Arsene Wenger likely to be a failure as England manager

By 1970’s Gooner

Look at it this way. Arsene Wenger possesses some very important attributes which make him a brilliant football coach and manager.

He is fantastic in spotting young and gifted players from all over the world through a world wide scouting network and contacts.

And he is not only fantastic in spotting these young players but in developing them to reach their lofty potential. Nicolas Anelka, Kolo Toure, Gael Clichy and Cesc Fabregas are prime examples.

He is equally astute at spotting more mature players and bringing them in at ridiculously “reasonable” transfer prices. Players like Emanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Gilberto Silva, Robert Pires and Robin Van Persie.

He is the type of manager that drills his philosophy of playing “total” football into each and every player from the first team squad to the last academy youngster. His close daily involvement on the training pitch ensures that this adhered to.



He is particularly attentive to all dietary matters and living styles of his players. His use of statistics on each player’s performance allows him to guide them through a fitness and diet regime specifically relevant for each individual.

In this way he ensures that all Arsenal players are at peak condition when they enter the football field.

His man management skills according to ex players are second to none. He passes on to the players self belief and responsibility and they respond in kind; on the pitch.

You will remember Paul Merson’s remark when asked what Wenger has brought to the players: “unbelievable self belief” was his eloquent response!

Once all these have been achieved then 75% of what is needed to win football games is already in place. The rest will come from, what I would call, match day skills.

The choice of formation for the day (and even this is sometimes is not altered), the selection of the players who will take the field of play and the substitutions that may be required according to how the game progresses.

In fact I would venture as to say that Wenger’s match day skills are not his best attributes!

Sometimes he gets the substitutions wrong and sometimes, as he has himself admitted last week after the Manchester United game, he gets his formation wrong! Something I pointed out in my post after that game only to be “abused” and castigated by die hard Wenger fans!

Now I ask you which of all the above attributes would Wenger have any reasonable control once he becomes the England manager. Or come to that any National Team’s manager?

The answer is that mostly it will be the “match day” ones.

But will that be enough?



England will probably never be a world football power again


Arsenal’s Formula One Car Cannot Run With The Handbreak On. A Critique

Manchester United are running scared and Liverpool are lacking in quality

By Eros

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. I wonder if we are going to look back at them with regret or whether it will be just the tonic this young squad needed. More like the second as you will see what I mean.

Sir Alex confirms we are the best team in the league

The United game is probably the worst we had in the league this season. We did not keep the ball well enough and that made life very difficult for our midfield because if the ball is not moving at pace then the usual spaces created are not there any more.

Hargreaves had a good first half protecting his back four and constantly biting on Cesc’s heels, however the Spaniard got his own back in the second half when he made him look at best ordinary.

Clichy had the most difficult task of the afternoon. He had to balance his forward runs with keeping half an eye on Ronaldo. He did it quite well. However he was out of position and duly punished for Manchester United’s first goal. I am not saying that it’s totally his fault as that’s the risk you take when you play attacking fullbacks.

Sagna was again impressive and hopefully put to bed once and for all the notion existent only in some Mancunian eyes and blogs that Wes Brown is a better player!

Hleb was a constant pain in Utd’s backside and looked dangerous as always. The free role suits him very well.

But even though we conceded twice, Gallas and Toure were superb. Their partnership is growing with every game and Gallas looks to enjoy his role as a captain and starting to show his Chelsea form in n Arsenal shirt. Very encouraging for the future.

It was a very exciting game but the real fireworks came after the game and continued well into this week. Sir Alex started throwing everything he’s got at this Arsenal team.



First it was the referee, then it was security at the Emirates, then it was an alleged dossier that Arsenal asked his security to prepare and finally it’s all the foreign players!

Arsenal have thrown more fuel to the fire by saying that the United bench provoked the crowd repeatedly.

All this whinging from Ferguson is annoying, but complimentary at the same time.

He knows he has a real battle on his hands to retain the title. He also knows that this Arsenal team has got unbreakable spirit to go with its footballing ability. But what really got to him was that his team were not good enough to defeat a below par Arsenal.

All he is trying to do is to convince first himself and then his players that they have a chance of retaining the trophy!


We left Liverpool off the hook

As I said in my pre game post, Liverpool’s best chance of scoring was a set piece. And I was right, baring a huge hole in our wall. We could have played all day and I m sure they weren’t going to create much.

Benitez set his stall out to contain our midfield, but realistically how long can you keep players like Cesc and Hleb out of the game?


