Ok, a win against Tottenham won’t be earth shattering, they are after all bottom, but it’ll burst ‘Arry’s bubble and also kill some of the momentum they gained off the back of a Bolton win. Bad news is that Gareth Bale is out, he’s never been on the winning side in the Premier League (despite being at Tottenham for 15 months), he was our good luck omen! Ah well, we don’t need luck, all we need is for offsideAde to turn up and we have a shout against anyone, a BIG if though.

Denílson is back, and Toure and Sagna are fully fit and need to start! I’d go with an offensive line-up, tell Walcott and Sagna to get at Ekotto early on and scare the living daylights out of him, run Modric all over the place and give him little room to work with, I expect Zokora will be the only defensive player in the midfield on show so if Denílson and Fabregas can keep him busy, we’re in for a good game possesion wise.

Typing about it, I’m actually very excited. I think we can over run, over power and over play Tottenham all night, it’s when they get the ball in the final 3rd that we need to be alert. Pavlyuchenko is a dangerous player when the ball is in the air so we need Gallas, Toure and Silvestre (whoever plays) to be on their game for 90 minutes, Darren Bent can be dangerous too and I feel defensively is where the game lies. Bentley has a dangerous cross and the odds are that he’ll have a stormer against us.

I’ll predict a line-up tomorrow as I’m off out to Poker, but I’m excited, cya Gooners!

Fabregas has to start these fixtures, next to Denílson again perhaps. I don’t think Wenger will risk Sagna judging by his interviews on him, so I expect to see Eboue at right back again, leaving Theo on the right wing. Perhaps we could see Diaby on the left to add some defensive balance which Arséne seems to love so much, with Nasri on the bench? van Persie starting after all? No doubt Adebayor will start, and Gallas will be reinstated to centre half.

As badly as Silvestre and Song did on Tuesday, I don’t think it means they’re bad individuals, it’s more a case of a terrible partnership. They both tried playing offside without getting tight to Guiza, who lead the line superbly, some tips from him and Adebayor would be a monster (instead of a tame Dragon). I’d like to see Silvestre and Toure at the back today, 2 returning centre halves who’re a bad partnership playing together anyway? No thanks. I’d line-up with …

Almunia

Eboue Toure(c) Silvestre Clichy

Walcott Fabegas Diaby Denílson

Vela Bendtner

Fabianski, Djourou, Gallas, Ramsey, Song, van Persie & Adebayor,

I feel we need to start rotating, the games are coming thick and fast from now until Christmas so using the same players every game is a big no. i feel the chances need to be taken tomorrow and if the early signs from Vela and Bendtner are a great partnership then I’d be prepared to use them now. West Ham are without Ashton, Gabbidon, Spector and Dyer but with Carlton Cole and David di Michelle, I expect a long ball knock down type of game from them, something we all know Gallas and Toure aren’t suited for.

Well, have a good day to anyone else who’s going down this afternoon, hopefully we’ll turn them over!

I don’t like throwing around the word Legend to people who don’t deserve it but he really is already a Legend. He’s perfect on the pitch, and he’s perfect off it, a ‘story’ tring to sell papers, Fabregas kills the story within 5 hours, hell even the Arsenal.com webmaster must be a little pissed at having to work on a Sunday. As much as I’d love Fabregas to stay for life, I’ve come around to the idea that eventually he’ll be wearing the colours of Barcelona and when he does, I’d like to think Aaron Ramsey will be more than ready to replace him, who I believe has just as much potential.

Agggh, now yesterday’s game, feels like old news after this mornings press. Well anyway, a really good win in the end, some good performances around the pitch from pretty much everyone, except Denílson maybe? Well Song wasn’t much better and yes, fair enough he’s not a right back, but Denílson isn’t a defensive midfielder, so why’s he getting all the criticism. Diaby is back now and I believe he’ll be partnering Cesc if he gets his opportunity in the coming weeks, his little cameo yesterday was good for someone who hasn’t played since August, got an assist too, which puts him level with Fabregas for the season!

