Luis Suarez Is Better Than Carlos Tevez

4 comments by Jack Atchinson on May 10th, 2011

Anfield legend believes team-mate will replicate Eastlands captain and push team into Champions League.

We must be better for United, says Carlo

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admits his team will have to be better to beat Manchester United after their 1-0 win against Wigan on Saturday.

A goal from Florent Malouda handed the Blues victory, but it was clear many of the players had one eye on Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford, which Chelsea will enter trailing 1-0 after a first-leg loss at Stamford Bridge.

“It?s positive to win because it was not easy to prepare this game between the quarter-finals,” Ancelotti said.

“The first half was not good; the second half was better. In the end we won – it was not a good performance, but it was not easy.”

“We have to play better at Old Trafford but this is normal. To win there we have to play at 100 percent.”

January signing Fernando Torres came off the bench against Wigan and three times went close to opening his account for his new club, but the striker was denied by poor finishing and some excellent saves from goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.

“Every one of us wanted him to score today and he was really unlucky sometimes and other times the keeper made a great save,” Ancelotti said.

“But we have to continue to have confidence in him. He moved well because he created several chances for himself; maybe he will score the most important goals of our season.”

“We have a strong squad, all the games we played against them (Manchester United) were in balance. And when we needed to win there (Old Trafford) last year we did.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, believes his side – which are a point adrift at the bottom of the English Premier League – did not deserve to lose at Stamford Bridge, and has predicted they will respond well from the setback.

“Nobody expected Wigan to get a positive result but I?m very proud of our display,” Martinez said.

“We were brave, we kept the ball well. We frustrated them for long spells and defended very well.”

Martinez was furious at Malouda’s winner, claiming his goalkeeper was fouled as he attempted to collect a Didier Drogba corner in the 67th minute.

“Because of that it was a huge feeling of frustration when the way they scored,” Martinez said.

“The keeper was clearly impeded by Torres, it?s as clear as day his elbow was in his face.”

“I?m a huge fan of Howard Webb and I?m extremely disappointed he couldn?t give us that call because it was the call of the game.”

“Sometimes when you are at the bottom of the league those decisions don?t go your way.”

“But we will have eight games left and I am 100 percent sure if we play that way we?ll have enough points to stay in the Premier League.”

“I only wish there were 30 games left because this team is starting to click and if there was longer left in the season I could see us finishing in the top 10.”

Sat 9 April, 2011

We must be better for United, says Carlo

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admits his team will have to be better to beat Manchester United after their 1-0 win against Wigan on Saturday.

A goal from Florent Malouda handed the Blues victory, but it was clear many of the players had one eye on Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford, which Chelsea will enter trailing 1-0 after a first-leg loss at Stamford Bridge.

“It?s positive to win because it was not easy to prepare this game between the quarter-finals,” Ancelotti said.

“The first half was not good; the second half was better. In the end we won – it was not a good performance, but it was not easy.”

“We have to play better at Old Trafford but this is normal. To win there we have to play at 100 percent.”

January signing Fernando Torres came off the bench against Wigan and three times went close to opening his account for his new club, but the striker was denied by poor finishing and some excellent saves from goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.

“Every one of us wanted him to score today and he was really unlucky sometimes and other times the keeper made a great save,” Ancelotti said.

“But we have to continue to have confidence in him. He moved well because he created several chances for himself; maybe he will score the most important goals of our season.”

“We have a strong squad, all the games we played against them (Manchester United) were in balance. And when we needed to win there (Old Trafford) last year we did.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, believes his side – which are a point adrift at the bottom of the English Premier League – did not deserve to lose at Stamford Bridge, and has predicted they will respond well from the setback.

“Nobody expected Wigan to get a positive result but I?m very proud of our display,” Martinez said.

“We were brave, we kept the ball well. We frustrated them for long spells and defended very well.”

Martinez was furious at Malouda’s winner, claiming his goalkeeper was fouled as he attempted to collect a Didier Drogba corner in the 67th minute.

