We all know Nikki B has been chopsing about how good he is, how he should be playing instead of Chamakh and if Wenger doesn’t play him he’ll find enough club etc etc etc but while all this is going on you just have to spare a thought for Johan Djourou.
Once a defensive midfielder and bought by Wenger as that, typical scenario took place with our boss, he changed JD to a centre half. He’s 6’ 4” and still only 23 years old. JD came to us back in 2002 but signed professional terms the following year, forming part of the youth squad.
He’s not had an easy time at Arsenal, following a loan spell at Birmingham in 2007 he returned to Arsenal ready to play, even suggesting he would be able to revert back to his original position of defensive midfielder and would be good enough to replace the departed Flamini. This never happened but his chance came to slot in the defence when Kolo Toure jumped ship and joined the northern money bags in the city side of Manchester. But injury struck!
April 2009, Djourou suffered a bad knee injury against Wigan Athletic. September the same year, following surgery on his knee, Arsenal announced that Johan Djourou would be out for a long time, six to eight months. What a sucker punch for the lad, just got his toe into the first team, only to be out again through injury. Many Arsenal fans thought that could spell the end of his career with us; after all, he hadn’t really proved himself had he?
However, this young man had a very different idea, he had his operation, worked hard to get fit and finally in March this year Johan himself announced that he was ready for a return. In fact he made a cameo appearance in the 4-0 victory against Fulham, the last game of the 2009/10 season. A reserve game here, a bit performance there came his way in this pre-season and the heavy strapping around his knee did little to convince me, I bet it didn’t you either? He played a part in the reserves game that saw Squillaci make his debut in the red and white and to be fair, he wasn’t too good.
But life changes, we all know that and Johan Djourou has grown and grown since that game for the reserves….
His chance came in the league when Koscielny saw red against Newcastle, he stepped in and played alongside Squillaci for the away trips to Wolves and Everton and on both occasions we came out winners, both occasions we defended solidly and during both matches we really were put under a lot of pressure by the opposition.
Johan Djourou may not be the best centre half in the world but he is really strong in the air and is dedicated to whatever test comes his way. After the two away trips we were at home against our North London rivals, Koscielny was available again after serving his two match ban and straight back in the side he goes. Djourou was the player to make way and we lose, sloppy defending being part of the reason we suffered that loss.
With Djourou starting in defence, we haven’t lost in the Premier League which does make you ask the question, is Arsene Wenger getting our defensive pairing right in the league or should Djourou be playing alongside either Squillaci or Koscielny?
My preference would be Djourou alongside Thomas Vermaelen but we don’t have that option.
Djourou probably knows he should be playing too but we never hear him moaning, he just gets on with it and when called on he gives his all. Maybe deep down in his mind he knows his chance will soon come, just like Fabianski did and no doubt like Szczesny does now! Another top performance by our ‘young’ centre half tomorrow night and surely that day won’t be far away.
Tomorrow we face Wigan at The Emirates in the Carling Cup quarter-final. Wenger has hinted he will play the big names and give us a real chance of getting to the semis. In days gone by I would have taken a win tomorrow for granted but these days you just can’t be too sure.
Finally the FA Cup draw has been and gone, Leeds are coming to The Emirates on January 8th or 9th. That should be fun, remember what they did to Manure in this fixture last season…..
Have a good day all
Morning all
Morning Rico and the Crew I think Djourou is very solid and he should just add positional awareness to his game then we have a great partner for TV
You list of goalscorers is out of date!!! I recall Sagna scoring at Everton recently and nothing is shown for him
Morning Erick
Any news on TV, is he expected back this season?
Thanks for that JSP
Rico Aw said he will not put a return date for TV we still on the dark abt that Diaby 2
even over the years we never lose with him (stamford bridge 2008, old trafford 2006 and many more)
co incidence? no, it’s not!
Hey rico! I’ve been thinkin the exact same thing bout jd. Surely he’s earnt himself a run in the 1st team?? Esp with the verm injured. I’ve been really impressed wid him apart from the odd mistake but i think he covers those up quickly. Give the boy a run arsene
Adam, but he’s not that same player now, he’s matured, those games were two and four years ago…
Hi MOH4, his heading ability is better than squilli and kos, he was pretty darn good at eastlands too and wasn’t he in the defence against Newcastle in the CC, shame he didn’t play in the lague fixture against them..
