| West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal | 15:00 19 March 2011 |

[thegame24]

4 3 3 means denilson or poor form diaby plays.

go 4 4 2 and attack.

 

[Kain]

Any formation and personnel that doesn't include D&D is good by me.

With a 4-4-2 formation there is less reliance on Cesc to be the pivot of the team, also wondering if we could play the formation with RVP and Theo as the front pair, but even if it could be done they get injured to often for it to be our mainstay plan.

 

[celestis]

Denilson out paced the two mop tops a couple of times today...

Yeah saw that ... still wondering how he did it .

 

[23AndreyArshavin]

****ting myself at the thought of Koscielny and Squillaci with Almunia at the back and Diabolical and Denilson in midfield

 

[Clrnc]

And it clearly kills the rumour Denilson lacks pace, he just lacks commitment and effort to track back that costed us dearly last few seasons.

 

[Emma Lusa]

It doesn't really matter who plays it's the way they play. We are second in the Pl with a goal difference of +30 they are one point above relegation with a gd of -15 .... if we apply ourselves as well as they do we must win. If we let them beat us in physicality/workrate/determination/concentration then this squad will be finished for yet another season. We don't need to win pretty we just need to win, we have the better players so if they apply themselves we must win - if not?

 

[mo50]

I've been wondering which one of the two stooges is the better option, and for me Denilson is. Diaby is a terrible, terrible footballer. Its like he doesn't see whats around him. He had a perfect opportunity to try to slip Van Persie through, but instead he held onto the ball and was eventually dispossessed. So much strength and talent wasted on that clueless guy.

If Song isn't fit, then I hope Denilson does. Diaby is Wenger's love child so he'll definitely start.

West Brom love to attack, and with Squillaci/Almunia at the back, along with our impotent attack I think this will end badly.

 

[fabo]

Can definitely see a slip here but regardless, I'm sure our performance level will be mediocre.

WBA are resurgent and I expect Hodgson to have them well-drilled.

Fail to win and we can kiss goodbye to the title, United have a home banker on the same day.

 

[celestis]

Song not coming back anytime soon ? If Diaby starts then he has to play in a holding role and keep it simple . Hopefully Ramsey start in AM or something like that .

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Let's hope Kos and Squib won't be tested much, but with a midfield consisting of the likes of Diaby and Denilson, they (we) are in for a buzy afternoon I fear.

4-4-2 is not going to happen, as much as Fabs, Song or Theo being fit for this I assume.
It's absolutely vital that Ramsey starts alongside Jack. One of Diaby or Denilson wouldn't be as harmful as both of them.

 

[justinmitchell]

doubt we'll win regardless of the lineup.

 

[SA Gunner]

The team is down and would want to respond, prove that they are eligible so it would be a situation of us threatening.

I think the inferior quality of WBA will allow us to convert a chance at least, and from that point onwards the confidence and belief should grow and we could grab a victory.

Technically it will be more of the same, patient build up approach and allowing the opposition defense to regroup sufficiently. We are likely to make a meal out of our performance as well.

I predict this to be the start of another "goood run" as Wenger likes to put it. Its vital we convert 90% of our remaining games keeping up with GD, and hope that Chelsea beat United at OT to allow us to lose at home.

 

[Goonereagle]

This is normally a tricky fixture and will be again, me thinks. This Brom team will probably have more grit than we will, even though we should be fumin' and ready to fight to the death.

My problem is, if we're 2-0 up, teams will still be applying pressure to us with 5 mins to go, whereas if we're 2-0 down, we offer no proper pressure.

This game will demand 90 mins of commitment and concentration... Anyone think we have either of those abilities? Especially now Djourou is out? These are games we should be winning, but we are so weak I have no idea what to expect.

 

[Hunta]

At least Denilson has set premier league records when he was in the team week in week out. What's Diaby done?

Richard Dunne sets records, those type of records mean naf all as far as im concerned. I backed Denilson all last season but he hasn't improved one bit and has arguably regressed. Playing him in front of a weakend backline is just asking for trouble.

Almunia

Sagna
Squid
Koscielny
Clichy

Ramsey
Wilshere
Cesc(if fit)

Nasri
RVP
Arshavin

 

[Bossa]

Diaby at the beginning of last season was wonderful, much better than Denilson until he got injured.

Diaby is a fantastic midfielder but he's quite useless if he is used as a squadie. Play him as a DM with two midfielders next to him who can actually play football(Ramsey, Wilshere, Cesc) and he will perform a lot better. Play him as a ball winning midfielder who can make forward runs and let two technical midfielders do the passing. At least that way the balance is right.

Yesterday the balance in midfield was totally off. Denilson is a passenger, Diaby is not a playmaker and Wilshere is not suited to play as only playmaker.

 

[celestis]

Diaby at the beginning of last season was wonderful, much better than Denilson until he got injured.

Diaby is a fantastic midfielder but he's quite useless if he is used as a squadie. Play him as a DM with two midfielders next to him who can actually play football(Ramsey, Wilshere, Cesc) and he will perform a lot better. Play him as a ball winning midfielder who can make forward runs and let two technical midfielders do the passing. At least that way the balance is right.

Yesterday the balance in midfield was totally off. Denilson is a passenger, Diaby is not a playmaker and Wilshere is not suited to play as only playmaker.

That is a really good point you make about all those players

 

[Tourbillion]

Martinez

Sagna
Koscielny
Miquel
Gibbs

Ramsey
Lansbury
Wilshere

Emmanuel-Thomas
van Persie
Miyaichi

Thanks bye.

 

[AnthonyG]

How much do we need this win?

For me, Ramsey is a must to start, hope Wenger sees it the same way.

Any maybe it's time to give Sagna a rest and play Eboue at RB, as much as I don't rate him.

 

[Y va marquer]

Sagna has looked out of sorts since the CC Final so maybe it is time to give him a breather.

WBA rarely keep a clean sheet at home so in theory this should present us with a decent chance of rebooting our own attack.

Wenger's attitude towards Ramsey is puzzling, I still don't understand why he spared him against Sunderland or why he left it so late to introduce him yesterday.

 

[-Shaun-]

Wenger knows more about Ramsey's fitness than us lads. If he feels he's ready to start games, then he'll do just that.