Daily Bits and Bobs

Ten Players Out!! A Win Will see us Leapfrog the Swans……

Posted on by rico

How many other sides will be saying that today? Probably none!

Vermaelen, Gervinho, Song, Jenkinson, Wilshere, Santos, Diaby, Squillaci and maybe Rosicky will all be out for today’s fixture, that’s a whole lot of absentees but the good news is that after today, five of them will be back for the PL fixtures ahead. Park Chu-Young is yet to be granted his Visa so he too will be missing for todays game.

Wilshere, Vermaelen and Diaby are all long term injuries so we won’t see them for at least another month.

Swansea have their own problems, defenders Darnel Situ and Rafik Halliche, who were signed in the summer have yet to be granted permission to play due to not obtaining international clearance. They are also without defender Alan Tate who recently broke his leg in a freak accident in a golf buggy, their captain Gary Monk and striker Craig Beattie are recovering from injuries..

Apart from that I don’t really know much about them, other than they have played three fixtures, one of which was a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City and the other two were scoreless draws so they clearly have a problem with finding the back of the net.

Let’s not be the side they break that duck against.

Head-to-head

We have played Swansea just four times in the league and results stand at two wins each, the last fixture was way back in 1983 when we won 2-1 at Highbury.

We are looking for our first win of this campaign, the last time we failed to win one of our three opening matches was in the 2006/07 season but we managed to recover well and still retain a top four place, something which we need to do again this season.

Like Swansea, we have also struggled to find the back of the net in the PL, the only two goals scored came in our last fixture and I’m not going there, it’s gone and now it needs to be forgotten by everyone, especially the players.

Today is about a new beginning, a day we see a few new signings make their debut; it’s a day to get our first goal, our first win and our first three points on the board.

Mertesacker, Benayoun and Arteta could all be in with a chance to start and Chamberlain must be full of confidence following his solid performance for England under 21’s and Ryo must be chomping at the bit to play in front of the home fans.

There can’t be a place for all of them though, not from the off but whoever is on the bench will have a part to play, it’s a squad game and they need to be ready.

I strongly suspect they will be….

Three points would be a nice birthday present for Laurent Koscielny who is 26 years old today, it wouldn’t be a bad gift for all Gooners either would it…..

Premier League Football is back, Arsenal are back and at 3pm today the REAL Arsenal need to show up and get this season well and truly on the road…

Have a good day all, we could actually leapfrog Swansea today if we get three points. 😉

rico

155 thoughts on “Ten Players Out!! A Win Will see us Leapfrog the Swans……”

  7. Joaquim Moreira says:

    from http://www.eurosport.com
    Premier League – Wenger: My summer of hell
    Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will look to shed the troubles of recent weeks when his side take on Swansea on Saturday afternoon, after comparing the past months to being in hell.
    the Gunners` most turbulent summers in living memory saw them lose key players Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy to other clubs, with an 8-2 defeat at Manchester United adding extra embarrassment.
    “In my job, you expect to suffer. So that`s why when I go to hell one day, it will be less painful for me than you, because I`m used to suffering,” Wenger told a number of national newspapers.

    “I could write a book about the summer. It was the most disturbed we have had since I have been here.
    “The book would be quite an interesting read. Not because of me, but because of all that happened. It was unbelievable.”

  8. rico says:

    Wenger made his summer of hell himself – he could have got on with signing what we needed before DD, regardless of the injuries, we neded to add players…

  10. rico says:

    Hi af, that score line would be good, but three points would do me, however we get them 😉

    Seriously, we need a top performance today, a performance to create confidence going into our next game…

  12. rico says:

    Hi ESP, you and me both, streams are usually poor 🙁

    I’m surprised it’s not though with us playing the news boys…

  14. EastSidePaul says:

    Can’t understand why Park has yet to receive his visa. Worried that Vermaelen will miss the entire season, same job as last year maybe.

  15. GunnerPete says:

    I feel like we are treading water until our usual massive crop of injuries are back and we can actually see what our team is like!

    England 3..Argies 9 ??? What??? Wilko has missed 3 penalties ???

    We need the boys to scrape a 2-0 victory today and chalk another week off before the rest of the squad come back.

