Aug 23
Looks like our error prone keeper is out anyway.
Please read:
Apparently he aggravated an injury during the Germany friendly against England.
Is this a chance for the other two to step up? What if one of the others performs well the next two games? Should Jens be worried?
63 Responses to “Lehmann’s Out!!”
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August 23rd, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Is it just me, or does anyone else find this injury somewhat “convenient”. As a German I watched the entire game yesterday, and I don’t remeber Lehman acting like he nicked at all ? Even after the game he was walking about shaking hands and talking to teammates…
Obviously Arsene is keen and wise, and after he and the team defended Lehman over the past week, he couldn’t “drop” him from the first team for the upcoming fixtures.
…so, Lehman returns to Germany to see a specialist (probably his mom, and good home cooking) and returns to England in a fortnight mentally “healed” and focused…
- Jon
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Injured doing what exactly? This is nonsense, he’s been dropped. Question now is, Almunia or Fabianski?
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I believe it will be Almunia in the nets vs. Man City. His experience will make him the choice. It is a very “convenient” timing for Jens to have an injury. Hopefully the few weeks of rest will restore his focus.
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:49 pm
danny, on FM, u have any idea how to cancel Baptista’s transfer to Arsenal on the end of 1st season?
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Do a lot of people play FM (WWSM) here? Does anyone have a networked game setup?
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:12 pm
so far from what i learned there are sheed, dannyt, u and me. I started from the CM2 year, not been able to have much time playing it until lately. The best game created since… football, IMO! but too addicitive & too time-consuming.
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:20 pm
He played well in the pre-season so it’ll be good to see how Almunia will perform on the big stage. I am looking forward to the Citeh game. I do not expect Sven to send his team out to play the type of football Blackburn plays. I expect Sven to play a defensive, counter-attacking game. He is IMO tactically more astute than Wenger. Which means he will put 10 players behind the ball. Wait for the counter. Sieze on the corner kicks and free kicks. And Arsenal will spend the whole day trying to thread passes thru the middle. I know Ade is available for this game but I think it might be better to start Bendtler or Eduardo to partner RvP up front. Bendtler will win his fair share of high balls into the box while Eduardo will chase down those ball that get threaded thru.
Should be an interesting game to watch.
August 23rd, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Andez, if you don’t wanna buy Baptista, he will go to Real and Reyes will return at Arsenal. It’s simple as that.
August 23rd, 2007 at 5:24 pm
FM07
GK: Akinfeev, Kameni, Ustari, check out Marcelo Grohe, he was good when I played.
CB: Albiol, Richards, Kompany, Ramos, Milito.
FB: Eduardo Ratinho, Dani Alves, Marcelo.
You must keep Denilson, he will be a beast. He and Cesc, that’s a winning combination. And you must get Aguero, then pair him with Vela and that’s the best strike partnership on the game. And you must get a LM too, Silva from Valencia is the answer.
August 23rd, 2007 at 5:31 pm
sheed, u mean i can cancel the deal on the date Bapista supposed to be joining Arsenal? btw, i mean the patch 2 version.
August 23rd, 2007 at 5:31 pm
I played Championship Manager on PC. The last time I played it was the 2003/2004 season. If I was a manager in real life, the first thing I would do is use the game as an extra scout. Javier Saviola, Pablo Aimar, Mario Yepes, Juan Riquelme are all players that were rated absolute class in that game throughout the various season releases and yet you never heard their name mentioned in the media until a year or more later(To be fair, Yepes isn’t tearing up any trees at PSG)
The only player that I can think of that Championship Manager totally misjudged and overrated was Ibrahim Bakayoko from the 1996/1997 version. The rest have gone on to have stellar or respectable careers.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Andez, I played the first version, when the game came out. In that game Baptista is only on loan and he is going to Madrid at the end of the season. I don’t know what version you are playing though. If he has an arranged transfer I don’t know if you can cancel it.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Andez, why are you asking us anyway. Do you think Wenger has asked SAF about players and coaches when he came at Arsenal? lol
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
When we are talking about FM and Carlos Vela, have you read what Carlos told me a couple of days ago?
I posted this in the previous thread but here ti is again:
My comment: “I just wanna thank you for the add and to tell you that you are an FM07 legend :). You scored 126 goals in 185 internationals, not bad huh?
Just keep working hard and you can have those numbers in real life. Well, not for your country, coz 180+ games is too much, but for Arsenal. Have a successful season at Osasuna and come back to compete for a place at The Arsenal. I can’t wait to see you in the red and white.
