Ginu

Did Sissoko just make a successful pass?

Interesting that you've left Alonso out. I reckon that Rafa knows we lost the midfield battle on Wednesday. He won't let it happen again hence my 4-5-1.

If Zenden is playing today, I suspect he won't be Tuesday. Also, does this mean a return for Kewell, Pennant and Finnan (because Arbeloa is starting today) Finnan Carra Agger Arbeloa/Riise Pennant Mascherano Alonso Riise/Kewell Gerrard Crouch I reckon Alonso has gotten enough rest recently (hasn't he been subbed and left on the bench in our last two games?). Lots of questions!

Gerrard drifting into the middle is exactly how we play when he plays on the right but Finnan usually pushes up to cover the right hand side and we missed him tonight. Arbeloa wasn't ready for the match or doesn't have enough experience with Gerrard ahead of him. Usually Finnan pushes up into right midfield and Carra shifts over to cover right back. We do it quite a lot actually.

Reina Finnan Carragher Agger Arbeloa Mascherano Gerrard Alonso Sissoko Riise Crouch With Stevie coming into the center in the final 3rd and Finnan overlapping to cover on the right. Essentially a 3-5-2 with Gerrard and Crouch up front. Wish we had a white board on here so I could draw some diagrams

Because we were constantly playing it to the left side it's obvious we were trying to exploit Ferreira. Why wouldn't Rafa play Stevie there knowing that obviously if Zenden was getting the ball that often, Stevie wouldn't be on the ball as much? Gerrard on the left (he's done this many times) and Pennant on the right would have worked. Alternatively, we could have played 4-5-1 and clogged the midfield like when we won 2-0 and played all 5 of Zenden, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano and Pennant. I don't understand the lineup today at all.

when we won at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season we played 4-5-1. Why change something that worked? Zenden, Gerrard, Sissoko, Alonso, Mascherano and Pennant in the midfield with Crouch alone up front for me would have been it. EDIT: God Bless Reina

I think we'll win 2-1 and shift between a 4-4-2 and 3-5-2. Gerrard often drifts into the middle in the final third when he plays on the right while Finnan covers and takes the right side. It's how Rafa gives us more attacking options.

actually i think he is suspended for Wednesday

some terrific movement today... pennant and arbeloa link up really well i think our left back position is well sorted now. arbeloa, riise and agger can all play there and with our rotation that does us nicely... gonzalez had a great second half and pennant looks like he has amazing confidence right now on the right... we're playing so well right now i don't want the end of the season to come around except for the top quality arriving this summer

add stubborn and thickheaded to the list then

suddenly FM takes on a whole new meaning... cue the Football Manager freaks!

also an article on Huntelaar from the same site: http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=19063 At this rate we'll have 7 or 8 strikers at the club

from the same board: "I can't be bothered to read all 9 pages of this thread, so apologies if this has already been said - but a guy here at work has just tried three seperate bookies to place this bet - and every one of them refused to take the bet - Coral, Corbetts & William Hill - they all said its practically a done deal. Which is nice." Can anybody try this and confirm silly season has started early

and he gets stuck in more often than other keepers

has anybody considered that we could field Cisse and Henry together like for France? is that something worth considering as they've played together before?

has anybody considered that we could field both Cisse and Henry like France? is that something worth considering as they've played together before?

Do we really want another Djimi 'Jimmy' Traore? i still have nightmares of his goal line excellence... still shocked how he would even try that so near to our goal

I haven't seen Villa play much, but he's younger and I think Henry is an absolute c*nt. I hate the arrogance he shows every time he scores. You'd think he was Pele.

THIERRY AND ARSENAL COULD BE UP FOR SALE IT'S ALL CHANGE AT THE EMIRATES HENRY £12M TAG By Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer 06/04/2007 THIERRY HENRY'S Arsenal future was in doubt again last night as three European giants insisted the Gunners are ready to let him go. Less than a year after Henry signed the contract he expected to tie him to the north London club for the rest of his career, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid are all working on the assumption that Arsenal are prepared to sacrifice their skipper this summer. And while Henry has no wish to end his stay at the Emirates Stadium, the final decision may be down to Arsene Wenger if a suitable offer is received. Barca, Real and Inter are all circling, under the belief that the Arsenal board is willing to listen to bids in the region of £12million for the player, who turns 30 in August. That would give boss Wenger much-needed cash to help fund an overhaul of the squad that is already 23 points adrift of Manchester United - having finished 24 points off Chelsea's pace last term. Inter have already made an unofficial approach to test the water and Arsenal's response has not put them off coming back for real in the summer. And sources at both Barcelona - who may be willing to include Samuel Eto'o in a player-plus-cash exchange - and Real are briefing that they have been told Henry is no longer "untransferable" in the eyes of the Arsenal board amid claims that he is at times a "disruptive influence". That criticism, if genuine, seems unfair on a player who has always given everything for the Arsenal cause. Yet Henry's injury-plagued campaign has seen his bond with Wenger loosened, even if the captain's public commitment to the Gunners has been unceasing. Pressed last week over his future, Henry, a talismanic figure at the club since his arrival from Juventus in 1999, insisted: "Whatever you hear about me moving at the end of the season, I will definitely stay. Arsenal is my club." But Henry's predecessor as Arsenal captain, Patrick Vieira, said similar things in the months before he was shown the door by Wenger in the summer of 2005, as the Gunners accepted Juventus' £13m bid.

i don't know about that. we got him for a pretty knock down fee. i think 6m was a reasonable price if we were to have bought him and leeds wasn't in financial trouble so putting in that clause would lead to a loss if a team did bid 6m for him.

whats this about?

Alves on the right of a 4-2-3-1 seems right.

this is the wrong game to be playing 4-2-3-1. We should be playing 3-4-3. They have one up and 9 in the box.

Reina is more involved than any other keeper in the league. He starts the counter attack, cuts out passes and charges out of the box more than any other keeper in the league. I don't think any keeper plays the role he does in the team.