Not since 1992 have we been knocked out of the FA Cup at this stage of the competition. Yesterday that so very nearly changed.
Nine changes made from the side that started against Manchester City but when I saw the team I thought it was strong, certainly strong enough to get us through to the next round. Yesterday the players let themselves and the fans down in my opinion. We were poor in front of goal, some of the passing was woeful and in the end two substitutions earned us a replay at Elland Road. The third substitution was sad, not seeing Carlos Vela come on but seeing such a wonderful player so low in confidence, he really needs that loan deal to be sorted out, it will be the making of him.
Leeds were up for this, right from the off. Within the first five minutes Song gave the ball away to Becchio who then took a pop at goal from twenty yards out but hit it well wide. Song then gets into the Leeds penalty area but loses the ball all too easily, Leeds press forward again, Bruce plays the ball into the path of Becchio but Szczesny is out quick to gather.
Then, one of the easiest chances of the game came to Arshavin, with only Schmeichel to beat, he fluffed his lines, Schmeichel gathered easily and what a chance missed.
Szczesny was then called into action, blocking from Snodgrass, our Polish keepers kicking was really bad again today, several times he found a Leeds player. Watt is the next Leeds player to take a shot from 25 yards, this one went over the bar.
Bendtner then has a chance from a Rosicky cross, only to have Bruce beat him to the ball, Gibbs then sends in another cross which is too far ahead of Chamakh. We are having chances, just cannot make them count.
Bruce then ends up in the book for planting his studs into Chamakhs foot, thankfully after a bit of treatment he’s back on. How the Leeds player didn’t get a booking at least for that I don’t know but soon after, Parker saw yellow for a cynical trip on Eboue.
The resulting free kick is wasted but we win the ball back and Arshavin has another shot saved by Schmeichel at the second attempt. The strike was awesome and their keeper spilled it, but as usual there was no-one there to pick up the loose ball.
Leeds then clear a Rosicky effort off the line and Denilson sees his fierce strike pushed away for a corner by Schmeichel. Bendtner is the next to miss out; he took too long in taking his shot, allowing O’Brien to steal the ball from his feet. Leeds finally get the ball clear..
Bruce is the next defender to get in the way of Bendtner having a chance on goal.
Chamakh gets a strong header on goal but directs it straight at Schmeichel. Bendtner sees another chance go high and wide!
Rosicky goes in the book for a silly foul on Watt.
Bendtner has another shot saved, at least this one was on target! Arshavin also sees a shot blocked. Goal-less at half-time, with better finishing and a bit more effort we should have been 2 or 3 to the good.
We start the second half brightly…..
Ten minutes into the second half and Gradel gets into the Arsenal box only to be upended by Denilson. Dowd had no other choice but to award a penalty which Snodgrass converted despite Szcznesy getting a hand to the ball. Why didn’t Denilson get booked for that?
Wenger had seen enough, on 57 minutes Cesc Fabregas came on for Song. Soon after, Chamakh has a great opportunity but somehow heads wide, then Szczesny makes an outstanding save to prevent Leeds from going 2-0 up.
Next change was made with Chamakh making way for Theo Walcott.
Leeds went close again from a Snodgrass free-kick after a foul by Djourou on Becchio, Szczesny was well beaten but the free kick went just wide of the post.
Bendtner appealed for a penalty just past the 70 minute mark only to be waved away by Dowd. Then Walcott crosses into the area into the path of… no-one! Another wasted opportunity.
Denilson and Howson go into the book, for a foul on Snodgrass and Fabregas respectively.
Just before 80 minutes, Rosicky makes way for Carlos Vela, then another golden chance goes begging for Bendtner, from just ten yards out he blasts his header over the bar, how many more would he miss?? Walcott is the next to see a chance saved as he tries to chip the keeper.
Bendtner gets tripped in the penalty area, Dowd blows his whistle and points to the spot. Suddenly the linesman raises his flag and the decision overturned as Bendtner judged to have been offside. Within minutes though, we do get a penalty after Walcott was pulled back by Parker. Up steps Cesc, I hide behind the cushion, 1-1 🙂
Four extra minutes in which Bendtner sends another shot wide, Denilson unleashes an awesome which Schmeichel saves somehow, Bendtner heads another chance over and Walcott blasts his shot into the side netting!!
The Leeds defence were strong, very strong but we wasted chance after chance yet again. We now have another fixture in what is already very congested but at least we are still in the competition I guess.
We had 71% possession, 11 shots off target and 9 shots on target and still only one goal, I know what that tells me……
I think Wenger needs to really think about how far he wants us to go in this competition because if he hopes to win it, he really needs half of that starting eleven to be left in London for the replay!! In fact, on that showing they need to be a bit further away than London full stop!
morning…
these type of games are what the fa cup is all about
the lower league teams are always going to come to a big team and make a fight of it..
this was a banana skin, leeds play good football and 9 changes disrupts our rythm but i felt that team was good enough to win yesterday..
it will be good enough to win the replay too but certain players have to start raising their game
do you think they have it in them to raise their game though? how many chances to they need in front of goal?
the ball was cleared of the leeds line three times..
schmeichal made at least three saves his dad would have been proud of..
on another day that game finishes 4-0 at least
even chezczczsszzzny messed up that pen save..he got there it was a poor pen but he let it under him..
just one of those days..
