Up the Arse! Goons thread. :)

[Dipper]

I would've played Adebayor ahead of him anyway as he troubled Man Utd alot last time. Still a big omission.

Yeah I was kinda thinking that.

I love RvP but the big man was awesome at Old Trafford.

The thing is that RvP & Henry is a really good fit, there's a touch of DB about RvP.

If Adebayor plays then he leads the line & to some extent it means that Henry has to alter what he does a bit & also Henry misses RvP's service a bit.

I'd love to see the Beast come on & terrorise them a bit as well, may be knock a few of them about.

 

[Arsene Wenger]

why can't he just tell us on here?

Arsene, spill the goss.

Yeh no problem mate. RVP is out

I will set the team up as follows come Sunday...
William Gallas is still short and Robin is out

Lehmann
Hoyte Senderos Toure Clichy
Hleb Flamini Fabregas Rosicky
Adebayor Henry

Baptista
Walcott
Almunia
Diaby
Djourou

 

[Arsene Wenger]

http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?...s+‘good+chance’+of+facing+Man+Utd

Robin van Persie has a “good chance” of facing Manchester United on Sunday despite picking up an injury in training.

The 23-year-old Dutch striker hurt his ankle this week and Arsène Wenger will wait for the results of a scan before deciding over his participation at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. But when he spoke exclusively to Arsenal TV Online on Thursday afternoon the manager seemed optimistic.

“At the moment we think it is a very short-term problem,” said Wenger. “He is going for a scan and after that we will know more about it. He still has a very good chance of being available for Sunday.”

Elsewhere there was mixed news. “Eboue will be available,” said Wenger. “But Ljungberg and Gallas are still out.”

The return of the Ivorian right back will be welcome. He has featured in just 66 minutes of first-team action over the course of the last seven games.

Gilberto is suspended on Sunday after his red card at Blackburn last weekend. However Wenger was positive when asked how he would replace the in-form Brazilian.

“With a good player who will give everything against Manchester United,” he replied. “We have players like Flamini who can come in. He did well at Liverpool recently.”


Looks as though FLAM will get the nod.

 

[Highbury 4ever]

Under the circumstances (i.e. Gilberto missing), Flamini is the best option this week. He is hard working, and has shown he can play defensively as well as offensively. At the same time, Diaby is not quite ready.

Although I would love to see the Beast unleashed, Henry & Adebayor have developed a strong bond off-the-field that can only be a benefit on-the-field.

C'MON YOU GUNNERS !!!!!

 

[Benno_900]

Lauren has moved to Portsmouth, thoughts?

I think it'll be too much of a risk to play Eboue up against Ronaldo/Giggs, I'd rather play Djourou at RB.

 

[Arsene Wenger]

I think Il go with Hoyte

 

[windyhill]

Arsenal seems to attract lots of bitter supporters. Atleast Bolton and blackburn have a few English players. Maybe Arsenal can learn from that.

With regards, to Gilberto he shouldn't of been so stupid to lash out. Savage always likes a little niggle. Neill is a star and Australian most importantly so don't forget that.

So you`re bagging Arsenal for not having many English players and then praising a foreigner (Neill) who plays in England

 

[Benno_900]

This is a great read:

Fabregas puts his skates on in chase for perfection
By Alan Smith

Arsene Wenger was at a business conference one day when somebody asked him to explain what made Cesc Fabregas so good. The Arsenal manager recalled the time some ice hockey coaches studied Wayne Gretzky, the iconic National Hockey League player of the Seventies and Eighties.

The exercise was simple: pause a videotape of Gretzky with the puck at his feet. It could be in any given situation, anywhere on the ice. In an ideal world, what should the Canadian do? Which move would serve the team best?

And what do you know, once the tape was moved on, Gretzky usually did for real what the coaches had chosen. In other words, the secret of his success, what made him great, was basically down to sound decision-making.

Wenger was essentially saying the same about his young buck. More often than not, Fabregas does the right thing thanks to an innate understanding of what is around him and what is required.

Now, this player, it's true, has not reached iconic status just yet. Arsenal's 19-year-old has some way to go before reaching the football equivalent of Gretzky's lofty perch.

Nevertheless, there seems little doubt that if the Spaniard carries on like this, in 10 years' time we will be talking about him as one of the most perceptive, most intelligent and most talented midfielders to set foot on a football pitch.

Here's a bit of evidence to justify such a big call. Long since in the bag is the honour of becoming the youngest player to both turn out and score for Arsenal. Last March, his country made him their youngest international player in 80 years. Only last month he was the runaway winner of the 'Golden Boy' award, based on a poll of leading sportswriters to find the finest young player in all of Europe.

It does make you wonder. Could this kind of praise go to the teenager's head? Is he even aware of some of the stuff being said?

"I don't hear a lot of it, to be honest," he said yesterday at Arsenal's training ground. "If you get an award then of course that's different, but football is about the team. It's not about one person.

"Sometimes you are up, sometimes you are down. You have to be consistent and try not to think about that. I mean, even when they were talking about me and Real Madrid, I think I could have been playing better. So, when you hear all the praise, you just try to forget it."

