Confidence May Be In Short Supply Against Toffees
Oct 16th, 2008 by 'holic
Looking round for positive news ahead of Saturday’s clash with Everton is not a rewarding task. My Friday is spoken for so it’s an early preview for me. The Thursday press conferences set the tone. The international break has once again taken a heavy toll on the squad.
William Gallas, Bacary Sagna, and Nicklas Bendtner are all ruled out, and will also miss the Champions League clash at Fenerbahce next Tuesday. I have a feeling you can add Theo Walcott to the list of non-starters as well after he started both of England’s qualifiers in the last week. Arsene Wenger may give him a little ‘recovery-time’ on the bench.
A quick check on the visitors reveal just one likely absentee, but at least that is the suspended Tim Cahill, so often a thorn in our side. I think we can safely assume that the Toffees, never the most adventurous of guests at the Grove, will go 4-5-1 with Louis Saha returning to the bench and leaving Yakubu as a lone forager up front.
With Sagna and Gallas missing I can see almost a wholesale reshuffle of the Gunners back four. Mikael Silvestre may get a first-team debut alongside Johan Djourou, with Kolo Toure switching to the right. Gael Clichy could be the only defender to keep his role.
In midfield there is a squad return for Abou Diaby who may well be prepared for a second-half outing from the bench. It would not be a surprise to see Emmanuel Eboue and Samir Nasri starting out wide, with Denilson and Cesc Fabregas in the centre. A little more competition for places may concentrate minds that have tended to wander in this area so far.
The knock for Bendtner probably gives Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie the chance to flex their muscles again. The jury is out on them as a pair this season, so let’s hope they take the opportunity to prove the doubters’ wrong.
We go into the game having lost our last home league match and failing to beat Sunderland. Everton have gone over a month since winning at Stoke by the odd goal in five. Neither side will be over-burdened with confidence. The ‘holic pound is perched precariously on us grabbing a nervous lead and sealing the deal near the end at 2-0.
Enjoy the day if you are going, and good luck with finding a stream if you are not. Let’s hope I am back with a cheerful report on Saturday evening. Have a good one, ‘holics.
9 Responses to “Confidence May Be In Short Supply Against Toffees”
as much as I hate it when Toure is asked to play at right back, it would not surprise me if that was the case with JD and Silvestre in the middle. the fans favourite option would be eboue at RB, toure and JD at CB with Theo and Nasri as wingers, but since when did wenger do what the fans want? good job Everton are a poor team right now.
it agree gazza except i would probably like to see silvestre play ahead of johan … (for debut’s sake) but hopefully he will play walcott R , nasri L ..
damn just missed that first drink … but will have one anyway
Oi gooners, you lot are shite and you know you are. Fancy taking Manc’s leftovers and having twat Gallas in your side.
Jeez, we’ve heard that after the french faggot fucks off to pastures new he’ll be taking all his lapdogs with him……
Up the Hammers….!!
a west ham fan … ladies and gentlemen … congratulations they let you out for the evening
It’s rather sad when people have nothing to say about their own team so resort to visiting other fans blogs to spew their bile.
I suspect Silvestre will cover for Gallas and Djourou, if fit will play at right back. The midfield will be Eboue, Denilson, Cesc and Nasri with Ade and RVP up front. I just hope the team can string a performance together after a disruptive international break.
I think Song will come in at Centre Back – presuming he is not injured. I think it will be Eboue at RB with Ramsey making his full debut on the right side of midfield.
Low key post for you, holic. Bit unlike you to be so cautious in your comments (even although you do end on the relative high of a 2-0 home win forecast). Understandable though, based on the outcomes with Fulham, Hull, Sunderland.
I’m feeling overall more optimistic. A home match against Everton is a firm home win on my bingo card. It feels to me to be a good time to have WG sitting in the stand and Robin and Ade will do just fine up front with just the minimum of reasonable service from mid-field.
Right back is a problem. The Toure experiment post-Sagna’s Chelsea departure last season didn’t work for me. I sincerely hope to see Eboue fill his optimum position, i.e. Sagna’s deputy in exactly this situation. Either JD20 or Silvestre will be just fine beside Kolo in the middle.
My midfield would be Song (Flamini role), Cesc (the classic Cesc role), Nasri wide on the left, Denilson just behind the front two. I’d be ready to introduce Diaby or Aaron Ramsey and Carlos Vela if a different drive or creativity level is needed.
Fox Soccer channel showing the game live at 10 o’clock on Saturday morning here, so it’s porridge n gunners for breakfast for me. Enjoy the game. I’m siding with you, holic on two goals for Arsenal but allowing Everton one from our mandatory set piece slip up.
Sniff, you were typing with me! You got in first ’cause you wrote less. Don’t think Ramsey will start, but I do think he’ll feature.
Phew!
A celbratory pint of expensive foreign beer for me please ‘holic.