Middlesbrough v Arse Preview 8 December, 2007
Posted by lasagnechef in Premiership.trackback
Well well well…here I am once again, three o’clock on a Saturday and no football to attend to. Our game’s at 1:30 tomorrow and shown on Setanta, so get subscribing or much better, get down the pub.
As I said yesterday, we are without four of our best players and losing all that creativity and talent we’re struggling in these away games finding ourselves under pressure for a lot of the game. We’re missing the midfield duo of Flamini and Fabregas terribly, however Diarra has stepped up to the opportunity and has done brilliantly in my opinion. Gilberto’s done well actually too, he was sloppy in Seville but he’s come back from that and looked a little like the Gilberto we used to know against Newcastle.
Going forward, Hleb is really missed. Tomas Rosicky cant quite do the same job as Alex has this season. Eboue’s been hot and cold. He’s started to show some signs of a decent winger however he goes and does something silly like diving to make up for his positives. He’s still keeping Walcott out the side though.
Up front we’ve been without Van Persie for some time but we’ve managed. Adebayor has taken the goal scoring responsibility and find himself top scorer in the Premier League. In Robin’s absence we haven’t really found the right partner for him though, resulting in a lot of 4-5-1 formations. Theo is far too inconsistent, Eduardo is similar but he is still adapting to England. Recently, I’ve been most impressed with Bendtner, he hasn’t earned himself a start yet but I think he should tomorrow. He is self-confident and he really wants to do well and prove a point. I say give him the chance.
Can you pair Ade and Nicklas though? Well there’s only one way to find out. Here’s how I’d pick the team tomorrow lunch time:
Sagna – Toure – Gallas (c) – Clichy
Eboue – Gilberto – Diarra – Rosicky
Adebayor – Bendtner
Bench: Lehmann, Senderos, Denilson, Walcott, Eduardo
With that team there’s the 4-4-1-1 option and we could also allow Rosicky freedom in the middle by pushing Diarra out wide or something. Denilson, Walcott and Eduardo give an attacking option if things aren’t going our way. I would have Diarra (the Flamini-type role) and Denilson (the Cesc-type role) in the middle but I think Gilberto must start.
I’m quite looking forward to this. I’m interested to see whether we’ve learnt anything from our last couple of games. ‘Boro are struggling and we’re clear favourites but it wont be that easy. A win would be great, 7 points out of these 3 away games is a good return. A draw wouldn’t be the end of the world but I’m hoping we can come away with all the points here.
I’ll have a match report up at some point, stay tuned. See ya.
like you cannon i think Diarra has done very well – i thought he was immense against newcastle – strong, commanding, tough as ‘ol boots and hardy.
Bert? I thought he was the worse player on the pitch, worse then dudu was, and he was marooned on the left wing(that i do not get).
I’d try denilson instead of bert- the rest i’d agree completely.
Keep em coming
Yap, time to try Bendtner
I´ve just read on the TP Mazembe website that Mputu will sign if chairman Moses Katumbi lets him.
my goodness what Gilberto were you watching against Newcaslte.he was one of the worst performers out there and you the only person to think or even state that he played well,thats jus so unbelievable.
on the other hand Diarra was immense he is currently not dissapointing me at all.i wouldlike to see Denii play this one but not from the start,maybe coming on after Berto has failed to speed up to catch upwith the rest of the team.Bendtner played well with Ade upfront when he came on and i dont see why he cant start,i think all that talk that they cant play together is all jus rubbish,try them so we see they cant do it…besides everything else has failed. i would like to see Rosicky play in the middle again but i wouldnt put him alone with Diarra so my line-up would be
_________Almunia
Sagna__Toure__Gallas__Clichy
Eboue__Diarra__Denii__Rosicky
_____Adebayor__Bendtner
This is what I’d do
ALMUNIA
DIARRA TOURE GALLAS SAGNA
EBOUE DENILSON ROSICKY CLICHY
EDUARDO ADEBAYOR
Before you laugh Clichy’s no joke at LM as it is a position he’s played before with Cole and Sagna is also an accomplished LB. Eduardo is fine and I’m sick of hearing our crap he’s been playing- he’s played well when he’s been striker and he’ll be the one for me to unlock a less mobile and tenacious Middlesboro defence.
That leaves us good impact /tactical options for subs.
And for god sake sub Eduardo before you decide to move him to an outside midfield role in the future cos its not working.