A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

On a related note, Russia, Germany, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France and Brazil will be the leading teams in the upcoming WC draw. Spain would have been one too but Russia took the role for being the WC hosts.

Some people are complaining that Spain should have been one regardless, but their deplorable performance in the last two major tournaments took a large toll from their prior performances.

And now that Lopetegui is making Spain recover, no one will want to get drawn with them in the group stage.

CL matches today have just ended, and there were lots of goals. Let's take a look:

Group E: Liverpool annihilated Maribor 7-0 in the latter's stadium (goals by Firmino, Coutinho, Salah, Salah again, Firmino again, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexander-Arnold.

Spartak Moscow categorically defeated Sevilla 5-1(!) (goals by Promes, Kjaer, Melgarejo, Glushakov, Luiz Adriano and Promes bookending the match).

Group F: Two 2-1 wins, by Shakhtar Donetsk against Feyenoord (goals here), and Manchester City against Napoli (goals by Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and a penalty by Diaware. Noteworthy: Ederson saving a penalty which allowed City to not lose their advantage over Napoli.

Group G: The first half of Red Bull Leipzig - Porto was intense and filled with goals, the second half was less exciting. For some reason, Sérgio Conceição decided to put Casillas on the bench, and José Sá in the starting XI. 3-2, win for Leipzig (goals here. Besiktas got themselves a decisive win over Monaco and sit firmly in the first place. 2-1, goals by Falcao, Cenk Tosun (assist by Quaresma), and Tosun once more.

Group H: Two 1-1 draws. APOEL and Dortmund's goals, Real and Tottenham's, even if Tottenham's turned out to be an own goal by Varane.

I was hoping to watch a Darth Maul vs. Qui Gon and ended up watching a pillow fight between ponies. That Tottenham scored because of an own-goal from Varane and that Madrid equalled the scales because of a penalty kick says it all.

edited 17th Oct '17 3:29:27 PM by MyFinalEdits

A little late to post but manager Craig Shakespeare has been let go by Leicester City only four months into a 3-year contract.

edited 18th Oct '17 8:49:22 AM by SeanMurrayI

They had amiraculous manager, as well as miraculous players, but never a miraculous adminship.

CL matches today have just ended. Let's take a look:

Group A: Basel won 2-0 in Moscow against CSKA (goals by Taulant Xhaka - Granit's elder brother - and Oberlin, while M United won 1-0 in Lisbon against Benfica (goal by Rashford), in a match where Benfica put their recent youngster signing Svilar between the posts. The GK is now the youngest GK in a CL match, if I'm not mistaken. His debut would've been (in fact, it generally was) very good, if not for, well... just look at the goal.

Group B: Bayern comfortably won 3-0 against Celtic (goals here). Having come back from retirement, Jupp Heynckes is now the oldest coach in a CL match ever (72 years, 162 days). PSG comfortably demolished Anderlecht in the latter's stadium by 4-0 (goals here).

Group C: Qarabag and Atlético had a goalless draw, while Chelsea and Roma had a goal fest of a draw: 3-3 (goals here. Notice Roma's comeback being tarnished by Eden Hazard.

Group D: Barcelona won 3-1 against Olympiacos (goals here), while Juventus won 2-1 against Sporting CP (goals here). If Jorge Jesus hadn't made risky substitutions that allowed Juventus to grow in the game (it also doesn't help that Coentrão picked a knock), I think Sporting would've been able to pick a draw. On the other hand, Douglas Costa came on and within seconds made the assist for Mandzukic's winning goal, so, there's that as well.

edited 18th Oct '17 2:01:40 PM by Quag15

Fixture congestion and injuries are forcing Wenger's hand when it comes to team selection, but the line-up for the away game against Red Star Belgrade is basically a pre-season friendly team, so Arsenal are very likely to lose this game.

Cech
Debuchy Elneny Holding
Nelson Willock Coquelin Maitland-Niles
Walcott Wilshere
Giroud

Debuchy, Holding, Nelson, Willock, and Maitland-Niles are all playing in a position that's not natural for them. I can't help thinking that this line-up is designed to change quite quickly to a 4-2-3-1, with some (but fewer) players in bizarre positions:

Cech
Coquelin Debuchy Holding Maitland-Niles
Wilshere Elneny
Walcott Willock Nelson
Giroud

Even in that formation, two defensive midfielders (Maitland-Niles and Coquelin) are playing as full-backs, and Debuchy is normally a right-back, but at least the others would be in the correct positions.

