imalegend wrote:

srigooner wrote:^^ That looks pretty much like the whole bunch Sam!! Why are some of those players there, they should be enjoying a couple of days off.

you never get days off from training.... they might have easier training than the others but they still have to do it... as they still play during the weekend... you have to always be in shape

Erm yeah.. For clarity : By day off, I meant a day when they are not travelling to/from a country halfway across the continent, OR playing a game in which the result is inconsequential.

Ofcourse they'd've training and gym, we aren't paying the bunch a few tens of thousands of pounds each week to laze around on their arses! [That brings to mind, a video of Santos enjoying fish and chips]

Olympiakos have "serious injury problems" in midfield according to their coach Ernesto Valverde.

Olympiakos are tonight without Ibagaza (thigh), Fejsa + Makoun (both knee). Mellberg, Fuster, Orbaiz + Yeste are all doubts.

Valverde: "I don't know which players Wenger will bring here but whoever plays must be good because we're talking about Arsenal."

Valverde: "They're coming to win and they have their style of play, no matter who is on the pitch. They're one of the best teams in Europe."

Olympiakos will use defenders in midfield tonight as they have "no other options" due to a severe injury crisis. http://uefa.to/tlvT8c

Samuelj29060 wrote:Olympiakos have "serious injury problems" in midfield according to their coach Ernesto Valverde.

Olympiakos are tonight without Ibagaza (thigh), Fejsa + Makoun (both knee). Mellberg, Fuster, Orbaiz + Yeste are all doubts.

Valverde: "I don't know which players Wenger will bring here but whoever plays must be good because we're talking about Arsenal."

Valverde: "They're coming to win and they have their style of play, no matter who is on the pitch. They're one of the best teams in Europe."

Olympiakos will use defenders in midfield tonight as they have "no other options" due to a severe injury crisis. http://uefa.to/tlvT8c

So we are going to have to work our way through more defenders in pursuit of a goal. Excellent. Especially with our reserve players, who barely showed any penetration against Man Citeh.

Looks like this might work in favour of Olympiacos imo. Defend, defend, defend and hope to score on a counter, and meanwhile hope that Dortmund do a job against OM. BAM! They are through!

I think that could work in our favour, actually. Unlike the City game, which was quite a tense game, the team here has no pressure on it to win and thus doesn't need to exert itself.

Remember, the owness is on Olympiacos to win, which means that even if the majority of their team are composed of defenders, they should still be looking to attack us.

Besides, I remember at The Emirates the likes of Ibagaza and Fuster gave us a lot of trouble with their trickery and movement.

I just noticed that Almunia isn't on our Champions League squad list...

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/statistics/round=2000263/clubs/index.html

Our possession is pretty disappointing :L
Only 53% .__.
And we've got lots less shots than any other club except APOEL, although our ratio of shots on target to shots off is much better than any other club.

Hello Arsenal guys

My two cents: Olympiacos won’t play defensively regardless of the lineup since winning is our only chance to go through (considering BVB have great chances of winning).
The atmosphere will definitely be hot but I don’t expect it to be hostile. It’s been years since any kind of trouble appeared in a European game in Karaiskaki.
As for the game I don’t expect Arsenal to smash us. You may win but I expect it to be a hard earned win

Arsène Wenger will reach another milestone this evening when he takes charge of his 200th game in European competitions.

The Frenchman's double century includes his time as Monaco manager but it does NOT include his first appearance on the Arsenal bench.

Wenger's first official game at the Gunners helm was on October 12, 1996 when an Ian Wright brace saw off Blackburn at Ewood Park. But he also was in Germany 17 days earlier for a UEFA Cup tie against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Arsenal's 3-2 defeat does not appear on Wenger's record but, ahead of his 200th European fixture, he admitted he was not a bystander that night.

"I was not in charge [against Monchengladbach]," confirmed Wenger.

"To my defence I was not in charge but to my guilt I intervened at half-time!"


On the bench at Gladbach

Samuelj29060 wrote:Arsène Wenger will reach another milestone this evening when he takes charge of his 200th game in European competitions.

The Frenchman's double century includes his time as Monaco manager but it does NOT include his first appearance on the Arsenal bench.

Wenger's first official game at the Gunners helm was on October 12, 1996 when an Ian Wright brace saw off Blackburn at Ewood Park. But he also was in Germany 17 days earlier for a UEFA Cup tie against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Arsenal's 3-2 defeat does not appear on Wenger's record but, ahead of his 200th European fixture, he admitted he was not a bystander that night.

"I was not in charge [against Monchengladbach]," confirmed Wenger.

"To my defence I was not in charge but to my guilt I intervened at half-time!"


On the bench at Gladbach

Typical Wenger...LOL

Arsenal squad: Fabianski, Mannone, Park, Chamakh, Benayoun, Coquelin, Frimpong, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin, Squillaci, Djourou, Vermaelen, Santos, Rosicky, Ozyakup, Yennaris, Eastmond, Miquel.

