“You know, I have two world-class goalkeepers, I will repeat that”, said an ever-so-slightly smug Wenger after the game.
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Had Everton signed Ospina, the Colombia worldwide would surely have been first-choice ahead of Stekelenburg, but he chose to stay at Arsenal according to today’s reports – and it remains to be seen whether the Toffees make another move for the 28-year-old in the future.
It was a disappointing Arsenal performance as they were completely outclassed by a PSG side who really could have put the game beyond all doubt before half time.
There’s nothing quite like getting up at 4:30am on a Wednesday morning for the start of a new Champions League season only to find out that the Etihad has been turned into a swimming pool.
“Previous year he made a mistake in the Champions League and everyone jumped all over him”, Wenger told British media.
Cavani was responsible for the first instructive moment, scoring inside a minute as he showed Arsenal that if you give good players time and space in the box, they will punish you.
Wenger was looking for him to provide a little more cutting edge up front, but all he did was rile everyone up. Could they reprise it in Europe in what might be Wenger’s last season? “When that changes I will inform them”.
However, Wenger has revealed that Walcott was forced to miss the match as he was in fact left back in North London after picking up a knee injury – but thankfully the Frenchman also says the problem is “very short term”. “It’s down to performances”.
Olivier Giroud and Marco Verrati both saw red in stoppage time due to an off the ball incident.
On paper Arsenal will be expected to progress to the next stage with Basel and Ludogorets the other teams making up Group A.
Those facts alone make it understandable that the most common response to Cavani is to laugh at him and think he sucks now. The Chilean possesses numerous right attributes for the position – he is quick, a fine dribbler and finisher too – but he is struggling to get to grips with the intricacies of playing in a central role.
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Having already picked up a yellow earlier on, Giroud blocked Verratti’s run in back play, earning himself a second yellow.
