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Arsenal up against it AGAIN with Champions League fixtures

After Arsenal were handed yet another tough group in the Champions League this season, Arsene Wenger will have been hoping that the fixture schedule would be a bit kinder to us, but that hope will have been in vain. In fact it could get worse when the TV companies start messing about with the Premier League fixtures.

Wenger will be praying that no more Arsenal players join the injury list during the international break, because straight after it we host Man City on Saturday and then play the first UCL group game away to Borussia Dortmund on the Tuesday; a nightmare start especially as we have Mathieu Debuchy banned for the next European game after another harsh red card in the play-offs. Hopefully Dortmund will continue their slow start but we could well be up against it from the off.

The home clash with the German club comes on the Wednesday after our league game with Man United who will probably be flying by then. That game is set for Saturday but knowing our luck will be moved to Sunday, giving us a day less to prepare.

The second toughest team in our group is Galatasaray and the first clash with them comes in between the visit of Tottenham and the trip to Chelsea at the beginning of October. Nice! Then the very last game of the group, which could be crucial, is against them in Turkey, coming on the Tuesday after a usually bruising away day at Stoke.

So once again, Arsenal are going to have to do it the hard way and I can see us qualifying in second again. What do you think Gooners?

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Tags Dortmund Galatasaray

70 Comments

  1. We qualified from a much harder group last year. Galatasaray are not the team they used to be and if we can’t beat Anderlecht then what are we even doing in the UCL. Dortmund will be tough but we are stronger and they are weaker, so if we learn from last season’s mistakes there is no reason we shouldn’t top this group. COYG.

    1. It sounds nearly impossible to me ryt now topping the group
      WHY?

      Just look at our PL fixtures during CL matches
      With such important matches between them
      The same 11 will play every match bar 2-3 players

      Each player will get run down the ground cause wenger doesn’t believe in rotation

      If we get a negative result during that period then we may get shell shocked and underperform in the next fixtures

      1. Tony, you speak the truth my man. Rotation is necessary but we just dont have the quality in a few places to rotate.

        Rotate jack and Ramsey. Rotate Ozil and Cazorla, Rotate Theo and Ox, Rotate Campbell and Poldi on the left? Rotate Sanchez with Sanogo??
        Rotate Arteta with Flamini or Diaby???

        WHO DO WE ROTATE WITH IN DEFENSE.

        Also DM, LW, And CF rotations are weak at best.

      2. Agree to an extent but our big match opponents will have similar issues – our games against Man City, Chelsea and Spurs before Xmas will be on the back off or prior to European games for them as well. Might not effect MC and CFC as much due to their much vaunted squad depth but personally I don’t think they can rest some of their key players without feeling the effects; thinking Costa, Fabregas, Cahill, Hazard, Toure, Silva, Kompany, Aguero – no one is gonna tell me there are equally good replacements for them. Dortmund obviously have their own domestic games as well.

  2. Once Arsenal at full momentum we too much for Galatassary and co. Would be better if we purchase RUES so Borrossia be sad when we play!!!

  4. spanish journo Balague: “Falcao’s not going to Arsenal. Too expensive, even on loan. Mendes trying to get him to Arsenal, Real or Juve. All unlikely moves”

  5. Just thinking, if Sanchez got injured we are pretty much screwed. We NEED a top striker in my opinion. Sanchez is at his best on LW and good as a striker but with Giroud injured I would feel much better with a top guy up front. Or at least another top LW who can play other positions as well like Reus.

  6. Whatever happens is solely on AW. If our depth is enough to cope with the rigors, no problem. Am sure some other teams will go through the same fate.

  7. @GuillemBalague ‘My understanding is Arsenal are set to sign a central midfielder. Likely their last signing of window’

  10. BBC’s David Ornstein once again reiterates his belief that Arsenal will not be signing another forward this window. That’s about that I guess. So guys spare yourself the trouble and expect the worst by deadline day.

    Falcao to Arsenal rumours: fake
    Cavani to Arsenal rumours: fake
    Reus to Arsenal rumours: fake
    ..
    Zigic to Arsenal rumours: fake

      1. Don’t give up yet man. I still believe that a 10:59pm on Monday Zigic will be a gunner. The beginning of a new chapter that will see league and Europe domination this year led by Zigic.

  13. Looks like roma pulled a rabbiot out the hat.
    Anyways all i realistically would love is a quality CDM and CB. We wont get a striker by the looks of it.

    1. so roma have beat us to rabiot an manolas?
      dicky law outide roma stadium….

      was it something i said? give me another chance ! i can change!!

      1. Yep, and also a player called sabatini who we apparently wanted.

        Maybe they’ll also beat us to world class hold up play legend.. The mighty zigic.

