I don't think it will be all out attack, we have to strike a balance and concentrate defensively. But I think we'll definitely go for the win, if we get an away goal - it sets us up for a great platform to build on.
Im quite confident that we'll do well in Milan. We now have most of our key injured players back, actually Sagna I think with him back we are much more solid at back. Although Mertz is injured, we have Vermaelen going back to his usual position. The only issue is left back and whether Gibbs is ready, maybe Arsene will stick with Coqs. Im also liking the Arteta, Rosicky and Song midfield. We seem to be keeping possession much better now and are more solid defensively. Lastly, i think Walcott will be key for us in Milan. He seems to be getting some confidence back and if our players can lay on some lovely balls for him to run onto, it should be good. Also, if the OXO can handle the occasion, he could well be a killer to Milans defence....
Walcott will be the star of the show. Mark my words. Their defence will not cope with his pace. I watched the derby between Inter and AC a while back... they are still frail at the back (as are we) but attacking wise, AC are so overrated. Pato has yet to live up to his potential (ok he scored a great goal at the Nou Camp and?), Ibra has to be one of the most overrated strikers ever. I'm not saying he's not talented but I wouldn't fear him. The only person I would be really worried about is Kevin Prince Boateng.
Every single game should be approached to win, but there is a difference with how you achieve it. I think we will play on the counter, similar to how we tried to play against Barca. I dont expect us to dominate possession, but to use Walcott's pace (and possibly OXO) to break quickly.
We have the players to play counter against Milan but i think we will play our usual way, which has proved to be successful against them. I think defensively we should be able to cope with them as Verm, Kos and Sagna are very good against skillful on the desk players. Add Song and Arteta to the mix, we should be quite solid. The only potential weak link is our left back...
I think this type of game might suit Miquel. He's from the Italian school of ball playing defenders and I think his game suits a European style of football.
Big call to throw him in for an away CL knockout match in Milan. Where would you play him, at full back?
Yep at LB. In order that we can play TV and Kos in the middle. It is a big game for him to play in, but I think he's shown he can handle the pressure.
Im with Piskie here, i think Milan will allow us to play our game, so Miquel will be able to move it around with less pressure. He seems more at ease on the ball than Gibbs at back, who will be under more pressure from playing no football in a long while. If i remember, Miquel has been quite good for us too. Only thing is, will he be able to combine better with OXO or will Gibbs/Coqs be a better option?
I think we might see Gibbs play. My one worry about Miquel at full back is his pace and agility. He's big and strong, and quite skillfull on the ball, but doesnt fill me qith confidence in terms of handling a wide player for 90 minutes. Watched a lot of him in the reserves last year, and I think he's more of a CB.
That's the only downside. I too think Wenger will go with Gibbs, i just hope that he'll hit the ground running after his long layoff. The link up between Gibbs and OXO can cause a lot of problems for Milan. Both are very quick and if they can combine well, they can pose a huge attacking threat especially if they start overlapping....
He is a CB primarily, but I think he does a decent job at LB. True that he's not got great pace, whereas Gibbs does. I think it would be a massive first game for Gibbs to come back into though. But if Wenger thinks he's ready, then he might play him. What about Coq at LB ?
I like Coquelin at LB. After the first game, where he struggled, he showed real ability to adapt - good defensively, quite quick (which was a surprise) and good going forward. Reminds me a bit of the job Flamini did in 2006.
Took the words out of my mouth, he is very Flamini like. Hard working, strong, not afraid to tackle and willing to put in 100% in whatever position he plays in
We aren't looking so bad at back anymore are we? We now have a couple of decent left backs that can do a job. It's just a relief to have Sagna back!
So this tactical wish turned out as a disaster and shows that Wenger is dammed if he does and dammed if he doesn't. If Arsenal had kept it tight for a boring 0-0 draw, everyone would have said he hasn't a clue. However they play what turns out to be a too attacking game and get caught 3 times on the counter, and "its a disgrace". There was absolutely no winning result for this game given the small chance of going in there and coming out with a 3-0 win. Now I agree that the result we got is far far worse than a 0-0 draw, but you have to conceed that tyhe chance of Wenger and the team coming out of Milan with a result that fans approved of was virtually zero.
All fans would have been pleased to not get hammered 4-0. Secondly what game were you watching? We didn't go full out attack, stop making things up to mask how bad we were, we conceded bad goals not because we were going all out in attack but because we sucked at defending, lol, but it is funny you actually want to pretend like we went all out attack, are you kidding me? That was one of the worst attacking displays we have had.
When did I use the words "All out attack". I said it was "too attacking", because we pressed forward too much. Proved by the fact, we were caught on the counter-attack 3 times.
You weren't really caught on the counter-attack. You had enough numbers back to deal with most attacks succesfully. It was down to poor defending from the usual suspects that you conceded 4 goals, not a tactical failure.
