We all knew it would happen eventually, and today was that day. Eduardo’s early goal gave Arsenal the lead, Keita and Fabiano answered in the 1st half, and Fredi Kanoute sealed the win with a penalty kick in the 2nd half.
The loss puts Sevilla in the driver’s seat to win the group. Arsenal, of course has already qualified, but needs help to finish top of the group.
Let the predicatable bitching and whining about Senderos and Gilberto begin.
Two quick thoughts from watching on Sopcast:
-the Sevilla crowd was absolutely magnificent, screaming at the top of their lungs. Arsenal fans take note.
-there might not be a less enjoyable announcer to have to listen to than the odious Alan Parry (or was it the odious Ian Darke? I have a hard time distinguishing between the two).
98 Responses to “Arsenal 1 - Sevilla 3”
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November 27th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Gotta say tip my hat off for Sevilla. Not so often we can say we get OUTPLAYED. But this was one. They played an excellent passing game.
Let the moaning and crying begins.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
This was Arsenal “B” against Sevilla, who never lose at home. The writing was on the wall. If the team sheet didn’t clue you in beforehand, Cesc coming off after 50 minutes should have told you all you needed to know.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
What a horror show. Beaten at our own game, and in such spectacular fashion. Gilbo and Sendy aside, can someone tell Almunia to stop punching the ball straight to the edge of the penalty area? It’d do wonders for my mental health.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
First lets give props to Bendtner and Eduardo for the goal that looked like it would be a very comfortable evening.
But after that, it was all Seville. We got our asses kicked, completely and comprehensively. They dominated and we were lucky it wasnt a bigger scoreline. Were we bad, or were they that good? They totally ran us off the park today, so full credit to Seville. How can a team that plays so well be only 12th in La Liga? Perhaps we should give some credit to Spanish Football because it was Seville who showed all the slick passing and high tempo game.
Traore was like a deer in the headlights trying to stop Naves and Alves. They ran riot over him all day long. The poor kid couldnt make a tackle or make a pass. How many times did he give the ball away? He needs to go on loan and get some experience because he certainly has ability but he got schooled today. I hope he learns from it, and doesnt lose confidence.
We had 5 people in midfield yet allowed the play to always stay wide, which is Seville’s strength. Did anyone even see Fabregas get a touch? He was completely anonymous and credit to Wenger for subbing him. Rosicky had a few touches but we just couldnt exert authority or any calm in midfield. I couldnt believe we gave the ball away so often.
If this team doesnt learn how to deal with hostile crowds and situations in a hurry we are in trouble because December is a very difficult calendar for us.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I think Arsene chose to use this game as a test. Why else leave guys like Gallas behind? With qualification already guaranteed, why not let some of the B team get some experience against a very good team in a hostile environment. This was a perfect petri dish in which to test guys like Senderos who came up wanting, and Dudu, who came up gold.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Well, that’s it, season over. There is no way we bounce back from… what? Oh, we’re still in first place in the League and have already qualified for the next round of the Champions League? In that case, maybe I’ll refrain from going mental over one loss.
Yes, I am interested to see if we bounce back on the weekend with a strong performance, but I don’t see one game, on the road, against a side with quality players, and the Arsenal playing with a second team as a time to panic.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Traore has not played much, and Eboue in midfeld? A recipe for trouble plus the team gave away a poor penalty which was like a NFL style blitz on Kanoute.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Fabregas was injured. Thought that was fairly obvious.
You have to give credit to Seville. With or without Senderos’s mistake they would have eventually slaughtered us anyway and realised we were not a threat to be respected. They were quicker to every and put some of our players to shame with their workrate and ethic.
The zero creativity was no big surprise, especially as I’ve said since last season that we an extremely average side without Hleb, Rosicky, and Fabregas vibing off eachother. The only surprise is that people still can’t get that through their heads and go on about directness and indirectness and all that bollox. With the rest of them it’s like the blind leading the blind.
This defeat is brilliant in my opinion. It’s stops all this unbeaten nonsense that commentators love to punctuate every match with, and it also takes Wenger’s head out of the clouds and ends his delusions of grandeur when it comes to our reserve players.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Although the result doesn’t matter that much, there were some warning signs here. With Toure off to the ANC for 6-8 weeks, the thought of Senderos replacing him is absolutely laughable. Everyone knows what I think of the clown, and if you paid to go the Senderos circus tonight you would have got good value.
He wasn’t the entire reason we lost, but as usual, when we lose and he’s playing - you don’t have to look far for the culprit.
Gilberto also had his head in Juventus I think, so as far as I’m concerned his career is finished at Arsenal.
Wenger needs to buy a centre-back in January, otherwise Arsenal could pay big time.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
It was going bound to happen. Its actually good that it happened in a game like this, with us having qualified already. Traore can be excused, it was his first CL game, hopefully it will be a good learning experience for him
November 27th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I agree with all the comments made above. This was the first time I had ever seen Arsenal outplayed. Sevilla had more quality than Arsenal today. It was not close. The score in fact did not reflect the disparity in play. Arsenal could have easily lost by 4 or 5 goals. Kanoute alone blew a couple of real scoring chances. I draw solace from the fact that Arsenal played three subs in defense, each of whom looked outmatched (no one has even mentioned Hoyte, he was pulled for good reason) as well as Gilberto and Denilson who looked positively pallid. I also thought that Sevilla played increasingly aggressively as the game wore on and we need to combat the impression that this tactic was effective. Aston Villa will be very interesting. Finally, I hope Fabregas’ substitution was not motivated by injury as the announcer was suggesting.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Fab’s injury wasn’t obvious to me, or to the odious Alan Parry. Didn’t hear about it until reading the postgame, good thing it doesn’t seem too serious.
Not sure if Wenger thinks it’s important to win the group. If he had, he would have taken a stronger squad to Prague.
Just for a quick look ahead, in order to top the group we need to win our last match and hope Slavia hold Sevilla to a draw or worse. Since Slavia has already qualified for the UEFA Cup, I’m not sure how motivated they’ll be.
Tomorrow’s results will be important in determining our opponent in the knockout stage, but I’d rather face the prospect of playing Fenerbace than Inter, for example. Or Rangers instead of Barcelona. But one point in our last 2 CL games has taken that option out of our hands.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
With all the talk about Cesc, Hleb and Rosicky, I actually thought that one of the players we missed most was Flamini. Gilberto was a total nonentity in midfield, failing to control tempo or possession and exposing our untested back line. Usually I’d say that a frantic, free-flowing match would favor us, but today we could have used someone to slow things down. Good thing the game didn’t actually mean anything.
Anyone see what was wrong with Cesc?
November 27th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
We qualified.. we are fine.. doesn’t matter who we play.. we will eventually have to go through Barca… an Inter team.. 1st or 2nd in the group either way we’re playing great squads in the Knockout rounds..
