Morning Grovers, I hope I.W.S is out of your system now because I have plenty of juicy morsels for you to chew on this morning!
Firstly, I have news of a transfer failiure… Peter Lawwel of Celtic… their dynamic leader, has rejected us.
I’m really sorry to be the one who had to break that to you, and I know I’ve probably just runined your weeked… but there will be other chief execs. Here is what he had to say,
‘I was flattered and honoured to be associated with a club like Arsenal. I think it’s a compliment to the club as well as myself. I’m committed to Celtic and I thank the chairman, Dermot Desmond and the other board members for their support over that period.’
Jokes aside, how long does it take for Arsenal to recruit? I can appreciate you don’t want to get the Chief Exec wrong… but this has been going on for ages! We still haven’t replaced David Dein! Maybe Arsene wants all of the vacant jobs?
Now onto the real news! Arsene Wenger has been talking and he has had a lot to say! He is confident we can win the league this year, he recognises we have lost too many games but he thinks we will kick on. Some people have questioned how much experience we have in the squad, Wenger said this,
‘We lack experience in some areas, I would not deny that but you can’t have everything.’
I love that comment. That comment should read,
‘I’m rolling with the kids, so fuck off.’
A lot was said about Theo in the press conference. Wenger reckons that he is better than Messi was at 19 as he is better at doing things off the ball. At first I thought he was talking about pulling birds or managing finances… something like that… but he did clarify what he meant,
“If you have to look for a weakness in Messi you would say it is his ability to run without the ball, behind the defender.
“When he takes the ball to his feet he’s like a Ferrari. But Theo is more a guy who has the timing to run off the ball and that is something that is difficult to find.
“We had Marc Overmars who was especially good at that and I’m a great, great lover of movement off the ball.”
Overmars was also a great lover of scoring a shed load of goals. If Theo can get anywhere near his level I’d be chuffed to bits. The main difference I notice between Theo an Messi (I manage a sunday league team so you must take this as gospel) is that Messi makes a decision and goes with it… he is either cutting it back or taking someone on. Theo still dithers a bit… he is at his best when he just goes for broke, like he did and against Croatia.
On Theo’s defensive frailities, Wenger said this,
‘If you want to play him right-back, that’s not his strength.’
Amen to that Arsene. Did we ever complain about Bobby not tracking back? I’ll tell you how defensive Pires was… I can remember his one and only tackle during his Arsenal career… Dispossessing Paddy against Juve in the Champions league!
Wenger went on to say what we all feared… he is going to persevere with Denilson who is ‘nearly there’ and he is going to go with Song who ‘Will get there too’. Wenger also champed up Nasri who he reckons will ‘have a huge impact’.
Finally, Paul Elliot reckons he knows 12 gay Premiership footballers currently playing for clubs up and down the country. I am sure that they are all chuffed to bits you have highlighted this to the press and I am sure they will all be pleased as punch to know that every tabloid in the Country will now be tracking them down as we speak.
Some things are just not meant for public knowledge and I think if you are privy to infomation like that, you should keep it to yourself and stop trying to push your P.C ways onto football like homophobia is just a football issue. Like racism, it is a societal issue first and foremost… not a football issue. The vast majority of football fans don’t give a fuck what race, sexuality, religion their players are…so for me, constantly highligting issues just encourages problems and it adds no value to the game.
So plenty to talk about today!
My team:
Almunia
Eboue Kolo Silvestre Clichy
Vela Cesc Denilson Nasri
RvP Ade
Have a great Saturday and make sure you vote in our poll
Yesterdays poll saw 62% of you spend you money on a midfielder, 24% on a defender and 7% on 4 great kids (Arsene was clearly clicking away yesterday!)… the remainig percentage points were split between a keeper and a Striker!
[polldaddy poll=1012656]
I’m still working, haven’t seen anything. In a nutshell who was good, bad otr ugly?
btw spuds are still bottom. Just thought I’d get that in
cant wait to see stoke spank the spuds tomorrow
any links to the goals guys?
That is the type of position that suits Song. A DM role, which he played rather than a pure CH role he was supposed to play. In a way, it is not bad to have one of the CH joining our midfield and available for our defense. This compensates for the excessive attacking flair of the incumbent DM- Dennilson.
Clchy is my MOTM and he deserves to be captain. He turned the game on its head with theo. He is a Leader. What does AW take from this game?
Positives
+Theo provided an outlet and stretched the Everton defense. Nice to see him scoring.
+ Sylvestre showed he can replace Gallas or Toure in the backline. His only mistake : He did not come out of the six yard box to attack the attacker who scored the goal for Everton.
+Ade proved that he can link up with other strikers, but his offside makes me sick. Some of the calls were also dodgy.
+Clichy solid as a ROCK!
Negatives
- We still need to organize defense for corners and set pieces. We did better but we can still do a lot more.
-AW should sit Dennilson down and explain to him his role. He sometimes is ahead of Cesc, leaving Cesc to defend for him. We know Cesc is better at creating. I still believe Dennilson is our man.
