Olympiakos 3-1 Arsenal: No Less Than We Deserved

Thank heavens for Wojciech Szczesny.

Well, that was pleasant, wasn’t it? A team full of reserves and youngsters faced off against a determined, full-strength Olympiakos side determined to get the win, in any way possible. With a ravenous home crowd egging them on, this game turned out to be a bit of an ugly affair, with studs flying at different times and resulting in some nasty tackles and unsightly scenes. Speaking of unsightly scenes, what the fuck was that from us? A very timid, uninspired display overshadowed by a completely horrendous goalkeeping performance, reminiscent of the latter days of 2009-10. All I can say is, thank fuck this game was entirely meaningless. And also for Szczesny. Ultimately, this game was a dead rubber, and I’m glad we got the stinker out on this game, rather than in any meaningful game.

Olympiakos knew that anything less than a win would be elimination from the knockout stages, so they went on for the win almost straight from kick off. Nevertheless, we looked as engaged and energized as they did during the opening stages, leading to a aggressive game. The first real chance for us came in the 8th minute, where Chamakh, receiving a pass from Arshavin, returned it to the Russian, who rushed inside the box but saw his shot well saved by the opposition goalkeeper. In the 13th minute, Chamakh received another good pass, this time from Frimpong. Our Moroccan backup saw his shot blocked but recovered possession and returned it to Frimmers, whose first time shot went just wide and hit the side netting.

However, Olympiakos took the lead in the 16th minute and never looked back. Arshavin lost possession in our half, and Olympiakos attempted a through ball just outside our box. Our defense got on top it, but Squillaci and Djourou got in each other’s way and Squillaci’s touch on the ball was wayward, putting it straight into Djebbour’s path, who rounded a confused Fabianski and put it into the back of the net. 1-0 Olympiakos, and a bit harsh to give up the goal, considering the game had been pretty even up to that point.

However, after Olympiakos went ahead, they assumed control of the game and never really let go for the rest of the game. Their high intensity, no holds barred, high pressing game was very effective against our lightweight, inexperienced midfield of Frimmers, Coq, and Yossi. For pretty much the rest of the first half, Olympiakos dominated game, exerting pressure whenever we had possession and not allowing us to venture out of our half. That, of course, resulted in numerous chances for the Greek side. And as with all Greek things, one of these chances resulted in tragedy. In the 24th minute, a dangerous Olympiakos crossed was whipped in into our box, resulting in a 3-way collision with Fabianski, Vermaelen, and some Greek bloke. Verm was fine, but unfortunately Fabianski was Verminated, suffering a deep cut in his knee, and forcing his substitution, bringing young Vito Mannone to the spotlight for his first appearance this season.

After a couple of other incidents, including a temporary injury scare for Coq and a great run by AOC that resulted in a wide volley by Benayoun, Olympiakos grabbed a second, 9 minutes from the half. As had been commonplace all game long, our players lost the ball in midfield (this time Frimmers), resulting in Mannone coming out of his line to head the ball away. The ball landed to David Fuster though, who took a hopeful long shot, coming straight at Mannone. The ball was coming slightly to Mannone’s left, and at near thigh level, a perfect position to grab the ball and end the chance. Instead, Mannone, fueled by lack of playing time and recklessness, decided to inexplicably try to bicycle kick/ninja kick/volley/spin move the ball, and missed entirely, and the ball trickled into the empty net. 2-0 Olympiakos, a lead they deserved, and we looked in shambles.

Where's that Polish wacko with the sweet kicks?

The rest of the half played out in this manner: Olympiakos would drive forward and easily get to our box, looking for a third. An Arsenal player would nervously or lethargically clear it (Djourou was guilty of this a couple of times), Olympiakos would regain possession at the halfway line, lather, rinse, repeat. The half came at 2-0, with Arsenal playing some of their worst football since August.

The second half arrived with more bad news. Another Olympiakos goal? No, even better! 2 minutes in, Santos seemed to screw his ankle after attempting to clear the ball, resulting in his forced substitution. Reminded of similar happenings of seasons back, the Arsenal Twitterverse was up in arms- why play Santos, and to that regard also Vermaelen, when they could get injured at this crucial juncture of the season? Santos was replaced by Ignasi Miquel, and the Brazilian, according to Wenger, will be out for “a while”. So now our 4 designated full backs are all injured. Whoopee!

