Are these the seven handsomest Arsenal players?

By 1970's Gooner

There are top quality footballers playing the most attractive football, scoring the most beautiful goals or defending in such a manner that getting past them becomes a real feat.

At least that is how all the fans see and mostly think about the players who represent their favourite side. And they are adored for this reason.

But there are some footballers who develop a bigger fan base not only because of their footballing ability but because of their good looks!

Have you wondered what marks each Arsenal player would get on the “good looks” League?

I asked a small group of female friends (who are not all football fans) to look at the Arsenal players with a different eye!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say so there are bound to be a lot of different opinions about this very subjective matter.

Nevertheless in descending order these are the top 7 that they came up with.

7: Theo Walcott (cute)



6: Manuel Almunia (looks manly)



5: Nicklas Bendtner (nice)



4: Gilberto Silva (sweet)



3: Eduardo Da Silva ( latin looks)



2: Robin Van Persie (very cute)



1: Jens Lehmann (very handsome!)







It must be said that the rest of the Arsenal players were ….nowhere!

Ed: I am sure that there are a lot of different opinions about this subject and that the above list is by no means definitive.

Who do you think is the prettiest of them all?

Arsenal can storm to victory by exploiting Liverpool’s weaknesses

By Eros, Arsenal Analysis resident season ticket holder at the Emirates (North Upper Stand Row Q)

There is this culture brewing in the British media that Arsenal players go down very easily and that Cesc has a nasty streak that he needs to curb.

A specific sky sports commentator even accused Hleb of making a meal of a challenge from behind, since the foul committed “has not put him out of commission for a couple of months” God help us!

However, all football experts seem to blatantly ignore Steve “diving master” Gerard, going to ground at Goodison Park as soon as he saw the white line, well before any tackle was made. He then had the audacity to ask for a red card!

Why am I having a rant about inept refereeing?

I am only mentioning the above as I feel that a similar scenario could occur on Sunday.

Liverpool are likely to add a physical element to their game, fly into every challenge and try and take Arsenal out of their tempo.

Benitez is a good tactician and he knows Arsenal is less effective when Cesc is not controlling the tempo of the game.

The easiest way to get to Cesk is to make him get involved, as Lampard does very well every single time, as well as some Bolton and Blackburn players.

They try and cloud his judgement, make him loose concentration and make rushed decisions.

Other than that I expect Liverpool to stick to the plan they implemented last season with great success humiliating Arsenal 4-1 at Anfield.

Expect a number of long diagonal balls from midfield aimed at the Arsenal fullbacks to Crouch and Kuyt with Torres trying to get at the end of them.

An additional threat Arsenal need to be worried about is Torres’s speed and trickery. Something Liverpool did not have last year and we have not yet faced this season.

Torres likes to drift on the left and make runs in the ‘Henry channel’ with Mascherano and Gerrard feeding balls in to him. Give him space and he can be deadly.

I think with Van Persie out Wenger will be tempted by a 4-5-1 formation with Hleb and Rosicky on the wings and possibly Gilberto, Flamini and Cesc completing the midfield. The only alternative I consider viable is Diaby instead of Gilberto.

Gilberto is fresh as he only played international football over the last few weeks. I also think his experience will be invaluable over the next few games.

He is going to slot into midfield and protect the back four.

His job will be to deny Gerard space to operate and cover the Arsenal full backs when they bomb forward.

He is also going to pick Torres up whenever he falls back in midfield.

Flamini’s task will be to press the ball when coming out of the defence and deny Mascherano the space and time to dictate the tempo of the game.

Offensively Arsenal will try and exploit Liverpool’s weaknesses.

One way is to use Adebayor to pull Carragher out of position. Once they manage that Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky will have a significant advantage over Hyppia who is the weak link in the Liverpool defence.

They should have significant success with runs from the midfield. Last year Rosicky and Hleb created chaos in the Liverpool backline by cutting inside and using the full backs for width. And if Walcott starts then Hyppia’s problems will be even more exacerbated!