- Alumina allowed this goal, probably because Sylvest blocked his view, but he allows himself to be blocked when it comes to corners. When you come out to parry a corner as a goal keeper you make dam sure you get the ball. Clichy saved this game by his blocking and goal line clearance.
- Cesc was not at his best going forward. The International Week? Or is it Dennilson?
- How many chances does RVP need to score? I will choose Vela or Bendtner to partner Ade. I am sure if it were Ade missing those sitters Grovers will call for his head.
It would be interesting to pair Diaby in midfield in place of Dennilson to assess him. I hope it is not a costly experiment. he keeps the ball well, so my instinct is to alternate him with Walcot or with cesc.
Playing Vela as a striker instead of Ade for 10mins would have been OK
Goonermichael – Almunia, Clichy, – awesome!
Toure good till injured
Song crap at RB – good at CB.
Silvestre – pretty good first game, not massive amounts to do, but still good
Eboue – not bad actually. good in both the wing and RB
Cesc – super slow start but wound himself up after half time and took over
Denilson – unassuming as always – quiet start, but linked up well with cesc in the 2nd half
Nasri – great game. great strike, very tricky ball play and moved the ball well
Walcott – threw a cat amongst the pigeons as per usual after subbing on at half time. too much pace and trickery for everton. great strike and superb finish for his goal
Kanu jnr – his touch has definitely improved and looked like he would score a header in the first half when we were playing the long balls. still offside but not as much as usual
RVP – cunt of a game. had shitloads of the ball and shiteloads of chances to bury the game and blasted every ball miles over the net. Good header to finish, but expect more from a usually good finisher. his radar hasnt returned since last season or the season before yet!
Diaby – 7 minutes – good assist.
Evo, I disagree on Alumina, other than that we are in sync.
kingsley
http://arsenalvlog.blogspot.com/
did nasri play well?
fair enough bro. i do agree he bumped into the back of an everton player coming out from that corner and clichy cleared, but that was the only fuck up. he made some good saves on the yak and others to keep us in it. his distribution is 1st class
yep nasri had a good one for sure
kolo has suffered ligament damage in his shoulder nasri thigh not good news
all i have to go on is talk sport and they just chat about random things throughout the game. winning today was so important that performances are kinda secondary for me. still glad to hear the positives, thanks guys. we just need a vet in the centre of the park and we are good to go.
kingsley there are goals
http://www.101greatgoals.com/
rooney just scored but called back for a foul. bad luck shrek
got out of jail lads.
Almunia became captain
Clichy immense(I said 2 weeks ago he is our future captain)
Toure torn ligaments in his shoulder. out indefinately
nasri, hope he is okay.
Is Ade the cunt a striker or what and tell RVP not too slash every ball from 10 yards out as if it was 40.Both are under par.Adebayor’s game has gone from bad to worse,and the trouble is we are running out of players.
Wenger got lucky today. He’s really trying my patience bigtime.
Every time I looked at him in the 1st half his head was in his hands.
WTF did he expect with his mickey mouse team selections Wouldnt have been suprised to see Theo tried at CH.
i reckon pedro and geoff would be smashing down the peronis right about now
Kelsey:
Youre right. I called it Le Cliche would be my captain last year.
Looks like we,ve lost the £30m we;d have got for that useless lanky cunt
The three points is a huge boost and a welcome one at that. When we went a goal behind and missed our usual 467 chances I had a horrible feeling it was going to be one of those days.
Alas for the Toffees it wasn’t meant to be, they ended up well and truly chewed up and then spat out. It could have been a “sticky” situation for Arsenal had we not taken the three points today.
We weren’t at our best in the first half but had the better chances to score. The Everton goal was poor defensively from Arsenal’s point of view, who was tracking Leon Osman’s run from the midfield?
Arsenal had an early scare in the second half but other than that we were immense in the second period. Le Boss must have had some stern words at the interval because the players came out like they had rockets up their arses!
One reason for this was due to the introduction of Theo Walcott, his pace and movement stretched a disciplined Everton side. I also couldn’t understand why Eboue didn’t start at right-back, Song is never a full-back and it was proved today.
Le-Boss does make some strange selection choices at times but the change at half-time was spot on. I do wonder though if Arsene would have actually made the change had it not been forced on him by Kolo Toure’s injury? He isn’t known for making changes at half-time and can sometimes leave substitutions a little too late meaning the sub hasn’t enough time to make an impact.
My main gripe today though is why do we seem to start games at such a lethargic pace? I’ve seen snails move faster and Adebayor is the prime suspect. Look at the damage we did to Everton in the second half, we had too much for them. If we started games like that we could have the points in the bag at half-time. Why do we only seem to get going when we go a goal behind?
Didn’t clichy look like a leader once we equalised,he was driving the team.
it’s hard supporting this club,you never know which team will turn up.have you guys noticed since our move ,we have conceded first at home.so so often.
