I was on my way to work this morning listening to an interview with Philippe Auclair on the radio discussing the CL draw. It was suggested to him that Barca would be very happy to have drawn Arsenal again.
On the contrary he said, there are 2 players that Barcelona fear. Immediately the names of Ozil and Sanchez sprang to mind … but no, he was referring to a different two players …. Can you guess who?
They know about Ozil, he plays with the ball on the ground in a style they understand and equally, they don’t fear Sanchez’s all action high pressing style – it’s what they do.
No, the players Barca are wary of are the in-form Olivier Giroud (he is the kind of striker they hate to play against) and Petr Cech who has put them out of the CL almost single handedly before. He is their ‘bogey keeper’, they seldom beat him. Apparently Messi has never managed to put one past Cech.
When I thought about it, this all makes perfect sense.
They should also be aware that in Koscielny we have one of the best CBs in the world and as I have said before, our wing back pairing of Monreal and Bellerin is unrivalled in the EPL.
We are a better team than when they played us last time. With the steadying influence of Cech in goal and the quality of our defence, Barcelona will not find it easy to score against us even with their unparalleled front three.
Add the fact that the FP (little joke betwee AA regulars 🙂 ) is in fine form and all of a sudden, Arsenal v Barcelona is the draw we should all welcome. If we manage to beat them, we can begin to dream…….
Rasp
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
I am not worried about Barca – of course we will beat them.
Stoke away on a cold winters afternoon is far more of a worry
Ooops sorry, Thank You Rasp.
As you say they should fear FP & Cech but any team which dismisses Sanchez and Ozil are heading for defeat
Much appreciated Rasp, as clearly you are up to it in crocs.
I would have guessed the speed of Theo and the visionary attack minded Jack 🙂
Morning Mickey and Raddy, it’s true, we have quality and diversity in many areas that should worry Barcelona. Let’s hope that they are complacent and underestimate us 🙂
Motning, erm almost aftaloon, all. 🙂 Lovely motning batner. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Micky. luvly jubbly. 🙂 :0 🙂 What do you mean by: ” we can begin to dream”? The dream is already on! Bring on Barca. COYG. 🙂 🙂 🙂
We’ve got to be doing something right because we are 2nd in the league with the best GD – but stats are funny things 🙂 we’ve actually scored fewer goals than at the same stage last year when we were 6th in the league (see widgets to the right)
Therefore I guess we must be conceding fewer goals?
Petr Cech is the signing of the season and 3 of our back 4 are the best in their position in the EPL IMO 🙂
I would have thought Walcott would be one of them.
It’s interesting this matchup with Barcelona. Their front 3 are great and they don’t play the same tiki taka football now. They are muh more of a counter attacking team than that version.
Arsenal probably also favour a more counter attacking style. And while their attackers are better than ours, our defenders are also better than theirs. We have Alexis and Ozil who can hurt them, but we also have a few specialist weapons like Ollie and Theo.
The battle in the midfield is the crucial one. Will Coquelin be fit, and can Ramsey be disciplined enough and adapt his game to playing with him? The likes of Wilshere and Rosicky being back will also help in this game. As will Welbeck.
It comes down to fitness, and possibly the transfer market.
Too early to predict, but it’s less outlandish than it would first appear that we can beat this Barca team.
” Messi has never managed to put one past Cech” WOW, now that is something that cheered me up. How many times have they met though?
thanks Rasp, very interesting blog. I am surprised Auclair didn’t mention Mert as well, that way it would be clear that the Catalans have a small man syndrome 🙂
Not sure if we can beat them, but it should be a fantastic game. I am already looking forward to going
Bellerin is my man of the season. He plays the Catalan style and therefore can read the game well. I have high hopes for him come February.
ok, I googled messi v cech. They met 10 times in total!!! not a bad result for our Petr
Nice good feelings post Rasp.
In some ways it should be good for the team going in as underdogs, especially if we are still doing well in the league.
Like Leicester in the PL of people have written you off or expect the wheels to come off you can play with no fear.
The big difference for me between the team that so nearly beat Barca over two legs is the experience of a lot of our players. Cech, Alexis, Ozil, Kozzer have all played at a good level for a long time and been involved in these kind of games on both sides of the fence. They are all leaders on the pitch, as is Coquelin, and if you watched Ransey closely on Sunday he has it in him too.
That will be very good for us in this game.
Mertesacker?
Love the fact that he is an Arsenal player but quick enough to stop Messi he ain’t.
Still, upsets happen in any cup.
Well done Rasp, good upbeat post.
