Palace

[Gunner Rob]

I predict that "there's only one Arsene Wenger" will be sung loud and proud at the Emirates this afternoon as we return to the top of the league

[Theoperator]

Feeling since this week terribly pessimistic about this one, Pulis will no doubt be playing 12th century football, think we will be lucky to get one goal more than them.

Havent seen anyone get physical with Ozil yet, he seems manages to avoid aggro, will be interesting to see if that happens today.

I hate Pubeses "stye"

[Rosicky's Right Boot]

Our play should have a lot more 'zip' to it now that Rosicky is back so I'm not fretting as much as I would otherwise have been. Still, it'll be a weak midfield with Chamberlain and Arteta that will no doubt be targeted from the off.

Cazorla, Ozil, Rosicky and Giroud as an attacking 4 should be enough to get us a couple of goals though.

2-0, back to the top of the league for the last time this season.

[SteveO 35]

Hopefully I'll bump into this fella today - he must be rightly proud of our fantastic transfer window

[northbank123]

Hopefully I'll bump into this fella today - he must be rightly proud of our fantastic transfer window

Nice to see Gervinho still comes along to support Wenger

[augie]

I predict that "there's only one Arsene Wenger" will be sung loud and proud at the Emirates this afternoon as we return to the top of the league

Whisper it quietly but there is a certain group of fans in block 2 that have ordered a new set of pro wenker t shirts and are printing off word sheets to sign praise to their god

[topcat]

I used to be anti Wenger, but admit to taking a U turn.

We've got something Liverpool, Spuds and Everton are desperate and I mean DESPERATE for. They all want to get out of their sh*tty dated stadiums for one. Despite us doing that we've also kept having champions league football for the last 16 years that a lot of gooners seem to be taken for granted! In my opinion we could drop out of the top 4 when Wenger leaves. A classic quote from you lot is "4th place is not a trophy", which is true but it is massive in the modern game to finish in the top 4 however you want to look at it.

I'm IMMENSLEY proud of our record of getting in the CL for so long, and I don't want to loose that.

We cannot compete with city, nobody can! We're having a great season, so enjoy it instead of being like you are. The two other arsenal forums I go on and the gooners I know in "the real world" are nothing like you lot.

[topcat]

Double Post and realise this should be on the wenger thread.

[GranadaJoe]

Big Fucking Stadium
We've got a big fucking stadium
Big fucking stadium
We've got a big fucking stadium

The Road to Damascus.
What have I been thinking about all these years??? Trophies, winning matches. I'm an idiot!!! I should have been counting the seats along with my blessings.
In fact why go along when there's a match and crowd spoiling the view. I'm going to start going on a Tuesday morning so I can admire the improved burger bars and fantastic corporate facilities.

Some silly people thought the stadium was built 'to enable us to compete with the best in Europe'. I bet they're feeling foolish now!

[northbank123]

topcat what's the big deal about CL qualification that we should be so proud about? It sure as fuck isn't because we might win the competition. Must be the money then.

The money which is time and time again not invested in the new players we need to make us genuinely competitive, but is instead spunked away on bloated wage bills for existing players and manager with the rest stockpiled largely for the benefit of our lovely majority shareholder who sees us as a cash cow like his other franchises.

We've been strung along on the vague promise of setting a platform - we're a decade down the line and we're miles further away from being able to win the CL than we were at Highbury and our early years at the Emirates. FFS the inevitable defeat to Bayern will be our 4th last 16 exit on the bounce, what's to be proud about that? The lines in defence of Wenger and the club are the same now that they were 5 years ago.

Isn't it funny how the early-season smugness about how our patience, prudence and faith in our players and methods was finally coming good is starting to give way to the "nobody can compete with City". Don't get me wrong I'd rather be in the CL than not but how finishing 15-20 points off the leaders before being dicked in the last 16 every year counts as success for a club of our resources and stature is beyond me.

[topcat]

What are you expecting though? Still in the FA cup, champions league and 1point behind the amazing man city...try and be realistic, we cant ask for more than that.

[northbank123]

What are you expecting though? Still in the FA cup, champions league and 1point behind the amazing man city...try and be realistic, we cant ask for more than that.

As I've heard so many times we'll see where we are in May, but I think the prevalence of the "can't compete with City" rhetoric in the last few weeks from the pro-Wenger posters on here shows that even they can foresee our season crumbling.

Also doesn't really address my post - why is scraping CL qualification followed by ritual humiliation such an achievement? Because it makes money - for who though?

Certainly not the fans as we're forced to pay through the nose.
Certainly not for the playing squad as we've set ourselves back years by selling our best players whilst signing predominantly no-marks.

[topcat]

What are you expecting though? Still in the FA cup, champions league and 1point behind the amazing man city...try and be realistic, we cant ask for more than that.

As I've heard so many times we'll see where we are in May, but I think the prevalence of the "can't compete with City" rhetoric in the last few weeks from the pro-Wenger posters on here shows that even they can foresee our season crumbling.

Also doesn't really address my post - why is scraping CL qualification followed by ritual humiliation such an achievement? Because it makes money - for who though?

Certainly not the fans as we're forced to pay through the nose.
Certainly not for the playing squad as we've set ourselves back years by selling our best players whilst signing predominantly no-marks.

Scraping champions league meant that we signed Ozil who wouldn't have looked at us if we hadn't. In my opinion signing him gave everyone in the team a massive boost.

What happened to spurs for losing out on 4th. They lost bale and haven't replaced him and now find themselves unlikely to get in the champions league again. When you're out of it its very hard to get back in, then you'll find it hard to attract top players.

Wenger in my opinion will leave this summer, all I'm saying is that in my opinion things will get worse when he goes, not better! Time will tell.

[mcdowell42]

Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Ozil, Podolski, Giroud (via @Arsenal)
3:06pm - 2 Feb 14

[mcdowell42]

#Arsenal subs: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Rosicky, Zelalem, Gnabry, Bendtner #AFCvCPFC
3:06pm - 2 Feb 14