An Early Look Ahead To Wigan
Dec 4th, 2008 by 'holic
It’s an early preview of the Wigan game as I am scheduled to spend Friday evening in the company of Gooners before an early start to get to the Grove on Saturday. This happens every now and again, and invariably the team news and the Friday press conferences make a nonsense of my assumptions.
So, as things stand we lose William Gallas to a calf strain, but Kolo Toure is fit to return and reading between the lines on Arsenal.com he is favourite to play alongside Johan Djourou at the back. I will not pretend I would not be delighted if they formed a formidable partnership which proved to be difficult to break.
Competition for midfield places also hots up with the likely availability of Emmanuel Eboue after a mysterious knee injury. We have struggled to find the right balance in the absence of Theo Walcott so I expect an appearance from the Ivorian at some point, if only as a second-half substitute.
Not so long ago I did not look forward to going to witness the visit of the pie-munchers, but Wigan have made some progress under Steve Bruce, and mix up their style well at times. Of course they have the important option of the hoof to Emile Heskey, but have some decent players in Valencia, Palacios, and Zaki. If we are not up for the contest these guys could cause the same sort of problems that have seen Hull and Villa overturn the form book at the Grove.
Under different circumstances I would have suggested one or two of the youngsters who starred in the 3-0 drubbing of Saturday’s opponents in the Carling Cup less than a month ago may be worth a start. The defeat at Burnley will have sapped a little confidence, and lest we forget, the senior players are coming into this game on the back of an impressive triumph at Stamford Bridge.
There I imagine is the crux of the matter. Will this Arsenal side, so inconsistent thus far, be able to follow up that magnificent three points with an extended run of good results, if not form? Will the appointment of Cesc Fabregas as captain lead to a change in fortunes? Is the team spirit, exposed by Gallasgate, being restored?
We can only hope that the answer to all these questions is in the affirmative. An early inspection of the odds has me thinking the ‘holic pound could well be ventured on another 3-0 scoreline at around 8/1. Given my dreadful strike rate this season that should at least tell you what to avoid!
I’m Sorry
A word of apology may also be due to some. One of the things I discovered this week as I tinkered with the settings was that no email will have been getting through to me at the main address (gooner <at> goonerholic.com) for some time. Well how was I to know there was a really low limit in place? This is now fixed but if you have sent mail and not received a reply please forgive me. I’m not really ignoring you, and thanks for staying with me despite my apparent ignorance!
If you are heading for the Grove on Saturday be nice to every grey-haired old boy you see. I would advise against asking them all “Are you the ‘holic?” as we are easily offended at this age, and most will have no clue what you are talking about! I hope the rest of you find a good stream to watch, and that we are all rewarded with a vibrant Arsenal performance.
Come on you reds.
15 Responses to “An Early Look Ahead To Wigan”
A bottle of red? Don’t mind if I do.
Holic will be the one drinking Guinness out of an ashtray.
Massive heh,
I may well be, Dutch. I may well be 🙂
And I’ll be the one circling the pub for all the dregs and pouring them into an empty pint glass. Djourou should start on Saturday, not only is he impressive, but I think he’ll be able to negotiate the threat of Heskey better. Plus, you’d expect us to have a lot of possession and Djourou uses the ball better than any of our other centre halves. I’d put Silvestre next to him, Toure’s waistline at the moment inflates my self esteem.
Interesting. I’m not sure Silvestre is match fit yet, and if you look we will play a lot deeper as a back line because of that. In the past I might have seen that as a good thing, because having suckered teams onto us we could hit them quickly on the break. All it does nowadays is give a midfield lacking confidence a larger area to cover. Maybe I am irrationally blind to his good points, but I really don’t get Silvestre at the moment. I hope he proves me wrong.
Djourou is coming along well. To leave him out now would be a real blow to his confidence.
Toure is a bit of a conundrum. Silvestre I feel needs matches. I’m not sure what Toure needs to get himself back on track.
Martini, with a straw thanks ‘Holic.
