Champions League night. At Home. 1-0 deficit, so need to win at least with 2 goals. Haven’t qualified for Quarter final since 2009-10. Eliminated 9 out of 10 times in knockout stages when we had lost the first leg. Worrisome past in Champions League. And a mountain hill to climb.
But…
Mikel was positive in the press conference and I’m sure the team is, too. Likes of Bukayo Saka, Martinelli (injured unfortunately), Rice, Gabriel, Saliba have proven their worth in England, I’m sure they are eager to do that in Europe as well. Today’s the day.
Arteta has stuck to the ‘new’ usual playing XI. Raya starts in goal to support the back 4 of White, Saliba, Gabriel and Kiwior. Jorginho keeps his place in the midfield, so we would see Rice again in a more advance role. Odegaard starts.
Kai Havertz leads the front 3 with Saka and Trossard on either side. LT has better eyes for goal and we might see him rotating at top with Kai. I would say we are playing with the best team we have.
I would have preferred Thomas Partey in place of Jorginho, but he has come back from injury and has hardly played. And Martinelli is out injured for 2-3 weeks so Trossard is 2nd best option at LW.
I don’t have much to say about today, except that we need the team winning today with at least 2-0. In return, they need our support and voice and enthusiasm. Lets keep the love and hate aside for the players and the manager and enjoy a beautiful night of football.
A very short one today, games starting in 30 odd minutes.
#COYG
Porto have won just two of their 22 away games in the knockout stages of the competition, with both of those victories coming in Spain
Interesting stat from Arsenal.Com
not surprised whatsoever by the lineup, as we’re all too familiar with MA’s supposed “going with the hot hand” selection process…my only trepidation is that this lineup only mustered one goal against a banged-up Brentford side, until several subs were made, so I do worry about their ability to get this particular job done…hopefully we can find a way to score early so that Porto are forced into opening up a bit…if that happens it could be a landslide victory for the much better home side
interesting stat KP—I’m surprised considering their storied history in the CL
We definitely missed Martinelli’s pace and directness on Saturday – I like Trossard but I think he’s more of an impact sub than a starter.
Haven’t seen anything of Porto but my guess is they’ll look to protect what they have with the hope of snatching an away goal.
When do away goals kick in? End of 90 or after extra time?
Marc—away goals play no significance in the knockout stages…so if the game ends 2-1 for us, in regulation, we go to extra time then penalties
have NOT play
I would imagine Porto are quite pleased that we’re starting 2 DMs tonight, with the much weaker defender of the two playing in the deeper-lying role…this and Marts not being available might embolden them to be a bit more aggressive…hopefully we can punish them for pursuing that course
so far Rice is playing further up the pitch than Saka…a better cross by Ode might have evened the score
good pressure, but we need to finish…if Saka gets more of those 1 v.1s out wide we should win for fun
Ref looks like Trossard’s dad.
Ode’s not being man marked tonight, so he needs to be at his best…so far he’s been caught from behind twice and flobbed two decent chances
if our two most advanced players are going to be Havertz and Rice we had better start getting some crosses into the box
It’s going to be a long night. Porto has clear plan, send ball back to keeper and let the time pass. If we press aggressive, there is a chance of a counter attack.
Remains to be seen how we handles this.
Porto are more aggressive with their numbers tonight than at home, so we can’t afford to be so casual in our end
27% of their 54% ball possession is by the GK lol
Ambarish—the possession numbers are 53 to 47 and that’s not from sending it back to the keeper ad nauseam….I would suspect MA is quite surprised by Porto’s plan thus far
there’s a difference between passing back due to being pressured, versus doing so in order to draw our players up, thereby messing with our shape
TRVL
Yep, that’s unexpected but I would say most of their possession is useless possession. The game will only open if and when we score one.
At the moment, they are 1-0 up and it’s working in their advantage.
it certainly would be benefical if we could draw Nico into a yellow, as he’s the secondary help defender for Saka
there’s a difference between passing back due to being pressured, versus doing so in order to draw our players up, thereby messing with our shape
Yep, they exactly are doing that. Pass it back, bring forward the front 3 from their usual shape and in the process, kill some time. The lesser time on clock, the more frustrating we will get.
They are not letting our game plan work. Unfortunately, we needed someone like Martinelli today with his speed.
We need individual brilliance to get past Porto.
Ambarish-i think there’s times in a match where you intentionally slow play. but what they’re doing is far more strategic, as they know our best defender in the middle of the pitch is coming forward, which leaves Jorginho on an island and their wider players on 1 v 1s on both sides
agreed Ambarish…he would have relished this Porto setup, albeit I doubt they would have done likewise if he were playing
haha.. and that was a team goal with Trossard scoring again.
We are back baby… now lets get the job done
big goal for Tross…that certainly makes up for the loss of Marts…Pepe was so concerned about his old man speed that he left Tross in an onside position
And I just wished if Martinelli was available.. lol
Real quality by Ode there and a nice finish by Tross.
Really important goal because up till then Arteta had been completely out thought.
if Pepe becomes the weak link at the back it could have a real psychological effect on those around him
Marc-that’s so true…thank fuck god we didn’t allow a second and scored before half…I do really like our energy tonight, minus us getting involved in these little nothing burger squabbles
fucking NOT fuck (it seems like I did that typo on purpose)
That’s a fucking card, ref.
we need to calm down our Tross’s old man is going to start dishing out cards
TRVL
I like their left back looks a very good non nonsense player.
Trossard having a dad-son conversation and telling his old man he was wrong.
then Father and Son had a bit of a chat at the end of the half…thanks for pointing out their similarities KP
Shit ref plus Portuguese Team equals unhappy Kroenkephobe.
Great goal by Alpha-tross – and Ode’s through ball was sublime.
Marc
Yep, he has managed to keep Saka in check, so far.. except those couple of times.
Marc
Your summing up at 8.44 is spot on. There were too many moments when we were coming down to their level.
Their left back would be more useful if he could master throw-ins. He’s as bad as our old mate Bellerin.
Ambarish
I don’t know whether we’re going to be in the market for a L/B or whether that is the position Timber was bought for.
My issue with Timber at L/B is he’s right footed as is Martinelli so all attacks down the left end up with both players looking to cut in. We already see a bit of that when Ode moves right and links up with Saka.