ashburton grove does sound proper, but really i dont mind the stadium being called emirates if it enables us to compete financially. like someone else said, we dont necessarily have to spend big mancity-style, we just have to keep the players we're supposed to.

^ beat that, peter crouch!

that's a rather interesting lineup... we lose the crossers in walcott and sagna, but jenks and AOC are pretty decent crossers so that should enable plan B. worried about ramsey tho

aston kinda looked better, they moved the ball faster in attack. oxlade needs to get into the game more, he's drifting in and out of the game and when he gets in he looks threatening. giroud's one touch passes are quality, precisely what we need. i guess that's what wenger meant when he say to move the ball quicker.

aston villa's terrible in the 2nd half they say, well let's bring the game up to them, they must be tired pressing us all over the pitch!

gibbs's crosses has been horrendous as usual, but his defending has been good. jenks looks to have spent some time with gibbs practicing crosses. no quality cross has been put in the box for giroud, ironically the one successful cross was from ollie G himself.

would want to see arshavin at some point in the 2nd half if we remain scoreless... tho i think gerv will come in for ox

quick and harsh conclusion: we're a different team without walcott. crossing has become our number one revenue of goals. and again arsene stumping me with an unfathomable substitution: you want Arshavin, a crosser, to play WITH Giroud, a tall striker! keep the striker on!

next game will be a clash of crossers - baines vs walcott in a very interesting battle in our right flank. per will have his work cut out to mark the monster fellaini, and kosc will have to keep jelavic quiet.

passing wise - i dont even know if we can pass anymore. all we do is pass the ball back. has ramsey's influence grew that big in the club?

rest for the everton game

i thought jack would come on for the last 15 minutes maybe for ramsey. but hey, wenger's substitutions are always hard to read. and he probably thought jack wont be able to get into the game, it was pouring out there. ramsey looked better towards the end too

---

Added on November 25, 2012, 3:36 ami think what those two spaniards need in the center is a battling midfielder, someone to help them coerce some control. we had diaby in the past, and now wilshere would be perfect in that role. he's buffed up considerably during his time out, looking forward to him coming back to the team. oh and did i mention i miss walcott?

This post has been edited by Thumpy Ick: Nov 25 2012, 03:36 AM

if there's a formula it would probably take a supercomputer to calculate it. to think he'd reinstate gervinho back as a CF right when giroud's on a good run of form...

must be a joke, that one. why would we wanna get downing, such a one dimension player. if we have the 10m to waste on downing i'd argue we have the cash to keep walcott.

the klaas rumour's still persisting. he might be cup tied, but at such price, i'd take him. would provide proper competition for giroud instead of hot and cold gervinho.

it does not send a good message to the rest of the team, imo. when a player starts to play good and demands a rise in his contract extension, he gets sold. i believe less of us would make a fuss out of this if he didnt produce like what he's done this season, but after this patch of form and hard work why not give the lad what he wants. if we can keep squillaci around why not keep someone who's actually doing something.

---

Added on November 28, 2012, 12:47 pmanother rumours popped up in the striker department: llorente. does not look all that interesting to me, i'd rather have huntelaar

This post has been edited by Thumpy Ick: Nov 28 2012, 12:47 PM

lol.

anyways, i'd like to see walcott on the team against everton. we got baines on the right flank to deal with, and megafella to deal in the center. jelavic's as consistent as aaron lennon, not so worried about him. but is mirallas back? i've been impressed with him everytime he plays for everton. if we had problems dealing with bryan ruiz we're in for some against mirallas

hmm. if anything, i'd pick walcott ahead of nani to feature in this team. simply because he fits in. we need the crossing, he provides it. we need the pace, he does the running. we need the extra finisher in the box, he does it.

when nani is at his best tho... iuno, i'd probably still pick the walcott we have now. to be fair i havent watched nani a whole lot to know his style, all i know is he likes to beat his man with tricks, cuts inside and have a shot.

i remain optimistic that walcott and giroud will deliver in this game. i just think that if we manage to win it would take a massive performance. everton are playing some fantastic football.

verm MIGHT start still, with wenger being cautious with gibbs's fitness since he'd just returned from injury. wont want another long term injury on gibbs would we.

*no. 11 jersey floats about ominously in my head*

rofl. arshavinsanity!

actually the sense is he's appeared in the past 4 years, and this year he hasnt. according to the source.

caught the second half. game was open enough, but everton had the better chances. they couldve stolen the game at the end, good thing our defence is up to it today.