It was confirmed yesterday that Nicklas Bendtner is not permitted to face us on Sunday which I think is a massive relief to all of us, we all know he’d be up for this game, out to show Wenger how good he is…
There would be nothing worse than seeing him score against us, especially if turned out to be the only goal in the game!
Sunderland are going to miss him according to his teammate Stephane Sessegnon:
It’s a shame he can’t play at Arsenal and it’ll be a big loss to us.
He’s an intelligent player, with great technique who’s really good on the ball. He’s very mobile, too, for a big man.
Yes, he really is talking about our Dane!! 😉
One other player who will want to have a good game but will be facing us is Seb Larsson, he joined us at 16 years old in 2001 with good reviews. However, he didn’t really get a proper chance in my opinion and after a season long loan at Birmingham in 2006, he made the move permanent. Back then his manager in the Midlands was Steve Bruce, the same manager who didn’t hang around in the summer when Larsson was available for free.
Staying with Sunday’s game, Sagna as we all know is out long-term with a fractured leg and Wenger has been speaking about who will take his place:
I think it is more down to Jenkinson because Francis Coquelin has never been at ease as a right back.
He is not somebody who likes to play at right back and his confidence is not high there. We have Jenkinson and we have Koscielny who has been educated as a right back. Djourou can play there too.
Koscielny was always a right back, so he can play there. Even Andre Santos can play there I think so we have plenty of possibilities.
Wenger is totally wrong there, Djourou cannot play at right back, the last time he played there he had a mare, in fact he’s struggling at centre half these days so starting him at right back would be a huge error.
Koscielny, well we are after stability in our defence, he’s a centre half, leave him there alongside Mertsacker, don’t muck around with an already frail defence and as for Santos, another one who we shouldn’t start mucking about.
He bought Jenkinson as a right back, play him I say, don’t look for any other option……..
Finally, an injury update:
Diaby looks to be on his way back and about time too – he’s in full training and could be ready in time to face Bolton in Carling Cup, or as Wenger says, maybe the game before. Don’t hold your breath on that one eh…. 😉
Vermaelen is two weeks away, he is back running but Wenger wants to give him an extra couple of weeks just to make sure he’s fully fit and ready to be competitive again and Rosicky should be ok for the weekend after picking up a ‘little groin strain’ whilst on International duty.
So, finally a little bit of good news eh, it’s about time too……
Have a good day all….
Morning all…..
I’ve always felt that Bendtner got the rough end of the stick from Arsenal . and I am glad he’s not playing on Sunday.The argument about Kos and J.D playing out of position apply to him as well. He needed a run of 5 or 6 continuous games down the middle before we cast him aside , then again Arshavin , Rosicky and Walcott should not be on the wing either.
Morning rico
I would play Kozzer as right back and put Song with Merts in the next few games at least until Verminator comes back. le Coq is more than able to fill in for Song in the middle and it will give him the game time there he needs. Don’t forget he has to fill in for Song when he goes on African nations cup duty.
Potter, agree re Nik, it’s same old with the boss, he tries to make players fit in, instead of playing the tactics to suit the players…
442 with Nik as a striker may have worked…
Hi TT, my concern is he puts JD at RB, that would be a huge mistake, I didn’t realise that Kos was once a RB, says it all really 😉
Isn’t Kos mainly a left footed player though?
Rico my concern is if he puts JD anywhere! kozzer was educated as an RB according to the manager and i will have to take that at a face value. Song has done well next to Merts and it’s not like the Sunderland is overloaded with good strikers….
Rico you crafty bugger! From your title I thought that I had missed the annual RVP 3-6 month injury….phew! I wish he who should nit be named would just try and play two up front or even Arshavin is play maker…that’s where he made his name after all!
😆 TT, good point re JD
Woe is me….marvin Martin won’t be joining us. Are we that bad? A relatively unknown won’t even jump at the chance of playing for us. We ve really hit rock bottom. Now I hear the our manager wants to play JD as a right back!
Why didn’t he just play skilless shit out wide! Morning guys. Am in a foul temper this morning don’t mind me.
Sorry Sam 😉
But a nice surprise to find it’s not Robin then…..