campbell is being linked with a return …. wth…
jj, regardless, we should have finished better and we need another fixture like a hole in the head…
dont mind fa cup replay..gives the fringe players more game time..
i love sol but whats the point?? if we want an english cb (or at least a cb with pl exp) why not get a good one with best years ahead of him.. like cahill
wenger spent 14 mil on tweedle dee and dum i think he owes it to us to spent that type of cash on the real deal
rico..
i heard a rumour that david wheater is in the last 6 months of his contract at middlebro and coyle is set to bid for him in this window for knock down price
why is coyle bidding for another strong cb?? could be replacement for cahill maybe?
vela plus 10 mil for cahill and coyle takes wheater
gets two good players for price of one and still makes 5mil profit
Morning all.fantastic read as always.there are certain axis of players that never seem to work:squilli/kos,den/song and chamakh/bendtner.i hope Aw doesn’t persist with them anymore as they are costing us dearly.
hey ktr
add rosicky/aa to that list
AA had a shocker yesterday.he couldn’t even control simple passes.am worried for him that all his talent may be wasted.i’ve rewatched his highlights for the first 6 months with us and i can’t believe how poor he is now.Aw did a smart move by not subbing AA as the crowd was so volatile that he would have been booed off the park similar to eboue against wigan.
Hi jj.rosicky is among my favourite players but he too looks past it.he looked lost especially in the 2nd half.lack of movement may have been a factor but seeing him struggle to control the midfield as he was our most experienced player was just sad.it also seems like without jack/nasri/cesc in midfield we just can’t pass the ball.it was horrible to watch.cesc had to play chipped passes as the movement in front of him was so poor.
Am also tired of the free pass chamakh gets because he ‘works hard’.you know what,so does our milkman.he was put through by AA but he checked back.he can’t even take on players.
AA is really struggling for confidence..
to say hes been playing poorly though hes still scored and assisted 15 goals this season.
jj, i don’t get that about Sol either, he’s past it, no matter how much we all love him, mind you if its for his coaching head then bring him in…
interesting one re wheater, i reckon the chavs will try for cahill, or either mancs – richards is rumoured to be subject of a 20M bid from the chavs too…
ktr i agree on tomas
top player in his day i couldnt belive it when we signed him and his 08 form? wow
age and those injuries have taken their toll im afraid
hes not even the shadow of his former self
total lack of movement and lots of loose passing..
not just yesterday but all season..
morning KT
couldn’t agree more with the partnerships that just dont work, Kos and Squilli are good with JD but together they are shocking…
Nikki and Chamakh, wll you would think two big CF’s would relish that but they showed yesterday they can’t…
JJ AA had his worst game yesterday.he was even looking at the bench hoping to be subbed.i really like him and hope he regains his confidence.despite having a shocker he almost got us back into the game with his lofted pass that sent theo clean through.i really really hope we get the real AA back.
Morning guys.
Now I may be accused of playing Championship manager here but I feel what we need is a clinical striker. A named player who strikes fear into opposition managers and defenders on reputation alone. A striker who would score 20-25 goals in Italy, a striker who does not give a monkey’s about flicks and cute round the corner passes, a striker whose only desire, only reason for playing is seeing that ball in the net. A striker who does not aim it at the middle of the goal hoping the keeper dives.
Ian Wright with a faster brain.
Rico theo is a delight to watch at the moment.he looks to have finally understood his role in the team as a result of getting regular starts.he may have made a few poor decisions but he brought us back into the game.he even nearly won us the game in the end.he is oozing confidence at the moment.
ktr
if the hazard rumours are true we wont need to worry about aa or rosicky come summer
I think Hazard will come and I think AA will leave.
hi will
weve needed a clinical striker for years..
but appearances can be deceptive
we are currently on course to score more than 150 goals in one season..
Hi will.i get your point.as much as we loathe ade we nearly won the league as he scored consistently.he even took on defenders.when rvp/theo play together we look menacing up front as they interchange well and rvp/cesc always spot theo’s runs.however,when the aforementioned players are missing we look toothless up front.
Morning Will
Torres is the answer…..
Morning all.
Surely it was blatantly obvious with the first 15 minutes that there was no real desire by the players or manager to put in a performance.Most of the side looked as if they had never played a game together before and generally it was a lack lustre performance with no real passion from so many players.passes going astray and though Leeds battled well in defence (in particular Bruce) our clinical finishing seems to have deserted the majority of the players.Bendntner struts around not really contributing anything,Chamakh has this knack of turning away from goal and Arshavin is woefully out of form.Djourou alone looked composed throughout the game, and I really wonder how high up on the list the FA Cup is to the manager.Excepted that we have to rotate with games coming thick and fast,but our midfield was non existent and with doubts about van Persie’s fitness, the need for a striker is as paramount as a cental defender.Walcott is crying out to be played more centrally and though we may well beat Leeds away it shows we do not have quality in depth.Rosicky should have been sold,he is getting on,can’t impose himself in a game and hasn’t scored in a year.We are so reliant on a fit Cesc and Samir and generally the paying customers got little or no value yesterday.To be honest,I am not surprised as the team selection was not balanced and i hardly noticed Vela on the pitch, and Sqillaci is just second rate as best.All in all extremely disappointing.
Yes JJ, I get your point but how many games do we create 20+ chances and we are hanging on in the 10 minutes?
Imagine us with Torres up front. How many games would be won before half time?
We should have got Kevin Doyle or Kenwyne Jones when they were up for grabs….
