It's a big occasion today as we celebrate 125 years of Arsenal's existence. Three statues of Gunners legends, of Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry have been made for the event and the match official ( Howard Webb) will toss the coin using a sixpence coin as a symbolic gesture.
It was moving to see Thierry tear up a bit during the statue presentation and it rolled back memories of recent glory when he was in top form and was one of the most feared and admired footballers on the planet. Of the three legends who have been honoured, I confess I have only seen Henry in action as I am a relatively new Gooner( though I have followed up the history of our club since and read about the exploits of Tony Adams and the vision and management skills of the late Herbert Chapman). I have been lucky to see Henry in full pomp and I hope some of the current players can reach the heights that he scaled.
Coming back to the game, our opponents Everton have started the season slowly like us. Still, they have always proved to be a big thorn in our path and I hope the players are focused for the match and don't get too carried away by the celebratory atmosphere. Everton will come with a game plan and it will be crucial for us to carry on our league form. We can only hope those in front of us slip up somehow and when that happens, we need to be picking up points ourselves.
With Andre Santos getting injured in the midweek defeat in the dead rubber against Olympiacos, we now do not have a fit full back for the match. Thomas Vermaelen is set to take up the position at left back while Djourou mans the right back and Koscielny returns at the centre to join Mertesacker. It will also be an emotional game for Mikel Arteta as he faces his former club.
Apparently, the broadcasters here have thought the Man United and Liverpool games are more important to show live. F*** those people I say. The internet connection is proving to be very unreliable at the moment and I think I have to do with the 11:30 pm repeat telecast of the match. I'll have to somehow survive three hours without looking at any football sites during that time. Woe is me!
Team Line Ups:
Arsenal(4-3-3): Wojciech Szczesny, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Johan Djourou, Mikel Arteta, Alex Song, Aaron Ramsey, Gervinho, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott.
Substitutes: Manuel Almunia, Ignasi Miquel, Emmanuel Frimpong, Tomas Rosicky, Yossi Benayoun, Andrey Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh.
Manager: Arsene Wenger.
Everon(4-4-1-1): Tim Howard, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, John Heitinga, Tony Hibbert, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Marouane Fellaini, Phil Neville, Seamus Coleman, Tim Cahill, Louis Saha.
Substitutes: Jan Mucha, Sylvain Distin, Conor McAleny, Denis Stracqualursi, Magaye Gueye, Ross Barkley, Apostolos Vellios.
Manager: David Moyes.
It was moving to see Thierry tear up a bit during the statue presentation and it rolled back memories of recent glory when he was in top form and was one of the most feared and admired footballers on the planet. Of the three legends who have been honoured, I confess I have only seen Henry in action as I am a relatively new Gooner( though I have followed up the history of our club since and read about the exploits of Tony Adams and the vision and management skills of the late Herbert Chapman). I have been lucky to see Henry in full pomp and I hope some of the current players can reach the heights that he scaled.
Coming back to the game, our opponents Everton have started the season slowly like us. Still, they have always proved to be a big thorn in our path and I hope the players are focused for the match and don't get too carried away by the celebratory atmosphere. Everton will come with a game plan and it will be crucial for us to carry on our league form. We can only hope those in front of us slip up somehow and when that happens, we need to be picking up points ourselves.
With Andre Santos getting injured in the midweek defeat in the dead rubber against Olympiacos, we now do not have a fit full back for the match. Thomas Vermaelen is set to take up the position at left back while Djourou mans the right back and Koscielny returns at the centre to join Mertesacker. It will also be an emotional game for Mikel Arteta as he faces his former club.
Apparently, the broadcasters here have thought the Man United and Liverpool games are more important to show live. F*** those people I say. The internet connection is proving to be very unreliable at the moment and I think I have to do with the 11:30 pm repeat telecast of the match. I'll have to somehow survive three hours without looking at any football sites during that time. Woe is me!
Team Line Ups:
Arsenal(4-3-3): Wojciech Szczesny, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Johan Djourou, Mikel Arteta, Alex Song, Aaron Ramsey, Gervinho, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott.
Substitutes: Manuel Almunia, Ignasi Miquel, Emmanuel Frimpong, Tomas Rosicky, Yossi Benayoun, Andrey Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh.
Manager: Arsene Wenger.
Everon(4-4-1-1): Tim Howard, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, John Heitinga, Tony Hibbert, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Marouane Fellaini, Phil Neville, Seamus Coleman, Tim Cahill, Louis Saha.
Substitutes: Jan Mucha, Sylvain Distin, Conor McAleny, Denis Stracqualursi, Magaye Gueye, Ross Barkley, Apostolos Vellios.
Manager: David Moyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment