Source: Team_Talk
Mellberg: RVP the danger man
Olof Mellberg hopes Olympiacos can shackle Arsenal captain Robin van Persie when the Greeks travel to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.[LNB] Olympiacos are looking to improve their appalling away Champions League record in England at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.[LNB]Veteran Sweden defender Mellberg, who headed to Athens from Juventus in 2009, knows all about the Dutchman from his seven seasons at Aston Villa.[LNB]Van Persie chalked up his century for the Gunners in the Barclays Premier League win over Bolton at the weekend.[LNB]Olympiacos will have to be on their guard to avoid what would be a 10th successive defeat on English soil - their run including a 2-0 loss at Emirates Stadium in September 2009, when van Persie was on the scoresheet.[LNB]Mellberg accepts the 28-year-old World Cup runner-up has developed into one of the most dangerous forwards around.[LNB]"I have played against him a few times, but maybe not in that position. He plays mostly as a striker now from what I have seen. He was more of a wing player when I played Arsenal with Aston Villa," Mellberg told a news conference at Emirates Stadium.[LNB]"He is a good player and they have a few more.[LNB]"We will focus on our own game more obviously, but we will look at them and hopefully will be prepared for him and everybody else they have.[LNB]"I have obviously heard about some problems they have had and they haven't had the best of starts in the league, but it is always a really difficult game, especially here at Emirates Stadium."[LNB]Olympiacos lost their opening Group F game at home to Marseille, which was their first competitive match of the season after two domestic Super League matches were postponed when the teams they were scheduled to face - Kavala and Olympiacos Volou - were relegated because of a match-fixing scandal.[LNB]Coach Ernesto Valverde is hoping for an improvement.[LNB]He said: "We feel better compared to the previous European match day given that we have had some official games beforehand.[LNB]"However, this does not mean that tomorrow's game is an easy one for us.[LNB]"We have to face an opponent who is probably one of the toughest we could find ourselves against.[LNB]"We know that it will be very difficult, but we came here to take something out of this game and will do our best."