Sparrow Says:
October 18, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Nasri to score anytime 3/1
You guys should have put money on it, I did!!! whooo hoooo!!!
i agree at highbury we used to star at 100 mph.
Wrighty:
You said it. Wengers starting decisions were ridiculous. If he hadnt been forced to make the changes at HT how muc different would it have been ?
We have 2 forwards who miss too many.
Lets hope Eduardo can get back to what he looked like he would become, cos we sure as hell need him.
I cant get my head round Wengers decisions sometimes. If a player is a right back, play him there! Don’t try to convert him into a midfielder!
yeah no way theo would have come on at half time if there was no injury thats the fucked part about that
when eboue was at right back in the season we got to champ final wenger compared him to girincha! now he wont even use him as back up right back. the desicion was wrong….and worrying
We conceded first at Highbury plenty of times, we used to get ourselves out of it though, we used to go in 3-1 at ha;f time against teams Like Middlesborough and come back from it.
wrighty wenger has said in the past he likes his players to be able to play in different positions,maybe he thinks it’s basketball,but what he means is that he wont spend and instead of replacing players like for like this is his way of doing things(now)
how can a team be so lethargic in the first half and yet totally dominate in the second,we could have had 6,but neither of our strikers are up to scratch. if we have to go one down every time to get a reaction we are playing a dangerous game,aren’t we.
After watching the 1st half, no wonder Cesc is having second thoughts. If Wenger don;t make the required quality additions then I’ll be off to Barca with Cesc too !
Is Arsene Wenger the new Tinkerman????
Might use that as an article for my blog!!!
a game of 2 halves !
thank fuck wenger brought on theo ..
when will he get it thru his skull to play his best 11 ..
he was thinking of the C.L again and almost got us in the shite !
he is worried about his own personal conquests and not what our team
if theo didnt score in the 90th minute it would have been the 1 goal ahead score line
i predicted !
he deserved the goal !
he deserves the glory !
nasri – theo – clichy you are legends !
Can anyone think of a reason why Wenger may leave a few minutes after the break before substitutions ?!
baggies have done well to be 0-0 at half time
Too right Kelsey and in my eyes thats a real shame……
This is the most inbalanced & ill equipped midfield since the early 90′s.
Kelsey – We don’t play a pressing game, it’s not about individuals but on passing and out manoevuring your opponent, if we go hell for leather in the first half we’d tire in the second, same with substitutions, if Theo’s on the bench it means we at least have something in reserve and considering the pace he travels at he probably needed some sort of rest.
keyser,you know very well what i mean.the boro game was a one off in the middle of our unbeaten run.I am not comparing 20+ years at highbury to now.We have come from the odd goal down at home numerous times in the last 3 seasons.
There showing highlights of all the games on..
http://www.justin.tv/hottdubber3
Come on we’re not the team that used to win the league having scored only 50 odd goals, conceding less than 20, we concede because we’re one of the most attacking teams in the world and every teams gets caught out from time to time, we’re not at our best and sometimes you need some luck to go your way to get the momentum together.
off to bed all. 4.30am here. catch you all in a few hours
cheers
up the gooners!
Like the Van Persie penalty incident, how the fuck wasn’t that a penalty ?!
rvp and adebayor are becoming similar players.. both of them need at least 5-6 to score 1!!!
Classic.
I just got home from the game and thought it would be funny to read what had been going on on here, and i was right.
Without a doubt the first half was very poor, and the second was very good, but the majority on here need to get a grip.
From ‘total shit’, ‘i am going to kill myself’, ‘wenger is a cunt’ blah, blah, blah in the first half to ‘awesome’ ‘we are the bollocks’ etc.in the second.
Some of you guys need to calm the fuck down.
hi choy,you are right i think half the time they get in each others way,sort of you have it,no you have it and at the end they fuck it up,i am more concerned about further injuries with toure out and nasri didn’t look too good when he came off.
matt.. we can’t!! we really don’t know what to expect with arsenal these days!!!!
hello kelsey.. unfortunately we don’t have a squad like the scum
doublegooner…. i agree. we all try and be positive but deep down the truth is right in front of our eyes. since when did we accept such mediarocricy?……….. our ‘centre midfieled’ simlpy doesnt compare to the other top 3 teams. not in terms of starting 11 and even less so in squad!
matt by that post if you think this team is good enough then you dont know your football.
Kelsey,
You should read it before you make comments like that.
I have said on many occasions i don’t think we are good enough to win the league, and i still don’t.
Chelsea are clearly a more effective squad than us.
My point was – the same people who are doom and gloom during the first half, are then creaming themselves about the second.
I support my team through thick and thin, and whilst i accept that we are probably not good enough to win the league, i will still go to the games and support my team, not wee my pants and start crying when things are not going well.
So before you have a pop, read properly what i said.
Such mediocrisy ? Was there ever a level or guarantee of expectation ?!
That wasn’t our first team, we seem to have half our squad out and we came back from a goal down to win 3-1, I know there are worries, but we’ve lost and drawn games that we supposedly shouldn’t have did you see the right response today ?!
