Arsenal v Spurs Preview: van Persie’s back! 8 January, 2008
Posted by lasagnechef in Cup Games.trackback
The big team news ahead of tomorrow night’s Carling Cup North London Derby is the inclusion of Robin van Persie to our squad. Wenger’s going to use this game as an opportunity to help the Dutchman back to form after his long period out injured. I’m expecting him to be on the bench tomorrow night but I guess he will see some minutes and then start the Birmingham game at the weekend.Earlier today I was wondering who we would put on the bench as the reserve striker to the starting partnership of Bendtner and Da Silva. Van Persie makes the perfect ‘super-sub’ option as I’m guessing Walcott will start on the wing.
I’m really exited about this game but it doesn’t seem a lot of the other Gooners are, I think it’s still on sale to red members. It’s live on Sky but personally I’d much prefer to go to the game, especially a semi final against The Scum. I know some people are scared we’ll lose, I was last year but this year think we’ll have enough to do it and make it to the final again.
We all know that the team will be a reserve side but you have to remember that still means some serious quality players like Eduardo, Denilson, Diaby, Diarra(?), Gilberto and maybe van Persie. Rosicky could be in the team, I have a feeling he or Hleb could be on the bench, I wish they’d announce the squad for these games. They’ve probably avoided revealing the names because of the big question: will Diarra play? If he doesn’t, well he’s as good as gone, but if he does, you have to wonder why he didn’t start at the weekend and the debate will go on. So, here’s my guess at the team:
J. Hoyte – Senderos – Djourou – Traore
Walcott – Diarra (or Gilberto) – Denilson – Diaby
Bendtner – Eduardo
A team Tottenham could only dream of. The Swiss partnership at the back will be a perfect test for them ahead of Toure’s extended absence. Spurs wont be looking forward to their visit, they will play their first team and Ramos won’t want them to lose to our second string side.
I’m guessing we’ll see a few goals tomorrow night. Eduardo is lethal and Spurs are comical at the back. Yet at the same time we’ve got an inexperienced back five and Tottenham do have some good strikers.
I’ll write up at match report on Thursday. My prediction: 2-1 to us, setting it up nicely for the away leg. Thanks for reading.
I think we need one of Rosicky, Hleb or Fabregas to control the game.
We could just play the long ball game and let Eduardo have some shooting practise !!!
Lets go gonners!!!!
I wouldn’t include Diaby on the list of good players – he has gone backwards this season. Not good enough for us, and unlikely to play once Vela returns.
no tim, diaby hasn’t gone backwards.
just cos you’ve heard lots of people say it doesn’t mean its true,
watch the games for yourself and you’ll see a ridiculously talented player, few others have his unique skill set, and a few off games over exaggerated by the likes of you have little or no bearing on his possible upside.
i’d start him.
and just cos tribal football says vela is coming back this season doesn’t make it true either
good afternoon all of you -maybe some good news for us (and bad news for the flamster???): seems juventus have an agreement with liverpool to buy sissoko for 10m. source: calciomercato. would be nice if that´s right
I predict 8-4. (0-0 at half-time).
8-4? woow… amazing..
I hope Diarra stays and plays tomorrow. He is a player that can boss the tottenham midfield out of it. Hes very skillful , very strong on the ball and has great heart. A midfield of him Diaby and Denilson would have more than enough to boss the game but Theo needs to be the creative force, as does Bentdner with Eduardo burying any chance that comes his way. The defence will have a tough time of it i reckon and will need to be on top form. But Tettenham leak goals so we should score a couple. Will it be enough ???? I look forward to finding out
Sorry Frank, I’ve been saying it about Diaby all season. I agree he is ridiculous potential, but he has no idea how to utilise it. Abysmal decison making often sees him beat two players then get tackled by third. He can’t pass straight consistently, he certainly can’t tackle (did you see how many 50-50s he chickened out of against Burnley?), and he is incredibly lazy defensively, offering little protection to Traore. Also, for a six foot plus guy, how many headers does he win? Less than Diarra does.
Its got nothing to do with what others say. I’ve watched Arsenal for over 20 years, I don’t need others to help inform my opinion.
