Arsenal

[Jonathan_Kerr]

Dortmund all over us, but our defence was pretty strong undone by a blitzkreig wunderstrike. 1-1 against the toughest team in the group, I'll take that.

[Petrousgyre]

Creditable stuff. Wonder goal.

[Dude Ranch]

Dortmund all over us, but our defence was pretty strong undone by a blitzkreig wunderstrike. 1-1 against the toughest team in the group, I'll take that.

Hmmm, yeah. I think I agree.

I don't think we looked very good, a win might have flattered. A point is fine. Odd substitutions maybe. What on earth we can expect from Chamakh, he looks a lost cause. Yossi had a lot of will but didn't play all that well, the game passed Arteta by for the most part. I think Gibbs and Song were our best players.

The keeper continues to impress.

[KRP]

I hate it when we take off an attacking player and stick on a defensive one with 15 minutes to go. It always makes us seem more fragile IMO.

[humdrum]

got to say Dortmund, look a very good side, would have taken a point before kick off but a bit gut wrenching to concede so late.

a big plus for me is that our heads didn't drop when they scored. there was once chance late on in injury time, where they shot and someone threw themselves in front of the shot then got up to head it away, can't help but think last season we would have lost another goal there at the end.

[Dude Ranch]

I hate it when we take off an attacking player and stick on a defensive one with 15 minutes to go. It always makes us seem more fragile IMO.

Wenger (Rice) has never mastered the art of substitutions, whether it's timing or personnel.

[Mars]

It's all gone Danny Rose.

P.S. Did Pat Rice just oversee us grind out a pressured away draw in the Champions League?

[hercules]

Good result all in all. Its hard to take as we were a couple of minutes away from a win but a draw is still a good result and even though our attacking game isn't as good as past years, I must admit we look pretty good defensively and tonight bar a wonder goal our defence was pretty solid.

[nohsa]

Klose wouldn't really have suited their style of play would he? Goetze was a bad miss for them, but I think they look distinctly lightweight at the moment, they seem to have lost some of the drive they had middle of last season when they were playing fantastic football. Their midfield looks strong tonight though, I just don't like Lewandowski much, he looked great when he first came through in Poland, but hasn't kicked on. We'll see, I've backed Arsenal tonight as their price is too high, but I can easily see all three results happening, should be a nice open game.

And yeah, would be nice for Dortmund to win, great fans they have. As most German teams seem to, I watched the Dynamo Dresden vs Bochum game last night and the home fans were amazing.

Dortmund are playing Dresden in the german Cup next month, would love to go to that game. People should also note though that ticket's for dortmunds south stand were around the €20 mark tonight.

Klose is already been a revelation for Lazio, hasn"t he? And over the past decade he has been probably one of the most consistent strikers around. Personally I am not sure sure about Lewan either, but he has had some decent games, and he was brilliant against Germany the other night. Maybe it's time for one of the youth players to come through the ranks.

[Rev]

I predicted 1-1 on the day of the draw, I'm happy to be proven right. It's a good result, if a slightly topsy turvy way of getting it. There is no way the first forty five minutes should have been a clean sheet, but if they were then the second half deserved to be infinitely more. But a fair result and building on beating Swansea.

Arteta looked great, he clearly wants to be here. Benayoun did more or less nothing, which was disappointing but I suspect he's not too fussed about being here. Mertesacker looked good, but that might have been due to standing next to the plays them onside, runs off up the pitch for no reason, passes directly to the opposition Koscielny. Who I still don't like.

And we conceded a goal as soon as Chamakh came on. I'm not totally sure I can find a way to blame him for it, but give me a bit of time to try.

All in all though, good stuff.

[BlinkyBear]

Goatse was class tonight. His feet are so quick and a constant threat. Should've thrown £45m at them.

Anyways, think everyone else has said it all, apart from Rev who is still massively wrong about Koscielny-he had another excellent game.

And whilst Gibbs and Sagna did well for large parts, they were often dragged out of position, sometimes dangerously so. Plus, Gibbo needs games and big ones-he still lacks a cultured composure on the ball.

Oh and it was interesting to see, either by fault or (hopefully) design RvP playing the false 9 with an interchanging Theo and Gervinho up top for about 20 mins in the second half. Much closer to what we should be trying to do imo. Big G looked good again, odd he's not getting much praise.

