As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
MK Gould wrote:If the only thing this competition succeeds in doing is giving me the opportunity to stock up on cheap wine tomorrow morning at Cite Europe then it will have been worthwhile..... !!
Hard to blame Arsenal or Wenger though for the format of the competition or how the prize money dictates it's importance. It's precicely because it is the top 3/4 from Europes top leagues that generates its income. Of course it has nothing to do with what is the most exciting format....
And as for not being worth competing in a competition if you don't have a chance of winning it..... Really? Then why the f*ck are there 92 clubs in the football league when only 4 at most have a realistic chance of winning the top division....? Or why do so many clubs enter the FA Cup when the winner is unlikely to come from outside the Premier League....? For some teams it is just qualifying for the competition that is the trophy (or so says Arsene), and for most in the CL, success is getting through the Group Stage. But that is that same for MOST teams in MOST competitions.... We've also just enjoyed London 2012, where by far the majority of athletes went there to try to achieve PB's etc and had no chance from the outset of actually winning a medal. Would you suggest that only the top 3/4 in each event attend....?
Its about levels of expectation every club has varying levels this is why non league clubs particpate in the FA Cup and why smaller clubs do so in their own league with the hope of promotion, as with Olympic hopefuls. As an Arsenal fan i dont think its beyond the realms to think we have had a chance to win this cup and our clamour each season to qualify would make you think we seriously want to challenge for it, but we all know we have zero chance of winning the damn thing therefore whats the point? If only the board and manager cared as much about the competition as they did about the cash thats goes with it
I was in Copenhagen when we won the CWC (1994?) and just about recall the Fairs Cup triumph (1970?)..... My point is, why do we feel that we're above being in the CL if we can't win it. We've never won it before.....
And as for "do we have a chance?"....Probably not. But it isn't just Porto who have won against the odds. What about a very poor Chelsea side last season? And Liverpool when they came back from 0-3 down against Milan....?
MK Gould wrote:If the only thing this competition succeeds in doing is giving me the opportunity to stock up on cheap wine tomorrow morning at Cite Europe then it will have been worthwhile..... !!
Hard to blame Arsenal or Wenger though for the format of the competition or how the prize money dictates it's importance. It's precicely because it is the top 3/4 from Europes top leagues that generates its income. Of course it has nothing to do with what is the most exciting format....
And as for not being worth competing in a competition if you don't have a chance of winning it..... Really? Then why the f*ck are there 92 clubs in the football league when only 4 at most have a realistic chance of winning the top division....? Or why do so many clubs enter the FA Cup when the winner is unlikely to come from outside the Premier League....? For some teams it is just qualifying for the competition that is the trophy (or so says Arsene), and for most in the CL, success is getting through the Group Stage. But that is that same for MOST teams in MOST competitions.... We've also just enjoyed London 2012, where by far the majority of athletes went there to try to achieve PB's etc and had no chance from the outset of actually winning a medal. Would you suggest that only the top 3/4 in each event attend....?
Its about levels of expectation every club has varying levels this is why non league clubs particpate in the FA Cup and why smaller clubs do so in their own league with the hope of promotion, as with Olympic hopefuls. As an Arsenal fan i dont think its beyond the realms to think we have had a chance to win this cup and our clamour each season to qualify would make you think we seriously want to challenge for it, but we all know we have zero chance of winning the damn thing therefore whats the point? If only the board and manager cared as much about the competition as they did about the cash thats goes with it
I was in Copenhagen when we won the CWC (1994?) and just about recall the Fairs Cup triumph (1970?)..... My point is, why do we feel that we're above being in the CL if we can't win it. We've never won it before.....
And as for "do we have a chance?"....Probably not. But it isn't just Porto who have won against the odds. What about a very poor Chelsea side last season? And Liverpool when they came back from 0-3 down against Milan....?
Its been said already but ill say it again
The sides of CWC '94 and fairs cup had players with grit throughout them and while they were there we had a chance - we dont
Porto had a great manager (whether you like him or not) - we don't
That poor chelsea side could defend and a team that can defend has a chance - we can not
I'll give you liverpool v milan but even they had a captain in Gerard that almost single handedly dragged them though - we dont
Sorry mate i cant get excited about a competition as i said that the club care more about the money involved than the cup itself
Just spoke to a colleague who supports Huddersfield. To say he was envious of my trip to Schalke was an understatement..... Be careful what you wish for guys..... !
To those who going to Germany..... Do we head for Buer as Arsenal have suggested? Or is there somewhere else that people are heading for? We'll be travelling from Bochum, where I know that some did drink last time. But at the moment I think we'll head to Buer....
PS I see that Ramsey is out, so presume that Walcott will start.....?
MK Gould wrote:Just spoke to a colleague who supports Huddersfield. To say he was envious of my trip to Schalke was an understatement..... Be careful what you wish for guys..... !
Really MK? Im suprised you'd say that..... As i said earlier its all about levels of expectation Huddersfield Arsenal different levels completely mate
MK Gould wrote:Just spoke to a colleague who supports Huddersfield. To say he was envious of my trip to Schalke was an understatement..... Be careful what you wish for guys..... !
To those who going to Germany..... Do we head for Buer as Arsenal have suggested? Or is there somewhere else that people are heading for? We'll be travelling from Bochum, where I know that some did drink last time. But at the moment I think we'll head to Buer....
PS I see that Ramsey is out, so presume that Walcott will start.....?
MK Gould wrote:Just spoke to a colleague who supports Huddersfield. To say he was envious of my trip to Schalke was an understatement..... Be careful what you wish for guys..... !
To those who going to Germany..... Do we head for Buer as Arsenal have suggested? Or is there somewhere else that people are heading for? We'll be travelling from Bochum, where I know that some did drink last time. But at the moment I think we'll head to Buer....
PS I see that Ramsey is out, so presume that Walcott will start.....?
Don't know mate...it'll either be that beur district or the altstadt.
MK Gould wrote:Just spoke to a colleague who supports Huddersfield. To say he was envious of my trip to Schalke was an understatement..... Be careful what you wish for guys..... !
Really MK? Im suprised you'd say that..... As i said earlier its all about levels of expectation Huddersfield Arsenal different levels completely mate
That's the bit I don't understand though i.e. why peoples expectations would be so high.... We hardly ever qualified for the European Cup and think we may have got to the semi (or maybe it was only quarter) final once - when we lost to Benfica.
And in the Champions League we have got to the final once, the semi final once.... That hardly makes us a Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan or Man Utd..... Talk about up ourselves !
true, dont know where the european snobbishness comes from tbh, no-one in england has the right to look down upon group stage CL matches, look at man utd last season.
highburyJD wrote:I see our inability to create chances as far more of a prob than our defence
our prob was key individual errors from horribly out of form Vermaelen and shit Santos
tweaks can sort that,
Creating no chances is much harder to rectify
we have conceded 8 goals..scored 15 goals,,,best defence in PL.......you don't have to go to u iversity 2 see where we need improvement
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