether we'll do it too often remains to be seen.

[Niall_Quinn]

NQ's call for the desire we showed last night in every game is commendable but anyone who has ever watched sport knows that isn't possible, physically, emotionally, whatever. No team ever plays with the same intensity every game.

I actually said, "And for those who think a team can't be on top of their game all the time, fair enough, the odd slip will happen. But it has to be the odd slip, an aberration. It can't be 50% of the time - unacceptable."

And it's true. At least 50% of the time we plod. This must be down to the manager and his staff. We all know what it's like to have to get your head in gear or do a shitty job that has been put-off. Highly disciplined people will motivate themselves. For the rest of us we'll wing it unless there's a nasty fucker imposing a deadline with sanctions attached. Those players shouldn't have a choice in the matter, they should be wound up and ready to go every time they step on a pitch. That's one of the manager's key roles. But we know what our guy is like - he "trusts" his players. That's nice and all but we see the result in so many games where we don't turn up. Individual talent drags us through most of those games games, rather than a collective performance. And on the occasions where nobody is up for it we lose at home to Olympiacos. Or worse, we get a hammering. The manager needs to sort this shit out.

[fakeyank]

Maybe we do it too often, but we haven't so far this season, if we had we wouldn't be competing. Whether we'll do it too often remains to be seen.

Its not a may be, it is a definite we do it too often. If we didnt, we'd have at least challenged for the PL come the end of the season in the last 10 years. Its especially horrible when it comes from a club charging an arm and a leg from fans.

And there will be dips in form by some players over the course of a season, but to see ALL the players playing like shit on Saturday and then the same lot playing like Champions on a Tuesday is baffling to me. Shows a lack of direction and leadership from the management. I like to compare our situation to someone who was the best in the business (Sir Alex) and then think "If he was our manager, would he tolerate the same crap? Would his teams go through the motions in one game and turn up the other, and he be ok with it?"

The answer to that thought tells me where the problem for the club is. It's been out in the open for some time now and people are just taking their time to get used to it. It'll happen eventually, inshahallah..

[Globalgunner]

If the manager is not motivated indeed driven by the need to succeed then you will hardly find it in the players. A manager who is only motivated by job perpetuity, takes solace in bad luck and unfair playing environment. Will only deliver the bare minimum to satisfy the bosses upstairs. When you now have the misfortune of being owned by Mediocre Sam Kroenke, well that just kills it. The talented players will endure...for a while. Lets see what happens if we dont win anything this season.

[Letters]

And it's true. At least 50% of the time we plod.

Rubbish.

It's arguable we do it too often but 50% of the time.
That's just one of those 87% of statistics that's made up on the spot.

[IBK]

It's a competitive sport so our success or failure is directly related to other team's successes or failures.
So yes, it's relevant.

NQ's call for the desire we showed last night in every game is commendable but anyone who has ever watched sport knows that isn't possible, physically, emotionally, whatever. No team ever plays with the same intensity every game.

So when you say why do we do what we did on Saturday, my answer is because that's how sport is and every team does it in every season. Maybe we do it too often, but we haven't so far this season, if we had we wouldn't be competing. Whether we'll do it too often remains to be seen.

2 points. Firstly regarding other teams' performances - you can't have it both ways. You are fond of citing the financial muscle of the likes of Citeh and Manure as a reason why we have an uphill battle to win the league. If you want to point out that we are currently doing OK in relation to our competitors, then you need also to concede that the bar is unusually low this season in terms of the relative strengths of most of the top teams. Citeh have had injury problems, and are punching below their weight after a strong start; Manure are scraping wins while playing shite football that does not justify the enormous investment they have made. We all know what has happened hilariously to last year's champions, and Liverpool seem to be recovering after a piss poor start to the season.

What most Gooners are frustrated by is that instead of exploiting this situation, our inconsistency has seen us sink to the level of the competition. Implosions against West Ham; the Chavs and West Brom have seen us drop avoidable points, and flat performances against Liverpool and Spurs - 2 games that you would have expected our players to be very motivated for - have caused disappointment.

Of course teams will drop unexpected points, and we will not always reach the levels of Wednesday, or Manure at home. But when you see what our players are capable of when focussed and motivated, it is completely fair to ask why such performances still seem the exception rather than the norm.

Unlike recent seasons, we have 3 world class players in key areas of the pitch who have remained fit for pretty the whole season to date. We have a more settled squad than most, and clearly have the ability to turn it on - against different types of team - when we want to. I think it is fair enough to expect more from Arsenal than we have seen so far.