Running the Gauntlet Step 1 Arsenal v Aston Villa Match Preview
It begins here
So it begins! The run of 4 games that could determine the outcome of Arsenal’s title hopes this season. They begin that run against a team that they have had success against on a regular basis – Aston Villa. In their last 17 meetings at Villa Park, Arsenal have only lost 3 times.
When the last met Villa and Arsenal were level on points. Villa were riding an 8 game winning streak and Arsenal were set for a very tight Christmas series. On the foot of a Cesc Fabregas cameo Arsenal owned Villa in the 2nd half and wound up winning emphatically 3-0. At the time we were all happy but as I said post game, great teams make good teams look bad and that is what Arsenal did to Martin O’Neill’s side.
Arsenal are currently riding a 9 game league unbeaten streak. They are the leagues leading scorers with 59 goals and are on course to shatter the single season goal record.
After beating Bolton in dramatic fashion last week, Arsenal were top of the league for a short period of time and their premier team status was once again vindicated. If Arsenal want to go back on top of the league and continue to pressure Chelsea and United they will need to win this game. It won’t be easy. While Arsenal lead the league in scoring Villa are one of the top defensive sides in the league.
The problem for Villa though is not defending it is scoring. Not so much in cup ties mind you but in the league matches. Ever since losing to Arsenal in the league, the Villains have yet not been all that efficient in scoring. However, their cup ties have seen a plethora of goals go in. Additionally, Villa would be silly to take anything from Stoke win over the Gunners this weekend. The side that comes out on Wednesday will likely be almost identical to the one that scored 3 on them in December.
While the side that went out against Stoke featured 7 starters under the age of 20, the side featured in this match will be slightly older and slightly more experienced. Additionally, it sees the large trainers list shrink up as both Niklas Bendtner and Samir Nasri will be on the bench as supersubs. Bendtner has been out since the North London derby and Nasri has been out for 2 weeks with a hamstring. If Arsenal are going to survive this run of matches both will be needed.
For what its worth if Bendtner wants to be the man, he will need to show his worth. I am still not sold on him. Yes, he has shown more promise and one of things I do like is the way he attacks defenders with forward movement. What he lacks is the ability to finish. Whatever the average the poor lad has more misses than hits. If he really wants to be the best in the league he needs to deliver on that promise. I don’t expect it to come right away – 3 months out is a long time for any one. But he comes back to the squad when they will need him. Maybe not so much for scoring but for the fact that he gives us height, depth and options on and off the bench.Oh and the scoring would be a bonus.
Arsene has clarly placed all his eggs in the EPL and CL baskets. He did as much with his squad selection this weekend. And while he did not try and throw away the match, he clearly had to prioritize what he needed to do. Had the fixture list not been so congested for the EPL the squad may have been different but given who play it was clearly the right choice and the boys will have the motivation once again to go for it.
I would look for Andrei Arshavin to show up for the next month as he seems to have the ability to show up for the games that matter. The magician he is has an uncanny knack of showing up for the right matches. Ask United, ask Liverpool what he can do in “big matches.” He may not score in every one of these matches but he is going to be a headache for some defenders that much is sure. I’d prefer he really make the United and Chelsea defense look like idiots but I’ll take any of them.
Anyway, whatever the outcome this match begins a list of fixtures that should have any Arsenal, nay any football fan salivating with delight.
How It Should Play Out:
Oh hell let’s just call it for what it – a hotly followed match by two good teams. However with so much at stake and Arsenal’s history at Villa Park – look for this one to be an eked out win.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Cesc Fabregas. Who else. He is red hot. He scores when he wants to. When he is up for it – he is literally the best midfielder in the EPL and possibly Europe right now.
Aston Villa: James Milner. If Theo Walcott wants to know who to emulate – he could do no better than watching Milner. Muscular, quick and good on the ball he will be more a thorn to Arsenal than Gabby Abonglahor.
Probable Starting XI:
Lucky guess?
Injuries:
Arsenal: Diaby (calf) Djourou (knee) Gibbs (foot), Merida (ankle) Van Persie (ankle)
Villa: Petrov (achilles), Albrighton (leg) Bouma (toe) Carew (knee) Harewood (foot) Reo-Coker (ankle) Salifou (compassionate leave) Warnock (shin)
Match Officials:
Referee: Lee Probert
Assistant Referees: Andy Newbold & Gary Stott
Fourth Official: Chris Foy
Recent League Form:
Arsenal: WWDWW
Villa: DLLWW
TV Broadcast:
Setanta: 17:00 On rebroadcast
No other known channels
Live Feeds:
YouAreMyArsenal.com is not responsible for content found on sites it is linked to
Game Day Chat will be open: www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal – 2
Villa -1
118 comments
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Anyone else think Martin O’Neill is making himself look a little silly. All he had to do is make the point clearly but calmly that his team play a good alround game of football and most people would immediately agree and think Arsene was getting carried away. But no, it’s O’Neill himself who makes a meal out of this and carries out starts a campaign against Arsene and ends up looking looking seriously childish.
As for Arsene, there’s a hint of delusional coming through again. Whilst Arsenal play an appealing brand of football – focused on possession and accurate passing – it IS NOT the perfect recipe at all. Even if the team heading for the title the truth remains that this teams football ignores parts of the game that are exceedingly interesting – like fast wide players who can cross, and strikers that can head, and strikers who attack the box, and even the fast break football that was the hallmark of the last great Arsenal side. All that stuff is wonderful to watch yet we can’t do it.
So….all that to say, O’Neill has a point that we don’t own ‘good football’ and pretending we do is a sure way to court unpopularity.
You wonder a little bit how much worse the John Terry profile can get? Not only his own indiscretions but his Dad selling drugs and his mum and mum-in-law caught shoplifting. All a bit tacky and crass.
Now let me go on record again as saying I happen to admire Terry’s on-field consistency – but ‘strewth mate’ sort yourself out. All the ridiculous money in the world can’t buy a bit of class and dignity.
This is where Arsene’s apparent concern for the character of the players he recruits together with Arsenals long history of being a club with class make a nice mix.
Even our last great team with Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Pires, et al, I can’t recall being embarrassed by the behaviour of the players. Indeed their biggest crime (as charged by a certain moaning A.Cole) was that a group of the players regularly went out for coffee!! Perhaps Cole was too thick to engage in the more enlightened conversations of the group??? Chelsea is probably his right level. ;-)
Probably a matter of degree. The Arsenal players you mentioned, their dives were quite embarrassing too ;)
I recall a tv program where an officer commanding a special forces unit did a ‘John Terry’ on one of his men’s wives. Later, in action, the sargeant of the unit shot and killed the officer using a gun from the enemy. The point was that the officer had breached the ‘rules’ of the unit. How could the men follow and trust a guy like that?
Andez has a point. The majority of fans won’t care, yet it’s hardly a positive vibe within the team.
Did Terry sleep with a Chelsea player’s wife, or was it another friend? If it was the wife of someone not on the team, I don’t the players will read too much into it.
Wayne Bridge, his ex teammate and great friend. (well, at least Wayne thought they were FRIENDS)
Yes, he’s not sleeping with any gf of his CURRENT teammates. But if you were a Chelsea player, the next time you hang out with Terry with your girl or wife, wouldn’t you be a little……..