“Because of that it was a huge feeling of frustration when the way they scored,” Martinez said.

“The keeper was clearly impeded by Torres, it?s as clear as day his elbow was in his face.”

“I?m a huge fan of Howard Webb and I?m extremely disappointed he couldn?t give us that call because it was the call of the game.”

“Sometimes when you are at the bottom of the league those decisions don?t go your way.”

“But we will have eight games left and I am 100 percent sure if we play that way we?ll have enough points to stay in the Premier League.”

“I only wish there were 30 games left because this team is starting to click and if there was longer left in the season I could see us finishing in the top 10.”

Sat 9 April, 2011

AC Milan Were Better Than Tottenham Says Zlatan Ibrahimovic

8 comments by Jack Atchinson on March 10th, 2011

San Siro striker believes the better team lost at White Hart Lane.

Premier League Tickets Available from Tixdaq.com

Is Harry Any Better Than Martin Jol?

"> Feb 24th, 2011 @ 10:14 am › Robert Reed
↓ Skip to comments

 

First of all, let me make it quite clear that this is not a ‘Harry bashing’ article. I have nothing against him at all and have total respect for what he is achieving. There is little doubt that this is something of a golden era for Tottenham; Champions League, challenging at the top end of the table etc. Harry Redknapp has certainly overseen this transition and all credit to him. We are playing an exciting brand of football which is winning us fans around the world and the club’s progression on his watch has left him as a virtual nailed on certainty (justice system permitting) to become the next England manager, a job which has always been his dream. He has done a lot for us, but we have certainly done a hell of a lot for him too.

We as Spurs fans are in an interesting and somewhat unique position of not only knowing that our manager is most probably going to leave soon even though he is successful, but also roughly when that is likely to be. I for one am intrigued to see what happens when that unfortunate event comes to pass.

The fact is, Martin Jol did a very good job at Tottenham himself. While he had some of the players we have now I don’t think many would disagree that our squad is better than it was then. Yet in both the 05/06 and 06/07 seasons he took us to fifth place in the league playing his own brand of exciting football. Indeed in one of those seasons we only missed out on fourth place on the last day of the season, and that partly due to the handicap of the stomach bug or dodgy lasagna or whatever (sour grapes and hard cheese certain Arsenal fans would have me believe) which struck our squad at the worst possible time. Granted, Manchester City weren’t in the good position they are in now but then Liverpool were a much more potent force than they are at present, so that sort of evens things out. Also Mourinho’s Chelsea were in full swing, but that didn’t stop Jol’s Tottenham beating them in the league; the first time we had done so since 1990.

In the 07/08 season we got off to a difficult start, with friction between Jol and Damien Commoli who was running everything except the coaching as part of Levy’s ill fated ‘Director Of Football’ strategy. Although the system had been working when Jol’s good friend Frank Arnesen had the Director’s role, the Dane’s departure left him with no friends in high places. Commoli and Jol never saw eye to eye due to the manager having no say in transfers and after losing the first two league games of the season his position was undermined when two Spurs officials were photographed with Juande Ramos in a Spanish hotel. Ramos admitted that Tottenham had made him a ‘dizzying offer’ and the writing was on the wall for the Dutchman. Things culminated in the incredibly disrespectful situation of certain players knowing Jol had been sacked before he did, and the humiliation of Jol learning in a text message from his nephew at half time in a UEFA Cup match that he had been sacked. So ended a shameful episode in Levy’s otherwise admirable running of the club.

So then to the glory, glory days of Juande Ramos. Our new Spanish manager took the squad to victory in his first season by winning the Carling Cup, and it was all down hill from there. We barely won a game for the rest of the season and finished eleventh. Ramos was not a happy teddy. He went hell for leather to get the players in peak physical condition with rigorous training and some nutritionist who made the squad eat what was an equivalent of baby food as well as being very strict about all aspects of the player’s diet and lifestyle. The players hated it, and that combined with Ramos’ lack of English and attitude to the players lost him the dressing room.

