Wenger’s four options for replacing Gibbs

By 1970’s Gooner

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse it has. First it was Bendtner out with a groin problem then van Persie with his ankle and now it’s Gibbs that’s got injured while on international duty.

Add to these Denilson, Clichy, Diaby, Vela, Wilshere,Djourou, Fabiansky and Walcott and you can make another very useful first 11!

Gibbs was brought off midway through the first half while playing for the U21s against Lithuania and it’s beginning to look difficult for Saturday’s game against Sunderland.

So what are Wenger’s options then?

1. Silvestre


He has been deployed there a lot of times during his tenure at Manchester United and also a few times for Arsenal. Although he has experience he is getting rather slow with age and I think this may prove a risky choice to take.

2. Senderos


He too has been in the sidelines raring to go but although much younger than Silvestre lacks the necessary pace and previous experience in this position to be able to perform.

He has been deployed as a right back for 15 minutes or so in an FA Cup tie at Blackburn a few years ago but was found extremely wanting.

Unlikely choice (hopefully)

3. Traore

He is a natural left sided player who was earmarked to develop as a left back and was actually deployed there in a few games while out on loan for Portsmouth last season.

He was however played as a left winger by Portsmouth for most of his appearances and he did impress me whenever I watched him play.

Wenger may decide to take a chance on the youngster who has Premiership experience after all but his relative inexperience may put him off.

4. Eboue

This is my likeliest choice. Although not a natural left footer he is now a seasoned Premiership player who is a defender after all even though he has, since last season, been played as a wide midfielder.

Arsene Wenger has been using him more as a right back recently giving Sagna much needed breathers and this will be the choice with the least risk attached to it.

Remember what happened to poor Gibbs when he was preferred to Eboue for the two Champions League semi final games against Manchester United last season? We don’t want that happening to Traore.

Wenger’s three options for replacing van Persie

By 1970’s Gooner

After Bendtner’s groin injury was announced I was beginning to worry as to what would have happened had van Persie suffered an injury himself! He is prone to do that I was thinking….

In his absence I would not have hesitated to blow young Bendtner’s trumpet. He has improved in leaps and bounds this season and would have been ideal to take over from van Persie and show what he can do.

Alas we are now ‘scraping the barrel’ to find a suitable replacement. And there are three available players within the current squad that could try and fill in until one of these two players returns.

1. Arshavin

He is I think capable of assuming the front player role. Arsenal has not really been playing with a target man this season in the same sense as when dozy Adebayor was around.

Van Persie was rather a skillful player who linked well with his fellow attackers and midfielders in a side that has continuous movement with players interchanging positions.

In this way the little Russian demon is quite capable of being very effective in this role. He did play for the last10 minutes in this position against Standard Liege in the away Champions League game and did not look out of place troubling the defenders with his trickery and pace.

2. Eduardo

Arsene Wenger may however opt to play with Eduardo up front.

He is back to fitness after a few minor injuries this season and was selected ahead of Bendtner to lead the line in the defeat of Liverpool in the League Cup.

He didn’t impress me that much during that game as he is more of a fox in the box rather than a front man.

Wenger, however, may feel that he needs Arshavin’s pace on the wing rather than in the middle and he could therefore decide to try Eduardo.

3. Walcott

I consider this option as the least likely.

Theo is only just now returning back from injury and he has not really played in this position for Arsenal since his arrival from Southampton a few years ago.

I saw him play there for the U21s a few months ago and he did not impress.

Walcott’s return to fitness however will be a boost for Arsenal as with the absence of Bendnter and the deployment of either Arshavin or Eduardo in the middle we will need all the pacy wingers we can get.

Nasri and Rosicky are not really blessed with pace and Vela who is will need time to get back to match fitness.

Arshavin reveals Gallas’s eccentricity on the team bus

By Aries

Andrei Arshavin has played down Arsenal’s resounding victory over Wolves stating on his site that class showed in the end:

“I believe that today we can not say that Arsenal had a remarkable game. It’s just that the class of players in our team is much higher.