And why no look down the divisions, Long at Reading can’t stop scoring….
I salute johan Djourou who is our best CB at the moment.he won everything he had to back there.he has played 3 games this week and that bodes well for us.the same however can’t be said of eboue.villa will have a field day if he played like he did yesterday against barca.
i think the hazard deal was done months ago..
wengers got him in the bag or he wouldnt be saying those things..
will i think clinical strikers are hard to find..
and if you do find em teams like mancity come along and offer 30mil plus 250k a week wages..
lukuku and kabacar are probably the hottest propertys in europe at the minute i would like to see either of those brought in but the chances are unlikely
Mornin kelsey, hope all’s well…
I actually don’t blame wenger for yesterday other than its him who bought the players in the first place. That starting eleven should have been good enough to win and had they put a lot more effort in they would have..
AA and Nikki seemed to have a problem with eachother
KT, spot on re JD, he took so much stick but now he has grown, in the air he is awesome and he doesn’t mess around, he is definately our best CH, if TV comes back our centre pairing will be strong – that is of course if wenger plays them together, i have a feeling though it will be Kos and TV….
According to the latest media reports ipswich are set to rest their big guns when they visit west london later today.the club’s management have confidence that their B team have enough fire power to take care of that lot and let their big guns prepare to meet us.
Have they appointed Jewell yet KT? I hope their team selection backfires, just as ours often does….
Benzema would come to us over Man City every day of the week. Benzema on the end of RvP, Fab, Nasri and Jack passes would be top-scorer every year.
At the moment, teams fill the box and stifle us, we need a striker that can still find room and bang them in causing teams to rethink.
And I am sorry but Nik B is not that player and now we have Chamakh, we don’t need a lumbering plan B type player.
JD is turning into a formidable defender and pair him with TV and I don’t think we will have a problem there.
Hazard would be great jj.he is a very direct winger.i hope we don’t coach that out of him.as much as theo gets criticized for being ‘brainless’ his pace scares the crap out of defenders.his diagonal runs are very effective now and he’ll score alot more if he stays fit.
will
benzema is paid over 150k a week at real..we missed our chance when real got him and again the reason why we didnt get him is cos he was sold for 30mil and paid silly wages..
cant see benzema taking a paycut to join arsenal to be honest..
AW has to make decision to buy cover for vermaelen as who knows when he will be back and more to the point fit.Djourou is another,prone to injury so the softly softly approach will apply to him.
Morning rico.
If we get Hazard, what would be your starting 11?
We should stop going on about Benzema.higuain has a back injury that has ruled him out of the season.florentino perez has said madrid won’t buy a new forward leaving mourinho with one CF.
He wants to leave K, but it is plainly obvious, we don’t have a clinical striker and someone who strikes fear into defenders and I for one, am fed up with watching us dominate a team but with 10 minutes left hanging on and also, how many other top teams fans worry when they are 2-0 up?
fantastic question will
—————–ches
bacattack—-jd———tv——-gaelforce
———–song——–jack
——nasri——cesc——–hazard
——————rvp
By the way barca won 4 nil last night.messi scored a stunning free kick and created the other 3 goals.that boy is a freak of nature and i hope that eboue will have the game of his career when barca roll into town next month.
Will i wouldn’t change jj’s team.its perfect.
he needs to get a CH regardless of TV imho, like kelsey says, JD is still one to watch for his fitness and neither of the other two fill me with confidence, Kos will be good next season but this season wenger is playing a dangerous game if he doesn’t buy…
Good side JJ with Theo, Chamakh, Gibbs, Rosicky, Fabi, Eboue and an-other as subs.
Will, i wouldn’t have RvP on his own, not the way he’s playing, also Gibbs over Clichy for me….
Will there is no way madrid will let Benzema go right now despite him being in poor form at the moment.
What about the Cesc has signed a five year deal at Barca then…. All over the Spanish press yesterday….
If we have RvP on his own, he has to play the Bergkamp role and feed the speedy wingers coming in from the flanks.
So if not Benzema, who because it is plain our strikers are not up to the job. I know JJ says we are scoring tons of goals but how many come from midfield?
KT, i think jose would let him go for the right price…
rvp aint on his own
Arshavin seriously needs to sort it the f*ck out … Denilson not even championship standard in my opinion. And as for Bendtner… He is not good enough. Repeat.. NOT GOOD ENOUGH !!!!! How many more chances will he get before wenger f*cks him off . Did anyone else see his pathetic attempt that he spooned wide yesterday?!?!
Rico rvp is perfect for that team as he’ll always have support from midfield runners.if you watch barca play messi is their CF but you’ll rarely see him in the box.as a false nine similar to rvp he drags defenders which gives space for midfield runners to score.its a very effective modern tactic and it works for us so long as cesc/theo/rvp/nasri are on the pitch at the same time.
even if jose lets benzema go
he wont come to arsenal his wage demands will be too high he wont take a pay cut in a league where he will be taxed almost half his wage anyway and wenger wont pay him more than what cesc and rvp get
forget benzema we have a wage structure unlike other clubs it simply wont happen
rico
cesc to barca is bollox
again
barca have just signed affelay cos they wont be getting cesc for a long time..