  17. Arve says:

    Rico; don’t you think Wenger was planning to strengthen the squad in all the areas he now have strengthen? The problem was that all our targets clubs were also aware of the fact that our club needed strengthening in the pointed out areas. That puts our targets clubs in a strong bargaining position, and can push the price up, way beyond the players market value. Exactly what Bolton did with Cahill. You don’t think that’s why Wenger waited until last minute before he got our players.

    Werder Bremen and Everton are both having financial issues, and needed the money, plus Arteta wanted CL. Fenerbahce have now been denied a place in the CL following involvement in match-fixing. So Santos was clearly eager to get away to Arsenal. Park was relegated last year with Monaco, and probably had an verbal agreement with Monaco about leaving. Benayoun we got on loan because of Chelseas massive squad, and his desire to play. Waiting meant that the clubs became more desperate to get some money in, and put us in a stronger transfer position.

    Getting these players also meant we had to get rid of players in the same positions to. Traore left an opening for Santos, and Bendtners goodbye meant there was a place for Park. Obviously he wanted to get rid of Squillaci, but since we are paying him far beyond his real value, I can’t see which clubs are willing to take him. Might have been good business to loan him out, and get some of his wage payed, like Pool did with Cole.

    So to conclude, all our transfer business done on deadline day was really bargains, where we were in a strong transfer position. The reason why Arsene and the board are doing business this way is simple. It’s good business. And since our rich uncle is not doing business like Pool, Shitty or Chelski, that’s how it’s gonna be. That is really what this club can afford. We still have a bank loan(which is decreasing because of the way we do business) because of our decision to build a new stadium. And until this bank loan is downpaid, this is probably how business is going to be run.

    Let’s just hope Wenger can keep the promising talents which are in our club at the time, and secure new long-term deals with players that have contracts running out. I can’t think of a single person who can do a better job than Wenger with the resources given to him, and wouldn’t change him for anyone. So let’s just demolish Swansea today, and get the season started.

    COYG!!

  18. rico says:

    Hi jo, it’s certainly the day we need three points..

    ESP, the op has been described as a sucess, hopefully no set backs this time but at least they haven’t faffed around and wasted time getting treatment unlike last season…

  20. rico says:

    Re JY Park – i have read conflicting reports, some say he may be on the bench, some say he’s back home – either way, his Visa should have been sorted by now…

  22. rico says:

    Hi Arve

    I’m not sure re Wenger, whatever he says these days i tend to think the opposite.

    Surely it would have been better to have sorted the ‘outs’ much earlier and got the new boys in a lot quicker, giving them a pre-season and time to work together…

    Also, I think we could have done a lot better in the transfer market than we have done…

  23. Arve says:

    I agree that we could have done better. But the positions where he bought were the positions we needed strengthening. I don’t think there’s much doubt about that.

    But who do you think we could have got, that we didn’t get? I have yet to see a lot of games by Mert, Santos and Park. Regarding Arteta and Benayoun, I think they can flourish in Arsenal.
    So I don’t think we did that much bad business. If we had got a player like Hazard instead of Benayoun, do you still think we had done bad business?

  24. rico says:

    I don’t think we have done bad business, just another centre half would have made us a bit stronger, or a big strong DM – however, I know Wenger wouldn’t buy the latter as we have Song and Frimong…

    I really worry though if RvP picks up his usual season injury… Chamakh has gone to pieces…

  25. irish gooner says:

    3pm ko is the shit!!!!!!!!! il have at least 4 pints of murphys by the time the y take to the pitch,,,,,,happy days 🙂

  28. mog says:

    is the best centre forward ever to wear pink boots going to face chelsea today. he scored 2 in the week did’nt he i think if played in the cf position and not on the wing he’ll be ok. and did’nt steve bruce have him on loan at birmingham on a few years ago he must see somthing in him.

    might even show that 50 mil spanish chap how its done.

  31. rico says:

    Bruce really rates him mog – and according to him, 6/7 clubs wanted him on loan on DD.. I reckon he’ll do well with them…

  33. mog says:

    rico yes i hope he does well for them as well if he dos’nt come back to us it’ll push is value up any news on todays team.

