Probable lineup for todays season opener

There no time to dwell on the negative, call me crazy but I feel good about our prospects not just for today but for the season. I am confident that this is our season, yes there are areas of weakness, but our strengths more than compensate for any perceived weaknesses.

As for today’s game, well don’t expect an objective analysis from me as far as I’m concerned we are going to win every game starting with a strong win at Anfield. Starting Theo and Arshavin will immediately put Liverpool as a psychological disadvantage, believe me these are two players that they are not relishing defending against simply because of their track record.

Can you see Liverpool being able to handle the attacking power we are going to unleash upon them today? I for one can’t. They’ll be hoping that Fábregas and van Persie won’t be available, but with Chamackattack in for RvP and Nasri for Cesc there is a minimal loss in quality.

I must admit that our defensive midfied area looks a little worrying, but the boss did say that Diaby is 100% available so I’m willing to bet that he’ll start, which isn’t too shabby. I’m not even worried about our defence, all we have to do is keep the ball enough to force Gerard and his ilk to be dropping back so deep for the ball as to reduce the effectiveness in attack.

Without Torres in will be down to Ngog to lead the line. He has been in good form during the preseason, but he won’t be getting much of a chance today. The more I think about it the more I see an Arsenal win, where is the Liverpool attack going to come from?

So my match prediction today is Arsenal to win 2-0 and for Scousers to call for Hodgson’s head at 6pm.

In other goings on, Wenger has signed a new contract taking him to 2014 which is good news in my book. There were those speculating that the stay of some players are directly linked to that of Le Boss, so him staying on means that the spectre of will he or won’t he sign is banished.

Have a great day Gooner, here’s to victory for the red army.

My predicted teal line-up for tonights game.

For the foreseeable future I won’t be able to post abundantly, but I promise to post regularly on Wednesdays and at least once on the weekends.

When the Premier League fixtures came out last summer we were all flabbergasted at the insane run of fixture the computer fixed for Arsenal starting today with Aston Villa and ending on the 10th of February with Liverpool with Chelsea and Manchester United in between.

Many see this as a make or break run of games, I’m not sure it is. I acknowledge that these games are going to be tough, but it’s no different from any of the other 34 games this season. The goal is to perform well in every game and if we do then chances are we will win.

The only game out of those four that I am concerned about is Chelsea, because frankly they are the only team that are better than us.

Aston Villa we’ve comfortably beaten already and although the game is at Villa Park, it’s not exactly a fortress over there. They tend to be negative and hit the opponents on the break, which can be a double edged sword against us.

That same technique was applied at our last meeting in The Emirates Stadium and our defence comfortably handled their counter-attacking threat. I would have been worried if Traore was still our leftback but with our regular back four well rested I am confident that we will be victorious.

In other matter, it’s nice to see a footballer being sincere and honest about his career. Philippe Senderos has always been hailed as a deep thinking level headed person, and that really showed in his appraisal of his time at Arsenal saying.

“They gave me a fair chance. But at big clubs you have a lot of players and two or three games a week and, if they come in and do well, they will take your place. That’s what happened to me. I don’t think I’ve been unfairly treated apart from the last few months but even then the players in the team were doing well and staying in.”

“I am not bitter at leaving. Arsenal are a big club who gave me a lot and I owe a lot to them. They took me from Switzerland when I was 18 and I got to play in a Champions League final and to win the FA Cup. I am proud to say I was an Arsenal player but I couldn’t go on not playing every week. I needed to move. I didn’t just move to Everton for opportunities, I’ve moved to Everton because it’s a massive club and I can see myself growing as a player and as a man here.”

What a refreshing change from the usual bitterness espoused by most when moved on. It is fair to say that any Arsenal fan reading this can only wish Philippe well and hope that he achieves all his professional aspirations.

One more thing before I sign off. Did anyone really think that Arsène was ever interested in signing a striker? When Arsène says he is looking for the “right” player, you must recognise that he means the right player at the right price.

Who has been available in the transfer window that could fit our needs at the right price?

Apparently the premier League will be handed out the trophy to Manchester United this afternoon. What irritates me is the concrete certainty of all this. No one seems to be able to contemplate an Arsenal victory at Old Trafford, like it is completely impossible.

I know we’ve had a poor run recently, but is this not the same Arsenal that beat Manchester United at the Emirates earlier this season? Is this not the same United which lost 4-1 to Liverpool?

