United, A Hopeful Punt, And A ‘Holic On The Box
Mar 11th, 2011 by 'holic
Arsene.
“We will try to win. I’ve said since the start of the season that we will go for all of the competitions.
Fergie.
“We have quite a few injuries. I’m hoping some of them are all right to face Arsenal. Injuries aside, there’s the importance of this as a cup tie. It’s against Arsenal and these games are always exciting. There’s an opportunity to get to a semi-final so I’ll play my best team.”
Arsene was guarded when pressed on the make-up of his side to play at Old Trafford. The quarter-final of the FA Cup demands a strong selection and a concerted effort. Asked directly if he would play his strongest side, the boss answered with a terse “yes”, but what he considers his best side will be determined by his view of his players condition and mindset after the two big recent disappointments. It will also be interesting to see if Fergie really does play his strongest available line-up before Tuesday’s Champions League date with Marseille.
Injuries deprive both sides of key players. There is no return for Walcott, Song, or Vermaelen, and the game in Spain has also robbed us of the services of Szczesny, and Fabregas. The more one thinks about the skipper’s inclusion on Tuesday, the more that decision looks a poor one. When he hobbled out of the Stoke game on 23rd February I was told the club doctor had immediately diagnosed a three week break. Thirteen days later he clearly was not moving freely in the Camp Nou and has probably aggravated the injury as a result.
United too will probably miss Ferdinand, Park Ji-sung, Anderson, and of course Nani, but welcome back Vidic. They, like us, have slipped into a mini-slump of late after suffering defeats at Anfield and the bus stop in Fulham. The result may be more important than the performance for both sides. Whisper it softly, but a draw might create a bigger problem for them than us, and that outcome is not out of the question.
The key, it seems, will be the midfield tussle. Fletcher needs no additional motivation to ‘get in our faces’, Carrick has a bit of the absent Song about him and will look to get forward as often as possible from deep. With Giggs likely to start out wide Scholes will probably get to demonstrate his dubious tackling alongside Fletcher. The boss has to decide who will deputise for Song and Fabregas. Most would favour Diaby and Nasri, but we all know Denilson and Rosicky have got the nod in recent weeks. Let’s show patience with whoever wears the yellow.
Both sides have goals in them, and question marks about their ability to keep clean sheets. I don’t see us sitting back again as we were forced to on Tuesday but United, although usually more pragmatic than us, will probably be urged to get a result in front of their own fans, who once again will be competing for roadspace with us on the M1 and M6. Rarely has the ‘holic pound been more difficult to place, so I am drawn to the fanciful. Rarely are we as high as 33/1 to win 3-1. There is a reason for those odds. We haven’t beaten United in our last six meetings, so don’t put any money you would miss on that! I got my money back last week because the game ended 0-0 (thank you Bet365), so two ‘holic pounds are on this week.
I cannot let this preview end without a positive word for Arsene after I have criticised the selection of Cesc in midweek. His spirited defence of Arsenal Football Club, and his defiant stance at UEFA, are to be applauded. It might have been better if he had not been so public with his message. UEFA may decide to make an example of him, but I am pretty sure that most of the people involved with running Europe’s big clubs will be happy to see the continent’s incompetent governing body taken to task. Behind closed doors the gaffer is getting messages of support, but I suspect even he knows salt will be rubbed into our wounds at the end of the day.
I also cannot go without a special word for a couple of ‘holics, and not surprisingly this week, the link is Barcelona. Congratulations to Catalan Gunner on the arrival of the newest Gunnerette last night (Thursday), and also to our very own television star, Bergkamp the Man, who has just been addressing the Gooner nation from outside the Camp Nou on this weeks Arsenal 360 on ATvO. Sorry non-subscribers, you will have to pay up to see it.
Have a great weekend, ‘holics.
106 Responses to “United, A Hopeful Punt, And A ‘Holic On The Box”
First, but not the last.
CG,
Congrats mate glad to hear the gooner masses have been added to- Barman if you will a couple of your finest bottles of Rioja for the new dad and the rest of us scallywags
Wasn’t confident about tomorrow but for some reason I’ve a funny feeling we will turn them over tomoz that may have more to do with an Arsenal supporting mate going before a beak today and getting of in a pretty open and shut case Happy Days unless you were the arresting officer in which case I politley say up yours
3.1 The Arse,
Enjoyed that post, ‘Holic. Your penultimate paragraph should be syndicated to all Arsenal blogs.
