Stoke preview: a decisive month ahead

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow we play Stoke away in what will be the first game among the slew of no less important ones.

I think this month will define our whole season. At this point, we're still in the FA Cup, among the teams that fight for the title and stand a chance (however slim) of progressing further in the Champions League. I genuinely hope this side has not come this far for nothing, but, ultimately, our success and failure will largely depend on how we play in March.

We have to play against the best and have to beat them in order to show we are among the best. If we start April still fighting on three fronts, we'll stand a very real chance of ending our trophy drought.

The manager seems to be thinking along the same lines, that's why our squad was given a few days off. In a week's time all the hell will break loose and Arsenal will need to be both physically and mentally up to the challenge.

I'm pretty sure everything is alright with our mentality (as Poldi here points out). On the other front we probably could have done better. Diaby and Walcott aside, as many as four our players may not feature against Stoke. Ramsey will remain sidelined for another two weeks (he himself hopes to return against Spurs), no update was given on Kallstrom (hope that's because he'll be available sooner rather than later), while both our left-backs will undergo late check-ups.

This may mean Vermaelen can be asked to play in his, arguably, weaker position, not to mention the Belgian has only just recovered from a knee injury himself. Not the best option possible.

However, everyone else got the green light, so I expect the team to deliver. There are plenty attacking options, all players have got a proper R&R, and I can't think of even one player who can be considered out of form. Some may lack practise, true, but it's not like they are way behind those who don't. We have, at the end of the day, a pretty large squad with no weak links. Anyone can start and you can be sure he'll be at his best. This is what proper competition for places does to the team.

A win tomorrow will do us world of good, as we face Everton eight days from now and playing the Toffees on the back of two wins will no doubt  put us in a strong position to win the third game in a row. So let's hope we get that win tomorrow.

In other news, Platini has called for rule change regarding triple punishment for a foul in the box. I've talked at length about how this particular rule left us with little chances to make it past Bayern, but let's not forget City has suffered exactly the same fate 24 hours prior to us. Platini says all FIFA and UEFA committees are against such harsh punishment, but it's still up to the International FA Board to decide whether this rule needs to be changed. From what I've heard, Blatter is against such change. We'll have to wait and see what happens, but it's a real shame it took two very high-profile failures inside one day for this matter to be brought up.

Not much else going on, so I'll leave it here. Here's for the all-important three points tomorrow and I wish you all a pleasant weekend.

Back Monday with a review. Until then

Tom to the rescue + Ozil thoughts

Since our game is on Saturday, things are quieter than usual. However, there's talk Tomas Rosicky will extend his contact sooner rather than later, so we have an opportunity to discuss just what the Czech brings to the team and why the manager is so keen to keep him.

In the immediate aftermath of our game against Sunderland, Tomas drew praise from Arsene, who likened the 33-year-old to Dennis Bergkamp. No small comparison, either, since Dennis just had his statue unveiled.

Wenger talked (however brief) of Tomas' qualities, highlighting the Czech's loyalty to the club as one of the rarest things in modern football. Our experienced midfielder has been pulling on the Arsenal shirt for almost eight years now (only Walcott and Sagna play longer) and, though I may be mistaken, Tomas has had the same wages for the duration of this period.

In one way, it's easy to keep him. Tomas doesn't want a shiny new salary, nor a long-term contract. But Wenger was right when he said Rosicky is an exception to the general rule. Tomas loves the Club and is prepared to stay with us whatever. I don't know, whether other clubs approached the Czech, but I get the feeling those clubs would have been turned down. I call it loyalty, others may apply other terms to Rosicky's stance.

However, it's not just his devotion that deserves praise. Though he is 33, Tomas is full of energy and drive. It's not a coincidence that our game against Sunderland is among the best, when it came to denying our opponents space and putting them under pressure. We've talked how Rosicky sets the right (frenetic) tempo to our game and it is more apparent when we're forced to play off the ball. He closes men in possession tirelessly and it had a direct influence at least twice. First, when he scored against Tottenham. Saturday was a second time. You can read more about the role Tomas played in our 4-1 win here. It's a quite brilliant piece of analysis.

Ozil doesn't do the same amount of work off the ball as the Czech. Or, at least, he doesn't do it often enough to make it count. He's an another type of player, one who prefers to split defences open with an inch-perfect pass. Mesut cuts a less noticeable figure on the pitch, yet his raw numbers are much better than that of Tomas. Sure, he plays more, but the point I'm trying to get across, is that different styles of play is normal and both players are equally important. Some, however, have already written Ozil off, which just goes to demonstrate how quickly people's opinion change.

Honestly, I don't understand the criticism aimed at the German international. For example, all this crap about him shying away from his defensive duties. Ozil does do them, but he's not a defender, for God's sake, he can't be as effective at tackling or intercepting the ball as our back four + defensive midfielders. And for those who think Ozil doesn't track runners, he's second in distance covered to only Flamini (in the Bayern game). Yes, Ozil is going through a bad patch of form, but we all know he's a world-class footballer. He'll find his game soon enough, I'm sure he will. All Mesut needs is support. If not from everyone, then definitely from Arsenal fans. We were all happy when Ozil was signed for a reason and if every time Mesut's form takes a dip we start calling him a shitty footballer, it would have been best if he hadn't signed at all. Give the man some support, he needs it as much as everyone else, even though he's our all-time record transfer.

