A Few Thoughts From Someone New

By: Dan | December 10th, 2007

Howdy readers. I am the new blogger for Arsenal, and I can only hope I can do the club some justice. I’m a student living in Vermont, so suffice to say my life isn’t that interesting. I would like to move onto something you are interested in – namely l’Arse.

And their depressing loss to Middlesbrough. I think its fair to say that every Arsenal fan was hoping (however secretively) that a repeat of the Invincible season could happen, but it was not to be. The “injuries” of Fabregas, Hleb, Van Persie and Flamini was enough to end such dreams as Arsenal delivered one of the most lackluster performances of the season. (Note Hleb’s attractive face to the side – the absence of his creativity was terribly apparent in midfield.) Arsenal’s play was truly embarrassing, and for one of the first times in about 9 months, Arsenal was outplayed (not outkicked à la Blackburn). And to lose to Middlesbrough…simply depressing.

And yet, life moves on. Despite Spurs fans goading me over the loss (they actually managed to win a game, the perfect cap to an utterly craptastic weekend), I look onwards to Wednesday’s Champions League game. We have already beat Steaua Bucureşti 1-0 (off a van Persie goal) in October, and we are playing at home. These days, playing at the Emirates seems to be decisive in determining how well we play. aw5i8dyca7uan3ncap8ta40cai3ap2pcaor5ms8ca15pwikcahf5h6ucal24m0wcaoluue4cab9n90tcaza8lf4cahhhxswcalunbtccamrrydtcavw2k8acahfrv9ccaazqv8ncavd5h14calit916caiv2nyx.jpg This past string of away games has not gone well, and I think Arsenal may be finally ready to perform on Wednesday.

But the bigger issue is Sevilla. The fate of Arsenal is in the hands of Slavia Prague, the team we demolished 7-0. Unless the Czechs can tie or (by some miracle) beat Sevilla, Arsenal is doomed to second place in the group and the second pot of teams. Thus, in the knock-out round, instead of playing…say…Rosenberg, we can enjoy Barcelona, Porto, Inter, Milan or Real Madrid. None of these options sound particularly appealing and I think it is safe to say most Arsenal fans are praying for a massive upset in Prague.

Yet, even if the worst does happen, all is not lost for Arsenal. The team seems to have the tendency to play down to weaker teams (does anyone remember PSV last year?), and playing Real Madrid would certainly ensure our best performance. Even Arsene is optimistic about a second place finish.

“I feel for us maybe it is not necessarily a disadvantage to play the big clubs. At least the big clubs will play [football] as well. Last year, we lost against Eindhoven, who refused to play in the first leg. Then, in the second game, they just waited for one counter-attack. We struggled more in that game than we had done the season before against Real Madrid. Maybe when you play against Real Madrid or Barcelona, you say ‘what a hell of a task’ but then you face a different problem because they will come out and play.” – Le Boss

But, after the lead was closed to 1 point in the Premiership, it is clear Arsenal needs to continue their excellent form in all competitions, and take top spot in the group. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be flipping between the Sevilla and the Arsenal match, desperately hoping for a change in our fortunes.

Tommorow, I’ll give a preview of Wednesday’s match.

It is my pleasure to begin blogging on this fine website, and if there are any comments or suggestions, please email me at arsenal [at] theoffside [dot] com.