  34. goonster says:

    Spot on MOG…..I really didn’t see it from that angle. I was really praying he fails woefully. But now thanks to you I ve had a change of heart.*winks*

  35. mog says:

    goonster i the stupid comehts him and his dad make about being one of the best in the world get a lot of peoples backs up. when in realality he is’nt even one of the best in is own team.

  36. rico says:

    you and me both mog, and theat he goes abroad…

    does anyomne else do the SS super six competetion??

    goonster, what is your score predicition for today??

  39. goonster says:

    Its gonna be a whitewash ma’am. We ll hit them for six I reckon. RVP and theo among the goals. Arteta with a belter to announce his arrival on the highest stage and silence a few critics. COYGs

  40. goonster says:

    As long as he’s fit for the carling cup am cool with that. RYO RYO RYO who needs nasri and his fat bum when we ve got RYO RYO RYO!

  44. goonster says:

    Yeah I used to be goonerstan but not anymore now am the GOONSTER! Its got a ring to it too. Am loving it. Come on.

  45. rico says:

    Team in full: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Frimpong, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott, Arshavin, Van Persie

    Subs: Fabianski, Andre Santos, Djourou, Benayoun, Chamakh, Park

  49. mog says:

    only 10 thats alright then still that team loos ok to me. we’ll find out later i guss onwards and upwards as they say.

  51. mog says:

    rico don’t take anything for granted ive got everthing crossed. but your right it looks ok on paper its a pity we play on grass tho.

  53. rico says:

    mog – trust me i am not, not the way things are going these days…. we need an early goal and get the fans going….

    But, i hope the team don’t take this fixture lightly, they’ll want a win, especially for their manager who is missing today as his father has passed away…

  54. rico says:

    Here are a few streams:

    1. http://atdhenet.tv/39294/watch-arsenal-vs-swansea-city

    2. http://www.magedtv.net/ch1.html

    3. http://ilemi.me/27247/5/Watch-Arsenal-vs-Swansea-City/

    4. http://ilemi.me/27255/3/Watch-Arsenal-vs-Swansea-City/

    5. http://ilemi.me/27259/2/Watch-Arsenal-vs-Swansea-City/

    6. http://ilemi.me/27266/4/Watch-Arsenal-vs-Swansea-City/

    7. http://ilemi.me/27387/1/Watch-Arsenal-vs-Swansea-City/

    8. http://ilemi.me/27388/6/Watch-Arsenal-vs-Swansea-City/

  59. rico says:

    not sure mog, like you say, been really quiet, maybe just the international break after that horrid result did it 🙁

  72. agirlagunner says:

    Can’t find a stream that doesn’t stall, either. 🙁 I’m listening to atvo in the meantime. Haha. Throwback to the radio age…

    How are our new boys, rico? I came from dinner, and missed the first half.

  74. rico says:

    Arteta hasn’t really done a lot from what i can tell and Merts look slow and sluggish, again, that may just be poor stream viewing….

  79. rico says:

    Theo has just skied a cross into row z – he’s having a shocker, rvp has skied a shot high and wide…..

    Spuds are winning too, Dippers are 1-0 down…

    I’m not sure re Henri agag…. It’s a season loan loan but there could be a call back clause in the deal, same with Bartley…

  81. agirlagunner says:

    I know, rico. Theo’s been off… We have to play better than this on Wednesday… We’ve been very pedestrian.

  86. rico says:

    Got to dash straight after the game, so i’m off form hh now, be back a bit later though…..

    TTFN – hope we secure these point…..

  89. EastSidePaul says:

    Awful, just awful.

    Why haven’t we got a striker?
    Why did Ramsey and Walcott a) start the match b) play the full 90mins? what sort of dirt must they have on Wenger?
    How on earth do you take your best player off after an hour, then take of an inexperienced DM to replace him with an even less inexperienced DM? WHAT IS GOING ON?!!!
    We should be beating these guys 7-0, but we scrapped a win, the easiest match we will have all year.
    Fine we had players out, but we always do, don’t pretend that we will be fine once they are all back, because they will never be all back, it hasn’t happened and won’t happen, when is the last time we fielded our strongest 11?? Plus Swansea had players out!
    Take a good look at the swansea players, if we keep up this its them we will be battling it out with come the end of the season.

