The Arsenal Report

It's 10 years for Arsene today and its been fantastic. He inherited "boring" Arsenal and has transformed them into arguably the most stylish side in all of Europe.

                                           

In other news, Song or Gilberto may have to play at the center of defense this weekend against Charlton. With Djourou and Gallas both doubtful.  

Thats about it for this one. 

Just a short one to review our win over Porto today. A good performance on the whole, Henry, Hleb and Eboue looked very good. Hoyte came in for Djourou after the swiss defender hurt his foot during the warm up. We dominated most of the first half and 38 minutes in good work from Eboue and a crisp header from Henry, gave us a well deserved lead. It was almost a carbon-copy of his goal against Sheffield last saturday.

The second half was dominated by the Arsenal, and Henry's clever pass to Hleb made it two nil to Arsenal. A late injury to Gallas was the only downer to a game that was fantastic on all other fronts.

Arsene too was very impressed with what he called a "great team performance"

 

Unfortunately he also rules out Gallas for saturday's game.

"Gallas has a hamstring problem, it looked to me very serious, we hope it's not too bad, but for Saturday certainly he'll be short and then I don’t know, will he be available for the French national team or not."

In other news Cashley Cole's agent has been fined and license suspended.

So, all in all its been a great day for Arsenal. Next up Charlton and what should be an easy 3 points.

If it isn’t obvious to you yet it really should be.

Arsenal is a more successful squad using a 4-5-1. We deserved our win at Old Trafford and we deserved our run to the Champions League Final last year. The 4-4-2 Arsenal we have seen lose at Manchester City and draw with Middlesbrough at home would not have accomplished these feats, and Thierry Henry is the reason why.

Henry does not pair well with any of the strikers we have. Walcott suits us better as a winger and Bendtner does not have enough class, not yet anyway. Baptista might be the answer, but he may take too long to gel with Henry and is a great player to have on a bench, due to his versatility. Van Persie, our most talented option, seems lost alongside Henry. When Van Persie plays our 4-4-2 turns into a 4-4-1. Adebayor fares a little better, but the Henry-Adebayor partnership is not exactly lethal. 

Rosicky and Fabregas, however, is a lethal combination. They both proved themselves at the World Cup to be two of the best playmakers in the world from the central midfield position. The two of them dominated against Man U and would dominate against any four-man midfield in the world. By giving the two of them a free role to roam and play through balls, Arsenal in fact becomes a more attacking side, because it does not restrict either of them with defensive responsibility.  

                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosicky must play, he is too good not to, but he is not nearly as effective on the left side, when he has to worry about the opposing right back. Playing Rosicky on the left side is like owning a Jaguar and only driving it in first gear.

This formation change would pose a big question: where and when does Van Persie play? He does not possess the ideal pace to play on the wing, but I think he could handle it. Van Persie basically plays as an attacking right winger for Holland, and I think he could handle playing either left or right wing, as long as Wenger is patient with him and teaches him to track back and play defense.

Other than Van Persie, however, we possess few naturally left-sided players. Pires and Reyes would have filled this gap, but we must move on. Clichy is our only left back, and Ljunberg is the only player who has played a lot on the left wing. Both Hleb and Walcott are right wingers; they can play on the left but would be playing out of position, just like Rosicky was on the left. With Ljunberg slowly losing it with age, however, we would definitely need one solid acquisition. 

 

Franck Ribery would make us the fastest, deepest, and most talented team in the world. His pace is undeniable, his tenacity unmatchable, and his strength, both physical and mental, is unquestionable. He could give us the physical edge we need at Bolton or Everton and at the same time could give provide another creative spark to break down Chelsea’s and Liverpool’s defenses. In my mind, his performance in the World Cup was second only to Zidane, and if Wenger could find a way to buy him—and you know he wants to—Arsenal would rise to the top position once again, both in England and for the first time in Europe.

 

 

Written by Joel Martin (Good friend and fellow Arsenal supporter)