Having said that.. i was looking forward to the Bendy Dudu combo.. to bad we didn’t have quality backs or wings to get them some crosses… and really can some tell Denilson to stop taking free kicks
November 27th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
The Flamster wouldn’t have made a difference. He’s improved this year but lets not get carried away and put him on the same level of importance as that esteemed trio. Seville would have far too sharp and quick for the French plodder.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
So Gilberto can’t get in a match… then we throw him finally, and he’s supposed to be Paddy Vieira in his hey day?
I’d think he has earned the right to play a few matches and get his feet before we say he sucks. Short memories.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
jestanley — i agree.. where in the hell was Gilberto?.. would have rather seen Diarra control things back there.. and get some PT with Cesc
November 27th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Haha nobody has said he sucks objectively. He just sucked today. Certainly some of that has to do with riding the pine for a while.
Oh, and I don’t think he was ever Paddy Vieira in his heyday, thank you very much.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Obvious to most everyone that this loss is not that big of a deal. I am not too intimidated by any of the competition we could face coming out of the 2nd place pool. And judging from Chelsea’s trip to Villa Park earlier this season, Villa will be very physically committed to taking points off of us. I am glad AW was looking ahead.
As for the game today, I thought Eboue did well. His back heel completely unlocked the defense on the first goal and he had decent claim for a penalty in the second half. Eduardo’s finish was one of striker who will score many more goals in the next few years. Bendtner had a decent first half. That is about all the positive I can think of.
Not a surprise that a left side of Eduardo and Traore were no match for Alves and Navas. And definitely not a surprise that Senderos made a complete ass of himself. I also don’t want to hear that he is rusty. He has played plenty of games for Arsenal and Switzerland this year. He is just plain awful. I know Djourou can’t be worse. But I don’t think he or Song are the answer. Hopefully AW buys in Jan.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
the setanta pundit said it’s like an fa cup tie. and i absolutely agree with him. sevilla played like staines town, and we played like stockport
they are so physical tonight, chasing and pressurizing every time we touched the ball. kinda like what bolton did against manure a few days ago…
i doubted why wenger chose senderos: no pace, no brain, no technique = not good enough against top teams. he is the weakest link. i am sure wenger will eventually say goodbye to him in the near future, as he shows no signs of improvement these few years.
fabregas was all over the place in the first half. he was just not catching up the tempo of the game. so no surprise to see him go off. maybe a knock as well but 1-2 down, already qualified for the next stage, and with 3 away games coming in the prem, any manager would have taken their star player off…
well, and it looks like we will finish second, so let’s welcome one of these teams for the round of 16…
barca, real, ac milan, inter, or rosenberg???
November 27th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
i doubt Barca real, Milan, or Inter are looking forward to playing us in the round of 16 as oppose to Sevilla…
November 27th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
I will admit, Eboue’s theatrics are becoming concerning. With that said, Bendtner appeared to be motivated today… which is more that can be said for some of the players in the starting lineup. I have defended Senderos before, but after today I can no longer do so with a clear conscience. And Eduardo…
I know we are through to the next round already… but NO ONE wants to face an Inter team that is on fire in the first knock-out round. Anyways, I am glad that this “unbeaten in all competitions” nonsense is over. Hopefully this will be a humbling experience for us, and we must now focus our energy against what is likely to be a very tough match on Saturday.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
I would take Inter any day. Bottlers of the highest order and do not have anything to worry us apart from an amped Ibrahamovic.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Didn’t know Cesc was injured… we’ll just have to wait with our fingers crossed.
I know the result doesnt mean much and we were playing our B team, but still, the fact they completely blew us off the park and we couldnt string 3 passes together against them was concerning. It is also concerning the lack of cover we have for Sagna and Clichy, although I suppose in a more critical situation you would see Diarra or Flamini slide over.
I’m not going to defend Senderos, but I think our sidebacks got beat so often that it put Toure and Sendy in vulnerable positions.
Eduardo. Excellent finisher, but the guy doesn’t seem to have the pace to beat a good defender 1v1.
Gilberto. Just couldnt exert his influence on the game. I think his days are definitely numbered.
Bendtner. Another good pass. The kid is good. But he doesnt pull defenses apart like Ade with his running. Say all you will about Adebayor and his lousy finishing, but he creates lots of little holes for our midfielders and RvP to run into. I dont see Ade giving way to Bendtner anytime soon.
Eboue. Erratic to say the least. Stop crawling and moaning so much and perhaps you would have gotten the penalty… it was close, but for me, he should have been awarded a penalty in the 2nd half that could have tied the game. But when you spend the first half on the ground moaning and groaning to the referees, you are not going to get the benefit of the doubt when you go down in the box.
Walcott. His stock is definitely on the rise. I am impressed with how much he has improved his ball control since the beginning of the year. He didnt have enough time to influence the game, but he made some very nice turns with the ball and could have given Sevilla problems.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Inter or Barca. Revenge is a dish best served cold, like North London in February!
November 27th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
or a little AC Milan revenge after their coach said we’re not good enough to win the CL
November 27th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I know resting players is a good thing, and I agree with that, but sometimes I wonder if it’s done in the right manner. Now I would have rathered rested “some” players v. Wigan, a Home match than a CL road match. I know we have already qualified, but I dont know about y’all but I would rather be 1st than 2nd on any given day. I would rather play a Barca, or Inter, or Real in the round of 8 than the round of 16; if we do bring in players in Jan. it’ll give us more time to fit them into the squad, like to gell….etc…. I guess no matter what the situation is I hate to see the Arse lose, thats why I’m a Gooner!
November 27th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I didn’t see the game except for 1st half highlights and that was enough. No one should be surprised by Sevilla’s performance. This game is in fact similar to our 3-0 game at home. Sevilla went into that game with a decimated back line (that is still decimated but improving), away, and with a recent death to contend with. No one should have ever taken them lightly. The press may foam about this lost but if we get a response on Saturday, then I won’t be to worried.
You could excuse Senderos’ play by saying it was a result of coming back from an injury. I won’t. His mistake on the first goal was the kind of scary bad play you get from a Paul McShane (Sunderland v Everton) or a Younes Kaboul (Sp**s), a Dawson (Sp**s), The entire Newcastle back line, or a Liam Ridgewell (Birmingham) or a Titus Bramble. To see someone in Arsenal colours play that way is enough to make one physically ill.
Arsenal’s players learned somethings today and Wenger learned somethings today. Arsenal’s world has not come to an end. Our hopes and dreams remain intact.
Memo to Gilberto: now even YOU can see why you have been supplanted and its not down to a lack of match fitness since you just captained the mighty Brazil.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I think this game also shows how good / valuable Clichy has been this season. Think of the tricky right sided wingers we have come across… First game vs Sevilla? Naves… stuffed. Alves… stuffed. Against ManU? Ronaldo… stuffed.
I’d like to see how Clichy does against Messi. Bring em on!
