Ah the Europa league group stages. The quickening of the heart, the thrill of the occasion, the sheer glamour of being one of the elite. Well, maybe not. Spoiled by umpteen years in the Champions League, Arsenal fans tend to regard Europa League Group stages with all the excitement of a third round league cup game away to Nottingham Forest on a wet Tuesday night (see notes, passim).
But here we were in Vienna and Dr Faustus’s learned preview told you all there was to know about our opponents. An unusual factor of last night was that there were 3000 real fans in the stadium. Would that stimulate our boys to greatness or would we be cowed into submission? With multiple recent injuries and niggles (Willian, Ceballos, Holding) the team was:
Leno, Soares, Luiz, Gabriel, Kola, Pepe, Partey, Elneny, Saka, Laca, Eddie.
Under the EL rules, the rest of the named squad can sit on the bench and five may be used as substitutes, so 10 Arsenal players lounged in track suits.
The sound track was slightly weird because it was real, loud chants and enthusiasm as Rapid Vienna attacked, silence at other times. I think I remember …
The first 10 minutes were a little chaotic with lots of misplaced passes. An excellent move saw Eddie running from the left at the Vienna back line. He slipped in Saka, who was often playing in the inside left channel. He got the ball stuck under his feet and the move ended tamely. The Austrian defence seemed vulnerable to pace. On 14 minutes, Pepe picked up a misplaced pass and drove down the right flank. For a while it was 3v3 until Pepe was chopped down. The resultant free kick from Cedric found Luiz who powered an excellent header towards the corner of the goal and forced an excellent save from their keeper. A few minutes later, a counter attack was launched towards our goal. After some good work in the box the ball was deflected awkwardly towards Leno, who clawed it upwards and then caught the rebound. Partey made a good move upfield, opening the defence for Saka, but he couldn’t get his shot away. Partey had made a good start, progressive passing and direct forward running. The Arsenal faithful online were purring.
We were dominating possession, but Vienna seemed well drilled. They looked most vulnerable down the flanks, with Eddie and Saka seeing a lot of the ball. Laca was pinged for a foul, disputed the decision and picked up a silly yellow. The referee was already demonstrating that he thought he was the star. We were getting lots of opportunities to get the ball into the box. From a free kick, Gabriel was caught upfield after a swift counter. It was developing into a great RV chance until Partey slipped in and nicked the ball away on the edge of the box. Unfortunately, two minutes later, a Partey flailing arm caught the opposition player full in the face. He got a yellow, but it could have been worse. I remember Sol Campbell being sent off for a very similar offence. Laca was caught offside from a ball over the top. Saka slammed the ball into the net, but the very fussy ref produced another yellow. Bit of inexperience there from Eddie.
From a crowded left side, the ball was whipped into our box. Kara skilfully turned Luiz and fired a shot just wide of Leno’s far post. Three minutes of injury time saw a goalless first half end. We had had 70% of possession but only one shot (header) on target. RV looked like a team unbeaten all season, solid at the back and dangerous on the counter. There was work to do.
HT Rapid Vienna 0-0 Arsenal
No changes as the second half began. Immediately, Eddie stuck his elbow into the face of an RV player. Luckily the ref didn’t see it and VAR isn’t being used in the group stages. He would undoubtedly have been sent off, either for a second yellow, or maybe a straight red. Then Saka was hit on the elbow in our penalty area. It was marginal, with the ball hitting his elbow, but I think that might have been given in the Prem. Nothing given. We were riding our luck.
On 50 minutes we over complicated at the back. Leno to Luiz, who passed back to Leno despite two men lurking. Leno gave it away when he should have put it into row 27 and Rapid Vienna scored easily through Fountas. I could hear Bathgooner fulminating in Somerset about “pissing about in the box”.
50 mins Rapid Vienna 1-0 Arsenal (Fountas)
On 58 minutes, a nice piece of interpassing put Saka onto the by-line behind the defence. A good cross couldn’t find a man. Once again Leno passed straight to an RV player. He saved the shot but, frankly, was looking a bundle of nerves.
After an hour, Arteta made his move. He brought on Auba for Eddie and Hector for Cedric. We immediately seemed to have a better shape, with Auba playing on the shoulder of the centre backs. Partey found Auba with a delightful chip. The ball broke to Gabriel who made progress upfield and was scythed down by Kara. Another yellow card. A good link up between Auba and Laca led to another foul outside the box. Free kick 25 yards out, taken by Auba. Way too high. As I said the in last match report, whatever this new set piece coach from Brentford is doing isn’t working because the dead balls in the first 65 were absolute pony.
