Arsenal should beat 1-goal-in-9 Fulham + Arsecast debut

I'd like to see Samir Nasri partner Denilson in the middleHello and a fun-filled and fabulous Friday to you.

Tomorrow sees another important game against Fulham at The Emirates. A quick glance at the table sees the away side in eighth place at the moment but a closer look at their results show that Fulham are yet to win away in the Premier League this season. In fact, in their last nine away games they’ve scored just one goal and if that’s not an indication of how winnable this game is for Arsenal then I don’t know what is.

There is often a drop in intensity after European contests but there will be no excuses in Saturday. Abou Diaby, the best player on the pitch against Roma, will unfortunately miss out through a calf injury but aside from that we have no other new injury concerns. It was such a shame to see Diaby get injured again, particularly considering the quality of his performance mid-week, but his previous history means it is hardly a surprise. Hopefully he will be available again soon.

In terms of team selection and tactics I think the manager will revert back to 4-4-2 and restore Alex Song to the starting side. Now much as I like Song as a player (and I know I’m the minority there) I would really like to see Arsene Wenger take the game to Fulham and put Samir Nasri in the middle to partner Denilson. That would allow Andrey Arshavin back in to the side on the right and see Carlos Vela – who subbed on against both Sunderland and Roma and will be fresher than Emmanuel Eboue – start on the left.

If Wenger does continue with Song as I’m expecting, then I just hope he has learned enough from the Sunderland game to change up the Song/Denilson partnership as soon as we get on top. I don’t mind the pair starting the game to ensure we win the midfield fight and get the bulk of possession – but if there is no early goal then I think Wenger needs to make some prompt changes in the middle.

Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner are both likely to start up front while the same defensive five that started against Roma are sure to continue. I mentioned yesterday that Manuel Almunia has not conceded in five games now and I think it shows the improvements that have been made to the defensive side of our game.

Tomorrow’s game will be mostly about getting control of possession, moving forward quickly and decisively and perhaps most importantly, taking our chances when we get them. In the past two matches we realistically could have scored six goals but a combination of poor finishing and laboured build-up play has cost us. Give Fulham’s horrible goalscoring record away from home I really feel that if we get one goal we’ll win it, and I’m confident that we’ll break the run of 0-0s and get the result we badly need. 

In the other big news story of today Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou has indicated his desire to play under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal one day. Speaking after his side’s Champions League win over Juventus, where he set up the only goal, Kalou praised the Arsenal manager and hinted at a potential move at the end of the season. In his own words:

‘Wenger said he thought of signing me? That’s an honour for me, an honour. He is a very great coach and I know that every single player in the world dreams of playing for him. I have a lot of respect for him, he is one of the best coaches in the world so why not? I am still under contract with Chelsea but of course I have plenty of friends who play for Arsenal in Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Emmanuel Adebayor. They are achieving huge things at Arsenal and watching them play is just beautiful.”

The last sentence suggests he hasn’t watched much of Arsenal this season but the rest of it is quite promising. Personally I like Kalou as a player but the only way I could see him come into the squad is if Rosicky gets crocked again or someone leaves. As such I just can’t see it happening despite Wenger’s clear admiration for the Ivorian.

Just a quick one before I go. For those that are interested to hear what I’ve got to say about the past week in general or the Fulham game coming up, I’ll be featured chatting with Arseblogger on his very popular Arseblog Arsecast today. If you want to check how my Aussie accent clashes with his Irish one then be sure to check out the podcast by checking out Arseblog. And thanks again to Arseblogger for inviting me to participate.

And that’s it for today. Have a good one and here’s cheers to three points and a good win over Fulham!

Have your say on Arsenal v Fulham or the Arsecast by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. I am confident we should win this game. Actually, i think we will score 3+ goals. 3 points badly needed to keep pressure on Che$ki and Villa.

    Arseblog has just posted so im goin to listen to the Arsecast now.

  2. Hehe, congrats on the debut. Now you can consider yourself an arse-ified Arsenal blogger.
    Looking forward to the podcast, I listen to it every week.

  3. A win is a must. I don’t know how many times we have said so.
    Fulham game will be more tougher than Roma. Like I said many times; Fulham game will tell us more about the team than Roma game.

    I don’t like Kalou.

  4. Gibbs, MoMoney: Guys, I have watched every single Champions league game for last 12 years(Arsenal’s games). Arsene is a brilliant manager but the fact remains he has ZERO CL title in 12 seasons with Arsenal.

    He couldn’t win CL with players like Henry, Bergkamp, Pires, Adams and Vieira. This season, to dream of winning CL with players like Eboue, ‘Bayor, Toure and Billong Song looks very unrealistic. And the quaterfinal tie against Roma is far from being over.

    Ottmar Hitzfeld won 2 Champions league title with Munich and Borrusia Dortmund(yes Borrusia) in four years time period. Mourinho won back to back European titles(Europa and CL)with Porto(Yes Porto). Benitez led Liverfool’s to two Champions league finals; winning one of them in his four years reign in Liverpool. Also Ancellotti. All those manager’s have something in common. That is Managerial tactics in big moments.

    Don’t you guys know why Wenger doesn’t have a European title(even Europa) in his resume?