Until later

Arsenal 4-1 Sunderland: a good ending to a difficult month

Our midweek result was put well and truly behind us yesterday as we have swept aside Sunderland at home to maintain pressure on Chelsea. Their late goal ensured they got the points, so it was vital for us to get a win.

Before the game, however, all eyes were turned to Dennis Bergkamp. Our legendary number ten flew to London to witness the unveiling of his statue and gave a short speech. He then stayed to watch the game and was not disappointed.

Arsene made a lot of changes to the side that went down to Bayern. Ozil, Gibbs, Flamini, Oxlade and Sanogo were all replaced, the former two didn't even make the squad because of an injury. I suspect Ozil has no injury and was just taken out of the firing line, but, whatever the reason, the German needs that break.

Arsenal started in splendid fashion, determined to show the strength of their character and managed to do just that. Five minutes into the game Arsenal were ahead.

Wilshere burst through the middle, drew four defenders to himself and laid the ball off for Giroud. The Frenchman grabbed his chance and sent the ball into the bottom corner. His celebration was tame somewhat, I suspect this is down to him feeling he's let the manager down.

We didn't back off, though and continued to pass the ball around in our opponents' half. This led to a good shot from Podolski (outside the box), which was saved by our old friend Mannone. However, our relentless pressing lead to a second goal soon enough.

In the 32nd minute Sunderland was forced to play the ball back to their keeper, who found Vergini on the right. After a short interchange with some bloke, he was forced by Rosicky and Podolski to play it back again, but mistimed his pass. Giroud made this count and sent the ball into the net to double our lead.

Eleven minutes later we were 3-0 up. An interchange between Wilshere, Cazorla, Giroud and Rosicky sent the latter one-on-one and the Czech dinked the ball over Mannone. This goal reminded me heavily of Wilshere's goal against Norwich. The same dazzling speed, the same quick thinking and movement. A great goal, a contender for the best goal of the season, no doubt.

The ref blew for half-time three minutes later. In 45 minutes Sunderland had only one half-decent chance and enjoyed just 25% of possession.

In the second half, Arsenal lowered the tempo and basically surrendered the ball for the first ten minutes. Whether it were the effects of playing a second game in three days, the fact that they've won the game or just some good play from Sunderland, it's hard to tell. Whatever it is, the Black Cats seized the initiative and had two very respectable chances in the opening minutes of the second half. Szczesny made two brilliant saves, but everyone inside the stadium sensed a goal coming.

It did, but at the other end of the pitch. We burst into a counterattack, Sagna crossed the ball and Vergini made a sloppy clearance. Santi sent in a cross, Koscielny escaped his marker and planted a firm header into the bottom corner to make it 4-0.

If there were any questions before this goal, they evaporated. Arsenal had done their job, Sunderland had an eye on the League Cup final, so the remainder of the game was pretty boring. Gnabry (who replaced Rosicky) could have scored another, but lingered too long and his shot was easily blocked by Manonne.

However, Sunderland managed to grab their consolation goal, thus leaving us without a clean sheet. After Giroud fouled some bloke on the wing and some other bloke crossed the ball, Szczesny punched the it away and it fell to Giaccerinni. The Italian smashed home a beautiful low shot from about 30 yards. I was actually amazed no one got in the way, since our box resembled my local underground station at 8 a.m., but you have to give credit to Giaccerinni. It was a beautiful shot. The game finished 4-1.

After the game, Arsene hailed his team's spirit:

"We had a very demanding week physically and mentally and we gave the right response today. We did the job in the first half and we scored two great ‘Arsenal’ goals; one of them scored by Giroud, the other by Rosicky".

He also spoke about Giroud's display:

"I had no hesitation about his strength of character. Of course you want him to come back into the team and be successful, which he was today because he scored two goals. One great one at the end of great movement and the other a little bit of a gift from Sunderland. He got an assist as well, so he did well".

For me, the Frenchman showed just how important he is to our current set-up once again. Bendtner may be a decent  replacement, Sanogo has shown promise, but Giroud demonstrated he can, more often than not, make his presence count. With Rosicky, Wilshere, Cazorla and even Podolski to make runs off the Frenchman, our attacks looked dangerous every time, despite Sunderland playing some very good defensive football. Giroud may have his shortcomings, but right now he has to be number one choice, family problems or not.

Another thing, that will no doubt worry the manager, is our makeshift defence in the latter stages. We finished the game with Jenks on the right, Sagna in the centre and Flamini on the left. Monreal was taken off at half-time, Koscielny left the pitch twenty minutes from the final whistle and Gibbs and Vermaelen are still not back. Wenger said both Kos and Monreal only carry knocks and should be fine for the next game (against Stoke), but the situation is flimsy to say the least.

Another casualty was Jack Wilshere. The Englishman has pulled a muscle in the closing stages, but was forced to continue as we've run out of subs. Wenger was less optimistic on Jack but, hopefully, he too makes the squad this weekend.

So, a great win, and an even better performance is just what we needed to rebuild confidence ahead of a tough run of fixtures. It's even more important as City, Chelsea and Liverpool have all scraped a win. Let's win our next two games and see what we can make of our trip to Munich.

At this stage, I'm positive Bayern will have a hard time making it to the last eight.