I think we all pretty much agree here, 4-4-2 and stop playing players out of position, simples…
Hi goonster, don’t believe all you read about players joining or not, wait for the winter sales 🙂 ….
I swear Wenger is a secret Sputs fan who wants us to suffer as much as possible before he gets the boot. JD at right back! Yes and maybe RVP as goalie!?
TT!
song will be with us in january coz cameroon failed to qualify only good riddence to chamakh maybe we will see more of park chu young. our only lost will be gervinho but we have wingers to play in his position.
i wish there was a russian cup as well, i can’t wait to see the back of arshavin.
Hi mama bear….sorry I ve been very busy hence my non blogging? So how are you doing? Morning sam…Rvp as a goalie? No way that should be reserved for wilshere or ashavin. They ll do very well there!
Hell no Gunner Sam put AA in goal, he can bring a ladder with him to get at the crosses……
sam I did not know about Cameroon that’s good news for us at last:)
What is with wenger and wonder kids? First a swiss then a romanian now a nigerian? Oh boy, he really has lost it. Am beginning to tilt towards “gambon’s” way of reasoning! Damn you wenger!
Ha ha Sam, I wouldn’t quite go that far with Wenger, despite some crazy tactical ideas he has sometimes 😉
hi sam, you are right, we will have Song in January, but will lose Chamakh, Gervinho and Frimpong
😆 re AA and his step ladders…
goonster, it’s all paper talk, don’t believe any of it, the only one that seems to have some legs is the Real Madrid youngster…
Still don’t want him. What’s his name again? Something Rodriguez he’s just another spanish shit who ll wanna leave in three years time. We have real gooners in the reserve players like aneke lansbury boateng ll have more commitment in their pinky fingers than this spanish shit. Wenger out!
Morning all,
And of course to you rico, good post,
Any player usually on loan is not allowed to play against us, which in all honesty is the sensible way to go, I personally have never felt that Nick was good enough as an Arsenal player although he did score some very good goals, he has of course had his moments and has also been very proffesional, he will definitly score goals for whoever he plays with but he doesn’t fit in to how we play. Jenkinson was a million pound bargain, he was never supposed to start as many games as he has, he’s a tryer and has shown alot of ability, he is not the finished article yet but has been moved up the pecking order prematurly, If he starts he must hold his position and not be rushing up field to help the attack its important that he understands that right back is right back and not right wing, Sagna is an experienced right back and understands how to combine the two but Jenks should stick to defending for now, my opinion only.
Nor do I goonster – What we need to do is continue to buy experience, we have so many younger players coming through and they need experience to learn from…
Kids can’t learn from kids…
Morning Steve, thanks…
Sometimes I think Wenger has allowed them to play, certainly last season in the CC, I think Watt played against us when he was at Leeds but agree, no player on loan should be permitted to face their parent club, it’s not fair to either side, or more so, to the player…
I like the look of Jenks, yes he bombs forward a bit too much and wants to sending crosses in, in fact he is very good at that from what we have seen of him.
I think from Wengers comment, ‘it’s more down to Jenkinson’ means he’ll start…
How’s lansbury doing at west ham, rico? Do you really think he ll come back to us? I doubt it. Just don’t want to lose henri.
Lansbury is doing really well, I hope he comes back, maybe January when we lose both Frimpong and Gervinho
Maybe a little harsh on Wenger but his decisions / mindset baffles me. Good news on Song being here in Jan but in some ways his loss might gave forced Wengers hand more in the transfer window…
Is Lansbury not on a season long loan? in that case he wont be coming back in January. It is not fair on the club he was loaned to.
I don’t think he will ever cut it with us rico…not with wenger as manager!
Gooner Sam – I don’t think it would make any difference, he’d play Coq in there and hope to get away with it no doubt….
Unlike us, we’d go get M’Vila 😉
TT – i think there is a call back option in his loan contract, not 100% sure though….
he ll rather play average french,african and spanish shit. We need to blood our youngsters. Aneke afobe lansbury boateng etc. Enough foreign “wonder kids”. We need british steel and we need real gooners playing for us. Guys that ll bleed for the shirt.