    I don’t mean he is a bad manager but record tells that he is very incapable in European League. And I am talking about facts.

    Don’t get me wrong though. I would be very happy if we win Champions league under him. Not to have even one CL trohpy under our belt hurts a lot. We were very close during 06 seaosn only for Almunia Clown to screw it up.

    For god’s sake Red Star Belgrade, Steau Bucuresti have won CL trophies with very inferior teams than Wenger’s teams. Fact again.

    About striking option:

    Personally I think we need to shake up our attacking force coming summer. If we get rid of ‘Bayor or Bentdner and get an in & out striker with good finishing will be awesome. There is a big chance we might lose RVP this summer(Barca will seriously bid for him). The best possible move for Arsenal is to sell ‘Bayor for a decent price and buy Villa/Benzema. RVP + Villa/Benzema can threaten any team.

    Also, We need to sign a proven international level goalie and(possibly) an experienced Defensive midfield. Denilson has looked good when playing in CDM role last few games. Nice improvement. We will find out more about his ability by the end of seaon. I think it depends on if Denilson/Cesc midfield can be a premier league winning standard midfield. Song cannot be trusted for me.

  5. @Spanishfry

    Just listened to your broadcast with arseblogger, good to hear your voice at last. I very much like your blog and I always look at the discussions everyday as with arseblog. On to Saturday, I am really looking forward to this game because after the mid week Roma game I am very confident that we can get the result we require. We need to keep the tempo off the Roma game keeping Nasri in the middle wth Vela and Arshavin on the wing. I don’t think Fulham are the kind of team that parks the bus as some teams seem to do so hopefully our attacking football will be allowed. I also hope that Arshavin manages to finish the game and hopefully gets of the mark.
    On another matter England 301-3 another game for us to grab by the lapels and then to only manage a draw!!

  6. @ ramgunner

    Even with all the love that I have for Arsene I think youre totally correct and at same point Im agree with you.

    Maybe all that managers that you mention never will have the “beautiful style” of Arsenal play but at the end what matters are the trophys.

    I dont remeber wich player said “people remeber who plays nice footbal for some years But people tend to remeber who win trophies for the eternity.”

    I think no one want Wenger out they just want him to fix “something” to start to winning trophies but I will not see with bad eyes a new manager like Deschamps or Van Basten if they will be for many years. I think everybody have the fear that if Arsene goes we will be one of that teams that change their manager every 3 years.

  7. I never said anything about winning the champions league this year. I guess there is a chance because its a cup and anything can happen but I was just referring to the future of the team and how strong it could be potentially

  8. ramgunner,
    I wonder how Wenger’s Arsenal would fare against the Belgrade and Bucharest teams which won the CL in the 1980s…

    This point is invalid in my opinion. How many teams from eastern Europe have a chance of winning the CL nowadays? None.

    Other than that, yes you’re right. We all want to win trophies and the squad needs to be improved.

  9. A week before, I watched Fulham vs Swansea City in the FA cup game. Fulham were virtually terrorised by Swansea City for almost all game. Fulham got very lucky to reach next round of FA cup. They are an average team at their best. We can’t afford to drop any more points like Fabregas said yesterday.
    Earlier this season, at Craven Cottage, we played a horrible game with no grit and vision. Denilson was very sloopy with his passings. Whole team was sleeping in that game. We defended very badly for that corner kick and conceded a very cheap goal. This time around, we must collect 3 points. All the remaining league games should be treated like a Cup final. Team selection has to be spot on. Since it is Fulham at home, team should be attacking minded. We all know they gonna park the bus. Song should not be allowed to be anywhere near the team.

    ‘Munia
    ———-
    —Denny—
    Andriey Nasri Vela(Plz)
    RVP Bendtner

  10. @ ramugunner – You’re probably right about the CL mate, but it must be said that it’s not always the best side in Europe that wins it. When Liverpool won it in 2005 they were crap. When Porto won it 2004, they were functional and workmanlike, but definitely not the best on the continent. That’s why football’s such a great game, so many different factors dictate who wins a competition. No-one could seriously say that Liverpool deserved to put us out over 2 legs last year. We totally dominated the game at the Emirates, and had a perfectly good goal ruled out. we were 2 mins away from finishing the job at Anfield, before Toure did his kamikaze act and we blew out. And let’s not forget that if Henry hadn’t bottled that one-on-one with the Barca keeper with 20 mins to go in 2006, we’d have been 2-0 up and Euro champions. You’re right we definitely don’t have the best team in europe, even with everyone fit, but with a favourable draw and loads of luck, anything’s possible.

    @ SF – You’re right about the Fulham game being a “must win”. We need to have learned from the crap performance against Sunderland, but if we run out with Song and Denilson in the middle and Bendtner up front, my heart will sink…
    Off to listen to the Arsecast..

  11. Michael; My point with Red star and Steau was that those teams have collected the highest prize in Europe in their histroy. But, We have none. No relation with Wenger’s era. Borrussia(97) and Porto(04) are notable huge underdogs to win Champions league after Wenger arrived at Arsenal. We had a big chance during 04 season if we could have beat Chelski. Monaco in semifinal and Porto in Final. We had a very good team with plenty of match winners during that seaosn. Lost chance. Then, of course, 06 final. I don’t want to talk about that anymore.

