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Middlesborough vs Arsenal Preview

Posted by :devday On : December 12, 2008
12

Category: Arsenal

Arsene took the decision to rest a few players for the midweek fixture against Porto and those rested players should all be back for the game tomorrow. Adebayor and Van Persie will both be back to lead the line, and this is brilliant for one major reason - I won't half to see Niklas "I'm the worst striker in the world ever" Bendtner in action. I say "in action" lightly as there is not much action. I've made it quite clear that there is no place in my mind for Bendtner. He has had his run in the team and really showed us that he's rubbish. Honestly - ask yourself, would you ever see Man U, Liverpool or Chelsea ever have such a player start for them. A player who can't seem to keep the ball, can't seem to pass and rest is just there so we can rest players.

Back to tomorrow's game and in Van Persie and Adebayor, we'll have invention, a bit more desire and two rested players. Also returning will be Captain Fantastic Cesc Fabregas, who is starting to gain some form now and maybe a bit of rest (earlier suspension) and another rest (midweek) and the captaincy have contrived to aid his form.

We'll see Clichy and Sagna come back into the team and that should add some stability to the defence. I also expect Gallas and Djourou to be a little more focused for tomorrow's game...

So the line up should be:

Almunia
Goalkeeper
 
Sagna
Right Back		 Gallas
Centre Back		 Djourou
Centre Back		 Clichy
Left Back
 
Eboue
Right Wing		 Denilson
Midfielder		 Cesc
Midfielder		 Diaby
Left Wing
 
  Adebayor
Striker		  Van Persie
Support Striker
I wouldn’t mind seeing Vela start on the left to add some pace and creativity to a midfield which kind of lacks it.
We’ll soon find out our Champions League opponents, and Arsene says we shouldn’t fear anyone:

“We can fight with everybody in Europe and can qualify against anybody,” said the manager. “We will see who we get in the draw, and then look at the Champions League again in February.

“But at the moment it is more important to come back in the title race and be in a good position. We have some time to focus on that now.”

I’m off to Barcelona in a few hours, so the JATmeister will be back to preview / review the game / result and give his views on all things Arsenal… I’ve got the privilege of going to the Nou Camp tomorrow to watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid – I can’t wait!

I’ll be back on Monday, so here’s to fingers crossed for a good result…

Over to you guys…]]>

devday

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  • Pissed off

    Dev ur Lineup is ok, But i will rather play denilson in the flanks and bring in Song. What do u think of him lately

  • http://tushizap.wordpress.com clash

    I think Song has to start this game, this kind of a very attacking line up might cause us some troubles with boro.

  • zohaib

    < ![CDATA[yea, i'v a feeling we might see denilson at RM in place of eboue.

    wenger might not be willing to risk having the boo-boys affect the game, again. and he's already shown that he thinks denilson's better at RM than eboue anyway.

    diaby, just as everybody else, had a bad game. plus he's just come back from injury. not too certain we'll see him at LM, but we dont have too many options.]]>

  • zohaib

    < ![CDATA[i was very surprised with how vela performed against porto. he never looked like injecting pace anywhere on the pitch. he didnt look like he wanted to turn his man or attempt to find a way past him. its hard to say why that was. it looked like he was short of confidence.

    maybe after a not-good performance, he'll find the neccessary motivation to perform tomorrow. hopefully he's got some stamina left to be starting twice in 3 days.]]>

  • AJ

    Apparently Bendtner may be leaving us in January, lets all keep our fingers crossed.

  • Debs

    for some reason I don’t see Vela starting 2moro… why do u think he will, Zohaib?

  • Debs

    lol AJ! Wenger may have other plans, cos it says on the arsenal website that Arsene believes Bendtner will ‘come good’ soon, so I don’t think the boss has lost faith in him yet…

  • http://kierandelaney.net/blog kierandelaney.net/blog

    < ![CDATA[

    i was very surprised with how vela performed against porto. he never looked like injecting pace anywhere on the pitch. he didnt look like he wanted to turn his man or attempt to find a way past him. its hard to say why that was. it looked like he was short of confidence.
    I think he was playing out of position as well which didn’t help. He rarely found himself in a position to turn the last defender and there were a lack of penetrative balls when he was.

    Sorry to go back to Bendtner, but he appeared quite selfish and too far forward – I think yesterday I said it would have been better if they swapped. Bendtner playing deep and providing the balls for Vela to run onto…

    I like the look of that lineup.]]>

  • Gooner Get Ya

    < ![CDATA[I'm not sure Diaby will start on the left? I think Vela should go there and Diaby/Song should replace Denilson...his form is suffering as well and i think boro will play a pressing - counter attack game which will/should be quashed by a DM.

    I think Eboue will start on the right as his defensive qualities should bolster our team and hopefully get us a clean sheet...assuming his form returns to normal.

    This should also give Vela and Fabregas a good chance to get forward and support RVP and Ade to bang in a few goals....hopefully.

    On the Bendtner issue...OMG he seems to be getting worse every game and we need to sell him...I would rather give Jay a chance on the bench and see how he gets on.]]>

  • zohaib

    < ![CDATA[debs, sorry i should have been clearer. i was replying to a suggestion by dev in the article that he'd like to see vela on the wing.

    i'll probably agree to have him at LM in place of anyone else at the moment, though, bcuz we dont seem to have anyone playing well there anyways.

    i'm also expecting diaby to have a better game than last time out. dont ask me why though. intuition maybe. but he clearly has more quality than eboue or bendtner, unlike somebody suggested. hopefully he'll find the motivation.

    and this i'm saying in advance bcuz i really hate when wenger makes the excuses we know all to well - 'he wasnt 100% fit ... he was tired ... he was injured ...' blah - i hope everyone who plays is 100% and not lacking motivation or stamina.]]>

  • paris

    < ![CDATA[I've lost count of the number of times that an Arsenal player has spoke a good game this season, the latest being Mikael Silvestre.

    Is this what we are going to hear all season? Rallying call's left right and centre?

    I'd prefer it if the players actually began to perform on the pitch. Anyone can talk a good game.

    I don't want to hear excuses and what needs to be done anymore. I want to see results on the pitch.

    It's easy for the players to say what needs to be done. The problem is actually doing it.

    I'm hearing too much talking, it's time to begin the walking.]]>

  • AJ

    Yeah I read that just now Debs, guess miracles don’t happen.