Not very long and as it proved. Bendner had a chance to become an instant hero but he fired over from 5 yards facing an open goal, Cesc did something similar earlier on in the second half.

Masherano should have been given his marching orders for a horrible challenge on Hleb, as should have Carragher for several yellow card offences, hugging the referee in one occasion to avoid a yellow card!

As I again said in the post before the game Arsenal players need to ‘be out of action for a couple of months’ for any dirty tactics to be given any merit.

For all my complaints however, we had enough chances and should have walked out of there with all three points.

Mascherano and Gerard did quite well, but other than that the Liverpool squad is severely laking in quality. My opinion on Benitez is that he is a very good coach and tactician but he is terrible in the transfer market. Kuyt, Crouch and Voronin are not going to win you much.

Manchester United are running scared and Liverpool are lacking in quality

By Eros

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. I wonder if we are going to look back at them with regret or whether it will be just the tonic this young squad needed. More like the second as you will see what I mean.

Sir Alex confirms we are the best team in the league

The United game is probably the worst we had in the league this season. We did not keep the ball well enough and that made life very difficult for our midfield because if the ball is not moving at pace then the usual spaces created are not there any more.

Hargreaves had a good first half protecting his back four and constantly biting on Cesc’s heels, however the Spaniard got his own back in the second half when he made him look at best ordinary.

Clichy had the most difficult task of the afternoon. He had to balance his forward runs with keeping half an eye on Ronaldo. He did it quite well. However he was out of position and duly punished for Manchester United’s first goal. I am not saying that it’s totally his fault as that’s the risk you take when you play attacking fullbacks.

Sagna was again impressive and hopefully put to bed once and for all the notion existent only in some Mancunian eyes and blogs that Wes Brown is a better player!

Hleb was a constant pain in Utd’s backside and looked dangerous as always. The free role suits him very well.

But even though we conceded twice, Gallas and Toure were superb. Their partnership is growing with every game and Gallas looks to enjoy his role as a captain and starting to show his Chelsea form in n Arsenal shirt. Very encouraging for the future.

It was a very exciting game but the real fireworks came after the game and continued well into this week. Sir Alex started throwing everything he’s got at this Arsenal team.



First it was the referee, then it was security at the Emirates, then it was an alleged dossier that Arsenal asked his security to prepare and finally it’s all the foreign players!

Arsenal have thrown more fuel to the fire by saying that the United bench provoked the crowd repeatedly.

All this whinging from Ferguson is annoying, but complimentary at the same time.

He knows he has a real battle on his hands to retain the title. He also knows that this Arsenal team has got unbreakable spirit to go with its footballing ability. But what really got to him was that his team were not good enough to defeat a below par Arsenal.

All he is trying to do is to convince first himself and then his players that they have a chance of retaining the trophy!


We left Liverpool off the hook

As I said in my pre game post, Liverpool’s best chance of scoring was a set piece. And I was right, baring a huge hole in our wall. We could have played all day and I m sure they weren’t going to create much.

Benitez set his stall out to contain our midfield, but realistically how long can you keep players like Cesc and Hleb out of the game?


Not very long and as it proved. Bendner had a chance to become an instant hero but he fired over from 5 yards facing an open goal, Cesc did something similar earlier on in the second half.

Masherano should have been given his marching orders for a horrible challenge on Hleb, as should have Carragher for several yellow card offences, hugging the referee in one occasion to avoid a yellow card!

As I again said in the post before the game Arsenal players need to ‘be out of action for a couple of months’ for any dirty tactics to be given any merit.

For all my complaints however, we had enough chances and should have walked out of there with all three points.

Mascherano and Gerard did quite well, but other than that the Liverpool squad is severely laking in quality. My opinion on Benitez is that he is a very good coach and tactician but he is terrible in the transfer market. Kuyt, Crouch and Voronin are not going to win you much.

Slavia do a lap of honour and Arsenal stumble to qualification. Plus player ratings

By 1970's Gooner

It was a disjointed performance in wet conditions with dreadful whether. Yet this is no excuse for a dreadful display by admittedly a Carling Cup side.

You would have at least expected a repeat of the fine display away at Sheffield United with a commitment to the passing game that all Arsenal sides under Wenger are well known for and the creation of some chances; even some half chances come to that.

But no nothing. Diaby was on the ball a lot but was not doing anything with it and he kept trying to use his body instead of adding to his game his undoubted skill.

Walcott reverted to running like a headless chicken and was largely ineffective and Denilson did not assert himself enough in the middle of the pitch. Up front Bendtner and Eduardo were largely anonymous and did not play as a pair.

