To start with, resting players in great numbers has started to be the norm for Arsenal. Arsene believes that with a big squad, it’s important to rotate the players so that they do not physically wear out, he believes that this method could and should keep players sharp and fitter, prolonging the player’s careers.
Well I don’t think at this stage we would disagree with that, would we?
Arsene has adopted the idea of mass changes to the squad; he believes that at certain times we need to rest players and recently he made eight changes for a league game and on Saturday, nine changes in the FA Cup. I believe that this idea of Arsene’s is negative for the team, I could understand a manager making that amount of changes if the team have not performed in the last game and he’s trying to make a point to the players involved, or even if the previous game had been physical, and players had picked up knocks and bruises and he wants them to recover. However, this appears not to be the case in either game.
Arsene’s actions have made me scratch my head. I understand the resting of players to keep them fresh, I understand the injured players not playing and I could also understand players being dropped for bad play, but that is not the case. He changes the players to rest them all at the same time, something which I find insane.
You have just won your last game, (ok drawn at City) the team have played well, the team spirit and confidence is high, you would have thought that that is the time the players just want to go out there and play, do they feel tired? I doubt it; they just want to play football.
To rest players as he is doing can upset the balance of emotions of a player, elated one minute,then cheesed off knowing he’s left out of the next game and having to sit and watch on days like Saturday, knowing he ‘should be out there’
Surely, when Wenger rests players, he should do it in moderation, perhaps a couple at a time, that way everybody that needs a week’s rest, gets it and the team spirit is kept and inspires for the next game.
While I am having my little digs at Arsene’s ideas, I must point out that we are still third in the league and at the time of writing, in with a chance of all Cups, just!
Also, have we now changed priorities in cups, are we now going for the Carling Cup and ignoring the FA cup, as it seems a turnabout to me?
Now I believe that adopting my way, will rest the players on a regular basis and when our confidence is high we keep the momentum, it allows us to play a strong team in every game thus allowing us the chance to go for everything and with an honest chance of winning.
Isn’t that the idea of the game?
As I said before, I am sure my way would work as well in fact, possibly better than Arsene’s way. 😉
Fans pay money to watch some of the best football and best players in the Premier League, to watch the side we support play at its best each week – are you happy to find out that after saving and paying for your ticket, you are sat in your seat at The Emirates nice and early, only to find out that it happens to be the game that Wenger has made 8/9 changes?
Well??
Written by Steve Palmer
Few titbits to add, Sol Campbell is rumoured to be on his way back for a third stint with us! I know all Gooners love the big man but I don’t think he offers us much anymore, surely we’d be better to call back Bartley if we can or use Miquel if the situation gets desperate after the 31st January.
Sebastian Squlliaci has suffered a hamstring injury in the FA Cup draw with Leeds and he’s facing a long lay-off. This report comes at the same time as Thomas Vermaelen has suffered yet another setback in his return so there is no surprise to read many newspaper reports suggesting that Wenger will be out to snap up a defender very soon, he has no choice now, surely?
We needed one, we now need two.
Thierry Henry is training with the side and suggestion is he could be signing on for a three-month loan, now that would be good news, very good news..
Have a good day all….
Morning all….
here u are..i was talking to myself ;
rico..following on from my encounter with sol
i actually asked him if he still speaks to titi and he said yes and titi was on his way back to england
i thought it would have been in a coaching role but 2 weeks later titis training at colney 😉
Morning.where did you hear about vermy?
Hey jj..
He’s training/helping the younger players but i’d be bloody happy if we snapped him up on a three month deal, just imagine what a lift that would give the side..
As long as, he doesn’t go back to his old ways of demanding the ball to much etc etc and his sulky naughtiness 😉
Why would we want a Toon cast off? Don’t do it!
Good post, I agree for the most part.
morning KT – kelsey reported in on the old post
kelsey says:
January 10, 2011 at 8:11 am (Edit)
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.
Has Sol really lost all his weight and now super slim?? if he comes back maybe he has a role to play in the defensive coaching?
I go along with that about rsting players.Young athletic guys thrive on adrenilin and 2 games a week shouldn’t cause concern,especially when they recently had 2 weeks without a game at all.
Are we unlucky with injury prone players ? We have so many who can hardly play 4 or 5 consequent games without a set back.
Surely a player is 100% fit to play or not.
Arshavin is a luxury,and to me hasn’t got the stamina for the PL or is just bone lazy.his stats are good but he is having an awful run at the moment,and he was pleading to come off on Saturday.he really is an odd ball.
Can’t agree with your rotation sentiments our recent history is full of players breaking down with injuries at key moments of the season e.g. Barca game last year and end of season run-in, so some rotation is good, and yes 9 players is too much.
Haven’t seen anything about Verminator set-back, thought he was just not match fit yet and will need longer than expected to reach proper fitness levels??
Sam, they had an arsenal cast off 😉
hi kelsey, AA seemed really dissapointed not to see his number come up, i just don’t think he wants to play football and certainly not for us….
such a shame…..
