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cubeadvance

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Dude Ranch

Dude Ranch

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I can't understand this formation one bit. Seeing Cesc jogging across their back four trying to close down, and at the other end he's not where he should be, ie pulling strings from deep. For fuck's sake swap him and Nasri.

And I find it incredible how little we seem to get Walcott on the ball. I wonder if it's him or the way we play but he's never in a one on one or any position to use his pace.

We're our own worst enemy.

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Reynard

Reynard

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We're lucky we only let in one tonight. Almunia had a fantastic game and is the only reason we have a chance, slim as it is.

I'd agree with that - you really didn't throw anything into the attack. Where players would normally lay it off and carry on their run, tonight, they laid it off and then ran backwards.

Considering the first-half display, I'd say 1-0 isn't too bad a result for you.

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Rev

Rev

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I was paying so much attention to this match I had to keep refreshing the bbc text updates to see if I missed anything. In case anyone else is wondering the same thing: You didn't.

I think there might be a couple of good matches next week though. And 1-0 at Old Trafford is pretty acceptable really - despite having genuinely no basis for it at all, I'm cautiously optimistic.

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phresh

phresh

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Gibbs was probably one of your best players though, all the problems came through the centre.

I still don't understand the midfield selection though, the only thing I can think of is that Nasri is more reliable than Diaby so just stick him out on the left. Safe to say Wenger will have to change something for next week.

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Throbin Hood

Throbin Hood

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Gibbs was probably one of your best players though, all the problems came through the centre.

I still don't understand the midfield selection though, the only thing I can think of is that Nasri is more reliable than Diaby so just stick him out on the left. Safe to say Wenger will have to change something for next week.

It was probably the other way around. Diaby could be relied on to help with that muppet who wears #7 for you, forgot his name, but love his little tantrums when he doesn't get a free kick. Nasri showed a bit of bite in the middle against Boro on the weekend but Cesc is much better the deeper he plays.

That was tough watching, especially the first half but I am optimistic for the second leg. Hopefully a game at the weekend for Djourou and Eduardo will mean they can start on Tuesday.

And can't we black Arshavin up and make him wear Diaby's shirt?

:( :( :wub: How I wish we could do that. Why did it take 2 years to sign him

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Silent Runner

Silent Runner

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I really don't know what to make of that. 1 shot on goal was it? And if big Nick had shown a bit of composure he could have grabbed an equaliser. But, my god, that formation is so frustrating. I don't know - I think they'll score and I can't see us getting 3. RVP and Clichy have to start though, or we're in serious trouble from the off.

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Daley

Daley

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I'm a bit mixed about last night. It could have been over. Tha saves from Tevez and Ronaldo in the first half, Ronaldo's spanker in the second half, it could have been so, so much worse. Got to thank my mate Manuel for keeping us in it. :o

On the other hand the goal came from some shocking marking at a corner and if only Bendtner had managed to control that header late on...

Anyway, the tie is still very much alive for the second leg and while I really, really would have liked an away goal as I can't see us keeping a clean sheet next week, i'm glad we are still in with a shout.

Song and Gibbs were great last night.

Adebayor and Diaby were less than great.

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Steve007

Steve007

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Lets not mess about, that was a shocking and at times embarrassing performance. Most of out players didn't turn up and you wouldn't know Cesc was even on the pitch (what's new!).

If it wasn't for Almunia we would have been dead & buried by half time.

Fucking 4-5-1 never works! Why doesn't Wenger see it? Adebuyor doesn't work hard enough when he has a partner up front, he was never going to be any good on his own against United!

By some miracle it's only 1-0 at the half way stage. Not getting the away goal will probably prove costly as we will concede at home and will need to score 3 times which just won't happen.

I'm very disappointed with the team and Wenger.

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Silent Runner

Silent Runner

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I'm a bit mixed about last night. It could have been over. Tha saves from Tevez and Ronaldo in the first half, Ronaldo's spanker in the second half, it could have been so, so much worse. Got to thank my mate Manuel for keeping us in it. :o

On the other hand the goal came from some shocking marking at a corner and if only Bendtner had managed to control that header late on...

Anyway, the tie is still very much alive for the second leg and while I really, really would have liked an away goal as I can't see us keeping a clean sheet next week, i'm glad we are still in with a shout.

Song and Gibbs were great last night.

Adebayor and Diaby were less than great.

I think you’re being a bit harsh on Ade there. He was on his own against 2 top defenders last night and did all he could do working at the top of that ridiculous formation. Surely AW saw how ineffectual 4-5-1 was in the cup semi-final? So frustrating.

