UCL: Porto (A) Wed 17th Feb 19.45 ITV1

[sagreig]

Anyone making the trip to Porto? I was thinking about it but I couldn't get time off work. How many was we allocated?

Not playing Eboue in midfield for an away CL game would be a mistake imo. I agree an away draw would be a good result. A scored draw would be very good. Any sort of win would be excellent and far more than I'm expecting.

 

[Accomplished]

We are Arsenal. It is not acceptable to draw.

lol....

you're such a good fan, I wish I was like you.

 

[xcdude24]

Off to Portugal in about an hour- come on the Arsenal!

 

[TomasCR]

Off to Portugal in about an hour- come on the Arsenal!

Have a good time and show these portuguese girls what it takes to be an Arsenal supporter, I've heard they're pretty hot. Well at least some of them for sure!

 

[truth_hurts]

We need an away goal, but I wuld take a draw to be honest. Porto will try and play and so should we. Seems as though both Arshavin and Song will be out so i would hope Theo (to get fitness and form) comes in with Nasri going left and Ramsey.

 

[MDGoonah41]

It will take a disciplined approach, for sure. Song playing will be key, because my confidence level in the three man midfield with Denilson instead of Song is near zero. I expect it will be Nasri/Bendtner/Rosicky up front, which is less than ideal, but still capable of scoring a goal. 0-1 would be a huge result, would mean Porto would have to play more open at the Emirates, as I expect them to play a pure counterattack game at home.

 

[CKD39]

If Song is injured I'd rather Eastmond plays.

 

[Accomplished]

eastmond away in the champions league knock-out? wow....

denilson any day of the week. he might not be great, but he's much less of a risk than eastmond and he definitely can play much better than eastmond can at this point in time...

 

[CKD39]

Eastmond has character, he'll do fine.

 

[flobaba]

Its a no brainer for me. Definitely rather have denilson start than the eyebrow shaving eastmond.

I'd take a score draw in this game thankyouverymunch.

 

[Floating]

Eastmond has character, he'll do fine.

Because he's English? :?

Eastmond hasn't done a single thing to impress me. Sure, he's 19, but we need a better caliber player. He's utterly average.

 

[Mr Wolf]

i agree with you floating but i think we will see eboue/eduardo insted of Rosicky

As far as I am concerned, I hope Ebouè/Eduardo instead of Nasri. I like the 4-3-3 formation, but i think that it doesn't suit Nasri. Samir could be an excellent central midfielder, by Cesc Fabregas, whereas he is wasted if requested to play upfront.

 

[arsenalfc0719]

I'd play something like this. I predict Arshavin to be out, but Song, Nasri, and Bendtner will play.

- - - - - - - - Almunia - - - - - - -
Sagna - Gallas - Vermaelen - Clichy
- - - - - - - - - Song - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - Fabregas - Diaby - - - - -
Nasri - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rosicky
- - - - - - - Bendtner - - - - - - -

I'd prefer to play one of Eduardo or Walcott on the wing, and one of Nasri or Rosicky on the other wing.

I hate to see Nasri and Rosicky on both wings. They both have simila styles. They both want to play in the middle and they both can't make penetrative runs. But I can see Wenger play them because it offers stability because we're basically playing with five midfielders. But it would very hard creating chances.

Porto know that they must win their game at home to make a chance against us. So they will probably attack, attack and attack us. We should play on the counter and try punish them on the break. Therefore I'd definitely play Theo.

Porto will definitely not attack, attack and attack us. They are not stupid, they won't want to expose themselves at the back. they will try to take the initiative, but don't for one second think they will go all out looking to win the game.

 

[CKD39]

Didn't realise Eastmond was so hated by the Main Forum.

 

[Illusion]

Didn't realise Eastmond was so hated by the Main Forum.

I like Eastmond, but you should consider yourself lucky you didn't get five pages of "Coquelin is much better" type posts as they normally appear anywhere someone dares to mention the E word.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Eastmond is a lesser player than Denilson, but he's a better option for the holding role. Denilson was given several games in january in that position and it didn't work out. Since Diaby has improved the defensive aspect of his game immensely we might get away with playing him and Denilson at the same time, but ideally they should compete for the same spot instead.

 

[CKD39]

Oh of course, he got into the team ahead of Lord Coquelin, I remember an Eastmond thread a month or so ago, they talked more about Coquelin than Craig.

 

[GunnerBP]

This debate about Eastmond isn't about how good he is, but instead about how poorly Denilson has played when we needed him to step up. If Denilson had done anything productive over the months of December and January then no one would care about Craig Eastmond. Coquelin may be better than Eastmond and the coming years could validate that, but thus far he has not played the holding midfield role for the first team. He is not in the equation. Eastmond has and he did not look horrible there. Denilson has played DM and he was garbage. I bet Denilson will play against Porto because I doubt Wenger will start an inexperienced youth player in a crucial Champions League away match. However, the idea of Denilson starting again does make me nervous.

 

[kamikaze80]

Didn't realise Eastmond was so hated by the Main Forum.

for what it's worth, i like the kid a lot.

 

[Burnwinter]

Porto know that they must win their game at home to make a chance against us. So they will probably attack, attack and attack us. We should play on the counter and try punish them on the break. Therefore I'd definitely play Theo.

Porto will definitely not attack, attack and attack us. They are not stupid, they won't want to expose themselves at the back. they will try to take the initiative, but don't for one second think they will go all out looking to win the game.

At least they won't park the bus at home, but any clean sheet win would give them a chance of progressing with a very negative approach at the Emirates.

They will look at our defensive frailties this season and think they can profit from limited chances on goal. They're not necessarily going to need to apply 90 minutes of attacking pressure to put one past Almunia.