Up the Arse! Goons thread. :)

[DB10]

My god, where'd all these Arsenal fans come from?

In light of this ... it's about time the greatest club the world has ever seen got its own thread, innit!

Anyway chaps, aside from our win at Old Trafford we're still not "back" yet. We have some really easy fixtures coming up with the three promoted teams and a trip across the river to play Charlton. All winnable games where we should be looking at 12 points to really get some life into our season.

Any thoughts on team selections, etc.?

 

[Benno_900]

Henry will be a handy in.

Nah, we can't mess with our team structure now.

 

[DB10]

I think the 4-1-4-1 we played yesterday is mint for difficult away games. The midfield four all complement each really well, and the workrate of Hleb, Freddie and Rosicky allowed Cesc to play a freer role than usual.

Henry and RVP coming back in will make it interesting. Lauren, Clichy and Senderos are still four-to-five weeks away, and with Denilson coming soon we're looking peachy for squad selections.

 

[Kompany]

Congrats with the win, I really enjoyed the game.

Great setup by Fabregas

 

[Benno_900]

You can't bag stubborn Man Utd supporters.

"****ing Ronaldo"

 

[Corrosion]

I'd love to see Adebayor play alongside Henry up the front, when Henry returns. However, I don't want it to screw up our structure.

I agree with the 4-1-4-1 set-up for the challenging away games (Stamford Bridge, Anfield, etc, etc). It's the kind of set-up that frustrates the opposition into easy errors (E.G. The Man United game last night).

We've got the makings of a great squad at the moment, and with the likes of Henry, RVP, Lauren and Senderos, amongst others, to come back, this season is only going to get better.

UP THE GUNNERS!

 

[Darealrath]

We really should have won every game so far, last night made up a bit for the earlier frustrations though.

Adebayor was fantastic vs man u. He and Van Persie should have a great duel fighting for the 2nd spot up front (when we set up that way). Might also allow us to rest Henry a bit more this season as i think those 2 could work well together.

I still worry about us being able to break down teams who only defend vs us though. Our lack of width doesn't really look like being solved anytime soon, so we're still predictable going forward.

Rosicky reminds me of Hleb with a fraction more pace + he can shoot.

 

[Arsene Wenger]

It was a much needed win. Kudos to Jens - saved our ass with a simply qorld class save.

Rosicky - looks good and I actually enjoyed seeing him miscue a couple shots - at least he shoots.

Good to see Cesc recapture some form.

Hleb's v good but his final ball is sometimes too heavy or too light or just the wrong ball altogether..

Im confident (like DB10) if we can pick max points from our next 4 we will be well up there...

Go goons

 

[Robbo PAFC]

Hey everybody don't really post on BigFooty much but I am a big Arsenal fan. I think one thing I noticed last night was we were much less afraid to pull the trigger infront of goal. I reckon this probably has something to do with the presence of Henry up front and the fact we look for him in situations we shouldn't, especially when he is out of form this is not a good thing. Our big challenge over the next four weeks will be to find a way around teams playing 9 men in defense.

Here is our I'd like us to line up assuming Henry is fit. If he is not I'd push Baptista furthur forward to play with Addie who would replace Henry.

------------------Lehman-------------------
Eboue-------Toure--------Djourjou-----Gallas
Rosicky---Cesc---Gilberto--Baptista--Walcott
----------------Henry----------------------

Doubt it will happen however.

While the win at OT last night was good (really, really good), anything except 3 points in this game is a failure of epic proportions.

 

[apollo_creed]

I'd love to see Adebayor play alongside Henry up the front, when Henry returns. However, I don't want it to screw up our structure.

I agree with the 4-1-4-1 set-up for the challenging away games (Stamford Bridge, Anfield, etc, etc). It's the kind of set-up that frustrates the opposition into easy errors (E.G. The Man United game last night).

We've got the makings of a great squad at the moment, and with the likes of Henry, RVP, Lauren and Senderos, amongst others, to come back, this season is only going to get better.

UP THE GUNNERS!

Lauren and Senderos to come back eh?

Give me Eboue and Djourou anyday my friend.

 

[DB10]

Lauren's a much better defender than Eboue is. If it wasn't for Jens using his face to save from Ronaldo we'd have gone one down because Eboue's positoning at times can be terrible, although Ralph wouldn't have had the pace to stay with Ronaldo. It's a win-lose situation no matter which one of them players, really.

 

[Corrosion]

Lauren and Senderos to come back eh?

Give me Eboue and Djourou anyday my friend.

Don't you rate Senderos? I think he is a great defender. If you watched Switzerland in the World Cup, you would notice that he is a rock in their defence, and Arsenal's defence. If he hadn't have gone down with that Shoulder injury, Switzerland would've defeated Ukraine (He didn't play against Ukraine), IMO.

 

[apollo_creed]

And I seem to recall Senderos losing games against Chelsea for you last season, mainly due to his inability to handle Drogba.

He can look very shaky at times and I much like the look of Djourou.