The Daily Star reckon we will get Cahill or Mertsacker….
wonder if PHW has leaked that one 😉 😉
steve good post my good man
i would like to offer my tupence worth on your facup v cc comment
i dont think wengers priority was the cc he has fielded his b team in the cc also..lansbury played and scored v spuds remember??
i think the fact is now we are still in only the 3rd round of the facup
yet we are in the semis of the cc..
i dont think the cc was a priority at first but once you get to the semis you have to take it more serious..i expect to see a strong line up v ipswich and if we get to the semis of the fa i expect the team to look stronger than what it did in the 3rd round..
yeah rico hes lost that ‘summer fat’
looked well..
morning. fair post in parts but i believe, the fans are being harsh. Are these not the same players who carried us through october, november when we had no v.p10 and cf4. I was at the game and i was disappointed with sections of the fans who just expected the team to turn up and win.That is the reason why some of our performances have been lacklustre. we need to show support to this team and make the emirates a fortress again.The teams away fans are the best to me.AW is right to change the team when things are going well because what you dont want is your best players to loose form or get tired before you start making changes.Barca do the same after christmas to make sure their best players are available for the ecl knockout phases.
so where did Kelsey hear about Vermy??? Whom does he quote??
Moron
if i was wenger id give aa leave of absence for a few week..
his minds not at the races and i dont know why but he looks so unhappy..like hes lost the hunger
if i was wenger id tell him to go take his family away and take time out of the game for a few week..
weve got nothing to lose and he might just return a different player
the player we signed
rico,
I think one of the problems is that since the invinsible era the game has got even quicker,the ball lighter and with Wenger reluctant to buy from within the PL together with escalated prices for players,primarily since city will pay literally anything for a player,his judgement and expectation of some players we bring in, is too high and they just aren’t goodor quick enough for the game as it is played today.
RJ,
it’s in varios tabloids today and AW said himself that vermaelen had encountered a “small” problem
We’ve got so many sicknote passengers in our squad now
it’s time for a clear out to raise some cash, cos we clearly don’t have any. This lot for starters…..
Fabianski, Clichy, Koscielny, Squillaci, Eastmond, Eboue, Diaby, Denilson, Rosicknote, Arshavin and Bendtner. Will anyone miss any of these Arsenal legends?
Fabregas is off in the summer and Van Persie spends
far to much time on the treatment table, so we should
cash in while his value still holds. I reckon that would raise around 170 million? Should be enough to
buy descent replacements. But Wenger would end up buying replacements from 2nd Div. French sides under
21’s reserve players just to prove a point while we drop out of the top four!!
And as for Sol Campbell not offering us anything anymore? He hasn’t offered anything since he took
a cab home at half time during the game against West Ham a few seasons back
jonny hoy, its a bit harsh to call wenger a moron…
kelsey,
i just think we have a few too many deadwood players and some who think they have what it takes but either haven’t or cannot perform week in week out at the right level.. agree re the city comment too, if wenger isn’t quick they or the chavs will snap up cahill…
Des Pondant – i think he gave us something last season in a few games… he was certainly better than the silvestre option..
futbal – its not the draw or losing, its the total lack of effort some of our players put in, the months you talk about, isn’t that when we got beaten at home so easliy?
What do so many fans see in Cahill?if we signed him id be disappointed.
despondant
wtf??
i can debate and relate to most things but i think you need to go back to the drawing board with that comment..
sicknote passengers?? drop out of top 4???? our squad is fitter than ever mate give them a sodding chance and we havent dropped out of top 4 for over a decade
and cesc aint going anywhere mate that was resolved in the summer..catch up sunshine
im not even gonna bother with the eastmond comment..the lads hardley played and you want him sold??
wow
PL ready KT, we can’t get a defender who plays in a different league unless he’s a big big player, we can’t afford the settling in time…
Samba is the man for me, but the chicken farmers might not want to sell him 😉
Going back to Vermaelen.When he was injured in AUGUST it was said he would be out for 2 weeks.now nearly 6 months later,he has seen 2 surgeons and this has all the makings of the “Thomas Rosicky Affair”.
krt
cahills the bomb mate
the key part for me is that bolton are a top half team now and hes one of their best players
good strong defender with lots of pl experience..thats what we want
cb’s from other leagues take time to settle in the main but after kozz and squill i think our next cb should be pl experienced
not only that but hes a good player as well..he would easily be 3rd choice over the other two flappers
kelsey, i would’t mind Samba either but would love to get Cahill….
lol kesley
u are so right..it makes me laugh when i see comments from ppl about tv
its like they expect him to be back in the team tomorrow
but the dudes been out ages..he wont be back and fully fit for a while
he was supposed to be back for chelsea..so where is he ??
Cahil can be bought too, Coyle has said he would not stand in his way, i’m just not sure wenger would pay the money Bolton want…..
TV won’t be back this season imho…..
Off subject, many say football is a business,but can anyone explain to me why people buy football clubs for nothing more than prestige IMO, because 955 of them lose money.
Then there is the question of referees.
The average weekly salary of a top player is more than double what a ref earns in a year,so how can they ever be respected even if they make mistakes.What other business has a wage structure like that.