    I rate Wenger 10 times more than Benitez(I hate him) as a football manager. Still, somehow, Benitez is more successful than Wenger in Europe. Although luck played a huge role in their CL win in 05, record tells that Benitez won CL in his 2nd year with Liverpool. He still has good records. No one can deny that Benitez’s game plans in Europe are far superior than Wenger’s.

  12. Just listened to the arsecast SF, and i must say, youre accent is far better than Arseblogger’s. You also made a few good points, well done mate.

  13. Spanishfry; It’s the same old defensive lineup. Little bit laziness.
    Haven’t listened the Arsecast yet. I will comment after I listen. You should have done a good job. Arseblogger’s blogger is very funny. His blogs are always long with few stupid words. Love that guy. Is he Irish?

  14. @ ramu – No no, I understand you’re defensive situation. There was no need to write it in because it’s very predictable.

    Anyway, I’m off for a bit. Have a good one all!

  15. @ ramugunner

    Nothing is unrealistic in cup competitions mate. You should know that by now. If you take a look at Milan and Liverpool, they both had terrible domestic seasons when they won the CL. We can win the CL without superstars in our team, Porto did it. You dont need a Henry or a Viera to win the CL. If we get past Roma, then ill fency our chances b/c Cesc, Eduardo and Rosicky will be back, we all know these blokes can take on the best in the world.

  16. @ ramugunner & Gibbs – You’re both right in some ways guys. We should have beaten Chelsea in 04, they scored late at Highbury which meant we needed 2 as we’d drawn 0-0 at Stamford Bridge. We dominated that game and were on top at Highbury for 70 mins. It’s small twists of fate like that and the Liverpool thing last year that decides who wins the CL. you’re right Gibbs about Porto winning it without superstars, and let’s face it Liverpool only really had Gerrard in 05. we’ve all been a load of miserable bastards (including me) on this blog for ages now, so maybe it’s time to take a leaf out of SF’s book and start being optimistic for a change!

  17. Ramugunner you are right as much as i want 2 keep my hope alive. There comes a time when Arsene is just adamant to reality for instance Nasri can play in the middle with denilson but he insists on using Song, Eboue even merida is by far better creatively and offers a more positive penetrative power has a better pass in the third quarter he only sees eboue, clichy himself has become a problem. So my only wish remain, before we buy anyone we should sell first the following Eboue Song,Gallas,Almunia. Since we have an academy bring in the following Wilshere,Randall,francis,Merida buy a goalkeeper and that is a fighting team for you

  18. Ezra; you’re right. Arsene takes a long time to learn. It took him a long time to realise that the team will be better creatively with Nasri playing in the hole position. It took him more than a year to realise that Gallas/Toure CB pairing cannot defend in air. Oh! He has never realised that Wilshere, Merida and Ramsey can do a better job unlocking premier league defenders than Song/Eboue and Co.

    Arsene’s New Press Conference:

    ‘I believe in the spirit and we have the belief. We are 28 points off top spot but of course these things can change quickly. I believe in the character and the quality of these young lions and we are building for the future. In fact I have been building for the future for a while now but people must be patient. This is a 100-year plan and soon people will see that with an extra 1-2% this team will have the courage and determination and collective mental belief to dominate the Europa League. I would sign Messi and I have the natural resources to do this but where would I put him? I already have Eboue and Diaby out there.’

    tuck tuck…

  19. This season, I will keep my ambition modest. If we can win the FA and qualify for the CL, then I will be happy, a bit. But the problems we’ve had should not be repeated next year.

  20. Spanishfry, it was great to hear you on the Arsecast this evening. It is great to hear another fellow Aussie so passionate and knowledgeable about Arsenal Football Club. I look forward to reading more of your blog in the future.

    P.S. Bad luck for the Lions this evening, luckily the Aussies are well on top in South Africa.

  21. Just taken this off the official website so Diaby can be in the middle with Denilson and have Nasri and Arshavin on the flanks.

    Abou Diaby is now FIT for Saturday’s game against Fulham.

    Arsène Wenger ruled the Frenchman out of this weekend’s London derby after Diaby was forced off with a calf injury during Tuesday’s win over Roma. But the midfielder has made a speedy recovery and keeps his place in the Arsenal squad. He is joined there by Andrey Arshavin, ineligible for the Champions League but free to play in the Premier League.

    “Diaby is available, he recovered surprisingly well,” revealed Wenger at his pre-match press conference. “It seems I took him off at the right moment [against Roma].

    “There are a few small injuries but everybody who played on Tuesday is available. Arshavin joins in so it’s the same squad as Tuesday but Arshavin comes in for Fran Merida.”

    Wenger did not spring any more surprises on the injury front so captain Cesc Fabregas (knee), Theo Walcott (shoulder), Tomas Rosicky (hamstring tendon), Mikael Silvestre (calf), Eduardo and Emmanuel Adebayor (both hamstring) remain on the sidelines. Walcott returns to full training on Monday and is still expected to be back first.

    “It looks like Eduardo, Walcott and Adebayor will be coming in the next two weeks,” confirmed Wenger. “It’s a real bonus, the first one will be Walcott.”

