Arsenal v. Sunderland [League - 21 Feb 2009 15:00]

[Anonymous]

I think actually Wenger wont start Arshavin, I think Arshavin might come on minute 60th.

I expect this formation.

Almunia
Sagna
Djourou
Touré
Clichy
Eboue
Denilson
Song
Nasri
Vpersie
Bendtner

I hope Wenger will play Arshavin from minute 1 so we all can see what he can offer us, but I dont think he will do it (Wenger).

2-1 for us.

come on you know AW makes his predictable first sub 99% on the 70th minute. on a serious note though, I would love to see him a bit more brave sometimes with his sub patterns...I cant remember the last time I've seen him make a half-time tactical change if we've been struggling/stagnant for the first half..he's far to cautious and predictable...i dont particularly like Mourinho but I admired his bravery when at Chelsea where after a bad first half he may make two subs at half time etc decisions which may seemed rash and panicked but they almost always turned the game during his reign there..

 

[arsenalfc0719]

Almunia
Sagna - Touré - Gallas - Clichy
Nasri - ? - Arshavin - Vela
van Persie - Eduardo

Either Song or Denilson instead of ? is fine with me.

Arshavin is not a CM, defensivly we'd be all over the place with that team. Arshavin, Nasri and Vela's contribution in defense is close to none.

Almunia
Sagna - Touré - Gallas - Clichy
Nasri - Song- Denilson - Arshavin
van Persie - Eduardo/Bendtner

 

[Anonymous]

Arshavin will play every premierleague and FA cup match from now until the end of the season. It simple and makes sense... no one should tell me he is not match fit because he has been training the last 1 month in Dubai and here at home. We have 2 home league matches and He should be good enough to settle with the team and win us games athome against Sunderland and Fulham...we paid 15 mil and he is the highest wage paid in the team. Unless he is injured the guy should be good enough to start every league and FA cup match as he is not involved in the CL which are a midweek games. We have been good enough on defense lately and we need is an offensive winger which is why he was bought as an alternative to Nasri/Eboue. In my understanding Eduardo and Arshavin should play everyweekend because they are experienced and intelligient enough to make a difference upfront. We sooo need some smart players because right now we are butch of running headless chickens with Eboue, Bentdner, Adebayor, Diaby, Song and Denilson. We currently have Nasri, RVP, Eduardo and Arshavin to give us a more intelligient movement with the ball comming soon FAB and Rosicky and we will be back in business. Wenger better play Arshavin soon even 60 min is more enough to start with.

agree 100%, whats the point of buying him for that money at his age and experience and the injuries we have, been struggling in attack, and with less than half a season to go, when he cant feature in the CL..i really hope Wenger is not predictably cautious with him..if fit, I want to see him start all our remaining league and FA cup games (assuming he performs well to keep his place)..otherwise what's the point?

 

[sabret00the]

Almunia
Sagna - Touré - Gallas - Clichy
Nasri - ? - Arshavin - Vela
van Persie - Eduardo

Either Song or Denilson instead of ? is fine with me.

Why risk moving away from the central midfield system thats solidified our defence for the last 9 games?

You mean Song and Denilson, Song and Diaby or Denilson and Diaby? Or Denilson and Nasri, perhaps? We haven't had a consistent central midfield system since Cesc broke.

sabre: I thought Vela was excellent on the left wing against Cardiff (yes, admittedly - against Cardiff; but isn't that the very reason why people are advocating for Eduardo to start right now?). I'd like to see him get the chance again. And Arshavin is fully capable of playing all over the attacking midfield anyway. We need more creativity and more goal chances.

Dudu is a proven world class goal scorer at the highest level. Vela had his best performance under his belt against a poor Cardiff where he's otherwise been useless. If comes off the bench and amazes, then i'm all for him starting, but ahead of our brand new £16m winger based on a single performance. I say not yet. He has it all to prove.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

You're missing the point, all of those guys have taken a defensive, or at the very least conservative approach to to the position.

Putting Arshavin there means that goes out the window.

Well, we haven't exactly played great while pairing them in the middle, have we?

Eduardo is a proven world class goal scorer at the highest level.

He scored four league goals at the highest level before he broke his leg. He's got worldclass potential but is nowhere near "proven", not yet.

Vela had his best performance under his belt against a poor Cardiff where he's otherwise been useless.

Vela had his best performance against Sheffield in the Carling cup and has very rarely been played as a winger.

 

[tam1886]

If Eboue/Diaby starts ahead of Arshavin/Eduardo/Vela, I will throw the TV out through the window.

I wouldn't blame Arshavin for just walking out on us if that was the case. I'd do the same in his position.

 

[Rohit]

Eboue will certainly start against Sunderland or against Roma and i can't stand the thought of him playing on the right wing again.