“We took advantage of those moments that we created on the counterattack. These attacks ended up as goals. In the second half we calmly brought the game to a victorious close”

He also revealed that the Arsenal players are always having a laugh when on the move but not at Gallas’s expense as he tends to sit alone on the team bus!

“William, our number ten- no one is allowed to sit next to him” he said

We wonder why.

Eduardo’s message to the world revealed

By Aries

Eduardo lifted his shirt after scoring Arsenal’s second goal to reveal a message written in portuguese: Paz na villa kennedy- RJ meaning "Peace in the Villa Kennedy-RJ'

This is a reference to a community in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil where Eduardo was born.

The slum has been the subject of fighting between rival criminal factions. Schools, kindergartens, health centres and shops all closed down on account of local upheaval. People also fled their homes.

The neighborhood began as a low cost housing project, funded mostly by the Kennedy administration's Alliance for Progress program of the 1960s and was originally to be named the Villa Progresso, but later changed to Villa Kennedy to honor the slain president.

Arsenal should worry about Song

By 1970’s Gooner

Watching during those opening 25 minutes you wouldn’t have thought that Arsenal’s supremacy would eventually have been so easy.

Wolves were pressing the midfield areas of the pitch with gusto and determination not allowing the Arsenal players room to turn.

And if it wasn’t for good defending and Berra’s inability to head towards Arsenal’s goal, when presented with a free header, Wolves would have gone ahead.

It would have been quite a different game after that.

What was wrong during that opening half hour was Wenger’s decision to rest Song and play Ramsey instead.

The little Welsh wizard is a very good player and will grow into a great player but he surely cannot be expected to replace someone as good as Song.

Especially if along side him was Diaby who is of course improving but alas proved not good enough to give young Ramsey the support he needed.

So and don’t get me wrong, I was “pleased” when Diaby had to come off (with a calf strain). As soon as Song came on he bossed that area as only he can. Wolves could not bully us anymore and then Arsenal’s beautiful football took over.

Culminating in that sublime Fabregas goal, Arsenal’s third, after himself moving the ball from defence onto Sagna on the right who then crossed for van Persie in the area who, in one touch, laid it back onto the oncoming Fabregas who promptly dispatched it into the net. FANTASTIC

The worrying thing about today’s performance is that it has shown how vulnerable this Arsenal side can be when Song goes away to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Whoever Wenger picks to replace Song will need to step up the plate if Arsenal are to have a realistic chance to win something this season.

Where team selection proved its worth tonight was in picking Eduardo as one of the wide players in Arsenal’s 4 3 3 formation, although as Tony Adams has revealed, Wenger considers it as a 4 1 4 1 formation.

Whatever it really is it has revolutionised Arsenal’s performances this season and helps to explain why we are scoring so many goals.

Fabregas is of course playing in the more forward positions now. This means that he moves forward to give support to van Persie and therefore can find himself in the more dangerous areas of the pitch and influence matters from there. His “maturity” and clinical finishing inevitably mean that he is among the goals.

But further than this the two wide men are also further up the field feeling more secure with the three midfield men shoring the areas behind them.

That is why Arsenal are pressing much more up the field keeping the opponents pinned in their half especially when their defenders have the ball.

This system depends crucially on the effectiveness of the three midfield men especially the two more destructive midfielders. If they are on top of their game and keep control of the midfield stopping the opposition from playing their football then it can work.

It only worked today when Song came on.

Spurs back to the drawing board. Player analysis and ratings

By 1970’s Gooner

Granted Spurs were missing pace up front with the absence of Lennon and Defoe but I still think that we would have still run out easy winners in the end.

They were facing two major problems.

One was their inability to gain control of the midfield areas with Huddlestone, Palacios and Jenas unable to counter Song, Diaby and Fabregas.

