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