We play AC Milan in a couple of days 18 February, 2008
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News.trackback
Just if you hadn’t noticed.
Build up to the big one beings. Honestly, I’ve forgotten about the Man United game, didn’t dwell on it too much. We now have just the Premiership and the Champions League to focus on, no other distractions. I think that’s the ideal situation for Arsene, especially with the number of players we have in recovery at the moment.
The players have been talking about the game too. Gilberto Silva thinks we can bounce back from the disappointment at Old Trafford against Milan. In my mind there’s no doubt in that. I don’t believe the players will be still thinking about going out of the FA Cup, if anything, they will realise that they need to up their performance in Wednesday night’s game; Wenger will let the players know that today I’m sure.
The Champions League is a massive tournament and it will always inspire the players to give absolutely everything they have. The fact that we’re playing the current holders only emphasises that. I don’t think the players will take it negatively though, they’ll use the pressure as their advantage and hopefully we’ll see some great performances from the likes of Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini and Adebayor.
In our 2006 European Cup run we faced top sides in Real Madrid and Juventus on the way to the final. We were able to keep our heads above the hype and the players put in memorable performances. A win against a team like that gives you invaluable confidence and I think that was what gave us the spirit to take us to the final in 2006.
This year we’ve been drawn with another great side in AC Milan and Wenger will be looking to get the most out of his players like he did a couple of seasons ago. Back then, we were considerably injury hit too, but that didn’t matter. If we can overcome Milan and progress to the next round I will be extremely confidence of our chances to go all the way.
If you think back to last year, we played PSV in this round of the competition; they were the easiest possible draw we could’ve got. However that backfired as the players weren’t as up for the game as they might have been if they were playing say Real Madrid or AC Milan.
This time round we’ll be really up for this game. I’m looking forward to this one already! It’s a mixture of nerves, excitement but confidence as well. I read some team news today and AC Milan are without their 1st and 2nd choice ‘keepers! Dida injured himself on the bench, no really and Zeljko Kalac dislocated his finger in training the other day. We know that that’ll see him miss a few days at least after Almunia did the same to his thumb in training a couple of weeks ago. That could mean they’ll have to play Valerio Fiori the veteran goalie who hasn’t played since 2003. But you know he’ll have the game of his career against us wont he.
Anyway I should really be saving all this build up for nearer the game but I just can’t wait. There’s not much news out there anyway. Just before I go I’d just quickly like to give you this cheeky reminder. You might remember before me saying that my Dad entered a photo for that O2 Arsenal Opus competition and he made it down to the final 11 photos. I think they count all the votes and announce winner on Thursday night at Ashburton Grove on Thursday. There’s going to be a couple of ex-players there and all the finalists for dinner in ‘The Diamond Club’ and I’m representing my Dad as he’s away so I’m really looking forward to that.
Anyway, if you like my his photo and are feeling generous then please click this link and vote for my Dad’s photo, which is the ‘Flying High’ one:
It will be amazing if he won it and seeing as I’ve got this blog I thought I’d ask you for your votes mwhaha! Obviously I’ll let you know who wins when I find out. Thanks a lot guys.
Speak to you tomorrow.
oh damn. Rosicky has been ruled out of the Milan game. b*gger. what are the options to replace him? Eduardo, Cesc or Eboue. I have not heard anything about Walcott but I am going to assume he is not fit either.
well I think we have to keep Flam and Cesc together in the middle, so that rules Cesc out. So either Eboue, the cheating diver who cannot pass, defend or stay on the pitch for 90 minutes or Eduardo. EDS will do his best and will offer a goal threat even from the left. NB will have to play with Ade up front if this happens and its what I would do. I like it when NB and Ade play up front together because no defence can cope with that height and physicality from 2 players at once.
but wenger will prob go 4-5-1 with Bert, Flam and Cesc in the middle and Eboue and Hleb on the wings and ade on his own. if thats the line up I will feel like turning my TV off before kick off (my mate is taking my ticket for this one).
Why is it that the worst players on the pitch always come out first after the game to say we should do better. Is it because they are trying to take the blame from themselves. Gilberto should shut up and try and do better during the game even though he is past his sell by date…
i agree with you Jase,Gilberto is such a bore coming out bout how we gon bounce back when the f*uk is he actually gon start playing for goodness sake.um glad pple are over the loss and all ready looking forward to beating milan.
um a bit more reluctant to move on from that.it was jus heart wrenching the way we lay there and jus let the mancs take an hourand a half long piss on us and we didnt even fight come on!!!
