Hleb Poised To Strike
Apr 17th, 2008 by 'holic
Regulars will know it is not an unusual occurrence for me to be previewing the weekend game on a Thursday. Tomorrow I appear to have nowhere near enough time to do all of the things that are required, and as Saturday is a lunchtime kick-off I will be leaving at the crack of dawn.
The team news centres around whether or not Manuel Almunia will be declared fit on Friday or not. Jens Lehmann could make a farewell appearance at the Grove and would deserve a good reception for his contribution.
Sadly Bacary Sagna, Mathieu Flamini, and Justin Hoyte, along with Rosicky and Eduardo, will be missing. Almost as many changes will be made to the visitors line-up, if the more sensational reports are to be believed.
Steve Coppell apparently wasn’t best pleased with his teams performance in the home defeat by Fulham. He is nothing if not a pragmatist though, and will not put a weakened side out when points are still so badly needed by Reading.
I am hoping that with the pressure finally off we will once again see Arsenal at their relaxed and confident best. I was at the return fixture in November and that really was an impressive demonstration by the Gunners that night.
The ‘holic pound is poised to be placed on a repeat of the 3-1 win in that match. The forecast rain can only help slicken the surface which should be to our benefit. If you are looking at omens Alex Hleb last hit the target at the Madejski and should be a tidy price to score first on Saturday.
Sorry about that, do you need some smelling salts?
Anyway, if you are going I may see you there. I’ll be the big old boy in the red and white. I hope the rest of you have a happy and healthy weekend. Hopefully I’ll be sober enough to report back on Sunday.
Take care.
12 Responses to “Hleb Poised To Strike”
Sadly I won’t be there – tickets for these last 2 home games have been hard to come by for us lowly red members. I’ve just finished watching the replay of our last game against Reading on ATV and would be quite satisfied to see a repeat of that scoreline.
Enjoy the game ‘holic – come on you reds!
I am a big fun of Hleb and i’m happy to read this massege. I must watch this game and see the out come. I wish all Arsenal funs in Kenya nice weekend.
That really tells us all .He scored in november,simply amazing for an attacking midfielder……..absurdly poor.
It would be nice for Hleb to score some goals. Although I didnt expect him to score many, his tally this season is a bit disappointing. Earlier in the season, he looked like he was making a conscious effort to take more shots on goal. However, that reduced once Adebayor went on that goal scoring streak – Hleb was happy to assist, again.
not much seems to be made of the fact that Gerrard deliberately crocked Flamini in the CL 2nd leg just before half time. He stood on the back of his ankle in a reckless unnecessary challenge which resulted in his substitution by Gilberto. Gilberto, who looked great last season, but this season he hasn’t had enough games to keep him match fit.
Flamini’s substitution cost us the CL game & the Man Utd game.
Gerrard to blame.
Hleb score a goal? I’ll give you odds you can’t refuse on that one mate – there’s NO CHANCE of him doing so.
I watched the reserves the other day against derby reserves and although derby are very young and not very good there were a few quite promising youngsters on show for us, well actually they all looked good but the four that stood out above the rest for me were:
Jack Wiltshire [16 yrs] – amazing ability on the ball, quick feet, quick mind something of the Hleb’s about this kid
Armand Traore [19 yrs] – looked excellent in a wide left midfield role, that is without doubt his best position he ran rings round the Derby boys and has both good crossing ability and a good shot
Havard Nordveit [17 yrs] – Superbly composed on the ball for a central defender, he sprayed it about in style firing off numerous 30 yard cross field passes with impressive precision
Nacer Bazarite [18 yrs] – Pace and movement, great passing ability and confident in front of goal, surely Nacer will be closer to the first team next season
hleb has been one the on form palayers this season and i hope he will continue to do so tomorrrow. Greetings to all Arsenal funs in uganda(Masaka)
Deo Ivan SSerunkuma
El Tommo
Agree with you about the reserves.Wiltshire looks exceptional but having seem him a few times now I don’t think Norveldt is a great defender.Pretty to watch in many ways as a ball-playing centre half but not the type of physical defender we obviously need.Maybe he will strengthen up etc but wouldn’t get too carried away with him for now.
well well well…i am going to have an important exam next week!!!C’mon on you ,gunners.3 points for sure~
Oh yes my ALex doesn’t score many so he must be rubbish. The fact that most of our good play comes from something he creates doesn’t matter at all. When Hleb’s form dipped this season, Arsenal dipped. He is absolutely fundamental to our style of play and if you cannot honestly see that then I doubt you know much about football.
Someone from Midfield would be a bonus. talk about last goals from Midfield in the prem . Fab last in the prem was ??? Eboues Never. Gilberto??? Flamini??? Rosicky ??? Diaby ??? This is why we have not won the title. Previus title wins included double figures from Freddie, Bobby Pires and contributions from centre mid. Mandare James from Kenya. I have just got back from Nairobi where i watched both liverpool and Man Utd games and everyone supports the Arsenal in Kenya. Youre all great Gooners in Kenya
out to the Hleb family
peace