Ian Holloway?
Today is our first home game and today we entertain everybody’s favourite second team Blackpool. I think the media are as excited about listening to straight talking Ian Holloway as they used to be about the orange faced spiv Phil Brown.
Ian Holloway is the new tough talking working class English hero manager and the pundits will milk it, be prepared, I think he sounds like Worzel Gummidge myself.
So who will play, who is fit and who is mentally right. I predict that Song will play at centre back today so watch that space!
A quick word for William Gallas, Billy boy, enjoy getting booed by the scum, I’m sure you will! Here’s a quick word for the scum, enjoy having Le Sulk Mk II, he’ll disrupt the changing room and he’ll be injured for most of the season, way to go Harry, London’s version of Phil brown!
Chezzer
Sagna Song Vermaelen Clichy
Wilshere Cesc Diaby
Theo Chamakh Arshavin
That would be my team but I think Eboue will be in place of Theo and Almunia will replace Chezzer, I can’t work out why Almunia got the armband last week when Wenger is clearly trying to replace him.
There were a few people wondering yesterday why so many were questioning the attempted signing of Squillaci, well it wasn’t the fact that he is 30 and experienced, we applaud that, it was the fact that Wenger doesn’t give proper size contracts to over 30′s Gallas, Pires, Henry, Campbell as recent examples (yes I know Henry was 29) so how long will we have him? I also think we have enough French players.
Another person seems to think I got my facts wrong when I said that Denilson cost twice what we offered for Schwarzer. Denilson cost us £3.4 million, we offered £2million for Schwarzer, so that’s close enough for my comment.
Wenger hasn’t written off Schwarzer though he almost has Given, maybe he is in for Stekelenberg and all this is an elaborate smokescreen.
I’m not one for predictions today but I fancy us to beat them by more than they beat Wigan, I also think they’ll score, because even with Song back, we still look shaky at the back, I like Djourou though and really hope he has a big game and stays fit. Chamakh hatrick anyone?
Whatever happens will happen, we’ll win, the only intangible is the margin, have a great day either way, Pedro’s back tomorrow with the match report.
There is still time to sign up to our superb Metro Fantasy Football league this year! There is an ipad for the winner. If you’ve had any problems with the game, please e-mail me and I’ll foward your concerns to the company running the game.
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P.S. I have 3 spares for Blackburn and I have people who are still looking to rent out season tickets!
gambon
you like him too?
i mentioned him earlier as a player id like and people spazzed out!!
i think hes exactly what we need, tall and technical, defends like his life deepends on it and knows the premiership.
A
song isnt a diaby
dont say that jusst because he is tall.
diaby today proved he is much better striding forward and causing mayhem,
in interviews felliani said last season he feels much more comfortable defending and being a defensive midfielder. When moyes tried to play him in a more attacing role he hated it.
A
Fellaini moved to DM last season and was exceptional. He isnt a pure DM but he can certainly play the role, you could basically liken him to denilson in terms of the role he could play.
*felianini isnt a diaby
Incesc
At 11.14am i said id like Ciani & Fellani.
Great minds.
Rvp looked horribly out of nick and the typical injury woes again.
Wilshere did some good things, some bad. But it will take time for him to develop the game in the final 3rd, that is always the toughest and last stage in the development of a center mid. If he can dominate his area he will learn.
Fellaini is a Diaby, though perhaps a bit more defensive minded. He was used as a loan forward by Moyes, which certainly isn’t his position. He didn’t play as a lone DM when he played deeper though, he’s a ball winner, not a sitter.
He couldn’t play as a lone DM because he goes to try and win the ball back, he’s a Melo type in a two DM role, he’d need to play with someone who sits, reads, and anticipates the game. At everton neville, rodwell, or heitinga sat behind him even when he was playing as a dm of sorts, allowing him to go out to win the ball back.
He couldn’t play in place of song, he’d leave us very exposed. He could play with song or denilson though
I think Diaby being played as DM cause of injury and suspensions. Koscielny was unavailable and maybe Wenger didn’t want to give weakling JD a game so soon to prevent further niggles so played Song at the back. Besides he knew with Blackpool him and Vermaelen SHOULD be able to handle it at the back. He also said Denilson hasn’t played since April in his interview. Its sad because maybe Frimpong would have gotten a game as the 3rd DM right now but it had to be Diaby.
Lazer not sure I’d agree with that at all?!
He looked a little bit rusty, but sharper than I thought he would, and what do you mean injury woes?! He went down once with a dead leg, nothing to do with injury woes!
You have to love Song’s butt tackling ball winning tactic. Saw him do it a few times today. Runs up to the player, knocks them of the ball with his backside and makes the ball his. His strength is scary.
A
your so wrong
felliani hated pleying as a forward, he loves the defensive part of of midfield,
he quite clearly stated he had a bad start last year as he was out of position.
a midfielder who is tall, dominant and likes defending???
sounds perfect to counteract our 20 attacking midfield players
A
I think youre thinking of his first season rather than last, where he was great at DM.