November 27th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
can anyone see that navas kid on the right side of our midfiled instead of eboue?? i’d love to see that for sure! go get him, wenger! and a good decent backup CB while you’re at it.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Don’t forget there was no Van Persie, either.
As you all stated, totally outplayed, no question there. Total chaos in the back. Passing was atrocious as were clearing attempts.
But, all in all, with that lineup, what did you expect??
Gooners must feel good that the first loss of the season came at the end of Nov. Not too bad, especially for a squad that was expected to do NOTHING this season. A full strength Arsenal can take any team they play in the round of 16; I don’t think not winning the group is as big a deal as most folks think it is.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Yeah, let’s remember that making big changes away to Seville in the Champions League is a bit different to making big changes away to Sheff Utd in the Carling Cup. I’m not worried by the result or the performance - but I am worried about Senderos/Djourou covering for Toure - as is every Arsenal fan, surely? If Wenger is not worried then he has a screw loose - so let’s see what happens in January.
Finishing first or second in the group does not bother me. If we get knocked out by Inter in the next round then what does that tell you? We’re not good enough. I would welcome a team like Inter, Italian football is in the doldrums and their teams have about as much balls as Tottenham.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
i would rather we lost not only this and the bucharest match and took 9 points from our next 3 PL games.
AND our major problem today was the fullback and their repeated beating. if we had our first choice defense we would have won this game. hoyte and traore allowed their wingers in EVERY single time. there is nothing hleb, rosicky or fabregas can do to help them out.
if your mid or attack is messing up but the defense is solid you are OK….but once the defense is leaky….thats it…..only a miracle can save you.
we definitely missed the hardwork of a flamini or diarra in the middle today. we needed someone to husstle and harry them and give the ball positively.
gilberto sat back soooo much that there was a gaping hole in front of our central defense. an experienced, aged defensive midfielder should PROSPER in an away game…..not be the worst player.
in retrospect a starting team of:
edu, bendtner
rosicky, denilson, diarra, walcott
flamini, song, toure, eboue
would HAVE won or drawn this game. they were all in the squad.
all conjecture ofcourse.
but seriously though, song is a safer bet than senderos.
November 27th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Typical overreaction on this site to one defeat. Typical blame game as well, Senderos the donkey etc. I saw Gilberto make a mistake in first five minutes against Manchester City when he came in to play centre-back but it wasn’t a goal so nobody remembers it. Gallas and Toure have also made unpunished mistakes.
For the first goal, we should never have conceded even after Senderos’ mistake. Gilberto managed to get back and cut out the cross. Instead of putting it out of play for the corner he played it back into the danger area where the onrushing midfielder tucked it away (was it Fabregas who stopped chasing back?). Anyway, three mistakes and it was a goal but some people only see Senderos’ mistake.
Senderos is not first choice at Arsenal unlike McShane, Ridgewell, Kaboul/Dawson (which one of those clowns plays alongside King if he is ever fit?) or a Newcastle defender. His level is Wes Brown, an ageing Hyppia or a Paletta. He is no Terry, Carragher or Vidic but he compares well to some of the reserves at the big teams. Until Djourou, Song, Connolly or Nordveidt is ready, he will be the first reserve. The day someone else is better, Wenger will let him go if he is not willing to drop down the order. I will be slaughtered for saying this but that day is not here yet - maybe at the end of the season depending on the progress of others.
We did miss Flamini despite what Mazza says. When Sagna came on and attacked down the right side, there was often nobody covering. This season Flamini has stepped up on his defensive covering and it was missed tonight.
As for resting players, this was the game to do so. We can rest players in the Champions League when we are through to the next round. We can rest players in the domestic cups because they are not as important. We can rest players in the Premiership when we have won it and need to rest players for cup finals.
This is not the first bad day at the office this season but it was the first to really cost us. It was a mixed bag of a team but the key will be what happens at the weekend. Speaking of the reaction, did anyone notice whether the group hug took place as usual at the end of the game???
November 27th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
as i have said several times, i would rather we faced a big team in the 2nd round.
then the CL will really have meaning…..last season we met only nothing teams and played absolutely no memorable match yet got knocked out early.
and oh, our first lose of the season is Nov. 27? well, Chelsea, ManU and Liverpool all lost about 2 months ago……..so absolutely NO reason to moan.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Fabregas has a hamstring injury. Oh boy! Rosicky to the middle but who goes on the left. I’d rather Walcott or Gibbs come up than go with Eduardo. Gibbs may be more responsible defensively than Walcott.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
I don’t see anyone moaning or any overreactions. Just affirming everybody’s fears about Senderos in particular. I don’t care if he is third choice, the fact is that there is at least 10-15 centre-backs in the Premiership better than him currently sitting on the bench twiddling their thumbs. And I’m sure they would rather be twiddling them on Arsenal’s bench than anywhere else.
He actually made about 50 mistakes throughout the game - a vagrant on a 48 hour drinking binge has better positional sense than him. And his idiotic new habit of running at defenders with his hands crossed behind his back would have you doubled over with laughter if you were playing park football.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Senderos, Gilberto, Traore were really poor today. I don’t think anything or anyone could have saved Arsenal today, it just wasn;t our night. Sevilla was absolutely brilliant, aggressive and wanted it more than we did. Having said that, I’m having fantasies of Wenger going for someone like Navas, and maybe shedding a Gilberto or Diaby, given that we are overloaded at CM.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
lol….noticed that new senderos habit. how that helps him, i have no idea.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I think it helps him from catching the ball when no one is off-side and no whistle has been blown. Obviously though, he is still learning his new technique.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Just checked the upcoming fixtures. 3 consecutive away EPL matches coming up. This will be a real tough stretch. Especially after losing the first match of the season. This very well may set the tone for the rest of the season for Arsenal. They need to come through this with a strong showing.
November 27th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
More later as I got to run to work now. All I want to sat is : Well played Sevilla. When Eduardo scored I said, great we’re in form and will win this one. I didnt expect Sevilla to play us off the park like that. Full credit to them — well played. I’ll put my thoughts out later in the day.
November 27th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
I’m hoping we can put this down to a) Seville being really up for it and b) Wenger needing a little dose of realism to keep us on track, mercifully for a game where it won’t do us too much damage.
At the start of the season we were written off, all ready to be displaced by Sp*rs et al. (Ho, frigging, ho on that one.) Then we were the golden youths who could do no wrong. Even our toddlers were geniuses.
Prague dented this honeymoon; Seville has punctured it. We didn’t just play badly, we were thoroughly outplayed and it could have been worse.
Hopefully, though, Seville is all the harsh lessons we need. Wenger’s faith in his young players is admirable, but there have been many times when it’s come up short. Anyone care to revisit lone striker Aliadiere against ManUre in the FA Cap semi-final defeat?
Seville was another instance where our bright prospects got totally found out. Admittedly, leader-in-waiting Gilberto was underwhelming, and Cesc slipped from sight as Seville exploited our rabbit-in-the-headlight teens on the flanks.
