Hello everyone.
Tomorrow FA Cup's first quarter-final takes place and Arsenal stands a decent chance to inch closer to that Wembley showdown.
Our slip-up against Stoke seems costly enough even now, while overturning the deficit in Munich is as unlikely as it was last year. I don't rule anything out, of course, because our fate is still pretty much in our hands, but right now the FA Cup seems our best shot at a trophy this season.
And should be treated as such. Which means putting the Bayern game at the back of our minds and fielding the best starting eleven possible come tomorrow.
This, in its turn, brings us to who can play and who'll miss out. The most glaring omission is, without doubt, Jack Wilshere. The Englishman did sustain a serious injury, despite his earlier thinking it was just a bruise, and will miss at least six weeks. The medical staff examining Jack during the game threw caution to the winds and played him for another 50 minutes. Perhaps, they genuinely believed there was nothing wrong with Jack, but wasn't it better to make sure? Why risk a player in a meaningless friendly?
As it is, we'll have to make do without Wilshere. While I've seen suggestions that this injury couldn't have come at a better time (considering Englishman's poor form), I cannot agree with these. Yes, Jack was off the pace, out of form and not up to scratch, but the simple truth is, we need as many fit players as humanly possible to end this season on a high and losing a regular like Wilshere will not, in any way, make our task easier. Form is temporary, class is permanent (sorry, couldn't resist) and having out one of our key players, however bad his form is, doesn't play into our hands.
However, Wilshere's loss will be somewhat cushioned by the respective returns of Aaron Ramsey and Kim Kallstrom, though both are unlikely to take any part in our next two games. I sincerely hope they could at least be available in our return leg against Bayern Munich, but rushing them to full fitness is not an option, considering what games we'll have to play after that. We have plenty of fit bodies and should hold out until next week.
Do we have enough to beat Everton this weekend? I think so. I expect some rotation, but it should mostly concern those, who've played a lot of minutes in their midweek games. Luckily, there are just so many players, who has done that and it shouldn't be much of a problem. Everton will be in the same position, so it all evens out.
I expect the Toffees will be hard to beat. I still remember that December game. We were at our best, but can still consider ourselves lucky to have got a point. That fixture could have gone either way and a draw was, in all probability, a fair reflection. So I think we are in for a beautiful game of football tomorrow.
Apart from that, the manager has touched on how good we usually are in March and his desire to lift the FA Cup again. Also, I've stumbled upon a quite fascinating article, where the author talks how our season WON'T be a failure even if end up outside the top two. Give it a read, it's well worth your time.
So, hope we smash some heads tomorrow and I'll get back to you on Monday.
Until then
Tomorrow FA Cup's first quarter-final takes place and Arsenal stands a decent chance to inch closer to that Wembley showdown.
Our slip-up against Stoke seems costly enough even now, while overturning the deficit in Munich is as unlikely as it was last year. I don't rule anything out, of course, because our fate is still pretty much in our hands, but right now the FA Cup seems our best shot at a trophy this season.
And should be treated as such. Which means putting the Bayern game at the back of our minds and fielding the best starting eleven possible come tomorrow.
This, in its turn, brings us to who can play and who'll miss out. The most glaring omission is, without doubt, Jack Wilshere. The Englishman did sustain a serious injury, despite his earlier thinking it was just a bruise, and will miss at least six weeks. The medical staff examining Jack during the game threw caution to the winds and played him for another 50 minutes. Perhaps, they genuinely believed there was nothing wrong with Jack, but wasn't it better to make sure? Why risk a player in a meaningless friendly?
As it is, we'll have to make do without Wilshere. While I've seen suggestions that this injury couldn't have come at a better time (considering Englishman's poor form), I cannot agree with these. Yes, Jack was off the pace, out of form and not up to scratch, but the simple truth is, we need as many fit players as humanly possible to end this season on a high and losing a regular like Wilshere will not, in any way, make our task easier. Form is temporary, class is permanent (sorry, couldn't resist) and having out one of our key players, however bad his form is, doesn't play into our hands.
However, Wilshere's loss will be somewhat cushioned by the respective returns of Aaron Ramsey and Kim Kallstrom, though both are unlikely to take any part in our next two games. I sincerely hope they could at least be available in our return leg against Bayern Munich, but rushing them to full fitness is not an option, considering what games we'll have to play after that. We have plenty of fit bodies and should hold out until next week.
Do we have enough to beat Everton this weekend? I think so. I expect some rotation, but it should mostly concern those, who've played a lot of minutes in their midweek games. Luckily, there are just so many players, who has done that and it shouldn't be much of a problem. Everton will be in the same position, so it all evens out.
I expect the Toffees will be hard to beat. I still remember that December game. We were at our best, but can still consider ourselves lucky to have got a point. That fixture could have gone either way and a draw was, in all probability, a fair reflection. So I think we are in for a beautiful game of football tomorrow.
Apart from that, the manager has touched on how good we usually are in March and his desire to lift the FA Cup again. Also, I've stumbled upon a quite fascinating article, where the author talks how our season WON'T be a failure even if end up outside the top two. Give it a read, it's well worth your time.
So, hope we smash some heads tomorrow and I'll get back to you on Monday.
Until then