One more thing, for those who thinks it doesn’t matter as long as John Terry scores…..
please spare a minute for the thought of the son of Wayne Bridge, who happened to be given birth by the same girl who dear uncle John Terry slept with behind his dad’s back…. think of what the kid is gonna face when he’s growing up…
Martin O’Neill, for whatever reasons, still ANGRY at Wenger for calling Villa playing a “long ball game”. Poor baby.
Since when claiming a side playing “a long ball game” becoming an “insult”? Martin, please don’t let Tony Pullis heard that. It might hurt his feeling. The UK based football managers are getting a bit sensitive these days.
It might not be an insult, but it’s still a stupid thing to say. I hate it when football managers (AW included) say stuff like “oh, they didn’t come out to play” or “oh they just put 11 men behind the ball… that’s why we lost (or drew).”
It’s not like that’s against the rules… so if you can’t deal with it that’s your own fault b/c you should have planned for it.
It’s equivalent to a baseball coach saying “we would’ve won if they didn’t focus so much more on pitching than hitting. They spend much more on their pitching staff than on their offense… if they did things the right way we would’ve won.”
Sounds ridiculous right?
O’Neill had every right to response. Managers all did that, exchanging verbal wars.
But I don’t see any point of dwelling on the issue.
Today when I log on to internet, I still read O’Neill been keep REPEATING the same old same old… AW hardly even responsed.
We played Villa on Wednesday. Today is Sunday.
stag133 Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
he just scored the winner for Chelsea today, might be the difference in the title race!
I bet their supporters don’t care if he is a asshole off the pitch. rarely does that matter to fans.
———————————
Bet you would say so as he’s NOT playing for ARSENAL.
Now spare a minute for his teammates. If you were one of the Chelsea players, would you TRUST a guy like him?
Well, guess you would. Since he’s NOT playing for ARSENAL. And since he’s just SCORE a winner, so it doesn’t matter he SCORE with his teammates’ girls huh?
Fecking Chelsea. You’d think John Terry had done enough scoring away from home.
As for tomorrow, we really have to raise our game.
Rooney’s on fire. Campbell’s got half a match under his belt. Clichy is still vulnerable for pace. I think United will try and outplay us, rather than stick the boot in. But we still have get out the traps faster than we have for the past few games.
Hoping for 2-1. Will happily settle for 1-0.
JUST A COUPLE OF NEWS ITEMS:
1. Dutch FA and Doctors are saying that RvP could be back and playing with 7 weeks. Thes striker is back at the Arsenal training facility and is walking normally without any sign of injury or with any aid. Of course the Ducth want him back in 7 weeks to play in the friendly against the US – though it is unlikely that Arsenal will let him go given the current acrimony between club and country.
2. Arsenal are trying to get Marouane Chamakh to agree to a pre-summer contract deal. The deal would be approximately £50K a week. It is identical to the one offered by Liverpool but the assumption is the Chamakh prefers Arsenal to Liverpool.
3. Supposedly Arsenal have made a bid £5 M bid for GK Asmir Begovic. They are trying to outbid Spurs who bid £2 M. We’ll see.
LOL.
well, ummm, I also read on here that Smalling was a lifetime Gooner, and he went to United!
I don’t care about Chamakh, if he’s not here for THIS season…
and RVP back in 2 months, isn’t going to help us either… it will all be decided by then.
Papers are saying Begovic is heading to Stoke.
Burnley equalizes, early in the second half. Nice.
Missed that goal…but I’m liking what I see at this point (75th min, still 1-1, A. Cole limping around a bit). Chelsea did sort of look like they thought they could just show up and win. Is Drogba on the bench?
(edit)….Ugghhh….83rd minute, John Terry gets some head….(to the ball that is, for a 2nd Chelsea goal)…
The goal was equal parts Chelsea mistake and Burnley accomplishment. Nice…oh, shit. Terry scores.
Anyway, joined midway during first half. Don’t know about Drogba.
Hey, Vibe (and others) you should join us in the GDC for our matches…We do enjoy the Arsenal, but it’s not all Kool-aid, AKB, stinky hippy love-in, if that’s what people fear….
(edit) Match over….Only Chelsea (among league leaders) get full points at Burnley…could be the difference for the title…
Damn it. (Chelsea/Burnley result.)
Thank you, Steve. I’ve checked in briefly before, and found looking at both screens to challenging. But maybe for tomorrow.
oh, and in the file of STUPIDITY IN FOOTBALL…
The African Cup of Nations has decided to BAN Togo for two years
from the tournament, because the team listened to its government and
pulled out of the tournament!
So, they should have played football after their bus was machine-gunned and 3 people DIED and some were just shot… I suppose the players who
were shot should have just sucked it up and played too.
They should start their own tournament in direct competition with
the ACoN, and feck the whole bunch of nitwits who run it.
To me, the question is simply…
can Arsenal beat United when it counts, in a match that matters,
when its all on the line for both teams.
A draw would suit Chelsea wonderfully… both their rivals drop 2 points.
A draw would screw both Arsenal and United… so they both should
be going for a WIN.
I predicted a draw before the big 4 matches started (and was correct on the Villa match)… I think we draw against United…
I don’t trust Almunia in a big game… plain and simple.
1-1
If we lose, I wouldn’t be shocked at all… we have the ability to
beat United down, or get thrashed by them as well.
We’re like a box of chocolates.
Some stats to kickstart the chat for tomorrow –
Match pointers
• Since Arsène Wenger arrived in north London there have been 27 league meetings between these teams, United winning 10, Arsenal nine and eight draws
• Despite winning at the Emirates in the Champions League last season, United’s recent record has been unexceptional with one win and four defeats in their last nine league visits to Arsenal
• Wayne Rooney has netted 12 goals in his last 10 league matches
• Arsenal have lost just two of their last 23 league games at home, both to Chelsea
Got home just in time to see Birmingham score an injury time equalizer against Spurs. :)
Saw that too….nice goal. B’ham away seems a tough fixture for everybody….
And Burnley kept their match with Chelsea level until Anelka breaks through in the 27th minute (just now).
It would be fairly ironic if the results at Burnley end up being the difference between the league’s top teams (as they are currently)….
HONEST Terry… slept with his good friend’s girl… nice.
he just scored the winner for Chelsea today, might be the difference in the title race!
I bet their supporters don’t care if he is a asshole off the pitch. rarely does that matter to fans.
The biggest question mark on Sunday… Will Rooney WIN another penalty against Sol?
Yes, Wenger said the window is closed for Arsenal in January.
He lost out on Smalling, so he’s done.
OK, so if Smalling wasn’t going to be here until 2011 anyway,
what the hell was the point?
Sol comes in, for FREE… Wilshire and Senderos go out.
We spend no money, probably save money with the wages going out.
So the profit train continues.
if we sign nobody in the next few days, and crash in the league
in the next few weeks… and go out of the CL before the Final…
Wenger should GO.
Not good enough.
A lot of managers could manage this team and not win anything.
