i'll start by saying the score line flattered us immensely. We never really looked that much superior to them as the 4-1 margin would suggest. The game was close all through, Everton caused us troubles at the back all game long especially on the breakaway. In Ross Barkley they have a fantastic young player who will be a great asset down the years and it was him who was our tormentor-in-chief. The contest was no more than i expected , Martinez has done a great job on that team and they can be proud of themselves despite their loss. However this was a game we absolutely needed to win after that car-crash of a match against Stoke last weekend. The overall mood around Arsenal had ebbed after that game, as it seemed our title hopes had fizzled out with that loss. Getting eliminated today would have been an unthinkable disaster, so kudos to the boys for responding like they should.
Our Start to the Game
We began the game in quite the same fashion as the Bayern one at the Emirates and i'll tell you this, it just seems whenever we start off any game like a house-on-fire it puts our opponents under pressure and also gets the fans rocking. There really is no sense in bottling your energy levels at the start of any game. All it takes to set yourself up to win at this level is to have a resolute start and put your opponents on the back foot, something we spectacularly failed to do at the Brittania last week. In that game, we only started to play after going behind and i found that very annoying. Luckily no such repeat here.
Ozil
Look i know Ozil has been in the news for a lot of rubbish lately..But it has to be said most of the stick he has received has been as a result of some of his performances that have been poor lately to be honest. His body language also at times potrays a man who doesn't care but if the feelers from his pals and national team mates in the aftermath of the Bayern game are anything to go by, he was completely crest fallen after that fateful Penalty miss. Today he looked much better and worked harder..Although i think some work still needs to be done on his ball retention, as i think he gets shrugged off it too easily. In any case , he responded to his critics with a goal and an assist. So here's hoping he has gotten over his slump. Afterall goals bring confidence and we need Mr Ozil to find his very fast.
Giroud
Giroud seems to enjoy a knack for getting goals from the bench. He replaced the largely toothless youngster Sanogo and immediately got stuck in to the physical battle with Distin and Stones. He got two excellent strikes that remind us that with him..sometimes its all about the quality of the service he receives. Every striker thrives on service and Giroud is no exception. The only thing that frustrates with him is his inability to take on defenders and beat them like say maybe *cough* Aguero. But you could also argue that the ManCity man can't Hold up play like Giroud can. I get frustrated like everyone else with Olivier's game but i'v learnt to accept his limitations and expect the manager to employ him in a manner such as today that can cause him to be more productive. I feel we can start Sanogo on some occasions to freshen things up and then introduce Giroud to give the defenders a different Kettle of fish to cope with. Its has been proven to work on occasion.
WOW WEMBLEY!!
So we make a long overdue return to Wembley ever since our horror show in 2011 (no i won't go there). Its a great feeling to know we will be watching Arsenal on that famous ground again. Whoever we meet i want the team to Go for it like its the UCL final. Its not everyday you get to play at Wembley, so lets hope the draw is favorable and we give it a right go.
Thats it then, roll on Bayern on tuesday..i may put up a preview for that, but if i don't do bear with me.
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