The big game between Valencia and Arsenal is coming up this evening with a place in the Europa League Final up for grabs, and we are all desperate to go one step further than we did at this stage last season. Under Wenger we were far from confident of beating Atletico Madrid, but after our 3-1 win at the Emirates we should be much more confident this time around.
Unai Emery has told his players to remember that they are playing for the fans as well as their own glory tonight. “We are in this competition with that opportunity tomorrow,” Emery said in his pre-match press conference. “With big ambition, a strong mentality and full motivation we can do it.
“Every worker in football, every professional, wants to play matches like tomorrow to try to get to a final,”.
“I am going to try to transmit to my players to enjoy it, to be focused and to take this experience like a positive in each moment and each minute and also to be thinking that we are playing for our supporters.”
I know how much the fans want us to win a European trophy for the first time in 25 years. I was there at Highbury when Arsenal knocked out Ajax in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final, with a certain Yohann Cruyff in the side, back in 1970. We then went on to stage an unbelievable comeback in the Final against Anderlecht.
The atmosphere was electrifying with the fans acting as the 12th and 13th players!!!
Let’s do it again…..
Valencia have been inspired by how Liverpool and Spurs booked their tickets to Madrid. They’re NO pushovers. Their victories at home in Europe this season have either been narrow or inconsequential, with our dodgy defence and midfield we have more of a chance of playing into their hands.
If Unai does not win this match, after sacrificing our league form to prepare for it, I simply cannot see him staying on. It’ll be up to a newly-recruited director of football to have the balls to tell our wasters that their services aren’t required…
We should be more inspired than Valencia. Those are English clubs that did that. Another reason why it is good to have at least a decent number of English/British starters that will feel the extra pride in putting on the shirt. Many of these players just don’t care as much and you can see who is in it for the money, despite what they say in interviews.
Possible that this year CL & EL Final play by only EPL club. Hope We can make it happen. Come On Gunners.
We have put all our eggs in one basket – let’s hope we aren’t left with that egg being all over us fans faces!
This will be a tough game, we need an early goal to settle the nerves or we are badly going to be up against it.
The heat is on Emery now. He wants to win it for the fans? My foot!He wants to save his job, that is all.I want my AFC of the old, bold Englishmen with skilled continental players ready for a brawl on the field. Men with passion and guts of steel, unlike today’s players on high pay packets and nil contribution. Disgusting to see the smiles and jokes on the training ground and gutless performances on the field.Hate to be in this position with pool and spuds in a UCL final! Cannot believe this! Wenger bought all this rubbish and Emery added to it. Win or loose the EL, need to clear out 11 players as Sol Campbell mentioned. I cannot wait till the summer transfer window opens to see these players leave – I do not mean Lacazette.
You dont make any sense
HOW has Emery ADDED TO IT?
We are 5th place and have a good Defensive Midfielder
Explain how he has ADDED to the mess?
You could argue that he hasnt improved us (i would beg to differ) but how has he ADDED to Wengers “Rubbish” as you put it
Why would Kroenke fire him
He doesnt want to pay big money for a Top Manager
All he wants is improvement
6th to 5th place is an improvement in Kroenke’s eyes
He will keep his job whether we win or lose
A great shame that you need to disillusion one of the many idiots on here by using plain facts. But well done anyway for doing so! Life like football, is full of reactionary hot heads who care nothing about blaming the wrong person. It is cowardice in fact to do so. They have not the brain power nor the inclination to think rationally and see where the blame lies and where it does NOT. It never occurs to some of these dullards that Wenger and Gazidis bought Mustafi, Elneny , Xhaka and many more hopeless players and that Emery merely inherited them and without PROPER money from Kroenke has no option but to play them. Or else field five man teams. Too complicated for their “brains”, at least some of them!
Jon Fox you are just pathetic and ignorant. Because someone disagree with you does not mean they are idiots, or stupid. They just don’t share your sentiments and I don’t think that is a crime. I believe everyone whoever they are and whatever opinion they hold contribute to the excitement and fun we all get by coming to give our opinions. Some have made friends even though they have never met each other, some are from far and someone are from near. Please keep your abuses to yourself. AND YOUR OPINION SUCKS ANYWAY
Gooner you fail to realise Emery spent to fix the defence with DM, defenders and GK. Leno is a great addition but not convinced by Socrates, Liest (apologies I cannot spell his name correctly) and Guendozi . Lucas has a good first half of a season but is fading away. Can you please explain how we are at a similar goal figure as last year? And why is Mustafi and Xhaka not benched?And 1 point from a possible 12? Is Emery not responsible for the coaching and tactics?
