Why this could be the year for Arsenal in Champions League

I know it is a bit early to be making bold and sweeping statements about Arsenal and the season ahead, but I am going to do it anyway, so there. I hate to say it, but the way that Fabregas and Costa have blended in to an already strong Chelsea side makes them look like Champions elect already.

Unless they hit a wall soon or somebody, perhaps us or Man United, trips them up soon then they could be out of reack and I cannot see them giving up a good lead. That means the Gunners will be looking at the Wenger trophy again, although I think we should at least move up a place and avoid the horrible Champions League play-offs next season.

So how about the Champions League this season and the one trophy that would complete Wenger’s set? We had that heartbreaker of a final with Barcelona but have not really come too close since then. This season, however, I think we could have a cheeky go, because the new look Gunners are set up to do well in Europe.

Plenty of pace and a strong and creative midfield means we should be fantastic on the counter attack, which really pays dividends when the away goals start to count. Our group is better than usual and if Arsenal get through it, especially if we win it, means that we could be looking at a run to the final/

By the knockout stages we will have Giroud back and will have had the opportunity to strengthen in the winter transfer window. Could this be the year for Arsenal?

Tags Giroud Wenger

105 Comments

  1. Nah, maybe next season. When we do the right thing and get a proper striker, a proper DM and get another senior centre back. Or all the things we failed to do this Summer……

    1. wenger could have built a complete team last window – or this one just gone.
      he wont the next one- or he would have done it already.

      i just hope a few players find their feet, wenger excels in that respect

      1. To be honest we bought 5 players this window, of course wenger wasn’t going to bring in more.. look what happened to spurs?

        1. We didnt have to buy 5 players if we had given contracts to Fabianski, Sagna and Vermaelen in the beginning of last season.

          I just watched the game again, to be able to see positioning and the way we let the goals in, and I am not going to say anything new here but the worst players in the game were Flamini and Mertesacker. Closely followed by Ozil and Monreal.

          Flamini has ZERO positional sense, he always runs to the wrong place, stops or starts his run at the wrong time, it is almost comical, I would have had a laugh if he were playing for another top team! Oh wait, please tell me which top team would play him?
          He is our weakest link in midfield.

          Better to play without a DM then playing with Flamini, at least we will have to set the team up knowing that we dont have a DM.

          As far as Mertesacker is concerned, he is just too slow to play in this league, at top level. He can play for a team that is sitting back and defending with 9-10 guys behind the ball, he can just sit back and kick and head balls away. BUt with a team that plays attacking football like Arsenal, where the opposition is usually running at you in counter attacks he has NO place. Also where the f was he in the Kolorov corner? He doesnt even jump.

          Monreal against speedster Navas was just a real mismatch. Navas ran by him multiple times.

          I agree with everything being said against Ozil, he plays with no heart, no fire, no desire. He is also playing out of position. I dont see Fabregas playing on the wing in Chelsea. So we either play him for 3-4 games in number 10 where he belongs and give him a chance or sit him down on the bench.

          Playing Ozil is bad for the team and bad for him, there are no winners here. Play Ox, Rosicky, Cazorla or Campell on the left Wing and give them a chance.

          Finally, The fact that we have Flamini and Mertesacker playing in this formation art Arsenal is not their fault. The fault lies squarely on the manager.

          1. sorry you should probably watch the game again cause your points aren’t valid and plain wrong. That is flamini’s entire game that is all flamini has is his positional sense its his lack of athleticism which hurts us. He can also tackle but hes not strong enough or quick enough. you seriously couldnt be more wrong on what you said about flamini his positioning and organizing are his best traits. Or how about i blame kosc as much as flamini for the first goal? kosc just stood there and let him pick a pass.

            And of course you pick on ozil but how about ramsey? if i was the manager i wouldve taken off ramsey at 60 minutes and put ozil as the #10. Monreal was decent but i have no idea why he chose the game against navas to start bombing forward. he gave us perfect balance the last few games cause he wouldnt get forward so i dont know wth he was thinking that game. but i agree about mert that was one of his worst games ive seen in a long time

            1. flam lost aguero as aguero ran behind him.
              flam was more to blame than kos.
              but its not flam’s fault that he is limited: wenger should have recognized that and done something about it by now. flam should NOT be the “1” in a 4141 for us.
              we def need someone bigger.
              we need someone faster as well.
              MERT is getting slower: we need to plan his replacement NOW.