Sunderland preview: only one response

 Hi everyone.

Tomorrow Premier League action returns and we face Sunderland in a very important (psychologically) game.

Sunderland had an atrocious start of the season, but had gone a long way since Poyet became their manager. The Black Cats now sit 18th in the table and their battle to avoid relegation is no longer seems a lost one. Moreover, Sunderland is still fighting in both the FA Cup and the League Cup and have progressed to the finals in the latter. It's obvious they are a dangerous side and Arsenal will have to work hard to best them again.

The news is, Gibbs and Vermaelen are definitely out for this game, but we welcome Arteta back, while the Ox had, most likely, avoided an injury that may prevent him from playing. If luck is on our side (which it almost always isn't), we may even see Kallstrom involved.

Whatever squad plays, the manager had hinted rotation will take place and Sanogo, Ozil and Sagna top my list to make the bench.

This trio has played almost every minute against Liverpool and Bayern and looked dead on their feet in the last stages of our midweek clash.

On top of physical exhaustion, Ozil also needs a mental break, if I may. He's been criticised by all and sundry for his penalty miss and a couple of crappy performances, so taking him out of the firing line is a good idea.

I expect Giroud and Podolski to replace Sanogo and Ozil respectively, while Arteta can come back at Oxlade-Chamberlain's expense. Injury or no injury, he's played a lot and risking the Ox is stupid. Better let Wilshere play on the flank.

Apart from that, the manager has touched on how Arsenal can produce a stunning response against the Bavarian giants and I think he's not just being arrogant or disrespectful.

As you probably remember, Arsenal had a flying start on Wednesday night and Bayern found themselves on the ropes, as we cut open their defence time and again. Had Ozil scored the spot-kick, I bet we would have won the game, perhaps by a good margin.

Producing such a start in Munich may lead to a goal we need to get back into the tie and the game would be an open one after that. Bayern won't dare go into an all-out-attack mode out of fear of getting caught on the counter, while Arsenal goes to Germany with nothing to lose and everything to win and will no doubt play without any pressure. Of course, should Bayern score first, we are are out of the tie, but, thankfully, we have a blueprint of how to play, courtesy of last year.

What is even more important is that today's Arsenal is completely different to the team we've seen last year at this stage. I view our loss in the first game as a freak occurrence, or, to be more precise, a game ruined by poor refereeing. I've watched the episode with the penalty once again and my opinion remains the same. It was a dive from Robben after he realised he's lost control of the ball, pure and simple, and the ref bought it. It's sad really. It was a  beautiful game, a game of two sides and after the suspension only one team was in it.

I really think the rules ought to change. Let alone that the punishment for such a foul is absurdly harsh, the fact, that the ref was basically tricked into making an unfair decision is outrageous. It's nothing new, footballers do this all the time, but that's exactly what I'm talking about. Video replays need to be put in place to prevent refs from making game-defining decisions. The reality is, the quality of refereeing is probably better than it was, say, forty years ago, but now the whole world sees when the ref makes a mistake. Match officials are not to blame for making mistakes, the system is. Actually, I more often than not sit in quiet awe when, for example, the linesman spots an offside we struggle to see with all the replays. No, referees are all right, they just don't receive enough help to become impeccable.

Right, I'll leave it at this, back Monday for a review. Have a good weekend

Arsenal 0-2 Bayern Munich: deja vu

I still haven't gotten over what happened yesterday, so I'll split everything I have to say in sections.

Starting line-ups

I don't know much about Bayern, but I did notice Rafinha, Shaquiri and Muller were left out. Shaquiri is injured, but Rafinha was benched in favour of Lahm, who played much of the season as a DM. Seems Guardiola smelled the potential weakness of Rafinha at right-back and ploughed for Lahm. When Cazorla was taken off, Rafinha made his entrance.

Arsene gave a surprise start to Sanogo. The lad played the entire game and played well enough, but his attacking actions were restricted, apart from a burst of activity early on.

Ozil and penalty

Bar a 3rd minute shot (well-saved by Szczesny), we've managed to put pressure on Bayern and created a couple of dangerous moments. Sanogo saw his effort blocked and then a pass from Wilshere split open the Germans defence. Ozil got the better of whoever it was, then was knocked down. The ref pointed to the spot, Mesut stepped up and did the exact same thing he did earlier in the season. A short run, a weak shot, a save, this time from Neuer.

This is getting ridiculous. After the first miss, Ozil would have been the last man to take the spot-kick, if it was up for me to decide. I'm sure Wilshere would have had better luck. Maybe even Cazorla. It's high time we reconsider our pecking order.

Szczesny and a red card

After the penalty miss, Arsenal lost a bit of pace going forward and Bayern started to get back into the game. This resulted in a couple moments of danger, but we've dealt with these well enough.

Up until 37th minute. A lob pass split open our defence, Robben got a foot to the ball, sent it out for a goal kick, then bumped into Szczesny, performed a theatrical dive and went down like he's been shot. The ref bought it, pointed to the spot and sent Szczesny off.

This decision killed the game. Apart from the fact, that such double punishment is harsh (overly harsh, in my opinion) it made an interesting game boring as hell. By virtues of justice Alaba hasn't scored, but Arsenal were forced on the back foot for the remainder of the game. It was getting hard to fend off Bayern with 11 men, but having ten made it nigh on impossible. We held out till the break with the scores level, though.