the story is more likely to be cesc to join barca in 5 years time
the way rvp is playing, it can’t hit a barn door 😉 anyway, we haven’t got Hazard….. yet 😉
Morning all,
Well a night to think about yesterday, “that’s over” now back to the important things at Arsenal,it is alright having big squads, but if the talent is not there, its time for change , i like the idea, i think it was JJ that said it, about swapping players with other clubs, i’m sure it could be used to great effect for lots of clubs, as all teams have the need for all sorts of players, i’m surprised this method is not used more, considering the cost of new players, perhaps a forward for a center back, other managers might be impressed with a player that we are not, a good deal could be done for small amounts of cash, i would have thought that would have been right up AW street
KT, I don’t watch Barca play, I don’t like them 😉
Hi Benny, welcome on board…
It was just the one you mention, he fluffed many…
AA will be gone soon, if not this month it will be in the summer when his contract expires…
The trouble is that none of our strikers is good enough. What we needed and could have had was Jermaine Defoe who was an Arsenal fan and we could and should have got him from Pompey before Spurs brought him back. He doesn’t mess about near the penalty area and is always willing to have a shot and not pass the buck like Chamakh often does.
Rico the invincibles may have looked like a 4-4-2 but their set up was quite similar to this one.Bergkamp was most of the time our furthest player forward.he would drag CBs all over allowing ljunberg/pires/henry to make darting diagonal runs into the vacated space.this tactic won us so many games during the invincibles era.it may look simple but due to all that movement it is devastating and difficult to defend against.the chavs/city played defensive against us but we still cut them to shreds with this tactic and rvp is very crucial to making it work.as far am concerned he is the best passing CF around.who can forget his first time lay offs?…
Cesc has denied the Barca rumours, he says he’s staying put to win trophies at Arsenal 🙂
Cesc stated that he would not leave until he has lifted a trophy for Arsenal, could be pretty soon
Be thankful that you are not supporting Newcastle or Sunderland this morning. These results will always happen in the FA Cup. We didn’t play to our potential yets still dominated the game (statistically) and really had enough good chances to have won the game. We really do need to be a lot more clinical in front of goal and unfortunately that ahs been our achillles heel for a while now. we really do miss Cesc an awful lot as without him our passing game is just too pedestrian at times. Rosicky needs to give us a big game sometime soon or it might spell the end of his blighted career at Arsenal. Arshavin has now missed two really good match winning chances (Wigan & Leeds) and needs to be more ruthless when presented with easier goal scoring opportunities. Wenger has to use all his squad this month as we have so many games, so whatever you may think expect several of these guys to feature in the replay also. The league remains No.1 priority presently and he must have his A team for the match away at West Ham. I can see us getting a tough result at Elland Road. Many of these players need the games to get match fit and hopefully they will turn up in spades for the replay.
defoes shit he wouldnt suit our system one bit and im not sure he would be worth changing the whole system for..
agree with ktr over robin..
I appreciate what you are saying KT, but for me the invincibles were a class on their own, we are getting there now but still lack the class that they had, and for me personally, Robin is nowhere near as good or as effective as the great DB was…
Don’t get me wrong, I really like RvP but he is predicaable as he’s so left footed and he’s on the floor too much, when he’s not on the floor he’s on the sick bed….
Hi crusader, defoe is a no from me too – we need big strikers, not something out of the Wizzard of Oz 😉
Morning Steve… That depends on who Wenger fields against Ipswich, I hope the big boys play from the start…
its the same every fucking year with cesc..every transfer window for the last 4 years hes supposed to have signed for barca but hes still wearing red and white..
we had the same with vieira to real for about 4 seasons on the trot and he ended up going to juve when he was 30..
il beleive it when i see it
Hi R&D, stevenage did well 🙂
I would have put money on AA slotting that first chance home, I think that had an effect on him from then on…
jj, Paddy failed a medical at Madrid, so i was reliably infomed and thats why he didn’t go to Madrid…
agree with what Red just said
i dont remember arsenal ever agreeing a fee for paddy so i defo dont remember a failed medical
news to me…
as far as i remember real just sniffed around for years until they decided they were going to make a 20mil offer one year and wenger told them to naff off..
Morning rico good post,
What ever happened to , play your best eleven let them score a couple of goals then rest them with subs, if we cant get a couple of goals up, then whats the chance with a lesser team
For Rvp to play the Bergkamp role he needs two things.
1) Midfielder’s willing to run past him doing what is now called “third man running”
2) Pacy wingers running directly across their fullbacks whose sole intent is to get a strike on goal.
Do we have those types of players is the question.
If i was part of the B team i would bust a gut to prove im good enough to start.i think when we have no midweek game our B team should play for the reserves just to keep fitness and develop understanding with each other.
jj, honest, he was going, i remeber it and suddenly there was a u-turn – i’m not into this ‘my source said x,y,z’ stuff but thats what i heard at the time…. regardless, you are right, we put up with the him going for many seasons…. when he left, he was crocked…
Will we do.theo/nasri/cesc/diaby are excellent at that.
Thanks Steve, I’m all for that too but its a subject that we will all agree and disagree with…
KT, I’m with Will on that, but Cesc and Nasri are not pacey, Theo is and so is Diaby but neither of those are true wingers…..
Every captain from Vieira has been leaving every year, it makes me feel that the English press have a real problem with Arsenal succeeding.