              1. I agree flamini should’ve kept running with him but what I said was it is kosc’s fault as much as flamini’s. Kosc literally just stopped at the edge of the box and let him pick his head up and find aguero. If kosc pressurized navas maybe that pass wouldn’t have gotten through or been on

            2. Positional sense means being at the right place at the right time, I fail to see many examples of Flamini doing that in any game we play. He is a watcher, the game just passes him by and he watches it. Sometimes since he is the DM, the ball will come his way and he’ll kick it. I seriously dont think he is good enough for any team planning to finish in the top 10 this year.

          2. Have to agree on the Flamini point.
            Personally, if, Arteta is not available, I, would play Chambers in DM. NOT, against the top top teams to start with, but, maybe Villa next week, and let him bed in a little.
            He would support Mert, and, Bellerin down the right side, and, is capable of driving forward when possible.
            Have to agree that buying MORE players this window, though I believe Wenger DID try for a CB/DM, would have caused unrest in the dressing room. Lots of players . like Rosicky, are struggling for a start already.
            Chelsea and Cty can do it, because 1) they sold players, and 2) they have the open wallets to buy, and pay whoever they want, and pay silly wages.
            Utd now after Ronaldo, apparently. That would cost a fortune in transfer money, and, £300k a week. Rooney is on that too. We just can not pay that kind of money, and, stay financially solvent.

      2. On Ozil and not tracking back, here’s what what I am going to say ‘if u judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing its stupid’, his strength is vision…that said, that guy really need to get his acts together again, right now, he is a dead weight in a boat trying so hard to push ahead.

    2. Next season get rid off that morron wenger than we might have chance,I always said n always will say as long as that stubborn morrons is in charge we will never win the big two.
      U weneger licker can deffend ur lord saying next season he will change n bring wat we need but he won’t. 10 years u lickers been saying that.i stp dreaming cos im not morrons like u akb lickers.love the club not ur lord weneger

    3. Keep the core of what we have, see continuous improvement and 2 more high quality transfer windows and we could make SF in 2015/16 and from there anything could happen. This season not a chance in my opinion.

    4. If Ozil can’t defend, We can’t defend him…
      Just look at sanchez, .. my o my it makes me tired just to watch him..
      Ozil has to learn how to track back and use his creativity like Silva..

    5. Wenger just has to play his players in the right positions, Rotate Wilshere with Ramsey, Ozil with carzolar and Rosisky Podloski with Cambell, Sanchez with walcot and Ox. Wilshere, Carzolar, Ozil and Ramsey can not fit in one team, They all want to create chances. This is the sole reason as to why they fail to penetrate 18 yard box because everyone remains behind the box to create the chances and they end up playing the stupid half a meter passes outside the box. One one wants to go behind the defenders.
      Everyone right now is bashing Ozil but how many passes has Ozil recieved from his fellow players. They only pass to him when they are desperate and dont have were to put the ball, do you think Ozil is God, he is normal human being like others. The role of a play maker is to recieve majority of the balls and distribute to others in a controlled manner, and by this you get to read the movements of the players thereby dictating the tempo but i dont see majority of the balls go through Ozil, Everyone prefers to do the play making.
      Every big team in this World has only one play maker not like Arsenal, and so before you blame Ozil blame the manager, Chelsea has only Fab in the team, Manu has only mata, Madrid only Kroos, Bayern only Alcantra, Barca only Messi, but whe you come we have five, what the F is that. Ozil, Wilshere, Carzolar, Ramsey cant fit in the same team, Arsenal fans and the manager can not see that, the rest of the world knows that.
      Sell Ozil to any managers that knows how to balance the team and you will see what he is capable to do. Wenger is to blame not Ozil.

  2. For all the people hating on Ozil,

    Ozil has been poor this season and let’s face it not living up to his 42 million dollar price tag. I can agree with that. What I cannot agree with is the constant hate and critiscm about him. I’ve heard gunners say they want him sold and they wish he would just leave our team. Ozil has been poor this season because he has been playing on the left wing for some reason I don’t know. We were saying last year we needed pace on the wings and in striker so that he could thrive. Now we have Campbell, Walcott, Sanchez, Welbeck, Chamberlain, Podolski…If we Wenger would give him his chance in the Dennis Bergkamp role I know he will be the man that we paid 42 million for. STOP HATING ON MESUT AND SHOW SOME DAMN SUPPORT FOR THE LAD! PERIOD

    1. I understand what your saying but Ozil is no Bergkamp he doesn’t have the aggression strength and nasty streak that Dennis had and he doesn’t obviously have the finishing ability of Dennis in the 10 role Ozil is a nice tidy player who coasts through games and has great vision and an eye for a pass but there isn’t much else to his game in my opinion defensively he is really poor although our team as a whole collectively are at times. I’d take a hard working pacey awkward tricky Alexis Sanchez over an Ozil any day of the week.
      If someone offered £35 million or more I would cut our losses and sell Ozil.
      I’m struggling to see him playing much better even in the hole behind Wellbeck even with pace like Walcott and Sanchez either side.
      I’d rather see Jack or Cazorla occupy that role right now and they are a bigger goal threat from there for me to.
      Ozil really needs to start not justifying his price tag but his place in the starting 11.

