Times like this make you realize how tough it
can be as a fan to write. Yeah football is back and Arsenal “2 face” Fc is back
along with their best and their worst. We all knew the Britannia stadium visit
wasn’t gonna be easy especially considering our poor record there in the past,
still one can be blamed for hoping and wishing….this might be the season.
Naah!! 3 whole points dropped, a defence in disarray and a team with gaping
holes, we back to anfield hoping Klopp’s pressing fire can be snuffed by Wenger’s
seeming tactical calm. Let us put those thoughts about Sunday’s matchup on hold and talk
about the European football draws a bit.
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| Image credit: Arsenaldotcom |
Yeah as much as we hate to talk about it, the
UEFA champions League and Europa League draws did take place in the last 24-36
hours and reality has hit home. Arsenal will play in the latter not the former, how the mighty have fallen? Arsenal will be
playing ground hog football in Europe on spursday I mean Thursday with less
fancied playmates. You know what that comes with…. playing a lot of EPL Sunday.
I know the feeling and it’s hard to take, no more Champions league nights, at
least till 2018. Besides the obvious loss of revenue (as an arsenal fan,
economics isn’t mutually exclusive) the brand has taken a big hit. For those
who don’t know by now, the group pairings for are presented for us.
Champions League
Grp
A: Benfica (POR), Manchester United (ENG), Basel (SUI), CSKA (RUS)
Grp B: FC Bayern (GER),
PSG (FRA), Anderlecht (BEL), Celtic(SCO)
Grp C: Chelsea (ENG),
Atlético Madrid (ESP), Roma (ITA), Qarabağ (AZE)
Grp D: Juventus (ITA),
Barcelona (ESP), Olympiacos (GRE), Sporting CP(POR)
Grp E: Spartak Moskva
(RUS), Sevilla (ESP), Liverpool (ENG), Maribor (SVN)
Grp F: Shakhtar (UKR), Man City (ENG), Napoli (ITA), Feyenoord(NED)
Grp G: Monaco (FRA), Porto
(POR), Beşiktaş (TUR), RB Leipzig (GER)
Grp H: R. Madrid (ESP), B.Dortmund(GER), Tottenham (ENG), APOEL(CYP)
I can already pick the round of 16 qualifiers,
with quite a number of new comers to this banquet of Europe’s elite, the
tournament looks just a bit weak. The new comers in Leipzig, Maribor and
Quarabag if my memory serves me right. An opportunity for them to punch above
their weight and surprise a few of us, will they? I guess time will tell.
Arsenal hasn’t exactly lit up the tournament in the last seven years, with the
annual bow out in the round of 16, maybe Europa league is where we belong….or
maybe, just maybe Wenger isn’t the one to lead the gunners in that stepup into
the club of Europe’s true elite, who knows?
Europa League
Grp A: Villarreal (ESP), M.Tel-Aviv (ISR), Astana (KAZ), S. Praha (CZE)
Grp B: D. Kyiv (UKR), Young Boys (SUI), Partizan (SRB), Skënderbeu
(ALB)
Grp C: Braga (POR), L.Razgrad(BUL), Hoffenheim(GER), I.Başakşehir (TUR)
Grp D: AC Milan (ITA), Austria Wien (AUT), Rijeka (CRO), AEK Athens
(GRE)
Grp E: Lyon (FRA), Everton (ENG), Atalanta (ITA), Apollon Limassol
(CYP)
Grp F: København (DEN), Lokomotiv Moskva(RUS), Sheriff (MDA), Zlín(CZE)
Grp G: Viktoria Plzeň (CZE), FCSB (ROU), H.B-Sheva (ISR),
Lugano (SUI)
Grp H: Arsenal (ENG), BATE Borisov (BLR), Köln (GER), Crvena zvezda
(SRB)
Grp I: Salzburg (AUT), Marseille (FRA), Vitória SC (POR), Konyaspor
(TUR)
Grp J: Athletic Club (ESP), Hertha Berlin(GER), Zorya(UKR),
Östersund(SWE)
Grp K: Lazio (ITA), Nice (FRA), Zulte Waregem (BEL), Vitesse (NED)
Grp L: Zenit (RUS), Real Sociedad (ESP), Rosenborg (NOR), Vardar (MKD
Being the top seed in the tournament, one can’t
help but feel the need to set a high bar. Winning the tournament will be good,
while it’s not the “BIG ears” we all wish to win, it should help assuage the
fans animosity while also banishing a few of Wenger’s demons in terms of
failure thus far in Europe, two finals and two losses isn’t pretty. The added
automatic Champion’s league qualification that comes with it is a welcome bonus
not the chum change in prize money. How Wenger and the team will plot their way
through the minefield of games to the final and get that trophy into the
Emirates, is up to him. He is the manager so he would have to figure that tough
one out correctly cuz he bought the pressure for himself by last season’s
failings. Don’t quote me.
Back to the EPL, Sunday games have started and
we gonna have to get used to it as the gunners visit the mugmashers at Anfield. After just two games, 1W 1L, gaping holes in the squad, its glaring this
team is still not prepared for the season and “Arsenal in crisis” wind is beginning
to pick up. The manner in which we failed to salvage anything from a game where
we were dominant in terms of chances created and shots on target while making a
solid goal keeper in Butland look world class is just a shot of Déjà vu. You
could argue about the legit goal from Lacazette which should have stood, but that’s
besides the point which for me says this team hasn’t still learnt its lessons
from past experiences. Eventually conceding a soft goal from sloppy play …..again!
I won’t wanna dwell too much on spilt milk but I hope the team realizes that
already, the Liverpool game is now a must win or at the very worst, a must not
lose or else the pitchforks, brooms and axes will be out. We just cant afford
anymore slips in the EPL going into the international break. No sloppy play in
midfield from Xhaka and Ramsey, Özil needs to assert his skill and dictate play.
Wenger must play his best players in their best positions. Bellerin or Ox
on the right wing instead of the mix and match we saw away at Stoke. Good enough
Koscielny is back from his match ban so we can have a more sold back line. Up
front, Lacazette seems to be settling in well but his support cast must be more
clinical, maybe Walcott should come in ahead of Welbz, Walcott is a better
finisher and has a better return against Liverpool. I doubt if Alexis can start
immediately, a cameo appearance from the bench is more likely. All that being said, Liverpool isn’t without
problems of their own. While their formidable ghengen press is one to be wary
off, their defending is equally as atrocious if not worse than ours. Add the
fact that Coutinho isn’t exactly in the game psychologically. We have a slight
upper hand. While Mane, Firmino and
Origi remain a threat, the absence of Lallana, Coutinho and a dodgy their
backline as an achilles heel they haven’t addressed properly, they are beatable.
Its up to Wenger to deploy his Arsenal properly with strict instructions while
the gunners take their chances when Liverpool present them. A win going into
the international break will be very much welcome as is even much more needed. I
don’t even want to think of a loss, please.
To contract rebels in the Ox Özil and Sanchez,
we still have a bit of dark cloud of surrounding the team which shows how much
we still makes the same mistakes season after season. Rumour has it that we
might be selling Ox soon and Mustafi, this late in the transfer window…..i can’t
laugh if that’s true. If we are serious about winning anything tangible this
season, the gunners need to quickly make up their mind by trimming off the
deadwood and get in their replacements starting like yesterday. Arsene should
stop kidding himself cuz this squad is still short simple!! That’s it from us,
please drop us a feedback in the comments and like our FB page here. Enjoy the game wherever you
are….Ciaoo
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