Thanks evo. just finished work
Man U 1-0 – game over
fair enough matt, i havent read your comments on here before….im kingsley not kelsey by the way.
Apologies…..
Anyway – off down the pub – cant stomach anymore of Man U.
With the pressure on amid poor results in the past weeks, Arsenal were very much up against it today, but despite trailing at half-time, the Gunners raided Everton for a 3-1 comeback victory.
Injuries to several of the back four’s causalities meant Mikael Silvestre and Alex Song filled in for Gallas and Sagna. Walcott was rested so Eboue and Nasri foiled Fabregas and Denilson in midfield.
Contrary to the usual Arsenal, they picked up from where they left off with their sluggishness at Sunderland as Everton looked expert at creating an uncomfortable atmosphere at the Emirates during the opening minutes. And it was not much of a shock when Leon Osman started and finished a move that caught Arsenal careless. The English midfielder had set up Steven Pienaar on the left and the South African cut the ball lowly for Osman to guide it home with Song, Silvestre, Clichy and Almunia all stranded.
As usual, Arsenal made a deceiving response to the concession of that goal after just 8 minutes when Van Persie beat Lescott but saw his shot denied by Howard. With Arsenal’s opponents very well organized to stop them these days, Everton weren’t any different, and so the Gunners relied on Fabregas’ long balls which either caught an off side Adebayor or a bullied Van Persie.
Arsenal’s task to bounce back would have been deemed impossible had Clichy not been guarding the goal line to deny Lescott’s header which had beaten Almunia well enough. Wenger’s men later went into the half-time only fancying a draw at most on the evidence of their last two league games.
Kolo Toure – the skipper for the day – was replaced for the second-half due to a shoulder problem while Theo Walcott was introduced. But quick moments after the restart, Arsenal really rode LUCK. Yakubu had shrugged off clumsy defending by Song to meet Almunia one-on-one, but Arsena’s stopper was fortunately strong enough to disallow an embarrassing 0-2 deficit at home, and potentially an early call for ‘game over!’.
Soon after, a scrambled Arsenal corner-kick broke to Samir Nasri on the edge of the box, and the French youngster who had been anonymous as any other today stroke well to finally beat Tim Howard from 20 yards out.
Van Persie should have given Arsenal the lead when Eboue cut back a low cross to him, only to blast it into the stands with his right foot. But the Dutchman did make impressive amends the next time he was found in that area. Van Persie headed in from close-range as a rebound from Fabregas’ saved shot.
There was a showering relief sensed around the Emirates Stadium – most of it courtesy of Walcott’s introduction. Everton dared to push for an equalizer anyhow with the match not lacking any intensity. A little injury worry for Samir Nasri meant he went-off for Abou Diaby to make his first appearance of the season.
And with minutes away from the final whistle, Theo Walcott capped off his effective impact with his first league goal on Arsenal’s ground. The high-paced English star drilled the ball home after a cut-back from fellow substitute Diaby and initiated a return to form for the Gunners. Prior to the clash, Wenger had labeled this match “the season opener” due to the interruptions of the international breaks and of course, some shameful hiccups.
Evening grovers… shite first half that exposed our first team… but a forced change of formation showed us a lot!
A good result… but some poor performances today.
What did everyone else think?
my commnent about us being mediocre has nothing to do with the performane today. the current crop of centre midfileders at the club is sub standard. (fab apart) that is fact. sub standard compared to previous arsenal midfields and sub standard compared to our rivals . that was all i meant.
Bottom line is; Wenger has left this squad woefully short.
There is nothing that can be done now at least til mid jan or next may. He & he alone takes the blame.
Have a good one, Goons.
Matt, I dont think there is any need for that comment about getting a grip or weeing pants when things are not going great.
When you watch a football game whether it be live on tv or live at the stadium your emotions run high. What people post on here during a game is probably what people are saying to each other or in their heads during a game.
The sheer fact that People from around the globe are posting on here during game shows that they too support them through thick and thin, and when you take into account we have people posting in Australia and beyond, that is pretty dedicated given the time difference.
As a performance I dont think you could get a better example of a game of two halves there today. We were fucking awful in that 1st half and you honestly couldn’t see us scoring despite the opportunities (as those they fell too could not hit a barn door). It will hurt us long term but Toure’s injury did us a major favour today, as it forced wenger to change a ridiculous team selection that put an average player out of position at RB and it cost us.
I can’t help my feelings, given that selection and first half performance, I have never felt more dissilussioned and so low low on faith in Arsene Wenger in his time at the club. That wasn’t a stupid moronic reaction to a bad first half, it was a culmination of 4 years of dissapointment in his decisions in both team selections and transfer dealings. It does not mean I support the club any less, I would still love the turf they run around if they were playing conference football and consisted of 11 Song’s.
It is now time for Wenger and those players to start rebuilding that faith though. hopefully the 2nd half is a sign of it.
Pedro, my views are at 6:03 mate.