Second half

It was boring. We got as many men behind the ball as humanly possible and tried with all our might to keep the German side at bay. They did manage to score on the 54th minute, but it was down to a brilliant piece of play, rather than poor defending.

Second goal

We then kept the score at 1-0 till the 88th minute. And just when it looked like we'll only have one goal to chase in Munich, some poor decision-making from us ensured we'll have to score at least twice at Allianz Arena.

Arsenal have won a free kick upfield and instead of playing it short or just lumping the ball towards Sanogo, we've brought Koscielny into the box. He got to the ball, lost it and Bayern flew forward. They've been waiting for an opportunity such as this all night and the fact we have given it ourselves is frustrating in the extreme.

Koscielny got stuck high up the pitch, Flamini didn't cover his position well enough, Muller got in-between the Frenchman and Mert and scored. The fact, that this was an entirely avoidable goal made it that much harder to swallow.

Conclusion

So, what do we do now? The same thing we always do after a defeat. Put the maximum effort into winning our next game. And when the time comes, we send our best squad to Germany and go for it. Like last year.
And I'll get back to you later. Tomorrow, maybe. Cause right now, it's still hard to gather my thoughts.

Bayern Munich preview: underdogs?

Hello.

Tomorrow night the second bout of Champions League football takes place and we host Bayern in an entertaining home fixture.

Most are of the opinion that Arsenal are no match for the defending champions. On top of a a last year's treble, Bayern are, by far, the best team in Bundesliga, with nineteen wins and two draws. Leverkusen trail them by 16 points, Borussia by 17. Their only loss came during the group stages of the CL, when City has beaten the Germans at Allianz Arena.

And yet there's also an air of confidence around quite a lot of people, Arsenal fans being the most prominent fraction. And I don't think it's based on belief in this side only.

Point is, Wenger rarely makes the same mistake twice, unless he has no room for manuever. There were a lot of examples of how Arsene learned from his mistakes down the years and only United and Barcelona (at their prime) managed to get two wins over Arsenal in the same year.

Even if we take some of the most recent games, Arsenal always responds in a positive way. Milan? Check. Bayern last year? Check. Liverpool right now? Check.

Moreover, this side has mental toughness to it than any other side since the Invincibles. We've been doing what we do for a year now and I don't see us suddenly break down.

In terms of team news, the press conference hasn't taken place yet, but there is word Vermaelen may return and if he really does, that's wonderful news. I got to admit, it's been a bit nervy to only have two fit centre-halves for a last couple of weeks. We were an injury or a suspension away from calling Sagna into action as the emergency central defender, which also would have meant Jenkinson on the right flank. I like Carl, but I still think he's not ready to play on a regular basis.

Apart from Vermaelen, I don't think anyone will return and, unfortunately, we lose Arteta through suspension, so Flamini will most likely be paired up with Wilshere.

Szczesny, Sagna, Gibbs and Giroud should all start, but the manager has an interesting dilemma on the flanks to ponder. Does he try and overload the centre of the park and pick Cazorla and Rosicky, or will he want to stretch the play and start Podolski and the Ox? Besides, there's also the matter of form and exhaustion level to ponder.

I suspect Arsene will choose the latter option. Not only are Podolski and Oxlade genuine wingers and will provide Giroud with plenty of service as such, they may also seek to exploit Bayern defensive weakness. In a piece I've read earlier, it is stated that Rafinha will most likely play at right-back and, given the fact he's not a true full-back, Podolski can make it count.

On the other flank, there'll be no Ribery (another bonus), so we can risk playing the Ox there. Not that he doesn't return to help Sagna out, but Rosicky is still a better option defensively.

An interesting call for the manager, anyway. I'm sure he's informed of any potential weaknesses and his teams' strengths better, than anyone else. Having played Bayern just a year ago helps too.

Not much else going on, so I'll leave it here. Should anything of note pop up, I'll be back tomorrow. If not, check back on Thursday for a review.

Come on you reds

Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool: into the last eight

Good evening.

Yesterday we've taken on Liverpool for the second time inside eight days and the encounter was the opposite of what we saw at Anfield. Arsenal didn't quite dominate the game (in fact, the Mugmashers had a better share of possession), but our defence found its old self.

Wenger made a whopping 7 changes to our midweek side, with only Koscielny, Mertesacker, Arteta and Ozil retaining their places. Among the surprising choices were Sanogo and Fabianski, but both showed they more than equal to their task.

We started the game rather slowly and could have paid the price twice inside the first four minutes, but for a fine save from Fabianski (a taste of things to come) and a miss from Sturridge when he should have opened the scoring. Not that I'm complaining.

After that the game settled a bit and Arsenal started to pour men forward. This resulted in a dangerous free-kick in the 16th minute. Arteta's first time effort hit the wall and the ball fell to Ozil. The German international found Sanogo in the box who chested it down and let fly, but Gerrard got in the way. Luckily, Oxlade-Chamberlain was on hand to smash the ball home to make it a massive 1-0.

This forced Liverpool to take the initiative, which resulted in a barrage of attacks and, though Koscielny and Mertesacker weren't as effective at stopping the opposition as always, that's the best duo in the league we are talking about. Whenever they failed to mop up, Fabianski did this himself, throwing himself rather spectacularly at every through ball.

