The game has since moved on and the goalposts have shifted; when Wenger defends his Champions League record, the serial qualification of which he is justly proud and the calibre of opponent against which Arsenal routinely fall short, he is attempting to realign sights that are not easily lowered.
With Europe's elite pulling away from the rest at breakneck speed and the Premier League levelled out considerably by the amount of wealth washing through it, the thought process has changed: Competing at Champions League level, now, is a victory in itself.
That does not alter the hunger to win it and Arsenal have been dealt a kind Group A, with the caveat that an opening-game setback at Paris Saint-Germain would set things off on the wrong foot, even if it accounts for comfortably their toughest fixture.
Dates with Basel and Ludogorets are unlikely to prove too taxing, although the same seemed likely of a group last season that included Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb. Arsenal only emerged from that after a superb, final-game performance in Greece when all appeared lost and the campaign encapsulated the brinkmanship that has characterised their recent European campaigns under Wenger.
If there is cause for optimism then perhaps it is that Granit Xhaka, excellent in his early Premier League appearances, should help cure an obvious issue. Arsenal lost that Monaco tie two seasons ago because, having worked themselves back into the home game, they careered upfield in search of a late equaliser and were promptly picked off by an effective counterattacking side. That 3-1 defeat meant there was just too much to do in the return game, much as there was when Arsenal lost twice to Bayern in the previous two years.
Xhaka can be relied on to hold his position in front of the defence and that will be particularly important at the Emirates, where Arsenal have been caught cold far too often at this level. It says plenty that most of their impressive performances in recent years -- the Olympiakos win and those ultimately fruitless victories in Monaco and Munich -- have come on the road in an era when it often has seemed easier to win away.
Arsenal must deploy Wenger's much-coined "handbrake" at home if they are to keep themselves in knockout ties against genuine contenders; failure to instil that kind of tactical discipline when required has consistently been his Achilles heel.
"It's the first time for a long time that I've had a team of what you call men," said Wenger last week of his current crop. "I haven't had a squad of players [like this] for a long time, who have enough experience to compete."
They will need it on Tuesday night against a PSG side that will expose any naivety; if the same old flaws manifest themselves once again, then the feeling will be underlined that Parc des Princes, not that buoyant Emirates of 2009, is a relevant European venue for the modern era and that Wenger's once-strong imprint on the Champions League is less consequential than ever.
เกมที่มีการย้ายไปตั้งแต่ใน และสร้างได้เลื่อน ขึ้น เมื่อช่วงปกป้องบันทึกเขาแชมเปี้ยนส์ลีก คุณสมบัติประจำซึ่งเขามีความภูมิใจที่ศรีวิชัยและลำกล้องของฝ่ายตรงข้ามกับอาร์เซนอลซึ่ง เป็นประจำ ตกสั้น เขาพยายามที่จะปรับแหล่งท่องเที่ยวที่อยู่ไม่ได้ลดลงพร้อมดึงออกจากส่วนเหลือที่ความเร็ว breakneck และพรีเมียร์ลีกระดับออกมาก โดยจำนวนการล้างผ่านมันยอดของยุโรป กระบวนการคิดมีการเปลี่ยนแปลง: แข่งขันระดับแชมป์ ขณะนี้ คือ ชัยชนะในตัวเองที่ไม่เปลี่ยนความหิวให้ชนะ และอาร์เซนอลได้รับการจัดการชนิดกลุ่ม A ด้วยข้อแม้ที่ความล้มเหลวการเปิดเกมที่แฮตทริกจะตั้งสิ่งที่เท้าผิดปกติ แม้ว่าบัญชีสบายแข่งของพวกเขาที่ยากที่สุดวันบาเซิลและของ Ludogorets ไม่น่าจะพิสูจน์ด้วยกลวิธี แม้เดียวกันดูเหมือนแนวโน้มของกลุ่มฤดูกาลล่าสุดที่รวมโอลิมเปียกอสและ Dinamo Zagreb อาร์เซนอลเท่านั้นโผล่ออกมาจากที่หลังจากประสิทธิภาพที่ดีเลิศ เกมสุดท้ายในกรีซเมื่อทั้งหมดที่ปรากฏหายไป และแคมเปญนึ้ brinkmanship ที่มีลักษณะเฉพาะของแคมเปญยุโรปล่าช่วงIf there is cause for optimism then perhaps it is that Granit Xhaka, excellent in his early Premier League appearances, should help cure an obvious issue. Arsenal lost that Monaco tie two seasons ago because, having worked themselves back into the home game, they careered upfield in search of a late equaliser and were promptly picked off by an effective counterattacking side. That 3-1 defeat meant there was just too much to do in the return game, much as there was when Arsenal lost twice to Bayern in the previous two years.Xhaka can be relied on to hold his position in front of the defence and that will be particularly important at the Emirates, where Arsenal have been caught cold far too often at this level. It says plenty that most of their impressive performances in recent years -- the Olympiakos win and those ultimately fruitless victories in Monaco and Munich -- have come on the road in an era when it often has seemed easier to win away.Arsenal must deploy Wenger's much-coined "handbrake" at home if they are to keep themselves in knockout ties against genuine contenders; failure to instil that kind of tactical discipline when required has consistently been his Achilles heel."It's the first time for a long time that I've had a team of what you call men," said Wenger last week of his current crop. "I haven't had a squad of players [like this] for a long time, who have enough experience to compete."They will need it on Tuesday night against a PSG side that will expose any naivety; if the same old flaws manifest themselves once again, then the feeling will be underlined that Parc des Princes, not that buoyant Emirates of 2009, is a relevant European venue for the modern era and that Wenger's once-strong imprint on the Champions League is less consequential than ever.
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