The only one who can claim he had a good match was Almunia who made two excellent saves. In the first half he tipped the ball over the bar from a strong shot from outside the box but more significantly rushed out of his area to save what looked a certain goal after the Slavia forward escaped Gallas’s attention.

Lehmann's exclusion from the first eleven does tend to point to his departure in the january transfer window.

The result left both teams satisfied. Slavia avoided another humiliation and bagged a point; they did a lap of honour afterwards! And Arsenal got the draw that was needed to qualify.

Almunia; back to form 9

Clichy; his usual purposeful and energetic performance 8

Diarra; played as well as he did at Sheffield United but was not penetrative when going forward 7

Gallas; made one mistake which nearly cost us a goal 6

Song; strong and determined. Had a good game 7

Denilson; did not dictate play as well as he can 6

Gilberto; his usual strong and calm performance 7

Diaby; frivolous in possession and largely ineffective 5

Walcott; was not penetrative enough and did not pose any significant threat 5

Bendtner; below his best and did not connect well with his partner in attack 5

Eduardo; was largely anonymous 5

Arsenal’s B team good enough to win in Prague

By 1970’s Gooner

This game comes after two draining clashes against Liverpool and Manchester United and since a draw will be enough to see Arsenal through to the knock-out stages it has allowed Wenger the luxury to shuffle his pack.

Alexander Hleb and Cesc Fabregas are both rested after making 29 starts between them so far this season, while Kolo Toure (calf) and Tomas Rosicky (groin) are carrying minor knocks.

However Arsenal’s squad is littered with experienced internationals and gifted youngsters as well so it’s not really that big a risk to field a version of the B team.

In fact Wenger has blooded the youngsters so early in their career and in competitive matches that though young, immature and inexperienced they are not.

And they have shown that when they are complimented by a few seasoned campaigners such as Gilberto and Gallas they are capable of producing top class performances.

In a recent article after the victory in the Carling Cup tie at Sheffield United I reiterated the idea of teams like Arsenal being allowed to field “B” teams in the championship as they do in Spain. Arsenal’s B team was so obviously a class above the championship side.

Wenger has, in a way, the opportunity to field his Arsenal B team for the rest of the games left in this relatively easy group.

His biggest decision is who to field between the posts. Almunia needs to start in order to recover some confidence and ease his nerves.

Lehmann also needs a start if anything to be match fit and ready to step in the first team if Almunia’s two “lives” are exhausted. My hunch: Lehmann is a goner in the transfer window.

For the right back position Hoyte deserves a start and for left back I would rest Clichy and give Traore his first Champion’s League game. Gallas and Song will play in central defence.

I do not trust Song in defence. Having watched him play for Charlton in midfield last season I was impressed. I think he will be a very good central midfielder rather than central defender.

Denilson and Gilberto will be a strong pairing in midfield flanked by Diaby on the left and Walcott on the right. Eduardo and Bendtner will resume their productive partnership up front.

It sounds pretty strong to me.

For Slavia Prague ex Liverpool midfielder Vladimir Smicer is available, but Ladislav Volesak is suspended. Meanwhile, second-choice goalkeeper Michal Vorel is likely to make his Champions League debut in place of Czech international Martin Vaniak.

Slavia’s best hope is to qualify for third place and enter the UEFA competition. I wouldn’t expect them to play open and attacking football but they will be looking to get something out of this game.

Prediction: Arsenal’s B team find it hard to settle at the beginning but once in their stride can outclass Slavia. 0-1

Wenger’s “top class” Vela scores a great goal for Osasuna

By 1970’s Gooner

Carlos Vela, the Mexican wonder kid who is on Arsenal’s books, has scored a fantastic goal for Spanish La Liga side Osasuna helping them win away at Real Betis 0-3. The striker was then left out as Osasuna slumped to a 2-0 home defeat by Getafe. Maybe they should play him more often.

As you can see on the video he takes the ball from the left wide midfield position, cuts infield and after playing a one two he strikes an unstoppable shot from outside the area into the top right hand corner of the goal.

He is not a regular first team player yet but with goals like that he will soon be starting games. He is currently being used as a substitute but when he comes on he plays on the left side of midfield.

Wenger however has said his position will be in the middle of the attack. It’s not normally that Arsene Wenger lavishes so much praise on a player as readily as he has for Carlos Vela. When Vela signed a permanent deal at Arsenal at the beginning of the year Wenger was 100% convinced of his ability.