      1. I can’t understand why people are saying we should sell Özil. He’s one of the best playmakers in the world. He’s in poor form, it happens to everyone. He should get back training and be on the bench until he performs up to standard. He should not be sold. Also worth taking a note that he hasn’t actually played a single game in his correct position yet, which hasn’t helped.. I’m still confident Özil will be brilliant this season. Just needs a kick to get started.

        1. The position you keep referring to ozil didn’t actually play there consistently for Real he operated of the left flank quite often cutting in he does for Germany now like in the World Cup.
          I just can’t see how you think shifting him 15-20 yards to the right of where he plays now is going to suddenly improve him massively!?!?
          I just can’t see it and Iv thought it since the start of the season and back end of last season.
          I just can’t Ozil out shining the likes of Jack or Rambo in midfield.
          Id love him to start being brilliant but as I said above I just can’t see it and I don’t think he fits into our side well.

          1. ppl just like coming up with excuses for Ozil instead of admitting he isnt cut out for the league. What does Ozil add to the midfield that Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla, Rosicky wouldnt? All of them can create chances and are better defensively as well. Wherever we place Ozil we become vulnerable there. Ozil has been here a year and hasn’t tried to change his game at all so I doubt he will ever adapt to premier league. He can at least try hard but yet to see him even do tht.

          2. did you actually watch him play for real? or are you just another youtuber and hater? cause you think ozil who is one of the most 1 footed players played on the left and cut in on his right foot? that is laughable. ozil played the #10 all the time but would float to the wings. Hes played on the right wing for werder bremen and madrid here and there but hes essentially been a #10

      2. Comparison is not a good one. Anyone who’s a gooner for more than 10 years know for a fact that Bergkamp was not our most consistent player. He had brilliant games followed by a set of sub par performances. He was a genius some days and some days he went totally anonymous on the pitch. But when he had these flashes of genius, oh boy!
        I am not very concerned by Ozil right now. Sure, he can deliver some and then again some more. But it is only the start of the season. Team is good. Stay behind our boys. The other day was Ramsey, then Giroud, then Jack now is Ozil. If you really value them, support them exactly when they have a bad period. That’s a true gooner. Is easy to point the finger but it takes a lot of heart to actually be behind those lads having a bad day. I found our game spectacular and I’d rather switch TV off than see Arsenal packing the middle and park the bus after 2-1.

        1. That’s why Wenger is happy to dwell in his “pool of failure”, because he has fools like you to give him Advice. Idiot.

          1. I think it is between you and Hafiz who is the biggest idiot here. Reasonable comment like that from Budd and others goes completely over your head. Idiot!

      3. ergs: A reasonable grounded assessment there. And your last sentence is bang on point – his price tag should be an irrelevance in judging him. But you touched on one thing (“defensively he is really poor although our team as a whole collectively are at times”) without taking it any further and I think it is an important point in terms of trying to be even-handed. There are many facets to the debate as to what extent, if any, we should be relying on MO as a breaker-up of play and defender etc. The visual evidence appears to be making the case against him – his body-language is a killer. But the stats, telling us the number of times a relevant defensive event happens (block, successful duel, fouls conceded, % tackles etc) makes it clear that he is operating with a group of half a dozen midfielders who are no better – there is a strong case that he is surrounded by similar players who are poorly-equipped defensively. Some of the higher energy players (Rosicky, Carzorla, Ox) merely flatter to deceive – definitely more sweat and terrier-instinct but no more effect or end product. These guys averaged one (yes one) tackle per 90 minutes in the PL last year. It is not as if we are comparing players who make no tackles with a peer who is making a dozen lung-busting tackles a game. And staying with the numbers game, Ozil consistently covers more ground per game than nearly all our players bar AR15 and he loses possession less often than all of them. We do tend to notice when he loses possession more so than some of the others – Ox for all his energy and buzz is the worst culprit in possession. And all this has to be taken in the context of statistically he was our most creative player and best in possession last year, despite being his first season with no pre-season assimilation. I think the overwhelming feeling is frustration – and some will naturally vent anger to soothe their frustrations. I suspect if you fed all the data in to a super-computer he would retain his 1st X1 slot quite comfortably and wouldn’t be sold – but of course football is far more emotive than that and the numbers count for little. My dearest wish is that he steps up and delivers in a more in-your-face manner this year and sticks one in the eye of all the media hacks queuing up with their “told you so(s)”. I confess in my heart I think this will end bad and maybe not entirely for the right reasons.

