Archive for March 8th, 2009

Four days, two games – two quarter-finals?

1 comment March 8th, 2009

Come Thursday, a Champions League place may be all Arsenal are competing for between then and May.  Defeat against Burnley and Roma would see us crash out of both the FA Cup and Champions League, leaving us bereft of silverware for a fourth consecutive season.  Victories, however, would see us progress to the quarter-finals of each respective competition.

The first hurdle to be overcome is Burnley, whom we owe a beating after stumbling against them in the League Cup.  This time we’re on our own turf, and should be well disposed to progress to another home tie against Hull City.

Theo Walcott and Eduardo will both be in the matchday squad, though neither is anticipated to start.  Lukasz Fabianski will play in goal, whilst Arsene has apparently already confirmed that Kieran Gibbs will play at left-back.  William Gallas and Johan Djourou should be the centre-back pairing, but ahead of that it’s anyone’s guess.  The only player I can state with any confidence will start is Andrey Arshavin, as he is not available for the Champions League game in Rome.

What with it being Sunday, there are some nice interviewy bits floating around – one from Arshavin, who had a fairly extensive chat with the BBC for Football Focus.  It’s an interesting watch, and includes Arshavin’s thoughts on his best position:

“I think it depends on formation.  If the formation is a 4-4-2, I prefer to play like a second-striker, or behind one striker.  If we play 4-3-3, usually I play like a winger.”

So far he’s been used in both positions, and it’ll be interesting to see where he is deployed tomorrow.  When asked about chasing Aston Villa, the Russian is insistent that the club need to focus more on their own games:

“The three point gap is not much – but I think we don’t need to watch the table.  We must win.  If we win, we don’t need to watch the table, because we are going up, up, up.”

His frustrations are obviously shared by Robin van Persie, who speaks to Amy Lawrence in this excellent piece:

“Playing for a Champions League place is not enough.  It is not my target, but it is a target we have to take.”

Arsenal’s ability to meet those targets (or, God forbid, otherwise) is obviously a factor in Robin’s decision to sign a new contract (or, God forbid, otherwise):

“It’s hard to say anything about it now. But put it this way. I have a friend who says the grass always looks greener in your neighbour’s garden. He is right.” 

Amy points out that Robin has now been voted our Player of the Month in November, December, January and February.  That sums up his current worth to the side.

Of course we ought to win today, but then we ought to have won against Fulham, Sunderland and more.  Let’s get the job done this time.  Come on Arsenal.


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