As I smiled at his failure in management, I was trying to recall the exact quote from Roy Keane about prawn sandwich eaters earlier today. A quick Google search set me straight: “We’re 1-0 up, then there are one or two stray passes and they’re getting on players’ backs. It’s just not on. At the end of the day they need to get behind the team. Away from home our fans are fantastic, I’d call them the hardcore fans. But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don’t realise what’s going on out on the pitch.”
Where I sit at Emirates it’s become like that – groans, moans, occasional half-time jeers whenever things aren’t going perfectly against ‘lesser teams’.
Most of the come from grey-haired old boys, who probably have snuck in a few gambas before kick-off. Lawyers, I’d guess.
I’ve got a few grey hairs myself but, probably like yourself, I still sing, shout, whistle, scream and never give up hope.
Come on you greys.
In my opinion, Toure’s problem is Gallas. They do not play well together. Both look to be part of a far stronger unit when they play with a big centre half next to them. Silvestre does not do it for me. A very handy squad player and one that would be great with the youngsters. But not a regular unless things change massively.
I will get slated for this but I actually feel we have missed Eboue. By his standards I do not think he has had a bad season so far. I think one of our problems this season has been the balance of the side. We have had so many injuries that players have played out of position and it has showed. Get the balance right and we look a different team.
Would like to see Marida get a place on the bench after his efforts in the week. I was impressed by his performance and attitude. His booking was out of frustration, but I was impressed that in injury time he still cared enough to have his say.
An emphatic win for The Gunners may just see others sit up and take note again. Keep the faith.
Agreed about Fran Merida, Steve. He was the one player to emerge with his reputation enhanced after Burnley. Not sure he will get his chance this year because he is another one of what we have in abundance, promising creative midfielders. He will be competition for Denilson next season, but they may both be behind the holding player we must surely buy in January?
I really don’t see much future for Diaby. Where does he fit in the scheme of things?
I don’t think Marida will get much of a chance either to be honest. Although it would have been nice to reward him.
I must admit the terms “holding/defensive midfield player” really do not sit comfortably with me. I do not ever remember hearing phrase a great deal pre Makelele. Whatever happened to partnerships? The best central midfield pairing we have had in recent years was Vieira and Petit. Both played as a unit. One broke and the other held back. Both supported play at either end of the pitch. More importantly, they worked as a unit. I think we have become more obsessed with the term, rather than looking for the right combination. You could have stuck blindfolds on Vieira and Petit, and they still would have known where the other was. That is what we need. Someone who can compliment Cesc and the rest of the team. Someone with that little bit of experience and quality that can just pull it all together. If we can get that then I honestly believe that Cesc will develop as a player even quicker than he has done. I also think that Gareth Barry would be ideal for the role.
It’s good news that Eboue is back. I can’t bear to watch Denilson at right wing.
Steve, I know what you mean, but they are just another set of words for what was called a midfield destroyer back in the day before we tried to get away from the fact that there is a need in every successful side for a nasty bastard to do the basics in front of the back four and protect the playmaker. What we need right now is another Peter Storey, or Kevin Richardson, or indeed Patrick Vieira type of player rather than yet another Cesc clone. We lack balance at times without that player.
Spot on Steve about midfield partnerships, Vieira and Petit were awesome and they could both get up and down the pitch and had plenty of bite in the tackle. I also think we were a long time sorting things out after Petit left us. Can’t agree about Silvestre and the youngsters after Burnley though. I am crossing my fingers and everything else that Kolo and Djourour can make a good partnership and I think it is possible because Kolo and Gallas are similar in style. It is true that Kolo has been off form for a while now but we shouldn’t forget what a great player he has been over the years and I wonder if the malaria (which is a very debilitating disease) is still having some effect on his fitness and stamina? Whatever, I hope he gets himself sorted and back to full fitness and top form. I don’t think Merida is ready yet despite a reasonable performance against Burnley. I think Song might be the one we need in midfield, he just needs to learn to apply himself with energy, concentration and enthusiasm for the whole match, not just for bits of it. Djourour is looking good and he might well be our centre half for a long while.
Just back from the game. ‘Ave it!