        1. You bring up stats but you dont give meaning to them. Ozil “covering ground” is him just switching into the middle and doing much of nothing lets be honest. Just because you are walking around more doesnt mean you are doing something, doesnt mean you are closing players down or even running. You mention some players averaging only a tackle per season, how much gametime does Ox even get? And you must be a blind man if you think Rosicky only flatters to deceive. I dont need a stat sheet to see who the harder working players are after I just watched the damn game. Nobody is closing their eyes once Ozil comes on the screen. This is what ppl are talking about. You can mention every other players deficiencies, yet you are scared to say anything bad about precious Ozil.

          1. I appreciate guys with opinions prefer to ignore the stats – don’t blame you for that. We all know that unbiased eye-witness testament is the benchmark for standards of evidence. I was merely suggesting that on every 90 minute measurable metric Ozil is not significantly worse than all other other attacking midfielders when it comes to defending. You are obviously impressed by willing and able sweaty men – I prefer looking at the end product.

            And I am blind when it comes to TR7. One of the most talented players we have ever had and he has had 8 seasons with us, 8 seasons of great cameos between long injury lay-offs. Some pesky awkward numbers for you: TR7 last 4 seasons: 86 apps 5 goals 8 assists. MO11 first incomplete season: 26 apps 5 goals 10 assists. And don’t give me the “injects pace”, you should take in to account his “pre-assists” baloney – simply not good enough for a player of his talent. I love TR7 but it is stretching credulity it to deify and teflon coat him and then crucify MO.

        2. Laziness is the biggest culprit of ozils’ lacklustre performances. He seems to always give up if the ball is lost(stats won’t measure that). This laziness can only be justified if you’re working hard while you’re on the pitch, or produce with the little work you do. Ozil has been failing to do both.

      4. Ergs you only need to read and understand Henry12 otherwise you will end up asking all the Arsenal lads to be sold after each game…..Lets face it, problem is Wenger…we all know and can see that Ozil is not a winger, he doesnt track back so WHY continue playing him there…whats up with that??You had Santi, play him there, you have Ox, Podolski…..So why play Ozil where you cant get the best out of him??..When he was bought from Madrid, where did he play and why were we excited??Remember HIS first game for us….My gosh…and then the next season u change formation and put him out wide??

        AS LONG AS WE STICK WITH 4-1-4-1 formation and play Ozil out wide, we wont see our beloved Germany wonderkid and Arsenal will keep on drawing games they are supposed to win…We are behind you Ozil, all the way and Wenger needs to wake up

    2. OZIL has just had 2 days of criticism and all you his fans boys are getting emotional…

      GIROUD has been getting absolutely disrespected, called names, blamed for every Ozil deficiency, this is his 3rd season and it’s the same old “GIROUD is the reason Prince Ozil has been found wanting..

      Lets not even mention the treatment Arteta, Monreal, Wilshere, Walcott, Cazorla, Flamini etc get from all the Ozil body guards on here….

      1. I know what your saying Goonster
        Maybe after a few months it will be Danny Wellbecks Fault Ozil isn’t playing well instead of the usual scape goat Giroud.

      2. only recently have people started laying off Monreal once they realized he got no cover. But this was only done when Cazorla was the one not protecting him enough. And Cazorla got slagged off by some fans. Now that Ozil is playing on the left though, everyone is jumping to his rescue and saying its not his fault because he’s no natural winger. At least Cazorla knows when to drop back and help us defend a lead. Or knows that when we are down to 10 men and Champions League is on the line to fight for every damn ball instead of walking around the pitch hoping teammates make up for laziness. Just saying.

      3. Your angst obviously stems from the fact that some may want to disagree with your glib, monotonous, often unnecessarily vicious, one-dimensional view of Ozil. You have a very big issue with MO (so very big that I can’t but help notice you find it impossible to comment or have an opinion on any other AFC matter without bringing it up), fair enough – but what possesses you to think that gives you carte blanche to extend your quest/obsession to launching in to anyone who disagrees with you? In any event, you will probably find that the “Ozil body guards” on here are the very same people who prefer to stick up for and defend the Girouds, Artetas and Monreals of this world without resorting to playground manners or logic.

        1. Lol, its only because Giroud is injured, but he’s the villain after every bad result, even if he gets no service the whole match.

