Bradford City Preview: Arsene to mean business – plus possible line-up

TotalArsenal

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Today’s game at the rather unromantically named Coral Windows stadium – not that ours is named any better – Arsenal will have to face a full capacity crowd (around 25000), and are likely to be treated to a Northerly ‘in your face’ approach from kick-off. I have been to Bradford once for a visit to the fantastic National Media Museum, but have never been to the Bradford City football ground.

They have had two years in the Premier League, from 1999-2001, when Paul Jewell got the best out of his team to achieve promotion to the Premier League, and even managed a PL survival on  the last match day of the 1999-2000 campaign.

The Bantams claret & amber shirt and shorts are equally unique and an eyesore, and after their peak towards the end of the millennium/ start of the new one, they have gone through a dark period of going into administration, multiple changes of managers and chairmen, and ending up towards the very bottom of league two.

However, currently they lay in fourth in the second division and under the guidance of manager Phil Parkinson things are looking better for them. The Bantams eliminated Wigan in the last round of League Cup and they will approach tonight’s game with a ‘nothing to lose; let’s get the crowd passionate and fully behind us’ approach.

Arsene has said he will play an experienced team tonight, but it remains to be seen whether this means he will use many of our first team players.

There was an indication that he will play at least some of the first team players, when he said there would be enough recovery time for players, as our next game against Reading will not be until next Monday.

I am happy that Arsene is taking this game relatively seriously and willing to field a stronger team than usual. We need a good performance and a win tonight:

  • It will be good for general team morale to get another win under our belts;
  • Reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup would bring us close to winning something this season, and we are in no position to pooh-pooh that: it would be good for the team’s development to both experience a final and winning something for a change;
  • A number of (near-) first team players need another game to gain more fitness and match rhythm (Rosicky, Jenkinson, Arshavin, Ox, Szczesny).

Predicted Line-up. 

The line-up is just a guess, and I will be happy if it turns out I predicted as few as eight out of eleven correctly tonight:

—————Szczesny——————

Jenkinson-Djourou*-TV-Meade

——–Coquelin——Ramsey——-

————Little Mozart—————

Ox———Podolski——-Arshavin

*not sure whether Djourou is available – if not, he will be replaced by Squillaci.

Szczesny, TV, Rosicky and Podolski will ensure our spine is strong tonight, which is a must in these sorts of games. The above should be a strong enough line-up to do the job against Bradford City, and it will do the likes of Jenkinson, Meade, Coquelin, Djourou, Ramsey, Ox and Arshavin good to play a full game again; and knowing that the match is televised nationally will also add another level of importance to their performances.

Don’t know about you, but I am really looking forward to the game and hope we will reach the semi-finals of the League Cup in style tonight.

CoYG!

 

Total Arsenal.

76 thoughts on “Bradford City Preview: Arsene to mean business – plus possible line-up”

  • Fine pre match report Total.

    Bradford Park Avenue, now there’s a good old fashion club name. I have visited the stadium once, just after the terrible fire they had, several years back. I was visiting a friend who lived near by and fancied catching a game. A bit of a dump to be honest. Just like Charlestown, Cornwall.

    Fingers crossed we carry on from Saturday. We should win this one tonight. No excuses about fatigue as they have played more games than us with far more limited resources.

    My line up differs from yours slightly.

    Manone

    Corporal Squillaci Mertasacker Meade

    Coquelin Wengers love child Wilshere

    Gnabry Podolski Arshavin

  • Cheers for the pre-match TA. Need to be on our game today, don’t want it turning into the reading match or leeds.

    My line-up:

    Mannone
    Jenks-Squill-Verm-Meade
    Coquelin-Ramsey
    Rosicky
    Ox-Chamakh-Arshavin

    I’d like to see gnabry and eisfeld given a go. Shame Miquel is still injured.
    For some reason I’m always excited to see the cup matches as it’s a chance to see the lesser knows!
    enjoy the game all

  • Thanks for the Preview TA,

    Gnabry,Jenkinson, Meade, Coquelin, Ramsey expected to start for me… Predict a 3-0 scoreline after a nervy start by the gunners.. GTID
    Any player to watch out for as far as Bradford are concerned…??