But Sendy in the middle is once again an accident waiting to happen - correction an accident rushing to the front of the line to happen.
I like the guy in interviews. He’s thoughtful, conscientious. But he has the special Cygan touch of making mistakes that get punished, partly because he has no recovery speed to undo the damage of slicing a routine clearance.
Wenger - as much as we love and revere him - does have his blind spots. Why can’t he just sit Eboue down and tell him to cut out the theatrics? Then we’d actually get a penalty when we deserved it. Why can’t he gently farm Sendy off to B’ham for good and buy a £15m center-back?
When our defence leaks two goals in 5 mins, it kills the confidence of our midfield. This was a game turned upside down. Seville were supposed to collapse and fold after conceeding the first goal.
I don’t think the team will be shell-shocked by it. Gallas and Adebayor returning will see to that, but Villa away is not exactly the ideal venue for a momentum-restoring comeback.
November 27th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
When we scored first, I thought we will at least get a point. But when you change 3 in defence and your DM, things can go wrong. I said before the game that just because the opposition plays football (and doesn’t kick around) doesn’t guarantee an Arsenal victory. Ever thought that if the opposition attacks they may actually score goals. That’s exactly what happened last night.
But it’s good to lose now and set Wenger thinking. Let’s hope he can work out the problem areas. Now that we have all players “rested” is it unreasonable to expect 3 wins in the next 3 league games?
November 28th, 2007 at 12:12 am
Maybe Wenger underestimated Seville after our 3-0 win and their 12th position in the league. Or maybe Wenger overestimated our bench strength. Or maybe he engineered this defeat so as to reduce the “unbeaten” pressure on the team (still think the “unbeaten in league” pressure will continue) and also to figure out really how good the bench strength is. It doesn’t matter as long as we learn from this game.
I think Villa away is a good game after this loss. If it was Wigan at home, we might have been complacent and just showed up to win, but we certainly won’t be taking Villa lightly.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:33 am
mammac123 stated: “Sendy in the middle is once again an accident waiting to happen - correction an accident rushing to the front of the line to happen.”
That’s a harsh but accurate assessment. Senderos is simply not a first choice centre-back, for either CL or EPL fixtures. I would rather see Song playing next to Toure, but never Senderos. Arsenal’s greatest need is another quality centre-back as cover for Gallas or Toure.
Also, Gilberto played a poor match, and the lack of any creativity/stability in Arsenal mid-field enabled Sevilla to control the pace and flow of the game.
Still, you and I need to take a close look at the schedule. We have many matches in the next five weeks - two next week actually - and I think Arsene WAS looking ahead and resting key players. How else can you explain a back line of Traore-Toure-Senderos-Hoyte starting at Sevilla?.
We are assured passage into the next round of the CL, but our standing atop the Premiership will be heavily challenged from now until the end of December. Today’s line-up was not the one we will see at Aston Villa on Saturday.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:14 am
Some good points above…….let’s not get carried away. Arsene clearly didn’t put a lot of stock in this match and that is why fielded a reserve side, thinking they would be able to get a draw.
Some thing are clear: defensive stability is key to a successful team. We had only one fourth of our usual defense there today; and with Sendy….no need to begin. we have talked about his ineptitude at length.
The writing was on the wall, but frankly after we took the lead I thought we would get something out of this game. Sevilla had lost twice in the last two weeks and got hammered at the Emirates. So you knew they were going to play balls to the wall. And with a reserve side, we paid…….
Danny #32: the only worry is that if we finish 2nd in the group, we will play the winner of another group with the second leg away. Clearly, we would rather play the second leg at home.
The five weeks in January/February will determine our season. I hope Djourou has a phenomenal 5 weeks.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:52 am
Wanna add a few points:
(1) Sevilla is a team struggling in La Liga, but the way they pass and use the ball is better than probably 17 sides in EPL. U rarely even seen Liverpool pass the ball that well.
EPL without a doubt the world’s most popular league. In terms of technical level, they still got a lot to catch up with La Liga, or maybe Series A.
(2) Our defence without doubt get torn apart. But football is always a TEAM game. One of the reasons defence was so bad is our midfield got overrun as well. And one of the reasons our midfield got overrun was our attack couldn’t hold or keep the ball up well.
This game showed how important and underrated a role Adebayor been playing at Arsenal. Bendtner showed great promise, and very intelligent as well. But he’s still not there, yet.
(3) “The Peter Crouch factor” - Crouch to me is always a liability to England. cos his presence sucked the team into playing long ball.
The players on the pitch will never have as clear and calm a mind as those whose watching it. When things get tough, if they got a big man up front, subconsciously they would start to take the easy path - throw the long ball towards the big guy.
Bendtner’s presence yesterday seem like having a same effect to Arsenal players. No doubt Sevilla pressed Arsenal extremely well. But our team also guilty on taking the easy way out - instead of passing through the midfield, they threw in more long balls than usual.
November 28th, 2007 at 6:20 am
It really amazes me how Senderos given all his size and height is completely handicapped when dealing with aerial balls. The man is big but he gets bumped all over the place, he lacks stability and looks too shaky. I think it’s about time Wenger saw the light.
Gilberto could have done better defending the first goal. Should have taken it out for a corner… Eboue deserved a penalty and our defense was extremely weakened. Being without Gallas was bad enough but then also Clichy and Sagna were not included from the start.
Enuf said!!
November 28th, 2007 at 6:27 am
Wenger claims that it was more important to rest players given our heavy fixture but that decision has blown up in his face since we’ve lost the game. Now he’ll have to put out a full strength side against Steau and hope that Sevilla drop points in their game. Then a few days later we’ll have Chelsea.
It’s only logical that he should have a played a strong team now against Sevilla and then rested players against Steau with the first spot secured and the players would be fresh for the Chelsea challenge. Arrggh…
November 28th, 2007 at 6:58 am
What’s logical is we should have played a stronger side against Sparta Prague. Wenger decided to give both Hleb and Fabregas off at the same time. If we’d won in Prague, Wenger could have rested players last night and again in Bucharest and we’d have still won the group. It would have always been much easier to win at Prague then draw at Sevilla.
Some say it’s better if we play the best teams in the round of sixteen but I’d rather play the weaker team. Sure we beat Real Madrid and Juventus in ‘06 but they were simply big names. Neither Real Madrid or Juventus were playing well then. Juventus looked like they were but they were cheating and Madrid were a two seed that barely got out of the group stage. Juventus needed a gift from Bremen’s keeper to advance as he lost the ball for Emerson to put into an empty net.
We should have won our group because we’re the best team in our group. If you look around, you’ll see that many of the other group winners have already been decided and by a significant margin. It’s because they’re significantly better. They are rewarded by facing a lower seed at home first. We’ve all but lost that reward. Let’s see how it works out.