I think we all agree with the young english players need to be given an equal chance goonster, right now Lansbury for me is one who is good enough, hopefully under Big Sam, he’ll learn a lot and become stronger physically and mentally….
It is only used when there is an injury crisis at a club as far as I know rico. If we start calling young players back from loans because we failed to make allowances for the ACN then we will find it hard to find club’s in the future to take our young players on loan to give them game time. It is something we would do though…..forgetting all about ACN.
It beggars belief rico…he played denilson till we all groaned out. Why didn’t he give muamba the same opportunity. Now lansbury might not come back to us.
I didn’t know it was for emergency purposes only, thanks TT – I really like Henri, I hope we don’t let him slip through the net, he’s professional and hasn’t had made a big fuss about his future, and he’s not in the press smashing up cars etc….
Maybe if Lansbury changed his name to more French or Latin sounding one he might get a chance….
It’s a case that Lansbury might nit be good enough but he deserves a chance. The problem is more and more it feels like Wenger constantly wants to prove a point, that he knows better than anyone else, hence why Denilson was given so many chances when we all knew he was crap. I fear the same thing will happen with Squiggle…
Rico,
I only read yesterdays post this morning, and would like to ask you why you think our Russian shareholder would be better than our American one, i am at a bit of a loss to understand what the yank has done wrong, Arsenal are running at a profit and look to have come through the bad times financially, he may be known as silent Stan but has he not helped us to become self susstaining which i believe to be parramount to our future as a football club, maybe silent to the fans but obviously not in the club. Is it because of the Russians Billions that you think he would buy us a winning team, and us being self susstaining would be covered by this mans considerable wealth, i know our views differ in many ways but in my humble opinion i believe that the yank is doing things the right way, the club is secure and now its down to the football.
Wenger never gives young british players a chance thats why Walcot has been waiting for a chance for years now and wilshire is not an auto selection….. what a load of ignorance.
A few seasons back wenger would always let the loanee’s play against us, his attitiude was he loaned them out to play games and get experience and if they lined up against us it wasn’t a problem, he seems to have changed his tune.
Bendtner has started well this season for club and country, I hope he goes on to do really well, it may add a few million onto the price of his head, it won’t be long before he gets the nod ahead of messi, if you don’t believe me ask nic yourself.
That’s all I hope re Lansbury, he gets his chance and then let’s see what he’s made of, if his CC perfromance against the Spuds is anything to go by, he’ll be fine….
Crispen have you noticed how many chances Theo has missed, he trains constantly and must be kicking thousands of shots on goal why does he miss so many. I love the way Theo runs and puts himself in good positions but a miss is a miss and by now that is a problem.
Stevepalmer forgive me from bumping in here but one of the biggest gripes I and many Arsenal fans have with Stan is his Silence. We don’t know his future vision at all a part from the self sustainability which was in place before he became majority share holder. Secondly his blind faith he has in a manager that has been going steadily backwards in recent years.(look at our past few years if you don’t believe me especially this year). SS is a investor first and foremost and not a football man, which in it self is not bad but he could and should have shaken up the board room to generate some spark. he also has not been at a home game since April and hardly ever comes over to England to keep an close aye on things. Usmanov on the other hand lives mostly in England and attends almost all the home games.
Steve
imho:
He’d invest, by that i mean if he sold Cesc, he’d replace him with better than Arteta, he’d tell Wenger to sort the defence out, well his side kick would….
He’s tell us what his plans are
He watches us more times in a moth than Stan has since he’s become the majority shareholder
He’d probably get rid of IG and bring in someone who cares
He’s not expect his club to be aiming for 4th
He’d not accept life without being in the champions league and tell all fans that is ok not to be in the best competition in football
He’d no doubt ship out the old fogies who sit around the boardroom table.
I don’t think players like Nasri would be looking to jump ship either…..
Some would say its career development ahead of club development.
