I've already run out of imperatives of how important it is to win the next game. After this season's showing I'm not even sure we can win tomorrow. Community Shield included, Arsenal only had three good performances this year. We can kind of count in the Man City performance, though we dropped points on that occasion.
A very gloomy atmosphere indeed surrounds our tomorrow's fixture. The fan base, predictably, erupted, after we failed to get the points against Hull. However, even had we nicked the win in the dying seconds of the game, would that have changed much? I'm not sure. The problem was not so much the result, but the performance itself. Shaky at the back, unconvincing up front. Lost, if you are looking for one word to describe our showing on Saturday.
However, the press and our own fans are definitely overreacting. The press is ready to scourge Arsene (did you see that awful interview with Jacqui Oatley? Disgusting), while rumour has it the fans are preparing some anti-Wenger banners for our game in Brussels. I've even heard about some back-turning to the pitch every 18 minutes to demonstrate the fans' dissatisfaction with AW.
I, for one, think such measures are completely uncalled for. What will they lead to, what are the fans trying to achieve? They want to show their displeasure and that's understandable, but, if you just think one step ahead, this will accomplish nothing, apart from heaping even more pressure on Wenger and the players. Arsene won't step down till at least the end of this season and thus I see no reason to try and force his retirement now. However bad the situation is, there's no immediate rescue, no easy answer to our problems. Both our manager and our footballers are in desperate need of our support exactly because we're going through a hard period. Right now they need our backing, not our contempt. Come the end of the season and we're still in a mess, fine. Protest all you want. Summer is a sufficient period to bring in a new manager and some new players, but right now there's no point, cause nothing will change. Not because the existing situation is good, but because it can become much worse with an interim manager.
Moreover, I've already stated that Arsenal gets the stick far more often, than other clubs under roughly the same circumstances do. Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and United are much worse off than we are, yet I see next to no criticism coming their way. It goes to the point of absurdity. United drew yesterday against West Brom by only just getting a point thanks to a late equaliser. Yet for them the result is somehow acceptable, even good, while our draw against Hull is considered shameful. Man Utd appointed a wonder-manager, a brilliant tactician and bought world-class players for £150 mil, and sit just one point above us. Nonetheless, their start is kind of normal, Mata is somehow more effective than Ozil and Van Gaal is just unlucky, while Wenger is incompetent. What a fair world we live in.
Anyway, this was supposed to be a preview, so onto matters more pressing and more Arsenal-related.
The back five
Martinez will start between the sticks, while some rookie or other will make the bench. Surprised? I know I was when I first heard of it. Szczesny is out of the equation due to suspension, it was known long before, but where's Ospina? Well, can you guess?
Yes, the Colombian is injured. I'm not even sure when he managed to pick up whatever knock will keep him out of the game. So David's unavailable for selection and for the first time this season I'm genuinely worried about the shot-stopper position. I mean, Martinez seems a nice and dedicated lad, but I'm not exactly sure he's up to the task just yet. Fortunately, it's only (ahem), ONLY Anderlecht, so fingers crossed Emiliano won't have an awful lot of work.
The back four is a bit of an enigma. I don't know where we are with Koscielny, I guess it's too soon for the Frenchman, but good news is, Chambers is back. So the question is this: where will the Englishman be deployed? On the right, with Monreal through the middle once more? Or centrally, with Bellerin on the right and Monreal on the bench?
For me, the latter scenario sounds better, mainly because Monreal didn't impress against Hull, while Hector did. Furthermore, Chambers and Bellerin are better suited to play CB and RB respectively. The other two should be Gibbs and Mertesacker, though the German really has to improve on his Saturday's performance. He's not alone there, however.
The midfield
Mikel Arteta for Mathieu Flamini. Please. The Frenchman is more of a nuisance right now, Arteta at least doesn't make positional mistakes and is harder to push off the ball. He's also a much better passer, something that can make the difference. So we need our skipper on, from the very first minutes.
Further up I'd probably go with Cazorla and Ramsey, just because risking Wilshere is, well, risky. He's one of the few in-form players we have, so we should wrap him in cotton wool and use only as a sub tomorrow. If needs must. But I hope it won't come to that.
The attack
Welbeck and Sanchez should be regular starters for an obvious reason: they score goals. However, it's interesting to see, who will complete our front three.
Oxlade, Campbell, Podolski and maybe even Walcott are all candidates. In case with the Englishmen I suspect Alexis will switch to the left to free up the right flank, but, frankly, it looks like Alexis can score goals from any position, so I'm not particularly worried about where exactly the Chilean will play.
If it was for me, I'd probably go with Campbell. I really liked what I've seen from him against Hull and, earlier, Southampton, so Joel deserves his chance. Especially since Walcott may not be fully fit, while Poldi doesn't have the manager's trust. Oxlade will probably edge it, though. Both because I'm bad at guessing and because AW doesn't seem to trust Campbell any more than he trusts Podolski.
The verdict
We are, once again, the obvious favourites on paper, however it doesn't seem to guarantee us anything lately. We have a lot of attacking players to take the game to our opponent, while at the same time covering our ever-changing defense and this is exactly what we should do. We really need to jump-start our campaign.
