Same team that we played against Brum, same grit, same fight, same attitude, same result please….
The home fixture against the newly rich kids in the Premier League takes place tonight – I for one am glad that it will be out the way before Roberto Mancini go crazy in the January sales, if you believe even half the rumours about who City are going to buy, it’s frightening.
We can moan all we like about City having money and trust me, I do, but deep down we know that one day we could be in exactly the same position if someone makes an outright offer for our club. Of course it doesn’t seem a fair playing field right now but at the end of the day both footballing sides can only field eleven players and I believe our first eleven is better than theirs.
Tonight is not the time to rotate, Wenger can ‘rest’ one or two at the weekend IF he must but tonight we need our best eleven and that has to be as near to the eleven that beat Chelsea and Birmingham, not the side that faced Wigan!!
City are in pretty good form, they have won their last three matches. A 4-0 bashing of Aston Villa, a 3-1 away victory against Newcastle and a 1-0 home win against Blackpool in their last match. They currently sit one place above us in the League but a home win tonight would see us overtake them by one point and with a game in hand, so this is a huge game for both clubs who are breathing down the necks of the current leaders, Manchester United.
City’s Silva and Balotelli are out of tonight’s fixture and Lardybayor is a doubt too.
Wenger says we have no new injuries, a few bruises yes but no new injuries after the Birmingham game. Thomas Vermaelen is the only real worrying one but now Wenger has admitted that should his injury continue he will be in the transfer market for another Centre Half. Let’s hope he doesn’t leave it too late and we hear that ‘I tried on the last day to sign x,z or z’, only to fail.
We ourselves are in good form, we’ve beaten the Chavs, should have beaten Wigan and on Saturday we beat Birmingham at St Andrews, a place many clubs have struggled to come away from with all three points.
Tonight’s game will be very different to the one earlier in the season at Eastlands unless of course they go down to ten men early on 😉 Tonight we are at home and they haven’t beaten us on the road for over thirty years The last time was back in October 1975 when they won 3-2 at Highbury, goals from Asa Hartford, Rodney Marsh and Joe Royle. Their winless run spans 27 games in all competitions. Last season fixture was a goalless draw which ended City’s run of four consecutive losses to us on the road.
Tonight though there is no room for slip ups. If we are going to win the league, then three points are a must. We are yet to win three home fixtures on the trot this season so tonight it’s time to sort that little blip out.
I’m not going to guess the side Wenger will select but I suspect it won’t be too different from our last game and like I said at the beginning, play with the same passion and all will get all three points.
Anything other than that isn’t worth thinking about…. And I’m not!
Have a good day all……………….
morning….
Lardy has been left in Manchester 🙂
Got a spare ticket for tonight, Row 4 Upper Tier Clock End. £60 face value. contact HH email if interested.
Hi
Rodney Marsh, Joe Royle(good in Everton!), Asa Hartford…yes, was a long time ago…who did score for us? Radford? Kennedy? Amstrong? Charlie George? Graham? I’m not remember… Anyway, hope we win today!
Alan Ball was one…
Off for a bit
Boo, it’s quiet here today….
Hi rico.maybe the GPS system is working after all that we have so many players fit.the blue mooners will be a big test but am glad silva/Balotelli won’t be there.silva was their player of the month in December and they struggle for creativity when he isn’t there.they’ll be cautious but if we score first they’ll have to play and we’ll win.if they score first we’ll struggle to break them down.here’s hoping for a convincing win and perfomance.
Hi KT – good point, are City using GPS?
