Liverpool v Arsenal, Sunday 4pm

[sparky44]

Quite tempted to start theo and ade up front on sunday with hleb pushing up just behind them in a make shift 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation. Liverpools defence was a complete shambles tonight (carragher and hyypia in particular) and it is up to us to exploit that, their confidence is pretty low at the moment and if we do not take advantage and from the first minute and attack then well it would just be cowardly and pretty much just stupid!

I like the idea of hleb in a free role, in a game like this you someone who will hold the ball and really be the link man between midfield and attack. Im worried with hleb shoved on the left/right we will be reduced to pumping up nothing balls up to ade hoping for the best if it gets tight towards the end (Toure thats you!) In the final third as chances are this game will be pretty tight, so it important hleb stays central and is really is on his game. Please no eboue on sunday either, he is a liability!

Sagna------------Toure------------Gallas---------Clichy

--------------------Flamini/Bert

------Rosicky-------------------------Fabregas

----------------Hleb---------------Walcott

----------------------Adebayor

Three points. I'm certain and that was before the 7-0!

 

[scruzgooner]

ah, we're fooked now...

http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/inde ... eturnid=42

 

[AFCG7]

We shouldn tget carried awy with our result yesterday or look at Liverpool's loss today- this is a huge game..they will be well up for it and they will cause us problems. Their fans will demand a top performance and i think they have enough firepower in that side to cause us problems. Patience will be the key and a clean sheet is the first thing we should concentrate on.

 

[Timleaf]

Getting Mascherano to man mark Cesc is more likely to hurt Liverpool than us. The job he did on kaka last season was infinitely easier because Kaka plays in the same area of the pitch that Mascherano mainly finds himself in, i.e just in front of his own back four. Cesc plays deeper and makes all his runs from a deeper position. It's the same reason that it's proved impossible for people to man-mark Scholes over the years.

 

[AFCG7]

Forgot to mention possible team lineup - i reckon this has 4-5-1 marked all over it.. with Robin not playing we could well see Hleb in the hole with Gattuso Cesc Rosicky and Eboue making up the other four midfield positions. Ade on his own up front.

 

[kamikaze80]

i see no reason to play 4-5-1 unless edu isnt ready for a start at anfield. walcott should be a sub. i do think we will concede from a mental lapse defensively, almunia and clichy being the most likely culprits. prediction 2-2 or 2-1 to the arsenal.

 

[illmatik]

Very close game, I can see us winning by a goal, it just depends who Rafa puts out, depending on what lineup (if Hyppia is included), we could rout them, Ade needs to be mentally prepared for this one, it's clinical that he plays well and has that (accurate) eye for goal

 

[thegame24]

I think people fail to understand that Wenger has been in charge for like 10 years now. In his first 3 years in charge Arsenal did not play the football they play today. Arsenal fans even came up with that ridiculous 1-0 to the Arsenal chant. Wenger adopted George Grahams team and Graham played football very negatively the same way Houllier did. You cant turn a defensive-minded team into an attacking force in 1 season. All im saying is give Rafa some time, our football will improve in time quality wise. Ive already seen glimpses in the opening games this season to prove that we will play alot better this year


off that liverpool forum.

wow, he hasnt got a clue

 

[americanarf]

I knew that we weren't going to get anything from the match in the 65th minute, when we were witness to this stunning attacking move:

Carragher to Hyypia to Carragher who holds it.
Carragher back to Hyypia back to Carragher, who holds it.
Carragher to Hyypia, who trundles across the halfway line looking for someone to pass to.
And stops.
For about 7-8 seconds.
Hyppia backwards to Riise.
Riise, under pressure, back to Reina.
Reina to either Finnan or Carragher (can't remember now)
F or C a hopeful long ball that misses everyone and goes through to their keeper.

****ing ****e. I think our traditional back four are going the way of the dinosaurs.

If they play as explained above, we should win.

 

[ronitc]

I can see tactical genius Rafa's gameplan from a mile away.

Stick Mascherano and Sissoko both on Cesc. Bench Steven Gerrard, because well, he's just going to try to pass the ball 50 yards every time.

Stick Crouch upfront and have hoofmasters Carragher and Hyypia hone their long ball game.

Oh, and hope like hell Torres is fit.

I think people fail to understand that Wenger has been in charge for like 10 years now. In his first 3 years in charge Arsenal did not play the football they play today. Arsenal fans even came up with that ridiculous 1-0 to the Arsenal chant. Wenger adopted George Grahams team and Graham played football very negatively the same way Houllier did. You cant turn a defensive-minded team into an attacking force in 1 season.


off that liverpool forum.

wow, he hasnt got a clue

I must have imagined Arsenal winning the double in Wenger's first full season in charge with great style, culminating with a 4-0 thrashing of Everton at home where center forward Tony Adams hit a fantastic volley on the run to cap off the title.