November 28th, 2007 at 7:16 am
As far as the players performance, I thought Gilberto played like he always does. He frequently loses the ball. Senderos hasn’t played in a long time and looked it. Denilson had some bad free kicks but I thought he played well, overall. Bendtner played well but in a 4-5-1 your lone striker requires needs pace to worry defenders. Henry and Adebayor have that while Bendtner doesn’t. Bendtner needs a strike partner, just like Crouch, to be dangerous.
Fabregas was subdued and looked dis-interested in even playing the game. When he came off we completely lost the initiative as Poulson was free to run around and kick everyone. When you need goals, you need a playmaker playing in a central position to influence the game more. I don’t think we created another chance after Fab went off and Rosicky went wide on the right.
The most important thing is we missed Hleb. Ajax praised him in the preseason as the danger guy they couldn’t cope with. Regardless of what the media say, it’s he, and not Fabregas, who’s our “go to guy”. When Fab doesn’t know what to do with the ball, he just passes it to Hleb to make something from nothing. We’ll see how well Arsenal cope without him over the next week.
November 28th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Looking ahead, we have 3 away games. Our players have also been rested. We should be winning all 3. Newcastle and Boro are in deep trouble and if we put our minds to it, we should be winning at Villa as well.
November 28th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Pretty good analysis on post 52, josh. agree with most of the points. I do feel Bendtner does have some deceptive pace, quicker than we thought, at least quick enough for such a tall guy.
He basically got every physcial attitubes there. I think he’s just not developed all the required tricks to be a starter yet. One key attritube is - to learn to how to shield the ball.
Ade is a master of it. Bendtner is strong enough to do so, but he hasn’t learned to keep his balance as good as Ade. But this can be taught.
important thing is - i think for a 19-yr-old, he has a very good decision making. Most of the time he kept it simple, and did the necessary things rather than trying for anything fancy. Like the cross he dished out to Eduardo, he had the ability to deliver such a telling cross, while at the same time quick enough to make up his mind doing so.
The Wigan match as well, the 2 goals we scored he’s involved in the build up play, on both occassions he knew the “right option” passing the ball to, and made up his mind very quick to do that.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Bendtner was very good last night. Played the lone front man role very well for a 19 year old. Showed great strength, good touch and intelligence and awareness of those around him. However, I can’t see him being a first team regular any time soon - I think Bendtner’s patience will run out eventually and he’ll ask to move, maybe at the end of this season. It’s a shame, but he’s not the type of personality to sit in the reserves or on the bench for 7 years like that unambitious loser Aliadiere.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:49 am
I dont’ know if any long time Gooners here feel the same - Bendtner reminds me a bit of Alan Smith (our very own, not that skill-less Newcastle forward).
Tall, yet with a good touch, good control, and good awareness. A team player as well.
as a person, of course they are very different. Bendtner looks far more aggressive than the mild-manner Smith. Their presence on the pitch though, looks a little similiar.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Bendtner was good, no doubt. And I’ve been saying for a while, I liked his eye for a pass. If anything, in CC appearances he has been a little too unselfish in the box, trying to pick out a tough pass rather than go for goal. In addition to the goals that Andez pointed out in #54, don’t forget about the raking diagonal ball he played to Eduardo against Sheffield for the opening goal. That was a very, very nice ball.
But Bendtner has the misfortune of playing behind Adebayor. Ade does so much running off the ball and into channels left and right and also behind the defense. Ade often pulls those center halfs along with him and pulls defenses out of their shape.
Bendtner did well to hold the ball up but he never pulled or stretched the defense. Perhaps he needs to play alongside a speedster like Walcott or something.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Heard that Cesc could miss the next 3 games, now that’s a much bigger blow than losing to Seville. As said before, risking key players in a game like this is plain silly. I’d much perfer to win the next 3 league matches than finishing 1st in the CL group.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=496996&in_page_id=1779&ito=newsnow
November 28th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
No one’s taken a shot at Almunia.
So far, I think he’s gotten by with our good run of form and has had very little to do. I thought he has made key mistakes against Spuds (which Toure bailed him out of), ManUtd (which was punished), Steaua Bucharest (which Toure bailed him out of), among others.
But against the better teams, you want your goalie to save you a goal or two, which is the difference between winning and losing. Palop made a fine save against Eduardo when it appeared he might score his second, but he stuck out his arm whilst on the ground. That was a potential game changer.
You can’t really blame Almunia for any of our goals, but he parried once straight to Kanoute, and just didnt seem very convincing. Does anyone recall Almunia making any really good saves for us? Jens cost us a few… no doubt, but he had a knack for coming up with plenty of game changing saves.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
yeah, even tho i dont really like him….jens is capable of game-saving saves. almunia is utterly average….but wenger is waiting for him to balls up big time before he acts.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
To me the priority is League, CL, FA Cup, Carling Cup. We’ve already qualified for the CL knock out stage so I think we should send out a Carling Cup squad for our last CL Group game.
The CL can be a distraction sometimes, so if we are not going to win it then I want to find out sooner rather than later. Bring on Barca, Inter, ACM, Real, etc as our first opponent. If we’re going to win the CL, we need to beat these teams anyways, and better for us to meet them earlier rather than later. Why? Because I want Arsenal to focus on the League, put out their best team week in week out and win the Title.
Our 2005/06 CL run was very exciting, but that’s only because we were out of contention for the League and FA Cup. I don’t want Arsenal to risk injuring their top players having a long CL run at the expense of fielding a weaken team in the league and drop points. So, that’s why in my mind, finishing 2nd in the group is not a big deal.
Wenger got his priorities right - beat Wigan and lose to Seville. At the same time, United rested players and lost to Bolton (3pts they needed) but beat Sporting (3pts that they don’t really need).
November 28th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
No worries - we already qualified and were testing a couple of the players to see where they are at. It would be nice to finish first in the group stage, but it still won’t really hurt us to be in 2nd.
Now we need to go back and focus on getting our team together in the League and having a good match this weekend.
Come On Arsenal!
