Written by Mean Lean on Friday, 17 February 2012 09:36

I'd imagine that euro soccer odds for Arsenal to make the next round of the Champions League will be gigantic following what was a shambolic 1st leg in Italy.

Arsene Wenger was furious at his players post match and he didn't hide that when being interviewed.

AC Milan looked like a fresh hungry Premier League team while Arsenal looked like a slow, tired and laboured Italian side. Our great record against Italian sides in the past have often stemed from the speed of our football, the aggression in the challenges, the tempo that we set but for some reason this was non existent from the very start.

That will remain my greatest disappointment on that night. We had fighters on that pitch, fighters like Sagna, Vermaelen and Arteta who back tracked into their shells and once that happened then we were never going to win the game, especially given the fact that we lacked any creative spark in the final third.

The cynic in me will say that Milan purposefully damaged the wide areas, the part of the pitch where AC Milan would have expected our biggest threat, especially considering the fact that Milan are a very narrow team who only have width from their full backs but the defeat goes beyond our offensive game, it has everything to do with the will to win.

What happened to this new Arsenal team that was 3-0 up at home to West Brom but still fought like crazy to win the ball back? Where was the pride in the shirt? That for me is what I have trouble dealing with today.

We were playing in the first leg against AC Milan in the San Siro, a welcomed break from the weekly grind that is the Premier League. A chance to showcase their talents, a chance to prove that we are still a very good side but for some reason the team froze, they looked a complete mess from back to front. Disjointed, unorganised, lacking conviction and desire and I have to agree with the manager, it is our worst night in terms of performance in the Champions League.

At the same time plenty of credit has to be handed over to AC Milan for the way they approached the game. Tactically, technically and committedly they were superb. I thought Kevin-Prince Boateng was class and the way he and Robinho combined and moved around Zlatan Ibrahimovic was just wonderful to watch, or at least would be if the opponent was not Arsenal.

Boateng's opener was top quality, our defence did not pick up his movement and a simple chip allowed Boateng the time to chest the ball and rifle it over Szczesny. What Sagna was doing for the Milan second goal is anybody's guess.

Ibrahimovic may well have been offside but why on earth did Sagna not chase back behind the ball. Bacary Sagna is very fast, Zlatan is not. Sagna almost gave up the chase when five yards away, his left footed cross to the head of Robinho was inch perfect and we were punished once more. That goal shouldn't have happened.

Sagna had a bad game overall which is almost unheard of. But the biggest surprise was watching Thomas Vermaelen. It was his first game in the center for a long while and maybe that had a big part to play but had that performance come from Squillaci then the castigation would still be ringing around the web today.

Robinho and a dubious Zlatan penalty all but sealed the tie in the second half, even the introduction of Thierry Henry for the second 45 minutes could not havd a big enough impact on the game. An away goal may have given us more of a glimmer of hope but it just didn't happen.

The only spark came from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain late in the second half, one of the few who combined technique with purpose during his brief spell on the pitch. Luckily Laurent Koscielny's injury isn't too serious but he will still probably miss out over the weekend.

The prestige of the FA Cup has suddenly increased dramatically, what previously was a fixture that would feel the weight of rotation is now a must win game, the trouble is that it could come too soon for total mental and physical recovery and I really wouldn't be surprised to see us fail to win that game.

What happened in Milan was a shambles but let us get one thing straight, we are much better than that. Our reliable players on the night were not reliable and that isn't the norm. Sagna, Vermaelen and Arteta will not play as badly as that again this season.

I just hope that AC Milan in the San Siro 2012 will not be Birmingham City at Wembley 2011. The difference this time round is that we do not have a long list of players itching for the exit door. There is plenty more resilience around the squad so my fingers are crossed that we can bounce back sooner rather than later.

Men of the match: The Arsenal Away Fans

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Comments (14)

• 17-Feb-2012 10:48 | | Tom
  

  These capitulations are no longer a shock.
  
  They've got worse, and more frequent over the last year or so, but there have been plenty since 2006/7. This wasn't even the worst!
  
