Arsenal captain Vermaelen expects a fight against West Ham
Sam Allardyce has proved to be a thorn in the side of Arsenal before. Big Sam produces teams that get stuck in and try to rattle their opponents, and in the past this has gained him some success against Arsene Wenger and Arsenal. Add to that the fact that Andy Carroll could be back in the starting line up and you have the recipe for a tough game.
Thomas Vermaelen is a man who relishes a challenge and the Arsenal captain is looking forward to pitting himself against the big England front man tomorrow. Vermaelen has the confidence boost of successfully curbing the threat of Carroll when Arsenal faced Liverpool last year but he is also aware that West Ham play in a style more suited to Carroll’s game.
“At West Ham they play some long balls and with Carroll up front, he’s a tall guy. He’s good with his head so it will be a big challenge.”
Because of his height and form, Per Mertesacker is likely to reclaim his starting position from Laurent Koscielny and, hopefully, will help Arsenal to cut out the defensive errors that have crept in. Mertesacker has not been to Upton Park before and Vermaelen will have prepared him for the hostile derby atmosphere which Vermaelen actually enjoys.
“I must say I like the stadium and the atmosphere there, so it’s quite nice to go there and play again.
“First we have to match them in the fight. If there’s a long ball, we want to fight for that ball and bring it down as quickly as possible and play our own game.”
Arsenal have been a much more solid unit this season and as long as they continue that tomorrow, they have the quality to outplay West Ham, take all three points and give Big Sam something to think about.
COYG!
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Unleash the bfg ! Carrol and co won’t get a sniff . Giroud to show carrol how it’s done at other end of pitch !
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Tomorrow I want this team for West Ham –
Vito
Carl Per TV Gibbs
Ramsey Arteta
Gervinho Cazorla Podolski
Giroud
Subs:Martinez , Koscielny , Santos , Coquelin ,
Chamberlain , Theo and Arshavin .
Result – Arsenal win 2:1
COYG !!
Per and Giroud are important ,becasue we need heights this boys .
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Upton Park has not been a very good ground four big teams since the time of Allan Curbishley. I hope we will get the three points though. I love this Arsenal team! Cant wait to see Carl do his thing at the back, Mert, TV5 and KG out-muscle any aerial threat as we boss the midfield and make the Hummers hum as they collect the ball from their own net for their three restarts. 3nil for the Mighty gunners!
COYG
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7 
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If we can keep Carroll quite then we should be onto a winner. Hoping Mertesacker can handle him. Looking forward to it, should be a good game.
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Mannone
Jenkinson Mertesacker Vermaelen Gibbs
Ramsey Arteta
Cazorla
Gervinho Giroud Podolski
Mannone is only keeper left. Jenkinson is our current best RB (with Sagna injured), Mertesacker to deal with Carrol as he has the height, Vermaelen is captain and Gibbs has been playing great.
Ramsey scored a good goal and deserves a chance. Arteta and Cazorla are both amazing, obvious starters.
Gervinho has been playing pretty good, Giroud needs some game time and his ariel ability will help us a lot. Podolski is great players, he tracks back and I think he is an important player for us.
3-1 Arsenal
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Arsenal Gonna Win This Game.
Only One Team Is In LONDON!!!!
COYG!!
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Tomorrow the sun will shine and it’ll be a total lark
As we follow our boys to Upton Park
Podolski’s hat trick will be accomplished with grace
And Giroud will finally contribute a brace
Traveling supporters will surely sing
After Theo scores fires one in from the wing
Gervinho will join the party late
Celebrating his tap-in with that salute I hate
West Ham, though will deny us a clean sheet
Because of Vaz Te’s fast and tricky feet
The Ref will whistle time and we’ll be in Gooner heaven
West Ham 1 Arsenal 7
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
27 
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Whatever, we need all the 3 points
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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cant wait for mert to get back.. weve looked a bit dodgy since he been gone. kos an verm are great but something is wrong between them this year, mert is in great form and is a must to get back in the team. is great tho to have 3 class cd players fighting for a start. im really quite happy with any 2 of the 3, cos they can all play together. just feel west ham, we need big mert in there.
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Why does everyone seem to think suddenly that Koscielny is a worse CB than Vermaelen and Mertesacker and that our first choice CB’s should be Mert and Verm????
Last season Koscielny was probably our best defender. Mertesacker wasn’t great last season although yes he looks great so far this year…. even though its early days.
Vermaelen seems to get by whilst making quite a few random mistakes which go largely unnoticed because hes our captain.
I say that Kosc deserves more credit for last season and everyone should get off Pers and Verm’s ***ks!!
A week ago, the same people were saying that Mannone will be better than Szczesny!!!
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The only reason why Vermalaen starts ahead of Kosc is because he’s our captain.
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if he knwz vat mch den he shld beta MAN up n play lyk a bloody CAPTAIN cuz hez bin poor in d last couple of games..another below par performance n caroll will b all ova him lyk white on rice!..hez new captain he nids to show grit n determination
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gossh hw i miss a captain who can command his defense n d rest of his charges!..lyk iz vat too mch to ask..,a below par performance 2mao from verm 2mao n u ld tink itzz christmas already wiv d numba of tymz caroll’s name l b cald
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Vermaelen and Koscielny should adopt the old Bouldy and Adams tactics against Carrol.
First 5 minutes, Vermaelen chops him
15 mins later Koscielny does the same thing.
How about we actually put the wind up West Ham rather than them getting stuck in to us for 90 mins.