I think the mid-field battle will be decisive tomorrow. Nasri, Diaby and Wilshere for me with Bendy, Robin and Arshavin up front. I’m hoping for the same back four that started in Barcelona but suspect that Squillacci may feature.
Quite a surprise to see myself pop up on A360! I suppose that’s my five seconds of fame. For those subscribers the bunnet is normally on straight. With it at an angle of 45 degrees some might think I’d had a drink (!). For non-subscribers, I only say there what I say to anyone who will listen and here every other week, “The next decade is Arsenal’s”
To Catalan, thanks for your own and your city’s hospitality and congratulations on the arrival of your daughter. Best wishes from me and Her Nellieness with the sentiment below:
I hear babies cryin’, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world
And indeed it is, as this week in your beautiful home city has proved.
I’ll be on a long, long flight as our reds do battle with the deeply indebted. My mind will not be at rest.
2-1 to the Arse. Diaby to score at the right end this time and Arsh to hit another cracker. A goal by Manure with 10 minutes to go will have us all tensing our sphincter muscles,especially when 12 minutes of Fergie time is put up.
Pint of Carolina Blonde to celebrate this beautiful spring day
oh and my thoughts and prayers to all in Japan what an awful sight,nature at its most brutal
Cheers, ‘holic.
And congrats to Catalan Gunner!
Safe journey home, BtM, you TV star you.
A drink? Yeah maybe. I think we didn’t finish that Talisker 57 in Barna, so I’ll have one more drop of it! 🙂
Almunia was unlucky in that he never really had a confident settled centre half. pairing in front of him. He will have that on Saturday. Bentner to score two and the real architect of crab football Carrick to have a mare..
I quite fancy Chamakh to score on saturday.
Tar Heel Gunner, I love your scenario but you should add a Squillaci header to satisfy the ‘holic pound; and I second your thoughts and prayers for the Japanese.
I dont have any expectation whatsoever.
dont matter who lines up as long as the result is all ARSENAL.
Good words. As an Arsenal fan, I give my 100% support to whoever dons the shirt, and regardless of the outcome. I think that makes me an AKB.
Hope it is a positive result.
Thoughts are with japan. Bad memories are being brought back as a similar earthquake was a cause for losing friends and almost a million fellow countrymen.
Need Arsenal to cheer me up.
a win for the arsenal, this united side is shit, only a sip of water please, have had enough of the drinks already.
The Irish Mist is clearing, I see it clear as Vodka. Le Boss starts with Denilson, much to the disappointment of the fans and for 60mins the game is a scrappy affair. Then we see Rambo warming up on the touchline, huge cheer goes up as he comes on to replace Denilson. Instantly the game improves and United are carved open mercilessly, they get a couple of half chances. Man U survive up until the 85th minute when Ramsey fires a screamer into the top corner announcing himself as a true legend in the making.
oh, Arsenal go on to win the match and eventually the cup
Holic, BtM, Ollie, Chippy, TS, TVN, 8Ball, RVP (the answer is “10”), and all the many others who have passed on their good wishes – thank you very much. Sincerely.
It actually means more than you could imagine when sitting in exile from your mates (all be it with mates here and the place itself very wonderful indeed).
So here I am in cyberspace getting congratulated and happily handing out restaurant tips from and to people I’ll most likely never meet. Not sure I’d want to – kind of like looking at the photo of an author of a book you really like and finding him a little weird…
In my mind all the regulars have a little imaginary picture. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but BtM definitely has a wonky Tammy….. i’m not going to subscribe so as not to shatter this image.
The age of the internet, eh? Marvellous.
Anyway the latest gunnerette is healthy and wonderful. Her and her Mum are tucked up in bed in hospital whilst I clean up the after effects of “Friday night Disco night” with the threeand one year olds. Don’t ask…
I have no idea what will happen tomorrow. I pray for a resurgent- shove-it-in-their-faces win. But all of my prayers have already been answered, so maybe that’s asking too much?