Wenger will look to isolate Finnan, especially if Pennant starts the game – he is not the best defender although improved at tracking back - and have Clichy and Rosicky 2 against 1 on the left hand side.

In this way Carragher will be forced out of position again with space created for the midfielders to run into.

Liverpool are the home side and they will try and force the issue early on and this will suit Arsenal to the ground.

Quick counter attacking football will therefore give Arsenal a great chance to take the lead, make life a lot easier for themselves and silence the crowd.

Liverpool’s best chance is from set pieces not because they cannot score any other way but because Arsenal are sloppy defending them.

We need to be very careful and make sure we limit the times they can deliver the ball from free kicks to an absolute minimum.

This is the first big test for this young team; Arsenal can win only if they stick to what they do best. And that is to play the beautiful game.

Prediction: Arsenal stake a claim to the title with emphatic display.
Away win 0-2


Wenger's dilemma:Who should partner Adebayor against Liverpool?

Wenger’s selection dilemmas coming up for the Liverpool and Manchester United games

Wenger's dilemma:Who should partner Adebayor against Liverpool?

By 1970’s Gooner

Does a football coach select his starting eleven according to who’s on form?

Or according to the system that is the most appropriate for the particular game coming up?

It’s usually a combination of both of course.

And if Robin Van Persie was available tonight we would not have been pondering the question posed in the title or trying to decide the formation.

It would have been 4 4 2 and the team would have almost picked itself. But now we have the new kid on the block.

Theo was spectacular against Slavia Prague and has given Wenger a real selection dilemma. Probably one he invited on himself!

Does he stick with Theo thus continuing with the 4 4 2 formation that he anyway favours or does he decide that 4 3 3 or even 4 4 1 1 would be more appropriate in which case Walcott may not be preferred?

Keeping Walcott on the bench has its merits and would be my choice.

The 4 3 3 system is very flexible as it can of course be deployed as an attacking formation using three forwards.

But at the same time you have three midfielders (Fabregas, Flamini and Gilberto/Diaby) who can, between them, protect the defence when the forwards lose the ball.

It can also be transformed during the game into a more defensive 4 5 1 formation especially if you want to keep the score or contain the game; by the two wingers tacking in to the middle of the pitch.

Additionally by keeping Walcott on the bench Wenger will have the option of utilising the high tempo impact that Theo can provide as a substitute if the team need a goal; just like it proved against Sunderland and Bolton.

If Theo is already on the pitch who can Wenger bring on that can change the game as dramatically as we have witnessed recently?

On the other hand starting with Walcott has its merits.

For a start he is on a high and there is nothing more that adds to the potency of a forward than scoring in the previous game.


But as important is his blistering pace. It could prove to be a very big and telling advantage considering that the Liverpool central defenders, Carragher and especially Hyppia, are not particularly blessed with this attribute.

Placing those balls behind Liverpool’s defence for Walcott to run on would be Fabregas’ brief and one, I am sure, he will excel at fulfilling.

And with the team on such a high after trouncing Slavia 7-0 it may prove too difficult for Wenger to make too many changes.

One he is more likely to make is Rosicky, who likes scoring at Anfield, for Eboue.

Will the other one involve Walcott?

That’s Wenger’s dilemma.

Ed: What do you think? Leave your comment below and cast your vote on the poll we have set up: “Who should partner Adebayor against Liverpool?”

Wenger enters the world of advertising but with a touch of class

We are all Goonerish now!

Gilberto and 4 3 3 for Slavia Prague

By 1970’s Gooner

Arsene Wenger has hinted that Walcott may get a start tonight against Slavia Prague. Although there is no doubt that Theo has been playing well recently I doubt whether Wenger will go for this selection.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Eduardo should be “dropped”. His performance last Saturday was disappointing to say the least.

He has not yet adapted to the pace, tight marking from behind and in your face type of English football. He could not hold the ball up front with the result that he couldn't connect with Adebayor nor bring other players into the game.

Eboue should also be dropped. He was neither decisive nor penetrative enough. Rosicky who is now fit should take his place. So far so good.

