Even though less than a week has gone by since the Man Utd game, it feels a lot longer. Because last sunday’s game carried the weight of not only the previous 7 weeks, but also the expectations of an entire season. Even if Arsenal played quite well against Man Utd, when the final whistle blew it signaled not only the end of 90 minutes but any chances of silverware this year.
Still, the league calendar shows that there are 4 games remaining and 12 points to be won. Everton’s defeat on Thursday confirmed that Arsenal will finish no lower than 4th and will compete in the Champs League (group stage qualification is not yet confirmed). Now Arsenal have to focus on trying to get 2nd place while ensuring they don’t give up 3rd to Lucky Lucky Liverpool.
It is quite difficult to believe tomorrow’s game against Reading will give Arsenal a chance to win only their first home game since the Feb 11 2-0 win over Blackburn, a game which opened a 5 point lead for Arsenal at the top of the league and was the last game before darkness descended. In the 13 games since (5 home, 8 away in all competitions), Arsenal have won just 2, drawn 7 and lost 4 times. The 5 home games since the Blackburn game have resulted in all draws — 0-0 vs Milan, 1-1 ties with Villa, Boro and Liverpool. Arsenal have scored 14 goals in those 13 games and let in 20, with only 4 goals coming in the 5 home games. Arsenal scored more than one goal on only 3 occasions, the 2-0 away win to Milan, the remarkable 3-2 comeback win at Bolton and that 4-2 loss at Anfield.
So it would be great to heal some wounds & restore a winning mentality if Arsenal can get 3 points against a Reading team who are only 3 points above the last relegation spot and fighting for survival.
39 Responses to “Arsenal vs Reading”
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April 18th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Main question – who will partner Gallas?
April 18th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Why do we care?
April 18th, 2008 at 11:43 am
http://7amkickoff.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/the-quiet-man/
Lehmann is starting and Sagna is still injured so the boss will put four of the following players in defense:
Song, Senderos, Clichy, Toure, Hoyte, Gallas, Traore
April 18th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Hoyte is injured – so its likely to be:
lehmann
eboue – gallas – toure – clichy
walcott – fabregas – gilberto – hleb
RvP – bendy
i would LOOOOVE to have Song in the mid with fabregas …. i doubt wenger will do that though.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=490434&lid=NewsHeadline&sub=Wenger+-+Why+I+rested+Senderos+last+Sunday&sublid=NewsHeadline&Title=Wenger+-+Why+I+rested+Senderos+last+Sunday&f=rss
Senderos is in…
April 18th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
And if the boss doesn’t play Senderos, it will be Song.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
actually i dont think we need a striker. we are better off buying TWO solid attacking midfielders/wingers.
ideally i think 4-2-3-1 is a formation that would suit us well.
let hleb and flamini/song sit in the center behind an AM trio of fabregas and two other GOALSCORING AMs/wingers – rosicky, vela, walcott and merida will then be subs for this AM trio.
that way, hleb can be in his preferred center position but deeper – and since he is absolutely scared of scoring he will then have 4 players ahead of him at all times to pass to. song or whoever can then clean up beside him. i expect flamini to choose to go to juve.
off the top of my head: we could get hypothetically ofcourse – diego and arshavin for say 25 million. and say unknown awesome sagna/vidic clone CB (for no reason lets just say ledley king) for say 7 million from god knows where. and a new number one, lets say the 6 foot 5, alex gomes of PSV for 5 million. vela, merida, randall, gibbs return. off go gilberto, almunia and lehmann.