Take care man.
Peace
His reply: “Hola Sheed, Gracias Por Tu Mensaje
Hello Sheed, Thanks for your message, I have to say that I Am good On FM07, But I plan do do even better On The Real Arsenal, And Mexico Senior Teams.. Thanks For your support, i know not alot of people in the UK LOndon do not know about me, But that is why i make this myspace to talk to fans myself and get them to know me better before i go play there.. Thanks
Gracias
-cheers- Carlos Vela”
The kid looks very ambitious, don’t you think?
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:34 pm
I wanna save my time! Too many players made me feel a bit dizzy! AW got his scouting network, I have to do it all on my own! ; )
Previously I tried to take Havant & W to the top flight, but it’s getting too difficult with FM07. After 3 seasons I still stuck in the National Conference, while my chairman kept selling my best players for cheap. So I decided money is really everything in this world!
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Sheed, u forgot to tell him whatever happen in the future, don’t NEVER EVER sign for Spurs, Man U, Chelsea!
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Naaah, it’s not all about money. I had a perfectly good squad, some “Abramovich” came in the club and demanded from me to sign world-class players, although as I said I had a great squad already. Then, just before the transfer window shuts down, he sees that I haven’t signed anyone, and on his own goes out and signs players that I don’t want to have in my team. He got me some Ukrainian player for 15 mil on August 30th, and I sold him straight away on August 31th for 2 mil :))))
As I said, he is unbalancing my squad with all those money, sometimes that doesn’t help you know.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Eh, very convenient. Need the old heads to list the out of favor players who suddenly came up limp. I know Senderos last year picked up a mysterious knock too…
Just hope that Almunia does well. I haven’t seen any exceptional play from him yet. Solid yes- the prototypical backup for a top team.
What? What did you say? The injury listed for Lehmann is a hurt ego? figures..
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Your squad must have been pretty thin for that to happen.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Nope, I had 5 strikers and he signed as I remember it correctly Artem Milevsky, another forward, who is not a world-class by any means.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:50 pm
i personally think fifa manager by ea sports is the best around….at least for me…..cos of the “live” game play…… been a while i played though…..darned work!
yeah, lehmann`s injury is just like henry`s just before the spurs match.
totally fake.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Naaaah Fred, the FM is the best there is right now. Although I enjoyed most before they had split up and started to make two, FM and CM. When it was only CM, 2004 was the last one, that was the time when it was truly great.
August 23rd, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Andez, if you are searching for strikers, take a look at Acuna from Cadiz. And can you tell me how’s Sagna rated, coz I stopped playing it and have never seen him on the FM.
August 23rd, 2007 at 7:23 pm
I can’t locate him (Sagna) neither! as he’s the first player I searched after I started the game. perhaps he’s not in the database.
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Off Topic (what was the topic?):
A great article on the lunacy at White Hart Lane - makes you feel good that our club isn’t run by a bunch of idiots. Here’s an excerpt followed by the link…
“Instead of providing calm assurance to their supporters that the loss of form in the opening games was temporary and that the players would soon put matters right, the Tottenham Board have given the impression of being headless Chickens, led by a Turkey.”
http://premview.wordpress.com/
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Looks like it turned out to be a FM (or whatever it’s called) thread.
Anyway, back to the main topic. People do pick up mysterious injuries when Wenger doesn’t want them to play. Henry, Senderos (when Gilberto became the CB) and now Lehmann.
With Almunia and Senderos in the back five, I feel a lot less comfortable. Whatever happens, we must NOT let ManCity score first.
Early days, but the one difference I am seeing between Sven’s England and Sven’s ManCity is that the latter look like they can defend a lead.
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Almunia has another chance. We’ll see if he takes it.
I feel confident we’ll beat Man City. What I’m worried about is Portsmouth. If they start Kanu, Portsmouth can beat us but if they start Nugent then we should be okay. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Sagna copes with Utaka. He along with Kanu and Benjani appear to have a very good understanding. My fears are mainly because Senderos is in the back.
Have you guys noticed that Chelsea have signed Belletti from Barcelona? They are so desperate for a RB but Belletti is absolute garbage. Yeah, he scored the goal against us in Paris but that’s because Ljunberg didn’t track him. It’s just so funny as Chelsea are so desperate for a RB and can’t get a good one.
August 24th, 2007 at 12:52 am
The next few games will be really interesting.