  • hi Aurijit 🙂

    Dont know anything about BC players. With a bit of luck a BC supporter comes on and give their view!

    Are you still working on that post?

  • I have always something to write about TA , but let me observe If this positive phase is continued against Reading & Wigan. Will post an article before the window opens …. 🙂

  • Hi guy..
    TA and Oz.. Why you think all our first player need to got some rest but not our captain ..?? Hehe..

    I think winning tonight is very important to keep the positive trend..
    And I prefer both Mertesaker and Vermaelen play to keep Jenkinson and Meade confident.. and also Arteta, Giroud and Szecney..
    With Gnabry, Arshavin as winger and Rosicky + Eisfeld as AM we will be great..

  • Hi Henry hehe 🙂

    I think Arteta and Giroud can be rested but would hate to see gervinho as our striker. Podolski to replace Giroud and Coquelin to replace Arteta!!

  • Absolutely!! this is the first time I am perplexed who we should / shouldn’t add in the window except a LB and a replacement for Theo if he goes… I desperately want the existing squad to perform cause still think this squad has more to offer than where we find ourselves in the league table. Hence Longing for some consistent performance from this team !!

  • On a Non footballing note for a cotton picking minute!

    @TA I wish to object in the strongest possible terms to your denigration of the great Emirates stadium. Those of us fortunate enough to regularly pass through its hallowed portals have no objection to being associated with princes. The Emirates can be translated as the place where Princes dwell. Emir, meaning “chieftain” or “commander”, is derived from the Arabic root ‘-m-r, “command”. Originally simply meaning commander or leader, usually in reference to a group of people, it came to be used as a title for governors or rulers, usually in smaller states, and in modern Arabic is analogous to the English word “prince”. The word entered English in 1593, from the French emir. Why would you object to our association with royalty?

    I repeat Emir in modern Arabic is analogous to the English word “prince”.!! Therefore greeting to Gooners prince’s all. 🙂

  • hi.. Aurijit..
    Tonight game is more important than reading away next week.. And it is still a week to go.. we will play on Monday night right..?? So still have time to rest.. don’t worry to much..

    Gervinho is a good left winger bro.. if he is fit then why not playing him.. at least to subs Arshavin..
    Podolski can’t replace Giroud.. He is good for second striker.. but the problem is.. we are playing 4-3-3.. and no room for SS there.. And he was also not to good for LW either.. I just don’t know why Wenger brought him.. hehe.. unless we are going to play 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1.. hehe..

  • Hi TA,

    Interesting read as always, learned a lot more about BC from your article!

    As far as line-ups go, I think yours will be pretty close if not exactly spot on. I think if we can get an early lead at half, Wenger will substitute players like Eisfield and Gnabry onto the pitch. In my humble opinion, it’s a big risk to be starting them up front in such important positions right now, especially given the balance of play in the first half from the Reading game.

    If you haven’t seen this vid, I highly recommend it:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6NPzZlVxjo

    COYG!!!

  • It`s not me he`s got to worry about, It`s the Gooner Chef at the Pier House !. I would think he`s already come up with an imaginative not too delicate recipe for VCC`s meat and two veg !. hahaha

  • Evening Spermacoligists 😆

    Fine match report Total

    The Coral Windows Stadium !, they also sponsor their Spanish striking sensation, Julio Double InGlazingsias , whose son Enrique came as a BOGOF offer, “I said you buy one you get one free ” !.

    Nice vid TG, shame the traitorous clunge is in it, needs re-editing !. 🙂

    Right , time for the treadmill.

    Laters

  • TA, were you thinking about Mertesacker and Podolski? Or along the lines of Eisfield? Either way, excited for any of them to feature today :)!

  • VCC, am I no longer apart of the UMF prediction league? I haven’t given you mine yet and I saw from your post yesterday that I didn’t make the cut for still missing an entry…

  • The Gooner…….That was a smashing video…….Boy we’ve had some smashing players in Wengers era.

