Good day to you.
Tomorrow we take on Fulham in our first away game in the Premier League this season and three points are everything at this stage. Despite us winning a match against Fenerbahce in a convincing manner, few will tolerate a second straight defeat in the league. The first one may have been called an unlucky turn of events, but two defeats in a row will hint at a nasty pattern.
In terms of availability, the ones that played against Fenerbahce should be ready for what would be a third outing for the vast majority inside seven days, with the only exception being the suspended/injured Koscielny. The shallowness of the squad doesn't leave much room for rotation, though we may see Monreal on the left instead of Gibbs (who, in my opinion, could use some rest) and I'm still firmly of the opinion, that Podoloski should start the game. Cazorla is still some way from regaining his usual sharpness and a full game against the Turks did little to help him. The manager, however, seems somewhat reluctant to hand Poldi a role in the starting eleven right now. Wenger may see the German as a direct sub for Giroud, should he need to influence, how the game unfolds. Maybe, Podolski is still not ready to play the full 90 minutes. I don't know the manager's thoughts, but playing Cazorla at the moment doesn't do the team and the player himself much good. Seeing, how threadbare our squad is, Wenger's priority should be on getting the most out of every player and a team as a whole, even if that means sacrificing some of his more subtle plans. Harsh reality is, until we get some new players onboard, which will give a better alternative to choose from, we still have games to play and points to fight for. Fingers crossed, we can get the three points tomorrow, though it will by no means be an easy stroll.
Tomorrow we take on Fulham in our first away game in the Premier League this season and three points are everything at this stage. Despite us winning a match against Fenerbahce in a convincing manner, few will tolerate a second straight defeat in the league. The first one may have been called an unlucky turn of events, but two defeats in a row will hint at a nasty pattern.
In terms of availability, the ones that played against Fenerbahce should be ready for what would be a third outing for the vast majority inside seven days, with the only exception being the suspended/injured Koscielny. The shallowness of the squad doesn't leave much room for rotation, though we may see Monreal on the left instead of Gibbs (who, in my opinion, could use some rest) and I'm still firmly of the opinion, that Podoloski should start the game. Cazorla is still some way from regaining his usual sharpness and a full game against the Turks did little to help him. The manager, however, seems somewhat reluctant to hand Poldi a role in the starting eleven right now. Wenger may see the German as a direct sub for Giroud, should he need to influence, how the game unfolds. Maybe, Podolski is still not ready to play the full 90 minutes. I don't know the manager's thoughts, but playing Cazorla at the moment doesn't do the team and the player himself much good. Seeing, how threadbare our squad is, Wenger's priority should be on getting the most out of every player and a team as a whole, even if that means sacrificing some of his more subtle plans. Harsh reality is, until we get some new players onboard, which will give a better alternative to choose from, we still have games to play and points to fight for. Fingers crossed, we can get the three points tomorrow, though it will by no means be an easy stroll.