Wenger cant affford to play a 4-5-1 formation for us at home after that kinda dissapointment,but thats Wenger for you he doesnt overreact like that you can expect Fergie to go all guns blazing but not Wenger to calculated and all that
I dont care how we patch up the team but for a long time now Eboue has been a liability and the difference betwin him and Diarra was Diarra was shit to the press bout wanting to leave butput him on the pitch u would never doubt his dedication,but Eboue syas nothing off the pitch and further mre when he gets on the pitch he is more shit what does Wenger stick with him for????potential??
rant over
our probable line-up hardly fills me with confidance either but i reckon wenger should spring a surprise and go 4-4-2 with eduardo and adebeyor up front. This game could be a tad to big for bendtner.
You can fucking bet Valerio Fiori will have the fucking game of his life - it’s not like the fucker has a lot of them to choose from. I’d fancy our chances against Kalac. How that fucker displaced Dida is beyond my fucking comprehension.
We lost against PSV because Wenger didn’t know how to counter a team which plays narrow and defends. We won against Real Madrid and Juve because they underestimated us and allow us to play football. What’s going to happen this Wednesdaay? I’ll be fucked if I knew. I only know that there’s no fucking use trying to draw insightfuls from matches played one or two years ago. We’re a different side now with Willy-Fucking-Gallas as captain and an ugly-as-fuck Flamini terrorising the fucking midfield with his hideous appearance. And to those who said Arsenal didn’t know how to win ugly, I’ve got fucking news for you - we win Flamini ugly.
And sorry, ‘chef, but my vote’s with “Arsenal eyes”. Nothing against your dad’s evocative photo of van Persie lighting up the vivid night sky (I was particularly impressed by how the sweep of the stadium roof sucks you into the photo and into the image of RvP; very interesting use of sightlines), but you’re up against a cute little kid. A fucking cute kid with his first fucking Arsenal ticket; it’s the photographic equivalent of Cristano Ronaldo charing down the right flank.
I had another look at your Dad’s photo. It’s really very good; technically much better than the other finalists. Unlike the others, your Dad didn’t go for cheap sentimentality. The colours are amazingly vivid; it’s amazing what those automated camera shutters can do. The horizon was spot-on; it’s bang-on 2/3 from both vertices. And the single figure of a celebrating van Persie in the midst of all that gloom is very, very striking. Your Dad’s got a fucking good eye for a fucking good photo.
I would’ve voted for your Dad’s photo IF he’d taken it closer to the pitch. That way, the shot of the screen would’ve been straighter, the image of van Persie clearer, the sweep of the roof steeper, and the night sky vaster. I’m a sucker for technicalities. But maybe, just maybe, I’m wrong. Part of the charm of thid photo IS that it’s tilted slighty; because the photo is weighted so heavily to the left, it seems fitting that the focal point itself is skewed. It certainly helps in creating a measure of depth that the other photos don’t have. And it certainly goes with the pensive, lonely-yet-triumphant feel of the photo. I’m not sure a straighter picture would have the same compelling quality.
I’d have been happy to vote for your dad’s photo, as I read your blog often, but being outside of the UK and without a local mobile number, I can’t.
I voted for the 1989 photo because the moment was such a rare occurence, but I liked the Arsenal eyes too and on second thoughts your dads picture was very good. but people might not vote for the best picture but the cutest or the oldest! sorry about that but I had to be honest.
‘chef, get off your fucking arse and write a fucking post about how we’re 12 fucking hours away from the biggest fucking game of our fucking season (without fucking hyperbole). Milan is the best fucking side of last decade, and they’ll be stiff fucking opposition. It’s going to be fucking nerve-racking, but I think we’ll beat the fucking crap out of the decrepit old fuckers. Still, I’d feel better about it if those fuckign words came out of your fucking mouth, rather than out of the hopeful-optimistic opines of a fucker who’s twiddling his fucking thumbs until the big match (i.e yours fucking truly).
For fuck’s sake.
I WAT KAKA TO GO MANUTD HE IS WORLD CLASS PLAYER