Thanks for your answers both rico and TT but what makes you think the russian cares what the fans think, also what is the russians experience in football management what is his history what makes him better, and what makes you think he would be any different as he can make a statment of intent any time he likes and if he has forgive me but i must have missed it. I dont remember too many owners saying to much to the fans i thought that the manager does the talking and the owners the hireing and fireing
Hi Micko – i think Nik will do well, but in a less demanding league – imho he is a typical afc player who thought he’d made it before he’d really done anything, didn’t one of our players say that he trains the least in training?
It’s another of those topics that will divide fans Steve, sometimes actions speak louder than words and i just think the big fella will do a lot more, i know he’s not perfect either but for me, he’d be the better of the two….
I also think Stan is only interested in making us debt free in order to make money on his shares….
Look at what John Henry did for Liverpool, he admits he spent big, and took a few risks but he id desperate to put liverpool back on the map, I just think AU would do the same…..
All thats wrong with Arsenal is their results on the pitch, and in all fairness to Wenger top four is pretty good going for all these years, this could be a bad year for us, is that enough to change managers and owners, and tell me why hasn’t all those clubs below us not asked for resignations from managers and owners
Results on the pitch are down to Wenger Steve
Top four has been good and all the Wenger has done cannot be forgotten but now we are looking like a side that won’t make top seven, let alone top four….
Re the clubs below us Steve, there aren’t many 😉
To be fair steve there’s only 5 clubs below us and we’ve already lost to one of those and blackburn supporters are calling for the managers head.
Ok Steve first things first. No I dont know if he has any more experience in football and if he has made a statement of intent. But this I know.
1) He is a very successful business man with a wide portfolio of business interests and contacts.
2) His grasp of what works and what not in business is widely accepted. For example in the summer his comment that to renew the sponsorship deals we needed a successful team and investment is hardly rocket science but seams to be lost on current management.
3) All football boards strive to achieve a given goal and most make them known to the fans. We on the other hand change our tune depending on the day. One day we look at 4th as a trophy and next we don’t really need CL! And as for the future goals who knows?
4) Usmanov has never shied away from telling the fans what he wants, namely to win trophy’s.
We finished last season as we finnished the last fourteen in top 4 theres a lot below us we have not finnished this season yet
June 2011…
The big fella…..
The 57-year-old, who is not an Arsenal director, even though he owns almost 30% of Arsenal Holdings, believes self-interest among the board members is stymieing the Gunners’ chances of on-field success.
Usmanov also claimed there would need to be a switch in emphasis if he were to end up on the board.
He told the News of the World: “If the role of a board member is to oversee a trophyless period, while making significant personal profits and asking fans to pay inflation-busting ticket price increases then, no, I would not want to be on the board.
“If instead it is to try to deliver sustained success, to increase your personal investment in the club, to help develop the commercial position and to ensure the fans have a say in the running of the club then, yes, I think I certainly have something to contribute.
“In terms of doing things differently, let me give you a very clear example. Arsenal has all of its major commercial contracts coming up for renewal in the next couple of years.
“It’s no secret that to maximise the value of those you want to have success on the field and be winning trophies. To do that you need to invest now in building a winning team. This is simple commercial logic. Whether it comes to pass, we shall see.”
Arsenal’s season collapsed in spectacular fashion following their League Cup final defeat to Birmingham in February, with their challenges in the Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League all crumbling in the wake of that Wembley reverse.
And Usmanov is of the opinion that manager Arsène Wenger needs to be given the financial backing to bring in experienced players to complement the crop of talented youngsters the club have at their disposal.
“There is a widely-held view among most commentators – and one that I agree with – that the club needs to stiffen the defensive spine of the team, with a dominant keeper, strong centre-halves and a powerful defensive midfielder in the mould of Claude Makelele,” he said.
“The Premier League is one of the most competitive in the world and whilst we have consistently challenged for honours, the club needs to develop talent and buy top-class players to win the trophies we all crave. This requires greater investment which, I believe, has been lacking thus far.
