PL: Arsenal vs Middlesbrough | 09/09/06

[IBL]

agreed with USArsenal, thats possibly the funniest formation I've ever seen, ManUre would pee all over us. Gilberto is a must in every game if he's fit, firstly because he's a defensive midfielder and we need that, secondly he's the only decent combatative midfielder we have. Diaby is injured and Flamini & Song would struggle badly against this in form MaUre team.

lol @ the idea of Rosicky as our midfield anchor man

 

[qs]

We need Gallas and Toure in th centre of the defense with Flamini on the left ebcause he wont commit too much.

Id actually rest Fab for this. He's been in **** form and he needs a rest. Play him against Hamburg.

Id go with ....

Hleb....Gilberto....Rosicky....Ljungberg

...............Baptista........Henry........

 

[IBL]

Id actually rest Fab for this. He's been in s**t form and he needs a rest. Play him against Hamburg.

He's not been that bad, but I do agree that he needs some bench time. He can always come on if needed, he actually tends to make a good impact when he comes on as a sub

 

[Big Poppa]

anybody else worried bout sunday??

rooney and scholes return aswell, ffs.

Extremely worried. Compare the form of both teams and it looks like theres only gpoing to be one out come. I just hope we play Flamini because Rooney and Saha will destroy Djourou

Why? Our problem hasn't been anything to do with the quality of opposition we've faced, and Man U on their home ground will actually come out and play. The Spuds could and should have beaten them yesterday and that was without Lennon and Berbatov. Man U have as much to fear from us as we from them.

 

[celestis]

COMPLETELY off-topic, but I've only just seen the goal Theo scored for the Under-21s in midweek. f**k ME!!!! That was some Roberto Baggio s**t!

Now I'm even more angry he was left out the squad! :evil:

You know why Theo was left out. Wenger feels his career is worth more than 3 points to Arsenal. He is determined that Theo should not have a serious injury in his teens . Personally I am glad , I can't imagine what type of hell Owen goes through.

With respect, that's a bit of a lousy logic to use. Why play anybody in that case if they have a chance of being injured? Cesc played far more first team football at Theo's age so it sort of contradicts what you're saying.

Nobody's saying Theo should be starting games, just a bit odd that he's not even on the bench at times when he might be able to come on and make a difference with his pace and directness.

Nothing to do with me Bro , this is what Aw said in the last two days. I will try and find it if I can, but I agree with you about Cesc it must be the fact that Theo is more reliant on explosive movement , I don't know but thats what he said.

Found it:Wenger is looking to ask Robin van Persie or Theo Walcott to be more regular wide men, though he is torn between the latter's precocious talent and his tender age. He says: "He has already made good progress this season and he gets better every day. But he's only 17 and I believe it's important to get this boy to 19 without a big injury.

"I feel a big responsibility for that so I have to protect him, even though I understand that the supporters want to see him. Even Wayne Rooney was still a boy at 17 but at 19 he was a man. So we mustn't over-play him."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.j ... nwen10.xml

 

[stuart]

people are suggesting the line up for the manure game so ill give it a go! to win we must have


----------------------------- superman-----------------------------

batman-------------robin---------------catwoman---------spiderman

the hulk---------harry potter----------wonderwoman------james bond

----------------------dumbledore----------jaws---------------------

in other words - we have no hope!
good team though

 

[qs]

anybody else worried bout sunday??

rooney and scholes return aswell, ffs.

Extremely worried. Compare the form of both teams and it looks like theres only gpoing to be one out come. I just hope we play Flamini because Rooney and Saha will destroy Djourou

Why? Our problem hasn't been anything to do with the quality of opposition we've faced, and Man U on their home ground will actually come out and play. The Spuds could and should have beaten them yesterday and that was without Lennon and Berbatov. Man U have as much to fear from us as we from them.

4 games 4 wins, 3 games 0 wins. That says enough. We cant score at the moment and we'll get less chances against united than we have against Villa, City and Boro. Rooney and Scholes will be back and eager to do well. Unless something happens against Celtic theyve got pretty much their strongest side to put out against us bar Heinze.

Even though they looked a bit shakey against the Spuds yesterday they still had moments of class and they came out fired up and scored early.

We seem to have an awful habbit of conceding first now and the games in Old Trafford.

