Arsenal

[BlinkyBear]

Yeah, well. I'd love to do something myself but it's looking grim.

Blame. You're to blame. Thanks.

If I see you in Ko Lanta I'm having a swing at you for that

Can't believe I'm well happy we got a point at home against Villa. Fucking ridiculous.

[Dude Ranch]

If I see you in Ko Lanta I'm having a swing at you for that

You're still out there, yes? Not really on the cards but a pint on the beach would suit me. Are you in that vicinity?

On the game, felt like a win as it turned out. Trouble is, we look like we could beat anyone but United and Chelsea look like they will beat anyone.

We need Rosicky back for the run in, van Persie, Toure and Eboue being a good boy. We need some fucking mental strength now cos it's well tight.

[hercules]

We really do need Van Persie and Rosicky back, they bring alot to the team aswell as experience. Toure would be nice aswell

[SeanR]

Just watched MOTD

Fuck sake Carson, just fuck off will you!?!

[BlinkyBear]

You're still out there, yes? Not really on the cards but a pint on the beach would suit me. Are you in that vicinity?

Off to Ko Lanta later today. There for a week I think. Probably means I'm gonna struggle to see any of the Milan game as well as miss yesterday cos we'll no doubt be in some random beach shack. No idea though. When are you there?

[hercules]

After watching football first we didn't seem to play that bad but villa are a really good side in top form. Walcott played well as did hleb, fabregas didn't really do alot again which is worrying.

[Benji]

It's not a good result to be honest, we simply can't drop points like this. I really want us to win the league but unless United slip up, we're screwed

[Mars]

Just seen the stories about the Villa fans getting arrested, arseholes. What was with the empty seats as well, there were loads at the end! Hardly an evening midweek fixture...

[anders limpar]

Bet it was Legendary who started it.

[Daley]

The Villa fans were a disgrace, complete scum.

[Petrousgyre]

fabregas didn't really do alot again which is worrying.

He's faded horribly this year, given the dynamite start to year he enjoyed. He's such a critical component of the team too, here's hoping the San Siro inspires him to rekindle some of that form.

[Lucas]

I wonder what formation the tactically astute Mr Wenger will put out against Milan tomorrow.

After lining up 4-5-1 AT HOME against the aging legs of Milan I imagine he'll go 5-5-0.

[mop]

I'm going to say he'll go crazy and have them line up 2-4-4, flip that traditional shit on its head. Those old boys of Milan won't know what hit 'em.

But seriously I'd be surprised if it wasn't 4-5-1 again.

[Lucky]

I reckon 4-5-1.

It looks like Seedorf is out of tomorrow's game, and Kaka is struggling. I expect to see Kaka play though.

We've got our own injury problems though so none of this really matters anyway.

It all depends on the players on the pitch and not the ones in the stand.

Lets hope the Adebayor of December/January/early Feb turns up and not the one with the dodgy haircut that's been playing the last few games.

[Petrousgyre]

The slightly eccentric Txiki Begiristain, director of football at Barca has claimed Cesc 'cannot come back'. Great from Arsenal's perspective, but it seems an odd bit of bridge burning.

[Lucky]

Van Persie named in 18-man squad for Milan clash

Jens LEHMANN (GK)

Abou DIABY

Bacary SAGNA

Cesc FABREGAS

Philippe SENDEROS

William GALLAS

Robin VAN PERSIE

Alexander HLEB

DENILSON

Mathieu FLAMINI

GILBERTO

Gael CLICHY

Manuel ALMUNIA (GK)

Emmanuel ADEBAYOR

Nicklas BENDTNER

Emmanuel EBOUE

Justin HOYTE

Theo WALCOTT

Still no Rosicky, and no Toure.

[SeanR]

The slightly eccentric Txiki Begiristain, director of football at Barca has claimed Cesc 'cannot come back'. Great from Arsenal's perspective, but it seems an odd bit of bridge burning.

Smokescreen.

Could be why he's off his game... because he's "in talks".

Please no!

[hercules]

Arsenal will more than likely start 4-5-1 and as the game goes on, push more ppl upfront. Lets just hope that the team play like they did at the start of the season.

[SeanR]

My freeview's still on the blink

[Dude Ranch]

I really do think we can do it tonight. I've come over all confident and I also think that if van Persie stays fit he can fire us to the title.

[mop]

To have someone of Van Persie's skill relatively fresh for the end of the season would be fantastic and would fill me with a fuck load more confidence.

Here's hoping he stays fit and finds form nice and quickly and keeps it ie. tonight until the end of the season.

[Petrousgyre]

Did Van Persie not score against Milan already this season? In one of those pre-season 'cups' that Arsene's so fond of. Lovely dummy then a drag back onto his right foot to slip it past the keeper.

Edit: Ignore that, I think it was Inter, not AC.

[Daley]

Inter?

EDIT:

.

[bowser123]

I really do think we can do it tonight. I've come over all confident and I also think that if van Persie stays fit he can fire us to the title.

I'd like you to win too, though it's more a fear we'll get hammered by Milan again than a love of Arse. On the face of it 0-0 is a cracking score, any score draw equals victory.

