LM for Denilson? Almunia, Toure, Senderos, Gilberto and Adebayor must lead well

There are many questions regarding team selection for tonight's game against Sp*rs in the Carling Cup Semi Second leg.

Denilson is obviously a very gifted footballer. Will he be asked to fill the vacant left hand side of midfield? Will he be given Fabregas' role as playmaker with his fellow Brazilian Gilberto?

I think that Almunia, Senderos, Toure, Gilberto and Adebayor will be crucial helping Arsenal make the final of the Carling Cup. That experienced core of players makes up the spine of the team and that's why Denilson's position will be interesting.

Has he established himself as a better footballer in the middle of the park than Flamini? Will he offer a better balance with Gilberto than Flamini?

Can 4-5-1 come 4-3-3 work? Does it offer us more balance?

For the record here's the starting XI (4-5-1)I would have;

Almunia
Hoyte, Senderos, Toure, Clichy
Walcott, Gilberto, Denilson, Diaby, Aliadiere
Adebayor

I think Aliadiere could play on the wing and utilise his dribbling speed and off the ball and direct running to support Adebayor along with Walcott.

I have opted for Clichy ahead of Traore as Lennon is the key man for Sp*rs and if we can keep him quiet then we stand an excellent chance of victory.

I would probably get slated if we didn't get the right result but I think to play Aliadiere on the left with Walcott supporting Adebayor with will mean that we have real pace and directness to counter attack and a bit of extra bite in the middle with Diaby and Gilberto who along with Denilson can help break up the play and start the counters.

Then again.. Maybe I am over estimating the yids!

Are Arsenal fans content with potential?

As I sit here with my cup of coffee I think, what original Arsenal 'news' is there to write about?

My opinion on the game last week? What side will we pick for tomorrow's game? What does the long term future hold for Arsenal? All good potential points which I may write about tomorrow and all worthy of a story, then I think of all the other blogs out there and feel the need for something different.

I start to think that potential soon becomes success but also can become an excuse for failure.

Potential is the best thing in the world and also the worst thing as well. Can you imagine if Fabregas doesn't become the best player in the world? Or Walcott doesn't become an England regular?

Potential allows us to dream that in 2 seasons time we will be the best and there's no reason why that can't be the case, but does that means we have to win a trophy this season to be successful? How long can you have a potential Championship winning side before it turns into a dream?

Do we as fans allow ourselves to take the easy option and believe that next season we will win the Championship or Champions League rather than realise we are not quite good enough?

Or do we have possibly the best young squad ever assembled and we are on the brink of success like that enjoyed by Ajax of the early 90's?

I am one of the latter and one of those people who's mood is often mirrored by Arsenal's results. I live on a game to game basis and if we lose I always have the cushion that in a year or two I believe we will be right up there again and that the future of the club is better than ever.

But is that potential enough? Would the Carling Cup be enough? Or is it another year to hold on to the potential?

Do we have to win major trophies to keep our fans happy? Or will potential suffice?

Arsenal beat United in Fergie time

What an unbelievable game!

My mate Rich and I were situated right next to the Man Utd fans. They understandably went crazy when Rooney netted what was looking like the winner and the goal that would give United the first away win at the Emirates.

I have only just got my voice back.

We gave them some stick big time and to be fair they took it with pretty good grace (not that hard when you are 6 points clear in the title race) so fair play to them.

There was a buzz in the air at the Emirates and the atmosphere was as good as it has been, we were luckily sat with a few other hard core Gooners and made sure we were never quiet.

This is the type of match that makes a stadium, gives it history and adds belief and experience to a young team who are destined for great things.

None more so than 19 year old Cesc Fabregas. What a player. I said before the game that he was the best young midfielder I have ever seen, to complete an Andy Gray comment, he's better than that, he's irreplaceable.

You can read the match reviews on Goodplaya, Arseblog, ANR etc etc but I would just like to recollect the ironic nature of the victory.

Arsenal beat Man Utd in Fergie time! 3 added minutes on the clock and Arsenal's young team did a Man Utd. Superb stuff.

I am convinced (I have been chastised for my unerring faith in the potential of the team from time to time) that this team is destined to dominate in the next few years the way Fergies boys did in the noughties.

I feel United are experiencing a false dawn, Scholes and Giggs are having a twilight season like Bergkamp did in 2003/4 but that cannot be sustained. Carrick for all the hype is not a player to build Championship success around and although Ronaldo is a class act United have some strengthening to do in midfield if they want to achieve the longevity of success they have done in the past.

As I keep stressing, late goals bring the belief you can score late goals and these types of experiences and performances galvanise the squad.

We have had the period where we have been the finished article and now we are getting to see the growth to that point, as we chart our progression from season to season.

Can we grab second spot? Can we win a domestic cup? Can we go one further in Europe? All possible.

