Arsenal vs Stoke City preview: A win to ease the pressure, not to solve all problems + favourite line-up
Now that’s what I call a helluva five days, losing against Chelsea and Manchester City with the same scoreline, and of course crashing out of the Carling Cup with Arsene Wenger upset with Mark Hughes, opting not to shake hands and of course give the media reasons to bash us.
Hopefully, tomorrow we will ease some of the pressure in a game which on paper should be an easy one, but as always, you never know with the Gunners.
One thing I hope for – and I mentioned this earlier this week – is to read nothing ultra-optimistic if we win easily because we’ve been in this position last season and it was the optimism after easy wins which eventually killed our season because they were used as an excuse in disguise to forget the problems which the side is suffering from.
Stoke City
On the losing side when they last visited the Emirates, Tony Pulis’ side are 9th in the table, only 3 points from 5th-placed Liverpool. They have been doing so-and-so away from home but produced a fine win over Spurs on October the 24th with a late strike from Glenn Whelan.
Favourite line-up
Shall we rest one of the center backs and give Silvestre a go? Many think he did well against Manchester City and well he did if you forget two big mistakes in each half which usually mean conceding goals. But maybe two mistakes, only two, mean that the Frenchman is in form and deserves a go at Stoke.
Sagna – Silvestre – Vermaelen – Eboue
Denilson
Nasri – Fabregas – Vela
Eduardo – Arshavin
With Song suspended, Denilson has to take his play unfortunately whilst as for the rest, I insist with the line-up I published for the Chelsea game, with Nasri on the right and Carlos Vela on the left with Andrey Arshavin moving up front to support Eduardo.
Pre-match Interviews
Tony Pulis declared his side will go at the Emirates facing what is – according to him – the best team in the country in terms of moving the ball around quickly.
He said:
We will go there and show Arsenal great respect because we know that on their day, they are quite capable of taking any team apart. Despite their recent results, they are still the best team in the country at moving the ball around quickly and finding pockets, all of which makes them so dangerous on the counter attack.
We will give it our best shot and I am sure everybody will relish the challenge. After all, a couple of years ago we were going to places like Scunthorpe and now we’re going to top, top grounds and facing top, top players in the Premier League.
This is what Arsene Wenger said after the Manchester City defeat and his decision to ignore Mark Hughes:
I don’t deny I am a bad loser but on this occasion I would have done exactly the same if we had won the game or lost the game.
I am in accordance with the principles I think are important on the football pitch and I maintain exactly what I said and did.
I am used to treating this kind of thing with the needed distance. I do not want to make a fuss. There are incidents on the touchline but you never heard me ever say anything about another manager after the game, in a press conference or after during the week.
I maintain exactly the way I behave and do not regret one second of what I did. If the world has no bigger problems than this then it is not so bad
The Gunning Hawk Coverage
As always, tune in for team line-ups, streaming links, half time and full time reports, post-match thoughts, video highlights and what the press is writing. And of course, do contribute if you want to by making use of the comment box available at the bottom of the post as it’s always nice to hear your opinion. And as a final note, if you want to go one step further than just leaving a comment and want to have your articles published on our website, take a look here for more information.
![[Video] Blackburn vs Arsenal highlights: Big win as we go second in the table!](http://www.thegunninghawk.com/wp-content/themes/arthemia-premium/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/video.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1)
I agree with the line-up except silvestre..gallas must play…i don’t think silvestre is capable
I don’t think we’ve got many options tommorow. Whatever way you look we are going to get killed in the air. It’s vital we don’t concede any corners or throw-ins near the goal. Like you I don’t think Denilson is fit to lace Song’s boots as a defensive midfielder.Let’s hope Arshavin finally shows us what he’s made of.
Out of curiosity, if gallas or verminator gets injured. Who if not Silvestre would take their place? Senderos is leaving and Djouro is injured. Do we have any whizzkids in the reserves that could do a job at that place if they go out? Say we do not buy a new defender in january, what is our options? Surley we must have some one? Or will he be some 17 year old snotrag?
I think Arsene might stick Silvestre @ LB. Experienced, did well @ City and nobody in Stoke to terrorise him with pace. An extra option for defending those high balls. He might also play Eboue on the left as cover for Silvestre. Vela would be too lightweight for Stoke.
why isn’t fabianski in the squad ?
Hi mate.