Thing is, Aston Villa cut you to ribbons on Saturday on the counter, only they didn't score. I really can't see Milan missing similar chances and I'm convinced they'll create them. The other thing is they never, ever panic... I remember them being 0-0 with Celtic and it going to penalties, it didn't bother them one bit, they just continued as normal.

You'll probably have long periods with the ball, but I don't think it'll bother them one bit and they'll prevail. Needed to have taken the chances from the other game really.

As for the title it really will come down to the game at OT... but look at the games before it. For you Wigan away (probable chance of a draw I think, especially if you don't win tonight, general malaise post Europe away, Steve Bruce, cabbage patch pitch, it's raining in the NW and they keep playing rugby on it), Boro at home (3 points surely), then Chelsea and Bolton away, Liverpool at home. I don't think you'll get 9 points from those 3, certainly not at Chelsea. Next it's Utd at OT. By that game I expect Utd to be at least 5 or so points clear and a draw then becomes good enough for my team. I think blowing that 5 point gap you had two weeks ago is going to be a killer, you really needed to have it for the next set of fixtures.

Then again if it goes like that, maybe the Chelsea-Utd game is title decider. That said, your last 4 or so are easier than Utd's, so if we don't have that gap then it'll be yours.

If I'm being honest I think Chelsea are a much bigger threat and I think you'll eventually finish 3rd. Pessimistic, but like I say it'll have been a 10 point swing at least if my hunch is right. Right now I think you've a bigger chance of beating Milan than the title.

And, yes, you can bookmark this post to point and laugh.

[mop]

Well, as long as we don't play as bad as we did agaisnt Villa we should be alright in respect to being cut to ribbions on the counter. We were fucking shit at the weekend.

[Petrousgyre]

Inter?

EDIT:

.

Yes, it was. I'd forgotten how good that goal was, he didn't just slip it past the keeper either, he absolutely belted it in on his 'weaker' right. The final words are steeped in horrible fucking irony "Excellent goal, great skill, let's hope we see more of it in the season"

Re: Bowser. You may well be right in some respects, sadly I think the depth in your squad will show towards the end of the season. I'm not sure how I rate Chelsea though, for sure they've played better football without that tiresome twat Mourinho, but they don't look particularly coherent and with arseholes like Terry throwing their weight around I suspect have one more meltdown left in them this season. That and they've been poor against decent English opposition so far, I expect both us and yourselves to walk away from SB with at least a point.

In my mind I think Chelsea's best chance of silverware will be in the CL, I hope so as I've decent bet on them to win made straight after Mourinho left.

[bowser123]

Mopstar- I dunno, maybe it's because I've seen my team be comprehensively beaten by Milan so many times that I'm fearful, but I think people underestimate Milan. On their day they're the best, especially in big games. What with them having nothing at all to play for I think they'll be up for it.

I can just see it being tight for ages, and Arse pushing and being caught. Lots will depend on Gattusso and whether he's the animal he always is against Utd, or whether he's not arsed. I think he'll be pumped and eat people alive. Hopefully, he's not, and you can counter attack them.

[Silent Runner]

I’m feeling 0-0 all the way to penalties.

[Daley]

Mopstar- I dunno, maybe it's because I've seen my team be comprehensively beaten by Milan so many times that I'm fearful, but I think people underestimate Milan. On their day they're the best, especially in big games. What with them having nothing at all to play for I think they'll be up for it.

I can just see it being tight for ages, and Arse pushing and being caught. Lots will depend on Gattusso and whether he's the animal he always is against Utd, or whether he's not arsed. I think he'll be pumped and eat people alive. Hopefully, he's not, and you can counter attack them.

Milan, even though they didn't play very well in the first game and we should have won, were calm and composed through the whole 90 minutes and didn't look rattled at any stage. You could see they had all been there and done it many times before. I wouldn't use Saturday as a good comparison because we went a bit gung-ho after going 1-0 down and were lucky not to concede again. I don't think we will be so open tonight if we fall behind as 1-1 will do us. Saying that though I am not very optimistic and I fear what a bad result tonight will have on the rest of our season.

[bowser123]

Aye Daley, I agree about their composure. That's what I was trying to get at in the first post.

Drawing with Celtic the other year, a team they'd expect to be beating, and they cared not one jot. They just carried on and didn't panic.

That and they've been poor against decent English opposition so far, I expect both us and yourselves to walk away from SB with at least a point.

Oh, that's what I'm hoping and expecting too. The thing is, your game is real soon. Ours is at the end and liable to be altered, what with probable progression from both teams in Europe and the FA Cup. I can see it being like last year where an absolute killer game is made nothing because it's been moved right to the end of the season.

Re: Bowser. You may well be right in some respects, sadly I think the depth in your squad will show towards the end of the season.

Disagree. In two weeks everybody will be fit bar fresh injuries. Our next 5 games (and the reason I expect there to be a gap in Utd's favour) are largely ones where people can and will be swapped out. Bar out and out striker there's adequate cover in every position. Then again others can and do play upfront, or he'll play 5 in midfield with a very attacking line-up that's more 4-3-3.

When it starts getting messy I honestly think we'll have a big enough gap that will smooth us through the next few tricky games. That, and we'll get dicked in Europe again the second we face a decent team away.