Kingsley, Denilson is mediocre, don’t apologise for thinking that… 90% of the ticket holders at the Emirates agree on that point. He was at fault for the first, then he repeated the mistake about 15 minutes later.
He ain’t good enough… but hopefully diaby is… he looked great when he came on.
Matt, don’t knock people because they write down what they are feeling at a certain point in a game… that first half was shite and people have a right to feel angry about it. We turned it around, but the second half wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination.
What a cunt that ref was.
Missed a blatant pen then allows that retard Hibberd to commit a terrible foul ( sure those morons on MOTD will think its fair tackle) & gives just a yellow plus one for us.
Just back from the game one thing that is a FACT>>
You’ll never beat GAEL CLICHY
You’ll never beat GAEL CLICHY
3-0 to Man U now and they are just walking through WB now it’s going to be a 5-0…
Pedro, do you think that Wenger is the new tinkerman with his bemusing team selections?
Wrighty… that team selection baffled me. Why select Song at right back when you have Eboue? Why play Eboue when you have a fit Theo?
Madness… he was forced into making the right team selection… thank fuck really.
Kolo and Nasri looked bad… any news?
You’ll never beat GAEL CLICHY
You’ll never beat GAEL CLICHY
Anyone know why the scummy scouse supporters were kicking off
Kolo has ligament damage in his shoulder, not sure about Nasri though mate.
Kingsley – That is fact ? Eh, give them a chance. last year would you have said the same, our midfield wasn’t always World Class so how far back do you want to go ?!
Last year we finished with 83 points having scored 74 goals, how sub standard is that ?!
Eboue is a WANKER!!!!
Theo should have been on from the off, it’s not tinkerman Whrighty it’s stup selection cunt a man in my book.
The most unbelievable starting line up after the Sunderland game.
Diaby and Theo on was a differant team, nay the team he should have started with.
Is he on fucking drugs, has he lost the fucking plot???
I was with fellow Grovers, Chris, Steve, Odub, Pedro, Bud and I and we are all singing off the same hymn sheet.
i’m off out have a good one guys.
Eveninbg, what a nervewracking game, We had an awesome second half performance and an awful first half performance.
After the first half we needed to step up a couple of gears to win the game. And we did, it looked so unlikely in the first half. Song is a long way off from being a centre back, I was very pleased with Eboue’s performance at right back, and in right midfield, he got right in there, got in the right positions, I’ve seen enough evidence to say, this guy is improving.
I’m more than OK with Eboue playing at right back, far more than Toure. Silvestre looked OK, but it’s his first game back, still doesn’t look 100% but it seems we didn’t have an option today, he had to play a full 90 minutes, overall pleased with some important defending he did in the game. Clichy was very good, Toure should have been taken off earlier, he took a second knock on an already tender shoulder, I hope he recovers soon, as does Djourou, in the first half Toure played as well as the team did.
Denilson was involved as well, excellent passing, good tackiling, Fabregas played an important part, Nasri was superb, he got us back into the game very shortly into the second half, lovely goal as well, so was Walcott, he very positively altered the team’s dynamic, thankfully we were back to attacking which is our best form of defence.
RVP is coming good, 4/7 Prem League games, Adebayor is getting back to his 06/07 (not 07/08 form)form he is too inconsistent, same as his finishing skills, and terrible tactical play, too many offsides.
The whole team played badly in the first half. And Diaby set up a 3rd a few minutes after coming on the pitch which sealed the game, credit to Walcott for finishing it off superbly.
pedro.. as i said before.. shittin bricks
LoL so no-one can think of any reason why we started with who we did ?!
how far do i want to go back? i agree last year we were not substandard. but our midfield has lost flamini, gilberto, hleb and diarra. (all up to standard!) ……here i go again………fact!
We’re gonna have to play Silvestre and Song against Fener……………We need a prayer!!!
Why Silvestre had a good game today
Keyser… are you saying that because you agree or do you have the answer?
Finest, Song was right back not Eboue, and Song was as always, shit. Sorry mate, I respect you, but not Song.
Arsene is getting weirder with his team selections.
If both Song and Denilson are playing…..why not play Song as the DM..and give Denilson a more attacking role.
From what I saw Eboue was at RB…Song was at Right wing and Denilson as DM.
I would have played Song as the DM and then put Denilson on the right wing…since he decided to rest Walcott.
Now we were lucky Toure got injured as this forced Arsene to make a change at halftime. If not he would have waited toolong as usual.
Walcott directly impacted on our goal as it stemmed from the freekick he won. Maybe this will teach Arsene a lesson in early subs…if things are not working.
Liverpool win again from behind when the opposing team foolishlt picks up a red card..handing Liverpool the advantage…..two weeks in a row my stomach has been sickened by this.
Agreed Paul… he is a no nonsense defender… he made a couple of errors but overall I thought he looked good.
He is fucking massive as well! I didn’t realise how big he was!
Oh but Silvestre was fab!
Song was totally at fault and lazy for their goal
So what give it time, so the fact is we lost those players ? That’s your fact ? You saw Diarra play how many games and he’s par for the likes of who ?!