Lehmann has had speed wobbles so I’m really interested to see how Almunia goes.
And Gallas/Toure hasn’t exactly looked like an ideal CB p’ship so let’s see how Senderos/Toure goes. If Gallas hadn’t come as part of the Cole deal Senderos/Toure may have been our first choice CB p’ship - Wenger did give them the no’s 5 and 6 shirts.
August 24th, 2007 at 1:56 am
I would be surprised if Wenger put Fabianski ahead of Almunia.
Basically, this is Almunia’s big chance. If he does well, Jens might struggle to get back. I am not a big fan of Almunia, but if he does well, then I’ll be happy.
Competition is always welcome. Wish we had it in all areas of the pitch.
August 24th, 2007 at 6:18 am
I think AW as usual tried to not make it appear as a hit to Lehmann’s reputation. He protects players all the time. Its no injury..IMO still I cant say for sure. So here’s hoping Almunia/Wookash do the job.
Whats with the sudden FM craze??????
August 24th, 2007 at 6:41 am
Injured he may be, but both of those goals were more mental errors than anything else. Neither was a particularly well placed shot; Jens just lost focus and there you go. Let’s hope he’s more stellar against Man City. More stellar, please.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Apparently Chelsea has been fed up with the “inflated” transfer fee demanded by the clubs of players they been targeted……. but…… who’s false is it?!
After their get-the-men-whatever-it-takes attitude last few years in the transfer market, they are now enjoying the fruit that they have seeded.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:46 am
So they didnt get Daniel Alves??? And hence settled for Beletti??? Things like these make you wonder at times that you are lucky to have AW who will rather not buy a player if he’s not first choice.
Maybe Beletti will be very good…but this was just a thought which popped into my head..
August 24th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Fergie and Wenger have come out and defend Martin Jol. I believe they honestly meant what they said. As in their positions, they know better than anyone how “impatient” people can be in the modern day football.
Come to think of it, Martin Jol once questioned whey AW’s position at Arsenal was so “secure” even with a poor of result last season? Shame on you Jol.
Though I don’t rate Jol at all, I do hope he will remain at the job. Heard that Spurs is linking with Capello, hope that’s not true. As a different manager can make a hugh different even with the same set of players. Capello is probably the best manager in the game today, at least his record suggested that. I think Real Madrid made a big mistake get rid of him. They hadn’t won a thing in few years, then Capello won them the league title. Then they decided they wanted “attractive” football. As I stated before - sometimes, be careful on what you wish for. We will see how Real Madrid goes this season. Personally, I think Barcelona will regain the title.
On Sunday’s Man U Vs Spurs clash, unfortunately for Jol, I believe he will be under even more pressure after the match. Man U is a team with a great character, and they have been so frustrated after no win in 3 matches, they are going to murder Spurs there at Old Trafford the way I see it. Lucky them now face probably the biggest “bottlers” in the EPL. At least a 3 goals win for Man Utd I believe.
August 24th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Hey boys, watched England in the U-17 championships this morning. There’s quite a few gunners in the England team to include Murphy, Landsbury, and Gavin Hoyte. They beat Brazil. The Brazil goal was a carbon copy of the Ronaldinho goal against David Seamen at the ‘02 World Cup. The gunners reps looked good. Hoyte had a rough day though. I also watched Fran Merida play for Spain.
I’m watching the tournament with interest to see who will be Arsene’s next exciting young signing. Philippe Senderos and Carlos Vela led their teams to success in this tournament and subsequently signed for Arsenal so I know Wenger’s watching.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Man U have a great record vs Spurs. I remember a time they went to the Lane and were down 0-3 at half-time but still won 5-3. I think Spurs might get thrashed and that will only increase the pressure on Jol.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:11 am
I watched England vs North Korea in the U-17 WC. England didn’t look so good in that particular game. It ended 1-1.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I don’t care about England, I’m just watching the Arsenal players.
I’m predicting Mourinho to lose his first game at Stamford Bridge tomorrow against Portsmouth. If I get this prediction right I swear I’m going to start betting. Let’s see what happens.
I, too think Man United are going to beat the brakes off of Spurs. It will be their “breakout” game and I think Sprus will get embarassed.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Tottenham will get smashed. The Tottenham board have made a MASSIVE balls up. Jol isn’t the best, but the club were going in the right direction, the board have treated him disgracefully. Ok, they had a bad start, but they are missing Dawson, King and Lennon, three players who would make a big difference.
