Have Ashley Young. 2 goals and 3 assists. Rooney as captain. De Gea saving a peno.
United would have got into double figures today only for the saves of Szczesny. Wenger has to have a stronger squad. United were able to replace Vidic and Ferdinand with Jones and Evans. Arsenal couldnt cope with the loss of Vermaelen, Sagna, Gibbs etc.Its not about how good the first 11 is these days. You have to able to bring in players outside the strongest 11 and they have to be able to come in and do a job.
In fairness to Arsenal, it was more than just Vidic and Ferdinand.
Gibbs
Song
Sagna
Wilshere
Vermaelen
Gervinho
Then you have a few squad players like Diaby, Frimpong, Squillaci also injured - not to mention the losses of Nasri and Fabregas who havenāt been replaced yet.
One of the things with Arsenal though is that the list of absentees almost always seems to be that long. Dunno if it is because they end up signing more injury prone players because they can get them for cheaper or if they their medical team is shit or what. Itās been going on too long now though for it to be just bad luck.
They would have made a bit of a difference but the fact is that they dont have the strength in depth of United or City. Wenger seems to be making a lot of signings for the future. They brought the lad Oxlade-Chamberlain on today. Arsenal fans must be sick of these kind of signings. They need players who are the real deal now and not buying players who just have potential.
I hate Harry Redknapp and this bullshit is why. The primary reason they have capitulated twice in one week is because Modric handed in a transfer request. And of course if he does end up being sold it will all be the Chairmanās fault. Just to be clear, not one piece of blame for their shambolic start to the season can be laid at Harryās door. Iām surprised he didnāt blame the rioters for having to postpone their first game. Say what you like about Wenger, but heād never hide behind excuses like that.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has said the uncertainty over Luka Modricās future has unsettled his side.
Modric has been linked with Chelsea all summer but returned as Spurs lost 5-1 to Manchester City.
Redknapp said: "Itās probably the worst pre-season Iāve had. Iāve not enjoyed it one bit, āis Luka staying, is he going?ā every day non-stop.
āI spoke to him at 1130 this morning, he tells me he doesnāt know if heās right to play or not. Itās not ideal.ā
Modric reacted angrily earlier in the summer after a meeting with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy when he was told he would not be sold at any price, after Chelseaās opening Ā£22m bid was rejected.
It is thought the Blues have made subsequent bids for the 25-year-old, again to no avail.
He was left out of the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United on Monday after becoming unsettled by the speculation, and was absent again as Tottenham secured their progress to the Europa League group stages with a 0-0 draw against Hearts on Thursday evening.
Later in the week Redknapp had been confident the Modric saga had been settled and that the Croatian would remain at White Hart Lane this season.
The playmaker was included in the starting line-up for the City game along with Peter Crouch, another player whose future at Spurs is in doubt, but had an ineffective match and was substituted after 66 minutes.
After the crushing defeat Redknapp said: "Heās a main player for us and heās been linked every day, even this morning Iām driving in suddenly thereās [a report of] a Ā£40m offer coming in from Chelsea.
āThen suddenly Crouchy is supposed to be going to Stoke when heās in my team and weāre talking about him going! Itās been a difficult time.ā
With the transfer window set to close at 2300 BST on Wednesday, there is speculation Chelsea are planning a final bid to lure Modric away, but the Spurs boss added: "I donāt know if Chelsea have made a Ā£40m offer, they deal with the chairman and the chairmanās stance all along has been that heās not going to sell him.
āIf he sells him now itās going to leave us up the swanny with about three days to go. If you were going to sell him Iām sure he would have sold him three months ago.ā
After signing Emmanuel Adebayor and Iago Falque on season-long loan deals on Thursday, Redknapp stated earlier in the week that he was still hopeful of adding Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra to his squad.
Reports from Spain suggested the proposed move for the midfielder had stalled but the Spurs boss said: āThings havenāt broken down. There is still a good chance. The chairman is working on it.ā
Shamrock Rovers will fancy their chances against this Spurs crowd. What a weak joke league with two top six sides last season conceding 13 goals between them.
Rooney as captain.