Woezil will be dreading tonight, playing in front of his own kinsmen, in the heart of Germany. If, as I fully expect, Arsenal get spanked hard tonight, the partisan German crowd will turn on him like a WHU fan on a Jew. Thanks to "Le Prof," he'll probably never play for Germany ever again.
It's really getting to you that we are playing the champions of Europe in the most elite club competition in the world whilst you look forward to some unknown team in the europey league, isn't it? Lol I can't wait for the game
Unknown??....can I just remind you who it is we're playing then... http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/172718/first-team/benfica-v-arsenal?tab=report
Oh, I think we all know that isn't true. Still, good luck, tonight. God knows you are going to need it. By the way, which of your players do you think is going to get sent off? My bet is Woezil. He'll try so hard to make a good impression on his own kin that he'll go that one step too far.
Unknown!!,prehaps he wasn't born when they played each other.what a great score,goons doing what they do best,losing in europe!
Haha didn't check who you where playing before I posted, made the assumption it was one of the other drivel in the competition! I don't follow the europey league
Definitely looking forward to the game. Champions league nights against the very best teams are my favourite games of the season. Win or lose it's always a good occasion. Not sure why fans wouldn't look forward to the big games during the season? Your a bit odd the way you think lol As for a red card, I'm Hopi ng it stays 11 vs 11 as the first 20 mins of the last game we looked quality. (Though I'd happily watch one of their players being sent off!)
Well yeah, a lack of depth is a problem then isn't it. It's all well and good having the numbers but if the players that are back up cause a significant change in playing style then the manager should have bought in some more suitable subs, shouldn't he? Can you recall any seasons recently when you genuinly haven't complained about the amount of injuries? Lots of other sets of fans do it, including our own, but it never really adds up, especially as it seems to happen every year. There are short term points in the season where I think it's a legitimate excuse that you happened to be unlucky with injuries at the time but any long term problems are the club's fault for not getting sufficient depth, in my opinion. Also, Podolski's pretty average squad member, it'd be like us bemoaning having Lamela injured, it's a bit furstrating but if you can't cope without him it's surely more of a worry that you're reliant on that kind of player.
I agree we could use some more depth. Particularly if we are going to compete with city and Chelsea. As for injuries I think this season has been quite bad. Last season wasn't bad. The season before was terrible (8 defenders out at the same time). I'd say about 50% of our recent seasons have had too many injuries for a normal squad to cope with. The issue for me is our medical staff and keeping players fit. The reason I mention podolski is because he is the type of player who would benefit from ozils style of play, some pace and a lethal finish. And I wouldn't call it a bad thing to be reliant on a certain amount pace as the majority of good teams are. In fact I'd say its a positive thing that even when they are out our midfield style wide players still have kept us in the mix, it's just a shame the pacey players haven't had better luck with fitness. Ozil in particular though thrives with pacey players in front of him and has suffered due to injuries to other players. There is a difference between ozil not being as effective and our team in general not being effective enough. But I definitely agree with you about squad depth, to compete with the mega rich guys the squad has to have real quality in depth for all areas.
Unknown Europey team? Who's got a better European history, Benfica or Arsenal? I'll give you a hint. It's not the team that's only won one proper European trophy...