Fulham Preview: Song’s back & Nasri’s fit 22 August, 2008
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News.trackback
You know that your squad isn’t big enough when you’re looking forward to the return of Alex Song so Emmanuel Eboue doesn’t have to play central midfield. Yes, that’s the situation I’m in at the moment. The reality of Eboue having an alright game last weekend hasn’t sunk in, I don’t think it’s going to, so I’m expecting hoping Alex Song gets drafted in. He’s just come back from the Olympics and Arsene says he’ll go straight into the squad.
Song is a player ever improving and Arsene will have been looking at him these past couple of days to see whether he’s up to the task of a start at Craven Cottage. Alex wont have fond memories of that stadium though, a couple of years ago I was at the game when Song got a rare start at put in a terrible performance. The whole team didn’t play well that day but Song was especially bad. Towards the end of the first half fans were cheering for him to go off and with Fabregas on the bench we were losing our patience. He was replaced at half time but that first half will have hurt him.
He’s got the chance to right those wrongs tomorrow. Fulham fans who were there that day might smile to themselves if they see him on the team sheet tomorrow night but they might not know he’s a different player now. He’s much more soid, he knows what he’s doing and holds a good position.
By no means is Song in my preffered starting 11 but he’s a player coming through and I think he should get the chance tomorrow. However, I don’t see Wenger giving him that opportunity to clear his name at Craven Cottage. I think he’ll stick with Eboue and play pretty much the same team as last weekend:
Almunia
Sagna - Djourou - Gallas (c) - Clichy
Walcott - Eboue - Denilson - Nasri
Adebayor - van Persie
Bendtner started against West Brom but I think van Persie should get to start this. When he came on last weekend he looked very dangerous and we’ll need that. I think Djourou’s going to retain his place, although Toure’s fit now I just have a feeling Wenger’s going to keep this Johann in there. I might be totally wrong though. Silvestre’s got a muscle strain anyway so he wont be making his debut this weekend.
In midfield, Nasri’s fit after a slight problem in the week that saw him miss the France game. I’m not sure how much truth there was in that but oh well! In the centre I think it’ll be Eboue and Denilson. As I said, I’d like to see Song in there but I don’t think he will so soon after coming back. Cesc’s still out but is making good progress and is still on target for Wednesday night’s game against Twente. So we’re short in the centre without Cesc but we coped last weekend.
Wenger maintains he will still buy in central midfield and says it doesn’t matter so much if a player is cup-tied in the Champions League. That hints that he could still go for Barry or Alonso but I think he’ll get someone out of nowhere. He says in that interview that he’s full of suprises and that he might have another one up his sleve. Oh Arsene you tease.
Fulham amazingly managed to escape relagation last season and got off to a bad start this campaign losing 2-1 to Premiership new-comers Hull. So really, this is a team we should beat. If we can carry on our perfect start I’ll be really happy. Yes, we are short in places but we should still have enough to beat Fulham.
I don’t think it’s going to be easy though. We’ve won our last two games but not with the most convincing performances. I think it’s going to be the same story again.
There’ll be strong away support for the boys tomorrow. We always get a few going to Fulham, it’s not too far and they always give us extra allocation. I’m going and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s the first away game of the season and I’m sure our fantastic away support will be well up for it.
I’ll let you know how I get on in the match report on Sunday. I’ve really got to go now or I’m going to be late for work. Enjoy the game and COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
I think he’ll go for Inler
mr wenger, bring gareth barry and inler after that 2 we ll dont need enough players, then we will be good team.
almunia
sagna gallas silvestre clichy
inler fabregas barry nasri
bayo rvp
Wayne — where is Toure — theo — I think u are losing the plot
It could be
Almunia
Sagna — Toure — Gallas — Clichy
Theo — Barry — Fabregas — Nasri
Ade — RVP
Bench –
GK
Eboue - Djourou - Vela - Denilson - Bentner - Silvestre
I reckon it will be Stephane Mbia coming over to us. Especially with the African Nations Cup not occuring in 2009, we’ll be OK through Jan.
