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Morning all.
I dipped in and out of the Liverpool v PSG game last night but I saw enough to know that when a neutral and strong referee oversees a game, Liverpool have to actually win a game for themselves. They didn’t. PSG, who we defeated 2-0 earlier in this competition by the way, scored an early goal to level the tie. Extra time, penalties and they were gonners. Newcastle Utd fans will have loved it as their team will be up against a dejected and knackered group of players in the League Cup Final at the weekend.
It was sad to see Mo Salah with tears in his eyes at the end……..
In the 15 years of Highbury House, I can’t remember Arsenal ever being in this kind of situation. Or at least I don’t recall ever writing about a scenario like tonight’s. Yes, we’ve played “dead rubber” fixtures in European competitions before but tonight’s match is a knockout fixture in the Champions League with a six goal advantage going into the home leg. It would take an absolute disaster from Arsenal for us not to go through to the next round and I don’t even want to think about that.
Mikel Arteta might consider the likes of Jorginho, Tierney, Zinchenko and Kiwior for this game plus one or two of the under 21 players included in the squad perhaps. In his pre match press conference, he said that we have no new injuries after the weekend’s game and White is now fit and ready to start a game.
Regardless of being 7-1 up following the first leg, things might have been so different had PSV not missed their early opportunities to take the lead. Irrelevant I know but it’s enough to remind ourselves that tonight’s game won’t be easy and not one player in the squad should think the job is done before going out on the pitch. Conceding six goals at home is unlikely but what we cannot do is give PSV the slightest of belief that they can pull this tie back.
Mikel Arteta:
> We understand what happened in the first game and the direction that it could have taken in the first 10 minutes. After all the control that we had, if we give the goal away or if the referee would have given the second yellow card to Myles, it’s very simple. This is football, you have to earn it and we’re going to have to do a great job tomorrow again to win the game.
That’s why I don’t think Arteta will rotate his players as heavily as ‘some’ might like or expect. PSV won’t turn up thinking of anything other than being competitive and trying to win the game because getting thumped 7-1 at home last week must have felt awful. As Bosz said in his pre match interview, he wants his team to prove they are better than that. He did hint at making changes too as he has one eye on the league title.
Did you guys see what William Saliba had to say yesterday about his future?
> I’m really happy here. Because we have some years (to go on his contract) There is no rush at the minute. I want to win big things with Arsenal. If you leave this club without winning anything, the fans will forget about you. I want to win big things here.
I know what footballers say and do can be two different things sometimes but when there’s something good said, I’m taking it as real. There’s no reason for him to lie after all, he could have just said he doesn’t want to talk about anything other than tonight’s game.
Interestingly, Big William was a bit down on his own performances this season as he said he’s not played as well as he could. That’s a top professional for you, always wanting to do better and to be better. A good role model for the younger players.
Finishing with tonight, it’s a big no for Neto starting in my opinion. I’d rather see one of the younger keepers start if Raya desperately needs a break. I feel the same about Sterling because in a couple of months time they’ll both be gone whereas someone like Kabia will be hoping to follow the path both Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri have trodden this season. Anyway, we’ll see in just a few hours time how Arteta approaches the game but I doubt he’ll do anything rash.
Catch up in the comments.