Morning all.
For once it seems the lady luck of injuries was on our side during this international break. As far as I know, we have suffered a big fat zero on the injuries list. The media are however suggesting that Wilshere will need to be assessed before Saturday after getting a knock on his ankle. He finished the game for England so this could be mischief making between Arsenal and England.
Borussia Dortmund have possibly suffered the worst with both Hummels & Schmelzer out for a while. Hummels suffered ankle ligament damage which takes a long time to repair, Schmelzer though is likely to be out for 3-4 weeks.
I feel sorry for the players of course and their injuries won’t do us any favours directly as we have played Dortmund twice already but both Napoli and Marseille could find a way to beat Dortmund and keep our Champions League door well are truly open along the way.
Regardless of what happens in those fixtures, if we win our two remaining matches, we will win the group and Marseille are first up at The Emirates on Tuesday night.
Before then though, we have a tough home fixture in the Premier League against a very in form Southampton.
Southampton have never started so well in the league and two stand out results are a victory at Anfield and a draw at Old Trafford.
Adam Lallana has been on duty for England for the first time in his career over the last two weeks and he’s pretty confident ahead of Saturdays game:
It’s a massive game, top versus third, but we have got results at Old Trafford and Anfield so why can’t we go there and get a result?
The lads will be full of confidence and I am really looking forward to it.
Southampton don’t score too many goals though, just 15 compared to our 22 but where they better us is in defence. They have only conceded 5 goals in the league, whereas we have let in double that amount.
Thankfully, we will have our strongest back five available and we have a glut of midfield players for Arsene Wenger to choose from as they are all fit, well, apart from Adou Diaby but sadly, I don’t really count him any more…
I’m not sure that Southampton have come up against a striker like Giroud before this season. On his day, he can cause defences all sorts of problems and having just helped France to qualify for the World Cup, he should be full of confidence. Ok, he didn’t start on Tuesday, he didn’t score when he came on towards the end but football is a team game and you win or lose as a group, so he’ll be happy. He’s also be well rested having played just 8 minutes.
Those clubs around us at the top of the league also have tough fixtures, so anything could happen this weekend. Also, those clubs have suffered one or two injuries, or they have players who have had to travel afar for their international matches so fatigue could also play a big part in results…
We just have to make sure we win our match….
In the gossip:
The Julian Draxler story gathers pace. He’s ruled out any move in January because of the World Cup but the summer could see him depart his current club:
I have always said English teams are very big clubs and Arsenal is of course one of them.
Of course I sometimes speak to Mesut or Per about the team, about the club, and they always have good words and they tell me nice things. You never know what happens in the summer but Arsenal is a very, very nice team.
They always have very young players, they play attractive football and that’s what I like.
Summer signing for Arsene Wenger?
Maybe, but he has a January window to address before then….
That’s it from me for another day…
Nice writeup.
Southampton have a squad, and are no pushovers. But as long as we don’t underestimate them we should tear them apart.
What does it matter that they beat Manure and Liverfool? They’re not as good as us anyway 😉
Southampton will be tough and we will have to play well but I think we should beat them on paper we look to good and as both teams are on form we should win lets hope there are no hang overs from Old Trafford and the International break
Nice team photo…
It appears JW has a starined ankle and could miss the saints game…
Morning all HHers btw…
I think we should have bought Osvaldo as a backup striker… I can see him causing us all sort of problems tomorrow if he starts.
And on Draxler I think it would be a qaulity signing his performances in the CL so far remind me of Isco last season scoring some sublime goals and setting them up under Wenger he really would do well but where will he fit in he very much the type of player we already have plenty of but he is quality and no doubt about that but to be honest I think Reus would be a better option he can play out wide and he is more experienced and to me is like Rosisky V2.0 and if both are going to be 30M I would prefer Reus
2 pure footballing teams and that will give us the edge – we won’t drop points here. Need the next 9 points. Draxler = super talent who seems to be responding well to the Arsenal links. Not sure 25/30m on another midfielder is where our money should go. We’re really strong here and with young Serge coming on quickly…
I really pity Klopp and BVB. At this time they will play Bayern and Napoli,they will be without their back four. Well,the positives there are,our chances of going through just improved and Napoli is not so good away from home. BVB might get a result from the game but first,we have to do our own job by beating Southampton and OM
Morning All
Jack’s injuries are becoming a worry now – they can ruin his career and he does seem to get a lot of them now
If we get Draxler,it just means either Rosicky or Diaby will leave and maybe OX moved to the centre or Walcott given a central role and then replaced by the Ox or Serge
Pro football is a dog eat dog world and Jack’s ankle injury record is well known. First thing Bender did on seeing him was give it a tap to let him know that he was around. Trouble is that he will get the same everytime he plays and his style invites these tackles. If he was to wear a protective sleeve it would probably impair his movement . I can see the cause but don’t know the answer.