“What however is not clear is whether the board shares this view. For too long they have seemed happy to sanction second, third and fourth as being acceptable, whilst at the same time they are planning to sell their shares.”
http://www.arsenalnews.co.uk/gunners-wanted-gourcuff/link/96335/
Interesting comments from Wenger considering he said at the start of the transfer window (right about the time season tickets were due for renewal) that this was going to be one of the busiest summer transfer windows we would experience…..I’m sorry Steve I know you are a big fan of his but he lies to us fans all the time and for me this is one of the main reasons I don’t want him here anymore
And once again Steve, last season we blew the chance to win the league, we were at the top, in with a good chance, but only went on to 4th….
We couldn’t even turn up at Wembley looking like professionals, we couldn’t even beat a birmingham side that ended up relegated and all because we didn’t take them seriously. They wanted that cup more, they played as a team for 90 minutes when we looked like we weren’t interested for most of the game….
Tracksuits and ipods for a date at Wembely, not good imho…
Sorry wrong link…
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11670_7237758,00.html
I am sure if they are waiting to sell their shares , usmanov shouldn’t have a problem he only has to offer them a good price
I just wish the exits had happened earlier Sam, then those coming in would have been earlier too, we have suffered for them coming in on DD..
Steve, I think he will in the summer…
Once the fans get their shit together Steve and start hitting Stan in the wallet he won’t be able to sell fast enough…..
I agree we didn’t turn up but we beat everybody else. Birmingham deserved it on the day one of those quirks in proffesional football you was gutted i was gutted and i know Wenger and whoever else involved with Arsenal was gutted, but thats a learning curve its painfull but shit happens Barca in the CL final hurt the same thats why football is so exciting but we have to remember when theres two teams involved thats what its all about. Sendings off and players injured thats the name of the game. nobody has a God given right to win.
that will be the day we find out all about him TT and if your right mate i’ll be the first one to say it
Sorry, the doorbell rang…..
But we could have given more on the day Steve, we didn’t play as ateam, we didn’t fight for the trophy in the way B’ham did – they wanted it more…
off to walk the woofa, back later
For me the Birmingham game showed that without Cesc the team did not have that cutting edge needed to win a match in high pressure situations. That is the problem with building a team around one player…its great when he is there but when he goes the system doesn’t work (as is being shown now).
Thats also the issue I have with the current 451, (by Wengers own admission) it was choosen to get the best out of Cesc…..well now we haven’t got him why haven’t we looked to change that?
And another thing (while I’m on a rant…bare with me), Cesc wanted to return to Barca…we all knew that…he has wanted to for the past 3 years. With this in mind where is the succession plan in place? Don’t say Wilshire because he only became a regular last season and Rambo has a horrific injury.
I was thibnming earlier just how damning it is that fans now say ‘In Arsene we rust’ the missing word being trust….most of his fans don’t trust him anymore and where is any relationship without trust…..
I am sure if they are waiting to sell their shares ,
Too late for Usmanov on that one, every board member apart from Stan already has. And by starving investment in the team they successfully increased the value of their shares by approx 150%. I would think that Kroenke wants to see his investment bear similar fruit and as such wants the same to continue. I understand the argument about self sustainability and hanging on for Platini to make things fairer in the future but that doesn’t get todays baby bathed and anyone who thinks that we will ride to success on the back of financial fair play is deluding themselves.
Sorry to disagree again steve ;- Sendings off and players injured thats the name of the game. nobody has a God given right to win.
In itself that’s true however they were not the reasons we lost that game , it was down to inexperience . Koscielny should have put that ball onto the north circular and taken Szczesney’s hand with it if required. That’s what experienced defenders do.
Gooner Sam,
Can understand where your coming from and i must admit a lot of what you say about Cesc was right, it seems that wenger was reluctant for Cesc to leave and battled right to the end, had he not i believe he would not have been the manager i thought he was, Cesc was under contract but everything you say is true he built around him, and yes our season fell apart last season because of Cesc’s Injury and your right we didn’t have a back up, who do you get to back up Cesc, sombody who plays the same as Cesc with the sublime skills of the man. Its easy to pull names out of hats and say buy him or him but Cesc in my eyes was ireplacable. now you may say nobody is ireplacable and you would be right but after all that negotiating he almost got Cesc to stay if only by default, when he never he was forced to buy and i have no doubts he knew who he wanted, but of course money was still a key factor and Wenger has only spent basicly what he got in and that tells me a lot about our so called transfer fund, Wenger is not so much lieing as not saying much at all, but where he did tell the truth was that it was the busyest transfer window for many a moon whether we like them is another matter.
