In Brief, A Qarabag Preview
Dec 12th, 2018 by 'holic
Matchday six in the Europa League. Qarabag arrive for what is a dead rubber for already qualified in first place The Arsenal. Qarabag also have nothing but pride to play for as Sporting have already clinched the second qualifying spot for the knock out phase.
We know that Laurent Koscielny will at least start the fixture in order to get some match-fitness but surely will be hooked in the second-half at some point with one eye on Sunday. As Sokratis Papastathopoulos is suspended on Sunday he too may start this game. Stephan Lichsteiner and Carl Jenkinson are likely full-backs in a flat back four in front of Petr Cech.
The defensive midfielders could be Mohamed Elneny and Matteo Guendouzi behind a front four of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Mesut Ozil, Emile Smith Rowe, and Eddie Nketiah. Unai Emery confirmed that Ozil is in the squad of 18 and will make a decision about whether he starts tomorrow. If he starts on the bench the conspiracy theorists will be to the fore again on social media.
Expect the bench to be packed with the young players who went to Kiev and we may see some ever more familiar faces given minutes in the second-half to get more first team minutes under their belts.
The ‘holic pound
We were comfortable winners of the away leg 0-3 in October with goals from Sokratis, Smith Rowe, and Guendouzi. That suggests a comfortable win is preferred and I have had a little pop at the 22/1 available against a 5-0 home win. Cue a goal-less draw being played out in front of a half-empty stadium!
To those who are going I wish you a real performance from a team of players with something to prove. Have a great one, ‘holics, wherever you will be watching.
180 Responses to “In Brief, A Qarabag Preview”
It’s Emery vs Ozil game
…maybe I am wrong
Ozil starts so he gets a run out before starting the Southampton game on Sunday. Ozil comes off the bench so he gets a run out before starting the Southampton game on Sunday. Ozil starts because he is not starting in the Southampton game on Sunday. Ozil starts on the bench because he is not starting the Southampton game on Sunday. Take you pick.
It’s hard to predict scores in games like this. We played sublimely in tge corresponding game last year and won 6-0. I wasn’t at that and have sold my ticket for this one for reasons that have nothing to do with Football.
I hope we get the maximum benefit out of this game by utilising our squad intelligently and giving some of the young lads some minutes. I have high hopes for Willock, Saka and Nketiah and Smith- Rowe will go on to be a legend at our club. The result is irrelevant but we want to win and I think we will comfortably
@2 I’ve taken my pick and it’s not one of yours
It’s the power thing between E & O, nothing else, but it must be sorted, sooner rather than later
again, maybe I am wrong
…it’s not an ego thing, not by Emery anyway but it could be a problem cause after Qarabag there is not a single irrelevant game
Fine preview Guvna. Sadly I won’t make the match but will be able to watch from the sofa. If the combination of returning seniors and promising yoof can match the last away performance your bet may have legs, H.
As to the Özil selection conundrum, I suspect SSY is right @4. I think Unai worked out after PSG that star player power must be firmly slapped down or the whole dressing room becomes mutinous.
I’m with Ned @2.
COYG
Sadly ESR won’t be fit to play against Quarabag I hear. He has a slight knock
@7 absolutely
and
should you cross my throat with liquor
i’ll confirm both yer alibi
.
.
ned permitting
or
in full
ok wae yoo baff ?
.
.
plus
gonny get in trouble again
wi ‘holic
for shite unbecoming
here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vkYiCdn834
5-0 would be great.
I’d give Jenks the RB slot and play
AMN or a youngster on the left.
We will need Licht Sunday so I’d
give him the break.
Özil as Jacob Rees Mogg? Seems
a bit unlikely but you never know
I suppose.
That was once an OK folk song, cba. I never heard this fella sing it though. His sentiments make me smile, the other stuff makes me wince (wince or twice in a while).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nnnM-__JQ
I think it’s a night for letting the youngsters strut their stuff. Petr Cech, Elneny, Jenkinson and Kos for 30 minutes (if he feels he needs it) to give them a run out, then under-23s everywhere else. Let’s see what they can do.
Nothing to lose, other than the Holic pound, but Holic can afford that.
.
.
.
.
anyhoo
fuck this nonsense
more important stuff to hand
.
.?
.
but there’s
one good thing
to come out of brexit™
( ?]
.
main problem in negotiations
has shown for all to see
the old anti Irish tory sentiment come out in force
hid mostly before
by clouds of cigar smoke and eyebrow dandruff
.
“bloody bastards should be bloody grateful to us”
.
“bloody paddys KNOW YOUR PLACE !”
.
.
we do shitheads
.
here
.
