Official Gooners Thread - A New Hope

Started by Dinny Breen, November 10, 2006, 09:10:06 AM

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ONeill

WIGAN ATHLETIC are looking for a place in the top half, and Arsenal a spot in the top three, going into this midweek clash at the JJB. Both clubs are coming off 1-1 away draws at the weekend - the Latics at Middlesbrough, the Gunners at Chelsea.

Paul Jewell's men have recovered from a run of one win from their opening eight matches in League and Cup, by picking up five victories from the last nine.

This is the fifth time Wigan will have faced Arsenal in League and Cup. Their only victory to date was 1-0 in the semi-final of last season's Carling Cup. They were two places and two points above the Gunners when they went into their first ever League fixture against them in this corresponding match last season, but the Londoners put paid to Wigan's nine-match unbeaten Premiership run, and gained their first away victory of the season.

ARSENAL play their game in hand on the other contenders chasing the top two, and victory here would put them in pole position in the race for Champions League qualifying round spots, assuming the top two places have already been filled.

Arsene Wenger's side are averaging one goal per point (26 goals, 26 points).

The Gunners 'doubled' the Latics last time around - the first ever season the pair found themselves in the same division together. It was 2-3 in this identical fixture, and 4-2 at Highbury. Thierry Henry bagged the ninth hat-trick of his career in Arsenal's last ever fixture at their former home.

REFEREE

Rob Styles (Waterlooville, Hampshire)

SEQUENCES/RECENT FORM

WIGAN ATHLETIC
Club stats
Fixtures
11th 22 points
Highest achievable after Saturday's matches: 8th
Lowest could fall: 11th

1. Won one of the last five Premiership matches.

2. Won and lost League matches in equal measure so far this season (won six, lost six, drawn four).

3. Conceded the opening goal in four top flight contests. Only Chelsea have done better, allowing only Manchester United and Arsenal to score first against them.

4. Effectively dropped more points from winning positions than any other club in the Premiership (13). They lost home to Manchester United and away to Blackburn and Tottenham and drew, home to Watford and away to Middlesbrough, having led in all five games.

5. Three points worse off than at this identical stage in their first Premiership campaign last season, when they had 28 points after the first 17 games.

6. Played fewer fixtures this season than any other Premier League club (17).

7. Scored more goals in the first five minutes of Premiership matches this season than any other club (four).

8. Manchester United and Liverpool are the only clubs to have left the JJB with maximum points so far this season.

9. Scored 10 goals and conceded 10 in home League games this term, and hold the highest average of Premiership goals-per-game conceded at home (1.43).

10. This is the first of three consecutive home League fixtures before Christmas. Sheffield United and Chelsea visit the JJB after this.

ARSENAL
Club stats
Fixtures
6th 26 points
Highest achievable after Saturday's matches: 3rd
Lowest could realistically fall: 6th

1. Won one of the last five League fixtures.

2. Netted in each of the last six League matches, and failed to score in one of the last 14.

3. The current tally of 26 points after 16 matches is on a par with Arsenal's record at this same stage last season, when they eventually finished fourth.

4. On the Premiership's longest run since a goalless draw of 34 games.

5. Hold a 100% Premiership record when keeping clean sheets (won six of six).

6. Gained seven Premiership points from losing positions - no club has gained more. The Gunners showed their resilience by trailing then winning at Charlton and drawing home to Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Everton and Newcastle.

7. Won all four League games in which leading at half time, against Watford (h), Reading (a), Liverpool (h) and Tottenham (h).

8. Arsenal have three more fixtures before Christmas. They host Portsmouth, before a Carling Cup tie away to Liverpool, and a Premiership clash away to Blackburn.

KEY PLAYER NOTES/POTENTIAL MILESTONES

WIGAN ATHLETIC
Squad profiles

Henri CAMARA is Wigan's top scorer with six goals, all scored in the Premiership.

Paul SCHARNER is the only player to have been on the field for every minute of the Latics' League and Cup matches this season.

Wigan have two remaining Premiership ever-presents. Scharner and Emmerson BOYCE have been on the field for every minute of the Latics' League fixtures.