I don’t like the way Theo got all the plaudits yesterday, how he changed the game. He didn’t at all, it was already in our favour, Clichy was our best player yesterday, once again. We were dominating Everton before Theo came on and although he gave us more pace and a direct style down the right, I believe we would have won without him anyway. I think the bumming of Walcott by all the media is going to get him disliked by many sooner rather than later, he’s not a God and he is still inconsistent, so in the words of Arséne Wenger: “Let’s not make him Thierry Henry before he is Thierry Henry.“

Speaking of good ol’Thierry, he’s failed to make the Ballon d’Or shortlist for the first time since 1999, and would you beleive it, it happens after he leaves us for ‘better things.’ Coincidence? Nope. Nice words from Theo about him though on Football Focus, calling him ”his idol” although surprisngly, he ”hasn’t spoken to him since he left for Barcelona”, which is a little wierd. Such a shame that Thierry isn’t the same Thierry he was with us, playing out on the left in a 4-3-3, why spend £16m on someone and play them out of position? It’s like Spuds paying £16m for Darren Bent and then playing him full stop, it’s wierd, what’s the point?

Talking of Tottenham, how funny. Another defeat today, this time against Stoke! The Fair Play League was their only hope of Europe and then Gareth Bale and Michael Dawson get sent off, great stuff, they’re without them for the game with us. 6th defeat of the season would be acceptable if we were in May, but October? I don’t believe that they’ll be relegated, but long may it continue, they got Bolton at Shite Hart Lane next and then they come to us, I’m telling ya, as if the credit crunch wasn’t expensive enough, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle St. Totteringham’s day and Chrsitmas day at the same time.

Some good wins for the youth teams this weekend too, the u16′s and u18′s both beat Norwich, Benik Afobe scoring again for u16′s, he’s like a friggin’ machine! I’ll be back tomorrow after work, gonna be playing Poker for the next 6 hours so if anyone plays, give us a shout!

I haven’t update the site since Monday as I’ve been extremely busy from work, working in South London all week and getting home at silly times in the evening, all I’ve had time for is food, poker and sleep I’m afraid, hopefully it’ll be different from here on in though.

I haven’t missed much, still been browsing around the Arsenal scene, noticed a few developments in a few areas including the takeover department. The FAT Russian Uzmanov compared us to his wife, saying it’s a Love and he’ll only sell if he’s hated by the fans. Well, news time Sir, you are hated, time to file for a divorce. We don’t need you, we don’t like you and most of all, we don’t want you.

Fabregas yet again re-iterated his desire to stay at Arsenal following all the press release in the week, saying how he’s 100% committed and a few of his words were taken out of context, even so, they were pretty true and it’s very big of Fabregas to come out and say everything he has. We need to get better and he’s recognised it, it normally takes an older figure to say it, Gallas said it a few weeks ago and no one took notice, Fabregas says it and everyone’s ears are up, surprised? Nope.

Almunia

Eboue Toure Silvestre Clichy

Denílson Fabregas Song Nasri

Vela Adebayor

Fabianski, Gibbs, Ramsey, Diaby, Wilshere, Walcott & van Persie.

How I’d line-up, I think Vela deserves a start, I’m not too sure on how much he played during the week but I know van Persie’s been struggling for fitness again and I think it’s time we tried something new apart from the predictableness of van Persie/Adebayor combined, take the game too Everton and if there’s chances, Vela’ll be there.

Toure’ll take the armband for the game, have a good day to everyone else who’s going, and hopefully there’ll be a happy report tomorrow morning!

Interesting as to when he’ll actually move up front, I mean, I guess it’s all good playing him out wide but will we keep signing strikers or will we eventually allow a couple to leave, moving Walcott up top and bringing in another winger, or perhaps promoting Wilshere to battle with Eboue? (In a couple of years of course) What would you do?

Good interview with him and Denílson on ATVO aswell, Theo talks about how he got into football and Denílson talks about his season so far, his partnership with Cesc, how he misses Gilberto and his confidence this season. His English is pretty shoddy for someone who’s been in the country for over 2 years, but you get what he’s saying most of the time.

