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Cesc fit, Thomas isn’t. Title chances over tonight if we lose at Wolves!

Posted on by rico

So says Sebastien Squillaci….

He suggests that should we lose tonight it will all but end our chances of winning the Premier League.

Sunday’s result against Newcastle was a shame as we had the chance to get closer to Chelsea and open up a gap on teams behind us. A great side does not suffer three defeats, so we must respond at Wolves and show Arsenal are a great team. This is an important game and fatigue isn’t an excuse as a lot of our players didn’t make the trip to Donetsk. We’re third in the table and top of our Champions League group, so the last week isn’t a catastrophe.

I don’t think it does really as other sides will also drop points but should we not beat Wolves what worries me more is how this side will pick themselves up to go on a long run of being unbeaten. He is right on one thing though, tiredness is no excuse, the season is still very early and many players who played on Sunday, didn’t travel to Ukraine! We haven’t exactly got easy fixtures coming up and day by day we lose important players, so a win tonight is a must!
Talking of which, Thomas Vermaelen has suffered another injury setback. He was only a few days away from making his comeback when he suffered a setback on Monday. He now has to see a specialist!!
Wenger said:

I don’t know where we go with Thomas time-wise but, at the moment, he cannot play.
On the scan, his Achilles is completely clear but as soon as he stays out for a while, it tightens up and he has pain.

Wenger took a risk going into the season relying on Johan Djourou to be fit and thankfully so far he has been but should he or Squillaci break down tonight we really are in dire straits. Song would be be pulled out of midfield and then what happens, another unit disrupted.  

Cesc Fabregas though is deemed to be fully fit, forgive me if I am being cynical but on Sunday he didn’t look it and I doubt if much has changed since then but Wenger insists otherwise and its clear he is going to play tonight.

It has taken a lot out of him mentally and I believe that the fact he came through well against Newcastle, you will see a different player on Wednesday night, he is completely clear from injury.

Another player we know that will be out and that’s Laurent Koscielny, having had his appeal rejected by the FA, he starts a two match ban, the other game he will miss is the away trip to Everton on Sunday.

So then, onto tonight, a trip to the Molineux Stadium to face an in form Wolverhampton Wanderers side who sit second from bottom of the league. How though I don’t know, on Saturday they totally outplayed Manchester United at Old Trafford and should have won the game. In fact they would have if a shot they had in the last ten minutes had found the target instead of flying over the bar. Then the sucker punch came well into Fergie time when Park scored a winner. Trust me, Wolves were very very unlucky.

Their last home game was a 2-1 victory against the Northern Chavs!

Sitting second from bottom means nothing, West Ham sit bottom and they gave us a really tough time at home so it’s fair to say, expect another tough time tonight from Mick McCarthy’s side.

If we are to win tonight then our performance needs to be 100% better than what we witnessed at the weekend and our strikers need to make sure they wear the right boots, tonight duffers need to be left at home…

Wenger says he may finally change his tactics for our home games, I suggest he changes them when he needs to and depending on the opposition, not just because we are playing on posh grass.

Will Wolves park the bus tonight like Newcastle did once they got their goal? I doubt it. Wolves like to play football and if we ‘turn up’ their style of play should suit us but if we don’t it could defeat us…..

And to be honest, I’m not too confident about tonight. Not one bit!

rico

132 thoughts on “Cesc fit, Thomas isn’t. Title chances over tonight if we lose at Wolves!”

  2. didee says:

    morning rico,

    noone is confident about tonite but wenger hardly boasts, he said we’d see a different cesc, am sure we will. the sexgate story got in the way of wenger and the teams prep 4 sunday but am sure he’s manning the boys up. we still gat a chance to catch up tonite but we need to stop blowing our chances

  5. jena says:

    win or lose we were never in the title race anywere. The team poor and lack authority to mount any challenge. The only race we are in is to finish number 3 or number 4. Yes Chelsea and Manu will drop points along the way , but they will never lose to WBA or Newcastle at home. MOreso we dont have the character to adavantage of any points dropped by Chelsea or MANu as we are poor. Like yu said yu ar enot confident and yes every game we play these days yu never know…….

