{"id":7595,"date":"2023-03-15T18:05:58","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T18:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7595"},"modified":"2023-03-17T09:57:05","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T09:57:05","slug":"to-go-for-it-or-not-to-go-for-it-that-is-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7595","title":{"rendered":"To Go for It, or Not to Go For It: That Is The Question"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:464px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/514882706\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:128.01724% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/514882706?et=-at2BiA0QgJFV3OgqCAN0Q&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=r2ifPiJVqvxpvPNsywKuyKQUUDBMFEksjhaA432ADpI=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"464\" height=\"594\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>So here we are. Europa League football is back in N5 for the first time this calendar year. We take a 2-2 draw into the second leg, and now the widely debated away goals rule has been scrapped, it means effectively the tie is still 0-0. We have to score if we are to go through to the last eight. Alternatively, we could not score and keep out Sporting Lisbon and take them to extra time and if needs be, a penalty shootout. In its near seventeen years of existence the Emirates Stadium has never seen a penalty shootout. Hopefully tomorrow night doesn\u2019t break that trend because it\u2019s all a bit of a faff and we would all like to get home in our warm beds before midnight. And we have a far more important game on Sunday. Let\u2019s just try to get through without any nosebleeds and papercuts and everyone will be happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to our rather unexpected title charge, the Europa League has taken more of a backseat this season than it has in the past. Previously it was viewed as a means of qualification for the \u201cWe Actually Didn\u2019t Win Our Domestic League But We Need The Cash\u201d Champions League. But with a top 4 finish all but a certainty, that hasn\u2019t been the case. This has meant our Europa League fixtures have garnered less interest and enthusiasm from a lot of fans, not that there was much of that previously. We trundled through the group stages overcoming European giants such as FC Zurich and Bod\u00f8\/Glimt, who are surely the only professional football club in the world with a bit of punctuation in the middle of their name. We won the group and thus avoided a ludicrous play-off with one of the Champions League rejects. Then in last week\u2019s game out in the Portuguese capital, we stumbled to a draw. So, our European campaign thus far has offered little to write home about to say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of which begs the question; does anyone really care about winning this thing? There are arguments for both sides. An argument for could well be the fact that our cabinet is a little bare when it comes to European silverware. In terms of domestic success, we are very well fed and watered but all we have to show for our continental exploits is the 1970 Fairs Cup and the 1994 Cup Winners Cup. Both competitions have now been made redundant by UEFA although you can argue one of them has been replaced by the Europa League. Given we now have three European competitions, and one of them was created last season probably for a laugh, it\u2019s entirely possible. And winning this year\u2019s competition would repair at least some of the trauma of some of our near misses. There was the famous Nayim from the halfway line winner for Real Zaragoza in 1995 as we failed to retain the cup from the previous year. Apparently, every time a Spurs fan suffers from erectile dysfunction, they replay the goal on YouTube. Sad bunch. Then there was a traumatic loss on penalties to Galatasaray in the 2000 UEFA Cup final which was marred by crowd trouble <s>between both sets of fans<\/s> in Copenhagen. And of course, our only Champions League final appearance to date ended in heartbreak in the Parisian rain against our old nemesis, Barcelona. But we saved the best for the 2019 Europa League final when a spineless Arsenal side collapsed in the second half against Chelsea. Sprinkle in seven consecutive UCL Last 16 exits and our record on the continent is pitiful to say the least. We have had far too little European success on the continent for a club of our magnitude. Perhaps it is high time we put an end to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, more cynical Gooners might say, a first league title in nearly twenty years is more important. Can we juggle both domestic and European exploits in what could be a pivotal and congested run in? In fairness, up to this point we have managed this. Immediately following our seven Europa League matches this season, our record stands at won six, drawn 1, lost 0. So that does indicate we possess the depth to compete on both fronts. However, as we venture deeper into the competition, we are inevitably going to face sterner competition than we have so far. If you have a semi-final against Juventus on the Thursday and a pivotal clash at Newcastle on the Sunday, with the league in sight, which one do you prioritise? I think most would say the league but from Arteta\u2019s selections so far, he wants both. For us peasants in the stands and behind our sofas at home, we are just praying for no injuries. But personally, I would trust Arteta to get the balance just right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for our opponents we should expect another physical and tactical battle as we saw last week. We will have to watch out for diminutive forwards, such as Marcus Edwards, on the transition and also we will have to be on our A-game to break them down which we struggled to do in parts last Thursday. Sporting will be without former Liverpool centre back, Sebastian Coates, and centre half partner Morita due to suspension whilst we have a clean bill of health for everyone bar Elneny and Nketiah. As for the team selection, most will be hoping to see Gabriel Jesus from the start but I think this is unlikely. What we have heard from the club is that Jesus will be eased back to full fitness with the aid of 15-20 minute cameos off the bench. Sunday\u2019s first half display at Fulham provided us with the perfect opportunity to do just that and it has to be said, the Brazilian did look sharp as a needle. That said, I would be surprised to see him from the start. I think the team will be something approaching this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Turner<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Tomiyasu &#8212; Saliba &#8212; Kiwior &#8212; KT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Xhaka &#8212; Jorginho<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Viera<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Saka &#8212; Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Trossard<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That would come to seven changes from the weekend, and we would still be able to field a very able side. Perhaps we will see ESR on the left and Nelson on the right, but I think that if Arteta started Saka in the first leg, he would repeat the trick in the second. I will be in attendance for this one and I am expectant of a solid performance and a big atmosphere on a European night in N5. I am going for a 2-0 victory with goals from Trossard and Nelson. COYG!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images So here we are. Europa League football is back in N5 for the first time this calendar year. We take a 2-2 draw into the second leg, and now the widely debated away goals rule has been scrapped, it means effectively the tie is still 0-0. We have to score if [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7595"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7605,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7595\/revisions\/7605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}