Arsenal vs Birmingham: Carling Cup Final Preview

There is only 2 days left to the Carling Cup Final and I am just counting down the hours to arguably the most important match for the new generation Gunners. The last generation of the Gunners were undoubtedly very successful with the "Invincible" season to crown their glory days. Now we stand on the threshold of a new era where the Gunners dominate the trophies. It all rest on the result of this sunday's match against Birmingham in our first new Wembley final.

Normally I would be very confident about a victory for the Gunners against Birmingham. We have not lost to the Blues in the last six games, winning three and drawing the rest. We have done the double over Alex McLeish's side, with the last match going to 3-0 victory for us at the Emirates.

However, this is a Cup Final and many of the players out there have never been to one. I believe other than Cesc,Clichy, Van Persie and Arshavin none of the Arsenal players have even participated in such an environment. That is why I am a little worried for the boys and how they will hold up this Sunday.

The injuries to Cesc and Walcott certainly did not help our cause. Of course we have Nasri to take over from Cesc but we do have a hole to fill on the right side of midfield. He may be frustrating at times but Walcott does give us penetration and wide to the attack.I am pretty sure Bendtner will take his place on the right so let's see if the Dane can make good his promise of giving his best to the Arsenal cause.

I don't even want to think about the consequences should we fail to win this match. It is going to be such a big blow that I don't think we can recover from it. All I am doing now is think positive and hope it carries over to the boys on the field come Sunday.

This has got to be Arsenal's year in the Carling Cup

Everywhere you look the signs are there. This has got to be our year in the Carling Cup.From the first game when the gaffer was forced to played a much stronger side than he wanted against Spurs to the semi-final draw against Ipswich, the sole non Premiership side left in the tournament, this is our best chance to end our title drought and get the critics off our back for a bit.

We have always maintained that the team needs a trophy to break away from the losing mentality and now we have the chance. The semifinal is played home and away so there is less  opportunity for a one-off upset. I know Roy Keane would love to pull a fast one against us so let's beware of that.(There's no guarantee that he will be managing the Tractor Boys come January given their disappointing League form)




Btw, anybody know why the semi-final is played over two legs wen every other round is contested only once?

Newscastle vs Arsenal: An Early Preview - Carling Cup

Traditionally, this is one competition where Arsene Wenger bloods his next generation of stars. Throughout, names like Fabregas, Clichy, Wilshere, Walcott et al got their debut in this competition. However this year there may not be so many places available for the younger generation as the Professor is under pressure to deliver some form of silverware to the club after six barren years.

When asked if he would send out a strong team for the match against Newcastle during the post match interview on Sunday, Wenger said that he is definitely sending out a couple from the team at the weekend to face the newly promoted side.
From the manager’s words, my guess is he would be playing most of the players who sat on the bench on Sunday.  That would mean a start for Rosicky, Walcott, Gibbs, Bendtner and Eboue. Having said that I am sure the manager will pepper the squad with some youngsters so expect to see Szczesny and Lansbury included as well. Lansbury gave a good account of himself scoring the first goal against Spurs in the last round so he would be expecting a prolonged run with the team in the Carling Cup.
I know he won’t start but I do hope the manager gives Benik Afobe a chance to show the fans what he is capable of against established stars. Afobe has come in for some great reviews from the academy coaches, even Arsene is captivated the young man and has predicted him for stardom in the near future. The last time he was so upbeat about a player was Jack Wilshere and look how he turned out.

Newcastle would not be an easy opponent to take on especially at St JamesPark. They beat Chelsea away in the last round and confidence is high after the weekend’s 2-1 away win to fellow relegation contenders West Ham.  Their dangerman Andy Carroll is a talented centre forward would give our defenders a hard time. Former Bolton hard man Kevin Nolan is another threat .

It is an excellent chance for the Gunners to go all the way and claim their first title in six years given the competition this time around have already seen the top teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs all fall by the wayside.

Go Gunners!

Carling Cup Draw

Arsenal will face another Premiership match-up in the Carling Cup when they travel to north-east England for the fourth round clash against Newcastle United at St. James Park.The tie will be played in the week commencing 25th October.