In the midst of doom and gloom I can still see the blue skies.

The funny thing is that I didn’t hear much about the demise of United when they lost to Liverpool at OT by the same scoreline as we lost to Chelsea, they then went on to lose at Fulham. No, what I did hear was “it’s just a glitch they’ll bounce back”. What hurts even more is our own fans a resigned to defeat, accepting the inevitability of the coronation of Man U, they are sitting in wait, sharpening knives, vigilantes ready to impart justice on the criminal Arsene Wenger.

Well, we will bounce back —that I am certain of, just as I am certain that we will win every time we step out on the pitch. When we do beat Man United this afternoon, I am waiting to hear the volte-face … or maybe it will be a run out of excuses for Man United because Arsenal is simply not good enough to beat the “world champs”.

They would say we were lucky, Man U were saving themselves for Wigan and Barca. Wenger will still get shown up against teams that ‘get stuck into them’. They would then highlight the lack of English players in our team, how Wenger is is the anti-Christ of English football and then Jamie Redknapp would surface from fat Frank and Stevie G’s butt hole and say ‘yeah, wiv outta doubt Richard.

Senna back for Villarreal but how fit is he?

The conventional thought says Villarreal need a win or at the very least a goalless draw, whereas Arsenal will just be looking for an away goal. In reality none of the teams will be going for any particular result, they will both be looking to win the game.

It is poised to be a great game, with two similar managers both who love to attack and players who are all technically adept at keeping the ball, stringing passes together, and creating chances don’t expect to see one of those cagey European 0-0 games.

Arsenal is a team that is fuelled by confidence and at the moment our confidence meter is reading high, even without van Persie, Eduardo, Arshavin and Diaby out I just feel that we are still very well equipped to win that game.

There is a lot of talk about Pires, and yes it will be emotional, but to me the player that will trouble us the most is Marcos Senna. If he is fit then our midfield is in for a tough time, the guy is a total destroyer in the middle. Again I’d say that we still have a lot of ammo in our Arsenal to overcome Villarreal’s threats.

There are some games when you get a feeling of anxiety beforehand, where you expect your team to do well but fear the result is up in the air. Somehow this game does not give me that sense, I am strangely relaxed and expecting a good win.

Before I leave I must mention that dreadful tackle from Lee Carsley on Chris Iwelumo. Strangely players like Carsley are never dirty players ask his manager.

He’s not a dirty player Carsley, he’s very hard but fair and I think he’s gutted that the lad is injured.

Of course not, he’s just following your instructions, as you say go in hard, let them know you’re there. It cannot be coincidence that those tackles are happen on your watch Alex. And yeah he’s gutted, just as Taylor was when he crushed Eduardo, so gutted that he couldn’t bear facing Eduardo to offer an apology.

You must realise how deep this problem runs when even Mick M^cCarthy feels the need to defend Carsley saying,

He’s a competitor, He’s mistimed it and it doesn’t look very nice. But Lee Carsley’s one of the nicest blokes in football. I don’t think for one minute he went to ‘do’ Chris Iwelumo.

It may not be malicious or with intent, but how can you explain a knee high tackle that is absolutely nowhere close to the ball? And no bad timing does not cut it.

Bendtner will exorcise the ghost of Blackburn

Fabianski who has been the designated Cup keeper will start as Almunia’s would have been rested in any case. There is a possibility of Almunia missing the Saturday’s game.

Ramsey is also out as Arsene reckons he is a bit tired but Gibbs will be given a chance to show off more of his capability as a backup for Clichy.

In more injury news Tomas Rosicky’s return is yet again delayed, but someone’s maths isn’t adding up. the Manager said

<blockquote>Tomas has had a little set-back of one week so he will be out for two weeks again. We have to be a bit more patient than in the start.

I told you two weeks ago that he would be back in full training but he will not. He’ll be back in full training in two weeks time now.</blockquote>

Ah Wenger, if 2 weeks ago he would be back in 2 weeks, and now he’ll be back in 2 weeks time that’s not a 1 week setback that’s a 2 week set back. It doesn’t matter anyway, I have long written off Rosicky for this season. I’d rather him take all the time needed and be ready for next season.