a lineup of say:
————————————gomes————————————————
———————————(fabianski)———————————————-
———————————-(mannone)——————————————–
sagna————- king ——————— gallas ———————— clichy
(eboue)————-(toure) —————(djorou)————————-(traore)
(hoyte)————-(song) —————–(harvard)———————–(gibbs)
————————–song ——————- hleb ———————————
————————-(diaby) —————-(denilson)—————————-
————————-(randall)—————-(landsbury)————————-
——–diego ———————- fabregas ————————– arshavin
——–(walcott)——————-(rosicky)—————————-(RvP)—
——–(merida)——————–(hleb)——————————–(vela)—-
—————————————–ade————————————————
—————————————(bendy)——————————————–
—————————————(RvP)———————————————–
key: SENSIBLE rotation. rotate just one or at most two a match.
after 2 games, continue with the full first team lineup but plug in bendtner….see what he can do…..do the same with traore, merida and vela….blooding them with the FIRST team. keeps everybody happy, keeps the first teamers on their toes. plus just one change wont disturb team chemistry too much.
rest fabregas after every 5 games. rest hleb every 2 or 3 games…..keeps him fresh and focused and saves him for the latter half of season. keeps denilson and diaby happy as well.
eboue can hold his own against lower half teams no doubt. so can diaby or denilson. but we should minimize putting them all at once.
bendy or RvP will probably work better as lone strikers than ade … but its all good….competition always brings out the best from ade anyway.
so basically if we can get even just ONE AM/winger, one solid CB and a proper GK. we are set and good to go for next season.
overally that wont cost us more than 25 million to buy….and we can recoup about 5 to 7 million from that. that is small change for a club our size.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
LOL
“Arsène Wenger has faith in Philippe Senderos and believes that time will heel the Swiss defender’s wounds.”
LOOOOL. Wenger is just fcking hilarious.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I have to laugh at how shocked Wenger acts when we continually come up short in these clutch defining periods. Anyone with a decent knowledge football knew the exact same thing would happen again, like it did last year. And yet he still doesn’t seem to have learned any lessons from any of it.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Senderos. He’s 23 years old and he has a lot to learn, I say we give him a chance before we start ripping him a new Arse.
I know you all are hurting that Arsenal haven’t won anything this year, but I think you’d do well to understand that Arsenal is not Man U; trophies are not guaranteed and you should feel happy that Arsenal have won as many as they have under Wenger. I think Nick Hornby put it best in his blog:
http://nickhornby.campaignserver.co.uk/?p=49
““What about 2004? When we won the League without losing a match? You don’t think he temporarily stopped the rot that year?”
“That was a disappointing season,” he said. (My italics.) “We should have won the Champions’ League, and he chucked the FA Cup away.””
Furthermore, the club have built a new stadium, and are in excellent financial shape without having to rely on the good graces of a rich benefactor.
Finally, Wenger is fundamentally changing the face of English football with this team’s style and youth policy. I personally enjoy watching this team whether they win games or not.
I don’t enjoy a bunch of people who play Football Manager slagging off Arsene Wenger because they think they know better.
Why can’t people just SUPPORT the team?
April 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Don’t pin your hopes on Wenger signing a solid CB. In 10+ years, Wenger has signed only two quality CBs – Campbell and Gallas. One was on a free and other came in a 13th hour swap deal. Every time I think that Wenger was ready to play the 06-07 season with Toure, Cygan, Senderos and Djourou, it gives me the shivers. Still there is some hope. Wenger did sign Sagna last year. He is the only solid defender for whom Wenger has paid lots of cash (was it 6-7M?).
April 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
tim: am one of the more and constantly optimistic people on this site. i support wengers youth policy and to be honest even if wenger buys just one player this summer….i will probably just make a new “team lineup” as above and predict a top 2 placing.