The other was that the middle of their defence could not cope with Arsenal’s movement. King in particular lacked pace which allowed van Persie to run rings around him.


Almunia

I called for Almunia to be brought back after Mannone started making mistakes and although Manuel did not have a lot to do he was there when it mattered, prodding Bentley’s free kick over the bar. 7

Sagna

His crossing was not up to standard in recent games and in previous assessments of the player it was suggested that he does some extra training. He obviously has as his crosses were quite good against Spurs with two of Arsenal’s three goals being direct assists. 8

Clichy

Is returning back to form in recent games with his defensive performance being more evident than his attacking. When he improves this side of his game he will be back to his best. 6

Gallas

Solid performance but the defence was not that troubled during the game. 7

Vermaelen

Another solid performance dealing with Crouch well enough. The real test for Vermaelen will be when he comes up against Drogba. If he manages to mark him out of the game then he will be hailed as an Arsenal great…He did not deserve the yellow card as he actually got the ball without fouling the player.7

Song

I had no doubts a few years ago when I saw him play against Manchester United for Charlton when he was on loan there that he will be an Arsenal great… 8

Diaby

He has reined his natural impulses in a lot lately and when he does that he is so much more effective. That’s what we want him to do really, support Song in the defensive duties, win the ball and give it to someone who can go forward.

There were one or two occasions when with 3-0 up he began trying out his pirouettes and holding onto the ball too much often loosing it. As long as he does that when we are 3-0 up then maybe we will forgive him. 6

Fabregas

Back to his best again scoring a fantastic “opportunistic” goal right from the restart! Opportunistic in the sense that any other player will probably not have gone on that run, passed three players, right after his team have scored.

Most teams tend to relax too much after they scored and that is when they are most vulnerable… But no the little maestro did the opposite. 8

Arshavin

Looks tired to me. A lot of his passes did not find their man and tended to run up blind alleys on some occasions. The good thing about him is that even when he is not at his best he can still be very dangerous as he showed with two shots that took deflections, otherwise they were destined for the back of the net. 6

Eduardo

Much better than Bendtner really. Can hold the ball up, use it intelligently and is more dangerous in front of goal. Why doesn’t Wenger start with him on the wing rather than Bendtner or even Eboue? 7

Van Persie

He is becoming lethal in front of goal after an average start to the season. He is an intelligent player with and without the ball and is now becoming more confident in front of goal. 8

When Rosicky, Nasri and Walcott return Robin and Arsenal will become even more potent up front and if we can keep clean sheets at the back then we have a real opportunity to WIN THE TITLE this season.



Man of the Match: Robin van Persie

Bring Almunia back. Player analysis and ratings Vs West Ham

By 1970’s Gooner

It’s simply not good enough. To have blown away a lead once and then to go and do it again a few days later, in the same manner is beyond belief. Don’t tell me that we need to go three up to feel safe because this is what it looks like it at the moment.

It was really pathetic, going 2-0 up in the first half and not being able to close the game out. The players thought that the game was over after the first 45 minutes. They started playing in second and third gear, not really interested enough to put the game beyond reach.

So the young squad still has a lot to learn, apparently.

Mannone

I still think that he will be a great goalkeeper for Arsenal but he was clearly at fault for their first goal. He should have pushed the ball out for a corner not bring it back into play again.

This goal started their revival and it is almost impossible to move up a gear when you’ve been in a lethargic state for a big part of the second half.

