Based on the last 16 years, how can I ever be confident in anything this club does? I know we've won a few FA Cups, but when you consider everything in its entirety, it's been very underwhelming for the past decade and a half. In answer to your question though: no, I don't have confidence (yet). I think we are still a few players short. We lack quality in midfield and need better cover on the right wing, especially now Pepe has gone on loan. I also think we need a different type of centre-forward up front. Jesus and Nketiah are very similar profiles of player. If a game plan isn't working with either of them leading the line, I'd prefer to have a tall centre forward who is dominant in the air, strong physically, occupies centre-halves and adds another dimension to our attacking threat. But this won't happen. If we sign Neto and Tielemans by the end of the window, I'll feel much more optimistic. There will probably come a point in the season where we will have to prioritise between the Europa League or Premier League. If it does come to that, like I suspect it will, my gut feeling is we will rely on league form to get back into the Champions League, and sack off the Europa.
interesting. I was having the same conversation with a mate (Arsenal fan) this morning. I said the exact same things to him that I’ve highlighted in bold. - but he was very confident that the squad was strong enough as it is. There’s no doubt you’ve made some decent signings, but to have a squad capable of challenging on both fronts (and domestic competitions) there needs to be quality in depth because otherwise you end up fielding a strong prem team, but the wholesale changes a few days later for the europa are very underwhelming. Seen it time and time again with Spurs over the years. I don’t think Arsenal are quite there yet, and may not be by the end of this window in terms of transfers. Like Arteta said in “All or nothing” it’s takes time. And I agree, I also see a point where there’ll be a crossroads where you’ll have to choose which is the better option to pursue; top 4 or Europa. still, you have a great chance of winning the Europa, so it’ll be interesting to see how the decisions pan out.
EL groups for the PL cubs : Group A: Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, Bodo/Glimt, FC Zurich Group E: Manchester United, Real Sociedad, FC Sheriff, Omonia Nicosia EL2 groups for the PL cubs : Group B : West Ham, FCSB, Anderlecht, Silkeborg
Omonoia? Sounds like a skin disease. Although weirdly their full name, Omonoia Nicosia, sounds like a couscous salad.
FCSB are a Romanian club owned by a fascist former politician. Gigi Becali got sent down for nicking land from the state and match fixing. I'm sure he'll fit right in with their fans. The club itself is a knockoff of Steaua Bucharest. The owner basically stole the brand and used it illegally until they took it back in 2017. Anderlecht qualified for the group by eliminating Swiss opposition. No Young Boys in Europe this season. The Vatican must be very disappointed.
https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method5/trank2023.html Both clubs are going to lose a lot of ranking pts at the end of this season. Could be a pyrrhic entry into the CL next season as a "pot 3" member if you go too far down this path.
Sept 7 h Marseilles Sept 13 a Sporting Oct 4 a Frankfurt Oct 12 h Frankfurt Oct 26 h Sporting Nov 1 a Marseilles
Omonia means Unity. The two big clubs in Nicosia are Omonia and APOEL and there is a political origin to these two clubs. Essentially Ominia is Left and APOEL is right. A bit like Celtic and Rangers in Scotland and there is another similarity, Omonia's colours are the same as Celtic with a shamrock as their badge. Early in the 20th century there first foreign coach was a man called John Cyril Campbell described as English but with the very Celtic surname of Campbell. It was during his time that they changed to the green and white strip apparently after Panathinaikos of Greece, but I suspect there is a Celtic connection somewhere in all of this. I find myself having to support APOEL when I go to Cyprus because my Brother in Law always buys me tickets to see them. It would not go down to well if I declared myself an Omonia suppoter.
Tickets for Marseille go on sale for season ticket holders on Wednesday August 31st. They're on sale for members on Friday September 2nd. I'm not seeing any pricing information anywhere though, unfortunately.
Told you all the Eintracht games would be rounds 2/6 or 3/4, and that Spurs needed it to be the former. Off to update the "season compass" , so you all know the horrors awaiting the squad for october ...
Just a reminder to season ticket holders that the Marseille tickets are on sale today. They're Category B pricing.
Our UEFA squad's been announced Goalkeepers Hugo Lloris Fraser Forster Brandon Austin Defenders Cristian Romero Eric Dier Clement Lenglet Ben Davies Davinson Sanchez Emerson Royal Ryan Sessegnon Matt Doherty Djed Spence Japhet Tanganga Midfielders Son Heung-min Rodrigo Bentancur Pierre Emil Hojbjerg Dejan Kulusevski Oliver Skipp Ivan Perisic Yves Bissouma Pape Matar Sarr Forwards Harry Kane Richarlison Lucas Moura Bryan Gil