Gilberto was looking weary and Nasri’s equalled Hleb’s goalscoring record for last year ?!
Night all.
JD should be back for Tuesday shouldn’t he?
Silvestre did…..but now he’s gotta play with Song……seriously….what does AW not see…..
I see, I saw Eboue dip out to the right a few times, and Song’s positioning was awful as well, I saw him in the centre, like when he was ball watching when they almost made it 2-0, he was in the centre and wasn’t marking properly, I saw him in the centre quite a lot.
hleb who?
I’m just wondering if we’re just going to write off something else to madness aswell, it’s like your post about shit or great and nothing in between.
Diaby’s spent a month on the touch lines, wouldn’t it make sense not to rush him back because he is soo injury prone, Theo’s playing regularly for Arsenal and England now, he looked flat against Belarus and needed a rest, not to mention his questionable defensive skills.
Who does that leave ?!
I get enough bollocking from the wife but it gets a bit confusing when kingsley,keyser and i are on here at the same time.
We were fortunate through the mis fortune of toure getting injured and wenger having to change things.i thought song and silvestre looked more comfortable in the second half together,clichy was awesome and ade has lost it completely.rvp is trying to hit every ball at 100 mph but as i said before we now have at least one if not two more players injured.if wenger doesn’t know his best team to put out then the future aint too rosy.
Centreback is probably the only position Song should be considered for. Sylvestre showed what experience gives by coming straight into his first game at the Emirates and giving an assured performance winning plenty of headers and keeping it simple at the back. Song and Sylvestre should be OK at fener if he plays the rest of the team that finished the game today.
Finest he took up the centre back position the second half because of Toure’s injury.
In the first half he was a right winger, which is puzzling to me because he is not known for crosses and he is not known for pace…..so I have absolutley no idea why Arsene would start him there.
Why not put Denilson there? he laid on an inch perfect cross to Ade in one game plus he has other assists and has scored also…
so why play him in a defensive role….when the back up centre back/DM for Cameroun is playing?
Well Manure is hitting form now….plus Chelsea and Liverpool keep on winning so its only going to get harder from now on.
I think this is the first game Manu actually dominated and deserved to win…its just a shame the refs handed them the other games before this. They could have serioulst been pegged back…but now they are in position to overtake us if they win their game in hand….the world is not fair at all.
I’m not too sure……….hope so…………..
Sensible team selection Keyser.
Eboue at right back, becuase that is his position.
Ramsey/Vela/Theo out wide because they offer us something going forward… and I would have picked Diaby in the middle purely based on how massive Fellani is… if not him… Song becuase Denilson is just not strong enough.
Think we should just focus on ourselves regardless of Manure, Chelski. Pool will slip away eventually as always. We need to build on this game and get some kind of run going.Confidence will def be boosted by this comeback win.
To be honest I expected the team as was today apart from Song at RB,
I thought Theo would be rested, but I thought that it was going to be Toure RB and Song and Silvestre in Defence
Not that I am happy it has come to that, but we have been over the lack of squad investment oh so often. It is not what I would have chosen.
You play to your strengths especially at the back. You cant fuck around with playing people out of position in defence. I would have gone for Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, Clichy which on paper is pretty strong.
Ok that leaves us a bit short on the RM, but I would rather have given Vela or Wilshire a game at RM than play Song at RB.
Anyone hear the Chavs? They’ve pinched our song, they were signing
“Boring boring Chelsea”
Wankers!
Pedro, Geoff and Odub, nice to see you, decent result after a dire first half.
Question 1: Why did we look more defensively sound after Toure went off?
Question 2: Should Adebayor be benched after walking off at the whistle and not celebrating with the team?
Nice to see you Gunner8!
We had a nice gathering!
I am not worried about the Kolo injury… Song and Silvestre looked fine to me.
Poor team selection… and for once… injuries helped!
Pedro – So you can’t understand why he went with who he did ?!
Spot on Pedro.
Ade should be benched back in Togo and never wear our shirt again as far as I’m concerned.
Let’s hope Nick is fit soon and Ade gets an injury so AW has to make another enforced substitution for the better.
I am curious as to what th line-up will be in Constantinople?
Will he stick with the same team or will we see Vela with a start??
As long as West Ham atleast draw with Hull, then atleast after the weekend the table will look pretty good with us in third.
Even though Manure has a game in hand against Fulham….so our true position may actually be fourth….if Manure wins that game eventually.
For the next game I would say Song and Silvestre in central defense. If Nasri is out….then Diabyand Cesc in the middle….Theo on the right and I guess he could play Denilson on the left….with Vela replacing Denilson between 50-60 min mark depending on how the game is going.
……………………Almunia……………………….
Eboue……….Song…………Sylvestre………..Clichy
Walcott……..Diaby……….Cesc…………….Denilson(Vela at 55min)
…………………RVP………Ade…………………..