But few can do it and make so much money for the club, and tease
the supporters enough that they keep showing up in 60,000 masses, and
not demand more.
If he wins nothing, I can’t wait for the end of the season when he
has to answer to the supporters questions again in the year end meeting.
For the record, I hope we win the next 3 matches and run the table the
rest of the way… I’ll watch every match, and be dissapointed with
any dropping of points… but it is to be expected at this point.
He simply refuses to adapt his philosophy, and even have a real go at
winning the league.
He will drive me to drink.
Sad really – there is money to be spent on reinforcements, but Wenger is so god damn mule-headed that he won’t do it. After all, the team has Walcott and Bendtner coming back so no strikers are needed. Hopefully this is some sort of smokescreen since he rarely says anything about transfers but my hopes are not high. I’ll race you to the bar Stag.
Agree Stag. I don’t want to hear anything from anyone about being patient or not stifling the kids. Spending money on just ONE GODDAMN PLAYER- which Arsene once again refuses to do- will not stifle anyone’s development… and I don’t see how it’s impatient to want your team to spend a relatively small amount of money when they (a) have it to spend and (b) have their best chance to win the League since 2004.
I’m sure he’ll drive you to drink Stag … kool-aid Arsenal flavor, that is.
Wilshere joins Bolton on loan.
Wonder how much he will learn there, but I guess any playing time is better than warming the bench.
Probably to toughen a little bit as Arsenal players are always perceived as soft.
Just thought I would be part of the media orgy that is taking place right now:
the High Court has removed the Gag order on the media from reporting on John Terry’s private life. Supposedly JT had a one night stand with one of his England team mates wife. Speculation is rife that it was Wayne Bridge’s wife.
Best line I’ve read today about it – Looks like JT Came over the Bridge.
I don’t know if the transfer window closes tomorrow or Monday, but I think it is quite safe to say that any Arsenal activity is highly unlikely.
I wonder when Bendtner’s play is going to live up to his inflated opinion of himself? The lad has been talking himself up ever since he arrived at the club – yet to be honest his on-field performances have NEVER raised the heartrate. He’s hardly spectacular in any way is he?
He’s tall, which makes it easy to feel like a big man in that locker room.
We’re all waiting for him to live up to his own hype.
“From the same link, Arsenal have the lowest % wins by a single goal. So we either win big or we struggle. Hmm …”
__________________________________________________
That’s an interesting stat that probably confirms what a lot of readers already thought intuitively.
We aren’t designed to defend 1 goal leads. We’re designed to attack and overwhelm the opposition. We need that 2nd and even 3rd goal to put teams away. Put another way, we need to be the leagues top scorers by some margin.
Unfortunately to do this we need a really potent striker to convert more of the chances and half chances that our intricate possession game provides. Perhaps Robin could be that player if he could stay on the field – but he can’t. So we should seek out another solution.
From the same link, Arsenal have the lowest % wins by a single goal. So we either win big or we struggle. Hmm …
Can’t remember who, but someone mentioned Chelsea’s luck in the Cup competitions – playing at home and against lower opposition. Well, it is true.
FA CUP:
Chelsea: 13 home ties (68%), 6 away ties (32%)
Arsenal: 7 home ties (50%), 7 away ties (50%)
Chelsea: 13 v lower league teams (59%), 9 v Premier League teams (41%)
Arsenal: 5 v lower league teams (36%), 9 v Premier League teams (64%)
LEAGUE CUP
Chelsea: 7 home ties (58%), 5 away ties (42%)
Arsenal: 6 home ties (40%), 9 away ties (60%)
Chelsea: 6 v lower league teams (32%), 12 v Premier League teams (68%)
Arsenal: 7 v lower league teams (32%), 15 v Premier League teams (68%)
OVERALL
Chelsea: 25 home ties (65%), 11 away ties (35%)
Arsenal: 13 home ties (45%), 16 away ties (55%)
Chelsea: 19 v lower league teams (47.5%), 21 v Premier League teams (52.5%)
Arsenal: 12 v lower league teams (33%), 24 v Premier League teams (67%)
From http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,12038_5886673,00.html
Kiwi is spot on with the injury record. Look at the stats. With 23 games played
Vermaelen 23
Gallas 23
Sagna 20
Arshavin 19
Almunia 18
Fabregas 18
Diaby 17
Song 16
Next best is Denilson with 12. The eight players above are arguably starters. So there are three problem positions – left back, main striker and right sided attacking player.
LB – we have been crippled with injuries to Clichy and Gibbs.
Main Striker – RvP started 11 games and then went kaput. Bendtner was injured even before that and Eduardo has been trying to fill the gap.
Right Sided Attacker – has been the worst. Nasri and Rosicky have started 5 times each, Eboue and Bendtner 4 times and and Walcott 3 times. Sicky, Nasri and Walcott were known injury problems before the season started.
Despite this, we are top scorers in the league and have conceded more goals than last season.
Joshuad says…..
I don’t think van Persie is injury prone. He broke his metatarsal, which could have happened to anyone. He suffered two horrible challenges playing for Holland which would have injured any one else, especially that ugly knee injury tackle. How about the fact that he was fit all of last season?
________________________________________________________
Yeah right. Let’s just ignore the evidence of his 7-year Arsenal career punctuated with serious injury spells and littered with lesser ones. To the extent that he averages starting only 35% of EPL games each season. Look at the stats for yourself – or be lazy and write your own history.
As for being fit for all of last season. He started 24 EPL games (out of 38). And for the record he was injured in the later part of the season, just when it really counted, so that many of those late appearances were (not for the first time) below par.
I like Robin, but that’s not enough. He doesn’t deserve to be the number one striker with his wretched record. Yet Arsene’s problem is the number of similarly fragile guys in the striking contingent – with Robin, Eduardo and Walcott. Then you add in Rosicky who plays a wide attacking role and it’s a recipe for eternal crisis. Arsene’s approach seems to be to bury his head and pretend they’ll come good.
If you take a step back and look at how we lined up this season – we’ve only got 2 strikers/wide players who are ‘normally fit’ – Bendtner and Arshavin. It’s ludicrous. We started the season with……
RvP: fit yet suspect
Eduardo: not fit but returning, yet we knew this would be a frustrating season of on-field rehab.
Bendtner: fit
Walcott: not fit and returning from serious injuries
Rosicky: read comment for Eduardo
Arshavin: fit
Nasri: long-term injury
I’ve ignored Vela in keeping with Arsene’s approach ;-)
With that as a backdrop – how can we complain about injury?
I don’t blame the players, again… I’ll rant, WENGER knows the deal… yet he signs the same type players, and just re-signed all the injury prone players again.
Who’s fault is that?
RVP is super-talented, just not able to stay on the pitch enough.
I’m not sure why circumstances would have been an alibi to RVP’s injury history, anyway. It’s not as if he’s been out due to car accident or falling down stairs. He gets hurt playing football. Too much of the time (as your stats make stark). Not an opinion, just a fact.
You are on fire, Kiwi. Keep ’em coming.
Man Shitty have loaned Robinho to Santos. Just wondering… how on earth Santos are able to afford his wage?