Arsenal really need to win their group in the Europa League to get a (probably) easier draw in the next round. Obviously, all of the teams that will come down from the Champions League will be massive favourites against Arsenal, but there's more chance of Arsenal going through rounds of opponents at that level if they make the first post-group stage round as simple as possible.

Unfortunately, this game will almost certainly be too much for Arsenal, with this line-up. I think it'll be 3-1 for Red Star, or something like that. I'll miss the start of the game because I'm going to the sauna at the same time that the game start, but I'll at least see the end of the first half and the entire second half. I hope the game will be exciting, and Red Star won't completely walk over Arsenal before I get to watch the game.

The positive from this game, regardless of result, is that after this, Arsenal will have come through two of the three group stage away games, and the two they've played will be the toughest ones in terms of the travel time and quality of facilities. Köln will be a much nicer place to visit for Arsenal, even though the team is the best in the group.

HALF TIME: 0-0, surprisingly. I'm sure Red Star will be much stronger in the second half, putting Arsenal's makeshift defence to the sword. I missed most of the first half, but I did manage to catch a bit over 15 minutes, in which time Arsenal didn't put together anything resembling a threatening attacking move.

It's worrying that Wenger keeps rotating the squad so heavily in these games, playing so many youngsters and having players out of position rather than relying on the first-team bench. If anything, Arsenal should be doing that in the league, where top-6 is already a fantasy, and instead play the first-team stars in the Europa League and the cup competitions. If Arsenal win the League Cup, that would get them to the Europa League, which would already be more than anyone expects Arsenal to get for next season.

edited 19th Oct '17 10:52:00 AM by BestOf

A little more than 20 years removed from Eric Cantona's sudden, unexpected retirement at the ripe age of 30 at the end of the 1996-97 season, now is the time to look back on where his newfound freedom initially led him: Waxing philosophically about legroom on Eurostar railways.

This wasn't Cantona's first commercial/acting gig (naturally), but this, without a doubt, was his true beginnings as a melodramatic actor (Love that hand gesturing)...

edited 19th Oct '17 11:38:06 AM by SeanMurrayI

After the replacement of Angel Maria Villar by Juan Luis Larrea in the presidency of the Spanish football federation, the first action he did was to fire Maria Jose Claramunt from the administrative body of the national team.

Vardar 0 - 6 Real Sociedad

Östersunds 2 - 2 Athletic

Real Sociedad, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the only Spanish teams that are doing well in the European competitions. It's really a pity.

FULL TIME: Red Star Belgrade 0 - 1 Arsenal.

The goal was a bizarre, acrobatic effort from Giroud, one of many where the ball bounced brom player to player in and around Red Star's box, no-one making a decent contact one it, until Giroud would usually volley it well wide or high from an uncomfortable position. This time, it went it.

Before the goal, Red Star had one of their midfielders sent off for a second yellow card. They picked up quite a number of yellow cards through the game, while Arsenal only got about two. Arsenal did get some luck with the referee, though, with a tackle in the box that didn't result in a penalty even though neither the Arsenal player nor the opponent got the ball (or would have, had there not been a tackle). Usually, if you just manage to kick the ball where you can't ever reach it, and then bump into someone and go down, you'll get a penalty. This one, actually, was much more legitimate than that, with an actual tackle initiated by the defending, rather than attacking, player. Still, neither would have had the ball, anyway, so that's why no penalty was given.

It's amazing that Arsenal, who are using this competition to give competitive debuts for youth team players, managed to get a win. Cech was very good today, and had to be. Red Star looked much more likely to score for most of the game, but Arsenal reserves got lucky once and that was enough. People in Belgrade will be left wondering how they managed to lose this one.

Half of the EL matches have ended and the other half have just begun.

Earlier in the day, in group A, Astana demolished Maccabi Tel-Aviv by 4-0 (goals here).

Group G: Lugano won 3-2 against Viktoria Plzen, while Hapoel Be'er Sheva lost 1-2 at home against FCSB/Steaua Bucharest (can't find half the goals for both matches).

Group H: Arsenal won 1-0 against Crvena Zvezda (thanks to Giroud) and BATE won 1-0 against Köln (goals by Aleksey Rios). Unless the latter turn things around, the second place will be fought between Red Star and BATE.

