Arsenal v Porto preview, Cesc and Gallas injury news

9 03 2010

Tonight sees the second leg of the Champions League tie against Porto. We trail 2-1 after the first leg but do have that away goal. Porto were fortunate with both their goals in the first leg and whilst they do have a threat to score ours surely is greater. History may say we don’t turn over first leg deficits, certainly in the Champions League, but we have a genuine chance to do so tonight. Porto are one of the weaker three teams left in the competition and we should go through.

However defeat might not be the end of the world. I think we have a far greater chance of winning the league than we do of having European glory. Perhaps the distraction of Europe out of the way may be a good thing? Who knows. Of course I want us to win both trophies but given our injury stricken squad I feel that is one step to far to expect of them.

On the injury front Arsene confirmed that Cesc will miss tonights game; the scan took place and had he been risked tonight he would have been out for much longer. I would far rather he was unavailable against Hull and perhaps West Ham than miss the majority of the tail end of the season for the sake of risking him tonight. Following his great display on Saturday Samir Nasri is likely to play that central role vacated by our captain. We also have Song returning as his ban is only for domestic games.

Another update was given on the injury to William Gallas. The calf that had been preventing him from playing since 10th February re-occured during training after the player went for a run. It has been stated he is back to square one with the injury which is a shame. There are also talks about his new contract, a possible 1year+1year deal is on offer if rumours are to be beleived – but we must consider that every season he has a long term injury. But I guess with Djourou fully fit next season it will be less of a worry for cover at centre back.

Hopefully Theo will continue where he left off at the end of Saturday’s game and he will be a real worry for the Porto defence with his pace. Also I expect Bendtner to want to score a few goals to thank the fans for the support they showed him on Saturday. I have gone for a 3-1 win to Arsenal, I don’t see us keeping a clean sheet but I hope that we are 3 goals up before conceding otherwise I may age another few years this evening!

Come on you Gunners!!!!!!!!


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Categories : Arsenal, Arsenal Injury News, Champions League

An injury update & goalkeepers

22 10 2009

Arsène gave an interview with the official site today prior to the players giving him the bumps and the birthday cake being served.

For Sunday’s game against West Ham we can expect Eduardo to be in the squad, Rosicky and Bendtner are 50/50 to feature, Walcott is definitely out. Samir Nasri “probably needs another game, against Liverpool” before he can be fully in the first team, so I suspect he might not feature on Sunday even on the bench.

On the long term front Denilson is another 4 weeks away, but Johan Djourou won’t be back until March which is a long time away and a shame for the young Swiss defender who would have been a good backup and probably have been called upon in a rotational sense by now.

Arsène was also asked which of our three keepers we might see at the weekend. He mentioned that Fabianski needs some more time but he was very hesitant on who might feature. He stuck with Mannone on Tuesday as “Manuel was not fully ready” and “Mannone had not let us down”. It remains very interesting as to what is going on on the goalkeeping front.


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Man Utd pre-game musings

29 08 2009

So today we face Man Utd at Old Trafford. Without question our sternest test of the season so far. The main news form an Arsenal point of view is that Cesc will not feature in the game as he was not 100% fit following his hamstring injury. I would rather wait for him to be fit, he needs to be at 100% to play his best and he risks aggravating the injury if it is not fully recovered. Also he can withdraw from the Spain squad and get another two weeks rest as well, but I am not sure if that will happen.

Arsène feels that the midfield trio of Diaby, Denilson and Song can cover for Fabregas in our 4-3-3. They seemed to against Celtic, which was a pretty physical test at times so expecting the same physical game against Utd will be no bad thing. But of course the pace of today’s game will be much quicker, however that should not worry our younger midfield trio. Their confidence is, or certainly should be, sky high at the moment and that will really help them in today’s game.

Vermaelen is looking forward to playing against Utd and facing Rooney et al. That is good to see, even if it is just website bollocks. I don’t recall Senderos ever saying he can’t wait to face some of the Premier League’s top strikers. Our new centre back has really impressed me. He was throwing himself at headers on Wednesday, not waiting for the ball to arrive at his head but jumping up and powering the ball away. And that block he did late in the game, faced the ball and let it hit him full pelt. He looks a tough defender. As someone sat near me in block 6 said “he is a Belgian Tony Adams”, that’s quite a big compliment but one he might well deserve when we look back on this season. His partnership with Gallas has been great and I hope he can form the same with Djourou as well.