Robinho, if I’m correct, is among the world’s biggest earner in terms of weekly wage. On 200 or 300 k per week (can’t remember the exact figures). If Brazilian clubs are able to afford wage like that, they wouldn’t need to sell their players to Europe clubs at the first place would they?
Or… are Man Shitty helping to pay Robinho’s wage while he’s away playing for another club?
Paying an England record transfer fee for a player only to let him playing for another club… That’s what I call good management.
No, make that excellent management. :)
I believe Robinho, (who WENGER was a BIG fan of, by the way)… is eating some of his wages.
City is paying some of his wages, and Santos is trying to get sponsers to stump up for some of his wages.
He is a young talented player, who can’t physically deal with the EPL yet, and has numerous options ahead of him in City’s line-up.
He’s the ideal Arsene Wenger player, young, lightweight, finesse, short.
Steve, basically every formation has its strength and weakness. For 451, good at stopping opposition play, weak up front. 442, balanced all over the pitch, rigid up front. 352, good at attacking and controling midfield, vulnerable get caught down the wings…
For 433, inevitably we are vulnerable as well getting caught at our full back positions. That’s the reason I believe our full backs need to play with a better sense of discipline.
Personally, I believe our CBs should be the one to cover the lost ground when full backs pushing forward. As if the opposition breaks out for a counter down the wing, the distance between our DM to the full back position is longer than the CB to move to the flank.
Our DM instead should drop back into the center back position to cover for the CB who’s pulling wide to cover for our full back. The distance from the DM position to CB is shorter than from the DM position to full back.
That is just my opinion. May not be true.
Makes sense. Song often drops into centre half.
And Another Thing….and this time I do appeal to those of you that know the game better than I do….What the hell is up with our formation?
Supposedly we are playing a 4-3-3, but I just don’t quite get it. Is our MF 3 given the freedom to move anywhere on the pitch? Certainly I don’t see these guys on the touchline very often. If there’s any wide overlap play it seems to be between the forwards and the full-backs. Yesterday we played a strong team with good team speed which prefers to play the ball out wide and cross it in. Too often, it seemed to me, our fullbacks were left one-on-one with their wingers. I guess it worked as we kept a clean sheet, but they certainly had their chances. And, although we had the advantage in numbers in the center of the pitch we seemed unable to mount a lot of sustained possession.
And given their defensive responsibilities (and the lack of decent central targets, at least until Bendtner came on) I can forgive the rather woeful offensive contribution seen from Sagna and Clichy–how can they focus on picking out Dudu or Arshavin with a cross when they know they need to sprint back so Young or Downing don’t roach the crap out of them?
With our injury problems in MF and further forward, is there any way we could work in players like Eboue and/or Traore, who seem to be pretty decent crossers and might be able to help out defensively against the likes of Valencia who we’ll face on the weekend? I thought we pretty good at the end of the Bolton away match with Traore playing ahead of Clichy, but maybe that was because Denilson was out for that match….
Top post.
I like the idea of bringing in Traore and Eboue to help out the full backs, esp against Utd and Chelsea.
I think the midfield 3 works when the personnel is right. Unfortunately you-know-who has been a passenger lately, so it hasn’t been as effective.
Cesc, Diaby and Ramsey all thrive in a 3, but only when Song is behind them.
So let’s talk about #15….Denilson Pereira Neves….
There are a lot of intelligent people on this site and I try to watch our team informed by what I read here….and I try also to watch our players “objectively,” i.e.: giving the benefit of the doubt to players, esp., ones that I’m carrying a negative feeling for….so….regarding Denilson (who turns 22 in less than 3 weeks)….
WTF?
I hear that Denilson is supposed to be “smart” and “a willing servant” doing what he is told, taking the easy pass, etc. Sorry, I don’t see it. Yesterday he’s supposedly our DM and he’s trying to flick the ball over players and out of trouble? Not Smart. If he’s playing in a deeper more defensive role, can he not see that a box has been painted 18 yards out from the goal line, signifying that desperate, lunging tackles will be penalized with spot kicks? I worry that he doesn’t.
I can’t fault him for being small and being a player who relies on his footwork to protect the ball and move it safely onward, rather than showing ANY ability to use his body to win high balls or protect possession once it’s won. Players like this, especially if they’re occasionally able to strike the ball at goal with a modicum of accuracy can be valuable. If Cesc AND Diaby AND Ramsey are unavailable I can see a spot for our friend from the favela as an AM….otherwise?…
So what other attributes does he bring? Workrate? Pretty decent. Sense of positioning? Not as good. Pace? Average. Decisiveness? Not much hesitation, but often not very smart. None of these things elevate him above the other choices.
And finally, when it comes to playing “smart” in key positions we must discuss referees and trying to “influence” them. IMO it seems very hard for “latin” players to adjust to the culture of English football. Over the last couple of seasons, getting ample amounts of playing time relative to his contribution, Denilson has done alright, only flopping egregiously on a couple of occasions in my memory. Lately, and with the mysterious collapse and stretchering off vs Everton, he seems to be reverting. AWs statements to the press about that play and the fact that Eastmond played the two Bolton matches made me think that maybe the manager was benching Denilson to prove his point. Or maybe he was/still is hurt? Who knows?….Even though his is the only goal we’ve scored in the matches since, I think it’s quite a stretch to say that his play has been satisfactory, or that we haven’t missed Alex Song in the extreme (Alex Song!!!)
As always, I hope to be proven wrong. (And if anybody can talk me down, I’d appreciate it…) Surely Denilson will play 90 against United and maybe he will prove a key contributor, but I certainly like Mazza’s line-up above (without him) a lot. I don’t like these feelings of doubt (in our manager’s wisdom) but better to acknowledge them than pretend they don’t exist….or something.
Noob, my arse.
Uh…I guess I’ll take that as a compliment….
As it was intended.
Look, Denilson is what he is…
he’s NOT a viable replacement at DM when Song isn’t available.
He can play, he has some good matches and some skills. He shoots the ball, which is more than I can say for a few of our players (accurately too)…
but he can’t be our best option, or, we are NOT good enough to win.
Nice guy to have off the bench, and as an option short term, I see him as I see Eboue.
If they left, we could find other players to do what they do.
(more experienced ones would be ideal)
But WENGER is 100% RESPONSIBLE for Denilson being out there as much as he is, and in the position he is.
It’s all on Arsene.
So for United I would go with:
———Almunia————
Sagna—Gallas—Vermaelen—Clichy
————-Song—————-
Rosicky—-Nasri—Fabregas—Arshavin
———–Bendtner————-
Uhmmmmm….I hate to state the obvious, but you left out Denilson…..
Steve, meet Mazza.
Mazza, Steve.
;-)
Same team as I mentioned above.
BREAKING:
Vermaelen’s injury is NOT a fracture. He likely is out for United but will be reassessed prior to the match
Song and Eboue will be in the squad for United
Eduardo and Diaby should be back in time for Chelsea
WHEEEEEEEEEEW!
No broken leg!
That is fantastic!!!
;)
And Eboue is back too! Gee that ought to solve all our problems, right?
This is very good news. After watching the replay I was thinking the if it WAS a broken leg, TV5 is truly one tough MoFo…He stayed on a good 6-8 minutes, and had to sprint and jump on it several times!
