CL: PSV Eindhoven vs Arsenal | 24/11/04

[champions04]

That's the main reason why I don't like Reyes playing on the left wing, because he breaks up that Cole/Pires/Henry trio. He does link up well with Cole though but I still prefer the trio, they would rip teams apart, it was amazing to watch. But I guess if Pires isn't on form anymore then Reyes should play on the left since he's sh*t in the center, as we saw tonight.

He played on the left for Tottenham...and he didn't play well, he played on the left for both Man U and panathinikos, and he got absolutely battered. He didn't have a good game at all, but I think he played better today than his last few games.

 

[godfather]

Apart from conceding from yet another set piece I thought defensively we did well, of course when we went down to 10 and then 9 players we did struglle but thats expected. Still though we managed to fight it out and get a point.

i still can't believe its in our hands! A win would guarantee us qualification, still we shouldn't be in this position in the first place.

Agree with your point about today's!

And I think the reason is when every time we took a lead, then the whole team starting to get nerves.

 

[mood]

9 Men vs a great team like PSV (Away) is a very, very good result especially since Panathinaikos drew today as well.

We've got to beat Rosenborg, but we've lost players in the 2 positions we're THINNEST at! Right back and CENTRE-MID (especially).

What are we going to do in the centre? Lauren should've been off, but Vieira's decision was harsh.. I knew the German ref woulld card our players for some reason.

 

[JazzG]

Surely we can appeal the 2nd yellow Vieira got?

"I don't think that there is a disciplinary problem," Wenger told reporters after a draw that put PSV into the knockout round. "We just fought hard and were punished for the fouls we made.

"We have to accept the referee's decisions. Lauren was a little bit late with his tackle, while I believe that Vieira played the ball."

"Patrick is a captain and behaves like one," said Wenger. "That is why he went for the ball before he got his second booking."

But he added: "It was remarkable that (PSV captain Mark) van Bommel made a lot of deliberate fouls without receiving a booking."

Lauren and Vieira will be suspended for Arsenal's final game at home to Rosenborg Trondheim on December 7 when Wenger's men will need a win to be sure of qualifying.

Vieira's red card was the 56th to be collected by an Arsenal player since Wenger took over in 1996.

Overall, the Frenchman said: "We were the better team and created the better chances and PSV did not create so much...PSV defended very well tonight.

"I am satisfied with my team's performance and even at the end we were dangerous."

Here is what Wenger said.

 

[kanuuu]

Any news on Van persie's injury?

 

[patrick42uk]

i blame cygan for our concession of another goal from the a set-piece. his positioning on the bench wasnt up to scratch IMO.

 

[jamesnoza]

i was very proud today, i am would normally be angry because of a disapointing performance but it was spirited battling and nobodys head dropped when players got sent off, lauren deserved to go, purley because they were both bookable offences especially the first booking for trying to get an opponent booked i hate that when players do that but vieria was very harsh, if vieria got sent off how the hell did van bommel not get sent off

very optomistic now hopefully we will destroy rosenborg and go from here no way was today bad atall, but we will be written off by other fans and the press but hopefully we can prove them wrong

UP THE ARSENAL!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Florida Gooner]

i blame cygan for our concession of another goal from the a set-piece. his positioning on the bench wasnt up to scratch IMO.

This is the best post ever on any forum anywhere. Kudos!!!

 

[solthegunner]

Haven't read everybodys comments but in my opinion:

Lehmann had a good game and did everything that he could have done. 6/10

Lauren was playing very well until he was sent off which he probably didn't deserve although his second tackle was a booking. 6

Cole played very well, always running even in the last minutes. Great left back and a great performance. 7

Toure played well. 7

Campbell played well and organised the defence. So good to see him back. 8

Ljunberg played well and covered a lot of ground, always dangerous. 7

Fabregas looked good again. His pass completion rate must be 95%, which is fantastic. Never looked out classed, which is fantastic for a 17 year old. 7

Vieira was dynamite again. So commanding. Brilliant. Everywhere. Should never have been sent off absolutely 'unbelievable'. 8

Pires looked good not his best but a good all round performance. 7

Reyes was poor through out the game. Played one good ball through to Pires and had one good shot but more was expected. 4

Henry played a blinder. Running the defence everywhere, looked dangerous even without much support. Maybe should have done better with the chances he created himself but did well. What a player and showed himself again in another bi game. 9

Subs:
Van persie: Looked good, had a good chance he should have done better with. 6

Hoyte: didn't put a foot wrong and didn't crumble under a lot of pressure. Good to come on and get up to speed so quickly. 6

Flamini: Passing let him down again but ran around and made a couple of good challenges. 5 :?

