₦airaland Forum

illusion2:
Good,somewhat solid analysis,coming from a non-Liverpool fan. . .is welcome tho' unusual. . . .

Yes ,our manager ,like Wenger believes in some form of experimenting/rotation. . . . . lets see as it goes. . . 

Eh yah, see poor liverpool fan dey clutch at straws. Debosky just dey try console you for forum, I sure say he dey laff you like no man's business. O ga o, how are the mighty fallen.

bgees:
illusion2,

Chelsea  had better goal scoring opportunities, other than that it was an even game and we controlled the midfield. Reina was great and was more threatened all day compared to Hilario.

Riera was the poorest player on the pitch. I'm hoping he sits on the bench for 2 weeks or more. Its time to give Babel more chances, its the world cup year, and every player wants to be there so that should be extra motivation. Benayoun was also impressive when he came on. my only disappointment was that we lost 3 points,our team was okay.

I just  hope Aquilani can return soon enough before we face the scummies.

That one na consolation, you were still beaten fair and square. Chelsea didn't even need extra time in extra time or shady calls to put yu guys in your place

That team was okay? is it when the likes of Birmingham start beating you 4-0 that you will realise you've got a shitty team?

I guess he is reconsidering his affiliations yet again, very fickle bloke this guy is.

slimshay:
@ Dudu, would love to comment on the Cesc thoeries you gave earlier, but its kinda been made redundant after the game. I'm sure the comments about not performing well against rugby teams was made before the Blackeye/Fat sam match.

Cesc shone because he had people to put themselves about in MF on his behalf. Just take a look at this stats from the chalkboard and you will see Diaby's effect on the team and why Fabregas had the platform to do what he did yesterday. This stats are actually encouraging cos they show that he is becoming the box to box midfielder his physical attributes suggest he can become.

                     Tackles       Won           Lost             Interceptions
Cesc                5                     1             4                       1
Diaby              20                 10            10                       6
Song               9                    5                4                      6

The typical fan would not see this and will "rightly" credit Cesc for his part in everything meaningful that we did yesterday but Diaby actually had an high octane input and put himself about to provide the platform for Cesc to do what he did just as Flamini did in the 07/08 season. The good thing is that Arsene would see this in his match reviews.
To fully illustrate my point, just take a look at how Stevie G is suffering now becos Xabi has gone to Real Madrid and Lucas Leiva is either unable to play that role or is in adaptation.

Another good news for us is that this team is even more efficient than the 07/08 team and is actually still in development. Song is still learning his trade as an holding MF cos I think he could have done something to prevent the 2nd goal we conceeded with better decision making.

slimshay:
And Diaby had a [b]quiet but effective game today. [/b]Not the best neither his worst, too bad about him since his former partners in boo Song, bendtner and dennilson are now on another perceived level. While the likes of Rambo, Wilshere and 100m senior boys were and are still being eased into the team, they(Song bendtner and dennilson) were introduced more rapidly into the battle front. They developed in the full view of irrate fans goaded by the media about the senility of the only person who managed to believe in them. And while the rest maintained steady development rate and collected the attendant jeers, boos and whatnot,
Diaby was hit time and time again with both long term and short term injury. His partners in naivety have stepped up and are still doin so, his spell as the jeer-mascot still continues. Here's to him coming good against the odds!!!

I think it is better to judge a player after a full season of adaptation into their role. We suffered a lot last season cos our entire midfield changed and Cesc was the only one you could call a starter prior to the start of last season  but the pain of last season is turning into this season's gain. I think the lads were wrongly booed last season becos fans were so fickle not to realise that our insistence on developing players rather than buying would come at a price. Diaby is developing later than the others but I do beleive we will have an immense player on our hands when he gets it all together.
The media who wrote us off at the beginning of this season were also being silly, what I consistently said last season was that if a MF with an average age less than 22 could get us into the top 4 both in the league and in Europe then anyone writing off the team was only being stupid with the inclusion of veterans like Rosicky and Arshavin, we are suddenly lookin like world beaters.

agabaI23:
No Sauron yet?

agabaI23:
Has anyone seen dayokanu today?

Na wetin Sauron and Saruman get to say? the boys are doing their talking on the pitch leaving us to do the rest of the talking in the forums.
I'm sure dayokanu has gone on a fast for the healing of that young man with a old man's body becos if that glass man no well, all chance of silverware for them this season don disappear be dat.

illusion2:
Yes. . . the mercenaries won,but remember its a marathon ,not a sprint. . .lets see where we are in April/May 2010.

