Right, .......Vorskla Poltava.
They currently lie in 5th place in the 12-team Ukrainian league, albeit having a won their past 2 games. This puts them on a somewhat similar run of form as Arsenal, although squad rotation on the day might put paid to this.
Their only appearance in the group stage of the Europa was 6 seasons ago, so they can't claim to have more experience of the unique requirements of "Thursday-ball" than we do.
Having said that, I'd expect Vorskla (who can only claim 3 full internationals among their ranks), to come out guns blazing. Our porous defence can't have gone unnoticed.
Now it's been said that winning the Europa offers us an easier route back into the CL than a top-4 league finish does. This view might have seemed absurd at the beginning of last season, but now I'm not so sure.
Emery, for his part, has made sure to toe the official party line with a few choice comments.
".......I told the players the same thing that I’ll tell you," Emery said. “The Premier League is the first competition because it’s giving us a big responsibility, maybe bigger than the others, in the season."
“There are 38 matches, so your first analysis is like this. Other competitions are very important too."
“Today, we are only thinking about giving our supporters the first performance and a good 90 minutes on the pitch at the Emirates."
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1020154/Arsenal-Unai-Emery-Premier-League-Europa-League-Vorskla?_e_pi_=7%2CPAGE_ID10%2C3566523102
Во́рскла Полта́ва
posted on 20/9/18
It's going to be tough balancing league and Europe this season. I would obviously like to see a trophy won if it's the Europa league then that is fine after all it is about winning stuff. However I don't see why champions league is not attainable via the league. Currently there looks to be two places available. Tottenham look like their race is run and we are only a month into the season. United will have further issues with the negative football being served up. We have to improve but there is no reason to think we can't do it through the league.
posted on 20/9/18
comment by Admiral Ozil is my new favourite Star Wars character (U10178)
posted 3 minutes ago
It's going to be tough balancing league and Europe this season. I would obviously like to see a trophy won if it's the Europa league then that is fine after all it is about winning stuff. However I don't see why champions league is not attainable via the league. Currently there looks to be two places available. Tottenham look like their race is run and we are only a month into the season. United will have further issues with the negative football being served up. We have to improve but there is no reason to think we can't do it through the league.
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You only need to secure qualification out of a perfectly winnable group, and then beat 4 teams after that. Even easier, if you manage to avoid the "big" teams dropping out of the CL.
Hell, we almost blagged our way to the cup last season.
posted on 20/9/18
You only need to secure qualification out of a perfectly winnable group, and then beat 4 teams after that. Even easier, if you manage to avoid the "big" teams dropping out of the CL.
Hell, we almost blagged our way to the cup last season.
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True we should go far in the competition if it's taken seriously. We should of beaten Madrid last year given what happened in the first leg. That was a typical Wenger performance. It would of been interesting to see how that match would of played out under Emery.
posted on 20/9/18
Europa should be easier to win, consistency isn't massively important and on paper we're probably 2nd faves behind Chelsea at the moment. Obviously though the CL dropouts are a bigger issue (still fecking annoys me that).
posted on 20/9/18
It's going to be tough balancing league and Europe this season.
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No it really isn't. Group stages should be a walk through. Play your fringe/youth players and get to the KO rounds. Then the balance of Europe games and league is nothing different to what we've gone through before.
Later on the season the decision will be made by Emery on which to focus on. Ideally we'd do well in the league but I don't see why we need to compromise one competition for the other.
posted on 20/9/18
Got to remember that Champions League drop outs end up in the Europa. Whilst we can beat most of those teams sometimes an Atheltico fecks up royally and ends up in the Europa. So its easier to get top 4 especially with Spurs, Man Utd and I bet Chelsea will also end up struggling. Our squad should be good enough in the Europa till the latter stages. By that time it should be clear where to prioritize.
posted on 20/9/18
It's going to be tough balancing league and Europe this season.
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No it really isn't. Group stages should be a walk through. Play your fringe/youth players and get to the KO rounds. Then the balance of Europe games and league is nothing different to what we've gone through before.
Later on the season the decision will be made by Emery on which to focus on. Ideally we'd do well in the league but I don't see why we need to compromise one competition for the other.
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Underestimating teams in this competition is a recipe for disaster remember what happened against Ostersunds last season we thought the tie was over after the first leg and ended up losing at home. Just putting out the reserves won't cut it, there will need to be a mixture of senior first team and reserve players. It's up to Emery to manage the balance between youth and experience.
posted on 20/9/18
Underestimating teams in this competition is a recipe for disaster remember what happened against Ostersunds last season we thought the tie was over after the first leg and ended up losing at home. Just putting out the reserves won't cut it, there will need to be a mixture of senior first team and reserve players. It's up to Emery to manage the balance between youth and experience.
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Didn't say anything about underestimating teams. We are just vastly better than anyone in our group. The Ostersunds game was just a result of the lack of intensity or preparation Wenger gave his players. He was already preparing to announce his departure at that point.
I don't expect to see the same lack of preparation from Emery. And just answering your point, i don't expect the balancing act to be especially tough for him either.
posted on 20/9/18
Looking at the CL groups, you would expect Monaco, Napoli, CSKA, Valencia, Inter/Spurs, Ajax/Benfica, to drop down to Europa.
Groups D and F are anyone’s guess but I’d wager Hoffenheim and Schalke wil ldrop down.
Whilst none of them are easy teams to play against I wouldn’t fear any of them (apart from Spurs). Chelsea are probably the team that would stand between us and Europa success