  6. rico says:

    jena, we are still up there, if we can get off our backsides and start a winning run the confidnce will come back…

    the injuries worry me though, big time…

  7. didee says:

    @rico, am hoping its chezzer
    @jena, sorry i gat to say ur name reminds me of a spud – jenas, but i dont agree the race is over, as far as this season goes we are the only person in the race, man utd is fighting for lifeline that will last the trouble times ahead in the new year. to stay in the race we need to keep our focus and cut out the complacency. and i say we to include the fans, we give the team an expectation, once we stop they have little reason to continue

  8. rico says:

    didee, me too, surely that will spell the end of Almunia as Chesney wouldn’t stay unless he’s been told he’ll play…

  11. Red Arse says:

    Morning Rico,

    The Squidge is right. If we miss out on anymore “winnable” games, we will be cold turkey by Xmas! 🙂

  12. rico says:

    ha ha didee, you know what i meant 😉 until it gets to the point in May that we can’t win it, i’ll believe/hope we can 🙂

  14. rico says:

    Hi RA,

    i don’t think losing tonight says anything really other than we have a squad full of rubbish players, bar one or two, who can’t fight for the club we all love…

    If they can’t then maybe they should be changed for players who can….

  16. James says:

    To expect MU/Chelsea to drop points is wishful thinking. You must win your games against teams like NU/Albion/Wolves, and the like.Failure to do means something is seriously flawed with the team be it playing style/personnel/mental/physical strength.
    I believe the one dimensional approach allied to the reluctance to shoot is the main cause.Opposing teams find it so easy to counter except Wenger .
    If the gunners fail to get three points today they can forget about the title no matter what Wenger says.If by the end of the season the gunners are out of the race and are eliminated from the cl,expect the the FM to rip up his blueprint and then it will be another two years at the minimum before they can be competitive again.
    If the present lot of players are not up to task,promote the juniors who have been touted as brilliant/exceptional /etc.It’s a risk if they don’t perform to the expected level or buy the quality players.
    I am afraid this is a summary of the gunners faithful.

  17. matlee says:

    every single point dropped could potentialy be the point that loses you the title. so dropping points in 5 games out of 11 is a disgrace. however even if we lose tonight we won’t be out of the title race. Liverpool are 10 points behind so if they can gain 3 or 4 points after every 9 games they could still win it. Arsenal certainly can’t continue as they have up to now or our title hopes will be gone by january. the players need to show they are desperate to win every game and go on 5 or 6 match winning streaks, then you can afford to lose or draw. drawing and losing every other match followed by 2 defeats in a row is unforgivable.

  18. T-buzz says:

    The Wenger boys do need to wake up and smell the coffee… just a few weeks ago the L’pooh were bottom feeders, now they’re just 5 points behind us, N/Castle is just 3, so we cant keep saying it’s early days…. the foundation we lay during the early stages will help us through the rest of the season as long as we win games that we shouldnt be losing.
    Wolves away is another tough test, last season when we played them at home and won 1-0, it was one of the most frusdtrating games i had ever seen at the Emirates.
    Come On Arsenal, lets get the points in!!

  20. rico says:

    james – the others will drop points, but we shouldn’t think about that, we need to get our own house in order and win…

  21. rico says:

    matlee, i can take dropping points every once in a while but at home and the way we played is what stinks, we were not interested in playing at that has to change, starting tonight…

  24. T-buzz says:

    The Chavs or the Mancs might drop points but if we do not capitalize on that, the clubs behind us will easily overtake us and could be stubborn to shake off. Put your house in order 1st I’ll say

  25. TERAH O'BUAKOL says:

    the thing is winning,winning,winning-mentality not luckluster performance,with no hunger to desteroy teams,right from the manager through to the goalkeeper.we need a streak of wins with no questions.

  26. didee says:

    for tonite i’d go for
    Chesney

    Sagna Squillaci JD Clichy

    Wilshere Song Cesc

    Nasri Nikki Rosicky

    Theo, Andrey, Crock Wonder

    The Logic is that Nikki & Rosicky are hungry, Theo & crock wonder need games while andrey still needs the toe up his behind, we have big games coming his hunger will be vital. Numchucks needs rest ahead of the big ones too

  27. Red Arse says:

    Umm, excuse me Rico,

    To paraphrase, you say that losing tonight tells us nothing, except the team/squad are crap.

    Well that’s OK then.

    Anyway, I believe we will win comfortably tonight. I simply cannot understand why we should be expecting to lose to Wolves and label the team as rubbish, before a ball is kicked.

  31. TERAH O'B says:

    Thing is we must win at every opportunity ,and loosing at home is sickening.lucklaster performance is criminal,the team must be hungry to to destroy opponents,this attitude should descend from the manager through to the goalkeeper.

  34. rico says:

    RA, thats how I feel… You may think we will win tonight but did you think we would beat WBA and Newcastle at home too??

    I sure as heck did and look what happened, we were rubbish and our players seemed as if they couldn’t care less…

  35. Red Arse says:

    Didee,

    If you look at the time (s), we were posting together. Anyway, I was only kidding, I knew what you meant. 🙂

  36. rico says:

    didee, chamakh needs a rest and he should look in the mirror too, take himself back to how he used to play and bring that back again, he started on fire but seems to have had the ‘shoot’ taken from his game…

  37. T-buzz says:

    Evo? Nah, missed him…
    I’m cool thanks, hoping for a decent result tonight despite the news about T.Vermaenator, we really could do with him being fit.