The game trudged on, with Olympiakos finding a shot here or there, but the game picked up around the 56th minute when we, against all odds, scored. Miquel was the architect, delivering a great cross in the Olympiakos box for Chamakh. Of course, Chamakh fell over, but the ball kindly fell to Benayoun, who struck a sweet volley into the back of the net. Who knew he had so much power in them tiny legs! 2-1 Arsenal, a chance to get back into a game we had never really gotten into. But there was time.

Naturally, we almost conceded almost immediately after we scored. The ball was crossed in our box, heading straight to an onrushing Mannone and Modesto. Mannone was closer to it, and Squillaci was there as well. As you might expect, neither teammate got a clear hold of the ball, allowing Modesto to creep in and almost head his side 3-1 ahead. Simply awful, and a telling highlight of our performance.

But as the game progressed, Olympiakos, who had pressed almost non-stop since kickoff, started to get tired, and started to get sloppy and nervous as they tried to hold on to the win. In the 74th minute, we almost got the equalizer when Benayoun released a great chipped ball over the top for an onrushing Rosicky, who had just come on. Rosicky got a foot to it, but it the attempted volley was well saved by the Olympiakos goalkeeper.

The game then entered its final stages with both sides tired, nervous, and only one having a vested interest in the game. Olympiakos continued to terrorize our defense with a couple of goalmouth scrambles, but we also got to see AOC embark on a nice dribble (ultimately unsuccessful, though), and Chamakh miss some passes. Finally, a minute from time, an Olympiakos freekick was taken and met by Mellberg, who headed it against the post. The rebound fell to the ludicrously onside Modesto, who was all by himself and tapped it into an empty net. 3-1, and that’s how the game would end.

On to the ratings:

Fabianski: 5 Was nervous and weak in his distribution. The goal he let could have been avoidable, but I’ll put most of that on our defense. Almost conceded a second after a rushed clearance led to a hopeful shot that just went wide. Got himself injured after colliding with Vermaelen, and had to be subbed with little over 20 minutes gone. Hopefully it’s not too serious.

Djourou: 6 Struggled at times to deal with Olympiakos’ attackers, notably Mirallas. Almost had a blunder at the end of the 1st half, waiting 30 hours to clear the ball before finally passing it to Frimpong, who lost the ball and almost had the Olympiakos player score. Did get forward at times though, and with Jenkinson and Sagna still out, he’s our only RB at the moment.

Squillaci: 5 He had a decent game against City last week, but everything returned to normal as Squillaci had another stinker today. His bad touch to Olympiakos’ through ball led to the first goal. And he looked shaky throughout. Bad game, as expected.

Vermaelen: 6 Not even the Verminator is impervious to the occasional bad game. A bad pass back to Fabianski almost resulted in a goal in the 23rd minute. And with Squillaci next to him, our captain for today didn’t look as assured as he has in recent weeks. Of course, with Koscielny or Mertesacker partnering him on the weekend, all will return to normal.

Andre Santos: 6 Like Djourou, struggled with his opposition number, who found it easy to get into our box, especially near the end of the first half. But was decent going forward, and unleashed a dangerous low cross that Chamakh missed entirely. Got injured shortly after the re-start and will be out for “a while”. Whether that’s 1-2 weeks or a month or two remains to be seen, but now we’re reduced to either playing Vermaelen out of his favored and most influential position or risking the kid, Miquel, to play until Gibbs comes back. And we play City in 2 weeks.

Frimpong: 6 Started the game brightly, and showed a Vieira-esque run in the 13th minute. But after Olympiakos scored, the constant pressure meant that he got caught out of possesion a number of times, notably in the build up to the second goal, and the almost-but-should-have-been 3-0 right before HT. Will need to go out on loan to continue to develop.

Coquelin: 6.5 Composed on the ball as always, but the everpresent Olympiakos pressure meant that he saw less of it. Not as reckless as Frimpong, though.

Benayoun: 7 Co-Man of the Match One of our most creative players today, Benayoun showed a lot of hustle and got a reward for his efforts, a sumptuous volley that briefly sparked our revival. Showed a real leader’s instinct today, and has proven to be a good option to our current starting 3 in midfield.