You heard anything about TV?
morning all. told you stoke would leave ot with nothing. shame, they could have at least gotten a draw with even a little bit of initiative. jones – who i rate – was poor, to say the least. other than the goal, no threat and little ambition from them. perhaps not that surprising considering the fawning obeisance pulis treats red nose with…
Hi oliver, i owe you 1p, you were indeed right…
we all should have seen that coming. i thought stoke played with a distinct lack of initiative. they certainly did not try too hard to chase the game following nani’s goal…
i didn’t watch it, seldom watch any footie other than us and reading…
poor…all around poor. hopefully we will play better tonight. we have to break this stuttering, win, draw, win sequence and go on a run on wins. united look like a shadow of the team from the past couple of seasons, but they keep winning and we have to stay in touch. we cannot afford to rotate in this game, nor can arsene afford to sit on his hands if things start to go bad.
i am sure the squad for the leeds game will be much, much different. if we decide we are not going for the particular trophy – we should, if only to continue breed a winning mentality – then exit the competition this weekend, so we won’t have to deal with later-round fixtures….
were you testing me the other day oliver re the fixtures 😉
i’m sure we’ll see a different side for Leeds, possibly similar to the side that faced wigan…
no i actually thought we had leeds midweek and city on the weekend. then i read the post, and thought “hang on…”
Boo!! Hello, everyone! can’t wait for tonight, although with less creative options available to City, they will probably park the bus and play long balls. 😉
oliver 🙂
Boo to you agag, Merse reckons if we fire we will win easily…
It’s the ‘if we fire’ that worries me….
rico, is there something wrong with the page? I press the home button and am directed to yesterday’s post. A bit unusual.
I don’t know agag, i’ve just pressed the home button and today’s post comes up….
It must be you 😆
Afternoon all, same problem here agag no rss too, I did access the page trough my email.
I suggestion Rico to put link at the end of the post for the new 1.
hi agag…hi stef…
See, it’s not just me, rico! 🙂 Hey, Stef.
Hello, oliver, how are you? Will you be able to watch the match live?
Hi Stef, how bizarre, maybe that’s why it’s so quiet, who’s sabotaging HH 🙁
It’s strage, the newsnow link goes to todays post and my home button works 🙁
I have put the link up Stef…
Any confirmation from Oliver if he’s around?
It usually takes 2 h at most to show at my feed.
On to the game any news who’ll Wenger pick AA or Theo?
Good think u put it up Rico, some of the regulars might have problems accessing the page too.
Yes, the NN link goes to today’s article, but were I to type the address, I go to yesterday’s post. Weird. Maybe, that is why it’s quiet. 🙁
stef, on current form, Theo. 😉
Thansk for letting me know guys/gals 🙂
Theo to start Stef, AA on the bench I hope…
Same team that played the chavs would do for me 🙂
Same result too….
Rico, agag I wouldn’t mind 2 or 3 changes if we win 3-0 😀
Anything other thn win won’t do. We must keep pace with the mancs. That team has been very poor, indeed. 🙂 A few injuries, and they’d be in doodoo too.
not live, unfortunately. i will actually be in a meeting for part of the match – will have to catch it, and do the report, from a replay when i am home tonight.
It’s still weird how they(the Mancs) r top of the league, but we need to earn it to be there.
Nani comments:
‘I hope we can go the whole season unbeaten,’ he said. ‘We are in a great position. We have been doing so well.
‘We have to keep working hard and doing the same things. Providing we stay together I feel we will finish the season with something very special.’
they have had more than their share of luck. but they have also made much of it for themselves. as much as i dislike them and everything about them, they have a winning culture, and know how to handle these situations (reaching and staying atop the table, and finishing)…these are things we still lack…
It’s not on my tv listing, pfft. I feel shortchanged. 😉
Unless you’re the one presenting, you can sneak out, oliver 😉 To be fair, the Mancs do have a winning culture, but I swear, they get less watchable by the year.
Even Manchester fans are honest and say(well at least some of ’em) that they were sheeeet last night.
A win today would put Arsenal at back of their mind.
I hope we add some grit in the team this winter.
Just had the television man in tto fit a new digital aerial, guess who will have a good picture 🙂
No changes tonight, please 😉
oliver, i am more than happy to do the report if it’s going to be tricky for you…
rico, i should be able to get it with no problems. and agag, no way i can sneak out today…not from this one.
ok, thanks oliver
This game can’t come quick enough for me….
