Pep Guardiola admits Bayern Munich will be on their guard when they visit the Emirates tomorrow night aware that Arsene Wenger has a host of midfield talent at his disposal.
Talking warmly about the challenge posed by the Frenchman, with whom he waged Champions League battle twice during his time at Barcelona, the Spaniard highlighted the Gunners consistency this season as a reason to take their challenge seriously.
“My opinion on Arsene is that I have a lot of respect,” told a press conference yesterday. “His teams have his quality and I have to admire the quality of my opponents.
“We are going to play one team that has all the season been up (leading the league), so now they are third or second in the league, but in the beginning (they were) there. It is a typical team that always puts in a good performance in the Champions League.
“The last eight, nine or 10 years they have been in the Champions League and they are a special team with (Santi) Cazorla, (Mesut) Ozil, (Jack) Wilshere, (Alex) Oxlade-Chamberlain, (Aaron) Ramsey.
“They always have good midfield players, with combinations. You have to be good in both sides in our defensive movements and try to understand their game.”
Without Lionel Messi to dig him out of a hole this time Arseblog News fully expects the Gunners to burn through Guardiola’s air of invincibility in the same way bleach ruins a nice cashmere sweater…of which the Spaniard obviously owns many. The slick bastard…
Somewhat unfortunate advert placement behind Guardiola’s head there.
Film Actors Guild? What are they doing there?
Film Actors Guild followed Pep from Barcelona, and they contribute alog on the training Field, helping the players work on their acting skills.
Nah! Just a nasty troll!
Time to show them who we are. Come on Arsenal!!
I’m very excited to see our boys take it to Bayern tomorrow night. We were the first English team to beat them at the Allianz. Lets be the first English team to knock em out of the last 16! COME ON YOU MIGHTY ARSENAL!
I honestly think we can do it.
remember the rule. The opposition always wins.
I wish I had your optimism
Didn’t Jeremy Goss score the winner for Norwich over there 20 years earlier?
Not to detract from our win, just saying..
Mourinho hates Pep and that’s good enough for me.
That, and he IS a slick bastard.
I predict a Mertesacker hat trick.
I’d like to say that I predict a RIO-t but I can’t…
Seriously, I have a friend who is fan of Werder Bremen, who once bet 20 kronor that Naldo, a center-back, would score a hattrick. The odds were so far, even though Naldo was an often scorer of goals. He scored a hattrick and my buddy made a lot of money back. Off topic but I your comment reminded me of that story.
Naldo was great in fm11, I believe. Respect.
The geezer has class and learn t the class from the geezer that was born with the class (ARSENE).
One cannot simply Learn Class
Forget the Pep talk, it is time to show what we are made of. COYG!!!
To be the best you have to beat the best… On to the small matter of Bayern Munich.
COYRRG!
*Grabs sweater*
I think Arsenal will pull off an upset. Would love to see Pep beaten in possession. OX will bulldoze those bavarian punks. COYG
I wish we had Theo…did you see last season when we played them he ripped apart Dante, it was beautiful.
Hopefully Ox will be the man to leave them trailing in his wake this time hehe
Lets tear a new one. COYG
*them*
No mention of Rosicky by Pep? So he wasn’t secretly eyeing him up for the summer?
Stay off our Super Tom anyways. He’s ours. Forever and after.
We’ll show him why we were on top of league table for that long and will be back on top come next weekend.
COYG! Lots do this for ourselves…
He knows us well enough now and likewise with Arsene. I think it will be a difficult game, but one we’re capable of winning. Not expecting a big scoreline on this one but we can certainly get the results..UTA!!!
Prior to the match my 9yr old correctly predicted the exact score the other day… Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool.
Against Bayern tomorrow he is convinced it will turn out Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich… which is basically a flip-flop of last year’s fixture.
COYKAG!
After we beat Bayern tomorrow, any team we haven’t played in the PL will be sh*tting bricks when they see us, especially at home, which we have now turned to a Fortress. it’s a massive confidence boost for us. COYG!
Like your confidence! 🙂
For once I’m not to bothered about the result as long as we get a good performance, getting through would be fantastic but its not the end of the world if we don’t and there would be no disgrace in going out to Bayern. I’m super excited for tomorrow as the pressure is completely off we can just sit back and enjoy what promises to be a great match against the current kings of Europe and we can really measure where we are at right now. COYG
Hopefully that measuring stick won’t be left in splinters though.
im not sure were i stand on this one ? would going through to the next round of CL hinder our league and cup prospects or help us providing with confidence that if we beat them we would go up a another gear ? we’ll never win the critics over either way. it comes back down to the squad again maintaining rotation and progression but we always have that voice in the head thinking “Injuries” and we all know a broken finger nail from an Arsenal player is 3 to 6 recovery but hey ho onwards and hopefully upwards…………
Difference between a jerk (Mourinho) and a gentleman (Pep). Language speaks itself.
