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Wigan Vs Arsenal - Saturday 11th April, 2009 - 1500hrs

bojed

AM Resident Joker #1
We can win this.

Adebayor and Cesc will make Steve Bruce's team turn up in this match with 10 CBs. Add Arshavin to that and Bruce Lee might have to play Bramble in goal instead of Kirkland. 11 CBs against a crazy and dangerous Arsenal side charged with raging hormones up the roof, that has 0-0 all over it. 1 point! Wigan will take that! Better than 0.

This will be the time where Arsène takes Theo off for Eboue in the 60th minute. Eboue will be the key to unlock this deadlock situation.

Trust me, Eboue will either score, create a goal or better yet, do nothing.

Wigan is a difficult place to win at. Fortress Wigan they say. They're like tough nuts. The only way to break tough nuts is to hit them with sledgehammers.

Eboue's head is a sledgehammer. Ade will carry him from the 60th minute until the end. Every Wigan players will be thrown away like bowling pins.

Bramble in goal. This is tough as Bramble is thick as a phonebook himself. Eboue is no match for Bramble.

It will be interesting to watch how this match ends. Arsène needs to come up with something because this match will determine our chance of winning the league title.

I am positive. I am positive we will at least see a 0-0 result.
 

Unforgiven

Established Member
-------------------- Fabianski --------------------

------------ Djourou -------- Silvestre -----------
Sagna --------------------------------------- Gibbs
-------------------------- Song -------------------

------------------ Cesc (c) -----------------------
Eboue ------------------------------- Arshavin ----

-------------- RVP -------------------------------
-------------------------- Adebayor ---------------

I would play this to ensure we rest players for tuesday. Then we would have Nasri and Walcott fully fit, although we could play Walcott towards the end of the game if we need to get the 3 points. I want to rest Toure and we may as well play Silvestre at least once for the rest of this season.
 

karl

Well-Known Member
It's always a mistake resting players in these kind of matches. At this stage in the season I like to see some continuity and some can always be brought off if we are in front. Stupid to get a draw, when a win is possible. Wigan can be a decent side when they decide to play well and we'd better be ready instead of drifting through the game whilst losing more points. Also the last thing needed is to lose momentum before next weeks game. I thought Walcott looked like he needed more time on the pitch than a rest.
 

graham_ka

Established Member
It all sounds good to me Karl, but the fact is, we have game this Saturday, CL on Wednesday 4 days later, FA cup Semi three days later, than a league game 3 days later at Anfield. and it keeps going. game every 3.5 five days.

We're going to have to rotate our squad, and it's going to start this weekend. Prioritizing becomes a factor and all the coaches in the top 4 will have to make some big decisions in the next few weeks.
 

Feet

Active Member
I wouldn't rest both Clichy and Toure in the same match, I'd rather rest Toure as now Gallas is out he's absolutely key.

Fabianski
Sagna Djourou Silvestre Clichy
Walcott Denilson Fabregas Arsharvin
Ade RvP

If RvP isn't back then stick Edsy in there.
 

karl

Well-Known Member
graham_ka said:
It all sounds good to me Karl, but the fact is, we have game this Saturday, CL on Wednesday 4 days later, FA cup Semi three days later, than a league game 3 days later at Anfield. and it keeps going. game every 3.5 five days.

We're going to have to rotate our squad, and it's going to start this weekend. Prioritizing becomes a factor and all the coaches in the top 4 will have to make some big decisions in the next few weeks.

I know what you are saying is sometimes true, but I hate dropping these kind of points when they should be easier to come by than pints at Anfield. Also going to the game and don't want to see a dismal performance!
 

qs

Established Member
karl said:
I thought Walcott looked like he needed more time on the pitch than a rest.

I think the same. He isn't tired, he needs fitness and more than that sharpness. He also needs to settle into this formation. If I was resting anyone it'd be Nasri because he's played so much while others have been injured. Tough going in his first season.
 

M+D

Established Member
atmosphere said:
Merida+Denilson said:
Gibbs has already coped with Valencia once this season tbf.

Early Carling Cup's a little bit different to Premier League run in though.

Yep, no doubt about that, I was just reminding everyone that he has played against Valencia before, even if playing in the EPL and away from the Emirates is a different challenge.
 

M+D

Established Member
qs said:
Merida+Denilson said:
-------- Vela --- Bendtner -----------

Thats always your frontline against mediocre sides :lol:

True :lol: I just believe they are a partnership that work well together, and I'd like to see an explosive pacy striker play in away games with someone who can create and win headers - to me, this partnership offers this. And with big games coming up with very few chances to rest players, this seems like the best time to do so, particularly those who are just back from injury - Walcott, Ade and Cesc. I'd rather bring these 3 on with half an hour left if we're drawing than the other way round.
 

Asterix

Established Member
Arshavin, Walcott, Cesc and Ade should all start, and maybe the last 3 can be subbed. We need the 3 points here to maintain the 6 point buffer because after this game we have a nasty little run of matches.

If we get past Villareal I wonder how Wenger will treat the FA Cup semi? I have horrible memories of us giving up at Old Trafford.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Walcott v N'Zogbia could be a crucial battle. Both have pace to keep the fullbacks worried. Generally we have enough quality to win - do we have the mental application and the luck?
 

graham_ka

Established Member
Arshavin should be on his game, and with Cesc back, I can't see us NOT gettting the three points.

Need to stay patient if we don't break them down early, we have the firepower on the bench to break it open late in the second half. We'll definitely create chances.
 

Unforgiven

Established Member
This is another must win game, the gap between us and Villa can easily shorten when we play the rest of the top 4. I hope we can get some goals at the start so we can take some players off to rest them for Tuesday. Pray to god nobody gets injured.
 

Asterix

Established Member
Gallas ruled out for the season, and Clichy ruled out for 2 weeks with a back injury, so I guess we will be seeing Gibbs and Djourou.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/09/arsenal-william-gallas-knee-injury-villarreal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009 ... villarreal</a>
 

TomasCR

Established Member
The more I´m thinking about it, the more probable the idea of playing Silvestre at the left back in two days is to be honest.

I think that now it´s exactly the right time for Silvestre to get a green. Or do you think Wenger signed him to sit on the bench even when Gallas and Clichy are injured? I seriously doubt it. I don´t think Gibbs is ahead of Silvestre no matter how much we hate him.
 

Captain

Established Member
Gibbs has been our FA cup left back which means that there is a chance he is our number two left back.

I'm more worried about the possibility of Silvestre coming in for Gallas.
 
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