However, it wasn't only Mertesacker and Koscielny who stepped their game: the whole team defended like hell, getting in the way of Liverpool's passing as much as possible. The way the players pressed men in possession reminded me of our midweek game.

We held onto our one-goal lead till the half-time whistle blew and came flying out of the blocks for the second half. Liverpool managed to conjure up an early chance, but Suarez effort only found Fabianski (or, rather, forced him into his most fantastic save in the entire game). Two minute after this we doubled our lead.

The Ox raced down the right flank, exchanged passes with Ozil and then cut the ball back for the onrushing Podolski. The German made no mistake and buried his chance.

This seemed to drown the Mugmashers. They continued pouring forward, but came up with a miss from Suarez and a shot from Sturridge (well-saved by Fabianski). Then, out of the blue, they pulled one back.

Suarez danced into our box, got surrounded by three defenders, waited for the slightest contact, fell, made it look like he was dying and the ref (Howard Webb) pointed to the spot. Gerrard scored.

This should have set a nervous ending, but it didn't. Liverpool seemed exhausted and only managed to set up Sturridge whose poor decision-making coupled with a brilliant piece of skill from Fabianski ensured we held on to a one-goal advantage.

A third goal from Arsenal would have ended it, but Cazorla (who came on for Podolski) sent his shot miles over the bar, when he really should have scored.

After that, the Mugmashers had come up with one chance only, but, mercifully, Agger steered his header wide.

There were some dodgy decisions from the ref, but they evened out in the end, so i think there should be no complaints.

After the game Arsene said:

"It was vital for us to respond to the disappointing performance we had against Liverpool last week. It was vital as well because we had an opportunity to go to the quarter-final of the FA Cup. I am very pleased with the intensity of our commitment and our response, our determination. You could feel there was a clinical desire in my team to take every opportunity to 'kill' them. That's why it was a great game between two good teams, and overall it was a fantastic FA Cup tie. Many people questioned the FA Cup but like today it delivers a great football performance".

He also touched on Mourinho's (that brainless twat) comments:

"I am embarrassed for him, honestly. First of all I would say that I didn't speak about him at all in my press conference, and I have no more to say… I am more disappointed for Chelsea than for me. I am not interested in the subject at all, and that is really genuine. If you are interested, and you have nothing better to do in your life, you are free to do it. But honestly, I cannot force my interest in things that are not interesting for me. I love football and I'm sorry to disappoint you, but what interests me is what happens on the pitch."

And on Sanogo (who played almost to the end):

"For a first performance he was excellent. He was always in the game, he was a handful for them. It's his first official game basically, he played one game in the reserves for 60 minutes. Considering the intensity of the game, he was absolutely excellent".

So, a morale-boosting win, a clear demonstration that our squad has more depth than people give us credit for and a home tie in the quarter-final of the FA Cup on top (we'll face Everton, by the way). What better way is there to get ourselves ready for Bayern?

Till tomorrow

Liverpool preview: not a second time

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow we take on Liverpool for the second time in eight days and I hope we'll see a marked improvement on our first outing.

In terms of team selection, the Mugmashers have the upper hand, as their schedule allows them to play their strongest side possible with no midweek fixture to worry about.

Arsenal, however, have to have one eye on the Bayern game, because it's absolutely necessary to carry an advantage (however minimal) in the second leg. So rotation is inevitable.

Question is, to what extent should we shuffle our squad? Too many changes to a rather successful formula may well lead to an even greater thrashing, something we'll be keen to avoid for several reasons, momentum being the most important in the long run.

However, I think there are a couple of subs, that could benefit our performance. Wilshere, for one, seemed off the pace in the last two games. For now, he cannot be that link between Arteta and Ozil, as he plays too far away from both of them. This prevents us from passing the ball around quickly, which, in its turn, has influenced two last results.

The Ox and Flamini seem obvious choices, but the former may be needed on the flank following Cazorla's illness. Also, Flamini provides a better cover for the back four, something that allows Arteta to play further up the pitch, linking defence and attack. The Spaniard is not your typical box-to-box midfielder, but given Ramsey's absence and the relative inexperience of Oxlade-Chamberlain, he's our best option. For this game, at least.

Also, I'd be tempted to play Podolski up front. He's been unconvincing, I know, but right now Giroud seems knackered (worrying, cause he's our main attacking threat), besides, the German provides a better outlet for Ozil. I've already touched on how we tried to involve Giroud as much as possible against United and when it didn't pay off, we ran out of ideas.

Ozil's bad form had been discussed at length by others (some of them went as far as to say he doesn't provide value for his money), but the fact, that the German international needs a different kind of man in front of him to get the maximum out his abilities seems forgotten. Giroud likes to play with his back to the goal (mostly) and this leaves Ozil in a difficult spot. Podolski may be the answer (again, at least for this game).

Besides that, I somehow don't think the manager will rotate much. Sure, we need someone to fill the void left by Cazorla (Wilshere?), and there's a Gibbs/Monreal dilemma, but apart from that, I don't see Arsene taking any risks. The FA cup probably remains our best chance at a trophy, so we can't take opposition easily, especially when they have showed they can beat us. Comprehensively.