November 28th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Not going to take too much time because almost everything has been said. Thought overall they wanted it much more, maybe because of their recent poor form in La Liga. The home crowd was fantastic to listen to. Would have been hard for anyone to play in that atmosphere. Thought when we were 2-1 down the pk that should have been given would have changed the way we played the rest of the half. Think we would have been a bit more on the defensive and settled for the draw. Thought Hoyte didn’t play all that well. Sanderos… well he played like Sanderos.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
The atmosphere was sensational. On the channel I get the Arsenal matches, they continue to bring live coverage of the stadium for quite some time after the final whistle instead of showing the studio pundits talking. Several minutes after both teams had left the pitch, a song began to play over the PA system. The song was very Spanish; really mellow song with guitar strings, a soulful singer, and a beautiful melody. The fans, all knowing the song, began singing along this song about Sevilla and it was refreshing. They weren’t singing in typical British drunken “you’ll never walk alone” at the top of their lungs style but the melody demanded a collective tranquility It impressed me enough to write about it.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
I have always liked the way Gilberto has gone about his play at the Arsenal, he’s always been professional, and gives 100%. AW always knows when it’s time to cut ties with a player, and I believe it’s Gilberto’s time to move on. It has nothing to do with last nights match performance, it’s the whole season I’m looking at. He has lost his place in the squad and he just doesnt look the same, it’s not match fitness cause he played for Brazil, I think he’s just ready to move on like Titi did. Now I really dont care what anyone else says about Send’o, I think he has been found wanting on many, many occasions…. I believe we need some good cover in the CB position especially since Kolo will be shipping out for the ANC in the New Year, I wont be happy with Send’o filling at that slot…. I’m not blaming him, nor do I think anyone else on here is blaming him for last nights loss, it was a collective pile of crap that seen us lose 3-1 to Sevilla….. I hope Fabs injury isn’t long term meaning several weeks because the upcoming Villa match will be no walk in the park, they will be out for Gunner blood after our loss on Tuesday…. I believe this team has what it takes to go all the way, now lets get on with it please!!
November 28th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Fabregas says he’ll ready for Villa (who gutted Blackburn 4-0 tonight) after tweaking his hamstring. That probably means a late fitness test. Fingers crossed and toes crossed.
It looks like Carew is getting his act together. Villa should be a real challenge with Agbonlahor and Young in good form. All three scored tonight. The key for us to win this game will be the superiority our MF play.
England national team coach-in-waiting, Harry Redknapp got arrested in a corruption probe. He’s since made bail and says he’s not ‘directly’ involved. Someone is. No ones talking up Allardyce now for England are they?
November 28th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Isn’t interesting that the legion of assholes who want foreign player quotas will be hard pressed to find a qualified English manager.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Villa warmed up for our game with a nice little 4-0 win at Blackburn, the same place we got run over in the second half. They are on a four game winning streak, which is their best in seven years. They will surely be up for our game.
Not only is Carew a big danger man in the air (like Crouch), Agbonlahor and Young have the pace to hurt us. Let’s hope our defence can handle them.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
My loins where hot and wet after the first 20 minutes. Then like George in an episode of Jerry Seinfeld, it was major “major shrinkage”. It was all over! Punished to wicked oblivion with a loss and the chilling of my concupiscent taste for total Arsenal dominance in all competitions. What happened? How could 20 minutes of confidence just evaporate in an ether.
Sendros seemed way out of his class. I don’t think I’ve ever seen and Arsenal game where a player picked up the ball in play before. Can any one else remember it happening? I’m sure he went to a brothel last night to commiserate the lack of titillating his balls during the game. Pitiful and way out of his class. Alarm, alarm.
I can live with this loss, as winning the EPL is more important to me as a fan. They’ve made in through to the next round in the CL anyway.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:16 am
if villa fear that we might bounce back and hit them….then it will be to our advantage. but if they come all out at us they could cause us damage. especially agbonlahor.
however, i think toure, gallas can handle carew….and i hope if agbonlahor plays wide, i hope he matches against sagna. let clichy take young.
i have a feeling fabregas wont be very effective in this match…he never is when not fully fit. so rosicky will really need to be up for it.
adebayor and flamini will need to work extremely hard and cover lots of ground.
also i think this might be the game to give bendtner and adebayor starts together. people say they are similar….i think they might actually be able to complement themselves very well. bendtner is a very good poacher….so adebayor can drag defenders around, leaving more space for him.
this duo will physically wear them down. their defense will tire very quickly if the full force of both bendtner and adebayor is unleashed on them. it will also mean that their fullbacks will not bomb forward that much as they will need to protect their central defenders.
our midfield should match their midfield. and clichy should not bomb forward. he should stay back and keep his end tight.
lastly, i really hope we play 4-4-2….not that bloody 4-5-1 again.
we should hit them with force and show them why we are a top team….not cower and try to play some tactical “european” game that we are not even that good at.
November 29th, 2007 at 4:05 am
Fred, I agree with most of what you say. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t play Ade + Bendtner. Ade can stretch the defense and Bendtner is a very good passer of the ball. Also, I hope it’s 4-4-2. Big question is who replaces Cesc (who is reportedly out for at least 10 days). If it’s Denilson again, we may struggle like at Wigan. But can Rosicky play CAM in a 4-4-2?
November 29th, 2007 at 4:24 am
From http://www.football365.com/mailbox/story/0,17033,8744_2927231,00.html
Whilst watching the Champions League highlights last night, I was interested to hear the commentator mention that Inter Milan had again put out a team without a single Italian in it. The first thing that came to my mind, of course, was Arsenal.
I wonder if the Italians slate Inter for not having any nationals in their team. I wonder if they constantly complain about the influx of foreigners in their league. Do they also demand a quota system? I wonder if they also moan about all their players staying in Italy rather than playing abroad. Every single member of their 2006 World Cup squad played for an Italian team. Then again, they won the World Cup in 2006 and last year AC Milan won the Champions League, so I suppose they’ve got nothing to complain about. Maybe their players are just better than ours. Maybe we’re just barking up the wrong tree.
November 29th, 2007 at 5:45 am
I think the difference is Italian players do play abroad. While English players, for whatever reasons, seem less willing to ply their trades elsewhere.
The top notch players I can understand, cos they earn enough playing in EPL. but the 2nd tier talents, players like SWP, who would rather warming the Chelsea bench than seeking opportunity elsewhere.
These days, they are lucky with all the foreign players in EPL, that gives them no choice but to raise their own technical level.
If they opt to close the door to the foreign players, and happy to dig their head into the sand, with all the English players playing against each other week in week out, Michael Carrack would be hailed as the new Michel Platini, with his passing. As no one else can pass.
…..Until they come out to play other European clubs/national teams that is.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Resting players is a double edged sword. Remember the invincible season. Wenger rested players in the FA Cup semi-final vs ManU. We lost that and three days later we were out of the CL as well. Three days after that we would have lost our invincibility but for a one-man show from Henry.
With Cesc and Hleb missing on Sat and Rosicky still struggling, it could be a very tough Sat game.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:16 am
yes nipuna. but we are not talking about a FA Cup semi-final. We are talking about a CL game which we had already qualified. Now we got Cesc injuried because of playing on that game. Is it worth it?
November 29th, 2007 at 10:31 am
If Cesc was injured before the game itself, it wasn’t worth it. Otherwise, he must play. I know where you are coming from. Hleb was already out, so why risk Cesc. But Cesc had already missed the Wigan game and so was ok to play. What if Toure got injured in Spain, should we have rested him as well?
November 29th, 2007 at 10:59 am
For me, this is a crunch match. If Wenger plays 4-5-1 against Villa, we could easily lose a close game. To win the title you need to be aggressive and take risks not show other teams you are frightened of them. It’s better to lose a close game by attacking then lose it by going out there with negativity and not creating any chances because you only have one striker up top. When Wenger plays 4-5-1 Arsenal create virtually nothing - but at least before Henry could do something magical.