They practically sacked him and had to backtrack. They are desperate to get in the top four, but piling this sort of pressure on Jol and the team is counter productive. It’s doubly hard for Spurs to break into the top 4 because they have higher expectations than all the other clubs, yet they don;t have the character to cope with it - now, thanks to their dumb board, that pressure on everyone is almost doubled!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
joshuad,
how did fran merida look? i’ve been trying to watch the spain u17 but havent been able to. i know he wears the 10 shirt so i guess they think highly of him. we have a real logjam at central midfield.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
“I’m predicting Mourinho to lose his first game at Stamford Bridge tomorrow against Portsmouth. If I get this prediction right I swear I’m going to start betting. Let’s see what happens.”
Josh, not sure if u have the similar experience: my friends know me being a hardcore football fan, sometimes they’d ask me for tips on who to bet. So I’d pick a few games I was pretty sure than gave them a few advices. It did turn out pretty good. But when I decided to give it a go myself, most of the time I end up losing!
so i decided betting is not my cup of tea, i guess some people just don’t have that luck!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
of Spurs, even without those few injuried players, they could still have beaten Sunderland easily. Quality wise, Sunderland was pretty awful. Danny, like u said after the Sunderland match, they lost that game because they didn’t have the ball take the game to Sunderland and kill them off.
They had been talking like a Big 4 clubs in the summer, and surely spent like one in the summer, but their approach and attitude to the games still look very much a midtable side.
Simply that - a Big 4 side, against a newly promoted side, would not spend the final 10 minutes defending with the score tied at 0-0. I think that’s their biggest problem than anything else.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I get the impression Merida aint that great, or quite as good as we all hoped. I haven’t saw much of him but the reaction to his performances as a whole have been underwhelming.
Jol has statistically been Tottenham’s best manager since Bill Nicholson so I rate him very highly. He’s spent alot of money but he did guide them to fifth without spending that much two years ago. He was also very unlucky that United bid for Carrick. Carrick was blossoming at Spurs and they have never really replaced him. Apparently it was Comolli, not Jol, who wanted Didier Zokora.
Tottenham have an unbelievably weak spine though and are definately the biggest bottlers in the Prem. Jol doesn’t seem to be able to address this.
August 24th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Bottlers is the right word. This is where man management comes in and what they do on the training ground. With Wenger, you just know that he drills his players to pass, pass, pass, until they are confident of outpassing the opposition. When they go out on the pitch they see it working and that’s what gives them the confidence to play against anyone. Spurs don’t have that, that’s why they haven’t the balls to take on a top team and win.
Having said that, sometimes players don’t do what they’re told. How many times do you see a team sit back and defend a lead instead of killing the game off with a second. It very often backfires, sometimes Arsenal are guilty of this. I’m sure Wenger doesn’t tell them to do that at half time, but psychologically players want to hold on to what they’ve got and they hope they can cope and maybe snatch something on the break.
August 25th, 2007 at 6:46 am
A bit late to this party….
I watched the Eng-Ger game and didn’t see Jens doing anything except try and gift Owen a goal; maybe the achilles got pulled in the tunnel….To be fair, Jens had a couple of good one on one saves, but he looks shaky as if his mind is elsewhere….He could have done better with Lampard’s goal I think, or am I being too harsh?
I think Arsene has sent him to Germany to sort himself out, and dropped him without being politically incorrect and publicly humiliating Jens.
I am glad to see Gilberto in the squad but guess he won’t start. I would like to see him get 30 min or so today. Looks like Ade is in as well…
Citeh sit top of the table as a result of playing some good football against poor teams without much fire power (WH, and Derby) and ManU pulling an Arsenal last week (tons of chances and no goals). But no disrespect: you can’t argue with 3 games played and 9 points. However, we will be their real first test. I look forward to seeing Richards battle with Eduardo/v.Persie/Ade.
would love to have Micah on our team……….wishful thinking.
Should be a very good game.
August 25th, 2007 at 8:15 am
Hahah… Wenger’s brilliant. he would never come out to say bad things about his players unlike other managers.
Henry was “injured” for a long spell last season and we had an unbeaten 12-game streak. Hopefully this “injury” to lehman will give us that same streak!
I hope fabianski will get to play in the CC games, i want to see how good he is as a backup or if he’s even ready yet to challenge Jens/Almunia for top position.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Well, well, quite a few happenings before the game.
Senderos is injured, so Gilberto plays as CB.