As for Vela, I meant next season. I know Arsene has said he will be definitely back for next season, and having watched him for Osasuna, he will be an infinitely better option on the left than Diaby.
The tiny totts would to swap their team for the team above with pleasure. In fact, they don’t have many players who are better individually than our second string players. We should be favourites over two legs, especially as our youngsters play with so much hunger and belief.
P.S To the guy who thinks Diaby is not good enough, I suggest you start watching more matches. He may need time to develop but it is clear he is a very talented young man.
Frank: Diaby arrived at us a little bit raw, but looking fantastically similar in his attributes to Viera. His development was obviously cut short by that sick injury he had a while back, but since coming back he’s been extremely inconsistent. As someone who DOES watch all the games, I’ve seen sporadic moments of greatness (like some of his runs against Burnley which were superb and most of his goals are good) and how he plays the rest of the time- actually often quite poorly. Burnley were good against us, but not good enough to be causing Diaby so many problems that he had to spend so much time drifting into central midfield, exposing Traore regularly (and Traore’s too inexperienced to be in that situation on a regular basis as I think his performance showed).
You can’t take anything away from the good stuff Diaby does, since when he does something good, it’s normally fantastic. BUT it’s also undeniable that he has a worrying habit of drifting in and out of games on a regular basis, and even when he is involved a lot, he still often gives the ball away a lot.
I hope he fulfills his potential, but at the moment he is quite a long way from giving Rosicky nightmares, and if I was Tommy, I’d be quite glad that my understudy has had a very underwhelming season in general.
Like I said, he does some top notch stuff, but he was the second worst player on the pitch against Burnley over the whole 90 minutes only to Eboue who let’s just say I don’t mind if he doesn’t return from the ACoN. You can’t pin his performance onto just those things he’s doing really well, since over the 90 both Diaby and also Eboue are mostly quite poor in the majority of games.
Well let’s hope both players start playing much better (or simply more consistently at their best) and we can all get on with just celebrating their qualities rather than needing to constantly talk about their weaknesses which seem to be displayed in every game lately.
as much as everyone has been worrying about the defence I think our issue tomorrow is midfield. Diarra and Denilson in the middle is not creative enough, and if we cant get it going properly going forward it will only lead to additonal pressure on the back four – thats when mistakes will creep in. but if we can get the midfield functioning right then we can win this game. I just dont think Denilson is in the same class as Cesc and I dont think he even really plays the same position. Diaby would be a better direct swap for Cesc and I would use him in the middle and move Denilson to the right wing. Dont forget Den was used in Brazil purely as a Defensive midfielder so in effect we have 2 defensive midfielders and thats the reason why we lost at Middlesbrough.
Will be a tough ask to beat them.
Agree almost 100% with your team – but surely Clichy will play as he was rested on Sunday and given Traore’s disappointing performance (plus Spurs could be dangerous down the right) – and please no Gilberto, he loses the ball too often nowadays. Merida, Randall and Big Gav were left out of the reserves team last night because of the Carling according to the website, so bench could be them plus Mannone and vanP
PS Traore is however one of the most exciting talents we have
Diabys all right. He`s just not as quick as he thinks he is.
Merida is quoted here
http://www.premiershiplatest.com/news/arsenal%E2%80%99s-merida-looking-to-help-coleman-557180.html
as saying he could go to Sociedad as early as tomorrow, in which case he might not be on the bench!
Within round two part of the season Diarra could be accomodated. A consious 433 could be proper. But it would be always dangerous at the start of any new campaign since it would put Arsenal FC at risk of expensive injuries to key players. It could thus be sustainable to only key matches, must-win or with big clubs. Carling cup should determine Gallas partner at the back in which both Djourou and Senderos must feature. There would be no other means more accurate then that. Personally, I would be there to see them play together in the central pack. Gilberto’s case too needs to be addressed given the amount of number 6 potentials Arsenal FC has, Gilberto could potentially become defender (CH). Arsenal FC is blessed to have two precision goal scorers, Persie and Edwardo. These can very easily score goals even against the best goal keepers on the planet, come Milan day.