    Come on you gunners

  22. Spanish fry…..and why dont we call you Australian fry? Anyway,am joking. The point is i have just listened to your voice on arseblog arsecast for the first time and hey—it sounds cool,you even sound better than those sky tv guys. What about a “job” there but then what happens to those guys that need counseling at hospital? You sound like those pundits though your age makes you amateur. Checking out your facebook—what a hairly face(cool though). Oh,its supposed to be football here so…..am finished!

  23. It seems Ramugunner is a bit of a moron. Wenger bought Nasri, and has followed the player since he was 14-15 years old! You think he Wenger doesn’t know where he can or can’t play?

  24. Maybe the reason we beat Roma is because they were not expecting this formation? Maybe he has been “Hiding” it from them?

    Some of the criticism of Wenger on here is pretty insane… No logic at all other then “we haven’t won it all” and “he always says the same thing”… Ridiculous

  25. Looking forward to tomorrows game. I hope AW uses the same 4-2-3-1 formation he used on tuesday, but Bendy must be replaced by Arshavin, id like to see Vela start but i know thats not gonna happen and Djourou must play to add height into the defense, Fulham can be dangerous with set pieces.
    Al
    Sagna,Galls,Djourou,Clichy
    Denilson,Diaby
    Eboue,Nasri,Arshavin
    RvP

  26. Arsenal came closest to winning in ’06 when we had a very weak team and particularly weak defense. That forced a strategic change — a 4-5-1 with the midfield working very hart — that was generally effective. I remember Gilberto, Hleb and Reyes/Ljunberg running their socks off to protect our cobbled together defense and Cesc pressing and then breaking forward to brilliant effect.

    It seems that it was a combination of our brilliance in counter-attack (Cesc and Henry, but also Reyes, Ljunberg and Hleb/Eboue) combined with an all-out team defense that did it for us.

  27. It seems Ramugunner is a bit of a moron.

    @Hey Ole Gunner CUNT;

    Since when do you qualify what a ‘disgrace’ is you fucking cunt?
    You don’t get to do that you gypsy. I will tell you what moron. The only disgrace is a moron who refuses to accept that Arsene is not always a genius. Nobody can remain genius forever. That makes you a MORON Cunt.

    If your parents had been able to afford books for you you uneducated excuse for a street urchin, then your retarded brain-dead personality would have understood the part when I said I want Wenger to succeed again with Arsenal. All I said was his team selection and game tactics has been poor this seaosn.

    However you act like a BLOCKHEAD, a NUMSKULL.

    You have probably never seen the Emirates in your life and I assume the closest you have ever got to the ground was when your caravan had to pull in outside the ground for a night.

    Don’t you dare assume you know anything about a team I have supported longer than your mum’s been turning tricks in Kings Cross you fucking drivel-filled snivelling reprobate.

    If you are going to bandy about what qualifies as an Arsenal fan at least know what the fuck you are on about. While I will be at the game, cheering the team on (did you hear any booing from your caravan cunt?) you will be no doubt sitting at home masturbating to posters of Song & Nari.

    Now fuck off you philistine and let me be done with you. Let me speak my mind you CUNT.

    Sorry SF; I was not the one to start calling someone moron for nothing.

  28. Ummm I’ll ignore that…

    http://www.arsenal.com/news/ladies-news/almunia

    apparently Wenger thinks Almunia is top class (or he just says so…). Not sure I agree but I will say that he is far from the liability I thought he was earlier in the season. We are lucky to have him when Barca’s reign could be threatened by the incompetent Valdez…

  29. Almunia – Worldclass. I don’t buy it. How can you say a player is worldclass when he has ZERO international appearance and ZERO trophies in his 16 years career. For god’s sake, Almunia couldn’t win a trophy even with Cartegena & Eibar teams in Segunda Spanish League.

    Wenger always back up his player. Not a bad thing. But Personally I think we can’t suceed with Almunia in goal. We need to have an international level, proven, worldclass goalie.

    Still, Almunia has improved a lot lately. After a terrible start to the season, he is now looking more decent. Worldclass? No Wenger.

    Worldclas goalie’s has different names: Casilla, Buffon, Cech, Van der sar, Given and Co.

  30. Sorry ramugunner, but you’re a bit silly. By your logic we should be using Fabianski week-in week-out, simply because he has played at an international level.

    But the reality of the situation is that Spain, has a lot of quality goalkeepers, Casillas, Reina, Palop, Valdés. Valdés has never played for Spain, (although he has for Catalonia which isn’t part of FIFA or UEFA), do you think Barca give a damn?!

  31. Can’t edit: Also Cech has had one of the worst season’s he’s ever had, absolutely shocking. And Given, unproven at a higher level, because lets face it Newcastle is hardly a top club. LOL!

  32. Xavier: Don’t try act in a comical way in this blog by comparing Almunia with Given & Cech.
    Eg:
    Shay Given:
    – International goalie. Has played 94 games.
    – Twice Goalkeeper of the seaosn in Premier league; 01-02 season and 05-06.

    Cech:
    – Back to back PL trohies.
    – Best goalie in 05, 07 & 08 Champions leagues.