But Toure is the captain ahead of Gilberto.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:27 am
That should please Mazza no end..and prove that he’s right. Anyway Gilberto is sure to be rusty. I dont know how we’re going to fare. This is a match where our forwards have to bail us out. I can see us conceding atleast one goal.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:28 am
And Sagna’s off as well…damn I cant watch the game…no tv here
August 25th, 2007 at 9:54 am
I think Toure kept the captaincy because he was given it before Senderos got injured.
Anyway, a pretty flat first half. Elano had one good chance, but he fluffed it.
We are still trying to find our rhythm. Understandable with so many changes.
August 25th, 2007 at 9:56 am
We had a few changes at the back Nipuna, that’s all. It should hardly effect our forward play and ability to shoot.
August 25th, 2007 at 10:41 am
with gallas and seneros injured and the ANC coming up, AW may be forced to sign another defender to give us cover–if he can find a decent one.
hate that RVP missed the penalty kick.
August 25th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Glenn Johnson could be a good signing, after sitting on the Chelsea bench for ages doing nothing, he should raring to go.
Riquelme could have been a good signing perhaps, looked good at Boca.
August 25th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Phew. Robin, Robin, Robin. We should have won this far more comfortably, but a well earned 3 points considering the performance from half an hour on. Ade got better as the game wore on but isn’t ready yet. Sagna getting injured seemed to drop our heads a little as well. Almunia solid, which is all I want from a keeper.
Oh, and welcome to The Arsenal, Schmeichel. Deserved his MoTM, but it’s time to wake up.
August 25th, 2007 at 11:57 am
nice goal by Cesc. we needed those 3 pts–especially in a early home fixture. i was impressed with the young city keeper.
August 25th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
M.Richards may be promising, but Richard Dunne has really caught my eyes. From very much a giant Donkey of his early years, his positional sense seems have improved a great deal in recent time.
I like the Saturday fixture, that would put pressure on teams who play on Sunday. Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal all won Saturday. Man U now under even heavier pressure tomorrow.
Of the game, as always, there were + and -.
+ side: Nowadays, even a penalty miss would not set the boys back in terms of their will to win. And once again we pulled out a late win. That shows a stronger character than last term.
- side: Once again we pullled out a late win. That means we again struggled to break team down. We have so far won 3 out of 4 fixtures, all the 3 wins down to late goals. It still appears to me the team lack some cutting edge.
A few other points:
1. Flamini again look more comfortable at full back position than in central of midfield.
2. Hleb is still a waste playing at wing.
3. Cesc gave me a feeling he’s still in the first gear. Time to up your gear Cesc. We need to control our midfield much better than we shown today. And Fabregas holds the key.
4. Gilberto at central half didn’t seem trouble him at all. I love the way he NICKED the ball away from opponent rather than diving in for a tackle, that ensure him never get caught out of position.
5. Adebayor proved to be a very useful target man to lead our line. But his finishing is still awful.
Anyway, I am sure AW will aware of that as well - still a lot of work to do before we can have a real chance challenging on trophies.
August 25th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
of Schmeichel. I think soon he will get found out, big time. The way he handled cross was awful. A team with a better crosses and big central forward would absoutely destroy him.
I will bet my money Sven will be looking to buy a new ‘keeper before the window close.
My MOTM - Richard Dunne.
August 25th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Interesting points, Andez.
I thought Flam left us vulnerable at the back late by giving up too much space, but you can’t fault the guy for heart and ability to fill in wherever he’s needed.
Ade getting caught offside time and time again is back to early Ade of last season. Once he gets into his groove, he’ll be making and scoring goals. He’s smarter than he was today.
Robin just had a nightmare in terms of finishing, but he’s always dangerous. Credit to City’s defending, though. They marked both of our strikers out of the game, and where last season that would mean no goals, this season our midfield is stepping up.
Overall, we’re looking like an improved side, but injuries are starting to pile up. I really hope Sagna just took a knock and I’ve no idea what happened to Sendy but apparently he had to be left out at the last minute. It should be mentioned that Rosicky wasn’t supposed to start today, either. Very encouraging that the lads are finding ways to get it done with all the shifting.
Hard not to pick Flam as Arsenal’s MotM, but Hleb pulled the strings again, always looked dangerous around the box, and should have seen us up 1 nil had Robin not bottled the pen.
August 25th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
I don’t think we struggled to break City down. We bossed that game. The only problem is most of our through balls had a bit too much on them.
