Evening everyone.
Tomorrow we face a relegated Norwich in the final PL game of the season. Well, they are nearly relegated, but as the Canaries are not likely to overhaul a 17 goal difference, I'll just call them relegated.
It's hard not to feel sorry for them in a way. Norwich play not the worst kind of football, moreover, they were under an assistant manager for the last (and most important) 5-6 games. You can point to Sunderland that had pulled off a miracle against top-level opposition, but Poyet has been their manager since October and had time to work on the team.
Back to the game, however, and everyone bar Oxlade-Chamberlain (and Walcott, naturally) should be available. This can, on the hand, give the manager a selection headache and, on the other, he might just play the weakest side possible. While Arsene has said it's important to do well in a game leading up to a cup final, it's much more important to ensure all your key players get there.
Actually, I'm in two minds about rotating. In my view, to maintain the momentum you have to play roughly the same team. Also, fielding the same players provides you with a better chance of winning the contest. They know how to bump off passes of one another, where to run, how to defend at set pieces, etc.
So I'd keep the same core of players, that features week in, week out with just a couple of changes to rest our aces and give a chance for the likes of Wilshere to whip back into shape. This means our usual back five (maybe with Monreal, should Gibbs turn out to be not 100% fit), probably Flamini, Ramsey and Wilshere in midfield, Podolski and Rosicky on the flanks and Giroud up top. It's a good mix that provides us with a chance to get three points comfortably, while also keeping our goal under lock and key (let's not forget, Szczesny is on course to get the Golden Glove).
Elsewhere, Koscielny has signed an extension to his contract. Though his previous one happened to be in 2012, a new offer was made, and accepted. This shows just how important Kos has become to us and that Arsene was keen to tie down the Frenchman with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain sniffing around.
A target for much criticism upon his arrival in 2010, Koscielny has evolved in one of the best centre-backs this Club has ever seen. There have been (and still are) a couple of dodgy moments, concerning the Frenchman, like a bunch of red cards or seemingly unneccessary fouls in the penalty area, but all of this can be forgiven, and that's down to how awesome Kos has become. May his outstanding partnership with Mertesacker at the heart of our defence long continue.
Finally for today, Arsene has hit out at FFP regulations. This is linked to a punishment UEFA deemed worthy of rule-breaking Man City. Instead of kicking the money bags out of the Champions League, they just decided to fine the Citizens £50 million and cut the number of players available to them in the next CL season.
On which Arsene says:
That's it for today. Here's for the three points tomorrow, and we'll start looking ahead to the cup final.
Until later
Tomorrow we face a relegated Norwich in the final PL game of the season. Well, they are nearly relegated, but as the Canaries are not likely to overhaul a 17 goal difference, I'll just call them relegated.
It's hard not to feel sorry for them in a way. Norwich play not the worst kind of football, moreover, they were under an assistant manager for the last (and most important) 5-6 games. You can point to Sunderland that had pulled off a miracle against top-level opposition, but Poyet has been their manager since October and had time to work on the team.
Back to the game, however, and everyone bar Oxlade-Chamberlain (and Walcott, naturally) should be available. This can, on the hand, give the manager a selection headache and, on the other, he might just play the weakest side possible. While Arsene has said it's important to do well in a game leading up to a cup final, it's much more important to ensure all your key players get there.
Actually, I'm in two minds about rotating. In my view, to maintain the momentum you have to play roughly the same team. Also, fielding the same players provides you with a better chance of winning the contest. They know how to bump off passes of one another, where to run, how to defend at set pieces, etc.
So I'd keep the same core of players, that features week in, week out with just a couple of changes to rest our aces and give a chance for the likes of Wilshere to whip back into shape. This means our usual back five (maybe with Monreal, should Gibbs turn out to be not 100% fit), probably Flamini, Ramsey and Wilshere in midfield, Podolski and Rosicky on the flanks and Giroud up top. It's a good mix that provides us with a chance to get three points comfortably, while also keeping our goal under lock and key (let's not forget, Szczesny is on course to get the Golden Glove).
Elsewhere, Koscielny has signed an extension to his contract. Though his previous one happened to be in 2012, a new offer was made, and accepted. This shows just how important Kos has become to us and that Arsene was keen to tie down the Frenchman with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain sniffing around.
A target for much criticism upon his arrival in 2010, Koscielny has evolved in one of the best centre-backs this Club has ever seen. There have been (and still are) a couple of dodgy moments, concerning the Frenchman, like a bunch of red cards or seemingly unneccessary fouls in the penalty area, but all of this can be forgiven, and that's down to how awesome Kos has become. May his outstanding partnership with Mertesacker at the heart of our defence long continue.
Finally for today, Arsene has hit out at FFP regulations. This is linked to a punishment UEFA deemed worthy of rule-breaking Man City. Instead of kicking the money bags out of the Champions League, they just decided to fine the Citizens £50 million and cut the number of players available to them in the next CL season.
On which Arsene says:
"You would think that you accept the rules and you're in the competition or you don't accept the rules and you're not in the competition. Then, everybody would understand it."Well, it's sophisticated to me. Kicking the best teams out of the strongest competition will make it that less interesting, so there'll have to be another way. I'd just put some restrictions on their transfer policy. If you go overboard with transfers, then you should be punished by not being allowed to do transfers. It's only logical.
That's it for today. Here's for the three points tomorrow, and we'll start looking ahead to the cup final.
Until later