I saw a quote from Oddsbible Arsenal down to 10 men as Willian comes on... the Leeds comeback is looking slightly more likely
Odengaard has looked good today Playing fairly well just not quite carving out the chances. Need to up the pace
The disappointing thing about Ceballos during his time at Arsenal is he hasnt really shown the passing ability he was known for as a youngster.
HT. 0-0 We've been distinctly average. Taking too many touches, not moving the ball with any real speed and not executing the right weight of pass in the final third. Benfica have offered virtually nothing in attack, but aside from that (horrendous) Auba miss, we've not done too much either. Can our players also learn to please stay the **** onside? So annoying how many times our build up play broke down because of this.
I'm sorry but that's an awful performance and not a good result. We needed to win this. Yes, we technically have away goals advantage but we don't play at 'home' in the 2nd leg nor can we rely on Benfica being that bad again. We were too causal, too careless in possession, didn't release the ball fast enough, didn't recover or counterpress well enough when losing the ball and Aubameyang decided to miss 3 chances that a player of his stature should be scoring. Subs were brought on too late, and even when they were, we were too busy ****ing about with the ball in our own half, instead of playing balls over the top for Pepe and Martinelli to run on to. This was the biggest game of the season and we perform like that. Not good enough. Really disappointing and frustrating night.
I thought we were so inept in the final third. We just never looked like scoring until Sakas equalizer.
No not at all. Benfica are a decent side - they sat back played defensive try to hit us on the break. Ultimately we should have won, we created more than enough chances, the performance was'nt bad at all though. We still got that away goal.
Benfica aren't the team they used to be. They're 4th in their domestic league, have won 1 in their last 7 games, and have been poor defensively. They were there for the taking. We didn't take advantage. If we'd assumed control of the tie in this leg, it means we'd be in a strong position for the 2nd leg and wouldn't need to be as concerned. I completely disagree that it wasn't a bad performance - it was a very bad performance. Too many players weren't at the races. However, the fact that we were so poor and still created the best moments of the game does give me some solace.
We should have won that game last night. No two ways about it. But the away goal does at least give us a slight advantage going into the 2nd leg. We will need to be on our game though, as we all remember what happened last year against Olympiacos.
Na they are a good side. Vertoghen, Otamendi,Ruben Diaz, Grimaldo, Taraabt, Everton Soares they would do well in the Prem. Dont agree at all - we created plenty of chances. Passed it well, I thought Ceballos and Odengaard both ran midfield. If Auba had been at the races we would have won by 2-3 goals.
Bear, come on. You're basing this off of their reputations and past achievements, rather than what they are currently. Otamendi and Vertonghen are both mid-30s and were discarded from their Prem clubs because they're not at the required level anymore. Ruben Dias is at Man City, so I'm not sure why you've included him in this list. Taraabt? The same guy who is also in his 30s, didn't cut it in the Prem, struggled in Italy, and has 1 goal in 69 appearances as an attacking midfielder for Benfica since joining? Everton Soares has been on the bench for them and hasn't set the world alight either. I want to reiterate - they are 4th in the Portuguese league. Benfica have not finished outside the top 2 positions for 14 years. Their manager is under severe pressure and the fans are extremely unhappy with the club president. They are in turmoil. Now, where I do agree is that if Auba didn't have a disasterclass, we would have won by 2 or 3 goals. And as I said, I can take solace in the fact we played poorly, but had the best moments of the game. Nevertheless, creating some clear chances doesn't mean we played well over the 90 minutes. You'd expect a team that has Saka, Odegaard, ESR and Ceballos to carve out openings because they're all attack-minded players.
Nope. Vertonghen was still performing when he left Spurs. Otamendi is decent - won multiple League titles here and in Portugal. Lets be honest 95% of Arsenal fans would have taken Vertonghen at Arsenal when he left Spurs. Both of these guys are better then Mustafi ever was Taraabt was wanted by many Arsenal fans. He's a player who always had TOP class ability but never acheived what he should have. So what if they are 4th - We are 10th in the EPL mate. Like I said I think the performance was decent - against a side we set up very defensively. We just should should have scored more.
Sorry, but I can't agree with any of this. You're rewriting history IMO and you're proving my point about judging them based on their reputation rather than the current reality. If Vertonghen was still performing at the level he should have been at Spurs, they either would have offered him a new deal or he would have gone to a better side in a more competitive league than Benfica. Otamendi was an error-strewn defender who was eventually cast aside for a 34-year old Fernandinho - a DM - who Pep preferred to play at CB than an actual CB. He became a bit-part player under Pep. Again, if he's as good as you say he is, he would have gone to a better side than Benfica. Comparing both of those players to Mustafi is totally irrelevant. You're wrong about Taraabt, too. He was a skilful player that had well-documented attitude and fitness problems. No-one wanted him at Arsenal, you've just made that up. And even if that were true, so what? What does that have to do with how he's performed since he's left the Prem? Benfica have a very rich history and are a huge club - but that means nothing in terms of where they are now. And right now, in a league that already isn't that strong, they're not in a good situation. I'm fully aware that we're not in a great position either - and I haven't denied this - but the quality of the Premier League compared to the Portuguese League is vast. It's not even in the same ballpark frankly.
Coming out with just about every footballing fallacy in the book Brunel. Over-rating the EPL and underating other leagues. Classic. Also th Cliche that if a player leaves a Club its because they were'nt good enough anymore. In regards to Vertonghen. Spurs have conistently sold and let players leave at the wrong time: Dembele, Ericksen, Bale, Modric, Defoe, Vertonghen even Andeirwerld was almost sold in 2018 Otamendi won 2 x EPL titles, an FA Cup and a 4x League Cups at City. At Porto he won the Champions League and the League 4 times. You cant say anything about a player whos been that successful at multiple Clubs. Also again Taraabt is a player who could have been TOP Class. Lazy probably but he's the kind of player many ambitious managers should sign. If you can get him to put the work in you have a real talent.
Otamendi is decent enough. Verts is old and past it. The fact he is free and didn't really have anywhere decent to go. Taraabt is laughable. Barely wanted by a championship club 5 years ago let alone a premiership one .... 5 years ago! Don't go rattling what trophies either it will be like saying arsenal are title challengers with David luiz and Willian in the first 11 as they both have a list longer than a giraffes neck
You forget when he was at QPR many clubs were interested in him. There was a huge amount of hype about the new owners building the side around him with big investment.. never happened though. The talent is there - reminds me of Balotelli, Benteke, Rabiot etc.. Also he's been excellent at Benfica. https://www.sportbible.com/football...o-a-world-class-defensive-midfielder-20200203 Btw Im not saying any of these players are World Beaters just that Benfica actually have a decent side.
Yes when taraabt was at qpr for that 1 or 2 seasons. The fact that no one ever came in for him says it all. Lord bendtner and ravel Morrison were meant to be super talented m. The fact that they can't be arsed means they are actually in fact bang average compared to your average top level footballer. If someone is only getting loan moves and have a worse scoring record than xhaka then as an attacking midfielder then im really questioning is he actual a decent player
Now I'm not saying that at one point these guys could have been good and were playing far better, but right now, at age 1000 for verts (he was world class) and 6 years of being useless, i don't think you van genuinely call them really good players anymore
