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Q: Why Denilson not taken off?….most disappointing performance…perhaps would do better with Fabregas as partner
A: I think youre right that a partnership with Cesc would be best. But I think its not altogether fair to blame Denilson for the dismal midfield. Hes a DM, and he was quite good at that at WBA and Fulham. Where things went wrong was when he tried to step up and be creative as well, to fill in for the under-performance of the other 3 midfield players. Whose fault is that?

Q: Why Toure off? the midfield needed a class player…VP was not the man.
A: Toure was starting his 1st game back since malaria. Playing him for all 90min in a game where the defense was hardly troubled wouldn’t have been wise. Especially if hes gonna start against FC Twenty. I agree that the midfield needed a class player but who would you have chosen to come on from the bench we had to be the creative midfielder instead of van Persie?

Q: Why put Song in at centre back?….As a replacement, he had ‘legs’ AND TALENT to use in midfield. (He is surely the best replacement for Flamini.)
A: I agree, but resting Toure was more important. We have 7 starters injured as it is. I still think Diaby and Denilson are better replacements for Gilberto and Flamini but I think Song can give it a go now that Silvestre is with us for that extra cover in the back line.

Q: Why make Theo the (constant) fall guy…the midfield performance of Eboue & Denilson won nothing in midfield and failed to give him a decent pass.
A: Look, I know Walcott is the poster boy and our little ‘Rooney’ but he was the worst midfielder at Fulham - THE worst. With all due respect, Walcott thought like you are thinking - that the midfield was supposed to supply him with decent passes. Wrong! He IS a midfield, not a striker. He cant sit back on the edge of the 18 yard line, and wait for Eboue or Denilson to give him the ball. Thats what Ade and RvP are doing. I didnt see Walcott make any decent crosses, and I didnt see him go for or win any of the 50/50 chances. He sucked! Eboue was supposed to fill in for Cesc and be the creative player. He failed. But when Eboue failed, what did Nasri & Walcott do? They sat on the edge watching and waiting. What did Denilson do? He tried to step up and pass the ball longer from his DM positions. Now, with Nasri & Walcott both sitting so far up, that also failed, but who (may I ask) in all this mess tried to do something to rectify the situation? Denilson.

Q: Theo often causes damage in the last quarter of matches…why remove him at that same stage?
A: The reason Walcott caused damage in the last quarter last season is coz he only came on as a sub in the final 1/3 of most games he was in. And I think I can say with some conviction that exception for a couple of the final games last season, he was a disappointment whenever he started. Walcott will get there, no doubt, but at Fulham he was really bad.

Q: Any time EE & Den had the ball, back it went to the back 4. Both had neither penetration nor skill. Why pick them? (My forecast is that Denilson will NOT reach the standard AFC need, Ramsey might)
A: I think both Denilson and Ramsey are under-rated and will do an excellent job in the near future. The reason why Denilson (and perhaps Eboue) kept passing the ball back was obviously coz Nasri & Walcott were not open. Nasri & Walcott were both so committed to playing the crossing game that they refused to come into the middle to receive the pass and work it the Arsenal way. The gaping hole in midfield was taken up by Fulham and they had easy pickings whenever Denilson or Eboue tried to go for the long pass in frustration. How many times did you see Denilson or Eboue make a pass and Nasri or Walcott just stood there motionlessly waiting for the ball to arrive in their lap on a silver platter, and the Fulham player with more desire intercepting it and breaking up the play? How many times did you see Nasri or Walcott collect the ball and race straight to the by-line…only to realize they had walked straight into a trap and were now surrounded by 3 Fulham players? Only when Clichy & Sagna made a link between Denilson+Eboue and Walcott+Nasri by charging up the side did Ade & RvP get some service.

Q: Ade & VP also poor…same cause?.
A: Ade is sulking about being booed and disliked. van Persie really needs a goal. He has not scored in open play for Arsenal since coming back from his long time on the sideline and he is getting desperate and waking at everything that moves. He scores for Holland so the talent is still there. He just gets a little impatient at Arsenal. Once he scores a couple, he’ll be fine.

Q: Why 2 players to take a corner?….infuriating as it does not work (although Fulham were successful !!!…but maybe for different reason….see next question)
A: I dont like it much either. I think the short corner gives the ball more pace and an angle thats more difficult for defenders and the keeper to deal with. Given the height problem we have at Arsenal…

Q:The Senderos errors (particularly at Liverpool) were replicated by Gallas. We need our central defenders to attack a cross. How come the cross reached shin level?….BIG BIG question.
A: Well I agree, but I think its a difficult to blame Gallas for the goal without asking how that corner even made it into the 12 yard box. Sagna should have volleyed that off to safety, or whoever was guarding the near post.

Q: Djourou played well v WBA….so why drop him?….Toure could have played midfield….why Eboue constantly preferred to others? and in positions that he is unable to contribute, especially at the standard AFC require.
A: Toure is better than Djourou at CB and Toure needed the match time after being out with malaria. Wenger gave the reason why Toure wont be moved to midfield in an article on the Arsenal website. Why Eboue is preferred is a mystery to me to. All that I can think of is that he is quite a good crosser of the ball, and hes a lot of pace down
the wing. Ideally, he should be competing with Walcott for now, before Walcott moves to the middle.

AND

Q: Why put Toure on wing (v WBA) ?
A: No idea. My only guess is he needed to get some games and that was the safest place for him to run a lot without stretching his limbs in awkward (injury risking) ways and not risking the chance that he’d make the random errors you make when its your first day back.

So, yeah, if you were looking for a little gooner to gooner input then there you have it. I think the whole problem was in midfield. The fact that the 2 biggest culprits are two of our favourites shouldnt blind is to the fact that the difference between how Eboue & Denilson played at Fulham and their best is not as great as the difference between how Narsi & Walcott played at Fulham and their best. Every player needs to graft. No body should be untouchable.

Why Denilson not taken off?….most disappointing performance…perhaps would do better with Fabregas as partner

Why Toure off? the midfield needed a class player…VP was not the man.

Why put Song in at centre back?….As a replacement, he had ‘legs’ AND TALENT to use in midfield. (He is surely the best replacement for Flamini.)

Why make Theo the (constant) fall guy…the midfield performance of Eboue & Denilson won nothing in midfield and failed to give him a decent pass.

Theo often causes damage in the last quarter of matches…why remove him at that same stage?

Any time EE & Den had the ball, back it went to the back 4. Both had neither penetration nor skill. Why pick them? (My forecast is that Denilson will NOT reach the standard AFC need, Ramsey might)

Ade & VP also poor…same cause?.

Why 2 players to take a corner?….infuriating as it does not work (although Fulham were successful !!!…but maybe for different reason….see next question)

The Senderos errors (particularly at Liverpool) were replicated by Gallas. We need our central defenders to attack a cross. How come the cross reached shin level?….BIG BIG question.

Djourou played well v WBA….so why drop him?….Toure could have played midfield….why Eboue constantly preferred to others? and in positions that he is unable to contribute, especially at the standard AFC require.

AND

Why put Toure on wing (v WBA) ?