What have they to fear? Even if they lsoe theyre still going to be top of the table and above or equal to all of their main rivals. If we lose we'll be in the bottom 3.

So yeah Im a bit worried.

 

[Henry - best striker]

I think will win
I dont know why
Henry scores 2 goals and fab one
I dont know why
My head is f*cked up
I dont know why

 

[RedNWhite]

If form is anything to go by, we will go to Salford Utd, have 20 shots to their 5, and lose 3-1. It worries me that they appear to be able to convert most of their chances, more times than not. But they are also like us in that if they score one, their confidence soars enough to be able to score another soon after. I feel we must score first and be in the lead early on to have a good chance of netting the 3 points.

We CAN'T waste our chances.

 

[fanatic gooner]

width wasnt the issue yesterday. just think of how much of the ball freddie, gallas, henry and eboue got in wide areas. the problem was a combination lack of pace in the passes and lack of movement when players were wide as kel said. boro filled thaier box so why are we afraid to commit players in to the area?

man city was about poor finishing. but yesrday, like villa, was about poor quality of chances created.

Couldn't agree more.

We lack pace when starting our attack. Cesc is talented and mentally strong but lack strenght and pace and that is a liability in the EPL. Had Rosisky started in his place the result would have been different. Wenger said that Rosisky is an accelerator of the game and yesterday we saw glimpse of it. If we are to break down a team determined to sit deep and wait for us, pace is the most important aspect that we should incoporate in our game as it allow us to catch defenders out of position.

 

[RedNWhite]

^^^ again, true. We really don't counter attack how we used to, particularly when we'd draw the opposition defenders forward enough to knock the ball over the top for Henry or an Overmars type winger to run onto. There have been very few one on one situations so far this season. It's all been about carving into an 10 man defence.

Another thing that gets my goat is when we did attack down the wings, the obvious thing the winger will do is sling a cross in, yet there was never anyone running into the box to get on the end of it. It's exactly the same with corners. Other teams gather a group of players on the edge of the box and storm in when the kick is being taken, whereas we just stand and wait around in the six yard box. It never works for us. You'd think Arsène would realise that.

 

[XWA]

I'd wish everybody take a look at Hleb. He runs too much with the ball and makes sloppy passes and doesn't shoot when he is in a very good position. At least RVP is a team player and doesn't always tries fancy stuff. and I'm craving for Flamini as Left Back. I wish Arsenal had some power houses or at least some agressive players again. How I miss Lauren, Vieira, Keown,

 

[patrick42uk]

the biggest concern i think, potentially, is that we havent really been tested yet defensively but we'v conceded in every game.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

the biggest concern i think, potentially, is that we havent really been tested yet defensively but we'v conceded in every game.

We can't have it both ways. If we are attacked then we can evaulate our defense but even more importnat our offense. Anyteam that has a go at us..will expose themselves at the back unless we are playing for a draw. So am looking forward for Sunday. Its a true test.

 

[RC8]

I just saw the game for the first time, since I was on a hike in the middle of jungle while it was being played, and I only had my cell phone and a friend to update me on the situation.

I thought the first half and the end of the second half showed some excellent moves from Arsenal.

Boro only had 1 real chance, and they scored from it. Rosicky should have come up earlier on, and RvP was not on his day.

However, the fact Wenger said he was worried about us not finishing our chances can only be good, as it means he will work hard to solve it.

One thing I really liked, is that we are playing one touch total football, which we didn't really manage on most games last season. Also, we have managed to draw a game coming from behind twice already, while last season we would rarely do that. I'm not conforming with the situation, not at all, but I do think things will only get better, especially when we are the first team to score.

I'm looking forward to the game against the drunken americans, I'm hoping we will finally bring them down when they less expect it.

 

[anesumachoko]

^^^ again, true. We really don't counter attack how we used to, particularly when we'd draw the opposition defenders forward enough to knock the ball over the top for Henry or an Overmars type winger to run onto. There have been very few one on one situations so far this season. It's all been about carving into an 10 man defence.