In the 08/09 season, as all will remember I’m sure, the squad good enough to have missed out on fourth place by one game a couple of years previously and win the Carling Cup the season before sat rock bottom of the league with morale even lower. Enter Redknapp.

Commoli was sacked and Redknapp was given the full control of the club which Martin Jol so craved. Harry worked the motivational magic he is so famous for to see Spurs rise up the league table to finish in eighth place and the next season, last season, we all know what happened. The emergence of Gareth Bale and the form of Luka Modric saw Spurs finally clinch that coveted fourth spot and Champions League qualification.

If it were down to me Harry would not be going anywhere. We are going in the right direction under his stewardship and I believe the old adage that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  Make no mistake, Redknapp has proved himself to be a top, top manager who we are lucky to have, but it has to be said that there is some evidence that he may have been a little fortunate with the credit he has received for the miraculous change in fortunes he oversaw at Tottenham. We do have a very good sqauad. Our midfield for instance I would not change for any other in the league.

Much is made of the fact that we have a lower wage budget than the teams around us, resulting in an attitude that we should ’know our place’. Some even make out that Liverpool’s higher wages mean they should be above us. Really? Paid more or not, would you prefer to have their squad than ours? I think that attitude is very disrespectful to our squad and that while fourth or fifth is where we will probably finish, third place would be a more likely outcome for us this season than sixth. The fact is many of our players are good enough to be playing for our rivals (those teams would have that be the case given half the chance) and be on the astronomical wages they pay. Bale, Modric, Lennon, van der Vaart, Dawson and arguably Huddlestone could all be on wages well in advance of what we pay them.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea have squads slightly better (except for midfield) than ours, but not a lot better. Our forward line doesn’t compare to any of theirs but saying their squads are miles better than ours because they pay more wages is a complete non sequitur. If he could, Alex Ferguson would buy half of our midfield to create a new United midfield of his own. 

It is true that if we do not progress, build a new stadium and continue playing at the absolute peak of our abilities to obtain Champions League riches our wage structure will hold us back. We need to strengthen and if CL football is not on offer that season the offer of high wages will be required. It is also true that if everyone finished in order of bookies favourites Spurs would probably be fifth, but that rarely happens in any sport. We are doing surprisingly well, but this view from some that Harry is making silk purses out of sow’s ears and that we are punching way above our weight is inaccurate. He is simply getting the maximum out of our impressive squad, as other top managers could.

As I said at the start I am not having a go at Harry, but I think optimism should be felt on two fronts if and when he leaves. Tottenham could well continue to thrive at this level, and England could have a manager to galvanise the squad and bring us something to be proud of on the international scene.

So who should the new manager be? Although it is way too early for that discussion I would say that, when the time comes, if bygones could be bygones a certain chubby, out of work and much loved Dutchman would get my vote.

COYS!

You can follow me on Twitter @ RobertReedUK

Some Related Spurs Posts:Bale Or Modric Go To United? You’re Living In The Past, FergieWhy Spurs Should Be Considered Favourites To Finish ThirdSpurs’ World-Wide Profile Is On The RiseCan We Play AC Milan Again Please?Harry Needs To Toughen Up To Save Spurs’ Season Categories: Blogroll, Carling Cup, Champions League, Harry Redknapp, Players, Premier League, Team News
Tags: Blogroll, Carling Cup, Champions League, Gareth Bale, Harry Redknapp, Luka Modric, Manchester City, Martin Jol, Players, Premier League, Premiership, Spurs, Team News, Tottenham, Tottenham Hotspur Del.icio.us Digg Technorati Magnolia Newsvine Reddit6 Responsesthin white duke 22 mins ago

Are you mad? Martin Jol is clueless, and always will be.

