please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Team News: Arsene Wenger: Form Guide: please log in to view this image Three Key Match-ups: please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Overall Record vs Aston Villa: Played: 187 Wins: 76 Draws: 45 Losses: 66 For: 296 Against: 266 GD: 30 Last 6 Meetings: Arsenal 1 - 3 Aston Villa Arsenal 2 - 1 Aston Villa Aston Villa 0 - 0 Arsenal Arsenal 3 - 0 Aston Villa Arsenal 3 - 2 Aston Villa (FA Cup) Aston Villa 1 - 2 Arsenal please log in to view this image Manager's Views: (To Be Updated) My Team: please log in to view this image
Aston Villa have a dreadful home record, so I fully expect us to win and win well. Just need be aware of them on the counter. Last time we played them, we did not play with a DM and got torn apart on the counter, because that's the only threat Villa offer.
We had no DM's available to play, unless you count that loser Frimpong.....One of the perils of our bad transfer summer, yeah it ended on a somewhat bright note, but don't know why the **** we didn't have a new DMF before the season started already? Looking at how tight the season is now, those 3 points look very very costly now....And this again should be an educational lesson to some fans here who say they keep judgment on the transfer window until it closes. What the ****'s the point of that if the season starts 2 weeks before that? You can effectively drop points because of a lack of action in the market, so is it better to do business before the season starts to be as strong as possible, or just wait till right to the end when the season's already started and you dropped some points that could come back and bite you on the ass.
team i'd like to see: ----------------Szczesny------------------ --Sagna--Mertesacker--Koscielny--Monreal-- -------------Flamini------Wilshere---------- -Gnabry------------Ozil-------------Cazorla- -----------------Podolski------------------- Subs: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Arteta, Chamberlain, Giroud, Park Of course, I think its safe to assume Wenger will play Arteta alongside Flamini in the middle with Wilshere on the right. And I really didn't want to put Park on the bench, but who else is there?
Podolski ahead of Giroud? Did you Podolski's performance against Cardiff? He is simply not a lone CF. Drops too deep and can't link the play like Giroud, also does not have a great movement in and around the box. He is a great finisher, but he won't get many good chances with his limited movement.
i was under the impression giroud might still be slightly injured. if thats not the case then i'd have him in the team and podolski in midfield
Oh **** off, it was a goodtransfer window. We may bnot have managed to get our business tied up before the first game of the season but we did very welll in the window and had it not been for Mourinho being a dick we would have strengthened in every position people wanted. We signed Flamini on a free - brilliant piece of business, one of the signings of the season. We signed Ozil - Top of the assists table for the league and gave everyone a lift at the club - fantastic signing. We got rid of all of the deadwood (including a deal in place for Bendtner before the plug was pulled on our Ba deal). And we got all of our key players tied down to long contracts rather than losing anyone important from the team, for the first time in years. It really was a very good transfer window, granted the timing of our signings wasn't ideal but we have no idea of what was going on behind the scenes. Looking at the transfer window as a whole it was obviously a good window for us. Your negativity really is beyond me.
Don't blame Mo for us not getting a striker, we had the whole ****ing summer to do it, so quit with your rubbish excuses. The fact is, we lost our first game of the season because of a LACK of signings. If we had a DMF, Villa wouldn't have overran us in the midfield which led to their victory, this is not negativity, but facts, something apologists like you can't understand, anytime someone brings 'facts' you buffoons go on about 'negativity', stay in your little bubble world.
He gave a pen against Koscielny and sent him off, when Kos got to the ball and made a great tackle. That incident cost us the game.
I don't blame Mourinho, he was within his rights to change his mind when he realised we would be title contenders. My point was that the club had made attempts to get in a striker on top of strengthening the other areas that needed it. We lost that game with a sub-par performance and terrible ref. Sonce then we have had an incredible season and are still top mid-way through January and both Ozil and Flamini (our summer signings) have played key roles in that. We also kept hold of all our key players and signed players to long term contracts and shipped out the deadwood. Really other than managing to sign a striker we did everything we could have wanted from the club. And on the issue of a striker it was obvious we tried to sign a few different players and we have no ideawhat went on behind the scenes and hwo close we where to doing any deals. Failure to strengthen one position when a deal was still in place right up until the last moments of the window is hardly a reason to put it down as a terrible window or a failed window. Everything else was exactly what we wanted evenif the timing was slightly off (but again we dont know what was going on behind the scenes). the fact we are in the position we are in, top of the table andthrough our difficult CL group shows how well summer went for us.
Wow, some real pressure on us now having watched all the other teams in the top seven win. This is why I ****ing hate seeing us play on a Monday.
Been a terrible weekend results wise. I hope we can get the win that we need to return to the top of the table tomorrow. Will be tough.
we have more than enough quality and confidence to destroy Villa . I have no worries about this game . The thing that gives me confidence about the team now is that they dont panic when the plan goes wrong . They can go behind , it dont matter , not like last season . COYG!
This is an absolute NID result. I've watched a lot of Villa at home (used to live next to the stadium) and it really is just a question of how many. Agbonlahor's pace is the only thing that could cause Arsenal a bit of trouble but I've no idea if he is even fit.
They always raise their game for our visit. I dunno why we seem to struggle against them. Even when your lot put 8 past them last season and we had to play them a few weeks later, they looked a completely different side...