Group J: Zorya Luhansk won at home by 2-1 against Hertha Berlin (goals by Silas, Selke and Svatok), while Östersund haven't yet lost in the EL, after drawing 2-2 against Athletic Bilbao (goals here).

Group K: Nice lost 1-3 at home against Lazio (goals here), while Zulte Waregem and Vitesse drew 1-1 (goals by Kashia (own goal) and Bruns). Lazio will probably top the group, while Nice will take second place at the end of the group stage.

Group L: Real Sociedad destroyed Vardar at the latter's stadium (goal by Oyarzabal, poker by Willian José, goal by Alberto de La Bella), while Zenit won 3-1 against Rosenborg (hat-trick by Rigoni, consolation goal by Helland).

Group I: Red Bull Salzburg won 2-0 at Konya(spor), courtesy of Gulbrandsen and Dabbur. As for us...

Marseille 2-1 Vitória SC

Our first half was great, until Marseille equalized. Rafael Martins scored for us after a quick counter-attack (great assist by Héldon), but Ocampos equalized. In the second half, our midfield and defense began to lose concentration, which led to 19-year old Lopez scoring the killing goal for Marseille. I was hoping we could have gotten a draw, but now we're pretty much out, unless we win all games and hope either Marseille or Salzburg slip. Oh well, that's the price to pay for having a relatively young and unexperienced squad in regards to the EL.

edited 19th Oct '17 12:09:36 PM by Quag15

The other half of the matches today has ended.

The other match of group A was a 2-2 draw between Villareal and Slavia Prague. The Czech team scored first (Necid and Danny), but Villareal equalized just before half time (Trigueros and Bacca.

Group B: Two draws, one a goalless draw between Skënderbeu and Partizan, the other a 2-2 between Dinamo Kyiv and Young Boys (goals by Assale, Mbokani, Assale again, and Morozyuk).

Group C: Hoffenheim got their first European win (3-1 over Istanbul Basaksehir, goals here). Braga lost 0-2 at home against Ludogorets (goal by Moti and an unusual own goal by Raúl Silva). All Portuguese teams this week in Europe lost. Can't recall the last time that happened.

Group D: Milan and AEK Athens had a goalless draw, while Rijeka won 3-1 at Austria Wien (brace by Gavranovic, goal by Friesenbichler and the third Rijeka goal by Kvrzic.

Group E: Atalanta won 3-1 against Apollon (goals here), while Lyon won 2-1 against Everton (goals here, plus a fighting scene which even involved some of the fans ^note yes, that father carrying his child tried to punch a couple of Lyon players). After the board's 'vote of confidence a few days ago, it's very likely that Ronald Koeman will be sacked.

Group F: Two 1-1 draws by Sheriff Tiraspol with Lokomotiv Moscow (goals by Miranchuk and Badibanga and Fastav Zlín with Copenhagen (goals by Dame Diop and Ankersen). The latter match ended later than expected, due to fog. With the exception of Lokomotiv's win over Zlín, all matches in this group have been draws so far.

edited 19th Oct '17 2:19:04 PM by Quag15

Arsenal's line-up against Everton:

Cech
Koscielny Mertesacker Monreal
Bellerin Ramsey Xhaka Kolasinac
Özil Alexis
Lacazette

The bench is: Macey; Holding; Coquelin, Iwobi, Wilshere; Walcott Giroud.

What's remarkable about this line-up is that we'll finally see Özil, Alexis, and Lacazette start a game together. Perhaps it's short-sighted to use those players in a meaningless game (Arsenal have nothing to gain from the league at this point) but at least there's a good chance that the football on display will be beautiful, and that's always been what I want the most from Arsenal.

Everton are in dreadful form, but Arsenal's away form is also a complete disaster at the moment, so this is a game where a barely moving force meets an object that is very willing to yield. That said, Arsenal's line-up looks actually quite strong, so who knows, maybe we really will get some entertainment.

I predict a 2-2 draw.

Arsenal's backup 'keeper, Matt Macey, is on the bench because Ospina got an injury in training before the game in Serbia. Mustafi, Chambers, and Welbeck are also still out, and will be for at least a couple more weeks. Cazorla has been out for over a year now, and will still be out until January at least. (He's not even registered for competitions at the moment, but probably will be registered during the January transfer window.)