My guess at the team would be…
</blockquote>Fabianski
Sagna – Gallas – Djourou – Gibbs
Walcott – Diaby – Song – Vela
Van Persie – Bendtner
</blockquote>

Hull has been in a bit of a free-fall lately, and with the Arsenal team building up a bit of confidence I can’t see anything other than an Arsenal – Chelsea semi-final. Hopefully Bendtner will score the opening goal and get the crowd on his side tonight.

At 4-1 the bookies does think that he has the potential to do so.

Toure fit for Wigan game this weekend.

Arsenal captain fabulous, Francesc Fabregas has done what some other footballers find it hard to do and completely rubbished talk of his interest in making a switch to AC Milan. The report was a nonsense in the first place anyway, Cesc was giving a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question. As usual this has turned into “Cesc wants to leave for Milan”, utter tosh.

Cesc – being the type of person he is – was quick to poo-poo such talk on the club’s website.

“It is true that I said I admire Milan for their rich history and the way they play football but that is as far as the story goes,” said Fabregas.

“I am honoured to be wearing the captain’s armband for Arsenal and I am 100 per cent committed to this Club. My future is here.”

Things like that are the reason we love and respect Fabregas, if only more players could follow his example, like Gallas for one.

The ex-captain feels lonely and humiliated, the sun reports “exclusively” that Gallas has told family and friends that he would “welcome a move to AC Milan” and he is “not a happy man at the moment”, nor would I expect him to be.

We know how reliable these friend of family reports can be, but I’d be more worried if he was happy. Curiously the article adds that Gallas has not – nor was he asked to – apologised to the team. Of course he should not have to be asked to apologise, a person of his age and maturity – two things he put a lot of stock in – should recognise the error of his ways and make the necessary amends.

Remarkably now that Toure is fit to play Gallas is on the sick list, this seems to be a bit spurious to me. I am not going to speculate but conspiracy theorists would have a field day with this.

Things are improving in the sickroom. Barring long-term injuries to Walcott and Rosicky, Eboue could be back after 5 weeks out and the return of Eduardo is “imminent”. Eduardo’s return is excellent news, now taking part in full training the crozillian striker now needs some games to get his fitness levels back to where it is needed to be for top class football.

Wigan tomorrow is the first step in getting back to where the team needs to  be. Clichy recognises the need not to drop any more points, I should think that the entire squad realises the importance of getting maximum points from the Wigan game. If anything knowing that the Carling Cup Kids put 3 goals past a full strength Wigan team, the first team cannot afford to get anything less 3 points.

There seems to be a common theme throughout the dressing room, that the win at Chelsea means nothing if we don’t beat Wigan. A 3-0 result will be my bet, What’s yours?

Smiles all around after a good week for Arsenal.

The mood in the Arsenal camp must be bullish after the last 2 results, and the changes made for the Carling Cup tie has allowed the players a full week rest. A week to recuperate should see the team full of energy and zest tomorrow, confidence is running high and everyone should be hungry for a win.

Villa on the other hand are visiting on the back of 2 games where, not unlike Arsenal, they were expected to win points but ended up losing 2-0 to Newcastle and 1-2 against Middlesborough. This is not the best of form for a team aspiring for a champions league spot. My worry is the team goes into the game with a similar attitude to that of Fulham, Hull, Sunderland, etc.

We need to be in top gear for the game, as I’ve posted before , the win against Manchester United will stand for nothing if we don’t get a victory against Aston villa. What this team needs more than anything else is a bit of consistency, two wins will be seen as the beginning of a good run, anything else and it’s back to square one.

On the injury front we still have Adebayor rated at 50-50, Almunia at 70-30 and Eboue along with Eduardo and Rosicky out. Although Ade and Almunia are to undergo late fitness tests I doubt that we will see either in action against the Villa.

Wenger is positive on Thomas Rosicky. I don’t share his optimism, there must be cause for concern about the health of Rosicky as reports of his imminent recovery as proved time and time again to be false. Like all gooners I am hoping for a full recovery, but I wouldn’t at all be surprised if this happens much, much later than we thought.

Eduardo is reported to be in training according to Setanta according to Croatian press, again I don’t share this optimism. At the moment there is no need to rush any of our strikers back into action, let’s be patient Eduardo will be back whether it is next week or next month he needs to be completley fit before he sees any action.