"He's top class. I like his intelligence and his pace. He scores goals but he can also create them. "He's a special talent and I believe 100 per cent that he will make it at the highest level."

Praise indeed!

A Mexican Youth International, Carlos shot to prominence in 2005 when he helped Mexico win the FIFA U-17 World Championships. He scored five goals in the tournament to win the Golden Boot.

In the summer he represented Mexico at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. He played in all five matches but Mexico were knocked out at the Quarter-Final stage by eventual winners Argentina.

Vela has already stated that he is dreaming of copying Cesc Fabregas and becoming a hit at Emirates Stadium. As you can see from the photo he has even adopted Fabregas’s goal celebration!





Arsenal’s Formula One Car Cannot Run With The Handbreak On. A Critique

Wenger's mea culpa! Plus player ratings for Arsenal Vs Manchester United

Arsenal pursuing the next Tony Adams but so are Manchester United!

By 1970’s Gooner

The rumors concerning Arsenal’s interest in Socrates Papastathopoulos of AEK Athens (in yellow above) will not go away.

If you remember we first published Arsenal’s interest in this exciting 19 year old central defender last month.

Arsenal and AEK Athens have been cooperating since last year on issues of football management and training methods especially after the visit to London Colney by the Greek team’s Spanish manager and the club’s president.

In addition Arsenal have this year formally established an Arsenal Academy network consisting of 25 selected academies spanning the whole of Greece.

So it is not a surprise that, as reported by the Greek press, Arsenal’s German scout, Thomas Kost, has already been dispatched to the Greek capital to watch Papastathopoulos from close quarters; in every match, even during training!

Kost is the scout that tracked Tomas Rosicky prior to his transfer to Arsenal.

However interest appears to be hotting up as Manchester United are also watching.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s brother Martin, who is one of United’s chief scouts, was also dispatched, according to the Greek sports press, to assess the player during Greece’s recent friendly Under 19 game against Italy.

Socrates is the captain of the national side which reached the final of the world tournament last summer. He can play in central defence but also as a defensive midfielder.

Although only 19 he has European experience under his belt with three Champions League appearances last season already.


Ed: Most English newspapers and others, especially those who copy and paste, put his age at 15!

This is a mistake as they are confusing him with Spanish 15 year old Real Madrid Academy player, Pablo Saparia, who is also interesting Arsenal!


Arsenal’s Formula One Car Cannot Run With The Handbreak On. A Critique

Wenger's mea culpa! Plus player ratings for Arsenal Vs Manchester United

Arsenal interested in promising young Greek defender

Wenger's mea culpa! Plus player ratings for Arsenal Vs Manchester United

By 1970’s Gooner

Arsene Wenger admitted as much after the game. The formation he selected meant that there was no real support for the front striker. Adebayor was more often than not isolated.

Wenger said: "Sometimes Adebayor was a bit too isolated up there. Maybe I could have played Theo Walcott up front, or Eduardo or Niklas Bendnter. But I went for a different approach.

"Without Robin van Persie the balance in the final third was not completely right.

“That's my fault. I'd look at that again.

As I pointed in my post match analysis it was indeed very apparent that the formation was not really an attacking minded 4 4 1 1.

It was actually a 4 5 1 formation, as the outstanding Hleb did not play just behind Adebayor as you would expect but much more behind, in the midfield area, in more of a playmaker’s role.


Almunia

Could not be faulted for the first goal conceded but the same can not be said of the second one. He came out of his area unnecessarily as Gallas was already closing in on Evra. This left his goal unguarded for a simple tap in by Ronaldo. He made the same mistake in a similar situation earlier on but his defenders bailed him out on that occasion. 5

Van De Sar

Could not be faulted for any of the Arsenal goals but can be faulted for his persistency, with the ball so clearly over the line for Arsenal’s equaliser, in trying to convince the referee otherwise. He made a good save from Adebayor’s close volley that eventually led to the goal. 8

Clichy

Performed well apart from United’s first goal. He was nowhere near Ronaldo when he put in his low cross. When the shackles came off in the second half he became more attack minded. His persistency in keeping the ball in play on the left touch line and putting a very dangerous cross which had the United defence in panic resulted in the dramatic equalizer. 7

Evra

Had mixed fortunes. Was instrumental in United’s second goal when he was well placed to receive Saha’s reverse pass and then place it on the plate for Ronaldo to score. However he was at fault for Arsenal’s first goal as he allowed Sagna to steal in behind him and screw the ball to the unmarked Fabregas. 6

