I never though I would be saying that at the start of the season!
Anyway, it’s Alan Pardew’s 50th Premier League game in charge of United and he will be going to the Emirates looking for a win if you look at his pre-match chitter-chatter.
Of the 49 league games under his stewardship we’ve won 18, drawn 17 and lost 14 giving Pardew an ultimate win percentage of 36% although if you purely take into account the results of this season, with what this starting to be his own team, his percentage lifts to 44%.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing however is the loss percentage – it’s only 28% which is pretty good to be honest and equates to us losing ten games a season roughly. It would also equate to us picking up 54 points a season, which would put us in with a shout of Europe pretty much every season. Once again, if you average it out to results this season alone, using the 44% win percentage, that points total would rise to 63 points, which would pretty much be enough for Europe.
Anyway, how about some team news?
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger will be without Abou Diaby, Francis Coquelin, Jack Wilshere, Per Mertesacker and Emmanuel Frimpong, while Sebastien Squillaci, André Santos, Mikel Arteta, Yossi Benayoun, Aaron Ramsey, and Theo Walcott are all rated as doubtful.
Newcastle
Leon Best, Sammy Ameobi, Sylvain Marveaux, Steve Harper, Nile Ranger and Steven Taylor all remain out, and now we have Peter Lovenkrands added to the list. The Dane has picked up a thigh injury which could mean he has kicked his last ball for the club as his contract runs out in the summer.
Dan Gosling is available for selection despite his red card in the reserve Tyne-Wear derby in midweek.
Form
A lot is being made of how we’ve dipped since the game against Manchester United at the turn of the year. The reality is that we’ve lost just two league games since then so we’re still picking up points, even if the last two home games have only yielded draws.
However Arsenal have hit a purple patch and haven’t lost in the league since the 22nd January – a 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United. They’ve been scoring goals in recent weeks too, with their last two home league games yielding a return of 12 goals.
Tactic talk
Any success will largely depend on keeping Robin van Persie quiet. The Dutchman looks a shoe in for the Golden Boot (haha!) this season and tops the scoring stakes with 25 goals.
To keep him quiet we will need to close down the channels and not give Arsenal any space to pick out those killer passes that they like to thread through. Aeriel prowess at the back won’t be the most important factor in this one.
However there is a tendency for teams to try and soak up the pressure that Arsenal will inevitably put on you. It’s great if it can be pulled off, like we did last season, but more often than not you are just inviting problems on yourself.
We need to also make sure that we have an attacking presence. The Arsenal defence has shown throughout the season that they can be got at, which is why I’d play Hatem Ben Arfa from the start in some role. He’s earned it after his second half cameo against Sunderland last week and we could do with someone who will run at the Arsenal defence. Granted it probably means dropping Papiss Cisse, but I just feel we’ll be better off with ball retention by playing Ben Arfa.
Final thoughts
Personally I’m not expecting much from the match other than 100% from our players. It’s going to be a tough ask, but if we put in 100% you just never quite know. We’re quite good at springing the odd upset these days but we’ll see.
Arsenal have just beaten Tottenham and AC Milan at the Emirates with a win at Anfield thrown in for good measure. They are a good side, unplayable on their day in fact. I just hope that day isn’t Monday!
Howay the lads!
Date: Monday, 12th March, 2012
Kick-off: 8pm – Live on Sky
Venue: The Emirates Stadium
Nice preview Toonsy- But i would have Hba ,Ba and Cisse attacking , may as well go down fighting 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
1ST can’t believe i’m first for once woo hoo. 😀
kimtoon(Quote)
Good read Toonsy I would be well pleased with a point, but I think RVP and co will be too much for our defence. I just hope that Benny gets a start and we attack a bit more
Big Dave(Quote)
canny read toonsy,ime with dave@3,its funny like for the last few seasons
RVP has been very injury prone seems to have stood up to it better this season.
mores the pity 👿
icedog(Quote)
its said RVP has agreed to a 210thou a wk contract at m/city maybe his mind might be on that 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
If their injury list is as long as you say we could be in with a chance. Against Liverpool they were really poor all match, and deserved to lose by 2 or 3 goals.