    Almunia:
    – ZERO International appearance in 16 years of Football career.
    – Celto Vigo didn’t want him as a back up keeper. Segunda Liga reject.
    – Do you think he can ever be considered the best goalie in one of the best league in the planet. If you think, then I will not argue with you any more.

    No brainer for me.

  33. What a cracking first line from the Irishman…”what made you an arsenal fan and not a C**t”….perfect start i thought and you handled it well….didnt get into the Anglo-aussie bull….

    Big award to you SF as i reckon you used 14 footballing clichés ..you defo got “park the bus”…”at the end of the day”….” hit em on the break”..and so many more beauties!

    Got to start your own podcast now sir….clearly the more knowledgable and definitely the more friendly on the ear!!

    Cant wait for tomorrows game….not only is confidence high again the law of averages is on our side and a rout is clearly on the cards…….come on Arsenal!

  34. @ ramugunner

    all ill say is id much rather have Almunia..and am so much happier….in goal than Lehman!

  35. Only just read back…not trying to incite anything again Ramu….just thought id say my bit on Almunia!

  36. @ ramugunner

    re Almunia. You forgot to point out the fact that he is competing with the best goalie on the planet (Cassilas). Shay Given wouldnt even get a sniff of the national team if he was competing with Cassilas

  37. Gibbs; Right now Almunia can’t compete with Casillas, Reina, Asenjo and Co. I will take that. But, where was Almunia during his 20’s? He spent most of his time in the Segunda league as a back-up keeper. There were 50 better Spanish goalie’s ahead of him every single seaosn. Fact is cream always rise at the top. Almunia never convinced big clubs or his national side during 15 years of career. Now he is at Arsenal doing a decent job. My point is Almunia cannot be counted as a Worldclass goalie. He might be for Arsene who is pushing the club towards Europa. Not for a Big club chasing big prizes. There is some good reason for Lehmann and Seamen to say Almunia can’t be Arsenal’s No 1.

    Shay Given is a world class keeper because he has proved playing at the highest level. He proved he can be the best goalie in premier league twice during 01-02 & 05-06 season. Of course, he is not better than Casillas but he would have played for Spanish team some point of his career. Given is better than Reina for me.

    ‘m tired of Almunia debate. Bottomline, I don’t rate him at all. He is average at very best or acceptable back-up. 0 International app & 0 career trophies. That’s the final story.

  38. I dont think he is as bad as you say ramugunner… Other then Given and Cech who would you take in the EPL? Van der sar is good but aging. I rate Almunia higher then the Americans… Im not saying he is world class but he is not trash at all…

    That being said Lehman was and always be better in my mind. I loved having the crazy bastard in between the sticks- except for that UCL final…

  39. @SF, good point abt the language,I totaly agree that Almunia isnt a world class goallie, but HE IS NOT CRAP as u think he is.Football is like Piloting an aircraft, the more time u spend on practices, the better you will be.Almunia is improving and All the efforts and hard work that he’s done so far doesnt deserve to be treated as a Crappy Goalie.How many games now, we havent conceded any single goal???.
    My line-up tonit:
    Sagna-gallas-toure-Clichy
    ———Deni———
    Eboue–Arshavin—Nasri
    —–Bendi-Rvp
    Thts mine, but this is what AW would put:
    Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
    ——–Song———
    Arsha—Deni——-Nasri
    ——Bendy-RVP
    And I really hate this Song/Deni mdfld but what can I do??? Look how efficient were we with Diaby or Nasri in the middle park.The way we played agst Roma were far better than the way we played agst Cardiff with 4-0 win.We need somebody in the middle who can attack and concentrate defenders or passes efficiently like Fabuluous is doing.To me, this is one of the most important key spot on the pitch, coz this is where all attack starts and where all defending starts.This is what makes Cesc fabuluous coz he knows how to play his mates from there.All skippers to me must be the guy who occupy that job, eithr CDM or an AM, coz he’s the mdfld leader and the shud be the whole team leader.So how come AW, could underestimate that Job on the pitch by appointing Song/Deni to take it?

  40. Failed to see the official website to know that Diaby is fit, so Folks, we gonna have it like this then:
    SAGNA-GALLAS-TOURE-CLICHY
    ———-DENI———–
    ARSHAVIN–DIABY—-NASRI
    ——–RVP-THE DANE

    HMMM!! QUITE DEADLY UHH!! WHO’S GONNA BEAT THIS TEAM????? READY FOR HUGE BET

  41. Momoney; Agreed with you about Almunia.

    Radads; Arsene might play Diaby & Denilson in central midfield. I hope so. Song can’t be anywhere near the first team. If he starts then, most possible result will be 0-0. We don’t need that.

  42. shay given is a good keeper because he had plenty of practice with such bad defences in front of him, newcastle and ireland, i think almunia is improving and is certainly more assured in goal than a couple of seasons ago. he has pulled a couple of top class saves this season. ramugunner take it easy everyone has different opinions, and its the travelling community not gypsy.

  43. 2 changes from tuesday’s team. Arshavin is in for Eboue and Vela (finally) starts ahead of Bendy. It looks like AW is going for 4-5-1 again with Nasri, Deni and Diaby in CM, Arshavin on the right and Vela on the left. This is the best lineup we could ask for at the mo, im happy with it.
    COYG!!!

