Arsene Wenger has left nobody in any doubt as to how much stock he places in the Champions League by saying he’s desperate for his team to qualify for the tournament proper.
Arsenal face Besiktas tomorrow night in the first-leg of their qualifier, and the manager is hopeful his team can recover quickly enough from the weekend win over Crystal Palace.
It’s obviously not ideal to play again so quickly at this point of the season, something the manager touched on, saying,”We had to give a lot on Saturday, hopefully we will recover and be ready for Tuesday night
“We are desperate to do it because we want to play in the Champions League and we know how big these games are. We are desperate to go through, no matter what it costs we want to go through. We have always a difficult draw, we had Fenerbahce last year, this time we have Besiktas. It’s difficult.”
He also hinted that not all is lost in the race to get Laurent Koscielny fit.
“We will assess Koscielny on Monday; if he’s fit and capable to play, we play him. It was our plan to bring the Germans back in contention for Everton. But in case of emergency I will take Mertesacker.
“But we have Bellerin who can come in. We are a bit short. I hope Koscielny responds well to today’s game.”
Fingers crossed for that, but sooner or later we need to address the gap in the squad with the chequebook.
Koscielny … Mertesacker … Bellerin … It’s all good.
Being that he mentions Bellerin like that, could that mean he is considering Debuchy as emergency center half? Or Bellerin himself possibly? because it’s not as if we’re short a right back
Hoping for a Rambo double tomorrow. Coyg!!
Score : Besiktas 0-3 Arsenal
Goalscorers : “Gooners”
MVP : A Gooner
Player Ratings : Who gives a Fuck? We Won!!!
#COYG!
Not going to be a popular post but this is the third year running Arsene has failed to address the needs of the squad. Of course it’s fantastic to have the likes of Alexis but we have been screaming out for a more physical midfielder and this year, with Sagna and TV moving on, a couple of centre backs. Chambers is still young and asking a lot to step up straight away. Our luck will run out soon.
It’d be more accurate to say he hasn’t addressed all of our needs, because some of the signings have filled gaps and added to the squad we had last season.
However, I think it’s blindingly obvious we’re short at the back. And given that we knew we’d be in a relatively precarious position with Mertesacker back late, Vermaelen to be sold and Koscielny carrying a knock, I really wish we’d bought a centre-half before now.
As I have understood it, there’s a shortage of quality centre-halves on the market this transfer window, but there’s been some rumours about Kostas Manolas, and from the little I’ve seen of him, he doesn’t look to shabby.
Also, there’s talks about getting Eduardo Vargas to the club, so that Alexis has a mate from Chile. Any thoughts to if this is real and/or going to happen?
Wasn’t Manolas voted one of the top 50 players at this WC ?
Don’t know anything else about him but that strikes me as more than good enough in the absence of anything else.
I think Vargas is being linked to QPR now. I honestly don’t think he’s Arsenal material, and not exactly a type of player we need that badly either. Would be nice for Alexis to get a Chilean mate here though, how about nicking Vidal in front of United’s nose? 😛
I fully agree with Simon’s observations. Why are we always in a position where if we have an injury or two then there is panic stations? Surely it is abundantly clear that Wenger wants to be involved in all the elite competitions, however, he always wants to get away with paper thin squads. Some seasons we will be lucky but surely this luck can not last forever. Wenger should by NOW know that any team which aspires to EPL and Champions League success first and foremost requires a squad with substantial depth.
According to reports we are in for Manolas, I’m half greek so I get the info from the other side as well, it looks like a done deal to me
I have a sneaking suspicion any last minute transfer business will hinder quite a lot on whether or not we secure the Champions League spot.
I think qualifying will basically set a budget on how much we will actually have to spend on a defender or midfielder.
On the horrific outcome we don’t qualify, Arsene will most likely be doing some wheeling and dealing to get a cheap shit option.
If Koscielny doesn’t start I guess that means Debuchy or Miquel at CB. With Bellerin at RB.
So, so short for central defenders and defenders in general, especially with Gibbs out injured.
I really don’t want to see Kos or Mert overstretched this early in the season. Back four of Monreal, Chambers, Debuchy and Bellerin looks uncomfortable. Not because of the quality of the players. But they haven’t played together and it’s going to be a hostile crowd.
all is fair in ramsey and giroud…
we will definitely win 3 – 1
we should beat besiktas, we should have similar game plan as fenerbache last season
2-0 would be a perfect result, hopefully Rambo will do the business again
Too early to start with headaches on how we line-up.. Way too early
Kos injuries are becoming concerning though
hopefully this is just one off
Where is squilacci and cygan when we need it
I made a joking reference to a Squillaci return on another article and people didn’t respond all that well. I’ll be more careful about the names I’m throwing around from now on 😉
Probably wishful thinking on my part, but the wording does sound to me like he has a signing up his sleeve that is reliant on qualification, be that because of the extra cash or the lure of CL football.