And then, as if to chastise your correspondent for the last paragraph, came the equaliser. Pepe was flattened by Ritzmaier, on loan from Barnsley. Another yellow card and a chance to put the ball in from the right wing. Pepe dusted himself off and drove in an excellent cross. Luiz got there first and nodded it past the goalie who was in no mans’ land. It brought back memories of Luiz doing just that for Chelsea against us.
71 mins Rapid Vienna 1-1 Arsenal (Luiz)
Less than a minute later, a third error from Leno with his boots. After coming miles out of his area he hit the ball against Luiz who seemed to have the situation under control. The ball fell to an Austrian player, with the goal gaping, but Luiz managed to harass him sufficiently to make him fire over. Phew! We were trying really hard to shoot ourselves in the foot and Leno was officially having a Weston.
But then, just as we were rocking, came a really sweet goal and a touch of class. Elneny in the 10 position on the D produced a Cesc-like pass inside the full back to find an excellent run from Hector who had stayed onside. He squared it and there was Auba for a tap in, with no defenders within five yards. As Mr Wenger would have said; quality.
74 mins Rapid Vienna 1-2 Arsenal (Aubameyang)
On 78 minutes, Partey raised a foot in the centre circle. Free kick given, of course, as it should have been at the Etihad last weekend. But like the Murphys, I’m not bitter (much). Balls over the top were now proving productive as the Viennese defence tired. Luiz found Laca and Auba well onside and seemingly through. We should have scored a third, but Laca got in a tangle and it came to naught. On 84 minutes, Willock and Tierney came on for Laca and Saka. The board went up showing four minutes of added time. Leno picked up the eighth yellow card of the evening for time wasting. With one minute to go, Reiss Nelson came on for Pepe.
FT Rapid Vienna 1-2 Arsenal
In the end, a good start to our Euro campaign, even if it was both laboured and nervy. The ref was awful, but we probably got the rub of the green with him. Rumour on Twitter afterwards is that he got home and promptly carded his wife and children. Partey had a stunning full debut, making tackles and interceptions, refusing to be shaken off the ball, making forward runs and utilising a wide range of parting. He ran the midfield. It’s going to be very interesting to see him up against James Maddison on Sunday. Gabriel also had a very good game, as did Luiz. Honourable mentions for the quality of the goals, from Pepe’s pinpoint free kick finding Luiz’s perfectly timed run and jump, to the fabulous ball from Elneny leading to the slide rule cross from Hector. Leno had a stinker and needs to regain his confidence, especially with the ball at his feet. Our two summer signings were the stars.
Partey, Gabriel, Auba and Saka are the spine of this team, all signed or resigned this summer. Bravo. We have to improve our game going forwards to make more chances. Our goalkeeper is having a wobble. Stick with him. We have a multitude of young players who may train on, or may not. Some players, who it was fashionable to knock, like Elneny, Xhaka, Hector and Luiz are very solid squad players and leaders. Pepe and Willian have lots to prove.
Until next time. I’ll see you in the drinks.
Masterful was the word that sprung
to mind at the end, thanks C100.
The end of the report I mean not the
performance, where words like job done,
ground out and move on sprang to mind.
I didn’t see much of the game but what I saw wasn’t good.
Easy and simplistic (ie lazy) conclusions to make are that we sold the wrong keeper (but to be fair to myself, that’s been my view all along) and that Partey is the new Vieira.
So lazy to say that, but I like the way he moves the ball and gets stuck in. If we can find the right partner for him, he will more than blossom. Needs to stop getting booked though, be a bit more subtle if you’re going to leave something behind in a challenge.
Still a fair bit of dead wood to clear out of the squad on this showing though. We have the bones of a really good team but it’s to be hoped Arteta will allow them to be more expansive as we progress through the season.
Excellent report, C100. I thought Partey had a decent game, but stood out in large part because what was around him did not.
C100
I agree with Matt , a report of that quality deserved a better match! Terrific stuff!
Very fair conclusions although I thought the Partey booking was horrendous . His foot was not remotely raised he was trying honestly to play a modestly bouncing ball . Are we now saying you can only ever try to challenge for a ball if it’s on the ground ?
I remember Paddy coming on against Sheffield Wednesday and the murmur that went around after five minutes as we realised what we had on our hands . I felt that way watching Partey and shared my delight with Mrs TTG who was not desperately interested. I await Mikel’s Plan for his partner. I thought Elneny acquitted himself well but I think Ceballos is the man.
I drew some conclusions on things yesterday . Satisfactory progress but several things could be better . But I’m never satisfied !
