Arsenal Thread

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Well WEEEEEEEEEE drew with them

[FLiam]

Plus, that was at home. We were AT Anfield.

[supergrass]

To try and put a more positive spin on things, I think Freddie Ljungberg looks like he's finally reaching somewhere near his best again. Since our double winning season when Freddie went goal mad he's never been as good (though most of that is down to injury) but in the more recent games he's looked like the Freddie of old, full of running and a danger going forward.

We've not been playing well, but it's hardly crisis territory yet. We should've got more from the Palace and West Brom games (IMO we didn't deserve anything against Liverpool for our performance in the first half), but we're still second, can still catch Chelsea, so let's just see how it goes.

[Guest Pirate Chasin' Booty]

The bragging from Chelsea fans is cool, because much like last year from the likes of Rio Bravo who bragged like a bitch about going to win the CL, I just store the info and archive it for the end of the season when I can bring it back and use it to laugh at you.

I hope the game tomorrow is kept as teams made up of young players, but I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

[FLiam]

Yep, it is.

Arsenal squad:

Manuel Almunia

Chris Wright

Robin van Persie

Mathieu Flamini

Philippe Senderos

Jermaine Pennant

Gael Clichy

Justin Hoyte

Patrick Cregg

Johan Djourou

Sebastian Larsson

Arturo Lupoli

Quincy

Frankie Simek

Danny Karbassiyoon

Ryan Smith

To be honest, that is our youth team, Almunia is the only player who is older than 21 and Man Utd will have experience.

[FLiam]

1-0 down at halftime .

We have been playing well though imo.

Senderos, Clichy, Flamini, van Persie and Abeyie have all been very good, especially Flamini, he is the player we need in the 1st team right now. He is full of energy and doesn't wimp out of tackles, he is the man to replace Gilberto I feel.

I sense a couple more goals in the 2nd half, I think we can score at least one and am looking foward to seeing Smith come on.

[RawIsWar]

Arsenal were really unlucky, a mistake by the goalie cost the match, maybe Lehamnn would of made a bigger mistake

That is why i feel teams should field there strongest 11 from start to finish of the cup

[supergrass]

To stop one off mistakes?

I don't see the need for us to win the Carling Cup or field a full team. If we did win it nobody would regard it as a serious accomplishment, and it's hardly of top importance when we're likely to qualify for Europe (and the Champions League at that) anyway.

It's been good to get a look at our younger stars over the last few weeks, and as I've said before playing against teams like Man City, Everton and play at Old Trafford can only benefit them. Considering our squad is a little stretched at the moment too, it's even more worthwhile giving those youngsters some first team experience for if/when they're called upon.

[therockbox]

Arsenal were really unlucky, a mistake by the goalie cost the match, maybe Lehamnn would of made a bigger mistake

That is why i feel teams should field there strongest 11 from start to finish of the cup

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Edited December 2, 2004 by The Rock Box

[FLiam]

Yeh, the important ones like the league and champion's league. I mean winning the League Cup is NOT going to make up for not winning the Premiership or Champion's League, not matter what Chelski fans will tell you

[TMM]

Wenger ponders Petit return

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits he has thought about signing Emmanuel Petit as a stop-gap solution to his midfield problems.

The Gunners have been unsettled by injuries to Gilberto Silva and Edu with a lot of pressure being heaped on young Cesc Fabregas in the engine room.

Former Highbury favourite Petit has been bidding to improve his fitness by using Arsenal's facilities after failing to find a new club since leaving Chelsea.

With Edu out of contract in the summer, Wenger has been mulling over all sort of possibilities.

"It has crossed my mind to help Emmanuel," said the Arsenal manager.

"He is here to get back to full fitness and find a club.

"It isn't in my mind at the moment to sign him but maybe he could help us here for a few months.

"I haven't ruled it out.

"I know him," he told The Evening Standard. "I know he is a great player and if Edu goes?"

Well, I wouldn't mind giving him a six-month contract, I mean it'll get him fit and he'd also be a decent asset for us to sort out the midfield, so I like the idea.

[FLiam]

Thing is, his match sharpness will be poor. Sounds like the only real possibilty though, seeing him play again would be awesome. But he is way past his prime, we will have to see what happens.

[Guest Pirate Chasin' Booty]

The thing is, he was training with Arsenal in the hope of Crystal Palace or Bolton taking an interest in him, I wouldn't complain as it'd only be a short term solution (something I do on FM2005 alot) but at the same time he's not done anything decent since leaving Arsenal in the first place.

[TMM]

Yay! 3-0! A good win, and hopefully this will reawaken the bloody players!

[Summers]

Yay.

You beat the Blues.

Edited December 4, 2004 by Summers

[FLiam]

Crisis, what crisis?

Anyway, when I saw that Lehmann had been dropped I was a tad worried that Almunia would be a donkey again, in the end, he didn't hjave anything to do, so now I am worried he will start on Tuesday, I really don't like our keeper situation tbh. We need to buy a new one.

But yay for the win, shame José couldn't get on the scoresheet, he REALLY needs a goal.

[supergrass]

We've been linked with Cudicini in the papers today. I doubt much will ever come of it, but it wouldn't be a bad move.

(Other links to come from the Sunday papers also include Shaun Wright-Phillips).

[FLiam]

Ah, a lovely weekend off from the smoke of the city – green fields, blue skies, and the distinctive aroma of cow shit.

On the back of this weekends heart-warming victory against Birmingham, it has emerged that Arsene called all the players (bar Freddie and Cesc) into his office for a bit of a rollicking.

If this report is true, it shows us that perhaps Arsene has a firmer hand than the press would have us believe.

I also noticed a few things he did differently on Saturday:

- He made a change to our Starting XI by bringing in Manuel Almunia for Jens Lehmann

- He changed our tactics slightly by asking Thierry to play as an out-and-out striker

- He made early substitutions, bringing on Clichy and later Flamini with about half an hour to go

- He was preparing to give Senderos his debut when the full-time whistle went, contradicting criticism that he is cautious about introducing the youngsters

- He wore a tracksuit, not his usual formal get-up

And lastly, he was much more vocal, getting off the bench several times to encourage and instruct

Basically, it seems as though he wanted to try and change the way things have been going. It's like he realised we needed a certain freshness.

He also responded to most of the criticisms that have been aimed at him this season.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting.

source: gunner-blog.com

I thought those were some very good points, I think Arsene may have given them a bollocking, and it looked like it worked, more of the same tomorrow?

[Cortez]

Thats what they needed really, someone needed to remind them what they achived last year and how feared they became, compared to how timid they were in their last showings. Hopefully the Brum win will kick start them back into the form they shown us last season.

Cudicini, and Wright Philpis, oh fuck yes.

[Guest Pirate Chasin' Booty]

I like Cudicini I really do, but once again thats mearly a short term solution, although I believe that goalkeepers meet their prime at around the late twenties and sometimes are at their best at around 32-34 its also the time when they consider retiring.

No matter how good a player is, when he gets old theres pressure on him to hang up his gloves.

I'm not sure whether I want Almunia in goal to be honest, Wenger is the best scout I've ever seen, but I can't see this one being a good thing, theres gotta be a motive behind signing an unknown but I can't see it yet. Maybe once the nerves have gone he'll be just as good, but a replacement would be nice, its just a case of who is up for the job.