Yet again, on paper, Arsenal are far and away the hot favourites to beat a Sunderland team that have not won one single game all season so far, but, like Middlesbrough last week, that is the reason why Petr Cech thinks we should fear them!
“I think they should have more points than they have so far, because they had games where they lost in the last minute and dropped a lot of points in the last five minutes of games,” Cech said.
“But during those games they have been doing much better than it shows in the table. This season everything is really tight so the small details make a big difference and for them it has made a big difference in terms of their number of points.
“You have to be performing every single game and you have to be on top of the game if you want to win it, so we treat everybody with respect.
“It’s obviously to Sunderland’s advantage that they play a top team. They have nothing to lose, maybe everybody is saying they’re going to lose, but when you are in a position like this you just do your best.
“You don’t have much pressure, so obviously it will be very difficult against them.”
The new manager David Moyes hasn’t had much luck so far, but you can never discount a bit of improvement after a while, so I agree the Gunners need to always respect every opponent in the Premier League. Did we do that against Middlesbrough last week? Petr thinks he knows what the problem was….
“After the defeat in the first game against Liverpool, obviously we had to bounce back and I think we’ve done the right thing,” he said. “We’ve bounced back with good performances, we kept winning games and obviously we have had a long, very positive run in all competitions.
“We try to use that to our advantage and we want to prolong that but I thought on Saturday against Middlesbrough, they played really well. That was the first thing, and the second thing was that I thought we rushed a little bit in the final third.
“We put the final balls in too early and we could have kept our cool a little bit to find the right pass in the right time. But I think we have to give credit to our opponent as well because they were very well organised, very dangerous on the counter-attack and they made it difficult for us.”
We can be sure that Sunderland will also make it difficult tomorrow. There is no room for complacency in any game and our players need to remember that. Every point could be important at the end of the season….
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I think they won’t be able to cope with sanchez for 70 mins then Giroud coming off the bench. Against borough we had no Plan B so they could frustrate us all day and they knew it but our fortune has changed now. Easy win for us, on to ludagorets then the London Darby
My opinion is that czech is right. Left foward needs to be sorted. Otherwise teams will runover monreal. I hooe that ox can start there since he can backtrack more than Iwobi. I wobi to hit the ground in 2nd half. If Carzola isnt available, xhaxa to start and replaced by Rambo. OG to take over from walcott in 2nd half.the rest remain the normal team
Xhaka is banned!
And Walcott is doubtful
My main worry about Sunderland is that failure might be contagious. Should probably look into vaccinations for the squad
I think Sunderland and David Moyes may need them more!
I’m never confident when we’re expected to have an easy game. I know there are no easy games in this league but if we fail to come away with all the points tomorrow you can bet your life that people will be majorly pissed. The players can find these circumstances difficult at times, you mentioned how they (Sun) have nothing to lose, whereas we have a huge weight of expectation. I just hope everything goes to plan, our plan. The players need to be prepared for a fight, treat it as a cup game. If they go out there feeling things out to see if they need the A game, the A game gets harder to bring.
We need to fly out of the box again like we did against Chelsea. Knock them for six before they know whats hit them!
This should be an easy game if we make it easy on ourselves. Sunderland aren’t even great at parking the bus, so it should be an open game. Just need to keep the concentration and play to our level. Unfortunate to hear about the several knocks being picked up, but this is a chance for others to step up, and for us to flex our squad depth. I think Ox will start this game, and I hope he can put in a good performance in the EPL now.
Just read an interesting and sad article about a man who committed suicide and blamed Stan Kroenke in his suicide letter for forcing him to move from his home because of Kroenke’s purchase of that large Ranch he told him and other home owners to move.
Of course, I am not blaming Kroenke for his suicide but just shows how heartless and money obsessed he is.
The sooner we get rid of him the better.
Yes, I agree – AG. Better the African dude bail us out!!
No way! Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
The day he takes over is the day I stop being a season ticket holder after 30+ years.
@stubill
Nigeria has never colonised whole countries, robbed them of their resources, enslaved and killed people or bombed and displaced helpless civilians…Yet you have the nerve to try and paint them as corrupt.
In comparison to whom?
I’m not talking about history, I’m talking about the here and now.
I spent 14 months travelling from North to South Africa, mainly by land, and I was “arrested” twice, both times in Nigeria. The first time was for “loitering”, where I was standing at a junction trying to figure out which way to go, I spent 7 hours in a cell until a senior officer came and fined me $25US and was released, the second time was for loitering again, this time I was standing outside a bar, reading the menu, when told I was being arrested for loitering I asked what the fine was, the officer said $30US, I said I’d pay $25, handed him the money, and went on my way.
I realise these are only small examples but they are indicators of how the country is run from top to bottom, bribes are paid, elections are rigged and general corruption rules.
When you move out of the cities to the smaller towns and villages, it’s a different story, the people are warm and welcoming and are only too pleased to help you, so I’m not condemning the whole nation, just the people at the top.
@stubill
I’m talking about the here and now also. Britain, is bombing people right now on a daily basis. But you condemn a whole country over some petty personal incident…
Read it again, I didn’t condemn a whole country and also said they where small examples, and believe me, when you’re thrown into a Nigerian police cell and not allowed to speak to anyone, it is far from a petty incident.
As for the current bombing, it’s not just Great Britain involved and do I agree with it, no! We should never have been involved in any actions in the Middle East or Afghanistan, they’re all as bad as each other, their country, their rules! Let the kill, maim and torture each other to their hearts content, I couldn’t give a jot!
@stubill, shame on you for your comment on Nigeria, no wonder your name is close to Stupid.
Nigerian I pressume!
Nigeria has no intention of buying Arsenal. A Nigerian guy has. Note the difference!! You mentioned corruption and I want to ask if it is the corruption in Nigeria that cost Big Sam his job recently??
I don’t care about the nationality of the shareholders. All I wish is they run the club well and show respect for all, poor or rich, black or white.
I hope you’re not a barrister, with a pathetic argument like that, all your client would end up in jail, guilty or not!
1… cos they are a Premierleague team, I mean an English Premier ‘super’ League side.
2… you playing them away
3… Cazorla n Walcott might not play
to be honest i was more worried before we played boro because i half expected the team to get carried away after a comfortable win few days before/to take their foot off the gas!!but i believe we’ve learnt from it and that it “refocused”(haha) us once again also with our first team players rested for the cup game earlier in the week i’m hoping for a good win and few goals and for giroud to mark his comeback with a bang(1 or 2 goals for him)COYG!!
It’s bounceback time!