Champions League Last 16 Draw (14/12/15 11am GMT).

[Power n Glory]

A shot at beating Barcelona?

I'm surprised to be honest, considering our record in this competition and how we go about our business I don't see how we have any hope of beating what is arguably the best team and a team that has 3 top top forwards.

We neither have the firepower to beat them nor the ability to keep their forwards out, they'll win this tie without too many problems IMO at best we'll sneak a luckyish narrow win in the 1st leg IMO.

The last time we played Barcelona everyone saying the same thing. We had no chance. But we beat them at home and if we played better on their ground, we could have gone through on goal difference. It wasn’t a complete hammering as everyone expected. We’re a shambles of a team sometimes but we’ve raised our game in this competition where we’ve surprised people. That AC Milan tie is another example where we were close to beating them on goal difference at the San Siro. We had Bayern shaking as well on their journey to winning the cup beating them on their own soil.

We have serious problems as a club and having to win over to legs is difficult but not impossible because we’ve come close before with a weaker squad. I don’t think we’ll win the cup but I think the players will want to show for at least one game.

[Letters]

We've just retained the FA Cup. We're currently 2nd in the table and in the last 16 of the CL.
Do we have serious problems?

Problems, maybe, but all clubs have those. I don't think ours are that serious, relatively speaking.

[Power n Glory]

Really?

That is a pretty strange combination.

I think Wenger should go if we don't seriously challenge for the title this year but having just won the FA Cup and so far this season being 2nd and having qualified for the last 16 of the CL, it would be a strange time to sack the manager.

Not really. I think the players will g themselves up and prepare themselves mentally for this game because they won’t want to be embarrassed. It’s happened before. Believing we can win against some of the best is different to believing he can win us the league and CL. Also, I’m not the only one that would rather see him leave on a high. If we happen to win the league this year, I can’t see him defending the title successfully or keeping the team together.

[Power n Glory]

We've just retained the FA Cup. We're currently 2nd in the table and in the last 16 of the CL.
Do we have serious problems?

Problems, maybe, but all clubs have those. I don't think ours are that serious, relatively speaking.

Shut up, Letters.

[Letters]

Shut up, Letters.

Well debated

[Power n Glory]

Well debated

I'm not repeating the same tired debate with you. Just read an old post if you want answer to that. There are numerous.

[fakeyank]

Really?

That is a pretty strange combination.

I think Wenger should go if we don't seriously challenge for the title this year but having just won the FA Cup and so far this season being 2nd and having qualified for the last 16 of the CL, it would be a strange time to sack the manager.

I am with PnG on this one. To me it boils down to a simple question "Will Wenger make us an European power or a dominant English team?" The answer to that is no, and I think a club with Arsenal's resources should be answering that yes.

[Letters]

With all the money sloshing around it's quite hard to see how anyone will be a dominant English team. I expect us to be in the title mix most seasons, I think Wenger can deliver that.
As for a European power, City and Chelsea haven't managed that with all their squillions, I'm not sure how realistic an expectation that is. But I do agree Wenger's record in the CL smells a bit. It's impressive to qualify from the group stage a million years in a row, but disappointing how seldom we've got further than that.

[Özim]

The last time we played Barcelona everyone saying the same thing. We had no chance. But we beat them at home and if we played better on their ground, we could have gone through on goal difference. It wasn’t a complete hammering as everyone expected. We’re a shambles of a team sometimes but we’ve raised our game in this competition where we’ve surprised people. That AC Milan tie is another example where we were close to beating them on goal difference at the San Siro. We had Bayern shaking as well on their journey to winning the cup beating them on their own soil.

We have serious problems as a club and having to win over to legs is difficult but not impossible because we’ve come close before with a weaker squad. I don’t think we’ll win the cup but I think the players will want to show for at least one game.

This Barcelona side is possibly superior especially offensively IMO, it's less one dimensional with the forwards they have and less reliant on Messi, let's not forget the time before last when they did hammer us, the fact they didn't last time was more due to luck than skill, Barcelona played us off the park in large parts and just didn't convert, but with the forwards they have now I can't see it happening.

People are deluded if they think we have a chance, this Barcelona team are far more potent in attack due to Suarez and Neymar now being part of the setup.

[fakeyank]

With all the money sloshing around it's quite hard to see how anyone will be a dominant English team. I expect us to be in the title mix most seasons, I think Wenger can deliver that.
As for a European power, City and Chelsea haven't managed that with all their squillions, I'm not sure how realistic an expectation that is. But I do agree Wenger's record in the CL smells a bit. It's impressive to qualify from the group stage a million years in a row, but disappointing how seldom we've got further than that.

Unfortunately, I do not see us being in the title mix every season with Wenger in charge.