You mean my line-up? Well yes, Fabianski starting ahead of Almunia and what Anonymous said on Silvestre on the left and Gallas starting as always in the center are two options which suit me just fine.
and so wenger said he’s not gonna buy anyone!
so sad and disappointed.
so much pride that wenger has in himself. i know that he’s good at nurturing young talents, but you cant force talent in players who dont have any talent!
soon we’ll be playing a 4-6-0 formation, with no striker at all!
are u serios? not buying anyone? I didn’t see the press conference…did he mention that? is he insane? if we don’t buy at least a player we are done this season! God help us if more injuries will come…
I like this formation very much
Though my worry some Arsenal supporters seem to support their own ideas rather than the club yes i believe in their frustration cause they are mine too we all want to see our beloved Arsenal win in every match i know we will soon yes i believe strongly about getting 3 or 4 players but MR wagner is 100% right we at arsenal we are different we play differently than any other team we have gained a beautiful stadium a beautiful style and we need to keep tabs on money we truly have the best and i believe we should keep our style and our cool there is no reason to go angry self control and proper support is needed we all know that our best friends are at our side when the chips are down motivating and supporting so to all that can go to the match please be there please give them a Mexican salute sing their names loudly they need our commitment and love at this crucial period to engulf our players with high spirit so they can feed on that Adrenaline without our beloved support our team will be half hearted we need to push ahead with force until reinforcements arrive i know they will arrive Mr wagner is out there to pick an all arsenal player a Gas a Rvp Edwardo Song Nasri Danilson Piraz onry good times are coming Mr wagner is building a team He got us the stadium he will get us that team the unbeatable team he is the man
ya…good analysing…but i am sure that the line up for tommorows match is like this
sagna-gallas-vermaelen-traore
denilson-fabregas
eboue – arshavin- nasri
eduardo
we all know how wenger sticks to his principles
surely traore will play…i have choosen eboue because of his defensive ability and his direct runnings.
Why does he not start Arshavin through the centre instead of Eduardo. I have seen him there a few times and he looks a lot more comfortable there rather than coming in from the left! Eduardo just isn’t doing it at the minute and he needs to change something in our attack.
Nice line-up,……..mine is this one:
Almunia
Gallas Vermalen
Sagna Eboué
Nasri Denilson
Fabregas
Vela Arshavin
Eduardo
And someone said that it would be nice to use Arshavin as a central striker and the I thought of this line-up:
Almunia
Gallas Vermalen
Sagna Eboué
Nasri Denilson
Fabregas
Vela Rosicky
Arshavin
But the one provided by Chris is actually a really good one. It would be nice that Wegner read this, at least are better line-ups than the ones that he presented against Chelsea and Man. City.
Arsenal are found out. Gift possession to Arsenal fall back and defend, we can’t score, then hit us on the counter attack and set pieces. Without a proper striker we’ve gone from no plan B to no plan A. Sad.
———————–Almunia———————–
Sagna – Silvestre – Vermaelen – Eboue
———Denilson————-Song—————
———————–Fabregas———————–
———Rosicky—————–Nasri———–
——————–Arshavin————————
Your desire to place Arshavin up front alone made you forget that Alex Song is suspended mate
———————–Almunia———————–
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Eboue
———Denilson————-Nasri—————
———————–Fabregas———————–
———Rosicky—————–vela———–
——————–Arshavin————————
———————–Mannone———————–
Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Eboue
————————————————–
————Denilson——–Fabregas———————–
Nasri—————–—————————vela———–
—————Eduardo—–—–Arshavin————————
Subs: rosicky–nasri
senderos can’t leave in january without the club agreeing as he’s still in contract so if we sold him and didn’t replace him in january it would be frankly suicide. i doubt anyone at arsenal is stupid enough to sell senderos without buying cover just because he wants to go.
I would say:
_____________Almunia________________
__Sagna__Gallas____Vermaelen____Traore___
_____________Denilson___________________
______Rosicky__________Fabregas_________
_______________Nasri____________________
_________Eduardo_______Vela_____________
I have left Arsahvin to the bench simply because I don’t think he wants to play and recent comment does make it seem he realy is suffering with depression. I put Nasri in attacking midfielder because well for one he shoots and is an excellent passer. He also seems to be bale to hold the ball up dribbling side to side. Eduardo & Vela partnership I feel together they may click better and Vela can drift left to combine with Fabregas and Rosicky.
Reading Wenger’s comments today it looks like we will not be going for Chamahk or Dzeko.