Superlative review Countryman! Excellently summarized.
Partey caught the eye with the ease of his positioning, control, directness and verticality. And Gabriel was flawless and commanding. The rest were all okay to nondescript.
I think the rare goal conceded by playing out from the back is now a part of the game. Liverpool in league at our ground was a prime example when Laca and Reiss made Allison pay by forcing mistakes out of him (and Van Dijk!) not once, but twice. The good thing about Leno is he has a cool head and good at leaving mistakes behind. We will practice more, work on a few other variations, and get better at playing out from the back. With Partey able to quickly create a transition this will become more effective attacking wise too.
I make no secret of the fact that I really like what Pepe can bring. And I may sometimes look at his performance from that perspective. Inconsistent even though he was, he still provided a few moments of genuine quality one of which made a telling difference. Arteta has also started to get more out of him in terms of off-the-ball and defensive work, as the counter-attacking switch while defending set-pieces, and having him come infield more to take part in the combination play. This is going to be a pivotal season for him and he absolutely will need to better his last season’s tally of 8 goals and 8 assists. I think he will.
Rapid Vienna performed at a higher level than I had expected they would and this was a more challenging contest for The Arsenal than was generally anticipated. Had our strongest team started, perhaps a more commanding performance might have resulted – but never treat an away win in Europe on a cold Thursday night with disdain. There are no bonus points for style.Take three points, learn, move onward and upward.
“Easy” away games provide the manager with scope for experimentation and rotation. I suspect that Mikel will have been as disappointed with his experiment of Eddie playing Auba-style on the left and rotating Soares for Hector as he was delighted by Partey’s full debut, Gabriel’s addition to the spine and Saka’s ability to impress irrespective of circumstance.
Neither Leno’s nor Laca’s best night. Surprising considering the former’s consistency, concerning regarding the length and depth of the latter’s leaden footed spell in the doldrums.
I was disappointed not to see Nelson appear earlier or even to start. I wonder if that suggests he may feature prominently against Leicester? I rather hope so.
Superb report, C100. Very much the game I saw. We had to work hard for that victory but central Europe has always been a challenging venue. It wasn’t helped last night by the Czech Mike Dean though as you observe his flaws included missing Eddie’s elbow (a certain second yellow) and Saka’s possible ‘hand ball’ though I think it struck his arm just above the sanction line.
Thomas’ debut was mouth watering. Like TTG, it vividly recalled PV4’s debut for me. He’s going to be immense for us. Gabriel continues to confirm that he is another key upgrade. This summer has provided two excellent pieces for the jigsaw. However Cedric remains unconvincing. Pepe still doesn’t seem to get the service that suits him but remains a threat. I remain hopeful for him but Laca seems to be running through treacle and wide left works less well for Eddie than it does for Auba. Props to Elneny for his constant ball recycling and especially for his through ball to Hector whose addition added significantly to our threat as of course did Auba’s. A relatively quiet night for Saka but he did take a battering. David Luiz deserves credit for his leadership at the back and his excellent equaliser. Kola was Kola. WHAT had Leno been smoking?
That was probably the biggest challenge in the group and without playing particularly well, the team have negotiated it. Onwards.
Not one to chastise my correspondent. Great report, c100. 🙂
Must agree with the gentleman in Somerset about our PAITB though. The Minnesota contingent want our pre-injury Leno back.
Thanks all.
bt8 re Leno that’s exactly the way to phrase it. We need back the Leno that hoovered up many MOTMs in a poor team before his injury.
Interesting, and I fear correct article in The Athletic today, “Arsenal cannot rely on Aubameyang to provide cutting edge every time”
Where are our goals going to be coming from if not from Auba. Magnificent header by Luiz as you said Countryman but I fear he won’t be able to do that more than a handful of times more this season and that’s if we have a combination of luck and shorter defenders facing us. Laca scoring 40 goals for Lyon must seem like a different century to him by now.
bt8 I think we can get goals from Eddie at centre forward (not on the left wing). Martinelli will be back in the new year. The problem is who to play on the right. At the moment we just don’t get enough product from Pepe. The jury is out on Willian. I don’t think Arteta believes Reiss Nelson is ready and I’d be amazed if he started against Leicester (sorry BtM). Could we play Saka as an inverted winger on the right?
I don’t subscribe to the Atlantic but I agree with the article cited by bt8 @10. We need the other forwards to step up to the plate more often. A few goals from midfield would be nice too.