With his goal Andrey Arshavin will hopefully hit form properly, his fitness should be back up (I read he hates training so that might compensate for his slow start to the season) and his eye for goal is still there. The rest for van Persie mid week should see him hungry for a goal as well. I would expect those two and Eduardo to start, le boss did consider leaving him out, but I expect him to start and get some games in before his life ban from football kicks in.

So our strongest team, minus Fabregas, should face Utd this afternoon. I doubt it will be an epic game, but then again I didn’t think that our home league game against them would be anything but a harsh defeat for us and look how that turned out.

Come on you Gunners!


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

Everton (away) preview and a news round-up

14 08 2009

So here it is! The first Friday of the 2009-2010 season. It all starts tomorrow. All the pre-season hype, the worries about our squad, the crap the papers print, none of that matters now. It’s what our players do on the pitch that counts.

So looking at our first game of the season we have to start pretty much where we left off, injuries. Yesterday arsenal.com announced we will be missing 6 players from tomorrow’s game; Rosicky and Nasri we knew about, Fabianski has had a cartilage operation (I suspect as a result of the knock in the Valencia game), Djourou has his knee problem (again) which must be a concern long term defensively, Diaby is out (no real surprise there) and also Theo is missing due to a back problem. Thomas Vermaelen however has been passed fit to play, so at least we will have a centreback pairing chosen from our top 3 central defenders. Everton will be a tough challenge, but I am glad to be playing them at this stage of the season rather than later on once they have some form under their belts. The long rumoured Senderos move to Everton could be completed after the match if some reports are to be believed, if that does occur then we need more cover at centreback but I will write more on that if the move does happen. As far as a prediction for the game goes, I think it will be an Arsenal win (2-1 as a prediction) but only after a tight game as I expect David Moyes will have his players ready for this one. This will probably be the first outing of the much lauded 4-3-3 formation, but we could easily switch it to 4-5-1 if the game requires it. Unfortunately I won’t be able to watch the game live as it’s on ESPN. At £9.99 a month it’s a lot of money for a few games each year so it will be Match of the Day highlights for me!

In Arsenal news this week we have been linked with Hangeland again but he has played down rumours of a move, I suspect the Senderos issue will play a role in this one. Nicklas Bendtner has changed his shirt number to 52, it’s lucky for him supposedly, and will personally reimburse any fan who has bought his old 26 shirt this season – I hope it brings him some luck for what could be a defining season for the young Dane. The Online Gooner has this article on the “Arsenalisation” of the stadium, it’s a long read but has some good stuff in it and a lot of it has been a long time coming in making our home look “ours”. Ivan Gazidis does seem to be having positive impacts at the club and so far seems very pro fan groups, long may that continue. A quick mention for arseblog, his Friday Arsecasts restart today – well worth a listen if you haven’t done so before.

So we are almost underway. Come on you Gunners!


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Categories : Arsenal, Premier League Away games 09/10

Toure rumours continue

20 06 2009

I know it’s summer silly season in transfer gossip. This story from The Times is perhaps little more than a rehash of previous stories but when you consider Kolo DID hand in a transfer request in January but was later convinced to stay I wonder if Arsène said wait until the summer for your move. The article also mentions a price of £12million that Abu City are willing to pay, perhaps inflated by the press/bank balance, but for a player who was not at his best last season and only has one year left on his contract even the most ardent Toure fan would say that is good business.

Also consider the African Cup of Nations in Angola in January, that’s Toure gone for a month (assuming they all stay, Adebayor, Eboue and Song as well) two seasons ago that really hurt us when one of the main stays of our team was unavailable for so long, then he came back with malaria.