“I’m very happy with how the season has gone so far for me, I’m working hard for myself and for the team aswell. I’m very happy when I play with him [Cesc], I’m playing where Gilberto and Flamini were last year but sometimes I like to go upfront [attacking midfield] to score or pass. Im finding defensive [playing defensively] hard because it’s all run, run, run, but I’m training more and more, but I’m very happy.“

It seems that the main word he knows is “I’m very happy”, I counted atleast 10 times he said it in the first 10 minutes! But he aknkowledges he’s still learning after just over 60 professional games, and admits Arsene Wenger warned him about the physical style when he came to England.

“My celebration [against Bolton] just happened, I did the Samba dance because I like it, and the pointing to my shirt was just in the moment, it just happened, I’m just very happy. In 2006 when I was just young, the Premiership was very hard and Arsene said to me about the strength but I’m training 3 or 4 times in the gym, going to sleep early while concentrating hard on my work because I want to achieve.“

I won’t write an entire transcript as I’ll be here all day but it’s worth a watch, and as you can gather, HE’S VERY HAPPY! Hopefully there’ll be more news tomorrow, I’ll be back after work and hopefully we can all look forward to seeing Theo start on Wednesday, Ashley Cole’s pulled out because he’s a pussyhole and don’t wanna face more boo’s, and it seems Theo’s nailed down that first team slot for the time being!

G’day Gooners!

He played the final few Premier League games on the wing last season and did pretty well, providing a superb cross for Nicky B in the penultimate game of the season against Everton. Pre-season started and unfortunately injury prevented him playing in most games, but there were a couple of positive performances including a burst of pace and cross which set up Jack Wilshere against Burgenland XI in July.

Now fully settled in at Portsmouth, it seems that he’s getting better and better as each game progresses, already bagging a couple of assists aswell as being unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions himself. Traore said earlier how delighted he was with life at Portsmouth, and how he’s progressing as a player.

”I am enjoying it a lot because I am playing in lots of games. That’s what I came for. Most of all, I am definitely improving as a player. I have learned how to play in different situations, things like simple passing, control and my awareness. My game in these areas has improved, definitely. I’m happy. I get on very well with everyone and I am getting the experience and that is down to the manager. I thank him for that.”

I remember being pretty amazed when he made his debut at Dennis Bergkamp’s Testimonial in 2006 when as a raw 16 year old, he was bombing up and down the wing as well as making several important tackles. He kicked on made a number of appearances in the Carling Cup team, including a start in the Final. But it wasn’t until last season when he really kicked on and started making starts in the Champions League and Premier League, impressing in the final 3 games, in which he started 2, and he still feels there’s more to come.

”I think it’s an excellent team. We have great players in each position. We have a great bench – people who come on and make a difference like Nadir did against Vitoria for the second goal. A great team. For me this is only the beginning. I haven’t played 10 games yet and I think there’s more to come.”

With Tomas Rosicky unfit still and Samir Nasri the only real option on the left hand side, Armand Traore has a real chance to secure himself as a back up left back and left winger next season, hopefully he’llkeep improving and soon enough, one of his long range rockets will pop up at Fratton Park, Happy 19th Birthday Armand!

Also, if you check Jack Wilshere’s Facebook page (yes, I stalk Arsenal players), he recently joined the group ‘Spurs for Relegation 08/09′, good lad!

Let’s get this straight, Denílson is a very good player, so don’t take out your ‘Arsene didn’t buy anyone anger’ on him, because he’s done what he’s been asked to do, admirably well I think. Denílson is someone who gets more involved in the defensive game than someone like Fabregas, but gets more involved in the attacking game than someone like Flamini, so he’s pretty much suited in a flat 4-5-1, and as shown on Saturday, he did very well but people forgot his role wasn’t to defend, that was Song’s, and his clumsyness cost us the goal, but Denílson got the criticism for not doing his role well enough.

What is Denílson’s role? I beleive it’s to take some pressure of Cesc, if he doesn’t fire, then Arsenal reply on some magic from Ade or van Persie which isn’t coming at the moment, so Denílson keeps the play ticking over and retains possession well enough. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen him give the ball away quite a few times from sloppy passes but so has Cesc, et Sunderland where he did so 4 or 5 times in about half an hour.