Ryan Babel – you have to laugh, he’s in doo doo for posting on twitter that Howard Webb’s a Manc, think he put the picture up of him in a Manure shirt 🙂
Why won’t the boss buy from within the PL.The last I think was Sol on a free.
kelsey, i’ll leave someone else to answer that, i think they are all idiots, spend millions on a club, then more on players and wages and what they get in return i don’t know, other than ‘notice and publicity’ for themselves…
I hate Twiteer.People following people who are following others.bloody crazy IMO 🙂
Richard Wright, Francis Jeffers are two good reasons 😉
English PL players are twice the price of overseas, look at what we paid for Theo, had he been French or say African he would have cost a third of the money, if that…
cahill wont go to citeh..theyve got kolo, lescott, kompany etc etc etc..he wont get a game and hes wont go to a club that has to leave 10 players out of their 25man list
and the chavs are on their arse and not even finishing top 4..fergie cant afford him and he needs a keeper more than anything so cahills set for arsenal
we just gotta pay bolton what they ask..
coyles a decent man and good relations between the clubs could be the key..like i said before the vela deals been held up for a reason..its only a loan why is it taking so long..unless the negotiations are more complex than we think????
Nice write up Steve, you have raised good points.
Morning Rico, KT, Jonjon, et al. 🙂
I hope Arsene isn’t going to do his cheap sticking plaster routine with the CB’s.
Sol has never had any loyalty to Arsenal. It’s money with him. He walked out on us during the West Ham game, got a career boost when he rejoined us and then in the summer went to Toon because they paid him more.
He’s not for me, even if Toon let him go on a free.
Bartley should be recalled from Shef Utd, or we could give Miguel some experience from the bench or in the cups.
Toure cost 350K.
We should have bought honda,would have replaced TR very well, and think of the shirt sales.
oh by the way Senderos limped into my son’s shop on saturday,poor lad is still on crutches.
Ignore me RA, everyone else does 😉
I know why Sol walked out during the west ham game,but it’s not for disclosure on here.MaxClifford helped him out big time.
jeffers was a good player but when you got bergamp henry kanu wiltord all to compete with you aint gonna have much luck..
wenger messed up jeffers career to be fair to franny..should have never signed him we didnt need him at all
I would love to get Henry back for 3 months, even as a sub he could still score hatfulls with the chances we make.
We need two top class CB’s now as I fear for TV.
Morning all.
Lescott wants out i think jj as does Richards…
fergie bought his keeper back in nov/december and he’s trying to get diarra from Real…
he’s done a u-turn saying he will be buying……
Morning RA…
jj, Jeffers was shocking, what did he do after he left us 😉
kelsey, feel free to email me if you feel the need to share that re sol 😉 😉
re toure 350K, that’s just why wenger won’t buy English…
Morning Will
kelsey
in remember a certain player we had who was signed to boost shirt sales..
ladies and gentleman..i give you inamoto……..
and he was crap lol
But Honda has a lot more fuel in his engine 😉
We have the young Ryo for the sales 😉
Hi Kelsey, 🙂
Didn’t mean to ignore you, I’m just absent minded!
I have sometimes been called the Professor on the odd blog, so they could have a point with my memory going! 🙂
I agree with you that we would have done well buying Honda, for the team and financially. AW thought he was too expensive, but then he thinks that about anyone who is good!
nothing rico
cos we bought him when we didnt need him..he wasnt shocking cos he never played..
wasted 2 years with us and then picked up that injury..nobody wanted him..
he was the bomb at everton if he would have stayed there it would have been different for the lad
Ok JJ,
but honda is a class act, and anyway haven’t we just bought this japanese scholl kid.
rico, it could be libelous.MC has a house in my road and all i will say is that 2 days later Sol was with Max here in Marbella. 😉
kelsey, i will destroy the email and retain the information and never share it – you know what women are like they need to know everything 🙂
what about Wright then jj 😉
who does honda play for??
By the way who is Miguil that was on the bench on saturday. (No not the faulty towers one)
he was just shit rico lol
hes 17 and plays in the youth team kelse..
honda plays for cska moscow(i think)
that’s it a straight swap Honda for AA 😉
Ignasi Miquel profile
Born September 28, 1992
Barcelona, Spain
Position – Defender
Joined Arsenal – September 01, 2008
Cultured Catalan centre back Ignasi featured 12 times for Arsenal Reserves last term, captaining the team towards the end of the season.
Ideally suited to a side that likes to play football from the back, Ignasi is also strong in the air and has represented Spain at youth level. He played for the first team against Barnet during pre-season and could be in line for a Carling Cup debut in the near future.
and some jj 🙂
In case you missed it 🙂
But Honda has a lot more fuel in his engine 😉
We have the young Ryo for the sales 😉
Morning all& rico
Looks like what i said the other day has come back and slapped me in the face, i said i didnt think we would see the verminator till next season, wish i’de kept my mouth shut now.
Morning Steve, good post and thanks 🙂
We all feared it 🙁
I see Aw sticking with the same team against ipswich that played against leeds.i hope that our fans don’t boo AA.When he’s in form we’ll be much more dangerous.booing won’t help him and if Aw had subbed him in the cup tie it would’ve been eboue all over again and im not sure he would come back from that.i really hope the lads will play better especially rosicky/AA/denilson.
we are doing ok without him …
jd has stepped up thank god but nonetheless we need another..i dont care about injuries to kozz or squil they shit we can cope without them, song can always move back if required but with tv out if we lose jd we in trouble so that cb i said we didnt need we now do 😉
as well as a midfielder.. 😉
How many first squad midfielder’s do we have?
aa shouldnt be booed..hes done too much for the club in the short time hes been here..
poor form this season but contributed more goals and assissts than anyone else in the squad
more than nasri believe it or not..
hes too good to force out we need to get behind him if he wants to leave thats a different story but until then we need AA if he picks up and has a couple of good months in the secong half of season then who knows what we’ll win
I think the problem with AA is, he doesn’t look bothered. We would not mind a bad run of form if you looked like you were trying but he just stands around puffing his cheeks out.
jj, moving song back would be the worst thing wenger could ever do….
hi will
depends what type of midfielder u mean??
