UEFA Champions League 2011-2012

[symple19]

Arsenal get it started tonight with Udinese

I like them to win at home, but goals may be tough to come by if the lineup is as expected, with Van Persie serving out his suspension (still mad about that too) Good to see both Walcott and Jack in the SL (and no Arshavin)

Really looking for Wilshere to have a big game. Go get em' Gooners!!!

Expected Starting Line-up:

Arsenal
Starting line-up
W. Szczesny
B. Sagna
L. Koscielny
T. Vermaelen
K. Gibbs
A. Song
J. Wilshere
Gervinho
T. Rosický
T. Walcott
M. Chamakh

[SAtown]

Arsenal v Udinese

Kobenhavn v Pizen

Twente v Benfica

Lyon v Rubin

Bate v Sturm

Wislaw Krakow v Apoel

Dinamo Zagreb v Malmo

OB v Villareal

Bayern v Zurich

M Haifa v Genk

imo

[lefty]

Rubin can upset Lyon

[SAtown]

Thoughts on the new ball? I saw this at a sporting goods store and thought it was a joke, but i'm starting to like it

[symple19]

Arsenal has started really well 1-0

[symple19]

Szczesny is terrible, almost let Udi score on a free kick

[lefty]

Thoughts on the new ball? I saw this at a sporting goods store and thought it was a joke, but i'm starting to like it

[symple19]

I really like what I'm seeing from Gervinho. Dude is very fast, does an excellent job running off the ball, and is unafraid to go right at defenders.

Arsenal is already skewing their attack up the right side where Gervinho is because he's so active and always available

Props to Szczesny on a great breakaway save

[NASpurs]

How many blocked crosses and blocked shot attempts are Arsenal going to have today?

[symple19]

How many blocked crosses and blocked shot attempts are Arsenal going to have today?

Yeah, I know. they've played like shit the last 20 minutes or so

I cringe every time Di Natale gets the ball

Typical Arsenal, burst out the gates, play really well for 25 mins, then lose their way and give Udi some confidence

[Muser]

Walcott is so frustrating. He could be amazing for England but a lot of the time his crossing and finishing is really bad.

[symple19]

Walcott is so frustrating. He could be amazing for England but a lot of the time his crossing and finishing is really bad.

Theo should've had two fucking goals. Gervinho set him up brilliantly after making a beautiful run late in the game and he tried to cutesy it into the goal instead of burying it. This seems to be a problem for Arsenal in general. They've had enough chances, it's time to put those in the back of the net

Tbh, I think if Udi had more legs under them the Gunners would've had a much more difficult time holding them off.

I'll take the clean sheet, but I expect a much tougher match next week. Arsenal will need more than it gave today in Italy. Going to be a murderous stretch, with Liverpool, Udinese, and then ManUTD

[quentin_compson]

I only watched highlights from the Udinese game, but this whole Arsenal team reeks of insecurity.
I hope Wenger realizes Rosicky is NOT the answer - no matter what the question is. Right now, there are not many rumours linking Arsenal to defenders. I wonder if that's a good or a bad thing. And as far as getting replacements for Cesc and Nasri goes, I doubt Wenger will line up the money necessary to get rumored players like Hazard or Mata.
By the way, it has taken Gibbs all of two games to get injured - who would have thought? Good thing Arsenal has reliable backups for this position. Oh, wait ...

[symple19]

I only watched highlights from the Udinese game, but this whole Arsenal team reeks of insecurity.
I hope Wenger realizes Rosicky is NOT the answer - no matter what the question is. Right now, there are not many rumours linking Arsenal to defenders. I wonder if that's a good or a bad thing. And as far as getting replacements for Cesc and Nasri goes, I doubt Wenger will line up the money necessary to get rumored players like Hazard or Mata.
By the way, it has taken Gibbs all of two games to get injured - who would have thought? Good thing Arsenal has reliable backups for this position. Oh, wait ...

agree with all your points. Rosicky will get replaced in the starting lineup when Wilshere gets back. Dude runs out of gas after 60 minutes or so and although he has some moments, he's just not able to control the midfield adequately.

Frimpong was sent in when Rosicky was pulled against Udi, and "rough" is the word that comes to mind. He's very young and has to develop more, imo, before he becomes a sensible option.

Diaby won't be back until September at the earliest. Gunners are really going to have to scrap for points in the early going

[quentin_compson]

agree with all your points. Rosicky will get replaced in the starting lineup when Wilshere gets back. Dude runs out of gas after 60 minutes or so and although he has some moments, he's just not able to control the midfield adequately.

Frimpong was sent in when Rosicky was pulled against Udi, and "rough" is the word that comes to mind. He's very young and has to develop more, imo, before he becomes a sensible option.

Diaby won't be back until September at the earliest. Gunners are really going to have to scrap for points in the early going

I would rather see Arshavin than Rosicky, because Arshavin at least can score goals and pick out the right pass as well as Rosicky can.
Frimpong could add some muscle to our defensive midfield, but I agree with you - he ist very raw at the moment.
I'm not that sad we won't see Diaby for a while, to be honest. In my eyes, he is even more useless than Rosicky. Lots of talent, but no brains whatsoever. I would like him to leave Arsenal sooner rather than later.
Wenger might want to wait till he knows for sure if Arsenal will reach the group stages of the CL before finalizing any transfer moves - let's just hope he does SOMETHING.

[quentin_compson]

Arsenal's lineup against Udinese:
WS, Jenkinson, Sagna, Djourou, TV, Song ,Frimpong, Ramsey, Walcott, Gervinho, Van Persie

Sounds about right. Playing with two DM is a good decision in a game you don't need to win, I think. Let's hope Ramsey is up for being the creative engine of the team.

[NASpurs]

Arsenal is really fortunate not to be down 2-0 right now. Some lucky breaks so far.

[NASpurs]

Be it on defense or offense, I really like Frimpong's aggressive, physical play but his inexperience is really a minus when it comes to that style of play.

[NASpurs]

That header was a floating thing of beauty. Udinese has been threatening for a while now. 1-0

[SAtown]

Damn what a great game so far. I still think Arsenal takes it though

[NASpurs]

That was all Gervinho

[NASpurs]

Holy fuck, great fucking save on that penalty shot.

[quentin_compson]

All things considered, this was an almost surprisingly good performance by Arsenal and a deserved win in the end.
The last 20 minutes of the first half were poor and showcased Arsenal's vulnerability at the back. I have no idea what Djourou was doing on that goal - "out of position" barely describes it.
But apart from that, Arsenal were the better side. Gervinho was good, Song had a good second half, RvP and Walcott scored important goals. Hell, even Rosicky was surprisingly good at playing defence.

[Muser]

This game sums Walcott up really. Great at getting into positions and into goal scoring opportunities but rarely will he take them. Also he sucks at crossing but that's pretty much a trait all english wingers have.

[SAtown]

lol if Milan get Real Madrid again.

[Muser]

Fucks sake I hate this "United against match fixing" bullshit they do before every fucking draw.

[lefty]

LOL Milan

[SAtown]

Group H = BEST.GROUP.EVER in the history of the universe

[scott]

Can someone explain why Man City automatically goes to group A there? I assume they couldn't draw C or E... but why not H?

[MannyIsGod]

Ohhh Barca + Milan