Should be an easy enough three points but they'll have a point to prove so it'll probably be a closer run thing this time.
Biggest test of the season so far coming up next weekend, so a few changes to be made if possible.
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Should be an easy enough three points but they'll have a point to prove so it'll probably be a closer run thing this time.
Biggest test of the season so far coming up next weekend, so a few changes to be made if possible.
Even though we hammered them last time, they were confident enough to have a go and had our defence on the ropes for a brief spell. Expecting a much closer game here but we should be ok.
1-3
No injuries please, Spuds are going to be super tough.
These away trips to east Europe always prove tricky (Zagreb) and this match will be different to the home tie.
1-2 or 0-2 but far from easy.
Cosmin Moti: The Return
No Bellerin (rested), Feo, Monreal or Santi for tomorrow.
We're not secretly playing a weakend team I hope.
How would we do it secretly?
This team is utter gash if we can't beat them even if we rest several players we don't deserve to finish top of the group.Quote:
Originally Posted by Goonermarvee
We should win but I don't think it will be plain sailing. I thought they looked quite decent offensively in the first game, they caused us quite a few problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
We'll have to defend well if we are going to get the three points here.
team i'd play
Ospina, Jenkinson, Gabriel, Holding, Gibbs, Xhaka, Elneny, Ramsey, Iwobi, Ox, Giroud
Subs: Sanchez, Jeff, Ozil, Coq, Kosc, Mustafi, Cech
Play the full team and keep the momentum going. This is precisely the type of game where we've fucked around in the past and lost momentum, lost points and ended up letting a rival pip us to the top spot. Get the job done and go into the PSG game leaving them, rather than us, a mountain to climb. No more glorious failures. Hammer every nail until qualification in the top spot is guaranteed.
That said, Wenger will most likely fuck around.
on the other hand, i think too often we get injuries by playing the same players week in week out, no sense in having a squad of players if we don't use them. Cazorla is injured because we have been playing him far too often.
Other players end up being out of form when they come into the team because they are underplayed. I'm no fan of either Giroud or Ramsey.....especially not Ramsey but even I think they are useful squad members and actually i think they need to play their way into full form after being injured.
The side i have suggested we should play, retains all the available first team players not in the starting XI on the bench so the likes of Sanchez and Ozil can come on if they needed.
And fact remains if we can't beat a Bulgarian team without those two, than our hopes of winning anything significant this season is little more than a pipe dream anyway.
This isn't a banker game by any stretch. We've been here before. If we're worried about mileage clocked by key players then send them out and get the job done early. Then bench them. The other way around is way too risky for us. We send on the second stringers and they tip tap it around and create zero chances. Then the first stringers have to chase a game in which the opposition has already gained confidence and have something to hang onto. Much harder doing it that way around. Instead show the opposition the team that hammered them last time, defeat them in the tunnel before the game kicks off like we used to. The last time conservatism worked for Wenger was 2006, which also marked the start of the downward spiral in our football. Now there are flickers of effective football being seen on a fairly regular basis, don't stifle it again. We should be approaching the game against the spuds expecting to win, not shitting it that players might get injured. The mentality is all wrong.
Perhaps but the fact remains that we do have constant injuries because Wenger either overplays players or keeps faith with injury prone players.
And I repeat if we don't have the guile to beat this side even without our best players than its a nonsense to think we should be competing anyway.
PSG beat them 3-1 after going a goal down, with a strong team out, so complete second string side is too risky. Spuds have to be taken into consideration given the importance and amount of leg work that has to be put into that game.
And are PSG all that good?....this is a side that should have hammered us 4 or 5 nil (that's how terrible we were) and yet couldn't finish us off
As good as or if not better than us, they deserved to beat us at their place and have outperformed us in the CL for a while now. One strikers misfiring game doesn't summarise their entire team. Given the other 9 were able to contribute to creating those chances, I'd say they are a good side. I wouldn't see any team in Europe taking them lightly.
my point is they have thrown loads of money into that side and yet have actually consistently underperformed in Europe, so actually there's not much to read into them going behind against ludogorets with their strongest team.
