The theme for Arsenal’s midweek game at Olympiakos is clear, and the message we need to get through to the players is simply Attack! Attack! Attack! We have the players to do it. We have got our confidence back after hitting Sunderland with three goals at the weekend, and the target is simple.
Arsenal have qualified for he knockout stages of the Champions League every season this century, and Arsene Wenger has no intention of losing that run now, as he said on Arsenal.com. “Personally the record means a lot because it’s important for the club and for the players,” Le Prof said last night. “I want to win and I want to qualify. For me our job is to win the next game, and do what is requested.
“There is one positive thing for us – we know exactly what we have to do. We know that we have to go for it from the start. So let’s do that and hopefully we can get through. We know what is expected and we have studied Olympiacos.
“We changed the team completely [against Sunderland] because we’ve lost the core in midfield of Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin in the past two weeks, and we had to find a new balance. We were a bit insecure as well because we had not won last week. I believe [Olympiacos] is a different game psychologically, it’s clear, we just have to go for it.”
I guess it’s not really a surprise that Wenger is trying to rally the troops for an all out assault on the Greek Champions, but our legend Thierry Henry has also been trying to emulate Le Boss and laying out the positives for our players. “The Gunners should have cruised through and if they go out, they will have no-one to blame but themselves.” Henry said.
“Losing Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla is a major setback but it is time for other players to step up and show they are good enough.
“It helps that they know exactly what they need to do on Wednesday. There is no relying on other teams doing them a favour or being caught in two minds about how to play.
“The job is straightforward. Go out and attack, win by two goals or go into the Europa League.”
And there is the greatest incentive. None of the players want to be flying out to far flung destinations on a Thursday night, playing in front of a few thousand spectators in freezing temperatures for the rest of the season, and I’m sure Wenger doesn’t either. So do us proud boys. Go for it!