Written by Mean Lean on Wednesday, 07 December 2011 00:43

We had qualified, we had finished top of the group. Tonight's fixture was a contracted fixture that we had to play but nothing more. Any positive result was a bonus but surely keeping the team fit and fresh for the weekend had to be the priority.

Arsene Wenger said post match

"Santos suffered a bad ankle injury. He looks like he will be out for a while. We have Gibbs coming back in two to three weeks. Hopefully Santos will not be too long but, for Saturday against Everton, he looks to be short. We have as well Vermaelen who can play in his position."

Santos stretched for a ball and went over on his ankle. He was our only established left back as Kieran Gibbs is once again on the treatment table.

You cannot predict injuries, they can happen at anytime even during training sessions but there was just no need for Santos to play the game and the same applies to Thomas Vermaelen.

The defensive balance will be disturbed both offensively and defensively. The influence of Vermaelen will not be as great at left back and will not be able to contribute going forward the way that Santos can and also Johan Djourou is not as strong defensively as Laurent Koscielny.

On the game tonight, we were hemmed inside our half by a very aggressive Olympiacos who slammed the door shut on our build up play. Djourou, Frimpong and Squillaci were continuously boxed in and we ended up conceding possession time and time again.

The frustrating thing was that once we managed to pass around the intense pressure, we had so much space to exploit and we certainly should have made that count in the first half.

The first Olympiacos goal was fortunate, Squillaci intercepted a pass that bounced off Djourou and fell kindly to the Olympiacos striker. Fabianski had no chance but to come out and I do not understand the criticism for making that decision.

The second goal was an obvious error for substitute keeper Vito Mannone, if he was aware of his surroundings then he would have simply caught the ball. The ball was too high to clear first time and with hindsight he could have even taken a touch and then cleared if he thought he was outside the area.

Before Olympiacos had scored, we could have already scored two goals. Arshavin should have scored the first after Chamakh slid him through but instead of lifting the ball over the keeper he hit the ball straight at Megyeri.

Chamakh had a good chance to test the keeper from inside the box after a Frimpong break but he took too long to get his shot away and a covering defend got back in time to block.

Yossi Benayoun was our best player on the night, he never stopped working for the team and tried to keep the ball moving for us. He needed another similar player. He needed Tomas Rosicky or Mikel Arteta so we could keep the ball. His goal was very well executed and he deserved it. Chamakh was instrumental in the move, first winning the header and then chesting it back to Benayoun.

At that point I thought that we could have increased the gears and found the equaliser, especially as the Greeks had lost some energy from the first half pressing. Rosicky could have scored that equaliser but failed to beat the keeper after a good exchange with Benayoun.

Two minutes from time the home side scored the third. Mellberg rose completely unchallenged to head against the post only for Modesto to tap into an empty net from close range. Olympiacos were heading through to the knock outs until Marseille scored two late goals to knock them into the Europa League.

At the end of 90 minutes the game meant nothing to both teams. Arsenal finish top of the group and Olympiacos finish where the started the evening, in third.

Not many outstanding performances on the night but some game time was given to those who needed it. Unfortunately Santos did not need it and we shall have to make do without him for the next few weeks.

Man of the match: Yossi Benayoun

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Comments (19)

• 07-Dec-2011 01:44 | | Mr h
  

  Son of a bitch!!!!!! What in gods good name was wenger thinking???? He had players who needed to play, waiting to play. Why play a player who would do better on the training pitch, especially considering our situation at left back.
  
  I'm astounded. For a man that so rarely gambles, it seems like such an illogical and inexplicable move on behalf of the manager...
  
  When I saw Santos and tv on the teamsheet, I was immediately concerned. The score means nothing, even less than losing to shitty, but the loss of Santos, who was just starting to show his potential, makes the result feel as though we just came in second in the group!!!!
  
  I won't often say this but seriously wenger, WTF?????????