Gooner Sam, i think the CC final showed us that we were not as a team, we did not play as a team, we didn’t fight for ourselves, for eachother, or for the club… where as birmingham showed us what doing all that achieves…
They were proud to be there, they turned up suited and booted and ready,…..
Potter fair points mate, but you know as well as me that game should with the ability we had been wrapped up a long time before that, granted your right when in doubt kick it out but when a keeper calls which is what i think happened shit happens i don’t blame anybody but the whole team, you me everybody knows whats best after the game .
Potter, is that true that Stans shares have already increased in value? I’d have thought they would have gone down after the horrid start we have had….
I bet that kind of incident doesn’t happen again with either player Steve….
Thats the trouble rico i wouldn’t put money on it
Not with the big german in there Steve 😉
But no, you could be right there, but that’s the kind of incident that happens when the confidence is low, when we don’t have players who know how to win playing – and in that final we didn’t have any real winners….
And I still think we lack a real leader
Catch you all later.
See you soon Steve, have a good evening…
I thinkt for me it was the lack of preperation that bothered me and the option of a plan B….since the invincibles we seem to have based our play on one superstar rather than a balanced side full of stars…this ends up meaning that when they leave / are injured longterms we lose our fluidity. Now I’m not astupid enough to think that we should have a team that has WC players in each position (often that does not work a la Real Madrid) but a few pieces of quality should compensate / step up when the other is injured. At the moment who do we have…Jack!? (very young and currently injured partly through playing to many games.
I guess the point is you can accpet that some things can be wrong, no club / manager is perfect but there seems to be an endless list and nothing i9s being done to rectify it.
Sorry I’m in rant form today….no2 over!
Score prediction for the Sunderland game people?
Oh and see you later Steve, I don’t necessarily agree with you but appreciate your passion!
That’s why we are here Sam, you rant 🙂
I’m going for an away win….
For Reading of course who are away at Burnley, funny enough, they sit 15th in the Championship….
We just need to get back to doing the simple things like competing again and not rolling over when the chips are down, we’ve been 2nd best too many times this year, I’m going for a 2 nil thrashing.
I swear I’m not normally this ranty in life 🙂
Yeah I’m positive for some unknown reason….I’m going 3nil, RVP, Metersacker and OX (on a s a sub).
If we do the simple things Micko, i’d go for a 4-0 thrashing – but we don’t do simple do we…..
That’s what The Arsenal does to you Gooner sam 😉
Don’t I know it! And here was me thinking that women were the stress in my life! 🙂
😆 Sam, not all women cause stress you know, I don’t 😉
See you later people, I have a dinner party to cook for
Yeah we all know PMT really stands for pre match tension.
Later Sam, have a lovely evening….
Micko – i like that, that’s funnyin my eyes, guess it’s a women thing 🙂
I’m off for dinner, back in a bit if anyone is around….
Hello everyboy!
Any news from Arsenal world?
Good evening guys and chicks.
Some news form Arsenal World……Wenger not ruling Bendtner out. That means that RVP will be sold and Bendtner will play in his place. Its as simple as that. I do not see any other way. He will not play against Arsenal. That is part of the agreement. However had he played I feel he would have scored for sure.
Personally I am with you Rico regarding right back. If Jenks does not get the chance to play against the Sunderlands, Wolves etc of this world when will he get the chance???? He is a right back and to put Djourou or Koscielny in that place would make a hash of our defence and Jenks confidence. Why buy a player if you do not play him in his right position??
Personally I would put Gibbs at left back, Santos in front of him, while Jenkinson would be right back and Ramsey in front of him. The centre would pick itself with Kos and Mert while in front of them Song and Arteta. Then put RVP behind Walcott/Park and the team is solid.
Evening JM and devilgunner…..
Honestly devil, i think Jenks is ok, i think he’s better than Eboue too, no theatrics, just a hard player who can deliver a fab cross if he gets forward and on top of all else, he’s an arsenal fan, he won’t want to lose any game, he’s a gooner….
