Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

tony1kenobi

Frisbee wrote: »

Sooooooo.... United ey?

Just looking at the run in:

Chelsea FA Cup
Liverpool (A)
Boro (H)
United (A) CL
Pompey (A)
United (H) CL
Chelsea (H)
United (A)
Stoke (H)

Champions League Final
FA Cup Final

Parade Cups round Islington

Summer holidays.

gosplan

Tough run of games but:

If another couple of league games go our way, then we have no pressure left in that regard(we can't win it and fourth will be solid).

We have a huge squad as regards attacking players. In particular, I'm thinking of Arshavin who'll be rested for the Champions League games but an automatic starter for the others. While we're on the subject, it's worth remembering both Eduardo who took no part tonight but who I'd be happy to have on any starting teamsheet and the fact that when Fabregas plays, we have to bench Diaby and pick between Song and Denilson. :D

I don't want to sound over confident but I really believe that if we stay on form, we can simply outplay this Man U team in the Champions League. They've struggled against good sides all year and provided we don't hit a dip in form we should continue that run for them. Essentially, Man U have a good attack and a good defense but we have a midfield that can dominate posession and they don't. Over 180 minutes I'd expect that to make a difference.:D:D:D

And if you think we're not looking forward to the run-in, think how happy an out of form Man U team are to be in a position where every result counts in the league and they now have to play us twice more.:D:D:D:D*







In fairness, when you consider it all, the league and CL double is an enormous achievement.

Racing Flat

redout wrote: »

Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Barclays Premier League
Liverpool v Arsenal, 20:00

Is this on the telly?

Thanks.

jank

4th place is pretty much in the bag. The cups are pretty much in the bag!
We are in 2 semi's. I would be happy with only one, obviously the CL is better then the FA cup.
We need to get Alumina, Djourou and Clichy back ASAP.

Elonex

Arsenal's run in isn't that tough, they really don't have to give two sh1ts about the league.

redout

gosplan wrote: »

I don't want to sound over confident but I really believe that if we stay on form, we can simply outplay this Man U team in the Champions League. They've struggled against good sides all year and provided we don't hit a dip in form we should continue that run for them. Essentially, Man U have a good attack and a good defense but we have a midfield that can dominate posession and they don't. Over 180 minutes I'd expect that to make a difference.:D:D:D

And if you think we're not looking forward to the run-in, think how happy an out of form Man U team are to be in a position where every result counts in the league and they now have to play us twice more.:D:D:D:D*

Ah here brother. We have beaten Chelsea 3-0 and Inter 2-0 over the past three months.

OPENROAD

Elonex wrote: »

Arsenal's run in isn't that tough, they really don't have to give two sh1ts about the league.

Why not? I'm sure they will want to win every match in the league, still our position to play in the lague, six points behind Chelsea.

Royale with Cheese

Ah shít, I've an exam the morning after the Champions League final. Will have to take a hit on that one so.

cashback

gosplan wrote: »

In fairness, when you consider it all, the league and CL double is an enormous achievement.

Let's not get carried away just yet!
It's a massive task, but one that's definitely possible. As has been said, a lot will depend on how quick Clichy, Djourou and Almunia can get back.

DenMan

Hiya lads

Should have put a bet down on tonight's score. Delighted I got it right and we deserved it on the night. Man Utd next over two legs. Going to be awesome. Roll on Chelsea on Sat.

tony1kenobi

cashback wrote: »

Let's not get carried away just yet!
It's a massive task, but one that's definitely possible. As has been said, a lot will depend on how quick Clichy, Djourou and Almunia can get back.

Not really....As already pointed out by me and others, Gibbs, Fab2 and Silvestre did just fine.....and Sagna only has a bit of food poisoning or whatever....

.....if our poor sub defence can perform that well we have little to concern us.

i so want to beat united. i believe we can but they can be such a lucky shower of c*nts (and also a great team to be fair ) & you'd have to say they are slight favourites. Id take 1-1 at old Trafford + 0-0 at the emirates if you offered it to me now.

On tonight i have to say Song MOTM, he was brilliant and followed closely by kieran gibbs who was fantastic given the lack of support he was given by nasri.
eboue played very well. Fabregas and Adebayor by their standards were very poor and will have to be better on 29/04 and 05/05.

On a last note given the day we have 15/04/09, RIP to he 96 men women and children who tragically died in hillsborough 20 years ago today. being just under 6 at the time i don't remember anything about the day of the tragedy probably because i was shielded from it by my parents. I can remember the arsenal/liverpool 26/05/89 finale of the season in fragments as my dad being an arsenal fan was watching it with great interest. the truth is i didn't even know the rules of soccer at that time. my memory was so vague i used emulate michael thomas goal by picking the ball up in my backyard at the time and kicking it hard as i can out of my hands into a nearby hedge. the flowers carried on to the field by the arsenal team seemed unusual to me at the time but i took it for granted they were customary sportsmanship. only years later i discovered the horror of what had actually happened. god rest those poor souls and hope that they get the justice they deserve.

i felt that our club were fantastic on their sympathy tonight just as they were back in 89.

