CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Post by **REB** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:21 am

seems its looking more likely that we will finish second in our group,
so now we have to look to play against a team that finishs first;;
so lets have a look and see who,s there,, and why its important to finish first in your group,,
probable firsts
milan
inter
man u
chelsea
barce
madrid
marseilles/porto
since we cant get an english club in last 16,, that leaves the big two spanish and big two italian plus porto....
tough

now we see the importance of the stupid dropped points in prague and the reserve team also sent out against seville,,

whats the bet th14 will be back sooner then we thought

i know to win we will have to beat these teams at some stage and
im not saying we cant beat these teams but i would have prefered an easier draw at this stage of the season,

augie · Post by **augie** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:30 am

Sad to say it but I see another last 16 exit against either ac milan or real madrid. I know that it is a very average madrid side but I look at our squad and I dont see enough leaders for us to go to places like milan and madrid and grind out results especially if/when bert goes in jan. That and the fact we dont have a good enough keeper of course

If we dont progress past the last 16 then wenger should feel some heat over his team selection in the last 2 euro matches

Post by **REB** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:40 am

that was my thinking as well,,
we are good enough to beat anyone on our day but can we do it for 4 more rounds,,
which makes life harder when instead of the likes of rangers/celtic etc we now have to face barce/madrid etc
and it will be down to the manager and the teams he picked for our last two cl games,,
teams win matches but squads win titles and ours still looks a bit weak on quality

26may1989 · Post by **26may1989** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:46 pm

Can't let Pessimists Anonymous dominate this thread...

Milan looked pretty ordinary against Benfica (who will likely finish bottom of their group) and Milan are doing pretty badly in Serie A this year too (only 4 wins out of 12 games).

Barca are having problems.

Real got beaten by Werder Bremen, so are doable.

Maresilles, no problem. And Porto just got tonked 4-1 by a side we played off the pitch and should have beaten a few weeks ago.

Can't think of anything to use to dismiss Inter, other than I don't like them (except for PV4 - always a hero).

I've never really thought winning the group is that big a deal. If we face a big side earlier than we'd like so be it. As we showed against PSV last year, drawing a smaller side isn't exactly a guarantee either. It's all about the form we'll be in when the games roll around.

To be honest, I don't think this side is well built for success in Europe this year - although we shouldn't be scared of any of the big sides mentioned, or later many of the sides who'll finish second in their group, if the likes of Milan, Real or Barca are on top of their game, I would think they would beat us. If we get to the Quarters this year, I'd be happy, so long as our league challenge continues right through to the end. European success will come in later seasons, as this team continues to develop.

Post by **REB** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:22 pm

pessimists

i dont think so,, reality does hit us sometimes,,
every team is beatable and our team on there day are good enough for any of the other teams that go thru,,
but,,
how many more years are we to wait while this team develops,,
are we not one of the top teams in europe,,
i dont fear a one off but to think that we can go thru 4 more rounds, well i dont think so,, but do hope im wrong, which is another reason why we should have gone out and won our group to give us a little bit of space in the next round rather then facing inter,barce etc

this is again why our squad is to lightweight

remember all our players are now experienced,, all bar a couple are full internationals,,

EdgeOfTown · Post by **EdgeOfTown** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:35 pm

Dont like the look of the top 2 from Spain and Italy, but we were shite in 2006 and look what we done in Europe that year, so anythings possible..and personally I'd like to get Barca over 2 legs. The henry factor, revenge, and no doubt some brilliant football..
If we can get close to our 1st team for the majority of the competition, we'll do well, I'm tipping us for the Semi's, but we're the Carlsberg of injuries, if we get them they're @ the worst time in the world..

26may1989 · Post by **26may1989** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:00 pm

rebel gooner wrote:pessimists
i dont think so,, reality does hit us sometimes,,

Oh yes, the old pessimisim vs realism debate...