No sleep for quite a while now. Mixing beer, red and white. Probably not wise. May your chosen diety bless you all.
Holic
Sorry to be a Killjoy,but i think the Theatre Of Dreams will be our Nightmare.
Battered and bruised,physically and mentally after the Nou Camp and Wembley,and playing our long time Nemesis on their own patch,is for me,a very big Bridge too Far.
Utd’s record at home is exemplary,if not downright scary and it seems that no matter what side Old Red Nose puts out,they seem to get the job done.
There’s no way ORN will want to give us a sniff of a psychological boost with a win at his House,so i am certain he will field a strong side.
With major injury problems and 2nd eleven players having to step up to fill the breech,i just don’t believe we have the intestinal fortitude to get a Result.
I will still follow the match on the Internet,but it will be with more Hope than Expectation.
Cheers
Clive
Deity.
If you want your nutritional programme to bless you then that’s fine too.
I agree Holic that a replay would definitely favour us more than them and I would bite your hand off for a draw right now, with the players that we have out.
I do worry about what Arsene considers his strongest team, and I do hope that he appreciates the significance of not losing tomorrow in terms of the psychology of this team – stay in the cup and a week to rest before WBA will be just what the doctor ordered.
BtM – now that I have put a face to a name (cool bunnet btw) I will have no problem picking you out at the Tolly next time we are both in the same time zone 🙂
Zico – you were correct about the sleep deprivation!
But then that’s why we have alcohol, I guess….
Hard to know how tomorrow will go, but Man Utd haven’t been in good form themselves since their defeat to Wolves (it would be even worse if Rooney hadn’t bagged that once in a lifetime goal against Man City), so it’s not an impossible task. Plus if nothing else, the thought of a possible semi-final lineup of Man Utd, Man City, Birmingham and Stoke is surely too nightmarish to contemplate! We owe it to everyone to help prevent this.
@ Catalan
My eldest daughter turned 19 today – you’ll get the REM count up quicker than you think 😉
And yes, there is always alcohol, “the cause and solution to all life’s problems”
Clive, you may be right but what about some optimism? All I can say is, wiith an attitude like that you should be among the major emotional beneficiaries when we leave Manchester smiling.
watch this. guaranteed seven minutes well spent Mad Jens at his best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzvNJfVSzvg
Catalan – more timely congratulations on this occasion. Must admit I thought the happy event had occurred a week or so ago while I was still in Catalunya. “Dad and a special daughter” is a hard one to beat.
It’s a good job I won’t be playing against ManUre tomorrow – still feel completely flat after Sunderland and Barca.
I won’t annoy the bar owner by naming individuals but for me this has to be the last chance for some of our squad players who seem certain to play tomorrow.
After the lesson in ball retrieval we were taught on Tuesday night, nothing short of lung bursting effort will do – especially from those who have not been playing so often. Some of our squad players should have been told by AW that this is it – show what it means to you to play for The Arsenal, or get ready to ship out.
Expectations for the match? God knows.
One more camera shot of Old Red Nose with a gob full of gum, will soon have me up and at it again though.
Cheers ‘holics – here’s to a faith restoring win.
i just got here from pakistan n i need tickets for Arsenal vs Liverpool will someone help me out?
Clive, how about an attitude adjustment, aka a drink? usama, great video of Mad Jens. Wasim, Where did you just get to? (apologies for the impertinent question)
Hi guys,
CG – Congrats my man. Just make sure she’s a gooner and her heart doesn’t wander to dark places as the Nou Camp :).
Ollie – If you could please drop me an email at snir_geuli@hotmail.com I’d be very grateful…
Cheers
BT8 @ 24 & 29
Ah, so that’s what BtM looks like!
@cg the first night is the worst… Cold hospital, a baby turns over and you pop up….what was that….nothing, ok. It definitely gets easier. I myself have a17 month old, that’s how you gauge their age for the first couple years I guess…Maverick(my first born) will have his kit on (and Ive gotten the ok fOr my 2nd to be named Gunner) and eating his cheerios by my side while we watch the gunners w/ pride no matter what the outcome. Absolutely, it hurts to watch them fail… Whether it be to ManUre or the barcodes but, as we all know (or some of us lucky enough) we have more to live for so let us all in different corners of the world enjoy a few drinks whether they be caffeinated or alcoholic appreciate the precious moments we have w/ our offspring… Ill take a utd win if that means we beat them in April and take the league. But with the mancs attack and CBS lacking, ah hell regardless, I love uur boys to move on but, I wish everyone luck on the infamous holic pound…
BT8 @24 & 29
After following the Arse for most of my lifetime,i think i’m entitled to call it as i see it.