    1. It will be going on.. They ask 20,we bid 10 and wait for them to come back if no one else bids for that player.

  15. I understand Wenger in hisnstatements.
    But we have some upper hands as¿nd should use them.
    Cavani I am sure would even forcé PSGs hands to move here, hell maybe even Falao would.
    That would be at the same time a need covered and a stateement, plus it would play in the psiquis of our opponents.
    More now because either Cavani orFalcao would be sure that they would play, hell if they score it will be like Verm, sorry dude but your “replacement” did it better and we wont fix it if it aint broken, no hard feelings for anyome, no unfair thing for anyone

  16. I truly appreciate the fans that have backed wenger all the time even when some fans like me wanted wenger to get sacked

    I don’t hold any grudge against the man but I think he can’t t take us to the elite teams bracket where we deserve to be

    Surely he has given us a great platform to build on for the future
    But in 2014 if we look around Europe many teams have risen up and are now fully equipped to battle it out with elite teams like Bayern,Psg,Chelsea,Man City

    Mr wenger deserved a chance after putting us through the rough times but will we be able to
    achieve the same in 2014

    I don’t think so

    1. Whereas we used to be the Barca to Manchester United’s Real, Now we are not even at the same level as Atletico or Dortmund.

      From winning the EPL every other year and playing in the CL Final to a perennial number 4 with not even a whiff of the quarter finals. Thus is what has become of this team and no matter what anybody says, it is not acceptable and it is not good business, winning teams make more money!!!

      SO this whole stadium build and saving the pennies have been a major footballing and business debacle. We are no longer a top team and top teams are making more money then us. So where is the silver lining?

      I thought this year was when we were going to compete at the same level as the others. Our net spend is 30M last year we spent more on one player. Where are the top,top, top signings? When are we going to catch up?

      Do you think Mourinho is waiting until the last day of the transfer window to buy his missing links?

    3. Its all about the money mate, do you think Wenger could have done a job at City, Chelsea, PSG, Real etc if he had £500M-£1B to blow over 5 years with no questions asked? Conversely do think Mourinho could have done a job at Arsenal on the budget Wenger has had?

      1. We have the money now, or supposedly we do. Where are the two very obvious players we have been missing for years?

        Look why does Mourinho make it look so simple, he needed a striker, a CAM and a LB and he went out and got 3 of the best available in this transfer window. Quickly, efficiently and quietly.

        We need a DM and a Striker or a LW so we can use Sanchez as a striker.

        Where are they?

        1. Look, I share some of your sentiments but I reckon Wenger is on a 2 or 3 year plan starting last summer and the Gooner community is looking for the instant fix. The is a clear disparity between expectations. He is clearly only interested in players who are significantly better than the ones he has and he is not interested in padding it out with more of the same. Ozil and Sanchez could easily be argued to be in the top 3 in the world in their position or for that type of player. Man City and Chelsea have been spending big and consistently more than us for 5 and 10 years respectively – best will in the world we ain’t catching up in a couple of transfer windows. Even if the players he wanted were available he was never, ever gonna tear up his team sheet and replace more than half of the existing core of the team over the course of a few weeks in the summer. To have a squad comparable to Chelsea/Man City’s depth I reckon we’d need another GK, LB, CB, 2 x CDM, LW, maybe 2 X ST and maybe a RB, say another £250M+. And even if that happened in one go, Wenger has said it himself, everyone said it last season with THFC – there are no guarantees – indeed the likelihood is that you will go backwards. A better team on paper but no cohesion or understanding for a long bedding in period – one negating the other. I see the next thread and despair (Can we win the Pl this season etc) because in my mind it is pretty obvious we are not likely to for obvious reasons, the relative strength of MC and CFC. The bookies have CFC and Man City close to evens and us at 6 or 7 to 1 third favourites. Wenger blowing a wad in the last few days, even say Falcao and Carvalho is only going to narrow that gap, and never going to bridge it IMO. I don’t think either Falcao or Cavani were in Wenger’s mind; big star £50M+ names but crucially at the end of the year both will be closing in on 30. His big signings have been 25/26 years old with minimum 5 years peak playing time in them – again pointing to a longer term plan.

  17. How I would laugh if Sanchez gets injured on Sept 2nd 😀

    Okay, maybe I won’t laugh 🙁 🙁 🙁

  18. The only player we might be getting is a versatile defender who can play DM.

    It really is sad that Arsene does not learn from past mistakes, mediocre players in many positions, not enough back up in others and we will finish 4th again.

  19. But I want Mr wenger to win the CL atleast once
    I don’t give a f##k whether we win it by luck or our strength

    Cause I feel this stupid generation that idolises managers like Moaningho, Guardiola, would never realize how great a manager wenger was

    Just one CL and he will be in the elite managers category who have won the CL

  21. Arsenal are short in 3 areas, defence, central mid and strikeforce. If the 1st back four of Gibbs – Mertesacker – Koscielny – Debuchy keep fit then we should be safe..Chambers and Monreal to cover them while Heyden and Bellerin cld be called upon if need be. Flamini, Arteta and Diaby will hold us for the season but an addition is needed.
    To have a trophy chance, arsenal deerly requires a top striker. In my openion Sanchez is good but not a better striker than Giroud. If anything, he’d be better effectively on the flanks with theo on the opposit side and Ozil/Santi as no 10.
    Sczezny
    Debuchy Koscielny Mertesacker(Chambers) Gibbs(Nacho)

    (New player-Carvalho/Arteta/Flame ) Diaby
    Ramsey/Jack

    Walcott(Ox) Ozil (Carzola) Sanchez(Campbell)

    Cavani(Sanogo/Poldi)

    The players in brackets may be used in cup games and against small teams like Leicester, Palace, Barnsley..

