Tag Archives: Europa League

Lucky, Lucky Arsenal

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Well that was easier than we thought.

Despite AC Milan not being the great side they once were, they are still a good side.

Before last night, they had lost just once this year, a run of 1 defeat in 14 games. they had been revitalised under the stewardship of Gennaro Gattuso.

That single defeat was against Arsenal in the San Siro in the first leg.

To emphatically win 5-1 on aggregate sends a message to the rest of the teams in the Europa League. That we are taking the competition seriously.

Looking at the sides left, only Atletico Madrid are on par to Arsenal. And if we perform to our best, they can be swatted aside with ease. The Europa League is Arsenal’s to lose.

An interesting little stat for you all now:

When not in the Champions League, Arsenal have made the final in 3 of the last 5 occasions.

1993/94: European Cup Winners Cup (Winners)
1994/95: European Cup Winners Cup (Runners-Up)
1996/97: UEFA Cup (Round 1)
1997/98: UEFA Cup (Round 1)
1999/00: UEFA Cup (Runners-Up)

Hopefully this year we can put the run of 3 European Final defeats in a row to bed.

Whilst we praise Arsene Wenger for what he has won at the club, we have also lost a lot of finals under him (1 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 FA Cup, 3 League Cup). One thing that people will always ask once he is off retired into the sunset is did Arsenal under achieve under Wenger. With 6 final defeats and 3 league titles that we should have won (99, 93, 08), a strong argument can be made for yes.

Anyway, I digress, this is not a blog about bashing Wenger, it is about the Arsenal. I love the feeling and sense of pride when we win. Made even better when Tottenham and Chelsea are no longer in Europe. But it seems some people are not as proud as me when The Arsenal win.

Despite us winning, and getting in to the QF in Europe, some still moaned. One chap on Twitter said “a better team would have taken us apart. arsenal got lucky.” We scored 5 goals mate.

To claim scoring 5 goals and gong through was due to “luck” is just silly. It is bitter. It shows the person who wrote the tweet, and those that agree, are just sad. Sad little men who probably sit there tweeting Arsenal’s sponsors during a game that he has to go. Who claim it is Arsenal FC not Arsene FC; yet dedicate there waking life to wanting #WengerOut.

The majority want Wenger to leave, but there is a point where you have to look at your own behaivour, as a middle aged man, and realise the fact that you are just a sad bitter man.

So onto the next round?

Not sure who I want, but the hope is the away leg is second so that I can give myself a chance of going. Will probably consider anything but Moscow. Madrid in mid-April will be beautiful weather. Marseille and Lazio could be fun. The two Red Bull teams are cities I have never visited.

Lets see what the draw brings us at noon today.

We now do not have a game for 17 days. My advice? Get off twitter. Get out and enjoy your life. It is a short one. Spend some time with your kids. Your family. Get out doors, get some fresh air. Use the time to not think about Arsenal 24/7, not think about Wenger 24/7. Do not become bitter like the weirdo that tweets Arsenal’s sponsors, journalists and various TV channels #WengerOut during the game.

Enjoy a few weeks off.

Up the Arsenal

Ps: Danny – no need to dive mate

Keenos

Dr Jekyll returns as Arsenal triumph in Italy

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Well who expected that?

Actually I did. I had written when the draw came out that AC Milan were fallen giants, no longer the force they once were.

Of course, Arsenal have had an equally poor season this year, so it all depended on which Arsenal and which AC Milan side turned up.

AC Milan has been massively bigged up by both the media and Arsenal fans prior to the game.

No defeat since December, an unbeaten run in double figures. Their league position was a lie, they were better than that.

They were baying for blood. Hoping that Arsenal would lose their 5th game in a row. I imagine the stories were already written.

And then Arsenal turned up and ruined the party. Won 2-0. And all the journalists had to re-write what they had been saying this week.

Suddenly it was a “brilliant AC Milan side” but one which was a shadow of its former self. The same idiots who were saying thy were going to thrash Arsenal are now saying AC Milan were there to be thrashed.

Arsenal are a Jekyll and Hyde. And yesterday it was Jekyll that turned up (or Hyde – which one was the good one?).

Free flowing attacking football mixed with defensive concentration saw Arsenal beat the odds and come back to London with a 2-0 win. Away goals and a clean sheet. Not much more you can ask for.

With how Arsenal are at the moment, the tie is far from over. If the Hyde Arsenal turns up in the home leg, the team that lost to Ostersunds. To Brighton. The side that has lost 8 times this year, Arsenal could throw it all away.