HOWEVER…the senderos case is different. take song for example…he starts out terrible and then improves. diaby has the excuse of playing out of position and two major injuries in his short career. denilson hardly ever plays like traore.
senderos just has NO excuse – he has a LOT of minutes under his belt. he is not out of position, he has had NO major injuries. yet he play completely inconsistently and on the average quite poor quality.
the thing about senderos is u just dont know when he will fuck up. so he cant be covered for. he lulls u into a sense of security, then promptly gets u dumped out of a cup……like he embarrassingly did in the FA cup 5th round last year and the CL.
what is his benefit really? he wins just slightly more headers than toure. and toure is the worst header i have ever seen. and we all know ever tom, dick and harry can skin him on the ground.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
It’s not about winning trophies. Of course no one can guarantee silverware, and there are only three meaningful trophies to go round, but it is the constant inability of Wenger to ditch the ego for a minute and stop putting a ‘years work’- as he puts it- into the hands of mentally fragile players like Senderos and incompetants like Eboue. He has had more than enough time to put these things right but he refuses to for reasons only he knows. He deserves all the stick he gets for hamstring himself in this fashion.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Wow, Wenger has gone berserk on Arsenal.com.
First, he has issued an April end deadline to Flamini. That’s great news.
Then, he refuses to say that Gallas will continue as captain next season. That’s quite surprising.
Finally, he has already revised his one “quality” player in the summer to two “real quality” players.
I guess the two losses have hit hard and we can hope to finally see some action.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
If he is serious about that then i am glad.
Two top, top quality players – one AM/winger, one CB …..plus maybe a goalie will set us NICELY for next season.
Am sorry for Flamini. He will go to the Juve or wherever bench ….he will then play a few games and look completely unimpressive – and from there its all down hill.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Flamini on the bench? You’re taking the piss…
April 18th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with Senderos.”
Now who’s taking the piss?
April 18th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
@ 16: flamini is a husstler. husstle is the main substance of the PL…..in europe it is a weird phenomenom. i see a lot of bench time in his italy future. he will finally settle on a starting role at maybe auxerre or some other random french team.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Would love to see the following lineup for Reading tomorrow:
Lehmann
Eboue, Toure, Gallas, Clichey
Walcott, Song, Fabregas, Hleib
RVP, Ade
Bench: Fabianski, Denilson, Silva, Bendtner, Diaby or Traore
If we can’t beat Reading at home with this team we really have a problem.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I have had this notion in my head for sometime now that Flamini will be leaving us. Based on the manner in which he handled his transfer to Arsenal he seems to be very financially astute, is looking for the big bucks and will play hard nosed to get it wherever he can.
His potential loss may be our gain though as this would give Song and hopefully Toure a chance to redefine this position for us once again and add more pace and height to the midfield at the same time.
Flamini with his rather diminutive stature is better suited for the Spanish and Italian game anyway but might find it difficult to be an everyday player at the top European clubs. I wish him all the luck because he has served us well but I think he is making a grave mistake by leaving and will most likely suffer from the dreaded post Arsenal syndrome.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Senderos was part of the team that set a record for clean sheets in the Champions League.
“Oh but that was two years ago”
AND he was the one who deputized for Toure while he was off in Africa — that was when Arsenal’s defense was at its best this season.
Honestly, he let Hyypia score that goal, yes. Anyone who blames him for Torres’ goal is taking things away from Torres because that was just a magnificent goal.
Remember this goal?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhnHPg0yvlM
That’s Freddy Ljungberg dusting off none other than John Terry.
Given some of your short sighted reactions to Senderos’ mistake I wouldn’t be surprised if you would have called for John Terry to get fired…
April 18th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Fred,
Flamini is the starting holding midfielder on one of the best teams in the world. Like Gattuso. Who starts for Milan.
Flamini would be first choice holding midfielder for Juve who are currently laboring under the delusion that Sissoko is a footballer.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
And that great clean sheet record would never have happened if Beckham had taken advantage of Senderos tripping over his own feet at the Bernabeu and beaten Lehmann on a one on one.
Lehmann was basically the main reason for that clean sheet record and playing deep in a 4-5-1 counter attacking style allowed Senderos to defend deep and not get exposed for lack of mobility. He did well in that context.
Torres is hard to mark but Senderos was nowhere near Torres when he hit the shot. He was a good five yards away and just stood there like an oak tree. That was unforgiveable.