I’m just hoping we can link our midfield and attack more than we have been doing. They are so weak at the back and we can definitely get a couple of goals if we give good service to the front two.
Jon R(Quote)
I’m not expecting too much tomorrow either if I’m honest, but I agree with Kim that we have to go and make a game of it.
I think there defence is pretty weak and personally I’d go 4-4-2 with HBA on the left side and either move Jonas to the right or stick Oba out there with Ba and Cisse up front.
Off topic, I’ve read today we have been linked with a Swedish kid on Man City’s books who has scored a bucket load of goals on load at Feyenoord this season!
Anyone heard of him???
Sharpy17(Quote)
2-3 to the Toon 😯
richietoon(Quote)
Sharpy….not alot more than I’ve read on here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Guidetti
richietoon(Quote)
I just think we need to find some creativity in the midfield.
The defence will be ok if they can have the pressure released by the midfield without it coming back constantly.
No hoofball is imperative, as we need to keep what little possesion we get.
Pace and flair on the wings and Ba will score if he gets a sniff.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
thats the spirit RICHIE,your known to tell the odd fib like 😆 😆 😆
icedog(Quote)
Ice….never fib me like, ya looking well for your age…..oops, whey maybe sometimes 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Man Utd top noo!
richietoon(Quote)
what starting eleven would people go with on this one? hard to decide whether to go like for like and put 3/5 in midfield, or stick with 4-4-2.
personally, i think i would go
krul
Santon Williamson Coloccini Taylor
Guthrie Tiote
Ben Arfa Cabaye Gutierrez
Ba
dave(Quote)
I predict a complete twating and Pardew to still not revert from playing hoofball. It’s pathetically predictive.
EvilFranky(Quote)
There is no way we can outplay arsenal…
We couldn’t even outplay Blackburn and Wolves.
So if ever I want us to play long ball its this game.
Two up front. Would have liked Best and Ba. Best Obviously injured.
Then we need Cabaye in midfield with Tiote and Jonas and Raylor on the wings. Raylor to pump long balls.
This goes against everything I’ve said the past few weeks but the fact is against Arsenal, its the only way we can win…
JJ(Quote)
We can beat Arsenal by outnumbering them and playing ;
6 in defence
5 in midfield
4 wingers
4 strikers
………………………………………………….Krul
Jonas…………………….Willo………………………Colo………………..Santon
…………….Cabaye……………………………………………..Tiote
..Obertan……………………………………Ba……………………………….Ben arfa
…………………………………………….Cisse
Sadly, I can not see Pardew playing 4 – 2 -3 – 1 and he will stick to his favoured 4 – 4 – 2 and a high line. Arsenal fans might need an abacus.
sidekick(Quote)
Sidekick.
Arsenal would tear that formation to pieces.
Both Santon and Jonas would push forward leaving us completely exposed on the counter.
Arsenal are the best counter attacking team in the league.
JJ(Quote)
My tactics would be to kick van Persie to pieces and man mark Rosicky.
Get Jonas to cover Sagna. Have Tiote and Cabaye sit deep. Defend deep. And pump long balls up to two strikers.
JJ(Quote)
JJ
so the usual tactic then 😉
andymag(Quote)
Anybody had enough of Williamson. I have. I would now choose Perch ahead of him
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
well who’d be a manager then?
Damned no matter what he does. 👿
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Cheers Ritchie, doesn’t really tell us much more but then he is only 19. Unbelievable scoring record this season though. Wonder whether we hes a pundit at £2m?
Van poodle is due a poor game by now. I would sit Tiote and Cabaye deeper and let Benny go for it on the left and jonas or Oba go for it on the right.
The scum beat Liverpool yesterday and Swansea beat City today so a win down there isn’t a ridiculous possibility.
Sharpy17(Quote)
victor moses anyone in the summer?