I think in this case a dose of realism is more relevant than a dose of Optimism.
We are on a downward spiral since Wembley,and Rose colored Glasses are rather fanciful for the trip North.
I will point out though that my pessimism only relates to the Cup tie.
The next 10 league games are a diff matter.
With a 2 wk Intl break on the Horizon,i am banking on Fab/Walcott and TV hopefully being ready to go at the beginning of April,wen we play 5 league games before we confront UTD at our House.
With no other distractions,we have a wonderful opportunity
to bring home the Premiership.
Clive, hiya. What do you propose we do when tv5 returns… Myself, I like koscielny to fill in for song… They both seem to have goals in them. Thro will be a massive boost for the club, open up nanas or arshavin and give cesc options moving forward, had he not been hurt… We all know already, cest la vie…
No idea what I expect from today. I imagine that this game is one neither manager actually wants right now. I guess it will be down to who turns up on the day.
Cesc selection on tues was bonkers. Many of us said it and now he is out for an even longer period. Very unprofessional in my opinion.
Dr C. Many congrats. Glad all going well. Look forward to your 3am posts when you are all awake.
Keep the faith.
Steve T
Not sure i agree re Fab,the medical team must have put him through some vigorous tests to pass him fit to play,and we all know how finicky hamstrings are,no one could have envisaged it causing him grief after only 15 mins,he could rest for another 2 weeks and it could still Go on him,the number of times DB had hamstring problems during his career at Arsenal were legendary,and many times the physios thought he was fit to come back and he would last half a game if we were lucky.
It’s the worst injury to have and the slowest to heal,sometimes you gt away with it sometimes you don’t.
My own thoughts are that Cesc was so wound up and stressed about playing at the Nou Camp that his muscles never really loosened up before the game,hence the early tweak.
The Medical team make the call,not the player,and i have no doubt they thought he was okay to play.
They wouldn’t have risked him otherwise.
Hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to Cesc on Tuesday, if he hadn’t played, some people would have complained about that too.
you’re not wrong Charlie.Hopefully Wenger will give Aaron the full 90 mins today or at least bring him on as a sub.I will be almighty pissed of if Rosicky starts off in the middle.Ramsey chose Arsenal over Utd,give him a chance to show why.
Morning gents. Little update. Subsidiary punts on Djourou to score doubled up with us to win 2-1 (125/1) or 3-1 (200/1), and you will hear me screaming from wherever you are!
Hello Clive, I think Wenger’s most telling statement of the week was that Cesc assured him he was fit to play. The medical team have an input, the player has an input, and the boss makes the call. He doesn’t get much wrong in my eyes, but let’s say he may have been ruled by Cesc’s heart rather than his own head on this one.
I dreamed last night arsenal -man utd 2-0, usually my dream turn right , it never turn wrong
Chairman PHW is quoted in the daily star criticizing AW for challenging UEFA and Tuesday’s referee.
He says these things should be dealt with privately and not in public through the media. Then why is he doing just that in admonishing AW instead of addressing him privately ? Very odd.
I am going for a 2-1 win today. RVP and AA23 to score.
It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Stockholm, and a few degrees above zero so the snow is rapidly melting away. I’ve had a nice and lazy morning, so would it be too much to ask for what has been a good day so far to be even better by seeing us beat ManU tonight? Hope not.
Have a great day everybody!
Actually TV5, if you read the direct quotes, PHW does nothing of the sort. Sub-editors going for hits with misleading headlines.
TV5 – the Daily Star make the The Sun look like a bastion of journalistic integrity, it should be avoided like the plague (not just for its rubbishness, but also for being hideously racist to boot).
wow it would benefit our young polish keeper so much if mad jens signs for us again! do it arsene!
I have a feeling United will get at least one penalty.