Good Morning Lady, Sir,Gentlemen and Ladies.
Nice post. Hopefully Draxler will read it and convince him.
Ginginho how are you mate?
JW injured? I am not loosing that much sleep. Maybe TR07 will come in instead and do well. I always feel that at the moment TR07 offers that little bit more to the team than JW, although the latter is very important to the team.
Morning all,
I don’t see any rational arsenal going for Draxler. We’ve got the Ox and Gnabry. Still think Gnabry could be better than Draxler at same age(he is 18 and draxler is 20). Rosicky still has 2years in him why not extend his contract. What we need now is a striker in the suarez/rip/benzema mode to compliment Giroud.
Where is SA-NO-GO?
JW really needs to wise man because these big midfielders are going to smash him to bits he like to carry the ball like Veira but hes tiny so he needs to play to his strenghts. I think JW should look at Pirlo and model his game around that less of the ball carrying and more distribution and picking out spaces and when he can he can burst forward otherwise he will get smashed to bits if I was up against JW I would do the same thing you can’t knock the opposition for that because thats there job to stop the threat. Its like in boxing if a boxer gets a cut over his eye the other guy will try target that area to get a TKO.
Sanni a go go is hanging upside down, practising his dico moves at a local Islington pole dancing club. He will return to training when he slips down the greasy pole! ( and not Szezknee!) either.
God knows where he is, maybe reading the book entitled how to stay fit by Abou Diaby’s personal trainer!
Hi Dev, Oz, Emma.
JW just needs to release the ball earlier than he does imo to avoid injuries… its as simple as that.
His idea that he can dribble 4 or 5 people is 70’s football it does not happen anymore.
Gotze had the same issues 2 or 3 years ago but he has changed his style of play and is dribbling less.
I am not bad Dev… just busy at work, making it difficult to blog as I would like… 🙂
Re. Draxler, I remember discussing his style with WATH over the summer when we bid for him. I have always thought he is more of a big game player… being a BVB fan whenever we have faced S04 (a local derby) he has been the best player on the field even ahead of Boateng, Reus, Lew etc.
Emma- I agree Serge has huge potential; he is even better playing from the LHS or through the middle than playing on the RHS as he has done for the senior team.
Hi ts – ditto 11:15 on JW10.
JW10 invites tackle the sooner he releases the ball the better. Like MO11 said he should model his game on Pirlo(look for space and distribute the ball). At the moment he hasn’t got the pace to carry the ball past his marker without being hacked. I will attribute that to too much build up(he looks a bit bulky) and as a result has lost 1/2 a yard and is at the mercy of his marker. In conclusion he has lost that little ‘burst’
Just popping in to say morning all..
I’d love us to sign Draxler – the more quality Germans in the camp can only be good news. Rosicky isn’t going to go on forever and suggestion is, he won’t get a new deal unless he plays 25 games this season. Whether that’s true or not is another matter…
Mo11 – i’d do the same to Jack too, nothing nasty but when there is a weakness – exploit it, that’s life sadly….
thanks emma for agreeing with my theory but Wenger recently said he feels JW best position is deep laying playmaker so I take it he see it the same I don’t think JW will be a big goal scorer unlike Ramsey because even before Ramsey became a machine like he has he was always getting in the right area but had no confidence but JW very rarely arrives in those areas where he can score so the deep lying role should be his and he needs to work on that he can still have the odd surge forward but needs to time it right that will only come through experience and him accepting he needs to change is style a little
10.46 potter – spot on imho..
One thing he could do is decide which is more important, his club or country. Maybe he should stop playing for England for a while and see how things go….
Something Rosicky needs to do now too….
Off again, catch up later…
I defo think Rosicky needs to call it a day on international football but if JW took a break from international football the fallout with the press would be massive he could never live it down, and I think JW problem is he wants to play every game he needs to let himself fully recover because if he doesn’t his career could be ruined and we may have another Diaby on our hands I hope that never happens but it does look like that way just this season alone this must be his third or forth injury albeit minor one but all these injuries can’t be good for him at this young age.
tsgh – popping in and out, hi mate
10.51, spot on emma
I thought TR07 quit international football after the Czwch Republic failed to qualify? His body is just not up to continuous football. He has been battered and broken over the years and tims, sadly has caught up with him. However, his performances since the Bayern game have been immense. We are a much better team with him playing than when he is not. If we have to replace him we need a player who plays in the same vein as Tomas. Reus probably would fit the bill, Draxler is a different type of player, good, very good but we already have similar players in the pipeline, eg Gnarbry. Or will AW turn Serge into the ‘new’ TR07?