    Still can’t believe people rate either Walcott or Ramsey.

  90. goonster says:

    Come On ESP…..we won for pete’s sake. Don’t forget its our first game since the whupping at old toilet. There were nervy and correctly so. We ll do better after they ve trained together a bit.

  91. EastSidePaul says:

    Don’t get me wrong I am happy we have the 3 points, but Wengers decisions during the game baffle me, why bring Chamakh on and leave Park on the bench?

    And its obvious if RVP isn’t firing we will struggle.

    Still happy to have the win though.

  92. agirlagunner says:

    ESP, Ramsey played far better than Theo. Not a fair comparison. 😉

    That said, we were very off, bordering on awful.

  93. EastSidePaul says:

    Hey agag, wasn’t really a comparison, just really saying that I think neither is good enough to play for Arsenal.

    Ramsey has gone backwards since his injury and Walcott never lived up to his hype.
    Ramsey is slow, shys out of tackles and never seems to want to track back, and well we all know about Walcott.

  94. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Good news: a) We won 1-0 🙂
    b) We hadn’t any player sent of !

    Bad news:
    a) We haven’t a strong squad!
    b) We are a few players completely tired
    c) we have many yellow cards
    d) our confidence levels are very weak
    e) we don’t believe in ourselves
    etc

  95. EastSidePaul says:

    My kingdom for a horse! And if not a horse then for Higuaín!! We need a goal scorer, City are scoring for fun at the moment.

  96. agirlagunner says:

    Sigh. City have started very strongly. I find it hard to see how and where they would go wrong.

    ESP, I like Ramsey though. Links up well with Jack. Theo scores some cracking ones but fades away easily; doesn’t really tackle either. And when he does, is very clumsy about it. Higuaín is class.

  98. EastSidePaul says:

    agag, I don’t see anything in Ramsey, now with Arteta in the team, bench warning should be his number one task.

  99. goonster says:

    Am a bit worried, mert was beaten in the air a few times yet we were playing with a team that plays football…what happens when we meet the northern rugby league teams. We have bolton next don’t we?

  101. agirlagunner says:

    I though Ramsey played better than most of ours today, ESP. He was part of some of our best attacking play, although, admittedly all of those came to naught. What do you think of Theo playing as striker? He’s been very vocal about his preferred position. Maybe RvP can play a free role behind him?

    goonster, you are right. But we will have more players available to us in our next game. Mertesacker had a steady performance. Nothing great but nothing terrible. I don’t really worry about him.

    Now what our boys should concentrate on is Wednesday. Dortmund would be a much tougher proposition than Swansea, and let’s face it, we hardly sparkled today. Pfft.

  102. EastSidePaul says:

    I would have no opposition to him trying the striker role, but would we would need to play 4-4-2, and in my own opinion we don’t have the midfielders to do that, if we got M’vila then yes. Also if he failed as a striker I think it would be easier for Wenger to off load him.

  104. EastSidePaul says:

    I know, what are the odd of Samba scoring the winner against us and cleaning up everything in defense?

    Won’t Mr. Wenger look a tad silly then. 12m would have done it…

  105. goonster says:

    what a rotten luck we have. This was suppose to be jacky boy’s breakout year. He should be running the show in the middle of the park not ramsey or rosciky. We tend to lose our best player to injuries while dross like bendtner chamack and denilson never seem to get injured.

  106. agirlagunner says:

    A return to 4-4-2 would be nice. Well, we have the wingers now, but we’ve lost Cesc, and to a far less extent Na$ti. Seems we can’t get all positions right all at the same time.

    Blackburn?? Eeep. Very thuggish.

  107. agirlagunner says:

    I see lansbury had a good game. It’s really quite ironic how our boys shine at internationals and on loan; but back at Arsenal they become ordinary.

  108. goonster says:

    Tell me about it agag….was watching ramsey mid week against England. He shone like a million stars now back at the arsenal he’s below average. I think there’s something fundamentally wrong with our training. This tippy tappy sideways never forward football is ruining our players. I saw rosciky and ashavin mid week too and they looked the part. So what is the problem when they return to us?