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
“so a win down there isn’t a ridiculous possibility.”
ha ha Sharpy. It is if we continue playing as we have of late.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
TLR
I have as well, but personally can’t see perch doing any better (and my perception on perch is that he has become better, and I really hated him last season) our lack of cover is ridiculous. If we’d bid £3-4m for Douglas in january we wouldn’t be in this position, I know he’s free in the summer, but what would be point then when we’d have Taylor back and there would be a good chance that S.Taylor would be the first choice (along side colocinni) and Douglas would become frustrated.
andymag(Quote)
TLR
Such a cool goal 😎
andymag(Quote)
Team v Arsenal
Krul
Simpson-Williamson-Colocinni-Santon(Taylor later if not playing well, either Davide or danny)
Obertan-Tiote-Cabaye-Gutierrez
——–Ben Arfa(Cisse later, or switch cisse for obertan and play HBA RW
————–Ba————————-
andymag(Quote)
TOBY LE RHONE@21 i have had enough of his cuddling opposing players as well ,the lad has done a decent job in some games but the premiership is a step to high for him . We need better for next season ,but we are stuck with him for now ,but giving Perch a go tomorrow is a non starter , Perch’s best position is as a DM .
Axel(Quote)
can anyone tell me how many matches Olsson will miss for WBA after getting a 2nd yellow/red today?
ie will he be suspended for our match ?
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
The key to beating Arsenal is to kick the **** out of them and stop them playing, whilst hoping the ref is lenient. And thats basically the only tactic I can think of, because they are ahead of us in every department in my opinion.
NorthernPaul(Quote)
BB
two yellows in a match means a one match ban I think, five yellows over a series of games is three a match ban.
andymag(Quote)
SHARPY17 @ 7, living in Holland i have seen the lad a fair few times and he is a very very good player and would love him at the Toon . Could happen as well in a deal involving Tiote who City want .
Axel(Quote)
BB – I know we haven’t played well of late but does that mean were going to loose every game from now on then?! 🙁
If were really honest, we haven’t played brilliantly all season but we’ve won games and some have been quite convincing.
Swansea haven’t been great lately but beat City 1-0 today.
I know the odds are against us but a win is not impossible.
Sharpy17(Quote)
The only way I can see us beating Arsenal is to allow benny to run at their defence (particularally Gibbs who is inexperienced) and either beat his man (which is always fun to watch unless your richardson
) or draw a foul either inside or just outside of a box. Set-pieces will be key for this match. If the foul is to left-side of the box then Cabaye to take the free-kick, the centre should be Ba as he can drogba style get the ball up and down and if its on the right side HBA. Opinions ❓
andymag(Quote)
NORTHENPAUL in that case Pardew should tell the players Arsenal are really Sunderland .Then we would give them another tw@ting 👿 .It would pee Wenger off no end as well which is kind of easy too do anyhow . I agree though they are ahead of us at this moment and i can’t see us getting anything tomorrow with the form they are now in .
Axel(Quote)
Axel
Wenger is the sorest loser i’ve ever seen, everybody else’s fault except theirs
andymag(Quote)
ANDYMAG i bet he even complains about the length of the grass or the wrong teabags for the half time cupper , i can’t stand the bloke .
Axel(Quote)
Andymag @20
Yup, same old ****… Haha. But against Arsenal it just might work.
JJ(Quote)
JJ i agree with you that tomorrow we SHOULD actually be playing long ball but i’d play (wait for it)….. SHOLA! He’s a brilliant target man and holds the ball up well. Shola and ba absolutley annihalated Man U with the long ball and i think a similar tactic can be used.
Our centre halves are going to have to stay deep though and don’t be tempted to go forward, even if we’re losing. Arsenal are counter experts and we’ve shown time and time again this eason that we’re awful against a counter attack 😕
Heart says we’ll sneak a 1-0 win if they’re on their ‘due’ off day. 😈
Head says we’ll lose 3-0. 🙁
Nobby(Quote)
Nobby ,you could be right about Shola ,these are the sort games that he turns up and plays in . After the equaliser against the unwashed maybe he would be up for it .