In other news, Vermaelen seems to be on his way out. The skipper is not getting enough playing time, due to how well Mert and Koscielny learned to interact and probably would have left in January had he not been injured and we short on defenders. Coupled with Sagna's likely departure, were going to be very busy in summer. On the last day of the window, to be exact.

I'll leave it at that. Here's for a win and a good performance tomorrow, which can  jump-start our season.

Until later

Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United: a missed opportunity

Hi everyone.

So, yesterday we failed to capitalise on Chelsea's mistake and return to the top. It's hard to take this for granted, as we faced the weakest United side in years. I've already talked about this yesterday, but talking is one thing, while seeing it with your own eyes is entirely different. In the immediate aftermath this point seemed unacceptable. In the cold light of day, it makes a bit more sense.

It was obvious right from the start Arsenal tried to pull off a back-to-basics performance, focusing on keeping a clean sheet, rather than going for a win. United also didn't force the matter, since losing a second game out of three would surely have been disastrous. Thus we had to witness a rather tedious 0-0 draw.

Arsene made two changes to the side that was well and truly beaten at Anfield. Gibbs replaced Monreal and Rosicky came in for Oxlade-Chamberlain to set a frenetic pace right from the first whistle.

He managed to do just that. There were quite a few things not to like about our performance yesterday, but the way we played without the ball is not one of them. I cannot recall when was the last time we closed players down with such efficiency. As soon as we lost the ball (something that happened a bit to often for my liking), two or three players pressed a United player in possession at once. I cannot give you the total number of interceptions, but Arteta alone managed five.

However, it was the things we we did (or rather, did not) do after recovering possession that resulted in so few moments to kill the game.

Firstly, the pace. Probably United were just cautious going forward, but it looked like we didn't make the transition from defence to attack quickly enough. The weapon we utilised so effectively earlier during the campaign was rendered useless due to our own sluggineshness.

Secondly, and this surprised me most, our passing was a bit off. Though we had a whole bunch of quality midfielders from the first minute to the last, we seemed unable to produce that killer pass.

There's only thing, which was duly noted by the manager later, that can explain these factors, namely, nervousness. Our notorious handbrake was on the entire game and this prevented us from pulling United's defence apart.

We stepped up the tempo during the second half and should have scored that winning goal in the last 15-20 minutes, however, Giroud proved once again unable to make his efforts count during such an important game. Cazorla tried to fill this void and produced two wonderful shots, but De Gea was equal to it. Koscielny came closest to scoring (as has become his trait during important games in the last couple of seasons), but his shot was cleared of the line by Valencia.

Now, I have to say we could have conceded. The Dutch Skunk did his damnedest to upset us, but Szczesny seemed ready to die on the pitch, rather than allow him to score again. He has, once again, helped us to get at least a point, when the game could have either way. He deserved this clean sheet as much as everyone else on the team.

A couple of words about Giroud. I have been returning to him throughout the season, giving him credit where it was due, but last night he was that difference between one point and three. I hate to say this, cause I like the Frenchman a lot, but it was obvious the team tried to get him involved as much as possible. I've talked a lot how he needs service from his teammates to score, that he rarely can create moments of danger for himself and yesterday he was provided with plenty of service.

Which also brought out the second weakest fundamental flaw in his game: Giroud is not a clinical  finisher. He had at least two good chances from corners and a brilliant low cross from Ozil late in the game, but he failed to make it count. Giroud put both headers wide, when he should have buried at least one and, had he been quicker in the box, he only needed to put his foot to the ball in that low cross moment. He didn't.

Now, I have always talked up Giroud's other qualities. He's honest, hard working, a real fighter, is always ready to get back and help defensively. He's a good passer and is always ready to pass the ball to a teammate in a better position. On his day, he's a decent finisher.

However, his drawbacks were thrown into the light yesterday and never had I wished for us to have a different kind of striker on the bench more. We need a mobile, quick,  technical kind of forward, one who can make runs behind defenders. Who can thrive off Ozil.

Though I hate to say it, van Persie was good last night. He was provided with little to no service, but still conjured up a couple of decent opportunities and was a whisker away from becoming that difference between a draw and a win. We need to try and find such a guy in the summer. For now, we'll have to make do with what we have.

In the end, a draw was probably a fair result. We obviously wanted to win more, than United, but lacked the means to do so. However, we kept a clean sheet and it was a good thing psychologically.

This result leaves us in the second spot, as City's game was postponed. We now have to ready ourselves for another clash with Liverpool and then there will be a small matter of Bayern to keep us on our toes. As for me, I'll get back to you when something new pops up.

Until later

Manchester United preview: win it

Evening everyone.

Tomorrow night we take on Manchester United and it's our best chance in years to finally grab all the points.

I don't know how well we've done against them before 2005-2006 season, but our head-to-head against the Devils since then is appalling. While we've done well enough at the Emirates (only two losses from eight games), our away record is unacceptable (four points out of 24). Luckily, we play these guys at home, where we've been terrific as of late.

Moyes side has, undoubtedly, struggled this season. I don't think they are capable of a top-four finish anymore, but even 5th and 6th positions seem to slipping away from them. The Red Devils had time and again dropped points against lesser teams (e.g. Fulham and Stoke) and look in a bad spot. Their squad might just fall apart in the summer, should they fail to qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League. Not that I care.