Jd will be a great player 23 with lots of premier league and Champions league experience he just need a run of games and hope he starts tomorrow
It’s hard to believe he is still so young Erick, he’s been with us so long and from such a young age, but i agree, his time will come and roll on..
chamakh could be rested tomorrow, he’s battered and bruised he says…
I think the main reason JD didn’t play in every game is Wenger trying to avoid him from any serious injury again.
By the way, Wenger also need Koscielny to gain more experience before anything happened.
i believe the defence will be rotating between Squillaci, JD and Koscielny after Vermaelen come back.
I also think that play JD in Premier League and play Koscielny in Champions League and otehr cup competitions might be the best solution at the moment. I also want to mention that Squillci doing really well now, let’s not forget him!
Nice post rico!
Team against wigan?
Szczesny
sagna
kosc
djourou
gibbs
jack
song
nasri
JET
v.persie
walcott
Hi Vince, squilli has impressed me more than Kos but to be fair, this league is not an easy one to settle straight into, Tv being out hasn’t helped either of them..
Nice post rico!
Team against wigan?
Szczesny
sagna
kosc
djourou
gibbs
jack
song
nasri
nikki b.
v.persie
walcott
wenger might play denilson.. JET should get a chance to start.. I dont think we have many options in the attacking midfield department.. What say?
Hi Rohan, thanks…
Wenger has confirmed he’ll be playing a strong side, i like your line up. I’d like to see JET start too but i have a feeling Nikki will.. RvP definately needs to start playing now..
Two line ups, thats cheating 😉
I hope he doesn’t play Denilson, if it were me i’d start with the same eleven that beat Villa apart form Fabianski, this is our real chance of a trophy and we can’t afford to take wigan lightly..
But I know players need a rest…
There is this talk about wenger signing a CB in january.. Do we really need one? If he buys then surely he will buy a good experienced one.. I think that might hamper JD’s progress.. TV05 i think might be out for majority of the season.. The problem is that we lose one more centre half to an injury and we will be in a soup.. Tricky indeed!
Hehe i added two teams by mistake! He surely wont start chamakh, rosicky and squilli..
rohan, i think we need another ch to be honest, right now we are sitting well in the PL, in all three cups too so another injury to one of the three could leave us in dire straights… i doub’t he will go for cahill sadly, he’ll prob get one on loan or on the cheap…
does anyone know what is actually wrong with TV??
his injury came just after he spoke about cesc, strange one that…
Morning all Housers!
Nice post Rico, the question “why JD ain’t ahead of Kozzer?” is in a lotta supporters’ lips right now. And I’m totally with Vince on this one, Wenger’s trying to take it easy with JD mainly bcoz he’s just started playing games since his long-term injury – no need to repeat the Rosicky all over again. I think that the reason he’s played as many games as he’s done so far is mainly due to TV’s absence & Kozzer’s red cards.
Still JD’s been improving since his first start & I agree with U that his pairing with the Squid has been our most reliable one at the back this season. Though it begs to ask if the reason we haven’t lost with him starting is down to him not starting a home game.. Whatdya think?
he could start rosicky rohan, he was pretty good on saturdya, who is cesc fabregas 😉
Morning Rennie, thanks re the post…
A man with my own thoughts, start him in the home games, see if that breaks the bad run but as you and vince say, we cannot afford to over play him either and we have so many games coming up we need to keep him fit.
JD and Squilli certainly look the best option at the moment but Kos will get there once he’s settled, not that we have time to play with really…
That will be like three games in a week for Rosicky! When was the last time he did that? He was brilliant against the villains, no doubt.. Even better than Cesc (talking surely on form basis).. It would be great if wenger has him in the starting line up.. But i have my doubts.. We dont have a spare right back now that eboue is injured.. Do we?
