footyfan
Calma, calma
I didn't even finish reading the first sentence and I already pressed the like button
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I didn't even finish reading the first sentence and I already pressed the like button
Kuchi
Active member
El Flaco
Active member
diegomessi
Anxiously waiting for the next match
Pooooost of the season
I
instinct
Guest
Arsenal reddit is hilarious 
''Who are "Barcelona" anyway? Literally who? Never heard of them in my life.
Continental minnows, they should be absolutely honored to play against the likes of Arsenal FC. Should be quite the treat for them, getting to travel from their backwater swamp league to London to play against a proper professional football team.
I do rate that Leonardo Messy kid though, I say we try to sign him then loan him out for experience.''
''Who are "Barcelona" anyway? Literally who? Never heard of them in my life.
Continental minnows, they should be absolutely honored to play against the likes of Arsenal FC. Should be quite the treat for them, getting to travel from their backwater swamp league to London to play against a proper professional football team.
I do rate that Leonardo Messy kid though, I say we try to sign him then loan him out for experience.''
i_bleed_blaugrana
Senior Member
Quite a few thoughts to share but most importantly, I am extremely confident in us cruising this game and I kinda think we might walk them. That said, if we do not play to our potential, we will be punished so as long as we play perfectly, I do not think they can handle our game.
For me, there are two key match-ups that will determine this leg: Busi vs. Ozil and Neymar vs. Bellerin.
View attachment 6964
This is Ozil's heatmap against Leicester. This is indicative of how he plays, constantly overloading the wings to create a numerical advantage. Remember this goal? (sad thing is many won't):
[youtube]dhBhCEZfOoY[/youtube]
Who plays that pass and where does it come from?
Thus, the attacking midfielders (presumably Iniesta and Rakitic) must be aware of his movement and stay behind the ball until its in their half. This will allow Busquets to concentrate on cutting down the passing angles for him to force him to retreat the ball or play a long, speculative effort. If we can frustrate Ozil in the first 30 minutes of the game, he will start to fade and that will open up the midfield for us. Another key player we should exploit is Ramsey. He loves to bomb forward when they have the ball and if we can intercept the ball quickly off one of their attacks with him forward, Coquelin will be isolated in the center and that should allow space for Messi and Neymar to cut inside and exploit the space left by the CBs when Suarez pushes forward.
With Ozil in particular, he prefers to drift to the opponents left side naturally but the key is that Bellerin usually opens up space for him to operate in and with Neymar in the mix, Bellerin will really have to think twice any time he pushes forward because Neymar will destroy anyone if he has space. That leaves only a 2 on 2 with Iniesta and Alba vs Ozil and either Oxlade or Welbeck and as long as Iniesta can do a bit a of dirty work, we should be able to neutralize Ozil pretty effectively. I also really question if Bellerin will at all be able to handle Neymar 1 v 1. With the cumbersome Mertesacker backing him, who isn't fleet of foot, its going to be all on him to match Neymar step for step and with Neymar's trickery, I just think it will be asking too much, particularly since Mertesacker is so slow.
Rakitic will be really important too, but I think he can help lock down the right side of the field and frustrate Alexis, plus I'm sure Pique and Dani will know everything that Alexis will be up to after training with him for numerous years. Pique in particular has been in solid form.
Lastly, I would start Mathieu over Mascherano to deal with Giroud. His height will be needed but its also to save Mascherano for Walcott. He is the perfect player to mark Walcott and crucially Wenger played Walcott for 90 minutes against Hull and he rested players like Alexis and Giroud, at least partially, against Hull. So I will be really surprised if Walcott starts, so that is why I think Mathieu should get to nod over Mascherano, specifically due to this. Giroud do damage against Mascherano, no matter how good Mascherano plays, and I think Mathieu has at least proven that he can do a job like this against Giroud.
The most important thing for Arsenal is their first pass when they win the ball. The moment they continually turn the ball over quickly as they try to get out of their half and get pinned back in their half, is when the game is won for us. They really struggled to do that against Bayern when they got mauled 5-1 this season and they also showed they have the capacity to have a meltdown in their park in the CL recently in the past. They rely heavily on Ozil for creativity in scoring chances for the front three and if we neutralize him the way I outlined, which we can, they do not have the offensively capability like we do when things aren't going to the game plan. Wenger is really going to miss Santi in this tie. If he had him in the midfield, it would be a lot closer, but I just don't think Coquelin and Ramsey can come anywhere close to controlling a game like Busi and Iniesta can and with Rakitic's steel and offensive spark as well, I just don't see a lot of ways they can realistically hurt us if we play anywhere close to our best game.
I'll go 4-1, Suarez with a brace.
For me, there are two key match-ups that will determine this leg: Busi vs. Ozil and Neymar vs. Bellerin.
View attachment 6964
This is Ozil's heatmap against Leicester. This is indicative of how he plays, constantly overloading the wings to create a numerical advantage. Remember this goal? (sad thing is many won't):
[youtube]dhBhCEZfOoY[/youtube]
Who plays that pass and where does it come from?
