Morning all.
As we know, they’ll be no Alexandre Lacazette tonight and there’s quite a few others missing too. Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny and Jack Wilshere have stayed in north London along with Aaron Ramsey who really does have an injury and could miss the League Cup Final. He’ll definitely not be back for the return leg of this fixture according to Arsene Wenger. Why are they staying at home?
“One or two had recent problems. Koscielny with his Achilles, Wilshere as well.
I don’t know what the pitch is about. I wanted to rest Jack because he was sick several times in the game against Spurs and felt he hadn’t fully recovered.”
It’s ok, I’m not going to ask why he continued playing if he was sick during the match. Anyway, he’ll be at home tonight watching on television like the rest of us.
The Frenchman is yet to pick his captain for tonight which suggests club captain Per Mertesacker will not be in the first eleven.
The Arsenal squad arrived in Sweden yesterday afternoon but despite the alternative playing surface, Wenger chose to train at home beforehand.
It disturbs the organisation and the way we want to prepare for a game and I think we will adapt. We have played sometimes indoors.
I have heard this is 4G, we have 3G so it is different and outside it is different as well but no matter, we have not to make too big a problem with it.Our technical level should help us to adapt quickly. The temperature at the moment I don’t find a big difference with London. We have cold wind as well similar to what has happened here so I don’t think the temperature will be a big problem.
Our target will be to adapt quickly to the pitch.
He’s ‘heard’ it’s a 4G pitch? Amazing statement. I’d have thought a better way to prepare for the game would have been to fly out yesterday morning and have some time to train on the surface. Surely that would have been better for the players? Unless of course that’s planned for this morning which I doubt. As for the climate, well, it’s not been -5 degrees or less here as it’s expected to be in Sweden when the match kicks off.
Mesut Ozil, in gloves, snood, scarf and thermals will make his first appearance in this competition for us tonight as will Henrikh Mkhitaryan in what’s expected to be a more experienced starting eleven than the one which secured top spot in the group stage. The results were enough to see us through to the knockout stages but the performances were far from convincing. We’re tipped to win this one but as Charlie Nicholas said, even if we do and by a convincing score line, it won’t erase the memory of last weekends dreadful performance and result. Nothing will.
Leading the front line will be Danny Welbeck, a player Arsene Wenger has come out and said he prefers playing him centrally:
“[Playing centrally] is where I prefer him personally and it is where I believe that he has an opportunity to do well,” the boss said. “He had to wait a little bit to get back in the team but that gave him time to work on his fitness and from what I have seen today he is sharper than [for] a long time. He looks very sharp.”
Funny that as I’m sure he’s mostly played out on one of the wings since he arrived. But that’s Arsene isn’t it, he’ll spin anything in attempt to make it sound good. He doesn’t fool anybody though, not anymore. Tonight he has two choices, the experienced Welbeck who can’t seem to hit a barn door when it’s shut, let alone hoof the ball through the gap when it’s open, or Eddie Nketiah. Out of the two, I think there’s more chance of the latter scoring though as that’s what he does. He’s a real striker albeit a young one whose not played much at this kind of level. Whatever level we’re at these days which to be honest, compared to the top sides around Europe, isn’t very high.
I guess we’ll see Mustafi in the heart of defence with one of Chambers, Holding or Mavropanos alongside him. Maitland-Niles attended the press conference with Wenger so I suspect he’ll start too but in which position, who knows. Elneny and Xhaka in central midfield seems likely with the rest being a mixture of youth and experience.
Facing a Swedish minnow as we are tonight doesn’t fill me with any confidence because that inner belief of us being able to win a match regardless of who we face left me a long long time ago.
On our day we can look good, very good in fact but under Arsene Wenger, those days don’t come around too often. Maybe it’s the anticipation which keeps us going..
Don’t forget it’s an early kickoff tonight. 6pm uk time.
I used to watch us in the Champions League and marvel at the technical level and the gulf between us and certain other teams. Nowadays, I watch still – hoping that certain teams are not that good, but having to swallow hard and admit that maybe they are! We have fallen swiftly in the past two seasons – albeit that our gradual decline has been in motion for a good seven years! Now we are in the secondary competition and are playing teams that only our under 17s would have been pitted against. WARNING – CLICHE COMING…
Surely someone can see that it is time for a change?