Nordveit rohan, he’s been playing at RB i think,good point re tomas, i forgot he played against braga…
i think the whole team is better without cesc right now, did a post on it last week, an unfit, disintersted cecs is no good for us. maybe when he’s fit and healthy the old cesc will be back, until then i hope he doesn’t play…
Rico, I still believe Kozzer’s Wenger’s 1st choice though.. Could it be bcoz he’s faster than JD? With us always playin a very high line in defense that could imo explain Wenger’s choice
I think so too, when TV is back i think it will be them together, trouble is Rennie, none of them are super fast and we get caught playing so far up the pitch, braga exposed that and they were rubbish…
wenger drives me crazy though sometimes, i kind of get the feeling that he doesn’t look at the oppo always, like when we played newcastle we all know Carrol was going to cause problems, would JD have got that cross clear had he been on the pitch? I know we’ll never know but… JD is so strong in the air..
IMO Djourou should be played in games where the teams deploy long ball techniques.. JD is better in air as compared to kosz.. Whereas kosz is faster and makes good interceptions.. He should be used more against teams which play proper football (the passing game i mean).. Squilli goes about doing his job pretty well.. We often dont notice him in the game.. That according to me is a good trait as it means that he is rock solid and does not make many mistakes..
can’t disagree with that rohan, i don’t recall squilli making any real errors since he’s been with us, like you sya, if he’s not noticed then he’s doing well…
still think Cahill would be an excellent addition 🙂
Cahill would be an excellent addition.. But knowing wenger he always has that element of suprise withing him.. It will again be some not-so-popular defender..!
agree again rohan, mind you, we are due a top class signing… hope it’s in january…
got to pop off for an hour, back in a bit, don’t go too far… 😉
chesney
norvedt-djorou-squil-gibbo
kosser-rosicky
nas-JW- theo
JET
Rohan, I really think we need to rest a few players for Tuesday.. Sagna & Nasri definitely need a break to keep them sharp. Though Nasri can be replaced easily, with Eboue out it’s gonna be tricky for Wenger to replace Sagna though.. As Rico mentioned, Nordveit could be given a game (he did play at RB in preseason & did fine too) If he gives a good account of himself, he can even be our 4th choice CB! But I’m not sure we’ll see him at all this season
i would start rosicky ahead of nasri cause we cant afford nasri picking up an injury, i wud also start bendtner and van persie along with JET in a 433 formation, and have rosicky in the middle with denilson doing the dirty work as a dm and walcott on the wings interchanging with either RVP or JET….
agree rennie..
but we are a bit short on attacking midfielders right now.. arent we? I wonder whether we should play RVP.. surely chamakh will start at the weekend again.. and RVP has to start some games.. I cant see Wenger starting walcott, bendtner as well as rvp.. walcott and bendtner rarely track back to get the ball.. i feel it will obstruct our natural flow.. How many attacking midfielders do we have right now apart from rosicky and nasri?
RVP might start, but I think he’ll only make the bench… Wenger’s gotta be careful with him, never know when his ankle will crumble to dust!
And right, we’re really short on attacking MFers since Cesc, Diaby & Eboue are all crocked.. Maybe we shouldn’t have let Lansbury go on loan (hindsight’s just a wonderful thing) If we start with Denilson, Jack & Eastmond in MF, would we be too weak against Wigan?
IMO, song should start. And i would like if jack would have given him company.. But knowing wenger he will surely play denilson.. Nasri has not had a break for a long time now.. He played 90 mins for france, then started against spu*s, played against braga then villa.. We have to rest him.. Rosicky will be crucial against Fulham.. I would start him on the bench too. I dont know whether this will work but if we could keep song and denilson in the defensive midfield, play jack in an advanced position (i absolutely adore that lad 🙂 ).. Walcott on the right wing, arshavin/vela on the left and bendtner our target man… Sounds a bit weird i know! I guess you are right Rennie, Wenger will not start RVP.. the only question is whether Jack will play well in an advanced position (he was supposed to be an attacking midfielder, but wenger converted him into a more central one i guess) interesting it will be.. Anyway have my tests starting from wednesday.. (and anyway the match wont be shown here in india..) so i am off.. Wish me luck 😀
Gudluk!
‘morning all. monday mornings are always better when your teams win on the weekend…
arsene had better play a strong squad against wigan. i don’t expect all first eleven will play, but i do not want to see any kids not near the first team drafted in. rotate a bit – such as szczesny, and a few other squad members that need the minutes- but not too much. we owe wigan for the semi-final back in 05-6. where they scored that injury time goal to dump us out on away goals, after a 2-2 aggregate. and then proceeded to lie down for man united in the final. should have been us against united that season – and this is an opportunity to pay wigan back.