Congrats to Chelski. . .

^{YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE}

No worry, dem go hear weeen when the ANC comes around, na dat time we go separate the boys from the men.

I spotted both Fabianski and Nasri in the tunnel prior to the start of the game. Nasri's leg is definitely healed and Fabianski also looked very okay.
Wenger says Nasri will be back after the Injury Window and I think he will likely get the opportunity to stake a claim for that next spot to Cesc.
I would also like for Fabianski to get an opportunity to impress, but we will definitely be selling one of our keepers in the next 2 transfer windows and it aint lookin good for our favorite blonde.

Better of 2 evils for me here, but I'll be supporting Liverfool for this one for the following reasons.

1. Allows us get closer to Chelsea.
2. Liverfool will still mess up sooner or later anyway, that team is in dire straits.

Cristalz:
Oh sweetie, it was wonderful. They scored 2 goals, but we spelled Sunderland (divided by 2, minus 3).

After your customary Referee favoritism.

Cristalz:
Who cares? When our teams met, we all know who came out victorious.
Till your team defeats mine this season, acquire some respect.

Okay, we don hear. I hope you respect Burnley too?

Cristalz:
Arses firing like they are going on a goal drought for the next 3 games.

When last did yur club put 6 past another club?

follypimpi:
Ramsey's passes r on POINT.

Happy Birthday, he is Cesc's replacement in waiting when he decides to go back home (after winning a load of silverware with us of course).
Graham Souness says it is a glorious time to be an Arsenal supporter(coming from one of our usual critics). I will cancel my sky subscription if we are not on game of the day today.

The commentator on sky was just saying Cesc deserved a goal.

What a ball from Rosicky to Cesc, we too get players.

Arshavin scores, but I beg Cesc dey pass. Wetin

WHO ARE YA? WHO ARE YA?

Krayola:
RVP Goal!! Wicked finish. That guys left foot is lethal!!

He usually scores a brace against Blackburn, I'm still expecting the second.

Song should probably have tracked Dunn's run there, Vermaelen had the other guy in his sights. Once he got into the box the goal was almost inevitable. RVP Scores. wooooooooooooooh 2-2 game on.

Why this headless chicken rushing out behaviour by all our keepers? Almunia, Fabiansky and now Mannone. It seems its only a matter of time before Szcezney get him own.

even without a clean sheet, Verminator still dey guaranty fantasy points for me with goal.

[quote author=A-40 link=topic=331713.msg4660884#msg4660884 date=1254592382]Kenwyne Jones!!! Looked like a foul but goal anyway[/quote]How e take resemble foul? it is no different from the Kaboul goal against Almunia. Jones went for the ball and got it. Foster didn't have it under control.

dayokanu:
At the begining of the season, someone said Nani and Valencia would be the next Ronaldo
Where is Sharon to defend that statement right now

Na so e easy to become Ronaldo overnight? anyway na the cost of the 80 million awoof money wey dem collect from Real una dey see so. It is not easy to balance the books and remain competitive.
Nani next Ronaldo my foot. Even if the bloke fit score all those shots and freekicks wey CR9 dey score, wey the height wey im go take score all those bullet headers?

Its not looking good so far for manure, na because old papa Gigg's no dey to rally the troops?
anyway, Bent dey deliver my fantasy points this week as my captain. I no remember to change am to Rooney before deadline.

@dayokanu

Did you have anything to do with that headless body? have you gone into ritual killing to change the fortunes of your "has been" club? 

debosky:
You said a lot of things there, some I vehemently disagree with.

First of all, the era of PV is well and truly gone - constant reference to that is a tad pointless IMO.

Definitely we aint go to agree with everything each of us says but we can see reason with each other and reexamine our different stances.

I only used the era of PV to illustrate a point. Besides, until (and even after) we win our next piece of silverware, that team will always remain a reference point. There is also that age old adage about learning from history.

debosky:
Secondly, while references to Lamps and Gerrard are all well and good, the team to win the last two EPL's and a CL to boot did not have a 'dominating' CM of the likes you mentioned. You had hard tacklers alright, but their creative forces did NOT need to be overly physical. This simply indicates that you do NOT need to have one like that to succeed.

