^ can't imagine one player out will hold them back too much . .

did you see Arsenals defense without Vermaelen? yeah...

the invincibles live on!

Yay! I hate that I missed seeing the match.

you mean last year's team ?

I missed the Everton match, too.

I'm downloading the Fulham game & Borussia Dortmund match to watch cuz i missed them also.

we mean this year as well. verminator was out for a few games and we looked awful.

Yea. I guess our midfield doesn't suffer from injuries like the defense does.

Last year I thought the only missing link was a strong defense; however, since Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy left, it's a bit different.

how so?

nasri played for a big pay raise and got it...and sat on the bench against chelsea. aside from the last half of last season (i think we've discussed this before), he was often pulling disappearing acts in the big games. no difference IMO.

clichy got himself sent off for being roasted alive by sturridge. was a great defender and the last of the invincibles, but just doesn't have the pace anymore to keep up, and is prone to the occasional mistakes. improvement!

fabregas...yes, that changed the midfield dynamic a lot. to me though, the team is coping without him quite well. fab went for the killer splitting pass all the time, and now we've got wingers who can torment defenses with pace. walcott's meteoric improvement, ramsey's return, and gervinho on the opposite side have softened the blow of losing the midfield general. i'd hedge towards calling this an improvement!

I will try and post pics from St. James Park in Newcastle after Saturday's fixture with Swansea City.

Poor David Villa.

I am a big AC Milan fan. We are going to encounter Arsenal in the CL. It's gonna be a good match!

Last 16 Draw:

Olympique Lyon v Apoel

SSC Napoli v Chelsea

AC Milan v Arsenal

Basel v Bayern Munich

Bayer Leverkusen v FC Barcelona

CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid CF

Zenit St Petersburg v SL Benfica

Olympique Marseille v Internazionale Milan


Not going to lie, the both clubs from London have a tough, tough draw. The way our defense has been playing, I'm not sure how we're going to be able to deal with the likes of Hamsik, Lavezzi and Cavani. We will need to secure something on the road and try to take the fight at the return leg. Same as Arsenal, you guys will have a torrid time against Milan.

All I have to say :D

I like a full strength Arsenal's chances against Milan (never thought I'd have said that four months ago).

I feel bad for Napoli, continually having to play sugar daddy teams. If their guys play well, they're on audition to these clubs who'll troll for their players, but if the guys play badly & they lose, the club goes out the competition. Sucks.