Arsenal Vs City Pre Match Thread

[didsburyblu]

Mangala needs game time before bayern n Chelsea so would start him in defence. Also with questions over the fitness of Fernando and the late arrivals back of yaya and fernandinho can't see both them starting. Also too risky to risk 2 attackers given our limited options so for me it's

hart
zabba
kompany
mangala
Clichy
Silva
Yaya
Lampard
Milner
navas
dzeko

 

[BillyShears]

Important we bounce back straight away.

Can't afford to let Chelsea get a 6 point break on us so early in the season.

I think 6, even 9 points, at this stage of the season is utterly irrelevant. If anything I think we showed last season that coming from behind suits us because it keeps others in the headlines whilst we quietly go about our business.

Having said that i obviously think we'll beat Arsenal.

My thoughts exactly...A fellow blue in my office goes as far as to say if we lose to Arsenal and Chelsea next week we have lost the league already

Preposterous notion

It's just the natural reaction of a pessimistic supporter. Okay I can be overly optimistic at times, but with over 30 games still to be played, 9 points is fuck all in my opinion. Chelsea will lose games, anyone who thinks they won't is kidding themselves. Yes they're stronger than last season, but football rarely as simple as that. Otherwise we'd all pack up and go home. A 9 point swing in this league just isn't very much, at the top or the bottom.

 

[the talisman]

Important we bounce back straight away.

Can't afford to let Chelsea get a 6 point break on us so early in the season.

I think 6, even 9 points, at this stage of the season is utterly irrelevant. If anything I think we showed last season that coming from behind suits us because it keeps others in the headlines whilst we quietly go about our business.

Having said that i obviously think we'll beat Arsenal.

I agree. We could quite possibly have a nightmare of a week, we could lose all 3 games (I don't think we will), probably best to avoid this place if we do.

It wouldn't be the end of our title defence though, but there will be people on here throwing the towel in. Last season I got ridiculed on here for daring to suggest we were still in it after we lost at Villa. I genuinely thought it was a wind-up, but people had actually given up. This was 6 (SIX) games into the season :-)

 

[munster]

2-2

Welshite to score (inevitably). Ramsey to play and score.

Kun and Yaya for us.

Not a bad result

 

[LoveCity]

Fernandinho only played 15 minutes for Brazil, so I guess jet lag could affect him more than actual fatigue, but he might be OK to play even on short notice. Yaya, though, plays this afternoon, giving him awfully little recovery time. He will play anyway since Yaya is never dropped, but a 3-man midfield would be advisable I think.

 

[waspish]

Milner should start this game instead of Nasri but it won't happen..

It'll be same team as against stoke without Jovitic

 

[Chippy_boy]

I think 6, even 9 points, at this stage of the season is utterly irrelevant. If anything I think we showed last season that coming from behind suits us because it keeps others in the headlines whilst we quietly go about our business.

Having said that i obviously think we'll beat Arsenal.

My thoughts exactly...A fellow blue in my office goes as far as to say if we lose to Arsenal and Chelsea next week we have lost the league already

Preposterous notion

It's just the natural reaction of a pessimistic supporter. Okay I can be overly optimistic at times, but with over 30 games still to be played, 9 points is fuck all in my opinion. Chelsea will lose games, anyone who thinks they won't is kidding themselves. Yes they're stronger than last season, but football rarely as simple as that. Otherwise we'd all pack up and go home. A 9 point swing in this league just isn't very much, at the top or the bottom.

The Arsenal game is really not that important imho in that I think we will finish ahead of them whether we win lose or draw on Saturday. If it's 3 points dropped, then that's a shame, but we normally drop points there anyway.

I am also not expecting anything from the Bayern game, and likewise I don't think that matters either. I don't think we will top the group anyway and I do expect us to go through in 2nd place. So yes a win or draw would be great, but losing is not a disaster.

The Chelsea game is MUCH more important IMHO. It's a home game and if we are to be Champions again, our home needs to be a fortress. We lost ONE game at home last season and we have already lost one this season. We do not want another loss, and least of all a loss to Chelsea. We simply must get a draw at least.

 

[BillyShears]

The Chelsea game is MUCH more important IMHO. It's a home game and if we are to be Champions again, our home needs to be a fortress. We lost ONE game at home last season and we have already lost one this season. We do not want another loss, and least of all a loss to Chelsea. We simply must get a draw at least.

I think your talking psychology whereas I'm talking actual points. Chelsea could beat us 5 nil at the Etihad it'll make no difference other than 3 points to whether we win the title or not. And like I say, even being 9 points behind the leaders in September wouldn't worry me. The season's barely kicked off and as much as it's a cliche it's true - no point in looking at the table seriously until after Christmas.

Also it's worth baring in mind that ALL the games against the top 6 are equally important because generally if you win that mini league you win the title.

Last season is a fantastic example of a forum which went into premature flap meltdown (remember Pellegrini was called a clueless old **** by some of our own in October/November), only to have to do an about face when it became clear that things were fine. At some point you have to learn from your own history.

Even the 12/13 season - we lost the title in December/January/February.

 

[supercity88]

Not the ideal time for three big games with the International fixtures. I would have thought Yaya will play despite the game tonight, and if Fernando is injured it means we could do with bolstering the midfield by maybe playing Milner wide one side, Nasri the other and have Dinho and Yaya in the centre with Silva behind Dzeko/Aguero. All about trusting the squad which is exactly what Pellegrini does. Lampard will be able to play that deeper role alongside a runner - keeping the ball and getting things moving - and he may be able to put in a shift against Bayern.

Really don't know how to call these games, fortunately they are early enough in the season that it doesn't matter too much. We should be confident of getting results at the Emirates and against Chelsea regardless of who is or isn't available. The Bayern game for me is irrelevant. Play on the counter and make ourselves hard to beat. Don't think we need to worry about anything more. Silva is on form, Aguero looks fit again and if two of Yaya, Fernando and Fernandinho are able to play we will cause problems for the opposition.

 

[sam-caddick]

I have a feeling Demichelis will play against Arsenal and Mangala will be thrown in against Bayern because of his pace to match Robben.

We can't expect after an international break to play free-flowing attractive football so I would setup a team to frustrate and grind a result out against Arsenal.