Will, creative or defence minded?
not for the defence rico..songs a class cb as well as a class mid
we will however suffer in the mid which is why i want another one like him
if songs injured suspended or required to move back we are foooooooooooooooked
JJ appreciate what you say about AA, i see him as a bad penny in your pocket, every time you put your hand in your pocket out comes the bad penny,when a player is looking at the bench to come off when not injured, tells me its time to throw the bad penny away
jj, what i mean is, it would break up a really settled midfield unit, it would be stupid to move him. wenger knows we have problems in the defence he needs to sort that out, not tinker with other players…. if we had another ‘song’ in the squad then on probs, we don’t we just have denilson!
right guys ive got a mission for y’all
i need help im having an arguement with a manc fan on facebook as we speak i need to know how many games webb has reffed at OT and how many pens hes given and how many where ‘phantoms pens’
its alot to ask but if we work together i can tell this bastard to shove his corrupt team up his arse…
Steve, i’m with you re AA, i’d sell him now and get some money for him….
How good in El capitan?when he leaves i sure hope jack/ramsey will be ready.when we have the joy of cesc we just seem much better.
he certainly seems to betting back to his best, a few weeks back i was thinking cesc had had enough, good to hear him rubbish the latest barca rumour quickly….
Just midfielder’s guys. How many do we have on the first teams books?
JJ in our last 4 visits to OT we have conceded 3 penalties with none of them stone wall.as far as this season goes i’ve seen webb award penos against us and pool.i’ll try and check the rest.
Thirteen midfielders in the first team squad Will….
Rico i remember saying here that cesc wasn’t looking happy due to his hammy flaring up every time he approaches peak form.some were saying that he was mentally gone to barca but its good to see him happy again.
Midfielders
2 Abou Diaby
4 Cesc Fabregas
7 Tomas Rosicky
8 Samir Nasri
15 Denilson
16 Aaron Ramsey
17 Alex Song
19 Jack Wilshere
23 Andrey Arshavin
27 Emmanuel Eboue
40 Craig Eastmond
41 Jay Emmanuel-Thomas
Emmanuel Frimpong
steve
i understand your point of view also..AA has pissed me off as well but the fact remains that he has played 24 times this season scored 9 and asissted 13..poor displays or not thats better than anyone else in our squad
i wouldnt say hes a bad penny hes more like the 20 note thats down the back of the sofa 😉
KT, i still think his head is in Barca, the difference is he’s putting it to one side when he plays for us… i’m sure his injury was getting him down to but then that begs the question – why was he being played when injured?
rico, Rambo could fit in there at least we know the only way he’ll come off is with two breaks in his leg
rico add rvp to that list he can play anywhere in the ‘front 4’
Nasri is in with a shout for FIFA goal of the year 🙂
jj, i’ve just listed the midfielders from the afc website, rvp and theo are strikers – according to wenger 😉
AA reminds me of ibra.yesterday against udinese he was sulking around but by the end of the game he had an assist and scored the 94th minute equaliser as the game ended 4-4.
cheers ktr..
i read some where else that webbs give 5 pens in his last 6 games at OT..but thats not concrete
Steve, I reckon Ramsey will be the ‘long term’ solution if Cesc goes too, as long as he recovers properly….
yeah theo too..he plays in the 3 behind the one infront of the two lol..
classes as a mid
Just think how good they could be if they didn’t sulk around???
If you/I/we sulk around in the workplace and do nothing for seven and a half hours out of eight, we’d be up for the sack….
And they earn a darn sight more in a couple of months than i would in a year…….
jj, not according to wenger 😉
who cares 😉 reality is we have bloomin loads, what’s more worrying is we only have one real defensive midfielder fit….
Rico i saw that a while ago.i think its his porto goal.CR7 scored a hattrick last night against villareal.he has 64 goals in 62 games for madrid…thats phenomenal!
One of the league goals i think KT, when he scored two in one game and both were outstanding – according to SS’s….
Does anyone think we could lose some of the midfielder’s?
Yes Will, two, maybe three for me……. but then use the money to bolster the squad in other areas…
The Brazillian can go for one. Once we have Ramsey fit, we will have Cesc, Jack, Nasri and Ramsey with Diaby and Eastmond in the wings with Frimpong to come back.
Add the tall Frenchman to the Brazillian ….
I wish one of our players steps up to score goals regularly as CR7 and messi consistently do.nasri is a step in the right direction and hope he reaches 25 goals or more.he is on 13 now with half the season left.
Anyone here watch the reserves? Is Frimpong as good as people say?
If walcott continues to play in this form then he probably doesn’t need that ‘brain’.
AA should be doing that KT….
Not anymore Will, since Setanta folded, Frimpong was very strong in pre-season, i think the battle will be between him and Eastmond, Frimpong coming out the winner quite easily….
will
yes i agree we can afford to lose a few..we are top heavey with players who can play in the 3 behind the 1 infront of the 2.. 😉
so much so that we have to play jack in the 2 behind the three when really hes better suited to the 3 behind the one 😉
songs really the only one who can play in the two naturally so we need to get rid of some of the threes and buy some more twos 😉
The only downside is Frimpong is only 5’10″….