Denílson has been asked to change his whole game to suit Fabregas but it clearly isn’t his position, but don’t call Denílson a bad player because of it, he’s far from it. I know statistics aren’t always an accurate read on a players game, but look;

Tacklers          Team       Tackles   Success rate
1. Behrami         West Ham        33             73%
2. Petrov            Aston Villa       30             63%
3. Butt               Newcastle        29             62%
4. Muamba         Bolton             26              81%
5. Denilson         Arsenal           26             73%

Passers           Team         Passes        Accuracy
1. Alonso          Liverpool         424               84%
2. Denilson       Arsenal           416                85%
3. Lampard       Chelsea          415                84%
4. Parker          West Ham       353                87%
5. Butt             Newcastle        352                81%

Player           Team         Assists
1. Arteta        Everton              4
2. Young        Aston Villa         3
3. Barry         Aston Villa         3
4. Denilson     Arsenal              3
5. Ireland      Man. City            3

Denílson may not be the perfect partner for Cesc, but don’t say he’s not a good player, because he’s very talented and still only 20 himself, it’s his first run in the first team and although I feel Diaby could do a better job next to Fabregas, I do beleive that if Fabregas is every injured, Denílson is the man to fill his boots as best as someone who isn’t Cesc can at Arsenal.

Szczesny (7) did okay, made a couple of very good punches, nothing he could do on the 2nd goal but perhaps his positioning for the first was a little suspect, unless it took a deflection? Ayling (7) was very good at right back, not sure that’s his preferred position but he looked competent going forward and defended well when asked questions by Stoke. Bartley (7) did what was needed, was rarely tested and he was pretty calm when in possession of the ball. Good to see Silvestre (7) make his debut aswell, he was perhaps the influence to a mature performance from Bartley beside him, he swept up well and dealt with the difficult situations admirably. Gibbs (7) is really impressing me recently, I remember explaining to someone before how I didn’t see anything that special in him but I really think the loan spell at Norwich was very good for him, he’s matured a lot and has endless speed it seems, defending or attacking, he did well tonight.

Bischoff (7) did well considering it was his first game for about 8 or 9 months, his passing was good and he was always looking forward, looked tired when he came off but it was a good shift and I look forward to seeing what else he can bring as the weeks go on. Randall (7) was quiet but very efficient, not looking for the usual Hollywood balls, just going about his business and keeping the play ticking over. Did give the ball away a few times but recovered well in the tackle. Coquelin (8) was brilliant, took his goal very well but he never stopped harassing, his passing was good and he looks like a very skillful player too, looks like he could have a real talent on our hands if he progresses over the next few months. Wilshere (9) was probably the man of the match, his first half performance was good, but his second 45 was outstanding, dictating play, drawing reckless fouls all over the place, beating his man and was unlucky not to score himself, a huge improvement on last week.

Simpson (8) showed glimpses of his potential and if he wasn’t 19 already, I’d say he was one for the future, but he showed that he can make a career out of football outside of Arsenal. His turn of pace is exceptional and if he can work on his first touch and concentration around the box, perhaps some composure, he can be a good striker. Fonte (8) was just as good, wasn’t phased by the physical nature and went about his work very well, took his goal exceptionally well too.

Sunu looks much better than last year already, direct running, pace aswell as strength and some decent offloads too, last season he looked a little lost but he showed big improvement tonight. Frimpong didn’t really have much to do, the ball was already being sprayed around all over the play and he contributed to that I guess.

Overall a very good night, conceding 2 goals isn’t the end of the world but the inexperience showed as we pushed way too forward when already leading 2-1, perhaps Banfield could have told the boys not to commit too many forward and that’s what cost us that 2nd goal. Have a good night Gooners.

Szczesny

Ayling Bartley Silvestre Gibbs

Bischoff Coquelin Randall Wilshere

Simpson Fonte

Shea, Steer, Eastmond, Frimpong & Sunu.

Hopefully we’ll see Frimpong make another appearance, he was our best player against Aston Villa without doubt, perhaps replacing the Bisch later in the game considering there’s no other obvious choice on the bench. Rene Steer playing aswell, my guess is he hasn’t made the grade at Cheltenham?

