We were all disappointed with the Champions League defeat for Arsenal at the hands of the Spanish champions Barcelona this week, although the determined and disciplined way that the Gunners performed for most of the game has stopped us giving the players and Arsene Wenger too much grief.
However, I have to agree with the former Premier League player Danny Higginbotham when I read his comments on the game in The Independent. The gist of it was that we only had ourselves to blame as we could have been more cautious and took the draw but instead a bit of panic came into our tactics as the players felt that we had to win the home leg.
As he pointed out, all of our recent Champions League exits have gone the same way and that all of our second leg results would have taken us through if only we had drawn at home. I firmly believe that there is little point in us going to Barcelona and getting our best players to give everything because we need to focus more on the two competitions that we can realistically hope to win.
But I also feel that Wenger and the team need to learn this valuable lesson about game management and apply it against Manchester United at Old Trafford tomorrow. I am not saying that we should play for a draw because I feel that all three points are very much in our reach, but if we get to withing 20 minutes from the end and the scores are level we need to make sure of not losing as well as hoping for a winner.
A draw would not be a disaster and it is the home side that really needs the win more than us. So why could we not do to them late on what Barca did to us?
Can’t see us not being the superior team. United may still nick the result because they’re such a jammy team, but we should win this game. I’d hope we’ll win convincingly, especially with half of their team out injured, but Old Trafford will always be a tough place to go.
A Danny Welbeck hattrick to get Van Gaal sacked 🙂
LOL @…’A Danny Welbeck hattrick to get Van Gal sacked’
I see Arsenal winning this match…however if we fail to do so, it’s not because of a poor back 4, but because of poor strike force.
I’ll like to see Giroud start with Welbeck…then Giroud being subbed for Campbel or Walcott in the second half…so Welbeck can play striker.
we need to play so many games : if wenger puts a bunch of them on the bench , thats just rest – they get to play on wed anyway.
gab in for mert,
elneny in for ramsey,
welbeck in for giroud,
campbell in for theo.
[ if giroud comes on in min60, he’ll prob score bec he’s always better coming in off the bench ]
play on the counter. don’t get caught upfield. play for 90min not 89. take shots from outside. dont take the most obvious shot. take shots; dont pass to death.
Every passing week, Leicester looks like they will win the league.although we expect them to stumble, are we even good enough to take advantage when they draw???…They almost drew yesterday but is it sure we will win at Old Trafford???
We had more than 3 occasions where the trio of Lei, spurs and city will slip up,yet we won’t win our match…
From now on,every match is a must win and with our mini goal drought I can’t bet on that…We need a special luck to win
But the truth is if we manage to win this match, we will do ourselves a lot of good, and Leicester may start to feel the pressure too
we can that De get is the best player on the pitch that has performed consistently for the past 2 years which compared against Ozil and Sanchez who have been on patchy form. Looking at Chelsea who were really bad for the past 4 months have turned a tide which is showing on recent form. Arsenal need to wary of Man utd’s current group and not to take anything lightly. Welbeck has to start and he plays with willingness to help the team which Oxlade did not show.