THAT WAS SO NAIVE FROM US! | Martinelli & Raya WTF! | PORTO 1-0 ARSENAL REACTION

I'm not angry. I'm not upset. I'm disappointed. Porto won Arsenal nil and I'm a bit deflated as you would be with that last minute winner take, you know, first things first credit to Porto. They limited us our play. We had no shots on target. We offered nothing in the final third. They scored a banger of a last minute winner and it's advantaged Porto heading into the game at the Emirates. You know, they gave their fans a fantastic night. I think the referee was doing his best to make it all about them. And I think they're all about himself. Sorry. And I thought they were incredibly street smart with the way they played and played on that. So take nothing away. Everything that Porto did worked. You know, obviously it's deflating to lose what, 30 seconds before the end of the game. And, you know, I mean, we don't do well in the last 16 of the Champions League in recent years, do we people? And we don't travel well to Portugal. So it carries on, you know, Martinelli terrible today. And I'm not, listen, Martinelli, Reyes positioning, they're probably going to be the four guys for today and rightly so to a degree because Reyes positioning is horrible. Martinelli's lost the ball, but we win, lose and draw together. If every one of those players, apart from that 30 second incident, could say they played to the level that deserved to win today, then maybe we can look at Reyes and Martinelli individually. Them two messed up. Who the hell was closing down the shot? And on top of that, what's the game plan today? Seriously, what's the game plan today? No shots on target, conceded a goal. If you can't win, don't lose, which shows our naivete. But if you're not trying to score goals and you're not defending well or didn't defend well in the last stage of the game, you're not going to go far in the Champions League. You're not going to win games. It's a deflating one because I think we lost to ourselves. We cheated ourselves. As I said, take nothing away from Porto, but at half-time to have four shots, none on target. And even in the first half, Porto, it was a low-key affair. Both teams were cancelling each other out, but they hit the post. We were horrible today. I am a big fan of how Mikel Arteta kind of realises the weaknesses in his players. You know, that's why you're seeing Benjamin White invert. Obviously, Havoc is making runs in behind. And I was calling for Jorginho, like a lot of you, in that game. Not that he came off the bench and done well, but Odegaard is by himself. Big up Declan Rice, but Odegaard is the one player I would say. Gabriel had a bit of mad moments and Declan Rice weren't amazing, but I would say them two, if anything. But mainly Odegaard is the only one that half-looked on this today, if I'm completely honest with you. And it's a sobering reminder that while we're on a good trajectory, we've got a lot to do. So now we need to do it at the Emirates. And I have relative confidence that we can, but now we need to score two goals. And it is advantage, Porter. Who knows? They know while we can't attack that game, being like mad attacking from the start, they know if they kind of marry with what they've done today, that they could get away with it. And really and truly, like set pieces, horrible, no shots on target, no connective play. Obviously, you know, they're setting up quite well. It's like a 4-5-1 formation. They're flooding the midfield. They're very rigid. They're compact. Naturally, they're going to do that because why would you want Arsenal with the quality of Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Trosser, all of these players to do anything? Not that any of them players really did anything. I'm disappointed today because we cheated ourselves, man. I do think the referee needs to remember it's a contact sport. We needed more from midfield. We needed more play in their half. We need to put the keeper under some effing pressure. What did Costa in their goal have to do? They deserve their clean sheet in that regard. We probably should have been 1-0 down in the first half, had it not been for the pulse and the second effort going wide really and truly. It was horrible. I thought we started well, but since then we started getting frustrated. At half-time, I felt we had nothing in the final third. Our build-up play was lacking. Only Odegaard is what I'm happy with, but ultimately it's a frustrating thing. Saka's having to drop deep because Benjamin White is inverting because Kyrgios is limited in midfield. Our left-hand side, you know, Martinelli's with the fairies today. Kyrgios playing more like an organic left-back rather than inverting. Kai Havertz, he's not the man for build-up play. And I get it. As I said, I praise Mikel Arteta for, you know, if these players can't do it, focusing on their strengths and their weaknesses. But there's too many holes in the team. And this is what I mean by I don't think we're going to get to where we need to get until we address midfield. And we've got that number eight that is really press-resistant and whatever. I thought Jorginho needed to come on. He came off the bench and was terrible. Obviously, Trossart was missing today. None of the final third players did anything. So, as much as they need to hold themselves accountable, and I praise Mikel Arteta, what was offered there, I've always said, as much as I like Mikel Arteta, one question mark I've had is, historically at the Emirates, but how he has negotiated the knockout stages of European competition. And it's advantage for, obviously, we have to hold the bench from our rival supporting friends and family. But we could turn it around at the Emirates. But we've got a little to do. You know, as I said, I'm not angry. I'm not shocked. I'm just disappointed. And just get out of your system, innit? You know, get out of your system. Have it out on the plane at Porto. The attention switches to Newcastle now. We'll deal with the second leg of Porto when it happens. As I said, man, I think Rice and Odegaard are having to... and to a degree, Gabriel, our centre-half, Saliva, was kind of poor with his passing. But I think Gabriel, Declan Rice and Odegaard are having to overcompensate for build-up play because we've got no left-hand side. Because Kyrgios not really... ain't really got that in his locker. And Havertz is running forward. And I'm not just trying to make it about them because everything went wrong today. And as much as I'm getting at the players, if everybody's not played well, then the system... I don't think... I think Mikel Arteta has given them all the information, briefed them of what they needed to do. They've not gone out and replicated it. So I'm with the players. But at the same time, if none of the players played particularly well, then in the same way, I'd praise Arteta if it worked on the flip side. It didn't work, man. It's absolutely horrible, man. As I said, at half-time, Porto had five shots, one on target. We had four shots. We had four shots, zero on target. 71% of the ball. They had 128 passes to our 298. And our build-up play, quite frankly, was slow and lifeless, really. They say in football, if you can't win, don't lose. And we failed to understand that. There was... there's not really anything to scream and shout. And it's definitely our most disappointing Champions League performance of the season, you know, because we've lost. You know, come the end of the game, in terms of fine margins, possession is everything, but it's what you do with it. We didn't have much to sell for our 65% of possession. And I think it was quite lifeless when we had the ball. Maybe it's just a bad day. Seven shots, none on target. They had eight shots, two on target. We had 10 corners for a team that set-piece FC didn't make anything happen. And, you know, the ref was making it about him, you know, every second, you know, Martin Lely, Kai Havertz, Benjamin White, who, to be fair, is getting a reputation for how he is around the keepers. But the ref, you know, set-piece FC couldn't make anything happen. Just a bad day at the office. We had 494 passes to their 274. So, I guess, on the fine margins in which the Premier League, Premier League Champions League apologies comes down to, we didn't arrest what we needed to arrest. And we deserve where we're at, really and truly. So, really and truly, what is there to say, man? We lost the game, innit, really. So, the only good thing or the only positive is that it is only half-time in this tie between both teams. And we have to go again. On that note, though, you lot smash the like button, subscribe, let me know your thoughts. I'm sorry that Arsenal had to lose this, but I'm out, man.