Henry Injury a blessing in disguise?

Thierry Henry has a neck injury and will not play against Bolton. That means Adebayor is likely to play as the lone striker. He is big, strong and a nuisance for defenders.

It also means we might see Walcott or Baptista after all as we will need to support Adebayor from midfield. The days of Ljungberg doing that effectively from the left, like his electric pace, have gone, which is why I would say Walcott is the obvious choice.

It's no secret that a 4-5-1 doesn't bring out the best in Henry.

It does however bring the best out of Adebayor and will help to strengthen our resolve and make us more of a unit. Everyone will have to step their game up and will give that extra 5% they didn't know they had. That's what was missing from our limp performance last year at the same ground.

With RVP suspended, Rosicky, Henry and Gallas injured it will need to be a good team performance to get a result.

However there are positives to be taken from the situation.

1. Senderos is better in the air than Gallas. Which will help us against their long ball game.
2. Ljungberg is well suited to 4-5-1 in a central or left hand side role which will minimise the loss of Rosicky. As long as we put in another attacking midfielder to help Adebayor. Ljungberg is more of a continuity player these days.
3. Adebayor is better up front on his own than Henry and offers more of a physical threat. He has scored a few goals and his goal at Old Trafford playing as a lone front man will mean he has confidence playing in that position. He can win headers and play with his back to goal.
4. RVP is wasted on the left in a 4-5-1 and it means that Baptista or Walcott can add something different.
5. Gilberto brings the best out of Cesc, Ljungberg and Baptista.
6. A rest from Henry will do him good and help his body recover for the Fulham game.
7. The younger players who feel they still have something to prove to Henry and that they can win a game without him.

Lucky 7! Let's hope we have some luck too. It's about time we did at the Reebok.

4-5-1 is the right formation for the Reebok

ANOTHER goal start for the visitors.

Although this time we ended up coming back to deservedly win 3-1 thanks to goals from RVP, Eboue and Baptista. The win was in no small part thanks to Theo Walcott, who is looking a very promising talent in the cameo appearances he has had so far this season.

We were a bit disjointed in the first half and they scored an excellent goal but didn't threaten much after that (the story of our season). We improved after the break (and a switch to 4-4-2) and got there in the end. As I said in my last post, the confidence will come now. Once you have scored a couple of late goals you will tend to be more patient and start to believe that you can score late goals.

That has been a major part of the success is Wenger's Championship teams of the past. The frequent scoring of late goals as we play at a higher tempo than normal teams and so if we don't score early if we keep passing then we are confident we can score late by overcoming the opposition physically (opening up space).

That is possibly why we have failed in the past in the Champions League as a little more nouce and tactical ability is needed.

We have a lot of games coming up and so Theo will be more involved and it is time to use the squad's potential. Gilberto has been given a week of rest and should be in prime shape to play against Bolton. He will need to be at his best.

As much as we improved against Hamburg after switching to 4-4-2, I believe 4-5-1 with a midfield of Hleb, Gilberto, Fabregas, Ljungberg and Van Persie is the right formation for Bolton away. We must battle for every ball and keep things tight.

I might even be tempted to start Walcott if we could be sure they won't kick him out of the match.

I have a strange confidence that we will win the game, much like before the game at Old Trafford, because Bolton haven't been very good lately and we have been improved from this time last year.

How much?

We will see Saturday.

Prediction: Bolton 1 - 2 Arsenal

KO 17:15 Premier Plus

UPDATE: Good news on Gallas and Rosicky who are both nearing full fitness again.

Breaking the routine, Gilberto back, Walcott to start?

Sitting in the car after my football match had ended listening to radio 5 live unknowing of the score. If we had gone 1-0 up we surely were to win 3-0. If Newcastle has scored first then it was destined to end 1-1.

They did and so it did. Bang went my prediction. I am as fucking bad as Lawro!

Arsenal need to break the cycle of going 1-0 down and it ending 1-1. We need to win a game 2 or 3-1 and so have the confidence that we can do it when we score second. A common theme with all of the games we have drawn 1-1 is that it has stayed 0-1 for a fairly long time and we have scored relatively near the end.

Thus making it seem as though we have salvaged something from a game we have in truth dominated. Then maybe we don't go as wholeheartedly for the winner as we feel it has been tough getting back level again.