Whatever, I’ll be happy with a win!
Not going to be a popular post but this is the third year running Arsene has failed to address the needs of the squad. Of course it’s fantastic to have the likes of Alexis but we have been screaming out for a more physical midfielder and this year, with Sagna and TV moving on, a couple of centre backs. Chambers is still young and asking a lot to step up straight away. Our luck will run out soon. Couldn’t agree more, Arsene’s inability to react to the teams failings and squad deficiencies is as perplexing as the readers of this… Read more »
1 game into the season and he’s already talking about square pegs in round holes because of gaps in the squad, ffs
Ah me it seems like the usual Gooner malaise is creeping onto the boards. We just had the best start to a season for how many years? F.A. cup, Community shield, 3 points from the first game and already some are panicking about gaps in the squad. Like Kelly’s heroes “quit with the negative waves” COYG
Malaise? Panicking? We can see there are some important gaps. What is wrong with pointing them out and saying that thy’re worrying. An injury to Kos this early in the season with no strong back would be a significant blow to our chances. We’re al; gooners here, we want what’s best for the club. If you don’t think that finding ourselves short staffed at the back after our first league game of the season, then fine! But please do not make it sound like people who do are over reacting or being hysterical. By Ramsey, I am sure you will… Read more »
Keep calm. Arsene Wenger has an 8-for-8 track record getting through these tricky qualifiers.
And why isn’t our match against Besiktas on television tomorrow? The TV Guide says that Sky Sports will be showing ‘Napoli v Atletico Bilbao’ CL qualifier tomorrow evening, but not the Arsenal v Besiktas one.
Strange…
ITV it seems
http://www.itv.com/sport/football/article/2014-08-14/champions-league-play-off-first-leg-live-watch-beskitas-v-arsenal-on-itv-and-itv-com-football/
The real concern is the type of injury we are talking about with LK. We remember that TV missed almost a whole season with an Achilles injury,we can’t expose him to the same workload he had last season.
I reckon a back 4 of Debuchy – Chambers – Monreal – Flamini is more than capable of doing the job.
Word is here in Germany that the scout Grimandi has talked with Howedes who despite his club denying this the player is keen on the move.
It was also in your metro a week ago type Howedes into Google and you will see. Highly rated, top class defender.
It’s not being negative it’s being realistic. We knew Vermaelen was leaving, we knew Mertesacker would be back late, we know Gibbs is injury prone, and we knew when the season was starting. We know our midfield is lacking some pace and power, we know the best sides will press us in our own half, and we know the lesser sides will systematically foul Cazorla, Wilshere and Arteta, because they don’t have the pace and power to open sides up. We know we have the cash to rectify the issues and yet we haven’t. We’ve got a solid bunch of… Read more »
Is Robben too Left-footed to play right?
Can Flamini play CB?
Jeez calm down everybody. It could be worse.
Have you seen the state of that Northern team lately red shirt black socks? No CL footie and possibly the worst squad I’ve ever seen them possess and I’m including Ron Atkinsons 80s team.
Arsene will fix this. He’s just yet again being punished by the absurd rule of the transfer window finishing a full 2 weeks after the season starts which pushes deals right to the back end of August.
Negativity? Interesting how you can’t voice an opinion without being accused of this. Might be interesting on this page on Wednesday if we have been beaten 3-0 due to collective defensive errors, most of the same people will be calling for Wenger’s head.
Would you fancy a bet?
Chill guys, worst case we can ask Bouldy to fill in for a while. With Shad already working on his training programme, i dont have doubts whatsoever.
I thinks it’s too bad we haven’t signed a back-up center back, but I also find it a pity that none of our academy products have been deemed good enough to play as a fourth-choice center back. Miquel, Ajayi and Hayden are all around Chambers’ age or even older.
It’s also pretty difficult to find a good center-back content to be third choice. Especially with so many teams in the market for a CB (Bayern Munich being the most recent club to join the hunt).
Yes, there is a gap in the squad at centre back. But keep in mind that we are still IN the transfer window. To me, this is the one time of year you’re allowed to have a gap. It’s a shame that we also have to play a rather crucial champions league qualification, but I’m sure a reasonable lineup can be found. And what with Koscielny injured, Mertesacker winning the world cup and Vermaelen also injured (and now sold as well) we were always going to look makeshift at the back this week, regardless of transfer business. Also, don’t forget… Read more »
If all else fails with a CB I believe Squillaci is still available
Much calmer here, and that is good. We don’t need to beat down anyone saying what is obviously looking like a problem, do we? Like the Anonymous Physicist said, if these things are not addressed by September 1, then we can have at it.
Only thing is, I hope Koscielny is not “gambled” in this game. That could come back to bite us.
That Senderos fella at Villa looks pretty handy…
The major problem is still the old one – Wenger’s lack of tactics.