I very much doubt Wenger will rest Sanchez or Ozil, but i maintain that if we feel we need either of them to beat this lot than we might as well give up now.
I see both HCZ and NQ's perspective on this but I'd go with NQ's approach for this match. I agree that we should be able to beat this team with a weakened team but anything other than a win tonight will mean that we are more than likely going to be playing Bayern or Barca in the next round. I can see that demoralize the team ahead of meeting the scums down the road this weekend. These are professional players and if we can get the job done easily, take off the big players and give game time to the kids.
We're already rotating. With Elneny, Coquelin, Ox and Gibbs coming back into the squad, a long with Bif and Ramsey making sub appearances, we're warming up some of the bench players and getting them up to speed. As some of our players to start to cool down and look off the pace, we can swap them out without causing too much of a disruption. No point in making massive changes for this game because it disrupts the momentum and it's unlikely we'll ever play that combination of players. We just need to mix it up.
It's all totally academic, as Wenger will play Sanchez and Ozil no matter what you or I think
Those are the two players for me, most in need of a rest
There is a difference between rotating and slotting players into the team because you've burnout the others.
I hope we score more goals than the other guys.
Alexis just scored two over the weekend. When he starts showing signs of fatigue, give him a rest, but for now, Wenger just has to be smarter with his subs and take one or two off earlier when we look comfortable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
Perhaps i just don't see the point when we have an opportunity to play Giroud back into form, and we've seen with Lucas Perez that it just takes one mis timed tackle and he could be out for a number of matches. Now obviously you risk that every time you send a player out onto the field, but in this case i think it's an unnecessary one.
I think we can, if we put the ball in their net more times than they put it in ours.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Loblaw
Exactly. We could just as easily lose Giroud tonight to such a challenge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
Giroud is needed far less for the game against Spurs than Sanchez and is less vital to our success overallQuote:
Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory
We can't creep around the place worrying that players will get injured. That's what the squad if for. If we get unlucky then there are players who can step in. In the meantime, let's put some more pressure on PSG by putting a strong team out there that can blow Ludo away early and then hit the bench if they need to. Let's not give our main opponents in this group a sniff. 6 more goals please. That'll force them to beat us when we meet - provided we don't get all complacent against Basle. These are the key games coming up now, the ones we must win to avoid the last 16 groundhog event.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
Either of them. Someone picking up an injury because they've been kicked is something we can't do anything about. We could rest Sanchez tonight, come up short for the result but still lose Sanchez against Spurs or in training but now be at risk of losing the top spot in the CL.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
Sanchez is on red hot form. He doesn't need a rest.
And he'd be pissed if he got a rest. that's the sort of player he is. The exact sort we need on the pitch as often as possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory
That too and there is no need to disrupt him mentally.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Send out the strongest team and no faffing around
here was me thinking he was an employee and he is here to serve the club, not the club to serve himQuote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Yeah, I'm skipping this one. That line up with Giroud up front...
Wenger's love child Ramsey returns.
November is going to be a fun month! :banghead:
Good line-up.
I'd be surprised if Ludo are as open as the last game and might sit deep, so Giroud is a good shout.
Iwobi needed a game off and Ramsey plays well out there, so a nice balance.
Don't mind Giroud starting up front but I'd rather Alexis not play out wide. We want him to learn the CF position and throwing him back out wide just to accommodate Giroud may confuse him. Plus he'll have to do a lot more running (than usual) out wide tracking back which isn't good with a hard run of fixtures coming. Would have preferred he'd be rested full stop instead of this half assed approach from Wenger.
Don't mind the rest. Bellerin has a slight knock (didn't travel) and Xhaka needs game time for the NLD.
If there's one thing that Alexis can do forever, that is running. And running. And runni...
I just hope that Wenger doesn't drop either Walcott or Iwobi to accommodate Ramsey against the spuds. He needs to earn his place and the other two have been playing well and give us a good balance.