Arsene Wenger is still hopeful and confident that his Arsenal team can have a good run in the Champions League this season, but he also knows that we need to get going as soon as possible, starting this evening with the visit of Galatasaray.
The game marks the 18th anniversary of the Frenchman taking over as Arsenal manager, a very successful spell with one notable exception. Despite a UEFA cup final in 2000 and a Champions League final in 2006, Wenger only has domestic titles to his name and he thinks that the way modern football has progressed makes it even harder for that to change, as an ESPN report reveals.
The Prof said, “Maybe it was more open 15 years ago than it is today. The concentration of the big players in a short number of clubs is much more than it was before.
“The Champions League is much predictable today. It’s harder to win it. If you make a poll tomorrow and say to people; ‘Give me four clubs who will win the Champions League?’ Then 80 or 90 percent will say these four clubs [Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea].
“I don’t think that we are one of the four who will be favourites to win it, but football is strange, and not always predictable. Let’s first qualify from the group stage and see.
“I would say this season is that this team has huge potential and it has to come out. At the moment I am more worried about that.”
If the Guuners are to give ourselves the best chance, we need to win the group and to do that we need to get going with a win over Galatasaray at the Emirates. And the key to that, in my opinion, is to keep a clean sheet. Only Aston Villa and Besiktas have failed to score against us this season and that is costing us points.
Even when we were awful in Dortmund, Arsenal were only undone by two bits of shocking defending and we would have been more than happy with a draw. Not just for tonight but throughout the competition, Arsenal need to start shutting teams out and that could just see Wenger’s hopes of a better run come true. What do you think Gooners?
I don’t care what sh*t wenger says and I hope we get no more injuries (specially Kos, Chamber, and Gibbs) more than hoping for a clean sheet
We will beat Galastaraay twice, Dortmund at home, beat Anderlecht away then lose the last game 2 finish second in our group and get Real Madrid in the knockout round, lose 8-1 at the Emirates and beat em at the Bernabeu 7-0, lose on away goals and Flamini will get sent off for a crunching tackle, Wenger complains and gets a 3 match touchline ban. That happens every year lol.
Seems like you’ve been here before……
Haha its called sarcasm
Hahahahahahaha
Arsenal defence and clean sheet??
This year a clean sheet with Flamini all alone protecting the back four
Lololololololololol
We are gonna win the match though
Arteta doesn’t have the legs that Flamini does but at least his tackles don’t give u a heart attack!
16 league clean sheets last seasom with flamini and Arteta. Imagine of we got a proper dm. The only realistic option in January is william carvalho coz sporting are skint.
@arsenalman365
I guess you haven’t been watching Carvalho play. Dude is not the CDM many here think we need. He’s lazy, with zero work rate. Chelsea ran through him at will. He was invisible in midfield as if he doesn’t know what his duties are.
If we’re going to raid Sporting, we should go for Silva or Mauricio and promote Chambers to CDM. I wouldn’t mind if we went for Nani either. He was on fire last night…
I haven’t watched him play for a full season but u can’t judge him on the Chelsea game. I watched it and his work rate was poor that game.
@arsenalman365
I’ve watched more than a few games with him and I’m still wondering why everyone is calling for us to sign him.
I guess most are judging him on his WC performances, which even then were nothing special. And what you saw last night, was how he’s been rollin ever since the WC.
He won the portugese player of the month 5 months in a row. He’s only played a few games since the world cup. You gotta be half decent to win that award so often in any league.
@arsenalman
I’m not refuting that. I’m just going by what I see of him. Many here are looking for a “Beast” to break up play and convert defense to offense at the drop of a hat all the while striking fear into our opponents. He is not that guy…
‘This team has HUGE POTENTIAL’ sounds like what I’ve been hearing in the past 8 seasons.’
What’s wrong if Arsenal is touted as the one of the favourites to win it Mr Wenger? Must Arsenal always be adjudged an underdog?
There’s no need to sugarcoat it, Arsenal lost her respect in Europe years ago.
We aren’t favourite to Win the champions league neither are we favourite to win the EPL. But surely we’re favourite to be knockout of the round of 16 and to finish 4th respectively.
2 seasons ago this team has great potential and can do big things
1 season ago this team has great talent and can win major honours
This season………………………………………………….
Let’s hope we are third time lucky and win a major honour
We won 2 in that space of time. Hopefully we can kick on this year. Trophies aren’t as important this season. It’s abaout competing with Chelsea and City and going further in the ucl.
Everything is possible but knowing Wengers record against big teams i just know that we have no chance. I have never seen Moro cracking jokes about other manager then Arsen Wenger, bec he always damn sure that he always ends up victiorious against him.
To win the CL, you need a decent team, luck, and tactical skills, or a Thierry Henry who can do miracles out of nothing.
It depends on if we make a defensive midfield signing. When we play a decent team, we have a poor first leg but batter em in the second leg but lose on away goals.
What an idiot u need Lord Bendtner or slippy g and pay the refs not thierry henry
Last time I’ve checked clean sheets were key to success for every team. People tend to act like Arsenal have the same defensive weakness like Liverpool last year (50+ conceded), which isn’t the case.
Apart from the obvious stubborness by Wenger to not buy a defensive minded player to add to the squad, our team is definitely up for a title challenge once Theo returns. For Arsenal, staying relatively injury free is the key to success, not just clean sheets.
staying relatively injury free
This statement right here is delusional in context to arsenal
Which fairyland have u been living in
Time to come back to earth
“I don’t think that we are one of the four who will be favourites to win it
This right here is delusional
He doesn’t think we are favourites
Oh no I was expecting us to win the CL
Haha We are never favourites for anything
Deal with it
But football is strange and not always predictable
Yes it is wenger for arsenal football club
4th or 3rd place in BPL
Round of 16 in Cl
Same old s##t in the last couple of years
dont care about clean sheet this time. just win this game, if no we wont win the group. i feel dortmund can lose points today.
but i definitely want a clean sheet against chel&$a…
Well I thought it was a good article. Clean sheets are important. It was because we had a lot of clean sheets early last season that we could get a lot of points and still make 4th despite the disasters that came later. We need to start getting it right very soon!
Clean sheets are for virgins.
We need to throw everyone forward
That’s what Giroud said after celia kay came along lol
Solid performance.. Thats all i ask for
Arsenal u31 beat Galatasaray u21 BIG
Zalelem, Crowley, hinds, iwobi all scored
And Wilock
1,21,4,6,3,20,19,15,11,17,23
Clean sheet and a goal and we could win this