Difficult choices for Wenger
This weekend’s game against Manchester City is critical for Arsene Wenger. Injuries to key players and a suspension to Cesc Fabregas mean the lineup could either see most of the same faces or a dramatically new lineup for this key game.
The first question is the formation. Will Wenger return to the 4-5-1 formation he has used in previous away games or will he go for the more offensive 4-4-2? If he chooses the 4-5-1, Emmanuel Adebayor would be the best choice up front. Niklas Bendtner has failed to impress playing up front by himself. With Robin Van Persie back it would make sense to play him. Either he’ll play up front or in a more midfield role.
The big question is who will play Fabregas’s position? Denilson would be the most logical choice given that he has largely been playing this position all season. Most of the time he looks far more comfortable trying to run the attack than defend the midfield. If he is chosen then Song will assume the role of holding midfielder. If Wenger doesn’t choose Denilson then he could either play Diaby or Ramsey. Diaby is the most experienced, but Ramsey is coming off a series of strong performances.
The other big question is who’ll play on the right in place of the injured Theo Walcott. Eboue is doubtful which leaves Ramsey once again and possibly Diaby or Wilshere. Ramsey played on the right against Fenerbahce just recently, but was constantly drifting into the middle. Wilshere starting would be a long shot but he’ll probably be available on the bench.
Arsenal’s defence is likely to be the same as last week’s, minus Sagna. Toure will probaby play again at right back, being the best option available with Eboue unavailable. Djourou is likely to again be overlooked, although he has impressed every time he has started.
Saturday’s game is critical. The team’s confidence is low, their season tottering on the edge of an abyss. Theo Walcott has been the team’s best offensive threat so far and his injury means that the team will be without the spark that has provided most of the Arsenal fire this year. Other players need to step up now and play to their potential. The Gunners have yet to see the best from Robin Van Persie this season and now would be the time for him to perform. Emmanuel Adebayor has yet to play as well as he did last year and the Gunners need him to become as dominant as he was a year ago.
The Gunners need to avoid dropping points by the end of the year. After City they will face the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Middlesborough, Aston Villa and Portsmouth, not to mention Wigan and a pair of Champions League games. What happens in the next month determines whether Arsenal stay near the lead pack or whether they’ll merely be fighting to stay within the top five. Arsene Wenger needs to step up as well. If he can steer Arsenal through the next six weeks without the team stumbling, it could be one of his best moments as the manager of Arsenal.
The team on saturday should be this:
Alumina
Gallas Toure Djourou Clichy
Diaby Song Ramsey Nasri
RVP Ade
Song can hold and provide cover for ramsey. Wilshere to come on and Vela. I think Denilson will play though.
Gallas should play right back as Toure is a liability there and has not got the engine for it. Gallas has played right back for a lot of his career and needs to take responsibility.
p.s. Gallas needs to grow up and stop going to the press about the team. He should be stripped of the captaincy.
toure is out Injured with a calf problem
Anyone hear what Gallas said about the team complaining about a plyer, and Gallas confronting him. He doesnt ant to name names but he is 6 yrs Gallas’s junior and Gallas is 31. Anyone have any idea? Ade, RVP, Eboue???
Almunia
Djourou
Gallas
Silvestre
Clichy
Ramsey
Diaby
Denilson
Nasri
Ade
RVP
Loving all the Gallas haters. Clichy says we don’t have enough fight and Almunia calls us embarrasing and they are praised for being honest. Gallas criticises the team and gets hammered for it.
Gallas should not have exposed internal player conflicts
RvP is baned for 3 games,that counts the game with man.city ???
RVP is back for Saturday, yep. The suspension included the Carling Cup as well.
I’d expect something like this:
Almunia
Djourou – Gallas – Silvestre – Clichy
Nasri – Song – Denilson – Diaby
Adebayor – van Persie
van persie has served three including the carling cup
Gallas should not be talking in public about teammates bust up,and he is right to criticizes the team because with a.villa we were shit,and in other thought I’m glad he spoke about that because we know now that something is wrong with the team,and not the excuses of wenger we lack sharpness bla bla bla . . . either wenger get sorted the players or we will losing many games to follow…
Article coming on that soon mate.
Gallas should be dropped for Djourou for the foreseeable as well as stripped of his captaincy – whatever blind spot Wenger has got with Gallas, even he must realise what a disasterous impact the man is having on our team.
Theres only 3 25 yr olds at arsenal. Eboue, sagna and van persie. so take ur pick on who u think it is. i think its robin, he seems an arrogant little fuck sometimes.
There is only three players at arsenal that are 25 years old. These are eboue,sagna and van persie. So take your pick on who you think Gallas was talking about. If the quotes and story are correct i think it would be van persie causing the rift in the dressing room. He seems like an arrogant fuck sometimes.