Greg 10 mins ago

stop talking nonsense. of course he is. BMJ would not make a substitution to save his life. he had a few favs and would not remove them from the team no matter how bad they were playing

Dan 4 mins ago

Gregg you describing Jol or Redknapp? What do you think redknapp is doing if he currently isn’t picking his favourites you tool. Crouch and Defoe should have been dropped ages a go.

Whitehartlad 3 mins ago

I know Harry is a man-management genius but I seriously worry about his tactical nouse. He has made some real blunders this season not starting Krancjar against Blackpool when he is the only one with goals in him. Not securing a forward or forwards in the transfer window was a disaster and wll cost us 4th place. I saw a statistic the other day that said our forwards had the lowest percentage success rate in the Premiership! None of them can hit the inside of a barn door on a regular basis and in Defoes case not at all. The loss on Tuesday will define our season in my opinion.

Mes 2 mins ago

Articles like this are the reason why I’m probably going to stop bothering with NewsNow.

Enorme Nuez 0 mins ago

I would take ‘Arry over Jol. My only beef with ‘Arry’s approach is his use of players or lack of use.

He should be rotating player. I know with of defensive situation we are limited in options, but elsewhere should be rotated. We rode Bale until he couldn’t carry us. Why couldn’t Kranjcar be used, and have Bale on the bench.

We have youth players that we don’t utilise. Some may say that they aren’t very good, but a game here and there won’t show their true potential. Look at other teams, that constantly shuffle the first team. ManUre is a prime example. Last nights match against Marseille had Darron Gibson starting over Scholes. Yes Scholes is old, but if that was ‘Arry he would’ve rode Scholes until he died. Smalling played, as did O’Shea when there were other options. If he utilised Rose and Townsend as options then players like Bale and Lennon or Van der Vaart wouldn’t be so susceptible to injures or burn out. Remember last season with Palacios and how he was rode till he burnt out.

All I’m say is rotate players and utilise the WHOLE team. Keeps players fresher and injury free in my opinion.

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Comment on Bent or Dzeko- Who will prove to be the better signing? by fh

SoccerNews.comHomeSoccer StatsLive ScoresTransfer NewsEditorialBettingTicketsFootball ShirtsHomeArchivesAdvertiseWrite for UsAboutContactTop LeaguesEnglish Premier LeagueEnglish ChampionshipLa LigaSerie ABundesligaLigue 1EredivisieScottish Premier LeagueMLSWorld CupInternational CupsUEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Europa LeagueEuropean ChampionshipWorld Cup Select your team Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Chelsea Everton Fulham Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Stoke City Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wigan Athletic Wolverhampton Wanderers Barnsley Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Doncaster Rovers Hull City Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest PortsmouthPreston North End Queens Park Rangers Reading Scunthorpe United Sheffield United Swansea City Watford Almeria Athletic Bilbao Atletico Madrid Barcelona Deportivo La Coruna Espanyol Getafe Hercules Levante Mallorca Malaga Osasuna Racing Santander Real Madrid Real Sociedad Real Zaragoza Sevilla Sporting Gijon Valencia Villarreal Bari Bologna Brescia Cagliari Catania Cesena Chievo Fiorentina Genoa Internazionale Juventus Lazio Lecce Milan Napoli Palermo Parma Roma Sampdoria Udinese Bayer Leverkusen Bayern Munchen Borussia Dortmund Borussia M'gladbach Eintracht Frankfurt Freiburg Hamburger SV Hannover 96 Hoffenheim Kaiserslautern Koln Mainz 05 Nurnberg Schalke 04 St. Pauli Stuttgart Werder Bremen Wolfsburg Arles Auxerre Bordeaux Brest Caen Lens Lille Lorient Monaco Montpellier Nancy Nice Olympique Lyon Olympique Marseille PSG Saint-Etienne Sochaux Stade Rennes Toulouse Valenciennes ADO Den Haag Ajax AZ De Graafschap Excelsior Feyenoord Groningen Heerenveen Heracles NAC Breda NEC PSV Roda JC Twente Utrecht Vitesse VVV Venlo Willem II Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Hamilton Academicals Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Inverness CT Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St. Johnstone St. MirrenJoin usFollow usTuesday 25 January, 2011

