Team News: Shakhtar Donetsk v. Arsenal

Looks a great stadium

WALCOTT!!!

wow, theo... wow, unbelievable pace

What a pass! What a finish!

Eastmond is not having the best of games

Has there been any mention of whether Denilson or Song will be ready for the weekend?

Complacent Clichy

Oh come on Gael... how many times have we seen this...?!?!

Both wing backs are having dreadful games. Eboue has been frankly shocking. They're tearing through our lot on the flanks. Its painful to watch, but sadly predictable.

has shaktar got better or are your lads just being crap and what the hell is clichy doing....not looking like le arse at all

Bit of both r62

Did you have a hard time understanding that when we played them with a full strength side two weeks ago we demolished them? Don't you think if Song, Sagna, and Fabregas were out there things would be a bit different?

They might be, but I'm not sure about it. Playing at the tempo we are with the number of sloppy passes. But are you saying that because we have a second string midfield out there its an excuse? Really?

WM -- I predicted a draw at best and probably a loss based simply on seeing the starting line-ups, so yes I do think a weakened team is an excuse.

Squillaci should have scored that header!

Until Vela begins to show some aggression in the attacking third, he has no future at this club.

Loos like they really dont give a damn. :(, And Vela ahead of JET? You got to be kidding me.

Clichy's final ball is generally absolutely awful.

Almost forgotten how November felt like, but thanks for the reminder!

Only ourselves to blame for that really. When you're missing the likes of Song, Fabregas, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Arshavin. To leave out further first teamers like Chamakh and Sagna out of choice is just suicidal. Left chasing a match we should never have been chasing due to lack of nous and wherewithall. Appalling from Bendtner and Clichy in particular. A better showing in the 2nd half but zero incision and always looked like we could concede again. Fair play to Shaktar though they played a good game.

Ugh, "passion" the last bastion argument when one has no idea what to say. Squillaci and Wilshere had very simple chances which they should have scored, we should have been talking about a creditable draw. However, credit to Shakhtar, they defended incredibly well. We lost the game because we succumbed to "bertie big *********" syndrome again, we thought we could stop playing when we went a goal up and thought we had it won. We did that at Newcastle too and got lucky, Shakhtar are a better team than Newcastle. It's disappointing because it's a flaw that has been stuffed down our throats in painful circumstances over the last few seasons and still the penny doesn't drop. Say what you like about Chelsea, but they treat every opponent and every situation the same, which is why theya re "a machine." We go a goal or two up and too often we do the footballing equivalent of snorting so much gear and banging so many strippers, that we forget to write good tunes. Any opposition manager should tell his attack to keep constant pressure on our defenders when their in possession, because they don't apply any intelligence or reading of the situation. It's pass come what may. Most of the time, that's the right thing to do. But sometimes, just sometimes, you do have to just clear your lines. We never do that, which makes us predictable and vulnerable back there. Still, this was the hardest game in the group bereft of several players, we should still win the group so no need for the uber doom and gloom I'm seeing here. I do think we saw why Arshavin is still in the starting line up though, without him, we're not nearly as dangerous in the final third.

Tough luck.

We lost the game because of our failure to do the basics. When you lose top attacking players like Cesc and Arshavin just defend properly and leave with a point ffs. As for Clichy the horrid mistakes he now makes started with an identical brain fart away to man city a couple of seasons ago and he hasn't learnt a thing since.

You weren't hanging around our site yesterday or today? Something wrong with your internet then? :P

I can't access vital sp*rs whs. I've contacted my service provider who told me I had my bell end filter set on high.

You rested key players. Who are you guys playing in the league?

Except we've been here before haven't we? The argument about key players getting a rest is fine until they fail to turn up and we lose the first game after the european break. I prefer the old dictums of 'one game at a time' and 'winning is infectious'. Carelessly losing a game when we could have come away with convincing qualification is the sort of thing that eats away at self belief and instills complacency. Can't see either Utd or Chelsea being that careless. Sorry, my opinion, for what its worth.

LD, I wouldn't discount 'passion'. Its won many a team honours in the past. Its what drove Spain during the world cup. The Invincibles had tons of it. When I look at Bendtner walking off the field just to have someone help him get his boot back on I know something isn't right.

Eduardo is still good enought for Arsenal...2 goals in 2 match against arsenal...thats isn't just luck

A game by game shifting of one's mood depending on the result is very short sighted. An overall view of the team needs to be taken. Some people change their opinion mid week and every week which is quite regretable as it means 40 different opinions over the course of the season from the same person.

I'm with LD on the passion thing. Last night had nothing to do with passion and everything to do with complacency and a lack of professionalism. I think Clichy needs to learn how to be a left back and the first thing a left back should be able to do is defend. He relies on his pace too much and is often caught out of position or trying to win the ball early. And his final ball is absolutely crap. Is it just me but how difficult can it be for a talented professional to improve the weaknesses in his game??

Speak for yourself Real, these jokers cost me £150 quid on a accy! I even had Barca Copenhagen Draw! lol