We should field our strongest side

villainies wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Yes defending wasnt bad but with Fab banned i think Wenger shouldve played Nasri and Walcott.. kept the the same flow from the Chelsea game..

Also in Jan why not give Bolton the 15M they want and get Cahill.. It could mean the title....

Is that the very same man we gave away for fook all?

For what its worth I think the Gooners still look a bit vulnerable to mount a serious challenge for the title unless of course Man U continue too slip up.

I'm awaiting the return of Vermaelen to central defence and I prefer the youngster Szczesny in goal to Fabianski, simply because he bosses his area whereas Fabianski, fine shot-stopper though he is doesn't control his, hence last night's mess of an equalising goal. I want a keeper like Lehmann, Seaman who yells and shouts and claims the ball and, having watched Szczesny whilst he was playing on loan at last season, I can see he's got a big mouth!
Meanwhile, if we do Birmingham and ManC in the next two games I'm quietly confident we can go the distance. If we drop points in either game I'm looking at a top four place, as usual.

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Jpr you have just forced yourself back into the title race by beating a rival who has had the upper hand over you in recent matches.. Then you see Man U conceed an injury time goal to drop two points..

Is it really the time to play a midfield without Fabegas Nasri and Wallcot???

Particularly so when Walcott has missed half the season and we played with no real holding midfielder.
Of course it was time to press home our advantage. The team fielded cannot defend as a unit it's been proven time and again, that midfield leaves our defence totally exposed. The selection was shit in my eyes.

jak wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Jpr you have just forced yourself back into the title race by beating a rival who has had the upper hand over you in recent matches.. Then you see Man U conceed an injury time goal to drop two points..

Is it really the time to play a midfield without Fabegas Nasri and Wallcot???

Particularly so when Walcott has missed half the season and we played with no real holding midfielder.
Of course it was time to press home our advantage. The team fielded cannot defend as a unit it's been proven time and again, that midfield leaves our defence totally exposed. The selection was shit in my eyes.

Nevertheless jak, the goals conceded were due to poor refereeing, which seems to occur regularly plus poor defending, which seems to occur (to us) regularly. If the same team that outplayed Chelsea had been on the park both those goals could have been conceded, unfortunately. Still, let's look on the bright side - 10 points from the four Christmas/New Year fixtures will be fine, eh???!!!

jpr60 wrote:

jak wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Jpr you have just forced yourself back into the title race by beating a rival who has had the upper hand over you in recent matches.. Then you see Man U conceed an injury time goal to drop two points..

Is it really the time to play a midfield without Fabegas Nasri and Wallcot???

Particularly so when Walcott has missed half the season and we played with no real holding midfielder.
Of course it was time to press home our advantage. The team fielded cannot defend as a unit it's been proven time and again, that midfield leaves our defence totally exposed. The selection was shit in my eyes.

Nevertheless jak, the goals conceded were due to poor refereeing, which seems to occur regularly plus poor defending, which seems to occur (to us) regularly. If the same team that outplayed Chelsea had been on the park both those goals could have been conceded, unfortunately. Still, let's look on the bright side - 10 points from the four Christmas/New Year fixtures will be fine, eh???!!!

Every referee in the PL is poor including the bloke who refereed the CL final and the WC final in the same year, how bad is he?!!!! So poor decisions are a weekly hazard for all teams.
The team that played Chelsea worked very hard to a man they pressed Chelsea for 90 minutes.
To change 8 of that side was too many and it's a fact that Denilson and Rosicky will not track back, they are very poor players and not up to the top level. They bring no quality going forward either. Along with Arshavin who defintely has the talent but who also will not defend, that would leave the back four exposed in this game. Remember we also had no recognised left back.
When Diaby had to go off, replaced by Wiltshire, it left us with a midfield with a combined height of about 3' 6" against Wigan, who have some tall players. Song really needed to play in this game.
If Wenger did not want to play Song though he should have played Walcott and Nasri which would have made us a much more potent attacking force. Walcott needs the games, his potential is being stifled, he's hardly played since recovering from injury some weeks ago. To leave them all out was crazy.
Wenger has defended his team selection so much it smacks of him knowing he fecked it.
The likes of Rosicky and Denilson have let us down too many times, watch them closely in games, they do not put it in.
Even when Rosicky came on against Chelsea, it was the only time in the whole game that Cole was allowed to enter our half because Rosicky failed to press him when Cole had the ball. He simply stands and watches, he will not perform his defensive duties.
I really believe that we've had an excellent chance of winning the PL this season and we are just chucking it away by shooting ourselves in the foot.
Better we field our strongest side and deal with the injuries as and when they occur. Players pick up knocks and suspensions, hence you get natural rotation in the side. Changing 8 players stops the side building a momentum and understanding. We saw a great performance against Chelsea. Those players must have been buzzing and raring to go.
Wenger chucked that advantage away, in my and many other Arsenal supporters view, along with two vital points.