Will frimpong is a beast!i’ve seen him several times and he was the reason why Aw never bought an extra midfielder.
frimpongs talented..defo a two 😉
was really playing well in pre season thought he was doing enough to replace denilson but that fucking injury did him in
KT, Ronaldo is just having a lucky season in a weak league 😉
jj, what have you been smokin, 3’s 2’s and 1’s… you expect me to keep up??
🙂
Rico, how tall was Makalale (sp) or Essien?
You guys know that Frimpong has back changed his decision to play for Ghana, he wants to play for England now….
Essien 5′ 10″
Makelele 5′ 7″
🙂
just wish frimpong was 6′ plus, but i really like him….
For the role of DM, you don’t need to be tall.
lol rico..
We just have so many tiddlers in our side, we could do with a bit of height when defending – the only real height we have outside the defence is Song and Diaby….
I want a nippy tiger who bites into tackles and gives the ball to the better players.
This post was brought to you by Clicheman.
Tht sounds like Frimpong…..
Clicheman ???
So maybe we don’t need Diaby.
Bonjour Housers!
Good pts in the post Steve.. I believe we can only judge Wenger’s rotation policy at the end of the season. I, for one feel that his policy will be vindicated with a trophy or 2
He’s seldom fit so what good is he ….
Hi Rennie….
Morning Rennie, i just like a moan, hope your forsight is right
I don’t understand the mass changes as for me, you need to play with someone week in week out to get that feeling and understanding with them.
sounds like flamini
we dont need diaby either..abit like denilson
but diaby can attack id keep him and play him in the three behind the 1.. 😉
but not in the two 😉 nowhere near the two..or our whole midfield goes to shit
If you take JET out of that list ( I believe he is a striker), we have 12 central midfielder’s. That is crazy.
Well Steve looking at it from your point of view makes sense as well.. Squidgy was rested for 2 games before he played Leeds & lo he ended up with a strain on his Hammies! I guess there’s no exact science on this whole players’ fitness thingy.. Makes me feel bad for managers like Wenger who are made to believe they are making scientifically educated decisions, only for it all to blow in their faces. But I still believe that Wenger’s rotation would yield us a more focused team that can contest on all fronts.
Hej Rico!.. What do u think r the chances of us putting 7 past Ipswich on Wednesday?
Will, my sentiments exactly
i dont mind rotation in the cups..
now we in the semis of the cc i expect to see a strong team but u cant tell me that when weve got a facup run v leeds and hudds you wont feel confident if we dont play the first team???
leeds and hudds???
lol
PL the team needs to stay unchanged but i think wenger learned that v wigan..
in the cups we have to rotate or the players will end up playing 70 games a season and thats impossible
50 is a fair number..
i think its an over reaction to be honest
will i think when we play the system we do we need all those mids
whats crazy is that only three of them can defend and two of those havent got 10 first team apps between them..
which leaves us with one..one midfielder who can defend..
thats crazy
Rennie, we could, but that depends on which eleven start, if as expected, its the same eleven that faced leeds, i doubt it…
jj, just what i was saying earlier, we only have one Song…..
Me thinks 7 goals across both legs with a goal or 2 conceded would in itself be a great way to prepare for Wembley
Jon Jon i can see what you mean, but for me put your best team out,try and get a decent lead and then change if you want to rest some, i want us to win every time we play league, cups friendlys and i believe we should never let up, a winning mentality breeds winners and i believe were winners.
Exactly JJ, we need that many MFers to play our 4-3-3. But they all have to play the high pressure defense game that we did so wonderfully against Chl$ki.. Otherwise we get exposed so badly that its getting ridiculous to say the least!
still tho steve we have a problem that you are expecting your men to play 7000000 games a season…
by fielding your best side its obvious you will get far in all comps but by doing that you are doubling your players worklaod
add internationals to that as well…
not going to happen mate not in the modern game and i dont remember any team winning the 4 trophies in one season which tells me its pretty much impossible
i think weve just come to a situation where we want a trophy that bad we want to see our 1st team every week but thats just asking for too much
My idea on the team are not that difficult to achieve our best team is strong enough to win against most of the other teams in the world playing our best eleven, we need cover for all the players, so we buy or bring through players as good, we rotate a couple at a time, so the players are rested, we dont let up untill our cabinet is full, then holiday and they can party all they like
jewells in charge at ipswich…
lol might as well give us a bye to the final.. 😉
Please don’t say that JJ.
Rico,
To your list of midfielders you could add Lansbury and Randall.
AW has frequently said both have the quality to be in the first team in the future.
