Wednesday, 28 November 07, 03:26 AM
Well Arsenal ended their unbeaten run of 28 games in all competition in Spain tonight, losing 3-1 to Sevilla. The referee was not great, and gave a free-kick to them that was never a free-kick, and which also resulted in the second goal. Even worse than the referee though, was Philippe Senderos, who single-handedly tried to hand Sevilla the match with clearances and decision of such severe incompetence that he almost made one long for Alex Song. Almost as bad, was Fredi Kanoute, whose finishing was just god-awful. He should have at least scored a brace, if not a hat-trick, and the scoreline really should have been 4-1 or 5-1 to Sevilla.
I suppose there are some "positives" to take from the game, for both sets of fans.
For Sevilla - well they will have restored some pride, and can look forward to being the group winners. They avenged their 3-0 loss in London, and looked once again like the team that was so sensational last season, and are continuing to come out of the shadows of the sad death of Antonio Puerta, and the sudden departure of coach Juande Ramos to Tottenham. Luis Fabiano continued his good form, and Jesus Navas was especially mesmerising towards the latter stages of the game.
And for the Arsenal? Well this was as good a game to lose as any. They've lost in a somewhat meaningless game to one of Europe's best teams. They've lost badly, and it's broken their unbeaten run, but it's without detriment to their progress into the next phase in the Champions League, and it would have had far worse effects in the league. Let's face it - they would have lost sooner or later, and it's better that it happened now so that they can address their shortcomings, rather than later, because there won't be a game this unimportant for a while.
Also, let's also take into account the fact that they played with three second choice defenders - Hoyte was average, Senderos awful, and Traore lost (but promising), and three second choice midfielders - Denilson was OK but ineffective, Gilberto was OK but made scary errors, and Eboue was exciting but wildly wasteful. And upfront, they were missing first choices Adebayor and Van Persie, with Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo making their first starts in this competition. Eduardo was somewhat wasted out on the left, but did well for his goal, which was set up by the young Dane Bendtner.
So a side shorn of their top scoring strikers (Ade and RvP), captain (Gallas), most influential ball winner (Flamini) and most influential attacking midfielder (Hleb) lost to a full-strength Sevilla side.
It's not the end of the world.
Arsenal sucks. They only play against weak teams and win. They beat Sevilla in the Emirshits stadium, but Sevilla are having a bad season. Theyp layed against Liverfool and ManCHEATER United and they
could only draw. That shows that they are not as good as people think and that they can't play against the big boys. They can only play against teams like bolton, Tottenham, Villa, etc and win.
Dirtbag, Arsenal is overrated
Hello, thanks for your insightful opinion.
Last season Arsenal played Manchester United twice, and Liverpool 4 times. They only lost once.
Do you remember what the scores were?
Typical Gunner. You have to go back to last season, in order to prove your point. Pathetic. Please note that I was talking about this current season. I don't care what you did last season because
that's the past. You played United and Liverpool and you could only get a draw out of both. Arsenal could only beat weak teams like Bolton, Birmingham, and Derby. But, when you play at big team,
like
Man United or Liverpool, you drop points. That means that you're overrated and you can't live up to the hype.
Dirtbag, not living in the past
But doesn't it also mean that teams like Man United and Liverpool can't beat big teams like Arsenal?
Hmmmmm... I suppose you're right. BUT, unlike Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool are not hyped up. 28 games in and people were saying that this Arsenal squad would "go undefeated" and would win a
"Treble". That was NOT being said about United or Liverpool. And since Arsenal, the team that would be "world-beaters" (as the Gunner fans claim) cannot beat a their biggest rivals in football. So,
once again, I have to say... Arsenal is overrated.
Dirtbag, the truth hurts
Eh? This is also the same Arsenal squad that at the start of the season were "hyped up" to not even be able to qualify for the Champions League. If it's the media hype that makes you angry, then you
should be more clever than to listen to it.
In March last year everyone said that United were going to win the treble again. What happened there?
Incidentally, I haven't read a single
report that has said Arsenal are going to do a treble, and the undefeated suggestions only come up because they managed it 4 years ago.
That is the curse of being in top spot - everyone is
either trying to bring you down or hype you up - proper fans learn how to separate the bullshit from what's real.
Hmmmm... once again, you prove me wrong. The media, the fans, the players, the coaches, FIFA, UEFA. It doesn't matter who hypes up a team, but once they are hyped up, then people will expect things
from them, that the squad cannot accomplish. I guess that what Man United feels like, when they only won the EPL title, after everyone hyped them up.
Dirtbag, schooled
10 Comments
'Gilberto was OK but made scary errors'. He's been awful this season in Arsenal, as well in the Brazilian Team. I think it's time for him to leave both teams...
I hope you guys avoid Inter, hee hee