Hi again all, and thanks again for yesterdays post oliver…
good luck rohan 😉
Boo! Catching up…
Boo to you agag, how’s you – just as i’m off out to walk the woofa’s in -2 degrees, brrrrrr
won’t be long though….
Catch you when you get back. 🙂 We need more players who keep their heads down, and mouths shut, and just do their talking on the pitch. 🙂 🙂
Boo, told you i wouldn’t be long 😉
Certainly do agag, and JD is just that…
hi all. sometimes i wish arsene would keep his mouth shut as well. mourinho is a pig – full stop. but arsene didn’t need to comment on what real madrid did or did not do. we should be focusing on ourselves, not providing commentary on all and sundry. it’s undignified and a distraction.
I agree re that oliver but i think its about time the interviewers stopped asking the managers their opinion on others too but Wenger should know much better, concentrate on whats in your own house i say, leave the neighbours alone…
Oliver, LeProf being the intellect that he is, generally gets asked to comment on all major football issues in general.. and his opinion is well respected by the international media
So you can’t really fault him when he gives his honest opinion on an issue when he’s asked for it.. He was asked about Maureen’s shameful tactics in the UCL game @ Amsterdam and he had to comment on it. That’s a quality to be admired, unlike Maureen who immediately retorted with a below the belt jibe at Wenger.. Simply shocked that U find Wenger undignified!!!
(Maureen had deliberately asked 2 of his players to get silly Reds to make sure they serve out their suspensions before the knock-out stages)
Rennie, wenger needs to stop and take stock of what he says though, like you say he is a very clever man but he keeps falling for the trap, in the UK, the paps hate us, reporters hate us and Sky Sports hate us, they love seeing us fail. If I were him I wouldn’t speak about other sides, but yes, moanrinho is a nasty man, some of the abuse he has sent Arsene’s way is a disgrace….
Hmm I know what U’re saying there, he falls (repeatedly) into the traps laid by those who get their mileage off him.. Am sure he’s aware of that as well, but he sees himself as a warrior for the true spirit of the game & the last thing a warrior is bothered about is what others think about him
U contrast that with the disgraceful self-serving tendencies of someone like Maureen who hardly give a shite about the game/club/fans… I’m glad I don’t havta support a club headed by that CUNT
You must be right on that Rennie, how he has stayed in England when fans and other managers etc are so rude i just do not know…
I would like to believe that his love for Arsenal keeps him going 🙂
I think he has said that Rennie 🙂 i know we all get frustrated with him at times but it’s clear he loves where he is, just wish he would look at the bigger picture sometimes instead of the bank account….
Hi Rico and Peeps. 🙂
I have to side with Rennie on this one.
Why should Arsene modify his behaviour because of the inevitable dog pooh response from Moaniho?
He was asked a question and gave an honest and predictable response. Mo’ only attacked him to try and deflect the media interest.
I watch the 10 a.m. Sunday morning chat show on Sky, and all of the journalists, including the Moaniho and Chelsea loving Rob Beasley, say how much they admire AW, and how great he is for talking to them.
The way they twist their stories/headlines is a poor reflection on them and not Arsene.
Hej Red, nice to hear that.. But the general perception among many Arsenal fans who only read headlines is that Wenger keeps commenting about everything, hence the Voyeur impression. Don’t think they realize that his comments are ALWAYS honest answers to questions from the media & never to insinuate anything
Hi RA, i agree with both Rennie and oliver, i think he should look after himself and not feed the idiots who twist his words …..
I think Moanrinho wants Wengers job….
Hello!
hi all, just back…if arsene wants to give his opinion on everything under the sun, then he should not complain when his words are distorted or used to fuel someone else’s agenda. i am sure that he was just giving his honest opinion – as he always does. but is it so terrible for him to – just once – decline to comment and request the media in attendance keep the discussion focused on arsenal?
i saw it as unnecessary and irrelevant to arsenal, which is what he should be focusing on. he wasn’t on the madrid bench, so any opinion he offers up as to what mourinho did/didn’t do is just speculation anyways.
i am not sure that mourinho wants the arsenal job. i think with him, it is more about using arsene as a “target of opportunity” to deflect attention when his (mourinho’s) seat is getting a bit warm. in this instance, madrid are going well and arsene – with the aid of the media, of course – opened the debate. mourinho, of course, was only too happy to respond.