I see Wenger gave him timeout last week to help him get over the Anfield defeat. I make that the third or fourth time Wenger has done that throughout his Arsenal career.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
John and Terry and Sendy in the same breath? Say no more. (I’m begging you.)
April 18th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
So, Senderos has nothing to do with two HUGE positives but is to blame for every goal?
There were 4 (four) white shirts around Torres. Gallas failed to win the header, Gilberto failed to close space, and Toure stood around.
Yes, Senderos got nutmegged but defense is a TEAM effort and the TEAM needs to step up
Senderos is 23, John Terry was in his 20s. John Terry was given chances, Senderos is not.
No wonder Cesc says stuff like: “The good thing about playing away is that we don’t have the pressure from our own fans.”
It’s because you lot don’t let Arsenal players make mistakes. If Arsenal score a goal, it’s because we’re brilliant. If they score a goal it’s because we’re shit. If the team doesn’t win every game, some people are on their Wii trying to figure out whiuch Center Half Wenger should buy to “cover” for perfectly fine players, who may just need some more time to develop.
And a lot of us older Arsenal fans are saying this by the way, I quoted Nick Hornby earlier and I’ll quote Arseblogger now:
“Seriously, when you find your top scorer (Adebayor), a 25 goal striker, a man who scored in both legs of the Champions League quarter final, a guy whose goals carried us for a long period this season, getting that kind of stick then what fucking hope is there for anyone else? Senderos got the backing of the boss after his ‘bad game’ against Liverpool but you’d swear that he was the only young centre-half to ever fuck up the way some people go on. Look at the 2nd goal in the 2002 FA Cup final. Watch Freddie Ljungberg, hardly the most physical of players, leave the Chelsea centre-half on his arse before going on to curl home that beautiful goal. The centre-half was a young John Terry, who also had a lovely own goal habit in his early days.”
But if it makes you feel better to just have a go at Phillipe Senderos or crack jokes about Senderos and Terry in the same breath, feel free.
For my money, you’re the ones not doing your job as “supporters” of the club. It’s OUR club after all. Why don’t we show it some support, instead of trying to figure out who needs to be replaced and how badly everyone sucks.
I love this team. This one, as constituted, with everyone healthy they are the best team in the world. When they are on their game they are a pure joy to watch. I’ll take a mistake by Senderos at a crucial moment over a team full of overpaid prima-donnas like at Chelsea, Man U, and Liverpool.
Up the Arse!
April 18th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
You gotta show some steel, when you are a defender. Breaking down after a defeat and not being able to practice and play the next game shows poorly on the mental strength of Sendy. Someone like Stam, perhaps may well be the answer.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Nipuna@14 I think Wenger’s sudden reference to two “real quality” players may well have a link with the Flamini issue. EIther he thinks Flamini will leave and is referring to a replacement and/or he is giving Flamini the message that he is preparing for life without him… letting him know he is expendable.
Senderos had a bad game but there has been much improvement from him of late, I do not think it is time to give up on him, but I still want a commanding CB in our team. Micah Richards would be my preferred choice; he is young, fast, strong, good in the air, can cover for Sagna at RB if necceaary, knows how to play premiership football and loves Arsenal. Arsene will not buy him though because of the price tag, he will stick to his principles but I hope I am wrong. Defence has been our biggest problem his year.
We do need a striker if we want to challenge on all fronts next season. If Vela can step up to the plate or Walcott maybe, I don’t think Nick is ready to give us 15 a season yet a lot more needs to be added to his game. Eduardo is out and we may not see him at his best for the whole of next season, RVP is unreliable due to his injury problems, Ade is yet to convince me that he can be entirely reliable, however I hope he will do that next season, but an insurance policy would be helpful.