I don’t agree with him, but he told me to eff off when I said it to him down the pub last week! 🙂
your a very pessimistic person will 😉
cant believe your scared of ipswich..
like rico being scared of leeds and steve being afraid of hudds 😉
Yes I am JJ, I have supported Arsenal since 1975 (when I first started going) and it have been knocked into me.
lol these teams arent even in the PL
what you all worried for..
would you rather have manutd instead 😉
relax..
i suppose thats what it does to u mate
to be fair i have been known to have my moments and youve supported us longer than me 😉
RA, i only listed the first team squad as it is now – next season it’s going to be even bigger with those you mention and others too….
i have to pop off for an hour or two…
JJ, your a very confidant person why are we pottless for the last 5-6 years because we have been to arrogant and confident, we was arsehole lucky the weekend and i dont like that.and if we treat the next game the same way, what have we learnt
i disagree steve
leeds were lucky not the other way round..apart from the pen what did chezcxzxcacwczxzney actually have to do???
and i prefer to wait and see us actually lose games/titles before i kick off and think the worlds over 😉
and im confident cos our sqaud is fit and we are in with a shout in all comps especially the cc
IF we throw it away then wait and see how i react..just ask rico.. 😉 theres no point blogging with me then cos i take it out on everyone but at the end of the day im not going to get grumpy over a 1-1 in the third round of the fa cup
Fair do’s JJ lets hope we don’t add another year on our barren spell, fingers crossed
i hope for my sanity we do steve
at the start of the season i said id be happy with a domestic cup and anywhere in the top four..
so far so good..
and thats not lack of ambition i want the PL and CL more than anyone but i think weve been trying to run before we can walk for too many years and i just think we need a few little trophies before we target the big ones and if we win the cc and finish 1st or 2nd il see that as a defo improvement from last year and the year before and the year before and……lol
Well i’m off for 9 holes catch you all later
would anyone be angry if we won both cc and fa cup and finished minimum second…
JJ my research on webb’s penalty record raised red flags everywhere.you’ve got to give it up to red nose who on paper plays 4-5-1 against us but in reality its a 4-5-2 up top with webb and shrek boy.during the FA cup i don’t even think stevie G was shown a red card.i think it was webb waving his manutd season ticket book.
“Theo apologised yesterday.I wonder if berbatov will do the same…I guess thats why he played for spurs.”-szczesny on twitter.
Boo 🙂
Boo to you too rico.
KT, any news??
bonjour
webbs a bellous endous and if i were a pl manager i would get together with the others and refuse to play manu if webb was in charge
fa would be left handtied
sort it out or lose fixtures
I don’t speak French, but i know what that means jj 😉
Bentley is off to B’ham …. pending his medical
Larsson leaving B’ham…
rico
do we have a sell on clause for seb??
i wouldn’t have thought so after all the years jj but i wouldn’t be surprised if we had, you know wenger 😉
in other words, i don’t know 😆 😆
Bentley deserves what is coming to him.watching hleb and bentley at brum should be the perfect lesson for our youngsters.the grass isn’t always greener.
seb joined brum from us didnt he rico??
u dont think he went anywhere else first and i dunno if theres a sell by date on sell on fees 😉
ktr i remember wenger once saying at an agm that we would be suprised by the amount of letters he gets from former players wishing they had not left..
as time goes on you realise who these players are
he did jj, good point, i forgot he left us to go there, a long time ago now though…
KT – he does indeed….
I can see Miquel playing against ipswich.JD has just completed 3 games in 1 week.time to rest him.
Evening all,
rico, is TH playing for us Wednesday, we need a decent striker soon
Steve B red bull have ruled out any loan deal for henry when he is at the club.i just hope bendtner/chamakh learn a few tips from the great man.Theo must be elated and will have his confidence through the roof.
Andy Gray has backed us to accomplish CC and FA cup double.
KT,
Bit of training with the old legend may encourage AW to use him down the middle, unless he see’s Theo as a sub till his thirty
I wish Steve….
Macclesfield midfielder Richard Butcher has died, aged 29 years old, jeepers……
Rico i kind of like theo making diagonal runs that are difficult to defend against.he hasn’t got the trickery to play through the middle especially considering we meet deep lying defenses most of the time.
I understand where uyou are coming from KT, I just wish he wasn’t just sat out on the wing, he kind of needs to be free, just as henry used to be to a degree…
many expect him to bomb down the wing at great pace, cross the perfect ball and 1-0 to us, he isn’t that kind of player and because he cannot do that he has doubters… (capello dropped him from the WC because he cut in)
Henry could certainly teach him a thing or two in three months….
He is going to learn alot from the great man rico.theo must make 100% use of henry as his role in our team will be similar to henry’s except this time on the right.
Cesc and jack have lauded Aw for being nominated for coach of the decade award.cesc is proud to be one of his players.our players should listen to the wise man and a future great.
KT give Theo a free pass and there will be times where we can punt the long high ball defenders would allways be aware Bendy RVP amd chamy could never be used that way to slow theo has shown he can finnish and in all honesty you have only ever seen him cut in from the right, at least give him a try
Bendy probably thinks he is better than henry.
That’s what i’d do too, let the player have freedom to roam and grow 🙂
Nik will never be good enough to clean Henry’s boots KT…
rico,
Bendy lives up to his name when he uses his left foot Wicked realy wicked
i think i agree with ktr on theo
the lads found his position hes not a winger and hes not a target man the role he has at the minute is perfect
coming in from the side on the slide and making defenders think what the hell???
hes leaving the touchline for sagna, i dont think ive seen theo run towards the corner flag in about 5 games and thats all he was doing in recent seasons and it dont work cos he lacks the trickery
but hes found his place and if he stays there and stays fit and carrys on doing what hes doing he’ll score 20 this season
its like hes playing as a second striker but without the creativity…hes using his pace coming from deep and feeding of the trickery of the others
and its working
I see what you’re saying Steve P but id choose teams against which he’ll thrive.against barca who will press us to our half he can run riot especially with cesc hitting accurate pin point lofted passes giving pique/puyol/busquets no chance.if we are to beat barca theo will have a huge say in it.
