Going out in the CL, a blessing in disguise? « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager

By Walter Broeckx

Losing to Barcelona could be a blessing in disguise.  We defended rather well I think in the first half and only a black out from Fabregas allowed them to score. I think Cesc will put this right for us in the next weeks. Come on Cesc, make up for this will you.

And also Van Persie will have a few things to set right. Most refs would have let him off the hook in such an important game but not this one. But we should have known this and the players should have known that Busacca would have helped a hand if needed.  It was needed at that moment and so he didn’t hesitate to make us lose the game. When the second yellow came out I knew we would have lost the qualification.

But that is the way it went and nothing can be done about it. I just hope that Cesc and Van Persie are now completely recovered for the next games.

But let us forget what has happened for now and look at the future. And if you have the chance you should see at our fixture list from now on.

12 march at United in the FA cup

19 March at WBA

02 April against Blackburn Rovers

10 April at Blackpool

17 April against Liverpool

20 April at Tottenham

24 April at Bolton

01 May against Manchester United

07 May at Stoke

14 May against Aston Villa

22 May at Fulham

And as you will see that the only time we are facing a midweek game from now on will be in April when we go to Tottenham. But for the rest of the season we only are facing games in the weekend. So we will have a bit more rest between our games and this can only bring us benefit.

In fact the only thing that can bring more games is when we go further in the FA cup. As the semi finals will be played on 17 April and this would have as a result that the game against Liverpool will have to be played in a midweek. So if we go further in the FA cup this would mean that we from now until the end of the season only have to play 2 games in midweek.  And if we should reach the FA cup final we should play a maximum of 3 games in midweek until the end of the season.

And if we go out in the FA cup in this round we will only have to play one game on a Wednesday.  Please don’t see this as me asking to go out this Saturday. But I will leave the FA cup out of the games as we don’t know if we go further and when we have to play.

But I do think that for the next 3 months with only playing around  one midweek game a month could be a big help in our run in for the PL.

So despite that for some it will be all over Arsenal, the players and the manager after this defeat and exit of the Champions League it could well be that at the end of May we will look back at this day and say: that was the moment that we won the league.

So let us prepare ourselves for 10 cup games which we must win. Let us prepare our players to give in each game 200% with the knowledge that they can rest a week after each game.  Let us go out for a run of 10 wins in a row. And that would be enough to win the league.

And let us hope and pray that from now on the players remain fit and we are free of injuries. And getting more rest in the next weeks and months could be just that little difference between an injury and not an injury.

Time to forget the Champions league. Or maybe think about the fact that we only lost the second leg due to a stupid sending off from one of our players.

Now is the time to focus on the most important thing : winning the league. Last year we lost it when we played too many games in the next weeks towards the end of April.  And as a result almost the whole team got injured. This time this will not be happening.

And I know there are no easy games in the PL but when you have a week rest to prepare for a game the task becomes a bit more easy. So I would call on you Gooners to get behind the team for this final 10 games.