Thus, the attacking midfielders (presumably Iniesta and Rakitic) must be aware of his movement and stay behind the ball until its in their half. This will allow Busquets to concentrate on cutting down the passing angles for him to force him to retreat the ball or play a long, speculative effort. If we can frustrate Ozil in the first 30 minutes of the game, he will start to fade and that will open up the midfield for us. Another key player we should exploit is Ramsey. He loves to bomb forward when they have the ball and if we can intercept the ball quickly off one of their attacks with him forward, Coquelin will be isolated in the center and that should allow space for Messi and Neymar to cut inside and exploit the space left by the CBs when Suarez pushes forward.
With Ozil in particular, he prefers to drift to the opponents left side naturally but the key is that Bellerin usually opens up space for him to operate in and with Neymar in the mix, Bellerin will really have to think twice any time he pushes forward because Neymar will destroy anyone if he has space. That leaves only a 2 on 2 with Iniesta and Alba vs Ozil and either Oxlade or Welbeck and as long as Iniesta can do a bit a of dirty work, we should be able to neutralize Ozil pretty effectively. I also really question if Bellerin will at all be able to handle Neymar 1 v 1. With the cumbersome Mertesacker backing him, who isn't fleet of foot, its going to be all on him to match Neymar step for step and with Neymar's trickery, I just think it will be asking too much, particularly since Mertesacker is so slow.
Rakitic will be really important too, but I think he can help lock down the right side of the field and frustrate Alexis, plus I'm sure Pique and Dani will know everything that Alexis will be up to after training with him for numerous years. Pique in particular has been in solid form.
Lastly, I would start Mathieu over Mascherano to deal with Giroud. His height will be needed but its also to save Mascherano for Walcott. He is the perfect player to mark Walcott and crucially Wenger played Walcott for 90 minutes against Hull and he rested players like Alexis and Giroud, at least partially, against Hull. So I will be really surprised if Walcott starts, so that is why I think Mathieu should get to nod over Mascherano, specifically due to this. Giroud do damage against Mascherano, no matter how good Mascherano plays, and I think Mathieu has at least proven that he can do a job like this against Giroud.
The most important thing for Arsenal is their first pass when they win the ball. The moment they continually turn the ball over quickly as they try to get out of their half and get pinned back in their half, is when the game is won for us. They really struggled to do that against Bayern when they got mauled 5-1 this season and they also showed they have the capacity to have a meltdown in their park in the CL recently in the past. They rely heavily on Ozil for creativity in scoring chances for the front three and if we neutralize him the way I outlined, which we can, they do not have the offensively capability like we do when things aren't going to the game plan. Wenger is really going to miss Santi in this tie. If he had him in the midfield, it would be a lot closer, but I just don't think Coquelin and Ramsey can come anywhere close to controlling a game like Busi and Iniesta can and with Rakitic's steel and offensive spark as well, I just don't see a lot of ways they can realistically hurt us if we play anywhere close to our best game.
I'll go 4-1, Suarez with a brace.
draconifire
NTC with a Positive attitude
[tw]701900527487946752[/tw][/QUOTE]
[youtube]6zZZlsfwsBg[/youtube]
[youtube]6zZZlsfwsBg[/youtube]
Kikan
New member
Barca in Gear One 0:0
Barca in Gear two 1:0 for Barca
Barca in Gear three 2:0 for Barca
Barca in Gear four 3:0 for Barca
Barca in Gear five 6:0 for Barca
I think |Wenger figured out how to beat Barca though , first he will park the bus , then control messi , then control Suarez then control Neymar , hope that Busquet have a bad day . Then he went on to say that Mach is short , Pique is too tall , but i believe he forgot iniesta . Nice plan lololol .
Barca in Gear two 1:0 for Barca
Barca in Gear three 2:0 for Barca
Barca in Gear four 3:0 for Barca
Barca in Gear five 6:0 for Barca
I think |Wenger figured out how to beat Barca though , first he will park the bus , then control messi , then control Suarez then control Neymar , hope that Busquet have a bad day . Then he went on to say that Mach is short , Pique is too tall , but i believe he forgot iniesta . Nice plan lololol .
Asylum15
Senior Member
Catalan Fan
New member
If he's shrewd, he'll press us high up and try and rattle our defence/midfield.Try and put us on the back foot so we can't play the ball forward.That has been the most effective tactic so far this season, but doing it for 90 mins is not an easy task.
As said earlier in the thread, teams usually tire after 60 mins or so if they press, then our front three can come into play.When Arsenal played Leicester recently, they came out fast and pressed for first 20 mins or so, Leicester struggled initially to cope with it.If they press n score a couple early on, it will be difficult.
I cannot see them playing defensive at home, there best chance will be to get a 2 or 3 goal margin going into the 2nd leg surely ?
Last edited:
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