JW is more in the mould of XAVI, a pint sized playmaker PIVOTE who can start attacks from the deep. However he needs to release the ball earlier to make him more dangerous and a complete deeplying playmaker
Wavy to me the only player in the world who can replace TR07 is Toni Kroos… and maybe a fit pre-injury Gundagun.
What TR07 brings to anytime is not what he does with the ball but what he does when he does not have the ball…
Its no wonder even Ozil plays much better when the Mozart is playing. Rosicky ensures we keep the midfield triangle when he plays. The others especially JW and Ozil move in spaces trying to receive the ball thereby affecting the team shape in the top games where tactics and positional awareness is an essential part of winning a game more than just sheer quality… imho of course.
I love Draxler but I think it was either him or Ozil in the summer and I preferred Draxler btw even though Ozil is a better no.10. In my view, Ozil needs to be a bit more consistent to be the world class player he is capable of being;
Its amazing that only a few people are talking about Ballotelli for obvious reasons as a potential striker. 😉 We could get him for £25M and will be ideal number 9. He is the definition of a big game player; a poor man’s Ibrahimovich if you like…
I guess his mental state can be questioned but since he joined Milan he has made El Shawaaray look like Chamakh.lol
I’d go along with Kroos. Good player. The thing is, though, we need a replacement for the little Mozart, when the time comes, even more sadly, that is sooner rather than later. Would signing Kroos be a likely possibility?
Whilst on the sublect of transfers I note that we have sold another of our world class players…….Kim Little. She will be much missed here. I understand that Seattle is a lovely city, lots of boeing boeing! If you know what I mean. Are they, the Sounders the equivalent of Man Shitty in the ladies league of north america, or what? Or is it a convenient move/shuffle for her to stay a year and then be enticed back into the fold by signing for Citeh? Because we would never sell to a rival team from Manchester, would we?
An alternative suitable replacement is available from the academy. That player is Kris Olsson; Players like him who see the biger picture shouldn’t be allowed to rot in the reserves just because they weigh 60 kg and are not British. 😉 lol
ts – Balotelli is one of the best in the biz. His temperament makes me unease. Already sent off once this season and 5yellow cards in 7 matches. God knows how many times he will be sent off before the season ends. He can win you matches at the same time cost you matches. He is so unpredictable you can’t tell what is going on in his head. So I will pass 😉
Kim Little is an excellent player.. shame she has left. The Yank money ah?lol
Kroos has less than 2 years on his contract to go but the Bavarians have not offered him an extension; Guess what he says he looks aAW too and would like to work under him…
I like Kroos because before this season he had not played DM but him and Lahm who had not played in that position have managed to keep out Martinez from the DM position;
Against England you could see what he doing was well planned a few steps in advance; he knew when to hold onto the ball and when to run with it… at his age that is Pirlo/Arteta level of intelligent.
True Emma- his own downfall; he reminds me of Rudi Voller or the man pictured on my profile- Valderama (El Pibe) in terms of temperament.
I prefer kroos to Gundogan.
ha ha ha I thought you would say that Emma.lol
Gundogan last season was something else though.. I thought him and Vidal were the best CM or pivote, followed by Ramsey of course. 😉
But this season Vidal has lost his mojo due to injury whilst Kroos is now playing his best ever football as a DM.
BM fans I speak to or even from the Bundesliga blogs consider Toni a squad player even though he wins motm awards. Some fans think Martinez should be playing instead of him but when you consider that Pep is dropping his 20M buy Thiago and playing Kroos as a DM it says it all…
I am not just saying kroos because he has being consistent this season. He has being immense since last season and has maintained that level of consistency.
Of course Emma; I remember you saying you like Kroos when we played BM
liked*
Players like him who see the biger picture shouldn’t be allowed to rot in the reserves just because they weigh 60 kg and are not British. 😉 lol
Are you suggesting that you need to be British to get a chance at The Arsenal or have I misread you.?
😀 Potter; not quite. I just think technically he is better than 1 or 2 of our senior players.