ARSENAL
Squad profiles

Thierry HENRY and Robin VAN PERSIE are Arsenal's joint top scorers with seven goals each. Henry leads the way for the club in the Premiership with six goals.

Henry scored five goals in the two Premiership fixtures with Wigan last season.

When he next plays, Henry will be making his 250th Premiership appearance. He'll become the seventh foreign player and the second Frenchman to reach the milestone. The other also wore an Arsenal shirt, Patrick Vieira.

If he plays, Mathieu FLAMINI wil be making his 100th appearance for the Gunners.

LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME

Wigan Athletic 2-3 Arsenal
19 November 2005 - Ref: Graham Poll
Wigan scorers: Camara 28, Bullard 45
Arsenal scorers: Van Persie 11, Henry 21, 41

HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS

Home and away
League: Wigan 0 wins, Arsenal 2, Draws 0
Prem: Wigan 0 wins, Arsenal 2, Draws 0

at Wigan only
League: Wigan 0 wins, Arsenal 1, Draws 0
Prem: Wigan 0 wins, Arsenal 1, Draws 0
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

ONeill

That's more like it. A scrappy win. Wenger rested Fabregas, Hleb and Van Persie in favour of Walcott, Baptista and Freddie. Walcott is still very raw around the edges, often taking the wrong option when tied up. However, his performance improved in the 2nd half and looked the most dangerous player on the field for a while. Baptista is still lacking match practise. Some nice touches and played a great through-ball for Walcott but not sure if he's gelling with the Arsenal passing-style. Loves to run in a straight line and shoot from distance....very Chelsea like. I thought Adebayor was excellent again, despite his misses. Ran all night and took the game to Wigan, although being a lone striker, you'd expect him to. He's definitely revelling in Henry's absence. Toure made a couple of crucial clearances yet the winning of this match occurred around the 75th minute when Wenger brought Fabregas on. The lad oozes class and seems to have grown a set of hardy balls too, judging by his tackle just before the goal. His pass to Adebayor was classy. Adebayor continues his remarkable run - he scores, Arsenal win and keep a clean sheet. All-in-all, hopefully the start of a great run...home to Pompey (on RTE) and Blackburn in the league next, followed by 2 away games before the New Year (Watford and Sheff Utd). Tonight needs to be the start of a 15-point run. Couldn't care less about the League Cup.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

ONeill

Great News!

Morrow Takes Over At Dallas 11/12/06

FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock announced today that former Arsenal (England) and Dallas (MLS) defender Steve Morrow will become the fourth head coach in team history. Morrow, who was an assistant coach with Dallas the last two seasons, becomes the first former Dallas player to be selected the team's head coach.

"Steve possesses all the characteristics which I feel are necessary to lead FC Dallas," said Hitchcock. "He brings a great background which not only includes success with one of the top clubs in the world, but also first hand understanding of what MLS is all about, having also played and coached in MLS. He's familiar with the team, the players, and I feel has the understanding and knowledge of what it will take to win championships."

The 36 year-old Morrow began his professional playing career at the age of 17, when he was signed by Arsenal of the English Premiership. After being loaned to various clubs, he made his Gunners' debut at the end of the 1991-92 season. The next year, he became a mainstay on the team that won the 1993 FA Cup and '93 League Cup, in which he scored the game-winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. He also played in the '94 European Cup Winner's Cup 1-0 win over Italian-side Parma, as well as the '95 Cup Winner's Cup final, which Arsenal lost 2-1 to Spain's Real Zaragosa.

After playing one season under current Arsenal head coach Arsène Wenger, he joined Queen's Park Rangers in 1997. Morrow played in 92 games in his four years at Rangers before coming to play for Dallas in 2002. In his two years as a defender with Dallas, he scored three goals in 41 regular season games and once in three playoff games. All four of his goals in MLS were against the Colorado Rapids.

"I'm thrilled and honored to coach what I consider to be the leading organization in MLS," said Morrow. "I believe we have an extremely talented group of players and with a few adjustments I think we can achieve great things."

