Sparta Prague / Ade Injured / Eduardo / Lazio 3 August, 2007
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Champions League, Friendlies.trackback
The draw for the qualifying round of the Champions League was this morning and we got Sparta Prague. We never seem to get the easy teams do we? We played Sparta not so long ago; it was against them that Henry beat Ian Wright’s goal scoring record. The first leg is on the 14/15th August away, and the 2nd leg is at the Grove on the 28/29th. Liverpool got Toulouse and Celtic got Spartak Moscow; it hasn’t been a great draw for the British teams, you can see the draw in full here. Going out in this round is absolutely unthinkable. We know we can beat Sparta and we should do the job without any slip-ups. More on the game in a couple of weeks.
Adebayor will be out for the start of the season with a groin problem. It’s nothing major but it’s enough to put him out of the Emirates Cup and Amsterdam Tournament. Arsene says he’s not going to take any risks and rush him back so he expects he’ll miss the season opener against Fulham.
Eduardo Da Silva has got his work permit. Yesterday he was granted his work permit and I suppose now he’s officially an Arsenal player (his deal was subject to him getting it). It was a relief it did all go through, we would’ve had a bit of a panic if it didn’t but it’s all sorted now. He celebrated the day by scoring the winning goal against Lazio last night.
We beat the Italian side 2-1 in the Amsterdam Tournament last night. We fielded quite a weak side with only Fabregas in there who’d make it into our best side. Bendtner opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a well taken goal. The ball fell to him in the area but his first touch wasn’t a great one and it made the angle difficult to finish from, but Nick did well and shot perfectly past the ‘keeper and the defenders on the line.
Pandev equalized in the 40th minute from some very poor defending. It all came from a corner and Eduardo seemed to be pushed over by the bloke his was marking. Everyone stopped expecting a free kick but the Pandev pounced on a loose ball and shot past Almunia. The defence should’ve thrown themselves at the ball but I suppose they were caught by surprise and just hopelessly stuck a leg out. It was a very sloppy goal and if it was a competitive game I’m sure Wenger would’ve been fuming.
Eduardo scored the winner 10 minutes into the second half. Rosicky took a good corner, which arrived right onto Da Silva’s head who was unmarked on the edge of the six yard box. A textbook corner, quite a rarity with these modern Arsenal sides. A good goal anyways and I’m sure Eduardo is delighted to get his first Arsenal goal in the bag. You can see all the goals here
So that 2-1 win gives us 5 points in the Amsterdam Tournament. Ajax are also on 5 after beating Athletico Madrid 2-0 and top the group on goal difference. The deciding game between Ajax and Arsenal is on Saturday evening.
Right I’m off. Thanks for reading.
ist
I think Clichy and also Eduardo would make it into our best side, but I agree it was a reserve side in general.
Bad news on Ade but at least its short term.
I thought the draw was good. there were several really hard teams in there, eg Moscow and fenerbache and its just important we avoided those. Sparta should easily be beaten by us over 2 legs.
Do we all think Eduardo will start against Fulham, hope so, has a good head, clever touches, good passing. Although it is pre-season, you can tell when players and when they don’t.
I was almost in tears when are second half partnership was Song And Flamini. It didn’t have Lazio shaking in their boots, however it had every Arsenal fan across the world shaking in their boots.
is myles palmer talkin bollocks about new exciting deals happening?
anyone know anything?
It was a good game last night. As the boss has said previously, it’s the performance that counts and with the players we had out there last night, I think the performance was good.
Agree with James though-Flamini and Song is not the way forward. I like Matty, but Song is plop. I think as he matures Flamini will come into his own – like Hargreaves has. Their style of play is similar, but Flamini is not ready yet. Useful squad player to have though, and I’m glad he’s decided to stay.
We can not afford to lose out in the cl qualification….Gilberto will be out and Ade most likely already, a few other injuries and we might struggle.Wenger most address this problem and bring in one or two new faces.
Now that Ade is out for the season opener i reckon Eduardo is a sure starter in his place. Wel get a look at Eduardo and VanP partnership on saturday against Ajax id say , see how they get on as a pair. I think Eduardo is the kinda player who can partner any of our other strikers and so well to be honest.
James Gooner – If we ever had to play those 2 as our central midfield partnership in a competitive game, then something must have seriously gone wrong at the training ground, like a killer virus or stampeding elephants.
