A Forgettable Night in Greece

Well wasn't last night just one of those games you want to log away and forget about rather quickly? We of course were defeated 3-1 in Greece after an admittedly sub-par performance which included a few bits that would've been hilarious had they not been mistakes made by the players of our team.

Olympiacos came out and played exactly the way they needed to to get a result. The high pressure defending worked to great effect and shut down all our avenues of passing. Arsene Wenger was right to be a bit upset that we couldn't keep the ball under pressure, because we didn't...at all. I don't think I've seen the Arsenal players give away so many balls to the opposition in the course of a single half in a long time. The passing was dreadful.

Up against such a high defensive pressure strategy as Olympiacos were using, the lads should've found another way to get through it. There are ways to change your game-playing style without sacrificing your footballing ethos, and we didn't do it.

Of course, the defending was fairly comical as well, especially in the goalkeeping department. Fabianski and Mannone combined to remind us why our current Polish number one is so valuable to us. Who doesn't feel so much more confident with Szczesny in goal than one of these two who played last night? I've always been a big fan of Mannone actually, but he had an off-night in Greece (to put it mildly). To be honest though, I'd rather see Almunia in goal as backup for Szczesny than either of these two. At least he's older and more experienced, even if he is prone to the odd howler.

Elsewhere, Squillaci had a terrible game (which is an all-too-familiar phrase), Arshavin seems dreadfully out of form, and to top off the night we lost Andre Santos to injury. I've actually really like the guy: I think he's been doing a great job at left back. But now being out with the injury he picked up our defence is looking a little thin. Thank goodness Vermaelen can play at left back, although he sure is a lot better at centre back with the stability and calmness he provides back there.

On the bright side, Oxlade-Chamberlain had a great night, as did Benayoun, who's goal was fantastic by the way. It sure was great to see Rosicky back on the field after recovering from injury, and he played really well, didn't he? He was all over the place, chasing down balls, spraying decent passes about, and really directing affairs in the centre of the park. He'll be fighting hard for a place in the first XI , and on the evidence of last night he has the potential to get back in there.

Ultimately though, the match didn't really matter. We all knew it, unfortunately it seems the players knew it (and perhaps played accordingly), and we're through top of the group regardless. It was pretty funny at the end when the news came in that Marseille had won, and nothing Olympiacos had done mattered a bit as far as their qualification. I probably should've felt a bit of sympathy for them considering how well they played.

But we had just lost. I think I can be forgiven for chuckling just a bit.

Overall it was a good outing and gave some important experience to the young players, a good taste of what dirty, hard-fought European endeavours are like. Yes, it's unfortunate that we lost, but it's a match that will surely soon be long forgotten starting with our fixture against Everton this weekend at the Emirates. I'm sure looking forward to it. Till next time,

Fab 4