Let’s start by saying that Marcos Senna was right to say we can dominate Europe for years to come, astute, very astute for a middle aged footballer with a hamstring problem.
He really did say that though, he said we weren’t quite there yet as we lack experience, but next season we will be better and the season after better still, well providing we don’t lose key players as we have done every year for the past five, starting with Patrick Vieira, he could well be right.
Forget who and what we need to do that and let’s just think about this week, we need a scoreless draw or a win against Villarreal and I believe if we attack them from the off we can do that, sit back and contain and we could easily concede early doors like we did last week in the Madrigal.
If Wenger has learned anything from our run it should be that 5 in midfield allows teams to get in our face, and when that happens, we panic a bit. Like we did against Wigan, the minute we went 4-4-2 the game changed and there was only ever going to be one winner.
You see 4-5-1 is like putting defenders on and taking attackers off when we are 4-2 up against spurs with 5 minutes to go, it serves no purpose other than letting them attack us, do that and up goes their confidence, it took us 61 minutes to have a shot on target against Wigan for Christ’s sake!
So we should go at them from the off and do the same to the chavs on Saturday, Arsenal always play better in the second half because we re-arrange, so if we started from the off with an attacking formation we can get comfortable early on.
Alex Song, often the butt of my unhappiness always starts badly, but then plays better in the second half, is that because Wenger tells him to? No! It’s because even he has more options when we play attacking free flowing football, he even scored against Wigan so that shows what freedom can do.
I would consider giving him the centre back role against Villarreal and if that works do the same against the chavs, I know he’s not a first choice centre back but then nor is Silvestre, at least Song knows the team, but I would only do that if we play with 4 at the back.
The second option would be to play a midfield of Nasri Cesc Song and Walcott, if possible sneak Arshavin on, but then we may get into trouble, so maybe not!
I may even opt for this as a starting line up, different and even radical but what say you? This is my preferred formation and the subject of todays post.
Fabianski
Sagna Kolo Gibbs
Robin Cesc Nasri Theo
Bendtner Ade Eduardo
Yes I know with 3-4-3 we can’t afford mistakes in defence so why not play with what we know is solid and attack from the middle, Real would be to frightened to attack us, and if they did we would skin them alive.
Years ago teams played 3 -5-2 with the five all being midfield players or wingers, the old way was to only play one centre back and look how many world cups were won deploying those formations, Real Madrid won most of their European cups that way too.
At least the football would be exciting and if we went out, we would go out fighting. I would prefer if Arsenal played to their strengths, than to put a player in somewhere that Villarreal could attack as the weak link, pack the midfield and the attack and then help out the defence by keeping the ball.
All the great Wenger sides have been successful because the opposing teams could never get the ball. Remember Wengerball!
To sum up then, Arsenal, you’re at home, it’s your ball so keep it, and you’ll be in a semi on Wednesday and a final on Saturday, listen to me Arsene, you know I’m right.
Have a great day Grovers, it’s going to be our best ever week, well so far this season anyway!
The Sun are twisting Wenger’s words again, such a shower of wankers that run that paper. I really hate tabloids
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article2376870.ece?OTC-RSS&ATTR=Football
The point Wenger was making is that players should be judged on a season not on six months…
Ireland is fine, I like it ha ha nice and quite, I live in the countryside. It rains a lot though. I only started going to matches this season cos I couldn’t afford it last few years with college.
thanks irish!
for how many years have you been following arsenal?
bye I gtg…
see ya Kartman
any predictions for tonight?
I will go for 2-0 Chelsea anyway
I’ll go for 1-0. Not saying to who tho.
then that doesn’t count surely, it’s two guesses, a luxury you do not get
No, im having my cake and eating it too.
and 2-2 Barca and Bayern. you heard it hear first
No gerrard for liverpool..benitez has fielded a terrible team..no chance of liverpool going through..i was atleast hoping this match will take a lot out of chelsea
Bayern will win tonight. Only tonight tho, obviously they are out.
anyone else watching the reserves?? did frimpong just toe punt that free kick?!
Not watching it A. WHats the score?
its not that weak is it? other than Gerrard, and I think Agger isn’t starting. Its close to their 1st choice. I know they aint the same without Gerrard tho
With diaby available i fear that wenger might be tempted to field a 4-5-1 tomorrow.I really hope he goes with a 4-4-2 tomorrow
Didnt they beat Madrid away without Gerrard. Fair enough Madrid were useless anyway but they still did it.
