UCL Thoughts, Everton Preview & Tit Bits

Monday came and we said shall we? So we walked in through the revolving balls and what do we get? It’s Arsenal V Bayern yet……..Again (rolling my eyes here). Honestly I don’t know which it is, the system is rigged or just Arsenals luck to draw the short ended stick. Oh well, I would say maybe both cuz with the mess most of the sport’s governing bodies are these days I wouldn’t put it past FIFA no I meant UEFA (all na same jaare) it’s our 4^th meeting in the round of 16 and that’s the most for any two sides so forgive me if I say "NO" I don’t think its random coincidence!! That in addition to that our luck where we seem to have a penchant for turning down the easier option and choosing the hard way instead. One can’t point accusing fingers this time though, the team has been very businesslike this season in the champion’s league campaign, no howlers from Ospina or Silly dropped points here and there and when they needed to take advantage of a slip up from PSG, they did it in very commendable fashion in terms of performance and points so kudos to them. That’s that. Now that we know it’s going to be:

Manchester City                      v                           Monaco Real

Madrid                                     v                           Napoli

Bayern Munich                        v                           Arsenal
Benfica                                    v                          Dortmund 

Porto                                       v                           Juventus

Bayer Leverkusen                   v                           Atletico Madrid    

Paris Saint-Germain                v                           Barcelona

Sevilla                                     v                           Leicester City

Now that the draws are out of the way, its February 13, 15, 21 and 22^nd for the 1^st legs of the round of 16 matches while the 2^nd legs kick of through March 7, 8, 14 and 15^th. Having said all that, I do believe we have a better chance of progressing this season not certain but better. For one, we play the 1^st leg away in Munich, we get a good result and we stand a good chance of doing the business at home, PSG was the only team to take a point from us throughout the group stages. Also this team is showing some character coming back from deficits which is good or bad however way you look at it. All in all, I want to believe the team is better equipped to see break the round of 16 set back of the past seasons this time, from there on…….who knows

Away from the champion’s league now, it’s the gunners away at Goodison park. Everton welcomes the gunners in what’s the 1^st match of the festive season’s hectic schedule. Team management, player rotation and total focus would be very Key. Everton like Man City had a flying start to the season but have tailed off lately which has seen them only pick up 2 points from their last 5 league matches 0W 2D 3L. The Koeman effect seems to be wearing off, and pressure is beginning to tell. Ronald Koeman reiterated their need to improve both mentally and physically after their latest defeat to Watford over the weekend. I hope Arsenal has something to say about not allowing that to happen. Chelsea is really flying high currently although I wonder if they will be able to cope if Diego Costa picks up an injury. Arsenal will have to be wary of Everton’s potential, in that the likes of Lukaku, Mirallas Deulofeu can cause problems not forgetting Gueye and vintage Barry in the middle of the park. Their defence is where they are really weak these days, leaking very silly goals and conceding penalties, which is surprising considering the fact that Koeman knows how to set up a team defensively. Don’t know what the issues are but our game plan should be one that can take advantage while keeping Lukaku and co at bay. I am sure Wenger would have an eye on the next game against Man City so a bit of rotation might be in order. Sanchez and Özil on the bench while Giroud and Perez get a start for me. The defence picks itself with the same back five that finished against Stoke, I would have been tempted to put in Gibbs at left back but…..i think our defensive stability against Everton might be key so lets not tinker too much here is to a solid partnership of Kos & Gabby in the absence of Mustafi. My preferred line up will look like this.

Subs: Ospina, Alexis, Özil, Walcott, Jeff, Holding, Gibbs, Neny.

Now if we can pick up 6points in 2W from Everton and Man city away, that would be fantastic, 4 points from both would be good, let’s not consider anything less please. We know it’s going to be tough but that’s what you deal with to win any trophy these days, of course with a bit of luck on ya side.

In Other news Lagos beach soccer tourney is on from today Dec 13^th -18^th at the Eko Atlantic for beach soccer lovers follow the hashtag #BSAfcon2016 or #BeachSoccerLagos while Christiano "CR7" Ronaldo  won d Ballon d’Or 2016 beating Messi by 745 to 319 points (emphatic!!). Kudos to him for an amazing year, winning the Champions league  with Madrid in May, the Euros with Portugal in July and now this award for World best in December. Lastly its Arsenal’s own Santi Carzola’s Birthday today, hope the Team can give him a nice win to celebrate it (touch wood), shall we? The anaijagunner team wishes him a very happy Birthday, and thats it from us, do enjoy the game wherever you may be….ciao