  44. ha,almnunia world class?get real.
    ramu gunner dead right wot has he done?had 1 chance on the big stage when lehman was sent off and conceded a terrible goal at his near post,then just fell on his backside for the second.when can you say hes made a match winning save or a top display to take a point when weve been up against it?his save tues nite was the best iv seen from him.ask any newcastle fan or irishman about shay given and youll hear hes a match winner,some of you should actually be embarrassed if you cant identify hes world class and went for just 7M,in my opinion to be a true arsenal fan you have to appreciate great players outside of our club aswel as just putting on the blinkers for our lesser players and saying some of us are being to harsh on them.GET REAL AND OPEN YOUR EYES,AND MINDS.
    to ole gunner:
    this is Arsenal fc blog,not ole gunner blog,every1s entitled to their opinion and everything is open to discussion,your free to disagree on anything but unless you can put your point across without resorting to stupity and ignorance i suggest keep it quiet.
    its still 0-0 at the mo…………

    COME ON ARSENAL……not another goaless draw please

  45. i have personally seen the ivorian forward and my opinion is that chealse (with reapect) havent used the potent striker properly and if the the truth be told there woes and lack of balance in regards to there midfield.to me if a swap could be agreed on with ebuoe then a plus to our attack

  46. Words fail me. Fulham – who the fuck are Fulham? I don’t know about ‘time is running out’ – it already has.

  47. Couldnt have asked for a better lineup with what we have. I think AW was spot on with the team selection, the players were a let down, especially RvP, he shouldve scored at leas 2 goal in this game. How i wish Cesc, Rocky, Walcott, Eduardo and Ade were fit. We are a brilliant team but injuries were just too much for us this season, its very sad stuff. 🙁

  48. Im not giving up just yet. Villa still play United and Liverpool. Hopefully thats 6 points right there. We have to start winning though! This is getting ridiculous.

    I didnt watch how did Arshavin look?

  49. cant ask for better line up than today, unfortunately a draw 0-0 agn.What in the world is wrong with us????? cant understand any more!!!!Eboue was gud, nasri was gud, RVP missed chances, Vela was a bit desapointin, Deni cant be a CDM,Arshavin doesnt look match fit yet, the lad needs to be in the middle, dunno what to say anymore, this has gone a bit over my head!!!

  50. listen fellas i dont like being negative or over critical of the team but theres more than just the battle for champs league spot to be concerned about,4 scoreless draws in a row,the manager wont take responsibility and admit,current injuries aside,that we arent good enough,he prefers to have a go at lesser oppositions managers who have benefited by using a proven gameplan that he just has no answer to….AND THEIR WELL WITHIN THEIR RIGHTS TO COME AND DEFEND.
    Whatsmore fellow gooners we are a SHOCKING 16 points behind manu with a game more played.thats the real thing that our season will be guaged on,how far we hav fallen away from competing for a prem title in 3 years..at the mo we are all caught up in the distant HOPE THAT WE GET FOURTH.I never thought id find myself praying for another team to slip upjust so we can finish FOURTH.
    IM FED UP,ITS NOT GOOD ENOUGH AND EVEN YOU DAYDREAMERS AMONG US MUST SURELY RECOGNISE OUR SHORTCOMINGS NOW..
    ARE YOU ALL STILL GOING TO DEFEND THE PLAYERS THAT ARENT FIT TO WEAR THIS JERSEY????????????

  51. We cant even buy a goal at the moment…Cardiff apart we,ve only scored from the penalty spot in the last 5…..

    If we dont win the CL we wont be playing in it next year…as for the Uefa Europa cup….that could be Evertons if we~re not careful

    We desperately need some inspiration…..hurry up Fab, Theo, Edie and Ade!!

  52. I said on this blog more than a month ago that I could see us finishing sixth if we didn’t pull our fingers out. It looks more and more a distinct possibility my freinds – and I’m not being negative. We can’t keep putting this down to the rub of the green, injuries and the like. Much of this was entirely avoidable and could and should have been addressed over a year ago. Never thought I’d be thinking and writing like this.

  53. Calm down shambogunner,you try supporting Grimsby Town and getting tanked on a rainy day on the terraces, and then you can complain.

  54. Very sad to be a gooner at the moment. Our offense has been very poor lately besides Cardiff game. 1 goal in last 5 league games and four consecutive 0-0 results sums up everything. 5 points from possible 15 points from all relatively easy games. Some jokers in the blog were claiming that we will win all remaining league games. He was proud to declare himself “an optimistic”. I was seriously laughing. Now I see what was his optimism. I don’t care if someone call me pessimist but I am an Arsenal spending loads of hard earned money to watch my team. I speak what I see.

    There are only two options left for Mr. Arsene now. Either resign after this season or change his philosophy. i know this man will never change so it’s better he resign asap. In 2004 Arsene told us to be patient for 5 years. He called it his “5 years plan”. Now is 2009. Do maths gooners. I was seriously patient till last season but I lost my faith in Wenger after last summer. Can you believe that Wenger sold Flamini, Gilberto and Diarra without buying a suitable replacement. I knew at that time that we will fail this season. Was no-brainer for me.