Ferdinand is fit for united.I don’t think that is going to make a huge impact.He is never comfortable dealing with pace.Increases their chances slightly though
What i dont get about Bayern last week was that although they only had Lell from their regular defence yet Otto was the captain. He normally doesnt even play but got the armband when he did come in. Why not V.Bommel or Ze Roberto. Anyway…they have Lahm, Lucio and Demichelles(sp) back so they should do better.
Bentley scored for spurs.Atleast he managed to make it into spurs reserve team
Ferdinand has lost so much of his pace and his pace was always his strength.
We thrashed Porto at home and although we had a weak team away they still made us look shite. I think United need a small miracle to go through.
we were very poor that night in porto though. but they are definitely a different proposition at home alright
losing 1-0 stu, been pretty crap game though we’ve played some nice football, but it ends as soon as the ball gets to frimpong or sanchez-watt! They scored a very good goal but they’re pretty much playing their first team
there reserve team really is made up of 1st team players, quite a costly array of reserves!
*their
Rafa should have started Babel. Reira couldnt get past Ivanovic so what makes him think Benayoun could do any better. At least Babel would be faster and more of a direct threat.
Isnt Drogba a right fucking cunt. Nothing happened him and he was off the pitch but decided to come back on and waste time.
liverpool score.. wot a free kick from aurelio
chech looked stupid hehe…
Evening all, we could do with a pool win, that would fuck the chavs up for Saturday. One more goal and I think it goes to extra time, but I’m not sure.
No Chelsea have 3 away goals…i think they need to score 3.
Anyone else watching the reserve’s game?
Fuck me.
alonso penalty… pool score again.. chelsea are stupid
Penalty?
LOL
The chavs are rightly fucking this up.
We are gonna dismantle chelsea this weekend.
Geoff,
3-1 makes it go to extra time,3-0 obviously liverpool win.
We have no defenders but thankfully it seems that chelsea have forgotten how to defend too….
Well I think its the mind set that Chelsea came in with , they came to get 0-0 stroll.
They are so stupid..did they really expect to defend for the whole game?
Playing for 0-0 draws are just stupid..that should be last resort.
I watched the first 20+ mins Chelsea had no intention of attacking at all.
chelsea looks really like a stupid team in this game. i was hoping pool win ever since drogba did his bit in the play acting intially spoling a minute of play.
i hate them both.
They seemed to be saving energy for us lol..its coming back to bite them.
I hope Arsenal learns a a lesson from the Chelsea game.
I tell you what Coquelin looks very good.
That is why we should also not try to play out a 0-0 game.. we are at home.. absolutely all out attack!
poor hiddink,
its tough for him to manage with laborious players chavs have. they dontlook smooth at all.. thats really so diff from hiddink style
how soon can we expect coquelin to play for us guys?
Agreed choy, we have to attack like mad men tomorrow.
I dont know Ram….he still looks a bit small for the PL
David C*nt just scored.
Thanks guys, I’ll take a look at the reserves now!
Sanchez Watt just scored! 2-1!
I tell you what people…I like the look of Emmanuel Thomas…that is one big fella with pace and an eye for a pass.
which game are u talking about david?
whats going on at the bridge my fellow grovers come on liverpool
JET is brilliant!!!
One question. What on earth is his position going to be?
i dont understand why guys say almunia is not a top keeper.
the officially rated top keepr in our league chech is not half as good almunia these days.
Oh Mark Randell is so shite…oh so so shite.
How humiliating for Bentley, Thomas looks good though, but Randall is just shit, we should out him.
chavs survive again… they r defendinng crazily inside the D
Chelsea are in dissaray.
Chelsea are in dissaray.
im watching The reserves game against the spuds Ram..
Id rather watch Arsenal anyday. Even if the ladies are playing.
Thomas should be in our first team ahead of Song.
guys do u hav a link to text update of arsenal totts game!
Where are the ladies David?
evening geoff.. you still don’t like song very much!
Geoff
Emmanuel Thomas is really good…been terrorizing that spuds defence….I really hope Arsene signs new quality CB over the summer because our defence is just shite.
I think they played yesterday…or was that 2 days ago…
Hi choy, no mate, I just don’t think he’s good enough, the same way I don’t think Randall is either, but Coquelin and Thomas, look class.
I rated Muamba as well but he was never given a single chance, Song and Denilson have had 100′s but in defence of Denilson I think he can make it, Diaby too if he can shake his injuries.