Morrow, who earned 40 caps with the Northern Ireland National Team, was originally hired by Dallas as an assistant coach on Feb. 3, 2004, though he was forced to resign in late May of that year due to personal reasons. He returned to the club on Jan. 27, 2005 and has been the first assistant coach in each of the past two seasons. He acquired his UEFA "A" coaching license and also received a degree in Sports and Fitness Science from Luton University in England in 2002.

Morrow becomes the 51st coach in MLS history and the 11th that has previously played in Major League Soccer, with recently hired Kansas City head coach Curt Onalfo being the 10th. Six of the nine previous former players that coached MLS teams finished a particular season as interim coaches, but only two of those six were later named MLS head coaches. The three other former players that became MLS head coaches did so at the start of a season and have accounted for four of the last six MLS Cups Championships: Frank Yallop (San Jose – 2001, 2003); Peter Nowak (D.C. United - 2004); and Dominic Kinnear (Houston - 2006). Morrow joins Onalfo as the two most recent former players that will begin a season as an MLS head coach.

Morrow is married to Fiona and has three children, Jonathan, Sophie, and Scarlett.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

never kickt a ball

Wasn't he the guy that got injured by his team mates after the FA cup final?

ONeill

Yes, Tony Adams, of the Equus asinus variety, threw our Steve to the ground from his shoulders before the team collected their winners' medals after beating Sheff Wed in the League Cup final. Poor Steve never walked the steps that day, even though he'd scored the winner.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

ONeill

#65
Another disappointing result. Forget that Arsenal were 2-0 down, you need to be beating Portsmouth at home. After what happened today, it was a chance to make the gap a little easier on the eye (although a more realistic analysis is that it allowed other Champions' League pretenders to close in). Why Wenger didn't start the on-fire Adebayor is beyond me. I don't buy the groin excuse - he seemed ok when he came on. I'd say this boob contributed to Wenger's irritation at half-time. He is swiftly losing his 'cool-customer' tag.

As for the game, I thought Walcott (although tiring late on) is close to a starting berth. Ljungberg simply hasn't got it what he had anymore and it's getting to the stage that Theo is more of a threat to opposition than Freddie. Van Persie, well, he needs to convert more. How long do we wait for him to flower? Despite a few defensive lapses, Clichy tried his heart out towards the end, taking the game to Pompey when others were waiting for something to happen. Aliadiere - never had it, never will.

On to Anfield on Tuesday and I can't see our reserves putting it up to a relatively strong Liverpool line-up.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

ONeill

Wenger shows Rafa some Travolta.

I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

ONeill

I received a text yesterday from a brother saying that the Gooners were going to rack up a high score. It was always going to happen sooner rather than later. Arsenal, in those last 20 minutes, playing absolutely orgasmic football, bordering on arrogance. Savage's swipe at Cesc down by the flag typified how the Rovers' players were feeling.

Something that surely is not resting easy on Wenger is Henry's return. If Arsenal, and a big if, can gain some form of consistency (it's not beyond the realms of Arsenal possibility that Watford and Sheff Utd will turn them over over the holidays) then who does he drop? An on-fire Adebayor or Van Persie who is getting the games he needs to confirm his massive talent. Gallas' return is vital. The defence is not breeding confidence.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

never kickt a ball

Bet ye Wenger's thinking of selling Henry?

ONeill

I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

ONeill

Too close for comfort. Adebayor's injury is worrying though. Baptista up front alongside Van Winkle? Walcott is impressing more and more and should rake up about 25-30 appearances this season. Captain Gilberto having the season of his career.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

ONeill

Same old story. Head north of Birmingham and Arsenal crumble. Forget the injuries and the 'youth' factor. Until Arsenal replave Vieira's balls, they'll turn into a Liverpool.
I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

gawa316

Quote from: ONeill on December 30, 2006, 10:52:47 PM
Same old story. Head north of Birmingham and Arsenal crumble. Forget the injuries and the 'youth' factor. Until Arsenal replave Vieira's balls, they'll turn into a Liverpool.

What Champion's League Winners?....Doubt it ;)

Farrandeelin

Ye hoors had to win at OT though! :-[
Inaugural Football Championship Prediction Winner.

Elias

And a GREAT pleasure was taken at it.

;D ;D ;D ;D