Hi KT…
I thought he wanted ol’ Red Nose’s
the above is not to defend mourinhno in any way shape or form. but i do think arsene should know better on some of these things. if he wants to crusade for truth and justice, and undo the wrongs of mourinho and his ilk, then perhaps he should be working at uefa instead. he is our manager, and we need him to focus on arsenal, not what this or that manager did.
oliver, as much as i agree with what you are saying about arsene should not fall foul of the idiots who question him, i do think he is right about the madrid debacle…..
jose just loves to wind him up and yet he had the cheek to call him a voyer, jose should also concentrate on what goes on in his house and butt out of what goes on in ours… imho of course 😉
I absolutely love tomas rosicky’s game.some of the turns he perfomed in the villa game were sublime to watch.our away fans were top notch.all i could hear was ‘we love Wilsh’…
KT, i’ve always loved Tomas, he is a class player and we’ve missed him big time, just so glad he seems to be back fit and healthy…
rico, arsene may well be right – but he, as well as uefa, cannot prove anything. mourinho is swine – but in this instance, arsene fired the first proverbial shot by commenting on something that has nothing to do with arsenal.
i am not suggesting that he do a red nose and stop speaking outright. i am suggesting that he be a little more judicious in what he comments on. as soon as he uttered his comments, we all knew the media would wave them in mourinho’s face – and for what? the media clearly wants a public spat – are honest comments on something that does not involve arsenal really worth it?
arsene previously had no problem declining comment on controversial incidents involving arsenal players. perhaps he can apply that to questions regarding certain other managers, and certain non-arsenal issues. we have a pretty big game tomorrow – i could care less whether mourinho instructed his players to get carded in order to clear their impending bans before the knockout stages. that has nothing to do with arsenal, and every comment arsene makes on it – whether prompted or not – makes me wonder if he is not focused on the wrong things.
When figo left barca for madrid a pig’s head was thrown at him.now that mourinho has gone there i think its about time the rest of the pig was thrown to mou.
k, mourinho is the pig…
Rico sicky needs a 30 yard cannon to rip the top corner of the net and am sure goals will flow from then onwards.
Good point oliver.maybe inter fans should raid the camp nou and throw Benitez at him but how many people will it take to do that?…just asking.
rafa may be a nut-job but i do not have a problem with him. when the likes of fat sam, hughes, and the rest of the paid-up british managers club were following red nose’s orders and piling on arsene, rafa – who had similar problems with that gang – was at least sticking up for arsene…
oliver, to be fair to wenger, moanrinho started all this the day he called arsene a voyer… and we cannot forget that wenger gets asked his vies, he just needs to learn to steer clear, just like he doesn’t need to set our side up for the all too many falls we suffer…
i don’t think we’ll all ever agree on this subject…..
KT, that rip roaring goal will come, you can see he’s trying…
ra, if you should pop back on here – what did you think of the win at the meadowlands yesterday? at the half, i was livid – jax was running all over them, and they were turning golden opportunities into three points instead of seven. apparently, tuck had a real go at his defensive team-mates during the interval – about letting jax push them around in their own building. and it worked, as they dominated the second half and got the win. even better, philadelphia lost, and the michael vick bandwagon is slowing down.
jacobs looked like the brandon of old, running with purpose and attitude, and eli protected the ball, and didn’t force things. a good morale-building win ahead of the ‘skins visit next sunday.
Oliver i actually like Benitez.i’ve got no problem with him.
Of all British managers i only like Bruce and Holloway.
Aw is really being cautious with rvp10…oliver i agree with you re:mou.he likes to deflect attention to Aw in England and Ranieri/benitez in Italy.
KT, was it Tomas who slid that ball to Chamakh for our third, Chamakhs finish was sublime but Tomas’s pass was equal, any softer it would have bben stopped, any more pace the keeper would have had it, pure class…..
