PL: Middlesbrough vs Arsenal | 03/02/07

[sabret00the]

Denilson to start.

----Denilson---Cesc--Berto--------Rosicky


---------------Ali----------Henry-------

Denfense and goalkeeper pick themselves.

he's proved that he's a capable deputy for Cesc, why waste his talents and risk his confidence on the wing? play Walcott again and then see where we stand second half.

 

[>YounGunner<]

Denilson is a tough nut he wont lose his confidance easily. Cesc was played on the wing at 17. If it works out well then good it tells us he is versatile. If it does not then ohwell, its not like he will be ruined.

Denilson does not need to be wrapped up in cotton wool.

Walcott is the one we should take care of. We dont want his confidance to be further damaged so he should be an impact player. The best role for him.

 

[sabret00the]

Cesc looked like an abortion on the wing. As for Walcott he's been played on the wing in order to improve his team game and impact over 90 minutes. Currently he's not doing either. he needs to improve his vision and learn to give and go more.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

Walcott's vision, to me at least, is not the problem, it's his decision making and, bizarrely after a promising start to the season, the quality of his final ball.

 

[americanarf]

Does anybody know if this game is on sky at all?

As for Henry's record I can recall about 4 goals at the riverside?

think i seen it being advertised for prem-plus 17.15hrs.

 

[bazza_afc]

Does anyone else think that the first goal is crucial in this game. A lot of the players will be knackered and if we're winning that will keep the spirit high whereas if we're a goal down with 20 mins to go the players will really feel the tiredness in the legs 100x more.

Not sure if Theo should start this one, another bad game could really damge his confidence.

 

[Jkreffer]

To be honest Bazza, weve gone behind so many times this season I now consider this to be the norm. At least we have seen a number of times we have the ability to come back. Still I agree that it will be alot harder doing that somewhere like the Riverside as opose to the Emirates.

 

[Nyingmeh]

Theo should be given the chance to play like a striker when he comes on as a sub. He'll be fine soon

 

[Shredder]

Theo should be given the chance to play like a striker when he comes on as a sub. He'll be fine soon

Agreed - plus Aliadiere was still running around like a madman in the 120th minute (ditto Adebayor) last time out while Walcott came off at around the 60 minute mark or so. If anyone's remotely fresh of those three it ought to be him. Also, I'd love to finally see an Henry-Walcott partnership, but I doubt it'll happen, unfortunately. I think it could work especially well away from home as we're maybe not liable to dominate possesion quite as much as we do at home and Boro may not be inclined to "park the bus" while playing at Riverside unless we make them - perhaps leaving some tasty space in behind.

Then again, maybe this is all moot and we'll go with a 4-5-1 with Henry alone up front... Frankly, nothing would surprise me at this point with all these crocked players. Something tells me Flamini will start.

 

[hertyid]

Sp**s are better than Boro and we beat them without half the first team

Unfortunately that means noting, because we have lost to worst teams than Boro this season, Shefield Utd being one of them.

I want revenge for the 2-1 defeat they gave us at the begining of last season. A match in which after i felt we were finished as a top 2 EPL side for near future.

A win against them will show us how far we have come in 18 months.

Yakubu and Stuart Downing are poor man's Berbatov and Lennon, but nontheless we should watch out for them.

I hope Ali starts this game, if he is not too knackered. He deserves it at least. Im not sure how good it would be wise to play Titi in this match, as he ive got a feeling it will be another of those 'wish i wasnt here' games from him. But hopefully after him seeing the 'kids' win tonight it will give him some added motivation i hope.

Downings a poor Lennon alright but Yakubu is much better than Berbatov.

There's bias. And then there's stupidity.

 

[sabret00the]

Walcott's vision, to me at least, is not the problem, it's his decision making and, bizarrely after a promising start to the season, the quality of his final ball.

I can only surmise that he's not seeing his team mates. but yeah it could just be as simple as decision making.

 

[patrick42uk]

thats the thing, maybe it was fluke but earlier this season his awareness and final ball were spot on.

theres the case for it being a confidence issue i suppose. yesterday waas a better performance. we have that 'giulyesque' option of penetration from a wide area with a single pass. its different from what hleb or rosicky offer which makes it a big plus. of course it be all the more succesful if walcott's picking the right passes when he those positions but at the very least we can celebrate him having a role in the squad.

 

[Alfonso]

There's bias. And then there's stupidity.

hertyid your back? So glad of you to join us again. How was last night? Has your view of us changed since you wrote us off after the Reading game?

 

[kamikaze80]

Downings a poor Lennon alright but Yakubu is much better than Berbatov.

There's bias. And then there's stupidity.

have to agree in this case, berbatov is clearly a better player than yakubu.

 

[hertyid]

There's bias. And then there's stupidity.

hertyid your back? So glad of you to join us again. How was last night? Has your view of us changed since you wrote us off after the Reading game?

Not really. You're better than us but we've known that all along. You're still not going to win the league any time soon. But against the money of Man Utd and Chelsea I doubt anyone is.

 

[hertyid]

Downings a poor Lennon alright but Yakubu is much better than Berbatov.

There's bias. And then there's stupidity.

have to agree in this case, berbatov is clearly a better player than yakubu.

Some sense. He's a brilliant player, unbelievable touch, really quick feet for his height, awareness, vision, great control. I can't believe we got him in the first place, he's going to be some player.

 

[Canuck]

Berbatov offers alot more than Yak. ALOT more...he was a good signing for Spuds. Best striker they've got.

 

[hertyid]

Berbatov offers alot more than Yak. ALOT more...he was a good signing for Spuds. Best striker they've got.

By a long long way. He puts most Prem strikers to shame. I seriously think he'd get into any PL team, ahead of Saha at Utd, Shev at Chels, Crouch at Liv and RVP/Ade at Arse. He's that good. I'm surprised he came to us when Utd wanted him but we chased him for a year and he stayed loyal to us, gotta admire that.

 

[run]

Ahead of RVP?

I know you're excited about having a quality player in your side ( it's been a while) but RVP is on another level; if injuries hadn't shortened both this season and last his status as one of the best strikers in the world would be obvious.

 

[jay-d]

Berbatov offers alot more than Yak. ALOT more...he was a good signing for Spuds. Best striker they've got.

By a long long way. He puts most Prem strikers to shame. I seriously think he'd get into any PL team, ahead of Saha at Utd, Shev at Chels, Crouch at Liv and RVP/Ade at Arse. He's that good. I'm surprised he came to us when Utd wanted him but we chased him for a year and he stayed loyal to us, gotta admire that.

He's good but not that good, typical Sp**s over excitement. He goes missing far to often and is no where near RVP. It reminds of theose typical player comparisons Sp**s fans always do when player by player your squad is usually better than ours.lol