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Newcastle United vs Arsenal - 21/03/15 3PM Lick Off.


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Arsène Wenger is resisting the sense of crisis over English football’s collective exit from the Champions League. Although this is the second time in three years that the quarter-finals will be drawn with no English presence, the Arsenal manager’s analysis boiled down to Manchester City’s bad luck to be drawn against a breathtaking Barcelona, and Arsenal and Chelsea succumbing via the away goals rule.

 

That rule has frustrated him for a while. Wenger certainly did not go into it as an excuse for Arsenal’s particular failings – the blame for that lay squarely at their shortcomings in the first-leg defeat against Monaco – but as a long-time advocate for it to be scrapped he is not shy of the debate.

 

“Two teams have gone out on away goals, which I think should be questioned because it’s a rule that is outdated now and that has to be changed,” he said.

 

“I’ve fought for that for a long time. In a direct knockout, it’s important that you’re very efficient and a bit lucky as well. None of the teams, apart from Barcelona, look to be superior in Europe today. Two other teams, Chelsea and Arsenal, could have gone through. This rule has been created in the 60s to encourage the teams to attack away from home. Since that football has changed. The weight of the away goal is too big today.”

 

Wenger clarified a remark from his post-match press conference which suggested he preferred the Europa League to the Champions League in terms of a long run in contentinal competition. “It is better that we are in the Champions League. It is as simple as that. It was just a little joke I made in French. To stay in Europe, you want to be in the Champions League and nowhere else.

 

“I think that the quality of the Premier League is very high and that physical demands are extreme. I’m not in the mood today to analyse too much what was wrong for English football; I don’t think there is a lot wrong,” he said.

 

On the subject of moods, Wenger added that the camp was “down and disappointed” on the back of their Champions League exit. “It’s quite strange at the moment because we feel we are on a positive trend, but we have paid by being out.”

 

Arsenal travel to Tyneside this weekend to play Newcastle and hope to get back on track in the Premier League. The title race remains off Wenger’s immediate agenda though, given Chelsea’s advantage. “We would love to,” he said. “At the moment we are too far away from Chelsea, but we have an opportunity every week to get closer and for that we need positive results from us, and negative results from Chelsea. The only thing we can master is positive results from us. I believe Chelsea still has a very good cushion and very good security.”

 

Wenger is mindful of potential fatigue this weekend. “West Ham was a very physical game. In the second half of the Monaco game we played some of our players offensively. We paid a little bit for it. It is a concern. We have to see how everyone recovers.”

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/19/arsene-wenger-away-goals-scrapped-champions-league

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Guest Roger Kint

Not sure if Wenger has said it or Ryder is inventing pro Carver bullshit again(he has blocked me on twitter so cant see it :lol:) but apparently thinks Carver is doing a good job :anguish:

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John Carver may be forced to opt for a change of tactical system to cope with Newcastle United’s defensive injury crisis and make the most of his limited first-team resources.

 

The visit of an in-form Arsenal side which came within a whisker of making Champions League history on Tuesday to an injury-hit Newcastle has the makings of an uncomfortable afternoon for the caretaker boss, who is down to one fit senior centre-back for the match after Fabricio Coloccini’s red card and three-match ban.

 

Daryl Janmaat has thrown his hat into the ring to partner Mike Williamson, under fire himself, and the only other specialist centre-back is Lubo Satka, who has never played a minute of Premier League football.

 

Carver’s other options if he perseveres with four at the back are to play either Ryan Taylor or Jonas Gutierrez in an unfamiliar central defensive role – hardly ideal. Against that backdrop there could even be a change in formation – and one option open to Carver is for United to potentially move to three across defence while putting an extra man into midfield to protect his makeshift back line.

 

Carver will address the media on Thursday lunchtime and the team will start working on shape after being handed a day off earlier in the week to recover from the Everton defeat. The United boss has taken to bringing a bulletin sheet of his injured players to media calls and it emphasises the size of the injury list that he has to cope with. When he took the job his intention was to try and turn United into a more of an attacking threat but instead the majority of his 11-match tenure has been spent fighting fires.

