Your opponent of choice

[Mostarac]

And who can argue with a road trip to Bella Italia?

Can`t argue with that, as I make the actual trip a couple of times every month myself.

 

[gstew]

You must have watched him either in the beginning of the season or in the early 2006, because he was not that bad at those times(even though he even than was not playing like he used to), but apart from that, he has been disappointing. I have even watched him live in the San Siro once this season, and he left me disappointed.

If he really is declining then that is a shame. Seedorf has always been one of the few players that I would watch no matter the team or game. Like Hleb and Deco today.....and Rui Costa, Okocha and Ariel Ortega in their primes, you watched closely to see what magic they would conjure next. Regardless of end product, the magic was always there. Of course, Ronaldinho is in his own special category of this type of player.

 

[sqhv01]

I'd fancy our chances against Barca. They don't have Puyol for the next game and that's going make things shakey at the back for them. They'll still have the edge as an attacking unit, but'll definitely give away chances.

 

[Mostarac]

If he really is declining then that is a shame. Seedorf has always been one of the few players that I would watch no matter the team or game. Like Hleb and Deco today.....and Rui Costa, Okocha and Ariel Ortega in their primes, you watched closely to see what magic they would conjure next. Regardless of end product, the magic was always there. Of course, Ronaldinho is in his own special category of this type of player.

Exactly. When it comes to Rui Costa, I enjoyed his displays the most when he was at Fiorentina playing just behind the fantastic Batistuta. Rui Costa was brilliant at Fiorentina and is still Collectivo`s(Fiorentina Ultras) favourite.

 

[Mostarac]

They don't have Puyol for the next game and that's going make things shakey at the back for them.

Do not worry about that, Rijkaard will just put in the brilliant Edmilson in the centre with Marquez, and their defence will be just as good as when Puyol is playing.

 

[tgr]

barca may be a little better than us but they are without messi.
we have a good record against serie a teams maybe because they just dont like our quick style. and every italian team has its own weakness. inter is not very stable. milan and juve let in many goals.
we are a better side than other teams.
so i think we have a good chance to be amongst last 4.

 

[gstew]

As for Inter, mediocre players that are not worthy of wearing that famous Inter shirt such as Mihajlovic, Wome, Burdisso and Favalli are going to be replaced by Maicon and Maxwell(deals already finalised). Thrash such as Cristiano Zanetti, Cambiasso(not exactly thrash but not impressive either) and Solari have to be replaced. And the Moratti will look to get either Ballack or Ronaldo at all costs, which means that either Adriano or Cruz are going to another club. As you see, those teams have bigger problems than Juventus right now. But I expect a team like Fiorentina(with the money of the Della Valle-brothers) to challenge Juventus next season.

Maybe I am watching the wrong games, but I think that Inter has the players to compete at the top. I am not a Cambiasso fan, but he is consistently good every time I see him play. I don't know what happened to Cristiano Zanetti's career....it isn't salvageable?

Javier Zanetti seems to be the exact same excellent player he was 10 years ago. Of course there will be a drop off, I just haven't seen any evidence of it yet. Stankovic is a top talent in his prime and Walter Samuel is still a very good defender. But what gives me the greatest confidence in their future is their strike force. I don't think that there will be a better combination of strikers over the next 3-5 years than Adriano and Martins. I think that this season was just an aberration and that next year will be their break out season. All they need is a player like Veron and Guardiola once were, or Riquelme currently is (or Cesc is going to be). The last thing they need is to bring Ronaldo back. What a disaster that would be!! But a true playmaker would unleash the talent they have in attack.

 

[sqhv01]

Do not worry about that, Rijkaard will just put in the brilliant Edmilson in the centre with Marquez, and their defence will be just as good as when Puyol is playing.

I know they can rejig the back, but even against Chelsea you can see that once their midfield is penetrated, the back is very vulnerable. There were a few occasions where Puyol was covering deep left due to their keeping a high line; and Marquez, based on the Chelsea games, inspires less confidence than Senderos. If someone like Hleb, who can really dribble, gets through Deco and Edmilson, things can really open up. Barca certainly aren't easiest draw, but definitely preferable to Juve or Milan.

 

[gstew]

I know they can rejig the back, but even against Chelsea you can see that once their midfield is penetrated, the back is very vulnerable. There were a few occasions where Puyol was covering deep left due to their keeping a high line; and Marquez, based on the Chelsea games, inspires less confidence than Senderos. If someone like Hleb, who can really dribble, gets through Deco and Edmilson, things can really open up. Barca certainly aren't easiest draw, but definitely preferable to Juve or Milan.

I've watched a lot of Barca matches this year and last. I have to disagree with your assessment of Marquez. He is an excellent player and would displace all of our CB's but Toure. I would love to have him at Arsenal.

 

[shaz]

well i hope we get something like villareal and then all the good teams get each other, like milan vs barca, and juventus vs lyong. that would be awesome

 

[tactica442]

Benfica.

Ashley is still three weeks away and Robin hasn't played a competetive match. Unless 80% of our best players are fit for matches, I want an arguably lesser team, e.g. Benfica.

 

[awooga83]

Other then Villareal or Benfica were pretty much underdogs so who ever we get i'll look forward to it most of the teams on paper are better but we might be able to surprise them.
If we get a big draw its nothing to fear we won't be expected to win and thats the way i like it

 

[sabret00the]

Inter, Barca or Villareal

 

[Meek]

Gotta be Lyon for me. While they may be the dark horses, they love attacking football and their defence is also suspect. We will no doubt get a chance to "play our football" against them. If its not Lyon, I would like the following in this order: Villarreal, Benfica, Ajax/Inter, Milan, Juventus, Barca.

I want Juventus in the semi's if we get there. And for the return leg to be at highbury, just to see the look on Vieira's face. Finally, if we reach the final, it has to be Barca for me. There will be no better final in my opinion. Arsenal and Barca are two of the most exciting teams to watch. it will be an all out attacking final.

 

[bojed]

quarter finals: juve...

i want to see the battle between cesc and vieira

benfica or villareal would be good too (LOL)

whatever it is i hope it would be arsenal vs barca in the final.

 

[oreo]

Villareal and hope for a Barca vs Arsenal in the Final. I don't care even if we'll lose to them, it would be a entertaining match for everyone in the world, except moaninghoe =x

 

[Fin_Gooner]

Villareal, Lyon or Benfica of course... well, it would be cool to match up against a side such as Juventus or Inter aswell.

 

[malagar]

One of the big teams please - i dont want to go out against benfica or something. Our team seems to perform better against bigger opposition

 

[malagar]

Benfica.

Ashley is still three weeks away and Robin hasn't played a competetive match. Unless 80% of our best players are fit for matches, I want an arguably lesser team, e.g. Benfica.

we dont have a left back and you want us to play against that lunatic simao ?

 

[AFCFan4Ever]

I don't know why everyone is clamoring for Benfica, they're probably the one team I wouldn't want to play right now. I'm really tempted to say Barca because Puyol is suspended for the first leg and Messi may be out but I want Villareal.