Rumours were floating around that Park had started to look impressive in training and when it came to the next round of the Carling cup against Bolton, Park showed his quality with some neat touches and
Bolton (h) Post Match Thoughts: Park’s Movement Would Inspire Robin & Central Arshavin
His goal was absolutely wonderful, little steps at pace into the box a quick shimmy one way and a zipped low shot across the keeper and into the corner. I cannot think of many Arsenal players today who would have scored a goal like that. Theo Walcott
Your Vision – Why It Is Time to Stand Up and Applaud Laurent Koscielny
Partnering the surprisingly superb Johan Djourou at the heart of the defense through January and February, the duo formed the best defense in the league, at least temporarily. Koscielny’s performed remarkably well alongside Djourou and went a long way in vindicating Wenger’s faith in him. The reason several doubted his ability and his talent stems largely from his form early in the 2009-10 season. The injury to Thomas Vermaelen and with Johan Djourou still recuperating from the injury that left him
Wenger: Arshavin wants to play behind the striker
Arshavin made his name at the Euro 2008 where he played behind Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. He hasn't been able to play that role for Arsenal because it was occupied by then captain Cesc Fabregas. Now that the Spaniard has departed and the creative void has yet to be filled consistently in his absence. Arshavin has often been overlooked in that position
Stoke City (h) Post Match Thoughts: Robin Reliable but Livewire Gervinho Steals The Show
Aaron Ramsey had played a lofted pass onto the chest of Gervinho who had darted into the box but the goalkeeper nipped in and grabbed the ball from Gervinho before the ball could drop. That was the dress rehearsal before the live show just before the half hour mark. Aaron Ramsey who was looking sharp after his recent rest, clipped a lovely chipped pass into Gervinho who did very well to check his
Is 4-4-2 really the answer?
The calls to change to 4-4-2 are definitely becoming more numerous but why is that? One reasons is that, in the Premier League at least, the 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 is in vogue. The Manchester clubs have raced out of the traps using this formation (albeit different variations of the same shape). The red half have done what Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams have so often done in the past and used their pacy wingers to
Marseille (a) Thoughts & Line Up: Champions League lift for domestic strugglers
Kieran Gibbs has been sucked back into his injury catch-22 and has swirled into the unavailable category due to a stomach muscle issue so Andre Santos who impressed when he came on during the weekend
The Struggle to Fix our Robin Reliance
A win is a win is a win, as they say, but it’s a shame that, despite winning, our games seem so often to exist merely to provoke further discussion about our flaws. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy about winning, I just think it would be nice to sit down after a win and spend our time enjoying the performance and not just infinitely analysing our seemingly incurable ailments
Sunderland (h) Thoughts & Line Up: Post international Arsenal must hit ground running
Laurent Koscielny will return to the team which will thankfully push Alex Song further forward into the position he needs to be in. Koscielny will resume his partnership with Per Mertesacker and it will be down to Arsene to decide to start Andre Santos or Kieran Gibbs. Arsene would have been able to keep a close eye on their progress during the last week as both would have