I love the example Arsene, throw it into the face of that idiot Phillip Brown. I think Arsene is more than balanced enough to give the players a bit of tough love from time to time

A victory tonight is now even more important after Mick McCarthy threw on a short mini skirt, slipped some KY jelly into his purse and strode into Old Trafford last night. Manchester United lost at Old Trafford to Aston Villa whilst Wolves beat free scoring Tottenham at White Hart Lane, you would have expected them to have given it ago. Well you know that McCarthy will be back in his tracksuit when his team head to the Emirates later on in the season.

We can only think of our own performances and they players will want to start the game with a lot more purpose than they did at Anfield. Arsene Wenger will not want to throw anymore fireworks in the dressing room at Turf moor. The boss has been speaking about the risk of losing his cool amongst his playing staff.

Wenger said:

“The problem in our job is to measure the real impact of your attitude or behaviour, Maybe if I had not said a word we would have won the game as well. So you can never check. You behave with your instinct and your rational and irrational approach.

“Sometimes the emotional side overtakes the rational, but you cannot live only with the emotional. You have to be rational most of the time. The problem with anger is that you can create some damage that you cannot repair. And even if it is not damage, other people can make you feel like you have caused damage.

“For example, the Phil Brown incident with Hull. Did that create their blip afterwards? Nobody knows.

“But people accused him of that. I don’t know if what he did was bad, but it has been judged bad. You never know the real impact of things. I took a risk at Anfield on Sunday because it can always go the other way and we could have lost 6-1. Management and football are like that; we live on a volcano. I do not question the attitude of my players because they want to win, but you are in a position where you have to help them to win.”

I love the example Arsene, throw it into the face of that idiot Phillip Brown. I think Arsene is more than balanced enough to give the players a bit of tough love from time to time. From what I have read and heard from former players Arsene Wenger likes the players to be intelligent enough to make their own decisions, and find solutions to problems and that is fine but on occasions I have questioned the attitude of the players, especially against lower level opposition like Tottenham (lots of disrespect intended) and in those situations Wenger should allow himself the opportunity to tell the team what he thinks in a way that will shake them into action.

I can remember plenty of games last season where the players produced similar displays to the first half on Sunday and a rollicking would have been well worth it. Anyhow, I hope the players will hear his voice ringing in their ears when they have taken their feet off the pedal before the game has been won.

One player who doesn’t need shouting and screaming is Manuel Almunia. He is not at his best right now, in many ways he has taken several steps back from his best in an Arsenal shirt but his problem is not effort or commitment it is confidence and the boss has every confidence in him.

Arsene said:

“I have watched the game against Liverpool well, The ball was deflected by Lucas and I did not see that during that game. Almunia came and Lucas touched the ball with his head and deflected the ball. I have full confidence in him and I will pick him tomorrow night.”

I have to admit my first thought was that it was Almunia’s fault but having watched the replay, it would be slightly unfair to put all the blame on our keeper, although I am sure there is a case for Almunia to have met the ball with more conviction.

Am I totally relaxed about Almunia in goal right now? The answer would be an honest no, he has not been at the same level as he was last season but the way I see it is, did I have full faith in Fabianski last season when he came in for a run of games? Absolutely not. The Chelsea semi final stands out and a few other mistakes that cost the team goals. Don’t get me wrong, Fabianski has a great future and often does very good things. I remember the pre season match against Sevilla when he practically kept them out on his own until the very end and he came and claimed well against Olympiakos but I worry that his all round game isn’t yet complete and one mistake could unravel his good work so far this season.

At the moment Almunia is the most experienced and hopefully he can put his troubles and bad form behind him and continue to do a good job for the team. A few more mistakes down the line and Arsene may have to make a decision.

Arsene Wenger understands that his captain wants to play for Catalonia but also understands that it would be pretty stupid to let him go, understandably!

Arsene has spoken about Mikel Silvestre and his future at the club.

Wenger said:

“At the moment [Thomas] Vermaelen is in front of him. Will [Silvestre] be completely happy if he does not get the games? I am not sure.”

“I have a meeting with him in March, We have a common agreement to meet in March and see where we go from there.

I have to give my respect to Silvestre. He has come in, clearly way down the pecking order. Hasn’t moaned or complained about it and has given the youngsters good advice according to Arsene. We know he isn’t the best player ever to wear the shirt but hats off to him for being professional. I guess he will depart the club and I wish him luck unless he finds himself at Tottenham.

If you want to read my thoughts on the Burnley match then just click this linky thing here.

Have yourself a nice day, if anyone can get hold of any good streams for the game then please post them in the match preview article, Thanks all.