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Thursday, December 25, 2008

Cesc’s absence may bring festive cheer

By 1970’s Gooner

You can’t deny that Cesc will be missed. Especialy now we are entering the business side of the Premier league season.

But where last season he was putting in wonderful match winning performances this season he has not been able to attain that level.

The reason is not easy to pinpoint but it is of course not only him that has been off form. The whole team has been performing inconsistently and the loss of Hleb and Flamini have not really been dealt with adequately yet.

So yes Cesc’s absence for up to four months will be missed but not by so much really. It can in fact bring with it some positives (in adversity if you like).

Just like when we were left with 10 players against Liverpool and he also had to go off injured the whole team pulled together and outplayed even outclassed a team supposedly gunning for the title.

The whole team will concentrate that much more now and play with the spirit of ten men.

I would expect that Wenger will keep Denilson in the central midfield creative role and play Song alongside him in the defensive role.

In my opinion this, strangely enough, will be a more balanced midfield than when Denilson had to carry out the defensive part of his duties alongside Cesc. A role he is not cut out to do and as such the balance of the whole team has been suffering.

Song I rate highly and he is getting better and better with each game. He will improve so much so that he will become irreplaceable in that position. I don’t think that Wenger will go into the transfer market for such a type of player now.

So Denilson will be able to concentrate on what he does best and Song will mop up alongside him.

Nicklas Bendtner has been awful recently but he will come into the team to lead the line against Villa just as he did against Manchester United. He was very good that day and I expect he can repeat that performance.

So the message is to stop worrying and get behind the team. We have the players to carry on without Cesc and win games against anyone.

There are positives out of almost all adversities. Don’t be surprised if we go on a long winning run from now..

And with this cheerful and hopeful message from everyone at Arsenal Analysis we wish you all a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

great article! Finally somebody that talks sense and doesn't just think spend spend spend is the answer to every problem.

I completely agree that the Denilson-Song partnership is balanced and will allow both these players to flourish in cesc's absence.

I too am one of the very few people who rate Song very highly and think he will become a stalwart of the side for years to come.

Funny enough if you check out Denilson's passing, assists and goals this season - in all of those categories he has performed better than cesc with fewer minutes!

Cesc is on of the best players in the world and hopefully a future Arsenal legend but I think things aren't as bleak as some people think they are!

Anonymous said...

You sound like wenger. You rate Song highly?... Is this a Christmas joke?

Anonymous said...

u guys still dont get it man..play nasri centrally and we get the best out of him..he is deceptively strong u kno. i m a big arsenal and marseille fan i huv been watching nasri ever since he broke into the first team in marseille his best position is cmf as a play maker or just give him free role.

denilson is a good player but his not as good a passer as nasri or cesc, plus when he is under pressure (denilson) he tends to giv away the ball.

nasri for berth in cmf

Anonymous said...

Great Blog and Merry Christmas to all! Song is playing some solid football and is improving much quicker than is being given credit for. He isnt there to be creative, skillful and ping 70yard plus balls with pin-point accuracy blindfolded!

He is there is break up play, foul (within reason) and be good in the air- he will be a LEGEND too when people leave their old judgements behind and see what he is doing now.

I think we do need an experienced DM to teach him, Gilberto has gone as has Flam so he hasnt got anyone to look up to in the positional sense, but bring in Yaya Toure, Cana, Senna or poss Bullard and you'll see an even better improvement that only competition for places can bring

Anonymous said...

Sorry, the lot of you are on drugs. I never bother replying to blogs, but anyone who thinks Song is anything above a championship team player needs their eyes tested. The guy offers nothing, and I am sick to the teeth of people who clearly only watch highlights. I have been gong to Arsenal for over 25 years and Mssrs Song, Diaby and Eboue are up with the best of them when it comes to the worst Arsenal players I have ever seen. If Wenger does not buy real quality this month and we rely on a midfield of Song, Diaby, Denilson and some other muppet then not only can you forget a CL place, I would not put money on that lot getting us a UEFA place

Anonymous said...

What exactly does Denilson do best? Pass it sideways? Take the blindingly obvious option all the time?

The guy is shit and we won't play any different because Song is playing next to him. Did you not watch the Man City game or even Fulham when in both games Denilson was given the playmaker role?

I like Song a little cause he's got a bit of presence and actually brings something relatively tangible to the side. Denilson brings nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Nasri will have to come in centrally, and to do that we should change the system. Play RVP on the right.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1.05pm

If you've been going for 25years & think Diaby/Eboue/Song are up there with the worst Arsenal players you've ever seen then maybe you should give up & start following tennis or something as you obviously don't understand football!
Just off the top of my head how about Morrow/Jensen/Hillier you muppet!
We needs to buy a wide player as Rosicky's finished/Walcott's out injured & Eboue isn't technically or mentally strong enough. Then he can play Nasri in Cesc's place.
At the end of the season Wenger will then have tough decisions to make on Gallas / Diaby / Denilson / Song / Eboue / Djourou. You cannot make major changes at Xmas but he may have to face doing so next summer.

Anonymous said...

Yes Diaby, Eboue and Song are clearly as bad as Hillier, Morrrow and the others from GGs post-golden era. Would not want any of them anywhere near my team - not 15years ago and not today.

And please do not put Djourou in your list at the end. About the only bright spark of this season has been Djorou, and I would go as far as to say he has been our best defender so far

Anonymous said...

song is doing a solid job and i hope wenger sticks with him. we definitely look steadier at the back with him shielding the defence.

denilson and diaby haven't shown that they can offer anything special. denilson is reliable but not special. diaby is a bit special but very unreliable.

if we play nasri in the middle we lose him on the flanks, and we don't have any wide players left.

i'd like to see ramsey fill in for cesc.

Anonymous said...

eboue has lost his confidence due to injuries and being played in all kinds of random positions by wenger.

if he gets a run at right back or right midfield he'll come good.

Anonymous said...

Arsenal Got better with our Henry, and will be better with out Fab. Don't sleep on Arsene, he knows. For the lot of you negative folks out there, Song and Denilson are only 20 years old.

Anonymous said...

worst ive heard, song and denilson are not good enough for arsenal, are you retarted or something? the best thing with cesc injury is that wenger will buy i january. if we play song and denilson spurs will overtake us this season,omfg. you joke blogger....

Anonymous said...

I completely disagree with you about Denilson. When he is under pressure, he always gives away the ball. We should play Nasri in the middle, put Denilson, Ebouse or Diaby on the wings. I do agree with you about Song. I don't know why people don't see how good he has become. Watch him during the games. He always comes back and cleans up in front of the back four. He never gets tired or stops running. Also he actually completes most of his passes from the back. He always looks to give the ball to Cesc and let him do his thing. The other option is to just bring in Ramsy and let him play with Song and put Nasri back on the wings with Diaby. Than we have three guys who are creative and Song who will just sit back and help the back four.

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