My prediction for tomorrow wil be a 3-1 win for the Gunners, I Bendtner will come good, but we will let in the odd goal. What do you think?

Arsenal meet Fenerbahce in a vocirferous Sukru Saracoglu

Fortunately we will have Djourou back and Nasri has shaken off his knock to be ready for tonight. The atmosphere will be amazing, what Arsenal needs to do is dull the crowd quickly, take control of the game very early, not something we have been able to do consistently.

Fenerbahce has been going through a barren period recently, although they won last weekend they sit in 10th place loosing 4 out of 7 so far this season, collecting only 1 point so far in the Champions League. Aragones has not got the team firing yet, similarly to Spain who was woeful, but turned it around once he got the team to operate the way he wanted.

Boss Wenger has not forgotten has not been allowed to forget Aragones “motivational technique” from 2004, he considers it “clumsy”saying

“It was in a training session when he wanted to motivate Jose Antonio Reyes,” said Wenger.

“It was a very clumsy sentence. But, on the information I have, he is not a racist.

“Everyone is responsible for their own behaviour and, if you are a public man, you have more responsibilities. But Samuel Eto’o had him as a coach and said he was not racist at all.”

For me that’s a non issue, what is important is that the players are ready and Wenger does not go on one of is experimental tangents. Before the Everton match, I intimated that Arsene would not even consider using Eboue as a right back, and was thus proved correct. His hand will be forced tonight, but there’s still the possibility that he will shunt Djourou our right. I know it’s wrong, you know it’s wrong, but Arsene does not see the problem.

Hopefully common sense will prevail and we will see a back four from left to right of Clichy, Silvestre, Djourou, and Eboue not saying that Wenger doesn’t have common sense, but you know how he can be. in the middle and front is anyone’s guess, barring the Rosicky and Eduardo we have a full complement of staff to pick from.

Unlike some of our domestic ties, I believe we are more capable of controlling European ties, their style suits us. I strongly believe the only thing between us and champions league glory is another English side.

It will be hard but we should leave Turkey with a victory, a draw wouldn’t be a bad point but I think it will end 3-1 again we will concede a goal as per usual. Don’t you agree?

Mad Jens last played for Arsenal against Everton

Everton need a good result tomorrow, which means they will play the usual 10 behind the ball and hope to hit Arsenal on the break, a ploy which has worked well against us this term. The toffees will certainly not going to try to outplay Arsenal knowing that a draw is a good result for them and a worse result for the gunners.

The key man for Everton is Arteta. With 2 goals to his name and top of the league with 4 assists his current form will pose a stern test for Arsenal’s teenage midfield. However stern that test is, the fact that we need to win this game so there is no room for mistakes or lapse of concentration.

Gallas and Sagna are out for the game which means Toure will be shafted out right and we will see a paring of Silvestre and Djourou in the centre. There have been calls for Gallas to be left out and one tends to wonder how much of this injury is Wenger just wanting an excuse for doing just that.

Wenger have played Djourou at right back if he chooses to do so then it would be Kolo and Silvestre in the middle, however we have seen last season that Wenger does not have a problem with Kolo at right, don’t even mention Eboue as far as I see it Wenger has forgotten that Eboue was a right back, I’ll be very surprised if Eboues moves to cover for Sagna.

Now that Diaby is fit for a while, you do know it’s only for a few games, it will be interesting to see what Arsene decides to do with the midfield. Denilson hasn’t been too bad and has been, if anything, consistent in the centre of the park. I would expect Arsene to stick with him and keep Diaby on the bench, no use risking Diaby so soon let him play a few low key reserve games.

It would come as no surprise to see Theo being rested with a champions league match coming up on Tuesday, Nasri should be in the mix with Adebayor and Van Persie up front to work on their telepathy. Ade should be up for it fresh from a 4 goal spree against Zambia, he should be in good spirits and hopefully the crowd will extend some kind of support towards him.

So a 4-4-2 with Silvestre making his first premier league appearance in Arsenal colours should be enough to overcome a stout defensive Everton. I make it Arsenal 3 – 1 Everton there is no way we will keep a clean sheet tomorrow.

Jack Wilshere may not be the youngest Arsenal player tonight

One man who thinks so is Michel Platini, more on that later. I have all the confidence in Wenger and his judgement as more often than not he is right, but there are occasions when he has got it spectacularly wrong. Tonight may be one of those occasions.