Royale with Cheese

The defense did fine tonight because it wasn't really tested. I wouldn't be confident playing at Old Trafford with that defense.

Pepe LeFrits

Nasri gave Gibbs loads of support (covered about 11k), Villarreal just played with loads of width.

PHB

Personally I think with all that has gone on this year, either of the cups would be a darn good season for Arsenal.

shano_88

What a run into the season we have in store. 2 months ago i would have taken 4th place in the league and woulda been delighted. Now we have 2 semi finals, 4th place nearly wrapped up and were playing some great stuff. This is what being a supporter is all about. I cant f*cking wait!!!!!

I'll be honest lads, not looking forward to the semi's at all. Will be watching them with my heart in my mouth at all times! Man U can be so jammy sometimes. And of course a lot will depend on how much extra time is played in OT! :P

cooker3

Racing Flat wrote: »

Is this on the telly?

Thanks.

Yep sky sports.

I think you have 4th wrapped up. Villa are not going to win the all their games, not even close.

I must say a Barca Arsenal final is a most enticing prospect. I would like to see it.

gosplan

cashback wrote: »

Let's not get carried away just yet!
It's a massive task, but one that's definitely possible. As has been said, a lot will depend on how quick Clichy, Djourou and Almunia can get back.

I included that ion recognition of Man U's achievement last year and in 1999. We've no hope of the league this year.

yahoo_moe

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

The defense did fine tonight because it wasn't really tested. I wouldn't be confident playing at Old Trafford with that defense.

Exactly. They were missing Santi, Cani didn't look fit, I'm not so sure Fernandez was either, Pires got very little ball and Senna wasn't there to win ball back for them. Add to that the fact that their other first-choice midfielder was sent off after an hour and it's nowhere near the test we'll get against Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez, Berbatov, etc.

And I can guarantee Drogba, Lampard and Ballack will cause more problems on Saturday, which is what I'm really concerned about right now. The main plus point is that Chelsea have shown very little defensive solidity recently.

Also, anyone else think that there's a lot less going through Nasri recently since Fabregas/Walcott came back? Not surprising really but he looks a little bit lost at times - he might need to adjust his game a bit to join in more...

Royale with Cheese

Nasri has been fairly quiet as of late, still has 8 goals for the season though. If he gets into double figures it would be a fairly successful first season in the premier league.

With Walcott providing pace one one wing, and Arshavin on the other, I'm not sure I see Nasri playing all that often when both are fit. Don't forget Rosicky might actually be back next season too. It seems odd that a player that cost Arsenal so much might end up being 4th choice next year.

yahoo_moe

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

It seems odd that a player that cost Arsenal so much might end up being 4th choice next year.

Yeah I've been wondering about what our first-choice lineup will be next year alright - it's going to be an interesting summer seeing it all get sorted out anyway.

If none of our attacking players go, we're going to have a ridiculous amount of options - though as we've seen, maybe it's the least we need to cover for injuries, etc. But I know I'd much rather have Nasri as cover playing 20 games a season or so than Nani or Babel, that's for sure.

Big thing we need is Ramsey to keep progressing so we've some viable cover in the centre for Cesc - we fall apart way too much when he's out/in need of a rest.

cson

Christ yeah, Ramsey, I'd forgotten about him

Pepe LeFrits

Diaby and Denilson can play in Cesc's position when he's out, they aren't as creative but we've got Arshavin now to offset that. DM is a bigger concern.

I reeeeeally hope Sagna will be fit for Saturday.

MBC

Jaysus this really crap..........gibbs is out now aswell :rolleyes:

Kirnsy

MBC wrote: »

Jaysus this really crap..........gibbs is out now aswell :rolleyes:

What??

what happened to him?

it never rains...

MBC

Kirnsy wrote: »

What??

what happened to him?

it never rains...

Picked up an injury against villareall..............thought it was a free kick to us but ended up against us...........he looked in a bit of pain at the time.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/gibbs-and-sagna-both-doubts-for-wembley

yahoo_moe

Ugh. Song's played fine a few times before at CB in the Carling Cup but Drogba and co could be a different story completely. Then again, it's going to be Silvestre anyway so we need a big team performance either way.

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Diaby and Denilson can play in Cesc's position when he's out, they aren't as creative but we've got Arshavin now to offset that. DM is a bigger concern.

Absolutely - but I wasn't suggesting signing anyone. I'd just much rather a fully-developed Ramsey doing that job than Diaby or Denilson. While Denilson's improved a lot since he first played Carling Cup, his game has changed a fair bit too. Back then, I thought he'd be cover for Cesc but he doesn't really cover that job as seamlessly as Ramsey looks like he could.

DenMan

Sweet Jesus.....I have just been sifting through the Liverpool thread and was going to ask the lads about the big game on Tues.....'till I realised after pages and pages of the whole Fergie/Benitez/Allardyce/Moyes controversy it might be the wrong thing to do. What the hell to be on about over there? If Torres dyed his hair black today it would probably result in a 30 page dedication. :rolleyes:

yahoo_moe

DenMan wrote: »

If Torres dyed his hair black today it would probably result in a 30 page dedication. :rolleyes:

Or just stopped dying it blonde

keano_afc

No Sagna tomorrow. We're gonna end up with Silvestre at left back and Song in the middle of defence.

itsjaybud

An ole rumour as to who could be looking for Adebayor's services next season!

itsjaybud

I had forgotten about this until earlier when Dan Roebuck on Arsenal Live was talking about the players dancing celebrations as of late!

