Giroud heads out most setpieces now anyway

Few times we have made average team look like Barca in recent past. We playing against one of the consistent European team, so ignoring them or taking is lightly = arrogance for me.

Just seen the video. Wenger looks like man who has been very hurt that his players let him down.

So obviously he is biting at everyone. His players put him in that position. For journos with half baked knowledge to laugh at him.

I wouldn't want to be Giroud or Gervinho or Vermealen or Diaby or Chesney at the moment. You expect more from them because they cost a lot (apart from Chesney) and are first team experienced starters.

There will never be an atmosphere at the Emirates like there was vs Barca. There was trust and belief in Wenger and his ethos back then and a real feeling that the club has on the verge of reaching its potential.

Now we have been exposed as a corporate franchise, fooling the fans and filling them with lies and bullshít, a club with no identity or direction and in a steep decline. If we beat Bayern none of that will change.

Realistically Bayern are going to do to us what United did to Schalke a few years back. Quite simply, we do not belong in this phase of the tournament. When you look at the other 15 teams in the tournament, the only team you could possibly see us beating is the team that finished above us in the group stages!

taking them * ^^

Giroud won't start imo. We'll start Theo upfront to expose Van Buyten/Dante/Martinez's lack of pace.

I think Barca are by far the best team around, but Bayern are second ahead of Madrid imo.

you could take all the blame on Arsen but the players should have done better! That team vs Blackburn was more than good enough to win but of course they choked. players should also take blame there

Yeah you're probably right Kam, Giroud won't start. I hope Podolski plays upfront instead of Theo though, or they atleast switch around a lot.

What the hell are you on about Batmanu? 'We do not belong in this phase' GTFO with this bull(s)hit. We qualified just like the other teams and will play our match just like anyone else against difficult opponents. What's the difference?

"you could take all the blame on Arsen but the players should have done better! That team vs Blackburn was more than good enough to win but of course they choked. players should also take blame there "

Vermaelen admitted that the players did not take Blackburn seriously and were not focused. Our fúcking captain said that. That is Wenger's fault, end of. How many times this season have our players taken their eyes of the ball? They are not being motivated and instead of being punished for their poor performances, Wenger protects them to the extent he won't even spend in January because there is supposedly nobody better out there available

Ok Verm, come back to me after the Bayern game and tell me if we belong at this level or not

Again, quit talking rubbish. Even if we lost 10-0 tomorrow, how can you say that 'we do not belong'? We qualified just like every other team, it's not like we bribed our way into the last 16!

Yeah, we don't belong there despite the fact we've qualified for it for 16 years on the bounce. Great logic.

Yes we scraped our way out of a very poor quality group due to being seeded 1 because of performances in previous campaigns with stronger squads.

The past is irrelevant, right here and now there are 16 teams in this phase of the competition and there is only 1 team we would be favorites against and that team took 4 points off us in the group stages.

Ok let's think about it in your re(t)arded way.

We'd still have a good chance of beating Schalke, Galatasaray, Milan, Shakhtar etc etc. Just because these teams are decent doesn't mean we'd have no chance.

And why does 'being favorites' come into it?

That is Wenger's fault, end of.
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No that is the fúcking players fault. It doesn't need a manager to motivate experienced Internationals.

Apart from Oxalde who was young?

The fúcking team let us down badly. And I bet Wenger would be happy to throw them all under the bus. But he has no choice. As I said, we will need Giroud, Verm, Chesney, Diaby even Gerv in the run in for the top 4. But looking at Wenger's reaction I expect to see major changes in the summer.

A lot of us said how important it was to get a striker and an experienced goalkeeper in Jan. Giroud's best form came at exactly the wrong time.

No that is the fúcking players fault. It doesn't need a manager to motivate experienced Internationals.

Apart from Oxalde who was young?

The fúcking team let us down badly. And I bet Wenger would be happy to throw them all under the bus. But he has no choice. As I said, we will need Giroud, Verm, Chesney, Diaby even Gerv in the run in for the top 4. But looking at Wenger's reaction I expect to see major changes in the summer.

A lot of us said how important it was to get a striker and an experienced goalkeeper in Jan. Giroud's best form came at exactly the wrong time.

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Batmanu - serious question. Forget about realities for now, do you want Arsenal to win tomorrow. Or do you want them to lose just to prove your point about Wenger?

Jenius, I wish it was the players' faults and we could look forward to 'change' in the Summer. But we have been suffering embarrassing defeats for YEARS with squads that have included Arshavin (in peak), Fabregas, Van Persie, Gilberto, Ljungberg even Henry or even Pat Rice as assistant manager ffs! You can't make excuses for Wenger forever. There is no doubt whatsoever that the players must take a large proportion of the blame but the fact is that for 8 years the common denominator, regardless of which players are at the club, is Wenger.

"Batmanu - serious question. Forget about realities for now, do you want Arsenal to win tomorrow. Or do you want them to lose just to prove your point about Wenger?"

Is that really a serious question?

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But we have been suffering embarrassing defeats for YEARS with squads that have included
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It was different in the past. Most of our cup exits have been with B team players. The hangers on. The players in the last chance saloon. So he gives them the odd cup outing hoping that they can beat lower league opposition and we go out.

Thats the discussions I have had on this forum about FFP. The main advantage City, Utd and Chelsea have over us is the fact we can't rid of the type who get found out as fragile 'don't give damn' footballers. They can. Hopefully FFP will equalise that difference.

But this time you couldn't call Giroud, Gerv, Arteta, Kos, Verm, Chesney, Nacho, a B team. This is the problem with foreign players who don't understand the importance of the FA Cup compared to the cup competitions in their countries.

Buying better more professional players will change that. Thats the difference I hope to see in the summer. No more Girouds, Gervinho's, Chesneys. No more bargain basements. No more lets take a punt on £8m-£12m and hope he succeeds.

Jenius, we would all love to see that. I just don't ever see it happening with Wenger and/or the current board. And as much as we all hope Kroenke will sell up, I don't see him doing it any time soon.

I don't have any hope Kroenke will open up the reserves.

However I see the prices of the market coming down.

Look at Nacho and Cazorla. We couldn't have afforded them in the past. We would have never got a player of the quality of Monreal for £8m which allows him to be just a backup to Gibbs. In the past £8m would have got us Santos! See the difference? Cazorla is far superior to Rosicky but he cost us the same money!

So now the money we have goes a lot further. And I see that trend continuing in the summer.