Diaby Shock - Nil Nil? - 3rd on Form
I can see goals
By Boris Mellor
February 27 2009
Diaby could actually play his second game in row. The shock is that he is available having failed to crock himself after his midweek exertions. What a week it has been, whereas Chelsea had a magnificent 1-0 win over Juventus, which proved their greatness and resilience, Arsenal struggled to a lowly 1-0 victory over Roma.
Nil Nil Specialists
So how will a team play this Saturday that it is used to getting 0-0 result after 0-0 result, a team that can keep clean sheets but not score? Well I can't answer that as I rarely watch Fulham. More importantly how will the Arsenal play? Well it's not a cup game, and Fulham aren't in the top three, that being the case I can't answer the question.
Who knows how Arsenal will react - I doubt if Wenger knows some weeks. Are they becoming a cup team? Remember Liverpool playing well in CL but finishing 5th? I hope Arsenal are not copying them, unless we win the cup with big ears, I would swap that for 4th place.
How many great performances has this team produced this season? Well they beat Chelsea and Man U, and against Cardiff they showed they would be a great championship team. Against Roma Arsenal showed they would love to play in the Italian League. It's dour teams like Sunderland that get them down.
Unfortunately most teams come to Arsenal and put 10 men behind the ball, the teams that don't, most times, get beaten. I sympathise with Wenger that it would be good if both team attacked and made a game of it, but it isn't going to happen. So Arsenal must put those chances away.
At long last this team now does show possibilities of potential, however without Fabregas, Walcott, Adebayor, Rosicky and Eduardo all missing putting chances away is easier said than done. However Arshavin plays tomorrow let's hope that his presence will spark the confidence needed to put the ball away.
Nothing lasts forever, including the Roman Empire (Dreadful pun. Ed), I suspect the goal drought will end and Fulham will be on the end of a drubbing.
Third on Form
Arsenal desperately needs 3 points tomorrow, but they are not as off form as some pundits would suggest. They are third in the last 6 games played form table. Chelsea are beneath Arsenal in that table, which explains Scolari's sacking. However the problem is that Villa are second, behind Man U. Overhauling Villa will not be easy, but a few good performances could change all that. Those performances must start against Fulham.
Arsenal possible squad: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Arshavin, Denilson, Diaby, Nasri, van Persie, Bendtner, Fabianski, Eboue, Djourou, Gibbs, Song, Ramsey, Vela.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:03:01:13:45:14 by Padre Pio.
to be fair, i sympathise that it would be nice if all clubs had champions league money rolling in every season and were all placed in the same location so that they could all hope to attract the same calibre of players.
Teams who arent as good as other teams will go away from home and, predominantly, defend. SAFC created a few chances (a lot more than away at man utd) and made as much of a game of it as we could. The big 4 love the money that the super rich "premier league" brings in, then they complain when the less well off clubs dont open up, pass it about, surge forward and lose 5-0
i mentioned it on another thread, but Mr "teams should look to attack" Arsene Wenger might fancy rewatching the 2005 FA Cup Final. How many arsenal fans on here care that AFC put in one of the most dour, defensive cup final displays many people have ever seen? My guess is not many. They dont care and neither does wenger (when it suits him) as they got the result they wanted. Man united should have played better if they wanted to win that game
I look forward to seeing arsenes all out attack in rome- im sure he wont just sit back, happy to try and hit on the break
Quote:Padre Pio
One game in how many hundreds? It will go on his gravestone
the fact is, he defends when he has to- ah f*** it- haway the gooners in rome- i'll be with the real hardcore and i cant wait.
SAFC have always got on with AFC (as opposed to spurs who we had running pitch battles with many years ago, just as we always get on with villa and not birmingham and we will ALWAYS like west ham after the respect we showed each others clubs- when bobby moore died we gave a minutes respect that many other grounds wouldnt have at the time and when there was a mining disaster they had a whip around for us- legends)
How many times has Wenger used that tactic?