 

[atmosphere]

Well Sabre is right. Wenger is not going to destabilise the CM pairing of Song/Denilson (assuming Diaby is not fit) just to accommodate Arsh when there's a glaring hole elsewhere to be filled i.e. Eboue's position. He is almost certainly bound to play on either wing should he makes an appearance.

On the game itself, we all know what to expect from Sunderland - ten men behind the ball and a lot of hoofings to Jones hence we need an aerially competent CB in Djourou and a lot of movement up top. I'd go with Robin and either Vela or Edie. As well as Bentdner did against Cardiff, it was the movement of those two that caused the most damage.

Didn't see this post before. At no point have I ever said Arshavin should be played in the middle or that Song and Diaby should start. I was questionning the assumption that he'll start on the right or up top.

Look earlier in the thread for my prefered team selection. :wink:

 

[otfgoon]

You're missing the point, all of those guys have taken a defensive, or at the very least conservative approach to to the position.

Putting Arshavin there means that goes out the window.

Well, we haven't exactly played great while pairing them in the middle, have we?

We've not lost in 12 and have conceded 3 in our last 9 games.

And we also saw in the last game what a midfield without Eboue and a strike pairing without a really out of form Adebayor can do to our game going forward, with that central midfield pairing.

 

[qs]

You're missing the point, all of those guys have taken a defensive, or at the very least conservative approach to to the position.

Putting Arshavin there means that goes out the window.

Well, we haven't exactly played great while pairing them in the middle, have we?

We've not lost in 12 and have conceded 3 in our last 9 games.

And we also saw in the last game what a midfield without Eboue and a strike pairing without a really out of form Adebayor can do to our game going forward, with that central midfield pairing.

The nost lost thing is a load of **** though. We've not won enough either.

 

[OneProudGooner]

I really don't think our unbeaten record is that impressive, we got a couple needless draws we could do without, aswell as taking the lead and failing to keep it.

The goals we've conceded is not totally down to improved defensive play though there is still vulnerabilities on the defensive side especially with our midfield.
Games such as the first leg against Cardiff in the Cup you don't expect us to concede against them nor Bolton at Home, against West Ham at the end of the month who hardly showed intent to attack and Tottenham could have easily put a few past us if they had more cutting edge upfront on the day. Add the fact that we conceded sloppy goals against Hull and Everton who could have easily won that day.

 

[1970*Gooner]

Eboue will certainly start against Sunderland or against Roma and i can't stand the thought of him playing on the right wing again.

Eboue should be nailed to a door or a tree somewhere in Siberia and left there never to put an Arsenal shirt on again.
I am looking forward to this game, this might kick start us into a positive drive for that 4th spot, I feel positive about this game and I haven't felt like that for a while, I am going for a 3-0 to us

 

[USArsenal]

well, since Arshavin is cup-tied, might as well start him against Sunderland if we're gonna play him.. if Tw*tboue is going to have to start against Roma (oh please Lord, make it not so), then no reason for Arsh not to have a go v. Sunderland...

 

[otfgoon]

The nost lost thing is a load of s**t though. We've not won enough either.

It shows we've been harder to beat. Points wise drawing may not be much better than a defeat but in general a draw is a hell of a lot better than losing.

This unbeaten run is certainly a hell of a lot better than lost 4, won 3 in the 7 games that came before it. And winning 5 out of the last 9 isnt a horrible record when you take into consideration that two of those draws were away to Sp**s (with ten men) and Everton.

 

[Unforgiven]

Apart from the draw against West Ham, I think that most of our games lately have been alright. We have had some descent results.

I don't want to have my hopes too high for Arshavin. First game, I think he will play well but we will not see the best of him.

Really looking forward to the game this weekend. I think it will prove if we are changing our season around.

 

[qs]

I think Arshavin could actually have a great debut but then start stuttering a little as he adapt to England. That often happens with foreign stars.

 

[atmosphere]

I think Arshavin could actually have a great debut but then start stuttering a little as he adapt to England. That often happens with foreign stars.

I hope he has a similar 'point to prove' mentality to Eduardo and plays out of his skin.

 

[Unforgiven]

I think he will have a great debut because he had the 2 weeks to play with the squad, which is plenty of time to adapt and play the arsenal style.

If we are drawing towards 20 mins to go I hope Wenger takes him off for eduardo. If Arshavin can play the full 90 mins then he shouldn't be taken off.

 

[qs]

I think he will have a great debut because he had the 2 weeks to play with the squad, which is plenty of time to adapt and play the arsenal style.

During the International break he was training with just Vela.

 

[Unforgiven]

You never know Vela could have taught him a lot of stuff...

I didn't know that. Well he has had some training anyway which is important.