Arsene Wenger admits he’s unlikely to risk Alexis Sanchez this weekend when Aston Villa visit the Emirates.
The Chilean striker is nursing a slight hamstring problem and with the North London derby on the horizon it appears the summer signing will be given a rest. New boy Gabriel Paulista will be in the squad.
“I am unlikely to risk Alexis Sanchez,” Wenger told his weekly press conference. “Gabriel is ready to play.”
“I saw great quality,” he added when asked about why he signed Gabriel from Villarreal. “His level of concentration, he’s quick, has great commitment and is young.”
Wenger also gave updates on the status of three injured England internationals: “Welbeck is still out. He could be available Sunday, but he’s definitely available next week. Chamberlain is out longer. He may be a bit short for the Tottenham game.
“Wilshere is doing very well. He is a week ahead of schedule and should return in 10 days.”
It’s exciting with everyone coming back. Fingers crossed
With Ozil and Walcott back, it’s the right thing to do as well…we have enough to win without him and this can’t be an excuse. We’ll miss his qualities on Sunday but Iit’s an opportunity for someone else to step up again.
Chuba to come of the bench & score the winner? Quickly followed by pencilling a new contract…
Chuba to come on and score the 8th Arsenal goal of the day you mean
Save the Alexis ammo for the Spuds….COYG!
He’ll come back stronger v Spurs, our Duracell bunny.
If we can’t beat Villa without him, we must be poor.
It does rather depend on the referee and unfortunately this one (taylor) is a real 100% cunt!
He’s let many teams kick the crap out of us whilst awarding kicks against us when the opposition trip over their-own feet.
Haha no it doesn’t! In recent years I’ve been going to more away matches than home due to being away at university, and now I’m back I can’t believe how obsessed the Emirates has become with the refs! Okay the referees are pretty cack, but the last few matches I’ve been to (particularly Stoke) every time he blows his whistle for a foul against us the crowd go absolutely ape shit. We’re going to conceed fouls, that’s what happens in football. For a game against the lowest scoring team in the entire football league to be determined by a bad… Read more »
The last few games have been OK ref-wise = we’ve won, but that doesn’t mean we get ref’d fairly for most games and it certainly does depend strongly on the ref!
There have been loads of really important ‘game changing’ decisions that have gone against us this season and if you believe that ‘it evens up over the season’ then we’re still owed an awful lot of luck. If you aren’t aware of that then you’re clearly not watching.
And Taylor is at the MaureenO/JT level of cuntdom.
Name me some ‘important game changing’ decisions that have really changed things then.. We were playing crap- the results were primarily down to that, I think you’ll find. It really hasn’t been as bad as people would have you believe. If in your opinion it has, then that’s fine, I’m not really that bothered, either way to accuse me of ‘not watching’ is pretty ridiculous. I just think other teams have had equally as bad refereeing displays as we have, and while I agree that most media outlets seem to not be too fond of Arsenal (still in shock that… Read more »
I have to dash so can’t do a list in detail but for 1 Chelsea. Cahill gets sent off for either crap tackle or trying to bust Alexis ankle (you decide) = MaureenO usually takes off either Oscar or Hazard (probably Hazard as he’d been quiet until then) to bring on a defender. Game changed. Does it mean we would have won, NO but equally it doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have. And don’t blather on about welbeck in that game as he wouldn’t have dived in like that if the 1st one had been correct. Could go on about how… Read more »
Yeah, I’m aware of confirmation bias and everything that goes along with being a fan watching a game, rather than analysing it with cold rationale, but I still can’t help but think that we get the thin end of the wedge.
I don’t know if I’m just genuinely that blinkered, or right.
I don’t think I’m alone in that.