This is a test of Wenger as much as the team. If Arsenal lose at Villa then I think the team will struggle badly to beat Newcastle and Middlesbrough will gain heart. We don’t to be going into January on the back of a series of bad results, only to see Toure disappear for 6 weeks. For me an awful lot rests on this game.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:09 am
the reason AW been playing 4-5-1 often lately is not simply because of being positive or negative. Didn’t we try to attack every match regardless of formation?
I think it had more to do with van Persie’s absence. When van Persie was there, how often did we play 4-5-1?
so it appears to me the reason AW been playing 4-5-1 is because neither Walcott, Bendtner or Eduardo has fully convinced AW they should be playing alongside Adebayor up front.
if van Persie is back in time, I think we will be seeing a 4-4-2.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:50 am
The problem now is that we relied on Hleb to be the one pushing forward from central areas in a 4-5-1. If you take away Hleb’s creativity in the center areas just behind Ade, it turns into a pretty dull attack. Perhaps Rosicky could play centrally… against Wigan we looked a lot better when he started drifting centrally more often. Lets face it, without Hleb and Cesc, Rosicky is our only creative midfielder and we, much more than other teams, definitely rely on creativity.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
anybody been watching Carlos Vela? I saw him in the under 20 world cup (knowing he was an Arsenal boy), and while he was a bit overshadowed by that ball-hog Giovanni Dos Santos, I liked some of his passing and movement. But I didnt see enough of him to think… wow, he is going to be a star.
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=484716&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Wenger+-+Vela+will+fight+for+place+next+season
November 29th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Saturday is BIG.
Today’s article quoting Wenger that appeared on the club’s official website makes clear that Clichy, Hleb, Van Persie, and Fabregas will be out. If any one of them is out, it is bad but we probably survive (except for possibly Fabregas or Hleb). Now, all four will be out, it’s gut check time.
Wenger MUST roll the dice and put Rosicky in the middle; but I’m afraid that Wenger will start with Denilson in the middle. Arsenal should not waste a half wihere Denilson must play the role of creator.
Likewise, I’m afraid Wenger will move Gallas to left back and put Senderos in place of Gallas in the middle. I don’t pretend to know what the best solution would be to dealing with Clichy’s absence but it cannot involve Senderos on the heels of that performance in Sevilla. Thinking it through, I don’t think Wenger will throw Traore back into the fray after Tuesday’s debacle so likely best-case scenario is Gilberto or Song accompanying Toure in central defense with Gallas shifting right. Not ideal but at least not Senderos. Only other alternative is to have Diarra play right back and move Sagna to the left. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Wenger align this way so I don’t think he’ll start doing that now.
Finally, I think Wenger should (and hopefully will) start Eboue and Walcott on the wings, pair Rosicky and Flamini in midfield, and pair Eduardo with Adebayor up front. The bench should be some combination of Diarra, Bendtner, Song/Gilberto, Gibbs and Lehman.
I’m really nervous. These injuries hit us at exactly the wrong time. But that is the test of a champion and if we can’t survive the next ten days/three games (i.e., 6 points at minimum) without Hleb, Clichy & Fabregas, that may be sufficient to put the damper on this year’s EPL title dreams.
November 29th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
We need Diarra in there full-time now. Wenger should quit pissing around trying to placate players like Flamini and play the best players. If you look at our central midfielders; Denilson plays in slow motion, so does Gilberto, even Fabregas does to an extent but he’s so intelligent he can still excell. Flamini is busy but immobile and clumsy and can’t shield the ball. Diarra possesses dynamism as well as being clever and crafty at shielding the ball. He may give away a few free kicks but he is a must against this high energy Villa side. Diarra was the official man of the match against Ukraine for France so that tells you how well he is playing.
Wenger said Hleb might be back so we could get away with playing a 4-5-1 if he is available. 4-5-1 doesn’t work when you have static midfielders. We had a plethora of those on Tuesday and that’s why we were so clueless. If we take an early lead a 4-5-1 with Hleb etc on the pitch it is a great way of playing.
I agree with those that call for Bendtner and Adebayor to play together. Adebayor should have the pace to stretch the defence and allow Bendtner space to shoot. They would be a nightmare for defenders and Bendtner deserves the chance to play alongside our first choice playmakers.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
I certainly don’t have a problem with Flamini being replaced by Diarra because I have never been and still am not convinced by Flamini. But I am convinced Wenger will not replace Flamini with Diarra. That is not Wenger’s way and there is nothing to indicate that Wenger is convinced by Diarra. Finally, I think it is extremely unlikely that Hleb will play on Saturday. Here is what Arsenal.com reports about Wenger’s view regarding the possible returns of Fabregas, Clichy, Hleb, Flamini and RVP (note no mention of Abou Diaby):
“I don’t know how long it will be for Cesc,” Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday afternoon. “We hope it will be very, very, very short maybe he’ll even be OK for Saturday. But the medical staff are not optimistic about that. The worst case for him realistically is 10 days.
“We have a slight chance to get Gael Clichy and Alexander Hleb back. Mathieu Flamini will be available. Of course Van Persie is still out.”
November 29th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
These injuries are really going to test our strength in depth, which judging by Seville will be practically zip against a side with their tails up, i.e. Villa.
I’d keep Gallas in the middle - he’s the frigging captain after all and will give us some oomph - with Toure, stick Flamini in Clichy’s spot (hey, it got us to the CL final) and partner Diarra and Denilson in the middle, with - sigh - the Oscar-winning Eboue on the right, and Rosicky drifting in from the left with Bendtner and Adebayor up front.
Then I would banish Senderos to the stands!
November 29th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I would go with
Almunia
Sagna Toure Gallas Flamini
Eboue Diarra/Gilberto Rosicky Denilson
Bendtner Ade
My main aim is that since we are missing many attacking players (RvP, Hleb and Cesc), we must ensure that we are strong in defence. That’s why I put Denilson ahead of Walcott. At the same time, Rosicky, Ade and Bendtner should have enough to attack and create chances.
I think Ade and Bendtner can play together. What Ade lacks in passing, Bendtner has and what Bendtner lacks in speed and agility, Ade has. Ade can stretch defences while Bendtner can pass the ball and link up well with Rosicky.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
seems like almost everyone is warming up to the ade-bendtner idea now…i thought u guys will shout it down after i pitched it lol.
anyway, a “twin towers” strike force will be good since our midfield wont be creating much anyway…..so the viable option is for toure to launch those his long balls …. sorry long passes to the two big men who in turn hold it for the midfield to push up.
rosicky is a runner not a passer….so we might as well go direct.
ade and bendtner will bruise and batter their central defenders…..so by 60 or 70 minutes we can bring in walcott and eduardo to finish them off……in theory.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:02 am
Fred, Bendtner is a good passer of the ball. And Ade is quick and agile for a big man. Like Andez mentioned, we should put long passes just because we have bigmen up front. That would be a mistake. If Rosicky has been the playmaker for Dortmund, Sparta and the Czech, he can do that job for Arsenal in a few games.