My point is that if there ever was a perfect time to face United, it's tomorrow. I've seen someone liken Moyes side to a wounded animal, but it's just laughable, in my opinion. United has been spineless for the duration of the season (they reached their all-time low after crashing out of the League cup) and I can think of no incentive that may sparkle them into life come tomorrow. Other than pure hatred towards the Gunners.

Will all of the above make our job easier? To some extent, yes. However, the pressure will certainly be on us to deliver the first home win in three years, especially after we were demolished by Liverpool. I still think, there are some benefits to be gained from this loss (like we shouldn't rest on our laurels and let our guard down), but even if they sound weak, it's still only one game we've lost. I'll take a one-off beating over a couple of narrow defeats anytime.

In terms of team news, we have no fresh injures and no comebacks, so we'll have to make do with the players we have. Vermaelen remains out, Flamini serves the final game of his suspension, while Ramsey and Kallstrom are still some way from full recovery.

It's hard to see the manager making any changes to the starting line-up. Gibbs may be back, but that should be it. There was talk Ozil should be dropped (in the light of his recent form), but it's nonsense from my point of view. He is our all-time record signing for a reason, besides, we all know Wenger puts a lot of trust in his players and lets them play through bad patches. Ozil may just produce a piece of magic, that will benefit both him and the team as a whole.

As for others, may Wenger be tempted to play Podolski up front or will he stick to Giroud? Again, I'd put my money on the latter option. Podolski is a more technical player, probably a better finisher, than the Frenchman, but his umconvincing cameos as a lone striker coupled with the manager's reluctance to play the German as the spearhead of our attack tells its own story.

Should everything go well, I see no reason not to win it. United's midfield look stale and out of ideas (with time, Mata may change that, but not yet), Rooney and the Dutch Skunk are clearly uncomfortable to have to play so close to each other, while United's defence is also no longer a bastion it once was. Vidic especially seem to already have completed his move to Inter.

That's not to say they can't punish us for our mistakes or produce something out of nothing, but it seems highly unlikely. United no longer resemble themselves, we have to make sure it stays that way tomorrow. Run them into the ground.

That's it for today, back later with a review.

Until then

Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal: fall from grace

I don't even know where to start today. Yesterday's game is a perfect illustration of yet another Murphy law, because everything, that could have wrong, went wrong. It pains me to have to write about a defeat in my 100th post. I hoped (and not without reason) that I'd have something much more enjoyable to write about. And now I sit in front of my PC and the horrifying images of our trip to Anfield is the only thing that springs to mind.

I will be completely honest with you: I haven't watched the entire game. My nervous system refused to take any more 17 minutes into the game and I switched the TV off. We were 3-0 down at that point.

Watching Arsenal play has become an integral part of my life over the course of the previous couple of years; this need turned into a downright necessity after I've started writing this blog. I could not fail my readers and come up short, because I know they look forward to reading what I've written.

Thus, there are only so many things, that can stop me on my way to a live broadcast of Arsenal's game. When I tell my fellow students I intend to skip a class to be back home in time for the game, most of them look at me as though I suddenly announced I'm going to be crowned king of Great Britain. Yet the ones who support a football team understand my passion. They share it.

Yesterday I skipped my German class. Though my future profession will be the one of a lawyer, I study in the uni which places a lot of emphasis on learning languages. Maybe even more than on law disciplines. Luckily (for me) I suffered a heavy nose bleeding during the previous class and was relieved of the necessity to go to my next by a doctor. So I got home on time for the game. I wish I didn't.

Arsene made only one change to the side that has beaten Crystal Palace, with Wilshere subbing Podolski. Oxlade-Chamberlain shifted to the right flank, Cazorla to the left, and Wilshere started alongside Arteta. Almost the same group of players, but what a stark contrast to our last game in terms of performance.

Liverpool scored immediately. Someone was fouled on our right flank, Gerrard crossed the ball, Toure got a touch to it and Skrtel slotted it home from close range. Replays showed both he and Toure were offside when the cross came in.

Liverpool piled the pressure and got another one in nine minutes. The ball was cleared for a corner, Gerrard crossed, Skrtel headed the ball, 2-0. As much as it was poor positioning from our defenders it was a brilliant header from the Liverpool man.

Suarez could have made it 3-0 from yet another corner, but his shot rattled the post.

We managed to conjure up a response, but Giroud's technique let him down when he should have scored. Mertesacker headed the ball wide from a corner shortly after that.

The third goal came on approximately 16th minute. Ozil lost the ball in the centre of the pitch (no foul), Suarez raced towards the goal and then passed the ball to Sterling for a tap-in. This was the moment I switched my TV off. Everything else I know from a live text coverage (on Arseblog).

The guy there was as downhearted as every Arsenal fan was. He was telling the world about badgers, fashion and his food preferences for what remained of the first half, because he couldn't stand describing the stuff happening on the pitch. And I don't blame him. The fact he persevered right until the end is worthy of a standing ovation from Arsenal fans.

We made a triple substitution at some point. Completely reasonable, in my opinion. Our best players came off and the ones who are a bit out of shape came on. This sub served a double purpose of resting key players, while giving the others a chance to find their form. The game was lost after 17 minutes, so what difference does this sub make?