He would be best in the diaby role, but also good as backup DM, certainly better than Denilson.
He is always, in nearly every game rolling around on the pitch with some minor complaint. Remember last year A, he looked like this is at first and everyone on here argued Wenger is an idiot to play him up front. He then started knocking them in and assisting like nuts and then got injured of course.
Anyways my point is I think he is a bit more of a form player then say Cesc. He will build up to it hopefully.
Btw its clear Chamakh can play on any side of the front three or down the middle. I am very happy with his signing. His only weakness is his finishing in front of goal with his foot, but we have enough goal scorers to not have to simply rely on him I think.
Believe it or not am curious to see if young Denilson has brought anything to his game over the off season.
I won’t slag him till I see him this year, lets hope there is some genuine improvement in strength. Speed is unlikely though.
incesc – What do you think are his downsides ?!
Last season one of Neville, Rodwell, or Heitinga played with Fellaini, he never played as a lone DM!
He may like the defensive side of the game, winning the ball back etc, but he isn’t a lone DM because he’s a ball winner rather than a sitter and reader of the game. He could absolutely NOT play the Song role with two attacking mids either side of him.
There was some 25 year old ref at one of the games today, that’s going to be one long career of abuse for him, wonder what made him want to be one.
his downsides are he doesnt fit into our philosophy.
wenger would tell him to pass pass pass
moyes would tell him to attack every space and defend for his life
A
Arsenal Vs Everton last year.
Denilson was DM for us, Fellaini & Neville for them.
Fellaini played much deeper than Denilson, and did a much better defensive job.
I agree hes not a full on DM, but no player in the world is, you may as well put Djourou in there if you want someone to just sit between the CBs.
He is a far better DM than Denilson, who is our backup DM.
His downsides are he isnt really into the short passing & move game, and all the yellow cards.
Although im not sure the latter would be a downside for us. He would make us a much tougher proposition though.
I don’t agree gambon, he’s not a far better DM than Denilson. Denilson leaves us exposed because of his lack of athleticism, Felliani would because of his lack of anticipation and his game being built not on sitting and holding his position.
I’d much rather have someone else as a back up DM.
What do you mean noone in the world is a full on DM?!
Yaya, Mikel, Mascherano, Song are all out and out DMs, as was Gilberto. People who have very good positional sense and read the game very well, anticipate etc.
Players of Fellaini’s style need to play alongside one of those types of players, unless they’re around a few similar types.
incesc – He’s massive, that’s a plus, but his stamina and pace are dodgy because of it, it doesn’t matter what team he plays for if he wants to play at the level we need him to, he needs to be able to pass.
He suits Everton far more than he would us unless he makes a step up again, he’s young though, just don’t see it with him.
we dont need anymore technical players
we need strong defensive minded players to win games when the chips are down and teams are throwing long balls at us
The yellow cards would be a downside, we get yellows very easily, in top games that are tight you only really get one mistake.
Unless you’re Darren Fletcher, Rooney, John Terry today was a disgusting shit aswell, or English in fact.
A
IMO “reader of the game” is a Euphemism for an extremely on-athletic player who cant cover the ground therefore is forced to sit behind play.
No one is suggesting Fellani should replace Song, people are suggesting he should play alongside, but could cover Songs role if he was injured or playing CB.
He is a better DM than Denilson, and im pretty sure it isnt that hard to say “Marouane, i need you to stay back a bit today”
Im sure he isnt a retard, and he likes to play as DM anyway.
A
you mention mascherano but earlier in the summer when i said he was a great player you agrs sayinng he wasnt right for us!
who would be a good dm for us?
Keyser
Hes not particularly fast, but he has great stamina, not sure why you think he doesnt.
gambon – I don’t get how you’ve worked out he has got it, he gets subbed early whenever I’ve watched him play, or so it seems and he always has smaller, more mobile players around him.
Everton suit him far more than we would.
gambon he’s never played as a dm! he likes defending, he likes winning the ball back, but isn’t a lone DM, and couldn’t be in our system.
incesc i’d love us to sign mascherano, but his stature would leave our midfield three unbalanced physically if he played as our lone dm, although he could do a much much better job of it than fellaini, who’s a ball winner, not a dm.
Song is a good dm for us, yaya would be, mikel would be
and gambon mascherano, yaya, gilberto aren’t/weren’t unathletic at all, it’s not a euphemism at all, some players just rely on their physicality because they don’t have it all in terms of their footballing intelligence, and fellaini is one of those players
A
Denilson isnt a lone DM, but hes played 120 times for us, a fair few times as a DM.
And for the 345h time, no one wants him as our DM.
“I was bought as a defensive midfielder but because of the injuries we suffered last season I ended up being moved around, so I’m a lot happier now I’m back in my favoured position”
Shouldve put a FACT in there somewhere incesc.
He’s more of a lone dm than fellaini though gambon….
fair enough though, that’s all i was saying – i wouldn’t want him as our lone dm.
yeah incesc, so his favoured position is being a ball winner, not a sitting/lone dm. it’s playing WITH a proper dm as such, as he’s done at everton….