What is without question is it's without doubt an exciting time to be a Gooner.

Fabregas makes a mockery of Blackburn again, Rosicky adds work rate to class

10 man Arsenal beat Blackburn 2-0 at Ewood Park to exorcise any North West demons.

Let me pre-cursor this next remark with a true story. After returning from my cousins engagement party at about 6pm on Boxing Day we came across a weimaraner strolling through our garden looking pretty pleased with itself. As a family with 5 cats a dog was somewhat a surprise.

We all remarked what a lovely looking dog and my father and I even gave the bloody thing a pat. I then strolled into the garage to get the turkey we were planning to have for Christmas dinner. (It was left in the garage as it was too hot in the house, don't ask). However the turkey had been savaged, no pun intended, and Christmas dinner was ruined!

Therefore the poxy dog not only had a feast on premium turkey breast but got a pat for it too! Therefore I hate weimaraners. Sorry, I am sure they are lovely but to me they are thieving, turkey eating bastards!

The weimaraner faced cheat that is Robbie Savage ensured Gilberto got sent off by conning the buffoon that is Rob Styles into thinking Gilberto Silva had carried a firearm onto the pitch and blown his leg off at close range. Silva should not have reacted but Savages theatrics were more petulant than the reaction itself.

However justice was done and Fabregas, for the second time this season, ran Blackburn ragged with his quick passing, ball retention and incisive running in the final third. The kid was everywhere and is a class act. A privilege to watch! When he can add goals to his game he is going to be undoubtedly the best in the world.

The marauding Toure, who along with Jens and the entire defensive line showed excellent resilience, scored a thumping header via the post from Henry's free kick, after Lucas Neill hacked down RVP who showed a good desire and a few nice touches.

After we went 1-0 up half time came at a good time and we defended solidly. Hoyte was impressive and did a good job on Pedersen who is one of the better players in the league. He also attacked well at times and is improving which is exciting for us and the London boy.

We kept the ball fairly well and Henry, Hleb and Rosicky in particular ran their hearts out offering the first line of defence. That is the type of thing that endears players to the fans (think of Sylvain Wiltord) and I was pleased to see Rosicky working hard and getting stuck in. If he can keep up that work rate he will make it at Arsenal as he has the technique and style already.

Then Henry conjured up a fantastic goal at a great time for the second game in a row. That is the difference between a very good player and a great player.

Blackburn tried to kick us after that and Tugay was the only player to get near enough to do so with what was surely a red card but bizarrely not given by a blatant homer, Rob Styles.

A brilliant win with 10 men and as I discussed in one of my previous posts, an experience to galvanise the time, definately something to build on.

We are slowly improving our consistency and becoming a good side. The title is out of reach this season but a trophy or two is definately not out of the question.

I know which one I would prefer!!

Why bitter Benitez has got it all wrong, Blackburn preview

Arsenal scored six goals at Anfield outplayed Liverpool and dumped them out of their only realistic chance of a trophy.

The Beast got 4, but Aliadiere, Cesc, Toure and Djourou ran the show. It was a deserved win against a team suffering a crisis of confidence after Saturday's 3-1 FA Cup defeat.

Don't get me wrong, Liverpool are a decent side who play the game in the right way and have a wonderful captain. Their fans on the whole are alright and they have the history and class to match the best.

But Rafa has lost the plot.

He selected a reserve team against a young Arsenal side who have more experience of this competition and it backfired, simple as that.

But why does he constantly moan on about being envious of our spending power? The bloke is clearly getting agitated and looking for excuses. He has spent big, £19m on Crouch, Bellamy, Pennant who are all good quality Premiership players but are neither young enough to change the way they play or good enough to win you the title.

Then he has bought in the like of Palleta who was ruined by Aliadiere on Tuesday and Gonzales who looks a good prospect so it's not as if he hasn't had the money or the chance to bring in young players.

He said Diaby was too much, he cost us £2m Rafa! Walcott was less money than Pennant up front and Adebayor the same as Crouch! Someone tell me what is this guy on??

Where is the logic? If I was the reporter and he started on I would have to just stare at him in disbelief, and maybe utter something non sensical in reply like Alan Partidge when says 'They're sexy' live on air cos he's thinking about lap dancing.

Next up is another trip to the dreaded north west (surely we have lost to Sheffield United, Bolton and Man City and beaten Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton, Wigan?!) with almost a full squad, Ljungberg, Lauren (both rumoured to be in talk with West Ham although I can't see it really) Eboue and Gallas out injured.

Blackburn have been on a good run of late and it will be a tough game but I have a feeling that we might do a 97/98 and go up there and start like a house on fire. We shall see. It's on Sky at 5:15pm by the by.

The only problem Wenger has is he has too many players pushing for a spot! A 16 man final squad to choose from 20 fit players.

Does he start with his 4 goal striker? No.