However you have to consider what will happen to Gallas as well, in my review of our defence I said I hoped Gallas would stay. He is our best defender, despite his off the field (and on them at times) antics, but I think he wants away. It’s World Cup year, I think Gallas would like a final crack at that, but he wasn’t a definite starter at the tail end of last season and now with the arrival of Vermaelen and the emergence of Djourou his place looks even less certain. However whilst our defence does need strengthening it really cannot be weakened – and losing our two strongest centre backs is a massive risk, but one that I suspect Arsène is not afraid to take.


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08/09 Season review part 2 – Goalkeepers and Defenders

27 05 2009

As part of the post-season review here are my thoughts on our defensive based players (the midfield and forwards will follow later in the week).

Goalkeepers

Manuel Almunia – Many doubted his ability to be our number 1 keeper, following the departure of Jens last Summer we had no choice but to promote Manuel to number 1. However during last season he had earned that position on merit. Whilst he has made a few mistakes this year which have cost goals, they are far outweighed by the number of top-class saves he has made. A number of times this year he has given some brilliant performances that have kept us in the game. He is clearly our number one ‘keeper and I would be surprised to see any purchase in this position. My worry is his ankle, following the Diouf challenge he has been injured a fair bit but hopefully a Summer of rest will see him fit for next season.

Lukasz Fabianski – Our second choice keeper and cup competition keeper. I have high hopes for Lukasz but his youth, for a goalkeeper anyway, and inexperience is holding him back. It’s a catch 22 situation, he needs games to develop but we can’t afford to experiment in such an important position. His rushes forward have been costly this season, I can think of 2 goals and 2 near goals that occurred later in the season. But all is not lost and I think he has a future at Arsenal.

Vito Mannone – Not much to say other than it was good for him to get his League debut in our last game of the season.

Defenders

Bacary Sagna – Our first choice right-back. Whilst arguably this season has not been as good as his debut season he is still dependable and one of the certainties on the team sheet. He seemed less willing to attack this season but I think that is down to feeling less covered by Theo not tracking back. However he still has the pace to attack down the right and it is a good weapon to have. I think his crosses need a bit of work but overall he had a good season.

Kolo Toure - Following his Malaria Kolo struggled for fitness. His arse had doubled in size and his pace was not what it was. He really struggled for form up until his transfer request during the January window. He didn’t get on with Gallas and the two did not play well as a partnership. However the past few months have seen the form, and most of the pace, return and again we see Kolo making those important challenges at the back. I suspect the forthcoming season might be his last as a regular starter, Djourou and Song will develop and there is the possibility of a new centre back being purchased in the Summer.

William Gallas – Many doubted the suitability of William Gallas as club captain going into the 08/09 season, the display at Birmingham was the turning point. Those doubts were confirmed following the comments made by Gallas in the French press and his alleged rift with Kolo Toure. Mid-season he was stripped of the captaincy, but that turned his game around. He no longer had the pressure of being in charge and upped his game, some key goals and exceptional defensive performances showed just how valuable he was to the club and his absence for the final weeks of the season was clear for all to see. I hope he stays at Arsenal, despite many fans still having reservations as to his suitability as a member of the club, but he is a very good defender, probably our best if the truth be told.

Mikael Silvestre – I truly do not know why Arsène took this gamble, he failed to impress me in the games he played. Whilst some experience was needed in the squad some quality needed to be present at the same time. 

Johan Djourou - During Kolo’s dip in form and Gallas’ injury the young Swiss centre back has filled in excellently. Whilst he may be a bit raw in this position he has shown that he can improve and I have high hopes for him at the club.

Gael Clichy – Our first choice left back, but his form was not at it’s best this season. A number of errors and general lapses seem to be slipping into his game which is a worry. I hope he can regain his form, something he too must be worried about given the quality of his able deputy.

Kieran Gibbs – A revelation. When Clichy was out injured many worried that young Gibbs would be unable to fill the void; however he coped brilliantly, far above what anyone reasonably expected from him. He looks like a young Clichy when he was the understudy to a certain greedy bastard who used to play left back for us. Yes he slipped to let Man Utd score but it was an unfortunate accident, it was not down to his footballing ability. Another young defender I have high hopes for at the club. Clichy must be worried.


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