Hello.
It's been some time since I last wrote, but exams were coming hard and fast, so forgive me this interruption.
Arsenal plays Coventry today in a rather unusual Friday game, but, from a footballing point of view, that should change little.
It seems Bendtner is back and training and is likely to feature in the starting eleven today. Arteta and Ramsey are due to return next Monday, while Vermaelen's and Rosicky's involvement remains under question. Rosicky will probably miss this game, but should be available against Southampton and Vermaelen's participation wasn't brought up.
All of this hints that we should have a full squad next week (with only Diaby and Walcott out) and it's both good and bad news. Good because our tough schedule kicks off on the 8th February against Liverpool, bad because we're unlikely to bring anyone in. Arsene keeps talking about only buying special players (Draxler?), but Schalke are hell-bent not to sell the German in January. Perhaps, we can nick Draxler in the summer, but with both Fabianski and Viviano likely to go their own ways and the whole thing with Vermaelen's future, we may have a lot to worry about in the summer. Though the manager is keen to tie the Belgian down to a new contract, the player himself may not want to do so. He's down the pecking order and with Mertescielny playing the way they do, only an injury to one of them may see him change his mind.
In a nutshell, we can have quite a busy summer, searching for a goalkeeper and a couple of centre-backs. Add the World Cup and Draxler to the mix and our task seems nigh on impossible. Anyway, as the man here says, the manager is aware of any problems (even potential) way before we are, so for now let's just concentrate on the task at hand and worry about everything else in the summer. We do have a pretty balanced squad after all, even with Walcott and Diaby out.
And the task at hand is beating Coventry. Wenger said he's keen to avoid last-year's disaster and so will take our current opposition seriously. That doesn't mean we shouldn't rotate, in my opinion. If we pulled this off against Spurs, we can certainly pull this off tonight. I expect to see Fabianski, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chaberlain, Podolski and Bendtner all start. It's a bit of a gamble to rotate quite as much, but it's not like these players make the squad a lot weaker.
Gibbs is a regular starter when fit, Podolski proved he can be lethal on the left, while Bendtner is a like for like replacement for Giroud and the Frenchman can use a breather before taking on Liverpool, Bayern and United.
I also expect Gnabry to start in the light of his recent performances. He's still a long way from a finished article and it's another chance for the German to prove his worth.
There was talk from the manager he may play the Ox centrally (something that's going to happen sooner or later anyway), so Cazorla and Ozil will probably be given a rest. I don't know, whether it's wise to leave us without a true playmaker, but it's all guesswork and I may be completely wrong. Arsene can always throw a couple of surprises, he may even play as strong a squad as he can, but I don't think he will. We have a lot of players with something to prove, Coventry isn't that much of a threat, so providing these players with a chance may not seem the worst idea in the world. We shouldn't take Coventry lightly, but it's not like we are talking about playing Chamakh and Squilaci, so I'm sure that, whoever plays, they'll be fully switched on.
And finally, Arsene has also touched on the matter of Rosicky's, Mertesacker's and Sagna's contracts. He says we're close no agreeing a deal with most of them, but not all of them. I suspect Sagna is the problem here, which is a bit strange, as the manager was quite positive about the Frenchman's contract a couple of days ago, but we can only wait and hope that everything goes well. Fingers crossed here.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch Coventry game myself, as I'll be airborne for the duration of the match, but I'll try to give you some post-match thoughts after. If the wi-fi connection there allows it. If it doesn't, then I'll be back with a preview of our trip to the Mersyside on the 7th February.
Until later
It's been some time since I last wrote, but exams were coming hard and fast, so forgive me this interruption.
Arsenal plays Coventry today in a rather unusual Friday game, but, from a footballing point of view, that should change little.
It seems Bendtner is back and training and is likely to feature in the starting eleven today. Arteta and Ramsey are due to return next Monday, while Vermaelen's and Rosicky's involvement remains under question. Rosicky will probably miss this game, but should be available against Southampton and Vermaelen's participation wasn't brought up.
All of this hints that we should have a full squad next week (with only Diaby and Walcott out) and it's both good and bad news. Good because our tough schedule kicks off on the 8th February against Liverpool, bad because we're unlikely to bring anyone in. Arsene keeps talking about only buying special players (Draxler?), but Schalke are hell-bent not to sell the German in January. Perhaps, we can nick Draxler in the summer, but with both Fabianski and Viviano likely to go their own ways and the whole thing with Vermaelen's future, we may have a lot to worry about in the summer. Though the manager is keen to tie the Belgian down to a new contract, the player himself may not want to do so. He's down the pecking order and with Mertescielny playing the way they do, only an injury to one of them may see him change his mind.
In a nutshell, we can have quite a busy summer, searching for a goalkeeper and a couple of centre-backs. Add the World Cup and Draxler to the mix and our task seems nigh on impossible. Anyway, as the man here says, the manager is aware of any problems (even potential) way before we are, so for now let's just concentrate on the task at hand and worry about everything else in the summer. We do have a pretty balanced squad after all, even with Walcott and Diaby out.
And the task at hand is beating Coventry. Wenger said he's keen to avoid last-year's disaster and so will take our current opposition seriously. That doesn't mean we shouldn't rotate, in my opinion. If we pulled this off against Spurs, we can certainly pull this off tonight. I expect to see Fabianski, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chaberlain, Podolski and Bendtner all start. It's a bit of a gamble to rotate quite as much, but it's not like these players make the squad a lot weaker.
Gibbs is a regular starter when fit, Podolski proved he can be lethal on the left, while Bendtner is a like for like replacement for Giroud and the Frenchman can use a breather before taking on Liverpool, Bayern and United.
I also expect Gnabry to start in the light of his recent performances. He's still a long way from a finished article and it's another chance for the German to prove his worth.
There was talk from the manager he may play the Ox centrally (something that's going to happen sooner or later anyway), so Cazorla and Ozil will probably be given a rest. I don't know, whether it's wise to leave us without a true playmaker, but it's all guesswork and I may be completely wrong. Arsene can always throw a couple of surprises, he may even play as strong a squad as he can, but I don't think he will. We have a lot of players with something to prove, Coventry isn't that much of a threat, so providing these players with a chance may not seem the worst idea in the world. We shouldn't take Coventry lightly, but it's not like we are talking about playing Chamakh and Squilaci, so I'm sure that, whoever plays, they'll be fully switched on.
And finally, Arsene has also touched on the matter of Rosicky's, Mertesacker's and Sagna's contracts. He says we're close no agreeing a deal with most of them, but not all of them. I suspect Sagna is the problem here, which is a bit strange, as the manager was quite positive about the Frenchman's contract a couple of days ago, but we can only wait and hope that everything goes well. Fingers crossed here.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch Coventry game myself, as I'll be airborne for the duration of the match, but I'll try to give you some post-match thoughts after. If the wi-fi connection there allows it. If it doesn't, then I'll be back with a preview of our trip to the Mersyside on the 7th February.
Until later