As for AA, his first touch was shocking on his first half chance, it made him have to take a second touch and by then, the keeper was out.
rico i think i remember vieira being in talks with real one year but dont think it was a fialed medical think he just decided to stay cos real wouldnt meet his wage demands
i’m just passing on what i was told at the time, it was all kept hush hush in case he failed his medical… i don’t know if its true or not and to be fair, i don’t really care now either 😉
Will, he just needsed a touch to the left and bang, 1-0. Bet Nasri would have buried that. I think had AA scored that chance he would have had a different game, again though, we’ll never know….
Rico Bergkamp was class above everyone i agree.however you can’t downplay rvp’s role in our team.it seems to me people forget just how good he is or can be if injuries give him a break.when he plays we average 2.87 goals a game compared to 1.85 when he is absent.our football is fluid when he plays.the chavs/city as a result struggled.bergkamp is a rare talent to come by but i think we should stop comparing our players to those as it automatically makes them look poor in comparison.im proud of the players we have.just give them breathing space and they may surprise us by carving their names in history.lets focus on the team we have and support them.
Thats why wenger makes them captain Will, to try and get them to stay…..
we havent had a winger since overmars
even the invincibles didnt have wingers we played the same way as we do now with flying wingbacks and a load of attackers who came inside and played off a front man
Rico nasri may look slow but he is very quick.his acceleration over 40 metres is very good.cryuff was thought to be very quick but in an i/view he said if a player can time his runs well he’ll always look to be fast.cesc may look slow but goals against spuds and villa at home last season show he has acceleration in him to go past players.even at city this season he went on a similar run that he nearly scored from.
denis and titi would interchange and bobby and fred would come inside
nasri and theo now come inside but with cesc and rvp we dont have the denis titi combo cos cesc cant play front man
rvp and cesc play like denis did when he slotted in behind titi the only thing we lack is a titi but they come along every 50 years or so
so what wenger does is he plays rvp as the front man cos he has the ability to hold the ball up and he uses cesc the same way as he uses nasri and theo
and the same way he used fred and bob
Our first 11 is good but the back up players are not good enough.Bender Denilson Comedy eboue and Vela are taking the piss.Does anyone think Fergie would give these clowns contract extensions like Wenger did?
Arshavins heart isnt in the club ans Squillaci is a mistake waiting to happen like a Senderos and Silvestre/If we get anymore injuries we are fucked
I agree that we have to stop comparing players with older players. There will never be another Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp or Pires. These player were a once in a lifetime players and we were honoured to get to see them all in the same team at the same time.
Wingers who hug the touchline would not suit our system at all.our front man creates space for midfield runners to score.it overloads the defenders with so many attackers in the final third at the same time.in the PL most crosses are usually comfortably dealt with as most PL CBs are giants.
If we get Hazard, with his pace I would have Theo and Hazard on the wings, maybe Nasri instead of Theo.
jj, they were bloody good at their job though and scored many goals, nasri is now doing that….
Hi Don, you’re on now…
KT, i have to disagree about Nasri’s pace but maybe thats because i see pace as what theo has, cesc, nasri, song are all pretty slow in comparison…but it doesn’t matter as they do what they do so well….
Will, i still want theo to play in the middle….
JJ I agree on the defoe bit.the fox in the box number 9s are a dying trend nowadays as most teams nowadays play reactive football rather than proactive football.this has led to teams having DMs and two CBs which is very defensive stifling the number 9 of space.modern forwards as a result have to be able to hold up play,link up play and finish.rvp/false 9s drop deep to drag one CB/DM allowing the midfield runners to overwhelm the disorganised defense as a result.An old school number 9 would struggle to make an impact in modern day football.
we dont play with wingers lol
the touchline is clichys and sagnas role..
everyone else goes through the middle
hazard will offer another outlet as he is a natural winger but he wont play wing in our formation he’ll be told to come inside
All this talk on Hazard, this season he has only scored four, got four assists in 25 games……
KT, If we could cross with an old school number 9, we would score for fun, isn’t that what Drogba is?
It is about systems and players though Rico, he might fit in with our system better.
Rico to be fair how many players have theo’s pace?…if you time your run perfectly you’ll be clean through most of the time.nasri may not have electric pace but since he plays in the final third all he needs is to time his runs perfectly and use his acceleration while dribbling past players.we know he can finish so what more do you want?we only need at least one player with electric pace in the front 3.in addition nasri helps out cesc in marshalling the midfield area especially against technical teams.
Becks isn’t going to the Spuds now, maybe we should nip in there and get him, play him in our cup matches 😉
hazard has theos pace
and he can dribble
would fit our system perfect coming in off the left and dribbling through defnces cesc and nasri would have a field day with all the space they get..
hazard would essentially do what hleb did taking 2-3 defenders out of the play in one run..
then after an hour bring theo on and watch him run a knackered defence ragged for half hour..
Will, i thought i’d just throw that one into the mix 😉
Nasri is pretty quick over 20-30 yards with or without the ball.
KT, thats what i’m say, Nasri doesn’t need great pace, he is just mighty fine doing what he is doing – you talk about Ballon de doo dah players, well Nasri will be that player real soon, i can see him and cesc fighting it out…. with messi of course…
Rico even drogba drops deep allowing anelka to make diagonal runs.drogba is excellent at link up play and he doesn’t get enough credit for that.he was 3rd in the assists chart last season.he has adapted his game to the modern tactics.traditional number 9s are a dying trend rico and they’ll get rarer.a modern forward has to do more than just stay in the box expecting his teammates to do the rest.
jj, that’s in an ideal world but we haven’t signed him…. and wenger has ruled out getting him in jan…
nasris quick
and to be fair cesc has gained a few yards last 12 months or so
JJ I think nasri at the moment is doing what hleb did but even more since he scores.