Having said that they were at home and they are the holders so keeping them to a single (lucky?) goal was a decent result.

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Rev

Rev

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Another thing, why doesn't Wenger ever have a plan 'B'? 4-5-1 wasn't working, even when we went 1-0 down we stayed the same! Same old substitutions on the 70th minute. Fucking bollocks.

You do sometimes get the feeling that he might play Football Manager on the very fastest settings to get matches over with.

But I still think that we did OK in terms of the result - Man Utd not bedding in for the first 25 minutes next game and we can be two up...........and then I'm.......er....."sure" we'd hold it from there. Probably.

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Daley

Daley

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I think you’re being a bit harsh on Ade there. He was on his own against 2 top defenders last night and did all he could do working at the top of that ridiculous formation. Surely AW saw how ineffectual 4-5-1 was in the cup semi-final? So frustrating.

Having said that they were at home and they are the holders so keeping them to a single (lucky?) goal was a decent result.

Perhaps but the least we need from him is to hold it up and keep the ball when it comes his way to let others join the play and he failed to do this time and time again.

If this idiotic formation is to work I hope for the second leg RvP is back, goes in the role Cesc was playing, Cesc drops back into Nasri's role, Nasri goes left and Diaby goes away. Far, far away.

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carlito

carlito

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I think I owe Silvestre an apology after that game. He is player who is patently not top-level Premiership standard anymore and was bought as both cover, and he put in just about as good a performance as you could possibly ask of him.

I don't think anyone can defend Adebayor for his part in the game, he just didn't try hard enough. Yes, it's hard to play on your own up front, and there are times when you're under pressure and holding up the ball, laying it off or heading it on are big asks - but I don't recall him doing it once. Even Eduardo, a man literally one fifth the size of Adebayor showed that it's not impossible to do something with that kind of service when he got in front of Vidic/Ferdinand and drew the foul.

I thought wandering forward at the corner for the United goal leaving about 3 united players unmarked, although not atypical for many strikers, pretty much summed him up. He likes scoring flashy goals and banging his chest and doing his fucking dance and getting headlines. He doesn't, however, like defending, so he didn't and on this occasion it was entirely his fault that they scored. He went through the motions by standing in the right place when the corner came in, but when the team needed him to actually defend - to actually do the job rather than pretend, he wasn't there. And that's exactly how I felt he was up front.

I think the position is made all the harder at Arsenal because even RVP isn't the fastest as strikers go, and with Cesc, who is simply slow by Prem standards, as the "second striker" there is a lot of unglamourous work to be done with your back to goal and little or no support in sight, a lot of the time it means throwing everything into what may well be lost causes, but he gets paid a fuck load of money and he was a real disloyal cunt in the off-season and he owes it to the club and the fans to do it.

Also I feel that the bashing Bendtner gets is a bit harsh.

Bendtner gets himself in scoring positions in the box, and, lets be fair, that is not something that can be said of many Arsenal players. How many times do you see Sagna/Clichy/Walcott/Nasri on the byline with absolutely nothing to aim for with 4 arsenal players standing outside the box waiting for the ball to be played to their feet. You can't play it like five a side all the time. I think he's a fine young striker who genuinely offers something different from the bench.

Also with regards to bad touches and missed chances let's not forget Adebayor in his first season. He was just as error prone and haphazard in front of goal if not more so, and he had already played a number of seasons at Monaco (and Metz before that) rather than Bendtner's experiences in the reserves with a season loan to Birmingham in the Championship. We've seen the boy can finish with both his head and his feet (and at important times too), and with the shit he gets no wonder his confidence isn't sky high. He's plainly isn't as naturally gifted as Ade in terms of quick skillful feet and raw pace, but he's got all he need to be a goalscorer.

Like I said playing in the kind of role asked of Bendtner is not easy, experience is a huge factor you need a little bit guile and savvy to make something out of nothing sometimes. Look at Luca Toni, a similarly framed striker in same role - what was he doing when he was Bendtner's age? He was a journeyman around middling Italian sides. It was only at Palermo when he was 26/27 that he started impressing.

I think Bendtner's got a lot going for him as a 21 year old in his first real season in the first team and I am certain he'll show himself to be a top striker one day - whether that's at Arsenal given the abundance of strikers we have at the moment I don't know, but I really hope it is.

I do wish he'd stop with those fucking dragovers though. It's like his lack of a real change of pace surprises him afresh every time.

Hmmm. Rant/Essay over.

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