.
.
why dontcha fuck off out of it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PinCg7IGqHg
bTman
machines were mice and men were lions once upon a time but now that its the opposite its twice upon a time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFJi3l1DPWk&app=desktop
.
or
this if you prefer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8_ByqQA3Q
anyhow
met the big lump himself a few times
never anything other than fantastic company
understandably
met my relatives
occasions more
still can’t understand a bastardin word they say
.
.
.
sorry ‘holic
here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vkYiCdn834
?
see my Caledonian cousin 13 ‘hol for another
indeed yer Caledonian cousin too
.
god
isn’t this beautiful ?
or
as they would say
“VOWELS”
(occasional consonant)
“VOWELS”
“by the way”
.
indeed
zico rang up the incontinence helpline earlier
“Where are you ringing from” they asked
.
“From the waist down” he answered
.
translate
fae tha west doon
.
.
i try not to mock
but
JUST
LIKE
THE
FOUR
TOPS
(What has that to do with the futbae?)
.
.
.
reference for the bairns there
8ball
i apologise
as a man from the island whence the Scots came
i have little knowledge
and probably scant regard
for
their sensitivity-s , eh ?
.
.
but
in answer to 24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zALx-JXe_BE
.
8ball
in the melee of arms
my
what can only be described as humility
is there for all to see
.
.
.
now
there’s a name for a bar then
The Melee of Arms
.
.
nitwits dressed like wankers fighting over shite not worth a fuck
.
.
was always a pleasure to go back home at Christmas
the calm of the petrol bomb
the cause of the just
cause you poofs didn’t wanna
damage
clobber
?
still think
‘holic
YOU need to write that book
pwopah oul skinhead goonah
be a classic
.
writing STYLE is everything
.
i’d offer my tuppence
from the period
but
my command of the english language
is just juvenile
.
.
and
.
.
spaced out
and
sometimes roman
.
.
.
(well i laughed)
and fell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K031lcww5rA&app=desktop
.
.
but
i would however be up for a glowing review
.
.
.
there’s no way
100
I DO THIS SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW672HSzeRg
sweet mother of god
40 years ago
deadNZ woulda said
“Forty”
pffttttt
and
like my granny’s mother
WHO SHE ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT
would’ve said
“think about what you say”
.
.
.
.
“about those english bastards”
cos
it’s still in living memory
YOU CUNT
.
.
.
.
.
what !
what !
WHAT ?
.
.
.
how do you fellas think it’s gonna pan out
.
.
slightly guarded references
to the 1840s
pathetic Irish bastards
.
rangers tatoos for all new borns
.
.
WHERE* WILL IT END
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
*when
or
Theresa is back on the fags
Scotland anti-Brexit and anti-independence. Are they just a bunch of aunties?
8ball
i’ve admitted before
that
it’s not always me
typing shite here
but
it’s me me me
full moooooooooooooooooooooo
now
.
.
pfffftt
The Melee of Arms?
so
hit me wit da Qs
46
one of mine
hilarity has ensued
move along
cos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW672HSzeRg
yeah
but
.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBlqB8dhgZM
a nurse !
i hear dragged from a bowel
?
.
ex wife was a nurse
she’d a humped anything
she could nail down
well rid
looked like an angel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBfybCPkjA
.
.
and
please
before
HE
awakes and smites all my nonsense
send 4dollars
to the
smiteyenot foundation
so
between us
we can fight this scurge
ye know which one
is it the kilt one
or the balaclava one
the who nose
the troggs two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHcXvPPtd30
.
.
.
?
.
.
in other news
look down on my shite
are YA
well fuckin contribute then
read the last one
in a Welsh accent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijioei7qFyo
cba, here you go…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Nffq0bOgE
brilliant ?
cheeky cunt
top o the class
more please
Dave won’t mind
he’ll chop all the shooty bomby politicy crazy slf stuff man
that i don’t write
and
leave yours
cos yours will have merit
and i hate slf
the mickey mouse
heavy metal
tabloid sensationalist shite
but
i can say that cos of all the bombs
ooooh
the bombs
.
it’s a wonder
no ones cashed in on it
i liked you better when you were ECG
where’s the noise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-pIEWA572A
and
to think
i don’t get paid for this
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6754Aa0TSU
.
holy fuck
imagine if i did
I’d be
like
Totally
you sure about that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdSmokR0Enk
major
brilliant
holy wild willy!
in response to 68
YES I AM
shit comes in many forms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w3ztwfLwME
*braids hair*
.
.
.
.