RvP against Rooney stats. (from Wikipedia)
Both have played 4 seasons for Arsenal/ManU
RvP Rooney
Total Club Career Games 190 238
Total Club Career Goals 56 84
Last 4 seasons Games 120 161
Last 4 seasons Goals 41 67
International Games 23 40
International Goals 7 14
Silverware Uefa Cup Premier League
FA Cup League Cup
Age 24 22
Height 6 foot 2 5 foot 10
So basically RvP has scored about 1 in 3 games for us whereas Rooney’s scored more like 1 in 4 for them. Hope RvP stays fit for a while.
What a fucking mess. The figures on the left are for RvP.
FlamBlam, those are fucking sick figures for Robin van SickNote. 190 games in 4 seasons is a sick return for a fucker who gets injured as often as he does. Seriously, we need to accept that the fucker is as breakable as a Toblerone. We can’t rely on him as a first-teamer. We’ll need to limit him to Carling Cups and Champions League finals. For fuck’s sake – how can a fucker that talented be so fucking injury-prone?
I agree with the fucker who said Diaby should start in the middle. DeiseGooner, take a fucking bow, my lad. Take a fucking bow. Fucking aye. As well as being a fucking sick agent, I’m also a prognosticator extraordinaire, and I say that Diaby-Diarra is the future French midfield. Fucking aye. That is, potentially, the best fucking combo out there, fully sick. Once Vela comes in, I hope Wenger shifts Diaby back to the centre where he belongs. He’s wasted on the left.
That said, ‘chef’s team is bloody experienced, bloody talented, and should piss and shit all over the scum. I expect Emirates to stink to high heavens at the end of the game, with a pile of gooner excrement piled higher than the stars themselves. I expect Tottenham stewards to spend the whole night wading through our superior-smelling faeces to find Defoe, Keane, Lennon and languid-looking Berbatov. I expect Juande Ramos to get down on his knees and rend his clothes over the sheer horror of seeing his inferior side covered in shit and piss and failure.
@ the comment above about shitting on the Spuds.
LOOOOOOL
I can’t say it better than that. You really deserve a medal and if I could afford a gold medal, I’d buy one and send it to you personally
Connellys Agent, sing with me dude, come on you……
Spuuurrrrrssss are on there way to wembley,
Tottenhams gonna do it again,
No one can stop them,
The boys from tottenham,
The boys from White hart lane
Stop touching me I told you I aint gay, sing with me again
jus heard Diarra aint in the squad,if he aint there is no hiding from it we can try and find reasons why he has been rested but there aint any since neither Flamster or Cesc is injured the truth of the matter is that if he aint in the Carling Cup squad tonight he is leaving us….and i would rather it were sooner than later in this transfer window
Fuckers,
So it’s 1 fucking 1 at the fucking Carling Cup. For fuck’s sake that’s fucking lame. Fucking lame, I fucking well say. Did any of our fucking tiny totties come up with any kind of dignity. I’m groping like a monk in a strip club, for fuck’s sake. Callow, fucking callow, I say. But I’m an optimistic fucker, I believe in the supremacy of the fucking Arsenal way. So Walcott, well done, you nippy little fucker. Take a fucking bow for saving the fucking day.
Blog Head, if you want me to stop touching you, stop spreading cholocate sauce over your fucking chest and telling me that you’re a sexy, stupid spud. And for fuck’s sake, put some fucking clothes on. This goes to show that we need that fucker Diarra in the team. Without him, our fuckers got constipated with disgust at the sheer stupidity and inaneness of Tottenham. Diarra is the fucking laxative in our team (and that’s a fucking metaphor, folks, so don’t get your fucking panties in a knot ‘coz you think I’ve got some obession with Diarra’s anus). Slot him in next leg and we’ll see who’s shitting and pissing over whom.
Oh, and thanks, Ryan, but I’ll pass. Take that gold medal and shove it up some arses, especially that closet-homosexual Bloghead.
Not that I’ve got anything against homosexuals, Blog Head. It’s just that I think having cold, golden discs shoved up your arse would be an educational experience. It would certain allow you to resolve some of your fucking, fucked-up issues, you fucker.
I was sitting thinking f**k me, Walcott is so over rated, then the little toe tapping chicken skateboard shoe pops up with the goal of the season. Just did he kick the ball 3 times in one move? Genius!
Walcott fo England!
Wengers into voodoo
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