 

While he would use that as mitigation for mediocre results – United have taken eight points from a possible 30 – he was prepared to work under those circumstances and said back in January that he was happy with the squad that he had after no additions were made in January.

 

Carver seems reticent to hand chances to too many of United’s young guns even though he has called Jamie Sterry, Olivier Kemen and Callum Roberts into the first team pool. He also has Adam Armstrong to call on if required – but he spoke last week of attempting to “protect” the club’s prospects.

 

It leaves him with limited room for manoeuvre. Playing Janmaat is a possibility, but the United right-back said after the Everton defeat that he had never played in the centre of defence in his professional career.

 

He said: “If the team needs me there, I am confident I can do well there, even though I have not played as a central defender in the whole of my career.

 

“I will play in the middle of the defence if I am asked to do so, although it is not really my position.

 

“It is not really as though I have ambitions to stay there, but we all know what the situation is at the moment and if I have to play there, I will.

 

“The second half at Everton was the first time I have played there so it is not something I know all that well.”

 

United were not allowed to negotiate a recall into the loans that were brokered for Remie Streete and Jamaal Lascelles, the England under-21 and Nottingham Forest defender who is being viewed as a potential starter next season.

 

 

Should be one hell of a match this.  :hmm:

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TBF we'll end up with about 9 at the back anyway.

 

Exactly. Doesn't matter what formation he trots out, it'll devolve within 5 minutes and we'll have 10 men trying, and failing, desperately to park the bus.

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John Carver may be forced to opt for a change of tactical system to cope with Newcastle United’s defensive injury crisis and make the most of his limited first-team resources.

 

The visit of an in-form Arsenal side which came within a whisker of making Champions League history on Tuesday to an injury-hit Newcastle has the makings of an uncomfortable afternoon for the caretaker boss, who is down to one fit senior centre-back for the match after Fabricio Coloccini’s red card and three-match ban.

 

Daryl Janmaat has thrown his hat into the ring to partner Mike Williamson, under fire himself, and the only other specialist centre-back is Lubo Satka, who has never played a minute of Premier League football.

 

Carver’s other options if he perseveres with four at the back are to play either Ryan Taylor or Jonas Gutierrez in an unfamiliar central defensive role – hardly ideal. Against that backdrop there could even be a change in formation – and one option open to Carver is for United to potentially move to three across defence while putting an extra man into midfield to protect his makeshift back line.

 

Carver will address the media on Thursday lunchtime and the team will start working on shape after being handed a day off earlier in the week to recover from the Everton defeat. The United boss has taken to bringing a bulletin sheet of his injured players to media calls and it emphasises the size of the injury list that he has to cope with. When he took the job his intention was to try and turn United into a more of an attacking threat but instead the majority of his 11-match tenure has been spent fighting fires.

 

While he would use that as mitigation for mediocre results – United have taken eight points from a possible 30 – he was prepared to work under those circumstances and said back in January that he was happy with the squad that he had after no additions were made in January.

 

Carver seems reticent to hand chances to too many of United’s young guns even though he has called Jamie Sterry, Olivier Kemen and Callum Roberts into the first team pool. He also has Adam Armstrong to call on if required – but he spoke last week of attempting to “protect” the club’s prospects.

 

It leaves him with limited room for manoeuvre. Playing Janmaat is a possibility, but the United right-back said after the Everton defeat that he had never played in the centre of defence in his professional career.

 

He said: “If the team needs me there, I am confident I can do well there, even though I have not played as a central defender in the whole of my career.

 

“I will play in the middle of the defence if I am asked to do so, although it is not really my position.

 

“It is not really as though I have ambitions to stay there, but we all know what the situation is at the moment and if I have to play there, I will.

 

“The second half at Everton was the first time I have played there so it is not something I know all that well.”

 

United were not allowed to negotiate a recall into the loans that were brokered for Remie Streete and Jamaal Lascelles, the England under-21 and Nottingham Forest defender who is being viewed as a potential starter next season.

 

 

Should be one hell of a match this.  :hmm:

Two of the options at centreback are a fullback with who has made less than five appearrances in three season after having his career stunted by knee injuries and a winger who has just recovered from cancer. :lol: Against Arsenal. :lol:

 

They'll probably stumble to a lucky win just to spite all of you.

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