*stops annoying eEcCgG*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVFpEfFPHrQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlD0IXVilJs
cba@9: 🙂
Long night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC9Rb8G03es
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn6ekFi4Yp0
ned
indeed
like waffling to long dead chris
music in the middle of the night
is brilliant
and
a more than wee help to normality
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xldavi
for chris:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-R11B7EGt0
i’m sure that particular dead fucker
would love it
but as i have
fartnogryphied into
what appears to be
his representative on here
i can say
no
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T_Qj8CTqow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9fvMQ04is4
he liked mostly shite music
which
admittedly you did provide
a
small portion of
but
BIG HAIR
AUSTRALIA
BIG PRODUCTION
SHITE
(he’s dead don’t worry ive checked)
?
ecg
i hope yer gonna keep feeding good tunes here
(if ‘holic allows it)
top top man
A stirling effort cba
https://youtu.be/1A3i0GATnRI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8-YMpYbRqY
is the tune reminds me of chris
never heard it
fuckin adopted it
osaka M
if im one thing
i’m honest
if i’m two things
i’m drunk and honest
but
that tune is bloody awful
and thusly the best tribute
to our sadly departed comrade
cba – one man’s shite is another man’s crap.
OM – what child? this child:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cIxF4Ex7a4
anyhoo
gotta getta wee snooze
stuff to do 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0dd5XQ7Cxk
You can’t stop now cba. Not with the ton in sight.
ecg – now that is a great song
To be honest mine was shite – I
just chose it cos her name was
Stirling and went with my misspelt
praise for cba’s all night romp to
the ton
But it seems he’s run out of
steam, fallen at the last and
given up the ghost
Never mind he ranted well
Gave his all
Although, all what you might ask
And then selflessly stumbled
aside so that others might take
the applause
A role model for our turbulent times.
Following that I’ll leave it to……..
That’s a full night shift you have put in, cba. I hope you’re getting time and a half. Some good music too. Also some pure shite though. Keep it up, bonnie laddie.
Pure serendipity. No skill required. I dedicate this ton (been a long time) to Holics past and present everywhere.
I might as well contribute to the harmonics. Sincerely felt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XapuTEkTw6M
Great opportunism Bath!
PEA at his best!
CBA did the grunt work though
By the way CBA not all Tories hate the Irish.
I know plenty who just live them …even if we do sometimes argue.
It’s the DUP I have the problem with ?
Sleep well mate and…….
Come on you Gunners!
I also know plenty who LOVE them. Bloody spillchucker. Apologies CBA!
thunder T
thunder T
thunder T
we in the north
live you too
.
.
.
?
anyhoo
must go
work to do
gotta sellotape ma oxen to
the broad of ma back
like a good European
ooooh
how cheeky
am i ?
?
Answer.
not nearly enough
.
.
you understand
of course
thunder T
that i am extracting the michael
.
i spent the 80s
in the best city in the world
watching the best team in the world
and am adamant I strangled NO English people
-repeat-
NO English people
*consults notes – nods*
during my decade there
i did however
hold on to my hatred of your establishment
sure
i met a degree of anti Irish sentiment
ranging from the proud warrior
who had to get two buses instead of the tube
to get to work of a morning
so as to
at the top of their voices
“Not let the bastards win”
to
the few shower
who knocked me about
on me own
for accent or wee cannon or both
.
but
sure that’s par for the course
in the relationship between our islands
indeed English accents here
over the years
have oftentimes needed to
belong to ordinary people
with eyes in the back of their heads
.
.
.
.
but
i’ve just fed cattle
and am full of the joys of life
despite a hundred odds mice
running out from under a tin bath
i overturned
and alerting herself again
to the knowledge i scream like a girl
when confronted by a hundred moving somethings
.
.
so
live
love
yes please
.
.
(would prefer firm handshake)
.
now
.
#
Well I’m going out
I’m gonna find myself a lover*
I’m gonna look until I drop
I’ll never stop
I won’t give up in any way
Shape or form
#
*off license
.
(BUZZCOCKS – Love is Lies – 1978)
Air cleared a bit?
Contrary to the expectations of some (Neville and Shearer, hint hint) the winter of our content could soon be upon us.
And all hail the indomitable cba
.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4TGPZTCyXU
does this sound a bit like the clash
I dunno
I fuckin doooo
the fuckin thievin time travellers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJLmFOrLrro
my cattle
black and white
journeyman nothing to see here jerseys
more interesting
than that phoney shower
of posh sludge
.
but
apparently
fat fucks in Harringtons
like them
.
well like on
ya shower o sheep
.
.