Arsenal do have some quality on the bench, in Wilshere, Walcott, Giroud, and Coquelin, but I am worried about the defenders. If one of the centre-backs gets injured, or if Monreal has to move to the left, Holding is the only back-up. On the right, if Bellerin gets injured, we'll probably see Coquelin play as a wing-back, which is something he's done before, but not convincingly, and you don't get the feeling that that's a natural position for him, or one that he would like to learn. Debuchy played in the Europa League, so I would've liked to have him on the bench today, as cover for right wing-back and centre-back. Oh, well.

Well, isn't this just the most Arsenal thing ever. Pickford has made about 5 or 6 saves already, Everton have touched the ball maybe 5 or 6 times in Arsenal's half, and it's 1-0 for Everton. Arsenal have built a number of chances and half-chances, but Pickford is stopping everything. Meanwhile, Mertesacker, who knows that Rooney always scores against Arsenal, decides that the best way to deal with Rooney is to stand off and duck away from the shot. Was he worried he'd get injured if the shot hit him in the leg? I don't understand.

As we approach half time, Arsenal are getting back into the game but Pickford is rock solid. I've got to say, I'd happily trade any 4 players in Arsenal's squad for 1 player who would perform as well in every game as Pickford does against Arsenal.

HALF TIME: 1-1. Monreal scored when the ball ricocheted to him after a Xhaka shot was saved by Pickford.

Everton are really fighting, almost like a team battling relegation. They press very high, and when Arsenal have the ball, there are a couple of Everton players closing in on the player in possession, a couple more closing passing avenues, and all of the others deep defending.

Both sides have had some dirty incidents here. An Everton player nudged Monreal on the back as Monreal was protecting the ball for a throw-in, and the push landed Monreal on a slope, so he tumbled over a barrier and into the audience. Teams often do that sort of stuff against Arsenal to get players injured - Arnautovic, at Stoke, was probably given a bonus for the way he managed to dislocate Debuchy's shoulder a while back - but this push didn't look very hard, and if there wasn't a slope I don't think Monreal would have tumbled. I'm not sure if there was an intention to injure Monreal, or maybe the Everton palyer just didn't know, somehow, that there's a slope.

Lacazette manufactured a contact with Williams in a situation where Williams had managed to clear a ball that Lacazette was trying to catch. Williams was already on a yellow, so when Lacazette leaned on him and came down, he was probably trying to get Williams sent off. That's really dirty, and I hope Lacazette will not do that again.

EDIT: I meant to add that since I'm complaining about dirty tricks, the referee, once again, is in it. Alexis had the ball in Everton's penalty area and managed to get the ball behind Pickford, so Pickford simply jumped on Alexis to drag him out of the pitch. Penalty? 49 times our of 50 if an Arsenal 'keeper does it. This referee is obviously in favour of Everton, though: Arsenal broke through the midfield and were rushing toward Everton's area with the ball and a man advantage over Everton's defenders when the 2 minutes of added time ran out, and usually you let the play go on until the attack is over. This time, the ref didn't wait even one second to blow the whistle. He saw that Arsenal were through and Everton were struggling to catch up, so he decided to end the first half immediately. No way he would've done that if Everton were attacking.

Wow.

FULL TIME: Everton 2 - 5 Arsenal.

Everton's second goal came in added time. Monreal was under pressure, and passed the ball back to Cech. Now Cech was under pressure, so what does he do? Try to dribble the ball past the attacker, of course. Obviously, he has less skill on the ball than an outfield player, so the Everton player just had to take the ball and dribble it in.

Arsenal's second goal was scored by Özil, a header from a great cross by Alexis. Lacazette scored the third. Arsenal broke through, and Özil crossed the ball to Lacazette's feet. He was past Everton's defenders, so he only had to get past Pickford. The fourth goal was scored by Ramsey. Wilshere saw that he was unmarked and making a run through a gap in Everton's back line, so he put in a through ball that Ramsey caught and slotted past Pickford. Alexis scored the final goal of the game, cutting in from the left and dribbling the ball all the way to the opposite side of the penalty area before he took a shot right back to the left corner of the goal.

Despite conceding 5 goals, Pickford was far and away the best player in the game. For Arsenal, Özil was probably the best player on the pitch, controlling the tempo of the game when Arsenal weren't under pressure and contributing to most of Arsenal's attacks. A goal and an assist is not too bad of a result for him.