    Wenger said his current crop of youngsters are ready to dominate. We were promised that Arsenal will compete with the likes of Manu’s, Barca’s and Madrid’s. Now Europa league…….

    Arsene has to leave now. Yes, he was a great manager, a genius. He cannot remain genius forever. Also, he has to leave one day anyway. Wenger is not God.
    Brian Clough won back to back European cups, he won league titles and went 42 league matches unbeaten. He also managed to get Forest subsequently relegated and he is a legend of the game. More achievement than Wenger…..

    Even if Wenger leaves(this summer), he is going to leave whole lot of drosses for his successor: Almunia, Eboue, Song, Silvestre, Diaby. All of them over-paid long term contracts. RVP and ‘Bayor will leave this summer most probably. Then, it will be a heck of a job for his successor.

    When Wenger signed for Arsenal, he had better team available. He had a world-class back four that coached itself. Yes; he extended their careers but the talent and discipline and mental fortitude was there. He had a fantastic goalkeeper in place. He already had one of the best attackers European football had ever seen in Bergkamp.
    He had Ian Wright, Ray Parlour also.

    Arsene Either change yourself OR leave the groove. I know you ‘re a great man. Appreciate for everything you did but your time is over….

  55. I still disagree about Wenger. I always question leadership am always against the “worshiping” of leaders but I honestly feel like Wenger has handled most things perfectly well. Yes there were obvious mistakes but you must remember the amount of injuries we have. Nobody likes excuses but with half our starting lineup out, struggles should be expected. There is only so much a manger can do and that is get the most out of his team- he puts them in the position to succeed but sometimes the ball doesnt bounce the right way. We have had plenty of opportunities to score and have been inches away. Wenger does not control that.

    Anyways in the end the board still believes in Wenger 200% and he will be here next season. With everyone healthy and a purchase or two this squad will be extremely dangerous. On paper we have to be the best if not second…

    Also like I said about Arshavin- Wenger will buy this summer- not because people want him to but because it is in the best interest in the psychology of the entire team…

  56. Momoney; “you must remember the amount of injuries we have”.

    I would expect any Arsenal team(injuries or not injuries) to win games against Spuds, Fulham, Sunderland. At least give a game. Injuries was not the only reason for those horrible performances:

    Drew 1-1 with Everton and thoroughly outplayed
    Lost 2-1 at Stoke and thoroughly outplayed
    Lost 3-0 at Citeh. Say no more
    Lost 0-2 at home to Vill and thoroughly outplayed
    Drew 2-2 at Villa and thoroughly outplayed
    Lost 1-2 at home to Hull and thoroughly outplayed.
    Lost 1-0 at Fulham and thoroughly outplayed
    Drew 1-1 at Boro and throughly outplayed.

    Like I said, noone can’t make any more excuses for Arsene’s failure this season. Don’t want to hear injuries. Arsene knew Rosicky will not play for more than a year. Same with Eduardo. Main problem is that he trusted a lot of mediocre players to do a monster job. Did it make any sense when Arsene signed Silvestre to pay 50k per week for third choice United leftback. Not for me.

    It was so frustuating for me to hear those Boo’s yesterday from thousands of Gooners after the game.

  57. Anyone saying Wenger should resign is completely delusional. If he did resign, who could we get whose any better? No one, we can only go worse. The fact is Wenger is the second most successful manager in premiership history.

    Look at those idiots at Newcastle who sacked Bobby Robson when they were challenging for champions league football, look how they are doing now?

    Sure, Wenger looks like he might have to change things around a bit. But, thats life. People have short term memories, all teams go through good and bad times. Prior to 1989, Arsenal didn’t win a title for 20 years!

    This is simply a reality check for our team. We can’t assume we’ll always be the greatest team out there, winning gazillions of trophies, I’m content watching great football. Winning trophies is a bonus for me.

  58. I agree with you on one hand that any Arsenal team should be winning against the poor teams- but not all of them should be wins… There are always some draws and losses sprinkled in with any team.

    And I have just seen the highlights- You cant say we were short on chances can you? We are honestly inches away from winning all of these games… Like I said before- I dont think you can blame Wenger for that- he is putting the players in the position to succeed…

  59. Villa are starting to falter now, as I predicted during their previous run of wins. It couldn’t keep going on, and now they are droppping a lot of points, and have gone out of both cup competitions (they were in) in a couple of weeks.

    We haven’t been playing too well recently, and haven’t really had the combination of decisive finishing and luck that a team needs to get goal. I’m convinced that with the return of Theo and the re-return of Eddy, we can get back into the goals.

    As a positive to be taken from our recent games, the defence has looked much better, and Almunia seems to be getting better and better.

    Good times are ahead for Gooners, don’t give up hope!

