Arsenal
Borussia Dortmund
Olympiacos FC
Olympique De Marseille
Well well well. My first thought was that we are fucked!!
Borussia Dortmund- they won the German title last season and that takes some doing. They have a fantastic stadium and they will be difficult to beat at their home. If we beat them at Emirates stadium and get a draw in Germany, that’ll be some feat.
Olympiacos FC- again won the Greek title last season. They have a very tight defence and they are dangerous on the counter attack. Arsenal will have to play a very high paced game against them to stand a chance of breaching them. That tippy-tappy side-ways play that has become our feature of late just won’t do if we are to get more than 1 point off them.
Olympique De Marseille- They are a quality side and their European pedigree is unquestionable. They play a more open attacking style of football and I fancy our chances against them more than the previous two clubs. But make no mistake; their team is full of some very talented players. They won’t be an easy outfit.
Generally speaking, at this level of football, you underestimate any club at your peril. These are the best clubs in Europe, featuring all the best players from all continents. In my opinion, the Champions League is a better competition than the World cup. That’s where you see the best of all the players, where they play with their teammates, week in, week out. Not a one month tournament with guys you hardly ever play with... and people wonder why Messy is average for Argentina...
Surprisingly I don’t fancy our home form to get us through the group stage but our away form. I wish Arsenal fans could make the Emirates Stadium a difficult place for any visiting team, you know, make the place a very intimidating place. Very often in the league the stadium is so quiet you can hear events on the pitch on TV!! Arsenal fans have got to realise that it’s up to them to change the atmosphere in the stadium and it will filter to the players, not the other way around. I know most of us are of the mind that the team needs to improve, hell, the manager and team is even getting booed. But please not on match days I implore you. This only helps the opposing team and makes it difficult for our players. I think away from home, our players are a bit freer to play than at home where their every mistake is met with groans and anxiety.
Looking at our game against Udinese again, I couldn’t help thinking that on top of needing a central defender, a midfielder and central striker, we need a left back. I know Sagna put in a shift at left back but that’s not his best position. And if Traore couldn’t be trusted enough to start the game.... Seriously, we need our best players playing in their best positions. Gibbs is too brittle while Traore is not very good for me.
But Arsene knows. Arsene knows that his squad needs strengthening. That’s why he won’t do a damn thing about it in the transfer market... Then he’ll tell us how he tried to sign players X, Y and Z at 11:59pm on 31 August 2011...
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