Time to use Bendtner

 

Arsenal Player Photo’s From 4thegame

After yet another game without Ade scoring, our wonder scorer may have hit the wall. Don’t get me wrong! I am not criticising him, but after 5 games without impact, I think he needs a break. He keeps straying offside, which wouldn’t matter if he played for Chelsea, but he needs a game off to refocus and get refreshed for the Liverpool trio we are facing.

If this happened, what other options would be have to pair with RvP?
 

Hleb:

Hleb has done well up front as a supporting striker to Ade all season. With him feeding Eye-of-the-needle passes to RvP, we might have a good combination.
 

Theo:

Theo is our work in progress, being mainly a winger. But his explosive pace and energy upfront could cause problems. But, I think he is better used at the moment as a ball feeder.
 

Bendtner:

Now, here is probably the best option to replace Ade. This tall boy is great at converting headers, and did a great job when RvP was out. Although he is slightly inexperienced, the best way to get him up to speed is to give him some match time.

What do you think? Leave a comment, and give your opinion!

Lehmann: I might retire at end of the season

German international Jens Lehmann has hinted he might hang up his goalkeeping boots after this summers European Championships.

The 38 year old has spent much of the season no 2. to Spaniard Manuel Almunia, though Lehmann believes his experience will help the Arsenal players challenge for both the Premier League and the Champions League. However, the German is undecided about his footballing future and will contemplate over things at the end of the season.

Lehmann said:

“I don’t know what I will do after the summer, I will play the European Championships and then it depends on whether I get a good offer. If I do, I might play on another two years, and if not, I probably might retire.

“It is very difficult (to be on the bench), very hard, particularly when I see the performances on the pitch. Sometimes you have to accept it - even after I played a couple of games and was dropped again.”

When asked about his friendship with Manuel Almunia, Lehmann declared:

“When you compete with some guys they can’t separate the professional aspect from the personal. So there is no big friendship (with Almunia) but that does not worry me.

“You can have friendships in football in smaller clubs where you know you have to stick together and you know that you are so dependent on each other. In bigger clubs another guy comes in, delivers the same quality and you don’t care about the first guy any more.

“I socialised with Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg sometimes, but right now when you look at the squad there is only Gilberto Silva who is near my age and has children.”

Gunners Live has been in contact with several top Arsenal sources and can confirm that Jens Lehmann is very likely to retire from football for both club and country at the end of the Euro 2008.

We want your opinion!

Leave a comment and express your views on the no 1. Arsenal site!

Lollichon ‘angered’ Wenger

Picture from The Times

Chelsea’s Goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon was sent off towards the end of the massive 2-1 victory over The Gunners yesterday.

Lollichon delayed giving the ball back to Arsenal for a throw in and Wenger got up angrily to confront the Frenchman. Referee Mark Clattenburg then sent Lollichon to the stands and as the full time whistle went, Arséne Wenger appeared to of shook hands with Chelsea boss Avram Grant.

However, in the post match interview with Sky Sports 1, Wenger made a point of mentioning Chelsea’s long ball tactics. Something I certainly agree with. Just a remind of how they scored their first goal - A punt up the field from John Terry.

Wenger told Sky Sports:

“I just feel we have some defensive problems that we need to sort out. We gave an easy goal away against Aston Villa and Middlesbrough and, defensively, we lost control of this game.

“We got caught when Anelka came on and by the long balls and the physical battle. We have to be stronger defensively because we were suddenly vulnerable on the long balls. It was in our hands but we needed more defensive authority. We were not serene enough defensively. I don’t want to single anyone out. As a unit we need to show more authority.”

Why doesn’t it surprise me that Chelsea had to resort to cheating in this match? Time wasting is pointless, especially when the 3rd official will almost always add on extra time.

Oh well, the game’s been lost now, but maybe next time we can play Chelsea, and they’ll give us a fair match… on second thoughts, that’s very unlikely.