(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread (Part 1)

Moving onto tomorrow's come back it'll be an interesting squad, I'm keen to see experience out there:

                    Szy

Sagna Mertes Vermy  Gibbs

            Arteta Flamini

Rosicky      Cazorla        Podolski

                 Giroud

I know Oxlade-Chamberlain brings drive and energy to the midfield but when we need to regroup like we did I don't think he's able to deliver for us. Koscielny's also out.

Bench: Fabianski, Monreal, Jenkinson, Ox, Sanogo, Gnabry, Kallstrom*

*Not sure if he's available but given Ramsey, Wilshere, and Ozil are all still out nows when we need him.

Yeah he is available - was on the bench vs Chelsea. It's good that we got away with neither Ox or Gibbs having a suspension. What a weird situation.

Regarding this whole Wenger business, sorry to bring it back to this brumbys, but I think it's interesting to consider what he would do, rather than what we think he should do / want him to do. And for me there's a few scenarios he is probably considering.

- We come 3rd / 4th and win the FA cup. That's a good season for me. Is it for him? Probably not, but can you retire on the back of that and be happy where you left the team? I'd say so.

- He obviously knows much more regarding finances, and he's looking forward to having some money to spend over the next few years, having had to live like a pauper in the transfer markets up until recently, he might be excited by the prospect of bringing in some classy players to compliment the squad.

- We finish top 4, no FA cup win. What does he do here? I'd say it's likely he stubbornly sticks it out. He won't be forced out, I think we all know that. He won't want to leave on the back of such a dissapointing season.

- He can see several players in the squad aging, and he wants to leave behind a team that doesn't need an overhaul to the next manager, so sticks out another couple of years, while bringing in youthful, top talent, and can leave behind a cohesive team for the next manager. To consider this - players in the 30ish / 30+ bracket: Sagna, 31 - Mertesacker, 29 - Rosicky, 33 - Arteta, 31 - Cazorla, 29 - Flamini, 30. And then there's Vermaelen, Koscielny, Podolski and Monreal who are 28.

We all know that this is a fine age for a defender, but there are some legs out there getting on a bit and will need replacing in the next few years. I think Wenger could see that as a project for before he steps aside.

In Wenger We Trust

7 points and a game in hand. Home game vs City to try and restore some respect in the team. Todays result to get us back on track.

Remember things could be worse. you could be a Man U or Spurs supporter.

Anyone watching this match?

AND out of nothing 2 goals in a min

Disaster. Not that I think we were ever going to win the title now after the weekend result but we needed to win this to gaurantee top 4 and pick up some momentum. Even the FA Cup doesn't look like a certainty anymore. On the bright side, at least United got spanked.

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrh

was expecting the team to be fired up after the spanking on the weekend. another dog fight for 4th position

fudge it

Another dog fight for 4th? We're 6 points clear of 5th and 3 points off 2nd. Yes 2nd and 5th have games in hand, but jeez you guys know how to moan. Disappointing result no doubt, but an OGGY in the 90th is about as unlucky as you get.

sums up our season really.the wheels fell off after the stoke loss and liverpool spanking.  what mite have been.

Feels like we have been here before. Podolski made a huge impact when he came on and Kallstrom was alot better than what I was expecting.

and ozil and wilshere

That's an interesting thought. 

If we could have Ramsey and Walcott back tomorrow rearing to go, or Ozil and Wilshere back, who would you all choose? Who out of those 4 do we miss the most?

I'm going Walcott, Ramsey, Ozil and then Wilshere. I can elaborate on why, but I am about to fry some bacon for a sandwich. 

id go ramsay,walcott,ozil then wilshere. ramsay gives us the extra man at each end of the field and his eye for goal this season was outstanding. Our form declined as soon as he was injured. Walcott is a class finisher and his pace provides a real point of diffenrence but due to unfortunate injuries the last 2 seasons we have sort of learned to live without him. Ozil when hes on form would be a joy to watch with walcott but down on confidence he is not delivering as well as he could be. Wilshere is a bulldog in midfield but still prone to those silly brain explosions. thats my 2pennies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nlhMHQ8h5LA

mmmmm....

Ramsey and Walcott have been hugely missed. Ramsey basically because he's now a world class box-to-box midfielder in every sense of the term.

Walcott because his skillset is unique in our squad. Ozil's passing ability seems it would be best exploited by walcott. For starters having that sort of outlet probably would've changed Chelsea's high pressing approach which was so successful against us. 

Might be a case of damage control against City, and then an absolutely massive game against Everton. Even then if we were to lose both, you would think we'd still get 4th with some breathing space. Our last 5 games should all be winnable, and Everton still have Man City to play - 2nd to last when Man City will likely be playing to win the title. 

Was at an all day meeting yesterday so missed my first game of the season, but did catch the goals. Oggie was terribly unlucky. Per, Flamini and Szczesny were all onto it and so eager to clear it they created an unfortunate pinball situation. Heartbreaking but in reality we haven't conceded late like that all year, closing out games has been a strong point, so I'm prepared to forgive the lads for one.

Arseblog summed it all up very nicely as usual;

https://arseblog.com/2014/03/arsenal-2-2-swansea-arsenal-exhausted/

The Inter president has been quoted saying that Sagna has turned down a contract offer from them, because he wants to "stay in the premier league".

Interesting. 

Stay with us or head to Man City I'm guessing...

I'd like to see us recall Coquellin. We've currently only got Flamini, Arteta, Rosicky, Ox, Cazorla available to play 3 midfield roles...that's a recipe for disaster with Rambo/Ozil/Wilshere at least 2 weeks away...

Kallstrom...

I thought Kallstrom looked quite handy in his debut, better than I had expected. Even if he was the backbone to my PES 5 team back in the day.

Kallstrom is handy no doubt, he has over 100 games for sweden as well from memory. Knocking over City on sunday morning will be good

+ Kallstrom, who is recently returned from a back injury. Can't hurt to have Coquellin on hand.

With no injuries after Swansea but no one back I'm thinking we'll see:

                  Szy

Sagna    Per   Vermy   Gibbs

          Arteta   Flamini

Rosicky   Ox/Cazorla   Cazorla/Podolski

              Giroud

I like the idea of starting Podolski given his impact against Swansea, but can't decide which 2 out of Rosicky/Cazorla/Ox I'd want to see in the other 2 spots.

Diaby is back in full training on Tuesday.....

Quote from Wenger:

"Let's not forget he has not played for a year. I cannot predict now how much time it will take him to be competitive.

"I cannot plan for him to play a role now in the coming games, but maybe I will have a good surprise when I see him."

Lol Diaby. 

Poor dude.

we are due a win

call me optimistic but I'm punting we'll have a good go at them

and Palace to hold Chelsea

Diving in football is as bad as agents.

If that's all you got out of this game LG you've got blinders on. What a spectacle. Gutted the boys didn't manage to find a winner but encouraging signs.