Premier League - Countdown: Arsenal

Eurosport - Tue, 11 Aug 19:40:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! continues its countdown to the Premier League season with a look at the Gunners.

FOOTBALL 2009 Arshavin - 0

Manager: Arsene Wenger

Last 10 Seasons : (1999/2000 to 2008/2009): 2/2/1/2/1/2/4/4/3/4

POSSIBLE STARTING XI:

Manuel Almunia

Bacary Sagna - William Gallas - Thomas Vermaelen - Gael Clichy

Theo Walcott - Cesc Fabregas - Denilson - Samir Nasri - Andrei Arshavin

Robin van Persie

BACK-UPS FROM: Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone, Philippe Senderos, Mikael Silvestre, Johan Djourou, Armand Traore, Kieran Gibbs, Alexander Song, Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky, Nicklas Bendtner, Emmanuel Eboue, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Eduardo, Carlos Vela

TRANSFERS:

In - Thomas Vermaelen (Ajax, undisclosed)

Out - Kolo Toure (Manchester City, £16m), Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, undisclosed), Havard Nordtveit (Lillestrom, loan), Fran Merida (Levante, loan), Amaury Bischoff, Rui Fonte, Abu Ogogo, Paul Rodgers, Rene Steer (all released)

POSITIVES: Arsene Wenger's ability to rebuild a side is unparalleled, and if any manager can cope with the loss of senior players Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, it is him. He has some outstanding youngsters, including 17-year-old Jack Wilshere, while Andrei Arshavin might just be the most entertaining player in the Premier League.

NEGATIVES: Four years without a trophy is too long, and Wenger knows it. Patrick Vieira has never been adequately replaced, and while Alex Song has the physique he needs to prove he has the intelligence and the temperament. Nearly slipped out of the top four last season - Manchester City's massive spending means that it could be a long way back if they miss the Champions League this term.

VERDICT: Wenger continues to make the most of the resources at his disposal, but without a big cash injection the Gunners will not contend for major silverware. They are too canny to lose fourth place to City, however. 4th.

Mario Hajiloizis / Eurosport

Comment 33 - 52 of 52

Sort comments by: Most recent
  1. 4-4-3

    From tobioye82, on Sun 25 Oct 9:09AM
  2. Nasri is injured so he wont be playing it is likely­ that eduardo teams up with van persie and play a­ formation of 4-4-2

    From hana, on Thu 13 Aug 9:57AM
  3. Arsenal got many Cb but all not good enough. Gallas­ & Silvestre are world class 3 season ago now they­ past thier best making too many mistake & also­ injury prone now. This season arsenal will do well­ scoring many goals but still will concede more if the­ didn't bring new CB.

    From kvinec, on Thu 13 Aug 3:24AM
  4. gunners all the way shoot dem down

    From Cafenol, on Wed 12 Aug 9:24PM
  5. Our creative play can only be bettered by God, our­ finishing is not clinical enough and our defense is as­ strong as water to tissue. That is our problems in a­ nutshell, however I am silently confident we'll do­ fairly well.

    From Omar, on Wed 12 Aug 5:53PM
  6. I am big time GUNNER, and will always be. Thierry,­ Ljunberg and Reyes left..the team did not win trophies­ but we had a tough side. With the presence of Cesc,­ Arshavin and Walcott. We can make it.Have you looked at­ Song, Wilshere and Bendtner? We have a lot of young and­ intelligent talents there..Wenger please keep Cesc!!!­ This is a plea from a fan...

    From Bennetha, on Wed 12 Aug 5:30PM
  7. arsenal 4 ever
    arsenal will win 3 cup next­ year
    champions league,epl,fa cup

    From Ammar, on Wed 12 Aug 3:53PM
  8. arsenal for life?????????? mancity woi........ do not­ think gunners are overcandos we will lead the league­ next season

    From dan_kinyanjui, on Wed 12 Aug 2:55PM
  9. Yes. This is a team to watch.we will do better although­ not many are counting on us. All the best Prof Wenger­ and your troops. Gunners for life!!1

    From edson, on Wed 12 Aug 10:30AM
  10. Eduardo and RVP up front with Arshavin, Cesc, ROsicky­ and Walcott... Wilshire as a reliable and quality­ second half injection of talent for a sub is­ overwhelming for any team.

