The utter tripe that has been faithfully swallowed by certain sections of the media in recent days has beggared belief. This nonsense in the Mirror typifies the kind of journalism on offer these days, even a three year old without a brain would be ashamed:
"However, as footage from a Champions League tie with Bayern Munich appears to prove, not only has Fabregas apparently spat at a player on a football field, he also received a yellow card for his troubles."
Arseblogger covers these kind of issues brilliantly in this week's Arsecast, it really is essential listening. The Ballack incident really does sum it all up beautifully, some idiot has simply misinterpreted a youtube video, added 2 and 2 to make seven, then hey presto a massive incident is made retrospectively of something that was nothing at the time. It has even gone as far as the Bayern director of communications Markus Hoerwick having to come to Cecs's defence by stating that nothing at all happened. The clear xenophobic trend in the press is also rather distasteful, but we all know that don't we.
The Newcastle game tomorrow is important, with Villa facing another tricky fixture there is a chance of opening up a bit of a gap. Bendtner must surely start, while it's anyone's guess as to who will be rotated in the midfield and defence. Personally I'd like to see Walcott and Arshavin continue to give us the pace and width, while it will two of Song/Diaby/Denilson in the midfield, and two of Djourou/Toure/Gallas in the centre of defence. One thing that has been troubling me lately is the slightly patchy form of our once outstanding full backs, maybe I'm expecting too much but I do think that Clichy and Sagna have got some real room for improving their recent performances.
6 comments:
Really bad news - Walcott has injured his knee and is suspected to be out for 5 weeks.
This is disappointing. We really don't have any other players in the squad with his set of skills.
indeed Rhino,
very bad timing indeed, he really is the only player who can give us that cutting edge on the right,
may well have to stick arshavin on the right v newcastle,
problem is for villareal in the champs league arshavin is cup tied
on the positive knees can be unpredictable, it may be one/two weeks or five, it can be hard to know, fingers crossed there's no acl damage
Here's hoping it's minor and he'll be back soon.
I'm all for seeing Nasri and Arshavin in the wide roles.
I know this may sound a bit loony, but to be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing Gibbs playing as a winger in the Champions League. His defensive game is improving so he could help track back and he has a good cross on him along with other positive offensive attributes.
I'm not trying to scorn Eboue. He has done a bit better recently (though I remain unconvinced about him). But he tends to drift inside and make our play more narrow. And his final decisions are poor. I don't know if Mr. Wenger has given him a free role, or if he just thinks he is that type of player and therefore, is entitled to roam. But I think Gibbs could do a better job for us out wide than Eboue.
I'd even be interested in seeing Wilshere, though I admit playing in an important Champions League match may be a bit too soon for him.
I'd say we'll see some more Eboue - which is fine as long has decision making in the final third does improve. The recent boost to his confidence may help that.
Gibbs is too much of a gamble at that level (same for Wilshere) - with Fabregas back, Diaby will be pushed back out wide. So with Nasri, Arshavin and Eboue (also Vela and RvP) we'll have plenty of options.
Theo really is turning into an absolute sick-note.
I beleive you are correct Obs. I was just doing a bit of dreaming...
Admittedly, I forgot about Vela. He could play out wide as well. But Eboue it will be.
I'll leave you with this thought though. With Eboue scoring his recent goals, I worry that it will affect his attitude negatively, a la Adebayor. I hope I am wrong. But I do think for all of his athleticism, he is a bit short in the brains department. I noticed, either near the end against Blackburn or Hull, Eboue running with the ball into the middle of the pitch towards the box. Van Persie was looking for the pass to put him in, but Eboue passed to Robin's left a split second after Robin started his run to the right and the ball went harmlessly through the box. No troubles, happens to the best players. But I saw Eboue throw his arms up in the air directly at Van Persie as if to express that Van Persie made a foolish mistake by misreading his intentions and left a good goal scoring opportunity go begging. Almost like he felt his passing is typically incisive and dependable.
I like your idea Rhino.
It's a good one too, especially away from home you have to be very careful with possession, Eboue does give the ball away far too much with some rather strange decision making.
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