Someone?
Anyone…
Plus ca change.
It’s always amazed me how highly intelligent people can be so incredibly blind in areas that it suits them to be so.
I can see the excuse getting ready for our 1-0 defeat, “it’s the pitch”. Then why the he’ll didn’t they go and train on it.
I’m amazed that we’re not going to train on the pitch before the match….
Off topic but does anyone know why Sponsors would want to be associated with a Club that is in decline.
JD Sports might be interested in a sponsorship deal. They’re in decline too!
Morning all. Another blue sky day.
Plastic smash tic, were gooner be fantashtic!
Nuff said.
For some worrying reason, the name Winterslag is nagging away in the darkest recesses of my brown bread.
I live in Alicante now so don’t get to many matches. Still it’s 20 degrees here so mustn’t grumble lol
We win today, You will see.
Lol now selling theo and giroud makes little sense. Arsenal is a gift that keeps on giving. You can’t make this stuff up. One minute we re on the up then bam we drop thirty feet. Afternoon Rico I ‘ll go with welbz tonight but Eddie to come on in the dying seconds of the game. 3.1 to the good guys.
I’ll be honest I really couldn’t give a flying fuck about tonight as long as Wenger’s in charge we will have the propensity to flatter to deceive…..can’t wait for the season to end and Wenger to finally piss off!
Afternoon Goonster..
You and Jm are optimistic…
Afternoon all and thank`s Rico.
So the intelligent one doesn`t know what a 4G pitch is !……………………………still !……………should be a piece of cake early tonight, not sure our U17`s would beat them,but our U23`s would and ironically would contain a load of 17 year olds !………hahaha
They play in red, so here`s an idea 💡
lets play in white and confuse them with the background of snow filled terraces, they`ll need sunglasses !
I bet there aren’t many more Lc..
Goonie, get what you’re saying but this is how it is now. We aren’t anywhere near dishing up the kind of performances we’ve seen in the Champions League this week.
Make that 3 optimists !……………………………we will score more goals than there`s snow balls in frosty the snowmans pants !
Ditto Lee.
Rico if we can’t beat up a Scandinavian team then we might as well just disband the whole fucking club. We just watched the spuds pool and shitty have great games against some of the best in Europe and we are losing in the Europa league to osteroid??? *spelling heck no. Like I said it’s 3.1 to the good guys only because we can’t keep a clean sheet to save our lives.
Lee I just don’t see that happening. He won’t leave and the board won’t fire him. I ve already made peace with myself. He ‘ll be here till the end of his contract and maybe even beyond. I want to believe all what I see on Twitter about him being moved on but I ve been here before. I won’t hold my breathe lee. He ‘ll be here next season.
Rico we are the mighty arsenal and they a local pub team plus they ve been on break for 6 weeks. Come on now. If we lose tonight he should be gone in the morning. End of.
We’ll see in a while Goonie.
Have to agree with Goonster, we are seeing some great performances by English clubs in CL against top oppo`, so we play minnows and I expect a big win just like I do against other minnows like Bournemouth and Swansea etc` !……………………………….
😯
If Wenger goes in the morning from a loss to these minnows, I`ll take a loss now !
😆
Me too Lc…
Means nothing really Goonie..
Rico these mugs haven’t had a competitive game in weeks surely we can’t lose to them?
OMG Rico means nothing??? Losing to a team that hasn’t kicked a ball against proper opposition in weeks is nothing. God if this were Brazil there ‘ll be a riot!!!
I meant them not having played means nothing. They’ll be up for this, they are making history along their journey…
Goonster but “Le Prof” is a fucking massive mug!
I know what you meant ma’am but seriously any thing less than a comprehensive victory should be seen as a failure. We should be smashing these turds. God in heaven give me strength.
Lee don’t even start me on that….Rico ‘ll bin me in a second lol.