Hmmm, with thuggish looking Rooney and Ronaldo with his bodybuilder pects you may not necessarily need that but even then they still had midfield battlers and very physical players like Anderson and Fletcher who could go away to the roughest teams, give as good as they get and still get a result there. Even Carrick with all his finesse is quite a huge guy at 6ft 2 and you would think twice before mixing things up with him.

debosky:
Further evidence comes when we look at the best side in the world at the moment - Barcelona. What they have, is a team that attacks the ball from front to back, with a big strong athlete (Keita or Yaya T) BESIDE their small nimble creator Xavi. This works to devastating effect and is what we need to replicate.

My brother, La Liga is different from premiership o, and Barca did ride their luck against Chelsea in the semis of the UCL anyone of those clear penalties given and yu might not have been saying what you're saying now.
On a side note however, that is why England is not likely to produce as good a team as spain anytime soon cos when you bring the best players in the world to your league and then glorify anti-football from the Allardyce & Pulis' school of football thuggery, then the gods of soccer will be doing us all a disservice if they smile on you.

debosky:
I do not agree that Cesc fails to do well in rough games. We had a 1-1 draw last season against Sunderland where we were kicked silly and Cesc was the one who turned up with the equaliser. He also did this when we played Liverpool at Anfield two seasons ago. I can bring forth numerous examples of this to show you Cesc can play against ANYONE and do well. While physicality is NOT his greatest asset, he can mix it in with the best of them. Fulham frustrated his game, but in the end he still supplied the killer pass - that is the mark of true quality.

In one or two of such games, maybe but over the course of a season I'm not convinced

debosky:
Granted he has been injured, but that in itself is a major flaw in the player. Essien, Gerrard and Lampard play 30+ games a season. If you cannot be FIT for consistent periods, you've lost the battle already.

Very true but at least he has been fit so far this season (hope I don't jinx it for him now)

debosky:
I really hope Diaby does well, my grouse lies in the fact that we are in the most crucial season (arguably) of Wenger's reign. Failure will NOT be accepted lightly this time around, and any obvious weak link(s) will be savaged.

I personally don't think there will be a reason to savage anyone as this squad to me looks quite capable of winning silverware. Our young lads are finally starting to deliver and we are spoilt for riches. Hell, barring 1 or 2 additions in critical positions as the tournament progresses, even our Carling cup team looks like it can go all the way.

Seems I rejoiced too soon, this isn't yet official, what if one of England or Uzbekistan beats the other by 8 goals margin?

debosky:
Alright, I'll lay off Diaby for now.

Okay, I move for a truce Debosky afterall we are on the same side looking at things from different perspectives. Lets leave the final word on Diaby till the end of the season.

I still beleive the only player in the recent generation of arsenal midfielders who fitted in immediately  with his initial performance into the team is Cesc and there are 2 reasons I think is responsible

1. He was always an unbeleivable passer of the ball. To be honest I haven't seen much improvement in Cesc from the first day he kicked a ball in an Arsenal shirt (he has only bulked up a bit and improved a bit athletically this season a la outpacing a 6ft 4 midfield bruiser like Fellaini couldn't have been easy) which explains my shock with the first half at Fulham because I have watched Cesc live where he did not make a single faulty pass in a game.

2. The team he was coming into was a settled and accomplished team(with the likes of PV4, Edu, Pires, Gilberto et al) and for a 16/17 year old kid to not look out of place in that team was quite an achievement (remember also that this was at the height of our success unlike now when everyone is a bit desperate for silverware).

The others, be it Song, Denilson, Eboue, Flamini or Hleb took time to adapt (and in some games/silverware the club paid for their adaptation period).

Having said that though, it is clear and you recognize it also that Cesc doesn't do well in rough games and is actually athletically challenged, Cesc can make other good players look even better but requires others to make him look good (when they take advantage of his incredible passing range). He however cannot dominate a game the way the likes of Gerrard, Lampard and Essien can (or like PV4 of old) because he simply doesn't have the physical attributes to do that. Diaby however can do this or if you prefer (has the potential to do this), but the price we have to pay are some off colour days such as we see at present.

Diaby has also been unlucky with injuries and everytime he seems ready to take off, a niggly injury comes up, even Arsene alluded to this when he noted recently that it was a surprise that Diaby was only recently playing his 100th game for the club. It is very interesting to note that he arrived only a season and a half after RVP who despite his earlier injury issues already has over 200 appearances for Arsenal already.

