Arsenal 1-1 Man City | Premier League 29/03/14

[S&W the no1Fan]

i'm sorry but i dont see how flamini backing off indefinitely and refusing to make a tackle is any better than arteta being occasionally. Yes flamini is a bit more mobile but the guy is dumb anyway and doesnt even read the game well.

Both are as much a liability as each other

Just because your clueless about the defensive aspects of football doesn't mean Flamini is.

I used to be one of the best defenders in my year at school (nothing to brag about but just saying I've played the position) so when you say Flamini is backing off what he's doing is covering the angle and closing off the space, if you go straight in for a tackle when you have opposition players bearing down around you the player your targeting will either get past you and leave you for dust or pass it behind you and once again ........ you get left for dust.

i know what closing off space is calm down mate i play for my university as a CB, however there is such thing as giving players too much space to manouever which flamini does all the time and he rarely even closes down the space or shows a defender towards a less dangerous situation.

I am not advocating going straight into a tackle but look at the end of the game when flamini was left one on one with someone and there was someone coming towards flamini from the right, if flamini had effectively closed down the space he would not have 1. not been able to make the pass (thank god the referee blew the whistle to end the game) and two he wouldnt have made the defensive line so deep that our players had to run further to track.

The best way to defend is to force an attacker into where you want them to go, so approach cautiously from a specific angle making it difficult for them to turn into that direction and then when most of their options are gone get closer and either force a mistake or not.

I guess it may be different for flamini becasue he hasnt got my physical dominance in one on one situations out wide i make sure they cant pass the ball inside watching out for run that are curled in behind me and once the time is right i know for sure that no one has the speed or strength to take me down the line, the best they can do is turn back but even then i'm always approaching the player and reading their body language.

[Angelito]

i'm sorry but i dont see how flamini backing off indefinitely and refusing to make a tackle is any better than arteta being occasionally. Yes flamini is a bit more mobile but the guy is dumb anyway and doesnt even read the game well.

Both are as much a liability as each other

Just because your clueless about the defensive aspects of football doesn't mean Flamini is.

I used to be one of the best defenders in my year at school (nothing to brag about but just saying I've played the position) so when you say Flamini is backing off what he's doing is covering the angle and closing off the space, if you go straight in for a tackle when you have opposition players bearing down around you the player your targeting will either get past you and leave you for dust or pass it behind you and once again ........ you get left for dust.

i know what closing off space is calm down mate i play for my university as a CB, however there is such thing as giving players too much space to manouever which flamini does all the time and he rarely even closes down the space or shows a defender towards a less dangerous situation.

I am not advocating going straight into a tackle but look at the end of the game when flamini was left one on one with someone and there was someone coming towards flamini from the right, if flamini had effectively closed down the space he would not have 1. not been able to make the pass (thank god the referee blew the whistle to end the game) and two he wouldnt have made the defensive line so deep that our players had to run further to track.

The best way to defend is to force an attacker into where you want them to go, so approach cautiously from a specific angle making it difficult for them to turn into that direction and then when most of their options are gone get closer and either force a mistake or not.

I guess it may be different for flamini becasue he hasnt got my physical dominance in one on one situations out wide i make sure they cant pass the ball inside watching out for run that are curled in behind me and once the time is right i know for sure that no one has the speed or strength to take me down the line, the best they can do is turn back but even then i'm always approaching the player and reading their body language.

This can't be happening, surely?

[elkanofan]

The line-up against Manchester City - the ONLY line-up, arrogant as it may sound:

Fabianski
Sagna - Mertesacker - Vermaelen - Gibbs
Kallstrom - Arteta
Cazorla
Chamberlain - Sanogo - Podolski

That looks really weak doesn't it, especially the midfield.

Flamini in the middle?

And blame Wenger for not getting a proper DM and refusing to strength. The weakness in our team is a reflection of Wenger's weaknesses as a manager.

I dont like blaming people all the time. I dont like wasting energy on hating someone. Its not healthy.

Yes its happening. No1 fan is blowing his trumpet but he seems like he dosent realize hes not learnt to use it properly and seems puzzled in whats goin wrong and why others are laughing at him.

The art of defending is about first and foremost positioning then adaptation. Being able to read your opponent. You cant always rely on strength because theres always a bigger fish.

[Sydney Gooner]

Yaya Toure is sharpening his cock for the jail style rape session he has planned for us especially Arteta.

[Zedie]

Yaya Toure is sharpening his cock for the jail style rape session he has planned for us especially Arteta.

Oh god.