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Captain Thomas Vermaelen is is absolutely a real Verminator,I promise he The Verminator will be much more important than Robin Batman was for Gunner,Verminator Against batman robin who wins of course the Verminator wins, Mr. Arsene Wenger did it again much respect to him, King L Arsene we trust
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WELL SAID EVERYBODY…I HOPE PER , GIROUD AND THEO START TOMMORROW BCOS WE NEED PACE AND HEIGHT WITH GERVINHO AND RAMSEY TOO AND I PRAY FOR GOOD OFFICIATING BCOS WESTHAM WILL PLAY DIRTY BCOS IS BIG F**KING SAM THAT LOVE TO PLAY UGLY AGAINST US BUT THE 3 POINTS IS OURS FOR TAKING.
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Big Sam and Tony Pulis must take notes from each other. There are no other coaches that love to play a long ball, long pass and set piece game more than these 2 drongos!
West Ham have enough fire power to play attacking football, but their game is limited due to the style of play. It will be a tough encounter and the last time we met them it was a draw. They’ll definitely play for a point so we just need to score first and bury them with a couple more on top. Easier said than done, but our passing has to be sharp and quick to make their defence work harder and shift around to create those little pockets for Cazorla, Podolski, Gervinho and Giroud to take advantage.
We really need to stop guys like Nolan and Vaz Te getting into the box as they’re both clinical finishers. Tonight’s game will be a big test to our defensive virility. Arteta and our CBs will have a busy day. I’m hoping to see either Coquelin or Ramsey in Diaby’s role. I have a feeling Wenger will choose Ramsey due to his form and ability to create. With a team like West Ham, they’ll probably flood the midfield with players to try and deny our passing game. I believe Ramsey is more technical and attack-minded than Coquelin. Some might debate that Ramsey is better used as a substitute (I agree), but he did well against Man City when he started and Wenger could go for a similar setup. Seeing that we need to score first to apply the pressure, I’m confident Wenger will start Ramsey and maybe put on Coquelin if we have a healthy lead.
Oli G MUST START!!! His aerial and physical strength will help against West Ham’s set piece specialties. If anyone really watches Ibrahimovic play, the guy is probably the best in the world at holding the ball deep in the final third and selecting the right pass to his supporting players on the wings or central midfield. Oli G has the same qualities, it’s never easy to bully a 6ft3 guy with a capable physique. Gervinho is in good form but I’d rather see him come on in the last 30mins and run the living day lights out of West Ham’s fullbacks and CBs. Add Walcott to this mix at 60mins and we’ve got 2 guys that can really open up the game.
Oh well, regardless of the team Wenger chooses, I’ll be more than happy with 3 points! After last weekend it couldn’t get worse. Both my football teams lost last week. Arsenal and Canterbury Bulldogs in the NRL Grand Final. Dammit! And on top of that, Galatasaray lost in the Champs League and I only needed them to win as a final leg in my 8 leg multiple bet paying over $1,500. Oh well, I only invested 5 bucks! LOL, but I’ve got 500 on Arsenal to win the EPL at 15-1 odds. COYG!!!!!!
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I think we need a win here. Anything else will affect our confidence.
We need Carzorla to make those lethal passes like he did in the 1st game. A 10 outta 10 performance from one of our key playmakers is just what we need.
Gervinio…what can you say. Keep it up, and make those defenders work.
Podolski…Another player thats in need of a head-liner game. A strong hatrick from him I feel is over due, it would boost him mentally.
Giroud. Good work? Yeah I guess, but some goals would be nice, and although I have a feeling he will flourish with us, we need goals now
Ramsey…A breath of fresh air player for us like Diaby. We need him to stay composed and I think he will continue to grow.
Arteta…Need you read Westham ike a book.
Mert…still not sure what Wenger was thinking benching you…you bring your own leadership to the table, you are disciplined, which sometimes Vermelean lacks.
TV5…mmm. We need you to lead the team, Im hoping you are just shaking off the flu you had, cause’ we need you on form.
Kos…Hang in there, been tough for you but you are a great player and true Gunner.
Jenk…Gotta have both Richards and Glen thinking about their England spots in the next few years
. He has speed, good passing, a great cross, is decent dribbler and is a Gunner by heart. So…if he keeps it up, Sagna gonna have trouble coming straight back
Gibbs….Just like Jenk…a serious asset for Englands and Arsenals future. Super Form.
To Walcott Ox Manone Whilshire and the rest. Need you all make to impacts and show why you deserve a 1st team spot.
ASRSENAL 4 life
Strongest team in Years 
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Vito
Carl Per TV Gibbs
Ramsey Arteta
Walcott Arshavin Padolski
Giroud
Subs:Martinez , Koscielny , Santos , Coquelin ,
Chamberlain , Theo and Cazorla .
Padolski to sub on 60min, Theo 65, ox or coq around 75 depending on how the game is going
I feel Carzola needs a rest and Ashavin can get the job done.
Would also like to see Padolski get some rest, but need to keep an inform experienced player on.
Arsenal 3-0
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lol… what was i writing… gerviniho subbing on… cazorla subbing on… sorry.. im way too tired
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arsenal 4 – west ham 1(from a set piece)
Dream team; jenkson, merteserker, vamam gibbs then ox, coquelin, arteta,the dynamo, podolski,finally walcot.
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Win win win is all we want
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My fellow Gunners.
If we are worried A Carrol
What about L Messi On the knock out stage or semi.
For today 3 points is all we need.
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