I am happy for him that he is finally able to put something resembling a decent run together. Judge him at the end of the season.

mukina2:
dayo

why do u keep posting in this bin?

You are very right that it is not a thread, it is a hiding place for depressed supporters of an "has been" club. We only come here to try help them come to terms with their precarious situation. The fall from grace to grass is never an easy one.

FBS:
Was this not the same guy screaming history on the Chelsea thread?

I lie for wetin I talk there?

@Dayokanu,
You sure say no be end of season be dat for the youngest old man in soccer? remember the fat wey dem give am for Real no help.

@Slimshay and edoyad

I think yu guys are right, I was looking forward to seeing all that pace unleashed in the final third without having to bother too much about defending but Arsene might be taking things easy with Theo.

@edoyad: Maybe he is talkin about Chelsea Clinton or Chelsea from eastenders.

Anyway, na now we go start to get an idea of what Arsene's first 11 really is.

I go for:

             Mannone

Sagna  Gallas  Verminator  Clichy

Song

Cesc Diaby

Walcott Arshavin

RVP

rasputinn:
I'd say he benched him to drive home a point 

By the way,has Almunia's chest infection not gone away 

Le Prof,I hail

Almunia is in the process of losing his place and he has no reason to complain at all. This was exactly how it happened with Lehman and he has himself to blame. Arsene always gives players enough time to convince or repair their errors (a good reason why some consider him not as decisive as Fergie) but once he makes up his mind it is usually difficult to change it.
Besides, no coach in his right mind should bench a player who is performing as it sends a wrong signal. The No. 1 goalkeeping slot is now Mannone's to lose, a pity Fabianski was out injured when Aluminium decided to enter a rut cos he might just have lost his opportunity to become our number 1

debosky:
First and foremost, not every player will achieve their best at Arsenal FC - this club is not suited to everyone. I am not in any way concerned about Diaby's 'abilities' developing after he leaves if he cannot deliver while he is here then I don't want him SIMPLE.

He aint goin anywhere and Le Prof will continue to play him and if you can't stand that then go and head a pole, he is also delivering right now while also developing rapidly into the role he is now getting some game time at. It was people like you who were callin for RVP's head about 2 seasons ago when he had his injury issues and would have been lauding Ade to the heavens becos he scored 30 goals and RVP could only manage a few but we all saw how that turned out last season didn't we?

debosky:
Excuse me, the so called 'flaws' in Cesc's game are not flaws. He is not a power player, SIMPLE. That is all you've brought out and a claim that he is not 'direct' which is bollocks as far as I'm concerned, go watch the game against Olympiakos and see who was more direct with shots and creating chances.

Utter balderdash, the premiership is a power and pace dominated league my brother. If our delectable playmaker cannot develop more of his physical game then maybe he had better head back to La Liga. There might be more to the fact that we havent won anything since Cesc became our main playmaker than you think. Diaby or no Diaby have we won anything with Fabregas as our main player in the engine room? and FYI, playing and totally dominating Olympiacos is a different kettle of fish to playing away against most teams in the premiership where they defend in numbers, use bullying tactics and intricate passing is not as effective.

debosky:
Ok now I know you're so deluded you can't recognise it. Are you listening to yourself?? You regard Wenger's GREATEST tactical error of the past 3 seasons as  proof of Diaby's talent? What did Diaby do to stop the goals scored by Chelski?? Arrant nonsense. When we beat them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, Diaby was not even on the bench. Denilson, Song and Fabregas were the guys in the middle that day. If that worked then, why would Wenger so DAFTLY play Diaby who was a clear liability in the semi finals??

Wenger's reason for NOT playing Arshavin is clear - if he did and we won, everyone would say we only won due to AA23 (who had just joined) and he was our saviour thus taking focus off Wenger and his own 'homegrown' talents. He did it for PERSONAL PRIDE to be able to claim his side could win without buying stars (Arshavin). By that unfortunate, foolish and egotistical move, we lost our best chance of winning a trophy.

1. You think its a tactical error but I think otherwise, we are talkin about balance in a team here and you are thinking of only 1 player. True Arshavin is a player who can always make the difference in an instant but as the Liverpool game which made him an instant hit with fans show, when you lack balance in a squad it can always come back to bite you even if you score 4 goals. Remember also that  Arshavin doesn't score 4 goals in every game.

