[Arsenal.com]O'Leary plots former club's downfall
By Chris Harris
The hype and hyperbole has already started. Manchester United v Arsenal. Sunday, October 24. A chance for the champions to extend their record unbeaten run to 50 Premiership games at the home of their greatest rivals.
In some quarters, it's taken for granted that Arsenal will ease past Aston Villa this weekend and head up the M6 with that milestone within their grasp. Arsene Wenger has to ensure that assumption does not transmit itself to his players.
"Everyone is looking at the United game and no one is thinking about Villa," says Bill Howell of the Birmingham Evening Mail. "Everything is against them but I have a feeling that they can cause a shock.
"Villa always do better against the bigger sides. The players often say that they prefer to play teams who attack them, whereas some of the smaller teams tend to sit back and make it difficult for Villa to break them down.
"They are in a no-lose situation on Saturday. Villa will be up against it because their small squad has been hit by injuries, not to mention those who played internationals in South America this week, but the players are really looking forward to it.
"Villa are 9/1 to win at Highbury but having everything against them can be a unifying factor for the team. They have done well down there in the past and plenty of Villa fans have put their money down on an away win."
It's easy to see why they are optimistic. Villa may not have won at Arsenal for nearly 11 years but their last three games at Highbury were all in the balance until the final 10 minutes.
And then there is David O'Leary. The Villa manager is the proud owner of Arsenal's appearance record and would dearly love to leave his old stamping ground with a famous victory.
"This is one game that O'Leary really looks forward to," says Howell. "It will be an emotional day for him after 20 years at the club and I get the feeling that he will really have his players pumped up."
The Villa manager has some thinking to do before he finalises his starting line-up. Juan Pablo Angel and Nolberto Solano were in action for Colombia and Peru respectively on Wednesday and have only just returned to England.
Edu will be rested after playing for Brazil this week, but O'Leary does not have the luxury of Arsenal's strength in depth and will give his South American stars every chance to recover.
"Angel was ruled out on Thursday but the club are doing their best to get transport organised so he might be on the bench," explains Howell. "Solano is in exactly the same position.
"One definite absentee is goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen. He has not missed a game since signing for Villa last summer but Stefan Postma will start on Saturday.
"Carlton Cole is fit after hurting his ankle while playing for England Under-21s, so he is likely to play as a lone striker with Darius Vassell dropping deeper to make up a five-man midfield and deny Arsenal space.
"O'Leary usually plays a 4-4-2 formation but Vassell's remit will be to do a little tracking back. That's how it worked out in last season's game and those tactics worked well until a defensive error gave Arsenal the breakthrough."
If Villa can cut out the mistakes on Saturday, Arsenal could yet arrive at Old Trafford looking to start a new unbeaten run rather than extend their existing one.
翻译：Christopharn（未经本人和www.arsenalcn.com同意请勿转载）
奥莱利预谋击败老东家
比赛开始前，各种夸大其词的报道已经开始。10月24日星期天，卫冕冠军阿森纳有机会在他们最强大的对手曼联的主场，将他们的联赛不败纪录增加到50场。
很多人心里都认定，阿森纳将在本周末轻松闯过阿斯顿维拉这一关，之后沿着M6高速公路（译者注：M6从伦敦通往曼彻斯特）去夺取他们里程碑式的胜利。而阿森・温格保证，他的球员并没有如此盲目乐观。
伯明翰邮报（Birmingham Evening Mail）的比尔・霍维尔（Bill Howell）说，“所有人都在关心将在曼联主场举行的比赛，而没有人想到阿斯顿维拉。似乎一切都对他们不利，但我预感他们会让人们大吃一惊。维拉队在对阵大俱乐部时，总是发挥得比较好。球员们常说他们更愿意对阵主动进攻的球队，而一些较弱的球队喜欢龟缩防守，这使得维拉队难以击败他们。”
“周六的比赛维拉队将碰上麻烦，因为他们不算厚实的阵容受到伤病的困扰，而且有球员在周中参加了南美区的世界杯外围赛。维拉队在海布里获胜的几率可能只有十分之一，但这些不利因素也可能为队伍提供一种合力。由于之前在海布里的战绩不错，很多维拉球迷都投注维拉队将客场取胜。”
球迷如此乐观的原因显而易见。虽然维拉队在将近11年的时间里没能在客场取胜阿森纳，但他们最近三次做客海布里，都在到了比赛结束前10分钟还和阿森纳不分上下。
同时，他们还有大卫・奥莱利。这位维拉队的主帅既是阿森纳历史上的出场纪录保持者，又有幸以一场经典的胜利作为他的谢幕演出。
霍维尔说:“这是奥莱利期待的比赛。为阿森纳效力20年的经历，将使这一天显得格外激动人心。我有一种预感，他会使他的球员充满信心。”
这位维拉队的主帅将为最终确定先发阵容费些脑筋。胡安・巴勃罗・安赫尔和诺尔博托・索拉诺在周三分别为哥伦比亚国家队和秘鲁国家队效力后，刚刚返回英国。
由于本周代表巴西国家队参加了比赛，埃杜本场比赛将休息。但奥莱利的球队板凳深度不如阿森纳，所以他会给本队的南美球星们一切恢复的机会。
霍维尔提到：“安赫尔缺席了周四的训练，但是俱乐部尽了最大努力使他有可能出现在替补席上。事实上，索拉诺也是同样的情况。而肯定缺席本场比赛的将是门将托马斯・索伦森。自从去年夏天加盟维拉队后，他还没有缺席过一场比赛。但周六，史蒂芬・波斯特马将先发出场。”
“此外，在代表英格兰U21青年队比赛中脚踝受伤的卡尔顿・克尔已经伤愈，他很有可能充当维拉队进攻中的单箭头。而达留斯・瓦塞尔的位置将后撤，使中场球员增加到五个人，来减少阿森纳的空间。奥莱利经常使用4-4-2阵形，但他在上赛季的比赛中尝试了解放瓦塞尔，将他的位置后移这种打法。当时这套战术非常奏效，直到一次防守失误才给了阿森纳打开局面的机会。”
要是维拉队能在周六的比赛中避免犯错，那么阿森纳在老特拉福德球场所能做的，也许就不是延续现在的不败纪录，而是开始一项新的不败纪录了。
[15 October 2004]
信息来源：http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=231732
[此贴子已经被作者于2004-10-16 13:34:26编辑过]