I think we will see Willian selected ahead of Pepe against Lesta if he is fit. I hope he recaptures the form he showed against Fulham soon. I don’t think Saka covered himself in glory when played on the right though I may not recall every time he has. He looked a bit battered when he came off last night so I don’t expect him to start though the last time I thought that, he did. Nor does El Boss appear to like starting Nelson. I expect a front three of Willian, Laca (I know) and Auba. I would like to see Nelson start to allow Auba to play through the middle but would be very surprised if he did. I expect Elneny and Ceballos (if fit) to return to the bench and El Boss to select a midfield of Thomas and Xhaka. I’ll be interested to see how they work together. Replacing the latter with Ceballos (if fit) will add dynamism to that midfield if it proves necessary. I expect a back three of Mustafi, Luiz and Gabriel with our cfirst hoice wing backs starting on both right and left. It would be nice if Leno found his comfortable boots for the next game.
So in your team Bath, Saka plays in midfield ahead of Partey and Xhaka? Or a CB three with KT3 and Hector? No Ceballos, no Saka and slow Laca makes that a very negative team. I’d hope for a 433 including Saka and Eddie (in the middle). I would be seriously disappointed if your team is selected.
The trouble with all this time on our hands and quality blogging like the two pieces on Rapid on here is that it gets you thinking too much . I start imagining things that may not be true . Another point is that chopping and changing your coach leads to discontinuity .
We wrote off a huge amount under Wenger with the Sanchez/ Mkhi swap and how it ended, the ridiculous Ozil deal and after Wenger left letting Ramsey and Welbeck walk for free .
Then last year we spent £72 m on Pepe and £27 m on Saliba. They may both come good but will Pepe remotely justify his fee ? Saliba was a heck of an investment in the future for a cash-strapped team . He can’t even get a game in a squad with four centre backs injured.
Now I hear we are offering a trial to Bergkamp! The great man’s son but someone who at 22 hasn’t played any senior football in Holland . It may be a no- cost punt but really? I’d rather ask Dennis back . The quality of the U23s is highly dubious and we’ve filled in gaps with lots of seemingly under par players . 2 points from 5 games and we go to City tomorrow.
And we are paying £450 k a week to two blokes who can’t play for us . The sales aspect of the window was a disaster . We literally could only sell Emi. We have a lot of expensive players we don’t want running their contract down.
We have a terrific coach but I’m hugely unconvinced about Edu and a great football team needs someone like Monchi at Seville to support the manager. Behind the scenes we look a mess .
C100 @13, that was a ramble interrupted by several distractions and probably not coherent. I expect to start the following team against Lesta:
Leno;
Mustafi, Luiz, Gabriel;
Bellerin, Partey, Xhaka, Tierney
Willian, Lacazette , Aubameyang.
Thanks Bath. I also understand you think that is the team Arteta will pick. I do hope not. I hope for Ceballos and Saka.
Emi lets in three against Leeds …..
Ha! I just put him in my Fantasy team! Kiss of death.
Was he at fault for any of them?
Only seen the score. Didn’t watch the game (was watching Inspector Montalbano).
TTG@14: it may be that in the present financial environment, we (and most clubs) will have to stop thinking in terms of player trading as a business line for a season or two. You can’t sell what people won’t buy. Taking the depreciation of the transfer fees and getting deadwood salaries off the books may be all that can be hoped for.
I’ve checked. He spilled a shot for the first (Leno-esque) but the next two were worldies.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/oct/23/aston-villa-leeds-united-premier-league-match-report
This is why the big six plan is such bolocks. Teams like Villa, Leicester, Leeds and Everton are handing big six teams their arse this season. May God preserve this diversity.
Except against The Arsenal.
Bath,
Emi got a bonus point in Fantasy League tonight. He made 6 saves . Villa must have been trounced.I watched Seberg In fact I didn’t know Villa was on .
Ned
That’s a good point ..up to a point but Liverpool sold Brewster and Lovren for £35 m and Ejaria for £3.5m. We couldn’t even achieve loans for Kolasinac and Sokratis to remove their salaries
TTG, that’s good news.
This is a sad piece about LJW. I do hope he finds a decent club and can remain fit:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54664335
Was just about to post that piece
Bath! As you say best of luck to
Jack – he deserves a change in
fortune
Rather labouring a point about our reserve teams we travelled to Manchester City today . We fielded only three substitutes , none of them goalkeepers ! And guess what ? Our goalie ( Hein) was sent off!
It’s 1-1 at half-time with the new lad Moller scoring an early goal for us. We have had to put a lad in goal, Foran, who is a centre back . Is it me or are we taking a very strange approach to our reserve and junior teams? We all get very excited when young stars come through but it’s hard to flourish in such a chaotic environment.