Put yourself in the position of Sheffield United, you would be making every effort to beat those children. Yes they are good, some of these Arsenal players are exceptional talents, some even good enough to feature in the first team. The fact is they are young and with this youth can come frailties, I sincerely hope that those frailties are not exposed on the pitch tonight.

I expect Sheffield United to be physical and use their strength against us, Wenger needs to prepare the team for this and not let the rough treatment get to them. I am sure the team club’s sport psychologists will include this in the team pre-match prep.

The Telegraph reports on a leaked team meeting document. The memo was handed out to the team before the Bolton match. The players obviously paid attention to the memo as the team ethic displayed was exactly what the memo called for.

Here’s the document text.

Confidential

Team meeting 19th September 2008

The Team:

A team is as strong as the relationships within it.

The driving force of a team is its member’s ability to create and maintain excellent relationships within the team that can add an extra dimension and robustness to the team dynamic.

This attitude can be used by our team to focus on the gratitude and the vitally important benefits that the team brings to our own lives. It can be used to strengthen and deepen the relationships within it and maximise the opportunities that await a strong and united team.

Our team becomes stronger by:

Displaying a positive attitude on and off the pitch

Everyone making the right decisions for the team

Have an unshakeable belief that we can achieve our target

Believe in the strength of the team

Always want more – always give more

Michel Platini has launched a scathing attack on Arsene Wenger and his policies. Youngguns reports on the interview, which is due to be published in Le Dauphiné on Thursday. The French newspaper Le Monde has excerpts from the interview.

I don’t know what exactly is Platini’s problem with Wenger, but it seems to me that far from belittling Wenger’s philosophy, he should encouraging the development and confidence that Arsene has showed he has in young players. It is sad to see that the great Michel Platini has become such a bitter old politician.

I will be at the Emirates tonight giving my full support to the young guns, I will be disappointed if we don’t win, but not surprised. What about you?

Gallas misses an early chance

Fortunately it wasn’t, some good work from Adebayor won us a penalty minutes after Kolo Toure had a will hit shot saved by Given. Van Persie stepped up to score the first of his season and we were off and running. I had previously written that v. Persie must find his shooting boots and he undoubtedly has. Robin,  who looked sharp and fit, scored a second from good play by Eboue who had his best game for Arsenal for a long time.

The entire team had was much improved, they seemed to have learnt lessons from the Fulham defeat. There was a determination and hunger that was clearly missing last week. Denilson who was the target of much scorn from the previous week redeemed himself yesterday. The was still the odd misplaced pass but his performance was at least a 7/10 and a goal will surely boost his confidence.

Another player who sought redemption yesterday was Eboue, like I said he can be good sometimes and yesterday was one of those times. It leads you to wonder why can’t play like that more often. Like the manager said

I believe that the improvement comes from a completely different attitude. We have shown that against FC Twente and we have shown again here. Fulham was the start of the season with tough games before it. After the players went away it was some players’ fourth game in 10 days and we were not ready mentally at Craven Cottage.

There is no doubt that the talent and technical ability is there, it’s just a question of going out there and playing like you know you can. It’s all in the head.

well played boys, well played

Nasri again proved that his transfer fee was good value by putting in another excellent display, we can safely say that we have improved on Hleb. His little clip on Barton reminded me of Sagna on Huddlestone last season, and totally blanking Keegan after the match was classic. He is rapidly becoming one of my favourite players on the team.

Adebayor didn’t score but was involved in all 3 goals, he displayed a selflessness to his game that we haven’t seen since the Henry days, maybe even a slight bit too much.

The sight of v.Persie going off injured was the only worry we had, hopefully it’s not a long-term injury. Knowing his history we can only hope.

Performances like yesterdays’ is what led to the name of this blog, what we’ve now come to expect from Arsenal FC, what can simply be described in one word. . .Wengerball. Let’s not get too carried away by a win over a poor Newcastle team, just enjoy the quality of entertainment served up by the team and look forward to more quality football.

There is the usual amount of doom and gloom surrounding the club, this time stemming from our extensive injury list.