  22. We play Man Cty at HOME right.
    We then have Dortmund in the UCL, right.
    We are therefore f…… wrong.
    Man Cty have an away game in Munich the day after we play Dortmund.
    So, CTY have 2 away games that week, so will be travelling more, whereas we play the first at home.
    Still tough for us, but, would say Cty fans have more to complain about regards that weeks fixtures.
    I am sure Chelsea and Pool will have nice easy home games before and after their UCL games.

  23. The more you spend, the more you make… simple economics. Arsenal are stalled on the revenue and value list while other teams climb. If the club is so into making money, then why have they not grasped this basic concept. Arsenal needs more star power, to win more, to make more bandwagon fans, which makes more money.

    1. I know what you are trying to say but you should hold your horses on the “more you spend, the more you make…simple economics”. That is most definitely NOT an immutable economic law. If you insert the word “can” then you may have a workable hypotheses; the more you spend the more you can make”. And there is an obvious fatal flaw to this in any event; if say 5 teams embark on this allegedly “risk-free” business model and spend, spend, spend then pretty much by definition 4 of them come unstuck every year because only one team can buy the PL. Same on a wider scale across Europe for the UCL. We will see the fall-out over the coming years, maybe even this season – Man U, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea have spending way above ours and are geared to winning the PL at least. BR may be OK if he fails but JM, LvG and MP will be in the shit no doubt.

      1. 10 years ago Arsenal had a chance to be one of Europe’s elite. We were one of the two teams in England that mattered, we were at the Final of the CL against Barca. We had Henry and a bunch of fantastic players……..

        10 years later, no more EPL championships, no more quarter finals in the CL, 10 yeras of coming 4th place, while First Chelsea and then City left us in their wake, now Liverpool is tryong to wake up, Manu is about to spend 200M in this window, trying to rebuild quickly, and our manager is waiting for the last day of the transfer window, he calls it like playing chess.

        Well, all i gotta say is go play chess in your own effing time if you like it so much.

        1. Think it was poker not chess JB but understand the thought.

          You’ve hit on the issue there JB without really acknowledging just how different it is now to 10 years ago. All four clubs you mention plus us have different ways of going about their business. Liverpool trying to resurrect an empire through spending and Man U trying to stop an empire sliding over the edge of a cliff through even more drastic spending. MC and CFC just continuing to spend someone else’s money making hay whilst the sun is still shining, but what will they have left if and when the oil/mafia money supply is suddenly turned off. The s**te is gonna hit the fan at one or more of those clubs in the coming years because one or more of them will fail to collect the trophies their spending demands. I want glory – I pray for it in my own atheist way – but honestly not sure what the answer is – we appear to be stuck between two stools – on one the one hand there is the well-run club, Corinthian ideals, attractive football, generally competing or being there or there abouts, being respected in the wider community etc and on the other hand wanting to join the new age idea of a football club and “f$%k this for a game of soldiers and lets just deal with this by spending mega-money and sod the consequences brigade”.

  24. Poster Man Cty play us, at the Emirates, and then, have Bayern AWAY same week too.
    So, though not ideal for us, it is even harder for them.
    Week-end games are always difficult either side of a UCL game, that is the cost of qualifying.
    Except for Chelsea and Pool of course, who will have bottom teams pencilled in.

  28. forget falco i want a top top defensive midfielder number 1 priority, why dont we just go and get arturo vidal

  29. If we cant believe we can win this group, then we have no chance of ever winning the champs league!
    Come on gooners!!

  32. Apart from the toughness of BVB

    I am really because I live in Dortmund, and this is my once-in-a-lifetime-chance to see my favorite team with my own eyes T_T

  33. Koscielny, Mertesacker & Chambers as the only options at CB for a 50+ game season is absolute madness. must another CB & a cdm as well

    & wenger says giroud out for 4 months by arsenal std time it could be more nervous days ahead

  36. Falcao has started following Joel Campbell on twitter and Wenger not denying something is happening.

  37. If I’m honest i dont really want Arsenal to sigh Falcao. Yea he’s world class striker for sure but he’s almost 29 and 50M or 20M for a loan is just too much. Anyway,money isnt mine and Falcao in an Arsenal shirt would be absolute madness:)

  38. Under Wenger Arsenal will never win the Cl. And forget also about the Epl. Without new players we have no chance to win anything big.

  39. Who else is there that would be an improvement on OG.

    Who else can we sign that has everything OG has and a bit more?

    Can Bony lead us to CL and BPL title?

    Can Remy?

    Glad I’m not in Wengers shoes.

      1. Yeah, Wenger is probably on an eternal quest looking for the next TH14 to come riding over the hill – you will have a long, long wait Mr Wenger.

  40. I honestly believe that if we don’t qualify from the group stage we WONT win Champions League trophy

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