Arsenal 1 - 1 Wigan [4-2 Penalties] - Into The Final

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So good to have him back man

It's great to have Ramsey back, but I hope he's a sub on Tuesday. He played 115 odd minutes today despite being out for so long and we really cannot be risking him by giving him too much time on the pitch before he's ready.

It's a shame Flamini is suspended otherwise we'd be able to rest Arteta as well. I'm certain Kallstrom will start against West Ham but someone will have to play alongside him and I'm worried about Arteta's fitness and how it might impact his performance. Chamberlain, as well, is another who's fitness I worry about, but with Gnabry injured it's not like we've got much choice. Then there's Sagna, Cazorla and Sanogo who all played 120 minutes...

Might end up with something like: Szczesny; Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Kallstrom, Rosicky, Eisfeld; Akpom, Giroud, Podolski

How many games is Flamini suspended for?lol   
I thought it was only one game?

Arteta needs rest, too many minutes he has been playing.

Second suspension for accumulating a certain number of yellow cards = 2 games. The semi-final was the first game, and the second will be West Ham so he'll be back for Hull on Sunday.

West Ham game is massive as well with Everton ahead of us.

I would actually prefer Olsson over Eisfeld as he is defensively more assured. Although I won't be surprised if Arsene sticks with Arteta.

Kallstrom-Arteta-Rosicky midfield.

Hope Oxlade is fine. He was in terrible shape towards the end

Play Arteta against West Ham but rest against Hull. Maybe take him off early in the second half if we're winning. If we're keeping the ball which we should then less running will be needed for Arteta. Is Gnabry back for WHU? If he is, start.

Szczesny; Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta, Kallstrom; Gnabry, Rosicky, Podolski; Giroud

If Gnabry is out it becomes a bit tricky, Cazorla will have to dig in and rest against Hull where Ramsey could replace him.

Arsene will defo go with experience unless he is left with absolutely No choice
both Aaron and Alex should be on the bench
wish Serge and Rozza could return!

Rambo   

Am I the only one who was really impressed with Sanogo today? Went from being a bumbling idiot in his first few games with us to being a massive threat upfront. When the ball was in the air, he was practically immovable and won every header than I can recall (even when he was double teamed by Wigan) showed one or two deft touches (including the ball to Oxlade who miss-kicked it for Mertesacker to score the equalizer and my God can he run Never knew a 6"4' human could run so fast. If he can work on his finishing, he'd be a monster

El Gunner wrote:How old are you Vendetta? You also still in high school?

Nah 22, College

Lex wrote:Am I the only one who was really impressed with Sanogo today? Went from being a bumbling idiot in his first few games with us to being a massive threat upfront. When the ball was in the air, he was practically immovable and won every header than I can recall (even when he was double teamed by Wigan) showed one or two deft touches (including the ball to Oxlade who miss-kicked it for Mertesacker to score the equalizer and my God can he run :shock:Never knew a 6"4' human could run so fast. If he can work on his finishing, he'd be a monster

I think he is a couple of years away from being a viable starter, because he is the exact opposite of bing clinical in front of goal. I think that it would be best for him to be loaned out next season to have more game time and develop further.

Also.. I NEVER wanna hear the Ozil hate brigade come out again.

The difference in offensive quality and our ability to execute when he isn't on the pitch is shocking.

We go from being the most elegant and offensively fluent team in England to having to resort to Moyes ball in order to score

agreed, the kids got potential thats for sure.

VendettaRed07 wrote:Also.. I NEVER wanna hear the Ozil hate brigade come out again.

The difference in offensive quality and our ability to execute when he isn't on the pitch is shocking.

We go from being the most elegant and offensively fluent team in England to having to resort to Moyes ball in order to score

i agree, it was shocking that this guy was getting critizism from fans, most of whom know nothing about the details of football. its as if people forgot about how we played last season, we were HORRIBLE offensively, so straight away when ozil was introduced this season i knew he made a huge difference to the way we play, his offensive off the ball movement clearly makes us tick.

One thing i really liked from Sanogo today was he tried to create his own chances not just waiting around to get spoon fed. Worked his ass off, and should have scored, I think he deserves more game time.

I bet Hull and Sheffield are revealed that it’s Arsenal that went through and not Wigan.    

Hoping for a Sheffield final myself now

Lex really wants yaya to be our own Lukaku

I really liked what Sanogo did yesterday. Wenger mentioned after the game that he needs to stop trying so hard when he's in through on goal, and I agree with him. He tends to look frantic and that lack of composure likely effects his technique. If he learns to keep his composure I think he could be a decent player for us.

Physically, he's got everything. Decent pace, height and strength, all make him a handful for defenders. Lex is right in that he won an impressive amount of aerial duels, and he was good at making himself available for a pass to feet and laying off to team mates. It's just the goals he needs and once he gets that first one out the way, I feel that more will come.

Considering he's been chucked into the deep end - starts against Bayern, Liverpool, Everton, now a cup semi-final - he's done okay.

Sina wrote:Lex really wants yaya to be our own Lukaku

Lol he could be!  

it's all a bit silly at this point, but to me it seems the guy can be in a class above Lukaku...
His physical presence and the way he occupies a whole central defense seems more like Drogba to me.. and mind you Drogba was in the 2nd French league until he was 24.

Jay's last sentence is relevant, if you think what matches the kid was thrown in, that's pretty much the opposite of bulding up a youngster slowly; and while very questionable from the perspective of a top club's squad management, the mentality he's shown shows nothing but great promise.

Really unlucky Sanogo was not to score. Had a brilliant header in the first 10 minutes, good save, if he'd put it anywhere but straight at the keeper there was no stopping it.

He got in all the right positions and took no stick from the defenders which is my favorite aspect of his. I like Giroud and think he's useful even though we all know we need another striker but if Giroud gets a slight tug on his ear he's in the referee's face. Difference with Sanogo is he's in the defender's face shoving back.

Throwing him in against Bayern and last night will do wonders for his confidence. If he plays that well and sees his manager thinks he's ready for those games he'll believe it too. Just a goal away from stepping up.

Hull City beat Sheffield United 5-3 today.

So it's Arsenal vs Hull, May 17th, 17:00 kick off.

Well by the looks of it, it was a cracker. Should have watched it instead of Swansea - Chelsea.

Anyway, we got this.

I'm shit scared tbh, Bruce is capable of a great park the bus performance. Let's hope we get in some kind of form before the final.

Let's put it this way: Sheffield United scored 3 goals against Hull.
Also Hull played ONE Premier League side, Sunderland, to get to the final.

We have no excuses here no matter what their capabilities. It's been too long, by then we'll have the right players back (touch wood) and there will be no possible way complacency will creep in. After everything we've been through in this tournament, I think the players are past the stage of breaking down mentally, even if Bruce parks a mean bus.