Hi jj.i agree.and you know what they say about great minds…
I wish i was Theo’s age with his talent, i would have loved the chance to mix it with the likes of Terry and the Ferdinands
i think also with theo thats impressed me is his contribution to the defence
its no suprise that sagna is back to his best this season and its cos theo is helping him out..
sagnas a beast and could tackle a tank but when youve got someone like theo tracking back its helping sagna relax more,,
theo cant tackle or defend we’ll clear that up right now but what he does do is use that pace and get back and shield his fullback..
hes playing well at the minute leave him where he is
ktr if we have a fit squad for barca i think theo will make their lives hell..
their fulbacks wont be able to bomb forward as much knowing theos waiting to break
i wont be suprised if guardiola asks busquets to stay tight to theo and kick him out of the game but if busquets does that then that leave room for cesc and nasri
one things for sure it wont be 6-3 and the xaviesta and nasrigas 😉 see what i did there 😉 battle is going to be a right old ding dong
When villa was restricted to playing as a CF for spain he never scored a single goal.when played out wide he had a variety of angles to run into and in teams using zonal marking he’ll run across the zones confusing defenders.as a result he was joint top scorer at the WC and top scorer at the Euros.Guardiola is using him in a similar manner with messi sliding in the through balls.at Valencia he was la liga’s deadliest forward by cutting in from the left with silva sliding in through balls.Theo’s role is fine so long as you find him and as we saw rvp and cesc are perfectly capable of doing just that.
Steve 😆 i think you and i think pretty much the same about Nik….
KT, they say the same about dull minds – they seldom differ 😉 😉
JJ if we have Theo van nasregas fit we’ll trouble them.i know you analyse the game as i do and ignoring the scoreline that game was very close.if diaby had found theo who was free we would’ve been 2 up.when barca were 3-1 up rosicky had a chance that he should’ve buried.i also noted when barca scored the 2nd they sat deep as theo alone scared the crap out of them that they altered their game plan due to him.if we can score first and stay firm at the back i can see us shocking the football world.if we are up they’ll press us to the halfway line.when we win the ball give it to cesc/rvp to slide in theo.i really hope we stay healthy.
Rico am hurt…
so finally then, you guys think theo is ok, bet you’re glad we didn’t sell him when all the shouts were around for how he’s a waste of money.. etc etc… 🙂
KT, no you are not….. 🙂
You’re right rico.am disappointed.
ktr i dont think ppl realise how much of a chance we have this time
we need those boys to stay fit though..
jj, i don’t think it will be the pounding we got last time, it will be a lot closer….
However, if wenger doesn’t sure up our defence and we suffer any more injuries to key players….. i will dread it..
the best thing to happen would be an injury to Villa and Messi….
KT, why, do you not get my humour after all this time??
Sounds good KT but who’g going to score the early goal RVP hasn’t set things alight since he’s been back Chammy looks like he’s on holiday Bendy is in danger of breaking the corner flag that leaves Theo and Nas we need a striker, a fit striker, a two footed striker just anybody that knows where the goal is
rico hes more than ok 😉
yes i was one of those i admit but u gotta admit its been annoying watching him develop 4 years hes gone from absolutely shite to being a worldbeater iover night and i dont get it..
well i do its his position but thats not the point lol
Hellooooooooooooooooooooo Ricooooooooooooooooooo.
Hiya JJ. Don’t want to sound like a ‘wet blanket’ but i simply cannot see beyond the Carling Cup. I just want to get that bloody monkey off of our back.. “Not won a trophy blah blah blah”
Rico if i had to take out a player for barça it would be xavi.he is the heart of the machine.without him barca won’t be able to carry the ball forward effectively and it will force messi/iniesta to drop deeper and deeper away from our goal in search of the ball.mark my words if there is a player to fear its xavi.
steve
cesc will score 😉
Rico right back at you…
kev my man 😉
yeah i can see that point of view mate….im the same i think if the cc is in the bag in march we’ll kick on and suprise everyone..
our season depends on this cc and i dont wont us to blow it this time
Steve the game is just over 4 weeks away.am sure if rvp doesn’t trip over his stairs he’ll be banging them in.we also have the french messi and the English henry.cesc too.heck i will put down a bet for song/rosicky to score…stranger things have happened!
Spot on Jon, with a winners madel in their pocket who knows what else we can win
jj, it has been frustrating but a lot of that has to be down to wenger as well as theo… just glad he’s turned a corner… (i knew he could 😉 )
Hey kev, where you been????
errr medal, dohh
Working Rico. i live in Romney Marsh and spend half the time in London driving. Man it was dull after Xmas
Hi kev.i also want us to get rid of that monkey.despite Aw being nominated for manager of the decade the daily mail couldn’t resist a sly dig at the boss by mentioning it will be the only thing he has won for 5 years in the headline.i bet we win the CC they’ll say we’ve not won a PL title for 6 years or that we’ve never won the CL in our 125 year existence.
KT, thats wher your knowledge is superior than most, i wish i watched more but eastenders and corrie wins in my house… 🙁
jj, spot on, thats why ihope the big boys go to portman road, kill the tie off up there and get to wembley as quick as we can….
success breeds success….
JJ. CC is the key mate. we need a trophy so much it hurts.