      4. It is already Wenger’s fault. Why is it that players who do well before coming to Arsenal and who look quite good just after coming to Arsenal slowly go down hill under Wenger?
        Ozil, Gervinho, Arshavin – even Chamack did well his first 20 appearances or so.

        I am a Wenger supporter. He does a great job overall. But Wenger has a way of turning some very good players into dead wood. That is just our reality.

        Wenger had better get a grip on this one – start playing Ozil in the middle where he belongs and bench him if needed or risk losing about 40 mil plus salary to more dead wood.

    3. You are the reason we will be happy with 4 th every year, your happy with average performances , we pay our money so we are entitled to an opinion

      1. Why? Did you found our performance average Saturday? Because I found our game absolutely cracking. Especially the first half. And then second half Jack came on. If that was an average performance then you probably have to watch more football. Unless you talk about the result only. Judging by the result maybe you are right but we played the champions and we did came (for the 3rd time) from one down. I see a lot of things to improve but I don’t see anywhere average.

      2. “You are the reason we will be happy with 4th every year, your happy with average performances”. Impossible tosh. Try explaining that nonsense!

        And you are the reason that…………..(complete this sentence explaining what your views bring to the party).

    4. He(Ozil) is never happy playing from the left….u can take a horse to the river but can’t force the horse to drink water…his sending a massage to Wenger that he hates d role n old wenger don’t want to adjust nor sub him…same story every game…why hav subs on the bench when he won’t mak use of them….No DM n Arsenal will keep conceding silly goals..add another fast n strong CD bcos EPL is a strong n fast league….Wenger can as well take a bow now b4 he get stoned out…

  3. Not this season for me we are still 3 quality squad players light or by some miraculous miracle our u21s produce 3-4 top notch wonder kids.
    I can’t see us being good enough to match Europe’s best over 2 legs.
    Akpom looks a really good prospect bit on Ian Wright about him.
    I think Bellerin could be a right back in a few years and Hayden looks like he’s worth a try at the back in a few games.

  4. I wanna be truthful and realistic we can go far but for us to win the championsleague this season we will really have to dig deep!

  5. Win the CL?
    Only the thought is “funny”…!!
    Win the CL? With which squad?
    Is it with the current manager, Arsene Wenger?

    Just impossible even if we get a free pass to the next round…!!!

    Let’s keep it real here, please!

  6. This is the DREAM but to be realistic Arsenal are a few Quality players short. As long as Wenger is pulling the purse strings it not going to happen. I wish it would happen my mate is a Liverpool supporter and he keeps rubbing my face in it.

  7. Im just focusing right now for us travelling to germany and beating borussia dorthmund at home! Coyg! Come on u gunners!

  8. I’d hope for us to make the quarter finals at least this year, and we should win the group (for once!). We could make the semi finals if we get a good draw, but can’t see us going any further. We could yet sign someone in January to help us on our way too. Being light at the back hopefully shouldn’t hurt us too much in the group stages, but we need some reinforcements for the knockout rounds. We’ll have Giroud back by then too.

  9. win the group get easy knockout stage team, bow out in quarters gracefully.
    progress…snail like but still progress

  10. Yes Arsenal winning the ECL is
    possible and Arsenal going injury
    free all season is possible too.
    Top 4 is always the
    main target for Arsenal.
    To win either the EPL or
    the ECL you need a hell of a good team
    and plenty of luck. Even then only one team wins.
    The ECL is almost impossible to win.
    We could spend a hundred mill more
    every year and still not win anything.
    Top 4 – last 16 means you get
    almost everything the EPL and ECL winners get
    but by spending 100 mill less per year.
    And hey we got some silver alloy with the FA cup and Comm shield.
    Wenger is already relaxed and smiling because
    6 points from Palace 4 from Everton and Leicester means
    everything is on track for the retention of the trophy
    which really matters the “Sustainer”

      1. We could trust you to be quaking in awe at the OT Galacticos – right up your street eh Hafiz? I reckon every manager in the league will be watching LVG in awe and hanging on his every word – do not disturb genius at work. It is quite humbling to watch a master at work – I still can’t get my head around his spending skills. And his adaptability and fearlessness is something to be reckoned with; last week the 3-5-2 was a “philosophy” – this week it has gone.

        1. we struggle to score against a super weak Utd side last season..

          this season with the additions of Blind, Rojo, Di Maria, Herrera and Falcao…

          what chances do we have?

          Have you seen Di Maria play? that guys is at another level….

          and Falcao guarantee goals…..