Comment on Bent or Dzeko- Who will prove to be the better signing? by Brad

SoccerNews.comHomeSoccer StatsLive ScoresTransfer NewsEditorialBettingTicketsFootball ShirtsHomeArchivesAdvertiseWrite for UsAboutContactTop LeaguesEnglish Premier LeagueEnglish ChampionshipLa LigaSerie ABundesligaLigue 1EredivisieScottish Premier LeagueMLSWorld CupInternational CupsUEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Europa LeagueEuropean ChampionshipWorld Cup Select your team Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Chelsea Everton Fulham Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Stoke City Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wigan Athletic Wolverhampton Wanderers Barnsley Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Doncaster Rovers Hull City Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest PortsmouthPreston North End Queens Park Rangers Reading Scunthorpe United Sheffield United Swansea City Watford Almeria Athletic Bilbao Atletico Madrid Barcelona Deportivo La Coruna Espanyol Getafe Hercules Levante Mallorca Malaga Osasuna Racing Santander Real Madrid Real Sociedad Real Zaragoza Sevilla Sporting Gijon Valencia Villarreal Bari Bologna Brescia Cagliari Catania Cesena Chievo Fiorentina Genoa Internazionale Juventus Lazio Lecce Milan Napoli Palermo Parma Roma Sampdoria Udinese Bayer Leverkusen Bayern Munchen Borussia Dortmund Borussia M'gladbach Eintracht Frankfurt Freiburg Hamburger SV Hannover 96 Hoffenheim Kaiserslautern Koln Mainz 05 Nurnberg Schalke 04 St. Pauli Stuttgart Werder Bremen Wolfsburg Arles Auxerre Bordeaux Brest Caen Lens Lille Lorient Monaco Montpellier Nancy Nice Olympique Lyon Olympique Marseille PSG Saint-Etienne Sochaux Stade Rennes Toulouse Valenciennes ADO Den Haag Ajax AZ De Graafschap Excelsior Feyenoord Groningen Heerenveen Heracles NAC Breda NEC PSV Roda JC Twente Utrecht Vitesse VVV Venlo Willem II Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Hamilton Academicals Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Inverness CT Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St. Johnstone St. MirrenJoin usFollow usMonday 24 January, 2011Do you wager? £25 Free Bet!

2010/11 Season Soccer Betting Special! £25 Free Bet (Bonus Code: F25). Claim Your Free Bet Today!

Alves predicts better Barca

Dani Alves believes Barcelona’s blistering form so far this season is just the beginning and claims they can be even better in 2011.

The defending champions top the La Liga table by two points going into the Spanish winter break and have proven almost unstoppable as they go in search of a third consecutive La Liga title.

After thrashing local rivals Espanyol 5-1 in the Catalan derby on Saturday, Brazil full-back Alves insists the best is yet to come.

“This team has no ceiling to its improvement,” Alves said.

“We’ve been showing on the pitch how we’ve got better. We found it hard to finish games off at the start of the season. Now we are on a great run, though we have to keep our feet on the ground.”

“There’s no harm in dreaming and with this team anything is possible. We are on the right track to being able to compete and nothing is going to distract us. With Barca, nothing is impossible.”

“We have to keep up our habits of hard work and humility. Now we have a break coming up and we can fill up our tanks to get through the next six months.”

“It’s down to all of us, both when we attack and we defend. We are all prepared to make a special effort. The squad is an example of how to work together. This is a collective game and we all need each other.”

Before going on a well-earned Christmas break, Barcelona welcome Athletic Bilbao to the Camp Nou for the first leg of their round of 16 match in the Copa del Rey.

“It’s a tough tie,” Alves said.

“There are two games and everything won’t end on Tuesday, there’s still a second game to come and we are just looking to play well.”

