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WARDY'S TACTICS TALK - ARSENAL v BORO 8-9-06
Stuart Ward
After yet another calamitous column last time out, I swear, I am going to get something right this time round! No really!
As usual, we will start with Boro's opponents today, Arsenal.
Key Players
Thierry Henry - The world's best striker has not started the season in his usual form for the Gunners and perhaps this explains their poor start to the season. Henry is, in my opinion, the best striker in the world at the minute. He is devastating in the area, and his pace and skill are out of this world. If Henry has one of his good days tomorrow, he, and as a result Arsenal, will be VERY difficult for us to live with. It will be interesting to see just how many times he manages to make Stuart Parnaby look ridiculous with his pace. Woodgate is going to have to slot in and have a blinder straight away to deal with it.
William Gallas - Joining Arsenal as a makeweight in the protracted Ashley Cole to Chelski deal, Gallas is a world-class defender who can play at centre half, or more likely in this case, left back. He is very quick and strong, times his tackles well and is a generally good reader of the game. Most Chelsea fans were upset to see him leave the Bridge but he was clearly unhappy with life there. If he plays left back, he will most likely come up against James Morrison and Jason Euell. I would expect him to have little trouble in keeping either of them quiet for ninety minutes.
Gilberto Silva - The Brazilian midfielder has become a vital ingredient in the middle of the Arse's team. He is a defensive type of player, but not in the George Boateng mode. He can break teams up, but he can also pass the ball VERY well, and get forward to good effect when the situation calls for it. Much of this match will depend on the effect he can have in the middle of the park. He will be in battle with George Boateng, and will also have to keep Fabio Rochembach quiet. If Boro can get the better of him they could be in business.
The Manager
Arsene Wenger - Despite his optical deficiencies, Wenger has managed to forge a highly successful career at Arsenal. He has led them to glory on all fronts (except Europe) and has got them playing arguably the most appealing brand of football seen in the Premier League for a long time. He likes his players to keep the ball on the ground and pass it into the back of the net, something Boro seem to have problems stopping. At times Arsenal do over play the ball, but at other times they are absolutely unstoppable. Wenger certainly enjoys playing Boro, with his side seemingly having scored 34,498,782,786 goals against Boro in the last five or six years!
Likely Team and Formation
Lehmann
Eboue - Toure - Flamini - Gallas
Baptista - Gilberto - Fabregas - Rosicky
Henry - Van Persie
They will probably stick with their usual 4-4-2 formation, incorporating their new signings into the bargain. Last time out they lost to Manchester City, so it wont be a surprise if Julio Baptista and William Gallas are thrown straight into the fray tomorrow.
In defence the signing of Gallas shores things up immensely. Flamini will come in for the injured Djourou who picked up a knock on international duty. Eboue has made the right back position his own at the minute. His marauding runs from full back sure to cause Boro some defensive problems. Lehmann still doesn't inspire too much confidence, although he is still damn good on his day.
The Arsenal midfield looks as strong as it has for a while on paper. But it remains to be seen how good it is when it gets on the pitch. Baptista is a Brazilian international whose nickname is The Beast. He has skill, is HUGE physically and likes to get forward and score goals, however he isn't renowned for his defensive prowess, and Stewy could get some joy down that wing. Gilberto will have to do the battling in the centre midfield, allowing the classy Fabregas to move forward and influence the game like we all know he can. Thomas Rosicky hasn't had the best of starts to his Arsenal career, but he will eventually start to get forward, and he is very much in the Frank Lampard mode. He has the ability to score fifteen goals a season and just needs to settle in.
Up front they have their ace card. A certain Thierry Henry. As I said before he is the Prototype forward. He has absolutely blistering pace, one of the quickest in the world. He used to be a winger, so he knows how to create goals for others. He can often be found charging down the left wing and cutting infield to devastating effect. He will be up and around the top scorers when the season ends and I think he will score a few today. His strike partner will be the ever improving Robin Van Persie. The Dutch kid is seen as the ideal replacement for Dennis Bergkamp, and he is starting to fit the bill. He has a great left foot, and likes to have a shot from long range.
Middlesbrough
Key Players
Jonathon Woodgate - It says a lot that a guy who has barely looked at a football for the last three years is going to be regarded as a key player but that's what he is going to be. He is, in my opinion, like an Uber-Southgate. I say this because he is 6'4", physically impressive, but he also can read the game as good as anyone around. Many observers see him as one of the top two central defenders in England on his day. We need to hope he has one of those days on Saturday. He will be charged with marshalling Boro's wayward defence, and helping get Pogatetz through the game. Let's hope he is up to it.
Stewart Downing - The young left winger is taking a lot of unwarranted stick for his England displays. What better way then for him to shut up the southern press than to put in a top display against Arsenal. He will be up against Eboue at right back, and it will be an interesting battle. Eboue is a really quick, athletic player. Downing won't be able to beat him for pace, so his impact could be minimised. He is still capable of providing a good cross when the space is given to him.
Fabio Rochembach - After coming off the bench against Portsmouth, I expect Fabio to be reinstated into the centre of our midfield. On his day, Rocky has proven he can prise open any defence with his range of passing. He will have George Boateng next to him, so he wont have to battle so much. However, he will be watched closely by Gilberto, and much of Boro's hopes will ride on how well he can deal with the attentions of his fellow Brazilian.
The Manager
Gareth Southgate - He admitted after the Portsmouth match that he got everything horribly wrong. And he did. Since then he has seen where we are weak (centre of defence) and put it right in the transfer market. While Huth won't be available for a couple of weeks, Woodgate will be straight into the action. He really could be a shrewd bit of business. We need to hope that Southgate can reproduce the spirit that saw us beat Chelsea, or we could be in for another horrible day.
Likely Team and Formation
Schwarzer
Parnaby - Woodgate - Pogatetz - Taylor
Euell - Rochembach - Boateng
Morrison - Downing
Yakubu
I think we will see Boro revert to a five man midfield, with Jason Euell coming in to join Boateng, the reinstated Rocky and the two young wingers.
Boro's woeful defence will be boosted by the world class Woody who will talk the less able defenders around him through the game, and hopefully his class will have a rapid impact on our fortunes. Pogatetz is looking OK at the minute. He covers the left back quite well. Woodgate will soon learn he will have to do the same on the right. Parnaby is in for (yet another) torrid match. Henry likes to drift out left and then surge infield, but lets be honest, he could crawl infield and he would still outdo Parnaby. Young Taylor on the left has been one of Boro's best defenders this season. He needs to make sure he keeps it up and makes that left back position his own.
By switching to a five man midfield, Southgate will look for the likes of Euell, Downing and Morrison to get forward and support Yakubu. Boateng will sit back and try and break up the Arsenal attacks if he can. He will have his hands full with Fabregas who is top quality on the ball and likes to get forward. It is likely that Rochembach will roam about a bit and look to dictate play while trying to keep away from the attentions of Gilberto Silva. If he can then he could have a very positive impact on the game.
Up front, Yakubu will probably play in a lone role. Some of his superb performances last season came when he was employed in this way. His job will be to hold the ball up and generally cause the Arsenal defence as many problems as he can, whilst waiting for support from the supporting midfielders. This formation will fall apart quickly if the wingers don't get forward to support their front man. It has worked in the past, let us hope that it will now.
How it will go?
I have been dreading this part of the column all week. I really have. I don't think we will get hammered this week, but I think we will lose. As much as I would like to see us pull off a shock, we just don't win at Arsenal. I think it will be a good open match, but Arsenal will come through probably 2 or 3-1. So get your money on Boro to win..
Until next week, I have been Stuart Ward.
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