• 07-Dec-2011 02:30 | | Vinod  - Djourou shuld be shipped out
  

  The loss of Santos is very crucial. He was one of the most confident players we had.Djourou is the panic creater.His short of confidence makes the entire team to suicidal clearences. The blame often goes to others who tries save on his mistakes,or chances created by his failures or wrong passes. If we ever have to place Djourou at center,it means we add a striker for the opponent.Ignasi Miquel always looked promising and it will be better to keep him along Vermaelen,Mertesacker and Koscielny,while keeping Squillaci as the stand by.We are not weak defensively,except the time this man is on the field.Get rid of him and bring in Vertonghen if possible.We will end up as runners up if not champions in premier league this season,if we can add two more Brazilians preferably Ronaldinho in the half and Fred up front

• 07-Dec-2011 12:03 | | richie  - ML = Right Choice
  

  I thought your pre match line up was really good. I blogged before the game that it was a chance for the Carling Cup Kids to get some CL expirence and Arsene could also give a run out to whoever he thought needed it. Little did I know! The inclusion of both Vermaelen and Santos in the squad didn't make me sit up and wonder, because I thought Arsene would have both players on the bench to lend some European expirence to the young CC squad. Perhaps ready for a last 20mins run on when young legs tire.
  
  None can forecast injury, as pointed out by ML many an injury takes place on the training ground, however when a game is won you try to bring off your important players as soon as you can so as not to take a silly risk. Therefore why play both Vermaelen and Santos in a rubber that meant nothing? A 20 minute run out at the end might've kept both fresh but 90mins when there was nothing to gain seems not only extreme but illogically strange and ricky. As it is, its now proved a bridge too far.
  
  I actually thought that ML's inclusion of our young reservist Yennaris was very apt. A part Greek Cypriot might've had a point to prove to the Greeks, and there was no risk to either him or ourselves if he didn't manage to prove anything, and he ended up on the pitch in Athenes only to sight see. Its hard to imagine young Nico Yennaris making a Premier League debute at right back against Everton. Therefore Arsene's gamble will cause first team disruption to yet another of our must win prem games? If there is something in this that we don't know I'd like to find out, because Arsene has never struck me as a gambler.

• 07-Dec-2011 12:41 | | Mr h
  

  No he doesn't seem to be a gambler, which makes the starting of Santos all the more unnecessary.
  
  I don't want to see tv replace him at lb, but considering our options we don't seem to have much choice. For me it's a toss up between eastmond and miquel, players I have no clue as to why they weren't plating in the first place.
  
  Moving tv from out of the centre will only upset the defensive balance...

• 07-Dec-2011 16:36 | | Eric  - No Gamble at all...just unfortunate turn ...
  

  I think the inclusion of Santos was to add more steel and ball retention to the team that was always going to be up against a determined and 'do or die' Olympiakos team...I dont think it was a gamble as Santos does not have a track record (at arsenal) or Injuries...so you cant predict such things...
  
  I would have played in a more midfield position personally...
  I am somewhat disappointed in Coquelin,Frimpong and Vermaelen for not bringing a sense of stability to the young/2nd stringers team
  
  Djourou as someone has pointed out is not creative going forward and suffers from positional issues....he will be more of a weak point than Miquel who seems to have better ball retention skills (A must if you play a full back /libero position such as LB or RB) ...I would have him as LB and keep the Kos/Mert/Verm backline...
  
  I dont think the team lineup was gamble at all...I think if anything the players (aside Benayoun) let themselves down by not keeping their composure and playing to their strengths...Frimpong is too rash at times but is learning...

• 07-Dec-2011 17:00 | | MeanLean
  

  I agree that these things cannot be predicted and pretty much said the same in the article. But given the fact that Santos was our last fit full back (which is crazy in itself) means that playing him in a game that meant nothing but pride was a risk Arsene didn't need to take. At least if Vermaelen was the one who went over then he would have cover.
  
  Sagna, Jenkinson and Gibbs are all out and now we have to play center backs in both full back positions. I do agree that Miquel should be the one to play. He did very well when he came on, probably better than Santos in fact.

• 07-Dec-2011 18:09 | | Eric
  

  I understand ...It may be that he feels Santos needs the games for fitness and practice his positional play...bit of a risk ...thats true...
  