Good for you, rico. I wonder why it’s always the chavs and the mancs on espnstar; not that the running commentary is great (it is poooooor), but I am grown tired of seeing said teams. 🙁
oliver, sayang. 😉 Haha, I tend to be a horribly restless and obviously bored attendee of meetings. Bet you’re the one with an item. Well, good luck.
you able to watch a stream agag??
They are always on SS too, it’s only on because we are playing the rich kids….
Kaka
what about kaka??
Rico am just glad he is back from injury.FIFA are also considering to change points allocation and golden goal as options to make the WC014 more attack minded.
I didn’t realise he was out KT, interesting re the points system but i bet the old stiffies change nothing, what they should be doing is bring in video replay to help the refs….
Kaka has been out for 6 months rico since the WC.he made his return on monday against Getafe.
😳 KT
Now you mentioned it i recall him being out, bet he won’t be the player he once was now…
Man. citeh wants Kaka (doodoo :p) in there team he will play well Silva I think.
Hope Song plays today we need a hard man in the middle and he is our only 1(except Djourou, but we haven’t see him in the middle).
I am no certain if I like Theo to play in the first team, why cause there will many players in defense today(opposite to the open space he needs), but is it wise to drop him for AA 😕
Rico kaka’s greatest asset was his pace when running with the ball stuck to his feet.i really do hope that he hasn’t lost that as he is a joy to watch at full throttle.
Stef AA may have a huge role to play today.
Stef, no way will Song not play unless he’s crocked and he isn’t, no-one is….
No no no, we cannot drop Theo 🙁
Would be sad if he lost that pace KT but if I’m honest, unless players play for us, I don’t really care – i am more sad about what injury did to Eduardo and I worry what it may have done to Ramsey…
But who will Wenger choose AA who can be lost for most of the game and then produce somthing out of nothing or Theo who is back and he is roaring as a lion(he wore a costume once 😆 ) and speed as a cheetah.
To be fair Stef, Theo has waited for his chance, now he’s got it and we are winning, he needs to start each game. Cesc, RvP, Nasri, Theo are forming a formidable team, we cannot afford to break the rhythm…
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/article/26763/
Watch the video guys/gals, it’s hilarious 😆
Goodnight, kids. rico, I wasn’t even aware he was injured in the first place
KT, that’s why we have our Euro expert in you, I guess. 😉
Stef, as long as Theo is fit, rico will find him fit to start. 🙂 right, rico?? Your 5:46? Spoken like the True Devoted. 😀
😆 agag, i sure will, night you, rest well and hope you dream of many a gooner goal then when you wake, you realise it wasn’t a dream at all ……
Problems is rico is Theo capable to produce something in a confined space?
I really liked our team when AA played on the left and Theo on the right and Chamakh upfront with Nasri behind.
But now we have Cesc and RVP guaranteed first team place if there are fit.
I would like to see these team out
———Fabianski————
Sagna-Djourou-Koscielny-Clichy
———–Song—————
——Nasri—-Cesc———–
–Theo—————-Andrey–
———Chamakh————–
No Jack and no RVP for me sorry.
The formation is 4-1-2-2-1 😀
Wow Stef, no jack or RvP…. 🙁
AA just isn’t doing it, let him face Leeds on Sat
I wouldn’t keep RvP on for 90 mins though, unless tonight is his night – if its not working for him, change it….
Robbie Keane is joing B’ham, is Arry mad or what…..
I like Jack he is a fighter, but with these is the best 11 we have available at moment. RVP is not close at his best and AA will be better with the rich guys I hope.
This a more attack minded selection but we need that to tear the rigid defense of City.
AA(yes he is faster then Nasri 😀 ) and Theo are the fastest forwards we have and I like the look of a Cesc and Nasri behind them.
Chamakh will be good for crosses too so we’ll have more options.
Have a good sleep agag, sorry for the l8 wish thou.