And passing the ball K.
lets move on, you think he’s quick i don’t 😉
drog make come deep but didn’t Wrighty? difference is they were in the box at the right time, nikki is all too often out wide whe we need a striker in the box, same for chamakh….
it must be in the coaching but we miss out on goal scoring opportunitys because of it….
Nasri is twice the player that hleb was, how many times did hleb give the ball away, yes he held it up but nasri has far more skill and technique imho…
JJ If you watched Spaletti’s roma you’ll see they played with our current system with totti as the false nine getting support from midfield runners.in the normally defensive Serie A they scored bucket loads.they played some sublime stuff and were unlucky not to win more trophies.
It’s my walkies time, catch up in a while…..
Our current system is devastating when used effectively.most big clubs are using it because of how good it is.Mourinho even said yesterday in his villareal pre-match conference that he is staying late in training and getting up early to practice ‘strikerless formations’ and kaka will have a huge say in it.messi is so good because apart from doing all the functions of a false 9 he shows predatory instincts by arriving in the box from deep just at the right time.Aw is going to play cesc/theo/rvp/nasri as many times as possible to ensure they are in synch with each other to get the maximum out of the aforementioned players and system.when rvp gets up to speed am sure he’ll start scoring regularly.
Thing is K, that system relies on quick movement and even quicker passing.
good job weve got denilson then 😉
Ha ha, yeah, the modern day version of Ray Wilkins.
Will thats why cesc/theo/jack/nasri/rvp are critical to its success and without them we seem toothless up front.with one FB/CB pushing up we’ll have 7 men in midfield and 3 at the back to prevent counter attacks.when the false nine gets the ball he can have as many as 6 players in the final third to pass to and defences can’t just cope in such sitiuations due to all the movement.to make this work as will says we’ll require lots of movement and crisp passing.it also requires relentless pressing which needs very fit players.lets hope for no more injuries.
I remember goals (and I said I would not do this) that the Vieira team scored. Midfielder A lays it to striker who players it to Midfielder B who lays it back to Midfielder A who had kept running.
We don’t see that anymore.
I wonder if Berbatov will admit to diving?
I’m agree wuth this opinion:
Benzema and the potential dangers of
by SANTIAGO Segurola (Director of MARCA newspaper)
Higuain’s injury handed the title to Benzema who missed the early competitive against the Argentinian striker. A year and a half after his contract – 35 million, plus the corresponding bonus – there is no consensus at the Bernabeu on a player that is distinguished by its potential, one of the most dreaded words in football. Talk of potential usually means unfulfilled promises, hopes unreached, quickly betrayed satisfaction and frustration, a lot of frustration. An example? Nicolas Anelka, a case of maximum potential that led Real Madrid to pay 36 million euros to Arsenal in 1999. Even today, about to meet 32 years, many people waiting for Anelka. A wait in vain.
Benzema has just 23 years and reminds Anelka in many things. It’s French, it’s center forward, had problems adapting to Madrid and his character is so secretive that seems to live on a planet apart. But it has potential, which operates an unlimited ceiling from time to time. Two weeks ago made the perfect game rout of Real Madrid in the Levant, for the Copa del Rey scored three goals and offered the most luxurious of repertoires. The audience applaud him enthusiastically. Three days earlier, against Sevilla in the Bernabeu farewell to him with an earful of equal proportions.
So is the journey Benzema Real: sinuous, enigmatic and exasperating. Joined the club along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. The president Florentino Perez took charge personally of their engagement and Benzema was presented at the Bernabeu in front of 45,000 people, who hailed him as an idol. They saw the promise of European football’s most valuable, a lad of 21 years with considerable experience with Olympique Lyon and the France team, a project to convert the phenomenon can attack the most formidable of the Real story: Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema . But that story did not last long. A month after its debut, Benzema was not undisputed holder. Higuain scoring goals, was aggressive, it was incumbent on every minute, I wanted the place. And he achieved it. He scored 27 goals and Benzema converted into a regular client of the bank.
Sefalarmos potential, Benzema has a higher threshold than Higuain. It’s more player in the broad sense of the word. Can you do more things in more places than the field. However, the potential is not confirmed in reality. Benzema does not have the appetite of the scorer Argentine player, nor his competitive vigor, nor the rebellion to stand up to challenges. Higuain, now attacked by a herniated disc that should prevent him from playing the rest of the season, arrived in silence with recently completed 19 years and fought for a position with Van Nistelrooy, Raul, Huntelaar and Benzema. Nobody gave him the credit he deserved. It was he who won with goals and ambition. It is a clear case of victory of reality over fable.
Mourinho is also fascinating how the victim may become Benzema. And the frustrating thing is how many games. The Portuguese coach, who is not a dilettante, or take a bath of reality with the French striker. Unfortunately, it receives the appropriate response. Benzema mix some stunning performances, often against teams irrelevant, unfortunate departures, chaired by the indolence and lack of energy. Mourinho wants goals and a player capable of scoring big difference compared to Europe and Spain. Probably suspects that this is not advanced Benzema. Therefore urgently wants to hire a center forward. No matter who has less potential than Benzema. What Mourinho wants is a solid football player and reliable than the hard way that the light goes from elation to disappointment and vice versa.