I hope he seriously gets a chance as a sub....high time Arsenal get "OZY-genised" by O2.Classy player!!

Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels has admitted that the German champions face a tough task to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.

BVB need to beat Marseille by four goals in Tuesday's home game and hope that Arsenal defeat Olympiakos in order to qualify from Group F, and Hummels feels it will be close to impossible to make it to the next round.

"We know it's nearly impossible because Arsenal need to win in Piraeus and they've made it through to the next round – so I don't think they'll play their best team. I've told Per Mertesacker I'll kick him if they don't win there," Hummels said to uefa.com.

"If we'd won and Marseille had won as well on matchday 4, it would still have been the same for us. We need to score four goals against Marseille at home; it's really difficult.

"We need to have a really good game against Marseille, and a little help from Arsenal."

Dortmund were beaten 3-0 by Didier Deschamps' men away from home in the reverse fixture.

some stats:
If Olympiakos win this match and Marseille do not beat Dortmund, the Greek side will qualify for the Last 16.
If Olympiakos draw, it is possible that a heavy Dortmund win could still see Olympiakos finish second.
Arsenal have posted the best shooting accuracy in the Champions League, hitting the target with 70% of their attempts.
Three of Olympiakos' five Champions League goals this season have been headers.
Arsenal have failed to win any of their last eight final group games which have been away from home (L7 D1). Their last defeat on the final matchday away from home was against Olympiakos in December 2009.
The Greek side have lost only two of their last 11 Champions League games at home, winning five; including that 1-0 victory over Arsenal in December 2009.
Olympiakos have won only two of their previous 11 Champions League games against English clubs, but both of these victories have come at home.
The Gunners have lost two and drawn one of their last three Champions League matches away at Greek sides, failing to score in both of the defeats.
Olympiakos centre halves Olof Mellberg (69) and Avraam Papadopoulos (58) have made the most clearances this season in the Champions League.

Arsenal's next goal will be their 250th in the European Cup/Champions League.

Tomas Rosicky will be suspended if he picks up a booking.

There will be approximately 31,000 in the stadium, including 650 Arsenal supporters.

Olympiacos will be wearing red and white striped shirts, red shorts and red socks.

Arsenal will be wearing their blue change strip.

ernie_schwarz wrote:

Arsenal squad: Fabianski, Mannone, Park, Chamakh, Benayoun, Coquelin, Frimpong, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin, Squillaci, Djourou, Vermaelen, Santos, Rosicky, Ozyakup, Yennaris, Eastmond, Miquel.

I hope he seriously gets a chance as a sub....high time Arsenal get "OZY-genised" by O2.Classy player!!

Won't make it here.....too many good players in midfield in front of him, the lad should try and find that club where he can gets chances and flourish

great preview SIR well Arsenal has just won ..but could u pls make a prev. 4 tomorrow's biggest match...BASEL vs utd ...listen ! your prev. should be that way that Basel to beat utd absolutely LOL ..well...that would be great 4 Arsenal in a way ..i guess ..just kidding mate....also Valencia 2 beat chelsea..plus Napoli to go beyound

Is Eastmond a Tag Along ?

boss wrote:great preview SIR well Arsenal has just won ..but could u pls make a prev. 4 tomorrow's biggest match...BASEL vs utd ...listen ! your prev. should be that way that Basel to beat utd absolutely LOL ..well...that would be great 4 Arsenal in a way ..i guess ..just kidding mate....also Valencia 2 beat chelsea..plus Napoli to go beyound

Lol.. I'd make a preview if I had any time but I am swamped with work this week and the next mate.. I am going on a holiday from 16 dec to 17 jan so have a lot of making-up to do at work..

But just cause I love you [no homo], I'll try and make a preview of sorts for Man Utd and Man Citeh games after work tomo.. I'll put it in the Rival Watch if I get to doing it, but no promises

However, I want Man Utd and Chelsea to qualify to the next round.. It would work to our favour in the long run.. Imagine if they crash out and have only EPL to worry about!! We'd've a lot tougher job to get into the top 4 then!

I want the money bags to crash out though.. They are favourites to win the league [till now] anyway and I hate them too much to see them qualify.. Esp for the sake of Na$ri

@srigooner..hey mate i was just kidding about that prev.to make ! ..Trust me that doesnt make a sense here !...Sincerely
Well about utd n chel...i guess that if they fail qualifying it would be just great 4us...they won't be motivated that much 4EPL losing @CHL...just imo.
Well...i wish U having great holidays n good luck with your studies sooo... Cheersssssssss

boss wrote:@srigooner..hey mate i was just kidding about that prev.to make ! ..Trust me that doesnt make a sense here !...Sincerely
Well about utd n chel...i guess that if they fail qualifying it would be just great 4us...they won't be motivated that much 4EPL losing @CHL...just imo.
Well...i wish U having great holidays n good luck with your studies sooo... Cheersssssssss

Thanks mate Cheers