I have been saying Traore should be a LM from the first time I saw his attacking capabilities, defensively he looked dodgey every time I saw him in the reserves, some of the mistakes he made Senderos look like a genius. I have only seen him defend well in one game the CC final last year. He is doing really well at LM in the reserves at present and with Vela, Rosicky, Diaby and even RVP able to play there i do not see the need for a LM, but Ben Afra would be a great addition, which would allow Vela and Traore time to develop further and allow Rosicky to be another option on the right.
Looks like we may well need a CM/DM, Denilson is not ready yet in my eyes not sure if Diaby has the defensive qualities to succeed next season at least. Song, despite his heroics in the ACN I am not convinced he would be an upgrade to Flamini if he left. We needed to be moving forward not backward. I think Toure or Djourou may well be able to adapt to the role and do well, especially Toure with the energy he has. Gilberto looked good in the last two games, despite giving away the conclusive free kick he had a good game. If he hadn’t of played so well we would not have dominated that game, we all know from this season performance what a liabilty he can be when he is not playing well. However I think for his career he should go because Wenger does not have him in his long term plans, he would rot on the bench.
For me a goalie is a must, I honestly do not see Fabianski as a being able to challenge Almunia or being a competent replacement for the time being.
I suppose I need not mention RM, we have Emmanuel Eboue amongst others he is so strong in that position and never gets injured, I just hope Juve or Milan don’t come and steal him from under our noses.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Have to agree with Jimmy The Tooth remarks regarding our incessant flogging of players over mistakes made on the field.
Players have to be judged on their overall contribution over time.Players are human beings and one thing we know for certain about humans is that they are not infallible. Even the best makes mistakes, even the best will have a poor season. Take Ronaldinho and Kaka this season when they have not been at their best. Who would have the balls to say they are not world class player?
We incessantly berate and criticize members of our squad when we should be supporting them and offering solace. Patrick Viera in his heyday made numerous errors, gave up numerous free kicks in dangerous and got sent off for silly fouls which led us to become the best team ever to play with 10 men. Henry missed a ton of easy chances, although he created some improbable goals on his individual ability, but as with Viera and Henry we always remember them for the good deeds done while being members of the Gunners.
Before we make these continuous disparaging remarks about players we need to exercise some deep rooted introspection and decide whether we need to aimlessly criticize or whether we should make constructive suggestions to make things better.
It has often been said, “Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones”. Yes, we have the right of free speech, we have the right to criticize, but to lambaste someone’s child who has reached far higher in their profession than we ever will in our respective lives reeks of social injustice.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
come on arsenal. 3 -nill to the arsenal
April 18th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/04/19/sfnmot119.xml
Nice interview with Theo here, in which he keeps making all the right noises about building upper body strength in the gym, getting more aggressive, chomping at the bit.
Let the moose loose!
Tomorrow it’s going to be 2-1, rather than a big thrashing. They need points to survive. We will be a bit hungover from our worst week in 12 years, rather than roaring out like a wounded animal.
Come on Gunners. Give us a win.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
aye… up the arse!
We should all plan some end of season parties to celebrate the year that was. Then go into next season with a sense of well being instead of this press generated malaise.
Also, I wonder if many of you have heard of a site called fark.com? I always host a thread in the sports tab on match day and you all should come in and support the Arsenal!
See you all later
April 19th, 2008 at 12:09 am
[...] Arsenal v Reading match preview is blogged by Sachin of Arsenal [...]
April 19th, 2008 at 2:22 am
arthur3sheds@27, I did think about that a little later. I think Flamini is gone. Nobody signs in April. Wes Brown did, but ManU pays a lot more than Arsenal and they are champions. I think Flamini is gone. So the two quality players might actually be only one, since one is a replacement.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I can see why Wenger defends Senderos. He is not a first choice. It is Toure who has screwed up since returning from the ACN. Remember, he walked back straight into the team although Senderos was doing decently. But he goofed up so badly in the Chelsea game that Senderos had to be called back. Senderos had a good first leg. Yes, he screwed up big time in the second leg, but all would have been forgotten if Toure hadn’t bundled over Babel. So the way Wenger looks at it, his first choice CB has also goofed up. So it could be time for a new one.