If we hadnt played for 6 weeks, I`m sure Arsene would use it as an excuse if we lost !……………………………….we will have no excuse for not beating these Eskimo`s !
Stan we should also be less than 27 points behind City
We should of come closer to wining the PL
The list is endless under Wanker.
Sorry I mean “Le Wanker!” 🙂
Should of bought an outfield player…
Lee shitty is having a freak of a season I ‘ll give them that but we losing to a Swedish team that haven’t played a game of football in weeks???? That should be it for him. Don’t even let him get on the team bus. Fire his ass straight from the stadium but this is arsenal we ‘re talking about. Welcome to the real world Stan. God help me.
Lol leprof ???more like lepuffed up turd ?
Lose and Arsene should be buried alive in an Igloo Tomb where his body will be presetved for 1000`s of years and he will be discovered fondling with his zipper when the Polar caps melt…………………………..Tottnumb will still have not won the EPL in the year 4018 !.
LC they might not have won squat in ages but you can’t deny they are a better team than us now. Did you watch them against juve? Lord God I almost died of envy. Dembele was imperious. Look I hate giving credit to the scums but man they are way ahead of us. Got a good coach, a better round team and a good CEO in dany levy. Sorry mate no spurs bashing for me till we sort this shit out.
Mate that fucker is Teflon coated, we could lose tonight and he’d survive….
Stan that “Le Prof” nickname cracks me up, these so called Arsenal supporters that hail him………..JOKERS!
Lee we could get relegated and he ‘ll still be earning 10 million a year. Like I said I won’t be surprised if he’s still here in 2 season’s time. Lol that cnut is unbelievable.
Don’t blame them lee most came after 96 so that’s all they know. Unknown to a lot of these assholes the GG team of 89/90 almost went unbeaten too but you won’t see AKBs celebrate that. Under GG we won the UEFA cup against the odds. We played against sampdoria and won lecnut played against galatasaray and lost. See the difference??
They are not Arsenal supports, they are Arsene supporters.
Personally, I can’t see how anyone who truly supports the club thinks Wenger is doing a good job.
GG won the league against the odds at arnfield arsecnut can’t even sustain a title challenge!
If that was wenger in 89 we sure ‘ll get stuffed by pool at arnfield. If this man gets a statute and George Graham doesn’t there should be a riot. I ‘ll lead it. Lol
You said it Rico arsene supporters not arsenal the sooner he fucks off the better. Can’t wait to rid ourselves of this cancerous fan base. They are bleeding this great club slowly and guess what they are everywhere!!! I mean everywhere not just the UK! Was watching a game last season at a bar in Raleigh and Ieshite came on the screen and I cursed him roundly only for 2 guys to square up to me. It was funny cause those pricks don’t know life before Wenger. I spoke with them at length they joined after the invincibles??????
Not the best time to start ‘supporting’ the club then Goonie, we’ve gone to rats since the invincibles, in fact now we’re more like the invisibles…
Lol Rico tell me about it. Let’s break it down once and for all. Why is this man celebrated the world over? It makes no sense to me. 3 pl titles in 20 something years,6 fa cups no league cup no trophy in Europe and he is arsenal’s most successful manager? And that in 23 years? GG spent less than half that time delivered 2 league titles a UEFA cup winners cup trophy a league cup and almost I ‘ll repeat almost won another cup in Europe plus I didn’t mention we went the whole of 90/91 losing just one game!!! He did that with half the resources this fraud had and limited time yet arsene is going to get a statute and George won’t???
Only at arsenal lol
I know Goonie, beggars belief he’s still in a job at the club. Perhaps had we not made the stadium move he wouldn’t be but that kind of gave him an excuse…
Let Coq – you think AW will leave after a defeat to these. He won’t, this man has a bag full of excuses Remember 8-2 6-0 6-0 6-3 and 10-2 (agg). He didn’t walk because he has no shame and no pride.
And to think, Arsenal are 9th in the league of clubs who have spent the most money on transfers……. 😳
Apparently, Wenger declined the offer to train on the 4G pitch ahead of the game…. Incredible.