Hopefully some more of this tommorrow!:)

jester77

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXmgJzYQVM4

gosplan

Different sources are reporting that Gibbs took part in training yesterday and is about 80% to pass a fitness test today.

DenMan

Gerrard out of the game on Tuesday with an injury. Let's hope we don't pick up too many walking wounded after today.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7999538.stm

Beau x1

itsjaybud wrote: »

An ole rumour as to who could be looking for Adebayor's services next season!

they can take ade, I'm not fond of him tbh. He can deliver at times but a lot of the time he's clumsy and doesn't have much imagination on the pitch.

Mr Alan

Wenger would want to be careful, Messrs Ferguson & Alberdyce may come knocking his door to give him a talking to about respect!

gosplan

Not so annoyed about the formation yesterday as the personnel.

4-5-1 is OK cause we needed to cover the defence a bit but with Fabregas up top of the midfield and Diaby playing, it doesn't make much sense.

4-5-1 with Denilson - Fabregas - Arshavin would have been much better.

It almost seems that by resting Arshavin, he's placing more importance on Tuesday's match against Liverpool which with Villa's result yesterday is almost a nothing game now. If anything it'd probably be more beneficial to us to lose the thing so Utd are still under pressure and can't rest people coming up to the CL semi final.

deisedevil

Mr Alan wrote: »

Wenger would want to be careful, Messrs Ferguson & Alberdyce may come knocking his door to give him a talking to about respect!

Do you ever stop? Talk about s**t stirring!

Have to say I was glad to see Arsenal beaten yesterday, because they were on a good run, looked in great form. There's hope for us in the CL yet.

Frisbee

I was in work yesterday so didn't see the game / interviews after.

Arsene got it wrong from the off.

Bringing in Diaby form Song who has been fantastic the last few games?
Leaving Arshavin and Nasri on the bench?
Taking Adebayor off?

Absolute mess, the FA Cup was realistically the cup we could have won this year, we won't win the Champions League, I'll be amazed if we even get to the final.

Green Hornet

How long more are Big Al, Clichy and Sagna out for? I'm not hugely impressed by Djourou so I'm not as concerned by his absence although I'd prefer him than Silvestre.

Fabianski is a real weak link. Maybe he'll still come good with time but he's not ready, or anywhere near it yet. We may sometimes criticise Big Al for staying on his line too much but I'd far rather that than the rash decisions that Fabianski makes. He's been running off his line in every single game he's played this year and gotten away with it............until yesterday.

Kirnsy

please tell me someone can explain not starting arshavin.


there is no way wenger can justify that with any sort of explanation regarding ; rotation, rest, tactics.

ffs

leninbenjamin

Kirnsy wrote: »

please tell me someone can explain not starting arshavin.


there is no way wenger can justify that with any sort of explanation regarding ; rotation, rest, tactics.

ffs

my guess: Wenger thought Hiddink would know Arshavin well enough at this stage that'd he be well able to set his team up to nullify him, hence the only logical explanation i can see is that Wenger was trying to throw Hiddinks tactical plans up in the air a bit. far fetched i know...

could be a host of other reasons aswell i guess. maybe he looked jaded in training and Wenger didn't think him up to the physical battle, maybe he had a cold, or a niggle they are keeping under wraps...

Kirnsy

leninbenjamin wrote: »

my guess: Wenger thought Hiddink would know Arshavin well enough at this stage that'd he be well able to set his team up to nullify him, hence the only logical explanation i can see is that Wenger was trying to throw Hiddinks tactical plans up in the air a bit. far fetched i know...

could be a host of other reasons aswell i guess. maybe he looked jaded in training and Wenger didn't think him up to the physical battle, maybe he had a cold, or a niggle they are keeping under wraps...

yeah that would be the best explanation imo too.

cos he's been a revelation since joining us and has been one of our best players.and if he was sick etc...you'd think wenger would use it as an excuse.

herbieflowers

maybe it was a big Russian conspiracy involving Abramovich, Hiddink and Arshavin...

Green Hornet

Potential good news with regards Almunia. Might be fit for the weekend:

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/9476750/Almunia-will-return-to-face-Boro

itsjaybud

^^^ Sky sports have the same story so hopefully theres some truth in it, the arsenal website are still saying hes a fortnight away from return.


Anyway as long as he is back in the team for the trip to old trafford at the end of the month il be happy!

Evil_Clown

http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/eyauqleyidmh/ :mad::mad::mad:
Looks like the injuries are returning big time at the wrong time :mad:

Quazzie

Evil_Clown wrote: »

http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/eyauqleyidmh/ :mad::mad::mad:
Looks like the injuries are returning big time at the wrong time :mad:

Arsenal strike do to miss Anfield trip

I think thats meant to read "duo". I refuse to read a report that has such an obvious typo in the heading