.
don’t like sheep
they get maggots
on their arseholes
hosed off
basic animal husbandry
LOOK IT UP
fuckin lazy cunts
accept what yer told
D’YE KNOW WHAT
YER LIKE FUCKIN SH
.
anyhoo
fuck ye
lighting my fire
fuckin friesian here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLr1AYRBS0A
and
most importantliness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k4yjCo8JWs
That’s a proper shift, cba.☺️ Must be a bit fresh out with the cows today. I hope you had your Jersey on. ??
‘holic
shite jokes aside
we are all
VERY
VERY
lucky
to know you
.
.
.
sláinte fella
see below
for other like minded beautiful sentiment
honestly
it’s been like Band Aid
round here today
“Give us yer fuckin money”
etc
and such
and
as the renaissance feminist man
i think we all feel we are
“would ye ever look at the arses on bananarama”
they’re triumphant
it’s
*fills up*
“NOT A GARAGE, CBA”
.
.
.
.
.
been wonderful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pLpzNPiB48
“well , Brian”
“it’s an arse of six cheeks”
.
.
.
.
*sagely draws breath*
*leans towards the Mic*
*addresses the nation*
.
.
.
.
.
“beautiful scenes here”
“at molineux”
.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcNDBYT-EU4
cba! Do you never sleep?
can you repeat the question Magnus
all i’m hearing
is vowels
all run in the gether
we the occasional click
No
Three points deducted
Very Magdalene College , Donegal
Why are you sitting in the Emile Smith row?
That is only this season. In future I expect to be standing in the Emile Smith stand.
Please someone bail me out. 🙂
well, that’s a hell of a team:
emi
jenks
sokratis
koz
amn
mo’neny
willock
saka
özil
laca
eddie
iliev, medley, nacho, gilmour, guendo, mhiki, and john-jules on the bench.
very, very interesting. i look forward to seeing eddie and laca together for a stretch. and amn at wingback, if saka is on the other side in a 3-5-2. flexible enough to switch to a 4-3-1-2, too.
right Nicaragua come on
etc
+1 the good bits that scruz said
BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM
.
if you could see the balls o my feet
ye wouldn’t EVEN !
SELF BARS !
please back me up on this Dave
SELF BARS
SELF
BARRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSS
golden
cheers
Come on the Qarabag vanquishers, I mean those who would vanquish the Central Asian opponents. Even if they aren’t all completely recognizable as Arsenal players. Come on Saka and come on Blitzen.
ahh shit Dave
5star 8ball drink
but I’m barred
Definitely
PLEASE
Dave ?
Dave ??
any danger chief
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
bar my address
please Dave
tablet
now telly remote
Come on Carl
make your dad proud
It’s a bit quiet at the Ems tonight but I can’t talk. I sold my seats for tonight (things to do late afternoon). So kudos to all who are there in the cold. I’m off to Southampton Sunday and up for the Nomads Wednesday.
Lovely left foot curler from Saka just now. Just beaten out by the keeper.
Not sure why Laca is playing …..
Oh yes, that’s why!
Not sure why UE is risking Laca or Socratis, could be to preserve our unbeaten run. Good chance to see Medley in action over 90 mins missed.
BT have Stewart Robson on co-commentary and Michael Owen in the studio.
No fears. I have a mute button.
Loved the shimmy and finish from Laca.
Team looks understandably disjointed.
Reports of Chelsea fans chanting antisemitic filth in Bucharest according to BT Sport.
What a truly awful shower they are.
Mkhi to come on for Armenia, er, Arsenal?
Countryman, It was Budapest not Bucharest for what it is worth. Chavski filth showing true colors again. They seem to love getting in the papers in all the wrong ways.
Thanks bt8. I’ve been to Budapest (lovely City) but never been to Bucharest. My error.
Medley, defender, on for Laca; a bit odd that.
Have to say, I’m enjoying watching Saka. Lovely little dribbler.
Still time to swoop
for the two ton, or
has cba finally dropped off?
Token drink as a means of furtherance
As opposed to furtherance of means as most would choose…
Wouldn’t chest, wouldn’t dive
Inadvertently made that a double negative about cheating
They must call it simulation to make it sound more proper?
Please excuse off topic drinks
What about the uncleverness and uninformativeness?
Kos appears happy to have completed 70 mins comfortably and is replaced by Monreal.
Kids look confident but only Saka and Nketiah have shown something extra. Saka has good dribbling skills but missed a sitter towards the end. Medley impressed too. All in all a good learning experience for the kids but this Quarabag team looked poor.
BBC called our match sedate.
I couldn’t possibly comment with the game not qualifying for my cable package
22nd unbeaten. Next on Southampton and then spuds at home. Love his time of the year when games come real thick and fast.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>