I would like to see the crosses vary abit. The sort of low crosses in behind thats where I feel we will prevail. I don’t think the high crosses into the box are going to work at all. Unfortunately Theo is great at these but he is out. If we can get Nasri, Fabregas and Rosicky shooting + some good movment from the full backs and some low crosses not to score but maybe just cause confusion we can take this game. I know Stoke are strong but they are slower and bigger I feel if keep the ball low we can expose this. Eduardo is a great poacher he just needs confidence and a little momentum some deflected and rebound shots will be perfect for him and even Vela.
my prefered formation
aluminia
sagna galas varmalen traroe
danilson rosisky
faber nazri
edwardo vela
edwardo for 35 minutes in goes archivan ebue silvesrter and some youg blood
i like teaming faber with nazri as they can interchange and both got amazing imagination and ability dont tink its fare to put edwardo in for 90 minutes but olso ther could be intresting moves between nazri and rosisky danilson and faber will be very tricky on stokes deffence dazling but i hope vella will stay on his feet and hope he will be assertive
im afraid that beautiful football is all that we have
Guy’s let be realistic here.
Gallas will start ahead of silvestre for a while longer ( wenger does not rotate his centre backs! except when toure was there) but most of the time no.And i know we do not fancy traore but wenger will put trust and play him.Silvestre may replace him but noboday else.
Summer breeze has got it right.. but i think arshavin will start : (
He has talent but he really is not showing it right now.He still creates somthing and does not do too much wrong but he is really out of form!
cameron has got it correct
I really do think through his lack of form – arshavin will play as wenger really does admire him
but your talkin sense in your posts. rosicky might defend with denilson and i’d put arshavin in upfront.
Rosicky might be tired from the City game so nasri but play defensive with him.
I agree with the low cross solution.If you watched manchester united vs portsmouth they did not have the best height ability in the box but when Valencia was crossing he put them in low and it was really working -Sagna does not understand low cross too much tbh
Thank you. Manchester United are on average the shortest team in the competition. Stoke are not known for skill but hieght, strength and long throws. We need to be smart and play to our strengths. Until Bent 52 is back low crosses and shots to cause havoc with a fox in the box = goals.
I;d be reallly happy if ch city get a result against chelsea.
If we win today’s game and our next game against liverpool then and our game we sould be back competeing for the title.We could be 5,6 pts away if city get a result.
Anfield game is always and will be a toughie even if there not on there best form
Yeah Anfield will be tough but the atmosphere could be a boost to Arshavin confidence wise, good memories for him. If we can win our remaining games we should be fine. We need to act quickly in the market in January and push for top spot.
Has anyone else noticed with Manchester City that Sparky seems to have a little bit of a Rafa effect? Some of his players, once realy good players going backwards. David Dunne, Micah Richards, Maybe even Robihno and Adebayour’s performances haven’t been as good nor have Irelands.
IT DOES NOT MATTER ANY MORE…wenger will never learn…he is the most stuborn managers that i know…no matter how the line up is we will suffer…lets be honest.our squad is not good enough…and what should we do…….BUY BUY BUY BUY…………no that word is a taboo for mr wenger..
The Arsenal Team right now is like wine, with age its better!!
i think we need to take a deep breath and take a look at the big picture of what he is doing… he is trying to do something bigger than just this season but i also may be wrong and he may be getting Alzheimer Disease lol
Chris,
i think we are at cross wires. i meant why is Fabianski not in the squad today.Was he injured at City?
I would say this is a must win game today Wenger looks ill, annoyed,aged and I believe there is still unrest in the changing room.Wenger is also contradicting himself.last week he said in one statement that he had no offers for Vela, and then said he was the one to replace Adebayor.
now today he is saying he has no money to spend on a striker in January,again another contradiction.
If you remember,eduardo had been with us for just 6 months(the so called bedding in period) when he got tragically injured,but he hadn’t at that time become a regular first team player.now he is back,he is definitely a yard or two off the pace, and hopefully that will return.
Same applies to rosicky, he is a shadow of the player he was,but then again he was out for nearly two seasons.Both have been tied down to long term contracts,so hopefully Wenger something we don’t.
Then take the Fabregas/RVP partnership.it was magnificant,and now with RVP out most probably for the season, a new partnership has to be introduced.Cesc is on top of his form,but when you see his head drop, as it did against Chelsea,maybe it is asking too much for someone to be captain as well. Vermaelen would eventually fit that role perfectly and let cesc do what he does best.
Arshavin is weekly coming out with the wrong vibes,which may be true to some extent,but should not be for the public to hear, and his own form is questionable.
So many questions,yet so few answers.
Ok,many questions!!Be patient and the questions will be answered in the pitch!!When we made great victories with Wigan,Blackburn,Birmingham,Wolves we were a great team and now what??Let the team breath and our players have shown us that they manage nice wins against such teams..!!We can win Stoke 3-0..