Gueye got a yellow in the first half, for persistent fouling. (It was a bit past the 30 minute mark and it was his third late tackle.) He went on to make another 4 or 5 late tackles before he eventually got the second yellow card, soon after Özil's goal. After that, my 2-2 prediction was no longer realistic, as Arsenal were firmly in control of the game. Everton will still probably finish above Arsenal this season, but in their current form, they look miserable.

edited 22nd Oct '17 7:32:45 AM by BestOf

Real Madrid 3 - 0 Eibar

It's too early to tell if Madrid has fixed the bad balance of matches in their own stadium, especially because Eibar played like preteens (in fact, Madrid's first goal was an own goal by Eibar). But Zidane's players did what they had to do nonetheless. The third goal (Marcelo's) was impressive.

Barcelona had previously won against Malaga after a controversial gol by Deulofeu (the ball had exited the allowed area, even if barely). And Valencia is really looking like a serious contender for the league title.

Marseille 2 - 2 PSG

First oif all, it has to be said that Marseille fans once again caused trouble to the policemen. This aside, PSG showed a really poor footplay as Cavani had to save them with an equalizing goal near the end.

This, coupled with Neymar's recent trouble with Unai and being expelled during the match, makes me wonder if they're really mature enough to assme the role of a team that trule strives for every possible trophy this season.

EDIT: And Milan tied 0-0 against Genoa. This team will likely need a lifetime to become the great team it once was. Even then, a lifetime may not be enough.

edited 22nd Oct '17 2:12:59 PM by MyFinalEdits

The FIFA The Best Awards are in: Cristiano won the prize, Zidane won Best Manager, Lieke Mertens best female player, Buffon Best Goalkeeper and Giroud won Puskas Award.

Very sad Deyna Castellanos didn't win any prize. Oh well...

edited 23rd Oct '17 1:16:54 PM by MyFinalEdits

Giroud's goal was great, definitely worthy of the prize. Still, I am a bit annoyed at the criteria for this prize: it's about individual excellence, so they don't award team goals at all. That would be fine, but I don't think there's any prize - at least a global one - that also accepts team goals.

For me, a goal where multiple attackers use their movement and passing to go through a defense before they get the final assist and goal is much better than any goal from individual brilliance, except if it's at the level of Maradona's Goal of the Century. Giroud's assist for Wilshere's goal in 2013, for me, is far better than the goal that won the Puskas award.

Congrats to Giroud. He might not be in Arsenal's starting line-up for league games at the moment, but when he's on you know there's the potential for a great goal.

Speaking of Arsenal's forwards: against Everton, Özil, Lacazette, and Alexis finally started a game together. Because the forwards were dragging defenders with them, Ramsey had a lot of space to join in on the attacks, as well. As a result, Ramsey, Özil, and Alexis got a goal and an assist each, and Lacazette got his first goal away from the Emirates. I can't help thinking about how much better some of the games this season would have been if the three first-choice forwards had all been available before now, but I suppose there's no point dwelling on that. Arsenal have had a horrible start of the season and have to live with that.

Vitória SC 3-3 Portimonense

From hell to the gates of heaven in 90 minutes. They scored 3 goals in... 15 minutes (to be more precise, between the 16' and the 30'), we had two goals (both by Rafael Martins) invalidated for off-side (even if fairly so) before and after their 3 goals, and it seemed like this match was pretty much done. However, Raphinha scored near the end of the first half. There was some hope.

In the second half, we tried really hard to score quickly, but their defence was really cohesive and seemed to stop everything. Things began to cool, and our players lost their concentration. But then, Rafael Martins finally got a goal shortly after the 80', and, 6 minutes later, Raphinha scored the equalizer. We still tried to score a final goal, but we were also close to suffer one on two occasions on stoppage time.

Kudos to Portimonense. This was a really intense match, and a fair result overall. Highlights (and individual videos below) here.

edited 23rd Oct '17 3:34:59 PM by Quag15

It's always a fantastic feeling when your team climbs back from what looks like an inevitable defeat. Of course, you want them to find a way to win, but snatching a draw when you're several goals down gives you a huge sense of relief. It must feel pretty great for the players, too, to think about that going in to the next game. "We need to keep going from what we did last time, but focus from the start." That sounds easier than recovering from even a close defeat.

