Ideal XI for this season

[marlowe]

In my opinion:

Henry - Adebayor

Rosicky - Fabregas - Gilberto - Hleb

Gallas - Djourou - Toure - Eboue

Lehmann

[i404]

Djourou all season at CB? Not likely. Maybe if Phil, Clichy and Hoyte were injured for the rest of the season.

Clichy - Gallas - Kolo - Eboue

Unless Gallas and King Kolo can't play next to each other, I'm sure we'll see a lot of that.

[footykid]

I'd like to see:

Henry - Adebayor

Rosicky - Fabregas - Gilberto - Hleb

Clichy - Gallas - Toure - Eboue

Lehmann

Bench:
Almunia
Freddy
Djourou
Walcott
Flamini

At this point I think Djourou is a better player than Senderos only ofcourse missing the experience he has. Senderos' disturbing mental block when it comes to Drogba concerns me.

[nucgunner]

I'd like to see:

Henry - Adebayor

Rosicky - Fabregas - Gilberto - Hleb

Clichy - Gallas - Toure - Eboue

Lehmann

Bench:
Almunia
Freddy
Djourou
Walcott
Flamini

At this point I think Djourou is a better player than Senderos only ofcourse missing the experience he has. Senderos' disturbing mental block when it comes to Drogba concerns me.

No Van Persie or Baptista :eek:

I still think this is the way to go once everyone's settled and healthy:
Lehman
Lauren-Kolo-Gallas-Clichy
Hleb-Cesc-Gilberto-Rosicky
-----Baptista
-----Henry

Almunia
Senderos
Flamini or Ljungberg
Van Persie
Adebayor

Baptista playing as attacking midfield. Alot depends on how Lauren and Clichy fare when they come back. Diaby will still be a question mark for later in the year.

[footykid]

No Van Persie or Baptista :eek:

I've posted elsewhere that I personally don't think the Henry-RvP pairing is good at all. I mean think back to the games they'v played together. Rarely have I seen them link together half as well as Henry and Adebayor. I'll leave the whos better debate out of this. Infact the Adebayor-RvP partnership is better than the Henry-RvP partnership aswell. As for Baptista...I simply forgot about him all together:o . And after all me posturing for having him played as a striker.

[kakkoii]

Lehmann
Lauren Kolo Gallas Clichy
Hleb Cesc Baptista Rosicky
Adebayor Henry

This is tentative as I'm not so sure how well we'd function without Gilberto in the starting 11. Has anyone else noticed he slips a lot?

[nucgunner]

I've posted elsewhere that I personally don't think the Henry-RvP pairing is good at all.

Alright. I tend to agree with Marco Van Basten when he said something like, "at some point you realize that he's too good not to have on the pitch." Dude's probably the most purely skilled attacking player Arsenal have Henry excepted. But he just seems to have to be re-trained to release the ball faster again whenever he comes back from international duty. I still have hopes for him.

[deeplennon]

ooh, i'll play the game too!

Henry - RVP

Rosicky - Gilberto - Cesc - Freddy (still)

Gallas (sorry buddy) - Senderos - Toure - Lauren (he's meaner)

Lehmann

subs
POOM SHAKE THE ROOM
Clichy
Hleb
Walcott
Adebayor

water boy
baptista

[RealMadGunner]

ooh, i'll play the game too!

Henry - RVP

Rosicky - Gilberto - Cesc - Freddy (still)

Gallas (sorry buddy) - Senderos - Toure - Lauren (he's meaner)

Lehmann

subs
POOM SHAKE THE ROOM
Clichy
Hleb
Walcott
Adebayor

water boy
baptista
LOL .. But dont count on it ..
Found this atricle .. Maybe should go into position switches, but i'd as well put it here .. Developmental Wenger loves to convert a player .. (http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/index.php/news/345/42.html)

But he's also, more than any other Premiership boss, a developmental manager who gets his kicks from seeing the young ones improve.