Senderos did look good in the World Cup and indeed most of the time for Arsenal but from what I've seen of Djourou I rate him higher.

As for Lauren v Eboue, I can understand the point about the defending part but Eboue looks so dangerous going forward (especially at home) and if he could finish he'd probably have about 5 or 6 goals this season.

 

[DB10]

I can also recall Senderos virtually making the likes of Roy Makaay, Ronaldo, David Trezeguet, Diego Forlan, and even Thierry Henry ineffective when he's come up against them too.

He struggles against Drogba because Drogba's got pace and power, probably moreso than any other forward in the world at the moment. Most defenders don't do terribly well when they have to face pace and power, especially ones so young. Senderos is incredibly young for a centre-back (Djourou even more), and he'll learn from his mistakes as the years go by.

I have no qualms about saying that Senderos will be a top five defender in the world when he reaches his peak. He's almost as good as Toure as it is now, and Kolo's got four years on him.

 

[Benno_900]

Lauren's a much better defender than Eboue is. If it wasn't for Jens using his face to save from Ronaldo we'd have gone one down because Eboue's positoning at times can be terrible, although Ralph wouldn't have had the pace to stay with Ronaldo. It's a win-lose situation no matter which one of them players, really.

Yes, but if we're playing a weaker side, we'd need Eboue's attacking power. Lauren dosen't provide this, so I'd rather Eboue.

 

[DB10]

Of course.

You get one of the other will either of them. With Eboue you get a great attacking option where he uses his pace but suffer defensively, because he can be beaten and does make mistakes, especially with his positioning. With Lauren you don't have such a great an attacking option (made up by the attacking play of Cashley in the past), but defensively Lauren is excellent, and streets ahead of Eboue in positioning and defensive awareness.

I'm not fussed which one we play. Against a pacy winger like Ronaldo Eboue would probably be better because he has the pace to stay with him, but against other teams I'd prefer Lauren there. It's a wonderful thing to have ... plus there's also Kerrea Gilbert who was excellent when he played last season.

 

[Uncle_Leo]

Should really get at least 3 wins in the next 4 games you would think, I think we are slowly going to hit our straps. Gallas is happy and playing well, I think as Baptista gets more time into him will become a better player. Love watching him play.

Rosicky IMO will be the best signing of the year. Awesome.

 

[Benno_900]

Rosicky IMO will be the best signing of the year.

Hope you're right, Has looked good so far, but I'm worried that he may keep his form that he's had all his career: Being sensational one game and being non-existant the next.

 

[DB10]

I'm not. Rosicky was the main man at Dortmund, he could play crap and not get dropped whereas at the Arsenal he simply can't do that - and he knows that, so I'm not worried at all.

 

[DB10]

Denilson made his debut for the reserves team last night against Portsmouth, so obviously he got the work permit after all then. Yay.

 

[DB10]

http://www.bolddk.com/nyt/?vis=60903

This is in Danish so I've no idea what it actually says, but according to a Dane on another Arsenal forum it says that Arsenal (and Barcelona) are in for Independiente goalkeeper Oscar Ustari:

It states that both Arsenal and Barcelona are interested in Independiente's 20-year-old goalkeeper Oscar Ustari!

He was a part of the Argentine U20 outfit which won the world cup in Holland, and that he also was a part of Pekermans squad for the world cup in Germany!

He is supposed to be 1, 84 cm tall, has good reflexes and is very agile. Other than that he is skilled when faced with penalties or man-on-man(?) situations!

The story originates from an article in AS, where Independiente confirms that both Arsenal and Barcelona are interested!

In the end, it states that it's expected, that he will sign for Barcelona in January, but hey... A link is a link!

If you consider his age and the fact that he was chosen for the World Cup, you could be led to believe, that the boss possibly considers him a permanent replacement for Lehmann, once he decides to leave!

A possible replacement for Lehmann? At 20-years-old he'd be our #1 for many years to come. Although he isn't particularly tall and we've always had tall keepers.

 

[TorresIsGod]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kerrea Gilbert is on loan.

If I was Arsene Wenger, I would talk to Liverpool about Chris Kirkland, he's behind Reina, Dudek & Carson.. I know he's injury prone, but there is no doubting that he is a class keeper, and given he can keep fit, could be in goal for Arsenal for upwards of 10 years, and will fight with Scott Carson for the England job in years to come.

 

[DB10]

Yes, Gilbert is on loan at Cardiff. What's your point?

And Kirkland? No thanks. He's crap.

 

[TorresIsGod]

My point is, you said Kerrea Gilbert is there for backup, when he is not even there at all, I think Lauren is better than Eboue. Also, I think you'll find similar to Luis Garcia in his first season in England, that Rosicky will be a lot better playing in The Champions League than he will be in The Premier League, that's not saying he wont score goals in England.

 

[Arsene Wenger]

rosicky is a far better player than Luis garcia. Doesnt mind the tough stuff and for me is stronger on the ball and more creative...