Another thing re: injuries….How the hell do they say, less than 24 hours after an injury, exactly how long someone will be out. With injuries being such a huge part of the “story” of our team, I’m tiring of the constant stream of mis-information. I guess it would be less of a factor if we had proper depth in all positions as many suggest….
I am not exactly brimming with confidence with Sol coming right into the fire against Rooney and United, then Drogba and Chelsea.
It is a tall task for anyone, let alone an older player, who hasn’t played regular football for over a year.
Does Not Bode Well.
For all the wonderful young talent we have in the squad (according to some, it is enought to dominate football for years! LOL)
We currently have no real NO.1 keeper, no real viable option with Song not in the line-up at DM (and we know there is ACoN), and with all the injuries up front, we lack a striker… with the window having been open for almost a month, we did shit, other than getting Sol for free.
Acceptable to the mass of no-matter-what followers… but utterly ridiculous when we actually have (had) a chance to win the league.
It was just a matter of time before Gallas or Vermaelen went down … they played almost every match. I just hope its not a broken leg.
Cracking game. Aston Villa came out and played very well. We were very unlucky hitting the woodwork. As much as we may not like it, the result was a fair one.
I don’t think van Persie is injury prone. He broke his metatarsal, which could have happened to anyone. He suffered two horrible challenges playing for Holland which would have injured any one else, especially that ugly knee injury tackle. How about the fact that he was fit all of last season?
Some don’t like Denilson. I get it. I don’t just blindly defend the kid, but I think the abuse he gets is often unfair. How about considering the fact that he’s been out injured almost the entire season and how that might affect a players form. Take Clichy. He’s been out just as long as Denilson and he got skull-drug by Ashley Young all night long. Oh, we don’t want to talk about that. Dogging Denilson is more fun. Got it.
Really, we had very few CM options last night. What do you expect Wenger to do? Eastmond is a descent prospect but could he really have coped well with the pace and pressure of last night’s game? Remember how well Merida and Wilshire coped with West Ham’s pressure in the Carling Cup? Do you actually think Wenger wanted to play an unfit player for ninety minutes at CM? If Eastmond isn’t ready, do you really want to rock his confidence? This is stuff the manager has to consider. With that, it will be nice to have Song, Diaby, and Eboue back as legit midfield options.
Sol Campbell was fabulous. He looked old late on in the Stoke game and I thought that he might just be past it. At 35 and 32 respectively, Sol and Bill are two class acts. It may prove a very good bit business Wenger opted to bring him back in. Time will tell.
Likewise, it was refreshing to have Bendtner back. He gave us a different dimension with his big body and hold-up play. We’ll see how much he has to offer until the end of the season.
I see what you’re saying about Denilson and viable alternatives. I think a bit of the frustration has to do with:
-He’s taking up the position of a first team player when he isnt up to it. Not that his backups are necessarily better, but it means Arsene has one more midfielder to “count on” at the start of the season.
-Yes he is still young. But for some reason, it just doesn’t feel like he has the potential to burst onto the scene. There’s no sign pointing towards a boatload of untapped potential.
Unlike Song for example.. I had hopes for him since that masterclass performance leading 10 man Arsenal to victory in the CC against Blackburn a few years back playing at CB. Or Diaby who is often frustrating but has the ball skills and the physicality and the moments of brilliance to give everyone a glimmer of hope. I’m unsure of Denilson’s strong suit or what aspect of his game he can specialize in and bring to the team.
And Bendtner did look good. Hope he can continue what seems like immediate decent form when we play over the weekend.
Sol’s fitness is going to be really tested. Again we are at the situation of having Silvestre as backup. Only worse cuz I’d prefer TV5 to Sol.
Arseblog was excellent today…..have a read
I am wondering if we should be a little aggressive against ManU. Song, Nasri + Cesc in midfield along with Arsh, Sicky and Bendy up front. Look to score early and maintain the momentum all through.
“A serious decision has to be made in the summer regarding some players and they have to be offloaded. If someone is injured constantly, then what is the point in paying for their high wages on a weekly basis?
Arsene prides himself on balancing the books but I would like to see a stat on how much money has been lost in wages to injury prone players over the last few years? In my mind, the money lost there could have been better spent on healthier players who could have contributed. maybe the bank can’t be broken on signing a new player because the bank is already broken paying the injured ones?”
______________________________________________
I very much agree Sachin. Although I fear Arsene can’t bring himself to make those hard decisions. That’s why I said a while back that someone else in the Arsenal setup (perhaps in the new exec team) needs to flag the issue of each players on-field return and productivity.
I can see that Arsene is determined to press through with his younglings, and I have to admit the progress in Song (major) and Diaby (to a lesser extent) demonstrate that his confidence has a basis. Yet I just can’t see why we have to endure such a fragile attacking unit. It makes no sense when we are an overtly attacking team. I can stomach the average GK, the short yet mobile defence, the short yet mobile midfield……but why oh why do we have to put up with such a flakey attacking unit for soooooooo looooooooog??????????
The absolutely horrid lack of robustness in Robin & Tomas (for 3+ years) turns the spotlight on all the other players. Put it this way, if Robin and Tomas were reasonably fit we wouldn’t place such premature expectation on the likes on Bendtner and Walcott. And we would be better able to cope with Eduardo’s tentative rehabilitation process. But that is not the case. We can’t rely on Robin and Tomas to get on to or stay on the field so the other players ‘problems’ magnify.
It makes me worry for Arshavin. The reality is he is playing with an every-changing weak attack. What chance he succumbs to an injury soon? I already think that his play and effectiveness is diluted by the lack of fit and capable players around him.
In venting all this, I’m still upbeat about this season ;-)
This is just my ole chestnut.
>>ut why oh why do we have to put up with such a flakey >>attacking unit for soooooooo looooooooog??????????
Only “Arsene Knows” :)
I was certain that an attacking player was going to be bought this transfer window. I didn’t expect that the only signings would be Sol and a 17 year old who would be loaned out. Yes, still a few days left in the transfer window but if there isn’t any snow fall on the last day this time around, will Arsenal lose out on a player?
Watched the replay and feel that a draw was a pretty fair result. Sol looked good at CB, but we need to hope that TV5 is not out long term. Sadly, I’m not feeling equally worried about Eduardo. Bendtner and Nasri looked more useful in their cameos than Dudu did in his hour plus. Arshavin also looked to play more freely when Eduardo went off.
Unfortunately I’m not seeing much upside in AWs continued faith in Denilson. We escaped with a clean sheet but it was no thanks to him. Ramsey is a great talent but too much comes to nought and defense and protecting the ball are elements of his game that still need to develop.
What I saw most of all was a need for midfielders who show some real box to box authority. I think Song offer this and Eboue and Traore might along the wings while protecting (shaky) Clichy and (knackered) Sagna. For the moment a front line of Arshavin, Bendtner and Rosicky/Nasri offer enough of a threat with Cesc just behind them…if he’s allowed to commit himself to attack. Too much of this match saw our attackers needed in the center of the pitch.