Not much news coming out of Arsenal today anyway, Almunia claiming Walcott’s aggression has changed his game, but not really, he’s still an inconsistent nuisance! But I do see where he’s coming from. He still needs to develop a football brain, that’s the biggest omison from his game at the moment, but that’ll come (I’ve been saying that for 3 years!).

The Reserve game will be ATV and ATVO, or if I find a stream I’ll post up a link, good day!

I don’t know the ins and outs of Samir Nasri not starting, whether he had a knock or what I don’t know but I’d understand if Wenger played Fabregas, Denílson and Song in the same midfield away to Chelsea or Man Utd where we’d expect to get attacked, but Sunderland, come on. They hardly attacked us, why do we need extra defensive bodies in the middle? It doesn’t make sense, Nasri or even Eboue would have been the better option on that left hand side.

For me, we get the best out of Walcott when he plays wide left, he can cut inside and slip passes in behind, especially away from home where he can’t nessarily run down the wing because of the lack of space in behind. van Persie should be on the right in this case too, cutting inside, perhaps attempting to slip offsideAde in or maybe having a few shots, albeit most would balloon over anyway, but that’s not the point.

Adebayor isn’t in form, Bendtner came on and had a couple of good touches, played a delightful dink over to van Persie who drew a fine save from Gordon. Bendtner should be starting these away games, he seems to thrive when there’s little space in behind so he can drop off and dictate the way the play with it at his feet. Song and Denílson were all action and overall did little wrong (except for the goal, Alex!), but I just felt we needed less defensive umph and more offensive umph.

Almunia (7) was good once again today, nothing he could do to prevent Leadbitter’s goal and he saved well from Cissé twice early on. Sagna (6) was pretty innefective, he didn’t have a lot of defensive work to do nor did he have the room to bomb forward, he was expected to whip crosses in all day again and once again, surprise surprise, it didn’t work. Toure (7) played the offside trap to perfection 3 or 4 times, his tackle on Whitehead was to perfection to deny them a goal, and overall he did well. Gallas (6) didn’t have much to do really, didn’t inspire us much going forward and seemed to keep his volume down throughout, average performance but that wasn’t his fault. Clichy (6) was pretty flat aswell, given a harsh yellow card and couldn’t seem to find the right cross a lof of the time, did what he had to do well but didn’t really stand out.

Walcott (5) really lacks consistency. He runs at defenders, drags them wide and expects to have another touch half a yard from the byline, what the fuck is that all about? Why doesn’t he implement a step over into his game so he can come onto his left and perhaps have a shot or something? Fabregas (7) was good, surprised he was the one who came up with the winner but there we go, his 1st goal of the season is finally out of the way and he’s looking like his old self again. Song (6) read play well but was at fault for Sunderland’s goal, caught in posession quite easily and we paid for it. Overall he was okay but the lack of concentration let him down. Denílson (7) was pretty good, not spectacular but slowly did his job, was one of the 3 better players for us even on that left hand side.

van Persie (6) didn’t have much to work with, lost the ball a few times, couldn’t seem to find his touch in the tight gaps and had next to no movement from Adebayor to actually slip some balls into. Adebayor (5) was very poor once again, first touch of an elephant, his shooting was whack, he wasn’t prepared to jump for the ball from corners and free kicks and after the Inernational break, needs to be rested or dropped, whatever Wenger wants to call it, Bendtner IN!

Bendtner (6) came on and showed some urgency, got a silly yellow but a superb dink over to van Persie nearly got us a goal, his touch was good and he managed to turn and face the goal on a few occasions because of his touch, needs to get a start soon. Nasri (6) didn’t have much to work with, should have started if he was fit, had one opportunity but with 937 red shirts in the box, what do you expect? Vela (6) only had a few minutes but put in a decent cross, nothing more of note really.

Normally after a 93rd minute goal it’d feel like a win, but it doesn’t, we’ve dropped points to Fulham, Hull and Sunderland while beating Newcastle, Bolton and Blackburn, we really should be topping the table after the fixtures we’ve had, and Everton doesn’t get any easier in 2 weeks, especially knowing 15 or 16 players are heading away to Internation duty.

What changes do we need to make? What does everyone think of Ade’s form? Bendtner to start?