ANR reply from Joseph Ferriggi
Dear Myles,
I read with interest all your posts…although I do not agree with all you say.
I think that AW will wait till the last game to see where he could finish in the Champions League. Let’s say Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea finish top of their groups. That will limit the options of who will AFC draw in the first knockout round. They cannot draw Shakhtar since they were in the same group.
They can draw Lyon/Schalke, Barca/FC Copenhagen, Bayern/Roma, Real/AC Milan.
So although on paper they look tough opposition, I think that he rested the players deliberately with Newcastle in mind, and also with qualification in mind.
What do you think?
Myles replies : Well, if he has a chance to avoid Real Madrid, he will. This team can’t beat Jose Mourinho over two legs.
Ozil would find spaces, Higuain would poach, Di Maria would destroy Clichy on the inside, and Cristiano Ronaldo would not be marked into oblivion by Ashley Cole, as he often was when he played for Manchester United.
They won 2-0 in Milan but that was when Fabregas wanted to be at Arsenal. FC Copenhagen would give Arsenal two decent games without winning either, I reckon.
Schalke and Lyon are teams I rarely see. Roma are more beatable as talisman Totti ages.
Are Bayern Munich still a big Champions League club? They would love to be and four wins in four games suggest that Bayern are focused on that mission. Their fans want that status. Their executives want that status. Bayern would be tough opposition but that’s why you battle through your Group every season, to take on tough opposition. That’s what it’s all about.
While it’s easy to name Europe’s three best teams, it’s much harder to name Europe’s best eight.
Clubs who have been in the top eight long to be there again. In 1997 the final was Juventus v Borussia Dortmund and the Germans, with current Norwich boss Paul Lambert in midfield, beat Juventus 3-1. That surprised me and millions of other people.
As for resting players, Wenger is not giving Sagna November 3rd off to keep him fresh for February’s Round of 16.
Newcastle is a big game and one that might last 93 minutes. Depends on how many chances Arsenal give the in-form Kevin Nolan. A big awkward customer, Nolan gets into a lot of scoring positions. Many snobbish Gooners look down on northern teams who use a basic, methodical and Anglo-Saxon style of football. I think Joey Barton can play. Really play. He has done thuggish things. What’s his disciplinary record this season? I don’t know.
One definition of a psychopath : somebody who cannot resist an impulse. Arsenal players do things on impulse too. But their fouls are rarely violent ones.