But does Wenger go for 4 4 2 again and play Adebayor and Walcott up front?

Interesting; and a combination we would all like to see at some stage. This is likely to come sooner than later.

Walcott himself revealed in one of his very recent interviews on Arsenal TV On Line that his training regime involves him playing up front through the middle.

The other option is to play a 4 4 1 1 formation with Hleb behind Adebayor. Eboue or Walcott could be the other wide midfielder.

But in my opinion Wenger should select, for obvious reasons, the formation and the players he wants to go with in the next two crucial Premier League games coming up: Liverpool away and Manchester United home.

And you wouldn’t choose to start with Walcott for these games would you? I would also not start with the underperforming Eboue for these two games either.

Which leaves as the only viable selection option for the Champions League game the 4 3 3 formation and the recall of Gilberto in the line up.

Adebayor could then be flanked by Hleb and Rosicky. Fabregas and Flamini pushing forward in support as and when the occasion demands.

This formation would be ideal for the games coming up as we need to be compact in the middle of the field and additionally have the option of bringing impact players, Walcott and Eboue, off the bench if needed.

Prediction: Arsenal Vs Slavia Prague 3-0

Walcott and Clichy should be the wide players against Blackburn

By 1970's Gooner

This away fixture at Blackburn is the equivalent of a real fitness test for this young but maturing Arsenal side.

All the football pundits are expecting Arsenal to return to their old ways. Their first away fixture in the North with rain gushing down, a partisan crowd and an opponent prepared to stick it up your nose. This is where titles are won or lost.

And there is some merit in this logic.

Yes they battled hard against a physical Ajax in the Amsterdam tournament but that was a friendly after all;

Yes they came back to beat Fulham at the death; but Fulham surprisingly didn’t park the Fulham Broadway bus in front of them and it was a home game after all, in nice London summerish weather.

Yes they had to man the barricades against an intimidating Sparta and Tomas Repka in Prague which indicated that they are up for the physical type of games; but having watched the game live, Sparta did not produce the quality of football as say Blackburn could pose on Sunday.


So if Wenger’s babes can also pass this test then the football world will really sit up and take notice.

Hell, the players themselves will sit up and take notice!

So if you are Mr Wenger and you realise the enormous up side potential that an away win at Blackburn at this juncture will give to this side how should you approach this game?

I say this because injuries to Eboue, Rosicky, Diaby and Eduardo are likely to deprive the team of key players especially its wings. Without wings no one can fly. And fly is what Arsenal need to do if they are to have a chance of winning this game.

How Wenger decides to replace the loss of Eboue and Rosicky will, more than any other decision he makes for this game, go a long way in deciding its outcome. And there are two reasons for this.

The first is the need to have penetrating wide midfielders as this will be the only way to bypass what is likely to be a congested midfield; made even more congested by Hleb’s insistence to drop deeper than he should. May be on Wenger’s orders.

The second reason is that Blackburn themselves look likely to play with two wingers who like to go forward. The dangerous Pedersen and old boy Bentley. Exploitation of the spaces left behind them may prove their Achilles heel.

One way to (partly) solve the winger’s crisis is to change the formation and play 4 4 2 by bringing Bendtner or Eduardo in to partner RVP. The result will be that Hleb will move to one of the wide midfield positions.

But I don’t think that Wenger will want to change a winning team’s formation. And as he has said, Eduardo will probably be deployed from the bench. Bendtner he considers not yet ready to start.

The only viable solutions available to my mind are to play Clichy as a left sided midfielder with Hoyte brought in at left or right back.

Clichy impressed during pre season when he was tried in this position and also showed, during these first two competitive games, how dangerous he is going forward.

For the other wide midfield position the choice is between Denilson, who is now fit, and Walcott.

Walcott impressed when he came on against Fulham and he will be adding real penetration, an ingredient necessary if Arsenal are to exploit the wide areas.

The rest of the team picks itself.

Hleb is top scorer, Robin needs a Batman and Fabregas is the real captain

Fabregas has added a “Peter Storey” attitude to his vast arsenal of talents