‘Holic, Charlie –
PHW says “Emotions were running very high. It is understandable, but I don’t think you achieve a great deal by dealing with things in this way, rather than in a more private way. They (UEFA) are difficult people to deal with – they don’t listen to you and they never have done.
“Maybe one day they might – but I am not going to hold my breath.
“I don’t believe in criticising referees myself because I don’t think you achieve much.
“But managers take a rather different view – not only our own, but also others, including one we all know about right now. I think Arsene is still very upset.”
in reaction to AW’s press conference on Thursday. I stand corrected if I am not reading these quotes as they are.
Clive, I think most of us would trade a defeat today for a win against United at the Emirates, if it leads to us winning the league but we surely must make a statement of intent today and not allow them to think it’s going to be easy, and assuming we’re making a statement of intent why not go on and get a result?
So where does he ‘tell’ or ‘order’ Arsene not to continue? Nowhere.
He just expresses the view that UEFA are cunts, but at the end of the day they won’t take any notice of what’s right. I’m with PHW one hundred percent. They are cunts.
Congrats Catalan……..heaven knows we need enough lady referees 😉
Optimistic pound there ‘holic……..I like it all the same.
Just over an hour to go and the jitters are starting to set in. I’ve been trying not to anaylis this game to much, but that’s not possible because not only is it a pre to another trip to Wembley but it’s against our (recent) greatest of foes IOU.
I’m mildly confident, but that should soon increase with a high intake of Dutch courage…. Off to the bar I go.
Bavaria beer for who ever wants it.
Cheers lads and enjoy the game.
And once again congrats Dr C.
Fursty Ferret purchased. Time to quench a diabolical thirst 😉
Fingers crossed. A replay would do me quite fine. Anything to give the EE problems is good for me.
2 pints of Guinness please. One for each hand.
Ferret?? You didn’t get one of those things did you ‘holic?
7 defenders!?
It looks like IOU are going to Ji Sung Park the bus.
Do Utd march out to the theme from Rocky ‘cos they’re stony broke?
From the starting XIs we have a great shot at this today. Gotta love that ManIOU play on Tuesday with that short turnaround. Love it! Marseille played yesterday and won on the road.
Let’s go boys!!! Cheers H2H. Have a pint of the black stuff on me. I’ll take another two (one for each hand).
Man U scum playing hoofball.
Fuck them and their ugly play.
8 defenders at home.
Fuck me.
Fucking scum.
Underserved lead.
Come on boys! Don’t give in for fuck sakes.
Still plenty of time to turn this match around. Come on boys.
Can someone tell our esteemed manager it’s not a crime to play two up top Fucking shambles.
I hope we are going to see more urgency in the second half, we fell asleep during their goal as well.
Come on you REDS!
Fuck me.
Gibbs was a spectator on that second goal.
Just great just bloody great! 🙁
Denilson just have to go this summer… I don’t want to see him anymore, Arsene!!
United with 7 defenders are more threating says it all,No pace no width and two complete passengers in midfield cheers Arsene
Looks liek they have given up already to me come ARSENAL!
We needed Koscielny to come up fron to create danger come on
What are they playing at Jesus!
Very dissapointing 🙁
Come on Aaron Ramsey!
How more dangerous are we with two up top, Then again I’m not on 6 mill a year, very very very pissed off right now
And yet more great news jesus it just doesn’t stop to us are we cursed or something?
I hate man united.
But we’ve played into their hands. They are the fucking home team, if they want to park the bus in front of their glory hunting fans, we should not have to attack them and commit men forward.
Let the world see them for the fucking bore they are.
somehow, everything falls to “perfection”… it’s the league to win, yet with all the injuries and the mentality breakdown… it’s going to be a tough end of season…
Going from playing in four competitions to playing in only one faster than you can say Mississippi, Mississippi, Mississippi.
Now it’s time for some JD from Tennessee.
Same shit different day who we blaming time, Certain players are a lazy cunts and certain others are nowhere good enough
We were the far better team in the 2nd half….per ‘holic’s suggestion I won’t name names but when a certain number 15 left the pitch we suddenly looked more like a side.
