Thursday, 17 May 2012

EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal to face Legia Warsaw

national_newspapers_montage
by CARL ELDRIDGE Arsenal are set to play a pre-season friendly in Poland against Legia Warsaw. Apparently the game is part of the deal that gave us a certain keeper by the name of Łukasz Fabiański. I know it’s a little bit premature to start talking about next season already but we can hardly be enthusiastic for the remainder of this season can we? Warsaw fans are supposed to be mentalists but, hey, you never know they might welcome us with open arms.  
On to the papers and writing in the Telegraph, Henry Winter tells us that Fabianski has been escaping the season’s assorted tensions and tribulations by reading up on blackmail, racketeering and murder.

For light relief, Mario Puzo’s The Godfather is rather dark but the compelling tale relaxes Fabianski. “The Godfather is such a famous film but many people won’t have actually read the book,” says the Polish keeper. “It is so well written and the storyline is incredibly gripping. It’s an absolute must-read.”

Winter, ever the comic cad, says Arsenal fans could be forgiven for debating which was scarier: waking up to a horse’s head or watching Fabianski against Wigan Athletic.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail says Sol Campbell is desperate to prolong his second stint with us but admits he does not know if or when AW will hand him a new deal.

‘I really don’t know what’s going to happen,’ said Campbell. ‘Of course I want to play! But the boss has always done it as he does. He might phone me in July, might speak to me next week. I’m just going to concentrate on the last few games. He will do it in his own way, as he always does.’

The paper says Campbell is confident that the club’s experience of missing out on a trophy for a fifth successive season should inspire us to glory next year, if they take the positives.

‘When you get close, you get that experience of coming close and losing, or coming close and winning to get to the next level,’ he added. ‘Players and individuals will be better next year or the year after. You have to take the positives. We need to be mentally ready for it to kick on again and you want 11 guys on the pitch, players on the bench, a few in the stands and all of them on that level.’

And in the Mirror AW says admits we must retain their focus in order to hold off T********, who could pip us for third. He said: “Psychologically it’s very important to finish third because you can’t go completely on holiday if you finish fourth because you will be thinking about who you who will be facing in the [Champions League] qualifier.

“After a World Cup that can be extremely dangerous. The team that finishes fourth could face a tough opponent in the qualifier, especially if you are not seeded.”

{jcomments on}

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Eldo71

Arsenal fan for 40 years. Schoolboys, North Bank, Clock End then East Upper. Then Emirates. AFC dream team: Wilson, Dixon, Sansom, Adams, Pates, Brady, Williams, Pires, Bergkamp, Henry, Wright. Subs: Seaman, Eldridge, Wilshere, RVP, Ball. Manager: Arsene Chapman.

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  • the dude

    i thought u only go straight into the groups if u finsh 1st or 2nd?? thought 3rd and 4th have to qualify??

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  • Ad

    Different this year apparently, usually that’s the case but I’ve read a few places saying the top 3 are automatically placed.

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  • the dude

    cool, cheers fella

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  • the gun

    That changed last year, thats why Arsenal were the only team in the UK to play a qualifing game last year. Also, the qualifiing round is much tougher than it used to be to guarantee other nations a place in the knock out rounds. Arsenal got a lucky draw last year with all repect to Celtic. The team who finishes fourth could have it tough with the teams finishing 4th in German, France, Italy and Spain all possible opponents. If the Spuds do finish 4th, they are by no means guaranteed Champions league football.

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  • harper

    “The team who finishes fourth could have it tough with the teams finishing 4th in German, France, Italy and Spain all possible opponents.”

    Not quite. The only leagues in which the top 4 are involved in the CL are Italy, Spain and England. As you say, the 09-10 season is the first season in which the 4th place team had to go into a much more difficult qualifier than years past; and in which the 3rd place team didn’t need to qualify, they’re automatically placed now like #1 and #2 have always been.

    Since this is a world cup year, and since AW’s teams traditionally don’t do very well after major summer tournaments (which has me very about next season), it is absolutely imperative we clinch 3rd place. Otherwise, players will be coming back tired or even injured from the wc, and we could be facing Auxerre (very defensive park-the-bus team) or Milan to qualify for the 2010-11 CL.

    Germany, France, Portugal, Scotland, Holland, etc. do NOT get a top 4 involved in the CL. For those leagues it’s either the top 2 or 3 only. So the spuds could be facing Mallorca (who gave Barca 2 very difficult games), Sampdoria (who just beat Milan and drew with Inter), Bremen or Lyon (who are currently 3rd).

