Prediction
Porto 0-2 Arsenal
I honestly couldn't believe the malarkey I was reading about "3rd favourites for CL"...like for real, have you seen Arsenal in CL? Even our greatest ever teams couldn't win it.
We won’t batter them, can guarantee it. I’m shaking.
But according to AM a half of our players are world class and Arteta is a Top 5 manager in the world.I honestly couldn't believe the malarkey I was reading about "3rd favourites for CL"...like for real, have you seen Arsenal in CL? Even our greatest ever teams couldn't win it.
The better teams is where I’d expect us to play better, maybe Inter aside.Porto get battered at home and then people will take that as confirmation that Saka/Ødegaard/etc are world class.
I am not convinced Arsenal get past the better teams left in the comp though after what I have seen.
Porto get battered at home and then people will take that as confirmation that Saka/Ødegaard/etc are world class.
I am not convinced Arsenal get past the better teams left in the comp though after what I have seen.
Anyone taking such a stance (or frankly even having the discussion in those terms) is being reductive and pretty unintelligent.But according to AM a half of our players are world class and Arteta is a Top 5 manager in the world.
City, Real and Inter are probably the only teams which are clearly(?) better than Arsenal
So in a horse race where the favourite, an expensensive thoroughbred sired from previous winners, doesn't actually win the race, does it reduce the relationship between genetics and winning to just a theory.Agree but how does that compute with squad cost theory?
Won a cup with him tbfWe should be beating them comfortably but I don’t trust Arteta in cups.
That late goal has also changed things since Porto can really scumbag their way through the 90minutes.
Arrogant?! They looked nervy!I agreed think our players looked very arrogant on the pitch to from the first minutes instead of playing into their qualities. Hopefully we can still find a way to go through but its not gonna be easy at all we all know how hard it is to break down low blocks.
And just a few weeks back we beated Liverpool in a very convincing way this kind of performance cant just disappear.
Very good observation.Unless you are one of the super elite teams, trying to rank teams is pretty meaningless. All I'm worried about is are we competitive at the highest level, and is the general trend positive. Both are the case, but I recognise the relative inexperience of the team and the lack of super elite performers means we are more vulnerable to bad days at the office. If you have a KDB, Salah, Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, Henry level player, its like a get out of jail free card which means you can win against elite teams even when not playing very well collectively. We have no-one at that level, though one or two who might one day get there. We have a lot of very good players, who could play for many of the best teams in the world, but none who would be the best player at an elite European club. Henry was the last of those (and maybe RVP for 18 months?) - even Alexis and Özil were that tier just below.
Arrogant?! They looked nervy!
If the horse fails every single time in the Round of 16 racing against Portuguese and Greek farmer horses it damn sure doesSo in a horse race where the favourite, an expensensive thoroughbred sired from previous winners, doesn't actually win the race, does it reduce the relationship between genetics and winning to just a theory.
Their GK did look goodAll that stuff happened decades ago and have nothing to do with the current Porto and Arsenal teams.
Arsenal has built one of the most expensive squads in Europe, Porto sells their best players every year and their current best player is a GK. It should be a comfortable win over 2 legs, hope the boys pull their **** together at the carpet.
There is a strong correlation between wage bill and points accumulated in Prem, stronger than transfer spend.So in a horse race where the favourite, an expensensive thoroughbred sired from previous winners, doesn't actually win the race, does it reduce the relationship between genetics and winning to just a theory.
Maybe that's where Havertzs best position is..Well our ball boys wont be directed to slow it down. But yes it will be difficult to stop it even if the referee shows some backbone and begins to card players prior to the 80th minute.
The Portuguese carthorse will get leathered in the next race, then you'll have to take that back.If the horse fails every single time in the Round of 16 racing against Portuguese and Greek farmer horses it damn sure does
They all correlate quite well, even those rough squad 'valuations' on Transfermarkt (see soccernomics website). Yeah, cup comps are a totally different animal.There is a strong correlation between wage bill and points accumulated in Prem, stronger than transfer spend.
higher wages=higher league position
Determionants of PL points
CL is different type of competition, more like cup, with elimination.
Therefore less predictable and with less correlation to wage bill or transfer spend.
City, with Pep, all the money and cheating, have succeeded to win it after 15 years they won the lottery (Abu Dhabi).