Djourou be ok, as I would see
Djourou for Song and Nasri for Denilson and Vela for Ade
but it will probably be like yours
Right off for food mmmmmmmmmmmm, nightol
I saw JD when I was sitting outside the bar… he drives a top of the range SL 500… at 21!
I’m not jealous.. I swear I am not Jealous.
Last time I saw him driving he was rolling in a Corsa!
Dont worry Pedro your time will come!
You’re right Wrighty… hopefully those shares I bought in Lehman brothers will pick up!
I just watched the post game interview with Arsene.
He said he would have brought on Theo at halftime even if Toure was ok.
Lol I wonder if he actually meant that.
Paul, you really think Song was to blame? I would say total lapse from the midfield to defense.
Football at the level of the top 4 is about the decisions the manager makes. Get the dynamics wrong and you pay for it. Mr. Wenger had a lucky break today. I hope he knows he cannot be making stupid mistakes every matchday.
Boro gave Chelsea all the space in the world and got thumped 5-0. After watching the first two minutes of the manU match, I knew they would spank WBA… they have picked form.
Seriously the jury is out on Denilson we tried Song and Eboue (during pre-season) so Diaby looks like are only hope Denilson looks like he has not fully understood that if he does not step his game up Diaby will end up taking his position. If Diaby was to step up that would help me completely erase the memory of the awful complacency shown by the board and in particularly Wenger after allowing a then utility but important player to run out his contract and leaving for nothing even though initially he wanted to sign a new long-term contract. But the problem as we all know is that Diaby is injury-prone so we just have to HOPE a word I use far to often when associated with Arsenal.
In terms of the league we just need to stay in touching distance of the title by January (6 points max) so Wenger can sign some know-how and mentally prepared player(s).
Confident… I’d put the blame on Denilson… he lost it… he didn’t track back to get it back and he didn’t follow Osmans run.
Inexperience cost us that goal.
pedro,wenger said toure has torn ligaments in his shoulder and was out for tuesday,unless i misheard him.
Spot on Pedro, Osmans run wasn’t tracked and that cost us.
I actually believe that Song could make a good DM/back up centre back in a 4-4-2…..Diaby could play the home games along side Cesc when we are more attacking in the same 4-4-2.
But when we want to be more defensive, i actually think Song could do a good job as DM….however Arsene has not been playing him there.
If you look closely..against Sunderland when we played 4-5-1…Denilson played DM….Song played in CM(in Cesc’s normal role) and Cesc was futher upfield as a support stiker.
In this game against Everton, Song was at RB.
Alot of people have said he is not up to the DM role..but the fact is he has not been played there, so we cant judge him on that position…maybe Arsene really does not trust him.
We can clearly see from the games however that he is not a creator and not a right back. I believe he can be a good DM/CB…but he is not being played in those positions that much. An injury is what forced Arsene to play him at CB today…..on the whole he looked much better at CB.. He made one mistake at the beginning of the half..but after that we looked solid.
I believe he can be just as comfortable as DM..but more the Gilberto type when we want extra defensive cover.
I also watched the Manure game..andthe diff between them and us..is that they defend as a team and also attack as a team.
When they defend they get most of their players back except for Ronaldo.
Then when they win the ball the break quickly and in numbers.
They also press very hard and dont “switch off” as much as our team does.
This makes them very hard to break down because all the players have the discipline to track and harass opposing players.
We need to develop this aggression it seems to really put us over the top.
Metal Gear.. Song was at the Olympics during pre season….
I dont really think Song is good for any position.
I think he is completely out of his depth, and found his level whilst on loan at Charlton.
I know he was playing out of position today, but I remember when Flamini was asked to play a similar role at LB, he put in 100%
Today Song was caught out of position on numerous occaisions, and on those occaisions seemed to stroll back as if he we was out walking the dogs in the park on a Sunday afternoon.
We are supposedly a top four club, and a club that is challenging for honours, and whilst we continue to play the likes of Song week in week out, it shows that 3rd/4th is all we can hope for at best.
I am all up for playing youth if they have the talent, but despite being at the club for many years, I still dont see the potential in him. I know Wenger does but I wonder how much of that comes down to stubborness to try and make it work. When we look at the Theo’s, Cesc’s, Clichys, Wilshires, Ramsey’s, Djourou’s, Vela’s etc, ok they are not the finished article but you can see the class, you know they are going to make it. I just dont see that in Song. He is like the last kid picked at school just to make up the numbers.
Song should be our 5th choice at CB at best, he should not be filling in wherever we have a gap due to not strengthening enough pre-season. He has become the new Eboue but a very shit one. I actually feel for Eboue as although he is frustrating as a RM player, he is a very good RB and would probably get in the majority of Premiership teams in that position. Song is just shit.
Just my opinion.
Let me put the CM situation another way,
What we really miss is a Vieira, Keane, Makele, Essien, Gerrard at their prime, Someone to give Cesc the freedom to do what he does best. I feel that is why Cesc is suddenly a little off the standard at the moment. He just hasn’t got the right partner in Midfield to gel and dominate games in attack and defense in midfield, his game suffers for it big time.