Joe Cole is such a cunt! Thick twat! My mat stood up and called him an extremely nasty thing at Highbury once which we never let him forget and he is quite ashamed, but when you look at his face, he had a point!
David he won’t, he’ll say that that will kill Djourou, Ayling, Nordveit and Bartley.
Then he’ll say he still has Senderos to come back, don’t hold your breath mate, he won’t sign any fucker.
If he sold Ade he’d only bring Simpson back.
Geoff, I thinkMuamba has found his stage mate, not his or Arsenal’s fault really. I like Frimpong, makes proper nice tackles!
Afobe and Freeman on! Quality!
Geoff, surely with him as near as ever coming to admitting he made errors, he cannot go another window without buying a quality player, especially a big fuck east European brute!
Hutton, another diving cunt!
That confuses me…Then what exactly did Arsene say he made a mistake doing?
Does he really think that without signing Arshavin we would be anywhere near where we are?
We need quality defenders though…i dont mind if they are like 17 or 18? Like those Brazilian twins for united…have them play a couple of reserve games for a few years. Like the Arsene way and watch them go into the team when the likes of JD and Senderos are crocked!
its just the reserves.. the PL is a different class altogether..
coquelin will probably play in the CC next season.
That was a pen!
Randall needs to go…he is a waste of wages.
Not a bad result when you consider the players the scum had on the pitch!
Goodness me….I dont think ive seen chelsea so shite before. Not even when they were hammered by Untd.
Reina just threw the ball in his own net!
WoW
That was lucky
Alex just thumped a free kick in. Scousers need 2 goals in nex 35 mins!
chavs r level.. funny game
Muamba under Wenger’s wing may have turned into a great player, especially in this team.
I agree we only started to play when Arshavin arrived, not only is he brilliant, he lifted the team, Wenger says the teams performances are down to beating Roma.
He’s a little deluded in my book.
Really Geoff, that surprises me! lol
When do you think he lost the plot as it were and started to make bad decisions or rather not make the right ones?
Anyway Grovers, I’m off, 2-2 we know where thats going! Night all.
When he signed Arshavin and said what a great signing he was.
If he’d have signed him when we first asked him too, like last April, he would have been cheaper and we might be 10 points clear by now.
I didn’t say he’s lost the plot, read what I said.
Now I’m off.
3-2 chavs fat fucking wank cuntard!
I know you did not say that, but reading your missives on here I would like to know when you link it back to, i.e. before last Summer or not?
Well its over now…
lol geoff bout muamba
muamba can’t get into a very poor bolton team, he was always very very average, championship standard player, and an actual championship standard player, that’s where he’ll spend most of his career. A level below the likes of sidwell, and worse than james harper too.
3-3 this is becoming a joke.
3-3
fuck me 4-3
4-3 to the scousers!
Fuck me…..what the hell is going on at Stanford Bridge?
The chav fans have gone from singing 2-0 and you fucked it up to now shitting their pants!
4-4 FCFL!
lol great header off the line by Essien. Cech has had a mare!
Drogba really isnt injured is he?
For once be really injured ffs!
He is the biggest diving wanker in Europe and is forever rolling around when there is nothing wrong with him!
I no i sound pessimistic but i think tomorrows game is going to be similar.
master substitution from hiddink did it for chavs….
anelka for kalou
Ram, that was a forced substitution, no?
Fucking Drogba will run our CB’s ragged. I hope they rest him.
pat! no i dont think it was a forced substitution…
im pretty cautious abt playing chavs. but with our mid feild i will always tip us to beat them
I cant wait for saturday, I can see us putting 7 past Chelsea
lol.. the arsenal.com report of totts game is really humilating for tint totts.
“While Arsenal name nine FA Youth Cup kids in their starting line-up, Tottenham’s star-studded XI was worth close to £45million; A figure that would even eclipse the Gunners’ team that face Villarreal on Wednesday night.
All £15 million worth of Bentley was stationed on the right of the hosts’ midfield – a big test for Tom Cruise at left-back. However, one testing delivery after 30 seconds aside, the ex-Gunner had a very quiet opening half-hour.”
THE STUFF OF MEN!!!!!
One of the most exciting games iv ever seen in my life
Saturday would be tough
saturday can’t come quick enough, they will be well up for it and I just know we are going to beat them.
chavs results: 4-3 last sat, 4-4, today anyone thinking 3-4 on saturday for the arsenal?
Oops, got that wrong shouls have been 5-4 to the arsenal (since they seem to be in a pattern of scoring 4 goals)
coadsi the thing u dont realise is that in both games they have gotten the results they desired.