==================ALMUNA================
SAGNA===========GALLAS====TOURE========CLICHY
ROSICK==========FABREGAS===SONG==========NASRI
===========VAN P==========ADE============
SEGOND TEAM
==================FABIANSKI================
EBOUE=========SENDROS======DJORO=======SILVESTR
THEO=========DENILSON=======RAMSEY======WILSHIR
============BEDNE=========VELA============
SUB
DIABY
EDUARDO
Wenger’s said in the past that he doesn’t think Song has the stamina to play in CM, I was unsure of those comments and recently he said that Denilson and Song can become very good CM’s.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-toure-will-not-move-into-midfield
He also confirms in there that Toure won’t be moving to CM. I hope Djourou gets his chance to carry on and Theo has got to impress in this game ‘cos he’s not gonna get an easier chance. It’d be good to see Song get a chance but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same team apart from Van Persie coming in for Bendtner like you said.
Toure will start tomorrow, y wouldnt he????? He’s fully fit n played for Ivory Coast so dont know y u sayin that. Song will probably come in at 70 min in place for Eboue or Walcott whichever worse. unless Nasri is injured then Song wil play n hope he doesnt have the same game he had a coupe years ago.
“He’s got a chance to right those wrongs”!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Correction, the moron fans who booed him have got a chance to “right those wrongs” by singing to him and apologising for behaving like complete idiots.
gunner, I think Toure’s got to fight for his place and earn it because he hasn’t impressed recently.
absoulty fucking crap
this fucking sucks.
I know there’s 36 more games to go but losing to fulham, maybe deservedly, is unacceptable. Fulham is bound to go down but wr lost to thrm so easily.
Without cesc there’s no creativity. Denilson had a horrific game, losing position like shit.
Rvp is not yet his old self, ade worked hard but no support whatsoever.
Nasri was the only one who had a good game.
I support and believe so much in this team, my friends laugh at me. Please, don’t make the beliefs go in vain young guns. Man u got off a bad start last year so I hope we ll only get better, surely we can’t have a worse game than this, can we?
We were shit,
we lost to a team that lost to hull fucking city last week and thats why we will win fuck all this season. Utd,liverpool and chelsea can have 3 or 4 first teamers out and still put quality on the park, we have to make do with eboue and denilson in midfield, what a fucking joke. Wenger lost the plot last season with his persistance with youth and a threadbare team when he should have purchased in janruary and now he’s doing the same again. ITS TIME TO COLLECT YOUR COAT ARSENE, your fucking about with my team and im pissed off with it!!
gallas-shit
denilson-shit
eboue-shit
greedybeyor-shit
van persie-shit
nasri-needs time
walcott-shit
rubbish on the bench
wengers had all summer to buy quality and he’s gonna fuck the season up before the end of september.
All the idiots on here that worship wenger should snap out of it, he has had his time and we as a club need to move on.
wengers obsession with trying to win the league with kids is going to drag the team down, it aint gonna happen and we need someone to come in with fresh ideas and an enthusiasm that can take the club forward.
Apart from fabregas and maybe rosicky that was our strongest team we put out last night and we really were shit, what have we got to look forward to this season if that was the best we could produce with virtually our strongest team. Are we so reliant on fab that we cant even beat a team like fulham when he’s absent. I’m afraid that unless arsene spends some serious tin before next week we are all in for a very long season, alonso or barry aint gonna change much either, we need a world class centre half and an out and out goalscvorer, we look abysmal at the back apart from the 2 full backs, and i have lost all faith in adebeyor and van persie, as for bendtner, well he will never be a 30 goals a season man.
I’m upset but won’t turn on wenger. He’s the best we ever had and will have. We lost, we were poor, but that doesnt mean this team is fucked.
I, like wenger, want so much for these young guns to win. So I will stick with them, one really shit day cant change my heart.