Sagna

Performed well and was solid. Played an important part in Arsenal’s first goal and could not be faulted for United’s second as Walcott did not track Evra’s run into the box as he should have done. 7

Brown

Did not have the best of games. He was troubled by Clichy’s runs and looked uncomfortable when faced with fast players attacking him one to one. Was slow to pick Clichy up when he put his cross in for Arsenal’s equalizer. 6

Toure

Had a very solid game. Did not put a foot wrong and also ventured forward in the second half. He is becoming the rock in this Arsenal defence. Along with Gallas made sure that Tevez had a quiet game. 8

Vidic

A solid performance. Very good in the air and did not give much room to Adebayor to operate in. He was lucky that a penalty was not given against him when he was pulling on Hleb’s shirt inside the area. 8

Gallas

He is beginning to live up to his captain’s role. More importantly the rest of the Arsenal players are beginning to realise it. He was slow by his own admission to cover Roonie’s run for the first goal but he was there where it mattered to score the equalizer. 8

Ferdinand

Another solid performance but along with Vidic they only had Adebayor to deal with. His partnership with Vidic looks ideal. One is strong and the other is also good at tidying things up and distributing. 8

Rosicky

Had a subdued game and did not get involved as much as he could have. Kept to his defensive duties well. 6

Ronaldo

Also had a subdued game. He was denied space by the tight marking of Sagna and Rosicky as well as the packed midfield from both sides. 6

Fabregas

The little maestro was again the main pivot for a lot of the Arsenal moves. He was, probably by design, more defensively minded in the first half but he was there again at the right position to score the equaliser at the beginning of the second. 8

Hargreaves

Performed his duties very well. He balances this United side beautifully forming the anchor on which the more creative players can perform. 8

Flamini

Plays in a similar role to Hargreaves and has the same effect on this Arsenal side. He was everywhere and anywhere during this game. 8

Anderson

I was impressed by his strength and tenacity. Supported Hargreaves in the middle of the United midfield helping to keep it tight and competitive. 7

Eboue

Much improved in this game. He seems to improve the more games he plays. Put aside the theatrics and was positive throughout. This was probably because he was much more focused on the job he had to do. He had only one misplaced pass but did not misplace his beautiful cross for Adebayor which led to Arsenal’s first goal. 8

Giggs

Was for me anonymous throughout the game. Not the same Giggs we knew. Will this be his last season at United? 5

Hleb

What a performance again. Top draw. His skill and close dexterous control of the ball is unparalleled in this league. But when used as a second striker the level of his performance is compromised. Kept the ball under pressure from a bunch of United players and found the ball to Fabregas who began the move which led to Arsenal’s first equalizer. 8

Roonie

Tenacious and dangerous as always. Played the role he was assigned very well popping up at the near post to score United’s first goal. He did the same last season at the far post. 8

Adebayor

Played the lone striker role well but did not have enough support from Hleb or from the other midfielders. His control sometimes led him down and he desperately needs to score a goal. Good run and shot on the volley from Eboue’s pass which eventually resulted in Arsenal’s first goal. 7

Tevez

Was quite subdued throughout the game and did not contribute much towards United’s overall play. United will need a front man like Saha especially when they play against the strong teams. His influence when he came on was very apparent. 5


Arsenal’s Formula One Car Cannot Run With The Handbreak On. A Critique

Arsenal’s Formula One Car Cannot Run With The Handbreak On. A Critique

By 1970’s Gooner

You can not have the most attractive team on the land, littered with players who possess amazing technique and skills yet ask them to play in a straitjacket type of formation which stifles their natural tendency to play the beautiful game.

It’s like having a Formula One car but running the race with the handbrake on.

It was obvious form the beginning of the game that Arsene Wenger showed too much respect to the opponents, as he did at Anfield last week when Liverpool were not really good enough to even get a draw.

Yet he repeated the same formation, apparently 4 4 1 1, for this vital game against Manchester United. But it was not really an attacking minded 4 4 1 1.

It was actually a 4 5 1 formation, as the outstanding Hleb did not play just behind Adebayor as you would expect but much more behind, in the midfield area, in more of a playmaker’s role.

This had the result that Fagregas was more withdrawn than normal. But more importantly, when Arsenal attacked, Adebayor was more often than not isolated with no midfielders pushing forward to offer support or try and pose a more potent goal threat.

This scenario did not of course evolve naturally on its own as the game wore on. It was Wenger’s choice to put the hand break on by instructing Hleb and Fabregas to be less adventurous territorially.

He probably had a game plan of putting the shackles on in the first half and then, if need be, become more adventurous in the second.