Oi Crystals
Look what I found. A French defensive midfielder 🙂
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/12050751/Arsenal-transfer-news-and-rumours-Arsene-Wenger-to-bolster-midfield-with-Paris-St-Germains-Adrien-Rabiot.html
When we get to LB’s idea of a vote on possible window moves, I think the gist was buy, loan, borrow or steal
We should also lob in other parameters. Like, short term old experienced ‘un, one for the future (but could just about step in if Flamini takes a tumble), etc
Hi Rasper,
I love you, warts and all – well maybe not the warts so much, you need a kiss from a fairy for that, to turn you into a Prince – oh, maybe the FP could help out there!
Anyway, as a result of my undying affection, I know how you feel about your football passions, and have to tell you that you are obviously looking at the Barca tie thru’ rose tinted specs.
Nothing wrong with that – but if we were as good as you are saying, we would be the best team in the world — but we are not.
It will all be down to the rub of the green on the night, the luck of the draw – and all in the lap of the gods, or a toe-poke from Rambo! 😀
Hi Redders, i’m not sure I have said all the things in the post that you have attributed to me, but if you just assuming I think we will win, then you are absolutely correct, we will beat them over two legs 🙂
Hi Rasp, nice to see an upbeat Post, and football fans hopes are built on dreams.
That stat with Cech and Messi is incredible, but it wasn’t done in an Arsenal shirt, it was done behind a very pragmatic Chelsea defence.
Is our defensive unit as solid and as hard to break down as any of Chelsea’s that faced Barcelona? Would we have the character to go to Camp Nou, go down to 10 men, and still find a way to win the game?
We’ll definitely need the football Gods to smile favourably on us, but we were only a Bendtner toe-poke from putting them out a few years ago, and we have improved considerably since then.
Although Barcelona wouldn’t have been our first pick, it somehow fits the script. Just as many billed the weekend’s fixture with Villa ‘The Master versus his Apprentice’, this is the real ‘Master versus Apprentice’ because theirs is the blue-print that Arsene Wenger has tried to implement at Arsenal, albeit in a very different climate (football and weather wise), and on a much smaller budget.
Barcelona are both inspiration and nemesis to Arsene Wenger, and it would be wonderful if our Apprentice could finally step out of the shadows to slay his demons.
Collectively we have to dare to dream.
Thank you Rasp !.
I like this Philippe Auclair geezer, he`s been on Arsenal Player a few times, wrote a biography about TH14 and when he`s not a singer, songwriter, producer and football pundit writer he spends his leisure time living in Arsene`s underwear !. So I believe him when he say`s that Arsenal are 99% certain to buy a player in January ( as per the link I put up last week ) in which they are already in talks with players/agents !…………..a bronze statue outside the Ems would be fitting for such a trusted journalist !……….plus he looks like Terry Transplant…..without the transplant !.
This is what I had written on Arseblog about the Barca tie – We have a chance against these UEFA poster boys. A pragmatic approach will be to play Giroud up top with Wally and Alexis on the flanks. Hoof the ball to Giroud by passing their mid-field. A knock down and we are behind their defense. We should avoid playing pretty football as they are better than us. Route 1 football with 2 DM’s will do the trick. COYG!
Arsenal France Vs Arsenal Germany……who wins at Footpool ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXjphdm-pqY
Nothing to do ?………have a gander on Arsenal Player at the U21 game Vs West Ham. Only a draw but there are some quality youngsters on display …..Jeff, Crowley, Willock….although Bielik has a bit of a `mare. The 16 year old kid Malen looks the business !.
Cheers, Rasp.
I love it that you think the bearded collossus’ form is going to last to mid-March at least. 🙂
We might be rocking a completely different team by then.
I fancy PSG in the quarters
Real Madrid in the semis
…and then revenge against Bayern in the final.
Thanks for the stocking filler,Rasp.
Micky and Cockie you maybe right he fits the bill in two ways.1) he wants first team football 2)he is injury prone yet only a youngster at 20.Personally I am not sure if he is a CM or a DM.
Apparently Welbeck has had a further setback and the likelyhood is that he won’t play this season or at best only the last 6 weeks.
On a brighter side Flamini is worth more than Abramovich and that’s a fact,so can we utilise his wealth 😉
Cheers Rasp
Screw Barca, Theres nothing more insulting than a bird saying your a nice guy. Thats like saying, “though I dont fancy you, i will date you but shag your co worker behind your back. Whilst at it we will laugh at how that dog scarred your penis and the way you get angry when Wiley Coytee fails to catch and kill Road Runner”
This is what Barca always do. Sleep with the I.T. guy behind your back and patronise the carp out of you by saying nice but suspicious things”
“It will be a very nice game”. What the hell is that to mean? Because its two top sides, or because were small time and have lovely white sleeves on our shirts?