Wenger believes in the Glory game - I dont think one day off in 11 years will undermine his legacy.
5-1 at Inter will always be up there
Quote:Padre Pio
He defends when he has to. What a disgrace he should give the keeper the day off.
How many times has Wenger used that tactic?
Wenger believes in the Glory game - I dont think one day off in 11 years will undermine his legacy.
5-1 at Inter will always be up there
so, our day at arsenal, drawing 0-0, is worthy of his wrath, but when you do it, its okay. Fair enough- i dont give a f**k, we drew twice in a season and a lad i know (tony jeffries) won his first pro boxing fight tonight so im pi**ed!
Wenger is a great manager but he has to learn why man utd beat teams like us and you cant, when he does, you have a chance of winning the league again. personally, i think hes done and you should get rid
either way, bring on rome
Quote:Wenger is a great manager but he has to learn why man utd beat teams like us and you cant, when he does, you have a chance of winning the league again. personally, i think hes done and you should get rid
the difference between manutd and arsenal at the moment is that they take their chances and we dont
we had a couple of really good chances against sunderland and if we scored from one of those chances then it would have been game over but our attackers lack the lil bit of confidence in the final third
we need to find the right balance in order to win the league..in the first half of our season our attackers were doing just fine but our defence were conceding easy goals in almost every game and in the 2nd half of the season our defence has been very solid but our attackers cant seem to score anymore
Quote:ArsenalForeverQuote:Wenger is a great manager but he has to learn why man utd beat teams like us and you cant, when he does, you have a chance of winning the league again. personally, i think hes done and you should get rid
the difference between manutd and arsenal at the moment is that they take their chances and we dont
we had a couple of really good chances against sunderland and if we scored from one of those chances then it would have been game over but our attackers lack the lil bit of confidence in the final third
we need to find the right balance in order to win the league..in the first half of our season our attackers were doing just fine but our defence were conceding easy goals in almost every game and in the 2nd half of the season our defence has been very solid but our attackers cant seem to score anymore
honestly mate, to win the league, all you need are wingers and a fully fit goal scorer. Walcott (who is really a striker) will do for the right winger part, and eduardo is a class finisher, but if you got a real right and left winger, along with david villa, you'd win the league. Id still think you could do with a proper defensive midfielder, but you'd be good enough despite song to win it imo
Quote:guinness_guzzlerQuote:ArsenalForeverQuote:Wenger is a great manager but he has to learn why man utd beat teams like us and you cant, when he does, you have a chance of winning the league again. personally, i think hes done and you should get rid
the difference between manutd and arsenal at the moment is that they take their chances and we dont
we had a couple of really good chances against sunderland and if we scored from one of those chances then it would have been game over but our attackers lack the lil bit of confidence in the final third
we need to find the right balance in order to win the league..in the first half of our season our attackers were doing just fine but our defence were conceding easy goals in almost every game and in the 2nd half of the season our defence has been very solid but our attackers cant seem to score anymore
honestly mate, to win the league, all you need are wingers and a fully fit goal scorer. Walcott (who is really a striker) will do for the right winger part, and eduardo is a class finisher, but if you got a real right and left winger, along with david villa, you'd win the league. Id still think you could do with a proper defensive midfielder, but you'd be good enough despite song to win it imo
Seems like you've got a pretty decent feel of the team.
Better start learning some anti-yid songs
if you dont know any already for Rome!Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009:02:28:01:55:52 by pk_gunner.
Quote:pk_gunnerQuote:guinness_guzzlerQuote:ArsenalForeverQuote:Wenger is a great manager but he has to learn why man utd beat teams like us and you cant, when he does, you have a chance of winning the league again. personally, i think hes done and you should get rid
the difference between manutd and arsenal at the moment is that they take their chances and we dont
we had a couple of really good chances against sunderland and if we scored from one of those chances then it would have been game over but our attackers lack the lil bit of confidence in the final third
we need to find the right balance in order to win the league..in the first half of our season our attackers were doing just fine but our defence were conceding easy goals in almost every game and in the 2nd half of the season our defence has been very solid but our attackers cant seem to score anymore
honestly mate, to win the league, all you need are wingers and a fully fit goal scorer. Walcott (who is really a striker) will do for the right winger part, and eduardo is a class finisher, but if you got a real right and left winger, along with david villa, you'd win the league. Id still think you could do with a proper defensive midfielder, but you'd be good enough despite song to win it imo
Seems like you've got a pretty decent feel of the team.