  109. agirlagunner says:

    Heck, even Bendy scored two for Denmark. I’m not sure what to make of it either. Maybe, it’s partly because they are being played in the wrong position, maybe it’s because we seem to be perpetually in a state of flux, maybe because there’s that much more pressure playing for AFC (with its exacting fans).

  110. goonster says:

    Am all happy with the three points don’t get me wrong but somehow it feels like it was swansea’s game to lose. We didn’t even deserve a point. Its sad seeing players lose the ball yet make no effort to win it back. This after the humiliating defeat we suffered at OT. Where is the fighting spirit they all talked about in the run up to this game? I expected a backlash but got a half arsed performance. Oh well like my dear old friend kev ll say”chill out stan at least we won”. We ve got our first win and 3 points we can only get better…hopefully.

  111. stevepalmer1 says:

    Evening all,
    First wins the hardest, got ourselves on the map, not a great game by all accounts but still three points. Three men back for our next game, should make a big difference,. the squad will feel like it is growing as players start to come back from injury, The good way to look at it is, introduce our new boys a little at a time, let them feed in gently. While we are getting the points, everything is hunky dorry, Remember this is like a rebuild.

  112. goonster says:

    Hi steve hope you are right though cause a lot of times during the gene ramsey reminded me of denilson while walcott was so infuriating to watch. Give AOC a chance.

  114. goonster says:

    Am sorry ESP but AOC is english and would adapt quite well besides he’s built like a bull and can definitely hold his own against bullies. Ryo on the other looks fragile and will be easily intimidated.

  115. stevepalmer1 says:

    I tell you what Goonster, I reckon Ryo is going to suprise a lot of people, i would be suprised if he intimidates easily, just a feeling.

  116. allezkev says:

    Thought Mertesaker had a good game. Nothing fancy just good simple defending.
    Benayoun looked interesting. Once he settles in he could be a usefull asset coming off of the bench. His running with the ball offers something different.

  119. allezkev says:

    Gibbs worriex me at times, & i like the kid.
    Sagna was, well Mr Dependable.
    Koscielny had a good game.
    Szczesny was fabulous. He is brilliant.

  120. EastSidePaul says:

    Does it really matter what nationality a player is? Ryo is 6ft tall, and has taken a fair amount of rough and tumble in the dutch league already and it hasn’t phased him. He looks a better player than AOC at the moment, I can see no reason why he shouldn’t start for Arsenal on the left and Gervinho on the right.

  123. goonster says:

    Kev my man….right on we won. Chesny is simply world class. Wonder how long we ll keep him before the moneybags come calling. I smell barca’s stinking breathe creeping around pretty soon. Its that stale! You can smell them a mile away.

  124. allezkev says:

    Paul, don’t be such a cynic. 🙂
    Walcott continues to be an enigma. He might think he’s a striker but he missed a golden opportunity in the first half that any half arsed striker would have taken.

  125. agirlagunner says:

    Szcz has yet to perfectly convince me. Great game today, but it will be a while yet before another GK in our colors concede 8 in one game. 😉

    Hey, AK! Did you enjoy the match. Hello, Steve! How are you?

  127. allezkev says:

    Arteta did ok, but i’ll be hoping for a lot more from him.
    Frimpong seemed to be playing within himself a bit, maybe the red card has had an effect on him. He seemed to run out of steam in the second half. Coquelin looked good when he came on.

  128. allezkev says:

    Not a game that’ll live long in my memory but i did like Mertesaker. An intelligent footballer.
    Wenger should try and sign a couple more Jerries.

  129. goonster says:

    I just don’t get why wenger ll take off ashavin and leave theo on! He was our most dangerous player out there today. Why bring on chamakh when we had park and AOC on the bench? Sometimes wenger just drives me nuts

  131. rico says:

    Evening……

    Wenger says we played with the ‘handbrake on’ in the second half….

    My theory, get the early goal and the confidence grows, but yet again we missed too many chances to go up early, that’s when the neves come in and the hand brake goes on…..

    Something is very wrong up front, RvP and Theo just isn’t working at the moment….

    Maybe when Diaby comes back he should play up front 😛

  132. stevepalmer1 says:

    Sorry Agag, finishing my Chinese, I’m fine, hope your well. Looks like we both have doubts about Czezs, i only hope he continues the way he’s going.

