Bendy Is As Good As He Thinks He Is

Tony Cascarino
(picture courtesy Roman Schmitz)

Last night's match was one of the most enjoyable I've watched in ages.

Having read Arsenal-hating retired journeyman forward Tony Cascarino's comment on Nicklas Bendtner before the match, saying that he is "definitely not as good as he thinks he is", I was hoping that Bendy would score a hattrick and make Cascarino look like a complete nob. Luckily, he didn't disappoint me. The only downside is that I found out I could have got 40-1 on Bendtner scoring a hattrick and I didn't put any money on it. Damn!

It is interesting to note that Tony Cascarino scored 19 goals in 88 international appearances (1 goal for every 4.6 caps) while Nicky B. has 11 international goals in 32 (1 in 2.9).Given that most of Cascarino's caps were achieved while he was at the peak of his career and Bendy's were all achieved by the age of 22, I know which player I think wasn't as good as he thought he was.

It was also pleasing to see Samir Nasri play a blinder after all the paper talk about whether we would miss Cesc Fabregas. In fact, as pointed out on Arsenal Mania, Samir did a pretty good impression of our captain and was in stunning form. And his goal was absolutely sublime --- one minute has was dribbling around near the corner flag having a little game of his own but not really going anywhere; the next he had dribbled past three opponents and the ball was in the back of the net.

We shouldn't get too carried away. Porto are not a particularly good side and we will have to be much more solid at the back to beat the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea or Barcelona, but it was an enjoyable match to watch just the same.

Arsene Wenger said that he would quite like us to play either ManUre or Chelski next so that we can prove we can beat them. I'd prefer us to get an easier ride and then beat either Man Utd or Chelsea in the final, but as long as we win it, I'll be happy.

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Bendy Is As Good As He Thinks He Is

No Fabregas, No Excuse

No Fabregas, no excuse. That's what Arsene Wenger said and it's what I say.

Arsenal should win tonight. One of the reasons that Arsenal have been continually written off this season but come bouncing back each time is that while ManUre and Chelski might have better first elevens than us, Arsenal probably have the better squad, so they can always be guaranteed to put a good team out against the so called 'lesser' team regardless of the form and fitness of any particular players.

True, we had a little blip in form when Robin van Persie first got injured, but I believe that was due to the psychological blow of losing one of our most influencial players more than it was due the team to missing him on the pitch, and I think the fact that we have gone most of the season without him and not done too badly bears out that assertion.

If you look at tonight's match, we will be missing van Persie, Fabregas, Gallas, Ramsey, Gibbs and Djourou, but we will still probably have a bench that includes Sagna, Silvestre, Denilson, Rosicky, Vela and Eduardo, who would all get into most first elevens. So the players should not be allowed to use the captain's absence as and excuse.

As the first leg of this tie showed, it is indeed a funny old game and you can never tell what's going to happen once the players cross that white line onto the pitch, but this Arsenal team has enough to beat Porto comprehensively. Like Arsene Wenger, I'm backing Nicholas Bendtner to come good tonight and make up for his misses at the weekend. I hope he scores; he deserves it.

I expect tonights line-up to be:

Almunia
Eboue; Campbell; Vermaelen; Clichy
Nasri; Song; Diaby
Walcott; Bendtner; Arshavin

So, come on lads, do it for Aaron.

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No Fabregas, No Excuse

More injuries for Arsenal ahead of Porto clash

More injuries for Arsenal. Will it ever end? According to the London Evening Standard, William Gallas, Manuel Almunia, Alex Song, Eduardo and Andre Arshavin are all unavailable for tonight's Champions League match away to FC Porto in addition to long-term casualities Gibbs, Djourou and van Persie. All the injured players are also likely to miss the weekend's home Premier League match against Sunderland.

However, Arsene Wenger is refusing to allow the onging injury situation to be used as an excuse for poor perforances. "It is not a serious concern," he said, "the concern is that the players who are here perform at their best." Which is quite right.

If we are going to miss anyone, it will be Alex Song, for whom I don't believe Denilson is an adequate replacement. I'm not one of those who constantly berate Denilson, but I don't think that he is comfortable in the anchor man position and I don't think he is in very good form at the moment. I quite like the look of Craig Eastmond in that position, but I very much doubt that Arsene Wenger would be willing to risk such an inexperienced player in that position in such a key match. Diaby and Fabregas are likely to make up the remainder of the midfield.

at the back, Lukasz Fabianski, who has also been on the receiving end of some strong praise recently from Wenger, should be able to cover in goal for Manuel Almunia without any problem as long as he doesn't get too nervous, and Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell should be able to cover adequately for Gallas, despite his relative lack of match practice.

Up front, Wenger has also been singing the praises of Nicklas Bendtner, so I would expect him to start, along with two from Nasri, Rosicky and Walcott.

So I expect the starting line-up to be:

Fabianski
Sagna Campbell Vermaelen Clichy
Fabregas Denilson Diaby
Walcott Bendtner Nasri

I'm quietly confident about tonight's match. Let's hope that the players aren't too nervous and that they deliver what they are capable of.

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More injuries for Arsenal ahead of Porto clash