          1. I agree we did struggle last season – but if we are going to go in to every new season assuming history will just keep repeating itself then we may as well just give up now. Yes I have seen AdM play a lot, and Falcao (btw no-one guarantees goals – not even Falcao) but sounds like you are starstruck and that they have never played badly or lost a game. Did you see QPR who were appalling yesterday run right through them on occasions and/or open them up sooooo easily. We will get at least 3 or 4 chances.

      2. QPR might as well have not appeared for the match.
        Their players, except Traore, hardly ever wanted to go forward.

    1. exactly. Wenger is paid to get 4th place, nothing more. And board is satisfied with it too. Its sad to see fans also accept it. Wenger great in the past, but can’t wait until we get a change. Even if we have to struggle a bit at first, I’d rather that than stay mediocre forever. Lets hope this is his final contract so he can stop holing team back.

      1. I for one can’t wait to go back to the good old days before this joke of a manager messed it all up. What advice would you give to these poor, delusional souls who “accept” 4th place and are helping to ruin our once great club by blindly continuing their support? Any top tips – as a real Gooner who does not accept this mediocrity you must be able to pass on some nuggets?

  11. 1. No major injuries
    2. All players play to best of their ability (including Ozil/Wilshere)
    3. Wenger places players in their best positions (ie placing Ozil @ CAM instead on the left.
    4. Wenger gets reinforcements in January (especially for defense)

    If all 4 are satisfied, we will have a good season

    1. Meant to down thumb that, my bad. He’s an arsenal player and our top scorer last season also with a healthy bunch of assists. So on behalf of the majority of gooners on here.. shut up.

  12. Whoever thinks we have a chance of doing anything in the CL is deluded… We have not addressed our problems. We are still conceding the same old goals, poor defending etc…

  13. We should stop deceiving ourselves .wenger will never win the champions league for us.Maybe when another manager comes in. But wenger,No.

  14. Why can’t Wenger just do what Chelsea and United do? If the team lacks something, they will go all out and spend neccessary big money on filling the voids, Wenger just doesn’t do that and never will, every season after a transfer window we say, ‘Oh if only we brought this player in that position or that player in this position, oh well maybe Wenger will do it next summer’ but Wenger just always leaves a weakness that just never gets filled, he could have got Khedira, made a bid for Vidal or Carvalho, but no… Instead he puts his faith in a 32-33 year old slow Spaniard who only knows how to pass and nothing else and a 30 year old Frenchman named Flamini who only knows how to foul.

    1. Carvalho is paid around £1k a week. A basic first team salary at Arsenal is around 50x that. I refuse to believe that we couldn’t have lured him here. I just don’t know why we didn’t buy him. It could only have been Lisbon’s £20+m asking price, can’t see Wenger wanting to pay that much for such a young and relatively unproven talent. Then again, we did pay £16m for Chambers.. Maybe Arsene just didn’t fancy him, but we had to get someone better than Flamini, still at a loss as to why we didn’t. Is he planning for someone like Hayden to step up? Possibly, but if he was, wouldn’t he have at least tried him out in pre-season?

    2. its so he doesnt get the blame for not being good enough of a manager. Instead he leaves holes in the team so he can get fans to say things like “were building something”, or “were only one or two players short”. But thats been being said for the past couple seasons constantly. We could buy players to fill up these holes, but at this point its a choice by our manager and board to ignore them.

  15. Back on the subject of the Champions League, we have no f*cking chance, get real. We will f*ck up our group again and come second and get drawn against Bayern again or someone of that calibre and then get f*cked in the first leg and Wenger will say, ‘we are now going to try to make the impossible possible’ like he always says when we try and get something away at Bayern when we’re 2-3 down on aggregate…

  16. Just heard Bayern want to offer us 32m for Ozil… F*ck that! give us Gotze and they can have Ozil. That’s what I call a deal. Gotze has already expressed his desire to play abroad…

    1. only 10mill less than we paid for him, i’d do it. I can truthfully never see Ozil adapting to premier league, better to get a chunk of our money back and spend it elsewhere instead of watching him deteriorate like Torres.

    2. F*ck that I don’t want to sell Ozil, rather give them Wilshere, Ozil is very good on a good day, I’m sure he will get his form back. If we are to sell players basef on the bad games they’ve had then Giroud, Wilshere, Sanogo, Carzola come before Ozil.

  17. 0% chance we will win champions league. Not when we can’t top our group, not with crappy defending and having the same exact problems in our sqaud that hasnt been addressed in YEARS by our manager. How to beat Arsenal- set pieces, catch them on the counter, show a little bit of physicality. Wenger don’t know how to win premier league anymore, so there is no way we can win champions league. Quarter final and I’ll be dancing in the street, cause thats realistically as good as its going to get.