Ginge….that is the difference between JW and Kroos. The latter knows when to run with the ball, while the former has yet to reach the intelligence when to release the ball.
I still think that JW is a greatly talented player. However he needs to be rested more often. He should be rotated not abused.
That is why Ozil, Flamini and Arteta are important to JW. He needs to learn from them.
Can’t comment on his technical ability because I have not seen enough of him to make a judgement.However I have seen too many players with great ability misused ,poorly advised and badly educated over time that have left the club and had their careers nosedive both British and foreign. I seriously believe that the F.A should set up a young players agency and that kids should not be allowed to get into the got rich lifestyle before they are ready, the agents should not be allowed near young kids until they are old enough to legally sign and pay for their own contracts.
However I would venture that at 60 kg or under 9 1/2 stone in real money he will need time to fill out a bit to compete in the hurly burly of the Premiership.
Afternoon All…
Afternoon Rico.
Howdy Oz
Where is Scott???
You can run Digger, but you can’t hide…
Stuart Broad is gonna get ya…… 😛
🙂 Abused the AW way… maybe his first season contribution was too much at his age.
This is probably the reason AW is holding back the likes of Serge; Cesc also suspected his mid career injuries were due to AW over playing him at an earlier age.
You have a solid point Potter; to be honest with you I do not know Olsson’s weight… I was just gisting even though he is very slight.
Saying that when he came on against WBA in the COC; he played better than Hayden did without Arteta next to him to guide him.
Boo!! Hello, all!! Our boys are looking sharp!
Can’t wait for our next match. Interlull has become unbearable.
hiya kev
Hiya Agag, are you still lurking around SAKS
No, Ginge, back in Manila. 🙂 Must find job soon. 😛
Hiya, Kev. 🙂
Hiya Ginge/Agag…
Busy today… 😀
Kev, that’s good, right? 😛
Just get a job as a fashion buyer or personal shopper Agag. 😛
Selfridges or Harvey Nichols in London- Kev will hook up up.lol
hook you up even*
Flamster is serving his suspension this weekend. That should keep him fresh for OM on Tuesday
Afternoon Kev 😉
Evening folks….
What did I say in my post about the mischief makers….
No rift over Jack says AW…
Ginge, I’m not fashionable. 😛 And visas to the UK is a (insert b- word).
Hiya, rico. Howdy?? Are you happy intersnooze is over or are you happy intersnooze is over? I thought so. 😉
🙂 Hi agag, you know me too well. I’m good thanks, how about you?
Evening Lady.
Evening Devil…
hiya Rico.
Some of my comments are not appearing after I am posting them. Why do you think so? I think its the 3rd time today.
Just found them in spam devil, goodness only knows why they were there….
Haha, rico. God knows this last intersnore went on foreeeveeeer. I’m good. 🙂
Hello, Dev. 🙂
It certainly seemed to agag but thankfully, it’s now over. Not sure when the next one is….
The only good thing about it is that our players emerged unscathed!!
I’m excited to see those returning from the sick bay. 🙂 Would be nice to have Theo and Poldi back.
Yes, and Jack is not injured either so the press are bad boys again.
Think TW is back on Saturday, not sure on Podolski..
Here’sAW’s update, rico:
on Theo Walcott….
Theo will be back for Saturday in the squad. He’s completely fit again. He has not played for a long time, of course, he has not played even a reserve team game, but I will put him in the squad on Saturday. Yes [I will use him cautiously].
on Tomas Rosicky…
Tomas was ill, he had one or two [normal] training days, he could be in the squad as well on Saturday. We have a final test on Friday.
on Lukas Podolski…
Podolski is not too far away, I would say three weeks. He is doing fitness training on the pitch. He starts to do some ball work too, he still needs two or three weeks before we see him on the pitch for Arsenal.
on Ryo…
Ryo has a hamstring problem that he got from the Norwich game, he will be out for Saturday.
on the longer-term injuries…
Chamberlain is at least one month, Sanogo is January, Diaby will be March.
AW on Theo Walcott….
Theo will be back for Saturday in the squad. He’s completely fit again. He has not played for a long time, of course, he has not played even a reserve team game, but I will put him in the squad on Saturday. Yes [I will use him cautiously].
on Tomas Rosicky…
Tomas was ill, he had one or two [normal] training days, he could be in the squad as well on Saturday. We have a final test on Friday.
on Lukas Podolski…
Podolski is not too far away, I would say three weeks. He is doing fitness training on the pitch. He starts to do some ball work too, he still needs two or three weeks before we see him on the pitch for Arsenal.
on Ryo…
Ryo has a hamstring problem that he got from the Norwich game, he will be out for Saturday.
on the longer-term injuries…
Chamberlain is at least one month, Sanogo is January, Diaby will be March.