Overall, I’m very surprised it was 0-0, as it was a very open match. Both teams had chances but maybe there was enough dross on the pitch that the “team” goals couldn’t come off as well as any individual moments of brilliance.
On the balance of play, Arsenal should have won. After Cesc’s solo run and shot (yet another sign of our super star maturing) hit the post, Rosicky should have scored had Ramsey not blocked him. Later on, Rosicky should really have scored when he hit the post – he had a lot of time. Oh well, let us hope we got those in against Utd.
Arsenal have to beat Man Utd. The OT game this season still feels awful as Arsenal gifted the points away. And then the abuse that Wenger had to suffer at the end was frustrating. If Ferguson was given that treatment, you can be sure Arsenal would be playing behind closed doors for a few games.
All those battle royales from the past come to mind when thinking about this sunday game. Ideally, I would like to see Arsenal destroy Man Utd 3-0 or higher but I am not sure if I will get to see that dream fulfilled anytime soon (or ever). I will take a win by any means.
Rooney has gotten 5 goals in the last two games. Does that mean he has used up his quota or he is just getting warmed up to score his customary goal against Arsenal?
Yes, we need to thrash United.
Despite Rooney finding the top of his game, I really feel that they are significantly weaker than in recent years. (And not just because C. Ronaldo is gone.)
It’s another chance to build the “Emirates Fortress” and I hope we can rise to the occasion. We may need to integrate a bunch of returning players for this match which makes the task all the more difficult.
Another HUGE test…
It has been a really long time since we scored three goals against ManU – 25/Nov/2001.
And that day, let’s say the rain + Barthez had a hand in helping out although Henry took his chances so coolly, especially the 2nd one. This is what gets me. Man Utd have put Arsenal to the sword many many times.
And there was a game about 100 years ago when Arsenal beat Man Utd 3-0 courtesy of Adams, Anelka and Freddie. It is painful to have go that far back, but that’s how it is.
Ofcourse, there was a charity shield game where a certain Silvestre scored Arsenal’s third goal, albeit an own goal. See, he was showing loyalty to a club he would join 4 years later :) It is grasping at straws when I have to pull in the Charity Shield game to make up the numbers..
Ah, the good old days!
A disappointing FA Cup exit followed by a draw in the city of Birmingham and one of our players breaks a leg! Deja vu, anyone?
A draw at Villa is not the worst result IF we beat ManU. Frankly, we should beat them. We are at home, they have a LOT of injuries, Rio is suspended and Rooney is carrying the team. Also, they did not “rest” any players; they went all out last night to win one of the “lesser” cups. So the pressure is all on us to perform on Sunday.
If we do, we are still on track.
But Rooney did dive against Sol though. Any chance that one might be another Deja Vu?
That was at OT.
Soccernet echoes your feeling.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=732475&sec=england&cc=5901
I was so hoping they would have gone to extra time against City and would have been more worn out. But then again, I should have known they would have scored a goal in injury time. I guess 5 minutes of injury time were not needed in the end.
We definitely have the capacity to beat them. Esp if Song plays.. even more so if Denilson doesn’t (I’ll happily eat my words if he scored a winner).
I think Valencia was the only player they rested. Decent player Valencia. Seems like a good guy too. Hasn’t been contaminated by the drivel around him yet…
“Solve the injury situation at Arsenal and you have a title winning team. How to solve injuries? No idea.”
_______________________________________________
It’s not entirely a mystery. Some of the players are chronically injured yet we pretend they’re not. There is a little bit of delusion happening with Arsene which is indefensible. He carried Eduardo and Rosicky into this season trumpeting them as serious squad members – yet any thinking fan new they were likely to have a hard season of rehab ahead chequered with disruptive setbacks – which is exactly what is happening. Walcott’s serious injuries were also a known and were always going to remove a large slice of his season followed by a tricky period of reintegration.
Nasri’s injury was genuinely unexpected – so you can sympathise with Arsene for that. Yet Robin’s injury wasn’t a surprise to anyone was it? So whilst we all sympathise individually with the players for their problems, the truth is we entered the season crossing every finger very tightly.
In Verme’s case – it’s a major bummer. He looks pretty robust – just one of those things.
This is one area where I think Arsene’s policies work against him and us. It’s one thing to doggedly stand by your players, another to fail to mitigate areas of serious and perennial injury.
While there are players who are more injury prone than others but given how things have been going, I do believe even if a solid player came to Arsenal, it will be a matter of time before he gets injured. Not sure if the huge number of games a player plays makes a difference or it is the fast, intense style, or what causes it. Going into the new year, I kept thinking it would be a miracle if TV went through the second half of the season injury free.
I came across an Arsenal fan recently who kept saying Arsenal need more players as solid as Arshavin because he believed it would take a lot for Arshavin to get injured. He contrasted that with Walcott and said if someone shoulder checked Walcott, he was certain Theo would be out injured. I agree with him but then again I have still not sat down and made a list of how every single Arsenal player got injured over the last few years to find a pattern. The thing is the high number of injuries, to even stronger players, cannot be put down to bad luck.
In the good old days, Arsenal never suffered injuries to more than a few players at a time. And those guys played all the time as well. But then again, that team had a solid spine, so maybe the workload among the players was equally distributed? Once again, I am speculating because I do not have the off ball stats of the players to see how much ground each player has covered this season.
Anyway..I am really tired of worrying about injuries, season after season. In a way, this echoes your comment. People talk about trophies while I think it would be a miracle if Arsenal got through a single season without injuries to more than a few players. When Van Persie was doing so well this season, I feared when he played for Holland. I thought the fact that Holland qualified early for the world cup might mean RVP would be free until the second half of the season but ofcourse not.
A serious decision has to be made in the summer regarding some players and they have to be offloaded. If someone is injured constantly, then what is the point in paying for their high wages on a weekly basis?
Arsene prides himself on balancing the books but I would like to see a stat on how much money has been lost in wages to injury prone players over the last few years? In my mind, the money lost there could have been better spent on healthier players who could have contributed. maybe the bank can’t be broken on signing a new player because the bank is already broken paying the injured ones? :)
The one player that Arsenal could not afford to get injured long term is Vermaelen. And on top of that he will be out for sunday for sure. Atleast Song is back. It seems with Arsenal whenever someone comes back from injury (or in the case of Song from international duty), another player is injured. Start. Hard stop. Start again. Stop again. On and on.
Solve the injury situation at Arsenal and you have a title winning team. How to solve injuries? No idea.
debatable whether we have a “title winner”. we still lack talent at KEY positions.
(keeper especially)
Let’s see what the scan shows. If it is a break and a long term recovery period that would be just awful and 100% bad luck. But let’s wait and see.
With Eduardo…..ya know….what do you say??? Yet another disruptive frustrating injury to add to the many he has suffered. It is what it is…..predictable. This is why the attack continues to worry me. We have way too much of this exposure in the attacking contingent. Just wait till Robin returns – it will be the same story. Lots of ‘minor’ injuries that break the continuity until the the next ‘big one’. Arsene needs to play hardball and make some unpleasant decisions. When we enjoyed success we had durable strikers ala Anelka and Henry not lemons.
With Eduardo out, Vela having a “niggle”, Bendtner still a 50-50 … Wenger really has ZERO excuse not bringing in a striker.
