Don't get me wrong I'd love for us to get far and I think we have some fine players, but we lack self belief and not playing to our teams potential. Until we go on any sort of run, I'll refrain from getting too excited.
Only way i can see us beating Barca is using raw pace, spearheaded by the one and only Walcott. The supporting cast would be OXO, Wilshere and Carzola. I wouldn't bother with Podolski or Giroud, they wouldn't have any impact on Barca. Play fast fast counter-attacking game with them. No slow passing, bullshire buildup play, should we choose that, Barca would kill us. If we lose, we lose, at least we'll make it competitive and exciting!
18/1 on betfair (only price i could find) which is a s**t price considering you can get 11/1 on Utd and Arsenal are out with the washing! http://www.oddschecker.com/football/champions-league/champions-league/winner
I reckon Bayern would be worse for you lot than Barca. Although they don't really try at the Emirates you've come close to beating Barca in the past. That said with all the upheaval surrounding Villanova I think that might give them extra motivation and I wouldn't want to be the one standing in their path. 1. Bayern 2. Barca 3. Dortmund 4. PSG 5. Juventus 6. Malaga Worst to Best Arsenal generally speaking are good against Italian sides.
I think when it gets to this stage of the CL it really comes down to who has the best game on the night and form. The teams are so close together talent-wise.
Dortmund would rape the crap out of us. They are probably the worst team for us. Organised, can keep the ball well, and lightening quick on the counter. They would smack us.
I like Podolski, but he goes missing too often for my liking and against the big boys, would struggle to go past defenders. I would have Carzola on the left and OXO on the right and Wilshere as the main ACM and of course. Walcott would be our main stiker in the middle. Put Rosicky and Arteta in midfield. Carzola-----Walcott------Oxo -----------Wilshere---------- ---Rosicky----------Arteta--- There is enough skill and talent between Carzola, OXO, Wilshere, Rosicky and Arteta to keep enough possession and feed balls through to Walcott. Walcott would frighten the pants off the Barca back 4 and create space for Carzola, OXO and Wilshere. We have one thing they haven't got, a man that goes like the clappers. No one in that Barca lineup can catch him. I remember when Walcott destroyed them for pace, that was a sight to see. If we intend to go down, i think we should go down attacking, with flair, style and pure excitment!
Talent-wise and team-wise are two totally different things. We have some very good individuals, but as a team, we are one of the worst in the tournament. Unless we pick up our performances by a long way, we won't go past the next stage.
Our rivals rate us much higher than our own fans. No team in the competition right now will be as confident of beating Arsenal as our own fans will be for them. That seems really sad to me.
Don't be melodramatic mate. Our opposition may rate us but that is primarily down to Wenger and what we used to do. The reality is that we aren't playing good enough at the moment and any top team would roll us over. Even you have to identify how poorly we've been of recent. Oh and you can't base everything on one good win against a struggling club. We need to go on a proper run to see how good we really are.
I wouldn't mind that team tbh. Wenger would never play that though. What about or centre back pairing? As good as Mertesacker is should we play him against Barca or Dortmund? Koscielny and Vermaelen again? Could be disastrous.
If we continue to be disorganised as a whole unit, then it will be disasterous. If we defend well as a unit and don't leave any holes at the back, then we should do well. I think we have the players, we desperately need some more organisation at the back.
The question is, how many good performances were there from Arsenal, and how many of them were from RVP?
Our performances were pathetic at the end of last season, even with RVP. The big boys in Europe will not be scared of drawing us..
We have until end of Jan to start playing significant better. Should we continue with our stuttering start and inconsistency, then we will be in for a rough ride... We have the perfect December fixture list to put things right.
