chance to see some different players and some different teams.
Good man, Pat.
There's no point in us all moaning about the repetitive familiarity of the CL if we can't get a little tingle of interest in something different. Tomorrow night we are playing a side in their first European competition for 25 years. Apparently 20,000 heavily armed* Germans will be invading North London just to add to the fun.
We might even see Per Mertesacker play football again. Possibly a glimpse of the less-spotted Debuchy or the new Sammy Nelson.
*I may have made that bit up.
Of course, but that's just modern football, innit. There's so much money about that almost anyone you can think of wants to get their cut of it; hence more and more tedium and bloat, as you call it.
The good thing about the Europa League though, is that we can simply focus on being one of the real favourites and concentrate on actually winning it, without having to bang on about financial doping and FFP and the Tiredness and whatnot.
If Wenger has anything at all left, this competition really ought to bring out the very best in us.
"Plenty of strikers can score goals," he said, gesturing to the famous old stands casting shadows around us.
"But a lot have found it difficult wearing the number 9 shirt for The Arsenal."
"Plenty of strikers can score goals," he said, gesturing to the famous old stands casting shadows around us.
"But a lot have found it difficult wearing the number 9 shirt for The Arsenal."