    COYG

  • This is doing the rounds on facebook….says its at the Arsenal training ground??????
    I think its a hoax.

  • Comments say it’s in Watford. Not sure what Wenger would do with Nani, the guy’s a complete enigma and as unpredictable and selfish as they get. Granted he’s an incredibly talented footballer, just not sure the union between Cristiano Ronaldo and oompa loompa would fit into our brand of football.

  • 😉 was just pulling your strings VCC. My predictions will come Friday, I like to know who’s confirmed to play before making educated guesses.

  • Actually Total, that would have been a good 2nd choice name for the UMF league. The Z League…… as in Zimmer !. hahaha

  • Shocked Sagna and Cazorla are starting. Would have though Jenkinson and Rosicky would have been enough experience.

  • And we’ve gone back to square one yet again…no directness in our attack and falling back into inconsistency. If we lose to Bradford with this squad, we don’t deserve to even finish top 4.

  • Ashburton grove? Drayton park? Highbury stadium suited me, so I guess new highbury stadium would’ve been fine with me, but I don’t mind being a prince honest!

  • Ramsey must have the best bj skills in the nation, I can’t see any other reason why Wenger ever chooses to play him. Also, why didn’t Rosicky take a penalty? Pathetic…

  • That was not good enough. We can blame individual players or we can say we never played as a cohesive team. No shape or system to our football – nothing looks easy – there are no automatism. On top of that so many individual players are totally out of form or simply lack the skills. Bad night for Arsenal, and simply not good enough. 😦

  • come on guys, lets get real, your eyes dont lie. There were far too many below par performances by average players out there.

    Wenger has to make some serious decisions about the quality he sends out to represent OUR Arsenal.

    I personally will wait until I cool down and make a more judgemental opinion tomorrow.

  • VCC – Vermaelen and Wilshere and to a lesser extent Mertesacker and Szczesny were worthy of the shirt. The rest varied from disappointing to absolute shite. So we are not in disagreement much, I reckon.

  • And we deserve to be. I feel sorry for Arsene and my mate Elliot who was at the game and now has to travel back to London, and start work in the morning with that shitty feeling all over him.

  • At least the kids would have given it a red hot go! What’s our excuse? Podolski…a seasoned veteran, a great striker on his day…looks like he cares as much as MC or Nasri. Too many strollers! They better be getting belted up in the change rooms after that one, line-up so Arsene + Bould can smack the crap out of you!

    The players keep constantly letting Arsene down it’s a disgrace. With that team we wanted to win, but all we got was a half arsed effort!

    Bench every under performer from the game and let them watch the next couple of games from the sidelines!

  • To be honest, it all starts from the top. No passion or involvement from our owner, leaves the board to run the team in their vision and operate in a way that they like to (aka profit at the expense of silverware or any real success/ambition). Wenger has left our squad with a weak mentality and has failed to address our weaknesses for far too long. I love what he’s done for the club and his faith in his players and youth, but at some point measures need to be taken if we are to consider ourselves a top club. The squad is too complacent because of all the mediocrity and complacency in the organization above them. There’s no competition for places in the squad and a lack of top end talent. How can Santos be our replacement left back, Chamakh our back-up striker and Gervinho our only orthodox winger? Too many issues at this club, January transfers and firing Wenger will mask a greater issue at the club…we need a complete overhaul of the organization before we can truly be proud to be Gooners again.

  • Oz….that’s the problem, it,s blatantly obvious Podolski does not/will not play in the position Wenger asks him.

    Gervinho needs to go to the ACN early so we can get on without him.
    Ramsey needs Charlestown United to make a three and six penny offer for him so we can off load him.
    Mertesacker needs telling he starts approx 6 inches above everyone else, so if he actually jumps he might have a chance to win the ball from some one who is a foot shorter than him.
    Podolski needs pensioning off with me.
    Chamahk is beyond breath. He must be the worse Arsenal forward ever to sign professional.