Paddy, those were through are ‘hard times’ though… 😉
Rico what stadium?? That’s just a ploy to throw us off. He got 7 million a year didn’t he? Plus we didn’t have to break the bank to get some quality players. We had the nucleus of a great team in 07/08 fab hleb tr7 Gilberto kolo toure van persie and adebayor not to mention prospects like theo song and diaby. All we needed was a good goal keeper cause almunia was pants another CB to partner kolo(never really liked gallas) a new left back anotjer striker to ease the burden off adebayor when van persie and Eduardo got injured. But did we do it??? Would that have cost s billion dollars?? Alright fast forward the 2011/12 team we had nasri fabregas again ashavin van persie vermalin theo diaby tr7 etc yet we were still stuck with shitty goal keepers in fabianski and a young chesney. Fulham wanted 4 million for mark shwarzer lecnut lowballed them yet again with a 2 million pounds take it or leave it bid. Those were 2 seasons we were leading the pack. 2 or 3 additions and we could have won the league both times besides Leicester just put all that to rest by winning the league without spending a fortune. Rico sorry am not buying the whole stadium move crap. This guy is pants end of!
Rico your 3.43????told you that guy has lost it. Hahahahahahah. Are you kidding me and we ‘re to play on that same pitch tonight huh??? Somebody get a tranquilizer and take an aim at this old fear. He’s lost his marbles?
Irony goonie..
I honestly think Wenger is ill…
Lee, be careful what you wish for.
He’s not lee he’s taking the piss out of us all. Lol? try taking his millions you ‘ll see first hand how sane that prick is?
Arsenal: Ospina (c), Bellerin, Mustafi, Chambers, Monreal, Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Welbeck
Subs: Macey, Holding, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Willock, Nelson, Nketiah
Iwobi yet again… ?
Not sure if AMN is CM or LWB?
Could play both with that line up.
No Paddy !…………………….I dont think Wenegr will leave if after a loss to the Swedes, I said he should be buried in an igloo tomb !
🙂
For those who are driven by what they would like to happen in thinking Wenger will go before his contract is up, this is the reality………………………..
“I would like to remind you I said no to all the biggest clubs in the world to respect my contract so that’s always what I try to do”
Keep saying it, he`s going no where, wishfull thinking wont make it happen !
Still cant get my head around what`s happened to Kolasinac !…………………….cant get a game against Eskimo minnows !……………………….maybe it`s because, if he played he would be captain and get sent off before the game starts when he nuts the Eskimo capatain for rubbing noses at the toss of the coin !………………hahaha
I’m so excited though.
I could crush a grape….
Eggheads or Arsenal.?…decisions,decisions why torture me…lol
Eggheads Bt ?
Jump off a doll’s house….
Only if Tremendous Knowledge Dave is on though.
Why can’t you miserable lot get behind the team for once.
BT, Bradley and The Chase hands down every time.
Watching it now Micko….lol
I bet they’ve never seen square football like this in Sweden.
Well, it’s living up to it’s expectations….. lol
Ozil is almost dominating that bus driver.
Goddas (spelling) is a decent player..
Book you tickets for Lyon ?
Music festival Kev?
The casual attitude that runs through the club summed up in the passage of play leading to the penalty. Sloppy passing and dwelling on the ball. People may think that it doesn’t matter as the game was won but we have seen this type of messing about happens way too often and the youngsters are guilty too.
Bob, I thought it was casual from start to finish. Boring too with the continual sideways and backwards passing.. A big yawn..
Kings of Lyon ?
Wouldn’t mind a trip to Mississippi Kev…
That sounds one he’ll of a great holiday BT..,
Ah well that’s that over for a few days . Excitement ?? ,must have missed it having a cup of tea at the time. Pedestrian passing game with no real thrust. Once we were 3 up should have bought Nketiah and let him have a decent chance of showing whether he could jump ahead of Welbeck in the pecking order but 8 minutes is hardly a real chance and 6 minutes for Nelson hardly put Iwobi under pressure.
Awful performance, awful game I thought. Agree re Eddie and Nelson…
New post up.
We are so weak now!
Worst then the beggining