Song and Denilson will not be that player, Diaby I doubt will be that player and that is what we have to find.
Wenger is fucking brilliant at picking out a gem from no where and I think he has to do it again in the next transfer window.
Just watched motd. they are all cunts. even lee dixon’s at it (arsenal bashing) shearer is a bald headed geordie piece of dogshit,
CUNTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SS are no better they reckon that the foul on Clichy was only a yellow, they didn’t mention Clichy done fuck all for his yellow!!
And the first yellow on Valencia in the Wigan/Liverpool game that got him sent off unfuckingbeievable, exactly the same as last year..
These refs are paid good money they need to be accountable for there decisions, respect the ref how can you?
Avenell I was talking about Eboue not Song.
Metal Gear…..OK mate read it wrong..
Pedro
Couldn’t agree with you more about denilson. He just let osman through on goal. So much for being a DM.
Nice to see Finests avatar back out there.
Just a quick comment on Cesc complaining he is the old one in arsenal and everyone is so young!
CESC QUIT COMPLAINING FOR GOD SAKES MAN! GROW A PAIR! BE A MAN AND BE THE FREAKING LEADER YOU WERE BORN TO BE! DONT YOU SEE ARSENE IS GIVEN YOU THE KEYS TO TAKE OVER!!!!>?????
Actually i think that Goal was more Silvestre’s fault…he kept his eye of the ball and was too slow closing down the man with the ball.
Silvestre had an awesome game by the way fela’s
Goonermichael I don’t think Lee Dixion is Arsenal bashing my interpretation of Arsenal bashing is when pundits or the press attack Arsenal with incredible venom without producing a fair and balanced view but instead a very biased and almost hateful tone. Lee loves Arsenal and he visibly gets frustrated when having to talk about Arsenal’s weakness it must embarrass him because he rarely talks about the failings of Man USA or Roman F.C because there really isn’t any.
We are paying the price for Wenger’s stubborn approach during the STW I mean c’mon….can you imagine SAF having a midfield of Denilson DM and Eboue RB?
Avenell I know they should have spoken about the yellow card but at the same time Wenger should have made a meal of it during the PMI than they would have brought it up.
Wa won but all they wanted to talk about was our frailties at the back and positives for everton they didn’t even replay the goals. Why didn’t they aproach the chavs game from the point of view that boro were utter shite and unlucky on top?
Patthegooner at 7.03pm
well said mate, i agree whole heartedly!
Matt – i swear 100% you would have been saying the same stuff at the game – either under your breath or to your mates! Simple!
ive never seen that ref before either, where the fuck did he come from?
so woeful decisions in the 2nd half – mind boggling on how hibbert got off so lightly. definite pen on van persie in the box also!
Commentators mentioned a lot of people left their seats early before half time, i wonder if Matt was one of them? i just noticed it on the replay and there were a shitloads of empty seats at the 46min mark.
Pedro and Geoff must have been looking for the peroni bar?
great strike by Nasri – just saw the replay of the goal. good set up by the team and funny to watch in slow-mo Silvestre doing a small lay off and then jumping out of the way for Nasri to belt it!
how the fuck did hibbert think he could get the ball from Denilson – fuck that cunt, it was red for me
Evo have a look at Wigan’s Valencia’s yellows and see how consistant the refs are in this country!
Evo
Nothing like an Arsenal game day & win. You are on fire mate. Yes I tend to agree it was a red.
Gonnermichael they did mention boro were poor but Roman F.C did not give away an extremely sloppy goal, they looked solid at the back when they had to defend, and showed urgency from the get go….basically everything we want Arsenal to be like.
yeah it makes your weekend when your team has a win. i was so much in the dolldrums after the hull and sunderland games.
gotta go pick up the car from work from friday and then i think it could be beer o’clock to celebrate the win
A win sets up your week, all the way to Fenerbahce
hahahah….nice one mate.
is it hot down in tassie?
Its a lovely warm Spring day, about 20°C. Enough to start reving the pool up. Crickets on tele; Watson neeeds to fire. Score 4/118 as I type. Think I might just go & have a Peroni.
DAVID
totally agree .. cesc will rise to be a world super star if he stays at arsenal , in the same mold as TH14 … get the captaincy in the next 2 or 3 years , and youll make more of a name for yourself
showing loyalty to arsenal than going to a Spanish giant and rolling the dice on your future success .. Here it is assured !
and thats why i think he will leave shortly !
because the above scenario means nothing to him !
the same old story of you can lead a horse to water ….
If he’s given the armband next season and if we can manage to pick up some silverware this season he will go on to do a TH14. No doubt!!
DIABY was fantasticoo, i like this guy very much!!! NASRI, if stays fit, can be one of the bests…THEO is THEO and We willn’t have gallas toure very interesting!1!
….& Georgian, Big Johan is yet to show his style
Where is JD20, surely he’s not out coz of concusion. Speaking of not out Oz 7/196. India are playing well, its just a shame, for them, that half there team are about to retire 
NEW POST!