😛 agag, great minds….
Hahaha, rico. 😆 I beat you to it, only because you put in more spaces in between the headings.
🙂 agag…
I liked the update on Diaby. March???
No doubt he’ll suffer another setback by then and with it, another season gone by.. Such a shame…
Poor Diaby. “March” is actually, Wengerspeak for “never”.
Hiya Agag. How are things in MAnila and Philippines??
Diaby in MArch eh???? OF WHICH YEAR????? 😀
I feel sorry for the guy not his fault that he was near crippled by Dan Smith. However he should have been cut loose years ago.
Manila has had great weather, Dev. Eastern Visayas still looks like a warzone. 🙁
Hiya, potter. 🙂
Totally agree Potter…
Off to get dinner now, catch up later….
I agree Potter. Smith is a wanker of the highest order. And I do pity Diaby. However he should have been released around two years ago.
Bon appetit Rico.
Afternoon all,
Surely wenger won’t buy draxley this season,
wenger has made it clear
he wants to bring young players through the system
as part of the long term process,
he has to be looking at a striker surely.
Gnabry has the look of big time player,
is draxley better than him?
Has anyone/knows anyone got 2 spares for saturday.
Gnabry is more central than Draxler. The latter can play AM in both the wigns and central positions however he is more of a winger type than Gnabry. I feel that Gnabry should be more central…like Aaron and Jack.
Draxler can play as a 2nd striker or winger, while Gnabry is more of a midfielder type. He assists more than he scores.
Not sure about Draxler tbh?
I’m still hopeful that Wenger is gonna shock the football world this January…
My money is on a multi-million pound swoop for Darren Bent…
Or maybe Emile Heskey?
Please AW do NOT play Ma08 and Flam together Saturday. That is to cautious and our balance is off when they play together.
Choose one only.
Come on BAC sign a 3 year contract.
It will be an interesting game on Saturday. I am looking forward to it.
Cheers
Why not Kalou then Kev???
Now your being silly Coach… 😀
😆
on Saturday I would go for this team…………
Chesney
Sagna, Merts,Kozzer,Gibbs
Arteta, Aaron
Cazorla,Ozil,Rosicky
Giroud.
Subs….Flappy, Wilshere,Jenks,Theo,Gnabry, Monreal,Vermaelen
Flamini is suspended I think.
Tbh Coach, you shouldn’t joke about Kalou… 🙁
I wouldn’t put it past Arsene to try and sign him… 🙁
lol 😆
I was pulling your leg mate.
But though your comment on Bent was a bit funny, I think that Bent can do a job where it counts….putting the ball in the net. and as an impact sub plus someone who can come in to give Olly a rest I think he can be a good signing.
Can’t argue with that squad…
Shame Podolski isn’t ready yet…
I still think that the 1st December will see AW sign TH14 on a free. His contract expires on the 30th Nov and he will be a free agent. TH can be someone who can come in to help the team. And he will sign him till June if he knows he will get Lewandowski for free in June
Llorente for me Coach…
I think that Pato is agentspin…
or more appropriately club spin. They may have tipped off the agent that they might be interested so that the toilet rolls will catch up on that story and then let AW and the club work in peace on their real deals.
You know Coach, I would take TH14, as you say, as much for his positive influence around the place…
As a player, hmm, it would depend on fitness etc, but he could still do a job for 6 months…
It would be great to see him in an Arsenal shirt again…
Heskey – why not???
🙂
that is my thinking as well Kev. his influence is second to none. And for 6 months he can be very influential especially in the run in. As long as he gets the last 20 minutes in a game or 30 minutes he will do ok…………better than Bendy for sure.
off to eat a bit. back soon.
Enjoy devil…
Yeah, Heskey, why not indeed Rico… 😀
Offski now…
Night Kev…
Think I’ll follow you, night Devil and all, catch up tomorrow….
cu mate.
nice talking to you again.
Tomorrow will be another long day for me.
I am off too my fine friends. Time to hit the pillow.
cu all my friends.
gd nite Lady
Cristiano Ronaldo, why not?
Morning all.
Loving the cricket 🙂
Morning Scott and all, not sure if your guys bowled well or our guys were just awful…
Probably a bit of both….. 😉
New post up now…