Arshavin: 5 Aside from a bright spell at the beginning, including a well saved shot 8 minutes in, Arshavin didn’t appear in this game much, if at all. Once Olympiakos went ahead and took control of the game, Arshavin pretty much drifted out of the match. Anonymous when trying to regain possession, and wasteful on the break, he was handed one last chance to prove himself today and it’s fair to say he let it go. His contract runs out this summer, and unless Wenger still believes that the little Russian has something left in him, something that shows that he’s a adequate option for Gervinho, Theo, and now AOC, I see him leaving in January.

Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6.5 Showed some promising runs and dribbles here or there, but our poor midfield meant that he got little service and thus little of the ball. Next to Benayoun, our most likely player to create something.

Chamakh: 4.5 Ugh. Look, I know we’ve only had him for 1.5 seasons, and he came on a free. And his link-up play and passing are decent, and provides an outlet for other players to score. But his technique is awful, his diving is pathetic, and his lack of speed and mobility means that his supposed asset, link-up play, is rendered moot because opposition defenders just crowd him, knowing other attackers won’t get ahead of him before he loses the ball. And when was the last time he scored, anyway? He’s still, somehow, RvP’s first choice backup. But considering the chances he’s been given, all against manageable opposition, I’m perfectly happy with his sale to a side willing to pay for him, and using that money to get a decent forward capable of scoring and complementing RvP. Like one of those German men. Or Messi- I’m not picky, I’ll take anyone.

Subs

Mannone: 4 When Fabianski got injured, I initially thought that this would be a good chance for Vito (now 23) to either prove Wenger he had something in him to be an adequate #2/#3, or put himself in the shop window and make a team pay for his transfer. Well, he hardly did his reputation any wonders today. There was of course his awful blunder for the second goal, which will be forever consigned to the blooper reels for funny Youtube videos. You could blame lack of game time for the error, but it was nevertheless a calamity. And for the rest of the game, he looked like a wreck, missing crosses and corners. He did have a couple of decent saves, but it’s obvious his Arsenal career is over.

Miquel: 6.5 Came on for the injured Santos and did well. His cross led to our only goal. Will be getting a lot more game time over the next few weeks due to Santos’ injury, which beggars the question- if this game was a meaningless dead rubber, and Miquel has shown he’s adequate at LB, why the hell didn’t Wenger just play him from the outset?

Rosicky: 7 Co-Man of the Match Came on for Coq. His presence added some much needed vitality and resistance to pressure from our midfield, and almost got an equalizer from Benayoun’s chip, but his volley was well caught by the Olympiakos goalkeeper.

So, a pretty bad loss to take, but considering it was meaningless, can we take anything from it?
What we have gleamed from this game, we already knew beforehand- Chamakh, Squillaci, Arshavin, and Fabianski have been disappointing this season, and they will require a great turnaround in form from them to avoid getting sold in January or over the summer- and considering it’s nothing but EPL games from here on out until January 7th, where we play Leeds in the FA Cup, it’s unlikely these guys will be given other chances.
Frimpong needs to go on loan to return as a more composed midfielder, as well. He’s a riot on Twitter, but his loss of possession, leading to the second goal, nearly led to a riot on Twitter among the fans.

Still, it’s hard to get too sad or angry over what Homey truthfully called the most meaningless game of the season. The performance was disappointing, but I’m more frustrated at the injuries we sustained- and also that the likes of Park and Ozzy Ozyakup didn’t get a chance to come on. And with the way the comments were being written on Twitter, you would have thought that we were relegated to the Blue Square Premier or something- there were still two good things about this game, namely Yossi’s sweet striker and seeing the hard Olympiakos players, who had hacked us down all game, break down at being informed of Marseille’s incredible comeback at Dortmund, pipping the Greeks to the second spot.

So we still qualified, we rested (most) of our first team players, and now we’re ready to see those 3 statues unveiled at the Everton game this weekend (cue “3 sucky players” or “Nasri, Cesc, Adebayor” jokes.) Pretty good deal, if you ask me. Tomorrow the group stages are concluded, and we will get a clear view on who we might face in the Round of 16- spoiler alert, it won’t be Barcelona! That enough is reason to celebrate. Have a good Tuesday!

P.S.- To those who follow our Twitter, it was I who posted that “Brazilian” tweet. I definitely know that the language is Portugese, and that was just an embarrassing lapse of the mind. My apologies, you all know I’m better than that. (Also, Rutherford Hayes sucks. End of.)

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