Official Gooners Thread - A New Hope

[Old Bill]

No, it was just to emphasise the point!

[Dinny Breen]

aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AZOffaly]

Relax Dinny. It's all good

[ildanach]

PROB THE FIRST TIME THAT WENGER HAS ACTUALLY SEEN A MAJOR INCIDENT INVOLVING ONE OF HIS PLAYERS!

sure it was right in front of the dug out- how could he miss it
Alot of the other incidents that he doesn't see happen either end of the field 

[ONeill]

Gallas was always a terrible choice for captain. Gilberto has been ostracised for his public disgruntlement over the choice (to the detrement of arsenal's title aspirations) and his strops and disloyalty at chelsea should have been warning enough about the strength of the man's character. gallas' public criticisms of teammates recently are unbelievable from the captain of a team at the sharp end of a crumbling title challenge.

Gilberto? I can only assume you haven't really been following Arsenal all that closely. Arsene saw in the Brazilian what he noticed in Vieira, Henry, Pires etc - his time was done. Gilberto was living on borrowed time towards the end of last season despite his goal tally from penalties. His passing and tackling this year was of a man in serious decline and the invisible wall has now completely disappeared. Wenger brought him on recently for a decent spell in a game. His first pass was straight to the opposition. His second was a glorious through ball to no one. He'll not be here come August. Gilberto, like Lehmann, had become a liability. Gallas is a motivator who plays with his heart on his sleeve. He has scored against Chelsea and Utd this year and leads the side by example. Forget the Birmingham incident. In my book that showed how much he cared. Gallas has not publically criticised his teammates so don't fall into the trap of tabloid sensationalism. He made honest remarks about Walcott, more encouraging than anything.


He has been far from solid unless arsenal are winning. almunia is one of the worst pressure game performers ive seen in a long time. when arsenal go one down he gets more like grobalaar with every passing minute. but lets say he has been solid. he is still not amongs the best 1o keepers in the division, which is unforgivable for a manager with title aspirations. How much would Friedel or James have cost in january? less than £2m.

Almunia is a top-class shot stopper. Read the stats (or watch the games). Most of Arsenal goals against this year have been defensive errors.

there has been no middle in wenger's teams since the departure of the players with that quality whom he inherited. wenger would never sign an adams or keown. they have consistently faild to convert from winning positions in recent seasons. how many years trophyless now? the only player who could have improved arsenal in this respect, gilberto, has been standing in the bold corner for 6 months.

Wenger did not inherit Vieira, Gilberto, Campbell, Toure, Flamini etc.
You don't seem to grasp what Arsene and his side have done this season. We expected nothing due to the loss of quite a few of the Invincibles recently. However, he led the league for yonks, progressed to the QF of the champions' league and is still challenging on both fronts. This is not bad for a side with no middle. As for Gilberto again, you must be joking.

this story that is spun about wenge never spending money doesn't wash. he has recently spent big money on walcott, eduardo, hleb, gallas and rosicky..

If you want to, list the starting teams this weekend. List how much they cost. Arsenal would trail Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and I wouldn't be surprised if one or two more sides were more expensive to assemble.

[ONeill]

Any thoughts on the line-out?

I'd be thinking along the lines of:

Eboue - Toure - Gallas - Clichy
Walcott - Flamini - Fabregas - Hleb
         RVP
         Adebayor.

The debate seems to be do Arsenal go Toure - Senderos - Gallas - Clichy as they did v Bolton. I don't think Arsene needs 3 central defenders on Torres. If he did, Eboue would probably offer defensive cover instead of Walcott. I'd expect Flamini to disrupt Gerrard but for Cesc to receive the same treatment from the Argie or Alonso. That'll allow Hleb to strut his stuff. Babel v Eboue and Kuyt v Clichy. Babel and Kuyt have a tendancy to play narrow so I can see Clicy and Eboue bombing up both wings - they're fit and fast enough to recover.

Hope that if Eboue starts, Gallas and Toure have a word with him to stay on the field for 90 mins. Adebaypr up front needs to run the Liverpool defence (aged?) ragged as he did Milan. Not confident of him netting. Van Persie could hold the key. He has been getting into scoring positions lately but needs to bring his accuracy to the game tomorrow.

Looking forward to watching Wenger v Benitez - in some respects (well, all) Benitez is the master at this comp.

[Dinny Breen]

I really hope Senderos doesn't play, he wouldn't play him would he?

[AZOffaly]

I think Van Persie is the ace in the hole for Arsenal tonight, and over the whole tie. I think Liverpool will try and soak up Arsenal pressure, and hit them on the break with Torres, Gerrard and Babel breaking with pace. I think that's a mistake, because I really feel Liverpool need a goal, as I have to assume Arsenal will score 1 at least at Anfield. I admire Arsenal for their philosphy to the game, and they would be great Champions of Europe, I just hope it's not this season, because that will mean they've knocked Liverpool out.

[corn02]

2-1 to Arsenal would be a good result for Liverpool.

If Arsenal score within 15 minutes, they could easily hit the net three times.

[The Watcher Pat]

I had a premunition that Arsenal would win 3-0 tonight..

So i just put £4 on 3-0 @ 20/1 and £1 on Arsenal 3-0 and Fabregas to score first@ 135/1..

Fingers Crossed.....

[jaykay]

I hope you're right O'Neil but I fear it might be

Toure - Gallas - Senderos - Clichy
Eboue - Flamini - Fabregas - Hleb
       RVP - Adebayor

[ildanach]

I think he will go with

Eboue - Gallas - Toure - Clichy
Diaby - Flamini - Fabregas - Hleb
       RVP - Adebayor

i have a feeling we will win, i really hope we keep a clean sheet.

[hitzelsperger]

hope send-him-home doesnt play cos he's slow as a funeral and torres will leave him for dead..toure and gallas have to play at centre back. van the man is going to be key to arsenal tonight and i hope theo gets a run down the right cos he could expose the liverpool lack of pace at the back. 2-0 to the arsenal

[ONeill]

Senderos starts.

My monthly emoticon - 

[ildanach]

Senderos starts.

My monthly emoticon - 

he is going to prove us all wrong and score!!