  60. Villa can drop as many points as they want if we dont take advantage of that. We just cant keep relying on other teams like this. We have to win on tuesday, i know Villa will drop points but we have to win, our boy have to fight now, they must grind for wins. Anything less than that is unacceptable

  61. that villa result is a shocker! i stopped watching once they went 2-nil up and put on the carling cup final, then i was amazed to see stoke equalized. unbelievable, that is going to have to impact the confidence of the villa side for the rest of the season. even though we drew yet again and couldn’t score, this brutal choke job by villa re-opens the door for catching them in the standings. they had the chance to bury arsenal but didn’t do it and now their form will definitely suffer. liverpool may now be catchable again as well as they are in a very poor run of form and could lose some games and then wouldn’t be surprised to see rafa sacked. if the arsenal boys can regain their composure before the game on tuesday and then finally get a result, they will finish in the top 4 for sure. this weekend villa should have won and arsenal should have won, so remaining 6 points behind in the standings is as expected. the games where villa is expected to drop points are upcoming and with this result today hanging over them, they will do even worse than i had previously thought. the bottom line is that even with this inability to score goals, arsenal are still in a reasonable position and still have a good chance to gain ground on villa and pool. having said that, they need to realize the situation and treat the game on tues as a starting point. if we carry the frustration from these recent games into future ones then our chances of securing a CL spot are not as good. it is all about the psychological state of the team right now for arsenal, and it is in the next few games that i think we should judge the ability of wenger as a manager(for this season at least). a good manager is able to refocus his players and help them to regain their confidence in difficult times. part of this falls to the players as well of course. i had started to lose heart with the way the villa game was going, but now the door has re-opened. will be a very interesting few weeks coming up!

  62. All very well people sayin that Villa will drop points when they play man utd and liverpool etc –
    WE HAVE TO PLAY THEM AS WELL!!

    UEFA cup on thursday nights it is then!!

  63. The best manager in the world can not compete against 60,000 + fans and expect to win when it comes to him instilling confidence in the team and the fans, media, and their dogs/cats making sure with every pass, every miss and every move that doesn’t come off, they make the players know that they are simply not good enough. Sadly, even when they win or do well, they are still never good enough for The Arsenal. That has been the song from everyone’s mouth/pen/keyboard ever since last February(Birmingham) and I could make a case that it has been that way for 2 seasons now. These are young kids, very talented, and still in the begining of their carreers. The boos, the groans and the negativity GETS to them, unlike a bunch of 30+ year olds who are going downhill anyways. We as fans have done more than enough damage to the team morale and to put it squarely on AW and the team is simply ridiculous. You can see the team scared of trying something slightly more complicated, or express themselves in front of home fans, just in case the opposition does their jobs, the fans wouldn’t let them forget for weeks on end.

    With 9 goals for the season so far, a 20 yo Bendtner has been criticised like crazy, and all Denilson hears is he is just not good enough ever since the he joined Arsenal, despite him reguarly putting more efforts than any other player in the field, friend or foe. I wonder how long he is going to last untill he succumbs.

    Enough ranting for now, it is just pointless anyways and I do have much better use of my computer.

    I hope this is not my last post, but enough with the negativity.

  64. Jay – the peverse thing in all of this is that we could well beat Utd and Liverpool BUT STILL LOOSE OR DRAW to the so called ‘average teams in our remaining games! Remember – by the time we go to Old Trafford, Utd will have already won the Prem. Maybe their players focus will have waned a little. Fergie could even give their kids a run out with the Prem in the bag.

  65. To put me in a happy mood totts aren’t winning anything this year as well so at least somethings are going our way. Lets just hope we don’t get lasange on our final day of the season when we need to win to knock villa off 4th spot haha.

  66. Thanks Stoke for some hope! I don’t know why, I celebrated Stoke’s equalizer so badly. That’s the situation of an Arsenal fan. Seriosly, we are not relying on our results but Astonvilla’s. This has happened 2nd time in 3 seasons. We survived on 2006 beacuse Spuds bottled their chances after meat lasagna. Astonvilla will not. Of course, they will drop points, I agree. But don’t Arsenal have to collect points to catch them? Last four 0-0’s reflects our inability to do so.

    One interesting fact:

    Alex Ferguson(I hate him) record since 2005:

    2 Carling Cups
    2 back to back Premier league titles. Triple looks very likely.
    1 Champions League
    1 Club World Championship

    Annual salary: 4.5 million

    Arsene Wenger record since 2005:

    0 Zero Nothing Nah Nil Blank

    Annual salary: 5 million.
    On the brink of five-year contract extension.

    Do the maths! Mr. Arsene once said he is paid mega-bucks by Arsenal because he makes profit for the club. I beleived what he said.

    In my eyes, a football manager should be judged by his achievements. Yes, Wenger had great achievements, past glories. The great man was once a winner. I supported him for all his time with Arsenal untill last summer. I believed in “In Arsene we trust”. I had to think twice about the great man after last summer. Now I lost my trust in him. Unfortunate for Arsenal is that I have been proved right and Arsene’s incompetitive team continues going backwards. Sigh…..

  67. My birthday will be a very fine day this year. For it is on that day Arsenal will pass Villa and move into 4th. The plan, as I foresee it, is for Villa to lose at City. The boys will find their finishing boots and finally put a few balls in the back of the net, securing a couple wins. Then, on the wonderful 22nd of March, Arsenal will pass Villa on goal differential when they lose at Liverpool. What a glorious birthday it will be!!

  68. Fergie is a winner.

    He is the type of person who would be shooting himself if his team goes 2 seasons without a trophie..

    United have a culture of success.
    Main reason of there success is the mix between youth and experience.

    That one thing wenger has done wrong is sell his experienced players. Its cost him big time

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