• P Senderos - Hamstring Injury - no return date
• K Toure - Hip/Thigh Injury 16th Aug 08
• C Fabregas - Hamstring Injury 23rd Aug 08
• S Nasri - Knee Injury 16th Aug 08
• V Diaby - Thigh Muscle Strain 13th Sep 08
• E Da Silva - Broken Leg Dec 08
• T Rosicky - Hamstring Injury 27th Sep 08

Fc Twente has had a good pre-season (8-1-0) under McClaren, while he is reviled in England here the Twente fans are so far quite pleased with his methods and results.

In McClaren, Twente has a manager that has always sought to improve his coaching education, spending much of his time after the England job, visiting teams abroad observing and learning coaching skills and techniques from different countries.

Despite our last meeting with McClaren ending up in a 7-0 rout, his team has always gven us a hard time. Considering the travelling squad, I think we will get the same hard time.

My guess at the line-up tonight would be

Almunia
Sagna – Djourou – Gallas – Clichy
Eboue – Denilson – Ramsey – Vela
Adebayor – V. Persie

Of course Eboue shouldn’t really be in, but given he is Wenger’s lovechild he must be included.

Everyone understands the importance of getting through this stage of the UCL, and while it will not be easy, the squad has enough quality in there to prevail in the end.

Final score 0-2

What do you think?

missing link or weakest link

Popular opinion seems to conclude that we need to sign a strong centre back and find a competent understudy at left back. I tend to agree with this assessment, however for all intents and purpose is seem that monsieur Wenger would beg to differ. So does Arsene know?

Goalkeepers – the last line of defence.

Almunia
When Arsene dropped Lehman after the second game last season, no one assumed the Almunia would emerge as first choice through the entire season. To his credit Almunia seized the opportunity presented to him and made the position his own, much like Flamini.

We all agree that he is a solid reliable keeper, I think the defence, and fans, now has confidence in him which always makes a difference.

We all will also agree that in so far as Almunia is reliable, he is not fantastic. He will hardly pull out the incredible save that can make the difference between an excellent keeper and a great one.

Fabianski
Youth and goalkeeping don’t usually go hand in hand, Fabianski is only 23 which is quite young in goalkeeping years. He hasn’t done much wrong in his first year at the club, even in the 5-1 loss to that team he was hardly to blame for the score line.
Physically he is quite capable, he may be young he has played a lot more than most goalkeepers at his age including. Winning the Polish championships and being twice voted goalkeeper of the year in a country where goalkeepers are more revered than strikers says a lot about his talents.
Wenger is very confident in his abilities, I think he can be a very good keeper…do you?

Vito Mannone
Another young goalie, a full 3 years younger than Fabianski, I’ve seen him make some stunning saves in the reserve leagues but also some silly mistakes.
He is third choice, will hardly see any playing time, he can suffice in the odd game but 20 is pushing it for a premier league goalkeeper.

Gallas, Toure, Clichy, and Sagna
I’ve put them together as there isn’t much to say, except that fully fit they are one of the best back four around. The question is what of the backup?

Eboue
This is where he belongs, as backup for Sagna. I have no idea why Wenger persisted with him on the wing when Sagna was injured. Playing Toure at RB and Eboue on the wing was just criminal.

I just hope Arsene does not persist with the Eboue-in-midfield experiment this season.

Hoyte
In as much as he is an Arsenal fan, I don’t think he is ready, looks nervous and lacking confidence. A loan spell might be what he needs.

Armand Traore
Whereas Clichy was always seen as a ready made replacement for Ashley Cole, we are in a situation now where there is no outstanding LB to replace Clichy when needed.
Traore is good but last season his progress seemed to have stalled, you get the feeling that he doesn’t really see himself as a leftback but more of a winger.
Strong, very quick, and good in attack defensively still needs to improve.

Keiran Gibbs
I had high hopes for him last season but he didn’t feature, played against Juventus as left back and looked the part. I am not sure if it was lack of choice or if Wenger might have plans for him as a leftback.

Johann Djourou
Many expected Djourou to overtake Senderos for the CB position, however that has not materialised. The loan spell at Birmingham did not work as we thought it would.
At 6’3″ he could solve some of our frailties at the back, unless there is some kind of major transformation he will remain behind Senderos.

