Absolutely. Can't help thinking he might prefer to get a game every weekend for Fulham (or similar) to being a much-maligned second rater at Arsenal. Doubt his wages would be adversely impacted.

Burn: Any team which places emphasis on work rate and aggression in the midfield (pretty much every team in the premier league), would find Denilson a liability. La Liga would be a better destination if he intends to make anything worthwhile of his career.

I'd argue the midtable trend in the PL is away from clogging, or at least clogging of the "cut them down in midfield and hit it high to the big man" variety, and towards a more footballistically cultivated approach - but it's all hypothetical anyway.

flobaba wrote:

Burn: Any team which places emphasis on work rate and aggression in the midfield (pretty much every team in the premier league), would find Denilson a liability.

hey i got laughed out of A-M for suggesting that denilson wouldn't start at maybe 15 teams in the league

Throw enough shit...

Gurgen wrote:

Missed the game but not too fussed about this. It was essential to rest everyone after that Barca game considering the upcoming fixtures. We will win at home with the same shite out.

Agreed, but it was still disappointing!:mad:

Yeah, I couldn't catch this one either so I've only seen the goals so far.

Disappointing, but on the other hand we were 1-0 up in the 89th minute. So the players thought they had it won, had done enough, and had no time to respond. I don't even really feel that inclined to bitch about Almunia, sure he could've saved it but it was a solid finish from Tehoue.

Captain wrote:

Throw enough shit...

easy there, princess!

if spurs cast aways can end up at a pretty good club like sevilla then certainly denilson can do something similar.

We could've used a late Vela goal today.

With the self-imposed fixture pile-up and the continued evidence from Denilson that he's inadequate cover for our midfielders, it's time to recall at least Ramsey to the team.

Burnwinter wrote:

Disappointing, but on the other hand we were 1-0 up in the 89th minute. So the players thought they had it won, had done enough, and had no time to respond. I don't even really feel that inclined to bitch about Almunia, sure he could've saved it but it was a solid finish from Tehoue.

But the whole world knows that even if we're 4-0 up they still have a chance, we can't relax till whistle is blown the players washed changed interviews done and on the bus.

I thought Wenger said that we were going for all 4 trophies this season and then he pull this shit.......

We don't do "I told you so's" here but, to paraphrase Kami- Some of us got laughed at on A-M in 2006 for saying Almunia should never play in an Arsenal shirt again.
Why is he (and Rosicky for that matter) still at the club????

Still not having seen the match I really shouldn't weigh into this discussion, but I will of course.

Almunia's a clear #3 at the moment Biggus, so I don't have an issue with Wenger's squad management on that score. There are plenty of #1s in the PL who would've let that one get past them, or have committed worse mistakes this season.

The only issue you could have is a general feeling that Almunia should have gone on principle by now - but again you could say the same about Fabianski.

Biggus wrote:

But the whole world knows that even if we're 4-0 up they still have a chance, we can't relax till whistle is blown the players washed changed interviews done and on the bus.

Erm yeah, but that isn't going to stop you sitting back if you're 1-0 up with 10 minutes left, nor should it: it's just that Tehoue was able to execute a nice piece of work to skin a slow old man and an inexperienced teenager and get into a scoring position, at which point he put in a decent finish.

Based on what I've heard about the game I would tend to blame the forwards more in any case, as it sounds like we threw away quite a few reasonable chances. I'm not making excuses, just looking at the bigger picture which is (a) it was a collective failure (b) it was the second string (c) we should still win the replay with the same band of monkeys. Not going to slash my wrists over this one.

Having thought about this, i think we are at times overly critical of our second string. They clearly aren't on the level of the first team but a number of teams will dream of being able to put out a second team as good as the one we put out last night. On their own they simply lack the quality to win us games. If we play the same forwards we started with yesterday but with the first team midfield behind them or conversely if we play the same midfield we started with yesterday but with Nasri, Walcott and RvP in front of them we would have won comfortably. It is always going to be difficult to win such intense games with 11 new players and not because they lack cohesion having not played much together but simply because it is a second choice 11.

It is not difficult to understand why Wenger started with that team. We are in all 4 competitions and should win the replay at home. Nasri's was a fatigue injury and if not protected a number of them could suffer the same considering the amount of football we have played this season. Surely we have played more than any other team in Europe, that too without a winter break.

It is not difficult, on the day, to understand why we started with that team.

Tougher to comprehend, for me, is what some of those players are still doing at the club.

Burnwinter wrote:

I'm not making excuses, just looking at the bigger picture which is (a) it was a collective failure (b) it was the second string (c) we should still win the replay with the same band of monkeys. Not going to slash my wrists over this one.

Well I'd agree you win and lose as a team- Wengers team.
As for the monkeys winning the replay- Yes in principle.
But as Homer says 'Communism works, in principle'.

@ Rohit, no PL team get a winter break, Wenger said that we were going for the quadrouple.

Yeah I know he says a lot of things......

And honestly, given how shit most of those players have been this season, when called on to band together and dismiss a lower league opposition, I see no reason at all to assume that they'll safely dispatch of Orient again in the home leg, without help from better players.

asajoseph wrote:

I see no reason at all to assume that they'll safely dispatch of Orient again in the home leg, without help from better players.

Asa, that would be true for all top clubs in the world, wouldn't it?

I don't believe a second XI from Man Utd, Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Tottenham or even Barcelona for that matter would have it easy against lower league opposition, even at home.

There is a massive drop in overall quality as each player for their position is 2nd, 3rd or even 4th choice and all of them put together won't be capable of very inspiring football. Anyone of them can fit into the first team with their obvious flaws not proving as costly simply because they are surrounded by much better players.

I still think we should have won yesterday and i won't cry if some of the players who started last night left the club but i also don't think we should be judging a second XI like this.

Rohit wrote:

asajoseph wrote:

I see no reason at all to assume that they'll safely dispatch of Orient again in the home leg, without help from better players.

Asa, that would be true for all top clubs in the world, wouldn't it?

I don't believe a second XI from Man Utd, Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Tottenham or even Barcelona for that matter would have it easy against lower league opposition, even at home.

There is a massive drop in overall quality as each player for their position is 3rd/ 4th choice and all of them put together won't be capable of very inspiring football. Anyone of them can fit into the first team with their obvious flaws not proving as costly simply because they are surrounded by much better players.

I still think we should have won yesterday and i won't cry if some of the players who started last night left the club but i also don't think we should be judging a second XI like this.

You put out an inferior team, you're always going to struggle.

The manager's job is to put out a team that can win on the day - against lower league teams this season, Wenger's got it wrong a few times.

Every team has to have 3rd and 4th choice players. Fair enough. It is somewhat frustrating when our 3rd and 4th choice players are such a collection of has-beens and never-was's though. At least when we were playing the youth in the Carling Cup, we were giving invaluable experience to the club's up-and-comings. Sell half the lineup from yesterday's game, and as a club we'd miss out on absolutely nothing beyond a few bottom-feeders on the depth chart.

And I don't see many of them 'fititng into the first team' either. I see players who, for the most part, when they get chances are carried by their team-mates.

But as I say, it's about putting out a side that can win the game, and that lot have proven, over and over again this year, that they don't have it in them to dispatch supposedly inferior sides.

He did not, at any stage, say we were going for the quadruple.

Just that "we had the talent to go deep in all four competitions and we might or we might not" or some such slippery remark