  Milan could, and should, have added another couple.
  
  Things simply must change at the end of the season. Whether its the players, a new manager, new backroom staff, enough really is enough.
  
  No more 'resting players' in the FA Cup. No more treating it like a 2nd class tournament.
  
  Going into next season, we need to treat the domestic cups with far more respect than we have over the last few years. No more 'give the kids a chance'. They're our most realistic chance of success.
  
  My worry is that we'll finish 4th, and everything will be brushed under the carpet.

• 17-Feb-2012 10:51 | | Willy young
  

  I fear we are that bad!!! Admittedly Sagna and TV can never play that badly again
  
  However reflecting on this season I thought who are must keep players for us
  
  Schesny
  RVP
  Jack
  Kos
  TV
  The Ox
  
  
  Players who are ok = at a top team would be squad
  
  
  Song
  Arteta
  Sagna
  Santos
  BFG
  
  
  Young Prospects
  
  
  Coq
  Miguel
  Jenkinson
  Martinez
  Frimpong
  Ryo
  
  
  Leaves squad of 17lots to replace!!!!!

• 17-Feb-2012 11:02 | | Ñümb'r föùr  - Amen to that ML
  

  Totally agree wit u ml,such a performance from our top battlers shld neva repeat itself again.dat was just a nite 2 forget for d lads.from wat I've read around dis mornin',it seems Arsene gave d players d 'hairdryer' treatment yesterday.right in front of d press!

• 17-Feb-2012 11:10 | | Terry
  

  I think the players will put in a decent shift and beat Sunderland - but this won't be because of Wenger's managerial skills...it'll be as a response to the desperately poor display in Milan. And so the cracks get papered over again!
  We won't get 4th place. No way!

• 17-Feb-2012 11:14 | | big Andy
  

  Vermaelen was poor playing at left back and that seems to have shot his confidence as that's the worst I've.seen him play. This may sound crazy but with the ox and Wilshere together I think we could be quality inyears to come but at the moment we are unacceptable. Tactics need to be altered, what petit said was bang on for me too many similar players.

• 17-Feb-2012 11:20 | | Shrek
  

  Does anyone have any idea by how much does the League cup affect our schedule ?
  
  Also regarding the domestic cups, is it only England which has replays for drawn matches at every level? Because from what I've read , such replays in other countries exist only around the quarters and semis.
  
  Please note that I ain't blaming any of the above as reasons for our poor form.
  
  The big issue with starting Walcott is if the opposition defence is well organized & our MF is rendered impotent, his limitations as a player come to the fore.

• 17-Feb-2012 11:21 | | Vuja De
  

  Milan played well, and deserved to win the game.
  
  But I think we can all recognise that, collectively, the real Arsenal team
  simply didn't turn up for the game, for whatever reason, and there seemed to be several imposters wearing the Arsenal shirts that night, as if they were playing the game from memory.
  
  At the same time, although Milan dominated the midfield and snuffed out our attacks, I don't think that they were that good - i.e. playing a brand of football from another planet - we simply made Milan look much
  much better than would otherwise be the case, hence all of the Milan goals originating from our own errors.
  
  Quote from Mean Lean - "But the biggest surprise was watching Thomas Vermaelen. It was his first game in the center for a long while and maybe that had a big part to play but had that performance come from Squillaci then the castigation would still be ringing around the web today." Agreed. I think it was his worst ever performance in an Arsenal shirt.
  
  I have to comment on Walcott. Because of his current technical limitations as a player, Milan - like some other teams this season - found it relatively simple to play against and nullify him. And that wasn't just to do with the appalling state of the wide pitch areas either.
  
  Tactically, Milan defended deep, then effectively closed down the spaces that Walcott had to run into. As Walcott cannot beat a man unless he's able to use his pace, this meant that he was, for all intents and purposes, a mere passenger in the game.
  
  In such circumstances, this presents Arsenal with a real problem, as we are effectively playing the game with ten men.
  
  I'm very much aware that Walcott is still developing and learning his trade as a player. However, his starting role in the team shouldn't be taken for granted, as I believe that there is serious room for improvement on our right flank, either by Walcott himself, or by another player.

• 17-Feb-2012 12:42 | | JoeCarbonUK  - Why does it happen?
  

  I admit to not paying much attention to those teams around us, I much refer to focus on Arsenal. But am I wrong in thinking that Arsenal, more than any other team, regularly have these blips in desire to win or even turn up.
  
  I love this squad and I truely believe in its potential, but how can they care so little about such a big game.
  
  Is it that the players did not beleive that they would progress to the next round, I doubt it.
  
  Is it because the squad players are "average and overpaid", I doubt that too.
  
  So what gives rise to such a lack of pride and effort?
  
  The only explanation that I can come up with is that the players are constantly being told to look forward to the next game, to recover quickly form any defeats - so perhaps for that reason we do not dwell on what happened in the game previous and instead, wait for the summer pre season to analyse and iron out any deficiencies.

• 17-Feb-2012 14:04 | | Andy Mack
  

  Willy,
  you're being very hard on Gibbs for his first game back.
  And being quite generous to Arteta.

• 17-Feb-2012 16:00 | | Rahul
  

  I am tired of the "get rid of half the team" talk.
  Arshavin probably should go because he isn't happy.
  We need to get stronger by adding another striker and a midfielder.
  Otherwise, I think we are okay.
  Leadership is leadership. It looks like Per has been good.

• 17-Feb-2012 19:05 | | Colesy
  

  Rahul, where have you been mate. Don't you realise, that in order to bring in new players we first need to offload some - we are maxed out with our squad and have to operate within FIFA rules.
  
  Plus we've got no money - or no desire to spend it.

• 18-Feb-2012 05:23 | | Rahul
  

  I am just saying you can't off load half the team every year. People need to get used to playing with each other. AW brought in 5 new guys in August. We ditched Eboue Denilson, Bendnter, Vela, lost Fabregas and Nasri, I am just saying you can't have a whole new team every year.
  
  Look at Man City, yes they got Aguero and Nasri, but its the same squad as last year and they only played for 4th.
  
  Not against having some more people go, but the reaction has been to ship out half the team, you can't do that, its a knee jerk reaction, that all...
  
  Like people want Walcott to go. I am not saying he should start all the time, but really? Rosicky should stay too, obviously he will get less playing time when if Ox steps up, and Ryo is ready, and Wilshere is back.
  
  I get your point about the 25 max, home grown rule, and I don't completely disagree, just don't like the over the top doom and gloom (not saying your responsible for it Colesy, just the media, etc.)
  
  Anyways, time to beat Sunderland....

• 18-Feb-2012 10:49 | | desi'gner gooner  - strategize for cow ploughed field of a pitch......
  

  There has been enough talk of re-vitalizing the squad during the summer and doomsday predictions etc etc....
  
  In my personal opinion - all this talk counts for little because we have a squad at the moment which won't change untill the summer.....
  The team needs to take it one game at a time - plan and prepare for each game as well as they can and when they turn out on the pitch - give it all they have got in them - feet, lungs, whatever it takes...
  
  And talking of the pitch - it is common knowledge now that the Sunderland pitch is going to the same cow ploughed farm field.....So the team must plan accordingly. I would like to know from fellow gooners whether it could be interesting to throw in Chamakh at some point with RVP just behind and play a few long balls in order to by-pass the midfield and nullify that horrible pitch?? Yes it would mean changing our system which Arsene rarely does but I guess it might just undo the dogged Sunderland defence......Of course it is all based on the hypothesis that Chamakh will have some sort of a decent game......

• 19-Feb-2012 14:56 | | Ampersand Conway  - Henry will always be the hero!!
  

  http://www.hownottobealoser.co.uk/cdfwmw, I've made this video myself so would appreciate it if you could give it a watch people ibrahimovic vs henry!!! very funny. go on the link and make your own videos too....enjoy!!

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