  • TG….im afraid the buck stops at Wenger. How on earth can he purchase someone as bad as Chamahk?

    He even let him take a penalty in the shoot out. Everyone was laughing their cocks off in my boozer and I could not disagree with them. It was embarrassing.

  • VCC, do you really believe there are better replacements out there? Of all available managers, RDM is the only one that stands out unless we’re poaching an assistant. There are greater issues at this club, firing Wenger would only mask a greater issue. I’m convinced the board have a stranglehold over how Wenger operates the team.

  • VCC, fully agreed Chamakh should never have taken the penalty. In his defence, I will say that when he came on we started to play better football than before. He always gives the team a better shape and it such a shame he such a poor finisher.

  • Whatever it is TG, Wenegr need sto address it, AND quick. That was abysmal tonight against a very ordinary BC. It’s not the board who send players like Ramsey, Gervinho and Chamhk out into the arena for Arsenal. I just don’t get this thing about how supporters have their rose coloured glasses on all the time. Wake up and smell the coffee. There were at least three players who were laughable on that pitch for Arseal tonight. I cannot camouflage it any more.

  • Total, I’m sorry but Chamahk contributes nothing whatsoever to our team, in fact at times he is a total liability. He simply is not good enough to wear the Red and White of Arsenal.

    How is it that not ONE person in the whole pub had any confidence in him taking that penalty? They all said ” I bet he misses” the only human being that trusted him was Arsene Wenger..”…

  • I will stick with my view that we started to play a lot better as a team when Chamakh came on. Lets agree to disagree on this one.

    He missed the pen but so did Cazorla who boiled my blood all evening with his shots from distance. No wonder he has hardly any assists to his name. Anyway, they failed miserably tonight and best is to go to bed and forget about it all.

    Night all.

  • That’s what I’m trying to say though VCC. Wenger can’t address the issues above him in the organization. I think he takes too much crap from the board about conserving money and only having to finish top 4 that everyone has become complacent and mentally fragile (doesn’t help that he’s frugal as well). The only area Wenger could address is squad depth and more top end talent. We just don’t have the same quality coming through our academy anymore either.

  • That was appalling! Rambo was piss poor for 70mins; the swerve was piss poor all night. AOC comes on and spends the next 50mins furthering his regression, I mean what is going on? We all knew beforehand that Bradford would be up for it and they rightly were I mean what did they have to lose? I’m sorry guys but the more I see of this the worse it gets! There is something not right with the way we are playing, I’ve watched Arsenal play under Wenger for over 16 years and the teams he’s put out in the past, with far less talented players have all played better than this. Everyone is struggling to understand where the problems lay? I can’t put my finger on it anymore than the rest of you but, I keep returning to the one and only difference this season than in 16. Bouldie.

    I don’t want it to be Stevie B he’s a hero for Dennis’s sake! But I just can’t get away from the fact that squad after squad with multiple changes all look the same lethargic, and worse nonplussed. I can’t get around seeing them collectively looking like they don’t know what their roles are and what they should be doing, they often seem bewildered. Less talented teams than this one have played with so much abandonment and attacking freedom, that I’m left wondering what’s making this team play with the hand break on? Moreover why are our players looking gradually worse? O’K so the Swerve shouldn’t even be in an Arsenal shirt, Rambo ain’t ever gonna be the same since his injury. Giro still ain’t fully come to terms with the prem’s speed and likewise the Pod isn’t resolved to the amount of defensive responsibilities he has in the prem, but AOC? How is it that we bought a wonder kid and suddenly were got “safe sex”?

    Now we’ve got the malcontents saying they want their Arsenal back! Many of us may ask which one? I’m only clear on one point I want a return the attacking instincts we’ve developed under Wenger, because at the moment all we’ve got is safe sex, and that might suit some but I want kids. I love hanging out with you

  • If we’re only talking about what Wenger can do to help this squad, I think we’re lacking a Vieira above all else. Someone on the pitch to hold others accountable for how they play, someone who you can rally behind and who shows spine and guts. There’s a lack of motivation on this squad and I don’t think Wenger has ever been one to inspire us to play better. He’s always had the leadership in Vieira and to a lesser extent Henry and van Judas. The mental state of the team is fragile right now and we need a player to come in and inspire confidence and show some real emotion. There have been glimpses of fighting back this year, but we’re still not winning games we should be or truly making those glorious comebacks that top teams are capable of.