2. Are you really that basic in your thinking to beleive that Arsene would put out a team he does not beleive can win solely due to personal pride? a man that petty in his thinking would never reach the levels Arsene has reached my brother. Please be realistic, that must be some sort of joke.

debosky:
More arrant NONSENSE - Fabregas played the freekick that got RVP's second goal against Chelski at OT. Cesc scored the equaliser at Anfield against Liverpool two seasons ago!
More nonsense - Denilson not only bossed the Chelski midfield, he had enough creative nous to supply RVP with the pass for the first goal against Chelski at home. Don't you ever diss Denilson and Cesc when talking about[b] Diaby who almost never has an important contribution for Arsenal against a top club.[/b] He shines against the likes of Portsmouth and Stoke and nothing more.

Denilson, Cesc and Song bossed Chelski last season and won. Care to know who played in the second leg where we were beaten 4-1? You guessed right - Diaby!!

An excerpt from the game:

Abou Diaby sidefooted wide from a Walcott cross but might have been better leaving it for Cesc Fabregas, who was running in directly behind him and was better placed to shoot, as Arsenal again went close.

Former Gunners striker Anelka was allowed to run on the Arsenal goal from midfield and he took advantage by beating Fabianski from 25-yards to add a Chelsea second.

Oh I guess Diaby's inability to score and his blatant failure to track people from midfield shows how important he is.

Diaby is an appalling player in most games, having ok contributions in the remaining. That is the fact.

You are talking utter rubbish here, picking out just one game? so Diaby sidefooted wide in a particular game? how many times has Cesc sidefooted wide or shot tamely when he could have done better? and you show your total bias in the statement I've made bold for you,  what of Liverpool away and Fernabache away in the champions league last year? besides wasn't it poor little Cesc who couldn't stop Ryan Babbel for the goal that finally killed our dream of progressing further in the UCL that same year?

And you totally miss the point, I will repeat again that this is not about who is better between Cesc, Denilson and Diaby (though I know who I will want in the team when we go to difficult away games where opponents don't allow our smooth slick passing) it is about team balance and understanding why Arsene plays Diaby which you are obviously too thick to figure out.

It is also about the fact that you lot are too blinded to some individual players you are unable to see when they play rubbish (as Cesc did in the first half against Fulham) choosing instead to put the blame on players who have maybe had sub-par performances in the past but didn't do badly on the day.

Bottom line is that this is Diaby's first extended run in the team in a stable position and he is progressing quite well, judge him after a reasonable run of games rather than nitpicking performances. At present with Abou as a significant contributor we have lost only two in 11 games and we have no reason to be ashamed of our performances in the 2 we lost. Until then, keep your leaky mouth shut and get behind your players it is early days yet in this campaign.

Ibime:
Your argument is incoherent to say the least.

When Chelsea dey yarn, you go talk say dem no get long-term history.

When Bayern dey yarn, you go say dem no get short-term history.

Ibime? Iblis? abi na wetin be ya name. Na tag team yu dey fight with Dayokanu now? e ti po to. Is there a club known as BayernChels or na ChelseaBayer yu dey support now?
You no get confidence in your own team abegi.

jalether:
Silvester will come in

That Silvestre wey yu dey yab get Premiership medal pass the whole premiership/league titles won by chelsea in 50 years

nateevs:
Youth Football:
Sam Hutchinson gets U21 call-up. He joins fellow Chelsea players, Micheal Mancienne, Jack Cork, Ryan Bertrand and Daniel Sturridge in the squad.

You are talkin rubbish, na call up to squad we dey yarn? I'm talking about appearances particularly in major competitions and qualifiers. Out of all those unknown quantities yu've mentioned in that particular round of call ups, only Sturridge and Mancienne started for that team against Macedonia and Greece. Besides that is just Qualifiers you are talkin about, not the tournament proper and they are all over 20 years of age and can no longer be called youngsters.

I am not here to tell you that we have better upcoming youth stars (that is already an established fact).

Besides, you don't expect me to be massaging chelsea egos as an Arsenal supporter do you? to be frank with you after Arsenal I was actually tipping Chelsea as a top title contender this season (cos I knew Manure had lost CR7 but I didn't envisage old man Giggs turning back the years) but that was until Kakutagate and the unfortunate events at the JJB over the weekend.