    “If the Spuds do finish 4th, they are by no means guaranteed Champions league football.”

    Exactly. They don’t quite seem to understand that. They think they’ll just breeze thru qualification. But, unlike us, they’re not used to the rigors of CL competition. It’ll be hard enuf for us, far more so for them (or City).

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  • goonamerica

    anybody know how much we make from our champs league run? how much just to make it to 4th place qualifier, then only group stages e.g. puds, round of 16 etc.

    how much does fulham or puds make for their run in europa? I would think it significantly less than a CL run.

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  • goonamerica

    I pulled me socks up and googled it. Here is a link to an article indicating the gulf between europa and CL payouts.

    http://avoidingthedrop.com/2009/08/26/the-distribution-of-money-in-the-champions-league-and-europa-league/

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  • goonamerica

    I didn’t realize the article got updated in november with latest figures–http://avoidingthedrop.com/2009/11/30/taking-another-look-at-the-money-distributed-in-uefa-competitions/

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  • db10

    [quote name=harper]“The team who finishes fourth could have it tough with the teams finishing 4th in German, France, Italy and Spain all possible opponents.”

    Not quite. The only leagues in which the top 4 are involved in the CL are Italy, Spain and England. As you say, the 09-10 season is the first season in which the 4th place team had to go into a much more difficult qualifier than years past; and in which the 3rd place team didn’t need to qualify, they’re automatically placed now like #1 and #2 have always been.[/quote]
    This is true but last year, originally, they said exactly the same as they are saying this year. ie qualifying between the teams in fourth in england spain and italy and third or second in other weaker leagues coudl face each other to make it more difficult but at the last minute they introduced seeding so that for example we couldn’t meet either team from spain or italy.

    In effect the qualifying made it easier for england spain and italy to have 4 teams in the group stage because we only had one team playing one tie against a set of teams who were much weaker, celtic in our case.

    So although they are saying anyone will play anyone thats what they said last year but then when it came to it they went back on it and it helped us get into the group stage much easier than it could have been.

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  • harper

    Point taken.

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  • saul

    Lets play them and leave Fabianski behind, thats the level h should be playing not the Premier league, HE AINT GOOD ENOUGH

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  • Berg10

    harper

    Do you have an opinion/info on Guillermo Ochoa, the Mexico No. 1 ?

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  • Clock End Mick

    Berg 10. Yes Ochoa would like to put his meat in your taco :D

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  • Mexican Gunner

    I know you dont ask for my opinion but he´s simply not good enough for our team. For the last 3 seasons he was considered the best GK in the continent but know he kinda sucks and even his place as Number 1 for Mexico in the Wolrd Cup is in jeopardy for his low level this season.

    Definitley better than Fabianski and maybe than Almunia but we need something better. Neuer is my choice.

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  • Berg10

    Thanks MG. Opinion appreciated.

    I picked up on his high status and wondered why his name hadn’t been associated with us, maybe his lack lustre recent performances stem from issues within the club? That said, I don’t imagine it’s a financial issue as Americas are the richest club in the league aren’t they?

    Is Neuer Mexico’s back up keeper?

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  • db10

    neuer is germany’s back up keeper. i think that despite him making lots of wonder saves he isn’t actually that consistent or that good at decision making. But that’s just my opinion.

    The trouble is that there really aren’t many good keepers out there. Akinfeev is highly rated but he made some howlers in the champions league semi final that were worse than almunia usually makes. rene adler is the current german number one who plays for bayer leverkussen and he would be my number one pick. voted best keeper in the bundesliga last season.

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  • Berg10

    Loris would be my choice if he was available.

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  • Mexican Gunner

    Yes America is the richest team in Mexico, his owner is the same owner of the biggest media company in Latin America so until big offers came from his players he dont allow them to leave.

    Ochoa was very close to sign for Ajax last summer cuz apparently Stekelenburg was on the verge of some big club but that never happened. And then Manchester United offered him being the suplent of Van der Saar and only play in the cups for 2 years until he retires but he was afraid to lose his place in the national team and didnt take the offer. He´s a bit overrated IMO.

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  • Mexican Gunner

    I dont know the performance of Adler in previous seasons but watching him this season he made some mistakes and I dont know why he is over Neuer in the national team. Neuer is the keeper who best uses his feets that I seen in a long time. And Im sure that Arsenal could get one of this germans for less than 15m.

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  • legia 1

    :lol:

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  • www.legia 1.com

    :lol:

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