The Arsenal Society VIII

I was being pedantic as 'Mars said, and Patrice has learnt a lesson in spelling correctly, so all is right in the world.

And I'm not doing a degree any longer, not this year anyway.

Predictions for tonight?

I do think RVP doesn't need to start. Chamakh's aerial threat will be useful in this one.

Completely disagree, Antonfigo. It'd be criminal (but typical) of Wenger to change things on the back of a excellent team performance. Apart from the forced change of Cesc, there is no point changing anything. All other teams didn't massacre their starting XI. Man Utd only made one change. Walcott has been back for ages but just not been getting games. There is absolutely no reason to leave him on the bench. Van Persie, too, has had many sub appearances over the past month (and more) to build up fitness.

It should be the same line-up as the Chelsea game but with Rosicky/Arshavin starting instead of Cesc.
Expect Chamakh, Denilson/Diaby, Arshavin, Rosicky to start ahead of Van Persie, Fabregas, Walcott and Wilshere though.




I predicted a win against Chelsea but have a feeling we'll drop points today. 1-1.

It would be a damn shame to drop points tonight. We have the squad -but will wenger make the same mistakes again?

Wigan have the worst set piece record in the league.

It's the suspension for Cesc that's the problem. We're so reliant on him it's ridiculous. Even when he doesn't play well he's a good leader. If things start to go slightly wrong, I can't see another player out there that'll be able to rally the troops and get us back on track. First goal is all important, I think.

Would like to see:


But won't

I don't wanna see us change around too much, but the forced absence of Cesc means some shifting needs to be done in the middle. I can't honestly see Theo (if he plays) being as effective tonight with Wigan inevitably sitting deeper than Chelsea did, his pace can still be a threat though. If he isn't played I'd still have Nasri through the middle with Rosicky filling the wide role.

RvP needs more minutes to start getting back to his best, or anywhere near it, but I'm not sure starting him tonight would be the right move. Chamakh's away form, like that of the team as a whole, has been pretty good of late and we should try and make his height and aerial ability count. Ideally, we'd get an early lead and give RvP half an hour at the end.

Disagree with your inclusion of Denilson, Rob. I've never liked the guy and I don't see any reason to possibly risk Barca reducing their supposed 13mil bid for him. Wigan have scored less than any other club in the league, if we can dominate the play by pinning them back as we did Chelsea the other day, Djourou should deal with Rodallega and we'll not have many problems, just need to make sure we score. By taking Denilson out and putting in Arshie, who has the joint most assists in the league, I think we'll have a better chance of doing so.

Diaby came back in the other day and I don't think he should be given 90mins, but I think he might be a good option in a game like this. If we start with Nasri in the middle and Theo and Arshie out wide, it might be worth bringing on Diaby for the less effective of the two widemen, playing him through the middle and shifting Nasri back out to his more natural wide place.

We've won 8 of the last 10 against Wigan, the 2 others being that nightmare at the end of last season, though that was a nothing game and I'm fairly certain the other match was on the back of our win at the San Siro a few years ago. I can't see us slipping up tonight but for some reason I'm not fully confident.

[Expand=Pointless keeper rant ]



Joint worst.

With us.

I still think Szczesny would go a long way towards sorting this out, but I know that's not gonna happen tonight.

I don't think Fabianski was to blame for the Chelsea goal the other day, but he did little to assert him as the ball came in, his lack of confidence only gives the opposition more. The Chelsea goal that was disallowed after their first was just ****ing ridiculous, Fab made no attempt to go for the ball as it first came in, then stood still as the header slowly went towards his post. He ended up scrambling around after it had already crossed the line and it was just embarrassing, tbh.

I actually would go with your choice there, except Arsh benched for Rosicky. He's a far superior work-rate and will defend and attack with ferocity. We need the grit to break them down... patience and technical ability won't assure anything.

Lots of people bemoan Tomas for some reason. I just don't get it. Okay, he hasn't scored for yonks... but he is one of the most passionate players I see wearing the shirt... he fights for every ball and isn't scared to shoot. Not to mention his footwork is second only to RVP and Cesc...

As for Denilson, Joe, he's worth 15m for sure. The guy consistenly has the highest pass accuracy in the whole team, and he is effective (but not a blunderbuss like Song can be) at disrupting opposition rhythm. He's the perfect glue between Cesc and Song imo and we would be stupid to lose a useful player like that... at least not until Ramsey has returned fully.

Would like to see:


But won't

I don't wanna see us change around too much, but the forced absence of Cesc means some shifting needs to be done in the middle. I can't honestly see Theo (if he plays) being as effective tonight with Wigan inevitably sitting deeper than Chelsea did, his pace can still be a threat though. If he isn't played I'd still have Nasri through the middle with Rosicky filling the wide role.

RvP needs more minutes to start getting back to his best, or anywhere near it, but I'm not sure starting him tonight would be the right move. Chamakh's away form, like that of the team as a whole, has been pretty good of late and we should try and make his height and aerial ability count. Ideally, we'd get an early lead and give RvP half an hour at the end.

Disagree with your inclusion of Denilson, Rob. I've never liked the guy and I don't see any reason to possibly risk Barca reducing their supposed 13mil bid for him. Wigan have scored less than any other club in the league, if we can dominate the play by pinning them back as we did Chelsea the other day, Djourou should deal with Rodallega and we'll not have many problems, just need to make sure we score. By taking Denilson out and putting in Arshie, who has the joint most assists in the league, I think we'll have a better chance of doing so.

Diaby came back in the other day and I don't think he should be given 90mins, but I think he might be a good option in a game like this. If we start with Nasri in the middle and Theo and Arshie out wide, it might be worth bringing on Diaby for the less effective of the two widemen, playing him through the middle and shifting Nasri back out to his more natural wide place.

We've won 8 of the last 10 against Wigan, the 2 others being that nightmare at the end of last season, though that was a nothing game and I'm fairly certain the other match was on the back of our win at the San Siro a few years ago. I can't see us slipping up tonight but for some reason I'm not fully confident.

[Expand=Pointless keeper rant ]



Joint worst.

With us.

I still think Szczesny would go a long way towards sorting this out, but I know that's not gonna happen tonight.

I don't think Fabianski was to blame for the Chelsea goal the other day, but he did little to assert him as the ball came in, his lack of confidence only gives the opposition more. The Chelsea goal that was disallowed after their first was just ****ing ridiculous, Fab made no attempt to go for the ball as it first came in, then stood still as the header slowly went towards his post. He ended up scrambling around after it had already crossed the line and it was just embarrassing, tbh.