  • Good Morning, all. 🙂

    What a poor display.

    Szczeney 7; Sagna 6; Mertesecker 5; Vermaelen 5; Gibbs 6;

    Ramsey 5; Coquelin 6; Cazorla 5; Jack 6; Pod 4;

    Gervinho 2

    Subs: Rosicky 6; Oxo 6; Chamakh 2

    Dreadful team! Dreadful individual performances! No excuses!

    Never want to ever see Chamakh or Gervinho in an Arsenal shirt again!

  • We obviously have shortcomings throughout the team, except for the GK.

    Who are we likely to buy in January?

    Well, that’s obvious too, isn’t it? A player Liverpool have decided is not up to their expected standards – their GK Reina!

    With all the players Arsenal could/should replace — Arsene decides, allegedly, to buy a GK who we do not need.

    How perverse is that??

  • Morning RedArse……at last we are getting some straight talk.

    Sorry guys but the above statement is spot on from the Dick …..tionary.

    I would go further than Chamakh and Gervinho.

    Ramsey is not good enough for Arsenal so he needs either dropping down the pecking order or shipping out. A culling is in order Im afraid.

    This is a shaky time for Mr.Wenger indeed. He has brought these players in so he must be accountable. How he can say “I cannot fault the effort of my players” is quite an astonishing statement to make after that totally inept showing from a team wearing the beloved Red and White of The Arsenal.

  • Just a little ditty to try and put a smile on our faces today.

    *Today’s word is……..Fluctuations*
    I will never hear or see this word again without thinking of this joke:I was at my bank today; there was a short queue. There was just one lady in front of me, an Asian lady who was trying to exchange yen for dollars.It was obvious she was a little irritated . . . She asked the teller, “Why it change? Yesterday, I get two hunat dolla fo yen.Today I only get hunat eighty? Why it change?”The teller shrugged his shoulders and said, “Fluctuations.”The Asian lady says, “Fluc you white people too”

  • Morning Arshfickers 😆

    I will be more pissed off if we dont beat Reading on Monday night. Should have played the youngsters last night, in playing a full team, we were on a hiding to nothing !.

    I still feel that this squad has the quality to be beaten by anyone ! hahaha

    What will pee me off, will be buying more of the same in January, average stop gaps.
    Wait until the summer and only buy Super Quality. Like Redders say`s, we dont need other teams cast off`s, we certainly dont need a goalie, as there are very little top goalies available, the best ones are like gold dust and play for clubs who will not sell !.
    Pod was a mistake, on the decline, not incline.
    Chamakh, Squillaci even bigger mistakes. ( prove me wrong Podders )
    Santos was a panic buy.
    Ramsey still could be good, but needs to go out on loan.
    Arshavin, decline.
    Gerv, Marmite.
    Diaby, if we can afford to keep one player on hope value, then keep him.
    Giroud, will be a good player.

    Arsene , take it on the chin and just get rid of the dead wookies, bring in the talent which this great club demands. With all the old money gathering dust under the mattress, make sure with the new monies rolling in, you use it on super quality and in the right positions.
    This is going to be your last chance to appease the fans, a chance you deserve, but one that if you dont lose the stubborn streak, one which you will fall and that will be a crying shame.
    I want to read the The Arsene Wenger story in a few years time, not, The Rise and Fall of Arsene Wenger !.
    You lead the way, but others have followed and taken the lead, yes they have had Ferraris to your Skoda, but with the times changing to supply you with a Red Bull, dont get left in the pit lane, you have an intelligence beyond any of the other managers.
    Arsene in a Red Bull, to a Tony Pulis in a Ferrari !.

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