Bilbao will be without Spain international and World Cup winner Fernando Llorente – reportedly a target for Real Madrid – but Alves believes their opponents will still pose a considerable threat, even without the highly rated front-man.

“He’s an important and vital player for them, but Bilbao are much more than just him,” he said.

Mon 20 December, 2010

Alves predicts better Barca

Dani Alves believes Barcelona’s blistering form so far this season is just the beginning and claims they can be even better in 2011.

The defending champions top the La Liga table by two points going into the Spanish winter break and have proven almost unstoppable as they go in search of a third consecutive La Liga title.

After thrashing local rivals Espanyol 5-1 in the Catalan derby on Saturday, Brazil full-back Alves insists the best is yet to come.

“This team has no ceiling to its improvement,” Alves said.

“We’ve been showing on the pitch how we’ve got better. We found it hard to finish games off at the start of the season. Now we are on a great run, though we have to keep our feet on the ground.”

“There’s no harm in dreaming and with this team anything is possible. We are on the right track to being able to compete and nothing is going to distract us. With Barca, nothing is impossible.”

“We have to keep up our habits of hard work and humility. Now we have a break coming up and we can fill up our tanks to get through the next six months.”

“It’s down to all of us, both when we attack and we defend. We are all prepared to make a special effort. The squad is an example of how to work together. This is a collective game and we all need each other.”

Before going on a well-earned Christmas break, Barcelona welcome Athletic Bilbao to the Camp Nou for the first leg of their round of 16 match in the Copa del Rey.

“It’s a tough tie,” Alves said.

“There are two games and everything won’t end on Tuesday, there’s still a second game to come and we are just looking to play well.”

Bilbao will be without Spain international and World Cup winner Fernando Llorente – reportedly a target for Real Madrid – but Alves believes their opponents will still pose a considerable threat, even without the highly rated front-man.

“He’s an important and vital player for them, but Bilbao are much more than just him,” he said.

Mon 20 December, 2010

Manchester United - Arsenal Preview: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Manchester United – Arsenal Preview: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - - The Offside - Arsenal Football Club Blog
« Looking Ahead To A Clash with Old Rivals | Home | Manchester United – Arsenal Preview: Harder, Better, Faster, StrongerBy: Martin | December 12th, 2010

Manchester United

Position: 2nd, 8-7-0 (31 points, +19 goal differential)

Home Form: 7-1-0 (+18 goal differential)

Recent Form: WDDWW

Last Meeting: Arsenal 1 – Manchester United 3 (January 31, 2010)

Well, tomorrow is a huge, huge match that needs no build-up. This is a rivalry with such a contentious history and so many vivid moments that stick in the memory that just a few words can conjure up exactly where you were and how you reacted when it happened. The five-minute cup final. The points deduction brawl. Overmars beats Schmeicel. Keane & Vieira in the tunnel. van Nistelrooy’s penalty miss. Rooney’s dive. Pizza-gate. Lehmann and Vieira in penalty kicks. In recent years, there was Gibbs’s slip and Diaby’s own goal. And now that both teams are top of the table? Yeah, this is a big one.

And it won’t be easy. Manchester United are unbeaten in the league this season. And haven’t lost a league match in 20 fixtures. And while you can certainly say they have hardly looked unbeatable this season, they have looked pretty much unbeatable at home, going 7-1-0 at Old Trafford. Their attack at home has been lethal — they have scored at least 2 goals in every home league match, and 24 all together. With our shaky defense, that is a major, major concern.

If it’s any consolation, they have looked shakier at home in other competitions, like the Champions League. They went 1-2-0 in their 3 home matches in the Champions League, and did not score more than a single goal in any of the 3. So maybe that’s some hope. And while 4 out of their 8 home league matches have been clean sheets, they have shown some vulnerability — both Liverpool and West Brom (the only team to have gotten a point at Old Trafford this season) scored 2 goals there.