But it doesn’t work like that. Not against the Manchester Uniteds of this world. They don’t need much to clinically strike you where it hurts most because they, more than any other team, have the players to capitalise on any single mistake that unavoidably will occur during a football match.

No other team can boast of having so many “killers” in their midst such as Roonie, Ronaldo and Tevez. And they were very close to winning this game.

So it was no surprise that again the same scenario unfolded more or less at the Emirates as it did against Liverpool the previous week.

Arsenal start the game with the hand break on, no real support in the offensive positions, the other team get a goal (from a defensive lapse) and then release the handbreak to salvage a draw.

I am sorry but the teams the Arsene builds can not play in this way. They cannot play in a restricted manner, defensively minded, midfielders not venturing forward and with a lone front man. Of all people Arsene should know that!

Do you remember a few years back at the beginning of Wenger’s reign when Arsenal were supreme in the Premiership but flattered to deceive in Europe? Everyone was wondering why.

In my opinion one of the major reasons for this was the application of the “handbreak”, a submission to the tactical chess games that most managers like to play in the pursuit of getting a draw away from home.

Come on Mr Wenger. This team you have built is much better than that.

Wenger and Ferguson faced with interesting selection options

By 1970’s Gooner

Does a football coach select his starting eleven according to who’s available and 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 for the Arsenal Manchester United clash at the Emirates it is intriguing to see what formations the two managers will go with.

Let’s look at the visitors first.

Ferguson’s options appear to be much more compromised than Wenger’s.

The injuries to key players such as Neville, Saha, Scholes and possibly Carrick will go a long way in dictating not only who he selects to start but more crucially which system he will deploy.

This is because in that critical area of the pitch, the midfield, he is deprived one if not two of his best midfielders. Scholes of course has been out for some time now and the additional absence of Carrick recently forced Ferguson to rely on new young recruit Anderson.

Carrick is now considered to have overcome his injury. But he has been out for the last four weeks and I am not sure that Ferguson will risk him. There is a chance of the injury recurring but more importantly there will be concerns over his match fitness.

So Ferguson may have to decide whether to stick with Anderson or bring back Fletcher who can add a bit more steel in an area where a lot of Arsenal’s play is directed form. The excellent Hargreaves of course will be the other central midfielder.

If Ferguson sticks with Anderson then he might feel that his midfield may need bolstering further and therefore ask Roonie to drop back into that area in a 4 4 1 1 come 4 5 1 formation.

In fact he may still decide to choose this system even if Fletcher is selected as he has not being playing recently and might also be rusty.

At the end of day we all know that Roonie will be playing in that hole behind the main striker. But it is how attacking minded Ferguson wants him to be that will decide whether he is more offensively or destructively oriented.

Another reason why Ferguson might be more conservative is the vulnerability of the United full backs O’Shea and Wes Brown.

Evra, who might be fit to start, has been out of action too and may lack match fitness. Ferguson therefore might want to give his full backs more protection by detailing support from the midfielders. And a 4 4 1 1 system will allow him to do that.

There is of course a price to pay and that is the forward areas of the pitch might be starved of support.


4 4 1 1 for Arsenal too?

On the other hand Wenger has even more options. He can play the same way he did against Liverpool with a 4 4 1 1 formation with Hleb just behind Adebayor.

This is risky as it will leave only Flamini as the only defensive minded midfielder. Roonie will then find a lot of space as that will be his favourite patch of the field.

In order to counter this Wenger can go for the more conservative 4 3 3 by bringing Gilberto back into the midfield along with Flamini and Fabregas.

Adebayor could then be flanked by Hleb and Rosicky. Gilberto parking himself infront of the defence countering Roonie’s threat and Fabregas and Flamini pushing forward in support as and when the occasion demands.

The second option is to bring Bendtner or Walcott on to partner Adebayor in a 4 4 2 formation.

I watched Bendtner perform very well for Denmark in the Euro qualifiers and also in the Carling Cup. His direct physical style is very effective.

I doubt whether Wenger will try this as he is yet inexperienced for such a big game. The same goes for Walcott who is much more effective coming off the bench at the moment.

This 4 3 3 formation will be my preferred option as it provides defensive cover but at the same time it allows you the use of three attacking players plus any of the midfielders who may venture forward.

Arsenal more than Manchester United have “impact” players on the bench such as Walcott, Eboue, Bendtner or Eduardo to change the game if needed.

Ed: what do you think should be the formations for the two managers? Leave your comment and your vote on the poll we have set up