So c'mon you Gunners
And I'll be back with you for a review.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
A very gloomy atmosphere indeed surrounds our tomorrow's fixture. The fan base, predictably, erupted, after we failed to get the points against Hull. However, even had we nicked the win in the dying seconds of the game, would that have changed much? I'm not sure. The problem was not so much the result, but the performance itself. Shaky at the back, unconvincing up front. Lost, if you are looking for one word to describe our showing on Saturday.
However, the press and our own fans are definitely overreacting. The press is ready to scourge Arsene (did you see that awful interview with Jacqui Oatley? Disgusting), while rumour has it the fans are preparing some anti-Wenger banners for our game in Brussels. I've even heard about some back-turning to the pitch every 18 minutes to demonstrate the fans' dissatisfaction with AW.
I, for one, think such measures are completely uncalled for. What will they lead to, what are the fans trying to achieve? They want to show their displeasure and that's understandable, but, if you just think one step ahead, this will accomplish nothing, apart from heaping even more pressure on Wenger and the players. Arsene won't step down till at least the end of this season and thus I see no reason to try and force his retirement now. However bad the situation is, there's no immediate rescue, no easy answer to our problems. Both our manager and our footballers are in desperate need of our support exactly because we're going through a hard period. Right now they need our backing, not our contempt. Come the end of the season and we're still in a mess, fine. Protest all you want. Summer is a sufficient period to bring in a new manager and some new players, but right now there's no point, cause nothing will change. Not because the existing situation is good, but because it can become much worse with an interim manager.
Moreover, I've already stated that Arsenal gets the stick far more often, than other clubs under roughly the same circumstances do. Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and United are much worse off than we are, yet I see next to no criticism coming their way. It goes to the point of absurdity. United drew yesterday against West Brom by only just getting a point thanks to a late equaliser. Yet for them the result is somehow acceptable, even good, while our draw against Hull is considered shameful. Man Utd appointed a wonder-manager, a brilliant tactician and bought world-class players for £150 mil, and sit just one point above us. Nonetheless, their start is kind of normal, Mata is somehow more effective than Ozil and Van Gaal is just unlucky, while Wenger is incompetent. What a fair world we live in.
Anyway, this was supposed to be a preview, so onto matters more pressing and more Arsenal-related.
The back five
Martinez will start between the sticks, while some rookie or other will make the bench. Surprised? I know I was when I first heard of it. Szczesny is out of the equation due to suspension, it was known long before, but where's Ospina? Well, can you guess?
Yes, the Colombian is injured. I'm not even sure when he managed to pick up whatever knock will keep him out of the game. So David's unavailable for selection and for the first time this season I'm genuinely worried about the shot-stopper position. I mean, Martinez seems a nice and dedicated lad, but I'm not exactly sure he's up to the task just yet. Fortunately, it's only (ahem), ONLY Anderlecht, so fingers crossed Emiliano won't have an awful lot of work.
The back four is a bit of an enigma. I don't know where we are with Koscielny, I guess it's too soon for the Frenchman, but good news is, Chambers is back. So the question is this: where will the Englishman be deployed? On the right, with Monreal through the middle once more? Or centrally, with Bellerin on the right and Monreal on the bench?
For me, the latter scenario sounds better, mainly because Monreal didn't impress against Hull, while Hector did. Furthermore, Chambers and Bellerin are better suited to play CB and RB respectively. The other two should be Gibbs and Mertesacker, though the German really has to improve on his Saturday's performance. He's not alone there, however.
The midfield
Mikel Arteta for Mathieu Flamini. Please. The Frenchman is more of a nuisance right now, Arteta at least doesn't make positional mistakes and is harder to push off the ball. He's also a much better passer, something that can make the difference. So we need our skipper on, from the very first minutes.
Further up I'd probably go with Cazorla and Ramsey, just because risking Wilshere is, well, risky. He's one of the few in-form players we have, so we should wrap him in cotton wool and use only as a sub tomorrow. If needs must. But I hope it won't come to that.
The attack
Welbeck and Sanchez should be regular starters for an obvious reason: they score goals. However, it's interesting to see, who will complete our front three.
Oxlade, Campbell, Podolski and maybe even Walcott are all candidates. In case with the Englishmen I suspect Alexis will switch to the left to free up the right flank, but, frankly, it looks like Alexis can score goals from any position, so I'm not particularly worried about where exactly the Chilean will play.
If it was for me, I'd probably go with Campbell. I really liked what I've seen from him against Hull and, earlier, Southampton, so Joel deserves his chance. Especially since Walcott may not be fully fit, while Poldi doesn't have the manager's trust. Oxlade will probably edge it, though. Both because I'm bad at guessing and because AW doesn't seem to trust Campbell any more than he trusts Podolski.
The verdict
We are, once again, the obvious favourites on paper, however it doesn't seem to guarantee us anything lately. We have a lot of attacking players to take the game to our opponent, while at the same time covering our ever-changing defense and this is exactly what we should do. We really need to jump-start our campaign.
So c'mon you Gunners
And I'll be back with you for a review.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
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