Does he start Aliadiere, the man that ran the game in the final third? Doubtful.

Does he start with Adebayor? Probably not.

Will he play 4-4-2 with Van Persie and Henry? Probably so.

I expect Song, Aliadiere and Diaby to miss out but as Walcott's versatility is seemingly essential to team lacking natural width I can't tell who the unlucky one of this 17 is! You decide..

Arsenal from: Lehmann, Almunia, Hoyte, Djourou, Toure, Senderos, Clichy, Flamini, Walcott, Gilberto, Hleb, Rosicky, Cesc, Henry, Van Persie, Baptista, Adebayor.

It was more than smash and grab at Anfield

Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield with a direct and disciplined display. Arsenal deserved to win and looked far more dangerous in the final third.

Arsenal scored 3 goals from open play and Liverpool scored from a corner where Thierry Henry left Dirk Kuyt unmarked from Peter Crouch's firm header.

But why is there an uproar about Liverpool being unlucky, having a lot of possession and feeling aggrieved that they did not get something from the game? I felt Arsenal subdued Liverpool and that we never looked in any real danger against a team boasting a very good home record.

The impetus was on them to come and attack us and I thought we made them look very ordinary indeed. We were dangerous coming forward and Rosicky took his goals expertly, but Van Persie got in a couple of times and Rosicky bottled out of a tackle with Dudek before he scored as he was lacking in confidence.

I thought we were the better team without any real chances after 30 minutes and that Liverpool were worried by Henry and the fact they hadn't started very well. Then we scored two excellent goals and the game was not really in doubt apart from when Hoyte was being fouled by Crouch when Aurelio shot 5 yards wide.

So why the smash and grab headlines? We deserved to win this just as much as we did at Old Trafford. A good display and one which will add to the belief of the side.

What did we learn about Rosicky? He is an instinctive finisher, his first goal was taken sublimely and the second was a cool finish. The thing to note is that the second goal was as instinctive as the first. He even admitted that he tried to first of all play the ball back to Henry but ran out of options and so it was either shoot or lose the ball.

Instinctive finishing (bear in mind he was half turned when he shot for the opener and so must know where the goal is) and increased confidence means Rosicky can be a big player in the second half of the season. Arsene says the new Pires but as long as Hleb and Rosicky score the 15-20 that Pires got per season, Gilberto, Adebayor and Van Persie keep banging them in then we will have found something or be able to share the burden of something we have been severely lacking in the last season or so.. A consistent third goal scorer.

In my last post I said we had one 4 and drawn 3 out of the last 8 and now that is won 5 and drawn 3 out of 9 which is not bad and improving all the time. Considering that included away games against Liverpool, Porto and Chelsea I'd say that if we were to ask for much more we were spoilt.

We are starting to find our feet and with Henry, Gallas, Lauren and Diaby all coming back into contention we are in good shape to put together a run. We have got a good chance to win something and we are still improving.

All in all a very good performance and as the song goes.. Reasons to be cheerful.

Arsenal destined for sustained success

Well a 4-0 thrashing of Charlton and it could really have been a few more had we had a bit of luck and Carson not been so impressive. However let's not get greedy. It was a good performance and the best possible way of trying to erase Sheffield United from the memory banks.

A good return for Henry and Hleb and a brace for Van Persie who is now our top scorer by some way. Everyone says Arsenal need a guy who can score 20 a season other than Henry and surely Adebayor and Van Persie are both capable of it on current form.

That's 6 wins and 5 draws from our eleven home fixtures this season.

Arsene seems to think that we are finding some consistency an to an extent he is right, in our last 8 games we have won 4 (Blackburn, Sp*urs, Watford and Charlton), drawn 3 (Porto, Chelsea and Portsmouth) and lost 1 (Sheff Utd). Overall we are improving as a side and we haven't exactly been at full strength, but optimism is a strange thing and we expect more as all gooners can see the potential of the side.

However a top 3 finish is not beyond us and as long as we get closer to Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool than last year we can count this season as an improvement. A step in the right direction. I think it will take this season and next before you see us challenging for the title again, but given the financial burden of the new stadium and Chelsea's financial doping of the league in the last 2 years that's ok as we will be destined for a sustained run like United in the early 90's. It has to start somewhere.

We have young defenders, midfielders and forwards who all need to gain some experience and realise their full potential which doesn't happen overnight. It happens when you win big games and trophies and go an win games that you should have lost, make great comebacks and beat big teams away from home. These experiences make you better and given you that extra belief, but they take time.

Last season we had one of our worst performances away to Liverpool, we lost 1-0 and like at Sheff Utd we deserved to lose. It's not often you will hear me say that.

This time it's a good old fashioned cup game and even though there is no Cesc, a rest will do him no harm, we will have some injured players returning and I fancy us to get something out of it as the style of the game will suit us.