Not that we needed to wait till that season, we were playing attractive football literally from the first game Wenger was in charge.

Another line that's popular on rawk when talking about Wenger's youth policy and scouting network was that it's taken "10+ years to build". How about the fact that he requested Patrick Vieira to be bought in as a 19 year old even before he started managing Arsenal.
Anelka and Ljungberg weren't bad finds either within a year or two of his arrival.

 

[Mark]

It's annoying. We're obviously quite a lot better than them and SHOULD outplay them quite comfortably, but it's just so obvious they'll be really fired up when they play us.

We might not see such great football from us on Sunday. We might need a more solid and clinicial performance like when we won there in the FA Cup last year. We weren't great that night but set up stall pretty well and got them on the break.

I kind of wish they'd won tonight so they wouldn't feel this need to bounce back against us. I'm feeling less optimistic now. A draw would be a decent result. The main thing is that we beat Man Utd really, because although Liverpool can beat us on the day, they won't be as serious title challengers for the rest of the season.

I'd still go with Walcott upfront though. He'd be vital if we do play a counter-attacking game.

 

[Arsenal316]

I say the same line-up against Bolton plays both Liverpool and Man. U. the following week. Like Wenger said....why change a winning formula? Our biggest games should be played by our best players as of right now. I know they've played a lot in the last 10 days...but I can't see how we could do nothing less than field the 11 from last week.

 

[thegame24]

If he dont play walcott, i can see him putting hleb diaby and rosicky behind adebayor

 

[ronitc]

I think there's a reason why our performance was a bit underwhelming in that FA cup match against Liverpool.

I suspect it had something to do with the fact Flamini and Gilberto were playing together in central midfield. Something I'm not keen to ever see again. Good thing the quality of Rosicky and Hleb came through, but there was 0 creativity in the central areas.

 

[banduan]

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/ind ... c=196923.0

Most of the 'Pish fans are ultra-confident (even though they lost vs Besiktas), some are ****tin themselves, most want Fab4 locked down.

None are talking bout Hleb. Hope Rafa feels the same.

 

[quattro]

^ he he thats one of the things that i noticed about pool (actually most football) fans. they really do believe that we are basically a one-man team. i know fabregas has been a tremendous influence, but IMO since henry left "one-man team" is the last thing anyone who has actually watched us critically will say about arsenal.

im assuming benitez is not a total nitwit to look at it that way, but if he does commit too many resources to stopping cesc he'll find his team pasted to the kop after 90 minutes.

 

[tactica442]

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=196923.0

Most of the 'Pish fans are ultra-confident (even though they lost vs Besiktas), some are ****tin themselves, most want Fab4 locked down.

None are talking bout Hleb. Hope Rafa feels the same.

Attacking-wise, it would be a battle between Hleb and Mascherano. I don't think Liverpool will make the same mistake in hoping the Argy to do all the dirty work alone as they did in Turkey. It will be interesting to see how Hleb could lure the Argy out of position and create space for other Arsenal players.

In defense aspect, I do hope Wenger knows how to deal with Crouch though. Last time Crouch was the targetman and caused a lot of troubles for our CBs. Our midfileders provided little protection in the air and the following play initiated by Crouch's holding.

 

[MDGoonah41]

If they play Crouch, I think we just have to play a high line, to be honest, and try to keep Crouch away from the 6 yard line. He's dangerous around goal, but if he has to receive the ball outside the box, I don't fear him quite as much.

 

[banduan]

^ he he thats one of the things that i noticed about pool (actually most football) fans. they really do believe that we are basically a one-man team.

Nah. It's mostly forum mentality.

Of all the football forums, few have the range of analysis this forum has. It has the optimists and pessimists, head-thinkers and heart-thinkers, idolisors and detractors alike.

I tell ya, A-M is quality. No matter what nonsense gets spewed, the nonsense is spread around equally. I am not surprised if it is a stopping point for journos wanting to get into the minds of Gooners.

Also, I don't think Rafa is dumb enough to ignore Hleb, but I think he might still underestimate him.

 

[celestis]

Liverpool fans what an interesting bunch , they claim we have had easy games , then go on to say we have only played Tottenham and West Ham . Hang on , is this the same Tottenham that they were bleeding lucky to come away with a draw with at Anfield thanks to a last gasp equalizer?