Will diaby is very good at that.his goals at villa park and st.james park in 08/09 season are exactly what you’ve described.he can be a monster of a player if he stays fit and adds consistency to his game.
JM-Well said.
I would rather see Diaby play further up the field, he is not Vieira.
Will diaby is made for the double pivot.he isn’t the quickest thinker and would struggle playing higher up due to this.i feel he is better served coming from deep making him a difficult player to track at full throttle.his late runs most of the time lead to goals.
Diaby anywhere near our defence worries me.
Diaby anywhere near the pitch worries me 😉
Mancs 1-0 up then, Stevie me me me sent off….
Webb is a Man Utd player in disguise. As soon as I see he is the ref when we play them, I know we will lose.
I detest him Will….
He didn’t even go to the ref and ask, straight penalty. Disgraceful decision.
In the past arsenal have always let there youth / reserve side have a run in the cup competitions, & because they play 2gether regulary & all want to impress AW they put the effort in, unfortunately the side we fielded against wigan & leeds consists of first team rejects. Instead of playing with a bit of pride they don’t put the effort in, there attitude sucks & all we here from them is how they expect to b first choice & how there the best players in the world ( hahahahah ) & if they don’t play they threaten 2 leave.
Boo! Some really good discussion in here. Al bases covered and I haven’t anything to add. 😉
Poor Liverpuddle. Howard Webb must be in Man Utd’s payroll. That’s the only explanation for the sending off and the scoreline.
And will someone tell me why Nani keeps flinging himself to the ground? Is he suffering from vertigo?
Hi agag 🙂
Never a penalty in my book, no issues over the red though, stupid gerrard….
Re Nani agag 😆
Man Utd really are a disgusting team, watch them leave a sneaky foot in like Chelsea do.
i dislike liverpool equally, i hope the dippers get a draw and have to replay…
There’s something Xavi-ish about Nani to me. And I mean that in the most derisory, insulting, and cutting way possible. You know how much I dislike those Catalans. 😉
Hello, Will. I agree completely. Scummy lot. It figures, they do reside at Old Toilet. 🙂
A string of fine saves by Reina… What rubbish defense the scousers hace… 8)
Hi agag.
I noticed it when we battered Chelsea, they leave a foot in after the ball has gone or body check just a little to slow the player down.
Hey, KT. Howdy? I see you boys (and girl) had a fine discussion earlier. Are you watching Liverpoo at Old Toilet??
The mancs are so poor.
Not being funny but the ITV just said that Demento likes the FA Cup because he gets to quarters and Semi’s yet Wenger disrespects the CC because of the same reason.
What load of rubbish they both were, i feel for torres, he must be so unhappy in liverpool, i wish wenger would ‘save him’ 🙂
bet us/leeds get either the mancs or tiny totts next round……
I would love us to get Torres.
I love Torres. Period. 🙂 He would thrive in our team. Imagine how amazing our attacking options would be then.
Hi Rico,
Excellent write up. Great comments flowing today, especially from JonJon! 🙂
If we had a “proper” goal scorer we would have won yesterday’s game easily, even with most of our guys playing with two left feet. Leeds would have had to come out and chase the game leaving room at the back for Theo.
I note the Spuds are about to sign Luis Suarex from Ajax. Now he is a “proper” goal scorer. Damn!
Arsenal or Leeds at home to Huddersfield in next round
Hi RA, thanks
Just seen we are at home IF we beat Leeds…
Is Suarex that good?? 🙁
Tottenham seem to be spending a lot of money, are they making it?
The News of the World are claiming that Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina will never quit Liverpool to join arch-rivals Manchester United. Torres has a £50million get-out clause in his contract, but it stipulates that The Red Devils are the exception.
Bergkamp wouldn’t let him go to the Spuddies…. 😉
Rico,
He is a very highly rated Uruguayan (?), and many clubs including Arsenal have been linked with him.
Looks like the Spuds have stolen a march on everybody. Still, as AW has said we are not buying anyone we were never at the races!
hudds 😉
at home..
another chance to play the rejects..
Hi RA.
Typical ‘Arry then… and he’s signed an african centre half…
and we have signed…. no-one…
jj, i don’t think we will beat leeds…..
torres heads gone
hes not happy at pool and he’ll ask for a move shortly
theres no way a player like that will go two years without CL footy
whether arsenal get him or not is another thing entirely but im guessing with a 50mil price tag it wont happen..he’ll end up at citeh were all the other strikers go
why dont you think we will beat leeds???
they had their chance yesterday its gone..
besides leeds want PL footy grayson dont give a shit about the fa cup..i can assure you that..
depending on the fixtures at the time it wouldnt suprise me if leeds field a second string as well
Rico you’ve never seen suarez play?i have seen him several times in the Eredevisie and uruguay.he seems to me like a quick version of eduardo.he has the talent but its a matter of how he settles in to the PL.He was top scorer in Europe last season with 49 goals.
city will buy saurez too
just my gut feeling, them at home and all that, we’ll soon see and i hope i am very very wrong….
right now i’m more worried about who will go to face ipswich….