No Saliba in the U23 squad. On the bench for the first team tomorrow?
TTG: Why no keepers? The reserves have as many of them as the first team has CBs.
re your @25: Arguably Liverpool has merchandise more saleable than Kolasinac and Sokratis.
They ultimately lost 4-1. They also had no defenders on the bench .
I don’t think Saliba is anywhere near the first team and we may see Mustafi tomorrow with Kola on the bench.
To answer Ned’s question ( which was a very reasonable one ) we may have two goalkeepers injured although the people who follow the reserve teams did not know this .
Apparently they have a very big ( but singularly underperforming ) U18 squad and Edu’s son, Luis Gaspar , who I thought was considered a particular talent , has not kicked a ball for them this season despite apparently not being injured .
If Saliba does not figure tomorrow you have to wonder what the hell is happening to him.
In fact you might ask what the plan is for the academy and reserves this season. You don’t find it easy to sign the big, upcoming talents with this sort of approach to the lower teams
More dropped points for Shitty.
Matt,
Indeed and if the Bindippers really miss VVD it opens the League and the top four chase right out . I’m saying it out loud so it doesn’t happen but our neighbours are a real worry if Bale comes off . But I do expect Moaninho to start pissing everyone at the club off this season .
But the league is up for grabs .
I hear Ceballos is fit for tomorrow
Saliba is a mystery, not least because the club seems to have managed the information about what is happening with him this season that way. Scant information dribbles out about bereavement and difficulties settling in London and with the language. One report of a U-23 game suggested he was out of his depth tactically. He may still be carrying an injury from last season. But that is about it.
He is 19 and 19-year-olds can have problems. Okonkwo, the Academy keeper who has just turned 19, has just returned from a year off because of personal issues. It happens. The difficulties of 19-year-olds bought for 30 million euros and talked of as the second coming of Tony Adams and Sol Campbell rolled into one before most of us have seen him kick a ball may be particular, too.
The development of young players can stall at around that age, mentally, physically and technically. As we have discussed in the bar before, plenty of prospects have passed through the Academy that did not pan out, or, like Gnabry, bloomed later than expected.
But I think many minds outside London Colney would be put at ease if there was an explanation given about what is going on with Saliba, at least in broad-brush if there are details that should rightly remain private.
That’s good news TTG, I think
Dani will start tomorrow.
It is difficult to get a read on the
league so far, we are one of the
few teams not having surprising
results.
The Saliba situation is indeed very frustrating. We should have learnt from the signings of Mavropanos, Holding and Chambers that our ability to spot the next TA6 as a teenager breaking into a less demanding team in a less challenging league is seriously limited. Having said that our ability to identify reliable centre backs with mileage on the clock is also extremely flawed. Frankly, this is why Gabriel appears to be such a phenomenon. I sincerely hope he maintains his early progress which is very impressive indeed. Between you and me, I have already written Saliba off for at least two seasons.
Ned,massive income
Very well-summed up.
When we discuss alternative strategies to compete with the richest sides we cite the Dortmund model which identifies top talent early and is attractive to emerging talents because they know they will play eg, Haaland , Sancho, Bellingham . It also generates massive income for them .
But as you say it is far from risk-free . I’d imagined us playing a back four with Saliba and Gabriel this season but he is clearly ‘ a work in progress ‘ and perhaps another spot that Mislintat made that wasn’t quite what we expected . For the lad’s sake I hope all comes good but given the muddle that I ( and I appear to be on my own in this) discern behind the scenes I hope we can provide coherent development for the brightest talents including Saliba . Of our emerging young players only Saka is progressing as quickly as I would hope
In brighter news Man Utd v Chelsea is possibly the most boring first 30 minutes I’ve seen all season. A skill free zone.
Expand that to first half. Maguire should have had clear penalty against him. No review. Someone’s foot brushed Rashford, 4 reviews. Reluctantly not given.
C100
Absolutely right. It’s no better in the second half. I’m watching more of the rugby !
What intrigues mecabiut modern teams is that their passing is incredibly risky in areas where it could cost them a goal but ultra- conservative in the final third where it seens to me right to take risk . If a corner reaches a player thirty yards out he turns it back to someone on the halfway line who, if there is an opponent anywhere near plays it back to the goalkeeper . Madness!
An excellent analysis of how Pepe’s strengths and Mikel’s tactical shapes are not entirely compatible with each other. Some promising developments nonetheless about Nico’s improved involvement with overall game under Arteta nonetheless.
Absolute shit show. 0-0
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