Stef i agree re theo and AA upfront complement each other very well.i also want rvp to start.he hates city so much and am sure he’ll want to put several past them.we also score alot with him in the team.since August 09 we have scored an average of 2.88 goals with him in the team in compared to 1.85 goals without him.
I think it’s always a tough call, the main of the team picks itself, then we fans, who see different things in difeerent players, choose the others…
Right now, I’m not an AA fan and thats down to his lack of fitness and his lack of ability to be clinical when he gets chances….
jack and theo start, as does, RVP, not AA….
🙂
Arsenal:
Fabianski, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Walcott, Fabregas, Nasri, van Persie
Great to see JD in there, come on you Gooners 🙂
C’MON Y0U REDS!!!
This is a good squad too Rico 😆
Is it on official?
KT, RVP creates more chances with his passes so that’s why the stats are better but he needs to practice his shooting they are way off then b4.
it’s official stef 🙂
Fabianski
Bacary Sagna
Johan Djourou
Laurent Koscielny
Gael Clichy
Theo Walcott
Samir Nasri
Cesc Fabregas
Jack Wilshere
Alex Song
Robin van Persie
Substitutes
Wojciech Szczesny
Sebastien Squillaci
Andrey Arshavin
Denilson
Tomas Rosicky
Marouane Chamakh
Nicklas Bendtner
Manchester City
Joe Hart
Micah Richards
Vincent Kompany
Kolo Toure
Pablo Zabaleta
James Milner
Gnegneri
Toure Yaya
Gareth Barry
Nigel de Jong
Jo
Carlos Tevez
Substitutes
Shay Given
Wayne Bridge
Jerome Boateng
Joleon Lescott
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Adam Johnson
Patrick Vieira
Where is Ade 😀
Back in manchester stef, after his fight with kolo the rolo 🙂
he’ll be gone this month….
See u at half time rico
Goooo Gunners
What does mancini have against Adam johnson?
See you at H/T folks, i’m off to my seat with my popcorn 😉
Lord knows KT, he’s going to destroy one of their best players …..
My thoughts, City are lucky to be level, my fear is we have missed our chance, give Theo 15/20 mins and if it doesn’t work for him, change him for rosicky, yes, rosicky, not AA….
But, i also believe, theo is one second away from killing this side off…. as is robin, nasri, jack and cesc……
come on you reds 🙂
Did u see the talk RVP had with Kolo I wonder what was the topic about 😆
Barry or De Jong to see red then??
the goal is coming rico, we cant hit the post and aim at hart all night.if we keep shooting one will go in..
we tore them apart early cos they were adapting to their 9-0-1 formation and they were like headless chicks but they tried to make it scruffy..especially barry hes just out to break the play..
start 2nd half the same and with a bit more luck we’ll do to them what we did to chelsea and brum 2nd half
Hallo gunners and have a good year. Bad luck knocking our door already? Strong team, outstanding half, very unlucky. A bit frustrated at the moment.. I wondered what RVP and Kolo talked about when they were leaving the pitch.. Maybe a little chat about Adeboo? 🙂
Well, thats a bit of a bummer – how negative were they, but it worked…
Sagna is a twurp, thank goodness he will only miss one PL game….
Hi Gunnernet… 2 massive points dropped 🙁
jj, that goal did not come 🙁 🙁
Did Fabianski actually make a save 😉
bummer we couldn’t scored today maybe we were charmed
Stef, a bad charm – gutted we didn’t win but, we didn’t play so badly, they defended, defended, defended and Hart made quality saves – i thought Song was again immense, Jack was superb, cesc and nasri were slighty off key and personally i would have throw chamakh on, not nikki…
the defence, well, were they troubled? No…..
Right, I need to get a few hours sleep before I get up to watch England stuff the Aussies……
Night all, like i say, two points lost but, theres many a more twist to this league yet…..
catch up tomorrow….
Night Rico nice long rest will do.
Let’s wish we score next time.
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