Rosicky and Walcott are very injury prone … so in other words we are relying on Arshavin for everything!
Post game, Wenger said it is Vermaelen’s fibula.
He “could have a broken leg”… that would be an utter disaster.
He left the stadium on crutches.
Eduardo is also out with a groin injury, and will not play
against United on Sunday.
But don’t worry, there are still like 6 days left with the
window open, and we know Arsene is always looking to improve the
team and give us the best chance of winning trophies.
;)
We werent that bad … we just needed that extra force in midfield and we would have shaded this game.
———————————–
Interesting how Man U always seem to win grudge games and shut the opposition up. Even with less technically skillful players than we have.
Whenever Arsenal players talk smack in public, there is a 100% chance of losing. With Man U its the exact opposite.
If Song was not coming back, I would have predicted another loss on Sunday. But with Song and Diaby returning and Denilson on the bench there is still hope.
We need to win on Sunday … no excuses whatsoever. Anything less and we are 7-8 points behind the leaders again. And thats with the Chelsea and Liverpool game yet to be played!
the question becomes, will he continue to play Denilson… when Song is back.
Knowing Wenger he will still idiotically play Denilson over Ramsey and Diaby.
When I said that Sol could hold the fort I didn’t expect it to be tested so soon ;-) Glad he demonstrated what I thought.
I thought our passing game was really off tune. So many passes simply didn’t go to feet, poorly weighted, poorly executed. Perhaps the price we pay for having so many returnee’s. Denilson is a chap who seems to really struggle when he returns after injury/absence. He simply makes way too many erroneous passes in really bad positions. If you make a poor pass in a defensive midfield position you place your team under immediate pressure. Indeed, quite a few Arsenal players seemed to be struggling to find their passing game tonight.
Conversely ;-) Bendtner showed a nice touch and good linking for a guy returning. His strength made him much more useful than Eduardo. He’s not quite as nimble (note I didn’t say quick) as Eduardo yet he offers mostly everything else and the critical attributes of height and strength.
Villa away is a serious game so getting a point is fine. Let the media wet themselves with definitive statements about it being 2 points lost or an opportunity lost. For me, a rational perspective says it is a point gained, momentum and the run maintained, all playing away against a good team. Let’s see how ManU and Chelsea perform over this same little period before we slash wrists. In a counter-intuitive way the ManU and Chelsea games are prhaps more likely to be ‘result games’. The fact there will be so much intensity means a goal or a few might well eventuate.
It would be good to see Clichy get a bit of support on a night like tonight. It’s only his 2nd(?) game back and it was clear that he was having a hard time against AYoung. Why didn’t someone help shield the threat Young was presenting? This is where the team can still develop – Arsene rightly preaches collective defensive responsibility, well the team left Clichy a bit exposed all game long tonight.
I’d say our passing game was off DUE to Villa. They played well. Let’s give them some credit, as opposed to us not being on!
Ashley Young will give a lot of defenders trouble. He has good speed and is capable of big things.
I do also think that we tracked back well, and played aggresively on defense. I thought we defended well, even in the air.
Even match.
But you can call it whatever you want, point gained, points dropped, at the end of the day, Chelsea got 3, we got 1… it just adds more pressure to the next 2 matches for us.
Not a chance in hell of us getting 10 points from these 4 matches now, sorry Ozi!
Agree with most of your post. Villa were good and credit to them. I’ll enjoy watching them play against the Mancs and Chelsea and hope they can get more points off them.
I feel sorry that you take so much pride in saying we have zero chance to get 10 points. What happened after your 100% full of confidence prediciton that Arsenal would not have a “chance in hell” of getting 20/24. Do you remember that conversation Stag? You never mentioned it again.. I decided then that rather than saying “I told you so” and call you out on it I’ll just let you (and everyone) enjoy the run. Yet one game into your new prediction of hopelessness and here you are already writing the team, YOUR team, off.
We still have a chance, although admittedly it is a much smaller one. The momentum gained from this match would have been big. Especially considering that Utd is going to be buzzing from their victory today.
Ozi, I said that you were correct on the 20/24 point total.
I said I was AT the Chelsea match, and we were humbled. After watching that mess, I didn’t think it was possible. The team followed that ass-kicking with a great response.
Now, I take no pride in saying we have zero chance of winning the next 3 matches in a row. It is just FACT. I didn’t think 10 points was a reasonable expectation at all.
I had us getting 5 points.
Draw Draw Loss Win.
With Chelsea winning their matches against lesser opponents, and United having a tough schedule as well, Chelsea will be way out front.
With Vermaelen possibly out long term, we’re in real trouble. But I have said that from DAY 1… we are thin at certain positions.
Entertaining match to watch, and I don’t think there was
much between these two teams. Villa came to play, and it was
close the whole match. A draw was a very fair result.
Chelsea cruise, and their clear path to a nice cushy lead is ON.
Tevez scores a fantastic goal to tie up the aggregate. He is amazing.
I agree with Fred, that Sol Campbell played very very well.
We might need that if Vermaelen is down for long, and it is a great
sign that SOL had it in him.
We HAVE to beat United now, and I’d say we have to draw at the very least against Chelsea… but I’d take a draw with United and a WIN over Chelsea…
Sol Campbell was an absolute monster today! Played excellently!
What happened to Vermalaen??!
Guys,
I was unable to see much of the match. ditto Fred’s question abt TV5.
Also, any recap would be appreciated.
He got injured. Walked off the pitch which was good. I hope its one of those niggles that you recover the next day rather than one of those that sees you miss every other game. Thankfully, Silvestre isn’t the next in line.
APparently it’s nerve damaged or a fractured Fibula. Fingers crossed.
Everyday I think I cant possibly have a worse opinion of Denilson but he continues to prove me wrong.
After playing like an old woman (copyright Mazza) all day … it goes up to the 93rd minutes. We almost score from a corner and Villa are psychologically on the ropes holding out for a draw. The ball falls for Denilson … just pass it simply to more capable players ie. anybody else… but NO … he fools himself loses the ball … and then gives an idiotic foul. If Villa were more incisive they might even have nicked one at the death.
For a team that played one man down in midfield we did well to get a draw here.
We are NOT winning anything with that useless twat in the center of our midfield.
Song can not start soon enough.
DAG – kudos on your line up forecast!
Go Gunners!
Starting XI: Almunia, Gallas, Vermaelen, Sagna, Clichy, Ramsey Denilson, Fabregas, Eduardo, Rosicky, Arshavin
Subs: Fabianski, Nasri, Walcott, Traore, Campbell, Eastmond, Bendtner
I actually think Ramsay is no longer the liability he was, at least away from home. His last few games have been very impressive, it’s only the game at the Emirates against Everton that he seemed to regress.
Even against Stoke I was very impressed with his ability to command the ball very quickly and get his feet sorted out, whereas in the past he used to lose control of it and generally seemed a bit lost when he received the ball.
Against West Ham and Portsmouth in the last ten minutes he was a monster, closing down high up the pitch and not backing off in cowardly Denilson fashion.
If he brings that level with him tonight I would put him in there with Cesc.