If Almunia was fit he should have been brought back into the team. 5

Sagna

Was a lot better this game. Went forward enough and his crosses were much improved resulting in Arsenal’s first goal. 7

Gallas

Looks invigorated this season and got another goal today. 7

Vermaelen

The centre back that Arsenal needed. Intelligent, physical, a good passer of the ball as well as having an eye for goal. 7

Clichy

Had an average game defensively but was not as good going forward. The quality of his crosses left a lot to be desired. 6

Song

Was having another strong game with his ability to shield the defence and make the simple passes to his forwards or Fabregas. However he tends to foul unnecessarily sometimes and it was fairly stupid of him to do so in the box giving away the penalty. 6

Fabregas

Was playing in second gear from the beginning of the game. Drifted in out of the game and generally was not the usual Cesc we all know. 5

Diaby

Has cut out the fancy stuff in recent games and this has resulted in much better performances. 6

Arshavin

Looked disinterested and like Fabregas was not in the centre of things as we have come to expect from the little Russian demon. 5

Van Persie

One of the few that played well tonight. Scored the first goal and generally led the line well. Nearly scored the winner with a header that was saved by Green in the latter stages of the game. He was however no helped a lot by the below par performances of Fabregas and Arshavin. 7

Eboue

He is a much improved player this season but I feel his inability to make the right decisions at important moments will always hamper his effectiveness. Now if Rosicky was fit or even if Eduardo was in the team we would have probably won the game. 6

Lansbury scores two for Watford (video)

By Aries

Henri Lansbury scored two goals to help Watford to their 4 -1 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday at Vicarage Road tonight.

He scored his first and Watford’s second on the 26th minute and rapped up the game with Warford’s fourth of the night.

You can watch all the goals on the video screen above.

Arshavin prefers early kick offs

By Aries

Andrey Arshavin was very pleased to score the 98th goal of his career. Speaking on his web site he gave credit to Fabregas for distracting the Birmingham defence.

“Our keeper got the ball to Cesc, he ran with the ball, passed it to me and I cut inside. Then Fabregas went on to overlap and distracted the defender to allow me some space to hit the ball” he said.

He admitted that may be the reason he was left out of the line up was the fatigue of having been involved in the World Cup qualifying games for Russia. He did feel tired he said.

“It is hard to come back from the international break? Of course, I felt tired. But that's not an excuse it is a fact”

At least there are comfy seats in the dug out recently installed at the Emirates.

“I felt all right. The club installed new, comfy benches for the substitutes...” he said.

Andrey also prefers the early kick offs in England unlike in Russia and the reason has something to do with his stomach.

“In England it's the opposite, the earlier the better. If the game starts at 4 or 5 pm I get hungry” he said!

Let’s hope his hunger for goals carries on unabated….

Another route today?

By 1970's Gooner

The result of today’s game at the Emirates against Birmingham really depends on what Arsenal do rather than on how the opponents approach the game. This is generally the case when one of the teams in a game is superior and also playing at home.

Birmingham on the other hand has an added incentive today in that it is the first game under new (richer) ownership. This is bound to “encourage” the players to up their performance with the January transfer window soon approaching.

McLeish is likely to approach the game with the same tactics adopted against Manchester United at Old Trafford earlier in the season loosing in the end by one goal to nil.

They played in a defensive formation but came out more in the last 15 minutes to try and salvage a draw which they nearly did.

I was impressed with their performance on that day and that is why I think that today’s game will be won by Arsenal only if mistakes are kept to a minimum at the back and ruthlessness employed in front of goal.

If Arsenal scores an early goal then I would expect another rout of a low rank team at the Emirates. If however we allow them to get ahead first then I do not see Birmingham being as generous as Blackburn at the back.

The positive aspect about Arsenal this season, however, is the democratic approach to goal scoring. There are goals from everywhere in the team, reminiscent once again of the “total football” approach that Arsene Wenger’s style brings about.

With players like Arshavin, van Persie, Rosicky, Fabregas, Gallas and of course Vermaelen around the goal threat is very real and this bodes well when playing against lower quality opposition.

This allows a certain amount of optimism that this season we will not drop so many points against the likes of Birmingham.

If we get our defensive effectiveness right against the better teams of the League then we have a real chance for the title.


Predicted line up:

Mannone

Sagna Galas Vermaelen Gibbs

Diaby Song

Fabregas

Arshavin van Persie Rosicky


Prediction: Arsenal 3 Birmingham 0