So the CL draw sees us pitted with Porto, Fenerbahce and Kiev. In yesterday’s MyVision I commented that my own worst-case scenario would be Bayern/Juve, Fenerbahce, and Kiev/Shakhtar. And two out of those three came true. Bollocks. Unlike our more fortunate rivals who got the likes of Aalborg and Cluj, our Road to Rome will begin the hard way.

So the CL draw sees us pitted with Porto, Fenerbahce and Kiev. In yesterday’s MyVision I commented that my own worst-case scenario would be Bayern/Juve, Fenerbahce, and Kiev/Shakhtar. And two out of those three came true. Bollocks. Unlike our more fortunate rivals who got the likes of Aalborg and Cluj, our Road to Rome will begin the hard way.

I also mentioned that with Galatasaray knocked out in the qualifiers, we would avoid the trip to “Hell”. But instead, we have to go to their more talented neighbours. Fenerbahce certainly gave Chelsea a hard time last season and with Arrogant Aragones in charge we’re gonna be faced with two difficult games. I hope we can stick it to the racist cunt, I still maintain my belief that his comments were the catalyst in the souring of relations between Jose Reyes and Thierry Henry.

I’ve always preferred to face a more talented team from mainland Europe than a less talented from Eastern Europe. This is due to two reasons, the first being that a talented mainland Europe team is more likely to play football, which in turn will allow us to play our football. If we are on song then we can benefit from such an open game – think back to the home tie against Sevilla last year. But I do concede that if we are off our game, we are naturally more vulnerable to defeat, as the return match in Sevilla showed last year.

However the overriding reason why I prefer a mainland European tie is due to the strains that an Eastern European tie puts on the players, especially at a time when domestic and international games are coming thick and fast.

Don’t understand what I mean? Take a look at this:

Saturday 6 September – INTERNATIONALS
Wednesday 10 September – INTERNATIONALS
Saturday 13 September – Blackburn(AWAY)
Wednesday 17 September – Kiev(AWAY)
Saturday 20 September – Bolton(AWAY)

*shudders*

The Bolton-Kiev-Blackburn trilogy truly is a week from hell, and it isn’t helped by the international break beforehand. But let’s turn the negative into a positive: if we can emerge from those three games with nine points, it’d be a ‘hell’ of a momentum boost.

With that run mentioned above, after the Newcastle match tomorrow we will not have a home game for a month until the visit of Hull in late September. So a win against the Barcodes is imperative. Newcastle are no mugs this year and I have been impressed by their new signings Coloccini and Gutierrez. Any team that can hold the all-conquering Man Utd to a draw at Old Trafford deserves respect and we can’t afford to get complacent. Michael Owen looks to have recovered his goalscoring touch so we have to be sharp at the back, both physically and mentally. And we have to take the game to them, not pass the ball sideways and backwards and expect to eventually find an opening simply because we’re The Arsenal and we’re playing at home.

Now onto transfer talk *cue groans*. Speaking after the CL draw yesterday, Diamond Geezer Danny Fiszman stated the following when asked about transfers:

“If Arsene said to us ‘I want this guy and he’s £30m, can I buy him?’ then the answer is ‘Yes’, absolutely yes. We totally back him. It’s his decision. It would be no problem, no problem at all. It’s not our decision who he spends money on, nor will it ever be our decision.

Interesting. I guess that pretty much quashes the notion that Wenger has his hands tied. With three-and-a-half days until the window slams shut (remember folks, it closes on Monday night, not Sunday night), time is running out to bring in a midfield reinforcement. Our plight in central midfield is so obvious that even the official website has begun to refer to it as a “problem position”.

I still maintain my belief that we will bring someone in. Whether or not that someone will satisfy all the fans is another question. For instance, if we get Barry, then some fans will moan and say that he is slow and overpriced. And if we get Alonso, some sections will groan and say that he is not English and too similar to Cesc. As the old chestnut goes: ‘you can please some of the people all the time, and all the people some of the time, but you can’t please all the people all the time.’

I predict Alonso will come in on deadline day for around £15 million. Don’t ask me why, it’s just a hunch. And if it does happen, our spine could comprise a Manc (Silvestre), a Chav (Gallas), and a Scouser (Alonso). Anyone fancy adding a Spud to that? Maybe Jermaine Jenas? JUST KIDDING!

Right that’s your lot for today. Mean Lean will probably be back on daily blog duties tomorrow. Thanks for reading, Arsebandits. Drop your view in the comments section. ‘Til next time.