101 replies to this topic

[Gooner Mark]

The first game of the new season with the added excitement of seeing our new signings in action. All going well, this game vs Sunderland should see the competitive debuts of Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla for Arsenal which is definitely something for Gooners to look forward to.

Aside from that, we should have the return of a reasonably familar side come Saturday afternoon. Koscielny, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled out of their midweek international fixtures this week, but only Oxlade-Chamberlain is said to be a serious doubt for the coming fixture.

With van Persie set to finalise his betrayal of Arsenal this week, he will obviously not feature. Assuming nobody else (here's looking at you, Alex Song!) fucks off in between now and then, we should probably looking at a line-up something like this:

Szczesny

Coquelin - Koscielny - Vermaelen © - Gibbs

Arteta - Song

Walcott - Cazorla - Podolski

Giroud

Sagna, Rosicky and Wilshere are still injured. Diaby and Mertesacker are back in contention after injuries last season. I'm liking the above line-up, looking forward to seeing the new signings in action.

I'm a little pressed for time right now but it's I'll get the thread up and running anyway, can always add more later.

Anyway... First game of the season, stage set at the Emirates, new signings on show - let's do it! Come on Arsenal!

[Peter The Nigerian]

It's about time the season gets underway. Hoping Song will stay and play (that rhyme >).

Hoping to see the attack work well together. Now that van persie is gone they'll surely have to step up. We've survived Henry, Cesc & Nasri's departures, we can do the same in this situation.

CAN'T WAIT.

Edited by Peter The Nigerian, 16 August 2012 - 08:16 PM.

[francis]

Will be watching this ish.

[Holistic Approach]

Please beat Sunderland, please.

[Diminutive Postmaker]

TEAM NEWS: Wenger will assess Cazorla/Walcott, Koscielny ruled out with calf strain, Chamberlain injured too

[Gooner Mark]

No mention of Sagna? Assuming he's still out.

Koscielny injury is disappointing. Let's hope there is nothing in it and he is back a.s.a.p. We've all seen how minor injuries at the start of the season actually panned out for Arsenal in recent years. Better not be the case here.

Hoping Cazorla is fit. It would be a shame if he wasn't available for the first game of the season. If Song is fucking off then don't play him. We can do without him if we have to even without a new signing arriving just yet. Arteta, Diaby and Cazorla in the middle.

[Rossicky]

Full team news:

on Jack Wilshere (ankle), Tomas Rosicky (tendon) and Bacary Sagna (leg)...
They are all doing well but of course they are not available tomorrow. They are all good news though. Jack is moving very well and quickly forward now. Rosicky is running, Sagna is running too. They should all be available soon. It is more or less a month for all of them to start training properly.

on Mikel Arteta…
He is fit and available.

on Emmanuel Frimpong (knee)…
He is three weeks until he is training that is a bit ahead of schedule. It is very good. We think he will be back competitively in October.

on other team news…
We have a few tests today because some players came back today [from internationals] and played 90 minutes, like Cazorla in Puerto Rico. Some players like Song have little knocks. We will see about them today.

on Walcott (thigh)…
We have to assess Walcott, who had to pull out of the national team. But he should be OK to play.

on Koscielny and Oxlade-Chamberlain...
We miss Koscielny and Oxlade-Chamberlain for the injuries they got in the last game against Cologne. They had to pull out of their respective national teams as well so those two will miss the game tomorrow. Oxlade-Chamberlain has an ankle problem, Koscielny a calf. Both have a chance to be fit for Stoke.

[Diminutive Postmaker]

Copypaste merchant
"Some players like Song have little knocks" - Good old Arsene

[Rossicky]

Dimitzenchenkovski, on 17 August 2012 - 10:42 AM, said:

Copypaste merchant
"Some players like Song have little knocks" - Good old Arsene

Nothing wrong with that

[Gooner Mark]

Arteta, Cazorla if fit and one of Diaby/Coquelin/Ramsey. Think I'd give Diaby a go now that he got a pre-season under his belt. Coquelin might be the more conservative option though.

[Rossicky]

You don't think Song will feature at all? Nasri looked to be on his way last yeasr but still played against Liverpool

[Keith.]

We all know how Sunderland will approach this, sit in and just counter attack, 10 men behind the ball all game is Martin O'Neil style. So we need to be patient and grind them down. They will just try and rely on set pieces and mistakes.

[Gooner Mark]

Rossicky, on 17 August 2012 - 04:17 PM, said:

You don't think Song will feature at all? Nasri looked to be on his way last yeasr but still played against Liverpool

If you believe reports, he's all but gone. It seems like he has left the club at this point and it's just a case of an official announcement. Nasri's departure was not at such an advanced stage when he played for us.

Wenger pretty much set it up with suggesting that he is a doubt anyway so that gives the easy media answers about why he doesn't feature if the move isn't already made official.

[Rossicky]

Master Bates, on 17 August 2012 - 05:14 PM, said:

If you believe reports, he's all but gone. It seems like he has left the club at this point and it's just a case of an official announcement. Nasri's departure was not at such an advanced stage when he played for us.

Wenger pretty much set it up with suggesting that he is a doubt anyway so that gives the easy media answers about why he doesn't feature if the move isn't already made official.

True, but i don't know what to believe in the media anymore, even sky arnt as reliable as they use to be so don't know if deals are concrete or they are just talk. Anyway, if song is absent i think it would be diaby of le coq to cover. And the thing is Wenger said we could sell as we have plenty of midfielders, and i agree, but not many DM's, and Song is the best we have, doesnt make sense to me.

[Wrighty]

Team is:

Szczesny, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Diaby, Arteta, Cazorla, Gervinho, Walcott, Podolski