I agree with you, rebel, we do need more depth in terms of talent. But I think I'm just willing to be a bit more patient in European football with a team that is only coming into its own this season.

donaldo · Post by **donaldo** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 4:06 pm

!n reality no one would have said we would have reached the 2006 CL final.The CL is not always won by the best team,Liverpool in 2005,Porto in 2004 and Milan last year.I said at the start of the season that i thought we had a better chance of winning the CL than the Premiership as i did not think we would be doing so well in the league this season.But and its a big but its really hard to win the CL and the Premiership.Just look how Manure and Chelski burned out at the end of last season.Strange we had our best season in the CL under Wenger in 2006 which was our worst league season under him

thatgooner · Post by **thatgooner** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:15 pm

If we are gonna win the champs league then we are gonna have to play europeans top sides at some stage.
I doesn't bother me who we have, i think we can beat any team!

Post by **T.S** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:27 pm

thatgooner wrote:i think we can beat any team!

I don't. Now I'm going to be fucking lynched for this, but oh well, I think that in the big games, we've lacked bottle. Yes, we have come from behind to grab points, which is good but given how quickly we seemed to run out of ideas at home to United, I don't really buy this "we can beat anyone on our day" lark.

Sure, if we play Barcelona and all of our players play a blinder and all of their players are shit, we'll probably win. However, the difference is that, although on our day, we are a match for most teams, teams like Barcelona and AC Milan will be more than a match for us even when it's not 'their' day. They have options all over the pitch and from what I've seen this season, we seem to run out of ideas at times. I hope to God I'm wrong and that we go on to win everything in sight, but I just can't see it happening. I honestly don't think we've got enough quality through the squad. Yes, we appear to be playing more as a team these days, and that is nice to see, but I don't think we've got many match winners in our squad - players who can change the game all by themselves (please don't mention Adefuckingbayor!).

Post by **REB** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:38 pm

our first 11 is good but not that great,,
goalkeeper been a huge problem,,
and yes i know we are top of the league and liverpool and man u didnt beat us,, but we didnt beat them either, we were so lucky to hav such a shite cl group that we were able to get thru early,,

i hope im wrong but this month if it goes bad then we wont recover in time for the cl knockouts,,
im not trying to be a pessmist as we are in the last 16 and top of the league,, but now we can see how the injuries are starting to hit home,,

god help us if gallas and kolo get injured,,

as said earlier
teams win matches,, squads win titles

Post by **flash gunner** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:10 pm

Have to disagree with some of what youve said Rebel. Our 1st eleven is more than good it is great, but i agree we havent a good enough squad thats where we are let down. The goalkeeper hasnt been a huge problem for us Almunia has done very well since coming in and although i would like to see us sign a new/better keeper i think apart from the Manure game we have "got away" with the keeper prob so far and long may it continue if we dont sign someone else.

We would be in the shit if Kolo and Gallas got injured but if Terry and Carvalho or Ferdinand and Vidic got injured Chelsea and Manure would be in the shit no one has 2 fantastic central defenders in the reserves.

December may well be a make or break month but there is still a lot of football left after this month. Lets not forget the champions league group still contained Seville who we beat convincingly at home with a full team out and although we got done on Tuesday still think we stand as good a chance as anyone in the knockouts.

Before everyone says im an optomist i am actually a realist and dont see us winning the league come May but i think there is a lot to look forward to.

Bergkamp95 · Post by **Bergkamp95** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:48 pm

Tough one to call we could beat any one of them crunts on the nite.
Think positive people.Not negetive ya

augie · Post by **augie** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:05 pm

I used to be woth those fans saying "on our day we can beat anyone" but have to be honest and say that I am no longer sure about that. If we are honest would a midfield pairing of cesc & flamini frighten the european giants ? Would the threat of van persie & ade up front be as concerning to opposition defenders as a DB10 & th pairing ? Would you feel as intimadated going in to try and beat almunia as you would a lehman ? I doubt it very much. Granted Diarra and bert are both better players than flamini but we have nothing better in reserve for the keeper or striker spots so I dont think our 1st 11 is as good as it was or could be. Need more quality in key positions mr wenger

Justin-the-Gooner · Post by **Justin-the-Gooner** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:33 pm

It is unfortunate that I feel we will not top our group. It will be another Real Madrid type game. I hope we can do it. I hope all our big names can cope. It is like Cesc said "to be the best you have to beat the best". Now I would prefer a game against Rosenborg then AC Milan. But I hope if we get a Real Madrid type team we can beat them.