Champions League Last 16 Draw (16th Dec) 11am.

[Niall_Quinn]

Not so bothered about being second - much more bothered about going into a game with a negative gameplan, that hasn't worked for us since the cup final against Utd but we don't seem to learn the lesson.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Rubbish. If that's the case then you might as well give up in every competition. 'Might as well face the big teams in the FA cup and Carling cup early, we aint winning the trophy'.

You try to enhance the chance of winning a trophy by mitigating the probability of facing the big teams. Of course you need to play a big team at some point, but getting to the champions league semi's then losing to a big team would be much better than losing in the round of 16. Trumping out in the early stage will do nothing but dampen the confidence amongst players. On the other hand, getting a bit of luck and reaching the semi's, then losing against a big team, would improve the morale of the team knowing they reached a respectable position in the competition. Players dream of playing in the semi's and finals of big competitions, not the round of 16. Not to mention the increased revenue for the club.

We worked so fucking hard to get top 4 last season and celebrated the achievement like winning a trophy. What's the point of all that hard work if we're content with losing in the round of 16 to a big team?

i can see that, however last year, we went out in the last 16 and went on an unbeaten run to the end of the season so it can work both ways.

my theory on this year, i want the league. we won't win the champions league so id rather go out facing one of the big teams because they are dam good games usually. if we lose, we go down to one game a week and can focus on the league, if we win, then wow. of course i would love to win the champions league but this year, id rather win the league. it would be a greater achievement IMO

[Ollie the Optimist]

I just like how optimistic you are. It's quite sweet really although sometimes I think you veer into delusion.

not quite sure how its delusion to say we aren't winning the compeition, its unlikely we will beat bayern, stating how we are better team since we last played them (we have) and that its a cup competition so anything could happen. case and point. chelsea

[Niall_Quinn]

Last season I would have just laughed and accepted we were out before a ball was kicked, then prayed we could scrape 4th in the league. This year I think we have a slim chance against Bayern, why not, if we are right on top of our game (twice) we are a good side and this is knockout football. Plus we are talking about competing for the PL without it being pure fantasy. Things have certainly improved. Probability suggests we'll win neither, but we've gone from being non-competitive to competitive which is what most of us wanted.

[Letters]

Last season I would have just laughed and accepted we were out before a ball was kicked, then prayed we could scrape 4th in the league. This year I think we have a slim chance against Bayern, why not, if we are right on top of our game (twice) we are a good side and this is knockout football. Plus we are talking about competing for the PL without it being pure fantasy. Things have certainly improved. Probability suggests we'll win neither, but we've gone from being non-competitive to competitive which is what most of us wanted.

That.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

i can see that, however last year, we went out in the last 16 and went on an unbeaten run to the end of the season so it can work both ways.

my theory on this year, i want the league. we won't win the champions league so id rather go out facing one of the big teams because they are dam good games usually. if we lose, we go down to one game a week and can focus on the league, if we win, then wow. of course i would love to win the champions league but this year, id rather win the league. it would be a greater achievement IMO

Last season and this season are completely different. This season we've improved and are challenging. A team challenging shouldn't throw away trophies or be content with reaching round of 16's.

[Harland]

Not too sure Ollie deserves the stick he's getting here, he isn't delusional by any means as he accepts that we are second favourites but fact is we did strengthen from last year.

[Ollie the Optimist]

That.

thats exactly what i said though and got called delusional?

[Globalgunner]

thats exactly what i said though and got called delusional?

truth is you are delusional, you can see the bright side of stepping in a big lump of dog poo

We routinely bottle our group games and end up with a mountain to climb.....ergo we havent made the QFs for some time now. The same lack of tactics that see us fail everytime we meet a quality team in whichever cup.
Hope Poldi is at least back cos Giroud is fast starting to resemble Aderbayor. Its a game so we have a punchers chance. ali v Chuck Wepner

[Dein-machine]

We have the tie that Wumbers tactics against Napoil derserves & yet I see he was commenting earlier on hoping for a decent draw. Presumably he wanted PSG. Pity he didn't think about that before tryng to get the likes of Ozil & Cazorla to play like Stoke in Naples.
We couldn't win it this year - Saturday proved that but the extra revenue would have been welcome & feel good factor of a decent cup run. Anyway, lets hope next year when we're totally in charge of our group with a game to go he remembers he's negativity continues to get us nowhere in big matches - but I doubt it