Re the left back devil, i actually think in gibbs and santos we have two right wingers, neither are brilliant defensively becuase they are attack minded but both could be really good wingers and with the ability to track back when needed…
does that sound crazy 😉
Hi guys, am really looking forward to the eminent return of diaby. He’s what we need right now. With cesc and nashit gone I think its his time to shine….then sold to man shitty!
goonster, you been smoking something, you looking forward to the return of Diaby 😉
Yeah rico…..its his time. Watch out. Song diaby and arteta ll give most mid fields a run for their money. Add wilshere to the equation and you ll See what I mean. And yeah mama bear……I have been smoking..its friday for pete’s sake. Let me live vicariously.
Jenks reminds me of a young Winterburn. Initially Winterburn was not the same level as he was in his later years. That is what irritates me since people keep comparing a young pro with someone who was at his top in his later years. Winterburn was solid but took time to develop and he had an astute defensive coach, something which Jenks does not. Jenks is a better crosser than Sagna and Walcott. Ramsey also has a good cross and has the ability to defend Jenks much better than Walcott. Incidentally I would go for Oxo instead of Walcott because TW is not a winger. He is a striker, and I would really like to see Oxo and TW in the same team, but one on the right with the latter in the middle.
The problem with AW is that he is trying to fit the players to the team rather than fit the team tactics to the players. Square pegs in round holes.
goonster, you make me chuckle, don’t get too excited about Diaby, he’ll play 45 mins and be off back to the sick bay – you crack on and enjoy whatever goes on in your friday night 😉
devil, your comment is music to my ears, since HH began, i have said the same – AW fits the players in rather than play a sytem which suits their strengths…
Square pegs indeed…
Steve Palmer was right though earlier in his view about Jenks, he is a defender first and he needs to focus on that and be comfortable, he needs to learn when he can and can’t press forward – once he does that, I think he willbe very good….
We can’t forget though that prior to him joining us, he was playing reserves for Charlton…
I hate all that ‘he’s the next Anelka, the next drogba, the next Paddy’….. just let them be them, let them learn for them and be their own man…..
8pm, friday night so it’s time for me to hit the big time, bars, clubs and a few glasses of grape juice…..
actually, i fib – a night with corrie, horlicks and a log fire, that’s my evening and that does me just fine 😛
You all have a good evening, night, morning or afternoon, depending where you live…
Catch you all tomorrow, be good and saty safe, nighty night…..
Although I do despise Myles Palmer to the depths of my emotional reservoir, he said something which is true. Wenger is trying to make Arsenal play like Barcelona with West Ham players. While this is true the reason may be one of the following.
Either he is trying to perfect the playing system until he has players like Wilshere, Frimpong, Oxo, Coquelin, Jenks, Song , TV, Mert, Gibbs, Ryo, Afobe ready to take on the mantel of the first team and play the way football should be played. In such I a case I raise my hat, bow my head and ask forgiveness from the big man. Barca themselves did this and spent 7 years without winning the league or any cup of note till their style was perfected.
Or else he is stubborn enough to continue to persevere with his philosophy to just prove a point. In which case I like others will tell him thanks for the memories but its time to move on.
Time will tell which reason is right.
I will try to make this a bit more clearer…….Arsene wants to buy/develop 5 defensive midfielders who can play anywhere across the back four and the CM/DM postiions, while he tries to buy Advanced midfielders who can play anywhere along the attack, advance midfield and wings. In its essence this is a good philosophy since you have intelligent players all around the pitch who like to pass and dribble the ball and are confident in every position.
But, and for that a big BUT….he seems to have forgotten that you cannot send a duck to an eagle’s school. It will always remain a duck. For example AA, RVP, TR, FF,SN all are best in the hole. So here we see 5 players who play in the hole spread around the W formed attack. And that is simply like a committee who met to decide something (win the game) and discuss so much (pass the ball) that in the end they decide to do nothing (try to pass the ball to death and end up f****ng the move) when a simple direct decision (cross and shoot/head or shoot from a distance) would have proved more effective.
New One up