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UEL Round of 32 1st Leg: Benfica vs Arsenal | Thursday 18th February |20:00 | BT Sport
- Thread starter Rex Stone
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GoonerJay24
Well-Known Member
No, not at all actually. This is the period where rotation is required. Laca hasn't scored in recent matches but he's still been performing and links well with those young players behind him. Can't be playing Auba every match given his age also.
Mo Britain
Doom Monger
As this is our away game scoring is more important than not conceding.
I hope that Pepe and Martinelli will be used here, if rotation is the name of the game, and Laca as well. Probably a good game for Ødegaard again.
Our only chance of a trophy, it's a long sht but the only one we have. We will almost certainly lose at the weekend so I'd rather we get a good result here even if we lose at the weekend than harvest two narrow defeats.
I hope that Pepe and Martinelli will be used here, if rotation is the name of the game, and Laca as well. Probably a good game for Ødegaard again.
Our only chance of a trophy, it's a long sht but the only one we have. We will almost certainly lose at the weekend so I'd rather we get a good result here even if we lose at the weekend than harvest two narrow defeats.
:rofl: I really thought you were complimenting me for a second there.
Melquiades
Active Member
100%
I know most people here generally want to prioritize the league, and fair enough, but the Man City game is basically Guaranteed Loss Night. Man City are on one of the most dominant runs of play in the history of the PL. 11 wins in a row outscoring the opposition 28-2. Undefeated in 15 outscoring the opposition 36-3. Just thrashed Sp**s and Liverpool by a combined 7-1. We aren't winning that game.
The EL will be getting by 4 beatable teams to get to Champions League, and risking this tournament by rotating in a bunch of squaddies to prioritize City would be ridiculous.
We have to play our best 11 in the first game. If we get a big result, we would have some options for rotation in the 2nd leg.
I don’t think I’ve seen a single person on here say that.
UpTheGunnerz
Vrei sa pleci dar una una iei
Player:Elneny
As a Portuguese side, my pre match analysis is that we can expect joga but question remains if it will be bonito. Leave it all on the field and secure the tie in first match, is my recommendation Cumberbatch
Melquiades
Active Member
That was definitely the take here for the FA Cup matches vs. Southampton and Newcastle.
Also the first page of this thread has most posters putting Mat Ryan in goal and doing things like inserting Chambers for the first time in months. Which is what myself and the poster I responded to were disagreeing with.
Country: England
Don’t wanna be seeing us get battered in the CL either but I just hate this competition...my enthusiasm for it is so so low. Maybe once the game starts
Mo Britain
Doom Monger
Of course this match takes priority over the Citeh game. But a gentle reminder.... Arsenal have won two European trophies in our entire history (the last one in 1994)... the idea we just waltz through this and win it because we want to is simply not realistic.
We are a better team than Benfica and on better form so if we turn up we go through. Some rotation is necessary not to protect the team for the Citeh game but to make sure we are fresh for Benfica.
I see only a few teams that would give us a strong test in this left and on our day we can beat any of them. But it has to be our day so let's hope not that many days are needed.
We are a better team than Benfica and on better form so if we turn up we go through. Some rotation is necessary not to protect the team for the Citeh game but to make sure we are fresh for Benfica.
I see only a few teams that would give us a strong test in this left and on our day we can beat any of them. But it has to be our day so let's hope not that many days are needed.
simba
Manberg Again
What were those 2 European trophies we won equivalent to? Were they like, friendly style tournaments or something?
Country: Norway
The UEFA Cup winners Cup was a proper competition, while the Fairs Cup was more a mixed bag.
Neither could obviously match the Costa del Sol trophy that Sp**s won twice in the 60s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trofeo_Costa_del_Sol
Riou
In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over
Country: Northern Ireland
Player:Gabriel
Was the Fairs Cup not the UEFA cup/Europe League back then?
Country: Norway
It came before the UEFA cup. Apparently it was set up as some friendlies between cities with trade fairs originally.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Cities_Fairs_Cup
Country: Australia
Mo Britain
Doom Monger
By the time we won the Fairs Cup it was a proper competition with the teams particpating being those who had just failed to win their national leagues. The male was changed to the UEFA Cup in the 70s' but the format (straightforward knockout) retained until the Europa League was created.
The Cup Winners Cup was easier to win because for several reasons:
1) Fewer games - two rounds before the quarter-finals (as opposed to three with the Fairs Cup) and a single final in a neutral venue, as opposed to home and away final in the Fairs Cup.
2) The nature of cup competitions, especially (but not exclusively) in some continental countries where less importance was attached to them meant that when there were surprises in a couple of the bigger football countries, the pool of potential winners was really quite small.
3) It didn't even need a surprise team to win a cup, just get to the final against a team winning the double and that left a slot in the Cup Winners' Cup for a minnow.
4) Fewer teams from the stronger countries ie the 3rd placed team in Italy was likelier to give you a game than the cup winners in Switzerland.
If you look at the winners of both trophies this bears out, we beat Parma in 1995 and, although they largely outplayed us, they were hardly a European powerhouse. By contrast, before beating Anderlecht in the 1970 Fairs Cup, we had to beat Ajax in the semis, who had basically most of the team which, from the following season, went on to win the European Cup three years in a row!
The Cup Winners Cup was easier to win because for several reasons:
1) Fewer games - two rounds before the quarter-finals (as opposed to three with the Fairs Cup) and a single final in a neutral venue, as opposed to home and away final in the Fairs Cup.
2) The nature of cup competitions, especially (but not exclusively) in some continental countries where less importance was attached to them meant that when there were surprises in a couple of the bigger football countries, the pool of potential winners was really quite small.
3) It didn't even need a surprise team to win a cup, just get to the final against a team winning the double and that left a slot in the Cup Winners' Cup for a minnow.
4) Fewer teams from the stronger countries ie the 3rd placed team in Italy was likelier to give you a game than the cup winners in Switzerland.
If you look at the winners of both trophies this bears out, we beat Parma in 1995 and, although they largely outplayed us, they were hardly a European powerhouse. By contrast, before beating Anderlecht in the 1970 Fairs Cup, we had to beat Ajax in the semis, who had basically most of the team which, from the following season, went on to win the European Cup three years in a row!
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She had us in the first half, I’m not gonna lie.
Country: Norway
Excellent post!
The final against Anderlecht was before my time, but we were beyond fortunate against Parma.
Mo Britain
Doom Monger
Parma.... there was a reason why fans in the George Graham era started the "1-0 to the Arsenal" chant. Soaked up a lot of pressure and took our chance.
The Fairs Cup is a bit lost in the mists of antiquity but that was (like the early Wenger years) a missed opportunity to become a dominant team. The Fairs Cup win was followed by the Double but in 1972 we lost the FA Cup final and playing Ajax again, this time in the quarter finals of the European Cup, were narrowly beaten over two legs. Then it went pear-shaped, insufficient and bad investment in players, and we had several years of poor football and no trophies.
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