Clean sheet tonight and their arses will be winking at the Allianz.
*tomorrow! I wish it was tonight!
Tomorrow is fine. I have to fly there tonight.
I’m more concerned with the league at this point to be perfectly honest. We’ve been at the top for most of the season, so it would be rather frustrating to end up behind someone like Liverpool, who’s been behind us for so long. It’s only 3 points now, and the goal gifference and fixture list are both to their advantage.
Difference* even. Arseblog needs an edit button..
Given that Liverpool have to play Tottenham, City, Utd, Chelsea and Southampton, I’m not sure how they fixture list could be considered at their advantage.
This shouldn’t even be a conversation however as we’re looking for top spot, not over our shoulder at fourth.
They have 3 out of those 5 at home if I recall correctly. We have Everton, Chelsea and Tottenham away + City at home, and to top it off they’re all coming in the same period. Then add the other fixtures (2x Bayern + Everton in the FA Cup) and their advantage is fairly obvious. They have the easiest fixture list of the top teams by far, so if we’re aiming for the top, shouldn’t they as well? Are their chances any more or less realistic than ours? And I’m talking about *realistic* here, not blind optimism. All I’m saying… Read more »
What’s with the *s?
It’s a common way of bolding something if you’re not sure how to bold it. I’m not sure if this place supports forum tags like [b]this[/b] or common html tags like this this.
And the reason I’m bolding it is because simply stating “realistic” will get the blindly optimistic thinking: “What do you mean realistic? It’s not realistic for us to win the Treble this year?”
That’s not the kind of realism I’m talking about.
Update, it seems regular html tags are supported, so it’s bold text without the * near the >.
So what’s realistic for you then? ‘Cause I have you pegged as a pessimist right now.
Realistic means that all the top teams (Chelsea, City, Arsenal and Liverpool) all have roughly 25% chance to win it. I say roughly because you’d have to add or subtract a few % based on squad strength and fixture list. Considering so few points seperate the teams in question at the moment, it’s flat out ignorant to think any one of those teams has a vastly superior chance to win it than the others. Our chances at winning the CL however, are significantly below 25%. Even the FA Cup, which most consider our best option, is no more than 25%,… Read more »
Ah, now I see; you’re a robot, not a pessimist.
I work with programming and algorithms for a living..
Guardiola is a cunt. I mean it. He respects Arsene so much he tries to steal either his players or his targets. From Henry to Fabregas to Wilshere to rosicky to now Draxler. Pfft.An ego so big he believes every player wants to play for him. I hope we beat them tommorow…..
Wanting the players Wenger has nurtured surely has to be a sign of respect for the work he has done? Also, I’d imagine if you asked any player if they would like to play for Guardiola, they would say yes. So, other than that, I once again completely agree with you, heroldgoon. Apart from the Draxler comment of course because that is just ridiculous.
Still a cunt, albeit with respectful language
Stay classy.
Pep Guardiola is slick
He shops at Savile Rogue (har)
He oozes class effortlessly
Unlike that Chavski toad.
I’m with those who’ve said this game is a game we should look at as a game where the pressure is off us. We should not go gung ho, or fall apart should we not score or go one behind. When we panic – Anfield happens. We are defensively solid, but not when we chase the game – BFG gets exposed. So keep it tight. They are the champions – let them do all the sweating. If we don’t get through – no matter. This trophy is the one I think we have least chance in.
I assume his pep talk ahead of this game would be to keep their guards up and or else well muller them and rob(en) the place in the last 8 . but we also gotze apply our game plan effectively or we’ll be thoroughly buyten.
I want to thumb you both up and down simultaneously.
you’ve got to take ur chances man..its now or nuer!!
I like guardiola, atleast he has manners unlike that cunt mourinho
He doesn’t seem to be on guard too much: unsure of our league position…unaware Ramsey is injured…not sure how many years we’ve been in the champions league!
Blogs – Did the fox bleach your cashmere sweater when he ate your shoe? 🙂
I think we will do them tomorrow. C’mon You Gooners.
The cracken shell of the Flanimal MUST be released
Tomorrow’s line up should read as follows:
Sczc
Sagna Per Kos Gibbs
Arteta Flamini
Ox Ozil Ros
Sanogo
After 60 minutes, Podolski can/may replace TR7
Gnabry and TV5 on bench to give cover if needed
We are not an easy team to be beaten at our fortress now … keep your spirits up … we are gonna surprise Pep and team. COYG !!
I reckon you’re right with most of those except Arteta is banned so definitely wont be playing.
I’d rather see Wilshere in place of Arteta, frankly.