[Rev]

Goatse was class tonight. His feet are so quick and a constant threat. Should've thrown £45m at them.

Anyways, think everyone else has said it all, apart from Rev who is still massively wrong about Koscielny-he had another excellent game.

And whilst Gibbs and Sagna did well for large parts, they were often dragged out of position, sometimes dangerously so. Plus, Gibbo needs games and big ones-he still lacks a cultured composure on the ball.

Oh and it was interesting to see, either by fault or (hopefully) design RvP playing the false 9 with an interchanging Theo and Gervinho up top for about 20 mins in the second half. Much closer to what we should be trying to do imo. Big G looked good again, odd he's not getting much praise.

Koscielny is crap. He was solely responsible for massive chances due to entirely avoidable mistakes, usually from a lapse in concentration. The 60 yard ball over the top that they were obsessing over at half time? Would have been offside if Koscielny was vaguely capable. Although to be fair to him, the low point for a defender wasn't him. It was Sagna's throw-in that ended up with a panicked hoofed clearance but derserved to end in a goal for them - that would get you a massive bollocking if you were playing with friends in a park, let alone the Champion's League. Utter, utter idiot.

I'm not totally sold on Gervinho yet. He's trying hard and by luck or design he seems to bring better performances out of Walcott, which is great but I think he needs to do a bit more yet. Relatively confident he will though.

[Dude Ranch]

And whilst Gibbs and Sagna did well for large parts, they were often dragged out of position, sometimes dangerously so.

Agreed, but that's the way we play unfortunately. Especially at left back for some reason. It's been evident for as long as I can remember.

Koscielny is crap.

Not his best game but his errors were duplicated across the whole team IMO. He still shows heart, which I like. Made some good blocks, tried hard.

[Rev]

Not his best game but his errors were duplicated across the whole team IMO. He still shows heart, which I like. Made some good blocks, tried hard.

That's the faintest of praise. Put it this way, if Vermaelen had been on in his place, getting in at half time wouldn't have felt half as flukey as it did. He simply wouldn't have messed up that many times.

[mop]

Didn't see the match but nice to hear the auld defence looked good. However, hearing people say we should have just thrown a fuck load of money at them for Goatse is a bit...I don't know. I just think they really didn't want to sell him - no matter what the offer.

[toythatkills]

We just need to wear them down with never ending talk of his Arsenal DNA, is all.

[mop]

We just need to wear them down with never ending talk of his Arsenal DNA, is all.

Good call!

[Daley]

I thought Kos was ok, but like all the Arsenal defence constantly guilty of trying to play too much football at the back. I don't expect Arsenal to suddenly start launching it at Theo's head and I know it's part of the way we play to build from the back but a bit more care and urgency is needed at the back rather than a slow, lazy ball into Song or someone. The amount of times we almost lost it in our own third was scary.

Overall a good point for a team that is still getting to know each other and missing Ramsey and Wilshere. Of the team that started last night, four are new and Gibbs was not a regular last year.

[Rev]

I thought Kos was ok, but like all the Arsenal defence constantly guilty of trying to play too much football at the back. I don't expect Arsenal to suddenly start launching it at Theo's head and I know it's part of the way we play to build from the back but a bit more care and urgency is needed at the back rather than a slow, lazy ball into Song or someone. The amount of times we almost lost it in our own third was scary.

If you can't build from the back with a neat pass, you shouldn't try building from the back. Gibbs is terrible for it - he'll quite often play quite long failed passes as well. I'm hoping it's just nerves that'll disappear, but if it isn't then he has a real hole in his footballing brain that is going to prevent his development almost entirely.

[The Fox]

Yeah saying "We should have offered $$$ for Goatse" isn't really fair. Dortmund didn't need to sell and were never going to sell with no time left to find a replacement. It would have taken to completely ludicrous sum to get them to even consider it.

[Rocafella]

Koscielny and Song were great in the second half. Song won the ball back several times with some great tackles. Koscielny made some vital blocks and clearances. I thought he was poor in the first half though, continually guilty of trying to play his way out of trouble, like so many of the team.

Mertesacker doesn't impress me much. I think he needs to be more aggressive, but from what I've read about him, that doesn't seem to be his style.

I thought Arteta and Benayoun were average, although they worked hard. Arteta seems to run out of steam in the second half of matches, which he'll need to work on. Benayoun didn't stop running though and he was good in patches I thought.

