The main news this morning is that Fab and Eboue will be definitely travelling to Turin. A lot of people have subsequently jumped the gun a little, and stated this shows they are definitely fit for the match, which I don't think it does. It could merely show that their injuries aren't so bad that they've been definitively ruled out, which, whilst obviously a good thing, doesn't necessarily mean they'll both start tomorrow. I doubt a final decision on them will be taken until tomorrow. Indeed it now seems Cesc's injury is the more likely to heal: his swollen foot has obviously deflated. The Times reported he even took part in light training yesterday. Eboue's is still a bit more dicey. Given Wenger's lack of options at R-b, I think he'll be tempted to gamble on Eb's fitness, and it's more than likely that we'll see the same team as last week start. Having said that, Wenger won't want to inflame a minor injury into a major one, so...
We could play the defensve formation game! Current winning formulas:
Toure, Campbell, Senderos, Flam
Djourou, Kolo, Phil, Flam
Toure, Djourou, Phil, flam
None of which look as pretty as:
Eboue Kolo Phil Flam.
The Rock on which our European progress has been built. Whilst Sol has ruled himself fit for Wednesday, I don't think he should be allowed to break up this back 4, even if he is available. Phil certainly doesn't deserve to lose his place, and we don't owe it to Sol to play him just so he can get into the world cup squad. I'll do a full preview tomorrow.
Elsewhere, Ken Edelman, our managing director has added to the Highbury boardroom chorus, in stating that he wants Th to stay. Interestingly he contends that there is only a 50% chance of Terry staying; somewhat at odds with Arsene's, 'I'm 100% confident he'll stay' statement on Saturday.
The club is also encouraging an 'Orange day' at the West Brom match to honour the legend that is Dennis Bergkamp. He thoroughly deserves this, so if you're going do let him know how much we all love him. I remember when he first came to the club and didn't score for quite a few matches, then hammered that belter in against Southampton. To think, he got stick as well for his failure to immediately acclimatise. How fickle we can sometimes be. I also remember that finishing fifth was quite an achievement in his first season. How times have changed thanks to Arsene, eh?
So, let's all wait for the hype to whip itself to a fever pitch, and then I will attempt to condense it something remotely digestible tomorrow. Essentially, expect Juve players either a) mouthing off or b) saying they've already lost in a pathetic attempt at mind games while Arsenal players merely state in a professional, yet determined manner that they know they still have a tough job ahead of them.
Til tomorrow, take care.
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8 comments:
If eboue doenst make it i now say play Toure Campbell Senderos Flamini. I was a bit worried about this but in this type of slow game i think Campbell and Senderos will do better together than b4.
just wanna stress how well arsenal have conducted themselves before and after our CL matches. before the real madrid game they were going on about how TH14 should play in madrid, then before the juve game trezeguet was on about how they all know henry's weaknesses and how they could easily stop him and how trez would actually be the one to score at highbury (yea right). then how Arsenal were lucky to win 2-0(again,YEAH RIGHT!!) Now there is Thuram talking about how they are better than us PLAYER for PLAYER, saying they will come out like a hurricane and score 3 or 4. Id like to see them prove it(obviously it'll b the other way round). Cant wait to give them a real spanking. When we meet Barca in the Final they will obviously start talk of how they will show Henry why he should sigh for them. Come after the match tho all the talk will be why Ronaldinho should move to Arsenal.
Hello Arse lovers,
I've got two spare tickets for the Juve match, cat.A front west stand, due to two mates dropping out at the last minute. They cost me 100 euros each (from listicket.it, the offical Juventus sales portal) and I'll pass them on for the same price to any Arsenal fans who want them. Call 0041 79 5094461 if interested, or mail me bosworth1541@hotmail.com
Cheers,
Boz
I think you're right Ian about how the club conducts itself before these big matches. I think both Madrid and Juve have almost set themselves up for a fall with what they've been saying.
I do worry though that this is a reflection of the fact we aren't seen as one of the truly big teams in Europe yet. We're still not seen as automatically on a par with the really big clubs - e.g. AC, Juve, Real, Barca. Hence as soon as we get a decent player, they all assume he has a price. Like Fab runs rings around Madrid, and then they ask how much he costs, without even contemplating that we want to keep him, and that we deserve to have players of his calibre at the club.
Hopefully, with the CL and the new stadium, this perception of the club will change.
If Eboue doesn't play, there are two combinations which could be considered. Need to consider that Nedved primairly plays left so the RB slot is an important one.
Can't move Kolo - too important and must remain at centre-half.
Sol worries me, but if you pair him with kolo i'm slightly more reassured.
Then move flamini in at RB who would be our best bet of countering Nedved, with Senderos moving to LB. That way Sol is between two in-form big defenders who have more chance of covering for him if he f*cks up.
Only other alternative is to bring Djorou in at RB.
Thoughts?
Dave
Agree goonerboy, they all see us as a small club. I remember around the time we played Inter Milan. Kily Gonzalez was going on about how the big clubs all laugh at Arsenal. Probably for the same reason, they thought we were a small club. But then we go there, win 5-1, qualify for the knock out stages while they end up in the Uefa Cup. Coming to think of it, all the "BIG CLUBS" I've watched in the quater finals this year seem to have been outplayed. I never saw all the matches in full but it looked like Lyon outplayed Milan and Benfica outplayed Barcelona. The stats on Uefa.com say so as well. Lyon and Benfica are also in a better position cos of the away goals rule. Another big club, Juve, most definetly got outplayed. If we get to the Semi's, who would you rather play? The "BIG CLUBS" or the so called smaller ones? Id personally want the big ones for various different reasons.
if i had to choose one to start it would have to be eboue as we have many options in the middle: pires, ljungberg, giberto, reyes, diaby, hleb (all of which are fit, i think) currently, due to injuries, i dont think we have anyone available that can offer the same offensively and defensively as eboue does
it's a testament to how far the youngsters have come when we are seriously lamenting not having eboue in the team. two seasons ago, we would have perished the thought that cesc could have outplayed vieira. now i lick my lips every time rvp comes on as sub. i'm sure we were all concerned when cesc went off against fulham, as we were equally lifted by diaby's performance. flamini at left back containing beckham? i have to put my hand up - i really thought he wasn't going to make it even as the midfielder he was bought for. Adebayor as just a new krazy kanu? i saw a blog with an analyis of how he plays the bergkamp role, as well as the fox in the box. It would take a manic depressive gooner not to be excited about the future.
Arsene knows.
Classy blog. I like the 'concordia victoria crescit'.
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