  134. allezkev says:

    Fair comment Steve. And i know he had 8 go past him at OT but i can’t recall him being at fault. Those in front of him were atrocious.

  135. rico says:

    Boo, Kev – ar least you saw us win live 😉

    Forget OT, everything they struck was gold, they found the highest and widest part of the goal, ches could do little about most of those…

    those in front of him were as bad, if not worse, that kind of result won’t happen again….

  136. allezkev says:

    Arshavin was getting a bit of stuck from the crowd before he scored. But what a fantastic finish.
    He just cannot defend for toffee.

  137. agirlagunner says:

    We absolutely cannot afford to concede eight in one game again. Not in the next hundred years… 😉

    Chamakh almost scored. 🙁 There’s quite a lot of “almosts” from that boy.

  138. allezkev says:

    I’ll tell ya what Rico, we aren’t gonna score many goals this season.
    Chamakh is a waste of time & RVP has gone right off the boil [for AFC].
    Unless PCY is gonna do a Hernandez it’s not looking good.

  139. goonster says:

    Still he should be kept on and not substituted. Theo was atrocious. Wonder how long he ll keep his starting berth with AOC Ryo and now ben ayoun breathing down his neck.

  141. allezkev says:

    Stan, if Theo doesn’t get his finger out he’ll be warming the bench nevermind playing as a striker.
    Rico. I spoke to a Hammers fan at Kings Cross. He said Lansbury was fantastic. Man of the match.
    Bentley had 20mins from sub. Unimpressed. No suprise there then!!

  144. rico says:

    Now you know why I wanted a striker Kev 😉

    agag – at least he got his header on target, that’s progress for Chamakh 😉

  145. goonster says:

    My point exactly kev…..I shudder to think where the goals ll come from this season. With cesc gone and wilshere injured we lack a genuine creative player hope arteta can do it cause we are in the sewer up to our chins but a part of me wasn’t really impressed with him today. Maybe its jitters!

  146. rico says:

    Lansbury – i am not surprised by that WH fan view, he should have stayed and been given a chance, if we lose such a talented, hard working player who supports Arsenal, i’ll be furious….

    Catch up soon Kev, stay safe….

  147. rico says:

    goonster – i think they were all nervous today but they need to wake up and fast – like ESP and you said before, we should be battering swansea but in the end we struggled to win 1-0 and they missed a sitter right at the end, we got bloody luck….

  148. goonster says:

    I fear for us against blackburn next week Rico. If these guys don’t up their game we may be at the end of a hiding. Don’t forget they ve got samba who’s on a vendetta of sort to prove us wrong for not signing him.

  149. agirlagunner says:

    In and out watching tennis. Lansbury had a goal and an assist, rico. Pretty good turnover. I think he will be in AW’s plans. Just a feeling. Nothing like a player with confidence and he has it in heaps at the moment. Hope Chamakh finds his soon. RvP will be bangin’ in the goals before long. When he’s not out injured, he really is something to watch. He’s our Torres. (Gratuitous mention of Torres, as always from me.)

    Arteta is only just getting started, goonster. He’s prem-ready, so he’ll be one to shine. Coquelin was pretty impressive.

    Be safe, AK! 🙂

  150. agirlagunner says:

    Frimpong will give as good as Blackburn dishes out, goonster. Plus, we’ll be right back in the mix with the return of Gervinho and Song. Fingers crossed.

  151. rico says:

    But we have everyone back next weekend goonster, barring jack and TV… oh, and Diaby 😉

    Now it’s Tuesday and Dortmund….

    I think we should go 442 with RvP and Chamakh up front….

    agag, i just love lansbury 🙂

    Who you cheering in the tennis??

  152. rico says:

    Guys, I’m out of the house for the day, off to watch the X Factor and then Mr Murray get thrashed by Nadal 🙂

    Catch up tomorrow folks, sleep well….

  154. agirlagunner says:

    Nadal!!! 🙂 Niteynite. The Fed-Djoko much is pretty riveting. I think I may want Fed to win today. Nadal struggles against Djoko.

    You calm down, goonster. 😛

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