Hello everyone.
Today we take on Manchester City and it's not going to be easy, both because they are in good form and we are not.
Had we beaten Swansea on Tuesday, I would have been a bit more confident, but as City has torn United to pieces, I'd still be worried as hell.
When your top scorer is injured and second best out of form you think the team would have trouble scoring, but City had none. Djeko came on, scored twice, Toure compounded the misery and, wham, United is on their knees. They've been playing like crap all season, sure, but derby is always special and teams do their best to step it up on these occasions. United, however, were left with no chance.
The other thing, that worries me going into the game is our short bench, coupled with a slew of exhausted players. It's hard to see, where rotation can come in, though. I'd like to see Kallstrom alongside Arteta, but that's more down to Flamini looking knackered, while the Swede is full of energy. He may inject a bit of pace to our midfield and will probably complement Rosicky well. Arsene had recently talked up Swede's qualities, so the later may become that trick up our sleeve.
Other than that, any changes will basically be a gamble. Podolski is effective up front, but he's also inconsistent and shies away from his defensive duties at times, something Wenger cannot overlook, especially after saying our successful defensive performance is the cornerstone on which our whole performance should be built.
More than anything, the game is about professional pride and this is another factor that should motivate the players. While a draw against Swansea was a step-up in terms performance, we really should have done better in the end. Yes, it's hard to fight with six key players out (I'm not counting Diaby in), but Swansea is no Liverpool or Chelsea. The reason we've topped the table for so long is simple: we got the points against lesser teams on a consistent basis. After picking up just two points in games with United, Stoke and Swansea we can no longer claim we demolish teams, that are positioned below us. Had we won these (like we really should have) we would still be top of the mill. Not by much, yes, but top.
As it stands, our title chances are almost gone. I say almost, because in case we beat City today, we will stand a chance. The manager rightly noticed that top teams will play each other and thus drop points, so a win today and we are in the mix again.
So let's try and get a win.
Today we take on Manchester City and it's not going to be easy, both because they are in good form and we are not.
Had we beaten Swansea on Tuesday, I would have been a bit more confident, but as City has torn United to pieces, I'd still be worried as hell.
When your top scorer is injured and second best out of form you think the team would have trouble scoring, but City had none. Djeko came on, scored twice, Toure compounded the misery and, wham, United is on their knees. They've been playing like crap all season, sure, but derby is always special and teams do their best to step it up on these occasions. United, however, were left with no chance.
The other thing, that worries me going into the game is our short bench, coupled with a slew of exhausted players. It's hard to see, where rotation can come in, though. I'd like to see Kallstrom alongside Arteta, but that's more down to Flamini looking knackered, while the Swede is full of energy. He may inject a bit of pace to our midfield and will probably complement Rosicky well. Arsene had recently talked up Swede's qualities, so the later may become that trick up our sleeve.
Other than that, any changes will basically be a gamble. Podolski is effective up front, but he's also inconsistent and shies away from his defensive duties at times, something Wenger cannot overlook, especially after saying our successful defensive performance is the cornerstone on which our whole performance should be built.
More than anything, the game is about professional pride and this is another factor that should motivate the players. While a draw against Swansea was a step-up in terms performance, we really should have done better in the end. Yes, it's hard to fight with six key players out (I'm not counting Diaby in), but Swansea is no Liverpool or Chelsea. The reason we've topped the table for so long is simple: we got the points against lesser teams on a consistent basis. After picking up just two points in games with United, Stoke and Swansea we can no longer claim we demolish teams, that are positioned below us. Had we won these (like we really should have) we would still be top of the mill. Not by much, yes, but top.
As it stands, our title chances are almost gone. I say almost, because in case we beat City today, we will stand a chance. The manager rightly noticed that top teams will play each other and thus drop points, so a win today and we are in the mix again.
So let's try and get a win.