We will wipe the smug smirk from there faces. And if theres anyone out there ho works in I.T, ime going to shag your bird and corrupt your lap top by nicking it and watching endless hours of virus stricken cartoons.
I might even watch some porn to
Shubham….. he knows the route, I wish I did.
aahh fuck it, I’m drunk…. just like to say … COYG’s whoever we play, Barca…. Bayern… Leicester…. Stoke… Midgitlland ha ha
Morning All,
Nice kit, the one on the right
Morning All
Gotta go, bye.
Is that one of the Kray bothers on the left?
Good morning fellows,
Three poached eggs, 4 strips of bacon, lashings of brown mushrooms, 2 Lincoln (?) sausages, tomatoes and copious slices of toast — and English marmalade toast to follow.
Just thought I would tell you about my diet! 😀
Rasp – how many hits did your post had? I wonder if any of our players read it
ha ha Raddy… he does look like Reggie, uncanny!
I love Bellerin. LB – is his name pronounce Beyeryn?
No wonder you have health problems Redders…. all that fat. ha ha… and here am I just about to have a glass of wine… live life to the full…. english breakfast
🙂 🙂 🙂
I’ve just realised I’m coming up as Wet Willy….. somethings gone wrong with my WordPress long in account as Northbank1969… bugger, going off to find the problem…
I doubt the problem is with the WordPress.
I think it is Eddie… your royal highness. Because I have a wordpress account with my blog…. and whenever I comment on a wordpress blog it uses my ID… normally NB69… ding dong
nb – that’s not what I meant 🙂 any old boy calling himself wet willy on any blog is…..lost for words here… odd?
Your Majesty… Wet Willy and Twinkle are two names i’ve used on here…. Wet Willy is a good one… even for an OldBoy like me..
not it is not! sounds perverted. just wipe it and change your name please.
I’ll give it a wipe!
I may have found the problem… if I now come up as NB69
Morning Eddie, I literally wrote the post in 2 minutes, no thought, no editing. It got 7,000 hits, 3 times the norm!
It just goes to show you that the title gets the hits ( = good) and the content draws the comments (very few = poor) 😆
voila voila voila… sorted
oh bollo… nowgot a Wet Willy again ha ha ha
Well Rasp…. a post written in 2 minutes doesn’t justify the comments…. quality is what counts
well done Rasp!! I thought as much 🙂
I am not sure it is the content. I think (please DO NOT GET OFFENDED) that it is the graphics on the site – a tad out of date. The regulars love it, but new readers might be put off, it’s not sleek enough
I must be schizophenic… Wet Willy is the voice in my head… telling me to do bad things 🙂
You may be right Eddie, but I doubt graphics prevent a blogger reading or leaving a comment?
I thought most liked the retro appearance of the site?
oh yes Rasp, we love it!! But most of us regulars are of certain age and nostalgic 🙂
young readers might be put off, but I am just guessing. We have some quality articles published and no new bloggers, strange, isn’t it? How are other blogs doing, The Grove?
Motning all. 🙂
Just realised that I credited Micky with a nice post that Rasp painstakingly wrote. oh dear! 😦
ha ha painstakingly in 2 minutes… I think he’s bragging 🙂
Cannot beat the iconic Arsenal shirt on the right of chas`s photo, nothing comes near it…..apart from `69ers wet willy !……….and love the fact that Bellerin is like me…….from Bethnal Green, not Barcelona !.
just experimenting
WW, if you check the timing, I asked for a post on the site saying I was too busy, there were no takers – and a couple of minutes later I published! 🙂
Le Coq
Reggie wasn’t from Bethnal Green…. the twins were from Hoxton… get your fucking facts right 🙂
Salt of the earth, loved there mum.
Rasp
Don’t get your knickers twisted… I was only joking 🙂
Bellerin is on the left..
They were fucking arseholes Transplant….
haha, if you say so 69
A couple of shirtlifters who thought they were hard…… needed the limelight to make them famous… two bit actors. So now you know my thoughts on the twins…. Charlie was alright though..
Well, that experiment went a bit wrong. Thats one of the photos I use on the no strings sex sites. hahaha
Thought the iron was Ronnie only?
I reckon both of them were… one came out, the other didn’t.
Morning all
We have a New Post ………………….
Going to my school Daniel St ( became Daneford School ) in Bethnal Green and living in Vallance Road, Bethnal Green, having a snooker club in Bethnal Green` and a “business” friend of my old man makes them from Bethnal Green in my eyes, not too mention one of them having their funeral carriage drive down Bethnal Green Rd to on looking 1000`s gives them Bethnal Green heritage IMO 😀