What was that saying about youth being wasted on the young? One of the midfielder's greatest assets, it seems, is being able to see the big picture, to appreciate exactly where he's at and what he must do. Asked about areas for improvement, Fabregas breaks out in a smile as if there are too many to mention.

"I am just 19," he said. "The good thing about being young is that you've got so many things to learn. Even Thierry [Henry] and Ronaldinho – they can still learn. That's the thing about football. You cannot be perfect.

"Sometimes you will lose the ball, they will take it off your feet. I need to improve my left foot a lot, improve the defensive side, my heading as well. That has come on lately but, physically, I'm not the biggest man in the world"

No, he's not. But he has filled out a fair bit over the past couple of years, adding "three or four kilos" this year alone to scotch initial worries that he might prove too lightweight for the very top.

No fear of that now. Fabregas can mix it with the best, which, in Premiership terms at least, brings us to tomorrow's mouthwatering clash with Manchester United. The fact that Sir Alex Ferguson's side stand 15 points ahead is a cause for deep regret among Wenger's disciples.

They had, after all, totally outplayed their hosts in a compelling display of Total Football in the 1-0 victory at Old Trafford in September. How did the gap grow? What is the difference this season between United and Arsenal?

"They have had quite a few players who have been on fire all season," Fabregas said. "They haven't had injuries, which is very important as well, and every chance they've had, they seem to have put it in the back of the net.

"That's what we've been missing. Creating so many chances but not scoring enough goals has been a bit strange. It's our own fault and we've got to try and put it right."

Mind you, Fabregas admits that, in this particular direction, he hasn't been blameless himself. After scoring two against Dinamo Zagreb at the start of August, this clever creator hasn't managed a single goal since.

"If I had taken 30 per cent of my chances I would have 10 goals easy by now," he admitted.

Apart from goalscoring, there is the longstanding accusation that Arsenal still can't hack it when the going gets rough. Witness yet another Premiership defeat at Bolton and, more recently, the horrendous night in Sheffield when the visitors couldn't even trouble a United side with an outfield player in goal.

"After that game we realised that if we didn't change our mentality we would always struggle in those kind of games. From then on we've been showing great character, great attitude and doing really well.

"We had a talk between ourselves and decided that we had to change, become more competitive. We all know we can play good football, but this is England and sometimes you have to do other things. I think we're doing that now.

"Last week against Blackburn you can see the difference between last year, when we lost 1-0 there. It was 11 against 11 then and we didn't play very well. Now it was 10 against 11 but we played well and won."

At the hub of it all, as usual, was the former Barcelona boy, the prospect destined for great things at the Nou Camp before Wenger sneaked in with an audacious coup.

Having recently signed an eight-year contract, the longest in Premiership history, Fabregas doesn't look as if will be going anywhere else very soon.

"Arsenal brought me here when I was 16. They gave me the opportunity. There are a lot of good young players who would like the same opportunity. Not everyone can have it and I know I am lucky. How do you say it in English? I was in the right place at the right time."

His modesty prevails. There is, of course, so much more to it than that.

 

[PLSC]

lol at me wanting an arsenal win

you french **** better come to play or else the title is going to the scum

 

[Rocco Jones]

lol at me wanting an arsenal win

you french **** better come to play or else the title is going to the scum

Awww

 

[Benno_900]

You're 11 pts behind so what do you care?

Oh wait, you still think you can win it.

 

[Dipper]

Doggy style.....my favourite position.

Nothing feels better than coming from behind.


What a great record against the other big 3 this season, gives confidence for the FA Cup & CL & maybe even the League Cup if we decide to go for it.


Come on Chelsea.

 

[WATCHDOG]

HENRY!!!!!!!

What a perfect way to end the match

 

[Benno_900]

Oh no, we've kept the title race alive for Liverpool

 

[Waite_30]

Well done Arsenal, we owe you one.

 

[Cooldude]

May I say that I love Henry very very much?

 

[Darealrath]

Who Are Ya?!

 

[PLSC]

You're 11 pts behind so what do you care?

Oh wait, you still think you can win it.

id take a chelsea 3-peat instead of the scum winning it anyday!

you guys play the gayest football its frustrating to watch but good last 10 mins

well done!

 

[Corrosion]

Thierry Henry!!!!!!!!!

 

[Waite_30]

id take a chelsea 3-peat instead of the scum winning it anyday!

you guys play the gayest football its frustrating to watch but good last 10 mins

well done!

'lol' is the only possible thing you can say about that post.

 

[jod23]

I too love Henry! Loved watched Man U go down. Chelsea still alive to win the title which is good.

 

[Darealrath]

I too love Henry! Loved watched Man U go down. Chelsea still alive to win the title which is good.

The best thing was that there are a couple of man u fans on these boards who have perpetuated the 'he doesnt play well in big games' myth. Hope they liked that.

 

[Darealrath]

Chances of me being able to sleep now = 0%.

 

[Corrosion]

I have to start work in 90 minutes

I'll be going straight to bed when I get home. Getting up at 2 sucks........not.

 

[windyhill]

Magnificent.