The other thing about the team I put was that it includes both DIarra and Flamini. I think we will need some fighters on Sat evening.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:42 am
I don’t agree with the Bendtner / Ade pairing up top. Villa’s defence is massive but terribly slow. Bouma, Knight, Melborg, Laursen all win tons of balls in the air and can take people off the ball quite easily. They can’t handle even the slightest bit of pace though. Against Chelsea, they looked great when Chelsea were launching balls forward to Drogba and Pizzaro, hoping they could hold them up. Against ManU, a much quicker and more dynamic group, they looked like they were cones and Tevez and Rooney were practicing around them. I hope they start Theo and Ade together up top.
A lot depends on who is fit. But if none of the players in question make it, then I would like to see the same lineup as last weekend with Flamini taking Clichy’s spot. Under no circumstances do I want Senderos getting near the field.
November 30th, 2007 at 2:39 am
@ nipuna: rosicky when playing for arsenal is a runner. he doesnt do that through-the-eye-of-a-needle passes that playmakers have to make. what he does for czech rep or what he did for dortmund might be irrelevant…cos the PL is a different ballgame.
to me rosicky is like pires and ljunberg….an AM or auxilliary striker…but not a playmaker.
November 30th, 2007 at 2:46 am
I don’t disagree with what Rosicky has done for Arsenal so far. 0 assists this season says it all. I am just saying that he should be able to do a play-making role for a few games as an emergency. But I doubt Wenger will play him there.
Brendan makes a good point about pace.
November 30th, 2007 at 4:47 am
I like the points Brendan brought up. I watched part of the Villa Vs Chelsea match as well. And Laursen played out of his skin. But Brendan got a point, one of the reason Villa’s defence had such a great game that day was Chelsea’s long ball tactic. Knight, Melborg, Laursen are all tall and strong, but vulunerable against pace.
if Clichy is unfit, i also see there is a chance Flamini taking up his spot, instead of shifting Gallas wide left. the wide position we can rotate it around, but it’s better we keep a strong spine.
November 30th, 2007 at 7:22 am
Wenger should forget about winning the title, as these injuries prove we haven’t got the strength in depth anyway - the wheels will probably fall off when Toure goes to the ANC like it did 2 years ago when we got knocked out of everything in his absence.
Players like Eduardo should play as much as possible so he can acclimatise to the team and be better next season.
Knowing Wenger, the team will probably be 4-5-1:
Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Hoyte, Eboue, Diarra, Gilberto, Denilson, Rosicky, Adebayor
November 30th, 2007 at 7:41 am
I strongly believe that if play well, we can win this game. The pressure on Aston Villa is huge. Their fans are talking about a CL spot and the expectations will be a lot. Villa may even try to attack, which might make it easy for us. A lot will depend on Rosicky. So far he has been more of a supporting act to Cesc and Hleb. Now he needs to take a star role.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:27 am
i agree nipuna. Our team this season is never about “cast”, otherwise there is no way we would be in where we are with a “cast” like Flamini and Almunia playing regularly.
Our strength is “possession” football. We keep the possession well, so we r always in control. Our defence has not been that outstanding. But if oppositions do not have the ball, they can’t score.
of course, having Hleb and Fabregas there it would be far more easier for us to keep possession and pass the ball well. But that doesn’t mean the rest of squad couldn’t do it.
Sevilla in my opinion is an excellent team, extremely skillful. And Aston Villa is not Sevilla.
Rosicky may not be a playmaker, but he’s not just a runner for sure. To me, I like the terms “Oil in the Machine” which used to be used to describe Robert Pires. IMO, both Hleb and Rosicky belong to that category. With them on the pitch, it makes our passing and build up play goes smoother than without them.
I like the point nipuna pointed out - so far, Rosicky has been shying away in the background. But he surely has the ability. Now with 2 key midfield players out, time for him to step up and take the responsibility. Particularly with whoever comes in taking up Cesc and Hleb’s places, it’s likely they are the young players who need someone to look up to.
If we really struggle without Cesc, Hleb, Toure or whoever else, we probably don’t deserve to win the Premiership anyway. Yet before that happens, I always believe we CAN DO IT.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Wenger probably won’t play a 4-5-1 tomorrow because Hleb isn’t there. Hleb is the closest thing to Cruyff I’ve ever seen (minus the goals). With his ability, he’s the next best option when RvP or Ade aren’t fit. There is no one in the team that can do what Hleb does so a 4-4-2 is a reasonable expectation.
I’ve been a Rosicky fan for years and know exactly what he’s capable of. He can play that central role as well as anyone in our team but the boss has asked him to play left attacking midfield. I’d love to see Rosicky get a run centrally but who do we have that can play wide left? Diaby didn’t do well. Eduardo continually left Traore exposed on Tuesday, as would Denilson, so what’s the best thing to do?
Wenger is already being foreced to make changes so he will not voluntarily make that many more. Traore or Hoyte will play LB (I thought Hoyte played well on Tuesday). Flamini needs a game but I wouldn’t start him against Villa as Diarra’s fitter. If Denilson plays too deep, like he has been, then bring on Flamini at LM and move Rosicky central. Our favorable match up is Eboue on Bouma as he’s fat and slow. If Eboue can get a position to run at Bouma in the box then I guarantee Bouma’s going to kick him.
This game has Eduardo written all over it. Man U ripped Villa because they were ball watching. If they lost track of Rooney, for crying out loud, then they’ll lose track of Eduardo. I’ve watched Rosicky for six years and he’s truly a playmaker. Villa will respect him because he can shoot so we need someone making clever runs behind their ball-watching defenders. If Tomas plays CM and Eduardo starts, then the Crozilian could bag a hattrick tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:16 am
josh, i agree with u on Rosicky. I too feel he may suprise ppl if he plays at CM.
a lineup like this:
Almunia
Sagna Toure Gallas Flamini
Diarra Gilbreto
Eboue Rosicky Eduardo
Adebayor
November 30th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
The injury picture just got a bit clearer but it is not good news. Fabregas is definitely out along with Diaby and Van Persie. Hleb and Clichy will travel but will face late fitness tests. I really hope Clichy plays because the continuity of our back four has been a real plus this season. Also, I predict Villa will start Moore and Carew up top with Agbonlahor and Young on the wings. That means tons of pace for Villa out wide and I feel much more confident that Clichy can handle them.
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=484788&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Fabregas+out+but+Clichy+and+Hleb+have+travelled+to+Villa
December 1st, 2007 at 4:31 pm
@92 - “Wenger should forget about winning the title”…
What a load of unmitigated crap.