That's how Manchester United defeated Bayern Munich in the '99 UCL final, after all.

River Plate and Lanus will duke it out in the Libertadores semifinals this week. Hopefully the Millonarios will win. They've also qualified to the Copa Argentina semifinals.

And don't forget the Miracle of Istanbul...

Thinking of these miraculous recoveries, I think the greatest in the history of English football - and it might be the best in the world - is what happened over the course of a season, culminating in the final game. I am, of course, talking about 1988-89.

Arsenal had established themselves as a credible title contender despite not having won the title for 15+ years before. Late in the season, they blew their lead, and Liverpool - who were always the favourite to win the title season after season - took the lead from Arsenal. Then there was the Hillsborough disaster, and the final game of the season was delayed. Meanwhile, all other teams finished their season; Arsenal and Liverpool were second and first, respectively, and their match at Anfield was the only game remaining in the entire season.

Liverpool were ahead by 3 points. Their goal difference was +4 above Arsenal's. Arsenal had scored more goals over the season, but also conceded more. Going into the game, Arsenal had to win by 2 or more goals to catch Liverpool on points and goal difference and win the league on goals scored. Liverpool dominated the first half.

The second half would decide the title, but only if Arsenal got 2 goals to win the league on goals scored. Liverpool looked unbeatable. Still, Arsenal got a goal on 52 minutes. Added time rolled around, and in the final minute of injury time, Thomas finally scored Arsenal's second and won the title.

I was barely even born back then, so obviously I don't remember this. (I wouldn't even be an Arsenal fan until near the end of my teens.) I've watched the highlights of that game a bunch of times and listened to interviews about it, and it's just incredible. It's amazing to think that the title was so close that you'd need the third criterion for deciding who gets it, and the final game, played when all other games were done, was at the leading team's stadium. I can't imagine that there's anything resembling that ever again in English football, and even globally, it must be extremely rare.

There's actually a documentary coming out about that game, titled 89. I think it should be out by the end of the year - one of the people who produced it was interviewed in the Arseblog podcast, and they said you could get it for Christmas if you preorder. I'm actually thinking of doing that.

I wasn't that affected by the 2006 WC loss because I still had in mind that feeling when Wiltord scored at the 93rd during the Euro 2000 finals to tie the game. In France we say that Italians learned how to reseal Champagne bottles that day.

edited 24th Oct '17 5:57:05 AM by Julep

Pepe Mel is no more at Deportivo in Spain. Fourth manager in the Liga season to be sacked so far.

In fact, this straight week alone we've seen the sacking of Koeman, Pepe Mel, Jaime Lozano (in Mexico, Queretaro), and there are strong indications that Vincenzo Montella (Milan) will follow suit soon.

Arsenal 0 - 1 Norwich in the League Cup at half time.

What an Arsenal game, once again. Norwich have brought the ball twice, or three times at the most, to Arsenal's third of the pitch, and they've only taken one shot in the entire half. Obviously, that's a goal every time you're playing Arsenal. Arsenal never seem to survive the first shot of the game against them if they've gone 15 minutes or more without having to defend at all. Happens every time.

Matt Macey gets his debut at Arsenal. He's looked composed for the most part, and the goal wasn't really his fault - the defense was far too far and wide, so it was easy for Norwich to send a ball through for their striker as soon as they got a rare touch of the ball outside their defending third.

Elneny is playing poorly, rushing forward too often. If Coquelin and Wilshere, as the midfield pivots, are already around the opposition penalty area, you probably don't need a centre-back in there, as well.

Walcott is constantly offside. He's by far the fastest player on the pitch, so this should be the last problem he could have. He should know to wait until the pass before he makes a run - he's so much faster than the defenders that there's no way he'll ever be onside if he runs before the pass is sent his way. Alternatively, he could wait for the pass deeper and still get a start on the run, but he can't wait for it between defenders and expect not to be offside. He's had this same problem in many games already this season. Wenger should instruct him to come deeper for the ball more often, and try to get one-twos on the flank or just inside, instead of simply running for through balls from far away.