So they may be a bit vulnerable, but it will be very, very tough. I think it will be crucial for us not to concede early. United will come out looking to probe our defense and strike early, and given what we’ve seen from our team psychologically, I don’t feel at all confident that we wouldn’t let our spirit drop if we concede early. We just need to establish ourselves and get settled into our game, and from there anything can happen.

You know Manchester United team’s well enough that I don’t need to break it down much. Edwin van der Sar is an excellent keeper. Vidic and Ferdinand are one of the best, if not the best, center half pairing in the league (Ferdinand picked up a niggling injury that some were saying could keep him out of the match, but all reports are that he will play). Evra is certainly one of the top left-backs in the Premiership, and Rafael da Silva, while prone to the odd moment of idiocy (which he showed against Bayern in the Champions League last season), is still talented.

In midfield, the man who has been Manchester United’s most dangerous attacker this season, Nani, will be on the right. He’s been superb this season, leading the league in assists, and Clichy will have his hands full. If he has any “Clichy moments,” Nani will make us pay, as he did in the corresponding fixture last year when he scored, although Almunia did flap that one in a bit. He’s capable of both cutting the ball inside and shooting and delivering hard, pin-point crosses. And given that Clichy will almost certainly make a few mistakes out there, the “holding” midfielders and center halves need to keep their heads on a swivel and be prepared to cover for him.

His counterpart on the left will likely be Park, whose work rate helps them a lot defensively and who has played well against Arsenal in the past. In the center of the pitch, they have several guys they use, but it will probably be two of the group of Scholes (who is doubtful with an injury), Giggs, Fletcher, and Carrick. I continue to think this is Manchester United’s achilles heel, as I’m not sold on Carrick and Fletcher and think that Scholes and Giggs are limited by their age. I think this is an area where we could have an advantage so I hope we press it.

Up front, it’s pretty nailed on that Berbatov and Rooney will start. I really frakking hate Berbatov, but he is the Premiership’s leading goalscorer this season, so we need to be careful. Although it should be pointed out that he’s had a weird season for a “leading goalscorer.” 5 of his 11 goals alone came when Fat Sam’s Blackburn team decided to bend over and spread ‘em for the Mancs like they always do. He scored an admittedly-impressive hat-trick against Liverpool on September 19. But he didn’t score at all between September 19 and November 27, so while he’s talented and needs to be closely watched, he is a headcase that often drifts in and out of games.

As for Rooney, well, what can you say? He scored 34 goals in all competitions for Manchester United last season, and 26 in the league alone. He’s always given Arsenal fits, especially on the counterattack. But he hasn’t scored from open play since March, has had all kinds of problems with injuries, his personal life is a shambles due to his predilection for the members of the world’s oldest profession, and his head doesn’t seem right. I’d be lying if I said he still doesn’t scare the hell out of me, but if you have to play against Rooney, you probably couldn’t pick a much better time than the present. But it seems like a player like him that thrives on emotion may very well pull it together and bring his best efforts to a huge match like this.

As for team news for us, Almunia, Frimpong, Vermaelen, and Diaby are still out, although Diaby is supposedly nearing a return. Gibbs is out for another couple of weeks. Fabregas is facing a late fitness test, but I think that, given how long the season is and how many important matches we have coming up, we should rest him. He has a history of coming back too soon and exacerbating the hamstring problem, so unless the physios are 100% sure that his hamstrings are 100% healthy, I’d rather him sit this one out and try to get back for Stoke on Saturday.