Eduardo will hit the ground running in the prem (unlike Torres, Babel) so i have no fears about our strikeforce (although Huntlaar looked impressive last night and could be considered in the future). However my concern is Song !!! At Charlton he looked good but in an Arsenal team he’s definitely below par. I suggest we sell him and buy Diarra from Chelsea. He’d be good cover for Gilberto, Denilson as a hollding midfildler and would help add some s tell in the middle of the park in our cup runs. LOVE Eboues new role in right midfield, suits him perfectly.
we should sell Song at any price, hes a liability to the squad.
I think Ebuoe Sagna on the right is a good combination.
MJ – I suggest we sell him and buy Diarra from Chelsea
I agree that could be the way to go.
Judging by the midfield rotation during the pre-season so far, I think it’s safe to say that Wenger is looking for the best midfield partner for Cesc since Gilberto will be absent for the start of the season. I thought that the Cesc+Denilson(PSG) midfield was by far the worst midfield partnerships while Cesc+Flamini(Inter) was the best. We will probably see Cesc+Diaby vs Ajax.
The funny thing is in the PSG, Inter, Lazio matches the midfield as a whole performed better when Cesc was substituted in the second half. The midfield retained possession better, moved forward with more purpose, better use of the flanks and was defensively better. I really don’t understand why people criticize Flamini+Song when as a whole, the team performed better in the second half.
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If Ade doesnt recover, we could see the 4-5-1 with hleb playing behind RvP in the away match. Now with Eboue playing well on the right wing, i think Arsene has got some good options.
the draw could of been worse…there are some decent teams we avoided like seville or ajax then there are the places we dont like to go to becuase its so fukin cold like ukraine -shakter fukin donesk( still dont know how we got slapped by them cunts.& and of course spartacus moscow……our reserve(carling cup)team should roll sparta over no probs!!
people keep going on how sparta prague is not an easy team which i am not going to disagree with but they are hardly a top european team.
Arsenal SHOULD beat them if they play in first gear.
i hope we see cesc and diaby together in the midfield on sta. I’d like to see how they work.
it’s a big loss that ade can’t start. he provides great work rate at the top (although he’s less great on the actualy goal scoring thingie that strikers are there for).
[...] Sparta Prague / Ade Injured / Eduardo / Lazio The draw for the qualifying round of the Champions League was this morning and we got Sparta Prague. We never seem to […] [...]
Just like i said… Eduardo has a nose for goals… and he is team player… i have no doubt he will become one of most important player in Arsenal squad….
Hleb will prob play off RVP in big away games..4-5-1, however with
lots of players coming to the fore in pre-season, walcott seems un-confident and off the pace, i doubt he will figure much this season apart from the odd home game
Arsenal fan – everybody already knew that. So correction, “just like everybody knew”.
My predicted starting line up for fulham game:
mine:
Lehmann
Sagna Toure Gallas Clichy
Eboue Diaby Fabregas Hleb
Van Persie Eduardo
I dont think rosicky is yet match fit and Adebayor will most probably be absent. Tough call between diaby and denilson to partner cesc. Both can defend aswell as attack in midfield. Gilberto will definately be centre back cover this season and my money is still on flamini leaving if we get diarra.
Rock
I think that your team is pretty much spot on except I think we will see Flamini play in the centre instead of either Diaby or Cesc (depending on injury / illness recovery). I thought that Flamini has been excellant in all pre-season games and was a much needed physical pressence in yesterdays game against Ajax.
It is one of the first games that I have seen for a while when the opposition have tried to bully us off the pitch and we have stood up to them and fought back.
If we can play more like this this season then I think we will shock a few teams.
How many teams can play football like us and fight tooth and nail as well?
Mickey C
Very true i believe we’ve toughened up but i dont think flamini is a physical presence like diaby is but i do agree flamini does put in dogged displays and has a terrific engine, but to be honest i’ve seen him get shrugged off the ball with ease which is why i would love to see diarra donning the arsenal shirt who i was so impressed with last season and is a real fighter in the middle of the park in the makalele mould.
Rock
I have not seen much of Diarra, so i cant really comment on him – would be surprised if we get him though as Chelsea would not want to let us have a player who is so versitile as they will be missing key members during the African nations Cup as well (Essien, Obi, Kalou and Drogba). I dont think that JM would be happy with Sidwell filling in for both Essien and Obi for an entire month.
I might be wrong and probably am as the rumours dont seem to be going away – saying that neither have the Anelka ones.