But yes, any midfield with the ‘stroller’ Denilson in there is biblical catastrophe in waiting so let’s hope our offensive players turn up and we play in their half for large spells.
Mazza –
this kid has great potential, but his play is that of a 19 yr old and for me he is too offensively minded ” while Denilson is the DM”.
If I’m not mistaken, in the Stoke match he had option to play a safe pass laterally or play a risky pass forward. He chose the later, the pass being intercepted & the counter began that led to Stokes 2nd goal.
Yeah, but he also showed ingenuity in delivering a similarly ambitious ball through to Vela – and it reached its intended target, unfortunately Vela failed to make the most of it.
Players like Ramsay will always give away possession as a result of their ambition, but the rewards are potentially very high.
Denilson is theoretically low risk/low reward but as we’ve seen, he is actually high risk himself, due to having the athletic ability of a old woman.
Rio has contested his 3-match ban for elbowing that Hull player.
If the charge remains, he is suspended for the Arsenal and Villa game (both away). If the ban is extended on “frivolous” grounds, he will miss the Everton away game as well. Yey!
On the other hand, it shows how much Fergie wants to beat City tonight, that he is risking so much. He doesn’t seem to care that ManU are challenging on three fronts and the Carling Cup is the least important of those. He is even willing to miss league games to get one over their biggest rivals.
Looking forward to the match and hoping for the best.
In the first match our defense appeared resolute and unfazed by their crossing game after a few antsy moments early on. A key play that summed up their frustration occurred midway through the second half when Ashley Young received a yellow for diving after anticipating contact from Alex Song. With Song missing, I’m a bit worried that Young may be a whole lot more effective with his runs inside, and won’t be resorting to such tactics. Perhaps Eastmond might be the better choice over Denilson at DM, or maybe he should get the start over Ramsey to ensure that we have slightly more defensive presence in MF. All told, this might be the spot where we don’t have adequate backup for Song and we might need two players to do the job!
A more positive way of looking at it, however, is that we should be able to control the middle of the pitch with Cesc playing the whole match, Denilson playing his famous “possession oriented” game and them missing their captain, Petrov (not to mention Gareth Barry). Their back line is banged up (Dunne just passed a fitness test and Warnock is out) so hopefully we can create pressure AND convert it into an early goal. As always, Villa are most dangerous on the counter, so gifting them a goal and having to chase the match are what we must avoid.
I guess we’ll have to watch the match on a stream, with hopefully a glorious replay on TV afterwards?….Time for our team to stand up to the challenge.
Agree with Kiwi’s remarks above & yours.
A midfield of Cesc, Rambo, & Denilson. For me, a train wreck waiting to happen.
Switch Rosicky and Rambo.
As for Bendtner, kid has great talent that complements the Arsenal style of play. Hoping he gets in 15 – 20 minutes tonight.
The relation between FA Cup exits and team form and results has been pretty strong and unfortunately uninspiring, and Wenger’s ignorance to it has been confusing, and even childish.
Even in the unbeaten season, it took a lot of mental strength on the part of one Arsenal legend called Thierry Henry, to rise above the choked up rest to instigate a fightback against Loserfool.
I just hope that this team has the mental resources to overcome this inexplecible correlation.
Something up with the comment posting.. Not posting for some reason..
Regarding online streaming:
Between the links posted above, those without the game on TV should be able to find the game at least 80% of the time. More if it’s a big game (such as our next month).
My favourite site to watch is by far http://www.veetle.com Esp the channel that goes by the name of “the streaming lounge”. The stuff put out is high quality.. you would be able to stream it on your TV and not be disappointed. They are pretty good at showing arsenal games as well.
Other than that, if all fails:
http://www.ustream.tv
http://www.freedocast.com
http://www.sport89.com (This has links to basically every game. The problem is that half of them don’t work.. but worth a shot if all else fails).
And if alll of that fails, go to GDC to find someone who may have a link. Or even better (cuz of higher number of users), go to the days comments on Arseblog. They are frequently swapping links. Just use Ctrl+F and type ‘link’.. you should be able to find at least one stream to see the game.
Regarding online streaming:
Between the links posted above, those without the game on TV should be able to find the game at least 80% of the time. More if it’s a big game (such as our next month).
My favourite site to watch is by far http://www.veetle.com Esp the channel that goes by the name of “the streaming lounge”. The stuff put out is high quality.. you would be able to stream it on your TV and not be disappointed. They are pretty good at showing arsenal games as well.
Other than that, if all fails:
http://www.ustream.tv
http://www.freedocast.com
http://www.sport89.com (This has links to basically every game. The problem is that half of them don’t work.. but worth a shot if all else fails).
And if alll of that fails, go to GDC to find someone who may have a link. Or even better (cuz of higher number of users), go to the days comments on Arseblog. They are frequently swapping links. Just use Ctrl+F and type ‘link’.. you should be able to find at least one stream to see the game.
This is it. Nowhere to hide now. Do or die.
http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=1473
These stats don’t make for good reading. :(
This is shaping up really nicely.
That’s my starting 11 Mike – hopefully Ramsey is fit enough. Perhaps the midfield is a little ‘light’ with both Ramsey and Denilson returning from injury. It would have been nice to have had Song at DM and the luxury of choosing between Ramsey and Denilson. Anyway, we may be in that position next game.
The attack is the best we can roll out. They’re all seasoned and battle hardened. I know (sigh), Eduardo and Rosicky are also injury returnee’s….yet with every passing game they get that little bit fitter and stronger we hope. It would be a lovely time for Arshavin to show himself and his talent with a little purple patch – or perhaps that responsbility can be shared across the trio – Eduardo and Rosicky are in debt to Arsene and the club. This would be a good time to repay the patience and perseverance not to mention the multi-milion pound remuneration packages.
The defence is our best, and yes I know Gallas and Sagna are tender and Clichy is a returnee – but that’s professional football in January folks. This is the slog – where the season gets hard and players are called on to play through the pain, in the cold, with the games coming thick and fast. That’s what they’re paid for. Title’s are won on the back of players with that hard steely attitude.
So this is it, the litmus test, you get the sense that Arsene knows this season is a juncture. This team needs to ‘do it’ and stop crying off with excuses.
The other relevant factor is the returning players like – Bendtner, Nasri and Diaby – I have reasonable confidence in all of them which I couldn’t say last season. They can all play a part and contribute in this Feb-May period. Diaby should fit back quickly after a short injury, Bendtner will take a little while after a longer lay-off, while Nasri will probably not hit his best form until next season. That said, Nasri is a useful player and he can still fill a roll even at well less than 100%. Walcott is the outlier, his pace should be a serious weapon yet his alround game is badly lacking. I’d like to see Wenger use him as a classic impact sub in the last 20 min’s. We badly need that type of impact player. If Walcott was a success in that role it would be a real asset to the team and maybe help the lad’s progress.
So this is IT. Can we push on and really have a go? This team has been a long time in the making. One things for sure, it’s a lot more fun being in with a shot than not. ;-)
The other way to look at it is – despite our injury troubles, we are still the top scorers, so we maybe we should concentrate on improving the defence; you know, like maybe sign a decent GK.