  I am more concerned that Djourou does not play next game on RB as he loses focus quite often...and Everton can punish us...

• 07-Dec-2011 19:16 | | redboy  - shocking
  

  Less said the better

• 07-Dec-2011 22:03 | | colesy  - bad luck??
  

  Some will argue it was a gamble on the night. Others may curse bad luck. And sure, we all feel bad for Santos but my question is this- why did Wenger only 'replace' Clichy with Santos when everyone knew how injury prone Gibbs has been over the seasons. No, AW's master plan was to have Gibbs as his first choice LB and Santos as cover. Santos has been forced to play (in unnecessary games like this one) and incurred an injury which is going to heap even further pressure on the defence. Can anyone explain the rationale for this?? Nope.

• 07-Dec-2011 22:04 | | colesy
  

  still Europa League for the Mancs!!!

• 07-Dec-2011 22:15 | | dkgooner
  

  
  Especially City - a squad they paid 340 MILLION for.
  Well done Gael and Samir - really happy for both of you.
  

• 07-Dec-2011 23:39 | | richie
  

  I couldn't agree more re Miguel and how well he played when he came on! But that just begs the question why wasn't he playing to start with?
  Like you I'd rather keep out centre back partnerships in place and give young Ignasi his chance. Lets hope Arsene fancies a gamble on him.

• 07-Dec-2011 23:50 | | richie
  

  DKG, Never mind 340Mil its priceless - As for Nasri I really don't think winning the CL is up there for him. Its only his bonus he'll miss
  Didn't you just love the faces on Taggarts? Ha Ha Ha Hi Hi Hi Ho Ho Ho

• 08-Dec-2011 00:23 | | MeanLean
  

  What a lovely evening of football. The two Manchester clubs have been hyped up to the max over here and now they get to taste what it is like to work late on Thursday evenings ;-)
  
  *All together now* Channel 5..Channel 5..Channel 5..Channel 5..Channel 5..Channel 5!!!!!

• 08-Dec-2011 00:54 | | pika
  

  Didn't you just love the faces on Taggarts?
  
  priceless

• 08-Dec-2011 02:27 | | richie  - Old Gooners called Sir Alex Taggart
  

  Back in the 80's Taggart used to be a Glaswegian TV detective show. The original actor that played the part of Taggart was Mark McManus (He died in 94) he looked just like a younger red faced Alex Ferguson. So when Fergy became Manu'ers manager he was nicknamed Taggart. Plus Jim Taggart the character liked his drink and so often appeared as a red nosed drunk. He spoke just like Sir AF too.

• 08-Dec-2011 02:31 | | richie
  

  One would've been good but both going out thats truely special

• 08-Dec-2011 13:54 | | mr h
  

  http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/big-picture/2011-12-08/pictures- man-uniteds-humilating-champions-league-defeat-fergie-arms-rooneys- miss-and-more-photos?p=8
  
  Woke up after going out on the piss, hungover as... girlfriend reads out a FB post, Manure out.... Woke up immediately, the gloating begins!!!!!!!!
  
  http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/virals/2011-12-08/funny-photo- channel-no5-%E2%80%93-christmas-gift-no-man-united-or-man-city-fan- wants-year?

• 09-Dec-2011 11:51 | | richie  - Since this exchange
  

  Reports that the plan in Athenes had been to give Martin Angha 45mins followed by 45mins to Miguel has the ring of truth about it. Especially the (screwed up) part that it was realised late that Angha was ineligible for inclusion under Fifa rules as he hasn't resided in England for a full two years.
  
  The problem is if Angha was to be given the first half and Santos had to take his place then why was Santos still playing in the 53rd minute? Surely Miguel should've been on 2nd half, did Arsene forget or was there concerns that others might've needed subbing? More questions than we have answers for, but it explains that Arsene wasn't gambling he had problems that we weren't privee to.
  Moreover it was felt that Miguel still recovering from a shoulder knock should only to be given 45mins so as not to over tax him, very logical, very Wengerish.

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