Arsene took to press (as always) after the game and here's what he said on the result:

"What is important is that we respond to the result, especially that we respond with a different performance because our performance overall was poor today - on the concentration level and on the pace. Our defensive stability was very poor, we looked always vulnerable defensively. Congratulations to Liverpool, they were the better team today and we were very poor today. Only our fans were good for 90 minutes, that's all".

And on the first 20 minutes:

"We conceded two early goals on set pieces and then we are always in a position where you have to come out but we knew that you need to be better focused in that kind of level. Overall our performance was just not good enough. Maybe it's better if I don't talk too much, go home and respond well on Wednesday night because I include myself in that performance. It raises the questions that we have to answer on Wednesday night".

Well, what can I add? I've already said, that it's an extremely rare occurrence, when I miss a game. Turning it off is basically the same thing. There were only a handful of those over the years. Our heavy defeats to Milan and United spring to mind. I turned both games off at 3-0. Yestarday's game was among the worst ones I've seen in a long, long time.

And yet it was only one game, let's not forget that. Yes, Chelsea have won and now they are top, but City have not, thus we hold on to the second spot. Either way, there are only two points between the top three, so we're still in the race. However bad we played yesterday, it was only one game. There will be thirteen more, 39 points to fight for, so it's important to remember that. We still have Chelsea and City to play, so the fate of the title is in our hands.

Now we need a response. Our next fixture will be a home one, we'll get a bit of rest before it (more than United, anyway), so don't get your heads down. Yesterday's result looks like a freak occurrence to me, nothing more. We've seen the real Arsenal this season and this was not it.

That's it for today. I wish I had better news to tell you about, but I don't get to choose, unfortunately. I'll be back later, as soon as something new pops up.

Until then

Liverpool preview: the fun begins

Good evening to each and every one of you. It's been a long time since my last post, but I was  completely cut off from the outside world, so I hope you'll excuse me this forced silence. Oh, and if you're planning for a winter holiday somewhere warm, whether next year or later during 2014, I strongly recommend you consider going to the Maldives. It's not for everyone, since it's a quiet place with no Internet and no guided tours of interest, but if you just want to get away from all the hustle for a while, this place is for you.

I missed on a fair bit of action during these two weeks, which included our cup win over Coventry and a surprising draw against  Southampton. This result saw us drop to the second place, but courtesy of Chelsea we have regained what we've lost in less than a week.

I did, however, watch the Crystal Palace game. Our midfield options were quite limited for this one, but we've got the result in our usual fashion once again. Keep the ball in the first half, step up the passing during the second, score two goals, see the game out. It's extremely satisfying to watch Arsenal play this way.

Our best player on the day was Oxlade-Chamberlain, who started his second game (out of three) in central midfield and marked with a brace.

For his first, he made a great run into open space (Giroud played his part by drawing defenders to himself), Cazorla spotted the Ox and chipped the ball over the defence. Oxlade took a touch to get the ball under control before sending it into the net on the volley.

For his second, the Ox played a clever pass to Giroud and continued his run. The Frenchman held the play up and then returned the pass. Oxlade curled the ball home from the edge of the box to make it double.

We were occasionally troubled by Crystal Palace, but Scszesny dealt with everything well and got his 11th league clean sheet as a reward for his (sometimes heroic) efforts.

I forgot to mention that our midfield crisis basically forced the manager's hand to sign back-up. Kallstrom joined us on loan on the last day of the transfer window, but will only be available at the end of the month, due to his fitness not being up to scratch.

Ramsey is the guy the Swede was signed to replace, seeing as Aaron suffered a setback in training and can spend six weeks out of the game. It's sad, really, he was one of the reasons we started the campaign so strongly, so let's hope the Welshman returns sooner, rather than later.

In the meantime we have a matter of four games across three competitions to keep us entertained. We play Liverpool away tomorrow, before taking on United, Liverpool again (this time, in the cup) and Bayern Munich. Luckily, we play away only tomorrow during this month. Even Sunderland, who we face after Bayern, is a home fixture.

Another good thing is, of course, our record at the Emirates. We have only three losses there, the last one being in October. Furthermore, we have last conceded a goal at home against in early December, something that makes our run even better. Let's keep it going.

As for our Saturday encounter against Liverpool, we seem to be the only team who stopped both Suarez and Sturridge from scoring, when they started together, so here's another encouraging bit for you. It was also no coincidence that we did, because the way we deprived the Mugmashers of the ball and stopped the supply to their strikers was down to a good team  performance.

The manager has emphasised the importance of keeping the ball under control, saying Liverpool can hurt us not only with Suarridge. This also means putting in a shift defensively, but I'm more more or less relaxed on that front.

In terms of team news, Vermaelen and Flamini remain out, the former with a knee injury, the latter through suspension, but Wilshere is back and Arteta, who hobbled a bit after receiving a nasty knock against Crystal Palace, is also available. Arsene will have a decision to make about our central midfield, but I suspect Jack will start if he's ready. The Ox had a great game, though, so I'm not ruling anything out.

I'm also curious as to who will play at left-back. Gibbs seem to be number one choice, but he was on the bench during our last game and may find himself there once more, in case he's still nursing an injury.

Apart from this, we have a pretty good squad, even with a couple of knocks and strains. Should we play the way we did at the Emirates and the way we did for the duration of the campaign, I see no reason not to pick up all the three points.

As usual, I'll be here on Monday with a full review. Until then