Europa League Quarterfinals - Leg 1 Emirates Stadium, London Thursday, April 8, 2021 20:00 GMT / BT Sport (England) 3:00 EST / Paramount+, TUDN (USA) ` Few things wash away the bad taste in your mouth than diving into something new, so here's to hoping the Gunners are anxious to move past the Liverpool fiasco and dive headlong into a different challenge. The upside is that not only are Slavia Prague not Liverpool but the Europa League remains a competition with a pathway to success. One that's not impossibly out of reach. If the lads see that and recall some of their successes on the pitch they can find the belief needed to make it three more rounds. Slavia advanced after beating Leicester City and then Scottish champions Rangers. In both ties they managed a home draw followed by a 0-2 away win. Senagalese striker Abdallah Sima has been a sprak during their campaign, as has the tall Nigerian Peter Olayinka. They don't play a true counter attacking style (near I can tell) but they do rely on flashing attacks when playing against "bigger" clubs, content to let a mostly experienced back line dictate their general form. They're on pace to win their third straight Czech championship and enter the week on the back of a 7-2 victory over lowly Teplice. I'm not sure what to add about Arsenal that you lot don't already know. Saturday sucked. It's not great, and Arteta taking the blame takes some heat off the players but doesn't speak well about overall team motivation. The hope is obviously that they came to work today pissed and hungry. We'll know more about the injury list by Wednesday. Maybe we'll get lucky there. It's Europa League or bust, and the players know it. Now let's see if that shows in their play. C'mon you Gunners!
I’m all but certain we’re losing this tie. Why? Because I finally ponied up and subscribed to Paramount/CBS. First and last time I’ll get to watch us in Europe IN ENGLISH in a long long time. p.s. Getting used to life without KT3
Apparently Slavia have 1 fit CB, and their backup GK who will be starting since the first choice got wiped out at Rangers, is an 18 year old who conceded 14 goals in his last 8 games. So basically conditions are ripe for us to screw this up.
Odegaard a doubt for Thursday, being assessed for discomfort to his right ankle that he picked up over international break.— James Benge (@jamesbenge) April 7, 2021 Odegaard a doubt for this game, and Tierney out for 4-6 weeks, but we probably won't see him again this season.
From the horse's mouth: https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-tierney-odegaard-saka-smith-rowe Tierney - knee ligament damage... out 4-6 weeks Luiz - minor knee surgery (arthroscopic?) & should be back in a few weeks Odegaard - ankle pain... iffy for tomorrow Xhaka/Saka/Rowe - all back in full training & available for tomorrow And if you wanna hear the boss speak about this and other stuff:
Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun Last time we played Slavia Prague at home. Some of the football.. https://t.co/kLUqWz0Hnv— AFCAMDEN (@AFCAMDEN) April 8, 2021
The most depressing Arsenal story of this millenium is that Wenger wasn't able to keep that team together. It was so very, very good. I think losing Fabregas and Nasri broke Wenger.
I remember Dark Savante wrote a prescient post on the Utd forum that following their breakout seasons Ade and Flam had to back it up - but they got gassed like he predicted. Went on to do nothing after transferring away I do think it is partly Wenger's fault because he wouldn't pay star money to guys who were clearly elite. We should have secured Flam, Hleb and Ade on massive deals immediately. But of course they wanted away ...
Highest paid player is on the bench. Cedric, Willian, ESR, Saka and Xhaka all start. Joel Lopez on the bench as a LB option. 📋 Tonight's team news...🏴 @EmileSmithRowe starts🇵🇹 @OficialCedric at left back🇫🇷 @LacazetteAlex leads the line#️⃣ #UEL— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 8, 2021
That was Wenger's socialist wage structure! I might be wrong, but I don't think VAn Persie was on too much more than youngsters who added little to the team. No wonder he wanted to leave.
Ceballos's scrub ass on the bench like he deserves. Good lineup. Slavia has done well in this tournament so far, but we really should be running over them today. No excuse to not win by multiple goals with how depleted they are.
Lacazette over Auba is a strange one, and there’s not one right-sided defender on the bench despite having room for two goalkeepers.
Auba has 1 goal and 0 assists in the last 7. He's in rough form. Laca has 3 goals in the same time frame in just 4 starts.
Yeah I get it but with three nominal creative/combination players behind I think Aubameyang makes sense stylistically against a high-line team depleted at center half, and he’s had few chances to score in your timeframe. Lacazette was absolutely awful against Sp*rs and Liverpool, but he has combined well with ESR and Saka at times. Hopefully that will happen again.
Yeah I think that it... a merit based decision. And it didn't help how sullky PEA looked when he was pulled from the last match. I'm OK with this lineup... the back 4 is what I was hoping/expecting. The MF is arguably our best ATM. Of course Willian at 10 is a bit of a head-scratcher but I guess MO11 was just not fit enough to make it today. p.s. I'm watching my first UEL pre-game show on Paramount+ and I must say it's pretty lame. And some guy named "Ayo" just picked us to win this cup. Honigstein had us as runner-up.
It’ll be Smith-Rowe at 10, and it wouldn’t shock me to see Saka on the left and Willian on the right in his natural position. I think Arteta will want Saka’s ability to go wide without Tierney.
Mikel looked a little uncomfortable in his new jacket/collar there. Not as bad as Wenger and his zippers though.
You're right about ESR in the middle. Of course. My comment about Willian was based on how BBC & Google showed our layout.