Whoever said that defending is a TEAM effort is spot on. ManU have the best defence because Vidic and Ferdinand are great as a team and played together all year. Terry, Carvalho and Alex are all very good defenders, yet Chelsea conceded so many more goals this year. Why? Because Grant keeps changing the back four.
For us, none of the combinations seem to work. Gallas + Toure are too weak in the air. Gallas + Senderos is too slow for an Arsenal (would have been fine for others). Toure + Senderos is weak in both respects. What we need is a Campbell. Not the fastest, but not the slowest either. Most importantly, very good in the air.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:32 am
The question is what does Wenger see?
He rarely criticises his team let alone a specific area of the team and certainly not his captain. So his comments on the defence and his refusal to confirm Gallas as captain next year are very telling.
If he decided to change the captain would Gallas remain at Arsenal?
He’s not happy with his defence yet his captain is at the heart of the defence.
Sagna and Clichy are cert’s. It’s Gallas and Toure that should worry. Toure has performed particularly badly since the ANC, but even prior to that his p’ship with Gallas has looked unbalanced. Neither command the air. They don’t really compliment one another and both would probably rather play with a storng positional player. In Toure’s defence he has proved himself before, he has done the job for Arsenal. He is also very durable and is high in the most-games-played per season for the team every season. And he has a wonderful attitude.
Gallas is different. He’s got that French moody emotional bent. His overall peformance as captain is mixed with some very poor moments and I do wonder how seriously the players now take him. Playing-wise it has been a mixture as well. But the real trick is could Wenger take the captaincy off him and keep him as a productive team member? I don’t know.
Flamini. Joshua said some time ago that Flamini is showing his true colours again and will leave. I doubted it, but with time passing it is starting to look more possible. I still think he would be nuts to do so.
If it happened…..I too like the idea of trying Toure in the role beside Fabregas. He is so jolly energetic all-action and muscular.
Whilst I see the trouble in defence and would love Wenger to break his MO and buy real quality there, the attack worries me more. Next season wll start with Eduardo out, RvP and Rosicky looking unreliable crocks, and Bendtner and Walcott showing what can at best be described as glimpses of quality. So if we line up with an unchanged attacking unit we will start worse-off next year than we did this present one.
April 19th, 2008 at 5:20 am
Hi Folks,
Was on a business trip to the Emirates (Dubai not Ashburton) last week…..so missed out the Man Utd-Arsenal match and the ensuing discussions here…..judging by the result it was no surprise to see some of the ‘fans’ having a great time again getting their predictions right…As far as I am concerned while I have no doubts about the ability of this team to win something next year…I have given up trying to convince people that things are not as bad as they seem to be ………..as it seems to be a losing battle at this stage…..i guess time and results will ultimately prove who was right.
Wenger will most likely sign just one or a max of two players this summer..one of them should be a Winger/Striker and the other if at all will be a CD. Judging by Wenger’s comments on Arsenal.com …..might be a possibility of Gallas leaving this summer ….only then will he sign a CD. Hearing a lot of noises about Amauri….but don’t see it happening…from what I’ve seen of him…he would be too similar to Adebayor and Bendtner ….. We need someone with real pace and sharpness to complement Adebayor. It’s not surprising that Adebayor’s scoring run came to an abrupt end with the injury to Eduardo …… Although Adebayor has always been giving his 100% and should be given full marks for his efforts…..his goal scoring form actually coincided with the emergence of Eduardo.
If I had a choice of a dream signing …i would go for ‘Kun’ Aguero who in my mind could be the missing link in this team……but the price tag would be way too high and doubt if Athletico would be willing to sell him…hope Wenger manages to unearth a cheaper replacement with the same skills and qualities.
