Arsenal's Year?

Something that's always bewildered me was the, in retrospect, quite dire achievements from Arsenal when it comes to the Champions League.

The final against Barcelona aside, they've always failed to make any real impact in Europe. But for their team of 'invincibles', why?

Not only this, but they of all the English teams play the most continental game. If you watch other league's, you see that Arsenal aren't particularly playing amazing football they're just playing a different style to the English game, a continental game. Albeit a very good continental game.

Surely they should be more equipped to handle Europe's biggest stage than other teams? And indeed favour this more than the domestic scene, which is obviously English.
The 7-0 Slavia Prague result suggested a change from years ago when they failed to make an impression. Personally, i wouldn't mind seeing them triumph either. You can respect them for the football they play, and i feel Arsenal and Wenger warrant some European recognition because of that.

So, can Arsenal conquer Europe as their Invincibles (briefly) conquered England? Can they have the same impact on foreign soil as they have had in their home land? Would you welcome it?

The Invincibles of 03/04 lost 3-0 at home to Inter, drew 0-0 away to Lokomotiv Moscow and lost 2-1 away to Dynamo Kiev; yet this year they've won all their games, scoring eleven and conceding none. Same manager - same style. What's different?

I am a fan of Arsenal and according to my opinion, they play better than ever!! I believe they can beat every team, including the Superstars team, Barcelona! Finally the Henry's leaving was good for Arsenal. Fabregas is maybe one of the world's top players this moment!!

You are right Arsenal are playing a very different game this year based on pace and movement. The main difference this term I think is that they are are not relying on one man and so they are playing very much a team game. This is reflected in the number of players getting on the score sheet this year.

I do not know if Arsenal will win the CL this time round but I think they will go very very close.

you need luck to win the Champions League as well as playing well ....just ask Liverpool . We were 10 agonising minutes away from the trophy a few years ago ...footballs a cruel game .

There is no doubt we have the ability to win the Champions League ....as do the other british teams ...except Rangers ... We have done well this season due to the team playing together as one ....Thierry Henry leaving means there is no one major superstar to focus our play on .

The failure of Arsenal to win the trophy thus far is indeed a mystery , but so is Man Utd`s failure to add to their lucky 1999 win ...yes it was fortunate in my opinion ... the talent they have had in their team since then and the great football they have played over the years ...amazing really they have not added to that win .

So ..i say we can win it this year ...but i wont say we are going to win it for sure ..

they've been beaten by sevilla

Sherlock, you're good!

Ben, as conner99 pointed out, you need luck to win the Champions League.

Liverpool were not the best football side when they won it against Milan. They were very lucky throughout the campaign and didn't really play great football. How come Chelsea, despite spending zillions of pounds on so many big name players, have failed to win it. Despite having their greatest Manager in History been & gone whilst they have been so good domestically?

They haven't had the luck. The fact that Liverpool have went through to Chelsea's failure for a goal that wasn't, proves that such luck.

I'm not saying it's all down to luck. Perhaps we've just not been good enough. We have been halted by some great football Clubs.

This nonsense about us just being different in England (which is why we look so good) is rubbish. Our style is very different from Barcelona's as well, Thierry Henry will tell you that. He will tell you that he's had to change his style to adapt to La Liga, because Arsenal still do play like a Premiership style side.

We just play great football, have lots of great technicians, really well drilled tactics from a very fluent and creative Manager. Also, comparing this side to the 'Invincibles' is premature and a little silly. We'll never match that side, because there were so many great individuals.

We can become as good, but we are not the same and comparisons shouldn't be made. Wenger doesn't expect to win the treble undefeated. He just wants to challenge for all competitions without having to splash £25m on overrated egos. We also play a different brand of football from the 'Invincibles'. Especially our Midfield format. Vieira is completely different to Cesc whilst Hleb and Rosickż play the game nothing like Pirčs or Ljungberg.

Adebayor and van Persie are mountains below Henry and Bergkamp. So it's unfair to relate or compare.

But we do have a great unit now, and players who work for each other in a different style that suits each player the best. Once we keep our main men fit who've been hampered badly by injury (Diaby, van Persie, Rosickż, Hleb, Gallas etc.) and get the full potential out of all of them, we'll be rising to the level of the invincibles in the next few seasons in my view - in terms of being really strong challengers.

They have no chance

Neither do Chelsea, if they meet Liverpool along the way..

they have as much of a chance as anyone, milan or madrid will pry get a few breaks and one of them will win it

Any side can win a tournament like this, with a big dose of luck and tactical acumen. Decisions go your way, the ball rolls this way instead of that, an own goal here...you never know.

Greece won Euro2004, and the Champions' League is a similar format. But yeah, Arsenal have a decent chance.

I'd like to see Sevilla win it personally. It would be a fantastic way to end their season after the very sad start they had i.e. Puerta's death.

You missed "someone dives and gets a penalty"

Nope! Liverpool 4ever! =))

^

That's crap. Chelsea were incredibly lucky when they reached the Semi's against us the first time. Against Barca they only went through because Carvalho held Valdes so he couldn't get to Terry's header. And against Bayern they were even luckier. Lampard had two shots get deflected off of Lucio and sail into the net. Neither would've caused Kahn too many problems either. Bayern scored 3 goals against Chelsea in 1 match, which was more than any other team that season.

AS for the Liverpool game. I still think we would've had any easier task of seeing off Chelsea if our goal was disallowed, Cech was sent off and then we were given the penalty. I don't want to discuss that any more though. It has been discussed to death.

And not to forget Chelsea couldn't even score a single goal in 120 minutes of football (even when gifted 6 minutes of stoppage time ). They didn't deserve to go through - if you can't score in that amount of time, then no matter how unlucky you are you don't deserve to progress ahead of the other team. You can't sail through on luck, although it is needed in parts.

Yeah, we defended a lot better than they attacked, and as that was all we needed to do, it's surely fair to say we deserved to go through?!