However, not the rank performance people say. Taking the positives, we are still unbeaten at home. We just need to crush someone at home after going 1 or even 2 down to instill the utter belief.

Ahead of the game against Hamburg Gilberto Silva has arrived back from Brazil. Whether he is fit enough or in the right frame of mind for tomorrow night is another question. However, he strikes me as a naturally fit type of person so I would be surprised if he wasn't involved.

We also have Freddie Ljunberg back in the squad. Senderos is expected to come in for the injured Gallas.

I would like to see us play 4-4-2 with Adebayor or Van Persie alongside Henry and Walcott starting the left wing. Will some of his excellent crosses on Saturday mean the boss will play Baptista to get on the end of Walcott's crosses in what looks to be a promising partnership?

I suspect AW will play 4-5-1 with Henry up on his own with Hleb, Fabregas, Van Persie, Flamini and Gilberto / Baptista in the midfield.

Either way win we must and win we shall.

Prediction: Arsenal 2 - 0 Hamburg

Ljungberg, Baptista, Song and Adebayor battle it out for starting berth

Gilberto is out of the Newcastle game for family reasons as we all know.

That means we have 4 players competing for his place.

That means Arsene has a bit of a dilemma. A nice one to have indeed but still..

Who does he play in midfield? Does he switch back to a 4-4-2? Will he play Van Persie and Adebayor in the same team?

I think not. He opted for Flamini over Adebayor last time out and I think the 4-5-1 will prevail again.

I suspect he will stick with a 4-5-1 and put Ljungberg in the centre with Fabregas and Flamini. Van Persie and Hleb taking the other wing positions.

If Ljungberg is not fit enough (unlikely as he was ready to start against the Ivory Coast) Wenger might start with Song who has, despite criticism for some of his displays last season, really improved and is currently bossing games for the reserves.

The only reservations I have against playing Song is that we would have 2 defensively minded midfielders in the centre of the park (Flamini being the other), whereas Freddie offers a little more going forward but less physical presence.

However that shouldn't be an issue with the first choice back four back together and I cannot really see Newcastle taking the game to us. As Bill Gallas said yesterday we need to concentrate on scoring first.

If we do that, and do it early then this could well turn in to a rout.

The other option is Baptista who could play centrally in a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1, however having only just returned from injury I expect it's more likely he will come off the bench. Having Baptista and Walcott (power and pace personified) to come off the bench could well be what tips the game over the edge of we are leading.

Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Hoyte, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Fabregas, Hleb, Henry, van Persie, Baptista, Ljungberg, Almunia, Djourou, Senderos, Eboue, Flamini, Walcott, Aliadiere, Adebayor.

Prediction: Arsenal 2 - 0 Newcastle (Come on I can't be any fucking worse than Lawro)

Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks.
They charged one and let the other one off.

Liverpool, Newcastle, The Emirates Factor

The first goal against Liverpool was the turning point as Goodplaya points out.

I thought Liverpool were fairly good value to be level after half an hour or so and the game was shaping up nicely. We played some good football as well and the game had a decent tempo about it.

It was pleasing to see the back four back together again and when Jens comes back we will have a formidable unit there, the pace of our counter attacks has defintaely been boosted with Clichy and Eboue using their pace and dribbling ability to good effect.

Flamini, who as a wholehearted and versatile performer 'the French Ray Parlour' will always be a fan's favourite, opened the scoring and Liverpool never looked likely after that. They seemed to lack belief and we outplayed them thereafter.

A lot has been made of the new pitch and how it has affected the tempo of our game. A friend made a very good point the other day which I thought was worth sharing.

'I reckon we haven't adjusted to the size of the pitch at home. Big pitches require longer passes and, therefore, more time for ball to be seen/intercepted by opposition. So, we pass as we did at highbury - short - but fail to cover the same ground and the opposition falls back into 2 lines of 5 and 4.

Perhaps an out and out header of the ball to change direction of play might help - just to pull defenders around a bit -Adebeyor for all his faults is getting nearer to this. Titi needs to receive the ball and run at players not play with his back to a No 5.

Van persie - I don't know. Is he a star or a luxury - brought on for the final 15 minutes when we are 3 up? Holland play him wide right and expect him to cut in and shoot....

Generally, uncle Wenger believes that superior passing will break down any defence - but not recently it ain't.....'