  18. Sorry but I am not on-board with the Ozil apologists. We’ve all seen his performances – playing out left with a license to move in doesn’t explain the performances.

    The Silence is Deafening – What is curious is that NOT ONE of his team-mates have come out to say something in support of Ozil in the recent weeks. AW has said nothing. Contrast that to the JW recent performances until the Shitty match. Now why is that? Is he aloof in the dressing room? Has he not built the team-spririt and bond with the rest?

    I said it before and I will say it again – this is a guy who doesn’t appear to want to be at Arsenal.. for whatever reason, he’s had a change of heart and he looks like someone who probably wants to go back to Germany.

    And please don’t feed me the diatribe that “the performances will only come if he is playing through the middle…it’s all AW’s fault”….no one is buying that line. There is a level of application required as a professional (it’s called putting in a shift) when you take the field. Let me give you a dramatic hypothetical – If Ozil was shunted into a Full Back role, I could understand his inability to be a very effective FB…the mistakes – missed tackles, etc…but he would still be expected to TRY to track/mark out the wingers, still TRY to tackle, still TRY to bomb forward and make the crosses. That is putting in a shift.

    I would be over-the-moon if there was a dramatic change and the performances start materialising on the pitch and I will be happy to eat my words.

    This is no about HATING Ozil…but calling it as it is…intellectual honesty is to see things for they are and not what we wish them to be. Who doesn’t want a world class player like Ozil firing! of course we all do!

    When Theo is back – who gets dropped then? Sanchez? Rambo? Jack? Ozil? The obvious is Jack I guess…and let’s see how the cards fall into place then.

    In the meantime – I sit and watch.

  19. Have to agree that, on paper, Arsenal are looking a better side this year, I still don`think they`re championship material. The chants are familiar, “give Ozil time”, “Welbeck has great potential” (there`s that word again), “once he finds his feet the goals will come” etc. Meanwhile, down the road, Diego Costa bangs in three, (no W.I.P. there) and Remy (another we missed) opens his account first up. Fabregas has slotted in as if he`s been there all his life and up north in Manchester the front five are frightening. Yes, Chelsea look favourites and the points United lost before the new boy`s arrived will probably get them second spot. City should have won at Emirates ( I agree with Pellegrini) and look set for third spot which brings us to the Wenger trophy (4th.). I`ll take a punt: Aston Villa. We won`

    1. we just love to find excuses….

      things would be different if we had actually sign Remy and Fab instead…..

  20. Have to agree that, on paper, Arsenal are looking a better side this year, I still don`think they`re championship material. The chants are familiar, “give Ozil time”, “Welbeck has great potential” (there`s that word again), “once he finds his feet the goals will come” etc. Meanwhile, down the road, Diego Costa bangs in three, (no W.I.P. there) and Remy (another we missed) opens his account first up. Fabregas has slotted in as if he`s been there all his life and up north in Manchester the front five are frightening. Yes, Chelsea look favourites and the points United lost before the new boy`s arrived will probably get them second spot. City should have won at Emirates ( I agree with Pellegrini) and look set for third spot which brings us to the `Wenger trophy` (4th.). I`ll take a punt: Aston Villa. We won`t have to wait long
    to see what their chances are.

  21. What I don’t get is why people who defend Ozil’s lack of effort with “oh he’s playing on the wing”. Since when has that ever been an excuse to just not play hard? Fine we get that it is not his preferred position but to pretty much show no effort simply because he is in an unfavorable position is not the mark of a star player. You know what I prefer more than a star player, a player who w4ears his heart on his sleeve and puts every single bit of his being into being for the team regardless of where he is played and it is precisely why I have huge respect for a player like sanchez or costa who recognize that when you play for a team you do everything you can for that team which if the time comes is defending then so be it.

    No one is saying that Ozil is not playing out of position, everyone can see that he is but that gives him absolutely no excuse not to work hard.

  22. All people slagging of Özil have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. He can seem pedestrian but that is because of the way he plays. He is world class!!! You don’t get into the German and Real Madrid team if you are not. The point of a world class player is they can play rubbish whole game and it only takes one moment of genius to turn the game on its head. His ability to retain the ball in difficult areas – this is what i saw against city. Wilshere or Chamberlain would not be able to do that. His ability to find an impossible thread the needle pass is second to none. It is not for no reason Thierry Henry praises him and says he would have lived to play with him. I do think the position is not really the issue, it is getting to grips with his new teammates. As the front three Welbeck Alexis and whoever else it is continue playing together and gel, you will see the class of Özil shine through. Or front three should be Alexis Welbeck and Walcott. Özil behind them. I do sincerely believe he will be great this season.

