And that's without considering that the ever reliable Szczesny has been replaced by Disaster-Almunia behind them.

Yup.

Ah, there we go. Thanks, Asa.

Whose available for the weekend? is it more or less..

Almunia
Sagna Squiscielny Clichy
Diaby Wilshere Song
Arshavin vPersie Nasri

Song and Diaby(surprise, surprise) are injured.

I sincerely hope Wenger will start Ramsey. If Denilson starts I'm going to break something.

A midfield of Ramsey, Wilshere and Rosicky(ughh) is probably the best we can do. The rest of the team picks itself.

Oh, I didn't see them at PhysioRoom. Ah, well. So Ankles will be playing? Maybe a bit of Ramsey. We really are thin

I'd be surprised if Diaby were really injured. More likely the useless lazy twit is still getting over the fact he was booed off at OT.

Wilshere, Ramsey, Denilson please. Rosicky has been shocking and deserves nothing.

Just imagine a player coming on at left wing, at 4-1 (or whatever it was) and being instrumental in throwing the game away. I've never seen anything like it and will never forget it either.

Captain wrote:

Just imagine a player coming on at left wing, at 4-1 (or whatever it was) and being instrumental in throwing the game away. I've never seen anything like it and will never forget it either.

Pascal Cygan came on at LW against Man Utd once and threw that game away, but it was only 1-0 at the time.

Anyway, Ramsey, Wilshere, +1 for me. Can't bring myself to call for Denilson to be included. Maybe we can get John Barnes on an emergency loan.

You know that you have hit rock bottom when you are convinced that even Cygan would have done a better job.

Has anyone been watching WBA since Hodgson took over? Any key differences in the way that they are approaching games?

Ramsey better start.

I haven't been watching them myself but I know that a few people around here have been keeping a Vela watch.
He changed the momentum of their games against Stoke and against Wolves when he came off the bench and scored.
He's not playing tomorrow so that's an advantage.

They are unbeaten in the PL since Hodgson took over (you probably know this anyway), drawing two and winning one.

It's 27 games since they last kept a clean sheet and apparently 61 games since they were last involved in a goalless draw.

They've drawn their last three home games and Man U were the last team to beat them at the Hawthornes.

Would seem that the odds would favour a score draw then?
Or a 2-1 to us .
I'm not downbeat about our chances today.
Even with the potential for mayhem in our defence after a weeks rest we might see more energy and danger from the trio of Robin, Nasri and Arshavin and we might see Ramsey start. Enough of difference to inject some of the zip lacked in OT?
If they are in form they will get us goals.

Captain wrote:

Has anyone been watching WBA since Hodgson took over? Any key differences in the way that they are approaching games?

I've watched two games. In both of them they've played it tactically. The first half has been about containment with a deeplying midfield and basically no players except Fortune venturing forward. Second half has been about subbing on impact players like Odemwingie and Vela and pushing forward to grab points. I've heard that Odemwingie was carrying some knocks so he might well have started otherwise though.

I think we need Ramsey if Fabregas can't play. I don't think they're going to come out of their shell in the second half at all unless we score early. They can't use Vela as a late impact sub this time either.

asajoseph wrote:

Captain wrote:

Just imagine a player coming on at left wing, at 4-1 (or whatever it was) and being instrumental in throwing the game away. I've never seen anything like it and will never forget it either.

Pascal Cygan came on at LW against Man Utd once and threw that game away, but it was only 1-0 at the time.

Anyway, Ramsey, Wilshere, +1 for me. Can't bring myself to call for Denilson to be included. Maybe we can get John Barnes on an emergency loan.

Ramsey. Wilshere, Nasri. Arshavin and one of the spare full backs on the wing.

Eboue is about as useless as Rosicky on the wing. Not much point. Maybe give Gibbs a turn, at least he can pass.

Eboue is better than Rosicky IMO, you know Rosicky is going to be shit no matter what, every now and then Eboue manages a decent game, he's better for team too because he takes players one and usually beats them, his final ball is poor usually but every now and then he can make a difference.

That said I'd prefer Gibbs too, he's quick, he can cross the ball and he'll work hard. Plus he needs games, even if they're on the wing.

I agree with qs. One thing Eboue does well is getting in behind the defence regularly which usually creates panic and stretches the opponents a bit. He was quite a decent backup for the wing last season, at least for being a 5th choice. Would have preferred to see him getting games further up the field this campaign too. He's twice the attacking player that the current Rosicky is.

Yeah, I'd rather see Eboue over Rosicky out wide in this one. Wilshere-Ramsey-Nasri in centre mid would be interesting.

I'd rather see 10 men than either one of those knuckleheads. If Denilson is healthy, put him in midfield.