But I don’t want them negative thoughts. We are 2-0 up and showed AC Milan for the average team they are. We have one foot in the Quarter Finals.

Suddenly next Thursdays game looks much more appealing. It is sold out, will have a 60,000 crowd on a mild spring evening. Make the noise for the Arsenal boys.

We can win the Europa League. Regardless of your opinion on Arsenal, the only agenda you should have is for Arsenal to be a success. And winning the Europa League would be a success.

Keenos

You are allowed to want Arsenal to win (and want Wenger Out)

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I want to be positive. I really do.

Arsenal face AC Milan tonight in the Europa League. Defeat will make it 5 losses on the spin. One of the worst runs I can remember in my lifetime. A run that would see Arsene Wenger surely lose his job (if our board had a pair).

I will never be one of these fans who says they want Arsenal to lose so that Wenger is sacked. I want Arsenal to win the Europa League. And in my mind, all true supporters should want us to win the trophy.

Many fans will see that winning the Europa League will give Wenger a lifeline. The truth is, he should leave Arsenal even if we win the Europa League. But the reality is that even if we do not win it, the board will probably let him see out his last year of his contract.

Or they might not. Moves might already be being made to replace him this summer. Regardless of performance.

Who knows what is happening at Arsenal. I do not think Wenger’s future is tied to success in Europe.

So having made that statement, I want us to win the Europa League.

Arsenal have not won a trophy in Europe since 1994. We have lost 3 finals in 3 difference competitions since then.

European success is the only thing Spurs fans have over Arsenal. They have 3, we have 2. Winning in Lyon in May will even things up.

If wanting Arsenal to win trophies is a bad thing, something that can not make you happy, buzz your tits off, then I am sorry. Actually, I will not apologise for wanting to see my club win things.

Changing manager will not guarantee success. Liverpool have shown that with the appointments of both Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp. 6 years with no trophies.

So if changing managers does not guarantee success, we should not be saying that we do not want to win trophies so that we change manager.

Live in the moment, in the here and now. You can not predict the future, so cheer on a win against AC Milan.

They are not as good as some think.

Like Arsenal in recent years, they are a big club whose star has fallen.

I saw someone on Twitter state that AC Milan were as good as they were when they beat us 4-0 in the San Siro a few years back.

Well if your agenda pushes you to say Fabio Borini is as good as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, then live in your cloud coo-coo land with your fairies and expectation that changing manager will mean instant success.

A few other things just coming to mind…

A lot of fuss has been made over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain “making the Champions League Quarter Final for the first time in his career”.

On the face of it, you would say that this highlights the massive underachievement by Arsenal in the Champions League, and it perhaps does. But it also ignores that Oxlade-Chamberlain was complicate in that underachievement. He was in many of the starting XI’s that saw us get knocked out.

So Liverpool fans are celebrating Oxlade-Chamberlain making the QF of the Champions League for the first time in his career, even though he did not play a single minute? So he is still yet to win a Champions League knockout tie.

Maybe that is where Arsenal went wrong? They should not have played The Ox? And this is perhaps my favourite…

The way some Arsenal fans and the media big up Oxlade-Chamber like he is performing any better for Liverpool than Arsenal is hilarious.

At Arsenal, who would have a spell of 2/3 games in a row of great performances, followed by 10 games of doing nothing. Not much has changed – we as Arsenal fans now just no longer see the poor games.

He has 3 Premier League goals this season. That is one less than Nacho Monreal, and one more than Alex Iwobi.

Lets calla spade a spade. He was average at Arsenal, is average at Liverpool, and is simply an average, inconsistent player.

On a final note (in an attempt to be positive) I had a it of fun with this tweet from friend of the page AFC_Glen.

https://twitter.com/AFC_GLEN/status/971330957943934976

A 3 year old arsenal fan would have seen his side win 2 FA Cups. Compare that to his playschool mate who support Liverpool. Nothing. Or Spurs. Nothing.

Come to think about it, the 3 year old Arsenal fan has seen more success than a 27 year old Spurs!

There are granddads in Cheshunt who have seen Tottenham win less than that 3 year old Arsenal fan.

Hopefully all those out in AC Milan get around OK, despite the widespread transport strikers. I went their when we lost 4-0 and it was a great few days at the football. Top city, top drinking, and they sell mini bottles of sambuca in the ground.

Up the Arsenal

Keenos