Philippe Senderos
No one splits Arsenal fans as much as big Phil Senderos. Playing such a major part in Arsenal’s advance to the 2006 champions league finals and leading the stingiest defence in WC2006 big things were expected of Senderos in the 2006/2007 season.
Unfortunately a shoulder injury hampered his preparations and the Phillipe of 2006 never came back.
Our 2008 champions league campaign came to an end at Liverpool with Senderos being cast as the villain of the day, switching off at crucial times is a problem associated with him.
The manager again seems to have a confidence in the player that a lot of fans don’t share, it remains to be seen which Philippe shows up this season. I must confess here that I am one of the people that thinks he does not deserve the grief he gets.

The need to buy a centre back comes down to Senderos, a resurgence of the 2006 confidence will see Wenger vindicated otherwise we’re screwed.

Overall I think the loss of Clichy is a bigger worry than that of Gallas or Toure. Then again that’s just my opinion, have your say in the comments section.

Arsenal injured 11:

• Almunia
• Sagna
• Senderos
• Djourou
• Clichy
• Denilson
• Song
• Diaby
• Walcott
• Rosicky
• Van Persie

Not a bad 11, don’t you think.

Some fans are of the notion that tomorow’s game is not so important in the scheme of things, I don’t.

No matter what team we put out tomorow you can bet that none of them will be thinking of anything else than beating ManU, winning at Old Trafford will go a long way in helping us win the premier league title. Whilst I agree that a loss will not be entirely deflating but can you imagine how much better it would be to put one over demento and his lot?

One thing I wouldn’t want is a draw, and I don’t think either manager wants one either, therefore a good game of positive football it will be.

Up front we have Adebayor, and Van Persie injured with Walcott facing a late test on his shoulder. This leaves Eduardo and Bendtner as the only striking options(still it’s and improvement on Baptista and Aliadiere).

In the middle out is Hleb(ankle), Flamini(suspended) and Cesc(rested) giving an opportunity to Diarra to show his worth(to us and suitors) and Diaby along with Denilson to get a run.

Our usual back four is available although I suspect Gallas may get a rest.

Most interestingly will be Jens Lehman back in goal, I don’t know how to read this so I’ll just watch the game and see how it goes. Arsenal have not lost to a lower league team in the FA cup under Wenger, so I don’t expect anything different tomorrow, hopefully we will be 3 up early and give some fringe players a run out.

Elsewhere there are rumors and speculation in the transer market, but that’s just what it is – rumor and speculation.

“Arsenal’s players have been banging the drum about how they can cope with the physical side of the game this year, so they know that it is part and parcel of the game.”

This is exactly what is wrong with English football, when a team who tries to play something beautiful as wengerball has to accept that physical intimidation is part and parcel of the game.

We understand that when needs be we have to remind others that we will not be messed with. Dark Arts however is not and should not be part and parcel of the game. Mark Hughes and his lot has chosen to make thuggery a tactical substitute for footballing skill. Mark, if you Live by the sword then you should not complain the sword is brought to bear upon you.

Although no one can say what is on a players mind, I suspect though that after seeing the way Terry was going around tackling with intent one would forgive Eboue for being in a retaliatory mood. Terry himself always follow through with his into players on this occasion he came out on the wrong end. Terry, sorry you got cut down by the sword.

Tonight we play Blackburn in the Carling cup, Arsene has said

“The Carling Cup is more of a squad game, because we decided as a squad to go for every single trophy. Many players that didn’t play against Chelsea will play at Blackburn.”

So expect to see players like Diarra, Song, Traore, Eduardo, Hoyte, Gilberto on display. Diarra needs to back up that big mouth of his with a good display. He would do well to follow the example of Flamini and put in some hard work in order to get some games. I sometimes am baffled by the absolute conceit of some footballers.

Enjoy the game tonight.

Jens will be in Goal. I am not sure what it means, is Wenger just putting him on display for prospective buyers? Or is it the beginning of the road to recovery? Whatever it is one thing is for sure, a poor game will consign him to the scrap heap.

We need to stop the rot. While it may not be important whether or not we win the group, we must win tonight. We have not had a good run of games recently. In fact from that 7-0 win against prague our record is p10-w4-d4-l2 that is not good especially when three of the four wins have been against a championship team, a bottom three team, and a reading who didn’t show up. I think we must win tonight if we are to get our campaign back on the right track.

In other news, Van Persie and Diaby is in the squad for tinight, let’s see what part they will play in the game.Hopefully we will be 3-0 by 60mins, and they can get a half hour run.

Let’s see how tonight unfurls.