LDN Blue

He's given multiple interviews stating how he's looking forward to playing with the likes of Torres next season. He has anticipated Anelka, Drogba & Malouda will soon be leaving because of their age & is ready to pounce when they do. Unlike Kalou..

coughUnder-ratedcough!

Agreed, it's a shame we don't have another week to prepare. Benayoun's the only person today that provided a ball to create such a chance (that simple pass for Torres). Lampard is too heavily involved deep in the midfield so he can't make find the space to provide such a ball. Not going to turn this into another "who do we need?" thread, but it's quite clear today to see what kind.

Nope, but he's right if he meant player confidence. We saw what a bit of confidence boost to Torres can do to his play, he came very close to grabbing a goal. Drogba looked pretty lively too when we started playing like a proper team. Malouda continues to be a bit of weak link, but if they can maintain some sort of confidence into Tuesday then we may just have a chance.

TX complimenting Benayoun? I must be dreaming But he's right. Made a difference when he came on by providing some good balls and being around to support the man in possession. I don't like him on the wing though if I'm honest, I think he lacks the pace and energy. I'd rather see him play behind the striker(s). Mikel/Essien Ramires ---------------------- Lampard Benayoun Drogba - Torres This looks the most suitable on paper. Question is if the team would respond. It also means we'd be less active on the left, but we may as well be with Malouda taking the helm there!

Torres had 3 great chances to score today. Things are finally clicking for him, in terms of receiving the ball in the right areas, now it's up to him.

Good to see Essien wearing an Ivory Coast sweatband

This is the type of game we could try throwing Bertrand into the deep-end, or even use Zhirkov. Oh well..

Cech Ferreira - Ivanovic - Luiz - Cole Ramires - Mikel - Lampard © - Malouda Anelka - Drogba Why rest Terry but not Cole?

Ferreira?! Looks like a 4-3-3 though, with that squad, anything else would surprise me. We may see a return in class from Malouda!

Sing your heart out

Kalou may leave Chelsea He's becoming frustrated now and could call it quits soon..

Great article. Makes him look like an average striker to be honest - Especially the comparison with the Cruzerio striker!

A fair line up when thinking about the United game. It'll give Carlo a chance to experiment with Anelka - Torres. Anelka can play with both so if those 2 can form a better partnership, then Carlo would've found a way for Torres to fit into the future plan. This game should be dedicated to experimenting for Tuesday's match. If this doesn't work, we can revert to 4-3-3 because Anelka can drop (barely) wide.

A bit of background on Luiz, reported by SkySports today..

Oh okay But yeah, he's only made about 20minutes of first team action (for Israel during the international break). It'd be a gamble to start him (one which I do think is worth it) so I'd be very surprised if he starts!

Did he come on? :S

The adverts they show for the extra linesman is cruelly comical. Especially since there not a single shred of evidence they've been useful or even prevented any wrong decision. I bet Collina doesn't even support it, he's just been used as the face because he's perhaps the best referee of all time.

I'd be very surprised if Benayoun starts, considering he hasn't even come on from the subs bench yet

Yeah but the question then becomes, do we actually believe him? Roman won't mind him benching Torres, with the hope of an early substitute appearance or hope of a start in the following game. But a bench position for the rest of the season? I just don't think Roman would appreciate £50million just sitting there, especially since someone like Torres needs an arm around his shoulder most the time. I hope Carlo's right though!

Marc Albrighton would be cheaper & could be our own Adam Johnson.

Abramovich would never allow this to happen..

Jack: "Thank heavens I'm leaving for United next summer"

Same excuse as always.. Where's that diagram showing a typical Arsenal season cycle gone?