Another thing that gets my goat is when we did attack down the wings, the obvious thing the winger will do is sling a cross in, yet there was never anyone running into the box to get on the end of it. It's exactly the same with corners. Other teams gather a group of players on the edge of the box and storm in when the kick is being taken, whereas we just stand and wait around in the six yard box. It never works for us. You'd think Arsène would realise that.

it is crazy we have never had a chance to counter attack because all the teams we played this season stayed in their 18 yard box

 

[awooga83]

the biggest concern i think, potentially, is that we havent really been tested yet defensively but we'v conceded in every game.

Very true that is my concern we haven't really come up against a team that has attacked us or put any pressure on us. We have conceded from the first and often only chance a team has had.

When we come up against a team that creates alot of chances we could be in for a beating and United could be that game.

 

[tactica442]

One thing I really liked, is that we are playing one touch total football, which we didn't really manage on most games last season. Also, we have managed to draw a game coming from behind twice already, while last season we would rarely do that. I'm not conforming with the situation, not at all, but I do think things will only get better, especially when we are the first team to score.

One-touch football is attractive, but this must be done with collective pace and lots of off-ball running. From what I saw, the team lacked a bit of pace when pushing forward, and that allowed Boro going back and staying organised. Hleb was one of the culprit as he drifted inside too many times. Cesc also did too many sideway passes, unlike what he did against Man City. Against City, Cesc played some very good passes mixed of angles, depth, and surprise factor. Overall our midfielders slowed the team's pace due to constant elaboration.

Things changed after introducing Rosicky and, perhaps sensing real urgency, our defenders began trying long balls. Why the team didn't hoof the ball into Henry or Robin's running paths in the first half? Boro defenders were so carefree and starting to push the line to the midddle of the park. Correct me if I am wrong but I really didn't recall any offisde from Arsenal in this match. Against WBA last season, we got 4-5 offisdes but we got 2 goals up at HT. FFS why our team became so predictable for our opponents? Our players have good techniques and suppose to be more intelligent in game situation, especially against the mediocre Boro!

On CK/FK, Wenger should realy ask the players to work overtime to get this aspect right. I am sure the players will be glad to cooperate as this will only do them good. I know Wenger's training method is very precise and tightly time-controlled. But CK/FK is an aspect on which the team really need to improve. I also must poitned out Cesc again. Cesc often tried to deliver the ball to the desire spot but the ball frequently lacked speed. Opponent goalie and defenders were easy to read the ball and either head or grab the ball. See how Chelsea scored from a CK agasint Charlton? That's how it should be done.

IMO the team should try to take more chances, eg. occasionally long ball and shoot when opportunities come. It's not a shame to lose possession by hoofing the ball or shoot the ball into the stand.

I feel obliged to pick Helb. Aleks is a very creative player. He did a lot of tracking back to help defense on the right flank. But FFS can he just cut some passes and dummies in the box? In one occasion, I saw him received the ball around the far post in the box, turned left and did a dummy with left foot, just when I thought he would shoot he just did another dummy with his right foot, just when I thought he would definitely shoot this time but he just made a pass to another gunner! He should just be more direct.

 

[MAK]

Let's face it we are rubbish at the moment. Not looking forward to Sunday. Clichy may make a difference when he's back.

Another game without a win and confidence will seriously drop. After that it becomes really hard to claw our way back.

This is what it must like supporting Sp**s.

 

[tactica442]

On Djourou I have to say I like this chap. He has composure and some athete attributes in sprinting and jumping. He did some excellent recovering sliding tackles agasint Dinamo Zagreb. However to me he still has some areas to be desired.

I blame Morrisons goal for Djourou decided to push forward and lose track of Morisson. I don't know what he was trying to do at that moment. Trying to push up the offside line or just to help Kolo. There is no point playing offside on the edge of the box in the center. And Djourou should just have kept an eye on Morisson.

Djourou's heading and jumping is very good. However I had seen more than one occasion Yakubu knew Djourou would get the ball in the air first, so Yakubu just let Djourou headed the ball and then he stole it. I knew Djourou was trying to play the ball to our midfielder to regain possession rather than just negatively clear it. The intention was good but an experienced defender know when is the time to do this or not.

Overall Djourour was solid against City. But in one occasion he did't see the spin of the coming ball from City midfielder. He was occupied by Dickov but misjudged the path of the ball after it bounce off the gound and went over his top. God even I could see spin of the ball on the stand and know the ball might become unpredictable of the ground.