A decent point I would say. What I would add is that in time it will. Against Liverpool we were good and started to play the ball about well, we just need to keep the tempo high and break with our usual speed and we will be fine. We must stay concentrated in defence and make sure we get the first goal which then plays to our strengths. We have won every game we have opened the scoring in this season.

Also when the younger players get some more experience they will learn the art of breaking down a defence and be confident in their own ability to do so.

We still retain the best counter attacking game in the league by a distance, ask Liverpool and Man Utd, the only 2 teams to actually try and out play us.

Newcastle up next, the bad news is they would be delighted with a point and so will put 10 behind the ball.

The good news is Titus Bramble is fit.

Arsenal at their best with 'backs to the wall' mentality

First of all a real winner hates to lose. As Arsene once said ' Show me a good loser and you will also show me a bad winner'. Sums that up very nicely I think.

Second of all there is no better club in the land than Arsenal in responding to a period of media hyped 'crisis'. When people write us off that is when we are at our most dangerous.

Arsene has elected not to speak to the media which suggests he is plotting a bit of 'them' against 'us' and barracading us in to help instill some togetherness and a siege mentality.

No press conference from Wenger and also of note is that not many of the players have come out and said anything about this weekedns game or the match with the Hammers (Gilberto aside). Usually Henry and Fabregas, Toure or Lehmann will come out and say something to the media ahead of a big game but so far.. Nothing.

Arsene knows full well that this a) is a crucial period in the development of the team and b) we have the potential to win a title race which is the likely to be the most open in the last 3 years.

I fully expect us to come out like a wounded animal and put in a dominant display at home to Liverpool and take all 3 points in what is our first 'Big Game' at the new stadium (Never really know what to call it, The Grove will do for now)

Eboue will come back into the side and Clichy will be sharper meaning we will have a near full strength line up for the first time in a long while.

I expect to see Henry continue his good streak against Liverpool. He is confident against them, especially at home and will be too hot to handle. He will have likes of scar face and Lawro drooling once more. If ever we needed a captain's performance from Henry to put all of this shit speculation about the captaincy to bed then now's the time.

Hleb and Rosicky back to the wings in a 4-4-2 with Adebayor up front I should think will do the trick. Now that some of the guys are coming back from injury our squad is looking very healthy. We have Djourou, Senderos, Flamini, Van Persie, Walcott, Alliadiere and Hoyte all pushing for the four outfield places on the bench not forgetting Baptista, Lauren, Ljungberg and Diaby who are all still out injured.

The thing about the media is that they are fucking extremists. If we play well we are the best team ever to play football and yet if we get a bit unlucky or things don't quite click then we are too soft and not ready to win anything.

Our current situation is cause for optimism not crisis. The media will be singing the same tune come Monday.

CSKA Preview, Rosicky to prove the difference

It will be a pleasure to watch a real football match tonight with 2 teams who are there to play football not to play out a subplot out for their dramatic cunt of a manager.

A point in the Nou Camp in the group stage of the Champions League. It's all too much for Jose 'small man syndrome' Mourinho. What will he do if they only get beaten by 1 goal at our place?!!

Arsenal play host to CSKA Moscow with a score to settle. The 'goal' that never was still irks us and we will want to put it right.

A victory tonight is imperative, anything else and we could make the group more difficult than it should be.

We have everything in our favour, an excellent surface, more space and motivation, not to mention the (slightly) warmer temperature and the frustration following the anti football in the Everton game.

I have a feeling that Rosicky will prove the difference, he has been running into form and is particluarly effective in the 4-3-3 cum 4-5-1 formation which allows him to break and drop into a more central area than normal.

He and Cesc will be pivotal in our performance and I think they can outfox CSKA who are not as good a side away from home as everyone is making out. Yes they are organised but an early goal could set the tone.

I fancy Rosicky might unleash one from long range to break the deadlock. That'd set the tone very nicely.

Let's hope we get behind the team tonight and be sure not to boo Henry.. Hmmm.. As Arseblogger says, why can't journalists just report the facts. That's the only reason I don't read the front section of newspapers.

FRONT: Unworthy 'news' stories known in the industry as 'bullshit' made up by desperate fools to fill space before you get to the real news.

BACK: Sports reports, factual accounts of the game with little or no opinion. At least it should be.

Rant over.

Come on you Gooners.