Sorry if that's disappointing news to anyone here :-|
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Sorry if that's disappointing news to anyone here :-|
I was completely unaware until Monday/Tuesday of this week that Bayern are very much on the horizon.
At least we only have Hull this weekend so can rest players in preparation.
I am not comparing ease of victory my Anglo-French-German friend (you’re a bit of a mystery R, in a good way).
We are not going to win the Premiership, we all know that, even Arsene I suspect.
We could believe it or not win the CL and to do so we need to maximise our chances v Bayern, so we need our very best 11. Does that require resting some this weekend, perhaps not. They have had a week off in advance.
In a slight twist to your opening sentence I would suggest you need to be a better team to win the PL than you do to win the CL.
I have always personally though the League more important than CL and put more value in (hoping to) win the thing.
Others I know are almost obsessed with European success as it is largely seen as being the pinnacle of club football, certainly players seem to think so. It is also missing from our CV and is one reason why we will continue to be seen or deemed below others.
The FA Cup will no doubt at all take care of itself as you say, until the next round that is.
I think we can over two legs beat Bayern but we will need to be at our very best in both games, especially the very key players. Koscielny for example has been pish the last few matches but gets overlooked because he is Koscielny and is exempt from the massive scrutiny of other players.
I wonder if the manager knows what his best eleven is? I'm not sure it's even about the best eleven players, as about ones that play together as a team, which we have struggled to do for some time. We don't have a functioning midfield, we can't adapt quickly enough between zipping it around a mobile front three, or hoofing it up / whipping it in to the big lad (until desperation sets in at the end). Our first choice keeper is looking ropey. We don't have a proper backup RB and we miss Bellerin. Actually we do in Debuchy but he's never in the squad.
I know that average but lucky teams have won the CL in the past but I can't see this lot doing it. Their record against decent sides in recent years includes very few wins.
The context of my post whether the team can win the champions league, not whether we can stay in the first division. :shrug:
Against big sides we have been good against Chelsea at home before they got themselves into their groove, and that's all. Poor against Chelsea, Man U, Man C, Everton & PSG away, poor against Liverpool and Tottenham at home. Meh against PSG at home.
It was the Watford game what dunnit. :-(
Losing at the Bridge to a fine Chelsea side who will walk the league this year is disappointing but manageable. Losing at home to Watford AGAIN has made me lose faith. It was so like Swansea last season, And Watford in the cup.
We have the quality and depth, I'd thought. The machine isn't working though.
Perfectly understandable old chap. It's enough to make the strongest man peer into the abyss, contemplating why one bothers.
Picture yourself, on a soft May morning at dawn, listening to the birdsong as you look up at the slope of Skiddaw, knowing that before long you will be looking down from the summit, the mighty mountain grovelling at your feet, defeated and cowed, rolling over to receive your mighty weapon; you take your just rewards, plunging ever more frantically into the fell's soft moistness, your shaft spearing your adversary deeper, ever deeper until! with a final frantic push you climax together, your seed pumping to the very depths of the earth, possibly causing earthquakes and a tsunami of semen in Cockermouth.
Better now?