I’m not a fan of Rafa but, credit where its due, some of the interviews with Sky Sports were dreadful, time and time again they asked him about Gerrard going to the chavs, the takeover, the spats with red nose and moanrinho bute every time he dismissed them say, ‘i prefer tomtalke about training and our next game’ .. They soon got fed up….
i am not arguing that arsene is giving honest, heartfelt views…nor am i arguing that mourinho started all this…arsene discusses issues, while mourinho discusses individuals – we all know who has the weaker argument by the tactics that they resort to.
all i am saying is that arsene should know better than to even discuss controversial issues that have nothing to do with arsenal all the time. he knew where this line of questioning would go – did he really need to even have a comment? what was he even going to accomplish, other than starting a fight? was it arsene that just now made us see that mourinho is a despicable cheat? is mourinho going to throw up his hands and mea culpa because arsene had an opinion on what happened in amsterdam? is it really that difficult to take the high road, decline comment, and ask the media to keep the discussion focused on arsenal issues? you said yourself that the english media is generally contemptuous of arsene and arsenal – so what is wrong with arsene not giving them what they want for a change? if he declines comment, he may not sound like the smartest guy in the room for once, but there won’t be any manager-on-manager distracting bs, either. and the latter is more in arsenal’s interests than perhaps arsene realizes…
I love Holloway KT, and Bruce has to be the next manager of England….
rico, my entire premise is that arsene adopt more of a rafa-like attitude towards this. steer the conversation away from topics that are not relevant to arsenal. mourinho is an attention-hungry adolscent – why give him that attention?
Mourinho has so many enemies.even Allegri the milan coach recently criticized him.would a journalist ask mourinho about the economy?…no.Aw is really smart and journalists know Aw seems to have well explained feedbacks that are well respected.i can see all this mou vs Aw spat leading us to a CL game in the KOs.if Aw wins it will certainly shut up the pig for some time.
i just guess it’s not his style oliver, doesn’t make it right i know but we can’t chnage him now, just like we cant get him to change his tactics every now and again…
me personally, i’d rather the easy life, let someone else voice their opinion… outside of my life, no-one elses life really intrests me and in any case its not my posistion to pass comment on their life… thats just the way i live….
if i were arsene i’d say, i dont give a toot about madrid……
rico, bruce may be a good shout, but you and i know who the media will clamour to take over from fabio. the same person who has been lobbying for the job. as an american, i have no emotional stake in the england squad, but i would be sorely disappointed if he got anywhere near my national team.
there are few former man united players that i think are jockeying to succeed red nose…logic says that a hugely experienced, credible, established manager with a history of success would follow him. but there is another part – when red nose goes, there is a reasonable chance that his talismen (giggs and scholes) leave too…those three are the heart of united’s sustained success over the past 20 or so years. in every instance i can remember, prolong success has always left a large bill, and when that bill comes due, things get ugly quickly. so if the trio leaves and united find themselves in the wilderness – with no money to boot – do you bring a mourinho in to, with not-so-much money to spend in order to prolong the inevitable? or do you go back to basics, and try and build from within, and start laying the foundations for anther golden era? if it is the latter, then how important will a manager with links to the club and it’s winning period be? that is why bruce deserves serious consideration for that united job. while not captain (pallister was) of those mid-90’s sides, he was a huge leader, and a very important part. he has done well at bham, wigan and now sunderland. hughes may get consideration as well. you can figure royston keane, cantona, solskjaer or bry. robson probably will not…
k, i would argue that journalists care less about arsene’s actual views than their quote-ability. if they really respected him, they wouldn’t distort them or cherry-pick portions of certain comments to manufacture a false context and drive a specific media agenda. i am sure he is well aware of this, and i wish he would help himself by being more guarded. as rico so aptly remarked @ 6:54 pm, we cannot change him, so we will have to accept it for what it is.
It looks like Benzema may start in the El classico as Higuain is currently injured.the madrid players had their team bus stoned on their arrival.
Arry oliver, Arry will get the job….
I think the next man u boss will be David Moyes…. i don’t think sentimet will ever come into that club when appointing the new manager… and if i were Steve Bruce, I’d steer well clear…..
KT, as much as throwing stones at their bus is wrong, i don’t like moanrinho and i don’t like madrid…
should be compelling viewing coming up here. i’ll follow as i can, but i am devoting my attention and energy to wigan tomorrow…
Guys and Gals, its time for me to depart for the day, be good, tomorrow’s footie 🙂
Stay safe, night all….
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