Axel(Quote)
No, shola should be brought on after 75minutes when everyone is knackered and his lacadasical style doesnt seem as bad, then he shines with his silky skills
😎
andymag(Quote)
Got to go with a five man midfield. If we have Guthrie, Cabaye and Tiote in the middle they would hold their own against Arsenals midfield. The place they will really hurt us is down the wings.
I’d defo pick Ben Arfa as when we do get in their half he could pull a rabbit out of the hat and it might come down to that.
Stuart79(Quote)
Nobby I honestly think if we play the hoofball and play defensive we will get hammered, I think we need to attack a bit and give them a few problems stopping us, instead of just sitting back and inviting them to attack us ❓ and if we do that and keep our normal high line RVP will kill us
Big Dave(Quote)
Stuart,
Agree, 5 man midfield including HBA in the hole and BA up top on his own with Cisse on the bench.
If we play 4 4 2 I would expect a mauling a la Spurs and Fulham.
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
Five man midfield would be suicide against Arsenal.
We won’t match their possession because they have superior midfielders so why take them on like for like.
I say, two big men up front and we lump in from the wings.
JJ(Quote)
Start benny on the right in place of Raylor. We’ve become too predictable with him. Push Ba back into attacking midfield position and see what happens.
Newkie(Quote)
Stuart79
I 100% agree about formation. However, I wouldn’t play Guthrie, but instead move Jonas central. He, Cabaye and Tiote would make the central midfield a minefield for them. I would then drop Cisse, put Obertan & HBA on either wing and tell them to remain advanced. This will give us the advantage when their full-backs push up and I can see their pace and trickery really hurting Arsenal on the counter. Of course, it also weakens us defensively on the wings, but we could counteract that by having our full backs stay back and form a very narrow back four, which will force Arsenal into crosses. I would back our lads to win that duel 75% of the time. R.Taylor needs to come in at LB for Santon if we want a more defensive back four.
If this doesn’t work, we always have the option to throw on Santon and Cisse later in the game.
Thoughts?
The Kid(Quote)
BB/Andy @30/32 – as you say and two yellows normally one match unless it brings him to 10 yellows in which case it would be a three match ban (2 for ten yellows, one for the red)
Dubtoon(Quote)
@JJ: Do they really have such a superior midfield? Perhaps at full strength they do, but if the injuries alluded to in the article are true then who is left? Song and Chamberlain are the only two of any quality, and I wouldn’t say they’re better than Tiote, Cabaye, HBA.
Jon R(Quote)
Jon R
They most certainly do have a superior midfield. Song is better than Tiote, Rosicky(in current form) is better than Cabaye, and Chamberlain is better than anyone else who we put in that area. They are most certainly superior in midfield.
However, we don’t need to outplay them, just have our central trio work really hard and give them no time on the ball in that area. That will be key.
The Kid(Quote)
I’m starting to think unless they are dog tired after their 3-0 heroics mid-week, we can write this, (and champs league) off and hope we have a better CB pair in place this time to face Norwich. Dunno why but I just think we have dropped significantly in resolve and form at the back since the turn of the year. At the start of the season we were the tightest defense in the league and now we are one of the weakest. I fear Williamson, after a bright start at NUFC, is not premier league standard unfortunately and his time is up.
DJG(Quote)
Would rather mertesacker were fit tbh. Huge liability imo. Do hope those midfilders are out though mind
Dubtoon(Quote)
@The Kid: I disagree.
Rosicky has had one good second half against Spurs and that’s it. He’s a lightweight who’ll be following Arshavin back East soon enough. If our lot can get at him he’ll go missing.
Tiote on his day is as good as Song.
Chamberlain looks quality I admit, but he’s still very inexperienced.
Liverpool completely outplayed them with a midfield of Adam, Henderson, Downing and Spearing. If them 3 clowns can do it then so can we.
