To put things into perspective... Athelico have conceded 15 goals in their last 31 league games. We've conceded 43 in our last 32.
bye bye Champions League next year! Home in first leg and against Atletico. We will need to play out of our skins to get through this one!
@PISKIE ****sake ... at least put some effort into your match whiney thread you useless bitch contact that nice Colin geezer for some tips
Couldn't have got a tougher fixture especially having the first leg home to Atletico. But we all knew that we'd come across a very good CL quality team in the semis/final. I think we have a good chance over the two legs. We've been playing some good football, barring the last game and are rightfully one of the favourites to win. But we don't have much margin of error and we need to capitalise on any chance we get, as there won't be a lot clear cut ones against a very well drilled Atletico defence. We need to make a statement playing home, which means we need our fans to make some noise. We may want Wenger out but we can't give any advantage to Atletico, we already have a tough ordeal ahead of us already.
We had to wait 24 years after winning the fairs cup in 1970 before our next euro trophy in 1994. Its now been 24 years since that one...
Plus... Why is everyone ****ting it over Atletico? Couldn't even qualify out of their CL group. Won one game and couldn't even beat Qarabag at home. Scored 5 goals in 6 group games. So overrated by the media and lots of fans.
I’ve read a couple times people saying this is a win-win Win and we are through to the final Lose and Wenger has to go. If we do lose this tie and get knocked out, do you think Wenger can stay at that point?
I don't think Wenger is going to stay whatever happens. I think they have already pulled the trigger. And we can easily beat these guys. They are nothing special. If you need a pick-me-up http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/04/1...ee-reasons-to-be-optimistic-of-europa-league/
If we can keep them quiet, nab an advantage at home, we can play 10 men behind the ball in Madrid.. worked for Chelski in 2012
Yeah but we arent too good at keeping teams quiet anymore, based on our current defence and midfield! lol
It's the worst possible draw we could get, but we were inevitably going to play them at some point. They are a top-class side, and obviously favourites to win this tie. However, they haven't exactly had it all their own way this season. A Chelsea team, that is only marginally better than us, got 4 points against them in the Champions League, and they failed to beat Qarabag home/away in their group. A 9th-placed Sevilla also did the double over them in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals. You could argue that they didn't have Costa for half of the season which is why they were struggling to begin with, but to be fair, I've just checked Costa's goalscoring record and he's only got 6 goals in 17 appearances this season. He also may be out of the first leg with a hamstring injury. For all the talk of our ageing defence, 3 of Atletico's starting back 4 are 32+ (Juanfran, Godin and Felipe Luis). So they're no spring chickens, either. The obvious issue is that, although they are not as good as Atletico sides of the past, we are also not as good as Arsenal teams of the past. Their manager is also far superior to ours in terms of tactics, coaching and man-management. They will know how to suffocate us with their pressing and energy, forcing us to play narrow. We will need to utilise width in this game so that we can stretch them because if we congest the central areas, it will be meat and drink for their defence. Discipline in midfield is also essential. We will need to play like how we did against Milan away. If we try to play an open, expansive game, they will kill us. They have some incredible counter-attacking players in that squad. It's not inconceivable to get past them (they're in the Europa League for a reason), but we will need to be on our A-game, rely on some slices of luck and cannot afford any individual mistakes. It's a tall order, and I'm not expecting to go through, but it's what we'll need to do.
This game has gone from big to HUMONGOUS! With Arsene announcing the end, it will dramatically change the atmosphere in the stadium and push the players that bit extra. Wish i had tickets to see this game now, its going to be blood sweat and tears.
It had better be! I agree though. There are players playing for their jobs now, and I think a few will be feeling that they owe Wenger a send off. Certainly Athletico will not have listened to the announcement with joy!