how we should play Chamakh and go more direct to avoid the pitch but isn't that just playing the oppositions game? Would Barcelona expect to start pumping balls into the box if they were playing on a poor surface? I am sure they wouldn't because that is not how they play the game. It is different for Barcelona because Spanish teams in general are passing football teams. Even the relegation threatened teams are more Swansea than Stoke City and in the Premier League this is
Alex Song has been providing passes like his former captain ever since Cesc jumped ship. I recently asked the question as to whether Alex Song could contribute more to the team further forward and the general consensuses was that he would be or in fact is more effective from a deeper position and that may well be the case. Song has more time and space to pick
We have seen what happens when it goes the other way, Mathieu Flamini was deemed as surplus to requirements before his one super charged season where he found his best form. That is the margin the manager has to play with. A player close to joining Birmingham City and not being able to force his way into the team to a player who dominates AC Milan at the San Siro. We could have offered Flamini a large pay rise before he got to the last season of his existing contract and he could
Fast forward to Anfield against midtable Liverpool, we certainly got the rub of the green thanks to the woodwork being on our side for a pleasant change but I distinctly remember two wonderful blocks and last ditch challenges from both Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs. We won that game at the death. With Vermaelen at left back and Johan Djourou at right back we would have lost that game, even with the woodwork saving us on the day, Liverpool would have found another way past us
A German newspaper is supposed to be announcing where the future of Lukas Podolski lies later on today. I am still trying to walk around with my fingers in my ears but still removing it from time to time to see if anything concrete has happened before sticking my fingers back in my ears again. It's just easier that way
Francis Coquelin, Emmanuel Frimpong, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, Ryo Miyachi and Ignasi Miquel are not gum chewing, half season wonders who will stroll through at the end when the team need them most, and this my friends is why I am more than confident as to why we can close the gap dramatically next season, especially now that it
Jack Wilshere had proved that he was a cut above the older reserve players and eventually made his way into the Arsenal first team squad after a loan to Bolton and an impressive pre season at Arsenal. Gooners who have managed to watch him have been waxing Gnabry played for the reserves last night and according to reports was the best player on the pitch, a pitch that included several first team players. I haven't had the chance to feast my eyes on this hulking, technical beast of an attacking midfielder apart from a few YouTube compilations, as reserve games are no longer shown live *Grrr* I used to watch all the games when they were on Arsenal TV