The Right Side Conundrum
Mar 20th, 2008 by 'holic
There is little disagreement around the forums of the likely make-up of the Arsenal side at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The signs are that the press conference will reveal only Tomas Rosicky of Arsene Wenger’s first choice eleven as an absentee, and I hope in jumping the gun that I am proved wrong.
That means that Alex “I’ll have a cornetto please guv’nor” Hleb will continue in a ‘cutting in from the left’ role. It is not a role he thrives in, but the only real alternative at the moment would be to play Abou Diaby on the left and move Hleb back to the centre behind Emmanuel Adebayor. To accommodate that would require Robin van Persie to be left on the bench, and with goalscoring being an issue for us at the moment I don’t see that happening.
It is the right flank that really presents Le Boss with his only serious selection poser. Does he plump for Emmanuel Eboue, or the player tipped to win a recall to the full England squad today, Theo Walcott? I think we have a pretty good idea, don’t we?
The general consensus is that Wenger is likely to opt for Eboue who is seen as offering perhaps a little more in the way of defensive cover. The obvious concerns about his temperament won’t go away. Hopefully though his sending-off at Old Trafford will finally have convinced him that he is of no use to his remaining team mates if he is watching from the showers.
I would not disagree with that selection. Fabio Capello, it is said, is looking at Walcott as a potential ‘impact substitute’ at this stage of his development. I’m sure he will have discussed with Wenger what Walcott can add to the England set-up in Paris next week. Theo memorably scored against Chelsea in last years Carling Cup Final. I’d be more than happy to see him climb off the bench to repeat the achievement on Sunday.
Reserves Win At Portsmouth
The beauty of us Virgin Media customers finally getting Arsenal TV is that we were able to watch the reserves in action at Portsmouth last night. Very entertaining they were too in securing a 2-0 win.
Star performer was Nacer Barazite who decided to run the show in the second-half and was rewarded with the second goal from the penalty spot. It was also my first sight of Havard Nordveit, who found himself up against the experienced David Nugent. The young central defender certainly is one to keep an eye on.
After a month of inactivity the young Gunners have a string of fixtures coming up and I’m looking forward to seeing them again.
15 Responses to “The Right Side Conundrum”
why not diaby at left mid and Hleb at right mid, puts hleb back in a more familiar position and also accomodates RvP, and it leaves Walcott as our supersub and eboue in the showers?
Fair point Anthony, but in all honesty I don’t think Diaby is any more comfortable out there than Hleb. Plus the fact (and don’t tell anyone I said this!) Eboue was probably our best player last week. Might have got a penalty if he didn’t have his reputation, and provided some terrific runs down the flank. Credit where it is due.
Agree ‘holic. People seriously underestimate what Eboue brings to the side and he was man of the match for our side on Saturday. His runs were more penetrating, he worked the goal keeper with one shot and should have had a penalty. When Sagna went off he also contributed well to the defence and snuffed out one possible Boro break away late on.
I do wonder whether Diaby will play on Sunday – he did very well against Chelsea in the CC final. He also made a good contribution in the Milan game. But whatever happens, we must have Ade and RVP on the pitch together to have our best chance of scoring the winning goals we need.
it will be the milan away team with toure in for sendros
almunia
sanga toure gallas chlichy
aboue flamini cesc diaby(if fit)
hleb
adebayor
if diaby does not make it it will be hleb on left and van persie in the hole.
what is the story with diaby anyway he finished city game clapped the gunner fans and is then out for a month and in milan again plays full match no problem clapped the fans in the away section and we have not seen him since what is the story and one other thing did aboue not pull up injured in the last seconds of the boro game last week??
Come on ac, Eboue is injured at least four times a match!
😀
TRUE MY FRIEND but more of a debate is what will it be like with him up against cashly after that tackle last night and what about turning his back on the ref(reilly) and saying if you want my name its on my back what an ar~~hole and i would say captain england terry will be out to do!! aboue also the hole thing could be a side show
On the morning that is in it, it would be cathartic to point out that we were tracking Ronaldo for 18 months before Manure stepped in and paid the asking price. Just about explains where we have been at for the past number of years and why we are in our present predicament. By all means try and pick up good emerging talent at a reasonable price but this must be augmented by at least two proven diamonds per season. Then when you get to this stage of the season ” when the going gets tough the tough get going”. Our lack of depth is not just with the squad but also in depth of character in some players. This is what buying in proven tough players would quickly remediate.
the problem on sunday is whose gonna score for arsenal? adebyaor is not in form at all, van persie is still understandably abit rusty, hleb never scores, fabregas isnt scoring that much, eboue? i dont think he would score in an empty goal. as for theo being an impact player… well he always comes on when were like losing or something and its really tough for him. we cant expect him to save us and to change the match around every time. chelsea have to win this match so they must attack, with theo walcott in the side weel have so much pace for counter attacks. but if he comes on later on when chelsea are leading then whats the point? theyre gonna have like every1 defending like boro and wigan. this idea that theo is only good when he comes on is not true at all, give him a start and see what heel do
I’d put Hleb behind Adebayor and Van Persie on the right so he can cut in and shoot. This would require a lot of work from Hleb and Sagna to make it work. They’ll have to come up with big performances.
I agree with Ole Gunner…..I remember RVP playing on the right when we still had Bergkamp and it was very very positive. This would put Hleb in an advanced role with a partnership with Cesc and Flamini forming the central triangle. I do the the merit of Eboue though on the right…..when Joe cole is on the left….this would be needed.
What channel is Arsenal TV on then? I quite fancy a bit of reserve team football.
NLB, it’s all here…
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=484292
I am not sure how ManU buying Cristiano Ronaldo fits into the example of buying proven talent. He signed 5 years ago at the age of 18 and for the first 2 or 3 seasons was little more than ’emerging talent’ himself.
If it proves anything at all it is that investing in young talent before it’s designated proven can very be profitable.
Quite right Amos, and in fact before last summer you can find lots of examples of the pundits referring to him as a ‘show pony’ or ‘one-trick wonder’. Peoples memories are adaptable to flawed cases!
I really like Walcott. I’d like to see him in there from the start. My reading of the game might be all wrong, but his putting pressure on the opposition with penetrating runs is more useful than Eboue’s defensive cover in front of Sagna, no?
Maybe I just like the more attacking lineup. I’m predicting 3-1 to Arsenal with an Adebayor double and one from Hleb. I could see Anelka nicking one for Chelsea.
http://www.wickeddeflection.com