With Fabregas’ finish he’s got to know that it’s his time to become an Arsenal legend. Sure he’s watched so many greats leave the team but now it’s his time to write his own history. Flamini has played every game and has not looked as bad as before. Sure he misplaced a few balls but was pretty solid.
RvP’s penalty was absolutely horrible. I’m glad Wenger didn’t take him off as it would have slightly unsettled him. He’s class and will bounce back. It was good to have the Adebayor dimension back but he’s got to get his shooting confidence back. It will be tricky considering he’s coming back from a groin injury.
Almunia appears to be taking his chance with both hands. Portsmouth and Spurs should add a bit more challenge than City. He was very good today. He was especially good when Mpenza broke to take away his angle and make the save. We’ll continue to monitor his situation.
Dissapointing to see Gilberto not leading the team out today. We’ll continue to monitor that one as well. I believe it’s down to him missing the pre-season.
Three points. Well done, Arsenal.
August 25th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Scotty, you’re right about Hleb’s contribution. As I was watching the match I was thinking he’s going to set a record for drawing the most penalties in a single season. He’s just so damned tricky and if you don’t deal with his threat he’ll bust your ass.
It’s like I told all the Hleb haters from last season, he’s just too good to not play. He drew a penalty in the last game of last season, one in the first and third game of this season, and should have drawn two in the Fulham game. I noticed at the end of last season and so far this season (preseason included) that it’s a new scheme to get him in the box dribbling and see if he draws a foul.
August 25th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Scotty, also the fact that Ade got caught offside often was due to he’s probably our only striker now who likes to run the “channel”. That was Henry’s trademark at the past. Now he has gone, we did lack of that extra “dimension” as Josh put it.
Ade IMO is a very important piece in our attack. He offers us a “focus point”, because of his ability to hold up the ball, or running the channel (so that our passers like Fabregas has someone to feed for a through ball).
But Ade can also got us pulling our hair off at times. His finishing still been very poor. As someone mentioned before - he still only be able to “place” the shot.
I guess that explains why defenders always have TIME to block, or nick away his shot before he managed to pull the trigger. If he can learn to “strike” the ball or to “poke” a shot, he would become much better a striker.
Of Hleb…… if he plays in a more central position, with his quick feet and dribbling ability, he would probably go on to win more penalties than anyone else in the league! When he made a dribbling run into the box, it’s just so difficult for any defender to stop him without bringing him down. And so far most of the penalties he earned were clean cut penalties without any diving act.
August 25th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Well, I thought it was an entertaining match. Man City is not a fluke, imo. They are quite solid at the back — their problem will be scoring goals. If they had a goal poacher, they would be quite the threat, but I think they’ll be mid-table by the holidays.
Anyway, about the boys:
The back line was makeshift, yet I thought made no more mistakes than our regular back 4. Flamini was decent, but he lacks strength. Good fill-in though. Toure was a beast, but made one bad error. Gilberto — what class. I thought he played well without any prep for that role. Clichy is just great…so underrated in my opinion.
The midfield was frustrating for the first hour. The passing was crap, the spacing was even worse — I hope and pray that Cesc will take the initiative and lead those guys! I thought Denilson needs a lot of work, but he has talent and a great cross. Rosicky cant stay wide to save his life — while I love him as a player, I worry that he just doesn’t fit this particular squad. Hleb was really solid again, but the commentators had it right — he kept relying on his left foot too much, he could have created 4 easy scoring chances had he passed on first touch. Cesc was really crafty all match — I DISAGREE with the statement above that he looks in 1st gear. Cesc is just a slower player — he relies on skill over speed. RvP was dangerous, but he needs to bang penalty kicks the TOP corner of the net, like he know to do. Ade — he is dangerous but he is not fit yet or in form.
I think overall it was a good show from the Gunners. We need a positive and injury free result against Sparta Prague and a thrasing of Portsmouth next weekend!
Come on you Gunners!
August 25th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Interesting that Walcott didn’t get a shout…not even in the squad for today. I would actually love to see Theo in the LEFT wing.
Almunia didn’t have much to do, but when called upon was solid.
Robin’s PK was awful…….just awful. He will learn from it.
Ade was pretty terrible. Not sure what he contributed today. Probably a bit rusty from the groin.
I like Rosicky very much, but his contributions are becoming less and less visible. He isn’t imposing himself on a match as I wish he would.
We bossed the game for the most part and deserved the 3 points but made it difficult for ourselves.
Sagna and Senderos will be OK for Prague in mid week.