Would have taken a point before the game, so can't complain with a draw we were fortunate to get. Defensively though, I still think we're a shambles.

[Daley]

You have got to love this cheeky little fucker.

Arsenal.com ask this on Twitter:

We're planning to speak to Yossi Benayoun at the training ground on Thursday. Reply with your questions and we'll ask him the best ones

Jack Wilshere, 19, Hertforshire, asks:

is he looking forward to playing with me? Haha

https://twitter.com/#!/JackWilshere/status/113989395723464705

[Rev]

You have got to love this cheeky little fucker.

Arsenal.com ask this on Twitter:

Jack Wilshere, 19, Hertforshire, asks:

https://twitter.com/#!/JackWilshere/status/113989395723464705

[Petrousgyre]

So the Guardian reckons the deal for the delightfully named Marvin Martin is back on.

Speaking of aliens, former Looney Tunes favourite Marvin (the) Martin apparently could still be on his way to Arsenal next summer, despite having just signed a new contract at Sochaux. "We had a good talk and we found an agreement," said Martin. "The officials made a promise. Indeed, an agreement to let me leave. I will remain at Sochaux until the end of the season."

Although no doubt City/Chelsea/Barca/Real will buy him out closer to the time.

[Lucky]

Realistically the only hope we have of getting him is if city, barca, utd or real don't get involved or if' he's always been an arsenal fan and it has always been his dream to play for us'

[Daley]

Fabregas has been speaking.

“I needed a change in my life, that’s the truth,” he admitted. “We weren’t winning any titles and it was very frustrating for me. I didn’t feel like I was developing anymore as I should do.

“I want to be in a club that is able to win the big titles year after year and I don’t see that kind of future for Arsenal. I still have many feelings for Arsenal but I fear that they won’t be able to push the other big clubs in England away. If you look at the team this season I can’t see them finishing in front of teams like Manchester United or City. Or Chelsea. There’s just too big a difference between the squads.

“I respect that Arsenal doesn’t have the same financial opportunities as the others but it was part of my decision to leave that I find it hard to see Arsenal winning Premier League or Champions League in a near future.

“I hope they will replace me and the others that have left with some quality players and maybe they can take Arsenal back to their level as champions.”

Despite fulfilling a long-standing dream to return to the Nou Camp, the 23-year-old also surprisingly confirmed that Arsene Wenger had indeed insisted on the inclusion of a clause allowing the Emirates outfit to resign him should Barcelona decide to sell in the future.

“That’s absolutely fine by me,” Fabregas said of the clause. “I enjoyed my time in Arsenal. I had some great years there.

“I developed as a player and as a person. I finished there as captain of the club, and I will still follow the club and their results.

“I don’t know if it’s realistic that I would return one day. But maybe I said the same when I left Barca, so you never know. If that was the final thing Arsenal needed to agree on to let me go then I’m satisfied.”

Can't really argue with any of that. We aren't really competing for any big trophies and Cesc deserves to be. Personally I wish him well and hope he wins everything. Or doesn't get in the team and they crash and burn and he begs to come back. Either one will do, i'm not fussy.

[Dude Ranch]

Saw that earlier. I do respect him and why he went but I think he can shut up now. We got bullied and robbed by Barca. We know they're a great team. They also lack class. Good luck Cesc, the Club will survive without you.

[Art Vandelay]

I never get when people say they need a bigger challenge then move to a massive club that has a better than 50% chance of winning absolutely everything every single season. Surely a bigger challenge would be to haul this Arsenal team over the line and actually win something with them? It kind of takes the sport out of it by moving to Barcelona to pick up some trophies.

[toythatkills]

I never get when people say they need a bigger challenge then move to a massive club that has a better than 50% chance of winning absolutely everything every single season. Surely a bigger challenge would be to haul this Arsenal team over the line and actually win something with them? It kind of takes the sport out of it by moving to Barcelona to pick up some trophies.

Did Cesc say that?

[Petrousgyre]

Or doesn't get in the team and they crash and burn and he begs to come back.

I was sat a yard or two from him at the Camp Nou a few weeks back whilst he was taking a corner - I stood up and yelled "Cesc, come back to Arsenal - we need you!" - he didn't react at all, the wee bugger - the crowd thought it funny though.