I can’t reply to your post, presume there’s some kind of limit, but do you not think an argument could be made that Coquelin has been lucky a couple of times? Or how about Wenger not being sent to the stands for pushing Mourinho which would’ve meant (i think) he couldn’t manage from the sidelines in the next game? And although i personally think it was (just), we’d have been absolutely fuming if the penalty Monreal won against City was given against us. I fully agree with you we’ve had some bad decisions, all I’m saying is that we have… Read more »
Wenger was going to check on Sanchez after a two-footed challenge from Cahill, if you remember correctly, which the ref ignored. That should have been a straight red early in the match. And why was Maureen going to ‘intercept’ Wenger, when Maureen had issued the instructions to Cahill to play like that? Kompany: two-footed challenge on Sanchez, not even a yellow. Should be sent off in this game. Arnautovic: pushes Debuchy into the advertising boards, nothing. Crouch: elbows and wrestles several of our players, one yellow, should have been sent off. Adam: strangles Sanchez, nothing. Chambers: sent off against Stoke… Read more »
Coq missed a yellow or 2 and we’ve had a few 50/50 handballs go our way. If we’d given the monreal/city penalty I’d have understood. Kompany stepped across him. We’ve had some small stuff but most of the time the 1st major decision has gone against us. As Mr Swiveller says, we wouldn’t be top but we’d be better. Boyds handball was obvious to a blind man, as was Adams headlock of Alexis. CC should have had a few more yellows but he gets sent off for 2 where only one was anywhere near a yellow. The Orcs have historically… Read more »
One game that springs immediately to mind where the refereee changed the outcome was the Anderlecht match. Anderlecht’s first goal was about a yard and a half offside. It was allowed to stand, which gave Anderlecht a lift and was the key to their revival. Get that decision right, it’s still 3-0 and Anderlecht are demoralized. That was a definite game-changer. Then there’s the 2-3 away at Stoke. We should have been playing against 10 men when it was still 0-1, and against 9 men for most of the second half. There’s no denying we weren’t very good that day,… Read more »
Well I’ve seen a lot of games where a hand ball would have been called on Chambers towards the end of the Brighton game. So there’s one that went our way. Had things been reversed I am quite confident there would have been complaining on this site
DLDC your right in as much as we’ve seen them given but if the ref saw that as ball to hand then the only ones arguing would be the opposition, and we’ve had a few others like that, but we’ve had a lot more opposition ‘ball to hand AND hand to ball’ that haven’t been called. We’ve had a load of opposition players that should have had 2nd yellows but haven’t. Last season we had a ref that let Villa kick us off the park (we lost) which included westwood 2-footing through the back of Theo, injuring him and not… Read more »
How can people disagree with this? A team like ours shouldn’t be relying on reffing decisions, with or without Alexis we should be beating Villa every time
There’s relying on decisions to get results, and then there’s relying on an acceptable level of bias to get the right result. I don’t think we’ve been good enough to win the league, so I ain’t gonna bitch about the refs being the reason that we never have, but it doesn’t always seem like the level playing field it should be.
I remember reading someone say a few years back that it’s not that you had to be better than Man U, it’s that you had to be considerably better as they always got what they needed from the referees.
yeah, i remember him…….son of a *&%$£”^&(!
Alexis hasn’t been our only source of goals. Arsenal have had the most number of different goal scorers this season, ahead of any other club. Villa aren’t a difficult club to beat in any case so this is a perfect game to rest Alexis for.
Arsenal have 50% more different goal scorers this year (18) than Villa have goals (12).
Sounds like good news really. Alexis getting a rest ahead of a crucial month for our season and wilshere getting ready to join the fray. We will miss the ox and welbz ofc but with the likes of ozil and feo returning and players like giroud santi anf tr7 in fine form it’s not like we can’t miss them for a game or two.
What does it mean when Welbeck is ‘still out’ but might be available for Sunday? Is he in training with the rest of the first team etc?
Most likely it means he’s training but doesn’t look fit enough to play yet. Slim chance of being on the bench is how I read that one.
Welcome home Gabrielle! We should give Alexi breathing spaces and put Santi and Walcott on the flanks!