  39. Red Arse says:

    Rico,

    I understand your feelings, and I know what you mean, and yes, I did expect us to beat WBA and N/castle.

    But I did not go into those games expecting to be beaten and I won’t go into tonight’s game expecting to be beaten.

    For us, losing those games was massively disappointing, but for those teams to beat us was like they had won the Champions League. That’s the way life is, it’s all a question of proportion.

    C’mon, you all know we could, should and will win. We are the Mighty Arsenal!! 🙂

  42. sammynelsonsbum says:

    Good morning all, I think to use the word “expect” be it to win or lose is a gamble in both senses at the moment the way we are playing, should that read way we are not playing maybe?. I think expectations are that we’re all rather frustrated and disappointed at the way the players are playing and the attitude thats being shown and we really have no idea “what” Arsenal team will turn up tonight.

  43. rico says:

    Thing is about tonight, a few questions need to be answered and we won’t know the answers until the game starts…

    1) Will Fabianski prove that his error was just a one off?

    2) Will Fabianski’s confidence be shot again and the error prone keeper returns?

    3) Will Cesc be able to play like we know he can and dictate the game?

    Oh, and will Clichy find row z if needed… 😉

  44. didee says:

    @ RA, cheers
    @ Rico, i believe he is up for the challenge but we need not overburden him, he is still adapting to the EPL. on the ‘shoooot’ scene i think he is not alone, Rosicky, Nasri, Arshavin, Cesc need to lace their boots too. Theo & Nikki(occasionally) seem to be the only ppl who remember to shoot these days

  45. rico says:

    morning sammy, and that’s exactly why i am not filled with confidence, within 5/10 minutes of the game we should know which team has turned up…

  46. rico says:

    didee, i really like chamakh, i prefer him to nikki already and would love to see him and robin play at the same time…

    he is definately not alone in not shooting and i don’t understand why. wenger has said he will change his tactics, all he needs to do is tell them to shoot, denilson does if he sees the goal….

    blimey, did i just praise denilson 😉

  47. sammynelsonsbum says:

    Rico, that’s rather funny, Denilson usually see’s the goal from about the halfway line. It’s amazing to see how many of our players are reluctant to shoot as if it’s “coached” out of them and the pass is more important than the shot? I wonder if we will ever find that one out?. The first Wolves free kick or corner into the box should tell us all we need to know re Fabianski. I wait with baited breath.

  48. rico says:

    You and me both sammy, wenger said he was ‘too confident’ for the Carroll goal, not what i’d say….

    i strongly suspect denilson will return tonight….

  49. didee says:

    rico, lol Denilson is getting alot of praise this season, personally i rate him but not ahead of our crop of MFs. no doubt he still has alot to do to become a world beater. i think wenger shd increase the training time spent on shooting

  50. rico says:

    three players gripe me didee, diaby, denilson and eboue..

    eboue for his theatrics, denilson for being too slow tracking back and diaby as he can’t get his brain and feet to both work at the same time… 😉

    have to agree though, denilson has played a bit better so far…

  52. T-buzz says:

    Wolves will probably try the same tactics N/Castle tried….set pieces towards our goal to test Fabianski if he’ll mess up again. Oh yeah, get rough with our players too so dont be surprised by a few more injuries

  53. Red Arse says:

    Rico,

    You are right about Denilson, he does occasionally shoot when he gets the opportunity, but from in front of goal, he is almost guaranteed to hit the corner flag. 🙂

    Actually, I do remember him scoring a screamer from outside the area, and he was definitely my hero in that game! 🙂

  55. rico says:

    T-buzz, i reckon they will too, the only good thing is they won’t sit on it if they do score, most sides would park the bus at 1-1 at Old Trafford but they went for the winner…

    Actually, that was probably their downfall, it opened the game for Park to score a winner…

  57. didee says:

    @ Rico, left to me diaby should have been out the door with Dudu in the interest of everyone, eboue is indeed theatrical but versatile.
    @sammy, you gotta be kidding me – 6yards, they need to move it 6yards out side the area. Bless the days of Pires, Parlour, freddie…these men could shoot

  59. didee says:

    @rico, thats another player i believe will be great for us. ordinarily i’d rotate the team to include lansbury, JET, Vela to play teams like wolves but given the situation we’re in i dont think we can afford that

  60. matlee says:

    hi rico, i agree. was at Newcastle game and i cant remember a performance as bad. we never created a clear chance apart from the header from Cesc. even the West Brom match we showed some character and scored 2 goals. my point was that these defeats would have been easier to take if our general form was good but put together with results at Chelsea, Sunderland and Donetsk then you begin to wonder what the hell is going on.