Judging by Wenger’s ultimatum to Flamini..it does seem like he’s gone …but i’m not really too concerned as I feel we do have adequate cover in his position. But if Hleb decides to leave then it would be a real cause of concern…too many people slate him for his lack of goals or direct assists (which is sometimes frustrating I do admit) …but the guy contributes massively to the team in other respects which very often go unnoticed.
@Kiwi …..If Wenger does sign this ‘real quality’ Winger he is talking about…we should be more or less settled in attack…..Don’t forget that in addition to the guys we already have and the probable new signing ….we will also have Vela coming into the team….and if Barazite does not make it to the first team next year…..I will be very very surprised. Plus..Walcott seems to have matured a bit and should play a more important role next season compared to what he did this season. So even if you discount Rosicky and RVP for injuries..we should be well covered in attack.
Cheers,
Wayne
April 19th, 2008 at 5:58 am
I was travelling too Wayne, so I haven’t commented on the last few games, altho I saw them.
Re attack,
CF: We have Adebayor and Bendtner as his backup. So we’re ok there.
2nd striker: An unreliable RvP, and potentially a Walcott as backup who has shown infrequent glimpses of quality in the last couple of months.
Wide 1: Hleb (whom I am happy with, accepting that he won’t score many and won’t attack the box)
Wide 2: An unreliable Rosicky (who as well as being unreliable fitness-wise has yet to impose himself regularly on our games – altho I accept he looks a nice fit stylistically)
Wide backup: Nothing but a green Vela – who is a welcome attacking option, altho his impact as an option will likely be more effective in the middle and later part of next season.
The other existing wide options (Diaby, Walcott, Eboue….) are pretty ordinary stuff – when you consider the critical role Arsenal wide players perform.
So 2nd striker is a problem and out wide is a problem. But the real problem is the uncertainty re fitness surrounding RvP, Eduardo and Rosicky. Carrying 3 high-risk players, 2 of which are certain-starters and the other a real contender, severely weakens our squad. Wenger has three choices:
1. takes a high risk and gamble on their collective fitness and do nothing
2. sign 2 genuine contenders at 2nd striker and wide/wing – and let them all battle (assuming the crocks return to consistent fitness)
3. go for a half-way approach and sign one multi-functional attacking player, hoping either RvP or Rosicky come good.
Remember. At the start of this season Wenger took the 3rd approach and signed Eduardo. Only problem was that he got crocked, and neither RvP nor Rosicky came good!!! And neither Bendtner nor Walcott have been anywhere near good enough at present.
If he takes the same approach next season and we fall short……what will we say?
April 19th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Kiwi@27, Well said.
I think we need a striker AND a winger. Ideally, for the league, that should be enough, if the two players can click from game 1 (like Sagna) and we are a little more fortunate with injuries than the previous years. A case of score more goals than we concede, not like Real Madrid or Newcastle, but within decent defensive stability.
But if want to challenge in Europe, a strong defence is a MUST. Defensively weak teams can make it only so far. Look at Barca, they will most likely get knocked out by ManU. If Flamini goes, ideally, we would need a DM too, but I think this will be the area Wenger will go with what he has – Song, Diaby, Denilson, Djourou, Toure, etc.
So that’s really 3 players to be eliminate injuries, suspensions and hopefully luck – CB, winger, striker.
I wouldn’t mind selling Bendtner and getting a Villa or somebody like that. I love Bendtner and think he can make it big. But he is too similar to Ade, so won’t start too many games and he seems to be having too many problems with team-mates, which is never good. I just cannot envisage going into the new season with RvP injured in the Euros and Ade + Bendtner + Walcott + Vela.
April 19th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Either that, or we sell Rosicky and replace him with a winger and buy a new striker and keep Bendtner as well. We will have 5 strikers, but Walcott can be used as a winger too. What happens if RvP and Eduardo recover and stay fit? The best ones wins.
Ah well, one can dream.