I do not know how the full back let Anelka get the cross in for the chavs first goal, that was the turning point!
i dont think so franchise, i do agree that the results were favourable to them but no way do i believe they were leading 4-0 and desired the game to end 4-3. i am just hoping that they are on a decline results wise thats all, which would mean we win on the weekend
ive always thought he was over rated but frank lampard is a top class midfielder
they won on saturday and qualified today. they couldnt ask for more IMO
hey guys any news on our Eduardo?
GD is important Franchise so i think they would have loved the 4-0 victory. but i take your point.
i was very confident about saturday but not so anymore. if we would go through to the finals we would have to be at our best. chelsea are very resilient they showed this over two legs against liverpool one of the best teams in the country at the moment
Drogba is becoming much more of a team player. We have to watch out for him.
Against Villareal:
Fabianski
Sagna Kolo Song Gibbs/Silvestre
Theo Cesc Diaby Nasri
RVP Ade
Remember AW saying Cesc might go deeper?
Against Chavs:
Fabianski
Sagna Kolo JD/Silvestre Gibbs
Theo Cesc Song/Diaby Arshavin
RVP Ade
if we are able to contain fat frank then i think we will be in with a shout
Drogba and Essien worry me much, much more than Frank.
usually, Frank and Cesc cancel eachother out.
same Pat but in terms of potent goal threat Fat Frank is no1
Song must play and be at his best v the chavs if we are to win. he is the only 1 with the power to combat them going forward and we need to have the rest of their midfield worried about us defensively.
chelsea have reached 4 semis in 5 years the only time they missed out was when barca (eventual winners)knocked them out in the 2nd round. this might be their year in da CL
Franchise i would prefer the liverfools to win the CL than chavs. the thought of cashly winning it ………….dont even suggest this
by the way guys when was the last time Liverfool won silverware?
I have to disagree franchise this is our year…we scored 4 goals in 30 minutes and we know how to turn the heat on the game in the last quarter of the hour. When it counts Arsenal will pull through and win it.
its not my shot to call mate but i bet the bookies would have taken note of their performance against l’pool and adjusted the odds accordingly. we are not favourites but we still stand a chance
there is nothing to disagree david neither of us know the future
If Chelsea Defend like that aginst us we will slaughter them.
Cech has lost it he’s so dodgy at the moment
I live in West London now and I firkin hate that club, who are and always have been a 2 bob bunch of knuckle dragging racist wankers. Their fans are 2 bob too!
That is why I hate them more than manu who I have a grudging respect for, due to their history and their continual success since 91. I hate the scum up the road most, but the chavs come a very close second and with the likes of JT and Lampard there, judas joining them just topped it off for me.
I could swallow a loss in the ECL or FA cup to manure or liverpool, but the other 2 is just too horrible to imagine and when I think about Saturday it actually makes me feel physically sick if we were to lose. I only got through the CC defeat a few years ago because we gave them a good game with the youngsters playing.
just to add Xabi Alonso is class
The chavs defence was shit and cech is bollocks.
Barcelona will piss on the cunts
“Barcelona will piss on the cunts”
Not wrong
What a score line… arrrgh my chav mate is already starting…bring on saturday!
Jay, your chav mate sounds like a right prick. If he gives it, chin him.
Sorry for my last post. Ive just been watching Danny Dyers Deadliest men and I’m feeling proper naughty.
But I’m only trying to earn a pound note and I’d never rob anyone thats working class. In fact I’d protect them.
And thats a proper naughty hat trick.
Nah hes ok, its just a shame he goes for Chelsea. the one thing id take out of Chelsea? Essien!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/adebayor-i-didn-t-want-to-leave-last-summer
i lol’d
TT he is comming to the emirates with me LOL and im going to stamford…we have a rivalry but as soon as u take the arsenal and chelsea out of it, we share the same hates and likes haha
gday all
Jay, you are a good bloke and I like your posts on here, but this chav character is really dragging you down. You have changed a lot lately. Seriously mate you need to get out of this damaging relationship while you can, he is obviously a vicious, twisted bastard with one thing on his mind, bringing him to the emirates will prove that you are willing to accept his sickening abuse. Did we learn nothing from Rihanna?
God speed my friend.
Haha thanks TT – but without him id have no1 to boast/laugh at over every now and then except mancunts (australia is filled with followers of Livo and ManC for EPL..)
Rite Evo? the exception being ppl who njoi the beautiful game a lil more … follow a little ol team called The Arsenal..