  61. rico says:

    didee, JET always seems to be a bit casual, bit like Kanu used to be, i’m yet to be convinced but hey, the kids still young… he’s certainly a big lad, if his head is screwed on right and he is as good as most say then he could be just what we have beem missing for a while…

    is he a striker though or a midfielder, you never know with wenger…

  62. rico says:

    hi matlee, good to see you come back…and you are right…

    trouble is at the west brom game we left it a bit late to wake up, had we started as we ended we would have thrashed them… newcastle, well… dreadful just as you say…

  64. oliver says:

    morning all. i think squillaci is just trying to highlight how important tonight’s fixture is. we sit third in the table – tonight’s result will neither make nor break us for the title race – may is still six months away, a lot can happen.

    for the sake of morale, however, this is about as an important three points as can be. i want to see our players start with urgency and intent. i think playing away from home may just help…

  67. rico says:

    hi oliver and SD,

    oliver, at least squilli knows how important tonight is, hope he gets that message accross to the others….

  71. agirlagunner says:

    Hola, all. 🙂 Sooo quiet. Heads will roll if we don’t win this. I suspect it will begin with the keeper’s. 😀

  72. T-buzz says:

    Verrry quiet indeed, hope it picks up during the game and if anyone has a link for the game, please share! 😉

    Students protesting down here at the Millbank…nasty business!

  74. matlee says:

    a win 2nite and we could go back to 2nd in the table if City beat Man U and 7 points ahead of Spurs which will become 10 points if we beat them next week.

    or the other option Lose, and be level with Newcastle, 6 points behind Man U and a gap of 8 between us and Chelsea. plus Spurs could be 1 point behind with us in 5 place if they win next week.

    even worse that could leave us 8th place in the table with Liverpool, Bolton and Westbrom all overtaking Arsenal.

    that makes 2nites match very very important.

  75. T-buzz says:

    AGAG, I guess will have to rely on Sky Sports for updates or maybe someone on Le-grove might know.

    Matlee, I’ll go with the 1st option: win!!! 🙁

  78. Red Arse says:

    Yep, it’s me!, Oh mighty one. 🙂

    Have you had a chance to read the wages/salaries comparison between Arsenal and ‘Pool, produced by one of the sites?

    Very intersting!

  81. Red Arse says:

    It’s on the Newsnow site. Very well done and makes Arsene look like the genius he is.

    Oi you, what happened to this Chezzer rumour you were responsible for?

    Not falling for Pedro’s rhubarb are you? he is a great micky taker! 🙂

  85. rico says:

    Arsenal:

    Fabianski, Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Rosicky, Fabregas, Arshavin, Chamakh.

    Subs:

    Szczesny, Eboue, Nasri, Denilson, Walcott, Bendtner, van Persie.

  89. oliver says:

    and that is no way intended as a dig a chamakh – simply my observation that he has been quite jaded for the past few matches and needs and overdue rest.

  93. oliver says:

    i had hoped to see bendntner starting. while i viewed his effort on sunday with contempt, i still think he needs real minutes – not the odd six minute substitute apperance – if he is going to be effective and give us what we hope up front. i think it is still too early for robin to start matches, but hopefully he can get some sub appearances under his belt.

  99. oliver says:

    we couldn’t breach newcastle for 90 minutes on sunday – it took fat sam’s guys only three minutes today.

  100. oliver says:

    yep, i was just thinking that…i still think he can use a break, but he – perhaps more than anyone else in our side – needed that goal…if we can get a few more and keep things steady at the back, maybe we will be able to withdraw him before the hour mark.

  101. rico says:

    direct does it oliver against newcastle and we don’t do do direct… however, wenger has said that may soon change…

  102. oliver says:

    now liverpool have scored – that brings them all the way up to fifth! they were in the bottom three just a couple of weeks ago!

  105. oliver says:

    rico, if i am able to, i will…i cannot promise, as i have a family event tonight. but i will endeavor to do a report for the site.

  118. oliver says:

    indeed, and we had a few anxious moments there, so the points are far from won. a quick second goal is most welcome…

  128. Stef says:

    It’s only a plugin rico nothing harmful.
    The first and the last minute goals who would of thought 😀
    Btw I would of changed cesc and put theo on, rosicky would of play the cm role just fine.
    There was a lot of space for run-in’s, these was cesc second game not at his minimum not eve his average..

  129. rico says:

    thanks stef, i’m not good on this computer lark…

    cesc need not have started stef, wenger said we would see a different man tonight, did we???

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