---------------Mad Jens (if he doesnt get arrested for assault)
Lauren(away)/Eboue(home) - Toure - Gallas - Clichy
--Hleb - - Cesc - - - Gilberto - - - Rosicky - -
-- - - - - - - -(i really cant decide this) - -- -
---------------Henry ------------------------

[Paul.eta]

-----------------------Henry----------------------- on top of the world
Walcott---------------Rosicky-------------Freddie (fab five in midfield)
------------ Gilberto------------Cesc--------------
Clichy---------Gallas--------Toure---------Eboue (fantastic four in the back)
-----------------------Lehmann------------------- holding it down

ah shizzle! Probably won't ever see this line-up, but I'd be nice to give it a spin.

[Skizz]

---------------Henry----------------
-Hleb - Fabregas - Baptista - Rosicky-
---------------Gilberto---------------
----Clichy - Gallas - Toure - Eboue----
--------------Lehmann---------------

[RealMadGunner]

---------------Henry----------------
-Hleb - Fabregas - Baptista - Rosicky-
---------------Gilberto---------------
----Clichy - Gallas - Toure - Eboue----
--------------Lehmann---------------
I see this 4-1-4-1 formation is pretty addictive huh ?! :D
But a lone striker wont work out long term ..

[Skizz]

But it could work, if you gave the midfielders licence to swap positions, and let one of them head upfront with Henry to attack. EG:

----------Henry------------
---------Baptista-----------
-Hleb---------------Rosicky-
----Gilberto--Fabregas-------
-----------------------------
Clichy - Gallas - Toure - Eboue

IE, a 4-1-4-1 to defend, but a 4-4-1-1 to attack. Make sense?

[RealMadGunner]

But it could work, if you gave the midfielders licence to swap positions, and let one of them head upfront with Henry to attack. EG:

----------Henry------------
---------Baptista-----------
-Hleb---------------Rosicky-
----Gilberto--Fabregas-------
-----------------------------
Clichy - Gallas - Toure - Eboue

IE, a 4-1-4-1 to defend, but a 4-4-1-1 to attack. Make sense?
Not bad, but unless i see Baptista play a full game (not just glimpses), i would be hesitant to put him there .. I'd choose RvP/Ade over him ... for now atleast ..

[daedalus]

--------------------- Baptista (Adebayor) -----------------------

Henry (Rosicky) -------------------------- Van Persie (Ljungberg)

------------ Rosicky (Ljungberg) ------- Cesc (Hleb) ------------

----------------------- Gilberto (Flamini) ----------------------

Clichy (Hoyte) ----------------------------------- Lauren (Eboue)

------------ Gallas (Senderos) ----- Toure (Djourou) ------------

---------------------------- Lehmann ----------------------------
Not so much trying to convert Henry back to a left-winger or anything but Henry will occupy that left-side channel anyway so I consider him to be the primary threat on that side. Van Persie excels in that role for the Dutch and I would consider that to be his best spot anyway. This puts Gilberto back at his best position -- the defensive midfielder in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 protecting the back four. I would really prefer Lauren to Flamini as Gilberto's backup/replacement (in case of injury) as I think his lack of wheel will hurt him less there plus I think his toughness (I would find it tough to name another Gunner who could *seem* scarier) would be a positive there but I think Eboue needs further seasoning in addition to being reminded that he STILL needs to keep working to earn and keep that spot in the First XI.

Additionally, there are plenty of room for the players to swap positions and move around as well as the ability to easily move from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 down to a 4-5-1 in various configurations, depending on needs.

[Skizz]

Not bad, but unless i see Baptista play a full game (not just glimpses), i would be hesitant to put him there .. I'd choose RvP/Ade over him ... for now atleast ..
Agreed, but this is the ideal XI innit. Wenger said on SkySports that Beast isn't fit enough to play a full 90 at present, and that he will start games when he is fit. Soon as he gets up to match sharpness, he will be one HELL of a good asset.