If we can hold them at bay for the first half, we might just snatch a cheeky victory. If they score early… well, then we’re in trouble. Looking forward to it anyway, we might just surprise a few people!
Yes, given that Arteta is banned (thanks Rawgooner), Jack should play.
And if we score the first goal, its gonna be a thriller till the end.
Our gr8 wall of Emirates (Sagna, Per, Kos, Gibbs and Sczc) will be tested through out.
We can do it …..
I agree, what we need against free-scoring Bayern is a DM that’s not keen on defending.
No team has ever succesfully defended the Champions League, so Bayern have to lose eventually, right?
I dont want to discourage you all but at the moment Bayern makes the impossible, possible. And dont get me wrong, I’m from germany and I really hate Bayern (I am a BVB fan). Its crazy what they can actually do and did.
Since Guardiola joined them, they only lost 2 competitive matches (german supercup & CL ManCity) and broke several national records like 46 ligue matches in a row unbeaten and still going…
Don’t underestimate them. I wish the gunners good luck!
Yeah, I don’t like what they’re doing in the Bundesliga at the moment. It’s an entertaining league with lots of good teams. I really enjoy it. However, this Bayern dominance is somewhat frustrating, as it’s killing the excitement. It was a lot more fun when it was a bit more even (BVB vs Bayern a few seasons back was incredible).
That said, Bayern is as good as Barca were at their best several years ago. They really are the team to beat right now.
Exactly! Totally agree on that! And probably every other German fan who is not a Bayern fan will agree too. But thats how it is this season.
Hope BVB gets their team fit. At the moment they still miss important players and the rest of the fest was tired, end of last year. But thanks to the “Winterpause” (winter break) BVB is getting back to form. 🙂
Yes indeed, and the new guy with the impossible name (Aubanyang or something) looks like a quality signing. It’s still his first season and he’s doing quite well.
We are a top english side. Premier League is the strongest in the world. Can’t see us losing to a german team. 3-0 or 4-1.
Please take a look at the german Table. I dont think that BVB is worse than arsenal. I would say they are pretty much equal but as you can see…The Problem is, that Bayern dont makes any mistakes anymore. But as seen a week ago, arsenal does. I hope Arsenal manages to get at least a tie. If they win, Everybody will be astonished and they probably will be the favorite for the CL. Good Luck Arsenal!
I think he was being facetious in an attempt to be humorous, but alas I don’t get the joke either.
Are you stupid? What happened last year? Or this year when Dortmund beat us? Or how about Bayern and Dortmund destroying Barca and Real? I seriously hope you are joking.
Whenever I think of Pep I think of his face after this lil goal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv2mxzmVvdg
😐
I think Guardiola is probably the best coach of the new century in the world, has changed the way many look at the game, is a tactical master, and is very articulate and gracious to the press. But there’s something about the guy I can’t stand.
Yeah Swede Goon, I know what you mean. I couldn’t stand that everyone liked him during his Barca years, either. Until he joined Bayern that is. He’s just such a humble guy. Ridiculously nice,if you listen to his press conferences. And the way he transformed the current champions of Europe to an even better team in less than 6 months is just incredible. There’s just something about him,his aura I guess. Wouldn’t mind having him as Arsene’s successor when Arsene eventually decides to leave in 3 to 10 years 🙂
He’s highly intelligent, and the real deal as a coach. I just don’t like him as a guy. Mind you, I don’t like Xavi or Messi either, which makes people say, are you crazy, they’re so nice. I just find that Barca generation has this false piety, which is preferable to Mourinho any day, I just like a more salt of the earths feeling about football. But Barca and Guardiola are great for the game, for sure. Thanks for an interesting comment.
I’ve been considering for a while now why it seems there is a healthy faction of ppl who strongly dislike Pep and consider him a phony when I think he’s almost overwhelmingly likable. And I have a theory. I think, like most ppl, he has a multi-faceted personality. We see the charming, humble, intelligent side most in press conferences, but then there is a side that seems maybe self-centered and with a bit of a temper. And some believe that’s the “real” Pep, “unmasked.” I think both sides are very real. I think he kind of lets it all hang… Read more »
Guard-iola 🙂
How does blogs manage to coin these words.
Genius…
I have a feeling the 2-1 win for the FA cup is key for us.
had we lost, we would have lacked self belief going into the CL tie.
At the moment, we are underdogs but we have a good chance of sneaking a draw or even a slender win to take back to Munchen.
I suppose the FA cup win over Liverpool was just the pep we needed to take into the bayern game.:D
Just give Sanogo his chance I am sure he can be our supersub
Swede Goon, I don’t get your point. Are you saying it sucks to be nice and polite? What’s false piety about being mannered and humble unlike the Chavski guy? I’m a Pep fan, but on the night, I prefer an Arsenal victory.