Will Arsene Wenger finally have a go at winning this trophy? How he selects his team for this one will probably give us the answer to this question.

Nasri blast away penalty superstition

Who says you can't win a free kick and take it yourself ? I don't know how this came about but it sure cost us two points at the Stadium of Light on saturday when Samir Nasri refused to take the spotkick after winning it in the first place. I believe he must have inherited this from Thierry Henry, who practised this superstition for years during his time with us. I didn't cost us much them as Henry always did have an excellent sidekick in Robert Pires to take over but as we saw on, these things can really bite you when it matters.

Arsene Wenger was clearly furious on saturday and it's was a good thing as well. If not for the manager's bollocking, I am sure Nasri would not have take the two penalties he won yesterday. Who knows it may have even cost us the match. Arsene said in a post match interview,

"He had a superstition to think that when the penalty is made on you, not to take it," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger after his club's biggest win at White Hart Lane in 32 years.

"I tried to prove to him that it's only based on fear. It's gone tonight...he realises now it was a bad superstition."

Well, I hope he has debunked the myth and will be taking more penalties because judging by the two yesterday, he is excellent at it.

Yesterday game really showed a determined Arsenal in the home of their greatest enemy. Every player was chasing the ball and closing down the opponent. The Spuds really didn't know how to play. Yes they left most of their first team players on the bench but so did we. I can recall how most of the analyst have proclaimed the Spuds having a very strong squad will a deep bench, well we prove them wrong didn't we? I don't think Fabianski had a save to make in the entire match bar the one he let in.

It was great seeing Henri Lansbury playing and getting a goal to boot. In the game, Arsenal had 3 future English internationals in Wilshere, Gibbs and Lansbury with another, Emmanuel Thomas on the bench. With many more English youngster coming up through the ranks, I wouldn't be suprise if the majority of the 2014 England team is made up of Arsenal players.

All in all it was sweet victory over the Spuds and at 4-1, our biggest at White Hart Lane for 32 years. The only dampener is Gibbs injury towards the end. Early reports indicate that he may have broken his metatarsal again but let's wait for the results and hope for the best.

Technorati Tags: Arsenal,, Carling, Cup,, Samir, Nasri

Tottenham v Arsenal: Team Line-Ups

For once, Arsene Wenger has gone with a blend of experience and youth for a League Cup match. Sensing the fans desire not to lose 2 consecutive matches to the Scums, the manager has decided not to included any of the youth players with the exception of Henri Lansbury in the starting line-up.

Arsenal: Fabianski; Eboue, Koscielny, Djourou, Gibbs; Denilson, Wilshere, Rosicky; Lansbury; Nasri, Vela

Spurs: Pletikosa; Naughton, Caulker, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto; Bentley, Sandro, Palacios, Livermore; Giovani; Pavlyuchenko

The Carling Cup Dilemma

Should we send out our first team tonight for the league cup against the Scums? The jury is still out there for this one, but it is probably a moot point since Arsene is not going to change his philosophy on the league.

Personally, I am fully supportive of the manager in his stance. I know the league cup would probably be the best chance we have of winning a silverware this season but will we be happy winning the Mickey Mouse cup? Definitely not me.

The league cup matches have contribute a great deal to the young players development for the team. I remember a young Cesc Fabregas aged 16, scoring his first Arsenal goal in a Carling Cup match against Wolves. Without the benefit of such first team exposure, his development would probably not be so meteoric. Ditto for the likes Clichy, Gibbs, Song, Wilshere and the rest who came through the academy.

We are in the midst of reaping the fruits of Arsene's philosophy but we shouldn't neglect the future. Plus, I am excited to see how lads such as JET, Eastmond, Bartlett and Cruize perform at a higher level than they normally do in the Reserves. Wouldn't it be great if our reserves manage to beat the Scums at their own den. Harry would undoubtedly pepper his squad with some youngsters as well so it would be great to see how the future of the two clubs go head to head with each other.

Our youngsters managed a great victory over Liverpool at this stage last year and I expect more of the same from them this year.

Technorati Tags: Arsenal,, Carling, Cup,, Arsene, Wenger