    From Gooberjelly, on Wed 12 Aug 10:04AM
  11. I'd say a midfield with Arshavin - Fabregas -­ Ramsey - Wilshire with Eduardo & Van Persie up­ front can take anyone this season - Come on ARSENAL!!!

    From neenanokia, on Wed 12 Aug 9:45AM
  12. i think it is a joke to assume that the fake brazilian­ denilson is a shoe in for the first XI. He doesn't­ bring anything to the arsenal side, he can't pass,­ kick, dribble or defend. tho he played the most minutes­ last season, he was undoubtedly the worst player last­ season. to think dat he deserves a place ahead of­ rosicky, diaby, song, ramsey and wilshere is totally­ absurd. he's not good enough to clean Jack­ wilshire's boots.

    From cilok69, on Wed 12 Aug 4:54AM
  13. COMMENT 23 - I agree with you; AW has been weeding out­ - and that's all. Ade + Toure were past their­ sell-by dates. Better strategy (team selection) with­ Cups is a good thing for this season coming. Arshavin­ + Fabs + others will be strong winners this season;­ Song is getting stronger, but could improve his­ passing. Walcott must surely score more goals? ­ Bendtner is a good holding player and should blossom. ­ Defence should not be a problem - replace Clichy with­ Gibbs if he has a dodgy patch. I think I agree Viera­ is not a good prospect, and - as someone else has said­ here - ball possession is not really an Arsenal­ problem, so why do we need to win it back even more!!

    From Peter, on Tue 11 Aug 9:54PM
  14. PLEASE Commander Wenger,PUT YOUR HAND DEEP IN YOUR­ POCKET AND GET ONE STRIKER ,OFFENSIVE­ MIDFIELDER,DEFENCIVE MIDFIELDER AND IF POSSIBLE TWO­ GOOD CENTRAL DEFENDERS, THEN WE CAN CHEER YOU

    From Babakar, on Tue 11 Aug 7:37PM
  15. comment 35. who built arsenal fc?
    comment 25. you have­ spoken well but i hope u wont want to see AFC­ bankrupt. chelsea tried it with mou, they won the­ trohies but up till now chelsea has not made any net­ profit since 2004. thanks to oil money that sustains­ them. prof wenger is a coach and at the same time a­ manager (of resources and players). let him be. wenger­ for life!

    From kene, on Tue 11 Aug 7:36PM
  16. comment 35. who built arsenal fc?

    From kene, on Tue 11 Aug 7:27PM
  17. ARSENAL 3, CELTICS 1
    ARSENAL EUROPEAN CHAMPION­ 2010
    ARSENAL ENGLISH CHAMPION 2010
    GUN THEM DOWN

    From MIKE, on Tue 11 Aug 4:05PM
  18. ArsenalWinger,Arshavin is not a winger he is infact a­ Central Forward because at Zenti he played as a­ stiker/central forward but wenger played him out of­ postion at arsenal but i agree with you on Van Persie i­ think if we gamble and give Walcott a more central role­ with his speedy you never know i think he can score­ more that @#$% Bendtner but we need a centra back as­ well as a D.M

    From kaweesa.kato, on Tue 11 Aug 4:00PM
  19. SimonO: last year we were better than ManU when it­ comes to the big 4 matches.

    ManU was the worst of the­ 4 yet won the title because the catholic Ladyboy scored­ nearly all the deciders against smaller teams.

    From Fergie_in_2_Years_Time, on Tue 11 Aug 3:53PM
  20. Van Persie as the Central Forward is just not good­ enough. He can play as SS or as winger, while Eduardo­ scores more goals in one halftime, even while returning­ from injury. If Bendtner is not good for a backup for­ Eduardo, then we're doomed, because the only actual­ central forwards we have are Bendtner and Eduardo, with­ Vela perhaps improving in a year or two.

    Arshavin, Van­ Persie, Walcott are wingers or second strikers, NOT­ central forwards. I've yet to see Arsha as CF, but­ RVP and Theo have not shown enough to get­ "promoted" from their natural positions.

    But­ we might need a dirty player in the midfield to win­ something, like Cana etc. How many dirty fouls did­ Scholes or Makelele do in their careers?! That's­ why only their teammates like them, but they WON­ TITLES, even the ginger warrior.

    While our defence­ could improve, most of our goals are still due to­ defensive midfield, Song and Denilson not yet ready to­ step up to the highest level.

    From Fergie_in_2_Years_Time, on Tue 11 Aug 3:51PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account