The Mid-Table Minefield is upon us. Captain Silva to the rescue!
Until Arsenal faces ManU in mid January, the Premiership foes are as follows:
Wigan Athletic
Portsmouth
Blackburn Rovers
Watford
Sheffield United
Charlton Athletic
Blackburn Rovers
Ok, if you want to quibble, Pompey is not exactly Mid-Table Fodder at the moment, and Watford and Charlton are hiding under the table, not sitting at it. Nonetheless, here is the point:
In ?big games? (defined here as games in the Champions League as well as matches against ManU, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Sp*rs), Arsenal has a record of:
8 Wins, 3 Draws, and 1 Loss.
In games against the Mid-Table Minefield (defined here as all other opponents, excluding the Carling cup-ties), Arsenal has a record of:
4 Wins, 4 Draws, and 4 Losses.
The mark of a champion has been, in many other seasons and in many other sports, to ?take care of business,? which includes beating the teams you are supposed to beat, and then duke it out with the big boys and win your share.
The Gunners have a rather stellar record against the big boys while dreamily drifting about against those we should beat much more often than not.
This is the mark of a very talented and very young team. And let?s not forget, a team with its share of injuries — not the mark of a champion.
Thus arises a very big opportunity ? for Captain Silva to guide this young team to its potential and beyond, by first taking care of business in the next seven Premiership games.
A team?s Captain is to wake up those who temporarily fall asleep during a game outside of the ?big game? category, and, to lift the heads of those that have dropped when they fall behind (that?s happened a few times this year, hasn?t it!).
In other words, a Captain is there to get more consistency out of an inconsistent team, keep things in a positive outlook, and constantly drive the point home that every game is a big game.
I am one who believes that Gilberto Silva may be the perfect Captain FOR THIS PARTICULAR LINEUP AT THIS TIME. I am also one who believes that for this lineup at this moment, TH14 would not the perfect Captain.
This team needed something different. I think we may have found it. And, it may have been just in time.
Let us hope so.
Hi Ho Silva, Away!
7 Responses to “Hi Ho Silva, Away !”
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December 12th, 2006 at 10:58 am
I want atleast 4 wins and not more than 1 loss from the 7 games. That’s a minimum of 14 points - 2 points per game.
My main concern is - who will score the goals? I hope RvP, Ade and Baptista can share the load.
December 12th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
On the goal front Fabregas is due a few, we should be able to score from anywhere, and with players coming back like Gallas, Rosicky and even Diaby we will be a different team next year.
Perhaps one of the loan boys Bendenter, or Stokes will be re called.
December 12th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
I agree it’s Fabregas’ time. He’s been awful close on several occasions in the past few matches.
I don’t agree we should recall any of the loan guys back. Give them time to truly solidify their form so that they could be at their best when they return and hopefully put someone out of the squad. We should give them every chance to continue to develop playing in competetive matches and bring more true, top quality competition for places. Don’t have them come back early and sit in the reserves.
December 12th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
The temporary captaincy appear to have lift Gilberto’s game I don’t know if u guys would agree.
Gilberto seems to be pretty comfortable with that extra responsibility on his shoulder. Cut it short, he really STEPPED UP.
Someone said before the Chelsea match - in order for us to nick something from the game, we needed Gilberto to play out of his skin. And sure enough he did.
fstanin said it pretty well. I think one of our major problems is - since our away win at Real Madrid last season, we HAD NOT get beaten by any BIG BOYS in Europe, apart from that 10 men vs 11 defeat to Barcelona.
Yet we have dropped so many silly points against the supposingly “smaller sides”.
December 13th, 2006 at 10:05 am
This month will be a good preview on our team would function without Henry, when he eventually leaves or retires. We need other players to step up and establish themselves so Henry will come back to a team that can win games with our without him to take some pressure off - and I feel Henry performs best when he is an addition to the team, rather than the talisman.
December 13th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
I accept no losses from these games. What losses you are taking about? We finished an entire season without a loss. We need at 4 wins or 5 and no more than 3 ties - ZERO losses.
There is no sense that Arsenal should lose any of these games. If so, then they dont desereve a CL spot.
Arsenal go fix your shite and start winning.
December 13th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
1 down. 6 to go.