We havent got a game strong enough at the moment to impress on anybody. Had high hopes for this competition but there diminishing by the week. Without a regular goal scorer where going out of this.
I canāt see Sarri investing anything into this tournament to be honest. Letās be real, heās trying to win the title with Napoli and they do not have a deep enough squad to be competing against Juve domestically and then winning a tin pot European trophy on the side.
Well letās hope Ozil and Lacazette are major difference makers then (if Wenger even plays them, presumably yes) because weāve struggled against Koln and Red Star playing with a fair few of those that lost against Bournemouth.
I fancy us to get walloped by someone half decent away in Europe because on our off days we have the capability to be absolutely dire
Atletico and Napoli worry me, though others have spoken on Napoli and their priorities.
Dortmund didnāt worry me much when they were class, we were mostly fine against them and theyāre much worse now. But I guess we are too lol.
None of those other teams really worry me/Iām too ignorant of European football and arrogant.
Just feel that if weāve reached the point that we donāt at least fancy ourselves as one of the favourites for this trophy then we might as well just pack up and go home. Despite generally being negative Iām not willing or ready to say we arenāt at least in the top 25% of teams left in this competition.
If we meet Atletico weāre most likely fucked though lmao
Iāve already admitted an ignorance about European football to an extent, what do I know where they get their info lol.
I hear they have a small squad, I know theyāre gunning for the Scudetto which they havent won since the days of Maradona, I took it at face value. Even if itās bullshit it doesnāt change my post much, Iāve already listed them as a side who worry me and thatās true regardless of their priorities. The difference is: if they have the full strength side I really dont fancy our chances much at all, if they were to play a weaker side due to comoeting priorities Iād think, āhey, thatās improved our chancesā
I was going to make a joke that you should admit to ignorance about football altogether but seeing as I canāt make people detect when I am being facetious I decided to let this one opportunity pass.
Itās fine. Even if they were both eligible, the rules state weād only be allowed to pick one to play anyway ā and Mkhitaryan is the Europa League specialist, he was influential in Man Unitedās campaign last season.
I donāt think they have the squad to challenge for it. The focus is always going to be the first Scudetto since Maradona days. They lost Ghoulam to injury and suffered greatly because of it. I just donāt think, with Sarriās intense style of football, that the squad is big enough to put up a genuine European challenge whilst maintaining a challenge domestically.
One has to be prioritised and I have no doubt it wonāt be the EL despite what players might say
While that argument is perfectly valid and makes sense, to me itās more the reason why they wonāt win both, possibly either, they probably wonāt have the legs for it in the end but who knows actually. But it doesnāt say they are not going to put up the challenge. I think they are hungry (unlike others cough) and will want to do as well as they can anywhere. I canāt see them mixing it up with some youth so they can sort out the scudetto. I think it is also the right managerial decision to go for both. In the back of their minds the players will probably have the Europa League title too and going out because you didnāt try can backfire. I think the make no changes while you are winning strategy is the way to go for them.
If Napoli didnāt give a fuck about the Champions League why should they care about the Europa League? They will never have a better chance to win the title than this season so their focus is clearly here.