Jon R(Quote)
Bang on DJG, willo can fill in for a game or two but then gets found out. Model pro and all that, nothing against him, just not good enough if we want to progress. Saylor a huge miss and i think stardy etc who criticized him at the start of the year and talked up willo, might have changed their mind after recent performances
Dubtoon(Quote)
Dub….there was no etc, just Stardy 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Jon R
I don’t mean to be dismissive, but if you claim Rosicky has only had a good second half against Spurs, you can’t have been watching properly. My partner is a season ticket holder at The Emirates and I can tell you that Rosicky has been Arsenal’s best midfielder for at least the last 5 or 6 games(Including their second leg against Milan). There is no way Cabaye is better than him currently. If anything, Cabaye’s form has massively dipped in the same period. I like Cabaye a lot, but I think many on here overrate the Frenchman.
As for Song and Tiote being the same, again, you can’t have been watching. Tiote is slightly better defensively, but going forward, Song is streets ahead. He has the vision and execution of an out-and-out creative player. You’ve only got to look at how he set up RVP for the winner at Liverpool to see that.
Chamberlain is experienced, but I am yet to see him go missing against experienced pro’s. If anything, he seems to thrive on showing them up.
Yes, Liverpool did outplay them, but that’s typical Liverpool. They play at 150% against the top sides and 50% against everyone else. I saw them do the same to Spurs’ midfield, which is clearly superior to Kenny’s.
The Kid(Quote)
Chamberlain is INexperienced*
The Kid(Quote)
See nothing but a howking. 😯
The facts are we have played pretty **** since the Man Utd game.
I fear the Mackems may still catch us.
Hope I’m wrong but that’s how I see it.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
———————krul———————
simp——–colo—–willo——–santon
——————–tiote———————-
benny———–cabaye————jonas-
—————–ba—————————–
———————cisse———————
Army69(Quote)
http://www.true-faith.co.uk/tf/editorials.nsf/LookupUNID/267F83DE06E2C0B6802579BE006B1EC2
How times change.
Stuart79(Quote)
Dub as Richie says it was really only Stardy that was against Saylor at the start of this season, but before that there was a fair few slagging him off that he wasn’t good enough, had no loyalty to the club etc etc 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Comparing Tiote and Song?
Tiote is different class
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Danish fan here, I am coming over to see the Norwich match next sunday.
Of the following tickets, which will you recommend?
Gallowgate block R, row R or Sir John Hall L4W, row R.
Steffen2905(Quote)
Off topic. Is it wrong to spend all sunday afternoon having fantasies watching Natalie Sawyer on SSN
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Steffen2905
gallowgate
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Steffen2905
Just to put you wise. That is where the likes of Richie’ would maybe sit
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Stuart79
It’s a good article and it’s about time the way top management run the club got recognition. However, if True Faith can do that, it’s about time the top management stopped lying all of the time and was straight with the fans.
If we have a good summer transfer window i.e. lose a couple of players, but reinvest wisely, then I can see the majority of fans waking up to what many have already accepted. We can’t keep our best players as we aren’t in a position to. However, it won’t matter as we will replace quality with quality 90% of the time.
The Kid(Quote)
Toby…before I turned my back on my hometown I was Gallowgate block T so close, well done 😉
richietoon(Quote)
I’m sure you’ve seen them more than me, but I do think you’re giving them too much credit. I just don’t think this Arsenal team are anywhere near as good as the ones of the past decade who’ve passed teams off the park. For me, Song and Chamberline are the only 2 midfielders in their squad who are at that level, and the rest are quite a bit below. They probably are better than us, but I don’t think it’s a huge gulf like previous years.
Jon R(Quote)
The Kid
What I fear about our summer transfer policy is we may sell quality eg Tiote and replace with potential. It may work it may not
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
It’s not a case of ‘waking up’ to it. It’s a case of Ashley not making as big an **** of things as he did in the first few years, of him learning from his mistakes.
He’s starting to get most things right.
Not getting a CB and/or FB was a bad move and the renaming has been handled with a considerable lack of skill, but generally things have been improving.
Pootle(Quote)
TLR
if city come in for tiote, ask for 25m+that swedish kid. 15m goes into academy, 5m for his replacement and the other 5m to be reinvested somewhere else
andymag(Quote)
oh just thought of it
the other 5m could go towards contracts i.e Ba’s.
andymag(Quote)
I don’t think Tiote is good enough for City.
Jon R(Quote)