    1. Hate to come in on this as a lot of people have commented on it and its a done story now.

      But let me just state that yes Ozil had a bad game, but its been more than one game now and the couch has to make a bold decision as we have players on our bench who could make a bigger impact and win us games, e.g. Carzola / TR7 / or Ox would have won us that game or the previous game had the couch either brought in or subbed Ozil by the 60 minute mark. Even more brilliant players with low work rate such as Muller / Goetz / Kroos while at Bayern / are all dropped depending on the needs of the game or there performances, WC or not.

      Ozil should learn to take it on the chin and work his soaks out coz this is Arsenal and not Germany or RM where they have strong midfields and more stable defenses. All players have to put in a 100% and he has to change his game to suit the Arsenal way and not the other way round. In his first interview when he arrived he stated he came to Arsenal to improve as a player under Wenger, well working hard for the team has to be one of the things to work on ASAP!!! We bash other players for having poor games, his no exception.

  23. We could be UCL champions if:
    1. Diaby comes into the side reborn the beastly DM we all crave and stays fit and healthy through the whole campaign.
    2. We don’t lose anymore of our backline to injuries (after Debuchy)
    3. Sanchez maintains (improves??) his current level of performance for the whole campaign
    4. Ozil rediscovers his world-classness
    5. Theo, Welbeck, OG, Rambo, Sanchez, JW bang in them goals from any given position

    Yup…we certainly can win the UCL.

  24. Tired of the Arsenal softness. Getting pushed around. A player gets injured and everyone goes into their shell. The other team then scores a soft goal. How do we respond? We don’t.

  25. I have always maintained UCL is a lottery waiting to happen.
    Top your group.
    Play Benfica or Porta in R16 who are more interested in the Europa League.
    Get a bit of luck and avoid the Big Guns in the Quarters.
    Than in the semis and Final play with all you have got and see how far you can go.

    But it is easier said than done. And thats the problem.

  26. The UCL is more than talent in a team.
    Helguera won it. Ronaldo (the original) didnt.
    Inter won it with an aging Zanetti and an aging Milito. They beat Bayern, the best team at the moment.
    Leverkusen made it to a final and lost for one (yet spectacular) goal.
    Loserpool came from 3 down to win in penalties.
    Ajax won it with a youth team. And Dortmund beat a Juve full of stars.
    There is a HUGE luck factor, and we have a better team.
    Cups are like this, not like leagues.

  27. Arsène Wenger 2 bein sports “if Arsenal had lost FA Cup Final he would have considered leaving Arsenal”
    + “I’m very happy with our signings, we could have done maybe one more player, but we didn’t find.”

    hope in jan we can get a cb & cdm

  28. i can understand now why we cant win league title. and why we dont deserve to be respected. talking about a big signing, a star signing, nah, we dont deserve it. just look at our fans, a couple of poor games. we want ozil to be sold. only 4 games played, we moan that we are shit. is this the right attitude? mind you, to have a champion team, it needs a class of fans. at the moment, we are not

  29. What about Real Madrid start to the season. 3 points out of 3 games. They have the spending money and all the Galacticos.

    Lets see after the Dortmund game how we stand.

  30. What about the title, “Why this could be the year we never get to qualify for the Champion’s League”? Eh? 4 games so far and 3 draws and one unconvincing win? Only about 3 players have acquitted themselves well, Alexis, Wilshere and Debuchy. The rest have done ok hence the blame rests on the boss and his tactics which begs me to ask the following which you can put to Wenger when you see him:

    Please ask Wenger why; 1) he is so tactically clueless especially against the big teams, 2) he isn’t getting the best out of our £42.5M man when Angel Di Maria is doing the biz already for ManUre, 3) Fabregas was allowed to go to Chelsea and defile the Arsenal shirt, 4) he is so loyal to players but they have never shown any loyalty to him, 5) he always dillydallies in the transfer market, 6) he missed out on Carvalho and finally why he is such a moppet and when does he intend to go, for a younger manager to takeover?

    1. Di Maria played against QPR. Ozil played against City. BTW, Di Maria couldn’t beat Sunderland, one of the relegation candidates this year. Same as QPR. I think that’s saying it all. BTW, fu ck Carvalho. I don’t even know what people see in him. I’d rather have a fit and healthy Diaby.

  31. Why do people think for one minute that Wenger will strengthen in January. If you listen to Wenger he has no intention of buying anyone in January, he hates this transfer window he also said in an interview that he has enough players. So there will be no new players in January.

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