Van Der Sar was MOM….and Almunia did well again. Still gonna win the league.
so we can concentrate on the league now.
seriously how did we get suckered into letting them hit us on the break again? the turning point was obviously vds save from kos, then they go up the other end and score. typical. gutting.
how scholes stayed on is beyond me and until refs have the cojones to send the dirty cunts off for challenges like that on their own turf, you are onto a hiding for nothing.
2 soft goals (swap the keepers round, would we have lost?) and poor performances from gibbs, diaby, denilson, rosicky (how the fuck did he miss that) van persie, arshavin. when half your team play shit you’ve got no chance at a place like that, unfortunately it’s every week from the dross we have behind the 1st 11.
the only bright spots were the return of Rambo and another never say die performance from super Jack.
These boys are our future, keep the faith.
and buy a fuckin keeper arsene
I hope Johan just has a concussion. The Setanta coverage said he is out for the year with a collarbone injury. I sure hope that’s not true and that he will be OK. Without Kos & JD at CB we are not winning the league. Period. I’ve written off TV’s year.
@matt
The best thing about this blog is politely not agreeing. I thought Wilshere had his most laboured game in months…he looks tired out. Almunia played well and wasn’t at fault on the goals….some unnamed players in front of him were though.
Agreed. I can’t blame Almunia for the goals today. Kos slept on the first and Gibbs on the second.
Signs of life in the second half. Ramsey looked good.
Can we revive the spirit of the Invicibles? They were dumped out of the FA Cup and Champions League in quick succession, but carried on to win the League.
Over to you Arsene.
agreed almunia made some good saves, but it drives me mad when you see him pushing the ball out straight to the opposition player when it really counts, chocolate wrists.
compare that to van der sar who would have fisted the ball away from danger. he wasn’t our worst player today but i lost faith in him years ago after all the blunders he’s made the last few seasons & with given/reina crying out for a move it rubs salt into the wounds
I just hope Djourou os too badly injured we need him so badly for teh rest of the season!
Djourou get well soon!
* is not (bad spelling)
Take a look at the starting lineups. How did this happen? Mind boggling.
Triple JD barman please.
2001/02 – we won our last 13 league games and won the title.
2010/11 – only 10 to win and the result should be the same.
Piece of cake 🙂
Van der Sar parried at least twice that I can recall…the difference (as usual) it we don’t have a selection of players poaching around the six yard box.
Chippy @ 80 – and some are a combination of both!
Very disappointing performance when you consider the team they put out, in midfield especially.
Hope to feel different in the morning, but I cannot see how we can win the league with some of these players – we really need to get rid of quite a few.
Zic,
Same as last season same things being said I’m seriously holding back my thoughts cause they won’t make pretty Reading 😉
Up the Arse,
There’s not a lot we can do with the squad until next season (unless we can recall loan players), so let’s support them for the last 10 games and save the analysis for later.
I am with you chippy. Main difference was they were first to almost every second ball. Both of their goals demonstrate that.
Will we actually miss jd? No reflection on him but Vermaelen must only be days away? Must be or we were buying in January????????
I was quite optimistic about today,but same old failings against man u.
Very disappointing and Djourou’s season ending injury (along with TV obviously having been kidnapped by aliens) doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.
A bellini for me pls
Hope I’m wrong Steve T, but isn’t TV a doubt for the rest of the season?
****Djourou out for the season*****
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news guuys!
Now it’s time to get behind Squillaci
A back up CB and keeper are now looking required!
Maybe time for Bartley to return home early
I’d rather play Bartley than Squid. I’ve seen him with Rangers this loan spell. He’s more steady and physical than Squid.
Our season is going down the toilet (in the Old Toilet) at light speed.
I think it’s another one of those nights to get hammered in Kanada. For real.
So, Squillaci and Koscielny will be our center-half pairing for these last ten games. Oh, happy days. The one combination of players that has not worked all season. We could, of course, play Song ther… oh no, he’s injured.
Bloody hell. For all our faults, we just don’t have any luck at all at the moment. What are the odds of having THREE keepers injured at the same time?
Lars – How long is Song out for?
*as Basil Fawlty said*
“I think I’ll go and hit some guests….”
TVN: I don’t know, but experience tells me it’s probably at least two weeks longer than estimated 🙁