Elneny, Iwobi, and Maitland-Niles obviously lack the patience to break down a defense that sits almost entirely inside and around the penalty area. To break down a defense like that, sometimes you need to come back, keep the ball, and switch sides or send a pass along the middle of your attacking line to find spaces. For Iwobi, Maitland-Niles, and Elneny, it seems that they take such a pass as an invitation to shoot from way out, which only gives the opposition a chance to waste time as they inevitably save the shot or watch it go out of the pitch. Walcott has been guilty of this, as well.

Macey
Debuchy Elneny Holding
Nelson Coquelin Wilshere Maitland-Niles
Walcott Iwobi
Giroud

The only Arsenal players who are playing well are Debuchy, who does come forward but more cautiously than Elneny and doesn't waste possession by taking unrealistic shots, and Giroud, who has generally looked able to keep possession and keep the attack moving, although he's constantly marked by at least two defenders.

Wilshere has been decent this season, but this game has been poor. He seems frustrated and angry already, after he's been tackled a couple of times with no foul given. (I'm not at all sure if there should've been a call for any of those incidents, either.)

He looks like he might pick up a yellow card by doing something rash, and when he has possession, he looks too desperate to dribble through a defender to get something going. Instead, he should be aware of the players around him and decide whether a pass might be a better option. Obviously, you want to do something quick and decisive to break through, but since Wilshere tends to get the ball quite deep, losing possession there is quite dangerous. He'd be better off passing the ball and advancing to receive it, so the attack would be in motion already and he'd have a greater chance of success.

Arsenal have to step up their game in the second half to get through this round.

UPDATE: Arsenal 1 - 1 Norwich. Extra time coming up.

Eddie Nketiah came on for Reiss Nelson, and the added experience - an 18-year-old for a 17-year-old - immediately showed, as Nketiah scored with his first touch of the ball. It's his first goal for Arsenal in a competitive game.

Arsenal have suffered from palying such an inexperienced squad, as they did against Red Star; but obviously Wenger feels that he has no choice but to rotate heavily and take the blows as they come. If Arsenal get through this, it will be a major scalp for these youngsters.

I must say I'm happy to see these kids get to play, warts and all - they do need to play some games to improve - but perhaps they should be playing league games instead of the League Cup. After all, this competition is, by far, Arsenal's best chance of getting European football for next season. If Arsenal fail to win this competition, I don't see any realistic way they could get any European football for next season.

That means Arsenal have to take the extra time seriously. Unfortunately, Wenger's picked a very weak bench and already used up two substitutions to bring on Akpom and Nketiah. It's quite telling that Akpom is the most experienced player on the bench for Arsenal.

HALF TIME IN EXTRA TIME: Arsenal 2 - 1 Norwich.

Eddie Nketiah got his second goal for Arsenal, again from a corner. He's going to remember his Arsenal debut and the two goals he scored, for sure. Arsenal have used 3 substitutions now, but you're allowed 4 if the game goes to extra time. Wenger's never used the 4th substitution, so maybe he'll make history tonight by introducing yet another teenager.

Now, here's something rare: Debuchy used his arms to block a Norwich striker's advance in Arsenal's penalty area, and both players came down. Penalty, surely? I thought so, but no. Usually, when that's done against Arsenal - as it has been done in this game, a couple of times, it's not given; but if it's in Arsenal's penalty area, it's usually a penalty, but not this time.

Wenger does, indeed, bring on another youngster: Joe Willock. That's 4 substitutions from both team,s and Arsenal's have all been youth team players for other youth team players.

FULL TIME: Arsenal 2 - 1 Norwich. Nketiah's brace is enough to see Arsenal through, but it was a very close game. It was very much like the Red Star Belgrade game, in that Arsenal went with a very heavily rotated squad against a tough opponent and barely scraped through.

edited 24th Oct '17 2:19:25 PM by BestOf

Real Murcia 0 - 3 Barcelona

Not much to say. Murcia is from Segunda B, so Barcelona was going to win no matter what.

Tomorrow Real Madrid will play against Fuenlabrada in Copa del Rey. Normally, I wouldn't call this a difficult match, but after the horrendous performance of Real Madrid in this very round back when Pellegrini was manager (2009, defeat by 4-0 against Alcorcon), same with Benitez (2015, Cheryshev illegal participation), I prefer to hope that they exercise caution.

EDIT: River Plate won 1-0 againt Lanus in the Libertadores semifinal. This was only the home match, however. The away match will take place on November 1st.

edited 24th Oct '17 5:47:06 PM by MyFinalEdits