[DiamondGooner]

I guess it may be different for flamini becasue he hasnt got my physical dominance in one on one situations out wide.

You can't be serious.

The last time you were dominant in a one on one situation it probably involved a crying woman, a judge and a court room, which probably explains your hatred towards females that you randomly display on here from time to time.

So your a better footballer than Flamini? why is it him playing for AFC then and not you may I ask?

[Grouchgooner]

Fabianski

Chesney needs to sit this one on the bench imo, he had a mare against Chelski and confidence must be low so Flappy in goal for me.

Sagna Mertesacker Vermaelen Gibbs

Sadly I have to go with what should be the best defensive lineup available, did think of maybe putting the Corporal in for Sagna but he is even more prone to bombing forward and not guarding his area of the pitch - something AW really needs to drill into both Sagna and Gibbs for this game imo. By all means support the attack every so often but your primary responsibility is to defend our goal. Nacho sadly is far too much of a liability in his positioning for this game. I also think Merts really needs to begin to step up on the pitch by commanding the defense a la Donkey of years gone by, we seem to have somehow lost the idea of working as a unit and imo need to get it back.

Flamini Kallstrom

I really can't see the point of Mikel starting this game, he's not got the engine for what will be a high paced game I'm sure. Flamster at least has a physical presence on the pitch and Kally looks unafraid to get stuck in as well. Only doubt for me is whether Kally is fully match fit or not but even if he's only 90% he's still likely to put himself around more than Mikel.

Gnabry Podolski Oxlade-Chamberlain

Taking a bit of a gamble here but let's face it this is a game where most will expect us to once more suffer humiliation so why not at least try to do something a little out of the usual box. Serge will at least try to live up to his name by running at them given the opportunity whilst we know Ox will do the same. Both are young so have the energy and at least try to help out their full-backs, something they will more than likely need to do a fair amount of in this game. Poldi is in my starting line-up rather than Caz because at least he's not afraid of firing the ball at the net and tbh Santi doesn't look half the player this season that he did the last to me ... Wenger seems to have killed any drive to take players on in him which imo is a real shame as he does have good close control and quick feet. Rosy offers more in the way of defensive bite than Lukas and it was close for me as to which should start but I think he doesn't offer the same scoring threat and God knows we are so woefully short of that at the moment it's embarrassing so even though I think the emphasis has to be more on defence than attack for this game there does need to be someone on the pitch both not afraid and capable of producing something at the other end.

Sanogo

No doubts Giroud will start as Wenger seems absolutely besotted with him and he scored against Swansea but for me he lacks so many qualities I personally look for in a striker (instinct, guile and enthusiasm to name but three) and no matter how much I've tried I just cannot warm to the guy. Whilst Yaya is undoubtedly very raw, and to an extent naive, he doesn't seem intimidated by the big stage and will at least be energetic. Sad really for a club with such a marvellous history of great strikers that it's come down to only those two choices

Can't say I expect anything from the game but I do expect whoever takes to the pitch to at least play with the pride that the shirt deserves and give it their all.

[Va-Va-Voom]

I guess it may be different for flamini becasue he hasnt got my physical dominance in one on one situations out wide.

You can't be serious.

The last time you were dominant in a one on one situation it probably involved a crying woman, a judge and a court room, which probably explains your hatred towards females that you randomly display on here from time to time.

So your a better footballer than Flamini? why is it him playing for AFC then and not you may I ask?

[Popey]

c'mon let's surprise everybody and win this one...

let's give a chance to fabianski, jenkinson, källström, gnabry and sanogo

I'm sick of seeing woijech, sagna, arteta, santi and giroud at the moment

[Va-Va-Voom]

c'mon let's surprise everybody and win this one...

let's give a chance to fabianski, jenkinson, källström, gnabry and sanogo

I'm sick of seeing woijech, sagna, arteta, santi and giroud at the moment

Seconded.

[Massa]

Why are you sick of seeing Sagna? Lads an animal. Jenkinson won't help anything either.

[mrbuff]

Why are you sick of seeing Sagna? Lads an animal. Jenkinson won't help anything either.

I'm sick of seeing his boring unimaginative crosses and general attacking contribution. If we're gonna rely on our fullbacks to attack they better be good at it or just stay back

[defcon2005]

i think however we shuffle the crap pack there are still no aces
rape alarms and bottom corks at the ready. god help us!!!

[Freeloader]

I say we forget about winning and just try to limit the damage. A 3-0 loss wouldn't be that bad.

[Zedie]

I say we refuse to play any more games including the FA cup.