EPL: Wigan vs Arsenal
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Wigan Athletic v Arsenal
Barclays Premier League
JJB Stadium
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Kick-off: 4pm (SG 12am) -
2-0 win to us ... Must win !
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rvp could play last few mins.. hope the team continue gd performance...
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Trash wigan! 5-1!!
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3-0
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Wigan v ARSENAL: Van Persie in line to make Gunners return
Robin van Persie could return to Arsenal duty against Wigan after injury problems which have seen him play just eight matches this season.
The Dutchman played an hour of a behind-closed-doors match against Colorado Rapids in midweek and came through unscathed, although Wenger admitted he was "tired."
Theo Walcott is out with a thigh injury while Abou Diaby suffered a calf complaint in the midweek victory over AC Milan and Emmanuel Eboue is still suspended.
Team (From): Almunia, Clichy, Senderos, Gallas, Sagna, Denilson, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, Adebayor, Bendtner, Gilberto, Van Persie, Toure, Lehmann, J Hoyte, Traore, Song.
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0-3 to us.
0-4 or 5 if rvp's on (:
milan match should set us on fire
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let's keep our fingers cross... no more mistake!
pls win this match big! we have an upperhand to extend our lead to 4 points since the manure is playing for FA cup.
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dun be complacent.
stick to the game plan
and lets play them to our game.
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I think AW wil lfield out this lineup
Almunia
Clichy Gallas Senderos Sagna
Hleb/Fabregas Fabregas/Gilberto Flamini Denilson/Troare
Adebayor RVP(unlikely)/ Bendtner
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Arsenal must relish trip to Wigan
It is a long way from Milan to Wigan. In every sense. Fashion designers, restaurateurs and art dealers rarely commute between the two venues. If an opera star were booked to appear at La Scala one night and Wigan Little Theatre the next, his agent might expect to hear from him. Lombardy and Lancashire are just different. But for Arsenal, their performance at Wigan tomorrow is every bit as important as the one they gave in Milan last Tuesday.
Over the last few years, Milan have succeeded Juventus as the defining team of Italian club football. As streetwise as they are stylish, as mean as they can be magnificent. In three Champions League finals in five years, their line-ups and their hairstyles haven't changed, and neither has their modus operandi. And yet on Wednesday morning, the front-page headline of the Italian sports oracle, La Gazzetta, read, 'Milan - The End'. Arsenal had brought the curtain down on an era. But are they ready to begin one of their own?
Arsene Wenger's side are many things, but they are not the defining team of English club football. They probably don't want to be. If knuckling down to the harsh realities of winning at Wigan is what our national game is really all about, Arsenal sometimes give you the impression they would rather be somewhere else. True artists get to choose their own canvas and oils. At Wigan, they will get what they're given tomorrow.
If Tiger Woods outclasses the rest of the Masters field on the hallowed turf of Augusta next month, he will not be asked to tee it up at a patchy pay-and-play course with some enthusiastic mid-handicappers the following week. Arsenal know to expect more rough than fairway at the JJB tomorrow, and can be certain that Wigan will not be looking to play them at their own passing game.
Wenger needs to get a taste for it. His mood in the build-up to Arsenal's last two fixtures could hardly have been more different. Before last Saturday's edgy display against Aston Villa, he was telling anyone who would listen that his side were the country's most fouled and yet most punished team. Unprotected and persecuted. Them against the world. Given the odds, they did well to get a draw.
Before Tuesday's Milan masterclass, Wenger appeared confident and collected. He did all he could to remind his team how good they were. Whereas against Villa his key players looked a little lost and lacking for leadership, against Milan Cesc Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini were directing their team-mates here and there from the off. A line-up showing one change in personnel had undergone a complete personality change in the space of three days. They looked their young selves again.
But any remaining doubts over that bristling, brittle side to Arsenal's nature are more likely to surface in northern England than northern Italy. There is something about Lancashire hotpot that doesn't always agree with Arsenal's constitution. Every time Wenger complains about 'up and at 'em' opponents, he merely encourages them. He should know better than to expect sympathy by now. The top four are big enough to deal with it. No excuses.
It is time for him to be upbeat, not uppity. Arsenal don't fit the old bill of 'southern softies'. And not just because of their own colourful rap sheet of red cards and black marks. They have scored more than 30 late goals in games this season. They dig deep enough to have lost only twice in the Premier and Champions leagues. They're not all pretty, pretty. Emmanuel Adebayor offers them a Plan B to save games by hitting the ball longer and higher when needs must.
But no manager believes as stubbornly in his Plan A than Wenger. He allows substance to compete with style. After two seasons without silverware, potential is not enough to keep the likes of Jose Mourinho quiet on the subject of Wenger. Arsenal may have to accept the need to get their hands dirty in order to get those hands on trophies again.
The remaining qualities in English football that the rest of the world fears are heart and soul. Arsenal will encounter both by the lorry load at Wigan tomorrow. It will seem a long way from Milan when Emile Heskey is charging around. The trick for Arsenal is to make sure it is not too far for them.
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tink wenger will use the negative 4-5-1...
sagna gallas senderos clichy
denilson fabregas gilberto flamini hleb
adebayor
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Originally posted by BrUtUs:
tink wenger will use the negative 4-5-1...
sagna gallas senderos clichy
denilson fabregas gilberto flamini hleb
adebayor
I think Wenger more likely to feature pussies Eboue and Diaby
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Originally posted by Trump_Card:
I think Wenger more likely to feature pussies Eboue and Diaby
tink diaby is injured n eboue is serving red card so should b glad they will nto b involved... -
Originally posted by BrUtUs:
tink diaby is injured n eboue is serving red card so should b glad they will nto b involved...Thank god ... I've forgotten though ...
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Originally posted by Trump_Card:
Thank god ... I've forgotten though ...
at least can expect more fruitful attacks... -
No Eboue and Diaby = Gilberto or Denilson..
You think which one better leh
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That's why. I prefer eboue than the other 3.
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Originally posted by felirox:
That's why. I prefer eboue than the other 3.
Eboue is only good if he's played in the right position -> Right back :-3
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We almost scored!
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i now not at home. no Cable TV. onli can read sgf.
ALL DE BEST GUNNERS!!!
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WIgan's pitch is really shit.
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are they a disturbance to arsenal's gameplay?
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wigan's fans chanting " same old arsenal always cheating" Funny how these cunts are.
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Originally posted by corebooster:
are they a disturbance to arsenal's gameplay?
Yeah. The ball isnt rolling smoothly!