It takes at LEAST 2 summers to clear out the majority of a squad full of deadwood. And some like Ozil and Miki will be very hard to move. I disagree that Emery has added to the rubbish. Torreira has been a fine purchase even if the 2nd half of his season hasn’t been as good as the first half. Guendouzi is still very young (and has a lot of growing to do honestly), but it would be dumb to write him off. Lichtsteiner is the only real garbage player Emery has bought. No, he hasn’t bought a top player yet, but you need to look at the money he was given, and the high wages we already have because of supposedly “top” players like Ozil, Miki, Mustafi that don’t deliver. We are bashing Emery when both of the managers in UCL final right now had worse first seasons. Point is, these things take time to fix. Wenger left this club in such bad shape and there is no quick fix.
11player gone, no chance. Not only do the players laugh and joke during training and then play as if the cl places mean nothing to them but the owner, manager and the rest of the big wigs at arsenal haven’t got the balls or passion to move on that amount of players. They look at things as a long term thing, which is just an excuse so we don’t moan to much while we go though the process. Arsenal that I love with passion and fight has gone.look at us, where we are is so sad and with tott in cl final. ? I saw this coming, when everyone was taking the piss out of there new stadium not having any trophies, now what they bring home the biggest of all, while we try to beat Chelsea in Europa league. Try that is. We do need a complete new team and that shou!d have been built around Ramsey, what a joke we’ve become.
Im being positive
We are up by 2 goals and HOPEFULLY we will get through
Just because it didnt happen for two teams in CL doesnt mean it will happen to us
If Emery puts out a poor lineup or we don’t perform well it could but Im being positive that we will get through
COYG!
We are winning the match,we have won away matches with this squad,this very coach too
Coyg
Our European performances have been completely different from domestic ones, so I don’t expect to see another shocking away performance tonight. I expect to see a controlled, measured approach, and I can see us going through. It will be tougher than Napoli away, but I just cannot see Valencia scoring 2 without reply.
Well, that was said against Napoli but arsenal edge them out.it is true that Valencia will be all over arsenal bcos they will want to stage a comeback…but with way n manner they conceded three goals at the Emirates suggest that they look get punished if they do
Oh lord Save us tonight because I’m scared of our coach UE Mr bottler.
UE your team selection will kill us tonight and your team selection will save us tonight..
I have seen alot of “mess” in dis football club so my believe is fainting…we might see Iwobi and co against good ball passes…..
No more drama please Mr UE.
What team selection would you like to see then? Because Emery’s been picking his best starting XI of late, he’s switched to a back four, he’s been starting Auba and Laca together, he’s been starting Ozil (because apparently we need his creativity, and he’s picked more attacking lineups. These are things that some of the fans were asking for, yet we’re still getting battered, and humiliated?
Could it be…that maybe these players are just not good enough, and that Emery has done very well to squeeze as much as he can out of them? Does Emery deserve any credit for us having one foot in the EL final, and only 3pts off 4th, and 4pts off 3rd after 37 league games, with an insane injruy crisis to boot?
Maybe it’s just me, and I can’t see it. Mustafi, Monreal, AMN, Xhaka, Ozil, Iwobi, Miki, Elneny, Sok, Kos, Cech, Kola, etc, are all top quality players.
Exactly. Fans called for Ozil to start games and look what’s happened. To always play Auba and Lacazette together and look what’s happened. He’s now doing what fans wanted and they’re angrier than ever. When he was picking controversial lineups yet we were winning, that wasn’t good enough. This team has been hitting above its weight for most of the season. The amount of players that aren’t good enough are plentiful and Emery still gets hate as if he brought them in. You think he wants to choose between Miki/Iwobi??? My criticism of him though is that he seriously should’ve started using more of our youth squad this season. There is just no possible way they can be as bad as some of the senior players so why not take a chance? Even City give starts to Foden and they are chasing a title.
Let’s applause mr UE for bring us this far; remember the Liverpool we are seeing in the final today was in the same group stage with Napoli who only were eliminated by Goal difference but we managed to PUSH them out of UEL. CYOG