My point was Fellaini as a MF option, with Song, Diaby, Denilson & Ramsey would be an exceptional midfield.
People forget hes 22 as well, a lot of raw potential there.
felliani is strong, defensive, good on crosses, loves defending.
fuck me
he must be a shit signing for us.
everytime i say id like committed world class dm, people shoot me down.
apparently masch is shit, felliani is shit.
A and keyser probably thought gilberto was shit
yeah i agree gambon, he’d be a great option to have.
i’d still rather have rodwell, just because he covers centre back and lone dm, rather than across the midfield, or emergency lone dm.
someone who can really rotate with song without weakening us defensively would be my number one priority
incesc – Who’s saying he’d be a shit signing ? You do go off on proper weird ones, how the hell do you work these things out exactly ?!
If we want a better player than we have that will fulfille the weaknesses we have we need someone whos defensively minded like Song, but is quicker and more mobile than him, and hopefully can move the ball forward aswell.
Flamini could do that, though he’d probably play Song’s position.
Fellaini would be good to have for his presence, but then he needs to offer far more than just that. At the moment he doesn’t.
who said mascherano is shit incesc? i really rate him, would’ve loved it if we’d signed him and reina
Forget Fellaini (even if he would be a great add to the team alongside song), he won’t move this year !
Let’s hope Melo would like to join us because of aquilani’s move !
Good to see Messi struggling this time round!
Unbelievable player.
Just seen Everton are in a sticky financial situation! Offer £20m for the big afro now.
Fellaini, Schwartzer & Ciani…..then the league.
Messi back to his disgustingly brilliant self. Son of a bitch, how about doing that for Argentina, cunt.
ah
First off, hello grovers.
Second off Im very happy to say that I am very happy with CHAMAKH so far.
Watch his touch in the build up to Theos first goal.
Im not one to bad mouth players but this is what we need. The kind of link up play our style requires. Quite frankly, the kind of LINK UP PLAY THAT BENDTNER HAS NEVER PROVIDED.
Good signing.
oh my Davids signed for Crystal Palace
gambon …. some fucking great news apparently
Wenger could pull a Ciani …
Him Shwartz or Given and honestly we’re laughing … we got tons of depth in mid and attack, and that will give us depth in defense and a good GK and we can pull something big this season
haven’t seen Jaguar at all after the game … hmmm
Jaguar only comes when we lose.
So I’ve just been watching some games from the past 2 seasons over this summer and something just stuck out at me. I think we’re much more solid defensively and have more possession when Denilson plays. I’m not his biggest fan, but a simple CM is often part of a title winning team and it doesn’t get much simpler than Denilson in our MF.
Big season for the lad and I think he’ll be even better, or at least I hope.
Perez, I think it was, said something along the lines:
“He just passes back or sideways. Makalele is a useless player in my team”
Funny that.
thats what Ive been telling people Pat. The man who created the position played those sideways passes like Denilson. Thats why he was allowed to leave Madrid and join Chelsea
Are we really comparing Makelele to Denilson?
no David. Im saying that the things denilson gets slated for like sideway and backway passes,thats what DMs do. Thats what Claude used to do which is why Perez hated him
makele used to win the ball before he passed it sideways….also he never allowed players to run past him like he was transparent…..
its gstar againn
thats not the point Santino. I’m not saying Denilson is anywhere near Claude. What Im saying is that Denilson does what a DM should. He reads the game brilliantly, intercepts,breaks up play,retain the ball and pass it
Except he can’t tackle too well and gets pushed off the ball way too easily for a DM. AND his tracking back is pretty pathetic too.
Oi Gnarley where are you. I need a word!!!!
Then he gives the ball away sixx pac.
Geoff,
Dropped by the S&B yesterday to try and say a thanks in beer. The only way I thought I might identify you guys was the landmark of Franchise. No joy. Just a few people inside.
His tracking back needs to improve i agree.
But the gives the ball away notion isn’t really borne out by the count of successful passes. I’ve come to the conclusion that because he completes so many very simple passes people don’t see all the tika taka stuff, it almost happens without them registering it.
Micky I was in Spain watching the game, Pedro was there, sometimes they are outside the Tavern, the S&B was getting pricey so it tends to be used when it’s freezing.
Shame that, we do it soon though. I’m not sure what Franchise is up to this season.
Tika taka stuff..I like very much.
Geoff,
Another time. Speaking of Franchise, there was a mountain of a man outside the Che after the game, but he did not look too bright, so I put him down as a Franchise lookey-likey!
Gnarley,
Stop hiding you coward. Worzel my ass.
Anyone else notice how many times towards the end of the first half AA was at a stanstill with his hands on his knees.
if he can produce some magic when it matters…i dont mind that mickey…..
Santino,
He is seriously unfit, which means he could offer so much more. Virtually everything came from our right side.
I think with Arsha he plays in explosive bursts rather than perpetually being in motion.
Its part of what makes him effective, opponents don’t know when he’s about to explode as it were.
AA & theo – our secret weapon