Here’s my best guess at a lineup:

Flaps

Sagna-Koscielny-Squillaci-Clichy

Song-Wilshere

Theo-Nasri-Arshavin

Chamakh

Bench: Wojo, Eboue, Djourou, Denilson, Bendtner, Rosicky, van Persie

Flaps is pretty nailed on to start, as are Sagna and Clichy. Which brings us to the center half pairing. Squillaci has played every minute of every match, excluding the Carling Cup, since he’s joined the club. I don’t see that changing. Who will join him? Well, Wenger seems to prefer Koscielny, so I suspect he will be there, although he’s certainly given us plenty of worrying moments thus far. It’s a bit of a shame, because Djourou has really rounded into form and is playing well at the moment, and is bigger and stronger than the other two. Honestly, if it were me, I would think seriously about pairing Koscielny and Djourou — they’ve been paired together for all our Carling Cup matches, and have only conceded a single goal in 3 matches. Squillaci has been a decent pick-up, and I like his durability, but honestly, what has he done that deserves an automatic starting spot? His calling card is supposed to be his experience and organization, but I don’t see that our back-line is any better with him in the line-up. The last two goals Arsenal has conceded have been a result of his poor decision-making, and it’s fair to say that Manchester United will put us under a lot more pressure at Old Trafford than Fulham and Partizan put us under at the Emirates. Free Johan Djourou!

In midfield, I think that despite his recent good play, Denilson will start on the bench. Which means that it will be Wilshere and Song in the “holding” roles, and they will need to take those ironic quotation marks I just put around holding away. They need to focus on maintaining possession and shielding the backline; anything they can add going forward should be in the back of their minds. The easiest way to shut down Rooney is to deny him service. To that end, the fullbacks should be closing down the wingers, which often leads to wingers cutting in and necessitating one of the midfielders to get back and cover. And as I said, I am not convinced by United’s central midfielders; if Song and Wilshere play them tight and physical I think we can really shut down the link between backline and frontline. If that happens, Rooney will get frustrated and start dropping deeper and deeper into midfield to get the ball himself, which is exactly where we want him. United have also scored several counterattacking goals on us over the last few seasons due to Denilson jogging back when he should be running. Song and Wilshere need to watch tapes of that and make sure to bust it full-speed back when United break.

To RvP or not RvP? That is the question. I think if he starts it will change things around. If he plays, I suspect he will once again play in the “Cesc role,” which is where he has been playing lately, but the fact is he’s coming off his first 90+ minute performance in many many months midweek, and he has not been effective in that role. And I just don’t see Wenger pulling off a guy like Chamakh, who has been so good for us and has the physical strength and aerial skill to cause guys like Vidic and Ferdinand problems. I say he stays on the bench.

In the forward midfielder role, I think it will be Nasri, even though he hasn’t played there in a while. But it could be van Persie or Rosicky, too. I have Arshavin starting in his customary spot on the left, but given how United play, I wonder if that’s the best idea; Arshavin is crap at closing down and tracking back, and we could really use whoever is in that role to help try to shut down Nani. I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to have a guy like Nasri or even Theo out there. And after his good display midweek, I think Theo could get a start there. He has been effective against United in the past, and if nothing else he should pin back Evra to where he doesn’t get forward in the attack as much, which will help alleviate a lot of pressure United will try to pile on top of us. But if Rosicky or van Persie starts in the middle, then Nasri will almost certainly start on the right.

The situation is this. Manchester City beat West Ham, which puts them even with us on points, but we’re still ahead on goal differential (and the match tomorrow is a match in hand). United are one point behind us with a game against Blackpool in hand, so functionally you’d have to say they are ahead of us, although a win tomorrow will put us well and truly in first place.

I want this one so bad my stomach hurts. We’ve outplayed them several times in the last few seasons, and have let them off too easily. We were too soft, or lost concentration at a crucial moment, or just weren’t ready to grab the moment by the throat. But I’m sick of that — I’m sick of losing big matches and I’m sick of not winning trophies. Yes, we still have 21 matches after this one in the season, but we can make a statement here, that this Arsenal team is different. We’re tired of all the quips and jibes about pretty football but can’t win anything and five years without a trophy. And these guys aren’t THAT good. We’ve got the team to beat them — like my man Kanye says, we just need to be Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger. (h/t Sairax for the video)

We can do this. Come on Arsenal.

************

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