KT, poss in the WC with Forlan…. but club, nah, like i said, i don’t watch much footie these days other than us..
possibly a full strength team rico
blast ipswich away first leg
take a 2-3 goal lead back to emirates and let the b team finish em off 2nd leg
leeds have been poor at home rico to be honest they conceed for fun
I hope so, said earlier i hope the big boys play on wednesday and like you say kill the game off up there…
i think stef said about their home form being poor but theres nothing like a mid-week cup tie to play for…. maybe they have been conceding to teams who get their shots on target 😉
leeds have been going 2-3 goals up at home and still not winning
preston went there not so long ago..leeds were 4-1 up and lost 6-4
leeds are like us they play all out attack but they cant defend..we’ll beat em..
lol rico i know theres being pessimistic and optimistic but thinking a team like leeds will beat us is just wrist slitting 😉
they defended well yesterday jj 😉
lol yeah brilliantly
if our strikers would have been at the races the game would have been over at half time..
they wont get lucky twice..
Rico how can you say you expect leeds to roll us over?they barely had a sight of goal before the penalty.
If Wenger puts out the same starters as yesterday, I don’t see us winning.
KT, it doesn’t matter, they certainly had a few sniffs after the penalty, Chesnesy made an outstandin save or two and then Snodgrass was really close from his free kick, we may have had all the possesion and more chances but we didn’t bury them….
If we play the same starting eleven who perform in the same way, I won’t be confident but if they step up to the plate then of course we should win….
JJ i also don’t get this ‘leeds defended well’.when theo and cesc were on we could’ve easily won by 4 goals.leeds backline is very poor.
ktr i dont know if you know but i live in leeds and im over the moon at the replay cos it means i can go 😉
i agre mate leeds played well but we made it hard on ourselves more than anything
KT, how many times did Bruce and O’Brien beat our players to the ball, or nick it off their feet?? There were plenty, trust me…
‘we could have won by 4’ – we didn’t though 🙁
So long as bendy is not on the wing jj and song/den don’t play together we can win comfortably.
just one of those days rico
even their pen was lucky chesnenennenenensnsnsnsxzzzzzzzy had it saved just crept under him..
it happens..
we have six matches to play in twenty days, i love it 🙂
lets hope that ‘one of those days’ doesn’t rear it’s ugly head again now until pre-season 😉
thats the cup for you rico
i bet when manu took the field last year they didnt think theyd be going home on the 1-0 defeat at the hands of leeds…
but they did..
That is exactly my point jj 🙂
Ipswich just been bashed 7-0 by the chavs, that will have done their confidence good 🙂
Ipswich I mean 😉
Off for a bit, dinner to sort 😉
If we play like yesterday rico all bets are off…even if its only ipswich.
Looks like we could be buying a Cb soon.
Who is that Will, not the Sol Campbell rumour?
Or has TV broken down again?
Squil seems to have a hamstring issue and Wenger has said if it is bad, we will be getting a new one in quickly.
well, if he gets the right player in and I don’t mean Sol, that could be good, as long as TV doesn’t have any set backs…
Mind you, he should be getting two now….
I am hoping for a mean bastard that eats strikers for breakfast.
Me too Will and on that note I am off for the day, catch you all tomorrow…
It’s been a good day again guys/gals, great comments and today has really shown that it’s ok to disagree but still stay respectful to all views…….
Thanks all, night night
See ya and have a great evening.
Night all.
Morning all.
not good news to start the day with.
I quote ” Sebastien Squillaci suffered a hamstring injury in the FA Cup draw with Leeds and he is facing a lay-off.
That comes on top of a new setback for Thomas Vermaelen who has not played for Arsenal since the end of August because of a long-running Achilles injury.
Belgian defender Vermaelen resumed some training last week but the pain in his Achilles flared up again and further tests have left Arsenal uncertain when he will play again.” Well that is no real surprise that Vermaelen has a further set back and that leaves Djourou,who though he has grown in stature this season,has mustered 21 starts in 4 seasons including this season,and there is no way he can play every game.There are absolutely no excuses for us not to buy experienced cover in defence,an Achilles heel (excuse the pun) of ours for many a season ,and I was not aware until today that the untried teenager Miguil was on the bench against Leeds.With games more or less every 3 days this squad is to say say rather brittle.
morning kelsey,
just what we all feared, Sol is meant to be coming back but that it’s nowhere near enough. I think we can expect a CH signing in the next few days…
good morning guys
kelsey i think its good news..squills a bit rubbish to be fair so he wont be missed but wenger likes his stats and figures and when you start with 4 and are down to 2 at the half way stage i think his hand will be forced..
the new cb is coming and i think its cahill and the reason i think that is cos coyle wants vela and the loan move should have gone through by now, but i think velas being used as a makeweight and his loan deals been held up cos we are negotiating over cahill
Morning JJ,
you may well be right,it makes sense,but campbell coming back i doubt it.
and the wheater to bolton roumor is gathering momentum
maybe im putting 2+2 together and getting 12 but ive seen a different wenger this year..hes leaving the crap players in the b team (denilson) dropping off form players (aa) and playing his best team in the PL
i think wengers going to use this window wisely..
if we go into feb with the same personel at the back and two of them are still injured he’ll have alot of explaining to do if we end up potless again come may..
dont think he’ll risk it this time..
morning jj…
new post going up
Its up 🙂
kelsey
i seen sol campbell xmas shopping and he took the time to talk to me..bless him what a guy..shook my hand laughed whn i called him a legend
to be honest sols in shape..super slim i think hes got abit more time left at the top but i dont think it will happen..it will make wenger look abit silly letting a player go in summer just to get him back in jan