KT, that serves me right my friend 🙂
Balon D’Or winner is Messi….
what a surprise…..
Rico maybe theo read my post for some inspiration.
not good kev, good to see you back….
Mourinho coach of the year…
Hiya KTR. Oh the bloody media, sod em mate. Our players need to experience that winning feeling. I’m sure everything will fall into place when they get their hands on some silverwear
😆 KT
Rico, i was here in spirit…hehe
gotta learn to crawl before walking kev
the cc was the first trophy jose went after at chavs and it worked wonders
when manu were at there shittest they were keeping the cabinet ticking over with cc’s until they were ready to mount a charge again..
wengers gone after the big two cups for the last 5 years with a load of kids and it hasnt worked so lets change it up a little..
Did you guys read the Ken Bates article slating the chavs and moanrinho? oh, and wenger…
Babel’s been charged by the FA for his Twitter incident, i think the man needs a pat on the back, all he’s done is tell the truth………
Absolutely agree Jon. Mourinho+Fergie kept their owners happy AND their fans. Does Wenger understand the fans??? Does he care about us?? I sometimes wonder?
I wish one of our players wins the FIFA Ballon d’Or.it would be good to have opposition teams pissing in their pants in the tunnel even before the game starts.i have never to this day understood how henry wasn’t given that award.henry was the best player in the world 2002-2006.only ronaldinho could share a stage with the great man in that period.
kev, bless ya 🙂
That award is a fix, agree though KT, how Henry never won it through those years is beyond me…..
thing is what theyve done to babel is scandalous
instead of charging babel for a silly photo like wallys they should be asking webb why he has given 99 phantom pens in 100 OT games?? unless they are in on it??
the fa stink
its so fricking obvious..this mans a world cup referee…a sir..
and he seems to make the same mistake in the same fixture every year..
is it just me or does it seem more than just a mistake..its like sodding groundhog day
i said this earlier but if i was wenger id ring dagleish, mancini, and the others ( not arry) and tell them to refuse to play man u if webbs the ref..
what are the fa going to do?? ban everyone??
they will have to bow..
Miquel has been omitted from the reserves game against villa.Eastmond and JET start.
Bring back Jack Taylor…lol
agree re babel jj, i tried to find you FB battle with a Manc earlier, I failed 🙁
Webbs not a sir jj, just an obe or mbe i think, either way its a bloody joke… all babel has done is exposed the cheating ref for exactly waht we all know he is…..
doesn’t he always get the big games involving the mancs? bet he refs their match against the tiny totts at the weekend too – i actually hope ‘Arrys lot get three points if i’m honest…
Miquel on the bench in CC. Hope AW doesn’t wait until Jan 31st to bring in another c/h.
id put david dein in charge… 😉
Congrats are in order for leo messi.18 goals and 12 assists in 15 la liga games so far.28 goals in 26 games in all competitions.155 goals in 240 games for barca so far.
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/leedsunited/Arsenal-v-Leeds-United-Bring.6685050.jp
just reading this in my local rag..thought u guys might want to have a look
graysons going for it in replay
Eastmond playing full-back in the Stiffs???
messis shit 😉
Thats where he started kev, well, RB but typically of wenger he switched Coquelin and Eastmond around as he thought they would be better….
I’m not surprised re Grayson going for it, they are at home, we need to do the same and make sure we win….
Here here jj – totally overated 😉
Hey JJ leeds vs Arse, a local game for you mate,hehe
Rico, yeah, no suprise Coquelin is playing well again now he’s back in midfield. We seem a bit short with right-backs at the mo. Thought Wenger was looking at the young right-back at Cardiff
il be there mate love elland rd when its rammed to the rafters..loved it when leeds where in pl…loved it when they got relegated too lol..
prob one of the most hostile grounds in the country..
il be there..with the red and white on…sat in the kop.. 😉
sod em..lol
i wonder if that was part of the loan deal with Coq, to play him in midfield and see how he gets on – he could be the gritty, spikey, ankle crushing midfielder we need along with Pingpong….
My time is up for the day all, you enoy the rest of your day wherever you are…
one more day to get through before the boys play again…
stay safe and catch you all tomorrow….
Good man JJ. I love the away games, don’t get to many these days. Was you there when we won 4-0, Martin Keown going mad when he scored, how i loved him.
Goodnight Rico
I like Bramall Lane as well, lucky ground for me.
night rico..
im reading somewhere that berbatoss is out for 2 months anyone else hearing this cos i cant find it
ive been to bramall lane once kev and we got chased out of the ground and across the city until we got to the station
lost 1-0 that night as well..
Just had a look on the Mancs website, but there’s nowt on there, not even a section on injured players, maybe i missed it, couldn’t take being on there too long, felt like the ‘dark side’…
Same thing happened to me at Hillsborough, the Police were a nightmare
i think it was a wind up mate..i was searching manus news now page 😉
bastard..they had me going..
must be a sheffield thing
like barnsley they are all inbred.. lol
Barnsley was great. Lovely fans. As our coaches drove off they waved to us,all that after beating them 2-0.
Rotherham was a bit like a Hovis advert, lol.
I got family in Yorkshire, Rotherham. But i always prefer a trip to that side of The Pennines
JJ, you on here later mate, because i’m having a break for a while.
see ya later mate
see ya buddy..
Morning…
NEW POST UP