Better start learning some anti-yid songsif you dont know any already for Rome!
well, i nearly got in a fight a few years back due to singing "hey yidos we wanna know where your captains gone", erm, theres "we've got one more foreskin than you" (walking round highbury with our willies hanging out), my best mate being a gooner means i know a fair few! Plus, i wont have anyone having a go at my mates team (and the team of a girl i was in love with many years ago) so im right up for roma- i'll certainly not be the most quiet gooner (PS also downloaded ashleys secret and blue judas @#$%& for the occasion!)
Quote:honestly mate, to win the league, all you need are wingers and a fully fit goal scorer. Walcott (who is really a striker) will do for the right winger part, and eduardo is a class finisher, but if you got a real right and left winger, [b]along with david villa,[/b] you'd win the league. Id still think you could do with a proper defensive midfielder, but you'd be good enough despite song to win it imo
why waste money on villa when we already have eduardo in our team?
and i think nasri is well equipped for the left wing role...he just needs to help clichy more and make surging runs into the box more often and we also have traore coming back at the end of the season
as for the right wing position...well we have to wait and see where wenger plays arshavin...if wenger thinks arshavin will play as a right midfielder then we wont see any signings for that position during the summer
the positions i would like us to improve is a rb cover for sagna if eboue leaves, a new cb and a new dm to replace song
Quote:ArsenalForeverQuote:honestly mate, to win the league, all you need are wingers and a fully fit goal scorer. Walcott (who is really a striker) will do for the right winger part, and eduardo is a class finisher, but if you got a real right and left winger, [b]along with david villa,[/b] you'd win the league. Id still think you could do with a proper defensive midfielder, but you'd be good enough despite song to win it imo
why waste money on villa when we already have eduardo in our team?
and i think nasri is well equipped for the left wing role...he just needs to help clichy more and make surging runs into the box more often and we also have traore coming back at the end of the season
as for the right wing position...well we have to wait and see where wenger plays arshavin...if wenger thinks arshavin will play as a right midfielder then we wont see any signings for that position during the summer
the positions i would like us to improve is a rb cover for sagna if eboue leaves, a new cb and a new dm to replace song
like i say, im not a gooner, so i like to think my opinion is a bit more unbiased. personally, i think eduardo is class, but a lot of his reputation is due to one euro qualifying campaign. i reckon he's a great finisher, but villa has great finishing, great movement and a bit of power. For me, hes a level above eduardo (who, when fully fit would be likely to guide you to a top 4 finish- we're talking small differences between class players)
arshavin might be a bit like malbranque for sunderland in that he is right wing drifting in, but i think your problem is you dont stretch teams enough. a couple of real wingers would give you a vital option. Arshavin should start right wing with options on the bench, or you could just play him in behind a lone striker if adebayor shows some desire. Either way, imo, you need to bring oppoents full backs and centre mids into battles in the wide areas before you can hope to win the league
Comparing him to Malbranque is stupid really.
Quote:TH14
Walcott is not the guy to play on the wing for us. He is nowhere near the level of Arshavin. Arshavin will prove to be an awesome player who does not rely on his pace.
Comparing him to Malbranque is stupid really.
arshavin is better than malbranque, im not trying to argue otherwise. just mentioning that he is a similar type of player (ie a player who is probably most comfortable on the wing but will generally drift inside) and this can cause problems for a side like arsenal that struggles to get natural width. Maybe a "touchline hugging" left winger could come in, arshavin could play on the right and you might get enough balance