Cazorla is not going on no flank……..for the love of god we know it dont work
I dunno, considering how loose our formation is it only limits him a little, much like all the outrage about wasting Ozil out left is a little disingenuous, given the freedom he actually has out there.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Santi have great games whilst playing nominally wide, and seen him have bad games in the middle, so it isn’t quite so black and white.
agreed
Cazorla has been pretty good on the flank to be fair. But he’s better in the middle
It I called a false left wing….attacking with minimum wide balls..with the right wing functioning. It happens when u don’t have a typical player on certain position….
I think we will see a mobile combination for villa visit between cazorla and ozil, both will change position LW and no.10, but i think cazorla will play most of the time as no.10.
And its a shame but on current form the only place JW10 is returning to is the bench. Id hate to have Wengers job when eveyone is fit…..what is out best TEAM??
I’m sure it will just drive Wilshere to up his game! He’ll probably feature in the CL and FA cup too
Our best team varies from game to game and depends on the opposition. I, for one, am very happy that our manager finally has a selection headache!
So Alexis and Chambo out, Theo and Rosicky in.
Villa couldn’t score in a brothel, hope we turn up with a performance to really twist the knife in and then repeatedly volley them in the face whilst their on the ground screaming for mercy.
Or alternatively, we could play football and score more than they do. We aren’t fucking Stoke
Gil looks like a slippery customer though, he might give Villa a bit of spark to acually complement their pace and power; still expect us to win.
We’ll put our Coq on their Gil and he won’t be so slippery then
Time to prove we are not a one-man team.
I have not forgotten what they did to us in last season’s opener…Pay back time.
Looking forward to seeing the new lad play.
Forced rotation could be a blessing in disguise. Itll give the other players a chance to start finding some form and match fitness. Theyll be needed in the 2nd half of the season for sure and best for them to hit the ground running.
COYG three points sunday please.
Whoaaaaa… Ahead of schedule again? What did you do with my Arsenal?
Shed
Shad
We are coming now.with full power.
Also glad to see Ramsey is fit. Was worried about him during the Brighton game when he got up gingerly.
I guess we’ll have a midfield of diminutive attacking midfielders starting: Santi, TR7 and Özil.
Less of the diminutive, Ozil is on the ‘roids now.
He’s also almost six feet tall aparently, which is funny because it doesn’t look it.
183cm = 6ft and a smidge (per transfermarkt).
Gabriel…!
http://youtu.be/8UvFoVj_aV0
He’s the type of player who wants to play every game, every minute, and he looked frustrated when subbed out on few ocassions. So I say lets deny him any playing time this week even if he’s fit, and watch him explode against Sp*rs
Anyone else worried we won’t see welbeck until April?
Hamstring problems always scare me. If you rush a player back from a pull, it can turn into a much more serious and long term problem. Usually one week off training (with just PT) is not enough. If there’s a tear, it can be very long term.
We shouldnt risk Alexis if he is not fit, we will end up doing more harm in the long term…….he is too valuable a player to the team to be risked for short term gains!
we are not a one man squad and this is evidenced by arsenal goals coming from all over the team ….if we can handle mancity? ….then we should have enough in the tank to handle aston villa….we just need to play well as a TEAM….and our quality should see us through
Is it bad that I don’t care for wilshere’s comeback and wouldn’t mind swapping him for a top class DM or striker?
It would be nice having chamberlain back. And maybe Rosicky will take the other wing, he does have the same work ethic as Sanchez and is as unpredictable. Seing Santi play deeper is also an interesting tactic. It reminds me of the role played by Xavi for barca. It works well but with Ramsey on the pitch too. Most people say it was 4141 against city but It was a 433 to me and it worked so well because Ramsey reverted back to a conservative football style that he performs realy well at but at the same time being understated.… Read more »
The sensible thing would be to rest Alexis.
We have enough options against Villa as is.
I’d like to see Walcott start, Ox on the other wing.
Ramsey next to Coquelin holding. Santi carries on his fine work behind Giroud.
Probably have Metersecker come back in with Monreal. Gibbs and Bellerin (or Chambers) wide
“That’s OK, Arsene. Bellerin will help with the scoring!”