Ref: A ****ing disgrace. Never before have I seen a more one sided ref. Should never have sent off vieria. Never booked van bomm even though he had 12 fouls against him. Vieria had 2. 0 (one of the worst I've seen) :bash :bash :argue

Van bommel: probably fouled more people in a game than I have ever seen before. Never picked up a card and arsenal had 2 sent off. 0 :bash :argue

PSV: wish we could play them every week. For a team that never concedes looked crap at the back. Were helped massively by the ref. Didn't have anybody that really shone and looked clueless when they needed to attack. Never in Arsenals class. :twisted:

Overall: Its in our hands and we're doing ok. Can still finish top. Still haven't lost. No problem to beat the worst team at home as everybody else has. Imagine if we had lost. 8

 

[Arsenal316]

i blame cygan for our concession of another goal from the a set-piece. his positioning on the bench wasnt up to scratch IMO.

Couldn't have said it better.....

 

[turtle]

i blame cygan for our concession of another goal from the a set-piece. his positioning on the bench wasnt up to scratch IMO.

Yes, his bald head deflected light into Arsenal players' eyes, making them blind for a second and lost sight of the ball.

 

[Florida Gooner]

I predicted a 1-1 draw, which was just blind luck, of course, and at the time, was a result I was not going to be happy with. Considering the events of the day, I'm quite content and even impressed with the result.

Right. We need to stop whining about the refereeing, as we sound like little girls who haven't gotten their way, and play right into the hands of those who criticize us for being whiners. As in all sports, some nights the calls will go against you, some nights they'll be in your favor, and you just need to deal with and get over it. Remember Fulham?

My only ***** is my pet peeve about this team: another set piece goal against. With all due respect to Le Boss and his staff, they've had months to correct this issue, and Wenger said on TV (I saw it) that this would be "easy to correct." This comes down to coaching, plain and simple. How long is this going to take?

Ex the set piece goal, it was a night to be proud of the boys for hanging in there for a draw under adverse conditions, and actually bodes well for the immediate future, IMHO.

 

[R9]

From The ****ing SUN :

The Gunners boss moaned: “We have to accept he had to send our players off but he was far more lenient with Van Bommel than with the others. Van Bommel made many deliberate fouls. Why he wasn’t booked only the ref can answer.

****ing journo, it's a fact not moaning.

 

[Asterix]

Only half their second team - Carvalho, Gallas, Smertin, Lampard, Cole and Robben are all regularly starting or coming off the bench for substantial game time

 

[Arsenal316]

Wow, that's a pretty damn good second-choice team on paper.....guess they really didn't care about the game that much. But then again, they've done well in the CL, so they deserve this luxury. But I'm sure we won't see this team when we play them in a few weeks.

 

[patrick42uk]

it seems we are now facing the same problem in our set-piece defending as we do in general with our cl campaigns. we'v become so bad at it that there is a nervousness and a mental block in both. ooijer just drifted past campbell into the zone between henry and vieira. at first i thought it was vieira's fault, and still think so, but only partly because he ball watched. henry was guilty of exactly the same thing, except the responsibility was on him to defend that as he was goal side of ooijer. we need a clean sheet quickly to regain confidence. liverpool, even without strikers, will be a threat as hyppia is quite impressive in the air. i cant beleive i'm saying this, but hyppia is the dangerman we have to stop on sunday.

 

[gunnertilldeath]

didnt see the game but how is reyes all of a sudden ****?? you guys are so fickle. at the start of the season when he skinned manure in the CL and made a couple of promising appearances in the center, he was the next del piero. now he cant play up front?? come on people. it is called a DIP IN FORM!!!

 

[kel varnsen]

so ljungberg set up arsenal's goal once again. best player so far this season. i think he will score at least once in liverpool this weekend. so good to see freddie back in form again... :wink:

 

[tristan]

yeah with the easiest group in the CL and yet we flopped again. i don't understand all these. we are worse than bremen, lyon and psv. at least they are through. we are still struggling and worrying about our fate. chelsea and MU fans must be laughing at us again

I'd say that a group with the current Porto, PSG, and CSKA Moscow is easier than PSV, Panathinaikos, and Rosenborg. I don't know why people say Arsenal has the easiest group. Panathinaikos and PSV are good teams, and Rosenborg can cause a lot of trouble.

 

[skart14]

What the **** will our midfield be like for the rosenberg game....i shudder to think....